3) The chosen heroes.
After the tense meeting with her siblings Sansa tried to hurry back to her room. She needed privacy to sort out all the jumbled up thought in her head. But a voice she remembered all too well called her from behind before she could reach her destination.
"Lady Sansa" he said. "I longed to see you again"
"Lord Tyrion" she greeted her former husband back. "You look well"
"Yes, well, what with the sun of Mereen, the salt of the seas and the cold of the North, it has done wonders for my skin."
"I did miss that" she laughed back. "Your sense of humour".
"Ah, that's what all husbands long to hear from their estranged wives" he joked again.
"It's good that after everything you have been through, you have not lost your touch" she smiled again. "What happened after I left King's Landing?"
"Do you mean after I was abandoned and accused of a crime I did not commit and almost executed?"
"I had to leave" she replied in a way of apology. "I hope you understand that. I should have vouched for you when I had the chance."
"I heard you did vouch for another murderer" his accusation rang. When she just lowered her gaze abashedly, he continued. "I do not blame you" he told her reassuringly. "I admit, I was hurt at the beginning, but I do understand. You were just a scared child. Well, so I was accused of a crime I did not commit but would have loved to commit. I lost the trial by combat; my champion was more focused on getting his opponent to sing than on winning and he paid dearly for it. And then I escaped, but not without paying my debt first. A Lannister always pays his debts" he added with a wink.
"Your father?" she prompted.
"Yes. So I was taken across the sea to Essos and made my way to Daenerys Targaryen. I offered her my services, and here we are. Ready to save the world."
"What is it with that woman that has all the men bow to her whims?"
"Well, many things I suppose" he started.
"I imagine her long silver hair, beautiful face and perfect body have nothing to do with it" she said with contempt. "Or her dragons"
"No, of course that has nothing it do with it" he chuckled. "But maybe the fact that she is always defending the underdog and standing up for the abused."
"Just like she stood up for the Tarlys and other people whose only crime was to refuse to bend the knee to her?" she said catching him unawares. "Yes, we heard reports about that battle. I wonder about the morals of people who condone such an act" she hinted raising her eyebrows at him. "Did you know that Jon's friend, Sam, was Lord Tarly's son and Dickon's brother? We haven't told him yet about the fate of his family. Maybe your Queen should do so herself. You know, ever since we heard reports of that battle and how she killed anyone who dared refuse her, we truly feared for Jon. I mean, I knew he would flatly refuse to bend the knee, so I was afraid she would also kill him. How come she did not kill Jon, just like she killed others, when he took so long to submit to her?" Sansa questioned Tyrion, who was finding it difficult to reply. "Don't bother. I don't really need to know, I suppose. All that matters is that he is in fact still alive. And that he has indeed bent the knee."
"Do you resent him for that?"
"He was our King, chosen by our people. Just like Robb was. But he threw it away"
"I did wonder why they chose him. I mean, you are Lord Eddard's and Robb's rightful heir, and from what I heard of the battle against Ramsay, it was your army that won it."
"What's your point, Lord Tyrion?" she asked defensively.
"That you feel snubbed. By all rights it should have been you. Your Lords should have crowned you, not the bastard who lost the battle and deserted the watch" he said and waited for her answer.
"It is not my place to be Queen. I am but a girl" she replied matter-of-factly putting an end to a discussion she did not want to have.
.
.
As the day progressed, the restlessness of the people in the castle increased. After the initial shock of what they had witnessed in the yard subsided, it gave rise to suspicions and questions. The soldiers were very wary of the two dragons soaring in the air. They wondered about this foreign girl whom their King had kissed and called Queen. Had their King married while on his trip? Had he surrendered his crown to this foreign Queen? Were the long forgotten Targaryens really back? Had they fought so hard not too many years ago to oust them and rid the land of this House only for them to be back as their monarch? Quiet whispers and secret conversations filled the day.
.
.
It was after dinner that Jon and Sansa summoned selected people to a meeting. Bran and Arya were already in the solar when Jon arrived holding hands with Daenerys, much to Arya's chagrin. Sansa arrived not too long after that together with Brienne, and Sam lagged right behind them. Tyrion and his brother Jaime Lannister came in last.
"So, here we are. The chosen heroes" Tyrion started trying to break the ice of what would surely be another tense meeting.
"We have many things to discuss" Jon took the floor. "Let's obviate all the fancy welcomes and greetings for now. We have all had time to re-acquaint ourselves with loved ones we have not seen in a long time" he said looking at his own siblings, at Sam, at Sansa and Tyrion, at Tyrion and Jaime, at Jaime and Brienne. "It is time to set our minds to the task at hand"
"We have a common enemy to beat" Daenerys started. "We should all work together"
"Together as your subjects or as allies?" Arya challenged her. "Will you burn us if we don't surrender to you? Just like you had the Tarlys burned in the South when they refused you?" she finished with spite and turned her gaze at Sam.
"Ex-ex-excuse me?" was all that Sam could muster after everybody had gasped in horror and anticipation. "Did-did you burn my family?"
"They opposed me" Daenerys explained. "I had meant to set an example."
"With my family?" Sam replied enraged. "Jon, did you know about this?" he asked his friend, hurt seeping through his voice.
"I only heard about it after the fact."
"Were you going to tell me?"
"I was, I swear. I just haven't had time" Jon explained, but his excuse did not seem to fully satisfy a dejected Sam.
"Yes, we should not dwell" Tyrion tried to steer the conversation back on track. "I know there are many things we would like to say to each other and vent our frustrations or ask for explanations, but we have more important work to do."
"By now we have all heard of the threat that is coming from beyond the Wall" Jon continued. "This is an enemy the likes of which we have never fought before."
"But you have" Sam said, still not fully recovered from his grief and sense of betrayal.
"Yes, I have. And so have you" Jon nodded at his friend with respect. "So far we have gathered that an army of thousands of whitewalkers is making its way south. They cannot be killed but with dragonglass and valyrian steel. We have managed to obtain a large amount of dragonglass from the mines at Dragonstone and I have already given the armory and the smith instructions to imbed little pieces of glass in all our weapons: swords, lances, spears, arrows, even big rocks to be used in catapults."
"Will that be enough?" a concerned Sam asked.
"It will have to be" Jon smiled timidly.
"What about soldiers?" Brienne suddenly asked.
"After a long War for the Throne and the Battle to retake Winterfell our numbers have diminished severely" Sansa noted. "We have what remains of the Northern army, and the Vale men have pledged their support to us."
"To you" Tyrion countered.
"To us" she replied. "We also have what remains of the Wildling group Jon brought with him from Castle Black. I don't think we can count on any brothers from the Watch. We have received no news in weeks and what little news we did have were very grim. I don't hold up much hope of their survival. I'm sorry" she finished looking at Jon and Sam with sympathy.
"We have my men" Daenerys offered. "I have a large army of trained Unsullied and Dothraki at my command."
"Our command" Sansa said evenly.
"Our command" she acquiesced.
"What about the capital?" Arya asked. "Were you able to procure any men from Queen Cersei?"
"Not really" Jon shook his head. "She refused to see the danger and refused to help"
"Well," Tyrion started "it is a well known fact that I don't hold my sister in the highest of regards, but I cannot blame her on this one."
"What do you mean you cannot blame her?" Arya jumped in. "Didn't she see the captive wight you took? How can she not offer help?"
"She did agree to help. She only asked she would not be betrayed afterwards."
"Nobody betrayed her!" Jon yelled enraged.
"You did Jon, and so did you Your Grace" he addressed Daenerys. "All she asked was for a truce so we could focus on the common enemy. All she asked was that you would not gang up against her after the war – which is exactly what you did. You two plotted behind her back, behind all our backs, to ally yourselves together and have Daenerys be Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. How can you expect my sister, or any other sovereign for that matter, to surrender to you under those terms? That's not the way you negotiate an alliance. Mind you, I don't trust my sister, and I'm not completely sure she would have helped us. But Your Graces" he said looking sternly at Jon and Daenerys " at the risk of sounding disrespectful and at the risk of having my head misplaced, I do have to say, this is a chance we missed. A chance you missed for not listening to your advisors."
"Jon!" Arya cried shaking her head. "What did you do?"
"The same thing all Stark men do" Jaime spoke for the first time. "Break vows and oaths and then boast about an honor they do not have. Your father did it, and so did your older brother. Now your bastard brother has done it too"
"Don't you dare speak of my father! Or my brothers! You should be the last one to speak of honor, Kingslayer, traitor. You pushed my little brother off a window and attacked my father. We should have your head now!"
"Oh, but I never claimed I was honorable, did I?"
"Enough!" Daenerys ordered slamming her hand on the table.
"You don't give me orders" Arya challenged her. "This is my House, not yours, and you're not my Queen."
"No, but this is my house too and she is my Queen" Jon defended her.
"How could you?" Arya sounded hurt.
"Arya, I never meant any harm. You need to know that. I did this for us, for all of us" he pleaded.
"This is getting us nowhere" Sansa tried her luck. "Whatever we have all done is in the past. We should look forwards: to the war at hand. We'll sort out who's King or Queen when we win" she said and everybody nodded in agreement.
"There is nothing to sort out" Bran's monotone voice came out.
"What do you mean?"
"There is only one rightful King."
"What are you talking about?"
"King Aegon Targaryen" Bran said turning his eyes to Jon.
"Who's Aegon Targaryen?" Daenerys asked. "I'm the last of my family!"
"Not quite" Sam quipped nervously.
"Jon, you are not who you think you are" Bran started. "You are not my father's son, but the son of my aunt Lyanna and your brother Rhaegar" he said looking at Daenerys.
"It is common knowledge that Rhaegar kidnapped and abused Lyanna. I didn't know that they had had a son" Tyrion's worried voice cut through the tense silence.
"But my aunt was not kidnapped and abused" Bran continued. "They eloped together and got married in secret. They had a son named Aegon. Unfortunately Rhaegar fell in battle and my aunt died of complications after the birth of her son. My father arrived just in time and took the baby as his own, a bastard whom he called Jon Snow"
"Father lied to me?" Jon whispered in disbelief.
"He lied to us all" Sansa added to their confusion. "He lied to mother. She died never knowing that father had not been unfaithful to her."
"But what he did was even worse than being unfaithful for one night!" Arya could not hide her disillusion. "He lied to her for their entire marriage! He lied to Jon his whole life! He made them suffer and kept the truth from them. Mother would have loved you if she had known. And you wouldn't have been a bastard."
"Oh, the famous Stark honor!" Jaime chimed in.
"Did you know about this?" Jon suddenly asked Sam.
"I .. I did .. but not really. I found out when I was in the Citadel and then your brother Bran shared his visions with me and we put two and two together and we …" he trailed.
"Were you going to tell me?" Jon asked him echoing their previous argument.
"That does not necessarily mean his claim is stronger than mine" Daenerys interrupted.
"Actually, yes it does" Arya smirked smugly. "Jon, you've been sleeping with your aunt!" she taunted him further.
"Arya, enough!" her older sister admonished her. "That leads us nowhere."
"Well, what's done is done" Tyrion tried in a conciliatory tone. "Again, let's look to the future, not the past. And not too much into the future. Let's forget about crowns for now. There will be no throne to claim if we lose this war."
Sleep didn't come easily that night. There were too many things on everyone's minds: new developments, new discoveries, new truths. And they were all seething with uncertainty and anxiety. But grave matters such as these should be discussed with the utmost care. None of them was aware of the presence of a little servant boy.
TBC