Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to the Ice and Fire Novels, Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon TV shows. However, I decided to have a little play around with the characters. I do not earn any money from writing these stories, it is for my entertainment and is something I like to share.
Davos II
Sailing up the Last River was a tricky business. The ship was built for the high seas, not windy Rivers. Fortunately the river they were following was wide and deep, well it was at the start. After half a day they dropped Arya off so she could get a head start and make her way on foot and horseback. After that they continued to sail up the river until it was too shallow to continue, they lowered the rowing boats which held half of the sailors while the other half could walk. This allowed for them to go faster as the path was only wide enough to safely walk two abreast, and even then the roots of the trees made the travelling hard going. Eventually after a days walk, they met the Kingsroad, which meant they could pick up the pace and head south to Winterfell in the hope they would beat the Unsullied due to their lack of numbers. He just hoped Jon was there and he would be trusted.
On the morning of second day on the Kingsroad, Davos heard a sound, one he recognised from his nightmares yet was hoping to hear, the screeching of a dragon. He looked up, the canopy of trees almost blocking his view of the skies, but the noise was getting louder. A darkness descended and the dragon flew over them, who Davos instantly recognised to be Drogon. He was flying north, towards the wall and Davos couldn't tell if there were a rider on his back as the trees were blocking most of his vision. Although he wanted to turn around and march north, his instinct told him to continue south to Winterfell, after all, that was where he was to meet with Arya and Winterfell was where the Unsullied were descending on, he went with his instinct and continued south. This turned out to be the right course of action as only a few hours later, he heard the dragon returning from the north, except this time when the dragon flew above them, instead of continuing south, he landed in a small clearing just in front of them. The men from the ship, who had never seen a dragon before cowered, some screamed and tried to run.
"Stop!" Davos ordered the men. "He won't hurt you." he called out, hoping he was right. The men stopped and watched as did Davos as two men climbed down from the beast. One had black curly hair, all dressed in black, the other was tall, red-haired and wild looking, all dressed in furs.
"Jon, Tormund." Davos cried out.
"Ser Davos!" Jon smiled as he walked over, removing his gloves before giving Davos a bear-hug.
Tormund nodded. "Davos." he said clapping him on the back with a hearty thump.
"Arya told us you'd be on the Kingsroad, so we looked for you on the way up to Castle Black." Jon explained. "We've come to rescue you."
"Ha!" Tormund laughed, to which Davos noticed Jon throw his friend a dirty look.
"Tormund is offering to escort your friends to Winterfell while I fly you back on Drogon. We'll be there in an hour. A hot bath, good food and a warm bed will be waiting for you."
"Not that you'll get much fucking sleep." Tormund complained, Davos frowned in confusion. "You don't know? Jon is a married man now. He's making up for the years of celibacy."
Davos looked at Jon in surprise. "You found love?" he smiled.
Jon frowned and shook his head. "It wasn't a love match, political." he sighed. "But it was necessary under the circumstances."
"Didn't need much persuading if you ask me. They're like fucking rabbits." Tormund laughed.
Davos thought for a moment when he realised there was only one option who would be political. "Sansa?" Davos asked and Jon nodded. "Isn't that..." he started.
"Fucking weird." Tormund nodded.
"Bran isn't going to like that." Davos said solemnly.
"I know." Jon nodded. "Tyrion annulled their marriage. We didn't know who Bran had in mind for her, to prevent him marrying her to a southern Lord who might try to take Winterfell and hurt her, I married her. But we can talk about that later. Do you want to go to Winterfell tonight?"
"I'll take care of your men, one of the other Freefolk is coming to lead them with a horse. I'll ride back to Winterfell or the Crofter's Village, it depends if the Unsullied get to Winterfell before me." Tormund told him.
"How many Freefolk?" Davos asked.
"About five hundred." Jon replied. "We've got fifteen hundred from the northern houses, but we've still got some left. Sansa and I are having to go to each house on dragonback as we can't use ravens."
"Won't Bran see this conversation?" Davos asked.
Jon shook his head. "My bond with Drogon blocks out anything that happens around me unless he wargs into an animal. Drogon keeps on top of that. We had to send Ghost away because Bran was using him." he said sadly, which earned a snort from Drogon in the background.
"Does he get jealous?" Davos whispered to Jon.
"Only of Ghost." Jon laughs. "He seems to like Sansa, although I still wouldn't trust him around her without me."
"Hmm." Davos nodded, unsure whether he was comfortable with the idea of leaving his men in the hands of Tormund, but he knew the wildling was a good leader, so he turned to his men. "Listen, this man hear is Tormund Giantsbane. He is going to take you part of the way to Winterfell and his friend will take you the rest of the way. Listen to him as if he were me."
"And if you're lucky, I'll tell you all about the night I fucked a bear." Tormund shouted out, which caught the attention of the sailors.
"Well that did the trick." Jon laughed.
Davos looked up at Drogon. "He's gotten bigger." he frowned. "How do I get up?"
"There's a rope ladder. I've also got a saddle with a harness to strap you in. you'll be safe up there." Jon told him, pointing to the ladder.
"You first." Davos told Jon, looking at him with some trepidation as Jon swiftly climbed the rope ladder and sat on what Davos saw was a seat of some type. Davos followed suit and found himself being strapped into a harness. In front of him were two handles.
"I'd hold onto those if I were you." Jon warned him, which Davos happily obliged as the dragon ran three paces and jumped in the air, and spread his wings above the canopy.
Being seated on the back of a dragon was unlike anything else Davos had ever experienced. Firstly he was in a comfortable chair, which allowed Drogon to fly much faster than if they were clinging on like the Dragon Queen used to. Davos suspected the were travelling at least a hundred knots, such was the ferocity of the icy cold wind in his face. The dipping movement was similar to that of a ship in stormy seas, which Davos didn't mind at all, it also gave him a good overview of the world beneath them, which looked stunning and scary all in one. Every few seconds he grasped on harder to the handles in front of him.
Davos had expected Jon to fly directly to Winterfell, but first he bore west over the Crofter's Village and then headed south east, flying right over Winterfell and began to follow the White Knife which led to White Harbour. They didn't fly all of the way there, only far enough to give them an aerial view of the enemy, which was impossible to miss. A great hoard of men heading towards the Barrowlands. They were around a day off the Kingsroad, which Davos knew would be when the pace of the Unsullied would quicken as they wouldn't have to contend with the mud and shit they'd been walking through over the last few days which would have slowed them down. Davos was glad they'd had the good sense to sail as far north as they did, it had shortened their journey considerably, as they hadn't had to deal with the port of White Harbour and had been able to use their ship along the Last River instead of abandoning it at sea like the Unsullied had done. After he and Jon had inspected their opponents from afar, they flew north west to Winterfell, where Davos had to admit, he was looking forward to a nice comfortable bed.
As they arrived at Winterfell, Davos could see a flurry of activity. Trenches were being dug around the outside of the castle, trees were being felled in the woods nearby, the noise from the smithy seemed to dominate the air. Jon and Davos landed just outside of the castle walls where they both climbed down the ladder and headed off inside. Drogon took flight once more and flew west towards the Wolfswood and beyond.
"Where's he going?" Davos asked.
"Going west to fish. I think he's readying himself for the siege. I'm sure he's fattening himself up." Jon laughed. "He knows I don't like him feeding on the land. So he flies out to sea where he doesn't compete with the farmers."
"Instead he competes with the sailors and fishermen?" Davos raised an eyebrow.
"Is there much call for seal meat?" Jon frowned.
Davos shook his head. "Not to my knowledge, but there are some strange islands in the shivering sea where I haven't been." he shrugged.
"They don't hunt for seals around Bear Island, which is where he's been going the last few days." Jon told him.
"How do you know?" Davos asked.
Jon frowned. "I don't know exactly how, but I know where he's been, his moods. I don't hear words or see pictures, but I sense things around him. It is very strange and new to me. I've got Tyrion going through some old books that I've found to see if that can shed any light on what I'm experiencing, to see if it is normal."
"There's nothing normal about bein connected to a dragon." Davos shrugged. "But yer a Targaryen, so you are different, you've got funny blood." he began to laugh as Jon joined in. "What am I supposed to call you now? Are you using your Targaryen name now?" he asked.
"Only when I have to." Jon sighed. "I had to when Sansa and me got married. I suppose I might have to use it again."
"And what about the Freefolk?" Davos asked. "I heard you were King beyond the wall. What's going to happen with you and Sansa when everything goes back to normal?"
"I don't think it will go back to normal." Jon said sadly. "Bran is trying to take the north and I think he wants me dead."
"Aye, that he does." Davos nodded as they entered the courtyard. "He hasn't told me as such, but I saw the scorpions pointed your way at sea. He's never had those before when Drogon used to leave Dragonstone just to feed. Do you know what happened to the Dragon Queen?" he asked.
"Drogon took her to Dragonstone and left the body there until I got there. We burned her. It was like he was waiting for me to give the orders. But he needed to grieve for her first before he searched for me." Jon said, before glancing across the courtyard and his face lit up in a way Davos had never seen before. Davos followed his gaze and there stood Sansa, looking radiant, clearly waiting for her husband.
Davos bowed his head as Sansa approached. "Your Grace." he said.
"Ser Davos, it is good to see you again." Sansa smiled turning to Jon. "Where's Tormund?"
"He swapped places with Ser Davos." Jon replied.
"He took pity on the bones of an old man and offered me his feather bed for the night while he rode on in my place." Davos added, examining the body language between Jon and Sansa, which had never been like siblings. Before, they always looked at each other as if they wanted to be near, but couldn't stand getting too close, now the barrier had been broken and they looked like any happily married couple. The old romantic in Davos was happy for them both, they had been through so much and deserved each other. "I suppose I ought to say congratulations." he smiled at them.
"Thank you." Sansa nodded. "A marriage born out of necessity, but I believe we can make it work." she glanced over at Jon, trying to hide a look on her face which suddenly made Davos uncomfortable, and was now believing what Tormund had said about the pair was true and was in part, wishing he hadn't agreed to the swap with him.
"I'm afraid I didn't get you a wedding gift." Davos apologised. "It was a bit short notice."
"I think one hundred men is a far more useful gift than silk or wine." Sansa said. "Come in, you must be freezing." she added as they headed towards Sansa's solar.
"Where's Arya?" Davos asked as they walked into the room and sat down in front of the fire.
"She's with Lord Tyrion." Sansa replied.
"They're going through some books I gave them." Jon explained.
"What books?" Davos frowned.
"Just some I found on Dragonstone." Jon shrugged. "I found a secret library." Davos' face fell. "What?" Jon asked.
"One of the reasons we were supposed to surround Dragonstone was to make sure nobody took anything from the island. Bran was very specific in what we were to watch out for. He said there were some special books there which he wanted to read and was waiting for Drogon to leave before he could take them. I don't think he expected you back so soon. And no offence, you are the last person he'd expect to take books." Davos looked at him in confusion. "Why books?"
"I needed to control Drogon, I'm not well versed in High Valyrian, well I wasn't. I took them as they looked like the writer was having the same issues as me." he said.
"Who's books were they?" Davos asked.
"I took about fifty. I've only looked at one of them. It was a diary of High Valyrian lessons by Lucerys Velaryon. I doubt it would be his." Jon shrugged.
"And the others?" Davos asked.
"I haven't looked." Jon admitted.
"Hopefully they are just books which are copies of ones already in the Citadel. Otherwise Bran is going to send people here for those books." Davos warned.
"Who else knows?" Jon asked.
"It was my mission to watch out for smugglers. It was a secret, I don't think even the hand knows." Davos told them.
"Let's hope we've not got them then. We don't need anymore trouble." Sansa said. "Ale?" she asked.
"Don't mind if I do." Davos smiled.
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