Interlude – Ned 1
Shipbreaker Bay, 281 A.C., Six days earlier…
Ned stood at the bow of the ship looking out at the setting sun thinking back on the events of the past few weeks. He and his seven companions Howland Reed, Willam Dustin, Ethan Glover, Martyn Cassel, Theo Wull, Ser Mark Ryswell and Walton Seastark rode out from Storm's End but not before Walton grabbed a midwife named Prycilla. He remembered how he initially resisted the idea of bringing a midwife, thinking that it would slow them down but Howland, William, and Walton convinced him of the potential necessity.
Thank the Old Gods they convinced me. If they hadn't... I thought to myself with a grimace.
It had taken them days of traveling through the Red Mountains and they only reason it didn't take them weeks was the wayfinder Lord Hugo Seastark gave him. When they arrived at the Tower of Joy, it was guarded by Ser Gerold Hightower, Ser Oswell Whent, and Ser Arthur Dayne.
He remembered the fierce battle that day, how he slew Ser Arthur with the help of Howland Reed. How Ser Oswell slew Martyn Cassel and was about to kill Willam Dustin before Walton Seastark sacrificed himself, taking the blow instead and allowing Willam to quickly decapitate a surprised Ser Oswell. How Ser Gerold lived up to his name "The White Bull" and slew Ser Mark Rhyswell and Ethan Glover before Theo Wull managed to land a mortal blow and he remembers Theo's stunned look when Ser Gerold made one last swipe and slashed his neck.
He remembers running up those steps, calling his sister's name and feeling relief when he heard her voice before that relief vanishing when he finally gazed on her heavily pregnant belly. The midwife looking her over and stating she's going to give birth any day now so they need to leave immediately. It still irks him that they could only dig five graves at the tower and couldn't bring back the bones.
They rode for Nightsong, over the border into the friendly territory of the Stormlands. He had wanted to travel to Starfall to return Dawn to the Daynes but Lyanna's condition meant that getting her to safety was the bigger priority. The night after the first day of riding, they sat around the campfire with Willam, Howland, and himself telling his sister about their experiences in the initial chaos of her disappearance, the war, the sack of King's Landing. She had a horrified reaction to hearing what happened to Elia Martell and her children and when the midwife Prycilla went to her tent to sleep, she whispered with a guilt-ridden face to that she left willing with the prince to our immense shock. She confessed to being the Knight of the Laughing Tree at the Tourney of Harrenhall to all but Howland's surprise and how after she disappeared as the knight…
"…the prince found me taking off the armor and instead of arresting me, we talked. About how I was unsure of Robert with him siring a bastard in the Vale, the prince talked about how his family life was strain and I found him charming. We met in secret again and he promised a way to get out of my betrothal if I met up with him alone next year. I foolishly believed him." She says the last part with a humorless laugh, eyes glistening with tears.
"We headed south to Storm's End to 'negotiate with the Baratheons to end my betrothal' he said. It was all horseshit but I believed him like the dimwitted damsels I use to sneer at. I don't know the South that well but we were close to the Dornish Marches when I realized we were past Storm's End. I asked him, he made excuses but later that night I heard them discussing what the Mad King did to father and Brandon. I tried to flee the next night but was captured brought to that damn tower tied up."
Her breathing speeds up as the tears begin to fall. "I tried to escape again… the first night there… but was caught again…and they held me down… while the prince…" She's pulled into a hug as she sobs into her brother's shoulder, mumbling that it was "her fault they're dead" as Ned firmly denies this and comforts her. After he takes her to her tent, he makes Howland and Willam swear of vow of secrecy…
After three days of riding, they were about to reach the border when they were ambushed and captured by men from House Wyl with Willam's red stallion being shot from under him. He flew off and managed to only break his arm but his horse was slain. The midwife, Prycilla took a bolt throwing herself in front of his sister, saving her life at the cost of her own.
They were brought to Castle Wyl under the "care" of Lord Edgar Wyl. He had heard of House Wyl's infamous reputation and history of vile deeds. It was a tense two days, made worse by a raven from King's Landing baring news of massive caches of wyldfire discovered under the city but gave no details, before his sister gave birth with a local midwife and the castle maester helping. It was a surprisingly chilly night and with salt-scent wind blowing from the sea forcing them to light a small, smoky fire as she screamed from the labor and after a few hours, Brandon Snow was born.
Three days later, Prince Oberyn arrived to escort them by ship and three days after that, they were "guests" of the Martells at the Water Gardens, a private retreat located on a coastal road three leagues to the west of Sunspear. Despite being prisoners and hostages, we were treated well as we dined with Prince Doran, his wife Princess Mellario of Norvos and their children, Prince Oberyn, his bastard daughters, and his current paramour and newest mother of Sand Snakes Captain Nakaya Sho of the swan ship The Feathered Kiss our first night there. The dinner began with Doran raising a golden goblet of Dornish red wine and toasted Eddard Stark himself for "being the only one in the cesspit of the Stag's court to protest Elia and her children's death", notably calling Robert neither king nor usurper. Oberyn gave him an appreciative nod before discussions broke between the Martell brothers and the three Northern lords over the events of the realm including the moving of wyldfire to Summerhall near Dorne and Wolfsport gaining a city charter to the surprise of the Northerners.
Lyanna bonded with Princess Mellario and Captain Nakaya over becoming recent mothers, the princess having her son and second child Quentyn a few moons ago, the same time the dark-skinned Summer Island captain had her bastard daughter Sarella Sand, who was a lighter brown skin than her mother. The three enthusiastically exchanged stories of their homelands, each drawing reactions of awe and disbelief from the other two.
Their eldest child of Doran and Mellario, a girl of five namedays, Princess Arianne marveled at the wayfinder Lord Hugo Seastark lent him with her three bastard cousins Obara, Nymeria and Tyrene Sand. The adults smiled as they watched the girls pass around the wayfinder between with excitement and childlike glee
Prince Doran asked him about the wayfinder while his brother asked about Lord Seastark before revealing Lord Hugo's cousin Wyman was the once who discovered the caches of wyldfire. We were stunned, and as I recalled Jon Arryn telling me of Lord Hugo's strange insistence of wyldfire being under the city I could only wonder how he knew. Captain Nakaya took a keen interest in the wayfinder stating her people would pay an arm and a leg for such a navigation tool before looking to Oberyn and telling him she might stay longer in Westeros just to acquire one.
A few days later a raven arrived with word that Jon Arryn was traveling to Sunspear with Ser Clegane and Ser Lorch to "negotiate peace with House Martell" and we moved to Sunspear two days before Jon arrived. The prisoners, a shivering terrified Lorch and a tied-up Mountain with a vacant gaze caused by some kind of potion were quickly escorted by an enthusiastic Prince Oberyn to the dungeons where even three floors deep, high pitch shrieks and bellowing roars of pain could be faintly heard for the next five days.
Jon Arryn brought Prince Lewyn's bones, Ser Clegane and Ser Lorch as "tokens of apologies and good faith from King Robert." Doran responded curtly that while House Martell was thankful for the tokens, they would be more thankful for an apology from "the Stag King" for laughing at their sister's and her children's corpses. The exchanged created an awkward air but the negotiations after that were simple, the Martells would keep their titles with no punishments for siding with the Targaryens in exchange for handing over their "guests" bending the knee to Robert. Doran then surprised them saying that he will send his brother to bend the knee in his stead and attend the royal dual wedding.
After that Lyanna and I met with Jon Arryn, who mentioned Robert still wished to marry Lyanna to her surprise. She agreed to marry Robert before turning the topic to the fate of her son, with Jon responding that they would decide when they arrived in the capital but admitted he and Robert were leaning on him renouncing his claims when he reaches maturity and joining the Night's Watch to nullify his claim to the throne. This incensed Lyanna who argued her son would be both a Stark and no threat to Robert to Jon Arryn's insistence that would give the Starks too much power while I argued a compromise of raising him as a new cadet branch of House Stark in Moat Cailin. When Jon still argued that he would be a threat, albeit a reduced one as a cadet branch instead of main branch Stark, he offered marrying Brandon to Mya Stone, Robert's bastard in the Vale to tie him to House Baratheon and the crown. Lyanna showed discomfort at the mention of Robert's bastard but accepted the compromise while Jon looked skeptical but didn't dismiss it outright, simply stating they would bring it up with Robert when they get back to the capital.
We finally set sail from Sunspear when Oberyn was finished killing his prisoners accompanied by Captain Nakaya as both his paramour and to potentially negotiate trade deal for the Sho Clan of the island of Koj with either the crown or House Seastark. Ned didn't oppose this as growing comradery between his sister and the fifth daughter of the second son of the Sho Clan head created an interest the North in the latter, a place only a scant few Summer Islanders have been to and only White Harbor. He had agreed to introduce her to Lord Wyman Manderly and Lord Hugo Seastark to form trade deals to the captain's surprise and joy.
Lyana slowly became like the she-wolf she was before Harrenhall, but she wasn't there yet as she had nightmares about the Tower of Joy, along with new nightmares after hearing what happened to Princess Elia. They involved her being held down by the Kingsguard, forced to watch a lion devour baby Brandon. He and Howland assured her that Tywin had no way to reach Brandon in the North and that he would never allow something like that to happen.
Storm's End, the next day…
Ned, his sister and fellow Northern lords, the Hand, Prince Oberyn and Captain Nakaya sat as they heard the news from King's Landing during a private dinner with the castellan Ser Raymont Bolling and Maester Cressen. The announcement of the dual wedding of Lannisport involving the betrothal of Lord Hugo Seastark to Lady Myrra Lannister of Lannisport and the new Seastark-Lannister trade deal shocked everyone. He and Willam reacted with stunned silence, Howland looked like he saw a ghost and whispering about a "black direwolf and swimming lioness". Lyanna looked disturbed, having to calm her rapid breathing as her fearful eyes turn to him for assurance that he gave with a smile and nod that he didn't feel himself. Jon Arryn looked conflicted at the Lord Seastark betrothal, that looked morphed into astonishment when he heard about the part of the trade deal that involved Wolfsport and Lannisport mutually lowering their customs duties. He commented out loud that the Lannisters never lower customs duties and that even the Mad King tried and failed to get Tywin to lower his before muttering that he needed to tell Lord Seaguard to get a trade deal and tell the other lords to double team him in negotiations. Captain Nakaya looked conflicted, asking her lover if it was alright to meet with a Northern lord that is marrying into the family that murdered his sister. The prince assured her with that it was alright and that it wouldn't offend him or House Martell because he also really wanted to meet Lord Seastark as he looked at Ned with a dangerous glint in his eyes.
A/N: Part 1 of 2, with the second part being from Storm's End to King's Landing and we'll hear Ned's reaction to the brewing Seastark-Karstark feud.
Also Lyanna is a complicated character that can be polarizing to the fanbase at times and I hope I wrote a Lyanna (a fifteen year old girl) that made a terrible decision to go with Rhaegar and tried to bail the moment she realized he was lying to her resulting in Brandon. She also feels immense guilt for essentially causing the war, especially the deaths of her father, brother (why she named her son after him), and Elia and her kids. Hope this characterization seems plausible, and no she's not going to be weak and broken, she many be traumatized and a little paranoid about the safety of her son but she's still a she-wolf...
The part with Oberyn's Summer Islander lover being there was a happy accident of me researching the Sand Snakes and realizing Sarella Sand was born or 280 or 281 so I slotted her in instead of Ellaria Sand and made her a minor noble/merchant of the island of Koj since the only info we have on her is that she's the captain of a swan ship called The Feathered Kiss. That's it, not even a name