"You're not nervous at all, are you?"

Grenn was currently waiting with him by the chutes. Daario had already won his matchup against Aegon Targaryen. Daario had ridden Crosswired and score 92 points for his effort while Aegon had bucked off of his aunt's bull at a little over 6 seconds. 6.22 seconds to be exact.

Meanwhile, Drogo had already ridden first in his ride against Podrick. Drogo had surprised, and energized, the crowd by becoming the fourth man to ride All In, scoring 92.25 points. Podrick was currently wrapping his riding hand in his handle and would soon start his ride on Breakdown.

When Jon did not answer Grenn's question, his friend asked another.

"Do you think that Podrick has a chance at going through?"

"No" Jon answered immediately and honestly. "Podrick can ride the bull, but the problem lies with can he score high enough. He needs a 92.50 to beat Drogo, but I don't see it happening. The bull is going to exit spinning left and away from Podrick's hand, meaning that Podrick will be playing catchup the entire ride. And while I have no doubt that he will ride his bull, he won't have the score of the judges on his side due to his form."

Grenn frowned at his answer but didn't push further on it.

Podrick had given the go ahead and the ride had started. Spinning to the left, Podrick was left destabilized but he managed to keep himself on the bull due to his grip with his feet. The bull kept spinning and added a few kicks…and then the bull changed direction at around 4 seconds. Spinning and kicking to the right and into Podrick's hand, it was what the young rider needed as he spurred and worked his outer leg on the bull. Jon found himself clapping as the buzzer sounded and the ride ended.

"That wasn't too bad" Grenn shouted to him over the claps and cheers of the stadium.

"No" Jon agreed. "It wasn't bad at all. It was looking shaky for the first four seconds but the direction change really helped Pod. He might actually come close."

Grenn nodded at him as they waited for the scores to come in.

"That boy stuck with that bull, yes he did, folks. It was looking might nervous until that direction change. Let's see what the judges think…"

Grenn turned to him and opened his mouth as if he wanted to ask something but closed it in order to wait for the incoming score.

"I have it here folks… Ninety and three quarter points (90.75)…it wasn't enough…"

Boos rang around the stadium as the camera panned over to a disappointed looking Podrick. Jon saw Missandei walking over to Drogo and Jon took it as his queue to get over the chutes and slide onto the back of Silver.

"Hey, Jon…"

Jon looked up to Grenn from his seat on the back of the bull. Grenn had the free rope in his hand.

"What is it, Grenn?"

Jon began to slide the bull rope from side to side until he found a position he liked it in. He was finally in area 1, meaning that Silver would likely spin right and into Jon's hand.

"I know it isn't any of my business…but is there something going on between you and Daenerys?"

Jon paused in his movements as he looked up.

"What do you mean?"

"It's just… Robb says that Daenerys has been flirting with you and she does seem to stare at you. Like a lot…"

Jon blinked at that new information. The thoughts he had previously began to wither away if what Grenn was telling him was true. It was already ridiculous to think that Daenerys had some ulterior motives in favor for another competitor this night, but he guessed that it was safer for his mind to find some explanation for her suddenness at him.

"I don't know what to say, Grenn. Don't worry about it. Pull on my rope."

Grenn pursed his lips but obliged nonetheless. Jon was going a bit early seeing as Emmet hadn't ridden his bull yet. Sky Limit was the bull that Emmet would have to conquer. A bull from Viserys Targaryen and the only noteworthy bull that man owned. With all due respect to Rhaegar and Daenerys, but their brother couldn't pick a good bull if it stood in front of him.

Though, Jon supposed that Viserys was lucky to own a bull like Sky Limit. A white bull with large brown spots towards the front of its body. Good high and power jumps. Not the best spins but it was a powerful bull with powerful kicks.

The chutes suddenly opened and Jon could see through the narrow openings of the gates, the ride that was ensuing.

The bull jumped high into the hair and came down powerfully with another jump and kick to go along with it. Perhaps it was the remnants of the injury, but it was clear that Emmet wasn't at one hundred percent. Despite how weak the turn was, a turn that any good rider in the top ten would make with ease, Yron Emmet slid off the side of the bull and onto the dirt terrace.

3.22 seconds was the official time that he was bucked off.

That's the time he had to beat.

He saw Grenn shuffle in his feet before he moved over and Jon looked up to see what had caused it.

It was Daenerys. She was wearing the same outfit from earlier in the night and Jon found his breath catch in his lungs at the sight of her.

"3.22 seconds. That's all you need to win, Jon" she said as she looked at him.

Grenn stared at her before looking down at Jon and then back at her.

"Yeah… I guess its easier said than done isn't it?"

Jon grabbed the free rope from Grenn and began to wrap it around his hand.

"I don't want to give you any advantage out there, cowboy, because Silver is mine just as my other bulls are. But I hope you make it longer than Yron Emmet did on his ride."

Jon nodded looking up briefly to give her a smile.

He took out the mouthpiece from his vest and inserted it onto his top teeth. Pushing his hat down onto his head, Jon slapped his face a few times before sliding his groin up to his riding hand.

Pulling on his rope, just to make sure it was tight, Jon nodded his head after he was satisfied.

The chutes opened and Silver darted out. Silver hopped a few times before committing to a right sided spin. Jon met each spin with timed movement, digging his right boot into Silver's stomach, his blunt spurs gripping for support as he worked his outside leg.

Silver gave a nice kick but Jon met it perfectly. Both ride and bull repeated this dance until the buzzer signaled for Jon to pull on his tail ended free rope and dismount.

There was no need in waiting for the score to come in, because Jon had already won his matchup against Emmet. No doubt the critics would say that Emmet wasn't at his best, but that wasn't Jon's problem. Jon was just here to ride bulls and move on to the next one.

With his bull rope in hand, Jon walked to the back of the gates and was met with Missandei's smile as she held a microphone in her hand. Her eyes held hope and a pleading tone to match. No doubt his half assed exit still fresh on her mind.

He gave her small nod and smile as he began to unwrap the leather from his glove.

She gave the signal to her cameraman and they both approached him.

"Jon, 91.25 points on Silver. You only needed to last longer than 3.22 seconds, but you'll be happy to rack some more points and move up in the standings."

She pointed the microphone at his hard-breathing mouth.

"Yeah… no doubt… Uhm, that bull spun nicely… into my hand and gave…some pretty good kicks. I'll be ready…for Round 4…"

He gave her one final smile as he bent down to catch his breath. Many people never thought about Bull Riding when it came to general talk of sports, but it truly was the toughest sport on the planet. Jon had only gone through three rides of 8 seconds. 24 seconds of hard work and he was already feeling spent.

Jon felt pressure as his thoughts loomed of the bull he would have to face in Round 4.

"All right, Jon. I'm going to go ahead and let you catch your breath…" she said with concern on her face.

Jon nodded gratefully at the beautiful woman. His hair becoming slick with sweat and sticking to his forehead. He could feel it becoming more damp under the heat of his black hat.

"Back over to you Barristan."

She gave him one last smile before walking off with her cameraman, both of them waiting on the winner of the matchup between Asher and Quentyn.

Jon took off his hat as he began to make his way to the back of the arena and towards the locker room, fully intending on taking a break until he was stopped by a hand that grasped the sleeve of his shirt.

He turned around to see the smiling face of Daenerys Targaryen.

"Just two more rides and you win everything."

He gave her a tired smile, his breaths still coming out slightly ragged.

"You want me to be honest here?"

She stared at him with her large violet eyes before she gave a slight nod.

"I don't know if I can do it…"

It felt almost gratifying. Admitting this to somebody.

"I don't know if I can beat your friend, Daario, in Round 4. I'm tired."

He gave her a sad smile as he looked her in the eyes. He wondered what she would say then. Would she still be as interested in him as she was before? After giving it further thought, he realized that her affections for him had been genuine. Not only did he see it now that his eyes had become aware, but his mother had seen it too. She had made sure that the conversation flowed between him and Daenerys and had never once talked down his work in front of the silver haired woman. His mother had urged him to talk to her and invite her for a dance. And his mother had never lied to him.

But the question now was would she still be interested? The first time she had talked to him was directly after his Round 1 performance on Highgarden Dreaming. Then that same night after he nabbed 3rd. Then again that night at the bar…and then the night after his win at the event. She had only spoken to him at his best. Never at his worst.

"I've been riding since round 1" he continued, "and I just don't know if I can keep going. I struggled in Round 2! I was lucky that your bull decided to spin into my hand but I was more tired after it was over than I was when I barely made the time on Flowerboy. And now I need to face Big Bucks in Round 4. That bull was a champion 3 years ago-"

"Stop!"

He stopped in his rant and looked into her eyes.

They were sad and no longer had the vibrance that they usually carried. She took the hand that he used to ride, his right, within her grasp and held tightly with her dainty fingers.

"I don't want you to keep competing with this thought that you need to win this for me… that's not who you are. That's not why you ride! You ride because you love it. That's who you've always been…"

He stared at her as she let go of his hand and put her own within her pockets.

"How do you…" he started.

"You go out there and you win, cowboy." She turned around. "Even if you don't…I'll still be your number one fan…"

She looked over her shoulder for one last time before she walked off towards the front of the chutes.

He could only stare at her in wonder as he was glued to the spot.

"Folks, we're here. Round. Number. Four."

The crowd cheered at the annoucer's words over the speakers.

"Only 4 riders left in this competition. Only two more rides, for one rider, stands between them and destiny. Only 16 seconds between them and greatness…We will start off the round with Drogo riding Air Time, versus Quentyn Martell atop White Magic. Quentyn Martell rode Wipe Out for 93 points against his opponent, Asher Forrester, who bucked off at 7.12 seconds. A matchup of the top 5."

The crowd cheered and stomped at the build of anticipation between both riders.

"In the second matchup of the night, we have Daario Naharis riding Rhaegal, facing off against Jon Snow riding Big Bucks. Rhaegal is one of the three magic bulls of Daenerys Targaryen and we've already seen his brother buck off his owner's nephew in Round 3. Big Bucks, ladies and gentlemen. This is a bull that won the title of World Champion Bull, three years ago and nearly won back to back the year after. Daario Naharis is the world number two and Jon Snow is a man on fire these past few weeks and these past few rides. Can we hear it for the two of them?"

More cheers and stomps from the crowd.

"Folks, we are going to have ourselves a 5-minute break as these men have already prepped their bulls for this round. Same rules from Round 3 apply. Higher ranked rider rides first, lower ranked rider rides second. Don't leave your seats because we are out here!"

Daenerys did not come to him again. She didn't stand by his chute as he sat over the chutes where Big Bucks already waited for him.

Robb was currently hanging around with Theon and Podrick, all three riders opting to wait in the locker room, meaning that it would be Grenn helping him with his rope again.

"You got this Snow. The pressure is on Naharis. Beat that cocky son of a bitch and go on to meet Drogo in Round 5."

Jon ignored him as he waited for Daario to exit the chutes on the brown bull from Daenerys.

Drogo had barely beaten Quentyn in their matchup, lasting 5.11 seconds on Air Time while the latter lasted 4.89 on White Magic.

"Those are two impressive bulls your daddy owns, Snow. They might compete this year at the finals for the World Champion Bull."

Jon nodded faintly at his friends words. He could see on the jumbotron that Daario had slid up to his riding hand.

Daario gave a nod and the gate had opened.

Rhaegal leaped out of the gate once before he chose to spin left and into Daario's hand.

But it wasn't in favor. With every one of Rhaegal's spins, the brown bull would give a slight kick and roll his hips, causing Daario to become offset from the bull's back. It only took two of these rolled kicks for Daario to be flung off from the outside of the bull.

4.77 seconds was the final recorded time.

Jon slid onto the back of Big Bucks as he faintly heard the bull scores come in.

"Ladies and gentlemen…Forty-seven points!"

Jon droned out the noise.

47 points? That was damn impressive. 50 was the best possible score a bull could score, meaning that Rhaegal was only 3 points off from being perfect. It was tied for the best score of the night, along with Air Time.

Jon ordered Grenn to pull the rope in order for him to spread his rosin over the rope. Jon knew that he would need every advantage possible to win this head to head. Big Bucks may have been the champion three years ago, but he could definitely match 47 points still on his day.

When he was satisfied with the amount of rosin on his rope (it was a lot), he grabbed the rope from Grenn's hand and began to wrap it around his riding hand in the handle of his bull rope.

Jon put his mouthpiece on his teeth, tightened his hat, gave his face a few slaps, and slid up to his riding hand.

He felt his free hand shaking as he held the steel bars next to him. He was in area 1 again, positioned to leave the chutes with Big Bucks spinning into his hand.

Waiting a few seconds first…he gave the nod.

The gate opened and Jon held tightly as Big Bucks lurched forward before coming up. Jon swore his gums would bleed by the amount of pressure he applied with his clenched teeth, matching the bulls forward jump and eventual kick.

The area of the chutes did not matter. Big Bucks spun left…and away from Jon's hand.

He held tightly as the bull kicked high and spun. Each kick set Jon off balance, just as Rhaegal had done to Daario. But whereas Rhaegal used speed and a little force to best Daario, Big Bucks used nothing but pure force. The damn bull was a large and beautiful black beast, very similar to Daenerys' Drogon.

Jon struggled to hold on as the bull spun left and kicked high.

With one last spin and kick, Jon was thrown to the side but he did not fall off completely. Jon held tightly onto his rope as the animal took advantage of the situation and changed from powerful spin kicks into pure spins with medium kicks. It did the trick.

Jon was flung from the side and onto the dirt. Jon crawled quickly to the chutes as he was thrown near them and climbed the steel bars and into safety.

His hat had fallen off but he didn't know where. Just as Jon was going to turn back and look at the jumbotron, he felt a few riders slapping him on his back with a grin on their faces. The noise of the arena was slowly coming to him as he turned around and faced the jumbotron at the top of the arena.

He knew that he didn't make the buzzer. It had sounded during the time he was crawling towards the chutes.

But he just needed to beat 4.77 seconds…. That was it. That was all he needed to beat.

6.22 seconds.

He had done it. He gave a wide grin as he turned to the riders in front of him. They were Sigorn, Asher and Roderick. All the Levi's riders (along with Grenn as well) were here to cheer him on. Sigorn gave a war shriek as Jon climbed over the chute bars and a bull fighter came over to hand Jon his bull rope and hat.

"Well, folks. That may have been one of the most spectacular buck off wins I've ever seen. There will be no score for Jon Snow but it'll be a score worth watching for Big Bucks. The scores are coming in…and it is the best of the night! Forty-seven and a half points!"

The crowd clapped as the bull score was announced and Jon felt a sort of…pride as he came to close to covering the bull. There was also a bit of hatred for himself as he failed to make the remaining 1.78 seconds to qualify a ride on a former world champion bull.

"What a damn effort, Snow" Asher clapped him again on his back.

Jon thanked him as he made his way towards the individual bull pens. He didn't have time to rest because he needed to wrap his bull rope around Bruiser.

"Good job, Snow."

"Unlucky, brother. You stuck to him as much as you could."

"Should shut that bitch boy, Naharis, for a while."

Jon smiled at each person to congratulate him as he made his way towards the back. Now, he only had one obstacle between him and victory.

Drogo.

Both men were standing in the middle of the arena, on a makeshift stage, with the announcer standing between them.

"Alright, folks. It's the fifth and final round."

The crowd cheered.

"We need to make this as fair as we can make it. Both men are right here in front of me and we're going to have ourselves a best of three coin toss. As the world number one, Drogo gets first pick and Jon gets second. If both men are tied, then the tie breaker goes to Drogo with the final pick. The winner will get to choose who rides first."

The crowd waited in anticipation as the announcer pulled a coin from his pocket. He turned to Drogo.

"Heads or Tails?"

"Heads" Drogo said with a thick accent.

The announcer flipped the coin before catching it mid air and slapping it on back of his hand.

"Heads it is!"

It was 1-0, Drogo.

The announcer turned to him.

"Heads or Tails, son?"

"Heads" Jon answered.

The announcer repeated the process and looked at the result.

"Heads again!"

It was now tied between them. It would come down to the tie breaker.

"Heads or Tails?" The announcer asked Drogo.

Drogo thought about it before answering tails. The announcer repeated the process and looked at the side of the coin that had landed.

"Rotten luck, number one. It's heads again."

Jon felt relief flood through his body.

"What's it gonna be, kid?"

"I'll ride second" Jon answered.

The crowd cheered and both Drogo and Jon exchanged a firm handshake in the middle of the arena before both men headed towards the chutes where their bulls would placed.

Both men were in area 1, the bulls spinning to the right and into their preferred hand. Of course, Drogo would ride first.

It took five minutes for the staff to disassemble the makeshift stage, and in that time the bulls had been led to their respective chutes. Jon could see that Drogo was already set on Drogon. This would be a rematch between the two of them.

Jon waited with Grenn standing next to him, looking up at the jumbotron.

Drogo slid up to his riding hand and gave a sharp nod.

Drogon blasted out of the chute and Drogo used his strength to stay seated on the bull. The bull spun right and Jon thought that Drogo would match the direction.

But he didn't.

The direction change was met with a swift kick and Drogo was thrown off the back of the animal.

Jon looked on in shock at what he had just seen. Was his mind playing tricks on him?

Jon turned his head to the timer on the jumbotron to see if his sanity would be confirmed.

2.89 seconds.

That's all he needed to beat. 2.89 seconds.

Jon slid onto the back of Bruiser and he listened for the bull score to be announced.

"Forty seven and a half points. Tied for the best of the night!"

Jon droned out the noised once more, chanting the same sentence in his head.

Beat 2.89 seconds. Beat 2.89 seconds.

Maybe it was easier said than done but Jon felt confident about his chances. He knew that Bruiser would blast just as hard as Drogon before spinning into a direction.

Grenn pulled on his rope without needed to be told and Jon spread rosin over the free end of his rope. Putting his hand into his handle, Jon reached for the rope and began to wrap it around his riding hand.

Reaching into his vest, Jon pulled out his mouthpiece and popped it onto his teeth. Tightening his black hat down on his head, and slapping his face a little harder than usual, Jon slid up to his riding hand and nodded quickly.

Bruiser blasted as expected and Jon sat firmly in his seat as he waited for the bull to come up. Jon met the forward jump expertly and sat back down as he waited for the direction spin.

Bruiser chose to spin right.

And Jon had him for the entire ride.

"Fuck yeah!" Asher ran up to him.

Sigorn and Grenn came from behind him as they crushed him with their hugs.

The crowd was roaring and giving a standing ovation at the ride they had just witnessed.

"Ladies and gentlemen, your Iron Cowboy…JON SNOW!"

The crowd became louder and louder as they cheered for the dark haired rider.

"And I know how much you're waiting for this so I'll go ahead and tell you the score of that ride…NINETY-FIVE AND A HALF POINTS (95.5)!"

The stadium shook at the noise within and Jon could only feel himself smile dumbly at the congratulations around him.

It went on for at least a minute before the crowd died down just a bit for the announcer to speak again.

"But it isn't over folks"

The crowd became silent.

"That's right… Jon Snow has already put himself in the history books. He's an Iron Cowboy. But now! Right now! Jon Snow gets a chance at. One. Million. Golden Dragons."

The crowd cheered once again.

"But he's drawn Code Blue."

The crowd fell silent once more.

"Code Blue is the current reigning champion and he has never been ridden before. Fifty different riders have tried, but Code Blue has bucked off all of them. He averages a bull score of 46.75 points and the longest ride on him has been a little over 4 seconds. Can Jon Snow write himself into Godhood? Let's find out!"

Daenerys was currently standing over his chute as he slid onto the back of Code Blue.

That wasn't the problem.

The problem was that Code Blue's owner was also standing near him. None other than last season's Stock Contractor of the Year, current head of the Targaryen Ranch, husband to his Aunt and the brother of the woman that had fondled him earlier.

Rhaegar Targaryen.

Jon tried to keep his nerves in check as he tried to ignore the beautiful woman standing over him. He had technically already fulfilled the woman's terms for her…reward to him. He could still feel her hand around his clothed package and the taste of her lips on his own.

He sharply asked Grenn to pull on the rope and the man obliged willingly.

Jon went through his usual routine before sliding up to his riding hand.

He stayed still for a few seconds and then nodded.

In the stands

Rickon was currently awaiting for his brother to ride Code Blue. His mother was furious that Jon had bested Robb in the competition but Rickon knew it to be expected. Jon was simply the better rider. Arya agreed while Sansa turned her nose upwards and snootily. Their father remained neutral but Rickon suspected that his dad knew the truth.

"Father…can I borrow fifty dragons?"

Eddard looked down at his son with a raised brow.

"And why do you need fifty golden dragons?"

"So that I can bet on Jon" Rickon answered cutely.

"Just cheer him from the crowd."

Rickon shook his head cutely.

"But I want to support him! This is the best way I can think of. That way Jon knows that I'm in his corner."

Eddard gave his son a tight lip, but his eyes softened at Rickon's pouting face. He sighed before reaching into his pocket and pulling out the amount of money his youngest requested.

"This is the only time I'm doing this. Understand? I don't want you to ever gamble your money away again."

Rickon nodded at his father and took the wad of cash in his hands. The young boy ran from his seat and to the nearest bookie around.

He turned his head side to side until he found what, or who, he was looking for.

"Excuse me…"

The bookie looked down at him.

"What is it kid?"

"Uhm…I'd like to place a bet?"

The bookie raised a brow at him.

"I don't take bets from minors."

The bookie turned away from him, but Rickon pulled on his pant leg furiously.

The bookie and Rickon argued for minutes before Rickon flashed the fifty in front of the man. The bookie finally relented as he barked at the young boy.

"All right! Fine kid. What are you betting? You think that Jon Snow is going to win? You want to throw away your money? Fine then!"

Rickon shook his head as he gave the bookie a serious stare.

"No. I'm putty fifty on Code Blue. He's going to buck off my brother in less than 4 seconds and I'm thinking he's putting up a 48-point bull score."

The bookie stared down at him.

"That's a very specific bet right there."

Rickon nodded.

"You realize that it needs to go down exactly as you say for you to win…right kid?"

"Obviously."

"…How old are you?"

"Eleven" Rickon responded cheekily.

"All right…well. If you win then the payout will be 5 grand. IF you win. I doubt you'll hit the mark perfectly with the stakes you put. And there's no semi wins. Either the ride goes down as you say or you lose. Got that?"

Rickon nodded.

The bookie looked satisfied as he reached out for the fifty before pausing.

"Hold on a second" the bookie said, "did you say Jon Snow is your brother?"

Rickon raised a confused eyebrow.

"Yeah. He's my older brother. Why?"

"Wait. He's your older brother? And you're betting against him?"

Rickon gave the man a serious stare.

"My brother is good. But Code Blue is the best. You hear me? THE BEST."

The bookie took the money slowly as he gave the boy a deadpan stare.

"You're a cold little bastard, you know that?"

Rickon only smiled cutely as he turned his head over to the jumbotron.

"I'm going to wait here and make sure you don't skimp out on me" he told the man.

The bookie only shook his head at the ridiculousness of the placed bet.

The gate opened and Jon held firmly onto the bull's sides with his spurs. He dug his feet in as Code Blue blasted out.

Jon kept his hand firmly closed as Code Blue spun right.

Code Blue spun quickly and with a powerful kick. Jon couldn't keep a hold.

He was flung off from the side and Jon landed on his feet at the dismount. He sprinted towards the chute where he had left from and jumped onto the bars. Grenn gave him a comforting pat as Rhaegar smirked at him.

Daenerys gave him a small smile as she bore into his grey eyes with her violet ones.

"That's it, folks. No Score. Code Blue remains unridden. The buck off time was 3.49 seconds. Let me get these scores coming in for the bull…"

Jon gave a smile to his friends and a nod towards Daenerys as he climbed over. Rhaegar looked at him strangely due to the gesture towards his sister, but Jon turned around to receive his bull rope from one of the bull fighters.

"Ladies and gentlemen…Forty-Eight points! The best bull score of the night!"

Grenn gave him another pat and Jon gave him a small smile in return. Even if he felt hollow as he made his way to accept the prized buckle and money from the event, Jon still felt good about himself.

Somewhere in the crowd, a young boy with greyish blue eyes was celebrating, over a shocked bookie, at his brother's misfortune.