The Winter King and the Queen of Summer

by Alperez16

A Jonerys set at the beginning. A Raven flaps it's wings and instead of swearing his oath Jon Snow learns the truth of who he is. How is the game changed when Jon instead of wearing black, dresses in black and red and seeks his crown.

16. From the Darkness, Comes the light

Braavos 299 AC.

Ser Davos Seaworth.

Abandoning the Stormlands had taken him by surprise as it was not something he'd expected Stannis to do. Leaving Storm's End was slightly more understandable, though given it was the keep his king had wished for more than any other save the Red Keep itself, it was still somewhat confusing. Sailing to Essos, taking all the men they could gather, and sailing to Essos, was just beyond his thinking. He knew it was Melisandre who'd put the idea in his king's head and as they'd sailed there were times when he had to hold himself back from just shoving her over the edge of the ship. The part of his mind that told him he would be doing the world a favor would always end up being shouted down by the part that told him that his House would suffer because of it.

That he believed she knew his thoughts and he'd seen the smirks on her face each time he'd looked at her after them, had discomfited him completely. He was not a truly pious man, nor a true man of faith, he believed in the Seven who are One but never truly did he pray to them or listen to the Septon's sermons. He wondered now if he should have paid more attention and had he, would he have found some way of dealing with Melisandre and the magic's she possessed by now. Then again on this journey he'd wondered many things and had found answers to none of them.

As he sat in the large open hall and waited to be called into the room by bankers, his eyes were torn between roaming around the hall and looking to his king and to Melisandre who sat beside him. They'd grown even closer since they'd arrive in Braavos, his king spending even more time in her company and falling even deeper under her spell. After arriving in the city they'd then made their home in the Red Temple though he himself had begged off and asked for leave to rest in a tavern. He was one of the very few who'd done so. His king, queen, princess, and far too many of the knights and men at arms at their call all seemed too far prefer the Red Temple to anywhere else. No, that wasn't quite true, Shireen didn't prefer the Red Temple, she just had no other choice in the matter and after they'd used some magic on her, Stannis and Selyse were lost forever.

"Look Ser Onion Knight, it's gone, see."

As much as he hated Melisandre and all she stood for, seeing Shireen's smile and her face unmarked had been a welcome sight. How they'd managed it he knew not, but it had earned Melisandre and her god the king's favor for true and had only reinforced how the queen had already felt about them both. It had brought them even further into whatever plans Melisandre said her god had for them and that in turn had brought them to the Iron Bank. What they hoped to achieve here he knew not. The Iron Bank picked and chose who it would support not based on the right of blood or law, but on who it believed would win and pay them the most. Davos feared that his king would be rejected out of hand and how he'd react to being so. For the terrible truth was that they had very little if anything to offer the Iron Bank other than Stannis's name.

"Fear not Ser Onion Knight, for R'hllor has a plan and we are all mere players within it." Melisandre said looking at him and he half expected Stannis to set her right, though he knew he would not and so he did so himself.

"My king is not a player for your god." he snapped.

"That's where you're wrong, Ser Davos. King Stannis is my god's most important player. He's his chosen, the Prince that was Promised, Azor Ahai reborn." Melisandre said almost ecstatically and by the Seven he could swear that he saw Stannis almost swoon as she spoke.

Before he had a chance to reply to the red witch, they were called into a room and soon found themselves sitting on chairs lower than the ones behind the large desk and sitting there alone. He could hear the sound of Stannis's teeth grinding as he showed his annoyance. His king felt he should be deferred to because of his rightful rank and yet few had ever done so. It had been a great disappointment to Davos to see it during the War of the Five Kings and one that he knew angered Stannis greatly. From Renly to the other men who'd named themselves kings, not one of them had looked to his own and named him true.

"Forgive us, your grace. We'd not expected you to be shown in so soon." a tall thin man said as he and two others moved to the larger chairs behind the desk. Stannis for once keeping his thoughts to himself, while Melisandre very much did not.

"Keeping R'hllor's chosen waiting is a good way to earn his disfavor, Tycho Nestoris, and even the Iron Bank should fear what that may bring." Melisandre said pointedly.

"Indeed we do, Lady Melisandre, which is why our delay is most advantageous to his grace." Tycho said and Davos didn't feel the words to be true for some reason and yet what he said next caught both he and the King by surprise "The Golden Company, your grace, you are aware of them no doubt?"

"I am." Stannis replied simply.

"The Iron Bank has a long-standing relationship with them and they are beholden to us in many regards. Their gold resting in our vaults being merely one of them." Tycho said before smirking.

"I thought they wore their gold on their persons?" he asked to a nod from the banker.

"Part of it, most of the men who've served for some time will wear perhaps enough to buy a small holding somewhere. Their true wealth however rests with us and so over time our dealings with them have become mutually exclusive." Tycho said as if he was speaking to a small child.

"And this helps me how?" Stannis asked brusquely.

"It gives you an army, your grace." Tycho said and Davos looked from his king to the bankers and finally to Melisandre, only the latter smiling though he could see how his king grew a little more eager.

"I would need ships to bring them to Westeros." Stannis said ever practically.

"They will await you in Volantis, your grace." Tycho said and while Stannis looked to Melisandre who nodded, Davos asked the question that neither of them did.

"The cost?" he asked and Tycho for the first time smiled for true.

"Will be considerable, Ser Davos. Double the debt the Iron Throne currently owes us. Six million gold dragons to be paid over twenty years at an interest rather of ten percent." Tycho said and as Davos tried to do the sum in his head, Stannis got there first.

"You expect me to pay you back 330,000 gold dragons a year?" Stannis asked angrily.

"We do and you will. R'hllor's chosen you may be, your grace, but we are bankers and we deal in coin." Tycho said firmly.

Davos looked on as Melisandre took Stannis's hand in his own and then whispered something in his ear, her words seeming to make his king far more agreeable and he cursed them both for not hearing what she said.

"Very well, we have an agreement." Stannis said a few moments later.

"Excellent, if you'll just sign here, here, and here."

After it was done, one of the other bankers then placed two small chests on the table. Davos opening them with a nod from the man and from his king. They were full of coin and he dared not guess just how much was in them.

"For your travels, your grace." Tycho said as he and the other two men rose to their feet "Our business for the day is concluded. The Iron Bank wishes you good fortune in the wars to come, your grace. Remember though a contract with us is binding and the Iron Bank will have its due. Your Grace, Lady Melisandre, Ser Davos." Tycho said with a small bow and then he and the other bankers were gone from the room in the blink of an eye.

"Fucking leeches." Stannis said as he rose to his feet.

"Useful ones my king. I promised you an army did I not." Melisandre said and Davos was stunned to see the smile on Stannis's face, he wasn't sure if he'd ever seen one so true and full before, in truth he doubted that he had.

They set sail the next morning with the tide, their ships heading for Volantis and to the Golden Company. 20,000 men and more than two dozen war elephants and in one stroke of a quill they'd just gone from having the smallest army in Westeros to while not quite having the largest one, having perhaps the best and most trained one. Standing on the deck of Black Betha as she sailed out into the open sea, he heard her as she came up to stand beside him.

"Volantis, Ser Onion Knight, can you believe it?" Shireen said excitedly, the idea of seeing some of the places that she'd only ever seen in her books was just too much for her to keep quiet about.

"I would not have were we not going there, princess." he said making her laugh "I'll need your help though for I know not much about the city itself." he lied, smiling as she began to tell him all she knew. Which in the end turned out to be far more than he.

Pentos 299 AC.

Tyrion.

He had to give it to Varys, the man kept good wine and they traveled relatively comfortably. Though he could have done without the first few days being kept in a wooden box. His japes and pleas both falling on deaf ears as Varys told him a tale about his own life that he doubted he'd told many if any before him. Tyrion feeling a little ungrateful over his complaints once hearing it and yet he was a Lannister and he deserved and had always known better. In the end, it had been only when they were closer to their destination than to where they'd sailed from that he'd been let out and since then he'd enjoyed the wine and food far more truly.

For the first few nights on the ship, he'd wondered if he'd made a terrible mistake. His mind telling him that perhaps he should have taken his chances and that his father would never allow Bronn to fight for Cersei or the crown. It was a wasted exercise, he knew the truth and the truth was that his father wished him dead and so dead he would be. Staying was not an option, leaving was all he had, but it was what he was leaving to that caused him the most concern. What was Varys's plan? Who was he working with? And what was his part in it all?

He got none of these answers before they reached Pentos and few once they did. All he'd been told was that they were going to see a friend of Varys's and that it was time for him to get back into his box. There was no room for argument either. Varys told him that while the men on the ship would no doubt name him as their passenger and his father would find out it was to Pentos he came, that would need to be the end of what Tywin Lannister knew, for the sake of both their heads. So it was into the box and then out onto the streets and through the small little holes that he watched a mummery be performed. His box was laid down amongst a dozen more, Varys simply disappeared into thin air, and then men began to carry boxes off in all directions.

"What in the seven hells was that all about?" he said more than four or five hours later when he was finally allowed out into the open once more.

"You are now as lost as me, Tyrion. Trust me we're both far safer this way. Now allow me to introduce a good friend of mine, Illyrio Mopatis, the pre-eminent Magister of this fine city." Varys said almost proudly.

"The Imp of Casterly Rock. I had expected much worse when I heard of you Lord Tyrion, but other than your lack of height you're no different than I." Illyrio said and Tyrion somehow managed not to roll his eyes.

No different than him, had the man looked at himself in a looking glass lately? He doubted he had, but Tyrion had never seen a man as fat as the rotund Magister in front of him. Every inch of him was fat, his face, his large drooping teats, even his fingers which were covered in more gold and jeweled rings than he'd ever seen anyone wear, was fat. So much so that when the man told him that he must be hungry and clapped his hands together, Tyrion found himself almost as eager to see just how much Illyrio would eat while he was in filling his own belly. It turned out to be enough to feed a small keep and were it not for the excellent wine that Tyrion was drinking, then he'd not have been able to get through the meal without emptying his stomach.

"Lord Varys tells me you know this Jon Snow." Illyrio said as Tyrion poured himself another glass of wine.

"Somewhat. We traveled together to the Wall, a sullen young boy but one I liked a little." he said fondly.

"And it was he who rescued his sister from King's Landing?" Illyrio asked and Tyrion nodded.

"I believe so. We cannot be completely sure of course, but I believe so and that any man who dares to do such a thing is not a man to be taken lightly."

"This Jon Snow, you believe him true?" Illyrio asked and Tyrion swallowed his wine before answering.

"He is true. Starks don't lie and the boy was raised as a Stark. It serves him not to claim a crown now that he has his sister's by his side." Tyrion said looking at Varys who sat quietly taking in the words but adding none of his own.

"What of justice for his father and his siblings?" Illyrio asked and Tyrion shook his head.

"Ned Stark is his uncle…."

"Rhaegar Targaryen, Tyrion, I believe Illyrio speaks on Rhaegar Targaryen." Varys interjected.

"It could be I imagine, though were I to wager on it then I'd say no."

"So you don't believe he seeks to avenge his father and his siblings?" Illyrio asked and he seemed almost upset by the notion.

"Oh, I've no doubt that he seeks to avenge the Targaryens and the Starks too. However, I believe his reasons for seeking the crown are simpler."

"He desires to be king?" Illyrio asked not looking at him but instead looking worriedly at Varys.

"He desires his family to be safe." Tyrion said and as he swallowed his wine he didn't see the small smile on Varys's face nor the larger one on Illyrio's.

He drank, he got drunk, he spoke on his father, his sister, his brother and on the Starks, Baratheon's, and what he knew of Dorne. Tyrion told Illyrio how the Tyrell's desired power and a crown and how the Vale was a wildcard that so far none had been able to play. Mainly though it was on Jon Snow that he spoke and each word he did was eaten up as if it was the most delicious morsel on Illyrio's plate. The fat man's desire for what he knew of the former Bastard of Winterfell was perhaps the only thing that he wished for more than yet another dish.

When he woke the next morning it was with a blinding headache. He stumbled out of his bed to the privy and it wasn't just his bowels that he emptied while he was there. All three of his orifices needing to be cleaned out before he was finally able to make his way back into the room. After dressing, he made his way to break his fast and was much relieved to find that Varys and Illyrio were already up and had broken their own. The thoughts of watching the fat man gorge himself while he remained sober were not ones he wished to entertain this early in the morning. That the man still ate somewhat as he did, only showed that he was truly a glutton and despite no doubt what was a huge morning meal, Illyrio still ate twice the meal that Tyrion himself did. Just to be polite as he said and Tyrion drank his wine and kept his mouth shut.

"It seems that you and my good friend have further to go on your journey, Lord Tyrion." Illyrio said once he'd finished eating, Tyrion finding his appetite deserting him at his words.

"We must?" he asked looking more to Varys than Illyrio and seeing the small nod that the eunuch gave him.

"You must. Mine own ship will take you where you need to go and I wish you both good fortune on your journey." Illyrio said as he rose to his feet.

He waited until the fat man had left and then turned to Varys for the answers that never came. By midday, they were sitting in a large carriage and being escorted by twenty men. There was wine, food, and it was comfortable enough, and yet he liked it not. The truth was that he'd half expected that the Magister's manse was to be the end of his journey and while he'd not have enjoyed watching Illyrio eat, it would have been a most welcome place to hide out in while he pondered his next move. For some reason, that was not to be and he found he could hold his tongue no more.

"Where are we going?" he asked to no reply "What are your plans for me?" he asked and again Varys said nothing "By the gods, answer me damn you." he said and the smile Varys gave him almost made him strike the man.

"You like mysteries do you not, Tyrion? Secrets that no one else knows? Tales that you've not yet heard which clear up questions you've had for the longest time?"

"What are you blathering on about?" he asked irritably.

"You once asked me who I served, do you remember?" Varys asked amusedly.

"I remember."

"I serve the Realm, Tyrion, but what is the Realm? The Realm is House Targaryen and the time has come for a secret long hidden to finally be told. I'm bringing you to the true king of Westeros. To King Aegon Targaryen the Sixth of his Name." Varys said almost giddily.

"Aegon died." he said, his answer far less witty than he hoped but he was still somewhat in shock at Varys's words.

"Did he indeed." Varys tittered.

Lannisport 299 AC.

Dany.

Ser Barristan and Ser Jorah readied the man and once they'd done so, then Dany had sent them out. Less than a quarter of the army that she had brought to Lannisport would be joining her on the trip to Casterly Rock. Not that it needed even that many for the point she intended to make but she wished a show of force on land as well as in the air. Sansa, she left technically in charge in Lannisport with Lord Beric and Ned Dayne by her side as well as the remain three-fourths of her army to hold the city. She had thought of leaving a dragon too, but in the end, she had decided that she needed all three for her entrance.

Today was a little bit about show and a little bit about tell. She knew the ravens had been sent out already as Barristan had told her that they would be and the men she'd left nearest the Rock had since confirmed it. Taking her place on Drogon's back she looked to Sansa and Missandei who stood surrounded by guards and side by side with the two Direwolves and with a nod of her head, she and her children took to the sky and flew over the city and out into the open ground that lay between them and Casterly Rock.

The Unsullied didn't do cheers, they were not like normal soldiers in this regard and not the sort of men who would see the dragons up above them and would cheer because of it. While they like normal soldiers understood what it meant to have the dragons on their side and the advantage and security it brought to their march, it was simply not their nature to cheer out loud for anything. Instead, they simply took note of her and the dragons and continued forward to complete the task she'd set them. They were there to show the men who defended the Rock who'd they be facing on land should the fight happen and while they'd make them fearful, it would be Dany and the dragons who truly robbed them of their will to fight.

Flying over their heads, Dany could see further and more clearly than they. The road to Casterly Rock didn't provide many places for ambush and there were few places of cover where men could lie in wait, so Dany bid Drogon and his brothers fly further. There was no one for miles around, not to the east, west, or to the north and with the south being held by them, she now breathed a little more easily as she flew on further towards the Rock itself. She saw them there, the tents set up for the parley and the Lannister soldiers looking resplendent in their red armor. With a smile to herself, she flew back towards her men and landed some distance in front of Ser Barristan and Ser Jorah, both men and Grey Worm hurrying to her side.

"All is well, your grace?" Ser Barristan asked worriedly after she'd climbed down off Drogon's back.

"It is, Ser Barristan, the roads are clear and the Lannisters have set up for the parley. I'd send some riders ahead once we're closer to ensure they don't see our march as something it is not." she said and Barristan nodded.

"Do you really believe they'll simply give up the Rock, your grace?" Jorah asked and Dany let out a small laugh.

"Never. I've listened to all that you've both said about the Lannister's pride and Rhaegar too has spoken of them often as has my uncle Aemon. Though it won't be Tywin himself that we're speaking to, it will be a member of his own House and they're the most prideful of them all. Not only that but they perhaps still believe that Tywin Lannister will win this war, something they're very much wrong about." Dany said firmly.

"They still have the numbers, your grace." Barristan said and Dany smiled at him as she shook her head.

"They had, believe me, Ser Barristan, when we see my husband again we'll find out that even in that we now have the advantage." she said and Barristan looked at her happily but said no more.

She rode on a horse some of the way from there, more to be with the men than for any need to, and her presence she felt was welcomed. When they were near enough to the site of the parley she had Barristan send out the outriders to inform the Lannister's they were close by and then bidding the knights and Grey Worm farewell, for now, she dismounted one mount and climbed back upon another. Drogon showing a little annoyance with her for even riding that far on something that was not him. Her words of comfort and praise soon bring him back to his prideful self. With one last check to make sure there was not another force laying in wait or seeking to catch them unawares, Dany waited for the time to make her entrance.

The wait was not a long one, once she saw Ser Barristan and the others arrive and she'd given them enough time to speak of her whereabouts, she then bid Drogon to land near the tents and to show off as he did so. Her son was only too happy to comply as were his brothers and so it was with loud thuds that the dragon's landed no more than fifty feet from the tents. All three of them landed in separate areas to reinforce the point that they could do so and then they let out loud roars once they had. As simple as that Dany had made the first of the points that she intended to make this day. She waited for Ser Jorah and Ser Barristan to come to her before she climbed down off Drogon's back and she then told him and his brothers to fly overhead, while she then made her way to the largest of the tents.

"They gave you guest rights?" she asked and Barristan nodded.

She was given her own guest rights before she was greeted by the Lannister that held the Rock. Dany was surprised to find that it was a woman who then came out to meet her. Searching her mind for all she'd been told, she quickly surmised that the woman was Lady Genna Lannister, Tywin's sister. Her plump build showed that she enjoyed the finer things in life and her blond hair was turning slightly to grey and yet it was the emerald green eyes that Dany found herself focussing on. They showed a shrewdness and cunning and yet there was a fear there too.

"Lady Genna Lannister." the woman said with a small curtsy and Dany briefly felt that she should have brought Missandei with her so that she could recite the titles that she so enjoyed doing when people met her.

"Daenerys Targaryen." she said simply and far more to the point and she tried not to laugh as she thought of how Rhaegar would have felt hearing her name herself so, her husband although he'd embraced who he was, was still a man of the North when it came to things such as this.

"Shall we." Lady Genna asked and Dany nodded as she was led inside to perhaps the most luxurious tent that she'd ever seen.

All the trappings of wealth and power that the Lannisters portrayed were on show. The material the tent was made for was perhaps more expensive than most could afford to spend on such things and the furnishings inside put some keeps to shame she'd wager. Laid out on a large table were some food and wine and though she had no fear they'd seek to poison her, she refused either and instead drank only from the water pouch that Ser Barristan handed to her. Let them think her paranoid or overly careful, for in the end it mattered little what they thought of her as long as they feared what she could or would do to them.

"Why have you attacked a peaceful city? Lady Genna said accusingly.

"Perhaps you could ask your brother the same my lady, for was King's Landing not at peace when he attacked and sacked the city? Unlike Tywin Lannister you'll find that my men were far more restrained with the people of Lannisport than his own were on that day." she said back, her voice calm and unraised.

"The Sack of King's Landing was many years ago." Lady Genna retorted.

"Then perhaps we could name the other places your brother attacked in its place? Harrenhal, the Riverlands, did he not put villages and keeps to the sword?" she asked looking the woman in the eye.

"That was war." Genna said and Dany noticed how she had to fight the urge to sigh.

"What do you think this is, my lady?" she asked and noticed how she shivered at her words.

"We're willing to fill your coffers with gold and swear to allow you safe passage away from here should you stop your march at Lannisport and agree to leave the Rock at peace and then return the city to its former state." Genna said and Dany had to give it to the woman, as opening gambits went it was not the worst one.

"Do you know Essos at all, my lady?" she asked and Genna shook her head "In Essos there is a people known as the Dothraki, Horselords, fierce fighting men and women. They gather together in groups known as Khalasars, large groups as big as any army that the major cities can call upon. The greatest of them all was a man known as Khal Drogo, a man I was wed to until he was taken from this world. The Dothraki would march to a city's gates and the city would then buy them off, they'd offer them whatever it took to just move away and leave them in peace." Dany said and she saw how Lady Genna looked at her confusedly.

"I don't…"

"I may have been married to a Dothraki Khal, Lady Genna, but I am not one of them. I am Daenerys Stormborn of the House Targaryen and neither I nor my husband can be bought off with gold. So here's my counter offer. You gather whatever gold you can, you can take all of it for I care not. Once you've done so I'll then give you safe passage to your ships and give you leave to sail and join your brother in King's Landing or to find someone else to name your home. I'd recommend the latter, my lady, for standing by your brother's side is not a safe place to be. House Targaryen doesn't seek gold, my lady, we are here to see justice done and to bring Tywin Lannister Fire and Blood." she said her words coming from her unbidden and she wished Rhaegar was here to hear her say them.

"You overestimate your dragons, Daenerys Stormborn, and underestimate my brother." Genna said rising to her feet.

"Or it's you who overestimate what your brother is capable of. Robb Stark almost beat him on his own, my lady. He and the North almost took the West away from his iron grip and yet even he couldn't take Lannisport for his own. I've done so without breaking a sweat, so you should think long and hard on the Young Wolf and what he nearly accomplished, for even he couldn't bring to the field what my husband and I can. Your brother's time is done, his doom is finally upon him, see that your own is not." she said as she too rose to her feet "You have one week, my lady, one week to consider the offer that I've given you and after that. What I'm then forced to do will be on your head and not on mine own." Dany said before turning to walk from the tent.

She mounted Drogon and once in the air, she had all three dragons let loose their flames to further bring home the point. After escorting her men back to Lannisport and sure that the ravens would be sent once more, she landed back in the manse that they'd taken for their own and sent the dragons to hunt and rest. Moving into the manse and after being welcomed by Sansa and Missandei, she made her way to her room and changed her clothing, and readied for her own night's meal. Barristan, Jorah, and Grey Worm joined them as they ate and she told Sansa and Missandei all that had happened during the parley.

"Do you think she will surrender the keep, Dany?" Sansa asked worriedly and Dany shook her head.

"We care not for the keep, Sansa. Only for what the risk of it falling does to Tywin Lannister and how he'll react." she said before taking the girl's hands in her own "Your mother has arrived at Dragonstone." she said softly, finally telling her the news that she'd received earlier that day.

"She has?"

"When we're done here I'll take you to see her, or Rhaegar will." she said and Sansa nodded and offered her a small smile, before then looking at Ned Dayne and bringing a smile to Dany's face.

"Perhaps Lord Dayne would enjoy a ride on Drogon's or Ōñosmaghare's back as well." she said and the smile on Sansa's face grew far bigger.

When it came time for her to go to her bed, she almost raced to it. Dany undressed quickly and then she willed sleep to come only to find it harder than she wished for. Eventually, it did come and she saw him sitting by the tree and waiting for her. Rhaegar rising to his feet and catching her when she jumped into his arms, his lips immediately seeking hers out before he bid her sit beside him and they told each other of the day they'd had.

The Riverlands 299 AC.

Robb Stark.

The execution of the Frey's and the taking of their coin had somewhat changed the mood of the Lords and men of the North. Yet still, they looked at him with far warier eyes than they had before, and though technically in command of this march, in truth it was really only a symbolic one. Almost two hundred Frey's would now be taking the black. The rest were given coin so they'd not turn to banditry and were then given leave to head to other members of their house to seek a place to stay until they decided what was to come of their lives. It was a harsh punishment that he, the Lords of the North, and his brother had inflicted upon them, and yet other than the Frey's themselves, he doubted if any truly thought it so.

Were they not following orders other than his own, then he would have expected the Northern Army to head back North. Their war was done they'd have told him, though how they'd have told him so had Rhaegar not arrived when he did, he knew not. As it was they had been given a new purpose and it was one that he shared in. The need to see Tywin Lannister fall and to pay for all he did overrode all else, even thoughts of his own future. He knew not what was to come of him and had briefly considered taking the black himself to try and regain the honor that he felt he'd lost. Robb trying his best not to let the irony of that play too much on his mind.

In the end, he decided both that he had things still to do before he could even think truly about his future and things left unresolved that he needed to resolve sooner rather than later. His mother was one of those things. He'd sent her to Dragonstone or to be more precise she'd sent herself and he cringed now at the thought of the letter that she carried with her. It was meant to be an attempt to bridge the gap between his brother and him, but it also came close enough to demand that he keep his crown and he knew not how Rhaegar would see those words now. His brother and he was yet another thing that he needed to resolve and he worried that it would take many years for them to be who they once were. If they ever were those people again that was.

With a loud sigh, he turned to look to Grey Wind for some peace for his troubled mind and found no sign of the wolf. He almost asked the Greatjon who rode beside him or Maege Mormont who rode a little ahead had either of them seen the wolf before he then caught sight of him out of the corner of his eye, and the sigh he'd held in was finally released. This was yet another thing that he needed to resolve and another that he had no idea how to do so. Roslin was riding with her brothers and with Grey Wind by her side to answer any jeers or sneers that were sent her way. They'd not truly talked for days since leaving the Twins and had not shared a tent once, and Robb knew it could not carry on for this much longer.

"You look like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders, Robb Stark." he heard the voice say and he turned to see Maege Mormont had ridden back and now rode beside him.

"Mayhaps I have." he said with a chuckle.

"You feel the blame for what happened at the Twins?" she asked and he nodded "No more than any of us feels it. You think I expected what happened there, or Umber, Glover, or Ser Wylis?" she asked.

"I was in command, my lady, it was me who led us into that trap." he said his voice low.

"A trap that none could have expected or predicted. You made mistakes, Robb, more than some and less than others. The Twins was not your mistake." Maege said and Robb barely heard the last part and found himself concentrating on the first.

"My brother expected it, he predicted it." he said sullenly, though it was not Rhaegar he was angered at, but himself.

"Did he indeed?" Maege said catching him by surprise "Did you speak much to your sister afore she left?"

"Arya made it clear how angered she was at me, I thought it best to leave it for now." he said and the first smile he'd worn in he knew not how long, suddenly appeared on his face.

"Aye, a fierce little she-wolf she is, squire to a king, by the old gods what I'd give to see her in a few years." Maege said chuckling loudly "I spoke to her and asked her how they knew. Do you know what she told me?" Maege asked and Robb shook his head "The wolves called out that there was danger to the pack." Maege said and her words made his heart soar just a little.

Just as much as he felt the loss of what he and his brother once had and worried that it would never return, he felt the same with Arya and Sansa too. Arya was angry with him for not choosing their brother over a crown and Sansa no doubt would be too. He feared that she'd be angry with him over not swapping the Kingslayer for her As well. The thoughts of what may have been done to her had she still been a prisoner and he'd have fallen at the Twins were ones that he'd had more than once. Even knowing it could not have come to pass hadn't been enough to stop them from coming to his mind.

"What else ails you, Robb? I know some but what else troubles your mind? "Maege asked when he'd not spoken for some time, the look he gave to Roslin was not as subtle as he thought it was and it was noticed and commented upon "Oh, it's the heart that troubles you, on that I'm less a help than many but I'll do my best should you ask it of me?"

"I know not what to do, my lady. I know not what my future is to be or what I have to offer anyone, let alone a wife that's hated by the entirety of the North." he said glancing at Roslin who this time he caught looking his way.

"Fuck the North." Maege said catching him by surprise.

"My lady?" he asked shocked.

"The heart wants what the heart wants and so Fuck the North. I hold the Lady Roslin no more responsible for the Twins than I do you or myself. She warned you did she not? Saved you did she not?" Maege asked and Robb nodded "Then Fuck the North. Go speak to the lady and see what it is she wishes for, see if what she wants is what you do to and then decide what's best for the both of you, but Fuck the North or anyone who dares to tell you who it is you make your bed with. Be that Lady Roslin or were you to be lucky enough to find your own Bear in the woods, Har." Maege said laughing loudly.

When they camped that night he made his way to the tents that Perwyn and Olyvar had set up for themselves and their sister. Seeing Grey Wind on guard as they did so brought a smile to his face and when they looked at him, he asked them for leave to speak to Roslin. Both brothers then looked at him far warier and Perwyn moved to him and spoke quietly in his ear. The warning he made to him was one that Robb felt he was more than justified to make and as he stepped into the tent that housed his wife, it was one that was unneeded.

"I told you, I'm not…Robb." Roslin said, her voice changing in mid-sentence from annoyed at the interruption to surprised by who it was who had interrupted her.

"I should have come sooner. Forgive me for that." he said and she nodded as she looked at him nervously.

"Have you come to set me aside?" Roslin asked worriedly.

"If it's what you wish of me." he said and she shook her head "I have nothing to offer you, Roslin. I'm no longer King in the North, Winterfell will never be mine, and where I go from here, I know not. If you wish it of me I'll take the black and allow you to wed someone who's not in disgrace. You're still a maiden true and…."

"Wed to the man I wish to be wed to." Roslin said more firmly.

"Even were it to be a small home that was to be our own?" he asked and she nodded.

"I wed the man, not the crown nor the lord, Robb. I am yours and you are mine from this day to my last day, I swore those words."

"As did I and I'd live by them was it what you…" the kiss was one that quickly grew more passionate and he moved her to the bed only to stop and move a little away and see a look of hurt on her face. One that he quickly did his best to wipe away.

"I wish to as much as you, Roslin. Perhaps we could share a meal together, speak on things before we….."

"But we will? She asked nervously and he nodded, the smile she then gave him was beaming as she called out for Olyvar or Perwyn to fetch them some food.

Later as he lay in the bed beside her and looked at her as she slept peacefully, he brushed her hair from her face and kissed her softly. His mind was still troubled, but his heart was less so and one part of it was as at peace as it ever would be.

King's Landing 299 AC.

Tywin.

Tarly and Rowan had been sent out to bring the Riverlands to heel and to keep them far away from news of the dragons. Olenna agreeing with him that it needed to be so and it bought him time to deal with them for true. Lord Brax had sailed with enough men to take the island and to end them once and for all and so it was to matters of the King and the realm that Tywin now put his mind to. That and matters of his own family that annoyed him as much as the thoughts of dragons did.

Where Tyrion had gone to he knew not and he found himself annoyed at his loss and at the loss of Varys too. A small part of him said that they'd gone to join the dragons, but while he'd no doubt that the true nature of the eunuch had now been revealed, he doubted that it was something that Tyrion would do. His imp of a son may hate him and his sister too, but he loved his brother, his nephew, niece, and their family far too much to betray them in such a way. Which meant that something else was going on that he knew nothing about and he hated that he couldn't see it in front of him and kept being blindsided by events.

All the time and effort he'd put into winning this damn war, all the plans he'd made to ensure that Jaime was brought back safely and the wolves were finally put down once and for all. All of it meant naught since the true enemy was one he'd long since thought he'd taken care of for good. He should have killed the girl and her brother, should have sent his own men to do the deed and as for the Bastard of Winterfell, how had he been played so well? How had Eddard Stark pulled one over on him? On them all? He knew not and it annoyed him greatly. He hated this, he hated being in the dark on things and it was not a place that he intended to stay in for long.

First things first, he needed to deal with his errant daughter and the fool of an idea that she'd gotten into her head. It was bad enough to pull on the Golden Rose's petals, but to then involve the faith and to try and give them power over the crown, no this would not stand. Rising to his feet, he walked from his solar in the Tower of the Hand and down the stairs, the guards at his back all walking in step with him and soon enough he found himself entering the dungeons and he saw her standing there. The look of disgust on her face was a true one and it showed just how coddled she'd been for all her life. A lion needed to be aware of the smell of shit that came from the sheep when they dared rise too far, and Cersei needed to know this just as much as any of them.

"Father why have you sent for me?" his daughter asked haughtily.

"To show you what your foolishness has wrought." he said before nodding to the guard to open the door and welcoming the look of fear on Cersei's face.

"You can't mean to…" she said only to see the men who were chained to the wall, his own nephew amongst them.

"Lancel, High Sparrow." Cersei said shocked.

"You think I'd allow fools such as these to ruin all that I've built." he said glaring at her "Next time you do something as foolish as this, this is where you'll end up, Cersei. Don't doubt me on this. Blood you may be, but then so is your cousin." he said and nodded to the two men who then walked into the cell.

One by one the High Sparrow and his men were killed, Tywin keeping the man himself until last and not allowing Cersei to move until only he and Lancel were left alive.

"Ending me won't end this for you, Tywin Lannister. We are everywhere and you have reaped…" the knife that was pushed under his chin soon stopped the man's words and Tywin then turned to Lancel.

"Let this be a lesson to you, nephew. The faith only has power because it's my will that gifts it to them. You have time to return to your father and to the right path. Use that time wisely or you'll be joining your brothers here in the next world and will find that you have no place in this one." Tywin said as he moved a shaken Cersei out of the cell and back into the narrow corridor, where she finally lost the battle with her stomach.

He waited until she was done and nodded to one of the guards to give her a mug of water which she drank down quickly and then with a nod of his head, Cersei was moved back to the steps that led up to the Red Keep. Once they were back out in the light and she'd seemed to have come back somewhat to herself, he took her to one side.

"Put our alliance with House Tyrell at risk once more and like Lancel, you too will find yourself contemplating your future while chained to a wall." he said his eyes focused so intently on her own that she blinked rapidly and then nodded her head "In my time and my time alone the roses will be given their due. Now go spend some time with your son and take comfort in knowing that your brother shall soon return."

"Jaime, Jaime is coming home?" she asked almost gleefully, her mood completely different than it had been just a moment before.

"He is." he said and though he couldn't be certain, he believed it to be so.

His words hit home and Cersei left the Rose of Highgarden alone for the next few days and Tywin waited for word from Dragonstone of Lord Brax's success. When word came it wasn't of Lord Brax or of Tarly and Rowan, it wasn't even word about the dragons, or at least not so at first.

"Dorne?" Kevan said disbelievingly.

"Marching from the Stormlands to our very gates." Tywin said and the anger he felt at that was very apparent, though his words were as soft and calm as ever.

"What are we to do?"

"We beat them, we face them and we beat them." he said and Kevan shook his head.

"Myrcella?"

"Is the reason we must take a hostage of our own. I know not what game Doran is playing at, perhaps with the dragons he thinks me weak and so I shall show him that I'm very much not. They say the Red Viper himself leads this army, good, he or one of his bastard whelps will do, but I will have my granddaughter returned to me and returned safely Even have I to kill every man, woman, and child of Dorne to so so." he said and Kevan said no more and just waited for his orders.

He sent riders from the city to find Tarly and Rowan, Tywin knowing the thoughts of facing Dornishmen would be enough to make them forget all else and it was with him that he needed them now and not facing down the broken Northmen and Riverlords. He'd bring the Riverlands to heel another time as beating the Dornish was much more important. That it brought with it the added advantage of bringing the Stormlands under his control only made it even better. Where Stannis Baratheon had gone he knew not, nor did he care for a wounded stag, not when there were snakes and dragons to deal with.

"Remember my words, Cersei." he said as he readied to leave, and had he not needed him by his side then he'd have left Kevan behind in his stead.

"Of course, father." she said softly, and were she anyone but his daughter he'd perhaps have believed the mummery she performed.

"Be safe, Grandfather." Tommen said and sweet though the words were, at that moment he'd have preferred Joffrey's demands of 'Bring me their Heads'.

"I will do my utmost to return most quickly, your grace."

He looked to the queen and her grandmother as they said their own goodbyes to Garlan Tyrell and then he looked to Mace who seemed to think that he was running the city while he was gone. Mounting up on his white stallion he led the line to the gates and had just ridden through them when the messenger came running his way. Were it not for Kevan then he'd not have noticed him and kept on riding, but his brother drew his attention to the young man and Tywin looked his way.

"My Lord, My Lord." the man shouted as he handed him the note and Tywin took it expectantly believing it to be word from Lord Brax telling him that the dragons were no more, it was not, not even close.

"Brother, Brother?" Kevan said as Tywin looked at the note and almost slumped on his horse "Tywin what it is?" Kevan asked worriedly.

"Lannisport has fallen and the dragons march on the Rock." he said and once again he was back in the dark and this time he wasn't sure if he could even see the light in front of him.

Dragonstone 299 AC.

Cat.

Being on the island without her girls or with no sign of Rhaegar Targaryen nor his wife was something that she had become quickly bored by. She felt as if she was wasting her time, that she was needed elsewhere and her worries for Robb, for Bran and Rickon, and for her girls, along with her concerns for how she'd be greeted by the new king and queen when they did return all combined to make her time here unpleasant. As did how she was treated by the two Targayens who she had found here. While they'd allowed her to send a raven to Riverrun and to Winterfell, they'd not allowed her to write to either of the girls. Instead simply saying that they'd informed the king and queen of her presence on Dragonstone and that it would be left to Daenerys and Rhaegar to decide if Sansa and Arya needed to be told.

She'd made the mistake of arguing about this to Prince Aemon and had been lucky enough that her uncle wasn't with her when she did so. Had he been, then he'd not have been able to keep his words to himself and may even have lashed out with more than even them. The thoughts of just how terrible a predicament that would leave them in were not ones that she wanted to think on for long. Prince Aemon had used the chance to throw her words back in her face and to let her know that he knew all about her treatment of his nephew while he was living in Winterfell.

"If only you'd shown the same care and consideration for my kin, Lady Catelyn. Perhaps then I'd be more accommodating with your feelings towards your own." Aemon said with a small sneer on his face.

"I never mistreated your nephew, my prince." she said and while that was true, it was very much not as well, as there were different levels of mistreatment, something that Aemon now reminded her of.

"My nephew was given lesser, was he not? Not quite given the same leave as those he saw as his brothers and sisters? A lesser room, less freedom, a lesser place when the Lords of the North came to visit?"

"I thought him a bastard and the shame of my house." she said in her defense.

"Which he was not. Yet it matters not does it? Whether he was or was not, he was but a child and innocent in the eyes of the Mother. He was lesser in your heart and I damn you not for that, but for telling him so. For making it clear to him that he was not worthy of the place he had and of the father he thought his own and that you wished him not to be near your children." Aemon said his voice full of recrimination.

"I feared him." she said softly.

"For reasons that were your own and none to do with him. While your husband is at fault for my nephew going to the Wall, you played your own part in that did you not? Was it not to appease you that another dragon was sent to live his days in coldness and without family by his side? Did you not tell your husband that you'd not allow his bastard to stay at Winterfell while he traveled south?" Aemon asked and she looked at him in shock.

"How could you know such things?" she asked shaking her head.

"My niece and nephew are young, my lady. They still see the good in the world before they see the bad. The best in people before they see the worst. I see more clearly than they and even more so now." Aemon said chuckling at some jape that only he knew "I simply put myself in your place and took what I know of your feelings into account. When added to the last time my nephew saw you at Winterfell, it's not too big a leap to make."

"I was in pain, I admit I took it out on your nephew, but I am shamed by what I said to him that day." she said truthfully, it was one of the moments she was truly shamed by, the words said in fear and not for true, or so she'd told herself since.

"It should have been you." Aemon said and she felt herself shudder "Own those words, my lady, for while they shame you now, you meant them when they were spoken. My nephew is a better man than me and he may have forgiveness in his heart for the wrongs you did to him. He may show understanding for those words and others spoken in anger, I do not. Rhaegar may forgive you, I will not. So be thankful that it is he who you're to deal with, for was it to be me then you'd find I've no mercy left for you." Aemon said leaving her alone.

It was the last true time that she'd spoken to either he or Princess Shiera about Rhaegar or Daenerys Targaryen, other than to speak about her girls and the war that was still taking place. Her uncle had fuller conversations than she did. Both with Prince Aemon, Princess Shiera, and Ser Triston. The knight was the one who told them the tales of the rebellion from a side that they hadn't known at the time and though she hated to believe the words said, she knew that most if not all of them were true. Ned had lied to her, lied to them all, and performed a mummery that she wasn't aware he was capable of doing.

A kidnapping had been anything but. A rape had been anything but. Would that the words had been spoken all those years earlier and the lives of those involved had been changed by hearing those words. The thoughts of the world she now would lived in were never far from her mind since she and her uncle had spoken. What life she'd have known, Rhaegar Targaryen would have known and Westeros itself would have known, filled her dreams when she closed her eyes at night.

Would it have been Brandon she'd have wed or would it still have been Ned?

Would she have had her children still?

Would Rhaegar have grown up a prince in the Red Keep and known his mother, father, brother, sister, and their own mother?

Would Bran still walk? Would Ned still breathe? Would she have known the happiness and the sadness that she had known in her life?

She was dreaming once again, moving to the Weirwood where she saw him polishing Ice and he turned to look at her. His eyes were both happy and sad, his smile was fleeting and she saw him rise to his feet and ran to him quickly, only for Ned to fade away.

"Cat, Cat, you must wake, you must." her uncle said loudly and she looked up to see Brynden look at her worriedly.

"What is it, the girls? The boys? Robb?" she asked almost panicking.

"No, an attack, Cat, we're under attack." Brynden said and she jumped from the bed and moved to dress hurriedly.

The keep was on full alert, the large gates were closed and she and her uncle and Brienne were quickly brought by Ser Triston to the Chamber of the Painted Table. Once there they found Prince Aemon and Princess Shiera surrounded by a large group of guards and both of them were looking out the open window at the bay down below.

"It seems that Tywin Lannister has decided to wait no more." Aemon said almost merrily.

"Can the keep be taken?" her uncle asked worriedly.

"Any keep can be taken, Ser Brynden, this one will not. Perhaps you should both come and see what I can see." Aemon said and that merriment was still clear in his voice.

Nodding to her uncle, they both moved to the window and looked out, and could see ships as far as the eye could see. Just how many had been sent she couldn't count, but it seemed more than enough to take the island and the keep itself. Yet both Prince Aemon and Princess Shiera seemed unconcerned and as her uncle went to ask why that was, she heard the roar and saw the flames light up the sky.

"Behold the Bringer of Light. King Rhaegar Targaryen, The First of his Name." Aemon said gleefully and she, Brynden and both the Targaryens looked out the window and watched as a dragon showed the lions who truly ruled here now.

Dragonstone 299 AC.

Rhaegar Targaryen.

"No what did I tell you?" Rhaegar said.

"To move left to right." Arya said annoyed with herself.

"And what did you do?"

"I moved right to left." she replied with a large frown on her face.

"And what happens when you do so?" Rhaegar asked, his voice still cold and without humor.

"I end up dead." Arya said shaking her head angrily.

"Very dead." he said before moving in and mussing her hair and seeing the small smirk she gave him "Now again."

This time she did it the right way and though he held back and allowed her to get the hit in on him, it was a close-run thing and she was getting nearer and nearer to being able to get a hit on him for true. His little sister was fast, incredibly so and she moved very lightly on her feet, it was almost a dance that she alone knew. Some of it had come from her time in King's Landing with her dancing master, and now more of it came from their own spars and her spars with Arthur. The Sword of the Morning had told her to embrace her own style of movements and while fundamentally she did the same as he or Arthur did, she did so in her own manner too.

"Enough, let's eat." he said after they'd sparred for almost an hour.

"I'm not hungry." Arya said before her belly rumbled.

"Aye, and so that must be Ōñosmaghare that I hear." he said to a whispered 'Stupid' from Arya's lips which earned her a glare that turned into a starting contest which he then won by cheating.

"You cheated." she said slapping his back when he turned away from her.

"I won. I care not how." he replied to another slap and a chuckle from her.

He truly loved these movements with her, the early mornings were his favorite times of the day other than the nights when he could lay in bed and dream of being with Dany. Nights that brought them together over time and distance and allowed him to hold her in his arms and feel it as if she was there with him. Rhaegar enjoyed his spars with Arthur and other things that he did in the day and being on his dragon's back was an experience unlike any other. This though, this, was something he'd always wished to do. To now have the chance to do so and to have no one tell him that he could not, for him and for Arya that made it just perfect.

"Will we arrive on Dragonstone tonight?" Arya asked as she stuffed her face with the sausage that Arthur had cooked for them to break their fast on.

"Aye, By nightfall I reckon." he said and Arya looked at him nervously "We'll not be staying long. I need to meet with Prince Oberyn, the men at the Crossroads and then it's to Dany and Lannisport we go. I bet Sansa misses us both." he said to a big smile from Arya who through a half-full mouth then spoke.

"Ghost and Nymeria too." Arya said, some of the half-eaten sausage falling to the ground much to her annoyance.

"Arya Stark. It's rude to speak such while eating, as well you know, young lady." he said and whether it was him mimicking Sansa, her mother, or just the words themselves, the result was the same. Arya almost doubling over in her laughter and losing more of her food because of it "Here eat." he said handing her his own half-finished sausage which she knew better than to refuse.

After finishing eating and making sure that Arya cleaned herself, he then waited for Ōñosmaghare to come back from his own breaking of his fast and they were soon ready to fly once more. They flew over the Crossroads Inn, Maidenpool, and the Crownlands, and with one more stop so they could relieve themselves and eat a little, they were finally on the last part of the journey and were soon over the sea itself. That was when he saw them and he looked behind him to see Arthur look worriedly at him while Arya gripped him a little more tightly.

He'd not truly done this with them both on Ōñosmaghare's back before, they'd laid down flames together but not really to the extent he'd need to do so now. There were so many ships beneath them that he knew it would take some time to do enough damage so that they'd simply sail away and he felt angered too that they'd dared to sail to Dragonstone and put his family at risk. Arya, he knew cared for Aemon and Shiera because they were his kin, but her granduncle and her mother were on the island too and so her own anger along with her fear was raised.

"Hang on and stay close together behind me." he said more to Arthur than to Arya as he felt his sister's arms grip him even more tightly and he then brought Ōñosmaghare down into a dive.

"Dracarys.

"Dracarys."

"Dracarys."

Dragonstone 299 AC.

Ōñosmaghare

He felt the island growing closer and the excitement rise from the girl his rider loved so much as well as the small little doubts that his rider felt. There was someone on the island that his rider didn't wish to see and yet needed to. Ōñosmaghare felt no fear or no true anger from his rider, more he felt that he simply wished that it was not to be so. While he was wondering whether or not the two were linked and if that could be true, if the excitement the girl his rider loved so much and his rider's apprehension was because of the same thing, he saw them and felt his rider's anger come to the fore.

His rider was in his head, his eyes were Ōñosmaghare's own and he felt them search out the things that waved high on the ships. He heard one word and one word only, Lions. The way his rider said that word leaving him in no doubt of his true feelings and then he felt his rider's feelings fuel his own. His rider's anger became his, his rage then fuelled his own, and those who'd caused his rider to feel that way would feel their wrath.

"Burn the lions, Ōñosmaghare, together we burn the lions." his rider said and then he heard the words and felt his flames need to be let loose.

"Dracarys." his rider said and Ōñosmaghare did what both of them wished for him to do.

These things that moved on the water were no match for the flames that he loosed upon them. They burned even easier than the towers that his rider had bid him burn just days before. He felt it, the fear, the panic, and then the realization that they were not in control here today. That whether or not they lived to see the morrow was no longer a choice that they got to make. Their fate, their future, their very next breaths belonged to his rider and to him and most of them would not be allowed to breathe for long.

One, then another, then another. His flames swept over these things that had dared to threaten their home, their island, the place where he and his brothers had made their lairs and were at peace. One, more, then another, then another, they burned and those who thought themselves safe by hiding soon found there was no place where a dragon's flames wouldn't find you, not if that dragon and his rider wished it so.

Again and again, they flew over the things that moved beneath them and again and again, his flames were loosed and the water below them now looked to be as ablaze as the things that moved over it already were. He never counted how many of them they set alight, how many of them burned and lit up the water and the sky above it. Nor did he care that the light of a hundred or more fires made the night brighter than any moon could. Only when his rider was done and when he gave him the command to head to the island, only then did he stop loosing his flames and any that made it to the morrow had his rider to thank for their lives. When he landed, the girl his rider loved so much and his rider's protector moved to one side while his rider moved to his front and their eyes looked into each other's.

"Thank you, Ōñosmaghare. Now they know that dragons rule here and dare they come back again, it will be to you and me that they kneel." his rider said and he let out his roar to let the world know the truth. This was a place where only dragons or those they allowed would tread and lions weren't welcome here.

A/N: Thanks to all who've read and reviewed. I was made work this weekend so reviews will have to wait, sorry. Up Next, Cat and Arya are reunited while Rhaegar lays down the law to a Blackfish and brings words of events at the Twins before he and Cat speak together. Armies converge at the Crossroads Inn while Rhaegar brings them some surprise visitors and speaks to a Dornish prince. While in Lannisport more reunions are had as Dany and Rhaegar are finally together once more and sisters, wolves, and a mother all stand in the same place for the first time in more than a year.