In that instant, all the details he had never quite understood fell into place. His father had always taken special care of Jon, and Jon resembled their father more than any of them did. He had never heard anything about Jon's mother.
The signs had been there all along.
And whenever Aunt Lyanna came up, his father would look at Jon with a complicated expression. His mother had never concealed her hostility toward Jon, yet his father had never made any attempt to stop her.
What other explanation could there be, except that his father wanted to keep his sister's son close and care for him? After all, this gave Jon the best possible protection. At least no one would question his identity.
Especially Robert, who had even mocked Eddard over Jon's existence. What he did not know was that the object of his mockery was the child his betrothed had borne another man.
"Jon?" Although Robb was already certain of Jon's identity, he could not help asking. His voice trembled as he said, "He's Aunt Lyanna and Prince Rhaegar's child? Then his blood..."
"That's right. He has both Targaryen and Stark blood. Ice and fire run through his veins." Viserys had reached the stone steps at the exit of the crypts' first level. He stopped and looked back at him, the firelight turning his silver hair gold.
Hearing Viserys confirm it, Robb felt a chill creep up the back of his neck. Memories flooded over him all at once: practicing swordsmanship with Jon in Winterfell's Training Yard, gathering around the hearth to listen to Old Nan's stories of the Others.
That bastard who had always stood beside the brothers, whose smile was always a little reserved and subdued, had such an astonishing past.
It took him a long while