JON

Jon was very glad that the meeting with the mountain clans had gone so well. But he was less glad that now everyone was looking at him in wonder and fear. By now everyone around him knew that he had risen from the dead. Jon didn't regret having shown the lords the scars of his murder, it made sure that they didn't take off his head and Jon doubted that he could come back from that.

The leaders of the mountain clans, the Mormont´s and the Glovers were with them on their way to White Harbor to try to get the support of the Manderlys, the Hornwoods and the Reeds.

Jon was very anxious to meet Howland Reed, who had sent word to Jon and Sansa, to let them know that he would meet them at White Harbor.

They would be arriving at White Harbor in the next few days. And after a month on the road from the keep of the First Flint to White Harbor he was tired of travelling. But it was worth it because soon Jon would have an answer to the question of who his mother was. Lord Howland was the only man alive to have a possible answer, and if he didn't know who she had been, no one would now.

Sansa seemed convinced that Lyanna Stark was his mother and his father was Rhaegar Targaryen. She hadn't said so in so many words, but Jon could see it in her eyes. Ser Davos and Lady Brienne seemed to think so too.

Jon tried to keep his expectations low as possible. Even if he was the son of Rhaegar and Lyanna, he didn't want to hope that he was trueborn. And did he even want to be a trueborn son? That meant that he had a claim on the Iron Thone. He really didn't want to be the king, but if he was, that meant that he could raise more men to fight the Others.

While Jon was sitting there thinking on the repercussions of his parentage, Ser Davos came over and sat down beside him. It was now late evening and they had made camp several hours ago. Jon was now sitting in front of the tent that had been assigned to Sansa. Jon had made his bedroll in front of her tent every night. Normally he would have taken a tent as well, but he felt it was his duty to guard Sansa´s tent. But Jon wasn't the only one that had taken up residence in front of it. Ghost and the hatchings had been sleeping near Jon in front of the fire. But Jon had a feeling that was because of Jon was sleeping there. The hatchings were now the size of hunting dogs. It was a little unnerving to see them grow so fast. They were growing much faster than Rhaegal and his brothers had grown at that time in their lives.

But now Rhaegal and Viserion were apparently making up for lost time. Those two were growing at an alarming rate, but Rhaegal, as Jon had predicted was growing faster than any of the dragons.

Jon had been going almost every night to Rhaegal and Viserion, and every time he had gone on a dragon ride in the dark. Every time he had gone up, was as incredible as the first time he had gone. But Jon had decided to stay in camp tonight. Rhaegal and Viserion had to hide such a long way from the camp, that Jon didn't think that he could make it back before down.

"Where did you get another valyrian steel sword?" Jon looked at Davos. The knight was staring at the sword in Jon´s hands. Jon had finally had time to properly clean and oil Darksister after decades of being locked away in maester Aemon´s chambers.

"Maester Aemon gave Darksister to me, along with the eggs." The older man´s eyebrows rose high on his forehead.

"The maester not only gave you four dragon eggs but also one of the ancestral swords of his house?" Jon nodded quietly at that. He had been wondering if the maester had suspected something about his heritage. But suspecting Jon was the son of Rhaegar wasn't enough to give him the sword or the eggs. There had to be another explanation.

"Do you think that the maester suspected something?" Yes, that was exactly what Jon thought. But he didn't get a chance to reply.

"My lord, the scouts have spotted one of the Bolton hunting parties not a long way from here." It was one of the former Baratheon men. "They seem to be after something or someone and haven't noticed us."

Jon had deliberately split up the army, so it was easier to travel faster and to avoid the hunting parties that the bastard of Bolton was sending out to look for Sansa.

Jon nodded at the man. "Gather around hundred men, we will follow them and see what has gotten their attention." The officer nodded eagerly and went off to gather the men Jon had requested. At first Jon had been worried that the Baratheon men would be fanatics of the red god, that Stannis had taken for his own, but the more time he spent with them he realized that the men that had survived the slaughter were not the most devout. No, the fanatical ones had died with Stannis at Winterfell.

These men had followed Stannis because they had been loyal Baratheon men and they had followed Stannis because they respected him, as a lord and as a King. They had also told him that just before the battle, there had been something strange going on. Ramsay Snow had burned the supplies of the army and a lot of men had deserted that night because of it. They had also told him of whispers that had happened after the supplies had been burned. Stannis had planned an offering to the red god, but the person they had planned to burn had escaped before the burning.

Jon had an inkling on who it was Stannis had been planning to burn, but he didn't dare to say anything. It was too horrible to mention to anyone.

Jon put Darksister back into its sheath and tied it around his waist alongside Longclaw. Jon didn't trust anyone with the sword. It was too valuable to leave just anywhere. A valyrian steel sword was a lot of temptation for most people.

Ghost had already stood up and was getting ready to come along for the hunt. Jon turned to the dragons. He looked them over, he felt confident that if they came along with them, they wouldn't get hurt but Charon and Umbriel could be easily spotted because of their coloring. But Oberon and Sycorax could blend into the dark forest around them.

Jon knelt to their level and ordered Charon and Umbriel to stay and watch over Sansa. They gave him a few chirps and demanded to be petted, then they left for Sansa´s tent, where she was sleeping.

He mentioned for Ghost, Sycorax and Oberon to follow him as he made his way to the horses. Ser Davos had decided to come with them, even though he wasn't much of a warrior, according to himself.

As Jon mounted his horse, Ghost bounced off in the direction of the scouts and Jon and the men followed him, with Sycorax and Oberon following in the air, invisible in the darkness. He wasn't sure how long they were riding before they got close to the hunting party of the bastard of Bolton.

They dismounted to get closer. The hunting party was around twenty men strong and they were surrounding two people, one of which was a young girl, that Jon recognized immediately. It was obvious because of the scars that adorned her face from greyscale. It was Shireen Baratheon. The other person was a young man that Jon didn't recognize.

"Jon." Ser Davos whispered in his ear. "That is Shireen and my son Devan." Jon had never meet Devan Seaworth, but he knew that he had been one of the squires that Stannis had. Jon ordered some men to the right, so that they could attack from the right and from the rear by the men and from above by the dragons. He made sure that the men knew that Shireen and Devan were not to be harmed.

When the men were in position, Jon gave the order to attack.

It was a bloody and fiery chaos. The Bolton men were taken by surprise and tried to make a quick recovery. But they were poorly disciplined, greatly outnumbered and they were terrified at whatever was raining fire on them. They didn't know that Jon had dragons and as far as they knew, all the dragons were dead. Jon, Ghost and Ser Davos made sure to cut the Bolton´s from Shireen and Devan so they couldn't use them as hostages.

It didn't take long for them to defeat the Bolton hunting party. Ser Davos ran to his son and Shireen and hugged them tight. Devan had been using his body to shield the young girl from harm, and he had gotten a bloody nose and a black eye for his efforts from the bastard´s men. They had obviously been on the run for some time and looked to have run out of food a few days ago.

Jon walked over to them. The boy, Devan looked to be around fourteen and now that Jon was closer to him, he could see the resemblance between father and son. But the main difference between them was that Devan was obviously raised as a son of a landed knight, were as Ser Davos had retained the attitude of a sailor and a working man.

As Jon walked closer to them, Ghost joined them. "Are the two of you hurt?" Jon asked them. It was then he realized that he was covered in blood and soot from the fires that Sycorax and Oberon had let loose on the Bolton men. But that didn't seem to bother Shireen and Devan at all. In fact, Shireen smiled at him and spoke. "We are fine lord Commander Snow."

Jon nodded at her but didn't correct her and say that he wasn't the Lord Commander anymore. At this moment it didn't matter. What mattered was getting them safely to back to camp.

"We should get to camp. We have a long march ahead of us tomorrow and we want rest a little before we go." Two men came over with Jon´s and Ser Davos´s horses. They didn't have horses to spare so they would have to double on the way back.

Devan would ride with his father and Shireen would ride with Jon. He put the princess on the horse and climbed on after her. The forest had turned so dark that the men had lit up torches so they could see where they were going, and even then, they had to go slowly so that they wouldn't break the horse´s legs.

As they left the clearing, he heard a gasp from the young girl. She was looking up, he looked at what she had seen and saw that Sycorax and Oberon had flown low enough to be seen in the dark for a moment.

"Are those dragons?" She asked excitedly and turned to get a glimpse of the dragons again.

Jon nodded at her. "Aye, those are Sycorax and Oberon and we have two more at camp called Charon and Umbriel." He remembered that when the young princess had been at the wall, she had truly enjoyed books on dragons and the Targaryens. He had even told her which books were most accurate of those that could be found in the library of Castle Black.

All the way back, the young princess had peppered Jon with questions on the dragons and everything that involved them.

They arrived at camp a few hours before dawn, and most of the men at the camp had woken up. The news of Jon having taken men to hunt for the Bolton men had apparently made its way through camp. They were met with cheers and hollers from the men.

Jon was helping princess Shireen down form the horse when Sansa approached them. And on her heels were Lady Brienne, Ice, Umbriel and Charon. The small dragons shrieked at seeing him and rushed over to him. Demanding petting from him after a job well done.

SANSA

She watched him approach the camp, with the young daughter of Stannis Baratheon in front of him and she had to admit, Jon looked like a hero from one of the songs she had loved so much as a child.

He sat astride his horse, all tall and handsome with a well-groomed beard and his hair tied back in a northern fashion. His enormous white direwolf by his side and two dragons flying over his head, followed by his valiant men, victorious after a battle and had rescued the young maiden.

For a man who had never enjoyed listening to songs, he was surprisingly good at being the hero from one. Sansa really wished he wouldn't do that, jump headfirst into danger like the heroes from the songs, they always got themselves killed in the end. Like her father and Robb.

He had also been sleeping less than he should have. She knew that he went to his bedroll long after she had gone asleep and was awake long before her. Jon had to start taking better care of himself, or she would make him. She approached him as he was helping Lady Shireen down from his horse. Charon and Umbriel rushed to him to get his attentions. The way the dragons and Jon interacted never failed to put a smile on her face. Oberon and Sycorax had now landed by Jon and started to demand attention too.

"Are you all right?" She whispered to him. She couldn't let the men hear how concerned she was with his wellbeing, that would undermine him in their eyes. Jon gave her one of his gentle smiles and nodded.

"Do you think that you could let Shireen stay with you until we find a place for her?" He asked her while looking sheepish. She nodded her consent and lead the young girl away from the men. Brienne and Ice followed on their heels.

Sansa asked a servant girl named Lyta, that had been assigned to her at the keep of the First Flints to get Shireen something to eat. Ice jumped into Sansa´s bed and made herself comfortable there while her mistress dug around in one of her chests for something that she could use to cloth the young girl now in her charge.

If her suspicions were correct and Jon really was the son of Rhaegar and Lyanna, he would be Shireen´s closest living male relative and therefore responsible for her wellbeing. She was also the only living trueborn heir to the Stormlands so her political value was enormous. But the most important was to Sansa was that she was a young innocent girl that had nothing to do with all this craziness around her and she didn't deserve everything that had happened to her.

Sansa knew the feeling all too well, to be only thought as a key to the North and not as a person, and she would not let that fate befall Shireen.

Sansa looked the young girl over, her clothes were ripped and worn, and her hair was a mess after her stay in the wilderness, but the girl had a strength about her. Sansa figured that Shireen had to be strong to survive with the scars of her illness in a world where women were only priced for their looks and their abilities to give birth to children.

But Sansa couldn't help but to wonder why Shireen and Devan had run away from Stannis´s camp. Sansa would ask her what had happened tomorrow, not tonight, Shireen had to rest and gather her strength before anything else.

DAVOS

He had seen many strange things in his life. Seeing the man called Jon Snow step out of the funeral pyre he had been placed in with four dragons was definitely at the top of crazy things he had seen. Or maybe it was seeing the bigger dragons the young man had gotten from Essos. He couldn't decide.

That young man continued to impress him again and again. Jon had even impressed Stannis and that was a hard thing to do. The man Davos had called king was a fair man, good and just. But then the red woman had come along and everything that Stannis was had gone, slowly but surely, he had been transformed into something else. In the end he hadn't been Stannis, at least not the Stannis he knew.

After finding Shireen and Devan, Davos and Jon had taken Devan aside to ask him questions on how they had survived. The story was not pretty.

Devan had spoken in length of what had happened. He had told them that Devan had overheard the King and Queen talking in their tent one night and he had heard their plan. The Queen was talking the king into burning Shireen alive to melt the snow. The red woman had said that they needed king´s blood to stop the snow and they planned to use Shireen as sacrifice.

So, Devan had taken supplies for two and talked Shireen into following him. Devan had made sure that anyone following them would think to look west to the mountain clans after them, it made more sense for them to go there as they were closest, but then he and Shireen doubled back and headed to White Harbor. He had planned to find a ship bound to Essos, were neither her father nor the Lannisters could get them.

The boy was naïve if he thought that they couldn't be caught in Essos, but he had managed to save Shireen from a horrible death, and for that Davos was glad and very proud of his son.

"What will happen to Shireen now that her father is dead? Will she become Queen?" The boys voice had been full of hope and wonder at the prospect of Shireen becoming Queen of the Seven Kingdoms.

Davos shook his head. No lord of the Seven kingdoms would follow a young girl as a queen after what had happened in the first dance of the dragons. Especially now that there may be a someone with a stronger claim to the throne than anyone else. Someone who had six dragons and a direwolf.

The Lord of the North admired Jon Snow, not just because he was an able fighter and had four dragons to his name that they knew of. It was also his dedication to protect Lady Sansa and his drive to save Lord Rickon and restore the Starks to their place as the Lords of Winterfell and Wardens of the North.

A lot of young men in Jon´s place would have made sure that Lady Sansa and Lord Rickon would met a rather bloody end, but not him. Jon was doing everything in his power to make sure that they survived and to protect them.

Davos admired that. He thought that Jon could be a good king, if he indeed was the son of Rhaegar and Lyanna. The more he thought about it the more he was sure it was true. Davos had grown up in fleabottom. Once Davos had come home from a long voyage and he had seen the Silver prince play his harp for the masses. Rhaegar had covered his hair so most of the people didn't recognize him, but Davos was a man well-traveled. He had seen the royal family a few times from afar and he had known the man immediately.

It had been hard not to, when you saw his handsome face and were familiar with his reputation. And the fact that there was a kingsguard nearby making sure that no harm came to him.

Davos could see a lot of Rhaegar in Jon. Sure Jon had the Stark coloring and the long face, but he had Rhaegar´s nose, his eyebrows, his jaw and ears as far as Davos could tell. Jon had the beautiful valyrian features set in the face of a Stark.

Davos could see that like with the Lady Sansa, who had the Tully features, the Stark looks took the features of old Valyria and made them more beautiful.

So, it would stand to reason that Jon was of the blood of old Valyria, the blood of the dragon. Davos decided to let Devan sleep. He would need it because they would have to ride early that morning. The sooner they reached White Harbor the better.

JON

The next few days were exhausting for Jon. He had to hold meetings with the lords of the North that had followed them. He had explained what had happened and what had happened to make Shireen and Devan run away from Stannis´s camp that night. The lords of course were outraged at the late king that he would have burned his own blood.

Jon had announced that until they could find an older relative of hers that could take care of her until she came of age and could take up the title the Lady of Storm´s End, that Shireen would be under his protection and that of house Stark.

The lords were quick to agree to that. Jon thought that was strange, normally the northern lords were unruly and had opinions on everything, but every time Jon had voiced an opinion, they were quick to agree and if he asked something to be done, they rushed over one another to see it done. Jon didn't like it. He had never seen the lords of the North behave like that, unless it had been taking orders from Ned Stark.

It may be because of the fact he and Sansa had been the once to gather the lords to retake Winterfell. And between him and Sansa, he was the one with the military experience, he hoped that was the case, he would never try to take Winterfell from his trueborn siblings…or cousins.

He also knew that like the lord didn't like taking orders from a girl, but they seemed to respect Sansa after she had given them the speech at the keep of the First Flints. But there was one that annoyed Jon more than the others and that was the unmarried Lord Donnel Flint. He had been hounding her and following her everywhere, and it anger Jon more than he wanted to admit.

Words couldn't express how happy he was when they arrived at the gates of White Harbor. As they journeyed to New Castle the people of the city were going out to the streets and cheering for them. A few of the children came out to try to pet Ghost and Ice and people were pointing to the sky where the dragons were flying overhead.

Sansa was smiling beautifully at everyone from her horse beside him and waving at the people of White Harbor. They really loved her, and he couldn't help but to marvel at her as they rode through the streets of the city of the Manderlys.

Jon turned his head back at four of his sworn men, they nodded at him and escorted the red woman to the harbor to find a ship bound for Essos. After the story Devan had told Jon and Ser Davos, he had talked to Shireen and a couple of the officers. They had all confirmed that Stannis would not have thought of burning his own daughter by himself, and most likely Melisandre had suggested it to Stannis, and he had agreed. When Jon had confronted Melisandre, she had confirmed his suspicion and he had decided to let her follow them to White Harbor and there she would be escorted to a ship to Essos. He made it very clear to her that the only reason she was allowed to live, was because of Devan and the fact he had managed to save Shireen.

She had nodded demurely, which was very out of character for her, but after the death of Stannis and seeing how wrong she had been had made her humbler.

They arrived at the New Castle courtyard and they could see Lord Manderly, Lord Hornwood and Lord Reed standing there waiting for them. To their surprise Lady Maege Mormont the Lady of bear island and Lord Galbart Glover Lord of the Deepwood motte were there with them.

Lady Mormont and Lord Glover looked a little haggard, but despite that they looked very happy and very pleased to see their family members, Lady Lyanna and Lord Robett.

Lord Manderly was often called the fat man. But Jon thought that was the jealous ones, that lacked his wit and intelligence. Lord Manderly walked over to them with a big smile and his arms. "Lady Stark, Lord Snow, be welcome to New Castle. We are very glad to host you and offer you guest rights." The man put his hands on his belly and gave them a deep bow. Sansa dismounted her horse and walked over to the Lord of New Castle. She gave the lord a respectful curtsy as was customary.

"Thank you, Lord Manderly we are honored that you would host us here in your home." By this time Jon had dismounted and walked over to them to introduce himself. He gave the lords a bow and shook their hands.

"Ah, Lord Snow, why I must say that you look just like Ned." Lord Hornwood was a man that was around Ned Starks age, but he was not as tall nor broad as the lord of Winterfell had been. Jon nodded at the man with a small smile.

"Jon, we meet again." The Lord of Greywater Watch was smaller than the other Lords and he looked a little younger than Ned Stark would have if he had lived. He had brown hair and moss green eyes. Jon could not remember meeting the Lord of Greywater Watch, so he must have been referring to when Jon had been a new born.

"My lord, I have been hoping to have a word with you." Jon hoped that he was conveying his meaning with his tone alone. The small crannogman gave Jon a smile and nodded. "How about tonight, I believe you have waited long enough." Jon nodded his consent.

Then Jon heard the gasps of the gathered Lord. They were all looking up at the dragons that had decided to fly over to the castle and were playing in the air.

"So, it is true, you really have dragons." Lord Manderly gasped with his voice filled with awe and joy.

That made Jon raise an eyebrow, news travelled fast to the White Harbor apparently. But he wasn't surprised, it was logical that the lord of New Castle had spies everywhere.

His eyes couldn't help but to wander over to Lord Reed. He seemed resigned at seeing the dragons.

Sansa, Jon and the lords and ladies that had arrived with them were shown to their rooms. Jon was happy that again he was put in a room beside Sansa, he felt better knowing that she was close by. If there was trouble, he was close by her to help her. Jon had never felt this way before. He had never been so protective over anyone in his life.

He had always been protective of Arya, but for some reason it was different than this. Jon knew that Sansa had Brienne to help defend her, and Ice was always now with her and the little direwolf had grown much bigger and stronger than she had been before.

But he felt that he always had to be at arm's reach for her if she should need him for anything at all. Even if it was just to talk or listen to her.

There was a bath waiting for him, thank the gods. He hurried as much as he could bathing and getting dressed.

When he left the room to find the dragons and let them into his room, Ghost had planted himself in front of the fireplace and showed no intension of moving.

Jon had wanted the hatchlings to fly as much as they could for the day before they turned in for the night. Jon had contemplated to let them be outside but decided against it for now. He didn't want them to be outside for the night at White Harbor without him for the first time. No, he decided that they would be outside when Jon and Sansa took back Winterfell and rescued Rickon from the Bolton bastard. By then everyone would have seen Rhaegal and Viserion, and the bigger dragons could help to keep them from doing anything that put either the people around them in danger or themselves.

He arrived at the courtyard and saw the dragons were still flying over the city and playing in the sky. He had been standing there for a few minutes admiring them, when they noticed him and landed in front of him. They chirped and cooed at him and they all wanted their petting. They really loved it when they were petted, one of the reasons they loved Sansa as she always indulged them.

He led them to his room and left them in front of the fireplace with Ghost, while he went to the feast that Lord Manderly was throwing for them. He was dreading this feast more than the feast that the Flint had thrown them. Lord Manderly was as northern as they came, but his feasts were famous in the north for being the most southern feasts in the north.

As he was closing the door to his room, a young woman with green hair came stalking over to him. While her hair was dyed green, her eyebrows were still blond. Jon knew who she was right away. It was Lord Manderlys younger granddaughter by his heir, Wylis Manderly, Wylla Manderly.

"Lord Snow, I was hoping that you would escort me to the feast." Her voice was high and thin. Jon cleared his throat and nodded reluctantly, he really didn't want to, but he made sure that she couldn't see that he wanted anything but.

He offered her his arm and lead her to the hall of the merman. It was already noisy, and the tables were groaning under the weight of food on them. Lady Wylla lead him to the head table and sat them down in a seat of honor, by the Lords. This time he had arrived before Sansa to the great hall of the lord they were visiting. It made him very uncomfortable, but perhaps it was because they had to attend a feast.

Jon had been given a seat beside Lord Wyman himself. It made Jon even more uncomfortable as he was not used to be shown such honor. But he gave the Lord of White Harbor his thanks and took his seat. Lady Wylla was seated next to him. She gave him a wide pretty smile, she seemed happy at being at the feast.

It wasn't until Sansa entered the great hall on Ser Davos´s arm and with lady Brienne trailing them that he could breathe easier. After them Lord Donnel enter the great hall with Lady Wynafryd Manderly. They both looked like they had swallowed a lemon.

Jon was sure that Lord Donnel had wanted to escort Sansa to the feast, but he couldn't imagine why Lady Wynafryd was so sour. It wasn't until he saw the glares Lady Wynafryd sent her younger sister that Jon suspected that they had gotten into an altercation. Lady Wylla had apparently won the fight if the smug grins she sent her elder sister were anything to go by.

The feast dragged on and on, much to Jon´s horror. Soon he was forced to the dance floor by Lady Wylla, who had all but demanded a dance. He tried his best not to step on her toes, but he was not very successful.

"So, Lord Snow. Is there a Lady you have hidden away that I should be horribly jealous of?" Wylla had a playful grin on her face. Jon couldn't help but to feel confused at that.

"I have been a sworn brother of the Night´s Watch for years, my lady. We do not take wives nor do we father children." He was sure that his voice was laced with mild annoyance that he felt, but he tried to keep it out tone.

The young woman giggled at that. "But from what I hear you have been discharged from the Night´s Watch, so the vows do not apply to you anymore." She got him there.

"My lady, I have been busy with other things I am afraid."

"Yes, hatching dragons and gathering an army so you and Lady Sansa can retake Winterfell and rescue your brother Rickon." She smiled at him as she said that. "Lofty aspirations Lord Snow."

As the evening dragged on, Jon grew more and more restless. He wanted to find Lord Reed and demand the truth from him, but he had to restrain himself.

Finally, he looked at Lord Howland and the smaller man gave him a small nod, signaling that the time had come. It was finally time for Jon to know the truth.