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The Restoration of House Targaryen Chapter 1
🕑 Added 2023-12-14 01:05:46 +0000 UTCAll characters involved are over 18 years old.
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It had been four years since Daenerys Targaryen first landed on Dragonstone, after all she had suffered and lost, after the betrayals and sacrifices, she had finally made it, she had finally reached Westeros, along with her armies and dragons, ready to take what was rightfully hers, the Iron Throne.
At the time, she could not have known how many surprises waited for her in Westeros.
Many said that her arrival could not have come at a more favourable time for her, Cersei sat on the Iron Throne and could not have done more to make all of Westeros hate and despise her, eager for a new ruler. And she planned to be that new ruler, she would bring peace to a Westeros that had been the victim of constant wars and conflicts by all the different Kings that had arisen, taking advantage of the chaos to take the iron throne, but all of them had failed, due to betrayals, their own ineptitude or simply because they had been overtaken by a better one. But that was all in the past, now with the way almost clear, she would unify Westeros under one reign in the same way her ancestor Aegon Targaryen had done.
And she had more than enough support to achieve it, Cersei's actions had brought the great Lords of Westeros practically to her feet, either out of personal vengeance or simply because they no longer saw that the lioness had any chance to emerge victorious in this war. And of course, no one wanted to be on the losing side, although of course all these lords who came to her tried to win her favour with gifts or by talking about the number of soldiers they had brought with them. Among the greatest Houses of Westeros who came to Dragonstone to receive her and pledge themselves to her were Princess Arianne Martell, who came on behalf of her father along with her brother Prince Quentyn Martell. Daenerys was surprised when she first saw the brothers as they could not have been more different, Princess Arianne was a woman with olive skin and short in height almost as much as she was, but with much more prominent curves and who had no problem showing them off, as she wore a slim and revealing orange dress of fine silks, much like the ones she used to wear in her time in Meereen.
Though she too preferred such dresses to the thick Westerosi furs, she would not dare wear them in the current weather. She could never understand how Princess Martell could endure the cold in such clothing alone.
Unlike her very beautiful and exotic sister, Prince Quentyn seemed to be totally different except for his height which was also short for a man, but that was where the similarities ended. Quentyn was lighter skinned, stoutly built and a face that the kindest way to describe it would be as a common face. But she couldn't care less about his appearance, if it weren't for his constant attempts to win her over or try to impress her, one of his more foolish attempts was when he tried to claim one of her sons, thinking that the little Targaryen blood that ran through his veins would be enough to keep him from being eaten alive, Luckily for him the one he tried to tame was Viserion, who being the calmest of his sons simply ignored the man turning his back, of course his older sister found out about this and after an embarrassing public reprimand, Quentyn spent almost the rest of his stay in Dragonstone hiding in his chambers.
Another great house of Westeros that showed their support were the Tyrells, with Olena Tyrell or the Queen of Thorns as Tyrion called her, she came accompanied by her grandchildren Willas and Margeary Tyrell. The latter had miraculously escaped from Kings Landing, after gaining the trust of the High Sparrow and deceiving him with her acting, unfortunately her father and brother did not have the same luck, and both perished along with hundreds of people when Cersei blew up the Sept of Baelor. Now the only thing that the House Tyrell was looking for was revenge against Cersei, although of course that did not prevent Olenna from sending her grandson to spend as much time as possible with her, as he himself told her in one of their conversations. Though she didn't mind spending time with Willas at all, he was an intelligent, polite, and kind man, though sometimes he could bore her when he talked a bit too much about his passion for breeding horses, dogs, and his favourite eagles, always taking pride in mentioning that he was the best in the seven kingdoms.
He even ended up telling her the story of how he ended up being a cripple, when she couldn't help but ask him about the clear animosity between his House and the Martell’s. Obviously there had always been a historical enmity between the Tyrells and the Martell’s, but the clear hostility that her grandmother showed towards Princess Arianne was because it was her uncle Oberyn who had crippled Willas when he participated in his first tournament, although he mentioned that he never held a grudge against the man, On the contrary, they corresponded very often because Oberyn was also an enthusiast in horse breeding and even mentioned that he regretted his death, he was perhaps an extravagant man and even became a little arrogant, which was the reason why he ended up losing his life, but he was an authentic and straightforward man, also a very intelligent and charismatic one, they were very strange characteristics to find.
For a few moments Daenerys thought that the reason why he didn't seem interested in her and the way he talked about the man, there might be more than just a friendship between them. But Willas then mentioned that his heart already belonged to another woman, that no matter how beautiful she might be or the opportunity to be King consort, he would not abandon her and perhaps his grandmother might be angry with him, but she was worth it. Daenerys appreciated his sincerity and with an amused smile said she would be sure to tell Olenna that she was the one who wasn't interested, Willas let out a slight smile at that.
She didn't share many words with Margaery, though the girl was always polite and courteous to her, she could tell she preferred to be left alone and Daenerys understood that perfectly. She had come to be betrothed to three different Kings, all of whom had ended up dead. And now that her house was pledged to her, her dreams of becoming Queen were definitely over and after being widowed three times, many would say that the best she could hope for now would be to marry a small Lord, no doubt a horrible fate for what was once the most desired Rose in the Seven Kingdoms.
But now with the help of her house, in addition to that of the Martell’s and Greyjoy’s, Daenerys had half of Westeros on her side and Cersei was completely alone, but what she did not expect was that Varys would arrive and tell her about another monarch who had under his power the other half of the continent.
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At that time, the only thing she knew about the North was that it was a ruin, the Starks had been betrayed by their own allies, everything had started with Theon Greyjoy who assaulted and sacked Winterfell to finally end up burning it, claiming that he had killed Brandon Stark and Rickon Stark, although he later confessed that they were two innocent children and not the young Starks. Then they suffered the betrayal of their bannerman Roose Bolton and his potential allies the Frey’s, who cruelly murdered Robb Stark, along with his pregnant wife and mother, and then massacred his men while they were celebrating the wedding. From there it was chaos, with their King dead and leaving no heir, the North and Winterfell fell into the hands of the Boltons, and to further secure their position Roose married his bastard son who had been legitimized by the Lannister’s, to marry him to Sansa Stark.
With Robb Stark defeated and Edmure Tully a prisoner of the Frey’s, and with the Knights of the Vale having taken no side in this war, no one had deigned to look north.
They had all forgotten that Ned Stark had four sons.
She was at the painted table, next to Ser Barristan, Lord Tyrion and Missandei, when Varys briefed her on the latest events that had taken place at Kings Landing. Nothing so relevant, just things like Cersei had sent spokesmen to the streets to paint a bad image of her, that she had arrived with her savage Dothraki to rape and pillage the realm, and that she was the spitting image of her father the Mad King or also her stratagem of inviting people to the Red Keep as a precautionary measure to prevent her from using her dragons against her.
When she was about to thank Lord Varys for his valuable service to her and send him on his way, he beat her to it and said he had more to report.
"I bring interesting news about the situation in the North, Your Grace" Varys spoke as always in a silky-smooth voice.
"And what is the situation North, Lord Varys?" She asked.
"There has been a change of power, Your Grace. Ramsay Bolton has been defeated in what has been called the 'Battle of the Bastards' by Jon Snow along with an army made up of Wildlings and the few remaining loyalists of House Stark." Varys reported, before Tyrion abruptly interrupted him to ask.
"Jon Snow? Ned Stark's bastard?"
Lord Varys' response was a slight nod, as he clasped his hands together, beneath his robes.
"This is great news for us, Your Grace. If there is anyone with more reason to hate my sister more, it is the Starks and I met Jon Snow myself when I accompanied him on his way to the wall, he is his father's son, a full-fledged honourable man. I am sure he will be a great ally to us and certainly a better Guardian of the North, than any Bolton." Her hand finished speaking with a smile forming on his face, surely just like her thinking that the road to the Iron Throne was becoming more and more accessible.
Varys cleared his throat, drawing the attention of those present back to him before speaking again, "There is still more to report, Your Grace." Daenerys nodded and the eunuch continued.
"Jon Snow, had help from a powerful ally who was crucial in the battle for the North. When the battle seemed lost, the Knights of the Vale arrived on the battlefield and turned the tide in favour of the Starks, the battle ended when Jon Snow killed Ramsay Bolton with his own hands. And Lord Snow's first action after taking Winterfell was to call all the Lords of the North and demand allegiance, which worked and ended with all the Lords declaring him King in the North."
Tyrion knew that his queen didn't like someone else calling himself King, so he tried to save the situation, "King or not, Jon Snow won't make any move south, so we're just like before, let's just worry about overthrowing my sister and then we'll take care of the north. Jon is a smart lad, I'm sure he is aware that the North will not be able to survive as an independent Kingdom, not after all the wars it has suffered."
"I regret to inform you, my Lord Hand, that King Jon has already made moves to the south" Varys said, with a disguised smile on his face as he saw Lord Tyrion's expression, only to see his Queen's unamused expression, so clearing his throat he continued his report quickly, "After winning the war against the Boltons, and securing the loyalty of the North, Jon Snow travelled south with a renewed army to avenge his brother, the Frey’s being his target. And even accomplishing another great feat, by gaining the loyalty of the chieftains of the Mountain Clans, greatly increasing the numbers and size of his army."
"What happened next" Daenerys asked sharply, already tired of hearing about this man, who called himself King. "Did Lord Snow win another great battle?"
"This time, there wasn't really a battle, your Grace. Lord Snow came to The Twins with his army, but instead of laying siege to the castle. He sent a messenger demanding that they hand over Walder Frey to answer for his crimes, in return he would spare the lives of the innocents. And I imagine that the sons of Walder Frey to be cornered by a large army and now without the support of Tywin Lannister, will have thought that the best option for survival was to deliver his own father, which they did not hesitate to do. For within hours of sending the messenger, Walder Frey appeared at Jon Snow's feet, tied and gagged."
"And did he really spare them?" Tyrion asked.
"The moment the Frey’s opened the gates, Jon Snow gave the order to storm the castle, killed every Frey soldier and son they could find and ordered them to be impaled in front of his castle, as an example of what would happen to the traitors" Varys said with a slight bow before adding, "though in a way he did keep his word, for he did not hurt the daughters, but he did make them renounce the Frey name and sent them with their older sister to the Riverlands to serve as simple maids or servants of the castle."
"What happened to Lord Frey?" Daenerys asked him.
"After making sure he watched as he killed every last one of his numerous offspring and made his daughters renounce his name and become mere servants. Jon Snow chained him to the very chair where he sat on the night of the 'red wedding' and placing a crown of thorns on his head, ordered that the castle be burned, thus extinguishing House Frey."
"Well, Lord Frey was an ally of my sister's and while perhaps his and his house's end was a bit extreme it is understandable after the crimes they committed against the Starks." Tyrion said, then asked when he saw Varys had more to say. "Anything else to add about Jon Snow?"
"Indeed, I do my Lord. After wiping out the Frey’s, he released many of the prisoners the Frey’s had held, after their betrayal of the Starks. The most important being Lord Umber and Edmure Tully, the latter of whom also knelt before Jon Snow declaring him King of the Trident, just like his brother before him."
Daenerys gritted her teeth at the news, the last thing they needed now was another King, and now this one had the support of two of the seven Kingdoms, Kingdoms that should be rightfully hers.
"The North and the Riverlands, are two of the countries that have suffered the most during all these last years of war" Tyrion said, trying to calm her down and assuring her that the situation was still being manageable, "besides, I know I said Jon was a smart guy, but he made a grave mistake in seeking the help of the Mountain Clans than trying to ally with the Vale, they lost a great military support in exchange for a number though considerable of Savages, nothing comparable to the military force that the mounted and armoured knights of the Vale represent".
Tyrion was right, even with the support of the Tully’s and the Wildlings, they posed no real threat to his reign, or so she thought until Lord Varys spoke again.
"If I may, your Grace I am not done yet. After his victory over the Frey’s and gaining Lord Tully's support, Jon Snow returned to Winterfell along with the company of several Lords of the Riverland and that of the heads of the mountain clans. To meet with the new Lord of the Vale, Lord Robert Arryn who was waiting for him at Winterfell."
"Wait, are you saying he managed to gather the Lord of the Eyrie's and the chieftains of the Mountain Clans in the same room?" Tyrion asked dumbfounded.
"That's right my Lord, an impressive feat no doubt, though I imagine Jon Snow would have experience in such matters by now. Since he managed to get the Lords of the North, to fight alongside the wildlings" Varys said, before adding. "Though that easily pales, when compared to the other rumours that seem to surround the man. Though some are so fanciful as to seem ridiculous, though the same thing everyone thought when the first rumours came that a girl had managed to bring the dragons back into the world."
"And what are the rumours surrounding Jon Snow?" Daenerys asked, a bit curious.
"The rumour that is most repeated was when he was still serving as lord commander in the Night's Watch, Jon Snow was killed by his own men for letting the wildlings pass the wall. It is said that he was dead for two full days, many men saw his lifeless body or the pool of blood he left in the place where he was stabbed. The one responsible for bringing him back to life was none other than the red witch who once accompanied Stannis, it is said that she used the darkest and most ancient kind of magic known to man to do so."
Back to life? A witch? Dark Magic...
She didn't like the sound of that at all, obviously from personal experiences, "Are you saying he was brought back to life, through the use of dark magic?" she asked Lord Varys.
"I myself am sceptical of such rumours, your Grace. And as one who is not at all a fan of magic, I prefer to believe they are mere exaggerations, but this is only one of many rumours surrounding Jon Snow. They range from that he is the greatest swordsman the Seven Kingdoms have seen since Ser Arthur Dayne, or that he defeated a giant when he was part of the Night's Watch, or that he took a beautiful wildling princess as his wife to strengthen his alliance with them, or my favourite, that he captured a kind of monster from the lands of forever winter, which he uses to intimidate his enemies and force them to join his side."
Lord Tyrion let out an exaggerated snort before stating, "Exaggerations and tales have always surrounded the Northmen, the same rumours, though a bit more subdued also surrounded his brother, when he was King."
"Perhaps you are right, my Lord. The North has always been a land surrounded by mysteries and tales." Lord Varys said, as he turned to look at his queen and continued, "but what is a reality was what happened at that meeting that took place at Winterfell, where Northerners, Wildlings, Mountain Men, Vale Men and Rivermen, each and every one of them knelt before Jon Snow declaring him their King."
Daenerys turned and walked slowly to one end of the painted table, looking at all of Westeros which now because of this Jon Snow was divided in half, "He has half of Westeros" she said, in a deceptively soft tone.
"Your Grace, Jon does not repre-" Tyrion was abruptly cut off by his queen.
"He has half of Westeros!" she shouted, causing his hand to recoil slightly and shut his mouth, "The same kingdoms that once rose up against my house and forced me to live in exile" Jon Snow was a threat and by appointing himself King, he was in open rebellion and she would not tolerate it, but before taking more drastic measures she would give him a chance to kneel and declare her the sole and rightful ruler of Westeros.
""Send a letter north, tell Jon Snow that his Queen summons him to Dragonstone to join our cause and overthrow Cersei Lannister. And bend the knee."
Tyrion nodded at her orders, and she dismissed them all, one way or another Jon Snow would bend the knee to her. he could take the peaceful option she had offered him, or he could reject it and she would be more than willing to travel to Winterfell on her dragon and force him to surrender his crown the same way her ancestor Aegon Targaryen had done with Torrhen Stark.
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At the time Daenerys did not expect that Jon Snow would actually agree to meet her at Dragonstone, and that he would rather hide his head in the snow. She was therefore a bit surprised when Tyrion informed her that the King of the North had accepted her invitation and would travel by ship to Dragonstone.
Two weeks after his reply, she was informed that the ship coming with the Northern retinue had been spotted on the horizon, she wanted to send only Missandei with a small group of Dothraki to meet them, but Lord Tyrion insisted on going, claiming that it would be good for Lord Snow to see a familiar face, finding sense in his words she agreed and sent them both.
The King in the North landed at Dragonstone along with a large retinue of warriors and lords from every region he ruled, Tyrion saw knights in shining armour proudly flying the Eagle or Trout banner, as well as men with thick skins and a very rough appearance. He even also saw some men who were no doubt part of the mountain clans, dressed in their worn armour and bronze axes and he was also surprised to see what appeared to be men of the Night's Watch. And in the middle of it all was Jon Snow, he had certainly changed a lot from the boy he met at Winterfell.
Missandei was in charge of speaking for the queen and introducing them, but Tyrion decided it was best that he started with the introductions, he walked forward confidently and greeted Jon as if they were old friends.
""The bastard of Winterfell."" He said aloud, as a small joke to break the ice as he extended his hand towards the King of the North, a smile on his face.
Tyrion was pleased to see the same smile spread across the serious face of the King in the North and leaned toward him to hold his hand as he replied, "The dwarf of Casterly Rock. You are the same size as I remember you, but even uglier."
Tyrion had to hold back a laugh at her crude joke as he replied, "I got a few scars along the way, unfortunately not all scars can look like yours." He told him, as Jon flashed him an amused smile.
Tyrion turned to the one man standing at the King's side and introduced himself, extending his hand towards him, "I am Tyrion Lannister."
"Ser Davos Seaworth," the man answered him, as he shook his hand.
"Ah, the onion knight. We fought on different sides at the Battle of Blackwater Bay."
"Unfortunately for me." Said the man with a slight grimace.
"This is Missandei of Naath, one of the Queen's most trusted advisors." Tyrion said, finally yielding the floor to the tall, beautiful olive-skinned woman.
Missandei stepped forward and spoke, "Welcome to Dragonstone, my Lords. Queen Daenerys appreciates the efforts you have made in deciding to come here, if you could surrender your weapons, we will escort you to her briefly."
Tyrion watched as Jon's gaze moved over the several Dothraki the queen had sent along with them before he rested his hand on the hilt of his sword and said, "I would prefer to keep my sword."
Missandei cleared her throat before speaking again in a sweet, formal voice, "I'm afraid it is not a request, my Lord. It is an order."
Jon let out an amused snort before saying. "I've barely landed, and the Dragon Queen is already giving me orders?" which drew a chuckle from his men behind him.
Tyrion and Missandei shared a look as they watched the men laugh at their King's joke and how things could get more complicated than they thought.
"You invite me as a guest, greet me with a bunch of Dothraki and a fucking Lannister and expect me to willingly surrender my weapons?" Jon asked them.
Tyrion furrowed his eyebrows at that, for only moments ago he had greeted him in a friendly manner, but before he could speak Missandei beat him to it. "Whether you like it or not, my Lord. The Dothraki are the Queen's main guard and Lord Tyrion asked to be here to greet him, claiming they were old acquaintances."
"I like him little Lannister, but I also promised to kill any Lannister I could get my hands on and the fact that his family killed mine." Was his reply.
"I know it is a long and tiring journey, my lord. And I know you did it for the sake of meeting with Queen Daenerys and if you wish to do that, the only way to accomplish that is to surrender your weapons" Missandei said this time in a firmer voice.
Jon analyzed her for several seconds before asking, "Tell me my Lady, do you know what happened the last time a Targaryen summoned a Stark?"
Tyrion was about to intervene knowing exactly where Jon wanted to take things, but Missandei beat him to it again, "I can't say I do, my Lord."
Jon began to walk towards her as he told her the story, "The last Targaryen to summon a Stark was King Aerys who summoned my grandfather Rickard Stark the Lord of Winterfell at the time to answer for the crimes of his son Brandon, who had gone to the capital to claim Prince Rhaegar for the abduction of Lady Lyanna. When Rickard Stark arrived at Kings Landing, he was taken prisoner along with his son Brandon, it was then that King Aerys gave the order that he be burned alive, while his son was forced to watch as he was handed a sword as a mockery so that he could free his father, in the end he ended up choking himself while his father burned. That is why I cannot so blindly trust your Queen, Lady Missandei and give up my weapons."
"I do not speak for Aerys Targaryen, my Lord. I speak for Daenerys Stormborn, the Khaleesi, the Chainbreaker, that is my Queen, and she has promised you safe passage, and I assure you she will honour her promise. For if not, I would not be speaking for her as a free woman, but as a slave." Missandei said with all the honesty and confidence she had about her queen, which was absolute.
The King in the north moved a closer to her, close enough for her to even feel his warm breath against her face, Missandei did not look away and stared into those stormy grey eyes to prove her conviction.
She had never seen a kind of eyes like those, they were almost as hypnotic and vibrant as her Queen's violet eyes.
"Can you promise that, can you promise that your Queen is not like her father?" the King of the North asked her.
"I do." She answered him firmly, not hesitating for a second.
Jon Snow kept his gaze on her as he seemed to debate internally until finally, he seemed to give in and reach for his sword belt and begin to unbuckle it. Removing the sword along with his dagger, he held them up and handed it to her, Missandei held out her hands so that she could receive the large sword with a wolf shaped pommel.
"This sword was given to me with the promise that I would never lose it, take care of it for me and I hope you can return it to me." The King of the North told her.
Missandei took the large sword and nodded, when the King in the North handed over his sword the rest of his men followed him and did the same, though they did not give charming smiles to the Dothraki who took their weapons, as their King had done with her.
There was a small scuffle between some Dothraki and a tall man with an ugly burn scar on his face as the Dothraki guards tried to take away a huge box the man carried on his back.
"Clegane, you're still alive, though that shouldn't surprise me much." Tyrion said, sounding deceptively cheerful before asking him, "What have you got there?"
Before he could answer, Jon beat him to it, saying "It's a gift, for the Queen, brought from the lands far beyond the North."
"We'll have to check it out." Tyrion demanded.
"It's a gift, Lannister. Do you want to ruin the surprise?" Jon asked.
"It's to ensure the Queen's safety." Tyrion answered him.
"'Safety?' I already agreed to surrender my weapons, now you want to check a box. What do you think I hid a hundred-armed men in there, Lannister?" Jon asked him sarcastically.
Before Tyrion could answer him again and let the situation escalate again, Missandei interrupted him by saying loudly, "It's okay, you can come in." She declared, which did not please the Queen's hand at all.
"The queen invited him with him propitiously to become a possible ally, and he already showed his trust towards the Queen by surrendering his weapons. I think it would be only fair that we return that trust." Missandei said, before fixing her gaze on the King in the North and asking him, "Can you promise that whatever is in there does not pose a threat to my Queen?"
"If anyone gets hurt, you can use my own sword on me." Was his reply.
Finally, with that settled they escorted the Northern retinue to the castle and during their journey Tyrion approached her and said, "In the future I would appreciate it if you would not speak over my Lady Missandei, as the Queen's hand I should have the final say on things that compromise the safety and interests of our Queen."
"I will report everything that happened and was said here to our Queen, Lord Tyrion. If I said or acted in a way that is not befitting of me, I will accept whatever punishment our Queen sees fit. But she always tells me to act and speak my mind, and that is exactly what I did." She answered him, as she walked forward and into the castle.
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Daenerys waited inside the great hall of Dragonstone, seated upon the obsidian throne as the head of House Targaryen. Also, the other Lords and Ladies who had come to pledge themselves to her, gathered to watch the arrival of the Northern monarch, all watched as the great castle doors opened to let in the Northern retinue, being led by a man she assumed should be Jon Snow, next to him walked an older man dressed in a more southern fashion unlike the other men accompanying this King.
Missandei now at her side, stepped forward and introduced her as the rightful Queen of the Seven Kingdoms and all the other titles she had earned through her actions and accomplishments. Some might think it was too ostentatious but each of those titles represented who she was, when Missandei finished reciting all her titles silence filled the room again, she looked expectantly at the King in the north to see his reaction.
The man only shared a glance with the old man at his side before he himself stepped forward and introduced himself.
"I am Jon Snow, Bastard son of Ned Stark and King of the Riverlands, the Vale and the North."
Daenerys made a blank face as she spoke formally to the man in front of her, "Welcome to Dragonstone, my Lord. I hope the seas weren't too rough."
"The winds were kind, Princess." Was his quick reply.
Daenerys straightened her back and grimaced slightly at hearing that, before speaking again. "You confuse me, my Lord. I am a Queen not a prince-"
Daenerys was abruptly cut off by the man who replied, "And I am a King not a Lord."
Daenerys now recalled with amusement how quickly her husband had managed to get under her skin from day one. Although at the time she had been so angry at the man for his insolence that she was sorely tempted to hand him over to Drogon as a snack.
Daenerys took a calming breath and leaned back against her throne as she spoke again, reminding the King of the North of an important fact. "If I remember my lessons correctly, the last King in the North was Torrhen Stark, who knelt before my ancestor Aegon Targaryen surrendering his crown and swearing allegiance to House Targaryen in perpetuity. And what does perpetuity mean, Lord Tyrion?"
"Forever, your Grace." His hand answered.
"Forever." She repeated, as she stared at Jon Snow, "So I assume, my Lord. That you are here to honour the pledge your ancestor made to mine and re-swear allegiance to House Targaryen."
"No, I am not." Was his reply.
Daenerys tilted her head to the side in disbelief and anger as she asked him, "Oh, so you have travelled all this way just to break faith with House Targaryen?"
"Break faith?" Jon asked sarcastically as he reminded her of his father's crimes, "House Targaryen broke faith, when the King Aerys had my grandfather and uncle burned alive, he would have burned the seven Kingdoms if-"
Daenerys interrupted him before he could continue, "I know my father was an evil man and on behalf of House Targaryen I ask your forgiveness for the crimes he committed against your family, and I ask you not to blame a daughter for her father's crimes."
Jon nodded at that and could understand her complicated situation, "You are right, you are not guilty of your father's crimes." He said, bringing a slight smile to the Queen's face that was quickly wiped away by his next words, "just as I am not beholden to the promises of my ancestor."
Daenerys was already beginning to lose her patience with this man, so she asked him sharply. "You clearly have no intention of kneeling before me, so why accept my invitation to come here?"
""Because you need my help."" The man told her, before adding a little more softly, "And I need yours."
Daenerys scoffed at the idea of her needing his help, she definitely didn't. And to make him acutely aware of that she asked him, "On your way did you not see three dragons over flying my castle?"
"I did." Jon replied.
"And the Dothraki, who have all sworn to follow me to war and kill for me." She asked again.
"They are hard to miss." He told her.
"And yet despite having seen my armies and dragons and seeing that I have the support of Houses Tyrell, Martell and Greyjoy. Do you think I need your help?" she asked him.
"Not to defeat Cersei, hell we almost took the city, and we didn't even have dragons." This time it was the man beside her who spoke.
"Almost." Lord Tyrion stressed happily.
"Cersei is not the greatest threat we will face before the winter is over. There is a far more powerful and dangerous enemy than her." Jon said.
"And who is this enemy?" Daenerys asked him as she raised an eyebrow in question.
Taking a deep breath and looking towards all present he King of the North spoke. "The Night King, and his army of the dead."
The room erupted in amused snorts and jeers at what he had just said, Daenerys herself could not help an amused and incredulous smile forming on her face at hearing such claims.
"The army of the dead?" Tyrion said languidly almost sounding mocking, as if trying to make some sense of Jon Snow's words.
The King of the North decided to ignore the dwarf and focus on her as he seriously said, "The Night's King is real, the White Walkers are real, I've seen them, I've fought them. And if we don't band together, before they make it over the wall, which they will. We will all die before the winter is over."
Daenerys stood up and began to walk towards Jon Snow as she spoke, "So many men have tried to kill me, I can't remember all the names. I have been sold like a brood mare, chained, and beaten, raped, and defiled. You know what kept me standing through all those years in exile, faith. Not in any god or myth, in myself in Daenerys Targaryen, I raised the dragons from the stone, I made the Dothraki follow me across the poisoned waters, and I will sit on the Iron Throne." She declared just as she stood in front of him and looked up so she could stare into his eyes, like most men the King in the North towered over her, but eventually he would be the one to look up at her, sooner or later all men did when they bent the knee.
Jon held her gaze for several seconds, neither of the monarchs seemed to be able to take their eyes off the other, but the moment was finally broken by Jon's advisor as he cleared his throat, "We have proof." The man said casually as he gave his King a pointed look.
The moment was over, and Daenerys found it amusing how it seemed that this insolent man was being scolded by his advisor, as he ordered the men to bring any scrap of evidence that could confirm Jon Snow's wild claims were true, she returned to her seat. But on her way, she felt the intense gaze of the King of the North fall on her ass, amused by this and not too surprised, she decided to tease him by adding a slight sway to her hips.
Back on her throne, she saw that the King of the North still kept his gaze on her, Daenerys raised an amused eyebrow as she looked back at him, for the first time she saw a hint of a smile on his stoic face only to have it disappear a second later when everyone's attention was drawn to a gigantic man carrying an equally huge box on his back, to finally drop it in the middle of the great hall. Several northern soldiers, approached to help remove the heavy chains that wrapped the box, all present watched with curiosity, if he really could prove his crazy words about undead and white walkers.
When the chains were finally removed, and the tall man removed the lid of the box and stepped back a little as if he was afraid of what might come out of it. In spite of the numerous people that filled the great hall, it was filled with a stony silence expectant to see what happened. Shock filled the room again as the man kicked the box, releasing what Daenerys could only describe as a monster out of a nightmare.
The being that appeared to be in an advanced process of putrefaction and being more bone than flesh, let out an inhuman, shrill shriek as he locked his glowing, unnaturally blue eyes on her and charged straight. Daenerys thought she was going to die as she watched this hideous creature rush towards her, even her Dothraki guards had not reacted due to the terror of seeing this monster for the first time.
When the creature was only a meter away from her, he was suddenly pulled back by the chain still clinging to him, stopping his advance, and making him fall heavily to the ground, but without being really affected by the hit. It was only then, when her guards came out of their surprise and could react with one of them burying his arakh in the chest of the creature a blow that would certainly kill anything, but not this terrible monster that despite having the Dothraki weapon buried in his chest, continued to move without being affected.
But before it could attack her guards or her again, the creature was pulled again backwards, annoyed by this the wraith changed its target to Jon who was holding the other end of the chain. The creature ran towards him and Daenerys felt for a moment worried for the annoying King of the North, but fortunately her worries were unfounded as Jon was prepared for the attack, with an impressive speed he hit the creature so hard that made it fall back down and before it could react to counterattack, Jon used his advantageous position and prevented it from getting up again using his foot on its chest and levering it with his foot, he took one of its arms and ripped it off in an incredible show of strength. Jon threw the severed limb away and Daenerys watched in shock as the severed arm seemed to keep moving even though it had been ripped from the body. Jon ripped off the other arm, rendering the creature almost completely useless for combat, but that did not stop it from continuing to writhe beneath him.
"This is a Wight." Jon spoke in a loud, clear voice, so that all presents could hear him, "there are over a hundred thousand like this one and they are all marching towards the wall, with only one goal in mind, to get through it. They don't need to rest, or eat, or even breathe. And there are only three ways to kill them, Valyrian steel, Dragon glass and fire." He said the latter, giving her a meaningful look.
"This is the fate of us all, of all of Westeros and perhaps the world, if we do not stop the Night King. This is the true enemy." Jon said as he looked around at everyone present, who still kept their eyes on the Wight, many looking worried, scared or a combination of both.
After the confirmation that the stories told by the King of the North were true and the revelation of this new enemy, Daenerys called the meeting to a close as she ordered Jon and all his companions to be shown to their rooms, as she left the hall, but still being able to hear it filled with loud whispers and murmurings about what they had just witnessed and how it would affect their plans.
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The next meeting, they had was in the hall of the painted table, everyone was there from her advisors to Lady Olenna along with her grandson Willas Tyrell, Princess Arianne, and Asha Greyjoy along with her brother Theon. Even Jon Snow along with his advisor Ser Davos was present even though technically he had not yet pledged to her, which did not please many of her allies, mainly Asha and Lady Olenna, but she remarked that it was better if they showed a unified Westeros against Cersei, and that they would take care of the technicalities later with her assuring them that at the end of this war there would be only one ruler.
Setting that issue aside, they began the meeting which was more focused on how they would remove Cersei Lannister from the throne.
"We should make a direct attack, storm the city we have the military power and the dragons, the city will fall in a day." Asha suggested.
"Releasing the dragons in the middle of a city crowded with civilians and innocent people would not be the best way to start a reign, we want the people to see that Daenerys is different than Cersei or the predecessor rulers and burning thousands of people is not the way to do it." Her hand quickly refuted the idea.
"We could lay siege to the city; with our combined armies we have enough resources to besiege the seven gates of Kings Landing." This time it was Princess Martell who spoke.
Everyone had a different way how to take the capital, even her hand Tyrion suggested that instead of attacking Kings Landing, they should take Casterly Rock. Something that was also quickly rejected, as it sounded more like personal glory for the little Lannister to take the castle that belonged to his family.
Another thing that caught her attention was seeing the King of the North too reserved and due to his experiences in battles, she decided to ask him for his opinion.
"Any bright ideas, my Lord?" she asked him, while emphasizing the word 'Lord'.
"I was listening to your suggestions; some were decent others not so much." She said this last giving Tyrion an amused look, "But I agree with the frontal assault, we don't have time to besiege Kings Landing. The Night King does not rest plus the people are already starving, it would only be crueller to leave them that way any longer."
"As I had already mentioned, we can't release the dragons into the city the casualties would reach into the thousands." Tyrion said again in exasperation.
"I'm not saying release all three dragons, we only need one" Jon said, setting his eyes on her, "use your dragon, break down the gates, clear the way for your army to enter there will be casualties, but that is inevitable in a war. But this way the amount will be minimal."
Daenerys thought it was the best plan they had so far, she preferred Cersei to surrender and thus avoid unnecessary deaths, but she knew that was impossible. War was the only option and casualties were inevitable, besieging the city would only leave more people to die suffering once the Lannister army surrendered, she would make sure to restore order and provide for the people once she took the city, she was ready to proceed with Jon's plan, but before she could speak Varys interrupted her.
"There is something else you should know, your Grace," the eunuch said.
"What is it?" she asked him, with mild annoyance.
"After her plan to blow up the Sept of Baelor worked out very well in her favour, Cersei decided to hide even more wildfire throughout the city. And I fear that when cornered she will not hesitate to use them." Lord Varys said.
This complicated things much more, if it was already difficult to take a city, now she also had to worry that it could explode at the mere whim of a mad queen.
"Do you know exactly where she hid the wildfire?" Jon asked the spider.
"I know of several places where she has decided to hide the wildfire, but I can't say for sure that it's all of them."
"We have to get rid of the wildfire, before we can lay siege to the city." Jon said.
"How?" Tyrion questioned.
"Ser Davos can smuggle us into Kings Landing, we could only go as a small group. Get inside the city, get rid of the wildfire or make sure no one can set them off." Jon said with conviction.
"It's suicidal," Tyrion said. "The gold cloaks might recognize you and even if they don't, Cersei may have left guards at every place she's hidden the wildfire."
"We have no choice!" the King of the North, spat towards Tyrion, "We can't deal with the Night's King if we don't deal with Cersei first and to get rid of Cersei, we need to take the capital!"
Daenerys knew he was right, they couldn't just leave Cersei in control of Kings Landing and the South while they went to fight a war in the North, but she also didn't like the idea of the King in the North going on a suicide mission, but she couldn't express that out loud either.
She accepted his idea and informed him that he himself could take any man he thought suitable for the dangerous mission, of course her old bear Ser Jorah volunteered, and she let him go with regret, the others to accompany Jon Snow would be Sandor Clegane, Ser Barristan and a handful of northern men. While she and the other Lords would prepare their armies to begin marching towards the capital, in less than two weeks they would arrive at Kings Landing ready to take the city, at the end of the day there would only be one Queen left.
