Hard Words

Jon

He'd walked through the hallways of the newly renovated Harrenhal a few times in the past few days, they'd never felt as narrow as they did right now as he walked ahead of his uncle and Ser Jaime. He could feel how Kireina felt about the whole situation, she wanted him out of this building and away from it all.

Part of him wanted to take her up on that offer, but the situation was a true mess, a mess that would get even worse if he ran away from it.

I wish I could pack up and leave, but I'd just be delaying the inevitable.

He had to face the music.

The overcast that promised rain followed through with it's promise, fat drops of rain slowly dripping down the windows of Harrenhal as he walked past them. The rain was always peaceful and never failed to calm him down, but in this instance, his emotions were all over the place, and a little downpour wasn't going to prevent the simmering rage that had been brewing inside him ever since he stepped inside that solar.

He'd failed.

He'd told himself, over and over again that he would try his very best to prevent his siblings from losing a parent, and he'd tried to do that, even going as far as threatening war.

It was a bluff obviously, he had no intension of waging war across Westeros, especially when he'd be the reason behind it. Unfortunately, his grandmother was in the room at the time and she seemed to have a good grasp on the kind of person he was.

The King didn't know him that much but his grandmother did, and she saw right through his bluff. As soon as the King realised that war wasn't a threat Jon was going to follow through with, his chances of preventing the man from taking his uncle's head grew less and less.

"Jon." Came his uncle's voice. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath as they carried on walking through the corridors of the castle.

"Jon, listen to me." Came his uncle's voice again a few moments later.

"What!?" He snapped as he turned on his heel and looked at the man. Both him and Ser Jaime stopped as they saw the look on his face, he must have looked a picture if his uncle visibly swallowing a lump in his throat was anything to go by.

His uncle side eyed Ser Jaime before looking at him, he seemed hesitant in whatever it was he wanted to say to him.

He huffed "Please," He said as he shook his head "...he probably heard everything said in that room, didn't you Ser Jaime?" He asked the Kingsguard knight. The man raised his brow for half a second before reluctantly nodding at Jon's question.

"I heard enough, your grac..."

"Don't you fucking dare!" He interrupted, that was the last thing he wanted to hear right now.

Ser Jaime looked hesitant before he nodded, he looked at Jon in understanding but still had words on his lips.

"It's something you'll have to get used to when the news comes out. You won't hear the end of it, especially with the fact that you're the first dragonrider Westeros has seen in over a century." Ser Jaime explained.

He hated how right the Lannister knight was.

Out the corner of his eye, he could see that his uncle was still waiting to talk to him.

He sighed and looked to Ser Jaime "I need to speak with my uncle, we'll meet you in the library." He said, the Kingsguard looking back and forth sceptically between him and Lord Stark.

"His grace told me to retrieve and escort all of Lord Stark's family to the library." Ser Jaime said.

"And you will, me and Lord Stark will wait for you in the library." Jon replied, not really having the patience to be having this conversation.

Ser Jaime looked at the pair of them again, it looked like he was deciding whether or not to accept Jon's statement.

"Calm down, we're not going to run away Ser Jaime. Are we Lord Stark?" He said as he looked at his uncle. Ned shook his head.

"My whole family is currently housed in this castle. If I run, they immediately become hostages. So no, I'm not going to run away." His uncle explained, an explanation that seemed to be acceptable to the Lannister knight.

Ser Jaime sighed and turned his head to see if anybody else was in the corridor before looking back at him.

"Fine. The library is just around the corner, please be there when I return." He said, still looking reluctant to leave them both.

"Go. The sooner you leave, the sooner you can return to see if we really have ran away." He japed, hoping that it calmed the man down somewhat.

"Don't joke, the King will have my head if I manage to lose you. I won't be long." He said as he walked, practically jogged down the corridor towards the great hall.

He looked at his uncle one last time before turning around and walking towards the library, not even turning to check to see if the man was following him.

He heard his uncle jog to catch up with him "Jon." Ned said as they approached the library, two large oak doors at the end of the corridor facing them.

He opened one of the doors and entered, a quick scan of the room confirming that there wasn't anybody present. As soon as he did so, he returned to the tables near the entrance to the room, his uncle having just closed the library door behind him.

He pulled one of the chairs out, the scrape of the wood against the floor filled the awkward silence of the room. His uncle took a chair at the opposite side of the table and looked at him.

He looked back at him, a deep breath needed to not reach across the table for him.

"I appreciate what you did in there for me." His uncle eventually said.

"I didn't do it for you, I did it so Bran and Arya and Rickon didn't grow up without a father. Something I still failed to do." He answered back. He was a genuine mess of emotions at the moment and the prospect of flying off on the back of Kireina and disappearing for a week sounded so wonderful right now.

"You still tried though, it's more than I deserved given the circumstances." Ned replied as he gave him a tired smile.

"And those are?" He asked.

"That even though I still believe I did the right thing, I still lied to you all your life, I still refused to tell you about your mother for years whenever you asked, I wasn't able to keep a hold on Cat's behaviour against you." His uncle listed off.

"Your wife is a pretentious bitch." He replied back, not a single bit of regret as he looked the man in front of him right in the eyes.

Ned sighed "Whatever you think of her Jon, she's still my wife. I won't have you being disrespectful." His uncle replied back. He tried to act stern but it sounded more tired than anything.

He shook his head, a small bloom of sympathy in his heart for the man "I'm so sorry for you." He said, his uncle looking back at him in mild confusion "I've met the woman you should've married all those years ago." He continued, a sign of recognition behind his uncles eyes. "She hates you by the way." He finished.

Ned shook his head "I found out the hard way that most things in life that we wish for are impossible in the world we live in." His uncle tried to explain.

Jon narrowed his eyes "Impossible in the world we live in? I've flown thousands of miles on the back of a dragon, I've seen more of this world in the past two years than you have your whole life. These impossible things you speak of aren't impossible, you just didn't try hard enough, you settled." He replied.

His uncle looked at him coldly, it was easy to antagonise the man in the state he was currently in "It's not that simple Jon." He said, almost growling in response "If I could have married Ashara I would have, but we were at war, my hands were tied. Cat's father required me to marry his daughter in return for their support, support I needed to save your mother." He explained, a little sweat on his brow from the frustration Jon could see coursing through the man.

"And at any point did you tell Ashara this? Or did you leave her to come up with her own conclusions?" He asked, his uncle momentarily breaking eye contact with him.

He sighed "I never got the opportunity to speak with her after Harrenhal and my life was later consumed by the rebellion. I dishonoured her and to my shame, couldn't bear to face her when the war was over." His uncle admitted as he lowered his head. "We promised to marry, I couldn't bear to see the disappointment and hurt on her face when she found out I was married already. It's one of my biggest regrets." He finished.

Jon looked at the man coolly, but couldn't help but feel a bit of sympathy for him. His uncle wasn't evil, he was far from it. He'd just made a myriad of avoidable mistakes that had piled up and eventually bit him on the arse.

"You should've married her before you decided to sleep with her, that's how us bastards are created when you decide otherwise." He said to him, a little anger growing when he thought of Clarissa.

Ned shook his head as he looked at him "You're not a bastard Jon, Rhaegar and your mother were wed according to the King and Queen."

He looked at his uncle annoyed "And you think that fixes everything?" He said, Ned looking back at him a little confused "I'm a bastard, I'll always be a bastard, that shit has had seventeen years to brand itself on my mind and soul." He explained. His uncle just looked at him and sighed.

Suddenly, the library door opened, Ser Jaime entering with a relieved look on his face when he saw that him and Ned were where they said they'd be.

He stood up along with his uncle from his seat, moving around the table to stand next to the man as the whole Stark family entered the room, even Theon had turned up, probably nosey about the dragon more than anything.

He moved close to his uncle and whispered in his ear "You need to talk to Lady Ashara before it's too late." His uncle looked at him nervously but didn't get to reply as Rickon was running past Ser Jaime and colliding into Jon's side.

"Woah." He said as he placed his arm over Rickon's shoulders "Careful or you might take off." He said as he ruffled his hair.

"Rickon come here." He heard Lady Stark say as she walked into the room. His little...brother gave him a small smile before moving back to his mother.

"I'll just be outside y...Jon." Ser Jaime said, catching himself before he said something that would truly set Lady Stark off.

He nodded as the knight closed the door behind himself. Jon took a deep breath as he moved around the room and sat back down on the chair he was previously sat on.

"Are you okay Jon? I feared the worst when that monster took you." Sansa asked in a concerned tone. His uncle retook his seat and the family followed suit, only Theon was stood still, arms crossed and looking at him weirdly.

How the fuck was this going to play out? He thought to himself as Arya took a seat on his side of the table next to him.

"I'm fine Sansa, thanks for your concern. And she isn't a monster, she's a dragon." He corrected with a small smile. Sansa reluctantly nodded but he could see there were more questions she wanted to ask on the matter.

"Her name's Kireina and she's Jon's dragon." Arya blurted out to her sister across the table. The looks of disbelief on the other side of the table promised numerous questions.

"That..that thing is yours!?" Catelyn said to him, a look of disbelief and anger on her face. Sansa put her hand over her mother's hand that was rested on top of the table, to Jon, it looked more like a closed fist.

It would seem that his mind had already made up it's decision on how to deal with this whole situation, a cold stare aimed right at his uncle's wife. He opened his mouth and headed towards the point of no return.

"That "thing" as you so eloquently put it, is one of the main reasons why your husband isn't losing his fucking head!" He snapped. Worried looks were shared around the room as they looked between him and Lord Stark. His wife...well...his wife seemed hell-bent on making Jon the villain in this situation as she looked back at him in outrage and disgust.

Maybe he should just roll with it and be the villain she is so desperate for him to be.

"You dare..." She began to say before Jon was darting up to his feet, a sharp pain shooting up his arm as he banged his fist on the table. He was sure that he masked the distress he was in well as he glared back at the matriarch of House Stark.

The look on Rickon's face as Jon glared at his mother was enough to cease the cold look he was sending her way. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before moving away from the table, instead of retaking his seat, he moved to the wall next to the door and leaned against it.

He felt like a caged animal, wanting nothing but this to be over so he could escape the confines of this bloody castle.

Kireina was still close, he could feel his thoughts bouncing off of her mind.

And she wasn't best pleased with the state of mind he was currently in.

"What is Jon talking about father?" He heard Bran ask, he didn't see if he was still being looked at since his eyes were still closed. It was the only thing somewhat calming him right now.

His uncle explained everything that had happened not too long ago in that solar, Jon didn't see the facial expressions of any of them as their father struggled his way through explaining that he was going to be taking the black for what he'd done.

He did eventually open his eyes when the final verdict was explained to them though, Lady Catelyn shouting "What!?" as she rose from her chair, the legs of her seat scrapping against the floor as she did so.

And it begins.

"You can't," Arya pleaded with her father before turning to look at him, a look of betrayal on her face. "...you promised." She said to him in a small voice. All he could do was look away from her, he couldn't stand the way she was looking at him.

Lord Stark sighed "He tried his best Arya, but short of starting a war for me using that dragon of his, there was nothing else he could do." His uncle explained. He reluctantly felt a little appreciation for his uncle in that moment, his explanation enough to draw Arya's betrayed gaze away from him and down to the table, full of thought and sadness.

"And why wouldn't he fight for you, fight for us, for his family? They are trying to exile you Ned," Catelyn said as her gaze eventually fell onto him, a look of loathing that Jon was quiet frankly, coming to his wits end of seeing "...instead he just stands there, doing nothing, nothing for the only family he has known. I knew I was right about him." She growled as she shook her head, eventually looking back at her husband.

"This is how he repays you." Was the last thing she said before Jon saw red.

"REPAY YOU!?" He shouted as he pushed himself away from the wall, Catelyn did well to mask the shock of him snapping at her.

"Repay you for what? The years of scorn and hatred that's oozed from your mouth from the moment I could understand what words meant!?" He stated, moving around the table to confront her. His uncle stood abruptly to hold him off as Jon pointed at his wife.

Catelyn looked at him coldly whilst the rest of the room looked at him worryingly. Well, not everybody, Theon seemed to be loving every second of it if his small smile was anything to go by.

"What? Did you not expect me to talk to you like this in front of your husband and children? Isn't this what you wanted? Make everybody see what the real Jon Snow is, what the Jon Snow that only you see really is?" He said as he backed up from his uncle, Lord Stark looking at him in concern as he held both hands against Jon's chest to stop him from advancing.

He batted his uncle's arm away and turned around in a huff, a hand combed through his hair as he attempted to reign his ire in. Catelyn had other plans.

"Within a few months of returning, you've managed to destroy this family. We were moving on, living our lives like we should have been, but then you decided to return. And now my husband is being sentenced to live a life at the wall and my children will live the rest of their lives without a father. And you expect me to be anything but angry towards you? Are you truly that naive boy?" Catelyn spat as his uncle turned around and copied what he'd done with Jon by holding her away from him as she pointed a finger in his direction.

He let out a humourless chuckle as he looked at the Trout of Winterfell.

"Me naive? Did you of all people just call somebody else naive?" He said in disbelief with a smile on his face. He shook his head and chuckled "That is so rich coming from the likes of you, from somebody who follows some sort of 'rulebook of life' that was crafted by imaginary deities. When was the last time you had an independent thought that wasn't fuelled by the "Teachings" of your precious gods you hateful bitch." He ranted, making the woman sputter her speech.

"Jon!" His uncle snapped. The man's weak attempts to reprimand him fell on death ears yet again. His uncle was trying to play peacekeeper between him and his wife, but peace was the last thing Jon wanted with this woman.

The door to the library opened as he turned away from his uncle's gaze, Ser Jaime popping his head through the door and scanning the room before his eyes eventually landed on him.

"Is everything alright your grace?" The Lannister man said, forgetting what Jon had told him not too long ago.

He nodded at the knight "Everything is fine, I'll call you otherwise." He said, Ser Jaime nodding before closing the door behind him.

"Your grace!? Are you serious!?" He heard his uncle's wife cry. He knew as soon as he was referred to in such a way that she'd blow her top. To be honest, he couldn't tell if Ser Jaime had done it on purpose or not.

He turned and looked at her, her face full of fury as her eyes darted back and forth between him and her husband.

He sniffed, he felt like playing up to this whole royalty thing "You seemed shocked." He began as he held his hands behind his back and straightened his back "Isn't that the etiquette when speaking with a member of the royal family?" He continued. Inside he was howling with laughter at the face Lady Catelyn was pulling, some might even say she looked ill.

He carried on with his little mummers act, even if the looks he was getting from his siblings were bothering him. Most of them looked like they didn't even know him any more, Rickon just seemed confused about everything that was being said.

"A member of the royal family?" Lady Stark quietly growled, Sansa looking at her mother in concern. "If you think for a second that I'll ever refer to some jumped up bastard like you as royalt..."

"Catelyn!" His uncle snapped, a tired look on his face as he looked between the two of them. "Stop it, the pair of you. This isn't accomplishing anything is it?" He said as he looked back and forth between him and his wife, who still had a furious look on her face as she sat back down in her chair. He chose to stay standing, he felt caged sat in that chair.

"We need to get through this like civilised people, wouldn't you agree?" His uncle asked with a raised eyebrow as he looked at the pair of them.

"What is there to get through?" He asked as he leaned on the table, both palms face down as he looked back at his uncle. "They know everything now, as much as I hate what it has come to, the King has spoken and his word is apparently final." He explained, looking around the table at his siblings, no doubt cousins after this.

They'll never forgive him for this.

"War it is then." Lady Catelyn said as her eyes left her husband's defeated face and locked on him, the most determined look he'd ever seen on the woman.

He sighed and shook his head, it wasn't registering with the woman "For the last fucking time, if you think I'm just going to use that dragon to not only start a war, but to fight one, against my own flesh and blood no less, then you are insane. It's not happening whether you like it or not." He vowed, the princely act well and truly gone and in it's place, the determined bastard.

A small chuckle was heard from his uncle's wife, it was incredibly bizarre to hear that woman make any sort of noise that sound joyous.

"Who said anything about you starting a war?" Came her question, and with the tiny, barely there grin on her face, she knew something he had clearly missed.

"Cat..." His uncle growled as he tried to calm the situation, but he was interrupted by his wife.

"Do you really think the northern houses will allow their liege lord to be exiled for this? Do you think Lord Arryn, my sister's husband and liege lord of the Vale will allow a man he considers a son to be sent to the end of the world? Do you think my father, the liege lord of the Riverlands, the very lands you are currently stood in, do you think he will allow his daughter's husband and the father of his grandchildren be sentenced to a life guarding a wall amongst the rapists and murderers? Hmm?" Lady Catelyn explained, point after point, her smile growing with each one.

He shook his head and sighed "I don't know." He replied before looking at his uncle "But I don't think we will ever find out." He further said, his uncle understanding the point he was getting at.

The one vital detail Lord Stark had forgot to mention when he'd told them the punishment he would recieve.

The smile that had grown on Lady Catelyn's face was still present as she turned and looked at her husband, the slightly furrowed brow was new though.

"What is he talking about Ned?" She asked, the smile dropping by the second as her eyes bounced back and forth between uncle and nephew.

"Ned!" She snapped, making nobody but her own children jump.

A look morphed on his uncle's face, a cold look he'd never in his life seen aimed at his own wife "I advise you remember who I am, who you are talking to my lady." He said, ice gripping to each individual word. Lady Catelyn hid her shock well as the angry look on her face stayed put.

"What is he talking about?" She asked again, this time in a more calm manner.

Lord Stark looked to him then back to his wife "The crown requires a ward, and I assume it's so the very thing you just suggested doesn't happen." He said, his wife blinking and shaking her head as she looked away from her husband and looked around the table at her children, her gaze finally resting on him, a defeated look on her face.

"What's a ward?" Rickon asked as he looked between both of his parents. Jon's eyes subconsciously looked over at Theon for a split second before looking back.

He sighed, he'd just this second realised that one of them was not only losing their father, but also losing their mother as well. She was an unbearable person in his opinion but still their mother.

"A hostage." Lady Catelyn said as she carried on looking at him, a devastated look on her face.

If she was trying to make him feel sorry for her, she was wasting her time.

He'd never feel sorry for Catelyn Stark.

"You can't take them from me, I won't allow it." She said as she carried on staring at him.

"It's done Cat, the crown requires a ward to keep the peace. Nobody likes it, I Hate it, but at the end of the day, I've only got myself to blame. All I can do is apologise to whoever it is who has to go to that wretched city." His uncle said.

"Ned..." Catelyn said but her husband interrupted.

"I'm sorry Cat."

A lone tear ran down the cheek of the current lady of Winterfell, Jon did his best not to let it affect him.

"You can't just expect me to just be okay with them taking one of my babies." She said as she shook her husband's arm. Lord Stark let out a heavy sigh and looked down.

Three loud knocks echoed through the room before the library door was being pushed open, Ser Jaime entering the room.

"Sorry to disturb," He said, something Jon didn't for one second believe "...but his grace has assigned Ser Barristan here to take over my duties of watching Lord Stark and to bring his son to the great hall." He finished, his little sister sat beside him gripping his bad arm. He covered his wince as he gave her a sorrowful look before squeezing her hand and rising to his feet.

"I'm sorry that it came to this, it's not at all how I wanted this to be resolved." He said as he looked around the table. His eyes locked with Lady Catelyn's "You may hate me Lady Stark, you may even wish me dead, but I can promise you this, as long as I'm breathing, these four people," He said as he pointed to each individual Stark child "...and the one back in Winterfell will always have my love and protection. Always." He finished before giving Lord Stark one final nod, one that was returned.

It broke his heart as he walked out through the door, not wanting to catch another glimpse of their disappointed or upset looks aimed at him. Ser Barristan nodded at him, the man seemingly changing his personal feelings towards him now that he probably knew who he was.

The news was spreading thick and fast.

He didn't even reprimand the man as he referred to him as "Your grace", he just walked down the corridor in a daze, Ser Jaime keeping up with his brisk pace.

The Lannister knight probably thought he was keen to just get it over and done with but Jon had other ideas. After what had just occurred, he needed some time to himself, he needed to think. He took a left at the end of the corridor, fully aware that the great hall was down the corridor to the right.

"My Prince!" Ser Jaime said as he stood waiting at the corridor they should've have been going down "Where are you going? It's this way to the great hall." He said.

"Tell them to start without me, I have no intention of standing around like some prized cattle waiting to be auctioned." He said as he walked away from the white knight. "And stop calling me a Prince." He added.

"I can't let you go alone." Ser Jaime said as he began to follow him down the corridor. Jon just wanted to get out of this castle, get this fucking armour off and have some time to himself before he ran somebody through.

That reminded him, he should go back to his tent and retrieve his swords, Ghost will surely appreciate his relief of guard duty.

"I suggest you rethink that Ser Jaime, unless you plan on mounting a dragon? I can tell you for a fact that she wouldn't appreciate your efforts." He warned, not even waiting for a reply as he made it to the side door of the castle, the guard on duty giving him a nod as he passed.

It would seem that Ser Jaime had took his warning, a low curse heard from the man as the door was closed behind him. The fresh air almost made him moan at how lovely it felt, the steady downpour washing over his face as he looked up and closed his eyes for a few seconds. He opened his eyes a few moments later, in the distance he could just about see Kireina kiting around lazily, a simple nudge with his mind had her approaching the castle.

He upped his pace, his walk morphing into a simple jog, the weight of the steel plate preventing him breaking out into a full sprint. The plate clunking noisily as he approached the jousting grounds, the mess Kireina had made with her entrance evident for all to see. Broken stands, ripped up earth and discarded equipment laid scattered everywhere, a piece of which caught his eye.

He knelled down a picked up the discarded shield, his own shield from the joust no less. His brow furrowed as he wiped the excess dirt way from the face of it, the rain cleaning it naturally, revealing the same white paint as before, except this time, there was more. Underneath the cracked white paint revealed the blood red leaves of a weirwood tree, and on the pale trunk of said tree was a face, a smiling face.

Some would even call it a laughing face.

He stood up from where he was crouched and carried the shield under his arm as he walked back to his tent, already looking forward to relieving himself of his armour and giving Ghost a well deserved embrace. All of this was done before he was tying his harness for his swords to his back, mounting Kireina and flying off, hoping the so called gods had mercy on the soul of the person who decided to disturb him.

Ashara

"I hope Jon is okay." She heard her daughter say from her left, the pair of them stood in the great hall with most of the lords and ladies were that were currently in attendance for the tournament.

She feared for the boy, she wasn't going to lie, although, the whisperings that were spreading through the hall eased her somewhat. Jon had apparently been spotted entering the castle not too long ago, some people even saying that they saw him being escorted directly to the King's solar.

Like her and surely everybody else in this room, the King must have a million questions for him, like how in the world had he survived such an attack.

By a dragon nonetheless.

A real life dragon, both beautiful and terrifying in equal measure. Seeing Jon's limp body being carried away by this impossible creature was not something she would like to see again, and she was sure his family would rather that didn't happen either.

That included her daughter, and his sister, who was looking at her for a response to a question she was pretty sure she'd missed.

"What sorry?" She said as she looked at her only child, the spitting image of her when she was that age, everything from her height, the curve of her nose and the dark tresses that were tied up in a braid. The only thing that wasn't hers was the colour of her eye's.

They were like her father's, all Stark.

Clarissa huffed as she gave her an unimpressed look "What do you think the King is going to say?" She asked before looking back around the hall, checking to see how everybody else was handling the situation.

She'd like to see how the Stark's are handling the situation but they were escorted away by one of the Kingsguard.

She shook her head "I don't think I can answer that question sweetheart, none of us ever thought we'd see a living dragon ever again, never mind know how to deal with one."

Clarissa nodded in response whilst looking towards Oberyn's little group that consisted of him, his wife and his many daughter's, one of which smiled back at her daughter.

"I think we are about to find out." She said as she spotted a line of Kingsguard ushering in the King and Queen into the room, the rest of the royal family following them up to the head table and standing behind it. Every single one of them looked serious as they took their seats, everybody else in the room waiting with bated breath to see what the monarchs had to say.

As soon as the royal family had taken their seats, the King was almost instantly rising to his feat to address the large group of nobles in front of him.

He cleared his throat "Thank you, my lords and ladies for swiftly convening inside this great hall. Like we did, I'm sure you have many questions about the incident that occurred a few moments ago on the jousting yard." He said. She realised that this was the first time she'd seen Rhaegar look this uncomfortable in years, Elia looking almost identical to her husband as she sat and listened, eyes scanning the room.

A humourless laugh sounded not too far away from her, turning, she could see Lady Olenna Tyrell stood with her son and his wife, Lord Mace and Lady Alerie, and two of her grandson's, Lord Willas and Lord Garlan.

"I think I speak for everybody in this room when I say we've got a very big problem on our hands your grace. One that I assume has been spoken about in length with the Starks?" The suitably named The Queen of Thorns said to their King.

The King faintly smiled at the older woman "You would be correct with your assumption, Lady Olenna. We've been speaking with our Warden of the North in great detail, some things have been brought to light and we're hear to impart this information on everybody in this room."

"The boy." A voice spoke, everybody turning and noticing the Warden of the West, Lord Tywin Lannister, looking up coolly at the King "He has been located?" He asked, a few surprised faces popping up in the crowd.

Lord Tywin shouldn't care. From what she's heard, he barely cares about his own children, why would he care about somebody else's?

Rhaegar gave the older man a curt nod, murmurings erupted around the room as the head of House Lannister nodded back. Either her eyes were playing tricks on her but she was pretty sure she saw a small grin appear on the stern lord. Her go to emotion seeing the famously serious warden smile was concern.

"And is he in one piece?" Another voice sounded out, more familiar to her. This time it came from the dornish group in the room, Prince Oberyn more specifically. The King nodded again at yet another enquiry about Jon. To her left, she heard her daughter sigh in relief. She placed her arm around her shoulders and squeezed, Clarissa giving her a smile in return.

"Brilliant, fantastic, the boy is fine, let's have a feast," Lord Edmure spoke out in the most sarcastic tone she'd ever heard from a man in a while "...are we not forgetting about that bloody creature...thing roaming around our skies!? I was nearly crushed inside my tent, barely making it out as one of the stands fell on top of it." He said, a furious look aimed at the King.

"Shame..." She heard Oberyn mutter, a few people heard it as well, doing well to hold in their laughter as to not offend the heir to the Riverlands.

A stern look grew across the King's face, aimed directly at the Tully man. What was said had clearly not impressed Rhaegar "No, we haven't forgot about the creature that is currently roaming around our skies Lord Edmure, and that "thing" you so eloquently put it, happens to be a symbol of House Targaryen." He explained. A few people knew what it was, it vaguely matched descriptions of the dragons of old, but the news didn't stop a few gasps of shock here and there.

"A dragon? how can you be so sure your grace?" Prince Oberyn asked as the rest of the room waited for the King's answer.

"I was told it was a dragon, by it's rider as it happens." The King answered. the murmuring in the room grew as people started to get a little restless, especially with the mention of the dragon having an actual rider.

If this was true, the kingdom had a problem on their hands. although, by the way the King was somewhat smiling to himself, Rhaegar didn't believe that they had a problem on their hands at all.

He knew something they didn't know.

Before the King could carry on explaining in detail what he meant, the side door of the great hall was slowly opening, in walking Ser Jaime with a bit of a nervous look on his face. The Lannister knight walked behind the high table and whispered something into the King's ear. The King didn't look all that pleased at what had been said to him.

The information that have been whispered into the King's here soon spread across the high Table and shared with the fellow royals, the dowager Queen didn't look best pleased at what she was hearing, a heavy frown growing on her face as she shook her head.

"My Lords." The King said as he looked across the hall, holding his hands up to try and quieten the crowd, the murmurings came to a standstill as they all looked to their King, waiting for what he had to say. The head of the royal family glanced across the hall towards the northern contingent, quite nervously if someone was to ask her.

"A new piece of information has come to light," the King said as the hall listened on, desperate for a suitable explanation for what was happening. It was safe to say that the room was full of an odd mixture of fear and excitement. Nobody knew how a dragon, especially one that had a rider, was going to be dealt with.

To her side, Clarissa nudged her with her arm, she turned to see her daughter looking at her in shock.

"You don't think?" She said quietly, but before Ashara could say anything back to her, the king was carrying on with what he was saying.

"As some of you may have noticed, House Stark are currently absent from this meeting. There's a very good explanation for this." the King said as the murmurings started to grow again. Rhaegar soldiered on through his speech however, something he looked to be having great difficulty with.

She noticed the way the King's mother squeezed her son's hand as he carried on with his speech. Something had happened, the looks that the royal family shared made her believe something of a great distress had occurred... or was going to occur.

Her daughter's words rang in her head again.

Y ou don't think?

Think what?

And then it hit her, the whisperings around the hall all about Jon Snow returning, the sudden mention of a dragon rider.

You don't think? That simple sentence playing through her mind like a prayer.

Was Jon the dragonrider?

Surely not.

If not him then who?

She saw it with her own eyes, she saw the way Jon's body was carried away. How in the world would he have survived or even returned from something like that at?

She knew how.

Jon was the dragonrider.

And Ashara's beliefs were confirmed when the King explained to the whole room that Jon snow had returned, mounted on the back of the dragon no less.

A dragon, real life dragon, and it belonged to Jon.

The response inside the great hall was exactly what she expected, murmurings evolved into shouting, but it was the quiet ones you had to look out for, both Lord Tywin and Lady Olenna silently scanning the room, deep in thought. She didn't miss the way that Lord Tywin whispered into his daughter's ear.

In the corner of the room, the bellowing laughter of Lord Umber could be heard, a few northern Lords joining in with him, clearly elated by the news that one of their own was now in the possession of such a creature. She had to admit, it was a massive boon to the northern kingdom.

"I can't believe it." Her daughter said, Clarissa had always been fascinated with dragons and now finding out that her brother rode one must have been a dream come true.

She was destined to ask for a ride, and that terrified Ashara.

Still, it didn't explain the reason why the Stark family were still absent from this meeting, and with the way the King looked, there was more to this story than meets the eye.

The crowd managed to control themselves as the King motioned for them to be quiet, silence eventually reigning again. The King seemed to steel himself as he took a deep breath and explaining exactly the thing that was on her mind.

Where were the Starks? Where was Jon snow?

"As I said before, there's a reason the Starks are currently not here right now, I would appreciate it if everyone could stay silent and respectful as I explain why." Rhaegar said, again looking like he was struggling to get the words out of his mouth. Ashara noticed that it was Elia's turn to sneak a look at the northern lords, and it had been a while since she'd seen her best friend look this nervous.

And she found out why a few moments later, stood there in a daze as the King of the Seven Kingdoms told a truly unbelievable story to the Lords and Ladies of Westeros. A story of lies and treason, a story of a deceitful Lord and a hidden prince, a son of the King disguised as a northern bastard. The further the story was explained the more and more it became outrageous, especially her confusing thoughts on Lord Stark in particular.

Jon wasn't Eddard's bastard, he was a Prince of the realm.

And that also meant that Ned hadn't fathered a bastard on a random woman, one of the main things that fuelled her disdain for the man, the man that she used to love.

It was all a lie.

The emotions running through her were overwhelming, as she looked to her right, she noticed that her own daughter was having the same trouble. Finding out that her father wasn't as terrible as she was led to believe.

But he was terrible. Her mind whispered.

He kidnapped a Prince of the realm, the King's son, and hidden him away for over seventeen years.

Now she understood why the Starks weren't there, treason had been committed and a punishment had been dealt. This was something the northern Lords worked out almost as soon as she had.

And it explained why the King and Queen were looking at the northern Lords nervously earlier.

They're scared of rebellion, due to the punishment they'd deliver ed to the Lord that had committed treason against them.

The outrage and shouting came thick and fast from the northerners, the loudest of the bunch was, to nobody's surprise, Lord Umber as he pointed and shouted at his King.

"By the old gods, I hope you're not doing what I think you're going to do!" The lord of Last Hearth bellowed out, a fury amplified by the man's sheer size.

Her brother stepped forward from where he was stood in front of the royal family and stared down the large northerner with his hand on the hilt of Dawn.

"I'll remind you who you are speaking to my lord." Arthur said as the pair of them stared each other down. The last thing anybody wanted was this getting more out of hand than it was already getting.

"Aye, I know exactly who I'm talking to, I'm talking to a man who wants to take my lord's head!" The great lord raged as he looked away from her brother and pointed towards their King. Following 'Aye's' from fellow northern lords could be heard as one side of the great hall became increasingly hostile.

"Where is he? Where's Lord Stark? Where's Jon Snow?" Lord Umber shouted again, he seemed to be the spearhead of the northerners.

The King attempted to calm the giant lord as he answered him "Peace Lord Umber, your lord is currently with his family, and I have no plans to take Lord Stark's head." He said, a genuine sense of shock felt around the room as the murmurings started again. She honestly thought Eddard would be losing his head, something she was grateful wasn't happening.

For Clarissa's sake. She told herself.

The King didn't smile or look relieved as he carried on looking at Lord Umber. The northerner, along with the rest of the northern lords, started to relax with the news that their lord wasn't being executed. Out the corner of her eye, she noticed Cersei Baratheon whispering into her daughter's ear as she looked at the King.

It made her think of her own daughter, and whether it was now a good time to see if she wanted to meet Lord Stark...to meet her father. She'd explained to Clarissa years ago the reason why she didn't tell him about her, and afterwards, she too agreed that her good for nothing father didn't deserve to know about her as well.

That was all before she found out that he wasn't the man she believed him to be, a liar who had pretended to be somebody he wasn't, all just to bed her. No, he was a man who had his hands tied behind his back, almost forced to marry a woman, just so he had the support to save his sister. And he'd taken his dying sister's son and claimed him as his own, a boy she thought was the evidence of the man's true colours turned out to be evidence of a man loving his sister enough to besmirch his own name for the sake of his orphan nephew.

Except he wasn't an orphan. He was the King's son.

Oh Ned...

Hiding a child away from their actual parent seemed like such a twisted thing to do, but she refused to believe there wasn't a reason for doing such a dangerous thing.

She had a reason for doing it, surely he did too.

..