Leo Pendragon didn't move when Ned Stark entered the clearing.
He didn't reach for the metal arm.
Didn't shift his stance.
Didn't even bother to turn fully toward the Lord of Winterfell.
He simply stared forward, one hand resting on Ghost's head.
"You came sooner than I expected," Leo said quietly.
Ned didn't draw his sword.
Not yet.
But his hand hovered near the hilt—just close enough to be ready, just far enough to show restraint.
Ghost moved between them, silent as snowfall, and sat at Leo's side.
That alone made Ned's pulse quicken.
The direwolf of his son was… comfortable with this man.
Not just comfortable—protective.
Ned exhaled slowly.
"I came because you saved my daughter."
Leo raised a brow.
"She shouldn't wander the woods alone."
Ned's jaw tightened.
He did not like being reminded of his daughter's recklessness.
"And you—" Ned said more firmly, "—you live too close to my lands, armed with weapons and strength that no man in the North can explain."
Leo tilted his head.
"Is that why you were hunting me?"
Ned did not deny it.
But he stepped forward, hands unclenching from the hilt.
"We don't hunt men without cause. I only wished to speak."
Leo's lips twitched—almost a smile.
"A rare quality in these lands."
The First Question
Ned stood straight, snow crunching beneath his boots.
"You gave Jon a sword. A weapon finer than any our smiths can forge. You taught him to fight in ways I've never seen. Why?"
Leo met his eyes.
"Because he deserved more than what the world gave him."
Ned's chest tightened.
"And my daughter? Why save her?"
Leo's answer came instantly.
"Because she's a Stark."
Ned blinked.
"That is enough reason for you?"
Leo's voice softened.
"Your family is the only part of this world worth protecting."
Ned's breath caught.
He did not know what that meant, but he recognized truth when he heard it.
Leo continued, voice even:
"I won't harm you, Lord Stark. Or Winterfell. Or your children."
He paused.
"As long as the Starks do not harm me."
Ned studied him—this stranger of shadow and impossible strength.
A man who moved like death.
Who fought like a legend.
Who spoke like someone who had lived too many lifetimes.
The Name
Ned took a slow breath.
"Jon told me your name."
Leo stiffened slightly.
"Did he?"
Ned nodded.
"Leo… Pendragon."
A quiet tension filled the clearing.
A raven cawed in the distant pines.
A gust of winter wind curled between them.
Ghost's ears twitched.
Ned Stark spoke the name with reverence—and fear.
"That bloodline is older than Valyria," he said softly.
"They rode red dragons before the Targaryens learned to crawl."
Leo didn't answer.
Ned stepped closer, lowering his hand from the sword fully now.
"If your name is true—then everything we know about history is wrong."
Leo shrugged lightly.
"History's written by the survivors. My family chose not to survive on paper."
"And you?" Ned asked.
"Why reveal the name to Jon?"
"Because one day he will need to understand who I stand with. And why."
Ned's brow furrowed.
"What does Jon have to do with dragons?"
Leo didn't answer.
And that silence told Ned far more than any words could.
The Warning
Ned's voice grew quieter.
"You save Starks. You train Jon. You protect Arya. You stopped assassins meant for me. Why? What do you want?"
Leo finally stood.
Straight. Tall. Dangerous.
"I want the future to survive what's coming."
Ned felt ice run through his veins.
"What is coming?"
Leo looked north.
Past the trees.
Past the mountains.
Past even the Wall.
"Winter," Leo whispered.
"The real one. Not the one your banners talk about."
Ned's heart pounded.
"You know something of the Long Night?"
"I know enough," Leo said. "And I intend to build what is needed to stop it."
Ned swallowed.
"And what is that?"
Leo turned back to him.
"A Stark. On the Wall. Ready long before the dead begin to walk."
Ned inhaled sharply.
"Jon."
Leo nodded once.
"That boy is more important than you or he realize."
He stepped back.
"Let him go to the Wall. Let him grow where he needs to grow. Do not stop him."
Ned's shoulders slumped.
He had hoped Jon would stay.
He had hoped the boy would find peace.
But hearing Leo say the words—
Ned understood.
"I won't stop him," he whispered.
Ghost huffed softly, as if approving.
A Stark's Promise
Ned finally spoke the words he had carried since he entered the clearing.
"You have my gratitude. For my daughter's life. And for Jon."
Leo nodded.
"I don't need gratitude."
"Then what do you need?" Ned asked.
Leo's voice was quiet. Deadly serious.
"When the time comes, I need the Starks ready to choose the living. No matter who sits the Iron Throne."
Ned's breath left him.
A promise.
A warning.
A future he didn't yet understand.
But he nodded.
"You have my word, Leo Pendragon."
Leo stepped back into the shadows.
"And you have my respect, Eddard Stark."
Ghost followed him several steps before turning back toward Jon's scent.
Ned didn't stop the wolf.
He watched as Leo vanished—
silent as snow.
deadly as winter.
real as prophecy.
END OF CHAPTER