Rhaegar

268 A.C The Red Keep

Rhaegar did not know what to think of them. First there was Robert Baratheon, a distant cousin. Then Eddard Stark from the North. Rhaegar had never seen or heard of North men south of the neck much, so he was very curious about him indeed. Jon Arryn was the escort of both young men, and had been called to court to serve his father. Tywin Lannnister his hand recommended him for a new Master of Laws, when Symond Staunton died from some illness. Arys gladly welcomed the Lord of the Vale when his trusted friend Tywin invited him. So now, his charges would be fostered here, in Kings Landing. Rhaegar for one was excited, he hadn't really had anyone of his own age to talk to. He kept spending most of his time with the kingsguard, Ser Gerold Hightower, and the newest addition, Ser Barristan Selmy. He won his cloak in the war of the Ninepenny Kings and there hadn't been many new additions since. The seven were filled and his father reigned in peace and prosperity.

"Good day to you my friends, I am Rhaegar." Rhaegar introduced himself to his guests formally, as he was meant to.

"I am Robert!" the Baratheon said with a grin and friendly demeanor. He even went so far as to offer his hand, which Rhaegar shook firmly. The lad from the north however, remained quiet and only after a few moments did he finally speak.

"I am Eddard of Winterfell." His voice was soft and shy as he spoke. Rhaegar smiled in a friendly manner and stretched out his hand, clasping the other boy's firmly, who despite his shyness had a hardy grip. Robert came to Eddard's side and put an arm around him. The boy in question gave a small smile to the young heir of the Stormslands.

"Don't mind Ned, he's like that with all new people!" Robert grinned and Rhaegar grinned back, nodding in agreement.

"It's alright, I understand! I've never really met anyone my age…Well, anyone here to stay at least." In saying so, Rhagear betrayed his excitement at potentially having long term friends in the two wards of Lord Jon Arryn.

"I heard the king keeps the skulls of dragons in the throne room! Can we see them!?" Robert asked excitedly. Rhaegar chuckled at the boy's curiosity, before nodding. At this, Eddard's expression changed to one of excitement and his shy demeanor melted away for what seemed to be the briefest of moments. Robert grinned, talking hold of his friend once more, and shaking him, also in excitement.

"Aye! Come on Rhaegar! Let's go see the skulls!" The young Prince nodded eagerly at Robert. He had seen the skulls thousands of times and showed around the daughters of nobles in the throne room. However, the presence of his new friends made it exciting all over again. So, it was with lightning speed and cunning that they sneaked from their morning lessons and began their expedition to the throne room. On their way there, they were stopped by a Kingsguard but lucky for them (at least in Rhaegar's opinion) it was Lewyn Martell.

"Why, what do we have here my Prince?" the knight swaggered his way to them in front of the throne room, just outside the gates. Eddard instantly felt abashed and looked down, anticipating a good scolding.

"Ser Lywen, I was just showing our guests the throne room…" Rhaegar said in a sheepish way, grinning all the while. He knew Ser Lywen all too well.

"Oh dear! To think you would skip your lessons… My, that's quite the naughty thing to do!" Ser Lywen clicked his tongue in apparent disapproval.

"Shite." Robert cursed, to which Ser Lewyn raised a brow and chuckled for a moment.

Looking up, the Kingsguard coughed in an exaggerated manner before looking left and right, speaking rather loudly as he did so.

"Well… I suppose I haven't really seen much of anyone around these parts…Don't really look down much either, I might injure my neck that way." With a surreptitious wink directed at the children, Ser Lewyn returned on his merry way to where he was previously going. And so, with his friends in tow, Rhaegar pushed the door open slightly and peered inside. Finding it empty, he pushed the doors wide open and nodded for his friends to walk through, which they did eagerly. With all of them safely inside, they closed the gates and walked around, looking at the skulls lining the Hall. Rhaegar lead them to the Iron throne; just behind it was the largest of the skulls - Aegon the Conquerors' own dragon Balerion, the Black Dread. Robert looked excitedly and placed his hands on the skulls, inspecting the massive teeth. Eddard picked a small skull from the wall belonging to the last of the dragons, observing every nook and cranny, absolutely fascinated by it.

"The skull is barely bigger than a dog's head…" Eddard muttered and Rhaegar smiled walking by the northern lad.

"Seven hells Ned, look at this one! I bet us three can fit in its mouth!" grinned Robert, putting the small skull back. Rhaegar and Eddard walked back to Robert as he looked daringly at Meraxes' skull. Robert looked to them before he dusted his hands off and grabbed one of the great skull's teeth.

"Come on Ned, give me a boost! I'm gonna climb inside." Rhaegar raised a brow at him.

"Gods Robert! You'll only hurt yourself if you do it!" Eddard exclaimed, and Rhaegar found himself agreeing.

"Aye my friend, it does not sound wise." he warned.

"Bullocks to that, come on!" Robert's mind was made up. Rhaegar and Eddard exchanged looks before shrugging in defeat and boosting Robert inside Marexes' mouth. His foot firmly on one of the dragon's teeth, Robert climbed into the skull using the eye sockets as a hold. Robert climbed even higher and poked his finger out of the eye socket.

"AH! I have been eaten and climbed out of the beast belly!" he said, causing Rhaegar to laugh while Eddard grinned. Spurred on by Robert's courage, Eddard grabbed one of the teeth and extended his hand to Robert.

"Come on then, me too!" Rhaegar looked incredulously at the quiet wolf. Climbing up, his friend reached down and pulled Eddard up and soon, he stuck his head from the other eye.

"Come on Rhaegar!" Robert said his voice resounding in the great Hall.

"We've got the eyes, we just need the mouth to breath fire!" Eddard said and Rhaegar felt a giddy kind of feeling in his gut. He had never really played like this before, let alone being the fire of a dragon. He always had his studies and reading to do. He climbed up excitedly and hoisted himself upside down, sticking out of the dragon's head.

"ROAR!" Eddard loudly yelled.

"Come on, you can do better than this! ROOOOAAARR!" Roberts lower voice yelled. Rhaegar grinned and stuck his head out of the mouth.

"Together! Come on!" the dragon prince said; they agreed.

"One, two, three!" Robert counted. Leaning forward, the three roared.

"RRRROOOAAAARRRRRR!" their loud, giddy roars echoed in the throne room followed by their laughter. Sitting up, Rhaegar stood on the mouth of the dragon with his new friends.

"You know, I think we could be great friends" Rhaegar said to them.

"Aye! We can go on adventures together and turn this keep upside down!" Robert said grinning.

"Agreed, we can visit the city together!" Eddard said and smiled at him. Rhaegar liked the sound of that, adventures with his friends. He really liked that word. Friends…The only ones he had had up until now were the Kingsguard, who were grown men themselves. They could hardly be called on to play with him. Now he had friends and life could only get better now that he had someone to play with.

They had taken their leave of each other and gone to their separate rooms, where the three of them got a proper scolding from Jon, and no doubt Prince Rhaegar from his father or Lord Tywin Lannister. Rhaegar, Robert and Ned, as he had been insistent on being called by his friends, had to take lessons together. Under the supposedly watchful eyes of Ser Lewyn, who sat at the back of the room, leaning back with his long legs propped over a table while he drank wine or ate fruit. When the lessons where over, he would hint at a new adventure for them, such as the hollow sounds of some of the walls on the red keep. Not four nights later, they gathered in the optic of going on an expedition to discover the secret tunnels built into the red keep. Rhaegar had brought with him a dirk just in case, while Ned brought a longsword across his back like a great sword. It was only a practice sword and it was blunt, but it definitely helped him look more prepared. Robert had with him a hunting knife that had been gifted to him by Lord Arryn. Everything set, they waited for their lessons to be over and met in Maegor's Holdfast. They crossed the drawbridge and went into the Maiden vault which at that time was unoccupied.

"So, where do we start?" Robert asked, a torch in hand, ready to light it by striking rocks. Rhaegar thought about this…perhaps they could try exploring the royal apartments. These were the rooms his ancestor Queen Daena Targaryen occupied, and from which she constantly escaped the maiden vault. Having arrived in the royal apartments, they began searching for anything using any means; tapping on walls and stomping the ground for nothing short of an hour. Discouraged and ready to give up, Robert hit the wall in frustration, from which resounded a dull thud. Robert looked up at his companions, surprised. Rhaegar smiled before standing beside Robert, and together they tapped the wall, eventually figuring out that the secret opening was behind the vanity.

"Come on, let's move this!" Ned said excited. He grabbed one end whilst Robert took the other and Rhaegar the middle. Groaning with all the strength a six year old, five year old and nine year old could muster, they managed to push the vanity.

"HEAVE!" Robert commanded, and in unison they moved the vanity enough to reveal the outline of a hole big enough to let them through one at a time. The stone work had a clear line where the stone separated but this one had a line between the stone. So, nodding to Ned he unsheathed his sword and used it to jab at the opening grunting as he did so. After some persistence the pathway opened. Looking at the others with glee, Robert lit his torch and the three of them entered the opening. Dirk in hand, Rhaegar procured a paper and scribbled down – "maidenvault, royal apartments, first tunnel". The tunnel led in two ways, and they stood still for a while, wondering which way to go.

"Left or right?" asked Ned, as he tried to peer into the veil of darkness of the tunnels. Robert, ever the decisive boy, took the right tunnel and waved them over.

"Come on then lads!" Robert said and they eagerly followed the Baratheon boy, Rhaegar stuffing the parchment he had in the bag he brought with him. They walked on for what felt like miles and miles, before they found a thin ray of light shining through a brick just a few feet above them.

"Oh, it's a looking hole!" Robert exclaimed. It took a few minutes of desperate jumping for them to realise that they were unfortunately slightly too short to reach it. Arms crossed, Robert considered the dilemma before announcing;

"Right, I'm gonna need a lift, come on Ned…" the shy boy knelt down so as to allow for Robert to step on up and move the brick. Pushing it to the side didn't seem to do the trick; the brick was stuck on a railing. And so, Robert contented himself with peering inside. Letting out a quiet but pronounced strangled squeal, he looked down blushing and whispered;

"It's someone…bedding a woman!" Both Rhaegar and Ned blushed also at the news, avoid eye contact and shuffling their feet awkwardly. This was not something they should be seeing.

"Robert! Come on now, get down!" Ned hissed.

"What? This isn't gonna harm anyo – oh bullocks! It's Lewyn!" Robert couldn't help but let out a snort at this newfound observation.

"Huh? But…Aren't the Kingsguard forbidden from bedding women?" asked Ned worryingly.

"I don't think anyone told Ser Lewyn!" Robert joked before finally stepping down, putting the brick back in place.

"Let's keep going and find out wherever this tunnel leads …Hopefully not encountering anymore people breaking vows." The friends continued until they reached a dead end with light filtering through. The wall was thick and they needed to push outward.

"I do wonder what room this leads to…" Ned pondered. Robert deposited the torch against the wall carefully.

"Well, the only way of finding out is to open it!" Robert pushed against the wall enthusiastically before cursing; "Bloody hell, it's heavy!"

At this, both Ned and Rhaegar joined him.

Gerald

Gerald Hightower stood beside his King as he and the hand talked about the Iron Bank of Braavos. King Arys had once again had another 'brilliant' idea, but Gerald knew better; he would forget all about it in a fortnight. Something calling to his attention, he heard a rumble. Was someone here ravenously hungry? After another moment he heard the rumble increase in volume at an alarming rate and he looked behind the Iron throne, seeing the wall behind it begun to move.

"Seven…in the walls!" The king and the hand looked to him and Gerald unsheathed his sword, pointing at the wall with it.

"Someone is inside the bloody wall your Grace! Stand back!" The wall rumbled again and Gerald saw a small gap. Preferring action over patience, Gerald grabbed the already loose bricks and with all of his strength, tugged them out. After removing 5, the entire wall came crashing down, and amidst a consequent cloud of dusty smoke stood three boys. The King and the hand went to Gerald's side to see who these three rather short invaders were. Looking up sheepishly, prince Rhaegar stood still, followed by Ned and Robert. Gerald for one laughed, sheathing his sword and helping the boys to move away from the debris, looking for all the world as if they had committed a grave sin, despite having done nothing wrong in Gerald's eyes.

Rhaegar

Whilst Ser Gerald laughed, Rhaegar had the grace to look ashamed while Robert only laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

"I heard of flies on the wall, seems we also have dragons, wolves and stags your Grace." Gerald laughed, and Tywin walked up to them his cold, green eyes on the boys.

"Indeed. Boys, why where you in the secret tunnels?" He asked.

"Just exploring, my Lord" Robert said nonchalantly but the eyes of the Lord of the rock silenced any further explanations, leading Robert to finally looking rather sorry for himself.

"If a less experienced man had been guarding the King, he might cut your heads off in fear." Tywin reprimanded them, but his father chuckled at him.

"You are too stiff old friend. Let the boys play while they can." he said, before dismissing them, much to Robert and Ned's surprise and relief. The boys scurried off and exited the throne room, when they found Ser Lewyn standing guard. The trio looked at him with wide eyes as the Dornish knight lifted a brow at their queer stares.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing!" The boys' unanimous response came rapidly. They averted their gaze at the same time before laughing and heading off to their own chambers, leaving a somewhat confused Ser Lewyn behind. That night, instead of dining with his friends, Rhaegar found himself dining with his mother, whose belly showed signs of the babe she was to birth.

Rhaella

Her son seemed to bounce off his seat, his food only half touched, as he counted his adventures with his new friends. She thanked the gods to Tywin for having brought Lord Arryn to Kings Landing and finally giving her son more permanent friends. Her marriage may be out of duty to her brother, but what little pleasures she had in life were thanks to her son. He had always had such a melancholy nature about him, oftentimes spending hours playing his harp by the window in his room. For so long, she had wished that she hadn't had a stillborn for her second pregnancy, and now prayed to the mother that the expected child will help her silver prince shed that silent nature of his.

"Oh and we saw-oh never mind…" Rhaegar suddenly blushed and looked very, very uncomfortable. Rhaella raised her brow at her son, wondering what had brought on the sudden change in mood. Had he perhaps seen a woman in the nude while exploring and peeking through secret windows and passages? Rhaegar tried to resume eating but Rhaella now was increasingly curious about her son's adventures.

"What did you see?" she asked amused as he flustered and timidly picked at his food.

"I-it wasn't important mother…" he meekly replied, but Rhaella pressed further.

"Rhaegar" she said, almost in a sing song way, a trick that worked in coercing him as it always did.

"We saw Ser Lewyn…bedding a woman…" he muttered and Rhaella laughed at her son.

"Oh! By the seven! You curiosity is nothing to be ashamed off!" Rhaegar looked indignant at the implication.

"I wasn't curious mother, we just happened upon it is all!" he said and then pushed himself back from his chair. "May I be excused? I need to cool my head."

Rhaella allowed her son to go; she would tease him further on another day where she could be with her beloved son.

Rhaegar

They weren't able to go into adventures for some weeks as Robert had his father visiting from Stormsend. The young boy had to spend time with him and his younger brother Stannis. Rhaegar had wanted to meet him, eager to potentially gain another friend, but his days were weighed down by work. Lord Tywin forever insisted on reminding him that he had a duty as a crown prince. Luckily, his friends did not care much about Lord Tywin's insistence. One late morning, Robert and Ned sneaked into his rooms to help rid him of his 'duty'. Today, Ned was helping him with his history whilst Robert simply listened. Rhaegar's family history was not something he was proud of. In his opinion, it was far too bloody and filled with too many civil wars to count. From the Dance of Dragons to the Blackfyre rebellions. In fact, Ned was now going over the first Blackfyre rebellion, and how Rhaeher's house lost its ancestral swords, Blackfyre and Darksister.

"Huh…Bloodraven slayed Daemon Blackfyre and his twin sons, yet the sword was still lost…?" Robert hummed.

"I think they had it up until the third Blackfyre rebellion." Ned said from his seat, looking at the book which compiled the rebellion battles. Rhaegar looked saddened as they read on about how more blood was spilt over the throne. When he became King, he would do his best to ensure no more bloodshed would spread over his family's dealings. Sighing, Rhaegar continued his studies if only just for the sake of being able to later have fun with his friends until the sun reached almost midday, signalling the end of his lessons.

"Finally finished! Now we can do something fun!" Robert bellowed out. He had somewhat given up on history by that point and had been laying on his back with a book over his face while he grumbled over bastards losing good swords. Rhaegar laughed and found himself agreeing. He wished he could have seen, if not wield Blackfyre or even Darksister. Still, perhaps the sword that encouraged Daemon to rebel was better lost than being used by other opportunistic would-be kings.

"Yeah…The day is almost gone and we haven't done much." Ned smiled a little as he put the books away; Rhaegar thanked him when he took his. The boys gathered outside of the masters rooms where the classes were located and wondered what to do.

"Maybe we can go down to Kings Landing?" Ned offered.

"I'd rather not, the city-" Rhaegar began.

"Smells like pig shite." Robert finished the sentenced with a grin, and the boys laughed together.

"Aye, like pig shite!" Rhaegar confirmed.

"Then how about we sneak into the Dragon pit?!" Robert offered excitedly. Ned already looked sceptic about the idea, and Rhaegar wondered what other punishment they could possibly get for doing that. He already had been given double lessons because of that; any more adventures would probably bury him in books. Still, the thought of visiting the dragon pit was very tempting.

"Maybe we'll find old dragon bones…" Robert offered.

"No one ever goes there anymore. It's broken and an eye sore." This was Rhaegar opinion on the building that once housed the dragons that emblazed his family's banners.

"Aye, then maybe we can find some secrets, something which everyone has forgotten about!" Robert said with excitement. Rhaegar looked to Ned and the northern boy only grinned, showing he was on board with a small shrug.

"Alright Robert, let's go to the Dragon's Pit, but how can we go without anyone seeing us?" Rhaegar knew neither his father nor Lord Tywin would allow them to go on an expedition to the place. He wondered how they could get there undetected. Just then, Ser Lewyn walked by and grinned at them.

"What's wrong lads? No secret tunnels to explore today?" he asked before swaggering on his merry way. Robert watched the man leave before turning to Rhaegar a plan forming in their heads.

"But we have only learned of one tunnel, it would take ages to find one that led to the Dragon Pit…" Ned said crossing his arms and frowning in thought. Rhaegar hummed before snapping his fingers and smiling an idea in mind.

"We could ask Varys, he's the master of whispers! He might know more of the tunnels." Rhaegar proposed and they agreed.

"Good thinking, let's go ask him now!" Robert said and before he left Ned put a hand to his shoulder.

"Wait…if we talk to Varys altogether he might tell the King, and our expedition would be cut off." Ned said.

"Well…Rhaegar has double lessons, he could just ask Varys himself in the guise of wanting to know more of the Red Keep." Robert suggested, and the two friends looked at him as if he had just swallowed a fish.

"What?" he asked, raising a brow.

"That's the first time you said something that sounded reasonable." Rhaegar said with a grin and the Baratheon boy frowned crossing his arms turning from them.

"Oh sod off!" he said and Rhaegar and Ned laughed as they formulated a plan. Rhaegar would talk with Varys and get a passage into the Dragon Pit and meet with them in the draw bridge to Maegors Holdfast. So with that in mind, Rhaegar found the Master of Whispers in his rooms looking over books and writing some notes.

"Your Grace, to what do I owe the pleasure?" the eunuch asked, closing his books and turning his notes over.

"Well, I have been studying more lately, on the Lord Hand's behalf. So would you mind telling me if there are any passages leading to the Dragon pit?" asked Rhaegar, remaining calm and collected, or as much as he could being nine years of age. Varys seemed to eye him and Rhaegar fidgeted slightly in his seat as the eunuch stared at him before speaking.

"Your Grace, what would you be studying that would require such knowledge?" the eunuch asked, and Rhaegar panicked for a second until he remembered today's lessons.

"The first Blackfyre Rebellion, Daena the defiant often snuck out of the Maidenvault so I wondered if there was a path to the Dragon Pit. What with all the passages…" Rhaegar tried and to his relief after a lengthy stare Varys answered.

"There is one path, leading from the Tower of the Hand on the lower levels. A stone that has no place being there is at the bottom of the tower. Push it and you shall find what you need, your Grace" Rhaegar smiled and hopped off the seat.

"Thank you Lord Varys!" trotting to the exit Rhaegar froze when the master of whispers smiled thinly and replied.

"Good luck on your adventure your Grace" turning back, the master of whispers returned to his books and Rhaegar only smiled, saying thank you before closing the doors behind him. Rhaegar joined his friends on Maegor's Holdfast. He told them where to go to get to the Dragon Pit and as expected they looked to each other with dread at venturing into the Hands Tower.

Still, they were determined, and so snuck off to the Tower of the Hand. Standing guard were Lannister red cloaks, outside the entrance to the room before the Tower's stairs. Robert was on a roll, and had a second plan lined up today. Telling the others to follow his lead he squared up his shoulders and lifted his head up high so as to look 'important'. Rhaegar followed along, putting on his best stoic face with Ned looking natural doing so. Walking past the guards they didn't even as much as question them.

"Huh, that actually worked…" Ned said, the doors closed behind him.

"Course it did!" Robert laughed and they looked for the stone. Sure enough, among the stones of the wall by the stairs a brick looked just a bit off in colour. A push set in motion a curious sound, like that of gears turning, which made them jump. Suddenly, the wall to their immediate right lowered. Smiling, the three of them went inside and lit a torch. The wall closed behind them; Ned noticed a rather big lever on the other side, and mentally made a note of it, this was the way to return. Walking down a small set of stairs they found themselves in a large room with multiple passages.

"Here, it's in old Valyrians! My father insisted I learn the language!" Rhaegar smiled as his friends pat. They took the tunnel to the Red Keep, which went on for much, much longer than expected. They had to relight their torch twice before finally getting to the other end of the tunnel. The doorway was partially blocked so they had to crawl through it, finding themselves in the Dragon Pit. Whistling, Robert observed the destroyed pits and cells where the last of the Targeryen Dragon fell.

"Well we're here, we have a few hours before the sun begins to set and we have to show up for supper." Rhaegar said.

"Alright, let's split up see if we can find anything worth taking back with us." Robert grinned, and they began searching for treasure, from bones to anything that might look valuable.

Eddard

Ned felt like they had been searching for hours, when he looked up the sun was already on the west side of the broken dome. Ned looked to find Rhaegar check one of the cells; he only found a huge broken chain that was used to chain the dragons to the wall. Robert had climbed up on some debris and was now less concerned about treasure, and more into climbing and jumping on things. Ned found a pillar and walked around it before finding some debris shadowing something as it leant against the knocked pillar. A Banner, it was red and Ned grinned, calling his friends over.

"Hey! I found something!" Ned grabbed the banner which was wrapped around something. His eyes widen when he unfurled the banner, revealing that it was red with a black three headed dragon roaring fire. It was the Blackfyre banner, and was wrapped around a sword. The pommel looked like it had seen better days; grabbing it, Ned lifted the sword which surprisingly felt lighter than the practice sword swung across his back. A little shaken by the unexpected discovery, he swallowed nervously as he slid the sword from its old sheath. Sensing the change in mood, Robert came to stand next to him, as did Rhaegar.

"What…gods…" Robert said, looking at the dark smoky blade. The rusted pommel with the two headed dragon guard could only mean one thing.

"It's Blackfyre." Rhaegar said in a trance. Though the pommel was old and the scabbard half destroyed, the blade no doubt still looked as sharp as it did on the day it had been forged. Robert took his eyes from the sword for a moment to find a parchment on the discarded banner. Reaching out, he unfurled the old, fragile looking item carefully. Though faded, Robert read it out loud.

"Though our time passed Daemon and your sons lay dead with our dream, I shall not forget, or forgive. This sword will remain here until I return and take this sword once more to claim our rightful place on the throne, signed Aegor Rivers, brother to the true king of Westeros Daemon Blackfyre." The boys remained silent before all three spoke in unison without meaning to.

"Whoa!"

Robert grinned and patted Ned's shoulder.

"Good find Ned, I think you won on the better treasure!" Robert grinned. Rhaegar however was distracted, peering down where Ned had just found the sword, and spoke.

"Perhaps I might have won actually…" Rhaegar reached into the crevice and pulled out what looked like a round stone.

"What's that?" Robert asked.

"A dragon egg!" Rhaegar was in a trance, all these events happening in such rapid succession. The boy could only think of how exciting it all was.

"Well, what do we do now? The adults will want to know about this." Robert said.

"Well, perhaps we should tell the King?" Rhaegar looked to Ned when he said this. He didn't really want to get in trouble with his father and get punished again.

"I've got a better idea…Why don't we tell the only adult we can trust?" Rhaegar said and Robert smiled as well as Ned.

"Ser Lewyn." Ned said, which Robert echoed.

"Ser Lewyn Martell, yes." Rhaegar grinned and the boys prepared to go back. Taking the sword from his back Ned replaced it with Blackfyre, using the old scabbard. He crawled first through the hole and then took the torch which Rhaegar passed to him.

Rhaegar

Rhaegar walked ahead of his friends holding the torch, until they finally made it to the tunnel. Rhaegar opened the passage way and peeked out. With no one there, he and his friends tried the same tactic as before. Heads held high they walked out, and the guards stationed once more paid them no mind. The boys went to Rhaegar's rooms. Robert and Ned waited there while the Prince went to find Ser Lewyn. Unfortunately, he ran into Ser Gerold, Ser Jonothor Darry but not ser Lewyn. He then went to the white sword tower, and finally found Ser Lewyn drinking wine with a servant girl on his lap. He had his sword at his side and was singing some Dornish song Rhaegar didn't know.

"Ser Lewyn!" Rhaegar interrupted; the servant girl looked spooked and stood curtsying to him.

"Ah my prince, you spooked the girl!" Ser Lewyn grinned at the servant girl.

"I'm sorry miss, I didn't mean to." Rhaegar earnestly.

"N-no my prince, please excuse me." She curtsied, leaving with a somewhat disappointed Ser Lewyn.

"Oh, what mess did you and your lads get into now?" Ser Lewyn asked.

"Well, I think it's best we show you, Ser Lewyn." Sighing, the Dornish knight drank his wine and stood up, rolling his shoulders and resting his hand on the pommel of his sword.

"Alright, let's see it then!" he laughed and Rhaegar grinned as he eagerly led the knight to his rooms. Knocking on the door, Robert spoke up from the other end.

"Rhaegar?" he asked and Rhaegar responded affirmatively.

"Aye it's me!" The lock opened, and in walked the knight and prince. Robert dutifully closed the door behind them and locked it again for good measure.

"Alright, what is?" Ser Lewyn asked and Ned gave him the folded red banner. He looked at it with a raised a brow before grabbing it and unfolding it with mild interest.

"A Blackfyre banner; where you find this?" he asked, curious.

"The Dragon Pit! We went there this afternoon and found this!" Rhaegar said.

"Well not a bad find, I suppose but it's hardly worth anything…" Ser Lewyn said mildly. They boys grinned and Ned slung the sword across his back and presented it to Ser Lewyn.

"Oh, a rusty sword? Well aren't I impressed." he drawled with a chuckle. When he grabbed the scabbard from Ned's hand his expression changed as he no doubt noticed its light weight. He licked his lips and grabbed the pommel with his sword hand and held the scabbard with the other. With a quick flick he unsheathed the ancient Valyrian sword looking at the smokey sword with beholding eyes.

"Alright, now I'm suitably impressed." he said, and Ser Lewyn's voice gave every indication, it was filled with awe and wonder.

"Well then, this will knock you on your ass." Robert said again with his raunchy language. Perhaps that's why Ser Lewyn was somewhat fonder of him for that matter. Going to Rhaegar's bed, Robert took the egg from under the pillow and brought it to Ser Lewyn, who sheathed the sword and handed it back Ned before looking at the dragon egg.

"Seven hells, is this really what I think it is?!" Ser Lewyn asked.

"Aye it was with the sword, maybe Aegor Blackfyre found it in Essos!" Rhaegar said. Robert shrugged and Ned simply nodded.

"Well, you need to bring these to the King his hand." Ser Lewyn said, and the boys looked nervous.

"But we can get in trouble." Ned said.

"Don't worry about that, lads. They'll be too busy trying to look unimpressed to care." Ser Lewyn japed and the boys laughed. So, with the Knight in tow and his backing they presented their findings to his father and Lord Tywin. Rhaegar was relieved that they had been so busy talking about omens and politics he didn't understand to say anything about punishments. Robert looked relatively smug about it while Ned simply smiled as the king said something about their adventures being good for the realm.

"You seem fond of being inside the walls, my prince." Lord Tywin began.

"All of you have responsibilities, yet you insist on adventuring on your won searching for treasure." the hand drawled in his cold demeanor. Chastised, they waited for their punishment when the hand spoke again.

"But, considering what you have found…well done boys." he said the last part with a small, thin smile. After some time passed, the boys had decided to spend the night out in the gardens. They had claimed it was their war camp playing the first blackfyre rebellion and they had just won the battle of the Redgrass Field. Their sleeping cots set up in a circle, they stared at the stars while guards stood to keep them safe, with just with enough distance. From what, Rhaegar wasn't sure, considering this was a time of peace, but even a Kingsguard was there, taking a night shift being Ser Barristan Selmy.

"Heh, this was a great first month!" Robert said grinning.

"Aye! When I visit Winterfell I will have great tales to tell!" Ned said and Rhaegar looked up with his silver hair hanging as he stared at his friends.

"Then let's make sure we have more adventures together…as friends." Rhaegar said.

"No," Robert interrupted and put his fist out in the middle where their cots pointed at the middle. Ned put his fist out there as did Rhaegar.

"As brothers!" Only a month in and Robert had declared them blood…Rhaegar felt a warm feeling in his chest. His brother or sister hadn't been born yet from his mother, but now under the stars, Rhaegar smiled as they pulled their fists backand lay down staring at the stars. Looking to his left, Ned had yawned and fell asleep while Robert was barely keeping his eyes open. After some minutes Rhaegar chuckled a little. Brothers…he liked the sound of that very much.

Okay this is my new story! With the Longest Night in full swing the Kings of Spring will be a relatively short sequel to finish off the trilogy, this story was born out of curiosity and something I have seen that has not been done yet. A story where Rhaegar, Robert and, Ned growing up together as best of friends and forming the bonds of brotherhood. So yeah small changes here and there but otherwise this will follow the cannon events up till Harrenhall with some deviations.

Now some have said I hate Rhaegar some might say I just wanted his head on a spike for the war he caused. Well I want to disperse such rumors…I LOATH Rhaegar, no married man should be looking to another mans betrothed for some fucking prophecy or anything else.

Also come on by all accounts Rhaegar was a boring bloke, he was good at what he did but he was all gloomy and bookish and his friends where men twice his age. So I thought how would he turn out if he had friends around his age? Enter Robert and Ned.

Alright so yeah I hope you guys liked the first chapter of this story of mine.

Read review and tell me what you think darling.

Edit 5/11/2016: Thank you my wonderful beta Elfyna for your awesome work and support. Also she is my beta lads thank her!