I've always been tempted to write an Eddard/Daenerys pairing oneshot. I remember when I read Game of Thrones that Eddard and Daenerys were my two favorite characters, and naturally that eventually translated into me wanting to pair them together. Yet, to the best of my knowledge at least, not a single time have they been paired together.
I get why. They are on opposite continents, Eddard dies early, there's a two decade age gap between them, and they were on opposite sides of the Rebellion. Still, with all the other messed up pairings that have occurred on this site, Sansa and Tywin, Sansa and Oberyn, Arya and Daenerys, Tywin and Catelyn, etc. The point is that I felt there was no reason not to at least do a brief oneshot on the pairing, and since no other author seemed about to do it, here I am.
Ned was working in his office when she came. By this point, he was resigned to her presence. Whatever defiance he had in him had long been worn down, the ice in his blood melted by her fire.
All it took was once again looking into her purple eyes to feel that very flame eating away at his soul.
That flame had existed from the very first moment he met her eyes. After Robert somehow managed to capture her, Ned had been the one to argue through letters to spare her life. He had even been forced to resort to several threats that could very well have destroyed his friendship with Robert. He had succeeded though. Ned wouldn't have to sleep at night thinking of the ten year old Daenerys joining her niece and nephew in the afterlife.
He was not so thrilled when it was decided that it would fall to him to ensure her continued compliance to Robert's rule be taking her in as a ward at Winterfell. He had taken the news of her betrothal to Robb even worse.
Ned might have appeared relatively conciliatory towards Targaryens, but that was him merely wishing to keep the past in the past and move on. However there was always a part of him that wasn't able to forget. Even learning of Lyanna's actions at the Tower of Joy couldn't completely quench the bitterness he held deep inside. He loved Lyanna, but part of Ned couldn't completely forgive her. Instead he did his best to merely not think about her act and feelings that had brought about so much death and destruction.
Thus having a Targaryen in his home was far from ideal. He eventually decided to bear with it. Daenerys wasn't at fault for the actions of her family, just like Jon wasn't. Ned had taken in Jon, and thus couldn't refuse the same for Daenerys.
He had long since decided he wished he had refused. Since the first moment he looked into those eyes. Those purple eyes, even set in the face of a ten year old, had still created a fire in his soul. A fire that gave birth to desire.
It hadn't been the first time Ned had felt this reaction. His mind had immediately fled to all those years before, when his eyes had met another pair of purple eyes and he lost his heart…Ashara…Daenerys had her eyes. Not a surprise, since they were relatives of a sort. The same, all consuming passion he'd felt then came alive again.
That desire had been overshadowed by shame at the time. She was but a child, and Ned had never once had such a thought towards a child. He had managed to dim that flame of passion into a mere ember by avoiding her and those haunting eyes, but part of him knew. Even then. That ember would eventually burst into flame, and the ice in his soul would melt.
Just as a flame was at its most beautiful right before it goes out, so too were the passionate flames in her soul burning hottest when around him. He was ice. Rigid, cold, and oh so beautiful when melting. Being the one to melt the ice was the height of her passion, even though it threatened to extinguish her in turn.
Breaking through the mask of ice he wore to glimpse what laid beneath had always been the sweetest thing for her. She remembered his feigned indifference to her. As her confidence grew in this strange new land that was what chaffed it the most. Where everyone else fell to her charm and growing beauty, he was just as cold as ever. He seemed to do his best to ignore her entirely, and there was nothing that could bother something as proud as a dragon as much as being ignored. Eventually getting him to acknowledge her had been her goal.
It hadn't taken her long to puzzle out that his thoughts towards her were a lot more complicated. As she grew and became used to the looks of desire the men around her looked at her with, she eventually caught the same looks from Lord Eddard. These were different though. They were mere flashes, quickly covered by his cold mask and shame. Yet they were undeniably there. The looks were different as well. They caused something in Dany to writhe in pleasure.
It was wrong. She knew that. Lord Eddard was married, and had children. Dany was betrothed to Robb, who had never been anything but kind to her. Hell, Dany had long since figured out that Robb was totally entranced by her. Lord Eddard had also been one of the key figures in the downfall of her family. It was completely and totally wrong, in every way.
Yet it was undeniable that she wanted this regardless. Seeing the want in Lord Eddard's eyes despite the same reasons made it clear he did too. It was mad, and indescribable…but true. Robb was courteous, kind, and handsome enough with his Tully looks. Yet Lord Eddard was the one her heart yearned for. His face wasn't as attractive as Robb's, but he was taller and longer-limbed than stocky Robb. His stern conduct and self-control also drew her, if only for the contrast to his surprisingly warm demeanor when he let his guard down. Even the longing looks of Jon, who took after Lord Eddard in appearance and personality more than any of his trueborn children, couldn't ignite in her the same passion the conflicted and shameful desire in Lord Eddard's eyes could. Maybe it was specifically the conflicted nature of his want that caught her attention. After all, she felt it too. She felt it living in Winterfell, being among and learning to love a family that by all rights she should despise. House Stark had been the greatest contributor to House Targaryen's fall. The 'abduction' of Lyanna Stark, executions of Rickard and Brandon Stark, and Lord Eddard participating in Robert's Rebellion. These had helped ensure that her family lost everything, and Viserys had raised her supped on hatred for it. Lord Eddard most of all. Dany was sure the reverse was true for Lord Eddard and House Targaryen. Maybe this was the great, indescribable connection that bound the two of them. Their passion, despite being hampered by their sense of reason, was also infinitely fanned by going against that same sense of reason.
After all, was there any such boundless passion as that which goes against all sense of reason?
Dany had long since found her answer.
If only things were so easy though. While Dany was a young girl, with all the recklessness that entailed, with fire and passion in her blood, Lord Eddard was a grown man who had loved and lost enough to have a level of control Dany couldn't imagine. Yet that only made her pleasure fiercer, breaking down that poise and control in favor of the passion that laid beneath.
It had taken time, but slowly and surely Lord Eddard's control broke down as she grew up and got more beautiful. It had made it more difficult that she had to ensure no one else got a clue of the subtle dance going on between the two, but she managed. The Starks were naturally rather self-sufficient, and so Winterfell was only filled with as many servants as was needed. Not too many extra eyes to watch out for, or gossiping servants.
Today was the day though. She felt it. The last few weeks had all been filled with a certain tension. Every time she met eyes with Lord Eddard, she felt electrified. Like they were standing at the edge of a great abyss, from which there was no return after taking the plunge. The desire in Lord Eddard's eyes had also grown into a blatant hunger. The time had come. Dany had long since been ready, and it seemed he had reached that point as well.
And so she entered.
Daenerys came in looking like a dream. Her abundance of exposed pearly pale skin shined in the moonlight from the open window of Ned's solar. Her long silver-gold hair had clearly been brushed till it appeared like strands of molten gold and silver intertwined, the moonlight similarly causing it to glow. Her hair framed and emphasized the inhumanly beautiful face her Targaryen blood gave her. Her full lips were twisted into a coy smile. Finally there were her almost unnaturally bright amethyst eyes, which still seemed to instill heat directly into his chest.
Daenerys was clearly of a petite stature. Short of height, but already having gained the gentle curves that showed her entrance into womanhood. She lacked the more prominent curves of Catelyn, but that was only to be expected. Catelyn was taller and had birthed multiple children, while Daenerys was a fourteen year old girl who had only had her moon's blood two years ago. It didn't matter either. Daenerys could have the figure of a boy, and would still be the most beautiful woman in the world by virtue of her face…and she definitely didn't have the curves of a boy. All the covering she had was a white and purple, sheer nightgown that seductively exposed more than enough skin and yet in such a way that it gave you the urge to see the rest as well.
The moonlight and her own inhuman beauty gave her an ethereal feel. Like a goddess descended to earth than a mortal girl. At fourteen, Daenerys was already the most beautiful woman in the world.
The small petty part of Ned wanted to see the look of Queen Cersei's face, a woman who's only real virtue and the source of her monstrous pride was her beauty, when she looked upon Daenerys. Never let it be said that Ned couldn't be as petty and the next person, or hold a grudge as long. Ned had never liked Cersei, and a part of him had long silently disapproved of Cersei being called the most beautiful woman in Westeros simply due to Ashara killing herself. Lannisters only seemed to achieve by virtue of better men and women dying.
Those thoughts were quickly overshadowed by the thoughts consumed by the heat rapidly spreading through his chest. The heat spread through his thoughts, and things both seemed to sharpen and dull at the same time. Ned was once again forced to think back to Ashara. He'd felt the same thing then. Ashara had brought an entire new spectrum of color to his world, and his enjoyment of them had woken something in him. The so-called wolfs-blood of House Stark. Ned had long since wondered whether Brandon and Lyanna had felt like this all the time. Part of Ned was utterly terrified to be experiencing this again. It hadn't ended well before.
Ned was reminded of when he met Catelyn. He remembered the flash of disappointment on her face when she'd seen him. He hadn't cared, as he himself had been disappointed. He'd just hidden it better. If it hadn't been for Lyanna, he never would have accepted the marriage. Catelyn was a beautiful woman, but there was none of the passion he'd felt at the time for Ashara. Since then Ned had built up a loving marriage with Catelyn, but it was still different. Ned and Catelyn's love came about through circumstances beyond their control, birthed by a mutual compatibility and matured through mutual love of their children. It was a controlled passion that made sense. After the war and Ashara's death, it had even semed better. Uncontrolled passion had brought about the doom of too many. After a time, Ned had even been able to bury his memories of his wolfs-blood along with Ashara.
Only for Daenerys to dig them back up. For weeks, months, years, he had fought to contain them, but he had grown tired. The part of him that had existed so long ago, with Ashara, wanted to return. Wanted to live again.
With today merely being the end of a long and tired resistance, Ned stood up as Daenerys came to a stop in the center of the rom. He then approached till he was right before her. Closer than was proper, but not so close as to be intimate. Ned hadn't ever considered himself as a large man with larger men like Brandon as a brother and Robert as a friend, but he was six feet tall. With Daenerys barely topping five feet, he towered above her.
Daenerys wasn't even surprised by his movement, her coy smile only widening and the dancing light in her eyes brightening. She only listened as Ned said hoarsely, "We shouldn't be doing this, Daenerys."
"No, we shouldn't," Daenerys replied, even though her hand came up to rest on his chest.
"You're betrothed to Robb," Ned said even though his hand moved to rest upon the curve of her hip.
"I am," Daenerys answered even as she closed the distance to press the curves of her body against him. "And you are married with children, Lord Eddard…Yet here we are."
Ned's other arm now wrapped around her, making the curves of her body align with his own more firmly. Their position was now clear. Anyone who walked in would see two people engaging in an intimate embrace suited only to two lovers.
"Yes, here we are," Ned said almost sadly, despite looking deep into her eyes.
The gods were cruel. The two of them could have lived their entire lives without glimpsing each other. They could have found sensible, loving matches and lived full lives. Or they could have not had these feelings for each other. They could have lived a nice life as father and daughter, if only Daenerys had loved Robb instead and Ned had been able to be a good and true husband to Catelyn. Instead the gods were cruel, and in the entire world the two found each other and had felt drawn to a person where it could only end badly.
Ned could only wonder if this had what it had been like for Lyanna and Rhaegar. Pure, unbridled passion that made the ultimately tragic end irrelevant. The feelings that had split a realm in two.
It was with that thought that Ned bent down to kiss Daenerys for the first time, and, gods help him, surely not for the last time.
"Ned!"
"Dany!"
The two gasped out for the first time the nicknames of the other as they kissed, embraced, caressed, and stripped. Dany's seductive piece was naturally easy to remove, showing Dany in all her glory, but Ned's weren't so. Dany's fingers were eager, but inexperienced. Ned's hands were far too busy to lend their assistance. The experience and control he'd built up from years of marriage with Catelyn had been replaced by the same passion that had guided his movements in the Godswood of Harrenhal all those years ago with Ashara.
The two quickly went to the floor where the height difference wasn't so encumbering. While Dany was bare, she'd only managed to remove his doublet and undo half the buttons on his tunic. Ned impatiently threw it off without undoing the rest, probably popping off a few, but he had more important things on his mind than the buttons of his tunic. He didn't bother with his trousers before moving back onto Daenerys and resuming their passionate embrace. They were now positioned upon a bear skin rug before his solar's fireplace. The bear skin wasn't nearly enough to act as a proper bedding, but comfort had as little place in their coupling as morality.
Being on top, Ned naturally had the advantage in their coupling. His lips moved to her neck while his hands wandered. His lips then went further down, lingering on her breasts before moving onto the lips between her legs. The passion of both was too impatient for any but the briefest of foreplay though, and soon both were hurriedly undoing his trousers. As soon as they were gone, the two joined in the most intimate of way. Both of them soon moved in the most intimate of dances.
The pain of her lost maidenhood was undeniable for Dany, and it was only compounded by their chosen place. Only the bear skin rug was between Dany's back and the stone floor, and Dany was small while Ned was a large man still in relatively good shape for his age. The end result was obvious when he was doing his best to fuck her into the ground. Tomorrow Dany would probably curse her impetuousness and recklessness due to the painful bruises on her back, but tonight it wasn't even a concern. The pain only fanned the flames of passion, lust, pleasure, and shame she was currently feeling. Thus she did her best to move with Ned, enticing him to even greater heights of movement.
Both all but lost their senses in the heat and passion of their coupling. Neither had any sense of time when they finally drew apart. Ned rolled over next to her, his chest moving up and down as his mind slowly came back to him. Dany meanwhile took the opportunity to rest, fulfillment, exhaustion, and multiple kinds of aches throughout her body mixing together to leave her drained.
"I'm terrible," Ned finally uttered, his thoughts shamefully turning to how he betrayed both Catelyn and Robb.
"We're both terrible," Dany merely added, admittedly not as bothered by him. Robb was kind and she cared for him in her own way, but clearly he wasn't the man she would have chosen to spend her life with.
"You're little more than a child. It's expected for you to be terrible occasionally," Ned grunted out, his usual propriety thrown away like the clothes of himself and his son's betrothed. "I have no such excuse. I had my own stage fifteen years ago. I've had fourteen years of looking at Jon to see the consequences of what the terrible decisions of youth result in."
Those words seemed to give Dany a second wind. She quickly rolled on top of Ned, positioning herself on top now that his bulk wasn't holding her down. Her hips and chest started a sensual movement, Ned's eyes being drawn by the movement of her chest while her hips coaxed a reaction from his loins.
"This is far from the beginning of the road. This road started long ago, without either of decisions to start upon it. Our only choice now is to continue walking it," Dany claimed as she continued moving atop him as he responded. However she paused at that point. Looking at him with a sad smile, she cupped his cheek in a hand that could only be called lovingly as she added, "To the end…no matter what that end might be."
Funnily enough, that seemed to calm Ned as he knew what she meant. Raising his hand to give her the same sort of loving touch, he announced, "…To the end."
They both knew that would not be a happy end. This could only end badly. There was no way they could hide this. Catelyn would never forgive Ned, and Robb would be utterly devastated. Ned's honor would be besmirched among the entire realm, taking his son's Targaryen bride to bed. Daenerys would be giving up the chance to redeem her family to some degree.
Yet here they were.
Because despite being the most beautiful and passionate of songs, the Song of Ice and Fire was ultimately a tragic song with both Ice and Fire being snuffed out by the other…Yet it was a song that had to be sung, nonetheless.
Well, there it is. Since there are so many stories where Ned either saves Daenerys or Robert catches her and she ends up in Winterfell where she ends up falling in love with Robb or Jon, I decided to roll with that. Except Dany ends up preferring a different Stark.
Part of me is unhappy with this. Not much for the symbolism stuff I put into this. More of a direct and descriptive writer, I have another account with a different type of story then the ones I intend to publish with this account. Reading through it, I think that really slips through at times. I probably wouldn't have published it if this wasn't merely meant to be a quick oneshot to throw out the idea of an Eddard/Daenerys out to you readers to test the waters in case I want to write an actual story with this pairing. I did the symbolism thing because I really didn't want this to turn into little more than a smut, sex scene. Since that's really what it is, it came out iffy. Oh well. As I said, it was meant to be a quick oneshot to test the waters. Tell me what you think.