Jon Snow/Orys Targaryen
Castle Black King's Towers solar.
After they were gone, he looked at the girl, still timid, but he couldn't deny she looked majestic to him now. He stood up and didn't know why, but he embraced her. The girl sobbed not much later after that. "I know, let all out. No one will hurt you ever again. You have my word on that." He said.
'It was strange the connection he had with her now. Kinship of sorts, as the both of what they had been through and through blood. Did it have to do with his parentage reveal? What had Elia said again? That I had left my Rhaenys all alone in the North. Did they mean Shireen? It could be she hadn't burned, and the slivery dragon had stared at her mostly. It was a possibility.' He thought. As I kiss the girl on the forehead.
"Also, you aren't alone and still have kin even." She looked up at him, her blue eyes looking at him with doubt. He didn't think she saw her parents as that after all they had done. "No, I'm alone. I have none, not even Ser Davos or Edric. They are both gone." She said with a sob.
"Come sit on the bed." He said they both sat down, but he still held her. "I'm your kin because I'm the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark. I'm not sure if I'm a bastard or if I'm trueborn. But we are kin by that blood because your great-grandmother was Rhaelle Targaryen." He said, and Shireen looked at him wide-eyed.
"Really, I'm not alone? She said. "Yes, for truth, you aren't alone." He said. "I'm sorry about your parents. And what your father did to your mother." She said in a small voice. "No, he didn't. I don't know all the details, but I met my parents when I died. I know he didn't do what most people believe to my mother. They were loving, and even Elia and Rhaenys were there. I don't think that would be the case if Rhaegar Targaryen kidnapped, raped, and murdered my mother. No, that was a lie. Sprung from the rebellion." He said, explaining things to her.
"Oh, I'm happy for you." She said with a small smile, and he enjoyed seeing her smile. "Jon, can I stay here tonight? I won't be alone, and you are the only one who knows what I have been through." She asked in a timid voice. "That isn't a problem. I shall sleep on the floor, and you can sleep in the bed." He said he didn't mind it.
"No, you can't sleep on the floor." She shocked. "No, it doesn't matter. I slept North of the wall, some extra furs and a blanket, and I will be fine." He would be. It didn't matter. He slept North wall, and the cold had crept into his bones on occasion.
Then another knock came. "Jon Snow, it's Howland Reed with Maege Mormont. We wish to speak to you about your brother, King Robb." Robb, the name always feels like a hammer blow in the heart. His death was maybe even more devastating than his uncle's.
"Enter." He announced as he took a seat at the desk and granted Shireen a seat beside him. She and Tormund, Val, Edd, Grennm, Sam, Satin, and Pyp were the ones he trusted. So, keeping her around wasn't an issue. Plus, having her around was also comforting, as she was his closest kin at the moment.
"Lord Reed, Lady Mormont, to be honest, I am surprised to see you here. At the wall, last I heard of you, my Lady, you were fighting for Robb in the Riverlands and Lord Reed. If I recall correctly, you have never left the neck since the rebellion." He said after both took a seat in the form of the desk.
"That's true, Jon. I did fight for King Robb. I, however, survived the betrayal of the Red Wedding, unlike many others, such as my daughter Dacey. Because King Robb sent me with Galbert and my younger daughters Lyra and Jorelle to find Howland and help in the attack to retake Moat Cailin. He also sent us with another take Robb's Will to your Grace." Maege answered. 'His Grace, What in the world did she mean by that?' He thought as he raised his eyebrows.
"Yes, Jon, you are a King. Although you have been one all your life." Lord Reed said. 'He had expected Howland Reed to know something about his birth. He had been there at the Tower of Joy, where his uncle found him on the wall.' He thought as he looked at the slender man from the Neck.
"Howland, What do you mean?" The Lady of Bear Island questioned. "What Lord Reed is saying. I have never been a bastard. I have always been a king, although I would have been dead a while ago if the world knew. Back then, I was born in curtain tower. I'm right, aren't I?" He said, and he enjoyed the confusion on Lord Reed's face. The lord of Greywater Watch did not expect him to know of his parentage.
"How you know? Did Ned tell you before you joined the Watch?" "No, my uncle didn't tell me anything. I only learned of my parentage during my death, when I met my parents. They told me my name, and I knew then the story of the rebellion was a lie. Although the deaths of Rickard Stark and his heir more than justified it." He said, and he saw the looks of Howland and Maege. The latter gaping like a fish out of water.
"Lyanna, of course, she far too much of she-wolf to be taken," Maege said, and a smile grazed her lips.
"Although, I didn't know I wasn't a bastard. I didn't know if my parents were married. Only in that time in the past did I feel the love between the two, so those lies about Rhaegar aren't true. Lord Reed told me I was a king all my life, which was my confirmation. However, I'm still a bastard to the world if there isn't proof. It does not matter to me. I will do my duty to the realm. For Winter is Coming, and I will still fight for the realms of men." He said firmly, taking hold of Shireen's hand under the table. She grazed him with a smile, and as he did so.
"There is proof of your Grace. I have everything with me, and your uncle could gather from the Tower of Joy. It includes a marriage certificate for Prince Rhaegar and Lyanna, a letter from Rhaegar, Lyanna, and Elia, as well as the Crown of the Conquer. I suppose these were supposed to be brought back after war, but we all know how that ended." Lord Reed said.
"So, there is proof that's better. Good, I need the strength of Westeros behind me if we are going to win against what is coming for us." He said firmly. "Your Grace, something bothered me when I heard the first time, as well now. What is coming? Is it about why you let the wildings pass the wall? Is that why they all seem to be so grateful to you?" The Lady of Bear Island questioned.
"Well, I know how this will sound. The others are back, and their undead minions as well. All those stories about long nights that we all heard as children are true, or at least part of it. I'm quite content with keeping it with dead men and white walkers and then adding ice spiders to the mix." He said a look of shock and horror was etched on their face.
"Yes, I know, and when of the men who killed will soon show the world what is out there. I hope at least when they turn, it will, as per the new lord commander's reports. Only two are still alive, awaiting judgment in the cells. The rest died in the struggle after my death, nearly three moons ago," It still granted him shivers to think he was dead for that long.
"I hope you are wrong, Your Grace, yet you are still sitting in front of me." Lady Mormont said. "As would I, my Lady. Yet my lord Reed," "Please, Your Grace, call me Howland." Interrupted Lord Reed. "As you will, Howland, could you please tell us how it all happened? Between my parents did tell much of it." He asked, wanting to know how it all happened. He knew of her crowning, her supposed kidnapping, but not much else.
"I can leave if you want to hear this in private, Your Grace." Lady Mormont said. He smiled at that, as she respected that it could be a private moment for him. He liked the Lady of Bear Island more because of it. "No need, my Lady. I suspect this tale shall be repeated after this." He said, urging Howland to tell the tale of his parents.
"It started at Harrenhal," Howland began, his voice heavy with the weight of memory. "I was attacked by some squires, and your mother defended me. She smacked the three into the ground, and later, she and the rest of Starks gave me clean clothes and let me stay with them for the remainder of the tourney."
"There was talk about your father using the tourney to gather support to overthrow his father. The mad was growing more erratic and mad, and men around the realm wanted him removed from power. Yet for some reason, Aerys arrived at the tourney, and the plans to over him vanished." Howland and with a sad sigh. 'How different the Seven Kingdoms and his live might have been if Father's scheme had succeeded.' He thought sadly.
"As we all know, your father bypassed his wife and crowned Lyanna the Queen of Love and Beauty." He nodded, 'The moment the smiles died,' He thought.
"But what you all probably don't know is that your father. Crowned your mother because of her own deeds during the tourney. The mystery knight is known as the knight of the Laughing Tree. She did so to defend my honor against the squire who attacked me. The knights all fell to your mother in the tourney, regaining my honor when I couldn't. For that, I will always be grateful." Howland said with a bright smile.
"That does sound like her. Lyanna was always the best rider of the Stark siblings." Lady Mormont said joyfully, and at her comment, smiles grazed the room. 'The more he heard of his mother. The more she reminded him of Arya, the more he had broken his oath. He would do so again, and he wondered where she was now or if she was still alive. The girl in the snow who Melisandra saw was Alys Karstark, Then know he supposed. Edd had told him that Arya, from Winterfell, was Jeyne Pool, posing as Arya Stark.' Thinking back on that conversation still made his blood boil. He broke his oath for an imposter. His left hand tightened in a boll of rage.
He broke out of it as Howland spoke again. "The Mad King ordered the knight to be arrested, saying he was acting against the King. After that, your father finds out and helps her escape Mad King's men.
After that, they began secretly meeting Rhaegar and Lyanna, and they fell in love. Soon after Elia gave birth to Prince Aegon, Rhaegar and Elia discovered she couldn't have more children." 'Aegon,' and he reflected on the black dragon and purple clink of recognition. 'Was his older brother partly in there?'
"Then the news came that Rhaegar and Lyanna had disappeared, and no one knew where they were. Your Grand Rickard and Uncle Brandon seemed convinced that she had been kidnapped, making Brandon ride to Kingslanding demanding your father's head. Aerys called in treason, and your uncle was arrested. Those "
"The wolfsblood rain hot in Brandon Stark. A foolish action it was, though." Lady Mormont added
"Yes, a pity, truly. It caused Rickard Stark to come down and call for a trial for command. Only for Aerys to call fire his champion. Then Aerys burned Rickard alive and had Brandon strangle himself, trying to reach him, that act and the calling of the head of Eddard Stark and Robert Baratheon. Were the major cause of war, Lyanna and Rhaegar's fleeing together got all started." They were all very familiar with this. Most said his father started the rebellion by taking his mother, or at least that was what most singers say, but Aerys's actions truly started it.
"After the battles of Bells and the Trident. Your uncle marched to Kingslanding, finding a dead king and your murdered siblings and mother. Robert and your father fought over it, as Robert said about the bodies. 'Good, I see only dragonspawn.' Howland said, a bit hate toward the end. 'Robert, a man who fought a war for someone who didn't love another, slaughtered his own kin, and later laughed at bodies of murdered children.' He thought hatefully.
"Your uncle lifted the siege of Storm End, and later, we traveled to the Tower of Joy, where you were found. The Kingsguard fought us, and only your uncle and I survived. By me stabbing Arthur Dayne through the neck when he was about to slay your uncle." Howland admitted with some shame.
"We then found Lyanna in the tower, dying from birthing fever. She made Ned promise to keep you safe from Robert. She was barely hanging on by that point. She could just grant you your name and point to the chest with all its contents." Howland ended.
"Why your uncle never told, perhaps to keep you safe, or maybe Eddard Stark didn't want another war, or he didn't want to choose between his chosen brother and you. We will never know the truth. I would have told you earlier, but your uncle swore I was in secrecy. I came here to tell because that oath is no longer valid as our friend, and liege is gone." Howland ended.
"Thank you for telling me. I will most likely always wonder about the what if or why my uncle didn't tell me. But I know he loved and cared for me even if he kept something I should know before I took the Watch." He said. 'Trying to make peace with things he couldn't control. Only taking what was good instead of drowning in the bad of the past.'
"My lord, my Lady, I would seek my rest. A long day lies behind me, and on the morrow, we shall speak further of ridding the lands of traitors and protecting the realms of men against what is to come." He said, and Howland and Maege gave him a bow. 'That something to get used to,' he thought awkwardly.
Once they had taken their leave, he lingered with Shireen a while longer. Their conversation was quiet, words shared in the dim light until sleep pulled at their eyelids. He made his bed on the floor, furs piled high for warmth, and Ghost, ever faithful, curled against him as a living pillow. Shireen lay in the bed, and he took some solace in the sound of her steady breathing as he drifted into slumber, the weight of the day still heavy upon his mind.