And here is a new chapter. Hope you enjoy it!
"Welcome to… milord?" the port officer said when he was rudely pushed aside by an enraged Jon Connington, followed by a still black and blue Rolly Duckfield… well, more like yellow and green duck knight, because his injuries were a little bit better. Septa Lemore walked behind, cool as a cucumber, because she knew everything from the beginning and also cheering her little boy for doing a damn good job with the slavers. If only the boy´s foster father thought the same…
"Where is that damn boy?" asked Connington, pushing the port officer out of the way, enraged enough to take the Unsullied army that now belonged to House Targaryen by himself. His companions walked right behind him, trying to minimise the destruction the enraged Griffin left in his path. "I´m not going to ask again, where is the boy?"
"Boy? What boy?" asked the frightened man.
"Aegon Targaryen, who else?!" answered the Stormlord, unleashing his fury on the innocent man. The officer signalled one of the pyramids, and the man started walking towards the construction. Once there, he tried to pass through the Unsullied, but the guards pushed him back. The griffin tried to do the same again, but someone called his name before he could charge.
"Lord Jon Connington" saluted the man with a bear on the breast. The other put a face, recognizing the other as one of Varys informants.
"Ser Jorah Mormont" reciprocated the stormlord, passing through the Unsullied without opposition now. "Have you come to sell more information about the princess to her enemies or did you stop when the Usurper died?"
"Great words for someone who lost his king in a city when he was at risk" the bear knight turned around and walked towards the pyramid. Once inside, he talked with a little dark skinned girl, who immediately assumed the guide role. She took them to the Targaryens, who were talking, laughing and drinking. Even the normally gloomy Jon Snow was enjoying, feeling better in the company of people that wouldn´t shun him. "What the hell is happening here?"
"Oh, Griff, great that you are here" a completely drunk Aegon said, holding his cup towards his guardian. The man raised an eyebrow. His adoptive son looked drunk and not only with wine. His purple eyes gleamed like amethysts with mischief and his hair was beginning to show it´s true colour on the roots. The other two were not really better, from Daenerys with her dishelmed hair to Jon, who was leaning into his direwolf to not fall into the floor.
"What the hell do you think you are doing?" asked the man, wanting to land a hit on Aegon´s head. Perhaps that will wake up the boy´s brain.
"Celebrating, what else? We have just conquered our first city! You should be happy for us!" the chirped up voice of the youngster revealed how drunk he was. A lot. Sighing, Connington decided to leave the talk for later and carry the Targaryens to bed. It was a little bit early for that, but they were so intoxicated that.
"Lemore, take the princess with you." He then turned to the Naathi scribe that was waiting for more instructions from the lords. "You…"
"Missandei"
"Missandei, show her where the princess chambers are" he then turned to Rolly, who was eyeing the direwolf with something akin to fear. Jon Snow didn´t notice that, too worried with his empty cup of wine, which Dany was filling up once more. "You, take the prince and tuck him into bed."
"Me? Why me?"
"Because you lost Aegon, so you are drawing the short straw for at least a month. And now, the person with the short straw is facing the fully grown direwolf which is guarding the prince" instructed Connington, signalled the young man on the floor. Duckfield swallowed and got down to grab the boy, making Ghost bare his teeth. He didn´t stop, managing to pull the brunette to his trembling feet.
"Come on, my prince, time to get you to bed"
"I don´t wanna" answered the former night´s watchmen, emptying his cup before Rolly was able to take it away from him. "This is Arbour Gold. Arbour Gold! The best wine in the Seven Kingdoms" Griff rolled his eyes, as he already knew it. What he wanted to know was how so many bottles of the Redwyne´s flag product ended up in a slaver´s cellar of a city in Slaver´s Bay. "Do you know Lord Stark only lets us drink one cup on special occasions? One cup!"
"And now I know why" answered the stormlord, quickly losing his patience. "Look, I know Arbour Gold is a great wine…"
"I prefer Dornish wine" interrupted the king.
"Whatever" he said before continuing. Seven hells, it was dealing with children again. "Just… go to bed, the three of you" he turned again to the scribe, who was discreetly laughing at his predicament. "Is there someone who know where the two boys are staying?"
"My brothers know, they have been guarding their doors in the night" she quickly switched to the Naathi language, calling Mossador and Marselen. The two Unsullied, silent as ever, guided them to the chambers occupied by the current rulers of the city, opening the doors for the lords to enter.
"There you are" Rolly said, putting Jon in his bed. What he first noticed was the absence of covers, but he supposed he shouldn´t be surprised. The boy was, after all, raised in the gelid North and must not be accustomed to the warm temperatures of Astapor and Slaver´s Bay. Then he looked around the room. It was filled with riches and implements of gold, statues and jewelled applications. Duckfield looked at all in awe. A huge improvement for a boy raised as a bastard in a gloomy castle in the North.
"Ghost?" a voice said behind him. He turned around to see the wolf over his master, licking his face. The dragon was perched over the bed, extending it´s white wings. "Easy, boy. I´m fine. A little bit tipsy, but fine. Getting drunk it´s not so bad after all. Or at least not how uncle Benjen and Father said… well, uncle Eddard, I guess."
"Believe me, boy, you are going to be regretting this in the morning" said the knight, staring right into the boy´s eyes. He didn´t seem to be getting to sleep any time soon, so the son of the smith guessed he should wait until the boy fell. "You, your aunt and your brother are going to feel terrible then."
"Then it´s going to be Aegon´s fault. He suggested to drink when we found the master´s cellar"
"Which master?"
"I don´t remember, I´m too drunk at the moment" said Jon, scratching his wolf´s ears. The animal emitted no sound, staring at his master worryingly. "At first I didn´t want, it´s just that… I was dealing with so much the last few days and never had time to actually process everything that happened since the wizards kidnapped me." He let himself fall on the floor again. "It was the only reason I followed with his damn idea."
"Well, it didn´t seem to work as well as you thought" continued the knight, finding a seat to sit down and stared at the clearly drunk, teary eyed boy. "Okay, spit it out. What had you so horribly affected that you thought the only option you had was to drink like a damn fish with your idiotic brother."
"I… think I´m angry with my father… uncle… whatever, I´m furious with him" the brunette started, letting go of his wolf. "I mean… he lied to me all my life. And didn´t show any remorse in doing so" the ramblings started to get a little bit fast for Rolly´s mind to follow, but he didn´t say anything. The boy needed to take it out. "You are my son, he said… I love you the same amount as your brothers, he said… and now I find out that he never told me the truth. I´m his nephew, not his son and… and… he took everything away from me. In that same tower where he found me, he took everything away from me."
"Was it really that bad?"
"You have no idea" Jon continued, getting angrier with each word. "He took my name, he took my birth right, my worth in the eyes of the people, my heritage, my… my everything" tears started to fall down his cheeks. "All my live, I wanted nothing more than to be a Stark. To hear people say that Lord Eddard Stark has four sons, no three… and now… now I find out that he is not even my father, but my uncle, and that I already have a name… a name my mother, who loved me, gave me, but I can´t think of as my own just yet" he passed a hand through his hair. "Jaeherys Targaryen… I still have problems considering it my name."
"Well… time perhaps is going to solve it" Duckfield shrugged his shoulders. "And Jon Snow is not such a bad name, if we are truly talking. There are worse names, especially for bastards. Believe me, I have heard them."
"It´s a nightmare, a curse" continued the boy with his ramblings. "The people just hears it and automatically assumes the worse. Just because you are a bastard, you have to be a shitty little villain who wants to steal his brother´s birth right and is unworthy of everything" Seven hells, thought Rolly, what happened to this boy? "And if it was not enough, you have to put up with the scorn of a stepmother… well, aunt, I guess…"
"What did your aunt do to you?"
"Lady Stark? What hasn´t she done to me?" continued the prince, feeling already exhausted, but unable to stop. No matter this man was a complete stranger, he needed to get everything out. "She treated me like shit, beat me, badmouthed me… oh, and let´s not forget that she threw me out of Winterfell and towards the Night´s Watch just because she didn´t want to deal with me while her husband was away."
"She did WHAT?" Really? This woman was capable of condemning an innocent boy, her own husband´s supposed son, to a penal colony just because he was a bastard? "Wait, you are a brother of the Night´s Watch? Don´t you know you being here is…"
"Punishable by death? I already knew" the knight raised an eyebrow. He was really calm for someone facing capital punishment. "But considering the circumstances, I didn´t really left of my own free will, so…"oh, yes, now he remembered the prince was kidnapped, so he had an excuse. "And Aegon says he releases me."
"Fine then"
"But it doesn´t make it okay. What right had that woman to do that to me? I knew I said I wanted to join them, but… I didn´t know the truth. I just wanted to make my father proud, to demonstrate I deserved to be called his son… I thought the Night´s Watch was the perfect place for me, as in it a bastard can rise high… and with Lady Stark denying me home in Winterfell, it was the only place I had to go…"
"Then great you found Aegon and Daenerys, because you were in serious need of a new family. A better one" Duckfield commented. "I say, put your horrible past behind and see to the future. Enjoy the family you have now, they are great. Aegon is a bit of an idiot and Daenerys strikes me as proud, but they are good."
"Yes, they are great" commented Jon, feeling drained. "But live wasn´t so horrible. I find myself missing my siblings… cousins each day more. They were my true friends during my childhood and now I´m safe here and they all the way in Westeros, fighting a war."
"Hummm, nobody told you not to love your cousins, they are family too. The more, the merrier, no?" Rolly lift himself from his chair. "Rest now, boy, you are going to need it in the morning."
"Is it really that bad? The hangover, I mean"
"No, lad" continued the knight. "It´s worse."
-The next morning-
"I´m never listening to you ever again" said Jon, nursing his throbbing head. Just as the duck knight told him, the killer hangover he got for his first drunken night was slowly killing him. And he put the entire blame on Aegon. No matter how cheerful a participant he had been or that the other boy was also sick.
"Shut up, my head is killing me" the king moaned, trying to put some bread in his stomach despite the nausea he was feeling. "Dammit, why in the seven hells did I thought that drinking so much was a good idea?"
"I found myself asking the same question more than once" got in Connington, eating some porridge with frighteningly slow pace, a clear sign that he was pissed as hell. "For my live, I could never bring myself to believe how the boy I raised since infancy to be king could be SO STUPID!"
"Keep it low, Griff, for the Seven" moaned Aegon, seconded by Daenerys. Jon didn´t complain. Lord Stark warned him more than once about the effects of the excess of drinking, but he had to go and overly indulged on it because he was hurting. That hangover was more than deserved and he was going to face it like a man. "When we are recovered, we should discuss some plans for the future."
"Yes, it might be the best idea" agreed the stormlord. "With the princess Unsullied, we have more than enough soldiers to conquer Wes…"
"Hey, we are not finished here yet" said Daenerys with a very interesting shade of green in her face. "Slavery is a deplorable activity that should be completely eradicated from the World. That´s what I plan to do, even if I have to do it alone" she looked at her nephews. "You surely agree with me that this practice has to be eradicated from the world."
"Yes"
"Wait, wait, wait" Duckfield opened his mouth, interrupting them. Judging by Connington´s face, he was also not informed about the change of plans. And clearly not happy either. Lemore, as always, just stayed there being her enigmatic self. Or perhaps less than usual, as her eyes never left Jaeherys. "I thought you were planning to recover your family´s thrones, not to bring half of Essos to it´s knees"
"Well, we had a change of hearth" informed Aegon, rubbing his temples. Damn, he shouldn´t have gotten drunk on Arbour Gold, the pain was absolutely not worth it if it was not Dornish red. "And I have already decided our next target: YUNKAI."
"Yunkai? You really are planning to attack Yunkai?"
"And Meereen after that"
"Meereen?" the stomlord didn´t understand. Why were the Targaryens so eager to bring Fire and Blood to Essos? It was Westeros what they should be worried about! "Aegon, we can´t lose time, the War of the Five Kings destabilised the realm, it´s our best chance to recover the Iron Throne."
"We can recover it later, we have fucking dragons" as if on a que, Rhaegal chirped, extending his wings. At his age, he looked more like a toy than a Balerion or Meraxes, but he would grow up. Like the imaginary creatures that sparked from Rhaegar´s histories or the dragon skulls he showed him. "The dragons are going to be needed for Westeros, so while they grow up, we bring war to Slaver´s Bay."
"I… also think that we should wait for them to grow up a little but…"
"Excuse me, your Grace?" one of the stewards entered that moment, interrupting the breakfast. All the eyes on the table flew to him, making the man a little bit uncomfortable. "The Unsullied guards need you. There has been an attempted break in, two men in black cloaks. They are demanding to see someone called Jon Snow."
"Me?" Jon was surprised. An Essosi would use his Targaryen name, as it was the one Aegon and Dany prefer to use when addressing him, trying to get him accustomed to it. The freed slaves too referred to him as Jaeherys Targaryen. Who were this men? "What do they want? And where do they come from?"
"We don´t know. Captain Grey Worm wanted to interrogate them himself, but we thought the king perhaps wanted to talk to them before that" Aegon nodded, sending the steward away with a sign. Then he proceeded to devour the porridge despite the protests of his stomach. He dry heaved a few times after finishing before lifting himself from his seat. "It seems that we have an audience now. Shall we, aunt, brother?"
"Of course" the trio walked towards the master of the house´s hall, where the captive men waited. Connington, as default Hand of the king, followed them, positioning himself by his adoptive son´s right. Great was his surprise when he noticed they were Westerosi. Riverlanders, if he had to make a guess. "We welcome, good men, to Astapor. Now, can you tell me why you tried to break into my home?"
"We don´t want to do you or yours any harm, boy" one of them said, earning a punch in the gut by Rolly. Aegon stared at him, making the duck knight retreat.
"Boy?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. He usually would find the defiance amusing, but right now there was no space for amusement. It was time to act like a king, and a king don´t accept subjects to call him boy. "You are talking to Aegon Targaryen, the Sixth of his name, Rightful heir to the Iron Throne, King of Astapor, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm"
"You can call yourself whatever you want, BOY, but you are no Lord of mine" answered the injured one, spatting at his feet. "We have no business with you. You can keep this city and call yourself King of Astapor all that you want for all I care. No, our business is with the oathbreaking bastard currently at your right" he glared at Jon, who was startled. The only reason he didn´t retreat was that Dany was holding him on an iron grip. "We are here to bring justice to him."
"Who are you?" asked an angry Aegon, piercing them with his glare.
"I´m Ser Robin Ryger and my companion is Ser Demond Grell" answered the riverlander. "Ser Brynden Tully send us here to avenge Lady Catelyn´s honour and prevent a complot against the King in the North and Lord of Winterfell" Jon was taken aback. Lady Stark… even with thousands of kilometres between them… wanted him dead? He wasn´t doing anything wrong! "And seeing who he had allied with, I wouldn´t be surprised if the Lady´s fears were prove truthful." He glared at the prince. "What did the Targaryens promise you, bastard? To make you Lord of Winterfell if they succeed?"
"Nothing, let me explain…" tried to calm the man.
"Don't lie, that won´t work with me! You allied with the Targaryens to strip Lord Robb from his inheritance, but that isn´t going to work. The North will never accept an oathbreaker and a bastard as their Lord!"
"Please, ser, let me explain…"
"The only person more despicable than you is that Greyjoy cunt who murdered the little lords…" Jon´s eyes widened and suddenly he couldn´t hear anything. Not the knight insulting him or Aegon calling for his attention. Nothing. He could only replay those last few words in his mind. Dead, dead, dead. The little lords. Bran and Rickon. He couldn´t take it anymore and dashed from the room. He collapsed into an empty solar and cried. Just… cried. Cried his soul out and he didn´t care if anyone see, because his little brothers were dead and he haven´t been there for them. He haven´t been there…
Did you like it? I didn´t know how to make Jon find out about Bran and Rickon, but suddenly I got the idea of throwing in Ser demsond and Ser Robin. After all, they were hunting Jon for Catelyn, no? I know he is finding out about the miller boy´s murder (Bran and Rickon´s supposed murder) in the worst way possible barring his stepmother herself, but I don´t really know how to make it work other way. Well, hope you like the chapter. Review!
