"Before Robert's rebellion, everyone gathered at Harrenhal. I was there, with with your uncles and your aunt. The royal family was there as well, Rhaegar with his wife Elia Martell and his younger sister Ayrella. Ayrella was sixteen, though she acted far older, already betrothed to some Tyrell boy.
"That night, I was busy with Lyanna and Benjen to notice Brandon was missing, but the next morning, when he burst into my room, I knew why I couldn't find him. Brandon had gotten drunk that night and found Ayrella alone outside. She was upset about something and Brandon comforted her. One thing led to another between them and they woke up next to each other.
"Rhaegar kidnapped Lyanna and Brandon rode after them. The mad king had them him killed, along with your grandfather. War started and I rode off with Robert as his rebellion started. Late into the war, the mad king went crazier, if that was possible. He accused Ayrella of conspiring with the Stark's and put a thousand gold dragons on her head. She fled the city, but got caught between King's Landing and Robert's forces. She hid in the city but when Robert sacked the city, she was caught by Stark men.
"The Stark men recognized her as a friend of Brandon and after convincing them, they swore to protect her. Ayrella was pregnant with Brandon's child and heir. Brandon was dead, which meant that Ayrella's child with him would inherit Winterfell as his only child.
"Their protection didn't last much longer. They hid her in an abandoned house in the middle of King's Landing. Within two days, she gave birth to a beautiful little girl that looked just like my brother. The two Stark men who had swore themselves to her were murdered by the Mountain. In fear, she hid her baby away in a cupboard, but The Mountain slit her throat.
"That was the night Jon was born. I was walking back to camp with him when I heard Ayrella's child crying. When I found Ayrella's body, I didn't recognise her. I didn't recognise her as Brandon's 'friend'. I didn't even think about the fact that the woman I found in that abandoned house was a princess, not until a few years ago when I began to finally piece everything together.
"That's who your mother is. Ayrella Targaryen,"

As her father finished talking, Lyanna took a deep breath, got up from where she was sat and paced the balcony they were sat on. She ran the story through her head until it finally sunk in.

She was a Targaryen.

"But then... Brandon Stark is my true father," she said after five minutes of thinking through it all over again. "You aren't my true father, you're my uncle,"

Lord Stark looked down at the floor before nodding. "Yes, it's true,"

"Who else knows?" She asked, suddenly fearing that Robert knew. If he found out about her mother's blood, then he would surely have her killed, even if she was pregnant with the heir to the throne and married to Joffrey.

"Benjen, I thought he had a right to know, as my brother and your uncle I thought it was only right," her father, no, uncle, said. "And Cat knows. I told her the day we left Winterfell,"

'At least I know why she hugged me on the last day' Lyanna thought. Her mind trailed to Benjen, at the Wall with her brother, no, cousin.

"Jon's not my twin brother," she said quietly to herself. "And the others, they're my cousins, not siblings," she watched as he nodded and she turned her back on him, running her hand through her hair.

"Robert would have you killed if he knew of your mother, regardless who your married to," Lord Stark spoke up, making Lyanna spin back around to face him. "He'd probably do it himself, with his war hammer, the way he killed Rhaegar. You can't tell anyone, Lyanna, not even your sisters or Jory or any member of my guard and you especially better not tell Joffrey,"

Lyanna sighed and say back down next to her uncle on the floor of the balcony, listening to Winter pant from the sun. She didn't look at him for a long time.

"What was Brandon like?" she asked, breaking the silence.

She saw Lord Stark struggle for words at her question and she knew why. She knew he still missed his brother and she knew how painful it must have been for him to watch his brother's child grow up without ever knowing her true father.

"He was a good man," Ned said eventually. "He was a brave man, courageous and strong. But he was wild, like a wolf. My father called it the wolf's blood, something to be proud of, but it led him to an early grave. Lyanna once described him as the wild wolf and she was right.

"He would have been proud of you. If he lived, I'm sure he would have had you legitimised from birth and would have had you as his heir, as much as Cat would have hated it. His children with Cat would have been in your shadow he would have loved you that much, even the boys. He would have probably trained you himself, fought with you himself. You fight like him, his rhythm, his technique, his speed. Every swing of your sword is just like a swing of his. It honestly scared me the first time I watched you fight Robb and win. I was watching from a distance and when I saw you knock him to the ground in laughter, I swear to the gods I thought you were him.

"You look like him as well. You have his nose, his jaw, his hair. You aren't as big as he was, you're slim and tall like your mother. You're the perfect Stark, if it wasn't for your eyes. Yours are a mixture of both Brandon's and Ayrella's. You look like him when you get angry too, the way your brow goes together here," he paused, gently touching her glabella, before continuing. "To be truthful, the only real difference between you is that he had a beard.

"I'm sorry I never told you the truth before. I thought you'd react worse than this, and I couldn't risk you knowing in case you told someone,"

"How did you think I'd react?" Lyanna smiled at him, her hand on his shoulder. "Ned Stark, you're the man who raised me, who took me in, even if it meant giving yourself a bad reputation. Your wife hated you for taking me in and she hates the sight of me, but yet you still never sent me away. I owe everything to you. I don't care if blood states you as my uncle, you're my father, no matter what,"

He smiled at her gently, looking down at her wolf from where they were sat on the floor next to each other. 

"How did my father die?" she asked after a few seconds of silence between them.

 She knew she might not get an answer, that it might still be hard for her father to talk about his brother - her true father's - death.

"I can't answer that yet, love, I'm sorry," he answered, not looking at her in the eye. "I will tell you one day soon, I promise,"

That was when the door was thrown open and Joffrey burst into the room. 

"Why weren't you a the tourney, wife?" Joffrey said as he saw Lyanna sat on their balcony, his tone slightly angry. Lord Stark got up, kissed Lyanna on the cheek gently before leaving the room, without acknowledging Joffrey.

"Well? Do you feel like answering me?" he asked again, his tone slightly angrier.

Lyanna sighed, getting up and walking towards her husband. She took hold of his hand and he pulled it out of hers quickly, glaring at her. She took it again, holding it tighter that time. She rested his hand against her stomach where she knew her baby was growing.

She saw his face look at her confusedly until he realised and he smirked at her slightly. 

"I'm pregnant Joff, we're going to have a little prince or princess," she smiled at him on the verge of laughter as she felt a sudden wave of contentness rush over her.

 She didn't like her husband. To be honest, she didn't like her life in King's Landing. But now she was going to have a child who would one day be a king or a princess, and that was something.

Lyanna wanted to laugh at the irony of it all. She was a Targaryen and the king hated Targaryen's. One day, her child would bring back the old dynasty, whether Robert liked it or not.

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Happy Christmas!! (Well, happy Boxing Day)

I'm sorry I didn't post this yesterday, but I was travelling a lot over the past two days to see family, which was a bit of a pain but I had so much fun with my family and I know the next week will be fun too (despite all the studying I'm going to do).

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, which I loved writing. Were you taken by surprise by the twist? Let my know down in the comments if you liked this chapter, what you thought of the truth about Lyanna and remember to vote!

~Olivia