CHAPTER 1 - DANY
It was oddly quiet and oddly cold as Daenerys awoke in her new chamber at Dragonstone. The storm that had raged the night before had died down during the small hours of the morning and now there was weak sunlight shining in through. She got up and padded over to the window to look out to sea; her three children roared far overhead, no doubt fighting over food. Dany frowned as the events of the night before came back to her.
The Spider, Varys, had sworn loyalty to her, though she wasn't sure she trusted him completely, or even at all. She had met a servant of the Lord of Light, who believed Daenerys had a role to play somehow in a mission of the Red God. She had told her to summon Ned Stark's bastard son to Dragonstone, something Tyrion had vouched for, a man who claimed to be King in the North, something that both angered and intrigued her. The Red Priestess Melisandre was still somewhere in the castle, Dany was sure, and made a decision to speak with her again.
Missandei was smiling as she braided her hair that morning.
"Our Dornish allies are just a day's sail away," she reported as she worked away on Dany's silver hair. "And the Lady of Highgarden not much more."
"That is good, my friend" Daenerys said. She needed all of her allies together at Dragonstone so that they could plan her conquest properly and pool strategies.
"And Lord Tyrion has sent a raven North to Jon Snow."
Dany frowned thoughtfully. "I seriously doubt a self-proclaimed king would bend the knee so easily."
Missandei looked at her. "What do you think will happen?"
"I don't know. He might refuse to even come here."
"The Red Priestess from Asshai seemed to know him pretty well," Missandei pointed out. "And wasn't Tyrion married to Sansa Stark for a little while? She is his sister, isn't she?"
Daenerys nodded. "I suppose so. I could speak to either of them to find out more. But it might all be for naught." Yet something about Melisandre's power intrigued her. Dany wanted more information.
Her friend seemed to sense this. "Melisandre is still here," Missandei said. "I can bring her to you, if you would like."
"It's alright," Daenerys said, smiling. "I can find her myself. We have a day before anyone else arrives here. I can speak to the Red Woman and go for a wander around."
She broke fast alone, in the Chamber of the Painted Table, staring out to sea. It was eerily calm, given the storm the night before. Daenerys couldn't help but wonder if Aegon the Conqueror and his sisters had sat where she was now, and sought respite in the view of the calm water while planning their own invasion of the Seven Kingdoms. And they had dragons. As though in tune with her thoughts, her children, Drogon loudest of all, roared again. Dany grinned as she left the castle and made her way around the cliffs.
She found the Red Priestess on a break of the steps, facing out to sea. Dany cautiously went over to her.
"Daenerys Jelmazmo," Melisandre said as she approached. "Forgive me. I do not mean to intrude on this island, and I will be gone before long."
"The Red Priests helped bring peace to Meereen," Dany reiterated to her. "Any servant of the Lord of Light is welcome here. For as long as they like." Yet once again, she had the intuition that Melisandre had complex powers and could possibly see the future.
"My duty is to bring Ice and Fire together," the Red Woman said cryptically. "Once that has happened, my task here is complete."
"Where will you go?" Daenerys asked curiously.
"Volantis," Melisandre replied. "But not for long. I will die in this strange country, Daenerys Stormborn. As will you."
"Ice and Fire," Dany murmured contemplatively, trying to ignore the discomfort she felt at the Red Priestess mentioning their deaths. She met the other woman's eyes. "You mean myself and this Jon Snow?"
Melisandre nodded, and opened her mouth to say something else, but was interrupted by Rhaegal flying overhead with a roar. Instead she smiled. "Fire made flesh," she said softly. "The first dragons Westeros has seen for three hundred years."
"My children." Daenerys smiled back wistfully. "The only ones I'll ever have."
The Red Woman gave her a searching look. "The curse will break soon enough," she said simply, then turned fully around, her back to the cliff edge. Dany ignored her as she processed her words. How did she know about that?
"Prophecies are dangerous things," she said gravely, noticing Daenerys' surprise. "I cannot tell you everything."
Daenerys shook her head and pulled herself together, changing the topic out of self-need. The two of them started to walk down the spiral stairs of the path. "Varys said you used to serve Stannis Baratheon."
Melisandre nodded. "I did."
"He used Dragonstone as a base for some time, didn't he?"
She nodded again. "Before he went to the Wall."
That must be where he met Jon Snow. "You must know this castle better than anyone else here," she mused.
"Yes, quite possibly, the castle and the vaults beneath."
This got Dany's attention. She stopped. "Vaults?"
Melisandre nodded. "Dragonstone is built in a system of cliffs and mountains of stone," she explained. "Below the Dragonmont there are many tunnels and caves. You should probably explore them while you have the chance."
Dany smiled. "Show me the way."
She was thankful for the Red Priestess as the two of them walked through endless tunnels of glittering black rock. Dany thought they must have gone a mile or two under the castle and wondered just how close they were to the Dragonstone volcano.
"This is known as dragonglass," Melisandre mentioned to her as they walked deeper through the maze of zig-zagging rock tunnels. "Volcanic glass. Obsidian."
Daenerys hummed in acknowledgement as they rounded a corner, only to come face to face with a solid wall of the stuff. She turned again, making to go back the way they had come, until she noticed Melisandre gently touching the wall with one hand. It was then that Dany realised, stepping closer, in front of her was some sort of barricade structure.
"Can we get through there?" she wondered aloud.
"I should think we could," the Red Priestess said in a blasé manner. "I never could before, as this sort of vault requires a blood sacrifice to surpass. I do not possess the blood of dragons, Daenerys Stormborn. But you do."
Dany was nonplussed. "You mean only members of House Targaryen can get through this?"
Melisandre nodded again.
Despite her fear and misgivings, Dany felt a small rush of excitement. Her parents might have known about this vault, have accessed it themselves. Rhaegar, too. Or perhaps, none of them had known at all and she would be the first to break into the vault since the days of Aegon and Rhaenys and Visenya.
She removed the three-headed dragon brooch from the front of her dress, using its pin to pierce the pad of her thumb. Wincing, she looked to the Red Woman for confirmation before gently swiping the edge of the glittering rock. The effect was instant: a low rumble of rock later, a large chunk of wall jutted out and swung forward in admittance.
The two of them cautiously crept inside. The vault was small, and the dust generated from the movement of the door made Dany cough and she walked through. Looking around, she couldn't understand what made the vault so special. On the floor lay a small stack of books and papers; one edge of wall boasted a make-shift shelf. The remainder of the space was bare. Yet, strangely, Dany felt connected to her family in a way she hadn't ever experienced.
Melisandre offered her the fire torch they had brought with them, but she shook her head. Dany gently picked up the tiny stack of papers. As she approached the shelf, she found a sword in its scabbard leaning against the wall, the hilt of a dagger just visible. Dany slipped the dagger into her pocket reverently and took the sword with her spare hand, struggling with the weight for a few seconds.
She was silent for a moment, looking around the glittering cave. Only then did she realise that Melisandre was still watching her.
"I would take these back up to the castle," she said softly, relishing in the items she was holding, their potential significance. "And perhaps return them after."
Melisandre looked from her to the books and back again. "As you will. These are yours, now."
Dany barely registered the return journey to the beach. It was only as she began to climb the stairs back to the castle that her arms and back ached from the weight of the sword and the books. It was a relief when she returned to the Chamber of the Painted Table and she was able to put everything down on the map where Dorne was engraved.
The Red Priestess approached the blades. "These are Valyrian steel," she said softly.
Dany knew these were rare, having heard both Ser Jorah and Ser Barristan speak of them once. "I wonder who left them."
"Possibly whoever authored these," Melisandre mused.
Daenerys picked up the top book and opened the cover. A faint drawing of what looked like a harp adorned the first page, accompanied with several squiggles which Dany could only assume were music notes.
She smiled softly, her stomach flipping as she remembered her conversations with Ser Barristan all that time ago. "I think this belonged to my brother, Rhaegar," she said. She promptly rifted through the remainder of the books and papers. One document caught her eye. The Seven-Pointed Star adorned the top, and her late brother's name and signature the bottom.
She walked back and lowered herself into a chair to study it. It was an official document, annulling the marriage of Prince Rhaegar of House Targaryen and Princess Elia Martell of Dorne. Surprised, Dany looked at the next document in the pile, which was a similarly decorated parchment detailing a new marriage between her brother and Lyanna of House Stark.
"Rhaegar left Elia and married Lyanna Stark," Dany said softly, smoothing out the papers. She glanced at the Red Priestess. "Did you know of this? Is this why you encouraged me to go to the vault?"
"I do not know everything," Melisandre replied, but the look in her eyes seemed to suggest elsewise.
"Why would he do that, though?" Dany mused, setting the paper down and picking up another small book.
"Perhaps the books will give you the answers you seek," Melisandre suggested. She had wandered over to the edge of the room and had now resumed staring out to sea.
Dany picked a book at random and carefully flipped through what seemed to be a diary. She felt a swell of sadness for the older brother she had never known. Perhaps he had written some of its contents right here where she now sat, perhaps Kings Landing, or somewhere else entirely. Opening at a random page, she read:
They are marching south, I have heard, the Baratheon forces. Many allies are at his back, among them, my own beloved's brother. The last I heard, Mother and Viserys were coming to Dragonstone, to be safe if these rebels make it to Kings Landing. I will only see them briefly – I must visit my wife in the Tower of Joy one last time before I march on the Trident. If I fall to Robert's forces, I would pray the new Lord of Winterfell find his sister and take her and our as yet unborn child home North so they may live.
Dany's eyes watered as she read. Rhaegar had fallen on the Trident, and Lyanna Stark had died anyway. She wondered of their child, a niece or nephew of age with herself. She thought hard. Perhaps Ned Stark had found his sister at the Tower of Joy, and had taken her child home. The child would have had to have grown up with an entirely new identity – any hint of a Targaryen child would have sparked more violence in the Usurper King. Realisation hitting her, Dany turned to the Red Woman for confirmation.
"Melisandre?" she started hesitantly. "Tell me more about Jon Snow."
The Red Priestess turned back into the room and eyed Daenerys with a smile, one that unnerved her a little.
"You did know, didn't you?" Dany said accusingly, her fingers poised over the paragraph of the book.
"I had suspicions," the other woman said, pacing forward. "No more, no less. He does not know of his heritage, if this is what you fear." She gave another wry smile. "Regardless of who he is to you, there must be more between the two of you than simple familial ties."
Dany frowned. "Meaning?"
"The Long Night is coming," she said in Valyrian, the same she had said the night before, when they first met. "Only the Prince Who Was Promised can bring the dawn." She took another step forward. "Many servants of the Lord of Light believe this prophecy refers to you. I believed it meant Stannis Baratheon, once – a mistake. I now have a feeling it may refer to Jon Snow... either way, prophecies are dangerous things." She paused. "As I said, I cannot tell you everything. Some of the information you need, you need to get from him, and others."
Dany glanced back at Rhaegar's books. "Please, don't tell any of the others," she said softly. "I don't want my advisors or allies knowing about... about this."
Melisandre nodded.
"I'd like to be alone," she continued, pulling another book towards her. The Red Priestess curtsied lightly and complied, her footsteps barely audible on the stone floor.
Dany turned back to the table, her mind and heart racing. She wanted more answers, and spent the rest of the afternoon lost in her brother's memoirs.
A/N: Thank you so much for reading! I'm so excited to be back and writing fanfiction (I wanted to write sooner but the finale aired the same day my A Levels started... anyway). I appreciate this isn't the greatest chapter ever written, but I just wanted to get this little project started. I'm not terming this fic as a 'fix-it'; I didn't necessarily like the ending, but I accept it, and everything except the writing was fantastic. That said, be assured that in this, Dany won't go mad or be killed by Jon. Bran won't end up on the Iron Throne.
Also, thank you for the continued support of my other fics – it honestly means the world.
Thanks for reading again, don't forget to review. Until next time :)