The Forgotten Son: A Benjen Stark SI

[KingOfIreland777]

It all happened so suddenly. One moment, I had just picked up a twelve-pack of Guinness for my grandfather, and the next, I was being hurled through a portal. The precise details after that were fuzzy, to say the least. All I knew was that I was here now...

I was in the body of….wait, what? This was not my body!

A knock at the door caused me to panic further. I was frozen in place from fear of who it could be.

They knocked again and, this time, called out a name. "Lord Stark," came the raspy voice. "A rider arrived less than an hour ago, my lord. Your brother is on his way back from the war. The rider reports he is less than half a day away."

I was now too afraid and too confused to answer. Where the fuck was I? And who was this Lord Stark they were referring to? I only knew of two different forms of media with that name. Tony Stark from Iron Man and the Marvel Universe and…oh dear, it was so obvious now.

The castle should have given it away, now that I think about it. I appeared to be a Stark of Winterfell from the "ASOIAF" universe created by George R.R. Martin. The question remained, though, which Stark was I, and how was I going to keep my emotions under control enough not to be seen as a maniac?

I took a deep breath. I had to keep calm. That was the main thing. As long as I didn't raise any suspicions, I would be okay. I just had to delve into some information from the man at the door without letting slip any information that I shouldn't know.

I finally opened the door. The man who stood in front of me wore the chain and robes of a maester. Luwin, maybe? His eyes widened at the sight of me, and for a moment, he seemed to be speechless. I resisted the urge to speak and instead nodded at him to continue.

It took him a moment to recover, but he finally managed it. "Lord Stark". He said. "Lord Eddard Stark is less than a day's ride away. Would you like me to tell Lady Catelyn?"

I thought about what the maester had said for a moment. Lady Catelyn? Lord Eddard Stark? And referring to me as Lord Stark. That could only mean I was one person in particular.

"Lord Benjen, are you alright, my lord?" Maester Luwin seemed concerned in my distant look, and he confirmed my theory as well. I was Benjen Stark in the body of his teenage years…what bullshit had I fallen into? Yet I could not show how I felt in front of the maester, in case he thought I was mad as a scone.

"Yes, Maester Luwin, I am fine, no need to worry," I said, while trying to hide my worry. "Please do inform my…good-sister, and ready the household. Their lord is to receive a warm welcome." Hopefully, I sounded Westerosi enough.

The maester stared at me, looking as if he wanted to say something, but instead just nodded his head and shuffled off.

Well, that was some of the mystery solved. I was indeed within the body of Benjen Stark before he left Winterfell to freeze his balls off in an all-male ice colony. Considering Ned was returning from the war, it was the year two eighty-two or thereabouts, putting me at about sixteen years of age.

Good god, I don't know what was more terrifying right now—being in Westeros or being sixteen again. It would be like having to choose between living in Crumlin or Coolock, except I didn't have a choice, it seemed, and I wasn't in Ireland anymore, never mind Dublin.

Unless this was one big dream, then it seemed like I was truly stuck in the body of Benjen Stark.

So here I was, in my very own fanfic of sorts, in the world of Westeros, trying to figure out what to do now.

At least I was Benjen Stark before he fucked off to the Wall, so I could realistically run as far away as I could as soon once Lord Eddard Stark returned, but what would be the point in that? From my knowledge of A Song of Ice and Fire, I knew it was the year two eighty-two. Robert was King, and the Long Night was over twenty years out. I didn't have to fuck off to the furthest part of Westeros just yet. I could stay around for a little while, and it would be okay… I hope. Or at least, that's how I began to rationalise it to myself. That pondering could wait for another time, though. I had to find Catelyn Stark and the future King in the North. Fortunately, they were somewhere within the castle.

Winterfell truly was as big as it had been described in the books. I had been in a few castles in my time back in the real world, but this? This was different. It was built by some magical forces the author conjured up and was kept in shape by one family for thousands of years. The most exciting part was that it was warm, thanks to the hot springs under the castle. Now, that was a beneficial bit of information I had never thought would come in handy, yet here it was affecting me. Thanks, George!

---

I found Lady Catelyn Stark in the great hall as she cradled her only son in her arms. She was a ginger, much like my ex, and her face mirrored that of official fan art rather than the interpretation of Cat on the TV show. Which, if nothing else, confirmed I wasn't in the version of this universe created by HBO, but was instead in the original source material.

I cleared my throat and hyped myself up for my second conversation in Westeros, this time with a high-born lady. If I were to fuck up and not come across as a highborn, then things could go to shite pretty quickly. Catelyn Stark was my sister-in-law and the Lady of Winterfell. She was also new to this place and was about to have her world turned upside down once her husband walked in with a bastard son in tow. So it was best to keep things brief, for both our sakes. The issue of Jon Snow would have to be dealt with, but not right now.

"Lady Stark," I called to her before bowing slightly. She returned my greeting with a small, shy smile as she cradled the future of House Stark in her arms.

"Lord Benjen, how are you today?" she asked.

"I am well, my lady." I lied. Needless to say, I was not very well. "How is my dear nephew?" I cooed at the child, as if he would give me some sort of answer.

"He is sleeping well, thank the Gods, and Maester Luwin reports that he is on his way to being a healthy boy." Her smile returned to her face.

"Aye, he will make a fine lord of Winterfell one of these days. I will make sure of it," I said in a half-joking tone. If only she knew the context.

I tried to continue the conversation using my limited range of talking skills. Starting a conversation about how "nice the weather has been the last few days" might work in Ireland, but not in the tundra-esque North.

"My Lady, would you like me to escort you to the courtyard? My brother is sure to arrive any moment now."

She nodded at me before calling to who I imagined was the nursemaid to inform them to take Robb to swaddle him in more clothes. It would not have been wise to let the baby out in the snow without as many layers as possible. I motioned for the guards to go to the courtyard and was about to leave before my sister-in-law stopped me. "Lord Benjen," she called out. "May I speak to you privately for a moment?" I gulped, but turned around and waited until we were alone.

It was then that her mood turned almost sour. "The soldier who acted as your brother's outrider, the one who delivered the news of his impending return. One of my ladies-in-waiting heard him spread tales about my husband, about how he had been unfaithful to his marriage vows while at war." She paused briefly, and I used this as my chance to speak.

"I did not hear that, my lady." I lied through my teeth, well, kind of. I hadn't heard this, um, let's call it a "rumour," that much was true, but given my knowledge of this world before my landing here, I was well aware that Eddard Stark was indeed riding North with his bastard son in tow, or supposed bastard son, depending who in the fandom you asked. I was under the presumption that this was an R plus L equals J realm.

"Well, do you think it may be true? I doubt anyone knows your brother as well as you do, my lord." Lady Catelyn said, trying to push me for a more concrete answer, I reckoned. I decided it was best to choose my words carefully, "My lady, I am sorry to say that I do not know my brother as well as I would like to. He has been in the Vale for years. I only saw him briefly when he came home to call the banners, but before that, it was the Tourney at Harrenhal, and years had passed before that time."

Her face was stricken with concern at my words, I hoped I didn't fuck things up. "Very well, my lord, we will find out the truth soon enough, I suppose." She then bowed her head and walked out of the room with her son in her arms.

What the fuck was I meant to do now? I had to think of something and think of it fast, Ned was about to arrive home, and it was during this time that Benjen, the real Benjen, fucked off to the Night's Watch, which made as much sense as Tywin's campaign in the Riverlands or the numbers these lords have in their armies, but how was I going to change things? The pressure was starting to mount again. Perhaps it was time to walk around. That usually helped me take my mind off things back in the real world.

Speaking of the real world, I was actually rather impressed with how I could hide the absolute mental fear I was feeling right now. The person I was back in a small Irish town was already starting to be buried by this fake Benjen Stark. It was all for show, maybe, but a show I would probably have to play for the rest of my life.

I made my way out to the courtyard with two guards trailing behind as I strolled. They followed me until we reached the entrance to the godswood, where I dismissed them.

The outside areas of Winterfell were beautiful in their own unique way. It was summer right about now, as far as I could tell from my knowledge of ASOIAF, but it was still cold, and it seemed snow had fallen recently.

I sat down on a tree stump to try to gather my thoughts. I had no fancy sword to polish, so I couldn't copy Ned Stark. Instead, I just sat there, figuring out my next move. What was the best thing to do? Neddy boi was galloping up the road right this moment. I would have to think fast. What could I offer him? I was his heir after Robb, so I had that going for me, and I wasn't willing to go to the fucking Watch, so I was sure he would find something for me.

I could be his Captain of the Guards, except I wasn't particularly skilled with a blade, given that I was some Redditor from the year 2023 body-snatching a high-born lord, so what was I to do? It wasn't as if the answer to all my woes would fall right out of the sky.

Just then, I heard a crack above me. I looked up to see the sky had opened up in a circle formation. I thought I was seeing things at first, but it seemed something was falling right out of the sky. It was only a speck at first, but it quickly gained speed. This mystery device of some kind turned out to be a black box. Next, a crack occurred as it crashed into the weirwood tree at an extreme force of speed only broken by the strength of the branches, and before I knew it, this black box was right beside me, landing with a thud.

I could not believe my eyes. It was Guinness. It was a box of Guinness, possibly the same box I had bought for my grandfather before I ended up here. What the actual fuck was I meant to do with my Grandfather's Guinness?

"Lord Benjen." One of the guards called from a distance away. "Lord Stark is moments away. He will be expecting you to meet him in the courtyard. Lady Stark already awaits with Lord Robb."

Who gives a fuck about tradition? I just found a fucking twelve-pack of Guinness in the middle of the Winterfell godswood. That's what I thought about saying, but it was best not to draw attention to myself. "I will be there momentarily, I am just finishing my prayer," I said, trying not to sound like I had lost my shit too much.

I heard the guard's footsteps as he walked back to the castle. I was expected to meet my supposed brother, but I could hardly do that while holding something that was clearly not from this time. I considered if it would have been best to take the packaging and cans apart but decided against it, as that would just mean more things to hide. No, it was best if everything was together.

So I took the packaging and placed it behind the tree stump. I could hear the cans rattling within it. How they were not destroyed by the impact was beyond me. I just knew by the size that it was definitely a twelve-pack. That was my grandfather's favourite pack size to get. Pity it cost over twenty euros.

I covered the packaging up with as much snow as I could in an attempt to keep the cans cold. God only knows if it was going to work, but it's not like there was much I could do with them anyway.

Satisfied with my work, I ran towards the courtyard to await my brother.

---

Moments after arriving and fixing myself, Eddard Stark trotted through the gates of Winterfell atop his steed. He looked younger, much younger, in fact, but his face more resembled the version of himself from the books rather than the flashbacks shown in the later seasons of the show.

"Lord Stark, Winterfell is yours," I said, hoping it wasn't out of character or tradition to say such a thing. Eddard stood in front of me for a moment, staring at me, suspicious of me, maybe? It was hard to tell. Slowly, a slight smile appeared on his face. "It is good to see you, brother. You have my thanks for looking after Winterfell when I was away." I let out a silent sigh of relief. I had not been found out quite yet, anyway.

He dismounted, and I moved in to hug the man that I was to pretend was my brother, at least until I could think of a way out of this mess. It was almost as if someone heard my inner thoughts, because I noticed a serving lady carrying a babe into the castle, but it wasn't just me who noticed. Lady Catelyn saw it, too, judging by the look on her face.

"My lady," Ned said nervously as he grabbed his arranged wife's hand to kiss it. "You have my thanks for bringing my child all the way here from Riverrun. May I hold him?" I watched as Cat nodded slightly at Ned. The new Lord of Winterfell held out his hands to be handed the future King in the North. "Well met, Robb. I have been waiting a long time to meet you for myself," he cooed at the child.

"Do you approve of the name, my lord? It is not a traditional northern name, but I thought it a good choice to honour our new king." She said nervously.

Ned smiled at her. "Yes, my lady, I think it is a great name, a name fit for the next Lord of Winterfell."

She returned his good-natured comment with another shy smile. Cat looked as if she was about to say something again, but I decided it best to interrupt them as there were important matters that needed to be said in private. "My lord, my lady, would it not be better if we continued this conversation inside the castle? I am sure my nephew would appreciate being in the warmth, as would I."

---

The sun had set by the time Ned called me to his solar. That wasn't quite an indication of how many hours had passed, given how weird time was in this universe, but it was the best I could do.

My approach to the door to the solar was interrupted by angry whispers on the other side. "And you plan to keep him here?"

"Aye, I do," replied a male voice. "He is my son. Let him and Robb be raised as brothers."

"And what if your precious base-born son disagrees with your ideas? What if he decides he wants to be Lord of Winterfell? Would you dare put Robb, your true-born son, in harm's way to benefit your love child, my lord?" The female voice snarled.

"Robb would never be at risk, my lady. You have my word. Jon will be Robb's loyal man to a fault. I will make sure of it." Ned said, with passion seeping through his voice.

"I would rather not be forced to take that chance, my lord," came an icy reply.

I chose to enter the room at that very moment. It was clear things were escalating further than I would have expected.

"Lord Stark, Lady Stark, I am sorry to interrupt, but…" The truth was that I wasn't sorry at all and it didn't seem like it annoyed anyone. Rather, I was a scapegoat for breaking up a rather intense conversation.

"You need not apologise, Lord Benjen. I need to attend to my son anyway" Cat said pridefully as she picked up her skirts while glaring at Ned one last time as she left the room for good.

I watched as the Lady of Winterfell made her way down the hall and around the corner before I closed the door.

"Lord Stark." I began.

"There is no need for that formality here, Benjen. Besides, I am afraid we have much more important matters to attend to," Ned replied grimly.

I could only nod, sit, and await my lord's command. "As you know from my ravens, Lyanna died in a tower in the middle of Dorne, as did most of my companions and the three Kingsguard who were her makeshift gaolers."

"Aye." I nodded, pretending I received such ravens, I could only presume the previous Benjen, the real Benjen that is, did, in fact, know what Eddard Stark was talking about from a personal point of view. I just knew it from meta-knowledge.

"What the ravens did not include was the fact that Lyanna bore a babe before she died." He let the words hang for a moment.

This had to be the time when he admitted that the child he brought home, the one his wife had been so upset about, was not actually his own bastard but the child of Lyanna and Rhaegar.

"That child you brought home, I can only assume, is hers and, therefore, the last living child of Rhaegar Targaryen." I blurted out. "It will all work out fine, Ned. I will help you keep the child safe. You need not explain anymore to me." I then placed my hand on his shoulder. "We will make sure the child has a good life. Catelyn will come around eventually and will at most ignore him most of the time, don't you worry." I said, trying to reassure him.

"Benjen…" Ned said so cautiously that it had me alarmed. "What I was about to say was that Lyanna died giving birth to a baby girl, and that babe died soon after as she had no access to a wetnurse."

"She gave birth to a girl?" I managed to stumble out, utterly confused.

"Yes." He continued. "Rhaegar got his Visenya, but it cost his own pathetic life and, more importantly, the life of our sister and our niece."

"P-pathetic?" I stuttered.

"Aye, Rhaegar is a pathetic man who ran off with our sister, forced her to marry him in a sham wedding, and then raped her on their wedding night. May Rhaegar Targaryen rot in the Seven Hells for all the war and destruction he caused." Ned's anger was genuinely frightening. This whole situation had been very confusing, to say the least.

"And what of the babe you brought home? If it is not Lyanna's bastard, then whom does he belong to?" I asked.

"He is from my seed. His name is Jon, Jon Snow." Ned answered matter of factly.

"Yes, Ned, I figured out that much myself." Well, I did eventually. "I was asking who his mother is."

Ned sighed. "His mother is Ashara Dayne. Unfortunately, in her grief at seeing her brother dead, she threw herself from the tower of Starfall, leaving behind only Jon. He is safest with his father, and that is where he will be."

There was a lot more work to do than I thought. I guess I was going to need to visit the godswood again. The Guinness was calling to me.

 

[pentheaus]

I fuck with it

 

[KingOfIreland777]

I fuck with it

Click to shrink...

Thanks! I was nervous, this is my first time posting a fic on any type of forum, I usually just stick to AO3 haha

 

[tariq]

Looking forward to more chapters

 

[KingOfIreland777]

Looking forward to more chapters

Click to shrink...

Thanks! I have 4 more ready to go, there seems to be an audience, so I will probably post within a few days

 

[NakedFury]

God damn! what a twist.

You have to be one of the few people that went with that twist and just had Ned break into a full vitriolic moment slamming Rhaegar for all his worth.

Thanks man, I was not expecting this.

 

[KingOfIreland777]

God damn! what a twist.

You have to be one of the few people that went with that twist and just had Ned break into a full vitriolic moment slamming Rhaegar for all his worth.

Thanks man, I was not expecting this.

Click to shrink...

Glad you liked it! yeah I decided I was going to be one of the few not to contribute to R+L=J, but hey Rhaegar still got his Visenya...I guess.

 

[Simplexity]

Nooooo Ashara!!!! Damn RIP, also it's gonna suck for Jon being raised with the rest of them instead of heading out with Benjen...

Oh well

 

[ATP]

Thanks! I have 4 more ready to go, there seems to be an audience, so I will probably post within a few days

Click to shrink...

What kind of knowledge your average irish have? becouse it would be nice to made steamships or guns, but ,you need knowledge for that.I,for example,could not built even matchlock,not mention AK47.
So,what your MC coud build?

P.S he could get some castle and care about Jon there.

 

[KingOfIreland777]

Nooooo Ashara!!!! Damn RIP, also it's gonna suck for Jon being raised with the rest of them instead of heading out with Benjen...

Oh well

Click to shrink...

Oh don't worry, there's more to come in that regard I wouldn't say heading out with Benjen is off the table but he's only a newborn at this stage

 

[KingOfIreland777]

What kind of knowledge your average irish have? becouse it would be nice to made steamships or guns, but ,you need knowledge for that.I,for example,could not built even matchlock,not mention AK47.
So,what your MC coud build?

P.S he could get some castle and care about Jon there.

Click to shrink...

So in this case, I don't see a lot of uplift coming. I don't want to spoil too much but I'll say the uplift will stay to what's based on what the cans holding the Guinness are made of and what I can get out of that, but also some changes to how the law system works down the line (that will make sense by the end of chapter 5).

In regards to Jon, Benjen and a castle...stay tuned

 

[Ahtu]

Hmm... I don't see much potential for consequential change here. Based both on what you wrote, and your annotations in the comments... He might rebuild Moat Cailin, and eventually provide them better defense against any potential southern invasions. But would that even make up for him not being there to help defend the wall, and keep back the white walkers later on?

In terms of knowledge, you admit his understanding of how to recreate more modernized concepts is very limited and won't really go anywhere. That means they will lack resources to adequately rebuild, man and refurbish whatever fortress he takes over. All the more since he doesn't have Benjen's memories about how things work.

Worse, he doesn't have Benjen's memories about being trained in melee combat. So even his ability to defend himself is very limited.

Frankly, with this premise, his limited resources in spite of his position, and these limits. It's hard to see how he will make any significant impact here. Maybe he could build a small force to raid certain scumbags, and search out certains items he knows about. But again... Realistically? Rather limited.

Hope you will find a good way to prove me wrong.

 

[L1kh]

What about forming a Freikorps kinda thing and I'm talking 7 years war Freikorps could do something like that make it sorta like the British East India company but less slaves.
Also a Freikorps was a type of military unit from Germany usually raised by a private citizen/noble could go Cossack/hussar vibes maybe a Jaeger kinda thing where the troops are all recruited from hunters/rural folk

 

[L1kh]

Or highland guard/Cold stream/Irish guards they're probably more up MC's alley

 

[KingOfIreland777]

Hmm... I don't see much potential for consequential change here. Based both on what you wrote, and your annotations in the comments... He might rebuild Moat Cailin, and eventually provide them better defense against any potential southern invasions. But would that even make up for him not being there to help defend the wall, and keep back the white walkers later on?

In terms of knowledge, you admit his understanding of how to recreate more modernized concepts is very limited and won't really go anywhere. That means they will lack resources to adequately rebuild, man and refurbish whatever fortress he takes over. All the more since he doesn't have Benjen's memories about how things work.

Worse, he doesn't have Benjen's memories about being trained in melee combat. So even his ability to defend himself is very limited.

Frankly, with this premise, his limited resources in spite of his position, and these limits. It's hard to see how he will make any significant impact here. Maybe he could build a small force to raid certain scumbags, and search out certains items he knows about. But again... Realistically? Rather limited.

Hope you will find a good way to prove me wrong.

Click to shrink...

Well, I may or may not prove you wrong, I will sleep at night either way, it's no biggie to me if you don't like it, that's just life, I appreciate the respectful conversation!

I was always afraid of flames and shit and was proven wrong, everyone has been nice even if they disagree or whatever term that would fit better.

But what I will say is, and you aren't going to magically know this so I'm not blaming you, is Benjen isn't going to do anything with Moat Cailin, there is bigger stuff in store and it will probably lead more into the crack in how I go about it, as we can already see from the Guinness, like imagine an SI fic where a random alcoholic drink is the whole selling point? ridiculous!

But the thing is, Benjen is a rather suitable bachelor when you think about it, obviously nowhere near to Robert (who is married by now of course), but he's second in line to Winterfell and would most likely be regent gaurenteed if something happened to Ned (it won't). So there is much a family can get from marrying him. Marrying the brother of the Warden of the North. The same Warden who is best friends with the King, the same King who may just enjoy using Benjen as a replacement if he were to come North....

Idk maybe that doesn't make sense yet, but it should soon enough

 

[KingOfIreland777]

When I first arrived in this world a couple of days ago, I was under the presumption that I was going to bullshit my way to the top and help Ned keep the parentage of his nephew - our nephew, I should say - a secret. Never in a million years would I have guessed that I would end up in a universe where "N plus A equals J" was a thing. I didn't personally dislike the theory. In fact, I only disliked the version that had all of Ned and Cat's children be bastard born, with Jon being the only legitimate child. Fortunately, that was not the case here.

After Ned's initial bombshell threw me off course that night in his solar, he went on to explain how he "rode Ashara" (my words, not his, but he did indeed have sex with her) while at Harrenhal. Lo and behold, that night of pleasure bore fruit in the form of Jon Snow. One could argue that he would more accurately be called Jon Sand, but honestly, who cares?

Once he made his way to Dorne, Ned found Lyanna and her dead babe in the tower. He made his way to Starfall, along with Arthur's body. The grief caused by knowing that her lover killed her brother was too much, and Ashara dove from the highest tower of Starfall. Ned then took it upon himself to move Jon from Starfall to Winterfell with little objection from the living Daynes.

That whole fiasco delayed Ned and seemed to have contributed to him arriving after Catelyn did instead of before, which may have been for the best.

Not only that though, since Jon was conceived all the way back at the Tourney at Harrenhal, he was quite visibly older than Robb, as opposed to canon, where it was more up in the air. Jon was over a year old at this stage.

To the surprise of no one, Catelyn Stark was quite angry that Ned would dare raise his bastard son in the same castle as their true-born children, and to a fair extent, I really did understand why that would upset her. Granted, that understanding came from reading her chapters in the ASOIAF book series, but the point still stood. Ned Stark kept Jon near, that was the crux of the issue. Now, if you were a fanfic writer, you could argue that Jon Snow - who was known as being the spitting image of his Uncle Ned - might be found out if he went elsewhere.

As some believed, Jon "looked like Rhaegar in a certain light." That was not the case in any such reality, especially this one. Jon was, at the end of the day, half Dayne and half Stark, for better or worse.

So, ultimately, the question remained. Would Ned Stark part with his child if it meant less stress for him and his wife?

My brooding in the godswood was interrupted by the man I was thinking about at that very moment. "Benjen, may I join you?" Ned asked.

"You are the lord here. It is not for me to deny your request to sit upon the sacred tree stump." I japed. The jape received a small smile of recognition.

He sat down as I began the conversation, "How are your sons settling in?"

"Good," Ned replied. "They are to be milk brothers as well as blood brothers. I must do what I can to make sure there is no animosity between them." It was a noble task the Lord of Winterfell gave himself, that was sure.

"And what of Lady Catelyn? Is there animosity between you and her?" I prodded for answers.

"You know there is, brother, you witnessed our fight the other day." He said while looking away. "I never wanted this marriage. She was Brandon's bride, not mine."

"Aye, you have that right, Eddard, and you have my sympathies for being put in such a situation. I grieve for father every day, as I do for both Lyanna and Brandon, but they are gone now, Ned."

My "brother" looked at me intensely, waiting for what I would say next. "We are all that remains, Lord Stark. You, me, and those two young boys. This is not the situation you chose, Lord Stark, but it is the one we are in. It is not fair on you nor her, but it is the reality."

Of course, I knew deep down that Ned and Cat would eventually patch things up and come to truly love each other, but I can't exactly predict if it would take longer or not due to Jon actually being his son this time around.

"Brother," Ned said with a sigh. "I feel you believe I have some sort of dislike for my wife. I do not. This is simply not the path I chose, but instead, it was chosen for me and her as well." He began to look at me intently. "Deep down, I know that I need to try to make things better, but I want to do that without putting Jon in any danger. I want my sons to be raised as brothers, and I want to prove to Lady Catelyn that Jon is not a danger to his brother and never will be."

"And by all means, do that, Lord Stark, but I believe you need to make other plans for Jon," I said, trying to choose my following words carefully as Ned's frown turned into something more hostile.

"And what would you have me do? Send him to the Night's Watch? Send him to House Dayne? Exile him to Essos?" The man's words were full of emotion.

"No, I would have you foster him with a loyal bannerman here in the North, within visiting distance, but only once he is of age." Ned seemed to ponder the thought for a moment.

"Tell me, Benjen, do you still plan to join the Night's Watch?" He asked. Obviously, I didn't. Why the actual fuck would I want to go freeze my arse off in an all-men penial colony?

"No, I no longer plan to join the Night's Watch," I replied cautiously. I did not know what he was going to say next.

"Good," Ned exclaimed. "Then you can put your words into action, brother."

The look of confusion and then eventual understanding lit up my face. "You want me to foster Jon?" He just nodded in response. "And where am I to do that? In your castle would be of little to no benefit to anyone. I am not a lord nor a knight. I am just…"

"You are the brother of the Lord of Winterfell, and more importantly, you are a Stark by birth. Though you may not be a lord at this moment, I can make you a lord at the stroke of a pen if needs be." Ned retorted. "That would also mean you will have to marry."

I was shocked by the proposal, or was it really an order at this stage? But honestly, I shouldn't have been shocked. I was a spare son, someone to provide a backup if things were to go south for Ned and his offspring, which is precisely what happened in canon.

I chuckled. "Very well, brother, who would you have me marry? Where shall I be lord of, and how does Jon fit into all this?"


He stood up from the stump in the godswood and started to pace back and forth. "You know of the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch?" I tried to search my memory banks. I couldn't remember if Jeor Mormont was Lord Commander yet, but I could remember that there was some Dornish man who was in charge before him.

"Aye, I know of him," I said unsurely.

"Aye, Lord Commander Qorgyle is his name," Ned said, suspicious of my previous answer if I were to guess. "Do you remember that time that our grandsire visited the Watch? Father told Brandon, and Brandon told me. Lord Edwyle visited the Watch at one stage during the aftermath of the disappearance of Lord Brynden Rivers."

"Lord Bloodraven?" I exclaimed.

"Aye," He replied. "The former Hand of the King disappeared beyond the Wall while on a ranging and was never found again. Our grandsire was called to assist in locating the Targaryen bastard, but he was clearly unsuccessful, as were the rest of the rescue party."

Lord Bloodraven was alive, of course; it was just that Ned and the rest of the world didn't know it yet. Although the word alive was stretching it a bit, but as of the last book, he was still pulling the strings in some fashion. Of course, the fanfiction part of the ASOIAF community always took that to the next level, and who could blame them? It was fun.

Ned continued. "Lord Edwyle took note of how the Night's Watch was in good shape but could certainly improve, and while he provided aid where he could, the fact of the matter is that the state of the Night's Watch has drastically declined over the centuries, Benjen and it is no better now."

"And what is it that you need of me, Ned?" I thought I was finally beginning to understand what he was hinting at.

"The first Ranger of the Night's Watch, Jeor Mormont, wrote to Father several times. They knew each other from the War of the Ninepenny Kings. He reported that the Night's Watch required more men and more coin, and I plan to give them the latter."

A lightbulb lit up in my head, and I finally grasped what the Lord of Winterfell was thinking. He wanted to use some of the land belonging to the Night's Watch and raise new lords to look after it.

"You want me to negotiate with the Lord Commander?"

"Aye, I want you to give him an offer. All he has to do is hand over the land he doesn't use, and we will build upon it. There is still good land there, full of fertile soil. If he signs it over, you will build upon it in my name and in the name of Jon, for this is where he will claim his lordship once he is of age. To you, though, dear brother, I plan to give you Sea Dragon Point."

This world continued to surprise me, to say the least.

What started as a trip to the godswood to brood about the knowledge I had learned and how it directly contradicted the lore of the world it was based around. Ended with me becoming Lord of Sea Dragon Point with an agreement to foster Jon once he was old enough. I would presume I was drunk if it wasn't for the fact that I hadn't seen the Guinness since I had to hide it in the snow a couple of days prior.

---

Putting aside all my thoughts about lordships, Guinness, and rural Ireland, it was time to talk to Lady Catelyn. It took a few hours for me to mentally prepare myself, but that time was required in order for Ned to speak to her first.

I knocked on the door of Robb's chambers and I found her sitting with the baby cradled in her arms. She greeted me politely and motioned for me to sit down.

"Would you like to hold your nephew?" she asked, which caught me off guard. I was preparing for some sort of fanon Cat belittlement for some reason. Not sure why. It just seemed like something out of pocket that might happen for the shits and giggles.

"Of course, Lady Stark," I said as she handed me the future King in the North. A future that I hoped to avoid for his own sake and for the sake of the whole of House Stark. Robb was surely only a few months old, yet his auburn hair had already begun to grow into place, if only just a little bit.

"My Lord husband tells me you will be married soon, Lord Benjen. Perhaps you will give Robb a cousin to play with in a couple of years." She said matter of factly. She was wrong, though. They were all wrong, even though they didn't know it. Ned had not announced my betrothal yet, and he wouldn't because I refused to marry until I had reached my eighteenth name day.

My excuse when Ned pressed the issue on me was that a large amount of time would be required to arrange the land agreement with the Night's Watch. There was no time for me to think about marriage, but in actual fact, my modern-day senses were "getting in the way." It was still creepy to be married off at eighteen, but less than sixteen. Let's just hope the bride was closer in age to me. I decided not to ponder that for much longer.

"Aye, my lady. That is the truth of it, so I assume you and my brother have an understanding?"

She sighed and looked away before meeting my eyes again. "Aye, we do. He apologized for the way he treated me and told me all about his suggestion regarding the living arrangements of his son in the coming years."

"And what are your thoughts on the matter?" I'm not sure I even wanted to know, if I was being honest with myself.

"I…" She stuttered. "Eddard Stark is my husband. I will abide by his command.. but," she paused. "I must admit I am happy with this arrangement."

I nodded. "I am glad you are content, Lady Stark. I want the best for my nephews, both my nephews, and I also want you and my brother to have a happy life together."

"So do I, Lord Benjen, but …" she trailed off before finishing what she was going to say.

"Please, Lady Catelyn, speak your mind here. You have nothing to fear from me," I said, trying to comfort her.

"This boy." She continued. "No matter what, he will always be a reminder that my husband was unfaithful to me, that he was once in another woman's arms. It is not something I can move past, Lord Benjen. I hope you can understand that there will always be a part of me that considers him a threat to Robb and any other children your brother and I may have in the future."

I remained silent for a moment, letting the words sink in. What I wanted to say could completely screw things up for the future births of Sansa, Bran, Arya, and Rickon; the feral child the show forgot about.

But I believed that deep down, if it worked, perhaps things in Winterfell could be overall healthier and happier.

"Let me ask you something, Lady Stark, if I may. Do you consider me a threat to Ned's Lordship?"

She was taken aback but eventually shook her head. "No, Lord Benjen, I would never….you are true born."

"Aye, and how about your uncle? The deeds of Ser Brynden Tully are known even as far north as Winterfell. Is he a threat to your father or to your younger brother?"

"No, of course not." She said, astonished by the remark. "My dear uncle refuses to marry regardless, and has just taken up a position in the service of my sister. What is the meaning of this, Lord Benjen? What is it you are trying to prove?"

"Lady Catelyn, your claims are based on which side of the bedsheet a person is born on, but have you forgotten about Maegor the Cruel? He was legitimate without question. It did not stop him from usurping his nephew once his brother died."

"Maegor was different, my lord. He was always angry and was rumoured to be controlled by his sorceress of a mother."

"Be that as it may, he is still recognised in the history books as King, much like how despite being known as Aegon the Usurper, Aegon the Second was also crowned King and therefore recognised as one in the history books, while Rhaenyra, the woman who was named heir by her kingly father goes down in the history books as a simple Princess."

"Are you trying to say that Robb is in danger of being usurped by you?" She narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"By me? No", I scoffed. "You have nothing to fear from me, nor from my children. I will teach them to be loyal to their cousin until their final breath, but I suggest you do the same."

"My lord?"

"Lady Catelyn, you and my brother are going to have a small army of children, I am sure. How are we to know that your second-born son might not decide one day that he is to be Lord of Winterfell? Maybe he manages to get the backing of a powerful family whispering in his ears about how he was always his father's favourite anyway. Tell me, how do we avoid such a thing from happening?"

"By teaching them to be honourable in life and loyal to their brother, their father, their wife, and their king." She said matter of factly. Catelyn was no idiot. I knew that now, even if a couple of years ago, I ignored the fact.

She, above all else, loved her children and her family. Perhaps some decisions she made were foolish, but she was not a fool herself.

"That is exactly correct, Lady Stark, so tell me, why would Jon be any different? Do you mistrust me to raise him right? Or your husband?" My questions were becoming more accusatory.

"No…I trust you to raise Eddard's bastard to be a good man." She eventually admitted.

"Good, because that is what I will do. Jon and Robb will be inseparable, and by the time Jon is a man grown, he will lay down his life for his brother if need be," I said assuringly. Of course, I didn't actually want Jon dying for Robb or Robb dying for Jon.

The point I was trying to make was that being born out of wedlock did not automatically make you a demon spawn, and just because you were born while your parents were married did not mean you would shit roses all your life because of how great you are.

"I am glad to hear that. I just hope you don't expect me to treat Eddard's bastard the same as my own trueborn children." She snapped.

"I do not," I said honestly. "I am not asking you to treat him like your son. I just ask that you do not resent him for his father's sins. Resentment breeds further resentment, my lady, and it was not the motherless boy who is to blame for your husband having relations with a woman before he was even set to marry you. Only he is to blame for that," I said as I handed my nephew back to his puzzled mother, while I then proceeded to walk out of the room.

---

My conversation with the Lady of Winterfell left me with a bittersweet taste in my mouth. The fact that I was going to be a lord, combined with my conversations with both Ned and Cat, meant that Jon would have a subjectively better life overall, even if his life in canon really wasn't that bad. At least I would be around as opposed to canon Benjen, who went to the Wall the first chance he got.

However, the question remained: had I cost Eddard Stark his marriage? Had my meddling meant we would experience a world where Robb Stark was the only child from the marriage of Ned and Cat, meaning we would never get the next three-eyed raven, faceless assassin, etc.?

I, for all intent and purpose, quite possibly put my foot in it in my attempt to overcompensate for the fanon "Evil Stepmother Cat" I used to partake in. To each their own, but Jonderella was never a thing in canon and would never be a thing here, either.

"It appears the godswood has become your favourite hiding spot, brother." It was the voice of Eddard Stark, of course. His tone seemed to suggest he was pissed off, probably with me.

"What can I say, Ned? It is a good place to think about one's choices," I said truthfully. Well, that was what I was doing, after all.

"Have you thought about the words you spoke to the Lady of Winterfell?" He growled, which caused me to gulp.

"I only said what I said out of love for you, Jon, and the North. I hope you can understand that. None of my words were meant to cause offence." My voice had turned into a whisper of embarrassment. Perhaps I had pushed things a little too far.

"Lady Catelyn herself told me exactly what you said, so save the attempt to try to justify it… but she also told me that your words, although out of turn, were meant with a cold kindness, so I will not be pushing this any further today, Benjen." I sighed in relief upon hearing those words.

"You have my gratitude, Lord Stark," I said, bowing my head. It was unlikely something extreme could happen to me due to the whole kinslaying aspect that is highly looked down upon in this world. It was clear I may have been close to receiving some other punishment, but at the same time, that would have meant Ned would be declaring his dirty laundry to the world.

Before he could respond, I decided to probe the conversation. "Are you and Lady Stark on better terms now that you got to discuss your issues?"

Ned moved to the other side of the stump but remained standing. It seemed he was restless. "Aye, it appears we have some sort of understanding. She has agreed to try to be fair to Jon during his time here and will support his lordship as long as he does not marry a wife with a higher station than Robb."

"I believe that is fair. Does this mean you can focus on restoring our house?" I asked.

Ned narrowed his eyes. "Yes, I believe it does. I think it best we discuss who you are to marry before we worry about any castles, Benjen."

Oh shit, I had forgotten about my own marriage arrangement. I was about to be sold off like my grandfather's heifers, much like every woman in this story. God, it sucked.

"Did we not agree earlier to wait until my eighteenth name day, so as to give me time to focus on preparing to build two castles?" I asked.

"We did." He admitted. "And that is why I have incorporated that into the choice of your future bride."

Which woman was he about to hook me up with?

"Benjen Stark, I am happy to announce that I have plans to send a raven to the father of your new bride. On your eighteenth nameday, as long as all goes well, you will marry… Barbrey Dustin. The letter for her father has already been drawn up, and Maester Luwin is looking over it as we speak." He smirked cheerfully.

I felt multiple waves of emotion from the news. The idea of marrying at eighteen still creeped me out a bit, but at least the woman in question was an actual woman. One who blamed the maesters for all her woes, when she wasn't blaming Ned Stark, that was, but an actual adult all the same. The child marriage aspect of ASOIAF would always creep me out. Nothing could change my hostile feelings towards it.

I smiled at my brother. "Very well, Lord Stark, that is agreeable to me. Thank you for considering my concerns."

"Good, now we have lots of work to do, Benjen. I must insist you join me in my solar every day, for there is much for you to learn."

"I am not the only one." I quipped. He did not deny it.

"Then we have no time to lose. House Stark has lasted for a thousand years. We will do our best to be amongst the lords remembered for their deeds."

It appeared this version of Eddard Stark was much more ambitious. Was it because he wasn't hiding Rhaegar's bastard this time around?

A clinging sound interrupted my cheery thought. "What was that?" Ned said suddenly.

It took me a second to realise it, but it could only have been one thing, those fucking Guinness cans.

Ned then turned around and started to move to the side of the tree stump, only to trip and fall over my grandfather's Guinness.

"Benjen, come help me! There seems to be some sort of crate hidden in the snow." He said as I tried not to look nervous.

He then wiped the snow away and popped the crate of Guinness in front of me. It was indeed the twelve-pack I had hidden in the snow, but I could hardly admit it.

"What is it? Is it some sort of weapon?" He asked while surveying the box before finding the opening and producing the can.

"Do you hear that Benjen? There seems to be some sort of liquid inside this cup of sorts. How do we get it out?"

"May I have a hold of it?" I said nonchalantly.

He threw the can my way, causing it to sizzle violently. I surveyed it further, pretending like I didn't know what it was before I finally bit the bullet and pointed out the part where you open the can.

"Perhaps we need to pull on this?" I suggested.

Ned nodded in approval as I did what I hinted at and pulled open the can. The Guinness exploded on me, causing a sound of shock from Ned over the noise.

"It must be poison, Benjen! There cannot be any other explanation for it." He said seriously.

Of course, he was ultimately correct, just not in the way he would consider alcohol to be poisonous.

"There is only one way to find out," I said before sipping the Guinness from the open can. Ned moved forward to stop me but he wasn't quick enough.

It was, in truth, only the second time that I had ever drank Guinness. The first time was in the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin. I didn't like it then and wasn't the biggest fan of it now, but I had to put on a brave face to quench the nerves of my brother.

"It is no poison, Ned, it is ale." I cheerfully declared. "And good ale at that." I then handed him the can. He sniffed it suspiciously, and his nose scrunched in response to the smell. Yet he gulped it down all the same.

"By the gods, Benjen. It is not any ale I have ever heard of nor tasted, and how did it get out here in the first place?"

"Well, we are in the godswood, Ned. Mayhaps it is a gift from the gods!" I lied.

He did not seem too convinced, but pressed on regardless. "Well, whatever it is, we need to get it inside now and get Maester Luwin to examine it. Hurry, lad, we have work to do."

It appeared Eddard Stark, second-born son of Rickard and Lyarra Stark, was the first person in Westeros ever to try Ireland's top export, and he probably wouldn't be the last.

---

A/N- Sorry I actually don't know if Author's notes break the rules, so I apologise and will take the bonk on the head if it comes to it but I do have a note to add from when I posted this chapter on AO3, again if it's against the rules, my bad. I am bringing it over to try add more context that may be missing without the A/N and to give something to look forward to.

Here it is-

Well I hope you all enjoyed.

So essentially, Ned did not cheat and Jon is very visible older than Robb, I'm thinking he would be closer to two years tbh. I hope the convo didn't come off as Cat bashing, I asked a lot of people and they assured me it didn't . My point was to try make it clear that the issue between Ned and Cat now is the fact that a visibly older child is due to be raised with their true born children. That is a slight, even if Ned didn't actually cheat.

Therefore Benjen's interference is to try improve things and ultimately his plan worked but it could have backfired badly.

Next time we will focus more on the Guinness as well as the Barbrey Dustin situation, one could argue Ned slighted her by asking her father for her hand in marriage rather than herself...

 

[Lillie Jones]

thanks for the chapter

 

[Ahtu]

Hmm... Kinda bothers me how the beers were handled. How is he to claim them now? Ned discovered them, and he hid his involvement in stashing them there.

Otherwise you came up with some interesting ideas for how to push this. Although an ambitious Ned is weird.

I should note however, that Moat Cailin is a more understandable choice to rebuild.

Dustin huh... Kind of shooting him in the foot there. Even if they agree, I doubt she would be happy about it. And if ANYONE would fill Jon's, or the MC's head with ideas of toppling the main branch, it would be her... She kinda blatantly hates Ned (and as you noted, probably won't take kindly to him going over her head, when she's already in a sort of regent position from being widowed).

Also a bit crazy engage a 16yr old, that's 2nd in line for a great house, to a widow (no child that hasn't even reached 10 would be considered a viable candidate at this stage). In terms of medieval cultural practices, it's just not done. But this is The North.

 

[Vanbers]

Ehhhhh.

I feel like Ned wouldn't saddle Benjen with Barbrey. That's feels like a particularly bad match for him.

Also a bit crazy engage a 16yr old, that's 2nd in line for a great house, to a widow (no child that hasn't even reached 10 would be considered a viable candidate at this stage). In terms of medieval cultural practices, it's just not done. But this is The North.

Click to shrink...

Even in the North it's a bad match. Like, a noticeably bad one. It's the kind of match that would have the various Lords of the North thinking that Benjen fucked up, or did something to really piss off Ned.

Marrying a young man to a grown widow, especially when the man is objectively of higher station, is the kind of thing that typically required extenuating circumstances, like the family being poor and the widow being wealthy, or them standing to gain large swathes of land. Barbrey does NOT bring enough to the table to merit a match.

In all honesty, it feels like one of those asinine, arbitrary, "Force things so that the MC is definitely 18+ and his wife is 18+" bullshit things that makes no sense in the setting, done PURELY for morality points.

Except particularly egregious because it stands out so much as a clearly bad match that people in-universe wouldn't make. Like Catelyn alone would probably be side-eying Ned and thinking he's kind of stupid for making it, let alone the various Lords of the North who just lost out on the chance of making a match with the now-second son of the Starks, the Grat House of the North, and brother to the Lord Paramount of the North using their own daughters.

This is the kind of bad move that causes resentment unless there's a clear and good reason for it.

 

[KingOfIreland777]

Hmm... Kinda bothers me how the beers were handled. How is he to claim them now? Ned discovered them, and he hid his involvement in stashing them there.

Otherwise you came up with some interesting ideas for how to push this. Although an ambitious Ned is weird.

I should note however, that Moat Cailin is a more understandable choice to rebuild.

Dustin huh... Kind of shooting him in the foot there. Even if they agree, I doubt she would be happy about it. And if ANYONE would fill Jon's, or the MC's head with ideas of toppling the main branch, it would be her... She kinda blatantly hates Ned (and as you noted, probably won't take kindly to him going over her head, when she's already in a sort of regent position from being widowed).

Also a bit crazy engage a 16yr old, that's 2nd in line for a great house, to a widow (no child that hasn't even reached 10 would be considered a viable candidate at this stage). In terms of medieval cultural practices, it's just not done. But this is The North.

Click to shrink...

Hey you are more than entitled to your opinion about the match, I won't say there's not good points raised here, but it is what I have written on AO3 and I have my reasons.

What I will say though is that I see the characters genuinely being different to how they are when we get to the main series, so in my mind it would make sense that Ned who is a little younger and a second son might be a little more eager for stuff than what he is when we get to AGOT, especially since there's a lot more on his mind in the main timeline, given he was always protecting a very dirty secret regarding his nephew and he isn't here. it's a different timeline at the end of the day. The way I genuinely have it in my head there are just little tweaks in the characters, which is caused by different circumstances.

And that extends to Barbrey as well, marrying a widow, even as brief as it was probably isn't a great choice, but my issue was that, I didn't want an OC and the only other Northern option would be a Mormont, if there genuinely are other named characters that fit then fair enough, but I couldn't think of any at the time of me posting this back in November 2023.

When we meet Barbrey, she is extremely bitter but she is also an old woman (comparatively), I would like to explore how things would change if some bridges were rebuilt much earlier on.

It won't be all happy families, but that's partly because they won't have the time, which will make more sense after chapter 5, if I continue to post here.

I'm completely fine with people not liking the pairing tbh and I get the critique, it is what it is.

A long time ago I wrote a story where it was Benjen/one of the Mormonts in a fic where Ned was regent for a baby King Jon, that fic is deleted now cause I wasn't happy with it, so maybe a part of me disliked going that way as well and I didn't feel like adding an actual OC.

 

[KingOfIreland777]

thanks for the chapter

Click to shrink...

you're welcome! If I do decide to keep posting here, the third one will be up soon