Chapter Text
The Godswood in Kings Landing was not a true Godswood but it was the first place he went to upon entering the Red Keep. He knelt and prayed on what he should do. He would die before he let Robert harm his niece. He could hear footsteps coming up behind him. Robert had sought him out. Ned decided to lie to his friend and claim his niece as his bastard but would otherwise tell him the truth.
“Is it true?” He heard the trembling voice of his best friend and now king.
“She’s gone.” Ned choked out.
“That babe is it hers?” Robert asked with sadness mixed with rage.
“No, my daughter with Ashara. She’s gone too.” Ned sighed as he struggled to keep his emotions in check.
“How did my Lyanna die?” Robert’s normally booming voice was a whisper.
“Fever and infection after she miscarried. She died shortly after I found her.” Ned lied to his king.
“Did she speak of me?”
“No, all she could say was to protect her babe but her babe had died in her womb a moon turn prior. She thought I was Brandon.” Ned got out before the tears flowed freely down his cheeks.
“What did you name her? Your babe with Ashara.” Robert asked as he knelt beside him and patted his shoulder.
“Alysanne.” Ned laughed out sadly. “Her mother named her.”
“After a dragonspawn.” Robert gritted out in between the sobs he was struggling to hold in.
“Alysanne is not just a Targaryen name but a common one in the North. A few ladies of your own house were named after the Good Queen as well.” Ned replied back as he stood up as he tried to get his emotions back under control. “I got word that my wife has given me a son. She named him Robb.”
“A fine name for the future Warden of the North.” Robert said before he took a deep breath. Robert looked as though he wanted to speak but the words would not come out.
“I can tell that you want to see Lyanna’s remains. They are on the ship and I plan on leaving in two days to sail for White Harbor and ride back home. I must warn you that you will not like seeing the damage done to her.”
“What do you mean?”
“I am going to tell you what happened and I want you to listen to what I say before saying anything.” Ned said as he rocked the sleeping child in his arms. Robert nodded that he agreed. “Lyanna was not kidnapped.”
“What do you…” Robert butted in as his eyes widened before narrowing.
“Robert! Let me finish please.” Ned pleaded. “ As I was saying, she was not kidnapped. She was tricked by Rhaegar and his two Kingsguard. Lyanna was the Knight of the Laughing Tree. Rhaegar found out and that is why he named her the Queen of Love and Beauty. He then became obsessed with her and some prophecies. He lied to her and said his father found out the truth. She went with him thinking he would protect her.”
“Damn him.” Robert mumbled under his breath. “Go on.”
“As they were traveling south they got wind of Brandon being imprisoned. Lyanna agreed to marry Rhaegar.”
“WHAT!!!” Robert shouted out.
“Quiet before you wake my daughter and let me finish.” Ned said harshly. “She did it to protect Brandon and save his life. Honestly Robert, Lyanna never wanted to marry anyone. If it was up to her then she would have rode horses and swung swords all day. I don’t know much of what happened between Brandon and father being arrested and their murders but when she found out she tried to escape. The three kingsguard caught her and Rhaegar had her legs broken so she couldn’t attempt any more escapes. It was that night that I believe he put a child in her.” Ned looked his friend in the eyes and could see the rage and sorrow in them. “She only married him so she could save her brother’s life and fell for his lies.”
“How do you know all this?” Robert looked at him with eyes watering around the edges and his massive hands clenched tight.
“Ser Arthur told me before I took his head. He was the only Kingsguard that did not draw his blade when we arrived. I may not have survived that battle if he joined. He told me he did not know all the inner workings of Rhaegar's head but he told me what he knew and what little my sister told him of her thoughts. Do not think unkindly of my sister for what she did.” Ned said as he started to exit the Godswood.
“She…" Robert's tears started to flow freely and Ned stopped to watch his friend struggle in his grief. "She did not deserve that, I wish I could kill that cunt again!"
“No she did not but she is gone and lost to us both.”
_______
Ned planned on leaving three nights ago but Jon Arryn convinced him to stay and rest more before going back home. He was led into the King’s Solar and saw Robert, Jon Arryn and a visibly annoyed Lord Stannis sitting at the small table to the side. Ned walked over and took a seat.
“Ned, thank you for joining us.” Jon Arryn greeted him before looking over a stack of papers in front of him.
“The king requested my presence and I am here but I must say that I had wished to be departing today to take my seat in Winterfell.” He replied as he took the cup of wine from one of the young cupbearers.
“Don’t worry you will be in Winterfell soon enough but it’s about your bastard.” Robert said as he sat his cup down. “You have lost much in this war Ned and since you have declined to stay as Master of Laws I have decided to reward your family with Dragonstone.”
“I do not understand.” Ned said as he tried to figure out why his family would receive Dragonstone. “The remaining loyalists still hold it.”
“I have commanded Stannis to build a fleet and take it. Once that is done then I will give it to your bastard daughter.” Robert laughed and Ned scanned the room and realized Jon and Stannis did not agree with this. He did his best to hide his irritation because his niece deserved better than a bastard's life and in truth he planned on asking for her legitimization but he could see where this was going.
“A second son born to me could take it’s seat.” Ned started to argue but was silenced with Robert raising his hand.
“Nonsense, You were going to marry Lady Ashara. You told me yourself and your father agreed to it. If this war had never happened then your little Alysanne would be your trueborn daughter. I was there when she told you that she had to leave so that you could marry into a house that would fight for our cause. The papers have been drawn up to legitimize her as a Stark and name her the Lady of Dragonstone. Once my brother takes Dragonstone and puts the remaining dragonspawn to the sword then he shall remain there as its Castelian.” Robert said in a tone that was more of a command than anything else.
“What about Storm's End? As king then should it not fall to Lord Stannis to hold that seat?” Ned asked and could see Stannis agreeing with him.
“I was thinking of giving it to Renly.” Robert laughed.
“You can’t.” Ned said, raising his voice. He loved Robert like a brother but he sometimes made rash decisions.
Robert shot up to his feet. “I am king and can do what I want, Lord Stark!”
“Then tell me, Your Grace,” Ned shot back with some heat. “What seat shall your first born son have then?”
“Both of you stop this bickering. Though Lord Stark has a point. Storm’s End should go to your first born son.” Jon Arryn said as he got between the two. “Since you are dead set on giving Dragonstone to the Starks then your future heir must have a keep of his own.”
“Fine but Stannis stays as Castelian of Dragonstone until Ned’s girl gets older. I assume that she will return north with you?” Robert replied back to Jon and Ned.
“Aye, I would ask Lord Stannis to serve not as her Castelian but her regent until she is ten name days. Afterwards I will send her to Dragonstone along with my brother Benjen who would then take over as her regent.”
“It’s settled then.” Robert said before taking his seat.
“You would trust a man you barely know to act in your daughter’s name?” Stannis asked as he eyed Ned.
“You may not believe this but Robert spoke very highly of you during my fostering and you held Storm’s End against a siege that would break lesser men. So yes, I would trust you to rule in her name in my absence.”
______
Ned watched Lord Dustin, Lord Reed and Martyn Cassel exit the Godwood of Winterfell. All three men swore themselves to secrecy at the Tower of Joy but asked them again almost immediately upon reaching his home.
His footsteps took him to the crypts where he knew his remaining sibling was. The steps were steep as he walked down into the darkness with only the faint light of his torch to guide him. He rarely visited the crypts before his mother died a few years after birthing Benjen. He spent the majority of his life after his mother passed away in the Vale and he planned on visiting her along with the family he lost recently more often.
“I’m going to join the Night’s Watch a moon turn after your wife and my nephew arrive.” Benjen said as he approached. Ned could see him on a knee in front of where they had entombed his father and brother. Lyanna would be joining them on the morrow.
“I forbid it!” Ned replied using his Lord of Winterfell voice that he was still growing into.
“I must! It was my fault that they all died. I helped Lyanna find all the armor and encouraged her to join the lists.” Ned’s heart sank for his little brother as the tears fell down his cheeks.
“Still brother, I can not allow you to join the Night’s Watch. I miss them too but I need you in Winterfell and I need you to help raise and protect Lyanna’s daughter.” Ned replied back as he embraced his brother.
“Daughter?” Benjen whispered back. “I thought you said Alysanne was your bastard.”
“To the world she is. If the truth got out then she would be killed for it. I swore the only three others that know the truth to secrecy. Robert has legitimized her as a Stark and named her Lady of Dragonstone. Lord Stannis will act as her Regent until she is ten name days. Then you will travel with her to Dragonstone and rule in her name until she turns six and ten. You are free to join the Night’s Watch if you desire after she reaches the age of majority but I would feel better if you stayed by her side for a few years longer."
______
‘ Might as well get this out of the way.’ Ned opened the door to his solar and saw his wife holding their son. “You must have many questions and I will do my best to answer them.”
“Who is she? The woman you bedded after we married.” Catelyn asked cooly.
“Lady Ashara Dayne, the woman I was betrothed to before my brother and father were executed. I had already received permission from my father to marry her and had stopped to visit Lord Arryn to introduce her to my foster father. Then the raven came about Brandon being held in the Black Cells and father riding south. I sought her out and took comfort in her. Alysanne was conceived on one of those nights. I begged her to let me marry her but she told me she could not because I would need to marry into a larger house that could deliver more swords to fight.” He answered his wife.
“So you did not bed her again? Why not leave her with Lady Ashara?” The questions were not spoken with anything but curiosity from what he could tell.
“We reached White Harbor and she took a ship back to Starfall. The last time I saw her was when I returned Dawn to House Dayne. She had given birth to twins and one of them was stillborn. She jumped from a tower to her death in her grief over a lost child and the death of her brother. I put a bastard in her belly and killed her brother so I decided that it would be best if I took my daughter north. Lord Dayne agreed with me and provided the ship that eventually brought me home.”
He watched Catelyn adjust little Robb and kiss the crown of her auburn tufts. “I am truly sorry for all that has happened to you, My Lord.”
“Thank you, My Lady. I do not expect you to raise Alysanne as you would your own but she will be raised alongside our children.” Ned told her.
Her eyes locked with his. “It’s not proper. I am relieved that you have not strayed from your vows to me but raising a baseborn child amongst our trueborn children is not something I can support. I am not asking you to send her away because I have seen how most baseborn women are treated but she should be kept separate from Robb and whatever children the gods bless us with.”
“Robert has legitimized her and named her Lady of Dragonstone.” Ned confessed.
“How could you let that happen? That should go to a second son of ours should the gods bless us with another. Did you not try to deny him?” She replied back in confusion and a hint of anger.
“Robert is king and I had no choice. I did not ask for this and would rather have just gone home and raised her as Alysanne Snow and one day she could be married to a second or third son. Robert also returned the New Gift to the North along with funds to build a sizable keep." Ned replied back and was relieved to see his stranger of a wife relax a bit.
"I studied a lot of the history of the North when I found out I was betrothed to Brandon. Do you think the Umbers in particular will want the land they lost returned to them?" Catelyn said her eyes locked with his.
Ned could not help but smile. "They will and half of the land they lost will be returned to them. Same with the mountain clans and that still leaves a large amount of land for a future son of House Stark to rule."
Ned looked across to his wife and while he did not know her well and if he was honest this was the most they spoke outside of their wedding feast. He could tell she was thinking and decided to give her some time. Eventually she spoke. "If the King has named her Stark then I can not object to her being raised with our children but I do not think I can be a mother to her. I swear by the Old Gods and the New that I will not mistreat her and will treat her as a proper Lady."
Her words were more than what Ned could have hoped for. It was unfair to ask a woman he barely knew to be a mother to his niece that he is claiming as his bastard. He did not love the woman in front of him but he could see himself potentially loving her as the years went on.