Dragons of Destiny

Meereen 306 AC.

Dany.

She woke up and for a moment didn't know where she was as it was their first night in these rooms. The day before she'd had the bed removed and a new one brought in, even though she wasn't and couldn't be sure it was the same one that she'd slept in previously. She'd not take the chance, Aegon would never have known and perhaps he'd never have brought it up to her. Yet for Dany, it was that she would and she didn't want to sully what she and Aegon had by sharing the same bed with him that she had once shared with another. So their first night in Meereen had been spent not in the same rooms she'd once called her own but in ones on a different level of the Great Pyramid.

Were it not for the dragons then she'd perhaps have not even sought to use the same rooms, but the simple truth was it was far better for her, Aegon, and Rhaella to be closer to the sky than not. Drogon and Rhaegal were far too large for the terrace but Lyarhaex had already made a home for herself out there, as had Rhaenys's blue dragon, Balerion. Dany had been confused at first over the name and it wasn't until Aegon explained it to her that she truly understood Rhaenys's reasons for naming a blue dragon after a black one.

" When she was a girl she had a cat named Balerion, the black dread she and others dubbed it. I think she wishes to feel that again, that connection, and this time she'll have it with something that can protect her when those who were supposed to, fail." Aegon said, the last bit slightly bitterly.

" Egg." she said softly and he chuckled as he shook his head.

" Not you, too." he said though his smile showed he quite liked the name.

She turned over in the bed and looked at her husband as he slept, his face so calm and his expression one she'd come to enjoy staring at. He was so very different from the man who had come to Dragonstone more than a year ago. Then he had been sullen, hidden, withdrawn, and his emotions were almost impossible for her to read. Now he was far more open, around her and Rhaella almost completely so, and even with others, there were times when she'd see him be the same. With Arya, Tormund, and surprisingly with Jaime Lannister too and with Rhaenys now as well.

For Dany that was still a work in progress and while she was getting closer with her niece, there was still a distance between them that she and Aegon didn't have. There were things about his sister that he knew and she did not and though he'd promised to share them with her, they'd simply not had the time to do so yet. Meereen needed to be righted and she'd found out that some of her most loyal people had lost their lives because of how they'd felt about her. It angered her as much as it saddened her and yet it was the former she concentrated on. When they finally moved against Belicho himself she would make him suffer as he had made her people suffer.

"Dany." Aegon said waking and she chuckled as she kissed his cheek.

"I do so enjoy being the first thing my husband thinks of when he wakes." she said smiling still and then she laughed fully at Aegon's response.

"I was going to say you're pressing down on my chest and could you please move." Aegon said and she slapped him softly as she laughed.

He rose from the be and made put on his small clothes before making his way to Rhaella's crib. Their daughter slept peacefully and Dany lay in the bed watching him as he looked down at her. After a few moments, he walked back to the bed and climbed back in, the look on his face one she'd not seen him wear for the longest time and it reminded her once again of the man who'd come to treat with her on Dragonstone.

"Aegon?" she asked worriedly.

"There are things we need to talk about, Dany, things I've put off speaking to you about because I didn't know how or even if I should. Things that Rhaenys has told me too that confuse and worry me, but those we can speak on after I tell you the truth." Aegon said not looking at her.

"The truth?" she asked softly.

"I've told you some about the visions I had. The one on the ship as we sailed to White Harbor and the others since. You remember the one I spoke of in Winterfell when Jaime had to drag me from the pond?" he asked and she nodded before she answered him when she saw he was still looking anywhere but at her.

"I remember." she said and he looked at her now, his expression one of such intense sadness that it made her choke up to see him that way.

"I… I…" Aegon said his words barely coming from his mouth.

"Aegon, please, speak to me." she said as she moved her hands to his face and turned it so he was looking directly at her.

"I… killed you, Dany. I… killed you because I was too much of a coward and fool to do what needed to be done. I chose them….I chose them over you and then I killed you for them… I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…" Aegon said as he began to sob.

As much as she wished to offer comfort to the man she loved, she found she could not. His words made no sense and yet they filled her with such dread that she found herself unable to move. The silence of the room was only broken by the sounds of Aegon's crying and by the deep breaths that she was taking.

"I don't understand." she said shaking her head after she'd composed herself enough to speak, "Aegon, I don't…" her words were interrupted by his own and she listened as he told her a tale that soon had her in tears as well.

Aegon spoke of a very different arrival at Winterfell and of her being left to face a hostile North alone. A hateful Sansa Stark who did all she could to undermine her in the minds of the Northmen and a weak and silent Aegon who stood by while she did so. That he didn't dare come up with an excuse for why he'd been so weak was perhaps part of the reason that she didn't lose her mind or her temper as he told his tale.

Instead, she listened on in horror as he painted a picture that she found she could see as vividly as if she was living it. A gap forming between them and one that was manipulated by those around them, then a battle fought not together but as two almost separate forces. Losses after losses that sent her spiraling into despair and the one person who may have been able to pull her from that pit, just standing idly by and saying nothing. She bit down on her hand as she was told that Ser Jorah and most of her men had fallen. As she then learned that Rhaegal had been taken from her by Euron Greyjoy and to a loud sob she was told that Missandei was killed by Cersei Lannister. Was that not bad enough, she was then told that Varys had worked against her to put Aegon on the Throne, that Tyrion betrayed her for his brother, and then worst of all she was told what had happened in King's Landing.

"You were lost, Dany. I was too but I should have found you and brought you back. What you did, it wasn't you Dany, it was never you. They, they made you do that, they made you into what you were not, and then was that not enough, I allowed them to use me to take you from this world." Aegon said his voice showing his anger now too which at least she could respect if not forgive.

"Get out." she said as she pushed him from the bed when he was finished speaking "Get out, get out, get out." she said over and over again her tears falling freely now.

"Dany I…"

"GET OUT." she shouted as she beat her hands against his chest over and over and how it didn't wake Rhaella only the gods knew.

"No." he said and so she slapped his face, once, twice, three times.

She didn't hear the door open or see Jorah and Brienne step into the room. Her eyes were on Aegon's face and the red marks she'd put on it and still she slapped him, though this time on his arms and shoulders.

"Leave us." Aegon shouted to the guards who looked from him to her "Leave us now." he shouted and never had she heard him use such a tone.

Though it wasn't his words that forced them from the room but Ghost who snarled at them both and Dany didn't hear the door close behind them after they had gone.

"Get out Aegon, go leave me, I don't want you here." she said as he dropped his hands and offered her many more targets to take her anger out on.

"No. I did that once before, I'll not do it again. Strike me, beat me, hate me all you wish, but I'm here Dany, and here I'll stay."

She glared at him and then heard Rhaella cry as she woke which forced her from the bed and to her daughter's side. Leaning down she took her in her arms and felt some of her anger recede, though it returned when she looked at her husband as he sat in their bed. Rhaella was hungry and so she fed her before putting her back in her crib, her daughter falling right back to sleep and Dany left alone with Aegon who'd not moved while she'd done so.

"How am I supposed to forgive you for what you did?" she asked angrily.

"You're not. I've not, I'll never forgive myself for it. I lived a full life after I'd taken your own. A life full of misery and regrets. For more than fifty years not a day went by where I didn't hate myself for what I had done or call out to the gods to take me from this world." Aegon said softly.

"And that makes it better." she said dismissively.

"No, being given a second chance makes it better." he said looking at her "That man is dead Dany, he died the same day you did in the Throne Room. He died the first night we lay together on the ship to White Harbor." Aegon said his voice firmer now.

"How can I know that? How can I trust you?" she asked worriedly, the thoughts that she'd never be able to trust or believe him again threatening to overwhelm her.

"Jon Snow was a wolf, Dany. He lived a life as a wolf and he died a wolf. My name is Aegon Targaryen and I am a dragon. When my time is done I will die as dragon. That's how you know."

She looked at him and wanted so much to believe him, she needed to believe him as the thoughts of not having him in her and Rhaella's life were too much to even consider. All the things he'd done in one life he'd corrected and done differently in this one. He had been a wolf and put his pack before her and it had them down a road filled with tragedy and remorse. As a dragon, the road he'd led her down was filled with happiness and love and had brought her the thing she wished for most in the world, a babe of her own.

"Never keep anything from me again, Aegon. Nothing, not one thing even if you believe it's for the best I do not know. Promise me this or leave Rhaella and me and never come back. Promise me this and should you not live up to your promise then I'll never forgive you." she said as he climbed from the bed and moved to her.

"I promise, Dany, I promise with all I am." he said and she looked at him and could see it in his eyes that he was speaking the truth.

"Tell me the rest of it." she said and he nodded.

Meereen 306 AC.

Rhaenys.

She arrived in the middle of an argument and to worried looks from the two Dragonguards at the door to her brother and aunt's room. Looking to Ser Jorah and Ser Brienne and listening to the loud and angered voice of her aunt, she was torn between going inside and not, or speaking to the worried guards. The decision ended up being taken out of her hands as the two guards looked at each other and walked inside and then she heard Aegon ordering them to leave.

Why she hadn't walked into the room with them she wasn't sure, but a part of her felt that it wasn't her place to intervene, even if she felt she should. After a few moments, Ser Jorah and Ser Brienne walked back out from the room and she saw that Ghost seemed to almost be forcing them to do so. The worried looks they'd had on their faces when they entered were now even more pronounced. Just as Ser Jorah seemed to be on the verge of saying something, the argument inside stopped and she could see their relief as calmer heads seemed to prevail.

Again she contemplated knocking on the door and walking into the room to speak to Aegon and Daenerys and again she decided not to. Rhaenys instead nodding to both Jorah and Brienne and turning to go and break her fast. It was as she was walking to the area where they'd set up to have their meals that she saw him, Ser Jaime looking as if he was just about to go and relieve one of the Dragonguard and now stopping in his tracks as soon as he noticed her. She had known they would have a need to speak at some point given how close he was to her brother and yet she had without dodging the conversation, at least not sought it out.

"Princess." Ser Jaime said his voice shaky as he looked at her.

"Ser Jaime." she replied, her own voice more than similar.

"May we speak?" he asked and she almost told him no, before she gave a small nod of her head and bid him follow.

They walked in silence, the two of them barely looking at each other as they entered a room that led out onto one of the other terraces. No sooner had they reached it than she saw Balerion flying in the air and coming her way. With a smile and feeling herself relax knowing her dragon was seeking her out, she moved to the edge of the terrace and watched the blue dragon as she came in to land. Balerion was as large as a horse already, almost of a size with Lyarhaex even though she was much younger than the red dragon. Her coloring had become more vivid and vibrant and the blue of her body and wings was now more azure than anything else.

There were some white spots on her belly and around her eyes and her flames were almost a deep purple which reminded her so much of both her own and Aegon's eyes. Ser Jaime stepped back when the dragon landed and for the next few moments, Rhaenys ran her hands over Balerion's scales as the dragon trilled to her touch. She giggled when she saw Balerion stretch out and fall to sleep and it was to the sound of the blue dragon's quiet breathing that she turned to speak to Ser Jaime.

"I know you have much you wish to speak to me on, Ser Jaime. Aegon has spoken to me of you, told me the things you've done since and on that day in the Red Keep." she said and saw him almost deflate as he looked at her.

"I… I…." his words almost seemed to be forced out and how hard it was for him to speak was instantly clear.

"It's taken me many years to understand things, many years, and many long nights where I've cried myself to sleep as I realized just how cruel the gods can be. Fate is a strange thing Ser Jaime, and my family's fate was a cruel one indeed. My brother was never to grow to be a man, my mother never to live to see her children grown. My father was not destined to hold my brother in his arms or see his face and as for Aegon, his fate was crueler even than mine own." she said with an almost bitter laugh.

"I'm sorry, Princess. Had I….if I'd known." Jaime said and as she looked at him more closely she could see the tears in his eyes.

"Then you'd have died and the world we both now live in would have been a much different one. You and I are not gods, Ser Jaime. We are mere players in the great game and here to carry out their will. I can hate you for the things you didn't do or accept that by not doing them I finally am here and part of a family once more, I chose the latter." she said and he looked at her in stunned silence.

"I will not fail again, princess. On that you have my solemn oath." he said after a few moments his words seeming firm and true to her ears.

"See that you don't Ser, my brother is far too precious to me for him to fall." she said and he nodded.

He gave her time alone after that, Jaime moving away from the terrace, and Rhaenys though she felt her stomach rumble, deciding to stay there for a little longer. How long she stayed she couldn't tell, but Balerion stayed asleep and Rhaenys looked out on the city below and the dragons that were flying in the air. She didn't hear the footsteps or the quietness of the breaths the girl took and yet she knew that not only was she not alone anymore, but who it was who had joined her without needing to turn around.

"I wondered when you'd seek me out." she said softly.

"I want to play a game." Arya Stark said and Rhaenys chuckled as she turned to look the girl in her eyes.

"A game of faces?" she asked to a small nod from Aegon's cousin who had been his sister when she could not "Very well, ask your questions." she said as the two of them now stood face to face.

"Why didn't you seek my brother out before now?" Arya asked her voice betraying some of the emotions she was feeling, here worry, jealousy, anger more clear than perhaps she knew.

"It was not the time" Rhaenys said softly.

"Why was it not the time?" Arya asked.

"Because our fate was to meet when we met and not before, had we done so then things would have gone badly for us all." she said.

"More badly than they went for Jon?" Arya asked.

"No." Rhaenys answered firmly.

"More badly than that went for you?" Arya asked her annoyance clear.

"No." she replied.

"More badly for who?" Arya asked almost confused.

"Everyone." she answered simply.

She could tell that Arya wanted to ask her more about that and Rhaenys was in no true mood to pull more on that thread with her. Rhaenys knew full well that she'd need to have that conversation with Daenerys at some point or that perhaps Aegon was already doing so. So she decided to steer Arya's questions to where the girl truly wished them to be.

"Ask me about, my brother and my intent, Arya Stark of Winterfell." she said and the girl looked at her with a narrowing of her eyes.

"Do you mean my brother harm?" Arya asked.

"No." Rhaenys replied.

"His wife or child, do you mean them harm?"

"No."

"Do you love my brother?" Arya asked looking at her now more intently than ever.

"Yes." she said smiling as she did so.

For almost an hour she answered questions and though the girl didn't tell her what she'd thought of her answers, she had no need to. Rhaenys watched as Arya left and then as Balerion woke and took to the air after chirping to her for some time. She looked on as the blue dragon flew and was soon joined by her sister and brother, Lyarhaex and Drogon waiting for her and then taking her with them as they flew towards the sea.

"They've gone to eat." she heard Aegon's voice say and she smiled as she turned to see her brother standing there, Rhaenys feeling her stomach rumble when she saw the tray he carried in his hands.

"Is that for me?" she asked hopefully.

"Aye, you've not eaten." Aegon said "I thought we could break our fast together."

"I'd like that." she said as she reached to the plate and picked up one of the sausages, almost devouring it as Aegon chuckled.

"I told Dany everything. The truth about you, about me. All of it." he said as they sat and ate, Aegon barely doing so while she ate hungrily.

"I'm sorry, Egg." she said softly.

"I… We're good. Or we will be." he said and she smiled before she belched loudly making him laugh.

"You sound like Rhaella." he said and she slapped him lightly on the shoulder as she said she did not, the two of them laughing happily as they ate and sat together.

This was the life she was supposed to have, the life that had been denied to her. It was a life that never could have been had Shiera not came to her all those years ago. A life that led down a different path than the one she would have lived had the gods not gifted her brother a second chance. In that life she'd never have met him, never have known him and she'd have died bloody. While there was still a chance that was to be her fate in this one, she was far more willing to accept it if it was. Death held no fears for her, dying alone however did.

"I have a surprise for you." Aegon said after they'd finished eating.

"A surprise?" she asked smiling broadly.

"Come with me, sister." he said as he rose to his feet and held his hand out to her.

Taking his hand in hers she was pleased when he didn't let it go as they walked through the Great Pyramid. Rhaenys wondered if he was simply taking her for a stroll through the streets of Meereen as he led her down the many steps to the bottom. Ser Jaime followed behind and served as her and her brother's protector. When they reached the bottom and walked out into the bright afternoon day, she was surprised to see Rhaegal waiting for them and she felt her heart begin to race.

"Come, it's time you rode on a dragon." Aegon said and she nodded eagerly as he helped her up onto Rhaegal's back.

Norvos 306 AC.

Arianne.

They'd arrived to a large crowd welcoming them and it caught her by surprise as the Norvosi were not known for being so expressive in their emotions. Some of her lords and ladies had worried that just because they'd been asked to come to the aid of the city, they'd not be as welcome as her mother's letter had made out. That they'd be seen as a foreign army and like all foreign armies their arrival would be met with wariness, and perhaps even some anger. Once again it was Ned Dayne who stood and spoke as the voice of reason.

" Was that how King Aegon and Queen Daenerys's army was welcomed by Dorne? Or did we welcome them as the allies and friends that they were?" Ned said to nods and she smiled as she looked at the young man.

He'd been a good ally and was very supportive and she and Daemon had been glad to have him on their side. Her Paramour even coming around to the fact that she spoke so glowingly about another man, though some of that perhaps had to do with how her cousin had looked at him. Rhaenys being alive had been and still was a huge shock to her and she hated that their time together had been so short. She'd not even begun to scratch the surface of the story of her cousin's survival and of the life she lived. So when Obella and Elia had suggested that the latter stay with her, Arianne had only been too happy to agree.

Perhaps she could learn what she had not the time to and even if she could not, it made both her and Obella feel far better to know that her cousin now had family beside her. Not that Arianne didn't consider Aegon and Daenerys as Rhaenys's family, but someone from House Martell being with her cousin just felt right to them both. A part of her hoped that this city would come under attack and the dragons would be forced to come to their aid, just so she would see her cousin sooner rather than later. Though a larger part just hoped that their presence here would be enough to see the man who threatened her mother's home would think the better of it and seek another target.

"Your mother, Ari." Daemon said from beside her and she looked to the docks to see her mother standing there waving up at her.

She returned the wave eagerly and soon enough they were docked and she was in her mother's embrace once more.

"You came, thank the gods, you came." her mother said happily as she held her in her arms.

"Of course I came, did you think I would not?" she asked smiling as her mother shook her head.

"Daemon, it's good to see you again." her mother said as she kissed Daemon's cheeks, and then Arianne introduced her to Obella. Who her mother welcomed just as warmly before her mother looked then at Areo and the scars he bore.

"My poor Areo." her mother said touching the scars that had been inflicted upon him when her father lost his life.

"I am well and better for seeing you, my lady." the giant guard said as he was embraced and held for some time by her mother. Once she had let him go, Arianne bid her mother join her as she moved to where Ned Dayne was standing.

"And this is Lord Ned Dayne of Starfall" Arianne said as she introduced her mother to Ned.

"Lord Dayne, I knew you later aunt and uncle, the world is poorer without Lady Ashara and Ser Arthur in it." her mother said.

"That it is Lady Mellario, it's an honor to meet you." Ned said, ever polite as always.

Daemon insisted that he stay behind to see their men settle and Ned Dayne decided to join him, so it was just Arianne, Obella, and Areo who rode with her mother to her manse. She knew that they'd at some point have to have an audience with the Bearded Priests and that her coming would increase her mother's favor with the true rulers of the city. Her mother didn't really speak much on the ride and so Arianne was left alone with her thoughts and was free to look out on the people of the city who waved at them as they passed. Ned Dayne's words coming back to her as she saw how happy the people were to see them here.

It made her relieved and yet concerned at the same time. Norvos was a free and proud city and had faced adversaries before. Each time they'd either bought off their enemies such as with the Dothraki or hired a sellsword company to fight their battles for them, but Norvos had always stood and never fallen. For them to reach out to her, even given that her mother was one of the most influential voices in Norvos, showed how truly fearful they were. Something her mother only confirmed once they had reached the manse and were sitting down to some refreshments.

"I prayed my letter would reach you in time, Arianne, and then that you would arrive here before he turned his sights our way." her mother said and Arianne for once heard true fear in her mother's voice.

"Who, Belicho?" she asked.

"You know of him?" her mother asked and Arianne nodded "The truth of him?" her mother added and Arianne looked at her confusedly.

"He's a magister from Volantis, one of the Tigers." she said and her mother shook her head.

"That is just who he is to those who don't know. Belicho Staegone is the head of the Church of Starry Wisdom and believes himself to be the Bloodstone Emperor reborn." her mother said and Arianne looked to Obella who looked just as confused as she.

She wished right then that she'd brought Sarella with her, had she then no doubt her smart and learned cousin would tell them things about both this church and this Bloodstone Emperor that none of them knew. Obella was far more a warrior than a scholar and while Arianne had never shirked in her studies, they were far more practical than lessons on myths from Essos.

"He sent an army to take Dorne from me. Used Quentyn to do so. Mine own brother tried to take my life." she said and her mother nodded before asking her what had happened "It was not my order nor my blade that took Quentyn's life mother. I'd not have sough his death even though he sought mine." she said and she moved to her mother when she began to cry, Arianne offering her what comfort she could give her.

"Belicho is insidious, Arianne, he speaks words and men do his bidding thinking it their own ideas. I've no doubt that he did so with Quentyn and while I mourn my son, I do so while being so relieved that it's my daughter who is here with me this day." her mother said as she held her hand in her own.

"Queen Daenerys and King Aegon are here too, mother, they've sailed to take back Meereen, and should we need them, then they and their dragons will come to our aid." she said and her mother looked at her.

"I fear we'll need them, Arianne." her mother said, and how she spoke the words chilled her to the bone.

Meereen 306 AC.

Tormund.

At first, he hated the heat, the sun would beam down on him and it caused him to sweat like a stuffed pig. When they had traveled through the deserts of Dorne he had thought he was to die there. He was convinced that he'd be found in a pool of his own making as his body turned from blood and bone to water. The nights were far more to his liking and by the time they were ready to fight, he was ready to do whatever it took to stay cool. That and only that was the reason he accepted the clothing. For he knew as soon as he put them on he'd be in for a torrid time. King Crow would stroll around in his black and look at him and Tormund would see that smirk on his friend's face.

Over time though he had grown to like the silks, enjoyed the way they felt on his skin and how they stopped the worst of the sweating from taking place. It was why when Grey Worm suggested a woman who could weave and make clothing that would be more to his liking, he'd gladly agreed to come with him to the woman's house. First, though he had needed to get some coin which meant speaking to his friend as Tormund Giantsbane didn't carry coin. He knew it would mean he'd get his balls busted and that Jon would take the piss out of him, and he was proved right, though he was also given a rather large pouch of coin too.

As they walked through the city, Tormund found he enjoyed it far more than the shit-smelling city where Davos and the others now ruled in Jon's and the Dragonqueen's stead. The people seemed happier too, though given they'd just freed them, it was perhaps no real surprise that they would be. Grey Worm, Missandei, and others had suggested that he cut his hair and trim his beard, even going so far as to say he should cut it off, but that was a step too far. He could take some ribbing from Jon, not that much though he thought with a chuckle as they reached their destination.

"Banera a good woman, Tormund Giantsbane." Grey Worm said and Tormund nodded as he knocked at the door.

The woman who opened it was a beauty, tall and fierce-looking and though she was not as large as the Big Woman, she was larger than any of the others he'd seen since he'd joined back up with his friend. Even the Dothraki were smaller women, though they were very friendly and the one in front of him looked anything but. It made him smile when she glowered at him, smile, even more, when he wiggled his eyebrows and she ground her teeth.

"This man a friend to King Aegon and Queen Daenerys. He seeks clothes and has coin to pay." Grey Worm said and Banera nodded before bidding him enter her home or shop, or perhaps it was both.

Grey Worm didn't even say goodbye, the man just disappearing back into the streets and Tormund found himself standing in a large room that was full of cloth. Banera looked him up and down and then a few moments later he was slapped around his ear when he kissed her. Tormund looking at her with a confused look on his face as she'd touched him first.

"I'm taking your size, not inviting you into my bed." the woman said and Tormund was surprised that she spoke the common tongue, and then he was slapped once again as he laughed when he thought of how lost he'd have been had she not.

"I wasn't laughing at you, Banera. I was laughing at my stupidity, it seems it's not only Jon Snow who knows nothing." he said to a confused look from the woman.

He decided wisely to shut up, as he could still feel the second of the woman's slaps and soon enough she was done touching him and as she had done so he had kept his lips and hands to himself. When she was finished she moved to a table and began to write some words and draw something before then bidding him join her.

"How many?" Banera asked.

"What will this get me?" he asked taking out the pouch and removing a handful of coins that he handed to her.

"Five, six perhaps." Banera said as she looked at the coins.

"Make it six." he said as he took out some more coins and handed them to her.

When she brought him the cloth his first instinct was to ask for the blacks and so he did, Banera frowning at him but saying nothing. When he picked up a yellow piece he saw her shake her head and he looked at her and smiled when she picked up a bright blue. By the time he'd left he'd agreed to three blue, two green, and one black. Tormund knowing that Jon would make fun of him regardless of the colors he wore and yet he thought that a bit of color wasn't a bad thing to have in his life.

It was night by the time he reached the Great Pyramid and he was happy to find out that the meals hadn't started without him. After a quick change of clothes, he entered the room to find Jon holding his daughter in his arms and shaking his head at the bright yellow coat, open shirt, and blue britches that he wore. He laughed loudly a moment later when he heard the words that Jon spoke to his daughter as he let him take her in his arms.

"Aye, Rhaella, your uncle Tormund does look like a fool." Jon said with a smirk and Tormund looked to the babe.

"I saw your father's pecker once, small and shivered it were. I'd rather look like a fool than that." he said and he heard Jon's laugh as he got up from his seat and once again he felt a slap on his head.

Qarth 306 AC.

Jon Connington.

If someone had told him that he'd be sailing with Greyjoys in the Summer Sea on a mission for House Targaryen, he'd have fallen to the floor in laughter. Yet here he was on board the Black Wind with Theon Greyjoy and his sister Asha for company. All of them had been sent to see the layout of the land in Qarth and Jon Connington the Master of Laws for a Targaryen king and queen was now dressed as if he was a filthy reaver. Never could he have imagined this situation even were he falling down drunk or doused up with a dose of Milk of the Poppy.

He had always hated the Iron Born, had always felt that they and their pile of rocks needed to be purged and forgotten about. Given what they had done to his king's family it surprised him that Aegon accepted them so easily, especially in Theon's case. He'd been standing there in the royal chambers when Theon and his sister had come to speak to the king and queen and to meet the princess and had been surprised by what he saw. Jon expecting Aegon to demand that they left his sight and yet instead he'd spoken to them both as if they were friends.

The night before they set sail from Braavos the king had come to speak to him and despite telling him what it was that he wished for Jon to do, it was those he wished him to do it with that Jon felt the need to talk about. He needed to know why his king felt he could trust people who were and had shown themselves to be untrustworthy.

" The Greyjoys my king, can they be trusted?" Jon asked as they at in the garden of the Sealord's Palace.

" Aye, I believe so." Aegon said looking at him before speaking some more "I've known betrayal, Jon. Known it better than most, from both sides I'm shamed to say. Asha Greyjoy is true to Daenerys, truer than almost any and she has my wife's trust and mine own."

" And Theon, your grace?" he asked and Aegon closed his eyes, no words spoken for what felt like an age but was perhaps only a moment or two.

" Identity is a hard thing, Jon, it's a strange thing to think of yourself one way and learn that's not who you are. For most of my life, I thought myself a bastard and wished more than anything to be wolf like my siblings. I wished to be Ned Starks's son more than anything in the world, not his bastard, his son." Aegon said.

Jon looked at Aegon as he closed his eyes once more, as he then moved his hand to them as if he was stopping tears from falling though he saw none.

" I thought him the epitome of what a man should be. That to be like him, to be him, was the greatest thing I could do with my life. Each time I fell short of what I thought him to be it cut me to the bone. Then I found out that the man I thought him as was not the man he was. Far from it. It was an illusion, a mummery, a falsehood, and yet for so many years it defined me completely. There is but one man in this world who knows a life close to mine own, do you know who that man is?" Aegon asked.

" No, your grace." he answered honestly.

" Theon Greyjoy." Aegon said catching him by surprise "It's taken him almost a lifetime to be who he's meant to be too and so Aye, I trust him."

Jon had watched the man carefully and had listened to him as they'd sailed and yet had found nothing of what his king saw in him. Perhaps the mission itself would prove his king more right than him or perhaps Theon would fall and he'd not need to be so concerned. Whatever the truth of the man he hoped he'd find it before it was too late and Theon betrayed once more. He made his way to his cabin and was soon fast asleep, his night another dreamless one and he woke in the morning to find that they had arrived at their destination.

Qarth, the greatest city there ever was or ever will be looked so very different than it had been when he'd come here before with the Golden Company. There was an air of something that even from the bay he could feel and he looked to see Theon and Asha looking to the docks with apprehension. What it was that made him tell them to stop and turn the ship around he wasn't sure, but some force or feeling made him shout it out loudly.

"Leave, we must leave. NOW." he shouted as the two Greyjoys looked at him as if he'd lost his mind.

"We're on a mission for her grace." Asha said firmly.

"I'm telling you, we need to…."

The fireballs flew in the sky and they looked on in horror as the sails of one of their escort ships caught fire. A moment later another one did and he grabbed his Myrish Eye and looked to the docks to see men or what looked like men at least, moving to ships and boats. Handing the Myrish Eye to Asha Greyjoy he heard the loud gasp she made and then she ordered the ships to turn.

"Hard left, hard left" she said before pushing her helmsman away and taking charge herself.

Five ships they'd brought with them and only one of them made it out of the bay, the men who'd sailed the others were all lost to them and they had no chance to go back and save them. For the next day and night, they were in a race for their own lives and Jon spent more time on deck than he did in his cabin or anywhere else. He ate on deck, slept on deck, when he could sleep that was, and when they finally left the ships behind them it was to his and the Greyjoy's great relief.

"What the fuck happened there, those… those things were not men." Asha said as she drained a mug of ale.

"Were they what the king and queen faced in the North? This Army of the Dead?" he asked and Asha shook her head as she looked to Theon.

"I never saw them, I was with Sansa." Theon said almost shamefully "I heard the men talk though, their eyes were blue, were their eyes blue?" he asked and Jon nodded.

"Aye, they were." Asha said and Jon shuddered.

Volantis 306 AC.

Samwell Tarly.

He waved off Gilly's concerns when she spoke of not trusting their host. The silly girl didn't or couldn't see how good they had it here. Sam had been given access to Belicho's library and it was extensive. They'd been provided with food of a quality and quantity that he had never known before and he found himself almost gorging on the dishes from morning to night. It was no wonder that the Triarchs and Magisters of Essos were such large men, unlike those fools in Westeros they knew how to enjoy life here and enjoy his life he very much had.

When Belicho had first suggested that he could take one of the servants to bed, Sam had shaken his head and thought it to be a jape. His host though made it clear it was not and when Sam then brought up that he was with Gilly, Belicho had laughed and told him that a real man didn't limit his options to one woman. The mere thought of it had made him hard and filled his nights with dreams of various different servants he saw through the day. Still, he had refused at first, the thoughts of Gilly finding out and having to face her anger were enough to slow his libido right down.

The longer it went without him being able to lay with Gilly though, the more he considered it. What won him over, in the end, was the words that Belicho spoke to him as they sat and spoke about Jon one night. Sam telling his host how Jon was far less clever than he was and because of that, he had been caught by surprise when he'd confronted him in the crypts. Belicho listening keenly to every word he spoke with great interest as Sam told him that he was sure it was because of Bran.

" Bran?" Belicho asked.

" His brother… cousin. He was the Three-Eyed Raven" Sam said before hiccupping loudly.

" And you think he made Jon Snow smarter?" Belicho asked and was he not as drunk as he was then Sam probably would have been surprised that Belicho didn't ask him what the Three-Eyed Raven was.

" I think he warned him beforehand, I think he played me. Jon..Jon "he said with a sniffle "Jon wasn't smart enough to know…" he hiccupped again.

" And why do you think this Three-Eyed Raven told Jon the truth?" Belicho asked and Sam shook his head.

" I think he had his own goals, he could see it all, all that had happened or all that…." the loud fart was thankfully just that and he was relieved to see that Belicho didn't scold him or ask him to leave the room.

" Such things are because of a build-up of fluids, Samwell." Belicho said with a smile.

" Fluids… I thought it was wind. The books at the Citadel…."

" Aren't as true as you believe them to be. Have you and Lady Gilly partaken in nightly activities?" Belicho asked and drunk as he was Sam still blushed.

" With her condition, we can't." he said frustratedly.

" There are other ways a woman can help a man out, Samwell, other things she can do to bring about his release." Belicho said and Sam blinked his eyes rapidly as he looked at Belicho.

" There are?" he asked eagerly.

" A woman may use her hand, or perhaps even her mouth. Saela." Belicho called and the young girl entered the room, Sam recognizing her as one of the servants he had dreamt about ever since his first talk with Belicho about their uses.

" Master?" the girl asked nervously.

" Samwell is in need of your services." Belicho said and Sam didn't see the worried look on the girl's face, as he instead found himself wondering just exactly what those services were.

Ever since that night, he'd given in to his urges just as he did with all his others since he'd gotten here. Belicho had even arranged another room for him to go to so he could hide his activities from Gilly. Sam thanking him profusely for everything he was doing for him and promising he'd do all he could to repay him. It was a few weeks after he'd started using the servants that Belicho had come looking for that payment. Sam told that he was needed to accompany Belicho on a trip and that Gilly would need to stay here because of her condition.

When he'd gone to argue, Belicho had told him that there would be servants accompanying him on this trip and more in the places they would stay until they reached their destination. That alone was enough to make him wave off Gilly's concerns and her worries, not to mention her bemoaning the fact that he'd not be here when she whelped her pup. In that regard, he was even more pleased to be leaving with Belicho. Sam had no wish to have to pretend to care about the babe that was soon to be born or to show any interest in it whatsoever. It was hard enough to do that with young Sam and he feared Gilly was starting to notice how little time he spent with her son.

"I'll be back as soon as I can, and Belicho assures me that you'll be safe here." he said as he was saying his goodbyes.

"What about me, Sam, what about us? Where you go, I go." Gilly said sadly and he almost lost his temper with her before reigning it in right at the end.

"You can't though, you can't go where I go. The babe is coming." he said and she kissed him softly as she nodded.

He said nothing more and didn't look back and as they made their way to the ship he was pleased to see Saela with them. The things that girl could do with her mouth were sinful and he looked forward to enjoying sinning with her as they traveled together.

Meereen 306 AC.

Aegon Targaryen.

The flight on Rhaegal with his sister allowed him to stop thinking and just enjoy something. It was something he needed so very much after the morning he'd had. What possessed him to speak to Dany and tell her the truth of things he didn't know, but it had very nearly cost him everything. Seeing the hurt in her eyes, the worry, and concern, and knowing that he was the reason for it had almost broken his heart in two. When she'd told him to leave, demanded him to get out, a part of him had almost given in and done what she asked.

Had he done so then he would have been lost and they would have never recovered, he knew that. He remembered so very vividly the words he'd spoken to her as they stood by the fire on the night of the feast in Winterfell. He had then left the room and the gap between them had never been bridged from that moment on. The days that followed where he had been glad that she didn't wish him to be in her presence or to be alone with her. Just because it had allowed him to hide and to bury his feelings deep inside. This time he'd done it right, he'd stayed despite her anger and his own fear, he'd stayed and they'd talked, and in time her knowing the truth would be for the best, in time at least.

This time when he'd left the room it was because others had come and Dany had needed to break her fast and not because he was running away. He'd spoken to Ser Jorah and Ser Brienne and had reassured them that their argument was simply that and that he was being and acting a fool. When they told him that Rhaenys had been by he knew he had to go to her. He had found her standing on the balcony and was glad he'd brought food so they could break their fast together. Then it was to the air and as they flew and he heard her laugh, he whispered that it wouldn't be long until she was on Balerion's back. The blue dragon flying back with them as they headed back to the Great Pyramid.

By the time of their dinner that night, it was clear that other conversations had taken place. Arya seemed far more friendly with Rhaenys and Dany had welcomed him back to their rooms with a kiss and a warm smile. For the next few days, he'd spent his time sparring and readying for the next stage of their plans while Dany held court and brought Meereen back to how it had once been. Both of them had split their time looking after Rhaella, though they had no shortage of those willing to help. Missandei, Arya, and Rhaenys all keen to spend time with their daughter. They'd settled into a routine almost and it was only the arrival of a letter from Volantis that shook them out of it.

"Who is it from?" Dany asked as he broke open the seal after the message had been delivered to him.

"Gilly." he said surprised and saw how Tormund looked at him.

"Egg? Rhaenys asked and he was glad that Dany spoke to her and told her who Gilly was as he read the letter.

"That fat fucking fool." he said angrily after he finished reading it "Of all the things to do."

"Aegon?" Dany asked and he looked at his wife as he began to read the letter to her and to the others.

"Jon, Can I call you Jon? I know your name is not that anymore but I think of you that way. I'm writing to beg your forgiveness Jon, for whatever it was that Sam did to upset and anger you. I love him, he's to be the father of my babe and is already the father to Little Sam. I don't like this place, it's too warm and the people speak words I don't understand.

I want to go home, to travel back Beyond the Wall, or to settle in the North in lands that I know and am happy in. Please, Jon, I beg you to give us leave to travel back home. Forgive Sam and I swear you'll not hear from either of us again. The man we're staying with is nice and has been friendly, but this is not my home and I don't want my children to be raised here.

Triarch Belicho tells me that he'll give us the coin to sail back if you'll agree and though I don't know what you and Sam fell out over, I hope that you'll grant me this favor.

You were always good to me and Little Sam, please be good to us once more.

Gilly" he said the words and felt his anger grow with each of them.

He'd known that Sam would never travel alone, that he'd be too much of a coward to do so and it pained him that Gilly and her babes were so tied into the lies he spouted that they knew no better.

"I should have fucking gutted him in the crypts. Should have sent Ghost after him or tracked his fat arse down and let Rhaegal have his way with him. I'll tear him limb from fucking limb when I find him, I swear it on the Old Gods that when he dies it'll be with his screams carrying loudly in the wind." he said not quite ranting or foaming at the mouth but given the looks that everyone in the room were giving him, he may as well have been.

Breathing deeply to calm himself before he spoke again, he looked to see the expressions they wore as they looked at him. Arya looked concerned but not overly so while Rhaenys wore a far too similar look. Gendry looked almost panicked and Missandei was torn between looking from him to Dany whose own look was the most worried of all. Seeing it made him walk over to her and lean down to kiss her cheek, Aegon staring into her eyes to show that he'd not lost his mind.

"I feel responsible, for Gilly and Little Sam, for the babe she carries. I… I've put them in danger and let my anger at Sam affect them. I should have just killed him but I wanted him to suffer and live in fear… he deserves to be afraid." he said and Dany nodded before kissing him back.

"Then we'll make him afraid and see that Gilly and her children are safe." she said and he nodded.

It changed their plans as it was now to be Volantis rather than the other cities in the Bay of Dragons or Qarth they were to go to. Lady Malora and Lady Kinvara both offering up no reasons why they shouldn't go to Volantis rather than anywhere else. The reasons for why they wouldn't be going there arrived a day or two later when two of the ships they'd sent to Qarth arrived in Meereen and the tales that Jon Connington, Asha, and Theon Greyjoy brought them changed the very nature of the war to come.

"How can it be, we killed them all.?" Dany asked as he stood with her and Rhaenys on the balcony and they watched the dragons as they flew in the sky.

"Not all, no. This is where the true fight was always meant to be, Dany. This is why I was brought here and why you and Aegon were always supposed to be joined as one." Rhaenys said.

"The dragon must have three heads." Dany said and Aegon looked at her and held out his hand, holding out his other for Rhaenys who took it gladly.

"Together we killed a king, Dany. You and I ended the Night King and his wights, what chance does a so-called Emperor and his own have against all three of us. Fire and Blood, that's what we'll bring to Qarth and when we're done there we'll bring it to the Bloodstone Emperor himself." he said as Balerion let out a roar that was joined by Drogon and Rhaegal's own.