Chapter 5: A Debt Owed

~o0o~

"I'm sure you know why I need to speak with you before dinner." King Aerys didn't look up from his desk when Daenerys walked into his office. He was always in there as of late – tucked away in his private mahogany oasis with the best view of the gardens.

"I don't, actually."

"Sit."

Aerys sighed as his daughter sat down in front of him. He took a moment to look at her and really see her and the woman that she had grown up into. She was dressed in a pale blue chiffon ball gown and her impossibly blonde hair was pulled up in a twist, all serving to accentuate the tiara she had chosen for the occasion.

"That was your mother's favorite," he nodded towards the sapphire studded piece. She looked so much like Rhaella that it almost brought tears to his eyes. How he wished he had been a better father to her these last few years. His entire existence since his wife's death had been focused on preparing Rhaegar for the Crown one day and making sure Viserys kept himself in line. He never worried too much about Daenerys because he never needed to. She excelled at Cambridge, never found herself on the other side of an embarrassing paparazzi shot and always conducted herself flawlessly in social situations. She was everything a King could ask of a Princess and everything a father could ask of a daughter. Sadly, he wasn't everything she needed him to be.

He should have taken time to prepare her for what he was about to say.

"My dear Daenerys," he began and gave her a small, sad smile, "It's no secret what the Starks want and why they have overstayed their welcome here. I know your brother loved Lyanna and she would have made a fine Queen. Not my first choice by any means, but Ned would have been further removed from it all…"

Daenerys was a little annoyed at his comment about her friend, but let it go. Clearly there was bad blood between her father and Lord Stark that she wasn't privy to. "You know that Lady Sansa intends to be Queen."

Aerys laughed, "Let the girl try. You and I both know Viserys won't go for her, or whatever 'plan' she has. But the Starks have an important place in Britain - they have married Kings and Queens throughout our history and we are very much intertwined. I want to preserve that connection, but I don't trust Ned nor Catelyn. Ned has pull with many members of parliament and Edmure Tully is Cat's brother – they have the Conservative Party in their hands with that relationship. They need to be kept happy, but if Sansa were to become Queen Consort, Ned would have too much power by default."

It made perfect sense to Dany, especially after seeing how cunning Sansa was firsthand, and knowing how easily manipulated Viserys could be, it would be as if the Starks were ruling England in all but name. "Why aren't you having this conversation with Viserys then?"

"There needs to be a Stark and a Targaryen match, and we both know he won't be involved," Aerys sighed. "I'm not saying you need to get married anytime soon…"

Daenerys crossed her arms. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "This isn't the middle ages. This isn't even the fifties. Princess or not, I'm never going to agree to an arranged marriage, even if it isn't for a few years. Especially not for politics. If Viserys gets to choose who he wants to be with, then I do as well."

"Dany…this is more important than you realize…and you do have a choice. Robb, or Jon…even Bran if that's who you want. He's only 17, but in a few years no one will care…"

"Papa…" Daenerys' voice grew soft as she used an informal endearment she hadn't in years. It was clear she was trying to hold back tears as her eyes grew red. "If you love me, you can't just promise my life to someone else. Aren't we all going through enough right now? Just let Sansa try her games with Viserys and when he rejects her, they will all move on."

"They won't move on, Daenerys. I owe something to Eddard Stark and I need you to give those boys a chance. For me. For this family. For Britain." Her father's voice turned from parental to kingly and she could see him closing himself off. If only her mother could be here now. She would tell him how ridiculous this all sounds.

"Maybe you owe him, but I don't know what you did to owe him the rest of my life," Daenerys stood up, glaring at her father, "I'll see you at dinner."

~o0o~

It was just as Daenerys had feared after her talk with her father – Robb Stark was sitting to her left and Jon Stark across from her at the table. It was obvious the table settings were pre-planned. Sansa was sat next to her mother and father and Aerys, while Viserys was placed at the other end of the table, surrounded by Bran and Rickon.

"Your Grace, I hear we are to be sisters-in-law soon enough," Arya smirked from the other side of Daenerys.

"Arya!" Lyanna, across from Arya, shot her niece a look that could kill.

"I'm just trying to get to know her Grace better, since neither of my half-wit brothers seem to have working mouths…" Arya laughed. She was a pistol and Lyanna sat back in her chair, already defeated and the main course hadn't even been served yet. Lyanna gave her friend a look that said 'I'm sorry' as Arya continued. "Daenerys, do you like to hunt?"

Daenerys looked around her end of the table at the faces looking expectantly back at her, and then to Arya, who had chosen to wear a couture silk pantsuit to dinner instead of a ballgown like the others and as royal protocol demanded for such an occasion. "No, Arya, I'm afraid I don't."

"Fence?"

"Sorry…no…"

"Do you practice archery?"

Daenerys grimaced and shook her head, striking out again, "Do you ride?"

"Yes," Arya seemed contented with that. "None of that side-saddle shite I hope?"

"Arya…" Jon whispered, looking as if he would rather be anywhere else. His curly, jet-black hair fell into his eyes constantly as he ate.

"Talk to her then, if you don't like my conversation." The little brunette shrugged and went back to her salad. Daenerys noticed how much she and her brothers, with the exception of Robb, looked like their father. Sansa and Robb clearly took after Lady Catelyn with their auburn hair and high cheekbones.

In truth, Daenerys was fine to talk to Arya all night. She knew next to nothing about the spunky little Lady and it would distract her from the fact that her father was trying to pawn her off onto one of the men sitting next to her. She chanced a glance over at Sansa, who looked incredibly pretty in a deep navy off-the-shoulder number as she spoke animatedly to Aerys, no doubt trying to impress him.

"Your Grace, what did you study at Cambridge?" Robb broke the silence between them all and Daenerys turned to him. He certainly was handsome, especially in a tux – with his dimples and long lashes.

"Political Science, with minors in the History of Art and Linguistics – those are the classes I met my best friend in," Daenerys thought fondly of Missy and how she couldn't wait to be with her that weekend and dissect all of this with her. "You are both Oxford boys, right?"

"Yes, then right into the military." Jon finally spoke up. He looked as if he were perpetually concerned about something.

"I guess all of our degrees really are useless in our current positions. Just for show." Daenerys pointed out. She wouldn't trade those four years for the world, but she wished she could do something more useful with them.

"They were fun for the parties…" Robb said in a low voice, leaning closer to her. He seemed like the party-boy type, if she were being honest. She knew he had excelled in practically every sport offered at Oxford and was captain of many a team. That lent itself naturally to popularity.

"A toast!"

All eyes turned to the Duke of Norfolk as he tapped his knife rather uncouthly against his wine glass to get their attention. Eddard then raised it to the King. "To his Royal Highness, and to the Prince and Princess, and in memory of Prince Rhaegar. Thank you for your hospitality and friendship. I look forward to strengthening these ties in the near future. Long live the King!"

Daenerys reluctantly raised her glass and turned on her fake smile as she toasted to Lord Stark's thinly veiled threat at her impending marriage to one of his offspring. Viserys shot her the most shit-eating smirk he's mustered of late and it infuriated her.

"Long live the King!"

Conversation ebbed and flowed throughout the rest of dinner. Viserys entertained Bran and Rickon with some military stories, Sansa and Aerys talked politics while her parents watched on, and Daenerys and Lyanna attempted a conversation while Arya randomly butted in to talk about how the last bloodhound hunt at their castle in Norfolk had gone, with her hound Nymeria tracking down the top stag. Jon was quiet, taking all of it in, and Robb tried his best to relate to Daenerys, but she made sure to be purposefully aloof.

Daenerys found the entire ordeal uncomfortable, except for Lyanna's sweet, silent looks of encouragement, and even more so when she heard Lady Catelyn's voice take on a slight edge.

"Pardon me, your Grace, but I don't see how you could allow someone like him to work for you, let alone be so close to the Princess…"

"Cat, I trust Captain Mormont with my life."

"Then shouldn't he have been in Jalalabad with Prince Rhaegar?" Eddard chimed in. Daenerys kept a superficial focus on her conversation while trying her best to listen to theirs. She noticed Sansa was silent and taking it in as well.

"He would have if he could, but that was Captain Lannister's job. I'm only thankful he is here to serve Daenerys as Rhaegar wanted. He's a good man. I never believed all that talk about him…" Aery's waved his hand, clearly wanting to dismiss whatever it was Cat was trying to dredge up.

"What did Captain Mormont do?" Sansa's sweet voice rung out in curiosity and that's when Ned shut it down.

"Now's not the time to go into it, Cat." He looked at his wife and then King Aerys apologetically, but the comments made both Daenerys and Sansa's minds turn. "This is the start of new beginnings, not for bringing up the past."

"Princess?"

Robb's voice pulled Daenerys fully back to her side of the table. Dessert was being cleared and the night was blessedly drawing to a close.

"I was wondering… since we are headed back up North tomorrow, if I could plan to take you on a date when I'm next in London." Robb asked her and it as clear he was nervous. Because she couldn't help herself, she took a glance over at Jon, who was pretending very poorly that he wasn't listening.

She knew it was coming. This whole dinner was set up for this moment and for her to say yes and walk down a path that the three adults currently sipping their cordials had so perfectly plotted together. But knowing didn't make the reality of it any easier. Maybe if she were in Uni and met him, she would probably have jumped at the chance. But knowing her father wanted this sucked any romance right out of it.

"That would be lovely. I'm sure we can set something up."

~o0o~

"Welcome home, Princess." Grey greeted Daenerys as he opened the car door for her when she arrived back to Kensington, just after eleven that night. He walked her to the door and then went off to do a security check around the perimeter. It was their first night all together there, and he had much more area to cover than just a small section of Buckingham.

Daenerys walked into the kitchen as she hadn't eaten much at dinner and was now feeling a little peckish. She was surprised to see Jorah sitting at one of the barstools next to the marble island in the center of the room, with a cup of tea and a plate of custard creams next to him. He seemed lost in thought, with his shirtsleeves rolled up and a pair of reading glasses on as he poured over some papers. When her high heels clicked against the tile floor, he looked up.

"How was the dinner?" He asked, taking off his glasses. Her ball gown was a bit unwieldy and she felt silly in a pouf of chiffon and a multi-million-dollar tiara in her new kitchen. She pulled out one of the bar stools on the opposite side of the island from him and did her best to maneuver herself onto it gracefully.

"Do you have any more biscuits?" She ignored his question and he nodded, getting up and pulling a packet out of the cupboard and a plate for her.

"These aren't half bad. I'm more of a chocolate digestive guy myself, but I was told to stock the shelves with these."

"Whoever told you that should get a raise." Daenerys picked up one of the cookies and happily took a bite.

"Baelish?"

"Never mind then." Daenerys laughed. She wasn't very fond of her father's private secretary. Between him and Melisandre, she felt she lucked out with Jorah so far. Although what Lady Catelyn had said at dinner still troubled her. She studied Jorah as he took a sip of his tea and scribbled something on the pad of paper in front of him. His eyes were kind, if not a little tired-looking right now and the 5 o'clock shadow on his face made him look a little bit rugged. But there was nothing about him that even remotely hinted at untrustworthy.

"The dinner went poorly then?" Jorah continued. He was trying his best to strike a comfortable tone with her, wanting to get to know her. The job of an equerry was to be an assistant in every way to the royal in question. To know things before they even knew them. To anticipate needs and plan ten steps ahead and build trust.

"You don't know?" Daenerys seemed confused as she reached into the packet for another biscuit.

"Forgive me, Princess, but I don't know what you are referring to."

"That my father told me I need to marry one of the Stark boys." Daenerys sighed and carefully took her tiara off, placing it in between them. For something so delicate, it was very heavy.

"Ah…" Jorah nodded. He hadn't known, but he wasn't surprised either, "The King and Petyr keep Melisandre and I apprised of almost everything. But that was conspicuously left off today's briefing."

"Unsurprising that my father would give me next to know warning. Or reasoning."

Jorah didn't know what to say. Part of him wanted to tell her he was sorry that something as arcane as an arranged marriage was even being discussed and the other part wanted to argue that Viserys should be shouldering whatever burden was needed, being the heir. Jorah had many opinions about each member of the Royal family after years of service, many of which were directly influenced by so much time with Rhaegar. But he barely knew Daenerys and didn't want to speak out of turn. Instead, he grabbed his papers and stood up.

"Things will look up in the morning. Good night, Daenerys." He decided something simple was the best way to leave it and as he walked out of the Princesses' quarters of Kensington and across the small courtyard to his, his mind lingered on Rhaegar's letter. How could the Prince have thought anything could transpire between himself and the Princess…when within days of her Rhaegar's death, she is already promised to someone else?

Jorah thought of Rhaegar's words, tucked inside the drawer of his nightstand, long after he had turned off the light.