A/N: Sorry for the delay of this chapter. I hit a pretty nasty writers block. Several scenes of this chapter had to be rewritten again and again to find flow that I was looking for.

A special thanks for my new beta joaomanuelarelomansogoncalves. He edited this chapter on short notice.

Thank you for all the comments, messages and reviews. They helped me to power through to finish this chapter as soon as I could. I won't mention everyone by name, but know that you have been a massive help to me. So thank you.

Anyway... heres the new chapter. Enjoy


Highgarden, Reach

Olenna Tyrell massaged her temples trying to curb the headache that was plaguing her. Looking at the comprehensive records of income and expenditure of Reach for this year, had her wanting nothing but to fling them away if it helped the problem her house was facing. Just beyond the records of this year were the records for the last year and the year before. Though she wasn't able to spot it a year ago, a pattern was starting to emerge that spelled danger for the entire Reach. The only thing that was common with the three reports was that Reach was losing money… and fast.

The sole culprit laid on the top of each and every map of Westeros. How she cursed the Starks for diminishing Reach's power. And how she rued the day she forced her son to make those excessive demands while the Starks were down on their luck. Nobody could have had the faintest guess that the North would one day rise up explosively overwhelming all known political covenants.

It had been three years since the Starks opened trade after years of isolation. And it was also the start of all the trouble that blew in their faces. They were already tight on their funds because the North refused to buy their excess grain no matter how low they offered it. Reach wasn't like the other kingdoms. It consisted of flatlands which for centuries were used for farming. For centuries the Reach explored this fertile land concentrating on farming and exporting their excess produce for a hefty profit. Every other source of income were secondary.

With the absence of a winter for so long, it had caused an accumulation of grain they couldn't disperse causing their granaries to fill up. Usually they would export it to other kingdoms but the long summer had enabled them to store up their own food making it hard for the Reach to export. For three years they had been scrambling to find more storage options since they couldn't disburse their produce like they used to. It had caused a significant rise in the cost of storage and maintenance.

She was also seeing reports of lords using their hard grown food as fodder for animals and even going as far as to use them as fertilizer for their fields so that they could make room in their granaries.

For three years their granaries have been filled to the brim as there were no significant buyers for their produce. Riverlands were self sufficient and though it pains for her to admit it, Riverlands were much more fertile than Reach. Usually the storms that plagued the area caused them have a deficiency in the amount of food they needed but the long summer had seen to it that they were self sufficient.

Excess produce of the Riverlands went to the Vale and the North. Since the North had stopped purchasing grain from the Riverlands the Tulleys had managed to come to an agreement with Westerlands under house Lannister. It was a waste of time to look into trade agreements with the Vale since Riverlands were much closer to them cutting down the transportation costs.

The Stormlands were self-sufficient as well. Their excess grain was traded with the King's Landing and that was a trade agreement that dated back to the age when Aegon the Conqueror united the Seven Kingdoms into one. She couldn't shake this particular agreement depending on the power of the Tyrells as it was ironclad. She would only be able to fulfil the discrepancies which wouldn't amount to anything with the amount of grain they had stored up over the course of three years.

Trading with Essos was another excessive burden as it would require transportation of their goods by ships. To get to Braavos, Lorath and Pentos the only cities in which they could engage in free trade, their fleets had to cross the Stepstones, a region teeming with pirates and other degenerates who were waiting for the time to strike rich. Trading with Volantis or other free cities meant that they would have to sell their produce at cost since they didn't have any connection with the higher-ups of those cities.

The remaining options left for her was to look into was Dorne and Westerlands.

The problem with these two options were another cause for many of her sleepless nights. Westerlands was led by Tywin Lannister under an iron fist. Unlike in other Kingdoms, she would have to deal with the Warden as all other Westerland houses were firmly lodged in the lion's ass. She felt itching all over her body when she considered talking with Tywin. She was well aware of the man's reputation and behaviour. He would do anything if it helped him earn few extra coin though the Lannisters considered themselves as the richest of all Houses.

Also he was a ruthless tyrant that nobody on their right mind treat for their benefit. According to her informants, Tywin was like a mad lion these days because of the loss of income from Lannisport thanks to the Mallisters. She had yet to find the cause of this extreme anger for she knew that the income of Lannisport was just extra income for their family. Everyone knew that the main reason for the Lannisters to thrive were the gold veins they were sitting on. If the Tyrells were to come to an agreement, they would have to give up a lot of benefits on their side which would include some sort of betrothal that would allow them to impose their will in the Reach.

The other option, Dorne was even more troublesome. She knew of Princess Meira's ambition. She and her son managed to marry off Princess Elia to the crown despite the young woman's protests. Their main trade partners were the Free Cities. Sunspear was extremely close to Lys, Tyrosh and Myr. Prince Doran was married to one of the ruling families of Myr making Dorne the entry point of most of the imports of southern Essos. It had enabled their family to maintain its dominant position over the other houses.

But that power is currently being threatened by the Daynes at Starfall. The Lord of Starfall had stepped down and handed his position to his eldest son Vorian Dayne about two years ago and the fate of the oldest house of Dorne almost changed overnight. They had managed to seal off all the valleys and passes of the Red Mountains establishing choke points to their lands and making Starfall and High Hermitage virtually impregnable from the mountains. From her informants she was able to find out that massive construction and restoration projects were happening all through out their lands.

If that wasn't bad enough, they had developed the small harbour at the delta of the Torrentine to an extent that it out classed Old Town. With their markets providing more merchandises to the traders from the East, the merchants from Lys, Volantis and beyond started to frequent Starfall. This caused Starfall to shoot up as a major hub of commerce over the existing ports at Old Town and Sunspear. The Hightowers were all over her due to the loss of revenue from these traders. The already tense relations between their houses had risen to another level seen how their overlords were helpless at the current trend.

All of these problems were due to the involvement of a single culprit… the Stark family. She traced the reemergence of the Northern power to the year of the birth of the Three Wolves. Rickard Stark, whom she knew was a dangerous adversary should he participate in court intrigues steered his house into a brand new direction… a direction that didn't involve the rest of the kingdoms of Westeros. And now the previously humiliated, isolated, exploited kingdom was untouchable with the Starks reigning supreme like they did in the times of the Winter Kings.

Even Aerys in his madness had the presence of mind to keep his nose out of the North. Even the king knew that without the aid of the Valyrian dragons, attacking the North was nothing but suicide. It was highlighted again and again during the era of the Andal invasions. Every noble child were taught of these wars and how the wolves coloured the entire swamp red with the blood of the Andals.

Part of the training the noble children received was of the strength and the defences of the various houses of Westeros. They were taught this in case they had to wage wars for the continuation of their legacy. One thing that was stressed was to never invade Dorne or the North. Attacking those two regions was just suicide. Especially the North. The only reason the North was included in the Seven Kingdoms was because King Torrhen Stark refused to spill the blood of his people by engaging in a war like Dorne. Olenna knew that like Dorne, they would have successfully kept the dragons at bay as well with guerrilla tactics.

So the mad king turned his head the other way refusing to acknowledge that the North refuses to answer to the will of the Iron Throne. It had become a tense topic in the courts that nobody was willing to bring up.

They didn't have any eyes in significant positions in the North after the purge of the spies form their lands. Even now she was still at a loss on how they did it. Unlike the other Houses, she had no idea what the Starks were doing or planning without the oversight her informants had previously provided her with.

One thing was certain with the trend that was going on. The North was beginning to distance itself from the rest of Westeros. The political climate was shifting. The outcome was not something she could imagine.

"Grandmother," a young voice broke her out of her musings.

"Willas, how are you my sweet child?" she asked kindly smiling at the young boy. She praised the luck of her family that her grandchildren all seemed to have inherited her brains, not the simpleton brain that the majority of the line that came from Ser Alester Tyrell seemed to have inherited. Though she married Luthor Tyrell because she wanted to wield power without becoming a wallflower, she eventually came to love the simpleminded idiot.

Luthor had many qualities endeared him to her. Though he had no clue when it came to governance, he deeply cared for his family. He chased after the simple things that made life enjoyable instead of engaging in games that would cost him his life should he lose. Until the day he died almost comically, she had never seen him engage in a tourney other than the one held in her honour when she married into the family. He simply wished to stay at her side and comment on the knights showing off their talent and make fun of them under his breath to make her smile.

Much like his father, Mace, her son was a simpleton. But unlike his father she knew that the idiocy of her son would one day make him lose his head. Mace was extremely boastful, proud and taking credit for what others achieved. It had angered many a lord as they silently seethed at the slights that Mace committed. Her informants brought in news daily about how many of the Nobles were trying to find allies to oust the Tyrells of the position of the Lord Paramount of the Mander and Warden of the Reach. Houses like the Florents were especially displeased with the Tyrells for their family traced their lineage to Garth Greenhand, the Highking of the First Men while the Tyrells could only trace a diluted ancestry to this legendary figure. There was also the fact that they only gained this position because they betrayed the Gardners the true rulers of the Reach.

But she was immensely pleased with her grandsons Willas and Garlan. Willas, a boy of ten and two showed impressive talent form his young days. So she took it as her responsibility to guide the young mind without letting it be polluted by his son and good-daughter. She wanted Willas to be a true Warden of the Reach unlike his father who was a puppet under the thumb of his mother and wife. So she taught him all she knew of economics and court intrigues while he learnt everything a man should need from Ser Vortimer Crane.

While Willas was showing a keen intellect, her second grandson too was showing above average intelligence. But he was more into warfare and swordsmanship than anything else. She provided the best education for Garlan while taking Willas under her wing as he was the next ruler of Highgarden.

"Why are you frowning so much, grandmother?"

Olenna sighed. "I'm looking at the losses of our house in these past three years," she replied showing him the report without holding any information back from him. Willas needed to know this as his father apparently didn't care much on this matter. Sometimes all it takes is another perspective to overcome problems. She trusted her grandson's keen intuition to rise in occasions such as this.

Willas read through the report slowly. After he understood the gist, he had a pondering look on his face as he though about the things he read. Olenna let her grandson think on the problem and looked into ways she could mitigate the rising tensions between House Tyrell and the rest of the Reach.

Knock… knock

Olenna turned to see the face of her good-brother Gormon, who was the maester of Highgarden. The difference in the intelligence between her husband Luthor and his older brother Gormon was always a mystery for Olenna. Gormon was a rare Tyrell intellect who was next in line to be an archmaester at the Citadel. He was also one of Olenna's main sources of information.

Olenna beckoned the maester to come inside the open podium in the gardens of the seat of House Tyrell.

"Lady Tyrell," he greeted.

"Come now, Gormon. It's just the two of us here along with Willas. Drop the formality now," she ordered the man. She smirked inwardly as she knew that she, despite being married into House Tyrell was the power behind it. All of the men with authority in the family knew it. They all gave their support for her since it was her that ran the entire house of Highgarden along with the affairs of Reach since the day she married Luthor.

"Maester Gormon," Willas greeted as well. "What news have you?"

Gormon was his teacher when it came to mundane matters. He was also the main source of news for Willas since she didn't reveal everything to her grandson making him scour for the necessary information on his own as part of his training. Gormon was more than happy to help since he too had the infamous ambition the Tyrell family was famous for.

"There is much unrest within the powerful Houses due to loss of revenue. Even the peasants who were enjoying wealth due to our prosperity after Aegon's conquests have started to whisper."

Gormon didn't have to tell that these whispers were aimed at House Tyrell. This was as expected. When people loss the wealth they took for granted, they tended to point fingers and look for culprits. She was already expecting some of their banner men to form alliances to show their overlord their displeasure.

"Alester is looking for helpers, isn't he?" she asked the maester.

"Yes. He has already contacted Randyll Tarly and Mathis Rowan. I wasn't able to find out the exact communication between the three for they used horsemen instead of ravens."

"As expected," she muttered.

Her son had pinned his hopes on the Crown Prince ever since their secret meeting to oust the mad king. Because of this agreement she knew that the Hightowers would lay low instead of looking for a power grab for which she was grateful. Though the Tyrells were the wardens of the Reach, they didn't earn it like other houses did. This was always held upon their heads by the other old powerful houses of the Reach.

Should House Hightower rebel against their overlords, more than half of Reach would support them. This went true for the Rowans and the Oakhearts as well. But those two houses lacked ambition and were more than happy to let the things the way they were while enjoying their wealth. The Florents on the other hand were actively trying to depose the Tyrells for years as they thought that they had more claim to Highgarden than the Tyrells. The only problem was that they weren't respected like the Rowans, Tarlys or the Hightowers due to their 'holier than thou' attitude.

Olenna knew that she had space to maneuver since the Florent wont be able to gather support in a short time unless one of the more prominent houses like the Tarlys or the Rowans threw their lot with them.

Olenna noticed the frown upon her grandson's face. Though he was young, she knew that he understood that their rule in the Reach was not stable as they would like to believe. According to everyone, they were the most powerful House in Reach. But records showed otherwise. If she was to be honest, Houses Hightower, Rowan and Redwyne; her own family had more revenue than House Tyrell. In turn it meant more men in their forces and more influence amongst the other nobles. As long as they didn't go against the Royal house, they were safe as it was the Targaryens who hoisted them up to this position.

This situation would rapidly change if the Targaryens withdrew their support. If so, the Hightowers would become the new Wardens without any doubt. The two families may have married into each other in numerous occasions. But it didn't change the attitude between them as they were like oil and water always trying to come on top of the other.

"Anything new with the rest of Westeros?" she asked trying to focus on other matters outside Reach.

Gormon then began to regain all the gossip he had managed to gather through his sources in the Citadel. Some of them like the turmoil in Riverlands and Dorne were not surprising. Though the situation looked peaceful, Olenna knew that a storm was brewing in secret that would even surmount the Dance of the Dragons.

When it came to stability inside a kingdom she could only guarantee that the Westerlands would be safe from inner turmoil. She also knew the peace they enjoyed was just like smoke for once Tywin's presence as the head of House Lannister was to disappear, all the dissidents would emerge from the shadows of oppression.

"Tywin Lannister has granted Grandmaester Pycelle's secret bastard a position in Casterly Rock."

Olenna felt another headache coming because now Tywin had a method for controlling the Small Council though he was chased away from the position of the Hand.

"Pycelle has a bastard?" Willas questioned in surprise.

"Several, young master," Gormon replied with a smile. Many of the higher-ups within the Order had bastards though they had sworn oaths of celibacy.

"Gormon, summon Osmer. He should have more to tell us about on this matter. Willas will also benefit in listening to his news."

"Lady Olenna… is it alright?" Gormon asked uncertainly.

"It is fine. Willas is ready to meet him and learn of the inner dealings of Westeros," she replied dismissively. With the way things were developing she wanted a fully trained heir as soon as possible.

The old man walked away quickly despite his age to find the secretive man Olenna kept as her spymaster. Only a handful within the main family was even aware of the existence of this hidden man.

"Willas… do not mention anything you see or hear from now on to anyone… not even your father."

"Grandmother?" He questioned her in surprise.

"You'll see."

The maester returned with a tall man with a hood covering the top part of his face. Olenna smiled as she saw her closest confidante despite the age difference between the two. Osmer was someone she brought with her when she married Luthor from Arbor. They grew up together. While he wasn't of noble birth, she had seen his talent for organizing and finding out gossips and news. Thus when she came into power as the Lady of the House, she appointed him as her spymaster. Within a few moons, Osmer reorganized the fractured and almost defunct spy network and built it to an extent that it was only topped by the network under the command of the Master of Whispers.

"Olenna," he greeted her without confirming to any protocol.

"Osmer," she greeted back smiling widely at her old friend. She pointed to the seat at her side and the man sat down after nodding to Willas. She saw her grandson watching the proceeding with a guarded look like she had taught him. She saw the look of disguised surprise as he had seen this man in many occasions for Osmer posed as a stablehand at Highgarden.

Olenna was reluctant to bring out Osmer when she was with her family. Mace hated the man because he didn't show him the respect he thought he deserved. Now that Willas was of adequate age, she wanted to familiarize the two as they would be working together for many years to come.

"What have you found out?" she questioned getting down to business at once. Osmer had been away for almost a year now, returning to Highgarden the previous night. She wanted to speak to him at once, but kept her patience since the discussion serious cosequences. For that Osmer needed to clear his mind out of the weariness of the road.

"What do you want to know?"

"Lets start with Pycelle."

"Ah… the Grandmaester. His bastards have been given the stewardship over the Tarbeck Hall. If they manage to restore it to its former glory, Tywin has promised to name Pycelle's eldest the Lord of Tarbeck Hall."

"When did this happen?" Willas questioned.

When she saw Osmer looking at the youngster not knowing whether to answer or not she spoke out. "Osmer… Willas is my grandson and the true heir of Highgarden. You can trust him like you trust me. The two of you would often work together future. You should get to know him."

"So he's your protege?" Osmer mused.

"Yes," she replied shortly.

"Alright then. Well, young master… Pycelle was promised this about a year ago when Tywin came to King's Landing on business. I'm surprised how long they were able to keep this under wraps. Even today I don't believe even the King or Varys for that matter knows of this. Pycelle has managed to keep his children away from public eye quite successfully. No one even knows that those bastards are his. If Pycelle's assistant wasn't working for me, I wouldn't have found it out either."

"So Pycelle would be enacting Tywin's will at the Small Council," said Gormon. "I should make plans to depose him should he prove to be a hinderance for us. That man never gave up his family ties though he undertook the oath."

"Is he a Lannister by blood?" Willas asked in surprise.

"Of an obscure branch… yes," Osmer confirmed.

Olenna nodded her consent. Gormon had a higher standing at the Citadel due to his brilliance and also due to the fact that he was of noble birth. He led one of the three factions within the Citadel in secret under the front of archmaester Norren.

"Yohn Royce and his son Andar had returned to Runestone with a surprising item," Osmer remarked.

"What?"

"Lamentation."

"WHAT?" Gormon cried out loud. Even Olenna wasn't able to mask her surprise.

"What's Lamentation?" Willas asked looking at occupants whose facial expressions were sifting rapidly.

"Lamentation is the ancestral weapon of House Royce passed down for generations until it was lost during the Storming of the Dragon Pit. It's a Valyrian steel great sword that was said to be have been a gift from one of the Dragonlord families in Old Valyria to the one Bronze King before the Andal Invasions. The sword was said to be an extremely beautiful weapon, with only Dawn surpassing its beauty. It is also the second largest Valyrian steel blade recorded in Westeros only dwarfed by Ice, the ancestral blade of the Starks," Gormon was more than happy to teach the young Lord about history when the need arose.

"What I want to know is how it was found. Didn't you say that you weren't able to find out the destination of Bronze Yohn and his son the last time you sent me a raven?" Olenna questioned.

"I did say that then. But was able to discover their destination which happened to be Winterfell a few day ago."

"So they went to meet the Starks and returned with their most beloved possession," Gormon murmured. "But how were the Starks in possession of the blade? If I remember correctly, no member from a Northern house was present during the Storming of the Pit."

"Are Valyrian steel weapons valuable?" Willas questioned.

"More than you can imagine, Master Willas. The forging method was lost during the Doom and even before that, these weapons were extremely valuable as they were hard to manufacture. It was said to acquire Brightroar, the Lannisters spent so much gold that if it was used otherwise, they would have been able to completely arm twenty-thousand men with the finest steel arms and armour," Gormon explained.

"Valyrian steel weapons depict the prestige of a House. I remember Tywin Lannister offering the mines of Castamere to House Drumm if they were consenting to hand over Red Reyne to him. Its that valuable," Olenna added. "There are only three Valyrian Steel swords within Reach; Heartsbane with House Tarly, Vigilance with House Hightower and Orphan-Maker of House Roxton. The other weapon made of this steel are small daggers and such."

"As for how the Starks got them, I was able to find out that they managed to remover it form House Goodbrother when a Stark convoy was attacked by Ironborn raiders."

"If it was that valuable, why did they return it? I mean even if they keep the blade for themselves, the Royces wouldn't have been able to do anything against it." Willas questioned again.

"This would most likely be due to the fact that the Royce family is blood related to the Starks. Lord Yohn Royce's mother was Alysanne Stark, the great aunt of Rickard Stark. Also, House Royce happens to be a family of First Men that kept to the accord between the First mean and the Children of the Forest. If it was some other house, I don't believe that Lamentation would have seen the light of the day again."

"The two houses must have come to some sort of agreement. What have you found?" Gormon questioned the spymaster.

"I wasn't able to find out anything about their conversation. Yohn Royce has managed to keep everything that had happened in the North a secret for now. We'll soon see what their agreement was. All I can say is that he looked extremely pleased."

"That makes number three doesn't it?" she asked rhetoriaclly.

First it had been House Dayne, then House Mallister… now it seemed House Royce would become the third House to abruptly rise with the help from the North.

Each and every of those Houses were descended from the First Men. She would have accused the Northernes for being racist, but deep down she knew that they were just doing what the rest of Westeros had been doing to them for centuries. Though she didn't want to admit it, she felt why the Starks were justified in doing so. All of the Old prominent families with ancient bloodlines were routed by the Andals. When they weren't able to conquer them, they married in and took control of these families. The North held the Reach in contempt as they were the Gardners gave up the Reach to them without a fight openly welcoming the foreigners.

The Daynes were infamous for sticking with the Old Gods even though the culture of Dorne underwent massive changes with the arrival of Andals followed by the Rhoynar. They were one of the First Houses to have settled in Westeros. The weirwood at Starfall was said to be one of the largest. It sheltered the main courtyard from the sweltering sun of the Dorne. It is said that the throne belonging to the Kings of Torrentine was sheltered beneath this tree.

In the Riverlands, the Mallisters had begun to thrive from the influx of trade from the North. Seagard has become a major centre for trade as the Mallisters reverted back to their old roots of being traders. Osmer was able to find out that Lord Tytos Blackwood was trying to negotiate a betrothal between the House Blackwood and House Stark. If he is successful in this regard, their power would eclipse the Tulleys once and for all.

Osmer began to tell of what he found at Seagard, his final stop before returning to Highgarden.

Trade was flourishing in Seagard due to the shipments arriving from Port Aegis with the goods from the North. The goods included, various exotic grains, advanced metalware, glassware, exotic beverages and much more. These items had taken their markets by storm.

The castle forged steel couldn't hold a candle to the Northern steel which was named frostiron. The weapons made from this metal was harder and sharper requiring less maintenance than the weapons forged by castle forged steel. Despite all their effort, the maesters were stumped on the manufacturing process of frostiron. To acquire works made using this metal they had to go to an outlet that was availabe. One was through House Mallister and the other through House Dayne. She had read reports of many famous knights making journeys to these locations to acquire a weapon for themselves. These weapons cost slightly more than what they usually paid but it was worth it. The only problem was that there was a fixed amount of weapons released every month.

She could see the ingenuity of the business practice. The supply was kept low so that the demand would rise making the price of the weapons rise as well.

The glass from North was a surprise for them all. For years they had to go to Myr to acquire glassware. The Freecity was synonymous for glassworks. But the items that originate from their Northern nation were much better than the ones imported from Essos. She herself had acquired many glass chalices and delicate glass artwork. So she knew the cost of acquiring them. When she added up the items that the other nobles acquired as well, it turned out to be a massive sum of coins that went to the North without anybody's knowledge.

The Northern alcohols had also caused a loss for House Redwyne. Vodka, Whiskey or the other kinds of liquor from the North had become more favoured by the wealthy for its exotic aftertaste. Vodka has become the favoured drink of the smallfolk as it was cheap and it hit them hard.

Luckily the exports from the North was limited as they were still recovering their own economy after years of stagnation and neglect. Until the Northerners streamlined their productions, they wouldn't pose threats to their own products by overflowing the market with Northern goods.

With the current trend, she knew that Runestone was going to become the next Starfall or the Seagard. Runestone had its own harbour. So it was easy for them to develop it into a major port despite Gulltown being on the other side of the cape. Runestone was one of the least accessible castles in Westeros as it was built on an island with only a single bridge as its access.

During the Andal invasions, had the Bronze king Robar II Royce stayed put inside his castle, the Arryns wouldn't have been able to oust them of their position as the overlords of the Vale. The regions under the command of House Royce was filled with valleys and mountains. The defending side had a massive advantage if they were ready for war. Even today the houses that traced their lineage to the First Men listened to the command of Yohn Royce. Bronze Yohn was one of the reasons the mountain clans of the Vale didn't engage in wanton acts of destruction.

"Rickard Stark has officially stepped down as the Warden of the North. The duty was handed over to his eldest son Charles Stark. Furthermore Aegis was bestowed to his youngest son Brandon instead of the Perseus Stark as we predicted. Perseus is to be given another title."

"Is the new Warden coming to King' Landing to renew his pledge?" Gordon asked.

"Do you honestly think that they would even think of seeing the face of a Targaryen for everything they had done to their family?" Osmer snorted.

"The King may use this to incite the other nobles saying that the North is rebelling," Gormon shot back.

"I doubt that. The King is losing control. Many of the Nobles that supported him are becoming neutral. That is why Prince Rheagar is able to obtain support from a large faction," Olenna replied.

"The Starks and most of the North for that matter didn't attend any of the Royal celebrations within the last few years. Wouldn't Prince Rheagar act on this slight once he claims the throne?" Willas asked.

"He would try his best to obtain their support. He cannot afford to engage in open warfare with the North. They now have the ability to do what Theon the Hungry Wolf did to the Andals," Osmer replied.

Olenna nodded as this was the same conclusion she had arrived at. With their naval power, the Starks would have the opportunity to act with impunity while defending their lands through the Neck. This was a conclusion she drew after hearing what few of their ships did to an ironborn fleet which was considered the epitome of sea power.

"What about the rest of the wolf pack?" Gormon questioned.

"We have very limited sources in the North as they are able to sniff our spies extremely quickly. From the travelling peddlers I used as spies, I found out that Lyanna Stark would hold the position as the Lady of Moat Cailin. Of Zoe Stark's appointment, I have no idea."

Olenna frowned. The distribution of title deeds weren't like she had predicted. Rickard Stark had overlooked his elder children and handed the power of the two most important locations; Aegis and Moat Cailin to his younger children. That stemmed the question on the bestowments for his elder children. She knew Rickard through their dealings in the past. The man didn't do anything without a plan.

"I hope to meet Lady Zoe one day," Willas stated almost dreamily. "If I could win her heart, that would be the only thing I would ever ask."

Osmer grinned while Olenna and Gormon grimaced. Zoe Stark's beauty wasn't a secret among the noble families. She was sighted twice when she came to Seagard on business for her family. From the time she was recognized, there had been many a men trying to win her favour.

Olenna had never seen the young girl with her own eyes. But according to Osmer's description she far exceeded the beauty of Cercei Lannister and was on par with Ashara Dayne when it came to her beauty. Willas though almost eight years younger than the Stark triplets was longing after the frozen rose of the North. It wasn't just him. Many a noble family had sent betrothal requests for their elder children when they learnt of the eldest Stark child. They wouldn't be just gaining a beautiful wife for their sons, but also a backing from House Stark which was becoming the most prominent house in Westeros.

To their dismay, all of these requests went unheard. How could they manage to for such a connection when even the Royal family was denied the opportunity?

It wasn't just Zoe Stark. The youngest of the Stark litter, Lyanna Stark was said to be an outstanding beauty as well looking just like her mother.

"Zoe Stark is much older than you. You should look for somebody more of your own age," Olenna chided.

"But-"

"No buts. You know that Rickard Stark and your father had a falling out before you were born. The Starks would never consent to any sort of marriage between our Houses."

Willas huffed and muttered something under his breath. She distinctly heard something like 'fat oaf' and 'witless idiot' among the things muttered. She had to struggle to stop the twitching corner of her mouth as she kew that he was curing his father in such manner. This was no doubt due to her influence as she often scolded her son out loud when he blundered. Her grandson often used those exact same words but with added colourful adjectives when he was angry at his father.

"Charles Stark," she murmured thinking of the new Lord of Winterfell.

Charles Stark or Charles the Harbinger was the envy of every mother or father of the nation. He, the eldest male child of Starks who was about twenty name days now had singlehandedly changed his country with his intellect. She knew that he was a smart child from his birth for then they had agents within the wall of Winterfell. But after the falling out with the Targaryens, she or the rest of the Seven Kingdoms weren't able to keep track of the Stark family as they eliminated their agents with impunity. The Northerners knew of the changes the heir of Winterfell brought to them was due to their current Lord and his rest of Westeros were only discovering it now after the borders of the North were opened once again.

Their glassmaking methods, frostiron, beverages… all of it originated from the mind of this young genius. And he had done it all without the help of the so called 'learned men' of Westeros. She wasn't surprised when she heard of how the civilians praised Charles as if he was a gift sent to them by the heavens. They were calling him a child blessed by the Old Gods.

Charles had started an enormous turmoil on his own. Usually a talented man would rush to join the Citadel to further their studies. But like his father, he has shown disdain towards the Order and established an Order similar to that of the Citadel with his siblings. The College of Winterfell was rumoured to have much more knowledge than their southern counterpart. It wasn't surprising since most of Charles' inventions were catalogued there.

The College has enabled the North to amass a crowd of learned people of various fields to help them govern and develop their fief. It was through these reformations that they were able to rapidly consolidate their power. The Order was left scrambling as thy tried to replicate the achievements of their Northern counterparts with nothing to show for their efforts. For the first time since their establishment, The Order of Maesters were threatened in their own game by a new organization which overshadowed both the maesters and alchemists as their achievements in the short span of their existence.

The Order was extremely jealous of their Northern counterparts for holding such valuable knowledge guarding it with extreme care. They didn't see the irony in that. Though she found out that anyone could register within the College unlike in the Citadel, all the graduates were proud of their institute and since the Citadel what established a social stigma of guarding the gained knowledge, they did just that. The Order had neglected the North for many centuries since they saw it as a place with no future. Now… they wanted to be part of the North, but they were all denied the opportunity.

She had heard rumours that the Northern fleet, which now was considered a behemoth in the seas was birthed under the hands of Perseus Stark. She had heard stories of the horror they wreaked on Ironborn ships during their raids. The story was kept quite concealed by the Greyjoys but rumours started to fly after an entire ironborn flotilla went missing.

It wasn't Rickard Stark she was afraid of. No… it was his three elder children whom she feared. Those three had shown no interest in the Game. They were unpredictable and everything they did seemed to be alien. They played by their rules and changed parameters suddenly that their opponents didn't have time to adjust. Those were dangerous traits to have in an adversary.

"Any news from Starfall?" Questioned Gormon.

"Except for the fact that the walls around Starfall has finished construction, I haven't been able to find any important details from there."

Olenna expected this for she and Osmer had been trying their hardest to get one of their agents into a position that he could update them with solid news. Ever since Ulric Dayne's eldest son Vorian Dayne flushed his household and his holdings of the spies like the Northerners did, it has been a challenge plant their people agin without arousing suspicion.

Vorian was proving to be a much more capable leader unlike his father or grandfather. Maybe it was due to the help from the North, he has managed to convert the declining house into one of the wealthiest in the realm. He had also turned his house into a political question mark. Nobody knew of their end agenda. So even the ambitious Princess Meira and Prince Doran had to adopt a wait and see policy so as to not push this heavyweight into an opposing faction.

They had enough trouble as they had tried to undermine the authority of House Yronwood turned unsuccessful. The Yronwoods were a powerful family, nobody could deny that. They were like the Hightowers of Dorne. If Edgar Yronwood wanted to rebel and the Daynes supported them, the time of the Martells being the overlord of Dorne would become history.

What she found interesting was the peculiar interest the maesters seem to have on that particular house for the past three or four years. They were particularly interested on the activities of Arthur and Ashara Dayne. Something big had happened between the Daynes and the Citadel for there was no maester in Starfall after Ulric Dayne chased their last one. Honestly she was surprised he was allowed to escape with his life after listening to the allegations piled against him.

These coincided with the unrest at the Citadel about three years ago. Since Gormon was reluctant to reveal the detail to her even though he told her everything, she knew that it must be a command from the Conclave that made Gormon keep his silence.

"Olenna, you'd better gat ready for the upcoming Tourney. I think we would be able to see many interesting things," Osmer said lightly.

"Did you find out anything?"

"I'll tell you later in private. Just make sure to take enough guards to protect yourself. There will be an unwelcome guest attending."

The sound of a bell rang from the main building interrupting the conversation. Olenna wanted to ask more about the news Osmer knew of the tourney. She relented since Osmer said that he would tell her of it in private. Osmer was not someone who did things without a reason.

"Willas, get ready for lunch. We'll continue after we have completed the meal," she said to her grandson. She didn't want Mace to pry into these affairs for now. "Gormon, Osmer… I expect to see you in about three hours."

"Of course," replied Osmer as he stood up and walked away.

"But I have my lessons," Willas complained.

"I will tell you everything later," she promised her grandson.

She walked parting ways as she had to get ready for the lunch service leaving Gormon and Willas to go back and ready themselves as well.


Red Fort, King's Landing

"Mother, may I come in?" Rheagar asked knocking on the door that led to the chamber of his mother, Queen Rhaella. It was past dinner with the darkness veiling the Red Fort. The servants ran about lighting the torches along the walls. Not all of them were lit as lighting the entire castle cost a lot of coin which his father who was rapidly losing his faculties was reluctant to dole out.

"Enter," his mother's voice called from within the chambers.

He entered telling his personal guards to wait outside the door keeping a distance from it. He didn't want anything they talked about falling into the wrong ears. The castle was full of them.

The room was big and airy. The walls were filled with tapestries denoting their ancestry. In the middle of the room was a large fourposter bed. He saw his mother, the most beautiful and graceful woman he had ever seen combing the hair of his younger brother, Viserys while few of her handmaids were teasing the young prince.

"Mother," he greeted.

"My son," she smiled at him beckoning to sit by her side.

His brother gleefully greeted him. Due to his duties he hadn't been able to spend time with his brother in the past few months. Other than during the meals, he hardly saw the boy. His mother often told him to make time for Viserys but with the talks with the nobles, his princely duties and spending time with Elia and his children, he was swamped.

He smiled and caressed Visery's head. Rheagar shot a knowing look at his mother which she immediately interpreted.

"Viserys dear, why don't you get ready to got to bed. I hear tomorrow is going to be a big day for you."

"But I want to spend time with Rheagar," Viserys complained.

"I will meet you tomorrow brother. We can spend all morning together tomorrow," Rheagar promised.

"Promise?"

"I give you my word."

With that they were able to send the prince away. His mother also made her handmaidens and servants vacate the room.

"It's been a long day for you hasn't it?" Rhaella asked rubbing her son's shoulders.

"It was," Rheagar said enjoying his mother's touch. In his convoluted and poisoned family, he only cared about his mother. Even his brother was something he would sacrifice if he could keep her happy.

Rheagar had been a lone child for so long that he resented other children being born into the family. He thought that they were hogging his mother's time and attention away from him. It was why in all his ideas for the future of Westeros there were no plans for Viserys or any other child that rolled him from the union of his parents.

Other than talking about the future of their kingdom and running his ideas through her, there were other reasons why he frequented his mother's room most nights. One reason was to prevent his father from entering the chambers. Anywhere he was present, his father would avoid the place zealously. This also enabled him to prevent another sibling from being born to his family.

"What did Varys say?" Rhaella asked him getting up to change her clothes for the night. "Did he manage to find out more of the Northern fleet?"

"Yes. His sources put the number of ships in the eastern fleet around a hundred and fifty brigs. Though the brigs vary in the capacity and armour. Varys believes that they are divided into light brigs, brigs and heavy brigs. The heavy brigs are the ones we must look out for. They can receive an enormous amount of punishment ad well as deal devastating damage. Our brigs can match unto their normal brigs. But we believe they can outpace our ships. Light brigs are used as transports it seems."

"I can see that. It enables them to carry a heavier load if the ship weighs less but has the similar hull integrity," Rhaella agreed.

Rheagar's mind went blank seeing the naked back of his mother. She wasn't inhibited in front of him. This wasn't the first time he had seen his mother naked. This beauty was why he wanted to prevent another man laying his eyes on her.

"Rheagar?" She asked holding her nightgown loosely in front of her body. The thin fabric didn't hide any of the detail in her body. Rheagar felt his mind turn to mush and face turn red as he saw the almost naked body. He couldn't control it. Her body was like his forbidden drug. He couldn't have enough of it.

"Is my boy having bad thought about his mother?" His mother teased him slightly revealing her breasts.

"N..no…Y…es," he said numbly.

"Well, let me stop teasing you," she said putting on her gown then and there showing her glorious body to his son.

Rheagar felt anger as usual when he saw the marks on her body. They were caused by his father, the so called king of the Seven Kingdoms. He was an abusive bastard placing on the top of the list of people he wanted to murder brutally. His mother had gone through countless stillbirths and it was taking a toll on her body. Yet that bastard didn't seem to relent in his pursuit to have more children.

He remembered when his mother was vibrant and happy. It was during his early childhood before the birth of her third child. During those days they were a happy family despite his mother resenting her marriage to her brother. But everything changed soon after that. He became the only person his father feared. Every other person suffered his anger and sadistic outbreaks. His mother became the prime target for these outbursts.

Nowadays their family only met during the dining table. Even then his father didn't attend it on most occasions. But he was content. As long as he had his mother, he was content.

Rhaella went back to sit by her son. She still wore the teasing smile on her face.

"Come now, my dragon. We have much to discuss."

"Yes, mother," he replied shaking his mind out of his perverted fantasies. Well, he couldn't help it. His family was known for incestual marriages between siblings. What the rest of the world didn't know of was how deep some of these incestual relationships went.

"What else?"

"Varys' men have spotted another ship of the similar size and stature of the 'Herald of the Sea.'"

"What?" His mother asked sharply.

"The ship never made port in any of the southern harbours. It was spotted near the Cape of Eagles with escorts. They were probably scouting the area for intruders."

"That doesn't sound good for us. This breaks the balance of power in the seas. The Northerners are deliberately showing their might to the South. They are warning us what would happen to the invaders should they trespass their borders."

"You mean they were sending us a message?"

"Why else would they show off their ship… what was this class of ships called again?"

"A galleon."

"Yes… a galleon. They have already proven they are more than capable of defeating an established fleet without trouble. The reason why they showed off their ship was to make a statement. Even if we collected all the ships under our commands including the Royal Fleet, the Redwyne Fleet, Stromland Fleet and the Ironborn Fleet, they would still be able to defend themselves. I also believe there are more galleons waiting for us up north."

This was why Rheagar went to his mother for opinions. She could see the tiny details. It helped him avoid trouble and maneuver effectively avoiding political and military pitfalls.

"You are correct as always, mother. One of our men in Essos saw another galleon making port in Lorath. This ship must be moored at White harbour."

"What I want to know is how they are able to deliver such devastating firepower. None of the scorpions we use in our ships have such raw destructive might."

"They say that they use a smaller scorpion which was designed from scratch by Perseus Stark. These galleons use thirty-eight of these weapons per side. Altogether they have seventy-six long range weapons per ship… but we cant be sure if there are more weapons we aren't aware of. Its not just the firepower thats impressive. These ships are fast for their size. They can outpace one of our brigs in a straight line."

"How did you find that out?" His mother asked in surprise. It wasn't surprising that she would be surprised of this details since none of their men had access to these ships. Everything they knew about them were speculative from the one battle they knew these ships engaged in.

"One of Garth Greysteel's men happened to be at Starfall the day Charles Stark visited the Starfall. He was able to gather the gossip from drunken sailors. It was from them we knew more about the galleons. We went able to find it out until now was because Garth happened to be on his was to Volantis in a hurry for some business keeping few of his me behind. He relayed the news the second he returned when he heard about it."

Rheagar knew of the threat these ships posed to the iron Throne. If the Starks had been on friendly terms, none of this would have mattered. But because of a certain someone in their family, they had been able to drive the Wardens of the North away to an extent that they didn't even consider the Targaryen family. He was certain that the Starks didn't put the crown in their eyes as they had abstained from paying a single cent in taxes over the past years. If that tax money had been accumulated, Rheage was certain that he could have refurbished the ruined Summerhall to its former glory and do something about the fleabottom while having a lot of money to spare.

According to the details of the fight he had managed to discreetly obtain from House Harlow, the galleon was a dangerous adversary to go against in the sea. The ironborn ships were lightly built in order to have higher speed than other ships operating in the known world. They represented one extreme in the design of ships with the other was occupied by the heavy and cumbersome swan ships used by the Summer Islands.

Despite being lightly armoured it didn't mean the iron fleet was made of flimsy ships. These ships were more than capable of maneuvering out of the line of any scorpion bolt headed their way. The gunners of other ships opted to withhold shooting ironborn ships since they knew hitting them precisely was extremely hard.

This was why these ships were feared. Once they were in the line of sight of the ironborn raiders, they couldn't outrun them. But one particular ship was capable of sinking these ships with impunity. One ship and its handful of escorts thinned down the ironborn fleet by a large number. If this was another occasion they would be celebrating the downfall of the ironborn raiders who were nothing but a headache to the other kingdoms. Yet this news of this rumour brought only dread to the already fracturing kingdom.

Nobody knew how well a galleon stacked up against a brig or carrack used by the rest of the kingdoms. According to the predictions made by several of the captains and commanders under their command it didn't bode well for them. A Northern heavy brig was more than enough to rum rampant within their fleet.

"You must thank Lord Leyton's son for his contribution," Rhaella said to her son. "Perseus Stark, eh? First Charles Stark… now his younger brother. Their Old Gods seemed to have blessed them indeed."

"They say the entire fleet is the design of Perseus. I wasn't keen on believing it. Now… I think the Stark family is not limited to one great mind. The Stark triplets are all endowed with special skills."

"So the Silent Wolf had finally feared his fangs showing us what he can do," Rhaella muttered. "I believe their brigs are more capable than our ships as well. It seems that the North is finally secure from all external threats."

"What do you mean?"

"The North can never be taken by land. You must know that by now. Their natural defences are very expansive. If not for the dragons, King Torrhen would never have knelt for Aegon Targaryen. Their only blaring weakness was the absence of an armada to protect their shores. Now they have managed to plug that weakness as well. Unless more dragon riders appear within our family, we have no way to project our power overt them."

"What about wildfire?"

"It wont work. We have to transport it and by the time we set up the trebuchets, our forces would be routed at the Neck. The crannogmen would be more than enough to deal with a threat like that."

"That damned bastard!" Rheagar cursed his father somewhat loudly slamming his fist onto the poster of the bed.

It was all because of his father. Even if he was to gain the throne, he would not have authority over the North. He would be the first king to lose the North.

"Your father should have left the Starks alone like he was ordered to by your grandfather," Rhaella said soothingly to her son.

The Starks were a complicated issue for the royal family. Instead of being conquered by them like other kingdoms, the two parties came to an agreement which was signed in blood. As long as the Targaryens left them alone to their devices the agreement was valid. Rheagar dint know whether the oath held since it was his father who tried to assassinate the Stark children in the first place starting the feud between the two families.

If he wanted to take action, he should have made sure that his plan followed through right to the end. The assassination failed, the culprits were captured and the Starks found out the true perpetrators. It couldn't have gone any worse than that. No one other than the core members of the Stark family was privy to the events that happened all those years ago. The only outcome was the utter hatred of the Wolves targeted at them. It was expected as that particular family had a pack mind which saw to the survival of all its members even in the harshest of conditions.

As the Starks say ' when the snow falls and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives.' Their ire when targeting their children was expected.

This was followed by his father trying to take over their land when he ordered Lord Rickard to hand over Port Aegis to a man loyal to him. Lord Rickard left that day mysteriously and the realm had newer been the same. If it wasn't for these unfortunate events they too would have the ability to enjoy the luxuries the Northerners were enjoying while benefiting from the increased income from these innovations.

Rickard Stark's children like their father took a firm stance against his family which was understandable. Who would be loyal to the man who attempted to end your life when you were a babe? The problem was that the triplets proved to be geniuses.

The triplets, especially Charles Stark started to show his prowess by turning the North upside down with their innovations and findings. These helped the almost backward kingdom to rise up explosively. Centuries upon centuries of unused resources were being put into use. Even the Lannisters were unable to keep up with the increasing wealth of the Northern Houses as it wasn't just the House Stark that was benefiting from it.

This was something which once would have enable the entirety of the Seven Kingdoms to rise up to a whole new level. It would even have enable the Targaryens to finally conquer Essos in the name of Old Valyria.

He was quite jealous of the Northerners for their sudden fortune. These men and women who were once faced harsh lives now enjoyed pleasures that the Southerners could only dream of. Their smallfolk benefitted as well. They had luxuries that some of the southern nobles weren't able to enjoy. This also made them extremely loyal to the Starks and the other noble houses of the North. This was the primary reason as to why Varys wasn't able to successfully establish his network in the North once again.

What he missed the most was the coins that should have arrived in King's Landing as taxes.

"And you should have inherited the throne instead of him like it should have been. if you were the Queen of the Realm you could have prevented our kingdom from falling into such dire state," Rheagar said emotionally. He was well aware that his mother was the one next in line to the Throne which was taken over by his father because they were married.

"Enough about that. How is Elia? I haven't seen Rhaenys or Aegon for the past few days. Are they all right?"

"The children are fine mother. They are with their mother refusing to leave her side since Elia's brother Oberyn has arrived to see her. I'd say that they enjoy seeing their uncle's antics," Rheagar replied with a soft smile reminiscing about his children.

Other than his mother, they were his whole world.

"And Elia?"

Rheagar sighed. Elia was a subject that weighed upon him a lot. "The maesters informed me that she would recover soon. But… she will not be able to have another child. Even if she does, she would die without having the chance to birth it."

"Oh Rheagar…."

Rhaella hugged her son because she knew how important the third child was to him.

"Its fine. I have come to terms with it," he replied.

"Tell me why a third child is so important to you," she asked knowing that he always kept his mouth shut on this regard.

Rheagar thought whether nor not to reveal this matter to his mother. He didn't want to worry her. She had more than enough on her plate already. But finally he decided to tell her because he kew that she would help him in this regard as well.

"I found a secret chamber down in the old passageways underneath the Red Fort. It was filled with items belonging to Visenya Targaryen. Yes, it it's the first Visenya, the wife of Aegon the conqueror. Among the items were tomes that Aegon's father managed to bring with him before he fled Valyria prior to the Doom. One of these manuscripts is the journal of Daenys Targaryen or Daenys the Dreamer."

"What did you find?" Rhaella asked intrigued.

"A prophesy; 'The song of Ice and Fire.'"

"What is it?"

"When all seems bleak

And the kingdom of man grows weak

A seed sown in fallow

Defeats the mighty frozen foe

The prince born of Ice and Fire

Restores the world from the frozen mire"

Rheagar recited the prophecy written in High Valyrian. This was the last prophesy that Daeny the Dreamer foresaw just before her death at Dragonstone. If it was someone else, he might have looked the other way. But this was something said by the person who saw the fall of Valyria. She was the sole reason their family survived until now. If not for her, the Targaryens would be just like the other thirty-nine dragon lord families from Valyria; buried under a mountain of ash as lava.

Once he read it, it was the only though that worked in his mind. He knew that he wasn't the prince who was promised. It was his son who was foretold. There were two problems regarding this.

One; a dragon needed three heads. Two; the prince was born of 'ice and fire'. He was the fire, of that he had no doubt. Elia wasn't the ice. Elia was kind and sweet. She was forced into marriage with him. She fulfilled her duties remarkably though she was against the marriage. But she wasn't the woman who was destined to stand by her side. Ice represented cold and that meant a family from the North. The only candidate her could think of was a daughter of the Stark family. They are literally the Kings of Winter.

They were said to contain a magical bloodline as well. They fit perfectly to his desires. Also there was the pact of Ice and Fire which was never fulfilled as the reigning kings didn't want to give the family of Wolves more power as it was directly ordered by Queen Visenya. She claimed that the mixing of the magical blood may one day lead to the downfall of their family. It would also give them more leeway in the Blood Oath between the two families. To fulfill the prophesy he was willing to break all the passed down rules and regulations.

He would get what he wanted even if he had to impreganate a Stark maiden against her wishes.

"How long have you known of this?" Rhaella asked after processing what was just told.

"A few years."

"I believe you know it speaks of a child belonging to the Targaryen and Stark families? I do not believe you would be able to fulfill it in the current circumstances. You remember that Rickard Stark didn't even propose his daughters to the Royal Court when you were chasing a bride for yourself?"

"Yes, mother. I wanted to pick Lady Zoe from the court that day. But because of father they didn't even deem to attend it. If she had been there, all of this would have been much easier. I would even have the support of the North when I contest for the throne. I could have been the greatest king in the Westerosi history. Since I cant do this legally, I have to look into other ways."

"You know that one slip and they would rebel. We are not in a position to have a full blown rebellion at our hands."

"That is why I'm using a middle man," Rheagar smiled.

Rhaella frowned a bit before understanding flashed across her face. "Let me guess… the Boltons?"

"You are correct," he said with a devious smile.

The Boltons and the Whitehills were the only Houses to not benefit form anything in the Northern revolution. One was famous for rebelling against the ruling family over five times throughout the history. Each time a bloody incident which left thousands dead. The other was the only family that followed the Faith of the Seven in the North. The two families which once held great prestige due to their money and over were surrounded by the same families they bullied and oppressed bearing down effectively crippling the two families. They were isolated and left to ruin in their own pace.

The Boltons were able to survive despite rebelling against the Starks in many occasion because of the strength they had behind them. These minor houses were kept under their thumb through various means which were often cruel and oppressive. They were what formed a massive army that often outnumber the men the Starks had under them.

The other major Houses that bordered them were weak when compared to the Boltons. Dreadfort was one of the most secure castles in all of Westeros. Its location gave it an unfair advantage when compared to the other Houses surrounding it. So if they wanted to act against them, they had to pool their strengths together to make the Boltons submit for time being.

Now it was the other way around. The Starks had enabled these Houses to rise up in strength with all of them having power rivalling House Bolton. And all of them were united. It only meant that the minor houses and powers within the lands under House Bolton betrayed them and joined the other Houses.

From what Varys found out, the land under the Boltons had shrunk and what was remaining was about one-fifth the land they usually ruled. The way things were progressing, this particular House wouldn't be able to survive past this generations. Unless the Starks acted specifically, the Boltons would die a slow agonizing death.

This was where the Boltons and the Whitehills came in. Both of these families had met with him during the nameday felicitations of his daughter and agreed to support him to save themselves from the predicament they were in.

'The North cannot be held by force… only another Northerner could hold it.'

This was a belief every Warden of the Seven Kingdom agreed upon. Torrhen Stark's reluctance in sacrificing his men to keep his throne was the only reason why Aegon was even able to conquer the North. It wasn't a sign of weakness in Torrhen's part. It was a sign of a great king who looked after his people.

Until recently the crown had a deterrent to keep the dissidents of the North who longed for the past where they were able to rule themselves at bay. The Northern Lords often bickered and fought with each other. They were slow to come to a conclusion unless the Starks stepped in to mediate. Now they were the single most united kingdom of the seven. If a Stark says jump, they would only ask how high.

With the absence of the deterrent also known as the dragons, there were more than a few groups who wanted their overlord to declare independency. He wasn't sure whether Rickard Stark or his children knew of the Blood Oath, but if they did they were sure to look into ways to leave the agreement. His father had given them the perfect opportunity to do so. The years of oppression the North lived through would come to bite them in the back. He was certain that they would lay claim to a large portion of the RIverlands before their secession as compensation.

Boltons became his eyes and ears in the North despite their isolation from the rest of its neighbours. They would help him to obtain a Stark girl and once the deed was done, he was certain he could calm things down. He could try to depose them and appoint one of his supporters for the Wardenship but he knew that was nothing but a pipe dream. The current North would follow the Lord Stark even to their deaths. But he was more than certain he would be able to curtail their power.

Rickard Stark would get a daughter who would be the Queen of the Seven Kingdoms and a grandson who would sit on the Iron Throne. He could order them to share their wonders with the rest of the realm while protecting the Boltons from the wrath of the wolves for their deed. The Boltons and the Whitehills would be included in the benefits of the North.

The deal he had with these two families was a tight secret between him and the current Lords of those families. He didn't want any outside ear to learn of it and spread it to the superb Northern spy network that even Varys was having a had time to keep up with.

"I hope you know what you are doing, Rheagar. If things go askew, your father would go as far as to sacrifice you to cover up the unrest," Rhaella said warningly.

"I know, mother. I have taken every precaution I could think of," he assured her. "I still wish to speak with them before resorting to my backup plan. If I can get their support for my claim, I'm sure I can woo Lady Zoe into by arms. The problem is the none of my communiques has been answered. They keep ignoring them."

His wedding, the nameday celebrations of his children, all these evens were held in public because he wanted to coax the wolves out of their den. Ever since his father chased them into their territory they had yet to step out of it, unless you counted the time Lord Charles Stark and his bride to be Silena Manderly were seen in Starfall after the famous maiden voyage of the Herald of the Sea.

He wanted to invite them to open table discussions without the awareness of his father. He was even willing to grand them any of their demands. Yet it all hinged upon the little fact that they had to agree to meet with him.

"I think you should give them a reason to attend," Rhaella said meaningfully.

"What do you mean?"

"What do the current Lord Stark desire the most?"

Rheagar looked lost. If he was to go with the first thing that popped into his mind, it would be money. The Starks were earning a massive sum yet they didn't seemed to want to stop increasing their revenue.

"He desires the most is to restore the former glory of his family. From what I'm able to understand he want to wipe away the mark that was left by Torrhen Stark when he surrendered without a fight."

"That would mean he want to secede from the Iron throne," Rheagar said incredulously.

"That may be true. But you could give him something close. What was the thing that Aegon took from Torrhen Stark when they surrendered?"

"His sword?" He asked remembering the Iron Throne and the story on how it was made.

"No… his crown. The story says that Aegon took away a bronze circlet that was adorned with runes from the deposed king and brought it back to King's Landing in triumph."

"Is the crown in the Royal treasury?" He asked excitedly.

"Yes. Obtain it discreetly without your father knowing about it. Offer it to them if they are willing to attend to a meeting with you. I'm sure they will eagerly jump the chance."

"Thank you mother. You have solved me of a massive headache," he said laughing out loud.

The two enjoyed a few minutes of silence. The castle was already going to sleep. Only the patrol guards would remain awaken this late into the night. He knew that his guards had returned to their quarters since it was their order to stay until the lights were fully lit before heading back. If his father was to come to his mother's chambers he would see them and head back.

"Anything new?" Rhaella asked leaning against the headboard making herself comfortable.

Rheagar thought hard on the things he had heard today. Most of the stuff were usual.

The Daynes were isolating themselves from the rest of Dorne putting the Martells in a difficult position. This was all the more true because the Yronwoods were displeased with their overlord over several significant slights Princess Meira and Prince Doran had done against their family. If the Yronwoods get the support of the Dyanes, the era of House Martell being the Warden of the South was over. They would be bent, bowed and broken by the combined forces of these two powerful houses.

The news from the Reach was as usual. The Tyrells were trying their best to hold on to their power but they were slipping. It was all the more true due to the displeasure the nobles and the smallfolk held against them due to the loss of their income. Luckily the Hightowers were helping them in discreet because of the agreement they had with him. Only House Rowan remained neutral. They too would support him once Mathis Rowan finds out that over seventy percent of the Reach had agreed to support him.

Robert Baratheon was meeting his bannermen in discreet. Rheager nor Varys was able to find out what their talks were about. Jon Connigton, the Lord of House Connington go Griffin's Rest and his best friend was excluded from these talks along with several other Houses that supported him or his father. That remind him to ask his mother to request Renly to come to King's Landing to be the playmate of Viserys. That would help him to get inside news of Robert and find out what the man was up to.

Tywin Lannister was angry as usual. The loss of income from Lannisport, his son being inducted to the Kigsguard denying him the chance to inherit land, his daughter being denied the chance to become the future queen of the Seven Kingdoms and his dismissal from King's Landing were all adding fuel to a flame that was caused by something else. The Ironborn also seemed to be keen on raiding the Westerlands instead of the Reach as the Redwyne fleet had been scrambled to protect their borders,

"Ah… Varys said that Lord Yohn Royce returned to Runestone with Lamentation, their Valyrian Steel blade," he said after combing the day's events.

"Has it been found? How?" Rhaella asked in surprise.

"From what I was able to find, Charles Stark was able to recover it from House Goodbrother. They returned it to its rightful owners."

"I think the Vale is going to become embroiled in political turmoil very soon," Rhaella said with a smile.

Rheagar had to agree. The Vale was united and utterly loyal to the Arryns as no one wanted to contest the Arryns. If Yohn Royce, the Lord of Runestone was to form a faction, there were countless individuals waiting to join them. Jon Arryn was a two faced man. He projected a caring outlook like that of a kindly grandfather while concocting plans to keep himself in power. Rheagar believed Jon Arryn was the reason for Robert Baratheon's odd behaviour.

He was more than happy if trouble befell the Warden of the East to keep the status quo going.

Rheagar looked out of the window that overlooked the Blackwater Bay. The moon was shining bright above them casting a radiant opulence on the shit filled water of the bay.

"I better get going," he said standing up.

"Rheager… whatever you do, do not trust Varys. I think he had another agenda in Westeros other than being spy master for the crown."

"I think so too. I use him to get what I need. But I don't tell him of anything significant. Those secrets I hide them well."

"Good. We need to turn in for the night. We have duties in the morning," his mother said looking glad that she had heeded his warning.

"Then good night, mother," he said bidding her farewell.

"Rheagar," Rhaella called just as he was about to open the door. "It is late. Maybe you should stay here and leave early in the morning."

He looked at the expectant face of his mother and smiled blushing furiously.

"As you wish."


Winterfell

Percy smirked as he walked through the streets of Wintertown enjoying the hubbub around him. The town which was barely holding a few years ago was now vibrant and filled with life. He could see people in all walks of life enjoying the sights and facilities they had built over the last few years.

He kept a low profile looking at their accomplishments. Wintertown had become the largest settlement in the North dwarfing New Castle at White Harbour. The number of people living and working here was only surpassed by King's Landing and Old Town. Furthermore the number of people who came to settle down here kept increasing every year.

There were job opportunities for everybody. Even if one didn't have the necessary skills, there were more than enough opportunities to learn and hone a skill. At the rate they were going they were bound to approach an industrial revolution within a few decades. All it needed were skilled visionaries. He and the others couldn't do everything around here. They had already established the foundation. All they had to do now was observe the progress and guide it when necessary.

He stopped by the largest outdoor amphitheatre built in the entertainment district due to the congestion. The theatre was showing a play which looked suspiciously similar to the story of Julius Ceasar. He paused to enjoy the festivity in the air as the audience cheered and gripped their seats in trepidation at various scenes portrayed. People were trying to find seats though the play had already started. Celebration was thick in the air.

The actors dressed in their togas and the play seemed pretty authentic when considering that these actors were once lowly citizens who were trying their best meet their needs a few years ago. There were few distinguished performers who were invited here from Essos. It was them who had trained the others and the next generation that would eventually replace them. Due to the popularity of these plays they performed, acting has become one of the more prominent livelihoods in the North. To become one you needed the talent and training provided by the College of Winterfell.

Percy felt glad that he, Charles, Silena and Zoe were able to give these people something to feel and cherish. If not for their intervention they would still be living cruel, harsh lives without knowing the true meaning of living. Before their intervention they weren't living… they were merely existing because they were born.

He wished that he could spread this to the other kingdoms as well. If the rest of the Kingdoms had been forgiving and had lent a helping hand when the North was at it lowest, he would have been the first to argue against keeping these benefits to themselves. Progress was not something which could be halted. Sooner or later everything they had given to the North would be available in the South as well. Their only option was to control the flow of these benefits.

Their father had a vision. Charles had a plan. They had all agreed upon it. So they were going to see through it to the last detail.

He didn't stay to enjoy the play. He had seen his fare share of Roman plays while he was at Camp Jupiter. But he was surprised at how deep the Greek and Roman philosophy had seeped into the Northern lifestyle in a scant few years. There were places in the North that was just like a living breathing replica of New Rome. The Roman architectural style was becoming synonymous to the North.

The outdoor amphitheatre was the second busiest locale in Wintertown which was wildly exceeded by the bathhouse. Due to the congestion Charles had mentioned that they had to enlarge it two times to accommodate each and every person who wished to enjoy its pleasures. He was certain that his father was inside this marble building right now with his friends gossiping about one thing or another. Rickard Stark was extreme popular with the smallfolk as he constantly mingled with them. Fathering the people who changed the North for the better was plus point in this regard.

The shops were bustling as usual. There were more traders from foreign lands who had made their way here to make a fortune. He could see a variety of ethnicities beckoning people into their shops to sell their wares. These were the one that had decided to settle down in the North.

The others were traders who were here to pick up merchandise to sell in Essos. These middlemen made a killing through profits by transporting the things they could get their hands on. Recently Charles had made laws to regulate the outflow of goods from the North so that unfavourable parties wouldn't get their hands on anything that could be used against the North. Percy was certain that Silena was the brains behind this endeavour since it was her field of expertise.

'I wonder when those two are tying the knot,' Percy mused as he walked the main street enjoying the sights. It was refreshing to spot the changes that had happened over the past three years.

The wedding of Charles Stark and Silena Manderly was one of the hottest topics in the North. Everyone knew that the two were extremely close and loved each other dearly much like Rickard and Lyarra Stark. To the smallfolk they were the royalty that the Old Gods blessed upon them. They were all waiting for the announcement so that they could celebrate the occasion like never before.

Even Percy thought that the wedding would turn into something spectacular. He was certain that every citizen within their sphere of control was wishing to attend it. That wasn't even considering the nobles.

The two were always pushing the date further and further away. He couldn't blame them. There was always a crisis that they had to directly handle. He just hoped that they could marry quickly and begin the family they always dreamt of having.

He quickly arrived at the main gates of Winterfell ignoring the hubbub in Wintertown. The gates were remodelled when they expanded the castle by building two more rings around the preexisting walls. Percy was quite baffled that none of the great forts in Westeros had concentric walls to protect them. This design of protection was extremely old on Earth dating back to ancient Egypt. But then again this world seems to lack any visionary who would project the civilization to a new height.

The main entrance, now named the Wolfmaw was built to depict an open mouth of a wolf. The tongue of their gigantic motif acted as the drawbridge over the moat that ran all around the castle. Travellers had to enter the castle through the mouth between the two gigantic paws. It was a fascinating design the architects at the College of Winterfell came with to project the might of the ruling family in Winterfell.

"Halt! Who goes there," a guard stopped him from waltzing in.

Percy flashed his wolf head medallion without saying another word.

"Lord Perseus!" The man saluted in surprise. "Welcome back, my Lord. I'll send a runner to the castle announcing your arrival."

"No need for that. Get back to your duties," Percy said to him.

"As you wish."

Percy crossed the first walls through the iconic gates and strode forwards.

'How did he know my identity?' Percy thought as he walked. He was still wearing his hood so there was no chance in the guard seeing his face. 'Are all the others back home as well?'

The thought excited him as the Stark household hadn't gathered in the same location for over three years now. If one was home the other was away in some other duty. Especially him. This was the first time he was returning after he left to subjugate Skagos over three years ago. He wished to see what Charles and Selena had done with the place. And there was Brandon and Lyanna. He was eager to see the two scamps who were crying the time he left them. He had no worries on Zoe for he had met her in numerous occasions when he routinely travelled between Skagos and Snowpoint, the new settlement on the other side of the wall.

He soon came to the training yard. The whole area in-between the inner and middle walls were dedicated for this training zone.

In one section a drill sergeant was training the soldiers to jog carrying weights on their back. On another corner men were lifting weights and exercising. The equipment here was designed after the ones used in a modern-day gym of Earth and the men seemed keen in training with them. There were more than five hundred sets of machines lined in sheds. The men had to book the time for these machines as the demand couldn't be fulfilled by the number of equipment they could provide.

These men were probably the ones from the new standing army Charles mentioned that he established. This force was to number twenty-thousand divided into regiments of a thousand posted in various locations all over the North. They were to be fully trained to become any type of soldier they needed for the occasion much like the special forces of Earth. After a large debate between Zoe , Charles and Silena this regiment was called the Sentinels. The other levies were the reserves as they were trained in a rotation basis as to not deprive the much needed work force.

Percy ignored these men and headed to the area with the sparring rings. He was certain to find one or more members of his family there. He let down his hood to greet his family. Nobody was aware that he had returned for this was a surprise.

"Brandon, get back here! I'm going to kill you." A high pitched voice screamed just as he was turning the corner.

"Haha… if you can catch me!" An equally boisterous voice mocked followed by the sounds of heavy footsteps dashing away.

"I'm going to skin you alive."

"Serves your righ..oompf."

A robust body crashed into Percy sending the runner crashing to the ground. Percy took a few steps back in surprise to steady himself.

He knew at once who had crashed into him. It was his younger brother. The youngster had grown in the years he was away and had almost caught up to the size of his elder brothers. He was powerfully built just like Charles and their father unlike Percy who was lean. The only reason he was sent sprawling was because he was caught unprepared.

"Who the fuck…" he began cursing the person who crashed into him. His hand went to the wooden practice sword that was lying nearby. Percy was surprised that he wasn't given permission to use live steel for training purposed yet.

"Language, little brother. You were the one who barged into me. I wouldn't want to hand your over to Zoe for disciplinary action now would I?"

Brandon froze at his sarcastic voice turning his head up in a jolt to see the face of the man he hadn't seen in a while. He even rubbed his eyes comically to confirm that it was indeed Percy who was standing above him.

"Per…" he began but was cut off by the person who was chasing him.

Percy grinned as he saw the figure of his sister who was covered from head to toe in dust with a green smudge all over her face. The smell gave away the substance adorning her face and hair. It was horse shit. She had it all over her face and he knew Brandon was behind this incident. No wonder she was after her brother like a starved bloodhound.

The two looked like f they were practicing swords skills. It also answered his question as to why Brandon was still using a wooden sword. Their mother probably forbade the two form using live steel against each other because of their 'little spats.'

"There you are. I'm going to rip you limb from limb!" She yelled jumping on top of Brandon sending the two tumbling to the ground. She fought like a vicious wildcat biting and scratching poor Brandon who was trying to cover his face from the attack of his sister. She had completely overlooked who had shown Brandon to the ground. Brandon was smiling despite being mauled by his sister.

'Well… this is nostalgic,' Percy thought as he watched the brawl between his younger siblings amusedly. While they were fighting, Lyanna was taking every chance in wiping the shit on Brandon as payback.

"Thats enough!" Percy commanded seeing that this fight was going to end in tears if it didn't end soon. "Lyanna get off of Brandon. And you- apologize to your sister."

Lyanna got off Brandon reluctantly. She turned to see who was brazen enough to order her around. The moment she saw him, her mouth dropped in surprise.

"Percy," she whispered.

"In flesh, dear sister," he grinned. "Now Brandon… what do you have to say for yourself?"

"I'm sorry," he said looking at his feet.

"And?"

"I wont do it again."

"Lyanna?"

"Hmmm… what? Do you expect me to apologize to him? He was the one who kicked the pile shit at me once he saw he was losing his ground. He can't face the fact that a girl was just about to defeat him. I won that fight fair and square. And I wont apologize."

"Hey… I was merely using the environment to my advantage. I didn't mean to kick a pile of shit. I was kicking dirt into your face."

"No you didn't. You kicked it onto my face on purpose."

Well there it was. Lynna was as bullheaded as she was the day he left for Skagos. She was easily aroused into anger and Brandon often enjoyed teasing his sister like this. He had thought the two would snap out of it once they had their duties piled up onto them. But somethings were never meant to change. If you asked him, he wished that his younger siblings keep this childish behaviour for as long as they could. Despite fighting often and being at each others throats, they loved each other dearly.

"Brandon?" He questioned his brother seeing that he was the culprit for todays 'incident'.

"She ran her mouth and put me in a bad light in front of our men. What was I supposed to do? I had to close her mouth because she was revealing embarrassing things to them. I just wanted to close her mouth. Otherwise how could I face them tomorrow with a straight face?"

"Looks like I have to get Zoe involved in this," said Percy looking at the stubborn faces of his siblings.

He kind of enjoyed the look as their faces soured instantly. Both of them knew that they could get away with anything if they complained to their brothers. But it was the opposite when it came to their sister.

"I'm sorry," they both said in unison.

"What are you sorry about?" A feminine voice sounded from above them. Percy glanced above to see Zoe and Ashara leaning over the railings of the wall looking at the proceedings with ineterest. Percy noticed Silena king her way towards Zoe and Ashara as well. He instantly grinned as he knew where this was going. He was about to see some of Zoe's famous discipling.

"Nothing sister," two voices chimed at the same time.

Both Lyanna and Brandon had perfect poker faces. Yet they couldn't hide the bone deep fear they had towards their sister in their body language. Zoe was extremely strict when it came to discipline. It was something her entire soul was engraved with due to her time as the Lieutenant of the Hunt.

Zoe was extremely protective of her family. Percy knew that she would sacrifice herself if it meant that one of her family could get to safety. That included him and Charles who were just as powerful as she was if not more. Everybody in their family knew of this. She was extremely proud of their family and what it represented. She would not have anything besmirching that image. She often 'disciplined' her siblings when they did something beneath them. Even their father feared this side of his daughter.

Both Lyanna and Brandon were disciplined by Zoe for fighting in the open in front of an audience before. She didn't mind them crossing arms to train in their weapon craft. But when that fight turned into a brawl with no bounds barred, she acted to make them stop disgracing their family. Despite being punished by Zoe on man occasions by Zoe their younger siblings never seemed to learn the lesson. Their father blamed it on woolfblood while Percy and the rest of the transgenders thought it was due to ADHD.

"Did you fight again?" Ashara asked throwing fuel into the fire.

Lyanna shot her betrayed look. "No we didn't," she replied lying through her teeth.

"Hey Lyanna, hows the horse shit taste?" Percy asked casually as if he was asking of the weather.

"Like grass and hay," Lynna replied automatically. As soon as the words escaped her mouth she knew that she was busted. Brandon shot a glare at her for not keeping her mouth shut.

"Percy!" She complained.

"Have you been eating hay?" Percy asked innocently. "How else did you know the taste?"

Lyanna shot him a look of utter betrayal as well. She knew that Percy was just teasing her. But didn't he know that his choice words were putting her into more trouble with Zoe?

"I'll get to the two of you later. Go clean yourselves thoroughly before coming down to dinner," she commanded the duo with her hands on her waist. Nobody could read whether she was amused or angry.

"But," Brandon began looking at Percy.

"NOW."

The two scurried away quickly to take a bath and wash the filth all over their bodies. "And no more fighting!" She yelled after them.

"That was fun," Ashara said laughing at the sight of the youngest Starks running as if their bums were on fire. "Hey Percy," she waved at him excitedly.

"Hey Ashara," Percy greeted her. "Sister, Silena… it seemed everybody is home this time."

Zoe and Silena greeted him like Ashara in extreme enthusiasm.

"Come up," Zoe told him. Percy took a few steps back and ran towards the wall with his full strength. Taking advantage of his momentum he leapt up just before the wall and used the forward motion to run up the wall before grabbing the ledge to pull himself over.

"I still cant believe the physical prowess of you guys," Ashara sighed looking depressed of a feat she wasn't able to accomplish.

Percy had made scaling a fifteen foot wall seemed easy. He understood Ashara's comment for this was something he was unable to accomplish in his previous life. Sure, he could have used water to propel himself up, but that wasn't something related to pure physical prowess. Due to their altered soul impacting on their mortal bodies, the change it brought was not something any other mortal of this world could compare.

"Meh… don't sweat about minor details. You have tamed a dragon on your own. Even Brandon and Lyanna haven't been able to accomplish that yet. You should be proud of yourself," Silena chided.

"Yes, do not undervalue your own accomplishments. If you were to look at the person that arrived in Winterfell with Silena three years ago, you wouldn't be able to recognize her," Zoe agreed.

"Wait… you tamed a dragon? When did this happen?" Percy asked in amazement.

All these years, none of the hatched eggs had chosen a partner. They tried everything they could imagine to get another bond to form. But the dragons didn't seemed interested. Even their mother's wish for a partner like her children's could be fulfilled. Sure they could have tried to give her a kirai partner. But after a family discussion it was determined that the dragons were for exclusive use within the Stark family while the rest of the creatures they brought with them could be paired off with worthy candidates.

Getting the dragons to bond with the rest of his family was one of the main objectives behind his return this time. He knew how envious his little siblings were of their elder brothers and sister having a dragon for a partner. Even their mother had that envy. Only their father was satisfied with having a hellhound as his companion.

After spending years with Windshear he had found many thing regarding their species. He wanted to test his hypothesis about dragon bonding. If he was correct, the Starks would have another creature to depict their power.

But now to his astonishment the dragons had chosen another candidate to bond.

"Which one?" Percy asked.

"The pure white one with the black and purple decorations," Silena replied.

"I didn't remember that one."

"Its one of the newest to hatch," Silena answered.

"Her name is Andromeda. She hatched about three months ago. She is so small and cuddly that I want to squeeze her. I wont do that of course… I cant wait to ride her… to explore the blue skies with her," Ashara exclaimed excitedly.

"Andromeda?" Percy whispered. This wasn't a name any one of this world was familiar with.

"I suggested it, Ashara agreed to it," Zoe clarified.

"So?"

"She doesn't know about our past. Yet. Don't worry. Its up to you to tell her if you want," Zoe replied in Greek.

"What was that language? I was meaning to ask you. I often hear Silena and Charles talking in that same language. Even you join their conversation like it was nothing using it."

"Its called Greek. I'll teach you later," replied Percy.

Ashara arrived in Winterfell with her brother Arthur when Charles and Selena returned from Starfall. Even their elder brother Vorian came with them to learn how to be a better ruler from the Starks. He had returned after staying in the North for over a year and half, but his siblings stayed behind. His visit wasn't merely for educational purposes. Vorian managed to form many beneficial agreements between the two families. According to the snippets of news he obtained, those agreements had enabled Vorian to completely overturn the fate of his family.

He and Ashara spoke often through the mirrors but Percy lost contact with her the day he left for Skagos. The mirrors had a range and the further the range between the two mirrors, the more energy required to communicate. Even forming a link between Starfall and Winterfell was tiring. The optimal range of someone at Winterfell was King's Landing. Going further wold cost exponentially more energy. They found out causing a natural disaster cost less energy than these long distance link ups.

The lands to the North showed a surprising restrictions to magic. Maybe it was because the natural order in these lands hadn't been overturned by human activities. Due to this using mirrors to communicate from Skagos was a no go.

He looked forward to spending time with Ashara alone. They had much to speak of. Percy also liked spending time with her. He had so much to catch up. He was only able to get to know of certain things from messages between Winterfell and Skagos.

Looking at Ashara she seemed to have done well in Winterfell. She lacked the baby fat that was present the first time he saw her. Now her entire body was tone like that of a supermodel. She had fallen back on her habit in wearing breeches. So he saw her long legs beckoning him to caress and 'play' with. Her face had gained a regal look with the fat layer gone. She was the epitome of a noble.

If he was asked to pick the fairest of the three ladies in front of him, he would be unable to answer. Silena was undoubtably beautiful. For heaven's sake she had been the daughter of the Goddess of Love. She seemed to have retained that otherworldly beauty that Aphrodite possessed. Zoe was just as beautiful Her mother was Plieone, one of the fairest women in Poseidon's court. Her father was Atlas and he was one handsome dude. Her lithe body reminded an observer of a panther… slim and taunt.

And then there was Ashara. She had an uncanny resemblance of Calypso which was the prime reason he was drawn to her. After getting to know her, he realized how different the two were but also came to appreciate the woman who had managed to steal his heart for the third time. Her purple eyes spoke to his soul. Though he wouldn't say it out loud for the sake of his personal wellbeing, she was the most perfect woman he had ever seen.

He now understood how much pressure Paris felt when he was about to hand the golden apple to one of the three goddesses.

Ashara carried a sword on her slim waist fulfilling her dream of being able to carry a weapon at her side at all times. It was of Northern make as opposed to the crude castle forged steel weapons the rest of the kingdoms carried. In this regard she was just like Zoe and Lyanna. Maybe that was the reason they clicked together so fast.

Looking at the earlier interaction between Ashara and Lyanna, his sister seemed to consider Ashara as her own sister.

To crown everything off she had gotten herself a dragon.

"Where's Charles? And Arthur for that matter."

"He is with father showing him the completed armour for the Sentinels. Arthur is out patrolling the reclaimed land with Alysanne and their partners," Ashara replied.

"How has he taken to being a wraith?" Percy asked since he wasn't there for the Rite and the induction ceremony.

"Like a fish taken to water," Zoe replied. "He has completed the required courses in record time. He is one of the fully trained Wraiths we have under our command. He gets along with everyone… especially Alysanne," she replied giving a wink at Ashara.

"This could be interesting," Percy muttered.

The Arthur he remembered was an uptight prick who thought of honour, family and legacy before anything else. He almost joined the Kingsguard because he felt like it was his destiny. Luckily he was able to avert Arthur's ambition to another path. Arthur pursing a woman for love was not something he could wrap his mind around.

"He's completely smitten by the Mormont beauty," Ashara snickered. "I confronted his about this with Silena a few weeks ago during lunch. His face went red like a tomato. Do you remember it, Silena?"

"Yes, he was so flustered he spilled a hot bowl of soup on his crotch. The entire garrison started to call him broth-crotch for a few days until Alysanne threatened to castrate them. The poor man walked funny for quite a while."

The three ladies shared a laugh obviously remembering the pain the Sword of the Morning went through.

"She seemed interested in him too," Zoe clarified to Percy. "Lets start to head back. Those two would have spread the news of your arrival by now. Mother is eagerly waiting your arrival for few weeks now."

"She has a sixth sense when it comes to things regarding her children," Silena agreed.

"So Percy, tell us about Skagos," Ashara questioned.

"I hear that they seemed to call you a special name," Zoe questioned jokingly.

"Don't remind me," Percy sighed. "That bastard Vrar called me Stormbringer out of the blue and now the entire island is calling me that. Nothing I could do could get them to stop saying it. I blame Mark and Cregan… those bastards are the ones who helped spread it. I believe it is one of them who told you about it."

"Well, now you have a title as well. Isn't this what you wanted?" Silena questioned.

"But Stormbringer reminds me of Poseidon. It's his name… not mine," Percy whined.

"Man up… there is nothing you can do about it. Also Poseidon dissent exist in this world. Think of it as you paying homage to your father of your previous life," Zoe chided.

"I guess," he relented.

"What are you talking about? Is it something you cannot tell me?" Ashara asked raising a perfect eyebrow.

"N… no… I'll tell you about it later," Percy stammered. Sometimes the four of them forgot to keep these private conversations to themselves and not have them out in the open. Luckily no one understood ancient Greek. Also unlike the other members of their family Ashara was extremely inquisitive. She hated not knowing anything going around her. In that regard she was similar to a certain blonde he knew in the past.

"So hows the island coming along?" Silena asked to divert the subject.

"Yeah… tell us about it," Ashara perked up at once.

She was aware that Skagos would be Percy's seat of power. That meant that she would be the lady of the island in the near future.

"Lets go in and meet the others. I would like to have this conversation when we are all together," Percy replied.

As they were talking they had neared the main entrance of the castle. The rope bridges that ran from wall to wall enabled them to walk on top of them without touching the ground until they reached the inner castle. These gangways provided ease of access to the patrolling men and were easily removed should reason arise.

"Anything interesting happen around here?" Percy asked as they made their way towards the castle.

"This just came in," Zoe said handing him a piece of paper. "I just picked it up from the ravenry."

"Rheagar Targaryen wants to meet with us?" Percy asked reading through it. "Didn't he send a missive like this earlier?"

"Not just one," SIlena replied. "I believe this is the sixth message he sent."

"Didn't you guys agree to ignore them? Whats different this time?" Ashara asked.

"He promises to hand over the crown belonging to King Torrhen Stark if we agree to speak with him," Percy replied after going through the entire content.

"You know… getting that crown back is one of father's wishes," Zoe said looking at Percy expectantly.

"I hear he is gathering allies. Maybe he wants our backing as well. I don't wish for the North to engage in Southern affairs. Every time we stuck up for them, it had come to bite us in the back. So why would this time be any different?" Silena questioned.

"The question is… do we really want to dirty ourselves in order to get our crown back," said Percy looking up at the imposing castle with a grimace.


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See you again with the new chapter.

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