Chapter Text
So, a quick note before I begin. My original attempt at this got deleted, unfortunately, and my dumb arse didn't have any backup copies, so I have to redo the entire thing. I have decided to use fewer characters this time around so that I don't try forcing people to talk when they don't really have to. It will start off as only the Starks, including Lyanna and Benjen, and Rhaegar.
I hope that if you read my first attempt at this that you like this attempt. Oh, and just in case I have to reiterate, I do have NaerysBlackfyre's permission to use their work.
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Father of Dragons, nor do I own the rights to the characters involved in this story.
Bold - Reading
Italics - Private thoughts
Normal - Standard narration
Lord Eddard Stark, the Lord of Winterfell and Warden in the North, had a pounding headache. He had no idea as to how he obtained it. He had not spent the previous night getting drunk, and he definitely hadn't gotten into any fights. Maybe Catelyn had knocked his head in the middle of the night? Well, it was a possibility no matter how unlikely it is.
Eddard, or as he preferred to be called Ned, opened his eyes and realised that he was no longer in his bedchamber but in an unfamiliar room. He sat up and took in his surroundings. The first thing that he noticed was his family. His wife, sons, and daughters all lay around him. He quickly checked over them all anxiously, making sure that they were all okay. He sighed in relief when they didn't appear to be hurt.
Whilst he was checking on Rickon, he heard a groan from behind him. Ned turned around and saw that his "bastard son" had sat up with his hands clutched to his head.
"Where are we?" Jon groaned into his hands.
"I don't know." Ned responded, startling Jon into awareness. "I have been more concerned about the well-being of my family."
Jon looked at him for a moment before he took in his surroundings. He noticed the bodies of his siblings and Lady Stark lay around them.
"Are they okay?" Jon asked after clearing his throat.
"Aye, I think so." Ned responded. "They don't appear to be hurt, but we can't be sure until they wake up."
Jon nodded in acknowledgement of his father's words. Their attention was suddenly dragged away from one another by the groans of Arya as she slowly began to sit up. Slowly but surely, all of the Starks began to wake up, and soon enough, they were all looking at Ned expectantly.
"Right, first things first, I have no idea where we are." Ned informed his wife and children. "We appear to be in some kind of room, and it appears that this room has no exits." Everyone started looking for an exit in order to hopefully prove Ned wrong, but none were found. "We should probably -"
Whatever Ned was about to say was cut off by three more groans. The first of the three new people had dark hair with blue-grey eyes. He had the typical Stark features and was dressed in all black. This man was the likely successor to Jeor Mormont, the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, Benjen Stark.
The second person had deep purple eyes, and his hair was the usual silver-coloured hair that was typically found on members of House Targaryen. It was easy for Ned to recognise this man. It was Rhaegar Targaryen, son of Aerys II and Rhaella Targaryen.
The third and final person's identity brought a tear to Ned Stark's eye. In the opinions of his children, this person looked like what they imagined Arya would look like when she grew up. But Ned knew who this was. It was his sister, Lyanna. How was she here? She died. Ned watched her die so she couldn't possibly be here alive.
"Lyanna?" Ned asked, his voice cracked with emotion as his gaze locked onto his sister.
"Ned?" She asked in return.
Their gazes locked together, and after a few moments, they rushed into each others arms. Ned holds his sister tightly. Only after seeing her again does he realise just how much he missed her. Lyanna's eyes catch sight of the rest of the Stark family.
"Ned," she began. "Are you going to introduce us?" She asked, motioning to his wife and children.
"Yes, introductions would be nice." Rhaegar cut in, but Ned wasn't paying attention to him his attention was firmly locked onto his sister.
"Right, yes, I can do that." Ned's children hadn't seen their father stumble out his words in years.
To see their normally composed father scramble to pull himself together was not something that they would get used to. It was rather unnerving.
Ned motioned to Catelyn first.
"Lyanna, you remember Catelyn, right?" He asked his sister. "She is Lady Stark and the mother of my children."
The two women gave each other a nod of acknowledgement. Lyanna already knew Catelyn. She was more interested in meeting her brother's children. Ned introduced her to Robb, Sansa, Arya, Bran, and Rickon.
Robb's appearance seemed to favour his Tully genes as he was of a stocky build along with having blue eyes and red-brown hair. Sansa was the embodiment of beauty with her high cheekbones, deep blue eyes, and thick, soft auburn hair, which is lighter than her mother's own auburn hair. Lyanna found that she liked Arya the most. The little girl looked and acted so much like she did in her youth that she felt as if she had travelled back in time and looked into a mirror. Bran looked like a young male version of his mother with his blue eyes and thick auburn hair. Little Rickon was similar to Bran in a way. Rickon also took after his mother with his auburn hair and bright blue eyes.
There was only one person left for Ned to introduce to them. He had the long face of the Starks. He has dark brown hair and grey eyes, so dark they almost seem black.
"I don't mean to alarm you, Lord Stark." Rhaegar began. "But you seem to have forgotten to introduce one of your children."
"Is he always this irritating?" Benjen asked Lyanna, causing Rhaegar to let out an indignant cry and everyone else to laugh.
"Yes." Lyanna answered, causing a look of betrayal to appear on her husband's face.
"Lyanna, allow me to introduce you to Jon." Ned said as he motioned to the last person that she didn't recognise.
Jon. She knew that name. That had been the name that she had jokingly said that her son had looked like before she died. She now took a close look at Jon and began to notice some finer details in his appearance. He looked a lot like Rhaegar but with her colouring. She just knew that she was looking into the eyes of her son.
"Is he?" Lyanna asked Ned breathlessly.
Ned didn't seem to trust his voice and simply nodded in response. No one but Ned and Lyanna seemed to understand the question. Jon had a look of confusion on his face as he looked between Ned and Lyanna.
"Am I what?" He asked them with a frown.
"Jon," the head of House Stark began, "I want you to know that what I did was for your protection."
Now, everyone seemed to be frowning in confusion. What was going on? What did Lord Stark do?
"I am not your father." Ned said bluntly, he had no idea how to say it any other way.
A look of hurt flashed across his face, and Lyanna wanted to wrap him in hers arms and never let go. Catelyn's jaw dropped, and the Stark children seemed to want to come to Jon's defence.
"Oh, Ned, you sneaky fuck." Benjen sighed. "He's Lyanna's son, isn't he?"
Eyes darted back and forth between Benjen and Ned waiting for the current Lord Stark to confirm or deny Benjen's words. It wasn't Ned who answered the question.
"Yes, he's mine." Lyanna answered. "I'm surprised that you never noticed. I mean, he has some of Rhaegar's features and my colouring."
Rhaegar's jaw dropped. He was in the presence of one of his children, and the child in question didn't look a lot like him. If Lord Stark was telling the truth and he had hidden Jon's parentage for his own safety, then having very little of Rhaegar's features may have helped protect the boy.
Catelyn didn't know what to do. She had spent so long treating Jon with disregard and coldness because she had thought him to be a permanent reminder of her husband's unfaithfulness. But now she finds out that Jon Snow isn't even Ned's son at all. Lady Stark was beginning to regret all of the harsh treatment that she had thrown at the boy.
"Wait." Sansa said. "If Jon is the son of Prince Rhaegar and Aunt Lyanna, doesn't that make him the rightful king? Or did Robert Baratheon taking the throne mean that Jon can't be King?"
That got some minds thinking. What was Jon's place in the world now that some people knew of his true parentage? Did he have a place in Winterfell, or was he truly meant for the Iron Throne?
"Here's another question. Where are we?" Benjen asked suddenly. "Like, how did we all get here? Especially Lyanna and Rhaegar, because the last time that I checked, they were dead."
"That is a good question, First Ramger Benjen Stark." A voice echoed throughout the room, putting everyone on edge. "Where you are does not matter. All that you need to know is that I brought you here so that you can improve your future. To save people's lives."
"How are my wife and I going to save anyone if we're dead?" Rhaegar questioned.
"Lyanna and yourself, Prince Rhaegar, are here so that Jon could have the opportunity to meet his parents." The Voice chuckled. "But, you all shall read a book containing information about the future. It will have multiple points of view, and it may contain some embarrassing information for some people."
"Wait, you two were married?" Robb questions. "We were always told that Pronce Rhaegar kidnapped and raped Aunt Lyanna."
Rhaegar looked scandalised by such a statement, and Lyanna looked sad that people thought so badly of her husband.
"Well, Rhaegar and I got married with Elia's permission." Lyanna confessed. "I was not kidnapped, I went with him willingly."
"Yes, yes shit happened." The Voice drawled. "But now you get to read about some future shit to help you deal with your present time shit."
Robb, Sansa, and Catelyn covered Arya, Bran, and Rickon's ears so that they didn't have to hear the voice being so uncouth. The three youngest Stark siblings wiggled out of their grips and glared at them.
"Now," the Voice began, "who wants to read first?"
Everyone looked around, hoping that someone else would volunteer.
"I'll do it." Jon sighed.
"Good!" The voice chirped. "After reading the first chapter, you are to pass the book on to someone else. After the first five chapters have been read, I'll let you have a break so that you can all rest and/or get to know your dead parents."
A thick book fell to the fall in front of Jon. He bent down to pick it up. The cover read 'Father of Dragons'. Now, wasn't that interesting? Sofas materialised around the room. Each one could fit three people on. Benjen, Rhaegar, and Lyanna shared the one closest to them. Bran, Robb, and Rickon shared another with Jon sharing with Arya and Sansa. Ned and Catelyn were left with the final sofa to share.
"Okay then." Jon cleared his throat. "Just like for the past months, I have woken up in the dark."