Game of Dragonborn.

[Chapter Size: 3000 Words.]

Third Person POV.

North.

...

...

"Lady Karstark, please, look at this." The maester approached the girl in the upper floors of Karhold.

She was watching the North from the window, thinking about all the crises happening at that very moment in the realm and within her family.

Her family had been large and well-off before all the troubles in the South began... She thought of the happy life she had there with her brothers and father... but everything started to fall apart when the flames of war reached the North.

Her two younger brothers were killed by Jaime Lannister during their capture before Robb Stark succeeded.

Her father was executed by Robb Stark, while the Karstark army, which had abandoned Robb's cause, was still making its way North. They hadn't arrived yet, as the North was a complete mess at that exact moment — whether due to the Southern war becoming a failure, the Bolton betrayal, the self-proclaimed king Stannis Baratheon seeking the support of the houses, the ironborn raiding Northern lands, or even an unprecedented number of wildlings crossing the Wall entirely, led by Daemon Targaryen.

Her older brother and rightful heir of Karhold and House Karstark was being held prisoner by the Lannisters after falling in battle...

And if that disgrace wasn't enough... her uncle, Arnolf Karstark, was trying to take control of House Karstark and stage a coup. He didn't yet have control of the castle, with the heir still alive — her brother — and with Lord Stark still alive as well, he had to be careful. But Alys knew he was manipulative and hadn't given up on his plans.

He wanted to marry her off to his son, to gain control of her house. Alys wanted to refuse this marriage, and for now she held control of the house — but how long would that last...? Would she have to flee Karhold? Where would she go?

Leaving all the family troubles aside, she turned to the maester and saw the letter in his hand.

He was nervous, while holding up the seal, still unbroken — indicating that not even the maester had read it, nor her uncle, and she was pleased that it had been delivered directly to her.

The Targaryen seal was something Jon had retrieved from the Citadel and Aemon had also kept at the Night's Watch. But it surprised those who received the letter — after all, how many decades had it been since the last time anyone received a letter with the three-headed dragon?

She saw the letters written directly on the front of the letter, stating that this was Daemon Targaryen's first response to the entire North.

She broke the seal and began to read. Her uncle should read the letter as well, but she had the best birth among the Karstarks currently occupying Karhold.

The letter was simple, direct, stating that Daemon Targaryen was fighting for his cause and intended to pacify the entire North, condemning House Bolton and asserting that all those who sided with the Targaryens would be rewarded.

It also reported on the Stark children — whom everyone believed to be dead — being in his camp, with the right to leave, according to Daemon's own words.

And the most shocking part for Lady Karstark was Jon's declaration immediately afterward.

"Any news from the South?" she asked the maester at once.

The maester shook his head. "No other house has sent us information," he informed.

"Look at this," she said, handing him the letter.

The maester began to read. "This..." he stammered at Daemon's declaration.

"If this is true, we'll soon hear news that the Dreadfort no longer exists. And it seems it happened last night," she said.

"If this is true, then we're also in danger, my lady. Perhaps we should recruit as many people as possible to guard the walls," the maester said with urgency in his voice.

"As if that could help fight a dragon, maester? If the stories from the South are true, that dragon brought down two castles in a single night in the Westerlands... We're at the mercy of a dragon that can destroy us whenever it wishes," she murmured.

Even though she was young, she had to take on responsibilities the moment the Karstark army advanced South for Robb's cause. It had been over a year since she began taking responsibility as Lady of the Karstarks, despite her uncle still holding the highest command of the castle, given by her own late father when he left Karhold to head South.

"May the gods protect us," the maester murmured at last.

"Inform me of any scrolls arriving by raven. We need to know what's happening in the North right now. And also call the master-at-arms. I need to have a meeting with him, and don't summon my uncle..." she said as the maester nodded and left the room.

Meanwhile, in House Cerwyn, Maelen Cerwyn received the letter, the maester having already read it, while giving her an urgent look.

Her husband had gone to support Robb's cause, while she stayed behind to care for their youngest son. Unfortunately, he ended up dying, and now her youngest boy had to take over. But he was just a child.

The boy was there beside her, not quite understanding why his mother looked so terrified while reading the scroll.

"Is something wrong, mother?" the boy murmured.

The woman, still shaken, turned back to him, gently touching his head. "We're in a very bad situation, my son."

She couldn't afford to try to hide things. He was now the Lord of House Cerwyn. He had to be strong. As much as she wanted to shield him from all these troubles, they were in difficult times. She couldn't afford to spare him.

As she began to explain the situation, the boy's eyes widened.

"A dragon, mother? A real dragon?" he asked, frightened.

"Yes, it seems it was here last night..." she murmured.

Everyone there was frightened, precisely because of the massive roars they had heard during the night, coming from afar.

It sounded like a monster on the horizon. And even though they had heard of the situation at the Wall and even the rumors from the South, knowing that a dragon had destroyed a castle so close to them terrified them.

"Are there many ironborn in our territory? And the Boltons?" the woman asked her master-at-arms, who was there with her.

"My lady, there's a considerable number of them. They're still raiding villages, but they don't seem to want to lay siege to our castle anymore. Meanwhile, there are many men in Hornwood's territory...

What that bastard Roose did to Lady Hornwood was terrible — he forced her to marry him and locked her in the tower. She died of starvation, and he took control of Hornwood's territory."

Besides that, they also wanted their territory, but still held firmly to their castles, even against the ironborn and Boltons, who wanted her son as a hostage so they could gain control of their land as well.

"Listen, we need to send scouts into Bolton territory. I want to know if this really happened. We must inform the North if this truly happened..." she said.

"This will be dangerous, my lady... it's better to seek help from Lord Stark in White Harbor..." the maester said. It was too dangerous, even if they wanted to confirm the situation.

"I understand... I hope Lord Stark arrives here soon." That was all she said, after all, her territory bordered the Manderlys'.

Besides the castles of House Mormont, Umber, House Karstark, House Cerwyn, and other Northern houses also began receiving their letters, shocking them all.

All the castles in other territories of House Stark — Hornwood, Dustin, Tallhart, Ryswell, Locke, Glover, the Mountain Clans, Flint of Widow's Watch, Flint of Flint's Finger, Reed — also started receiving the letter throughout the day, with ravens arriving from all sides of the North.

All began turning their attention to the North, where an army of wildlings was waiting to march South, along with a dragon and a Targaryen mounted on it.

At the same time, they waited for someone to confirm whether the destruction of the Dreadfort had truly happened.

To the North, the Mountain Clans were also discussing it.

In the West, they already had confirmed news of what had happened on Bear Island, while Deepwood Motte — still under siege by ironborn — seemed not to know what to do, but hoped someone, anyone, would appear before their castle to drive those bastards out.

Obviously, they were already against the wildlings and Daemon's cause.

Robett Glover had to assume leadership of the house now that the previous lord had been killed at the Red Wedding. The confirmation in the letter only sealed the terror that was spreading throughout the North.

Lady Dustin looked at the letter, frowning.

She still hated the Starks and liked Daemon's ideas — perhaps she was more inclined to support Daemon Targaryen — but she was also being pressured by an army of wildlings he brought from beyond the Wall not to accept his cause. At the same time, the fear of a dragon could be quite intimidating, even for a woman like her.

Other reactions emerged across the North.

Asha Greyjoy read the letter in that camp, that morning, while her men were already demanding to know how a raven had found her and delivered a letter directly to her with some kind of witchcraft.

"He says he'll kill us all and then go to Pyke," she muttered after finishing the letter.

"Something wrong, captain?" one of the men asked.

"Looks like our men in the North have fallen... Everyone who was on Bear Island is dead, from what I can see here. But somehow, this raven delivered a letter straight to me with a threat that... I don't believe," she growled, as the raven began flying away.

"Shoot it!" she demanded.

One of the ironborn quickly raised his bow and struck the raven before it could escape, killing it instantly with an arrow.

That was a direct insult against her, her men, and against Pyke.

She might believe that this Daemon Targaryen had destroyed the ironborn on Bear Island, but that didn't mean he truly had power over Pyke or over them there in the South.

They would leave the North devastated, with no chance of resisting the ironborn. The Northerners would be more concerned with rebuilding for the coming winter than dealing with them. By then, the strongholds, farms, and villages would all be destroyed, and the ironborn would be taking all the spoils to Pyke, won from these wild lands.

A strange reaction came from Ramsay Snow Bolton as he began to read the letter aloud.

"This is a lie. You're not going to believe this, are you, my lord?" said a young girl beside him — a lover of Roose Bolton who took part in his cruelties. She was the daughter of the man who tended the kennels at the Dreadfort. Her father was supposed to be there, and she didn't believe the veiled threat coming from that savage in the North.

"My lord... and those sounds we heard during the night?" a trembling voice came from the side.

Roose Bolton looked at him. It was Reek, his plaything.

"You're speaking without my permission," Roose murmured, mocking. "Perhaps I haven't tortured you enough to make you obedient."

"I'm sorry, my lord..." answered the man once called Theon Greyjoy, or what was left of him, murmuring and trembling.

"Anyway, he even mentions you here. Says you didn't kill the Stark children. I'm surprised... why didn't you tell me that?" Roose Bolton said with a serious look.

Jon had no way to defend himself, only trembled. "I... I didn't kill them. I took other children. I used them as an excuse." Reek spoke fearfully.

"Seems I'll have to keep you in the dungeons a bit longer, Reek. Or we could go to the Dreadfort and see if it really was destroyed by a dragon from the North," he laughed, while Reek kept trembling.

"Anyway, he says he's going to kill you too. Says he wants your head and plans to kill me as well... maybe I should take one of your savage lovers when he comes here and torture her in front of him," Ramsay said with a twisted smile, while the woman laughed, agreeing with him.

None of them truly believed a dragon had attacked and destroyed the Dreadfort, while Roose was still thinking about how the wildlings were far away and how he might help his father, who was demanding he take care of the ironborn in Moat Cailin.

His gaze returned to Theon Greyjoy. Maybe he could use him.

The raven that had delivered the letter only watched them, moving slightly away from Ramsay Bolton, but still remaining in Winterfell's great hall.

Jon in the North was listening to it all. Surely, Roose Bolton had no idea what kind of fate he had just sealed for himself in that moment — just like Asha Greyjoy. After all, Jon didn't like seeing his raven killed.

Meanwhile, in White Harbor, Lord Stark looked as though he had aged ten years while sitting and reading the letter. In front of him stood a red-haired woman along with Davos, Stannis's direct advisor. They waited for a response from Lord Stark as he read the letter just received from Lord Manderly.

Lord Stark read calmly and was left speechless upon finishing. He surely believed everything he had read and didn't know what to think.

On one hand, he was stunned by his nephew having a dragon and clearly declaring his rage, which was now aimed at him and his late wife who died at the Red Wedding.

That only deepened the storm of emotions he had been feeling over the past weeks. First, he had discovered that his son, along with his wife, had been betrayed by the Boltons. He felt weaker than ever before, and full of hatred.

At the same time, his heart was relieved to know his son was alive, coming to the North with a group of trusted people, and had also survived the attack from the Boltons and the Freys. There was no doubt the Lannisters had also been involved in the ambush at the Twins.

Knowing the Wall had fallen and that 180,000 wildlings were in the Gift frightened him, just as it did the rest of the North.

Jon always said, when asked, that he had no army for his cause. He used to say it would be resolved and revealed in time. Now he understood: Jon had gathered a host of men beyond the Wall. He had an army greater than any other king-beyond-the-Wall in history, having crossed the Wall for the first time.

And now all those men were here, obeying his commands, as he was preparing to march South.

He didn't know what to say as he kept remembering what was in the letter. His younger sons were alive as well. That was a huge relief and filled him with joy. He wanted to leave immediately to inform his daughter Arya, who was also in the castle, but he couldn't leave at that moment.

First, he had to conclude the conversation with the two representatives of Stannis Baratheon.

It was strange. He didn't really want to support them at that moment, while knowing Jon wouldn't allow him to back down — would spit in his face if he simply cowered. Jon wanted this battle. He had made that very clear to him.

Stannis seemed confident in fighting the wildlings, according to the words of the red witch — whom Lord Stark didn't like.

They wanted Lord Stark to bend the knee. Moreover, they made not just direct demands but truly absurd ones, wanting all the food Jon had purchased in Essos to be placed in this city and delivered to Stannis's army.

Even with the threat that they would invade White Harbor in search of the large stockpile of food, since Jon had purchased vast supplies, most of it already stored there with Lord Manderly, who had kept it all. After all, he feared Jon — which was perfectly understandable after everything Jon had done.

Now, his gaze returned to the two of them. He had to give an answer that would decide the fate of the entire North. But, if the things that had happened at the Dreadfort were confirmed as described in the letter, the entire North would plunge into chaos.

And so it happened.

Three days later, ravens began landing in the maester's quarters as the letters arrived. Lady Karstark herself had written to the entire North that the Dreadfort simply ceased to exist that night, also reporting the roars that had been heard in the early morning hours, from miles away.

All that remained of the once mighty house of the Red Kings was a pile of melted stone, full of corpses that hadn't even had the chance to flee their destruction.

At the same time, in the North, Jon's army finally began moving south.

------------

Raccoon Here:

I took a long time to write this chapter — I had to review the situation beyond the North and ended up writing more than 2,000 words, as I always do.

Now it's time for the army to advance, conquering everything.

I saw that Lady Karstark would marry Sigorn, the lord of the Thenns, in the books. I'm not sure if Jon killed him — I'll have to read that again when Jon conquers Karhold.

I added an OC, since there's actually no mention of Lady Cerwyn in the books as far as I've seen, so I created her so her son wouldn't be completely alone, especially since these events are taking place right after the Red Wedding.

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