Pact of Ice and Fire
Pacto de Hielo y Fuego
The Pact of Ice and Fire was the alliance that brought House Stark of Winterfell to declare for Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen during the Dance of the Dragons, the civil war that tore House Targaryen in two.
It was struck in the North, between Prince Jacaerys Velaryon and Lord Cregan Stark, and it carried with it the support of the northern lords for the black cause.
Chapter 1
The flight north
129 ACBooks only
When war broke out between Rhaenyra's supporters and Aegon II's, Prince Jacaerys Velaryon flew across the realm to Winterfell to win the Starks over to his mother's side. His talks with Lord Cregan Stark carried an awkward condition: a princess of royal blood would marry into the Stark line.
The bargain went beyond words. Lord Roderick Dustin led the Wolves of Winter to join the black cause, and House Manderly sent its own knights to fight for Rhaenyra. The whole North was now bound to the queen.
Chapter 2
The Hour of the Wolf
Books only
Cregan did not stay behind at Winterfell. He gathered a host and rode south to King's Landing himself, though he came too late — by the time his men reached the capital, King Aegon II was already dead, poisoned.
In that brief gap in power, remembered as the Hour of the Wolf, it was Cregan who ruled the city. The promised marriage between the Starks and the royal house never took place, but the Lord of Winterfell left those days with real standing, and went on to back the young King Aegon III.