Dragonstone 3 BC.

Visenya Targaryen.

When she had woken up this morning the last thing she had expected was to be face to face with another Dragonrider, let alone one who named themselves as her kin. Yet as she looked into the face of the man who had named himself as Aemon Targaryen, she found it hard to deny that he was who he said he was. Even despite his dark hair and grey eyes which named him as far from Valyrian as could be.

So while Aegon and Rhaenys looked at the man with suspicion and doubt, something she shared at least somewhat, she looked at him with something else too, interest. That he had arrived on this day of all days, that he brought with him a dragon that was almost as large if not bigger than Balerion, and that he was clearly a warrior who'd fought in as many battles as Aegon had, was all clear to her. What was not, was whether or not he was as mad as his story or the little they'd gotten of it thus far, seemingly pointed him out to be.

When he was asked to give up his weapons, she had expected him to refuse. Was it to be Aegon in the same position, not that she knew how that could come to pass, then he would have. Yet Aemon handed his sword and daggers over with no argument. That he did so to her rather than to her brother brought a small smirk to her face, as did looking at the blades themselves. All three were made from Valyrian Steel, with the bastard sword being as well made as Aegon's Blackfrye or her own Dark Sister. It had three fullers incised into the blade and as she held it in her hand she felt it to be not much heavier than Dark Sister and certainly lighter than Blackfrye was. Apart from the pommel which was poorly made and for some reason was a snarling white wolf's head with red garnet eyes, the sword wouldn't have been out of place with Aegon's or her own. She was in the middle of admiring it when she heard Aegon bid Aemon to join them in the keep.

"You'll return to the keep with us and we can speak more there. Your dragon will be at peace?" Aegon asked and Visenya looked to see Aemon look to the Green Dragon, a warm half-smile on his face that softened his features somewhat.

"Aye, Rhaegal will be at peace." Aemon said, his northern burr only raising even more questions in her mind.

"And you'll accept guest right?" Rhaenys asked trying to sound imposing and not quite managing it.

"Aye."

She looked on as Rhaenys doubled up on Aegon's mount and as Aemon took hers. Her brother and sister were far more comfortable and dare she say it, happy, to be riding together than they were apart. As they rode she could hear their laughter and while she as always would never begrudge their joy and comfort with each other, it did make her miss having some of that for herself. Turning from them so she didn't have to watch the kisses that were inevitably to come, found her now looking at Aemon, who to her surprise seemed to be staring right back at her. It took her aback for a moment, then she felt a small amount of pride that it was her that he looked to and not her brother and sister as most did. Soon though it was seeing what that look truly showed that she found herself concentrating on.

Rarely had she seen such sadness in someone's eyes as she saw in Aemon's dark grey ones. Not even the small half-smile he wore on his face as they passed over the cliffs and he looked down at the coves beneath them or as they neared the keep, was enough to remove it. Yet there was something else within those eyes that she couldn't put a name to him. Determination, resilience, hope, she knew not what it was and so she swore an oath to herself that she would figure it out sooner rather than later.

When they reached the keep itself, she saw him brush a stray tear from his eye. Something he did his best to hide from her and her siblings. Aegon and Rhaenys were both too wrapped up in each other to see it and so only she did, which Aemon noticed as he dismounted. Again he gave her that same small half-smile and added a nod of his head and then she watched as Aegon bid him enter the keep. She listened as Aegon said that they were to go to the Throne Room and the Chamber of the Painted Table. Her brother then held his hands out to stop the guards from stopping Aemon's progress or from leading the way and she and Rhaenys both walked behind Aegon as Aemon led them through the keep.

"You think he knows the way?" Rhaenys whispered and Aegon shrugged his shoulders, yet had she asked her, then Visenya would have answered far more affirmatively.

So as they walked behind him, they did so with different expectations of his success. Visenya allowed a rare full smile to come to her face when he led them into the Throne Room and through it to the Chamber of the Painted Table. His footsteps had been unerring, he'd not paused once or shown any lack of recognition at the inside of their family's keep and so his words, despite how strange or odd they may have been, seemed to be proved true. Little did she know just how strange or odd those words were soon to become.

Upon reaching the Chamber of the Painted Table, Aegon sent for refreshments and she almost expected him to sit on the raised chair. Her brother instead took up a seat that allowed both she and Rhaenys to sit beside him and Aemon took up one opposite all three of them. When the food was brought in she swore she saw Aemon look to it almost greedily and when he was given leave to help himself, he did so gladly. Visenya almost chuckled at how hungrily he ate and Aegon sent for more food long before he was done.

"Forgive me, but it's been some time since I've eaten food that Rhaegal or I've not cooked and foraged for ourselves and even longer since it's been food of this quality." Aemon said as he finished a second helping.

"Why?" Rhaenys asked and Visenya turned to look at her sister thinking it was a stupid question, only to find it was very much not and that it turned out to be the lead to a story the likes of which she'd never heard before.

"In my time, I've spent almost three years alone with no one to speak or look to other than Rhaegal. Even before that, food was scarce, and little grew or lived. The last time I ate a home-cooked meal was nigh on seven years ago….actually now that's almost three hundred as hard as that is to believe." Aemon said chuckling to himself as he did so.

"Three hundred? I don't…"

"What year is it? Your father does he live still? Is Aerion still alive?" Aemon asked interrupting Aegon's question.

"Our father died six moons past." she said sadly and was surprised by the sympathetic look he gave her.

"I'm sorry for your loss. Far too many of our kin go before their time, your father at least lived a good life and you got to spend much time with him." Aemon said and Visenya felt there was something about his own life in the words he spoke, she was about to pry when he spoke again "That would make it 3 BC."

"BC?" she asked curiously having never heard years spoken of that way.

"Before the Conquest." Aemon said and Rhaenys gasped loudly as Aegon rose to his feet.

"What know you of the Conquest?" Aegon demanded.

"Much and little, much and little." Aemon said and before anyone could ask him to explain, the booming voice of Orys was heard from outside and they were soon joined by someone who looked at Aemon even more suspiciously than Aegon now was.

Dragonstone 3 BC.

Aegon Targaryen.

He stood at the open window looking down on the rocks below. Off in the distance four dragons flew and were he to turn his head to look at them, then he'd see that they flew together. Aegon though didn't turn his head and had not even truly seen the rocks that he was looking at. So lost in his thoughts was he that he barely heard or saw anything. Had Rhaenys not taken his hand in hers, then who knows how long he'd have stood there without speaking or moving.

"Egg are you well?" his sister-wife asked worriedly.

"As well as can be expected my love." he said raising their joined hands to his face and kissing her far softer one.

"You don't actually believe this Horseshit?" Orys said from behind them and Aegon turned to look at his closest and truest friend, his dark eyes showing the fire that he'd come to know and even at times fear.

"I know that when I woke this morning there were but three Dragonriders in the known world and that now there are four. I know that when he entered this keep he walked like a man who has been here more than once, even though neither I, Rhaenys, or Visenya have seen him before this day. His story is unbelievable to be sure, but look me in the eye and tell me that he was lying?" he asked to no reply, not from Orys nor from Rhaenys.

"So what are we to do about him?" Orys asked and this time he was the one who had no reply to give.

Visenya seemed almost enamored by the man who claimed himself to be their kin, certainly intrigued, and so he'd left it to her to see Aemon situated. He'd hoped that with them both out of the room he could at least think clearly, consider the options in front of him and decide whether or not the horrors that Aemon said would come to befall their house were truth or the delusions of a mad man. Though in truth he knew that while there was something broken in Aemon, he was far from being mad.

The tactician in him had tried to concentrate on what this would mean for their plans. How having a fourth dragon and Dragonrider would allow them to do even more. Just looking at Aemon it was easy to name him a warrior and given the size of the Green Dragon he rode, a formidable one. Yet it was hard to look a little into the future without then looking even further into it. A future that was filled with betrayals, war, and that in the end would lead to one member of their house being not just the last Targaryen in the world, but the last living person.

"Egg?" Rhaenys asked when he'd not spoken for some time.

"Forgive me, my love." he said kissing her cheek softly.

"How fares the preparations?" he asked as he and Rhaenys moved to the Painted Table, Aegon feeling it for the best if he let his mind go somewhere other than where it was.

"We're as ready as we'll ever be, you're sure it's there you wish to land?" Orys asked pointing to the mouth of the Blackwater Rush.

"We will need a holding in the lands, Orys, a first spot that we claim as our own." he said and Orys nodded.

"What of the offers?" Rhaenys asked and Aegon smirked much to her annoyance.

"You truly think I'd take another wife?" he asked to a glare and then a shake of her head when she saw his mirth more clearly for what it was.

"No. But we must respond to Argillac's offer must we not?"

"We must and yet I now find I now must think more on it. The offer I was to make may have been superseded by another that may find more favor." Aegon said and he saw Orys and Rhaenys both look to him with interest.

He had almost written out the response, the offer of Orys's hand for Argillac's daughter. While Aemon had not said much about the Stormlands and their part in the future, Aegon had felt that was because of Orys's presence and so he needed to learn more to see if he was thinking cleverly or not. The idea of giving up a Dragonrider to any house was one that filled him with concerns but was he able to take the Stormlands without a battle, then that could only help him with the rest of his plans.

"And Dorne?" Orys asked and Aegon shook his head.

"Same as the Vale, offers of alliance without compliance are meaningless when it's their fealty or their lands that I aim to have for my own."

"Do we have the men?" Rhaenys asked looking to Orys rather than him and Aegon knew the answer long before it was spoken. If the Conquest he had planned so carefully came down to men and men alone, they had already lost.

"Men won't win this war, my lady." Orys said and Aegon smiled.

"You'll stay for dinner?" he asked and Orys nodded "On the morrow, we should test the mettle of our guest." he added and saw the eagerness in Orys's eyes as he rose to his feet.

Soon enough he was left alone with Rhaenys, his love moving to him and Aegon taking her in his arms and holding her tight. She'd shown great strength as they listened to Aemon speak of the future and he'd offered her what little comfort he could then, now she needed far more of it and so he offered her that too.

"Aemon….what he…"

"If what he says is true, then his being here offers us the chance to change it does it not?" he asked and she looked up at him with hope in her eyes "Our future is the one we make for it, my love, our fate is our own. A dragon is not a slave." he said and kissed her softly, the kiss soon growing in its intensity.

It never got to grow to where it may have, nor yet lead to what it inevitably would have led to. The cough caused them both to turn and look as Visenya walked back into the room and took up a seat. His sister looked far less disturbed than Rhaenys did, but then again she always had a much different strength in her than his love had. It was the differences between them that made what he felt for Rhaenys so much more true than what he felt for Visenya, the love between them much fiercer than it was between him and his other sister-wife.

"Is he settled?" he asked as he and Rhaenys moved to sit close but not too close to Visenya.

"I don't believe that man will ever be settled." Visenya said and Aegon caught the brief uptick of her lip as she spoke.

"You believe him?" Rhaenys asked and Aegon stared at Visenya as she answered.

"I believe there are things in this world we cannot explain, things we cannot understand. In all our time here or in all Aegon's time in Essos, not once have we heard of another Dragonrider let alone a dragon as big as Rhaegal. Aemon believes in what he's saying, he speaks no lies and yet…."

"What he says is unbelievable." he said and Visenya nodded.

"Do you believe he's our kinsman?" Rhaenys asked and Visenya nodded firmly.

"Good then we have naught to fear from him and much we can accomplish together." he said and were he not looking to Rhaenys he'd have seen how Visenya's eyes narrowed at his words.

They ate together that night, he sitting with Rhaenys while Visenya sat facing Aemon but beside Orys. Their conversation was light and Aemon looked different to his eyes. The bath and shave he'd had made him look much younger, other than his dark grey eyes which were those of a far older man. At times he caught the way he looked to Orys and how Orys looked back at him, Aegon almost feeling that he should call off the morning's spars between them because of it.

While he spoke to both him and Rhaenys and was friendly enough, but it was his conversations with Visenya that really seemed to bring some life to his features. Or at least it did until mention of wives and children was made and then the look on Aemon's face was perhaps as sad a one as he'd ever seen. Not even Visenya when their father had passed showed such sorrow as Aemon did then and when he asked to be excused, none of them even thought about refusing him. Watching as Visenya got up and followed him was a surprise, and for the first time that he could ever truly remember, Aegon felt some jealousy when it came to his second wife.

"Mayhap we should call it a night." Rhaenys said upon seeing his expression and once he turned and looked at her own, he forgot all about the momentary jealousy and it was to thoughts of the night they'd share together that he now concentrated on.

Dragonstone 3 BC.

Aemon Targaryen.

The night before he'd bathed and shaved truly and properly for the first time in only the gods knew how many years. Not that he wasn't clean or that his beard had been untidy. As when he'd found streams he'd washed in the cold water and he always trimmed his beard as best he could. Never did he allow it to grow as wild and bushy as Tormund's had. His closest friend was far more able to wear it well than Aemon was and as he had last night, he now looked into the looking glass and he tried not to think too much about his fate. It was a hard thing for him to do at the best of times, the memories of so many of those he lost always snuck up on him when he least expected it.

Be it when he dreamed at night or when he sat and ate silently, other than when he was flying on Rhaegal's back, the memories would come. Tormund, Mance, the Free Folk, the Men of the Night's Watch, Barristan the Bold and Jaime Lannister, Ser Bonifer Hasty, and the men of the Hundred. Davos Seaworth who'd taught him much and was Leal and True and once his mind went down that road, then his family would soon be who he thought of next. Dany, Viserys who he'd never gotten to know, and Aemon who he'd spent far too little time with. His uncle Ned who'd he'd believed to be his father for so very long and his siblings, for that was what they were and he'd not name them as cousins when they were brothers and sisters of his heart.

The knock on the door took him from the looking glass and the memories he may have gotten lost in. Aemon opened it to find Visenya there just as she had been the previous night and he thanked the gods for her interruption once more.

"You slept well?" she asked and he nodded, the dreams had come and he'd probably have cried out but it seemed that he may not have "We're about ready to break our fast, I thought you'd not wish to miss it."

"Aye, you have the right of it, my lady." he said and she looked at him, her purple eyes asking questions that her lips never uttered, something he welcomed as they walked in silence to the large room.

Unlike the night before, their meal was not so private and Aemon found himself uncomfortable being among so many people. Not that his appetite was affected or that it showed in anything more than his eyes. Schooling his expression was one of the first things he'd learned, his wife making sure that he knew the value of it and his own temperament proved him to be an apt student of the so-called game of thrones. He ate hungrily, just as he had done the previous night, and just as then, he accepted the second helping.

"So do you feel up for a spar, Aemon?" Aegon asked challengingly and he looked to see the smirk on Orys Baratheon's face.

To his surprise, it was dark eyes and not blue ones that Orys bore which at least allowed him not to have to look at Robert Baratheon when he looked at him. He wasn't even sure that Orys was actually a Baratheon as of yet or whether he had taken up the name during the Conquest. What he was sure of was that the man didn't trust him or mayhap even like him, which was something he was pleased about. The thoughts of being friendly with the founder of the house of the man who killed his father and was responsible because of that for his sibling's deaths was not something he was ready to consider just yet.

"Aye, why not." he said, as non committally as he could and the smirk on Orys's face was one that he looked forward to wiping off.

As they walked to the area set up for sparring, he noticed how Visenya kept looking his way and he wondered if he'd get to cross blades with her this day. The thoughts of Longclaw facing off against Dark Sister were almost as exciting to him as facing off against the woman herself and it brought a smile to his face as he wondered what Arya would have thought of that tale. His little sister had loved Visenya and Nymeria most of all.

"Aemon? Visenya asked upon seeing his smile.

"Forgive me, my lady, I was thinking of someone to whom you were an idol." he said and it was Rhaenys who asked him the question and not Visenya.

"Tales are told of my sister in your time, Aemon?"

"Of her, of you my lady, and of Aegon himself. All our family managed to achieve began with the three of you and even those who named us as enemies could not find it in themselves to disparage your accomplishments." he said and Rhaenys looked to Aegon with pride.

"And me in particular?" Visenya asked while trying to hide her true curiosity and her smirk.

"My little sister wished to be a warrior, my lady, you and Princess Nymeria were who she looked up to and who she longed to be." he said hoping that no more questions were asked, thankful when they were not.

The spars started as soon as they reached the yard and he was taken aback that it was the same area that he himself had spent so much time honing his skills. Jaime Lannister and Barristan the Bold, he'd fought against both men here and it was hard not to see their ghosts as he moved to the weapons rack. It was to be blunted swords they'd use today and as he picked up the one he was to use, he found himself surprised that Orys used a Greatsword rather than a hammer. Though it was probably for the best as had the man wielded what his descendant did, then Aemon wasn't sure he'd have been able to hold back.

"We fight to a yield." Orys said irritably and Aemon nodded.

It had been many years since he'd wielded anything other than Longclaw. The sword had become an extension of his arm and so the first two flurries caught him a little by surprise. Orys pressed his advantage and Aemon did all he could to simply hold the man back. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught the look that Aegon gave Visenya, a look that named him a liar of sorts, and whether it was that or simply growing more comfortable with the blunted blade, he increased his effort and the tide began to turn.

Soon enough it was Orys being forced back and then at some point during the fight it was no longer a spar that he was having. His blows were firmer, his strikes more true and Aemon was lost in an almost muscle memory of a far different fight. He barely heard the calls and were it not for the hand that touched his own, then who knows what he'd have done to the man who now lay on the ground in front of him.

"Forgive me, forgive me." he said throwing the sword to the ground and hurrying away from the sparring yard.

Behind him, voices called out and in front of him, guards moved out of his way. Aemon soon ran as the ghosts of this place finally started to call out to him. Dany, Robb, Margaery and his children, and then after a while, a true Ghost. The white wolf seemed so real and had Visenya not grabbed him, then Aemon would have stumbled over the cliff edge so desperate was he to feel his fur once more. Falling to his knees he cried out and cursed the gods for all they'd taken from him, and for all the losses he'd been made to suffer through.

The whispered words that Visenya spoke to him and the sound of Rhaegal as he flew towards him soon shook him from his despair and as he rose to his feet and welcomed the Green Dragon when it landed. While the look he gave to the Lady of Dragonstone was one filled with gratitude. When she suggested that he may like to fly and if he wished she'd join him, he nodded eagerly, and soon enough they were in the air. His mind once again clear and after they'd flown for some time, they landed and made their way back to the keep.

He knew there were more ghosts for him to face and that he needed to find some sort of balance. The future he had wished for, prayed for, and hoped for was gone for now and this past was where he had been sent to. The why of it was still not truly known to him, but for as long as he was here he'd do whatever he could to make their future a better one than the one he'd known. He needed to consider things carefully, to ponder on the things he could tell them and the things he could change. To fight down the instincts that he had within him to bring Fire and Blood to so many people and so many houses, and to change only what he should and not what he could.

More than that though, he needed to understand what would happen should he change things, how, and if it would affect the future. Could he save them by doing things here and now? Could he see them again? Or was this the life he was to lead and was it here that he would finally meet his end?

Dragonstone 3 BC.

Visenya Targaryen.

Though he'd been content to speak a little on his own time and the end of their House, Aemon wasn't as forthcoming when it came to other points in their future or history as it was to him. Other than saying that at times their House was their own worst enemies and that they faced much resistance both overt and not over the course of their time ruling Westeros. That they would rule Westeros was enough for Aegon for now and so her brother concentrated on that, she however could not. Visenya wished to know more, much more, and she put her interest in Aemon Targaryen down mainly to that. Even though she was beginning to think it may something else that drove that interest.

After they'd flown together and she'd seen him as relaxed as he ever got, they'd parted and she'd made her way to speak to Aegon and Rhaenys, finding them wrapped up in each other as always. It was something she'd come to accept, something she truly felt no jealousy about other than not having that in her own life. While she and Aegon did couple, it was rare, and dare she say it unfulfilling. Physically she found more pleasure with her own fingers than she did with her husband and she'd not deny her sister feeling it where she did not.

"Where's our guest?" Aegon asked when he finally noticed her.

"I gave him leave to walk the grounds, sent some guards with him while he did so. Though I've no doubt should he wish rid of them so he could be alone, then he'd find them no true obstacle to that." she said hiding her smirk.

"I feared for Orys." Rhaenys said her voice soft as Aegon offered her more comfort.

"Had you not intervened, then so would I have. Aemon is certainly a warrior and one that's been in some hard battles." Aegon said.

"Have you seen the likes of that before? A man losing himself while fighting?" she asked as she took her seat and poured herself some water.

"Only to those who've been truly battle-scarred. The line between an enemy for true and one you faced at some point earlier can become unseen."

"You're saying he could turn on us?" Rhaenys asked worriedly and Aegon shook his head before answering.

"I doubt that had it been me that he was fighting it would have led to the same result."

"You think you could beat him?" she mocked.

"No, I saw enough of him as he beat Orys to not wish to test my blade against him for true. I meant that for some reason he saw Orys differently than he sees us." Aegon said a little put out by her tone.

"Because our House comes first, Aegon. Aemon I think lives that truth even more so than I do." she said.

"Has he spoken more on our House?" Rhaenys asked and Visenya shook his head "Do you think he will?" she added and this time Visenya nodded, certain that in time Aemon would tell all his secrets.

It turned out that some of those secrets were to come later on that night as after they'd eaten and Orys had left to do whatever it was that he did at times, Aemon sat with them and without prompting began to tell them more about his time and how he ended up as The Last Targaryen.

"For most of my life, I believed myself a bastard and my father a rapist." Aemon said shocking all three of them and when Rhaenys went to defend her future kin, Visenya smiled but bid Aemon continue "My grandfather was either evil or mad depending on who you speak to. Over time I've come to the conclusion that he was both, though not by choice, but that's a story for a different time. Suffice to say that he was the catalyst for what came next and though others played their part, he was essentially the reason for the Rebellion that left our house with but four members. Two forced into exile, one serving at the Wall and me being raised in Winterfell by my uncle as a bastard." Aemon said, the last part both bitter and yet not at the same time.

She looked to Aegon who was watching Aemon even more keenly now, the mention of Winterfell enough to garner more of his interest. While she and Rhaenys concentrated on the fact that there were but four Targaryens left in the world and that their rule had in essence been usurped, Aegon she knew was thinking about the Starks and so it was they that she turned her own thoughts to. Just as she was about to ask Aemon if it was the Starks or was some other House in control of Winterfell, Aemon spoke some more.

"My grandfather liked to burn people. It, I'm horrified to say, excited him sexually. It was because of this, because of how he treated my grandmother and because my father understood that were he not to act then someone else would do so, that a tourney was held and at that tourney was where my mother met my father." Aemon said taking a deep breath "Lyanna Stark, the She-Wolf of Winterfell. Betrothed to a man she hated and had no intent to marry and my father, Rhaegar Targaryen the crown prince of Westeros, a married man with a child and another on the way."

Visenya wasn't the only one to gasp, Rhaenys looking to Aegon and he to her as Aemon continued.

"Love is the death of duty, the bane of honor. What is honor compared to a woman's love? What is duty against the feel of a newborn son in your arms ... or the memory of a brother's smile? Wind and words. Wind and words. We are only human, and the gods have fashioned us for love. That is our great glory and our great tragedy." Aemon said and her eyes caught his own when he looked to her, a sympathetic look that angered her somewhat "My great uncle Aemon who I knew for far too short a time, told me that once and never was this more true than with my father and mother. They met, they fell in love and the Realm bled because of how they felt about each other."

Aemon got up from his seat, walked to the open window, and looked out for a few moments which gave her, Rhaenys, and Aegon a chance to absorb what he'd just said. Looking to Aemon she could see that even this had taken a toll out of him and so she was surprised by how quickly he came back and took up his seat and even more so when he began speaking again.

"What happened next is conjecture on my part, some truths, half-truths, and things I've been able to ascertain over time. My father won the joust and crowned my mother and not his wife, something which caused as big a scandal as you can imagine. A little over a year later both my father and mother eloped or as I was led to believe for so very long, he kidnapped her. My uncle Brandon Stark rode to King's Landing and called my father out, bid him come out and die, though he was not there and threatening the Crown Prince's life was a death sentence. Ravens were sent, angered words spoken, my other grandfather Rickard Stark came and offered himself as a champion for his son and found a mad man who was obsessed by fire."

"Why did it cause a scandal? Other than a broken betrothal which can be fixed, your father's taking of another wife would or should not be an issue?" Aegon asked.

"Times changed, my lord, what our House was once able to do with impunity was much harder to do without the dragons to back them up." Aemon said.

"There were no dragons, but…." Visenya said and Aemon looked at her and smiled, a fuller smile this time.

"My aunt brought them back, my lady, the first dragons that were seen in more than a hundred years brought back by a girl of five and ten who most had written off as an irrelevance, fools that they were." Aemon said proudly "But again a story for another day. Now, where was I…Aye, as I said my grandfather was both evil and mad and so rather than name a champion for my other grandfather to face, he named fire and burned him alive. My uncle was hung by the neck with a sword just out of reach and told if he could but reach it, then he'd save his father and he died in the trying, which was my grandfather's intent. Not content with killing them both and the men who rode with them, he then ordered my other uncle to be brought to face him along with a man my uncle named a brother by choice."

Each new reveal seemed to be worst than the other and just as she thought there couldn't be more, she'd find herself so very wrong, though even she could never have expected what was to come.

"Robert of the House Baratheon, my uncle Ned's closest and truest friend. The man who'd lead the rebellion against our House and would kill my father and be responsible for the deaths of his wife and children, my brother and sister."

"Baratheon?" Aegon asked confused.

"Descendant of Orys Baratheon, the founder of his house and bastard brother of King Aegon the Conqueror and his sister-wives, Queen Rhaenys and Queen Visenya Targaryen." Aemon said and then there was chaos.

She had to step in between Aegon and Aemon, though only one seemed willing to fight. Rhaenys held her brother back while she provided a barrier between them and as Rhaenys calmed Aegon down, she looked to do the same to Aemon only to find there was no need to. He was calm, collected, and yet he wore that selfsame look she'd seen on his face far too often. That look of intense sadness that seemed to be almost constant and yet this time seemed to be not for himself.

"There is much worse to come before I'm done telling my tales, my lady. I've not even truly gotten to the things that cause me pain, let alone the ones that will cause you all more." Aemon said as he looked at her.

"Yet get to them you will." she said determinedly and he nodded.

Dragonstone 3 BC.

Rhaenys.

The words he'd said thus far were unbelievable to her and were it not for Aegon's anger then she'd be concentrating on her own jumbled thoughts. Her husband was angry though, fit to burst and she couldn't blame him for it. To be told that the man he thought of as a brother would in some way help lead to the end of their House was not something either of them took lightly. For Aegon, it was more than that, much more and so when he responded with accusations about Aemon's intent, she joined him. Both of them found out to their surprise that Visenya stood on the other side of them as the arguments raged on.

"You come here and name my brother by choice a traitor. Seek to drive a wedge between us? To what end? To what purpose for surely you know it'll fail." Aegon angrily shouted.

"He does not, Aegon, he's telling a tale and it's up to us to decide what to do with what we're told. He doesn't seek you to move against Orys, do you Aemon?"

"And you're taking his side, Visenya? Does family mean nothing to you?" Aegon retorted and Rhaenys heard the slap ring out loud and hard.

"Never accuse me of such a thing lest you feel my blade next time? No one cares more for family than me, Aegon Targaryen, No one, and be sure not to forget that when next you lay with our sister." Visenya spat.

She knew there was no way to resolve this now, Aegon's blood was up as was Visenya's and this could only degenerate into a much bigger rift if she didn't act now. Looking past her sister to Aemon was to see a man who didn't revel in the chaos he'd wrought, if anything he looked to be despairing because of it. Either he was a mummer beyond equal or what he'd said had pained him to say it and she believed it to be the latter. So with a nod to Visenya, she took Aegon by the arm and led him from the room.

It was to the gardens rather than their room that she took him to. Rhaenys knew her love's mind better than any and while he'd created the garden ostensibly for her, it was he who found the most peace in it. She felt him relax a little when he realized where she was bringing him and once they reached it, she allowed him to pace and vent before then moving to him. Her arms, her kisses soon made him relax even more and it was when she felt him to be calm enough that she spoke.

"I don't believe that Aemon is doing what you think, my love. I looked into his eyes, there is no mummery or intent to divide us there."

"He named Orys a traitor." Aegon petulantly replied.

"No my love, he didn't. He named a future descendant of his one and given the rest of the tale, even this treachery it seems has some reasoning behind it."

"Rhae…" he said aghast.

"We needs must listen to more, Aegon, to find out all we can and from there make the best choices going forward."

"You would have me deny Orys?" Aegon asked the hurt in his voice clear.

"Never. I'd have you know as much about this as you do about the plans we're making, Aegon. To be as prepared in one battlefield as you are in another, for mark my words, it's a battle that Aemon is here to wage."

Her words followed by her kisses were enough and soon they were walking back into the keep. When they arrived back at the room it was to see Visenya sitting close to Aemon, her hand holding his as she spoke softly to him and Rhaenys felt Aegon stiffen beside her. They would need to speak, all three of them alone, and to do so sooner rather than later. For now, they needed to hear more of the tale that Aemon had begun to tell them and to find out how it led to the tale he told of dead men walking and of the fall of every man, woman, and child in not just Westeros but Essos too.

"You named my brother a traitor, Aemon, named the house that he is to found as traitors, forgive me if I find that hard to accept." Aegon said making the first move to bridge the gap that threatened to form between them all.

"Orys is no traitor, my lord. No man could ever be as Leal to you as he, forgive me for making it seem as if that was the intent of my tale." Aemon said.

"Call me Aegon, I think it's time to end this propriety between us. I'm Aegon, she is Rhaenys and she is Visenya." Aegon said and with nods from both her and Visenya, Aemon seemed to accept it.

"Your tale, Aemon, pray continue." she said as she and Aegon sat down.

"As you command, my….Rhaenys." Aemon said when she rose her eyebrow at him, the small smile on his face one that brightened up his features considerably "After ordering my uncle and Robert to come and face their own sentences and demanding their foster father to give them up, the rebellion began. Our House then made some stupid errors, we outnumbered those we fought against, and yet they were quicker and more mobile, and while they fought for one cause, there were those on our side who were split."

"More traitors?" she asked before Aegon could.

"More that there were some who wished to fight for my father, some for my grandfather, and some who knew change had to come. However, my father was far from the battlefield in Dorne and unaware of all that had occurred since he and my mother had eloped. Eventually, he was reached and set off to lead our army to war, leaving my mother, who was with child, guarded in a tower in Dorne and with his forces still split and facing an army that was more battle-hardened than his own. In the end, a fateful battle took place near the Trident." Aemon said and she watched as he steadied himself and how Visenya touched his hand softly to allow him to do so "Robert Baratheon killed my father and the war was over from that point on. The loss of their prince was enough to bring about the surrender of his army and so the race to King's Landing had begun."

"King's Landing you mentioned it before and yet I know not of such a place?" Aegon asked.

"At the mouth of the Backwater, Aegon, a city built to serve as the capital of the Seven Kingdoms." Visenya said and Rhaenys looked to see first the surprise on Aegon's face and then the pride before Aemon began again.

"Not all armies fought equally in the Rebellion. On one hand, you had the rebels, the North, Stormlands, Vale, and half the Riverlands, on the other Dorne, the Crownlands and the Lords of the Narrow Sea along with the Reach, though they besieged rather than marched." Aemon said while shaking his head.

"Aemon?" she asked curiously.

"Forgive me. A sore spot between myself and my wife's family." Aemon said and Visenya stiffened slightly.

She was about to ask him which house he'd married into and she knew that Visenya too seemed eager to ask the same, but it was Aegon whose question came before their own.

"The West, you've not mentioned them, Aemon, why?"

"The lions waited, they watched and judged the right moment to strike. For years Tywin Lannister and my grandfather were friends and allies, but over time and many slights on my grandfather's part, the relationship had become strained. So while the Rebellion raged, the West sat it out and only moved when it was close to its end. Believing his old friend to have come to his aid, my grandfather opened the gates of King's Landing and the lions feasted on all they saw. It was Lannister men who killed my father's wife and who killed my siblings, gifts to the new king and a price for the queen that they intended to seed crowned." Aemon spat.

"I'm sorry, Aemon." Visenya said softly, her hand touching Aemon's back now and as she looked to Aegon, Rhaenys saw that brief jealous spark in his eyes and liked it not.

"I…my uncle arrived to find my grandfather dead, stabbed in the back by his own protector. Though I can't fault the man for this and over time I found him to be a Leal and good man and one I was happy enough to name a friend. My grandfather's last wish was to see a city burn, to Burn Them All and so I mourn not his loss and blame not the man who took his life." Aemon said and though a part of her wished to tell him he was wrong, she could not "After some time Robert Baratheon was declared King of Westeros both because of conquest and his blood being tied to our own. The man my uncle named his truest friend was then presented with the bloodied bodies of a mother and her children." Aemon stopped speaking and took up a mug of water, draining it down in one "A woman who'd been raped and cut almost in half after witnessing her newborn son being thrown so hard against a wall that his head was crushed and a three nameday old girl who'd been stabbed half a hundred times. My father's wife and my brother and sister."

Who gasped the loudest she knew not, her, Visenya or mayhap even Aegon himself. Yet it was the sound of the mug being thrown against the wall that rang out loudest of all.

"I See no babes only Dragonspawn!" Aemon snarled "Those were the words of a man my uncle named good and true and fit to sit my throne. A man it took him five and ten years to see the truth of and who he'd even been willing to see me swear my life away because of. Orys is a good man and true, my lord. His descendant was very much not and there are few men who lived that I hate more than Robert Baratheon." Aemon said and the look in his eyes proved that to be true.

Dragonstone 3 BC.

Aemon.

His first night here had brought back so many memories both good and bad and he'd tried to ignore the one and concentrate on the other. He'd told his story or as much of it as he'd been ready to tell, and found it surprisingly easy to do so. Aemon spoke of events that had caused him to lose his faith in all he'd ever believed in, just as easily as if he was holding a conversation about events at court. The words had come and he'd spoken them as if they'd not happened to him and those he'd loved, even managing to make them sound as cold and uninteresting as some of the tomes he'd read over the years.

That he'd kept it to the battles that were fought, to the truth about what it was they were to face, and to how ill-prepared they truly were for it, had mayhaps been the reason he was able to manage it. Now here he was speaking on other truths, far more personal truths and this was so much harder. At times he felt his emotions threaten to overwhelm him and he'd not even got to the meat of the matter yet. Instead, he'd simply spoken on the Rebellion and how it had come about, the events that led up to it, and that had almost been enough to make him lose his composure completely. Was it not for Visenya offering him the comfort he'd not felt in who knew how many years, then he'd probably have stormed from this room just as he had from the sparring yard. Her presence, her taking of his hand, and the words she whispered to him gave him the strength to continue and he was most grateful for all of it.

"After my brother and sister's bodies were taken away, my uncle wished to seek out my mother, still believing she'd been kidnapped by my father. However, he was sent to Storm's End to relieve the siege and so it was a number of moons later that he finally arrived at the Tower in Joy that my mother and father had eloped to. With my father dead, my brother and sister too, it was to me that the Iron Throne would fall to and so the men protecting my mother and me fought and fought bravely against my uncle and his own. Alas, they were but three facing seven and the gods had already decided the course of that particular battle." Aemon said, closing his eyes as he thought on the men who'd fallen at the Tower of Joy, the three that he could have used in the battles to come and the five who may have made such differences to the North.

"You, your mother?" Visenya asked and Aemon opened his eyes realizing that he'd not spoken in a few moments.

"My uncle found my mother dying in the birthing bed, there was no Maester for they're not to be trusted." he said and saw how Visenya looked to Aegon with an almost I told you so look on her face "With her dying breath she made him promise to protect me. Over time I found out there was more to it than that, but that was the key thing and in that, you can say that he did his job well enough."

"Yet he raised you as a bastard." Aegon said angrily and it surprised Aemon to see him so.

"Was the truth of me to out then I'd not have lived long enough to meet my wife and father my children. My uncle has much to answer for, questions that I never got to put to him and though he failed me in some ways, in others he did not. Over the years I've found it better to concentrate on successes rather than the failures." he said and this was as true as he'd ever spoken the words.

Margaery had never forgiven his uncle for how he'd been raised, her grandmother even less so and those who'd supported his family would never speak of Ned Stark in the same way that men of the North did. Aemon had made his peace with it a long time ago, however. His uncle had sought an easy life, the best of all worlds, and had paid dearly for his mistakes. Before his end, he'd come through for him though. So while he'd never gotten to speak to him and resolve things between them, he blamed him not.

"I had a good enough life, better than most bastards and the realm went on about its business as if we'd not ruled it for almost three hundred years. Robert Baratheon was a glutton, whoremonger, and spendthrift and the Lannisters held far too much power, but the people who work the fields and scratch and scrape for their living care not about the whims of Kings and Lords, they have much more pressing worries. So all was well until it was not and murder set things in motion once more."

"The king?" Rhaenys asked and Aemon shook his head.

"His Hand." he said to confused looks "The man the king relied upon most, who ruled in his stead when he could not and saw about the day-to-day running of the Seven Kingdoms." Aemon said and though he cleared it up, he hadn't truly "With him dead, it was to my uncle that Robert looked and my uncle could never refuse Robert anything, not even his daughter's hand for the man's cruel son." Aemon sneered when thinking on Joffrey and wished to revel in his end but could not.

"So not only did he name you a bastard, he usurped you too?" Visenya asked and Aemon knew what he'd say next would anger her even more, her love for their family and House was even more passionate than his own had eventually become.

"Aye, in a way. Though he'd not have thought himself doing so and on this I can say I attach no blame to him. My uncle never thought that way, strange as it may seem. He never cared for power or position and was always blinded when it came to his closest friend. I believe he agreed to the match because he wished their Houses joined and no more and by that time my path had already been set and it was to the Wall where my future took me."

"He sent you the Wall! He dared send a dragon to the Wall!" Visenya shouted as she rose to her feet and this time it was he who offered her some comfort, something that Aegon didn't seem best pleased about.

"I made my own choice, true I did so not knowing the truth of myself and with little other choices available. Mayhap my uncle wished me to go there and encouraged me somewhat, though he denied me leave to go more than once, but he never sent me. He just never stopped me either." Aemon said and Visenya calmed.

"You were a brother of the Night's Watch?" Aegon asked curiously and Aemon shook his head.

"Fate may have taken me to the Wall, but it was never my fate to die there. I met a man who should have been king, a man who refused to let others use him to harm his brother's rule, and who instead chose to serve at the Wall as its Maester. My namesake Aemon Targaryen, the greatest man I ever knew." he said fondly "It was he who discovered my truth and set me right. He and events in King's Landing which decided my fate and the fate of so many others."

He remembered it as if it was yesterday, his great uncle pulling him aside after he'd saved Jeor Mormont's life. The words he'd spoken to him and then the news from King's Landing that named his uncle as a traitor. By the time the words had been spoken aloud of who he truly was, a final act from his uncle before they took his head, war was already inevitable. A war that cost him friends, family, where he suffered betrayal and found the truth of who he was inside of himself. It brought him Leal and Good men, a wife, a Goodfamily, and finally a crown and it was but a mere shadow of the true war to come, the Great War the only war that matters.

Looking to the sky he could see the darkness and knew it was past the Hour of the Wolf which meant he'd been speaking for hours at end. He'd not even covered the full extent of all that he needed to tell them, yet he could see that they and he were as tired as each other.

"There is more to my tale. A war for a crown and then the one that took all I loved from me. There are tales of our family both good and bad that I know not if they make any difference to the things you intend to do. Any question you have of me I'll answer, should you wish it of me, then I'll finish my tale when you desire it. In the end, it almost matters not though." Aemon said and both Aegon and Rhaenys looked at him as if he was mad while Visenya very much did not.

"Because you're here and not there." Visenya said and he nodded.

"I'm here and though I know not why the gods have chosen this to be my path, it's a path I must now walk." he said as he rose to his feet and moved to Aegon "My sword is yours, my dragon is yours. Whatever task you require of me, you but have to name it." he knelt down in front of the Conqueror and watched as Visenya moved to join Aegon and Rhaenys "My name is Aemon Targaryen, Dragonrider to Rhaegal, and I am yours to command."

3 BC beyond the Wall.

This place felt strange, different, not as he remembered it and he welcomed it. There were no dead things that sought his end and the cold felt lesser than it had once been. Yet he was alone and he wished not to be. His brothers and sisters were gone, not even the fierce sister could he feel through the bond they'd all shared. As for his bonded, he knew not where he was and he worried for him without him.

So he ran, hunted when he wished, and ignored the men who smelt as those he'd known before but were not them. He ran and slept only when he was unable not to. The dreams soon came to him and the end he remembered was he knew soon to be a part of those dreams. He'd fought fiercely, had ended more dead things than any of the two foots and their steel arms and yet it was not enough. Run, fight, protect, that was all he'd known before the end had come. That he must run, fight and protect. The small two-foot who would rub him behind his ear and the other who couldn't quite reach it when he stood up and the two-foot who smelt of flowers that his bonded had taken for their mate. Run, fight and protect and he'd done two of those three things, but the third was beyond him at the end.

They were too many and teeth and claws could only do so much. In the distance, he had felt his bonded and the worry he felt, the panic and the need to do as he was doing. Yet his bonded was too far to do so and it was left to him, run, fight, protect, he'd do all he could, and not even the pains he felt when he was grabbed and hurt would stop him. He reached the room as he felt the life ebbing from him, the two feet all there looking at him and he felt their tears as they cried over him when he lay down. Then he woke as the world lit up and found himself here in this place. This place he knew and yet did not.

Run, fight, protect, the words ran through his head as he saw another place he had known once before. The large wall was no obstacle to him as he knew the secret ways through and past it and the white tree opened its mouth and let him through to the other side. He felt him then, felt him for true and he welcomed him back into his mind and spirit. The connection was formed once more and he heard the word though it was spoken many miles from where he was. His bonded was in a place where he had run free and played with two foots who were here no more.

"Ghost." his bonded said and so he began to move once more.

Run, Fight, Protect. That was their role after all.

A/N: Thanks to all who've read and reviewed. I hope all had a great Christmas and new year. Up Next Aemon feels a call that must be answered and so he and Rhaegal set off over lands he's not been near in years. On Dragonstone plans are firmed up and arguments abound when Aegon makes a suggestion that one of his sister-wives is not best pleased about and in the North, a dragon's arrival leads to an awkward encounter. For those following my other fics, Aemon the Conqueror will be updated later in the week.

Uncle Dork: So glad to hear that, hope you like where it goes.

Macdog: Really glad you think so.

The Stoic: Thanks for saying so.

Xan Merrick: Thank you, my friend, glad you liked it.

Lady Octarina: Aemon and Visenya will be interesting, to say the least, there is an attraction there and both are lonely so we'll see. In regards to doing so many fics, it's pretty much my way of not having too much writer's block, as when it happens with one fic or chapter, I move to something else and so am always writing something, then I can go back and it's like a tap is turned on.

Dunk: It was supposed to be a tease, to set the stage so to speak and over the course of the fic we'll get to find out a lot about what happened in Jon's time. I hope you liked the BC bit, it's such a hard concept to try and get across, to speak of time to people who don't see it as you do. In regard to the Conquest itself, you'll see Aemon have some moments where he may wish to do something that he may not or find himself doing things that he questions. So the plan is for this to be a full-sized fic. How long, I don't know, but at least 20 chapters, and for each of the following ones to be the same. There are to be five in total covering each of the main timelines of the Targs, so the Conquest, Dance, Blackfrye Rebellions, Robert's Rebellion, WOTFK, how they interact with each other and the running string between them, I'll not speak on, for now, other than Jon will be in all of them and it'll be this Jon. I hope to make them work both as single-story fics, so a start, middle and endpoint that is self-contained and as a joined-up series of fics, that works as a series too, I hope lol.

Aegon Aaegeron: Muy contento de que te haya gustado, espero que te guste a dónde va desde aqua.

Scarila: Really glad you enjoyed it.

Celexys: Hope you like where we go from here, the action parts are about to start as well as some interesting meetings.

Enchanted Evening: So the thing with bashing is that Jon (Aemon) has some set views obviously based on his own timeline, so he's not a huge Lannister fan nor Baratheon, but that's based on those in his time, as you see here with Orys and Robert and there are also those who in those houses he actually got on with, such as Jaime for example. So Jon will have a bias, but it'll be more internal and it'll be some other things other than families, that he truly wishes to bash if that makes sense.

But you will see moments like say he was to meet a Bolton, well he'll only be human if he thought about Ramsay and so considered ending House Bolton, but will he do such a thing, we'll see.

Chapter: Hmmm, what way does it look to you? Jon/Visenya may be a thing here, how big a thing, we'll see.

Victoria: Thank you, my friend, hope you had a wonderful holidays and a great new year. I think both the dragons and Direwolves deserve better, Ghost is such a part of Jon and Rhaegal and he here has an unbreakable bond that is really important to both of them. They've both suffered losses, terrible ones and it's only made them grow even closer because they've only had each other, we'll see that more and more as we go on, and well, we'll see our wolf friend too soon enough.

Keb: So this actual fic itself won't be anywhere near as long as Dragon Cub, but the entire series may very well stretch out that long. I'd say we're looking at least 20 chapters which would take this to 200,000 to 300,000-word territory. The other fics (there will be four more in the series) will be around the same size, but I hope that each can be read as a separate fic or as part of the series, each fic will have a start, middle, and endpoint and I hope to be able to standalone.

Guest: Thanks so much, glad you liked it.

Creativo: Entonces, sin estropearse demasiado, Jon envejecerá con normalidad en la línea de tiempo en la que se encuentra, pero una vez que abandone esa línea de tiempo, casi se restablecerá a la edad que tenía cuando entró por primera vez. Entonces Jon tiene 27 años ahora, si se quedara 50 años en la Conquista, tendría 77 cuando se fue, pero la próxima vez que lo viéramos en otro fic, tendría 27 nuevamente. Los años pasarán factura dentro de la línea de tiempo y luego en su alma y no en su cuerpo cuando lo deje.