Huh, two chapters in a day. I'm surprised of myself. And this one is even longer than normal. Anyway, hope you like this! Next is what you've all been waiting for, the meeting of Ice and Fire, of Jon and Daenerys. It's going to be fun.
Chapter 5
Missandei listened in silence while Daenerys laid bare all her doubts about both Jaime and Tyrion. It seemed that, no matter what she would decide, it would be the wrong choice.
They were sitting on two chairs facing each other, a low table between them with a tray containing a carafe of Dornish wine and two half-full glasses and a plate filled with slices of sweet pies of varied flavours, in the parlor that Ellaria had left for her personal use to have her meetings with her various advisors.
Finally, when Daenerys had finished speaking, Missandei looked at her with her kind, dark brown eyes and asked her, "What do you think is the best choice, my Queen? Do you think Ser Jaime should be spared?"
"I don't know. I feel that, yes, he should be punished, but maybe death is not the right punishment for him. Cersei will be executed and I wonder, would Jaime allow himself to be his own man with Cersei no longer in his life? Would he finally make the right choice, then? Or would he waste his life, trying to get revenge on me, even if I spare him, and then ending up being executed anyway? And what about Tyrion? If I kill his brother, he will betray me, I know he will. But, at the same time, I can't let Jaime go just because he's Tyrion's brother. And yet, I need Tyrion to get the Westerlands. Tyrion did kill Tywin Lannister but his name still has weight. If I appoint someone else as Lord of Casterly Rock and Warden of the West, would the Lannister bannermen respect his or her authority?"
Missandei looked at Daenerys with compassion. "It's a difficult decision. I feel that pardoning Ser Jaime would be the wrong choice. He still needs to be punished for his crimes. However, sending him to the Wall instead of executing him might be best. But only if he bends the knee to you and accepts your authority as queen, swearing he will never try to do anything to harm you. Have Tyrion try to convince his brother. If he doesn't succeed, you'll execute Ser Jaime but, at least, no one will say you didn't give him a chance. And, if Tyrion does betray you anyway, then…his loss. With him by your side, it may be easier for you to get the Westerlands but it's not the only way. He may be important but he's not essential to your plans."
Daenerys looked at Missandei with a smile. "Thank you, Missandei. I knew I could count on your advice. What would I do without you?"
Missandei smiled at her Queen. "You won't ever have to find out because I'll always be by your side."
Daenerys nodded at her. She would make sure of that. Nobody would hurt Missandei this time around, not if she had anything to say about it.
"There will be no pardon for your brother, Lord Tyrion. It's death or the Wall for him. Convince him to bend the knee to me and he will be spared and he'll join the Night's Watch."
"My Queen, I know that you hate him for killing your father but…"
"I don't hate him, Lord Tyrion. I understand why he had to kill my father but he still did kill the King he was sworn to. He also failed to defend my niece and nephew and Princess Elia Martell during the Sack of King's Landing. Not only wasn't he punished for these crimes, but he was also allowed to remain in the Kingsguard. Moreover, as much as I don't care about the Usurper, what Jaime did, conceiving three bastards with Cersei, the Queen, and passing them off as legitimate Baratheons…" Daenerys shook her head. "And let's not add the numerous sins he committed against House Stark. Do you think I'm the one biased? Everyone in the Seven Kingdoms would understand if I decide to execute Jaime Lannister."
Tyrion sighed. "You're right, of course. But he's my brother and he's not a bad man."
"Maybe he's not but his actions say otherwise. I understand that he's your brother and you love him but I'm the Queen, I have to be objective in my decisions and not let personal feelings cloud my judgment. You also have to understand that letting Ser Jaime live is a risk to my personal safety. I doubt he will be okay with me executing Cersei. He will want to get revenge on me and even if a man with one hand is not the greatest danger I could ever face, letting him live at all still puts my life at risk."
"You are wise beyond your age, my Queen." Tyrion said, smiling at her despite his sadness at the uncertain fate of his brother. "Very well, I will try to convince Jaime to bend the knee."
"And if he doesn't?" Daenerys asked with one eyebrow raised, her tone maybe a little harsh.
Tyrion sighed. "I will accept your decision because you are my Queen and I believe in you."
Daenerys wished she could believe him. But, most of all, she wished Jaime would prove her wrong and actually choose to go to the Wall. She had already changed the future in her dreams, at least when it came to her own fate, so maybe not everything was set in stone. If Jaime decided on going to the Wall instead of facing death with his sister, maybe there was still hope for her and Jon as well.
Daenerys shook her head. She couldn't think like that. Jon had betrayed her long before he had killed her. She couldn't trust him. She needed to guard her heart against him or he will destroy her, just like he had done in her dreams.
Jaime Lannister would live and go to the Wall after all. Daenerys had asked Tyrion how exactly he had been able to convince Jaime and Tyrion had answered that he had only reminded Jaime that Cersei wasn't his only family. Tyrion had basically begged Jaime not to force him to watch his own brother die at the hand of the Queen he had sworn loyalty to. Tyrion's words had been enough to convince Jaime, even if very reluctantly.
Jaime had bent the knee in front of Daenerys, sitting on the Iron Throne, and in the presence of numerous witnesses, swearing he would not seek revenge against her and that he will spend his final days at the Wall, repenting for his sins and serving the realm. It was obvious that it was Tyrion who had instructed Jaime on what to say and that Jaime had no love or loyalty for Daenerys herself but Daenerys didn't care. As long as Jaime kept his vow, this time, Daenerys would let him be.
Daenerys had also visited Casterly Rock. Thanks to Tyrion's plan to infiltrate the castle, the Unsullied and Dothraki succeeded in their task. There were some losses on her side, but nothing too great. Still, Daenerys made sure a funeral pyre was built for them and that all the funeral rites would be respected and her men celebrated with all the honors they deserved.
The Lannister men who had survived bent the knee to her without much resistance, thanks especially to the presence of Tyrion Lannister at her side.
After that, still with Tyrion with her, Daenerys flew with Drogon to Riverrun. Tyrion, as the newly appointed Lord of the Westerlands and Warden of the West, ordered the Lannister army still occupying the castle to stand down and to bend the knee to the new Queen. Once again, the Lannister men, most of whom were commoners who had joined the Lannister army because they had been forced to, did as they were ordered. It wasn't like they really felt any particular loyalty to Cersei or Jaime.
Daenerys freed Edmure Tully from the dungeons they were keeping him and though the man was a little reluctant to swear fealty to her at first – mostly because of his own loyalty to his nieces and nephew still alive – Daenerys reminded him that it wasn't the Starks who had freed him, allowing him to be reunited with his wife and son.
Daenerys pitied him. It was obvious the man had been through a terrible ordeal and that now, he just wanted peace and his wife and son by his side. He probably felt like he owned loyalty to the Starks because they were his family but, at the same time, it wasn't like the Starks had done anything to try to free him. They had taken their home back and Arya Stark had even gotten revenge on the Freys and yet, they had completely ignored the fact that their uncle was still a prisoner of the Lannisters.
And Lord Tully seemed to come to the same conclusion because it didn't take long for him to swear fealty to the Queen to whom he owned his freedom.
All in all, Daenerys was very satisfied for the way things were going. And now, there was a last loose end she needed to tie up.
"If you have any last words," Daenerys said, looking Cersei Lannister straight in the eye. Angry, green eyes stared back at her, defiant and proud until the very end. Daenerys' court surrounded her while they all stood in the Dragonpit her ancestors had built, her three children flying overhead. The trial had been quick, more of a formality than anything else but every representative for the regions she had conquered had been present: Lady Olenna Tyrell, Ellaria Sand, Yara Greyjoy, Tyrion, Gendry – in an official capacity as Lord of the Stormlands for the first time – and Lord Edmure Tully. "Now is the time." Daenerys finished, repeating the same words Cersei had said to Missandei before killing her in her dream.
Daenerys felt the familiar fury building up in her, her blood singing with rightful vengeance. Drogon felt her emotions because he emitted a mighty roar before descending in front of her.
Cersei kept her spine straight, even though she was on her knees in front of all the people she had hurt and betrayed one way or another – well, expect for the Starks – and said, "You may think you've won but Westeros will never accept a foreign whore like you. You don't belong here, you never will."
Those words cut deeper than Daenerys would like to admit but she kept her face impassive. Instead, she looked at her son and said one simple word, "Dracarys!"
A burst of orange flames and, of Cersei Lannister remained nothing but ashes.
"What is it?" Jon asked his sister, noticing the frown marring her fair face and the scroll she was holding in her hand.
Sansa had joined him in the library while he and Davos were once again trying to think of ways of defeating the army of the dead with the few resources they had. Needless to say, they weren't getting very far.
Sansa sighed and looked at him with worry. "A raven from King's Landing."
"Cersei? Again?" Jon scoffed but Sansa shook her head.
"Look at the sigil on the message." Sansa turned the scroll up and Jon noticed something he hadn't noticed before.
"That's the three-headed dragon of House Targaryen." Jon said in surprise.
Sansa nodded. "It seems Daenerys Targaryen, the Mad King's daughter, has conquered King's Landing. Cersei has been executed for her crimes and Jaime Lannister was sent to the Wall."
"I didn't even know the Dragon Queen was in Westeros." Jon said with wide eyes. "Last I heard, she was in Meereen, still trying to bring peace to Slaver's Bay."
"So, you've heard of her?" Sansa asked, surprised.
"Maester Aemon, the maester at the Wall, he was Aegon V's brother and therefore, he was her great-great-uncle or something. He used to receive letters that would inform him of what Daenerys was doing. Sam – Samwell Tarly – one of my Night's Watch's brothers – he's at the Citadel now – used to read them to him."
Sansa nodded. "Yeah, well, it seems she landed in Westeros less than two moons ago. And she has already conquered King's Landing and Casterly Rock. And the Reach, Dorne, the Iron Islands and the Stormlands, they all swore fealty to her. Tyrion Lannister is one of her advisors, so she has the Westerlands on her side as well, with Cersei dead and the Kingslayer at the Wall. And even Uncle Edmure bent the knee to her."
"She conquered five Kingdoms in less than two moons?" Jon asked, both worried and impressed despite himself.
"It's not all. She has also three dragons and a huge army from Essos: Unsullied, Dothraki, sellswords. I'm sure you can imagine what she will set her eyes on next. And why she's sending us a raven in the first place."
"She wants the North to bend the knee." Jon said, needlessly.
"Not only the North. The Vale supports us and I'm sure this fact doesn't sit well with the Dragon Queen."
"What does the raven say exactly?" Davos, that until that moment had remained silent, asked.
"Queen Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen – and an obnoxiously long list of titles after that – invites Jon Snow, King in the North, to come to King's Landing, to speak of a potential alliance between House Targaryen and House Stark. Failure to comply with this request, or at the very least, failure to even enter into negotiations with the Crown, will be interpreted as a hostile act and dealt with accordingly."
"Well, that's a threat if I ever heard one." Davos said with his usual irony. The worried look on his face belayed the jovial tone in his voice though.
"Sam sent me a raven as well." Jon's words seemed unrelated to what they were talking about and it caused a confused look to appear on Sansa's face. "He said that Dragonstone castle sits on a mountain of dragonglass, one of the few things able to kill the dead."
Sansa looked confused for another second but then, she widened her eyes in disbelief. "You can't actually be thinking of accepting the Dragon Queen's 'invitation'." Sansa's voice was high enough that it was just a pitch below a scream. "Don't you remember the last time a Targaryen invited a Stark to King's Landing? The Mad King burnt our grandfather and uncle alive. This is not an invitation, it's a trap."
Jon sighed. "Maybe. But what other choice do I have, Sansa? We will never be able to win a war against the Dragon Queen. She doesn't even have to march her armies North. She just can fly on her dragon and burn Winterfell to the ground."
Sansa looked both fearful and angry at his words. "If she wants the people of Westeros to accept her, she can't just go around burning castles."
"Aegon the conqueror did and the people of Westeros accepted him just fine. Sure, the North would be furious on House Stark's behalf but the rest of Westeros? They wouldn't care. After all, Daenerys can always say that she gave us a chance…and she would be right."
Sansa didn't look willing to listen to Jon's words and Jon tried to suppress a sigh. Sansa was smart but she was also arrogant, in the way that she thought that she was the only one who was right and the others were wrong if they didn't agree with her. Still, she was his sister and Jon needed to make her understand that negotiating peace with the Dragon Queen was the only choice they had.
"Sansa, I understand your fear and your suspicion. I feel the same way. But look at the alternative. If I don't go to King's Landing, the Dragon Queen will take the North anyway and we'll all be dead. At least, this way, we have a chance of survival and, if I can convince Daenerys to fight with us against the dead our chances of surviving and saving the North increase a great deal as well."
"You mean to bend the knee to her." Sansa accused, seemingly not having heard a word Jon had just said.
"I didn't say that. But, if there's no other way, I'd prefer to renounce my crown if it means we'll all survive winter. Daenerys is the best chance we have."
"What if she's mad like her father?" Sansa asked, almost in a whine. Not that Sansa would ever admit it. After all, a lady didn't whine.
"She could be. But I don't think so. You said it yourself. Tyrion is one of her advisors and you know him better than anyone else here. Would Tyrion really follow a mad ruler?"
Sansa huffed. "Probably not. But Tyrion likes power. If Daenerys can give him that, maybe he'd be willing to disregard the fact that the queen he serves is mad."
"Pardon me, Lady Sansa," Davos interjected, "but how many causalities resulted in the Dragon Queen taking King's Landing? Did she burn the city with her dragons?"
Sansa frowned. "I don't know. But how else she took the city so quickly? Cersei would have never surrendered, even if she had to stare death in the face or if she had to use all the citizens of King's Landing as shield so she could save herself."
Jon frowned, now more than a little apprehensive. He wasn't sure he would be able to negotiate with someone who was willing to burn cities just to sit on a chair.
"It doesn't matter." He decided in the end. "We don't have any other choice."
Sansa was about to protest once again when Davos interrupted her before she could even speak. "The letter said that she wants to talk about a 'potential alliance' with the King in the North?"
"Yes?" Jon said, not understanding where Davos was going.
"Well, what is the best way to make alliances?"
Jon looked confused and Davos sighed. "Marriage, Jon. Marriage."
"You think she wants to marry him?" Sansa asked in a shrill voice.
"It wouldn't be so far out of the realms of possibilities, would it? A marriage between them would be the best way to avoid any conflict between north and south. And Jon wouldn't even have to bend the knee and give up the North. I'm sure Daenerys Targaryen, a woman who conquered cities and amassed armies before the age of twenty, would be aware of that. I'm sure she didn't solve every conflict she had to face with 'fire and blood'."
Jon frowned. In a way, what Davos was saying made sense. But there was only one problem. "I'm a bastard, Davos. I really doubt the Last Targaryen would be willing to sully her bloodline with bastard blood." He finished bitterly.
"You're King in the North, Jon. I'm sure such a thing would matter more to the Dragon Queen than the fact that you're a bastard."
Jon sighed, tired of this conversation. "It doesn't matter. I guess we'll know what she has in mind once we reach King's Landing. We'll ride to White Harbor as soon as we're able and then, from there, we'll sail to King's Landing."
"You can't just leave for the south without talking to our bannermen first. Do you really think they will be okay with it?"
"Probably not. And, don't worry, I will talk to them but only to inform them of my decision, not to ask their permission." Sansa was about to protest for what seemed like the millionth time when Jon talked before she could, "As the only Stark in Winterfell, while I'm gone, the North is yours."
That served to silence whatever complaint she was about to utter. Jon knew she still didn't agree with him, that she thought him foolish for wanting to, at least, try to reach a treaty with the Mad King's daughter, but, it seems, the idea of being in charge of the North had appeased her enough to stop questioning every single decision Jon had made, at least for the moment.