Brandon could see Winterfell in the distance, he didn't send a rider to warn his brother or his arrival he wanted it to be a surprise, he glanced toward his good-brother and he saw him shivering from the cold just like he was sweating from the heat when he came to Dorne

"Is something wrong Arthur?" he asked teasingly

"it's the damn cold," Arthur replied stuttering, and it was one of the rare moments where Ser Arthur Dayne the Sword Of the Morning would curse

Arthur was a man of five and twenty years old, he was already well known when he was but six and ten as his father bestowed Dawn upon him and was given the title of The Sword of The Morning, he was deadly with the sword or rather two swords, and he was honorable to the fault much like Ned is.

"Well, brother it is the North after all," he gave him the same answer that Arthur gave him when he came to Starfall with Ashara they laughed about it and kept riding towards Winterfell.

He slowed down until he was riding side by side with his wife and daughters' carriage, he knocked on the window so they can open it, Allyria opened it and looked at him questioningly as if asking 'what do you want'

"How are you dealing with the North Allyria?"

"It's freezing, but Lyarra doesn't feel any of it," said Allyria looking back at her sister with a betrayed look.

"Because Stark blood runs through your veins my beautiful daughters, Lyarra don't feel it and you'll adjust to it quickly enough," he assured his precious desert wolves

"And what about me?" Ash asked

"My love, you just have to endure like I did when I came to Dorne," he said and laughed at her expression then rode ahead to the head of the party.

He told Arthur to follow him and they rode hard until they reached the gates of Winterfell leaving the men-at-arms with his wife and daughters, he felt happy to be finally home, he can remember his childhood with Ned, Lya, and Ben, he could still remember his little sister wanting to ride the horse and wield the sword much to their father's annoyance, he could still remember Ned's solemn expression but his shy smile when Lya comes to him and asks for something and baby Ben who was always following them around and teach Lya sword lessons in the Godswood, but now they are old and the world now belongs to their children. The guards have been taken by surprise at seeing them, they opened the gates and he rode in with Arthur, he noticed a large of crowd gathered around itself, he looked around until he saw his brother Ned walking towards the crowd

"NED" he shouted at his brother after dismounting his horse, Ned snapped his head around and saw him and froze, his eyes widened. Brandon walked forward with his arms stretched until he reached his brother who was still frozen from shock at seeing him, he hugged him tightly manners and courtesies be damned he wasn't one for them anyway, 'too much Wolf's blood' his father said.

"I missed you, Ned," he told his brother still embracing him.

"I missed you too, Bran," Ned said as he tightened his hold on his brother

Brandon cut their embrace and turned toward Arthur who was looking around Winterfell and standing there not knowing what to do, he motioned to him to come over to them and tuned to Ned

"Ned, this Ser Arthur Dayne," he introduced his brother to his good-brother.

"Your grace," Arthur bowed to Ned

"Ser Arthur, it's honor to meet you and have you in our halls and you can call me Ned, we're brothers after all," Ned said as he shook Arthur's hands

"What's that about Ned?" Brandon asked as he pointed to the crowd who was cheering and yelling oblivious to their presence

"Robb challenged Jon yesterday in the feast for a spar, I think that what this is about," Ned said as they climbed the stairs to get a good view of what's going on.

When he, Ned, and Arthur stood up at the balcony above the crowd, He saw four men circling someone, the first had dark hair and grey eyes and he recognized him to be Benjen, the second young man had red hair and blue eyes, this must be Robb he though, the third was older than the rest but he resembled ser Rodrick and it could be none other than the master-at-arms of Winterfell, the fourth had Silver hair and blue eyes and he didn't recognize him, they all circled a young man with dark curly hair and violet eyes and he saw Lya on his face and he knew that that man was Prince Jaehaerys or Jon standing in the middle twirling his swords waiting for them

"who are those?" asked Arthur

"those are my brother Benjen, my eldest and heir Robb which the red hair and the older man is ser Rodrick the master at arms and the one with the silver hair is Daemon Blackfyre, and the one in the middle who's twirling his Valyrian steel swords is Jon Targaryen," Ned answered pointing those he mentioned to them.

He watched as his nephew Jon parry two strikes from Ben and ser Rodrick while the other two stayed circling him, he watched as Jon deflected the blows and retreated until all four of them stood in front of him, he saw the four attack but Jon blocked and deflected all their attacks and twirled around and hit Benjen under his chin sending him backwards, then he turned and attacked the silver-haired man with his right sword while blocking Robbs' attack with his left one, he saw him retreat again and the three advancing on him while Benjen was still recovering in the dirt, he saw all the three attack simultaneously but Jon parried their blows with his two swords and puched them away, then he advanced on them, he attacked Robb first throwing his blade away, then Jon twirled and hit Daemon Blackfyre with his elbow to the face throwing him to the dirt, then before anyone could flinch he put his blades at both Robb and ser Rodrick's throats while Benjen and Daemon were still on the ground, the crowd cheered and exchanged money from bets while Jon shook hands with ser Rodrick and Robb and picked up Daemon and Benjen and laughed with them, he turned to look at Arthur who was staring at Jon as if measuring him

"Well I suppose you're not the most deadly swordsman in the kingdoms anymore Arthur," he teased his good-brother

"Don't judge easily Brandon, until we face each other then we will know who shall prevail as the victor," Arthur replied with his chin up.

"Brandon, might I ask you where exactly did you leave your wife and two daughters?" Ned asked scolding him

He completely forgot as he kept watching the fight, he hurried back to the gates with Arthur leaving Ned to gather his family, he was lucky that Ashara didn't arrive just yet or she'll be angry and wouldn't indulge him in his desire tonight, he stood there and waited for the party until it arrived, he saw the carriage and moved up to help his wife and daughters, Ashara greeted him with a smile as she got down, he helped Allyria and Lyarra who were smiling widely for finally being at Winterfell, he turned around and saw Ned standing with his family and his nephew Jon standing next to a beautiful young women with Benjen at their side

"it's pleasure to see you again Cat," he greeted his former betrothed

"it's good to see you again my lord," she replied with perfect courtesy, that's what he hated about her those septa teaching, she didn't have a mind of her own, she had only duty on her mind by the teaching of the seven.

"you must be Robb, I saw you earlier fighting," he said as he shook his nephew's hand who looked down embarrassed

"come now don't look like that, I saw the fight and you weren't the only one who lost and if I was there too I would've lost," he assured his nephew

"it's a pleasure to be meeting you, my lord," his nephew answered

"The pleasure is mine nephew and call me Uncle,"

He greeted his niece Sansa who was exactly like her mother, in both looks and manners, he greeted nephew Bran who was named after him, then he moved to his other niece and his eyes widened, he turned to Ned and looked at him

"By the Gods Ned, she looks exactly like Lya," he told his brother

"Good to meet you too, uncle," she said bluntly with a half courtesy

"And in manners too," he said again after turning to his brother, which made the brothers laugh

"it's a pleasure to be meeting you, little princess," he told her as he ruffled her hair which made her upset

"I'm not a princess and my name's Arya," she growled at him which made him laugh.

He moved to his brother Benjen and hugged him tightly

"I've missed you, Ben,"

"I've missed you too, Bran" Benjen told his, brother, as he embraced him tightly, Benjen turned right

"Brandon, this is our nephew, Lya's boy, Prince Jaehaerys Targaryen," Benjen said as he patted his nephew's shoulder

"Oh so him throwing you into the dirt earlier finally taught you some manners Ben?" he teased his younger brother who lowered his head in embarrassment. He turned to his nephew who was smiling at the exchange

"it's pleasure to meet you nephew I've heard a lot about you," He said as he shook his nephew's hand

"The pleasure is all mine, and my mother told me a lot about you," His nephew said giving him a knowing look which made him laugh

"And who might this beautiful lady be?" he asked the beauty standing next to his nephew who blushed at his question

"This is my wife Rhaenys Targaryen Uncle Brandon," His nephew said with a warning look, which meant that Lya actually told him about me

"it's an honor to meet you, Princess," he said as he kissed her hand

"Lya told us a lot about you Lord Brandon, it's a pleasure to finally meet you," the Princess said, and apparently his little sister couldn't shut her mouth.

He saw his wife and daughters and his good-brother greet the others, he didn't miss the cold exchange between Catelyn and Ashara, he didn't know why though, she married an honorable man and had 5 children with him after all her father sold her to his father to be Queen in the North not as his wife, he saw his daughters doth on his Targaryen nephew but he saw the glare that the Princess gave them.

Ashara, Arthur, and the girls went to rest while he, his nephew Jon and his wife the Princess along with Benjen followed Ned, his wife, and his heir into the King's solar, they got in and settled down

"I hope you had a safe journey Brandon," said Ned

"Aye it was, we passed by the new castle of Harren the Black that's nearly finished, it's big Ned it's slightly bigger than Winterfell itself and it's made of stone, and the weasel Walder Frey tried to get one his sons or grandson married to one of my daughters and I nearly took off his head in response but the journey as a whole was safe," Brandon told his brother

"you're too hotheaded brother, Walder Frey always try to marry off his kin he has a lot of them," Benjen said as he laughed at him

"Well it ain't be one of my daughters that's for sure," he told his brother firmly

"Now, nephew Lya sent me a letter otherwise I wouldn't have known that you were here at all, what's this is about being exiled?" Ned asked their nephew, he was interested too, judging by his nephew's reputation it doesn't seem like someone who gets into trouble

His nephew sighs then says "Well you see Uncle, Rhaenys and I was in love with each other, one day I asked my father to allow us to marry or at least a betrothal but he refused and said that he intended to end the practice, so with the only thing that I've ever wanted being taken away from me I picked my blades and went to war, and after a long campaign of conquering and liberating sieges and pushing the Dothraki back to their lands I returned to Summerhall, then my father pulls me into his office and told me that Rhaenys is betrothed to Aegon," His nephew paused for a while, and Brandon wanted to find that bastard Rhaegar and punch him into the face for his hypocracy against his nephew

"I felt betrayed of course, I've always did my duty and never done anything for myself but always for the empire then the only thing I ever wanted being taken away from me like that by none other than Aegon who's a complete shit who hates me for having dragons and my successes and hates Rhaenys because she's in love with me instead of him, I got enough and for once did something for myself and married Rhaenys behind my father's back which got us exiled, but that's not the real reason for exiling me," His nephew continued which made them all look at his confused even his own wife

"What do you mean brother?" the Princess asked

"Rhae, you forgot that father is a smart man, smarter than most, and if he had any intention of marrying you to Aegon, he would've done so before I even got back to the capital because he knows that I would've unleashed hell on earth before allowing it," His nephew said

The Princess took a moment to grasp her husbands' words, then her eyes widened and her mouth opened and she said: "You can't mean..."

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm meaning," Jon interrupted her confirming whatever doubts she had which even increased her shock

"Care to explain nephew," He told his nephew

"I have three full-grown dragons, I have an army of 40,000 soldiers unlike any others in the land who are loyal to me more than the High King himself, others legions love me aswell and they already wanted to join the Dark Legion to be under my command and the lords and the smallfolk alike love me more than any other, if father died he knew that all I needed to do is say the word and I would've taken Aegon's place as the High King and no one would oppose me, my father knew that I would never do such thing but he knew how Aegon is, he would've tried to do something against me which will force me to act against him and my father wouldn't allow his sons to fight each other which made him concote this little scheme to exile me," He explained to them which made them angry and confused of how can someone do something like this to his own son

"He exiled you and threw you away because of this?" Ned asked with anger in his voice

Their nephew chuckled at the question which increased their confusing until he said: "You seem to forget where he 'exiled' me Uncle,"

"No brother, he wouldn't, he would've told you if he wanted you to..." The princess said until her brother interrupted her again

"No Rhae he wouldn't and you know it, father would always keep hinting at things and point us in the right direction so that we can find our paths on our own, that's why he sent me exactly to Dragonstone, not to any other place, and that also explains Old Aemon dear sister, do you really think that he didn't know of our fathers' plans, Uncle Aemon is as shrewd as someone could possibly get, he came with us to advise me on my task," he told his sister again

"And which task might that be Jon?" Benjen asked, but he knew the answer, he looked at Ned and saw that he figured it out too

"Conquering these lands for myself Uncle, I'm an exile and everything I do is on my shoulders only not on the empires, and my father knew that people will follow me will force my hand too because I'll feel responsible for them and I would try to provide the best life that I could for them," He confirmed their fears, if his nephew invaded he will undoubtedly succeed and Ned will be torn apart in deciding what to do especially if his nephew turned north, with three dragons and an army like his, he would succeed

His nephew must've read their thoughts as he said:" I have no intention of conquering the North Uncle, out of respect for you and your family and how you welcomed me, my sister and friends with open arms, but if you wished to join the realm that'll forge, you're more than welcome to do so, they will be no more wars between kingdoms and trade will flourish between all of them and also with the empire in the east and we'll live in peace, and everyone will get to rule their lands as before but as lord paramounts instead of Kings and all will be under my protection,"

All those in the room relaxed at his nephew assurances and he could see Ned thinking about it, and Brandon agreed with his nephew, the Kingdoms were always at war with each other and the people suffer because of it as always, and if everyone was united they'll be no more wars and peace will rule the Seven Kingdoms.

"I appreciate that nephew, I really do, but what will happen if the rest of the kingdoms joined up against you, I wouldn't fight against my king of course but what will happen when the rest of the seven kingdoms go against you?" Ned asked worriedly, he was too worried, if the Lannisters and the Gardeners and the Baratheons and the Martells and the Hoares and the Arryns joined forces it'll be near 250,000 soldiers against 40,000, even if the stories about the Dark Legion were true, it's near impossible to win against those odds

"Don't worry Uncle, I fought battles and wars against savages that lay with their own horses, who kill and rape all they could find, warriors that were born only for battle and they descended upon me and my men with thousands but we've never lost to them, I fight for my people not for myself, if it was up to me I would liked nothing but to just lay back and live the rest of my life in peace but faith and destiny have other plans for me, I don't want to sound arrogant or overconfident but I trust my men, every single on of them with my life, and I know that if they join forces they'll match me nearly 6 to 1 but you forgot that I have 3 dragons and these kingdoms we're talking about already hate each other, and the moment they realise that in order to stand a chance against me they have to join forces it'll be too late for them," His nephew explained to them which left them gaping and imagining what his nephew's dream could look like.

"I would ask you that what I told stays in this room, I wouldn't want them preparing and I want to limit bloodshed as much as possible," they all nodded at him, and Brandon agreed with his nephew, if this got out war will break out and the others kings would be preparing themselves and it would be a civil war between all the kingdoms

"Ned, but what about Robert?" Catelyn asked her husband softly.

"What about that oaf?" he asked his brother and good-sister

"Robert will be visiting here so that he could get Sansa's hand in marriage for his son Joffrey, the betrothal is practically official, we just need them to get her for the wedding," Ned explained, he heard rumors about this Joffrey Durrandon, they say he's a sadistic little brat and a coward nonetheless

"Then it's good that the betrothal is not official," the Princess said as if reading his thoughts

"Why is that?" Benjen asked while Ned and Cat stared at her confused

"We heard rumors about this Joffrey Durrandon, according to them he's a sadistic little bastard who loves torturing animals and he's arrogant and whoever marries him will be doomed to a miserable life so I advise you to not accept anything from the Durrandons until you see his true colors," Jon said exactly what Brandon was thinking and that made Catelyn eyes hardened and glare at his nephew

"You're probably just saying that to keep the North from being your enemy so that you could conquer the rest of the kingdoms as your inbred born father commanded you to do," Catelyn snarled at Jon which made Ned, Ben, Robb, and Brandon look at her with disbelief while the Targaryen Princess glared at her and Jon gave her a cold look that sent shivers through their spines

"Queen Catelyn, I slaughtered armies that dared to insult my father, do not get the wrong impression that I would hate him for exiling me and that I would allow you or anyone else to slander his name, if you weren't my Uncle's wife you'd find yourself without a head right now, and I told you already even if you open the gates of the fucking wall and get the Wildlings to fight at your side with all the other Kings, YOU WOULD LOSE, I gave you an advice concerning the safety and happiness of your daughter yet you dare talk to me like that? I would advise you to think about your words carefully the next time you talk to me," Jon said with a cold voice that made Catelyn cower, Jon than stood up and left with his wife at his side, leaving them staring at her with disbelief

"What were you thinking insulting someone like him Catelyn? you just called his father 'inbred born' when he just tried to help, make no mistake good-sister we're still breathing right now because we're his kin, by the Gods what were you thinking?" Benjen asked angrily staring at her, Brandon couldn't believe why would she even do something like that? was she stupid? By the Gods he was lucky that he saw Ashara that day and fell in love with her, he pitied Ned at this moment, he saw his Brother Ned still staring at his wife but Catelyn wasn't backing down as she returned her husband's gaze

"Are you going to allow your nephew and brother talk to me like that?" she snarled at Ned which made them more confused and angry than before, did she lose her mind? Brandon though

"Catelyn do you have any idea what you just did?" Brandon asked her angrily

"I wouldn't allow him to come and teach me how to choose husbands for my daughters and I wouldn't allow him, a foreigner to talk about Sansa's future husband like that, and if he's around when the Durrandons come we'll lose a chance to make Sansa Queen," she shot back, so this is about making Sansa Queen he thought

"Catelyn you just insulted probably the most dangerous man in the Westeros, you do realize that he can easily kill Ned, Brandon and me, kill your sons and marry your daughters off to someone loyal to him and claim Winterfell for himself right? He wouldn't do that of course, Lya raised him to be an honorable man but he can do it nonetheless you do know that right? he has a fucking dragon flying around us and all those are not the problem at all, you insulted our good-brother in front of his own son," Benjen yelled at her, a dragon flying? he thought what is Benjen talking about?

"Catelyn, you will apologize to him, he tried to warn us about the Durrandon Prince and you insulted him instead of thanking him, you insulted my guest nonetheless, my nephew, Lyanna's son to his face, and he's right you know, you saw his dragon like the rest of us did, how do you even plan to kill such a beast and he has three and an army and I would be damned before I fight against my own kin, Jon might forgive you because we share blood but I doubt that his sister-wife would for all that she is sweet and kind do not forget that she's also a dragon and only a stupid man would try to stand against a dragon," Ned told his wife firmly, which irritated her and made her leave and Robb following her behind

"Gods Ned, what was she thinking? insulting our good-brother and nephew to his face when he did nothing but try to help and he wasn't even obliged to do so, if what was said about the Durrandon Prince is true, he could've let it happen and that would force to go to war and he can use you that way as an ally," Benjen told Ned

"Ned, what Jon said is true, I heard the same rumors as he did about Joffrey Durrandon," Brandon added

"This isn't about Joffrey Durrandon, this is about what happened earlier, Brandon, you saw how Jon made Robb look like and Benjen you were on the ground moaning from pain, she's angry at Jon for humiliating her son like he did and it's not even his fault, it was Robb that challenged him in the first place even after Benjen warned him, even so, anyone would've been humiliated against Jon and after what Jon said about Joffrey it wouldn't be possible for Sansa to be a Queen as all the other Crown princes are married or betrothed," Ned explained to them

"So because Jon bested Robb earlier and tried to warn you about potentially selling your daughter to a monster, she insulted him and probably doomed the North to be added to his list," Brandon paused then continued "By the gods Ned, Arthur Dayne himself would've lost against Jon, and what's this about dragons anyway?"

"The rumors are true Bran, he does have dragons with him, he arrived in Winterfell on top of a black monstrosity that his scales are near impossible to cut through and he told us that his sister also has one and so does his best friend Daemon Blackfyre but they've left them at Dragonstone so they wouldn't give the wrong impression or scare us," Benjen explained to him which shocked him to the core, if Jon truly has dragons he would nearly be impossible to hold off for long.

He left his brothers in the solar and went to check on his family, he arrived at his wife's room and entered to find them all there. They must've noticed his expression as Ashara asked him "What's wrong my love? what happened?"

He sat down in a chair then turned to Arthur and asked, "You saw what Jon did in the courtyard right?", Arthur nodded

"What did the dragon Prince do in the courtyard?" Allyria asked

"We saw him sparring against his your Uncle Benjen and cousin Robb and master at arms of Winterfell ser Rodrick and his friend Daemon Blackfyre, he won against all four of them easily," Arthur explained

"In other terms, he humiliated Robb in front of all of Winterfell and Catelyn didn't like that, and when Jon warned Ned about Prince Joffrey Durrandon and he shouldn't accept their offer for Sansa's hand in marriage until he gets to know him, Catelyn snapped at Jon and insulted his father to his face calling him 'inbred born' which made Jon wroth and told her that if she wasn't his Ned's wife she would be dead for saying so and that the next time she talks to him, she better watch her mouth," he explained to them what happend

"By the Seven is she stupid? insulting a guest for trying to help and no any guest for that matter, the king's nephew and a Targaryen nonetheless," Ashara asked confused

"Are you serious Brandon? I would've probably lost against him and the boy as young as he is, is more experienced than any of us in war and battles more than me or anyone of us here for that matter not to mention he has an army in Dragonstone at his beck and call," Arthur added

"It gets worse than that actually, it seems that the rumors about dragons aren't just rumors after all," he told them, and if it wasn't for the seriousness of the situation he would've laughed at their expressions

"WHAT?!" they asked in union.