Chapter 327

That night.

Him, Ygritte, Robb, Jon and Lord Stark sat in the Stark tent.

Lord Stark finished reading through the journal and then pinned him with an ice cold gaze.

Then his eyes fell on Ygritte and he frowned before looking back at him once again "This is family matter. I would rather this information is known by as few people as possible."

"Ygritte is like a family to me as well. I trust her with my life and anything you can tell me, you can tell her as well." He replied "Plus she knows."

Lord Stark nodded and carefully put both pieces of evidence on the table.

"How long have you known?" Lord Stark asked.

Before he could reply, Jon Snow spoke up "So it's true. I'm not you son?"

"You're my son Jon. Prince Rhaegar might have sired you but you'll be my son."

Jon Snow looked conflicted, confused and hurt "Why did you not tell this to Lady Stark?"

"You should have told us at least." Robb said "We're grown up now and know how to keep a secret."

He looked at Ygritte, wondering if they should even be here.

"I did not wanted to take any chances." Lord Stark said.

The three of them continued to argue with each other for the next few minutes before he finally put his foot down.

"Enough." He said and all three of them stopped talking "You can bicker amongst yourselves on your own time. My time is precious. So get to it Lord Stark."

Lord Stark started to speak but paused and took a deep breath to calm himself before he continued "How long have you known the truth about Jon?"

"For a while." He replied "A long while. I had my suspicions at first so I sent some of my men to Citadel to investigate and they found those…" he pointed at the diary and the certificate. "And Ygritte has known for a while as well. And frankly, if this whole Long Night and Civil War thing didn't happen then I would have never revealed the truth to you." He said to Jon.

The three of them remained silent for a while before he spoke once again "So… If we defeat the Lannisters, then will you support Jon?"

Jon looked horrified at the thought of sitting in the Iron throne but Lord Stark looked contemplative.

"Having a Northerner in the Iron throne will help during the Long Night." Ygritte said "And the Riverlanders and Vale Lords will support him as well."

"The Vale has declared their neutrality and the Riverlands are in shambles." Robb said.

"The Vale is no longer neutral." He said and Lord Stark looked up at him with surprise "Lady Lysa Arryn has called for her banners. She blamed the Lannisters for the death of her husband and is coming to our support."

"Thank the old gods." Lord Stark said and slumped on his chair "This is good news. Very good news. How did you came about this news Lord Bolton?"

"I have a spy network." He said.

Lord Stark didn't look very pleased at that but he didn't comment on it.

"Just so you know…" Jon spoke, breaking the silence between them "I do not want to sit on the Iron Throne. And I frankly doubt I would make for a good king."

"Perhaps." He said with a shrug "But you'll be able to aid the North in this war and that is the most necessary thing right now. Because if the Wall falls, then the whole Westeros will fall with it."

Jon looked conflicted at his words.

"You'll definitely make a better king than the one who is sitting on the Iron Throne right now." Robb said.

"What do you say Lord Stark?" he asked.

Lord Stark remained silent for a long time before he finally spoke "Even if the Riverlands, the North and the Vale united together, we would still have to fight the Lannisters before fighting the Baratheon/Tyrell alliance. Even if we win, we would lose a great many people. That would cost us during the Long Night."

The tent went silent as Lord Stark thought some more and continued "No. I… even if you want the Iron Throne, I'll not be able to support you Jon. Not if the life of every Northern man, woman and child is on the line."

Jon looked both relieved and betrayed at that.

Relieved because he didn't want to become the king in the first place. And betrayed because his own father did not support him.

Jon nodded "I understand… Uncle."

Lord Stark looked pained at that and he nodded.

"I suppose that's that then." He said "For the rest of the war, I would suggest that the Starks remain neutral. We fight the Lannisters and let the Baratheon brothers fight each other. Once we defeat the Lannisters, we'll bend the knee to whichever Baratheon brother is alive."

Lord Stark nodded and that was the last conversation he had with the Starks before they separated for the rest of the war.