-Chapter 78-

-Chapter 78-

-POV Eddard Stark-

I entered the banquet hall with a knot in my stomach because I didn't know why Aegon had insisted on keeping us so long in the capital, aside from the fact that he was about to get married, but he had ignored us so much that I doubt he was really happy to see us there.

At the center of the room, Aegon was waiting for us with his fiancée, Princess Arianne Martell, on his arm, a fine match that will surely mend the offense his father committed by abandoning Elia Martell for Lyanna and will fully bring Dorne back into the fold.

"Your Majesty," I said, bowing slightly.

Robb did the same, albeit more awkwardly, struggling greatly with the dramatic change in status between him and his now cousin, once brother. Sansa executed a perfect curtsy as her mother had taught her from a young age, and Arya simply embraced her brother, not caring for the rest.

"Take a seat," Aegon said, all smiles, which had become increasingly rare in my presence, especially recently.

Most of the meal passed in silence or in courteous exchanges between Arianne and Sansa, who tried to maintain some cordiality between us.

Aegon was silent, though he pretended to listen and participate in the discussion; sometimes he nodded, and at other times he made a grimace at Arya, eliciting a small smile from her, but I could easily see he wished to be anywhere but here.

Once we reached dessert, I said, "I imagine you had something to announce."

"Yes, but it's not really an announcement. I would simply like to propose something to you."

I nodded, and he continued, "For now, peace has returned to the kingdom, thanks to my marriage to Arianne, which ensures peace between the Crownlands, the Westerlands, the Reach, and Dorne… but not with the North."

"What are you insinuating?" Robb said.

"Nothing at all. It's not an insinuation; it's a fact. We don't currently have a marital alliance, and we all know here that you've taken advantage of my generosity to betray me."

"Betray you?! Not participating in the extermination of my wife's family is what you call betrayal?"

"It's a betrayal when you promised to protect me, it's a betrayal when you swore fealty to me, and it's a betrayal when you promised me your support in this war that I ended up winning alone."

The atmosphere, light less than two minutes ago, became increasingly tense, and it was finally I who broke the silence that had settled after his declaration:

"What exactly are you proposing?"

"A marriage between Stark and Targaryen, Sansa and Viserys," he said.

Sansa, looking panicked, glanced at her cousin, who didn't even give her a look and was just waiting for my response.

I knew that before me was one of the only chances I would ever have in my life to mend things between us, but I had already been in contact with Viserys Targaryen, who resembled an older version of Joffrey.

'Sansa would never be happy with a man like him, and I cannot do this to her after having betrothed her to Cersei's pet monster.'

"I'm sorry, but that won't be possible. Sansa is too young to be betrothed, and I hope she will be able to marry someone she loves," I said.

Aegon's gaze tightened, but he did not insist, and said, "Very well."

The rest of the dinner passed quietly, and in less than a quarter of an hour, he made an excuse about an urgent last-minute meeting that forced him to leave the meal before its end.

-POV MC-

"You look calm, but I'm starting to know you a bit, and I can almost feel your anger," Arianne said, sitting beside me.

"I'm not angry, I'm just disappointed," I said, sighing in the face of my ultimate defeat in convincing my honorable uncle to become a loyal servant of the crown.

"Disappointed in what…" Arianne said.

"In my uncle, it was his last chance, unconsciously I still considered him a member of my family, but I forgot that I was not a Stark, that I never was one, before I was a Snow, and now I am a Targaryen, blood ties should no longer hold me back from doing what I want."

"Which means…"

"Which means they're now going to understand why I am the king," I said with a glint of determination in my eyes.