"Y/N, why don't you come and dine with my daughters and I tonight?" Lord Stark started as you exited the King's small council meeting together. Eddard coming to King's Landing had been a blessing in disguise for you. You had hated the meetings you had been requested to attend, but your brother had insisted, and so you were forced to suffer through them. Of course, even as children you had been the one who always had their head screwed on straight, knowing that your younger brothers needed some direction, especially Robert who often happened to get by on his brawn rather than his brains. Once he became close with Ned, you had started to relax a little, he was the 'Quiet Wolf', and he helped to steer all three your brothers in the right direction, keeping them in check with your help.
Once the war was over, Ned had moved back to Winterfell to be with his new wife and his children. The bastard was, of course, a surprise to everyone, Ned had always prided himself on his honour, and him sleeping with another woman once he was married was not something you had expected at all, though you were not willing to question it to his face. It wasn't the kind of topic he would want to discuss, not with you, or anyone else for that matter. You went a good nine years before seeing Ned again, you had been married to a high born lord, though you refused to change your name, staying a Baratheon, and you had been widowed, losing your husband after he was thrown from his horse during a hunt. You had mothered and lost your two beautiful sons, both before they had even reached the age of five, and you had acquired a new job in the Capital, working alongside your brother, and the rest of the small council, to rule his Kingdom.
"Thank you Ned, but I was considering turning in early for the night. Besides, I'm sure the girls would prefer some time alone with their father, I doubt they've seen you all day," you told him with a small smile as he shrugged.
"You are like family to the girls, and I have a slight inkling that they enjoy your company far more than they enjoy mine," he chuckled as he spoke making your smile grow. You knew he missed his home, and you felt bad for leaving him when he so obviously wanted you to spend time with him and his family.
"I'll come to dinner, but I can't stay too late. These meetings are starting to take their toll," you told him and his smile faltered slightly as he looked at you in worry. "It's nothing to concern yourself over Ned. I'm getting older, I was eventually going to start feeling the effects of time," you smirked at him, knowing that you were only older than him by around two years.
"You aren't old, Y/N," he hesitated. "Look at Olenna Tyrell, she's still going strong and Gods know how old she is," he added and you huffed as you reached the door to his families chambers, raising an eyebrow at him when you heard the arguing coming from inside. "Gods, those girls are always at each others throats," he told you as he rushed inside, shocking the girls into silence. "what is it this time?" he asked and Arya quickly replied.
"She's a liar, and I hate her," she yelled out only for Sansa to answer too.
"She's a brat and she acts like a stupid little boy," she hissed out at her sister, who turned to glare at her.
"Behave yourselves; you are sisters, not enemies," Ned spoke to them, his voice calm and low. "I'm sorry about this Y/N," he uttered drawing the two girl's attention to you, standing in the doorway. Both broke out into small smiles, Sansa giving you a little wave as you smiled back.
"Not to worry Ned, children fight. I happen to remember myself and Robert almost coming to blows a few times," you paused for a moment, glancing over at the girls with a small frown. "You two should learn to get along, one day you could end up like me, and then your family will be the only thing you have. If you keep fighting you'll push that away," you told them with a sad smile and the girls both nodded silently as Ned frowned at you. They all knew what you had been through, everyone knew what you had been through, and what you were telling them was no lie. Robert, Stannis, and Renly had each had to help rebuild you after your second son had died. He had been called Thomas and was the most gorgeous little boy, with thick dark hair and beautiful brown eyes, but he had been taken ill, and after your husband had died you weren't equipped to deal with the stress of his death, not on your own.
"You had Catelyn and I," Ned uttered and you shook your head at him with a small smile.
"You two are a part of my family. You're like another brother to me, Ned, and I'm sure Robert would say the same," you paused, turning to the girls. "Which makes me your aunt, so I'm allowed to tell you what to do," you paused again and smiled at Ned causing him to smile back. "So, stop adding to your father's stress with all of your pointless arguing. You aren't little girls anymore," you told them, pausing as they both nodded at you. "I'm starved and I need my bed. We should eat," you spoke as you took one of the two empty seats around the table. You could see Ned's smile as he took the seat beside you, watching the two girls who had lost their angry glares.
*Time Skip*
"You're a miracle worker, those girls have not stopped bickering since we arrived and you come in and they stop completely," Ned told you the evening after, whilst you waited for Renly and Lord Baelish to come to the small council meeting.
"I prefer the term convincing," you uttered back, sending him a small smile. "I was only telling the truth, when they are old and you and Cat are gone they will need each other," you told him with a small shrug.
"Well, thank you either way. It did a lot of good to be able to eat them yelling across the table," he smiled at you and you let out a small chuckle.
Soon after, the meeting came to a start, even Robert was there, which was not a common occurrence despite it being his council, he looked very frustrated, the stress almost leaking from him as he sat twiddling his thumbs.
"The Targaryen bitch has married into a Dothraki horde," your brother spoke and you flinched at how rough his voice sounded as he talked about the girl. She was practically a child and you pitied her if she was moving with a Khalasar; they weren't the most accepting people. "And she is with child, which we need to deal with," he added and you raised an eyebrow as everyone but you and Eddard made a noise of agreement.
"She's still a child herself," you spoke up and all eyes were on you. Of course they were, you were appealing against them, appealing to your brother's human side.
"She's a threat, if she has a son he will become one of the most powerful men in the Seven Kingdoms," Lord Baelish spoke at you with a smirk and you quirked an eyebrow.
"And if you kill her or her child you will have given the Khal twice the motivation to invade. For now, they'll not cross the seas, they don't like to travel by anything but horse, and from my experience, a boat is not a horse," you told them and they all chuckled a little.
"Then we wait until she has the baby and slit its throat?" Lord Pycelle questioned and you shot a glare at him.
"We are not going to murder a child. Anyone who has lost a child will tell you that you will want revenge against whoever caused the death, which in this situation would be us," you paused, thinking of your first son. "If you act against them it gives them every motivation to destroy us, and they do not fight by our rules. The Dothraki would slaughter every man they see, and rape every woman and child before enslaving them; I'm sure I speak for all women when I say we would rather that didn't happen," you told them and Robert let out a snort of laughter.
"I agree with Y/N, any action will be seen as an attack and they'll respond with force," Ned spoke up from beside you and you turned to nod at him in thanks. "What is the likelihood of her carrying the child to term successfully, anyhow? We could be starting a war for no reason."
"You are letting your emotions cloud your judgment," Robert chuckled and you shot him a pointed look.
"And you are letting your hatred for her family dictate your actions," you spat at him. "The girl has not done anything wrong. She didn't take Lyanna, Rhaegar did and he died for his crimes," you continued, watching as he started to glare at you.
"Get out," Robert spoke and you choked out a laugh until he got to his feet, slamming his hands down on the table and yelling it at you again. You quickly stood, walking towards the door as calmly as you could with your head held high. Once you were outside you heard Robert's voice echo out into the hall. "Where are you going Ned?" he asked.
"You are being unreasonable, and Y/N was right. The only reason you want the girl dead is because of her name, and I won't sit here and watch an innocent child be murdered because of your pigheadedness," Ned spoke calmly, and then you heard a clatter as he made his way out to you. You glanced at him, noting the absence of the Hand of the King pin that usually graced his tunic.
"What have you done Ned?" you questioned as he pulled you along the hallway towards the chambers where his daughters would be. "Ned?" you asked again as he paused to look at you.
"I'm leaving King's Landing, it won't be safe for the girls here now that I'm not the Hand," he told you and you breathed deeply. "I think it is best if you go to Winterfell with the girls, Robert can't protect you when you aren't speaking with one another," he paused again. "I can't watch one of my closest friends harmed, and the Lannisters will want you out of the way now that you aren't on your brother's good side," he told you as you finally made it into the chambers.
"Are you not coming?" you questioned hesitantly.
"I'll follow in a few days. I need to speak with Robert, he needs to understand why we are leaving," he told you.
You gave a short nod before speaking, "I'll go with the girls, but I'll have to go and pack my things," you uttered and he hugged you quickly.
"Jory will go with you," he started, gesturing to the man standing at the door, who nodded to you with a small smile.
"How long have you been planning this, Ned?" you asked as you looked at the two fully packed trunks that sat in the middle of the room.
"Long enough," he told you as he smiled sadly at you. "Now go, we won't have much time." He pushed you towards the door lightly and you went, allowing Jory to open the door for you and follow you to your own chambers where you quickly threw your things into a trunk.
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