The Warg Lord (ASOIAF)(SI)

[ATP]

They're both going to end this adventure barefoot and pregnant, aren't they?

Click to shrink...

Why barefoot? and Jon probably choose only one,if he decide to do so.Which is unlikely.
That aside - he need to beat Nymeria to show her who is topdog.And outsmart Sarella,so she would bow to his wisdom.Easy things for our hero!

 

[oscar e Sampedro Lopez]

Thanks for the chapter

 

[Psyckosama]

Why barefoot? and Jon probably choose only one,if he decide to do so.Which is unlikely.
That aside - he need to beat Nymeria to show her who is topdog.And outsmart Sarella,so she would bow to his wisdom.Easy things for our hero!

Click to shrink...

 

[LazyWizard]

"So? What does it say?" Robert asked as he leaned forward on the table with an eager look on his face, "When is he coming? Have they left yet?"

"No, Your grace. They have not." The Grand Maester replied in an apologetic tone while closing the letter in his hands as if he had really just read it for the first time, "Lord Stark sadly will not be able to attend the Tourney."

"What?!" Robert exclaimed in a shocked tone, "Argh, Damn it, Ned!" he cursed as he slammed his fist on the table, "What will it take for you to move your ass from that frozen wasteland?"

The men in the council room remained silent at that, as they all knew better than to interrupt the Stag King when he was on one of his tantrums.

"But why?" Robert asked grouchily after taking a big swig from his glass to soothe his irritation, "His own son is getting the honour, so why in seven hells is he not attending? I thought you told me that he cared for his bastard," he said, looking at Jon with accusing eyes as if he had been lied to.

"What the Grand Maester forgot to mention is that Lord Eddard is not coming, not because of a lack of interest but because of a bad coincidence," The Old Hand calmly replied after reading the letter taken from the Maester's hand. "It seems by the time our raven arrived in Winterfell, Lord Eddard and most of his family had already left their home to go on a trip to Essos. Even this letter had been sent in the name of his heir, Robb Stark, who, while apologising, has also confirmed that he will attend in his father's stead."

"Essos? Why would he go to Essos?" Robert asked confusedly as his mind ignored everything else Jon had said.

"Perhaps to visit the said bastard son, Your Grace," Varys said with an amused smile on his face, "Lord Stark might have gone there to visit his son and to see the vast shipping company under his command."

"But his son is going to be here, so why..." Robert asked bewilderedly before his eyes suddenly widened, "No, don't tell me!! Does Ned not even know about this Tourney?"

"It could be possible, your grace. After all, we did delay sending the invitations until just two months before the Tourney," Jon Arryn replied while closing the letter with a somewhat envious look on his face.

Just from the letter, the Hand could see that his ward's heir was a very competent lad, just like his half-brother in Essos; otherwise, Eddard would not have so easily left Winterfell in his hands, but on the other hand, his own heir was... Jon shook his head with a sigh.

"Which should have been more than enough time for anyone wanting to attend to travel to Kings Landing," Baelish jumped in before Robert could think things through and get it inside his head that it was somehow their fault that his friend from the North was not coming to play with him.

"Well..." Robert sighed morosely as he leaned back in his chair, "I guess it was just bad luck, then."

"It is not all bad, your grace. At least you can now finally meet the son that Ned named after you," Jon Arryn said consolingly, as he knew how much his ward had been looking forward to this visit.

"There's that," Robert shrugged half-heartedly as he took another swig of wine, "And? Who else is coming?"

"Well, your brother Renly has accepted his invitation—"

"Just like every other one he has been sent," Stannis muttered with a snort.

Lord Arryn ignored him and continued, "And Lord Tywin has expressed his regret as he has too much work on his hands, so he is going to send his son Tyrion in his stead."

"That's good. At least the dwarf will make it a bit more fun." Robert mumbled with a smile that was mirrored on the face of one of the Kingsguard standing in front of the door.

"But on the other hand, Reach and Dorne are both going to attend," The Hand announced, getting surprised looks from everyone in the room except for those already in the know, because of their various 'sources'.

"Huh? Why?" Robert asked incredulously with a look of incomprehension on his face, "Why are they coming?"

"I do not know your grace, but both of them have indeed replied positively to their invitations, with Lady Olenna and Prince Doran coming to attend the Tourney in person."

"Why in the seven hells did we even send them invitations?"

Jon Arryn sighed at the stupidity of his ward before answering, "You may not be aware of it, your grace, but we send invitations to all the great houses whenever we host a tourney or any other big event in King's Landing, whether they come or not, as courtesy dictates us to."

"Every time?"

"Yes, Your Grace."

"Then how come they never came to any of the previous ones?" Robert asked with a raised eyebrow, "What is different about this one? Are they just bored this time, or do they really care about Jon Snow getting knighted that much?

That question from the King left even the likes of Varys and Baelish stumped, as they too had been thinking on this dilemma ever since they got their hands on the news of their arrival.

And it was very uncomfortable for them to not know the main reason behind this sudden decision from two of the great houses.

"If I may hazard a guess, Your Grace," Varys supplied with a thinking look on his face, "Jon Snow is said to have had a very good relationship with the Reach ever since his first sea journey. In fact, one could even say that the massive increment of trade volume between the North and the Reach that has happened in recent times had all been because of him. So perhaps the Tyrells want to take this trade even further and are arriving at his knighthood ceremony as a good gesture, and as for the Dorne," Varys shook his head apologetically, "Well... even my little birds have are completely silent on that front."

Varys' conjectures, whether they were true or not, had left the council room in a thoughtful silence, which was only broken a few minutes later by Lord Hand.

"Leaving behind the pecularity of it all," Jon began with a keen look in his eyes, "This Tourney is turning out to be a bigger deal than I had expected it to be. Because if everything went well, then almost all the Lords from the Great Houses are going to present there (except, of course, the Greyjoys) which means..." he trailed off as the gleam in his eyes grew brighter and brighter; his mind came up with all kinds of deals and trade concessions that he could make in a gathering like this that comes once in a decade.

"Ugh! This is turning into more of a boring political thing than a Tourney..." Robert grumbled while massaging his head. He could already imagine all the stupid meetings and greetings he would have to go through at that time, 'Ah, why in the hell did I even agree to do something like this?'

"Lord Baelish," Lord Arryn ignored the King and turned to the Master of Coin sitting beside him and whispered, "You remember how I told you to limit the spending and make the Tourney setting as efficient(cheap) as you can... Well, you can forgo that, because I want the preparations to be as good as they can be; this tournament should reflect the prestige of a tourney being held by the Royal family."

"Are you sure, My Lord?" Baelish asked with a small, amused smile on his lips, "Because what you are asking is going to cost us a lot of gold, My Lord."

"I—No matter. You can take the gold from the treasury as long as it is being used appropriately," Jon Arryn replied with a forced smile on his face. "After all, we can not afford to slight any of those lords," he muttered under his breath.

The council meeting ended a few minutes later, and within the hour, with the council members and their direct subordinates and servants as the source, the news about the Tourney's renewed importance had spread throughout the city and then to other regions.

Finding out that so many great houses were going to be in attendance ignited the fire in Nobles like nothing else, and they immediately gathered all the young unmarried sons, daughters, nephews and nieces that they could find in their family tree, before immediately setting off for the capital.

Another direct result of this Tourney's sudden popularity came out a week later in the form of a letter from Tywin Lannister.

The Lord simply stated that he was going to set off from Lannisport in three weeks for Kings Landing, and arriving along with him would be his brother Kevin Lannister and their retinue of 150 guards; but, of course, the Great Lord of Westerlands made no mention of the polite rejection he had sent in his previous letter.

Because, after all, a lion does not need to apologise to sheep.

And so the Nobles, the Knights, and all kinds of Merchants slowly began congregating towards the Capital, bringing along with them their money, their skills, and their products, hoping to strike big at this massive congregation of Lords that hadn't been seen since the Greyjoy Rebellion.

...

"Something feels... odd about this all," Eddard murmured with an uncertain frown on his face. His eyes kept looking left and right, trying and failing to find any sign of the coast that had not been visible for days.

"What feels odd, My Lord?" Catelyn asked distractedly, her eyes focused on the big, beautiful ocean in front of her. Because, unlike her husband, this view was something that she had not seen since that one trip she took with her father to Maidenpool in her childhood.

The Stark couple were at the moment standing on the deck of a mighty galleon. With their hands gently placed on the railing, they were enjoying the swaying waves and the mild sea breeze ruffling their hair.

A few feet behind them stood Ser Rodrick, standing guard. Not that there was any need for his protection out here in the middle of nowhere with all the crews abroad being loyal Northerners who would die before betraying the Starks, but the man would not be comfortable with the idea of them being without protection, so they let him be.

"It is just the timing of it all," Eddard replied with a mildly frustrated sigh, "Jon's letter barely gave us a week to prepare, and do you not remember how insistent Robb was that we go on this trip... I would bet my sword that there is something strange going on with those two... as if they are hiding something."

"You are just thinking too much, my lord. Robb knows how busy you have been with work, especially over these last few years, with the repairing of the Kingsroad and improving trade both inside and outside the North, so I believe he just wanted you to take a few months off and unwind," Catelyn said while gently rubbing his shoulder with her palm, "Besides were you not the one who was eager to meet your son and ask him questions?"

"Oh, do not even try to lay this all on me, my lady," Eddard said back with an amused smile on his face, "After all, there was someone who was even more eager than I for this trip."

"W-What does that mean?" Catelyn retorted flusteredly as she looked away, "I do not know who you are talking about."

When Jon's letter had arrived with an invitation for them to come to Essos to tour the free cities and visit his company, there were mixed reactions from the people of the Stark Family.

Eddard had been left stumped, Robb looked as if he had expected it, and the girls, well, they had been, as expected, very much over the moon and nigh intolerable... they just had to go, and would not take no for an answer.

Thankfully, Bran, the one she had been most worried about, was surprisingly the calmest about the letter, especially considering the fact that he had not been named amongst the ones invited. She did not know what that boy had told his son in that separate letter sent to him, but whatever it was, it seemed to have been enough for him to accept being left behind in Winterfell.

And Catelyn, well, she had been... hesitant.

On one hand, this was a gift given to them by Jon Snow, her husband's bastard, and even though, over the years, her hate for him had been mellowed down to something akin to irritation, it still made her uncomfortable to accept something this big from him, and not to mention go and stay under his roof in Essos.

But on the other hand, this was a rare chance for her to leave the North after more than a decade, so while she was nervous, she was not as averse to this trip as she had initially expected.

And as days passed, her excitement for the trip only increased, and in her exuberance, she felt she may have taken things a bit too far and given herself away.

"What am I talking about?" Eddard said with an amused smile, "Need I remind you about a certain someone who was so excited about this trip that they spent two whole days locked in their room packing up three chests full of dresses for themselves, and not to mention the long list of paper you filled with the time and place you will wear each dress..." his eyes looked haunted as if he was recalling something horrifying... Eddard had never seen this side of his wife in the years he had known her. "You and Sansa would not even let me or Arya walk into the room," he finished while shaking his head with a sigh.

"What is wrong with that?" she replied defensively, but could not stop a faint flush of embarrassment from appearing on her face. "After all, we can not all be like you and just pack three pairs of clothes and be done with it."

"Because that is all one needs... You have one pair to wear for the day, you can wash the second pair, and the third one will be a backup," he said with a confident shrug as if he were explaining the simplest thing in the world.

"..." Catelyn had a speechless look at that, "I am going to pretend I did not hear that, My Lord," she murmured while shaking her head, "But even if I did pack a few extra dresses—"

"A Few!" Eddard exclaimed with an incredulous look on his face, "You would not be done with those dresses even if you wore a different one every single day."

"And so?" she asked back with a raised eyebrow, "After all, it is not like I can wear those summer dresses in the North. So, is it not better to take them all with me than to let them stay locked up and never see the light of day?"

"Um—"

"And besides, you do remember where these dresses came from, do you not?" Catelyn asked with a sly smile on her face, "So do you really want me to rudely discard them..."

"I guess... not," Eddard sighed helplessly, because he knew that his wife had got him there.

After all, the only one who could have sent his wife these dresses was Jon, as it was almost a tradition by now for Jon to send gifts from Essos every few months to his family members, especially the female ones.

It is just... he had not expected her to have stockpiled so many that they filled three full chests.

It made Eddard feel as if he was a spoiled southerner...

He had already been feeling uncomfortable with all the 'privileges' that Jon had prepared for them along the way, from sending a big carriage to Wintefell to pick up Catelyn and the girls (minus Arya, who refused to come down from her horse) to getting the biggest cabin that Eddard had ever seen.

It was just too much for the frugal Lord of the North.

With the Kingsroad along the way either repaired or made anew, and with trade caravans frequently running through the route they had taken, their progress through land had been unbelievably smooth, very much unlike the gruelling journeys Eddard had taken during his youth.

And he could not even complain about the carriage, as it was somehow made bump-free using a strange swing-like contraption, and had strong horses that were able to somewhat keep up with their horses even while pulling the heavy weight.

This meant that even with all the excess luggage and the addition of their retinue of guards and maids, their journey had been unbelievingly cut in half, and it would have been even shorter if they were not forced to feast and stay the night at every Lord's house along the way.

And once they had reached Bear Island, they had been immediately picked up by Dacey Mormont, who had delayed her fleet's regular trade trip by more than a week and a half just for them, which gave Eddard even more of a headache.

And the worst thing was that he could not even scold him... as the boy was too far away for him to reach.

"Now, stop brooding and just enjoy the view," Catelyn said with a little slap on his shoulder, "It won't be long before Rickon wakes up, and then I will have to go back. You do not know how much trouble it is to put up with a child on a ship."

She had been quite nervous about taking her youngest son on this trip, where they would travel through wilderness and spend more than half of their time in a cramped cabin with no maester on hand if he somehow got sick.

But fortunately, most of her worries were put to rest after she saw how big, comfortable and especially clean the ship and the cabin room they were allotted was. It seems the boy had taken special care to send them his best ship, at least according to Dacey.

And Rickon had thankfully not made too much of a fuss and acclimated surprisingly well to the swaying ship.

In fact, none of her children was suffering from any of the usual symptoms of sea sickness that she had heard about in her youth, 'I guess the Northern blood really begets tough children...'

"I do know, My lady," Eddard replied back reflexively, "After all, I take care of the boy when—"

"Picking up your son once a day, when he is all smiling and gigling, does not mean you know my suffering, My Lord," Catelyn immediately whispered with a sharp smile on her face, "Do you even know how many times during the night I have to wake up, and not to mention... and do you know..."

Eddard had known almost as soon as he said those words that it was a blunder, but sadly, there was no cure for regrets, and now he could do nothing but listen as his wife went on a rant about all the mistakes he had made in the past going as far back as two weeks while referencing specific events that he had forgotten long ago.

'Ugh, why did you have to talk back, you fool...' Eddard sighed with sagging shoulders as he listened to her lay out all of her grievances in the open.

He was just thankful that she was whispering instead of shouting, and that no one else could hear her; otherwise, he would not know how to show himself in front of his guards in the future.

A few meters away from the arguing(flirting) couple stood the stark girls, having a completely different kind of conversation.

"See the one in the lead, yes, that one, she is my friend Cory," Dacey said while pointing at the playful orca leading the pod, swimming in front of their ship, "And the one right next to her, that is her Mother, and then there is her aunt, her cousin, her brother and..."

"Where is her father, then?" Arya asked curiously, hanging on the railing with her toes barely touching the deck, while looking at the fish that were more than ten times her size but were still able to cut through water as if it was not even there.

"Er, him, he sadly passed away years ago during a hunt... even before I had met her,"

"Huh? How come?" Arya asked, her head tilting in confusion, "Didn't you say that they are the most powerful hunters in the sea, so how was anyone able to kill him?"

"While it is mostly true... There are still some that even Orcas can't match," Dacey replied amusedly.

"What? Who is it? Who can hurt an orca in the ocean?" Arya questioned excitedly as if the idea of such a dangerous creature was wonderful.

"Hm, let's see... well, there are the big whales, such as the humpback that grows larger than the largest ship in the world, a single slam of their tail is enough to crush an Orca's organ, and of course, then there is Jon's friend Inky. You know, the one with all those scary tentacles,"

"Oh, oh, Jon told me about her," Arya bounced with elation, "But I have not seen it yet,"

"I am sure you will in the future," Dacey said with a smile while patting her head, "Other than that, the most likely ones to hunt them are humans, especially those big Ibbenese whaler ships; they have the knack of hunting whales down to an art."

"Oh... Will we see those whales then?"

"Um..."

"Oh, yes, I am sure Dacey will be thrilled to take us to see a whale many times the size of her ship just so you can see it hunt her friends," Sansa interrupted with a roll of her eyes.

"Shut up! I didn't mean it like that!" Arya retorted with a flushed look before she snorted and went back to Orca-watching with a pout on her face.

Dacey and Sansa shared a silent chuckle behind Arya's back before Sansa asked, "So where are we?"

It had been almost five days since they had left Bear Island, and since then, there had been no sign of coast anywhere, so it was hard for even veteran sailors to estimate the distance they had covered, let alone them, who were sailing through the ocean for the first time.

"Hm, let me check," Dacey said as she closed her eyes for a few seconds and just as her body was starting to sway, she opened them once again, "According to Cory, we are already halfway through the sea near Iron Islands."

"What? But is that not dangerous?" Sansa asked in a nervous whisper, her eyes checking left and right as if expecting those raider ships to come at them at any moment.

"Ah, don't worry too much! We are at least two days west of their farthest Island, and since their ships usually sail hugging the coast, there is little chance of them happening upon us and even if some few ships were unfortunate enough to come near us, we have more than enough strength to take care of them," she smirked while gesturing towards the ten fully armed ships behind them.

"So we won't see the Iron Islands, then?" asked Arya, who had been sneakily listening to their whispered conversation.

"No, we won't... unless you want to go there," Dacey said with a teasing expression on her face, "But you have to know that those Ironborn are very scary people who like to capture wild children and take them to work in their mines."

"I-I am not afraid," she said bravely, her hand on the dagger at her waist, "I will just fight them off, Hmph!"

"Sure you will," Sansa murmured with a roll of her eyes that thankfully her little sister did not see, or they would have a fight on their hands, "So will we be making a stop in the Westerlands then?"

"No, sadly, we won't," Dacey said apologetically, "We are on a tight schedule this time, so except for short necessary stops to procure supplies, we will not dock in any of the Westerosi ports."

"Oh," The Stark girls let out disappointedly as they had both been looking forward to seeing the various port cities such as Lannisport, Old Town, and even other famous castles such as High Garden along the way.

"But do not worry, we can stop for as long as we want on the way back, so it is not like you won't get to see them," Dacey said with a smile, 'I just can't let you set foot in Westeros right now."

According to the time, the news should have long spread throughout the towns and villages near major cities. So even a short leisurely walk through a port city would be a danger.

'After all, we can't let them know about the Tourney, or else all of Jon's well-laid plan would go to waste.' Dacey thought with a sigh, 'Though I still don't understand why he is so reluctant to let his father go to King's Landing,'

"It is not too bad," Sansa consoled Arya with a pat on her head, "After all, the faster we leave Westeros, the sooner we get to meet Jon. Isn't that much better?" she asked, to which Arya immediately nodded her head.

'Sadly, your wish will probably not be fulfilled this time. Because while you sail towards Essos, your brother is coming back to Westeros.' Dacey thought before she turned towards the direction of Lannisport with a peculiar smile on her face, wondering what their expression would look like if they knew that they would pass their brother in just a matter of days.



///

You know where to go if you want to read ahead. *Wink*Wink*

 

[oscar e Sampedro Lopez]

Thanks for the chapter.

 

[ATP]

Thanks for chapter,and poor Jon.Now he must murder Gregor,get to King,and get to Essoss quickly enough to still welcome his family.

 

[Geraldrold]

Are they meant to take the longest possible route to essos?
Why not sail from white harbor?

 

[ATP]

Are they meant to take the longest possible route to essos?
Why not sail from white harbor?

Click to shrink...

You have a point.But Author certainly had reasons to do so,so we would knew in future.

 

[LazyWizard]

"What about this one?" Daenerys asked with a hopeful note in her voice while raising a lovely gold dress that sparkled in the light and matched wonderfully with her hair.


But sadly, Gan the rat, standing on its hind legs in front of her, took one look and immediately shook its head while making a cross with its claws.


"But I like this dress so much," Daenerys whined with an adorable look on her face, "Can you please let me take it! Please!"


But Gan did not budge and kept shaking its head, and to make its point clearer, it even pointed towards the bag already stuffed with more than ten dresses as if saying, "Did you not like those too?"


"Ugh! Fine!" The Targaryen teen groaned as she reluctantly put the dress back into the cupboard before hurriedly closing it and moving away as if trying to run from temptation.


Taking the bag at her feet, Daenerys then walked towards her next step, the dresser.


And this time, she was smart about it, and not to mention asking for Jon's opinion, she did not even glance in the rat's direction and just began chucking the most important peices of jewellry, trinkets, and make up, that she could not bear to part with, "This one, this one, and that one... oh and that one goes well with my hair, this goes with that dress of mine, and..."


The Rat standing behind her was very much alarmed by this and kept pulling on her dress, squealing its throat out, "Chi! Chi! Chi!!" but the girl had already made up her mind and acted as if she could not hear him.


At last, when the bag was more than half-filled, did the girl finally stop and close her bag with a satisfied expression on her face.


It was an unusual piece of baggage that she had never seen before in her life and had been brought for her by Jon's big bird friend.


It had two long attached rope-like threads that one puts their arm through, and then they wear it on their back.


And while she had been a bit resistant at first, believing that it looked very absurd wearing it on her dress, now the girl was completely hooked by the sheer convenience it provided by leaving her hands completely free.


"I am ready, we can go now," she announced sweetly with a bright smile on her face, completely ignoring the rat's accusing eyes as if she could not understand him.


The Rat ultimately sighed in defeat and shook its tiny head, making the teen girl giggle, before it went down on its four legs and began leading the way towards the door to her room.


Following after Gan, Daenerys came outside her room and found her guards lying on the floor in an awkward position with drool spilling from their mouths.


Even though she had been told that they had been fed nothing more than a mild sleeping drug, Daenerys still felt a bit guilty, so she bowed her head towards them in a silent apology before quickly stepping over them to follow behind Gan, who was already halfway through the corridor.


They passed through two hallways and five small rooms on their way, with each having either a maid or a guard lying outside them, forcing Daenerys to awkwardly jump over them every time.


But eventually they managed to reach the stairs and began climbing down towards the ground floor, but just as they were about to pass the second floor's landing, Daenerys' steps came to an abrupt stop as her eyes fell towards the right with a strange look in them.


"Chi?!" The Rat squeaked questioningly as if asking why she had stopped.


"I...I have to do something," Daenerys slowly said as a determined expression appeared on her face, and with a simple nod, she said, "Wait here," and began walking onto the second floor.


Passing the two guards lying outside the first room she came across, Daenerys opened the door and entered a place that was far more luxurious than hers.


Inside, she found her brother, Viserys Targaryen, lying half-hazardously on the bed with half of his body hanging by the end, snoring without a care in the world.


Slowly and hesitantly, Daenerys came over to stand in front of him and then looked down at him with a complicated expression on her face.


A large variety of emotions passed through the girl's eyes, including anger, disgust, repulsion, and a whole lot of fear, but ultimately they simply boiled down to hate.


She hated him for hitting her whenever he was angry, she hated him for always accusing her of being the cause behind all their problems, she hated him for starving her whenever he wanted to punish her for asking to go back to the room with the red door, she hated him for always getting them kicked out...


She hated him for being spoiled, for being arrogant, for being stupid, for...


And on and on it went as her mind came up with all the times that her brother had wronged her, and eventually, all the hatred that had accumulated until now became too much for her, and it all came out in a burst.


"Argh! I hate you!!" the girl screamed as she slapped her brother across the face, sending him flying across the floor with his head tilted in an awkward position.


"Eep!!" Daenerys squeaked in a surprised voice, her eyes wide in shock, staring at her own hand as if not believing what she had done.


But then a peculiar expression appeared on her face when she looked down and saw that he was still in a deep sleep.


She now realised that there was no one to stop her here, and that there would be no consequences for anything she did to him, that the 'Dragon' would not be waking anytime soon.


And now that she had gotten a taste of it, the girl could not stop herself, so, slowly raising her hand... she slapped him once again.


And then again...


And again...


She went on and on, slapping her cruel brother left and right, venting all the rage that had been bottled inside her over the years.


And it was only when Viserys' face had turned into a swollen red and she had begun breathing heavily from the sudden exertion, did the girl reluctantly come to a stop.


"Brother," Daenerys murmured after a while when she had gotten her breathing under control, "Thank you for letting me have my revenge," she straightened her dishevelled and picked up the bag that had been thrown aside earlier, "I would have also thanked you for taking care of me for a short while when I was little but that brother I used to know has already been gone, so... Farewell Viserys, May we never meet again."


Daenerys sighed before turning around, only to find Gan standing at the doorstep looking at her with a concerned look in its beady little eyes.


"I—" she began with an embarrassed look on her face, trying to find a way to explain herself, but thankfully, the rat did not say or ask anything and just nodded at her before turning around to leave the room.


Daenerys sighed in relief before she once again began following after the rat as if nothing had happened.


This time, there were no stops along the way, and they finally reached the ground floor, where they found the master of the mansion, the Fat Magister, lying on a big sofa that could barely contain his girth.


Lying around him were about a dozen maids and guards, all seeming to have been carrying some kind of food plate or fan in their hands, probably serving their master with all their might, before they fell asleep in their place.


Daenerys could not even comprehend how much trouble Jon had to go through to drug every single person in this place at the same time.


Unlike the maids and the guards, most of whom were unfortunate slaves, the Targaryen girl did not feel anything for the fat man, neither hate nor gratitude.


Even though the man had sheltered them for so many months, she had already learned from Jon that his motives were very much sinister, especially regarding her.


To think this man, who usually spoke kindly to her, was planning with her brother to sell her to the Dothraki in exchange for an army...


Thankfully, she would be leaving today and would not have to deal with this hypocrite ever again.


But just as she was about to move towards the front door, she abruptly heard a squeak, and when she turned her head around, her eyes caught sight of Gan standing below the fat Pentoshi, and pointing at him with a meaningful look in his eyes, as if trying to tell her something.


"What? I don't understand," Daenerys said confusedly, to which the Rat just rolled its eyes and ran towards her feet and then gestured to take it out.


"Huh?" she was confused for a moment before she realised what he was asking for and immediately took out the small pot of ink that she had become used to carrying around her ever since she had met this strange relative of hers.


The moment the cap was screwed open, the rat skillfully dipped its claws into the blue ink and then knelt down to begin writing on the floor in its tiny handwriting.


"Keys?" Daenerys questioned, bewilderedly to Gan, who was already wiping the words from the floor to remove the evidence, even if the letters were too small and faint for anyone to notice by chance, "So you want me to get his keys?" she asked while pointing towards Illyrio, to which the rat immediately nodded, "But why?"


But the rat just squeaked impatiently as if telling her to "Just do it," and not ask so many questions.


"Fine!" Daenerys huffed with a pout as she placed her bag on the floor, and then, after taking a deep breath, she rolled her non-existent sleeves and moved towards the fat merchant.


With a profound look of disgust in her eyes, Daenerys placed her hands on the massive flabs of flesh under which the keys were hidden and exerted her whole body's might only to raise it by just a few inches.


The man was so sweaty and smelly that it almost made the girl weep, "Hurry up!!" she groaned in an urgent tone, not knowing how long she could hold on.


Thankfully, the rat had already climbed the Pentoshi's body to an appropriate height so that the moment a tiny opening appeared, it immediately darted inside and came out just a few seconds later, relieving Daenerys from the worst moments of her short life.


The moment she let go, the girl stumbled backwards and kneeled down on the floor and began dry heaving as if she was going to puke her guts out.


Though thankfully, in the end, she did not vomit on the floor, but she did come very close, so it took a while before she managed to get herself under control.


"N-Never! I am never going through that again!" she declared with gritted teeth while raising her head towards Gan, "Not for all the gold in the world. Do you understand me?!" she asked menacingly, and the Rat was quick to nod its head in compliance, leaving her relieved.


"So now what?" she asked while standing and picking up the bag from the ground.


"Chi!" Gan squeaked and once again began leading her way, this time towards the inner chambers.


They passed by the kitchen, the store room, and even a room filled only with weapons, before finally the hallway came to an end with a massive iron door the size of an elephant blocking their path.


Gan did not waste a single moment and immediately handed her the ring of keys he was holding in his teeth, and before she could even ask which one, the rat was already pointing towards the key she was supposed to use for the door.


'How does he know everything?' Daenerys sighed as she placed the key inside the hole, and as was expected from her mysterious relative, the key was correct, and the lock clicked open on the first try.


The door was absurdly heavy, and it took Daenerys a whole minute of pressing her body against it to force it open.


And when she finally stumbled inside, she was stunned to find herself in a room that was filled to the brim with glittering gold.


'This is... a treasury,' Daenerys thought as she looked around with awe in her eyes. Everywhere she looked, she saw sparkling gold dragons, gold jewellery, gold bars and even gold toys, and all these items were just lying there carelessly as if they were worthless.


Even though Daenerys did not consider herself a materialistic person, she had to admit that seeing this sight made her drool a little.


'Shit! I really should not have packed so many dresses,' Daenerys inwardly cried in regret as she finally realised why Jon had insisted that she carry as little as she could. She looked around with a pained look on her face, wondering how much she could carry without getting too burdened to walk, 'Wait! Maybe he planned for this too!'


"So... How are we going to take all this gold away?" she asked nonchalantly as if she wasn't moved by the wealth around her at all.


"Chi! Chi!" The rat squeaked while looking at her disapointedly, before it once again began writing on the floor, "We are not here to steal something as common as gold, you silly girl!"


"We are not?" Daenerys asked back, unable to keep the hint of dismay away from her voice, "Then what are we here for?" she asked as she looked around, trying to find something that was more precious than gold.


The rat just gestured for her to follow him as it began to scurry and climb through the piles of treasure as if it knew exactly where it was going.


The treasury room was actually not that big, but it was stuffed almost to half the room's height, so it was quite a struggle for Daenerys to navigate through it, because, unlike a certain someone, she could not, after all, walk on all four.


Fortunately, she did not have to suffer from toe stubbing for too long, as when they were almost two-thirds of the way through the treasury, she found the rat standing in front of a big box, waiting for her.


"Is this what we are here for?" she asked curiously while peeking at the jewel-crusted chest that was neither too big nor too small but just about the size that she could hold in her hands. "What is in there?"


Gan just pointed towards the keys in her hands in lieu of an answer.


"Oh, which one?" she asked while presenting him the ring with a look of anticipation on her face, but the critter just shrugged while looking at her in disdain as if saying, 'How would I know?'


"Ugh! Fine, I get it. No need to roll your eyes at me!" Daenerys grumbled as she raised the keys and began placing them into the chest's hole one by one.


But it seems her luck was quite bad today, as it was only when she was on the third last key that the lock on the chest finally clicked open, making both the rat and the girl breathe in relief.


Now more than a little impatient, Daenerys hurriedly placed her hand under the lid and pushed it up with a gleam of anticipation in her eyes, wondering what kind of treasure it was that could make one ignore all the gold lying around them.


But the moment she laid eyes on the things placed inside the chest, Daenerys was shaken to her core, "I-Is this what I think it is?" she asked with her lips quivering, and her eyes widened in awe.


"Chi!" Gan immediately squeaked in confirmation, but the girl was no longer listening as she was too mesmerised by the three colourful eggs in front of her.


They were about the size of a human head, looked quite heavy and were sunningly beautiful. One was deep green with bronze flecks that shimmered among the scales, the other one was pale cream colour marked with whorls of gold, and the last one was pure black with scarlet ripples and streaks across its surface like veins of fire.


The eggs had a strange attraction to them, almost pulling Daenerys towards them.


Without even knowing, she found her hand rising towards them on its own, and the moment she touched one, she was startled to find it warm, almost alive, unlike the cold touch one would expect.


She did not know how long she just sat admiring their beauty before Gan's squeak abruptly jolted her out of her daze, "Huh? What happened?" she asked while turning towards him.


'We need to go.' The rat gestured with its hands and then pointed at the eggs and the bag on her back.


"Oh, right!" Daenerys jolted awake, realising that they were essentially thieves sneaking inside enemy territory, and that the drug could wear off at any moment, and if someone caught her in here...


Daenerys shuddered, not even daring to imagine what would happen to her, so without wasting any more time, she quickly but carefully began placing the eggs inside her bag.


While she knew that the eggs were supposed to be as hard as rocks and that she probably could not even destroy them even if she wanted to, she could not help but be gentle with them.


"Let's go then," she grunted as she once again wore the backpack on her back, which was now heavy enough to make her hunch, and began moving towards the exit, being careful not to stub her toe on the chests of gold along the way.


But just as they were about to leave the treasury, Daenerys' eyes caught sight of something that shook the girl to her very core.


"T-That! That's my mother's crown!" she cried tearfully, and immediately began scrambling towards a white gold crown filled with seven rubies that had been placed carelessly on a chest of gold jewellery. The same one that her brother had sold so many years ago for just a few gold dragons. "How is it here? How did he manage to find it?"


The girl could still remember clearly her youthful years when she used to wear this very crown and pretend that she was a queen, just like her mother... she would go around ordering her kind uncle Willem Darry, who happily played along and acted as her loyal subject.


'Why did you have to die, Uncle?' The girl thought mournfully as she gently trailed her fingers along the surface of the crown, the one and only memento of her late mother, as long-buried memories of living in that house with the red door began rising inside her.


Never having even seen her mother with her own eyes, the girl only knew about her from the few stories her brother and Uncle Willem used to tell her.


She had spent countless nights fantasising about what it would have been like if her mother had been alive, how happy she would have been.


And now, after having learned from Jon about all the ordeals her mother had suffered at the hands of her father, this crown became even more important to her.


She didn't know or care about how Illyrio had managed to acquire this crown; she just knew that this belonged to her more than anyone else in the world.


"Chi?" the rat squeaked softly while pulling on her dress.


While he knew that it was an emotional moment for the girl to be reunited with her mother's last keepsake, they really did not have that much time.


They had already wasted more time than Jon had expected, and were now nearing dangerous territory. If they did not hurry and someone accidentally woke up, it would become needlessly complicated, and he may even be forced to initiate plan C, which would just spill too much blood.


"Right!" Daenerys sniffed and nodded as she carefullly put the her mother's crown inside a seperate pocket of the backpack and then after taking one last look around to make sure that there was nothing else belonging to her family around here, which there was not, she immediately left the treasury, with Gan making her close the Treasury door so that even when the people woke up later they would not immediately find out about the theft, giving them more leeway.


On the way out, Gan was rushing her to move as fast as she could, and while it was a bit draining with the weight on her back, the girl did not complain too much, knowing that they were cutting it close now.


Fortunately, their path remained unobstructed all the way to the main gate, and they were able to leave the mansion safely.


This manor was located on a small hill and was part of a large, isolated area that was solely dedicated to homes of wealthy nobles and magisters of Pentosh.


Being this isolated and extensive was one of the reasons that their sneaky actions could remain undisturbed for so long, as no one from outside usually came by unless they were invited or had an appointment.


"N-Now what?!" Daenerys asked, breathing a bit heavily as she came to stand on the empty road outside the mansion.


"Chi!" The Rat looked around for a few moments before it suddenly began jumping and pointing towards a carriage parked inconspicuously beside a large tree twenty meters down the road.


"Ugh! Could you not have made it wait at the gate?" The girl groaned as she forced her feet to move and carry her towards the carriage, internally convincing herself that this was the last part of her gruelling journey, and maybe that she could finally rest after this.


Someone inside must have caught sight of her because just as she was about to reach them, the carriage began moving out of the shade onto the main road, and when she was close enough, a big, burly man with the face of a young boy jumped out of the driver's seat and introduced himself.


"I am Samwell Tarly. It is good to meet you," the boy said shyly as he helped Daenerys carry her bag inside the carriage while Gan scurried over him to stand on his shoulder.


"I am Dany," The last Targaryen girl said as she jumped inside the carriage with an uncontrollable grin on her face, "Just Dany."


///

 

[eeda]

Ok I laughted to much just for the slaping

 

[ATP]

She should paint something funny on Viserys face.That aside - good chapter,and Sam is responsible enough to leave without any future problems.

 

[oscar e Sampedro Lopez]

Thanks for the chapter. Good story

 

[TheCuriousGuest]

Lol, hope she also locked Treasury... And kept the Keys.
Imagine him trying to run around and ordering servants as they desperately search for where he may have 'dropped' them, all while forgetting to check on Daenerys before visitors arrive?

Viserys face is very slappable, shame she couldn't grab a quill to draw/write something to remember her by.
Guess he'll slowly be forced against his best efforts to see that despite his delusions, without Daenerys around to vent his insecurities on or claim superiority over, he's truly alone and worthless as he's got no beautiful girl to marry off or priceless artifacts to sell.

I hope they enjoy their Dothraki guests, I'm sure Drogo won't react violently.
Not like he was promised a Bride and they failed to deliver... Good thing he has plenty of gold and people to take as compensation.

 

[LazyWizard]

"Huh? Why is the ship staying still?" Nymeria asked curiously as she looked back at the Galleon that had been their transportation, all the way from Dorne to here in the Westerlands, standing still in the ocean water as if it was waiting for something, "Are they not going to leave?"


All four of them, the ones who were going to take part in this dangerous secret mission, were at the moment sailing in a tiny boat, the same one that had picked them up in Dorne.


Their destination was a completely deserted coast hidden on three sides by a dense green forest, located somewhere between the lands of Tarbeck Hall and Crakehall in Westerlands.


"Perhaps they are waiting for us to return their boat," Sarella guessed with a shrug, "Though that would mean that one of us would row it to them and then swim back ashore," she murmured to herself before turning towards Jon with a raised eyebrow, "Unless, that is, also our escape ship?"


Over the past week that they had spent together on the ship, the Dornish girls had become quite familiar with the Northern boy, and as the girls learned more about the kind of person Jon was from Oberyn, and all that he had achieved at his young age, they became impressed with him and began losing their first impression of him being a smug brat.


This was especially after they learned the fact that their father, the Viper of Dorne, had lost to him in a fight, and though Oberyn, somewhat embarrassingly, had explained that it had been because of a dirty trick, he would definitely not lose if they fought again.


But the girls did not care, as to them beating their cunning father with a ruse was even more impressive than if Jon had done so fairly.


And Nymeria, who was as impatient as she was pretty, had not wasted any time challenging him to a duel.


Jon had avoided it at first, but after much persistence and provocation, he gave in, thinking that it would shut them up and make it easier for them to follow his order willingly... so he had duelled and defeated her... easily and overwhelmingly.


But unlike what Jon had expected, the defeat had not forced the girls to distance themselves from him; instead, they had become even more curious about him and began to follow him everywhere, asking him all kinds of questions as if he were a puzzle that they could not crack.


And though their nosiness made it hard for him to perform some of his secret activities, forcing him to move his schedule to the night, their sarcastic jokes and witty comebacks more than made up for it, as it was hard for one to find anything interesting on an otherwise dull sea life.


So all in all, the Dornish girls turned out to be a better company than Jon had expected, and of course, Jon entering his teenage years and them being beautiful lasses with sinful figures did not hurt much.


"No, that is not our escape ship," Jon answered with a grunt as he rowed the boat along with Oberyn, with both of them sitting on either end, facing the same direction, with the girls and their luggage in the middle, "I will have a different one ready at that time."


"So, someone really will have to swim all the way back after returning the boat, then," Nymeria exclaimed as she looked back at the ship that now looked smaller than a spoon in the distance and gulped, "Not me! I am definitely not going to be the one to do it."


"Me neither," Sarella added, right after her sister. "I hate cold water more than anything," she said with a shudder.


"Oh, don't even look at me," Oberyn said without turning his head, as if he knew that his girls were staring at him, "I am almost an elderly here, so you definitely can not give this kind of back-breaking work to me."


And with that, both the girls exchanged glances with each other and simultaneously turned their heads towards Jon with mirth in their eyes.


"No," Jon replied wryly to the smirking girls' silent query, "Sadly for you, someone else will be taking care of this issue for us."


"Who?" Sarella asked curiously.


"You will know soon enough," Jon replied with his usual mysterious smile.


"Ugh! Why are you making this all so complicated?" Nymeria groaned as she leaned back, trying to find some space to spread her long legs in this cramped boat, "We could have easily docked at the Lannisport and taken the kingsroad from there, skipping all this stupid skulduggery."


"You are really asking me that?!" Jon said with a raised eyebrow, "Have you even looked at yourself?"


"Why?" Nymeria asked with a gleam in her eyes, "Do I look particularly ravishing in the light of the sunset?" she whispered while leaning towards Jon with a teasing wiggle of her eyebrows.


"I don't know about ravishing," Jon replied slowly, looking completely unfazed by the devilish figure with a hint of cleavage looking up at him seductively, "But you do look like a Dornish girl who is just too pretty to be a smallfolk. And with the number of eyes in a port, it would only be a matter of time before everyone and their mother knew that the Dornish are here in Westerlands to do something wicked."


"You are exaggerating," Nymeria replied with a sceptical look on her face.


"I assure you, I am not," Jon said with a shake of his head, "The total amount of direct trade between the Westerlands and Dorne is unsurprisingly very little, so even a single Dornish man looks out of place here, making even the dumbest smallfolk look unkindly at them, remembering their faces to later report to their lords. Otherwise, why do you think we are landing here in the middle of nowhere?"


"Wait! Does that mean that we will not be moving through any of the towns or villages on the way?" Sarella asked with narrowed eyes.


"Exactly," Jon nodded with a smile, "You get it now."


"No, I do not get it." Sarella exclaimed in a high-pitched tone, "Because what the fuck are we going to eat and drink on the way. I can tell you now that the stuff we brought would not even last us two days, especially with the way this one here has been eating recently," she whispered the last part while jerking her head towards her father.


"Oi! Oi! Don't talk behind your father's back," Oberyn scolded without turning his face away from the shore, making the girls roll their eyes. "But seriously, Jon, if food is going to be a problem, then we really should have taken more rations along with us, even if it slowed us down. In fact, I think it is still not too late to—Wait! I think I see someone on the shore!" The Dornish prince exclaimed mid-sentence, his eyes squinting, trying to see the figure waiting for them under a tree at the shore, "Is that Dacey? Dacey Mormont?"


The sun was almost on the horizon, leaving them very little light to see far, but even with her vague visage, the prince easily recognised her as the valiant warrior woman who had given him a lift from Essos to Westeros in Jon's fleet.


"Indeed, she is," Jon said with a warm smile on his face.


A few minutes later, Oberyn greeted Dacey with a friendly wave, "Lady Mormont, how do you do on this fine evening?" as their boat touched the shore and they began climbing down.


"Prince Oberyn," Dacey nodded calmly as she came forward, "Jon... and two extras," she said as her narrowed eyes scrutinised the two girls who had suddenly been added to the mission at the last moment.


"Blame this one," Jon mouthed while sneakily pointing towards Oberyn, who just smiled embarrassingly.


"Did that woman just call us extras?" Nymeria whispered to her sister in an incredulous tone as they took off their luggage from the boat.


"I think she did," Sarella nodded with a relaxed expression on her face.


"That is insulting, isn't it?" Nymeria asked with narrowed eyes, "Should I teach her a lesson?"


"Please don't," Sarella quickly said while holding onto her eager sister's elbow, "Have you seen the muscle on that woman... she will pick you up and throw you into the sea."


"Hmph! I can take her." Nymeria retorted indignantly, but the unsure look in her eyes said otherwise; after all, she could not use poison against an ally, and without her most powerful weapon, she did not like her chances against this Northern warrior who seemed as if she had been born with a mace in her hand.


While the Dornish girls were whispering to each other, and Oberyn was taking account of the supplies that Dacey had prepared for them, Jon had been taken by Dacey some distance away to have a private conversation.


"What was it that you said to me when I asked you to bring me along for this? That it was a two-man job. That more people would only compromise the mission," Dacey began with a sharp question the moment they were out of the earshot of the people from Dorne, "So what happened now? Did their pretty faces somehow change your mind?"


"As if," Jon answered with a snort as he shook his head, "I would not have brought them at all if it were up to me. But they somehow caught their father sneaking around and then blackmailed him, with the threat of telling his brother Prince Doran, to bring them abroad."


"And that was all it took for you to agree," she asked with a sceptical raise of her eyebrow.


"Of course not," Jon retorted immediately, "If it was just that, then I would have found some way to take care of them or leave someplace far away so that they would not interfere in the plan. But then, Oberyn told me that his girls are supposed to be even more skilled in the art of poison than he is, and since I don't have Sam with me here," he shrugged helplessly, "I thought it wouldn't hurt to have other experts on hand just to be on the safe side."


"So these girls somehow became assets useful for this mission, while I was just a liability who would just get in the way. Is that what you are trying to say?" Dacey asked with narrowed eyes.


"No, of course not," Jon replied, hastily waving his hand. Though he had no idea why his friend was in such a bad mood today, Jon knew that he had to quickly calm her down, as nothing sets off a Northerner more than their prowess being questioned. "You were obviously my first choice for this mission, after all, who else could I trust more with my back than you. But it's just that it is a personal matter for Oberyn and his family, you understand." Jon said, and Dacey reluctantly nodded her head, "And besides, there was no one else whom I could count on to take care of my family, was there. Speaking of which, where are they?" he asked hurriedly, trying to change the subject.


"Just a few hours away, docked in the middle of the ocean waiting for me," Dacey replied with a sigh, letting go of her earlier frustration, "Cory is here with me, so she can take us there quickly, if you want to meet them."


"No, no, it is better if I don't," Jon said with a nostalgic smile, thinking about the cute little sisters he hadn't seen in a while (at least not in person), "I am not even sure how I would explain all this to them,"


"You would have to, eventually," Dacey said with a snort, "Or I guess I would have to, when they reach all the way to Essos, and ask me why their beloved brother is not here to welcome them."


"Oh, I am sure you can keep them entertained long enough in Essos to forget all about me,"


"I don't know about that," Dacey replied with a wry smile on her face, "Not to mention the others, but that little girl Arya hadn't stopped asking about you for a single moment. I don't think any normal excuse would be enough for them to forgive your absence," she said before a sneaky smirk appeared on her face as she rememebered something, "Ah, except of course Lady Stark, who I must admit is a much better person than you had led me to believe," she said shaking her head disapointedly, "What was that about, Jon? I never expected that you were bad-mouthing Lady Catelyn so unfairly,"


"W-What are you talking about? I never talked badly about her."


"Did you not?" Dacey asked with an innocent tilt of her head, "Because I distinctly remember someone making quite a few jokes at her expense, especially about her vanity, about how she would look when she upturns her nose in disdain, how funny her appearance was when she would run after Arya while trying to act all proper, and—"


"Enough! Enough, I say!" Jon cried out nervously in a low voice, trying to stop her from spilling all his secrets, "Why do you still remember all that? That was years ago, and you know it was all in jest, right? I was just having fun... so don't tell any of this to her. Alright? "


"I could do that..." Dacey said slowly, "But then she and I have become such good friends over the past few days, so I don't think it's right for me not to tell her about the things her naughty 'stepson' used to say about her."


"Don't even joke about this, Dacey. You have no idea how much effort it took for me to get in her good graces. You can not make all my effort go to waste."


"Fine. I won't tell her about it," Dacey said with a wide smile on her face. She was quite happy to see Jon actually looking nervous for a change, instead of that smug all all-knowing look he always had on his face. It felt good to know that he had at least one weakness.


"Good," Jon said with relief in his voice.


"But you would be owing me for this. Owing me big time. Understand?"


"Sure," Jon said, agreeing immediately, knowing that his friend was the kind to only make simple requests, such as getting that particular fruit she was craving from the other side of the world or simply a new weapon, which were all easy for him to fulfil.


"Good, it is a deal, then," Dacey nodded with a smile, before she sighed sadly, "Ah, I just regret that I would have to miss that tournament of yours. I bet it is going to be very entertaining there."


"As if." Jon said with a snort, "If anything, it is bound to be a boring thing, what with all the most pompous nobles from Westeros gathering there in one place. It will be nothing more than posturing, simpering, and a whole lot of ass kissing. Trust me, you will be missing out on nothing."


"Promise," Dacey asked with a small smile.


"Promise," he replied with a roll of his eyes.


"Well, I guess I should get going then," Dacey said with a long stretch of her body, "Your family, especially your father, is bound to start asking questions if the ship stays in one place for too long without me being present."


"Good. Have a safe journey then," Jon nodded with a smile on his face, "And take that ship with you, will you? I brought it almost empty to increase its speed, and it would be a waste for it to go all the way back to North without any goods, so you may as well take it back to Essos with you."


"Sure," Dacey replied with a shrug, as she moved towards the boat, while nodding at Oberyn in farewell.


The boat had already been emptied by the Dornish, so with a simple push, the boat was back into the sea, and Dacey immediately jumped in and picked up the oars.


With a final nod, Dacey rowed away from the shore, and barely a few minutes later, the woman had completely disappeared from their sight as if a divine horse was pulling the boat over water from the other side.


"Wasn't that boat just a bit too fast?" Nymeria asked with a stunned expression.


"It was," Sarella replied, looking similarly surprised. "Perhaps that is the power one gets when they have muscles like that," she mused, her mind still stuck on the fact that a woman could have such a toned figure and still somehow managed to look beautiful.


"Oi! Enough slacking off." Jon's voice called them back to the present from behind them, "Pick up your luggage, and get moving. We do not have all day."


"Um, Jon. I think we have no day left at all," Sarella said with a chuckle as she pointed towards the horizon where the sun had already started to sink.


"So?"


"What do you mean, so?" Nymeria asked with a dumbfounded laugh, "What would be even the point of entering the forest at this time, if we have to stop and make a camp soon after?"


"Why would we make a stop?" Jon asked with a tilt of his head, as if he was genuinely curious.


"Why would we stop, he asks," Nymeria mimicked mockingly to her sister, "Because my dear friend from the North, unlike what may happen in your frozen wasteland, here, in the normal parts of the world, you do not move through a forest in the Night, not unless you want to die," she finished with a roll of her eyes, "Everyone knows that,"


"Oh, ho, don't tell me. Are the famous sand snakes afraid of a little jaunt in the dark?" Jon said with a teasing look in his eyes, "Who would have guessed?" he said with an air of disappointment on his face while placing his part of the ration from the stuff Dacey had brought for them inside his luggage, to make it easier to carry.


"He, he, very funny," Sarella said with a smile at his lame joke, but then she saw him picking up his luggage as if he was getting ready to move, and her smile immediately disappeared. "Wait, are you serious?"


"Of course I am," Jon replied simply, "Don't tell me? Are you scared, too, just like Nymeria?"


"Hey! I did not say I was afraid?!"


"Of course, I am," Sarella replied without a hint of shame, while completely ignoring her indignant sister, "There could be any number of dangerous things in there, from snakes, spiders, to wolves, bears, and maybe even tigers, and not to mention the very real possibility of losing our way in the dark. Don't tell me you don't fear any of that?"


"Eh! I have been through many more dangerous forests before, so no," Jon said with a non-chalant shrug, "I know exactly what to do to avoid predators in dark, so you do not need to fret about becoming anyone's food," he said confidently, becuase after all, as the self-proclaimed number one warg in the world, scaring wild animals, whether they be big or small, was the easiest skill in his arsenal.


"But—"


"And as for getting lost," Jon continued without giving the girl any chance, "That is not even a worry, as I know our path like the back of my hand. In fact, if I want to, I can go through with my eyes closed," he said with a smile as if he enjoying a private joke, "So don't worry too much and just follow my lead, and no harm shall come to you," he finished gallantly as if he were a knight.


The girls were left completely speechless at this wild bragging from a person they had previously considered very humble.


"So shall we go then?" Jon asked with a bright smile on his face as if what he said should have been enough to convince them.


"Of course not," Sarella said while looking at him as if he were insane, "We can't just follow you into danger just because you say so. In fact, I don't even understand why we are taking such a big risk before we have even seen our target."


"Because we have to," Jon said with a shrug, "I wouldn't have done this if it was not urgent, but sadly, I have solid news that the Mountain, along with his crew is going to set off from his place in less than two days, and our ambush site from here is almost a day away, and that is, if we are on the move continuously. So, since we have had plenty of rest on the ship on the way here, I want us to cover at least half the distance before we make camp to rest."


"B-But if it was so, then could we not have arrived earlier?"


"No, we could not," Jon said while shaking his head, "If we had arrived sooner, not only would we have to carry more luggage slowing our pace, but we would also have to find a place to stay, and make a fire, increasing our risk of discovery, and any later would have us miss the perfect chance, so you could say that I timed our arrival exactly right."


"Er..." Sarella was left completely stumped by this surprisingly logical reason behind all this haste, and unable to find a proper retort, the girl turned to her father in frustration as if asking him to help.


"Don't look at me, daughter. I have already promised him that I would do everything he asks me to do on this trip, as long as he gets me to him. So if he says to travel during the night, then I am more than ready to do so," Oberyn said resolutely, "But you both don't have to, you could just stay here and wait for us to come—"


"As if," Nymeria immediately challenged, "If you are not afraid, then why should I be?" she said proudly as she picked up her luggage, "Let's go. I am ready."


And with that, the three of them turned to look at the last person, who looked quite frustrated at the moment.


Sarella looked from one person to the other, but in the end, she saw no hope there, and after cursing the gods for a few moments, the girl groaned, "Damn it!" and reluctantly picked up her own luggage. "Why did I have to get stuck with lunatics?" she murmured to herself, which everyone conveniently ignored.


"Finally," Jon cheered as he raised his fist towards the forest as if he was the vanguard of an army, "Let's Go," he said as he began to lead the way into the forest that was only lightly illuminated by the fading sunlight.


It was fine for now, but soon Jon would have to light up a torch to make sure that the ones behind could follow him. "Just follow exactly where I pass through, and make sure—Oh," Jon was mid-sentence when he abruptly stopped with a dazed look on his face.


"Huh? What happened?" Oberyn asked curiously, as he halted himself from bumping into Jon at the last moment.


"They woke up," Jon whispered to himself with an, 'Ah, shit,' expression on his face.


The other end of his mind, that had been constantly inside his rat friend, had been caught in a difficult situation at that moment, leaving him to wonder if they could successfully escape the city or if he would have to use frost after all.


///

 

[oscar e Sampedro Lopez]

Thanks for the chapter. Good story as always

 

[ATP]

Well,tat what he get for trying to be in two places in the same time.But,i trust in author,that he would somehow made Jon win again!