smoke and mirrors

[tooktheblack]

Jon had remained on Dragonstone while Daenerys had flown among the vanguard with Drogon to meet Cersei's campaign on the fields of the Reach. The ravens he'd received from the war camp had indicated the battle had gone well for House Targaryen - all of Cersei's troops had been cowed, the food destroyed, the gold taken or melted by dragonfire. For his part, he'd sat on Dragonstone and mined dragonglass with Davos and received ravens from Bran and Sansa. Sansa's had been an update about the goings on at Winterfell, the arrival of Arya, her concerns that his doings in the south were taking too long and that the North needed their king.

Bran's, however...it brought new meaning to the term dark wings, dark words. He'd had a vision of wights amassing at Eastwatch-by-the-sea, the Wildling line barely holding. The Night King was there and he meant to take the castle, take the next, take the Wall; it wouldn't be long before wights were knocking at Winterfell's door and there was precious little dragonglass at Winterfell and while Arya seemed to be a capable fighter by Sansa's writing, Arya and a garrison could not take on an entire horde. He needed to return. He needed to be at Winterfell with his people and to amass troops to hold the Wall and hold the line so that the dead did not overwhelm the living.

He needed to convince the capricious, hot-blooded Dragon Queen to fight with him for some reason other than his bending the knee. He wouldn't bend the knee to her, not to an unproven queen who'd ruled over nothing in Westeros and knew nothing of its people. He couldn't entrust the North, hard-won, to a woman who had only set foot on the continent a few moons past. He couldn't. If the Lords of the North and Vale didn't behead him as a traitor for it, his own sister would. It wouldn't do.

Her armies had suffered heavy losses, though, and to take King's Landing and oust Cersei, she would need more than Dothraki and Unsullied. She would need the support of houses that were tired of war and wanted a new queen and wanted peace. So far, having lit the breadbasket of Westeros aflame, Daenerys wasn't proving much different than Cersei. She'd spared the people, sure, but she hadn't spared their food. She hadn't spared their soldiers.

When she returned on Dragonstone, Jon bid his time in greeting her. He wanted to come to her after she'd had a chance to speak to her advisors and consult with them before waving a raven's scroll beneath her nose about how much he needed her. Let her need him, for once and let him have something he could provide. His avoidance only worked so well, though, and he accidentally found her on the battlements, watching as Drogon and the others flew over the sea. Jon could see the largest dragon didn't fly as well as before and he tilted his head a bit, assessing the pattern of his flight.

"He's injured, isn't he, your Grace?"

Comments

[brideoffire]

Though her back was straight and her shoulders squared and proud, tension and worry exuded from every line and angle of Dany's body as she watched Drogon circle the sea with his brothers. At Jon's question, her clasped hands untangled carefully and rested lightly against the edge of the battlements, chin dipping as she angled her head at him over her shoulder.

"He's been injured before," she replied simply. "He healed quickly then. He will again."

She watched them in silence for another moment, then turned slowly, clasping her hands in front of her. "The mining goes well, I'm told?"

[tooktheblack]

"There's plenty of dragonglass in Dragonstone," Jon said, his mouth twitching upward in a tiny smile before fading again. The dragonglass meant that his men would have weapons to fight against the wights and have a chance to turn them back away from the Wall. It was a valuable gift.

"I'll have more than enough to forge weapons for the northern armies. Your gift is very appreciated."

[brideoffire]

It was so rare to see even a trace of humor on the somber Northern lord's face, and Daenerys could not help but return it.

"I was also told that you received news from Winterfell in my absence," she continued, turning from the battlements to fall into step with Jon. Lord Varys would have been a poor master of whispers, if he did not keep her informed. "I hope it was good news."

[tooktheblack]

"Some good and some ill," Jon said, keeping close to her for a moment. Daenerys was a strange ally, in that they shared an enemy in Cersei, but he did not know if he could count her as a true ally yet. He had to be wary about sharing his strengths and weaknesses with her, as much as he could, and he couldn't let on how worried he was about the tidings from the North. Not yet.

"My brother and sister returned home. We thought there were only the two of us, myself and Sansa, and now we have a family again."

[brideoffire]

"That's wonderful," Daenerys replied with a smile that, while small, was genuine. The Starks had endured a great deal of loss, nearly as much as her own house. To discover it was not quite so dire was a joyous moment indeed. "I'm happy for you."

[tooktheblack]

"The ill, though, may outweigh the good. It seems the wights have amassed at Eastwatch-by-the-sea, your Grace, and their army is stronger than we've ever seen it before. I'm afraid that my army might not be able to hold them back."

He had the armies of Winterfell and the Vale, yes, along with the Wildlings but it still wouldn't be enough to keep the Wall from being breached. Nothing was enough. The weight of it sat heavily on his countenance and his mouth drew into a deep frown.

"What good is it to have family if we are all to be killed anyway?"

[brideoffire]

The gentle flicker of warmth that had softened the tense and proper lines of her posture dimmed somewhat. She believed Jon Snow--or rather, she believed that he was being honest with her, that he believed the army of the dead was real. Believed him when he said that he needed her to defend the North from some threat beyond the Wall. And what sort of queen was she, if she was not willing to fight for the kingdoms she wished to lay claim upon.

And yet she had already lost so much in this war. She could not afford to lose more.

"We have talked circles around this already," she replied with a hint of a sigh. "I cannot abandon my position. I cannot fight two wars at once."

[tooktheblack]

"This is the only war that matters," Jon said, voice breaking a little with just how strongly he had to convince Daenerys Targaryen to fight with him against this threat. He needed those dragons to be able to protect his home and the rest of Westeros from the threat of the dead and he had to show her.

"If I took you there, if I took you North...would you believe me? I know you want to launch a campaign to take the Iron Throne but this will kill us all."

[brideoffire]

Daenerys glanced away, breathed in and exhaled slowly. "I doubt my advisors will like the idea," she remarked, folding her hands together and watching the graceful dance of dragons circling in the air.

[tooktheblack]

"No, they wouldn't," Jon agreed. "I wouldn't let my sister go ranging beyond the Wall." Jon waited for a moment and then laughed, dark eyes sparkling a little with it and lips turning up in a hint of a smile.

"All right, well, if it were Arya, yes, I would let her go ranging beyond the Wall. I wouldn't let Sansa. Do you know how to use any weapons, your Grace?"

[brideoffire]

"Are you implying Lord Tyrion views me as a sister?" Dany quipped, her lips quirking into a smile of her own.

"If you mean swords and daggers, no. Dragonfire is my weapon."

[tooktheblack]

"He doesn't have a high opinion of his sister so I hope he doesn't," Jon said, giving her a little broader smile at that. He did like Daenerys Targaryen when she wasn't asking him to cast off his hard-won title as King in the North.

"Dragons aren't that subtle but we could take one. I need you to see what we're about in this and I trust you to make sound decisions with all the information in front of your own eyes. Will you come north with me?"

[brideoffire]

Daenerys fell silent for a moment, considering his request. It was a great risk he was asking her to take, and yet, was it truly any greater a risk than riding her dragons into battle? Tyrion may think she was best suited to hiding in Dragonstone, behind her Dothraki and her Unsullied, but if she meant to win her kingdom and protect the realm, she would have to be willing to take those risks.

"You believe so strongly, because you've seen it with your own eyes," she mused, angling her chin slightly and folding her hands in front of her. "Perhaps, then, seeing is what it must take. I will speak with my advisors on this matter. If I'm to be away, there are matters that must be seen to in my absence."

[tooktheblack]

"I thank you for considering my position, your Grace, and I will do all I can to see you safely back here to Dragonstone."

Jon reached for her then, his hand clapsing her wrist. It was a bold move, yes, but he thought they'd talked enough to forge something of a friendship, tenuous though it may be.

"I will protect you with my own body, Daenerys. I swear it."

[brideoffire]

Dany couldn't pretend the words didn't touch her, and the warmth softened her proud, commanding features once again. "Thank you, Lord Snow," she replied sincerely, laying her hand briefly over his. "Let us both pray that it does not come to that."

[tooktheblack]

"I'm a king in the North, Daenerys. You probably ought to get used to calling me either Jon or your Grace," he teased. He wasn't one to stand on ceremony overmuch and he wasn't going to antagonize her. He wanted, instead, to try and foster some warmth between them if they were going to have to trust one another.

[brideoffire]

Dany raised an eyebrow, for a moment seeming for all the world like she might have something biting to say. Then the corner of her lips lifted slightly. "I rather like the sound of Lord Snow," she quipped. "But if you insist. Jon."

[tooktheblack]

"And why are you fond of Lord Snow? It's a lord's title and a bastard's name, so unless you're in the Night's Watch and that kind of thing amuses you, I don't know why it's funny."

Jon was, at least, still in good spirits and while he seemed to be on the defensive, a smile played at his lips. "Do you care to explain it, your Grace?"

[brideoffire]

"I didn't say it was funny," Daenerys pointed out, raising her eyebrows to emphasize her point. "I said that I liked it. It's a lord's title and a bastard's name. Which means you earned it." Her string of titles and names may be tiring and long, but she earned them, and won the respect that came with them. She respected Jon all the more for doing the same, earning the respect and loyalty of the North.

[tooktheblack]

"I meant no offense, your Grace," Jon said quietly. It seemed he had pushed at something that hadn't needed to be pushed and he thought it was a joke shared between them and not something she'd bestowed upon him in honor and in friendship. He chanced a smile, just a small one, and hoped he hadn't damaged their fragile friendship.

"We don't know one another well yet. I think it might be nice to spend some time alone and correct that, don't you?"