59Disclaimer: I own nothing.
A/N: Wow, this story nearly rivals my ABJ story. I was not expecting for this many people to like this story. I put up a poll on my profile to ask readers if they want me to continue this story beyond what the original author wrote. Thank you so much for all the reviews, favorites, and follows.
There were no discussions after that memory, just a mother clinging to her son as tears of happiness leaked out her eyes. After a short while, the next memory started.
The royal party reaches King's Landing. Almost immediately, Lord Eddard Stark is asked to attend a meeting of the king's small council and to change his clothes, but he refuses to the latter.
"It's hot as balls out there. Go change you hard headed fool" Robert grumbled, still in a foul mood but had hints of a smile on his face.
Before that he encounters Jaime Lannister in the throne room. Jaime is still unhappy that Eddard judged him dishonorable for killing the Mad King, the murderer of Eddard's father and brother, and for having the nerve to casually seat himself upon the Iron Throne after mayhem was through. Jaime is unrepentant about it.
"You broke your vow" Ned said with a slight glare. Jaime met his glare with a straight gaze, "for the innocent" he said which made Ned hum in disagreement but did send him into thinking.
Eddard meets the council members: Lord Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish-
Arya and Sansa let out low growls still remembering what that man had tried to do.
The king's Master of Coin and a friend of Eddard's wife from childhood; Grand Maester Pycelle, the king's adviser in all matters scientific and academic; Lord Renly Baratheon, the youngest of the king's two brothers and Master of Laws; and Varys, a eunuch and the Master of Whisperers.
"He is still there?" Rhaegar asked in pure amazement at the fact that the eunuch looked no less older than how he had last seen him.
Varys tells Eddard that the council members heard about his "troubles on the Kingsroad" and that they pray for Joffrey's recovery. Eddard grimly responds "It's a shame no one prayed for the butcher's boy", which visibly upsets Varys.
Ned raised an eyebrow at Varys' frown.
Eddard is stunned to learn that the crown is six million Gold Dragons in debt, half of which is to Lord Tywin Lannister.
"What the hell kind of kingdom are you running!?" Dany asked in pure shock. Robert just grunted not gracing her with an actual answer.
To make matters worse, King Robert has just ordered a lavish tournament to celebrate Eddard's appointment. He resolves to advise Robert to cancel the tournament, but the council is doubtful that the king will listen.
"I would do no such thing" Robert laughed out loud. Lyanna looked at her once betrothed with pure disgust.
Queen Cersei talks to Joffrey about the incident on the river. She tells him that when he is king, the truth will be whatever he decides it will be.
Tywin and Stannis frowned deeply at that.
Joffrey thinks there will be trouble with the Starks, and promises that when he is king, he will double their taxes, force them to contribute to a standing army and, should they object, crush them and install someone loyal, such as his great-uncle Kevan, as Warden of the North.
This time the Starks, the Targaryens, Robert and the wildlings scowled. The wildlings might not like the southerners, but they had respect for the Starks. After all the blood of the first ran through them.
Cersei points out that the North is too vast and wild to be militarily conquered by outsiders, and a king needs to be cleverer. She also advises him to be kind to his betrothed Sansa Stark to avoid stirring up trouble for later, and concludes that "Anyone who isn't us is an enemy." Arya and Sansa are still at odds over the incident with Joffrey and her direwolf. Eddard explains to Arya that Sansa was put in a difficult position by the king and queen, and while she shouldn't have lied, winning the long-term approval of Joffrey, her future husband, was important.
Sansa scowled. How she hated that maggot now and her former self for even caring for him.
Arya is unhappy with the situation, but Eddard mollifies her by allowing her to practice with her sword, Needle.
Arya let out an unnoticeable upward twitch of her lips. She might be an assassin now, but she still missed her father.
Catelyn Stark and Ser Rodrik arrive at King's Landing and attempt to sneak into the city, but are spotted by one of Littlefinger's men.
Ned narrows his eyes in suspicion. It was no coincidence that Littlefinger's men found them, at least to him.
They are taken to meet Littlefinger at a brothel he owns, where Lord Varys is also waiting. He explains that one of his 'little birds' told him they were coming. Catelyn is angered by the way they've been treated, but asks Littlefinger for aid in finding the people who tried to have Bran killed. Littlefinger is able to answer this quickly stating that the elaborate dagger wielded by the assassin used to be his, but he lost it in a gamble with Tyrion Lannister.
Catelyn's eyes shifted to Tyrion but by the way the others were seated by him, she felt there was more to that story.
Littlefinger fetches Eddard to meet his wife, but Eddard suspects a trick and pushes Littlefinger up against a wall outside the brothel wanting to know what his game is. Catelyn then appears, and Eddard is pacified. After hearing her news, he vows to find the truth and expose the Lannisters to Robert. Littlefinger agrees to be his ally in this, for the affection he once bore Catelyn as a youngster.
Lyanna shifted uncomfortably. This Littlefinger was giving her all sorts of uncomfortable feelings and found herself not being able to trust him at all. She looked to the future kids and her belief was solidified even if looking at Jon hurt her slightly.
Ravens arrive at King's Landing with news of Bran's recovery. Cersei fears he will expose their secret, but Jaime comforts her, confident they can outwit a child if need be. Elsewhere, Robert swaps old war stories with Ser Barristan Selmy, a distinguished and famous knight and the commander of the Kingsguard.
"Rhaegar smiled at the knight. He had sparred with that man and respected him truly skills and all.
Summoning Jaime Lannister, Robert jokingly questions him about Aerys Targaryen's death, wondering if the Mad King died begging for mercy, but Jaime rather coldly replies that the master he betrayed died screaming the same words he'd been saying since the siege of King's Landing began: "Burn them all".
Bran narrowed his eyes slightly.
Eddard has contracted a swordmaster, Syrio Forel, the former First Sword of Braavos, to teach Arya how to use her sword properly. Arya is thrilled, and 'the dance' begins. As Eddard watches them practice, his pleasure at seeing Arya happy sours when he realizes that a conflict between the Starks and Lannisters may be inevitable; his daughter may well be training herself for war.
"Truer words have never been said" Tyrion muttered taking a swig out his chalice which kept refilling itself. The drink though did not get him drunk since he needed to watch the memories.
At Winterfell, Bran has awoken but has no memory of his accident. His injuries have left him bedridden and unlikely to walk again. Old Nan, the oldest servant in the castle, tells Bran stories to pass the time, but he doesn't want her usual heroic stories about the likes of Ser Duncan the Tall. She instead speaks of the White Walkers and the coming of a vast winter that will blanket the world.
"The woman knows" Mance grunted. "And none of us believed" Jon said with a grimace. Dany patted his hand but she too had a grimace as did all the people of the future which made the people of the past look beyond worried.
When Robb pays a visit, Bran asks his brother if it is true that he will never walk again. Robb reluctantly says this is so. Bran remarks that he would rather be dead.
"Crippled or not you are still our brother and we would not let you die so easily" Sansa said smoothly and hugged him. Their parents smiled at the scene but were still confused at the close to response from Bran.
At Castle Black, the primary redoubt of the Night's Watch in the shadow of the Wall, Jon Snow shows his worth to the trainer, Ser Alliser Thorne, by besting several fellow members of the Watch in the practice yard. Thorne is disgusted at the poor performance of the others but has no praise for Jon either, dubbing him Lord Snow and describing him as "the least useless person here".
"That man is an idiot if he thinks that was just 'least useless' Lyanna growled. "He means well kind of. He just wants the watch to return to its former glory and not be filled with people who didn't know how to swing a blade" Jon defended the man reluctantly.
Watching over the new recruits with Lord Commander Jeor Mormont, Tyrion notes Thorne's stern and unusual ways, but Jeor doesn't care as he only requires Thorne to turn the "thieves and runaways" into men of the Night's Watch. Later on, several of the other recruits gang up on Jon, but the situation is defused by Tyrion. Tyrion points out to Jon that none of the other recruits had the benefit of a skilled master-at-arms to train them, and that Jon is alienating them through his standoffish attitude and superior combat skills.
"Those words really did help. Thank you, lord Tyrion," Jon said honestly. Tyrion nodded at him with a smile and sipped his chalice. Ned watched the shortest Lannister in thought. He had thought that the imp would be like the rest of his family, prideful and full of themselves. But seems he was wrong.
Benjen Stark meets Jon atop the Wall and tells him he is going on a ranging in the Haunted Forest. He refuses to take Jon with him, telling him he isn't ready, and that here rank and nobility mean nothing. Every man must earn everything he gets.
Lyanna wiped a tear from her eyes. Her youngest brother had grown to be a strong man and was watching over her son, but she still felt worried for him. She looked to Jon to see that his jaws were clenched and his hands were in Dany's. She frowned at that reaction from her son.
Before departing, Benjen stops by the eating area to say farewell to Yoren, a fellow Night's Watchman who scouts for new recruits in the capital. Benjen also scolds Tyrion for his naivety regarding what is north of the Wall and states that Tyrion has no authority to say what is or isn't beyond the Wall as he hasn't been out there himself.
"He knew. Or at least suspected" Tormund mumbled.
Later, Tyrion discusses the north of the Wall with Jeor Mormont and his chief adviser, the ancient and blind Maester Aemon.
Rhaegar and Jon both smiled at the old man. "He is still alive" Rhaegar smiled. "Who is he?" Dany asked her brother. "Aemon Targaryen, our great grand uncle" he smiled. "He was a kind man. Taught me a lot" Jon smiled sadly. Rhaegar noticed the use past tense. "He died of old age" Jon explained when he saw his look. Rhaegar nodded and looked at Jon properly. There was something off about the boy. He was no doubt a stark but still there was something else he couldn't quite put his finger on.
Jeor asks for Tyrion to intercede at court and get the Watch more men as they are dangerously undermanned. Aemon warns that the Stark words are right. Winter is coming. It will be harsher and more terrible than any in living memory. More dangerous things than just wildlings might come with it. After all, one of their number swore that the White Walkers had returned ... right up to the moment Ned Stark cut his head off. Tyrion admits his skepticism that supernatural creatures might exist, but he agrees to bring word to his queen.
The ones from the past had no idea how true those words were.
"The impaired sense things us non impaired cannot" Tywin said wisely. Tyrion looked at his father oddly but said nothing.
Before departing for King's Landing, Tyrion fulfills an old ambition by climbing to the top of the Wall and urinating off the edge of it. He and Jon share a moment of fellowship before Tyrion departs for the capital in the company of Yoren.
The occupants chuckled, even the wildlings found it amusing and only hoped that the thing fell on some crow's head.
Daenerys commands the khalasar to halt on a whim, exercising her growing authority and power. Viserys does not take well to being commanded and threatens his sister, whereupon he is lassoed around the neck by Rakharo, a Dothraki warrior wielding a whip. Daenerys calms the situation and Viserys is forced to walk, a sign of shame amongst the horse-riding Dothraki.
"Got off lightly" Rhaegar mumbled. He was starting to hate his brother more and more.
Later, Irri reveals to Daenerys that Daenerys is pregnant.
"Congratulations," Rhaegar said to his sister, who nodded, not noticing the sad look in her eyes. Something Jon did and held her hand in comfort as he knew why she was sad. Jon and Dany slept together but he didn't believe that the two could go any further than friends. It was just a moment between them after he had been wounded and she was in a bad place.
Daenerys relays the news to Khal Drogo and tells him she thinks it will be a boy as they lie naked in each other's arms.
"Why are we seeing this" Rhaegar groaned, shielding his eyes. Other than Lyanna's giggle, there was no response.
Ser Jorah Mormont and Rakharo compare the Westerosi and Dothraki ways of battle: the heavily-armored but slow knights, with longswords good for piercing armor, versus the lightly-armored but fast-moving horse-warriors. Jorah has heard of Rakharo's father, a great warrior, but admits that he disgraced his own father, a man of great honor.
Jeor's face softened. Jorah might have shamed him and firced him to take the black, but he was still his son and not much could change the love he had for him. Even if he preferred to keep it at the back of his mind, buried deep under.
When he learns that Daenerys is pregnant, he announces he must split off from the column to ride to the Free City of Qohor, but will rejoin them before they reach Vaes Dothrak.
Jorah sighed and leaned back into his chair. Even though he stopped sending intel to Varys he still regretted spying on Daenerys.