"Rhaegar! Rhaegar, please… he's my brother!" Lyanna Targaryen, formerly Stark, was holding on the Crown Prince's arm as he sheath his ancestral blade on his hip. "He doesn't know! He doesn't know I'm here willingly. Let me talk to him! Let me set things straight."

Rhaegar sighed heavily. "He wanted me dead, Lya… All of King's Landing heard him. The King heard him. He will not let this go." He said tiredly. "I already asked my father to let me speak with Lord Brandon but my father wants him dead."

Princess Lyanna choked back a sob but then looked at the Prince determinedly. "Let me speak to him… let me speak to the King, if I have to beg—"

"No!" The Prince's answer was harsh but his hands were gentle as he cupped her face to wipe the tears off her lovely face. "Let me handle the King. I don't want you anywhere near him." He said in a voice of steel.

He looked away as the Prince leaned to kiss the new Princess. And that is when he saw Princess Elia, looking sharply at the two while she holds the three month old Aegon in her arms. He pities the Dornish Princess who had hero worshipped the Prince since before they were wed. Alas, when love come even the most honorable of man crumbles underneath it's weight.

"Arthur, let's go." The Prince said as he kissed the Lady's hand one last time. He nodded at Princess and kissed baby Aegon on the forehead.

He opened the door leading to Princess Lyanna's bedchamber inside Maegor's Holdfast. He got a glimpse of her sitting on the wide parapet below the big window facing Black Water Bay. She was wearing a thick white robe, hers arounds around her knees touching her chest. She looks so young then and at the age of six and ten he reminded himself that she is just a child. He closed the door after the Prince and stood stoically outside ever the gallant Knight.

A moment later he heard her heart wrenching sobs and her pleas.

"Please… he is my brother, he's a fool but he loves me… you cannot… I will do anything… please!"

Below the Black Dungeons he can still hear the echo of Brandon Starks scream, angry and indignant even while awaiting the King's justice.

"Lyanna! Give me my sister back! Lyanna!"

The Small Council was in session regarding Brandon Stark's and his companions' fates, it had been going since the early morn and he sun had already gone down an hour ago and still they deliberate. The King wanted them all dead and all their family with them.

"The king will not change his mind." The Grand Maester said in his slow raspy voice.

He was standing in front of the large side window when Prince Rhaegar's resigned shoulders stiffened and then turned to him. "Where is the Princess Liana?" he asked him suddenly to the confusion of the Small Council.

She hasn't left her bedchamber, Your Highness. Ser Jaime guards her door." He answered plainly.

The Crown Prince suddenly stood up causing the heavy chair to topple over. "We'll reconvene tomorrow." He said and walked briskly out of the Small Council Chamber then actually run all the way to Maegor's Holdfast.

He run behind the Crown Prince in confusion, Ser Jaime was only barely able to open the door when his Prince and friend threw it open violently. What he saw astounded him. There in the middle of the large canopied bed was the Crown Prince's second wife, her feet hanging three feet above the feather bed, silken sheets around her long white neck. The Prince was on the bed in three big strides; his arms around her slim figure trying to alleviate the pressure form her neck.

"Cut her down!" the Prince ordered hysterically.

He cut the make shift rope down with a single swing from Dawn and let the sword cluttered to the floor as he help the Crown Prince lower the Princess down on the bed, he could see the darken mark on her usually pale neck. Ser Jaime had already gone to fetch the Grand Maester.

"Lya… Lya… open your eyes, you stuborn girl!" he could hear the panic and the anguish on the Prince's voice. "Come on, you can't—you cannot leave me… you… you promised… you cannot do this Lyanna!" he sobbed pathetically, his hands caressed her face, her hair, her hands.

Then he was screaming at him and the maids and the acolytes who answered Ser Jaime's summon. For a time he reminded him of Mad King Aerys and he thought with dread if Princess Lyanna's death might be the one thing that pushed the Prince towards madness just like Duskendale did to his father.

He found her at Aegon's Garden looking longingly at the ship going across the Narrow Sea. It took a lot of begging and cajoling for his Father to send the Heir of Winterfell in exile instead of to the gallows. In return the Warden of the North was called to the capital to swear fealty to the Crown and to give his daughter away as his second wife before the Faith even if they had already wedded beneath the Heart Tree in the Isle of Faces.

He approached her silently and hugged her from behind. She leaned into him then turned in his embraced and held up her hands towards his face.

"Thank you… for saving him." She said in scratchy voice.

He frowned as he spots the dark line on her neck; he tightened his hold on her arms and hauls her petite form against his much bigger one. She was looking at him with wide shocked eyes.

"I was able to reason with the King this time, my love, but I don't think I would be lucky to do so a second time. The North will remain safe as long as you remain safe, Lyanna." He said and caressed her neck softly. "No more of that foolishness lady wife. The North's fate lay in your hand, do you understand me?"

She nodded fearfully looking at him with wide eyes. He closed his eyes and embraced her tightly. "You cannot do that to me again, Lyanna, please, I beg you. You promised that it will be the two of us against all odds, you cannot…"

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry, Rhaegar, I'm so sorry." She sobbed on his chest.

"Shh… no more tears, my love, no more tears. The real fight begins today. Promise me it would be the two of us for always." He whispered, kissing her temple.

"I love you, Rhaegar, I promised you that I will be strong for you. I promise." She said and he sighed at the sincerity in her voice.