Sansa POV

Arianne wasted no time slipping into a more regal posture.

'I demand guards', Arianne demanded at the one man who'd guarded their room. 'And get Ser Daemon, Archibald Yronwood and Gerris Drinkwater downstairs. I want them in the Courtyard.'

'Your grandfather says we must accept her to win the battle against the Others. But I'm going to make sure we survive her first. We don't know her', Arianne said, turning to the rest of the room. 'So will you come with me?'

'Us?' Sansa asked. They were not her close circle, nor part of her council.

'You. I don't want the discussion to linger on the Iron Throne too much. That will probably be the one thing that we can't agree upon. So we better focus on something else, like the plan to save the Iron Throne and the whole of Westeros along with it. It's your plan, isn't it? It's your brother who guards the wall, Lady Sansa. Why don't you tell her your plan to save Westeros yourself? Then it won't feel like this is just something Aegon and I came up with.'

'You do know my father was the best friend of the man who murdered her brother and that I was married into the family that killed her goodsister and niece?' Sansa asked.

'You were married off when you were two-and-ten and the enemy of the Lannisters, and you subsequently got it annulled. I think that shows you're not their biggest fan. And you as a couple switched sides to her nephew, that has to count for something. Or so I hope. Now let's go.'

None of them were too sure, but down they went. On the ground level of the tower, five guards and the demanded Dornishmen awaited them.

'You're not planning on going out within breathing range of those dragons?' Ser Daemon Sand asked Arianne, directly approaching her with visible worry.

'I'll talk to her at a safe distance, but I won't let anyone else receive her. Then I look like a coward and I might insult her', Arianne said. 'I don't have a choice.'

The door was opened and Arianne stepped out, followed by the others. In the yard sat a dragon with wings black as jet. Its spinal plates and eyes were red as blood. Sansa froze from head to toe. He looked like the drawings of Balerion the Black Dread in the manuscripts at Winterfell. But he wasn't as large. Yet.

She felt Willas curl a protective arm around her.

'That wingspan has to be at least forty feet', he said, voice full of awe. 'All these books I read. Yet, it never felt real.'

Atop of the dragon sat a pale young woman with short silver hair in a startlingly pale dress decorated with red and black. Sansa had never seen a Targaryen, but even if one ignored the monstrous beast she sat upon, she could have instantly recognised the lady as one based on her appearance. She fit every description.

'Good afternoon, my name is Arianne Martell. I hope you had a safe journey?' Arianne asked, her voice loud enough so she didn't have to approach the monster.

'And I am Daenerys Targaryen.'

Sansa thought it was unique how both had skipped their titles when addressing one another. A deliberate move perhaps. Had Arianne used her own title, she would have forced Daenerys to state her own position. And had Daenerys called herself a queen, she would have declared herself to be an adversary of Aegon.

'As lady of the castle in King Aegon's absence, I would like to formally extend an invitation for refreshments inside.'

'I accept. My councillors and guards are making their way up to the castle as we speak. We shall go inside once they are here.'

That was interesting to know, Sansa thought. Both ladies clearly exerted their control. Daenerys made no move to leave her dragon. She clearly knew that was the safest position for her to be in until she had her men to guard her. There was no trust yet, but there was politeness, which was a good start.

A scratching sound, followed by a roof tile shattering on the ground, made Sansa look up. Around the Windwyrm tower another dragon was curled, quite a bit smaller than the one the queen sat upon. And right on top of the tower they had exited, another dragon sat, peering over the top with reptilian eyes.

'It is quite the climb. It might take them a while to get up here.'

'So I've seen', the young woman said.

Daenerys looked around, staring at the towers, Sansa realized how strange this must be for her. She was the daughter of King Aerys. She had claimed Westeros as her birth right. This was the place she, and almost all of her ancestors, were born at. Yet she had not set foot in this country since she learned how to walk. Now, she was being welcomed into her ancestral home by another woman as if she were the visitor. That would have to sting.

'How many guests do we have to deck the table for?' Arianne asked.

Daenerys Targaryen looked back at her.

'Four on my side. But I'm sure my Kingsguard and soldiers would like refreshments as well.'

'Which they'll be granted in the Great Hall', Arianne agreed.

'You do not expect me to join you without guards?' Daenerys asked.

'I assume you will not invite all of them upstairs, as I will not do that either.'

Arianne turned to face them, and suddenly Sansa understood why she'd invited them. Her king, her Hand, her Master of Ships and her Master of Whispers were gone. She could not just put her soldiers around the table. And as she'd said, this would be a tense conversation, a neutral topic like the end of the world could help decrease tensions around the topic of who'd rule Westeros.

'Four chairs for her. Seven for us. Tell Illyrio Mopatis to take up seat already', she ordered one of the guards. 'In my personal solar.'

It took them away from the throne room and the room with the Painted Table all her fretting lords were sitting around. That way they stood a chance of having a serene conversation without too many voices.

'Do your dragons need for anything?' Arianne asked. Her voice soured on the word "dragon". She couldn't hide her feelings about them.

Daenerys looked at her. Seconds ticked by. The answer was not what Sansa had expected.

'My apologies and condolences for your brother. I did not wish for him to be harmed by my dragons, I merely wanted him to go home. I was still ruling Meereen at the time and things were complicated. It was not safe for him. Although I appreciate that my cousins were willing to support me, I could not marry him. By the time I returned, I heard he had died. I regret the death of my cousin even though he tried to steal my dragons.'

'He did it out of love for you, not out of selfish considerations! He thought he could help', called Archibald Yronwood.

'My dragons cannot be tamed, they have their own will', Daenerys explained.

'Bloody perfect', Sansa could hear Arianne muttering.

The cold made Sansa shiver and Willas took note.

'Mind if we get up already? It will take a bit longer with my leg', Willas went to ask Arianne.

Arianne waved them off, allowing Sansa and Willas to return to the warm comfort inside. Although Dragonstone was neither very warm nor very comfortable, it was a lot better than the harsh conditions outside. They sat down on the chairs that were still furbished with the Baratheon gold and black colours. The curtains were also a dark yellow. But the floor and walls had been covered with dark wood, making the room look softer than the cold dark stone the other rooms existed of. When the windows informed them twilight had set in, they could hear the company making its way upstairs.

Because they installed themselves in Arianne's solar, they could not see who Daenerys' party existed of until they came through the door one by one.

Daenerys was first to enter after Arianne, and almost paused entirely when she saw who was sitting in the room.

'Illyrio', she breathed. Illyrio Mopatis rose, holding up his arms. 'My princess, it is good to see you again.'

'What- how?'

'Lord Varys and I played a long game, doing our best to keep all Targaryens we knew safe and alive so that one day, this could happen and one of you could take the throne.'

As Daenerys moved aside, a small girl no older than two-and-ten walked in with eyes of molten gold and thick black curls, alongside a lithe tall man with eyes as blue as his pronged beard. The man looked like an adventurer straight out of the songs, armed to his golden tooth with a smile as sharp as the daggers he had on him.

'I think blue hair is a fashion trend across the sea', Willas muttered quietly.

But Sansa could not answer because Arianne's Dornish companions who came in after the blue haired man were followed by a man anyone in Westeros would recognize in a heartbeat.

No taller than a child, but dressed like a king, a man stepped in, bringing with him a dark icy aura that chilled Sansa to the bone. Sharp eyes that disagreed with each other in colour peered out from underneath a jutted forehead, carefully taking in every detail in the room until they ended on her. There, the eyes, one black as night, one green as Cersei's, remained fixed.

Tyrion Lannister, her former husband, stood in front of her once more. Sansa grabbed Willas' hand underneath the table, squeezing it so tight their rings dug into their hand in a painful way. Willas hissed, but quickly swallowed any sound when he saw just who Sansa was looking at.

With a bitter smile, he set course right for them.

How had he ended up here with Daenerys Targaryen? He was the brother of the man who killed Daenerys' father.

'Well well, if it isn't my little wife', he almost sung, voice dripping with sarcasm.

'Lord Tyrion', Sansa stammered.

'Had a fun time, escaping King's Landing while I was charged for a crime I did not commit?'

Her heart beat so violently, it felt as if it was lodged in her throat, choking her breath with every beat. The Lannisters had a way with words that made her tremble and shake. She wanted to cower away. She'd barely escaped King's Landing. And not on her own strength.

It's not my fault. I'm innocent. Please, don't look at me like that, with condemning eyes. Her mind panicked as she shifted in her seat. She had been able to keep her back straight and her face smooth when receiving beatings and spiteful comments from Joffrey but that had taken practice. And this was different.

Wait, I am innocent, she realized. I sit beside my husband on the right side of this war. I am safe. I am innocent. What do I need to fear from him? Why swallow the insults? I can rebuff them.

'Actually, no. I didn't escape because of that. Lord Baelish got me out of King's Landing and hid me in the Vale where he planned to use me for his own evil schemes. You think I was free? I was just someone else's prisoner. Someone who was responsible for the deaths of Jon Arryn and my aunt. Someone who was poisoning my cousin in front of my nose and asking me to aid with it. Someone… who did actually poison Joffrey. And if I had not been discovered in the Vale by Ser Shadrich and thus had not been forced to run to Highgarden, I would still have been in Littlefinger's clutches, fearing for my life every day.'

She swallowed away her fear and evenly held his gaze. She was Sansa Stark of Winterfell and Highgarden. She had behind her the strength of the Reach, the loyalty of her uncle in the Riverlands, and the support of Arianne and Aegon. She would not let herself be held accountable for saving herself.

She could feel Tyrion's gaze burning through her skin, crawling into her mind to make out whether the words she said were the truth. And then, he took out a chair and hopped on.

'Baelish you say? So it was him all along. Our master player. First ruining the treasury and bringing the kingdom to bankruptcy, then… the Arryns, the dagger with your brother…' Tyrion's eyes grew distant as his mind carried him off. He snapped out of it rather quickly. 'But why would he poison a king who was making him more powerful?'

'It was not Joffrey he wanted to kill. It was you', Sansa confessed.

'Me? Now that's an interesting theory. Wouldn't be the first time someone tried but… Whyever kill me?'

'Lord Baelish wanted me, but I was married to you. He could only free me by getting rid of you. And your death would unleash quite a few things. It would help him get rid of one of the stable forces within King's Landing. But then Joffrey ate your cake instead and…'

'The brat died. And then you ran off with the man who wanted to murder the husband you were already not fond of.'

Willas' fingers bit back into her hand. But she had this under control. His sharp tongue had lost some of its effect on her. She remembered the awkward wedding night as clear as day. Her, shivering. Him, drunk.

'On my honor as a Lannister,' the Imp said, 'I will not touch you until you want me to.'

It took all the courage that was in her to look in those mismatched eyes and say, 'And if I never want you to, my Lord?'

She had regretted her childish behaviour of him for a while now. She hadn't been able to control a single thing in King's Landing aside from him, because deep down she knew she should not fear him as much as the others. Now, she could make up for it.

'I didn't know he was after you. Lord Tyrion, please. In hindsight, which always makes us wiser, I realized I could have done so much worse than being married to you and I am grateful for the kindness you bestowed upon me. Even if I was too angry to see it as kindness at the time. But when the marriage was annulled, can I, a girl who was the enemy of the crown whose lands were given away to another family, be blamed for marrying a man who treated me with kindness and respect, and offered me a seat at his table as an equal? We didn't deserve what they did to us, what they forced us to do or undergo in that miserable city. We didn't deserve any of it. And now, we can take our chances at happiness. I'll certainly be taking mine. But since you're here, I think it's safe to say we'll both make them pay. They won't get us this time.'

Tyrion paused, looking almost touched.

'Oh yes. It's payback time, a Lannister always pays his debts. And it's time she starts paying.'

He cocked his head. 'You've changed. You're no longer that little girl.'

Sansa wanted to open her mouth, say he changed too. But, he was still that little man, and she didn't know if he'd changed for the better.

'I was granted the opportunity to grow. It's amazing how much difference it makes when you're no longer locked up and kept small.'

'No indeed, I see you are no longer small… You wasted no time marrying my wife and filling her up, did you? Growing strong indeed', Tyrion japed, looking up at Willas.

'You will not address my wife as if she is a cow to be bred, my lord. And I only married her after your marriage was annulled', he pointed out, voice cool.

'How proper of you. Did he cite you poems, my lady? Did he woo you as you wanted a knight to woo you?'

'Tyrion –'

'Well, at least I can comfort myself that you did not refuse me because I was disfigured. I see now that a wobbly gait and a ruined nose don't bother you. But it seems both of you know something I don't. I was across the Narrow Sea for months. How did our marriage get annulled?'

Tyrion folded his short chubby fingers into each other, leaning forward.

Sansa paused. The annulment was such evident old news in her head. He hadn't heard? Gods above, did he only find out through this conversation? However did he manage to remain calm and sarcastic, cracking jokes and saving that question as if it were a minor detail.

Tyrion Lannister was never fazed by strange news, it only intrigued him, she realized.

'Our marriage was declared invalid during the seventh month of this year. I was already in Highgarden by the time it was annulled in King's Landing. From the official announcement and what I gathered from Littlefinger, the High Sparrow was made aware of your previous wife… And there was confirmation of the consummation of the marriage. A daughter. They both lived in one of Littlefinger's brothels.'

Tyrion paled, his eyes becoming hollow and all traces of a smile falling away from his lips.

'Tysha… But the only copy could've been in the Westerlands with that septon. Father had it annulled.'

'Can't annul a consummated marriage, technically', Sansa muttered. He'd told her of his first wife on their wedding night. Never told another soul, she guessed. She couldn't image what that had to be like. And to hear the news now, of all times. Such blows, hearing their marriage was annulled, hearing his previous wife was alive, hearing he had a daughter.

'Technicalities were always subordinate to father's will', Tyrion muttered. 'What brothel?' he asked, his voice uneven.

'I don't know. He never told.'

'But the High Septon must know, if he was shown the proof.'

'I guess he must.'

'So the answer lies in King's Landing.'

Sansa nodded.

'A daughter. Four-and-ten she must be… I have a daughter. And he knew.'

'They're besieging King's Landing today. Willas' family will escape the castle tonight. They must be here by tomorrow morning. They'll be able to tell you more', Sansa offered. It was the only thing she could do for him.

Before Tyrion could say something else, the official meeting started. As Arianne welcomed the guests, Sansa's eye fell onto the pin of Hand that was pinned on Tyrion's doublet. Her mouth almost fell wide open. He was the hand of this new queen? He'd only been gone for less than a year.

Arianne kept her head high as she explained she was glad to meet family of Aegon and herself. Arianne did her best by talking how she'd held Rhaenys as a babe and had met Viserys a couple of times. She informed Daenerys of all the families who'd remained loyal throughout the years since the Rebellion, and all those who'd joined the Targaryen cause since. Then, the time came for Illyrio to step in and explain why Aegon was definitely the legitimate son of Rhaegar as Varys had helped the young child escape the palace.

'Just like Willem Darry took care of you and your brother, Aegon was also taken care of.'

'And he did get the support of the Golden Company', Daenerys mused. 'They did not support my brother when he asked.'

'The Golden Company needs a lot of persuasion. As in coin, and the guarantee others also support the king. Like all sellswords, they do not readily swear their swords to a cause they think will fail. Especially not to a Targaryen cause when they've supported the Blackfires for so long.'

Yes, that was curious, Sansa thought. Why suddenly choose a Targaryen while their whole organisation was built on supporting the Blackfire claim? But she could not dwell on that now.

'And now they are fighting in King's Landing. For the throne', Daenerys said, looking quite troubled.

Without her dragon underneath her, she looked no older or stranger than Sansa herself, a small girl with a back heavy with worry. For years, this woman had been roaming another continent, marrying a khal and marrying a noble, taking over cities and leaving them just as fast in the hopes of asserting her power as queen. Then, when she finally got here, another Targaryen was just taking the throne.

'How sure are we it will work out? I always heard the city is hard to take.'

'It is. But we have people who know how to get inside unseen. The gates shall be opened from the inside, allowing our army to get in quick with minimal bloodshed. Meanwhile, assassins will make sure the loose ties are all tied up within the Red Keep.'

'With loose ties you mean…'

'Killing Cersei and the Mountain', Arianne said. 'Vengeance and justice.'

'I'm sorry to bother, but as far as I recall, the Mountain is already dead', Tyrion pointed out.

'You've been away awhile, Lord Lannister, Cersei is constantly guarded by a man called Robert Strong, a man as tall and imposing as the Mountain, who never takes off his helmet. We were presented a skull, claimed to having been the Mountain's, in Dorne. But I rather believe eye witness reports saying a man with his exact and rare size still walks around in King's Landing than I believe a skull that looks just like any other', Arianne shrugged.

'I'm also prone to believing my own eyes', said Daenerys. 'And you're all certain this man is my nephew Aegon?'

'I've seen enough Targaryens in my youth', said Arianne.

'I know Varys. He promised he'd get the child out', vouched Illyrio.

'But then why not the others?' asked Daenerys.

'A young pale babe is easier to replace than a Dornish toddler in the capital', Illyrio explained.

'But why would Queen Elia not have tried escaping with her children? Why would this Lord Varys help swap one babe instead of both, if he cared so much? Why would Elia only let one of her children be swapped. What would the enemy do once they found the children missing? They can't harm children that aren't there.'

'Aegon is real', Arianne said defensively. 'I've seen your father, I've seen Aegon and Rhaenys. I've seen Viserys. And the person who got him out of King's Landing is with him right now. Illyrio watched over him for years. And Lord Connington was Rhaegar's best friend. Lord Varys either magicked a perfect copy of a Targaryen to fool us all, or he brought the real prince to safety. Which one is more likely?' Arianne asked Daenerys. 'We can finally be a family again. Don't you want that? I, for one, was devastated when I heard my cousins were murdered. I'm ecstatic that we are finally restoring the injustices done to us all by the Baratheons and Lannisters. We're back. We're together. And together, we're stronger. And we'll need that strength. Because this battle isn't the last we'll have to fight if we want to take back Westeros.'

Arianne nodded at Sansa and Willas.

'My whole life, I believed Viserys and I were the last Targaryens. Do not dare twist my honest questions about this escape plan into me not wanting my nephew to be alive. You have no idea what I suffered, believing I was the last Targaryen alive. All my life, I wanted a family. All my life, I wanted to return home. All my life, I wanted to belong. I shall be thrilled if indeed my nephew is alive. I would gladly support and defend my family with my entire army, if I had it', said Daenerys, her voice powerful and gaze cool.

Sansa let out a breath of relief. Could she assume that meant Daenerys did not see Aegon as competition?

'Now, what do you mean with this not being the last battle?' asked Daenerys.

'There is a threat, Your Highness, at the Wall', Sansa gently explained. She could feel all the eyes in the room going to her. But she'd had an entire court looking at her, looks did not faze her. She straightened her shoulders. 'We all grew up with the stories of The Long Night. Others made of ice then come to snatch children from their cribs during the longest, darkest and most brutal winter. Those are the stories, but though they may be partially fictional, they are also partially true. My brother, Jon Snow, has been begging all the lords of Westeros for years to send men and arms to the Wall. For some time now, the Night's Watch has been fighting Others and wights beyond the wall. By now, the attacks are frequent. It's an entire army of undead with horses and mammoths and we have reason to believe that they will reach the Wall quite soon. The Night's Watch has been understaffed for decades. They will not be able to hold the Others off. If we do not stop them, the undead will enter Westeros, and then we'll all be…'

'Fucked', Tyrion concluded.

'An army of undead?' Daenerys asked, rather sceptically. Sansa couldn't blame her. It was everyone's first reaction. No one had taken the threat seriously. And it did sound rather ludicrous.

The small girl who'd been introduced as Missandei bent towards Daenerys, telling her something quietly in a tongue Sansa did not understand.

'How certain are we?' asked Tyrion.

'Of the understaffing? You've been to the Wall yourself', Sansa said. 'Of the Others? I know my brother, he's no joker. What could he gain from lying about this?'

'More staff, more money, more weapons?' said the man with the blue hair and golden whiskers. 'Always good to have your company well equipped.'

'Jon Snow is indeed not the type to care for that, or to lie. Or joke. I don't think he even understands the concept of humour', Tyrion said.

'Dragons are back. We thought they were magical and extinct', Tyrion said. 'We thought magic was a fantasy.'

'Magic isn't fantasy, magic can make the dead rise', Daenerys spoke.

Sansa really didn't want to know what story hid behind that remark. It made her think of Jon. She remembered the vague letter saying he'd been revived. She'd just pushed that to the back of her mind. It seemed too weird and impossible, so she'd just repressed it.

'Euron Greyjoy destroyed the Redwyne fleet with krakens. Also a beast that was believed to be fictional', Willas added. 'And my grandfather Lord Leyton defeated him with flying sphinxes made out of stone.'

'I leave the continent for nine months and suddenly the boring old world turns upside down', Sansa could hear Tyrion mutter.

'What?' asked Daenerys.

'My cousin Sarella confirmed it', Arianne said. 'And not only she. She arrived back in Storm's End with someone training to be a maester who'd come from the wall. A man called Sam. He came here with us. Confirmed the stories about the wights and the Others from the wall, and the magic at Oldtown.'

Sansa and Willas perked up. Arianne hadn't told them about that yet. But then again, they'd only just arrived some hours ago.

The table grew quiet. These were incredulous claims. And incredulous claims demanded irrefutable evidence, but that was short on hand.

On top of that, there was still the matter of Daenerys' title and function within this monarchy they were trying to set up.

They were all incredibly lost. But luckily, the confusion made that they could not even start to argue. The constant influx of information made it impossible to dwell on any given topic long enough for them to start clearing up anything that could cause discord.

'And what, exactly, do you plan to do about that?' asked Daenerys.

'To be honest, no fucking clue', said Arianne. 'We have some ideas but… An entire army of the dead?'

The man from the Wall, Sam, was fetched from the library. He was rather rotund, and apparently a Tarly by birth. The eldest Tarly. Sansa had always heard Lord Tarly was ruthless, but sending his heir to the Wall was next level.

'Right, so uhm… Thank you for welcoming me…' he stammered, looking across the table at some of the most important people of Westeros. 'I… I've done some reading and research at the Wall, and the Citadel, and now here… And I know from experience there's some things that work against O-Others…. Wait, do I need to explain and tell about them first?' he stuttered.

Jon must have known this man, Sansa realized. Perhaps, she could ask him some questions afterwards. Sam passed before the windows. Sansa realized these rooms looked out on the Blackwater. Somewhere in the distance, King's Landing must lay. She strained her eyes. Could she make something out in the darkening sky? It got dark so quickly these days.

'When I fight an enemy, I only care about what'll kill him', the extravagant blue haired man said.

'Right, alright. Okay. So, there's dragonglass. And luckily, Dragonstone has a lot of it. I don't know why, I have some theories, but it kills them. Normal steel, normal arrows, they don't work. It's useless against them. But dragonglass works. Another thing that works is Valyrian steel. Jon has this Valyrian steel sword and he's always managed to kill the wights with it.'

So he did know Jon.

'No metal?' asked the flamboyant man, Daario, Sansa reminded herself.

Sam shook his head.

'Only Valyrian steel.'

'Only the rarest metal on earth', muttered Tyrion. 'Of course. Posh monsters.'

'How about fire?' asked Daenerys.

'Normal fire doesn't kill them', said Sam. 'But they say dragon fire is different, magical, special. It could work. It is worth trying.'

'How about wildfire?' asked Tyrion.

'Never tried, but it's manmade. So far the only things that seem to work are ancient natural things like the special ore and the dragonglass. So that's why maybe dragons…'

'I am not just offering my children, my dragons, to go to a distant place where they risk being harmed', said Daenerys. 'Especially as I'm not even sure what kingdom I'd be putting them in danger for.'

'Our kingdom', said Arianne.

'Doesn't every kingdom and every human deserve saving?' Sam innocently asked.

'And who is this our? What will you do to save Westeros? Will you send the people you love the most to fight in the frontline?' asked Daenerys. 'I just got here and you're already suggesting I send my dragons to a dangerous place to do the dirty work.'

'I'm sure Aegon, once he's back, will be more than willing to head over there. He fights on the frontline like a true king should. He fights for his people, instead of hiding behind them', said Arianne.

'I have always fought for the people', Daenerys raised her voice. 'I liberated them. I helped them. I made the poor and downtrodden my cause. Always.'

'And I am also not planning on being a lazy queen who doesn't do any work', Arianne said. 'I intend to work and care for my country.'

'Queen?' asked Daenerys.

Sansa swallowed. Now Arianne had done it. Sansa looked away from the table, to the window. The sky was dark now, a perfect navy canvas. And if she strained her eyes, she could just make out the faintest luminosity across the water. It had to be all the fires in the city. So crazy, to think there was a battle raging there while they were just sitting here and arguing.

'I- I mean… Well.'

Just as Arianne was stammering to find her words, the world outside changed.

Sansa gasped, clutching Willas' hand.

First, eyes went to her, then, others followed her line of sight and noticed.

'What?' asked Arianne. 'What is it?'

'King's Landing', stammered Gerris Drinkwater. 'It's lit up green.'

'Aegon!' cried Arianne, rushing to the window.

Sansa got up in a daze.

'That's…' Sansa stammered. She'd only seen such a colour once before, a time she was not soon to forgot.

'Wildfire', muttered Tyrion. 'Cersei. She wanted to keep it. She was always rather fascinated by it. I cleaned it up and used the last of it during the Blackwater I thought. But…'

Sansa shook her head.

She wanted to take a step closer to the window as well, but found she was pulled back by her hand. Or rather, her hand was stuck in Willas' grip. He wasn't moving, eyes transfixed on the window. And with a start, she realized that if that was wildfire and it was visible to here… King's Landing was burning.

She prayed Willas' family had gotten out.

'Aegon. Oh gods, Aegon', cried Arianne. 'What is that fire!'

'Wildfire', explained Tyrion, louder this time. 'Uncontrollable fire made by pyromancers. Incredibly destructive.'

'I have… Aegon… What can we do?' cried Arianne.

All this time, Daenerys had been silent. Until now.

'I go and check', she decided. 'If this is my last living relative, I won't be losing him.'

It was hard to decide what to do with Daenerys.

On the one hand, she's Daenerys Targaryen, mother of dragons, and doesn't fear punishing people from time to time. She claimed the Iron Throne aged thirteen. This is also Dany post-Meereen, after she failed to keep her city safe with diplomacy.

Yet, what do we also know of her? She longs for family. She longs to belong. She wanted to return home. She wants to rule over the people in a way that they love her. She's always protected the poor and the suffering. She wants to solve things diplomatically. She listens to other sides even if she disagrees. We also know that Tyrion will probably meet Dany after the Battle of Meereen. Tyrion has already met Aegon by that point and has told him to go to King's Landing without Daenerys. This means Daenerys has heard about Aegon from first hand witnesses before ever arriving at Dragonstone. She'll have heard things from Tyrion, though of course, she'll probably still want to double check his claims. It would be very un-Dany if she rejected a chance to meet a potential family member. Just as it would be un-Dany to not see the need to protect the people from the Others. On the Other hand, she's protective of her dragons and doesn't trust too easily, so she wouldn't be jumping to travel North. So that's why she's presented this way in my chapter.

And Tyrion? I made him the spiteful monster he's becoming in AFFC, and no doubt he'll hate Sansa for what has happened. But he also has a soft spot for him. Sansa does not and never loved Tyrion. And I also don't want to push a "you need to be eternally grateful whenever someone treats you remotely decent" (Tyrion was not *that* pure in his actions towards Sansa) but their relationship was a difficult one with Tyrion trying to do his best, and Sansa being traumatized, spiteful and very young still. Sansa is older now and has a strategic mind and is able to see that Tyrion could be useful and kind-ish and she can regret her past actions and their interactions in the past.