Finally made a schedule that leaves me with time for writing, so updates will once again resume some normalcy from this month.
I have a P*T*R*N, where you can read SIX CHAPTERS ahead of FFN.
A big thanks to Lordlexx, Gladiusx and Hades for being awesome betas and editors.
Standing in front of the twins, Dacey felt the urge to beat the shit out of Jon, or whatever the fuck his real name was. The bastard…well not-bastard had deceived them all along with his uncle, the Honorable Ned Stark, and they had all been gullible fools too. Now that she knew the truth, it was all too easy to spot the features of the Targaryens in the twins. The high cheekbones, the violet eyes of Visenya, and her silver blond hair…fuck.
It was Lord Stark's and their good luck that the same features could be found in the Daynes too, and Ned Stark was publicly seen dancing with the beautiful Ashara Dayne in Harrenhal. No one had even doubted his clever words with how long the Warden of the North had been gone in the South.
They are my blood.
"What are your names, since I doubt Lyanna would ever name her son Jon," her mother began, seated on a chair beside her, "and no way she named her daughter after herself."
"Daeron," came the answer from the girl as she looked her mother in the eyes, "and she named me Visenya."
"Are you two born of rape?" She asked bluntly, making the twins' eyes snap to her, and for a moment, Dacey thought she saw literal flames in Visenya's eyes. Once the silence dragged on for more than a few moments, she frowned at the twins, "I asked you something, at least have the courtesy of saying the truth for once in your life."
"They aren't," her mother answered her instead, and she whirled around to look at the older woman with shock, "The boy somehow met his mother, and knows of a conversation she and I shared in Harrenhall. If these two had been born of rape, Lyanna would have certainly not made that comment to him…and on that thought, how did you meet your dead mother…Daeron."
"After I fell down in the forest, I…had a vision of sorts," he began, raising his hand and tapping the side of his head, "In there, I met my mother. She told me about that, so that you may not doubt my words when I told you Lyanna Stark was not raped by Rhaegar Targaryen."
"Your parentage and all things about it aside, I first want to know what happen after you and my women were taken by the Ironborn," Maege said after a deep breath, and Dacey saw the sudden tenseness come over Lyann-Visenya's face, "Three women are missing out of all those that were taken, some of the ones that have returned have injuries, I have the Lord and Lady of Harlaw Island sitting beneath us in chains—and there are half a dozen captive Ironborn in my Keep. What the fuck happened on that boat and on that island?!"
"Once we were on the ship, we were quickly thrown into the cages they had below the deck," Visenya began after a few moments, leaning into her brother's ideas she closed her eyes, "It was difficult to tell the time inside them, but according to one of the Ironborn, a day had passed when someone attempted to take Joanna..to rape her. However, we were sailing through a heavy storm, and the Ironborn weren't able to…take the iron price with how much the vessel kept on trembling and shaking. But still, they tried with Joanna, Melona, and Fory…and each of them threw themselves off the deck into the sea."
"The heir didn't try to take you?" She asked, rather surprised that the Ironborn had let the one known as the most beautiful girl in the North go untouched, "Or did they…?"
"They didn't," she shook her head, and Dacey noticed how her fingers tightened upon Jo-Daeron's arm, "Harras had planned on using the three most beautiful women from us in some sort of ceremony the Ironborn perform on Old Wyk. That is why Abel, Jessa, and I didn't face any attempts by them, not that the storm let any of them do anything with anyone else either. The dragons wanted to come as soon as the Ironborn picked me up for the first time, but I forced them away. They are young yet, and not experienced in fighting men. Also, they would have burned the whole forest down in an attempt to free me, and while I would have been unhurt…the same can't be said for everyone."
"That's a relief then," her mother sighed, leaning back into the chair, and for a moment…Dacey saw the old woman her mother had become instead of the strong Lady and leader she usually was. "The families of Joanna, Fory, and Melona probably already know that their women have not returned to Bear Island…Dacey, take Alyssane and Lyanna with you and go meet with each of them."
"But Moth-"
"Now, Dacey," her protests were cut off as Maege turned her eyes towards her, nodding at the door. "You can interrogate these two later if you wish. For now, I want to talk to them alone."
As I watched Dacey walk out of the room by slamming the door shut, my eyes moved back to Maege, the woman sitting silently as she stared at us both. I shared a look with my sister as the silence stretched on for a few more moments, her eyes showing the apprehension both of us were feeling.
"Who else knows?" She suddenly asked, picking up the bottle of ale beside her and taking a short sip from it, "Ned went south with seven Northmen, and he returned only with Reed. So the crannogman knows about you two, but who else?"
"No one as far as we know," I answered, shaking my head as I remembered how Wylla had gone south after a few months in Winterfell, and as far as I knew, Lord Reed had never ventured out of the Neck after he parted ways from our party on the way North, "Only Lord Stark, Wylla—our wetnurse and Lord Reed know about us."
"And now the whole Bear Island."
"And now the whole Bear Island," I echoed with a nod, "along with Rodrik, and his sisters."
She nodded slowly, closing her eyes for a few moments, and a part of me realized that the heavy questions were just about to come. Maege took another sip of the ale, this one bigger than the one she had taken before, and I gulped once, my throat suddenly parched and thirsty for some of that ale too. Besides me, I could feel Visenya also tense up, and I felt her nails dig into my arm as she gripped it tightly.
"Why?"
"Why…what?" I asked her in return, feeling dumb even as the words passed my lips, but wanting to stave off the headache for as long as possible. "Why did my uncle foolishly charge into the capital of a known madman on the basis of a lie? Why did thousands of Northmen die because of a lie? Why did my mother and father cause the deaths of thousands? Or, why is the main spark of the Rebellion not the truth you all believed it to be?"
"Everything!" She suddenly shouted, making me jump in my place as her eyes glared at us both, "Lyanna was kidnapped by Rhaegar fucking Targaryen, and Aerys burned Brandon and Rickard. Now I come to know that Lyanna willingly went away with her Dragon Prince, caused the deaths of her brother and father along with thousands of Northmen, so yes Daeron Targaryen…I want to know the answer to every-fucking-why!"
"I don't know about what happened before our birth," I answered after Maege seemed to have calmed down somewhat, her breathing once again returned to normal, "But I remember everything that happened after I opened my eyes for the first time. Mother…was guarded by three Kingsuard that day—Arthur Dayne, Gerold Hightower, and Oswell Whent. She talked about how Rhaegar had never kidnapped or raped her, and instead, she had eloped with him willingly. Elia was also fine with it for some reason, given the way she and my mother behaved in the spirit realm."
"There were rumors in Harrenhall," Maege muttered once I stopped speaking for a moment, her gaze on something far away, "That Elia had turned barren after the birth of Prince Aegon, and even during the time of Princess Rhaenys, it had been a struggle to save both of them. But that still doesn't mean Lyanna was right in running away with Rhaegar, especially when by the laws of the First Men, she wasn't of age. Gods, wha-"
"What she did or should have done doesn't matter now," I interrupted, knowing that this was only pushing the inevitable to the future. One day, when everyone would know about who we are…what we are…that day, I would have to answer for my parents' foolish blunder. "What matters now is that you know about us, so what do you plan on doing? Because I can tell you now Maege, if you are thinking about sending ravens to every corner of Westeros…then forget about it."
"Is that a threat?" She asked with a blank face, her eyes flicking over to her sword before she looked back at me, "Are you going to kill us all Daeron? Burn down this keep and the whole Island with your dragons if I decide to tell the North, and Westeros about you? Already looking up to follow your Grandfather's policies?"
"Neither of their footsteps to be honest," I replied, shaking my head, "and regarding burning Bear Island, rest assured, if you decide to reveal our existence to everyone…then neither us nor our dragons would harm you. We would simply fly away from here, somewhere where neither you, nor our uncle, nor Robert Baratheon will be able to find us."
"What happened after you woke up here," she said in wake of my declaration, suddenly changing the topic as she took another pull from the bottle, "You were asleep here for three days, guarded by those dragons after they had breathed fire onto you. And then when you wake up on the fourth day, you fly away on those beasts, only to return a week later with all the Northern women on Harlaw, and hundreds of southern ones."
"I got lucky. Very, very lucky" I admitted, raising my right hand with its palm facing upwards, a ball of red and black fire forming over it, the colors of the Targaryen house swirling and shifting in it, "Both of us…have inherited the magics of our ancestors. Fire and Ice to be specific. And thanks to the way the dragons healed me, I was overflowing with power, and my body was…better than it had ever been. The Dragons tracked Visenya by the bond they share with us, and soon we were right above Harlaw island. It was by the grace of the gods that most of the reavers were away on Old Wyk for their celebration, and the ones that had remained back were doing their own ceremony by drinking and fucking their salt-wives. They were completely unprepared, and in most cases, raging drunk to pose any challenge. The dragons attacked from the sky, burning the Ironborn, while I went towards the Ten Towers from the ground. It is only thanks to their state, the dragons, and my magic that I was successful."
"By the Old Gods," she whispered, her face paling rapidly as she saw the fireball swirl and shift over my palm, before her eyes flicked over to Visenya as she created a ball of ice over her palm, "Ho-How is this possible? Magic died out from the world a long time ago!"
"The gods favor the union of Starks and Targaryens," I bullshitted, inwardly saying a prayer to them because for all I knew, it was once again going to be Arya Stark who was going to kill the Night King, "Even the laws that the First Men follow, they were laid down by the First Men themselves. However, if the gods didn't favor our birth, and preceding that, the requirements for our birth…do you think that the Blood of Winter Kings would once again awaken within us? Dragons have two legs and clawed wings according to the books, but ours have four limbs and wings separate from them, do you know why?"
Maege shook her head slowly, her eyes blown so wide that for a moment I worried they were going to fall out. Her hands were clenching the armrests of the chair tightly, the bottle of ale long forgotten as both Visenya and I lowered our hands, the fire and ice disappearing together.
"It is because we smeared our blood upon their eggs, and they were resting beneath the Weirdwood of Winterfell for centuries," Visenya answered, taking over the explanation as she realized where I was going with the whole story, "Do you think the dragons would have been changed so much without the will of the Gods? Or even the power in our blood would have awoken if they didn't approve of our mixed blood?"
"I-I don't know," Maege muttered, her eyes moving to the open window, from where the flying forms of Vhyraxes, Caraxes, and Gaelithox were visible in a distance, "I don't know why your mother decided to suddenly disregard her betrothal to a Great House. I don't know why your father, the bloody crown prince, decided to forget about every duty and obligation he had. And I don't fucking know why she didn't think of leaving at least a letter behind to explain what she was doing…but what I know is that you both are he-their children. The living, breathing reminder of the Rebellion. The only other thing I want to know today is whether you want to take back the Iron Throne or not?"
"You know the answer to that, Maege," I answered, grabbing onto Visenya's hand and lacing our fingers together, "so why ask it?"
"Why can't you just run away?" She asked instead, and by her tone, she also knew the answer to that question, "Go away to Essos or North of the Wall. No one needs to die for that throne once again, especially not the Northmen."
"You think I want that throne because of any hunger for power?" I asked, leaning forwards to look her in the eyes, "You see those dragons there Maege? They are not going to remain that small for long. Day by day, month by month, they will grow…and soon, it won't matter where we are. Essos or some other forgotten corner of the world, the news that dragons exist will reach everyone. And do you know what will happen then? Robert Baratheon will send assassins after us. The various factions of Essos will try to take the dragons for themselves, with every second man trying to take Visenya for himself in the hopes of taming the dragons and the Valyrian bloodline. We will not be safe, and neither will we have a moment's rest once the world knows of our existence."
"At least from that throne we can somewhat control the first one," my sister sighed, turning to look at the dragons, "besides, it is our birthright. And I assure you Maege, when the day comes…we won't be standing over the corpses of Myrcella and Tommen Baratheon."
The woman looked down at that, her face twisting into a grimace, and I suddenly realized that this woman had seen the mutilated bodies of our siblings—well, sibling, considering Rhaenys was actually alive. However, for all I knew, Aegon was also walking amongst the living and had probably been with our eldest sister all these years.
"What do you plan to do now?" She asked haltingly after a few moments, her eyes still not meeting ours as she looked out of the window, "Return to Winterfell with the prisoners and the Harlaws?"
"Yes," I nodded, "and on that note…why didn't you send out ravens in the past days? I was surprised that Lord Glover and the others nearest to us were not here when we came back, and I don't think Maester Willas too sent out any since we arrived."
"The ravens, difficult as they were to keep alive here, flew away," she answered, nodding her head in the direction of the dragons, "Once they flew out into the open, Maester Willas tried to send out messages to the Citadel, Winterfell and the Red Keep, but all of them instead flew away before he could tie anything to their legs."
"I wonder if that is why he was refusing to meet our eyes when we were attended to by him," Visneya mused, and I snorted, remembering the glances Willas had been sending us. The aged maester had looked so terrified while tying that bandage over my wound, and I could feel how hard his arms were trembling.
"I-I will go and prepare the men for the journey to Winterfell then," Maege muttered and stood up, clearing her throat as she looked at us, "One final question, Daeron. Were you ever truthful with my daughter about the things between you two…or was it also a lie to get into her bed?"
"What Dacey and I hav—probably had now, wasn't a jape for me Maege," I answered, and this was one thing I was as sure of as my love for Visenya, "I will admit the sex was great, but it was never about only getting into her bed. However, I think this is a talk better had with Dacey."
Nodding uncomfortably, the woman took one last look at us and our dragons before she picked up her bottle of ale and walked away, her sword held in a white-knuckled grip. As the door opened as she walked out, my hand tightened into a fist, my eyes catching the small nod she shared with someone just beside the edge of the door.
A guard.
Understandable, but that didn't mean I had to like it.
"So…what happens when Dacey gets here?" And of course, Visenya had to ask that question just right after Maege left with her answers, "Are you going to tell her about us?"