6 Ulrick Dayne

Ulrick Dayne sat leant forward with his elbows on his knees and his chin on his hands. He sighed before leaning back and looking at his niece —his extremely stupid niece. "You do realise the consequences should anyone find out what you've done," He said in a grim tone.

"Yes, I-"

"No, I do not believe you do!" He shouted as he stood up causing the chair to fall on its back behind him. "There is no possible way you thought this through, had you thought this through we would not be in this situation!" He shouted, the sheer rage and frustration he felt at his niece was almost overwhelming; he wished that he had never said anything and kept himself in blissful ignorance.

"I did not have a choice uncle!" Ashara cried out with desperation in her voice. Ulrick waved her off as he kept pacing the room "You've doomed our family, you know what the rules are and you know what happens if they are broken!" He said as he put both hands on the table —his blood still boiling from his anger. Ashara stood up and gracefully walked over to her uncle "There need not be any consequences, the secret has been kept for many years, we just need to keep the royal family from discovering his mark while they are here," she suggested.

"We? It's we now?" Ulrick laughed out at the audacity.

Ashara looked at him resolutely "It's like you said uncle... if they find out our whole family is doomed, so you will help protect my son," She practically commanded. Ulrick grits his teeth as he faces Ashara's stare with one of his own; though finally he sighs and nods his head in acceptance.

"They will wonder why I've taken an interest in the boy, I have no connection to him and I've never taken a squire to this point," Ulrick said bringing up a good point.

"They won't question you, at least no one of importance will, the King is obsessed with his Stone Mask and will only focus on that for the trip," Ashara replied.

Ulrick sighed but knew she was right, the usually observant King had been distracted ever since he learnt about the possible existence of the stone mask. Ulrick thought back to Jon and his fight against Aegon; while neither had taken the fight seriously it was clear Aegon would've won a prolonged fight despite Jon possessing the Mark of Dayne. The Northern martial ability was lacking compared to their Southern counterparts. People often said that if it wasn't for the neck and the strange magics that some of the old houses still practised they would've been conquered long ago.

"Uncle, will you help my son? I need your word," Ashara asked as she placed her hand on his arm.

"I will, he shows a lot of promise considering his lack of tutoring, but you realise if he is ever discovered he will be executed," Ulrick said with a serious expression on his face.

"I will die before I ever let that happen," Ashara growled out.

"That's fine because you will be executed as well for keeping such an important piece from the royal family, a treasonable act," Ulrick replied.

"And I will be executed for even knowing and not immediately reporting you to the King, and the sanctions on our family will increase tenfold, I wouldn't be surprised if we lost Starfall and have to live in the Red Keep!" Ulrick shouted, but he quickly calmed down before walking over to the window and opening it, allowing the cool air to heat his body.

After he minute he looked back at Ashara "Why did you do it? Jon would've had a good life at the Red Keep, the best education, the best tutors, all that would be asked of him would be to serve."

Ashara laughed humourlessly "All that would be asked of him would be his freedom? A price I would not pay, look at Arthur, had you a son would you wish him to turn out the same as him?" She asked.

Ulrick shook his head "I do not like your judgement, but had it been my son I might've made the same choice so I shall not judge you, but it is still a dangerous and stupid decision," he said.

"Thank you, Uncle..." Ashara said a little tearfully, it gave her relief that her son would be looked after by a man with the reputation of her Uncle. For so long she had spent many nights sleepless as her dreams often brought her nightmarish visions of her son being killed, sometimes in the same manner as her husband and his Grandfather. 'At the back of every Targaryen is a Dayne with a bloody sword,' she thought to herself as she was reminded of the words her grandfather had once spoken to her.

She didn't want Jon to be a servant to the royal family. The moment she laid her eyes on him for the first time she knew that she wanted a better life than that —a better life than being a slave. She owed Ned a lot for taking him in, but there was no doubt he wouldn't; Jon looked at the spitting image of Brandon especially now. She was sure that there were many rumours about Jon being the bastard of Ned or a secret child of Brandon —which he was.

'My sweet child, I hope you can see me as your mother one day,'

———————————————————

Jon had left Lord Starks just a moment ago and was now making his way to the family wing of the keep. He sighed as he thought back to his conversation with Lord Stark and the King, he didn't particularly want to go back to Skagos but when you are directly requested to by the King there isn't much choice. Skagos was a land nearly as inhospitable as beyond the wall except instead of snow and ice it's full of deep valleys and sharp rocks; farming is near impossible on such terrain so they resort to hunting and fishing, but starvation is still common.

Flashes of the temple and the Stone Mask appeared in his mind. In his heart, he knew that it was best to leave such things alone, but he knew the king would never rest until he got what he wanted —he'd seen the desire and obsession in the King's eyes, something that had never ended well in his experience.

Jon smiled at a passing serving girl who blushed heavily and quickly passed him. Jon chuckled as he looked behind him watching her backside with interest.

"You're such a lech!"

Jon heard someone shout out behind him before he was hit in the side. Jon turned and smiled "Is that how you treat your favourite ward after being gone for so long Lady Stark?" Jon said as he looked at the short dark-haired girl dressed in boy's clothes.

Arya hit Jon again making him laugh "Don't call me that!" She yelled at him trying to push him.

"If you keep acting so coldly, I'll get the idea that you like Theon more than me," he said with a grin plastered on his face.

Arya made a gagging sound as she stopped hitting him and walked in step with him "Theon is a crybaby, he'll complain to anyone who'll listen about how the stupid Prince broke his hand."

Jon roughly rubbed Arya's head before pushing it making her stumble "Don't let anyone catch you disrespecting the Prince while the Royal family is staying with us, you don't want to cause your father any trouble," he told her.

Arya just stuck her tongue out at him "He is stupid, he acts like Theon with women and he hurt Robb!" She said with an unpleasant look on her face.

Jon chuckled at her antics "Don't worry I got a little revenge for Robb and humiliated him in the ring," he said with a quick wink.

Arya's eyes widened "You fought and you didn't tell me!" She shouted as she started to hit him again.

Jon caught her hand "I didn't want to interrupt your Needlework... Lady Stark," he said with a massive grin on his face before he took off running down the corridor with Arya chasing right behind him with a scowl on her face and a few expletives coming out of her mouth.

'I hope Lady Stark can't hear what she's saying...'

...

Jon and Arya after playing around went to go and visit Robb as planned. "Are you not going to see Sansa before you go?" Arya asked with a massive grin on her face as she walked in step with him —needing to walk a little bit quicker to keep up.

Jon rolled his eyes before pushing Arya making her laugh "It'll be a little easier if I can slip away without catching her attention," he replied.

Arya who was still cackling pressed her hands against her heart in a dramatic fashion "Oh Jon you'll break the poor maidens heart, especially after she gave you that piece of cloth or whatever," she said mockingly.

"It's called a favour Arya, and it was nice of her, but I think her little crush on me shouldn't go further than that, I'm a bastard and she's the daughter of a Great Lord, and Lord Stark has been good to me, I won't disrespect him by sullying the reputation of his only daughter," Jon explained.

Arya furrowed her brow "What do you mean only daughter, I'm his daughter too you know, what about my reputation?!" She asked not fully understanding what she was saying.

Jon smirked at her "Huuuhhh? I always thought Lord Stark had one daughter, you're just the son who likes embroidery," he said to her before howling with laughter at the expression of displeasure on her face. But before Arya could start another assault on the Stark ward they reached their destination.

*Knock*

*Knock*

"Robb it's me, Jon, are you in there?" Jon asked, he didn't hear any reply and went to knock again. Unfortunately for Robb, Arya wasn't as patient as Jon.

"Get up and stop crying!" Arya shouted as she shoved the door open. When the door slammed open they were both greeted by Robb who was standing naked looking out the window with his sword in his hand doing a weird 'heroic' pose. Robb turned with a horrified face as he saw them both come inside "Gods! Why didn't you knock!" He shouted as he covered his genitals with his hands, dropping the sword to the ground.

"I did knock!" Jon shouted as he covered Arya's eyes to stop her from seeing Robb's nakedness.

"Well put more power into it next time, those dainty little woman hands barely make a sound!" Robb said as he crossed the room walking over to his dresser and putting on some clothing.

Jon stood at the entrance to his room still holding his hands across Arya's face —though she was trying to peel his hands off. "Are you clothed yet, Lord? Or are there more monsters that you must slay?" Jon asked with a grin on his face.

"Fuck off!" Robb shouted as he came back around with a tunic and breeches from now on. The smirk on Jon's face pissed him off so he shoved him which only made Jon laugh "I apologise for interrupting your training my Lord, please don't hurt me!" Jon said mockingly, making Arya laugh as well.

Robb crossed his arms waiting for the two of them to stop laughing "I thought you'd be glad to see me Robb, I have been gone a few months," he asked with a smirk on his face.

"I already mourned your death..." Robb said before stepping forward and covering Arya's ears, something she wasn't happy about as she tried to fight it. "I expected you'd be killed when you were caught in Alys Karstark's bed," he said with a growing smile on his face.

"What makes you think I even bedded her, I am nothing if not respectful," Jon replied.

"We have grown up together Jon, ever since you grew your first hairs on that tiny cock of yours you couldn't help yourself," Robb said with a laugh.

"So tell me where you caught? I suppose not since you're here talking to me now," Robb said, but based on the look covering Jon's face the opposite was true.

Robb's eyes widened "Arya go and do some embroidery," he said before pushing the girl out and shutting the door —locking it this time.

Robb clapped Jon on the shoulders ignoring the banging coming from the door "How did you get away with it!?"He asked with shock, there wasn't a single word that he could think of that wouldn't get a bastard for taking their daughters Maidenhead.

Jon sighed and walked further into the room, he was hoping to avoid talking about this but he knew that Robb would get it out of him; they were as close as two men could be with each other having grown up together. "Harrion caught me on the day of my departure, I shouldn't have taken the risk... but gods Robb she was a damn fox in bed," Jon said with a sigh.

Robb laughed "I can't imagine he took to that well, what did he do, and how in the gods are you here unharmed?"

Jon walked over to the window in Robb's chambers before turning around "He threw me out of her chambers... by the window, I had to fight him and the garrison while he was in his berserker trance," he explained.

Robb looked at him with a slack-jawed expression as he approached him "I saved his father's life during one of the skirmishes we had with the wildlings, it's the only reason he didn't tell his father, but I imagine I won't be welcome in Karhold for some time," Jon said as he lent against the window.

Robb barked out a laugh "It seems the gods needed to bless you with large amounts of luck to make up for the lack of intelligence."

Jon shoved him "If I remember correctly it was you and Theon who caught that sickness on their cocks after bedding that Lynesesi whore, I told you she looked sick but both of you had your breeches down and your cocks in your hand before I could even leave the room."

Robb shook his head but unconsciously reached down as he remembered the pain of getting that disease retreated by Maester Luwin. "It's good to see you home unharmed," Robb said with a smile.

"I'm glad to be home, now tell me about this business with the Prince," Jon asked as he crossed his arms.

Robb huffed as he waved him off "The boy is a prick, he came into Winterfell acting like we should be honoured to be in his presence, I thought to put him in his place, I didn't know there would be such a difference in our skill," He explained.

Jon nodded "Lord Stark told me the South have a much higher degree of skill than the North do, the isolation of the North seems to have stopped their combat from progressing."

"With how secretive the Northern Houses can be with their own techniques and skills I can only imagine the South are a lot worse, you truly got lucky with the tutor that father got you," Robb said in agreement.

"How badly did you lose?" Jon asked.

Robb laughed humourlessly "It was bad, I could tell he didn't even put in any effort when he thrashed us, though I think Theon might be taking the loss a little harder."

"He never did like losing much, let me guess he's in the Godswood sulking while pretending to polish his bow?" Jon asked with a grin.

"Like there was any doubt," Robb responded.

"I'll be leaving again soon," Jon said after a few moments of silence between them.

"Another wildling raid?" Robb asked.

Jon shook his head "The King wants to go on an expedition to Skagos to get this stupid stone mask, I'm supposed to guide them," he said with an expression of annoyance.

"These damn Targaryens, they've stayed South for years and they come North for some stupid mask," Robb said with a shake of his head.

"I don't care, they can have it, as long as it gets them out of the North, nothing good comes from us mixing," Jon said before walking towards the door.

"Training?" Robb asked with a grin on his face.

"While the Prince is a prick it doesn't mean he's not good with a sword, I don't like my chances against him so I'm gonna have to train even harder," Jon commented with clenched fists.

Robb scoffed "Train even harder? Try not to kill yourself," he commented as Jon left the room.

———————————————————-

As planned Jon went into the Wolfswood where he began to train his sword technique. He ended up having to scale down the keep as he saw Sansa, Beth and Jeyne walking down the corridor; Jon didn't feel like talking to Sansa today, though he knew that he would have to talk with her eventually.

The day grew late as he went through his sword forms thousands of times. He did this to review and perfect each swing he made, he knew that no matter how good a swing was it could be made better and so he would repeat them until he had reached perfection. As of late Jon had realised he was a big fish in a small pond, but learning that the South were much better fighters had spurred him to get better, even if that meant leaving the North eventually. Nothing would stop him in his pursuit of strength; Jon was reminded of words that were uttered to him by Lord Stark when he was a boy.

'If one is born as a man, at least once in his life, he'll dream of becoming the strongest man alive.'

'While everyone eventually gives up I will not,' he thought to himself as he swung his sword down again —sweat flicking from his body as he did.

"Boy!"

Jon turned to the voice behind him his whole body tensed as he did 'How did I not hear him coming up on me,' he thought to himself as he turned. Behind him was a man donned in silver armour and a silver cloak, he had his helmet under his arm. It wasn't hard to figure out that it was a member of the Kingsguard who stood before him.

"Can I help you Ser Whent Does the King need something of me?" He asked though he was cautious as he could recognise the look of anger on the Kingsguard's face.

"No, I am not here for the King, but for myself," Oswell said as he dropped his helmet to the floor and unsheathed his blade.

"A bastard like you disrespecting the Prince is a crime punishable by death, but as I've been forbidden to kill you, I'll have to settle for bashing your skull in and removing your ability to fight with a sword," Oswell spat out as he flourished his sword.

Jon immediately got in a low stance with his back muscles tensed. A Kingsguard was no joke, they were the best in Westeros for a reason, even the North had heard of some of the deeds of the various Kingsguard throughout history. Jon especially had grown up hearing about the Kingsguard's actions throughout Robert's Rebellion.

"Fuck..."

(AN: I think after next chapter we will begin the Journey to Skagos. I'm pretty impatient and don't like writing filler but for the sake of character development you have to. Hope you enjoyed the chapter)

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