Jon Snow The Literal Fire-Breathing Dragon

by Umbrakinetic

Jon Snow was dead, betrayed by his own brothers. Ghost had tried to avenge him but was eventually taken down by the same men. Wargs don't truly die however so Jon finds himself reincarnated in the body of the animal he has the next closest connection to, a dragon he's never met. Specifically Daenerys's dragon, Rhaegal. RLJ

27. Daenerys V

This morning had been incredibly odd, to say the least. She had gone to visit Arya in the morning as she had every day for over a month now, and she had told her yet another story about her nephew. The story had been another new one, of course, but it spoke the same things of her nephew's character that all the others had. Her nephew was good like her, and cared for everyone, even those who didn't care for him.

Things had flown off the rails after the tale was done, as a raven had shown up with a letter from her nephew and probable husband to be. That raven revealed that Varys had offered to give secrets to her nephew, and her nephew had offered to do the same. Then Rhaegal had been the Raven, making it impossible to believe that Varya and Tyrion were wrong about Rhaegal being Jon, and vice versa? She still didn't know how to refer to her nephew and dragon. Arya was right about Jon not trying to hide the truth from her, they likely never would have figured out what his very cryptic note meant if it wasn't for him revealing himself as Rhaegal.

She was ecstatic that Jon didn't hate her for what had happened to Arya under her watch, even if he probably should. She had enjoyed speaking to him again, however briefly and seeing Rhaegal even if it wasn't as Rhaegal but as a bird was wonderful. Jon clearly did still care about her, in spite, of his decision to abandon her. He had prioritized his own life, over being with her. She could hardly blame him for that. She was glad that he was still alive.

The other revelations of the morning were less thrilling. Varys had gone behind her back again, and offered to give her secrets to her nephew. She had promised that if Varys ever opted to betray her that she would burn him alive when he had sworn himself to her. She had forgiven him for keeping Jon's secret from her considering that revealing he was Rhaegal could probably in theory have caused his death and she certainly didn't want that. Could she even be mad at Varys giving her secrets to Jon? She had planned to name him as both her King Consort and hand, they weren't exactly meant to be kept secret from him. The only thing she was really upset about at this point in time was that he hadn't told her about it.

Oh, and the fact that Jon had claimed Varys was a warg was certainly discomforting. On one hand, it assured her that wargs worked as Arya had claimed and Rhaegal wasn't being made a slave to Jon, or else Varys would have just stolen her dragons, and crowned someone else he thought good as King instead of turning to her when their visions weren't so perfectly alligned. She was fairly confident that Jon was correct in his assumption that Varys was a warg. It made too much sense not to be true. Everyone knew Varys had better sources than anyone else, he had always known things impossibly fast. It was the only reason that she had taken a chance on him as her spymaster, his loyalty was questionable considering how many different kings he had served and betrayed but if he was on your side then he was irreplaceable. Him being a warg and his birds being literal birds was a logical explanation for how he knew the content of things immediately. Just like she told Jon things his spies told things to the birds and he could spy on any important meeting he knew about beforehand in person. Or was the correct term in bird?

She was fairly certain that one couldn't warg into a thousand things at once, so she wasn't at constant risk of anything being overheard by Varys or some other warg. If that wasn't the case then Jon wouldn't have needed to send a bird to relay information to Varys and vice versa. Arya had described it as only one animal you're close too but that wasn't exactly correct if Jon had warged a random bird, and Varys likely had hundreds of random birds of his own. Still, she was fairly certain the one thing at a time rule was true or else Rhaegal wouldn't have only visited her in the mornings… Unless Jon was only entertaining her delusions and didn't really care for her.

Daenerys shook her head. She wouldn't go down that route. She couldn't go down that route. Not again. Arya had made her see how illogical it would be for Jon to act that way. If he was just using her there were better ways to do so then by pretending to care for her as a dragon. There were better ways to fool her then to reveal that he was a warg to her. He cared for her, his actions proved that. She knew he cared for her and she would not allow herself to doubt that fact. She would not go mad with suspicion and paranoia as her father had. She was not the Mad Queen.

Where was she? Ah, yes Lord Varys. Knowing that he was a warg now, made his services even more valuable. He had previously told her of the happenings in other parts of the world, with an obvious travel delay. He hadn't told her of Jon's resurrection until over a week after it happened if her guesses on the timetable based on Rhaegal's behavior was at all accurate. If she knew he was a warg now then there was no need for a travel delay in his information to keep his abilities secret. She would know what happened in Westeros immediately now. She of course, probably wouldn't be able to act on that knowledge immediately unless she had too but she would know it and would have more time to plan and prepare. Keeping Varys's abilities secret made them more useful, no one suspected an animal to be a spy.

She needed to discuss what Varys's skillset meant to her, and make sure he knew that keeping secrets from her and going behind her back was not okay. She needed to make it clear to him that if he did it again she would follow through on her threat and burn him alive. He would be honest, and upfront with her immediately from now on or she would find a way to replace him. Jon was a warg himself, surely he could serve in Varys's role if needed. He was no longer one of a kind now that they knew his secret.

She didn't bother to knock on the door to Varys's chambers instead opting to just barge in. "Lord Varys, you've betrayed me." She said in lieu of a greeting.

"How did I do that, Your Grace? Have I not served you faithfully and informed you of all the happenings of Westeros and threats against you in Meereen as you asked?" He asked in what was obviously fake confusion.

Daenerys glared at him. "You went behind my back and gave information to my nephew."

Varys opted to play the fool. "Your Grace, I thought that you had already forgiven me for prioritizing the King's life over telling you everything immediately?" He asked with a teasing smile. He knew what this was really about but needed her to confirm it for him.

"Cut the bullshit, Varys," Daenerys said in no mood for these mind games. She pulled out the letter from Jon and shoved it into his hands.

He sighed. "Of course he went to you instead of me. I should have expected that."

"Care to explain?" She asked impatiently.

Varys frowned but answered her query. "I sent a raven to Jon Snow as I'm sure you've gathered, I needed to be able to relay important information to him quickly. As your King, I assumed you would prioritize his safety"

Daenerys crossed her arms and glared. "You know that's not what I meant Varys. Of course, I want him safe. I mean what he said to you. About you being a warg as well?"

Varys sighed. "I'll admit I thought that King Jon might figure it out given that he is a warg but I didn't expect there being any chance that you would learn my secret by my actions. I had prioritized keeping the King alive, expecting him to understand my wish for privacy regarding this matter if he figured it out but it appears his need to gloat won out. Who else knows?"

"Just Arya." She reassured him. "I'm still not happy about you going behind my back about this. You could have told me that you wanted Jon to have a warged bird here so you could have passed info to him. I wouldn't have refused the idea, I would have gladly encouraged it."

Varys frowned. "My apologies then, Your Grace, I wasn't sure how you would take the idea of breaking a birds mind and worried that it would cause you to refuse to ally with King Jon. Arya had you believing that all wargs are mutual bonds that both sides enjoy, I didn't want you to believe otherwise."

"Breaking a bird isn't just an expression?" Daenerys asked, suddenly very concerned. Had he truly enslaved Rhaegal against his will? Broken her dragon and taken control of him? Was Aryae wrong?

Varys smiled. "Breaking a bird is quite literally destroying a bird's mind to leave it malleable to one's commands. The bird loses all sense of who it is, and a will of its own and is almost completely catatonic without a warg controlling it. The bird becomes no one, and nothing just a shell for the warg to use. I wouldn't worry too much," Varys said picking up on her fears. "Only simple-minded creatures can have their mind broken and even then it takes a powerful warg. King Jon is the only warg I've ever heard of being able to warg into a dragon, perhaps Bloodraven could have done it had he got the chance to try but he's the only other possible one. To break the mind of a dragon would require King Jon to be a more powerful warg than any ever before by many magnitudes. As much as King Jon has done the impossible, I'm positive that's even beyond him."

Was he being honest? She had no way of knowing. Yet, it made sense right? She knew a dragon was a slave to no man- she had said it herself even, time and time again. She had to evaluate this on what she knew not whatever suspicions she might concoct in her mind. She knew with almost complete certainty that Jon cared for her. She knew that Rhaegal still acted normally- or closer to normally at least, while Jon wasn't with him. Varys said a bird was catatonic without a warg inside of them. Rhaegal wasn't like that. She knew Jon was not like that from Arya, Tyrion, and even Turncloak. There was always the chance that Varys was lying but if so she would be the fool for now. She would not wind up like her father, jumping at every shadow she saw.

Daenerys knew that he was just trying to regain the upper hand in their conversation by teasing about breaking the bird and know hinting at the abilities of wargs beyond what Tyrion and Arya had told her. She did want to do know more, and unfortunately, that meant going to Varys and letting him have the upper hand. He was the only warg she had on hand who could actually talk to her. "How does that work? How does one choose what they warg into? Why was Jon able to warg into Rhaegal when as you've said no one ever had before?"

Varys smiled glad that he had control once again. "There are five factors in how one's ability to warg into something is determined. The emotional connection to the subject, their connection through the bloodline, the strength of the subject's mind, the wargs innate power levels, and the human's emotions when they are trying to warg." Varys explained.

Her brows furrowed in contemplation of what he had said. "Connection through the bloodline? That means what exactly? Is that how Jon could be Rhaegal if they had never met?" She asked.

Varys nodded. "As Tyrion said, Starks become direwolves, Mormonts become bears, Hornwoods become moose, Blackwoods become Ravens, etc." He twiddled his fingers. "I suspect that the bloodline connection is what drew King Jon to Rhaegal after his death as well as the intimate bond between a dragon and their rider that exists since the dragon's birth. Seeing as King Jon had just been murdered by his sworn brothers, his emotions were certainly extreme enough to power the connection even further. The Targaryens have historically never had a gift for wargs with Bloodraven being the only one in recent memory, and that was a byproduct of his Blackwood mother. Although considering that Bloodraven is likely the most powerful warg ever- aside from maybe His Grace, it's probably not a coincidence that King Jon is as powerful as he is. I suspect that the blood of the dragon and the blood of the First Men combined is a truly powerful combination. A pact of ice, and fire if you will."

"So warging is like being unburnt? It's a bloodline trait? All the nonsense that my brother spouted about keeping the bloodlines pure wasn't senseless?" She wondered aloud.

"It's a bloodline trait, yes. One needs to have the blood of the First Men to do so. I couldn't say for certain how much the bloodline purity has to do with the likelihood of the gift cropping up, it's an exceedingly rare trait and I've only met a few other wargs in my lifetime, far too few to accurately assess how much bloodline purity matters. I suspect yes though."

"Does the animal have a choice in what they do if warged into by one with a strong connection through blood and emotions?" She asked, needing to know for certain that Rhaegal wasn't being controlled.

"An emotional connection the animal will always retain some control over the warging. The human can ask the animal to do something, and even guide the animal's footsteps but if the animal really doesn't want to do something then the human can't force them too without destroying their mind. As I've already said, destroying the mind of a dragon is almost certainly impossible. Rhaegal's actions are entirely voluntary even if Jon is the one guiding him." He reassured her.

Daenerys nodded processing what he had told her, it wasn't a lot but it was something, she at least had an idea how her nephew's gift worked- presuming Varys was actually being honest with her, of course. Rhaegal was still Rhaegal even if he was also Jon. He was not a slave, a dragon could never be a slave. She had told all her greatest secrets to Rhaegal but he wouldn't betray her, he never had, and just because he was Jon as well didn't mean that would change. He could be trusted. She really had no other choice but to trust him, even if she didn't want to.

"Now that I know that you are a warg as well, no more delaying the relaying of information to me. Anything important, you are to tell me in private the moment you know. If you must wait to share it with the rest of my council than I understand but you will inform me of everything immediately and if you try to go behind my back again, and lie to me then I will kill you. You have just proven how replaceable you are." Daenerys said firmly.

Varys chuckled likely at the idea of himself being replaceable but eventuallysighed then nodded. "You might want to sit down, and make yourself comfortable then, Your Grace, there is somewhat old news that you need to know. I've been trying to figure out how to say this but now that you know what I am, I can at least explain in enough detail to hopefully present a manageable picture."

Daenerys ignored his offer to sit. "Go on," She urged him impatiently.

"King Jon had a summit with all of the Lords of the North. They proclaimed him as not only their King but the King of all of the Seven Kingdoms." Daenerys flinched at that statement. Was Arya wrong? Had Jon actually betrayed her? Chosen to steal her birthright? "They also reluctantly proclaimed you as his Queen, and equal in power at the insistence of King Jon."

"What?" Daenerys demanded harshly. Jon had tried to steal her power after assuring her that he wouldn't do such? She had thought that he only wanted to be her King Consort, Arya said he was clearly in love with her, and only wanted to be with her not usurp her. If Jon had wanted to take her power than he could have done so without her being able to stop him, he had chosen her as Queen and promised to bend the knee. "Your source is wrong Varys." She said confidently. There was no way that Rhaegal had chosen to lie to her about this, not something so important.

"I observed the meeting personally, Your Grace, I can assure you that I am not wrong in this regard. King Jon puppeteered the entire meeting masterfully. He had the North eating out of his hand and secured the North for the both of you. If he had desired to have the Kingdom for himself, he could have had it with ease, but he chose to make you his equal when he didn't have too. The North would have never accepted just you in charge, even if King Jon was your consort." Varys explained, once again easily reading her fears and doing his best to soothe them.

She wanted to rage at him and tell him he was wrong. She wanted to fly to Westeros on Drogon and burn her nephew alive for daring to suggest that he could be her equal. That wouldn't work, of course, he was unburnt after all- just like her. Did that make him her equal? In a way, she supposed it did. He was doing what he thought was best for her. She would have to make sure he understood that she would make her own decisions but it wasn't all that terrible right? She knew Jon like her was good. She knew he knew what was right. He had to be what she knew him to be. She would not be like her father and doubt what she already knew to be true. He was not Viserys and predisposed towards madness like her father and brother.

Another part of her wanted to scream at Varys, why did they all presume that she would go mad? They walked on eggshells around her half the time, why did everyone presume that she was going to snap? Because of who her father is? So what, she was very clearly not him nor was she her brother. Perhaps, that was why she appreciated Arya and Rhaegal so much, they were blunt with her and didn't try to soften the blow in fear of her mental state. They wouldn't lie to keep her happy as everyone else did. Although Rhaegal had never actually spoken to her, she did get that impression from him at least.

Daenerys finally took the seat offered. "Explain." She demanded. "I need to know everything. What are his goals and plans for the Seven Kingdoms? Why does he want to be King? Why did he name me as his equal?" She was grateful that Jon had offered to share his power with her, and now she had a kingdom already loyal to her but making him her equal, meant that he was the only one able to stop her decisions. It meant he could prevent her from breaking the wheel. She didn't think he would likely choose to do so but he could and she would not allow that to happen. If that had been his intention, then he wouldn't have proclaimed her as his equal, he wouldn't have offered her the power she needs to change the world. He would have no choice but to kneel, as he had promised- even if it was only in secret. She had to have the final say on all matters. People changed, she knew that. Viserys had once been kind and gentle with her before he had turned into the ghost of their father. She would not allow Jon to change his mind on their goals and stop her new world from being made a reality.

"First you must understand the context leading up to the meeting of the Lords. The day after he massacred the Bolton and Lannister armies, he took Rhaegal and flew to Riverrun to break the siege by the Freys. He freed Lord Edmure Tully, and after what my source assures me was an amusing exchange where Jon almost executed the Lord Tully for refusing to kneel to King Jon Targaryen out of loyalty to King Jon Stark; it was revealed that Jon Snow was made the heir of Robb Stark in his will and legitimized by Robb Stark." Varys explained

Daenerys could very clearly understand why Varys hadn't shared that with her yet. This was more than her wanting to make bastards equal. Jon had been legitimized, by a false King sure, but a King nonetheless. Everyone's constant worry that she was like her father, meant that they undoubtedly had feared her reaction to such news. It truthfully didn't matter though, it was a false King, and she had planned on making the legitimization irrelevant under her rule. All bastards would have a place in her world. He would not be an exception to that rule which is why he would be her King Consort.

"Go on," She encouraged him. This wasn't what she needed to know.

His mask slipped at her perfectly calm reaction, and he was clearly taken aback by it. He quickly regained his bearing and went back to being the jolly eunuch that he so often pretended to be. "Edmure Tully swore fealty to Jon Stark and proclaimed him as his King."

Perhaps she should have expected that but it was still causing her fears to crop up once more in spite of how Arya had smashed them so thoroughly. Jon already had a Kingdom for certain and the loyalty of the former Lord Paramount of another. His army dwarfed hers by now, and he also had a dragon even if she wasn't confident he, or Rhaegal could fight her. If he decided that he didn't want to give his power up to her, she wouldn't be able to force him to kneel possibly. She had no choice but to trust him even if she didn't want to. She did trust him- mostly but she didn't like having to rely on trusting him.

"At the meeting with the Lords of the North, Edmure Tully revealed Lord Robb's will. They thought it a conspiracy and King Jon made them discount that idea entirely when he told them that the will was rendered invalid because Lord Robb was unaware of his true heritage. Naturally, they rebutted his claim, after seeing his humility and Lady Lyanna Mormont proudly proclaimed him as King in the North with many other Lords following after her." Daenerys gave a small smile at that information, it was nice to hear that Lyanna Mormont was as loyal to Jon as Jorah was to her. Jorah's reasons might be twisted but the Mormonts were always loyal to those they claimed as their own.

"Lord Glover made a rather passionate speech about how King Jon wasn't just the King in the North but King of the Seven Kingdoms due to Lord Robb's will and soon the North had crowned, King Jon as the King of the Seven Kingdoms," Varys said quietly with a gentle tone.

It was what Daenerys probably should have feared but she already knew he chose to share that power with her when there was no logical reasoning for him to choose to do so if he was the selfish bastard a small part of her still thought that he was. This was a clever plot like one that Tyrion would have constructed for her, he had duped them into supporting him as King by pretending to not want it, or at least pretended to not feel worthy. He would be a good person to have on her side when it came to ruling. He had a good heart, and was as clever as any of her counselors.

"King Jon made it very clear that by crowning him, there would be changes to the world immediately- that he would break the wheel. His first priority was ending all arranged marriages, and giving women a spot in the succession line, equal to that of a man," Varys was quick to assure her.

That confirmed all of Daenerys's hopes and wants as fact. He clearly was committed to breaking the wheel alongside her as Rhaegal had sworn to her. The fact that he as a man had staked his kingship on making sure that women were equal and arranged marriages ended was more than enough proof for her. He was Rhaegal, and he was committed to shaping her dream world by her side, just as he had claimed as Rhaegal. Perhaps, they could be equals if he truly didn't plan on stopping her. She had always said that a dragon wouldn't kneel and he literally was one, why should she expect any different?

"He was quick to reassure the Lords that their current lands would not be taken from them just because they had an elder sister but in the future, it would always be the eldest child who inherits unless they marry into another noble house, in which case they. Naturally, the Lords protested his plans but their protests were completely shut down by Maester Wolkan showing them that the citadel's definition of slavery described the practices of arranged marriage. Lady Lyanna Mormont, Lady Gwynn Whitehill, and Lady Sansa Stark who all spoke in support of King Jon's verdict. Lord Umber used the opportunity to curry favor with King Jon, and also spoke on behalf of his plans. With some rather vocal encouragement from Rhaegal, all of their protests died there, and they all agreed to go along with what they had told him."

Daenerys giggled at that. It was so very like Rhaegal to interfere with the meeting, and provide the intimidation that was needed to make them accept what was being said. She was certain that if Rhaegal had spoken Valyrian, he would have done so when she needed him to as well. That would be one perk she would enjoy when she finally made the journey to Westeros after she knew Meereen was secure. They were moving towards peace but they still had so much more that needed to be done for her to be comfortable leaving the city in the hands of the Storm Crows and a small council of the city's elders. She wasn't even confident that she could trust the Widower to be loyal to her gold yet, Daario hadn't even been loyal to her gold and body.

Varys gave a thin smile before resuming his tale. "Lady Sansa was disinherited in Lord Robb's will so Lord Tyrion could never inherit the North. King Jon wisely left the decision on if Lord Robb's will would stand with the annulment of her marriage to Lord Tyrion, up to the other Lords of the North. Of course, giving them the illusion of a choice in the matter made them all too eager to disregard Lord Robb's will and let Lady Sansa remain the head of House Stark, Lady of Winterfell, and Warden of the North."

Daenerys didn't know how to feel about that. Arya certainly didn't want to be the Lady of Winterfell and she was next in the succession line now that Jon had learned that she was still alive. She didn't know Sansa at all really, much less than she knew about the other Stark siblings. Sansa made no sense. Arya had described her as spoiled, entitled, and airheaded from when she had last seen her. She sounded outright cruel towards Jon in most of her stories. Yet, Jon had appointed her of all people as his hand, it made no sense.

Tyrion had been married to her and lived with her for months but he had no real insight into why Jon would choose her as his hand. According to Tyrion, Sansa was largely shy, and malleable. She had never opened up to her husband nor did they speak much at all, beyond what was required in public. She knew that Tyrion had been bedding his wife's handmaiden and she hadn't cared much but that didn't tell her much about Sansa. By all accounts, she seemed like a terrible choice to serve as Jon's hand. The only reason she could think of that would lead to Jon naming her as his hand was that he was trying to buy the love he had never gotten from her as a child. That would seem to be very out of character from everything spoken of about her nephew in recent years.

Perhaps she should speak to Theon Greyjoy- Theon Turncloack, she corrected herself. That is what the North referred to him as, and it suited him fine. When Turncloack had first arrived in Meereen, she had eagerly spoken with him to learn about her nephew, she hadn't liked him at all, and that would never change. Now that she had Arya who told her much more personal stories of her nephew than Turncloak ever had, she had stopped speaking to him. His company irked her, and was something she preferred to avoid whenever possible. He was probably the only person who could tell her what Sansa was like, and what possibly might motivate Jon to name her of all people as his hand.

Or perhaps he wasn't. Varys was a warg now. He might have overheard or seen something that could hint at Jon's reasoning. It certainly didn't hurt to ask. "Do you know why Jon named Lady Sansa as his hand?" She asked curiously.

Varys shook his head. "I have my suspicions but nothing concrete, I'm afraid."

Daenerys rolled her eyes at his non-response. "And those are?"

"I believe that King Jon gave her the position in hopes of securing the Vale," Varys explained. "The first thing she did as his Hand was travel to the Eyrie to negotiate their loyalty for King Jon, in his bid for the Iron Throne."

"He's banking on her familial connection to Lord Arryn securing his loyalty? The same for the Riverlands?" Daenerys guessed.

Varys smiled mockingly. "Sure we can say that."

"Elaborate," Daenerys demanded angrily. "Why did he sent her to the Vale?"

Varys frowned. "Lord Baelish has a- uh history with Lady Catelyn Stark to put it simply. He claims he was the one to take the virginity of both Ladies Catelyn, and Lysa Tully. They grew up together and Lord Baelish's affections for Lady Stark were well known. I believe that his affections might have been passed down to her daughter." He said gently.

He was clearly worried that she would take it poorly and think that Jon had arranged for his sister to be whored out to Lord Baelish as she had been by her brother or something equally as ridiculous. Perhaps, if she had heard of where and who he had sent his sister to before learning of how he had already ended arranged marriages in the North she would have feared the worst but he had ended them so there was no fear that he was like her brother and selling his sister for an army. Sansa clearly consented to the deal, he might have possibly manipulated her into the situation but he had to have given her the freedom to say no. Sansa had the power to say no to Baelish, she couldn't be taken against her will. She had likely just used his feelings for her to manipulate him into doing what she wanted. Jon wasn't Viserys, she knew that. He was just cunning and a bit cold at times. How many times though had she manipulated people into doing things they didn't want to for her? She would be a hypocrite to condemn him for something she had already done.

"Did she get him the Vale?" She asked perfectly calm.

Varys blinked in surprise at her lack of reaction to the news of the former Lady Tully's relationship with Baelish. Was she being blinded by both her affections for Rhaegal and her nephew? Being foolishly optimistic that he was as good as Arya claimed he was? Was she only believing the lie because she wanted to believe it to be true?

Varys shook himself, and his mask was back in place as if it had never been removed in the first place. "He got him a meeting with all the Lords of the Vale- tonight in fact, in exchange for a squireship of the young Lord Arryn under King Jon, and a spot on his council given to Lord Baelish if they fight for him."

From what Daenerys had heard of Baelish from Tyrion, Barristan, and Varys; Baelish was nothing but a treacherous snake. He was not to be trusted at all and would sell you out in a heartbeat if it benefitted him. At the same time, if it got them the what- twenty-thousand knights of the Vale, didn't you have to take that risk? Daenerys didn't trust Yara Greyjoy but she still sat on her council, she had given them a hundred ships it was what was required of Daenerys in the situation. Jon would do the same, you didn't have to trust someone to work with them.

Daenerys cleared her throat. "I see. Tell me about the rest of the meeting with the Northern Lords."

Varys smiled and nodded. "King Jon turned control over the next part of the meeting over to Lady Sansa. She proceeded to give the Karkhold to Lady Alys Karstak, the Dreadfort to Lord Marlon Manderly, and the Hornwood to Larence Snow, a bastard of Lord Halys Hornwood who was legitimized by King Jon."

"Why give the Manderlys the Bolton lands rather than the Mormonts or someone who actually fought for him?" Daenerys asked with some confusion. The Manderlys hadn't shown up to fight for him. They deserved nothing for refusing to answe his call to arms. The Slates or Mormonts should have been the ones rewarded for their loyalty. Or perhaps even better yet, the Umbers who had kept his youngest cousin safe in their own homes, at the risk of their own lives.

Varys chuckled and then explained. "The former Lady Hornwood was a Manderly before her marriage to Lord Halys. He gave the Bolton lands to the Manderlys so he would be able to legitimize Lord Halys's bastard as a Hornwood, and give him the Hornwood without the Manderlys contesting his claim. This also had the benefit, of giving Jon the support, and loyalty of both Lord Manderly due to his new possession of the Bolton lands, as well as Lord Glover as he grew up alongside the new Lord Hornwood."

Daenerys hated it but isn't that what Tyrion had been so insistent on in her lessons on Westerosi culture? Those had evolved more so into politics lessons more so than culture by this point although they did in theory focus on culture. He had hammered one thing into her head repeatedly with blunt force. Compromise was the key to the politics of the Seven Kingdoms. She might want to break the wheel but she had to ride it first in order to do so. She had to use the wheel to the point it breaks under the strain. Jon had done what was the best decision tactically, even if it wasn't the one that she wanted to make or was the most moral one. Sometimes you had to sacrifice morals in pursuit of the end goal. Rewards weren't for the already loyal people whose loyalty would not be swayed by a material reward. You rewarded the ones you didn't have the loyalty to, to create an incentive fir them to become loyal. She should have never knighted Daario when he already loyal to her, at least his sword was. She should have knighted some other sellsword if she was going to knight any of them to make them beholden to her.

Jon had done what they desired to do, even if his methods were unfair towards the Mormonts who showed up to fight for King Jon, and were the first to crown him. He had given a bastard their inheritance, even if it wasn't the way she would have wanted to do it. Her lessons with Tyrion had been a reality check that she couldn't just force the wheel to break, as much as she wanted too. It had to be carefully deconstructed. Jon had taken the first step, and secured the three most powerful Northern Houses loyalty in the process. She would accept the moral loss considering how much the reward would help to break the wheel when the time came.

"Go on, Varys. It sounds like there is still much more to tell." Daenerys said making a note of the prolonged silence. He still hadn't told her how Jon had somehow managed to give her a crown as well.

"King Jon had made every single Northern Lord reswear their vows of fealty to both Houses Stark, and Targaryen; and all of their members. Once he had collected their vows, he segued into talking of the Others."

Daenerys couldn't help but shiver at the mention of the ice monsters her nephew had encountered in the far north. She had done some reading on them herself to know what they would be facing and it was terrifying. Creature's of pure ice that made any normal blade shatter on contact. Creature's that raised the dead from the depths of the earth to do their bidding. They were the stuff of horror stories, yet they were somehow real.

"He convinced them of their existence with a rather harsh rebuke about the dragon outside, the fact he was unburnt, and the holes in his chest that proved he had actually died."

"Holes?" Daenerys asked as her breath caught in her throat at the thought of it. She knew that he had died in a mutiny at Castle Black but the fact that his chest was forever marred by the incident was somewhat horrifying. She couldn't picture him with holes in his chest from the blades of his murderers- although to be fair she could hardly picture him at all, having never actually seen him except as Rhaegal.

Varys nodded. "I was as shocked as you are when I saw it. It is a rather gruesome sight. The wounds the killed him never healed at all, they look completely fresh on his body even if they don't bleed. There's no way that any can see him, and not believe that he had died. His scars made it impossible for the Lords to deny that the dead couldn't come back."

"He shared with them the two methods that he had discovered thus far to defeat the Others, and a third method that would also kill their army of dead men. Valyrian Steel and Dragonglass can kill the Others, and fire will kill the wights."

Of course, it would only be the rarest metal in the world that could kill the Others. At least dragonglass was an option but Daenerys would confess she knew almost nothing about it. Fire, and her dragons being able to destroy the wights was certainly valuable information. The Red Priestess, Kinvara was right, she and her dragons existed for a higher purpose. She was here to stop the army of the dead. Her nephew had likely become Rhaegal for the same reasons. The two of them were destined to save the world. Sure, they couldn't kill the Others with her dragons but they could defeat the largest portions of the army for them. The two of them would fly overhead seated on Drogon and Rhaegal's back and cut swaths of dead men down. They would be the Heros of the world in its hour of need.

"Do we know where we can find any of this dragonglass?" Daenerys queried.

Varys shook his head morosely. "Not yet, I've been searching but none of my sources have found any evidence of where any large mines of the stuff might be located. I can find little trinkets here and there but not near enough to equip an entire army."

Daenerys waved her hand and gestured for him to continue with his report of the meeting.

"After he had all the Lords convinced of the Others being something they needed to prepare for; he ordered that all of the dead, both now, and in the future were to be burned so they could not pose a threat when the Others came. He then announced your marriage agreement as equals, to silence the protests about the dead." Varys announced with outwards jubilance.

"Just like that? Completely out of the blue?" Daenerys asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Indeed. It shut their protests about burning their dead up entirely, and the lack of anyone speaking up against the decree by King Jon to do so made it appear as if they all agreed; and thus couldn't call King Jon a dictator when he did burn their dead later."

"The North as expected didn't take kindly to that news. Lord Glover claimed that you were just the Mad King's daughter. King Jon leapt at the opportunity and turned Lord Glover's own words again him." Varys said then chuckled fondly at the memory. "Lord Glover claimed that King Jon was not his father, or grandfather when he had crowned him as King of the Seven Kingdoms. King Jon claimed the same about you, saying you were raised primarily by Ser Willem Darry, and never even knew your father."

"Lord Mollen tried to use your marriage to Khal Drogo to justify calling you a foreign whore but King Jon shut him down immediately by insisting that you were sold against your will to Drogo, and if you were a whore then so was Lady Sansa. He fell silent after that."

Daenerys didn't know how to feel about that. On one hand, she was extremely grateful that Jon had defended her honor, and stopped the constant insults and accusations that she was her Father's daughter or just a foreign whore. On the other hand, he had just revealed things she had told Rhaegal believing it would remain a secret to the entire Kingdom. He had told them of where she had grown up, which was whatever. He had told she was raped, and sold by her brother for an army. He had revealed her weakness to their Kingdom. She knew his intentions were good but she hated people knowing of her weaknesses. She needed to talk to her nephew about what things about her needed to stay a secret, she didn't want people knowing that about her- ever. That was for only those closest to her to be made aware of. Or at least, it was supposed to be. Instead, she would be judged by all of her subjects for things beyond her control.

"Lord Manderly argued that the marriage was completely unnecessary. King Jon pointed out that by marrying you he was legitimizing his claim to the Iron Throne."

Daenerys had to squash down her old fears that she was just being used as a stepping stone to power by Jon. He wasn't trying to usurp her, in spite of his baseless argument that she was needed to legitimize his claim. He didn't need a legitimate claim when he already had a dragon, and possibly three Kingdoms had crowned him as King. She wasn't needed for him to claim power. He was just using the pretenses of legitimizing his claim to justify sharing power with her. That was his only reasoning. It had to be so.

"Lord Manderly fell for his trap, and claimed that King Jon had already been legitimized by Lord Robb so that argument was invalid, and the marriage was no longer needed. King Jon laid into Lord Manderly for suggesting he repeat his cousins mistake, of backing out of a marriage that he had already agreed to. He credited you for raising and sending Rhaegal to him and said the North owed you for killing the Boltons as much as they owed him. He waxed poetic about how you weren't your father but are good, and just. He claimed your visions aligned, and that you both want the same things."

Did they? She supposed Jon would know what she wanted the world to look like, and she knew he wanted at least some of it to be the same but he might have his own goals that she would not agree with. That was one of the many things they needed to talk about, luckily they could talk to each other now that she knew Varys's secret. She did appreciate him crediting her with sending Rhaegal even if it was a complete lie. She had claimed the same to her council in the aftermath of the battle so their stories at least aligned. The North would possibly accept her as one of them- or at least not just a foreigner or a southerner because of it, something that she knew from Tyrion was nearly impossible to have happen, but it was crucial with how bullheaded the north could be.

"He brought up how terrible the reign of the last three Kings was, and argued that the only reason they could do as much harm as they did was because no one had the power to check their power. He argued that a joint rule was a necessary step to ensure nothing like that ever happened again. If one of you two were to go completely mad, then the people wouldn't suffer for it. He made it out as if sharing power wasn't an option, the only question was who it was with." Varys explained.

Daenerys had never thought about sharing her power in such a way but it did make sense. Kings were just as guilty as anyone when it came to being a part of the wheel. If she didn't want to crush the downtrodden beneath their feet then she too had to submit to having her power checked. Perhaps having only one leader was another part of the wheel that she needed to break. Perhaps, Jon was right and she had to share her power for the wheel to break. If that was the case, then was there anyone other than Jon she would rather have as her equal? He was Rhaegal, he was a dragon. Only a dragon could be equal to another dragon. Yet- what if him having the power to check her stopped the wheel from breaking entirely?

"When Lord Holt tried to suggest that he only take you as his wife, and share power with Lady Sansa instead, claiming Targaryen's were mad and not to be trusted. King Jon shot them down immediately by pointing out that he along with the former Maester of the Night's Watch, were both Targaryen, and not mad; as were countless others before them."

Daenerys would have to thank him for shutting down that particular rumor, it had always been a bothersome one. Everyone claimed that Targaryens were a coinflip of if they would be mad or great. Even Ser Barristan had claimed such before. Targaryens might have slightly more mad family members than anyone else but their madness did not guarantee her own. She was her own person, not one pre-destined for madness when she was born. Everyone was savable, it was not her destiny to be her father.

"Lady Flint tried to argue that the stories of your actions in Essos, and your brutality against the Slavers. She claimed that he was being blinded by your beauty. King Jon pointed out that you've never even spoken in person before, so that argument was silly. King Jon argued that he did worse to the Boltons and the slavers were worse men than the Boltons."

"When they still tried to protest his decision, King Jon put his foot down, and reminded them of their vows of fealty towards House Targaryen which you are a part of. He reminded them that the odds of him claiming the throne were significantly higher with your dragons, and armies. He reminded them that you were no true southerner, and did not keep their traditions or Gods. He threatened to burn anyone who didn't kneel or treat you with the proper respect alive for it."

"Lord Umber hailed you as his Queen first, albeit reluctantly and soon every Lord had followed in his footsteps with some vocal encouragement from Rhaegal. The only one who was proud to hail you as their Queen was Lady Lyanna Mormont but they all bent the knee to you."

Daenerys smiled. It wasn't as enthusiastic as she might have dreamed but even reluctant fealty before they had met her was better than none. Once they got to know her and saw who she was, they would see that she was worthy of just as much respect as their King. If she and Jon were to be equals as it seemed would be the case, she would make sure she was truly treated as his equal. She would agree to call him her equal, and as long as he treated her as an equal the alliance would remain intact between the two of them. If he were to overstep his bounds and try to ignore her decisions or override them then she would break off their alliance and destroy him. She didn't think that he would do that, but she would make it clear to him that equal meant equal.

"I see," Daenerys replied. "Is there anything else that happened there that I need to know of?"

"That was pretty much the rest of it. The only other thing of note was Lady Sansa throwing an impromptu coronation for King Jon. He was gifted a crown in the shape of wolves and dragons that they lit on fire."

Why hadn't she been the one to think of that? She was the unburnt before he was. She should have cloaked herself in the pleasing warmth of the fires when she had first become unburnt. The Dothraki who had remained to see her burn Drogo had all bent the knee when they say her as unburnt. Would the Masters have never caused trouble if she had flaunted her untouchable status? Would the intimidation had forced them to her knees. Fear was a necessary component of ruling, and she had been lacking it since Rhaegal had left. Perhaps, this was a way to gain their fear once again. She would have to get herself a crown-like his, one of pure fire.

"It appears you have a raven to send to my nephew Lord Varys. I expect that you will inform me of the second that your raven arrives. It's long past time my nephew and I have a proper conversation." Daenerys said after a moment.

"It will be done, Your Grace," Varys said with a small smile.

"Good. I'll call a council meeting tonight, it's time that you share my newfound partnership with King Jon- as equals, and that we have the North's fealty, and support."

Varys grinned at the news that she had agreed in principal to accept Jon as an equal. "I look forward to it."

---

"So where did we leave off last time? I believe we had gone over the Old Gods of the North? So today, perhaps we should start with how highly the Northern Kingdoms holds vows, especially those made in front of a heart tree. Or perhaps we could dwleve into the traditiions and cultural celebrations that the North partakes in." Tyrion pondered as Daenerys sat across from him, and he poured them both a glass of wine.

They had been having these culture lessons for a few weeks now. They had been focusing down on every last detail of the North as she had thought that was the most relevant Kingdom with her husband and presumptive hand having come from there. The North was probably still the most relevant, but Jon had possibly secured three Kingdoms for them- as equals. That still sounded weird to her to say even to herself. Not entirely wrong, but weird.

"Why don't we discuss something different today. How about the Vale?" She suggested.

Tyrion blinked but nodded, having heard Varys's report only a few hours before at the council meeting detailing the happenings of Westeros since Jon's victory. She had publicly given him an equal claim to her there, acknowledged him as King even in public. That had been a hard thing for her to say but it had to be done. She had to learn to accept Jon as her equal in all things if she were to share the Seven Kingdoms with him. She hardly had a choice in the matter if she wanted to be Queen, and have the support of all of the Kingdoms Jon had gained them. She would accept him as her equal, he had already proven himself almost as remarkable as she was.

"Details or general overview?" He asked.

"General overview for now. We can revisit the details later once we know which ones are most relevant to us." Daenerys replied.

"The Vale is one of the most diverse Kingdoms in terms of culture. You have the mountain clans which haven't accepted the rule of the Iron Throne since the last dragon died. The extremely treacherous terrain made it suicidal to try to engage them in battle on land. That shouldn't be an issue for you, or King Jon with your dragons but they'll likely need to be offered significant compensation- likely in the form of armor or weapons as I offered them to fight for the Lannisters, a while ago or else be forced to their knees after so long being independent." Tyrion explained.

"The Mountain Clans already follow some of the rules you want to implement in your new world. They are firm components of the idea that everyone should have a voice in their governing. Regardless of their gender, age, status, or ethnicity."

"In other ways, they are a uh much more primitive society. They believe that strength is the most important thing of all. Conflicts are usually resolved through payment in blood money, and most personal grievances are resolved with violence. The mountainous terrain makes it impossible for them to grow many crops of their own, and getting farm animals up a mountain is too much of a chore to have farms of their own. As such, they resort to raiding, and pillaging to keep themselves alive."

"If they had an alternative method to obtain the necessary resources to survive then I presume they would cease those actions?" Daenerys guessed with a single raised eyebrow. They were just like her Dothraki, and Jon's wildlings. Misunderstood people who only knew how to survive one way. Once they were shown a better way they would follow.

"Probably," Tyrion acknowledged. They stayed by my side and fought for me while I was Joffrey's hand. They did no raping or raiding at that time, instead just accepting compensation in the form of weapons, and armor. They hold animosity towards the Seven Kingdoms but that's primarily just the Knights of the Vale, and they are just as much responsible for the poor relations between them as the mountain clans are."

Daenerys frowned at the mention of the usurping Lannister. "There is no probably, Lord Tyrion. I will not offer them weapons to continue to pillage the small folk, steal from innocent men, and rape young girls. They will change by choice, or by force. I will not tolerate any more of that from them then I will from the Ironborn."

Tyrion frowned. "I uh- I hadn't thought of that," Tyrion admitted in his daze as he realized how many lives his decision to arm the mountain clan raiders had hurt. "I'm sure that they will choose to change if they are still able to survive after they change and have all their needs provided for them.."

"Each of the mountain clans has their own quirks that are considered savage by most of the Seven Kingdoms. The Burned Men will likely consider you and, King Jon as Gods, and be the easiest of the men to win over to your cause. They worshiped an unnamed Targaryen, during the dance with some manuscripts claiming it was Rhaenyra herself and others claiming it was Nettles and her dragon Sheepstealer. They would risk their lives, walking through flames, and past her dragon in order to bring her gifts. From there they developed a tradition of when any man came of age, they would burn off a part of their body in the flames in homage to their unburnt god. The more useful of a part they choose to sacrifice, the more they are honored by their clansmen."

"They are an offshoot of the Painted Dogs, with the Burned Men being the ones who chose to see the unburnt as a god whereas the Painted Dogs only saw it as foul sorcery that should result in the death of the unburnt Targaryen. The split in a civil war with the Burned Men trying to protect the Targaryen, and the Painted Dogs trying to kill her. The Targaryen left before their dispute was finished but they still hate each other, and all magic to this day. From birth, they are raised to think that way which is why only a small portion of their numbers left that clan to worship the unburnt. There is likely nothing you can do to gain more than a handful of them as your allies, at best you can hope for them to stay uninvolved in your affairs- which would mean that just leaving them alone as if you show up some more will likely dessert for the Burned Men which would be an act of war in their eyes. Actually perhaps you should avoid visiting the Burned Men as well to avoid aggravating the Painted Dogs. As probably the largest of the mountain clans with nearly 5,000 men in total, they could be a somewhat dangerous enemy to have at your backs."

"The Black Ears are led by Chella, daughter of Cheyk. She's a uh- acquaintance of mine. I'd dare to say friend but she would take my ear if I did, and in spite of how misshapen mine are, I am quite fond of them. They don't believe in killing their enemies ever. They believe that such an action is cowardly and, proves that you fear retaliation. Instead, they take an ear as a symbol of their victory, and the loser's shame. If they are to be defeated in combat by anyone who refuses to take their ear, they are expected to cut off their own ear and burn it in the fire."

"Why an ear?" Daenerys asked, slightly curious. Why not a hand or foot, or anything else?"

Tyrion smiled and set his goblet down. "Leaving a foe in a position where they would not be able to attempt to avenge themselves to the fullest is still cowardly in their eyes. A hand or foot would leave them in such a state where they are clearly unfit for battle. The reason why it is an ear of all things is surprisingly symbolic for such a primitive society, as is their name."

"The Black Ears along with the Moon Brothers rebelled against the Kings of the Vale, when the Arryns took the New Gods as their own and displaced the Old Gods. The things that had once been sacred no longer were, and the weirwood trees were being teared up, in spite, of the protests of the mountain clans fell on death ears. They took the name Black Ears to represent the death of their Gods because their cries had fallen on death ears. They cut the right ear off of the Crown Prince Jonor Arryn because if he wasn't going to use his ears then he didn't need to have them. The tradition has lived onto this day and become an integral part of their society."

"The Moon Brothers have close ties with the Black Ears with the key difference being that they believe that only death is the proper method of vengeance and victory. They both keep the Old Gods even without a weirwood tree to worship as they now kneel in the site of the moon, the God that no one can take from them. They choose to live at the highest peaks of the mountains to be closer to their God, even though the land is even less fertile there. As such, when they need food or supplies, their raids are often against an entire village as a pack rather than a single traveler that they vastly outnumber."

"The Howlers are descendants of the First Men, and they worship the Old Gods. They earned their name because of the coyotes who they live among, and train to attack the passersby. I'll admit that with the revelation that wargs exist at least in the form of King Jon, I do wonder if they could also be some. All the members of the other clans that I spoke to about them, called their connection with their dogs strange, and closer than man and beast should be."

Daenerys knew by now that Jon wasn't the only warg. Arya, and Varys were testaments to that but she hadn't expected them to be as widespread as they now appeared to be. Did the usurper have wargs as well? She knew that she had unknowingly had one, and Jon was one. He might have more of them as well since most of the North had the blood of the First Men. The Vale appeared to have wargs of their own, and if Baelish was as cunning as Tyrion, and Varys made him out to be- he could have some of his own as well. Somehow she had been the only one who didn't know this open secret. It was discomforting to know that any bird she saw flying by could be a spy listening on everything that she said. Was it ever safe to say anything aloud again? Except she was fairly certain that Jon could read as a bird which likely meant that even writing wasn't a safe method of communication.

She sighed. She had to get a hold of herself, she wouldn't go mad with suspicion and paranoia like her father had. She would be cautious but she would just have to trust that there wasn't someone spying on her at all times. If that was the case, then no one would have secrets. She would have died by now if there were always enemy spies following her every movement. She had to believe that none of her enemies had the quantity to employ them in the manner it would take to use them as spies, and not just for instant communication like Varys, and Jon did.

"The Milk Snakes earned their name for their unique raiding habits." Tyrion continued, completely oblivious to her internal dilemma. "Rather then running off with and-or women they steal livestock while it's still alive. They'll steal cows when they're young, and raise them themselves to provide them with the milk, and cheese they need to survive. Their leadership is rather random, as it will always be the person whose cow produces the most milk that leads the rest of the clansmen. They have their own gods separate from those of the rest of Westeros. A serpent goddess who provides them with milk from her teat when her "children" call out to her."

"The Stone Crows are probably the tribe I am most familiar with. They were the first to swear themselves to me when I offered them weapons, armor, and glory. They are very much a warriors society with little in the way of honor but fight for themselves, and for the glory of battle. Their gods are particularly wrathful and violent ones. The strongest man rules the Stormcrows, and they are raised to value strength over all else. They are tenacious warriors whose experience in raids makes them extremely valuable as counter-spies. My father was only able to arrive with the Tyrells as reinforcements to defeat Stannis at the battle of the Blackwater because I had sent the Stone Crows out to harry Stannis's army and kill any scouts and outriders that he sent out leaving him blind to the enemy at his rear. Their leader is Shagga son of Dolf, a gruff man but he's a bit soft towards his friends. They will be won over to your cause, just by offering them bloodshed, and the tools to cause more of it. "

"I do not plan on offering them more bloodshed. Once I have the throne, there will be peace. No more raiding, raping or pillaging. They will abide by my laws or face the consequences of breaking them as will every other man. The Iron Born will stop their abhorrent practices, as will the Mountain Clans, and everyone else. As the Wildlings that Pr-King Jon has already acquired have done for us and my Dothraki have done. There is no place for any of it, in my new world." Daenerys said firmly. She wasn't just recruiting them to claim the throne. She was doing it for the good of the common folk who had been trampled by the wheel, even if it cost her ten thousand men to do so, she would not offer up the common folk as lambs to the slaughter in her mad desire for power.

Tyrion frowned. "I suppose I should have realized that," he sighed. "It appears as if they are likely to be your enemy then." He took a sip of wine to rejuvenate himself before continuing to tell her of the clans.

"The Sons of the Tree, and Sons of the Mist are rival clans who both follow bastardizations of the Old Gods. The Sons of the Tree believe that the Old Gods only speak through weirwood trees with the wind being the sound of their voice and not a separate element; whereas the Sons of the Mist believe that the trees are falsely being worshipped when it is the wind who does the speaking and the rustling of a weirwood are just the medium that the Old Gods chose to speak through. It's a small difference that doesn't seem like it should matter but to them it is everything. Never try to tell a man that their religion is wrong or they will be your enemy until your dying day." Tyrion said with a chuckle.

"The Redsmiths are a tribe native to the mountains who were taken with all of the religions coming with the Andals, and the Rhoynar both the Westeros. They keep all of the gods simultaneously believing them to all be one, and the same just different cultures representations of the same beings. They are probably the most similar in culture to that of the Knights of the Vale but their need to raid in order to have food of their own high up in the mountains means that they are constantly at each other's throat despite the similarities between the two groups in both beliefs and customs."

"I believe those are all of the Mountain Clans, would you like to continue onto the Knights of the Vale? Or perhaps go more in-depth into some of the clans? Or we can call it a night, it's already fairly late."

She thought about it for a moment. "Let's briefly touch on the Knights of the Vale before we call it for the night." She decided.

"The Knights of the Vale are similar to the North in a lot of ways, but in others they wildly differentiate. They are even bigger than the North on honor and speaking true but their version of honor is even more narrow-minded. They see honor as what the Faith of the Seven sees as honorable which is much less then what the Old Gods do. The Old Gods have no issues with killing if not done dishonorably, prostitution, or with women fighting, or even kinslaying depending on the context."

"The Seven are not as merciful with their decrees and "honorable men" follow them to the letter. The Faith of the Seven is in a lot of ways, the wheel you want to break. Slavery is an abomination to them but that is the only thing you both agree on. They consider prostitution, gambling, and bastardy among the vilest of sins. The honorable men of the Vale don't acknowledge bastards at all, cast out women who are caught with a man they aren't married too, and any man caught sleeping with a noblewoman will be given the choice of castration or the wall. They consider dwarfs abominations born from the loins of the devil. If you kill a man it must be done in fair combat. They believe that throwing two men at each other and making them fight to the death is the only fair way of the Gods determining a man's guilt. The Knights of the Vale are extremely bullheaded and stubborn, and like their gods are, they will not use common sense when faced with irrefutable proof-"

"I've heard enough for the night Lord Tyrion," Daenerys said cutting him off from his tangent. "We'll continue you this another night."

Tyrion had clearly had too much to drink or was perhaps just too biased against the Gods of her forefathers to accurately assess the situation. She would have to ask Ser Barristan or perhaps Varys even for more information on the Faith of the Seven. Tyrion clearly was too biased of a source when it came to that particular religion. If they were at all like how Tyrion had described them then they would be forced to change or be eradicated. She would not answer to Gods or men who demanded the wheel stay intact and she would hope that Jon would do the same as appeared to be the case. The wheel would break, there was no other alternative she would accept.

---

"Your Grace, a man named Jorah has returned and is waiting for an audience, he claims that you will want to see him immediately," A steward girl said quietly to her as she sat on her bench seeing the days petitioners.

Daenerys would have smiled had Jorah shown up even just a week sooner but now she likely already knew what he would have to tell her. He would tell her of her nephew's offer to wed her as equals. She would finally formally accept it, and when she returned to Westeros she would wed him. She had held off telling Jon her plan to accept his offer until now, wanting to have all of the inforrmation he had to share with her first. Perhaps, Jorah would at least have some new information on the Others and how to defeat them that she did not yet know. She would have the chance to actually converse with her nephew through Varys's raven once it arrived at Jon's location. That was more important to her than anything Jorah could share with her. She had expected him much sooner, but the winds had not been kind to him on his journey it appeared.

She wasn't sure that she wanted to see Jorah again. Her feelings were still incredibly conflicted when it came to him. One one hand he was the man who had been there for her at her weakest, when she had first been sold to Khal Drogo he was her only friend. On the other hand, he had spied on her and shared her secrets with Varys on the behalf of the usurper. Even after her dragons hatched and it became clear that she would one day be Queen so the usurper's pardon was completely meaningless he still sold her out to the Lannister bastard.

Then again, Jorah had remained loyal even after she banished him for his treachery. He had remained loyal to her through everything, and had even saved her life. Even after she stripped him of his name he still remained her faithful… dog. That's what he was? Wasn't he?

Her lessons with Tyrion had hammered a few things into her head that she almost wished she didn't know. She couldn't just break the wheel by force but had to use the wheel to break it, if she did otherwise she would always be the foreign whore enforcing her foreign ways on them. Regardless of what her actions were, no one would accept her rule, and the new world if she didn't pretend to pander to them at least a little. Even Dragons couldn't force people to change their minds, only their actions and for the wheel to break permanently she needed to reach the minds of the people- at least those with the power to reassemble the broken wheel.

That meant she needed to not desecrate the people of Westeros's gods and respect their traditions when it was not part of the wheel. She had to condemn men for the wrongs they committed in the eyes of their gods or lose their support. She could forgive and show mercy, but some things were truly unforgivable in the eyes of the gods and if she was unbiased; herself as well. There was one thing that the gods and as such the people of Westeros considered completely abhorrent and unforgivable; slavery.

Slavery was an evil that needed to be ended across the entire world; Daenerys knew that and she would live her entire life in pursuit of that end goal. Could she forgive the slavers who tore men away from their wives, and daughters away from their fathers? Could she forgive those who had beat men, until they were too scared to fight back or make decisions of their own? Could she forgive those who had used women as property and raped them without any consequence? Could she forgive evil and keep the loyalty of those who had been hurt by that evil? She hadn't killed all the slavers in Meereen, as much as she had wanted to do so at first because it hadn't been practical and would have only reversed who was trampled by the wheel. She wanted equality not a new version of the same wheel. She needed the masters, and former slaves to see each other as the humans they were, and not a separate species altogether because they had a different skin color, a foreign accent, or even just grew up poor. She had not forgotten or even forgiven their offenses, only chose not to pursue justice knowing that she couldn't have justice for that in Meereen.

Westeros was not Meereen. The punishment for selling a man or woman into slavery was death, or the wall not luxury. Slavery was the one thing that the Old Gods and The Seven agreed is completely abhorrent and unforgivable. She would be praised for breaking the chains of slaves in Essos, she had proven that she wasn't a foreign Esossi whore because of her actions after Jon had cleared things up. She would undo all of the goodwill she had earned as the Breaker of Chains if she returned to Westeros with a slaver by her side- a Westerosi one at that, who they knew.

Kinslaying was equally as unforgivable to the Westerosi gods but it wasn't the same. Tyrion Lannister had killed Tywin Lannister, and allegedly Joffrey Baratheon. In the three Kingdoms that Jon was securing for them, they were hated, and their names spat on daily. In Dorne, she would find more allies- if there was any to be found because he had killed Tywin Lannister; the man who had ordered the death of her niece and, her other nephew. His reputation as a kinslayer would hurt somewhat, no doubt, but they would accept him as the one who had murdered evil men. Not only that, but he had killed his father who had ordered his own death. They understood that not all situations were equal in kinslaying; at least the Old Gods sounded like they did. Barristan had made it sound like the new ones would as well, but those were his gods so he was expected to be somewhat biased. Tyrion was biased in the other direction and made it sound like there was no chance of appeasing the New Gods.

Even if having Tyrion by her side did hurt her ability to gain the loyalty and support of the more religious men and women or Westeros, he had value to her goals. Tyrion knew politics, he was clever and knew how to reasonably reach the Lords of Westeros. He had information she would never be able to learn by herself in a timely manner, and he had experience ruling all of the seven kingdoms that neither she nor Jon had. He was valuable to her, even as a kinslayer. Jorah provided no such value to her beyond his services as a bodyguard- one she couldn't even trust at that.

He would do nothing to help her achieve her ideal world in Westeros, nor would he be able to stay in Meereen. Using sellswords in her army would earn her no points in the eyes of the honorable religious men of Westeros, bedding one who happened to be a rapist- even less but she could leave them in Meeereen to protect her city when she was gone. Both Tyrion and Varys had advised such a course when she had asked them for the input. She didn't want Meereen to fall back into the hands of the masters and slide back into slavery, they were apt warriors who would remain loyal to her gold, and the fear of her dragons. Jorah she did not have such an easy solution for. He could not remain here when he made the people here feel less safe not more so.

"Send him in. I'm done seeing petitioners for the day." Daenerys commanded.

Jorah walked through the doors as Daenerys sat on her bench, sitting tall and stoic. He walked towards her and fell to his knees at the bottom of the steps. His jaw went slack as he gazed at her in something vaguely resembling worship.

Daenerys supposed that was a natural response for him with how he lusted after her. Although perhaps that wasn't the only reason he had that look. It might have something to do with the crown of fire she had on her head.

That was a new addition to her ensemble. She had looked into getting one shortly after she had heard about Jon's. The first one she had made have been gold, after she had melted down an old dining set that the previous residents of this pyramid had owned. That crown had sadly ended after only a few hours of use as it quickly became mishapen and unusable. The flames weren't hot enough to melt the crown by any strethch but they were hot enough to bend it out of shape.

Her next crown had been iron which served fine but it didn't reignite easily so she had to replace it regularly. She wasn't going to waste precious gold on such a frivolous expense so she was for now using rather plain ring shaped crowns that were thin and cheap to forge.

Still, she was hardly going to not wear a crown of fire. She was the unburnt after all, the first unburt. She was to be at worst an equal to Jon. It was only right that they both were crowned in fire. The crown had also done wonderfully in reinstating the feat element of her rule of Meereen. The Masters had quieted their protests once again as they realized that a dragon was still among them once again.

"Khaleesi," Jorah muttered in greeting as he stared at her in awe..

"Rise Jorah," She said calmly. "Tell me what you learned of my nephew while in Westeros."

"He's arrogant, rash, and a madman," Jorah said in a rush. "He deigned to call himself a King, and expected you to lower yourself to only be his Queen."

Daenerys sighed. Perhaps, it was not the best idea to send Jorah to treat with him, she had been so worried about sending someone who would stay loyal to her that she had forgotten that she needed someone she could trust to be unbiased towards her nephew. The moment Jon had brought up the concept of a marriage between them, there was no chance of Jorah being honest with her about him- he was a threat now to his nonexistent chances of being with her.

"Is he a Targaryen as he claims?" She asked already knowing the answer but she needed to know if Jorah would be honest with her. If he wasn't it would make what needed to be done much easier. "Did he truly come back from the dead?"

Jorah's jaw clenched at her dismissal of his claims about Jon. "He is," He acknowledged through gritted teeth. "There are holes in his chest that would seem to be evidence that he died or used some form of blood magic to recover from mortal wounds. He is unburnt but that could just be more sorcery."

"The Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, Ser Davos Seaworth told me that he was brought back to life because a little girl was sacrificed to bring him back. He seems to take after Viserys if he is a Targaryen, Your Grace," Jorah said in what was no doubt an effort to persuade her to reject her nephew. She of course, already knew all of this from when Varys had informed her or Jon's existence in the first place. Jorah was just trying to manipulate her with what he knew she hated, and make her nephew appear as an enemy and not an ally or equal.

"I am aware of that, Jorah. I sent you to get the measure of my nephew and find what he wanted, not to tell me how I should feel about him." She said with some anger. She was more than a little disappointed that Jorah had failed her again. Would she have believed his report on Jon if she didn't know that he was Rhaegal? Or if she hadn't at the very least met Arya? "Can you at least give me an accurate report on the Others as I asked of you?" She demanded.

Jorah shrunk slightly in his place at her rebuke but did not relent. "Khaleesi, he knew that the witch cursed your womb, how could he know that if not through magic? He spoke of how he wouldn't believe it and claimed your inability to bear forth a living child was because your previous husband was not Valyrian. He spoke of keeping the bloodlines pure like Viserys had. You have to understand, Your Grace, he is not like you even if he is your kin." He pleaded desperately.

Daenerys flinched at that. Jon knew how sensitive she was when it came to her inability to have children. She had cried to Rhaegal about how he and his brothers were the only children she could ever have. He knew how much the thought of it hurt her to bring it up, he knew that it was an absolute that she could never have children. Yet he used it to try to manipulate her into marrying him. He wanted to give her false hope so he could use her for whatever it was he wanted to use her as. He cared for her, and clearly wanted to marry her but why? So she could be his whore? So she could never challenge his claim as just his Queen?

Her old doubts cropped up once more. Was Jon just using her? Did she actually matter to him? Was he truly puppeteering Rhaegal against his will? Was Varys in on Jon's scheme? Was this simply him manipulating her around? She knew that Arya hadn't been in on it at least but could Jon be the cruel manipulative mastermind that Jorah saw him as? He was clearly attempting to manipulate her with that info. She knew that he wanted to break the wheel, but that didn't mean his intentions towards her were purely good. She had to at least consider the possibility before she risked herself by siding with her nephew, it would be foolish not too. She wasn't turning into her father by doing so, she was just being cautious as any good queen would be. That was the only reason she was suspicious of his intent, it wasn't paranoia. She wasn't her father.

"Tell me everything about your meeting with Jon, leave nothing out." She decided.

Jorah's faint smile immediately made her doubt her request. He was trying to manipulate her into rejecting Jon just as Jon was probably attempting to manipulate her into accepting him. Regardless, of what she chose to do she would be doing what one of them had tried to force her to do- the decision would not entirely be her own. She would be ceding control of her own life, that was something she had never wanted to do again after gaining it for the first time.

"He attempted to correct me when I called him Prince Jon and insisted that he be called a King," Jorah said somewhat eagerly. "When I reminded him that you were the Queen he had the obstinance to suggest that you were his Queen."

"We let the issue drop, and I asked him if he could prove that he was a Targaryen, and had died. He showed me his heavily wounded chest, and that he was unburnt." Jorah frowned at her lack of reaction. "He claimed that as the only living male Targaryen and more importantly the eldest Targaryen, and the son of the crown prince, he was the one who Westeros would choose to sit on the Iron Throne."

Daenerys couldn't contain her snarl at that revelation. Jon had used what she had confessed was her fear to Rhaegal against her yet again. He had tried to manipulate her by playing with the fears that he shouldn't have been able to know, if he hadn't used her connection to Rhaegal against her.

Jorah perked up at her violent reaction, believing that she was going to declare her nephew as an enemy, and not a husband. "When I reminded him of his bastard status, he claimed that he was the one who the Lords would choose in a Grand Council, even though you had the better claim. He then repeated his absurd notion that the two of you needed to share your power, as equals. He was no doubt was just trying to manipulate you into accepting his offer. He was trying to deceive you."

There Jon was again, throwing what she had told him in secret back in her face. Did he care so little for her privacy and personal boundaries? Was she truly just a pawn to him? "He claimed that his vision aligned with yours for Westeros, and referred to you as "My Daenerys". Jorah said putting extra emphasis on the possessive term.

She was her own person, she belonged to no one, not Drogo, or Viserys, or Jorah, or Jon. She was not a slave but a dragon. He couldn't try to claim ownership over her and then try to say that she was his equal. He couldn't be serious about ending slavery if he wanted to enslave her. Those things could not align, Jon had to be using both her, and Rhaegal to accomplish his own agenda.

"Your Grace," Ser Barristan said quietly. "You also refer to Rhaegal as your dragon."

That caused her to deflate, she was overreacting and being hypocritical. Jon was a dragon, he might simply refer to her as his for the same reason she called Rhaegal hers or she called Arya her niece. It didn't necessarily mean that Jon was trying to control her. The word my might not be implying ownership but relation. Perhaps it was just a dragon thing. His actions spoke differently, she knew that he wasn't a controlling bastard like Jorah tried to make her think. She had let Jorah get to her head, she knew Jon was good. His methods for getting her to agree might have been suspect, and she was furious with him for misusing her trust in him but he didn't have to be evil or a puppeteer because of it. She had to remain calm, and level-headed about this. She wouldn't let Jorah get to her head. She wouldn't go mad with paranoia as her father had, she wasn't him.

Jorah frowned at her rapid deflation and was clearly confused as to why it had occurred but he pressed on with his goal of having her reject Jon's offer. "I pointed out that it was tactically unwise for her to accept his offer of marriage since he had no armies to offer you. The bastard boasted that he would somehow control the North, and offer you two more Kingdoms as a wedding present. He has clearly inherited the madness, Your Grace," Jorah insisted.

Daenerys sighed. She wondered how Jorah would respond if she told him that his boast was not empty and that Jon did in fact all but have three Kingdoms to offer her as a wedding gift- one that she had accepted even. Probably not very well if she was to hazard a guess.

"He then went on to claim that because he was the bastard of a Stark, that you needed him to be seen as good. He tried to claim that having a kinslayer, Lord Varys, and slaves on your council would turn Westeros away from you and make them only see you as your father. He said you should accept his offer of marriage as he offers you a face. That you need him to rule peacefully."

There Jon was again, using her fears about never being seen as more than the Mad King's daughter against her. Could she truly trust him with anything about her if he was going to use it all against her? Did she want to marry and rule alongside someone she couldn't trust at all?" She knew that he was right, of course, Tyrion had made it very clear to her that she would have a hard time persuading them she wasn't just the Mad King's daughter or a foreign whore. She knew that Jon was right about him having an advantage in that regard, and a marriage between them would solve the issues he claimed that it would. He had still used her trust against her, in an attempt to manipulate her into making the best choice. She should have come to that decision as she had, by herself and not from Jon strong arming her into it.

She didn't doubt that the presence of Tyrion, and Varys on her council would cause her problems in Westeros, she had come to the same conclusion herself. Jorah had likely conveniently misheard the last part of it when he had said slavers referencing Jorah. She knew that Westeros would never accept Jorah with her, not a former slave in Missandei. They would have no problems with her outside of her being foreign. Or perhaps he had intentionally misspoken to turn her further against Jon or to not turn her against him.

"Is that all?" She asked with some irritation. "Can you at least tell me honestly about the Others?

Jorah nodded. "He said there were three methods to kill their army of two-hundred thousand according to the Prince. He claims that dragonglass, and Valyrian Steel can kill the Others, and fire can destroy the wights only. He wants your dragons for himself, Your Grace," Jorah explained. "He claims that the Others will find a way to breach the wall but he's already shown that his sanity is questionable so it's probably just the mad delusions of a bastard."

Jorah was making it all too easy for her to banish him once again, and reject him when she returned to Westeros. He was dismissing the existence of the Others solely because he needed Jon to be lying so she wouldn't marry him. So Jorah could retain his delusions of her returning his love. He infuriated her, how could she have ever been blind to Jorah's reasoning?

Daenerys stood to her feet brimming with anger towards Jorah. "I see, it appears that I was mistaken-"

"Khaleesi," Jorah cut her off with a smile. "The bastard gave me a letter to deliver to you detailing his offer, I suspect that it's filled with nothing but more lies but I won't betray you by keeping it from you even if it is completely meaningless."

She wanted to laugh at Jorah's optimism. She thought her anger was with Jon, that she had fallen for Jorah's manipulations. She was mad at Jon of course as well for trying to force her into this and manipulate her but her primary source of anger was with Jorah for his inability to put aside his delusions and do as she had asked. To give her an honest report on her nephew, his intentions, and desires. If he had been her only source of information she might have believed him, and declared war on both her nephew and Rhaegal.

"Hand it over," She said calmly. She was eager to hear what her dragon had written to her back when he had nothing to offer. Had he at least planned on telling her he was Rhaegal? Or was it only once she had intercepted his letter to Varys that he had pivoted course and decided to tell her? Would he apologize for manipulating her in there? Would he lie about himself to make her more likely to accept his offer? Would he manipulate her through more than just Jorah? Would he use every last one of her fears against her?

Jorah climbed the steps carrying a scroll with the red sigil of House Targaryen stamping document shut. He reached out to her outstretched hand and his fingers grazed the back of her palm before he placed the scroll in her fingers.

She pulled her hand away from his immediately. "You are dismissed Jorah, I will speak with you later." She said before averting her attention from all else but what Jon had written to her. She broke the seal and unfurled the surprisingly lengthy four-foot scroll as a piece of parchment fluttered to the ground a few paces from where she was, over by Ser Barristan's feet.

Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen, the first of her name, The Unburnt, The Breaker of Chains, Queen of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men, Queen of Meereen, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Lady Protector of the Realm, Lady Regent of the Seven Kingdoms and The Mother of Dragons.

Daenerys, first of all I owe you an apology, I can't say why at risk of this letter being intercepted but I'm sure that if you don't know why I'm apologizing yet then things either went terribly wrong or you'll know in a short time. With that out of the way, let's get into business.

I know that you don't me at all beyond what Tyrion and Varys have told you so before I discuss my offer, it's only fair that you get to know me beyond the occasional stories that they might have told you. I'm afraid even as Lord Commander of the Night's Watch I wasn't of high enough importance for anyone to know too much about me.

Let me introduce myself, I am Jon Snow, at least I think that is what my name is. It might be Jon Waters as my father was from the Crownlands, or perhaps even Jon Sand since Dorne was where my uncle found me. The naming customs have always been inconsistent in Westeros but I do prefer Jon Snow. Until recently, I believed that I was the natural son of Lord Eddard Stark and an unnamed woman that he refused to tell me anything about. I now know that I am the natural son of Lyanna Stark, and Rhaegar Targaryen and their union was not one of rape but mutual love. I've been told that they wanted to name me Visenya having expected a girl but I'm sure you can understand why I won't go by that name.

Growing up, I was always told that I was lucky. I was lucky that my uncle acknowledged me as his bastard. I was lucky that he let me grow up with his children and didn't send me away as most men would. I was lucky that I was allowed to attend the feast at all being a bastard and I was being selfish by wanting to sit with my family and be seen whenever anyone visited. I was lucky that I was allowed to stay in Winterfell at all, and I was being selfish by being upset that Lady Stark treated me with more scorn than a Lannister. I was banished from Winterfell when Lord Stark left to serve as the usurpers' hand by the Lady Stark and was told that I was lucky that I was able to stay as long as I had. I was being ungrateful if I complained about being banished from my home. Every day I was told that I was lucky by all the adults around me.

The sad part was that I was lucky as they put it. Somehow, being treated with disinterest, and outright disgust in some cases is better than most bastards ever receive. Most bastards grow up at best unaware of their parentage and in most cases despised by their parents and siblings. They are regarded with nothing but suspicion from all who come in contact with them and any kind-hearted action they take is psychoanalyzed to see how it benefits the bastard and not their intended recipient. The best a bastard can aspire to be is a hedge knight, a bastard can almost never hold land of their own or claim crowns or titles for themselves. The few that do try to claim things for themselves are vilified by everyone; one has to look no further than our own family with the Blackfyres to see that. I won't argue that Daemon Blackfyre should have been King, but he should have been given something- acknowledgment by his family, he shouldn't have been regarded with suspicion due to his birth station. Daemon might have tried to claim the throne but that was one man- one bastard, not all of them or all the Blackfyres. The Blackfyres shouldn't have all been wiped out because of the actions of Daemon the first. The world is unfair to bastards and no one with power is willing to take any efforts to change it.

I refuse to let that happen any longer, I have been fortunate enough to be born into the one family with the power to change things. It will take time, and it will take compromise but the wheel will break, and things will change. The world will be rewritten as a fair place for everyone, where one's worth is not determined at birth but by their actions and character. We will break the wheel even if it takes my entire life because the oppressed who do not have a voice need it to happen, and if I don't do it then who will?

Apologies for going off on a tangent there, I know I said I would keep the politics of this out of it, until after I had finished telling you who I was. I grew up in Winterfell, unknowing of who I was. My eldest brother Robb was friendly with me and didn't despise me but we were never extremely close either or equals as we should have been. I was always beneath him and subservient to him, we were not equal in spite of our familial bond. He was a friend yes, but brothers? He was closer to Theon Turncloak than to me so that probably answers that question. I was thrilled to have his companionship as I had it all the same, and it was one of the few things that kept me sane in my early years. I will forever be grateful for what he had given to me then but things were far from perfect, and I probably shouldn't have been so content with just being a friend to him, but the teachings of everyone else was so ingrained in me that I took any bit of affection shown to me as more than I deserved.

My relationship with my eldest sister was much more tumultuous, to say the least, although we're connecting more now. She took after her lady mother in that to her I was lower than dirt at the time. She believed that I was nothing but someone to be ashamed of and I'm not sure we ever had a single honest conversation before my death. I believed that was exactly as I deserved for being born a bastard, and in spite of how I was treated, I still believed it was my duty to serve her, to serve my family and I could never put myself first. I would humiliate myself if that was what it took to please her as that was my duty. We've both grown since those days but that was how I grew up.

My relationship with Bran was the best of any of my brothers. Bran was young and didn't understand what a bastard was so he just saw me as the cool older brother who spoiled him for a while. We were never close but he treated me fairly, just like any other sibling and that is all I wanted. All I still want for bastards is to be treated fairly and not as disgraces or monster's.

Rickon was too young for me and him to have much of a relationship due to the Lady Stark's overprotectiveness of him but he wasn't cruel at least, he never knew what a bastard was when I left for the wall. Now he does, but he still cares for me as his brother and is capable of seeing beyond what he was taught by society- or would have been had Turncloak not forced him to live on the run.

Where do I even begin with Arya? She was my rock in Winterfell. She is the one who's always seen me as my own unique person and not a bastard. She's been my best friend since the moment she learned to walk pretty much. She would love you, if you ever have the chance to meet. I'm told that she is still alive but her whereabouts are completely unknown. She was always an admirer of the fearsome warrior Dragon Queen, Visenya. The fact that dragons have returned to the world would thrill her more than anything. She would likely pester me to go by Visenya if she knew what I was supposed to be named.

She was the only one who complained when I had to leave for the wall and her for King's Landing. Robb, for all that he cared about me did nothing to stop his mother from sending me to the wall when he very much so had the power to do so. She is the one who first showed me that things were wrong in the world aside from the treatment of bastards. She was born a girl so she had no choice but to be a proper lady. She wanted to be a knight or a warrior but she wasn't allowed to be one. I had to teach her archery in secret, and I was the first one to ever give her a sword despite the younger Bran already being allowed to use training swords, all because she was born a girl. Some of the Dornish men at the wall say that in Dorne the women are allowed to fight alongside the men and are just as capable as any man.

The rest of the world remains centuries behind the Dornish in that regard because rich men still hold all of the power and are in no hurry to give it up. Rich men who have profited from the system and don't know what it's like to be one of the ones trampled underfoot. The problem is systematic at its core and well we need to use the system to break the system we are not a part of the system. We were born among the broken and down-trodden and we know what it's like to be trampled by the wheel. We have the power to fix it and we will because we won't let others suffer the same way that we did.

There I go rambling about politics again, I'd apologize but I expect it'll come up again, the wheel has unfortunately been a huge part of my life and shaped me into who I am today. As I was saying I was banished to the wall by my family, and it was a calling that I somehow had naively believed was honorable and good. I thought it was what I wanted to do. Lord Stark had raised me to believe that way, knowing the opposite was true because he wanted me to go there so I wouldn't be at risk if my true heritage came out. He didn't even tell me who my mother was before I went to the wall but instead promised to tell me the next time we saw each other, after I had sworn my vows. My Uncle Benjen tried to warn me that I shouldn't be so eager to join the watch but he was one of the few who treated me fairly and I wanted to be with him doing something that was thought to be a noble calling.

Lord Tyrion opened up my eyes to the reality of the watch on the way there as I expect he has already told you. I chose to just accept it and live with the life that had been forced upon me; a decision that I will always regret but I was afraid of returning to Winterfell and appearing ungrateful.

Unlike what Tyrion told me the wall wasn't filled with rapists, thieves, war criminals, and murderers; they were people just like me who had been trampled by the wheel of society. One of the men who joined at the same time as I did, Daeron was sent to the wall because he bedded a consenting noblewoman as a common-born man and her father took offense to that. My best human friend, Samwell Tarly was sent to the wall because his father didn't want a fat or girlish son as his heir. He threatened to kill him if he did not agree to take the black. Once again, the wheel crushed innocent good men underneath it because they didn't fit into society's preordained roles for them. They were left without a choice just like we were, and those are only two stories among hundreds at the wall and thousands across Westeros, millions around the known world who are trampled by society.

In spite of being crushed by the wheel for my whole young life, when my fortunes were reversed and I was the one at an advantage I became a part of the wheel without realizing it. When I joined the watch I was arrogant, and entitled as I easily was able to best the other recruits in any challenge set before us due to my upbringing and prior training. I didn't hold back after Tyrion advised me to accept that I was a bastard and use it as armor. It was the first time I truly went all out, and showcased all of my skills not afraid of being judged or appearing as if I was trying to steal my brother's spotlight. I showed up every other recruit and instead made them feel as inferior as I had my entire life completely unthinking of who had taken my place on the receiving end of the spectrum. I made them all look terrible for things out of their control, and exalted in appearing better than them. I was a bully, who thanks to the well-intentioned words of Tyrion telling me that the Wall was not a nice place thought myself better than them.

Donal Noye called me out on my hypocrisy and cruelness; when I observed what he had told me I found that he was right and I had become the very person that I once so despised. When Thorne had two of the other recruits gang up on Sam, Ser Piggy as he had called him, I stepped in on his behalf and tried to help him. He was just like me, someone lost in a world that wasn't ready to handle someone like him. I made an effort to break the wheel of the watch, to no longer have such huge divisions between the orders, to no longer have the highborn separate from the baseborn. I taught them all that I knew about combat and did my best to make sure that they couldn't be trampled by men like Thorne any longer. I was still the most skilled of our fast forming group of close friends but I no longer showcased it needlessly or just hacked at them without giving them a chance to learn. Every spar became a lesson for them and for me as well as I learned how to teach and be patient with men. I learned how to not be so self-centered. For all the troubles that the wall might have caused me and my family, those are lessons I am glad to have learned.

The Lord Commander, Jeor Mormont took notice of the leader that I had accidentally become and assigned me as his own steward. I was furious of course having grown up idolizing my Uncle Benjen who was a Ranger, that was what I wanted to be more than anything- on the front line, fighting the good fight beyond the wall. Killing Wildlings, exploring unknown lands, I wanted to be a warrior, not a glorified slave. Stewards aren't slaves of course as I quickly learned but that was my thought process at the time. Even after learning that the other recruits were men just like me, who grew up in unfortunate circumstances that they had no choice in, I still saw them separately from myself. I still was entitled and felt it was my right as the best fighter to be a Ranger. Daeron pointed out my hypocrisy and how I couldn't claim that I was being treated unfairly by being made a steward when we were all at the wall for unfair reasons. He reminded me that the wheel doesn't let the world be fair to the outcasts like us. Sam made me see reason, and realize that being a steward wasn't the awful thing that I had mentally made them out as. He showed me that yes stewards had to tend to the Rangers, and Builders but they were not slaves. They still mattered, their duties were required to keep the watch functioning at all. He pointed out that Jeor was grooming me as his heir to command, by selecting me as his personal steward. In order for a man to lead, they must serve or they will never be able to lead effectively.

I swore my vows that night before the Old Gods. I swore to be the sword in the darkness, the watcher on the walls. I am the fire that burns against the cold, the light that brings the dawn, the

horn that wakes the sleepers, the shield that guards the realms of men. I pledged my life and honor to the Night's Watch, for that night and all the nights until I died. I kept my vows even when it was near impossible, and died for it. Even now that I am freed of the watch after my resurrection, I still will keep my vows even if the how has changed.

After my uncle was arrested by the false King Joffrey on false charges of treason, I lost my temper and attacked Thorne when he called me a traitors bastard. I tried to murder him, a part of me wished I had succeeded then even if it might have caused my life to unfold very differently. I was thrown in a cell beneath the Lord Command's tower for the night after my attempted murder, the high officers would meet in the morning to decide my punishment. I was sure my days of being considered for command were over with my inability to control my temper. The only companion I was allowed to have while I sat in my cell was my direwolf Ghost.

Ghost might have saved the entire world that night when as I slept, he refused to do so. He woke me up in the middle of the night clawing at the door, the sound woke me up. The unnatural cold was the first thing I noticed when I awoke. I called out to him and he snarled at me, more hostile than he had ever been towards me. He backed down and managed to somehow tell me that there was someone outside the door. Why they left my cell unlocked, I don't know but they did. I poked my head out and the guard outside my door had his neck snapped with unnatural force and his empty eyes peered up at me despite him laying on his stomach. He was dead.

Ghost ran past me towards the Lord Commands chambers and as I heard footsteps coming from above I quickly followed behind him. The door was already open and Ghost bound through the open frame as I tentatively followed after him. There was a man or at least a man-shaped figure in there with icy blue eyes. Ghost attacked him but the creature handled a direwolf like it was nothing more than a pup and caught him in his mountainous grip, try as Ghost might, he couldn't break free. Watching my closest companion die was not something I could tolerate so I ignored my fear and sliced the arm that was wrapped around my direwolf's throat clean off, the bone and skin giving way surprisingly easily.

A putrid smell filled the room and to my shock and horror, the hand that was crushing Ghost's windpipe did not slacken it's grip even when severed from the creature's body. Thankfully Ghost was able to roll around and flip free of the hand now that it no longer had any support but the hand did not die. Neither did the creature that oozed black puss from the severed artery. I slashed at his face and took his nose and half his jaw clean off. He still didn't blink at me with his icy blue eyes. The arm that I had severed tried to rip at my pants and into my flesh. I pried it off with my sword and flung it away from me where Ghost was ready to pounce on the hand and break it's bones leaving it flopping weakly on the floor. The creature I had nearly cut in two charged at me once more.

I cut into its neck with my sword but it didn't slow down at all. The thing slammed into me and knocked my sword from my grip as it tackled me to the ground. I tried to fight back but the man inhuman strength and without a weapon all I could do was flail. The wight jammed its corpse gray fingers into my mouth and tried to suffocate me quietly. I was helpless as everything I tried to do it did not affect the thing at all. I would have died there but Ghost saved me once again. He ripped into the creature's gut with his teeth and hauled the thing off of me. He couldn't kill the thing despite his gut being cut open and his insides seeping over the floor. The thing overpowered Ghost easily once more as I retched on the floor.

The commotion had awoken Jeor Mormont who stood there groggy faced carrying an oil lamp. I'm not sure what spurred me on but I had a hair-brained idea to burn the thing, perhaps it was the Targaryen that had always been lurking inside of me. I ripped the lamp out of his hand flung it onto the drapes I had pulled from the wall earlier. The drapes caught fire and with a desperate prayer, I clenched my fist around the flaming cloth and hurled it at the wight.

The thing burned and I somehow had miraculously discovered the first method to kill wights. All because Ghost had been restless, the Lord Commander and the watch survived that night, and we had a way to kill wights. The thing was the corpse of a former brother of the Night's Watch, Othor, who had been found beyond the wall on a ranging. He had been kept in the cells beneath me so Maester Aemon could observe him, on the mourn and try to find the cause of death. The corpse instead just brought more death until the flames burnt through it. I was given all the credit for it, as Jeor not only forgave me for almost killing Thorne in a fit of rage but gifted me the Mormont family sword for having saved his life.

The discovery of the fact that a corpse could truly live again like was only told in legends led to the great expedition beyond the wall. Over three-hundred of us, more than half the watch went out to discover what had happened to the missing rangers including my uncle Benjen. We wanted to discover how a corpse was able to live again, and to put a stop to whatever it was.

So we set out beyond the wall and shortly into our ranging Ghost found a stash of dragonglass buried by a tree. It was wrapped in a cloak of the Night's Watch and had dragonglass arrowheads within the bundle. Sam took to them as a souvenir and they later saved his life when he killed an Other with one by accident amusingly enough.

We met up with the party from Shadow Tower led by the legendary Qhorin Halfhand and he reported that the King Beyond the Wall, Mance Rayder was looking to break the wall. Qhorin was to lead an expedition to break Mance's host or at least to find a way to distract him long enough for the wall to prepare to fight his army of over a hundred thousand off. Qhorin chose me to join him, Jeor tried to protest but I eagerly agreed knowing that I might be marching to my death.

I think I might have wanted to die then, as when we set out I volunteered for some foolish reason to be the one to climb up the Skirling pass alongside another brother, Stonesnake so we could kill the Wildling watchers and advance on the army undetected. I had no real climbing experience and certainly not in the cold that one felt beyond the wall but I still wanted to do something so I volunteered to go. Perhaps it was fate or destiny.

We made it atop the pass and there were three men there not two. I killed one before there was even a chance for them to move, there was no honor in that kill but it was one that I had to make. Stonesnake dispatched the other and I moved on the one sleeping as they awoke. I grabbed their hair and was prepared to slit their throat until I realized it was a girl. In spite of Arya being as fierce as she was, I had never thought about fighting a girl. The lessons that my uncle had given us all about how women were to be treated as part of the wheel kicked in and I offered her the chance to yield without thinking.

Stonesnake angrily insisted that we should kill her, and even offered to do it himself but for some reason, I insisted that she was my captive. My uncle had taught me it was dishonorable to kill a downed opponent or a woman and I clung to them. It was completely stupid and irrational but perhaps it was fate.

Qhorin was more cunning than most men and when he found that she was my prisoner, he insisted that she needed to die and I had to be the one to do it. He even said that they would all leave for a while while I did it so it would be easier for me. I'm sure he knew my resolve would fail and he was right. I let her go, despite it completely endangering our mission and being likely to cause all of our death. My honor that I clung to so desperately wouldn't let me kill her. She wasn't much of a threat with no weapons or horns so Qhorin let me make the choice to let her go.

We retreated after we were spotted by a wildling scout. Qhorin ordered that I yield when the Wildlings came upon us. He wanted me to join them but remember my oaths. To spy on them and find out what they had planned, everything I could of the threats beyond the wall. He ordered me to do whatever it took to prove myself an oathbreaker, to not balk at whatever they asked. When they came upon us and the Wildlings had us surrounded I did as ordered and yielded. Qhorin made a theater of yelling at me for being a traitorous bastard. Rattleshirt refused to take me even when the one who I had spared vouched for me. He ordered a man to gut me but another argued that I should have the chance to prove my prowess and prove the truth. They told me to kill Qhorin Halfhand fully expecting me to fail and me to wind up dead as an oathbreaker. Heck- I even expected the same. Qhorin came at me snarling and we fought, with only one of us truly aiming to kill although he certainly didn't make it easy for me. It was when Ghost chomped down on his leg, and he twirled that he left me an opening for me to slit his throat. I killed my commander on his orders so I could lie and break my oaths only to break more oaths. That was when I started to realize that maybe being honorable wasn't all my uncle made it out to be. It was an impossible ideology that would and later did get me killed.

I met with Mance Rayder and broke bread with him. When he asked why I would desert I first made him tell me his story. He was yet another poor soul trampled by the wheel of society. He was a man of the Night's Watch who was injured on a ranging and cared for by a Wildling healer. She stitched him up and even repaired his cloak with her finest red silk. He returned to the wall and they tried to burn his cloak that had been the Wildling's finest material and most treasured possession because it wasn't all black. He woke up and realized that his unique view wasn't helpful at the wall and he was only trapped there and deserted to join the Wildlings. I told him a similar tale when asked about why I deserted. I claimed that it was because as a bastard I had no place, that I was always made out as beneath everyone else even by my own family. I told myself it was a lie, desperate to be a good son and not a power-hungry bastard like was feared but in a way I was. I wanted to be more than just the nobody bastard son of Lord Stark or a nameless man of the Night's Watch but the wheel wouldn't let me.

I was always a thickheaded boy who was slow to learn and well I was perceptive, I also knowingly blinded myself to things that I did not want to see. I tried to convince myself that the Wildlings or Free Folk as they called themselves were the enemies that they were not to be trusted or seen as human. Yet, I couldn't blind myself to the fact that they like me were just hurting people desperate for safety and a place to truly belong. It was there that I learned of the great threat beyond the wall, The Great Other. I learned the customs of the Free Folk and their culture. I learned why they planned on taking the wall and their desire just to have land south of the wall. I shut those doubts out and my belief that they were good in favor of maintaining my honor and keeping my oaths to both the Watch and Qhorin. Even when I broke my oaths and slept with a Free Folk woman I told myself that it was all for the purpose of my oaths and to keep my cover.

We climbed past the wall with the intention of taking the wall from the south where it was not so heavily fortified. I wanted to help them but I wanted to keep my oaths not even because I believed that it was the right thing but because my honor demanded it. When I was made to kill an innocent old man from Moles Town who happened to have seen us, I refused and instead deserted, fled from the Free Folk, and went back to the wall. It was perhaps the stupidest decision I've ever made and it should have resulted in my death. I didn't even save the old man, he was killed after my escape and all I did was lose the chance of knowing when they would attack. I was shot with three arrows as I fled, I wasn't wearing any armor and I should have died but perhaps it was fate that I survived.

We somehow managed to repel the first wave of soldiers at the wall, it was only a tenth of their army. We were decimated and had Mance hit us again we would have lost and all died. I was nominated to break another oath. I went into Mance's camp to treat with him, to negotiate terms where we could co-exist peacefully and if he failed to come to an agreement then I was to assassinate him as we believed that Mance was the only thing keeping all the rivaling Free Folk clans united. I would have forsaken the honor that had nearly killed me, and doomed all of the watch to make my mistake right, and murder a man in his own home under guest right. The same way that my own brother was murdered. I was prepared to carry out the task as I foolishly clung to my us versus them mentality. I knew that they were good innocent men, Mance was a good man who I admired deeply but I had to stay true to my word and remain loyal to the watch. I chose to betray my friends instead of the men I considered my brothers at the time.

The impossible choice was taken out of my hands when Stannis arrived with his men having decided to turn his efforts north after the Lannisters defeated him in the battle of the Blackwater. His cavalry decimated the Free Folk army as they fled back north of the wall, or were captured, or even killed. I was grateful at the time for his intervention but how many men died so I wouldn't be forced to choose? They were not the enemy.

Stannis offered me everything I had ever wanted, he offered to legitimize me as a Stark if I bent the knee to him, and left the Night's Watch. I might have accepted his offer had I not been given the task to convince Mance Rayder to kneel to him and he would spare the lives of the Free Folk if he did, and if the Free Folk agreed to fight under the direction of Stannis. I failed in my task, miserably. He actually convinced me to reject Stannis's offer. If I were to be made Warden of the North and a Stark by Stannis then I would have had a responsibility to my people; like Mance had to do what was best for them, and not to sell them for my own gain like the wheel promoted. Letting my people die to fight what I knew was likely to be a losing battle for a King they did not serve, a King who was not their own, they only wanted a Stark King, after all, it would not be right to betray them that way, and I could not accept his legitimization while planning to betray him. I threw aside my dream to do what was right even if I couldn't truly change anything as just a bastard in the Night's Watch.

When the Red Witch tried to burn Mance as a sacrifice to her Lord of Light, I shot him with an arrow granting him the mercy of the quick and easy death he deserved. Somehow after that, I was elected as Lord Commander of the Night's Watch without even wanting the position. I was grateful for it though, for the first time in my life I was in a position where I could break the wheel- at least in the watch. I hosted Stannis and his men at the wall, gave them food from our stores and treated him with the respect his position demanded but I did not kneel. He demanded the Free Folk- that I offer them the gift in exchange for them joining his army but I refused him. Stannis wanted the Free Folk for his own selfish gain, not for their good. As Lord Commander I had to look out for all of my people; the men of the watch and the Free Folk we had authority over as the one who controlled the lands beyond the wall in name at least.

I resolved to break the wheel in the watch, to remake the watch as a more progressive and accepting force but I went about it the wrong way. I distanced myself from my friends so I wouldn't let my emotions or their feelings stop me from doing what I knew was best. I forced things to change against the protest of all of the other men of the watch. I gave the Free Folk control of part of the wall, and began to let the Free Folk woman join the watch. I betrayed Sam's trust to do what was for the good of those who were powerless- apologies for being vague but I do fear interception still. I tried to give everyone an equal place at the cost of my friendships and losing the support of those already in positions of power. I made sure that people were treated fairly but it was too much too fast and even my friends began to resent me.

My vow swore to guard the realms of men and the Free Folk were part of that. They were not the enemy but the Others and the army of the dead were. Against the wishes of the rest of the watch, I decided to bring all of the Free Folk south of the wall to settle in the gift. I was called a traitor, and scorned as a wildling lover but I wore their insults like armor. All a hundred thousand of the Free Folk that were gathered at Hardhome would move south of the wall for the first time as allies to the Night's Watch. I didn't want to give the Others any more men for their army so I offered them the gift for the Free Folk to live in and call their own lands with their assurances that they would fight by our side when the time came.

I had waited too long to act, the Others swarmed on Hardhome the same day that I arrived. There were over one hundred thousand of us there but the wights outnumbered us. We had brought dragonglass just in case but it was discarded when the wights stormed our position and left in a burning hut. When one of the Ice demons of legend, an Other showed their face they cut through our army like butter. I desperately scrambled for the dragonglass as my companions died to hold it off, their blades shattering on contact with the thing. I couldn't make it to the dragonglass before the Other was upon me. I thrust out with Longclaw in desperation to try to parry his attack. I was shocked when my blade held against his own spear. He was shocked at well. I took advantage of the confusion and slashed at him once more with Longclaw and the thing shattered leaving only icy fragments behind.

In spite of me killing one Other, there were still more and we had to flee. Only five-thousand of the hundred thousand Free Folk survived that day and made it south of the wall with me. The brothers of the Night's Watch thought that was five-thousand too many. I might have discovered that Valyrian Steel is a method to kill both the Others and their wights but we lost that day. After seeing the Great Other for myself I realized how doomed we were against such a large army even if we had saved all the Free Folk. As just Lord Commander of the Night's Watch and the bastard of Eddard Stark, there was nothing I could do to save us. I suppose my death was welcome in that way.

I was betrayed by me own men who didn't take kindly to how I had run the watch nor my decision to let the wildlings settle in the gift. I was killed by five men who I had called my brothers, my own steward being the one who finished me off with a dagger to my heart.

That should have been the end of my story but the Red Witch of Stannis played with powers beyond her comprehension. Stannis was so desperate for power, for his throne that he murdered his own daughter so the Red Witch's god would win him the war. She burnt Shireen Baratheon alive with her father's consent to give Azor Ahai victory or whatever that means. That sacrifice gave her the power to somehow bring me back from the dragon's den and into the world of the living once more. When I was placed in my funeral pyre a week after my death, I awoke. Having died at my post on the wall I was free to leave the wall.

That is the short version of my life; admittedly not all that short know that I've written it all out. Now onto my offer, and why you should accept although ultimately the choice is yours. My time in command of the Night's Watch while I won't try to claim it was half the task of managing Meereen, but it was challenging. The burden was heavy and it took a toll on me. I have no doubt that ruling Seven Kingdoms by yourself would be even worse.

Actually I can say with a fair bit of confidence that the stress of the burden will break most men. Your father snapped under the pressure and went mad. The entire realm bled for his weakness. He cost our family our throne because he had no one to share the burden and check his craziest ideas. No one could say no to him and the realm and we both suffered for it. Robert Baratheon was even worse than the Mad King in spite of not being insane. He didn't care about his citizens at all. He didn't care about anything. He plunged the once overflowing coffers into ten million dragons in debt. He lived in luxury while the common folk went without all because no one could tell him no or check his stupidity. The bastard who claimed to be his son was somehow worse still as instead of lacking any apathy towards his denizens he outright despised them. Sansa tells me that he ordered a man's death for throwing a tomato at him. He tried to kill a jester for wasting his time. No one was able to tell him no and the Kingdom suffocated under his grasp. War broke out between every kingdom as he was too stupid to play politics and defuse the situation instead just dousing the raging inferno with even more oil. While Joffrey is hard to top, the current bastard who sits on our throne is not much better. He empowered the faith militant to enforce the wheel. Men are flogged for laying with a whore, and women are killed for the same crime- it's legal too. Keeping the Old Gods or any God other than the New Gods is a punishable offense now and you can be prosecuted for it by the faith. The wheel spins stronger than ever because of the foolishness of the false King Tommen.

I know you aren't like them, that you are not most men and if anyone can handle the burdens of ruling alone it is you. Power has a tendency to corrupt however and while I think the odds are infinitesimal that either of us is completely corrupted by power to the point where we forget who we are at heart, and the ways the world needs to be; I do not want to take the chance. Our visions align for the world we both want a free, and equal world for everyone both base and noble-born, men and women, trueborn or bastard. So let's do it together.

If we leave the world with the same system we were born into with one man ruling all than all it takes is one bad egg in line for the throne to undo all the progress that we've made with our lives. Having two people sharing power equally, their decisions jointly decided means that for our work to be undone two of our children need to go bad at the same time, the odds of that are much smaller.

Even if I wanted to bend the knee to you, I can't. The North will only follow you because they follow me and I expect the rest of my Kingdoms will think in a similar fashion. If I kneel they will desert me and scorn you as a whore who seduced me to kneel. That wouldn't be true in this hypothetical but it is what they would think. We need the seven Kingdom united when the time comes and we will not have that if I bend the knee. Westeros can not survive another dance of the dragons; certainly not now and neither of us is selfish enough to cause that so we can have the throne solely to ourselves. I don't want to bend the knee to you and I am sure you feel the same way about me. We are dragons and dragons don't bow to anyone; neither gods nor men.

We cannot break the wheel overnight as much as I wish that we could. I tried that at the wall and it led to my death. We have to compromise to get the wheel to break and people to accept it as the new reality and not rebel. We have to be slow and play the game to remove the wheel without men noticing it will take time and it will take patience but one day the wheel and the axel it swivels on will break and the world will change forever. However, that can not be our priority at this time. We have to remain focused on the threat beyond the wall above all else. The wheel can not break if there is no society anymore.

I know that you want to end slavery in the entire world, a vision that I share as well but we are needed most in Westeros right now. Slavery will end across all of the known world in all of its various forms before the day we die but slavery will still be able to end in ten years. Or if it can't end in ten years then it's because it has already ended. I hate to leave men suffering in chains as well but if we stay focused on Essos then there will be no Westeros when we finally are done breaking off their chains. The Others are coming, when exactly I can not say but it is only a matter of time. We need the realm united if we want to stand against their army of at least two-hundred thousand wights and survival has to be our first priority.

I urge you to come to Westeros with haste and turn your focus to breaking the wheel here first. Women will have an equal place in the line of inheritance to the sons and they will not be judged by separate standards as men. Unfortunately, snow and sand as much as I would love to give them a place are too radical to focus on now without losing the support that we need for the great war. Slavery will end in Westeros, truly end in all of its forms. Sansa was sold as a slave to her husband just like you were sold to your Khal. Arranged marriages will end as they are nothing but glorified slavery. Every woman will have the right to choose their own husband for whatever reason they choose to marry be it love or political.

Every woman includes you. I want to marry you. I won't deny that. Everything I've heard and seen of you indicates that you are an incredibly strong woman and one who I would be proud to call my wife. I want to keep the blood of the dragon strong in the world, so our children can carry our gifts as well and a union between us would ensure that is the case. I know you believe yourself barren but I won't accept that as fact when there is a history of Targaryen woman birthing stillborns when with non Valyrian men. I don't believe that some witch and her sheep gods can defeat a dragon, and I never will. If you don't feel the same about me, or just refuse to marry at all I will begrudgingly accept it. The offer of ruling as equals is not one conditional on marriage. It will be easier for everyone to accept if it is one of marriage and it will prevent the other's spouse from trying to usurp our place but if you can not accept an offer of marriage after what your first one entailed then it does not mean war between the two of us. My preference is very strongly for marriage but ultimately it will be your decision, not mine. If we are to be equals we must decide these things together.

Whatever you decide I eagerly await your return to Westeros, and I am eager to rule by your side. Please do make haste when finishing your business in Meereen or it might be too late. We will break the wheel and build a new world together, a better world, and a free world. Once again I apologize but I had no choice.

Yours,

Jon

Daenerys set the letter down and sighed. She was glad to know all that he had told her and that he had shared his life and experiences beneath the wheel. She had known much of the stuff before he had left for the wall already but it was good to hear it from him. She was extremely glad to know of what had happened at the wall beyond the readily accessible public information on Jon. She knew for certain that he was sincere in his desire to break the wheel and that the why beyond it went beyond him desiring her.

There was one thing that still bothered her about everything that he had said. He had failed to mention that he was Rhaegal to her. Had he ever planned on telling her? He might have apologized for something but she was not at all certain as to what that was. Was it him being Rhaegal? Or was it him summoning Rhaegal? She suspected it was likely the latter.

His words reeked of manipulation, things she had told Rhaegal used against her. Things that she said that he used as if they were his own words to convince her they were like-minded. She was sure that he felt most of what he had said were true and it was just the word choice that was intentionally manipulative. Would she have accepted his offer if she didn't know he was Rhaegal? She would have at least given it serious consideration considering how their visions for the world seemed to align. Would he have ever told her if she had? Or would he manipulate her while claiming they were equals?

Paranoia was understandable considering what had happened to him and she understood that if news got out of his connection to Rhaegal then he and Rhaegal both could have died at Last Hearth and she would truly be alone again. His paranoia was justifiable but he didn't even give her a hint of his connection to Rhaegal. Surely he could have said something cryptic that only she would understand to show their connection. If he had even made a token effort she would accept his need for caution as just that and not intentional manipulation.

"Your Grace," Ser Barristan said drawing her out of her thoughts. He hobbled towards her and held out a small piece of parchment pinched between his forefingers. She took the slip with a raised eyebrow.

Tell Lord Varys he has my express permission to share my source.

If she hadn't just read an entire letter penned by Jon's own hand and had a copy of it to peruse on hand at this very moment she might have suspected this to be planted by someone loyal to Jon and not her. "Where did you find this?" She asked Ser Barristan despite already knowing the answer.

"It fluttered to the ground when you unfurled the scroll, Your Grace," Ser Barristan replied honestly.

She pursed her lips. This didn't make her decision any easier. On one hand, she was grateful that Jon had told her he was Rhaefgal but the fact that it was a last-minute decision to tell her and apparently only once he learned that Varys knew who or rather what he was that made it hard not to suspect his intentions. Was it him latching on to the safe method of delivering his identity to her when it presented itself or was it him covering his basis so he could claim that he had tried to tell her if Varys blabbed about his secret.

She was torn and not objective in this matter. Perhaps she should take Jon's advice and consult someone to share her burden for once, even if it was selfish advice perhaps it was sound advice. "Ser Barristan," She called out and held the rather lengthy scroll out to Ser Barristan. "Read it and inform me of your opinion."

She waited as Ser Barristan read through the entirety of Jon's letter to her. She idly wondered if Jon would be upset with her for sharing that and all the details of his life with Ser Barriastan. If he was then he would be a hypocrite since he had told the entire North of her rape at the hands of Khal Drogo.

"So what do you think of Jon's intentions?" She asked Ser Barristan once he had set the scroll aside.

Ser Barristan sighed wearily. "It is clear that he cares very much for you. He might have manipulated you but it does appear to be well-intentioned."

"How do you know?" Daenerys asked with some insecurity. "How do you know he ever planned to tell me the truth? His note could be an added precaution once he learned that Varys knew who he was. He could have always intended for me to never know."

Ser Barristan sat down beside her. "I suppose I could be mistaken but it wouldn't seem to make sense with everything he said in the letter. The first thing he did was apologize to you for an unnamed offense- likely him summoning Rhaegal or perhaps even for not telling you that he was Rhaegal since he clearly wrote the letter before he learned that Varys knew he was Rhaegal. He apologized again at the end of the letter it was clearly something that he felt guilty about."

"More so, he told you truths he had no reason to share. He gave you the truth in things that he felt he could share or at least some version of the truth in if interception of Jorah or him peeking at the note wouldn't prove catastrophic. Maybe his words were handpicked to appeal to you best on what he knew as Rhaegal but you have to see things from his perspective. If he didn't use his info to appeal to you and you were unaware that he was Rhaegal or had yet to meet Arya do you think you would have accepted his offer or seen him as nothing but a usurper?" Ser Barristan asked knowingly.

Daenerys sighed knowing that he was right. If he hadn't appealed to her using her own dogma and if she had been blissfully unaware to who he was like Jon had thought she would be in all likelihood then she would have rebuffed him as a usurper trying to steal what was hers. He hadn't used her fear of her own agenda being used to proclaim himself as King over her like he would have if he had malicious intent. He had done what was necessary to get hre to accept if she had been unaware and that was all, he hadn't tried to play with her emotions or make her feel a certain way.

He had brought up the painful memory of Rhaego but he had likely meant well with that as all it did was make her less likely to accept his offer. He truly thought that they were more powerful then the curse she had willingly subjected herself to in order to save her Khal. It was somewhat sweet but she would have to make it clear to him that it was impossible and he was not to bring it up again. She would not allow herself to hope in vain for the impossible. She would make it clear to him that as a condition of her accepting his offer he would sire a bastard to keep their bloodline alive beyond them. She would accept though, his letter didn't deter her from that course even if he had manipulated her. She was more sure she would accept then ever knowing who he truly was and that he still cared for the broken and downtrodden even after the time at the wall which she had known almost nothing about. They just needed to have an actually two-sided conversation first. Luckily Varys's little bird should be arriving in Winterfell soon.

"Thank you Ser," She said warmly, having made up her mind.

"I didn't plan on doing it this way but I guess there is no time like the present." She stood from the bench and rose to look down towards Ser Barristan. "Ser Barristan Selmy, I would do you the honor of naming you Hand of the Queen."

He looked at her in shock and shook his head in denial. "Your Grace, I-I why me?" He asked dumbfounded. "I thought King Jon had already named Sansa Stark as his hand."

She smiled at his attempt to deflect the post. "Jon named his sister as his hand; I will name a hand of my own as well. We will rule as equals and each have our own hand. I've chosen you as my hand Ser."

"Why not Lord Tyrion, Your Grace? He has experience in the post and a head for politics. I have no experience in that regard. You would be better off choosing someone else as your hand." He argued.

"Naming Tyrion as my hand would be political suicide due to his history of kinslaying; having him on my council at all will already be rough." She said with a frown. "I chose you as my hand because you don't try to play at politics and manipulation like the rest of my council and probably Jon will as well. I want someone that I can trust to be good and honest with me in spite of the potential political backlash. I want someone who can advise me on what is right, not necessarily the wisest course of action politically and you are the only one I trust in that regard. You also carry a reputation of being honorable that will help me to gain allies that I might have lost for keeping a kinslayer on my council although that is only a secondary concern. You've stood by two kings who completely lost the way and seen the warning signs. I need someone I trust to pull me back if I ever show the signs of becoming a part of the wheel and remind me of who I am."

Ser Barristan nodded with tears in his eyes. "If this is truly what you wish, Your Grace, then I will accept the position."

Daenerys smiled. "Usually this is where I'd pin your badge on you but I'm afraid I don't have it one me at this time. I had no intention of naming you my hand at this exact moment."

---

Daenerys knew that she had to do this but that didn't mean that it was at all easy nor was it something she really wanted to do. She wasn't sure why it was so difficult to send Jorah away but it was extremely hard.

Perhaps it was because he had been there with her from the beginning. When she had been sold to Khal Drogo he was there to guide her and teach her how to be one of the Dothraki. He had comforted her when she needed it and been her tutor. He might have been spying on her but it was hard to not remember his kindness in those times fondly. He had been her closest companion in the time after her first husband's death. He was even the reason that she had the companionship of Missandei and the loyalty of Grey Worm and the rest of her unsullied. That had been his idea to go get herself an army. She had been so hurt by his betrayal because she thought he was the only one that she could trust.

Perhaps it was because he had saved her life. She would be dead at the hands of the Harpies before she ever knew about her nephew's existence, and before he had become Rhaegal if Jorah hadn't been there to save her. She was repaying his loyalty and her life by taking away what she knew Jorah wanted more than anything. She felt terribly unjust in doing so but she knew she had to do so if she wanted to break the wheel. She wouldn't prioritize being fair to one man over getting fair treatment for thousands. She couldn't break the wheel without the support of the Lords of Westeros and she wouldn't have their support with a Westerosi slave trader by her side. All of the religions of Westeros correctly despised slavery, and religion was an important method to influence people.

Perhaps it was simply that he was the only person that Daenerys could be confident would remain loyal to her no matter what. If she lost all of her power, her dragons, and her possessions she was certain that most of her retinue would abandon her. If she were to somehow go mad like her father and become a cruel evil person than she would certainly lose all of her following. She was glad that was the case, for the most part, she wanted smart people to follow her not blind idiots or loyal dogs- if she went that way then she would hope her people were good enough to turn on her. That being said, there was something to having one person who would stay loyal no matter what and that was who Jorah was. She had banished him but he came back because he was in love with her. She knew that his love for a woman had led him to do horrible things before and he still loved that woman all that same. Now his love for that woman had transferred into love for her. No matter what, she would have Jorah's loyalty to her until the end. His loyalty might have been creepy and for all the wrong reasons but she did value it all the same.

"Khaleesi, you wished to see me?" Jorah asked as he entered her solar where she had been waiting for him for a few minutes now.

"Come have a seat, Jorah." She said without looking at him.

Only after he had silently seated himself across from her did she speak again. "I'll be leaving for Westeros within a moon's turn."

"I eagerly wait to return home," Jorah replied amicably.

Daenerys sighed and met his hopeful eyes. "You will not be returning with me to Westeros." She said quietly. "If I want to gain allies in Westeros than I cannot have you by my side-"

"This was the bastard's idea wasn't it?" He raged. "You can't listen to him Khaleesi, he is just trying to manipulate you into accepting his terrible offer. This is a trick, Daenerys do not fall for his lies." He reached for her hand that was resting on the table but Daenerys pulled away.

"This bastard is your King," She said coldly. It was so much easier to send him away while she was angry with him. "If you want to claim me as your Queen then you will show him the respect that he deserves as the man I chose as my King."

Jorah pulled back in horror. "Khaleesi why?" He asked in shock. "The bast-King," He quickly amended at her glare, "...has nothing to offer you."

"Jon has already secured parts of three Kingdoms for us both and he is Rhaegal- his rider. He has more that he offers to me than any other suitor. We will rule as equals and break the wheel beneath our feet."

"You claim that you are to be equals but he very clearly doesn't feel the same way. He's already making decisions for the both of you, you're letting him control you, Khaleesi." Jorah cried desperately in an attempt to stop her from marrying Jon and in a vain hope that she would return his feelings and also choose to spurn her entire Kingdom for him. She would of course never consider such a thing even for a moment, even if she did love him like he loved her she couldn't see herself doing that.

"This was not Jon's decision but mine. He's never even mentioned you to me." She sighed and wrang her hands together. "All of the people of Westeros are not at all tolerant towards slavery. The Old and New Gods both declare it to be abhorrent and reprehensible to sell a man into slavery. If I want to appeal to the Lords of Westeros I cannot insult their gods by bringing an unforgivable sinner with me and seating them by my side when they are of no real use to me. That would be the equivalent of me spitting on their gods just to show that I can."

"Please Khaleesi," Jorah begged with tears in his eyes. "I can be of use to you, I won't betray you again."

Daenerys looked away from his pleading eyes. "There is nothing that you offer me that I can't get from someone else who does not carry the same baggage. You are entirely replaceable and the people of Westeros will never forgive you. I can't keep you with me in Meereen because you sold some of the men in this very city into slavery. How would that change in Westeros? How am I supposed to convince the friends and family of men you sold that I am to be trusted and am not my father when I keep you in my company? I will be arriving in White Harbor, the North would demand your death, and if I were to deny them that pleasure then I would lose the support that Jon has gained for us both."

"Surely, I can stay, the faith will accept you when they see that you are good. You will already run into issues with the religious for keeping a kinslayer in your company unless you mean to leave Lord Tyrion behind as well." Jorah argued angrily.

"Lord Tyrion is a completely different circumstance. His father had planned to kill him beforehand and he was to be executed for a crime that he did not commit by his father. His father was the first to breach the rule so the infraction could be argued that it did not apply to him. More so, Lord Tyrion killed a man who was reviled in all of the three Kingdoms we currently command. They will overlook his kinslaying if only because of who that kin was. Tywin Lannister was not much beloved in the North. He could even become a hero for that action."

"You did not sell evil men into slavery who tried to sell you first. You did not sell men who were universally hated. You sold innocent northerners into a life of bondage and pain for your own selfish gain. Not only that, but you also ran from your punishment as a craven. Lord Tyrion serves a great purpose as my Master of Coin and he is not one easy to replace. You are. You have no value outside of your sword and your loyalty both of which I can from elsewhere."

"Please Khaleesi-" Jorah pleaded.

"Enough!" Daenerys cut him off with a raised voice. "My decision is final. You are hereby banished from both Meereen and Westeros. You have seventy-two hours to vacate the city before your presence here will result in your imprisonment and execution. If you ever step foot in either Meereen or Westeros again your life will be forfeit; no matter your reasoning, even if it is to save my life. Do I make myself clear?"

Jorah looked at her with sad eyes and bowed his head in defeat. "Perfectly, Your Grace," he muttered quietly. He rose from his chair and left the room with a longing glance back towards her as he exited.

Daenerys could feel a single tear run down her cheek once he was gone. She didn't regret what she had done and she wasn't sure how much she cared for Jorah but it still hurt to say goodbye to the only person who had been there with her from the beginning. She had a new beginning now, one as wife and Queen of Jon, her King and equal. Things were changing in the world and she had to leave some parts of her old self behind if she wanted to thrive in the new world they were building.

---

This chapter was much longer then I planned. The first scene feels kind of needlessly lengthy and just a recap of the previous chapter for sure, but I do think showing Daenerys' reactions to all that Jon had been doing in Westeros is extremely important for her characterization as obviously it's going to shake her.

Almost as soon as Daenerys learned that her father was truly mad in the books she begins to doubt herself. Any action that might mirror something he had done she doubts. She's constantly comparing herself to him and trying to do everything in her power to not be him. For her being paranoid is something her father was known for so it's something she wants to avoid being as she fears it could turn her into him. Paranoia in her can be justified and a reasonable response but to her she fears listening to it because that's a defining trait of her mad father she very desperately does not want to become.

At the same time, she's obviously going to be frustrated by everyone else expecting her to go the path of her father. She believes that she is her own person, not just the shadow of her father. She fears becoming like him but she doesn't appreciate others thinking her as him. Anytime someone tries to call you something or treat you in a way that isn't you you're gonna get frustrated. She doesn't want to be treated with kids gloves even if she maybe should be sometimes.

We get some more lore on wargs in this chapter and how their power works. I believe this is all canonical but some things might be exaggerated. We know emotional connection matters as many skinchangers only skinchange into their familiars. We know bloodline matters as the Starks all bond pretty exclusively with their direwolves. We know that emotions matter as that is what leads to Bran warning Hodor for the first time. There are clearly different power levels of wargs and creatures are not all the same difficulty to control.

Daenerys and Jon will likely never admit it to themselves but their reasons for claiming power are not entirely selfless. They want to use it to make the world a better place, but they want to be rulers in an equal measure. If Tommen offered to enact their vision if they bent the knee then in all likelihood they would refuse- it's not just about their revolution for them in spite of what they say and tell themselves. Daenerys justifies sharing power with Jon at first as him being able to stop her vision but that's not the entirety of it. She also wants to be the one with all the power. She does have a bit of a god complex.

Daenerys does take issue with Jon sharing information that she didn't want known even if his intentions are good. She like most rape victims doesn't want her weakness and suffering made public. She wants to appear as the strong unshakable Queen and Jon by sharing the truth behind her relationship with Drogo ripped that away. Moreover, it's something that Jon learned from her privately confiding in Rhaegal that he used against her. That is going to sting. She won't turn against him because she would rather believe that Jon was misguided then that Rhaegal betrayed her so that is what she sees.

The culture session with Tyrion is primarily here to set up Jon's meeting with the Vale in the next few chapters. Tyrion has experience interacting with them and knows their people more intamantly then whatever Maesters wrote the books Jon was studying. Most of the background is made up or embellished from what the very little the wiki has on them.

Tyrion has an issue in cannon with not thinking through the consequences of his actions beyond his immediate self benefit. He employs the Mountain Clans and promises them better weapons so they can more effectively raid and rape the Vale men. The consequences of the Mountain Clans' rewards is going to disrupt the life of thousands of innocents who could have avoided the conflict altogether without his influence.

Tyrion is very much so biased against the seven. They considered dwarfs to be abominations and their ever so just trial by combat is what saw him ordered to die. He's a firm non believer in gods of any kind and the seven he is especially vengeful towards due to his personal experiences with them.

Jorah's character arc has evolved so much from what I initially had planned when I started this story. He can't have a place by Daenerys' side in Westeros there is no one there who would be happy if she kept a slaver and a traitor at that on her council. He can't stay in Meereen as a former slaver either so she has to banish him, even if she doesn't want to do so or else she can never be Queen.

I didn't plan on having Jorah give such a biased report either but it just kind of happened. I don't think he's being intentionally biased but Jon basically told him that he would be everything Jorah wants to be. He then spent two months stewing on a ship with nothing to do but think about their encounter. He doesn't have perfect recall and the more he thinks about it the more his anger warps the memory. He won't betray her by not being dishonest but he will misinterret his attitude and character subconsciously to portray Jon in the worst possible light.

The letter is a direct reply to the person who asked why Jon would care about breaking the wheel. The wheel has taken centerplace in his entire life as a bastard and a man of the Night's Watch. His word choice and constant mentioning of breaking of the wheel is to appeal to her but his goals are just as much his own.

Possibly the most glossed over fact in fanfiction is that wights canonically have superstrength. The book specifically mentions that the guard he found has had his neck snapped so he was lying on his stomach but his face was facing upwards. Snapping a neck is nowhere near as easy as media makes it out to be, one has to be in peak physical condition to have that kind of strength. Snapping a neck with your bare hands so the head lols to side takes insane strength, snapping the bone completely through so the head can naturally fall facing backwards takes superhuman strength. That isn't something any normal man can do. This might be a mistake by George RR Martin but the only other time we see this kind of strength showcased is with Ser Gregor who also does this at one point. Wights are not just reanimated people that can be overpowered by any knight. Even if they don't have intelligence, they physically outclass normal people by miles.

Ser Barristan is a very difficult character to write. He talks her back down off the edge and is finally named as her hand. It's important that they have someone that they actually trust on their council and in power if anything were to happen to them.

This chapter actually takes place before the next few chapters- at least the end of it chronologically. Next up we go back to Jon where he meets with the Lords of the Vale among other stuff. It should be out next Friday.