Hello everyone!
I'm so proud to present my last chapter of Mine is the Fury. For the past 3+ years, this story has occupied a part of my brain, so it's quite scary to let it go. But cathartic. What a fun experience, made all the better by your views and reviews. I hope you enjoy this chapter, and that your 2021 is filled with peace and happiness.
EPILOGUE II
LYANNA
Princess Lyanna Targaryen had never seen the queen so frightened, or the king so livid.
"Where were the Kingsguard?" Father demanded.
Great-Uncle Jaime held her father's eyes, "Where we always are, Your Grace. I was with my king and queen." His green gaze turned to his man for further explanation.
Ser Ky of Moonsgrace shifted uncomfortably. "I was posted down the Portrait Hall, Your Grace. The royal apartments were empty. There was no threat."
"There was a threat," Mother argued as she paced. Lya had only ever seen her do so when she was anxious. "A witch stole into our home and threatened our children!"
Robert leaned against the bookshelf nonchalantly, his arms crossed, "We were never in any danger, Mother. We were three against one."
"Four," Lya reminded him sharply.
"Three actual swords."
"Why don't I grab my bow and-"
The king pinched his nose. "Enough, both of you. Sers, please leave us, and double the guard around our rooms tonight."
"Yes, Your Grace."
Jon turned to Selene, "May I speak with you on the balcony?"
When her father drew the curtains, Lya turned to her brother, "What the hell is going on, Rhae?"
Rhaegar shook his head, "I don't know, but her name sounded familiar…"
"Maggy the Frog."
The two siblings turned in surprise.
Robert smiled, "I thought you two were the clever ones."
"We're cleverer than you," said Rhae.
"Then you don't need me to tell you of Maggy," Robert said with a shrug.
"How do you know of her?" Bee asked.
"Every great adventurer should know the mysteries of his realm," Robert explained. "Maggy is a famous woods witch from Lannisport. Her true name has been forgotton, and Maggy is most like a bastardization of maegi. She-"
"-is none of your concern," their mother interrupted, sweeping back into the room in a flurry of silver skirts.
"She was in our home," Aly pointed out.
"She had a message for you, Mother," said Jo.
"For me?" The queen knelt before Joanna and brushed her golden hair from her eyes. "What did she say, sweetling?"
"I have come for what was promised," Barristan said, as if reading from a book. "Her oldest treasure. The love between a king and queen. She has two days."
Lyanna saw her parents exchange a look. "What does it mean, Mother?"
The queen only smiled, "Nothing, my love." She took Jo's hand and stood, "Enough excitement for one day. Let's get you to bed. All of you," she added with a glance around the room.
With a chorus of groans, Lyanna and her siblings turned toward their separate bedchambers.
Lya sighed as she shook her hair loose, slipping on a sleeping gown, rinsing her face, while all the her mind whirled. How did that witch sneak into our rooms? What does she want from Mother? Were we truly in danger?
Like always, her parents knocked on her door to say their goodnights.
Mother sat on the bed. "Sleep well, pretty girl," she said, leaning close and giving her a kiss.
"Goodnight, Mother. Father."
Jon went to the other side of the bed, reached out, and cupped her chin, "Goodnight, little Lya."
Lyanna smiled, "I'm hardly little, Father. I'm the same age Mother was when she claimed the throne."
Selene's brows shot up, "Now that, I can hardly believe." She turned to Father, "Was I ever truly that young?"
Father chuckled.
Lya sat up straighter, "What I mean is, I'm old enough to help."
Mother took her hand, "Lya, your father and I had to grow up quickly. When we started our family, our greatest hope was for you and your brothers and sisters to be raised in peace, not war, as we were."
"I…I just want to help. Maggy said she tasted your blood. Yours and Grandmother's. Is that true?"
"It is."
"Why?"
Selene exchanged a look with Jon, before sighing. "When your grandmother was a young girl, she went to see the woods witch in Lannisport. Maggy predicted her future, all of it true, and knew of me long before I was born."
Lya was enthralled by her mother's every word.
"When I was in the westerlands during the war, I sent for Maggy. I wanted to know exactly what she told my mother. The witch tasted my blood and gave me a prophecy of my own."
"She knew of us, didn't she?"
"She did, and while her words came to pass, I misunderstood them at the time, to my great sorrow." Mother looked away, as if remembering something. "Prophecy is like a half-trained mule. It looks as though it might be useful, but the moment you trust in it, it kicks you in the head."
"What did you promise her?"
"Ingredients she would need for her potions or spells. Anything."
"Anything?" Lyanna could not believe her mother could be so reckless. "How could you promise a witch anything?"
Father gave Mother a pointed look.
"Your father asked me the very same question," Mother said. "It was war, Lya, and I was desperate. For years, I have wondered when she would come calling. I'm so sorry she scared you."
Lyanna lifted her chin, ignoring the thumping in her chest. "I wasn't afraid. I was brave, like you."
Father smiled, "My uncle once told me that a man can only be brave when he's afraid. I'm proud of you for protecting your sisters."
Lya beamed, "Thank you, Father."
"Get some rest, love," Selene said, kissing her daughter's brow. "We'll see you in the morning."
"Goodnight."
Lyanna laid awake, trying to calm her heart enough to sleep. I can't be afraid of a stupid witch. I'm a princess of the realm. I'm a daughter of Just King Jon and Brave Queen Selene. Yet her heart pounded all the same.
In the darkness, she heard a whisper, "Psttt. Lya. Are you awake?"
Lyanna kept her eyes shut, "I am now."
"Oh, good," Alysanne said cheerfully, coming to the side of her bed, her sister's hair as dark and loose as her own. "So are we. Sleepover?"
Before she could protest, Jo said, "Please, Lya."
Lyanna sighed. Like their parents, brothers, and the entire keep, Lyanna could not deny them anything. "Alright, then. Jo, get Bertie. Aly, Bee."
Her sisters grinned, dashing off as quietly as they could. Lyanna stumbled into the common room, quietly stepping over toys and books and arrows. God, we really should tidy up. Lya smiled at all the times their father had told them to do exactly that as she rapped her knuckles lightly on her brother's door.
"Rhae?" she whispered.
From within, she heard a groan, and the door was thrown open.
Her eldest brother stood in his sleeping shift, his hair like liquid moonlight in the darkness. Lya had always been jealous of it, though she loved her eyes best. She alone had violet eyes.
"Sleepover?" he asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
Lya nodded.
Rhae stepped back, gesturing for her to enter.
Lyanna smiled, bounding to the massive bed and slipping beneath the sheets. One of her first memories was waking from a nightmare and trying to find her way to her parent's rooms. Rhae had found her first, and invited Bertie to his room, and together the three of them talked in hushed tones and played together until they fell asleep from exhaustion. As Bee, Aly and Jo came into the world, their sleepovers became larger, but no less fun.
Bee and Aly slipped in and climbed on the bed, shortly followed by Jo and Bertie.
"Thank you all for attending this very important meeting," Robert said somberly.
Lyanna rolled her eyes, but Robert only laughed, "Oh, come on, Lya! We finally got to see a little action. It's exciting."
"A witch stole into our home and threatened our lives," Barristan reminded him.
Robert leaned back, hands behind his neck, "You sound like Mother. We could have taken her."
"That's not the point," Bee argued.
"Besides," said Rhae, "the witch was lying."
"She wasn't lying," said Lya. At their confused faces, she told them all their mother had said.
Aly's eyes were wide, "She drank Mother's blood?"
"More like tasted."
"Do you think she'll read my morrow?" asked Robert excitedly.
Rhae sighed, "Did a single word seep into that thick skull of yours?"
Jo and Aly giggled at the insult.
"This prophecy has haunted Mother half her life," Rhae continued, "and our grandmother before her. Do you truly desire that same curse for yourself?"
Robert bristled, "Thick skull? Well, you're a craven, Rhae, as well as a liar if you say you're not curious to know your future."
"Craven?"
Lya rubbed her temple. The twins were eldest, but sometimes it felt like she was. "Can we concentrate, please? What is Mother's oldest treasure? How can she just give the love between a king and queen?"
Jo looked thoughtful, "What about Stormsbane? It's far older than any of us."
"A sword is hardly a symbol of love," Bee pointed out.
"I was just guessing!"
"There are no bad ideas," said Rhae tactfully, ever the peacekeeper amongst them. "Stormsbane is definitely old. What else?"
Robert tapped his chin with a finger, "What about Mother's lion pelt? She loves that thing."
"True," said Lya, "but what does that have to do with Father? I think it has to be something between them."
"I hate to point out the obvious," said Barristan, his tone suggesting otherwise, "but aren't we Mother's greatest treasures? And the physical symbols of love between a king and queen?"
The siblings stared at each other for a long, quiet moment.
"Perhaps," said Rhae carefully, "but Mother would never give us to a witch. That's ridiculous…right?" he looked to Robert for confirmation. Despite their constant rivalry, Lya knew how close the twins were, and how much Rhae valued Robert's judgment.
"Of course it's ridiculous," said Bertie, "though, speaking as someone who has read a lot about prophecies and adventures, being impossible to give up would make for the perfect sacrifice."
Lya glanced at the pale faces of her young sisters, and gave her brother a light push on the arm, "But we have nothing to fear, right?"
Robert gave her an annoyed look, before seeing his sisters and realizing how his words sounded. "Right. Of course."
Joanna yawned.
Rhae smiled at her, "Alright, I think it's time for bed."
"I'm not tired," Jo said quickly.
Aly and Jo exchanged a look.
"Can…can we all sleep here tonight?" Aly asked. "In case that witch comes back?"
Rhae looked around at the faces of his brothers and sisters. "Of course you can. Bee goes on the edge, though."
"I don't kick in my sleep anymore."
"Yes, you do," said Robert.
With a huff, Bee made his way to the edge.
Lya settled beside Rhae, facing him. Of all her siblings, she could speak best with him. Aly and Jo were too young, Bee took everything too seriously, while Bertie took nothing seriously.
"Do you think Mother and Father will sacrifice us to a witch?" she whispered.
Rhae sighed deeply, "No."
"Good." Lya knew they wouldn't, but it felt good to hear it out loud. "How are you feeling about Meriah?"
Rhae turned his face to her. His eyes are so like Mother's. "Meriah?" His blush must have been a fearsome thing for Lya to see it in the darkness. "She's so pretty, isn't she?"
Lya suppressed a giggle, "Girls want to be more than pretty, Rhae. You're going to have to think of other ways to praise her."
"Oh, right." His silver brows furrowed dutifully. "I mean, she's gentle and kind, and-"
"You're happy?" That was all that mattered to Lyanna.
Rhae smiled, "Yes, I am."
"Good."
"We won't be on Dragonstone forever," Rhaegar assured her. "Just for the greater part of the year, every year, until-" he stopped himself.
Lya knew what he was going to say. Until Mother and Father die. She shuddered at the thought. Not for decades then, I hope.
Rhae cleared his throat, "I'll be sure to come back for tourneys and festivals and namedays. You can all visit me on Rhaegal and Ice. Dragonstone isn't so far."
"Not as far as Winterfell," Bertie piped up.
"Do you think you could go any farther?" asked Lya.
She heard Bee snort.
Robert laughed, "As always, I am touched by your sisterly affection. Rhae will be on Dragonstone, I'm going to Winterfell, after a bit of travelling, of course. I wonder where the rest of you will end up."
Lya couldn't imagine being anywhere but King's Landing, or away from her parents and siblings. She didn't want to be anywhere else.
"I'll be here," said Bee surely. "I'm going to be Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, like Uncle Jaime."
"So you say," said Robert. "You should wait a few years before making that decision, Bee. Once you start noticing girls, you may change your tune."
"I won't," Barristan said stubbornly.
"Where can I go?" asked Aly, excited by talk of the future.
"Anywhere you like," said Lya.
"Anywhere there's a husband for you," said Rhae.
"You could go to Lys," said Bertie. "A sunny island paradise with palm trees and blue-green waters filled with fish. Or the Eyrie, a castle high in the clouds. Or-"
"I like the Eyrie," Aly said. "Jasper's nice to me."
"At his father's instruction," muttered Bee.
"What?"
"Nothing," Lya stressed. "The Arryn boy is sweet, Aly, but you don't have to decide now."
"Where do you want to go?" Rhae asked Lya.
"Highgarden is beautiful," she mumbled.
Lyanna could practically hear Robert's smug grin, "As is a certain heir to Highgarden. Sweet sister, I did not realize how sincere you were about Ser Leo."
Rhae frowned, "He's far too old."
"He is not," Lya argued. All women old enough to remember his uncle say he's as beautiful as Ser Loras was in his youth. All soft brown curls and Tyrell gold eyes.
"You're a child," Rhae said.
"I'm a woman grown and flowe-"
Bertie covered his ears, "For God's sake."
Lyanna laughed, "I'm older than your betrothed."
"Serena may be three and ten," Robert argued, "but she's far more mature than any of you. Besides, I'm not marrying her yet. I'm going on my tour before living in Winterfell and waiting for her to-
"I thought you said no flower talk," Lya reminded him.
"When will I flower?" Jo asked sweetly.
The eldest four could not help bursting into laughter.
"What's so funny?" Aly asked, indignant.
"Nothing," Lya said quickly, before her brothers could make it worse. "That's a question for Mother."
Aly yawned, and soon they all were.
Rhae stretched, "Alright, that's enough talk for one night, I think. Goodnight everyone."
The room was quiet…for a moment.
"Rhae? Bertie?"
"Yes, Jo?" The twins sighed in unison.
"I'm going to miss you."
Lya opened her eyes, and found Rhae looking right back. She may be the baby of the family, but Jo alone has the courage to say what I want to say. What we all desperately want to say to each other.
Rhae's eyes were on Lya, and she knew he was speaking to them all when he said, "I'm going to miss you, too."
"And me," Robert remarked, a rare moment of sincerity.
Lyanna settled into bed with a sigh, surrounded by her brothers and sisters, and drifted into a dreamless sleep.
JOANNA
Princess Joanna Targaryen's arms wobbled as she aimed her bow.
"Release," her sister commanded.
She did. The arrow sung in the air and sunk into the left side of the board.
"Not bad," Lyanna said.
"Not as good as you," Jo grumbled.
"I'm much older than you, Jo. It took years of practice for me to get this good."
"Hit the mark."
Lya sighed, but quick as lightning, lifted the bow to her cheek and released. The arrow sunk dead center.
Jo clapped as Lya bowed, "Thank you."
"You make it look so easy."
Lya shook her dark waves, "It's not easy, Jo. It's practice. You think too much and hold too long." Her sister knelt beside her, and positioned her bow at her cheek. "You need to be as smooth as silk. One day, all you'll need is a moment to aim, and then..." she fired again.
Dead center.
Jo clapped.
The song of swords was thick in the air as Uncle Jaime trained with Barristan, as Mother trained with Alysanne. All who knew their mother in her youth said Aly was the spitting image of the queen. Years ago, Selene had given her youngest daughters wooden swords. Aly had taken to it like a fish to water, wanting nothing more than to be like their mother and worthy of Dark Sister or Stormsbane, but Jo didn't like the way it felt in her hand. She wanted to be as graceful and elegant as Lya, and a bow was just that, though it frustrated her to no end that she had to constantly practice.
Prince Robert came striding to the courtyard, Ser Ky at his back. "Mother? Father is asking for you in the throne room."
Queen Selene wiped her brow. "Must be an interesting petition. Uncle Jaime?"
Ser Jaime Lannister nodded, his silvery hair catching the light. "The princess can train with us, Your Grace."
Selene smiled, "Thank you." She turned to her daughter. "Good work, Aly. You're really making progress."
"Thank you, Mother," Alysanne said, her face shining with joy. "Am I ready for live steel?"
The queen chuckled, "Soon enough, love." With that, she sheathed Stormsbane at her hip, straightened the slim, silver band around her temple, and went off to the throne room.
Robert whistled at his siblings. "Who wants to go exploring?"
"Me! Me! I do!" Jo said, rushing toward her brother.
Bertie threw her over his shoulder, "I knew you would, Jo." He lowered his voice so only she could hear, "That's why you're my favorite."
Joanna giggled.
Bee frowned, "I need to train."
Aly stood next to him, raising her chin, "And me."
Robert made a face, "You two always train. Take a break."
"Come on, Aly," Jo insisted. "It'll be fun."
Bee and Aly exchanged a look, before turning to train with Ser Jaime.
Jo rolled her eyes. Aly was her best friend in all the world, but lately her obsession with swords was taking precedence over the fun and trouble they always got up to. Aly was determined to be as skilled as Bee and their parents.
Of all Joanna's siblings, Bertie was the most fun. He was also the only one who shared her eyes: grey Stark eyes, like their Father's.
"Fine," Robert said, "be boring. We're going to have fun. Isn't that right?"
"Right!"
"I'm not boring!" Lyanna protested. "I'll come along."
"Sorry, Lya," Robert said with a shake of his head, "you weren't invited. Fun siblings only."
Lya charged him with a shout.
Bertie turned to Jo. "Run!"
Laughing, Joanna and her brother ran to the stables, their sister hot on their heels.
Amyra, their parent's ward, once claimed that she could tell one port from another just by the way they smelled. Cities were like women, she insisted; each one had its own unique scent. Oldtown was as flowery as a perfumed dowager. Lannisport was a milkmaid, fresh and earthy, with woodsmoke in her hair. White Harbor's scent was sharp and salty, and a little fishy too. But King's Landing, the city that gave Joanna birth, reeked like some unwashed whore. Jo was too young to understand Amyra at the time, but she remembered her mother chastising her ward for discourtesy in front of the children.
The morning air was thick with the familiar smells of her capital. Joanna breathed in sour wine, baking bread, rotting fish, smoke and sweat and horse piss.
"No flower has ever smelled so sweet," Robert said happily from atop his black charger.
Lyanna wrinkled her nose, "Don't listen to him, Jo."
But she did. Joanna always listened, despite those who said she was too young to understand. She would slip into the gallery in the throne room and listen to her parents' rule; she would sneak into the hidden passageway behind the council room and listen; and she listened now as the three of them made their way through the streets of King's Landing.
Joanna waved as she passed her people. She could hear the banging of the blacksmith's hammers down the Street of Steel, the bartering of merchants, the laughter of children as they ran through the streets stealing sweets.
"Make way for Prince Robert and Princesses Lyanna and Joanna of Houses Targaryen, Baratheon, Lannister and Stark!" a royal herald proclaimed. The people moved aside for them on the street, their parent's household guards protecting them, Ser Ky and Ser Ronan of the Kingsguard as close as a white shadows.
"No running off this time, my prince," Ser Ky said sternly. "Or your mother will have my head."
The princesses giggled. It was hardly a secret that Robert delighted in slipping his guard, cloaking himself in something plain, and walking amongst the people. He had told Jo time and time again there was no greater pleasure in this life. No one telling him what to do, no one watching his every move, nothing but freedom. Joanna suspected that was the reason he wanted to tour the Free Cities before settling down in Winterfell with his betrothed.
Robert groaned, "Fine, but only because the girls are here."
Ser Ky looked relieved, "Thank you, Your Grace."
Some looked their way and smiled, whispering to each other, pointing.
Robert handed her a purse of copper stars, "Go ahead, Jo."
Joanna reached into the purse and pulled out a star. One side bore her parent's profiles, facing away from each other, their names circling them. On the other was a heart consumed by fire, for the red god.
Princess Joanna grabbed a few coins and tossed them into the street.
People gathered around them as her siblings did the same.
"R'hllor bless House Targaryen!"
"Prince Robert!"
"All hail the princesses!"
"Baratheon! Lannister! Stark!"
Joanna beamed as she threw, as children her age grinned up at her in thanks. She frowned when she saw the state of their clothes. She looked down at her own dress of gold samite, and turned to Bertie, "Can't we give them dragons?"
Lya snorted from her saddle, "If we threw gold dragons in the street, they would be at each other's throats. Trust us, Jo. Copper stars make them happy enough without spilling blood."
Spilling blood? Joanna looked at the smiling faces of her people and couldn't imagine them spilling blood.
They rode up Visenya's Hill to the Temple of the Lord of Light.
Rhae once told her the temple was three times the size of the Great Sept of Baelor that their grandmother burned down, but it seemed to Joanna that the temple had always been there. It was an enormity of pillars, steps, buttresses, bridges, domes, and towers flowing into one another as if they had all been chiseled from one colossal rock, looming high over the city as the Red Keep did. A hundred hues of red, yellow, gold and orange met and melded in the temple walls, dissolving one into the other like clouds at sunset. Men called it the greatest temple in the known world, and Joanna believed them. It was fire made stone.
Robert swung down from his horse, "Let's go pay the High Priest a visit."
"Do we have to?" Joanna whined. Benerro was half-mad and made goosepimples rise on her skin.
Lya reached a hand and helped her sister from her horse, "Just for a little while. Mother and Father will thank us for paying our respects."
Jo sighed, straightening her dress as she followed her brother and sister into the temple.
Heat washed over her as she stepped into the fortress. Candles were always burning, but unlike the soft candles in the sept at the Red Keep, these burned dark as blood, and were thrice as hot.
At their arrival, red priests and priestesses fell to their knees. Some of them cried out.
"The children of Azor Ahai and Nissa Nissa!"
Joanna shivered. She hated how R'hllor's followers looked at her and her family, as if they were gods come down to earth.
Robert wore a wide smile, so it seemed he liked the attention well enough.
"Your Graces," High Priest Bennero said, stepping away from the Great Flame of Truth at the center of the temple and coming toward them. "You honor us all with your visit."
"How do you fare, Bennero?" Lyanna asked politely.
"Well, princess," he said, the flame tattoos on his cheeks creasing with the smile of his lipless mouth. "We've just finished commission for our greatest work yet. Would you care to see it?"
"We'd be delighted," said Robert. The siblings following Bennero to the western side of the temple, below a gargantuan stained-glass window.
Joanna gaped when she saw the painting.
"The New Dawn," the priest said proudly in his high voice.
For a moment, Joanna felt like she was there. The painting covered the entire western wall. At the left was Winterfell, cold and strong in the night, on the far right side was the Wall, pale and blue where the army of the dead slipped through. The middle was the chaos of battle. She saw banners from all corners of the Seven Kingdoms; dragons of black, cream, and green shooting flames into the hordes, and White Walkers on spider mounts.
The part that curdled Jo's blood was the center, where Father knelt beside Mother, Longclaw in her chest down to the hilt, the full moon high above them.
Joanna shivered where she stood between her siblings. Reaching out, she took their hands.
They squeezed hers back.
Jo's eyes were on her mother where she lay dead. She had heard the story a hundred times from just as many people, but seeing was different. Seeing her father's eyes red as fire, his duel with the Night King, a red priestess restoring her mother to life…
They're not gods, Jo thought stubbornly, as if arguing with the painting before her. They're Mother and Father. The priests could paint all the portraits they wanted, but Joanna knew her parents better. The priests wouldn't think they were gods if they smelled Father's breath in the morning, or if they heard Mother snort with laughter. The two in the painting were strangers to her.
Bennero awaited their praise.
"It's…" Robert was at a rare loss.
"…magnificent," Lyanna finished. Like Rhae, Lyanna always had the right words.
Bennero beamed, "I'm glad you think so. And you, Princess Joanna?"
"I…" her sister's look stopped her from speaking her mind. Jo cleared her throat, "I've never seen anything like it."
Robert bit his lip to keep from laughing.
Thankfully, Benerro did not notice his prince, "Ah, thank you, princess. This painting will serve as a reminder of our Lord's mercy, and your mother and father's role in his plan." He looked up at the behemoth, marveling, "The Lord's chosen. Centuries will come and go, and this painting will remain so no man can forget them."
Centuries? Jo frowned. My father is not Azor Ahai. His name is Jon. He's the one I run to crying when I skin my knee, who loves to watch me make trouble, who carries me high on his shoulders. My mother is not Nissa Nissa. Her name is Selene. She's the one who sits at my bedside when I grow sick, who scrunches her face all funny to make me laugh, who kisses me to bed each night.
Bells chimed on the temple's roof.
"Well, would you look at the time," Robert said airily. "We're expected back at the castle for supper. You understand?"
"Of course, of course," said Benerro kindly. "Give the king and queen my best. Tell them we look forward to their next visit."
Jo was relieved when the cool, fresh air greeted them as they left the red temple. When the door shut behind them, the three siblings looked at each other.
Then they burst out laughing.
"Oh, God," Lya said, clutching her side. "Mother and Father are going to love that."
Bertie was wheezing, "Did…did you…see…"
Joanna was relieved her brother and sister found the portrait as absurd as she did.
Their guards gave them strange looks as they mounted their horses.
When her laughter settled, Jo shook her head, "That's not who they are."
Robert shrugged, "That's how history will remember them."
"But…" Jo struggled to find the right words, "they're more than that. They're Mother and Father."
Lyanna smiled, her violet eyes sparkling in the sunlight, "We know that, Jo. That's all that matters. And you're wrong, Bertie. History won't remember them like that alone, because each of us is going to have a family, and we'll tell them who Mother and Father really were. Won't we, Jo?"
Joanna Targaryen smiled, her spirits lifting as she followed her siblings back through the streets of their capital, back home.
###
After supper, the young princess sat with her family in the royal apartments.
The twins were going over maps of the world. Robert was planning his coming of age tour. "First, I'll travel with Serena to White Harbor and we'll say our goodbyes…"
Rhae made a kissing noise.
Bertie shoved him, "She's still half a child."
"As are you," Rhae teased. "What's wrong with a chaste kiss between you and your betrothed?"
"Unlike you, brother, my kisses aren't chaste."
Rhae flushed at that. "Shut up. Anyway, Lady Serena has all the makings of a great beauty."
"Someday," Bertie rolled his eyes. "I have more pressing matters to consider, such as how much time to spend in each Free City. Lorath is small, so maybe only a week or so, but I'll need a good month in Braavos. Then south to Pentos…"
Barristan was practicing his woodharp nearby. Thankfully, he was greatly improved since he suddenly decided he wanted to play like their grandfather Rhaegar. That was Bee all over. Once her brother put his mind to something, he did not relent. He knew a few songs, and was now playing The Bear and the Maiden Fair with a reasonable level of competence.
Lyanna was capturing them with her paints. Jo craned her neck to see her sister's creation. It seemed Lya was painting the twins around the map. That would make a nice going away present for Bertie.
Mother and Father were curled up in a plush chair by the hearth, talking in low voices. She watched her mother's fingers twist the moonstone around her neck. I wonder if they're talking about Maggy the Frog. They had until tomorrow to figure out what the witch wanted.
"Jo."
Joanna blinked, "What?"
Aly groaned, "Maester Ollidar needs us to remember the names of every king that's ever sat the Iron Throne."
"I know them all."
Aly gaped, "Do not!"
"Do, too!" To prove it, Joanna stood and began to chant.
Aegon Aenys Maegor vain
Jaehaerys Viserys Aegons twain
Daeron, Baelor, Viserys two
Aegon four and then comes who?
Dareon good and Aerys then
Maekor, Egg, Jaehaerys again
Aerys, Robert, lions three
Joffrey, Tommen and Cersei
'Til dragons rose black, white, and green
for Just King Jon and Queen Selene
Jo raised her chin proudly, faltering a bit when she realized her entire family had heard.
Her father began to clap. Soon, Jo's entire family was cheering for her song.
Aly looked more impressed than anything, "Who taught you that?"
"No one," Jo shrugged. "I wrote it."
"You wrote that?" The queen asked. When Jo nodded, her mother spread her arms, "Come here, love."
Joanna rushed into her mother's arms. Selene pulled her into her lap, while Jon wrapped an arm around them both.
"That was very impressive, Joanna," said the king.
"Thank you, Father."
Selene beamed, "Maester Ollidar says you're excelling in every subject. Would you like more lessons? You could learn languages and shapes, if you'd like."
"Yes, please," said Jo happily. She loved to learn, and unlike archery or swords or painting or instruments, it was something she was actually good at.
"A scholar," Father said proudly, turning to his wife. "I wonder where she gets it from?"
"Certainly not you," Mother teased with a smile. As Father laughed, the queen turned back to Joanna, tucking a lock of golden hair behind her ear. "Ser Barristan once told me Rhaegar was bookish to a fault and excelled at anything to which he put his mind. You have your grandfather's sharp mind, sweetling."
Rhaegar's mind? Is it true? With her Lannister hair and Stark eyes, Jo sometimes felt less Targaryen than her siblings. Even her name was Lannister. She knew she was named to honor her mother's uncles, but sometimes she'd look at Rhae's silver hair or Lya's purple eyes and felt plain by comparison.
Something must have shown on her face, for her father tilted his head, "Is something wrong, Jo?"
Joanna reached forward, grabbing her mother's moonstone necklace and twirling it in her fingers. "No. Father, will you tell me a moonstone story?"
Jon and Selene exchanged a look. "Of course," the king said carefully. "Though, I can tell you more when you're older. Many of them are sad."
"Are there happy ones?"
"I saw your father become Lord Commander of the Night's Watch."
At that, her siblings turned their heads.
Jo settled against her mother's chest and waited.
Selene smiled at her memories, the corners of her eyes crinkling. "Well…I was all the way in Essos, on the Rhoyne, on a boat called the Shy Maid with your Uncle Tyrion."
"You called yourself Joanna," Jo said.
Selene chuckled, "I did. And your Uncle Tyrion was Hugor."
As their mother spoke, Rhae, Bertie, Lya, Bee, and Aly all sat by the hearth around their parents. Selene smiled, telling the tale to them all, though it was one they had heard before.
"I never took the jewel off," Mother said. "And one day I heard your father's voice, as if he was right beside me." Her parents exchanged a look, as if there was a part of the story they were not telling. Selene cleared her throat, "I went to my hammock, closed my eyes, and woke at the Wall."
"But Father can't see you," Barristan said.
"That's right," said Jon, though they exchanged another secretive look.
Mother continued, "Your father was deciding whether or not he wanted to bend the knee to my Uncle Stannis, who was going to legitimize him, if he would-"
"Bend the knee," Rhaegar finished. "Bend the knee and burn the weirwoods for R'hllor. But you wouldn't do it, would you, Father?"
"Of course he wouldn't," said Robert.
Selene leaned back in her chair, "I believe I was asked to tell the story.
"Sorry, Mother," the twins chimed.
"I did not want to burn the weirwoods," said Father, "but I considered it."
"You did?" Aly asked, blue eyes wide.
Jon tightened his grip on Selene. "That was the price for your mother, and the possibility of all of you." He looked at each of their faces, a loving smile on his own. "But in the end, I could not burn my family's gods."
"The Night's Watch was in the midst of electing a new leader," Mother continued. "Your Uncle Samwell had put his name forward, and your father laughed, thinking it was all a joke. When the men opened the kettle to cast their tokens, Lord Commander Mormont's raven burst forth, flapping about and squawking. Snow, it cawed, snow, snow, snow, and flew to your father's shoulder."
Jo and her siblings giggled at their mother's imitation of a squawking raven.
"One black brother laughed and said Sam was trying to trick them, and that Lord Mormont's raven knew more words than that. That was when the raven asked, corn? And when it got neither corn nor answer, it said kettle, kettle, kettle. And your father was chosen to be the nine-hundredth-and-ninety-eighth Lord Commander of the Night's Watch."
"Were you the youngest Lord Commander ever?" Jo asked.
"That honor goes to Osric Stark, a boy of ten," said Jon, "long before Aegon's Conquest."
"A boy of ten?" Bee cried out in astonishment.
Lyanna sighed longingly, as all maidens did at talk of love, "Did you feel Mother with you?"
Father shook his head, "I had no idea…well, actually-"
Mother blinked, "You knew?"
"Not exactly, but there was a moment when I was celebrating with friends, drinking wine-"
Selene's eyes widened, "I remember."
"Remember what?" Lya asked excitedly.
"For a moment," Jon said softly, "I could have sworn I felt her hand on my cheek. I felt warm."
A smile spread on Mother's face, "I remember. I was happy for you."
"Happy?" Aly asked. "But you weren't together."
"I was worlds away," said Mother. "I thought I would never see him again, but I still wanted him to be happy."
Jo frowned, studying her mother's jewel as if to discover it's secrets. "How do the moonstones work?"
"Magic," Robert said simply.
Barristan scrunched his nose, "There's no such thing."
"There is," Momma insisted. "There are things in this world that can't be explained." Her hand covered Jo's where she held the stone. "I've always wondered how the moonstones work, but I don't have an answer, and I've come to accept I never will."
"No matter how far apart you were," said Lya, "the moonstones kept you together, didn't they?"
"They did," Father smiled. "Through everything."
Joanna sighed, "Like love you wear around your neck."
"Yes, like love…love…" Momma's eyes flicked back and forth. "Love!"
"Selene?" Father was taken aback.
"The moonstones, Jon!" Momma said fervently. "The love between a king and queen!"
Jon leaned back with a sigh, "The moonstones."
"My father gave them to me years before Stormsbane. They're my oldest treasure."
"Maggy wants the stones?" Rhae asked.
Lya was aghast, "But you can't!"
Mother's eyes grew wet, "Jon, I can't…not the stones…"
The king lifted Joanna from her mother's lap. "Time for bed, everyone. Your mother and I have much to discuss."
Jo wiggled out of her father's grasp and threw herself in her mother's arms. "Don't cry, Mother."
"I'm not, sweetling," she said, though her voice betrayed her words.
The princes and princesses looked at each other in mild panic, and for good reason. They could count the times their parents had cried on one hand alone. Joanna thought of the portrait of the king and queen in the red temple. Gods don't cry.
Rhae and Bertie went to their mother's shoulders. Lya sat next to her, Aly on her other side, Bee kneeling before them. They all leaned forward and embraced their mother, squeezing tighter when they felt her shake as she tried to suppress her tears.
Father watched his children with a smile. "I am loathe to give them up, too, Selene, but…the stones may be your oldest treasure, but they are not your greatest treasure."
Jo wiped her mother's tears away with her fingertips.
"Far from it," Mother agreed, her eyes flicking to each child in turn. "My greatest treasures are all here."
Joanna smiled, remembering how her eldest sister wondered last night if Mother would ever give them over to a witch. Jo knew the answer then, just as she knew it now. Mother and Father would have taken the witch's life without a second thought.
Barristan tried his best to fight a yawn.
Mother spotted it. "Time for bed."
"Rhae and I are men grown now," Bertie argued. "Surely we don't have to go to bed with the children."
"The children?" Lya was affronted.
"Jo is more mature than you, Bertie," said Bee.
"Hey!" Jo protested, not appreciating the implication of being the least mature among them.
"You may be men grown," said Father, "but while you live in our castle, you are under our rule."
Bertie muttered to himself, annoyed.
"No grumbling," Mother said. "When you're in the Free Cities you can go to bed as late as you like."
Rhae smiled, "See, Bertie? If you want to have your way, all you need do is cross the narrow sea."
"Come here," Father said playfully, reaching for his eldest sons.
Rhae and Bertie yelped, running to the safety of their rooms.
Jo laughed along with the rest of her family. Until her mother stood and carried her off to her chamber.
Mother brought the sheet to her chin, "Thank you, sweet girl. You figured it out. Perhaps you truly are the scholar of the family."
Joanna felt pride rush to her chest, "You're welcome, Mother. Will you stay with me a while?"
"Of course." Mother laid down beside her, an arm wrapped around her shoulder. "Always."
Jo breathed in the fresh scent of her mother's hair, her mind drifting to the red priests. She's no god. She's my mother before she's anything to anyone else.
"Mother?"
"Yes, sweetling?"
"Will you tell me another moonstone story?"
The queen hesitated, "Many of them are sad. I'll tell you more when you're older. I can tell you a story about a bastard and a princess."
Jo knew the tale by heart, but she let her mother tell it all the same.
"Many years ago, the stag king held a great feast in his northernmost kingdom. The court travelled hundreds of miles, to a land of ice and snow, and with them, the king's daughter."
"The most beautiful maiden in the realm," Jo interjected.
Mother chuckled, "So said those who wished for her father's favor. The king loved his daughter well and planned to marry her to the wolf lord's son. And at the ball, they danced together."
"But there she met the dragon prince."
"Yes, she did, though no one knew it at the time. For you see, the wolf lord was protecting his blood, the secret prince, by disguising him as his bastard. No disguise could hide the dragon prince's brave heart, gentle nature, or sweet soul, and the two fell in love."
"But then they were apart."
The queen sighed, "They were. For years and years, the dragon prince and the stag king's daughter were apart. They fought many battles and loved others."
"Will you tell me those stories someday, too?"
"I will," Mother promised. "Before the princess left the secret prince, she gave him a rare jewel."
"A moonstone!"
"Yes," Mother said, drawing her hand around her neck so Jo could hold the gem. It drank the moonlight that spilled through her windows, and Jo swore no jewel in the world was half as pretty as the stone in her hand. "Legend says moonstones connect lovers over vast distances, and so while they were apart, the two were bound by magic, right up until the day they reunited. Older, wiser, and soon more in love than before, the two wed in a secret ceremony in a tiny sept by the sea.
"They faced many more battles and trials, but always together, and one day, the prince's secret was known, and the realm put a crown on his head. The secret prince became a king, the princess his queen-"
"The end," Jo said firmly.
Mother shook her head, "Not quite, sweetling. Ruling is a privilege, not a right, and so the two weathered many storms after that…but they were happy, because they had each other." She drew Jo closer, "As well as six perfect children. Winged stags, ice dragons, golden wolves and antlered lions. Children equal parts dragon, stag, lion and wolf, with crowns of coal, silver, and gold," she added, running her fingers though Jo's fine hair.
Jo's eyes were starting to feel heavy, and she closed them with a sigh, "I love you, Mother."
Queen Selene squeezed her tight, "I love you, too, cub. Always."
Wrapped in her mother's arms, Princess Joanna Targaryen closed her eyes and drifted to sleep, dreaming of secret princes, winter wolves, and magic moonstones.
SELENE
Queen Selene Baratheon stood at her chamber balcony, watching over her capital.
This world is so different from the one I was born into, but the capital looks and smells and sounds the same. The red temple on the Hill of Rhaenys was the only difference, an imposing fortress of black and red stone that loomed over the city, but everything else was the same. The Street of Steel sang with the song of metal, the Street of Silk quiet and hushed, the squares filled with the haggling of merchants and squeals of children. My city. My home.
Growing up, the Red Keep had always been home to her, until her father died. Until she saw ghosts and shadows in every corner. And when she had fled the city, King's Landing came to represent the enemy, a place that would give her no welcome. After the war, Selene had still felt hesitant in its halls.
Until her twins were born. That was when, for the first time in years, the Red Keep was her home again. It's the place where I raised my children. Dutiful Rhae, boisterous Bertie, lively Lya, solemn Bee, spirited Aly and observant Jo…a smile rose to her lips. Long ago, I wondered if I was ever meant to be a mother, and the gods blessed me with six. She had grown accustomed to motherhood, but sometimes she paused and marveled at it all. Her children were walking, talking, breathing pieces of her heart made flesh. Better than she deserved.
"Come back to bed."
Selene smiled as Jon's arms wrapped around her waist, as he buried his face in the crook of her neck. "I wish I could," she said, eyes closing of their own accord, "but we need to ready ourselves."
"And yet you wear my favorite silks," Jon said, running his fingers lightly over the flowing fabric tied together with a black sash.
Selene turned sharply in his arms, "You say that of everything I wear."
"Can you fault me for it?" Jon smirked, pressing her against the chilled stone, stepping between her legs. So close that their breaths mingled, Selene found her resolve slipping.
"I can't fault you anything, and I think you know that."
Jon flashed her a grin, leaning forward and capturing her lips in a searing kiss that turned her knees to water.
Time did nothing to blunt the desire that overwhelmed her senses. Jon was gentle and tender with her, loving as if he was still her bastard boy, and she his princess.
"Like playing a woodharp," Jon said with a roll of laughter under his whisper. "You always remember the way, when it is in your hands again. The mind can play tricks, but the body remembers."
"Is there many a good tune played on an old woodharp?" Selene demanded with pretend offence as she readjusted her gown.
"We're not old yet, Selene. And if you find a perfect match, you keep it. I knew when I first saw you that you were the woman I would want for all my life."
Selene fought a blush as she strode into their chambers, reaching for attire more suitable to confront a witch. "There's news from Dragonstone."
"Oh?" Jon said, slipping on his worn black doublet.
"Rhaegal and Ice have left their dens. Heading west."
"To us? Do you think they sense the danger?"
Selene sighed, fastening her boots, "I'm not sure. What I do know is they left a few things behind."
Jon frowned at the smile she was giving him.
"Dragon eggs, Jon. Six of them."
Jon blinked, before shaking his head with a laugh, "Oh gods. What are we about to unleash upon the world?"
"What, indeed," Selene said, rising. "The last time Targaryens had as many dragons, there was war."
"You can't possibly imagine our children warring with each other?"
"No, I can't," Selene said, "but I'm sure the first Viserys couldn't imagine his daughter and son warring with each other, either."
Jon thought on that, before stepping forward and taking her hands in his, "Our children are more than their blood. You know that."
Selene smiled, "I know. You're right."
"Don't sound so surprised. It happens more often than you think."
Selene laughed.
Jon's eyes went to the desk, where a faded, folded sheet of parchment lay. "How is she?"
Selene lit up. "Happy. She's finally settled down on Naath. She says she's met a man."
"A man?"
"A widower with young children. They call her mother." Selene sighed, "It's not the life she dreamed of as a child, but…she's happy. She has a family now. A home."
"I'm glad," Jon said. "She deserves it."
She does, Selene thought, smiling. Perhaps I can visit her…. bring her some Westerosi comforts…perhaps a portrait of Alysanne…
Jon straightened. "It's time."
Selene's fingers went to her moonstone. "Are they safe?"
"No," Jon said. "They want to be there with us."
The thought of her children in the same room as Maggy the Frog made her skin crawl. "They can't always get their way."
"I think we should allow it." At her look, he said, "If we show fear, the children will know it. I don't want them spending the rest of their lives afraid of some witch."
Selene's lip twisted. "Fine, but I want them all armed, even Aly with her wooden sword. That should make her feel safe. And Jo-"
"-behind them, yes." Jon agreed. "Fear not, Selene. We'll give her what she wants, and she'll be on her way." His eyes went to the skyline.
The Red Keep had become his home as much as hers, but Selene knew a part of Jon longed for the north. They were sure to visit Winterfell as often as they could, and the Wall sometimes, too, but it was never enough for him. Selene remembered how often she had apologized for making him live in the south, until Jon finally had enough of her apologizing.
"You never made me," Jon had said firmly. "I chose this. Us. The truth. Stop apologizing."
That was years ago, but even now, an apology rose to her lips.
Selene swallowed it.
"A raven has arrived from the Citadel."
Selene turned, "Oh? Saying what?"
"The days are growing shorter," Jon's lip curved. "Winter is coming."
Selene smiled at the Stark words. "I wonder how the red priests are going to explain that one. Our reign was supposed to bring the Long Summer that never ends, was it not?"
"Summer cannot last forever."
"No, it can't. Shall we?"
Jon and Selene walked down the steps of their chambers, which led to the common room where their children were waiting. At their arrival, the six of them jumped.
"At ease, soldiers," Jon said.
Lya placed a hand over her heart, "God, don't do that. We're expecting the witch."
"So I've heard," Selene said, with a sideways glance at Jon. "Joanna, get behind Rhaegar. Alysanne, behind Robert." She looked to her eldest sons. "They are your responsibility, do you understand?"
The twins exchanged a solemn look. "Yes, Mother."
"Good." She turned and lowered her voice for Jon's ears alone. "Perhaps Jaime should be here, and the rest of the Kingsguard."
Jon took her hands in his, "We will give Maggy what she wants, and then she will go. We cannot show fear. Not in front of them."
Selene swallowed, but gave him a nod. From what she remembered from her first encounter with Maggy, Selene hadn't been afraid. Apprehensive of prophecy, yes, but not concerned for her physical safety.
Jon turned to his sons and daughters. "You must do exactly as we say. If we tell you to run, you must do so. If we tell you to quiet, you must do so. This is no game."
All heard the seriousness in the king's voice. Selene half-expected a snide remark from Robert, or a protest from one of her younger girls, but as they uncharacteristically held their tongues, Selene reminded herself that they had already seen Maggy firsthand and understood.
And so the blood royal waited for the witch to return to the same spot she had appeared only two nights prior.
Stormsbane and Dark Sister were heavy on Selene's waist, ready for her, but it was the winter dagger on her hip that she thought of now. The last I saw Maggy, the dagger was a crown on my head. How different it was from the silver circlet she wore today. How easy it would be to throw should the witch make a move for her children.
Selene eyed the treasures in her palm, which she found herself gripping with an iron first. They had tied the moonstone necklaces together for ease, but even as she gazed upon them, turning them over to see them glint in the light one last time, ease was the farthest thing from her mind.
My oldest treasure, indeed. After so many years of wear, Selene had come to regard her moonstone as part of herself. As part of Jon. A part the two of them shared. Her father had gifted them to her, and she in turn gifted one to Jon as a token of her love. Through all their trials and sufferings, the moonstones alone held them together. She could not part from them.
But she had no choice. She had sworn an oath, and her children needed to learn this lesson.
Never make an oath you can't keep.
The chamber's hearth sprang to life, roaring with an unbearable heat.
All eyes snapped toward the fire as the smell of rotting flesh flooded Selene's senses.
"Time has been kind."
Selene narrowed her eyes as she beheld the woods witch, who stood nonchalantly just inside the chambers from the balcony, as if she owned all she saw.
"Less so to you, it seems," said Selene.
Brown teeth flashed as the witch croaked and shook her shoulders. It took Selene a moment to realize Maggy was laughing. When she was done, her eyes glowed like amber coals, "Fulfil your vow."
Selene's face was stone as she tossed the gems to the witch.
With surprising quickness, Maggy snatched them from the air. "Well done."
"I've paid your price," said Selene. "Now leave, and never return."
Maggy looked up, her eyes flicking slowly between the children, as if committing their faces to memory.
Selene gripped the hilt of her dagger, Jon doing the same with his sword.
The witch began to walk about the room, eyes devouring each child in turn. "I could have asked for more. I could have asked for worse."
"You were wise not to," Jon said, his voice icy.
Maggy continued as if uninterrupted. "An eye, a heart…" she stopped before Joanna. "A head."
Rhaegar's arm guarded his sister, but Jo looked more angry then afraid. "You can't frighten me! I am the blood of the dragon!"
Maggy looked as surprised as Selene felt, but her youngest only exchanged a knowing look with her eldest.
Pride surged in Selene's chest. "My daughter speaks true. Threaten my children again, and I will gut you like a fish."
"Are you so willing to risk the wrath of my gods?"
"It's my wrath you should fear. I am much closer than they are."
Maggy inclined her head, and stepped back, as if to leave the way she had come.
Something troubled Selene. "What will you do with them?"
The witch narrowed her eyes, the crust audibly crinkling as she did so. "What matter is that of yours?"
"None," Selene admitted, and yet… "Will you hurt anyone?"
The witch tilted her head one way, then the other, as if weighing her options. Instead, she danced around the question. "Do you know what I hold in my hand?"
Jon frowned, "Is this a trick? You hold the stones."
"What I hold…" the witch brought the moonstones to her cracked lips and whispered something in a language none understood, "…is memory."
Smoke burst forward from her grasp, swirling about the ceiling. As the grey smoke shifted, whispers bounced about the room.
...more than a sword…
…want us to be friends…
…make me feel like I'm worthy of more…
…any small comfort I can give you…
"Living memory," Maggy cawed over the sounds of days past, "royal blood, precious stones, true love… Alone, these are formidable forces of magic, but together? A treasure beyond price."
The smoke reformed in the center of the chamber, two shapes distinguishable. The swirling smoke became…
It was Selene and Jon as they were in their childhood. Selene recognized the dress her smokeself wore, young Jon's anxious expression, the way their arms wound around each other…
Jon recognized the scene the moment she did. "The welcome feast," he murmured in awe.
The words were no sooner from his lips then the two figures began to dance. As they did, the smoke in the room grew thick and dark, and Selene realized she was starting to lose sight of her children.
"Enough!" Selene cried, but the smoke only billowed out.
"Mother!" "Father!"
Jon turned and dashed to the nearest child.
Selene did the same, pulling Barristan into her crushing grip. Her son's arms wrapped around her tight, and they braced against the fierce smoke that blinded and pushed them against the wall. The rushing force was deafening, and Selene could not hear nor stop the words of comfort that she found herself speaking into her son's hair.
"It's alright, it's alright."
The soft whispers turned into anguished screams. Screams from long-cold battles, roars of dragons, wails of grief and suffering. Selene could only clutch her son with all her strength as the screams grew painfully deafening.
Mercy!
AND THE CHILD IN MY WOMB?
I WANT IT TO END!
What if I do this and you're wrong?
We have to stop the wildfire from spreading!
As quickly as the smoke began did it subside, hurtling out over the balcony into the night in a flurry of grey.
Selene frantically looked about the chamber. They were clustered in twos. Lya in Jon's grip, Aly in Robert's, Jo in Rhaegar's, Bee in Selene's…
"Are you alright?" Selene demanded at the same time Jon shouted, "Is anyone hurt?"
Their children only nodded, faces white with shock.
Maggy the Frog was gone, the moonstones with her.
Only then did a breath of relief escape Selene. She opened her arms wide, and the family came together in a fierce embrace. In the mess of arms and faces, Jon's lips found hers. As the family whispered their relief, Selene knew what they needed.
Selene met Jon's gaze, a small smirk on her face as dragons screeched over the bay.
###
The royal family awoke before dawn.
Donning their riding clothes, they were out of the royal apartments in minutes. Awaking before first light was always exciting, the entire world asleep except for them.
The princes and princesses dashed through the halls, laughing all the way.
"I'm going to get there first!" Robert yelled over his shoulder.
"Not if I can help it!" Rhaegar said, before promptly sticking out his foot.
Robert went sprawling, the four youngest roaring with laughter as they bolted passed him.
"No fair!" Robert cried, before picking himself up and pursuing.
Selene and Jon chuckled behind them where they walked arm and arm through the quiet halls of the Red Keep.
Rhaegal and Ice awaited them in the great northern courtyard, scales of white and green glowing in the dying light of the setting moon.
"Girls against boys!" Joanna cried, beginning her ascent on Rhaegal's back.
"Must everything be a competition?" Barristan asked, exasperated, yet throwing his leg over Ice's scales.
"That is exactly what a loser would say!" Aly called, settling behind her sister.
Lyanna joined in on the teasing. "Try to keep up, brothers."
As their children continued to hurl harmless goads at one another from dragonback, Jon placed his hand on Selene's arm.
"I have something for you."
Selene rubbed sleep from her eyes. "Do you? Is it my nameday?"
Jon chuckled. "No, but…well, see for yourself," he said, holding something aloft by thin chain.
Selene's jaw dropped as she beheld the exquisite necklace. It was a silver shield, quartered with their four sigils, wrought in silver. It glittered with four gemstones: ruby dragon, onyx stag, pearl direwolf and golden lion.
"Our children's standard," Selene said as she reached for the gift, feeling it beneath her fingertips. "I don't understand. We only just discovered Maggy's price. How did you know I would need a necklace?"
Jon smiled. "Divine luck. I know it can't replace the moonstone, but that was not my intention." With that, he reached forward and flipped a latch Selene had not known was there.
The necklace swung open, and Selene gasped.
Inside was a miniature, painted in the vivid Myrish style, of their most recent family portrait. As Selene's eyes raked the picture, taking in every minute detail, Jon explained himself.
"I planned to give it to you the day the twins leave us, so you can keep us all close to your heart, but now the moonstones are gone, so I thought-"
Selene slid her hand behind his nape and kissed him. "Thank you, Jon. This may just be the seventh best gift you've ever given me."
Jon's brows shot up, "Seventh?" His eyes went toward their six children, understanding. "Ah, I see. Anything for you, Selene. Anything, everything, always."
Selene raised the chain and slipped on her newest treasure, tucking the silver locket under her clothes for the flight.
"See you on Dragonstone."
Jon gave her a sly look, "Not if I see you first."
The king and queen stared at each other for a moment, and then they were moving, dashing toward the dragons as their children cheered them on.
Selene vaulted onto Rhaegal's back, shooting a glance over her shoulder at her daughters before looking to Ice. Her sons clutched their father tight, but Jon's eyes were on her. Eyes like chips of ice, Selene thought, though they never fail to melt me.
Smiling, Selene leaned forward. Rhaegal's muscles rippled between her thighs, the wind rushing in her ears as his wings cracked like thunder. The princesses shouted for joy, and just over the howling wind, the queen could hear the princes yells of excitement. King's Landing fell away behind them, the endless silver sea before them as the dragons raced home.
Together, Selene, Jon, and all their children soared into the light of a new dawn.
Author's Note:
That's it! A hefty epilogue for you. Writing it, I absolutely fell in love with each of their kids, so it's heartbreaking to leave it at this, but all things must come to an end.
Selene has her own wiki page on the Game of Thrones Fandom Wiki if anyone wants to check it out! As always, I can't link, but it will come up when searching her name on the Game of Thrones Fandom Wiki site.
Whether you've been reading for years or just binged my story in days, thank you so much for reading.
To all the reviewers, I owe you so much. From the first chapter to the last, my writing has really grown and changed, and I owe it to all the incredibly helpful reviews that helped me learn what works best for me.
Now I'm going to go work on some original ideas! Which is scary, but exciting! This story and your reviews have given me the confidence to try. If you want to hear about that when it's finished, please click 'Author Alert' for me, and I'll be sure to write an update when that original work is complete and available.
Thank you for sticking with me for years. I hope you fell in love with Selene and her story as much as I did.
All the best,
Rose Marie Grace
ZabuzasGirl: And a Happy New Year!
DarkFriday1408: Thank you so much! You have been so very helpful from the start. Happy new year!
UmiNight Angel Neko: Haha, just when you thought it was over. Thank you for your review.
EsKiMo719191726: Thank you very much! I highly recommend A Vow Without Honor and a Dragon in Disguise. Two great works!
Cheetah Grrl: Thank you!
recey2010: YOU'RE WELCOME 100 billion x. And thanks about Maggy. I love an epilogue as much as the next person, but it was fun to give this one some drama. And I hope this chapter had some dragon for you x
Makenie: Thank you!
reallybadwriter2000: Thank you very much! When I started, I had no idea it would partially consumer three years of my life, but it has been a lot of fun.
IzzyAvalon19: I love binge reading stories late into the night, so I get you. Thank you so much for all your kind words! I really appreciate everything you said about Selene, and the way they love each other.
