[Chapter Size: 3100 Words.]
Third Person POV.
Winterfell.
...
...
The night went on quietly, but at dinner taking place in the great hall, Daenerys was still distracted by the events of the day. She even lost her appetite for the strawberry cake the women had made in the kitchen and asked to leave it to eat after dinner.
Her eyes turned to the Stark children and the Baratheon girl sharing the table with them that night. Arya, as always, spoke animatedly about how she had managed to leave the castle as soon as she got the chance with her horse, while Lyanna watched her from atop the castle walls, giving her tips when she returned.
Obviously, Arya did not openly say her aunt's name; they only said that "someone" gave advice.
Daenerys couldn't help but open a small smile as she watched the children continue talking. At least someone was having fun. Only Bran among the Starks of Winterfell was not there yet, which worried her a little, since he had said he would keep an eye on the strangers and then go to the godswood, but he still hadn't returned.
"You're distracted." The voice came from behind her, making even Lucis look toward the spot, startled, seeing no one there. But Daenerys knew it was Lyanna, in her invisible state.
Daenerys merely nodded so as not to draw more attention, since her expression had even been noticed by Ghost.
"Has Bran still not returned?" Arya asked suddenly, turning her attention to Daenerys after ending the conversation with Rickon and Shireen.
"He went to check something. He seems quite busy. Let's finish dinner and then see how he is," Daenerys said, worried that the boy might still be under the tree that night, which could be bad for his health.
A man hurried into the hall at that moment, immediately drawing everyone's attention. He went up to the main table.
"Your Grace, please. There is an urgent matter that must take your attention in the courtyard," he said, as Daenerys raised an eyebrow and stood up, leaving the family aside and signaling for Lucis to follow her shortly after she left the main table.
"I want to go see too," Arya said, running after them. Rickon did the same, but Shireen was stopped by her mother, who interrupted her as soon as she saw her trying to follow the other children.
When they went outside, a platoon of Stark soldiers was all lined up with torches in their hands. Bran was among them, giving instructions. The boy was already fourteen years old and was adapting very quickly to the role of Lord of Winterfell in his brother's place.
"Bran… don't tell me that…," Daenerys murmured, stopping as she followed those men. She positioned herself to check the situation there, and it seemed she was right in her suspicions.
"Bran! What is happening?!" Arya shouted behind Daenerys.
When Barristan approached her and nodded carefully, but first looked at her sister and brother.
"Not now, Arya... I need to resolve something with the queen," Bran said, making Arya grow frustrated, saying something about how she was older than him and how he could be dealing with matters without her. But she gave in and stepped away, leaving only Bran, Daenerys, Ser Barristan Selmy, and Ghost in that corner.
"They are planning to kill you, Your Grace," Bran said in a low tone.
Daenerys immediately took a step back. "No…," she murmured.
Bran nodded carefully. Even Barristan tightened his grip on his sword, relieved. He was already aware of the warg abilities that the king and the Stark family possessed to control animals, so he was not surprised.
Bran could investigate them by seeing through a bird, but according to the whispers of the Children of the Forest and Leaf's own words, he had the potential to become a powerful greenseer like the Three-Eyed Raven, someone Daemon had killed, with an even greater margin for growth.
Bran took a deep breath and went back to explaining what he had seen.
"I followed them to a house they rented in Winter Town. The house was abandoned. They only paid some neighbors to pretend they lived there while they waited for an audience with you."
He explained that when they entered the house, they were not even a little pleased with the audience they had with Daenerys. They reported that she was not only married, but also pregnant with an heir, saying that this was a threat to someone's claim. From that point on, they began to debate what they should do.
"Their goal is to try to assassinate you, Your Grace," Bran continued. "They see you and your child as a threat. I don't know who their true master is, who sent them, or who they are trying to protect this claim that your son's and Daemon's is threatening. But there is someone behind this."
Daenerys felt a chill run through her body. The idea of someone wanting to kill her, and her child, made her touch her belly protectively.
"No. I will never allow that. I am protected here in Winterfell...," she murmured, trying to convince herself.
Barristan stepped closer and nodded firmly. "My queen, nothing will happen to you. Not while I am alive." Daenerys nodded, somewhat relieved.
"Those bastards! Who dares try to hurt my grandchild?!" Lyanna's voice also echoed, showing that she was listening, and all three were not surprised by her, somewhere near them.
Still worried, Daenerys turned to Bran. "And you called a force to capture them?"
"Yes. We are going to put them in the dungeons and send a message to Daemon," he replied.
At that moment, a low growl echoed. Everyone looked at Ghost, who had remained by their side the entire time. Daenerys' eyes widened, while Barristan Selmy could not help but step back a little from the wolf, who was growling with rage.
"Daemon...," Daenerys murmured.
"Yes. Daemon is furious," Lyanna murmured.
"Yes. He heard our conversation," Bran said simply, looking at the white wolf, who was consumed by fury. "He is inside him."
"I will return to my chambers," Daenerys said then. "Ghost will stay with me, and the guard will be reinforced at my door with Barristan Selmy. You will take care of those men and bring them to the dungeons."
Bran nodded, as did everyone else.
Bran placed a trusted man in command of the troops while he headed for the indicated house he had followed those men to before with his raven. He went on horseback. For him, moving that way was still easier than walking long distances on the ground.
Thus, Daenerys went inside, asking Lucis to go to the kitchen and bring the strawberry cake, and her little cousins also wanted to eat together with the Stark children and Shireen.
Lucis did as she was asked and had the cake brought to the queen, finding her in the room with the wolf lying beside her. She seemed quite nervous, and Lucis soon asked what was happening.
Daenerys explained while they entered the room and ate the sweet happily. The three girls, Lucis's cousins, were all cheerful, eating the cake with enthusiasm along with Arya, Rickon, and Shireen, laughing and talking.
The atmosphere seemed to greatly improve Daenerys's mood as she found herself surrounded by children, one of her husband's lovers who was her friend, the direwolf — who remained seated at her side the entire time, on alert — and the greatest knight of the Seven Kingdoms at the door, protecting her there with other Stark men.
At least, she was able to relax a little and feel safe.
The mercenaries, however, were still frustrated.
"What should we do?" one of them asked, looking out the window, unaware that a patrol was already heading toward them.
He stepped away from the window and returned to the other men sitting inside the house.
"We didn't even have time to use one of the poisoned necklaces," another complained.
"Damn that Stark direwolf. We should kill it too. It may be big, but a few good arrows should take care of it," one of them said, snarling.
"The captain sent us here to check how dangerous the girl might be to Aegon's claim," another said. "The order was clear: if she was not only married, but also expecting a child, she was to be eliminated."
"Then we'll start planning tomorrow. But we can't take too long, because they don't like us," another replied.
"Damn savages… maybe I should take some of their women," one of them said, laughing.
"There hasn't been any brothel or tavern operating since the city was taken by the ironborn," another replied.
"Who said I would need that? I'll find another woman and take her by force," he said, with a malicious smile.
As they talked, Bran finally arrived with a torch in his hand, as well as all his men, checking that there was no one outside the house. He looked at around forty men.
"Surround the place. I don't want anyone to escape," Bran said, as the man leading the group quickly took command.
It didn't take long for everyone to take their positions. Soon, the house was surrounded. When they entered the place with their weapons, the shouts of stunned mercenaries echoed, and a battle quickly began inside, with Bran standing atop his horse, watching everything, while two guards remained close to protect him.
Shortly after, the sounds of battle ceased, but it was still possible to hear groans and curses as the men were led outside. Some were injured, complaining of pain; others cursed the northerners, questioning why this was happening.
The northerners also came out wounded, while the neighbors were all outside watching the commotion in the middle of the night.
"You are being accused of plotting the assassination of the Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. Do you need another reason besides that?" said the captain, punching the man who seemed to be their leader.
"We're going to Winterfell. Escort everyone," Bran said, and the group quickly began to move, with many people from Winter Town around them, staring curiously at the sight of the last eight surviving mercenaries being led back to the castle, chained.
They were taken directly to the dungeons. Daenerys soon received the information, with Bran entering her room while the cake that had been brought from the kitchen was already gone, and the children were still laughing excitedly as Daenerys told them stories.
Ghost, who had been harassed by the girls all night, grabbing and jumping into his white fur, immediately lifted his head when he saw Bran.
Bran first greeted him with a nod, knowing that Daemon was there, listening to everything.
"We captured them. I took forty men. Ten of ours were injured, but one died in the clash. We killed twelve mercenaries and brought eight captives, who are now in the secure dungeons," Bran explained.
"That's good. There aren't any of them still out there, are there?" Daenerys asked.
"No. They were the only ones who came north. They would have scattered starting tomorrow, so we were lucky tonight," Bran replied.
"Thank you, Bran," Daenerys said, and Bran bowed slightly before leaving the room.
In the end, the children asked what was happening, and Daenerys only said that they were solving a few problems. They stayed a little longer, and then Lucis took them away, as it was already time for them to go to sleep.
Ghost approached Daenerys on the bed, placing his head on her shoulder, while she hugged him tightly.
"You're there… Daemon. It's all right. Our son and I are safe," she murmured, as the wolf let out a low sound, almost a lament.
"I wish you were here..." she murmured.
Daenerys slept that night with some difficulty. Knowing that there were people trying to kill her and hurt her child had frightened her. It took a while, but sleep finally came, and she drifted off. Ghost, however, did not sleep. He remained alert throughout the night.
Before the sun began to rise on the horizon, in Riverrun, Daemon opened his eyes, surrounded by Val and Ygritte naked, one on each side. He left the bed and began to get dressed.
"Are you going to the North?" Val asked, opening her eyes as she saw him, already knowing what was happening in Winterfell after Daemon spoke about what he had seen.
"Yes. I want to know who did this. It will be a round trip. I won't be gone for more than a day," Daemon replied. He needed to know who those mercenaries were and whether there was any connection to what was happening in the Stormlands, where another group of mercenaries had also appeared in the Seven Kingdoms.
"Tell everyone that I need to look into this and that they are to continue their duties in the castle and with the troops. We will leave shortly. I need to know the truth, because whoever is behind the attempt on my wife's and my son's lives must be found," Daemon said.
Val nodded, understanding him perfectly.
Ygritte didn't even seem to notice. She merely murmured a few things while still sleeping beside him. Daemon left the room and went outside. The Watch guards inside the castle were surprised to see him there and bowed to him, but Daemon kept moving forward, leaving the castle without anyone stopping him, only watching with curiosity.
He left the castle walls, crossed the main bridge, and went toward the camp. As he moved away, the scouts who were still awake saw him pass through the camp and head toward the female dragon that was on a nearby hill. Daemon mounted her and soon shot through the sky toward the North.
Daemon arrived at Winterfell before midday, landing near the castle walls and startling those present a little. Even so, everyone was already accustomed to the presence of the dragon.
He dismounted and moved forward, finding Daenerys already waiting for him in the courtyard, with a surprised look at how quickly he had come. Not everyone was there in the courtyard, but as many people as possible managed to arrive in time for the king's arrival, since he had announced nothing. The only warning had been the arrival of the enormous dragon, and rumors about the attempt on the queen's life were only beginning to spread that morning.
Everyone knelt before him, but Daemon went straight to Daenerys, who remained standing beside Ghost. There was fear in her eyes as well. He said nothing. He simply embraced her.
"I will find out who they are. I will find out who is behind this. And I will send them straight to hell," he said, holding his wife in his arms.
Daemon did not know exactly when it had happened, but he felt an uncontrollable rage when he thought about the child — his first son. Even being dragonborn, he had never felt this desire to have a child before. At first, it had only been a matter of claim, of securing an heir to the Throne. But the love that was beginning to grow for the child yet to be born made him increasingly protective.
He knew assassinations could happen when he was a claimant to the throne, but the anger was there. He had not expected it to be so great.
The idea that someone had threatened his child enraged him deeply. He had always liked to mock his enemies and their attempts to stop him, but this was different.
He had not come there seeking Winterfell's hospitality. No. Daemon spoke briefly with Bran, exchanging only a few words, but with a personal look, heavy with intent.
Then, Daemon went straight to the dungeons, stopping before them with several men accompanying him.
"No one is going in here while I am inside those doors. No one is to interfere while I am in there. I will deal with them. Are we understood?" Daemon said, in a threatening tone that made it clear to everyone that he was serious.
"Yes, my lord," the men replied, and even Bran nodded carefully.
Daemon entered the place while hearing the mercenaries talking and even laughing, despite knowing that death awaited them. Those laughs would not last long. They would learn things worse than death.
Jon first cast a spell that prevented sound from passing through; he did not want others to hear the screams that would follow those men.
Lyanna fully materialized when she stopped beside him, becoming visible. Daemon had no reaction when he looked at her; he had already noticed her.
"You should leave," he said.
"I want to stay with my son."
"I will speak with you later, mother. Not now. I need to know why they tried to kill Daenerys and why she and our child are a threat. A threat to whom?" Daemon said. He already suspected a few things, but he still did not have the full picture. That was a good opportunity to finally tear information out of them.
Despite her reluctance, Lyanna nodded and let her son deal with the mercenaries.
When she left, Daemon began to walk toward them. The laughter soon turned into mockery when they saw a man approaching alone, still not knowing who he was. To them, Daemon was in the South.
Daemon said nothing. He began to summon two Daedric.
In the end, the screams of men begging for a quick death echoed inside the dungeons, but the guards outside heard only total silence.... Suffering spread throughout the place, and Daemon did not stop until he had obtained all the information possible.
When he came out, he was even more enraged.
There was an Aegon Targaryen coming to Westeros, a false one. After all, he had seen his brother dead, confirmed it with the gods... This one, together with the Golden Company, was supposed to be landing in the Stormlands at that very moment. The ones responsible were clear: they were captains of the Golden Company, Harry Strickland, and Varys was also involved, leading the flow of information, instructing them to get there and even to assassinate Daenerys and their child.
Daemon could not help but think of the South and how he would deal with those bastards who had orchestrated all of that. He would deal with the one pretending to be his brother, who had died with his head crushed... That one could only be a Blackfyre.
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