Hello everyone,

New chapter here!
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Now, for today's drama (because yes, there will be drama), I wrote this chapter as kind of a turning point, many things will happen in the next few chapters even though they won't be action-packed.

Enjoy!

Chapter LVI: I cannot see you again

Putting Rickon in his real bed was a whole ordeal. Daeron could not approach him, only Sansa could. He started screaming whenever he saw Daeron. Sansa, he called 'Mother' after an hour of screaming. So, Daeron waited outside the door while Sansa tucked him in bed. She reappeared two hours later.

"He's fast asleep. I don't think the Boltons let him sleep a lot… He's exhausted." Sansa whispered after carefully closing the door.

"How is he?" Daeron asked with anxiety.

"Traumatized." She did not soften it up. "He's not been harmed physically, at least not that I can see or that he tells me, but he was psychologically abused. He was deprived of food or sleep multiple times and he keeps saying that Ramsay warned him that if he saw us again, he would die…" She seemed sad which was understandable.

"He will get better." Daeron promised. "Now, you and I have both deserved some sleep. We'll talk tomorrow."

He had demanded his and Arianne's quarters to be set up in the guest aisle, as they should be, as Robert Baratheon had been received the same way. He missed Arianne greatly, but he had asked Oberyn to send her a raven telling her to come with Aemon. For the night, he would sleep once more in a cold bed.

He had missed honeyed porridge. It was not something that the people in the South ate and while Gale had sadly been killed, the new cook of Winterfell was a Northerner through and through as well. Yet, he did not have time to enjoy the porridge. He needed to go see Rickon and then he had to talk to both Ladies Bolton. Therefore, he gulped down his porridge and took the few flights of stairs that led to the Stark children's rooms. He turned right to take the corridor and he stopped abruptly, surprising Oberyn who had started to follow him around again.

In front of him, in the middle of the corridor, stood Sansa. Only she was not alone. She was hugging Aurane Waters, they had their noses against one another, and he could see they were speaking in hushed tones. Sansa was crying.

Daeron could not move for a second, he blinked several times, trying to understand what he was seeing. He was taken out of his stupor by Prince Oberyn who decided to burst out in laughter. The pair immediately separated and Sansa frantically dried her tears in her sleeves.

"Daeron it's not what you imagine." She started to say.

"Your Grace…" Aurane tried to talk as well.

Daeron ignored the Bastard of Driftmark, focusing on his cousin instead. "You don't know what I think. I'm not mad at you if it can ease your mind. I will talk to you about that later, for now I have to see Rickon." He declared. "Is he calm?" He asked. She nodded, so he went past her and her… friend into Rickon's room.

The little boy was sitting on his bed. When he saw Daeron, he made himself even smaller. "Jon..." He said in a little voice. Daeron would not correct him, he did not want to frighten or confuse him even more.

"So, you remember me." He gave his cousin a reassuring smile. "Can I sit beside you?" He pointed to the bed. Rickon nodded timidly. "You're safe now." Daeron told him after taking his place on the bed. "You're with family. And Robb and your mother will arrive very soon."

"Sansa told me." Rickon still had the same voice he had as a young child, but he did not have the same energy.

"And my wife and my baby are coming too. You will meet them." Daeron thought that maybe, if he involved him in their life, he would recover quicker.

"Who's your wife?" Apparently, judging by his change of tone, the prospect of meeting someone he did not know frightened him.

"Arianne of House Martell." Daeron answered. "You know who House Martell are?"

"Wardens of Dorne. Kept the title of Princes and Princesses. Seat: Sunspear. Sigil: a red sun pieced by a golden spear on an orange field." Rickon recited. "I had lessons at the Last Hearth." He explained.

"Good." Daeron nodded. "Soon you will have lessons here too. Would you like that?"

Rickon nodded. "But not with Maester Luwin. He died." Tears started to well in his eyes.

"I know Rickon. I'm so sorry. I'll do everything I can so that no one you love dies again." He promised. The boy kept crying but he nodded.

...

Sansa answered to her door when he knocked on it. She had been doing needlework from what he could see. "How was Rickon?" She asked him after inviting him to take a seat.

"Traumatized, as you said." Daeron replied.

She nodded and remained silent for a few minutes. He did not talk either, he wanted her to be comfortable enough to initiate the conversation. "What you saw in the corridor… I'm so sorry. I wanted to talk to you about that, but with Rickon and everything…"

"It's alright, you can talk to me now." He reassured her.

"I really don't know where to start. There is not much to say in fact. It just happened… We were on the boat and I was panicked… we talked, or rather I talked." She was getting a little confusing.

"Do you love him?" He interrupted.

"I do." She confirmed. "And I thought… maybe, since you're King, you could legitimize him so that we can marry." He had not expected her to go that fast, so his eyes widened.

"Sansa, I…" He honestly did not know what to answer. Whenever he discussed Sansa with Arianne, Lady Catelyn or even Robb, they always considered her married to one of Robb's bannerman. She was one of the means for him to regain control over the North. Before he died, Daeron had seriously considered Lord Cerwyn to be the best option for her. And now she arrived claiming to love another, a Southerner and a bastard, no less. "I cannot decide who you'll marry on my own. The decision is Robb's."

Sansa frowned, suddenly angry. "Why? Do you think I'm deaf? I hear the men talk, many of them don't want Robb as their Lord anymore." She declared and she was not wrong.

"What they want does not matter, in this case. Robb is Ned Stark's oldest son, it is the law." Daeron countered softly trying to make her understand.

"And what I want does not matter either, is that what you're saying?" Daeron had not expected Sansa to be so vehement.

"That is not what I said, but do you even know what you want? Sansa you've known him for what? A month?" He challenged.

"Two."

"It is not enough to declare that you love him. What if he's using you?" He pointed out. "He could try to have you just for me to legitimize him."

"He's not." Sansa glared at him. "You don't even know him and you're judging him. I thought you would understand… you've been a bastard all your childhood."

"I have, but you are still my cousin and I care about you, so I need to be sure that you will be well treated." He said. "So, I'll talk to him, make my own opinion about him. And I won't do anything before Robb arrives, he has to approve to."

"What if you approve and he does not?" Sansa enquired.

"Considering how he lost the war, I doubt he will have anything to say about who you love." Daeron rolled his eyes thinking that if, in fact, his cousin had an issue with Aurane, Daeron would convince him otherwise.

"And how long before he arrives?" She asked again.

"One moonturn, maybe a little less if the sea has been kind." It would probably not have been kind, it was fall, and storms raged during this season. Sansa looked at her hands crossed on her laps, visibly disappointed. "It won't be that long, you'll see. And I won't forbid you from seeing him either."

"No… It's just… I… We…" Her embarrassment told him everything he needed to know.

"You had sex already?" He guessed, she nodded. He truly could not believe it, where had the sweet, always proper Sansa he knew gone? Did Aurane do something to her to force her? No, he trusted Aurane, he had seen them in the corridor. It might not be love, but it was at least affection. Who was he to judge Sansa anyway? He had done the same. "And you're afraid that you could be pregnant?" Another nod. "Arianne has things for that…" He started saying and she was about to reply – probably protest judging by her frown – when the door to her room was slammed open violently.

"Your Grace! Lord Rickon, he's burning with fever!" A page shouted completely panicked. Daeron and Sansa jumped up and pushed aside the page to run towards Rickon's room, they had entirely forgotten what they just talked about.

...

They discovered the little boy whining, groaning and tossing in his bed. He was all sweaty and burning to the touch. He did not hear them anymore. The maester was as perplexed and alarmed as every other. The man was bald and had large shoulders, he served the Boltons when they occupied the castle, but he had not been deemed a threat. "What does he have?" Daeron shouted at the man.

"I don't know!" The maester defended himself. "I've never seen that in a young person before."

Never in a young person before. He said Rickon would die if he ever saw us again. Daeron connected what he knew. "Prince Oberyn!" He called his Kingsguard, who, as usual was not very far and ran into the room, ready to answer Daeron's orders. "I think Rickon has been poisoned. Try to save him please." Daeron asked. "I'll go see Lady Cersei to try to get information." If there was one thing the dead bastard loved, it was bragging. If he had poisoned Rickon, he must have told someone. Daeron just hoped that someone was not dead already.

He climbed the stairs three by three in the dungeons, to get to the top where they kept the noblest prisoners. The guards, probably seeing his state opened the door before he even gave the order. He did not pay attention to what Cersei Lannister was doing, only that she was seated. He grabbed her by the throat and forced her to abandon her task anyway.

"What did your husband give Rickon?" He asked urgently in a threatening tone.

She was clawing at his hands and gasping for air. "Why… would I tell you… anything?" She challenged with difficulty. Daeron did not know much about the Lannister former Queen, but what he knew could be of use. She had wanted to marry his father when she was a girl. She was cuckolded by her husband Robert Baratheon. Her children were bastards by her brother. And she loved her children, fiercely.

"I will make sure at the end of the war Myrcella, Tommen and Jaime are given good lives. They will not be charged, and they will not be executed." He promised. He did not need to tell her that that was what he planned to do anyway. Nor that he already had Jaime and Myrcella.

Her eyes lit up and Daeron knew he had won. "He said he would give the boy a slow acting poison. He said it was just in case, so I guess he had the antidote somewhere." Daeron was about to ask what type of poison he used. "He did not tell me which poison he used." She added before he had the chance to ask. Daeron nodded. "What did you do to him?" She demanded to know.

"Hanged him. He was a bastard after all." Daeron replied.

"And what will you do to me?" She asked.

"I won't execute you, if that's what you want to know. You're still a precious hostage." Daeron turned on his heels. He would talk to his prisoner more later, for now, the priority was Rickon.

He sprinted back to the Great Keep and right to Rickon's room. "Cersei Lannister said the antidote should be around somewhere in the keep."

"I know." Oberyn replied very gravely. "He was poisoned by Tears of Lys. In an old man, his death would have passed as natural, only a sudden fever. I sent Maester Wolkan to get the antidote. It's in his study."

"So, he's saved?" Daeron asked but his hopes were crushed when he saw Sansa crying in a corner.

"He was a healthy boy so he will probably discover but we caught it very late." Oberyn explained. "I cannot promise anything. We'll have to pray for his health."

...

Daeron had not expected to sleep. In fact, he knew he had already spent over half his night walking back and forth in Rickon's room until Maester Wolkan and Prince Oberyn convinced him that getting some sleep would not change the course of things. Still, he had thought he would lay awake, staring at the canopy for the rest of the night. Yet, here he was, dreaming.

Unsurprisingly, the woman he discovered had lilac eyes and silver-gold hair. She was beautiful, but she looked sad. She looked pensively out an open window into the sea. The place they were at, Daeron did not recognize. The stone was the cooler of light sand, the walls were ornated with sculpted plants and decorated with gold leaves. It was also richly furnished with chair and the bed covered in burgundy velvet. Despite the beauty of it all, the woman – Daeron did not know if she was a Queen or a princess – looked out of place.

"If only I knew what the Lannister was thinking." She declared mysteriously. She did not even look at him, so Daeron was not sure she was talking to him. "I bet you asked yourself that question many times, Daeron Targaryen." So, she was talking to him.

"I did, but I did for many other Houses too." He replied shrugging. "Who are you? I feel it's a little bit unfair that you know my name and I don't know yours."

"I'm Rhaena Targaryen. Daughter of Aenys I and sister-wife to the crown prince Aegon." She stated. "And before you ask, we are at Casterly Rock."

"Why?" Daeron was curious. He saw no reason to be in Casterly Rock. It was not as if he was about to go to battle against Tywin.

"Because we were going to talk about the Lannisters. It seems fitting we are in their home." She turned her head and probably saw that Daeron did not seemed satisfied with her answer. "You met Jaime Lannister, you like him. You met Myrcella Waters, you have nothing against her. You journeyed with Tyrion Lannister, you respect him. You fought against Tywin Lannister, you fear him." He was about to protest, but she continued. "You just threatened Cersei Lannister, she intrigues you. Did I miss anyone?"

Daeron shook his head. "You have some expertise on the Lannisters?" He asked almost sarcastically.

"I am one of the two Targaryens who spent the most time with Lannisters. The other one being your grand-father, and he's in no shape to talk to you right now." Daeron frowned. "Death did not cure his madness, contrary to his son. Aerys is still very unstable and dangerous."

He nodded. "Why did you spend time with the Lannisters?" He refocused on the conversation at play.

"When Maegor seized the capital and usurped my husband we became refugees here. Then, Aegon died and I reminded for a little while longer here." She explained.

"So, you were close with the Lannisters?"

"No one is ever close to the Lannisters. Anyone who is not them is their potential enemy. At least that's what Lord Lyman's bastard son told me. He was mad at his father that day, for some reason." She shrugged. "The Lannisters will always do what benefices their House the most. Even if it goes against one of their members."

"If you distrust them so much, why did you stay there for so long?" Daeron wondered.

"I did not have much choice." She countered. "I had two infant daughters. My uncle was hunting us, and the Faith Militant was hunting us. Lyman Lannister was one of the first to offer his roof. At first, I thought he would even support Aegon's claim. He did not. He just wanted our dragons. He was from a family of Kings initially, and he had not forgotten what had costed his family's crown. The fire of a full-grown dragon. He hoped that he could take an egg or a dragon from us. Then, after Aegon died, it was me he sought out."

"You pushed him away." Daeron guessed. No Lannister had ever married into the Targaryen family. Cersei Lannister would have been the first, had Tywin succeeded.

"I did. He would have been annoying as a husband." She replied casually. "I chose one with no power and no interest for my bed."

"Why?" Daeron was surprised by the second statement, surely, the wifely duties were to be expected in any marriage. Even if he knew some women hated them, he did not understand how a man could neglect such duties.

"I never enjoyed it. I did it out of necessities for Aegon, but I always preferred the company of other women." Daeron's mouth formed an O. "So, you see, I knew the Lannisters." She changed the subject.

"Any advice?" Daeron asked.

"Never trust them. Some will be nice, some will be cruel, some will be talented, some will be incompetent, some will be honourable, some will be devious." She enumerated. "But you should never trust them. Doubt everything they say or do, even if you think they are your allies or even your friends."

...

The next morning, Rickon had stabilized. His breathing was less difficult and his fever had lowered, he had also stopped groaning. Though, he had not woken up. Prince Oberyn and Maester Wolkan could not tell when he would wake up, nor how he would be. There might have been some unseen damage to the inside of his body.

Sansa had apparently spent the whole night holding his hand and praying. When he got out of the room around noon to perform his duties for the day, he discovered Aurane Waters waiting right outside of the door.

"Your Grace." The man got up and bowed rigidly when he saw Daeron. He was nervous.

"Aurane." Daeron greeted. "You can go in and be with my cousin, the Maester and Prince Oberyn won't talk." The Bastard of Driftmark's eyes widened. He was surprised, but he nodded and thanked Daeron before going to Sansa.

Daeron had supplies to check, a garrison to organize, Lady Bolton to meet and trials to plan. Thank the gods for Lord Glover. The older lord had already began to assemble a garrison composed of strong Northmen and he had looked into the supplies to check for poison or damaged goods. He had found no cause for alarm. Daeron only had to see if they would have enough. Unfortunately, they were to many and he doubted they would leave much food in the cellars of Winterfell when they started marching South. With the help of Lord Glover and the young Lord Umber and Lady Karstark, they organized a weekly provision from the North in every produce they could provide. Barley, seafood, mouton, potatoes, cabbage would come from all around the Kingdom. Fresh fruits like apples and pears could still be harvested from the glass garden which the Boltons had had the brilliant idea to repair.

Next, he had to meet Varys and Lord Stannis regarding the prisoners that they had. "Amongst the nobles, Lord Karstark perished in the battle killed by his Grace. Lady Alys is officially the last of their House. Lord Mors Umber is rotting in a cell as we speak, he killed five of my good men. Lord Manderly and his son are guarded in the higher levels of the dungeons, they did not participate in the battle, I did not see their banner and they claim they only came for the wedding in fear of retaliation." Stannis Baratheon summarized.

"Did they say where your Onion Knight is?" Daeron asked having in mind Lady Shireen's friend.

"They claim he is unharmed and a guest at White Harbour. I've already sent a raven asking him to come to Winterfell with Lord Stark." Stannis explained to which Daeron nodded.

"Their trial will have to wait until Robb arrives they are of the North and committed crimes against the North, they should be judged by the Warden of the North. Same for Mors Umber. Though, I'll make sure to include you and Lord Glover." Daeron detailed. "Anything on the wives?" He asked.

"Lady Bolton is not the smartest lady. I think Roose Bolton chose her because Walder Frey promised her weight in gold as a dowry. A dowry he kept here by the way." Varys informed them. "She cries a lot, she worries about the fate of her unborn child."

"Speaking of Walder Frey, he should be dealt with swiftly, your Grace." Stannis intervened.

Daeron nodded at both men. "I'll go talk to Lady Walda. From what I understand she is innocent of anything her husband or her father did. As for her child, I'll give her the choice of the Citadel or the Wall if it's a boy and if it's a girl, she'll become a septa." He turned to Stannis. "We cannot leave the North before Robb arrives and is settled. We have Cersei Lannister, this should keep Tywin Lannister in line and he will deal with Walder Frey."

"I don't think we should count on Walder Frey obeying his master… And I'm not sure the Old Lion values his daughter that much." Stannis groaned.

"He values the family legacy. She represents the family legacy." Varys pointed out.

"Your Grace, if I may, give me leave to ride down to the Twins with my men. I could bring back the hostages." Stannis demanded.

"I doubt Lord Frey will nicely hand you over his hostages." Daeron commented.

"If I threaten that you'll burn his castle to the ground if he doesn't, and promise mercy if he does…" Stannis suggested.

"I will burn his castle to the ground and there will be no mercy for the Freys." Daeron countered.

"He does not have to know that…" Varys and Stannis said at the same time.

"You're advising deceit?" Daeron asked for confirmation. Both nodded. "You leave at first light Lord Stannis. Take a thousand men with you, I'll send a raven to Greywater Watch to ask Lord Reed to help you through the Neck. Send me a raven if you're in difficulty. The Twins are only half a day away with Rhoynax." Daeron explained. Stannis bowed and accepted graciously.

...

Rickon's condition did not worsen in the next week. But it did not improve either. Sansa spent most of her days next to her little brother, Aurane Waters was often with her when he was not watching over his men.

Daeron had talked to Walda Bolton. As Varys had said, she was not brilliant in any way. She cried a lot in the beginning and panicked when she was not able to calm her tears even after the king entered. She was rejoiced that her child would not be killed and she even asked that when the time comes for her to separate from them, she is allowed to become a septa. She refused the Wall in case she had a son, the North had only brought her misery she said. So, she would be the mother of a septon, a maester or a septa.

The King had not tried talking to Cersei again. It was true he did not know what to do with her and when Robb arrived, so would Jaime and Myrcella. He had not anticipated that problem and it was beginning to be an urgent concern.

They had received two ravens. One announced that Robb and his party were in White Harbour and beginning to march to Winterfell. The other that Queen Arianne and Prince Aemon were only a week away and would arrive shortly.

So, how was this chapter? Not my best, not my worse in my opinion. And it starts many things.
Also, yes, I know, Sansa is out of character. But I wanted to have fun with her ;).

Next chapter: Robb settles back in Winterfell. Daeron is reunited with his family and news from Stannis.

Guest reviews:

- (KiatsRani) Well, first of all thank you. Here is what I think about the problem you mention (I know it's frustrating): Daeron in this story is conflicted between his two families, he has to reject the Starks to embrace the Targaryens and only when he's confortable as a dragon will he come back to the wolf. Reuniting with the Starks especially Arya will be healing to him. I hope this clears things up ;). My only advise is be patient, he'll get better x).

- (Hitman) He did, it was fun though, wasn't it?

- Indeed, Lord Cerwyn's death will have repercutions. I have been waiting for the right time to have a dream with the Conqueror since I started the story x). Thank you!