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Chapter Text

"Welcome home, Daenerys Targaryen" Pryat Pree said after he chained the Princess to the Walls of the House of the Undying. Daenerys was about to yell at her dragons to lit the wizard on fire when the man stole her voice, leaving her defenceless. The baby dragons went towards their mother, feeling her distress. Specially Drogon. Oh, Drogon. He could feel his power, the one giving the wizards the power they thought have been lost forever… but what about his siblings? Why weren´t they giving them the same power? Better consult with the Undying. "Wait here, princess, we have not finished yet with you."

The magician walked the dusty paths of the Undying´s home, gritting his bluish teeth at the state of the place. It was decrepit, just like it´s inhabitants. But just wait. Soon, the place would be brimming with life, like it should ever be. The highest wizards of his order would consume the vitality of the Targaryen girl and use it to light the fire of magic again. Their power would be restored, as well as their place in Qarth. It was going to be as it should have ever been.

"Honourable Undying" said the man, entering to the radiant chambers where the Undying showed themselves. It was all an illusion, of course, but it was okay with him. It was better to deal with the illusions than with the decrepit mummies the ancient wizards were in reality, eager to devour any source of magic. "I come here to announce the capture of Daenerys Targaryen and her dragons."

"Very well" a woman with a low cut quarthene dress said, her eyes cold as she talked. She looked disappointed about something, but at the same time thoughtful.

"My lords and ladies… aren´t you going to consume her now? We need to hurry if we are going to recover our power."

"Don´t hurry it, young Pryat Pree" the same woman answered, moving her beautiful fake body slowly in her golden seat. "The dragons are giving us magic, but their magic is still inmature and halved. Only the black one is giving his full and that is thanks to his mother´s presence. If we are going to recover our power, we need to have all of it."

"Then what should we do, oh wise ancients, to make the other two do the same?"

"Isn´t it obvious?" one of the male wizards answered with a bad temper. This particular one never liked younger members of the order and was more prone to eat them than train them. "We need to find their riders"

"Their riders!" the magician gapped. Of course, it was obvious that with riders to bond with them, dragons would obtain their maximum power and become the magic powerhouses that would restore the Undying and the rest of their order. But where were they going to find their riders? The girl currently locked in the lower stance of the house was the last of the Targaryen, the best Valyrian dragon riders, and there was no way they would wander all the Valyrian cities, searching for riders between the dragonseeds. They simply don´t have the time for such a search. "But, your radiance, we don´t have the time to…"

"Are you a wizard or not?" another, older woman asked, frowning at him. he cowered under her gaze, fearful of her reaction. "You have magic now, more than enough to track two brats and bring them here."

"Two… brats?"

"Yes" the witch continued, her eyes clouded with something that could only be the after effect of the Shadow of the Evening. "I see them right now. Two brothers separated by a tragedy, ignoring the existence of the other, but yearning to find each other. To find their aunt. To find family" she continued, trying to see better. "Two children of the Last Dragon, one in Essos, one in Westeros."

"Show me… show me the dragon riders I must find and I will bring them to you!" he promised, rising his fist. The ancient magicians just told him to use his own powers, that they were tired and this was work made for youngsters. This signalled Pree that the audience has been finished and it was time to go back to Daenerys. He walked towards her, putting a hand on her chin. He forced her to lift her head, looking at him straight in the eyes. "Well, little princess, here we are."

"Release me" said the girl, showing her teeth to him. Drogon mimicked her while his brothers just looked at the man attentively. "I command you to release me!"

"And here I was thinking that you were going to cooperate with me" the man said, unafraid of her fury. "Things could be easier, little princess, if you only cooperate. Moreover, you will gain something yourself. Something you always wanted… a family" he smiled, caressing her face. "Tell me, little one, where are your nephews hiding?"

"What are you talking about?" she was now confused. Her nephew and niece died in the Sack of King´s Landing when she hasn´t even been born. Prince Aegon and Princess Rhaenys, murdered along with their mother by Gregor Clegane and Amory Lorch. At least that´s what Viserys told her. Could it be… that he was mistaken? Could that be a lie? Could she not be the last one of her family? Knowing Viserys, it probably was true. The man has been mistaken about a lot more things.

"It will be easier if you just tell me" Daenerys frowned. If Aegon and Rhaenys were alive, there was no way he was handing them over to this awful wizard. Not in Seven Hells! She wanted to find them, yes, but she was not so desperate to plead for the help of someone who betrayed her. "Tell me!"

"I don´t know and even if I knew, I would never tell you" she showed him her teeth again, followed by all of her dragons. Pyat Pree released her in that moment, taking a step back. The dragons were still a force to be reckoned, even if they were bound by chains. And they were very protective of their riders.

"Well, if you are not going to help me, I will have to do this alone" he said, suddenly striking and cutting her cheek, drawing blood. "I only need this" Daenerys shot him a venomous glare, but she couldn´t do much more. Her voice was fading again. "The Shade of the Evening is going to show me all I need to know."

"You… aren´t going to find them"

"You are underestimating me" the wizard said, mixing her blood with the potion before drinking it. The Targaryen blood mixed into it made him have visions of many things, like a babe with silver hair being grabbed by a fat spider and replaced with other, given to a red Griffin. The babe suddenly turning into a dragon with a spear and a sun in his chest, ready to strike; a she wolf with a breath of blue roses eloping with a red dragon, then the same wolf heavily pregnant, bleeding as she died giving birth to another dragon, but this one suddenly turned into a wolf and was secreted away by another canine, a silent one. To a land of ice…

"Okay, one is in Essos with a red Griffin… the other is in the land of ice with a quiet wolf" Danerys listened to his ramblings with interest, bidding her time. She doesn´t know how, but she was going to find a way to escape and find her way to Rhaenys and Aegon. To warn them… and to recover their birthright.

While Pryat Pree worked his magic, she tried to release herself, even with the help of the dragons. Nothing. Her children wouldn´t do something without an explicit order from her in High Valyrian. She then decided to listen to the man´s ramblings, hoping for a tip about her family´s location. It was hard, the man was hushing about different things, like wolfs, spiders and griffins, but nothing she can follow.

"Where are you… where are you, little prince?" he asked over and over again, obviously referring to Aegon. It surprised her than Aegon and Rhaenys were not together, but then she thought that probably it was for their own safety. After all, if they were, the Usurper would track them down easier. Just like her and Viserys. Suddenly the wizard started cackling madly, like that man from her visions in this very house. The man demanding to burn them all. "Yes… I see you now… I see you now!"

"Aegon…" she managed to say, trying to warn him.

-In the Shy Maiden-

"Ahhhh…" Aegon Targaryen, aka Young Griff, woke up completely drenched in cold sweat. To feel better, he pushed the covers aside and walked around the room. He peeked through the window, expecting to find the sky lighting with the first lights, but he found it dark. Oh, wonderful, he woke up too soon with no things to do. And worse, he woke up screaming, something that obviously would alert his guardian and make him jump into action.

"Aegon! What happened?" he was right, because a few minutes later, the former hand of king Aerys was barging in, practically breaking his door. Septa Lemore was hot on his trail, still in her nightgown. The boy just stared them, feeling his colours rise to his cheeks. "What the hell happened? I thought someone was attacking you."

"Well… it was just a nightmare" he explained. The Lord of Griffin´s Roost grunted and, after telling him to stop screaming before of a stupid dream, went away. Lemore, a little bit more worried about her charge, sat down on the bed, motioning him to come near her. "Do I have to?"

"Yes" she answered, staring right at him. "So, can you come and talk to me, my prince?"

"Hummmm" the silver haired teen went straight to the bed and sat down, utterly displeased with the situation. "It was just a stupid nightmare, there is nothing to be worried about. I have got plenty of them in the past."

"Yes, but you rarely wake up screaming from them since you were seven namedays old" the septa continued, caressing his hair with care. He leaned into it, as the woman was more of a mother to him than his real one. "Was it like the others? With the big carnivorous stag trying to eat you?"

"No, it was different. There was a man with blue lips laughing and telling that he found… hey!" his face went beat red. "You swore to never mention the stag anymore! Or the falcons or the dancing wolves…"

"Sorry, sorry" Lemore smiled. When she was princess Elia´s lady in waiting she could barely dream a lot about the future, but she never thought she would end up comforting her dear friend´s son after a nightmare. No, that was a role she would have left to the dornish princess. And to Rhaegar, by default, but neither of them were alive to take care of the child. Nor was Lyanna to do the same to her own. "What did the mean blue lipped man do?"

"Just… laughing" he was confused. Since when laughing men put him on edge? "He was laughing and telling me he found me…" he shivered, remembering the eyes full of evil. "I think there was also someone behind him, but I couldn´t see him or her clearly" he let himself fall in the bed. "Perhaps I should forget it, it was just a nightmare"

"Sometimes, nightmares are warnings from the gods against the evils we can´t see" the servant of the Seven chanted, even if she herself didn´t really believed in it. "Don´t mind me, I´m just jesting." She said when he put an incredulous face "Maybe it´s just that you are training too much. You should take a rest, live your youth…"

"I don´t know, I have to continue training to take my throne from a lion cub that is rumoured to be a royal shit" answered Aegon, hoping she wouldn´t take him over her knee and spank her like she used to do when he was seven. "Sorry for the vocabulary"

"Don´t worry"

"You are not going to punish me for that?"

"Well, where the Lannisters are concerned… let´s just say there is no language awful enough to describe the lot of them" she said, moving her head a bit, remembering the lady of the house she knew form her time in court. "Besides, I knew the boy´s mother. She was an awful bitch with a superiority complex the size of Westeros itself"

"Really?"

"Really! She walked around the Red Keep as if she owned the place! And was always showing off her golden trinkets, every day a new one" she rolled her eyes. "She also threated the servants like they were dirt beneath her golden embroidered slippers… Yes, that was Cersei Lannister for you."

"Oh" the exiled prince smiled, feeling a little better. "What a horrible person… and probably worse queen" they laughed together. "Yes, she seems more worthy of nightmare than a man with blue lips" he laid in bed again. "Maybe you are right and I´m working too much. I should take a break from everything."

"Yes, probably" then something came to her mind. "I know! Rolly is going to make a short trip to the market tomorrow. You should accompany him."

"Jon Con is not going to let me…"

"Let me deal with the old Griffin, you just try to enjoy your day off" Lemore said, putting the covers over him just like a mother would her child. Aegon smiled, letting her do it. In other situations, he might have protested, as he was too old for such a gesture, but right now he was grateful for her comfort.

-The next day-

"Why did it have to be me?" asked Rolly, eyeing Aegon watching a stall in amazement. The day before he was looking forward this trip, to have some time alone with himself, escaping the Golden Company for a few precious hours, but then Strickland and Connington came to him and ordered him to watch the Company´s baby boy for them. "From sellsword to nursemaid, great."

"This is awesome" the exiled prince muttered to himself, lifting a necklace with a blue stone. He admired it until the blue lipped man appeared again in his mind, seeing him from the hearth of the stone. He instantly panicked, releasing the jewel. "Gods, this is worse than the carnivorous stag and the dancing wolves."

"What?" Rolly was suddenly behind him, listening to his every word. "Boy, I don´t know what kind of strange reality you are living in, but I´m pretty sure that in this one deer eat only vegetables and wolves don´t dance."

"Wha… No! I only said that because the man with the blue lips…"

"Man with blue lips? Boy, we are in Pentos, not in Qarth"

"Qarth?" Aegon was now confused. What the hell was he talking about? "What the hell does Qarth has to do with this?"

"The blue lipped men" answered the sellsword without batting an eyelid. "That´s a very good description of the wizards of the House of the Undying, which is located in Qarth" he continued, remembering when he was there. "They have lips like that because they ruined their health drinking some strange poison, the shade of the evening. They also are mocked in that city because they lived in a piss poor, antique and dusty house."

"And… are there any of those in Pentos? Even one?"

"Haven´t you heard me before?" Rolly wanted to leave already, but he couldn´t take his eyes away from the boy. "They are laughed all the way to Qarth and back. Do you think the laughing stock of Essos even wanted to leave their own city?" the teen shook his head, feeling a little bit better. "Now come, we have to buy some groceries for Homeless Harry."

"Yes, yes, I´m coming" said the boy, following his protector. In his mind, the fearful image persisted, but he pushed it away. He had already heard Duck, there was no way one of those blue lipped abominations get to him.

He spent some more hours helping the sellsword transport the supplies to their transport all around the city. In one of those stops he wiped his face, trying to get rid of the sweat. One second he was looking at one magister´s palace and the next… a dusty house appeared in front of him. The boy king looked at it strangely, noticing how different it was from the rest of the structures in the city. Antique… bad. The feeling took a hold of him, making him flee. He needed to find Duck, right now. He started running towards the stand he was visiting, panicking.

"Duck!"

"What… Griff! You left the supplies alone? Foolish boy, the carriage could have been stolen by now, you ignorant!" screamed the older man, feeling the impulse of whacking him in the head, but resisting it. "That´s it, I´m talking to your father when we arrive at the Company´s place. He should deal with you, not me."

"But… But… the house… and the blue lipped man…"

"How many times do I have to tell you? There are no wizards in Pentos" the older rolled his eyes, walking towards the cart they were using. Aegon followed him, trying to explain his sudden running spree, but once they arrived at the place, the house had disappeared. Instead, there was a magister´s palace again, shining in all it´s glory. "See? No magister with a sense of self respect would house a wizard in his house."

"But… but there was…"

"Yes, yes, you saw one of those clowns, I get it" the man shook his head. It was a mistake to allow the boy to come with him, he was only slowing him down. "I should have left you with Lemore, I knew that. But she had just to insist that you should come with me, that you are mature enough to behave like an adult…"

"I´m behaving like an adult!" the king said, offended. He could barely be a man, but he knew how to behave so he didn´t make a fool out of himself. Besides, the house was real there a few minutes ago and that was starting and to creep him out too. Mayhap… no there was no way he was admitting his fear to Rolly. He would only call him a baby and tell the whole company. Oh the humiliation…

"Then can you be a man enough time to take care of the fucking supplies?" asked the sellsword, trying to get rid of him for a few moments.

"Yeah, sure. I can" Aegon answered, putting a serious face. Duck left him there and everything was fine for half an hour. But then, the house appeared again. The dusty, antique house that was trying to take him. "I´m not scared… I´m not scared… I don´t fear you" the Targaryen boy put a hand in his sword, willing to fight whatever enemy that came out. "I don´t fear you."

"Come here… little prince… come here" a creepy voice said while the door opened, making a blood chilling sound. Like the hinges haven´t moved in a hundredth years.

"I don´t fear you. Do you hear me? I don´t fear you!" his screams were followed by cursed and dares to the house and it´s inhabitants and the senselessness of youth made him enter to prove his manhood. The door closed behind him, disappearing from Pentos like it never existed. And it really didn´t existed for the passerbys.

"Okay, I have every… Griff?" said Rolly, noticing that Aegon was not there anymore. "Griff? Where are you, you damn boy? Griff!" he spent the next few hours trying to find him without any luck. No one has seen him. And in the end, he could do only one thing. "SHIT!"

Chapter Text

"Get out! Don´t be cowards and fight me!" Aegon screamed inside the first hall he entered too. It was as dusty as the outside of the house, with two doors in front of him. One of them opened, making him turn to it. He could see nothing inside, only darkness. "Hello! Is there anybody inside?!" he asked before turning around, trying to open the door to outside. It was locked. "Shit" he whipped his mouth. "Inside then, I guess"

The boy king turned and entered through the door, looking around him with awe and something akin to fear in his hearth. After walking a few steps, he found himself in another chamber, with doors on it´s own. One of them opened, which he crossed. And again, and again. And again. And then…

"Burn them all" there was an old man on a throne made of swords. The man wore a crown, but he looked less like the king he had to be with each look he gave him. His robes were rags of silks, his nails horribly long and claw like, his hair and beard a rat´s nest, his eyes a pit of purple madness…

"Grandfather?" he asked, recognizing Aerys from Jon Connington´s tales. "Grandfather, it´s me, Aegon. What are you doing here? You were supposed to be dead."

"Burn them all" he repeated, making his madness even more evident. The throne started cutting him as Aerys moved, making the scars in his arms visible. "Burn them all! BURN THEM ALL!"

"Grandfather…"

"Your Grace" a young knight in a golden armour appeared before him. He wore a white cloak of the Kingsguard and his hair seemed to be made of the same material his armour was. "The rebel forces are approaching and the Lannisters…"

"Shut up and bring me Rossart, boy!" ordered the old man, making the knight take a step back. "Tell him to BURN THIS ENTIRE FUCKING CITY DOWN WITH WILDFIRE! Robert Baratheon will conquer only ashes and I will finally become a dragon. The greatest dragon in history!"

"That…" the knight took a step back, then bolted out of the room. Scared, Aegon tried to follow the man, escaping through the only open door of the chamber. Breathing hard, he turned around to face whatever he was going to be showed now. Then he saw a silver haired woman on a bed, screaming with labour pains. In her head was a crown of red and black stones.

"More, your Grace, it´s almost there" a midwife told the woman, kneeling between her legs. A thunder resounded in the room, making him take a step back. He looked around himself, but saw no window nor indication of a thunder storm in the horizon. "Come on, your Grace, soon you will have your babe in your arms."

"For how long?" asked the woman with a voice completely devoid of hopes. His eyes widened when he noticed what he was being shown. It was the birth of his aunt, Daenerys Stormborn. "Robert Baratheon, curse him to seven hells, won the war and soon will be demanding mine and my children´s heads…"

"We won´t let him get to you, your Grace" said the brave woman, putting a hand on her legs, seemingly to comfort her. "That bastard is not going to touch you. Ser Willem and I promise you that."

"You are brave… very brave" muttered the woman before a contraction hit her again and she screamed. A few screams later there was crying, then a silver haired babe was trusted into her shivering arms. Aegon stood there, by the side of Queen Rhaella Targaryen, as she died. His grandmother really looked beautiful like that, holding her daughter while the energies drifted from her. A tear appeared in her grandson´s eyes, falling. The tender moment was broken by an old knight entering the place, followed by a tiny child.

"We have to leave" he said. "The storm has destroyed the royal fleet. Right now, it is the only thing that protects us from Robert Baratheon´s fleet is the one that will kill us in the end" he greeted his teeth. "We have to leave for Essos before it stops."

"Ser Willem, please, we have to wait" the midwife countered, eyeing Rhaella´s laboured breathing and deathly paleness. And the red sheet under the form of the silver haired woman, one she was unable to stop. "The Queen has just given birth and she is not in the best of shapes. She needs time to recover…"

"We don´t have time, Laena" answered the man, approaching the young woman. "We have to get the royal family out of here before Stannis Baratheon takes them, so help the queen to dress and…"

"Ser Willem" Rhaella´s fading voice spoke from her bed she rested in with her children. "I… you have to get my children out of here. I will follow as soon as I can, I promise, but… you have to get my Viserys and Daenerys out of here" she rocked the newly born Daenerys in her arms, crying. It was obvious that she didn´t expect to survive the night and the old knight knew it. "Please, Ser Willem, I will follow, but…"

"I understand, your Grace" he said, taking the baby from her embrace. The little princess cried when she was removed from her mother´s arms, but the old man soothed her. "We will be expecting you in my house in Essos. Don´t forget that."

"Mama…" prince Viserys called her, trying to rise her from her seat to accompany them. Unfortunately, Rhaella didn´t have enough strength to even raise her arm. "Please come with us, mama."

"Be calm, sweetie" she whispered. "And go with Ser Willem. I will… find you later… I will…"

"Mama!"

"Always find you" the queen finally went unconscious and Viserys tried to wake her up with all her strength. Willem Darry grabbed him a second later, dragging him away from his dying mother.

"Come, your Grace, we have to leave" they excited the place, leaving Laena with Rhaella. Aegon woke up from his stupor in that moment and followed them through a door, an open one like before. He found himself then in another chamber, with no trace of Ser Willem nor her aunt or uncle. In their place there was a dark skinned woman, singing to a bundle in her arms. That one Aegon recognized immediately.

"Mother?" he asked, trying to see the face of Elia Martell, the woman who he loved despite not knowing how she even looked like. The woman who died trying to protect the baby she thought was him and would have done the same for him. But she continued singing with her face down. "Mother, I am here. I have wanted to know you for so much…"

"My Aegon, my beautiful prince" she started talking, interrupting her singing. Her smile was sweet as honey, like he always imagined. But there was also something else in that, something he didn´t really like. "You will grow up healthy and strong. To bring honour to House Nymeros Martell"

"What are you whispering in the boy´s ears, Elia?" asked someone. A man with silver hair entered the room in that moment, wearing the sigil of house Targaryen. The boy´s eyes widened, as he was in front of his father, Prince Rhaegar of House Targaryen, the Last Dragon. "Our Aegon will not only be a king. He will be the prince who was promised, the one to vanish the darkness from the world."

"As you say, my dear" the last two words were said with a certain level of irony, meaning that the talker wasn´t exactly sincere. "Are there news of your father, the king?"

"He is going to attend the Tourney of Harrenhal and demand us to make appearance there too. Even you, sweet wife" the dornishwoman frowned. She wasn´t exactly fully recovered from Aegon´s birth and going to the ballroom was a chore for her, let alone to travel several kilometres towards a castle in the middle of the Riverlands. "Only Aegon should remain in the keep with Ser Jonothor."

"Can´t he excuse me this time?" asked her, holding her babe closer to her chest. "A mother shouldn´t be away from her son, specially when he is just a newborn."

"I´m sorry, but his decision is taken. Please pack your things, so you can be comfortable enough for the travel" he approached his son, passing a gentle hand through his hair. "My little prince, I´m sorry we have to leave you here, but my father´s word is law… still."

"Yes, we should obey your lord Father for now" said Elia, seeing her husband exit the room. The she looked at her son again. "Prince that was promised… he lives in a world of delusions, with a head full of songs that made him unable to see the reality" she shook his head. "I know what you will be. You will be the first Martell in the Iron Throne, the first Martell King of the Seven Kingdoms. You will bring honour to our house."

"Mother… Mother!" Aegon followed Elia as she advanced through another door, finding himself in a chamber much like the last one, just that in this one Rhaegar and Elia were fighting. And their fight was about one only thing: Lyanna Stark. The seductress that drove his parents away from each other. Well, that was what Connington said, but Lemore always told him a different history.

"I was with you all the time!" the dornish princess screamed. "I was your support when you had to deal with your mad father, I let you cry in my shoulder when he tortured you, I spoke for you in front of my brothers. And for what? For you to dishonour me in front of the whole nobility of Westeros?"

"It wasn´t my intention to cross you" admitted Rhaegar, much more calmed than his wife. "But I had to crown Lyanna due to circumstances you won´t understand…"

"That I wouldn´t understand? Now you are underestimating me. I´m dornish, remember?" she continued, furious. "I can understand a lover or two, even a Paramour. And bastards, if you have them, as long as I am the rightful wife with the trueborn heirs. No, I don´t care if you take Lyanna Stark to your bed every day" she admitted. "But when you make a spectacle of your relationship with her…"

"I didn´t make a spectacle of anything, Elia, please" he said, tired. "I was only recognized her bravery for… something she did while in the Tourney" the man quickly changed the theme. "Besides, you knew ours was marriage of duty, not one of love."

"Yes, and I have hold my end of the bargain. I gave you an heir. Now it´s your turn to give me and my son a crown" Aegon didn´t know what to feel in that moment. Hearing his mother calling him a duty hurt, but she also was fighting for him, so he shouldn´t complain. "You owe me, Rhaegar, and I´m never going to let you forget that."

"I know" he answered, putting a sword on his belt. "I will be back to give you the crown the Martells have always been baying for."

The scene disappeared, only to be replaced by an open door, which led him to a big stance. There, three dragons lied on a table, chained to it. In front of them, a silver haired girl stood, chained to the roof and floor by strong chains. He immediately recognized her as his aunt Daenerys. He ran towards her, pulling the chains to try and free her. She moved her mouth all the while, apparently trying to say something.

"Aunt! What happened to you?" asked the prince, still manoeuvring the chains. "You were supposed to be in Qarth, not here in Pentos."

"Run… Aegon… run" the Khaleesi managed to say. Her nephew took a step back, finding then that his ankles were shackled to the floor, just like hers. He turned around in shock, only to find a man with blue lips. Smiling, Pryat Pree started walking around him. appearing and disappearing. Suddenly one of his wrists was chained too. Pree pulled it and secured him to the roof, earning an angered scowl.

"They need to be with their riders" informed the wizard, preparing for the last attack. "You wanted a family, there is your family. You will be here with them for centuries and centuries and centuries, feeding our magic. Welcome home, Aegon Targaryen, the king in exile."

"Dammit… release me!" screamed him, pulling from his chains. The green dragon put a struggle along with him, but Pree ignored them both. He just finished chaining the boy, turning then to the magical orb that was tracking the last dragonrider.

"Aegon" Daenerys whispered, trying to keep her words concealed. "Do you know where Rhaenys is?"

"Rhaenys?" he talked out loud. He knew that he shouldn´t do it, but… wasn´t his sister Rhaenys dead? Yes, Jon Connington told him she was murdered by Amory Lorch in the Sack of King´s Landing. Why else would they have grown up apart? "Isn´t she dead?"

"I´m not so sure" she answered, pulling her chains. "when they captured me, the wizards said there was three dragonriders from Targaryen blood. It means you, me and someone else… at first I thought it might be a Velaryon, but that man said it was a sibling of yours. It has to be Rhaenys."

"I… don´t know where she might be then" he answered, moving in his place. This was so sudden… and mysterious. Why had Jon split them apart if his sister was truly alive? Or maybe it wasn´t he. Maybe it was Varys. The spider was not someone to be trusted, after all. He stared at the wizard, who seemingly had found his next target.

-Beyond the Wall-

"Ghost. What have you found, boy?" asked Jon to his wolf, kneeling on the ground. He had walked away from the group for a moment to search for the wolf while the lord commander slept, worried that he might find some wights. But no, this time the animal found something else. A house. A stone antique house unlike anything he had seen this side of the Wall. The direwolf growled at it, showing his teeth to the house. "Perhaps we should go back to the camp"

He grabbed the wolf by the scruff of the neck and started the path back. Surprisingly, the house appeared again, blocking his way to his brothers. The Snow tried to surround it, but the place materialized before his eyes. Feeling the danger, both wolf and boy ran. The house continued to hunt them, until they were trapped into a circle. The albino growled again, as a door opened in front of them. And back and to the right and the left and… literally everywhere.

Jon Snow saw with terror as it started to close the space inside the circle, like a trap in a mace. He brought Longclaw out of it´s sheath, trying to defend himself and his friend from whoever was trying to catch him. it was no use, the house caught him, closing it´s old door when he was inside.

"Ghost, are you fine, boy?" asked the Snow teen, grabbing his direwolf´s snout. The animal licked him to calm him down, assuring him that he was safe. Then it put itself in front of it´s human, growling. It was obvious that they were not safe. He lifted his sword, walking towards the door they just passed through. Nothing. Another door opened in the opposite end of the room, putting his wolf´s fur on edge. "There, I guess"

He walked towards the open door, entering a chamber that looked like a green field. Jon´s eyes widened. He was obviously in the South, as nowhere in the North could he find something like that. A horse suddenly galloped towards him, carrying a knight with a mismatched armour. He was soon followed by others chasing it. He followed and then saw how an older version of Arya was cornered by knights in a white cloak, lead by a black armoured man.

"Aunt Lyanna?" he asked, recognising the people that were there. Then a question appeared in his mind: was he witnessing his aunt´s abduction by the dragon prince? Surprisingly no, because she was allowed to leave unharmed by the man, who just took the shield she has been using. Another door was opened then, showing him more scenes of Lyanna and Rhaegar. Clashing with the history he has been told, the silver prince didn´t abduct his aunt in this visions. They ran away together. And then…

"Father, Warrior, Smith, Mother, Maiden, Crone, Stranger" they both said under a hearth tree in an island full of weirwoods. "I´m his/hers and she/he is mine. From this day until the end of my days"

Love was in their eyes… and the kiss. Suddenly Jon felt really saddened for the Prince and his wolf bride, who married against the will of the world and paid the price. As did the whole Westeros. He passed another door, being shown the Battle of the Trident. Robert Baratheon has truly been a monster in that time, because the way he swung that monstrous Warhammer was unlike any other. The Silver Prince has no opportunity, falling with his chest crashed by a blow from the enormous weapon.

"Ly… anna" he muttered before dying on the waters of the river, his blood colouring the water red. The boy continued watching until the door opened again. A little against continuing the path, he walked towards it with his sword prepared to strike whoever was behind that door. He then found himself inside a room. There was a window… was he in a tower? Yes, a tower in a desert. And there… his eyes widened as he saw a woman fighting to give birth to a baby. His aunt Lyanna.

Finally the bleeding Stark woman managed to expulse the babe from inside of her. The midwife quickly put the child in it´s mother´s arms, announcing it was a boy. Jon was about to walk towards her when someone barged in. It was Eddard Stark. Static, he watched the woman put her son in her brother´s arms, pleading with her dying breaths for him to protect the newborn prince, Jaeherys Targaryen. He gave his promise and she died peacefully, knowing her brother would take care of him.

"But… where were you? While we were growing up in Winterfell, while we were playing the dragonknight and the young dragon, where were you?" he asked, a dreading feeling curling inside of him. The only child Lord Stark brought from the South to his home was… "What the hell?!" in the final chamber there was a boy and a girl chained to the roof and floor in front of three tiny dragons. "What…"

"You wanted a mother" someone behind him talked, making him turn around with Longclaw ready. He saw Ghost bound to the wall with a chain and a blue lipped man walking towards him. "Now you found your mother and father. Are you happy?" he didn´t talk, maintaining his eyes on his captor. "You are finally home, with your family… with your dragon and wolf. Welcome home, Jaeherys Targaryen, sweet song of ice and fire."

Aegon´s eyes widened. It was not his sister, but a sibling of his actually survived the purge the Baratheons and Lannisters made. He had a brother… a younger brother he never was aware of.

Jon, for his part, didn´t want to hear anything else. He could have stood being lied to about his aunt´s relationship with the silver prince, even to be lied to about the woman´s death by his father, but being lied about his origins his whole life? Right now he was a mess inside, but he had to keep calm to get out of here alive. Then he could try and find out what the truth really was.

Pryat Pree smiled, circling the boy in front of him. He shone with a special magic, so strong… he was really made for them, for bringing the magic back to this earth. Now it was only matter of time before their place in the world was restored.

Chapter Text

"Don´t you want to join your family?" asked Pree, putting a chain around his target´s ankles. Jon noticed it and quickly slashed the iron things. his shackles felt to the ground, disappearing into the earth. The warlock was impressed, but managed to keep it from been known. Aegon and Daenerys also saw that. And comprehended.

"Valyrian steel" managed to say the boy, pulling on his shackles. He hoped he had some… wait, they have something better than Valyrian steel. A Trio of young dragons, hopefully grown enough to spit fire on the enemy. Daenerys seemed to be of the same opinion, because she gave her children a look and ordered.

"Dracarys" she said in a clear voice, Drogon raising his head and breathing a little bit of smoke in the wizard´s direction. "Dracarys" she said again, which the black one answered with a new try to spit fire. "Do it you too. Or do you not know Valyrian?"

"I do. Dracarys" he said, hoping the two other dragons would obey. Rhaegal did, joining Drogon in his efforts to bath their gaoler in fire. Jon, for his part, was fighting the crazy man, who apparently could get hurt by that magical sword of his. A swing from Longclaw later, Ghost was free and Pree fled the room, avoiding being eaten by a furious direwolf by the skin of his teeth. Then the brunette went to the other prisoners, cutting the chains from their wrists and ankles. He was in the middle of that when they heard a sound. "What´s that?"

"I don´t think I want to find out. Ghost!" commanded the northerner, to which the direwolf answered with putting himself between his master and whatever was coming. The snarling beast retreated a bit when the humanoid figures started to take form in the darkness, showing themselves as walking corpses with blue lips, stretching arms and teeth ready to eat them. Only one word came to Jon´s mind then. "Wights!"

"What the…" while the younger male cut the dragons free, Aegon ran to the door and tried to open it. Locked. Great. The ancient wizards continued walking towards them, ready to consume their magic and live force, scaring them to death. Daenerys, however, had other plans.

"Dracarys!" she ordered. Drogon obeyed, spitting some sparks of fire towards the attackers. "Dracarys!" the black dragon did so again, finally managing to breath fire like one of his ancestors. The Undying stopped in their tracks, scared by the fire. The king in exile stared at the sight in awe. "What are you waiting for?! An invitation?!"

"Oh, yeah… Dracarys!" the blue haired boy ordered Rhaegal, making the young dragon join his brother. Viserion looked at Jon, as if asking permission to open fire. The youngest Targaryen purposely ignored him, focussing on Ghost. He was still digesting the news of his true parentage, fighting with the lies he has been fed all of his live. He was so proud of being Ned Stark´s son… "Hey! A little bit of help here!"

"I´m occupied" answered Jon, not wanting to communicate with the lizard thing that was eyeing him with attention. Besides, he was still trying to stomach that the people in front of him were part of his family, let alone a brother and aunt of his. Aegon seemed to catch this, turning around immediately.

"This is no time for an identity crisis, you just have to do whatever you can to survive" told him the boy king, dead serious. "So put aside your wolfish upbringing and order that damn dragon to open fire. NOW."

"I…" he was right. His Essosi half-brother was a complete strange to him and he could already read him enough to know he was doubting because of his upbringing as a member of the Stark family. "I don´t know if the dragon is…"

"Just say the damn word with us!" the wights look alike started approaching again, their hands getting closer and closer to the three Targaryens. Jon then decided that better alive than ending up in those wizard´s stomachs, so finally called his direwolf back and addressed the white dragon directly.

"Dracarys" he ordered and then the three little dragon opened fire together, making them flee towards another room. Holding his Valyrian steel sword, he followed them. Ghost walked right at his side, Viserion on his back. Doubting he would be able to defeat them alone Aegon and Daenerys followed. After all, it was the only door in that damn house that wasn´t locked shut by that Pree freak. They finally entered to a room with magnificent thrones and luxuries, but empty of people.

"What is this place?" asked Aegon, seeing one throne after another. His aunt scowled, remembering her visit to the house.

"This is where the undying first talked to me" answered the princess, frowning. "They used all the antique magnificent of Qarth to impress me, but I noticed it was all an illusion" Aegon returned to her side when she mentioned that noting around them was real. "Their real bodies are somewhere around, but that man Pyat Pree captured me before I could find them."

"I think you have already seen what they really look like" said Jon, finally finding the last door. He opened it and entered a dusty hall, where the decrepit bodies of the undying laid in worn thrones, barely alive. And, in the centre of the room, was a beating human hearth. They walked right towards it, with Jon keeping an eye on the rotting murmuring corpses on the chairs. "I´ve seen wights that looked more alive."

"And? I´ve seen dead men that looked more alive" answered the boy king, eyeing the hearth on the table with a certain level of disgust and awe. The dragons too, wary as ever. "Do you think they eat hearths?"

"Focus, nephews, we have to get out of here" their aunt said, feeling a little bit like a nursemaid. Were these boys really older than her? They didn´t seem like it. "I don´t see any doors around" she turned around to face them. "Do you see anything remotely alike to a way outside or…"

"Or wha…" the blue haired boy screamed when one of the corpses grabbed his hand. The tact was so disgusting that he couldn´t avoid doing so before trying to get free. The creature, as they couldn´t call them human, try to bit the struggling boy. Aegon simply continued. His half brother slashed the hand with his sword, but more of those things started trying to reach them.

"Goddamit, we awoke the dead!" Daenerys screamed. Jon rolled his eyes, this was not the first time he saw this happening. Normally he would call for fire, but these wizards wittered bodies seemed to work different to the average wights.

"Ugh, it´s still moving!"

"Do something!" the princess then looked at the dragons. They were very attentive at the hearth in the middle of the room. Perhaps… quickly as a snake, she ordered Drogon to destroy it, which the black dragon quickly comply. The undying screamed, but slowly vanished as the hearth was destroyed in front of their eyes. A moment later, the three Targaryen were panting, tired of the struggle.

"What was that?" asked the blue haired boy, brushing dust from his clothes. His aunt was about to answer, but a sudden movement of the building told her it was not time to talk. "You know? Forget it. Run!" the three of them bolted for the door, which was surprisingly open. As were all the others before it. They ran to freedom, hoping to find themselves at home… or wherever they were kidnapped from. The dragons and wolf along with them. "I see the outside!"

"Stop saying the obvious and run!" the group excited just in time to see the old, dusty House of the Undying collapsing due to the death of the ancient wizards. Daenerys panted as she faced a furious Pryat Pree, who yelled at the top of his lungs.

The wizard, for his part, was beyond reason in anger. The Undying were gone, the dragons escaped, the home of their order was gone… this was not supposed to happen! The damn Valyrian descendants were supposed to be consumed by his superiors, were supposed to give their magic to the hearth so their order could return to their ancient glory. That´s what he worked so hard for. But they ended up destroying everything!

"You… YOU! YOU DES…" he was stopped by a fist on his face, courtesy of Jon. He also was very upset with them and with very good reasons. First, they kidnapped him, making him seen like a deserter of the Night´s Watch. Second, he showed him a past he was having trouble stomaching, especially the part where he was not his father´s son. Third, they tried to eat him alive. And finally…

"Where the hell are we?" he asked, not recognized his sorroundings. He was so used to the snow and white woods, like those he found in the North and beyond the Wall, that he felt lost in that land full of strange buildings. Aegon was having similar thoughts, because this was definitely not Pentos. Dany, on the other side…

"Qarth" she answered, recognizing Xaro and her bloodridders in the entrance. They seemed surprised too, as she has been gone for so much time. And suddenly she arrived with two boys, her dragons and a white beast that looked like it could rip a horse apart. The direwolf also eyed them with curiosity, having never seen men like those. Viserion then landed in the top of his head and chirped cheerfully, happy to be free again.

"Qarth?" repeated the two boys. Aegon revolved nervously. The Griff was going to bloody murder him, kidnapped or not, for being so far away from his careful watch. And there was nothing Lemore would be able to do for him. Jon, for his part, was trying hard not to faint. It was true that after seeing the wights he became very much a believer in magic, but to be able to travel thousands of kilometre from Westeros to Essos… that was really unbelievable. It wasn´t supposed to be possible. And there also meant he abandoned his post in the Night´s Watch, reluctantly, yes, but… who was going to believe him?

"No…" Ghost, feeling his master´s internal revolt, licked his hand to give him support. It didn´t work to soothe him, but he thanked the wolf with a scratch anyway. He wouldn´t be able to put a foot in Westeros again, but at least he still had one friend.

"Ehhhhhhhh… where did you think you were?" asked the princess, freeing herself for a second from Xaro, walking right back towards her nephews. They seemed everything but good. That and Pree´s mumblings while trying to find them… "Well, how about we discuss this in Xaro´s Palace? I´m staying there and it has the most luxurious accommodations in the entire city."

-In the palace-

"So… you were in Pentos with a loyalist named Jon Connington?" asked Daenerys in her rooms, moving one of her figurines in the civasse board the merchant prince gifted her along with other useless things he asked to be returned after she rejected his marriage proposal for good. She had better prospects now.

"Aye" answered Aegon, moving his king to a safer position. At first he didn´t want to play, knowing his awful temper, but the girl managed to convince him. Well, after receiving a bath and new clothes to replace his filthy pentoshi ones, he didn´t put much of a fight. Especially when he noticed the kind of looks that Daxos man was giving him and his brother. "He was a close friend of my father and raised me since I was a baby. We lived in boat, moving from one place to another to avoid detection."

"I see" the princess answered, comparing it to her own life. It wasn´t so different after all. Neither of them has set a foot on Westeros. "What about you, Jaeherys?"

"Jon, please" the youngest boy was brooding, something he has been doing since exciting the house of the undying. He only stopped when Aegon startled him by whispering to his ear that the merchant prince was eyeing his rear like it was a fine cut of meat. Anyway, right now he was trying to make sense of everything he saw in the house of the undying, specially about his origins, and those two were not helping. Or perhaps they were trying. Robb always tried to break his brooding attacks that way. "I… I was raised in Westeros."

"Really?" Dany left her dragon in a bad place because of the surprise, making it easy for her eldest nephew to capture it. "Then you know of the traditions there? And songs too? There is one I read once in a wedding gift I received about a woman who danced between ghosts in a place…"

"Jenny of Oldstones?" asked Jon, recognizing the history as it was one of his sister Sansa´s favourites… well, his cousin Sansa. "I heard it a few times. My half-sister was being taught how to play the high harp when I left home."

"Half-sister? But… isn´t Lady Lyanna dead?" asked Aegon, sending him back spiralling back into the depressive mood that dominated him until they started talking. The silver haired girl threw him a glare that made the blue haired boy cower in his seat. They were finally managing to make him open to them! "Perhaps you should explain it to us."

"Well…" Jon wasn´t sure if he should talk, but they were family, no? He sighed. He should bloody accept it already, as he was stuck with the two of them and a baby dragon crawling into his lap. It that wasn´t a sign he was a Targaryen, nothing was. "My uncle, Lord Stark, adopted me when my mother died, naming me his bastard."

"No way!" both of them got up, scowling. It was an indignity, to name a Targaryen prince a bastard. But what were they expecting from Eddard Stark, one of the usurper´s dogs. When they get to Westeros they were going to…

"But… that along with my looks and the King´s stupidity saved my life" said Jon, making them realise that Lord Stark was the reason he was still alive despite his blood. "And I can´t say I had a bad life. My father… uncle was a father to me, much like your Jon Connington" Aegon sat down again. "Winterfell was a home and the Stark children siblings" his eyes became clouded with tears. "I should have never left. Now Robb is fighting a war alone and I´m stuck out of fucking Westeros."

"Well, you didn´t have much of a choice" reminded him Daenerys, thinking that the man she called Usurper´s dog wasn´t that bad after all. He at least was loyal to his own blood. "Where were you when the war exploded after the Usurper´s death?"

"How do you know he is dead?"

"News travel fast" answered the girl, crossing her arms. "And?"

"At the Wall. I was a member of the Night´s Watch"

"The Night´s Watch?!" Aegon entered the conversation again, suddenly remembering something. "The Griff talked to me about it. He said it was a penal colony in the extreme of the world so chilly that your balls would fall out if… ehhh, sorry for my language, milady" he said, looking at Dany for a second. "Anyway, how did you end up there so young? What did you do?"

"I… I think I caused a war" he fell down on the floor again, suddenly realising that he, or at least his parents, were the cause of Robert´s Rebellion and the Fall of their House. "If my parents have never eloped…"

"That´s not your fault, isn´t it? Lord Stark didn´t have the right to send you to such a horrible place just for that" Aegon was furious now. He couldn´t believe someone was capable of doing something like that to his own blood, let alone to such a good person as his brother. This would not have happened had Jaeherys grown up with him and Jon Con. He would have been happy with them.

"He didn´t sent me, I joined voluntarily. It was one of the few honourable paths for bastards and I wanted to be like my father… uncle" their frowns deepened. "Besides, I have been baying to join them for a time. My uncle Benjen was there and I believed it to be an honourable order that protected the Realm of Men."

"Then you were played"

"Maybe, but I tried my best to become the best of rangers, just like my uncle Benjen. Besides, I couldn´t stay in Winterfell anymore when Lord Stark left with the King…" he shut up in that moment before he could say something about Lady Stark mistreating him. They could be tiny now, but those two had dragons and they were capable to fly to Westeros as soon as they were grown enough to burn Catelyn Stark into oblivion. And he won´t do that to his brothers and sisters. "Anyway, I joined them and in my first Great Range I was kidnapped by those idiots of the dusty house."

"That´s where you got the dog?" the blue haired boy signalled Ghost, who was staring at the baby dragon in his rump with his blood red eyes.

"It´s a direwolf, his name is Ghost. And he has been mine since before, Lord Stark gave one to each of his children" explained Jon. "The only thing that should matter here is that I´m not allowed to go back to Westeros. Deserters to the Night´s Watch are beheaded back there and no one is going to believe me when I claim I was kidnapped by wizards. They will call me an oatbreaker and…"

"Is there anything we could do to help you?"

"Only the King can absolve me from my vows"

"I´m the rightful King of Westeros, so I absolve you from any vow to the Night´s Watch you have taken" said Aegon, trying to put on that kingly façade septa Lemore was trying to instil into him. Unfortunately, he only manage to see theatrical, making Daenerys laugh. "And if you need more ceremony, we can do it again when we conquer King´s Landing."

"And when is that going to be?" asked Jon, feeling a little bit better. His half-brother and aunt were strange, but at least they believed him. And were trying to get close to him too. But he wouldn´t want to rise their hopes only for them to crush to the ground. The Kingdoms might be divided, yes, but they were still not a force to be reckoned for them. Even with the Golden Company, something he doubted Aegon had. "We are not going to be prepared for some time."

"I wouldn´t be so sure" answered the boy king, smiling. "Dany, do you think our… errrrr… stimmed host can lend me some quill and paper? I want to write a letter to Jon Con. He would be thrilled to know where I am."

"I should send a letter to Robb too..." mussed the former watchman, walking towards his direwolf again. He wanted to make clear to all the North that he was no oatbreaker, no coward or deserter, that his disappearance from the Great Ranch was not his fault... but he also didn´t want to see Xaro Xhoan Daxos in those thin clothes ever again. Neither wanted Aegon.

In the end, Daenerys went to Xaro to ask him for the writing implements. She returned with the tools and a very displeased face, as the man took advantage of the moment to ask her to marry him again, which she had to refuse. The boys quickly wrote short letters to their families, one to Jon Connington and another to Robb Stark, who she was starting to like when she read the letter Jaeherys wrote over his shoulder, and sent the two to be dispatched by a very unhappy Jorah.

One of the letters was sent to Pentos, to the Golden Company´s headquarters. It would take a few days to reach the hands of the Griff, but it was going to arrive. And his fury would be as epic as a Baratheon´s when he read it. Lucky they were going to be away from Qarth and towards Astapor when he found out.

The other was to Reach White Harbour first and then Riverrun, as the new King in the North was bound to have advanced south to fight the Lannisters. That one would have a more complicated route, but it would reach the Stark boy… hopefully. There was no weirwood, but Jon Snow prayed, it would reach him, because it seems he was going to be trapped in Essos for quite some time.

Chapter Text

"You are a disgrace, Duckfield!" Jon Connington punched the man again and again while the other members of Aegon´s mismatched army just watched. They didn´t do anything to help the poor Duck, as he clearly lost their best opportunity to conquer fame and glory in the Sunset Kingdom. He deserved worse than he got. "I told you to never lose sight of Aegon and what did you do? YOU LEFT HIM ALONE!"

"Sorry, I didn´t think…" another punch silenced him. He took it like a man and resisted. After all, what else could he do? It was not like somebody would help him. He wouldn´t blame them for that either. The smith´s son has fucked up in more ways than one. He deserved whatever the damn griffin would do to him.

"You didn´t think what? That he would wander away from the place you left him in? He is a fucking boy, you duck brain! Boys got easily distracted! He could have been tempted by a pretty girl or a sweet and murdered in an alleyway for…"

"Lord Connington! There is a letter from Aegon!" years later, Rolly would remember the speed at which the former Hand of King Aerys moved towards the Rookery. Gods, he didn´t even knew it was humanly possible to move like that! The beaten man lifted himself from the ground, walking towards the place Connington disappeared into. He also wanted to know where the damn boy disappeared into. And by the way the face of the Griff was growing red with anger, it was going to be a blast.

"QARTH! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT DAMN BOY DOING IN QARTH?!" screamed the stormlander. Attracting the attention of a lot of people from the camp. The first one to show up was Septa Lemore, with her habitual graceful movement. Without talking, she took the letter from the redhead and opened it. After some silence, she shook her head in disbelieve.

"What happened? What has that damn boy done?" asked the knight. Having trained him in sword fighting, he knew Aegon could be quite difficult. He wouldn´t put it past him to ran off with the first pretty girl he saw for one or two days, just to give them a scare. If that was what happened, he was…

"Can you read the letter, please, septa?" asked the reach knight. She nodded, unfolding the thing. Not for the first time, the sellsword cursed his lack of academic training. Out of necessity, he knew his numbers, but he was completely lost when it came to letters. He didn´t have more time to think, as the woman began

"Dear Griff,

First of all, I want to tell you I´m fine. Really, it scared me as much as it surely scared you, but I will assure you that I´m as fine as anyone in my situation could be. And before you scream at me, let me explain it so you don´t feel the need to punish me after receiving this.

I didn´t leave Rolly out of my own volition. The warlocks of Qarth were out for Targaryen blood and kidnapped me so they could offer me as a meal for their elders. And I´m not lying, they were literally going to eat me alive! Well, me and my aunt and my brother, if you want the specifics, but as a raven can´t carry much, I´m not going to bore you with the tale. We should also discuss the Starks, by the way.

Anyway, I´m currently staying with my aunt at some merchant creepy prince´s house. We plan on abandoning Qarth soon, also, as the welcome won´t stay for long thanks to us burning a house with dragonfire… I will give you the details later. Now you only need to know that we are heading to Astapor to buy some Unsullied or so says Dany. Let´s meet there so we can plan our next move.

Hope we can find each other soon!

Sincerely yours,

Aegon the Sixth Targaryen"

Silence reigned over the room for a long time, as they tried to wrap their heads around what that letter truly said. Was it really Aegon? could it be a code? Because last time they knew, Aegon didn´t have a brother, only a sister and she was dead. The aunt of course meant Daenerys, who all knew was in Qarth and could have very well been taken prisoner by the warlocks, but a brother? All of them looked confused except Lemore, who, as always, had that mysterious look in her purple eyes.

"What the hell is this?" said Connington, trying to make sense of the confused message. Then something hit him. How had the warlocks smuggled Aegon all the way to Qarth so soon? And how did they pass the Kinsguard´s notice? This could very well be a fake, but… that was the boy king´s awful handwriting. He recognized it. "Duckfield! You let some buffoon with blue lips get close to the boy?"

"I didn´t" answered the knight, trying to remember what happened before. The boy´s complains came to his mind. "But he said once or twice that he saw a blue lipped twat following us and… ouch!"

"You fool! I should have knighted one of those ducks in the field instead of you! They would surely make better guards!" screamed Jon, grabbing his sword. He was about to strike Rolly when someone talked.

"How did they find out? And what was he doing in Essos when he should be in the North?" asked Lemore, making all the eyes in the room turn to her. Harry Strickland was about to open his mouth to ask what the hell was she talking about when the woman answered. "I´m not talking about Aegon, I´m talking about his brother. His half-brother."

"Aegon doesn´t have a half-brother." Said Connington.

"Really now? I thought Rhaegar told you about his romance and marriage with Lady Lyanna" the griffin nodded, remembering with some distaste his late love interest´s wives. Elia was a plain thing, pretty in the dornish way, but not enough to be compared with the likes of Cersei Lannister. She also possessed an overbearing personality that drew shy Rhaegar away. It was like dealing with a female Oberyn in Jon´s opinion. Lyanna, on the contrary, was a sincere and happy girl. Also outspoken, but much more free spirited in a way that anyone could mistake her for a wood spirit. She would never try to force her decisions or ambitions on someone else. Also, she was one of the few people that could make the melancholic prince laugh. "He surely told you she was expecting."

"Yes, he did. But Lyanna died and took the babe with her. Lord Stark never mentioned a child when he came back to court with his sister´s bones."

"Oh, but that´s where you are mistaken, milord" everybody was looking at her intensely now. "After they had that encounter in the Tower of Joy, Lord Stark and his companion went to Starfall to give back the ancient sword of House Dayne" her eyes became darker with grieve when she reached that part. "I was there."

"I know" for a second, Ashara Dayne felt like herself again, staring in the horizon as the horses carrying young Jaeherys Targaryen to the North disappeared in the desert again. A babe she carried in her arms and has come to love in the short time Eddard stayed in her home. Gods, she should have begged harder for the child to stay with her. "I… Lord Stark came not just for the sword, but for… to ask for a wetnurse for the infant prince."

"Septa…"

"I had just lost my own baby girl and had no need of the woman I hired for that demeanour" explained her, putting an arm around her middle. "When Lord Stark came with the boy and the body… I put Wylla to their service. I was acting as Lord of Starfall in that moment, so the deal was kept secret between us and the Starks. No one else was supposed to know the boy survived."

"And you are telling me now?" Connington felt the need of ripping his hair out of his skull. Another child of Rhaegar lived and he has been oblivious to it. After promising his Silver Prince he would protect his children. "Where the hell is the boy now?" Qarth was the obvious answer, so she didn´t bother to answer. "Where has he been?"

"In Winterfell" answered the septa, cold. "I wanted to keep him, as he would only be safe with a Targaryen loyalist, but Lord Stark was adamant. He said his nephew was a Stark and his place was in Winterfell before ridding off to the North, back to his castle."

"Had he done that, we would have… his bastard" the Griffin lord finally understood. "It´s the bastard, no? The one he brought from Dorne. The boy rumoured to be yours. It´s him, no?" she nodded. "Well, damn. That man can be smart when he wanted to be."

"What I really want to know is how the warlocks managed to find out about Jaeherys" the former lady continued. "There were limited people that knew about him, most of them dead by now, Eddard Stark included. Howland Reed wouldn´t have betrayed the secret, he was more sworn to the Lady Lyanna than his own liege lord. Even my most trusted servants from Starfall…"

"It doesn´t matter, what matters is that he is here now" Connington quickly recovered from the shock, adapting to the current situation. This unexpected development could be the end of their ambitions… or an advantage. After all, what was better than a bond between brothers to keep a younger, probably affection starved young man from rebelling against his rightful king, his older brother? And there was something else. A close blooded sibling could always be married off to a highborn for loyalties…

"What do we do now?" finally asked Harry Strickland, still trying to stomach everything that happened here. A younger brother with dragon´s blood? And the princess finding out her nephew was alive? When did the world got crazy? "Do we go to Qarth to search for them?"

"I don´t think they are still in Qarth right now" Jon sighed. "Let´s go to Astapor and hope to find them there. All three of them."

"Jon, the Starks…"

"We will deal with them when we get to Westeros." Answered the man before turning around to order the men to pack everything to leave. Ashara stared into the sea once more, sending a prayer to the seven for the Warlocks not to have been the ones brokering the news of his heritage to the boy. Everything but that. Jaeherys was going to have to deal with enough after being kidnapped, he didn´t need an identity crisis too.

-In Riverrun-

"Milady? There is a scroll for the king" the maester said, entering the chambers of the dying Lord of the Trident. His daughter, the grieving Lady Catelyn, was there sitting and accompanying her father. A glass of milk of the poppy was sitting next to her, waiting for the next time she needed to feed it´s contents to her father.

"Give it to me, I will deliver it to his Grace" the redheaded woman extended her hands. The man did as he was bidden and left her. She grabbed the scroll and opened it, stopping when the first letters appeared. This handwriting, more elegant than it´s owner had the right to have, was known to her. "That bastard"

"To Lord Robb Stark,

You have probably heard about what happened in the Last Great Ranch and…" the Tully woman didn´t want to continue reading his excuses. Because that was what the letter was probably filled of. Excuses for abandoning his post in the Night´s Watch, dishonouring his entire family. She tossed the scroll into the fire, stirring the flames to make it disappear completely. Seeing the fire consume it left her an odd sense of satisfaction that she didn´t found since her boy rode off to war.

"Little Cat?" Ser Brynden entered in the precise moment she left the pincers to stir the fire in their place. He noticed her form hovering over the fire, making him suspicious. "What were you doing, little Cat?"

"Nothing, uncle" she answered, letting go of the pincers. "I just felt the room a little bit too chilly and wanted to stir the fire to give father more comfort" the Blackfish raised an eyebrow. Catelyn cold? After spending sixteen years in the North? "Anyway, what are you doing here? You were supposed to be with Robb."

"Your son just arrived and I wanted to tell you before you meet him in the Great Hall. He is enjoying his victory with his men right now, trying to forget about the news that arrived a few days ago" Catelyn felt the need to roll her eyes, knowing exactly which news her uncle was talking about.

When a raven arrived from the Wall, bearing a scroll for the Starks, the widowed lady felt the need to roll her eyes. She half expected it to be the bastard pestering her children again or demands from the Night´s Watch. What she never expected it to be was news about the boy getting lost on the other side of the Wall. The Lord commander said that it was a disappearance, but Ser Aliser Thorne, the master at arms of Castle Black, thought it was a desertion. After all, the boy thought himself too good for the Watch. That a scroll from the boy came demonstrated his treachery, as he had to be in a place where ravens can be found and she was sure wilding had none of them. Catelyn silently pleaded he was not plotting to take the North wherever he was.

"I should join him" she said, getting up. She was about to excite the room when her uncle grabbed her arm. He turned her to see into his eyes, making her felt anxious. Why was Brynden threating her like that?

"Something is worrying you, Cat, I can see it" the Blackfish looked into her eyes. She relaxed a little. Her uncle was worried for her, that was understandable. "You can tell me whatever is weighting your hearth and I will do anything to make you feel better. I can even find a solution for…"

"I don´t think there is a solution for this" the woman answered, looking at her father over her shoulder. The poor man was asleep and would be for some time, as he had just received a heavy dose of milk of the poppy. The aging knight made a move with his head and brought her to Lord Hoster´s solar, the most secure room in the castle. No one would listen to her worries there.

"What happened, little Cat?"

"It´s my husband´s bastard" she finally spat. "Do you remember the raven that arrived a few days ago bearing the news of his disappearance beyond the Wall?" he nodded, trying to understand her. "He is not lost anymore. A raven just arrived bearing news of him. I recognized his handwriting and… Uncle, I don´t know what to do. Robb would believe any lie he told him and I´m afraid he is going to try to steal his heritage now that he is at war."

"I see" the knight had the same doubts as her. He didn´t personally know the boy, but he was more inclined to believe his niece´s word over his. After all, Cat knew him. "Where did the scroll came from?"

"What?"

"Catelyn, please, think. You know that news travel, no matter what we do. Robb will know sooner or later. We have to take preventive measures before that happened" lady Stark nodded, understanding. "Now, where did the scroll came from?"

"I… I don´t know" confessed the female, flushing a little bit in embarrassment. "I didn´t took the time to read the letter. When I recognized the bastard´s calligraphy I threw the scroll into the fire."

"Why did you do that? You should have at least read it to get information" the flush in Catelyn´s face became deeper. Brynden shook his head at his niece´s lack of foresight. "Never mind, maester Vyman should know where it came from."

"Yes, but… what…"

"For now, you only have to make sure that Robb doesn´t know about the bastard abandoning his post. As you said, he trusted him. We can´t let him know that his half-brother is anywhere but on the Wall or he might call for him and give him a pardon."

"Uncle…"

"I will take care of the rest" the Blackfish finished the talk. Catelyn nodded and left to her father´s side, to be there for him, and Brynden towards the maester´s tower. There he found Vyman tending to his ravens, especially the ones that just arrived. The man turned around towards him when he walked. "Good afternoon, maester."

"Good afternoon to you too, Ser" the healer let go of the birds to go to him. "Is there something I can do for you? Did Lord Hoster got worse?"

"No, thanks to the Seven, but there is definitely something you can do for me. I heard from my niece that a raven arrived today for his Grace, but didn´t have the name of the writer in it. Can you tell me where did the bird come from?"

"White Harbour, sir. I remember seeing the merman´s mark on it" answered the maester. Brynden raised an eyebrow. The North? The bastard was still in the North? "Was it important for his Grace? Should I write a reply, or…"

"No, it´s not important. I just wanted to know where it came from" the Blackfish left the room for his brother´s solar. Once there he ordered a servant to call for Ser Robin Ryger and Ser Desmond Grell. They were old and probably it was a mistake to send them away, but they were also his most trusted men. He wouldn´t confide in anyone else with a job so delicate. When they arrived, both men were confused.

"Ser Robin, Ser Desmond"

"Ser Brynden" they both answered with respect.

"I called you here because of some news that arrived from the North. Apparently, Lord Eddard´s bastard son deserted the Night´s Watch and is hiding somewhere in the North, probably White Harbour" the two suddenly were interested. "We are worried that he might want to stage a coup to take Winterfell from his trueborn brother, so I´m sending you to find him. If you do, threat him as any deserter should be threated."

"Yes, ser"

"And please keep this conversation in secret from his Grace. He holds the boy in great steam and would be saddened to find him a traitor."

"Understood, ser" both men rode off to Moat Cailin the morning after, then the North. A few weeks later, another scroll reached Ser Brynden. Apparently, the bastard boy wasn´t in the North at all, as the first letter arrived from Essos. This puzzled Brynden, what was the damn boy doing in Essos? Was he hiring a sellsword company to take Winterfell? It very well could be. Catelyn said the boy was penniless, but he could ask a loan from the Iron Bank or…

"Uncle?" he lifted his eyes from the letter, landing them on his niece. "Robb just found out that his bastard brother is a deserter. He… he hasn´t taken it very well, especially the… the punishment part" she swallowed hard. "I don´t think he could behead him."

"Don´t worry, if it comes to that, I will do the deed" promised Brynden, calming Catelyn´s soul. Whatever that was happening, he would find out.

Chapter Text

"I wonder how Griff managed the news…"

"Better than Robb, I think. Gods, he surely thinks I´m a deserter" said Jon, covering his mouth with his hand after doing this, being accompanied by his wolf. The animal seemed to be as miserable as his master, neither of them having been in the sea before and not finding their seafood. Dany was near them, handing them some spiced wine. She had heard somewhere that this helped with nausea and this seemed to be the right moment to use it. At least they had lots of that from Illyrio.

After being practically kicked out of Xaro´s mansion (and marriage rejection number twenty-seven that day and both of his nephews refusing to sleep with him) the Targaryens decided to make their way to Astapor on ship. On the port, there was an attempted murder on Daenerys. A sorrowful man tried to kill the princess with a manticore, but was stopped by a mysterious white bearded man who called himself Arstan. The same man that was now travelling with them, after promising to protect them.

"If he has half the brain, he won´t" answered Aegon, a little bit of jealousy sipping into his voice. It was no mystery to anyone that the boy king felt a tiny bit (probably a lot) of envy towards Jon´s cousins for growing up with him in Winterfell. The Young Griff had always wanted a sibling. He spent hours wondering how it would have been had Rhaenys survived the sack of King´s Landing. Hell, he even asked the Old Griff once if he could have a little brother! And just now he finds out he already had one, just that he was living thousands of miles away in an icy wasteland. "Why would he think something like that? I mean… you said you were as close as brothers."

"Well… my… Lady Stark didn´t really like me" he confessed, remembering the hateful glares his step mother… aunt gave him before joining the Night´s Watch. Something he shouldn´t be mentioning to his other family, he reminded himself, as those dragons could do more than roast a lady. "Anyway, that´s in the past. We should be worrying about the future now" he pushed his cup away. "What are you going to do once we reach Astapor? Because I have no desire to become a slave."

"Fear not, I have a plan" Daenerys said, easily taking the lead. This gave Jon some hopes, even with his aunt denying his wish to know what those plans were. After all, he could really complain. His live improved greatly since knowing his newest relatives.

A few more days after the begin of their journey in the Balerion, the younger male´s nausea started to fade. Finally, he dared to join his brother and company in their daily spars, first only seeing and then with his sword. And he must say that fighting on a ship was more difficult than it looked. The damn thing moved from one side to the other, making him lose his balance more time than he cared to admit. Arstan tried to soothe his insecurities, explaining him that even the best swordsmen could lose their foot in an environment like the open sea, but that didn´t lessen Jon´s embarrassment. Or Aegon´s, for a fact. The oldest Targaryen was decent with a sword on earth, but nearly complete rubbish on a ship. And Belwas never lost a moment to remind him that.

"Are you going to explain us what the hell are we going to do once we reach a damn port?" asked the boy king in a bad humour, after a particularly bad day of loses against the former pit fighter and ancient knight. "I don´t want to be a joy killer, but we are reaching port tomorrow and unless we think of something fast…"

"I´m going to buy an army of Unsullied" answered the silver haired woman, making all the males around her shut up. Irri and Jhiqui, not particularly interested, simply continued passing the food to each of the ship´s passengers. Finally, someone woke up from the enchantment enough time to talk.

"Are you crazy?" Aegon murmured, not knowing what else to say.

"No" she answered, matter of factly. "I have grown up with histories about the merits of the Unsullied as soldiers, of the their great strength and endurance, of their… reputation as the best soldiers that ever graced the earth. With an army like that, we surely are going to win over the Lannisters."

"Yes, me too, but have you ever heard about the price their masters ask for just one?" Jon watched his family members argue with mild interest. In Winterfell, the arguments are held in private, in the family´s chambers or the lord´s solar, but on this ship apparently nothing can be kept as the walls were too thin for that. And it would be a lie if the dragonwolf said that he didn´t enjoy hearing them argue.

"I think you are forgetting, dear aunt, that the price of a sole Unsullied soldier is so colossal that only someone like Illyrio would be able to afford it." Griff said, growling a bit at the statement. "We aren´t exactly rich, Daenerys. The gold one would…"

"Who said I would pay with gold? We have something much more valuable than gold to negotiate with" she looked at the three dragons, playing under the careful watch of a snow white direwolf. The animals looked very relaxed, as if they didn´t have a care in the world. She frowned after a second. She loathed having to restore to using one of her children as a bait, but there was no other way.

"The dragons?" Aegon commented, lifting himself from his chair. "Daenerys, there is no way I´m letting you do this. Those dragons are our secret weapon, our best chance to claim what is ours once and for all. You can´t just give one away, not even for an army of cockles stone soldiers."

"Who said I was going to hand one of my children over?" she answered. And not for the first time, the girl cursed her poverty to Seven hells. All her life, she hadn´t had a copper to her name. Of course, she had the title of princess, but what good fancy titles are when they didn´t come along with money? They were simply useless. "What I am going to do is presenting myself as princess Daenerys Targaryen, a possible costumer, and demand they sell me an army in exchange for Drogon."

"Drogon is not going to like it" commented Jon, fearing the reaction the black dragon will have to that particular situation. "Anyway, do you really think they are going to sell you their precious soldiers without a price of gold?"

"Dragons are more valuable than gold and those greedy masters will surely want to put a hand on my baby boy if they have the opportunity" she smiled at them. "Don´t worry, I´m not going to really give them Drogon. Once I am the new owner of the Unsullied, they are going to find out exactly how good slaves dragons are." She giggled a bit. "I already want to see their faces when their newest pet turns on them"

"Don´t know, most of the nobility of the free cities know that the Targaryens are little more than beggars without a copper. And that´s not even the beginning." Aegon pondered on that. If he accepted, they would have at their disposition one of the most powerful armies on the world. If the plan failed, the consequences… he just didn´t want to imagine being reduced to slavery.

"And now dragons, don´t forget the dragons" she added calling for her own. "But for this to work, I need you to help me in a way you will probably don´t like" Aegon peered at her with curiosity. "I need them to believe I´m the sole owner of the dragons and for that, dear nephews, the rest of the world must think you don´t exist."

"It´s fine by me" said Jon, not wanting to be recognized as a Targaryen just yet. It has been a bitter pill to swallow that the man he thought was his father was really his uncle and he still have many emotional complications to add a new name and new relations. For now he was content to call Dany his aunt and Aegon his brother. And learning a few words in High Valyrian to control his dragon. One step at the time.

"Connington will probably murder me if I out myself before he deems it safe" he said, crossing his arms. "Well, I guess we have our voicer. Now… how are we going to deal with the good masters of Astapor?"

"First, offering them Drogon. Now, dragons are incredibly rare and valuable, so I will have the right to demand as many Unsullied as I want. I will demand all of them, even the ones that are still in training. That way we will find ourselves with an army of undefeatable soldiers and they with nothing at all." She rubbed her hands. "Once I have control of all of them, I will order them to kill the Good Masters and we will have Astapor for ourselves."

"So you are not only planning to get an army, but to conquer a city. A good plan... or it would be if it didn´t endanger us all" the woman raised an eyebrow. "Just think about it. Once you are gone from the ship, there will be nothing stopping them from turning the rest of the ship´s inhabitants into slaves. And, if we go with you, what makes you think they will hear you out and not just deem your offer a bad business and reject you? Or worse, enslave us all when negotiations fail?"

"Then we will have to bring the dragons out. And about the enslavement, we have to have some protection, no? I need to be a Targaryen for this folly, but you two can have a shield." The two looked at her not comprehending. "Westerosi nobility is the best shield I can think about."

"What?"

"Just think about it, what else can make the Good Masters think two times before putting a hand on any of you? If they touch someone of a high enough status from the Sunset Kingdom, the might of it will rain on them and they won´t want that. A Westerosi invasion will be the end not just of Astapor, but of the whole Slaver Cities and their wicked commerce."

"Dany, that would only work with members of a Great House!"

"Are you not members of Great Houses?" she smiled at them, making a sign for her handmaidens to come. Irri and Jhiqui came forward, handing her nephews bundles of clothes. With a doubt, Aegon unwrapped them and was presented with an orange cloak with the sun and shield of the Martells from Sunspear. He turned to Jon, who was at now holding a light cloak with the grey direwolf of house Stark. "What the…"

"It´s pretty, both of them" commented the princess, smiling to herself. "I would have made it Ghost, but for the act to work we needed to present you as a trueborn Stark and that was supposed to be the kind of things your cousins would wear."

"No" he answered giving back the cloak. "NO, no, no, no, no, no…"

-A day later-

"How is it that she always managed to ensnare us in her plans?" asked Jon, walking alongside Aegon. He was currently dressed in the finery Daenerys prepared for him with her handmaidens, just like his brother, and not feeling happy about it. He knew that he always wanted to be Stark, but not this way! "I look bloody ridiculous"

"Hey, for this mummer´s farce to work, we need to play our parts. Do you understand, ROBB?" answered the boy king, feeling exactly the same way as him. part of Dany´s plan was to fake she had the support of two of Westeros Great Houses as Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, just to make the offer a little bit more appealing for the Good Masters. And the support will be shown with the physical presence of two ambassadors of those noble houses, prince Quentyn Martell and Lord Robb Stark.

"Please don´t call me like that. It´s shameful enough to use his name like this, I don´t want to hear you call me by my brother´s name" a jealous grunt came out of Aegon, who still couldn´t get over the fact that Robb Stark managed to be Jon´s older brother. "And who is going to believe us? Robb is more Tully than Stark, we don´t look anything alike. And you have never seen Dorne in your live."

"Well, I hope that the histories Lord Connington told me about my mother´s homeland are enough for me to impersonate my cousin, prince Quentyn Martell."

"Me too, your Grace"

"Don´t call me like that" Aegon continued behind Dany and her servant girls towards the place Good Master Kraznys was waiting for them. At first sight, the three Targaryens had the same thought: what a big man. Seriously, the guy looked like it had eaten a complete whale! And those teats… he had bigger teats than Daenerys and she was very well gifted. Near him were some servants, including a dark skinned girl whose face doesn´t show any emotion. "Let´s hope this works out, because it´s our only chance."

"Right" they shut up as Daenerys began to talk.

"Are you the Good Master Kraznys mo Nakloz of Astapor?" she asked in the common tongue, her expression as cold as ice. This was the man that owned the biggest training pit for slaves in the city, he deserved no pleasantries.

"Ivestragon se līve qilōni iksan" Jon was a novice to High Valyrian, but even he detected the insult in the master´s work. And even if he didn´t, the expression on the faces of his relatives would have told him everything. "Se ivestragon zirȳla bona nyke ryptan hen zirȳla"

"My master welcomes you to this city" the dark skinned girl translated, obviously editing the insults master Kraznys sent at the silver haired princess. It seemed to be an ability the girl acquired with years serving under the walrus and with a good reason. The man barely seemed able to form a sentence without adding an insult to it. All their transaction passed with the two older ones trying not to answer their insult. Even the show the master gave them cutting an Unsullied´s nipple was laced with annoyance and a healthy amount of anger. One that they couldn´t wait to vent.

"It´s unbelievable from that man!" Aegon finally exploded on the boat, banging his fists on the table. The rest of the retinue looked also annoyed out of their minds. "I knew those masters could be prepotent idiots, but that man spend nearly all the day staring at your teats. And every time he opened his mouth…"

"Hummmm… I´m a novice at High Valyrian, so… can you translate exactly what did he said?"

"Oh, not much, between calling our aunt a whore and making japes at her very gifted bosom and pretty nipples, he made hundredths of sexual propositions to her and her pretty boy toys" Jon felt the need to puke. It was disturbing enough when Xaro tried to get him into his bed, but Kraznys was completely new level of disturbing. "At least we had his attention. And he gifted us his translator… what is his name?"

"Missandei" Daenerys said, bringing the girl to the front. She has been a gift from the master to command her Unsullied army until they learn the common tongue. What the good master didn´t know was that three people in total in her retinue knew High Valyrian in some level and all of them wanted to use it against the masters for various reasons. "Tell us, girl, are the masters planning something against us?"

"Right now, they don´t think of you a problem and don´t particularly care if you conquer or not the Sunset Kingdom´s Throne. After all, everything is going to happen far away from them" she said dutifully, bowing in respect. The woman was her new master and the boys were her allies. She better show respect. "And about the intelligence they might have about you, they didn´t even know you speak High Valyrian, so they don´t have much. They will give you the Unsullied in exchange of the dragon as planned."

"Just that I don´t plan to exchange one of my children for their slave soldiers" she stared at the other two, leaving Missandei astonished. Did that girl really think she could against the masters without an army. "And one more thing" she made a more dignified expression. "Missandei, iksā dāez hae jaelā, aōha glaesagon iksis aōhon arlī naejot aōha homeland lo ao ao umbagon lēda īlva, emilā se possition hen iā handmaiden syt Daenērys hen Targārien Lentor, hae sȳrī hae se mēre hen ñuha interpreter isse se dāez cities."

"Nyke mazōregon se proposition, ñuha dārilaros" of course the girl accepted. At her eleven years, Missandei lived as a slave most of her years. There was nothing she desired more than her freedom. Unless… "Master…"

"Please, call me Dany. And if that´s too much for you, you can call Daenerys" the little girl frowned. She wasn´t accustomed to call anyone by their names except her fellow slaves. And the silver haired girl in front of her was far from a slave. "Or, is there some other way you wanted to call me that is not master? Don´t take it wrong, but it´s uncomfortable to be called the same as that horrible walrus and his prickly friends."

"Princess, maybe? Or Khaleessi?" offered Jon, passing a hand through his dark locks. Everyone in the room focussed on him. It was not often that he decided to talk without being talked to first, so they were surprised. "What? You are a princess and Lady Catelyn always told me I have to call my…" he stopped himself before saying his betters, as Lady Stark always reminded him of. "The high lords by their titles" he looked at the girl. "What do you say, Missandei?"

"If the princess thinks it´s okay for me to call her by her title, then I have no objections. The same with Khaleessi" the Naathi answered, suddenly more interested in the brunette before her than the other. It was obvious from his careful choice of words that he suffered mistreatment at some point of his live. Not nearly as bad as a slave, but she could notice the signs. Anyway, that could be left for other day. Now she has more urgent matters. "What are you planning to do with the Unsullied, Khaleessi? I would rather prefer if they came out of it alive."

"Do you personally know some of them?"

"Two of them used to be my brothers" answered the girl, a little bit of sadness leaking into her voice. "We were born in the island of Naathi, but were stolen at a young age by pirates and sold to Kraznys. He usually only buys young boys to be turned into Unsullied, but he noticed my ability to learn languages and decided to buy me too. That way we were able to stay close… at least as close as one can be with stone men."

"Are they all still alive?"

"Two of them are as alive as stone men can be" Missandei said, remembering Mossador and Marselen as they were before the slavers came into their lives. In Naath everything seemed so perfect despite their family´s poverty… a golden childhood without doubts. "The third didn´t resist the training and was used to feed the beasts of the master´s pits."

"Beasts?"

"Yes, the pits of Meereen are famous for their fights of men against men and beasts" the dark skinned girl said, shivering a little bit. Once she was forced to attend along with her master to one of those horrible spectacles and it was something she wanted to forget. "Sometimes the good masters sell the failed Unsullied´s bodies to the Great Masters as food for their beasts. To recover their inversion, as they said."

"What a despicable commerce" said Aegon, joining the conversation. He was rightfully outraged, as were the rest of the Targaryens. "More of a reason to give those slavers what they deserved"

"And they will" said Dany, putting a hand on Missandei´s shoulders. "Because they forgot one simple thing…"

-Another day-

"A dragon is no slave. Drogon, dracarys!" with this command, the black dragon burner his new owner to ashes in front of his companions. The good masters started to scream at the Unsullied to kill her, but the soldiers didn´t listen. They were Daenerys now and answered only to her. "Unsullied, ossēnagon tolvie vala wearing iā tokar!"

Aegon and Jon smiled, getting into their dragons. Along with the Unsullied, they slaughtered the masters and take the city. Dany then announced the freedom of all slaves and the crowds cheered at the Breakers of Chains and Myhisa. Cheering at the resurrected House Targaryen.

Chapter Text

"Welcome to… milord?" the port officer said when he was rudely pushed aside by an enraged Jon Connington, followed by a still black and blue Ser Rolly Duckfield… well, more like yellow and green duck knight, because his injuries were a little bit better. Septa Lemore walked behind, cool as a cucumber, because she knew everything from the beginning and also cheering her little boy for doing a damn good job with the slavers. If only the boy´s foster father thought the same…

"Where is that damn boy?" asked Connington, pushing the port officer out of the way, enraged enough to take the Unsullied army that now belonged to House Targaryen by himself. His companions walked right behind him, trying to minimise the destruction the enraged Griffin left in his path. "I´m not going to ask again, where is the boy?"

"Boy? What boy?" asked the frightened man.

"Aegon Targaryen, who else?!" answered the Stormlord, unleashing his fury on the innocent man. The officer signalled one of the pyramids, and the man started walking towards the construction. Once there, he tried to pass through the Unsullied, but the guards pushed him back. The griffin tried to do the same again, but someone called his name before he could charge.

"Lord Jon Connington" saluted the man with a bear on the breast. The other put a face, recognizing the other as one of Varys informants.

"Ser Jorah Mormont" reciprocated the stormlord, passing through the Unsullied without opposition now. "Have you come to sell more information about the princess to her enemies or did you stop when the Usurper died?"

"Great words for someone who lost his king in a city when he was at risk"
The bear knight turned around and walked towards the pyramid. Once inside, he talked with a little dark skinned girl, who immediately assumed the guide role. She took them to the Targaryens, who were talking, laughing and drinking. Even the normally gloomy Jon Snow was enjoying, feeling better in the company of people that wouldn´t shun him.

"What in the Seven Hells is happening here?"

"Oh, Griff, great that you are here" a completely drunk Aegon said, holding his cup towards his guardian. The man raised an eyebrow. His adoptive son looked drunk and not only with wine. His purple eyes gleamed like amethysts with mischief and his hair was beginning to show it´s true colour on the roots. The other two were not really better, from Daenerys with her dishelmed hair to Jon, who was leaning into his direwolf to not fall into the floor.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" asked the man, wanting to land a hit on Aegon´s head. Perhaps that will wake up the boy´s brain.

"Celebrating, what else? We have just conquered our first city! You should be happy for us!" the chirped up voice of the youngster revealed how drunk he was. A lot. Sighing, Connington decided to leave the talk for later and carry the Targaryens to bed. It was a little bit early for that, but they were so intoxicated that it was pretty much the only thing that could be done until they had sobered up.

"Lemore, take the princess with you." He then turned to the Naathi scribe that was waiting for more instructions from the lords. "You…"

"Missandei"

"Missandei, show her where the princess chambers are" he then turned to Rolly, who was eyeing the direwolf with something akin to fear. Jon Snow didn´t notice that, too worried with his empty cup of wine, which Dany was filling up once more. "You, take the prince and tuck him into bed."

"Me? Why me?"

"Because you lost Aegon, so you are drawing the short straw for at least a month. And right now, the person with the short straw is facing the fully grown direwolf that is guarding the prince" instructed Connington, signalling the young man as this one finally fell to the floor, giggling. Duckfield swallowed and got down to grab him, making Ghost bare his teeth. He didn´t stop, managing to pull the brunette to his trembling feet.

"Come on, my prince, time to get you to bed"

"I don´t wanna" answered the former brother of the Night´s Watch, emptying his cup before Rolly was able to take it away from him. "This is Arbour Gold. Arbour Gold! The best wine in the Seven Kingdoms" Griff rolled his eyes. He already knew that. What he wanted to know was how so many bottles of the Redwyne´s flag product ended up in a slaver´s cellar of a city in Slaver´s Bay. "Do you know Lord Stark doesn´t approve of drinking? He only let´s us drink one cup on special occations... One cup!"

"And now I know why" answered the stormlord, quickly losing his patience. "Look, I know Arbour Gold is a great wine…"

"I prefer Dornish wine" interrupted the king.

"Whatever" he said before continuing. Seven hells, it was dealing with children again. "Just… go to bed, the three of you" he turned again to the scribe, who was discreetly laughing at his predicament. "Is there someone who know where the two boys are staying?"

"My brothers know, they have been guarding their doors in the night" she quickly switched to the Naathi language, calling Mossador and Marselen. The two Unsullied, silent as ever, guided them to the chambers occupied by the current rulers of the city, opening the doors for the lords to enter.

"There you are" Rolly said, putting Jon in his bed.

Once that was done, he addressed the room for dangers, as a member of the Kingsguard should do when on duty. What he first noticed was the absence of covers, but he supposed that was to be expected. The boy had been, after all, raised in the gelid North and must not be accustomed to the warm temperatures of Slaver´s Bay. Then he noticed the abundance of riches thrown around carelessly. The room was filled with riches and implements of gold, statues and jewelled decorations. Duckfield looked at all in awe. A huge improvement for a boy raised as a bastard in a gloomy castle in the North. Or for the exiled son of a smith turned knight.

"Ghost?" a voice said behind him. He turned around to see the wolf over his master, licking his face. The dragon was perched over the bed, extending it´s white wings. "Easy, boy. I´m fine. A little bit tipsy, but fine. Getting drunk it´s not so bad after all. Or at least not as bad as uncle Benjen and Father made it sound… well, uncle Eddard, I guess."

"Believe me, boy, you are going to be regretting this in the morning" said the knight, staring right into the boy´s eyes. He didn´t seem to be getting to sleep any time soon, so the son of the smith decided to talk until he did. "You, your aunt and your brother are going to feel terrible then."

"Then it´s going to be Aegon´s fault. He suggested to drink when we found the master´s cellar"

"Which master?"

"I don´t remember, I´m too drunk at the moment" said Jon, scratching his wolf´s ears. The animal emitted no sound, staring at his master worryingly. "At first I didn´t want, it´s just that… I was dealing with so much the last few days and never had time to actually process everything that happened since the wizards kidnapped me." He let himself fall on the floor again. "It was the only reason I followed with his damn idea."

"Well, it didn´t seem to work as well as you thought" continued the knight, finding a seat to sit down and stared at the clearly drunk, teary eyed boy. "Okay, spit it out. What had you so horribly affected that you thought the only option you had was to drink like a damn fish with your idiotic brother?"

"I… think I´m angry with my father… uncle… whatever, I´m furious with Lord Stark" the brunette started, letting go of his wolf. "I mean… he lied to me all my life. And didn´t show any remorse in doing so. I know, he did so to save my life, but... I would have appreaciated a little bit of sincerity. I´m not suicidal, I would have kept my mouth shut" the ramblings started to get a little bit fast for Rolly´s mind to follow, but he didn´t say anything. The boy needed to take it out. "You are my son, he said… I love you the same amount as your brothers, he said… and now I find out that he never told me the truth. I´m his nephew, not his son and… and… he took everything away from me. In that same tower where he found me, he took everything away from me."

"Was it really that bad?"

"You have no idea" Jon continued, getting angrier with each word. "He took my name, he took my birth right, my worth in the eyes of the people, my heritage, my mother´s name and love, my… my everything" tears started to fall down his cheeks. "All my live, I wanted nothing more than to be a Stark. To hear people say that Lord Eddard Stark has four sons, no three… and now… now I find out that he is not even my father, but my uncle, and that I already have a name… a name my mother, who loved me, gave me, but I can´t think of as my own just yet" he passed a hand through his hair. "Jaeherys Targaryen… I still have problems considering it my name... and he never told me my mother´s name... it was the only think I wanted to know before leaving Winterfell and he deny me that."

"Well… time perhaps is going to solve it" Duckfield shrugged his shoulders. "And Jon Snow is not such a bad name, if we are truly talking. There are worse names, especially for bastards. Believe me, I have heard them."

"It´s a nightmare, a curse" continued the boy with his ramblings. "Many people just hears it and automatically assumes the worse. Specially the Southerners. Just because you are a bastard, you have to be a shitty little villain who wants to steal his brother´s birth right and is unworthy of everything" Seven hells, thought Rolly, what happened to this boy? "And if it was not enough, you have to put up with the scorn of a stepmother… well, aunt, I guess…"

"What did your aunt do to you?"

"Lady Stark? What hasn´t she done to me?" continued the prince, feeling already exhausted, but unable to stop. No matter this man was a complete stranger, he needed to get everything out. "She treated me like shit, glared at me at every turn, tried to shun me from everything, tried to keep me away from my siblings, badmouthed me… oh, and let´s not forget that she threw me out of Winterfell and towards the Night´s Watch just because she didn´t want to deal with me while her husband was away."

"She did WHAT?" Really? This woman was capable of condemning an innocent boy, her own husband´s supposed son, to a penal colony just because he was a bastard? "Wait, you are a brother of the Night´s Watch? Don´t you know you being here is…"

"Punishable by death? I already knew" the knight raised an eyebrow. He was really calm for someone facing capital punishment. "But considering the circumstances, I didn´t really left of my own free will, so…" oh, yes, that. The prince was kidnapped, so he had an excuse. "And Aegon says he releases me."

"Fine then"

"But it doesn´t make it okay. What right had that woman to do that to me? I knew I said I wanted to join them, but… I didn´t know the truth. I just wanted to make my father proud, to demonstrate I deserved to be called his son… I thought the Night´s Watch was the perfect place for me, as in it a bastard can rise high… and with Lady Stark denying me home in Winterfell, it was the only place I thought I could go…"

"Then great you found Aegon and Daenerys, because you were in serious need of a new family. A better one" Duckfield commented. "I say, put your horrible past behind and see to the future. Enjoy the family you have now, they are great. Aegon is a bit of an idiot and Daenerys strikes me as proud, but they are good."

"Yes, they are great" commented Jon, feeling drained. "But life wasn´t so horrible. I find myself missing my siblings… cousins each day more. They were my true friends during childhood and now I´m safe here and they all the way in Westeros, fighting a war."

"Hummm, nobody told you not to love your cousins, they are family too. The more, the merrier, no?" Rolly lift himself from his chair. "Rest now, boy, you are going to need it in the morning."

"Is it really that bad? The hangover, I mean"

"No, lad" continued the knight. "It´s worse."

-The next morning-

"I´m never listening to you ever again" said Jon, nursing his throbbing head. Just as the duck knight told him, the killer hangover he got for his first drunken night was slowly killing him. And he put the entire blame on Aegon. No matter how cheerful a participant he had been or that the other boy was also sick.

"Shut up, my head is killing me" the king moaned, trying to put some bread in his stomach despite the nausea he was feeling. "Dammit, why in the seven hells did I thought that drinking so much was a good idea?"

"I found myself asking the same question more than once" Connington got in, eating some porridge with frighteningly slow pace, a clear sign that he was pissed as hell. "For my live, I could never bring myself to believe how the boy I raised since infancy to be king could be SO STUPID!"

"Keep it low, Griff, for the Seven´s sake" moaned Aegon, seconded by Daenerys. Jon didn´t complain. Lord Stark warned him more than once about the effects of the excess of drinking, but he had to go and overly indulge on it because he was hurting. This hangover was more than deserved and he was going to face it like a man. "When we are recovered, we should discuss some plans for the future."

"Yes, it might be the best idea" agreed the stormlord. "With the princess´ Unsullied, we have more than enough soldiers to conquer Wes…"

"Hey, we are not finished here yet" said Daenerys with a very interesting shade of green in her face. "Slavery is a deplorable activity that should be completely eradicated from the World. That´s what I plan to do, even if I have to do it alone" she looked at her nephews. "You surely agree with me that this practice has to be eradicated from the world."

"Yes"

"Wait, wait, wait" Duckfield opened his mouth, interrupting them. Judging by Connington´s face, he was also not informed about the change of plans. And clearly not happy either. Lemore, as always, just stayed there being her enigmatic self. Or perhaps less than usual, as her eyes never left Jaeherys. "I thought you were planning to recover your family´s Throne, not to bring half of Essos to it´s knees"

"Well, we had a change of hearth" informed Aegon, rubbing his temples. Damn, he shouldn´t have gotten drunk on Arbour Gold, the pain was absolutely not worth it if it was not Dornish red. "And I have already decided our next target: YUNKAI."

"Yunkai? You really are planning to attack Yunkai?"

"And Meereen after that"

"Meereen?" the stomlord didn´t understand. Why were the Targaryens so eager to bring Fire and Blood to Essos? It was Westeros what they should be worried about! "Aegon, we can´t lose time, the War of the Five Kings destabilised the realm, it´s our best chance to recover the Iron Throne."

"We can recover it later, we have fucking dragons" as if on a que, Rhaegal chirped, extending his wings. At his age, he looked more like a toy than a Balerion or Meraxes, but he would grow up. Like the imaginary creatures that sparked from Rhaegar´s histories or the dragon skulls he showed him. "The dragons are going to be needed for Westeros, so while they grow up, we bring war to Slaver´s Bay."

"I… also think that we should wait for them to grow up a little but…"

"Excuse me, your Grace?" one of the stewards entered that moment, interrupting the breakfast. All the eyes on the table flew to him, making the man a little bit uncomfortable. "The Unsullied guards need you. There has been an attempted break in, two men in black cloaks. They are demanding to see someone called Jon Snow."

"Me?" Jon was surprised. An Essosi would use his Targaryen name, as it was the one Aegon and Dany prefer to use when addressing him. The freed slaves too referred to him as Jaeherys Targaryen. Who were this men? "What do they want? And where do they come from?"

"We don´t know. Captain Grey Worm wanted to interrogate them himself, but we thought the king would want to talk to them before that" Aegon nodded, sending the steward away with a sign. Then he proceeded to devour the porridge despite the protests of his stomach. He dry heaved a few times after finishing before lifting himself from his seat. "It seems that we have an audience now. Shall we, aunt, brother?"

"Of course" the trio walked towards the master of the house´s hall, where the captive men waited. Connington, as default Hand of the King, followed them, positioning himself by his adoptive son´s right. Great was his surprise when he noticed the prisoners were Westerosi. Riverlanders, if he had to make a guess. "We welcome you, good men, to Astapor. Now, can you tell me why you tried to break into my home?"

"We don´t want to do you or yours any harm, boy" one of them said, earning a punch in the gut by Rolly. Aegon stared at him, making the duck knight retreat.

"Boy?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. He usually would find the defiance amusing, but right now there was no space for amusement. It was time to act like a king, and a king don´t accept subjects to call him boy. "You are talking to Aegon Targaryen, the Sixth of his name, Rightful heir to the Iron Throne, King of Astapor, King of the Andals, the Rhyonar and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm"

"You can call yourself whatever you want, BOY, but you are no Lord of mine" answered the injured one, spitting at his feet. "We have no business with you. You can keep this city and call yourself King of Astapor all you want for all I care. No, our business is with the oathbreaking bastard currently at your right" he glared at Jon, who was startled. The only reason he didn´t retreat was that Dany was holding him on an iron grip. "We are here to bring justice to him."

"Who are you?" asked an angry Aegon, piercing them with his glare.

"I´m Ser Robin Ryger and my companion is Ser Demond Grell" answered the riverlander. "Ser Brynden Tully send us here to avenge Lady Catelyn´s honour and prevent a complot against the King in the North and Lord of Winterfell" Jon was taken aback. Lady Stark… even with thousands of kilometres between them… wanted him dead? He wasn´t doing anything wrong! "And seeing who he had allied with, I wouldn´t be surprised if the Lady´s fears were prove truthful." He glared at the prince. "What did the Targaryens promise you, bastard? To make you Lord of Winterfell if they succeed?"

"Nothing, let me explain…" tried to calm the man.

"Don't lie, that won´t work with me! You allied with the Targaryens to strip Lord Robb from his inheritance, but that isn´t going to work. The North will never accept an oathbreaker and a bastard as their Lord!"

"Please, ser, let me explain…"

"The only person more despicable than you is that Greyjoy cunt who murdered the little lords…"

Jon´s eyes widened and suddenly he couldn´t hear anything. Not the knight insulting him or Aegon calling for his attention. Nothing. He could only replay those last few words in his mind. Dead, dead, dead. The little lords. Bran and Rickon. He couldn´t take it anymore and dashed from the room. He collapsed into an empty solar and cried. Just… cried. Cried his soul out and he didn´t care if anyone see, because his little brothers were dead and he hadn´t been there for them. He hadn´t been there…

Chapter Text

"How is he?" asked Aegon, worried. When they finally found Jon after his escape from the throne room, the boy has been in a frankly horrible condition. The crying hadn´t receded a bit and was muttering incoherencies like a madman, the very same thing House Targaryen was famous for producing. Anyone who see him now would blame his blood for his current condition. But his brother and aunt knew it was not. What caused this temporary lapsus was the insensible idiots from the Riverlands that just barged in on them.

"Sedated by now" the half maester answered, frowning. "He should be better when he wakes up, but emotionally… I don´t think he is going to be very okay. The boy is strong, but recently he had only received blow after blow and there is a limit to what a person could take in such a short time."

"Then he overdid it?" the king raised an eyebrow. He knew that his brother just passed through a lot, but that was no reason to have the breakdown he just had.

"In a way" his old friend answered in a clearly sarcastic tone. "If you recently found out that your father is not your father, everything that you know about you is fake, being sent to a hellish freezing place by a bitch of a step mother, aunt, whatever Catelyn Stark actually is, meeting new family, being separated from the other one, participating in a war, and then being told in the most insensible way in the world that two of your younger brothers are dead by the hands of someone you grew up with… don´t you think that anyone with the minimum level of sensibility would suffer from an emotion overdrive?"

"Point taken" the king conceded, now angry, walking towards the Throne room, where his hand currently was, attending to matters of the city while he and Daenerys worry over Jaeherys. When he found Catelyn Stark he was going to… "Lord Connington, I want to talk to you. It´s about the prisoners of the Riverlands we currently have in the dungeons."

"If you want to torture them, burn them, hang them or any other kind of lethal treatment, you can forget about it. They are too valuable to end up dead so soon."

"Really? A pair of knights from the Riverlands?"

"They are the captain of the guard and master at arms of Riverrun, and so they can give us valuable information about the castle. Enough to know how to take it from Tully hands" Aegon continued to stare at him with anger. "Come on, Aegon, your brother is going to get better soon. To have survived in the cold of the North, he had to be strong."

"You saw him when we found him in the solar, Griff, he was anything but okay" the king frowned. "That´s why I want to have a few words with our… guests before the Unsullied breaks them."

"The Unsullied are not torturing him" explained the Hand, lifting himself from the throne to give it to Aegon. "I left Duckfield with them, hoping his incessant talking to do the work for them. Or to drive them to insanity, whichever happens first."

"Fine way to extract information, Lord Connington" the Targaryen sat, sighing before practically crumbling over his throne. "It´s just that… I spend all my life believing myself an only child or at least the only one alive. And now, not I had a little brother and couldn´t protect him for the short time I have known him. What kind of brother am I, Griff? I barely know him and couldn´t protect him…"

"You are barely learning" the Griffin said, trying to soothe him. "Look, that you didn´t know him it´s not your fault, it´s mine… and a little bit of Lemore´s, because she didn´t tell me about him. But, what I´m trying to say is that… you can´t learn to be a big brother in a few days, it´s a lifetime of learning which teaches you that… or at least a few months." The redhead shrugged. "What I´m trying to say, it´s that you should give it time. Soon you are going to be as close as if you spend a lifetime together."

"Really?"

"Really" the Hand nodded. "Look, when Viserys was born, Rhaegar also went through a phase when he was sulking about not knowing how to be a big brother after so many dead ones. I usually offered a shoulder to lean in most of the time and the babe since little show to be an insufferable little shit, but… give it time, it´s the only thing I have to say." Aegon looked at the doors with an angered expression. He didn´t want to give it time. "And if after the petitions you want to give the Riverlanders a visit…"

"Next one! And make it quick!"

-In the dungeons-

"And then he told me my name was ridiculous… Ridiculous! What a jackass!" Desmond and Robyn were about to claw their ears out. "He should at least say silly, not ridiculous. What kind of mismatched word is ridiculous?" the prisoners grunted. "And what does Duckfield had from ridiculous? I was knighted in a fucking field of ducks… Of course I would take a name to honour that place!"

"For the Seven, can you stop talking?" asked Grell, already wanting to bang his head against the wall. "How can you talk for three hours straight? It shouldn´t be humanly possible! There is no possible way that…" the door opened and the young king of Astapor entered the dungeons, followed by his Hand. "Oh, thank you"

"Your Grace" the knight bowed.

"Rest, Duck, I will need your services later" said Aegon, enjoying the grateful look from the two knights. "Don´t worry, these… fine gentlemen will be honoured to keep you company after I finished with them. For a few hours" their expression turned into horror, making the Targaryen smirk. "Go now, guard the door if you like."

"As my king orders" he said before exiting.

"You are sick, Targaryen! I knew you were all a bunch of madmen, but I never realised how much!" screamed Robin Ridger, with his hands on the bars. "We should be grateful Westeros is not Astapor…"

"Woow, great words for someone who broke his oaths to his king. Should I expect a speech like this from all the former rebels?" he shook his head. "I´m not here to hear you tell me how much of a madman I am. I just want to ask you about your reasons to be here" he suddenly went serious. "You said you were sent by Lady Catelyn Stark to bring justice to… Jon Snow, who currently is in my entourage."

"As if the bastard would conform with whatever palace you gave him in Astapor. They are wicked and greedy creatures, he surely wants Winterfell and we are not about to let King Robb be usurped for a second time by…"

"He is my brother"

"What?" Desmond and Robin were equally surprised by the revelation. So much that they forgot to act defiant before the King of Astapor. "With all due respect, your Grace, there is no way Eddard Stark´s bastard could be your…"

"Well, you are correct in that, for he is my half-brother. And the late Lord Stark was not his father, but his uncle. An uncle that knew that if his nephew was discovered, he would face the same fate as our sister at the hands of a man he considered a friend" Aegon breathed in. "My brother´s true name is Jaeherys Targaryen, son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark."

"That…"

"Is very possible. In fact, my septa, who was present on Starfall at the moment Lord Stark arrived with his sister´s babe, confirmed his identity" he took a moment to savour the men´s astonishment at the revelation. "We Targaryen might be madmen, but we stick with the family, Sers. And you just hurt a member of my family."

"And what other proof do you have of his identity?" asked Robin, frowning. The history was improbable… but he knew Lord Stark. He was an honourable man, a good man, and, had he found his sister with a child on her bosom when he raided the Tower of Joy, he wouldn´t dare to become a kinslayer by handing his nephew to Robert. He would have hidden the child, then sent him away somewhere, to an Order who foreswear titles and lands. Like the Night´s Watch or the Faith. "If it´s only his word…"

"One of my aunt´s dragons is bonded with him, Ser, there is no doubt of his identity" continued the king, finding a place to sit down. "Coming back to your news hurting him so much that he ran out of the Throne room…"

"He is a Deserter of the Night´s Watch"

"A recruit kidnapped from the Night´s Watch" Aegon corrected again. "You see, the Warlocks of Qarth had the strange believe that consuming the flesh of the last remaining members of House Targaryen would give them magic, so made a great effort to collect us all" he stopped for a second to breathe. "Now, I don´t know how they found us out, as I was deemed dead at the records and he was legally never born… I don´t know, perhaps there are records about us somewhere…"

"Even if he was" Rigger coughed once before continuing, hoping to have some water. "take by force, he should have returned to the Watch as soon as he was freed. His decision to stay with his Grace makes him a deserter…"

"I freed him from his vows, so he is free. And, Ser, you should keep your mouth shut before I decide to remove it permanently" threatened Aegon, glaring at the man. "But enough of this nonsenses. What I really want to know is what the Tullys have against my brother and why did they go to such extents to make sure he was dead" he joined his hands, awaiting for an answer that the knights seemed to be renitent to give him. "Then I guess a few more days in our dungeons with Ser Rolly and other companions will be in order for you."

"Your Grace, you must know that a knight´s honour keeps him from revealing his liege´s secrets, specially one so beloved as House Tully of Riverrun" Desmond Grell said, talking for the first time in a while.

"Oh? Then your honour is going to get you out of here? Don´t test me, Sers, I don´t have patience for people that harm my family" he turned around and walked away, followed by Connington. Rolly Duckfield shrugged when he saw them getting out even more angered than before and prepared to go inside to continue with his monologue, an activity he knew could turn people crazy. But before he could, Aegon looked straight to him and stopped the knight. "Close the door" the other did. "What do you know about this Tullys?"

"Your Grace" Lord Connington got in that instant. "I believe me or the half master would be better suited to educate you about one of Great Houses of Westeros…"

"No, that´s not what I want to know. I don´t know how to explain, but…" he licked his lips once before continuing. "this family seemed to have taken great offence at my brother´s decision to get on with his life. So much that despite him being at a reasonable distance from them, they sent two of their knights to get rid of him." he looked at Rolly again. "I know it was you who took Jaeherys to his room when we got drunk and want to know if he disclosed some information while in that state."

"Well…" the duck knight coughed, not sure how to approach the topic without inciting the king´s anger. He looked to Jon for help, who quickly caught the message and proposed to move to the solar for the talk, to speak freely with some good Dornish wine. The stormlander agreed, taking his surrogate son by the arms and putting half the castle between him and the Riverlanders. He even poured some wine for the three, making sure Aegon knew that cup was the ONLY one he would get. "It´s a delicate situation"

"I´m aware" the boy said, putting his half blue, half silver hair away from his face. He would need to die it soon, he realised. "If not, he would speak freely about it. As he does with the rest of his surrogate family."

"Yes, you are right" Duckfield coughed again, trying to find gentle words to explain the situation to his king. "The thing is Lord Eddard named him his bastard to allow him to continue living in Westeros despite being a Targaryen. It was a clever plan if don´t take into a account some facts like the embarrassment of bastardy in all Westeros and how women usually reacted to their husband´s by blows. And, well… Lord Eddard´s lady wife is a Tully."

"Then… the Tully´s sent those two knights after my brother because a lady from their house threw a tantrum over her husband having a bastard?"

"Something like that, but… it´s more serious than that" Connington got into the conversation. "Meanwhile is usual for men to have bastards, especially during war, it´s not as usual for them to bring them home to raise alongside trueborn children. Besides, bastards are an affront to the wife and having him paraded in front of her face daily even worse. It was probably taken as an affront against all House Tully."

"And not just that" Rolly added when the stormlander finished. "From what I heard, the woman enjoyed mistreating him. She openly told him he was inferior to her children in everything and belittled him every chance she got. She even managed to make his uncle send him to the Night´s Watch because she didn´t want to have him in Winterfell while Lord Stark was in the capitol."

"He told me he was sent there because he caused a war…"

"That´s just plain stupid" Jon said, grabbing another cup of wine. He had a lot of work to do with the prince, beginning with making him recover the confidence and self-steam that wicked trout practically beat out of him. "The one that began the war was Aerys, burning the Starks, and, of course, Lyanna and Rhaegar helped a bit, but he is innocent. He shouldn´t even think himself guilty for that."

"That damn trout probably had that ingrained in his brain"

"What?"

"That he has the guilt for everything bad that happens around him because he is a bastard. I´m sorry to say that, but it´s the way of Westeros" the king was suddenly very interested, asking for answers with his eyes. "The Faith of the Seven paints bastards as wicked creatures of lust and sin that would stop at nothing to satisfy their greed and get the rightful heritage of their trueborn siblings."

"Septa Lemore taught me very different views about bastardy in our lessons" the king said, putting his hands on his lap. Just to what kind of torture had Jaeherys been exposed to? And more important, by whom? The Tully woman, obviously, but was there someone else…

"Your Grace… about your lessons with the Septa, you need to understand that not all the zones of Westeros share those views. Dorne is more accepting, followed by the North… to some point. The Riverlands and the Reach are the most intolerant because of the religious influence on the zone and the piety of their inhabitants. And, as the Lady of Winterfell comes from the Riverlands…"

"I understand" he finally said, reaching for his glass and emptying it on one gulp. "Dammit, we should have done something before. No matter, we need to do something now" he turned to Connington, who was of the same opinion. "I was thinking about giving him Yunkai to rule… or Meereen, but I thought Daenerys would like that city more."

"Aegon, the boy needs much more than that. He has the education, but has lived as a bastard so long that…"

"He needs to start feeling like the prince he is" Rolly summarized everything. "Beginning with believing himself worth of everything he has got."

"Hummmmm… maybe… yes, that will do" Aegon talked to himself, smiling when he saw his plan come into fruition. Of course, putting Jon in front of the negotiations for the Yunkai campaign was the best way to make him realise his worth. He knew that it was also dangerous, but he would have Viserion with him and enough Unsullied to take the city by force. What could go wrong?

-Meanwhile-

"Ahhhhh…" Jon woke up on his bed, feeling his head swimming. He couldn´t remember… oh, yes, he completely lost it when he heard that Bran and Rickon died at the hands of Theon Greyjoy, a boy he had meet since they were little. The same that taught Bran how to wield a bow and teased him on the training yard despite being completely inferior at swordfighting. Theon fucking Greyjoy. He knew that the lad wasn´t the most moral person in the world, they were not even friends or even good companions, but he still had some trouble reconciling the sassy boy that laughed with Robb in Winterfell with his little brothers´ murderer.

"My prince" Mossador said when he finally got the strength and stability to get out of the room. He wondered for a second what in the Seven Hells Aegon´s master had drugged him with, but considering his state of hysterics at the moment of the drugging, he wouldn´t be surprised if it was a little stronger than the man first intended to give to him.

"Do you know where Aegon keeps the captives, Mossador?" his personal bodyguard nodded, guiding him to the dungeons. There, Ser Robin and Ser Desmond were enjoying a moment of peace while Rolly went to the kitchens to find something to drink. The two knights straightened when they heard the door opening, only to find themselves face to face with the Bastard of Winterfell. "Sers"

"Bastard" Rigger answered, glaring at him. "Or it´s prince now?"

"My prince…" the Unsullied said, detecting the hostility in the riverlander´s voice. He was about to put himself between the men and his prince when he raised a hand.

"Peace, Mossador" said the boy, stopping him. "I need to talk with the good Sers for a moment if it´s not much trouble. Don´t worry about their words, they can´t hurt me behind those bars" the man nodded, but kept his eyes on the foreigners. "Sers, you mentioned before that you were sent by my aunt´s, Lady Catelyn, family. To deliver me the punishment for desertion, I believe you said."

"Yes, that was our objective" the man answered, eyeing him with carefulness. He didn´t care what the Targaryens said or believe, the boy in front of him was still a bastard and a dishonour for his lady. "What? Are you here to hand yourself over?"

"No. I´m here to explain that I´m not a deserter, the wizards of Qarth…"

"Yes, they kidnapped you, that boy that fancies himself King of Astapor already gave us an explanation. At least, if the warlocks have eaten you, you would have an excuse to remain in Essos" added Ser Robin in a mocking tone. "You are not here to hear about the lady Catelyn, no? Why are you really here, bastard?"

"I want to know if what you said before was true" he breathed in, hoping to be able to stand it without collapsing again. "Were my little brothers really murdered by Theon Greyjoy, a boy I grew up with, Robb´s best friend while growing up?"

"Yes, he was" his hearth shattered again, but he managed to keep himself straight, even with the tears flowing down his cheeks. "Why? Are you not happy that they died? Did you want to kill them yourself when you took over Winterfell?"

"No, I only wish I was there to protect them" he continued crying, touching the bars. "I thank you, Sers, for giving me the news. I don´t know what Lady Catelyn told you about the ungrateful Bastard of Winterfell, but I am not what she painted me as" he turned around. "And, if you excuse me, I have to pray for my sibling´s safe passing. Good day."

Robin Rigger and Desmond Grell saw him leave, wondering if their lady had actually committed a mistake with the boy. Such sincere tears of grief he was shredding for the dead Stark children… Perhaps… all her fears were products of her imagination and this boy wasn´t as bad. Just perhaps.

Chapter Text

"You know, perhaps Lady Catelyn is really overreacting and the boy is no menace to her son" commented Robin, trying to reach the key that hanged from their gaoler´s belt. The sleeping guard turned a bit, making the thing disappear from their view and the knight curse under his breath. "Damn." He turned his head towards his companion, who was sitting on the straw. "Were you listening to me, Desmond?"

"Yes. You were commenting about the boy not being a danger for our lady´s sons after all. Then you cursed" the old man said, thinking deeply. Were the situation not so dire, he would even pity Jon Snow… or Jaeherys Targaryen. The boy surely had more in his plate than most adult men and the treatment he got from being branded a bastard was probably one of the cruellest things he could imagine, but the thing was, the boy now had another family. And a dragon. A family that was ousted from their rightful thrones by their Lord and his allies, which spelt bad news for the Riverlands. "I differ with you."

"You do?" both men looked at each other. Grell finally sighed.

"Think for a second about Snow´s life. A life he probably told to his brother and aunt. Branded a bastard by Lord Stark, treated poorly by Lady Stark… I know what you will say" the man joined his hands. "I know the Lady Catelyn since she was a child and also refused to believe that she was capable of harming a child, but" his expression darkened. "there are many ways to harm a child. And mothers would do anything for their children, even hurting another one. And that could be especially hard for an orphan boy without anyone except for a couple of uncles who didn´t seem to worry too much about him."

"You think Lady Catelyn did something to him? Something harmful?" the captain of Riverrum asked, refusing to believe the gentle redheaded girl he had seen since little as a child beater or abuser. "She would never…"

"In her mind, he was her husband´s bastard, a treat to her children´s inheritance. And lives, given the correct circumstances. Of course she wasn´t going to just let him be" he breathed in. "Lord Stark shouldn´t have named him his bastard. Sending him to exile or telling his lady wife the truth would have been better."

"But that doesn´t mean that she…"

"Lord Stark sent him to the Night´s Watch on her request. A fourteen years old boy because his step mother didn´t want to bare him in Winterfell" Robin opened his mouth with horror. The Wall was no place for children and, at such a young age, Jon Snow was more child than man. "Do you really think he is going to forget that? Forgive and Forget? With a dragon, the boy is going to follow his damn House´s words and make Fire and Blood rain over the Riverlands."

"Pe… perhaps" the other knight answered. "But maybe we can convince him to stay here, in Essos" he suggested, quickly getting calmed down. "From what I have seen, the Targaryens are not making a move for Westeros any time soon, too busy conquering Essos for minding our business" he shook his head. "Back home no one wants them back, but here… perhaps a new Targaryen empire could be accepted. And the boy would become a prince, rule his own city and forget about Winterfell."

"Do you think the Targaryens will ever forget that they were ousted from their throne on the west? Our land is the real catch, Robin, don´t delude yourself. The boy king of Astapor is playing his game well, for he is recruiting an army of men willing to lay their lives at his feet at a whim. And once he conquers the other slaver cities, many more will be added."

"For the Seven… what do we do?"

"Send the message as fast as we could once we leave this damn dungeon" Desmond Grell said, getting up, approaching the bars to try again and grab the key with his longer arms. "Preferably while the Dragonlords are still busy with Slaver´s Bay. It would give us enough time to prepare for their invasion."

"Will it be enough?" asked the captain of Riverrun´s guard, hopeful. With their luck, there wasn´t much chance that they were going to leave the place alive, much less with their sanity intact if they were exposed to another dosis of Rolly Duckfield´s torture. But they had the duty of warning their liege lord and they were going to achieve it. "How much do you think we have until the Targaryans head to Westeros?"

"Depending on the dragons, no much" the old knight still couldn´t believe in the legendary beasts returned to live, but Aegon have talked about them with so much naturally that it was even harder to deny their existence. "If they really exist and are big enough, Slaver´s Bay is going to Fall in a few months. If not, then we have a few years, less depending on the rate dragons grow. But not much."

"Dammit" this mission sounded so easy when Ser Brynden gave it to them. It was something of routine, to deliver justice to a deserter of the Night´s Watch that also endangered King Robb´s crown. He should have known it wouldn´t stay simple.

-In the prince´s chambers-

"Yunkai you say?" Jon asked, playing with Viserion while Ghost encircled him, napping the afternoon off. The game was easy, he threw some pieces of meat into the air as far as he could in his little room and the dragon flew to catch them, setting them on fire. Until now, no flammable object had been destroyed… if you didn´t count Aegon´s robes, which now sported a large scorched hole on them. Well, in his defence, had he knocked before he opened his door, this wouldn´t have happened.

"Yes" the boy king answered, scratching the wolf´s head. He was smiling softly, much like Robb when he was trying to convince him to do something. "It´s a mayor Slaver City, which sells thousands of people each year. We can´t allow that to continue, so we are sending you to eliminate this awful commerce immediately. After the conquer, you will assume govern of the city with my blessings."

"There are still many more slaver cities"

"Yes, but taking Yunkai will be a hard blow for them and leave us practically at the doors of Meereen, which I´m planning to conquer next" the king sighed. "We need the two of them to take Volantis" he pierced his brother with his purple eyes, receiving steel grey in response. "Volantis needs to be taken, there is no other option. The Old Tiger is already planning to get rid of us before the dragons are strong enough to truly threaten him, but if we add another city to our Empire, the Tryarch might rethink his decision."

"I understand, but giving me command of the army to take Yunkai…" the boy shivered a bit. No one, not even the Lord Commander, have given him such a grand responsibility. And there was another thing. "I lack the experience to move troops or use siege engines appropriately or…"

"That´s why Griff is going with you" announced Aegon, despite knowing his hand wouldn´t like to part ways with him in the slightly. "He is a good strategist. It might not show in the history books, considering Robert´s Rebellion was not one of his best moments, but he will not fail this time, I can assure you. He will teach you in the campaign the basics and then he will get you a tutor on warfare. Barristan and Mossador will also go and stay with you, to protect you while you take control of the city."

"I don´t know anything of managing a city"

"Me neither, but I´m not doing it so bad, no? I will learn, you will learn and Daenerys too." Egg put a hand on his shoulder, surprising Jon. It was a really intimate thing to do with the kind of new relationship they had. "We Targaryens have to stand together. If we don´t, we are going to get massacred again or worse. World fears us, search to break us, but we won´t bow to anyone. We used to fly and will fly again. With Fire and Blood."

"Fire and Blood…" repeated the brunette. All his life, he had considered Winter is coming his House words, but he guessed Fire and Blood were them now. And they were almost as adequate, for he was born of ice and fire. He could almost feel it now, the Fire in his veins, burning him in anticipation for the conquest. "I guess I will be saying goodbye for now."

"Yes, but we will meet each other again. I plan to go to Meereen as soon as it´s conquered to prepare for Volantis. You are invited to the reunion too"

"I will be there" he promised, getting up to pack. Aegon stopped him in midway.

"We can wait for a few days, don´t you think? Besides, the armour I ordered for you is still in the forge. You don´t want to present yourself in front of the citizens of Yunkai without a battle armour, no?"

"You ordered an armour for me?" asked Jon, not believing it. His uncle never thought about making him a parting gift when he left Winterfell for the Watch and now his brother, who he only knew for a few months, was going to give him his first armour? And without him having to ask?

"Of course I did! An armour fit of the Prince of Dragonstone!" the title left the brunette boy frozen for a moment. The Prince of Dragonstone… he guessed that was his title now, as heir apparent of King Aegon VI Targaryen. From the Bastard of Winterfell to the Heir of the Iron Throne, eh? Such a big step in such a short time. He didn´t have much time to ponder on it, anyway, because Egg grabbed his arm and dragged him away towards his study, impatient to show him the design of the armour.

The first thing he had to say was that the armour was truly impressive. It was made of pure steel, with black parts on the chest and a beautiful white dragon on the middle, with red irises. In the forearms there were white wolfs, with rubies for eyes, depicting Ghost menacingly jumping over some defenceless prey. Aegon said that it was a rapt of inspiration from his sword, which save them in the House of the Undying, but the younger was sure that more than Longclaw it was a tribute to his direwolf. All in all, it was a combination of his Targaryen and Stark inheritance, of both Viserion and Ghost, of ice and fire. Him.

"It´s marvellous" Daenerys said when he put the thing on for the first time in front of the mirror. His silver haired aunt had lately taken to give him some lessons in proper ways of dressing and styling hair, mainly picking up his clothing for the day before he could fully get out of bed or undoing the northern knots he usually favoured to stylish his hair into a proper Valyrian look. As his hair grew, the thin Valyrian braids started to look better and better on him, as they brought out more and more of his common features with Daenerys and Aegon. Features inherited from his father, he would bet.

"Aegon already told you?" he asked, putting on the black and red cloak Dany had made for him with the symbol of House Targaryen on it. Now he looked all the way a prince, even if he still felt uncomfortable calling himself one. "That I am going to Yunkai?"

"Yes, I was informed" she said, finishing with her arrangements to his hair. "In fact, I´m also setting off soon, to conquer Meereen before they can attack you" he turned his head without comprehending. "I have the feeling that as soon as you have conquered the city, they will spring into action. Astapor they minded enough to send threats, but Yunkai and Meereen… there will be a full out war."

"Of course" it was the next logical, strategic move to made. He would make it if he were they. He would also send his best warriors to attack and intimidate the invading army. And talking about good warriors. "Aunt… what are you going to do with the Riverland knights currently in the dungeons?"

"I don´t know, their fate is for Aegon to decide… but if you had a special petition…"

"Yes, I want to pardon them" the prince answered, surprising the princess. "I know they were sent to kill me, but I won´t give my aunt Catelyn the satisfaction of proving me a murderous bastard" he clenched his fists. "When we come back to Westeros, I want them by my side, one way or the other, chained or not, to return to Riverrum as the proof that she was wrong about me." He smirked, imagining her expression. "And I want to see her face as I return with a dragon."

"That will surely put fear on her cold hearth" said Daenerys, proud of him. Then she changed to a livelier conversation. "Now, enough of gloominess and armours. How about you changing into this and get ready for the feast Aegon prepared in your honour? Our Dragonknight can´t go to the battle with an empty stomach, no?"

-In Riverrun-

"I just can´t believe it" Robb said, drinking his sixth glass of ale in the night. His thoughts turned dark every time they flew to his brothers, those of blood and those by choice. Two dead, one unaccounted for and the fourth a traitor. And it was his fault. He should have never trusted in Theon, should have never sent away Jon… maybe if he had kept both of them close, he wouldn´t be suffering so many loses. That hurt. But what hurt the most was that soon he, as the King in the North, was going to have to murder the two brothers he still had, one for treason and one for desertion. Or perhaps Ser Desmond and Ser Robin already made justice and were carrying Jon´s head home. The mere thought made him feel nauseated.

"Your Grace?" the timid voice of his western wife caught his attention. She was wearing a night´s robe of white silk, making her figure noticeable despite being clothed. "I thought you would need someone to talk to…"

"Yes… but before…" the Young Wolf lifted his hand and guided him to bed. He fucked his frustrations into her, probably hurting her a bit, but she never complained. She was too busy trying to get pregnant to care. When they finished, he was feeling slightly better, but still very upset. He left Jeyne sleeping in the bed and dressed himself, walking towards his great uncle´s office. This anguish couldn´t wait until tomorrow.

"Your Grace?" asked the Blackfish when he saw who was standing in the doorway.

"You can drop the formalities with me, uncle" said the redhead, passing a hand through his copper locks. He sat down on one of the stools, trying to sit down properly despite his humour. "I want to know if you got any more news about my brothers."

"Your Gra… Robb, your brothers died in Winterfell…"

"You know what I´m talking about" the Young Wolf interrupted, giving him a look that would have chilled anyone´s blood. Brynden sighed, convinced that he got it from his father. "Are you or are you not going to supply me with the information I required, uncle?" there was more silence between them. "Fine…"

"Wait" Robb was just getting up to leave when the knight stopped him. "Ser Desmond and Ser Robin´s last communication was from Astapor. Apparently, they manage to locate your bastard brother there" the King in the North clenched his fists. He didn´t want to hear Jon being called a bastard. He never liked it, less now that the boy was his last brother alive. "And the Greyjoy is still in Winterfell, if you still care."

"Only if I can kill him with that information" he said bitterly, remembering the smirking face of Theon. "But in Jon´s case… I want you to send the knights after him new orders. They are to bring him alive and well. He hasn´t done any harm, just… I know you can´t desert from the Night´s Watch just like this, but he is not like that. There must be a reason…"

"He probably just decided to betray you, bastards tend to do that" he put a hand on the trembling boy´s shoulder. "Perhaps it´s time to accept and…"

"I know that you and mother might never completely accept him, even consider him a slight on the Tully honour, but never say that he is not my brother. NEVER, you heard me?" he got up. "We already passed through so much, together nearly since birth, as if we were twins. More than Theon and I." he turned to leave. "send the orders, Ser Brynden, or I personally will" he left the room towards his solar, feeling drained at the same time that furious. He served himself a glass of wine, resigned to get drunk that night, when a person came out of the darkness. He let go of his cup to grab his sword when the little thing kneeled. He calmed down at that. "Where do you come from?"

"Lord Reed sent me" informed the crannogman from his position. "He has a plan to recover Moat Cailin from the Ironborn."

Robb nodded, looking forward to meeting this mysterious Lord Reed. He knew that the man was an old friend from his father and fought valiantly in the Rebellion, but he didn´t answer the summons he made for the war. But if the man was finally joining, he wouldn´t complain. After all, he needed all the help available.

-In Dorne-

"Arianne, Quentyn, please, come with me to my solar" Doran said while he was being taken to the solar. Normally he would observe the Water Gardens at this hour of the day, but today there was more pressing matters. He had just received some interesting news and wanted to make plans. The two entered just behind him, the girl moving her hips and the boy eyeing her with suspicions. "Areo, close the door"

"What happened, father?" his daughter asked first, crossing her legs. She was wearing a too provocative two pieces dress, which made her brother flush. "Have you finally decided on a future husband for me? Or is it a wife for little Quentyn?"

"Settle down, Arianne, we have much to discuss" the dornish prince instructed. "You didn´t know, but since the end of the Rebellion, you have been betrothed to King Viserys Targaryen" the princess opened her eyes like a toad. Her father promised her to the Beggar King? Why? "It was part of the loyalist plans to make a Restoration and take revenge for the murder of Elia and the children" he swallowed hard, remembering for a second his beautiful sister. "That´s why I decided to name Quentyn my heir, you were going to be Queen."

"Queen" it sounded good. Not as much as ruling princess of Dorne, at least to her, but good. "But now that my betrothed is dead, a change of plans is in order" she looked at her astonished brother. "Then… what are those news you wanted to share with us, father?"

"Daenerys Targaryen conquered Astapor and is marching towards Yunkai with one of her dragons" informed the older prince, now piercing his son with his eyes, making him feel uncomfortable. "I want you, Quentyn, to go with some trusted knights with a copy of the alliance agreement signed by my brother and Ser Willem Darry, to offer your hand in marriage to her."

"What?" he was not sure of what else to answer? Him? Go and make a marriage offer to a girl? Even if the girl didn´t have dragons, it was not something he would do. "Why do I have to be the one, father? Send Trystane, he is more outspoken than I. Or Arianne" he glared at his sister, who was giggling by his side. "She surely is qualified enough to make a marriage offer in my stead."

"With that Lannister girl about to arrive, I need Trystane here to entertain her. And I don´t trust your sister to be diplomatic enough for this mission" the girl shut down immediately and pouted. "Besides, I need my heir by my side to not appear suspicious in the eyes of whatever bodyguard the Lannisters send with Myrcella Hill." He stared at both of his children. "This is important, Arianne, Quentyn. I need you both completely devoted to this plan, do you hear me?"

"Yes" they both answered.

"Then go, my son, and bring me trustworthy knights to travel with you" he then turned to his daughter. "Arianne, I want you to prepare everything for the Lannister girl´s arrival. I want her comfortable and completely oblivious to our plans. If she or whoever in her service asks, your brother is with Lord Anders Yronwood on the Boneway. I also want you to write a letter to Oberyn in the capital with concealed information about our plans, urging him to keep calm for now. I would do it myself, but my letters would be more inspected than yours."

"Yes, father"

They both nodded and went away. Before the end of the week, Quentyn was on his way to Essos and Arianne selecting new clothing for the bastard princess to wear in Dorne. She also sported a mischievous grin that usually preceded a storm. Doran was sure about one thing… live was about to get messy.

Chapter Text

"So, this is Yunkai" said Jon Snow, looking at the great walled city he had in front of him. A great Harpy statue was in plain sight, in place right in the middle of the place, signalling some kind of temple or perhaps the power of the masters. His armies of Unsullied waited in front of the great settlement, moving the siege engines and other machinery to their right place to attack. "What do you think, Ser Barristan? Is there a way to conquer it without spilling much blood?"

"The masters are not going to hand their city willingly and what happens to their slaves is not of their concern" the northern boy frowned. As a Westerosi, slavery was a disgusting and alien concept to him. He knew that it existed, but he was taught to despise it out of virtue, as any human being should. "They have two companies of sellwords and an army of pleasure slaves to protect themselves…"

"I understand" the prince simply said, turning around. He kept himself in the back of the armies, not out of cowardice, but to keep the element of surprise for the reunion with the master´s emissary. "Are you sure they don´t know about me? Only about my princess aunt?"

"I´m sure, my prince. We let no leaks about your brother or your presence, only the Princess" the old man said, smiling warmly at the boy. Out of the two, he was the most alike to Rhaegar in personality, something that quickly made him develop a soft spot for him. "But this strategy is not going to work again in your campaign in Essos."

"Then I will have to take advantage of it the most" the brunette said, pushing his hair out of his face. "Tell Lysea to be ready, Viserion will be in a few seconds. You also, Ser Barristan" he sighed. "I apologize beforehand for forcing you to become part of this mummer´s farce."

"Don´t worry, sometimes mummeries are part of battle" the man said before leaving to put himself by the side of the girl poising as Daenerys. The prince had not been very comfortable letting her doing this, as it put her innocent life in danger, but for now they needed this. If they knew all their hands beforehand like in an honourable fight. An honourable fight, the kind Jon Snow, Bastard of Winterfell, would like. "What is it?"

"Ser, sometimes I find myself wondering how this new facets of my life are changing me from the one I used to be" he said, looking at the ground. "I don´t know if it is for the better or the worst" the boy petted his wolf before continuing. "Eddard Stark raised me as a man of honour, but… lately, I felt I have become everything but that. So tell me, Ser Barristan, do you think I have changed? And if so, in the right way?"

"Of course" the old man said, putting a hand on his shoulder with a grandfatherly smile. "You are a good person, my prince. That you are worried about becoming an awful dishonourable man tells me that you are."

"But I´m not the kind of man my uncle raised me to be."

"Is that so bad?" the knight said, remembering having some similar talks with Rhaegar when he had been but a child. "I was in the Capitol when Ned Stark was betrayed. He was an honourable man, that´s true, but he was also a fool whose short sight costed the lives of his men and could have costed the ones of his daughters. All because he didn´t want to have three children´s blood on his hands. And, sometimes, a good leader needs to dirty his hands. A great leader must know when to be honourable and when to do what must be done. You, my prince, are in a good way to become one."

"Hummmm…" he guessed it was not so bad to not become his uncle. After all, he made a mess that landed his maternal family in a war. "I guess Jon Snow wanted to be too much like him to become your definition of a great leader."

"From what I see, Jon Snow, the Bastard of Winterfell, died the moment the wizards took him out of the Lands Beyond the Wall. Who you are now is Jaeherys Targaryen, second son of Rhaegar Targaryen and heir to the throne. Or am I wrong?"

"Not so much" answered the younger, smiling. Yeah, the sullen bastard boy, the one who was a part but at the same time apart from the Stark family, was dead. He now was Jaeherys Targaryen, a real member of the Targaryen family, beloved and cherished by both his aunt and his brother. "Sent Lysea forward now, I will be ready."

Lysea was a former bed slave from Astapor who favoured her Lysene mother and thus inherited the silver hair and purple eyes along with strong valyrian features that allowed her to make a convincing impersonate of Daenerys, despite not really resembling the dragon princess so much. Her dress was given to her by the princess too, which made the impersonation even more convincing, at least for the masters. The dragon by her side was the final touch, making the masters even more confidence. After all, what could a little girl do?

"The words were spoken and the collars given back to their owners" informed the girl to the prince after the mummery in front of the walls of Yunkai. "I think it went well, the masters said they would send some envoy tomorrow, your Grace."

"Good, I will need you to receive them in an appropriate manner when that happens" he allowed her to get in, showing her his tent. "And remember, you are Daenerys Targaryen, the Dragon Queen. You need to show an defiant attitude when you receive their envoy. Don´t worry, I will be there to guide in case you need me."

"Yes, my prince" the girl made no movement to get out through the hidden backdoor to bathe and prepare for the mummery of the following day. when she made no attempt to leave in the next few minutes, he turned around to see her. She was fidgeting with her dress, a movement that made the boy feel a little bit strange. "My prince…"

"What, Lysea?" he asked, a little bit nervous.

"I´ve heard before that… that Targaryen princes usually marry their sisters or at least girls from valyrian descend. I… I know I´m no maiden but… but I think that perhaps…" the girl seemed innocent or at least a little bit ashamed, something that contrasted with her actions, as she removed her dress, letting it fall to the ground. Jon´s face lit up, having never before seen a naked woman. Not even his aunt.

"Lysea, I´m not…" he excused himself, taking a few steps back. This was too much like the time Theon took both him and Robb to the Wintertown brothel and bought girls to take both of their maidenheads. He remembered escaping the place even before Ross finished removing her dress, just with a short glimpse at one of her breasts. "You don´t have to do this, you are not in the pleasure house anymore."

"I´m not asking you to marry me, it´s just that… you and yours freed me and my mother. I want to show my thanks to you with…"

"Lysea, stop"

"Please, my prince, I can make you feel good" she approached him, showing her full breasts and silver cunt to him. the boy reddened even more, grabbing a nearby sheet and quickly showing it around her. Then he guided her to the place she left her dress, breathing in and out deeply to cool himself. "My prince…"

"I don´t need that sort of services, thank you, Lysea" the Targaryen said, trying to forget what he saw. Hey, Jon Snow might be dead, but the things Eddard Stark taught him were still an integral part of his personality. And the stigma of bastardy leaving such a deep imprint in him that there was no way he would bed a woman before marriage and forcing a possible child of him to leave with his wife´s scorn like he did with Catelyn´s. "You can go to your tent and prepare yourself now."

"But…"

"Thank you again" he showed her out, handing her the dress she discarded. He then felt into a chair, rubbing his temples. He served himself a little bit of wine, willing to drink himself into forgetfulness. Ser Barristan enter in that moment, finding him finishing the second cup of wine in the afternoon.

"My prince, some of the soldiers informed me that they saw a naked girl exiting your tent. Is there something you…"

"She was at fault, not me" he explained quickly, gripping the cup so strong it threatened to break. "She entered to inform me that the masters of Yunkai took the bait and then she took off her dress and offered herself to me" he poured himself another drink. "For the Old Gods and the New, I couldn´t believe it when I saw her trying to seduce me in that way, so forward with what she wanted…"

"I was afraid of that" answered the young knight, not putting the blame on him as he feared. "Before we departed Astapor, I heard some of the girls making bets on your maidenhead after finding out you were a maiden. Apparently it is now worth a huge pool of jewels."

"Gods" that meant Lysea was just the first, he was to expect more attacks later. He drank all his cup at that thought, reaching for the pitcher again. "I knew there were going to be a few drawbacks of being a prince, but having girls bet about who takes my maidenhead… just unbelievable."

"Really?" Ser Barristan put on the same grandfatherly smile as before. "In times like this, you remind me of your father even more. Rhaegar also had to dodge a few maidens in his younger days, but it was no jewels they wanted. It was his crown. That turned him completely crazy" he laughed, remembering the traumatized Silver Prince dodging grabby highborn maidens. "I remember one particularly funny event when Cersei Lannister found her way into his chambers, completely naked. It took me months to get him to stop barring his door at night."

"I can tell… wait, what?" he asked, a little bit traumatized. To imagine his father with a naked Cersei… that was enough to make him want to puke. "Hope he threw her out of his rooms immediately, bared as she was."

"He was too much of a gentleman for that" Ser Barristan said, remembering his and Arthur Dayne´s faces when they saw the scene. "He did the same as you, put a sheet over her form and threw her out. Then barred his door and didn´t open until we assured him that the woman had actually left."

"Considering she is a brotherfucker and probably was doing the same then, the whore probably deserved to be paraded naked around the castle" he answered, much more animated. "Still I won´t bed any girl. They will find themselves disappointed, but I promised long ago not to have any bastards and don´t plan to break it now."

"To bed a girl doesn´t mean to plant a seed, boy" the knight said. "I don´t say you have to go around bedding girls like Robert did, but… enjoy a bit before settling down. It might be your last chance to enjoy carnal pleasure before having to marry."

"You are talking about it as if I was already betrothed"

"Not right now, but you might soon be" the man said, sighing. "Maybe I shouldn´t bring it up now, but Lord Connington has started to search betrothals for you. King Aegon is already set to wed Princess Daenerys to add more legitimacy to his claim and produce future pure blooded dragonriders, but you don´t have anyone to marry. The best show of an alliance is a marriage and many mayor houses have young daughters you can be married to."

"Do I really have to?" he asked, not wanting to be sold off like cattle. The only good thing about being a bastard boy was that he would never have to marry for an alliance, but as a prince… "And who are the candidates?"

"He hasn´t talked to the families yet, but he thinks about Arianne Martell, Sansa Stark and Margaery Tyrell… perhaps Shireen Baratheon, if her father dies soon" the horrified face Jaeherys put made Barristan feel pity for him. "Don't be like that, it could be worse. In fact, Princess Arianne and Lady Margaery are first on her list. Ladies Sansa and Shireen are only a last resort."

"They shouldn´t even be on the list, Sansa is like my sister! I know that for a Targaryen those words doesn´t mean much, but I was raised as a Stark, so incest is alien to me" the traumatized look of the prince actually had the older man pitying him. "And Shireen is just a little girl… I can´t marry a child!" the boy shook his head. "I´m never marrying"

"Then how are you having children?"

"I will leave that to Aegon"

"Perhaps the family will need other heirs, some that came from your body, if he and his queen are unable to give the throne an heir" Ser Barristan said. "For now, enjoy your bachelorhood, because it won´t last much if Lord Connington has his way."

"Guess I will have to dodge Lysea and the other girls more… but first I have to conquer Yunkai" he signalled the position of the Harpy on a nearby map. "Hope it falls as swiftly as Astapor did. Viserion is still a little bit too tiny to imitate Drogon."

"Don´t worry, it is going to be. I already found a way to make it happen"

-The next day-

"Your Grace, the envoy of Yunkai is approaching" said one of the Unsullied, alerting both Lysea and Jaeherys of the presence of the enemy. The prince sighed, having hope for some more time between meeting Bloodbeard and the masters. Well, beggars can be choosers. The northern boy donned a servant´s uniform, ready to carry trays and serve wine during the envoy´s reunion with the former bed slave. The woman moved nervously, her hair and clothes done in the same way as the Targaryen Princess. "Should we go out now, Princess?"

"Of course" the woman said, letting herself be guided to the location the encounter would take place. Grazdan mo Eraz entered the clearing with all the paraphernalia of a powerful noble, looking own on the Westerosi and former slaves. The fake Daenerys hold his glare like a true queen, eager to please her prince. Perhaps like that, she would win the bet. "Welcome, my lords. I am Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen and…"

"I know who you are, Dragon Whore" the man said, taking a fruit from Jon´s tray. He didn´t lift his eyes, signalling for Lysea to continue. Near her, Viserion chirped, wanting to go to his true rider. He calmed the dragon down for now, mentally ordering him to stay where he was. Soon they will conquer together. "You will find no easy conquest here, woman. Take your beasts, your eunuchs and leave our city."

"Why should I do that?" the former prostitute asked, trying to imitate the tone of her princess. "I have the armies, the dragons… you have no way to stop me."

"On contrary, your grace, you are the one who doesn´t have a chance with us. Our walls are tick and tall, our storages full and our men without fear. You will not conquer us" he then made a sound with his fingers, which was followed by two slaves moving a coffer towards her. "But why to go through a painful siege if we can settle this by other means? You are the Last Targaryen, your fight is not with us. It´s not even here in Essos."

"What do you mean?"

"The Wise Masters offer you this, fifty thousand gold coins, as a gift of friendship. Take the gold and leave, we will seek no retribution against you. You can even take your slave army to retake your Throne, we will not pursue you to recover them. The others will be reduced back to their slave status and…"

"That´s enough" Lysea said with outrage, encouraged by a nod from her prince. "I don´t want the friendship of people who would enslave others for their own selfish desires nor need gold so stained with the blood of innocents that curses the people who touches it" she glared at him. "The Targaryens will retake the Iron Throne, but that will be once I have eradicated the awful practice of slavery from the world, from here to Volantis and back."

"You stupid whore… you don´t know what you are saying…"

"Do I?" the girl continued. "I can be a foolish girl, but I still know the difference between right and wrong. Slavery is a wrong in the world, a wrong I´m planning to set right, beginning with Astapor and continuing with this city."

"Our walls will not be breached…"

"I will fly over them if necessary"

"Our soldiers…"

"The pleasure slaves you have taken as soldiers will take any opportunity to be free, even mine. I have already shown them that it´s possible to get rid of the masters" she smiled. Grazdan showed her his teeth and stormed out of the meeting place, taking his gold and slaves with him. Jon then left his tray, sighing. He truly wished the masters were more comprehensive, but he was talking about slavers here. There was no way to reason with that sort of people. "My prince…"

"Don´t worry, Lysea, you did very well" the Targaryen said, turning to Ser Barristan. "I think we will have to go with your idea, Ser. I just hope we didn´t have to use such underhanded tactics to achieve victory. It´s not honourable."

"Be at ease, my prince, as the underhandes tactic might save lots of lives from your army-" the old knight said. "Giving wine to the Second Sons so they are so drunk that they couldn´t remember who they fight for is a brilliant move. Our army might get out of this without many loses only for that" Jaeherys nodded, having heard many histories about Barristan the Bold. "And offering the Stormcrows a better deal than the masters…"

"My prince, urgent communication from Astapor" one of the freedmen approached him, bowing in respect before handing him a piece of paper. "The Princess is already near the walls of Meereen, something that probably will be of common knowledge soon. We should act quickly" the northerner frowned. He didn´t expect his aunt to move so soon after him. Well, at least his plans were not going to be affected by that. "The King also sends notice of a revolt in Astapor"

"What?" that was surely unexpected. After all, why would former slaves move against the people who freed them? "Is my brother alright?"

"King Aegon suffered no harm, neither did his courtiers" informed the man. "The leader of the rebels was quickly found, a butcher by the name of Cleon, and put to the sword along with his lieutenants. The citizens even helped in the investigations… apparently, he didn´t have as many followers as he believed."

"Foolish… as foolish as this so called Wise Masters" he turned his head towards the city, smiling in expectation. Since this began he started to feel like never before… so alive. Perhaps this was the right life for him.

This believe was reinforced the next day, as he entered the city with his troops. The freedmen sacked and hacked their way through the streets, putting many of the masters to the sword, but respecting the lives of women and children, even if they were the master´s kin. Jon walked along with them during the fight, diverting towards the pyramid with the great harpy on top, where the last masters have taken refuge. Behind him was Lysea, no longer in her dragon queen costume, dutifully following her prince.

"What… who…" Grazdan muttered, looking frantically between the woman he swore was the Dragon Queen and the man in Targaryen armour and colours right in front of him. The boy smiled, a little bit drunk of victory. No many boys his eyes managed to conquer a city, he should enjoy it. "Who are you?"

"I am Jaeherys Targaryen, brother to King Aegon of Astapor and nephew to Princess Daenerys, soon Princess of Meereen" he announced proudly his chin held high. "And this city is now mine."

Chapter Text

"Are you sure?" asked Jaeherys, drinking some wine on the top of the yunkish pyramid that has become his home during the last few months. His life had become everything but peaceful since he took the slaver city, with the masters plotting against him and the attacks of the mysterious sons of the harpy against his freedmen, so he had learned to appreciate the peaceful moments of the morning when he could just lay back and relax a bit.

"Absolutely, my prince" Mossador, his personal guard, answered. The unsullied was a very reliable person, much like his sister for Daenerys, and as soon as he found out about the murders of fellow unsullied on the street, he had been fast to develop an information network of former slaves to discover the culprits. "The masters asked for volantene help to recover the city."

"Volantis… I didn´t think they were going to attack so soon. Even the king was hopping for some time to reaggrupe before having to face the armies of Volantis" he drank some wine before continuing. "Well, I didn´t want things to come to this, but I can´t tolerate disloyalty and murder in city. Do you have proofs against the masters?"

"Some of them… Grazdan mo Eraz acted as an envoy to the other slaver cities behind your back, so I have plenty against him, but the others are proving to be smarter than him" the Naathi looked into the distance. "Their tentacles are already expanding to Meereen and, since the Princess rejection of the chosen candidate for king, the city had become full of sons of the harpy. It would be wise to send her a warning."

"My aunt is already warned, don´t worry. And, with the king on his way for the wedding, Ser Barristan is surely reinforcing the security" he left his goblet on a windowsill. "Send the unsullied to bring me Grazdan and any other master you have proofs against. I hoped this didn´t come to this, but…"

"What, my prince?"

"I will finish this in the northern way" he said, picking up his sword. This was probably not the use the Old Bear had hoped he gave his family´s sword, but it has been useful for battle anyway. It was now the sword of a conqueror. "the masters need to know that treachery has it´s consequences and how I deal with it."

"Immediately" the accused masters were reunited in an hour before the statue of the harpy. Between them was Grazdan, who was trembling in his fine sleeping clothes. He knew why he was here. How couldn´t him, having managed all the contacts between the sons of the Harpy and Volantis? He had heard plenty of tales about the northern savages from his Westerosi slaves and he didn´t like it in the slightest.

"Masters…" Jaeherys said their names, having memorised a list. His dragon and direwolf were right beside him, creating a dramatic effect. He normally didn´t have a knack for dramatics, but having the living sigils of both his houses right by his side was somewhat comforting for him. and he appreciate the added officiality. "You are accused of treason against your king and prince. Of murder and slavery, which has been banned from this city. How do you declare yourselves?"

"Fuck you, you foregein bastard!" one of them, a young and particularly impertinent one, screamed. "You might think yourself invincible with your pets and eunuchs, but when the armies of Volantis arrive, you are going to see what is good!"

"Please, do shut up" said Grazdan, eyeing the dragon with fear.

"Apparently you don´t repent your actions" Mossador brought in the chopping block he asked for. He also gave Longclaw to his prince, who motioned for him to bring the young master to him. Jaeherys stared at the valyrian steel, breathing in and out. He had seen his uncle do this plenty of times. He should be able to… behead a man himself too. All the people there were half expecting to see him burning his enemies alive, he knew, but… he was also a northerner and needed to honour that heritage.

"My prince, you should let Viserion or I…"

"Mossador, when growing up in Winterfell, my uncle gave me some lessons about justice" he said while the victim was being laid over the chopping block. "In the North, executions are done by the lord himself, as who passed the sentence swings the sword. Is the way of justice on my homeland" he raised the sword. "And the lord needs to see the condemned to the eyes when he swings the sword. If he does not, he probably didn´t deserve to die."

"Sounds like a wise man"

"An honourable man who got himself killed because of that honour… but he left me some life lessons that I will never forget. Like this one" breathing in hard, Jaeherys Targaryen swung the sword of the executioner for the first time and took the master´s life. He continued doing it until all the accused were dead. It didn´t became easier with experience. In fact, it became so hard that the boy wondered how his lord uncle could have done it so many times.

"You should leave Viserion do it next time, my prince" the unsullied said after the deed was done. And, for some reason, it hasn´t damaged the boy´s reputation with the freedmen and citizens. In fact, it boasted it. Apparently, even the yunkish appreciated good northern justice.

"I need to do justice my own way" Jon said, serving himself a bit of wine. "Putting everything aside, I don´t know if it´s a good moment for me to leave the city. Even if it´s my brother´s wedding, the citizens need me here to put order" he sat down in the windowsill, staring at the city. "I do want to see Aegon and Daenerys again, but with Volantis on the move it would be a mistake to leave my city."

"Perhaps is the…"

"My prince!" someone entered in that moment, sweating hard. The young warrior immediately knew he was in for some bad news. "Ships has been seen in the port. The navy is about a few minutes away from complete their blockade around our city. They fly volantene banners!"

"Any company?"

"From what we could see, the Windblowns, the Longlances and the Company of the Cat" informed the port official. "My prince, this is serious. With all the problems there has been lately, we could be sure that they have spies in the city. The sons of the harpy could open the gates of the city to them and…"

"I know" Jaeherys said with calm, trying to quickly form a plan. "Mossador, send incognito guards to the doors and ports. Anyone who tries to sneak someone into the city will face punishment for treason as soon as this situation is sorted" the unsullied captain bowed and left. "If only Viserion was only big enough to fly…"

"My prince…"

"Don´t worry" the brunette said, getting up from his place. "My brother, the king of Slaver´s Bay, was already on his way here with his army. The original purpose of this was to still the problems in both Yunkai and Meereen, but… I guess he is going to arrive just in time."

"And the Princess?"

"My aunt, as I said, already have her own problems"

-In the ships-

"What are we doing here, Ser Archibald?" asked Prince Quentyn to one of his bodyguards. They had disguised themselves as sellswords to join the volantene army and finally get to Slaver´s Bay, but they were not closer to find the dragon queen. "My father sent us to find Daenerys Targaryen, not to lose time with the yunkish."

"I heard some interesting news from the sellswords, my prince. Apparently, the princess visited this place before going to Meereen. And she must have liked the place a lot, because someone with a dragon is said to rule over the city."

"Hummmm…" the Martell pondered for a moment if the rumours could refer to Daenerys, but who else could it be? The woman was the last Targaryen in the world, the Mother of Dragons, only her could have one of the beings with her. "I guess we are sneaking into the city at night to speak with the Dragon Queen then" he scrunched up his nose a bit. "Fortunately, may I add. I´m going to be glad to leave this ship."

"Why? Afraid of salt water?" teased him Gerris Drinkwater from the other side of the cabin.

"Have you got eyes? There have been more and more cases of the Pale Mare between the sellswords of the volantene ships. I don´t want to get the sickness, so…" he stopped before someone could hear them, as they heard some steps directed to their cabin. Greenguts, as the titular of the three of them, opened it for his squires only for it to reveal the Tattered Prince. Quentyn kept a straight face, internally cursing. This could put a dent into their plans to desert the company.

"You and the other Westerossi are to take a trip for me" the man said, surprising the dornishmen. "There has been a counteroffer, a generous one, and I want to have the upper hand in case this turns against the Volantene." Counteroffer? This was strange. Who could offer a big enough counteroffer as to make the Tattered Prince turn his cloak on the Old Tiger? Maybe the Dragon Queen, if she put all her spoils to it. "You will go to Yunkai in the night to arrange a meeting with the ruler of the city."

"Understood" apparently they were lucky. They got a reunion with Daenerys Targaryen without even having to desert the company. When he told this to his uncle Oberyn…

When the night arrived, the three dornishmen along with the other westerosi got outside of the ship and, with a simple dark shift, they managed to reach the coast without being noticed by any of the volantene watchmen. Once in the shore, they were chanced on by the unsullied, who brought them to the ruler´s audience chamber. It was really large, with a throne on the centre with carved dragons and, for some reasons, wolves. Onice dark dragons with ruby eyes and snow white marfil wolves with the same stone eyes as the dragons. He didn´t have time to ponder, because trumpets sound, announcing the entrance of the city´s master. Quentyn mentally prepared himself, ready to present himself to his intended.

"All hail Jaeherys of House Targaryen, the White Dragon, prince of Yunkai!" announced a man, breaking any train of thoughts the dornishmen had. They look between themselves, not knowing what to do. Who was this Jaeherys and where did he came from? Was he even a true Targaryen or a pretender? The white dragon that flew in before the young man and his wolf evaporated any thoughts of a fake. This was the real thing, but… where did he came from?

"Rise, please" the Martell and his companions did, not knowing what else to do. Gerris Drinkwater was the first one to take a look at the young prince, whose dark brunette hair felt down his shoulders, making him look alike to… to Lyanna Stark. He immediately made the connection and growled. He was the Stark bitch´s son. Rhaegar left his little bitch pregnant and now his bastard spawn was looking at them as the ruler of Yunkai. He turned to Quentyn to try and see his reaction, but the prince of Dorne was struck completely speechless. He only stared at the man in front of him with awe. Great, now they have more problems. "I know you were probably expecting my aunt, Princess Daenerys…"

"Yes, but… there is more important business we want to address with you" Quentyn finally stopped staring at the yunkish dressed northerner and pulled out the marriage contract signed by prince Oberyn and Ser Willem Darry. "You see, I´m prince Quentyn Nymeros Martell from Dorne. Some years ago, my uncle Oberyn signed a marriage alliance with House Targaryen, betrothing my sister Princess Arianne to prince Viserys…"

"I have never heard of such alliance, but, again, there is much I don´t know about my House. May I see?" the dornish prince walked towards the northern one, trying not to make a fool out of himself. He had never shared his uncle Oberyn´s sexual preference for both sexes, having been attracted only by girls, but this boy was… lovely. There was no other way to describe him. "All seems legal… which lands us in a problem, as my aunt is already betrothed."

"And I suppose you are the lucky groom" this was getting better and better. Not just their prince was smitten with Lyanna Stark´s bastard, but this one was about to obtain a legitimization by marrying the Dragon Queen. If he did so, the Iron Throne will undoubtedly belong to him.

"No, the groom in question is of Martell blood. You should know him, my brother Aegon" commented the boy as if it was common knowledge that the murdered prince was in fact alive. The dornish, for their part, were left with their jaws hanging. "I wonder why he never mentioned your arrival. Had he done so, I would have been prepared to host such important guests."

"Aegon? Aegon Targaryen, son of Elia?" asked Archibald Yronwood, not believing what he was hearing. Their whole plan, it could go to waste because of this surprises. Prince Doran was not going to be happy… or perhaps he would, as his nephew was actually alive. But that also meant that Aegon foolishly legitimized his bastard brother. Yes, that´s the only explanation for Jaeherys to use his father´s name instead of the bastard one.

"He was coming this way when the volantene army appeared at our doors, so if you stay, you surely will be able to deal with him in person" the brunette continued with his proper host tone, despite wanting nothing else but to flee the room. "Steward, please prepare proper accommodations for our esteemed guests while I deal with the Tattered Prince´s envoys."

"Right away, my prince" with a last look at the delicious northerner, Quentyn left the room with his guard.

Jon felt the need to rub his temples in pain. First the volantene army at his door, then Aegon´s counteroffer to the head of the Windblowns and now this. A marriage pact with the Martells... he saw the benefit of it, specially considering the state of his birth father´s family after the Rebellion, but now it pose a problem. If he wasn´t careful, he was going to be the collateral damage of that pact and the Gods only knew how much he was going to survive if he married the Princess of Dorne. With his roots, he didn´t think it was much. The only good thing was that the dornish didn´t hate him as much as he believed or at least the news of his brother´s survival managed to calm their hate a little bit. Anyway, he had to be extra careful from then on. One misstep and the Volantene could destroy everything the three last members of House Targaryen had strived to build. He kept his posture otherwise, ready to deal with the sellswords.

"The Prince honours House Targaryen with his acceptance to hear our terms for a new contract" Jaeherys said, suddenly wishing to be back at Winterfell, where someone else had to deal with this kind of problems. Well, no one said that being legitimate was all sunshine and candies. With privilege came duty, that he learned well in his first weeks as a prince, and he was going to do his duty to House Targaryen. "But tell me, which are the Prince´s terms for an alliance?"

-In another place-

"I can´t believe it" Gerris Drinkwater said, drinking some wine with his companions. They were in a little solar in the guest wing of the pyramid, the three of them. Or at least the two that were still in reality, because Prince Quentyn was in cloud nine. "Lyanna Stark´s whelp here, Prince Aegon alive… King Aegon now, I suppose."

"And he is about to wed Princess Daenerys" added Yronwood, wondering how it was going to alter their plans. Well, it won´t really matter. Whether Quentyn or Aegon married the girl, Martell blood was going to be in control of the Iron Throne and the Seven Kingdoms. As for the bastard… "It was a surprise to find the Stark girl´s whelp here though."

"Oh, yes" the other sat down next to him. "But what I really want to know is how he escaped Prince Doran´s and Varys detection. That usually didn´t happen."

"It was easy to dodge them when you created a blindspot" a female voice said, as a woman entered the room. She was wearing a fitting purple dress, with a fallen star embroidered on her breast. The knights took a good look at her before recognizing her. "Of course, that only worked for Prince Jaeherys, as King Aegon was snuck out of King´s Landing by the Spider himself."

"Ashara?" asked Gerris, dumbfounded.

"Long time no see" she answered mischievously. "Not since I left to take care of King Aegon in exile."

"So you knew" the Drinkwater crossed his arms, as the eyes of the men around turned to her. "How did this happen?"

"After Rhaegar wed for the second time… yes, he did. Jaeherys is legitimate. And before you say anything, Elia knew and accepted this second marriage. She even lend her the Tower of Joy to hide during her pregnancy" Ashara took a seat by their side with all the grace of a lady at court. "The Princess liked Lady Lyanna a lot and hoped their children would grow to love each others like siblings."

"So, Aunt Elia knew" Quentyn crossed his arms. "What happened next?"

"I have just lost my own daughter when Lord Stark turned up at my doorstep with Lyanna´s corpse and her newborn in arms. I got a wetnurse for the little prince and tried to snuck him out, take him to his brother in Essos, but Lord Stark was watching him like a hawk. I couldn´t do anything for him. his lord uncle took him to Winterfell to be raised as his bastard" she sighed. "Jon Connington was already with Aegon on exile, waiting for me, and I couldn´t afford to lose more time, so I faked my death and became septa Lemore, one of Aegon´s teachers."

"Then House Martell is in debt with you and House Dayne, my lady" the prince said, bowing to the woman in thanks. "If you ever need something, just ask and we will do everything between our possibilities to help you and yours."

"Thank you, my prince" she answered the gesture, smiling. Quentyn then served two goblets of wine, giving one to the gorgeous woman. "I only did my duty to my liege lord, my friend and the Realm. My only regret was that I wasn´t able to take Jaeherys with me. What Lord Stark did with him…"

"Oh, yes, Jaeherys. I have to say it, milady, it was a surprise to find another Targaryen alive when it was supposed to be only Daenerys. You said he was in Winterfell with his maternal family. How did he end up in his half-brother´s entourage, in Essos? I doubt Lord Stark renounced willingly to him."

"Oh, he did not. Eddard Stark was one of the Usurper´s most loyal subjects, so much that he raised his nephew to become a man of the Night´s Watch and sent him at barely fourteen to the Wall" Ashara drank some of her wine, wanting to put her hands around the dead Hand´s neck. To do such a thing to such a sweet child… "It was only thanks to the timely intervention of the wizards of Qarth that we were able to recover him."

"Really? Tell me more"

They spent the next hours talking about the boy in question. And the more he knew, the more Quentyn became entranced with the brunette prince. He raged internally when he heard about him being practically thrown out of his family´s castle towards the Wall and cheered when he heard about the reunion with his brother and aunt. By the time the Dayne woman told him about the conquest of Yunkai he was completely smitten.

"Lady Dayne hasn´t changed a bit" commented Gerris when the woman finally excused herself for the night. "She is loyal to those she cares about, which is good, because it includes Aegon" he turned to his companions. "But it also does Jaeherys and that could be a problem." He crossed his arms. "We should tell prince Doran about this development."

"Daenerys won´t marry me anyway, why bother my father with this?" asked the youngest man, feeling refreshed. "Dorne should support Aegon´s claim to the throne. I strongly believe that my father will see it the same way."

"Yes…" Gerris said. "But that doesn´t mean our work is done. Once we meet your cousin, we will contact your father for new directives. Hopefully talking, there will be another royal wedding soon enough."

Quentyn froze. What was he implying? Could it be that his father might betroth Arianne to that perfect prince? He couldn´t let that happen. Never.

Chapter Text

"This is getting more and more troublesome" commented Jon as he read Mossador´s last report. Last night there have been at least three attacks on his Unsullied soldiers and while only one was successful (two men getting out of a brothel), the amount of Sons of the Harpy in the city to perpetrate them have to be considering. "Do any of the attackers get out of there alive?"

"Asher Forrester managed to hold onto one with his last strength until we arrived. The poor boy was damn lucky we did, he barely dodge death" his captain of guard and personal bodyguard said, keeping his straight face as the prince put down the papers. He was so tired of this situation, so much. "And the Princess is having similar problems. The Sons of the Harpy swarms her city too, killing freedmen with the help of Volantis and the nobles trying to push her towards a marriage to one of their own."

"She will marry Aegon, that was never in question"

"They also want her to help them take you down. Call you the Mad Bastard… with all due respect" Jon sighed. He preferred the other names his men gave him. The Dragonknight reborn might be a little bit exaggerated, but Jaehaerys Whiteflame or Dragonwolf didn´t sound too bad. Not at all. "Also, there were some letters from Lord Connington to you about the ladies he considered as candidates for your marriage."

"Oh, burn them all" he said quoting the Mad King. "I don´t want to hear more about weddings or ladies until my brother is finally married. I already have enough with the girls going after my maidenhead here. Let´s go spar a few minutes in the yard instead."

"Are you sure, my prince?"

"Yes, I need to distract myself a bit" he said, picking up his training sword. It was an exact replica of his Valyrian steel one, just in normal metal and blunted, specially from training. Staring at it always made him think about the original one… and the guilt he felt for failing it´s previous owner. The Old Bear… Longclaw was meaning to be the Mormont´s ancient sword and perhaps he should return it to Ser Jorah, but it has served him so well, feeling like an extension of his arms, that he couldn´t give it away. Maybe he should do something else to shake those feelings away from him. "Okay, simple sword training today."

"As you wish" Mossador raised his own sword, making a gesture to begin the fight. Jon attacked and ducked, for a second imagining himself back in Winterfell with his brothers and Theon, training under the severe look of Ser Rodrik Cassel. Unfortunately for him, the Unsullied was stronger than even the old master of arms. He soon found himself on the ground, as every time he duelled his bodyguard. "You are getting better, my prince."

"I don´t feel like that" the boy said, getting up with the eunuch´s help. "Normally I would win all the fights in the training yard, even with multiple opponents." He stared at the weapon in his hand, specially forged for him. "Guess I´m getting soft with all the inactivity."

"Or it´s just the difference of skill" offered the other, frowning. "Tell me, who were your former training partners? Were they seasoned warriors?"

"No, they were my older brother… cousin, I mean… my uncle´s ward… a total useless unless you gave him a bow… and a couple of trainees" the northerner caught what the Naathi was trying to say. Unsullied were warriors without compare, so it was very likely that someone like him, skilled despite only training with boys his age, wouldn´t even make them sweat. "I guess I need more training."

"You are doing excellent, my prince"

"I still think I should train more, we will soon be facing Volantis and it would be better for me to get better, because there is no way I´m staying behind with the commanders" he said in a serious tone. "I´m going to fight with my men, Mossador, that´s final."

"Then you should have a better training companion, my prince" Quentyn and company suddenly appeared in the training yard.

The two older knights tried to avoid the city´s ruler´s gaze. They always seemed really uncomfortable in the presence of the Targaryen prince, so they avoided him, but sometimes they couldn´t do that. After all, their young charge seemed to have taken such an interest in the governor of Yunkai that he followed the man everywhere. Not that they were the only ones uncomfortable there, Jaehaerys himself felt that way because of the Prince´s attention, but he couldn´t exactly spurn possible allies, specially from Westeros, so he stood it. He only wished Quentyn would understand the limits of propriety were not the same in the rest of Westeros as they were in Dorne, so he would stop having certain... behaviour towards Jaehaerys. That would help a lot.

"Are you volunteering yourself, my prince?" answered the dragon, raising his sword. Willing to presume his abilities with the spear, the Martell entered the ring, preparing to show him how a true knight fought. The unsullied bodyguard looked at his own charge before leaving the place at an order from the brunette. The two youths encircled them, sword and spear ready.

"Ten stags to Quentyn" whispered Drinkwater after seeing the first clash. For a person fighting sword against spear, a larger reach weapon, the dragon was doing very well, but the dornish was trained by Lord Yronwood and re trained by the Red Viper of Dorne. He was going to be a difficult, if not impossible to defeat with a sword.

"Cheater, that´s an easy win" Archibald said, watching the two teens exchange more blows. He had to admit it, Jaeherys was good. Had he grown up in the Red Keep as a prince of the Realm, he would already be an impressive tourney knight… and that hurt dornish pride even more. That Lyanna Stark managed to give Rhaegar such a skilled child despite her rather questionable position… it seemed to him like another insult to their dear princess Elia. He knew he still had to see King Aegon and his fighting capacities but…

"My Prince! News from the King´s Party!" one of his advisors interrupted just when he was about to break Quentyn´s spear with his blunted blade. The man handed him a paper, which he read carefully with the Dornishmen trying to spy over his shoulder. When he finished, he couldn´t believe it.

"His Grace is arriving today, the same with my aunt. Seems you are getting your audience with princess Daenerys earlier than I believed" he said, crumbling the note. The dornish prince seemed a little disappointed, but carefully hid it. He was trained to be a skilled diplomatic after all, and knew how to deal with royals. "And, according to Lord Connington´s informants, there has been a slave revolt in Volantis. We should expect the blockage to be on retreat to suffocate it."

"The Tattered Prince should know about this" commented Ser Gerris.

"Of course, he will be informed. This retreat is just the opportunity we were waiting for to get rid of the volantene forces for good" Jaeherys sighed. "But, with the King here, he will be the one dealing with the Windblowns, not me" he left his sword in the rack. "I have to make sure everything is ready to receive his Grace. Good day, prince Quentyn."

"Good day to you too"

The Prince escaped as fast as he could without it being offensive. Once out of sight, Jon congratulated himself in his increasing diplomatic skills. Not only had he avoided an incident with Dorne, he also managed to keep a city under siege and the traitors inside it in control. Not bad for a boy raised as a northern bastard, no? Well… he had the education of a lord thanks to his uncle´s promise or guilt… possibly the latest, but he wasn´t about to dig deep into that. He had enough issues with the man to wake up more. And now that he was dead… better not to get into that. Besides, he wasn´t in the mood to think about Lord Stark in that moment. In the last few years, he had done several things he would never condone. Specially since he was left in charge of Yunkai. What he had done to gain and keep the city for House Targaryen... his uncle would be horrified by his dishonourable actions.

"My Prince?" Quentyn´s voice returned him to reality really quickly. He supressed a groan when he noticed that the Prince and his knights had actually followed him and turned to them. The dornishmen were looking at him with an interested face, specially the Martell, as if wanting to know where his mind was. "I was calling you. Are you listening to me, my prince?"

"Yes, yes, Prince Quentyn" the northern answered, trying to smile at his guests. "Forgive me, but I was making a list about what is going to be needed to receive the king."

"Oh, I´m sure my cousin isn´t expecting a grand welcome considering the circumstances. After all, living under siege is difficult even for the sturdiest of lords"
The other boy tried to grab his hand to show his support, but Jaeherys moved it away. Like he said, several of Quentyn´s actions were making him uncomfortable. Also, he was starting to get strange ideas about the other, which the spar intensified, and didn´t want to offend the boy. Or hurt his feelings. Dorne would not take it lightly if their prince was offended by the son of Lyanna Stark, a bastard in their eyes. Seven hells, it might even cause them to recind their offer of support, the last thing they needed now.

"Anyway, we will deliver the message to the Windblowns to attack the retreating volantene fleet and return to speak with cousin Aegon" he bowed before adding. "I have heard so many things about him as a babe that I´m impatient to see him as an adult."

"I´m sure he is impatient too"

Jon saw the three dornish knights leave for their boat. Good, finally he could relax a little. And actually think. He returned to the pyramid with Mossador and oversaw the preparations to receive the king. Just in time, because Aegon appeared at their doors a few hours later, with Jon Connington and Rhaegal following close. The dragons had grown a lot, more than Viserion, in those few months apart. So much that they couldn´t travel in their owner´s shoulders anymore. Not that they understood that, because Jon had nearly been crushed by the bloody reptile more than once while he attempted to do just that.

"Brother!" Aegon greeted enthusiastically, embracing him. "I was beginning to think that I imagined our family. With all the time we used to spend together before…" he shook his head. "Thanks the gods everything in Astapor is going okay, because I couldn´t stop thinking about what you and Daenerys are going through in your respective cities…"

"Wasn´t there a slave revolt in Astapor?"

"Yes, that… Lord Connington suffocated Cleon´s revolution before it even really started, so I didn´t really feel it" the older Targaryen shrugged it off, putting his arm around his little brother. "But what I really want to heard it´s about you. You got the most problems!" he said. "I mean, Dany had troubles with the Sons of the Harpy hounding her Unsullied, but she wasn´t ambushed by my dornish family. Tell me, were they nice to you?"

"Yes, but perhaps we should take this to my private solar. There is eyes and ears everywhere in this place" Jon said before going inside the pyramid. Once in the private solar, with cups of Arbour Gold in their hands, the two brothers finally sat down to talk seriously. "Okay, now we are in private, what happened? And don´t tell it was nothing, because the news reached here."

"As I said, it wasn´t as terrible as it seemed. This butcher named Cleon believed he could take power from me, but ended up being trounced after a few weeks by Griff" Aegon answered, without giving it much thought. "A few former slaves that were threated good by their masters tried to emulate him with the same results, even a second Cleon, but apart from that, Astapor is peaceful."

"You should watch your back, brother, the Throne is not peaceful for anyone on it" Jon advised. He didn´t mention that he worried the double, as he had two older brothers in a similar position to worry about, one King of Slaver´s, now Dragon´s Bay, and one King in the North. "Anyway, there is not much to report here either. The Sons of the Harpy were a problem, but the executions got them under control… or so I think" he sighed. "Guess the news from Volantis arrived just in time, I wouldn´t want to do it twice."

"And my dornish cousin?"

"Prince Quentyn has not been anything less of charming during his stay here" informed the younger Targaryen, lowering his gaze a bit. Like he said, Quentyn Martell made him feel uncomfortable, but he wasn´t going to cause a misundertanding mentioning that to Aegon. "Besides expressing his wishes to marry your betrothed, of course" the king frowned, trying to picture that. "But he took the news of your bethrotal well and has been nothing but a gracious guest."

"Really?" Aegon couldn´t believe it. His family on the other side of the sea were known for their bad opinion on his half-brother´s mother, so he couldn't believe that a cousin of him, direct family of the wronged Princess Elia, was really so good with Lyanna Stark´s son. "If there is something…"

"No, seriously, prince Quentyn and his companions didn´t give us a problem, even if they want to discuss the marriage pact between our houses. The servants can give you the full report if you want one, but they will say the same as me"

Even with those assurances, the older dragon was not convinced. Perhaps it was only his paranoid mind, perhaps the prince was plotting something… he didn´t know, but he was surely going to find out. After all, the duty of an older brother was to take care of his younger sibling, right? Also, discussing the marriage pact... the most he had heard of it, it involved his cousin Arianne marrying his uncle Viserys in exchange for Dorne supporting their claim, but with him there, shouldn´t his uncle support them without asking another marriage in exchange? Besides, with Viserys dead and Daenerys soon to be married to him, he only had one family member to offer to Dorne and he doesn´t think such offer would be well received.

"And… has Daenerys come with you?"

"No, she is making her way from Meereen on her own now" he took the detour gladly, as he didn´t want to ponder on his mother´s family right now. "Her and Drogon, who according to her is almost the adequate size to be rode."

"By her perhaps, as she is lighter than us"

The both of them laughed like children, turning to have a more enjoyable conversation as they drank their way through the bottle of Arbour Gold. Jon Connington, for his part, was trying to make sense of what he heard from Prince Jaeherys mouth. A Martell being nice to Lyanna Stark´s son? No, there was something more there and he was going to find out. He also mentioned the marriage pact and discussing the terms, even if both sides knew there was only one Targaryen that they would be able to offer and... Dorne wouldn´t do something like that, no? He didn´t put it besides that Viper Oberyn or Doran Martell to get rid of the stain in their sister´s honour after they got what they wanted, but... No, he wouldn´t let that happen. No one was going to touch his Silver Prince´s sons, over his dead body…

-A few days later-

"Be welcome, esteemed visitors, to Yunkai" Aegon said to the dornish knights, eyeing the newly returned westerosi. Jaeherys, for his part, stood by the side, analysing his brother and the Martell. There were indeed some familiar resemblance between them, initiating with the olive tinted skin and similar fascial structures. The king went directly towards the prince. "Cousin, I´m glad to finally meet a member of my mother´s family. Hope we can be good friends and allies."

"Me too, cousin" Quentyn answered, reciprocating the feeling, then getting down to business. "I´m sure your brother already informed you about the deal made by your aunt´s guardian Ser Willam and our uncle Oberyn about an alliance between House Targaryen and House Martell. The original contract, sealed under the watchful eyes of the Sealord of Braavos, said that your uncle Viserys would marry my sister Arianne when of age…"

"As I see, the contract is not valid now that one of the pair is dead" said Jon Connington, intervening before Aegon could even open his mouth. The King threw his Hand a harsh look before turning to his cousin again, but this one was already answering.

"Yes, and that´s why my father decided to change the terms of the deal and offer a marriage between Princess Daenerys and myself to seal the alliance. Right then, we believed her to be the only survivor of your Great House…"

"The Princess is already betrothed to me, Prince Quentyn, for dynastic reasons and I don't believe dissolving such an important match is the right thing to do. Even for an alliance with Dorne" the silver haired boy finally managed to talk. "Anyway, as we shared the same blood, I believed that was enough to make us allies."

"My father will like to ensure that dornish blood will take the Throne" signalled the dornish knight, biting his lip. "I have already sent him a missive, detailing him our findings and we have yet to see an answer, but I´m sure he will be delighted to receive his sister´s son in Sunspear to renegotiate the terms…"

"Are you offering us safe port in Westeros, Prince Quentyn?"

"My Prince…" Ser Gerris Drinkwater tried to stop him. Prince Doran will surely receive his nephew to negotiate the terms of the alliance now that Viserys was dead and Daenerys betrothed, but he wouldn´t be happy to see an entire fleet of warriors using his ports as launch point to invade Westeros. Not without the correct incentive. "You should probably talk to your father before you promise anything…"

"I know what I´m doing" the other interrupted him. "Of course, to avoid attracting any unnecessary attention, only one ship carrying the royal family will be allowed to take port before the negotiations are finished. A trade vessel, not a war one" added Quentyn, taking a look at Jaeherys, imagining him in the thin silks the dornish were so partial to. Some vapid purple would surely look good on him. "It is just a precaution, House Martell doesn´t want to drag the attention of the Usurper towards it."

"The Usurper? I heard Robert Baratheon is already dead."

"But the Lannister spawn his wife passed as his son reigns from your Throne"

"With your uncle as a member of the Small Council, according to our informants" intervened again Lord Connington, getting more and more tired of this vipers. He remembered those grabbing desert snakes too well from his time at court, so much that it didn´t amuse him having to do so again. "And the Lannister bastard currently in your care."

"Myrcella Waters is being treated well… for the moment." Said Quentyn, despite not knowing how the girl was at the moment. "Our father never had the intention of letting her marry one of our own, but such an opportunity shouldn´t be ignored. You know well that a good hostage could easily turn the tides during a war."

"Returning to your uncle Oberyn…"

"My uncle was sent to prepare the terrain for a War. Besides, a troublemaker in their council can very well work in our benefit."

"If he is able to control them" Aegon shrugged. "I will think about your offer. In the meantime, please let me entertain you with the attractions I brought from Astapor" the boy clapped twice and suddenly some acrobatic dancers made entrance, doing complicated and nearly impossible sommersaults. Something even the boy king was impressed by. "Woow, aren´t they fantastic?"

"Indeed, your Grace." They stayed for a few minutes later, until the dornishmen got distracted. Then the redhead discretely tapped on the boy´s shoulder. "A word, please?" asked the Hand, exiting the room towards a private solar the two knew very well. Seconds later, the silver haired teen joined him. "Weren´t you followed?"

"No, and I hope you can explain this. I have just left my guests without an explanation, something unworthy of a king…"

"I´m sure you will be forgiven. This dornishmen are rather lax with the etiquette, they surely won´t mind you being absent from their welcome" they both sat down, ready to discuss the issue at hand. "I´m sure your uncle Doran will ask for a great price in exchange for his cooperation. Namely, Prince Jaeherys hand in marriage for his daughter."

"I thought their negative opinion on Lyanna Stark would prevent that" the boy said, drinking a bit. "Anyway, I´m sure my brother will do his duty if that comes to happen, but we will try to renegotiate first. There are bigger fishes to catch and, as I´m getting married, my brother´s betrothal is our best card to play."

"Prince Doran will be difficult, we might need some ammunition to make him cooperate" the redhead stretched a bit. "Princess Arianne is known for being very lax with her favours, there won´t be trouble to find something to use against her."

"I wouldn´t want thing to come to that. Won´t my uncle cooperate without any blackmail?"

"Maybe, but he might want to make the most of our current situation" he sighed. "Anyway that shouldn´t be worrying us right now. What are you going to do about the volantene fleet in retreat?"

"After I finish with this, we will go to Volantis. The Fiery Hand, leader of the red priests and the freed slaves, invited us to his temple to talk about a certain prophecy my father was said to be fond of" Jon Connington rolled his eyes, remembering Rhaegar´s monologues about the damn prophecy. "After our interview with the High Priest and recruitment between the freed slaves, we will go deal with uncle Doran in secret."

"Are you sure you want to head to Westeros right now? The War of the Five Kings is still raging in full force, we should wait until the armies had exhausted each other…"

"What is there to wait? Renly Baratheon is dead, his forces split between his brother and the pretender on my throne. Stannis lost a mayor battle and is licking his wounds on Dragonstone. Robb Stark is slowly losing his war despite winning all his battles and Ballon Greyjoy is pillaging the North. I can´t leave things like this" he joined his hands. "Once in Westeros, I will be easy to sway more people to our cause. You said the Tyrells could be swayed."

"Only if we offer them the right price. And with Margaery set to be Joffrey´s Queen, it will be difficult."

"If only the dragons were a bit bigger…"

"They will get bigger, give them time" advised Jon Connington, ruffling his hair. "When they are bigger, we will go to Westeros and no one will ever think of crossing you. No one."

"Then let´s hope the trip to Volantis is enough time."

Aegon returned to the performance immediately, clapping and talking with his cousin like a good host. Entertaining them so no one would see that his brother had dissapeared from sight. For his part, Jon, follower by his faithful shadow Mossador, had already scurried away into the bowels of the pyramid, where a northern looking man was already waiting for him. His name was Cregan Winterrose, spymaster for the Company of the Rose and brother of it´s Commander. Jaehaerys smiled. It had been a complete stupidity of the Sons of the Harpy to try and approach them with an offer, as that particular mercenary company considered themselves proud northerners and were happy to serve someone of Stark blood again. And they had done a good job.

"How was your reunion?" Aegon asked when his brother returned to his side later, in his private solar. "Did they sprung your trap?"

"Yes. Wish I didn´t have to sacrifice such experienced captains... but they need to be big fish to attract their attention" Jon sighed, remembering the two men he had lost in that attack, nearly three if Asher Forrester hadn´t been rescued in time... but it had certainly beared fruits. "Cregan´s spies had nearly the entire network identified. He will get rid of them by the morning."

"And the Volantene?"

"The Windblowns are pursuing them as they retired to their home to defend it agains the slave revoilt High Priest Benerro instigated" the prince served himself a bit of wine. "And I have prepared them a little surprise so the Old Blood of Valyria doesn´t forget that dragonlords were on the top once and will be again."

"Oh, really?"

"Of course. I have everything ready... with the help of a new friend Cregan Winterrose introduced me" Jaehaerys smiled. "A certain Triarch by the name of Doniphos Paenymion."

"Interesting"

Jon... Jaehaerys drank a bit of his wine. Conspiracy, tricks and traps, bribes and murder. What would his uncle, honourable Lord Eddard Stark, say if he saw the nephew he raised now? He would be so dissapointed. But it didn´t really mattered. One of the first things Jaehaerys Targaryen had learned after being stranded in Essos and governing a city was that he needed to do whatever was needed to keep his head and his family´s head on their shoulder. There was no place for honour in politics, as his uncle had showed him by losing his head in King´s Landing by being an honourable fool. And Jaehaerys refused to die a fool.

"Tell me when everything is done"

"As your Grace orders"

Chapter Text

"I was not expecting this when I found out about your existence, your Grace"

"Why not? We are cousins, we should be friends. Surely, had my mother survived, we would have played together in those Water Gardens Griff told me about when I was little" said Aegon, serving Quentyn a good amount of Dornish Red. The two cousins were in the King´s private solar, waiting for the ship to be ready. Jon Connington have left them space, making the final arrangements for their trip to Volantis. "And I´m not mad about uncle Doran´s plan of marrying you to Daenerys. It was, after all, the best course to take with the information he had."

"It´s good to know"

"Sit down, please" the other boy invited, signalling a chair in front of him. "Are you familiar with the game of cyvasse?" Quentyn opened his mouth to answer, but was interrupted before he could answer. "Of course you are. It´s quite the popular game between westerosi nobility, no?"

"Yes, cousin, indeed it is" Aegon smiled, pulling up a battered up board, one of the few things his guardian has brought with him from Westeros. It surprised the dornish that a king had something like that in his possession. "I have others if that makes you more comfortable, but this one holds some sentimental value. I learned how to play on this board during my time hidding in a boat. The Shy Maid was it´s name."

"I still have the one my father taught me to play in too, so I can´t blame you" the young knight took a seat in front of his cousin, waiting for him to set up the pieces. Once the board was on, Quentyn made the first move. Aegon followed and soon they were in a familiar pattern that made them comfortable. "I´m not so good at this. You should see our uncle Oberyn playing… he is an absolute genius."

"Yes, I have heard that he was in Oldtown, studying to be a maester"

"Before he got bored and crawled back home to fuck his way through all the brothels of Dorne, as my father like to say" the prince answered, giving Aegon the opening he wanted.

"Dear uncle Doran… I haven´t heard much about him and would like to know" he moved his dragon to another position, reading it to attack. "My mother didn´t live to tell me histories about my kin in Dorne and Griff… Lord Connington´s knowledge of House Martell and it´s homeland was limited to what his maester taught him in his childhood."

"I understand, he was a Stormlander, no?" Quentyn moved some of his pieces away from the dragon, to minimalize the damage. "Well, our homeland is very sandy, but still produces good fruits. Some of them you can´t find anywhere else, like the blood oranges and…" he spent much time talking about the marvellous land of Dorne. "You should wear those silks, they would surely suit you well. You have your mother´s skin tone, after all."

"I will keep that in mind" the king continued, already visioning how to win. "And our family? I heard a few things about your sister that might... sound scandalous. No offence."

"None taken, Arianne is a little bit open with sexuality. All of us Dornish are" the prince said, turning his eyes away.

That was everything Aegon needed to know. Everything he heard about Princess Arianne being lax with her favours was true. The rumours about her being more open minded than even many dornish ladies, voracious with men and very experienced made her... not quite the match he wanted for his innocent brother, who was still a maiden. But the marriage contract signed by Ser Willem Darry was still legal and binding, even if Viserys was no longer alive. Besides, the Martells could retire their support to the Targaryen restoration, no matter they shared blood, if he refused to give Arianne a royal groom. Also, there was the problem that Arianne, sexual licentousness aside, was the best match possible for Jaehaerys. Being Prince Consort of Dorne would secure a good life for him.

"Between us, she can be quite the viper." the knight informed.

"Viper?" asked the king, raising an eyebrow. Why was Quentyn talking against his family? Against his family´s plan? "Why would you say that?"

"Arianne has a good relationship with our cousins, the Sand Snakes, especially with Tyene" he began, remembering the two of them when they were together. "They lost their maidenhead to the same boy. Together" he rolled his eyes, remembering when the news reached his father. Doran was not pleased, as he wanted Arianne to remain a maiden for a little bit longer, but couldn´t say anything. It was Dorne, after all, and his daughter a woman flowered. As long as there were no bastards, she didn´t do anything wrong. "She behaves quite manipulative and takes every man she wanted to bed… uses her charms a lot to manipulate people. And likes to play risky moves. Her last one left Myrcella Waters scarred for life, if you want a proof."

"I see" the boy frowned, wondering if marrying Jaehaerys to Arianne would be more dangerous than good.

"Don´t take me wrong, I love my family, but you are also my blood, so I feel the need to warn you if you want to betroth her to Prince Jaeherys" and then he understood. The tone of voice the dornish prince used when he spoke his brother´s name… Quentyn desired Jon. Which explained the incommodity the northern boy felt when dealing alone with the knight.

"I´m not going you deny that I was thinking about that, but I was hoping to renegotiate the pact with Prince Doran when I arrive to Sunspear" he joined his hands, pondering how deep those feelings of the prince towards his brother were. If he could use them… without Jaeherys knowing, of course. "There are many noble houses in Westeros, after all, and we need more than one Kingdom on our side."

"Like who?" asked the dornish, interested. "From what I heard, the girl of those treacherous Tyrells is going to marry the bastard Joffrey Waters, Sansa Stark is a hostage in King´s Landing and set to marry the Imp… probably married by now, and Shireen Baratheon is not an option. Not after what her family did."

"As I said, I´m only planning. I´m still ignorant of much things about Westeros" it was a lie, as he received many reports from Varys about the important families in the Seven Kingdoms, but there was no need for his cousin to know that. Or, by extension, his uncle. "And I believe you should watch your king, cousin, you are about to lose."

"What? Oh…" Quentyn woke up, looking at the board. And, indeed, his king piece was about to be taken by one of Aegon´s concealed archers. "Well, it doesn´t matter. It was a nice game, your Grace. Hope we can play again."

"I´m sure of that. We are going to Dorne together after all" his Hand entered in that moment to announce that they were ready. "Ahhh, Lord Connington, just in time. The prince and I just finished a game of cyvasse." The man nodded as his king gathered all the pieces and the board before returning to his cousin. "Care to wait for us in the port, cousin? I have one last thing to talk with Lord Connington before we leave."

"Of course, your Grace" Quentyn answered, bowing to him. Aegon smiled one last time at the man before being left alone with Jon. Then he faced the other seriously.

"Don´t ever leave him alone with Jaeherys. Ever"

"So you also noticed" the lord of Griffin´s Roost said. He had noticed before, of course, those looks were a lot like his own when he saw Rhaegar without a shirt during training, but he didn´t mention it to Aegon, not wanting to sour his relationship with his mother´s family. "What are you going to do about Dorne?"

"I will put Ashara in charge or go myself, but it´s going to be harder than I thought" he looked through the windows at the ship that would take them to Volantis. "Tell me, the Young Tiger is more prone to listening to reason than his grandfather?" the king asked, thinking about the main conspirator from his opposition, the dead Triarch of Volantis. "Or do I have to introduce him to our almost ridable but completely lethal dragons?"

"I´m not sure his opinion truly matters as he is a prisoner of the Temple of Light"

"Even so, he will be needed if we are to reconstruct Volantis without slavery" the King of Dragon´s Bay, how they remembered their Kingdom, stared at the horizon. "And I don´t want to commit the same mistakes as before. Whoever that poses a danger to our reign must go."

"Of course, your Grace"

-A travel in the sea later-

"Your Grace, we have been expecting you"

High priest Benarro received the Dragon King in the entrance of his Temple. The slaves in the city, now free of their bonds, were screaming for their source of inspiration, the Targaryens. Jon walked behind him, looking really nervous. The last time he had been in an environment so obviously related to magic, ancient magicians tried to eat him. Ancient magicians that remind him more of the wights from Old Nan´s tales than human beings. Dany, for her part, was keeping her eyes on the dragons. What a magnificent bunch of creatures her children have become. Big enough to ALMOST carry a human.

"And you brought Princess Daenerys and Prince Jaeherys! What a pleasure to meet you."

"It´s a pleasure to me too, your Holiness" the boy smiled as his hand was engulfed by the priest´s. He didn´t like the look Benarro gave in his direction, nor the other red priests. It was as if… he was juicy piece of steak. Much like the Wizards.

"Come on, enter. Our guests are waiting for you"

The priest guided them to a room decorated with red motives. A table of black wood sat in the centre of the room and, around it, the most curious recollection of persons sat. There was a young, snappy looking volantene man, who gave him a look of pure fear, a red haired woman and a couple of older men, possibly family of the other Triarch of the elephant party. On another side sat a man that looked calm despite the place he was in. Obviously, he had been one of the instigators of the slave revolt that put Volantis in Targaryen hands, which made him their ally. Doniphos Paenymion.

"My friends, our stimmed guests have arrived. Now we can begin our conclave."

"Y… yes" the youngest man said, staring at his host… and probably jailer. That´s how the dragons recognized the Young Tiger, new head of his house and party after the death of his grandfather in the Slave Rebellion. "I… I welcome you to Volantis, your Graces. And let me assure you that I didn´t have anything to do with the attack to your Kingdom performed by…"

"I see" Aegon cut him down. "But we aren´t here to discuss your involvement in the attack to Meereen and Yunkai. We are here to discuss your politics about slavery and your new adhesion to our Empire."

"We never agreed to…"

"Thank you, Triarch" the woman stopped cold one of the older men, giving him a smile that made him shudder. "But remember who has the backing of the former slaves here. Your family are still prisoners of them and if you don´t accept to be ruled by our Promised Prince…"

"So… you are actually believers in that prophecy?" Jon Connington asked, having heard something of the Prophecy from Rhaegar. Or much, because the Silver Prince was obsessed with that thing.

"What Kinvara meant" Benarro started explaining, smiling lightly at the Targaryens and their retinue. "is that most of the slaves out there are true believers in our Lord, which in turn makes them believers in the Prince who was Promised. And, considering that Princess Daenerys managed to birth dragons from stone, it makes her or at least one of three surviving Targaryens the Promised Prince or Princess."

"And you believe in that?" Aegon looked around the table. "Any of you?"

"I believe in power. Right now, the slave population who holds control of the city and the dragons who just arrived here are power. You have the upper hand, your Grace, we couldn´t take the conquered territories from you even if we wanted. And, in case we try, it would be counterproductive, as Braavos could attack." one of the elephant politicians said, joining his hands in front of himself.

"Braavos? What does Braavos have to do with this?"

"You are not aware of the ambitions of those merchant bastards?" the man raised an eyebrow. Aegon stared at him, as he was clearly the leader, as Paenimyon kept silent and the Young Tiger was too scared to utter a word. "Many times the Sealords of Braavos and Iron Bankers have tried to conquer our fabled city, but failed. By martial prowess or by coin, they were proved weaker than us" he glared at them. "But right now that we are weak…"

"I doubt the slaves want to give their new hard earned freedom to the Braavossi. Or renounce the fruits of their efforts."

"They will eventually be convinced by the Braavossi, charmed by the wonders those bankers would show them. And we won´t be able to do anything" the elephant continued. "But if you were to tell them to reject the Iron Bankers and Sealord´s proposals..."

"The religious fervour would make them reject them" the oldest Targaryen moved a bit, pondering. "And what would we gain from this deal? Perhaps the adhesion of Volantis to our Essosi Empire?"

"In exchange, the slaves that revolt would be set free and we will accept the banning of slavery in Astapor, Yunkai and Meereen, even that House Targaryen are the rightful rulers by conquest of Slaver´s Bay. We will even supply you with the most powerful warships in Volantis, as a contribution to your effort to recover the Iron Throne."

"I don´t think so" Aegon turned to his hand. "What do you think, Lord Hand? Should we help them in exchange for warships and recognition from a powerless former ruling house as holders of the throne of Dragon´s Bay?"

"You are right, your Grace, it´s not enough" Connington continued. "And I know you and the Princess would never renounce the quest to bane slavery." He put a hand on his adoptive son´s shoulder. "You will have to offer even more than that. And the permanent bane of that savage activity you call a commerce."

"Our economy will suffer greatly if…"

"It will suffer even more if Braavos manages to sink their claws into the former slaves!" Aegon continued.

The fight kept going until Benarro announced they should retire for the night, offering rooms for his guests. Jon was escorted to the place by septa Lemore, who whispered at him to bar his door for the night. She didn´t trust this red priests, not at all. And he was about to do it, but then…

"I was wondering if my prince would want to accompany me to the chamber of Fire" Kinvara said, presenting herself on his door just before he undressed to sleep. He was about to refuse, having had enough of this with the maidens that wanted to bed him to win the bet, but the priestess just smiled. And not in an enticing way. "Don´t worry, my prince, it´s nothing of the sexual sort. I was just wondering if you want to accompany me in a little ritual we followers of the Lord of Light use to do."

"I follow the Old Gods of…"

"But it can´t hurt. After all, it´s a ritual to know some things about the past, present and future" Kinvara grabbed his hand and practically dragged him away. Jon wondered if he should run away, but ultimately decided against it. It couldn´t hurt, no? If she had done this before. And she wouldn´t dare to murder someone under guest rights, no? Kinvara, for her part, guided him into a big room with a great fire roaring on the centre. "Care to enter, my prince?"

"Does your ritual has something to do with tossing someone into this fire?" asked Jon, still a little bit suspicious of anything related to magic that was not dragons. A result of his bad experience with the Undying, if you want to call it some way.

"No" the redhead tossed some herbs to the fire before turning to him again. "Just a person looking into the Fire. R´hollor will provide them, if it´s his will, clues about the future. Important clues, like when the Long Night is going to fall over the world."

"Have you done this before?" the boy was sceptical. Why would she invite him if this was so effective? Why not Aegon? He was king, Jon was just a prince.

"A lot of times, but can´t unravel the clues the Lord sends to me" Kinvara lowered her gaze. "My last vision was a white wolf with dragon wings… I can´t help but notice both your dragon and wolf companions are that colour" he nodded, sighing. Was she not letting him go unless he looked into this fire? "I believe it means you can help me."

"I don´t think your god will be very happy to show something to a non-believer" Jaeherys said, but turned anyway to stare into the fiery red. At first he couldn´t see a thing, but then… then a wolf appeared. Was that… was that Grey Wind? He couldn´t believe it, but it was clearly his brother´s direwolf, howling in the middle of what seemed like a river. And, in the horizon, a couple of twin castles with the door open. The wolf walked in and… and knifes started to pierce his body once inside. The knives were… were so sharp… so sharp… got into the skin as if it was nothing. Around the wolf, many bloody banners started to fall, from many northern houses. Too many of them… "NO!"

"What?" the priestess approached, suddenly worried. "What did you see, my prince? Was it the others? Was it the Night´s King?"

"No, it was…"

"My prince!" septa Lemore appeared in that moment, looking very upset at finding him in the company of a red woman. "You can´t be here, especially in this company. Come, I will escort you back to your room" she turned to Kinvara with a scold on his face. "Good night, my lady."

Jon lowered his head, feeling a little ashamed at being scolded by the septa. They quickly returned to his room, where the woman bid him goodnight, but… he had anything but that. The boy laid in his bed, trying to make sense of everything he had seen in the fire. It could be just an illusion… but he doubted that. He doubted that very much. And he couldn´t shake the feeling that something really bad was going to happen to Robb… he had to do something. And for that, he needed to go to Westeros.

-The next day-

"Aegon, do you think we can finish this soon? And can I accompany you to Dorne?" the brothers stared at each other before the king rubbed his temples.

"I need someone to protect the slave population from being shackled again, so one of us should stay" said the other, trying to explain to him why they couldn´t rush things. "If the Triarchs were more open to the change in their society or economy… or even less selfish, I would ponder it, but... no, you shall stay. At least until we stablish a rule that won´t turn on us or the former slaves."

"I understand that, but it´s in our best interest to head to Westeros to negotiate with Prince Doran quickly" Jon bit his lip. "Besides, I know that it´s possible that the negotiations involve me directly now. I… I know Princess Arianne was on Lord Connington´s list of potential brides for me, so..."

"Yes… that´s why I was going to bring you to Dorne even if you didn´t ask for it, but things got complicated when we added Volantis to our conquests" Aegon confessed, sighing. "Just don´t feel pressured. Be charming and polite if you have to, and you will end up quickly. There are also more betrothal options to consider... so take your time to solve the issue here and then catch up to us in Dorne."

"Of course" the boy lowered his gaze. He will put his everything in this and catch up as soon as he could.

"Hey, Lord Connington and I were talking last night and believe we have found a solution that would satisfy the Triarch and the slaves, also preventing the plans of the Braavossi. It will probably cause us some troubles with the Iron bank and the Sealord, but they value coin too much to make an enemy out of Westeros."

"I don´t know, Robert Baratheon left a lot of debt."

"Unfortunately for us, but it´s a risk I´m willing to play if it forces the Triarch to bane slavery and supply us, in exchange of keeping a bit their autonomy" Aegon then grabbed his hands. "Don´t worry, I´m sure they are going to accept. It is, after all, the best deal they are going to get with their diminished force. You only will have to take care of the details, so in a few months you will be able to join us in Sunspear."

"And you?"

"Daenerys and I are heading immediately to Westeros, to negotiate with my uncle Doran."

"I will be looking forward to join you" Jon answered, still worried about Robb. He just hoped he could take care of himself enough time for him to go back home. He had to.

Chapter Text

Jon had just gotten out of another tedious meeting with Lord Doniphos and the rest of the Triarchs of Volantis, a particularly frustrating one… not that he had anything but frustrating meetings with that group. Forcing them to accept that the slaves that revolted were now free was like pulling teeth, only achieved because Lord Paenymion reminded the others that they had little say in that now. Unfortunately, banning slavery was another thing. They had accepted to free the slaves, but not to stop buying and selling new ones. And that was what has been causing him so many headaches. On top of that, with the heat of Volantis, he had to shed some layers of cloth, which had somehow give Quentyn Martell the courage to make his attempts at… courting more daring. Much to the knights that accompanied the prince and his own exasperation. That and the fact that Lady Ashara watched him like a hawk since his visit to the Red Priestess made the situation really frustrating.

“How did it go, my Prince?” the dornish septa asked as he walked through the corridors of the Manor that had once belonged to the exiled princess Saera Targaryen, the resident they had taken for their stay in Volantis. It was… fresh, but not enough for a northman like him. Which made hiding his frustration more difficult for him. “That bad?”

“Couldn´t be other way, not with those bastards” he was already longing for a cold bath in his private chambers… if he managed to dodge Quentyn Martell enough to still want to remove his clothing. “They still believe slavery is also an option here.”

“If they keep up like that, they are going to find themselves murdered anyway. Well, all of them except for Lord Doniphos and his family” he nodded, cleaning his sweat with his hand. It was so hot… “Where is Ghost? Need to bathe him, I don´t want him to suffer a heat stroke.”

“Last time I saw him, your wolf was keeping Prince Quentyn under close watch. Guess he really made you uncomfortable” the septa shrugged. “I have to tell you, as a member of the dornish nobility, I apologize for his behaviour. Dorne is more liberal than the rest of the Seven Kingdoms, but even we have limits. When a person shows that he or she doesn´t return our affections…”

“I understand, my lady” he cut her, not wanting to discuss the issue anymore.

“And, while I can´t claim to know Princess Arianne very well, I can tell you that she surely will show the respect and honour you if you become her husband.”

Jon bit his tongue to stop himself from talking. He had heard a few things about the Martell heiress from a few dornish merchants that wanted to do bushiness in the city and found that her reputation was… astonishing in some way. And much like her uncle´s, Prince Oberyn. He wasn´t sure of wanting someone like her as his wife, even if that would make him Prince Consort of Dorne. Besides, he had walked in on a conversation his stemmed guest, Prince Quentyn, had with his knights about his sister. Quentyn said with certainty that his sister won´t mind sharing her husband with him, despite their stranded relationship. She had, after all, shared her lovers with their oldest bastard cousins many times. That didn´t help to settle his nerves at all.

“Maybe we shouldn´t talk about this. You need to put your mind to rest before our problems return in tomorrow´s council” Ashara smiled widely. “And I know something that will really cheer you up, my Prince.”

“What?”

“You will see”

The septa took him to the yard, one that seemed to be modelled after the one in the Red Keep or at least been big enough for a dragon to land on it. Viserion showed it by descending from the sky and landing on it. Jaehaerys laughed, not carrying that the big lizard just crushed the last reminding rose bushes of Saera Targaryen´s gardens, approaching to pet the dragon in the head. Viserion purred, getting closer to his rider.

“I have consulted many books in the library and have gotten to the conclusion that Viserion is finally big enough to be rode. Or at least big enough so you could try” the lady explained. “Do you want to, my Prince?”

Jon looked at his dragon in amazement. He knew now that he was a Targaryen, he… he accepted that, along with what entailed, but… at the same time… he never thought he would really ride a dragon. Even with Viserion bonded to him much like Ghost was, he didn´t think he would be able to join his brother and aunt in the sky…

“I want to” he answered, scratching Viserion´s neck. “How do I get on his back?”

With careful instruction from Septa Lemore, who quickly brought a book from the library on dragonriders, he climbed on Viserion and sat in the place where the neck joined the shoulders. Carefully, the young man grabbed one of the dragon´s spikes and gave the order for flying. The dragon seemed to instinctively understand, because he beat his wings and elevated himself in a second. Jon screamed as he was taken to the sky, tightening his grip on the spike. The fear of falling down from the damn beast was…

At the same time, flying was... the best thing in the world. Or more, it was the natural thing for him to do. As if he was born to fly on dragonback. The fear soon made way for exhilaration and joy as he soared over the city, forgetting the annoying Triarchs, possible betrothals, annoying red priestesses and their unsettling visions in the fire. Viserion seemed to feel the same thing, because he roared and breathed fire into the air, joyous at his first flight with his rider. It was just a small flame, but it was enough to make Jon remember Kinvara and her cryptic warnings. The wolf being pierced by sharp daggers… sharp blades that…

“Robb...” he bit his lip again. Ashara had told him to stay clear of the priestesses of R´hollor from then on, that mingling with those fanatics wouldn´t bring anything good, but if something was going to happen to his brother, to his practically twin… “Hey, Viserion. Fancy a ride to the Temple of R´hollor?”

He landed in front of the Temple, not carrying what the septa would say if he saw him there. Kinvara was already waiting in the Chamber when he entered, the fire roaring behind her like a forestall fire.

“I knew you were going to come back, my prince” the priestess bowed in front of him.

“I come for answers, not for whatever riddle you and your fire gave me. Tell me what I want to know” he instructed. “What is going to happen to the Starks?”

“Whatever knowledge you seek, if it´s R´hollor´s will to grant it to you, will be revealed in the flames” she took a step to the side. “So approach, my prince, and have a look. May your trip be guided by the Lord of the Light´s flame.”

“Can´t you tell me?”

“Everybody sees something different in the fires”

Realising that he wasn´t going to get a straight answer from the priestess, Jon approached the flame and took a look in it. At first, the flames didn´t reveal anything, other than they didn´t really bother him despite his being so close. Then he started to see some things. He saw the wolf again, howling and going into twin castles, banners along with him. Northern banners. And then… blades started to appear everywhere. Blades so sharp… the banners started to fall and the wolf was injured over and over again. As it howled in pain, Jon tried to get it, but one last blade cut it´s head clean off. From behind the beheaded wolf, something emerged. A flayed man with a bloody sword, who presented the head of the wolf to a lion that was clearly advanced in his years.

The scene banished to reveal a kraken pinned to a cross, screaming and suffering, desperate to get away from a banner of the flayed man. The flayed man, a monster without skin, laughed as he peeled and peeled the squid´s skin. Suddenly, the kraken turned into a dog, a dog which accompanied another young female dog to the… was that Winterfell´s Heart Tree? The flayed man was waiting there, terrifying the young bitch. Was it really a bitch though? Couldn´t it be… a really young wolf?
Jon looked away from the fire as the vision finished. What… had just happened there? Why did he saw all those things in the fire? A hand suddenly grabbed him. He turned around to see a disappointed Ashara trying to drag him away from the fire, scolding him about visiting the Temple of R´hollor. She stopped when he asked about news from Westeros, about the Starks in particular.

“Last thing I knew, Robb Stark lost the Freys and is trapped in a stalemate in the Westerlands while Tywin Lannister beat back Stannis Baratheon. And he lost them because, apparently, he promised them a marriage between him and a maiden of their House, but married another woman” Ashara informed. “The Late Lord Frey certainly didn´t like that.”

Frey… the late Lord Frey… Walder Frey, Lord of the Twins… THE TWINS!!!

“Frankly, I don´t know what he is complaining about. He got to marry one of his get into the Boltons. That should have been enough for him.”
The Boltons… the second most powerful House in the North, descendants of the Red Kings… and they had rebelled many times against the Starks… their words were… our blades are sharp…

Jon stopped cold as a horrible picture started to be paint in his brain. Robb needed the Freys to continue, so he surely was going to try and make up with Walder Frey. And that cunning weasel would fake the accept the offer, but in reality he was going to betray the Northerners to Tywin Lannister… with the Boltons as their allies. What could the Lannisters have offered them to do that? Winterfell and Wardenship of the North? No, the North would never bow to the Boltons, more if they are traitors. The North was the Stark´s… so they needed a Stark bride. But the Lannisters have already marry a Sansa to Tyrion… but they also have Arya.

“No” Jaehaerys said, getting up from his bed in the middle of the night. Without noticing the pass of time, he had been dissecting the situation all day. and he didn´t like it. He didn´t like it at all. From a corner of the room, Ghost watched him with interest. “Easy, boy, it´s not going to happen.”

For some reason, he didn´t think he was reassuring the direwolf as much as he was reassuring himself. Anyway, he sat down near the albino, bringing parchment and ink so he could write everything he knew. First, the Boltons and the Freys were planning to betray Robb to the Lannisters. In exchange, the Boltons will be awarded with Winterfell, Wardenship and a Stark bride so they could have a legitimate claim to the castle and title. What was in for the Freys? He didn´t know, Kinvara´s god hadn´t been specific in his message. What he did know was that the betrayal was going to take place in the Frey´s castle. With the Ironborn invasion of the North and Moat Cailin under Greyjoy control, the Twins were the best place for an ambush, especially during a parley. The real question was when… and if he still had time… No, something told him that if he wanted to save his family, he was going to have to move quickly.

But… was it okay to leave everything to help the Starks? They… they were family, but Aegon and Daenerys were too. His brother was counting on him to consolidate their power in the East, a power that will be the basis of House Targaryen´s triumphant return to Westeros... but he couldn´t let Robb die, not like this… he simply couldn´t.

“I´m sorry, Aegon” he said as he wrote a rushed letter and sealed it with his signet ring. “I hope that you forgive me, but… he is my brother too. I can´t let him die.”

He put it on his desk, where Ashara could find it. In the same letter, he gave her the power to negotiate with the Triarchs until Aegon commissioned someone else. Then he quickly changed into his ridding clothes and rushed through the mansion, Ghost a silent shadow trailing behind him. The prince grabbed his sword, a satchel with a change of clothes and some food from the kitchens before heading to the gardens. With a call, Viserion landed in front of him.

“Hey, big boy, ready for a long flight?” he asked, wondering if his barely grown enough dragon could support both him and his direwolf. “You only need to take me if you can´t carry us both.”

Viserion apparently took that as a challenge, because he let both his rider and the direwolf he shared Jaehaerys with climb on his back. Then he beat his wings, starting to ascend into the sky. The prince, in his back, focussed on that. He barely heard the screams from Ashara or the guards as they swarmed into the gardens to stop him.

“Forgive me” he muttered before disappearing into the night. “Forgive me, Aegon. Forgive me, Daenerys… forgive me, all of you.” He grabbed Viserion´s spike and allowed the dragon to take him towards the West. “I´m coming, Robb.”

-In Dorne-

“That´s absurd” Doran said as his nephew proposed his plan for the twentieth time. “You can´t really be offering Lyanna Stark´s bastard son as a marriage partner for my daughter.”

Aegon tried not to roll his eyeballs. When he first thought about interacting with his family members on his mother´s side, he thought they were going to receive him with open arms and the negotiations for strengthening the alliances between their Houses will run smoothly. That he would be able to send for Jaehaerys to Volantis before long. But no, he found himself received with scepticism despite arriving on a dragon and, after refusing to marry his cousin because he was already married to Daenerys and he wasn´t going to take two queens, a bit of hostility when he presented the match between his brother and the Princess of Dorne. And not only that. His scheming uncle Doran was really a master player of the Game. Not only did he sent his son as an envoy to the Targaryens, but he sent his brother to King´s Landing as part of the Small Council. Clever.

“It´s the best match I can propose right now” he tried to make his uncle understand. “I can´t take two wives at the same time.”

“The Doctrine of Excepticism actually allows you that” The Prince of Dorne reminded his nephew. “Didn´t you say that it was what your father used to disgrace my sister in the eyes of the Realm?”

“It was made with the consent of my mother and the ceremony was from another religion, like the law states should be done.”

“Make Daenerys sign a letter expressing her consent and take Arianne as your bride under the Mother Rhyone” Doran said. “And that half-brother of yours… he could marry Myrcella Waters. We still have the girl here and I would love seeing Tywin Lannister´s face to see his granddaughter married to a bastard… even if she herself is a bastard. Maybe giving them Casterly Rock also…” he actually smiled. “Or maybe you could give him Sansa Stark. It´s the best match that girl could hope for after being forcefully married to the Imp and I´m sure Stark would love to give them a little castle in his frozen wasteland to live.”

“Uncle…”

“Ultimately, you can marry him to Shireen Baratheon, but the last thing we need is another Baratheon with a claim to the Throne.”

Aegon gritted his teeth, trying not to retort with hostility. His uncle had a point, he knew, there were other marriage candidates if this match with Princess Arianne wasn´t made, but he and Jon had considered everything and sincerely believed that the dornish were the best one, everything considered. He was already wondering what he should do to make his uncle see it the same way as he, when Areo Hotah arrived. The captain whispered something in Doran´s ear, which made the Prince smile.

“It seems that your hold on your half-brother is not as good as you led us to believe… or as you believed yourself” Doran said. “There has been sightings of a white dragon flying over Dragonstone towards the North. Did you say he was going to stay in Volantis, nephew, until some matter was solved?”

“Yes, he should” Aegon asked, wondering what his idiot of a brother was doing. Damn, he had instructed him to stay in Volantis until this matter was solved!!

“Are you not afraid that he is going to do the same as his mother and escape from whatever betrothal you make for him? He is the son of Lyanna Stark, after all.”

“I assure you, uncle, that if we seal a betrothal, the marriage is going to take place” and Aegon will make sure of that. Oh, he will make sure of that. “If you excuse me, uncle, I have to discuss my plans with my Lord Hand.”

Aegon took his leave, waiting to be out of Doran´s hearing range to curse his brother in a low voice. He walked straight to the rooms Jon Connington was using in that moment, finding him chatting with a young servant animatedly. Trying not to think about what they must have been doing before his arrival, the king glared at them.

“You, out. Lord Connington and me need to talk” the servant bowed and did as he was told. “Jaehaerys left Volantis” he informed the Hand. “Viserion was seen flying in direction of the North. And I just can´t understand why.”

“Yes, I thought he might do something like that once he heard the news this morning”

“What news?” Aegon asked, intrigued.

“The page that you just threw out, he is Doran Martell´s personal page. And he liked to sing after… the deed is done” Jon coughed. “This morning the Prince received news from his brother in the Capital. Apparently, Tywin Lannister is preparing something specially nasty for Robb Stark. I don´t have the details, neither did Oberyn, but it couldn´t be anything good.”

“No” the younger man coincided. “Now that I know this, I´m surprised the news reached Volantis before us. Maybe Doran doesn´t have that good of an information network… or something else happened” he frowned. “Anything else?”

“The Freys are more likely involved, the craven cunts. They are preparing the trap. And there is supposedly a northern lord involved, but Oberyn didn´t mention which. Our friend hasn´t seen fit to give us much information on the matter, so I have had to retort to other measures” Aegon didn´t really wanted to know which measures. “Jaehaerys can handle a few weasels, I won´t worry too much about him. Viserion will have them pissing themselves before he even unsheats his sword.”

“I know. What I´m truly worried about is Tywin Lannister´s reaction when his grand plan to destroy the Starks is trounced by a dragon… costing us the advantage given by surprise” he sighed deeply. “And here I thought we were going to have more time to plan and prepare.”

“What are you going to do?”

“For now, I´m going to give orders for Daenerys to rush to Volantis and handle the issue of the Triarch. She is my Queen and, with Drogon at her side, she had more than enough authority and backing to solve it while I handle negotiations here with the Martells” he shook his head. “Ask Sep… Lady Ashara to help her in everything she could.”

“And the Prince?”

“I will have to solve that matter personally… after he has saved Lord Stark´s honourable hide” Aegon smirked at the thought of someone else giving chase to his errand younger brother. If someone that was not him or his wife could even get close to him without ending up as a wolf or a dragon´s dinner. “That will surely give us an opening with the Northmen.”

“Unless you are talking about the Boltons” Connington added. “Do you really think that the Prince is going to be able to handle them and the Freys on his own?”

“Please, Jon, how could they go against the wrath of a dragon?” the king´s smirk turned vicious. “Even if he arrives late and Robb Stark has already been betrayed by then, there is no way the Boltons are making it out of this alive. No, those flaying bastards are as dead as the Gardeners or the Greystarks, only that they still don´t know.” He laughed. “It will be interesting to see whatever plan Tywin Lannister´s twisted little mind laid falling to pieces.”

“Then he will be more dangerous, like a cornered lion.”

“He is already a cornered lion, that´s why he is restoring to this desperate measures to rid himself of an enemy. And, thanks to my little brother, this failure is going to be the final one for him. I will only need to make the killing blow.”

“He still has an army…”

“And I´m sure he has sent it to the Riverlands to oversee the destruction of the Northern Army and capture of it´s lords. Probably under the command of his precious Jamie” he continued laughing. “When they arrive, the Twins is going to have more in common with Harrenhal than Riverrun… and would have become the home of a very angry dragon” he sat down. “I already want to see it… the second Field of Fire.”

“If he manages to strike such a decisive victory, the Prince´s reputation as a warrior will rise… or he is going to be compared to the Mad King” the Hand pulled out some papers from his desk. “This will affect his marriage prospects too, so we should prepare for that eventuality. Are you still convinced that he should marry into the Martells?”

“Not so much anymore, uncle Doran seems to have higher expectations for cousin Arianne´s wedding cloak… but I haven´t totally renounced the prospect” Aegon patted his chin. “What are the other prospects again?”

“There are a few unwed heiresses if you still fancy a Dornish match, but I don´t think it will help us much. What we need right now is resources to complete this restoration” Connington lifted his pen. “Which takes me to the next prospect: Shireen Baratheon.”

“No” the King refused. “Not only is she took young, but she is the niece of the Usurper. I might let her keep her life and Storm´s End, but there is no way I´m allowing a drop more of royal blood to go to the Baratheons, giving their claim legitimacy.”

“Yes, I was thinking that too, but it´s a prospect to be debated. After all, someone needs to control the Stormlands and they would only follow a Baratheon, which in turn makes little lady Shireen someone to watch.”

“That doesn´t mean I have to give them my brother” the king waved a hand. “Who is next?”

“Myrcella Waters, once legitimized and declared the sole heiress of Casterly Rock. To keep the Lannisters in line” Aegon didn´t like it. “Another?”

“Margaery Tyrell”

“Joffrey Waters´ betrothed? Renly Baratheon´s widow? Why?” he frowned.

“Simple, the Tyrells have money and the Iron Throne is in a massive debt with the Iron Bank that is not going to disappear because of the change in leadership. With their help, we might be able to settle those issues down and start recovering” Aegon still didn´t like it. “Still better than bankruptcy. And keep in mind that the Iron Bank sent envoys to Stannis Baratheon with juicy offers. They seem to think he is a… more profitable inversion than us. Or that they will recover their money quicker supporting him.”

“Damn Robert Baratheon” the king cursed, already making calculations. He would write to Daenerys to use some of the treasure obtained in their conquests in the East to pay some of the debt, but it was so massive that it was going to take time to pay it all. He cursed the Usurper again. Thanks to him, he might not only have to marry his brother off for swords, but for money. And the prospects weren´t pretty.

“Damn him indeed”

Chapter Text

Jon barely felt his arse by the time he reached the Twins. It was understandable, as he barely got off the dragon in the long trip that took to reach the Riverlands from Volantis. He only did because both him and his companions had necessities that required them to land. It was uncomfortable and left his legs hurting more than he wanted to admit, but his worry for Robb made him resist all of that, do whatever was needed to save his family. He also must have passed over a lot of cities and villages, which would explain the bells he heard as he flew towards the Red Fork.

“Let´s land here, Viserion” he said as his destination approached. It was suspicious that there weren´t any guards outside of the castle, but he guessed that the Freys didn´t think they would need them with the Lannisters as allies. Anyway, that worked on his advantage. “Better leave you as a surprise.”

Ghost approached, probably as tired of flying as Jon himself. His human scratched his head, right behind the ears.

“Search for your brother, boy”

The direwolf bumped his hand with his nose once before taking off. Jon followed closely, trying to keep himself hidden from possible enemies. Ghost guided him into the Twins and then to a kennel, where a young knight with a seashell blazon was making the direwolf company. Seashell… House Westerling? They were a vassal of House Lannister. Was he there under orders of Lord Tywin? Grey Wind was growling and showing his teeth to the door, while the knight made some placating gestures.

“Come on, Grey Wind, behave for me. Robb is going to come back in…” suddenly he had a dagger on his throat and another direwolf baring his teeth at him. A white one.

“Don´t move, don´t even dare to make a sound. Or I will open your throat like the Lannister pig you are” the knight trembled. “Now answer a question. Where is the Lannister army?”

“I… I don´t know, Ser…”

“I´m no Ser” he glared at the other. “Don´t lie to me…”

“I´m not lying, Se… my lord” the other continued, barely keeping the volume of his voice under control. “I came with the northern army. My sister… my sister is married to the King in the North and I… I was made his banner-bearer…” the other direwolf lost interest in him to nuzzle his chained brother. “You must be the…”

“Say bastard just one, Westerling, and I will open your throat anyway” Jon said, scaring the younger man into submission. He retired his dagger anyway. He trusted Ghost´s instincts and if the knight wanted to harm him or Grey Wind, he would already be dead. “Do you have the key?” Raynald nodded. “Great, free the direwolf.”

“What?”

“Free him”

“But King Robb…”

“Robb is about to be betrayed” Jon talked as he sheathed his blade, never showing his back to the western knight, just in case. “Walder Frey has made a deal with Tywin Lannister and Roose Bolton. They are going to put it into action during the wedding.”

“What? But…” he looked scared. Then pulled himself into action, freeing Grey Wind. “The kennelmaster should be coming any minute now. He is probably going to bring a few Freys with him, so the direwolf can´t escape. They have already seen what he can do in battle” he looked around nervously. “Someone needs to go into the main hall and warn the King”

“I will do it”

“I… don´t think you should. I mean… you are a deserter from…”

“I didn´t desert, I was kidnapped”

“Do you really…” the two direwolves suddenly were showing them his teeth. “Whatever you say, but… if the Lannister Army is really coming, then we are in troubles. We don´t have enough troops. Even if you manage to stop Lord Frey´s plan, we would still be massacred. We aren´t prepared, the army…”

“I have something better than an army” Jon said, adjusting a glove. “Go with the direwolves now. If you see something that wears Twin Towers or resembles a weasel, you kill it. Don´t leave any of those fuckers alive. Get one of the horses and go warn the troops wherever they are that the Lannisters are coming.”

“But you…”

Jon wasn´t listening anymore. He left the Westerling knight with Ghost and Grey Winds. He heard screams as he walked towards the keep. He smiled for a second as more sounds of pain joined. The direwolves must have found the Freys. And they were not amused about their masters being double crossed. He pushed the door, praying that there was still time to save Robb. As he entered the Twins through the same door the attackers have used, he released a whistle to let Viserion know he had to be ready. He crossed the passages of the castle, his mind working a mile an hour. If he entered the feast now, in front of so many Lords of the North… wouldn´t he be considered a deserter? Wouldn´t Robb be forced to execute him for deserting the Watch? It was not that he could truly get killed, Viserion wouldn´t allow his rider to be executed, but… he would be placing Robb in a difficult situation just by showing his face there. Unfortunately, there was no other option.

He reached the doors, which were barely open. The Freys were already closing the doors? The Lords… Robb… they would be trapped!!

“Open the doors!!” he stopped the weasel faced men enough time to cross. Then they finished their work. Damn, he was trapped along with the army of the North now. The only thing was that he had a way to escape. “Robb!!”

“What?” his cousin got up from his chair. Their looks crossed and Jon could see his cousin pale. He obviously didn´t want him there. “Jon? Is that you?”

“What are you doing here, bastard?” Lady Catelyn got up from her own chair, glaring at him. Was she mad that he had appeared? He stood her glare, he was no longer that bastard boy that was afraid of her, he was a Targaryen Prince now, a dragonrider. “Guards!! Apprehend that man!! He is a deserter from the Night´s Watch!!”

“Robb, you have to leave, you are in danger…”

“You shouldn´t have come here, Jon Snow” Robb said as he got closer, enough to be face to face with his cousin. “I won´t have more option than to condemn you now that you are here.”

“We don´t have time for this” the King in the North then approached and embraced him, whispering into his ear.

“The Frey guards are not good enough fighters to contain you if you don´t want. Try to escape, I hope you are not here when the feast id over, brother” he let him go. “This is a goodbye. Guards!! Take this deserter to the dungeons!! I will deal with him later!!”

“Yes, your Grace” Lame Lothar Frey said as he approached. Jon could see the treason in his weasely face as well as in the other Freys approaching to apprehend him.

Jon tried to think of a way to make himself heard, but none of the Lords seemed to be in the mood to hear. To all of them, he was a deserter of the Watch that deserved nothing but death. The Prince wanted to groan, there was haste. He could also see the bards… no, those were not bards. Archers perhaps? No, their arrows would fail a lot with a longbow and a short one wasn´t ideal either… then crossbowmen. Those crossbowmen were getting into place to start the shooting. And the real bards had stopped playing and the tune changed to the first accords of the Rains of Castamere. He knew the song because Quentyn had once played a parody of it for him, Aegon and Daenerys. Without much time, he dashed towards the retreating King, threw the table from a kick and warned…

“Get down!!!”

Just in time for the first crossbowmen to shoot. The arrows sunk into the wooden surface of the table, and the still alive Lords, both northern and riverlanders, also threw their tables and took cover before the next arrows were shoot. Lady Catelyn, still alive, checked over Robb. He was alright… thank the Seven. And the bastard boy had just saved her dear boy´s life.

“Jon…” The King in the North turned to his bastard brother.

“I needed to warn you” he answered, unsheating his sword. “I knew that I would place you in a complicated position, but I had to warn you…”

“Thank you… brother… but…”

He could tell what Robb was thinking. No matter that he had saved all their lives, he was still, in the eyes of the Realm, a deserter from the Night´s Watch and his punishment needed to be delivered. The King in the North couldn´t let him walk away. And he didn´t want to kill or see his brother die. Jon better disappeared again after all of this is over. For now, Robb assumed his King in the North face and stood tall, making sure to keep cover behind the table.

“Lord Frey!!! What is the meaning of this?!! We came here as a show of friendship and to unite our families… and you answer us with teachery?!!”

“You were the one that broke your promise to marry my daughter, boy, and then offer a lesser groom in exchange. A Lady Paramount is nothing compared to a Queen!! So when the Lannisters made a better offer, we of course agreed.” The old Lord Frey smirked. “You are going to die here, boy, and take your family with you. Even your bastard brother!! The King and Queen are going to be so happy when I give them your bodies… My reward is going to be even grander!!”

“Reward… was that reward enough reason to betray your King?!”

“You weren´t my King anymore after you broke your Oath.”

“And thanks the Gods he did, or he would be tied to a treacherous family like yours” Jon said in that moment. He didn´t know how, but he could sense Viserion taking position just behind Lord Frey´s throne and his ilk. “It´s that everything you had to say, traitor?”

“Funny that you say that, deserter” the weasel continued, fixating his cruel gaze into Jon. “I have nothing more to say to you or that oathbreaking brother of yours, bastard.”

“Too bad, because I do have something to say to you” he cleared his throat. “DRACARYS!!”

“Draca… have you turned insane in the Wall, boy? What is that supposed to mean?”

The Freys laughed at that word too and Robb stared at his brother as if he didn´t know him at all. Before he could ask what was that supposed to mean, the wall behind Lord Frey was thrown down by a massive force. Robb Stark was speechless. Had his brother managed to get himself an army and besiege the Twins while they were feasting? The answer came in the form of a big, reptilian head that came through the hole on the wall, glaring at Lord Frey. The dragon, because it was the only thing it could be, focussed his golden eyes on the old Lord, who soiled his breeches in fear. Seriously, Robb could smell the stench from where he was… or had the closer Freys also lost control of their bowels? Again he couldn´t ask his question, as the animal opened his maw and open fire over Lord Frey, turning him into a pile of charcoal. His brood screamed and tried to escape, the crossbowmen doing the same. Or most, because more than one pointed their crossbows towards Jon. He noticed this and turned to them.

“Viserion, Dracarys!!” he ordered again and the dragon answered, turning his head towards the crossbowmen, who were turning into ashes in a second. The remaining Freys grabbed their weapons and tried to attack the dragon´s rider. “Dracarys!!”

As more and more people turned to ash, Robb tried to make sense of what he was happening there. How had his brother, Jon Snow, a bastard Stark of the North, gotten a dragon? Could it be that he… had Targaryen blood? Was that why he could control the dragon? Why Eddard Stark, a paragon of honour, had never deemed to mention the name of his mother? Out of fear to see his son executed more than shame of having lied with woman out of wedlock? As he pondered on this, his lords started to take action. The Greatjon and Ser Wylis Manderly worked on opening the doors. Roose Bolton silently went to help them (not letting the other notice how he disposed of his hidden blade). Someone by his side mentioned that there could be an attack on their camp on that very moment, so the other Lords got into move. Jon also heard that, walking towards his dragon and mounting it and taking to the skies towards where the northern army was stationed.

“The towers… I need somewhere I can see!!” he commanded and his Lords obeyed.

As most of the guards and warriors were in the Halls or the camp right now, it was easy to conquer the Twins, with the few barely armed men he got. He found Perwyn and Olyvar Frey locked in their rooms too. They were received with suspicion, as they were family of traitors, but Robb decided to give them the benefit of the doubt. As they reached the highest place of the Twins, the King in the North managed to see the camp seemingly lit alight and a white form flying on top of it. That must be the dragon… Viserion, he thought was his name… raining fire over the Freys and their bannermen. The screams reached that place, as did the smell of burning corpses. It was sickening… and at the same time relieving.

“My King, it´s not safe here, we should return inside the keep” urged him Maege Mormont, also watching the dragon fly.

“With dragons back in this world, there is no safe place” Robb answered, but returned inside the Twins. He would receive his brother like he should a warrior after a victory, with wine and food aplenty… and listen to his history. It promised to be a good one at least.

It was already dark when Jon returned on dragonback, with a surprise for his cousin. Grey Wind howled, reuniting with his owner in a heartfelt manner, licking all of his face. Ghost was by his side, the only one in the room apart from his owner not to fear the dragon that was still peeking through the hole in the keep, not trusting them all. Jon, tired and dirty, grabbed a chalice and a decanter of wine. Pouring himself a cup full of Arbour Gold, he raised it and made a toast.

“For the bride and groom” he said before emptying the cup in one long gulp and falling into a chair in exhaustion. Robb approached and refilled it, also serving himself. For the bride and groom indeed.

-In King´s Landing-

Tywin Lannister was sure of his victory against the northern army. Soon, news of the Young Wolf´s death at the hands of Walder Frey and Roose Bolton would arrive to the capital and the wedding of his grandson to Margaery Tyrell would make sure his legacy would held the throne for centuries, even more than the dammed Targaryens he had brought low. Now he only needed to make sure Stannis and the Targaryen girl in the East died… or that was what he thought as he walked towards the Small Council´s chamber.

“Good morning, my lord” Varys said in that sweet voice of his, reeking of perfume as ever. “I hope to find you in good…”

“Stop with your pleasantries and give the information you have called us to deliver, eunuch” Tywin said, not in the mood for small talks. He only expected news of his victory.

“Then I will be quick: the Targaryens are stirring in the East” that… wasn´t what he was expecting. “My little birds bring me tales of them conquering Volantis, getting more men for their armies and not only that.” He stopped for a second. “Daenerys Targaryen´s dragons are finally big enough to be mounted. In fact, her own mount is already known around Essos as Balerion reborn.”

“Those are lies!! The whore´s dragons couldn´t have grown so much in such a short time!!” Cersei screamed, followed by her wretch of a son demanding someone to bring him the exiled princess´ head.

Not for the first time, Tywin cursed his daughter´s utter incompetence. He had worked so hard to make her Queen and for what? For her to fail in practically everything that meant to be Queen except for birthing children? She couldn´t even raise her son, her coddling of the boy turning him into a useless, spoiled, cruel monarch that could spell as much danger to the dynasty he was trying to build as the Targaryen girl or even Stannis. And the prostitutes… he had seen the corpses disposed off in the middle of the night. Rumours of sheep usually meant nothing to a lion, but is the rumours about the missing girls and their destinies run around even more… no, he decided. Joffrey had sealed his fate. As soon as the Tyrell girl births an heir, he would get rid of his mad grandson, sent Cersei to back Casterly Rock and take care of the infant King himself. But for the moment…

“The dragons are still far away” Tywin commented. “We should focus on the enemies that we still have in Westeros.”

“Unfortunately, there won´t be long before the dragons are at our doorsteps, Lord Hand” the eunuch answered, calmly. “My little birds recently sung songs about an emissary of the Dragon Queen arriving in Sunspear with an offering to the Martells.”

Tywin´s and Tyrion´s blood ran cold. Of course, for completely different reasons. Tyrion´s mind was focussed on Myrcella and how he had invertedly put her into danger. The Martells hated House Lannister much more than they hated Rhaegar, so, if the offer was good enough, the vipers would definitely side with Daenerys Targaryen over the Lannisters in an effort to take revenge for their dear Princess Elia. And his poor niece would become a hostage. Lord Tywin, on the other side, was more worried about the possibility of the dragons gaining more men for their army and ports from where to launch their invasion. They had to deal with the Young Wolf immediately and move to the Targaryens before these ones gained the upper hand.

“Send a letter to Sunspear with the offering of a seat in the Small Council for Doran Martell in case he allies himself with us. Tell him to deliver to me that emissary from the Princess Daenerys. Varys, focus on the east now. I want information on the movements of the Targaryens in the East.”

“What about Robb Stark or Stannis Baratheon, Father?” Cersei asked.

“Soon, the North is going to be brought to heel” he informed. “And as for Stannis… he will be dealt with by our allies in the North, him and his meagre forces.”

As Tywin retired to his chambers to pen the letter to Lord Bolton and Prince Doran, Varys smirked on a job well done. It had been so easy to mislead the Old Lion when he believed he himself was winning. By the time Lord Tywin´s letter reached Sunspear, the King would have been gone for days. Now, to the next business on the list… he slipped one of his letters into the hands of a little bird of his and told him to deliver this to the desk of Lady Olenna herself. The Queen of Thorns would know immediately from whom it was. As for him, he quickly changed into one of his costumes and went for the docks. He entered a tavern filled with loud sailors, going straight for the back. Entering a room in the back, he faced two cloaked figures.

“You are late” Jon Connington said, lowering his own hood.

“I apologize, my lord, there were… issues to take care about” Varys answered, fixing his look into Connington´s companion. Aegon also lowered his own hood, his silver locks finally free of any trace of blue. “My King”

“What news of the Keep, Lord Varys?” down to business, apparently.

“The Old Lion knows that an emissary from the Targaryens has gone to Dorne. There was no way to hide it from him indefinitely, so I decided to reveal it to him in advance so I can keep his trust… and my place in the Small Council. Now… how were your dealings with Prince Doran?”

“Bad” Aegon rolled his eyes. “My uncle refuses to help us unless in the process his daughter is made Queen.” He shook his head. “Frankly, I can´t understand his stubbornness. There is going to be Martell blood in the Throne anyway, why would he try to force my cousin on me? Fortunately, there was a rather happy turn of events on our last day there.”

“What?”

“Princess Arianne decided to be more reasonable than her father and she proposed a deal that benefits us two. I protect her rights over the throne of Dorne and she helps me gain the armies of her Kingdom. She told me she had friends that could help us invade” He smirked. “My uncle was an idiot not to confide in his daughter with his plan. She didn´t want to be replaced by her brother as ruler of Dorne.”

“I would advise you to be cautious, Princess Arianne has demonstrated her incompetence as a player of the Great Game before.”

“I know, I´m being cautious and making other plans in case this one doesn´t work” Aegon crossed his arms. “The best part is that she didn´t even asked for my brother´s hand in marriage.”

“Then Prince Jaehaerys is still available for marriage?” the King nodded. “It´s fantastic news, as I have… ahem… taken the liberty to arrange a potential betrothal for him.”

“What?” the Targaryen glared. “Since when I gave you leave to do something like that?”

“It´s only a tentative and it still has much to go before it´s set in stone, but with great rewards if it´s put into motion” the Master of Whisperes explained. “I have sent a secret message to the Lady Olenna for her to reunite with us tomorrow. If the negotiation gets on well, not only we will break the Alliance between the Lannisters and the Reach, but gain access to one of the biggest armies in Westeros and the bread basket of the Realm. We will only need to give Lady Margaery a Prince.”

“My King, it´s worth a try” Connington approved. “And we won´t have to worry about how Prince Jaehaerys is going to be treated by the reachmen as we would with the dornish.”

“Worth a try, you say… we will see” Aegon still doubted. “Another thing to report?”

“Lord Tywin planned something for the Northern Army. Whatever it is, he is sure that soon the news of the Young Wolf´s death will reach his ears. His army has marched towards the Riverlands under Ser Jaime to finish the subjugation of the North.”

“That´s why he left Volantis in such a hurry” the King smirked, thinking about the surprise that expected the Lannisters when they reached the northern lines. “I´m sure Lord Lannister is going to be SO disappointed when the news really reach him…”