WILOW-Ch.344: I Don't Believe You
Northern Army Camp, Near the Twins
POV of Domeric Bolton
Two days later.
"Robb. Jon." Domeric said with a smile as the two rode their horses to come and greet him. Their direwolves ran alongside their masters.
"Lord Bolton." Robb smiled as they stopped their horses a few feet from each other. "It's good to see you here." Then his eyes fell upon the 700 men behind him as well as the armor they were wearing, and his eyes widened a little, "And you brought more men."
"I did." He replied with a smile, "I would like to finish the war as quickly as possible so that we could prepare for the real war up North."
Robb's eyes became serious at the mention of the Long Night, and he sighed, "I'm sure everyone wants to go back and prepare for the Long Night, but I feel that this war will be longer than we can anticipate."
"Why is that?" he asked.
"My uncle, Edmure Tully, has been taken captive by the Lannisters. The Riverland forces that he managed to gather up have been scattered by Tywin Lannister and the Mountain, and his men have sown chaos in the whole Riverlands." Robb said, then added.
"I don't think the Riverlands will be of much use to us. And there is still no news from Vale. On top of all that, Walder Frey has declined our request to cross the bridge. If the situation remains unchanged, then we'll have to fight the Lannisters on our own."
He nodded, then asked, "Any news about your mother and sister?"
Robb went silent at that, looking both angry and frustrated.
"Sansa is still in King's Landing. We have only heard rumors, but she is not being treated well there." He said, "Mother sent a letter from Highgarden, asking father to give his support to King Renly instead of King Stannis. Father wants to support King Stannis, but if we did that, then we would have to fight against the 100,000 men of King Renly." He grimaced at that. "The lords are… divided in their opinion regarding who to support in this war."
He thought about it for a moment and said, "We could always raise our own claimant to the throne."
Robb smiled bitterly, "We have no claimant to the Throne, Lord Bolton. There has never been any union between the Starks and Targaryens."
"Is that so?" He said and took out a journal from his bottomless pouch. "What if I told you that we do have a claimant. Someone who, if we managed to sit on the Iron Throne, would take the Long Night much more seriously."
Robb frowned as he opened a particular page in the Journal. "Please explain, Lord Bolton."
He smiled and gave the open journal to Robb Stark.
"Diary of High Septon Maynard." He said as Robb took the journal and started reading it with Jon peeking from the side, "He recorded everything in it. From the number of steps in the Citadel to his own bowel movements."
"What does that have to…" Jon asked, but was silenced by Robb, who was looking and pointing at the Journal in shock and horror.
Jon frowned and read the passage that Robb was pointing at, and a heavy frown settled on his face as we.
"Prince Rhaegar Targaryen annulled his marriage to Elia Martell and married…"
"Aunt Lyanna." Robb finished, his breath a little heavy, before Midnight nuzzled his leg, and he calmed down a little bit and looked at him with a frown. "If this is a joke, then this is a very poor one, Lord Bolton."
He shook his head and took out another document, a certificate of marriage between Prince Rhaegar and Lyanna Stark, and passed it to them. "This is not a joke. I do not know if Prince Rhaegar forced your aunt into the marriage or if she went willingly with him. What I do know is that she was married to Prince Rhaegar. And she did give birth to a child."
"She… she died of fever," Robb said, more to himself than to him.
"No." He shook his head. "She died of childbirth. She named her boy Aegon Targaryen and asked Lord Stark to protect the boy from King Robert before she died of blood loss."
Robb looked up at him and then at his brother Jon, connecting the dots in a moment but refusing to believe it.
"What happened to the boy?" Jon asked, his voice was a little shaky.
He stared at both of them for a long moment before he said, "You must understand that King Robert hated the Targaryens. When he saw the dead Targaryen children in the Great Hall of the Red Keep, do you know what he said?"
"What?" Robb asked, looking a little impatient.
"I see no children. Only Dragon spawns."
Both the boys looked horrified at that, and he continued, "Lord Stark knew that if King Robert found out about Aegon Targaryen, then he might try to kill the boy as well. So, Lord Stark claimed that Lyanna Stark died of fever and…" he looked at Jon Snow, "Took the boy as his own bastard."
Jon gulped and looked down at the ground, his face a mixture of emotions, while Robb's eyes were focused on nothing as he tried to make sense of the situation.
Both the boys remained like that for a long moment before Jon finally looked at him, his eyes a little wet, and growled, "I don't believe you."
Then he turned his horse and rode away, his two direwolves running after him.
Robb looked at his brother, at him, and then at the evidence in his hands before handing him the book and the certificate and riding after his half-brother… or his cousin.
A few moments later, Ygritte rode up to him and stopped beside him.
"You told them?" she asked.
He nodded, "Figured now was as good a time as any. Moreover, this news will open doors to topics I want to discuss with Lord Stark."
"Why did they run away?" she asked.
"Identity crisis." He replied.
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.345: To Lord Bolton
Ch.346: Are We Doomed?
Ch.347: Heirs to the Iron Throne