Chapter 5

Rhaegal

Ridding up to the gates of Winterfell with Daenerys by his side Jon had never been so glad to see the castle before, even after the battle with Ramsey. Bringing his horse to a halt he struggled with his tiredness while they waited for the gates to open. They'd made good time from White Harbour thanks to the fact that Jon had refused to ride in the carriage Ser Davos and Daenerys had tried to insist he take on account of his still healing injuries. The journey had already taken them ten days on account of the cart used to transport the Wight, with them on horseback and Jon knew that the time would have been doubled if the two of them had got there way. The roads where only just passable for horses thanks to the snow that had fallen, the carriage would of had no hope. The journey had taken it toll on him though. He tired quickly and had needed to be steadied in the saddle a few times and he could still feel a lingering chill in his bones, but still he pushed on.

Finally the creaking of the hinges from the gates being opened could be heard and he kicked his horse on in relief, ready to be in the warmth of Winterfell's halls. Daenerys fell back, as he'd suggested, to ride in the middle of the party as they made their way into the courtyard. As they entered he could see that what Lords where still in Winterfell had gathered along with his siblings to great them. Sansa was standing proud as Lady of Winterfell. Her face to most would appear blank but Jon could see the relief in her eyes. He knew it had been a lot of him to ask of her when he left for Dragonstone, had seen the panic she quickly tried to hide as he left but Jon had been sure she would endure. On her right was Bran and he wasn't the little boy he remembered. As his eyes meet Jon's he saw that like Sansa he had a blank face but unlike her there was no emotion there. Feeling unnerved he dragged his eyes of him to Sansa's left and saw Arya. She too wasn't the little girl he'd last seen In this very courtyard all those years ago but he'd recognise his favourite sister anywhere. Bringing his horse to a halt in front of them he slid of as a stable lad came to take the reins.

As his horse was taken away all those gathered in the courtyard went down to one knee to greet there King. While he understood the need for it, especially in front of there southern guest's, Jon couldn't remember a time when he'd been this uncomfortable. Looking to his siblings he found that his two sisters had kneeled to him as well, with Bran simply bowing his head. Walking towards them he softly said "Rise."

Gracefully coming back up to her feet Sansa looked at him with a small smile on her face and said "Winterfell is yours Your Grace." Nodding his head at her he looked to Arya to see that she was practically bouncing on the spot. Stepping in front of her all he could get out was "Little sister" before she launched herself into his arms. Lifting her up in a hug like he did all those years ago he buried his head in her shoulder and whispered to her "I've missed you." He felt her body shake slightly and tightened his hold on her before setting her back down on her feet. Tilting her face up he saw that her eyes where watery with tears she refused to let slip. Giving her a sad smile and leaned down to press a kiss to her forehead before turning and walking to Sansa's other side where Bran was sitting in his chair on wheels. Leaning down he placed a kiss on his little brothers forehead but before he could say anything to him the chatter of the Lord's and Ladies gathered in the courtyard got louder with a few angry shout's and he turned around to see that they had noticed Daenerys who had come to stand in front of the horse's to watch the reunion of the Stark siblings.

As she stood in the middle of the courtyards surrounded by angry Northerners with only Ser Jorah at her back she looked unphased to all those that didn't know her. Jon however had gotten to know her and could recognise the worried expression she was hiding behind her Queenly façade. Before Jon could say anything the horses that they'd borrowed from White Harbour started to snort and whinny nervously, a few even tried to bolt from the lads holding them. It became clear quite quickly what was the cause when Ghost came bounding through the middle of them heading straight for Jon. He'd grown again in his absence, his head now level with his chest. His muzzle was stained red letting Jon no that he'd been out hunting before his return. Bracing himself he caught the wolf as it reared up on his hind legs, wrapping his front legs around his waist as if giving him a hug. Chuckling at his faithful companion's antics he brought his hand up to his ear he gave it a good scratch as he bent his head to rest it on Ghost's. His wolf gave a rumble of pleasure at the attention, tilting his head into the scratch for Jon to find the right spot. Giving him a final pat he dropped the heavy wolf back onto all fours and moved around him so that Ghost was at his back, Jon looked back to Daenerys and extending his hand towards her he said "You Grace."

Taking the invitation she walked towards him after giving Ghost a weary look, however she was the mother of dragons, a Direwolf should be nothing. When she reached him Ghost came to stand by his side, right in front of her and she paused again. They looked at each other for a few moments and Jon was reminded of his face of with Drogon and waited to see what Ghost would do. The courtyard went silent, waiting for the Direwolf to pass judgment. Eventually Ghost stretched his neck out in order to sniff her, his nose level with her own and Jon could see the nervousness on her face. They seemed to look at each other for forever before Ghost gave out a rumble and turned away and headed towards his siblings. He heard the slight exhale of air she let go in relief and gave her a small smile before turning towards his family who had watched the whole exchange in silence.

"Your Grace may I introduce you to the Lady of Winterfell, My eldest sister Sansa, my brother Bran and my youngest sister Arya." he said smiling at his siblings, hoping they would be civil. Sansa gave him a long searching look before turning to Daenerys and saying "Welcome to Winterfell, your Grace. I hope the journey wasn't too difficult."

"As well as could be expected giving the weather and the amount of snow that fell." Daenerys replied politely. Jon looked to Arya to see an unimpressed look on her face. Instead of greeting her she turned to Jon and asked "Why is she here?" The smile slipped of Jon's face to be replaced with the same unimpressed expression that Arya was sporting, he briefly wondered to himself which one of them did it best.

"She's here because we are allies now and she saved my life when we went North of the Wall"

"You went North of . . . " Sansa paused taking a deep breath before continuing "You went North of the Wall without letting us know?" Jon wasn't able to answer his eldest sister before his youngest interrupted. "How did SHE save YOU?"

Deciding to answer Sansa first and knowing they had the attention of the whole courtyard he said "If we are going to survive what is coming for us all we have to work together. I know my claims are hard to believe, but they are true. The Queen aloud us to mine all the Dragonglass we could carry but it still hasn't changed the fact that most people believe the dead are nothing more than a fairy-tale." He noticed a few of the Lord's shifting in their places, obviously these where the Lord's that thought that way." So it was decided that we needed proof." Figuring now would be as good a time as any, he turned and gestured to the Hound to unload the Wight. As he turned back to his siblings he noticed the twin shocked looks on both his sisters faces as they watched the hound unchain the crate the wight was in and made a mental note to ask them both later.

Walking into the middle of the courtyard he went on to answer Arya's question. "We where able to capture a Wight but the rest of the army wasn't far behind the group we ambushed. We ran for it but they where to close and so I sent a runner on ahead to Eastwatch to send a raven to Daenerys who I knew would be the only person able to get to us in time. We came across a frozen lake with an island in the middle. The ice started breaking apart as we ran across sending the Wight's that didn't stop in time into the water. The lake was soon surrounded with us stranded in the middle for a full night. Eventually the water froze over enough for the Wight's to cross and they attacked. We would of been overrun had Daenerys not shown up with her dragons." He decided to leave out his near death and explain in private. Giving Daenerys a look, she nodded her head subtly in understanding. By this time the Hound had the crate on the ground, waiting for Jon's go ahead to open it.

Turning to look at everyone gathered he said "My Lords and Ladies right there is the proof of what is coming." he nodded at the Hound and felt Daenerys come up to stand beside him. The sound of the bolts sliding free was all that could be heard and the courtyard seemed to hold it's collective breath. The lid was lifted of the crate but still nothing happened. A couple of people throughout the courtyard started fidgeting while those closest to the crate craned there necks to try and see inside. When Clegane looked over at him Jon raised an eyebrow at him and he seemed to take a deep breath to ready himself before he lifted his foot and kicked the crate over. The Wight came out screeching, it sights having been locked onto Jon and charged straight for him and Daenerys. Ghost appeared in front of them teeth barred and snarling however it never reached them as the chain around it's neck yanked it back once it ran its length.

Screams went up around the courtyard as they got a look at the Wight as the Hound yanked on the chain and Jon watched them all as the realization dawned on everyone's faces. Ghost was still standing in front of them when there was a boom in the air above. It was followed by the screech of one the dragons and before Jon could even look up Rhaegal had landed in front of them roaring his displeasure at the Wight. He saw the Hound step back, being directly in Rhaegals line of fire, and before he knew what he was doing he was rushing round to in front of the enraged dragon. He heard Daenerys shout his name as Rhaegal got right in his face with a deafening screech. The world seemed to disappear around him as he gave his full attention to the smaller of the Queens remaining dragons. He never noticed Sansa's hysterical cries or Arya screaming at Daenerys. He never noticed the way all around the courtyard people where panicking and pointing weapons in the dragons direction. His attention was solely locked on the green dragon as he removed his gloves, and like he had with Drogon, extended his hand towards him. Almost immediately Rhaegal snapped his jaws shut and nudged his snout into his hand, calming in an instant. Daenerys appeared at his side, shock written all over her face.

"How. ." she started to ask something but was interrupted by Rhaegal starting to growl again as the Wight started screeching anew. Looking at her out of the corner of his eye he said "Get the Wight put away." He didn't wait to see if she did as he asked as he gave Rhaegal his full attention again bringing his other hand up to rest of the other side of his snout. He started murmuring to him, trying to calm him again and eventually with a snort Rhaegal switched his growling for a rumbling purr. Bringing one hand up to rub in between Rhaegals eye's he watched as the dragon almost seemed to melt in pleasure under the attention.

Looking over his shoulder Jon saw that the Wight was gone and the men that had travelled with them to Dragonstone and then to the wall where clearing the courtyard of people to give Rhaegal more space. He saw Daenerys making her way back to him and watched as she glanced at Rhaegal, as if to see how he would take her approaching. Jon felt Rhaegal tense slightly under his hand and looked back to him again. His green eyes where locked onto him but Jon knew he was watching everything around them. Watching for any threats. Jon stared right back at him, unknowingly reaching out with his mind into Rhaegals and wishing he would stand down and take to the air again.

All of a sudden he reared back on his legs and with a powerful pump of his wings rose into the air and with a screech disappeared into the clouds. Before he knew it he'd collapsed onto Ghost who had come to stand at his side and he soon found himself with an arm full of his sobbing sister. Looking down he saw the red hair of Sansa and wrapped his arms around her. After a few moments she withdrew and anger seemed to take over as she started beating on his chest while shouting at him incoherently. He understood every fifth word or so but it was enough to learn that his prim and proper, ladylike sister had learned quite a few questionable words in her years away from Winterfell. When he finally had her calmed down enough they both stood and Jon looked to Daenerys and said "I thought you sent them on to Dragonstone?"

"I did, but Rhaegal has always been my most unpredictable child. He does what he wants when he wants and apparently he has taken a liking to you." She had a strange expression on her face as she said this and Jon couldn't figure out how she felt over her child's actions.

"Is Drogon with him?" he asked her. He couldn't see the brothers wanting to be separated for to long so he assumed he was around as well. "I'll have somewhere cleared for Rhaegal and make it big enough encase Drogon does show up and have some of the men that are used to them guard the area to avoid any . . . accidents." he told her as he started walking them towards the castle.

"Thank you Jon." she replied and Jon could see the sharp look Arya shot her at the use of his name and he knew she wouldn't wait long to interrogate him on it.

By the time they made it inside the castle Sansa seemed to have regained her bearings and stood straighter before turning to him and saying "I'll have rooms readied for our guest's." he gave her a smile in thanks before she turned to Daenerys and said "Your Grace, it would be an honour if you would join us for evening meal."

"Thanks you Lady Stark, I would be honoured." Daenerys said looking slightly relieved at the invitation. Sansa turned and walked of to check everything was ready for her they're guest before anything more could be said and Jon started leading Daenerys towards his solar with Bran following behind in his chair. Arya had attached herself to Jon's side and didn't look to be letting go anytime soon. Entering the room he closed the door behind them and was finally able to turn and greet his little brother. Prying Arya of him he knelt down to Brans level and kissed him on the forehead again and said "I thought you dead little brother."

"I know. I saw you once, North of the Wall, at Crasters Keep." Jon knew he had a shocked look on his face and said "Wha . . .why didn't you show yourself."

"I almost did. But I knew you never would of let me go and I needed to become the Three Eyed Raven." Bran said, totally confusing Jon.

"The what. Three Eyed Raven. What does that mean?" he asked his brother confused.

"I can see things that happened in the past. I can see things happening now, all over the world." he looked at Jon then before surprising him "Uncle Benjen saved you from the Wight's."

"How do you know that. I left that part out while telling everyone outside." Jon queried, spooked.

"Because I saw it. He told you to find something in the crypts. I've tried to look into the past to see what it is but something is blocking my sight in regards to it."

Taking his eyes of Jon he looked at Daenerys and Jon knew what was coming before he said it "I'm sorry for your loss." The death of Viserion was something they'd agreed to keep quite for as long as possible, let her enemies think the third dragon was waiting somewhere ready to be summoned if needed. Looking at Daenerys, Jon could see she looked a little pale and he got up and moved over to her and steered her towards a chair by the desk. Arya who had been watching them all silently spoke up then. "What did Uncle Benjen say?"

Looking over at his sister he said "He told me there was something under Aunt Lyanna's statue that I needed to see before I headed south for the meeting with Cersei. He seemed quite insistent on it." Arya jumped up from her chair and said "Well come on. Let's go." He almost told her no, but he was as curious and so looking at his two sibling's he nodded his head and said "Ok, fine, but not without Sansa." he heisted slightly before turning to Daenerys and said "I need to do this with my family. I'll see you to your room and . ." he trailed of not wanting to offend her but she seemed to understand as she stood and grabbed a hold of his hand. "It's fine Jon. I'll see you at dinner and if you can you can tell me about what you find." He gave her a small smile in thanks before turning to Arya and said "Can you find Sansa and get her to meet us in the crypts while I show the Queen to her room."

It was only a matter of asking the nearest servant to find out where Daenerys was to be staying to find out that she had been placed two doors down from Jon. He refused to think on that as he said goodbye before ducking into his own rooms to rid himself of the dirty and dusty clothes that he felt he'd been wearing for forever. Once changed he made his way towards the crypts to find Sansa, Arya and Bran just approaching them at the same time. Taking a deep breath entered the dark crypts wondering just what he would find.