CHAPTER 17. JON SNOW
It was getting colder the first signs of Winter. The old legends were true and Jon Snow had seen them, fought them, and looked the living embodiment of death, the Night King in the eye. His trip to Hard Home was a disaster in many aspects and it also bought him face to face with true enemy of the living. Upon returning to Castle Black Jon is betrayed by Ser Alliser and thirteen of his brothers of the watch. They stab him to death and leave Jon to die. Later he is bought back to life by the Lady Melisandre. Jon thinks on all these things as he stands atop the wall one last time, before leaving. "My watch has ended..." He says and leaves the wall via the lift.
As Jon goes down the lift a horn sounds once. When he reaches the bottom Melisandre is waiting. The horses are already saddled and as they are mounting their horses the acting commander of the Watch runs up, "Jon!"
"I am not changing my mind Edd..."
"No at the gate..." He says breathing heavy, "Your brother!"
Jon cannot believe it, his brother Brandon had been beyond the wall and is alive. "Where have you been?" Jon asks in the main hall of Castle Black.
"Everywhere..." He cryptically replies.
"What do you mean..."
"I am the Three Eyed Raven now and there are things I must tell you..." Melisandre, Edd, and Meera are present as well.
"Tell me what?"
"You Jon are not my half brother...You are not my father's son...You are my cousin...Your mother was my Aunt Lyanna Stark...Your father was Prince Rhaegar...And he did not kidnap or rape her...They fell in love and she ran away with him...Father lied to protect you..."
"Prince Rhaegar?" He shakes his head, "No it can't be..."
"It is Jon and if you require proof write to your Samwell Tarly at the Citadel...Tell him to send you a copy of Septon Manor's journal..."
With Bran's arrival Jon puts off his trip for two days so that Bran and Meera can rest; and so that the message can be sent. Two days later they leave for Winterfell. Winter is coming and those are the words of House Stark. The Stark family had survived. Rickon, Sansa, Arya, and Jon, but Jon was actually a Targaryen. Upon arriving at Winterfell Samwell Tarly is waiting with Septon Manor's diary.
"You were right..." Jon says to Bran holding the document.
"Yes and we must head south and convince these two Queens to stop fighting, unite, and fight the real enemy." A week later they travel to White Harbor and sail for King's Landing.
KING'S LANDING
No matter what others said Jon did not want the Iron Throne nor did he warm up to his Targaryen heritage. His father Rhaegar Targaryen and his mother Lyanna had started a war with their careless actions. He did not hate either of them out right; his mother died giving birth to him and through Bran Jon learned that his father was trying to end his Grandfather's tyrannical rule. Still this news would not bode well with Cassana the current seat warmer of the Iron Throne or the contender Daenarys Targaryen.
"Have you considered the fact that you might be able to ride one of Daenarys' Dragons?" Bran asks as they sit at meal to eat. Meera and Melisandre are with them as well.
Jon sighs, "Yes I have, but that doesn't mean she will let me near her Dragons...She may try and kill me..."
Bran smiles, "Not all Targaryens are the same...Family is very important to Daenarys Targaryen...Especially after she lost her first child and husband..." Bran sighs, "There is something else and I may as well mention it now before we reach King's Landing..."
"What?"
"Its about Tyrion Lannister...His true father was the mad King who raped his mother Joanna..."
After a long while of brooding Jon looks at Bran, "Any other secrets I should know about?"
"Only one and I will reveal that when we return North..."
When they disembark from the ship The Hand of the Queen Ser Davos Seaworth is waiting for them along with Arya, "Jon! Bran!" She runs up to Jon and higs him first.
"Hello Arya...My how you have grown..."
"Hello Arya..." Bran says.
"Welcome to King's Landing...I am Hand of the Queen Ser Davos Seaworth..."
Jon shakes his hand, "A pleasure to meet you My Lord..."
"We need to see the Queen immediately...Its an emergency..." Jon says.
"She is on the battlefield commanding her forces against the Dragon Queen in Dorne...Arrangements can be made I will take you to her..."
The arrangements took three days and then they were off. Ser Davos leaves Qyburn in charge while he is away. They travel by land through the Queenswood to Vulture's Roost. As they approach Cassana's camp Jon can see two Dragons pinned to the ground. "Did she..."
"Capture two of Daenarys' Dragons?" Davos says finishing Jon's Question, "Yes she did..."
"How?" So Davos tells him how Dragons can be knocked unconscious with lightening.
Brienne announces them when they arrive at Cassana's command tent, "Lords Brandon Stark and Jon Snow of Winterfell...Lady Meera Reed of Greywater Watch..." Melisandre decided to stay in King's Landing.
He can tell Cassana is happy to see him and Jon is equally happy to see her again. "This is a pleasant surprise...You didn't desert the watch did you?"
Jon smiles, "No...Its complicated..."
"Good because I would hate to have to have you executed...Please come in and sit down..."
"We much to talk about..." Jon says and then looks at Bran. He starts off with his trip North and why he went. Bran tells an abridged version as Cassana is getting ready to meet with Daenarys to negotiate a prisoner exchange.
"Jon's real name is Aegon Targaryen..." Bran says after telling her about Prince Rhaegar and Lyanna Stark.
Jon cannot tell what she is feeling as Cassana's face remains neutral, "You have proof of this?" Meera hands her the scroll taken from Manor's journal.
"I have no interest in the Iron Throne..." Jon says as she reads the document. "...But I need you to make peace with the Dragon Queen. Fire is the greatest weapon against the White Walkers and Dragons are fire made flesh..."
Cassana sighs and hands the document back to Meera. "This complicates things..." She looks at Jon, "Does this mean you are no longer a member of the Night's Watch?"
"Part of the reason yes..." He tells her about his trip to Hard Home and his confrontation with the Night King. Mance Rayder had died at Hard Home. Jon also tells her how he was betrayed and brought back to life by Melisandre when he returned to Castle Black. He shows her the wounds on his chest and abdomen. Wounds that would most certainly would cause death when inflicted.
"Tomorrow I meet with the Dragon Queen to discuss terms...The three of you may accompany me..."
Jon lays on his bed in the tent erected for him. It hard to sleep as he thinks about the last time he was with Cassana. The feel and smell of her body against his. Her long hair and the taste of her lips. He gets up and starts wondering through the camp. His feet bring him to the Dragons. Cassana is present and he watches as she blasts the Dragons with lightening from her hands. He walks up to her, "I am glad you didn't kill them..."
She looks at him, "Many suggested that I should, but my original intentions were to force her to bend the knee..." They start walking back towards the camp as the men manning the scorpions pointed at the Dragons are changed.
"Do you feed them?"
"Yes they were fed before I shocked them into unconsciousness..." They wind up back in her tent, "Leave us!" As soon as the two Queensguard leave Jon and Cassana start kissing. "Does this mean you will accept my offer of marriage?"
"As long as you do not use me as some pawn to keep the Iron Throne..." She stops kissing him and backs away, "I'm sorry I didn't mean it like that..."
"Perhaps you should return to your tent..."
"I'm sorry..." Jon says again before leaving. He regretted his words and at the same time he meant them. He loves Cassana, but as much as he loves her there is so much more that he doesn't know about her. Later he lies in bed staring up at the ceiling of his tent. There is a rustling sound and Jon looks to the back of his tent to find Cassana entering from beneath the bottom. "Cassana..."
She lies down next to him and places her finger to his lips, "You were right...But know that I have no intention of using you as a pawn to keep the Iron Throne...You were right because you had every right to voice your concerns...I am trying to learn to not to respond in anger...It is one of my few flaws..."
Jon smiles, "Few...I am sure you have a lot more..." She lightly slaps him with a smile, "See there is another one...Responding with violence..."
"I love you and I want you in every way possible..."
"I love you and I want you to know everything there is to know about you..." Jon responds. They start kissing and making love.
The next morning Brienne finds Cassana in Jon's tent. Jon, Brandon, Davos, and Meera break their fast with the Queen. Then they leave to meet with Daenarys. The meeting place is two miles from where the Dragons are being held down. Daenarys arrives on horseback with Ser Jorah, Asher, Daario, Grey Worm, Missandei, Varys, Meko, and twenty Unsullied guards. Cassana arrives with Gendry, Brienne, the Queensguard, Jon, Brandon, Meera and twenty soldiers. The two Queens sit on their own high backed chairs ten paces from each other.
"Thank you for agreeing to this meeting..." Cassana says speaking first.
"You have something I want back...and I have something you want..."
Cassana looks at Jon, "True...Attacking Casterly Rock and taking my Uncle and his family that was clever...I was going to make you bend the knee, but things have changed..."
"In what way?"
Jon stands up, "We need your help your Grace...I was introduced as Jon Stark of Winterfell...My mother was Lyanna Stark and she named me Aegon Targaryen...Your brother Prince Rhaegar was my father..."
Jon watches as Daenarys and her advisers exchange looks, "Is this some type of sick joke?" Daenarys finally asks.
"It is no Joke..." Brandon says speaking up, "...Moon of my life." She frowns as Brandon had used the term only ever spoken to her by Khal Drogo before he died. "Isn't that what Khal Drogo use to say to you to express his love for you...and you would call him your sun and stars."
"Are you a seer of some kind..."
"Close...I am the Three Eyed Raven...I see things that have, are, and sometimes will happen...You share blood with Jon Stark." He looks at Meera who stands up, "And if you don't believe us read it for yourself." It is Grey Worm who takes the document from Meera and gives it to Daenarys. "Your brother didn't rape or kidnap my Aunt...They fell in love and married in secret..."
They all watch as she reads in silence. When she is done she passes the document to Ser Jorah and looks at Varys. "Can this be true?"
"A strong possibility Your Grace...Eddard Stark was an honorable man which is why I found it strange that he would break his vows. But what they say fits what really happened..." Varys takes the document from Asher and reads it. "And this is proof that what they say is real...He is your nephew the son of your brother Prince Rhaegar..."
Daenarys looks at Jon, "Funny you don't look like a Targaryen..."
"Lucky for me...Your Grace..."
"And you support the woman whose family murdered ours?"
"Its more complicated than that and you know this..."
"Why do you need our Queen's help?" Ser Jorah asks.
"The White Walkers have returned..." Bran replies.
"White Walkers?" Daenarys asks. Jorah leans over and whispers into her ear.
"I saw them..." Jon says speaking up, "I saw their leader the Night King...They can be killed with fire, Valyrian steel, or Dragonglass...You have three Dragons..."
"Two of which are being held prisoner by the Storm Queen..." Daenarys says interrupting.
"I will return them as a show of good faith...Provided you release my Uncle and his family. You must also help us fight and defeat the White Walkers..."
"And the Iron Throne?" Daenarys asks.
"I already sit on the Iron Throne and technically I have won this war..."
"Not while we have your Uncle and his family..." Ser Jorah says.
"I intend to marry Queen Cassana..." Jon blurts, "I love her..."
"I see..." Daenarys stands up, "I must speak privately with my advisers...Shall we reconvene in two days..."
"Agreed." Cassana replies.
"Wait!" Bran says speaking up, "Lord Tyrion shares blood with you as well...His mother was raped by your father..."
She stares at them all before mounting her horse and riding off. Later Bran's eyes are white as he spies on Daenarys and her advisers. "Ser Jorah councils her not to believe it..." Bran says while in a trance. "...Lord Varys believes us and thinks she should make the pact...Lord Asher doesn't us...Missandei wants to know what we gain by telling such a lie...She advises to make a deal...Grey Worm says that she should test you Jon and see if you are a Targaryen..." Bran's eyes return to normal.
"Why not do the test ourselves..." Gendry suggests.
Cassana doesn't like it, but eventually agrees because Jon says he is willing to try. They go to the Dragons who are awake and struggle to free themselves. "Calm down!" Cassana says walking up to the Dragons with arcs of lightening jumping across her body as her hair blows. Jon stares in disbelief as the Dragons stop squirming. She had told him that Dragons are very intelligent. She looks at Jon, "Are you sure about this?"
"No, but if we are to prove to her that I am a Targaryen then it must be so..."
"Know that if they kill you I kill them..."
Jon walks up to her and takes her hand, "Whatever happens promise me you won't..." she looks away, "Promise me..." He says more forcefully.
"I promise..."
Jon nods and walks past her towards the Dragons. "High...Your names are Rhaegal and Viserion...My name is Jon Stark...It is also Aegon Targaryen..." ("gods I am talking to Dragons..."). Rhaegal snorts at him, but Viserion starts purring. Drawn to Vsierion Jon approaches the Dragon, "If I let you up you can't attack her..." He points at Cassana, "I love her and neither can you attack her people...I want to make peace with your mother..." Jon sighs reaches his hand out and touches the Dragon. Again it purrs and then it sticks its tongue out and licks him. "Okay then..." Jon looks at the men manning Viserion's chains and nods.
They look at Cassana, "Release him..."
The chains are clamped to the pins so all they have to do is release the clamps and cut the ropes. The Dragon stands up and roars at everyone, then it bends its head down and roars in Jon's face. Viserion leans down to allow Jon to climb on his back. "Alright..." He climbs up on the Dragon and looks at Cassana. "Fly!" Cassana had taught Jon to speak a few words in Old Valyrian. Off they fly into the sky with Rhaegal whimpering to go after them.
Jon manages to get Viserion to fly south towards Daenarys' camp and lands on the edge. Soldiers come running on foot and horseback. Soon Daenarys joins them and stares in wonder at Jon who is riding Viserion. "Seems like I am a Targaryen after all...Do we have an alliance or not..."
She flies on Drogon with Ser Jorah back to Cassana who is waiting with her men. Jon and Daenarys walk up to Cassana, "As we speak your Uncle and his family are being released...If you and Jon marry the Iron Throne can be yours I will return to Meereen and rule the East..."
"What of the White Walkers?" Cassana asks.
"I will help you fight them..."