Jon Connington grimaced in pain of his hidden affliction. It was worsening everyday. He knew had little time before it would become visible to everyone and his eventual death. He wished to see his Prince Rhaegar's son retake his rightful throne before the greyscale took him. Speaking of the young king, King Aegon was furious that Lord Stannis had managed to regain the loyalties of many of the lords of the Stormlands who did not take well to the Golden Company taking their ancestral seats. Jon's reclaimed ancestral seat of Griffin's Roost had been razed by the order of Stannis Baratheon. The upstart onion knight, Baratheon's 'Hand' was trying to gain support in the Crownlands and curry support elsewhere. King Aegon and Jon Connington and their army were camped nearby Rosby. They were stalled and rerouted in their march for the capital by the attacks from Stannis Baratheon's army and now Ser Barristan Selmy's army of Unsullied.

"You were certain that they did not love Stannis Baratheon. Yet I saw many sigils that pledged their sword to me, killing men of the Golden Company. What is taking the Dornish men so long? My Uncle Prince Doran promised to send aid to help my cause. I am beginning to think the promise of marriage to his daughter and heiress, my cousin Princess Arianne won't ever come to fruition. I am beginning to see that the words of Westerosi men are wind. Especially of my kin."

"Like flatulence, Your Grace," added Septa Lemore adjusting her wimple.

Jon shook his head, "You have the support of Dorne, my king. You are Princess Elia's son. They are coming. The last Lannister usurper has been found killed." Aegon scoffed at Jon.

"A captive boy dead. Tommen Waters never was a true threat. He had no army. The Lannisters are ruined. Have you not heard Kevan Lannister has been found murdered by a band of rebels? Any remaining Lannisters will have no choice but to bend the knee. No, it is the Usurper's brother with his army and fleet that concern me. I took Storm's End myself. Now it is in the hands of Baratheon again."

"Focus on the King's Landing and the Iron Throne. Storm's End is not the Iron Throne. The Golden Company shall crush him. Stannis was never capable of inspiring men to his cause like his elder brother Robert Baratheon was. The lords and smallfolk will be dubious of him after he denounced the New Gods and retracted soon after. This sheer luck of support will fade, once they realize you are the true and rightful king. The trueborn son of Prince Rhaegar."

"They will recede like his hairline," hiccupped Lemore. Aegon stood up and paced.

"Yes, they will. I have written to my aunt Princess Daenerys to inform her to have her commander join forces with us or I will have no choice but to crush her army of Unsullied if they continue to attack us."

"There is another pretender, Your Grace." Connington looked at Lemore sharply.

"Yes, the North believes Lord Stark's bastard is my half brother. Hence, the Queen in the North has insolently ignored my offer of marriage to Arya Stark. They even claim he is the son of Lord Stark's sister. My mother, a princess, was slighted by my father's lust for that northern girl. I won't endure any slights by that bastard." Aegon paused and his purple eyes flashed angrily, "I have though. My aunt has gifted him a dragon."

Septa Lemore nodded and added, "Yes, the dragon she named for your royal father. Some birds twitter that your aunt favors the bastard boy even offering to make him her heir as well husband." Jon Connington was still trying to process the idea of his prince having a bastard child with the skinny Stark girl.

"This is not Dorne. She has no right to the throne, whilst I live. If she wishes to be queen then she should offer herself to me, not a Lord Commander of the Night's Watch. Why is she even at the Wall?"

"Perhaps it is a plot between her and the Lord Commander against you, Your Grace. Childish mistake since the men sworn to the Night's Watch are barred from marriage." Aegon nodded.

"I shall give Daenerys Stormborn the benefit of doubt in this matter unless more evidence arises of course. We should unite to restore our House back to power. If not in marriage but ensure the survival of our family, we need to marry and have children. I marry Princess Arianne and she marries Willas Tyrell or Lord Robert Arryn." Mace Tyrell would be pleased. His daughter a queen and his heir married to the Princess of Dragonstone. One of the men in the Golden Company entered the royal tent,

"Sire, Ser Barristan the Bold alongside the army of Unsullied in the name of Queen Daenerys have taken the northern part of the Crownlands. Our scouts report Stannis Baratheon is sailing straight for King's Landing."

"The coward won't face me in battle. You are right, Lord Jon. He is nothing like his brother." Jon nodded at him. After he bowed and exited the tent, Jon stared at the waning sun. It is not only I who is running out of time.


"How's Jon?" asked Arya.

"I haven't seen the Lord Commander since he left for Shadow Tower with one of the dragons," mumbled Gendry. Arya seemed prettier than he remembered and he averted his eyes flushing. It must be because he was still not used to seeing her in woolen gowns and longer hair.

"My sister's at the Wall again. I haven't been still," stated Arya.

"It's not a place to have a picnic." Arya's face grew thoughtful as she held her Needle.

"I know. But I haven't seen him since Sansa's wedding to Theon. I miss him." They heard King Robb's voice outside, Arya sighed, "Robb didn't go to her again. I know Margaery's ill but she's not dying. Sansa could at any moment. Our family is growing smaller and smaller with Uncle Brynden dead." He felt a cold shiver run down his back in the warm smithy.

"The Lord Commander is with her." Arya looked like she was struggling to smile or cringe at the idea of Lord Commander Snow protecting her sister at Shadow Tower. He's a skilled fighter? At least that's how Gendry understood her facial expression.

"Yes, but Robb should brought her and her children home. It's safer here." Gendry kept silent as he moved around the smithy. He looked gloomily at the sky through the small cutout that let out the smoke. "What's that Gendry?" Arya pointed at five black steel arrows.

"Nothing, I was supposed to fix them at the Wall. But the King decided to return here. So I brought them here to finish." They are finished except for one broken one.

"Are they for killing the Others?" queried Arya as she hopped down to inspect them more closely.

"No, I was told they are used for a specific purpose."

"They are huge. Are they for killing snow bears or mammoths?"

"I am just a blacksmith and a knight. When I am given an order for armor or weapons, I make it. When I am called to fight, I fight. I don't ask questions." Arya looked annoyed by his tone.

"That's stupid, but fine. What was Queen Daenerys like to Robb and Jon?"

"I kept out of her way as the King advised me to. Lady Melisandre and Lady Meera were the only women who spoke to me at the Wall. You should ask Lady Meera these questions not me. I am just a bastard." With king's blood. There's power in king's blood.

"Oh don't use that as an excuse! You are more than that," she shouted fiercely. Her grey eyes were angry. "Melisandre is the one that said Robb would die but he didn't. I think she's a fraud."

"Perhaps, and 'haps not." Arya scoffed at him in disbelief. "She's the one who gave those arrows."

"So? Did she say what they were for?" To kill the dark winged monster.

"No."

"You're lying, stupid."

"I wasn't supposed to leave the Wall with them. I thought they were interesting or perhaps useful." Just in case. "A blacksmith interest you can say, you don't come across the likes of them in an ordinary smithy or even a smithy that serves kings."


"You look in much better health, Your Grace," greeted Jorah, when he arrived at Margaery's solar at her request. Margaery smiled at him. Her cheeks were a healthy pink today, not pallid as the days he sat by her bedside. Keeping her entertained with stories and updating her without distressing her; those hours distracted him from his thoughts of Dany and the nights they shared before she flew off with her children. Jorah was still disappointed Daenerys had flown to Castle Black without him and he ached to go to her. Jorah could not blame Queen Margaery for this for she didn't vocally forbid him to go with Dany.

"No, my bear. I remember you prayed for your home. She brought you home. Help Margaery Stark protect your home alongside your kin. I must go now."

You are my home.

He could have gone to Dany whilst the Queen in the North fell ill. But it would have made him (and more importantly Dany) look complicit in Margaery's sudden decline, which was untrue. She fiddled with her light brown curl as she spoke,

"I thank you for standing at my side, uncle. I think I may have been a little too selfish and perhaps a little overcautious." He stood silently perplexed. Margaery sighed before continuing,

"I think you should go to Daenerys. Robb coming here has made me think. You should stand at her side not at mine. You love her and you have proven yourself loyal to me. See Bear Island, go to her. Whatever you choose. You are welcome to back to the North if King's Landing grows tiresome." Jorah went to his knees and bowed his head. His mind swirling with the words Margaery said and his determination to see Dany rose again. He was being sent to the Wall not to take the black but to see his Daenerys.

"I have been honoured to meet you and serve you, Margaery." He looked up at Margaery and paused. The candlelight made her glow, golden. She was smiling brightly, with a tinge of sadness. A miniature Lynesse. Both beautiful and haughty yet in entirely different manner. He hated Lynesse as much he had loved her. But there was no hatred for this younger southron flower. Margaery Stark was a fair and just queen. He had seen first hand how much she cared for the small folk. Jorah Mormont respected and cared for the petite Rose Queen.

"Promise me, you won't forget the other queen you served for a blink of an eye," she cried giving him a tiny bear hug. "I'll miss you, Jorah Mormont."

"Go, Jorah! I release you from our vows. It's not enough for me, I tried. Why are you still standing there? He'll have you killed." Lynesse had been angry and exasperated. Lynesse's niece was now releasing him from a vow he made to her for Dany so he could go to Daenerys.

"Farewell, Margaery Stark, the Rose Queen of the North," he rasped with emotion as he smelled the fragrant scent of pine and roses in Margaery's perfume for the last time.


If I look back, I am lost. Daenerys felt she was on a precipice with nothing to ground her from falling. Perhaps, she had been on it for a long time but having relied on good counsel for long kept from realizing it. Maester Aemon was a great source of counsel and stability. Yet, her eldest kin could not walk with her around Castle Black as she commanded it. No Barristan or Grey Worm or her bear. No Tyrion Lannister to mince her ideas until they were perfected. I must be a dragon to be a good mother to my people. Dragons were monsters, they said. If Drogon was a monster then she must be as well. Aemon, even Satin advised her to stay away from Melisandre.

"Your Grace, I think it's best if you don't speak with her anymore. Jon avoided her at all costs. You don't look so well. King Robb was always in dark moods after seeking her counsel."

"They say, your father was fed lies through whisperers." Dany was beginning to see the truth in their warnings. But the lure of knowing her future had been too enticing. She was losing control of herself. Of her purpose. Worst and more dangerously, it was reflecting in Drogon. He was not listening to her commands in either High Valyrian, the Common Tongue or Dothraki. She cried in frustration and fear. I had everything in control. I could control my dragons. I could keep Drogon in check. It was vital that she kept him under control. Dany needed him more than ever to destroy the Others. If he flies away like he did once how will I defend the Wall? She feared it would be more than livestock and little girls who were left charred and dead. She stared at her largest and more indiscriminate child.

"Please, Drogon, don't do anything that will be our undoing," she cried. I don't want to be remembered as Mad Queen Daenerys. She prayed Jon was not completely antagonized by her last letter and that he would come. I shouldn't have written it. Dany needed him to fly to Castle Black to help her regain control of Drogon.

I just wanted what I saw in the flames to be real. She had seen her grown child, not her son Rhaego. A daughter, tall and willowy with Dany's hair. She stood on the doorstep of the manse with the red door. Her daughter was happy to see her and smiled,

"Mother!" Dany reached for her daughter. But lately in her sleep the vision had changed into a nightmare. Her daughter's face looked at her with tiredness and anger.

"Go away Mother! We believed in you. We have loved you." Her daughter shook her head turned to go inside the manse. Dany shouted for her to wait. "No, you killed us all. All of your children not just Rhaego and I. But I won't stand here and let you hurt him any further. We can hear them and smell them. It haunts him. Go now. You don't belong here anymore than that vain woman did!"

"But I love him!" Her daughter's fierce glare frightened her.

"We don't give a damn anymore, Mother." The red door slammed in her face. Dany pounded on the door, crying for her daughter to hear her out. She walked to the window and peered inside. Dany saw herself and Viserys as small children sitting by Ser Willem Darry. She blinked and she and Viserys were gone. Two unfamiliar children were sitting on a log bench. Dany looked inside and the interior was not of the manse she remembered. It was dimly lit and was covered with rugs of animal skins on the floor and on the walls.

"You won't die, Ser Jorah," said the elder of the two confidently. "There's a cure for it. Lady Baratheon was cured as a child." Dany's eyes widen in shock. No. Why is my bear dying?

"Yes, there's still hope," agreed the young girl. The girl reached out to touch the old knight's arm.

"Don't, I may inflict you, princess. You are still under your aunt's protection until you become of age, King Eddard. Lady Brienne will take my place since your other aunt and uncle have grown. I am not your only protector left in this world. There are many who are loyal to the Starks." Dany couldn't see Jorah's face as he was seated facing the fireplace. She rapped on the windowpane trying to get their attention. I want to you see your face. Turn around please.

"They seem to be dying or disappearing faster than they can reach us."

"You have your father's wolf, my king." The two children turned away from their protector to look at the large smoke grey direwolf. Dany froze in fear as she recognized those large yellow eyes. No! No! What happened? Grey Wind was staring straight at Dany and light hit the children's hair revealing their colour. Dark auburn. The wolf snarled and in a flash it tried to burst through the window to rip her throat. Dany screamed and staggered away from the window. She turned around and Jon stood there.

"You don't have a gentle heart anymore, do you?" He stared at her then at his sword somberly.

"Jon, you have to help me. I need to control Drogon; the Others attacked Winterfell. Those children are like Viserys and I. My bear is dying! My daughter won't let me inside my home. Jon, we can't just stand here!"

"Fire and Blood. My grandfather burned to death and my mother bled to death. They burned, whilst Robb bled. We all looked down on Jaime Lannister for killing Mad King Aerys. That was most minuscule of his crimes. Was it honorable? No. Was it necessary? I think so." Jon unsheathed his sword and made slow strides towards her.

"No, if you dare touch me, I will have you killed! Jorah! Ser Barristan! I am your aunt, why are you doing this?"

"For love, Daenerys."

Viserys appeared, "You just had to wake the dragon, didn't you? No one will mourn you, sister. Like you and everyone else didn't mourn me. Where is your crown?"

She gasped as Jon plunged his sword into her heart. Dany woke up clutching her chest, breathing heavily.

"Get out of my chamber, Melisandre," she growled. "Get out of Castle Black before I make you Drogon's morning feed. No, you will be Drogon's morning feed." Melisandre smirked down at her from the foot of the bed.

"Glamours are an useful trinket, Your Grace," she said softly. "You seem tired. In theatrical entertainment, if one of the performers were ill, another would take on their role."

"Get out!" She shouted for Satin. For anyone. I have been plunged off the precipice.

A/N: Apologies for the lack of Robb x Marg and Jon x Sansa in this chapter.

I got some comments about Jon and Arya. They did meet again in chapter 13, I believe.

I just recently got tumblr under the same pen name (juliannakatharina). Shameless plug for my another "what if?" The Bear and the Wolf Maid (Jorah Mormont x Lyanna Stark), if y'all are interested in checking it out lol :)

Leave a review!