The road to Meereen
Jon Snow
Galvart Snow was left in charge of the city guard while the people of Yunkai chose their new authority, but just like Astapor, they had to choose a member of each guild that Daenerys stablished. With that they left began the journey towards Meereen, the last city of the Slaver's Bay and the most powerful of the three cities.
He rode in the vanguard with Ser Barristan and Ser Oswell, 'The Unsullied don't ride horses' he heard Grey Worm say once, but the Stormcrows and Second Sons were formed by cavalry only.
The coastal road was beautiful, at least for Jon, he never saw the sea when he was a little bastard boy growing up in Winterfell, but the road's beauty disappeared in the first milepost, just like when he saw the Riverlands on fire and the common people hanged from trees, he had to behold a little girl, maybe she had Rickon's age, nailed to the milepost.
"Bastards!" Ser Oswell said and spat on the ground.
"Ser Oswell, you need to go and tell this to the queen" Jon said.
"As you command" Ser Oswell replied and left after making a subtle reverence, every man in the Queensguard knew who he was, but the Queen asked for discretion, unfortunately for him, old knights didn't know much about discretion.
Minutes later Daario Naharis arrived with Ser Jorah Mormont, the man didn't hold much love for Jon, he was Eddard Stark's nephew after all.
"The masters know that we are marching towards Meereen." Ser Jorah said concerned by the situation.
"We should take her down and give her a proper burial." Ser Barristan suggested.
"I must agree." Jon said. "We shouldn't let my aunt see this."
But it was too late, before they could put the little corpse down Daenerys arrived, her eyes told Jon all that he needed to know, he saw the pain that she felt, he saw the anger arousing inside her, those two amethysts shone like torches even in the daylight.
"My queen, you don't need to see this." Daario said trying to make her look away from the little girl that now was laying on the ground.
"How many mileposts are between Yunkai and Meereen, Ser Jorah?" she asked.
"I can't be sure, your grace, but there are at least one hundred eighty mileposts." The bear knight replied.
"I'll make sure that you don't have to see this again, your grace" Jon said hurrying his Sand steed, a gift from his grandmother Rhaella. He didn't want to make Rhaella or Sansa look at a rotting child crucified; he didn't want to see pain in other eyes again.
The same repeated in the next milepost, and the next, and the next until they reached the city, Jon counted one hundred eighty-three children, each one of them was took down and buried, Daario helped him, he was trying to impress Daenerys, each day he gifted her a flower that he found in the road, each day she received the flower, but immediately killed the sellsword's hopes. Jon just laughed at that, Daenerys wasn't a foolish girl, she always remained focused in her objectives.
He remained silent for the rest of the journey, watching how the Meereenese burned the crops and poisoned the wells that were close to the city, now they had to stablish a supply route with Yunkai, the Dothraki helped with that, they moved fast and the supplies were already moving from Yunkai to their camp outside Meereen.
The city walls where made of bricks of different colours, it looked beautiful, but the walls were thicker and taller than the other cities. Every angle formed by the walls had a defensive tower and the great pyramid arose among the walls and in the top of it was a golden harpy shining with the sunlight.
"We are not in the best position, they have archers on the walls." Ser Barristan said and Jon just nodded.
"There's no wood to make siege weapons here, we will need to carry it from Yunkai." Ser Jorah informed.
The city walls were strong and each day that they had to wait was a day that they loose strength. "We must find a way to make a breach in the walls soon." Jon said.
The three riders stood there looking at the city, it was so close and so far at the same time.
Daenerys Targaryen
The city was tremendous and her walls were filled with archers, masters and slaves looking at her and her forces, they were expecting something, but Dany didn't know what.
Suddenly the enormous gates opened a little a space narrow enough to let a rider pass through, he rode a white charger and carried a long spear, Dany calculated that it was fourteen or fifteen feet long. The rider's armour was made of copper and jet scales and wore pink cloak and white clothes under the armour.
He passed in front of her many times, always keeping an appropriate distance between him and her knights and soldiers. Then he climbed down of his horse and took off his belt and proceeded to take a piss in front of them at the same time that he talked, she couldn't understand what was he saying, but Missandei was there and didn't disappoint her.
"He is saying the we are an army of men without man parts, he claims that you're no woman at all but a man..." the translator hesitated. "who hide his cock in his own asshole." she finished the translation.
Dany heard the laughs of the masters on the walls, he was about to reply when Ser Barristan addressed her.
"Your Grace, you don't need to hear these meaningless words." the knight said.
"They are not meaningless if half the city you intend to take are listening to them." Ser Jorah argued annoyed by the Meereenese champion.
"I need to speak to the people of this city." Dany said, "But first I need to keep this man quiet." she added pointing at the meerenese champion who kept insulting her and her soldiers. "Do we have a champion?" she asked.
"Your Grace, let me honour your name killing this man" Grey worm asked her in valyrian as he stepped forward.
She couldn't risk the commander of the unsullied in such irresponsible way, "I can't afford to lose the commander of the Unsullied against this brute, you deserve more than this." she said.
"Let me kill this man for you, khaleesi." Rakharo said.
"I will not risk my bloodriders against this man" she said again, she didn't want to sacrifice her people.
"The I will fight for you, Your Grace." A manly but somehow soft voice said.
She turned and saw Belwas walking forward. Belwas was eunuch who fought in the fighting pits of Meereen before earning his freedom, he was bald and looked like a giant compared with her, he was known for letting his adversaries cut him once before being killed. His giant torso, belly and arms were full of scars.
Belwas was the best option, he was expendable for her and there was no honour in killing a eunuch and being killed by a eunuch was much worse, Dany had her champion, Belwas was getting prepared or the battle when the people on the walls started the cheer, she felt confused for a moment, Belwas was just next to her, but then she saw him, Jon Snow walking forward with his giant wolf.
Jon Snow
The meereenese champion didn't stop insulting his own family and the people who helped him to feel alive again, the man peed in front of the army and all the masters laughed, he couldn't ignore such offense.
"This stops right now." Jon said angered by the whole situation.
He put on his greathelm and walked forward, the scaled armour that he was wearing chainmail and a scaled armour over it, it wasn't the same than plate armour, but his rival had the same. He walked forward and whistled; Ghost joined him immediately, he had his direwolf thus he didn't need a horse.
The people started to cheer, but he recognized Sansa and Rhaella's voices calling for him desperately, it was too late, he needed to ease the anger that he felt against the man in front of the army. The champion climbed on his white charger and called for his spear.
"You'll need a horse, boy." Ser Jorah approached with a destrier, the fortune of traveling with a Dothraki horde.
"I don't need a horse, I have Ghost." he replied and patted his white head with his gloved hand. Then he unsheathed Longclaw, the bastard sword made of valyrian steel shone with the sunlight and dazzled the bear knight.
"I don't want to take my family sword from your dead hands, boy, take the horse." Jorah said worried.
"Horses have a weak spot Ser Jorah." he said and walked away leaving the bear knight with two horses.
The champion charged against him with his spear, Jon felt his heart rushing, not because of fear, there was no space for fear now, he made a decision and he had to accept the consequences of his act. The white charger got closer and closer, Jon tightened his grip on Longclaw's hilt, the valyrian steel clashed against the spear diverting its trajectory, the crowd cheered again and the rider grunted, then he turned around his horse and charged again.
Jon knew that the horse was tired, and when it was half way from him a whistle came out of his mouth and Ghost pounced on the horse's throat knocking down its rider, Ghost's white fur was stained with blood a gruesome view that Jon saw back in Westeros when they fought Jaime Lannister's army.
The rider rolled on the ground losing his helm, Jon noticed that his hair had the shape of two ram's horns, the helm didn't let him see clearly, he took off his helmet to have wider field of vision, his opponent was on his feet now and the battle resumed.
The champion of Meereen unsheathed his sword and attacked Jon with a heavy blow that he parried but the strength behind it pushed Jon back and made him stumble. 'A heavy blow gives you the opportunity to counterattack, but you need to do it fast' he remembered Arthur's lessons in Winterfell's courtyard. Jon aimed for a headcut, at least to cut his throat, but the man grunted and parried the blow. Jon felt frustrated, maybe the man was a better with a sword.
In his moment of doubt, he couldn't block a blow aimed to his arm, it didn't cut at first the chainmail, but when his rival pulled out the sword it left a deep cut in the space between the shoulder plate and his arm protection, Jon grunted in pain as the blood started to flow from his injurie. He wasn't bleeding out, but the pain was tremendous.
More frustrated than ever Jon punched the man in the face with mis mailed fist, blood spurted from the champion's mouth at the same time that he fell on the ground, unsheathing his dagger Jon jumped over the man lying on the ground determined to thrust it on his throat, but the man kicked him away as he tried to reach for his sword, the blood was still sprouting from his arm, the cut was deeper than Jon thought, he started to feel dizzy with the loss of blood and the heat, but he couldn't let the man win.
Jon gathered the strength for a final attack and before the champion could reach for his sword, Jon was over him again, the champion punched him in the wound, but it was too late, Jon had already thrusted the dagger on his throat and finishing the fight.
The crowd was silent as Jon stood in front of them, he tried to walk back, but he only managed to take a few steps before fainting.
Rhaella Targaryen
Jon walked into the battle without telling anyone, in the moment the crimson river erupted from his arm, she felt her life leaving his body, but her grandson had survived a war already, how could she be afraid?
Jon stabbed the Mereeneese champion in the neck and walked back to her and the army, he only managed to take two steps before collapsing on the ground, the day was hot and wearing an armour wasn't a comfortable option that day, and in addition Jon was losing blood.
She tried to run towards her grandson to aid, but Ser Gerold stopped her when a volley of arrows fell next to Jon, he was out of range, Rhaella thanked the gods for that. Daario Naharis walked towards Jon with the strong Belwas, in the moment that Daario confirmed that her grandson was alive, she smiled at that and she even laughed when Belwas started to celebrate Jon's victory.
The giant eunuch beheaded the champion and after showing the head to the masters on the wall, then he squatted and defecated towards the city, after that he wiped himself on the champion's pink cloak, the people reacted at that with horror.
Her daughter then walked forward and talked to the people of Meereen, she spoke in high valyrian, the tongue of their ancestors and looked like a true queen, a joust woman fighting for the people.
"People of Meereen, I'm not talking to your masters, I'm talking to you, the beaten and raped, the sold and abused, the slaves and the common people. Your masters haven been lying about me, first, I went to Astapor, those who were slaves in Astapor now stand behind me." she said more regal than ever and the Unsullied began tapping their spears in the sand.
"Then I went to Yunkai, those who were slaves in Yunkai now stand behind me as free men." she said. "Now I ask you, people of Meereen, will you stand behind me?" she asked.
A couple of trebuchets advanced and fired casks with the collars of the freedmen. After that Rhaella and her daughter went to the healer's tent where Jon was being treated. The first thing they saw in the tent was how Daario and Ser Oswell take off Jon's armour, most of the plates were on the ground, the worst part was when they took off the chainmail, the moment they raised Jon's arm the young man fainted because of the pain.
Sansa was already there weeping for her cousin, "Please, you need to save him" she pleaded between sobs.
A notable healer from Yunkai took care of the wound, "The boy will live." The healer said and stopped the bleeding, "How old is this man?" he asked.
Rhaella knew the answer, she spent all those years in exile counting the days that she had been away from her grandson, "He is seventeen or eighteen years old." She said, she didn't knew when was her own grandson's birthday.
"This boy has many scars on his body, he just have earned another" the healer said as he cleaned the wound and began stitching it.
Rhaella observed Jon's body and it truly had many scars, two circles in the chest, 'two arrows' she thought, many scars on his arms, small cuts or scratches, a scar on his side it was long, but narrow and his shoulder had a big burn scar that almost reached his neck. Then she stopped a moment and looked at his face, the young man had a scar across his left eye and another on his right temple almost parallel with his brow and almost reaching his cheek.
The healer finished and wrapped the wound with clothes he walked towards Daenerys and made a reverence. "The boy may have fever, but he looks stronger than many men I have known." With that he left the tent.
Hours later Jon woke up, he barely moved because of the pain, she knew it because Rhaegar had the same facial expressions when he was in pain.
"You scared us all back there." She said as she caressed Jon's forehead, he just looked at her confused, but she understood, she was mere stranger weeks ago and now she was taking care of him. "Why did you do it?" she asked.
"I did what I needed to do." He said avoiding eye contact. "It didn't pleased me if that's what you think." He replied.
Rhaella recognized his expression, he didn't enjoy killing unlike his grandfather Aerys, she thanked the gods for that.
"I just wanted to keep him quiet, all those insults that he said... It just didn't feel right." He said.
"And yet you got injured by your rash actions, all those scars tell me that you have been in battle many times, but sometimes you must rely in others, you're not alone, not anymore." She said with a motherly tone. "You don't have fever, good." She said with her hand on his forehead. "Maybe you can attend to the war council later, but you must rest right now." She ordered and Jon obeyed.
The boy fell sleep after talking with her, he looked like a little boy sleeping, Daenerys had to speak with her commanders to find a way to take the city, the masters didn't took well their champion's death. The sweet lie of letting Jon go to the war council worked perfectly to keep him calm, Rhaella thanked the gods for her grandson's life, for letting him live another day, there, taking care of a sleeping Jon she afforded a sweet smile for herself, the same smile she gave Dany when she walked out if a pyre with three dragons.
Days later
Jon Snow.
The city fell thanks to her People, a group of their best men walked into the city through the sewers, it was most horrible work for anyone, but not for Jon, he felt that he was useless from the moment that his grandmother and his aunt didn't let him go into the sewers with recent wound. 'You'll die before reaching a fighting pit' Belwas said before the attack.
But what made Jon feel weird was Brown Ben Plumm , the new captain of the second sons told him that the man he killed was a noble man from meeren named Oznak zo Pahl, a man who cut the liver out of someone who looked a meereenese lady wrongly, he felt some relief then, a murder is easier to kill than an innocent, but the people in Slaver's bay didn't understand that.
"Are you used to brood that much?" a woman's voice interrupted his thoughts.
He turned around and saw his aunt, Daenerys Stormborn. "It's something I inherited from my father." He said and chuckled subtly. "At least that's what everyone who knew him says that."
"I never met my brother Rhaegar, Viserys told me once that he was good killing, Ser Barristan on the other hand, told me that he liked singing, brooding and reading." She said. "My mother always speaks of him, she lost him too early."
"Aye, he was good at starting wars too." Jon said coldly as he contemplated Caraxes' silhouette in the skies above the great pyramid of Meereen.
"He loved your mother, Lyanna." She replied annoyed. "You're here because of them." She added.
"For what?" he asked bitterly. "They both died, I had to grow up as a noble bastard, Lord Stark couldn't look at my face without remembering his sister, I grew up with his family, they treated me as one of them, and when they most needed me I failed them." He continued. "What do you know of failure, of being alone with your only motherly figure possibly death, with the burden of being a king, a broken king." He felt his voice breaking, just like his spirit, maybe it was the fever that the healer mentioned, he didn't know.
Daenerys looked pained then, his long lost aunt was younger than him, she couldn't understand what he had experienced.
She stood next to him looking at the city. "I know what failure is" she said softly. "I have seen my brother fail every time he wanted to claim his throne, every time he failed he punished me, he slapped me many times, 'You'll wake the dragon' he used to say, he tried to sell me for an army twice, the second time he succeeded." She said. "I grew up running through the free cities, with the growing fear of being assassinated." She paused for a moment. "But my mother always did her best to keep me safe, I'm Daenerys Targaryen, I make impossible things come true, but the inly thing I want is my family and my home, I want to see the Wall and the snow, the green fields of the Reach, the Red mountains of Dorne." Jon noticed her eyes shining like two amethysts.
"You're quite a woman." Jon said trying to fix his mistake, "If home is what you want, I can help you, but the people in Westeros isn't quite fond your father, I had the luck of being Lyanna's son, You're the mad king's daughter, they will use that against you." He said, he understood a few things about his family and the mark they left in Westeros.
"Would you help me to take your throne?" she asked surprised.
"I want peace to reign in my country, not a king or queen commanding from a red castle, I have seen how the low born are treated, despised by the Lords and kings, I want them to feel safe in their own lands." He said inspired.
"You're quite a man too, Jon Snow" Daenery said with her lips curled in a smile.
Her silver mane shone more beautiful than ever, his aunt truly was the most beautiful woman in the world, he felt ashamed of his though then, he remembered the words that once a man told him in Wintertown, 'Bastards are treacherous beings born from lust and deceit." He told him.
"And you're not just a foolish boy who goes on and do reckless things, I need you by my side to help this people, to help our people." She said more calm.
"I'll do as you command, my Queen." He replied and walked away, the pain stinging in his arm.
The shy maid
Griffin
The boy grew stronger each year, his silver hair hide with the blue of a myrishman, just like his, for many years he planned and negotiated with Myles Toyne and with Harry Strickland after Toyne's death, now his skull hangs from the Golden company banners, just like Aegor's.
"We will meet them near Volantis, there they will know who you are, we will stop dying our hair, you need to look like Rhaegar's son." He said with a paternal tone.
"Good, first the company and then my dear aunt." The boy replied smiling.