Chapter 90 - The Ruins of the Dreadfort (III)

"Don't be afraid of falling, be afraid of staying down and not getting up, because it means you've lost all your courage to go on." Princess Regent, Alyssane I Targaryen, the Supreme Truth of the Imperium of Mankind.

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Inside Winterfell Castle, in the Great Hall.

"So that's little Rickon." Aenar spoke, looking at the baby with a gentle gaze. He then looked at Eddard Stark with admiration; it wasn't every man or woman who could bear seven children.

Eddard couldn't help but feel a little proud to see all his children finally reunited. The thing he was most proud of was his family. Anything else was irrelevant in front of him. It showed that Eddard had never been taught to rule.

Brandon Stark, Eddard's brother, would never think like that and would always put House Stark above all else, just as all the Lords and Kings of Winter had been taught for over eight thousand years.

"Jon, let's train! I've gotten much better than before." Arya commented, circling Aenar with a happy look full of excitement.

"Arya, my name is Aenar." Aenar looked at Arya and corrected the girl with a soft tone. Jon Snow was a child, and Aenar was the man born to rule. They were both him, but he could never be Jon Snow again. Not because he didn't want to be, but because the world forced him to be.

The smile on Arya's face stiffened when she heard his words. She wanted to make a joke, but when she saw his purple eyes staring at her seriously, she knew he meant it. It saddened her; she felt like her brother had been taken away from her.

"We'll train another time. I have to talk to Lord Stark and Robb." Although he knew Arya's thoughts, Aenar said nothing to console her. The sooner she understood that he wasn't Jon Snow, the quicker she would adapt to this new reality.

"Brother!" Robb hugged Aenar tightly, and they both laughed.

"You look small, Robb." Aenar commented in an amused tone, making Robb roll his eyes, although he still felt a little small in front of Aenar.

'Do I really have to drink wolf's milk to grow so much? ' Robb thought, remembering the rumors he had heard from the servants about Aenar's great growth.

After the greetings, Robb, curious about the woman from the Royal Guard, looked at Leda with interest. He still couldn't help thinking how much the girl's eyes resembled those of his father. They were practically a copy of each other.

"Who is it?" He asked, causing everyone to turn their gaze to Leda, who stood faithfully behind her king, protecting him at all times.

"Leda Dayne, Lady Commander of the Royal Guard and current Morning Sword of House Dayne of Starfall." Aenar replied with an amused smile on her lips. His eyes couldn't help but focus on Eddard's rigid face.

When Bran heard Leda's identity, he almost screamed with shock. The four-year-old's eyes shone brighter than ever. He looked at the sword in its scabbard and was mesmerized by the handle. Expecting the legendary meteorite steel sword to be drawn at any moment.

There wasn't a single child, teenager or young adult who didn't know Dawn. The sword had become legendary in the hands of Arthur Dayne.

Leda, who had been protecting Aenar the whole time, looked discreetly at her father with a calm, indifferent gaze. She had been analyzing him ever since she first saw him and had to admit that he was an excellent swordsman these days.

But she couldn't imagine how young Eddard Stark had survived and killed his uncle, Arthur Dayne, a legendary man known for his incredible skill with the sword.

As for other feelings, Leda found that she felt nothing surprising. In the end, although she carried his blood, he hadn't created her, so she didn't feel anything particularly special for Eddard.

As Leda looked at the Lord of Winterfell, the Lord of Winterfell himself was also watching her. Although Leda's face was more androgynous, he could still recognize some of Ashara's features in the girl, especially her nose and eyebrows.

Looking into Leda's gray eyes, Eddard felt as if he had been punched in the stomach. He had taken a lady's purity and made her pregnant. In the end, because of a war, he couldn't marry the woman he loved and had to marry Catelyn to form alliances.

He was sure: Leda was his daughter. This brought a huge sense of shame to the Lord of Winterfell. He felt like dirt more than ever. Everyone called him honorable and just, but he didn't feel that way himself. What honorable man could do what he did to a woman?

"Let's talk in my Solar."

Calming the turbulent feelings bubbling up in his chest, Eddard spoke in a seemingly calm tone, but the slight tension didn't escape Aenar's notice.

Not wanting to embarrass Eddard further, Aenar nodded and followed the Lord of Winterfell to the Lord of the North's Solar. Robb and Leda accompanied them.

Once inside Eddard's manor, Aenar sat down in the chair and spoke directly:

"All the Lords of the North must be summoned to bend the knee to me and swear their oaths of allegiance."

Eddard knew this would happen, but he felt an enormous headache as he listened to his words. The Lords of the North could be truly loyal, but at the same time they were the most stubborn, angry and barbaric in Westeros. Once something was put into their minds, it was hard to change their minds.

Eddard might only hate Aerys and Rhaegar, but not the other lords. Many hated House Targaryen as a whole, especially because of the deaths of his father, Rickard Stark, and his brother, Brandon. And this dissatisfaction came not only from these losses, but also from the humiliation they had felt ever since Torrhen Stark had knelt before Aegon I Targaryen during the Conquest of Westeros.

"I'll convince them, Uncle."

Noticing the concern on Eddard's face, Aenar spoke in a calm, regal tone. He would not allow dissent among the ranks of his army. He would rather kill all the Lords and destroy the Noble Houses than risk being betrayed at a crucial moment.

Eddard couldn't help but stare dazedly at Aenar. The image of the quiet, determined child was replaced by the image of the man standing before him. Not a boy, but a real King.

"Uncle, I came to Westeros ahead of schedule for other reasons."

Aenar spoke seriously. Although he knew that going North would announce that House Stark was submitting to a Targaryen King again, he didn't mind. Fighting the Night King and his zombie army was the most important thing at the moment.

"I will open the gates of the Wall and let an army of a hundred thousand wildlings into the North."

When Aenar finished speaking, Robb and Eddard's eyes widened in shock.

If convincing the Northern Lords peacefully was unlikely before, now it was completely impossible. All the Northern Lords would be furious to hear Aenar's words. The blood feud between the North and the Savages was not recent, but dated back to the construction of the Wall.

Eight thousand years of hatred would not be easily forgotten.

But did Aenar care about the anger of the Northern Lords? The answer was an absolute no. These days, he didn't like people saying "no" to him. Perhaps it was the arrogance born within him, but as someone who prized absolutism above all else in the monarchy, he wouldn't hear "no" from his vassals.

And if it was necessary to kill all the Northern Lords to prevent dissent, he would do it. For his future plans, he was the god of humanity's empire and could not be contradicted in any way. Only when everyone said "yes" without any hesitation could humanity survive the gods of chaos that were being generated at that moment.

"Before I came north, I visited High Garden and House Tyrell bent the knee. Lord Mace will send food to help feed these hundred thousand savages for months until they can grow crops on their own." Aenar spoke again with a serious tone.

One of Eddard's worries disappeared when he heard that the food would arrive. Even the food grown in the glass greenhouses, known in the North as Glass Gardens, together with the food bought from the Reach was not enough to feed the whole North, the food would definitely not be enough for an extra hundred thousand mouths.

"But why?" Robb asked the question he wanted most at that moment.

(Note: I'm not going to show the scene of the White Walkers and the Night King again).

After Aenar showed the vision to Robb and Eddard, they both became terribly quiet.

In the end, Eddard broke the silence. "Will we win?" The Lord of Winterfell asked with a calm tone, but behind the calm, a concern could not be hidden.

"Honestly, this Long Night is much longer than the last, but we will win." Aenar replied without any hesitation, there was only pure confidence in his voice.

As he had said before, this Long Night was indeed much bigger because of the gods personally intervening in it, but Aenar would not lose.

Of that, he was absolutely certain.

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