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"There were more supporters of Robert's than Targaryen Loyalists. They put Robert on the Throne" Jon Arryn explained. "During the war, your mother and brother were confined to Dragonstone, where she died birthing your sister. After Robert won the war, he declared all Targaryens to be slain and so your brother and sister were forced into exile."
Rhaegar stared dumbly at Jon Arryn and then it clicked for him, how could he have not noticed it until now?!
"And what of my children? Rhaenys and Aegon?" he asked slowly. Elia had died, the man pretty much confirmed it. If his siblings had gone into exile, surely they would too.
"Killed by Tywin Lannister and his dogs Gregor and Lorch" Oberyn spat.
His whole world spun around him. If he had not been sitting, he was certain he'd have fallen. His wife dead and his children dead as well.
"They killed Rhaenys first" Elia was speaking now, her voice breaking. "Lorch stabbed her over and over again until she stopped screaming... until she stopped squirming and twitching... Gregor killed Aegon... dashed his head against the wall... They killed them in front of me Rhaegar! They killed our children in front of me!"
Rhaegar was moving the moment a tear fell from Elia's eyes, arms wrapped around the woman as she sobbed against him. Both his children were gone... both of them were killed like they were animals.
"How were those two dealt with? Tell me how were they punished for this act of savagery" Rhaegar asked, voice low and cold.
Oberyn barked a laugh.
"Punished?! They were hailed heroes by that fat cunt of a King!" he pointed an accusing finger at Robert, who still looked out of it. "We demanded retribution and we got nothing! Those two still strut around like fucking peacocks while my sister and her children are beneath the ground!"
Rhaegar's body moved before his mind caught up to it. One moment he was with Elia, and the next he was with Robert.
People watched in fear and awe as Rhaegar lifted the fat man off his seat and punched him so hard that Robert fell back.
He pinned the larger man on the ground and rained punch after punch on him, roaring in grief. Robert did nothing, silently taking all the hits.
It wasn't until Ned, Brandon and Stannis pulled Rhaegar away that the punches stopped. But the man still struggled to fight Robert, roaring and demanding that they let him go.
"I curse you Robert Baratheon! I curse you and your line! May your children be subjected to this torture and may you subjected to this torture and may you watch it happen helplessly!" Rhaegar roared, his voice finally breaking and knees buckling.
"For the sake of clarity the next session will start after a break". came the System's voice from the speakers.
The door opened up to a corridor, long and dark with torches lining the wall. There was a door between each pair of torches, old and fancy and made of wood. Ned walked through the first one to his right. It brought him to a large chamber, bigger than any he had ever seen.
He sat Rhaegar on the bed and went to the lone table in the room, where a chalice of water waited for him. He did not question where that came from, nor how long it sat there. He simply took it and passed it to Rhaegar, who had stopped sobbing and was now staring blankly at the floor. The man did not take the chalice.
"Rhaegar" Ned said gently, holding the chalice closer to him.
"When I first learned of this prophecy... I thought of my people and how as a Prince it was my duty to protect them" Rhaegar began, still not taking the chalice. "Then I got married and Elia gave me two beautiful children. Then it became me wanting to protect them, to make sure both of them could have a future where death isn't clawing at their backs. And I failed even at that! I failed to protect my children... they are dead because of the mistakes I made. |-"
Ned wasn't sure how he should react to Rhaegar's words. All this time he'd been cursing Rhaegar for the entire war, for the stupid stunt the prince had pulled that got Ned's father and brother killed, for leaving his sister so far from home that she didn't have all that she needed at hand to survive a birthing.
All that hate now seemed to not want to surface right now, not when he finally understood the motivations behind it all. Would he have done it if he were in Rhaegar's place? Would he have done it if it meant that his children would be safe?
It was an easy question to answer.
The door opened and Ned looked back to find Elia there, still puffy-eyed but a lot saner than Rhaeger. Lyanna was with her, as was Brandon.
"Lord Stark, if you would let me have a moment with my husband alone."
"Of course, Princess."
Ned walked out without another word, passing the chalice of water to Elia. Brandon and Lyanna followed him out to the corridor.
"Shouldn't you be there as well? Since you are his wife" Brandon asked.
"Elia and Rhaegar lost their children, they need to be alone" Lyanna shook his head. Ned noticed the look in her eyes, the guilt and haunted look in them. He placed a hand on her shoulder.
"It's not your fault," Ned told her reassuringly. "It would have been better if you'd sent Brandon a letter before you left with Rhaegar. But the realm was already on the brink and a war was just waiting to break out. This is not on you sister."
"I did send a letter" Lyanna answered, looking thankful and still confused. "Before I left for Winterfell, I had written one for Riverrun, to Brandon specifically."
"I received no such letter," Brandon said with a frown.
"I wrote you one and sent it too. I don't know what happened to it."
"Perhaps if we keep watching, we could find out" Ned suggested.
His siblings nodded and Brandon was the first to turn around and leave. Ned went to follow but Lyanna stopped him. With a hand gripping his arm.
"Ned... Jon... does he know?"
Ned studied his sister closely before he answered her, taking in the anxiety in her eyes, and the slight wobbling of her bottom lip.
"He does not" Ned said, "only Howland and I know the secret. I promised you Lyanna that I would protect him no matter what, and I intend to keep my promise to you."
Something like disappointment mixed with gratitude flashed in her eyes.
"Do you ever plan on telling him?" she asked.
"I did once he was old enough to understand, to be able to live with the truth of who he was. But it seems he will be learning it sooner than I'd have liked."
"Perhaps this is better."
"How can it be better? If he learns it here, everyone else does. And you've heard what happened toRhaegar's children. Robert has not forgotten his rage at losing you. I can't even imagine the things he'd do to Jon."
Lyanna's grip tightened on his arm.
"He's here, with me. I will protect him if Robert so much as looks at him wrong" she said with so much venom in her tone that it made Ned flinch. But at the same time, he couldn't help but feel happy, to be talking to his sister and for Jon who would finally be meeting his mother.
"What is he like?" Lyanna asked, the venom now replaced by softness and curiosity.
"Jon is solemn and guarded. He's sulking most of the time and notices a slight quicker than the other children, but isn't as explosive as the rest."
"He sounds a lot like you brother" Lyanna teased and Ned smiled.
"He rides like his mother, though nobody would call him a centaur" Ned teased right back. "He's good with a sword as well, but he holds himself back most of the time."
"Would it have something to do with your wife perhaps?"
Ned's look of guilt was enough of an answer for Lyanna.
"I know why you wouldn't tell her Ned, but I don't think I can hold myself back if she makes the slightest of remarks against Jon. Against my boy" Lyanna hissed.
"I know, sister," Ned said softly. He did not regret telling Catelyn about Jon's parentage. When he brought the boy, he had yet to know Catelyn as a person, even if they had a son between them. He did not whether she could be trusted with this information. Would she have respected it or whether she would have gone straight to the King with this information? Nor did he regret not telling her as time went on. Catelyn's attitude towards Jon had become a good cover for protecting Jon, that if Catelyn continued to despise the boy, nobody would question Jon's parentage.