An Excerpt from

'Inheritance and Lineages of the Great Families after the Targaryen Restoration'
by Grand Maester Samwell.


THE NORTH

House Stark

House Stark retained lordship of Winterfell and the role of Warden of the North. The titles of 'King in the North', 'King on the Wall', and 'King Beyond The Wall' were abolished under Daenerys II and Jon I.

Main Line

After the casualties of the war, Winterfell passed to the fourth son of Ned Stark, known to posterity as Rickon the Reckless. Lord Rickon refused to take any wife but Wylla Manderly, ten years his senior, but by all accounts the marriage was a very happy one, if tumultuous even by Northern standards. Following Lord Rickon's fatal goring during his ill-starred invasion of Skagos, the seat passed to his eldest son.

Issue: Brandon, Ned, Robb (Lord of Skagos), Ser Jon, Rickard (a ranger of the Night's Watch), Donnel, Catelyn (later Rykr), Torrhen

Other Branches

(1) Arya Stark was the heroine of a thousand songs and stories in her own lifetime. A famed beauty like her sister, she spent a colourful winter at the royal court as Mistress of Whispers, before engaging in various adventures in Westeros and the Free Cities. Lady Arya was a celebrated duelist and gained infamy across the known world as 'the Ice Dancer.' She eventually wed her loyal paramour and travelling companion, known to singers as 'the Bull'.

Issue: Nymeria (Baratheon, later Tarth)

(2) Sansa Stark wed her cousin Jon after he acceded to the Iron Throne, bearing twins within the year [See: Volume I]. However, the Queen suffered from poor health thereafter. Her strength took a further blow when Queen Val was lost in the Autumn Sickness, followed soon after by the king's sudden death in Braavos. Still just in her thirties, the Queen Mother retreated to a country residence where she had often convalesced during the princes' youth, eventually making her third and final marriage to its castellan.

Issue: King Jon II (Targaryen); Aemon (Targaryen, Prince of Dragonstone);
Issue: Elinor (Clegane, 'the Sunset Rose', later Dayne); Ser Eddard (Clegane, 'the Wolfhound'); Lord Commander Hugor (Clegane) of the Kingsguard.


Notes

My undying gratitude to the LITERALLY DOZENS of people who have come with me on this very long, very wordy journey, and particularly those who have taken the time to comment, review, or send me a message! I started this fic almost six years ago; the better part of the story (in more ways than one) went up over four or five months. Then real life got in the way, I forgot a lot of the finer detail that I'd liked about the first phase of the story, and I was so daunted by the scope of the third act that I never got around to writing it. Couldn't resist a happy ending, though.

In response to a few of the comments, yes I absolutely had a squee-fest over Alayne's tourney chapter and look forward to seeing how GRRM takes that forward - though obviously I trust him to do far more interesting things with his characters than I have! I'm not sure how the loss of the five-year gap will impact this plot thread, but I'd bet good money Sansa and Sandor meet again.

For those who like this sort of thing, this was basically my playlist at various points while writing:

Embrace – Chase & Status feat. White Lies (No More Lies, 2011)
Radioactive – Imagine Dragons (Night Vision, 2012)
Seven Devils – Florence + the Machine (Ceremonials, 2011)
Iron – Woodkid (The Golden Age, 2013)
Just Gazin' – Digitalism (I Love You Dude, 2011)
What If This Storm Ends? – Snow Patrol (A Hundred Million Suns, 2008)
Stratosphere – Digitalism (I Love You Dude, 2011)
Catgroove – Parov Stelar (The Art of Sampling, 2013)
Believe – Imagine Dragons (Evolve, 2016)
Everything In Its Right Place [live anytime since c.2008] – Radiohead (Kid A, 2000)