VIII.

No, don't answer me. I'll explain it to you." Said Aegon with a hard, dry tone.

'As if scolding his father.' Eddard couldn't help thinking, seeing the situation between his nephew and Rhaegar.

Lyanna's face was one of concern when she looked at her son and sorrow when she looked at Rhaegar, who now was beginning to be slumped over the chair. Until then Ned's brother-in-law seemed to be able to resist the stakes of his son with stoic calm.

But now Rhaegar's gaze began to express more than it had even when there was talk of the death of his daughter.

'Return from the dead so that your son explained to you why marrying the love of your life is not the best political guide. It should not be easy.'

Ned felt fortunate not to be the object of his nephew's wrath at the time.

"IF, and is an big if, you somehow managed to overthrow the mad king based on your alliance with House Stark, theCrownlands and Dorne, how did you plan to rule?" Jon asked metaphorically, as he left his father no choice to answer him. "You realize that if you were King with my mother by your side, Robert would have married Cersei as well and had the backing of the Vale, the Storm's Lands, the Westerlands and in the best of cases, the neutrality of the Reach. Unless you promised me in marriage to someone even born, making you even more dependent on another great lord while cutting off any possible alliance with Dorne based on Rhaenys and me, making them your enemies on the spot ...".

Ned's nephew spoke icily, lifting one finger from his fist high as he mentioned each of the kingdoms, ending with four raised fingers. With the last thing he said, it seemed that Jon had hit something, for Rhaegar shifted in his chair, opened his mouth a couple of times, but no sound came from it. It was his wife, Lya, who seemed to be able to answer something.

"When we went from the Riverlands to Dorne, we passed through High Garden. The Tyrells made their help conditional on my unborn son marrying Lady Olenna's granddaughter, if she ever existed..." after which Lyanna shrugged and began to look at the ground with an expression that Ned knew very well

'It's the same face and look she used when she was going to be scolded by father for doing mischief with Benjen. The face of knowing that what she had done, she had done without thinking about the consequences. As with Brandon, the wolf's blood is strong in her ... Too much at times.'

Ned thought as he let out a sigh that brought the attention he didn't want from Jon. Ned's nephew gaze fell on him for a second with pity, to continue his exposition to his father.

"Possibly Hoster Tully would have broken the betrothal between Brandon and Lady Catelyn, to marry her to Jaime Lannister after the war in one case, or to a Stark in another, being neutral during the conflict."

Now Aegon raised his other hand, where he held the fist clenched.

"To The North, despite having a Stark blood heir, fighting in the South for political reasons would not have been well received. Especially after preparing the lords for moons to march against the one who at that time would become their ally, formerly enemy, House Targaryen. The traditional enemies of House Stark in the north would have rebelled against Rickard Stark, possibly the Boltons would have taken advantage of the internal upheaval to try to rise to power ... and even

without that, the North would not have left with its full potential, precisely in case arose contingencies like that."

And so Aegon extended a finger of his left hand.

'Of course he knows how to rule a Kingdom. By the old gods, I wouldn't have thought of those consequences myself had I marched in Lya's favor!'

Now Ned began to feel sorry for his brother-in-law Rhaegar, who seemed to be being taught a new world. World from which he seemed to have no idea could exist.

Ned's nephew Aegon did not hesitate to follow his explanation of why despite the conspiracy against house Targaryen, it was the actions of Rhaegar and Lyanna that served as a catalyst for the Rebellion, as well as a shadow that would be cast over all possible situations that could have occurred after.

"Assuming you continued to have the alliance with Dorne after publicizing the annulled marriage between you and Elia, they would have to come to your aid first. Dorne is a great rival in their kingdom, but outside of it they lose their great benefit from extreme weather conditions and accurate knowledge of the terrain. Their 30,000 / 40,000 lances can serve you against the cavalry of the Vale and the Westerlands. But these same Dornish troops would have already had to engage against their traditional enemies of the Reach and the Dornish Marches on their approach route to the most probable point of concentration of your army. This is in the vicinity of the Blackwater Rush. And remember that, I'm counting on the passivity or neutrality of the Reach. Let's say that in the end you manage to combine 20,000 Dornishmen, 20,000 Northerners, and 15,000 men from the Crown Lands. The latter mostly peasants and forced levies. Tywin Lannister alone had 25,000 men trained for and ready for war, add to that Tywin's ability to raise another 20,000 if necessary. Another 25,000 / 30,000 from the Vale. The same from the Storm's lands."

Jon lectured Rhaegar more and more harshly, while he raised two more fingers of the left hand, piercing Rhaegar with his gaze. A look Ned had never seen in Jon in fifteen years. A look that exuded power, confidence and security in what he had said. And displaying a political and strategic understanding unbecoming of a teenager, Aegon continued

"Or the anti-Targaryen coalition could have chosen to temporarily abide your reign after overthrowing my grandfather, to await the inevitable rift with Dorne. Leaving you as a kinslayer who only has two kingdoms for allies and less than 45,000 men against against 70,000 / 85,000."

For then Aegon only shrug the shoulders as he pronounced the ending. "Or simply Tywin could have waited for have the entire Targaryen royal family to be gathered together and killed us with impunity, putting Robert and Cersei on the throne later." this time in a bitter tone, but admitting no doubt of the certainty of his words.

Silence took hold in the lord's solar, where he could hear a pin drop.

Rhaegar and Ned's sister seemed to be processing everything their son had told them.

Ned couldn't agree more on the possible development of events Aegon had related, having much of the information and power that hindsight gives. Yet Eddard would never have been able to make all of those connections in his entire life, even with the evidences before his eyes.

"So tell me, Father, how were you planning to unify and stabilize the kingdoms for your Promised Prince if you were going to have to fight at least two wars in a row, with your own position weakened by the regime change, outnumbered in troops and outnumbered in allies? And without

really strong supports?"

Ned's nephew said in a way that seemed to be a roaring dragon before his eyes, as Jon stretched and spread his arms with the palms facing forward, as if asking for explanations.

Rhaegar seemed to have none. And Ned could even empathize with his brother-in-law. Being on the other side of Jon's pent-up fury should command respect on even the most impassive of people. But Aegon was not going to stop what was beginning to be a humiliation towards his father.

"You cannot rule from a position of inferiority, even less from the Iron Throne. It does not matter how many allies you have if you are not able to act until your enemy attacks you first. If after reacting you succeed, you would find yourself in the hands of whims and desires of those who came to save your skin when their obligation already was to serve you." The last words echoed in the solar, already fully illuminated by the morning light.

"Aegon that's not the way to talk to your father." Lya tried to intervene, but Jon didn't even take account for it, keeping his tension and gaze fixed on his father

"A KING doesn't serve his bannermen, his bannermen serve the KING. They shouldn't ask or expect favor or reward for doing their duty. And this can only be achieved if you do not depend on them. And you achieve this because you do not make any of them powerful enough to oppose you, while you try to win over all the lesser lords who are sworn to said ally, thus they end up being your bannermen, not theirs."

Aegon's voice now was less aggressive, but no less charged with reproach. "If a great lord poses an impossible threat to subjugate, he is replaced.... Durradon, Hoare and Gardener tell you anything?" the coolness and calm with which Jon spoke those names made the hairs on Ned's back stand up.

'By the gods! He talks about the extinction of thousand-year-old houses as if it were about pruning the garden. This is certainly not Jon.'

The more Ned got to know this new nephew of his, the harder it was to have an accurate judgment about him. At times Aegon exuded a coldness and implacability more typical of a tyrant than a King. However if you saw the reason for that coldness and implacability, you would find the common good and his duty as king.

'It is a fine line that the one who holds power has to walk. If you lean too far to one side, you end up being a tyrant, but if you lean toward compassion and pity, you end up dead. And the latter is what Jon is pointing out to his father. Planning with good intentions does not usually end well.' thought Eddard, who like his daughter Arya, tried not to move a single muscle for fear of ending up being the target of Jon's wrath.

"The rule of laws and oaths cannot be executed in the lands on which they are in force if the king does not have the power to enforce them. It is not about being a tyrant, it is about the fact that as a threat appears against the established power, you crush it with all the might that the law allows and entrusts you with your duty. As crown prince, your duty was to ensure the power of the Crown and therefore of your family. Because both things will always be interrelated ... But as my five and ten days of the name living hidden under the farce of being a bastard, along the fact that both of you died, like me, proof that you failed to do your Duty."

Jon finished off the salvo that he had thrown to Rhaegar. Who now was totally dejected, on the verge of tears. Lyanna tried to comfort her husband, but the only thing she could do was look reproachfully at Jon who seemed to be carved, not moving a single muscle in his face.

"All for being unable to end at the moment you had choice, the reign of someone in the dubious company of Maegor, Baelor, Aerion, or the Unworthy... When your father returned from the Duskdale as he did, you should have acted. There you had the power and the ability to maneuver, from there on, you were doomed. And your love affair only served to give reasons to all those who were waiting in the shadows..." Jon finished, in a tone of utter reproach and disappointment.

However Rhaegar seemed to tolerate no more from his son.

"And you tell me!!! Who claims to have lived in the body of the father of one of those monsters!!!" shouted exalted and furious Rhaegar.

Although he was still in the chair, Rhaegar hadn't gotten up from it because of Lyanna's hand on the shoulder.

'The last thing left to cap off the day is a fight between Jon and his newly discovered and revived father.'

Jon's attitude changed suddenly. The Dragon that seemed to inhabit him seemed to disappear, giving way again to the boy who was hiding in the First Keep to avoid Cat's hatred.

Ned's nephew body expression was one of dejection, defeat and a look that exclaimed guilt, at the same time that tried to justify his past actions

"When the seven times cursed ritual was done only Aenys was born, I have no responsibility for what happened next!!! The Conqueror never let me tell him or show him anything from the future!! Every time I did, the damned one blocked me from all connection with him and condemned me to an existence that resembled an infinite fall, where you feel or see nothing except cold and darkness!! Aenys was a quiet boy, he was a good boy, like his mother ... I don't know what happened next from the inside, but if I had been in the body of the Conqueror when Maegor was born, I swear by all the gods, the old, the new and the Fourteen Flames of Valyria that I would have prevented him from becoming the monster he became. And I'm sure it wasn't Aegon's fault either... Visenya was becoming more and more obsessed with the dark arts and blood magic, and the three of us are the fucking walking proof of it... I... I... I'm sorry... "

And so, Jon started to cry as Ned had never seen him. Jon's wolf began to nibble Jon's feet while Arya sprang to hug him, as did Lyanna.

Ned and his brother-in-law looked at each other with faces of not knowing what had suddenly happened to Jon. After the sudden eruption in which he exposed all the mistakes made by Rhaegar in the last five years of his life, his nephew suddenly was plunged into a torrent of emotions that seemed uncontrollable.

"I never had a real family. I've never imagined having a child and I've never imagined meeting my mother ..." Jon said between sobs, looking reverently at Lyanna, who gave him a smile from ear to ear, letting her son know that whatever happens, she loved him the same way she loved him since the day Jon was born.

'With all her life.' thought Ned, seeing how Rhaegar got up from his chair and with a soft and tender look, he turned to his son.

"Aegon, I hope one day you can forgive, or at the least understand my actions after Duskdale until the Trident, but be aware that no one regrets more than I, to have not been able to see you grow alongside your mother. If one day you have a son or a daughter, you will understand the suffering it is for me to know that my son, whom I couldn't meet even before he was born, suddenly stands

before me made a man, and I couldn't do anything to protect or take care of him. I couldn't teach you to play the Harp or use the sword ... that's something that I can't do even after coming back to life." Rhaegar finished with a broken voice, accompanied by immense sadness.

'At some point before they go to the wall, I have to talk to Rhaegar and tell him what Jon was like as a kid. We may never be friends, but he is the boy's father and my sister's husband and they both are going to need him.'

Ned mused as Jon shrugged his shoulders and ruefully nodded to the words spoken by his father, to then addressing the four people present with a melancholic and sorrowful voice, continued explaining the reasons for his sudden change.

"In what has been one night for some of you and in a blink for others, I lived for twenty-two years having a family, having a son and at the end of it I have met my mother. Everything I never thought I would have. But in the process I lost that family, I lost that son and I have returned to a world where being me is a reason to endanger everyone around me. I have judged you too harshly, from the position of someone who has all the information and with certain internal bitterness because of how I have grown based on the decisions of some and others in the past ... Without you I would not be here today, you are and you will always be my father, even if I am really unable to cope with your decisions and actions right now. Especially regarding the political situation prior to Harrenhal's Tourney." Ned's nephew concluded with a firmer voice, but with some remorse and guilt in it. His gaze had lost all coldness and now he had a certain longing for understanding in it.

"Egg, nothing's wrong!! These are many emotions together in a very short time, at least for us ... and in your case, I don't even know how you are capable of being so whole after living what you have lived ... The best thing would be for us to go to rest and when we wake up we will see things in another color. Also, before I go to sleep I want to have breakfast! I have not eaten for fifteen years and that has to change ... What do you say Arya? Do you want to join your uncle and me for breakfast? If you like the history of house Targaryen, Rhaegar is a walking book about that..."

Despite having died and come back to life, Ned's sister continued to be a person who was able to alleviate the blackest of situations knowing what to say and how to loosen existing tensions. The gloomy atmosphere that had been hovering over the stays most of the night and early morning was suddenly gone, giving rise to a more relaxed atmosphere. Arya shot Ned a questioning look as asking for permission to go with her aunt.

'Possibly for tomorrow she will already be wanting to dress up as a mysterious knight in some tourney to save the honor of some poor wretch ... But if there is someone who may be able to stop Arya from making the same mistakes, it is Lyanna.'

So he nodded to his daughter.

Lyanna gave Jon a kiss on the cheek that resonated throughout the solar, much to his nephew feigned annoyance, turned red from a comment his mother whispered in Jon's ear. Taking Arya's hand, they headed towards the door, where they were waiting for Rhaegar who didn't know how to say goodbye to his son.

Something that Jon seemed to replicate.

The awkward situation was broken again by Lya.

"By the old Gods you seem like two big headed children, unable to take either of you the first step to admit guilt and accept each other. Give each other a hug !! You are both wanting it and you know it!"

Ned's sister said with melodious and mocking voice, to the delight of Arya who frantically affirmed with her head with a smile from ear to ear and sparkling eyes that exuded joy and happiness for Jon.

Lya's sudden intervention drew smiles even from Ned and the two Targaryens, who awkwardly embraced for the first time in their lives like father and like son.

After that Rhaegar stared at his son and put a hand on Jon's right shoulder.

"In spite of everything, know that I would die a thousand times again if that ensures that you or your mother will live. I love you son." said Rhaegar in a deep, warm and proud voice.

After that Rhaegar gave Ned a look of approval and gratitude, then turned and left with Arya and Lya for breakfast.

Only Ned and Jon were left in the solar.

It was the first moment they had alone since the conversation in which Ned intended to send him to the Wall for Jon to spend there the rest of his days. The first moment they were together and Jon really knew who he and his parents were.

'I just hope that in time he will be able to understand my motives and my situation. I could not continue living knowing that the only thing he feels for me is hatred and contempt.'

Apparently Ned wasn't the only one of the two thinking the same thing, because stepping his position again, Jon placed his cold and sparkling gaze on him. It was sharp, but it had a caring edge to it.

"I'll never forget, uncle. Both the good and the bad things," the clear voice,but full of emotions with which Aegon continued "but maybe one day, I would be able to forgive you"

Before allowing Ned to reply, Jon stopped him with a gesture of his eyes and continued with what he wanted say.

"Both you and I know that Arya will find a way to escape and follow us. So it is better that she come with me directly, than she end up wandering alone in Essos. She will be protected with Rhaegar, me and the wolves. Also, I wanted to ask you to make Bran my squire. Although not in this body, I am a knight anointed by the oils in the Starry Sept of Oldtown... There is something inside me that tells me I need to have him by my side. Besides that way whatever happens there will be an heir to Winterfell in Robb in Westeros and another in Bran in Essos with me. If anything happens here while I am campaigning in Essos, Bran is a Stark and I swear on my honor as a Targaryen and Stark that I would never use him as a political tool. He will be my cousin by blood, but to me he is my little brother and my duty is to protect him and help him achieve what he wants."

Ned's nephew was deciding the fate of his family, but at least he was not ordering anything, nor even had demanded an oath of allegiance from Ned.

'Although more loyalty than having two of my children could not have ... but he's not like that ... experienced what he experienced, Jon would never hurt his family.'

Besides that Jon's exposition was without fault. Arya would be happy and cared, while Bran could fulfill his dream of being a Knight and if some tragedy happened, house Stark could continue.

"I see the logic in what you say, and if you swear to me in front of the Weirdwood of the Godswood

that you will protect them and never use them as political instruments, you have my blessing. But I ask you, for how long could I not see them?"

"In nine to ten moons I hope to be between Myr and Pentos. If you want, you could see them again there. By that time I will have clarified the situation in the North and resolved the matter with the Iron Bank to give me the basis to start my plans." Jon said with some doubt, but with decision.

"Jon, why don't you stay in Westeros and do as your mother said. I would get the North on your side. It's the least I can do for you after all..." Ned tried to convince his nephew.

The idea that he, his sister and two of Ned's children were going to war in Essos was the most squeaky thing about Aegon's plan in Ned's mind.

But Ned's nephew seemed to have no doubts about it.

"No Uncle. I would make the same mistakes that I have censured my father. I know that you wouldn't ask me for anything in exchange for your help, but your lords I don't think they would take very well to take up arms against the King they decided to support fifteen years ago. The fact that my parents have come back to life would only make the situation more tense and complex. In case of obtaining support among the northern houses, this support would not be unanimous and could cause attrition in your domain and in house Stark. I need that when I return from Essos to take what belongs to me, house Stark is in the best of situations. That is why I would recommend you marry Robb to the daughters of a Manderly or a Kastark. Secure your control of the North and when the time comes, answer my call to arms. I am not going to start a war now that I have no chance of winning it. Even if I had the Conqueror's dragons, I would at most manage to sit on the Throne for a couple of years, before having to face some kind of general insurrection or rebellion. Our current power base is tenuous to say the least, nonexistent if we are realistic. We don't have the riches, the allies, the armies, or the right situation in the Seven Kingdoms to go for the Throne. The Dragon conquered Westeros taking advantage of a situation that gave him the opportunity to defeat his enemies individually, until he faced the most powerful, the North, with the conquest already consummated. This is what made it possible to offer Torrhen the honorable exit. IF I launch a war now, the tables would be reversed. I would have to use the best warriors of Westeros to fight in a series of endless battles, unified enemies, who individually would be beaten, but collectively and in the long run they would defeat us for resources, manpower, agricultural production and human potential. I will not be a Stark, nor a son of the North, but this runs through my veins. I do not intend to sacrifice the lives of thousands of Northerners sterilely to sit on the Throne, especially if the North has to be the first line of defense against the Others afterwards."

Aegon gaze fixed on Ned's. His silvery purple veins glinting in the warmth of the light coming through the window. Aegon's upright position in front of him. The face serene but serious.

Ned's nephew after whatever he had experienced in the destruction of the First Keep and after the resurrection of Ned's sister and brother-in-law seemed like a different person. A person who Ned couldn't deny who or what he was.

So Ned got up from behind his desk, to face his nephew. Aegon reacted with some surprise, not knowing very well what to expect from Ned's actions.

As Torrhen did 297 years earlier on the shores of the Trident, a Stark knelt before Aegon Targaryen.

"I, Lord Eddard Stark, Warden and Lord Protector of the North, pledge to eternity my allegiance and that of my house and dominion to Aegon of house Targaryen, the rightful King of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men. Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Kingdom."

Ned said in his most lordly voice, looking up at his nephew, who seemed to be hallucinating, by the way Aegon's eyes bulged out of their sockets.

Aegon composed himself how he could, and told Ned;

"And 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 accept your oath of allegiance and solemnly swear that I will never carry out actions of which you may be ashamed or bring dishonor to your house or your descendants. I swear the eternal friendship between House Stark and Targaryen, as well as House Targaryen commitment to come to the aid of House Stark and its bannermen, should need warrant. Rise Lord Eddard Stark, Warden and Lord Protector of the North!"

Ned's nephew finished with an imperious, authoritative and energetic voice.

'This is something I've should have done fifteen years ago.'

Ned thought with a growing conviction to himself as he observed his nephew. The features of Jon's face serene for the first time in hours. The gaze showed determination and commitment. The shoulders were straight, in a body that gave off security and command. Ned had never seen Jon like this, but he never saw him, because he was never able to make him what he was meant to be;

'A Targaryen, a Dragon, a King, a Conqueror. And these are not subject to men nor gods. A leader I would follow.' Ned thought with strange pride to himself.