Chapter Four (Double Chapter)
Dany
"No?" Dany said with anger and shock.
"No." Tyrion said bluntly.
The Queen and her hand sat in the council room. The moon was at its peak greeted by the stars. A chill crept down Dany's spine hinting the arrival of winter. A fire roared in the corner, warming the room with its heat. '
"Read it to me again." She commanded. Dany paced around the table holding a glass of wine, her clutch was so tight Tyrion was sure the glass would shatter at any moment.
"To her grace, Daenerys Targaryen. In response to your invitation for the King in the North to come to Kings Landing and pledge loyalty to the throne, his grace respectfully declines your invite due to greater matters... winter is here... signed Ser Davos of house Seaworth." Tyrion said flicking the scroll to the table.
"Invitation? I did not invite the King in the North to come to Kings Landing, I commanded him to." Dany fumed.
"Well... at least he respectfully declined."
"And why should that matter? I am the Queen of the Seven Kingdoms and the North is apart of the Seven Kingdoms. What could possibly be more important than swearing fealty to me? His Queen." Dany raged.
"I don't know." Tyrion said.
"In the letter you sent North, you were sure to add in that there would be consequences if he refused me, yes?" Dany asked.
"I did." Tyrion sipped his wine.
"Then what is his problem? Why would he refuse me?"
"Maybe his pride, he is a King and all Northerners are stubborn your grace."
Dany was enraged. She would take her forces North and make Jon Snow bend the knee, and if he were to refuse her again she would burn him alive.
"You travelled to the wall with him yes? Tell me about this... Jon Snow." Dany asked seating herself next to Tyrion. Tyrion stirred in his chair and stared out at thin air.
"Well he's decent enough... he has a kind heart, is determined but is very sensitive, he hated it when I called him Ned Stark's bastard. He's good with a sword and is honourable... quite like his father. He possesses all the qualities needed to be a great ruler..." Tyrion said. He noticed Dany looked at him with pierced lips and narrowed eyes... perhaps he had praised Jon Snow a bit too much.
"But he is definitely in the wrong to refuse you your grace." Tyrion said drinking his wine trying to escape the danger zone.
"What should I do? He refused me." Dany said.
"In all honesty your grace, we can't just go marching off to war. As it was said in the letter... winter is here... and that's not just a reference to the Stark words that is a fact. Winterfell is a long ways ride from Kings Landing. If you march your troops North half of them will die from the cold and the other half starvation."
"So your saying that I should just stay here and do nothing." Dany said angrily. She would fly on Drogon with his brothers by her side to Winterfell if that was what it took for Jon Snow to bend the knee.
"I didn't say do nothing." Tyrion said taking a sip of wine. He had been contemplating a plan since Varys had informed him that Jon Snow was the King in the North and it was now time to put that plan into action.
"Then what do you propose I do?" she asked beginning to get annoyed with him.
"You say you want heirs and a king... well who better to marry than Jon Snow?" Tyrion said. Dany was startled and Tyrion could see that she was slightly insulted. He placed his wine on the table and leaned in closer towards her.
"Think about it. If we arrange a political marriage between you and the King in the North, the North and the Throne will be united without the need for war. Jon Snow will still be the King in the North... only he'll be King of Westeroes aswell so there is no reason for any Northerner to complain, and you will remain Queen. You will marry Jon Snow, he will give you heirs, and we all live happily ever after and no one has to die." Tyrion cheerfully said rewarding himself by refilling his wine.
Dany was shocked. It didn't sound like too bad of an idea but still she was not entirely accepting of it. A moment ago she wanted to have him killed and now she could possibly want to arrange a political marriage with him. Tyrion had described him to be a decent man and there were very few decent Lords left...
"What if he refuses?" Dany asked. Tyrion couldn't believe that she had actually agreed with him.
"He won't." Tyrion said.
"He has refused me before" Tyrion noticed that Dany was nervous when she spoke.
"If he is the same Jon Snow that I remember, then I know he will do his duty to his people to prevent a war from happening. He would rather a marriage proposal than war."
There was silence and Dany's stomach fluttered with butterflies. The thought of her being married to the King in the North was nerve racking.
"I will send a raven North with your proposal." Tyrion said getting to his feet.
"No." Tyrion looked at Dany afraid that she had changed her mind. "I will send it." she said.
Jon
"Now when you strike your opponent you want to strike hard. Put all your weight behind it. Each thrust will determine whether you are going to live or die so make every strike count." Jon said.
Jon was in the middle of a sword handling session with Winterfell boys and girls who were now hacking hard at each other with wooden swords. Not one of them was terribly bad and not one was terrifically good. Jon was pleased with them all though, they were no knights yet, 'but at least they're trying.' Jon thought.
Across the yard the master-at-arms was training the adults how to shoot a bow and arrow. Jon sighed at the lack of strength in their shots. 'They'll be ready when the time comes.' Jon thought. Ghost padded over to him and all heads shot up with caution at the sight of the huge dire wolf then all at once went back to work. Jon smiled and bent down to scratch under Ghost's chin.
"They're still not used to you boy..." Jon said. Ghost growled and Jon turned his head to see Little Finger strutting his way with his usual smirk. Jon's smile faded. He looked back at Ghost sighing, not in the mood to play word games.
"Your grace." Little finger said with a small bow. Jon turned to greet him.
"Lord Baelish..." Jon said. Little Finger gave a weary eye to Ghost who was standing tall next to Jon. He then did a full turn to see the only hope against the White Walkers struggling and stumbling over their own weight and feet.
"Uhhh, so these are our heroes who are going to save us from the Night King..." Little Finger sarcastically said. Jon didn't like what he heard.
"They're doing more than you are." Jon said. Little Finger smiled and turned to two boys who were striking at each other over and over again but hesitating and stopping their swords halfway between each thrust, afraid to hit thier opponent.
"These two are destined for Knighthood." Little Finger joked.
"It's only their first training, when the time comes they'll be ready."
"Yes... I'm sure they will swing a sword as well as you do when the time comes..."
"I'll train them everyday until they do." Jon said with pride.
"Still though, boys and girls and elderly... it would take a miracle for them to wield a sword like you or the late Ser Arthur Dayne. Do you have a miracle hiding inside your cloak? No. The White Walkers outnumber us a thousand to one... we need knights not children your grace. You have ten thousand men who are decent with a sword, but I'm afraid the other few thousand... these ones will not do well on the battlefield" Little Finger stated. Jon was getting annoyed and agitated just by Little Finger's presence.
"Look, I'm busy. Unless you have a solution to all the problems you're stating then be my guest... but since you don't would you excuse me." Jon said walking away with Ghost trailing after him.
Jon couldn't help but linger on Little Finger's words as he walked. He was annoying but right. They needed more soldiers if they were to stand a chance against the dead. No matter how much he trained boys and girls and adults who'd have never held a sword in their lives, no amount of training would ever prepare them to face the Night King in an open field, & Jon knew that as a fact. 'But we have to try.' that same voice said to Jon in his head.
Jon arrived at the crypt and walked down the stairs leaving Ghost at the top to guard. He held a torch in his hand and looked at all his ancestors as he walked through the hall until he was at the feet of his father's statue. He looked into his eyes with sadness. 'What would father do?' Jon thought. People say it was his honour that killed him, no, Jon refused to believe it. It was Joffrey and the Queen that had killed him. It was his enemies not honour. 'Father did whatever he thought was right... so I will too."
Jon stayed in the crypt for a while then headed back up the stairs. Ghost rose to meet him.
"Your...your grace."
Jon turned to see his squire. He held a scroll in his hand but didn't dare to take another step closer to Jon where Ghost was standing next to him.
"A letter for you..." the squire said cautiously not taking his eyes off the dire wolf. Jon walked over and took the letter from his hand and the squire ran off in a heartbeat.
He turned the scroll and scowled when he saw the seal. "It's probably my death sentence boy." Jon said petting Ghost's head.
He broke the three headed dragon seal and began to read.
And that is the end of chapter 4! Cliff hanger, what will Jon think of Dany's proposal? Find out in Chapter 5 tomorrow! Sorry if you think it's rushed! This would have been out yesterday but as I was about to publish for some reason my data of chapter 4 was all deleted and I had to rewrite it from memory. The original chapter 4 had a lot more detail and was longer, I preferred it so much more than this one but I couldn't remember everything that was written down so I quickly just added in what I could so sorry it's short. I will be sure not to make that mistake ever again. :)