Winterfell 305 AC.
Daenerys.
Though it was a poor feast, their winter stocks not allowing them to really have a true one, it was one she enjoyed more than most she could remember. That it was far different than her other wedding was both down to the man beside her and to how she herself felt about being married this time. She wasn't sure if she had ever felt this happy before in her life and in a small way that frightened her too. Yet for now, she dismissed all her fears, and even her hand touching her stomach softly was forgotten about as she didn't dare hope for that to be true, just yet.
Aegon too seemed happier than she could remember him being. He had been smiling more freely and more jovial more often than not since they'd spoken of his truth. But comparing that to how he was tonight was comparing night to day. Her husband and gods even thinking that made her smile just a little, was even tapping his foot in tune as the music rang around the Great Hall.
"Will my husband not ask me to dance?" she said teasingly when she looked down to his feet.
"Doe my wife wish it so?" Aegon asked and she nodded her smile beaming at the thoughts of it.
He took her hand and led her to the middle of the floor and while the music played on it seemed people parted and looked their way. Why she had expected that Aegon wouldn't know how to dance she didn't know, but he proved her very wrong and soon she was laughing as freely as others in the hall. They were joined by more and more people and Dany felt Aegon pull her in even tighter against him, both to protect her a little and to feel her body against his she thought. Something his hardness rubbing against her proved her right on.
"My husband is eager to be abed it would seem?" she asked, her voice playful and yet she almost lost herself looking into the deep purple of his eyes.
"Eager to see his wife removed from such a constrictive dress." Aegon said touching the material of her dress and she could see that were she not careful, she'd not be able to wear it again.
"Must we stay for long?" she asked as her own desires began to rise.
"A little longer, but not much." Aegon said as he kissed her.
When they took their seats once again, Dany looked around the room and found herself assessing the looks on people's faces. With the arrival of the Mountain Clans she felt that she had gained some good support in the Northern Camp, Lord Wyman, Lady Lyanna too she felt appreciated her being here now. As did Lord Reed and the newly arrived Lady Maege it seemed. Dany was very happy to see that Jorah was being treated like family by the other bears. Lord Glover seemed happier with her than with Aegon, though that was understandable given what had occurred with his brother.
Arya Stark, the Lady Brienne, and Jaime Lannister were certainly not her enemies she felt, which was more than could be said for Sansa and the Lords from the Vale. That she had actually stayed here for the feast was a surprise to her and to Aegon too she had no doubt. But then her not being here would have not gone down well with the men of the North either. As she looked around she caught Tyrion looking Aegon's way and she sighed, the truth now clear in every expression on her Hand's face when he looked at her husband. That he was so bad at schooling his features when it came to Aegon only proving that she'd not paid him enough attention, something she'd rectify from now on.
Aegon would see any threat to her brought down, he'd made that clear and she had promised herself the same was true for her with him. If Tyrion proved himself an ally who could put his feelings to one side then she and he would continue to be friends, if not then he'd risk waking her own dragon. She looked to see Ser Davos, Aegon's own Hand and resolved to speak more to the man. His own feelings on their union were clear in the smile he gave her when he caught her eye and it made him another she could count on.
"My lords, my ladies." Aegon said standing up "My queen and I bid you all enjoy the rest of the night and we take our leave of you."
She smiled as she took his hand and then more so as he kissed her to loud cheers before they walked from the Great Hall. Soon he had her laughing as though he made his intentions clear, he also acted a fool as they walked and she felt he was both a little drunk and in an extremely good mood. When they reached the corridor which led to their room she squealed as he lifted her from her feet. Laughing as he carried her the rest of the way and into the room itself.
"I had thought of doing this from the Great Hall." he said as they moved to the bed.
"Thank the gods you did not, it would not have looked appropriate to be beaten by your wife on our wedding night." she japed making him laugh some more.
"No my love it would not." Aegon said and she shrieked when he threw her up and she landed on the bed.
"Aegon." she said, failing to sound annoyed.
"Daenerys." he replied huskily and moved towards her.
While she had half expected him to rip her dress from her, instead he was careful, gentle even as he slowly took it off, kissing each piece of her skin as he exposed it. By the time she was in her smallclothes, she could feel how hard her nipples were, and when she squeezed her thighs together there was more than dampness between her legs. She looked at him standing there fully dressed and she raised an eyebrow in challenge, one he thankfully accepted.
That he then took an age to remove his own clothing was both frustrating and rewarding. Dany finding herself laying back and enjoying the show, and what a show it turned out to be. Aegon knew which parts of him excited her most and so he made sure to show them off to their best as he took off his clothing. She watched as his firm arse came into view and then she gasped when he turned and she saw how hard he was for her. Biting her lip she looked on as his hand stroked his length slowly. Her husband drawing it out and making it take an age for his fingers to travel from stem to root.
"Aegon." she said her voice making her want clear and he moved closer to the bed.
She felt his hands on her feet and then looked on as he lifted one of them to his mouth. His lips and his tongue touching her toes before he took them one by one inside. Never had she thought she could feel anything from such an act and yet looking at his face, his mouth as he sucked on her toes, Dany felt herself getting warmer and wetter with each one he did. When he began kissing up her legs she both wished him to hurry and to take his time, shivering when he passed her knees and almost grabbing his hair when he bit her on the inside of her thigh.
"Dany." he said, his voice almost hoarse, and then she felt him rip her small clothes from her and she gave out an excited gasp.
Aegon looked down at her as he kissed her lips and then began to move back down her body. Her torn small clothes discarded on the floor and forgotten about when he took her nipple in his mouth. If she had thought looking at him as he sucked on her toes was exciting, compared to this it was very much not. Aegon taking his time and drawing more than one moan from her lips before he moved to the other breast and repeated the action. She looked on as he kissed down her belly and felt the strangest sensation when he did so, it felt different, more intimate, and had she not been looking into her eyes she'd not have noticed. But she swore she saw something there other than lust, there was joy, happiness and what she felt was resolve, before suddenly she was gasping as he kissed between her thighs.
"Aegon." she said loudly grabbing his hair when he threatened to move away "Gods Aegon"
The feel of his tongue and then his fingers soon had her on the edge and when she felt him lift her up slightly she was lost. It was as if he found a way to reach deeper inside, his fingers brushing a part of her she didn't know existed and the loud moans she made would ring around the keep no doubt. Dany found she cared not. If anything it excited her that people would hear them, that they'd know her husband brought her pleasure. She wanted them to know that they were one, that she was his and he was hers.
"Aegon." she said as she shuddered.
He gave her no respite and barely had she gotten her breath back when she was tasting herself on his lips and feeling him slide inside of her. Once again he filled her completely in a way that no one else ever had, blood of my blood she thought as she looked at him. That he was getting as much pleasure from this as she, was clear from his own sounds, and hearing him say her name as hungrily as she had said his left her with no doubts. It was frenzied, hard, and she enjoyed every thrust, then it was softer, slower, and yet the pleasure she felt was just the same. Aegon looked deep into her eyes as if he was seeing more of her than anyone ever had before. For the first time, she felt someone was seeing her for truly who she was. Not Daenerys, not the Queen, but Dany, his wife, the woman he loved, and she loved him for that as much as anything.
"Dany."
"Oh gods, Dany."
She felt him getting close and though she was not, she'd not begrudge him his own pleasure after he had already given her so much this night. When he came she was surprised to feel her own climax build and she looked at him almost pleadingly. Where he got the will from to continue she didn't know but soon she was screaming his name as she felt the waves come over her, and then she was breathing deeply, laying in his arms content.
They slept and woke maybe an hour or so later and both of them were eager to make love once more, this time even more slowly. Enjoying it even more and taking the time to bring each other to the brink more than once. She awoke the next morning to find Aegon had awakened before her, her husband looking down on her as she had slept.
"Does my husband like the sight I present?" she said with a smile, knowing that her hair was disheveled and she bore more than one mark on her body from their night before.
"My wife is the one sight I find my eyes cannot do without." Aegon said and she smiled as she kissed him.
The sickness came with the food, Dany smelling the warmed bacon and finding herself needing to use the privy, Aegon looking at her nervously once she was done.
"We need to speak to someone, Dany, you could be… what if someone is doing this to you?" he asked worriedly.
She looked at him and shook her head. Though she still refused to believe it to be so, she had remembered how she'd felt with Rhaego. How she was sensitive to certain smells and tastes and how some mornings she'd felt well and others not so much. Were it not for her dream then she'd not think this way, not ever dare to think it could be true. But her dreams came true and this was one she wished for more than anything.
"I… I think I may be with child." she said, biting her lip as she awaited Aegon's reaction, the smile he gave her though was far truer than any words.
"Dany." he said as he held her tightly and once again his joy was clear "We should speak to one of the Dothraki, they have women, midwives?"
"They have women." she said looking at him, seeing how he looked back at her leaving her in no doubt that not only was he happy, not only did he love her and should they have a child them too, but he'd strike down any who threatened them or who threatened their babe.
"We keep this to ourselves, Dany, only those you trust, not even Arya, gods, a babe, our babe." He said happily.
"I…"
"We'll find out for certain, I know you won't wish our hopes raised, but we should be hopeful my love, you should be." he said and she nodded.
She asked Missandei to fetch the midwife and soon she was laying back as the woman examined her. Aegon had sent Tyrion and Varys away and Grey Worm, Missandei, Qhono, and Jorah were the only ones who had any idea of why he'd done so.
"The Khaleesi carries a child, two moons maybe three." Largqhi said.
"Everything is well?" Aegon asked and Largqhi nodded.
"The Khaleesi and child are well, healthy." Largqhi smiled.
"No one is to know Qoy Qoyi" Dany said and Largqhi nodded.
"No one will know until the Khaleesi wills it so." the woman said and Dany looked to Aegon who moved closer to her.
"You, our babe, they are all that matters. I swear it on the old gods and the new, I swear it on fire and blood, nothing comes before you Dany, nothing before you and our babe."
"You too Aegon, you are part of us, too." Dany said and he nodded.
Winterfell 305 AC.
Jaime.
He stood watching with others as Jon Snow dodged the curved blade, the Dothraki he was facing getting frustrated by the smaller man's quickness. It forced him to move closer and to swing his blows heavier and Jaime watched as the first one was parried, the second met with a dart forward by Jon, and then the Dothraki was on the ground trying to figure out how he got there. Jon reached his hand out and helped the man back to his feet and then turned to face one of the unsullied.
Jaime stood and watched him move and it was like being back in the Red Keep looking at Rhaegar as he sparred with Arthur. When Brienne asked for a spar after Jon had beaten the unsullied, Jaime found himself moving even closer, even more, eager to see how he did against someone he himself had experience in fighting. He wasn't the only one watching on with an excited look on their face, as he looked up to see the queen standing with her translator staring at the two as they raised their swords.
Even were it not the quality of the warriors fighting, the fact both wielded Valyrian steel would have garnered interest and the sound of the two blades clashing was far different from any other. Jaime watched as they sized each other up, circling each other and almost daring the other to attack. He saw a smile from Jon Snow which again sent him back in time and it was all it took for Brienne to make the first move. Where the contest with the Dothraki was he could see now just a warm-up for Jon Snow. This was anything but and though he could see the excited looks on the faces of the Northmen, the Wildings, and the Queen's men, there were worried looks too from some.
For him, though it was just watching and enjoying the beauty of two warriors who were good at their craft, more than good. As he watched Jon Snow suddenly switch how he fought, he knew Brienne was done for and he wondered what it would have been like to have faced the man himself while he was still whole. The fight at first had been just a standard spar, no different than hundreds he or Brienne had taken part in and Brienne held her own. Then Jon began fighting in a style that Jaime had never seen before, a unique style and he wondered where he'd learned it. There were spins, he used Brienne's strength against her, and gods was he quick. It was the unorthodox nature of it though which won the day. True he may have beaten her in a standard fight anyway but in this, she was done the moment he wished it to end.
"I yield." Brienne said with a smile on her face as Jon helped her up and she had barely moved away before another and then another took her place.
By the time his sister faced him, Jon Snow had beaten six or maybe seven men and yet wasn't even breathing hard. Jaime looked on as the small girl pulled out a thin sword and once again the smile was back on Jon Snow's face. This fight was a blur though and if he thought Jon Snow was quick before then watching him now made it look as if he had been holding back. Though he needed to be fast as the young girl moved perhaps even quicker than he did.
Watching Jon face Brienne he had thought his style unique, seeing his sister fight he knew hers was, and yet unlike Brienne with Jon. Jon with Arya had found him able to change his style to match her own. It wasn't strength nor skill and it wasn't a technique which won the day for Jon either, it was in the end experience as he laid a trap, and Jaime and the others watched as Arya fell for it. Jon purposely dropping his sword and allowing the girl's hesitancy and surprise to be her downfall.
"Yield." Jon said holding the bone hilted dagger to Arya's neck and the girl nodded laughing loudly.
"You fucker you did that on purpose." she said and Jaime like some of the others chuckled when in return she had her hair mussed, making her laugh even more loudly.
With the spars over, he readied to turn and go about some of his own daily routines only to find Jon Snow looking at him as he drank his water. Whatever doubts he had that he was right and he had very few now, the deep purple eyes which stared at him proved them false. Jon Snow was Rhaegar Targaryen's son, Jaime was sure of it and he didn't know what to make of that information. It seemed also as if he was not going to be allowed to be alone with his thoughts, as far too soon Jon Snow moved and was standing in front of him.
"Ser Jaime, I believe her grace would like a word." Jon said and Jaime nodded, trying his best not to stare.
He watched as Jon closed his eyes for a moment and then rather than bring him to the rooms he and the queen were sharing, Jaime was walked through the courtyard and into the Godswood, finding it empty for once. Soon enough they were standing in front of the large Weirwood and he turned to face the boy who he now knew was his prince's son. Something that Jon Snow seemed to know too, given how he looked at him.
"Ned Stark fooled everyone Ser Jaime, not just you or your father, Varys, Olenna Tyrell, Robert, he fooled them all."
"How long? When?" he asked.
"Ned Stark made you all believe he was an honorable man, Ser Jaime, that each thing he did was guided by it. That he believed it, lived it, and practiced it, when in truth Ned Stark was anything but." Jon said and Jaime looked at him surprised.
He watched as the boy gave a sad chuckle, as he sat down and bid him do likewise. Jon then reaching out and taking a cloth and then removing his sword to rub it clean.
"I too was brought up on tales of his honor. How he was the most honorable man in Westeros. How I was a stain on that honor, a blight. The one mark on an otherwise pristine cloak." Jon said and snorted "When in truth I was the proof that the man cared not for honor, not for family either. My uncle was born a wolf, Ser Jaime, and yet he died a stag."
The bitterness was not a surprise and yet it was too, but before he had a chance to ask or to hear any answers to the questions he already had, he heard footsteps and turned to see the queen and the white wolf walking his way. He saw the expression on Jon's face change immediately, one he'd only seen rarely on Rhaegar's face and one he identified more with Rhaenys than with her father.
"My queen." Jon said laying down his cloak so the queen could sit and kissing her deeply before she did so "Ser Jaime, here knows the truth it seems. I think it's time for more truths to be spilled here this day, don't you?"
"Tell me of my mother and brother, Ser Jaime?" the queen asked and he swallowed hard.
"Of course your grace. I wasn't as close to Rhaegar as some, Ser Arthur Dayne was his closest friend and no man knew him better than he. Yet I knew him better than most and I respected him greatly, your brother..your father." he said looking to Jon "Was a good man, no matter what they say about him, I don't know why he and your mother..why they, but it was never as they said it was, I'll not nor have I ever believed that."
"My mother and father loved each other, Ser Jaime, I know the truth of them, of what happened and why they parted how they did. I know why my father left three good men to see me safe and how they met their ends at the hands of a man who did anything but."
He watched as the queen took Jon's hand in her own, as she rubbed it softly and as Jon smiled in return before he looked at him again.
"Queen Rhaella?" Jon asked and this time it was Daenerys who looked at him the most eagerly.
"Was one of the sweetest, kindest, truest women I know and we failed her." Jaime said his voice almost breaking as he talked about her.
"Failed her?" Daenerys asked.
"What do you know of your father, your grace?"
"Ser Barristan told me the truth of him, of what he did to…." she said looking to Jon and unable to give voice to her words, though he didn't need her to, knowing who she was speaking of.
"He was worse than that your grace. I…."
"Tell us." Jon said determinedly and so he did.
He told of how the fire excited him and of what he would do once he was excited. Jaime spoke of Jonathor and what he'd told him as he guarded the door, soon enough he was speaking of things he'd barely told anyone. The words just coming from him in a torrent as he told of the reasons why he'd killed Aerys and how he'd failed Rhaegar and his family. When it got to Elia and the children he told how he'd never imagined his father could do such a thing.
There had been few times in his life when he'd truly cried. When he'd wept openly, and even fewer that he'd done so with anyone there with him. In the Godswood, by the great Weirwood, Jaime Lannister wept for some time, even going so far as to get down on his knees and beg them to end him, to make him pay for the crimes of the past. Crimes that he had convicted himself of long ago. His failures as a man, as a knight finally laid out for all to see, finally explained to people who for the first time in his life actually did have the right to judge him.
"I failed your mother, I should have….I should have acted sooner, I should have… Gods Rhaenys, Aegon, Elia, I failed them, I didn't know… I thought… I should have known…." he said as he wept and couldn't look at them both.
There was no response from either of them as he wept and none when he begged them to judge him guilty.
"My life is yours to take, I wronged you both… if I… had I….Your mother, your father, your brother, sister, Elia… gods… do it..please just do it. Rhaegar asked me to look after his family to protect them, I failed him… I failed them all." Jaime said his tears falling as he looked at them both.
"Today is not your day to die Ser Jaime." Daenerys said, her voice far softer than he had expected and yet it was Jon Snow's whose voice surprised him most.
"In the North, an oath sworn in front of a Weirwood is one which our gods hold truest of all. Cursed is the kinslayer is something every man and woman in Westeros knows, here in the North a man who breaks an oath in front of the Weirwood is just as cursed. You say my father, my queen's brother asked you to look after his family, Ser Jaime?" Jon asked his voice calm.
"It was the last thing he said to me, I..after Aerys I thought it done….I thought them safe."
"We're still not safe, Ser Jaime. Rhaegar's family sits in front of you right now, right here, what will you do to protect them?" Jon asked.
He looked at him, not sure if he was hearing what he thought he was hearing, surely he wasn't saying what he believed him to be saying. Yet the look Jon Snow gave him, Daenerys was giving him proved that he really was being offered a second chance.
"Anything." he said softly.
"For now my queen is all our family that anyone knows, I'll have your oath, Ser Jaime, here in this place I'll have it that you'll shield our backs, that you'll guard our secrets, and that you'll give your life in service of ours."
He couldn't, how? How could he know?
"A Kingsguard, you're asking me to be a Kingsguard?" he asked, his voice hopeful.
"A Queensguard for now, Ser Jaime, but aye, I'm asking you to be what you wished to be, what say you?" Jon asked.
"Your grace." he said looking to Daenerys and then to Jon.
"Aegon." Jon said and Jaime nodded as he took out his sword, kneeling in front of them he looked up at them both.
"I pledge my sword, my life, my honor to her grace Queen Daenerys and his grace King Aegon of the House Targaryen. I shall shield their backs, guard their secrets, give my life for theirs. I shall hold no king or queen above them, no allegiance to any house or crown but theirs, from this day to my last day."
"Rise Ser Jaime, we have much work that needs to be done." Daenerys said.
King's Landing 305 AC.
The Griffin.
It was over twenty years since he had stepped foot in this shit-smelling city and if anything time had done him more favors than it had done King's Landing. As he rode with the rest of the company's captain's he saw the looks the people had in their eyes and he found he couldn't blame them for looking so fearful. There was a huge empty space where the Great Sept had once stood and these people now lived under another mad ruler. Even if this one didn't have a cock between her legs, she was still Aerys reborn. Jon found himself wondering, did Cersei Lannister's desires rise when people burned? For Aerys would surely have been hard as a rock watching countless people die in the Sept.
The thoughts of what she had done, House Tyrell had all been wiped out, countless lords and ladies, even her own uncle, and yet it had made no difference to her, she'd seen it done. Oh, she had since tried to claim that it was her imp brother and the mad king's daughter but Lysono had told them the truth. It was Tywin's mad lioness who had blown up the Great Sept, who had then allied with a man just as mad as her too. The Crow's Eye had come damnably close to being killed on their voyage here. That he kept his cruelty to his own men and had only threatened some of theirs was the only reason the one-eyed freak still lived.
Mad as he was, Euron Greyjoy knew better than to cross a line with the Golden Company. Strickland may be as weak as piss, but he, Lysono, Balaq, Trystane, and Laswell were anything but. Seeing the Red Keep in front of him was a shock to his system and soon enough he was walking through corridors he'd once strolled through as a far younger man. When he entered the Throne Room he half expected to see King Scab sit the throne and despite himself, his eyes were drawn to the right as he instinctively looked for his silver prince.
"You stand in the presence of Her Grace, Cersei Lannister, The first of her name, Queen of the Andals, Rhoynar and the First Men, Lady of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm." a small grey-haired man said, the man wearing a Maester's robe and bearing the pin of the Hand, a pin he had worn once he thought bitterly.
"My queen." Euron said over exuberantly and Jon thought that if the queen bought that, then she may very well be the stupidest of all the Lannisters.
"Lord Greyjoy." the queen said with a false smile and he didn't know which of the two was the worst mummer.
"I bring you the Golden Company." Euron said and Harry stepped forward.
He had to admit, looking at Strickland in his armor and with Blackfyre on his hip, you'd think him a worthy leader of the Golden Company, as long as you didn't look too closely that was. His hair pulled over to cover up where it was balding was a clear enough sign that his appearance was a façade, and other than his elephants, which he'd had to leave behind much to Jon's amusement, Harry commanded no respect.
"Your Grace, the Golden Company stands ready."
"20,000 men is it." Cersei asked her false smile still plastered on her face.
"Yes your grace." Strickland replied.
"Horses?"
"2,000."
"And Elephants?" Cersei asked and Jon tried not to snigger.
"No elephants your grace."
"That's disappointing, I was told the Golden Company had elephants." Cersei said her expression changing and despite the many years since he'd seen it, Jon knew that look. A madman had worn that look once and what Strickland said next could provoke or assuage a mad queen.
He looked around the room, there were a few guards and one giant of one, yet Jon focussed on Euron Greyjoy. If things went to shit he'd gut that fucker before he met his gods.
"They are excellent beasts your grace, but not well suited to long sea voyages." Strickland said and the madness seemed to retreat, for now.
"In any event, you're more welcome here in King's Landing, Captain Strickland."
"We look forward to fighting on your behalf, your grace." Strickland said and Jon bristled, speak for yourself he thought as they turned and left the mad queen and the mad pirate to their own devices.
It took them almost three days to empty the ships and even longer to find places for all the men to stay. Lysono found them a building that he personally examined and deemed secure. The spider's little birds had a way of finding their way into every nook and cranny and Jon had taught Lysono well what to expect here in Westeros. There would be spies everywhere. The spider worked with Daenerys Targaryen now and would know what they ate for dinner and who didn't wear small clothes if they were not careful, not to mention the queen's own spies no doubt watched too.
Strickland both bemoaned the fact he didn't have his beloved elephant with him, how a man could have favorite big-eared beast was beyond him, and that there was less to spend coin on here than in Essos. While Jon and the others spoke on much more practical things, such as defending the city from dragons and how to defeat Dothraki and unsullied, neither of whom any of them were keen on facing. Despite his own wish to return home, to see Griffin's Roost once more before he died and to walk in the footsteps of his silver prince, Jon had been against this contract.
That the Company wished to come home was one thing. To actually fight on the side of Lannister's after what they had done, that was something he couldn't stomach. The Golden Company may have been formed to fight against the Red Dragon of House Targaryen, but those days were long gone and it was gold that truly ruled their wants these days. In the end, he was outvoted and though he'd considered resigning his commission, he'd nowhere else to go. Jon Connington was a man without a cause, he had been since his silver prince died and since Tywin had set his mad dogs loose in the Red Keep twenty years earlier. It seemed his destiny to fight and die like most of the men of the Golden Company, for gold and not for a cause.
"I heard a tale from the North." Lysono said taking his seat at their table.
"What tale?"
"The queen and this Jon Snow have arrived in the North leading the largest army the world has ever seen Jon. Dothraki, unsullied, almost 100,000 strong." Lysono said and Jon saw Balaq, Franklyn Flowers, and Young Jon Mudd all look nervously at their spymaster."
"Dragons?" Laswell Peake asked.
"Two, the largest of them the queen herself rides." Lysono said and Jon smiled.
Rhaegar had always believed that he was the Prince that was Promised, that one day he'd wake dragons from stone and lead an army to face the greatest threat the world had ever known. It seems it may have been his sister's and not his destiny to do so.
"They head for Winterfell?" he asked and Lysono nodded.
He couldn't help but be bitter when he thought of the wolves. Ned Stark had risen against his prince and he and the fat stag had named Rhaegar a kidnapper and a rapist as if he would ever need to do either. What had happened between him and the wolf girl he knew not, but it was certainly not rape, and yet in the end she had led him to his death. For that alone, he hated the damn Starks and would love to see them fall. Though they had like the stags fallen greatly already.
"The Wall has fallen too." Lysono said and Jon snorted.
"The Wall has stood for thousands of years, Lysono."
"Until now." the spymaster said and Jon took a swallow of his wine as he looked around the room, the faces more nervous now as they remembered the tales Lysono had told them about an army of dead men.
He was walking back to where he was staying when he heard the voice calling him, turning he saw Balaq run his way.
"Connington, wait up, dammit man don't make me run after you, I'm not a damn griffin." Balaq said laughing as he caught him.
"What's wrong my friend?" he asked quietly.
"This Jon, all of it, we should not be here." Balaq said and he nodded.
"I know, but we are, all we can do now is prepare."
"Is it?" Balaq asked, before he could answer him, Jon saw the small child as he scurried away. The little bird off to sing his song no doubt, well if he had doubted it before it was clear now, the spider would soon know the griffin had returned.
Winterfell 305 AC.
Howland.
He'd spoken to Maege and Galbart about the execution, true it had been framed as a trial by combat but it was, in the end, an execution all the same. Maege had welcomed it, said that it showed that Jon Snow had what it took to be their king and while Galbart was less effusive in his praise, for obvious reasons, he didn't bear their king any ill will for killing his brother. Robett's own actions had led to his demise and he'd shamed House Glover more than once, something that Galbart would never have forgiven him for had he lived.
Now though they were being called to a meeting and unlike the one they'd be attending inside, this one was to be held in the Godswood. He, Lord Wyman, the Mormonts, Ser Davos, Jaime Lannister, and the leader of the Free Folk, Tormund Giantsbane, though even they seemed to think Jon their king, had all been asked to attend. Along with the King, the Queen, and her men and The Wull and the Liddle to represent the Mountain Clans. He knelt down as did some others and offered their prayers and then he watched as the King and Queen walked their way. Ghost alongside them alone with only one of Jon's two female cousins.
Two things were clear to Howland looking at the Stark girls, there was a divide between Jon Snow and Sansa Stark and Arya Stark was Lyanna come again. It was something that Maege most keenly picked up on, and he had seen the woman look to Arya wistfully more than once, as she had to Jon Snow also truth be told. While he doubted she'd yet made the connection, he felt it was only a matter of time, and he hoped that when she did she'd support him just as he was. Howland watched as Jon led his queen their way and as the Queen's Hand tried his best not to glare at the king, making him wonder what the issue Tyrion Lannister had with Jon was.
"His grace and I called you to speak because we wish to discuss something with you here in this sacred place." the queen said.
"Our enemy has one big advantage over us, as we fall he grows stronger." Jon began "While I know better than any just how strong a women warrior can be, here in the north especially. Not all women can be warriors, not all men either. Yet to the Night King it matters not, any who fall will rise again and while in our army they may not offer much in the way of offense, in his they are as strong as any soldier of ours."
"The Night King doesn't need to defend those weakest amongst him, he doesn't care as they will fight regardless but we, my king and I, those of us here in this sacred place, we live and breathe and our hearts beat. We care, we will fight and we will protect and in doing so we give him the advantage." Daenerys said looking to Jon.
"What is it you ask of us Dragonqueen, King Crow?" Tormund asked.
"We need to gather those who cannot fight, those who are old, ill, those not able to wield a weapon or who would need our protection the most in the battle to come. We need to gather them and send them south." Jon Snow said.
"You would have me send my granddaughters south, The Jon?" The Wull asked.
"I would The Wull. Granddaughters, daughters, sons, uncles, aunts, fathers, mothers. Any who cannot bear arms need to be elsewhere when the Army of the Dead comes our way. I propose we send them under guard to the Neck. They can be safe there while we face the Night King here without fear for their lives. While it's true men may fight harder knowing their loved ones reside in these walls, we risk too much, should they fall behind us then we risk a fight on two fronts and though I wish them safe, I also wish to remove the risk to our men also." Jon said.
He looked at the others and saw them nod, Lyanna shaking her head at something her mother said and Arya glaring at her cousin as if daring him to tell her that she had to leave. When they had given their agreement he heard Jon say something very strange and he wondered where it came from.
"We'll hold a meeting in the Great Hall with the rest of the Lords. Lord Wyman when we're there I'd ask you to suggest we march the people to White Harbor, that we suggest using her grace's ships to ferry them to Dragonstone if need be." Jon said looking to Wyman.
"Your grace?" Wyman asked confused.
"Bear with me, my lord."
"Of course your grace."
He watched as Jon spoke to Daenerys and then left with Ser Davos as Tyrion Lannister then tried to speak to the queen only to be waved off for now. It took a few hours to organize the meeting in the Great Hall and once it was done that they had gathered, Jon stood up to speak. Howland looking around the room to see who raised the most objections about what he was about to say.
"My Lords, My ladies. The Army of the Dead march our way and soon we'll need to face them. Tomorrow the work begins in earnest to prepare Winterfell to defend against the Night King, however, before then there is something I need to see done. We needs must protect our people and to do that we cannot leave our most vulnerable open to attack. Winterfell despite its walls is not best placed for their protection and so we must send them South."
"You would have our people leave."
"We are Northmen, we belong in the North."
"I'll not send my wife and children away."
The voices were loud and Jon slammed his hand down on the table, Howland looking on as the room quietened, and then it was Lord Royce and Sansa Stark who spoke.
"Your Grace, we're of the North, we belong in the North, surely we can find somewhere to protect our people. The Crypts, we can secure them and our people would be safe in there." Sansa said to nods.
"Aye your grace, my Knights can see it made secure. No one will get in I give you my oath." Lord Royce added.
"And what about getting out Lord Royce, Lady Stark?" Daenerys said.
"Your grace?" Lord Royce asked looking confused.
"We face an enemy who can raise the dead Lord Royce, yet you and Lady Stark would have us hide in crypts? With the dead?" Tormund pray tell Lord Royce and the Lords of the North what happened at Hardhome?" Daenerys said and Howland saw Jon's smirk as it briefly appeared on his face.
"After the dead came and killed my people. After Jon Snow killed a White Walker and saved as many as he could. After we made it to the boats and rowed for the ships and looked on as my people were massacred. After all of that, the icy fucker walked to the edge of the pier and raised his hands. He fucking raised his hands and as one my people rose, their eyes no longer their own, their minds his to play with, and thousands of blue eyes stared at us from the shore." Tormund said, tears falling from his face as he sat back down.
The room hushed, men looking to each other and to the floor, Lord Royce sitting with a shocked expression on his face, and Sansa Starks glaring at the queen and king.
"Still think it a good idea to hide in the crypts, Lady Stark?" Daenerys said to silence as Jon smirked and looked to Wyman giving him a nod.
"Your grace, your grace." Wyman said standing up "I suggest we move those unable to fight to White Harbor and if need be on to Dragonstone, we can begin the march on the morrow if your graces, allow it."
"An excellent idea, Lord Wyman, all those in favor?" Jon said and a few Aye's were shouted out.
"My king asked you, who was in favor?" Daenerys asked and the shouts were much louder.
He found himself chuckling when he left the Great Hall. If his king's plan was to show up Sansa Stark then he succeeded, and yet he felt that perhaps that was not his only plan and there was more going on here that he didn't know.
Winterfell 305 AC.
Tyrion.
He was being left out of things, decisions were being made in the room without him and that he was not the only one absent wasn't comforting at all. It was exactly as he had feared, that once they got together they'd be the ones to decide and he as Hand would be sidelined. Tyrion had offered to help with the preparations for the fight to come and had been told he wasn't needed. Jaime, Tormund, Beric, and others were all asked to help prepare and yet he was asked to attend to less pressing matters.
Had he not beaten back Stannis?
Prepared King's Landing for an attack they should have lost?
Did he not plan his queen's strategy for taking Westeros?
True he'd suffered a few setbacks, but the Sand Snakes deserved what they got, and were they and the Greyjoys any use then they'd have known better than to accept his sailing route. Of course, Euron would lie in wait if they went that way, only fools wouldn't know better. Tyrion hadn't wept when they'd fallen and he'd not outright conspired with their enemies to see it done, he'd just made sure it had happened.
Olenna and the Tyrell's was a mistake. He'd been outplayed, his brother making a move that Tyrion hadn't been able to predict. But losses happened in war and surely he couldn't be blamed for them all. Yet Jon Snow wished no part of his offered advice, neither on the field or off of it, and Tyrion grew angrier each day. It was bad enough he had to watch him slobber all over a woman he didn't deserve, but he also now had to bow and call him Your Grace. Him a son of Tywin Lannister calling a bastard his king. Were his father not dead then he'd slap him silly, as it was he probably looked down upon him with satisfied glee.
This last bit though was the final straw, they'd said one thing in the Godswood and another in the Great Hall and he'd been privy to neither. Once again the decisions were made without his input, and so he'd wanted until Snow and the others had gone for their ride and he'd practically demanded to speak to the queen. He was even willing to risk her further displeasure as he evidently already had provoked her some so far.
"Her grace will see you now." Missandei said and Tyrion walked into the room, his queen looking just as beautiful as ever and he smiled when he saw her, though not when he saw the white wolf by her side.
"What is it" Daenerys asked, her voice agitated.
"Your grace, these plans of Lord Snow's."
"King Jon's you mean." she said pointedly.
"Forgive me your grace, King Jon's. These plans of his are you sure they're for the best?" he asked.
"What makes you think they're his plans, Lord Tyrion?"
"Your grace?"
"My husband and I discussed these things together, they are our plans." she said with a smile.
He felt the annoyance he had entering the room begin to rise, this was it, exactly what he had feared and now he had it clearly shown in her own words.
"Your grace, you appointed me your Hand, to help advise you, how can I advise if I'm left out of things?"
"You advise at my pleasure, Lord Hand, you are not my only adviser and none come before my husband."
"Your grace, this is what I feared, he's leading you astray. You've begun to rely on his advice far too much." he said shaking his head.
"As opposed to yours, your mean?" she replied her anger clear.
"You're listening to a Northern Savage, a bastard who knows naught of politics." he said and realized he's gone too far much too late.
"That Northern Savage is my husband. That Northern Savage brought me a kingdom when you lost me three. That Northern Savage is your king." Daenerys said standing up, the white wolf doing likewise.
"He's not my king, I never knelt to him. I knelt only to you." he said and he flinched when he saw her face.
"That's your entire problem Lord Tyrion, you won't recognize my husband and so you cannot serve me how I need you to." Daenerys said.
"Your grace."
"When the people march South, you will go with them. I find I have no need of your advice for what's to come, Lord Tyrion. Now leave me before I find I've no need of you either."
"Your grace, you're making a mistake, the bastard."
"Enough." Daenerys said walking towards him "You will never speak of my husband that way again, never." she ripped the pin from his chest.
"Your grace, please?" he asked his voice almost breaking.
"If you cannot accept my husband, cannot even treat him with the respect he deserves, then you are no longer my Hand. Go, go South Tyrion, and hope my ire doesn't follow you." Daenerys said turning from him.
He made a move to go to her but the white wolf moved towards him making it clear what would happen if he took another step. Missandei then glared at him as she came running into the room and Tyrion walked from the queen's rooms in a daze. How long he walked for he didn't know but eventually he came to a door and knocked on it.
"Tyrion." Sansa Stark said smiling to see him.
"We need to talk." he said as she opened the door wider to let him inside.
Winterfell 305 AC.
Aegon.
When he had spoken to her about his plans to move people South he found that she was in complete agreement, more so when he brought up his reasoning regarding the crypts. That she then suggest they use it against Sansa made him laugh, so much so that she at first got affronted thinking he was suggesting she didn't' understand the politics, when it was the complete opposite.
" No my love, I was laughing thinking of Sansa's face, not at the idea."
" So you don't think me foolish?" she asked still not completely sure he was telling the truth.
" I had thought to use this for the reasons I wished, you thought how to use this to undermine Sansa. I understand politics somewhat, you though have a feel for it that I don't possess." Aegon said and she smiled at that.
" Then it's just as well my husband can wield a sword."
" You saw the spars?" he asked smiling.
" Oh, Aegon my love, who's speaking of spars?" she said her voice low and husky.
Whether it was her nature or the fact that she carried their babe, Aegon found he cared not. That his wife wished to lay together as often as she did was something he thanked the gods for and no matter what else was on his mind, being with her in that way made the world disappear.
"You're doing it again?" Tormund said and he shook his head, glad now they were riding slowly rather than at full speed.
"Shut up you crazy fucker." he said to laughs from those with him.
He, Tormund, Davos, Ser Jaime, Grey Worm, Qhono, and Ser Jorah had ridden out to look over the ground ahead of them. He'd have brought others too but they were needed back in Winterfell to both see over the keep's defenses and to organize the march South. Still, Aegon was happy enough with the men who were with him, it would be these mainly that he'd need for his plans anyway. The empty ground stretched out to the Wolfswood and as he closed his eyes Aegon could see the Dothraki's ride, their swords being extinguished and one by one, their greatest strength wasted uselessly.
"Qhono, when your men charge, do you charge straight?" he asked and Qhono looked at him and nodded.
"Dothraki line up and charge, Khal." Qhono said
"Would you ride from the side?" Aegon asked and Qhono looked at him, Aegon climbing from his horse and picking up a stick.
As he did the others did the same, Aegon taking the stick and drawing Winterfell, showing a force of unsullied lined up behind barriers and Qhono shaking his head.
"This bad, Qohor." Qhono said and Jaime Lannister asked the question that Aegon knew was on other's lips.
"Qohor?" Jaime asked confused.
"The Three Thousand of Qohor." Aegon said seeing a small smirk on Grey Worm's face "The Dothraki crashed against them and lost most of their Khalasar. It's why they respect the unsullied so."
"Dothraki not ride against walls." Qhono said simply.
Aegon got the stick and began to draw a force attacking the unsullied, he then drew crude horses coming in from either side and saw both Jaime and Davos nod. Tormund looking a little upset as he remembered Stannis cutting through Mance's men.
"A double envelopment." Jaime said and Aegon nodded.
"Can the Khalasar do this, split in two and attack from the sides?" Aegon said and Qhono looked at the drawing in the mud and smiled, nodding eagerly.
"I need you to find ground where you can be hidden, Qhono, here and here." he pointed to the sides, do you use horns?" he asked and Qhono shook his head.
"A dragon flying over you letting out its flames?" He asked and Qhono nodded.
"Then we ride?" Qhono asked.
"Then you ride." Aegon said.
Full-on attacks were good when facing men, men buckled, their courage could falter. The dead weren't afraid, they had nothing left to lose so why would they be worried they'd fall. After speaking to Qhono they mounted the horses and rode to the Wolfswood. From there to Winterfell covered a great distance and yet the dead had come straight at them, using the shortest quickest route, he could use that and he would. Telling Tormund, Qhono, and Davos to gather large sticks, he turned to Jaime Lannister and they rode back from the trees. The two of them looking over the lands between Winterfell and here.
"How far?" he asked pointing the Keep in the distance.
"Two miles, three." Jaime said nodding.
"The dead aren't clever Ser Jaime, they're not men and they don't think, among them are their commanders, White Walkers, kill one and any dead men he raised will fall. But before we get close to them, the dead will come and they'll come hard. How do you stop a cavalry charge?"
"That depends, pikes, spears and shields, caltrops." Jaime said.
"I intend to use all three. They'll come at us from there, and travel the shortest distance to there." he said pointing from the trees to Winterfell "The ground between them and us will need to be prepared as if there were cavalry coming to attack us, Ser Jaime."
"What if they see it?" Jaime asked.
"They won't, besides we'll give them reason enough to keep coming straight." he said and Jaime nodded.
"The queen and I will soften the ground using the dragons. I need you to organize trenches, spread them out, so if they move around them they fall in others. We'll use spikes, crude caltrops, anything we can to slow them down and though we'll not take them all, we'll take some. Can you see it done?"
"I can your grace."
Whatever he could do to limit the numbers that faced the unsullied he would do, as for the men themselves, they would not be there to hold, but to lure, to bring them onto them so the Dothraki could cut them down. He'd speak to Qhono later, the Knights of the Vale too, envelop, ride, regroup, but never stay and engage, that's how cavalry fought and though the Dothraki weren't Westerosi, against these foes that's what they needed to be.
It was late when they returned to Winterfell, he was tired, hungry, and wanted nothing more but to go and be with his wife. Aegon felt they had done well today and soon he'd begin to limit the numbers facing them even more. For now, though he wished to pray and so he bid the others farewell and walked alone to the Godswood, taking a knee and reaching out to touch the tree once he reached it.
The man was old and grey, his scarred face bore the sign of battles many years earlier, his wrinkled fingers feeling the scar over his eye. The sword he'd carried for almost fifty years was now in the hands of a much younger man, Jon Snow had no need for it where he was going. Over the years he'd become wiser than he had ever been, realized things he'd never known, and nursed a heart that he'd broken in two.
" You know nothing, Jon Snow."
Ygritte had been right, he'd known nothing, and because of that, he'd killed the woman he loved. All his life he'd done things for other people's reasons, never for his, and what had it got him, nothing, nothing at all. A life alone at the edge of the world, a heart that had never healed from what he had done, and an abandonment of friends, family, and even the gods themselves. Cursed is the Kinslayer and that's what he had become, a kinslayer and it was his curse to bear.
" A Targaryen alone in the world is a terrible thing."
He had left her alone, and what she had done was a terrible thing, yet now here in this place, he felt the words that Aemon had said referred more to him than they ever did to Daenerys. She had been alone because he had left her that way, he was alone because he killed the only true family he ever had. Jon felt the tears fall as he knelt in the snow, as he thought about the life he had thrown away, he began to weep.
He'd killed her for his family, to save Sansa, Arya, and they'd sent him here to rot, not once in fifty years had either of them come looking for him. No letters had been sent and though Tormund had occasionally gone to Castle Black before he passed, not once had there been so much as a raven's scroll to ask after their so-called brother. The truth of the matter was they had never truly seen him as such. Though at least in Arya's case he had found out that she had never returned to Westeros. The Karstark man who'd told him that so many years earlier was a grandson of Alys and she was the one person in the North who had ever cared to ask after him.
He made it to the Great Weirwood and looked around for the branches to build a fire. In truth, he had no need of one and it would not last til the morrow, but then again neither would he. Lighting it he sat down and stared into the flames and saw them all, the people he'd helped save and those who abandoned him. Sam, Tyrion, Sansa, Bran, there were others true, Davos though he held no true blame for him, he'd never told him his truth after all and Arya, though she had played her part, he had loved her once, and the girl she'd been had died long before they met once more. Jon preferring to remember the one he'd said goodbye to at Winterfell before he headed for the wall than whoever that one he'd met in the Godswood in Winterfell was.
The twig broke under his fingers as he thought of the Wall and his time there. His uncle who he'd not known was his kin. Benjen who'd always been true, Jeor Mormont who'd gifted him so much, and Edd, Green, and Pyp, his true friends. Yet he should never have been there, and he cursed the man who'd let him go, the man who'd let him believe in yet another lie. He had not been a bastard and the Night's Watch was not full of honorable men, but then again what did Ned Stark know of honor. As he looked into the flames though it was deep violet eyes he saw, there was love, pain, and heartbreak in them and he found he couldn't look anymore.
Jon kicked the snow over the fire and watched it go out before taking a charred branch from it and stood up, moving to the Weirwood he began to write his name using the soot. What year it was he knew not, was he seventy and five or older, he couldn't remember. Not that it mattered much anyway, as he wrote his name and last words on the tree. Jon sat back down and looked at. He was happy enough that it covered the truth, and he closed his eyes and saw hers once more.
Aegon opened his eyes, wondering why they'd shown it to him again, and almost expecting to see the words written on the tree.
Aegon Targaryen the man who killed the woman he loved.
That was the last thing he'd ever written, the last thing they'd shown him before they'd shown him the truth, no, before he'd lived it. That's what it had felt like, what he'd had experienced, a life in moments, and it had broken and rebuilt him all at once. It had lit a fire in him that burned ever more brightly each day. Dany, his love, his wife, his life, she and their babe, they were all that mattered, the only truth he needed to know. Wolves were a pack, but Dragons were solitary, that's what the books had said, yet they were wrong. Dragons were family, true family and Aegon had learned the difference over time.
"I've lived as a wolf, I swear here and now, when I die, it'll be as a dragon." he said as he rose to his feet and turned to head back to his family, to his love.