Chapter 8: Winterfell belongs to the Old Gods
Lyanna found herself in the dark council room. In the middle was a great black table in the shape of Westeros. At its head she saw a rather powerful looking man leaning against the table. He was tall, broad-shouldered with purple eyes and short-cut silver-gold hair. Clearly a man of Valyrian descent. On his head was a circlet which seemed to be made of Valyrian steel, set with big square-cut rubies. He was wearing black scaled armour.
At his hip she spotted a sword. By her estimation it was a hand-and-a-half longsword more commonly known as the bastard sword. The sword caught Lyanna's attention. It had a Ruby pommel with the same black handle as the Dark Sister. At both ends of the Guard were dragon heads. By the sounds of the sea gulls Lyanna deduced it was somewhere near the sea.
Next to him was a woman possessing great beauty, while having classical Valyrian features, the same as the man. In addition she was wearing a black and red dress, highlighting her curves.
The men intensely studied maps on which were placed figures on different spots of the map mostly on different kingdoms. There were various shapes, some were shaped as a direwolf of house Stark, another Lion, others Hand, Falcon Stag and so on. The woman seemed more uninterested or bored even, as she was studying her nails instead of paying attention to the map.
Suddenly footsteps were heard, which were followed by doors opening and another woman came in. She possessed the same Valyrian features including the same purple eyes as both the man and the woman sitting at the table. She could be considered to be beautiful though not as the other woman already present. She wore the black chainmail and to Lyanna surprise, on the hip of the woman was the familiar sword, Dark Sister. She seemed to be upset by something, given the fact how she moved and how fast she was. She carried a box.
As the woman reached the table the Valyrian looking man gazed at her. "Visenya, I see you still haven't learned how to knock."
The woman snorted. "Don't pester me about such useless notions, Aegon. If it was Rhaenys, you wouldn't even complain about such trivialities."
The other woman just chuckled, while answering her. "Dear sister, maybe you should try to put a nice smile on, that stern look of yours makes people uncomfortable."
Visenya glared at, who Lyanna now assumed was Rhaenys. "Shut up, dear sister. Or I will do something else which will make you very uncomfortable."
A cheeky smile appeared on Rhaenys's face as she fainted. "Oh whatever I shall do?"
Visenya stepped towards her but finally Aegon interfered. "Enough sisters, we are only three Targaryens left in this world and I don't want to lose any of you because of some bickering. And Rhaenys, stop provoking Visenya, she is my wife too and you Visenya stop taking the bait from Rhaenys. I know you are not overly fond of this double marriage, but you agreed with it so keep with it." Both sisters stood down and Visenya visibly relaxed. "Now, what do you have, sister?" Aegon pointed towards a box in Visenya's hands.
"Message from King Argilac Durrandon, the messenger died on his way back from loss of blood, I am afraid. Visenya answered coldly. "I told you it was a bad idea to send him in the first place."
Aegon opened the box…. There were two hands of the envoy and parchment with only one message. "These are the only hands your bastard will have of me." He felt a wave of rage and disgust, yet in the back of his mind he rejoiced, how long he wanted such pretext.
He gave looks to his sister and said only. "It's time, call Orys and send ravens to our bannermen, it's time to show Westeros the power which forged Valyria."
"At last. Finally we can do something." Rhaenys almost jumped from her chair and walked away to fulfil Aegon's orders. Visenya stayed and folded her arms.
"What is it, Visenya, do you have something else on your mind?"
"Are we really going to do this, to conquer Westeros?"
"I thought it was clear when I ordered construction of this table, what's more we already discussed this, haven't we? Are you still not over it?"
Visenya was clearly frustrated about something as she let out a heavy sight. "We did and I will do as you command, but it doesn't mean I have to agree with it or like it, for that matter." She walked closer. "Going to the west is a mistake, Aegon. It will be more trouble than it's worth. The sensible choice is the east."
"I know the merits and benefits of conquering former Valyrian colonies, however you also know why we must conquer west instead."
"So, we will just do that because you had some unclear dream about the doom which supposedly must come from the north one day and destroy everything in its path?" Visenya's voice was full of doubts.
"The other dragon riding families of Valyria spoke the same about Daenys's dream, you might go to Valyria and ask them what they are thinking now, oh wait, you can't because Valyria has been destroyed and their families are gone." Aegon rose and walked towards the window. "I know what I saw, sister, you of all people should know that these dreams should be taken seriously. If the world of men is to survive, Westeros must be united by our family."
Visenya moved to Aegon, gripped his arm and made him look at her. "I take it seriously, more than you suspect. That is why I must remind you that prophecies, especially those derived from dragon dreams, are double edged blades. Their outcome isn't always what you might expect. You may try to achieve a better outcome by working towards it and then you will end up with an even worse outcome."
Visenya let go of Aegon's hand. "Our family is going to be put at risk if we conquer Westeros. The Faith of the Seven and Citadel are maybe harmless at the first sight, yet they will pose a threat to us and our descendants, besides we are Valyrians and we do not belong to Westeros. Ultimately I will stand by your side for whatever you choose to do but I would be a bad sister and wife if I didn't warn you about the faults in your actions, brother."
Aegon rolled his eyes, clearly dismissive of her sister's arguments. "Please, what the citadel and faith can do against the power of a dragon, nor they will kneel and submit, or burn. You are too paranoid. No, I won't change my mind, dear sister-wife." Aegon paused and fixed his gaze on the table. "In my dream I saw the whole of Westeros covered in snow and darkness. The threat arrived from the lands of always winter and in the end it also covered the rest of the world, no Visenya, I can't let that future come to pass. The second long night will come and it ought to be stopped by someone of our blood, a Targaryen seated on the throne of Westeros." Suddenly Aegon's gaze averted towards the direction from which Lyanna was watching the scene, then she woke up.
XXX
Lyanna jumped onto her feet, she could feel the sweat all over her skin. She woke up to the realisation it was morning already. Her other reactions were to slowly rub her eyes and to calm her breathing. Zyraxes watched her curiously. "Are you alright, muña?"
"I had a fucking dream of the past event like I was present there when it happened. So, am I alright? No, I am not alright, for fucks sake. Seven hells, of what I will be dreaming next time?" Her dragon stepped back a little, taken back a little by her future rider attitude.
"I am sorry muña. I didn't want you to be upset." She-dragon lowered her head apologetically.
Lyanna's posture and mood softened upon realisation she may unintentionally blame her she-dragon. "I am sorry, darling. This shouldn't be aimed at you. Come here."
Zyraxes didn't hesitate and jumped to Lyanna's arms, even though she-dragon still kept apologising. "I am sorry for giving away magic that is giving you those dreams, muña."
"It's nothing to be sorry about, it's your nature, that magic flows through you to this world. Having these dreams is just unsettling a little bit." Lyanna heard rattling and sounds of activity from the direction where her uncle and the guards were sleeping during the night. So she gathered her things and prepared herself to travel again. "Zyraxes, pop in the bag again, we must go."
As soon as Zyraxes disappeared in the bag, Ned showed up. "Lyanna, we are about to leave, are you ready?"
"Just a minute, please." Lyanna took her sword and was about to attach it to her hip when her gaze stopped at Dark Sister.
Ned instantly noticed it. "I would say it would be safe to keep that sword hidden for now."
"Why? Do you think someone will recognize it, if I carry it? As far as I know nobody who saw this blade is alive today, no?" Lyanna asked hopefully.
"Maybe, but when you show up with the Valyrian steel blade, it will inevitably stir up some questions. Don't you think so?"
Lyanna suddenly looked very disappointed and packed the blade back to the red silk and took it as she got up and headed towards Ned, who also noticed she looked distressed. "Are you alright? You look like you saw a ghost before I came here."
Lyanna bit her lip. "Is that so visible? Well you can say I saw a ghost during my sleep, or to be more precise a three ghosts."
Ned frowned. "I see, well, I didn't want to push that subject onto you yesterday but what was that about visions you mentioned at Castle Black?"
Lyanna sighted. "You need to know about it sooner rather than later. The maester Aemon told me that I have the ability of dreaming. That I have power to see past or even future, in short I had and probably will have dragon dreams."
"You mean like that famous Daenys the Dreamer?"
"Exactly, I had four dreams so far, all about the past." Lyanna paused and looked around to ensure nobody was in hearing range. "The last of them I had this night. Do you wish to know what I saw in my dreams?"
Ned wasn't sure if he should believe such things as dreams. However, he knew that Lyanna clearly didn't lie and so he relented, truth be told, he was also curious. "Well, no time like the present."
With that Lyanna described all of her dreams. Her uncle looked especially intrigued by the vision of whom they both suspected was Aerys the second Targaryen and the last vision about who Lyanna believed to be Aegon the Conqueror and his sisters.
After Lyanna was done describing, Ned was silent for a long two minutes. "Hmm, very interesting, and these dreams, can they really be trusted?"
"As long as they are visions of the past, I would say, yes. Maester Aemon warned me only about visions of the future, so far I didn't have any of the future ones." Ned frowned and to Lyanna it seemed like he was lost in thoughts.
"I wonder what was that about the mad King and his talk of ashes, I mean there is only one thing that comes into my mind that he perhaps placed wildfire to explode the city? Well... unsettling image."
"By the wildfire you mean that explosive substance which killed grandfather? "
"Yea, very same. When I think about it, there were some corpses found which were identified as the pyromancers after the war was done….. Then there is that dream of yours which suggests that the conqueror himself knew something about what is happening now beyond the wall."
Lyanna had a bad feeling about it all. "Sooo….about the walking corpses. How big of a problem is it about to become?"
Ned shrugged. "I know Lord Commander Mormont is really concerned about it and trust me it has to be quite something if it made the old bear worried. For now I need more information and mainly I need solid proof of what is happening up there. I can't just send ravens to all the lords of the seven kingdoms and tell them to rally their armies because walking corpses are marching on the wall. They won't believe it."
"Indeed." Lyanna nodded in understanding though she made one more remark on the subject. "Yet, until recently, I believed the dragons were all gone too, just as everyone believes the others and the tales of the long night are only stories to frighten children."
"Winter is coming…." Ned spoke the words of house Stark with a weary tone. "Maybe those words are more than just house words, maybe it's a warning. Anyway we really should be going. Pack your things, your horse will be ready."
XXX
When they reached the familiar walls of Winterfell, Lyanna felt deep inside her like something was about to be very wrong. She of course didn't express it.
As soon as they arrived at the courtyard and later the stables that weird feeling just got more intense and clearly, Lyanna wasn't the only one who was unsettled. When they got to the stables and got off their horses Lyanna's gaze stopped at the one horse already there, the one recognized. "That brown stallion…. It's a Domeric's."
Ned didn't even look at her and instead his gaze was fixed on the group of men wearing the armour with the sigil of the flayed men and two of them had a Bolton's flag. "Aye. And those guardsmen are from Dreadfort, it seems we have guests."
"Did you by any chance agree to Lord Bolton's proposal?" Lyanna inquired clearly worried.
Ned looked straight at her before answering. "No, I did not and would not if you did not give your consent to it. Only one person comes to mind who would take upon herself to do such a thing…."
"My Lord, is it possible that Lady Catelyn made a move behind your back?" Ser Rodrick asked.
Ned let out a sigh as he was preparing to say something but he was interrupted.
"Father, Lyanna!" Robb's voice was heard as the heir of Winterfell slowly approached with Theon Greyjoy walking behind him seemingly hesitant.
"Robb, what is going on?" Ned imminently asked while pointing to Bolton's guards.
Robb shot an almost guilty glance at Lyanna, before answering his father's question. "Mother took upon herself to accept Lord Bolton's proposal in your name, I tried to convince her not to do it but she was adamant, she is discussing terms right now."
"She is discussing what?" It was like a flash. Ned's eyes widened in disbelief. And without waiting for a response from Robb, the Lord of Winterfell launched to the castle entrance.
Lyanna on the other hand stood there frozen and fought the urge to follow Ned and just do something to Lady Stark. It was Robb who got her out of her trance by hugging her. "Thank the gods you are alright. We were worried, I was worried." When he pulled off he continued to berate. "What were you thinking about? Going to the wall, do you know how dangerous that was?"
"Just…. stop it brother would you? I had my reasons and went with uncle Benjen so nothing would happen to me. Right now, I am more concerned about what is happening here and why did you let it happen." She gave Robb a stern look.
"I am sorry Lya but my mother…"
"Is not an heir to Winterfell, nor an acting lord during father's absence, you are. Or will you let her talk into your rule once you are truly Lord of Winterfell?" Lyanna cut Robb off in the middle of the sentence.
"You must admit, Stark. Snow is kind of having a point here. Tough, thanks to you, Snow will be her name for not too much longer." So far silent Theon remarked with the ugly smirk on his face.
Both Robb and Lyanna looked at him and in unison spoke. "Shut up Greyjoy!"
"What? It's true, isn't it? She will be Lady Bolton."
"Then shouldn't you be more careful squid? You know Boltons flay their enemies so do not tempt me." Lyanna of course didn't mean to do such a horrid thing but she said it with the tone which strongly implied otherwise.
Theon snorted: "You are welcome to try, bastard."
Lyanna clenched her fists and was about to step forward to Theon but Robb stepped between them. "Alright, that's enough for you two."
"Indeed I have just returned from a long journey and I have many things to think about and none of them includes overly proud and idiotic Ironborn, so if you excuse me I have a meeting with the bathtub to attend to." With that Lyanna headed to the castle, while Theon was shooting furious sights into her back though he cursed himself subconsciously when his gaze fell on her swaying hips.
"Well played, Theon. I would say she likes you even more now. "Robb told him with obvious irony.
XXX
Catelyn was silently rejoicing in her mind. She would finally get rid of the stain that plagued her family. Even if she was a little unsettled by Lord Bolton, she was willing to overcome such triviality if it meant Lyanna Snow would be out of her life.
"So, Lord Stark wouldn't be against my proposal? Me and my son here are convinced it would be indeed a good match. I would almost say it is the best match the girl of Lyanna's station could achieve."
"In fact, my Lady, I don't care what her station is, whether she would be Stark or Snow, it doesn't matter to me." Domeric added to his father's comment with a smile contrasting his father's freezing attitude completely.
Catelyn felt a wave of disgust upon the young lord's comment but she didn't let it be seen on her and simply nodded. "I see, well I don't see any obstacles let us discuss the details now shall we?"
As soon as Lady of Winterfell finished her sentence a door suddenly opened and the Lord of Winterfell walked in, with completely calm demeanour yet Catelyn could feel a cold anger radiate from him, she only saw him like that once and it still terrified her just as now. Roose Bolton and his son raised from their chairs turned to Lord Stark and quickly bowed.
Ned didn't acknowledge them at first and stared at his wife then he finally greeted one of his most powerful bannermen. "Lord Bolton, what a surprise I didn't expect seeing you in Winterfell." Then, before Roose could answer anything, Ned's gaze averted to the heir of Dreadfort. "And you must be Domeric, my daughter spoke highly of you, especially about your skill with the horse and lance."
Young men smiled a little. "I am sure she was exaggerating, my Lord."
"Did she? Hmm, anyway I guess my daughter is the reason why you are here, so let's get to it, my lady-wife, I am afraid the following business doesn't concern you, please leave us."
Catelyn was still, unsure what to think about what's going to happen, her husband's firm voice got her out of her stupor. "I will not repeat myself, lady Stark…."
With that Catelyn got on her feet, quickly bowed to the Boltons and left without another word, hoping for the best outcome.
Ned relaxed a little and sat down to the emptied chair and started talking to the Boltons sitting opposite him. "Now, I already have been told why you came to Winterfell, Lord Bolton. And let me first inform you that my wife didn't act in my name. I never gave my consent for Lyanna and your son to get married."
Roose Bolton's face didn't give out any emotion, he just nodded. "I see, I suspected that something was amiss, though it's a shame really, as I said to your wife, the match between my son and your daughter is a good one."
Ned frowned, he wondered why Lord Bolton was willing to arrange such marriage, afterall it may be a very long time ago but Starks and Boltons were once rivals and no family bond was ever made.
Even after the Red Kings bent knee to the Starks they rebelled at least thrice. During one of these rebellions they allied with the cadet branch of house Stark, the House Greystark which resulted in its extermination, however Boltons prevailed to this day.
Ned's father Rickard was always sceptical when it came to the loyalty of house Bolton. "Boltons are like a war dog, docile and loyal at the first glance, you can just point them in the direction of the enemy and they will get the job done, however should you show them your back or any weakness and they will attack you too…."
As if Roose Bolton could read his mind he continued. "I realise that relations between our houses are somewhat…. complicated and it might take a lot of convincing to let my son marry Lyanna but I assure you such marriage won't be a bad one for her. She could be called Lady Bolton not Snow and neither me or Domeric would restrict her more unconventional activities like riding, sword training and archery. She would get full benefits of being Lady of Dreadfort once my son succeeds me of course."
"I assure you too, my Lord, I will make every effort to make her happy." Domeric added, Ned could sense his sincerity.
"You have a good reputation and you are a good friend to Lyanna, that is what she told me, Lord Domeric. As such I would have nothing against the match, yet she has her own head in this regard and expressed no desire to marry you."
Ned paused and let his words sink in. "I won't force her into anything if she gave her consent I would too and nothing would stand between yours and hers betrothal. The thing is that my daughter is really stubborn and I must regretfully tell you that she won't budge in this regard. She would have to be dragged to Godswood by force and that I would never permit."
If Roose Bolton was upset, it wasn't really seen at his posture nor expression, Domeric on the other hand looked a little disappointed. "I see…. Well as I said it's a shame, but given the circumstances and the fact your lady wife acted without your will I won't cause any issue because of it, though I really hate to do things for nothing."
Ned frowned, he was considering whether the marriage bond with the house Bolton would be a good idea, he didn't like Roose very much but Domeric seemed like a good and promising young man. He heard only good things about him, not only from Lyanna. After a few moments Ned made a decision. "Well, Lyanna isn't my only daughter."
XXX
A few moments after Lyanna closed and locked the door, put the bag with Zyraxes on the table. Not long after she heard sounds of running outside and soon after someone took the handle and tried to open, which of course didn't work and the person on the other side proceeded to wild knocking and calling. "Lyanna, open up!"
It was Arya who obviously wanted to check up on her big sister. "Not now Arya! I am tired and not in the mood, come later!"
"No! I will not leave until you let me in! I will be waiting and hitting this door all day long if I had to!" Another series of furious knocking on the door followed.
Lyanna let out a frustrated growl, she knew there was no way around it and moved for the door. As soon as she opened Arya burst inside. "Why did you just leave!? You can't just leave Winterfell and leave me here, you know."
"Apparently, I could….. Well I am back now, am I not? So stop making a fuss about it, it was just a little visit and I went with uncle Benjen."
Arya puffed her cheeks clearly disagreeing, then she suddenly stopped and asked enthusiastically. "Is the Wall really as big as people say? Was it really built by the giants?"
That earned a chuckle from Lyanna as she was amused by sister's interest which managed to overshadow everything else. "Well, it is huge, truly something remarkable. Is that all you wanted to know?"
"Of course not, I wanted to know why you went there?"
"I needed to speak to the man who is serving as a maester at Castle Black, maester Aemon, I mentioned his name when we talked that one evening, if you remember."
Arya's face brightened with recognition. "Maester Aemon, you mean that last Targaryen in Westeros? So he was still alive? And why did you go to visit him? Because of that egg?"
"Yes, he is still alive and well for now, at least. And yes, I went to find him because of the egg, or to be more precise because of what finding that egg caused for me, afterwards."
"What does that supposed to mean? Where is it anyway?" Arya looked around almost frantically but then startled and shocked opened her mouth and froze when her gaze stopped at the table.
Lyanna noticed immediately and didn't need to even look in the same direction to understand the situation. "Zyraxes?"
"Yes muña?"
"Who told you to come out and show yourself, hmm?"
"No one….. but I was just curious…sorry."
"Don't ever do that again, do you understand? If the wrong people learn about you we are both in mortal danger. Anyway we might as well introduce you to Arya here, she already knew about your egg so we might as well do that."
Arya who was still stunned just pointed to the little white dragon and uttered just a few words. "That's a dragon…the egg you have found, it hatched."
"As you see, little wolf, go on." Arya felt the gentle push towards the table. "Let's introduce you, shall we?"
Despite her previous shock, the prospect of meeting a dragon didn't sound terrible to Arya and even if she didn't fully understand the reason why the egg which Lyanna found hatched, she couldn't help but feel excited when approaching the little creature.
Zyraxes seemed to be cautious at first but when Arya's hand touched her chin, the caution was gone and that moment a dragon proceeded with the purring which resembled a cat.
Arya giggled. "I didn't know dragons could be so cute."
"Well, that is one way to look at them I suppose, though I would say that in time the cuteness will fade. You never heard anyone calling the Balerion the Black Dread, the Balerion the Cute…"
Arya again let out a laugh. "I suppose they are cute only when small. What's his name? And How did you even manage to hatch that egg?"
Lyanna let out a sigh and sat on the chair on the side of the table. "I named her Zyraxes after the Valyrian Goddess."
"Her?" Arya asked in a surprised tone.
"Yes. And as to how I hatch the egg, well I didn't do anything, it simply happened."
"Simply happened?"
"Well, only those of Valyrian dragon blood were able to tame and ride dragons, Targaryens were of such. The egg hatched because I have such blood."
"Wait…. Does it mean that your mother wasn't Ashara Dayne? In that case your mother must have been some distant Targaryen bastard or something right? I knew those purple eyes of yours must mean something."
Lyanna snorted. "I wish… Things would be less complicated that way."
"Eh? What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means I probably told you too much already, dear little sister. Now you must not say anything about Zyraxes here, do you hear me? To anyone." Lyanna put her hands on Arya's shoulder and looked straight in her eyes to confirm what she demanded just now. "If anyone should learn of my dragon's existence, I and she will be in mortal danger and so do you, father and the rest, do you understand me?"
Though a little confused, Arya nodded. "I do."
"Good." Lyanna let go of Arya's shoulders.
"Does anyone else know about your dragon?"
"Father knows about her, then there is uncle Benjen and of course maester Aemon at Castle Black. And as of today, you know. I hope you will keep it that way."
Arya grimaced and folded her arms. "If you don't trust me we can go to the god's wood where I will swear the oath before the weird tree if you want. And while we are there you can again give me some sword lessons. "Arya timidly gazed in the direction of the chest where she knew her older sister stored their training blades.
Lyanna couldn't help but smirk a little. "Fine, go to your room first and put something more suitable on for a sword fight, I will be waiting in the centre of the gods wood as usual."
Arya's face brightened and she almost jumped out of the room with enthusiasm which was palpable. Lyanna turned to Zyraxes. "Now my dear, wait here and do not show yourself to anyone, I will be back and when I am back I will bring you something to eat."
"But muña…"
"Do not muña me, this is important, no one should learn about you, yes we will be separated here more often but it is for the best, promise I will try to be with you as much as I can. You understand me, don't you? While we are at Winterfell, we must keep you a secret as well as we can."
She-dragon was clearly displeased, yet through the bond both Lyanna and her shared, Zyraxes understood. "Yes, muña."
"Good, now I will lock the doors so no one should be able to walk in and see you, but in the case that happens, hide for whatever cost." With that Lyanna petted Zyraxes on the head, walked to her chest, grabbed two training swords and walked out.
XXX
Catelyn stared into those cold grey eyes, it made her uneasy, though she understood she breached her boundaries this time, she justified it by telling herself she did it for her children.
"Guards, ser Rodrick, leave us." Ned finally spoke sitting opposite her at the solar they were left alone in the room, Ned spoke again. "Why Cat? Why did you betray my trust by acting against me and my wishes?"
"Me? Betrayed you?" Catelyn was outraged at such accusations. "You brought the bastard here almost fourteen years ago, I finally sought the way to rid of that stain and in the way which would benefit our family, that is a fact, Ned."
Ned let out a heavy sigh. "I guess, I am to blame for the hatred you feel towards Lyanna, yet my words didn't refer just to her." This caught Catelyn off guard, she presumed their talk will be entirely aimed towards the bastard of Winterfell. "My dear wife, I always took you for an obedient and dutiful when it came to my wishes, sadly I was wrong, you see when I gave my permission to Septa Mordane to educate our children and to teach them something about Faith of the Seven and southern ways, it was not to make them followers of the Seven nor southerners, it was just to give them some knowledge, so they know how to deal with the people of the south if it come to it."
"Septa Mordane is only trying to make our children into proper lords and ladies, The Faith of Seven can only help them in it. Or how do you think they will be able to find a decent match in the south in the future? Our children deserve proper matches with the lords and ladies of the south. Such prospects may be lost if they won't follow the proper faith. If I have chosen to make a match for your bastard with the northern Lord, it was for the well-being of the children we have together. Everything I have done is for our children, for their future, Ned."
"I see…." Ned frowned and leaned forward. "I do not wish for my children to be followers of the Seven. They are Starks of Winterfell. My family refused to bend or follow the Seven thousands years ago. The Starks and the rest of the North fought to keep the Andals and their Seven pointed stars out of our lands when all other first men have fallen and I will certainly not be a Stark who will fail to uphold that legacy."
Once Ned said that, there was a silence, Catelyn didn't know what to do or say. Though after a moment Ned continued. And what he said next certainly shocked her even more. "I am not planning on playing the southern politics nor to marry off our children with the southern lords and ladies if I won't have to, that is something my father did. And well, to say it didn't work out very well would be understatement at this point. No matter."
"From this day onward Arya and Sansa will be raised by a northern caretaker, furthermore I won't tolerate the Faith of the Seven presence in Winterfell anymore. Septa Mordane, Septon Chayle and all other associates who came here with you and follow the faith will be ordered to leave my Castle and lands. The sept I let be built for you, will also be dismantled." Ned finished and patiently awaited his wife's reaction.
Catelyn's hands trembled, coming to North was challenging for her in the first place. When Ned let a small sept be built for her in Winterfell she received a great deal of comfort from it, now she couldn't believe it would all be lost. "Why? It is some kind of punishment for trying to get rid of that bastard?"
Ned shook his head. "Punishment? No, it's not meant to be a punishment. Winterfell belongs to the Old Gods. It was so for thousands of years and it will remain so. If you want to take it like punishment, that is up to you, Cat."
"As you wish Ned, I understand." Catelyn gripped both armrests of the chair, in the mix of sadness and anger though she composed herself on the outside and tried to just bite her tongue and get through the current situation. Even though she currently felt angered and betrayed.
"Do you?" Ned folded his arms and fixated his cold gaze on his wife. "Well, as for your attempt to get rid of Lyanna, I am not going to punish you for anything you have done in that regard either, because I feel I am responsible for the resentment you feel towards her, however I can't exactly leave it, just like nothing happened."
"So much for: I am not going to punish you for anything." Lady Stark thought to herself while considering possible arguments. Yet she suddenly froze when Ned leaned forward and took her hands into his.
"Listen, there is something I need to tell you about Lyanna, I should have told you years ago however I have never found resolve or reason to tell you. Yet it would seem to me I have to reveal the certain truths to you now, just to prevent any further harm and clear the air."
Catelyn gave her husband a puzzled look as she genuinely didn't know what to make of her husband at the moment.
"Now swear me oath, by all the old gods and all the new. That whatever will be told here, won't leave this room. It's indeed vital that what I tell you remains a secret, should it not, well we will be in mortal danger, which includes our whole family."
There was nothing more precious to Catelyn Stark than her family. And when Ned urged her like this, she knew the situation must be really serious, so she was willing to put aside her feelings stemming from his previous words and simply do as he asked and to hear out whatever he has to say. "I swear by the all seven gods and if it's your wish by the Old Gods even though I do not follow them, that I won't tell whatever you are about to reveal to me, may the Father's justice strike me down if I betray this oath."
"Thank you." Ned nodded with appreciation, let go of Catelyn's hands and fell back to his chair.
"So what is it? What is it about your bastard that you suddenly want to tell me?"
"Well, firstly, Lyanna is neither a bastard nor mine. That is a lie which was told to everyone to protect her."
Catelyn froze, it was like someone hit her on the head with the realisation. "What? Then what was that you told me about the girl being your blood? Is she…. Brandon's by any chance?"
"No, I just told you she is no bastard and if she were my brother's child I wouldn't need to hide now, would I? No, the truth is much more dangerous than that." Ned paused as he watched his wife expression which was a mix of surprise, fear and maybe a hint of regret. She was no longer stoic. He knew that now there was no way back so he continued. "However, my statement about her being my blood, which I have told you so many years ago, is true."
"If you are not her father and neither is Brandon who is? Who else of your blood could it be? Ned tell me the truth of it, I beg you."
"Lyanna is named after her mother and my sister, Catelyn, she is my niece. I found her at the end of the rebellion in the tower of Joy, along with my dying sister, who begged me to protect her child, so I did." Ned paused to let what he just said to sink in. "Her father was Rhaegar Targaryen who married my sister in secret. That girl is no bastard, she is the last surviving child of Prince Rhaegar and his heir. Her real name is Visenya Targaryen."
"Ned that's…" Catelyn felt like someone hit her with a heavy object right over head and she tried to speak but the shock was too great.
"Now, keep your oath, you know what's at stake should the truth come out." Ned finished talking. In a strange way it felt good to finally tell the truth to Catelyn, like some invisible wall between them was finally breached.
Catelyn seemed to get out of her initial shock, yet she continued staring at Ned while there were a hint of tears in her eyes. "Why Ned, why didn't you tell me? You let me live with that lie all this time?"
Ned shrugged. "Frankly, back then when I returned from the war. I didn't know you, to me you were just the girl, I was forced to marry to secure an alliance with your father. I imagine you didn't think anything better about me either. Afterall it was Brandon you were courted by, not me."
"I can't deny that I was unsure of you when we married but later we became close, no? So, why didn't you tell me then? I mean, I could be better to Lyanna if I knew the truth about her… We could even just give her the Stark name and be done with it."
"True, but in the end I said to myself that some secrets should stay hidden even from those we love. Besides, if you suddenly changed your attitude towards my supposed bastard daughter, someone could suspect something, especially if I just ask the king for her legitimation as a Stark after such a long time."
"In any case none of that matters now, since Lyanna figured out who she really is and chose to be a Targaryen, whatever that will mean for her. She is already set to leave Winterfell to Essos to find her own path and sadly I can't stop her because If I choose to do so, soon it would mean war with the Iron Throne and with my former friend."
Catelyn was confused, though she knew about what happened to the Targaryen children and about King Robert's approval of it, she didn't understand why Lyanna couldn't just remain hidden as a Snow. "Why? I mean, how would Robert find out about her, Ned? Her identity is still a secret."
Ned shook his head. "Trust me I would have liked nothing more than to do it so, alas it's not possible."
"Why?" Catelyn asked with a voice full of disbelief.
"Because she has a dragon, and that is something that she won't be able to hide forever."
"A dragon? That is something impossible, Ned. Dragons are all dead."
"Not anymore, trust me I had a hard time to believe it too, but what my eyes saw was indeed a little dragon, hatched from the egg Lyanna found in the crypts beneath Winterfell. Now you see why Lynna doesn't really have a choice but to leave for Essos."
"Even so, you can't just let her leave there on her own, she will need friends and protection. The Essos is not a safe place for such a young girl, Ned."
Ned nodded in agreement. "Indeed and that is why I will send someone to the Neck, to find Lord Howland Reed. I need him to help me find and contact certain old acquaintances.
XXX
"I told you that again and again. Stop delegating the aim of your strikes so much, if you want to do that, at least try to change that direction when you start attacking." Lyanna said while deflecting another blow from Arya and making her own move in which she ended up tapping her little sister on the head with the training sword. "If I were your enemy you would already be dead."
Arya just groaned in frustration. "That's not fair, Lyanna, go a little easier on me."
"Easy hey? Do you think your enemies will go easy on you?"
"No?"
"Exactly, so stop whining, you wanted me to help you to learn how to fight, if I recall it was you who begged me today too….." Arya quickly took a stance and prepared herself for another strike as Lyanna just nodded with the stone face. "Good, again."
This time Arya's attacks were a little better but then again she made a mistake when she tried to push Lyanna while their blades locked. She realised her mistake too late as Lyanna simply disengaged and moved aside and let Arya fall into the grass. "What did I teach you, little wolf, hmm?"
"Do not use your strength against stronger opponents?" Arya spoke timidly while still laying in the grass of the gods wood.
"Indeed, because your build won't allow you to ever be able to use the strength to overpower your foe. You must use speed and never let the fight get into a stationary stage like that where strength would be a decisive factor. That fact goes for both of us, mind you." Lyanna offered Arya a hand and pulled on her feet.
"Then why didn't you push against me, Lyanna? You would be a stronger opponent."
"True but I wanted to show you how to get out of such a situation, provided your opponent would choose to push and you wouldn't be able to push back. In short, if you can't go against the tide, go with it for a while and in an opportune moment go around, now again."
Two of them were so taken by their practice that neither of them noticed a sound of two pairs of boots coming towards them. When Arya got disarmed, again. Robb's voice pulled them out of their spar. "See, I told you Lyanna would be here, trying to train Arya with no visible results."
Arya turned to her brother with the scowl while Lyanna looked at him with the raised eyebrow. "Look who's talking, you didn't improve these last three years." Then she looked at his companion and smiled. "Hey, Domeric." Robb folded his arms and frowned while Arya just laughed upon hearing Lyanna's comment about their brother.
Domeric just chuckled and shook his head. "Hey, Lya. Still sharp tongued as ever I see."
"Well, I am trying my best and Robb here makes it so much easier, wouldn't you say?"
"Hey, stop it, little sister. Tomorrow I will show how I improved on the training yard."
Lyanna smirked at Robb. "It's a promise, then…. Little brother."
"Oh just shut up, Lyanna, anyway I was asked by Lord Domeric to find you, because he wanted to speak with you, so here he is and I am leaving you to it, by the way Arya, mother and father were looking for you, so we should go both."
"Really, why? I don't want to go, yet." Arya answered, clearly annoyed.
"Go on, little wolf. We trained enough today, anyway. You don't want to keep father waiting now, would you?" Lyanna patted Arya on the shoulder and took her training blade.
As Robb and Arya left, Lyanna and Domeric were left alone. "So, my lord, are you here to tell me how happy you will make me as Lady Bolton?"
Domeric just shrugged. "I would of course, alas I was told you have your own head."
"Hmm, so my father stopped that scheme by Lady Stark, good." Lyanna went and sat down beneath the weird tree. I wouldn't be a good lady anyhow."
"I dare to disagree, Lya." Said the heir of the Dreadfort and went to sit next to her. "I would say you would be an excellent lady of house Bolton and I would really make you happy."
Lyanna grinned. "Yeah, I am sure you would and if not for recent events I would maybe consider it."
"What events?"
"A lot of shit happened around me and I learned something about myself, which now prompts me to refuse your offer, Domeric. I hope you are not angry at me because of that. Just trust me I have my reasons, it has nothing to do with you. I would tell you more but the thing is, I can't."
"I see." Domeric was a little disappointed, however he owed Lyanna his life and he also knew she was always sincere with him, so he took her words as they were. "It was worth a try I suppose."
"Did my refusal cause a lot of bad blood between your father and mine?" Lyanna asked almost timidly.
"At first maybe. At least until your Lord Stark offered an alternative."
Lyanna gave his friend an inquisitive look. "What alternative?"
"Well, he offered me to court your sister, Sansa and if it goes well…. We would marry someday. It's not an outright official betrothal, yet it's something. And my father is satisfied for now."
"By the Old Gods….. then please accept my honest condolences." Lyanna said without a hint of irony.
"Oh my, is she really that bad?"
"Hmm, how shall I put this… Her dream is to marry Prince on the white horse and make him a lot of babies, other than that she is also growing into the very image of the lady Stark except smaller, which to be frank, leaves nothing to be desired. At least in my humble opinion."
"Really and since when have you been having humble opinions? Still….. I am afraid I am not a Prince…."
"And your horse is brown."
Domeric chuckled at that. "Well, that leaves only babies, I guess courting won't be that easy."
Lyanna snorted. "Please, just compliment her beauty, tell her how happy you will make her, that you will protect and cherish her. Do that and I promise you, she will be swept off her feet in no time, if that's not enough, you can always ride to Barrowton and ask your aunt to give or sell you a white horse."
ׅ"I suppose you are right. Now, tell me how have you been doing since we last saw each other, Lya?"
Their light-hearted conversation continued for some time, then they finally said their goodbye. And it will be a long time yet, before Lyanna will see Domeric again.
Another chapter done, yes maybe it was really harsh on Catelyn but hey it was conflict which needed resolution. Her behaviour towards Lyanna won't probably change too drastically from now on but it will be less hostile. Also in the next chapter we finally get into the book timeline with the wolf pups and Night's Watch deserter which will be interesting as Ned knows now that there is something brewing beyond the wall.
There will also be news of the King coming North with the death of Jon Arryn as this event is going to happen in this fanfic the same way like in canon, because chaos is a ladder. Whether Ned will accept that fateful position at court… well I leave it for the next one or two chapters.