2nd Month of 300 A.C. Meereen
Queen Daenaerys I Targaryen
The ash is poisonous, Dany is not sure what has just happened, but she knows now that something is wrong, something is terribly wrong. She can hear the chaos and commotion of the fighting outside the pyramid, and she knows that she has ordered all of this, but she does not know whether or not she supports it. She is not sure of anything anymore, all she knows is that Quentyn Martell has gone, disappeared, and something is left before her, ash, ash that smells so familiar, and yet she does not know how.
"Ser Barristan?" she calls out uncertainly.
Her white knight emerges, his armour dented and covered in blood. "Your Grace?"
Dany looks at him a feeling of horror growing through her. "What happened Ser? Why are you covered in blood?"
The knight looks down and then slumps to the floor. "There was a fight, between myself and Prince Quentyn and his men. They won, though I killed two of them. I think they are trying to flee."
Dany shakes her head. "That does not matter, not now. Let them escape, the city will likely kill them. Tell me Ser, what happened just now? There was some sort of feeling and a shake and then darkness, and now ash."
The knight looks weak, and Dany feels terrible for asking this. He still replies though. "I do not know truly what happened, for a fog came over me, but I heard a scream, a terrible scream almost as if life was being ripped from someone, or something, but I do not know truly, whether or not this happened or was simply in my head. Forgive me Your Grace."
Dany looks at the knight and takes his hand and squeezes. "There is nothing to forgive, you did your duty to me Ser. You do not have to go though, you can fight, I know you can."
The knight looks at her, his face breaking into a rare smile. "I am afraid that I do not have the strength anymore Your Grace. I cannot keep fighting this anymore, I am dying, and I think, I think it is time that I sleep. I cannot continue, and for that I would ask your forgiveness."
Before Dany can speak the door flies open and in walk several figures, dressed as brutes, figures she does not know, but they have a golden kraken on their armour. "Get up old man. You are not dead yet, not until I say you are."
Dany looks at the figure who spoke and enquires. "Who are you? Who would dare come before me here, now, and demand something."
The big brute looks at her and says. "I am Victarion Greyjoy, brother to King Euron Greyjoy, I have come here to take you back to Westeros Your Grace."
Dany feels a brief flicker of hope, but then Ser Barristan stands up, his legs shaking somewhat. "And why have you come here now Greyjoy? Your brother would not send you here, not without some malicious purpose. Tell me, what is it that I have to kill you for now?"
Greyjoy laughs. "You think you can defeat me old man? No, you are old and dying, I am in the peak of my powers, and you shall suffer embarrassment. You do not need to suffer such a fate, put your weapon down and we shall see to you ourselves."
Dany looks at the old knight and pleads with him. "Please Ser, you do not have to do this. You can come with me, we can find a way out of this alive, together. Please."
Ser Barristan turns to look at her, a sad smile on his face. His voice is soft when he replies. "Forgive me Your Grace, but I do not think that is possible. I cannot allow the Ironborn to come and take you, they are treacherous animals, not people, but animals. And as such I will not allow them to corrupt you." the knight pauses a moment, sways, and then pulls his sword out of his scabbard. He turns to face the Ironborn, and says to her. "Leave now Your Grace, run, and find Drogon, and leave. Do not look back."
"Ser Barristan, please do not do this, I beg of you." Dany pleads, her voice shaking.
The knight merely replies. "Leave Your Grace, go to Drogon and leave this place." He moves towards the Ironborn, and Dany finds herself rooted to the spot, unable to leave from this place, where her knight is about to give the fight. She watches as he kills one of the Ironborn who come charging toward him with little more than a swing of his sword. She watches as he duels two Ironborn at once, killing one and wounding another, but being brought down to his knees, before rising once more. She watches all of this, and she feels her heart begin to beat rapidly, uncertain of what she wants, does she stay here and risk being captured, or does she run and find Drogon.
Ser Barristan gives her hope though, he continues swinging his sword bringing foes down to their deaths, but more and more of the Ironborn seem to be coming, they seem to be appearing rapidly, determined to not let him rest. He is bleeding more profusely now, and Dany worries about that, she wonders where the other guards are, where Daario is, where everyone else is. She sees them coming though, soon enough, but it is too late Ser Barristan is dying, and now she screams as the knight falls to his knees, and the big brute takes his head off, the brute moves towards her, but Daario gets in his way swinging his sword, and fighting. She screams once more when Daario falls to his knees, broken and beaten, unable to fight properly, or do anything, the figure moves toward her a grin on his face, another figure comes to fight him, and they meet the same fate. Dany feels such intense anger flowing through her at that moment, that when a roar sounds and flames engulf her, a horn sounds and she screams, her anger and loss echoing throughout the chamber.
The Mountains
Jon Snow
"Who are you?" Jon asks, looking at the figure before him, she is small, and her hair is dark brown, there is a stubborn look on her face, that he knows well, though where from he is not sure. A silence falls on them then, and he feels his anger and impatience grow through him, he wants an answer, and he wants it now.
Eventually the figure speaks. "You do not remember me, and I am not surprised. You were but a babe when I last saw you. It has been a long, long time since last we met Jon Snow, but you and I are kin."
"How? I have no memory of you, how can we be kin if that is the case?" Jon asks.
The figure laughs then, a shrill sound. "I bear the same name as the sister you love the most of all your family. I was her namesake, and I know you better than almost anyone else on this world."
Jon looks at the figure, and then whispers. "Arya Stark? You are my father's grandmother?"
The woman before him laughs then. "Yes, I suppose you could say that. I am your mother's grandmother."
Jon looks at her and asks. "You know who my mother is?"
The woman looks at him sadly and replies. "I know who your mother was Jon."
"My mother is dead then?" Jon asks, a sad feeling engulfing him.
The woman looks surprised. "You do not know? Still after all this time, you do not know? Gods what did Eddard tell you?" the woman shakes her head and then says. "Yes, your mother is dead, and has been for some time." she pauses a moment and then asks. "Tell me what do you know of the tourney of Harrenhal?"
Jon is not sure what this has to do with anything, but he says. "I know it was where Prince Rhaegar crowned my Aunt Lyanna Stark queen of Love and Beauty, and began the descent into rebellion and madness."
There is a moment's silence and then the woman before him, his great-grandmother says. "She was not your aunt Jon, she was your mother. And the prince who crowned her was your sire."
It is Jon's turn to laugh. "You jest, surely. You cannot be serious, there was no child produced from that union."
"Do you know where your father brought you back from?" his great-grandmother asks.
"No, he would never tell me." Jon says, a feeling of sickness growing through him.
"And what other reason would your father, would Eddard have from keeping that from you, unless he was worried that telling you would lead to his greatest secret from being discovered?" his great-grandmother asks.
"What are you saying woman?" Jon snaps.
Something flashes in the woman's eyes, but she merely smiles and then says. "You were brought from Dorne, and your uncle named you a bastard to protect you I belief, though whether you are trueborn or a bastard I do not know. But that is the truth, you are a dragon and a wolf, and you must embrace both sides of your heritage, otherwise this world is lost."
"Lost?" Jon asks, focusing on her words, not the revelation. "How would the world be lost?"
"There is a darkness coming as you well know, the Watch is not what it once was. It has fallen into disrepair and into rotting. It is time for it to be cleansed and something new put in place. Death is walking a fine line with winter this time around, and that which was asleep for generation is now coming back to wake, and cause chaos once more. You are needed to protect the world from this darkness, you and your family must fight as one, and you cannot allow destruction and corruption to erode into yourselves. For that, that would give them what they want." his great-grandmother says.
"And what is it that they want? If you know so much about them, you must know what they want?" Jon asks.
His great-grandmother looks at him with sad eyes then. "If I knew that, I would never have gone away, I would have remained at Winterfell, for I can see that Lyarra's boy never did much good in preparing the north for the storm that is to come. But there is one piece of advice I can give you, the boy who is with you all, Jojen Reed, he is a dangerous person and must be removed."
Jon turns back and looks at where the Reed children are, Bran is there with him, and Jon looks at his brother briefly, before turning back to the woman and asking. "Why? Why is he such a danger?"
His great-grandmother looks at him and says. "Because he is not what he seems. Remember what you were taught about the Marsh king, and then look at him. He is not a boy, but a devil in disguise."
The cracking of a branch makes Jon turn his head, and there standing before them is Jojen Reed, his eyes alight, his face screwed into a snarl. "What are you telling them old woman?"
The woman before him looks terrified. "The truth. You are no boy, but a beast, and it is time you were destroyed."
The boy laughs. "You are a fool woman, whatever you might think, it was corrupted by the husband who you drove away. Now, leave us alone and be gone."
Jon feels something wrong with the situation, he looks at the boy and then at his great-grandmother, and in that moment he makes a decision. He shall remove the boy himself, and ensure that his brother is broken from whatever spell he is under. He draws Longclaw and looks at the Reed boy. "Back away Jojen, back away if you know what is good for you."
Reed looks at him and laughs. "Are you going to kill me Jon Snow? Or should that be Jaehaerys Targaryen? Are you going to have me killed for the words of a mad woman? That would not be very honourable now would it?"
Jon looks at the boy and then says. "Honour doesn't mean anything when compared to protecting family." and so he buries Longclaw deep within Reed's stomach, and he hears a scream and two wolves howling, and the laughter of a witch come back from the dead.
3rd Month of 300 A.C. King's Landing
Lord Tywin Lannister
His stomach felt as if it were on fire, something was wrong with him, and death was sure to come, he could feel its cold hands gripping his shoulders. He knew that Joanna might be out there somewhere, looking and waiting, he was not sure if he had ever believed in the afterlife, but increasingly as he got older he found himself wondering at all of that, whether or not there was something that might have been done to remove such a thing from, the uncertainty of death. He did not like uncertainty, and had striven most of his life to remove it from his actions, and yet now, now he was faced with the greatest of challenges. Gods his stomach hurt.
"Lord Tywin, what word has there been from Mace Tyrell?" his grandson the king asks. "Has he said what the position within the reach is?"
Tywin looks at the letters before him, fighting the urge to wince. "It seems that the Ironborn are growing bolder Your Grace. As you know, the shield islands had already fallen by the time the Tyrells left the city, but since arriving there, Mace Tyrell has found the Ironborn dividing their ships, one section going off on a raiding mission around the western coast, sacking Bandallon, Blackcrown and Three Towers. It seems they are preparing for an assault on Oldtown, though to what end Tyrell is not sure. Furthermore, another contingent of ships has sailed up the Mander and is currently blockading Highgarden. Tyrell has naturally decided to make that his first priority, though the Redwyne fleet is moving toward the Whispering Sound with great haste."
The king looks at him intently, and Tywin sees Joanna's shrewdness in his gaze, that is something, something he is thankful for. "And what of Lord Tarly, the man set forth from Maidenpool, has he reached Storm's End yet?"
Tywin nods, feeling another bolt of pain run through him. "He has, and as such the siege has commenced, and this time it seems as though it might finally be going somewhere. The garrison of the castle, are not loyal to Stannis Baratheon, they are instead loyal simply toward the Baratheon name, and with you being the king, and they will soon capitulate."
"You seem certain of that Lord Tywin. How can you be so sure, they might well hold out to spite you, because of the fact that it is Tarly who is commanding the siege." Martell says.
Tywin feels something within him begin to rot, and he knows then that the Viper had something to do with this. He looks at him a moment and then responds. "They might well continue resisting, but with another army determined to march and take the castle, I do not think they shall. Baratheons have long been respected in the Stormlands, the Targaryens have not. That is if of course, the boy is a true Targaryen."
"And of course that cannot be possible, considering you saw the last true male Targaryen slain as a babe did you not Lord Tywin?" the viper asks.
Tywin feels his anger grow then, just as another bolt of pain runs through him. "Indeed I did. Aegon Targaryen has long since been dead and buried. Viserys Targaryen is dead, and the boy's sister, Daenaerys is somewhere in Essos making a mess of things. So this boy is a pretender and should be treated as such."
"Unless of course there is more to this boy than meets the eye. He has Jon Connington fighting for him, and I do not think Connington would fight for someone he believed to be a pretender. That and the presence of the Golden Company behind him should make him a threat." Martell says.
"The Golden Company were traditionally Blackfyre loyalists, and yet there are no more Blackfyres left, they all died following the end of the war of the ninepenny kings." Tywin states. "So whoever this boy is, he is clearly pulling some sort of con, and with inside help."
"And who might be wanting to aid put a dragon back on the throne? After all, they brought us nothing but pain and problem a plenty." the viper responds.
"I can think of one family in particular that would benefit from having a pretender claiming the throne. To disguise from their true intentions." Tywin quips.
"Do you have proof of this my lord hand? Otherwise, some might think you were talking too big for one reason or another." The viper responds.
Before Tywin can respond, another bolt of pain runs through him, and the king speaks. "Enough, whether or not this boy is real, is not the issue here. The issue is that he wishes to take Storm's End, and as such we must ensure that he does not. I want word sent to Lord Tarly, tell him to prepare for an attack and should he see any host approaching he is to kill them on sight. I do not want anyone getting any ideas." the king pauses a moment and then says. "Lord Varys, I want you to send letters to these people, make them destroy one another, make them bleed."
The eunuch nods. "Of course Your Grace. It would be my pleasure to do so."
The king nods and then says. "If there is nothing else, then this meeting is at an end." The king stands and they stand with him, bowing their heads as he walks out.
Tywin watches as the others walk out of the council chamber, his body racked with pain, and then he sits down, closes his eyes and breathes for a moment, when he opens his eyes, she is there before him, as she said she would be. "Have you come to gloat?"
He feels her hands on his face, and her breath is a whisper on his face. "I do not gloat Tywin, my love. You know this, I know this. But we both know your end is here. Do not fight it."
Tywin looks at her and says. "I know, but I never was any good at waiting." a bolt of pain racks through his body, causing him to groan and then he slumps forward, and Tywin Lannister does not wake.