White Harbor 305 AC.
Jon Snow or Aegon Targaryen?.
He walked nervously to down the steps, each one bringing him closer to her cabin. Jon could feel his heartbeat more keenly now than he had since he'd been brought back. Ever since the first time he'd seen her, it had felt as if he was learning to live again. The shadow that had been over him since his return fading more and more each day. Each time she'd smile at him, look at him, when she'd say his name, all of it only making him feel more alive than he had since he had returned from the darkness.
Melisandre had brought him back but he'd not been alive, not truly. Not then and not when Sansa had arrived or even when he'd taken Winterfell back. Apart from when he was fighting or with Ghost, he'd felt almost as if he was a shell of a man. Who or what he was before feeling like it was someone's else's life. Arriving on Dragonstone though stirred something in him, seeing her stirred something in him. This tiny little woman who had brought dragons to life and who controlled an army the likes of which he'd never even imagined, stirred something deep within him.
That she was beautiful was obvious, that he was attracted to her was something even he couldn't deny. Though deny it he tried, not that Davos had believed him. Seeing her on the dragon, the look in her eyes when her son fell, and then seeing her look at him that very same way when he told her to leave. Were he not already lost then he would have been then, the heart that now threatened to burst from his chest no longer completely his alone anymore.
He moved to the door and reached his hand up, almost knocking without thinking, before he knew it the door opened and she was standing there looking at him. Those eyes, god's those eyes he thought as he stood there, his own not able to look away from hers and then before he knew it, he was inside the room and the door closed behind him.
"Why have you come here Jon Snow?" she asked, her voice playful, and yet there was some nervousness there too which surprisingly calmed him somewhat.
"You know why I've come." he said, as he moved forward a step.
"Do I?" she asked and he saw the small curl of her lips, the nervousness no longer there.
"You do." he said as he moved forward, his arms going around her and pulling her tightly toward him.
"You presume much Jon Snow." she said her eyes now alight and flickering when he didn't answer with words, his sudden movement catching her by surprise and he felt her breath hitch in her throat as he kissed her.
The kiss was deep and passionate and when he moved his lips away from hers the look in her eyes was enough for him, Jon feeling himself harden almost immediately. He moved her to the bed and began to undress her, the wolf in him demanding he moved much faster and the dragon that she was, daring him to do so. Yet he took his time, kissing every inch of her exposed skin and when finally she was naked in front of him he moved back to look at her.
"You look like a wolf who's about to devour its prey Jon Snow." she said, her voice seductive yet once again there was an edge to it, a nervousness and he wasn't sure why it that was.
Did she think she displeased him? That the sight she presented to him wasn't the most incredible he'd ever seen? If she did then she was very much mistaken. He almost licked his lips as he stood there taking it all in. Her body was perfection itself and the wolf in him did wish to devour her. For now, he allowed it to be done with just his eyes, seeing the smirk on her face when she realized he was appreciating the sight before him.
"I am a wolf." he said as he began to undress slowly "And a wolf doesn't devour." he said seeing her look at him excitedly when his hand moved to his britches "A wolf savors." he said as he leaned forward and took her perfect nipple into his mouth.
His mouth, his tongue, his entire being couldn't get enough of her, how she tasted, the sounds she made. Hearing her gasp when he nibbled on her neck or shiver when he began to kiss down to her stomach. When he reached the junction of her legs and moved them apart, she gulped. When he softly bit the inside of her thigh, she gasped. As his tongue tasted her for the first time she moaned and cried out. Jon looking up at her and when she saw his eyes, the smile on her face as she realized it was just beginning was one he'd take to his grave. It'd be a far better sight than the last one he'd had with him when the knives had come for him in the dark.
He brought her to the brink and eased off before doing so again, he felt her tremble and when he moved to let her calm rather than give her the pleasure she sought, he felt the dragon awaken. Her hand reaching down to pull his head closer and her thighs gripping tightly around his neck so as to not let him move away.
"Don't you dare, Jon Snow." she said breathlessly and as he looked at her he let his tongue do its work.
The scream was loud and had he been thinking more clearly then he may have worried her guards may rush in. instead, though he was concentrating on making her feel this for as long as he could, enjoying how her nose scrunched up and her eyes closed, how her hands in his hair both pushed him away and pulled him closer. When he felt the little trembles she made, he eased off and began to kiss up her stomach and finally to her face, her tongue tasting herself on his own.
"A hidden talent Jon Snow and here I thought you were only a swordsman." she said reaching down and wrapping her fingers around his manhood.
"Perhaps we should see if I'm talented there also?" he said as he felt her rub him against herself.
"I think we can do better than perhaps, how about definitely, or certainly, or most assuredly." she said and then gasped once more as he slid inside of her.
"Perhaps." he said and she bit his ear softly as he began to move inside her.
It was slow at first, both of them getting used to being joined together and enjoying the moment, soon though it wasn't enough. Both of them needed more and he moved quickly and she pushed up against him, her eyes locked on his and Jon unable to look anywhere but directly into them. The violet looked more vivid, more vibrant, and how she looked at him almost made him spend. Jon not needing to look to know she was smiling at him and that also almost making him lose control.
He moved faster and her moans were added to his own, his fingers tracing her face and his lips crashing against hers. When he felt her move up more aggressively to meet his thrusts he knew she was close and soon he could feel the pressure of his own release nearing. There had been few moments of absolute joy in Jon Snow's life, so few that it didn't need all the fingers on one hand to count them. The first time Arya had said his name and when he first saw Ghost, in the cave with Ygirtte, and yet none of them even came close to this. He looked deep into her eyes and felt himself on the verge.
"Jon." she gasped.
"Dany." he said and then the world went dark as they came together.
" Aegon Targaryen, Kinslayer, a man without honor, a fool played by bitter men and women. You were the prince that was promised, Azor Ahai, all our hopes and dreams, and just like with your life you refused to reach out and take it,. You refused to be who you were born to be, Why?" the voice called out.
" I didn't know how to.".
" No you did not, perhaps it's time you learn" the voice said.
" Please." he said as the images of a life not lived played out in front of him, horrifying and revealing, Jon watched as secrets were revealed and a crossroads lay before him.
White Harbor 305 AC.
Daenerys Targaryen.
She looked down at the man beside her, his eyes moving beneath their lids and she wondered what dreams he was having and found herself hoping they were good ones. Her fingers brushed over his chest, the scars that marked such a beautiful body was an affront to the very gods themselves. That the men who'd given them to him were dead did nothing to stop the fire seeing them lit within her, that they had dared to do so was enough to fuel a dragon's rage.
"Dany, I'm sorry." she heard the voice and looked up from his chest to see him looking at her.
"You have nothing to be sorry about Jon Snow, nothing at all." she said kissing the scar over his chest before moving up to kiss his lips and feeling him kiss her back.
She watched him dress and leave and Dany sighed when he'd gone. Laying back down against her pillow and she felt the smile come to her face unbidden. Soon she was almost chuckling to herself and feeling like a little girl once more, though what she'd done the night before was certainly anything but childlike she thought as she finally got up to dress.
When Missandei came in to see her, her friend was eager for the details. Dany telling her some of them while she fixed her hair. After she had done so she walked to meet with Tyrion and found her Hand to be drinking as usual, though it annoyed her she was in far too good a mood to let him bother her too much and so she took her seat and waited for him to begin. Something which took far longer than she had expected and wasn't to her liking when he did.
"We need to speak about Jon Snow, your grace." Tyrion began.
"No, we do not." she said simply.
"Your grace, should the North…"
"Enough, speak to me of the North, Tyrion, not of Jon Snow." she said and as he looked at he drank some more wine and nodded.
"Very well, I think we should put our case forward first your grace, rather than have Jon Snow do so. You are the queen and they need to see you as such, if Jon Snow speaks for you then it diminishes your power." Tyrion said.
"Does it? Would it not be best for Jon to speak for me, they are his people after all?" she asked and Tyrion shook his head.
"They are your people, my queen. They need to know you've come here to help, you can tell them better than anyone else and they must see you as the queen you are." he said and she nodded "We tell them what we've brought to them and why we've come to help and then they'll see you for what you truly are."
"Which is?" she asked curiously.
"The queen Westeros needs." he said with a soft smile.
"Very well. When do we arrive at White Harbor?" she asked.
"Sometime today." he said and she smiled at that, Jon had been so eager to see his home again, to see his family once more.
"Good, we march immediately, I wish to be in Winterfell as soon as possible." she said and got up from her seat.
"About Jon Snow." Tyrion said and she shook her head and glared at before she walked from the room.
She knew she'd need to have that discussion at some point but she didn't wish it today, surely he could allow her one day to be happy for once in a life that had been bereft of it. Walking to the deck of the ship she found him standing there looking out on the sea in front of him. Davos stood beside him and Jorah a little bit away, all of them looking North. Just looking at how he stood she found herself smiling as she imagined the brooding look on his face, something Missandei noticed.
"Thinking of many things, my queen?" Missandei said cheekily and Dany couldn't stop the laugh which came from her, the noise startling the three men in front of them.
"Your grace." Jorah said when he saw her there and she saw Davos nod before he said the same, though her eyes soon found Jon's and she thought they looked a little odd, the dark grey almost seeming to have some color in it.
"Your grace." Jon said with a small smirk on his face which warmed her heart, the color in his eyes no longer there and she thought it was maybe just a trick of the light.
"Teaching others to brood Jon Snow?" she said and caught the chuckle from Davos.
"Not at all you grace, I find some things are unable to be taught, they're more an acquired talent." he said and she almost gasped when he licked his lips.
She looked at him and saw how he looked back at her and she felt the flush on her chest, his eyes the same as they had been when she'd been naked in bed the night before. The same fierceness and ferocity in them and that little sparkle of color seemed to be back once more.
"Lord Tyrion tells me we'll be arriving in White Harbor soon." she said trying to compose herself.
"Aye, we'll see it within the hour." Jon said and both Davos and Jorah looked to him surprised.
"How can you be certain?" she asked curiously.
"I'm of the North, Your Grace, I feel it." he said cryptically.
He was right as it happened and by late afternoon they'd arrived. Lord Wyman had already left to go to Winterfell leaving them to be welcomed by his youngest granddaughter, a green-haired girl named Wylla.
"My king, White Harbor is yours" Wylla said and Jon shook his head.
"Just a lord, my lady. May I present her grace, Queen Daenerys Targaryen." Jon said and the woman nodded at him and curtsied as she looked to her.
"Your Grace, welcome to White Harbor." Wylla said and Dany smiled at her before taking a step forward.
"I thank you, my lady, Lord Snow has told me much of your city and of your family. I'd only wish I could stay longer to hear more of it, but we must travel and make preparations." she said seeing Tyrion's smile.
"Of course your grace"
They set out the next morning, Rhaegal and Drogon flying over them on the road and it was on the journey that she began to notice it. While not distant, far from it, there was something different about Jon, something that she couldn't quite put her finger on. He seemed to stand stiffer, straighter, and to look around her more, at Tyrion especially. When he wasn't with her or training, something he did every morning and evening, he spoke to Davos and by the time reached the first castle, House Cerwyn, Jon told her, she could bear it no more.
"Ser Davos may we speak." she asked as she rode beside him.
"Of course your grace." the older man said, the kind smile he always wore around her something which put her at ease.
"Ser Davos, is there something wrong with Jon?" she asked worriedly.
"Other than he's far too careless and keeps running into bloody danger you mean?" Davos said and she chuckled.
"Other than that." she said.
"Not that I'm aware of your grace." he said.
"He seems, I don't, it's just..he seems…"
"He's focused, your grace, on the North, and how they may react to your presence and to their new situation." Davos said.
"He thinks they'll be unhappy?" she asked.
"They're Northmen your grace, they're always fucking unhappy." Davos said "Forgive me, your grace, still parts of Flea Bottom I've not smoothed out yet.".
"There's nothing to forgive Ser, does Jon have a plan to deal with their unhappiness?" she asked slightly worried.
"I believe so your grace." Davos said with a smirk and before she knew it they'd reached the gates of the keep.
They welcome they got was polite if not friendly, no one saying anything untoward to her or her men though she noticed the looks she got were anything but welcoming. Not that any of the looks directed at her could match the looks Jon aimed at them, the scowls he gave them and the glares he shot at some were more than enough to make them wither under his stare. It warmed her to see him so protective, her wolf she thought and then smirked. Was he hers? She hoped so, she knew she was his if he'd but just tell her he wished it so.
They had lain together twice more since the boat, both times being just as good as the first and leaving her eager for more and yet satisfied at the same time. Something she was glad to hear him say also when she asked him the third time as they lay in her bed in Castle Cerwyn.
"Do you, this, us, do you enjoy it?" she asked nervously.
"You think I'm that good a mummer, my queen?" he asked with a smirk.
"No, but you never speak of it, of what we do?" she said softly.
"Then forgive me my queen. Aye, I enjoy it, being with you, Dany, I've never, nothing has ever come close to that feeling, so aye, I've enjoyed it and I do enjoy it and I'd like to enjoy it some more." he said kissing her as he spoke and then making her laugh when he began to tickle her.
"JON." she yelped.
"What, who says I can't enjoy more than one thing." he said laughing, and then she saw it again, the same sparkle of color in his eyes when he looked to her.
When they left the keep and traveled on to Winterfell she felt he nervousness rise once more, it felt different to her somehow. The idea that these people may not wish her to be their queen becoming more real to her each mile she rode. Looking to those who rode with her she could see the difference in their expressions, they loved her, followed her because they believed in her. The North did not, would they? She hoped so but a part of her worried all the same, something that Jon apparently picked up on.
"What's wrong, your grace." he said as they camped for the last time, Jon had told her that they'd be arriving at Winterfell on the morrow.
"The North, Jon, does it want me here?" she asked concernedly.
"The North doesn't know what it wants, it never has. Some want independence, but the North follows the Starks and the Starks knelt to Aegon, Torrhen Stark bent the knee to save his people." he said softly.
"Is that why you did?" she asked.
"I did it because you're the queen they need, even though you're far more than they deserve." he said almost bitterly.
"Jon?".
"Forgive me, your grace, I'm tired. The North will come to see you for who you are Dany, who you truly are, and why you've come. They'll kneel and accept, I'll make them." he said standing up and touching her shoulder and looking down on her "You're my queen, always.".
She smiled back at him and watched as he walked away, that sparkle in his eye was one she'd come to enjoy, it was like the wolf inside him was struggling to get free and each time she saw that sparkle she felt it edge ever closer. One day it would break loose and she hoped to see it, for that day she felt would be glorious and a sight to behold.
When they reached the small town she looked at the people in the streets who lined up, none of them looking to her with anything other than fear or distrust, turning to Jon beside her she saw him smirk.
"I warned you, Northerners don't trust outsiders." he said.
"You did." she replied.
"They'll bloody learn to." he said and she smiled at him as she felt them in the sky.
Rhaegal and Drogon flew over her heads and she heard Drogon's roar, her son eager to let those below know that they were in the presence of dragons. She sat a little straighter in her saddle and soon they had left the town behind, the large grey walls of Winterfell now looming ahead of them. It took them some time to reach it and when they did she watched as Jon rode a little ahead of her. Dany knew he was eager to see his kin once more, especially his youngest sister. When they reached the courtyard though she was surprised to find him standing away from the assembled men and women, instead he seemed to be waiting for her.
Looking at the others, she soon saw the tall auburn-haired young woman, Jon's sister Sansa, and the boy sitting down in the chair was called Bran, she believed. She was surprised that Jon hadn't gone to meet them first but when she saw him come over to her and offer her his hand to help her down, she found she cared not. Taking it and welcoming the smile on his face as he walked with her to greet everyone. She looked to see the auburn-haired girl was still staring at her no almost glaring at her, the dark-haired boy just sitting there looking off into the distance.
"Queen Daenerys of the House Targaryen." Jon said his voice loud and firm and yet there was a warmness to how he said it to, something missing from what he said next "My sister, Sansa Stark the Lady of Winterfell." Jon's voice sounded almost dismissive and the look on the girl's face finally changed.
"Thank you for inviting us into your home Lady Stark, the North is as beautiful as your brother claimed, as are you." she said with a large smile, hoping to diffuse tension and the way Jon was looking at his sister and she at him showed there was some.
"Winterfell is yours, your grace." Sansa said almost contemptuously.
"We don't have…" Bran said.
"Enough." Jon said loudly "I'd expect a better welcome from a lady of a great house, Sansa we need to talk, forgive me, your grace." Jon said and Dany nodded as she watched him and Sansa begin to move, Jon stopping to say something to the boy in the wheelchair.
As Jon and Sansa walked from her view, a man stepped forward, his eyes a little more friendly to Dany's mind at least.
"Your grace, perhaps if you would like to follow me, we'll see yourself and your men situated." the man said softly
"Of course." she said and almost as soon as she moved she heard the grumbling begin from the men and women in the courtyard.
Winterfell 305 AC.
Aegon Targaryen.
What he'd seen, what had been done, god's what he'd done, all of it was incredible to him, that he'd stooped so low was shameful. Yes, what Dany had done was terrible, but they drove her to it, they'd forced her to it and he'd stood around like a mute and let it happen. They should change his name to Ilyn Payne for all he'd said and done while she'd felt the walls closing in on her, while she'd been left alone. Tyrion, Varys, Sansa, Bran, all of them had allowed it to happen, almost forced it to, though he was as guilty as they were.
When he'd woken he'd hoped it was just a dream, that he'd had a terrible nightmare and that from the moment he'd arrived at Winterfell he'd not allowed the world go to shit. But from then on he'd watched more closely and he could see the way Varys stared at everything she did, staring at him too as if he wished to see how he could be used. Tyrion's looks were more to him than Dany, Aegon seeing now the jealousy and realizing that he may lust for his queen, if not outright love her. There was something else there too and it took him almost until they got to Winterfell to figure out what it was.
Tyrion had always had a sense of feeling the world owed him more than it gave him, in some ways it defined him. No matter how high he rose, he'd still think that and that he deserved more. So he took a perverse pleasure looking down on those who had less than he had. It made him feel bigger than he was and so for someone like Jon Snow to be with the queen, no that wouldn't do, that couldn't do. If a bastard could have her, then why could Tyrion not. Of course, Aegon knew something that he didn't, Jon Snow wasn't a bastard, nor a lord, not just highborn, he was a prince, a king.
It was time to be a king, to act a king, and yet to do so he needed to do it right, for he had no wish to be a king alone and only together could they bring the dawn. Each day they got closer to Winterfell though he saw it even more clearly, what he needed to do and what he would do once he got there, was now set in his mind. Seeing his little sister hide from him in the crowd just as she had before, seeing Bran be less than a shadow of himself and seeing Sansa ready to start her game, no this time it would be different.
"Jon." Sansa said annoyed as they reached the room.
"Inside." he said almost pushing her in the door.
"Jon." she said almost angrily.
"What the hell was that? You're a lady and that's how you act, are you a child still? Have you learned nothing or do you think you've risen so high that pretense is enough? "he said angrily.
"You wish me to be genuine, with her, the woman whose family murdered our aunt, our uncle, and grandfather?" she said.
"I wish you to act the Lady of Winterfell as I left you or I'll find someone else who will." he said angrily.
"So it's true then, you do love her?" she asked looking at him.
"You don't get to question me about my feelings, you've never cared about them when we were growing up, so don't pretend to care now, Sansa. This has nothing to do with me and everything to do with you." he said.
"Jon." she said softly.
"No, I told you when I left here what I left for, allies, without them we're fucked, everyone, every single man, woman, and child will die, without her, we all die." he said.
"So we've to accept her as our queen?" she asked.
"Aye." he said and turned to walk away.
"Did you kneel for the North or because you love her?" she asked with a sneer on her face.
Aegon moved quickly to her seeing her shrink back a little, her eyes looking at him fearfully.
"Aye I love her, completely and with everything I am, I love her. She's the best and only chance for the North and for me the only chance I've ever had in this whole fucking world to be happy. Love, Love, I never knew what it was like until I met her. Do you have any fucking idea of what that feels like? To love someone so completely that you'd die for them? Kill for them? That from the moment when you wake in the morning to when you sleep at night, they are who you think of?" he shouted, not hearing the door open.
"No." Sansa said a little sadly.
"Then don't speak to me of love, you have no fucking idea what you're talking about. I love her and yet I've brought her to the most dangerous place in Westeros, to fight an enemy I don't know if I can beat, all to save you and the rest of the North. I love her and I'm willing to that, don't question my loyalty to the North, Sansa, ever, and never speak to me of love again."
He brushed past Brienne almost knocking her to the ground as he stormed from the room. Moving out through the hallways he soon he found himself walking through the courtyard. When he saw the door he almost ran through it, feeling the cool air on his face as he entered the crypts.
Out.
Begone.
You don't belong here.
You are no Stark.
There's no place for you here.
The voices in his head had always been jumbled, though he could hear them clearly now, two, only two, his and hers. Catelyn Stark's overlapping with his own, he knew the truth now. In her own way, she was right, he wasn't a Stark, and yet he was too or at least he had been. Jon Snow was dead, Jon Stark had never had the chance to live, now as he passed the Kings of Winter he did so as neither.
" Kill the Boy Jon Snow, Winter is almost upon us, Kill the boy and let the man be born." Aemon had told him, the man he hadn't known was his kin giving him the best advice anyone in his life had ever given him.
As he stood now in front of her statue, the boy was truly dead. Only the man stood there now and the man was not a Stark, not a Snow, he was a Targaryen, Aegon as his mother had named him.
"I never knew, I'm sorry, I wish I'd spent more time here, with you, forgive me, mother." he said his voice barely a whisper.
He sat down facing the statue and leaned against the wall, the tears falling from his eyes freely as he wept for the life he could have had. Would she have loved him? Held him when he was hurt, sang him to sleep, and told him everything was going to be alright when he was scared? What kind of life would he have had if she'd lived? A better one he believed, just knowing of her would have made his life better. As he sat there he saw it, the base of the statue different than the others around it. Moving forward he began to check around it, and when he reached the back of it he found the gap.
He used his knife to open it and saw it then, the chest which he dragged out and closed the base. He broke the lock to see what was inside and almost immediately the tears began falling once more. The letters, the papers, the cloak, and the harp all of it there along with one more thing, a dragon egg, black and red in the colors of his house. Slamming the door of the chest shut, Aegon jumped up and moved to the statue of his uncle, the man he had thought his father and had believed to be the most honorable man he ever knew.
"Why? Did you hate him so much that you couldn't bear I was his son? Did you love your friend so much that you'd rather I suffered under a lie than lived with the truth? You had this, all these years you had this and you kept it to yourself. Wherever you are I hope you suffer for you're no kin of mine." he said storming away.
He made his way to his room, the chest still in his hand and he wondered how to keep this from everyone, not the truth of who he was but more what was in the chest. Seeing Davos he walked to the older man, he was one of the very few he could trust and he asked him to come with him. The two of them walked to his room, once inside he showed him what was in the chest. Looking on as Davos read the letters which explained who he was, while Aegon looked at the egg and lifted it, feeling it's warmth and the movement inside.
"Fucking hell." Davos said and Aegon laughed.
"Fucking hell pretty much sums it up." he said.
"This, you're the rightful…"
"Dany is the queen, she deserves to rule." he said.
"Jon, Aeg…" he stopped when Aegon put his finger to his lips "Jon, this is.."
"I know, but Dany is the queen the realm needs Davos, I know this to be true." he said not elaborating.
"There is another solution." Davos said and Aegon smiled.
"I'm well aware of it." he said and when Davos saw the look on his face he began to chuckle.
"Thank fuck for that." Davos said laughing a little more "You need to tell her Jon, all of it."
"I will, but not here and not yet, first I need these stupid fuckers to accept her." he said.
"You have a plan for that?" Davos asked.
"I do, no matter what happens, what I do or say, I ask you to trust in that." he said and Davos nodded.
"Aye, I always do Jon." Davos said as he stood up.
"Can you see that's protected?" he asked pointing to the chest before taking out the letters that proved who he was.
"I'll see it done, this meeting should be interesting." Davos said and Aegon laughed catching him by surprise.
"At the very least." he said the man shaking his head and laughing to himself as he left the room carrying the chest.
Winterfell 305 AC.
Dany.
Her welcome had been as cold as the weather and most of that coldness had come from Jon's sister. While the room they'd given her was according to Tyrion the same one that Robert had been given when he visited. Something she didn't take too much comfort in. That had been the only bit of deference she had been given. To find out that her people too had been given a cold welcome did not improve her mood, nor did the fact that it seemed that for now at least Jon had left her alone.
"Lord Varys?" she asked surprised when the man came almost running into her room.
"Forgive me, my queen, I had some news I wished to share and felt you needed to know it urgently." Varys said.
"Has something happened?" she asked worriedly.
"No, nothing truly. However, it seems Lord Snow and his sister had quite the argument, apparently he was most displeased with your welcome." Varys said and Dany felt herself long to smile, though she hid it as best as she could.
"And Lady Sansa?"
"Is most displeased with her brother my queen."
They were still speaking when Tyrion and Jorah arrived, Missandei and Grey Worm not long after. As they were readying themselves for the meeting ahead and what way to approach it, Dany heard the knock on the door. Trying not to smile when Jon walked in and then unable to when she saw the look on his face, the pained look he wore which told her that he brought bad news.
"Forgive me for interrupting, your grace." he said politely as ever.
"No that's quite alright, Lord Snow." Tyrion said irritably and she glowered at her hand.
"I have some news, some bad news and really some terrible news also. I felt it best that it was said in private as opposed to how my brother wished to say it, though soon enough he'll say it anyway." he said as she looked at him.
"Jon what is it?" she asked.
"The Wall has fallen your grace, the army of the dead marches through it." he said to gasps.
"How?" Tyrion asked and she saw Jon's look grow even more pained as he looked to her.
"Viserion." he said softly "I'm sorry my queen."
She felt her heart threatening to burst from her chest, Missandei moving towards her and then she felt arms around her as she began to cry. Words being spoken as they held her tight and allowed her to sob against something firm and unyielding. When she felt she could cry no more she looked up and saw it was Jon who held her, his eyes focussed on hers and when he kissed her gently she moved closer to him. Needing to be held and glad he had not waited to do so.
"Come with me." he said and she shook her head, not wishing to leave the room or his embrace "Dany trust me."
She put on her coat when he handed it to her and followed him from the room, her advisers standing looking at her and Jon just nodding at them. Though he didn't hold her hand, he did allow her to wrap her arm around his, something she was pleased about as they walked from the keep. Pretty soon she knew where they were going and she felt a lightness in her heart, how had he known she wondered as she stood in front of her children. Jon standing back while she went to Rhaegal and Drogon.
The dragons could feel her sadness and Dany allowed their warmth to comfort her, the idea that her gentle son was now in that monster's hands, that she, they, would have to face their brother more than she could bear. She felt Jon's arms around her when she began to cry, Drogon and Rhaegal hadn't even moved when he'd come to her, something that had she been thinking more clearly may have preyed on her mind.
"We'll fix this Dany, we'll give him the peace he deserves." he whispered in her ear.
"I… don't want to have to fight him, Jon, losing him was bad enough the thoughts of…"
"I know, I'm here for you Dany, always." he said and she held him tighter, glad of the comfort of his arms and his words.
They walked back to the keep, Dany watching as Jon looked to Rhaegal and the green dragon seemed to stare back at him. She found Missandei and Grey Worm, along with Tyrion and Varys, none of them looking pleased. Stepping away from Jon she almost felt like a different person, as if Dany was still standing with him and Daenerys had moved away from him. It was a strange discomfiting feeling but she didn't have much time to ponder on it.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Lady Sansa has called a meeting, the North knows now about the Wall." Tyrion said.
"Good." Jon said simply.
"Is it?" she asked turning to him.
"Do you trust me?" he asked looking at her and she nodded "Then trust me here." he said and she looked to see Tyrion looking at him with anything but trust in his eyes while Varys looked intrigued.
"I will." she said as she turned to walk away, her advisors walking with her.
As she walked into the keep she felt it, the looks from the Northerners even more unfriendly than they had been, looking to Missandei and Grey Worm she felt they were getting even worse stares than she.
"Have the people been welcoming?" she asked.
"As much as can be expected." Tyrion replied.
"I was speaking to Missandei." she said stopping to look at her closest friend and seeing her shake her head.
By the time she got to the Great Hall she was angry, she was used to people looking at her contemptuously, she'd had it all her life but she'd not have it aimed at her people. Especially since they had come to help the North because of her. She looked around the room and saw Jon speaking animatedly to Davos, Sansa sitting at the table looking angrily at him before schooling her face when she caught Dany's eye. Taking her seat she waited until Jon sat down, feeling her anger recede somewhat when he grabbed her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.
"As soon as the Wall fell I called all our banners to retreat to Winterfell. Lord Umber when can we expect your people to arrive" Sansa said and Dany caught the looks on the faces of Varys and Tyrion, both of them wondering like she did why Jon had not been the one to speak.
The young lad asked for horses and wagons and addressed both Jon and Sansa as lord and Lady, then her as queen which raised a smile to her face. Sansa dismissively telling him they have what could be spared and to see it done. She watched as the lord went to leave the room to do as he was bid only for Davos to call him to his side, the young boy stopping and waiting. Jon then spoke about ravens to the Night's Watch, the Maester telling him it would be done and addressing him as a king.
"Your grace? Except you're not, you left Winterfell a king and came back a what, a lord, nothing at all?" a young girl said standing up.
"It's not important." Jon said with a smile.
"Not important? we named you King in the North" the girl said to some loud murmurs, Dany looking at Jon as he in turn looked to Sansa who had her eyes straight ahead. Jon smirking as he turned back and then not bothering to look at Sansa when she turned to him.
"You did my lady, it was the honor of my life, I'll always be grateful for your faith" Jon said standing up "But when I left Winterfell, I told you we need allies or we will die. I have brought those allies home to fight alongside us." Dany catching Sansa as she looked at her with contempt "I had a choice, to keep my crown or protect the North, I chose the North."
Dany heard the murmurs and it was clear Jon had not won them over, she sighed when Tyrion stood up and when he spoke, his own words faring little better. Speaking of the Lannister army and her dragons. How they'd assembled the greatest army the world had ever seen, he'd barely finished when Sansa spoke again.
"How are we meant to feed the greatest army the world has ever seen? When I ensured our stores would last through winter, I didn't account for Dothraki, Unsullied, and two full-grown dragons. What do dragons eat anyway?" Sansa asked her disdain not unnoticed by Dany or anyone else, nor how she emphasized it was she who ensured the stores were full, not Jon.
"Whatever they want." she said, her own contempt clear now.
The laughter was loud and almost boomed around the hall, that alone would have been enough to draw everyone's attention to the man who was laughing. That it was Jon Snow only more so. She like the others in the room was stunned to hear it, while she'd seen him laugh, never had she seen it so fully and it was clear that none in this room had ever done so. She watched as he stood up before he leaned down close to her and kissed her on her cheek, the shocked faces now even more so. When he jumped up on his seat and then to the table she didn't know what to make of it. She then watched as he drew his sword and then sat down cross-legged, the sword now placed flat across his thighs.
Winterfell 305 AC.
Aegon Targaryen.
When he arrived at the hall he spoke to Davos to tell him what to do, the man saying nothing and Aegon knew he would do as he bid. Something proved a few moments later when Sansa did exactly as she had. He played his part well, it was almost like reading someone else's poorly written words. Seeing the stupidly of what he had done and said even more clearly as he did so. When Tyrion tried to do his best Aegon had sighed, it seems he was not alone in being stupid, the dwarf's words only making things worse.
It was when Sansa said her own that he couldn't play the fool anymore. Dany's answer to her making him laugh as he found it the funniest thing he'd ever heard. His fierce Dragonqueen putting the southern fish in her place. Aegon leaned down deciding to kiss her on the cheek and not the full-throated kiss on the mouth he may have done, he wanted them primed, not rolling around on the floor shocked. He jumped to the table and pulled Longclaw from its scabbard and then sat down, the sword across his legs making his meaning clear.
To bare steel was a clear sign that he considered none of them guests here this day. He could see lords look to one another, Davos looking at him confused. Nodding to the man he looked to the rest of them, the Little She-Bear had been harsh but true. He bore her no ill will for what she said, nor would he for whatever choice she made, it just wouldn't' influence his. His mind was clear and on this, he was in the right of it. He owed the North nothing and if they weren't careful nothing is what he'd give them. Aegon sat silently for a few moments before he spoke, the words and his voice far different than it had ever been.
"What is the duty of a king, my lords? My ladies? The first and last duty of a king, what is it? " he asked to silence.
He watched them as they looked from one to another, each of them looking as confused as the next.
"Is it to wear a crown? Or to save his people? To be called your grace or to see that every man, woman, and child under his protection benefits from that protection? Does a king not have an obligation to his people, even when his people are fools or blind? Even when they want what they cannot have? Does a king then not have an obligation to stand up and say no, that's not how the world works?"
He looked around at them yet none would answer, not one of them daring to speak be it because of his words, his tone, or the bared steel on his lap.
"An army of dead men is coming towards us with one goal, the end of life. Not just yours or mine, but your children, your wives, and husbands, your friends and family, everyone you know and love and even those you don't." he said with a chuckle "The Night King and his army care not, each of you is meat and he means to devour you all." he said jumping from the table and standing up.
He twisted the sword in his hand, the light in the room catching the ripples in the blade.
"You all named me your king, placed the responsibility for your lives on my shoulders. I never asked for it, never wanted it. I accepted it because unlike you I've seen the army that comes for us. Unlike you, I've fought the army that comes for us and unlike you, I'm not damn fool enough to think the North alone can beat this army." he said walking over and reaching his hand out to Dany who looked at it before raising her eyebrow. His smile making her take his hand and bringing one to her face also.
Helping her up he walked her around the table, Grey Worm, Missandei, and the others looking on.
"Missandei, when you were a slave in Essos, who freed you?" he asked, the girl looking to Dany and not him.
"Queen Daenerys Targaryen." she said when Dany nodded.
"Grey Worm?" Aegon asked.
"Queen Daenerys Targaryen." Grey Worm replied.
"Who do the unsullied fight for, Grey Worm?" Aegon asked.
"Our queen." Grey Worm said simply.
"Qhono, who do the Dothraki fight for?" Aegon asked.
"Khalessi." Qhono said.
"For those of you who don't speak Dothraki, that means queen." Aegon said as if he was talking to children, smirking when Dany chuckled.
He kissed her on the cheek once more, Dany looking over his shoulder at the lords while he looked to see Sansa glaring at them both before he looked to see Tyrion looking confused and surprisingly Varys smiling.
"I left here to find allies willing to fight with us in a war that we cannot win alone. What I found was a queen whose people love her. A queen who has freed slaves and fought tyrants. A queen who came to Westeros not to fight against an army she didn't know about or for a people who would be ungrateful and mistrustful. A queen who came to take back the throne stolen from her family." Aegon said.
He looked deep into her eyes, trying to tell her with his own just how much he meant everything he was saying and hoping she understood.
"A queen willing to put something she had hoped for all her life on hold to come to a land, not as a conqueror but as a savior. A queen that none of you are worthy of." he said to shocked gasps, hers included.
He saw as she did when Sansa rose to her feet. Moving quickly he slammed his sword hard down on the table, the sound reverberating around the room.
"Sit down before I sit you down." Aegon said and Sansa almost fell into her chair.
"I convinced this Queen to come here rather than go for her throne, I convinced her that you were worth it, the North was worth it. I foolishly believed it, so ingrained was it in me that the North was different, better, more honorable. But what did I find when I got here? The Glovers retreated like the traitors and cowards they are and the North welcoming ally, with suspicion, doubt, and disdain."
"Lord Snow I must protest." Yohn Royce said.
"Must you, then do so far from my sight, for I have no time for you or your protests. I've no time for any of you. I brought you the greatest gift the North could ever hope for. I brought you a chance to see another day, the chance to live through what comes for us all. Your pettiness, your mistrust, your fine Northern Welcome has left me but one choice."
He saw how she looked at him in confusion and then delight when he kissed her lips, the room and world beyond the two of them lost to him as he did so. Dany looking at him almost eager for him to kiss her longer when he moved away to look at those in the room.
"You aren't happy about the decision I made, fine, name a new king or queen." he said his lip in a snarl as he looked to Sansa "Let them negotiate with a king who doesn't negotiate, a king who won't parley or care whether the North is independent or part of the seven kingdoms but who will welcome you all into his army of dead men regardless." Aegon said as he put his sword in its scabbard.
He could feel her eyes on him as he walked a few feet from her, as he looked into his sister's face and then into the faces of the lords and men nearest him.
"I brought you two armies, two dragons, dragonglass, and a queen that none of you fucking deserve. Watch closely now as I take them all away." Jon said reaching out his hand and looking at her almost pleadingly.
She took his hand and the smile he gave her was returned with one which he felt warming the coldest places of his heart. A place that had only been warm when he was with her and one he had ignored at his peril. Walking from the hall he heard Tyrion and Varys almost running behind them, Jorah, Grey Worm, and Missandei beating the other two to them just as they left the hall.
"Now what?" he heard Tyrion ask behind him.
"Now we find out how stupid the North truly is." he said as he looked at her.
"And if they're stupid?" Varys asked.
"Then Cersei Lannister is in for a big surprise." he said with a smirk.
"And the North?" she asked looking from the others to him.
"Fuck the North." he said as he kissed her deeply.