92
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298 AC
The North - Winterfell
Lyanna Stark
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Ned told us that Jon Arryn is dead and that Robert is planning to head to Winterfell, and I just happen to be here. What are the chances that the time I arrive here to finally visit and see where my brother stands and the king is riding to most likely make him his next Hand?
I honestly have no clue what my brother is going to tell him, I hope he doesn't become the Hand to Robert as that would be bad news for the Targaryens. If Ned is in Kingslanding then the North is as good as lost to the Targaryen cause.
But this also has a chance to be quite good for the Targaryens as well, Aemma is now the Lady of the Vale and with that being the case she could support them. She won't do it alone though, Dorne and Vale are not enough to defeat the other kingdoms. If the dragons were big enough to threaten armies then they might be, but they're not and it will be many years until they are and war is about to happen now.
This waiting around on the edge won't last and first blood will be drawn, one of the three sides will see an opportunity and press it.
"So what are you going to do?" I ask directly while sitting in his solar, I just gave him the letters from Doran. I thought it best to have family time before bringing this all up to him but with Robert, on the way, I need to speed up my plans.
"Lyanna... I am not sure what to even say at this point." He rubs his forehead and seems to reread the letter with a sigh.
I am not sure what it exactly says but I know Doran plans to involve the North.
"Just tell me what you think about all this as Ned and not the Lord of Winterfell, what do you think about this war that is coming?" He sits up straight and looks into my eyes.
"I want nothing to do with it, I don't want the North to suffer any more than it has and I want to stay out of this mess. The Targaryens were taken down for their madness but it was mainly the mad king, there were good Targaryens as well. I went south to bring you back, I never would have thought you left willingly." My gut tightens and I feel guilt but also anger, I had left letters with Hoster Tully and he disregarded them.
He even got rid of them saying that he never had any but I know the truth, one was specifically to Robert to tell him to fuck off and one was meant to reach my father and tell him I am fine. But my father likely never got his and if Robert received his then he probably ignored it to push for the crown or just to fight the hammer-swinging fool.
"I respect that, the north never does well beyond the neck and it would be best to remain North of it. But do you think Robert will let that happen?" He frowns and closes his eyes as I search for an answer in them.
"He wants to involve me and will bring me back to Kingslanding as his Hand to do it. Catelyn says I should just deny him and stay in Winterfell and I have half the mind to do it." She is smart, but that is to be expected from the daughter of that manipulative man.
"I see, and I came and also want to involve you in one way or the other and you are wanting to just stay out of it all and remain neutral." He opens his eyes and gives a short nod.
"I would rather not fight at all, the North has enough problems without all the men marching south to take heavy casualties fighting for a throne that no one from the north will even sit. At the end of all of this, there will be no major change for the North regardless of who is sitting on the Iron Throne so why should the North bleed for it?" It's not like he is wrong, the south never does anything for the North other than take from it.
They take men and have them die in battle, they take money at ridiculous prices so we can eat because they also took our fertile ground and gave it to the Nights watch. The new gift, spitting in the face of the North is what Good Queen Alysanne Targaryen did when she gave the new gift. The Gift is wasted as no one can even live there without the fear of Wildling raiders who climbed the wall or some other method coming down and stealing their wives and killing them.
A thought slowly enters my mind and I wonder how it would play out.
"Why should the North bleed for it?" We had been quiet for a moment and he seems surprised I brought the conversation back but slowly nods.
"Yes, why should the North even involve itself?" I wasn't asked to actively negotiate for the Targaryens but I could at least try to see how he reacts to this.
"Then what about if the Targaryens gave something for them to bleed for." His brows raise.
"What do the Targaryens even have that the North would want?" He seems a bit uncomfortable but still asks.
"What about them gifting back the gift? They gave it to the Nights watch so why couldn't they just gift it back to the North?" He runs a hand over his face and leans back in his chair.
"Even if I was interested I couldn't, I knelt to Robert and I won't break my oath and attack him. I won't bring the North to fight his battles for him but I also don't want to be a Stark that breaks my oath. It's one thing to ignore him throwing his weight around and trying to involve us in a war and it's entirely different to plot against him. If what you told me is true and I do believe you wouldn't lie to me about you leaving behind letters then it's my Father in law at fault and not Robert. I won't say our friendship is what it once was but I don't believe Robert would ignore a letter from you and not tell me about it during that time. He knew how worried I was about what Rhaegar was doing to you and he wouldn't have hidden it from me." I shrug, I knew it wasn't likely to happen but I at least gave it a shot.
"You could always ask him anyway when he gets here, regardless the Mad King needed to die. But did Daeron and Rhaegar also need to die and House Targaryen lose the throne?" Lots of Lords hated the Targaryens and the Mad king only made it worse, Rhaegar and me running off was just a spark the fire needed to burn. My brother running down straight to Kingslanding and demanding Rhaegars death was admittedly stupid but so was choking him to death Infront of my burning father.
Then Robert used that to gather the troops and kill off the Targaryens and sit on the Throne himself.
The mad king deserved what happened to him for all he did but Rhaegar being killed along with his brother so Robert could take the throne was a mistake and took things too far. Rhaegar would have made a good king, at least better than what Robert has been doing. But what is done is done and they did what they did and now everything is the way it is, no going back.
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298 AC
Driftmark
Laena Velaryon
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"You called for me father?" I walk into my father's room and he is being looked over by a servant who is stitching some clothes that he is wearing.
"I did, we are heading to Sunspear and getting to the bottom of things." I nod and wonder if something is wrong with the marriage or something. He seems a bit impatient after he received word from Rhaella Targaryen the mother of my intended.
"May I ask if something is wrong?" He looks over at me and smiles.
"Nothing is wrong, I don't know if the gossip has reached your ear but for weeks not there have been people all over the place talking about dragons. They say the Targaryens have dragons and that they are in Sunspear with them and I honestly laughed hearing it at first. But something about the situation and how the two letters from Rhaella differed has me thinking." I raise a brow as he obviously is thinking there might be some truth to this rumor.
"What makes you think something is odd?" He snorts and looks back forward as the servant pats down the Sea green cloak on his body.
"They want our ships and our support and marrying Eragon to you is the way to get both, that's the clear message I received reading the first message. We were going to set up you traveling over there to stay and get to know the prince. But then a letter came and said it would probably be best to wait on your meeting until a wedding is more of a definite thing and not a 'maybe'." So they are hesitant for us to meet?
"Couldn't it just be Eragon doesn't want to marry me and not that they have dragons they are hiding?" He nods and I feel a bit saddened to know the person I am supposed to marry might not even want to meet me.
"It could be, but I also want to meet the potential king of Westeros earlier than later so it's not a bad idea to head down there anyway. We will get to the bottom of all of this and find out whether they do or don't and also get that marriage if they want our support." He turns around and walks over to me and looks into my eyes. "Don't have that look Laena, I know you want to get married and support our house but these kinds of things happen. I might even be wrong and they might actually mean what they wrote, just because an engagement was written up when you guys were young doesn't mean you will marry. Those types of engagements are broken all the time and they could just want to have you locked into something more iron tight with no room to wiggle out before they introduce the two of you." I nod and feel a bit better.
"I understand, so we are headed down there to get to the bottom of things and officially see for ourselves the 'state' of the Targaryens." He smiles and nods.
"Exactly, so no need to take my worries to heart but keep them in mind. Prince Eragon Targaryen would be lucky to marry a wonderful woman such as yourself. You are also my only child and so your marriage will be a bit different than normal. You will birth both Targaryens and Velaryons because one needs the Velaryon name and will inherit Driftmark in the future. But that's for later, now we need to get down there and find out what's going on and also see if the rumors are true or not." He looks at his clothes and nods back to the servant after he seems pleased with the changes that were made.
"Alright father, I will prepare myself and be ready to go as soon as possible." I turn to leave and head out the open door with my thoughts spinning.
I know that things are more complicated than they seem, I am not stupid enough to think that we were engaged as infants and so we really will marry. But once I learned about the engagement after asking my father why I haven't married I was honestly looking forward to marrying a Targaryen.
I always thought I would marry young and try to have as many Velaryons as possible to try and build our family back up. The idea of my kids having different names seems a bit odd but I also see why it can be a good thing.
Both our houses need a lot more people so I understand why the need to have kids with both names, it would be a loss for them if all of Eragon's kids were named Velaryon. But a child named Targaryen 'cant' inherit Driftmark so I need to also have some Velaryons as well. So I need to have quite a few children with Eragon to ensure both sides benefit from this marriage beyond just the exchange of resources.
Well, I guess I will see for sure with the way things turn out in Sunspear, I could end up not even marrying him.