Winter Winds

They made an odd trio in the hot sand. The old knight stared into the flames. To his left sat his runaway queen. To his right was the scarred dwarf. Both hand their hands bound. It was night, the three of them were a hundred miles away from Mereen or any of the free cities he figured. A thousand miles away from any form of civilization at all for all he knew. A hundred thousand stars for every ounce of distance from where they should have been. In the flames Ser Barristan wondered if he made a mistake somewhere along the way.

The dwarf didn't like the silence. The dwarf spoke first. The Targaryen girl refused to look at either of them.

"Well I suppose this does expediate things, Your Grace."

The white haired girl didn't turn her head. The Bold continued staring at his makeshift fire.

"I traversed the Narrow Sea to gaze upon your beauty and offer my services. I had just arrived to my destination of Mereen when I wound up here."

"And why should I accept any services from a Lannister, Imp?"

"For the same purpose your ancestor Rhaenyra made service of Mushroom if I had to reckon." The Dwarf snickered. At this the girl snapped her head. Her mouth hung open in offense.

"Why, when we get home I should feed you to my dragon."

"You could but I fear they wouldn't see me as more than a mere breadcrumb." he japed. Ser Barristan frowned. This was no time for japing.

"Tell the truth, Lannister. Why did you come? Why should we accept any of your gifts?"

"She has more cause to trust me than she does you Ser. You served my father and King Robert for years. You sat silent as Cersei murdered Ned Stark and Robert. Rhaegar's body wasn't even cold by the time you swore your oath at the Trident."

"Shut up you mongrel-" the Kingsguard barred his teeth but was cut off.

"I will not have Lord Commander Selmy's name slandered halfman. Your brother butchered my father, your father murdered my niece and nephew. Your sister married the usurper and your nephew is his son. When I arrive to my birth rite I will extinguish your whole House."

"I killed my father. He condemned me to die for killing Joffrey and I killed him. You want to burn Casterly Rock to the ground, let me light the flame. No man who' ever lived has killed as many Lannisters as I. I slew my mother during my birth, I poisoned my nephew at his wedding, I shot my father in his chambers. I want to see them all pay. Jaime who lied to me, my wife who left me to die, Cersei who tormented me since I was a babe."

The old knight stared in horror. The dwarf's eyes were filled with passionate rage and passionate pride.

"Kinslaying is an abomination!" He shouted.

"It sounds to me like our Lord Lannister was in the right my good knight."

"Surely, you can't mean-"

"Was I a kinslayer when I watched Drogo give Viserys his crown. Or my ancestors when they put the Blackfyre pretenders down. No we were not."

Before he could say that was different, a black body crashed into the pit. Out of thin air just as how they appeared an hour's time or so ago. The man squirmed as Barristan leapt to his feet. Together they ripped off his black cloak before the flame could spread.

"PLEASE!- don't hurt me! I swear I took no part!" the man stumbled backwards into the sand. The Knight held his sword out at him. Both the dwarf and the queen stood up behind Ser Selmy.

"Who is this supposed to be?" Daenerys asked.

"A man of the Night's Watch. Likely a raper or murderer for all we know."

"Night's Watch you say? I wonder…" Tyrion waddled over. "How fares the Lord Commander?"

"I said I took no part in it! I swear!"

"Took no part in what? Speak. Explain yourself" Both Barristan and Tyrion exclaimed.

"The Boltons attacked Castle Black! We received word that Stannis Baratheon was defeated, slain by Ramsay Snow. Almost immediately after the courtyard was aswarm with knights. They burned the Princess Shireen and killed Lord Commander Snow!"

"Lord Commander Snow? As in Jon Snow?" Tyrion asked though he knew the answer.

"Aye. He was stabbed to death by the Boltons and his own men. They built a traitor's plaque and took turns stabbing him. I swear I took no part!"

The three went silent. Then they walked back to their fireplace camp. The man of the Watch stayed where he was, unmoving.

Both of the men had sad somber looks on their faces.

"Snow… That was Ned Stark's bastard yes?" Barristan asked Tyrion.

"Yes. I knew him. For a short time we were companions."

"Then thats the two houses who caused the rebellion extinguished. The means were ugly yes but they were deserved." The dwarf recoiled and the knight scowled at the queen.

"There's nothing deserved about it, Your Grace. You of all people should know to hold your tongue on the unjust deaths of children." Barristan corrected her. She had no dragon here. In this abyss she was no different than any other girl at six and ten. He continued to stare into the flames and imagined a younger girl with greyscale burning. Maybe he could have prevented that.

"The Boltons are savages." He looked at the Lord Lannister. "You said you knew the boy, I saw him once as a babe." The ladies at court whispered it was Ashara's. "What was he like?" The knight thought Dayne only had a girl. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe there wasn't just one child.

"He was his father's son. In looks and in character. Something I'm sure Lady Stark held against him. Very lonely. I suppose we had common ground, being hated for nothing more than being born. I enjoyed his company."

Ser Barristan stared into the flames. He saw Ned Stark's head leave its body.

"None of them deserved it." Selmy said.

"Betrayed to a traitor's death. Just like the Young Wolf and his father. The younger Stark boys were betrayed and burned too. The gods are cruel."

"How old was the Lady Shireen again?"

"One and ten."

"And the Bolton banner is a flayed man."

Neither had much to say after that.

Flames flickered. One flame he'd see an honorable man beheaded. The next a girl burning. The flame after two boys burning, with the faces of the honorable man. He saw the Lady of Skyfall leaping toward the cliffs that crash with the ocean. He saw a boy with both her face and the honorable man's face being stabbed. Now Mereen was burning and flooding, burning and flooding.

The dwarf stared into the flames too. Whatever glee or emotional high he should have had from winning his case to the queen was drained. Was the dwarf seeing the same flames he had been witnessing?

Through the whole exchange the young queen sat silent. There were times she would go to speak, open her mouth but then close it.

Barristan palmed his face. He knew he made the wrong decision. He had always made the wrong decision.

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Sorry for the long wait. Sometimes life just hits ya like that. As for the report on Castle Black being totally wrong, its a secondhand eyewitness account. Sometimes those are inaccurate. And every time we've seen the relocation or whatever it is I'm calling it, I've tried to portray it as super chaotic.

Sorry for the short chapter and late late update. Please take care out there and also leave a review. If you haven't already, a follow/favorite would also be pretty cool.