Hey folks so ended up writing another new fic, yeah it's a problem. Still expect the next update for Reading: Shadow of Fairy Tail to come up soon, and following that the next update for A Maelstrom among Specters. Now on to some real quick notes about this story.
Obviously it is a Naruto Game of Thrones Crossover, The Uzumaki family in this fic possess an OC island that will have further description in the story. Any real questions following the first chapter I'm happy to respond to reviews so feel free.
Lastly I want to strongly suggest hopping onto AizentheGoats' discord server /BAZzmaQF
Anyway I hope you enjoy the story and stay tuned for more!
Chapter One
The Lord of Green Waters
Narrow Sea
298 AC
Naruto
He couldn't fight the grin off his face as the Crimson Lady cut through the rough waters in pursuit of its prey. Naruto had grown to love the thrill of chasing his targets down in the Narrow Sea. Some of his closest companions claimed it was because it was in his blood. Others simply that it was his mother's nature coming through him. Whichever it was, Naruto embraced his nature fully as his ship led five others to surround the fleeing pirate vessels.
"I don't like being this far south. We'd probably see Tyrosh from here if it weren't for the storm blowing up south of us." A voice called Naruto back from his anticipation of catching his quarry.
"You don't like anything as far as I can tell Kakashi. You complain about the water, the waves, the sky, the directions. What else annoys you today?" Naruto called out to one of his closest mentors. The man was like an elder brother more than a teacher at most times and both bickered playfully to fill the time.
"You Uzumakis are just too fond of sailing. That and fighting. Just like your mother." Kakashi groused, though a flicker of amusement danced in his eyes.
Turning his head back he watched as they closed in more and more on the fleeing vessels. The spray of dark seawater continued to soak the entirety of his ship and crew but Naruto didn't mind. His goal was so close now.
"They'll fight to the last, even if they are running now, once they realize they can't escape the Crimson Lady they'll turn about and fight." Kakashi informed.
"Good. I want them to. This whole issue ends today. They should have gone away after I killed that bastard Tychor last year. They just don't know when they are beaten." Naruto said.
Kakashi could only nod at that. His young lord had proven to the realm his valor the year before, and more importantly to Naruto he believed, he had proven to be the son of the valiant Kingslayer Minato Lannister and Kushina Uzumaki the Crimson Lady as she was called with some respect and fear.
Naruto was now only fifteen but had essentially been lord of his house since his tenth birthday. Though he had only truly ruled since he returned from his time as Lord Stannis Baratheon's service following the Battle of Green Waters. Naruto had led his flotilla bravely into the center of the pirate's larger fleet and, when others expected he na dhis forces to be surrounded and cut down, they had instead set nearly half of the pirate lord Tychor's fleet on fire with casks of wildfire. Something his mother had also been known to use to great effect. It was in the bloody ship to ship melee fighting that followed that Naruto took the head of Tychor himself in battle. He'd been knighted in the presence of the King the following week, much to the stoic pride of Stannis and joy of his house's remaining members.
"It's time." Naruto said in a hiss bringing Kakashi's attention back to the present sea battle. Unlike the battle that had earned Naruto his knighthood at such a young age, this fight would be rather easy. Three undermanned pirate ships, the last of Tychor's captains under his banner, facing Naruto's current flotilla of nearly fifteen vessels. Two thirds had been chasing the pirates while Naruto led the faster ships under his command to cut their escape off, and his strategy had paid off well.
"Bows." Naruto commanded.
"Archers!" Kakashi bellowed out over the deck. Behind them the signalman waved his flags to notify the other ships of their command.
The two groups of ships neared one another and just as Kakashi had theorized the pirates turned to try and fight. No doubt they would rather be killed in battle than suffer the punishment Naruto had put in place for those flying the banner of Tychor's fleet following the man's defeat and death. Few men would surrender knowing death by drowning was to be their fate.
Soon the archers began their exchange, Naruto's taller ships had the advantage here once again. Kakashi frowned though at the sight of a pair of their own men taking unlucky arrows to the face and arm.
"As soon as we are alongside them I want the men ready to board." Naruto commande getting Kakashi to nod as he took off down below to call up the rest of their men. They wouldn't be needed to help row any more. Now was time for they're preferred work.
Naruto drew his own blade, the sword of his house, and made his way forward to join in the boarding of the pirate ship as they scraped alongside the other ship. With efficiency from training and prior experience in similar battles over the last few years, the crew of Naruto's ship began storming across to seize the smaller ship. Where once the shouts and bellows of men had largely been drowned out by the sounds of the waves and wind, now the roar of men and sound of clashing steel filled the air. The thump of blade on shield and wet sound of blade on flesh occasionally breaking through the din.
With a roar of his own Naruto leapt the small gap and fell upon the pirates himself. He was tall for fifteen, but was still an adolescent only and the crew of this enemy ship towered over him. It didn't help them though. Naruto had been trained in the blade by Kakashi. A man described as striking like lightning with his own blade. Naruto was not yet to his mentor's skill but he was talented and trained rigorously, much more than most of those he came against.
The pirate crews were butchered quickly, the speed of the fight nearly struck Naruto as disappointing being as he had hunted these three ships specifically for the better part of a month and a half. Still, to be finally rid of the last of Tychor's Red Banners was sweet in it's own way.
"That went easier than I expected." Naruto said to Kakashi who had led the charge onto the other ship.
"Yes well, I think it was plenty enough a challenge. Can we take your new prizes and go back home now? I told you before I don't like benign this far south. I-" Kakashi complained only to be cut off.
"Can almost see Tyrosh, if only the storm wasn't blowing in from the south. Yes, yes. You complained less about Tyrosh when we were sailing among the Stepstones last year. Actually you seemed excited about visiting the port there before returning to Dragonstone. What changed?" Naruto had turned to his mentor.
Kakashi winced as Naruto began to catch on. He tried to think of something to distract the boy with before putting it out of his mind. As a child the young redhead had been easy to spin around with a few words, always racing from one topic or thought to another. Four years under the tutelage of Stannis had changed him. He still was far more energetic than any student of Stannis Baratheon had a right to be, but the Lord of Storm's End had tempered him into a model heir.
"I have a girl there." Kakashi admitted with a wince as he finished wiping his blade clean.
"Of course, I should have known it was a woman." Naruto scoffed.
"You're not wrong but I mean I have a shield there. One that is rather unhappy with me for leaving her mother." Kakashi said somberly. He looked up after a beat of silence only to find Naruto staring intently at him.
"You're lying." He said.
"No I'm not!" Kakashi argued.
"No, no, you're taking me for a fool I know it." Naruto once again said.
"It's not something I'd play at Naruto." Kakashi grumbled.
"Well now we have to go to Tyrosh!" Naruto cackled as he slid his cleaned blade back into it's sheath.
"No!, erm, No. We should return to Dragon's Rest then on to Dragonstone. There is business to handle and we must send word that the last of the Red Banners have been crushed." Kakashi said suddenly standing.
Naruto simply smiled before slipping past Kakashi and out the door up toward the helm of the ship. Kakashi frowned as Naruto ordered the ship's to head north for Midport on the island of Dragon's Rest, the Uzumaki ancestral seat.
"It would have been nice to visit, I suppose, but I really don't need a little girl ordering me around like when I last visited." Kakashi mumbled to himself as he sat down. Little Syra was far too much like her mother Anko.
Pentos
298 AC
Daenerys
Dany listened to the distant sounds of children playing the street beyond the walls of Illyrio Mopatis' estate. It was often that she wished to trade places with one of them and finally be free of the weight of her family name and bloodline bearing upon her. Looking further out, over the city of Pentos and past it's harbor into the sea she could almost picture the lands across the Narrow Sea.
She had never seen them herself. Not that she could recall. From what stories she had been told by her brother, it seemed almost mystical. From the tale of her brother and mother, who was only beginning to show her pregnancy with Dany at the time, fleeing to Dragonstone. TO the story of Lady Kushina Uzumaki, supposedly secretly loyal to the Targaryens as her family always had been, smuggling them out of the castle and on to Dragon's Rest where Daenerys would be born, but their mother would sadly perish, despite the work of Lady Tsunade from the House of Red Hands.
Lady Kushina was an odd woman in topic for Dany's brother. Evidently the woman was married to the man that had killed their father, and yet she was the one who had smuggled the queen and prince and princess first from Dragonstone, then following the Queen's death on to Braavos where Dany had spent the first several years with her memory.
Ser Willem Darry had been their guardian those days. He had told almost as many stories as her brother Viserys, however his stories seemed less fantastic. When asked about Lady Kushina he seemed bothered. However he always said the same simple thing. That House Uzumaki had always been loyal to House Targaryen and Lady Kushina was a good woman. That and that they were all only alive because of her actions. He never spoke anymore on the matter.
From what Illyrios' supposed agents gathered lords from across the Seven Kingdoms were just like the Uzumaki. Secretly they toasted to the health of their exiled King and Princess. Their wives sewing dragon banners in hidden rooms for when Viserys led a returning army to retake his throne.
Daenerys had no way of knowing the truth, but still she doubted the truth of Illyrio's words. Even as the man's two slaves made her to look the part of a princess, and she wore the beautiful dress the man had purchased for her, she couldn't help but wonder what it was he gained from supporting them.
Her thoughts on the matter came to an end as her brother came to retrieve her to meet the barbarian horse lord. She couldn't think on the matters of Westeros any longer, instead her mind centered on the fear she held for the barbarian her brother schemed to sell her to.
Midport
Dragon's Rest
298 AC
Naruto
Naruto grinned broadly as he stepped off the ship and made his way into the city of Midport. Initially the city was little more than a few wharves and docks for the Targaryen bannermen to use, however Dragon's Rest proved a fine resting place for more than the beasts that gave it its name. Since the Targaryen's and their followers had migrated to Dragonstone from Valyria so long ago, this island had acted as a stopping off point between the Valyrian Empire and it's furthest fortress on Dragonstone. Here a small outpost was also built along with a large stable for the Targaryen's chosen steeds.
This isle had been the seat of the Uzumaki family for centuries. Before even Aegon's conquest of Westeros it had been a trade center for those moving between the seven kingdoms and Essos, or simply through the Narrow Sea. Centered almost perfectly between Dragonstone and Pentos in some of the stormiest seas travelled, Dragon's Rest grew quickly. By now it sported two sizeable settlements on either end of the island. The larger city of Midport, aptly named for the midpoint of many journeys, took nearly half the small island's total land up by itself. Far smaller in size but far more defensible was Stormtyde Hall. Originally Stormtyde Fort, the ancestral hall of Naruto's family and one he hadn't seen in nearly five years.
"Cousin!" A voice cried, catching Naruto's attention among the bustling crowds of the port quarter.
Naruto looked for the speaker and smiled even broader at the sight of his cousin Karin. They had once been close as children, when her father and mother Nagato and Konan often came to Dragonstone for one matter or other to handle with his mother. These days, to be an Uzumaki meant you were few in number, with only Karin, Nagato, and Naruto being blood members of the House. Each sporting the similar red hair and purple Valyrian eyes.
"Cousin, you look well for having just seen battle." Karin said as she embraced him.
"And you look out of place outside your library." Naruto said causing her to lightly slap at his side.
"Always having the last laugh. Well perhaps I should run along back to my library and let you escort yourself on to the hall." She responded.
"Oh please, as if you aren't dying to hear all the bloody details of my campaign." He laughed back.
"Well, get on with it then." Karin said as she hooked her arm in his and led him toward the waiting group of guards and servants awaiting them.
Naruto shook his head with a fond smile. His cousin Karin was always the puchy kind and with her father typically ill and her mother often tending to him she had grown up in a similar fashion to Naruto. Being practically raised by her tutors and mentors. Both seemed better for it according to Nagato. Always making light of his poor health with jokes about how he could rest easily knowing the future of the house would be ensured with the two of them.
There of course was the fact that the man assumed the two would marry one another in time. It was likely as well. Should Karina and Naruto marry their children would then divide the lordship of Dragonstone and Dragon's Rest quite easily and consolidate the gains his mother had secured for the family during Robert's Rebellion. It wasn't an unappealing match to naruto either. Karin was a year older than himself and was clearly growing into an attractive if a bit of an odd, woman. Essentially she was the quintessential Uzumaki woman something his cousin Nagato bragged on endlessly when they saw one another.
Having finished with his tale about finishing off the Red Banners, and noticing they were yet to reach even halfway to Stormtyde Hall, Naruto asked Karin about the health of her father. Sadly the girl seemed to deflate at the topic worrying him.
"He has become bedridden once more. This time is so much worse though. His hair has gone thin and white and his skin has turned gray. It's as if he's dead already or at the least been cursed with decades of time taken from him. The maesters say they have never seen something like it before. Mother has done everything from bringing in priests out of Pentos to praying to the First Men's Old Gods, but Maester Portar says that it is likely he has only a few weeks or months left." Karin said sadly as the wheelhouse bumped along the rocky road to her home.
"I'm sorry Karin, you know that if there was anything I could do I wouldn't hesitate." Naruto said as he wrapped his arms around her. The girl leaned into the embrace and sighed at the thought of losing her father.
"He sleeps practically all the time, I haven't heard his voice in over a week and this is the first time I've been away from the Hall. Is this what it was like when your father passed, Naruto?" Karin spoke into the padded cloth of Naruto's blue and red caftan muffling her voice, but he made it out clear enough.
It sounded much like his own father's passing. After killing the Mad King, his father Minato had attempted to return and escort the Prince's wife and children from the keep and to the harbor for safety. At least that was what he said afterward. He never made it that far because the Kingsguard, his own cousin attacked him while his back was turned. Insults had been thrown back and forth, evidently especially by Naruto's mother, but in the end no-one could change the past. His father, already weakened and ill from his time in the dungeons of King's Landing had very nearly succumbed to the wound. Though he did survive, long enough to sire Naruto and even to live and see his fifth birthday, he had been much like Nagato. Often bedridden and on the cusp of death. It was why his mother's friend Tsunade had remained initially after helping to ensure Naruto's birth was a healthy one.
"In the end yes. However I can't recall a great deal of it because I was a little child at the time. I just remember him asking for me to come to his chambers so he could read to me from time to time when he was too ill to get up." Naruto answered after a brief silence.
"I'm sad to say I have no memory of your father. Only a few of your mother as well. Just that she was like you I think, but womanly." Karin said.
"Wouldn't it be that I am like my mother but manly instead?" He asked getting a small laugh.
"It would if you were a man. Still just a boy I think." Karin said causing Naruto to make falsely affronted sounds as he clutched at his chest.
"Still, you really do remind me of her. Especially with how you cheer me up cousin." Karin said in a more serious tone. The pair embraced once again at that.
"Of course, I think I spread joy everywhere I step, you know." Naruto claimed with false arrogance.
The pair of Uzumaki continued to talk as they made their way to Stormtyde Hall. Already it was easy to pick out the black walls of the keep out amongst the white cliffs of Dragon's Rest's eastern coast. The keep was tall and intimidating. Nothing compared to the towering black fortress of Dragonstone, but the Hall was a formidable bastion in it's own right. As the group passed through the handful of gate houses along the road up to castle's bridge, Naruto couldn't help but reminisce about the last time he had taken this path. It was just before he was to go and squire for Stannis Baratheon. A visit to say goodbye.
Cresting the incline Naruto looked out the opening in the carriage to enjoy the sight of his ancestral home. The first stop they came to was the barbican. An outer gatehouse before the long narrow causeway that acted as the only entry to the castle proper. At its end a drawbridge formed the last segment of bridge they crossed before entering the castle itself. For a lesser noble house, Stormtyde Hall was a sizeable place. Passing the gatehouse of the castle itself they came to the larger courtyard of the castle. It hadn't changed much in the years he'd been away. The same courtyard, the same grass cropping up between cobblestones older than any human still breathing, the same scent of horses and damp earth and stone from the frequent rains.
"I didn't realize you missed this place so much Naruto. I'm almost jealous of some weeds and cobblestones." Kari teased getting Naruto to smile at her.
"There is just something about being back. I love Dragonstone, but there is something special about this place." Naruto said. Karin nodded fondly. She understand somewhat. The thought of one day leaving Dragon's Rest for years at a time wasn't one she enjoyed.
"We should hurry up to father's chambers and see him. Perhaps he will be awake and can welcome you." Karin said as Naruto helped her from the carriage.
The pair made their way up the many stairs between the first courtyard and their destination. First climbing the inner wall to the upper yard before the stairs to the great hall itself. Finally the long flight up the Keep tower to Nagato's chambers. Though Naruto did have to stop briefly at a window and admire the old dragon yard. Once used for Targaryen dragons landing and taking refuge in the stables built for them when facing a storm. Now the yard was mostly a garden though a corner had been given over to a sparring ring. Naruto knew both Nagato and his own mother had been avid fighters throughout their lives and had both insisted the moment they were the ones in charge that a private training ground be built within. Kakashi had trained him there on their times visiting the island and Naruto suddenly found himself wishing he had brought his mentor along rather than leaving him to look after the flotilla in Midport.
Eventually the pair made it to Nagato's apartments within the tower. Entering the apartments of his cousin Naruto could smell the man before they even reached the bedroom. Karin noticed his slight grimace at the scent and frowned knowing Naruto likely had memories of his own father's passing.
"It smells of death cousin." Naruto whispered in a sombre tone.
"Of course it does. He's dying. I told you that." Karin remarked causing Naruto grimace again at her tone. After sending her an apologetic look Karin knocked on the door and they were called in.
As bad as the smell had been outside the room it nearly bowled Naruto over within. A handful of servants were gathered in the room cleaning up what had clearly been vomit from the floors near the bed. On the bed was a man Naruto recalled once being tall and lanky with wild red hair like all their kin. Now instead he was thin, nearly skeletal, and his hair had grown white as the snow north of the Wall. His eyes, once a pure rich purple like all in their family had turned glassy and looked similar to murky pools of water along the beach back on Dragonstone.
Beside him, sitting halfway onto the bed was the exotic beauty he had made his wife, and Karin's mother. Konan was supposedly once a White Grace in New Ghis before she fled the homeland of her ancestors wishing for a different fate than that of the girls who graduated to becoming Red Graces in the pleasure palaces. She was an elegant and beautiful woman with bright fiery eyes and dark hair tinted blue with dyes. Were she not married to his cousin Naruto couldn't help but imagine trying to coax her into his bed.
"Cousin. Your presence is a gift, though I think it has come at a poor time." Nagato said weakly from his bed.
"Being in your presence again cousin, is the true gift. To be here with family is a gift." Naruto responded. Avoiding the topic of the sick still sloshing in the bucket of the nearby servant.
Naruto gently took the withering man's hand and frowned at feeling the weakness in his cousin's grip. Konan and the Maester were right. Nagato was not long for the world. The man seemed to catch his expression even with his murky eyes as he smiled reassuringly.
"I'm not done with this world just yet, little cousin. Maester Portar says I have mere months, but I believe I can stand for a year at least. I won't be missing your wedding of course. Not when the bride will be my beautiful daughter I think." Nagato choked out a laugh causing Naruto to smile slightly.
"Of course, cousin. Still you will never make it if you don't take your rest. Poor Konan looks fed up with you." Naruto joked getting small smiles from his kin.
Nagato slowly rose to sit and after taking a moment to catch his breath motioned for Konan to retrieve something from the other room. The woman slipped into the other room while Nagato regained his bearings.
"Cousin, I have word from King's Landing. The hand has fallen ill and passed. It seems the king has ridden north to winterfell. We received this not long after you must have set out from Dragonstone with your flotilla. I imagine they are likely on their way back and nearing the capital now." The sickly man explained.
"Nothing happens for the better part of a year since the Green Waters and suddenly while I'm off at sea things start shifting around. What of Lord Stannis?" Naruto asked.
"Nothing on this missive, but I did get word he returned to Storm's End. Not sure why, surely he remains the master of ships. As much he and Robert are known for their dislike of one another there is no-one else I see him trusting with such a role." Nagato claimed.
"True, why would the king ride to winterfell with the death of the hand though. I assume to meet Stark, but that would only mean he plans to make Stark his new Hand. What should we expect from that?" Naruto was up now, and the servants who had been cleaning had long scurried out giving room for the young red head to pace as he liked to do when thinking.
"No doubt Stark will be the new Hand, if not yet, by the time you return home to Dragonstone. Perhaps sailing to the capital would benefit you and the house during this time. Taking stock of lords and whatever they are spinning in that vile web." Nagato held plenty of disdain for the city in his voice. Practically everyone did in private. The capital had long become a cesspool. In more ways than one.
"A good thought. I was needing to meet some contacts within the next few weeks. I need new lumber for more ships as well as repairs. The Red Banners are gone but we lost too many last year and haven't rebuilt to our former strength. I can probably spend several weeks or even months in the city. I might even figure out what the hell is going on between the king and Stannis." Naruto said as he continued to pace.
"Yes. Remember though that it might not be an issue with Robert that has Stannis removed from the capital. It could be a hundred different things so keep your mind open hmm?" Nagato cleared his throat before thankfully taking the cup of water offered by his wife. After taking several small swallows he turned back to his cousin.
"Take Karin with you cousin. She hasn't been to Dragonstone for years and it has been even longer since she has been to the capital. I want you two to spend time with one another like I and Konan did before we wed. I hope to have your actual wedding here on your sixteenth nameday Naruto, so return before then if you will." Nagato said, lifting a hand to stop the protests of his wife and daughter.
"Nagato, surely Karin would be better here in case you pass." Naruto argued quietly.
"Bah, for what good would that do? Why torture my daughter by making her watch me wither and die, little cousin? If thought for a moment Konan would go as well I'd send her off somewhere she could avoid seeing me like this." Nagato had steel in his voice despite it wavering with effort to avoid a painful fit of coughing.
"As you wish then." Naruto said bowing his head slightly. He feared never seeing his cousin again, but it must have been far worse for Karin.
"I'll be staying the night here before returning to Midport tomorrow afternoon. Karin can either come with me or stay here and meet us in the port in a week's time. I'll set out then." Naruto said getting only a weary nod from Nagato.
"Karin you should stay with your parents, I'll have a servant lead me to my chambers for the night." Naruto said as he embraced the girl tightly. She nodded only before moving to the bedside next to her mother.
As Naruto strode out of the room and through the apartments before climbing down the stairs he worried on the thought of his uncle passing. It felt wrogn how little it actually changed as he thought on it. HIs wedding would not come any sooner, or likely be put off any further. His fate of ruling Dragonstone and Dragon's Rest both seemed just as certain as it had last year and the year before. Nagato had always been sickly, and with no sons his cousin had insisted the claim over both isles remain within the Uzumaki.
Rather than immediately going to his chambers, Naruto instead decided to walk the walls of the Dragon Yard. It was disappointing that he could not stay longer and enjoy the castle as he had when he was a young boy. Things were shifting though, especially in the capital. Whatever had Stannis heading for home in the king's absence had Naruto worried. He knew Stannis was a man of duty above all other things. Whatever could force him to leave for his own seat rather than keeping his brother's realm in order had to be serious indeed.
Shrugging the questions he could not answer from his mind Naruto turned to look out over the cliffs and to the sea beyond. Narrow as it was called, even here at the sea's midpoint Naruto could not make out the coast of Essos beyond the horizon. What he could see however was a storm blowing up in the distance.
"Two big storms in as many days." He idly remarked as he watched the beautiful and deadly storm blowing up at the extreme range of his vision.
Pentos
298 AC
Daenerys
The wedding of Daenerys Targaryen and Khal Drogo was to be a grand event. A barbaric display of all the most spectacular parts of Dothraki culture. All forty-thousand riders of Drogo's horde and the uncounted masses of women, children, and slaves had come to the outskirts of the city for the wedding, making all of Pentos' inhabitants terrified. SHe'd been listening to her brother and Magister Mopatis talking about the increase in the guard since the horde had arrived.
"My fellow magisters have more than doubled the guard, but it still doesn't quite settle the minds of the people. I had planned on having the last of Red Banners as part of our forces, however they never made it here. Word from traders is that they were either caught in one of the recent storms and smashed to pieces or caught by the Uzumaki lordling and put to the sword." Illyrio said.
"If they were killed by weather they must not have been very capable sailors." Viserys sneered.
"The Red Banners practically ruled the southern Narrow Sea following the Greyjoy Rebellion. That is until the lordling that Magister Mopatis mentioned burned more than half their fleet with a suicidal attack and removed their 'Pirate King's' head in single combat. They were nothing to scoff at your majesty." Ser Jorah offered. Viserys glanced his way but otherwise ignored the knight in favor of looking out toward the growing city of grass built by the Dothraki.
Ser Jorah Mormont, a knight from Westeros, exiled to Essos for some crime Daenerys knew nothing of, had pledged his sword to her brother's cause the night before. Since then he had shadowed Viserys everywhere, though his eyes seemed to linger more on her than on his new king.
She was unsure of what to think of Jorah. He was from the homeland she never knew and it intrigued her. However he was also a man reaching into his forties and loomed above her anytime he was near. She couldn't bring herself to speak in his presence in most occasions, let alone ask him stories of Westeros.
"I think it best that we get Princess Daenerys wedded off to the Khal before Pentos is bankrupted, hiring sellswords to soothe the mob's worries." Mopatis refocused the conversation.
"He can have her tomorrow for all I care. As long as he pays the price." Her brother said hotly. The Magister sighed slightly but retained his happy demeanor.
"I have told you, all is settled. The Dothraki are of course bound to their a khal, and this one has promised you a crown, you shall have it in time." The Magister offered.
"When?" Viserys snapped.
"When the khal chooses. He will have the princess first, then he must make the procession across the grasses of the Dothraki Sea to present her to the Dosh Khaleen at Vaes Dothrak. Perhaps after that if the omens favor a war." Illyrio tried to soothe the hot-blooded boy.
"Superstitions of Savages only serve to waste my time." The beggar-king again snapped, taking to pacing the floor.
"I counsel you to be patient, Your Grace. The Dothraki are true to their word but do things at their own pace, a lesser man may beg a favor from the khal, but must never presume to berate him." Jorah said, grimacing as the last words left his lips realizing the reaction they would draw.
Viserys, as expected, bristled at the words of the knight and turned his violet glare on the man. "Mind your word's, Mormont. I am no lesser man, I am the king of Westeros. Of an entire continent and all the men, women, and beasts that lie upon it! I am the last dragon and the dragon does not beg!" He cried, causing an amount of spittle to splash on the older man's face and chest.
Ser Jorah remained surprisingly calm from the scolding the young 'king' had given him. He did not flinch or even redden in anger instead he settled for simply lowering his eyes respectfully to his lord. Illyrio seemed to only increase in humor after seeing Viserys' tirade and quietly enjoyed the greasy duck that he tore at with his slick fingers.
'There are no dragons anymore.' Daenerys thought sadly after seeing her brother rage with all the petulant fury of a toddler. Still she didn't dare say such a thing, for fear of waking the dragon, as her brother called it.
Later that night she dreamed that her thoughts were very wrong. It had begun like many of her nightmares had though it felt far more real and terrifying than any before. She was trapped naked and scared as she clumsily fled from her brother beating her. He hit her over and over, and whenever she managed to break away her body felt as if it was thick and pulled down by weights. So Viserys would catch her again and beat her more. He would scream as he hit and kicked her. Bellowing out 'You woke the dragon! You woke the dragon!' again and again with each blow.
Trying to curl in on herself she found her thighs slick with blood and she could do nothing but whimper out cries for it to stop as she shut her eyes tight. Answering her was a terrible ripping sound followed quickly by the crackling of fire. When she opened her eyes her brother was gone and instead she was surrounded by pillars of flame that roared like a beast. Turning her head to the center of the fires she saw only the massive head of a dragon turning slowly to face her. It's eyes glowed as molten metal and as she locked eyes with it she found herself suddenly waking from the nightmare, drenched in sweat. She had never experienced such fear.
That is until the day she was to be wed. The celebrations started at the break of dawn. By the time the sun had fully crested the horizon already the sounds of over a hundred thousand people across the plains outside the walls of Pentos could be heard cheering, laughing, or simply chattering away with one another. At the heart of this massive throng was a raised ramp of earth at the height of which sat the Khal himself, and his bride. Just below them sat the Khal's bloodriders and below them in a place of high honor sat Viserys, Jorah, and Illyrio.
This arrangement clearly angered her brother as the day wore on. By dusk his face had soured into a scowl most fierce. Still he kept his temper in check and made no move to voice the slights he felt made to his person by Drogo.
For her part Dany felt surrounded while also completely alone. She sat apart from everyone else besides her new husband whom had yet to even look her way. Not that it would have mattered had he done so being as he couldn't speak a word of the mutilated Valyrian used throughout the Free Cities, or her the barbarian tongue of his people.
She had refused to eat any of the foods brought to her by the many slaves serving them. She feared she couldn't keep anything more than the small cup of honey wine she had been nursing for most of the day down. As she watched the Dothraki below mate and murder each other like animals it was all she could do not to scream as the terror of these strange people built inside her. Instead she silently repeated to herself a mantra to remain calm.
'I am Daenerys Stormborn, Princess of Dragonstone, of the blood and seed of Aegon the Conqueror. I am the Blood of the Dragon.'
She repeated it over and over in her mind, even as the sun sank low and the shadows grew long. Even as the terrifying thought of her brother handing her over to the giant of a man that sat drinking beside her. Even as he stood suddenly, pulling her along with him to accept the gifts given. She dared not think of what would come after the gifts were given and the sun had fully set.
Viserys gifted Daenerys three handmaidens, though she knew they hadn't cost him anything. No doubt slaves of Illyrio's he could do without. The first two, Irri and Jhiqui were copper-skinned Dothraki with black hair and almond eyes. Doreah on the other hand was a fair skinned, blue eyed girl of Lys.
"Make no mistake sister, these are not common slave girls. Illyrio and I selected them personally for you. Irri can teach you riding, Jhiqui the Dothraki tongue, and Doreah here can educate you in the womanly arts of love. She's very good Illyrio and I both can swear to that." Viserys said with a thin smile.
Next came Jorah, who seemed almost bashful as he presented his gift to her. "They are not much, Princess. Sadly it is all a poor exile like myself can afford." The books he presented were a collection of old stories and histories from the Seven Kingdoms written in the common tongue of Westeros. She thanked him with everything she had. It was her favorite of gifts.
Illyrio was the last to give gifts before the khalasar took their turn. He simply snapped and four large slaves hurried forth with a large and very heavy looking chest. When opened she was first surprised by the padding and bright red velvet interior of the container before her eyes set on the three stones resting inside. Each was similar in that is was a large stone with scale like surfaces, where they differed was their colors primarily, though the center one, the black one, was much larger than the others. The other smaller two were a green with bronze flecks and a cream with gold streaks. However her attention clung to the black one. It was of course predominantly black in color, but it also had crimson swirls and ripples across its surface.
"Dragon eggs. They originally come from the shadow lands beyond Asshai. Time has made them little more than stones, but still they possess unique beauty. Much like you Princess." Illyrio said.
"I shall treasure them always." Dany said simply as she returned them to their case.
Next came the bloodriders, which after the traditional presentation of three orante weapons, and her traditional refusal of such items to forward them to her new husband, led to many gifts of varying items. From slippers and jewels to a gown made from the hides of a thousand mice. In the end she had piles of gifts. More than she could even recall.
Last came Drogo's gift to her. A beautiful young filly. Hide as grey as winter seas and mane like smoke. She was meant to match Daenerys and succeeded brilliantly.
"She's beautiful." Daenerys said.
"She's the pride of the Khalasar's herds. Custom dictates that the Khaleesi must ride a worthy mount at the side of her Khal." Illyrio explained.
With that Drogo came forward and in an easy motion set her up on the saddle of her new steed. She was unsure what to do at this point. No-one had told her of what to do in this moment.
"What do I do now?" She asked Illyrio only for Ser Jorah to answer for him.
"Simply take the reins and ride."
So Dany did just that. She took up the reins and gently nudged the horse with her knees. Slowly it moved forward, first walking, but as the rider and horse moved a change settled over Daenerys. For the first time in hours she felt unburdened by the fear that had gripped her surrounding the wedding. Now with slightly more nudging the filly took off at a gallop and the crowd of Dothraki shouted and cheered at her as they leapt out of the way. Soon however she found herself coming upon a fire pit and unable to turn for fear of running down someone she instead kicked at the creature's sides leading it to leap over the flames and come back to the clearing she had left the others at.
"Tell the Khal he has given me the wind!" Daenerys said, feeling more confidence and life than ever before in this moment. Illyrio did as commanded and for the first time Dany saw her new husband smile.
As the sun finally slid fully behind the horizon and twilight turned to darkness, the Khal saddled his own stallion. While he did so Viserys slid up to Dany to whisper to her. His hand digging into her leg he all but hissed up to her.
"Please him, dear sister, or I swear to you the dragon will awaken as he never has before." With that he slunk off, but the fear had returned to Dany's heart. With little time for other thought Dany was made to follow Drogo as they made their way through the encampment of the Khalasar. Again she took to repeating to herself. 'I am the blood of the dragon. I am the blood of the dragon.'
In time they came to a stop beside a small stream in a place with soft grasses and the Khal dismounted and lifted her like a child off her own horse. She felt like she was made of glass then. As fragile as it in the least. Drogo secured the horses and turned back to gaze at her in her wedding silk gown only for her to start crying the moment he approached her.
"No." He said simply as he gently rubbed the tears away with his calloused hand.
"You speak Westerosi?" She asked.
"No." He replied.
She pondered on it being the only word he knew of her tongue. As she did so Drogo brought them both to sit before he began removing the bands and bells from his long braid. Slowly, Dany began to help him. One by one pulling them free of his hair. Then he had her begin unwinding his braid itself. It was slow and calming. Perhaps that was why he had her do it. Once it was completely undone he shook his hair free and it whipped around him before falling behind him in a long thick river of darkness.
Now he began undressing her. Slowly and tenderly. He undid her dress and removed them causing her to cover herself and look away from him until he softly, but firmly guided her hands away from her body and just as gently guided her head back up to look into his eyes again.
"No." He said quietly. There was a warmth in his voice that surprised but calmed her.
He drank in her appearance for a time causing her to flush under his intent staring. Then, just like with her clothing he began to tough her. Caressing her softly and tenderly. At first it was her arms and back. Her face and neck, but soon it moved on to her breasts and between her legs. Her heart beat came faster and pounded at her chest, but her fear from earlier had died away. Just as she began to press back into his hands he suddenly stopped and took her face between his calloused palms.
"No?" She could only barely tell it was a question.
"Yes." She replied and soon his hands found their way back to her body as she joined his hands with her own.
The BarrowLands
Along the King's Road
298 AC
Eddard
The Stark lord was less than thrilled to be riding alongside his King this morning. It was hardly sun up when Robert had dragged him from his sleep and pulled him along into the wind. They had set off the King's Road and rode across the hills of the Barrowlands for a time before Robert had called for a break. He had pulled Ned aside then, to a small table with chairs brought just for them by their servants.
"There's been a rider from Lord Varys in King's Landing." Robert said having drawn them off their earlier conversation to the topic he truly wished to discuss. He handed over a slip of paper for Ned to read.
"So the infamous spider sends this? What is his source of information?" Ned asked.
"Do you remember Ser Jorah Mormont?" Robert asked.
"I usually wish that I couldn't." The Stark replied.
"Well, Ser Jorah is now in Pentos, anxious to earn a Royal Pardon that would allow him to return from exile. The Spider makes good use of him."
"So the slaver has become a spy. I'd rather be a corpse." Ned snarked.
"Lord Varys tells me spies are a slight amount more useful than corpses." Robert retorted getting a grunt from the Stark in reply.
"Jorah aside, what do you make of this Ned?" Robert asked him directly.
"Daenerys Targareyn is wed to some Dothraki horse lord. Shall we send her a wedding gift?" Ned asked, feeling especially lippy this morning.
"A good sharp blade maybe, and a bold man to wield it." The King joked darkly.
"Robert, you're no Tywinn Lannister content with butchering innocents." Ned urged.
"This innocent will soon spread her legs and birth whole generations of dragonspawn. A whole line of vengeful shits with a hatred for my own descendants." Robert countered.
"Perhaps, but the murder of children, it's vile...unspeakable…" Ned said shaking his head at the mere thought.
"Unspeakable? What the Mad King did to your father and brother is unspeakable. What Rhaegar did to Lyanna is unspeakable. How many times do you think he raped her? How many hundreds of times? At night I kill him in my dreams for every single one but it is still not enough. He and his whole family deserve that." Robert raged through gritted face red and sweaty in rage despite the cold wind that blew across the hillock they had picked to stop at.
He slowly calmed down once again as the two men stared over the plains around them.
"This Dothraki horseman, Khal Drogo, is said to have over a hundred thousand men in his horde. What do you say to that?" Robert asked.
"I say that even if he had a million men they are no threat to the realm as long as they stay on the other side of the Narrow Sea. The Barbarians have no ships, and from what I have heard, the Uzumaki family and your brother have made the Narrow Sea all but yours since you became king." Ned argued.
"Perhaps. There are ships to be had in the Free Cities though. Last word I received from my brother was that the fleets were still rebuilding after handling that Red Banner menace last year. We already were recovering from the losses culling the Iron Born during the Greyjoy Rebellion. Not to mention, I'd much prefer Kushina to Stannis as my master of ships. The royal navy isn't what it once was Ned." Robert complained. Having been drained of his fervor to have Daenerys assassinated he had begun to sulk.
"This Khal will not cross, and if by some chance he does, and survives to land on our shores, we will throw him back into the sea. Once you have chosen a new Warden of the East-" Ned said.
"For the last time, I will not name the Arryn boy Warden." Robert groaned. "I know the boy is your nephew, but with Targaryens crawling into bed with Dothraki, I would be mad to rest one quarter of the realm on the shoulder of a sickly child."
"Yet we still must have a Warden of the East. If Robert Arryn will not do perhaps one of your brothers would do. Stannis proved himself in the siege of Storm's End surely." Ned suggested. At Ned's silence, and knowing there had always been a rocky relationship between the two brothers he then made a less appealing suggestion to try and push his friend toward Stannis.
"The young Lord Uzumaki has proven himself as well. He's not that much older than Arryn, but he's already achieved much in your name. I heard he was even knighted, the youngest in the realm no less."
"Bah, the boy would make a good choice in a few years maybe but he isn't ready. Were that his mother was still among the living. That woman would have gone to Pentos to right her loss of the dragonspawn to begin with. Such fire." Robert waxed on about the late Lady Uzumaki.
Kushina had served as Master of ships shortly after bearing her son Naruto. From what Ned had heard Kushina was a bit of a wild woman, however she was also very loyal. Where as Lyanna had been the one stolen from Robert, Kushina was the one that refused him. She had claimed, even to her death, years after her husband had passed that she was a wedded woman. She never sought to remarry and few believed they could handle her should they try. Robert, being the man of large appetites that he was, had tried, often. Still even after years she had refused him. Rare indeed that a woman would refuse a king's bed. Though Ned believed he'd heard an old story of the Uzumaki having a similar event in their past.
"You've already chosen haven't you?" Ned asked. This pulled Robert from his fantasy about a woman he would never have and caused him to grumble in slight shame.
"Yes. What if I have?"
"It's Jaime Lannister isn't it?" Ned more stated than asked.
Robert scowled. "Yes."
"The kinslayer. He killed the husband of the woman you were just fantasizing about Robert. His own cousin." Ned said with steel in his tone.
"He was a white cloak Ned, what else was he supposed to do?" Robert asked.
"He waited till after his cousin had killed the king, then stabbed him in the back." Ned growled.
"I know that plenty well. You know they call him the Cowardly Lion in the streets in King's Landing. That or some call him the cousin-cutter but I thought that one sounded silly." Robert shifted the topic again. Or tried to.
"Can you truly trust Jaime Lannister?"
"Trust him? Ned, he is my wife's twin, a sworn brother of the king's guard, his life, fortune, and fame are all tied to me."
"Do you remember after the Trident? You were wounded slaying Rhaegar and you gave the pursuit of the broken Targaryen army to me. They fled back to King's Landing and we followed. I expected to find the gates of the city closed to us with several thousand loyalists waiting inside."
"Yes and instead you found them open with our men having already taken the city." Robert said.
"Not our men. Lannister men. And they didn't just take it, they sacked the city. Pillaged and raped the people, noble and common alike. They even drove out the forces of the Uzumakis and the men sent by your brother to try to free the prisoners and capture the King. Those were our men." Ned hissed. "The Lannisters wouldn't have even gained access to the city had it not been through treachery."
"Treachery was a coin the Targaryens knew well," Robert's face was reddening in anger once again. "Lannister paid them back in kind. It was no less than they deserved. I shall lose no sleep over it."
"You were not there. There was no honor in that conquest. I could hear the wails of the women and children before I could even see the gates."
"Others take your honor! Go down into your crypt and ask Lyanna of the Dragon's honor!"
"You avenged Lyanna at the Trident!" Ned sailed back to his friend and king. 'Promise me Ned.' He heard his sister's voice whisper from the side opposite of Robert.
"It didn't bring her back!" Robert sagged then, looking away into the grey northern sky. "The gods be damned...it was for the girl I prayed to them for. Not the crown. Your sister, safe and mine again. As she was meant to be. The god's mock the prayers of Kings and cowherds alike."
"I cannot speak for the gods, but I know what I saw when I rode into the throne room. Aerys there on the flood in a pool of his own blood, a deep slash across his chest. The Skulls of dragons staring down upon us. Lannister men everywhere, the only others being a few Uzumaki men hurriedly carrying their lord from the hall and trying to staunch his wound, and lastly Jaime Lannister. Clad in the gold and white of the kings guard sitting upon the iron throne even his sword was gilded in gold and he wore a helmet shaped like a golden lion. How he glittered there!" Ned growled out. He despised the dishonorable actions the man had taken. Every bit of the event. From the taking of the city, to stabbing his cousin in the back after not protecting his king, to seating himself on a throne that was not his. Would never be his.
"When I reached the base of the throne, my men filing into the room behind me, only then did he hop up from the throne remove his helmet and laugh. Before saying 'Fear not Stark, I was only keeping the seat warm for our friend Robert. It's not a very comfortable seat I'm afraid.'" Ned was stern at the mere thought, but Robert did not share the same sentiment, instead he roared in laughter at the thought.
"That's why you think I should mistrust Lannister? Because he sat on my throne for a few moments? Jaime was all of seventeen Ned. More of a boy than a man." Robert shook with laughter as he spoke.
"He had no right to that throne." Ned said.
"Well, now I know why it is that you despise him so. To be frank, old friend I had hoped for something better than him sitting in the wrong spot. Either way I tire of these talks of state. Like all the duties that come with the blasted crown it's far too tedious for my taste. Let's actually ride while we have time Ned. I want to feel the wind in my hair before I have to listen to Cersei btch about something or other for the rest of the day." With that Robert was off.
Ned remained still for a moment. Thoughts still focused on his distaste for the Lannisters and onto Lyanna's last moments. He soon regained himself and nudged his horse into a run with his boots. He wished so desperately to be back in Winterfell, where he was needed. Yet here he was, chasing after the man that had replaced his king and feeling more and more annoyed as he watched Robert's horse leave him behind.
Dragonstone
298 AC
Naruto
Pulling into the harbor of Dragonstone, the young Uzumaki lordling couldn't fully stop the slight frown on his face. In his childhood, this harbor had been filled with ships. Few had been trading ships. Nearly every vessel had been for the purpose of war and hunting pirates. Following the Greyjoy rebellion when the Uzumaki fleet joined the Royal fleet and sailed to meet the Iron Born in battle, less than half their number had returned. By the time Naruto had commanded the fleet himself, it had only rebuilt to two-thirds of its original strength, and within the same year he had halved that number in dealing with the Red Banners up and down the Narrow Sea. Now, even having been under reconstruction for a year, the once mighty fleet of his house was a shadow of itself.
"I've never seen so many warships." Karin said awed.
"This is nothing. You should have seen it when my mother sailed for Pyke alongside the Royal Fleet. She and Lord Stannis were leading an armada. I can't imagine how many ships the Ironborn must have had for the losses they suffered. The Battle of Green Waters was large, but there were fewer than fifty ships in total there. There were nearly five hundred ships all around in the battle of Faire Isle."
"Would this harbor even hold so many?" She asked.
"Probably not, the largest our family's fleet has ever been has been two hundred ships but it's been a long time since then. Long before we had Dragonstone as one of our holdings. My mother commanded only one hundred ships before she fell at Fair Isle." Naruto said as the crew began binding the ship to a dock.
"This is part of the reason I was hoping for Stannis to still be in King's Landing when we went. I wanted his input on the various lumberers. I doubt I could acquire House Forrester's stock, but the best wood still comes from the North's forests. Lumber from the Kingswood or Rainwood is next best, but most of our current ships come from Wolf's Wood trees, and as for the Crimson Lady I managed to commission a single ship of full Ironwood from Forrester Stocks. She's the grandest of my fleet so she only gets the best." Naruto's grin grew broad as he patted the mast of his flagship.
"I haven't had any new ships built since the Crimson Lady was finished, but I've needed more than a single ship built for our family." Naruto explained as they began crossing over the gangplank to the dock.
"What of the ships at Dragon's Rest? In Midport there are several dozen ships flying the red spiral of our house." Karin asked. "I know many are trade ships in our employ but most are warships are they not?"
"Most of our income from trade is in the tariffs and taxes charged for using our ports or harbors. We make plenty on that, or on charging locals for charters to base from our docks. The ships with our banner in your harbor are mostly galleys. Excellent for battle in close places like the Midport harbor. However they aren't what we need to project our fleet's power. They are short and poor for boarding enemy ships. They are also slow compared to our sea going war ships, but they make perfect platforms for archers, crossbows, ballistas, and other weapons. We've typically used them as the method to launch containers of wildfire in sea battles that give us an advantage over other fleets. It's what my mother used in the battle of Faire Isle, and it's where the name for the Battle of Green Waters came from." Naruto explained to Karin as he led her arm in arm up the dock.
Soon, along with the other crewmen returning home, Naruto and Karin stepped off the docks and moved up the wharf toward the town proper. It was bustling, for its size. A few merchants here and there but primarily sailors and soldiers either milling about or patrolling the streets made it feel crowded in the narrow streets of the town.
Despite the crowding it didn't take long for Naruto to pick out who he was watching for. She stood at the edge of the town gate surrounded by more finely equipped guardsmen of his house. The blonde woman had clearly seen him as well, as if the blue and red caftan he wore wouldn't have made finding him easy no matter the setting. She returned his smile in a far more reserved fashion.
It took a moment, but Karin soon noticed where Naruto was looking and found herself conflicted on the sight. She knew of the woman. A close friend of Naruto's late mother, Tsunade of the House of Red Hands had been a renowned healer from Braavos. Renowned both for her skill and her beauty. When Kushina had been killed, Tsunade had remained as part of Naruto's lordly court, and even followed him to Storm's End while he squired for Lord Stannis. She had heard a few stories that had told her Naruto and she were close, but to see the way both held each other's stares she realized just how close they were. Those looks were not that of a close family friend. She'd seen similar between her parents before.
She didn't speak on it though. She knew Naruto cared for her, but they were not lovers. Arranged to marry perhaps, maybe one day she would have all of his heart, but not now. Without a single word she knew this woman had her outmatched in his heart. The sixteen year old found herself jealous of the woman's beauty then. She had to be nearly to forty but looked little more than a day past twenty-five. The phrase, face of a queen and body of a whore came to her as she inspected the woman. Her green gown was cut low showing her chest like some prize. With that thought Karin blushed nearly as bright as her hair and looked away from their oncoming destination.
Naruto smirked slightly at his betrothed's actions. He was happy she hadn't raised a fuss about Tsunade when she saw her. Naruto made little secret of his affection for the woman though he never expressed exactly how far that affection went. Still it was good that Karin knew better than to complain about his relationship with Tsunade. He had no intention of changing things between them and expected Karin to accept it. The fact she did without a shouting match made him quite happy.
Finally stopping before the woman he didn't wait to introduce them before wrapping her tightly in an embrace kissing her cheek causing the woman to swat at him and scoff at his actions though he did notice a small blush colored her cheeks as they separated.
"Tsunade." He greeted warmly holding her at arm length.
"Lord Uzumaki, I'm glad you returned safely. Between finishing the Red Banners and the recent storms I grew worried." She replied with warmth.
"As if either could truly endanger me." Naruto said with faux arrogance only to receive a soft swat to the shoulder and a small stern glare from the woman. He merely laughed before turning to introduce his cousin.
"Tsunade, this is my sweet cousin and betrothed Karin, Lady of Dragon's Rest upon the passing of her father." Naruto introduced. "Karin, this is Tsunade, she is my personal healer and close companion."
Both women curtsied to one another, though Tsunade for the first time seemed to be truly looking at the red headed girl.
"It's a pleasure my lady, you actually look much like my Lord's late mother. You are quite beautiful." Tsunade said kindly.
Karin smiled back sweetly, though mentally she heard the words mocking her. Her beauty compared to this woman was not something she felt pride in. In fact it stung a bit to think of such things. She had considered herself among the most attractive noble girls she had encountered. Her mother's exotic looks and her father's Uzumaki line both gave her something beautiful other's desired, but standing beside this woman suddenly made her feel like a child again.
"The pleasure is mine, Lady Tsunade." Karin replied.
"Oh please," Tsunade's voice was husky, and her laughter as she spoke caused a smile to spread across Naruto's face. "I'm no lady. Just a servant of my Lord these days." She said pleasantly.
'I'm sure.' Karin thought acidly. She sighed silently as she saw her betrothed and this woman embrace again while laughing. She had known this would be an issue but still it bothered her to know that while she and Naruto cared for one another, there were no true romantic feelings between the two of them. At least not like she was seeing. They were more like close friends she supposed.
"Come, let's head on to the castle, I've missed my bed." Naruto said loudly ushering the entire group to their carriages or horses.
Karin wasn't the only one that noticed the smirk sent Tsunade's way by the lordling, however none cared but her, and she didn't raise an issue once again.
Unlike back on Dragon's Rest, Naruto didn't ride in the carriage with Karin and Tsunade, instead he rode with his men leaving an awkward silence to fill the cart as they made their way up to the castle. Tsunade had attempted conversation a few times but had given up as it was clear the red-head wasn't interested in talking with her. The blonde was fine with that. She had hoped that she could be on good terms with the younger woman, but it was clear Karin had already grasped the general nature of her true relationship with her lord.
Tsunade reflected on that issue silently as Karin continued to politely ignore her existence. A few years ago and she would have laughed off the thought of having become Naruto's mistress. Perhaps it wasn't until his mother's death and Naruto began to grow into a young man that things had changed. Their time at Storm's End and in King's Landing while Naruto served Lord Stannis had led to large stretches of time that the two had found themselves alone. Something that normally would have been no issue for their ages.
Whether by gift of the gods or another reason however, Tsunade had an unnaturally youthful appearance. One many took notice of. In fact few knew more about her other than she was a beautiful healer from the famed House of Red Hands in Braavos. Naruto was quickly growing into his own handsome manhood, but still Tsunade had held no romantic interest in the boy, playing along with his flirting more in amusement than anything else. That is until the boy suddenly would be sailing against a larger more experienced fleet of blood thirsty reavers. Perhaps it had been because of the fear he had at the thought of dying young and unaccomplished, or maybe it was the wine, or perhaps his flirting had finally succeeded. Either way the morning before he left for the battle that would earn him his knighthood, she had taken him to bed.
Her initial thoughts had been that she would come to regret it. She had never truly held much interest in men. She was engaged when she was very young but her betrothed had been killed before they could ever marry and she had joined the House of Red Hands afterward in grief, hoping to spare young maidens the same sorrow of losing their loves. She had of course had the occasional tryst with a handsome man in passing over the years. That had been different though. The moment her Lord had returned from the Green Waters, she knew things would change between them.
Over the last year they had kept their relationship subtle though not secret. It seemed her lover wished for his bride-to-be to know precisely their arrangement. It also seemed he had no intention of stopping once he was married. That both warmed her heart and broke it. She felt like a weight on him. His betrothed was a beautiful girl and would grow more so in time if she was anything like Kushina had been. Still she couldn't bring herself to try and convince him to end their time together. She even enjoyed the thought of bearing him a couple bastards to serve his true born children. Perhaps this was the normal thoughts of a paramore, she sadly knew no others and couldn't compare their relationship.
Looking toward the girl she could see the slight change in her as they came into the courtyard of Dragonstone. It was much larger than Dragon's Rest, though it was also far more dark and foreboding than the smaller castle as well.
"My lady, what do you think of your new home?" Tsunade asked, hoping again to build a bridge with the girl.
Karin hesitated briefly as she looked Tsunade's way before sighing and forcing a thin smile.
'At least she seems to be trying.' Tsunade thought.
"It's not as homey as I am used to, but it's surely impressive." Karin replied before turning back out the window.
"I'm sure. I will be doing everything I can to ensure you find it a happy and loving home. It is a part of my duty after all." Tsunade said drawing Karin's once again widened eyes.
Karin sagged only slightly, still keeping the lady-like atmosphere she had given off since Tsunade had met her. She looked slightly relieved but still wary of Tsunade and the elder woman could accept that. She just hoped that what Naruto had planned wouldn't upset the girl more. She didn't seem the sort to take it as a slight and Tsunade hoped to take the opportunity it would give her to befriend her Lord's betrothed. They would have to live with one another and Tsunade would need to make sure things went smoothly in Naruto's household. It was her main priority after all, to keep him happy and healthy.
Once they had come to a stop, a pair of grooms rushed forward with a small stepladder and helped both women from the carriage. They watched Naruto greeting a few of the more important members of the household. His guard captain and Maester. Tsunade rolled her eyes at the glances the man sent toward herself and Karin.
"We should move on to the Chamber of the Painted Table. Naruto prefers his meetings there and he will want to have one to get everyone onto the same page. I'll show you the way." Tsunade said as she locked arms with Karin and pulled her along. Karin, didn't fight the woman but sent a few glances back to her cousin as he spoke now with a set of stableboys about his horse.
Once at their destination, Karin was again impressed by Dragonstone. The legendary painted table lay before her. A massive construct. It portrayed the whole of Westeros and was said to be more than fifty feet in length and half that at its greatest width, but in person it seemed even more grand than that. To one side raised on a platform was a high seat she knew to be Naruto's place, and acting as representative of Dragonstone. Behind the seat giving light to the room were four large windows bathing the room in light, though due to evening already closing in, candles had been lit to chase away the shadows.
"It's something isn't it? Naruto used to come here often as a boy and trace the paths of his parents' journeys from their own youth." Tsunade said fondly.
"That sounds like him. He strives so hard to live up to their legends." Karin said.
"Of course. They were both his heroes, even if all he remembers of his father is him in a sick bed, and a few early memories of his mother busy at work managing the fleets and sailing in the Narrow Sea for Robert." The healer replied.
Karin slid her hand across the varnished tabletop and marveled at the rivers and settlements, the roads, and textured mountains. The table lacked only the borders of holdings and domains. She assumed that being as Aegon had the table constructed with intent to conquer the whole of Westeros he had no concern for borders of kingdoms that would be bending the knee to him soon enough.
Pulled from inspecting the table the doors to the chamber opened up and Naruto led in an entourage of several others, each no doubt necessary to maintaining the House of Uzumaki. She found herself gently ushered, once more by Tsunade, to a seat beside the raised one she had noticed earlier. She watched as Tsunade took the place just to her left, leaving the seat to the Lord's chair to be taken by Kakashi as he casually dropped himself into it. Naruto stood before his seat briefly scanning both the gathered people and the table before slipping into his own chair.
"Let us begin with introductions. Some of you know of each other but I shall simply introduce everyone and move this along. Karin, here, is my cousin and betrothed. I plan to wed her sometime in the following year after my name day that is coming up. Next is Tsunade, my healer and companion, to my other side is first Kakashi, my sworn blade and master-at-arms, and beside him is Maester Jiraiya." Naruto introduced those on his immediate flanks.
Karin already knew the blonde woman beside her well enough. Kakashi she hadn't been fully introduced to, simply given greetings when they set off from Midport. He was a tall and almost lanky man that had lost an eye at some point. He also took to wearing a covering over his lower face and Karin wondered if he also had scars there to match his wounded eye. He was dressed in a similar way to Naruto, though he wore a full gambeson even now while Naruto had changed from his caftan he wore while sailing to a simpler tunic within his home.
The maester beyond Kakashi was an older man, though she couldn't recall ever seeing a young maester either so perhaps it came with the station. He had a sizeable chain of many colors. He was also very large, larger than any other in the room. It seemed to her that it was a bit of a waste for him not to be a warrior. Still he was unique, she could not place his features, beyond them being foreign to Westeros, and he had odd red tattoos like lines of tears from his eyes. His smile and quiet laughter as he leered at her and Tsunade told her more than she needed of his nature and soon she turned her eyes to the other men as Naruto continued his introductions.
"Across from us we have Ser Argyle Chalk and Ser Martin Storm, captains of the Dragonstone guard."
To Karin, both men were as average as one could be for the life of a soldier. Dark hair and brown eyes with sun freckled skin and the obvious wear of a few decades more than Karin had experienced. Though the bastard Ser Martin did possess a misshapen nose and large scar across his cheek.
"First thing, My lord. We must discuss the passing of the Hand of the King. It would seem his majesty has gone north and fetched Lord Eddard Stark for his new Hand. I've received word they near King's Landing and that something had occurred on the road between the Royal children and daughters of Lord Stark. Nothing on what truly happened but we know that the Queen and Hand are likely to be at odds over it." Maester Jiraiya said.
"For the most part this doesn't affect us terribly. No doubt Robert will hold a celebration for his new Hand though and I will need to make an appearance for the tourney. This works well. I intended for a large trip to the capital to meet with merchants to secure more wood for rebuilding the Uzumaki fleet." Naruto replied idly. It was good information to know the Queen and Hand were at odds but at the moment it didn't affect him.
"That's a good plan, however there may be issues with securing ample wood for new ships. We still haven't received any messages from Lord Stannis since you sent us the message asking on Dragon's Rest, however we have learned that he is doing similar to yourself. He has sent our orders to woodcutters across the Kingswood and Rainwood for lumber in large quantities. It almost seems he plans to make an even larger fleet than we had in the past." Jiraiya explained.
"That's not surprising, Stannis doesn't do things in half measures. Still I prefer the wood brought from the North anyway. It's hardier than what we have down South. What about around here? Has there been any issues for my attention?" Naruto asked and his advisers glanced between one another.
"There was a somewhat odd occurrence not long before you returned." Tsunade said.
"What was it?" He asked.
"Nothing major, just that one of the storms that blew through hit only a handful of days before you arrived. In the midst of it a ship came in from White Harbor heading for the capital and it seemed in a rush." Tsunade explained.
"Ah, I recall this one, there was something odd. Several of the ship's sailors had stepped off the ship and had been making jokes of one of their passengers. A northman named Rodrik Cassel. They said he had a horrible time with the waves before the storm but had nearly gone overboard while spewing over the rails." Ser Martin said.
"Yes, and I had thought the name Ser Martin relayed to me was familiar. Cassel is the Man-at-arms for Winterfell and bannerman to the new Hand." Tsunade explained.
"So the question becomes why was he here when he should be back in Winterfell, unless something urgent has happened that he would need to meet with Stark when he arrives in King's Landing. Is there something we know happened in Winterfell?" Naruto asked.
"There was one thing, but it didn't affect anyone outside of the Starks, or at least I had thought it hadn't. From what I understand, one of Stark's sons was crippled in a bad fall." Jiraiya explained.
"His heir?" Naruto asked in slight shock.
"No, one of the younger sons, even had he been the heir and passed surely a raven with news would have been sufficient." Jiraiya said.
"So we know almost nothing on the why's. Perhaps it's best we don't concern ourselves with it?" Kakashi suggested.
"Maybe, however I would rather we were aware if someone is making a plot in King's Landing." Naruto said.
"Surely you don't expect Ned Stark to be making a play." Karin spoke for the first time in shock. She'd heard of the northern lord, and it was said he only had one stain on his honor, a single bastard from the Rebellion.
"Men change with the years cousin. Look at the King. Every story I have heard has been of how strong and handsome he had been as a young man, but now he is nothing more than a fat whoremongering drunk with enough bastards to crew one of my ships twice over if I really looked for them." Naruto said before pausing and staring down at the table. " Still, it is not immediately our concern. It is something we can try to learn of while in the capital though and since we will be staying for some time perhaps we can use it to our advantage."
The band of advisers nodded and the conversation turned to smaller topics mostly focused on day to day happening during Naruto's time away, and planning the trip to King's Landing in the coming weeks. Naruto was actually slightly disappointed he would be leaving his home so soon after returning. It couldn't be helped, but at least much of his household would be coming this time.
As the group dispersed, Naruto escorted Karin to her chambers before stopping at her door. He cleared his throat slightly and was clearly hesitant to speak on something.
"Karin, I know you know that Tsunade and I are...more." He stopped there and seemed unable to find words to continue talking. Soon the air slid into silence.
"It won't stop, will it? Even once we've married." Karin sounded, not sad, not accepting, just as if she was stating a fact.
"No." He replied.
"I understand." She said softly before turning to step through her door. Naruto took hold of her arm to stop her. It wasn't forceful but he hadn't finished speaking.
"I have arranged for her to be your handmaiden. I expect the two of you to be pleasant to one another. Perhaps even friends." He left no room for argument, but still he knew this was asking much of her.
"I understand my Lord. Might I go into my chambers now." She said quietly, not looking him in the eyes.
"Of course. Good night cousin." Naruto said with a sigh as the girl slipped into her room and shut the door. He stared at it briefly before leaving for his own chambers. Inside Karin quickly made her way to her bed and dropped into the blankets and soon found herself staring at the ceiling.
'Friends with my future husband's mistress. Is that what's expected of me?' She thought bitterly.
For his part, Naruto soon put his cousin from his mind and made his way down the halls to his own chambers. He slipped in and immediately a smile crept onto his face. Tsunade was waiting for him dressed in only a thin sleeping gown. Unlike at the docks, when Naruto embraced her this time the two shared a kiss filled with passion.
The couple continued to kiss, growing more aggressive as they tore away at one another's clothes. Backtracking toward the bed until they fell onto it.
I hope you enjoyed and will return for more next time, stay tuned for my other stories and updates for this one.