Chapter 19

Laena threw the door to the solar open wide and allowed Ned who was carrying the still unconscious Baelor through. He was followed immediately by a thoroughly alarmed Benjen Stark and a wide eyed Lyanna.

Laena swallowed hard as her betrothed set her little brother gently down on the sofa. His skin seemed even paler than usual and his eyes were moving beneath his lids, darting back and forth as if he were dreaming something unpleasant.

Ned straightened and ran a hand through his dark curls before rounding on his brother. "Get Maester Wylas in here quickly."

The words came out so hard and intent that Benjen said nothing and merely nodded choppily before all but running from the room.

The silence that filled the chamber then was all encompassing as all eyes were focused on the small form lying motionless on the couch.

Slowly Laena knelt down beside her brother and reached out a hand towards him gingerly. When she touched his forehead, she let out a hiss and yanked her arm back.

"What is it?" Ned asked urgently, touching her shoulder.

"He's warm," she whispered. "Far warmer than anyone should be."

"He's feverish?" Lyanna asked with some alarm.

Laena shook her head. "No, a fever has a specific type of warmth and this is not a fever."

"Well what else could it be?" Ned's sister demanded. "Has this happened before?"

"Lyanna," Ned broke in. "Perhaps you should go back to bed. There's no sense in all of us being here worrying."

The brunette hesitated for a moment, looking as if she might agree but then she stubbornly shook her head. "No Ned. I'm not leaving until we find out what's wrong with the prince."

Laena and Ned exchanged glances and surprisingly enough the former felt relieved. She was gratified to know that Ned's sister cared about what happened to Baelor.

Just then the door was flung open once more and Benjen darted in, all but dragging the maester of Winterfell behind him. Wylas' hair was matted as if he had been roused from a deep sleep and his robe was rumpled and wrinkled as though it had been hastily flung on. He looked back and forth between Ned and

Benjen in confusion. "Lord Eddard what on earth is going on?"

In short hushed tones, Laean's betrothed explained what had happened in the godswood, that Baelor had been sleepwalking and had then fainted when they had found him.

Laena's eyes narrowed as she knelt in front of her brother, wondering why Ned had chosen to omit certain details.

There was a slight susurration and then Lyanna was kneeling down next to her, a look of concern on her pretty face. "Will he be alright?"

Laena reached for one of her brother's hands and clasped it a moment. "I think so. He's just fainted, he should awake any moment."

I hope.

"Has this happened before or is it normal for you?" Lyanna asked, eyes still intent on Baelor's face.

Laena raised an eyebrow, not sure whether to be amused or offended. "What exactly do you mean by normal for us?"

Lyanna blinked and understanding of what she had said dawned on her. It was quickly followed by a furious blush. "My apologies your grace, I only meant that – "

Laena held up a hand to forestall the awkward apology. "Peace, I know what people whisper about my family. They call us odd, say all the inbreeding has made us twisted and strange, that our minds wander down peculiar paths."

Lyanna's face was now nearly purple with embarrassment. "I didn't mean that – "

"And they wouldn't be entirely wrong," Laena continued, cutting her off. "I think you and I can both agree that my late father was….not…right."

To this Lyanna said nothing but Laena didn't expect her to. She merely carried on. "My family has a reputation for being dreamers, prophets, conquerors and kings. We've always been a bit strange and as long as that peculiarity remains harmless, it's never bothered me."

Lyanna frowned. "I'm not sure I'm following you."

Laena smiled at her wryly. "I'm trying to tell you that being strange isn't a bad thing and that normal is sometimes very dull."

Lyanna released a somewhat breathless laugh. "Well I can say without any qualms that life hasn't been normal at all these last few months."

The blonde chuckled slightly. "No, I don't suppose it has."

"Might I take a look at the prince your grace?" asked the voice of the maester from behind them and Laena got to her feet. "You may maester Wylas, but I am certain he is merely sleeping."

"Be that as it may, I wish to be sure," the maester said kneeling down in front of the small blonde.

As he examined the little prince, Ned caught Laena's eye and nodded towards the window, away from everybody else.

Taking the hint she followed him and the two did not speak until they were both facing the glass.

"I feel I must ask your grace," the acting lord of Winterfell began slowly. "What do you make of what the prince said while in that….trance. I've been puzzling about it but only a few things make sense."

Laena swallowed hard remembering the words her brother had spoken in that terrible voice, the same voice he had used in Riverrun several weeks earlier.

She looked about wildly for a moment. "Do you have a quill and parchment somewhere about Ned. The words are still fresh in my mind and I'd like to write them down."

"Of course."

Writing materials were brought immediately and Laena set about penning the words her brother had spoken.

Well perhaps to be a bit more candid, her brother hadn't spoken at all. Something that she didn't fully understand had taken hold of her brother and used his voice to convey a sinister message.

When she was finished, Laena set the quill down and stared at the still drying words that she was certain she would never forget.

She could feel Ned leaning over her shoulder so they were reading the writing at the same time. They were both silent for a moment, just taking it in and

Laena sorely itched to call her flames to warm her from the chill and dark of the words.

The room was so still and silent around them that when Maester Walys finally spoke, it caused the blonde to jump. "He is merely asleep my lord, a deep sleep. I do not think it would be wise to rouse the prince. He is young and needs his rest."

Ned shot a glance at Laena as if to ask for her ascent. She swallowed hard and nodded before turning to Winterfell's maester. "Are you certain that that is all it is? Just sleep….nothing more?"

Walys inclined his head and rose from his position beside the couch. "Merely slumber your grace. You can see his chest rise and fall and his eyes flutter beneath his sleep indicating the deepest of dreams. He will awaken when morning comes I am certain."

Ned nodded. "Very good. Thank you Walys."

The maester nodded and departed swiftly. Laena turned to a very worried looking man of the Kingsguard. "Ser Barristan, will you please take my brother to his room? I doubt he will waken as he had always been a deep sleeper."

The knight bowed before bending down to gather up Prince Baelor. The little prince merely curled into the knight's chest as if searching for a better position and the coil of tension in Laena's chest loosened.

He is alright…he will be unaffected….but now what to do with what we know?

"I also think its time for bed for you as well Lyanna, Ben," Ned said, turning grim once more. "That's quite enough excitement for one night."

"But what's going to happen?" Lyanna demanded. "What were those words that the prince said? What do they mean? Why is – "

"We will discuss it in the morning," Ned said sharply cutting her off. His look was severe enough to make her quail a bit though her upper lip remained determinedly stiff. "Take Ben, and the both of you are to retire. I am not saying this as your brother, I am saying this as Winterfell's acting lord."

The temperature in the room seemed to freeze and Laena shot her betrothed and incredulous look. His expression was implacable and his eyes had gone from a soft grey to the color of ice.

Ben was staring at his brother as if he had never seen him before and Lyanna's expression was unreadable. Finally however she nodded choppily and took her brother by the arm, leading him out of the room.

Once when they were gone and the door had closed did Ned slump down in the chair behind the desk and place his head in his hands.

"Ned," Laena said softly. "What are you going to do?"

"What are we going to do?" the quiet wolf said putting subtle stress on the word. "The words that the prince spoke was for you as well."

"Child of fire," Laena muttered to herself. "Yes I know. It also said I was to fulfill the pact of ice and fire. I assume that is straight out of the history books when a Targaryen was offered in marriage to a Stark but the bargain was never seen through."

"Aye, and we will be fulfilling it through marriage," Ned said gravely. "It's not that aspect that worries me. It's the part about going north. What exactly does that mean?"

The chill that had receded over the last few minutes suddenly came back over Laena again with a vengeance. She pictured some of her recent dreams and shuddered quietly.

The idea of going north in the dark and the cold to a place where no horse could ever venture and no man had a chance of surviving, an evil place filled with a malice so frigid that it would freeze the blood in veins, made Laena want to seize a horse and ride for the nearest port so she might sail away to the east and live the rest of her days in the middle of the desert, surrounded by nothing but sunshine.

But of course she couldn't do that.

A warmth filled her palms and she didn't have to look down to see the flames dancing across her fingers.

If anything else….this would warm her.

"We know what it means Ned," she said softly.

He looked up from the page at her, eyes narrowed as if trying to discern her meaning. And then understanding seemed to dawn on him and he was on his feet in a trice. "No, absolutely not. You cannot mean it!"

"The only other dragon in Winterfell is my brother and I am certainly not going to allow him to go north of the wall," Laena countered.

"Why must you even go at all?" Ned replied. "Did the words mention you by name? How do we know that this is not something that was meant for years in the future?"

"Because the coincidences are too strong," Laena argued at her betrothed who was beginning to pace back and forth behind his desk. "Long ago there was an agreement of marriage between the Starks and Targaryens that was never fulfilled until now. What are the chances that whoever….or whatever….was speaking through my brother would decide to do so now, just when all the things it….said…have aligned."

Ned stopped pacing and rested his hands against the desk while he leaned forward. "Perhaps there is some truth there. But something like this cannot be decided on a whim! What would the reaction of your brother the king be if he were to hear that I allowed you to travel north beyond the wall, with no guide? In search of – "

"The enemy," Laena whispered and Ned paled. "And what enemy is this?"

"You men of the north would know better than I," the blonde said spreading her hands. "I am a southerner remember? I wasn't taught much of northern legends. Or are they legends? Do you remember when I came to you in the Eyrie and told you of the mystery surrounding my father's death?"

If it were possible Ned seemed to turn even whiter. "I do."

"Well then this is no mere coincidence. None of it is natural, just as my father's death was not natural. A small part of me wishes that I had been the one to kill him but some unknown force has robbed me of the right. We must know what that unknown force is. If we do not, if we ignore the warnings….I fear we will regret it."

A heavy silence fell in the chamber.

When Ned spoke again, it was not with words that Laena was expecting. "You do not wish you could kill your father."

The blonde blinked. "I beg your pardon? How do you know that? You only saw a glimpse of just what a monster he was."

Ned shook his head. "Be that as it may, taking the life of a person close to you is never something that one cane do easily. It would have left a burden on your heart. One that I wouldn't want you to bear."

Some of the icy dread that had settled around the princess's heart melted a bit. "Maybe you're right, maybe I do overestimate myself. But it doesn't matter at any rate. His death was unnatural and there have been too many things since that have been unnatural. We cannot ignore them any longer."

"And what do you propose we do your grace?" Ned asked spreading in his hands in a gesture of helplessness. "The entire realm would be up in arms if I sent its princess into the dark and cold and night beyond the wall. Not to mention the mutiny that would happen in the south. King Rhaegar would gather his armies and raze the north from the Neck to the Wall. There is not a chance in the seven hells that he would – "

"Shall we bring him here and ask then?" Laena asked cutting him off.

Somehow Ned had the foresight to look astonished. "What?"

Laena took a step nearer, closing the distance between them. "I said, we can bring my brother here and ask him what he thinks. Would that settle your mind?"

It seemed the quiet wolf could only stand there blinking. "You can do that? With your magic?"

Laena resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She could see she was going to have to take Ned on several adventures in order to show him the near limitless abilities of her magic. "There are only a few things I can't do Ned. Something that isn't one of them is travel the length of the country with a thought. Didn't I tell you all this earlier?"

The young man blinked again but then squared his shoulders and seemed to gather himself. "Of course you did! How could I forget a conversation like that?

But I did not know you could bring someone else with you while you did it!"

Laena smiled at his flabbergasted state. "Well I can. And if you wish to know what my brother truly thinks, then the only way to know is to ask him in person.

Now we can go to King's Landing or I can bring Rhaegar here, which would you prefer?"

It took Ned a moment to respond the request as his surprise was so great. "Has the king… traveled in such a manner before?"

"Oh certainly," Laena replied cheerfully. "When my brother and I were younger, we often made trips like this to Summerhall, the place of our birth. I didn't really know why Rhaegar wanted to go there, but he always wished to explore the ruins and the ashes, see what's left. Maybe a part of him never could accept that he and I were the only two bits of life to come from the place. Knowing that life came out of so much death is a curious thing."

She paused for a moment as she remembered the crumbling blackened stone and the piles of ashes that still listed across the ground.

Then she blinked and looked back at Ned, now was not the time. "Would you rather I bring him here?"

Her betrothed shifted his weight slightly for a moment, staring intently into her eyes and making her skin heat a little with its intensity. "Very well, perhaps that would be better. If we were to return to King's Landing, we might draw too much attention."

Laena wanted to tell him that there was a spell for such a thing too, but she decided at the moment it didn't matter. "Very well, I will return in a moment. Wait here. Oh and you might want to lock the door. It wouldn't be a good idea to have Ser Barristan open the door and ask where I am."

Ned blinked and understanding dawned on his face. "He does not know?"

"Other than my immediate family, no one does," Laena said softly. "And that is the way I would like it to remain for now."

Ned nodded. "Very well then."

He turned and strode for the door and Laena watched as he carefully turned the mechanism, locking it.

"She nodded at him and smiled slightly, though she was certain it didn't really look like one. "I will be back in a moment."

Then, without even giving Ned time to respond, she pictured her brother's study in King's Landing in her mind, spun on her heel and disappeared with a crack.

Ω

Laena reappeared in the familiar room and it was almost as if she had never left. The large windows that spanned the left side of the room and offered a glimpse into the harbor were filled in with black from the dark of the night. Occasionally a star would wink out at her from beyond them and she caught a bit of home sickness.

Sitting in front of the windows was a large wooden desk of a golden brown color that was covered in in piles of parchment. Some had been folded and marked with the king's own personal seal, others were sitting on one side unopened and marked with different seals from other houses.

As she had suspected, her brother was sitting at the desk pouring over a piece of parchment, his gaze intense and focused.

She wondered who it was from and what it was about.

When he didn't glance up at the noise her arrival had made, she decided to announce herself.

"I knew you'd be here."

The king flinched at the sound and nearly dropped the parchment he was holding. His head shot up as if looking for a threat. When he locked eyes with her and registered who she was however, he relaxed.

But not before throwing down the parchment and looking more than a little irritated. "Seven hells Laena! Did you have to startle me like that?"

She smirked at him. "I have to keep you on your toes Rhaegar. I'm not around to do it as often."

Her brother rolled his eyes but a second later, they narrowed at her and their familiar playful banter fizzled out. "What are you doing here? Are you alright? Is Baelor alright?"

She waved her hand at him, wishing they could return to the moment before. "Yes, we're fine don't worry."

He relaxed, if only a little. "Good. Then what is the reason for your visit? Is this official or unofficial business."

Laena twisted her hands together. "Unoffical. Rhaegar I came because….something has happened."

He slowly got to his feet, eyes never leaving her and leaned forward on the desk, using his fists to balance himself against it. Suddenly he was not her brother and twin anymore, he was Westeros's king. "What's happened Laena? I won't ask again."

She sighed. "It would be better if you came with me so we can tell you together. This concerns Ned too."

Rhaegar's eyebrows rose to his hairline. "It's nothing good then is it?"

She shook her head slowly. "No. I'm afraid its something quite insidious."

At the mention of the word, Rhaegar paled but his expression also tightened into something akin to granite. "Very well then, let's not keep him waiting."

He didn't ask if it would take a long time, he didn't even ask for details. Instead the king of Westeros merely strode around his desk and reached for her arm.

Just before they disappeared however, he fixed her with a familiar smile and said: "I've always wanted to see Winterfell."

Ω

Ned must have been accustomed to the sounds of her magic by now for when Rhaegar and Laena appeared in Winterfell's solar, he barely even blinked.

Rhaegar however, when he had gotten his bearings did his own fair share of opening and closing his eyes as he looked around.

Laena could see him taking in the furnishings and the maps and the tapestries that graced the thick stone walls with a curious eye. He turned slowly in a circle as if he were taking it all in. He glanced at the enormous fire whose flames danced higher than the last time Laena had seen them, making her think that Ned must have been busy in her absence.

She turned back to her brother and saw that his gaze seemed to be locked on the winter scene taking place outside of the windows for he smiled slightly. "I've always wanted to travel to Winterfell."

"Your grace."

The siblings turned to find that the acting lord of Winterfell had swept into a deep bow the moment they had appeared.

"Welcome to the north, Winterfell is yours," he said solemnly and Laena pressed a fist against her mouth to keep form chuckling. Always the dutiful formal wolf.

She glanced at her brother and saw that he made no attempt to hide his own amused smile. "My sister often told me you were one to stand on ceremony. Please rise Lord Eddard. I would not have my future brother bow to me."

Slowly Ned straightened but his expression gave away nothing and Laena felt her own smile fade. He clearly had not stopped thinking about what had happened earlier.

Rhaegar noticed his face as well and rubbed his hands together as if in anticipation. "Right then. My sister tells me something of grave importance has happened and that I need to be present for the two of you to tell me. Let's not waste any time then."

He folded his hands in front of him and even though he didn't wear a crown, he still looked every inch the king. For a moment, Laena felt herself swell with pride.

Her brother was the ruler the realm should have had years ago.

Ned released a breath and seemed to deflate as he did so. "Perhaps it might be a good idea to sit down."

The Targaryen siblings exchanged glances but Rhaegar didn't seem surprised. "Very well."

He walked over to the sofa sitting by one of the far windows to the right of the desk and seated himself upon it. Laena followed him and sat on his other side.

Ned meanwhile busied himself at the desk for a moment with his back to them and when he turned around he was carrying small tray which held a loaf of bred and a small bowl of salt.

Laena blinked at the offering of guest rights. Where had he gotten the bread from? She was certain he hadn't had it when they had both been standing in the room earlier.

He must have sent for it when I went to fetch Rhaegar. Ned and his traditions.

Her betrothed offered the tray to her brother who reached out and broke off a piece before sprinkling it with some salt. "Thank you Eddard. And now that formalities are out of the way, I must know, what is all this about?"

The princess and the wolf exchanged glances before Laena decided that she would take the lead on this one since it was their brother who had sleepwalked his way down to the godswood and spoken with a voice that was not his own.

So she did.

She told her brother everything beginning with their odd stay in Riverrun and their somewhat magical journey to the Isle of Faces where she met the Green Man.

She did not however tell her brother that the man's identity had been one from their own family and simply said that he had kept his face covered while he had spoken to her.

She wasn't sure why she chose to do this but decided that she wasn't ready to reveal the Green Man's identity. He hadn't told her that she could tell others who he was and even Baelor didn't remember anything of their trip.

She would let him tell others if he chose to, but she wouldn't make the choice for him.

There had to have been a reason he hadn't revealed such a thing to any of their family in the last few centuries.

She told him of the things that Baelor had done and said on their journey, ending with the strange occurrence in the godswood tonight. She watched her brother grow paler and paler and when she finally finished her tale with Ned interjecting a word or two here and there, the room went as silent as a tomb.

It was only broken with Ned poured a goblet of wine from the decanter sitting on his father's desk and pressed it into Rhaegar's hand.

Her brother nodded his thanks and raised the goblet to his lips with something of a shaking hand. He drank for a moment without stopping but when he lowered the goblet, there was a bit more color in his cheeks.

"Seven Hells that's a tale sister," he said looking back and forth between her and Ned. "Why didn't you write and tell me of what happened in Riverrun right away?"

"I thought that I would rather tell you about it in person then pen it in a long winded letter," the princess explained, spreading her hands. "But on paper or in person, my words are still the same. Something is awake Rhaegar, something evil. And it's watching us….it's watching me."

"And might you have any idea who or…what this…thing was that spoke out of Baelor's mouth?" the king asked.

Ned released a sigh. "I have no idea your grace. I have this feeling in my gut that it was something with a decidedly northern influence, but if pressed I could not tell you how I know that. Instinct in this case might not be the more reliable source."

"Perhaps not, but in this case, it's the only resource we have," Laena's twin muttered grimly. "And do not be too quick to question words of prophecy or dreams. The Targaryens have always had a touch of strangeness in our bloods. But in some cases as with Daenys, that has been a good thing."

He looked at his sister. "What will you do? I sense you have come to a decision already."

Laena swallowed hard and took a deep breath. "I must go north. I have no other choice."

Rhaegar closed his eyes for a moment as if steeling himself against an argument. "I thought that might be your decision."

"Your grace, is this truly wise?" Ned broke in. "We have no idea who or what spoke through the prince. Moreover Princess Laena does not know the land or the terrain. We do not even know of a destination, where is she supposed to go?"

Laena closed her eyes for a moment, remembering the conversation she had had with Addam Velaryon and all of his cryptic words and visions.

In her mind's eye, she saw a place, a long mountain range covered in ice and snow with icy crags like talons reaching to the heavens as if they had a quarry with the sky.

And she knew.

"I know where to go," she whispered and both her brother and betrothed turned to her. "You do?"

"When I was on the Isle of Faces, the Green Man gave me a vision," she whispered. "It was a vision of ice and snow but through the storm, I could see a low mountain range. As soon as I looked at it a horrible sense of despair came over me and I wanted to run for my life in the opposite direction, to hide so that it's living eyes couldn't see me."

She glanced up at the two men, both of whom were very pale. "He called it Hévore. Also known as the home of the Ultimate Betrayer."

All of a sudden Ned was on his feet and hurrying over to the large map of the north that was tacked up on the wall to the right of his father's desk. He searched for a moment almost feverishly, his fingers running across the parchment like the dancing legs of a spider.

Finally, when he reached the very top of the map, his index finger struck upon a spot and almost instantly began to shake.

Laena knew then that he had found it.

"What is it?" Rhaegar asked getting off the couch and striding over to him.

"It's here," Ned whispered in a voice so low that the princess hardly heard him. "This is the place of which she speaks."

Slowly, Laena rose and walked over to the pair of them so she might take a look at the image on the map.

As she had seen in her vision, it was a long low strip of land that was at the very center of a wide plain entitled: the Lands of always Winter.

The map itself was finite, but Laena had a chilling certainty that the lands themselves might go on forever.

"You are certain?" Rhaegar asked.

Ned nodded. "I don't know why this memory is choosing to come to me now. But when Brandon reached his majority, our father called him into this room where he spent most of the day. I was in the Vale at the time but Lyanna wrote to me and told me that he had been acting strange for weeks afterward. I always wondered – "

All of a sudden he snapped to attention, his back going ramrod straight.

"What is it?" Laena asked frowning at him.

Instead of answering, the quiet wolf turned and hurried over to his father's desk where he took up a letter that had been sitting between the prongs of a forked instrument where Laena imagined the Lord of Winterfell kept all of his letters.

"Why didn't I think of it before?" he said softly as if he were speaking to himself.

"Ned?" Laena said sending a concerned look at her brother. She turned away from the map and strode over to the desk. "What's wrong?"

He shook his head. "Nothing….its just…..when I returned from the Vale, my father had already gone in search of Brandon. I must have missed him by a few weeks. Walys told me upon my arrival that he had left a letter for me before he left and that I was to read it. During the busyness of the last few weeks and your royal visit, I somehow never found the time."

Laena sent a look at her twin who joined them at the desk. "I suspect that the contents of the letter might hold some clue."

"Aye," Ned said running a hand through his unruly hair. "It could be instructions on how to run Winterfell…or it could be something much more sinister."

He glanced up at them and determination turned the grey in his eyes to steel. "Theirs is only one way to find out."

And then he broke the seal with a flourish and slid the parchment from its packaging.

Rhaegar caught Laena's eye and jerked his head towards the window behind the desk, obviously to give Ned some privacy as he read the letter.

"I wish you had told me right away," he said under his breath when they were out of earshot. "I have been having the most disturbing dreams of late and every night it is a new one."

Laena's gaze snapped to him. "What sort of dreams?"

"There is never any symmetry or rhyme to them," he replied. "Except that in every single one I hear a voice…a voice inviting me to look to the north for that is from where a great evil will come."

Laena swallowed hard.

"Other times, I awaken to find myself in intense darkness with no noise other than the sounds of water dripping onto the ground. I wonder if I am in a cave of some sorts or a prison, perhaps its both."

"Do you see anyone in these dreams?" Laena asked.

"Only in flashes," her twin replied. "And then its took quick for me to see anything. Other times, I feel a chill rising up my spine to the back of my neck as if I'm being touched by a cold hand."

Laena felt her blood freeze.

"But when I turn around to confront it, there is no one there," Rhaegar whispered. "Often times I am standing on a wide field of snow when this happens. I think I can see something in the distance but then a whisper echoes in my ear, a whisper in a voice I do not know….but one that is entirely evil all the same."

Laena suddenly had a flashback of when she was standing in the field of snow with Addam Velaryon and looking to the mountain range, feeling the ancient evil and malice of the place blowing at her on the wind.

She glanced back at the desk and saw that Ned was still reading.

"I should have done this as soon as I woke up in Riverrun," she muttered and hurried over to a small writing desk in the corner.

"What are you doing?" Rhaegar asked as he joined her.

"I am going to put a face to this enemy," Laena said as she pulled charcoal pens from their cannister on the desk. "We need to know what he looks like."

And then she reached back in her memory to Riverrun and her vision and recalled the face that had opened its horrible mouth and screamed at her. She recalled the eyes that were unnaturally blue and the skin that was as cadaverous as it was icy. She remembered the rigidity and unnaturalness of every gesture, every movement of its limbs and every turn of its head. She also remembered the pointed horns protruding from every part of its head like the prongs of a crown being shoved through its skin.

And then she remembered its scream.

Laena wasn't even aware of the fact that she was drawing with her eyes closed until she heard her brother's sharp intake of breath and a soft curse from Ned.

Her eyes shot open and she looked up at her twin to find that his eyes had grown enormous and they were staring down at her drawing in shock and horror.

She looked down herself to find a face staring back at her, a face framed in terrible white with glowing blue eyes and a wide open gaping black mouth in a soundless scream. Sitting atop its head was the horned crown, sharp edges poking out of its skin.

"Is that it then?" Rhaegar asked quietly, pointing a shaking finger at the drawing.

"It is," Laena said, her throat exceedingly dry. She had to physically fight the urge to call her fire and burn the drawing to ash.

She might have if Ned hadn't unleashed a stream of curses from somewhere behind them.

"What is it?" Laena asked turning to him in alarm.

Ned's face was very pale. She hadn't known when he had joined them at the writing desk but the letter was still gripped in his hand. He pointed a the drawing with a shaking hand. "My father spoke of it."

"What?!" Laena and Rhaegar exclaimed in unison.

Ned shook the letter slightly and had to swallow a few times before he was able to answer. "This….This letter details everything my father told my brother an Lord of Winterfell should know. All about our history, our struggles, our promises….and our regrets. And he says there is an ancient law, binding every Stark Lord to watch for the return of an old enemy….the old enemy. We are to watch for his coming and sound the alarm."

Rivers of ice were sliding up and down Laena's back and she looked at her brother to find that he was equally disturbed.

"Was there anything else?" she asked.

Ned nodded and then held up a large key. "This was folded up in the letter."

Laena had only to look at it to see that it was an ancient mechanism. The key itself was as black as obsidian and nearly the length of Ned's hand. It had a

large loop at the top where one might thread a string through to hang.

It also covered in runes that Laena did not recognize but she had a feeling that they might be grave indeed.

"Where does it lead?" she whispered.

"My father writes that there is a door in this solar that leads to a hidden chamber which will answer any questions I might have," Ned said softly looking back and forth between the both of them.

"Well what are we waiting for?" Rhaegar asked. "The night is not getting any younger.

"Will someone come looking for you?" Laena asked. "What it it's Elia or Mother or even Lord Lannister?"

"Why would the old lion be looking for me at this time of the night?" the young king scoffed.

"Because he is anything but predictable and I am convinced that the man does not sleep," Laena countered.

A tiny grim smile crossed her brother's face. "Perhaps you're right sister. But a few minutes more is not going to hurt anything. The longer I stay here the more I find I have questions."

The king turned to Lord Rickard's second son. "Where shall we begin searching Eddard?"

Ned's grim smile matched her brother's. "There is no need your grace. My father's letter is very specific."

He turned and pointed to a large tapestry hanging on the wall depicting a winter scene with a pack of direwolves running on it. "The door we need is behind there."

Without waiting for the Targaryen siblings, he strode over and yanked the tapestry aside.

Sure enough, behind it was a door that from first glance must have been centuries old. It was made of a stark white bark that made Laena think it was the wood of a hearts tree.

As if she hadn't been experiencing enough of them already, yet another chill crept over her.

Slowly, Ned fitted the key in his hand into the lock on the door and turned.

After a moment of silent wrestling there was a soft click and the door swung open with not so much as a creak and nothing but blackness beyond.

Laena crept closer and held up one of her hands, feeling the warmth of her flame light up her fist. "It's a tunnel," she whispered.

It was indeed a tunnel that seemed to lead deep into the heart of Winterfell. The stones on them appeared different then the ones that decorated the keep's outer walls and Laena wondered absently if this passage had been one of the first things built in the keep and the inner walls built later.

"Gods this looks ancient," Rhaegar whispered nest to her. "Far older than anything I've seen before."

"Shall we investigate then?" Laena asked with weak cheerfulness.

"I suppose so," Ned said grimly. "We've come this far."

"Perhaps you should go first Laena," her brother teased gently. "Seeing as how you have the light and all."

The blonde rolled her eyes at him and stepped into the passageway with Ned following close behind.

It was very narrow and the sides of the walls brushed their shoulders as they shuffled along. Aside from Laena's magical light they were in complete darkness.

As the princess walked, she held her lit hand aloft and braced her hand against the wall with the other. The walls themselves were very dry and the lines of mortar between the stones was quite thick.

"Your never knew this was here?" she asked her betrothed. "Truly?"

"Truly," he said in an awed voice. "I knew that Winterfell had its secrets but never something of this magnitude."

"I have a feeling that when I return to King's Landing I am going to need to do some intense exploration into the lower levels," Rhaegar muttered behind them. "Who knows what our ancestors might have buried there?"

"Very well but for the love of the gods do not tell the triplets what you are doing," Laena said over her shoulder. "You know they would want to come with you."

"They're not causing quite as much trouble as they used to," her brother replied. "They might very well be adequate for some type of exploration now."

Laena might have said more had Ned not chosen that moment to interrupt their banter. "Your graces, look!"

The trio came to a halt as Laena's fire had illuminated the presence of an open doorway up ahead of them.

The archway was rounded but it was the room beyond that caught their attention.

Laena doubled her pace and soon the small group found themselves standing on the threshold of a large completely circular room. There were no corners to hide in and the ceiling was incredibly high.

As she craned her neck to look upward, the princess felt a breeze lift her hair from her shoulders and she gasped. "Ned look! There is an opening above us!"

Sure enough, perhaps twenty feet above their heads was a small opening in the ceiling where one could just about make out the stars of the night.

"Seven hells," Ned muttered beside her. "It must form some sort of spire on the outside. How is it that I've never seen that when I've been on the grounds before."

"Somehow I think that's the least of our concerns right now Eddard."

Rhaegar's voice called the two of them back to reality and they turned toward him only to find Westeros' king staring at a structure in the middle of the room.

Upon closer inspection it revealed itself to be an altar of sorts, a peculiar structure with eight sides and covered in deep ridged runes.

But those didn't hold Laena's attention for long.

For sitting on top of the altar were two of the strangest objects she had ever seen.

One she was able to identify right away as a horn….but it was unlike any horn she had ever seen before. It was at least the length of her arm and curved in the shape of a crescent moon with bands of iron wrapped about its mouthpiece, middle and opening.

It was covered in runes that Laena could not identify but she found her pulse racing at the thought of attempting to translate them all.

But when she glanced at the item next to it, all thoughts of the horn flew out of her mind.

At first, she wasn't sure what the item was, only that it appeared rather dangerous.

A large metal sphere sat next to the horn and was perhaps the size of Laena's head. It was covered in what appeared to be shards of glass but upon closer inspection, the princess realized they were hunks of black metal.

A clinking sound caused her to look up and she realized the ball was sitting on a length of chain that Ned was now holding. Attached to the other end of the chain was a thick rod of metal that looked extremely heavy.

It was a flail, but no flail that Laena had ever seen before.

Looking at its thick chain and bristling metal head the princess couldn't help but think that this was a very uncivilized weapon for a time in which people were not as demure as they were now.

"Gods, this ancient," Ned whispered. "I wonder how long its been here for."

"If I have my guess I would say since Winterfell's founding," Rhaegar said grimly as he was still examining the horn. This is not the weapon of a gentlemen, but rather the sort that could crush the limbs of any that crossed the person carrying it."

"And the horn?" Laena asked.

Her brother frowned. "Of that I do not know. However this very strange night and exploration has made one thing very clear to me."

"And that is?" Laena asked.

The king closed his eyes for a moment as if he were bracing himself and when he opened them, his purple eyes looked far too old for his face. "It means that whoever spoke through Baelor was correct Laena. It means that you, accompanied by Lord Eddard…must go north….and face whatever you might find there."

Ω

And there we have it! A long awaited update for some of you I know. With this story, I find that there are times when I am plagued by writer's block. Thankfully I have managed to push through however. Next chapter opens with some shocking news.

Also for those of you that do not know, I have started my own youtube channel in which we discuss everything from fantasy to comic books. If that sounds like your cup of tea, head on over and check it out. The channel name is Kaetie Mac. I would love any new subscribers as I am attempting to grow my author platform. Thank you so much in advance.

And one final thing, the book I am currently writing is now available to read over on Wattpad. It currently has five chapters and I am nearly finished with the sixth. Since this is the book I am going to see about publishing when it is finished, I would love if you guys would check it out and give me any possible feedback. Here is the link to it: story/224704026-memoria

Thank you so much guys! See you again soon!