(Not in chronological order).
King's Landing 299 AC.
Arthur.
Six and ten years it had been since he set foot in this city and the first thing that hit him was that it smelt even worse than it had back then. Over the years he'd considered coming here, images of finding the fat Stag and gutting the man were never far from his mind. That he'd not was down to the boy that now risked so much to save a girl he thought a sister. It worried him that Rhaegar risked so much for a girl that not only wasn't truly who he thought she was but who according to his other sister had never treated him well.
Lady Catelyn's influence had only extended to Sansa though, that much was clear in how Arya and Rhaegar interacted. Arthur finding himself picturing a little girl with dark hair and violet eyes and imagining that she and Rhaegar would have had the same type of relationship. It was one that he and Ashara had shared, one that he knew Oberyn and Elia had too. A closeness that only a true brother and sister could feel and so the girl to him was just that. Her sister though, her he didn't know how he'd feel about. The more he'd learned the less he liked her and hearing of the incident with the wolves only made that even clearer. It had annoyed Rhaegar too but his king held it in well, something that he was managing to do even better since they'd headed south.
A king needed many skills and he'd teach him as much as he could. Some though only a king could teach himself and so he was happy to see on those Rhaegar was learning well. The tunnels they rested in were dark and damp and while Arya had managed to get them in, they weren't as helpful as he'd wished. Each time he'd taken the chance to look above them he'd found they were further and further from where they needed to be. It was frustrating and the longer they stayed, the more dangerous it was becoming, but Rhaegar refused to leave without his sister and so Arthur was left with no choice but to guard his back.
"I'm telling you it's this way." Arya said rising to her feet.
"We've been that way, Arya, it's not." Rhaegar said.
"Jon, trust me." Arya said pleadingly.
"Arya, it's not that way, I'll go if you ask it of me but it's not." Rhaegar said and Arthur nodded when he looked at him, knowing he was right.
"We should have brought Ghost and Nymeria." Arya said disappointedly as she sat down beside her brother.
"The wolves are too well known, Arya. We'd not be able to protect them in here." Rhaegar said and she nodded.
"What if we can't find her?" Arya said her voice soft and low.
"I found you didn't I." Rhaegar said and even in the darkness of the tunnels, Arthur could see the smile on the girl's face.
When they heard the sound of footsteps heading their way both he and Rhaegar jumped to their feet, Dawn and Blackfyre out in an instant and he knew that Arya had her Needle out too.
"It's Gendry." Rhaegar said allowing him to relax.
"I've brought food." Gendry said when he reached them, Arthur accepting the apples and the bread that Rhaegar threw his way.
"Any word on Sansa?" Rhaegar asked as he took a chunk of bread and gave it to his sister, the sound of her eating it reminding Arthur very much of a wolf.
"I saw her near the Sept, she had a Kingsguard and some other guards with her." Gendry said his words muffled as he ate too.
"Was she hurt?" Rhaegar asked.
"Not that I saw, she looked well, Jon." Gendry said and Arthur heard the relieved sounds that came from both Rhaegar and Arya at that.
After they'd eaten he looked over to see Arya cuddle up against her brother and Rhaegar wrap his arm around her. The girl was asleep in moments and he watched as Rhaegar looked at her, how protectively he held her and how comfortable and secure she looked next to him. After they'd rescued her it was only when she was Rhaegar or her wolf that he saw her that way. All other times she had a wariness about her, her eyes looking in all directions at once as she sought out danger.
He'd suggested that she stay with Thoros and the wolves, that it would be for the best if just he and Rhaegar entered the city. Both his king and the girl herself soon making it clear that was unacceptable to either of them.
"Where Jon goes, I go." Arya said defiantly and Arthur still chuckled when the thought of the look on both their faces when she'd done so.
Getting into the city hadn't been hard, the cart and supplies they purchased and the clothing they wore marked them out for the smallfolk they pretended to be. Hiding Dawn and Blackfyre had been more difficult but seeing food in the cart had eased their passage. Though it came at the cost of some of that food to the gold cloaks themselves before they were let past. Once inside it had been harder though and they'd needed to wait until night fell before they could head to the entrance into the tunnels. It had taken them three days to get the rest of their men inside the city and another day to organize the ship they would board to get them away from the city once they had rescued Sansa Stark.
Thoros and the rest of their men had left to go to Duskendale and would meet them there along with the wolves before they then made their way to Maidenpool. There were no ships going North from King's Landing and his king wished to go North once this was done.
"Maidenpool to White Harbor, Arthur, and then to Skagos." Rhaegar said.
"And the dragon?" he asked.
"And the dragon." Rhaegar said.
"Do you truly believe it can be tamed, your grace?" he asked worriedly.
"There's a phrase in my head, Arthur, one that I don't know where it came from, it's Valyrian if you'd believe such a thing." Rhaegar said.
"What's the phrase?"
" Zaldrīzes buzdari iksos daor."
"What does that mean?" he asked confused.
"A dragon is not a slave." Rhaegar said smiling at him, his dark grey eyes full of mirth as he looked at him while doing so.
It filled him with worry at first until Rhaegar had explained it to him. His king telling him that the bond between a dragon and its rider was a willing one. That just like with Ghost the dragon would have its own mind and while he could ask it to do something, he could never command it to. When he then told him that his aunt had three dragons of her own and they were growing, he looked at him oddly. The dreams they shared were not something he understood though he did feel relieved when he was told that Barristan was by her side. The thoughts of seeing his former brother once more was something he'd almost given up on unless it was to be at the end of his sword.
Gendry left the next morning to fetch more food and to make sure their men were ready. He, Rhaegar, and Arya giving the tunnels yet another go and finding once more that none of them led to where they wished to. By the time they made it back to where they'd rested the night before, Gendry had already returned. The news he brought them making Rhaegar smile and yet Arthur could only worry that they'd be far too exposed.
"We can do this, Arthur, I know we can." Rhaegar said to him as they moved from the tunnels.
"If we cannot then I need your word, your grace. If the danger is too much, we run." he said pleadingly, not willing to lose the king he'd waited for so long to serve.
"On my honor, Arthur." Rhaegar said and he nodded, blinking from the light as they left the tunnels.
Winterfell 299 AC.
Bran.
How had it come to this? how had he messed up this badly? Winterfell had fallen to less than thirty men and he couldn't believe he'd been so foolish. The ravens had come from Deepwood Motte and Moat Cailin, the Greyjoy's had attacked and been pushed back. When news then came from Torrhen's Square he'd agreed with Ser Rodrik that as acting Lord of Winterfell his job was to send aid when called for, he should have waited.
The men from Moat Cailin and those from Deepwood Motte were sure to march his way and yet he'd seen the thirst for glory in the eyes of the guards in Winterfell. Ser Rodrik had wished to lead his men and see them drive the squids from their lands and Bran in his hubris had wished for a victory to name as his own too. Robb was off winning battles and earning acclaim and he knew that Jon would soon do the same. His brother would rescue his sisters and songs would be sung of him one day. Who would sing songs of him? What great deeds could a cripple accomplish? So he had sent his men and through them, their glory would be reflected onto him.
"I am a fool." he said softly as he looked to Rickon, Osha, and Hodor.
Ser Rodrik would return he knew, he'd return and take the keep back but the damage was done. Septon Chayle, Alebelly, Mikken, and what had happened to Palla that was all on him. There was blood on his hands that he would never be able to repay though he swore one day he would do something to make up for it. He heard the footsteps and looked to Summer and Shaggydog, the wolves remaining calm and letting him know that it was only Jojen and Meera returning.
"What news?" Osha asked.
"The bodies still swing from the gates but the Iron Born are afraid." Jojen said.
"Why? they have the keep." he said angrily.
"But they'll not hold it for long." Meera said happily.
"Have you seen it?" he asked Jojen the boy shaking his head, his dreams were now ones that Bran knew he should have placed more faith in.
"The men march, Lord Brandon they march and they will take the keep back and then the so-called Prince of Winterfell will pay for his crimes." Meera said.
"I'll see his head removed from his shoulders, I'll take it myself." he said his anger rising.
"Perhaps or perhaps the gods have a different fate in store for Theon, only time will tell." Jojen said.
"Stop talking in riddles, had you just said it clear…" he said before feeling guilty for doing so "I'm sorry, I didn't mean.."
"It's a hard thing you face Bran, but you won't do so alone." Jojen said and he nodded.
He ate the food they brought him and listened as Rickon argued and said he wanted to see father. Bran losing his temper once more with his brother and telling him that father was dead only for Rickon to say he was not, that he'd seen him, him, and his white wolf. It took him aback for a while before he realized that he was seeing Jon and not their actual father. Bran asked him to tell him exactly what he had seen and told him that he was sorry for being angry with him.
"I saw him with Sansa and Arya, the white wolf and the grey, they were on a ship and it was cold. Father stood at the front and spoke to them both, he told them that the pack would be together again soon and that he had a surprise for all those who had dared harm us." Rickon said as he, Jojen, Meera, and Osha listened.
"Hodor." the giant said his voice loud and forcing all of them to turn and look at him.
Hodor sat there with a smile on his face, one he'd not seen on it for days and one that he remembered most clearly from the day the wolves had been found and brought to Winterfell. He'd been more excited that day than he'd ever seen him, repeating his one word over and over and smiling when Jon had allowed him to pet Ghost.
"Hodor." Hodor said standing up, his arms out wide as he began to run around the crypt.
"The giant's lost what little mind he had." Osha said and Bran almost wished to agree, instead, he found himself drawn to Hodor as he realized he was pretending to fly.
"Hodor, Hodor." Hodor said and then he watched as he took the torch and threw it to the ground "Hodor, Hodorrrr."
Bran looked to the torch and to Hodor watching as the giant picked the torch up again and moved with it in his hands, both his arms outstretched once more and this time when he threw the torch to the ground, Bran could almost have sworn it looked like flames coming from his mouth. He looked from the ground to the man, heard him say the words over and over, and then something seemed to click in his head.
"He thinks he's a dragon." he said and Hodor looked at him.
"Hodor."
"You're a dragon, Hodor?" Rickon asked his brother smiling as he seemed to enjoy the game that Hodor was playing.
"Hodor." Hodor said shaking his head.
"But someone is?" he asked.
"Hodor." was the reply, Bran starting to hear the difference in the way he said the word each time.
As confused as he was there was something about the way Hodor sounded and acted and so he thought about closing his eyes and warging into Summer. When he was in his wolf he felt smarter somehow, it was as if he understood things better and just as he was about to do so, he remembered what had been said before Hodor had begun to move around the crypts. Rickon had been speaking about his father, was that it? Was Hodor saying his father was a dragon? That made no sense and his father was dead, he knew that, he'd cried for him when the raven's scroll had come but no it hadn't been father, it had been Jon that Rickon spoke of.
"Jon." he said and heard Hodor's voice.
"Hodor."
"Jon is a dragon?" he asked and Hodor's voice grew louder.
"Hodor, Hodor."
It made no sense, Jon couldn't be a dragon, what did that even mean. Could it be that Jon was going to get a dragon? Is that what it meant? That made some sense to him, even if there were no such things as dragons anymore but that fitted what Rickon had said, didn't it?"
"Rickon, was the surprise that father was going to get, was it a dragon?" he asked as the others looked to him.
"I don't know, only that it was a surprise and it was going to hurt them all, Lions, Krakens, Stags, all of them." Rickon said.
He didn't understand it but as he slept that night he took some comfort in the idea that perhaps Jon knew where there was a dragon. The smile on his face was a true one as he imagined his brother bringing a dragon to bear on all of those that had hurt them. Bran found himself hoping that he'd be there to see it, to see his brothers again, his sisters, and to tell them all how sorry he was for failing them and for losing their home.
How many days they'd been in the crypt when Osha said they should make their escape more true, he didn't' know. Suggesting to Rickon that they split up and he go with Osha while Bran went with Meera, Jojen and Hodor didn't go down well with his brother though. Nor did it with Hodor himself who refused to carry him. Nothing that he, Jojen, Meera, or Osha could say would make him do so and Bran couldn't leave if he didn't take him. He hated it here in the darkness of the crypts, the cold here felt very different than the wind and snow of the open spaces. Even compared to the Godswood it was quiet and he was beginning to think they'd come here to die and rest with the rest of the dead.
One day their bodies would be found and at least they'd not need to move them far to see them buried he thought bitterly. Had he the use of his legs then he could have left here days ago and it only further proved just how useless he truly was that he could not. He'd lost his home, cost people their lives and now wasn't even able to see his brother safe. As the days went on he was feeling worse and worse, with only Summer able to even garner a smile from him. His self-pity was something that was his and his alone and yet he knew the others suffered because of it.
"Bran, Bran wake up." Meera said and he looked at her almost panicked.
""Hodor." Hodor said excitedly.
"The keep, Bran, Winterfell it's yours once more." Meera said as Jojen looked at him and Osha smiled.
"What?"
"They've taken it back, it's fallen to the North." Meera said and Bran sat up a little straighter, he hoped that Theon had been taken prisoner, no, he prayed for it.
The Westerlands 299 AC.
Robb Stark.
Ashemark had been a big success and he'd ordered the army to keep marching. The Greatjon had been sent on to capture the gold mines and Maege Mormont had captured thousands of cattle that she intended to drive back to Riverrun. It was meat that would be much appreciated he knew and that would wound the Westerlands even more than their keeps being taken. Now as he looked at the Crag that lay in the distance in front of him, he felt they'd take it easy enough.
The Crag was not Ashemark and the Westerlings were certainly not the Marbands. Still, the taking of a keep was a difficult proposition, and to be careless or flippant about it would lead to dead men. So Robb obsessed over the plans just as he had over all the other plans he'd made. In the end, he decided on a night attack, the Smalljon and Black Walder Frey both asking for and being given leave to lead the climbing parties.
After Olyvar helped him into his armor, Robb found himself brushing his fingers over Grey Wind's fur as he waited on night to fall. Looking up to the night sky he wondered if Jon was out there doing something the same, not taking a keep of course, but was he like him, was he with Ghost somewhere rubbing his hands over the white fur? He smiled at the thought of it, imagining he was and hoping that the dreams he had where it wasn't just Jon stroking his wolf's fur were true. Gods he missed them all, his sisters, Arya and Sansa, his brothers Jon, Bran, and Rickon, he even missed their wolves he thought as he looked down at Grey Wind.
"Aye, you miss them too, don't ya boy." he said rubbing the wolf behind the ear.
When the night seemed dark enough he gave the order and watched as the Smalljon and the others moved to the walls. Only the sheer size of the Smalljon marking him out as different from the men around him. With a wave of his hand, Robb then gave the order to move toward the gate, and with Grey Wind beside him, they marched. His sword remained in its sheath as the fighting for him wouldn't start until the gate fell.
The arrows and oil came down first, Robb staying covered under his shield as the ram was moved to the gate. He knew there were those among his men who wished him elsewhere and his granduncle had almost demanded he lead from the back. Brynden telling him that not all king's led from the front and that he was too important to their cause to risk himself so. That he did so in the privacy of his tent and brooked no further argument when Robb told him that he'd lead his men his way, was something that he appreciated, as was his counsel.
He knew that for every man that wished him to lead from the back there were five or even ten more who took comfort in him leading how he did. They fought harder and fiercer beside their king and that alone was worth the risk he thought. Or did until he felt the pain and felt himself begin to falter. Robb briefly found himself in a dream, he was a wolf and he had bitten deep into a knight's throat and then it was darkness.
"Where am I, ahhhh." he said trying to rise and then feeling a soft hand push him gently back to the bed.
"You should not move, you've been hurt and the wound is only beginning to heal, your grace" a soft voice said and he opened his eyes to see a woman looking down at him.
"I...My Lady, where am I?"
"The Crag, your grace." the girl said and he looked closer at her.
She was young, perhaps his own age, dark of hair and eye and he found himself thinking her pretty before he blushed when he realized she'd been looking at him as he was her. He blushed, even more, when he realized that he was uncovered in her presence. His shirt was nowhere to be seen and he feared he may not be wearing small clothes either. The girl must have seen some of that worry in his face as she looked at him concernedly.
"Your attack was successful your grace, the Crag has fallen to you and your men. My mother Lady Sybell tasked me with caring for you."
"Your name, My lady?" he asked.
"Lady Jeyne Westerling, your grace." she said smiling softly as she did so.
"I thank you for your care, Lady Jeyne, my men, is there one nearby?" he asked and she nodded as she moved to the door.
"I'll send someone to you, your grace, and fetch you some food." she said giving him a curtsy before she left the room.
He lay back in the bed, the wound was deep and he'd been very lucky but he felt well and it only bothered him when he moved. Closing his eyes, he was just about to drift back off to sleep when he heard the door open and looked to see his granduncle enter. Robb tried to sit up but Brynden waved him off and moved to grab a jug of water when he coughed.
"Drink this your grace." his granduncle said handing him the mug and Robb did as he was bid, taking small swallows of the water before Brynden took the mug back from him and placed it back on the table.
"How many did we lose?" Robb asked.
"A few, less than twenty. We took the keep easily and other than your own injury…"
"I feel well." he said looking at the older man and trying to reassure him.
"Aye, the Maester said you'd recover and you've been waking on and off." Brynden said.
"The Lords?" he asked coughing again and taking the mug himself which brought a small smile from Brynden.
"Have shored up our hold on the keeps we've taken and the mines. The Greatjon went scouting with some of his men, the man was bored as fuck, his words not mine, your grace." Brynden said making him laugh a bit as he pictured him saying it.
"Did the Maester say when I can get out of this bed?" he asked and Brynden nodded.
"A few more days and I'd ask you to listen, Robb, as your kin." Brynden said the concern clear in his voice and Robb said that he would.
They spoke for a little longer and then Lady Jeyne arrived back carrying some soup and bread. He ate as much as he could and felt the better for it but soon he was asleep once more. Robb finding himself in Grey Wind and seeing the large figure of the Greatjon as he spoke to some men including his granduncle. He tried to get closer to see if it was possible to hear what they were speaking about but he found he could not. Their expressions though worried him and when he woke the next morning and Jeyne brought him some food, he asked her if anything had happened.
She told him that she knew of nothing and when he asked her to eat with him, she did. Robb listening as she said her father had been captured and was being held by the Mallisters at Seagard. It surprised him that she never pleaded to him to free him. Instead, she only asked if he was being treated well and told him some of the horrible things that the Lannisters had said about him and the men in North and how she feared for him and for the rest of her family.
"Do I look like a man who turns into a wolf and eats men?" he asked with a soft smile on his face.
"No, your grace." she said softly.
"I assure you that your father will be treated as well as you're treating me, my lady, as will your family. I give you my word on it." he said and she looked at him, the relief on her face making her seem even younger than she was and the earnest way she looked at him made her seem even more beautiful.
"I thank you, your grace." she said looking to the plate, Robb eating more of the food more to please her than to feed himself.
She left when the Greatjon arrived and Robb could only have wished she'd not or that the man himself hadn't come to see him. The news he bore broke his heart and only proved what a complete fool he had been. He had thought him a brother, as true as Jon was and he'd betrayed him in the worst way imaginable. Even hearing that the North itself was safe and that an army marched to take Winterfell back couldn't fix the pain that he now felt.
In his life he believed he'd only ever truly cried twice, the first time had been when news had come from King's Landing about his father. Robb had sobbed and felt exactly as he did now, though now the tears were tinged with something else, guilt. He had caused this, his mistakes and his alone, the mistakes that Jon had called him out for. What a fool he'd been, what a complete and utter fool he thought as he sobbed in the bed.
He didn't hear her come into the room, but he felt her arms around him and he cried into her chest. Just as he had with his mother when his father had died, he once again cried into a women's chest and sought comfort in her arms. Jeyne though was not his mother and before he knew it he felt her lips on his and he was kissing her hungrily, desperately. She allowed him to touch her breast and for a moment the pain was gone, the world outside of that room, and that bed was lost to him.
"Fuck the Riverlands, fuck your crown, and fuck anyone who's not us. Arya and Sansa, Robb, they're what's important not land, or revenge or justice, family."
The words came unbidden and he moved from Jeyne, the hurt look on her face, not one that he liked being the cause of but in the end it was one he almost welcomed.
"Forgive me, my lady, I lost control of myself." he said not looking her in the eye.
"There is nothing to forgive, your grace." she said though he could sense some hurt in her words and he knew she didn't truly believe them.
"I must rest, my lady." he said and she nodded as she got up from the bed.
Robb watched her as she walked to the door, her eyes looking back at him and he knew it would take but a word for her to stop and for the pain that he felt to be removed. Yet he could not, he'd been fool enough in what he'd done, to do more foolish things would only prove him unworthy. When the door closed behind her, he lay back on the bed and closed his eyes. Finding his dreams to be ones that he welcomed, dreams of wolves running in the woods and of a pack reuniting, and though it was not as full as it had once been, it was a pack still.
They left The Crag a week later, Robb now pushing further into the Westerlands. He could do nothing but avenge his brother's deaths and though it was Theon he blamed for them and who he swore he'd see lose his head, it was the Lannisters who truly were at fault. He may not be able to take Casterly Rock without ships but Lannisport or some of the other keeps and maybe then he'd make Tywin Lannister feel how he was feeling now. Looking down at Grey Wind he could see the wolf seemed eager to feast on more Westerlands men and he swore that he'd give him all that he could.
Astapor 299 AC.
Dany.
Both her knights had argued with her when she'd made the deal with Kraznys. Dany listened to their advice and yet knew somehow that she was right in this. She'd spent the night before the meeting at the Plaza of Punishment hoping that he'd come to her, only to be left disappointed. Her shadow had not shown himself since she'd set sail and she worried that something had happened to him. A part of her knew that he was unhurt though and that he would come to her once more. His words that he'd whispered in her ear and the promises that he'd made to her were ones she felt certain he'd live up to. Then she had taken the city and the unsullied from men who had named themselves masters and she found she was eager to see her shadow once more, eager to share her success with him.
Dany spent the days after taking the city trying to decide what it was she would do next and getting to know both the men and Missandei even better. She'd listened to Missandei tell the tale of her life and Dany had found herself growing angrier and angrier as the girl spoke. This child's suffering made her own almost pale in comparison and yet she held no great malice towards the men who'd seen her suffer. Instead she'd said something that had brought a tear to Dany's eye.
"I would not have met Queen Daenerys Targaryen had I not been brought here." Missandei said and Dany hugged the girl tightly.
Grey Worm was a different matter, the man was as stoic as could be and Dany felt the Unsullied had chosen a good man to lead them. He too spoke not of the past but of the future and she wondered if that was the way the world needed to be. The past was the past and could not be changed, only the future was unwritten. It was to thoughts like this that she went to her bed that night. Drogon, Rhaegal, and Viserion were hunting and she could feel their joy at being in the air, her own soon coming to her after she had closed her eyes.
"If I look back I am lost." she whispered softly as she fell to sleep.
She felt him long before she saw him, his hands touching her shoulders and turning her to face him. She could see more of him, his dark hair, his dark grey eyes, and her fingers reached out to touch what seemed to be a scar on his brow.
"What happened?" she asked tracing the scar.
"I got careless." he said before laughing "I'll not do so again."
"Make sure you do not." she said far more firmly than she had meant to and then she was laughing when he did.
"You are safe?" he asked and she felt her heart beat a little faster at the worry he had in his voice for her.
"I am, I have men now. An army." she said proudly.
"In Astapor?" he asked and she gasped wondering how he knew.
"How?" she asked.
"I...I do not know. When I'm here, when I'm with you I feel things, I..sometimes what I feel here carries on to what I do there too." he said.
"There?" she asked.
"Westeros, our home, our kingdom." he said and she looked at him, seeing even more of him now, he was young or seemed it, as young as her and it made her long to see him more clearly, a strange thought then coming to her mind that she had to express.
"Do you see me? All of me?" she asked.
"I see a shadow, a silver shadow, I see violet eyes of a kind I'd not ever seen before and silver hair, I see parts of your face, your nose, your cheeks, your lips." he said touching each part that he mentioned and making her shiver as he did so.
"Are you real? Is this?" she asked and then she felt his lips on hers and all thought and reason left her.
It was longer than they had kissed before and it felt different, stronger, more real as if he was truly there with her and not a dream she was having of him. Which of them stopped it first she knew not and she found she hoped it had been them both. Dany smiling when she heard his breathing was just as deep as her own.
"Did that feel real?" he asked and she smirked when she saw his lips curl into a smile, her fingers going to them and tracing them softly.
"As real as anything that I care to know." she said.
"I've sent help, they'll arrive soon, I ask you to wait for them and then to do as they suggest, will you?" he asked.
"What will they ask of me?" she asked nervously.
"That you come with them, that you let them bring you to me." he said and she felt her breath hitch as she swallowed.
"For true? They will bring me to you for true?" she asked hopefully.
"I told you that we would be together soon, it's almost time." he said as he kissed her again.
"My men..what of my men.." she said as he began to fade away.
"Trust in the Seahorse Daenerys Stormborn, trust in me." he said, and then he was gone.
She felt the loss of him more keenly when she woke the next morning. Dany then bathing and dressing and almost waking around in a daze until she broke her fast. It was as she doing so that she decided to speak to both Jorah and Ser Barristan Missandei too stayed in the room with them as they ate and spoke together.
"The Seahorse, Ser Barristan does that mean anything to you?" she asked as the knight looked at her curiously.
"House Velaryon, my queen. Their sigil is a silver Seahorse." Ser Barristan said.
"They were loyal to my family were they not?" she asked as she remembered some of what Viserys and Illyrio had spoken about when they'd talked of men in Westeros drinking secret toasts to their king.
"The most loyal house of all, my queen. House Velaryon and House Targaryen both share Valyrian blood and go back generations. The Old, the True, the Brave." Barristan said wistfully.
She sat there wondering if it could be true. Had her shadow somehow managed to send their lealest men her way? If so would that truly mean that she'd be taken to him? Would she finally be going home? Was it safe for her to do so? She had her dragons and her army, her shadow had a dragon too she believed and if he was sending for her then it must be safe, mustn't it? He'd not steered her wrong since she'd dreamed of him and had helped keep her safe? Without him, she'd not have known the truth about Ser Barristan or Ser Jorah, or at least not have known it yet.
"How many ships are there in Astapor, Ser Jorah?" she asked excitedly.
"I do not know, I'll find out, my queen." Jorah said as he made ready to rise.
"No including the three you arrived on my queen, there are two and twenty belonging to the Good Masters." Missandei said.
"How many men could a ship carry?" she asked no one in particular.
"Not enough, your grace, at a push perhaps a little over a hundred each." Ser Jorah said and she nodded.
They would need more ships, or they would need to leave more men behind than she wished to but perhaps they could manage it.
"Ser Jorah, ask Grey Worm to accompany me to the docks, I need to look at our ships. Ask Captain Groleo to join us also." she said rising from her chair.
That night she stood on the balcony facing the sea and watched as the dragons flew in the sky. They were bigger much bigger, Drogon was now twice the size of an elephant and his brothers were just as large. As they flew by her, she saw the way her son looked at her, felt him in her head, and though she knew he did not speak it, she felt the word in her head as if he had. It was a word that she'd been thinking herself all day, at the docks, when they returned and now as she looked to the water. She spoke it softly as she closed her eyes and saw the dark grey of his, as he imagined seeing those eyes for true.
"Soon." she said to the wind.
Riverrun 299 AC.
Catelyn.
They had fled in the night and were it not for Brienne then Cat would have been certain that she'd lost her mind. A shadow, a shadow with the face of Stannis Baratheon that's how Brienne described it and though she herself had not seen it that way, she had seen a shadow kill Renly and she knew they had no choice but to flee. It had hurt her to do so without Ned's bones but she had no choice and she knew that the Silent Sisters would see them brought back to Riverrun.
She had ridden hard, harder than she had ever done so before and it had been uncomfortable but she knew she had to make it back to Riverrun while they still held the Lannisters at bay. Each mile they traveled was one that she'd feared they'd be captured or that the Lannisters had made inroads and Riverrun was besieged once more. At night her dreams were filled with worries about Robb, Bran, Rickon, and her girls. Sansa and Arya unlike their brothers were already in the hands of those monsters and Petyr's words had left her fearful. Her prayers were for each of her children and for Jon Snow, both praying for his success in what he had set out to do and for his own safety too.
When they had finally reached Riverrun it was to great relief though there was annoyance soon to come. Not at the bodies that hung from the walls as the truth of them was soon mand known to her and she was more than thankful they'd not managed to free Ser Jaime. More that Edmure's soft heart was showing far too much and he had allowed the smallfolk into Riverrun. She worried about them as much as he did but they were at war and their stocks were needed for men who would fight and not to be split amongst those who could not. It wounded her to think that way but suffer though they might outside the walls, should the Lannisters prevail then they'd suffer even more.
"My lady, my oath still stands." Brienne said almost worriedly as they entered the gates of her home.
"And I am most grateful for it, Brienne. I'll see you're given rooms and then you can serve as my sworn shield." she said seeing the small smile that appeared on the large woman's face.
Over the next few weeks, she heard of Robb's successes and she felt her pride rise each time she listened to men speak of their king. Had she paid more attention then she'd have noticed how Edmure bristled while others were spoken of and the tales of the glory they'd achieved were spun. By the time she did notice, it was too late and her brother had marched even though he'd been told to wait and hold by his king. That he at least won his battles made her proud of him and when she spoke to their father, though he didn't truly reply, she felt he was proud of him too.
They were winning, every battle, every encounter they were winning, and yet she felt something begin to grow within her. A sense of dread that began to worsen each day and that she soon found the cause for. The first news that came from the North had led to cheers in the Great Hall, the Iron Born had been defeated at Moat Cailin and Deepwood Motte. Torrhen's Square was relieved and the Stoney Shore was now free of their attempts to reave. When news came from the Crag she had panicked, only to be assured the wound was not as bad as she feared and though she had wished, hoped, and prayed that her sense of dread was for that. The truth of it was far worse than she could ever have imagined.
"My boys, why take them from me?"
"They were innocents, children."
"Were my sins that great?"
"Why not punish me then?"
"You could have taken me, not them, never them."
The shouts went unanswered and the Seven who are One were cursed by her all through the night and most of the next day. Even when she finally collapsed and fell to sleep she did so with a curse for them on her lips. They rewarded her with her dreams, dreams that showed her girls and the suffering they were facing. Arya was being beaten by a man twice her size and Sansa forced against her will, her sweet daughter violated as men laughed and joined in.
Emptying her stomach in the privy when she woke, Cat felt that dread rise once more and so she asked for Brienne to come to her. Though she was not sure she could ever forgive the gods for what they'd taken from her, it was to them she prayed once again and it was in the Sept that she explained to Brienne her plan. To her credit, Brienne after trying to talk her out of it still agreed to do it and so it was set for that night. Cat spending the hours trying not to dwell on the treason that she was committing. The safe return of her girls instead the only thing that she let her mind consider.
"It's time, my lady." Brienne said and she nodded, the two of them walking to where Jaime Lannister was held.
They were halfway there when they were stopped and Cat cursed Edmure for sending for her, even telling the guards that she'd attend him after a little time.
"Lord Edmure insists, my lady." the guard said much to her annoyance.
Turning to follow him, she and Brienne were led to her father's solar, and as she entered alone it was to see her brother speaking to Harwin and Alyn, men she'd not seen since they'd left to head south with Ned.
"Cat, you must hear this." Edmure said with a smile on his face and it angered her to see him so happy.
"Hear what, what news could be so good that it would leave you joyful after what happened to your nephews?" she asked accusingly.
"Arya, Cat, Jon Snow has Arya." he said and she almost fainted to the ground in her relief, Harwin helping her to a seat while her eyes looked for the truth in Edmure's own.
"For true, you've seen her?" she asked turning to Harwin.
"I have milady, as close as you are to me now she were." Harwin said and Cat felt a weight fall from her chest.
"She's well, unharmed?" she asked frantically.
"She is milady. Both she and her wolf." Alyn said with a smile.
"Where is she?" she asked looking around as if by doing so Arya would appear in front of her.
"She, her brother, and some men have gone to King's Landing milady, to see to the Lady Sansa's rescue." Alyn said and she heard Edmure speak angrily to the man.
"You did not tell me this, he brought her there, I knew he was not to be trusted, he means to hand her to the Lannisters." Edmure said his voice almost a shout.
There was a time when she may have shouted as loud as he did, a time when she'd have believed the truth in those words. Had it been Sansa that Jon Snow had found then perhaps she may have believed them still, but not Arya. She had spent years trying to break the bond her youngest daughter had with Jon Snow and each time she'd only forced them closer together. They were closer than any of her own children, a truer brother and sister than even Robb and Sansa were, so no, he was not playing them false.
"Enough." she said loudly "Whatever mine own thoughts for the boy, he loves Arya for true and he'd not see her harmed, nor risked. If he brought her with him then he'll protect her, on that I have no doubts."
"Cat.."
"No Edmure, enough." she said and he quietened down as Harwin handed her letters from Jon Snow and Arya and then told her a tale that took her breath away.
That night she lay in her bed trying to come to terms with all that Harwin and Alyn had said and there was a lot for her to come to terms with. The Mountain was dead and his men defeated and it had been he that held Arya and not the Lannisters in King's Landing. Petyr had lied to her once again and she swore that whatever else happened she'd see that he paid for all he'd done. Hearing that one of the men who traveled with Jon Snow was actually Ser Arthur Dayne was surpassingly not the most shocking thing she'd heard that night. Now as she lay in her bed she found herself with a question on her lips that she would never find the answer to.
"Why Ned, why didn't you tell me who he truly is?" she asked as her tears fell and she held the pillow tightly.
King's Landing 299 AC.
Sansa.
Whether it was the fact that she was to be seen in public or that Lord Tyrion was doing his best to make sure that Joffrey and the Kingsguard couldn't get near her, mattered not. That she was and had been unhurt for a number of days and had only faced harsh words and even harsher looks was a welcome respite and one she appreciated. She had even been allowed to dress in far better clothing than she was normally allowed to wear.
Joffrey usually only allowed her to wear poorer dresses unless he wished to humiliate her in some way. That he took such pleasure in seeing her dress like a lady of a minor house was almost pathetic she felt. It showed him for what he truly was and she felt so very stupid for not seeing it sooner. Arya had been right, he was a false prince, all mouth and no britches she'd heard Jon say to Robb when they had been in Winterfell. It had been only that Jon had been trying to calm Robb down that had made her hold her tongue at the time and now she found herself happy that she had.
After breaking her fast, she was escorted to the carriages and despite having no wish to ride with her, it was with the queen that she'd sit. Sansa curtsying and making sure that she didn't smile on her face for such a sad occasion. It amazed her to see the queen so teary-eyed and she wondered if she actually did truly feel sad or was it yet another mummery of hers. Myrcella's own tears were far truer she felt and though she felt some sympathy for the girl being parted from her mother, there was some jealousy too. Unlike Sansa, Myrcella was getting to leave this city and for that, she was far luckier than her.
"You must write to me often, Myrcella, once a week, do you understand?" Cersei said through her tears.
"I will mother, I promise, you too Tommen." Myrcella said and Sansa heard Tommen's sob, it was the first sound the boy had made and she'd not even noticed him sitting alone in the corner of the carriage.
She could hear the people outside and she swore there were some angered words shouted at the passing procession. Whether Cersei heard them too and ignored them or whether she actually believed what she said, Sansa couldn't be sure, but she would speak the same words as the queen did should she be asked.
"They cheer for their princess, do you hear them Myrcella, hear how they love you so?" Cersei said and Sansa had to give it to the woman, if it was indeed a mummery then it was a most excellent one.
When they arrived at the docks, she stepped out last as she knew she must and then stepped back to allow the Royal Family to say their goodbyes. The look on Joffrey's face as he did so was one that clearly showed his indifference to his sister's feelings. He looked bored and almost eager to have her gone from his sight and after a brief moment between them and a much longer one with Tommen, it was Cersei's turn to say her goodbyes. Again Sansa found herself watching the mummery with a keen eye and she was sure now that was what it was. Cersei was making an even bigger deal of the parting now that she had an audience and after some time they were finally done.
How it had happened? Or what caused it? She had no idea, but she heard the angry shouts, and then before she knew it the carriage was being shaken from side to side. Everything after that was a blur, their guards surrounded them, women screamed and one moment she was by the queen's side and the next she was being pushed through the streets. She felt herself being lifted in the air and she screamed as she was carried by some unseen man. The queen, the guards, Joffrey all now far in the distance, and for a brief moment, she felt a joy she'd not felt in moons. Then the worry and truth of the situation she was in became clearer and she screamed, fought, and cried to no avail.
Jon Snow.
He told her to stay with him, close enough so that he could reach out and touch her and she swore that she would. Gendry promising that he'd make sure to keep his eyes on her at all times too. When he picked up the shit in his hand he was glad he'd worn a glove. Arya looked at him as if he'd lost his mind and when he smiled, she creased her brow. The aim was good and true, catching the prince right on his cheek and he heard his little sister's laugh when she saw what he'd done.
The riot that followed was one that had been waiting to happen and though he knew that men would die here today and that he had perhaps lit the fuse, he found his guilt to be something that he could live with. In time he would see the lives of the people were better but for now, he had only one other life that he was focused on ensuring that for. Jon moved when they began pushing the carriage and when he saw the red of her hair he nodded to Ser Arthur.
It took them some time to get to her and he had to gut a guard to do so, the small knife far easier to wield in a crowd than Blackfyre or Dawn. When he heard her scream as she was lifted onto Arthur's shoulders, Jon turned to Arya to let her know that she was unhurt. His little sister though had seen it even more clearly than he had. He needed to kill another man before they were free from the crowd and though he was not a guard, he felt no guilt in doing so. The way the man had looked at Arya and how his little sister had shouted his name when she'd been grabbed by him, was enough to settle the man's fate.
"This way." Gendry said and led them down an alley as Jon looked back at a screaming woman who was being dragged away by some other men.
He knew what was to be done with the woman and when Arya looked to him, he knew that she knew it too. His little sister both pleading for him to help the woman and knowing that they could not and it pained him to see that in her eyes. When he shook his head, she accepted it though and soon enough they were far from the sounds of the riot that was now taking place. Instead, it was Sansa's screams and pleading for them not to rape her that he and the others now listened to.
"Sansa, you're safe, you're safe, no one will harm you." he said moving to her as she moved away from him, either not recognizing him or still so scared that any man she saw right then would look the same way to her.
"Sansa, it's me, look, I'm here and Jon is here, we've come to rescue you." Arya said and he saw the look come over Sansa's face, the recognition first of Arya and then of him.
"Arya? Jon? It can't…"
That it was him that she hugged first may have been that he was nearer to her, though he liked to think it was not. His sister was shaking against him as she looked into his eyes before she then moved and hugged Arya too.
"How?" she asked and though he knew they'd much to speak on, now was not the time.
"We'll speak later, come, we've got a ship to catch, Here put this on, for your hair." he said handing his own hooded cloak.
"They'll send men, Jon." Ser Arthur said and he nodded.
"We move quickly, Sansa, you must hurry." he said and she took Arya's hand and nodded.
They were almost at the docks when the gold cloaks arrived, five of them in total and Jon turned to Gendry who moved in front of Arya and Sansa. The men were no match for them though and by the time Jon had killed the first of them, Arthur had killed the other four. Dawn in his hands as lethal as Ghost was and just as quick. Their other men were waiting for them near the ship and as soon as they saw them they gave the orders to cast off.
Both he and Arthur stood on the deck as the ship moved and though he half expected men to come and arrows or bolts to be fired, none arrived. Gendry had taken Arya and Sansa down to the cabins they'd booked and the captain had been well paid. Yet it wasn't until they were clear of Blackwater Bay that he felt comfortable enough to leave the deck.
"Thank you, Arthur." he said to a small nod, as they both then headed to the cabin.
She was unhurt, had stopped shaking, and the smile she greeted him with was one that she'd not sent his way in many a year. Yet he cared not and welcomed seeing it now. Taking a seat he told her where they were going and of events in the realm, Sansa telling both he and Arya what she'd heard of the North. How Winterfell had fallen and how Bran and Rickon had been killed by Theon, Jon heard Arya gasp before he shook his head.
"You felt it with Nymeria, Arya, as I did with Ghost, had they truly fallen then we'd know it." he said and Arya relaxed.
"They had raven's Jon, they spoke of it in court." Sansa said dejectedly.
"They also said that Robb eats dead men and turns into a wolf Sansa, I swear to you our brothers are not dead." he said and she nodded.
"Thank you, for coming for me." she said softly, her eyes not on him as if she feared he'd not accept her thanks.
"You're my sister, you never need to thank me." he said and she smiled as she looked up at him.
"Where are we going?" she asked.
"North." he said determinedly.
Skagos 299 AC.
What he had felt as the danger passed so quickly that it filled him with excitement rather than just relieved his worry. His rider had proved himself once again and had shown that he was strong and fierce and that he was worthy of him. Even though he knew that should he be true that in time he'd prove worthy of him, it pleased him greatly to know that his rider already was. It fuelled his own desire to be the same and so he began to do more on his flights through the night sky.
His flames were now even hotter and burned for longer, he flew faster in the air and was able to turn even more quickly. He fed twice a day instead of the usual once as he wanted to be stronger than he had ever been. What surprised him most though was that he found he had no desire for magic, no need for more of it. He'd been worried about that, the need for the same magic that he'd once gone so far to fill.
There were no other dragons in the world other than the ones his rider felt that were far from them both. Dragons that he had no desire to consume but would if the need for magic told him that he must. If it was to be them or his rider then there was no other choice he could make and yet he felt no call, no need, no desire, and it was to him yet more proof that his rider and he would soon be together. That they would be as one and the skies would be their playground.
When he slept he would reach out to his rider, sometimes to his joy it would be his rider reaching out to him. They would speak without speaking, be as one while being apart and each time they found each other he felt them growing closer. Today the feeling was something different, the sense of closeness was something new and it took him some time to realize why that was. He took to the sky and for the first time in his life, he didn't roar, he sang, he sang a song that he'd longed to sing since he'd hatched. A song that until now he didn't have a name for but as he sang it now he knew why he did so and finally he knew what the song was called.
The Cannibal was soon to die and he would rise from its ashes, his rider was heading towards him finally. He was coming North and soon they'd be together just as they had both been born to be and so as he flew through the night sky, he sang The Song of Ice and Fire.
A/N: Thanks to all who've read and reviewed. Up Next, We have a bonus chapter on Wednesday. Ser Richard meets with the Lords of the Narrow Sea, Beric meets with the Martells, Dany finally sees the face of her shadow lover and Jon heads North and meets with Wyman before finally coming face to face with the Black Dragon.
Daryl Dixon: So glad you liked it.
Anaconda: Thank you we're almost at the more action-orientated parts.
Imagination: I've seen it done in a fic before where he did, after rescuing her, he simply sent her to Riverrun that makes no sense to me. I can't see Jon wanting her out of his sight once he was reunited with her. We'll see Dorne's reaction to the heads next.
Jaimerey: Desafortunadamente, Raymun muere en el primer encuentro con la Montaña en el canon, por lo que está muerto antes de que Jon se encuentre con la Hermandad.
Galo: You too my friend, hope you had a good one.
Lady Octarina: One of the things I've not been able to do because of the settings of my stories has been the Jon/Arya relationship and so now I have a chance I want to do it justice. They'd be sweet and cute and Arya would get to do a lot of the things that she wished if Jon was calling the shots I think, so sparring is certainly going to happen. Cat as you see is changing almost constantly so her frustration comes across differently as it's not tinged with a bias against Jon.
With Theon again it's a timing thing, where the big difference truly is would be that the North is more united and so it's easier to get WF Back. Both Theon and Asha are now in northern hands. I had thought about the Smalljon vs. Victarion but I didn't want to end the IB completely just yet. Well, you may be getting your wish regarding Dany, as you see she's thinking that way. He has an even deeper bond with Ghost and is able to warg more but not fully in control just yet.
Mr. Chubby: Thank you, glad you're liking it.
Weber code: There's a bonus on Wednesday.
Guest: I came so close to adding it myself but couldn't think of any that may bear an ax and the nod to LOTR was clear enough. The Jonerys here is really about to ramp up, the next chapter Dany and Jon will both see each other's faces clearly and speak for longer. Barristan made it to Pentos first and was sent on and Strong was in Illyrio's employ so they're both following their canon up to the meeting, it'll of course diverge from there. Cannibal/Jon is so damn close. Hope you liked the rescue. Cat has been slowly changing, Jon coming south has made her look at things differently, now she'll look even more at things because of the news she learns here. With LF it was a slightly different Cat than the more broken one he met in canon, should they meet again it'll be a very different one.
Guest: So glad you liked it.
Dunk: I always thought that line to be funny for some reason, that it works out to be true here too made me so want to use it. It bugs me when Jon sends Arya away after reuniting in fics, it makes no sense to me, he'd not let her out of his sight IMO. Theon's plan works simply because of timing, what changes is that he holds it for a lesser time and Ramsay is in a different position than he was in canon too. I will start that from next month, a small little note at the top of the chapters.
Xand007: Thanks, y friend. One of the things here is that Jon going south sends out ripples, they start off small, his stop in WF and the letter he brings to Cat, his talk with Robb changing things slightly, and then of course the more he's there the bigger the ripples become, we're seeing bigger ones now. Cat here will change a lot as what Jon has done should force that change, now with who he truly is that change grows. Jaime hasn't been released, Theon has taken WF but lost it quicker, things like that make big changes to where you go from here. The North was prepared but no one would ever think WF could be taken by the IB, that's in some ways why Theon's plan works, he's the only one who actually could have taken it. Cannibal/Jon is coming. Stay safe, well, and happy my friend.
Gsaint: Thank you so much, hope you had a great holidays too.
Jessicanightmarewolf: Harwin and Alyn arrived literally at the perfect time to stop Cat from making that mistake. We'll see it when Jon meets him and when they both meet Dany's dragons. Very much so, people are going to be shocked when Cannibal is first seen with a rider on its back.
Celexys: This is almost just at the show time for Jon, he is angry and we will see some of that but he's been learning to hold that in. You'll see some of his anger next chapter and there will be more to come but being with Arthur he's able to focus it where it needs to be more. Arya is very much like Jon in that regard, she's not gone through all the horrible things she went through here, some yes but Harrenhal I think was where she truly lost her innocence, and then being alone and separated from her family hardened her. Jon reminds her of who she is and being with him on a quest/adventure is like a dream come true for her in some ways.
Creativo: No, pero quizás un guardia para una reina, ¿quizás ?.
Mercy Rose: One of the issues with how I write is that I use the other stories to stop me from getting any writer's block, when I feel it difficult to write, I simply switch to another story and do some there. This is why I've a few on the go. So if I get time I'll update other stories a bit quicker and here there'll be another chapter of this on Wednesday because I found some time to do another one.
I've wanted to do the Cannibal thing for some time, he has even more back-story to come and his and Jon's relationship will be different, both of them will have a unique bond with each other. With Jorah it's drama for drama's sake in some way since he makes his way back to her after some time. I think the betrayal itself was understandable and had he admitted it then she'd have weighed up the good acts with the bad and he'd have stayed by her side. Plus I like Jorah and Dany needs good people with her.
Xan Merrick: Thank you, my friend. The dreams will be explained as to the how of them once Jon/Dany are together but I wanted them to connect earlier, to have them be together even if they're not. We'll find Cannibal's true name out very soon, next chapter I think. Dorne too.
Epicweaver: Jon heading south has changed the WOTFK largely already, it's about to be changed dramatically.
Yamajji: Hope you liked it, the use of the riots always seemed to me the best place for her to be rescued.
Harshking: I would if I could, my friend. For now, you'll have to settle for a bonus chapter on Wednesday though.
Keb: There is a lot of things that need to be explained and we'll be getting those explanations soon, I promise.
OoNightEyes: So very glad you're enjoying this.
Perses: Thank you so much, glad you're liking this.