Game of Dragonborn.

Chapter 136 - Houses of the North.

[Chapter Size: 3000 Words.]

Third Person POV.
North.

...

...

"Lady Karstark, please, look at this." The maester approached the girl in the upper floors of Karhold.

She was watching the North from the window, thinking about all the crises happening at that very moment in the realm and within her family.

Her family had been large and well-off before all the troubles in the South began... She thought of the happy life she had there with her brothers and father... but everything started to fall apart when the flames of war reached the North.

Her two younger brothers were killed by Jaime Lannister during their capture before Robb Stark succeeded.

Her father was executed by Robb Stark, while the Karstark army, which had abandoned Robb's cause, was still making its way North. They hadn't arrived yet, as the North was a complete mess at that exact moment — whether due to the Southern war becoming a failure, the Bolton betrayal, the self-proclaimed king Stannis Baratheon seeking the support of the houses, the ironborn raiding Northern lands, or even an unprecedented number of wildlings crossing the Wall entirely, led by Daemon Targaryen.

Her older brother and rightful heir of Karhold and House Karstark was being held prisoner by the Lannisters after falling in battle...

And if that disgrace wasn't enough... her uncle, Arnolf Karstark, was trying to take control of House Karstark and stage a coup. He didn't yet have control of the castle, with the heir still alive — her brother — and with Lord Stark still alive as well, he had to be careful. But Alys knew he was manipulative and hadn't given up on his plans.

He wanted to marry her off to his son, to gain control of her house. Alys wanted to refuse this marriage, and for now she held control of the house — but how long would that last...? Would she have to flee Karhold? Where would she go?

Leaving all the family troubles aside, she turned to the maester and saw the letter in his hand.

He was nervous, while holding up the seal, still unbroken — indicating that not even the maester had read it, nor her uncle, and she was pleased that it had been delivered directly to her.

The Targaryen seal was something Jon had retrieved from the Citadel and Aemon had also kept at the Night's Watch. But it surprised those who received the letter — after all, how many decades had it been since the last time anyone received a letter with the three-headed dragon?

She saw the letters written directly on the front of the letter, stating that this was Daemon Targaryen's first response to the entire North.

She broke the seal and began to read. Her uncle should read the letter as well, but she had the best birth among the Karstarks currently occupying Karhold.

The letter was simple, direct, stating that Daemon Targaryen was fighting for his cause and intended to pacify the entire North, condemning House Bolton and asserting that all those who sided with the Targaryens would be rewarded.

It also reported on the Stark children — whom everyone believed to be dead — being in his camp, with the right to leave, according to Daemon's own words.

And the most shocking part for Lady Karstark was Jon's declaration immediately afterward.

"Any news from the South?" she asked the maester at once.

The maester shook his head. "No other house has sent us information," he informed.

"Look at this," she said, handing him the letter.