II - The North's purpose

Rhaenyra Targaryen, the Realm's Delight, the Princess of Dragonstone and the Heir to the Iron Throne, felt lonelier than she ever did. Here, in the middle of a clearing, surrounded by knights, servants and nobles, she had no friends. Only subjects she knew nothing about, who bowed to her before going back to their tasks or conversations. Lord Hobert's words had reached her ears despite her still being in the carriage, no one truly saw her as the heir to the Iron Throne and the future Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. If people did, then they would all try to gain her favor and would bow lower than they all did.

She was about to go back inside the Royal tent, when she heard the clash of steel. She turned her head to realize that a small crowd of knights had gathered around the squires' tent. With nothing better to do, she made her away across the knights and noblemen to observe the fight and discover the identities of the fighters.

The first she knew, it was Ser Harwin Strong, known as 'Breakbones', a captain of the City Watch and the son of the Master of Laws, Lord Lyonel. He was rumored to be the strongest knight among the Seven Kingdoms, yet, Rhaenyra could see the sweat pearl on his forehead. An irrefutable proof of his opponent's skills, she looked at said opponent and couldn't help but frown.

That was a man she did not know, he was a little smaller and younger that Ser Harwin, but had black straight hair cut short instead of long brown curls like his sparing partner. His grey eyes were cold, yet determined and dangerous, and his face quite handsome if the Princess was honest with herself.

However, as the spare went on, she was fairly surprised to see the direwolf sewn in the doublet of the smaller combattant. What was a Stark doing here? She had not heard of a Stark in Court, she was almost astonished that one of them had left his frozen wasteland to walk among the noblemen and women of the South.

"Typical of Northern barbarians," a voice she didn't know said next to her. "Already picking fights after being in the civilized world for just a few hours. »

Rhaenyra turned her head to discover a middle-aged blond man with a lion sewn on his doublet, the man gave her a quick bow before introducing himself.

"Jason Lannister, Lord of Casterly Rock…"

Another clash of swords interrupted him before he could finish his introduction. Rhaenyra quickly noticed that despite Ser Harwin superior strength, the Stark boy was waster and more precise with his blows. But the Princess supposed that the fact that he wasn't wearing an armor was a reasonable explanation for his superior speed.

"A pleasure, Ser Jason," she said without taking her eyes of the fight. "You said Lord Stark arrived at court today ?"

"Oh, he's no Lord, Princess. Merely the nephew of the Lord of Winterfell."

The disdain in the Lannister's voice was evident to the young heir.

"Though he made quite the impression when he arrived," Lord Jason reluctantly admitted. "He presented himself in front of the Red Keep's Gate with no escort but his Direwolf and asked for the King's permission to allow his beast inside the walls of the castle."

Rhaenyra couldn't believe her ears.

"A Direwolf, truly ?"

"Seems so, Princess, I saw the beast myself when this Stark lad rod with the procession. Large as a poney, but I would advise you not to get to close to it. Despite his master's claim, I doubt the beast is as tamed as he pretends. My hounds were quite nervous around this creature, and they have better instincts than us."

A second after Lord Lannister had shared his thoughts, Rhaenyra saw Ser Harwin grab the Stark's wrist after they had locked their blades in a cross. To prevent himself from being unbalanced, the young man did the same with Ser Harwin wrist and stabilized his legs quickly, but the heir of Harrenhall head butted his opponent violently. A few gasps and cheers erupted from the crowd when they saw the bleeding wound on the Northern's forehead, and Rhaenyra herself thought the fight over. But the Stark lad shocked everyone when he retaliated with a headbutt of his own, breaking Breakbones' nose and silencing all reactions from the crowd. However, Ser Harwin looked more pissed than shocked, and headbutted the Wolf again, but again, the Wolf retaliated, splitting the knight's lower lip.

Rhaenyra almost rolled her eyes when she saw Ser Harwin's childish smile, truth be told, she had never seen the captain of the Gold Cloaks have this much fun. He tried to headbutt the Stark lad again, but neglected to keep his grasp on the northerner's wrist firm. Arthur freed himself, and welcomed Breakbones forehead with the hilt of his sword. Then he proceeded to sweep the knight's legs, and once Ser Harwin was on the ground, the tip of the Stark's sword found its way to his throat.

"Yield." Arthur said between breaths, with half his face covered in blood.

The Captain of the Gold clocks looked very disappointed despite the three wounds on his face, but he conceded defeat and accepted the Stark hand when offered. Rhaenyra smiled and joined the crowd when they applauded the two fighters.

"Been a while since I've lost a spar." Breakbones confessed without shame, clasping his opponent's shoulder.

"Been a while since I've bled in a spar." Arthur answered with a smile. "And I don't think I've ever bleed this much during one. I know many Umbers who'd love to meet you, Ser Harwin."

"Well, they'll have to come south for that, Last Hearth is too close to the Wall for my liking." He laughed before walking away to the maesters' tent with the Stark by his sides. The two men were already talking like two old friends in Rhaenyra's eyes.

"Tell me, Lord Jason," She asked once the crowd started to disperse. "Did my father allow Lord Stark's direwolf inside the walls of the Red Keep ?"

"He did," The Lannister begrudgingly admitted, more annoyed by Arthur's performance than he cared to admit. "His Grace looked quite mesmerized by the beast once this Northerner allowed him to pet it."

Now Rhaenyra was truly interested, but deep down, she felt frustration towards her father. He had met and petted a Direwolf and hadn't informed her? Had they really grown so distant from one another?

Lord Jason didn't let her finish her thoughts, for he believed there were enough direwolves in those and too few lions.

"While the beast might be impressive, my home and lands are filled with Lions that size and even larger." He tried to boast, though Rhaenyra remained unimpressed. No Lannister had ever tamed one of those beasts. "You been to the Roc before, Princess ?"

Now she really didn't like where this conversation was going.

(-)(-)(-)

Arthur Stark and Harwin Strong had not stopped talking while the maesters patched them up, exchanging tales of battle and information regarding their fighting style and laughing at defeated opponents and weak twats that polluted the Court. When they came out of the tent though, they saw the Princess storm away from the camp on horseback, chased by a member of the Kingsguard.

"And here she goes again… " Ser Harwin sighed.

"Again ?"

"Aye. The Princess has been quite alone since Queen Aemma died. And even less so when her friend Alicent became her stepmother. She doesn't let anyone approach her, except maybe her sworn protector; Ser Criston."

Arthur shook his head when he heard that.

"That's not a good news for the Realm, our future Queen can't remain as isolated as she is if she wants to rule one day. She needs allies and support, or the Court will be divided and the Realm will cease to prosper."

Ser Harwin looked stunned by his new friend's declaration.

"I never thought I'd hear a Northener give two shits about the South's affairs."

"The North has always been impacted by the South's affairs, even if more than half of the Northern Lords would deny it, since Jaehaerys' rule, we have more than twice as many people as we used to have before the Conquest. And buying crops during Winter from the Reach is a lot cheaper than it used to be. So when the Realm prospers, so do we, but when conflict arises, we suffer from it when Winter comes."

"That makes sense." Ser Harwin acknowledged. "Is that why you're here, then ? To prevent conflict ?"

"You overestimate my abilities, Ser." Arthur almost laughed. "If I can spare the North any form of repercussion, I'd consider myself lucky enough."

"Then perhaps you are; my father wishes for the Princess to marry Ser Laenor Velaryon."

Now that was excellent news.

"Your father is wise, that's the best match the Princess could ask for. It would secure her three Dragon Riders, House Velaryon's wealth and fleet, as well as the political mind of the Sea Snake. »

"There is a problem with this match though," Ser Harwin sighed. "Laenor Velaryon is rumored to be… well…"

"A pillow-bitter." Arthur finished. "Then let's hope he'll aim right when he'll bed his bride."

A thunderous laugh escaped Breakbones' throat, he clasped the Northerner's shoulder with his strong hand.

"Aye, let's hope so. Now come my friend, we ought to feast before we hunt, and I know many southern ladies who are dying to meet a man as strong and exotic as you !"

Arthur really couldn't find it in him to share his new friend's enthusiasm.

(-)(-)(-)

Truth be told, the feast wasn't as bad as Arthur had expected. The southern ladies were indeed more polite and less afraid than he had expected, especially since he had shown that he was as courteous as any nobleman -if not more-. The fact that Shadow had gone to hunt probably had something to do with their lack of fear.

He was talking with a bunch of nights from the Riverlands when Ser Harrold Westerling had come to him and informed him that the Queen wished to speak with him. Arthur then proceeded to join the circle of noble ladies that was surrounded by a buffet of cake and sweets. Alicent Hightower welcomed him with a charming and warm smile.

"Thank you for accepting my invitation Lord Arthur." She greeted.

"It's honor to have been invited, my Queen." He bowed properly before taking a seat. "How may I humor you ?"

"We were talking about the War in the Stepstones, and were wondering how the Manderlys were handling this crisis, considering that one of their main commercial road has been blocked by the Triarchy."

"I see." Arthur accepted a cup of Arbor Red from a servant and spoke. "Well… Lord Manderly wisely chose to stop sending ships south of Essos, and trades only with Pentos and Braavos. He will more than likely continue to do so until the war ends."

An old Lady with a dog looked quite displeased by this information. "But isn't Lord Manderly rebuked by the high prices that were set by the remaining neutral free cities? Surely he'd choose war over bankruptcy."

"What high prices ?" Arthur retorted. "This is but the beginning of Spring, it's the perfect time to sell timber and Ironwood to cities from mountainous regions like Braavos. And seal meat, fur and leather is quite popular in Pentos with the war going on in the Stepstones. House Manderly is not interested in rare spices like safran or jewels or tapestries. Extravagance is not the Northern way, we're more concerned about preparing our folk for the next winter than to further decorate our castles. And when the War ends, we would not be surprised if Lord Corlys and the Princes of the Triarchy were to order a tremendous amount of Ironwood to rebuild their respective fleet. The North has nothing to gain by joining this war."

Now the Lady truly looked upset, while Queen Alicent sadly nodded.

"Nothing to gain ?" The old Lady repeated. "But what about your duty to the Realm ? Do the Northerners expect to be paid for their services like a bunch of sellswords ?"

Queen Alicent almost gasped when she heard those word, other ladies in her retinue did gasp. A few knights that were listening quietly snickered, while Larys Strong sipped on his wine, curious to see the young Stark's reaction. Arthur had a hard time getting his Wolf's blood under control. No matter what happened or what he was told, he could never loose his temper in the Viper's nest.

He spoke with a voice colder than the Wall:

"Lady Redwyne, I understand that the Arbor is loosing quite a lot of gold because of the blockade. So I understand why you're upset. Perhaps you should advise your husband to petition the King in order to send the Redwyne fleet. Instead of expecting the Sea Snake, Prince Daemon or the North to solve your problems for you. After all, what can a bunch of pirates and barbarians do against the might of the Redwyne fleet ?" He ironically added.

To her credit, the Lady kept her composure, on the other hand, the Queen was frowning in her direction. Perhaps she was starting to understand why the oldest lady present had insisted on remaining on the topic of the war in the Stepstones during the entire afternoon.

Arthur saw her reaction, and chose to speak to her instead of the manipulative old Lady.

"Your grace." he said, catching her intention. "If the Crown were to order the Manderly fleet to join the war in the Stepstones, they would obey out of duty. However, it would not be a popular decision, for as I've stated, this war doesn't affect northern lives. Why should my people sacrifice their lives for the benefit of others, who are not willing to sacrifice their own ?"

He made sure to send a disdainful look at the Lady Redwyne as he pronounced these words, and missed the brief and impressed look that Larys Strong threw at him. Alicent nodded and let out a tired sigh.

"I understand, Lord Stark, and I apologize for doubting the North's loyalty towards the Crown. Though I thank you for your wisdom, you've given me much to think about."

"It was a pleasure and an honor to speak with you, your Grace." He bowed. Then he downed his cup and wished the ladies goodbye, knowing he had done a good enough job. He scanned the room in search for Harwin, when his eyes landed on the King. Viserys looked surprisingly miserable, which was a brutal contrast compared to the cheerful nature he had showed welcoming Arthur. Considering he owed to his liege for allowing Shadow inside the Red Keep, he proceeded to walk towards him, but was stopped by a Kingsguard that eyed him suspiciously.

"Let him pass." Viserys said, lazily waving his hand.

The Stark thanked his King with a nod, but didn't think said King had seen it.

"Are you alright, Your Grace ?" He asked once he was close enough.

Viserys rose his head from his cup, looking quite dizzy.

"Do I really look so miserable ?" He sighed with exhaustion.

"Yes."

The Head of House Targaryens' eyes almost popped out of their sockets, and he laughed, he laughed so hard he almost dropped his cup.

"You could have lied a little, lad."

"Apologies, your Grace, but in the North we think a harsh truth sometimes needs to be spoken."

Viserys laughed again, with relief this time.

"I need more Northeners in my court." He grumbled before motioning at a servant. "Bring a sit for the lad."

Arthur thanked him with a bow and sat on an upholstered chair.

"Penny for your thoughts, your Grace ?" He asked as he took his wineskin from his belt and swallowed a few swigs.

Viserys let out a long and tired sigh, as he drank from his cup.

"I tried to convince my daughter that marriage was in her best interest." The King admitted with shame. "But she thought that I was trying to send her away… to have her replace… while in truth I just… want her to be happy… To have a family…"

"You do not wish for her to have a strong political alliance to help her in her rule ?"

"That too." Viserys nodded. "That's why I offered her to marry Jason Lannister."

The unimpressed look the Stark lad threw exasperated the King.

"I know, I know." He said reluctantly. "I shouldn't have done that… She believed that I was trying to send her away, and so did Lord Jason…"

"Truth be told, Your Grace, I do not think any Lord or heir would abandon their sit to become King Consort."

Now that caught Viserys' attention, he frowned in confusion.

"What do you mean ?"

"I don't think anyone believes that Rhaenyra will one day inherit the Throne. And if she does, no one believes her reign will be a long one since she doesn't have any support but your word. Why would any lord abandon their ancestral sit for what they believe to be a lost cause ?"

Viserys looked at the Stark lad as if a second head had grown from his neck, then frustration rose in his purple eyes.

"I know that…" The king said in a dark voice. "Gods… I know… If only she would listen to me… See reason… Understand that I'm trying to help her prepare…"

He tried to take a swig from his cup, only to realize that it was empty. His tired gaze laid on the Stark's wineskin.

"Would you share your wine with your King ?" He asked with a playful tone.

"Duty compels me to warn my King that this is not wine. » he replied with the same tone. « It's fermented Goat's milk, that's what wildlings drink. And it's a lot stronger than any wine or ale you could possibly find."

Now Viserys was truly interested, and motioned for the Stark to give him the exotic drink. He took a swig from it, but felt his throat burn so badly that violent coughing escaped his mouth and resonated across the tent.

Otto was quick to react.

"Seize him !" he yelled, and a Kingsguard roughfully grabbed the Northerner and put a dagger under his throat.

Many lords and ladies gasped at this sight, believing the Stark to have poisoned their King.

"No !" Viserys croaked between two coughs. "Leave the lad alone !"

Ser Harrold hesitated, before reluctantly releasing Arthur who passed his hand on his neck. For a second, he had truly thought his end to have come.

"No worries, my lords, my ladies," The King declared with a large appeasing smile. "I simply underestimated the strength of a northern drink."

He took another swig in front of all the court, resisted the urge to cough again, and gave the lad his wineskin back.

A moment passed before everyone present finally relaxed and went back to their conversations.

Viserys, let out a long sigh to appease his burning throat.

"You weren't jesting lad," he said, breathing heavily, "I apologize for the inconvenience."

"No worries, Your Grace," Arthur answered, taking a swig to forget his uncomfortable experience.

Viserys took a moment to look at the Stark, he was so deep in thoughts he didn't realize how uncomfortable he was making him.

"Your Grace ?"

"Tell me the truth, lad, why are you here ?"

The question was so abrupt that the Northerner almost lost his composure.

"Your Grace ?"

"You're the first Stark to ever come to Court," Viserys added while looking straight at his grey eyes. "Yet you give sound advice and you seem concerned by my daughter's future. I know there is a reason for you to be here, and since you've been honest with me until now, I would like you to tell me. For I find it odd enough to rise my suspicion."

Arthur took a moment to look at his liege's eyes, then nodded with a stone cold face.

"Well, Your Grace," he said with a neutral tone. "If you must know, I'm here because I worry about the future."

Viserys cocked an eyebrow.

"What does that mean ?"

"My uncle swore allegiance to Rhaenyra, and the North remembers and will support her." Arthur declared very seriously. "However, we know the cloaks in the South are easily turned. Maegor's rule was proof enough to that. That's why my uncle sent me here, to strengthen Rhaenyra's position in order for the North not to be on the loosing side, should a war break out after your death, Your Grace."

Arthur expected his King to react in many ways, but fear was not what he had expected. In truth, the Lord of the Seven Kingdoms looked absolutely terrified, and threw a worried look at Aegon who was listening to a story told by one of his handmaidens. Viserys breathed heavily, so much so that his northern interlocutor had thought he would hyperventilate. Fortunately, he calmed himself, and threw an icy look at the Stark.

"There will be, no, war," he almost spat, furious. "I'll make sure of that, lad. But if my daughter's position is so important to the North… Then I think you and I, can find common cause."

"I believe so too, Your Grace."

"Good… Now… I want you to find my daughter… Wherever she is… And to shower her with as many Northern hard truths as you can, you will open her eyes to the truth."

He grabbed Arthur's wrist, and pulled him closer.

"This is no small gesture, lad, you will be her personal adviser, you will help her, every step of the way. Or you will be banished from my Court. Is that understood ?"

"It is, Your Grace."

"Good. Now find her."

Without another word, Viserys got up from his sit, and left the tent staggering. Arthur actually smiled after a second, very satisfied by this turn of events.

He got up, ignored the looks thrown at him, and left the tent as well. Though, he didn't go in the same direction his King went. He stretched a little and murmured:

"All right Shadow," his eyes rolled back, "playtime's over, we have a Dragon to find."