A/N: Welcome to chapter 3! I'd like to apologize for neglecting this fic for so long, but season 7 has given me renewed inspiration. This chapter is from Dany's POV again. Please review if you feel so inclined. Thanks! -Katie

The man and the woman stood holding each other for a long time. They gripped one another tightly, hands holding garments in their fists and heads buried against shoulders.

"I don't want this to be the last time I see you," the woman said. The voice was familiar though distant. She was tall, her dark hair flowing halfway down her back.

"Gods be good it won't be the last time," the man replied.

"But I'll never call you mine the way she will. After this is all over you'll return to Winterfell, return to her, not me."

"Please don't-"

"Not that I blame you, of course."

"We haven't much time. Please don't return to King's Landing."

"I have to. I'm a member of the princess's household. I won't just leave her as some would."

"It's not safe."

"The Red Keep is far more secured than home is."

"It is not safe. You should know that."

"I'm no longer a concern of yours," she said, a hint of bitterness giving her words an unintentional edge.

"Your safety will always be my concern. I meant what I said in the message I sent with the raven."

She looked away from him and tears filled her violet eyes.

"You should go."

"I will always protect you...and the child." He was adamant. "You need to stay safe and be careful. Trust no one, even those you think are friends. If this is the only promise you can ever give to me then please, promise me."

"I promise," the woman conceded, reaching out to take his hand. "And when this is all over let me see you, even if it's for the last time. Promise me that, Ned."

Daenerys awoke with a start, her eyes searching in the darkness and her breath coming in short gasps. It took her several moments to remember where she was and to take in her surroundings. You're in Castle Black. Jon is next to you. You're safe. Her pounding heart beat like a drum in her head and she closed her eyes once more and steadied her breathing. When she opened her eyes again the room around her came more clearly into focus. The fire was still burning low in the hearth and Ghost lay beside it, red eyes open and looking at her. Somehow it made her feel safer, as if she was not alone even in her dreams. Turning her head, Dany saw Jon sleeping soundly, blissfully unaware of the distress she had been in. It had been just over a month since they'd wed in front of the weirwood tree and now he stayed with her at night more often than not. She was almost certain people knew of their affair, but doubted anyone suspected they had married.

She contemplated waking him and telling him everything that happened, how real it all seemed. How close they were. She dared not. Sleep did not always come easily for him and Dany did not want to disturb him. What would I tell him? That I believe I saw his father in a dream? What could he say to comfort me? She decided she would tell him later. Perhaps in the morning things would be clearer, but she knew that was not likely. She wondered what it was like for Jon to have a wolf dream. He had told her about them, the things he'd seen, what he felt, but it was something she would never be able to experience for herself. As she gazed over at him she wondered if he was having one now, but Ghost was lying by the fire still.

Daenerys crept from the bed, wrapping a robe over her smallclothes, and walked over to the direwolf near the hearth. She lowered herself to the ground beside him and stared into the flames. Without warning or coercion Ghost lifted his head and set in on Dany's lap. Reaching out, she ran her hand through the snow white fur and scratched lightly behind Ghost's ear. Had the direwolf sensed that she needed to be comforted? Her dream left her with a profound sense of longing and loss. She had not felt so personally affected by such a dream in a long time. Was it indeed Ned Stark I saw? The man certainly sounded like Jon with a distinguishable Northern accent. Even the way he dressed seemed to be similar. But the woman...

The woman was familiar, too but in a different way. She was familiar in the way that an image or a scent or a feeling evoked some part of a distant and undefinable memory. Her eyes were nearly recognizable though. Dany had seen those eyes before when she dreamt of her son Rhaego. She had seen those eyes every time she looked at herself in the reflecting glass. Closing her eyes she willed herself to remember more of the dream, to recall some element she had forgotten, but was unable to do so. Reluctantly, Dany gave the direwolf one final scratch behind his ears and ruffled his white fur before pushing herself off the ground. In the morning everything will be more clear, she told herself. In the morning she would look for answers.

XXXXXXX

"Good morning, Lord Commander," Daenerys said as she stood in Barristan Selmy's doorway. She had slept fitfully for the remainder of the night and once Jon had awoken and slipped from her chambers with an all-too-brief kiss, she readied herself and set out on her mission.

"Your Grace," the old knight said with a bow. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your company this morning?"

"I find myself in need of your assistance."

"Whatever you ask is yours, my queen. You know that. Please come inside and warm yourself."

"Thank you. I was wondering if you might tell me about Ned Stark."

"Me? Surely Lord Snow would be able to tell you more about him than I ever could."

"I'm not asking Jon Snow," Dany said pointedly. "I'm asking you. Besides, I want to know more about him before."

"Before, you grace? Forgive me, but before what?"

"I don't know, that's part of my problem. Last night I had a dream of him as a young man."

"You're certain it was him?"

"Yes...at least I believe it was him. He wore the same battle dress as Lord Snow. He sounded like Lord Snow and there was a woman with him."

"A woman?"

"And she called him by his first name. I don't know who she was, but they seemed close."

"Perhaps she was the Lady Catelyn Stark," Barristan suggested. "Or maybe his sister Lyanna. They were quite close, I think."

"I don't think so," Dany said. "She seemed sad, as if something had transpired between the two of them and now it was over. "

"I'm not sure how I can help you."

"I'm trying to find out why I would dream of Ned Stark. Perhaps if I can find out more about him...if I knew who he was speaking to I might be able to discover the meaning."

"I'm afraid I don't know much about him. Our paths usually only crossed on occasion. I spent most of my time wherever your father or brother were. At that time your in your father's service that meant rarely leaving King's Landing. One of the last times your father ever left the capital was for the great Tourney of Harrenhal hosted by Lord Whent."

"And Ned Stark was there?"

"My queen, everyone who was anyone was at that tourney. All of the Stark siblings were there. That tourney changed the history of Westeros."

"So I've been told," Dany said. "That was when my brother crowned Lyanna Stark the Queen of Love and Beauty. Everyone knows that story."

"Then I'm not sure what more I can tell you. I've told you of the tourney before."

"You told me about my brother at the tourney. What happened before that? Who was there? I know how the story ends. Viserys always told me that part. Tell me about it from the beginning."

"You might want to have a seat," Ser Barristan said, pulling a chair out from the table and motioning for Dany to sit. "I may be an older man now, but I remember that tourney as if it were yesterday. I'm not sure it will be as unbiased as a Maester's history of it."

"Ser Barristan, if I wanted to know what the Maesters have written I would have sought out Maester Samwell. I came to you for a reason. Now," she said settling back in her seat. "Shall we begin?"

Barristan remained standing as he began his tale. "As I said, everyone who was anyone came to the great Tourney Lord Whent hosted. I've told you how your brother faired and I think you're wise enough to have guessed by now that the member of the Kingsguard unhorsed by Rhaegar was me."

Dany inclined her head. "I may have surmised as much."

"The joust was only a portion of the event. To this day I have never seen a more lavish tourney. The feasts that followed the day of fighting were just as intriguing, perhaps more so."

"And who attended these feasts?"

"The lords and ladies all did. Even your father attended. Your brother sang a song on his harp that brought Lyanna Stark to tears. Then there was the dancing. All of the ladies danced, but none so much as Lady Ashara Dayne."

Barristan paused for a moment and smiled wistfully. "She danced with Jon Connington, her brother Ser Arthur Dayne, Oberyn Martell known as the Red Viper, Ned Stark, and...myself."

"You? Truly Ser Barristan?"

"Is it really so hard to believe? I was younger once."

"I do believe you are blushing, Ser," Dany teased. "What was it about her that made all the men want to dance with her?"

"What draws men to your service? She was young, she was from a noble and ancient house, and she was beautiful."

"I'm sure you just described many of the women at the tourney. What made her different?"

"She was a lady-in-waiting to Princess Elia and so there were many times I saw her at court. She was a true and loyal friend to the Princess who otherwise might have felt quite alone in King's Landing. Lady Ashara was also smart and clever. She could easily converse with any of the men who were in the company of Prince Rhaegar. And then there were her eyes."

"Her eyes? What did they look like?"

"Actually...they looked very much like yours, my Queen," Barristan admitted. "In fact when I first met you I was taken aback by how much your eyes resembled hers."

"What did you just say?"

"I beg your pardon, but her eyes were nearly identical to yours. I've known and served many Targaryens but none had eyes as violet as yours."

Dany tried to brush the comment aside. "It seems you were quite taken with her."

"I was," the knight smiled sadly. "That I was."

"Whatever happened to her?"

"The same thing that happened to all of us, the Rebellion broke out. Some of us made it out alive. Some of us didn't. In the immediate aftermath it was difficult to tell who was lucky and who was unlucky in that regard."

"And this Ashara Dayne perished?"

"She did. I was badly wounded in the Battle of the Trident, where your brother fell. Robert had mercy on me and sent his own Maesters to tend to me. But it wasn't until much later that I found out what happened to many of my friends, my brothers in arms, and to Lady Ashara."

Dany nodded and waited for him to continue..

"I knew before we'd even left Harrenhal that she was smitten with Eddard Stark and he, though reserved, was with her. But whatever love they had for one another was dashed by his brash and stupid older brother Brandon. He was impetuous and rode on King's Landing when your brother and Lyanna ran off together. It cost him and his father their lives and it cost Ned Stark a future he would never know, for it became his duty to marry Catelyn Tully in Brandon's stead. He did so, of course he did. He was the most honorable man I ever met and Westeros is a darker place without him."

"But he fought with the Usurper," Dany said.

"Aye, he did, and I served Robert when he pardoned me. Your Grace, forgive me, but if I may be so bold?"

"That is what they call you, is it not? Barristan the Bold? Continue, Ser."

"My queen, you ask not to be judged by the sins of your father. You do not seem to judge Lord Snow by the sins of the only father he knew. It is possible to find honor in an enemy. We were all young and had it been our choice we would not have wanted to take up arms at all. But when a king calls his banners to arms, when your family demands the same it is difficult to do anything but. After King's Landing fell, Ned Stark found his sister in Dorne. I suppose now we know that it was Lord Snow she gave birth to there and she perished. He slew Ser Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning and the greatest swordsman I ever knew to get to her. When it was over he had the grace to return his greatsword Dawn to Starfall before returning home to Winterfell. It was sometime after his visit that Lady Ashara took her own life. She jumped from a tower into the sea. Rumors spread throughout Westeros as to why it happened. Many, including Cersei Lannister believed she was the mother of Jon Snow and she killed herself when Ned Stark took him away from her. Some said it was over the grief of losing her dear brother. Others still that her child had been stillborn and a girl. I suppose given what we know now that could be true. All I was told was that the sea took her body and it was never recovered."

Dany watched Ser Barristan with sad eyes and a heavy heart. There was so much she did not know about the history of Westeros, so much that Viserys had told her but he was a cruel liar who filled her head with many untruths. The truth of Robert's Rebellion was messy and tragic, not just for her family but for all of Westeros. Even after it was over it left rifts upon the land and people that had still yet to heal. War did not discern between the innocent and the guilty. It took whatever life it pleased and made no apologies for it.

"Thank you, Ser Barristan," Dany said sincerely. "For your story, for your wisdom and council as well."

"Truth be told, I'm surprised you asked me."

"Why is that?"

"I suppose I only assumed that if you wanted to know the truth of something you would ask the young Three-Eyed Raven. Surely he could give you a more clear answer than an old man."

"Perhaps," Dany nodded. "But he could not give me your sincerity. Besides, I still feel using his powers for such means is...dangerous."

"The truth often is, Your Grace."

XXXXXXX

Daenerys left Ser Barristan believing even more firmly that it had been Ned Stark she dreamed about and, apparently, Lady Ashara Dayne. But why? Is it a warning? A glimpse into the past like my dreams of the house with the red door and a lemon tree? She could not be certain. She only knew that her dreams had a habit of coming true. So lost in thought was she that she barely noticed Melisandre walking towards her.

"My queen," the red woman said with a bow.

"Melisandre," Dany replied, pulling her cloak around her body against the wind. "I must say, this comes as a surprise. What has brought you back to Castle Black?"

"Visions, as always, Your Grace."

"Visions?"

Seeing Melisandre at Castle Black put Daenerys further on edge. It was true that she had welcomed the priestess of R'hllor to Dragonstone just a year ago when she hailed her as the Princess that was Promised. That seems like a lifetime ago, Dany thought. Since then her opinion had changed greatly. Jon had told her everything she had done in the name of prophecy and her Lord of Light. That poor girl. She was little more than a child.

"The time has come. You have drunk from the cup of ice, from the cup of fire."

"Your visions have told you this?"

The words from the House of the Undying, Dany thought. It cannot be. What had the voices said then in Qarth? Drink from the cup of ice….drink from the cup of fire...mother of dragons, child of three...mother of dragons, child of storm...mother of dragons, daughter of death...mother of dragons, slayer of lies...mother of dragons, bride of fire. Years later she was still unsure of what that had meant.

"You know of what I speak. You have heard it as well," Melisandre said with a knowing smile. "Your actions have sealed your fate, my Queen. Yours...and that of your dynasty. The fires have shown this to me."

"Your fires do not scare me," Dany replied more defensively than she had intended. "I was reborn amidst fire and smoke. I am the blood of the dragons. Do not forget that. I recognize that you have traveled far and so I will allow you to stay the night at Castle Black, but you must be gone in the morning."

"Yes, my queen," Melisandre said with grave understanding. She bowed and turned to take her leave.

"If I were you I would take to your rooms now," Daenerys called. "If Lord Snow or Ser Davos were to see you here I doubt even I could protect you from their ire."

XXXXXXX

Dany smiled to herself when she heard the door creak open and saw Jon appear along with a gust of wind and snow with Ghost close on his heels.

"It's a good thing we went before the weirwood tree when we did," Jon said, shaking the snow from his cloak and hanging it next to the door. "We'd have never made it on a night like this."

"Is it that bad?" she asked, holding her hand out to Ghost and letting him nuzzle it before he settled down in front of the fire."

"Bad enough," he replied. "Seems to be getting worse. I thought you'd have retired already."

"I wanted to wait for you. I doubt I would have slept anyway."

"Why's that?"

Jon knelt next to the chair she sat in near the fire. She reached out and took his hand in her own.

"I had a dream last night."

"A nightmare?"

"No," she shook her head. "Not exactly, but it troubled me just the same. Oh, and the Red Priestess has returned."

"Melisandre?" Jon nearly scoffed. "Why?"

"I don't know, but I suspect she knows something."

"What makes you say that?"

"She spoke of visions. She told me that my actions have sealed my fate. 'Yours,' she said. 'And that of your dynasty.' She told me that I had drunk from the cup of ice and from the cup of fire."

"She hasn't lost her touch for the dramatics has she now?"

"Jon."

"Sorry. What does that mean? Cup of ice, cup of fire…"

"I don't know," Dany admitted and pulled the furs tighter around her shoulders. Despite wearing a robe over her nightdress and sitting in front of the fire she still felt a chill run through her. "Those words...I've heard them before. In the House of the Undying in Qarth. Jon, I think she knows."

"Knows what?"

"About us. About the babe. She told me 'the dawn is coming'."

"The dawn?" Jon asked. "The end of the long night? The end of winter?"

Dany shook her head. "I don't know. It filled me with such unease though."

"Didn't she admit that prophecy can be hard to interpret?"

"Are you saying you believe in prophecy now?" Dany teased.

"I don't know," Jon admitted. "If we are the prince or princess that was promised we're meant to bring the dawn. To what? Fight the Night King? The child isn't even born yet."

"If the supposed dawn is a person and if it is our child maybe they won't have to fight," Dany said, a realization forming in her mind. "What is the dawn? I mean, literally, what is it?"

"Daybreak?" Jon ventured.

"The beginning of a new day," she nodded. "Perhaps it is a symbol of a new beginning, just as we are a new beginning. A new alliance."

"You really believe that?"

"I want to believe it. Don't you? Don't you want the war to end?"

"Of course I do, but when it ends it will be because of actions, not prophecies."

"Why can't it be both? I believe we were brought together for a reason. I know that every step I've taken has led me here."

Jon sighed and brought her fingers to his lips and kissed them. "Aye," he agreed.

"You're my king," she said simply, leaning forward so their foreheads touched. "King of the North, King of my heart, the only king I could want beside me on the Iron Throne."

"Is that an order, my Queen?" His nose brushed against her own, nuzzling her ever so slightly just before he kissed her.

"More like a proclamation. I want to announce our marriage."

"Daenerys…"

"Jon," she said, looking into his eyes. "You're my husband. I'm tired of pretending every time we're not alone. I'm sure half of Castle Black already suspects. Missandei, Irri, and Jhiqui know and I'm sure Barristan does as well, though he would never say so. Jorah may know as well. Soon enough people will know I'm with child. I'd rather not have rumors spread."

"Nor I," Jon agreed. "People will talk. They'll say you married a bastard."

"Let them talk. Let them bring their complaints directly to me. There isn't another man in the world more worthy to sit beside me, to rule alongside me. If they cannot see that after everything you've done, everything you've sacrificed, then they are blind fools."

"When were you thinking about announcing this?"

"At tomorrow's council meeting. I see little reason to delay. And we can send a raven to Winterfell and King's Landing as well."

"I'm not sure Sansa, Arya, and Bran would appreciate such news coming from a raven," Jon said thoughtfully. "Perhaps I should tell them in person."

"Perhaps we should tell them together. The south is safer than the north. The Night King's army is greatly reduced and hasn't been seen in weeks. We won't be gone long."

"We'll take the dragons?"

"At least two of them. One could remain to guard Castle Black."

Jon nodded slowly and Dany could tell he was weighing the possibilities in his mind. She saw little he could object to. After all, it was him who had suggested to her that she should perhaps stay at Winterfell before they were married when she had told him she was with child. Selfishly, she did not want to be away from him more than she needed to be, but if they went together the idea was more appealing. Of course, Jon was right. It would be more prudent to tell the Starks in person.

"Do you think Bran already knows?" Dany asked.

"I do," Jon replied. "That night, we saw the other wolf near the Haunted Forest. I think it was Summer. It's possible, maybe even probable, that Bran had warged into him. Whether or not her would tell Sansa and Arya is uncertain."

"I know they're sisters to you and I hope, in time, they'll come to see me as a sister as well. It's decided. We'll go and tell them together."

"It's a good thing I agree with you because you're damn near impossible to say no to when you are so logical about matters."

Dany laughed and placed her arms on Jon's shoulders as she lifted herself up out of the chair.

"You're wrong," she smiled, taking his hand once more as he stood from his knees and led him towards the bed they shared.

"You're not the the first person to tell me that," he said, catching her about the waist and pulling her in close. "But tell me, Dany. What am I wrong about?"

"I'm not just impossible to say no to when I'm logical. I'm always impossible for you to say no to."

XXXX

Much later that night, Dany gazed up into the dark above the bed and listened to the soothing rhythmic sound of Jon's breathing. He had fallen asleep quickly, a protective arm draped across her body and her head tucked under his chin. Not long after he drifted off she realized that she had forgotten to tell him about her dream and why it had troubled her so. She wanted to tell him, wanted to ask him questions in the hope of finding an answer and yet...and yet she worried it would be a bother, a hindrance and distraction to him.

Soon enough they would be in Winterfell again. As much as Bran's mysterious powers were cause for consternation to her, Dany knew that he might be able to help her fill in the missing pieces. He could provide the insight she was looking for, he might already know the answers she sought.

Yes, Dany deciding burrowing further under the furs and into Jon's embrace. When I have more answers then I will tell him. He carries more cares and worries as it is.