Chapter 13: The North

289 AC

Winterfell, The North

Catelyn Stark

It has been six years since I arrived in Winterfell, yet I can still remember the day arrived like it was yesterday, I was scared, shivering, and frightened. It has been six years since my entire world was destroyed by the Targaryens and the Lannisters. The North was a cold and unforgiving place but it was welcoming to me, as a warm hearth to a lost soul. For I was a lost child with no home to speak of.

Every night I see my family's corpses, my father, my uncle, and my siblings and all I see are their reproachful faces. All the while a dragon roars in laughter behind me. My sister's mangled corpse and my brother's headless body are the things that I see every night.

That monster Tywin took everything away from me, and if his Mad Dogs had barged into the birthing chambers I too would have been dead.

Family, Duty, and Honor, those were the Tully words and now they will die with me, my family is dead, all of them killed trying to depose the cursed Dragon Kings.

I have wept and wept until I no longer had tears to weep

I shake my head from my thoughts and come back into the land of the living when I hear the sound of children laughing, I look around to see that I am back in Winterfell, in the Great Hall breaking my fast with my family and retainers.

I see Robb and Sansa playing with their food, my sweet children, I will not allow the South to take them away,

Both Ned and I agreed to ensure that our children learn of the corruption and the evilness of the South and all of its dangers and more importantly to prevent the mistakes that Ned's father had made with his children.

Had he bothered to rein in Brandon's wildness and taught Lyanna the concept of honor and duty then none of the following disasters would have happened.

I look at my beloved Ned, talking with Ser Roderick, Ned was so unlike his brother, he was but now that I think of it, it probably saved his life.

He was kind, warm and he made me feel welcome, he nearly built a Sept for me in Winterfell but I convinced him against it, for I knew that the hatred towards all things Southern was dangerously high in the North, I even refused his offer of bringing in a Septa to Winterfell to teach the children and I decided to bring a governess from White Harbor for Sansa.

The Seven had deserted me, they abandoned my family in our hour of greatest need and they sided with the cursed Targaryens, a year after I reached the North I took the Old Gods for they ask for nothing and take nothing.

Which is more than what I could hope for. And it was for the better, the Northerners have accepted me as their Lady of Winterfell, they no longer look at me with suspicion of a Southerner for now they think of me to be a Stark and I could not be happier.

"Robb, Sansa, Don't play with your food" I admonish my children when they start throwing food at each other, Oh to be young and innocent.

I hear Ned talking with Ser Roderick, No doubt talking about the Greyjoy rebellion, for a week ago we received ravens telling us about the burning of the Lannister fleet and that the king is mandating that every Great House send no more than five hundred men.

I have no intention of allowing Ned to go and fight for Rhaegar we should not send a single Northern soldier, but since Rhaegar only asked for five hundred men, Ned has decided to send the Green Boys under Jory Cassel, if nothing else but to get battle experience.

Mayhap the Starks of Old, had it right, it was best not to get involved in the mess of the South, in the six years that I have lived in the North, it seems like heaven, without a care for the games of the South.

Just then Maester Luwin comes running into the hall, "My Lord, My Lord" He comes to the hall in great waste, I wonder what has him so worked up.

"Maester Luwin, Calm down, why are you in such haste?" Maester Luwin simply brings out a scroll of parchment and gives it to Ned, and then he catches his breath, and before I can ask Ned what is in the scroll, Maester Luwin tells me something that makes my blood boil in anger,

"King Rhaegar is in White Harbor and he has summoned you, My Lord, to White Harbor to meet with him"

For a while nobody says anything, while I seethe in anger, Rhaegar Targaryen in the North, the very thought makes me want to kill him.

"Why does he want Ned? He is already getting his soldiers and why isn't he taking care of the Greyjoys in the South and what is he doing in the North?" I snap suddenly causing my children to flinch, Rhaegar Targaryen is a person that I have grown to hate more than anything, other than Tywin Lannister and his Mad Dogs.

At the very least, Rhaegar killed Gregor Clegane and Amory Lorch, but no matter how many times they will be killed my brother and sister will never come back.

"Cat, calm down" Ned tries to calm me, hearing Ned's blue voice wash over me and the frightened faces of my children do calm me down a bit but I am still seething, then he turns to Ser Roderick "Prepare a hundred men, we ride tomorrow at first light for White Harbor"

Ser Roderick dutifully nods, "Yes, My Lord"

What does Rhaegar want? What more does he want from my family?

An hour later as I am preparing to leave the hall with my children to begin my duties for the day, a guard burst into the hall, "My Lord, Manderly riders are approaching, they are riding hard"

"Open the gates, let them in" Ned orders, the guard rushes to do as he is told.

A few minutes later, I am standing in the courtyard of Winterfell, when the Manderly riders ride in, I can see that they have been riding hard, I recognize Ser Wylis Manderly and another Manderly Knight who I believe is Ser Marlon Manderly, they look very distressed and Ser Wylis looks paler than ever. I wonder what scares them, isn't Rhaegar in White Harbor, does this have to do with him?

"Lord Stark, I came as fast as I could, I rode all night, have you received the raven" Ser Wylis frantically says as he dismounts from his horse, Ned holds him by his shoulders to steady him "Yes, I have received the raven but first, what have you so frantic, Ser Wylis" Ned tries to calm him down but Ser Wylis refuses to be calm.

"The King, the King, the King he is in White Harbor" He blubbers frantically as if somebody is after him.

"Yes, I know, he is in White Harbor, I received a summons, and I was preparing to depart for White Harbor tomorrow at first light, but why are you so afraid?"

"D...Dr...Dra...Dragon, the King has a dragon, I was sent by my father to warn you that the King has a dragon, a huge one capable of destroying entire cities" Wylis finally says after stammering, and at first, there is stunned silence.

"Surely you jest, Ser Wylis, the dragons are dead," I remark while inside I am praying to the Gods that Ser Wylis is jesting, Surely the Gods can't be that cruel, I refuse to believe such nonsense.

If Rhaegar has a dragon, then surely his tyranny will increase, even in the North we get word from the traders on how tyrannical Rhaegar has become.

"It is no jest Lady Stark" Ser Marlon speaks up, "The entire city of White Harbor saw the black dragon soar over the skies, it was a huge black beast with wildfire green eyes and wildfire green flames, its scales black as coal, and the name of the dragon is the Cannibal"

I feel the blood in my bones freezing in terror, I refuse to believe such a thing, no this can't be happening.

"The King was riding the dragon, he landed in the courtyard of the New Castle and practically demanded guest right from my father" Ser Wylis continues "Following that a fleet of nearly ten dromonds arrived in White Harbor"

For a while, there is stunned silence in the courtyard, before Ned finally says with an emotionless face "We ride at first light on the morrow, in the meantime, you are welcome to the hospitality of Winterfell, Sers"

He then leaves at a brisk pace to the Godswood.

I quickly direct the servants to prepare for our guests, after that I went to see the Maester for my morning sickness and then I head for the Godswood myself.

Godswood of Winterfell

I find Ned in his regular spot, on the stone by the pool of the Godswood, he looks to see me and gives a rueful smile "Hard to believe isn't it"

"I find myself refusing to believe even if twenty White Harbor men say otherwise," I tell Ned, and he nods "It's easier not to believe but when so many say the same story at the same time, with the same fear in their eyes, it's hard not to believe"

"What now, Ned?" I ask with fear in my voice, He doesn't say anything for a minute before he finally says "I will have to go to White Harbor, No doubt Rhaegar will want to rub it in my face"

I nod, of course, he will.

"I had thought of going to the South if nothing else but to see her son and Benjen," Ned says with a certain look in his eye, Her son, Maekar Targaryen.

At first, I hated the boy, I considered him the cause of the war, but then I after I finally found peace in the North, I didn't know what to think about him, as much as Rhaegar would say that he and Lyanna ran off together, Ned and the other Northern Lords, think otherwise.

For there are too many holes in the story, Ned believes that even if Lyanna willingly ran off with Rhaegar there is no way that she would have stayed wherever she was, if she knew that Brandon and Rickard were murdered.

As for Benjen, Rhaegar might say that it is an honor, but in the North, we know what Benjen's position in the Kingsguard is, he is a hostage.

"If you must go, Ned, then please be safe, and come back to me, come back to us" I place a hand on my stomach, indicating that I am with child.

"Are you-" He asks and I nod "My moonblood hasn't come, I am with child, and I asked Maester Luwin about my morning sickness before I came and he said I was with child"

He smiles "As long as the child is healthy, I am happy" That was another thing about Ned, he wasn't adamant that I have sons like other lords, he was simply happy to be a father. I couldn't have asked for a better husband.

I have built a new life in Winterfell from the ashes of my old life in Riverrun, I would go through the Seven Hells and back before I allow the Targaryens to take away my family again

I embrace Ned "Go, but come back to me"

A few days later

White Harbor, The North

Eddard Stark

As I ride towards White Harbor, I am filled with apprehension and dread, as much as I didn't want to believe what Ser Wylis had told me, I knew that so many men couldn't be saying the same story if it weren't true.

Then Ser Wylis points to the sky "Look, Lord Stark, like I said, the dragon"

I look up and to my horror, I see the beast that once brought Westeros to its knees.

It looks all black, like a shadow from the darkest nights, the dragon lands on a hilltop outside the city and glares at us with its baleful green eyes, those green eyes are the color of wildfire, then the beast breathes out a gout of dark-green flame into the sky and roars as if it's showing us its power, the green flames are so hot that many of us despite being a good distance away begin to sweat. Our mounts begin to panic.

I don't dare look at the beast, for the more I look at it, the more I will fear it. The green color of its eyes and flames makes me sick, it reminds me of my brother and father's death at the hands of the Mad King.

I look around and see fear in the eyes of everyone following me, I take a few minutes to collect myself and calm my mount. I turn to my men and say "If you look at it, the more it will be able to scare you, it's best not to look towards it and ride on ahead" After everyone is finally able to calm their mounts, we ride into the city.

After entering the city, I look at the faces of the people, Fear, and abject terror is writ all over their faces. I notice the presence of a few heavily armored halberdiers in the city, no doubt they must be the Royal Guard that Benjen told me about,

I ask Ser Wylis "Is Benjen here?" He shakes his head "No, only Ser Arthur and Ser Oswell of the Kingsguard are here" We continue riding towards the New Castle, I notice the presence of Targaryen soldiers in the streets, I can even see the masts of the Targaryen ships from the harbor.

Soon I arrive at the New Castle, Lord Manderly is waiting for me, on the steps outside.

He has a tight smile on his face, and I can see that he is sweating "Ned, it's good to see you"

"It's good to see you as well, Wyman, where is the King?" I ask shaking his hand.

"He is in the Merman's Court, but before you go I need to tell you something" But before Lord Manderly could continue, Ser Arthur appears "Lord Stark, come this way please"

I know better than to argue and I follow with Lord Manderly following me.

I enter the castle following Ser Arthur, I have been in New Castle multiple times before, but this time it feels alien to me, it's occupied by the Targaryen soldiers and the Royal Guard, and I can't see any Manderly soldiers.

We enter the Merman's Court, and I see three other men standing, they are Northern but they are much more shabbily dressed and for a moment I thought that they were Wildlings before Lord Manderly whispers "These are Lords Magnar, Stane, and Crowl, they came along with his grace"

The Lords of Skagos, I wonder what are they doing here, the Skagosi barely ever leave their Islands, preferring to keep themselves isolated from the Mainland.

And then I finally see him after six years, Rhaegar Targaryen, he looks just the same as he did before like he hasn't aged a day.

I can't see any lines or wrinkles on his face, which I would assume would have happened with the stress of being King, he isn't fat, like how some kings tend to be after attaining Kingship, even now he can still pass off as the Silver Prince, the word from the South is that he has become a tyrant. His crown resembles the crown of the Kings of Winter, except that it is gold and not made of steel and bronze.

He doesn't look like a tyrant but then again appearances can be deceiving.

"Your grace" I kneel before me, and he bids me rise "Lord Stark, I have been waiting for you"

I rise and he simply gives me an evil smirk before he says "I am sure that you have a lot of questions, so let's get that out of the way shall we"

I don't know what to say but I finally ask "Where did you find the Dragon, your grace?" He looks at me with an unreadable look before he says "Skagos, you must have guessed as much with the presence of the Lords of Skagos here"

I turn towards them, "How on earth did a dragon show up in Skagos and why didn't you bother telling anyone about the dragon either?"

The Magnar points to the Stane "We didn't know either, the dragon came in the Stane lands and they didn't bother telling even us"

"I find it surprising that the Starks didn't find out about this because the dragon arrived in Skagos sometime after the Dance of the Dragons, I have to wonder whether you Starks knew about the dragon and kept quiet or that you lot have such a bad hold on the North, that when a dragon shows up in the lands of your vassal that you have you no idea of it, " Rhaegar tells me with a pointed look.

"Starks don't even have contact with these Skagosi people under normal circumstances," I tell Rhaegar, I am afraid that Rhaegar will use this as a reason to punish the North.

"Even during the Skagosi rebellion that occurred during the reign of Daeron II," Rhaegar asks with a raised eyebrow.

"I swear upon the Old Gods, that I did not know this dragon," I tell Rhaegar, hoping that he won't go crazy, surely he won't be so stupid to do something of the sort but then again he now has a dragon.

"Your grace, you are being unreasonable, Lord Stark, or House Stark for that matter, barely has any contact with the Skagosi, there is no way anyone could have known the presence of the dragon when even two out of three Skagosi Lords didn't know" Lord Manderly comes to my defense, Gods bless you, Wyman.

Rhaegar thankfully leaves it at that "Yes, very well then, I will give you the benefit of the doubt, after all, you were the second son and not the heir"

"Now on to other matters" Rhaegar continues, I share a look with Lord Manderly, who shakes his head

"I hope that you are sending the minimum amount of soldiers that I have asked for," Rhaegar asks looking toward the tapestries on the wall.

"Yes, your grace, I have assembled five hundred men as you have commanded" I hope that is all the Rhaegar wants, but he wants more.

"Yes, well done, but I want something else, Lord Stark," He tells me with a certain gleam in his eye, this can't be good. "Something else your grace"

"Yes, you see I want you to come down South, and not just you but every single Lord of the North, especially the ones who have lost their fathers during the previous rebellion, because I am going to show the world what happens when you rebel"

For a while, nobody says a word before I ask "Every Lord?", He so obviously intends to scare the Northern Lords into obedience.

He nods and he turns to Lord Manderly, "You see Lord Manderly while you may pass yourself off as a blubbering, fat fool, I know who you are underneath your facade, I know that both you and Lord Umber are plotting to crown Eddard Stark King in the North the minute I die" He says with a wicked look.

Before I can say anything, he continues "So I am going to use this rebellion to showcase my power, I will show the world what I do to the rebels because once I am done with you all, I will break every bone of resistance in you, THAT YOU WILL NEVER DARE TO REBEL IN A THOUSAND YEARS" What starts as a silent seething rant ends up in an angry outburst.

"And don't even think about defending any of them Eddard Stark because I won't hear it, ask them both in your own time" He waves me off before I can even open my mouth, I don't believe that Lord Manderly and Umber were plotting to make me King but when I look at Wyman, his face tells me everything.

"I will be heading for Runestone tomorrow and after that Raventree Hall because all of you need to be reminded of exactly how lucky you are," He tells with a snarl

"I will be expecting you in a few months in Lannisport, Lord Stark" He dismisses us.

As I leave New Castle, we walk over to the courtyard where I look around and see that no one is present, then I turn to Wyman and snarl "Talk now"

Dragonstone

Rhaella Targaryen

Seeing the dragon hatchlings fly over my grandchildren's heads is not something that I will ever get used to. I hear the delighted laughter of Aegon, Maekar, and Daenerys as they play with the hatchlings, Rhaenys on the other hand was sulking, at least until Maekar brought her to play with them.

"What do we do now?" Elia asks me "Because I have no idea what to do, but I believe that it will be prudent to keep the castle on lockdown just like how Rhaegar asked us to do" I simply nod.

"Do you think Rhaegar has anything to do with this?" Elia asks me, I shake my head "No, I know that Rhaegar has something to do with this"

I turn to Ser Barristan, both he and Benjen Stark are in Dragonstone while the rest are preparing for war "No one enters in or out of the castle without Elia's or my permission" He dutifully nods "Yes, your grace"

"Nobody can know that we have dragons, not at least until Rhaegar comes," I tell Elia and she agrees.

"Well, children have you decided on names yet," Elia asks the children but Aegon shakes his head "We will wait for Kepa to come to name them"

"Can we talk, We need to talk about Rhaegar" Elia comes over to me after the children run off to the courtyard, I nod and we walk towards the gardens.

"I fear what Rhaegar might do if he finds out that the children have dragons, already people are calling him a tyrant what will they do when they find out that the dragons are back," Elia asks me, she is scared, not that I blame her. "And this is not even including what Rhaegar might do in this very rebellion, I honestly fear that Rhaegar will kill every living soul in the Iron Islands"

"I fear for that as well, no doubt there will be many attempts by many people from Lords to the Faith and the Citadel to poison or kill the dragons," I tell Elia, "With any attempt on the dragon's lives, Rhaegar will become more brutal, we need to confront him after the rebellion and hope that he listens to us" Rhaegar's tyrannical rule is causing a lot of nobles to resent the Crown, just like how it was during the time of my grandfather Aegon.

Elia doesn't seem optimistic "I doubt it, Rhaegar doesn't listen to anyone and the recent years have reinforced that"

"Whatever we do, it must happen after the rebellion," I tell her.

Rhaegar, I hope that you have not done something stupid like what my grandfather did in Summerhall.