"You are going to Dorne," Lord Stark told him last night. "I don't know how it came to be, but you will be going to Dorne at the month's end with Gwenysse and will stay there for roughly a year."
Jon's mouth had dropped open. "What?"
With a serious expression, his father repeated, "You are to go to Dorne at the month's end with Gwenysse. You will stay there about a year, Gwenysse slightly longer. I admit it is odd, but you will be treated well at Dorne – much better than at the Wall." He shook his head in amazement. "Whether it was Ashara's idea or Prince Doran's…I couldn't believe my eyes when I read her letter." Jon watched as he bit his lip. He wanted to bite his own to end all the questions swimming in his mind. Dorne? With Gwenysse?
"I will be fostered at Dorne for a year?" Jon said nervously. Father made a face and shook his head. "Not exactly. Fostering…I wouldn't define it as fostering." He picked up a piece of parchment from his table. From the letters Jon glimpsed, he recognised it as a letter from Lady Stark. Father folded it carefully and handed it to him. "Read it," he said, sitting down and reaching for a quill. "Not the first part, the second. Ashara writes about you." Jon glanced at it.
…and now I have interesting news for you regarding Jon Snow. Over the last few days, I've spoken to Prince Doran about his son Trystane – the boy is lonely and craves companionship. Gwenysse is too young to be his companion (all our sons are too young to befriend him) and even with Robb, Lyarra and Arya closest to Trystane in age, it will be inconvenient for them to come south to Dorne. Due to Gwenysse's tender age, it'll be good for her to have a familiar face with her for a few months or so and I thought of Jon.
I know you love Jon and fear he will not be accepted in the south due to his status as your natural son, but in Dorne, natural sons and daughters are treated with respect and love like trueborn children. Gwenysse will have friends her age in Prince Oberyn's own children and I believe that Trystane will view Jon as a good friend. I yearn to return to Winterfell; I have stayed here much longer than I thought. However, if you agree to have Gwenysse fostered at the Water Gardens or Sunspear and Jon to be Trystane's companion for about a year, I think I'll remain at Dorne till they arrive. No doubt by then, Edric will be wedding Matysse. I hope I'll be home soon. If Jon feels uncomfortable in Dorne, he can return home anytime he wishes as his stay in Dorne will have nothing to do with this alliance Prince Doran is eager to have between our houses.
I hope to hear from you soon Ned.
Ashara.
Jon placed the letter back. "I don't know what to say," he said finally. "Going to Dorne…I…I don't know…"
Father nodded. "I was surprised too." He sighed and looked at him. "Truthfully, do you wish to go to Dorne?" He stared at him intently, concern in his eyes. It was as if he didn't want him to go…
"Dorne does sound fascinating," said Jon tentatively. "Why is Gwenysse going to Dorne at such a young age?"
"I don't like parting with your brothers and sisters," Father admitted, "nor the idea of parting with you. You are of my blood after all. However, it seems Ashara wants one of our children to be more familiar with her Dornish roots and as we have so many, I suppose one wouldn't hurt. Besides, it'll be good for Gwenysse to know her maternal family." It sounded like he spoke more to himself than to Jon, who waited patiently for more information. "You said you wanted to be knighted didn't you?" Father said suddenly.
Jon nodded. "Bastards can be knighted too."
"Don't call yourself a bastard Jon. You're of my blood. Remember that." Father drummed his fingers against his table thoughtfully. "I suppose you can squire for Prince Oberyn and return a knight…"
"Am I not too old to be a squire?"
"Not at all. No one is too old to be a squire. I am certain Prince Oberyn will be impressed with your skills with the sword." He smiled at Jon. "Mayhaps you will learn a trick or two from the Red Viper himself. I heard he's good with the sword even though his primary weapon is the spear. If you do decide to go, take care of Gwenysse will you?"
"Of course Father. I'd love to go to Dorne, but I'd like to think about it too. Talk to Robb about it maybe."
Father nodded. "Good. Don't make a hasty decision you will soon regret. I will need an answer soon though, by the end of the week perhaps. Talk to Robb. Talk to Lyarra. Talk to your siblings and friends. I know Arya and Jon will want you to stay, but the ultimate decision is yours."
"WHAT?"
Clang. Needle fell to the ground as Arya stared at Jon, her eyes and mouth as wide as dishes. Jon shifted uncomfortably. He wished he leave Winterfell early in the morning when his siblings were still asleep. He hated farewell scenes – even his own. He bent down, picked up Needle and offered it to her. Arya didn't take it from him. Instead, she crossed her arms.
"You want to run away to Dorne," Arya said flatly.
"It's not running away!" Jon protested. "It was an offer! If you're presented the choice to stay at Dorne for a year, wouldn't you take it?"
"A YEAR?"
Jon groaned. "It wouldn't be that long Arya! I'll be back before you can blink! I promise I won't stay longer than a year! I might even come back earlier! In fact, I probably will. I won't be used to the Dornish heat."
Arya frowned. "Why are you going to Dorne?" she complained. She brightened up. "Can I come too?"
"I'm sorry Arya. I'll be going with Gwenysse."
"Gwenysse? Gwenysse is a child! Why does Father want Gwenysse to go Dorne and not me or Arthur, Lyarra, Robb or even Rickon!" Arya grabbed her sword in a huff and slashed off a practice dummy's head. Jon discreetly stepped back. Arya glared at the next practice dummy ferociously.
"It won't be forever," Jon tried to say again. He loved Arya the most of his litter of siblings, but by the gods, why wouldn't she listen to reason? He had no desire to be one of the knights in the southron songs girls like Melia Tully idolised, but he needed to secure his future and knighthood was a better option than joining the Night's Watch. Knights were a rare sight in the North – perhaps his future at Winterfell would be the next master-at-arms once Ser Rodrik grew old, or maybe he would be Robb's captain of the household guards.
"Everyone is leaving!" said Arya, stabbing the practice dummy in the chest. "I thought you would stay here forever. First Bran left, Domeric and Lyarra will be leaving for the Dreadfort in a few days and now you and Gwenysse! Who will go next? Will Robb be going south with Theon to marry his betrothed? Maybe it will be Dany going to Dorne as well. All I'll have for company here will be Arthur and Rickon." She huffed.
"And Nymeria?" Jon jested. Arya glared at him. "You said you planned to join the Night's Watch but you didn't," she said hopefully.
"That was different, Arya."
Arya sighed and rolled her eyes. "Oh very well," she muttered, yanking Needle from the practice dummy's chest. "Go to Dorne if you must. Enjoy your year there in the hot Dornish heat. I'll still be here when you come back. Hopefully."
"I'll come and spar with you tonight," Jon promised.
"You don't have to," said Arya, heading towards the weapon shed behind the row of practice dummies, a couple headless or missing a limb here or there and some extremely battered. "I have another dancing lesson tonight." Jon blinked in puzzlement. Another dancing lesson? The only dance Jon knew Arya enjoyed was an afternoon of heated sparring.
Catching sight of his confusion, Arya rolled her eyes again. "Water dancing you stupid head," she informed him flatly. "Syrio has been teaching me water dancing for months. How on earth did you forget?"
Jon did not answer. Arya would not understand.
"You are so fortunate," said Dany wistfully. "Going to Dorne for a year! What a spot of luck! Lord Stark is so generous to you." Jon nodded. It was late afternoon and they were alone in the godswood, Dany sitting on a bed of moss and Jon next to her, staring into the small pool of pitch black water. "You have no relations in Dorne yet you were invited to stay there for a year," Daenerys continued. "Such a rare opportunity indeed! I doubt many Starks ventured south to Dorne and then there is you who will spend a whole year in Dorne! A whole year!" She hesitated and bit her lip tentatively.
"What is it?" asked Jon, noticing at once.
"My mother is Dornish," Dany said quietly. "My father Lord Dayne is dead, but what of my mother? She will still be in Dorne would she not? She gave me up as a babe – would she not want to know about me now?"
"I wish you can come with me to Dorne. I'm as eager to discover my mother as you are to find yours. When I was younger, I heard rumours that my mother was a Dornish lady like yours. Some of the servants even said that my mother is our old nurse Wylla! Impossible of course."
Dany looked at him curiously. "Why would it be impossible? She had dark eyes like yours. She even had dark hair."
"She returned to Starfall when Edric was born."
"Perhaps she left because she knew you were in good hands? If Wylla is your mother, at least you remember her holding and feeding you." She sounded bitter. Jon reached out and squeezed her hand. "We will never know," he murmured. "It was only a rumour. Maybe your mother is a highborn lady of a noble house who was forced to give you away? That can happen."
Dany laughed. "It sounds like a tale Old Nan told us girls when we were still in the nursery!" She looked thoughtful. "It is possible, isn't it? Oh, imagine if the old gods had made us trueborn children instead of bastards!"
Jon leant against the weirwood tree as silence descended into the godswood. Instead of Jon Snow, he would be Jon Stark, the eldest son of Lord and Lady Stark and heir to Winterfell. He would still train with Robb and Theon, the latter might not mock him as much, and he would wed a highborn maiden from a great house rather than a Northern lord's bastard or a wealthy merchant's daughter. Would I have been happier? Jon wondered. Lord and Lady Stark both treated him well as if he was their trueborn child; his siblings loved him as if he was their brother of the full blood rather than half; and if he fell in love with say the cook's daughter, there would surely be no objection in the match. He glanced at Daenerys, whose eyes were still closed. Would Father consent to the idea of marriage between him and Dany? He was Lord Stark's bastard and she was the late Lord Dayne's. Dany was technically Lord Stark's niece through marriage, but he and Daenerys had no blood connection. It was an ideal match.
"What are you thinking?" said Dany, opening an eye lazily. "It must be a very happy thought if you're smiling like that."
Jon chuckled. "I was thinking of you."
"Me?" Now both her eyes were open as she gave him an inquisitive look. "Now what could it possibly be?"
Marriage. "What were you thinking about?"
"If I tell you, will you tell me what made Jon Snow smile?"
"Very well."
Daenerys straightened up and said almost dreamily. "I was my father's eldest child and heir to Starfall. Ravens would fly through the window of the maester's tower almost every day, each carrying a letter from a neighbouring lord or lady who wanted his or her son married to me. Foolish don't you think? It's just" – she sighed – "everywhere I walk, from the library to the broken tower, I always hear the servants talk about marriages, whether it was Lord Stark's marriage to Lady Stark, Lyarra's betrothal to Domeric, Robb's engagement to Lyanna Baratheon…I sometimes wish it was me they whisper about." Her smile faded, "but I won't be happy in Starfall," she confessed. "I don't think I'd be. Winterfell has a wonderful, happy atmosphere I think no other keep or castle will have."
Jon nodded in agreement. "Winterfell is special," he affirmed.
"Now you must tell me what you're thinking." Dany brushed scattered beads of dirt from the skirt of her blue gown trimmed with grey fur.
"If I was the heir of Winterfell," said Jon promptly. "It's not much different to what it is now but Theon would not be so rude to me and I wouldn't have to hide myself away when visiting lords come. It's a thought I had when I was a boy, but I stopped thinking about it when…"
"When?" encouraged Dany.
"Robb said I'd never be the Lord of Winterfell. We were both boys and we had started our sparring sessions. We pretended we were the heroes we heard about from Old Nan's stories, and I…I shouted I was the Lord of Winterfell."
"That was the day you first started moping," Daenerys recalled. "I mean when you first began keeping to yourself," she said hastily as Jon raised an eyebrow. "I remembered that because earlier that day, you had promised you would explore the broken tower with me. I waited for you but you never showed up. Robb said that you'd gone to try and hack off some of the practice dummies' heads. I don't think you actually beheaded any of them successfully, though one was missing an arm and a hand."
"You remembered that?" said Jon, impressed.
Dany blushed. "It was an amusing sight – how could I forget it? Oh, and when Arya was old enough to hold a practice sword, she tried the same thing."
Jon burst out laughing. "That I remember! Waymar Royce was convinced that Domeric taught it to Arya deliberately and accused him of drowning the pup he was given as a name day gift!"
"Yes! It was all confusion that day and it turned out Waymar's pup accidently drowned when it fell into the well! And during the whole time Arya was bawling and stamping her feet because no one would play with her!"
Jon smiled. "There was never a dull moment in our childhood."
"If you ask Arya, she would say Septa Mordane's sewing sessions. She is much more well-behaved now, probably thanks to those dancing lessons of hers. Septa Mordane had not scolded her in three whole days!"
"I wish you can come with me to Dorne," Jon said again. "Lord Edric Dayne is your half-brother – you have the right to see him. Together we could start finding who your mother is. Maybe by the year's end we will find her, or at least know a little about her. I suppose we can start by asking Lady Stark when we see her, or maybe…maybe we can question Starfall's household?"
"No one will answer a bastard's questions."
Jon's eyes shone with excitement. "We don't have to exactly ask, Daenerys. We can visit Starfall and your mere presence will get the servants talking. Surely as a babe, your mother would've taken you to Starfall so you could be acknowledged by Lord Dayne as his child! The servants there must remember that! All we have to do is listen to what they say amongst themselves."
"That is brilliant Jon! Do you think my uncle will allow me to accompany you and Gwenysse to Dorne?"
"I'll ask him! I'll ask him right now!" Before Dany could say another word, Jon squeezed her hand for the final time and rushed out from Winterfell's godswood, hoping Father was still in his solar. He would hate to disturb his father in one of his meetings with Maester Luwin or the steward…
Thankfully, when Jon knocked on Lord Stark's door, he heard him call, "Come in." Jon opened the door and entered. Neither the maester or the steward were in sight. Father gestured for him to sit. "I did not expect to see you back here for at least a few hours Jon. How can I help you?"
"I…I want to ask a favour," said Jon rapidly. Lord Stark raised an eyebrow. "It's unlike me," said Jon hastily. "I know, but it…it's important."
"I see," said Lord Stark simply. "What is it?"
"Can…can Daenerys come with me and Gwenysse to Dorne?" To Jon's distress, Lord Stark remained silent. "I've been talking to her," Jon went on, "and as Dany's birth mother is probably Dornish like her mother, it will benefit her to go there – more beneficial to her than me actually."
"When Daenerys was brought to Winterfell, Lord Dayne made it clear that her birth mother will have no connections to her," said Lord Stark, his tone coated in an edge of iciness. "He too seemed to indicate that once Daenerys was in our care, he wanted nothing to do with her. Jon, I know you want Dany happy, but are you sure taking Daenerys to Dorne is wise?"
"Why would it not, Lord Stark? Dany has Dornish heritage and it is her right to visit Dorne and discover more about her family."
"You are kind," said Father gently, "but Dany's family is here. In Dorne, fathers take in their bastards but Lord Dayne chose not to. It shows character, Jon. Dany would've been miserable if she remained under his roof. What if instead of giving her relief in Dorne, you give her pain? What if Dany isn't ready for the truth? It'll hurt her more than anything. Sometimes ignorance is bliss. There will always be some secrets that are better hidden than told. You'll understand when you grow older Jon. Soon you'll be keeping secrets from Robb."
"I'll never!" said Jon hotly. Father gave him a dry smile. "Are you certain about that? Perhaps you are keeping secrets from him now."
"Dany will be happier knowing the truth," Jon insisted.
Father studied him for a moment. "It seems more like you who want to know the truth," he remarked. "I always considered Daenerys mine own daughter like I think Domeric mine son. Sometimes being a natural son or daughter is hard and even if you do know both your parents, you will still be unsatisfied. What is it you truly want Jon? To bear the Stark name? The truth about your mother? A keep of your own once you are deemed old enough?"
Jon flushed. "I'm here to talk about Dany."
"If she goes to Dorne, she will break. Is that what you want, Jon? Do you really want Dany broken?"
"Dany is strong! She won't break!"
Father shook his head. "The risk is too great. I know Dany is no fragile flower, but she isn't as cold and hard like…like Lord Bolton. Think about it Jon. If you are still in favour of taking Daenerys to Dorne, tell me tomorrow after supper and I'll consider it before writing to Ashara. I trust you'll make the right decision."
I've decided to try writing another Jon chapter. I know it's pretty similar to the last Jon chapter, but honestly, he isn't one of my favourite characters book-wise or TV show-wise...speaking of the TV show, I'm not particularly happy with what they did with Dorne. Oberyn Martell was brilliant, but the Sand Snakes? I found them pretty awful in season 5. Oh, Robert in this story is still fat. Probably not as fat as he was in the books, but still fat.
