Prologue

Catelyn Stark was stunned, as she watched her lord husband dismount. He had just returned from Robert's Rebellion, overthrowing the Mad King and the Targaryen Dynasty in a brutal and lengthy conflict. The Baratheons and Lannisters now held the Iron Throne, but were hated by the Dornish. Finally,a young Ned Stark had returned to Winterfell, to his lady wife and to his heir Robb. Watching him ride towards the castle had made her so happy.

And yet in his arms, he held a small babe with a tuft of black hair.

Was it a bastard? She'd heard the rumours of Ned Stark and Ashara Dayne, and was afraid to think of herself as his second woman. She didn't even know if she could take looking at a symbol of adultery every single day. All these terrified thoughts ran through her head as Lord Stark dismounted alongside his men, and handed the baby to a wet nurse beside him who's rode up with the men. Catelyn saw her husband smile when he looked at the babe, but with deep sadness in his eyes.

Ned walked over to her with a heartfelt smile on his face that she could not help but return. He just had that effect on people. When they met, he hugged her and leaned in for a quick kiss. However, he sooned broke it off as his face turned serious once again.

"We have a lot to talk about, My lady."

Soon after, the couple sat in Ned's solar, across from one another at the table, both looking very nervous. For a minute neither spoke until Catelyn tentatively asked the big question in the room.

"Who is that child?"

Ned looked drown, distraught evident in his eyes, and could not answer for some time. However, he then reached into his pocket and gently stroked a bright silver necklace that saw a wolf and a dragon intertwined with one another as they stared into each others eyes. It was beautiful, but Catelyn had the sense it had belonged to someone else. Someone now gone from this world. Someone who her husband missed very much. Ned's sudden voice was shaky and just as nervous as her voice had just been.

"His name is Aegon Targaryen, the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and his second wife, my sister Lyanna. His parents loved one another, and married at the Isle of Faces. The babe is the heir to the Iron Throne." He managed to say whilst looking into her eyes, but soon dropped his own as his voice turned to almost a whisper and tears grew in his eyes. "I promised her I'd protect him.."

Catelyn was stunned. This was a huge shock to her, knowing that this boy was the child of the two who began the war that had changed Westeros. Whilst she was internally glad that her husband had remained faithful, she was still so scared for the boy he had brought back. A boy who would have to live a secret life forever or be killed. Instead of speaking, she stood up from her chair to kneel beside Ned, draping her arms around his honourable neck to help him silently grieve the wild yet beautiful She-wolf of the North. The two were silent for a time.

"Does Robert know?" Catelyn asked, although she was sure she already knew the answer.

"No." said Ned firmly, shaking his head as anger grew in his eyes. "He hated Rhaegar and loved Lyanna, although that love was not something Lyanna returned. I didn't show him the child at King's Landing. I couldn't. Not after what he did to Queen Elia and her son. I won't be talking with him for a while."

"Did the Princess Rhaenys survive?" Catelyn asked, surprised he hadn't mentioned her name. The story of the Lannister's brutal sack of Kings Landing was widely known, even here in the North.

"Reports say that she managed to escape alongside a Dornish retinue led by Prince Oberyn Martell before the Lannisters attacked. We've also heard from Dragonstone that Queen Rhaella escaped with her daughter Daenerys, Ser Gerold Hightower, Ser William Darryl and a contingent of other loyal soldiers. Prince Viserys was was killed during the assault" Ned concluded with a sigh, clutching his wife's hand.

Catelyn was a mother, first and foremost, and knew what she was going to do already. The only hoped her husband would agree. She rose to her feet, and looked him dead in the eye.

"Ned, I don't want to let that innocent boy live a cruel life without parents. I promise you that I will raise him like he was our own son, and will love and care for him. But we cannot say that he's ours." Catelyn told him, rubbing his hand kindly as she did so. "If we say he's Brandon's child, we can keep him away from Robert's eye. Maybe give him a happy life here in Winterfell. Then when he's older, we will tell him who his real parents are."

Ned gave her a soft smile and stood also. "Thank you, Cat. I'll call him Jon, a northern name to keep the story intact. Hopefully we can keep him safe, and give him a good life with his siblings for the time being. Then, who knows?"

She returned his smile, and the two kissed lovingly before he had to leave to see little Robb, his first son. His gentle stroking of her waist before he departed left her thinking of their first night together in many months, leaving her excited and eager. Soon, the midwife entered with the little baby and briefly gave him to Catelyn after the Lady of Winterfell gently asked her to hold him.

Catelyn held the baby with a soft smile on her pretty face, rocking him to and fro. When he opened his eyes, he giggled and grabbed her finger much to her amusement. She looked into his eyes, beautifully grey yet with a soft ring of violet around them like his real father had. She smiled.

"Welcome to Winterfell, Jon Snow."