The Dragon Of Winter
Chapter9
Daenerys
No.
No, I will die!
She wanted to scream at the top of her lungs, for the red flames no-longer looked magical.
"Burn her." Rutch roared. The rest of the men eagerly hooted.
"Burn her! Burn her! Burn the mad dragon bitch!" They all chanted, stomping their large feet on the ground.
"Daenerys!" Jon, that was Jon…
Rutch laughed and crouched in front of Jon, "Pretty boy's woken up! What do we say we do with him?" He sneered.
The chants continued, but they had added some words- the words Daenerys would rather face death than hear:
"Burn the mad dragon bitch! Burn her! Burn the boy too… for he lay with a dragon."
Arya
The search had begun an hour after darkness ensued. She watched as a number of horses were lined up in the courtyard, all whinnying from the shouts and calls of her father's men.
She gripped onto Nymeria's brown fur, and he looked at Arya, like she knew what was happening.
Nymeria barked as the door swung open in a swift blur of movement; it was Rodrik Cassel, clad in leather armour.
"Lady Arya. Your father instructs for me to escort you to your horse." He stepped towards Arya.
Arya's mouth fell open, "I…I can go?" Rodrick nodded, and before he could say another word Arya had gone. Her running footsteps echoing through the castle.
Arya jumped onto her horse, watching as her father, Robb, Theon, Bran, Rodrick and even Sansa and her mother climbed onto their horses. The scene made Arya's mouth fly open.
She heard the gates open, and the party rode into the night.
Jon
They had out the fire out in order to tie them to the large trunk they had stuck in the middle of the smouldering pile of wood.
Daenerys was all that flew in his racing mind, even when he was beaten by one of Rutch's vile, hooting men, even when his hands were bound so fiercely onto the trunk, his eyes were cast to a struggling Daenerys.
Jon longed for Ghost, he had felt a bond forming between himself and the dire wolf pup. How he wished he had decided to take him with them, Ghost would have protected me, he would howl into the night, bite and tear them apart.
Jon knew Ghost was only small; yet he had seen the white direwolf hunt in the Wolf's wood, how it had torn the rabbit apart in a bite.
Jon wanted to reach his hand out and comfort Daenerys, who was furiously trying to escape the men's vicious grasps, yet his hands were bound and Jon knew he was helpless.
"I am not my father!" Daenerys spat.
The statement caused the men to hoot and laugh more. One of them yelled mockingly, "Yer' got the same hair and eyes for fucks sake!"
"My father did terrible things, but why should I suffer for that? Did I cause those crimes?" She exclaimed.
"You call it sufferin', I call it justice." It was Rutch, he had a crazed look in his eyes, "Light the fire!"
I am the blood of the wolf and dragon, I am the blood of the wolf and dragon, I am the blood of the wolf and dragon, I am the blood of the wolf and dragon.
They lit the torch.
I am the blood of the wolf and dragon, I am the blood of the wolf and dragon, I am the blood of the wolf and dragon, I am the blood of the wolf and dragon.
Rutch locked his hungry eyes with Jon's, before he threw the flaming torch into the wood.
I am the blood of the wolf and dragon, I am the blood of the wolf and dragon, I am the blood of the wolf and dragon, I am the blood of the wolf and dragon.
The red flames licked the logs around him, before they too were ablaze.
I am the blood of the wolf and dragon, I am the blood of the wolf and dragon, I am the blood of the wolf and dragon, I am the blood of the wolf and dragon.
His clothes burned.
I am the blood of the wolf and dragon, I am the blood of the wolf and dragon, I am the blood of the wolf and dragon, I am the blood of the wolf and dragon.
Then, suddenly, his restless eyes fell upon the eggs. He never saw how brilliant they looked in the light of the fire.
Somehow, that drove a calm over him. In the flames, Jon saw dragons.
Arya
Dawn had set upon the land, yet, Arya's worry did not stir. Daenerys and Jon remained unfound, even Sansa was awash with misery, bursting into sobs so often Arya had lost count. Arya herself had begun to feel helpless and increasingly anxious. Every time the party was lead onto another dead end she would once again fight the struggle of not crying. Arya wanted to scream, cry and shout at Jon and Daenerys for possessing the stupidity of riding off without warning.
Every hour passed through infinite shouting and calling of Jon and Dany's names, the bitter hopelessness that clouded Arya's and every other member of the search party's minds and the growing in her legs from the endless riding. Often, Arya found herself closing her eyes in utter exhaustion, and she would have to firmly pinch herself every time, making her arms and thighs painfully sting.
Once again, Arya heard sleep call for her. It was like the rocking of the swaying horse that earlier on had only brought her discomfort was now slowly encouraging her to slowly close her eyes and rest.
Arya almost collapsed off her mare as she realised what was happening, and as she was leaning down to pinch her fatigued leg her nose caught a smell.
Fire.
Sure enough, as she lifted her head, she saw masses of smoke dancing in the air alongside golden sparks and the sound of crackling wood. As she sped up to tell her father, the only words that reigned in her head were Jon and Daenerys.
Daenerys
There were three; crème and gold, green and yellow, coal black and blood red. Scaled from their heads to their claws and tugging on her and Jon's bare skin. Their clothes had burned away during the blaze of the fire, and they stood naked in the black ashes that masked their bodies.
The men, even Rutch had fled at the first sight of the dragons, leaving only Daenerys, Jon and the three dragons to stand in bewilderment.
At the first sight of dawn, after the black dragon had tugged on Daenerys' bare breast all she could whisper was "Jon,". And all he whispered back was her name.
Arya
Her father had noticed the smoke too, and he had ordered his men to ride fast in the direction of it. The fatigue that had previously controlled her body seemed to have now completely faded away as Arya raced to the front of the party. Her father, who had previously had a face of stone at the worry of the two missing Targaryens, looked now less sincere and more assured that they would be found.
The air had become thick with smoke as the party drew closer to the smoke. The heavy pungent smell of smoke forced Arya to clap her hand over her mouth. The smell seemed familiar- the smoke certainly was a familiar scent, yet there was something else that Arya was able to recognise through the smell.
Suddenly, her mind flashed back to when Arya had decided to burn one of Sansa's dresses. That day, her sister and Jeyne Poole had taunted the eight-year-old Arya for hours. In the courtyard Arya pretended not to care, but inside her chambers something snapped and she threw one her sister's elegant gowns into the flames. She remembered her Lady Mother hurtling into the room. She said something about the smell! Arya recalled. Arya knew that the smell of the burning fabric had caused her mother to realise what she was doing.
Arya realised then that the smell was burning fabric. Why is there a scent of burning clothes in the woods?
Could something have happened to them?
Arya could feel worry set upon her mind once again, yet it did not drive her energy away and she continued to ride fast, biting her lip.
Soon, she rode into an opening.
And there she saw something thought to be dead for hundreds of years.
Jon
Silence.
It stood like a mirror between them and his uncle's party.
Eddard, Robb, Bran, Sansa, Lady Catelyn and Arya. Their faces shared the same expression, and no one spoke. Even Theon Greyjoy stood in a stunned silence.
In a swift movement, he and Daenerys rose from the ash and smoke, standing. It was cold, he could see it in everyone's watchful eyes. Yet, Jon was unwounded by the frosty air. Inside, he felt… warmer.
The pale coloured dragon- the one that merely two days ago had been an egg as hard as stone now climbed up his leg, covering his exposed manhood. The other two, climbed over Daenerys' body. The green dragon sat perched in her open hand, while the black dragon, the first that was born stood upon her shoulder. With its red wings that matched its sharp eyes, it was easily the biggest dragon. Its piercing and powerful scream brought everyone to bow, and the song of the three dragons echoed through the air.
Eddard
"Four and ten years?" His wife hissed as she paced around their chambers, "Four and ten years you knew and you refused to tell me?" Ned turned his head around to look upon his wife; her cheeks were stained with tears, and heavy dark circles were swept under her restless blue eyes. His wife seldom cried tears of her own, and the simple sight made his heart drop.
He stepped towards Catelyn, placing her hands into his own, "My sister- Jon's mother, she made me promise to not tell any person. My dying sister, she wept as she handed the pink babe to me. I promised to her, moments before she died, with her son's name on her lips." He said, his watery eyes meeting with his wife's.
Catelyn let go of his arms, and continued to walk around the room, "All his life! All of it, every hour, minute and second I would try to make him feel hated. I glared at him, scowled at him, and he was never what I feared." She sat onto their bed, clasping her hands over her mouth. Slowly, she took another ragged breath in and continued to speak in a hushed, regretful tone, "He was a boy! How could I not love a motherless child? I wished death upon him… I prayed for it!" She began to weep once more; thick heavy tears ran down her pink cheeks. Ned quickly pulled Catelyn in to a gentle embrace. He stroked her red hair, whispering into her ear things to comfort her. Slowly, he could feel her begin to relax, and he kissed her then. He knew she would no longer resent Jon, and that was enough to relieve one of his worries. Another stemmed from the dragons; they will not be so small for long... one day they shall grow to the size of Winterfell. That is unless Robert kills them first.
Another was the arrival of King Robert, his friend who felt more like his enemy when the thought of his old companion slaughtering Daenerys and Jon when he saw the dragons. After the dragons were born from the flames, no thought had been given to the royal visit in less than two moons, yet the inevitable threat loomed on, making Eddard increasingly anxious.
Daenerys and Jon were yet to know of the visit from King Robert, but Ned knew the news would bring so much worry to them. They knew the King would happily kill the two in seconds, regardless of their innocence.
What happened to their family: raped, slaughtered like pigs. Eddard thought, Daenerys and Jon know exactly what happened then, how could they ever bow down to him?
Finally, he cast his mind to Viserys Targaryen. He may have sent spies already, and if he has, what will he do when he finds an obstacle to 'his' throne? Daenerys had told Ned of her brother. How he had exploited her, abused her and used her. The boy has no honour, and dishonourable people are those who wage war.
They are not safe here.
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Hope you all like this chapter I would like to know what you all think about how long I should let my story be? Should there be many threats to overcome in the future (more than just King Robert and Viserys etc…) Should I have plots in this story years into the future, not canon where there are new threats unrelated to the current ones? Such as the "North Remembers" plotline? It will still be Jon x Dany ofc! Please, leave your thoughts on this