Chapter 20 – Jon
It didn't surprise Jon that Daenerys had tried to find him. Part of him felt bad that he had just left her in the hall, but assumed people would want to talk to her, or his siblings could cover for him. Now, he watched her tentatively pet the wolf. Ghost had left him a couple of minutes before, presumably sensing another's presence.
Jon had wanted to go to the crypt, and been annoyed that the meeting had stopped him from doing so, although he knew what had to be done and did it. But after that, he thundered down to the Winterfell crypts as fast as he could. He wanted to see Lyanna. To look at the statue for hours, in the hope that the activity would make him feel more at peace. He remembered how his father, no, his uncle, always paid a visit to the crypts, then the Godswood, whenever he returned to Winterfell. It also hurt Jon that Ned Stark had never told him the truth. The next time we see each other, we'll talk about your mother. His words hung in Jon's mind. It wasn't his fault that he had died before getting to see Jon again, but why he couldn't have told Jon before frustrated him.
Now, he turned and faced the woman who was now his aunt. She stopped scratching Ghost behind the ears and took a step closer to him.
"Jon," she said quietly, intimately, and it was wrong, so wrong. "You can't hide from all of us forever."
He shook his head. "I suppose not." He looked down. "I'm sorry for taking off."
Daenerys nodded. "It's alright," she said, softly. "I don't think the other northern lords and ladies noticed that anything is amiss. But your family are worried about you, and so am I."
"Daenerys," he whispered. "I want… I need you to know that I do not want the Iron Throne and I have no interest in fighting for it or taking it from you."
She looked at him as though surprised. "Jon, I know. Arya told me… and besides, I'd worked it out for myself. You're not the person to seek power out, people freely give it to you because they trust you and they know you are the best chance they have." She looked at him closely. "I know it's a lot to take in, and I can understand how you feel, but Jon, this isn't necessarily the worst news in the world."
He shook his head. "If the northern lords find out…"
"They won't," Daenerys told him firmly. "I haven't told anyone, and I won't unless you want me to. Sam, Sansa, Arya, Bran, Davos – they won't either."
Jon sighed. "They will eventually. If we all survive the Long Night, I will have to tell them. It's only right that they know the truth."
She unexpectedly smiled at him. "That's why."
"What?"
"That's why it doesn't matter too much. Whenever I've asked anyone, except for Viserys, about Ned Stark – all they've told me is how honourable he was and how he always told the truth."
Jon huffed. "Except to me."
Daenerys gave him a hard look. "Jon, he was trying to protect you! Surely you must have known of Robert Baratheon's vendetta against our family? He hunted down Viserys and me for years, and we were hundreds of miles away in Pentos. How would he have reacted if he knew his best friend was concealing Rhaegar's son? He would have killed everyone in Winterfell to get his hands on you. Then he would have killed you – and then where would the North be? Still in the hands of the Boltons." She cleared her throat. "Besides, what I was trying to say, is that even if Ned Stark wasn't your real father, you're enough like him." She took his hand, making Jon's breath catch in his throat. "And as for me? I don't mind. If anything, I'm excited, since I thought for so long that I was the last Targaryen left."
"You wouldn't have been the last one anyway," Jon told her. "At least not until the last couple of years." He then proceeded to tell her about old Maester Aemon. When he was done, she looked at him curiously.
"Do you think he knew?" she asked. "About you?"
"I don't think so," Jon said, thinking hard. "If he did, he never said anything, and he had plenty of opportunities."
He looked back to Daenerys, who was now looking at Lyanna's statue. "It's lucky that you looked like her, rather than my brother. You could fit in with the Starks and be concealed easily, with your dark hair and grey eyes. If you had silver hair or violet eyes, everyone would have known exactly who you were." She turned back to him, looked very solemn, almost shy.
"What's the matter?" he asked her.
"Last night, you told me you had a very deep affection for me," Daenerys said softly. "Please don't tell me that's changed due to this new information."
Jon sighed, knowing this would have to be a topic of discussion sooner or later. "I really don't know, Daenerys," he replied. "I guess my feelings haven't changed, but my attitude… I don't know. You're my aunt."
"We're Targaryens," she reminded him, gently. "You might be my nephew, but I know my own feelings haven't changed. If anything, they've grown stronger." She gave his hand a compassionate squeeze. "I know it's still incest, but it's not as bad as, say, Jaime and Cersei Lannister, surely? For starters, we met as adults, instead of growing up together. It's also not as if we knew anything about our shared blood until this morning."
Jon nodded along with her, having to admit to seeing reason to her argument.
"In addition, we also have a war to go and fight, soon," she added. "A difficult war, in which it will be miraculous if either of us, let alone both of us, survive. Can't we just enjoy life while it's still relatively decent?"
Jon nodded.
"The only thing I will say, with this new information in mind, is that if I do not survive the Long Night and you do, you will need to take over the Iron Throne," Daenerys said seriously, taking another step forward so that they were just centimetres apart. Her voice became softer. "It belongs to our family, and we cannot lose it just after getting it back."
"Daenerys –" he began, keen to talk her out of it.
"Jon," she cut across him. "Please?"
He made the mistake of looking into her eyes, the violet strangely yet beautifully lit in both the darkness and the candlelight. Her head was tilted to one side, pleading. He had to remember that she had spent half her life fighting to get back to Westeros. But the North was his home, not some stuffy castle in the south or a chair made of swords.
"Fine," he agreed reluctantly after a couple of minutes. "But let me be clear, if you are killed in this war, the chances are I will have already been. I'll be on the ground, as well as on Rhaegal, whereas you'll just be on dragonback." He was going to say more but stopped as Daenerys wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close.
"I don't want to think about battles or dying for the rest of the day," she murmured in his ear. Jon hugged her back.
"Neither do I, but it seems as though I just can't stop," he said honestly.
Daenerys pulled back enough to smile at him. "You're far too serious, you are," she said. "When the dead are defeated, what do you think you'll find to brood over then?"
"Well, the northerners' reaction to finding out I'm secretly a Targaryen for starters," he said, but smiled back. "And after that… well, whether I can teach Ghost to breathe fire or something."
Daenerys laughed and they hugged for a bit longer. It was as they continued embracing that Jon realised. He didn't have to choose. Ned Stark had been his father in every way that mattered. He could be a Targaryen and a Stark.
"This just makes me feel even more glad that I found you," Daenerys said, resting her head on his shoulder. "And even more annoyed with myself that I clashed so much with you when you first came to Dragonstone."
"We didn't know each other then," Jon told her. "Besides, what would you have done if I turned up there and told you I was your nephew? You would never have believed me."
She grinned at him. "That's very true." She pulled away. "I'm glad to see that you're… coping a little bit better with this."
"I'll be fine." Jon was eager to reassure her. "Like you said, it's just a lot to take in."
"Arya seemed very worried about you. I think she needs more reassurance that you're going to be alright."
"I'll go and find her now," Jon said. "I meant to, you know. Find you and her, maybe Sansa and Bran too and talk things through. But I just wanted to come down here and see her statue." He looked up at his mother's grave one last time, then extended an arm to Daenerys. "Let's go." They left together, the white direwolf hot on their heels, keen not to be forgotten.
After a few minutes, they decided to split up to search for Arya, deeming it would be quicker since neither knew where she had gone. Jon looked in the yard first, but found only Sam.
"There you are!" his best friend said. "Everyone is so worried about you!"
"I'm fine, I'm fine," Jon insisted. "Have you seen Arya anywhere?"
"No," Sam replied. "Are you and Daenerys alright? I could tell just by looking at you both that you seemed… close."
"We're fine," Jon said, wishing his face wasn't flushing. "It's just… weird that we're related."
Sam grinned. "It's a good job Gilly isn't hearing you right now. She'd be calling the pair of you amateurs."
Jon groaned, remembering the nature of her past relationships. "I feel like this is a very different scenario."
Sam gave him a sympathetic look. "I mean, if you go back far enough, we're all related. I'm related to Daenerys, very distantly."
Jon looked at him curiously. "How?"
"Remember Shireen Baratheon? She's my second-cousin on her and my mother's side. And her great-grandmother was a Targaryen."
Jon shook his head. "Not by blood then – I was scared for a minute you were going to tell me you were my cousin or something. It's a bit complicated."
Sam grinned at him. "Life seems to be a bit like that of late, doesn't it?"
Jon began thinking of something to say as a reply, but didn't need to, as both of them now heard shouts coming from the gate and the sound of other people running.
"What on earth could that be?" Sam asked.
Placing a hand on the pommel of his sword, Jon replied, "Let's go and find out."
The two of them ran to the gate to find a crowd around the door. The crowd consisted of Unsullied, Dothraki and Northmen alike and it was impossible to see what was going on. Out of nowhere, Arya darted out from the crowd.
"Oh good, you're here," she said shortly, though her eyes were sympathetic. "Don't worry, Sansa's sorting it." It was then that Jon saw two men being taken away by guards in the direction of the dungeons.
"What's happened?" he asked her, imagining a full-scale brawl taking place between some of the men.
"Unexpected and unwelcome visitors," Arya said, and her eyes glimmered murderously. "If you and Daenerys agree to it, I might have some fun practising my skills on them." It was then that Jon remembered that she was now a fully trained assassin, and a pang of discomfort hit him in the stomach. He also noticed that Sam looked fearfully at her.
Jon began to push through the crowd, that was now dispersing somewhat.
"Get out the way!" Arya hissed ferociously behind him. "Make way for your King!" It was then that a path was cleared instantly and Jon hurried forward to find Gendry, Davos, Sansa and Missandei standing in the middle, the latter two looking a little shaken.
Jon looked at each of the unusual group. He noticed Gendry had a forming bruise on one side of his face, and a cut on his arm. "What's going on here?"
"Riders at the gate," Sansa explained. "Jaime Lannister of all people came riding in, with companions."
"It was his companion that hurt Gendry, Lord Snow," Missandei added, earning herself a glare from Sansa.
"Did any of you notice any other riders enter with them?" Jon demanded.
"About a dozen," Gendry said.
"Lannister said there was more to follow, a few days behind. The ones that are here have already been taken to the dungeons."
Jon thought for a few seconds, then decided on action.
"Gendry, go with Arya. She'll take you to Maester Wolkan and get those injuries seen to. Sansa and Davos – you follow and go to the dungeons. Find out any information you can from the other men and meet me in the Great Hall in half an hour." He paused and looked to Missandei, who still appeared uneasy but was listening with rapt attention. "Missandei… I know you don't take orders from me. But if you could find Tyrion and Varys and tell them what has happened…"
"I'll do it," she said. "But what about Queen Daenerys? If any of them escape, she could be in danger."
"They won't escape," Sansa began to retort.
"I know. Which is why I will go and find her. If we all meet in the Great Hall, we can decide the next course of action."
"What, aside from killing Jaime Lannister and keeping the rest for soldiers? Sure," Arya said. "C'mon Gendry."
The group split up and left.
A/N: Thanks so much for reading again! Please don't forget to leave a review!
The next chapter will be in Arya's POV and it will be nice and long since it will be her last one. Might be a little while until the next update though because I am so busy!
Until next time.
