2 Tower of Sorrow

I opened my eyes and looked around confusedly. The sun was burning my skin and already sweat droplets were gathering on my brows. I put my hand before my eyes and blocked the sun as I gazed at the man who woke me up.

"Finally, I think the cart we bought was too comfortable. Look at you, you slept all the way from Starfall to the Kingsgrave."

The man was small for Northern standards. He wore a shirt of bronze scales and wielded a three-pronged spear and wore a leather shield on his back. I looked around and saw five more men. All of them were riding horses except for the small man.

Suddenly, a headache came over and as soon as I felt it, it was gone. I remembered all the things Ned saw and did. From his sailing to the North for calling his banners to find Jaime Lannister at King's Landing. Then, I remembered the words the small man uttered, "Starfall to the Kingsgrave". Damn, this is after the rebellion and just before I and others arrive at the Tower of Joy. Luckily, I chose my traits for such fights.

I looked back to the shortest man who woke me up. He was definitely Howland Reed. And the other five were Lord Willam Dustin, Ethan Glover, Martyn Cassel, Theo Wull, and Ser Mark Ryswell. All of them were good fighters and respectable nobles but the place we were going to was not a playground. Their attribute points were lower than I expected. The best amongst them was Martyn Cassel who had only 19 martial points.

However, the biggest shock was I was able to see their opinion on me but it was on the scale of a hundred. For example, Howland's opinion of me was 100 because he was my friend. On the other hand, Theo Wull's opinion of me was 61 and that was because he and his family were Stark loyalists.

Anyway, I went down the cart and mounted a spare horse as we rode slowly to the place everything had started. Three members of Kingsguard were waiting for us; Ser Arthur Dayne, Ser Oswell Whent, and Lord Commander Gerold Hightower.

Wait a minute! Gerold Hightower shouldn't be here. It was only in the books that he was guarding the tower. In the show… well, we never heard of him.

F u c k D&D.

I looked at them using my system. Oswell Whent and Gerold Hightower had good stats but Arthur… Gods above!!

[Name: Arthur Dayne

Diplomacy: 12

Martial: 33

Stewardship: 15

Intrigue: 11

Learning: 7

Opinion: 10]

He must be a fuckin' cheat. He does not have a system but already he was fighting god. Still, he was not up to me as I had a system. His martial points were nearly as high as me but he was nothing before me as I bought many traits.

An eerie silence greeted us as we descended from our horses and advanced upon them. They looked at us with tired and decisive eyes. It was obvious that our coming was something they were expecting but I still couldn't understand why they already didn't leave Lyanna and baby or the baby himself. However, the answer for this was not something I could learn so I played my part as we neared them.

Arthur stabbed his sword to the ground and greeted me. "Lord Stark."

I looked at his violet eyes which held dislike towards me. It was obvious from his opinion of me that he didn't like me that much but also didn't hate me.

"I looked for you on the Trident," I said to them while remembering the Tower of Joy scene from the TV show.

"We were not there," Ser Gerold answered.

"Woe to the Usurper, he would lie beneath the ground if we had been," said Ser Oswell.

"Your king is dead. Rheagar lies beneath the ground. Why weren't you there to protect the prince?" I asked with a steady face but nervousness was apparent on my face as I was going to face a deadly situation as soon as I came over to this world.

"Our prince wanted us here," Ser Arthur said.

I felt the air getting tenser every second and I knew I should not allow the same thing to repeat itself. A fight between two people was enough to solve this dilemma. "Let's end this here. There is no need for meaningless deaths. I'm willing to fight one of you. As long as you let Lyanna come with me if I win."

Kingsguards looked at the teacher with surprise and confusion in their eyes as they did not expect such an offer from me. From Dorne to the Wall, everyone knew their mettle at the sword and Eddard Stark was by no means a master fighter.

On the other hand, the Northern group tried to object but they quieted down when I raised my hand. Damn, these traits are really useful things.

Arthur looked at me like he wanted to accept but before he could say anything Ser Gerold spoke, "The orders of the prince are absolute. There will be no duel. Kingsguard will protect the tower until death."

What the fuck!? Dude, there is no Targaryen king left and your prince is dead. What were they even planning to do after us, stay here until the baby and Lyanna die? These fools are the worst kind of people. Here I am, trying to change history and save people from meaningless deaths and look at how these people respond to my offer! Hmph, if it is death they want then I will give them death!

[Quest: Kill a Kingsguard

Reward: 1 trait point]

Boy, this quest is a god sent. Being rewarded for something that I was already planning to do is always good.

"So you have chosen death." I have brandished my sword as the words left my mouth.

The rest of my companions followed my example, drawing out their swords as the Kingsguards prepared themselves for the inevitable clash.

Before they even realized it, I was on Ser Gerold. I swung my sword as he tried to parry. My initiative took him by surprise as he was forced back. However, the man had experience on his side. He parried my second strike and answered with a quick slash to my chest. I barely escaped from it. Why did these traits stop working? I should be like a god fighting against an ant!

While we were trading swords, my companions also advanced onto others. Four of them went to Ser Arthur and two of them went to Ser Oswell.

I swung my sword again as Ser Gerold tried to parry. It was obvious I had the advantage of skill and speed on my side. If the man had been in his prime, he would have been a tough opponent but I was younger than him and he was getting old.

While we traded swords, I saw one of my companions falling to the ground and his lifeless eyes looking at me. I guess he was Mark Ryswell. I knew I needed to end this fight quickly and go help others so I did the most unspeakable thing and kicked him between the legs.

Ser Gerold stopped in his tracks as his eyes widened and looked at me comically. He was holding his crotch with one hand and sword with the other. However, his sword was looking at the ground so I quickly grabbed the opportunity and swiped my sword. Blood gushed out of his chest and throat. He was cut from his chin down to his belly. He fell to the ground slowly.

[Congratulations! You gained 1 trait point]

His blood was still on my face when I turned to the remaining Kingsguards and saw one more falling to the ground. However, it was Ser Oswell this time as he was stabbed from behind by one of the men who was keeping Ser Arthur occupied but turned around and grabbed the opportunity by stabbing Oswell Whent.

All six of us circled Ser Arthur as he kept turning from one to another. Just as I was going to jump on him and begin assaulting him with sword strikes, a scream came from the tower behind Ser Arthur.

All of us frozen and looked at the tower. It was obvious that the screaming voice was Lyanna. I turned to Arthur and looked at him with an irritated face. "I saw your eyes before the fight, Dayne. You did not want to fight us. Lay down your weapon and let me see my sister. Or is it only me who hears her screams!"

I played for his guilt and reluctance. And indeed, it gave fruit as he sighed and lowered his weapons. He did not even look before turning around and running to the tower.

Where was he going? Was he going to kill Lyanna? These were the thoughts in our heads as I ran after him before telling them to take care of Mark's corpse and tend to their wounds.

I ran up to the stairs and went into the highest room of the tower. I saw Arthur standing before a bed. A woman of young stature was lying on the bed. Her face was pale-white and exhaustion was apparent on her face. There was also another woman standing before a crib and playing with a baby in it.

I went beside the bed and looked at Lyanna. Only then did I realized, the sheets were full of blood. I realized she was dying and she looked at me for a while and only then she recognized me.

"Ned…" Her voice cracked as she spoke. Her dead eyes were already watering. She extended her hand towards me like she wanted to grab and never release me.

This was weird because it was the first time I was seeing this woman. Arthur made space for me and I knelt before her bed and held her hand. "Lyanna," I said.

Even though it was very hard to play a caring brother, the emotions came to me naturally. This may be because of old Ned's emotions.

Lyanna's grip was too weak and I could see that she wanted to ask many questions but did not have the strength to do so. "Speak no more, sister. I will have a maester come from Nightsong. You will be okay."

What the hell were these Kingsguards thinking?! This wasn't a commoner lying on the bed, it was my sister! They should have brought a maester with them. Oh God, these feelings are foreign to me but they came naturally.

I looked at Arthur but he turned his eyes away and did not look at me. I looked back at Lyanna and saw her eyes turning hollow as seconds passed. She turned her head and looked at the woman who was standing before the crib.

She murmured something and the woman took the baby out of his crib and brought it beside us. Lyanna turned her head to me and grabbed my arm with all her strength.

"Ned…" she said, "I wanted to come back, I really did."

Wait a minute… So she went willingly but they held her here against her will. Fookin Targaryens and their mindless guards. I looked at Arthur meaningly.

"Ned, you have to protect him," Lyanna said.

I frowned and looked at the baby. Damn, this scene is really heart-broking but I have no time for this bullshit.

"Shhh, it's okay. He is my nephew, he will be raised as a Stark." I said.

Arthur tried to interject and something like the boy is a Targaryen but a look from Lyanna was enough to cow him. Damn, Lyanna is really a wolf.

"Promise me, Ned. You will protect him." She said with a heavy breath.

"I promise," I said as I kissed her bloody hands. Ewww, the blood on her hands was from her crotch.

As I was thinking about the blood on my hands, Lyanna breathed her last. Her hand on my arm slowly fell to the bed and her eyes lost their lustre. However, they were still looking at me. I felt like her eyes were looking at my soul but I was sure she was dead.

I slowly raised myself to my feet and turned to the baby. Damn, this thing was really ugly. His wrinkled face was a sight I would see in a nightmare. I took him to my arms albeit awkwardly.

"Does he have a name?" I looked at the woman and asked.

The woman shook her head but Arthur chimed in, "His name is Aemon."

I snorted. It was obvious he found the name, right now. Thanks to the system I could see his opinion of me and it was already reduced to "-5". This fuckin' Dayne thinks he has a say in this matter but I won't have it. The boy will be named Jon like in the books and TV show.

"His name will be Jon, Jon Snow, my bastard," I said while looking at Arthur with challenging eyes.

"No, I will not have you raise the prince as a bastard!" Arthur raised his voice and stood his ground.

This man… Does he really think he can do anything against what I say? I mean I could kill him right here and be done with it. Of course, it would be hard to explain it to my companions. Thus, I had to keep him alive, for now.

"Then what? Raise him in Essos and let Tywin's catspaw come after him. If you want a Targaryen prince then go to Viserys' side. I will not give Jon to you so you can barter him with lords and make plans to put him on a bloody throne." I raised my voice to the end of my words. Indeed, it was folly to introduce Jon as a Targaryen to everyone. I have no men and no spies to keep him alive against his would-be-killers.

In the end, Arthur gave up but insisted on being with Jon. I had to agree if a man like Arthur was going to protect Jon, then there wasn't going to be any problems with his safety. Though this raised another question, how was I going to explain this baby to my companions and force them to keep silent?

When we descended from the stairs, the Northmen were already waiting for us. They gawked at the sight of me holding the body of my sister and a woman who was holding a baby in tow.

Sadness was apparent in Howland's eyes as he looked at my sister. On the other hand, a trace of fury passed by William Dustin's eyes. Man, I hope this won't become a big problem.

"Is he…" William tried to ask about the baby but I cut his words short.

"He is my bastard, Jon Snow," I said.

Willian snorted at my words but still held his mouth. He was close friends with Brandon so I was not worried about him betraying his memory. The others were also not a problem because all of them were Stark loyalists. Cassels was directly sworn to the Starks of Winterfell and there was no doubt of their loyalty. Wulls were a mountain clan and they were more of a conservative type so they had no ambitions in the South. Ethan Glover was one of the men who went with Brandon to King's Landing and he was the first man who offered himself as a companion to me after we released him from his imprisonment so his loyalty was also not a question.

Unlike the other Ned, I was not going to leave the dead behind as the cart we bought was an opportunity. We put the corpses on horses and rode down the tower's rocky road. It did not take long for us to reach the cart and put the death on them. Our first stop was going to be Starfall as we were going to sail up to the King's Landing from there.

We also needed to take care of the bodies because they were going to rot as the time passed so stopping at Starfall was a good idea.

Two days later, we arrived at Starfall and they greeted us more warmly this time as Arthur was with us. As soon as we passed the gates, Ashara threw herself at Arthur's arms and cried her heart out. Damn, they always described her as a very beautiful woman but she was like a goddess. Although she did not have big tities, her arse was a handful.

We stayed for two days here. While we were staying, I don't know how it happened but Howland and Ashara got into bed and Arthur caught them red-handed. Their wedding happened under the last heart tree of Dorne, in Starfall. This Howlands was a very lucky man. I mean he got the most beautiful woman in Westeros as a wife.

Fuck it, this system is really useless. People who get systems obtain godly skills and harem but my system gives me nothing. Trait? That is not a cheat. Only "opinion" is good but the rest is nothing but trash.