VII.

The column of fire that erupted before his eyes after the tremors coming from the bowels of the earth pulverized the First Keep and everything in a radius within 10 meters of it in less than the blink of an eye.

Ned's first reaction after waking up from the momentary stupor in which the scene had plunged him was to try to step up, but it seemed that as if his legs were made of liquid and did not respond to him. Beside him Jory was lying, shaking pale and talking to himself, presumably muttering what sounded like a prayer to the old gods.

'Of course, what I have witnessed tonight has been something that does not belong to this world'

Ned reflected, trying to make some sense of what he had experienced in the last five minutes of his life. Even as he looked up at the terrifying glow, he found it difficult to accept what his eyes saw. It looked like a picture out of a nightmare, or a story from the Old Nan, yet Ned was experiencing it and seeing it. Distant screams seemed to lift him out of his hypnotic trance, staring at the comet and the torrent of dark fire blazing in the black sky.

"LORD STARK! LORD STARK!"

Getting to his knees as best he could, Ned turned his trunk and head to direct his gaze in the direction where was Vayon Poole along with Ser Rodrik, Hall Mollen and Alyn. The four men stood under the archway to the corridor that connected the armory to the north courtyard, looking scared and shocked at what they were seeing, confirming Ned that it wasn't just him and Jory who were watching it.

'Up Eddard. You are a Stark. You are the Warden and Lord Protector of the North.' He thought trying to regain his internal determination and the pose and posture that he had assumed.

'If a leader shows fear, so do his subordinates, generating even more danger. This is not just for me that I have to do or for the North, but to make sure my family is whole and hale.'

And with that thought, Ned was able to regain the vertical putting himself as straight as possible while he was trying to put a stoic mask on his facial expression again.

Ned started walking towards where the newcomers were, seeing that Jory somehow seemed to be getting over it too.

'Or that by seeing his Lord overcome fear, he has also been able.' That was something that reassured Ned in his posture and determination. In the calmest and clearest voice he could summon, he began to order what should be done to alleviate the situation.

"Poole, go and get Maester Luwin and bring him here, immediately." Ned said to his steward, with a voice that almost resembled his usual Great Lord voice, as he gave Poole a glance to let him know that he better come back with the maester as soon as possible.

"Ser Rodrik, go with my family to the Great Hall and protect them, although this seems a natural phenomenon, we cannot rule out that it could be a distraction to attack the heart of the North or the Stark house" Ned almost choked when saying what he had decided that it had to be what was happening before Ned's eyes. Ser Rodrik looked at him with a face that expressed doubt about the veracity of those conclusions but preferred to nod and head towards where he had been ordered without speaking.

"Jory, Hall, Alyn. Evacuate the entire northern part of the castle and look for the wounded or deceased among the servants or guards. After that I want you to look for me in the Great Hall, to inform me of everything. And I want you to meet the guards at the north gate to question them about what they saw before this happened, is that clear?" Eddard told them in a voice that did not admit doubts about the orders received.

"Milord." the three men nodded, heading toward the guard barracks, the armory, and the east gate.

Eddard continued alone and undisturbed under the arch that led to the north courtyard, waiting for the maester to offer him a logical and coherent solution to what his eyes saw when he looked beyond where he was.

When it was about five minutes of waiting, Ned suddenly began to feel a vibration that affected the entire castle, dislodging some loose bricks and stones from their original position, although it was not at all like the tremors that preceded the destruction of the First Keep. Feeling footsteps behind him and the clink of a chain, he turned around to find Vayon Poole with a Maester Luwin who looked shocked and misunderstood at the events of that night in Winterfell.

"Maester Luwin ..." Ned began, but before he could finish articulating the sentence he intended, it sounded as if something sucked in all the air present in the castle, forming a whirlpool around the column of fire, which suddenly vanished as sudden as it appeared. In turn, the red comet had disappeared, leaving everything in darkness except for the embers between the remains of the ancient fortress and the various lamps of the Castle. The maester's face showed that he had practically the same idea as Ned of what was happening. Ned's steward looked like he had seen the Others, mouth open and his eyes bulging out of their sockets.

"Maester, do you have an explanation for what we just saw?" Ned asked directly trying to get a clear answer about what had just happened in the last fifteen minutes of his life.

"My Lord ... I do not know for sure, but I think I have a theory." said in a hesitant voice and

without much conviction the old maester who had brought his five children into the world. Nodding his head, Ned's urged him to continue.

"You'll see my Lord, it has never been confirmed but it has always been rumored in the Citadel that Winterfell is built on top of one of the Flames of the World, hence it possesses the hot springs and hot pools. It was also the rumor behind the castle's heating system ..."

"Are you saying that I just saw one of the Flames of the World go into activity after practically an eternity with almost no sign of existing? And the Red Star?" Ned was not convinced at all by his Maester's explanation but he could not deny that it was more logical than the option he thought he had.

"My Lord, the comet is a phenomenon from the sky, which, although unusual, has been recorded sometime in the past. The only difference from this one is the color, but nothing else. They are not interrelated things my Lord. But if you want, I can send a raven to the Citadel to shed more light on what happened tonight." said this time Luwin with more confidence and shrugging.

'Magic does not exist. At this rate I'm going to look like Bran believing in the stories of the Old Nan.' Eddard was trying to convince himself internally.

"Good Luwin, send a raven describing the tremors and the column of fire, to see if they can find an explanation with more support than rumors." Ned pronounced coldly, looking at him with some reproach for not being able to offer more than an explanation, that although not discounted, it was based on gossip rather than precise knowledge.

"My Lord, I will send our faster raven." Luwin revered and marched towards the aviary to carry out his mission.

"Poole, begin a structural damage inspection of the castle. I want tomorrow evening a list with all the necessary repairs after what happened tonight, including the state of the north curtain wall."

"My Lord."

Before retiring to check on his family's condition, Ned considered approaching the rim of the newly formed crater, but this two-meter-high mountain of rubble seemed to be red hot, so he headed towards the Great Hall.

When Eddard reached his destination, Catelyn was surrounded by all the family except for Jon, who didn't seem to be anywhere. Ser Rodrik stood at the door watching the surroundings of the Great Hall. In it were Ned's children in different emotional and excited states like their Direwolfs.

Bran was sitting by the side fireplace while holding his still nameless wolf with silver-gray fur and yellow eyes. Bran's face was uneasy and doubtful, but didn't look scared at all. It was a queer an eerie grin the one Bran was sporting. Rickon was crying and clinging on the skirts of his mother who was sitting in her place of honor at the family table while Rickon's dark wolf, Shaggydog, frantically circled around the dais.

Sitting on one of the stays side benches, Sansa had an expression of having seen the Stranger itself and was hugging Robb as if Sansa's life depended on it. At her foot Lady was replicating her mistress, as was huddled over Greywind, Robb's wolf.

Ned eldest had bruises on his cheekbone from the sparring that morning with Jon, but Robb's face reflected more incomprehension and some amazement, than fear.

For her part, Arya was fascinated by the events that had happened and kept asking Robb if he knew more details about what had happened. When she noticed that Ned had entered the Great Hall, she shot out in search of him, her wolf Nymeria running excitedly behind Arya.

"Father! Have you seen it?! It has been wonderful, incredible!" Ned's daughter told him with emotion and excitement in her voice.

Arya's body was a real ball of energy that seemed unable to stay still. Her gray eyes which reminded Ned so much of his sister's were wide with fascination and enthusiasm.

'May I be able to prevent her from losing that look in her eyes.' Ned said to himself trying to swear that he would do everything possible in his power to shield his little Arya from the evils of the world.

Although a parent shouldn't have a favorite, Arya was Ned's weakness. Ned didn't know if it was because of the physical or personality resemblance to his late sister Lyanna, but he was unable to deny his youngest daughter anything.

Crouching down to be at level with Arya's face, Ned put his hands on her shoulders in an attempt to restrain her euphoria as he answered her.

"Yes Arya, I have seen it all. I was right in the north courtyard when it happened. I don't think it was wonderful, but it certainly was something incredible and never seen before." Ned said to then kissing Arya lightly on the forehead. Ned's tone trying to sound warm although Ned could barely recover from the panic that had blocked him at the moment when all happened.

"Father, are you okay?" Sansa asked with concern while had approached him. Like Rob, who was looking at Ned as if he had the same question on the tip of the tongue.

Without getting up from his position in front of Arya, giving them a warm and loving look, Ned tried to convey that everything was, is and was going to be fine.

"Yes, I am healthy and whole. The tremors made me fall hence I'm stained with dirt. But apart from that I have been able to watch the spectacle from close up. And now at least we already have an excuse to spend on the reconstruction of the First Keep. Maybe it is a project in which you can help me, Robb." Ned replied with the most affectionate and relaxed voice that he was capable of intoning, while minimizing the importance to what happened.

'The crypts are possibly in the same state as the surface. Not only has the oldest building in the North disappeared. Part of the Stark history has disappeared before my eyes.'

Inner thought that left a bitter aftertaste on Ned.

'I will be remembered as Eddard Stark, the one who lost all the Stark heritage.'

Ned thought, knowing that except for Arya, none of his children felt the north as truly theirs.

Robb's best friend was an Ironborn and hardly knows the heirs of the lords of the North. Sansa lives in a world of light and color. A world of stories of gallant knights and glorious jousts created between her mother and her Septa.

Bran wants to be a southern knight. And Rickon...Rickon was not yet aware of his surroundings.

To ingratiate himself with his wife, Ned built a Sept that had been seen as an offense against the cultural roots of the North by many of his vassals. All of them, except the Manderlys, followers of the old gods.

While Ned's children at the insistence of his wife, had been educated in The Seven and The Old Gods, in order to improve their southern prospects.

To add salt to the injury, his nephew, a Targaryen none the less, was the one with Arya who looked the most Stark. At least for Jon's dark hair and long features. The rest of Ned's children had all round faces and the typical Tully hair and eyes.

'And now the remains of the Ancient Kings of Winters have been evaporated.'

Trying to change the thoughts in his mind, Ned let out an inaudible sigh and stood up again, seeing

that Jory Cassel was coming with Andrew, one of the guards from the north gate.

"My lord, we do not have to regret any incident greater than minor bumps and bruises caused by objects and stones dropped during the tremors. However, we still can't access the area where it was the First Keep, so we can't know if there was anyone inside for sure. Although we believe that maybe there was a person inside at the time that it blew into pieces." the captain of Ned's household guard told him with a look that made Ned begin to doubt that everything was going to be okay that night.

Jory's eyes darting between Ned and his children, seemed like if Jory was trying to say something without actually meaning to say it.

"Who is that person?" Ned asked with a certain nervousness and dread that was beginning to crowd the bottom of his stomach.

There was a member of Ned's family that he hadn't seen or knew of him since noon. And Ned was beginning to fear that the person they were referring was him.

Before Jory could answer, Andrew beat Jory to it. With an expression as between guilty and dejected, the north gate guard began in a trembling tone that showed some fear towards his lord;

"Well you see, m'lord ... he usually goes every evening to the old hall of the First Keep, and today has not been the exception ... He is your son, Jon" he finished saying with a dejection that showed that he had appreciation and affection for the boy.

'Jon's like that. if you give him the trust and loyalty to open up to you, it's impossible not to have affection for him ... but because of me ... Jon, I'm finding out now , has a habit of going to the First Keep to be alone in the shadows, outside view of the world.'

Ned was not going to accept that he had failed his sister. Most likely Jon would have left the First Keep long before it blew and was in his rooms in the servants' wing.

'Yes, that must be. Cat will not have deigned to summon him as part of the family, much less after Jon's actions today. When Alyn or Hall returns, I will see that everything has been another scare in a night of scares.' Ned wanted to reaffirm himself inwardly.

However the possibility that Jon might have died had fallen over the Great Hall like a black cloud charged with negativity.

Ned's reaction to what Andrew had told him, strained his entire body. Because otherwise he could no longer stand. Arya had given a one hundred and eighty degree turn in her emotions and now she was crying uncontrollably in Robb's arms, while she glared at her mother.

The fact that Jon's Direwolf was also absent, only increased the fears that Ned's youngest daughter was right about her suspicions.

'Promise me Ned, promise me.'

Much to his dismay, Ned didn't know if he had failed his sister that night.

He was going to turn to his wife to ask if Cat knew of Jon's whereabouts, when all of the sudden a running Hall Mollen, out of breath and who seemed to have seen a ghost, slammed open the door into the Great Hall.

The surprise caused by the sudden irruption of the guard, making the Cassels and Andrew to draw their swords thinking that it was a dangerous situation. Meanwhile Sansa, like Ned's wife, let out small gasps.

Without catching his breath, Hall began to speak with such speed that no one was able to understand him.

"Hall! Easy there. Breathe. Calm down first and then tell us about what happens." Ned tried to calm his guard who seemed unable to stop shaking.

Although inside Ned was made of a sea of doubts and it was the opposite extreme of calm.

'What else can happen tonight? Jon may be dead, a fifth of the castle has been blown up in front of my eyes, the crypts have evaporated and I don't even have a half-coherent explanation of anything of what happened.'

Ned thought as he looked at his guard, while with the right hand he ordered his men to lower their swords.

"My lord ... I don't know ... how to explain it ... it is your bas ... son my lord." Hall's voice was just a trembling thread. The agitation remained although now he breathed more calmly. The face of Hall was pale, eyes absent and sweat beaded his forehead.

'By seven hells, what happened to Jon? Has died? Is he disfigured?' Something bad must be, because the face of horror did not leave Hall.

Before Ned could ask him more about it, Jon's white wolf appeared through the door, with those fathomless red eyes shining, tongue lolling out and playful tail while joining in with the other littermates.

"Snow, are you okay?"

Ned heard the voice of Vayon Poole in the distance ask with some nervousness to Jon. Who, was

still out of Ned's sight. Ned's steward voice really had a mixture of awe and dread.

When Ned's nephew got through the great door, the sigh of those present upon seeing Jon was widespread.

Under a layer of poorly shaken ash and dust with hardly a hair on the body or head, someone who looked like Jon appeared but wasn't quite Jon.

This hairless stranger who resembled Ned's nephew wore a 'Valyrian steel?' band with square red gemstones around the hairless head. He also was wearing the most extraordinary armor Eddard had ever seen and a long black silk cloak hung from his back. From which above the right shoulder protruded a black sword hilt topped by 'A RED SQUARE RUBY THE SIZE OF MY HAND?'

The stranger was all in black except for flashes of red on his cloak and on the collar of the surcoat. The armor consisting of chainmail, breastplate and back plate was made of Valyrian steel like Ned's eyes had never seen. Varying in color according to the reflections of the candlelight, ranging from dazzling polish to smoky black. Sparkling blue, red and purple jewels stood out on the rampant dragon carving of 'HOUSE TARGARYEN??!!'

'By the Old Gods, I've gone mad as Aerys. That, or that all this night is a dream, or a nightmare or magic and soon I will wake up.'

Eddard thought inwardly while he was unable to close his mouth when he contemplated the young man who looked like Ned's nephew but that it was impossible that he was.

The stranger's upright, straight posture exuded power, confidence, and command.

'Anyone could mistake his bearing and image for that of a King? A God? No, the boy who has been in my charge all his life definitely couldn't be mistaken for a King or a God. This can't be Jon.'

Behind the young man who seemed out from the legends two figures appeared with their hair and faces covered in ash and dust.

But the armor of one of them Ned would recognize it all his life. With brilliant red rubies that should be in the depths of the Trident, forming the three heads of the Targaryen dragon that seemed to emerge from the chest of the mysterious man of whom Ned had certain suspicions who could be.

'But it doesn't make sense. He's dead! I myself buried him in the grave, breastplate broken in pieces over his chest along with Lyanna and the trunk with the three dragon eggs, the marriage cloak and all the marriage certificates of Rhaegar and Lyanna.'

Ned tried to find an explanation for what his eyes were seeing. But the more he tried he was unable to understand it.

'There really are ghosts in the crypts of Winterfell tonight.' Ned laughed internally for not running away, when he could appreciate the third person in detail.

Now Ned understood Hall's previous condition

"Lya..." Ned whispered reverently rather than practically said.

Ned's eyes were about to bulge and his jaw ached from the openness of the mouth. His children who were still near the side bench, all had faces of disbelief and incomprehension. Ser Rodrik was about to pass out and Jory didn't know whether to help his uncle or help Hall who was white as parchment with eyes lost between Rhaegar and Lyanna.

But at that moment, Catelyn's voice brought them all out of the trance in which they were contemplating the three people who had just entered to return to the sight of whom undoubtedly seemed Ned's nephew, now exposed to the light of the side fireplace of the Great Hall.

From Cat's position on the family dais with Rickon on top of her lap she couldn't recognize other than what she could think of was Jon.

"Snow can you tell where did you get those clothes that armor and that sword? You haven't been stealing from the dead of your father's family, have you?" Ned's wife pronounced in an accusatory and totally hostile tone.

'Oh no! In Lya's face no!'

Ned turned to reprimand his wife for the acid comment she had made about Ned's nephew but this

one beat him out of hand.

For the first time in Ned's life, he feared Jon's possible reaction against Catelyn.

The body of Ned's nephew tensed and began to radiate a barely contained fury. Turning abruptly to face Cat and without anyone being able to see the movement, Jon put his right hand over the right shoulder and drew the most wonderful bastard sword Ned had ever seen.

The black dragonbone hilt was topped by a huge rhomboid blood red ruby, 'no...How??... that sword... that sword is...'

"BLACKFYRE!" Arya squealed in a high-pitched and excited voice.

"Black ... fyre ...?" Robb spoke at the same time as Arya, in a broken and almost mystical way. Sansa had a face of not understanding anything and Rickon even less.

Although Eddard could see how Bran didn't know whether to look with reverie at his cousin or with awe at his 'uncle?' Because obviously his wife's interruption cut off any option to start a civilized conversation that explained the seven times cursed situation that was happening that night in Ned's castle.

Fortunately the voices of Jon's cousins seemed to relax Jon somewhat as he lowered the sword but kept it in his right hand.

Turning the head towards where Robb and Arya were, Jon made an affirmative gesture and smiled at them with a smirk that Ned had never seen in the boy.

'Boy no, whatever happened to him tonight, the one before me is a man.' thought Ned trying to understand something, however little, of the situation he was living.

After that Ned's nephew closed his withering and sparkling gaze fixedly on Ned's wife to the point

of causing Cat to tremble while Jon advanced slowly until he was face to face with her.

Being Jon at sword distance of Cat, made that with the exception of Andrew who remained impassive, Jory, Hall, and even Ser Rodrik regained some composure and made the feint of going towards Jon.

But before they began to move Jon turned giving the back on Catelyn, whose face looked as if she had seen a Dragon. Then Jon raised Blackfyre towards the ceiling, standing to his full height that cast a huge shadow behind him.

With a hypnotic and sparkling look that further marked the purple streaks of Jon's eyes he spoke a few words in a firm and harsh tone, which left everyone present even more puzzled.

"Brōzio ñuha iksis daor Ionos Sōnaro, ñuha brōzi ziry iksos Aegon Targārien, ānogar hen uēpa Valyria, tresy hen pāletilla dārilaros Rhāegār Targārien se dārilaros Līāna Targārien. Se tresy hen suvion, se tresy hen perzys, Kivio Dārilaros se zaldrīzes sigligon, se dārys isse se sȳndor. Drēje dārilaros naejot se Dēmalion Āegenko, drēje dārys hen andals, se rhoynars se Ēlie Vali. Āeksio hen sīkuda Dārȳti, āeksio hen Valyrīha dāez ōregon se mīsio hen valii"

The Sound of someone clearing their voice behind him caught Ned's attention. When turned, Ned saw how the one who was undoubtedly Rhaegar Targaryen was going to speak, catching the attention of twelve of the fourteen people in the Great Hall.

Ned noticed that his nephew was looking out to someone else. Lowering his sword, Jon turned over himself again to fix a glacial and fierce gaze on Catelyn, who seemed not to know where to go.

"What MY SON has said is that HIS NAME IS NOT JON SNOW. HIS NAME IS AEGON TARGARYEN, FROM THE BLOOD OF OLD VALYRIA. SON OF CROWN PRINCE RHAEGAR TARGARYEN AND PRINCESS LYANNA TARGARYEN. THE SON OF FIRE. THE SON OF ICE. THE PRINCE WHO WAS PROMISED. THE DRAGON REBORN AND KING IN THE SHADOWS. THE LEGITIMATE HEIR TO THE IRON THRONE, THE LEGITIMATE KING OF THE ANDALS, THE RHOYNAR AND THE FIRST MEN. LORD OF THE SEVEN KINGDOMS, LORD OF VALYRIA AND PROTECTOR OF MEN." resounded in the Great Hall of Winterfell, like more than sixteen years ago one night during the Tournament of Harrenhal, that melodious, deep and penetrating voice of someone who should not be there nor alive.

The voice of a ghost from the past who now was present here with Ned's sister holding his hand while Rhaegar revealed to the world Ned's greatest secret for fifteen years kept. Kept secret even to Ned's own family and the person who was the secret himself.

The shock, surprised faces and eyes that came out like plates of all those present except for three, was broken by Ned's sister, Lyanna, whom with an eloquent look and voice that did not admit arguments spoke to Ned.

"Ned, the family to your solar, now!" after which Lyanna stormed in direction to the same place where she had summoned Ned, while dragging her husband by the arm.

Jo...'Aegon, his name is Aegon. It's going to be hard for me to get used to calling him that.' gestured to Andrew, who approached Ned's nephew to receive some kind of inaudible instruction from where he stood and after nodding the head, Ned's guard left the Great Hall.

After that his nephew left in the same direction that his real father and mother had left the hall trailed by his albino wolf.

The faces of Ser Rodrik, Jory and Hall were an authentic poem, so Ned decided to take advantage of the confusion of his men and with his most intimidating gaze, he approached their position.

"The three of you have to swear that nothing you have seen or heard will come out of your mouth, I'll talk to Poole later. Jory and Hall, if it's all safe, get all the people back to their rooms and the guards to their normal rounds. Ser Rodrik, you'll go to the door of my solar and do not let anyone in or out except the members of my entire family, is that clear?" Ned told them in a sharp and somewhat threatening voice.

A chorus of I swear, m'lord was the reply out of the three men who were dismissed from the great hall going where Ned had ordered them.

'Now to deal with my family. This is going to be harder than with the servitude.' Ned noticed at seeing the expressions of his children and wife.

Cat was absolutely decomposed having lost all her color while having a feverish look. 'It seems she has recognized my sister and Rhaegar.'

"Let's go to my solar and try to understand what happened tonight with your brother." Ned told his children because he hoped that Jon would continue to be like a brother to them even though they were not.

'And if his self-title comes true, they better be on good terms with the future King of Westeros .' Ned's children didn't seem to want to move, continuing to look at him questioningly.

So Ned tried to persuade them to obey.

"The sooner we are there, the sooner I can clear all your doubts." he intoned with a suggestive voice and with a certain invocation to obey. Something that happened to his fortune, Arya being the first to leave almost running, followed by the rest of her brothers and sister and wolves.

After the children departure Eddard shot a cold and severe look at Cat which did not accept possible discussion, so that she followed him and his children to his solar. Although Cat seemed to want to say something to Ned, she recovered her attitude as best she could rising abruptly from the dais and following after Ned to his solar.

When they reached the door of the Lord's stays there was Ser Rodrik on one side of the door as he had ordered and, to Ned's surprise, Andrew on the other. However Ned quickly realized that it must be by order of Jon that he was there. 'Four loyal eyes see better than two.'

At seeing Ned, Ser Rodrik opened the door for him with an inquiring and searching gaze. Ignoring Rodrik's look Eddard entered to find his nephew, sister and brother-in-law seated in three of the six chairs that were in the stays, not counting his own chair, placed on the right side of the room, in front of the fireplace.

Apparently Andrew had also brought a couple of cauldrons of water and a washbasin where the three Targaryens must had wiped their faces and hands. Despite this, although the silver sparkles were beginning to appear, Rhaegar's hair was still almost dark with ash and Ned's sister was not much better making her very long dark hair appear as gray.

At seeing Jon hairless next to his father, the similarities between the two were undeniable. Although the crown prince had the finest and rounder features, they had practically the same face. Both had a slender but wiry build, the father towering his son about ten centimeters in height. Both with the same indecipherable eyes which did not show a single hint of what was going through their owners' heads.

Ned's sister's eyes instead ...

'May the gods have mercy on me for the fury of those eyes.'

Eyes that had settled on Ned since the moment he had entered his solar, keeping fixed on him as he went to sit in his chair behind the desk. This was still full of the scrolls and parchments that he had been reading that night, before his wife's interruption.

The lord's solar hadn't changed much since Ned assumed the mantle of Lord of Winterfell, for it never really felt like it belonged to him. It still felt like his father's energy was in the place and therefore it didn't feel right to change anything about it. The Ironwood's large desk sat under the window and now he could gaze from his vantage point at the faces of his entire family. Including some who Ned did not yet know how they got there.

At the back of the solar were the wolf pups and at Ned's right hand were his wife and their five children, Bran, Rickon and Arya sitting on the floor next to the chair where Sansa was. Then Robb

and finally Catelyn, who from the moment sat in front of her, became the target of the daggers that Lyanna threw with the gaze.

'This may end worse than the Dance.' Ned began to fear to himself. He tried to sit in a position that conveyed some control over the situation, but was unable to stop fidgeting with his hands over his face and hair. Every time he looked up from the desk, his eyes flew to his sister, who was still focused on Cat.

The tension couldn't be cut even with the sword that Jon 'Aegon, his name is Aegon ... Although for me it will always be Jon, in honor of my adoptive father who installed all my values and my honor.' continued having unsheathed and where Jon was leaning over, while he breathed deeply with a half smile on Ned's nephew face that did not quite reach his eyes.

Ned's children looked at the three people in front of them in total disbelief, except for Arya and Bran who had faces of fascination.

'Well, I think I'm going to have to be the one to talk about the elephant in the room....'

However was Ned's sister who seemed to have decided to be the one to start the conversation

"HOW COULD YOU???!!!! On my deathbed you've promised to protect him! For all the Gods sake Ned, you have made of the King of Westeros a bastard who is abused by your wife and servitude! You swore to me with Aegon in your arms that you would put him on the Iron Throne, the only place where he would be safe! UNTIL TONIGHT Aegon did not know who his parents were!"

Ned's sister began to reproach him in a tone unrecognizable to Ned for the anger, rage and disgust that transmitted. The last words almost caused Lyanna to rise from her chair but Rhaegar grabbed her hand keeping her seated.

"Iron Throne? King of Westeros?... What are these people talking about father? why does this woman say what she says and in reference to whom she says it, and why that man whom is undoubtedly a Targaryen has convinced Jon that him is Jon's father and that Jon's name is Aegon Targaryen? Jon, what the in the seven hells has happened to your hair? Where did you get that armor, that crown, and Blackfyre? He gave it to you in exchange for..." Robb said in a suspicious and offensive voice.

Jon seemed that he was not going to allow any more questions and leaning on his sword Ned's nephew got up from the chair, placing himself in the center of the solar. His position was fully upright as Ned had never seen. Shoulders back, right arm resting on the sword and the left close to the body.

Ned's nephew began to probe the site minimally laying his eyes on him, with a mixture of sadness, disgust and pity.

'That look has already hurt me more than anything can come out tonight.'

"Robb they are my parents. Rhaegar Targaryen and my mother." Said Jon addressing to all his cousins, "your aunt Lyanna Targaryen-Stark. Prince and princess of Westeros. I am not really your half brother in blood, but your cousin..."

Aegon could not continue with his explanation, as Ned's wife interrupted. "A bastard with dragon blood, a potential Daemon."

Cat didn't even wonder why Lyanna and Rhaegar were in front of her after they had been dead for fifteen years. No. Ned's wife had to keep talking without knowing anything and in the most offensive way possible.

'By the old gods even without being my bastard son Cat still hates Aegon with all of her soul.' Lyanna was about to take the 'dagger?' that she had on her waist, but Rhaegar stopped her at the

last moment.

Seeing as the tensions did not stop of raise, Ned turned to his wife with a reproachful look.

"Cat..." he wanted to intervene to explain the situation, but Ned's brother-in-law was ahead of him closing his gaze on Ned's wife that had an effect similar to that of Jon's in the Great Hall before.

Catelyn shifted uncomfortably in her seat trying to maintain a position worthy of a great lady when Rhaegar began to talk in his harmonic voice but hard and laced with irritation.

"Lady Tully, I am glad you are here, as the entire Rebellion began on your father's land ... I am sure you remember when I passed through Riverrun with my two Kingsguards, an escort of twenty men and my wife just before your wedding to my brother-in-law Brandon. On that visit I do remember correctly, although you were not present in the discussions at your father's solar, you were at the informal feast that was offered in my honor and my wife's. Isn't so, Lady Tully?"

Despite being a ghost from Ned's past, because thanks to Catelyn he still did not quite understand what his sister and brother-in-law were doing here, the latter continued to command a respect to which few men or women would not cower. And Ned's wife for more than fifteen years was in a state like Ned had never seen her in his life. It seemed as if all of Cat's life had suddenly been sucked out of her. The eyes went deep and began to swing frantically between Ned and Rhaegar.

'What the hells happened at Riverrun? Did Catelyn know about Rhaegar and Lyanna?'Ned wondered while he watched his wife nod slightly at the Crown Prince's question.

'Or should it be King? I don't understand anything about this situation. This must all be a nightmare and sooner or later I'll wake up. It has to be. Nothing makes sense.' Ned wanted to convince himself while his brother-in-law continued with something that Rhaegar seemed to have in store for a long time.

Turning to him now, Rhaegar shot Ned a withering, questioning look.

"Tell me, Lord Stark. Did your father or maester receive a lengthy letter written by my handwriting coming from Riverrun explaining that I had discovered them in their conspiracy to overthrow house Targaryen and that only my love for Lya prevented me from acting with all the severity that the laws permitted me?" When Rhaegar finished speaking, Ned's jaw was practically touching his desk.

"Letter ... what letter? ... what conspiracy ...?" Ned said in a thin, shaky voice.

Lyanna gave a deep sigh and made a gesture towards Rhaegar that was like I told you, after which

the fury in Ned's brother-in-law's eyes gave way to 'condescension?'

"Brother-in-law, I am very afraid that you too were lied and used as one more pawn on the game board that was Westeros for your father Lord Rickard Stark, your adoptive father Lord Jon Arryn and your father-in-law, Lord Hoster Tully. All of them with the total connivance of Tywin Lannister and your close friend the Usurper, my cousin Robert. My wedding with Lyanna upset all their plans that's why my Riverrun's letter never came out and if it did it was totally ignored by

Lord Rickard..."

Ned couldn't believe what Rhaegar was saying, although Cat's reaction indicated that it was true that the prince visited her home and she had some idea of what had happened.

"I refuse to think that my father, vilely murdered by yours, was so dishonorable not only to conspire to overthrow his sworn king, but also to use his daughter as the spark to start a war ..." Ned said with all the security he could have in those moments, which was practically nil.

"Dearest Ned, I also don't think Father was so icy- hearted to use my love for Rhaegar as a cause to start a war. Also by marrying him, I renounced all my titles. That is why I gave your wife's sister, Lady Lysa Tully, a scroll written in my own handwriting. It was certified by Riverrun's maester and in it I renounced my last name Stark to save the house from the disgrace of breaking the engagement with your fucking friend. Lady Lysa had to give it to Brandon before the wedding ... but the fact was that instead of marrying Lady Catelyn, he ended up in Kings Landing demanding the head of my husband and father of my son, Brandon's nephew. In that letter, in addition to everything I communicated that he was going to be the father of a child with Ashara Dayne. Do you know who that child was? DO YOU KNOW???!!" Lyanna had risen from her chair, to face his desk, gripping the edge of it until her knuckles were white from the force she was exerting.

Lya's typically pale skin was purplish. Her eyes held infinite disappointment, guilt, anger and grief. The voice in which Ned's sister spoke, a veritable whirlwind of emotions.

"LYA I HAD NO IDEA OF ANYTHING ABOUT THIS! I SWEAR TO THE OLD GODS LYANNA! I AM UNABLE TO UNDERSTAND ANYTHING OF WHAT IS HAPPENING OR WHAT HAPPENED FIFTEEN YEARS AGO! BY SEVEN HELLS, YOU AND YOUR HUSBAND SHOULD BE DEAD, BURIED UNDER YOUR STATUE IN THE CRYPTS, BUT YOU ARE IN MY FUCKING SOLAR!!!!!" Ned screamed with a primal cry, dropping his two fist-clenched hands on the desk, blowing up all the scrolls, papers and objects that were on it.

Eddard had reached its boiling point. He couldn't take it anymore. Ned's sister, back from the dead, was accusing him of things that he had no idea about and Ned did not think he would take it anymore. He would put up with every insult and derision, well earned, in relation to Jon, but he wasn't going to be the scapegoat of what happened fifteen years ago.

Robb and Sansa were pale from the screams and violence of the conversation, Arya looked at her aunt with fascination, Bran began to have some concern in his eyes and Rickon didn't understand anything. The pups were practically frantic.

At that moment, Ned's nephew cleared his throat and approached Lya.

"Mom, take it easy." Aegon said resting the left hand on Lyanna's right shoulder. "We should first explain the situation of how we got here and how I know who I am." after that Jon turned and gave Catelyn a fierce look " If Lady Tully allows us, of course."

Catelyn, who was holding Robb's hand so tightly that it looked like she was going to break it, nodded in a lost way. 'At last I will know what the hells have happened and why they are here' Ned thought as he let out a deep breath of relief. Jon noticed this and nodded as if asking permission to continue with his explanation, to which he nodded with his eyes rather than his head. His body was beginning to feel numb. He had not slept for almost a whole day and each moment of this day was being a worse situation than the last.

"As I was saying," Jon began with an authoritative voice, returning to the center of the solar, adopting the same posture as before. It seemed an acquired tic.

'But since when does Jon have the tic of leaning on a sword when he goes to speak?' Ned thought while his nephew began to explain the story behind that night

"After an incident this afternoon with Lady Tully, I went to train alone to the First Keep ..."

"That's why you're so good all of the sudden!" Robb exclaimed, but Jon's gaze let him know that Jon wasn't going to admit any more interruptions, to the surprise and some pent-up irritation of Ned's firstborn.

"After spending I don't know how long training, seeing that it was not yet time for dinner, I decided to rest for a while. But when I fell asleep I had a dream, which I could only describe as magical and foreboding. When I woke up and saw that the red comet was lighting the sky, I thought it was a sign to pay attention to my dream ..."

Ned's nephew let out a deep sigh after which Jon continued with trembling voice "That's why I went to the crypts,"

Now Ned understood why a lamp was missing in the crypts before the eruption of the torrent of fire.

'But if Jon was in the crypts, how is it that he is whole here and not evaporated?'

Seeing that what was explained still did not really said anything to at least seven of the ten present at the solar, Jon continued

"In the crypts, when I reached the height of my mother's grave ..."

"So you're telling us that The Long Night is coming back?" Ned asked his nephew in a tired, incredulous and more strident voice than he first intended.

It was beginning to dawn when Aegon was finishing his incredible, yet possible story. 'It is plausible because there is no other explanation than black blood magic to understand how it is that not only my sister and my brother-in-law, but also my nephew have returned from death.'

"I'm not sure if it will be now, but basically the ritual was precisely to ensure Aegon's presence when it came ... what happens is that the Aegon who is here is me and not the Dragon and I have no Dragons or sisters to Help me..." Jon lost his gaze for a moment, with a dejected gesture on his body but that changed for one of greater decision quickly.

"I just know that I have to go to the beyond the Wall to find more answers ..." Jon said in resigned voice, who now preferred to be called Aegon for having lived longer under that name than with Jon's and because in the end, was his name.

Ned's nephew had removed his armor and crown, leaving only the leather ride breeches and an extraordinary black silk camisole behind which was sometimes seen, a scar about 6 centimeters wide between the sternum and the ribs.

The scar seemed to have been scorched from within, leaving the mark of a red-hot burn that throbbed in time with Aegon's heart. Both Ned and his sister Lyanna, as Rhaegar and Robb had noticed the scar, but also had avoided even staring for more than a blink or asking again for when Jon, unable to control his body, killed himself.

'Why do I feel guilty that Aegon had died? If is it how he says, even if I had been with him, I could not have done anything to prevent his death ... or could I? ... I feel like he has omitted many things when recounting his story ...' Eddard thought as he stroked Rickon's hair that long ago had fallen asleep on top of him, resting the head on Ned's shoulder.

"Hey! I am your sister too. I don't care if you have Dragon blood. That makes you even more amazing Jon!! You have lived with Visenya and flown on the Black Dread! By seven hells, you got Blackfyre!!! Why would I stop wanting to be your sister now, when I wanted to be before that you just liked to be in the shadows, moping frowning and brooding for everything, huh?" interrupted Arya, who had all night the excitement of being living her fantasy come true, while she approached to hug whom Arya undoubtedly considered her brother.

'Although I hope it isn't in the Targaryen way.' Ned feared for Arya inwardly, while casting a look of disapproval at his daughter for the language used.

Aegon's father, Ned's brother-in-law, Rhaegar, had also shed the armor he had worn for last time on the Trident, and was wearing a combination of Ned's old pants and a long shirt of Robb. It was at least curious to see the Last Dragon dressed with Stark sigils on his chest and in northern clothes. All of Rhaegar's clothes had been brought to the solar by Ned's sister aided by Andrew, who Aegon had made into a Kingsguard of sorts.

Shortly after Ned's nephew's explanation began, Lya had left with all the valuables of her husband and son to her old room in the family wing, which Eddard had taken care of keeping unscathed as if time had not passed for it.

Lyanna came back after a long time wearing riding breeches and a long gray shirt from when she was still living in Winterfell. Since she apparently already knew the story of her son, she did not mind being away for a while,

Something that Lya took the opportunity to wash herself.

Ned's heart sank when his sister returned and re-entered the castle lord's solar. Lyanna was still the same as the last time he had seen her fifteen years ago in that seven damned tower of Dorne, but now with all the life that was leaving her that time. It was unbelievable.

The only thing Ned's wife Catelyn thought about the supernatural experience experienced by everyone that night was that everything that happened was an abomination product of witchcraft and an offense to the seven. That the Targaryens were sinners heathens and they would all end up in the seven hells for witnessing that. After that rant, Cat asked to retire to her rooms, to which Eddard had to refuse, claiming that it was an occasion for the whole family to be together, that no matter how or why, now had two more members. She did not make a sound again since then. Or even make a gesture. Cat just stayed dejected in her chair, looking away and panicky 'I don't trust what Cat can do. We have not finished talking about the events of the Rebellion yet.'

As if reading his mind, Aegon turned to Ned with a sparkling but impassive gaze.

"Lord Stark, considering that in one way or another, what happened fifteen years ago is going to affect us in the present, I need to know everything that you, as well as Lady Catelyn, and as Rhaegar and my mother know." said in clear and imperative way his nephew.

One thing Ned has noted is that in all the time since Jon had revealed who he was, he had never referred to Rhaegar as father 'But he does call Lya mother, even mom to calm her down when we were arguing.'

"It's very late and no one has slept, don't you think it would be best to leave it for after resting?" Robb asked, keeping his eyes open as best he could, though unlike Bran, hadn't yawned once.

Sansa for her part, now seemed to see Jon as if he were one of the knights of her legends. The same happened with Rhaegar.

While Arya, she could be the most awake person on the solar, except for the two Targaryens and Ned's sister. 'Decree or no decree, second wife or not, eluded commitment to Robert ... I don't care about that. Lyanna was, is and will be a Stark and my sister.'

Watching Robb during the previous explanation of Aegon, Ned could saw that his eldest hadn't finished taking in any of the situation. The one who was Robb's half-brother the day before was really his cousin and a Targaryen to the boot. Robb's uncle, who Robb didn't even know that he was and whom he thought was a rapist and his aunt, had returned from the afterlife. As if these things weren't enough, the fact that Jon lived in the Conqueror's life for twenty-two years technically making him the oldest person in the solar, capped off the new reality that Ned understood Robb had to process.

'The things that Aegon must have seen and experienced living for twenty and two years in the life of the Dragon and I could tell Jon had told but naught of his life except for the real reasons behind the Conquest and what happened in Visenya's ritual.' thought Ned.

In a way, Ned was more capable than his son to accept the situation. 'In the end, even if I tried to think about it as little as possible, I've always known the truth about Aegon.'

"No Robb. I need to speak to Uncle Benjen as soon as possible ... He, or someone he knows, may know about the tree of my death, vision, dream or whatever it was ... in three days Rhaegar, my mother and I, left Winterfell towards Castle Black." answered Ned's nephew at first with just a thread of broken and absent voice, to culminate in an inflexible way and that did not allow

discussion

'It is difficult for not to obey this new Jon. Although he does not order things directly, his gestures,

looks and way of speaking compel one to do so.'

"Maybe the children should go to rest and let us adults talk, don't you think ehm?" Eddard intervened, trying to agree to Aegon's request, but without his children being present 'If things escalate as before... I don't know how the five of us are going to end up.'

'Jo...' Aegon was still in the same posture he had been almost since they had settled in the lord's solar. Sitting on the edge of the chair on the side of the stays almost against the wall of the fireplace. The posture leaning forward. Ghost on his lap which Aegon caressed with the left hand. Aegon's right arm on which his chin rested was on the knee while he observed the situation with an unseemly look for a five-and ten-day-old days of the name that his body appeared. A gaze with a glow as strong and sharp as that of the sword that now belonged to Aegon.

Arya was sitting at Aegon's feet playing with her wolf and seemed to have no intention of leaving, looking at the face she had put on. And apparently Arya's cousin thought like she, because Aegon began to shake his head while staring at Ned.

"Lord Stark, I am not the one to say how you should raise your children, or what they should do. I'm just saying that what is going to be said in here, they will know sooner or later. And I prefer that they know it directly. Prolonging the agony of secrecy and trying to keep them out of reality will not make them avoid it. There will be a day when you and your lady wife are gone and your children will have to assume their roles. Do you hope that without knowing what this world is really like, they will know how to act in it?" questioned accusingly his nephew, who did not even let Ned answer, stopping him before that with a gesture of Aegon's left hand.

"Visenya with two and ten days of her name knew how to handle the entire castle by herself. Aegon, a few months older than Robb is now, married with her. And with six and ten days of the name he fought in battles bloodier than all those of the Conquest combined. Do you really want to repeat the chain of mistakes that led to the near extinction of your family fifteen years ago? Because if one thing is clear about what happened fifteen years ago, is that my mother Lyanna Targaryen and my father Rhaegar Targaryen were happily married by the time your brother Brandon walked to his death by setting off the spark of the Rebellion. From there on, there was no going back." Ned's nephew said now with his back fully straight on the chair and his cold accusing eyes on Ned's.

"I have been in the shoes of a King and Brandon's actions would have been punished no matter what by any person with half a brain who wielded the Crown. Whether or not the accusations were real ... Tell me Lord Stark, for what reason was the last Trial of Seven held in Westeros?... What differentiated the Mad King from a true King were the reasons and ways in which he did justice. Tell me Lord Stark, what would you do if the heir of house Bolton, Umber or Manderly, accompanied along a series of minor bannermen sworn to them came to the castle gates and accused Robb of being a rapist, threatening to cut off his head in the process?" Aegon finished with an imperious voice, pointing at Ned with the right hand index finger without lowering the gaze which felt as if it were penetrating Ned's soul.

'Aegon Targaryen, because this couldn't be Jon'. fixed his questioning and cold gaze on him, waiting for an answer.

Ned expected many things, but that the first thing in the conversation about the Rebellion was to have to put himself in the shoes of the Mad King more than fifteen years ago did not enter even the remotest of his thoughts...

'He's right, it's a good question... What would I do in the situation Aegon describes? Even if Robb was guilty, allowing a bannerman to threaten to end his life is a way to weaken the power of House Stark. A bannerman must ask his lord for justice, not demand or threaten him.' Shrugging his shoulders and with a resigned voice, Eddard answered the question that his nephew asked him.

"Possibly the first thing I would do, would be to put him in shackles and take him to the dungeons to clarify the situation... And I must admit that the ways in which Brandon went to Kings Landing were not the best... His wolf blood made him that way... The fact that Aerys was the king only made the situation worse..."

However, Ned could not finish because Rhaegar prepared to intervene, rising from his chair and kneeling at the front of the desk in Ned's solar, fixing his eyes on Ned's with sorrow and regret present on them.

"Lord Stark, on behalf of House Targaryen, I want to apologize for my father's actions... He was mad and what he did was an atrocity and a crime..." Rhaegar's voice was heavy and embarrassed.

Eddard couldn't help but nod, accepting the gesture Rhaegar had made.

'At least he acknowledges his father's madness and his crimes. Would Robert do the same to

Lyanna regarding her in-laws? I doubt it very much...'

Ned's brother-in-law sat back in his chair, with a gaze towards infinity, which seemed sad and full of melancholy.

"It's my fault that my father continued on the Iron Throne... You see, the Tourney of Harrenhal where Lya and I met, was secretly financed by me. I wanted to be able to summon a Great Council of the Realm in which I would expose my father's madness and stop the plans to overthrow my house that were underway in the same movement... but the essosi eunuch, Varys," said Rhaegar with revulsion and almost spitting the name "the master of whispers, seemed to have as mission in life increase my father's paranoia and madness, as well as being very good at his job. I underestimated him and paid for it dearly." ended Rhaegar with a tone of self-reproach and guilt.

"That Varys is still the master of Whispers, isn't he Lord Stark?"asked Aegon, to which Ned nodded.

"If it's as good as Rhaegar claims he's, some action should be taken for tonight's events. Tell me, do you know how his network of information gathering operation works?" Jon questioned his father.

"I'm not sure. Jon Connington thought Varys used orphaned children to whom he cut out tongues and taught to write and read..."

Sansa's strangled sigh awakened Rickon who seemed not to know what he was still doing in Ned's solar in his father arms, already with the light coming through the window.

Eddard put his youngest on the floor giving him a pat on the head, meanwhile Robb's eyes were wide and Jon had a little restrained gesture of displeasure.

'To the things that some are willing to resort in order to amass power for their ends.' Ned thought with a bitter aftertaste at the world in which his children had to live.

Bran's expression was one of pity towards the fate of the poor orphans and Arya's was one of rage, mimicking Lyanna's. However, even if it was unpleasant and they were children, then Eddard would have to order Jory to find and gather all the children who fit the description given by his

brother-in-law, at least to interrogate them and seize all their possessions.

After the reactions of those present, Rhaegar continued his explanation in the same tone that he had begun.

"Because of Varys, Aerys left the Red Keep for the first time since Duskdale. To thwart my attempt to overthrow him. The first enemy in my father's mind was always me. And the second, Tywin Lannister. When Tywin tried to convince him to marry his daughter Cersei with me, my father not only denied the request, but humiliated him. This caused a rift between the two that led to my father's fear of Tywin. For this reason, my father also used the Tourney to make Tywin pay with Jaime, preventing him from marrying Lysa Tully... although because of my actions and what I have learned, in the long run, my father had a certain reason in his madness..." Rhaegar said laconically and blankly.

Ned could never imagine what would be to be in the boots of the son of the Mad King, but listening to his brother-in-law, what Ned could infer is that it must have been a very taxing nightmare for Rhaegar.

However, the despondency that had washed over Rhaegar left him, to harden his resolve again.

"But unlike me, my father was never able to see the political maneuver that were orchestrating between Lord Tully and Lord Arryn aided by others I do not yet know, but of whom I have my suspicions. Thanks to the death of Lord Steffon when he returned from the mad mission my father ordered him, they obtained a puppet king for their cause in my cousin, Robert Baratheon. The situation in which his parents died, ensured that the hatred for the Targaryens was imbued in his soul and at the same time his blood made him the third in the line until my brother Viserys was born." Rhaegar narrated with a tone that seemed intended to explain something to a child.

Ned was about to interrupt him, but he had decided to let Rhaegar to finish explain how the events of the Rebellion were seen from the other side.

He continued to gaze at Rhaegar, as did the rest of those present. The way of telling it surely made the children identify it with a story from the Old Nan.

'Rhaegar certainly knows how to win the audience's attention with a good story, as for now this seems like a lie to me. Jon Arryn plotting to overthrow his king? Before the long night would come ... although according to Jon, this is one is to come. After what I saw today, I have to have a more open mind.'

So Ned decided not to interrupt his brother-in-law until he finished the story.

Jon, for his part had the eyes fixed between Ned, his wife Catelyn and Jon's father Rhaegar. It was an accusatory look, with certain contempt in it.

'It is seen that he does not finish buying the story of Rhaegar either.' Ned thought while analyzing the situation.

" A Lord Paramount only marries his children to those of another Lord Paramount to form an alliance in preparation for war. Justifying it in any of the justifiable ways. If a warden or Lord Paramount wants to strengthen his position in his domain, he marries his heir to the heir of the third or fourth most powerful house. The promotion and internal struggle between the bannermen of the domain is the only way to maintain the position of lord over it. You can give me the excuse of the Riverlands harvests, but remember, which came first; your stint at the Vale with Robert, or the engagement between Brandon and your current wife? As we well know, it was the first thing ...

It was Jon Arryn's opening movement to bring the North closer to the Vale and the Storm's Lands." concluded Rhaegar with his arms and palms extended forward.

Suddenly with one sentence, it seemed like they were changing the story of Ned's life.

'Is what he's saying really possible? Everything Rhaegar's saying doesn't sound crazy. The more he explains, the less history of the Old Nan seems and the more a true conspiracy to overthrow House of Targaryen. So many coincidences begin to be suspicious ... and the times add up ...'

Ned thought inwardly while he sighed deeply.

Apparently Jon also began to see that his father might be more right than Ned's nephew initially

believed and relaxed his gaze on Rhaegar, but not on Catelyn and Ned himself.

"And Lady Tully, your lord father, whose domain is one of the most unstable in the kingdoms along with that of the Tyrells" continued Ned's brother-in-law, now addressing directly and solely to Catelyn, "auctioned you and your sister among all theWardensandLord Paramounts of Westeros until one took the bait. When they enlisted Lord Stark's support through the Vale offering him in exchange for breaking his oath a grandson who was King of Westeros, they could start their game. That's why they tried to marry Jaime Lannister to Lysa Tully and Jaime ended up in the Kingsguard." Rhaegar finished singing with sadness and sorrow.

'How can Rhaegar feel sorry for his father's murderer?'

"Jaime Lannister murdered your father whom he had sworn to defend with his life, Your

Excellence." Eddard said to his brother-in-law in a disapproving tone.

Ned didn't expect Rhaegar to react as if Robert's hammer had fallen back on his chest.

"Rhaegar, Lord Stark, Rhaegar. I am not excellence from anywhere and if I were, I doubt that anyone would want to follow one who has already died to demonstrate his ineffectiveness as a leader... Jaime had six and ten days of the name when the Sack happened... Lya has already told me... And if he killed my father it must have been because in his madness would have threatened a greater good. In addition, Jaime died fulfilling the promise he swore to me. Defending my daughter. For me, Jaime's a hero." Everything Ned's brother-in-law said and show in his expressions had completely taken Ned out of his brains.

Dejected, defeated demeanor coupled with the trembling and broken voice, with tears streaming silently down Rhaegar's porcelain-carved face.

It was a heartbreaking and hypnotic image. The mythical Rhaegar Targaryen, The Last Dragon, was totally broken in Ned's solar. Only the hand of Lya on Rhaegar's leg and a pat from Jon on the shoulder seemed to bring the prince out of the trance, to then resume with his version of the events of the Rebellion.

"House Targaryen was isolated and truly without allies by the time my father reached the Throne. The tradition of preserving the blood pure, almost completely isolated us from the typical family marriage alliances to reinforce the position of power. We depended on the dragons first, and the leadership ability in the Kings of the day, to exercise the law of the Crown."

Without Ned quite knowing why, Rhaegar looked reproachfully at Aegon who responded with a look that could kill.

'What's this all about? Does Rhaegar blame Jon for the Targaryen family incest and their form of ruling? And why is Jon offended by Rhaegar's contempt for speaking about it?'

Although Ned was beginning to see events that were unfolding long before the Rebellion in a different light, he was unable to understand the dynamic between Aegon and his recently discovered father, who continued with his tale.

"When The Unlikely failed in his attempt to curtail the power of the lords over the peasants, many great lords began to see that if they wanted, they could oppose the will of the Crown. And my father was the perfect excuse they needed to act against house Targaryen with morals on their side. They just had to wait until he burned the wrong person and the whole network of alliances would be launched against the Throne and House Targaryen. After which it would only be a matter of defeating me, the only one capable of standing up to them and taking over off all ... Jon Arryn must have been Robert'sHand, right?" Rhaegar finished his explanation having regained some composure.

Ned nodded, barely able to move.

Seeing as all the schemes and mental images he had about his adoptive father were broken to pieces, was being one of the hardest blows Ned had received in his life,

'Was I so blind in search of acceptance for being the second son that I did not realize how the people around me like was? Jon Arryn taught me what honor is. I've tried to live for it all my life. And it turns out that the difference between Jon and Tywin Lannister is that he was never going to stain his hands directly.'

Although Ned's brother-in-law was right in his reasoning, it did not exempt Rhaegar or Lyanna for having eloped without even transmitting at some point that they knew each other and had a previous relationship.

'Why didn't Lya say anything? Why did she run away with him?' since Ned now had her in front of him, and with a harsher tone than Ned intended, letting out too many emotions and getting defensive, he asked her long-stored questions.

"Why did you run away with him? By the old gods Lyanna! You were betrothed to Robert! What spirit possessed you to do such madness?"

The savage look his sister gave Ned as first reply was more like that of the huge she-direwolf, now resting in the kennels, when she was found returning from the execution of the Night's Watch deserter. 'A she-wolf that felt attacked.'

"The madness that I tried to explain to everyone! To you, to our lord father, to Brandon! Even to Lord Arryn in the Tourney! But none of you would hear about it! No!! Ned, you for example believed the word of your beloved Robert over that of your own sister." Lyanna pronounced Robert's name as if spitting it out bile and continued "You thought he would be faithful to me and I would be happy living with him. When the truth is that all he was going to do was lock myself up in a tower and use me as a brood mare until he would get bored of me and went leaving bastards through the Seven Kingdoms." Lyanna answered Ned.

Exaltation and rage in Lya's voice, her fury barely contained by Rhaegar's hand on Lya's left arm. The latter whom at times seemed to have a livid face and was piercing Ned with the gaze.

"After I was crowned in the Tourney it never occurred to you to even ask if we had spoken or if we knew each other from before hand ... no ... you reacted as if we had fucked in the middle of the stands ..." the fury, contempt and violence of Ned's sister's words were leaving everyone absolutely shocked.

"Do you remember Howland Reed?" Ned's sister asked him sharply and abruptly.

"Yes" Ned replied to his sister monotonously, frowning as he bitterly remembered Howland.

'Of course I remember him. Without him I would not be alive.'

"Did he ever tell you where I was on the second day of the jousts when supposedly I was indisposed due to feminine discomfort?" asked Lya with curiosity.

It was true that Ned's sister had been absolutely missing that day, but Ned had suspicions that she was helping Howland or Benjen as a squire. But Ned did not understand what it had to do with her and the Silver Prince.

"What? No... What does it have to do with all of that?" Ned asked his sister with confusion evident in the voice and expressions.

Lya first muttered something that was understood as cursed oath, then took a deep breath and said staring at Ned.

"I was the Knight of the Laughing Tree Ned!! Rhae and I met when he came looking for me on his father's orders and I thought he was going to burn me... so I attacked him. Although I barely bothered him, he gave up but took advantage of my doubt about what to do to dismount and unmask me... and well... then we became friends... We walked every night through the forests and the Godswood of Harrenhal. He taught me to use the sword better... Arthur Dayne was my sparring partner Ned!! The matter, we don't really know how, but we started to tell each other all of our secrets..." Ned's sister said with a half smile remembering what seemed like the best days of her life. Lyanna's voice was warm and tender.

A total change with the violence and disgust used moments before by Lya.

Arya was with her mouth wide open and looking at her aunt as if she were Visenya reincarnated

'What I was needing. Now Arya's going to want to joust, not just use the bow or the sword.'

Sansa on her part had an expression of contained surprise and confusion, while Catelyn for the first time in a while seemed to react, with a gesture of disgust and disapproval towards Lya.

'For Cat that a noblewoman enters a joust as a mysterious knight must be the antithesis of what she considers suitable or appropriate for a lady.'

Catelyn's gesture did not go unnoticed for Jon, who gave her a censuring look that plunged Catelyn back into the trance in which she had sunk all night.

Lya took the opportunity to continue how she had come to marry Rhaegar. "I had suspicions about Maester Walys and the moves father was making since Walys arrived in Winterfell, so I shared them with Rhaegar at the Tourney. Between the two of us we discovered everything my husband has told you. We think that the citadel could be involved by the role of Walys in father's contact with Jon Arryn, but we are unable to understand the motivations behind..."Ned's sister ended as looking for the answer that seemed to have within reach, but she was unable to reach it.

"Rhaegar told me in turn of his father's madness, his fears that his father would provide the ideal excuse to eradicate his family, and the plans he had to overthrow his father. And we talked how because of Aerys's madness Rhaegar had to keep up the charade of being married to Elia for the safety of her and Rhaegar's daughter with her. After Rhaenys birth, Elia couldn't have any more children and if by some miracle she did, it would've kill her..."

Now Ned's sister paused and sighed before returning to the thread of explanation. 'Without a doubt, talking about deaths in childbirth must be something that should make Lya hair's stand on end.'

"By the time of the Tourney, the marriage between Rhaegar and Elia had been annulled for more than six moons because of Elia proved infertility and Rhaenys was legitimized as Targaryen and Heir until Rhaegar would've a son." ended Lyanna as if it were something normal.

'How? What? Annulled?? Wasn't Lya the second wife? My sister was the fucking Queen of Westeros and I fought to overthrow her? For gods's sake!'

Ned was having none of it, enraged with the past.

Nevertheless Elia had a baby. Rhaegar and Elia might be annulled their vows, but Rhaegar wasn't much better than Robert, spawning bastards on his previous wife while he waited to marry the next. That is something more typical of the Unworthy than of the honorable man that Ned's sister painted Rhaegar. Ned saw the body of Elia's son, his lock of blond hair on his head crushed by Ser Gregor Clegane. Lyanna had been tricked and Ned had to make her see it.

"And the baby I saw at the foot of the Iron Throne whose son was it, huh? What differentiates Robert from your husband? While Rhaegar cajoled you, he continued to have relationships with his former wife. What about your honor?" Ned asked reprovingly and reproachfully at his sister.

'Rhaegar took advantage of Lya's immaturity, made up a story that fit the political situation in Westeros and made her fall in love with his physical appearance.' Ned quickly resolved.

But it seemed that the last thing Ned had caused in his sister was shame or regret. Instead, Lyanna suddenly tensed and moved closer to him, until she was only a few steps away from Ned.

Lya's eyes a cloudy gray from the tears that did not stop falling from them. The anger and guilt in Lya's gaze were beginning to scare Eddard.

"It was your nephew Ned!! Brandon's and Ashara Dayne's son. The product of the episode between them during the Tourney, on the first night!!! You consoled Ash when Brandon proved he had only lied to her and was not going to give up the title of Lord of the North! The mangled baby you saw in the Great Hall of the Iron Throne was the son of your brother and the woman you loved, was your nephew and you let loose his murderers!!! Where's your vaunted honor Ned???!!" Lya's screams of rage and indignation could be heard from Kings Landing.

Yet all Ned was able to hear was a kind of buzz. He felt totally numb, as if he had left his body and it was not responding. Unknowingly to him, Ned began to cry. As did Ned's sister. As did Jon, who had a face and look of understanding that did not have before.

'Robert not only did not condemn my nephew's murderers, no. He stained his corpse calling it a dragonspawn that the only thing he deserved was to die. And I did nothing but complain a little and walk away with my tail between my legs, because Jon Arryn convinced me that it was for the good of the kingdoms that Tywin was not to be punished. Jon Arryn again...'

The despair that was seizing Ned prevented him from thinking clearly. He got up from his chair behind the desk and walked over to Lyanna, trying to hold onto what he knew and had seen.

"It's not possible! How did the son of Ashara come to be passed as the heir to the Crown Prince?" Ned refused to accept what they were telling him. It couldn't be true.

When he found Aegon in the Tower of Dorne, Ned knew that there had been many lies surrounding the Rebellion, but he could not imagine the extent and depth of them. On both sides. It couldn't be that everything Ned had believed in his entire life was a lie. The Rebellion didn't just cost him his sister, brother and father. Also cost Ned the love of his life and his nephew, Ash's son.

'I would have raised him like he was mine... Ash and I could have married if Brandon had married Catelyn.'

Ned's sister pulled him out of the bottomless pit of grief in which he was beginning to drown, adopting a patronizing tone while explaining how Ned's nephew became the victim of Robert's anti-Targaryen fury.

"Thanks to Rhaegar and me, we were going to see to it that that child was not lacking for anything. But to prevent Aerys from retaliating against Elia or Rhaenys for the annulment of the marriage between Rhaegar and Elia, Ash son was presented as the ideal cover until the moment when my husband seized the power and revealed everything. After the Tourney, Ashara who was convinced she was pregnant of Brandon, left with Elia and Rhaegar to Dragonstone while I returned to Winterfell for about nine months. When I went back to the Riverlands with the excuse of Brandon and Lady Catelyn's wedding, Rhae and I would get married. If Ashara was really pregnant, her son or daughter would be born in Dragonstone on the same dates and pretend to be the son of Elia and Rhaegar."

Ned's sister's words made sense, but Eddard was unwilling or unable to understand it. Ned felt lost. He no longer knew what to believe. But Lya seemed to want to keep hitting while the steel was hot.

"When Rhaegar would ascend to the Throne, the whole situation would have been cleared up without a hitch. Since the real Aegon was in my womb from the night that Rhaegar and I got married on the Isle of Faces ... I was in Riverrun with Rhaegar, Ned. I was the wife that my husband was talking about who was accompanying him at Riverrun feast." concluded Lyanna between tears, with fury running through her body, to the point of making Lya tremble.

He was a few steps from her, but Ned's gaze was now fixed on his wife. The one who according to the recent words of Lyanna and Ned's brother-in-law, knew all the time the lies on which everything was built and never had said anything. Not only that. Catelyn actively participated.

The panicky attitude, the sweat beaded forehead, the shifting eyes between their children and her nervous hands seemed to say everything Ned needed to know.

'Has she ever cared about anything apart of status and power? Did I go to war when my wife knew that the causes of this were unjust? Did she really know that Lya and Rhaegar were married?'

It couldn't be. 'Couldn't?'

But everything fit. Political movements had been mapped out long before the gods dammed

Tourney. Long before Lyanna and Rhaegar even met. And Ned's wife had always been aware of it.

The clairvoyance at the situation caused Ned to tense his entire body as if he were heading into a battle. He turned right in front of Catelyn. Even with the tears shed for his nephew who Ned didn't even knew that he was and he had lost, accumulated on his cheeks, his gaze darkened.

With the harshest and most accusatory tone Ned was capable of muster, scaring all of his children and even Lyanna a little, he addressed Catelyn.

"Have you always known??!!!" Ned asked Catelyn, more like a statement than a question. "After

Brandon died, you still played along, you married me and you never said anything!! BY ALL THE GODS, CAT!!! Not only my family or Rhaegar and Jon's suffered from the war!! Thousands of men died because of the greed of your father and Jon Arryn!! You knew it and you could have stopped it by telling me right after our wedding! You had four days to tell me before I left again to risk my life to overthrow my own sister and my nephew!! How is it possible?" Ned ended up dejected, defeated and totally overwhelmed by the events and facts that came to light in what seemed like an endless day.

Ned's wife recovered as best she could. Crying inconsolably, she threw herself on Ned and between sobs answered him.

"The Targaryens are sinners and products of incest, Ned!! The Seven had always been desecrated by the Targaryens!! They had plunged the kingdoms into a thousand wars and they intended to take away the position of some lords and reduce the power of others..." Trying to breathe, to find the justification for her actions, Cat gave Ned a look that sought his understanding, but that was beginning to give Eddard disgust.

"Aerys's madness only reaffirmed the divine duty and obligation to remove the Targaryens from the throne. My father promised me that if I did my duty to the family, one of my daughters with Brandon would be queen and my grandchildren would be kings and princes!! Your friendship with Robert ensured that, or else Jon Arryn would take care of it sooner or later to make it real... Family, Duty, Honor. Ned, I couldn't fail to the words of my house." Catelyn ended the justification of her actions.

'All of this to put Tully blood on the bloody Throne. This is what my own wife is capable of resorting to put her grandson in that seven times accursed Throne?'

Before anyone could say anything, Catelyn knelt in front of him, clinging to Ned's legs while she implored to him. "But my lord, I swear I know nothing of your sister's letter to Brandon. Lysa never said anything to me. I swear by the seven. I swear it on the lives of our children."

After which Catelyn dissolved into a bundle of tears and convulsions at Ned's feet.

Their children, with the exception of Rickon, had a mixture of expressions of disgust, disappointment and disbelief. Rickon was crying, did not understand anything of what was happening and was clinging to Sansa.

Meanwhile Lyanna had to be held by Rhaegar and Jon so she wouldn't physically assault Catelyn. Both Targaryens had a fury in their gazes that no doubt showed why they were known as Dragons.

'Had Jon had Blackfyre with him now and I don't know if anyone would have been able to prevent him from opening Catelyn in half with it.'

Ned thought inwardly with some panic, but maybe not as much rejection as he should have felt, as he watched the murderous expression in his nephew.

Standing up straight, shoulders back, jaw set, teeth clenched in a clear sign of irritation. Jon's eyes were two pools of black interspersed with angry silvery purple streaks that seemed to come out of his eye sockets.

Jon took a deep breath and headed towards the center of the solar, but with the eyes fixed looking where Catelyn was lying, Aegon raised his voice in a tone that did not give rise to objection.

"Ser Rodrik! Andrew!"

No one reacted to Jon's actions. Ned could sense what was coming next and he knew it would need of his approval. Ned crossed eyes with his nephew and resignedly nodded to him

'Who better than the King who has had to grow up in the shadows because of me, to exercise justice?'

He thought looking for a certain positivity to the situation. When the master at arms and the guard entered, they were totally disoriented by the situation in the solar. But they were quickly taken out of their astonishment by Aegon, with an imperious and cold voice, at the same time that Ned's nephew adapted the posture of a King before dictate sentence.

"I, Aegon Targaryen, the Dragon Reborn and King in the Shadows, King of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm, find Lady Catelyn Tully guilty of high treason against the Crown and against house Stark. Hence, since today her marriage to Lord Stark has been annulled and void, she has been stripped of all power over the household or its administration, along with all her privileges in the North. Her ultimate fate will be decided in due course."

At hearing the sentence, Robb's face was indignant but he made no move to slow down his cousin. Sansa began to cry uncontrollably, asking Ned to ignore Jon. Arya seemed to be enjoying the moment, as was Lyanna. Rhaegar was impassive. It seemed that Ned's brother-in-law was not even present. Bran was beside him, glassy-eyed, grabbing hands with his Aunt Lyanna.

'Bran has always been the most empathetic in the family. Although it is Bran's mother who is the judged, it is his aunt who lost the most because of his mother.'

When Ser Rodrik tried to say something, Ned himself confirmed the sentence.

"Ser Rodrik, Andrew. Seize Lady Tully and confine her to her rooms. Nobody, nobody, except for HIS GRACE or myself enters or leaves them. Food will always be given to her by one of you two and the rest of the guard must know of Lady Tully's new status and situation."

Andrew immediately nodded his head and turned to Catelyn who began to curse and insult Ned, much to the shame of their children.

"You are a stupid northern barbarian! Brandon was a thousand times more of a man than you, you the second! Your gods have no name!! By the Seven, they are trees! You would rather support a family of sinful incest spawns of which your bastard nephew's is the last link, than your own family!! SANSA COULD HAVE BEEN QUEEN! OUR GRANDSON KING!"

Catelyn ended up screaming as she began to be dragged away by Andrew. Robb tried to intervene, but Ned quickly intervened and stopped his son, grabbing him by the arm.

"Ser Rodrik, Robb, you have already heard our King. Lady Tully has confessed her crimes without seeking trial before me, the lord of the North, and before his grace, Aegon, the rightful King of the Seven Kingdoms. His grace has exercised justice and I agree with the verdict it has reached. Therefore, Ser Rodrik, do not have me to repeat the order. And Robb, even if he's your cousin, his grace is the King. To intervene against his judgment is to intervene against the King. I hope you remember the conversations that had taken place tonight." Ned said coldly, chiding both his master at arms and his son.

Ned's nephew thanked with a nod, while Robb leaved enraged the solar. Sansa seemed to regain some composure and retired with Rickon in her arms, accompanied by Bran at her left side in the direction of their rooms.

'Robb is not used to someone close to him in age having more power than him. It will cost Robb to accept that he owe respect and loyalty to Jon as King.'

It seemed that none of those who remained in the lord's solar were in a state to retire to sleep, after everything that had happened. Ned's daughter, Arya, sitting next to Aegon on the side of the fireplace, was talking to her cousin in whispers, having their sleeping pups at their feet. The parents of Ned's new King were sitting now where before Robb and his wife were.

'No longer my wife. The first action of my nephew as king has been to annul our marriage. If Ashara was still alive...'

It was Ned's nephew who pulled him out of his musings.

"Uncle, I must thank you for what you just did. Although I am not really King of anything now, it means a world to me that you recognize me as your King. I can't be sure when, but I can promise you that the moment the Iron Throne is once again in the hands of my family, your actions will not be forgotten."

With this words Aegon had spoken, Arya seemed the happiest person on the stays. Seeing that the one she considered her brother had somehow made peace with Ned. In turn, Aegon's words confirmed what he'd been suspecting since that last night. The Targaryens had returned intending to get back what is theirs by Fire and Blood.

Rhaegar seemed to have come to the same conclusion as well, looking between excited and bewildered.

"Aegon, do you plan to recreate the Dragon's conquest? Weren't we and your mother going to go to the Wall?" the half broken and questioning voice, showed that the Crown Prince did not have them all with him at the words of Aegon.

"And that plan will not change. Even if I had Balerion, it would still be the plan. My first priority is trying to understand exactly what happened 287 years ago in Visenya's ritual and if there's any real threat beyond the Wall ..." The voice of Ned's nephew trailed off towards the end.

'Whatever he experienced in the ritual and in the Conqueror's life, it has placed an added burden on him. There are moments when it seems that he has the destiny of the world resting on his shoulders.'

Ned's thoughts were interrupted because Jon somehow managed to overcome the melancholy that was about to invade him, adapting a resigned but authoritative voice while continued.

"After that, our destination will be Braavos and Essos. We have to find my uncle and aunt. Your brother and sister, Rhaegar. We have to reunite the family and prepare a firm base from which to prepare an army loyal to us trained with the sole purpose of fighting both against the possible enemies that arise in Essos, as well as to fight those that we already know we have here in Westeros." ended sharply Ned's nephew.

Aegon's mother, Ned's sister, Lyanna, seemed to have a better idea, so she was quick to expose it.

'Lya had always been like this. If she had a thought in her head that she believed could help the situation, she would share it, crazy as it might sound. I am very afraid that that was what condemned her and Rhaegar'. Ned thought bitterly. Now that he knew exactly what happened in the Rebellion, the plan to pass off Ashara's and Brandon's son as Elia's and Rhaegar's son had every sign of being a by-product of Ned's sister.

"Egg, you have the North ... And you are unmarried ... Surely the daughter of some Warden wants to be Queen ... that would already grant you two of the Seven Kingdoms, plus the sure support of

the old loyalists to house Targaryen ..." Lya could not finish her speech, because her son interrupted her abruptly.

"You and Rhaegar are my parents, but that doesn't mean that I agree or share the ways and means in which you developed your relationship. Relationship that the only thing that provoked was to give the excuse needed to those who were waiting for the opportunity to give a fatal blow to the Targaryen dynasty. Even in the best of the success scenarios of your plans, Rhaegar's reign would have been an unstable one and one that would depend on the favor of the great lords..."Aegon said like a maester explaining a lesson to two young children. The voice was inflexible and somewhat harsh.

"If it is true that the Long Night is at our doors, I cannot allow myself to be a King who depends on his allies while I have to be aware of whether they betray me from behind because they find a better candidate to rule them. No ... We need wealth and armies of our own. We need the great lords to come looking for us, not us for them."

The barely concealed disgust at the situation the Iron Throne had found itself in recent years was evident in the irritation in Ned's nephew's voice and in the tension that exuded Aegon's body.

'Of course, seeing that everything that the Conqueror built ended up in the hands of the whims of a series of lords who really wielded power in the Kingdoms, should not sit well with Jon, who lived and experienced how the Dragon built the Seven Kingdoms. Based on his disgust and contempt at the mere idea of it, I am sure that the Conqueror never put himself in a situation of dependence on anyone and Jon has internalized it as a personal creed of his.'

Ned's daughter Arya interrupted his internal thought, at the same time that she was beating her uncle Rhaegar who seemed on the verge of complaining to his son.

"So what are you planning to do, Jon?" Arya asked in a barely audible and confused voice. Her big gray eyes, fixed on her cousin, who ruffled her hair and gave Arya a knowing smile.

"My words are Fire & Blood, Arya. And they are not just a motto. Those who accept a Targaryen restoration and bend the knee will be well received. Those who don't, will know exactly the why of those words." Ned's nephew ended with a threatening tone that left little room for doubt as to what destiny he had in mind for his enemies.

If the faces of Ned's brother-in-law and sister were a poem, he didn't want to imagine what his must look like. Ned never imagined that the shy and withdrawn boy he had raised for fifteen years was capable of instilling fear with just his voice and gesture.

'Jon's words are not vain, nor empty. He really plans to deliver Fire and Blood to all his enemies. The old Gods protect us!'

Before anyone could question Aegon, this one turned in the direction of his father and mother and began to speak in a low, firm voice that grew and grew harsher with each word.

"It is true that uncle made his mistakes due to his naivety and the ignorance of the political movements that were taking place in the shadows. It is true that my maternal grandfather was a greedy man..." Aegon said with a tone that was to some extent exonerating, but loaded with a certain contempt and anger.

'Although really, Jon is absolutely right in what he says.' Which was something that made Ned's heart compress. The more he analyzed what he knew now and what he knew before, the more rage washed over him at having been used like any other piece on the political board. Still, it seemed

that Jon's annoyance was primarily directed at his father Rhaegar, as he closed his accusing gaze on him, continuing his exposition.

"But you Rhaegar, you, you should have thought coldly and with the head between your shoulders ... You, as well you've narrated tonight, knew better than anyone the volatile situation of the Kingdoms. Situation before which you did nothing. You had a Duty not only for your family, but for the Kingdoms."

Aegon's tone of reproach and disappointment was palpable in Ned's nephew voice. Both Jon's father and mother seemed not to expect their son to lecture them on their vital choices.

'But their son really takes fifteen years out on Rhaegar and twenty years out on Lya.' Thought inwardly Ned, while sit still in his chair behind the desk, watching the trouble unfold among the Targaryens.

Without taking his cold, accusing eyes off Rhaegar, Aegon continued to teach him his lesson.

"Your Duty was for everyone and for each one of those lives that are under the power of the great lords to do with them what they want. If you really thought about doing something different, changing the situation and the current status quo, forcing them to go to war is not the ideal way to start your Reign."

The vicious verbal attack on Rhaegar made this one try to defend himself quickly, crossing his arms and looking at Jon with a deep indignation and some reproach, as if Rhaegar's son really did not know anything.

'I imagine that is how my reaction to denying the facts that I had been shown between Lya and her husband looked like. Admitting that what one believes in is wrong is not easy ... Much less should it be when it is your son who points out your own failures'

Ned's brother-in-law, Rhaegar, answered his son with a voice that had some irritation and exasperation.

"But once my father was deposed there would have been no wars! I would have betrothed you to Rhaenys, appeasing Dorne. I would have had the support of the North and..." Rhaegar began to explain himself as if teaching Aegon.

But it was seen that Jon had no intention of wanting to know any of that, stopping his father by raising a hand to let him speak.

Somewhat hesitant, Rhaegar nodded after understanding that everything in Jon's body expression implied that this was not a request, but an order.

'Since when is Jon able to exude this authority with just one gesture?'

Before Ned could delve into it, Jon's hitherto tense but still impassive gesture mutated. His brow furrowed, his eyes fixed on his father's, with a look from which the stranger himself would flee.

There was a mixture of disgust, anger, condescension, and pity in Jon's gaze.

"Tell me Rhaegar, in what scenario did your kingdom works after your wedding to my mother and

the peaceful overthrow of a mad man who burned orphaned children for stealing loaves of bread."

Before Rhaegar could answer Jon, Ned's nephew pursed his mouth and clenched his jaw, adopting a look that would kill one of the others, and raising his right hand he told Rhaegar.