Bringing the Dawn

IX.

Jaeron Targaryen

Winterfell, 299AC

The next few days were strange, to put it lightly. Due to the size of the dragons, it was simple to keep them hidden from view. No one could know other than the family and Maester Luwin. All it takes is one servant to see them to gossip, then someone goes home for the day and gossips. Then before anyone can blink, everyone in the North will know. They barely made any noise apart from angry huffs when Jon wasn't feeding or petting them enough, very much acting like spoiled cats, but it wasn't loud. The young boy sighed deeply before sliding out the sword from underneath his bed to examine it. His head was in a state of turmoil ever since they had hatched.

Yes, he knew the truth, but now that he had physical reminders of the truth, he had no choice but to face the facts. Jon had no idea how to be a Targaryen, no idea on how to be a Prince, was not versed in courtly politics. These were things he was going to need to work on and master if he was going to do it. Does he want that stupid chair his ancestor had built from the swords of other Kingdoms? No, he can categorically say that. However, there was no way he was going to be able to get justice for those who had lost their lives without claiming it. He'll either crumble under everything, or flourish from the dirt. Hopefully, it would be the second. There are four people left in his family, and one is elderly. He wanted to go to the wall for hiding, but this wasn't his main reason. His main reason was to see Aemon again and take in some of his wisdom.

Despite there being almost ninety name-days between uncle and nephew, he had given him sound advice the few days he had spent at Castle Black when he found out the truth. They'd sent correspondence back and forth frequently, keeping them in the chest alongside the letters he had gotten from his mother, father, and Elia. Everyone thought that the Princess was dishonoured by Rhaegar's act of crowning Lyanna, but she confirmed herself in her own words she was anything but. From reading in detail, it was clear she didn't love Rhaegar, but saw him as a good friend. Everyone thought that Rhaegar had kidnapped Lyanna a year after Harrenhal, but they were in regular contact that whole year and met up in secret frequently during the tourney. It was how they had first met after all.

Ned had never told them the story; it was only when Jon had brought it up after coming across it in one of Lyanna's letters that he finally told them all. How three squires had beaten Howland Reed only to be scared off by a petite Lyanna Stark. To her trying to convince him to win back his honour by competing against them but the Lord refusing to do so as he wasn't a good fighter nor was he a good jouster. To Brandon and Benjen relenting and getting a suit of armour that was mismatched for their sister so she could do it instead. The whole mystery of the Knight of the laughing tree was just that- a mystery. They'd disappeared after the match never to be seen again, or so people thought.

What had happened was King Aerys ordered his son to find the Knight and bring him to court as he was convinced of something going on. If only his grandfather realised that there was something going on, and it was his wife and eldest son at the forefront of it all. There was only one letter from Rhaella and it was addressed to Rhaegar, confirming she had fallen pregnant with Daenerys after Aerys had forced himself on her. The thought sickened him to his stomach. It was bad enough they were brother and sister because this went against every moral fibre in his body, but the fact a brother was forcing himself on his sister was a whole lot worse.

Rhaegar Targaryen had come back two hours after the order was made with only the Knight's discarded shield, saying this was the only thing he had managed to find. There was no scent for dogs to track, there were no tracks on the ground, no other pieces of armour. They'd literally vanished into thin air seemingly. But his father had lied to everyone in the room. He had found the mystery Knight alongside Ser Arthur. They'd stumbled on a then fourteen name-day old Lyanna Stark scrambling to get the armour off and chucking pieces in the lake surrounding the Isle of Faces- where they would later wed secretly. She'd thought he would take her, but he'd instead laughed and congratulated her for her bravery. They'd talked for well over an hour before Howland Reed found them confirming that Aerys was going to send a search party for Rhaegar. The Prince had silenced both him and Ser Arthur to secrecy on the matter before taking the shield Lyanna had yet to throw into the water and directing her to a small cave so she could hide until it was safe for her to come out.