Chapter 21
Hello, everyone. I am so sorry for the long hiatus. I am a pre-med undergraduate and I need to raise up my grades. Let's just say that I choke on exams and leave it at that. During the summer I won't have classes and I would likely write more, at least for the sake of keeping myself somewhat academically sharp for the next school year.
Chapter 21 The Good Queen's Charity
Brynden could not help but be bemused at the name of the vessel that the Velaryons have sent them. Naming the ship after Alysanne Targaryen was a bold declaration, because even a child should be able to see what the implication was.
While he could see that Jon was besotted with the girl, his marriage could not be solely focused on just feelings of love. Brynden had enough self-awareness that him harping on what a proper marriage should be is hypocritical, but Jon was not a second son but a claimant to Iron Throne. The current king is married to a Lannister. While the girl may look like a Lannister, she did not bring an alliance with a ridiculously wealthy House. While many Targaryen marriages have been miserable, Brynden thought that Jon would grow into a good man and he would treat who ever would be his queen decently.
Brynden, Aurane, and his niece arrived in to the shelter that housed both Brynden and Jon.
"You lived here for so long," Aurane asked incredulously.
"Ser Brynden and I are both hardy people," Jon said with a faint, but derisive smile.
Brynden frowned at Jon. He knew that many Northerners have their pride and saw Southrons as soft, but Aurane Waters is their ally. If Jon continued to act patronizingly, well then Brynden will have the "honor" of teaching his squire some humility.
"You must be to be able live in such a cold, uncomfortable place," Aurane said.
Brynden, Jon, and even Lady Alyssane looked stunned at this declaration.
"Do you have any news from Westeros to tell us," Brynden asked.
Aurane and Lady Alyssane both remained quiet for a moment. Aurane glanced at Dreamfyre to seemingly reassure himself. The dragon's growth has fortunately slowed down enough that it was not too large to hide, but fast enough to remove any doubts of its health.
"The Usurper ordered my brother to hand over his heir," Aurane said gravely.
"Is your nephew a hostage," Brynden asked.
If that was so, then their partnership became more complicated. Brynden doubted that the Velaryons are planning on betraying them at this point of time, why would they bring the girl to them if that was the case, but this could cause a divide at a crucial time.
"He is now a "ward" of Lord Eddard Stark. It was fortunate that he sent a letter to Lord Arryn requesting this honor," Aurane said insincerely.
Brynden can easily see that the Velaryons are not pleased by this chain of events. Not only do they have an illegitimate half-brother and the niece of the current Lord, they now have his heir in their grasp as well. While Brynden was glad to have another assurance of the Velaryon's loyalty, he knew that they should not put down their ally too much or face the consequences. Fortunetely, Lady Alyssane knew just what to say to release the tension in the room.
"We should be grateful of the benefits this brings us. Not only does this move my cousin away from Driftmark, which is far too close to King's Landing and Dragonstone to be safe, but he is also growing up with his grace's maternal kin," Lady Alyssane said.
Aurane relaxed and simply nodded at what his niece told him. Brynden was glad that she was clever and was able to see the benefits of this current arrangement.
"We should gather up our things and head to your ship. Lorath will be our destination and where we will be residing for now," Brynden said.
Jon gave Brynden an inconspicuous look of rage. Jon wanted to look for the girl he saw, but Brynden kept his foot down on the issue. He was not going to put themselves at risk to search for a girl who is most likely already dead. He saw the Velaryon girl briefly glance at Jon and saw how she pretended she did not see Jon's anger. At least, Aurane did not see the disagreement Jon had with this decision.
"This is growing tiresome," Brynden thought.
Jon was a good lad, but Brynden can not keep allowing him to act like this. Given Jon's status too many people would follow his orders without question, even if he was a child and Jon did not think his decisions through. Even if his half-sister was alive, why would she be interested in meeting the son of her father and another woman? Especially with how Princess Elia died. As soon as he found some privacy away from their two new companion's gazes he was going to lay down the law with Jon.
"Let's gather our things and head back to your ship," Brynden said.
Brynden carried the crate that hid Dreamfyre and the remaining two dragon eggs. He made sure to keep Jon next to him. While Jon may have ran before, Brynden doubted that he would do something rash if his dragon was out in public. As soon as they reached The Good Queen's Charity Brynden helped load up their belongings. Just before they prepared to head out Brynden felt a strange sensation before he heard a loud and feminine scream.
"HEEEEEEEEEEEEELP," a young girl screamed.
Jon was about to run in the direction where the scream came from, the stupid lad, but Lady Alyssane came in front of him and gave him a look and Jon reluctantly calmed down. Brynden motioned to Aurane to take Jon and his niece on board while Brynden investigated. Brynden grabbed his sword and headed to his right.
He saw a girl with silver hair wearing a white dress trip and fall to the ground. He also saw a man approaching her and chuckling. When the man started to reach for his breeches Brynden quickly stabbed him with his sword before the bastard noticed him. When he looked at the young girl he was shocked to see that she had red eyes.
"Who are you," Brynden asked harshly.
When he kicked the man's corpse in order to see his face Brynden was surprised to see that he was a Dornishman.
"She could not possibly be Princess Rhaenys. Why would a Dornishman want to kill her," Brynden wondered.
Brynden could easily imagine the Dornish sending cutthroats after Jon, if they happened to find out about his identity, but not the niece of the Prince of Dorne.
"My lady," a young woman said behind Brynden.
Brynden was surprised that he did not notice their approach. The young woman and her companion both had Valyrian features. Brynden could not tell why exactly, but he knew that there is something going on that was not adding up.
"Can you help us escape? My uncle is trying to kill me to steal my inheritance for his own children," the red eyed girl said.
While Brynden had his misgivings about the situation, he was not cold hearted enough to deny aid to a young damsel in distress.
"Follow me," Brynden said.
He led them back to the Velaryon's ship. He recalled that he thought Viserys would likely want Jon dead in order to ascend the Iron Throne. He also remembered that Prince Doran had a daughter around Viserys's age. That was a thought too despicable for a man like Brynden to understand. He loved his nephew and nieces far too much to want to kill them, no matter what their inheritances would be. But, he also knew of many people who committed kinslaying for less than the Iron Throne.
"I still have to make sure I know who this girl's identity is. She might not be Princess Rhaenys," Brynden thought doubtfully.
Ser Gerold Hightower, the White Bull and Lord Commander of the True Kingsguard, has been prowling Braavos for sennights. After his shameful loss against Eddard Stark and abduction of his true king he has been wandering Essos as a sellsword and trying to find allies to cast down the Usurper off the Iron Throne. The Seven spared him for a greater purpose and he knew it was to help the rightful king of Westeros get back his stolen throne. While it galled him to keep King Aegon in the North and have him bear the title of "The Bastard of Winterfell" he decided he first needed to find resources for his liege and then contact him. Then he heard that Ser Brynden Tully was taking his grace to Essos he felt alarmed. He doubted that the kin of Lady Stark would ever treat the "bastard" of her husband with any kindness and Gerold was certain that the Blackfish was going to "lose" the king and say that it was an accident. He managed to track them down in Braavos. Gerold then contacted Oswell Whent and together they kept watch on the Blackfish and the king.
Gerold held off on meeting King Aegon until he managed to find a way to properly introduce himself to the king. The Seven only know what kind of lies the Usurper's dog instilled in his young and impressionable king. Gerold was growing older and was losing some of his strength to the ravages of time, but Oswell was younger and a skilled fighter in his own right. Gerold was certain that the Blackfish would not be able to stop them from reaching the king.
Oswell was currently searching for bravos to challenge to a duel to get them some money. While it was distasteful, there were some things they just needed to do.
They both found a group of bravos and Oswell did what he knew best, be a pest with his jests.
"The Nightingale is a sagging old hag," Oswell yelled at the bravos.
The bravos first were stunned speechless at Oswell's sheer gall. Then they started to loom towards him and Oswell.
"Oh hells," Gerold thought.
He recalled the last time they fought a group of swordsmen, and Ser Arthur was on their side at that time. Gerold then noticed how fine the clothing the bravos were wearing. He had seen how many weakling children of the wealthy merchants of Braavos acted like thugs, but they were laughingly weaker than a proper knight.
"Ser Gerry, help my uncle is trying to get me killed," a familiar bell like voice yelled.
Gerold and Oswell were both surprised to see the red eyed princess alive.
"How can she be alive," Gerold thought. Given the fact that he, Oswell, and Arthur were not dead he could easily imagine that the princess also escaped death. "Wait, her uncle is trying to kill her,"
He then saw a Dornish cutthroat head towards the Princess and she ran away. Gerold and Oswell attempted to go rescue their princess but were stopped by the bravos.
"Can you fools see that we are going to go save a young girl," Gerold asked furiously.
"The woman we defend is the Nightingale, not some freaky red eyed bitch," some insignificant bastard said.
Gerold felt himself head into a daze and in his rage he attacked the bravos. When he and Oswell managed to slaughter the little pissants, too much time has passed.
"We need to head towards where the princess ran," Gerold said.
Oswell nodded and finally kept his mouth shut. When they ran towards the direction they last saw their princess it took them ten minutes to find the corpse of the cutthroat pursuing her. When they looked at him both he and Oswell were shocked.
"This man is Dornish," Oswell said in shock.
"The princess said her uncle was trying to kill her. At first, I thought she talking about Viserys, but what if it was Prince Doran," Gerold said.
Prince Lewyn and Arthur were both on Prince Viserys's side. While he disagreed with their choice Gerold still had some respect for them as a fellow Kingsguard. Not anymore. Gerold can see now that Prince Doran was attempting to have his own niece killed to make way for his daughter to become queen. Gerold saw red.
"How could they do this? If they are trying to salvage Elia Martell's honor, then why would they kill her daughter," Gerold thought.
Oswell helped track down the Princess trail and they were too late. She was on a ship with the Blackfish and the King.
"How could we miss them," Gerold wondered.
Gerold was not aware that the Blackfish was going to leave with the king. And now he has the princess with him too. He had to save them before he hands them over to the Usurper.
Lord Eddard Stark was reflecting on the changes that occurred in Winterfell. Now that Jon was gone there were many new problems they had to deal with. He knew that his son was a valued member of their family, but even he was shocked at the large gap that Jon's absence left behind. He had to find three new servants to cover the work that Jon did. Even then their food was lacking something and they did not have Jon's work ethic. That was not even getting into the conspiracy that Jon's dragon birth entangled Ned in.
When Robert found out about a "dragonspawn" family was causing problems to a Northern House he was infuriated. He demanded that Lord Velaryon hand over his heir. Ned intervened and sent several letters to Jon Arryn and Robert. He offered to take up the boy as another ward and reminded them that it was a Northern House that the Velaryon's "slighted". Robert was quick to agree and Monterys Velaryon was going to arrive in several moons. While Monterys would normally be a bit older before being sent as a hostage, Robert had no mercy for "dragonspawn". Ned was planning to treat his new ward with all the respect and courtesy he deserved. Hopefully Monterys would provide companionship to his younger children.
Ned sighed. His youngest children were taking Jon's absence poorly. Rickon threw many tantrums because Jon was no longer here. Apparently, Jon had a special ingredient to make his treats taste better and Rickon hated all the other treats the cooks tried to give him. First, Rickon demanded that Jon come back to cook him his favorite treats. Then, Rickon just started to wail that he wanted just Jon back and he would give up eating treats before meals. It broke Ned's heart, but Jon is not able to return anytime soon.
Arya was growing even more aggressive towards anyone who had any criticisms of Jon. Sansa was the one to experience her fury after she said that Jon was lucky to leave their "boring" home. Ned was also angry at the dismissive way his daughter referred to their home, but a young maiden likely sought excitement and Sansa was bedazzled by the stories of Southron courts.
"I must not send any of my children south," Ned thought.
The Neck and Moat Cailin will stop any of invading army from coming close to his children. As much as it grieved him, Ned was not certain that Robert would not lay a hand on his children, even if they were not "dragonspawn" like their brother.
Ned sighed again and thought about his wife. She headed back to Riverrun, accompanied by trusted guards, and went to get her father's support for Jon. She took with her the dragon egg shards that they found deep in the crypts of Winterfell. Ned was still frustrated that his son seemingly had no sense of danger and explored so far.
"May the gods keep my son safe," Ned thought.
He did not know his gooduncle that well, but he knew that he was a man of honor and would try to keep his son safe. He also knew that Lord Velaryon's half-brother and niece are going to be accompanying his son on his journey.
"King Jaehaerys Targaryen and Queen Alyssane Velaryon," Ned thought.
Their names together sound like a bard's song. While he wanted his son to have a marriage for love, the chances of that happening were almost nonexistent. Now that he was no longer his natural son, Jon needed to keep political alliances in mind. But, Ned also knew that marrying for politics in war could create happy marriages. He and Cat were proof of that.
"But what if she was a dragon rider as well," Ned thought.
He remembered that Brynden sent a message about how Jon refused to sell the remaining two dragon eggs. Jon did not attempt to hatch the other eggs because hiding one dragon was hard enough. While this may be insulting to Jon but Ned was surprised that Jon was wise enough to see that. Given the "passion" his ancestors had for their lost dragons Ned would not have been surprised if Jon hatched the other ones as well.
"It is too soon to talk about marriage alliances," Ned thought.
Jon needed to be available for a bride that would bring an army to their cause. But, armies were no match for three dragons in the Field of Fire. Ned sighed, he was getting ahead of himself. He needed to wait until Jon's dragon grew larger. And there was no guarantee that the other eggs would hatch for Jon. And even if Jon could hatch both of them and one of the dragons accepted Lady Alyssane as its rider, who would ride the third one? Even then, Balerion the Black Dread was much older than Dreamfyre would likely be when Jon started his campaign. Ned gritted his teeth and decided that he just needed to have faith in Ser Brynden Tully and his son. Ned prayed they would be just fine and that they were having an adventure like he told his children.
"Lya, would you be proud of Jon if you could see him now? Imagine Jon, the kind young boy that loves his siblings a dragon rider. If he was half as skilled as you and Brandon were at riding not even the Conqueror would have been able to match him," Ned thought.
While thinking of his lost siblings still reminded of the misery that House Stark endured, Ned fortunately still had one sibling left. Ned dreaded the day that Benjen returned from his mission to find that he sent Jon away with Ser Brynden. He knew that sending his "bastard" son with his wife's family sounded like a decision a simpleton would make, but he knew that Benjen would understand.
"Jon, I pray that you return safely," Ned thought.
With that thought finished Ned decided to force himself to finish his work and distract himself from his worries.
Hi, everyone. I am sorry for the wait and I would like to thank everyone who is following/favorited this story and/or followed/favorited me as an author. While I do have to focus hard on my classes to become a competitive medical school applicant, I do not have any intention of abandoning this story.
P.S. I just noticed that I forgot to put in horizontal lines. Sorry.