Chapter 6:
Politics:
Here is the chapter of episode 3. I would like to thank everyone for the support. I now have an idea for a pairing for Alessia which we will see in this chapter. I'm staring ideas for Martin but it won't be Arya or Margaery. I had plans for Margaery but chose not to and the reasons will be in this chapter. I also chose not Arya since some readers didn't want Arya and I didn't want this story to be like Son of the Seven Kingdoms.
About a week after the incident between Martin and Joffrey, the royal party had arrived at King's Landing. Eddard stared at the city; the last time he came here was when the city was sacked by the Lannisters during Robert's Rebellion. That event almost destroyed the friendship between him and Robert when he refused to punish Gregor Clegane for the murder of the Targaryen Children. Robert had said "I see no babies, only Dragonspawn", that angered Eddard and he never forgot this, the only thing that brought them back together as friends was the death of Lyanna Stark, Eddard still remembered her last words "Promise me Ned"
Now the city seemed to have recovered from that. The city now had a busy market and guards patrolled the area watching for criminals. Martin road near to Arya along with Alessia, there was still tension in the royal family after Martin had beaten Joffrey. Cersei had order Joffrey's back to be treated but Martin stopped the Maester from healing his back as he wanted the scars to remain as a warning to Joffrey. Martin also refused to hand Colette over to Cersei so she could heal Joffrey's back. Worse for Cersei, Robert refused to punish Martin for this as he said that Martin was right and Joffrey needed to learn a lesson. Now Joffrey had several red scars on his back from the belt hits. Myrcella and Tommen refused to look at him as they were disgusted with Joffrey for lying and nearly starting a war.
"This city is so big" Arya said as they road through the city
"King's Landing is home to nearly half a million people" Martin said "It's changed so much in the last few years, just five years ago, this place was full of beggars and homeless people and my parents did nothing. When I started to make money, I invested to rebuild the city, now look at it, we have traders from all over the known world and the harbour has warehouses for business."
"You did all this?" Arya added
"Not alone" Martin said "I always had some help, I can't do everything myself. But stuff like this is why people don't like Joffrey because he hasn't done anything to help them when I have."
"So what do you plan to do?" Alessia asked
"Well after father dies, I'll probably leave to Cloud Ruler and continue with building that small town."
"You're not going to stay here?" Tommen asked
"With Joffrey as King" Martin laughed "If my lesson hasn't taught him anything then nothing will, if he caused a war because of his behaviour then I won't help, not for some vicious idiot as a king. If he was my son, I would have disowned him a long time ago."
"I wish you were the oldest" Tommen said sadly "You would have been a great King."
"Well Joffrey is the heir and maybe he will learn after the punishment I gave him." Martin said "Now normally I would be at the Small Council but I've got some issues to sort out."
...
Later Eddard and his group arrived at the Red Keep, the castle where the King on the Iron Throne lived. Built by the Third Targaryen King, Maegor the Cruel, the keep was named for the red brick used to build it but also because Maegor killed every worker who worked on the keep. Eddard arrived at the place where he would be staying while in King's Landing. His daughters were travelling on a carriage behind him. As soon as they arrived, a steward approached him.
"Welcome Lord Stark" the Steward said "Grand Maester Pycelle has called a meeting of the small council, the honour of your presence is requested."
Eddard turned to Septa Mordane who sat with Arya and Sansa "Get the girls settled in" Eddard said "I'll join them at dinner." Then he turned to Jory, Ser Rodrik Cassel's nephew "Jory do with them"
"Yes my lord" Jory answered
The Steward escorted Eddard to the Small council Chamber where the rest of the Small Council had gathered. Eddard recognised a few faces.
"Lord Stark" Eddard recognise Varys, the Master of Whisperers or spymaster. He was one man that Eddard didn't trust much as he had been brought in by the Mad King. "We heard about the incident of the Kingsroad." Varys added "We are all praying for Prince Joffrey's recovery."
"Save your Prays for someone who deserves them" Eddard replied and then he went to sit at the table where he was greeted by King Robert's youngest brother, Renly, the Master of Laws.
"You look tired from the road" Renly said "I told them this meeting could wait but..."
"We have a Kingdom to look after" came the voice of Willas Tyrell, the young son of Lord Mace Tyrell and heir of High garden and the Reach. He was limping with the cane he used to walk. Eddard remembered that Willas had been injured in a jousting accident and broke his leg which had never fully healed but he never let the leg put him down. "I've hoped to meet you for some time Lord Stark" Willas added "I always get tired of my father talking about how he beat the King at the Battle of Ashford." Eddard remembered the only battle the rebels lost during Robert's Rebellion, he wasn't at the battle but Robert was, the rebels had been defeated by the Vanguard of the Tyrell army which was led by Lord Randyl Tarly. Mace Tyrell always claimed credit for that victory.
Eddard sat down at the table along with the rest of the Small council "I humbly beg your pardon Lord Stark but I believe that this is yours now." Grand Maester Pycelle said and he handed Eddard a small badge which had the symbol of the Hand of the King.
"Grand Maester" Eddard said
"The last time I saw you, you were a young man" Pycelle said
"And you served another King" Eddard said
"Well, shall we begin."
Eddard looked confused "Without the King, and pardon me for asking but where is Lord Stannis Baratheon, the Master of Ships."
"The King never comes to these meetings" Willas said "And as for Lord Stannis for some reason he went back to Dragonstone after Lord Jon Arryn's death. Prince Martin usually come here but he busy at the moment."
"My brother commands that we hold a tourney in honour of Lord Stark's appointment as Hand of the King." Renly said and he handed Eddard a scroll.
"A tourney?" Varys questioned "How much will this one cost."
"Forty Thousand Gold Dragons to the winner, twenty Thousand to the Runner up, Twenty Thousand to the winner of the Melee and Ten thousand to the winning archer." Eddard said grimly "And don't forget cost for the food and musicians for the feast."
"Can the treasury bear to spend that much?" Pycelle asked
"As long as Prince Martin can help keep the gold flowing." Willas said "He's still trying to fix the debt problems thanks to the last Master of Coin who kept stealing Gold for himself. Let's not mention that we already own Martin the gold he lent us for the last investment."
"Are you telling me that the crown owns gold to Prince Martin?" Eddard said
"Sadly Lord Arryn gave the King good advise but he never listened" Renly said "Counting coppers he called it."
"So we've had to borrow the money from Martin who is the man who gets the gold, but he has his own investments in the royal army and the new town being built." Willas said
"Maybe we should speak to the King" Eddard said "We may not be able to hold this tourney."
"Events like this benefit the Crown" Willas said "But yes, we may not be able to afford it. We should try to make plans..."
"There will be not plans until I speak to Robert." Eddard half shouted and then relaxed "I'm sorry my Lords, I'm just been a bit stressed out by the travels."
"You are new to this job" Varys said "We serve you, we can delay this meeting until later."
"No that won't be nessassery" Eddard said "So what else is there?"
In another part of the Red Keep, Queen Cersei placed a cold cloth over the red marks on Joffrey's back from the belt marks. There were several large red marks where the belt had lashed out. Joffrey was still furious that his brother had done this to him. Cersei had tried to get Martin to apologize but he refused as he wasn't sorry for it as Joffrey brought this on himself. Martin refused to let Colette heal the scars.
"They're hideous" Joffrey said
"A king should have scars" Cersei said "They show that you're a warrior."
"I'm no warrior" Joffrey said "All I remember was screaming when that savage wolf bit me and then the flogging. Martin should be forced to come here and fix this, he scared me."
"Right now your brother is angry at you; he refuses to even see you." Cersei says "Just give him time to calm down and then I'm sure he'll apologize."
"It his twin" Joffrey says "He's too close with her, the two of them need to spend less time with each other." Cersei looked at him, of all of his siblings, it was always Alessia Martin was closest to. Though he still had time for Myrcella and Tommen.
"When the Mad King sat on the Iron Throne, your father was a rebel and a traitor, when you are King the truth will be what you make it." Cersei said "Let me talk to Martin and get him to say sorry."
"We give the Northern people too much power" Joffrey then added "They should bow before us than try to be our equals"
"Then how would you deal with them?" Cersei questioned
"I'll double their taxes and order them to supply 10,000 men for the royal army." Joffrey replied
"The Royal Army? You mean the Legion?" Cersei asked
"Yes, I admit it's a great idea but we should have the kingdoms supply the troops for us, not just have recruits, the army would have been finished by now."
"And what happens if the North Rebels, what will you do?" Cersei asked
"I'll crush them, I'll seize Winterfell and install someone loyal as Warden of the North" Joffrey replied "Uncle Kevan maybe."
"And what of these new Legions, will they fight for you or their home?" Cersei asked
"For me, I'm their King." Joffrey arrogantly said
"Martin's way of starting with fresh recruits is what makes them loyal to the king, also having soldiers from every part of the Kingdom makes them less likely to rebel." Cersei revealed "If you build a Legion from just one Kingdom then they will rebel. But a good King knows how to crush his enemies."
Joffrey smirked "So you agree the Starks are enemies."
"Anyone who isn't us is an enemy" Cersei smirked and then there was a growl. Joffrey smirked as he saw his own Pet Jaguar Hearteater growling at a frightened servant. Hearteater was the black spotted male Jaguar and was by far the most aggressive and had been known to snap at anyone except for the royal family. Joffrey loved this aggressive behaviour but everyone else was worried about it. There had been an incident where Hearteater had bitten the hand of a young Noble's son when he had tried to stroke it. After Joffrey left with Hearteater, she went off to find Martin so she could have some severe words with him.
...
As for Martin, he was in a large inn in the city known as The Bee and Barb, there was nothing special about the inn except for one thing, there was a hidden passage which led to another part of the Inn, an area which was mostly underground and was known as the Ragged Flagon. This was where Martin was now along with seven other people. Martin had agents in the city which were the remains of the Old Thieves Guild of the city which had fallen on hard times after their former leader, Mercer Frey had turned traitor. The four ring leaders of the Guild, Brynjolf, Karliah, Delvin and Vex were there. Brynjolf and Karliah were the co-leaders of the Guild and Brynjolf had been the second in command under Mercer Frey, he was an expert and he was also a merchant in the city. Karliah was more mysterious and Martin had never seen her face as she always had it covered up with a mask and hood. Delvin was a master at sneak and was someone who helped with sneaking. Vex was a master thief, when they were still thieves, she was the person who ordered break ins. People might question why Martin had Thieves loyal to him but there was a reason. After Mercer Frey was revealed as a traitor by Karliah, the guild tracked him to Cloud Ruler where he tried and failed to break into the treasure Vault. Brynjolf had revealed that the job had been a suggestion by Mercer but the vote was made to not try the heist as they didn't want to bring the wraith of the Prince on them. Mercer was slain by the Blades and Caius knew Brynjolf from the past. Martin had seen them embraced each other as if they were brothers. Now the Thieves Guild worked for Martin as his spies. They were masters at being able to find ways for Martin to prevent corruption and keep the piece. They also acted as law enforcers as Martin used them to beat down corrupt Merchants such as bakers who mixed sawdust in bread. The Thieves Guild had been the ones who found the evidence against Petyr Baelish and Agarmir
There were also the head of the Society of Concerned Merchants, a young woman known as Jensine. She was here to talk about how trade was going on in the city, she also knew the Thieves Guild and she respected them now as they helped make sure that there were no corrupt workers or merchants. The head of the New East Empire Company, Orthus Endario was there as well along with Adelaisa Vendicci. Orthus was a great merchant in wine and other goods and he helped spread Trade across the Waters. Adelaisa was one of the first females to join the Legions. Martin believed in the Nine Divines which believed that men and women were equal so females were allowed to join the Legions, something which the faith of the Seven didn't like but Martin didn't care. That was another reason why he had the Thieves Guild, they beaten Septons who were too fanatic for Martin's liking and would only cause trouble. Adelaisa was a great warrior and she had accepted a place as the head of the Guard to protect the East Empire Shipping. There were other female officers among the Legions such as Rikke who was the second in command of the Legions alongside Tullius.
"So now that everyone is here" Martin said "How is the Trade."
"The new shipments of fabrics and wine arrived right on time" Orthus said "We are getting more money in for the profits and the Kingdom. Soon we may be able to get more trade and Merchants in Braavos are interested in setting up a warehouse for us there."
"That is good" Martin said and he turned to Jensine "How is trade in the city?"
"We are getting more gold thanks to your investments and since we no longer have trouble with Thoronir we no longer have issues with people wanting to spend coin at just his shop."
Martin then turned to Brynjolf and the Thieves Guild "Have there been any problems while I've been gone?"
"Several I'm afraid" Delvin answered
"We had Thrynn and Garther beat several corrupt Mechants who were selling thin blankets saying that they were thick." Vex said "We also had Cynric steal the money they made, we gave it back to the people and took several other things to teach them a lesson."
Thrynn and Garther were two of the Thieves Guild thugs. Garther was a new man but deadly with knives and punches, he was good at teaching people a lesson. Thrynn was a former outlaw who left his clan after they tried to force him to kill innocent Women and Children. He now worked to redeem his name but helping the innocent. Cynric was once a jailbreaker who was a master at lockpicking, he could pick even the hardest of locks faster than a novice could pick a simple lock.
"There is more" Brynjolf "The fanatics have been saying nasty things again about how you are a Heathen and are trying to turn people against you, of course most just don't listen as the commoners love you but now some are getting more violent."
Martin sighed, he knew what had to be done to keep the peace "We can't kill them but you must frame them for a crime."
"We'll do that" Vex said "Rune and Viper will do that, we'll frame them for theft from the High Septon, Cynric will help them."
"Good" Martin replied "Now if that's everything I'll be going now."
...
Martin soon returned to the Red Keep where he went to his chambers to relax, only to find his mother there. "Mother, what are you doing here?"
"I needed to speak to you" Cersei said "About your brother."
Martin groaned "If this is about you wanting me to apologize to Joffrey for what I did, then you can forget it because I'm not sorry for anything. Joffrey got what he deserved."
"He was your brother" Cersei said
"And he needs to learn not to act like a vicious Idiot." Martin said "He acts as though he can do whatever he likes and he's going to start a war if he's not careful. He needs to start acting like a King."
"Your brother has the makings of a great King." Cersei insisted
Martin faked a laugh "Joffrey? A great King? How is he a great king, all he does is do whatever he likes and that's not how a King acts. A king acts justly and brave. Joffrey does none of that, he just lets others do it for him and complains. I'm not doing what I've done because I want to be King; I did it because it's the right thing to do."
"Your brother doesn't think so" Cersei said
"That because he's jealous, all he cares about is himself. Tywin may be cruel and ruthless at times but he's smart. The way he dealt with the Reyne Tarbeck Rebellion may have been cruel but it did send a message and the people fear and respect him. The people love me for what I've done for them but Joffrey hasn't done any deeds."
"What should I do then?" Cersei asked
"Stop coddling him for a start, and then he may understand the difference between right and wrong." Martin said "Then you should let a man like Tywin Lannister show him what to do as he may be the one able to get Joffrey stop this reckless behaviour."
"But none of that changes the fact that you scared Joffrey's back." Cersei added
"Oh for the love of the Divines!" Martin growled "Don't start with that again. I'm not apologizing end of story! And until Joffrey understands how he must behave he can stay away from me and my other siblings because I don't want to I'll not hesitate to beat him again." Martin then left the room leaving a shocked Cersei behind.
...
The North, Dayspring Canyon.
Jon Snow had left the Night Watch Caravan and was heading toward Fort Dawnguard. Jon had been told that he had to head along a small road until he saw a signal beacon on a hill. When he saw the beacon he was to search the large cliff nearby to in order to find a cave which would take him to Fort Dawnguard. Jon had been able to find the cave without any problems and now he was going along the road with no problems. But Jon was not alone, as he walked along the path he saw another young man maybe a few years older than him. The man was dressed in normal Northern commoner clothing and he had long blond hair. "Oh hey" the man called "You here to join the Dawnguard too?"
"I am" Jon said
"Well the truth is I'm a little nervous about this" The man added "So do you mind if I walk with you?"
"It's no problem" Jon said "I'm Jon Snow, what's your name?" Jon gave the man his arm
"The name's Agmaer." He said as he shook Jon's hand "I'm just a farm boy but my parents just died from starvation and I didn't know what to do, so I thought I'd come here."
"I never knew my mother, I grew up with my dad, my step-mother hated me" Jon said
"I'm sorry" Agmaer said and he looked at Jon's sword "So you know how to use a sword"
"I was taught at a young age" Jon said "Do you know how to fight."
"My dad showed me how to use an axe, I don't know much as I mostly cut wood with it but I needed to learn in case of bandits or wildlings." Agmaer said
Soon the two of them came across Fort Dawnguard "So this is Fort Dawnguard" Agmaer said "This place has been around for many years but was recently rebuilt from what I heard" Jon added
There was a man at the main entrence "Well, looks like we have ourselves some new recruits." The man said "Head on inside and speak to Gunmar, he'll get you introduced."
"Thanks sir" Agmaer said nervously
The man laughed "The name's Celann" he said "And don't call anyone Sir, you're not joining the army, commander Isran's not back yet, he should be back within the week as he is currently gathering supplies from Prince Martin."
Jon and Agmaer went inside where they saw several men at a table who were talking. There were two men and a woman. One of the men had long red hair and a thick red beard while the other man had dark skin and balding black hair while the woman had short Auburn hair.
"So there has still been no contact from Vanik?" the woman said
"I'm afraid not Sorine" the red bearded man said "We should assume the worst. The deserter who was with him said that he saw White Walkers, if that's true then he must be dead."
"Arkay Guide him" The dark skinned man said
"So Florentius" Sorine added "How are the recruits?"
"Well Gunmar's training has really helped." The dark skinned man known as Florentius said "We've got a good fighting force but I'm still worried about the Night's watch"
"Well we can discuss that later, it seems that we've got some new recruits" the red bearded man said
"ER" Agmaer said "Celann said that we should meet with Gunmar."
"Well you've found him" The red bearded man known as Gunmar said "Well, why don't you introduce yourselves."
"My name is Agmaer" Agmaer said
"I'm Jon snow" Jon added
"So Lord Stark's bastard huh" Gunmar said "Well you won't need much training lad, I'm sure that you've had plenty"
"There's always room for improvement" Jon replied
"Well said" Sorine said
"Well if you need to rest you can find the Bed chambers on the bottom floor, the training rooms are on the upper floor and there is a library on the second floor as well on the upper floor. You should get yourselves geared up, the armoury is on the bottom floor, just don't go into the secret tunnel, it's still rigged with old traps" Florentuis said
"And you should meet the other Dawngaurd members" Sorine added "They're currently in the dinnig hall, they'll be happy to see a new face."
Jon smiled, Benjen had been right, this place was right for him.
...
King's Landing, Hands chambers.
Alessia had decided to come to the Stark chambers to visit the Stark children. She wanted to introduce them to Aylied, her black spotted jaguar which walked alongside her. All of the Jaguars had grown in the years they'd had them and they were just as large as fully grown hunting hounds. When she arrived, she found Lord Eddard Stark returning from his meeting.
"Lord Stark" Alessia said
"Princess Alessia" Eddard said "I was about to see if I could find your twin."
"I think Martin is back in his chambers. I just heard another argument between him and mother." Alessia said
"I was hoping to ask him for advice on how to do these Small Council meetings." Eddard said
Then they entered the dining hall, they saw another argument happening. Arya had a small dagger in her hands and she was stabbing it in to the table. "Enougth of that young lady, eat your food." Septa Mordane told her.
"I'm practicing" Arya snarled
"For what?" Sansa asked
"Prince Joffrey!" Arya hissed
"Arya Stark!" Mordane exclaimed
"He's a liar and a coward!" Arya shouted "And he killed my friend!"
"Those Lannister soldiers killed your friend." Sansa defended
"They soldiers do whatever the Queen or Price tell them to do!" Arya shouted "I'm glad that Prince Martin showed those cowards what happens to murderers."
Alessia looked at this, after Mycah's murder Martin had order the soldiers who killed him be brought to him. Martin had them flogged and exiled to the Wall for the murder.
"What's going on in here?" Eddard demanded
"Arya would rather act like a beast than a lady." Mordane answered which resulted in a glare from Alessia and a growl from Aylied "What's that beast doing here." Mordane demanded
"This 'Beast' is my pet Jaguar, Aylied and by his growl he doesn't like you" Alessia answered "And you should be careful about what you say, Martin doesn't like Septas so you should watch what you say unless you want to suffer the same fate my last Septa got!"
Mordane stared in shock as did Sansa. "Well, it seems that I learnt something" Alessia said and she glared at Sansa "You need to stop believing in Fairytales as this place has no place for them and if you think my Jaguar is aggressive, watch out for Joffrey's, his is much more aggressive."
Arya smiled at Aylied "She reminds me of Nymeria." She said
"Nymeria was a loyal guardian." Alessia added "As is Storm. Tommen and Myrcella's Jaguars, Ser Pounce and Midnight are much like Lady. Joffrey's Hearteater is very aggressive."
"Where did you get these pets from?" Sansa suddenly asked
"Martin brought them from his first trip to Essos." Alessia answered
"But a Jaguar is no pet" Mordane said and Aylied growled at her again."
I'm leaving before you annoy Aylied more and end up getting bitten" Alessia said and then she left with Aylied. Arya followed her as she wanted to be in her room.
Later, Arya was in her room, she was upset about Mycah's death but was happy that Joffrey was beaten for what he did. That arrogant prick was not a prince what so ever and he only cared about himself. Arya found the sword Jon gave her, the small blade she called Needle. Then there was a knock at the door "Go away!" she shouted
"Arya, open the door." The voice of her father called and Arya sighed and she went to open the door. Eddard smiled at him daughter "Can I come in" Arya nodded and Eddard went in and shut the door, Eddard's eyes then fell on the blade Arya held. "Whose sword is that?"
"Mine" Arya answered
"Give it to me" Eddard commanded. Arya sighed and gave her father the blade who looked at it for a second "I know this maker's mark. This is Mikken's work. Where did you get this?" Arya was silent as she feared what would happen if she told her father that Jon gave her the blade "This is no toy." Eddard added and then he sat down on Arya's wooden chest "A little lady should play with swords."
"I wasn't playing" Arya glared and half shouted "And I don't want to be a lady. I don't care what mother or Mordane think. I don't like the Seven, I worship the Divines."
Eddard sighed, he knew that many people were starting to convert to the Faith of the Nine Divines but there wasn't anything he could do, it wasn't right to force someone's religion onto someone. "Come here" he said and Arya sat next to her father and then Eddard looked at the blade again "Now what do you want with this?"
"It's called Needle" Arya said
"A blade with a name" Eddard laughed "And who were you hoping to kill with needle? Your sister? Do you know the first thing about swordfighting?"
"Stick them with the pointy end" Arya said and Eddard laughed "I was trying to learn, I asked Mycah to practise with me. I asked him, it was my fault he's dead"
"No it isn't" Eddard said
"I hate them!" Arya shouted "The Queen, and Joffrey and Sansa!"
"Sansa was dragged before the King and asked to call the Crown Prince a liar." Eddard said
"So was I, he is a liar" Arya shouted "How can Sansa think that he is her dream Prince. Martin and Alessia are right, she needs to stop believing in Fairytales and grow up."
Eddard then hugged his daughter "Look at me, you're a Stark of Winterfell, you know our words."
"Winter is Coming" Arya answered
"You were born in the Long Summer, you've never known anything else" Eddard told her "But now Winter is truly coming and in the Winter we must protect ourselves. Look after one another, Sansa is your sister."
"I don't hate her" Arya confessed "Not really, I just wished that she would stop her dreams and realize that we don't live in Fairytales."
"I won't frighten you but I won't lie to you" Eddard added "We've come to a dangerous place, we can't fight a war amongst ourselves" Then he handed Needle back to Arya "Go on, keep it, it's yours."
"I can keep it?" Arya said
"Try not to stab your sister with it" Eddard joked "And we must find you a good teacher."
...
Winterfell.
After a fearful time, young Brandon Stark had finely woken up. He was in shock and like Dancia said he could remember what happened. Bran could feel his legs well and Bran feared that he would never walk. But he was revealed when Dancia revealed that Bran could walk but he would have to gain the strength in his legs over time before he would be recovered completely. Bran was also angry that his mother wasn't here.
But now Bran was asleep in his bed, he was tired from the small exercise Dancia and Luwin made him do which today was really just sitting up to get the energy in his hips back so she could walk soon. But now Bran seemed to be dreaming.
Bran's dream:
Bran was standing in some kind of a burning city, there were fires everywhere and soldiers wearing grey armour with a Black Dragon in the shape of a diamond on the chest were fighting many different types of creatures that came from Nightmares. There were little red skinned creatures and mini wingless dragons as well as huge angry creatures which looked like larger versions of the Wingless Dragons as well as creatures which looked like people with the upper body of a person but the lower body that looked like a spider. But there were huge creatures that looked like people with black and red skin with horns and dressed in Black armour and wielding huge black weapons. There were soldiers fighting all over the burning city fighting these nightmares. But Bran felt like this was real, as he could feel the heat of the flames. There were two figures that caught Bran's eyes, one was a man who despite dressing in noble clothing, he fought alongside the soldiers with a sword that looked like the swords the Blades used. The other one was a woman who fought alongside the noble. The woman had long red hair and she fought like no fighter Bran had seen. But then there was a massive rumble and Bran turned to see the most terrifying thing he had ever seen.
There standing nearby was a huge demon which towered the city. This demon had blood red skin and horns and four arms. The man turned to the woman "We're too late my love, Dagon is here. Lighting the Dragonfires will no longer save us, the barriers that protect us from Oblivion are gone."
Bran was wondering what kind of dream this was, he never seen anything like this.
"Can't we cast him back to Oblivion?" the woman asked
"I don't know how, now that he's here in our World, I don't know what we can do." The man said "Wait the Amulet, yes there is a way. Come on my love, we must get into the temple of the One."
Bran followed the two figures into some kind of domed temple. Bran then watched the man turn to the woman "I can't stay here to rule, that task falls to others. Farewell my Love." The man then kissed the woman and ran into the middle of the temple as the demon smashed through the temple dome. Bran watched in amazement as the man glowed and was replaced by a fiery dragon. The dragon and demon fought each other but both got injured but the dragon but the demon on the neck and breathed steam on him and then the demon vanished in a bright light. The dragon did several deep breaths before roaring and then the dragon turned to stone as Bran's vision faded.
Present:
Bran shot up in bed to see Luwin, Dancia and his brother near him "You were shaking in your sleep" Robb said "Are you all right"
"I just had the weirdest dream." Bran said "It felt like it was real."
"What was this dream about?" Luwin asked
"I was in this burning city, soldiers were fighting strange creatures and then this massive four armed creature came and one man turned into this fiery dragon and defeated the demon." Robb, Luwin and Dancia looked at each other.
"That is a strange dream" Luwin said and then he noticed Dancia's look "Is everything all right?"
"I'm fine" Dancia said "It's just that I'm sure I've heard of something like that before from somewhere. I need to look in the Library"
...
King's Landing:
The day after his talk with his daughter, Lord Eddard went to find Prince Martin. He had sent a message saying that he wanted to speak with him so he could find out more about running as Hand of the King. Martin had agreed to meet him in the Hand's office. As Eddard was in his office, the door opened and Jory came in "It's Prince Martin my lord, he's arrived" Jory said
"Send him in" Eddard said and Martin entered the room.
"Lord Stark" Martin said
"Prince Martin, I hoped to speak to you about the day to day jobs of the Hand of the King." Eddard said
"Well you must know the members of the Small Council, though you must be careful who you trust on the council." Marin said
"But aren't your uncles on the Small Council" Eddard said
"Well for some reason Stannis isn't here, he went back to Dragonstone after Jon Arryn's death and I still don't know why." Martin said "And while Renly's a good man he isn't good on the council, he just believes everything is a game and he take his role as Master of Laws as seriously as my father does with ruling. Also, I know that his former squire Loras Tyrell is wisperring in his ear."
"Isn't Loras' brother on the council?" Eddard asked
"Yes, Willas is a good man and loyal as well as being good at his job as Master of Coin." Martin said "Sadly Loras isn't the same, he may be a skilled fighter but he is also a fool and plots with Lord Mace Tyrell for more power. Willas has been under a lot of stress as his father is trying to use him to arrange a betrothal between Joffrey and his daughter. Lord Mace is desperate to get his blood on the throne. You can trust Willas but be careful of his family."
"What about Pycelle and Varys?"
"Pycelle may be old but he's cunning, he only acts frail and uses that to throw people of. He's also a spy for my mother but in truth the one man he is loyal to is my grandfather Tywin Lannister. It was Pycelle who tricked the Mad King to open the gates of King's Landing so Tywin could sack the city. Don't inform Pycelle of anything unless you want my mother and Tywin to know." Martin told Eddard "As for Varys, he's more trustworthy than Pycelle, he does care about the well being of the realm in his own way but he's got the best spy network in the Seven Kingdoms so be careful about how much trust you give him."
Eddard sighed "I see that being Hand of the King is going to be tougher than I thought so would it be all right if I borrowed Colette if I need to."
"I send her if you need her" Martin said "And don't worry, I will be at some of these meetings to help you."
Martin then left the chambers as he had plans with Myrcella and Tommen. Eddard sat at his desk and he carried on looking at some paperwork but he was soon interrupted by a knock "Forgive me my lord" Jory said "Someone said that they wanted to see you, I was about to ask what their business was but then I saw who this person was and I let her in."
"Who is it?" Eddard asked
"Ned" Eddard thought he heard the voice of his wife. "It's me"
Eddard's heart stopped, standing at the door was his wife Catelyn Stark along with Ser Rodrik. "Cat" Eddard said "What are you doing here?"
"I came as soon as I could, I fear that we may have trouble in the Kingdoms" Catalyn said "I don't think Bran fell from that tower I think he was thrown. Someone tried to murder him before he woke up, but why, unless he saw something in the tower. I went back and I found a long blond hair and blood in the tower. Someone was in there and it looked like they were making love."
"And how is the Kingdom in danger?" Eddard said
"You remember the letter than my sister sent me?" Catelyn asked and Eddard nodded, on the night of the King's arrival there had been a letter from Lysa Arryn, Catelyn's sister and Jon Arryn's wife. The letter said that Lysa believed that the Lannisters murdered Jon Arryn. However, Martin had informed him that Lysa has begun to show signs of Madness as she has grown paranoid and protective of her son Robin. Lysa had also been involved with Petyr Baelish in her life, a man who was now a traitor and so Lysa was someone who Martin kept a close eye on.
"The Dagger that the killer used has a Valyrian steel blade and a Dragonbone handle" Cat added "Not a weapon a common assassin would use, someone gave it to him. Bran's fall could have a connection to Lord Arryn's death."
"You must be careful with accusations like that" Eddard said "Tywin Lannister is not a man to be crossed."
"I want my son's attacker brought to justice" Cat said "But we must learn the truth and not to start a war."
...
Essos, the Dothraki Sea.
Daenerys Targaryen had been practising the knowledge of the Dothraki Language with her handmaiden Irri. She had been able to learn the language pretty easily and her other handmaiden Doreah, who was a former bed slave from Lys had been teaching her ways how she could please her husband. But her mind was on other things, mainly about Farengar. The man knew so much on Dragons than she ever did and the ancient dragons which not even her brother knew.
Flashback
"These Dragon Shouts have three words?" Daenerys asked
"Yes" Farengar said "The Dragon shouts are in the ancient Dragon Tongue. The most known one is Unrelenting Force which is 'FUS RO DAH', in Common Tongue; it translates to Force Balance Push. Most of the Dragon language has been lost over the years but there are a few people who know it fluently. They are an order of Ancient Monks which have exsited for Thousands of years. They tend to keep to themselves. They are known as the Greybeards and they live at the top of the Highest Mountain in Westeros known as the Throat of the World at their monastery of High Hrothgar. But they don't let anyone learn the language, you must be called by them to learn the language but it is rare that they call anyone."
"What about these Dragon Priests you told me about?" Daenerys asked
"The Dragon Priests were people who worshipped the Dragons as Gods. The number of them is unknown but it is said that there are many of them but the records of them have been destroyed. Little is known about them but it is said that the best of the order were granted magical masks which gave them great power and they ruled like Kings." Farengar said
"What happened to these Ancient Dragons?" Daenerys added
"The Dragons ruled over all mortals and treated them as Slaves, they were led by the worst of them all Alduin the World Eater. Eventually, the mortals rose up in rebellion against the Dragons, all records have been lost but it is said that they were led by a man known as Tiber Septim and his companions, Hakon-One-Eye, Felldir the Old and Gormlaith-Golden-Hilt. It was said that they fought the Dragons wherever they found them until they eventually Challenge Alduin himself at the Throat of the World. Nothing is known except Alduin was defeated but it is not known if he was killed or weakened although it did cost the life of Gormlaith. After his victory, Tiber began a campaign to unite the world under his rule believing that that was the only way to prevent the world from destroying itself but he died before it could be achieved but his family, the Septims went on to create the Septim Empire which is said to be the largest Empire in history and covered lands across Westeros, Essos and even the Southern lands of Sothoryos."
"But what happened to this Empire?" Daenerys asked "If they were indeed that powerful then where is the Empire."
"Nearly 500 years after the Empire's founding, there was a big event known as the Oblivion Crisis where a cult of Daedric fanatics known as the Mythic Dawn assassinated Emperor Uriel Septim and his sons and opened portals to the realm of the Daedra known as Oblivion. But a Hero known only as the Hero of Kvatch found a Bastard Son of Uriel known as Martin and they began a campaign which eventually defeated the Daedra but at the cost of Martin. Without the Septims, the Empire fell into Civil War and broke apart and then nearly the Children of the Forest settled in the Lands of Westeros until the Long Night happened."
"So the Septims are gone." Daenerys said
"Well there are some who believe the Septim blood lives on as there are rumours that the Hero of Kvatch was a woman and a lover of Martin and they had a child but it's unknown." Farengar said
Flaskback end:
Daenerys sat as Irri and Doreah tended to her. Her encounter with Farengar was one of the best things to have ever happened to her. Farengar stayed well away from Viserys as he saw him as nothing but Mad. Viserys tried to force Farengar to show him what he could do and help him reclaim the Seven Kingdoms but Farengar refused saying that he didn't get involved in politics. When Viserys attacked him, Farengar easily pushed him back and then the Dothraki forced Viserys to walk while Farengar took Viserys Horse.
Then Daenerys noticed Irri was examining her stomach "What are you doing" She asked
"Khaleesi, when was the last time you bled" Irri said and Daenerys looked at her confused "You've change Khaleesi, it's a gift from the great Stallion." Then Daenerys realised what Irri meant, she was with child.
Meanwhile, Farengar was with Jorah and a Dothraki warrior known as Rakharo. Farengar was being careful, while he wasn't a Blade he was an agent and grandmaster Delphine had sent him on a mission to check on the last Targeryens, he remembered what his orders were.
Flashback:
Farengar was at Cloud Ruler Temple where Grandmaster Delphine as well as Spymaster Caius and Prince Martin.
"So Farengar" Caius said "The prince has an important mission for you."
"Your important mission is for you to keep an eye on the last Targaryens." Martin said
"So my mission is to spy on them?" Farengar asked
"Not quite" Delphine said "Martin wants to avoid a war in the future and he believes that the Targaryen Girl may be able to have peace brought between them."
"I've encountered them on my visit to Essos" Martin revealed "The girl Daenerys is quite scared and shy but the boy Viserys is just as mad as his father. If Viserys becomes dangerous, kill him but leave the girl alive."
"I understand my Prince" Farengar said
Flashback end:
Farengar was interrupted when Irri entered the tent and said that Daenerys didn't want horse tonight. Then Irri revealed Daenerys' pregnancy to everyone and Jorah said that he would have a goat butchered for her and then said that he would travel to Qohor, saying that he would catch up later.
On the other side of the camp, Viserys the Beggar King sat in his tent looking quite angry; Khal Drogo was riding in the complete wrong way. His army were riding East instead of West. People had been mocking him for so long calling him the Beggar King when he was the rightful King of Westeros. He would take back his kingdom by any means. But he was also furious by this so called Prince Martin. People claimed that he would be a great King and a much better one than his brother Joffrey. People said that Martin had travelled the Known World and has built a royal army.
"That should be my army" Viserys said angrily to himself and then he thought of the Blades, those no good Sellswords who had refused to help him were now working for this so called Prince. Viserys brought out a large dagger that had a black stone in its hilt and seemed to glow red, then he slammed the dagger into a piece of parchment meant to represent Prince Martin "Just you wait Prince Martin, cause one of these days, you shall bleed, I will take back my kingdoms and you shall be dead at my feet" he growled to himself and was unaware of the voices outside.
"Is that it?" a figure wearing a crimson red robe with the hood up said which was a man "Is that the dagger?"
"Yes that's it?" a Second figure which was a woman said
"Well then, let's get it." The man said again
"Wait, we should see if we can recruit him, he could prove useful to us in the future" the woman said
...
Kings landing, Royal chambers.
Princess Myrcella walked through the royal chambers along with her Jaguar Midnight. They had decided to visit Alessia and Martin though soon it would be getting ready for bed. But as she approached Alessia's chambers, she heard sounds of pleasure in there and laughing. The door was slightly open and Myrcella peeked in though she wished she didn't after what she saw.
There on Alessia's bed was Alessia herself, she was naked and the Master of Coin, Willas was on top of her, also naked. There were signs of pleasure as Willas and Alessia felt each other's bodies.
"We must be careful" Alessia said "You know what my mother will do if she finds out."
"I love you Alessia" Willas said "And I don't want to be part of my father's schemes, I want to be with you. I don't care what your mother says, I want you to be my wife."
Myrcella heard everything and she didn't want anything to do with it and she left as the two lovers continued their Love.
The Next Day, the Hand's Chambers.
Arya Stark stepped into the Room and he soon saw a man standing there.
"You are late Boy" the man spoke with a strange accent "Tomorrow, you shall be here at Midday."
"Who are you?" Arya asked
"Your Dancing Master, Syrio Forel" he grinned and then tossed a wooden practise Sword to Arya but she dropped it. "Tomorrow you shall catch it" Arya then held the sword in two hands. "No no no, that's not a great sword; it doesn't require two hands to hold it."
"But it's too heavy" Arya protested
"You shall get used to it." Syrio said.
Syrio then explained that he was teaching her Water Dancing, a type of duelling used in the Free City of Braavos. Arya enjoyed learning sword fighting though she didn't notice her father watching the training. He had a grim look on his face as he believed that there was going to be a war soon and his family was going to be caught in the middle of it. So while he knew that Ladies should fight, he believed that Arya needed to learn to defend herself should war broke out. Some would say that a Second Dance of the Dragons might be approaching if things weren't careful but now Eddard would be ready for what comes
Chapter End
Author's notes: Here is episode 3 of Season 1. Things are starting to change now. Because Sam is a member of the Blades, he will not be meeting Jon and Agmaer will take Samwell Tarly's place.