Chapter 20. Because the night is dark and full of terrors
Melisandre POV
She has just returned from Asshai, and now they were gathered in the great Red temple, of Volantis, in front of the great flame of R'hollor, praying that their sacred god of light would show them a vision about the darkness, about their destruction. And now they prayed together with the Great Red Priestess Kinvara, the eldest and most powerful of them.
"Lead us from the darkness, O my Lord. Fill our hearts with fire, so we may walk your shining path . . . R'hllor, you are the light in our eyes, the fire in our hearts, the heat in our loins. Yours is the sun that warms our days, yours the stars that guard us in the dark of night. Lord of Light, defend us. The night is dark and full of terrors. Lord of Light, protect us. R'hllor who gave us breath, we thank you. R'hllor who gave us day, we thank you. We thank you for the sun that warms us. We thank you for the stars that watch us. We thank you for our hearths and for our torches, that keep the savage dark at bay."
After the long prayer, the Great Red Priestess said, "O Great R'hollor show us the Prince who was Promised, he who will bring the dawn. For the night is dark and full of terror."
And immediately the sacred flame exploded and all of them saw the vision that the Great Red God wanted to show them. Death was marching on the Wall. The Prince who was Promised, fighting alone on the frozen lands of the North. And he awakens the Dragons from the stone.
Turning to them, who were all kneeling, the Great Red Priestess said loudly, "The Prince who was Promised faces the darkness alone, in the large, dark, and cold desolation of the North. And that is why now, brothers and sisters, you must go out into the whole world to spread our words and our visions. And gather all the followers ready to sacrifice themselves for the God of Light. For the battle of dawn is upon us."
When everyone left the room, Kinvara stopped her as she was about to leave, "Lady Melisandre. I have a special task for you." And she stopped.
"You will go to the North, and act as an envoy between us and the king or whoever is in power now. When the time comes, you will see our arrival in the flames. When all the Red Priestess of Essos are gathered, I will send the Fiery Hand. Valar Morgulis."
"Valar Dohaeris! Melisandre said bowing her head before leaving, heading toward the harbor of Volantis.
When she arrived at the ship Melisandre greeted the captain and once onboard asked, "How long until the North?"
"Two weeks. Maybe less, if the winds are in favor, Red Priestess."
Wylis Manderly POV
They were approaching the harbor of Pentos. His father, Lord Wyman Manderly, Master of the ships and head of House Manderly, tasked him, on the king's command, to go to Essos, and hire the mercenary company, the Hundred Lances, even though, they were 5,000 men. The last information about their location was that the company was near Pentos but then headed north to Norvos.
Once in the harbor, Wylis saw the Prince of Pentos arrive, "Welcome to Pentos Ser Wylis of House Manderly."
" Thank you, Prince, but I don't have much time, so I'll be quick. I am here on the orders of my king, King Jon of House Stark. I must hire The Company of the Hundred Lances, which as far as I was aware, was hired by your city."
"Yes, it was. But now our contact is over. The company is marching towards, Norvos, from whom, if I'm not mistaken, it has been hired. "
"And may I ask, how far is it?"
" Two days of horseback riding."
"Thank you, prince."
But as he was about to leave the Prince stopped him, and said, "I would like to take some of your time and discuss business very advantageous to your king.
"I am sure they are, Prince. But I don't have the authority to deal with these deals. If you prefer, you can write a letter and I will be very glad to deliver it to my king."
"Of course. When you will return I'll give you the letter with my proposal." And he headed for the gates of the city.
Two days later...
After two days of long riding, Wylis saw the camp in the distance. It was rather big, and as he got closer he saw their banners.
As he was approaching, he saw some men and women with spears and shields in their hands, in a defensive position at the entrance to the camp.
"Who are you?" asked a soldier.
"My name is Wylis Manderly, and I am the envoy of King Jon of House Stark. I have come to negotiate with your commander, Laena Waters."
The soldiers stepped aside and let him pass, but without lowering their guard. As he crossed the camp, Wylis looked around and saw that there were people who were training, others who were drinking or playing, and there were even people who were having sex in the farthest tents. A badly disciplined army thought Wylis. But after all, they were sellsword.
When he reached the tent of command, Wylis was surprised by its size, and especially by its large interior space.
Once inside Willys saw a woman looking at him. Beautiful, sensual, red-brown hair and with a dress that didn't cover much, but was normal for the heat of Essos. She gestured to him to approach, and he did everything possible to keep his gaze fixed on her face, and no lower it down. She was sitting on a large amount of pillows around a table, and next to her were men and women warriors and not.
"My men tell me that you are here to deal. My name is Laena Waters, commander of the Hundred Lances."
"The Hundred Lances? Here are 5,000."
"We have been fighting for many years, and many want to join us. Soon I will change the name of the company. Speak then."
"I was sent here by His Majesty King Jon of House Stark, The King of the North," and he hears how his men said the same thing together, 'The King in the North'
"What, your men are parrots who say what you say," she said laughing, but Wylis, ignoring the comment instead gave her the letter from his king.
"Wait outside," she said, taking the letter.
Laena Waters POV
Laena was reading Jon's letter, and she couldn't believe what she was reading. Walking dead, giants, giant spiders, and White Walkers were marching towards his kingdom, and he needed her help. From the south, the six kingdoms were plotting to invade him. She knew that he was an honorable man, a man of word, and she owed him a blood debt. Jon and his Unsullied saved her and her army from Khal Jhaqo's army a year and a half ago, and now he was collecting the debt. A debt that could only be paid in this way. But now she had to tell her captains and lieutenants that were in the tent.
"My captains! My lieutenants! I have just received a letter from King Jon Stark. The boy...no, the man who saved us a long time ago from Khal Jhaqo and his army."
"What does the kid king want," said Cletus, one of the most recent members of the company. An arrogant jester, from Westeros, and mainly, a relative of House Tully. Distant relative. She knew that the Tully family hated Jon, and he will surely be a problem.
"Jon Stark is our friend, and if his kingdom is in danger it is our duty to help him, " Leontes said her second in command. A great man and he would be a great partner for her if only his heart did not belong to, Taralin, a simple soldier, but who is a great friend of hers. She had even thought of lying with him once, but she gave up when she discovered their love.
"We have a contract with Norvos, and we must not break it."
"Sometimes the blood contracts are more important than the one on paper," said Bors, the oldest and wisest of the company, almost a father to her. He was in charge of the contracts and the money.
"I thought you were sellswords, not sentimentalists, ready to run into the rescue of a bastard..." But Laena, tired of her chatter, hit him in the face with the apple of the sword. Cletus immediately tried to draw his sword, but she pointed it straight at his throat.
"Make another move and you're dead. I don't like threats, and I don't like those who question my authority and the will of the company. If you don't like it, get out of my company."
Cletus gets up, and recomposing himself he said, "I'm leaving. I don't want to be in this company of losers, who wants to go and fight for a bastard, usurper, son of a..." but he couldn't finish that, Bors cut off his head.
"I never liked this idiot. But to hear him insulting our friend, to whom we owe our lives, I don't like it," he said.
"Are we all in agreement? Do we help the King in the North?"
"YES!" Everyone agreed.
"Let him in."
"We accept it. Tomorrow morning we leave. Where are your ships?"
"Pentos."
"Well then. Tomorrow we leave for Pentos."
"We should arrive in the North in about a week or two," said the Lord.
Laena nodded, "My men will show you your tent." And he left.
"Let's continue." And everyone started celebrating again.
Daenerys POV
Daenerys was in the courtyard, training with Arya. It had been a month since Jon left for the wall, and since then she has been busy with the politics of the kingdom. She couldn't believe that the work of a king was so difficult.
Today she decided to train before the meeting with the council, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't concentrate. And because of that, because of the mistakes she made, she lost her balance and fell to the ground.
Arya began to circle her, with the tip of the sword crawling against the floor, and said, "You're distracted and that's not good. As I told you in war you would be dead if the castle was attacked you would be dead," and then pointing the sword at the throat he said, "Now I have your head. What will you do with my sword pointed at your throat?"
Daenerys knew that she had made a mistake by not being concentrated, but Arya was a bit harsher, more harsh than usual. But Dany decided to react, using her sword, she sent Arya's sword away and rose up.
" Good, but it's not enough," she said, disarming her with a blink of an eye. "The enemy won't wait for you to think about the next move, Daenerys. You must be ready to react in every situation."
Daenerys nodded and approached the table to drink water.
"What do you think, Daenerys? What's afflicting you?"
"Jon," she replied sipping from her cup. "How much I miss it." Sighing added, "He's only been gone a month, and I miss him so much already. I miss him like air, and who knows how long he'll be gone. Some mornings I wake up, feeling sick because I am not in her arms, for not feeling his morning kisses," she replied feeling the tears that were about to come out of her eyes, and she immediately wiped them out.
Arya approached her and hugged her, a surprise, but one that was well accepted.
"Don't worry, Daenerys, my brother is strong. He'll be back very soon. And he'll be back safe and sound."
"it's just that the nightmare I've been having is worrying me."
"As I've already told you, don't worry." Daenerys nodded, and recomposing herself she said, "Now it's time for me to go. The council is waiting for me." And Arya nodded.
As she walked down the hallway, Daenerys felt like a dizziness, as if everything was revolving around her, and she immediately leaned against the wall, trying to fend them, by closing her eyes. She didn't understand what was happening to her, first too many emotions and now this. Maybe it was because she didn't eat and didn't sleep much.
"Your grace," Daenerys heard Missandei's voice call her and run to her. "Are you feeling well?"
"Yes. Just a dizzy," Daenerys said, feeling that it was passing. "I have to go to the meeting of the council. I'm fine, my friend. I'm fine." And she started walking again.
When she arrived at the council room, Daenerys saw that they were already there.
"Good morning, my lords." She greeted them and sat on the place where Jon was supposed to be.
"Good morning, Your Grace," all of them responded by standing up.
"I see that you have already begun. But I hope I haven't missed much."
"No, your grace. We've only just begun," replied his father, the Hand of the King.
"I'm all ears."
"My son left for Essos by order of the king to hire the Hundred Lances. And she should return soon," informed Lord Manderly, the Master of the fleet, one of the most loyal lords in the North and a loyal supporter of Jon.
"I'm glad. This will mean we'd soon have more men defending the North," she replied.
"And this is one of the major problems we will have to discuss today, Your Grace," said Lord Karstark, Master of Coin. He had been in this position for more than thirty years and the kingdom has always had a good economic balance, and Jon trusted him very much, so Daenerys could not understand what the problem might be considering that the North still maintains a stable large army, and the people have food.
So she asked, "And why would that be a problem?"
"Winter is coming, your grace, and we don't have the resources to maintain another army in Winterfell. And especially if it's true that the dead march on the wall, the armies will have to retreat and defend the capital. We don't have enough barracks to do it, and the ones we have, are not all equipped to withstand a long winter. "
"I understand. Then we'll build more, adapted to the winter, expanding the southern part of the capital."
"That would be the right thing if the money from the treasury wasn't going to end because of the continuous maintenance of the troops in excess and..."
"If you haven't noticed, my lord, our kingdom is under siege from both sides from the North and the South," Daenerys interrupted him feeling irritated by his statements. "And our king is on the front trying to save it. I would suggest you not to imply that the crown uses the money for their pleasures."
" My apologies, your grace, I did not mean..."
But she stopped him again saying, "From my long lessons with the Master of the Dragon Castle, and from what our king told me, the North is full of mountains that are full of riches, that can be exchanged, and sold.
"But the mountain clans are opposing so that we couldn't work there. "
"Then send messengers to their leaders and summon them to court. I will take care of them," said Daenerys firmly, and feeling her confidence grow when her father nodded and smiled at her.
"Is there anything else?" she asked.
"Ramsey Bolton," said her father, and she knew what he was going to say. "Our spies have informed us that he and his men have left more dead women in the brothels of the North."
"We have to do something," said Daenerys tired that they always escaped from justice.
"Your grace. With the king at the front and the army with him, we can't start a war. House Bolton and his Allies have 8 thousand men. If we send the Unsullied, we will be exposed."
Daenerys nodded and sighed, "We will await the return of the King. I'm tired if there's nothing else I'd like to retire."
When everyone shook their heads Daenerys dismissed the council, remaining alone with her father.
"Are you okay Daenerys?" asked her father, when she put her hand on her face and sighed again, closing her eyes.
"Yes, Only a bit tired. How did I go, Father?"
"Wonderfully, Dany. But now we have some very important matters to discuss. Just the two of us."
"I' m listening," she said, leaning against the back of the chair.
"Before leaving for the expedition, Jon gathered the members of the Council and changed the line of succession," her father said, sitting next to her and pulling out a document.
Daenerys was initially confused about what her father was telling her, but when she started reading, she couldn't believe it, and above all, she couldn't get the words out of her mouth.
"Jon named you his heir, putting you in the line of succession until you have a child. And after you, his sister Arya."
Daenerys felt her breathing increased, as she felt a lot of different emotions, and many thoughts passed through her mind, but she decided to give voice to one of them precisely. Something she and Jon talked about.
"Was this your idea?" Daenerys asked, looking him in the eye.
"Of course not, daughter. It was all his. How can you think of something like that?"
" See father, before leaving Jon told me he had a heated argument with you, and how you threatened him to find another wife if he hadn't' t laid with me before leaving, because you would dissolve the marriage," Daenerys felt as if the blood boiled in her, the heat growing and anger awakening.
"Daenerys. What I told him, I did it only to push him to do what his heart wanted.
" And what is it that his heart wanted, Father? Since you think you know him so well?"
"You. He always did, and after the wedding, he wanted you even more. But he respected your will, not to want him. I saw it in his eyes, Daenerys, how much he loved you, from the very first moment. How he behaved when he was close to you. Or when you told him that you loved that monster of Daario," and Daenerys was sick only to hear his name.
"I knew from the beginning that you and Jon would get married. And that summer of ten years ago, it confirmed it to me." His father said, and Daenerys smiled remembering it. they were so young. She was only 7 and he was 8. And even then Daenerys knew that he would become a great king, and that time she was even jealous when she saw how the girls looked at him, while he told one of his little stories. One that moment she wanted to get up and put all those girls in place, saying that he was her. But then everything changed. She grew, and he grew up too, and they saw each other less and less, almost forgetting about each other. Or at least, apparently only she forgot of him when she fell in love with a monster.
"Daenerys..." called her father, bringing her back from her memories.
"I was just immersed in my thoughts, remembering those moments. However, father, to reassure you. It was I who took the first step. And know that I have no intention of giving up the wonderful husband I have. Outside and inside the bed."
"I'm happy about that. But the reason I showed you the document is to warn you about Lady Catelyn Tully." Of course, that fish bitch will surely do something stupid now that Jon is gone.
"Daenerys, she still doesn't know about this document, about how her children were disinherited. Be very careful. I'll try to protect you as long as I can, but I'm not always in the capital, or at night," her father said and kissed her on the forehead.
"Father," Daenerys call him before he left.
"Yes."
"Can you tell mother to come to the capital? I miss her, and I'm sure that the King's Mother will also agree." Daenerys didn't know why, but it's as if her body needed the presence of her mother.
Her father nodded and left.
Daenerys sighed and decided to go to the Godswood, to pray. Something she usually didn't do, but now she had to do.
When she arrived in the Godswood, Daenerys felt the great peace and quiet that was there and sat on the trunk of the weirdwood. And she closed her eyes. She was feeling so good here. But even in this peace and quiet, she could not help but think about that destroyed village, and all the dead that were there. Her skin shivered remembering that. And then there was Jon. He fought like a wolf and a dragon merged together, against the enemies that were surrounding him. And then the icy arrow that hit his chest...
Daenerys didn't want to think about that scene or what could happen.
Taking a breath, Daenerys put her hand on the Weirwood Tree, starting to pray.
"Old Gods of the North, please protect my Jon from the dangers, and let him return safely to my arms, for my life is nothing without him. And make sure that my womb is already carrying our baby. The fruit of our love."
Suddenly, Ghost came in front of her, and Daenerys, almost fell to the ground from the fright, and when he began to lick her on the face Daenerys giggled.
Then while she was on the ground, Ghost put his head on her belly, and Daenerys caressing him, said, "You miss your master, aren't you, little one?", and sighing she added, "I miss him too," feeling a tear come down, and she squeezed her eyes to prevent other to come.
"Daenerys!" She heard her name called. And looking up, she saw that it was Missandei approaching her.
"What is it?"
"A foreigner has arrived, and she would like to talk to you."
"Where is she?
"She's in the great hall waiting for you, and there's also Grey Worm, with the Unsullied."
As she got up, she ran straight to the keep and into the great hall, entering she saw a woman in red waiting for her, and when she saw her, she said bowing her head, "Valar Morghulis, Queen Daenerys!"
"Valar Dohaeris!" responded Daenerys, and asked, "Who are you?"