The Dragons of Winter
Chapter 18
Daenerys
Ser Jorah was quiet as she walked with him to Jon's chambers. He was a listener though; Dany watched him nod and keep his eyes on her a she told him the story of Jon Snow, though she noticed how the Bear distastefully looked to the floor as she mentioned Ned.
"These are his chambers, Ser Jorah." She explained as they reached the stretch of the corridor where Jon's quarters were, "I'll fetch my nephew." Daenerys knocked before letting herself in, ignoring how Jon never said she could enter.
He was sitting on a chair facing the window, his back turned to her as she padded to him.
"Daenerys." He said plainly once she reached him and was perched beside him on the chair.
"Jon." She replied with the same plain voice. Jon is not himself, I can fix that. "Why are you doing this?" She demanded, shedding the flatness into her voice.
"Because Robb is going to have to fight a war, perhaps not yet but him calling the Stark banners and marching South is inevitable! Arya and Sansa are in Kings landing at the mercy of King Robert and Ned is in a cell." His voice was full of ice now, and he was standing up, "They're my family, Daenerys! Soon they'll die, and what can I do? I'm stuck across the water!" She had never seen him so angry, or upset.
She cupped his face in her hands, "We can help them, Jon!"
"How?" He asked her, sadly.
She could hear the determination in her voice now, "We will get an army."
Arya
The city smelled worse when they were at the bottom of it, amongst shit and beggars and orphaned children. We look like begging orphaned children, Arya thought as she looked at Sansa's soiled gown that was once a fine blue dress with roses embodied on the sleeves and her tangled hair. We'll be orphans soon… Arya added sadly to herself. The King will kill father and then mother too, then we'll be poor beggars wearing rags on the streets of this shit pile of a city.
Arya glanced at a child with one leg crying for a few coins inside a crusty doorway. Everyone ignored
him, and those who didn't would make a jape about the cripple before snatching the few bronze coins he had from his tenuous grasp and running away. I would hate that life.
That was when another child caught her eye, a girl dressed in simple clothing peeking from an alley behind a tavern. Arya tapped Sansa on the shoulder, "That girl's watching us, look!"
Sansa's eyes widened as they fixed on the girl, "We should go, she might want to steal something!"
"Steal what? A soiled gown?" Arya hissed, "She wants us to follow her, come on!"
"No!" Sansa persisted, grabbing Arya's arm and trying to turn her the other way.
"Yes! She's younger than us, and I have needle." Arya spat before hurling herself to the girl. Sansa had no choice but to follow her sister into the alley. "Who are you?" Arya demanded.
The child remained in her relaxed stance, as silent as before.
"What do you want?" Still silent.
"Arya let's go!"
Sansa's winging was beginning to irritate her, "Shut up!" Arya put her attention back onto the child, who was sliding something out of her pocket. A piece of parchment…
"Why are you giving me this?" Arya questioned cautiously as the girl placed it in her hand. The girl motioned her hands, telling Arya to open it.
Follow me if you want to be safe
Arya wasn't sure if she should have been relieved when she read it, Sansa had the same reaction. Regardless, Arya grabbed Sansa and ran in pursuit of the her when the child took off down the winding streets and alleys.
"We're going away from the keep; I think this is safe!" Arya called to Sansa who was running behind her, holding her skirts so she wouldn't trip.
They hurtled down alleys and stairs, through markets and small taverns for what seemed like hours until the Red Keep seemed to be as small as a bird in the sky. Yet the girl kept on running, and Arya and Sansa had no choice but to chase after her.
A port… why are we here? All round her, Arya could see men and women of different colours, speaking different tongues. Everyone was trading, laughing and talking so loudly that Arya lost herself in the different languages. The ships all seemed to shine in the sun, despite them being modest vessels made of wood with simple details- if any details, carved on. The child had stopped running now, returning to the silent state she was in before.
"What are we doing here?" Sansa demanded, worry dripping thick in her voice, "Why did we have to follow you?"
Nothing came from the child but silence… nothing but her small hand gesturing for Arya to read the parchment once more. Nothing had changed on the paper, the same words still scribbled on it;
Follow me if you want to be safe
Arya shook her head, trying to find some hidden meaning in the way the girl was looking at her. Nothing.
"What is it?" Arya snapped.
The child responded by showing something with her hands; she was turning them the other way around. Arya understood.
However, Arya Stark did not understand why on the parchment's other side there was a spider beside a dragon. "What does this mean?" Arya asked her, not expecting the girl to answer- and she didn't. But Sansa did.
"Arya, it means that whoever sent us here wants to help Jon and Dany!" Her sister exclaimed, furiously pointing to the drawing, "We can trust this Arya!"
Arya didn't have time to reply, or to even react to how Sansa actually used her head to think of something helpful before the little girl was running again.
She lead them to a ship, as plain as the others and full of people like the others. Its simple white sail swaying in the breeze as men carried barrels of wine and spices off the deck and onto the port where people were waiting to carry them to their homes and castles.
"Here?" Arya asked the child, watching the ship warily. The child nodded, and was gone before Arya could thank her.
"I'm scared." Sansa said, watching a man with sun kissed skin jump onto the port and greet the two. He had a kind face, golden eyes and a mess of dark hair that cascaded to his back in tight curls. He reminded Arya of Syrio.
"I take you safe, friends." He had a thick accent and a warm voice, yet that didn't stop Arya from wondering where safety was in the seven Kingdoms, "Come, I take you aboard. Clean, food!" He exclaimed with a laugh as he brought the sisters on to the ship.
"Where are we going?" Sansa questioned, not hiding the unease in her voice.
"Far away, my ladies."
Jon
He and Dany had slept together that night. He couldn't shake the thought of how good it had felt to be inside of her, or how she had cried "Jon…". And then, she rested her head on his naked body and fell asleep, leaving Jon to stare at the ceiling and think through the night.
She's right… we need to help them. We need an army.
Jon had no idea how they'd obtain the army however, it would take years… longer even! Jon thought sadly. Ned and Arya and Sansa would be dead by then, and we'll be here, fighting for ghosts. Jon wondered how long it would take for the dragons to grow to a size large enough to mount one. Daenerys talked about it often, with those violet eyes shining and her lips parted in a wishful smile. She wants to take King's Landing, Jon knew. She wanted for house Targaryen to be strong again, a mighty house that rules.
But what do I want?
Family was the first thing that came to his mind, love the second. A home, belonging. Before Daenerys was taken to Winterfell, before everything that had happened, Jon had been a bastard. Someone hidden away in the North by a man with sad eyes and a sadder smile, brothers, sisters, and a woman who hated him. A disgrace, a symbol of broken honour, lust. Jon loved Ned, and his siblings but had he ever belonged?
Things have changed now… I'm a prince. Yet, would Jon belong? Even as a prince?
Catelyn
She could feel warmth rise in her heart as Winterfell's towers began creeping up behind its frosted hills and valleys. Robb, Rickon…Bran. Her sontucked inside his bed, cold and asleep and immobile had been her last memory of her child that had fallen from the tower. Thrown, Catelyn Stark thought bitterly as she recalled the moments when she found out that the Lannisters had fled the capital to escape Robert's wrath.
Remembering how she had accused the wrong Lannister of such acts made the lady of Winterfell feel ashamed. Tyrion insisted day and night that he was innocent, and yet Catelyn only saw the truth in his words when news of Cersei and Jaime running from Robert reached them amongst the mountains of the Vale. Only then had Catelyn let the small man go.
What made Catelyn feel more ashamed of however was the way Rickon had clinged to her skirts for three days after she reunited with her son within the tall walls of Winterfell. Her youngest child was always there, like a shadow that remained day and night. I was gone too long... was what she often found herself thinking as she once again performed her duties as Lady of Winterfell, alongside Robb. He looks a lord now, Catelyn Stark thought glumly as she stared at her oldest, listening to the icy words that came from his mouth and into the ears of whoever came in the morning to share ideas or beg for help of some kind. He had no choice, he had to become a man.
He had to sit in his father's chair and carry out his father's duties; he will have to fight for his father's life too, when the time comes.
Eddard
It was dark, cold and dark and cold. He would sit for hours, being grateful for his life, and how he had fathered beautiful children and married a woman he loved. Then spend the next hours frantically thinking about what was going on above him, his daughters and his other children tucked in the North. After, Lord Stark would always fall asleep, and see his sister standing before him.
In the dream, the blood from her last minutes was gone, replaced by a blue winter rose resting in her hands. She looked wild, she looked every piece that he loved about her.
"Promise me." She'd always whisper, before her face changed into another.
A face with the same eyes, the same hair and nose. Jon…
But unlike Lyanna, who seemed to be at peace, Jon would always be holding a long sword stained in blood, with armour in the colours of fire and blood caked in filth and the same red that engulfed his sword. His eyes were always wide and fearful, and his mouth would always call out the same words; "Promise me, promise me, promise me…"
A sudden light in the blackness of his cell caused Eddard to open his eyes, it was a flame. Lord Stark was ready to see a Kings guard or Robert himself to emerge from the darkness, but instead a different kind of man stood before him;
A spider.
NOTES: Sorry I took longer on this chapter, school has started again and I've managed to be lazy enough not to write this quickly. As always, PLEASE PLEASE write a review! You have no idea how they make me happy and motivate me to write more!
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