Ned
"How did you sleep?" His brother asked as the two of them made their way outside into the cold morning air.
"Good enough given the circumstances." He replied as the cool air hit his face. The sun had barely risen so the castle was pretty quiet at the moment.
Mormont had given him one of the guest rooms citing that until he took his vows, he couldn't house him with the rest of the recruits. He could understand the reasoning but he had a feeling that he might be getting preferential treatment from the Lord Commander purely because the man still respected the fact that he was, or once was at least, the warden of the north.
He caught his brother looking at him as they walked along the balcony, an unreadable look on his face.
He sighed as he looked at him "Say your piece brother, I know you were biting your tongue last night."
Benjen let out a humourless chuckle "Trust me brother, you'll be hearing plenty from me when Jon has left this place. Until then, I'll play civil for his sake." He said before looking at him with a cold look.
Before he could reply to his brother's threat, the two of them jumped in surprise as the lift that took people up to the top of the wall started making it's descent from above them.
They weren't the only ones awake early it would seem.
"Speak of the devil..." He heard Benjen mutter as he looked up towards the lift. He looked himself and noticed Jon inside the lift making his way down to them. He was surprisingly alone in the lift, no shadow in the form of Ser Jaime present with him.
The pair of them stood and waited for the lift to finish it's journey down to them. Jon seemed to be in a world of his own as he looked out into the distance, only seeing the two of them the moment the lift jolted to a stop.
"You're up early." Benjen said with a small smile as Jon stepped out of the lift. He instantly noticed the state his nephew was in. His jerkin was loosely tied and sweat was visible on his forehead.
"You alright? You look a bit..." His brother said as he motioned to his own forehead.
Jon ran a hand through his hair as he looked at the two of them "I'm fine, just went for a run."
He frowned "Up there?" He asked as the three of them started walking towards the common hall for their morning meal.
Jon just nodded before wiped his brow with his sleeve.
"I couldn't get back to sleep so I decided to go up there to see the sunrise. One thing led to another and I ended up going for a run to wake me up properly. That and the fact that I've been slacking on my conditioning. If a certain someone saw me half arsing it right now..." Jon said, his answer petering off with a small grin and a shake of his head.
"And who is this certain someone?" He asked. Jon looked at him for a few seconds almost like he was deciding to answer his question, in the end answering him anyway.
"He's my sensei."
"Sensei? What's that?" Benjen asked.
"An instructor. Bit like Ser Rodrik." Jon answered as they made their way into the quiet common hall.
All this was news to him. Ever since Jon had found out the truth, the two of them had barely spoken about the time he'd spent away from his family.
"I'll go and see if Horden has anything cooked, might be slim pickings until everybody is awake like." His brother said as he clapped Jon on the shoulder before heading towards the kitchens.
That just left him and Jon in the room, the only sound that could be heard was the crackling of the lit fireplace.
Jon was the first to make a move as he went and sat at one of the tables, the one closest to the fireplace which didn't surprise him.
He followed and sat down opposite him, the old wood underneath him groaning as it supported his weight.
Yet again, the silence between them was awkward. He stared at his sister's son, noticing the way he stared at the kitchen door where his brother had just gone through. No doubt hoping for him to return soon.
He cleared his throat "Where's Ser Jaime?" He asked, hoping to fire up a conversation with him.
Jon turned back and looked at him, his arms folded in an almost defensive stance. After a few seconds, he noticed his shoulders sag, like he was finally willing to let his guard down with him.
"He's in bed. Told him to get some sleep when I woke up earlier so I gave him the one I slept in."
"I'm surprised he let you. He seems to be protective of you already." He replied. Something he was quietly glad about. King's Landing was a whole new world Jon would be walking into and he needed all the help he could get.
He's not even in the city yet and he could already feel people circling him.
"I suppose he's just doing his job. I told him I'd be fine, I left my swords in my room but I've got a small dagger with me if someone decided to do something stupid." Jon explained before Benjen re-entered the hall, three cups and a jug in his hands.
"Not much but porridge and ale for breakfast lad. Horden is sorting some out for us as I speak." Benjen said as he placed the jug and cups on the table before taking a seat next to Jon.
"I'm not picky, porridge and ale is fine." Jon replied as he grabbed the jug and poured a cup of ale out for each of them.
He thanked him as he was handed his cup, the ale in question wasn't great but he really couldn't complain in his situation. He seemed to have less complaints than Jon as he took a couple of gulps without even reacting.
"So..." Benjen began as he placed his own mug before nudging Jon with his shoulder "...any special ladies in your life lad?" He asked out of the blue. He looked at Jon over the rim of his own mug to catch his reaction.
Jon just shrugged as he put his own mug down "Not really." He said as he turned to his brother "I mean I've got eyes, I've noticed them and I think they've noticed me..."
"They'll definitely be noticing younowgiven the circumstances." His brother said with a chuckle.
"It will be something you have too think about at some point." He added.
His nephew turned and looked at him, expecting to get a mouthful in reply from him. But it looked like he was just as fed up at being at each other's throat than he was.
Jon nodded "Aye. It'll ultimately be my choice in the end though. I won't be dancing to anybody's tune down there." He said, the look on his face as he did led Ned to fully believe him as well.
Benjen clapped Jon on the back "She'd be proud of you, you know that don't you?" He said. All of them knew who he was talking about.
Jon shrugged as he looked into his mug "I've not done much to be proud of really. Other than a melee win at some tourney, what is there to be proud of? She'd probably think I'm a selfish brat with some of the things I've done." He said as his eyes landed on him.
This was honestly the first time he'd heard Jon speak this way about himself.
And he wasn't a fan of it.
"Nonsense." Benjen said as he clapped Jon on the back. The kitchen door opened as a man he assumed was the lead cook, approached them with a tray full of bowls of porridge.
"Your mother would be proud of you regardless of what you think, it's what Lya was like. Always seeing the best in people, to a degree at least." His brother assured as he thanked the cook for the bowls of porridge before sharing them out between the three of them.
Jon shrugged again as he dug into his porridge "I wouldn't know, it's not like I know much about her is it." He said as his eyes landed on him, his brother looking at him too when he noticed where his nephew was looking.
Benjen sighed before putting a spoonful of his own porridge into his mouth, the same he did in an attempt to avoid the awkwardness.
"How's about we change that then eh?" His brother said as he looked at him, seemingly daring him to deny Jon this opportunity.
He saw no reason to deny Jon any more, it made no sense to do so.
And for the next half an hour, the three of them sat there, talking about the sister he would never see again, about the mother who never got to see her son grow up to be the man he is today.
Jon was pretty quiet throughout, a lot of nodding from him while him and Benjen told childhood stories about their sister. However, when they started talking about some of the stories that ultimately led up to the rebellion, Jon's demeanour seemed to change.
Jon nodded "You're right uncle," He said as he looked at Benjen "...she wouldn't think I was a selfish brat. Because by the sounds of it, she couldn't tell when she was being selfish herself."
Lya was clearly Ben's favourite sibling, and it showed by the way he was looking at Jon after what he'd just said.
The twisted thing was that Ned found himself agreeing with Jon somewhat.
But his feelings were definitely not shared with his brother.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Benjen asked as he frowned at Jon.
"That my mother was selfish with some of her actions." Jon replied as he filled his mouth with a spoonful of porridge.
Benjen looked towards him, almost a concerned look on his face.
"Your mother was headstrong..." Benjen answered as he took a sip of his ale. ", and sometimes she was unmoving when she put her mind to something. But I wouldn't call her a selfish person Jon, she's one of the most caring people I've ever known."
"And yet, her actions caused a realm-wide conflict that caused the death of thousands." Came Jon's cold reply, his gaze unflinching as he looked at his brother.
"She didn't cause that blasted war and you know it. Everybody knows it was Aerys who kickstarted it all." Benjen answered back, a little heat behind his reply.
"How so?" Jon asked as he started polishing his bowl of porridge off. Ned just sat there and let them argue. He had this morbid interest in seeing how this played out.
Benjen looked at Jon like he couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"Are you serious?" He asked "He killed my father and brother in cold blood!"
Jon wasn't backing down as he looked his brother right in the eye. "Who did?" He asked. It was clear that he was playing dumb on purpose, but Ben was too heated and emotional to notice.
"The mad King!" He snapped back before turning to look at him "Don't tell me you kept all that from him as well?" He asked him before turning back to Jon.
Before he could even reply, Jon was answering his uncle back.
"Like you said, the mad King." He said before sighing. "Listen, I hate the fact that they died and that they died the way they did. But the man was called'the mad King', what did uncle Brandon expect when he rode to King's Landing and taunted the crazy fucker?" Jon asked Ben.
He carried on before his uncle could reply "And we know the reason why he even went to King's Landing in the first place. So forgive me for thinking that my mother swanning off wasn't to blame or at least partially to blame for all that mess." He said as he looked at Benjen. His brother's shoulders seem to slump towards the end of Jon's explanation.
"She's my mother uncle Benjen and I can't help but love her for that fact, but let's not pretend like she was perfect. No one's perfect, it's dangerous to think otherwise."
Silence gripped the room afterwards, the crackling of the fireplace and the gulping of ale the only noises heard.
He looked across at Jon as he drank his own ale. That outburst about his mother was just waiting to happen, he was just waiting for the right audience.
And what better audience than the two people who grew up with her.
It was on the tip of his tongue, an obligation to defend his sister's memory because he was her brother and that's what brothers do. But deep down, he couldn't help but agree with some of the points Jon was making. Ben was a lot more defensive about Lyanna, always had been since they were children, but even he seemed to be silently stewing over what had just been said.
His eyes connected with Jon's from across the table, a silent conversation between them seemed to occur, one that was abruptly interrupted as the door to the mess hall swung open.
Jaime
Well, this seems thought as he entered the mess hall of this shit hole of a castle. It would seem his search for his charge had officially ended.
He was weary when Jon suggested he take a nap, him giving him a look of sympathy when he opened his door to him. He had to admit to himself that a nap sounded like a gift from the gods in that moment. His eyes were starting to burn from the lack of sleep and having to stare at the long burning candle all night as he made sure none of these dregs of society tried to attempt something.
After abruptly waking up from his light slumber and making sure Jon's room was locked with the key he'd been left with, he made his way out of the King's Tower and down to the courtyard. He kept the key secure in one of his pockets, the last thing he wanted was Jon's swords and his armour being stolen.
Jon had said he was going to train as he'd been slacking recently and the first place he looked for him was the training dummies that he'd last seen yesterday being battered by some of the recruits.
From where he was stood, he couldn't spot his charge, his mind instantly going to the extremes. His King was going to kill him when he found out he'd lost the son he'd barely gotten the chance to get to know beforehand.
They can keep a seat warm for me here when I'm inevitably sent back here to take the black.
Smoke from one of the chimneys of the mess hall had him marching towards it to search for answers, all of which led him to this cosy moment right now.
No doubt the Starks were filling his head with stuff that didn't exactly paint his King in the brightest of lights.
"Ser Jaime." Jon said to him with a small smile. If his eyes weren't deceiving him, the lad perked up at the sight of him. It almost made him puff out his chest in pride.
The kid had had an effect on him from the moment he faced him in those training grounds in the hopes of getting a measure of him on the instruction of the Queen Mother. Even more so when he brought news of his uncle's survival and the return of their family's sword.
That last one had struck up more of an interest from his father than him if he was being honest.
He'd seen it in his eyes when Jon had left that tent, his father always had an interest in people who were useful to him, and one who'd just visibly lifted a weight off of his shoulders with news of his brother and return of heirloom was one that had really struck a cord with the his stoic father.
And all of that was way before the news of Jon's parentage was revealed, that and the fact that Jon had a bloody dragon.
He already knew his father was stewing over his thoughts as he returned back to the rock.
Plotting. Something he just didn't have the patience for. Either that or he was too stupid to grasp the concept.
He was the stupid one after all, according to her.
"You ill?" He heard Jon say as he blinked away his thoughts.
He nodded his head towards the bowl full of mess sat on the table in front of him "I could ask you the same question if you've been eating that. The hounds we use back in King's Landing eat better than that."
Jon just shrugged "It's porridge, I like porridge."
Jaime just shook his head "When you taste some of the things back in the capital, you won't look back at that stuff." Both Stark brothers were pretending not to listen to their conversation as they drank whatever piss dwelled in their mugs.
Jon raised his eyebrows as his eyes drifted down to his stomach, a small smirk on his face "Aye, I see you've tasted some of those things back in the capital yourself eh." He said, one of the Starks snorting with laughter as he sipped his ale.
Little was the second time he'd alluded to him being fat, something he knew for a fact he wasn't.
He however, didn't like being the butt of the joke. Especially when a Stark was finding entertainment in it.
"Well, I suppose when I lose this excess weight as you're alluding to, beating you in a spar will be a lot easier than last time eh?" He said with a small grin, one that was thankfully returned by his charge.
Jon continued smiling till his eyes drifted to his uncle. Eddard Stark had been quiet ever since he'd walked into the room, no doubt with a lot on his mind.
Jon necked the rest of his drink and dropped the mug on the table, running his hand through his hair before stretching his arms above his head.
He stood up abruptly, all eyes jumping to him as he did so "I'm gonna go have a wash and get ready." He said as he gave a reluctant smile to both of his uncles. He clapped his uncle Ned on the shoulder as he passed him and sighed. Signs that all of this was now starting to feel real. His reluctance to leave his uncle behind understandable but at this point unavoidable.
"You can stay here while I get ready." Jon said to him as he turned to walk along with him. He screwed his face up like he'd tasted something bitter.
"Absolutely not, your father would skin me if something happened to you." He said, noticing the way Jon looked at his uncle at the mention of his father.
Jon sighed "Don't make me order you Ser Jaime, let's not get into that habit shall we? For both of our sakes."
He looked him the eyes then, noticing just how tired the boy looked, and not from the lack of sleep. He begrudgingly nodded and stepped aside for him, receiving a nod of thanks as he made his way towards the door.
"Could you bring my armour with you as well, if it's not too heavy for you?" He said with a smirk. Jon just chuckled and nodded as he finally walked out of the room.
He stood there awkwardly as he waited for Jon to return, already questioning if he should've let him go by himself. A throat clearing across the room grabbed his attention, Benjen Stark pouring ale into a mug and nodding at the seat that was previously occupied by his nephew.
The conversation was stunted and awkward, Benjen Stark the only one trying to talk to him the whole time. The questions he was asked sounded like the kind a concerned parent would ask when sending their child off for fostering. All the while Ned Stark sat there in front of him looking resigned to his future.
He couldn't for the life of him care for the man's feelings. He knew what he was doing, taking Jon was no accident.
He still believed the man had been let off lightly, a sharp swift axe to the neck would've been his choice if Jon was his son and he found out that he'd been stolen and hidden from him for the best part of twenty years.
But he respected that his King was stuck between a rock and a hard place, he needed to punish Lord Stark without alienating his son.
"Can I ask you a question Ser Jaime?" The quiet lord in front of him finally asked. He nodded for him to continue.
"If the situation were to arise and you were given a choice, who would you save from a burning building first, your sister, or Jon?"
He recovered quickly from the random question, genuinely annoyed that the man would ask him such a question "Let me guess, what you really meant to ask me was am I duty bound to choose your nephew over my sister?" He asked with a raised eyebrow, not giving Stark a chance to reply he continued "I take my vows seriously Lord Stark. I love my family, but the moment that white cloak was draped over my shoulders, my duty to the King and his family became paramount. It's always been a sore topic for my father, that and the fact that my brother is his heir."
Whatever little test Stark had given he'd clearly passed as he nodded, his shoulders seeming to loosen up as they dropped.
"That's all we want Ser Jaime. Jon makes it abundantly clear that he can take care of himself, but King's Landing and the mind games that are played there worry us. He's quick to say whatever is on his mind without thinking, unfortunately I remember what happened the last time a Stark did something like that in that city." The other brother said to him beside him.
"Well that won't be repeated with Jon, the blood in his veins will prevent something like that from happening." He replied before cringing from the sip he took of his ale.
He honestly wouldn't be surprised if this contained actual piss of some sort.
"And is that it? Is the blood in his veins the only thing preventing him from seeing the same fate as my brother and father? Will it protect him that much hmm?" Eddard Stark seemed to growl from across the table.
That had him annoyed, it would seem that the weathered Lord had forgot the position he'd found himself in "Blood is important Lord Eddard, if it wasn't for the blood in your veins your head wouldn't be attached to your shoulders right now." He snapped back, about had enough of this conversation and being in their presence to be honest.
Why did he leave me with them? Was he being punished for something?
Like an answer from the gods, the door opened up revealing Jon, wrapped up in a bear furred cloak, his swords peaking over his shoulder and his dark hair tied up in a bun. Over his shoulder was the dark brown bag that he assumed contained his spare clothes and the gifts that maester Aemon had given him, and in his arms were the pieces of armour Jaime had discarded before collapsing into that feathermattress.
He looks different with his hair like that, kind of suits him if he was being honest.
Wouldn't stop him from ribbing the boy though, thank the gods he wasn't uptight and soul draining to be around like his uncle Viserys was.
"Having to tie it up now eh? Your grandmother will have that and that on your face trimmed within a week of you being in the capital." He joked as he stood up from his seat, both Stark brothers following suit.
Jon's brow furrowed as he eyed him and his uncles "Everything alright?" He asked to nobody in particular, his eyes mainly looking at his two uncles though.
He turned to see Ned Stark motioning with his hand, dismissing the question "We're fine, have you got everything?" He asked, carefully dismissing the Jon's question.
Jon looked between the three of them like he didn't really believe them, but he eventually nodded as he handed him his armour.
"If you're wearing it, one of them can help you get in it. You know, since everything is fine between you." Jon said as he started making his way back to the door.
"Where are you going?" He asked as he placed his armour on the table next to him. He didn't miss the look Ned Stark gave him as he did so.
That man really doesn't like me does he?
"I'm gonna go and say goodbye to Aemon, if he's awake that is." Jon said with a small chuckle.
"He'll be awake, he's one of the first ones awake in this castle. The silence on a morning is peaceful to him when I asked why that was." Benjen Stark answered back with a chuckle of his own.
Jon wasn't gone that long. In that time, Benjen had helped him into his plate with as much awkwardness as to be expected, he was easily the least prickly of the two Starks. The other one had just sat there watching on with his mug in his hand.
"You ready?" Jon asked him as he walked in, rubbing his eye with the back of his hand. None of them said anything about it but it was clear that the boy had been crying, probably coming to terms that he may have just seen the maester for last time.
He nodded as Jon walked towards his uncles. He pulled his uncle Benjen in for a firm hug first, a few pats on the back between the two. Then came the awkward confrontation, both Jon and Lord Stark looking at each other like they waiting for the other to make the first move. It was Jon who took the plunge, a hug between the two of them as strong as the one he'd just had with his other uncle.
"I'm sorry." He heard Jon mumble into his uncles shoulder to which Lord Stark just shook his head.
"What's done is done." He replied as they separated. He held Jon by the shoulders "I'm still in the world of the living and I'm with family. It could be a lot worse." He added as he looked over his shoulder at his brother.
Jon let out a long sigh and nodded, he knew there was nothing more he could do.
He stood at the door waiting for his charge to finish his family business, he personally couldn't wait for all this to be over. Family drama was one of the main reason's he became a knight. He loved his family of course, but it was like they got some sort of morbid pleasure being at each other's throats all the time.
He couldn't look his father in the eyes any more without feeling like he was being judged at every given moment.
So yes, he couldn't wait for this to be over, that and the fact he couldn't stand this fucking cold. How Jon could walk around in the amount of layers that he did he did not know.
Probably his blood, it always came down to blood in this world.
Before he knew it, they were stood outside the gates of Castle Black, both Stark brothers had chucked on a cloak and followed them out to wave them off. That bloody dragon didn't even try to be discrete as it made it's appearance, landing a good couple of feet away from them.
He still couldn't believe that this was a thing. There was no way he'd ever get used to this being a reality.
Dragons belonged in books not in fields looking right at him.
"You look after yourself yeah." Benjen said to Jon as they shared one last embrace. Jon nodded before turning to his other uncle.
"Come here." Lord Stark said before bringing his nephew in for a hug "Like my brother said, look after yourself, and don't be a stranger, do you hear me?" He said as he held Jon at arms length "I don't want to get ravens from Robb or any of your other siblings telling me they haven't heard anything from you in several moons." He added.
"That's if they still wanna talk to me any more. Robb might have calmed down before we left to come here but I could tell he was biting his tongue." Jon said remorsefully.
"He'll come around, it's all a bit raw right now. Time is a great healer, that's one from maester Luwin for you that." Lord Stark tried to reassure with a small chuckle. Jon just nodded before backing away.
Mounting the beast was a little easier than last time, he'd also found a more comfortable spot than the last time.
He'd spent hours with god knows what digging into the bottom of his spine.
As with most things, Jon mounted the dragon with relative ease, a little shuffle here and there before he was in position for what was to be a truly awful journey.
He would've suggested maybe flying to White Harbour and taking a boat the rest of the way to King's Landing but he was sure he wouldn't hear the end of Jon taking the piss or his King reprimanding him for making him wait for his son to return, all for the sake of Jaime's personal comfort of not having to sit on the back of this creature for hours on end.
"You ready?" Jon asked as he looked over his shoulder.
He nodded as he shuffled in his spot to relieve the pressure that was already starting to build on his nether region. "Question is, are you ready? King's Landing is a different animal compared to what you're used to."
"I'm sure you'll protect me from the naughty men and women Ser Jaime." Jon replied as he gave his uncles one last wave before patting his dragon signalling their take off. As he expected, he took him a few seconds to catch his breath after launching into the air, the first time he'd experienced it he'd nearly had a panic attack because he couldn't breathe.
It only took him a couple of minutes for him to realise that they were clearly not going south, the fact that they were flying with the wall still visible to their right a dead giveaway.
"I think King's Landing is south Jon!" He shouted over the wind, hiding his face behind Jon's back.
"I know!" He shouted back "We're not going south just yet, I need to see something!" He added.
"What!?" He shouted back, both with curiosity and concern. This wasn't part of the plan. Jon didn't know but both the King and the Queen mother had pulled him aside and made him promise to bring the prince straight back as soon as Lord Stark had been delivered to the watch without any funny business.
"I need to know something." Jon replied as they carried on flying west.
He just sighed and settled back into his seat, what else was he supposed to do in his position, tell him no? He'd just be wasting his breath.
There was definitely dragon's blood in this boy's veins, and there was also that famous wolf's blood too.
He was still unsure which one ruled over the other though.
Jon
"Why are we here?" Jaime asked as the pair of them carefully navigated through the gap in the remains of the castle gate.
The Nightfort.
The source of many of Old Nan's bedtime stories, most of which were less than pleasant, most of which too ridiculous to be true.
This place was also the setting to the bizarre dream he had last night, one he just couldn't ignore.
"Call it curiosity." He replied as he ducked under a blackened wooden support beam, a support beam that was holding little to nothing left of the pathway above them.
The courtyard to the castle was bigger than the one at Castle Black but it was made smaller by the state of it.
This place has been abandoned for a very very long time.
He was pretty sure that it was a human skull he stepped over as they delved deeper within the courtyard. The door to what he guessed was the main hall was nothing but a decrepit looking frame, it was that brittle that the slight breeze that blew through the courtyard had it swinging back and forth.
"Can we leave please? There's no reason for us to be here, we're just wasting daylight." Jaime urged him, almost whispering as to not disturb whatever dwelled within the ruins of the castle.
"Where's your sense of adventure Ser Jaime? Your uncle said you and your brother were always interested in all those kind of stories when you were children." He replied as the pair of them entered the main keep. Complete darkness filled the room apart from a single beam of daylight sprouting from a crack in the roof. Their slow steps as they entered the building were followed by small crunches beneath their boots, rocks and twigs his best guess.
He hoped it was rocks and twigs.
He heard Jaime sigh behind him shortly before slowly unsheathing his sword, something he followed suit with.
"Come on then, whatever it is you're wanting to do let's get it over with so we can get out of here. This place is grim." Jaime said as they slowly moved through the room. They stuck to the sides of the room, basically hugging the wall so they at least knew what was behind them.
Jaime was right, he needed to get this over and done with.
And if that was the case, he needed to find the kitchen.
If his dream had elements of truth to it, the kitchen lies through the door to the right of the fireplace at the other side of the room.
A part of him hoped it wasn't to be honest, because if that turned out to be true, then what else of his dream was true?
They managed to get around to the door without too much trouble, the single beam of light in the centre of the room providing them with just enough visibility to navigate the mess that was left of the hall.
The only problem they faced was that the door was fully intact and it had a padlock on it. He wiggled the lock to see if it was in fact locked which to his disappointment it was.
"Oh well, guess we have to leave now." Jaime said as he shrugged. Even in the little light he could see the small smirk on his face.
Without answering, he sheathed his sword and braced both arms on the frame at either side of the door. He leaned back and lifted his foot but before he could put it through the door, Jaime was pulling his shoulder back and standing in front of him.
"There's something you're not telling me isn't there?" He said as he stared right at him.
He tried to move him out of the way but the Kingsguard knight was steadfast in his stance. He sighed in annoyance at the fact that the only way the man was going to move was to actually tell him about his dream.
This is where he starts thinking he's insane.
"I had a weird dream last night, one involving this castle." He answered.
"Are you telling me that we're here because of some dream? How do you know it was this specific castle?" Jaime asked, which he agreed was a valid question.
A question he had an answer for.
"Because I remember the stories I was told when I was young, stories aboutSymeon Star-EyesandDanny Flint, about theNight's Kingand theRat Cook. Nightmares of torture and murder, and a kitchen flooded by a thousand rats." He explained "...I saw that kitchen and I saw those rats last night." He added.
Jaime turned his head and glanced at the bolted door behind him, it gave him enough time to shoulder Jaime out the way and slam his boot against the door right under the handle.
The sound was extra loud given the silence that shrouded the place, the bang echoed around the hall they were in and Jaime didn't look best pleased with him when he looked his way.
They stood there looking at each other, one with a small grin, the other looking unimpressed. Both of them keeping their ears open for some sort of reaction from within the castle.
When no sound was heard in return, Ser Jaime decided to take matters into his own hands.
"Here hold this." He said as he handed him his sword as he motioned for him to stand back.
Jaime's armour rattled as he took a small run up before slamming his shoulder against the door, nearly losing his balance as he bounced back off it.
That didn't deter the white knight from Casterly Rock as he huffed and prepared to run himself into the door again.
While Jaime was busy destroying his shoulder, he decided to see if he could find a key, something that was embarrassingly easy as he ran his gloved hand across the mantle of the fireplace and grabbed the hunk of metal.
Jaime was still trying to get through the door as he returned with key in hand.
"You in yet?" He asked as Jaime prepared to bash the door yet again.
Jaime huffed before shaking his head "Nearly, the wood is splintering near the lock. I think one more hit will do the trick." He said before not even giving Jon the chance to hand him the key to see if it fit the lock.
The man barrelled through the door just like he predicted, splintered wood cracking and snapping into pieces as he did so. A curse word or two fell out of the knight's mouth as he landed in a heap inside the room.
"You alright?" He asked as he rushed towards the entrance to the room. Ser Jaime sat up and looked at him like he was about to reply with something snarky but thought better.
"Yeah I'll be fine." He said as he stood and dusted himself off.
"Bad time to tell you about this?" He said as he brandished the key he'd just found out in front of him.
Jaime sighed "Are you serious?" He asked as he took back his sword that he was offering out to him along with the key "How long have you had that?" He added.
He shrugged in reply "Just found it, you never gave me chance to give it to you, too busy running your head through that door." He said as he pointed at the remains of what Jaime had destroyed.
"Right, fine then. Let's get whatever it is you're looking for found and get the bloody hell out of here. Never thought I'd say I miss being on that dragon of yours but here we are." Jaime rambled on as he dusted of the soot that his breaches were covered in.
It didn't take them very long to realise that this room that Jaime had just broken into wasn't the kitchen, it was just a storage room full of empty shelves and broken barrels.
"I already want this day to be over."He heard Jaime mutter as he realised himself that this was not the room they were looking for.
"Well let's try the next room huh?" He said as Jaime walked past him and out of the room. Following him out he decided to try the door at the other side of the fireplace, thankfully it was unlocked this time and he pulled his sword back out as he entered.
This was the kitchen.
This was definitely the kitchen, the ovens across from them and the stepped well in the centre of the room confirmed that.
That and the fact that the room was littered with what looked like rat droppings and was clearly the source of the overwhelming stench.
"Gods." He heard Jaime mumble behind his glove as he held it to his nose, an action he copied as they moved further into the dank room.
He headed straight for the well in the middle of the room, making sure not to trip and fall to his death.
"Come on then, what is it we're looking for in here? Because if it's the inside of an arsehole, I think we've just found it if the smell is anything to go by." Jaime said to him as he slowly made his way to his side, keeping an eye out for anything lurking in the dark.
"I'm looking for a torch." He said as he tried to see down into well. The thing was pitch black and he was absolutely not going down there without a source of light.
When he didn't get a reply he turned to see Jaime looking at him seriously.
"What is this about Jon?" He asked, complete seriousness on his face that he could just about see in the little light coming from the main hall.
He sighed as he leant against the bricks surrounding the well "Down there..." He said as he nodded his head down the abyss of the well "...I fell down there during my dream last night, and by fell I mean pushed."
"By who?" Jaime asked.
He shook his head "I don't know who he was, or what he was. He looked half man half tree if I was to best describe it."
"Half tree? How's that happened then?" Jaime asked with a small chuckle.
He just shrugged in response.
"All I know is that he had what looked like branches growing out of him and that he was super old looking. He made uncle Aemon look youthful with how decrepit his face looked."
Jaime looked around the room before replying "So you were pushed down that well by some sentient tree person." He said as he nodded down the dark void of the well.
"Then what?" He added.
"Then I woke up at the bottom of the well, face to face with something."
"Face to face with what?" Jaime asked as he began to search for something that could light the torch he'd just taken off the wall.
"A literal face. I woke up from the fall and as I sat up I was face to face with...like a huge pale face." He explained.
"And let me guess, you want to go in that well to see whatever it is you saw is down there." Jaime concluded as he lit up the torch with what Jon presumed was flint.
He nodded as he took the torch from him "Aye. The quicker we get down there the quicker we can leave."
"I swear you have some sort of death wish. If his grace knew where you were going." Jaime said as he shook his head.
He frowned as he turned "Aren't you coming with me?"
"Of course I'm coming with you, it's part of the Job description." He said as he climbed over the small wall of the well and onto the narrow stone staircase that spiralled the inner walls of the pit.
The two of them were quiet as they descended the well. By the time they reached the bottom, they were both covered in cobwebs.
"Surprisingly dry down here considering we're standing at the bottom of a well." Jaime said as he pulled the cobwebs out of his hair. He laughed when he tried to shake them unstuck from his fingers.
"Don't know what you're laughing at, you should see yourself." Jaime huffed as he finally freed his fingers. "Any more cobwebs in your hair and you'd look like a fully fledged Targaryen."
He chuckled as he waved the torch around their surroundings, there was only one way to go down in this well, a single tunnel just big enough for the pair of them to walk down.
"Am I not Targaryen enough for you Ser Jaime?" He asked as he began walking down the tunnel. He didn't miss the way the man's eyes widened when he asked the question, almost as if he'd offended him with his statement.
"I didn't mean...it was just a jape."
He shook his head "I'm just messing with you Jaime. I know more than anyone that I look nothing like any of them. Dark hair, full beard, talks like common folk. I'm well aware I look more like a lumber mill worker than a prince of the realm."
He heard Jaime chuckle from behind him as delved deeper into the tunnel "I'm sure you'll clean up well when your grandmother forces you into a bath and a grooming chair."
"And my grandmother will find herself searching for a new groomer when I pull a blade on them." He answered back. He rolled his shoulders a cold breeze brushed over him.
"Her grace won't be best pleased when she finds out you're trying to cut her staff." Jaime said in a humorous tone.
He shrugged "Only fair, you put a blade near my face I'll do the same. I can guarantee my razor blades are bigger." He said, right before a howl of wind burst down the tunnel towards them.
"Closer."
He turned and frowned at Jaime "Did you hear that?"
Jaime frowned as well "Weirdly I did, yes."
"Well should we go see what whatever said that wants from us?" He asked before turning and continuing.
"Why did you even bother asking?" Jaime asked as they moved further and further into the tunnel that was getting increasingly colder.
"Stay vigilant Jon, only the gods know what's down here." Jaime added.
The tunnel eventually opened up into a chamber, the walls around the room lined with branches. It was as if they were encased inside of a tree.
At the other side of the chamber was a huge door that looked beyond ancient. It stood ten feet high and was made up of white wood just like the weirwood back at Winterfell.
He went to pull at one of the branches to see if it would open but it barely budged when he did so.
"Now what?" Jaime asked. Before he could turn and answer him something bizarre happened.
A face began to form on the wood of the door, groaning as if it had been woken from some extended slumber.
The pair of them jumped backwards away from the bizarre scene, almost stumbling over the branches underneath their feet. He looked at Jaime and he looked as shocked as he felt.
It was real.
"Can you see us?" He asked the door as its blood red eyes began to open. He inherently felt stupid talking to a door but this was the reality of the situation.
"See you? I can hear youyoung bloodsinger."The door answered in an ancient voice.
"Fuck me it's real."He heard Jaime say as he frowned.
"Bloodsinger? I don't know what that means." He answered back as he felt a chill run up his back.
The face creaked as it contorted to speak"Your blood sings, it sings the song of ice and fire, a song that heralds the end."
He didn't like this, he didn't like any of this. He was now beginning to regret looking into this.
"The end of what demon?" Jaime asked as he brandished his sword forward. The face didn't look concerned in the slightest as it turned to his friend.
"The end of an ancient pact and the little peace that is left in this realm."The face answered back before turning back to him.
"Now leave, your time isn't now. Beware the creatures that dwell beneath you. Winter is coming."The face stated before fading back into the wood of the door.
"I think we should listen to the creepy face door and leave Jon." Jaime said and he just nodded. They made it less than a couple of feet down the tunnel before he spoke again.
"What in the bloody world was that?" He asked but he was too lost in his own thoughts to give him more of an answer than a shrug of his shoulders.
Song of ice and fire? A song that heralds the end of peace as we know it?
Was he destined to become a warmonger or something? Or was it something else?
Was anything that was said to him even real?
It also brought up another important question…
If the dream he had about the face in the well was real, what other dreams had an element of reality to them?
"Come on, we're getting out of here. The faster we get away from this place the better." Jaime said as he turned and patted him on his shoulder.
Yes, he'd very much like to leave now.
Elia
"Your grace." A dornish knight said in that accent she was all too familiar with as he bowed. She nodded at him with a smile as her and Ser Oswell walked through camp. She was on her way to see her husband since he'd not turned up for luncheon today.
She knew that a meeting had occurred between him and Lord Tywin, and she was slightly annoyed that she wasn't invited considering the clear topic that the meeting was obviously about.
She felt she should have a say considering that Jon was...well, he was her son, or that's what she thought at least. Lyanna had the same idea when they talked about Egg and Rhae all those years ago and it blessed her heart. She owed it to her to embrace Jon in the same way.
If he allowed her that is.
She walked into her husbands tent, nodding at Arthur as she passed him.
A page bowed to her as he hastily left the tent, scroll in hand.
"You forgot lunch." She said to Rhaegar as he stood from his chair that was behind a small table he was working from.
"Ah, slipped my mind. Just been a bit busy with the duties of running the realm." He said with a small chuckle as he motioned at the parchment left on his table.
"I'm sure meetings with Tywin Lannister could keep you busy too." She said as she walked over to the small fruit bowl that sat on a small table to the side of the room.
She heard him huff as she turned around and looked at him, he at least had the decency to look somewhat sorry for keeping her in the dark about the meeting.
"For what it's worth, Lord Tywin planned the whole thing. He caught me just before I was about to come to lunch and one thing led to another."
"You know you can say no to that man don't you?" She said as she took a seat, crossing her legs before taking a bite from her apple.
"I do." He said as he retook his own seat "But it's easier to humour him than to antagonise him." He said with a chuckle.
She huffed "One might be led to believe that you were absolutely fine with humouring him."
He frowned "And what do you mean by that?"
"You were speaking of marrying Jon off to Tywin's granddaughter yesterday, a day later you're having a meeting with him. How could anybody not be suspicious?" She almost snapped, some of that dornish bite rearing it's ugly head for a second.
"Lord Tywin alluded to that Elia, but I told him that it wasn't up to me."
"If you'd just tal...what?" She said, only just realising what he'd just said.
Rhaegar sighed "I listened to you and mother, Elia. It took me some thinking before falling asleep last night but I did realise I was getting carried away. Jon and Tywin's granddaughter being wed was like that perfect cyvasse move that I couldn't not take, but I didn't take into account Jon's wishes and that was a mistake." He said, finishing with a small smile at the end.
She didn't expect that.
"Oh. Well at least you saw sense in the end." She replied with a smile before taking another bite from her apple.
"I'm not going to force him but I'm not going to tell him it's a bad idea either." He said as he grinned at her. She just rolled her eyes and shook her head.
"It wasn't long ago we were talking about letting Rhae marry Jon." She said, testing the water with his reaction.
Targaryens were known for marrying within the family, she'd learnt about that when she was just a child, years before she found out she'd be marrying into said family herself. The main reason was to keep the bloodline pure so they didn't lose control over their dragons, but that practice seemed to all but die out when the last of the dragons left the world.
That was until Jon turned up with the first dragon to be seen in Westeros in over a century.
What was their stance on it all now?
She wasn't sure how she felt about it really, but what she did know was that the revelation of Jon's parentage hadn't dissuaded her daughter. Ever since Jon had left for the north, her daughter had looked miserable when left to her own devices. She'd not missed the way she'd been quiet at family dinner last night, the talk about Jon marrying somebody other than her seeming like some form of torture for her.
Rhaegar shrugged "Those kind of marriages all but died out with the extinction of dragons, it was something I wanted to end with my reign for the foreseeable future. I suppose none of us can know what the future holds can we."
That wasn't a complete refusal of the noticed.
"Mother wants to speak with me later this afternoon, probably for the same reason you wanted to talk wi..."
Shouting could be heard right outside the tent they were in and the pair of them shared a look before rising to their feet.
Arthur popped his head through the flap of the tent "Your grace, you might want to see this." He said before his eyes glanced up to the sky.
"Seven hells." She heard Rhaegar say as he rushed out the tent, she followed him shortly after discarding the core of her apple.
The first thing she noticed was the fact that everybody was looking up and pointing, out in the distance moving surprisingly fast was the unmistakable shape of a dragon travelling in the same direction they'd been going for the past few days.
"This is a problem."Rhaegar muttered as he made his way back into the tent as the dragon disappeared into the distance.
She was frowning as she followed him inside.
"What's the problem?" She said, beginning to worry as he started pacing back and forth.
"With how quick that it was travelling, I fear that it will reach the capital before the council receive my raven."
"Wait, is that what that page who I passed ran off with before I came in?" She asked, somewhat concerned when he just nodded.
"Shouldn't you have sent those days ago?" She said as she began pacing herself.
"I should, but surely you can understand that I've had a few things on my mind." He explained, she sighed as she realised that she'd not exactly remembered herself.
"All we can do is hope and prey that the raven has spotted that dragon and is making sure to get well ahead of it." She said, attempting to make light of the situation.
One that she hoped didn't turn into a full fledged problem.
Jon
"Thank the gods." He heard Jaime say behind him as they saw what he assumed was King's Landing appear on the horizon. He guessed it was King's Landing since it was the largest settlement he'd seen on their journey south.
He had to admit, it looked kind of pretty in the middle of the night, the lights around the city reflecting off the water surface of the bay.
But he couldn't judge this book by it's cover.
His uncle Aemon made sure he knew that before arriving here.
"We should land a mile or so outside the city walls. The last thing we need is the entire city being spooked byKireina'spresence. That and the fact that there's not really anywhere for her to land." He explained as he heardKireinahuff at his statement.
'Why would I spook them? I mean them no harm.'Kireinaanswered through their bond.
'I know, but sometimes people can be unpredictable. We don't know what will happen the moment they spot a dragon flying above the city. They could panic and cause a stampede.' He answered back. She huffed again but clearly understood his reasoning as she started lowering altitude.
"This is it your grace, a new adventure in the capital!" Jaime shouted over the wind as they started to get closer and closer to a clearing in the middle of a forest thatKireinawas clearly aiming for.
"Don't start with the whole'your grace'shit again please, you know I hate it." He responded.
"Well get used to it. We're in King's Landing now, there's rules that need following." Jaime explained. He just sighed a shook his head.
"We'll see." He eventually answered.
Just before they landed, Jaime chuckled to himself from behind him.
"Bloody dragons and talking doors. It's safe to say life isn't boring when you're around. I might miss it when Ser Gerold assigns me to do some of the less exciting duties."
"Careful, I might tell the King you called him boring." He replied back, attempting to forget about that bloody door and the things it said.
Attempting and failing unfortunately.
He couldn't wait for the long day to end but he honestly feared what his dreams would show him next.
Something nice please.