Motherhood agreed with Joanna.

It had been six moons since the birth of Eddard and Alina and as more time passed her children grew stronger and healthier.

She realized that it was the years of practise she had with Tommen and Marcylla that made her experienced in this field. She knew to dress in colourful gowns with playful beads, their cries when they were hungry, tired or scared. But thinking back to how she helped take care of her brother and sister only made her miss her mother home.

She couldn't dare say it out loud but it was true, with each night and day with her children she understood Cersei more. With every time her babes giggled or even sneeze it dawned on her the love a mother should have for her children. A true, unwavering loyalty and care.

Joanna sat in her chambers with Alina in her arms as Eddard was still asleep , her eyes memorizing every detail of Alina as she feed her child.

After everything she had endured, she never thought she would ever find solace and peace again, but fate had different plans and though she wished Robb could have been with her as she gave life to their children, she would not take a single cry back to what she had with her children.

She was still at war she knew this, but her babes somehow blissed the raging fire within her.

During the last five moons she had not put a hold imminent war with the Boltons, but rather seized attacks. Not only because she wanted to heal from her labour but also knew it would be reckless to constantly attack Roose and his son.

Somehow they would realize that it was a threat to Winterfell, and she could not waste the Tully army. Joanna would bring the Boltons to their knees slowly and diligent, so that their death could be all the more satisfactory for her.

The door of her chambers slammed open as she was startled by the woman in her door. "Princess, how glad I am to see you." Selyse Baratheon entered her chambers unwelcomed as Joanna could not comprehend her aunt in front of her. Unwantedly she picked Eddard out of his crib soothing him as Joanna was ready to grab the dagger under her pillow "And look at him. The Lord has blessed you with two babes!" She laughed as Joanna stood up, covering her breast as she rested Alina against her chest

"You have one chance to set my child down or I will have your fucking hands removed!" Joannas scolded as her chamber door opened to reveal Sansa.

Out of breath Sansa took Eddard from Selyse "I'm so sorry, she insisted on seeing you and the babes." As Sansa spoke Joanna's wetnurse entered the room

"What the fuck are you doing here!" Joanna argued back "Who gives you the right to pick up my child, no less even look at him!"

The room grew silent as Joanna soothed Alina's head before waking up the children. She looked to Sansa and the wet-nurse as Selyse arrogantly smirked at the young girl

"You have an audience with the king." She answered

Joanna grimaced at the thought of him being North. Joanna sighed as she handed Alina to the wet-nurse as Sansa placed Eddard in his crib. Before leaving her chambers she grabbed the dagger under her bed as she looked to Sansa "Don't leave the chambers or the children." She glanced back to Selyse "Under any circumstances."

"I must say I was quite surprised to hear you're alive , beloved niece." Stannis Baratheon turned to face Joanna in Blackfishs council room.

Seated at the table was Bryden, Stannis and his wife, the princess Shireen and a Red Priestess.

She scoffed as her eyes landed on the red haired women, thinking to how Stannis denounced magic and all it's tales when she and Renly were children. "And with two healthy babes and Sansa Stark. You've been busy haven't you, niece." He remarked with sly as Joanna approached the table

"I'm not your niece." Joanna spat back taking a seat at the head of the table as her eyes fixtured to Blackfish "This doesn't explain why his wife had the nerve- the audacity to hold my child." Her eyes glaring back to Stannis "Why are you here?"

"I imagine news has reached you that Tywin Lannister is dead. I plan to march South to take what is rightfully mine." To this Joanna rolled her eyes

"My brother Tommen sits the Iron Throne now and I doubt my mother would have you usurp the crown. In any case the war of five kings is over, none of us have armies big enough against the crowns. We wasted it on one another, do you not recall?" Her snide comment not resting easy with Stannis as the red priestess nod her head to him

"It is your kin that does not belong on the throne. I am the last living brother, heir, to Robert. Your brother is nothing but a bastard. When my armies ride South, your family will have no choice to surrender the crown to me."

Joanna seemed to only laugh as she played with her cup "That does not explain why you are here Stannis." chuckled.

"When word reached me that he and his men passed us, I had your rogues force his batallion to us. No one passes us, without me knowing." Blackfish affirmed

Her eyes looked to the offended face of Selyse

"As child you as well as your drunken brother, never believed me to be smart and for that you are wrong. I'll take three guesses as to why you're here." She began to mock

"One, to hand over your demented wife and have me cut her hands for touching my fucking child!" Joanna scolded "Two, to brighten my day as I see you wallow in your failure after the war or three, watch you beg us for Northern men to your army."

Stannis slammed his fist to the table as the red priestess stood to calm him. Her hand on his shoulder as Stannis sat down again

"My princess, Stannis Baratheon is the one true king. Heir to the Iron Throne and ruler to the seven kingdoms. It is your duty to serve your future king by answering to his calls."

"And who are you?" Joanna crossed her arms

"Melissandre."

"Melissandre? You seem like a woman of intellect, tell me how is it you came into the service of Stannis Baratheon and his conquest?"

"I am the advisor to my- our future king. The Lord of Light has shown me that Stannis is one true king and I intend do what my lord commands of me."

"And your lord think of him-" Blackfish pointed to Stannis "As the king of six kingdoms."

"Seven." Melissandre affirmed

Blackfish shook his head taking a sip of his wine

"No. The North will and has always been a free and independent kingdom. My niece and her son died ensuring that. So tell us why it is that we should even allow you on our grounds?" To this Joanna smirked, once again Brynden defending Robb's honour with her "Because if you expect of us, to fight in your conquest to ride South, you my dear, are gravely mistaken."

"Do you know who rules Winterfell now? The Bolton. Tywin Lannister is dead, Tommen no more than a pup doing whatever his mother whispers in his ear. The Lannisters don't care for the North. If you were join me I would make you, Joanna, the warden of the North."

Joanna chuckled as she and Blackfish looked to each other amused "I don't care for your conquest Stannis. I know who rules the North and I don't need to divulge my details to you of all people, to assure you that the Boltons will remain in Winterfell. You and your family are more than welcome to stay for the night, but I reject your proposition." She stood up and left the room

Joanna sat in her office chambers watching her babes play with wooden wolves carved and given by Bryden when a knock at her door disrupted her peace again.

She remained seated as Melissandre entered her quotes "It seems like you all have a talent for intruding my room. A closed door usually means the person does not want to be disturbed

"You're a very arrogant girl, but I imagine fighting the wars of men has made you so. The king was hesitant in coming here when he received word that the Blackfish wanted us here. The king as well as his wife, told me stories of you Joanna Baratheon, or is it Stark or perhaps Lannister. It seems with each moon you call yourself by a different name."

"What is it you want?" Joanna rolled her eyes "Because I have no patience for those who speak in riddles."

Melissandre chuckled as she walked across the room to sit across from Joannas desk "The lady Selyse told me that you were a wild, arrogant and spoiled girl, forever whining about what is entitled to you, but I must say by looking in your eyes I can tell she's wrong."

"How so?"

"You're a fighter, a warrior. The fire in your eyes burns bright as I can see the bloodlust for vengeance within you Joanna Stark. But you will not fair far by denying your king. You know as much as I, that Stannis Baratheon is the only heir who has earned the right to take the throne. Everything he has done so far, is all to rule the seven kingdoms as Westeros. Not six, seven. Just as the conqueror himself. He is the last of the five kings and when he takes the Iron Throne, he will not forget those who denied him of it."

Joanna shifted in her chair as her cocky smirk was plastered on her face "That's all well said and done until you realize your fighting for a losing king. The war of five kings is over, even I of all people can admit defeat. The day Robert Baratheon died everyone wanted their pound of flesh. Every high lord told his army of soldiers that they would win in this revolution but I think the two of us can be honest with one another. Revolutions are not radical anymore."

"Is that so?"

Joanna unscrolled a map onto her desk placing tiny mounts of each house on their lands. "There's so many revolutions and wars that no one ends up winning their wars. Everyone declares war, the rich, the poor, right, left and centre, the young, the old, beggars and bankers. Everyone has a reason to want a start a war." Joanna began explaining

"But the problem is everyone is willing to fight in what they believe, lose their wars and then what happens? How do we then move forward?"

"Is that why you hide behind these walls while the Boltons rule North. While your family rules over Westeros, having taken what's not theirs?" Melissandre countered back

"I'm not hiding. Look at my children." Joanna pointed to her children as she coldly stared back at Melissandre "I would be no warrior, no ruler if I couldn't admit my mistakes. A real revolution is not about what you think is owed to you. It's about what they people suffering underneath tyranny want and need. The North bows to no king but the king in the North who's name is Stark. I am no longer a Lannister. My children are Starks as much as I am. I am not rebelling against you when I say they won't fight for Stannis, they've suffered enough because of the South. They don't want you as allies, it's just that simple. And just because the Boltons still rule Winterfell does not mean I have given up on them.

"I've learned a great deal from my battles that I now know I don't need to win a war because how fast it takes, a quick battle or one that drunken soldiers sings songs of." Joana refused to allow Melissandre to interrupt her

"When I take back Winterfell it will be because of all the men who lost their lives at the hands of the Lannisters, the Freys and Boltons. I don't do it to satisfy whoever sits upon the Iron Throne, but because Ned Stark, because he dared to speak the truth over the injustice the crown serves, lost his head. Because families were ripped apart during the war and because my children do not deserve to feel an ounce of shame when they call themselves the Starks of Winterfell. That is what separates me from Stannis. I don't fight because I want a crown on my head or some ugly iron chair, but because I know what the people I serve want and need. True justice, no matter how high or low born you are!"

"You have the heart of a king Joanna Lannister." Melissandre complimented

"But you make decisions out of your reckless free will, and where has that gotten you in life? I have served the Lord of Light longer than you have breathed life. My lord has never failed me, and through me, in my blood, I know Stannis is the one true king." Melissandre proudly replied

"Your Lord?" Joanna objected "I don't believe in your lord of light. I don't believe in the faith of the seven or the old gods and new gods."

"That does not matter, because they believe in you. Without our faith we would have no future."

To that Joanna nodded her head "That sounds good but that means nothing."

"Of course it does. If it weren't for the Lord of light, to the gods you were raised to believe in, you would not have the privilege to sit here alive and well, with two children." Melissandre commented

"Are you saying that my husband died because the old gods and the new gods did not believe in him?" An uncomfortable silence filled the questors as Melisandre's body stiffened at Joannas blunt words

"Because there's nothing that makes me angrier than that argument." Her hand played with the fur of a cloak Blackfish gifted to her of Robb, the second she arrived North

"Every time some survives some terrible misfortune or even a simple brawl, everyone always says 'I survived for a reason, the gods have saved me for a purpose.' What you allow yourselves to think is that your life has more meaning that a child that has been killed, a woman attacked or a man who has been poisoned."

"My lady- I did not mean to offend yo-"

But Joanna held her hand up to interrupt her "What you allow you and Stannis allow yourselves to believe is that your lives are more important. You're lives have purpose because you believe he should sit the throne?" she rhetorically asked

"So explain to me why your lives have more importance than my husband or anyone who has died in pursuit for love and war? Because I could argue against you that Elia Martell's life mattered, Lyanna Starks life mattered even Rhaella Targaryen's lives mattered, and yet still they died because of men who hid their lusts for bloodshed, greed and war hid it behind the purpose of the gods they served. If I could, I would argue that Robb had a purpose." Joanna wiped the single drop of tear off her cheek

"To raise our children, to have saved his sisters. And don't try and convince yourself that they died for a lesson for us to teach. They died because they died. They died at the hands of the choices that we make every day. Every decision we make has a consequence on the next person. And the consequence to your actions, to filling Stannis's head with the idea that he can take the throne from a war who's fires have burned out, will ultimately lead to his death." Joanna stood up as her hand guided the way to the door. Melissandre stood as she turned herself to leave but as the door cracked open Joanna remembered the one thing Cersei had taught her since she was a child

"Never forget, when you play the game of thrones you win or you die, there is no middle ground and your so called king is a dead man.