[Chapter Size: 2200 Words.]
Third Person POV.
Winterfell.
...
...
The letters began to reach their destinations, while all the lords would start receiving the news that Winterfell had been taken in the coming days.
At that moment, with no choice and no exception, all eyes turned to the heart of the North.
The letter was simple: Daemon had conquered all the regions through which he and his army passed, being harsh with some, even cruel, while reacting well with others. But he was fair with all of them, only treating with cruelty those who deserved such things.
Ramsay Snow is dead, with more than three thousand Boltons exterminated in that camp, thanks to Winter. The bastard's body is flayed and crucified in front of Moat Cailin as a reminder for anyone passing through the region.
Roose Bolton had fled south, while Daemon left something for his group as they fled as well, taking thousands of lives from the Boltons and those who joined him. They were struck by Winter with its cold flames, which devastated a large part of their men. Whether they were Boltons, Dustins, Karstarks, Umbers, or anyone who joined and surrendered to the Boltons' demands and the Red Wedding.
The ironborn were being treated like animals. Most were not spared, being exterminated without even a trial. The plan was to destroy all that remained, since most of them had already been wiped out in the North. Balon Greyjoy would now have a big problem, with the lack of men and ships, far smaller than the initial amount of his plan for revenge against the North. Not to mention the threat when there is, "the North remembers," after all, the North would not fail to give Pyke an answer for the attack.
Not while Daemon is commanding the North.
Daemon's enemies in the North now were few, like Stannis being cornered rats in the southeast of the realm. There had not yet been a single move from his uncle in White Harbor. And to Daemon, it did not matter how he would interfere in this—whether joining Stannis or fleeing and surrendering—he would deal with his uncle.
Now, the call was to see the loyalty of the lords of the North, where they would discuss the future of the North and decide who would be allies and who would be enemies. Whoever did not come to Winterfell was already considered an enemy. Daemon had left a pile of bodies, whether they were ironborn or Boltons—neither beloved by the Northerners—throughout the North, and it greatly affected those who heard the news of the massacre and what would happen to those who stood on the other side of the battlefield against Daemon.
The entire North was being summoned in this letter and would soon be moving with its arrival. Who would be foolish enough not to respond? Even those who faced Daemon with enmity could not deny it. Those who did not know him would have to see for themselves, for the dragon was the reason for many of their fears.
For many, Daemon was still fighting ironborn in Torrhen Square, unaware that he already had Winterfell in his hands after having dealt with yet another ironborn siege, handled Lady Dustin, killed the Bolton bastard, liberated Moat Cailin, and destroyed part of the forces allied with Roose Bolton.
While the messenger ravens traveled in all directions across the North, things were already returning to normal in Winterfell. The servants resumed their positions in the castle, and Daemon assigned a group to take the two thousand prisoners to the North, joining them with those he had already captured.
It had not been a difficult task to catch the men in the crypts. While Daemon still visited the castle and recalled his past, the direwolves frightened all the targeted men without shedding blood in the crypts. They ran out, driven from that place, where they were stopped by the other free folk at the entrance, shouting that Stark ghosts were chasing them.
They were taken out of the castle along with the other prisoners from the larger camp. There was Theon, who was finally taken to the castle's dungeon. The two Umber prisoners—both the one who tried to sell his family in search of benefits and the old Umber who would not accept Daemon or the free folk with their allies—were also sent to the dungeon.
Alys Karstark's uncle was also among the prisoners brought by the larger group, and all were transferred to be kept near Theon. Daemon would hold the trial when the hall was full of lords, before deciding who would be an ally and who would fight at his side. He would leave the judgment of these men, along with Lady Dustin, for when everyone was in the castle.
Daemon's routine now required him to maintain the castle for the next few days, while his eyes once again turned to the North of the realm. He needed to do one more thing. Afterwards, everything seemed normal: the people of the North in Wintertown were calmer with the free folk, who had not attacked anyone, easing somewhat the stereotyped image of cruel killers that the Northerners had of them.
There was no longer any war or ironborn terrorizing. The people of Wintertown, with the chaos finally under control, relaxed. Some mourned their loved ones and even began, practically officially, to take some members of the free folk into their homes—widowed and single women seeking the protection and company of a man.
The free folk were a bit cautious about this at first, since Daemon had massacred hundreds of them when they committed rape during the military campaign. There was still fear regarding their leader, but he warned that as long as it was not forced, they could sleep with whomever they wished.
In any case, Daemon decided, two days after staying in the castle, that he would head north. He mounted Winter and left the castle in the hands of some trusted people while he was away for two or three days.
Winter shot into the sky, advancing north and traveling for a few hours, until finding the other part of the free folk army that was descending toward Winterfell.
Daemon descended, hearing shouts and seeing many people react to the dragon approaching the marching crowd as he landed a little distance away. Although the free folk were already accustomed to the creature, the sudden sight of it still startled some before they calmed down.
It didn't take long for a group to approach him, while Daemon decided mentally that he would spend the night with that group as soon as he saw Daenerys.
As they drew closer, he could see Mance leading them, and then his eyes went to the silver-haired girl also approaching on her horse.
"Daemon, I must say… Your Majesty, as the people of the North are already calling you…" Mance said, with Daemon looking at him with a slightly confused raised eyebrow.
"They're calling me Your Majesty?" Daemon asked, but it was Dany who answered, stepping ahead of Mance himself and dismounting her horse.
"Yes… You are known and respected as a king," she said, opening a happy smile upon seeing him.
"I wonder if they're scared, since they're saying my name with such respect." Daemon shrugged.
"Some are scared, it's true," Daenerys said, flashing a brief smile as she approached him. "But many also see you as a savior. They say you destroyed all our enemies in the North and avenged us against the ironborn and the Boltons."
Daemon snorted as Daenerys was already close enough for him to touch her waist. She wore a dress and a coat over it. He gave her a loving kiss, and Daenerys immediately returned it.
"How are you, my queen?" Daemon asked, with no one else daring to interrupt the couple's interaction.
"I'm happy now, but I was anxious to know how you were faring in these lands… It's been more than a moon since I last saw you. Can you imagine how a queen gets frustrated without her king?" she teased, while Daemon gave a small smile.
"You're getting poetic since I left…" he remarked, and she laughed playfully before giving him another kiss.
"Let's save these moments for the night. I plan to camp with you all tonight and set out again tomorrow."
"That would be lovely… Where do you plan to go after?" Daenerys asked curiously, unaware of Daemon's plans since she had not received the letter he had written earlier.
"Well… I plan to go to two places. First, I'll go to the mountain clans, and then to Skagos. I don't know what the opinion of the former will be yet, since they served House Stark with my grandmother belonging to them, and some of them attacked us in the Gift. I had to kill them all. But I want to go to Skagos because I want the people there to serve my cause. They say they need a Stark good enough to lead them, and I want to see what I can do about that." Daemon spoke with total confidence that he could win over the people of Skagos.
"Well… You said you hate politics, but you're doing a good job," she smiled.
"I'm doing politics with what I know best: fighting and waging war," Daemon replied in a dramatic tone.
"Come, let's talk better on horseback. Don't you have one? How about we share one for the rest of the day?" she said, no longer with any of that shyness, sounding quite cheerful.
Daemon accepted her invitation and, in just moments, mounted her horse, placing Dany in front of him with some help from his Warg powers. Daemon's gaze turned to Mance, who was still waiting for any order from him.
"Well, let's keep marching. We'll camp before nightfall. You'll still lead them—we'll talk later," he said.
"Now, I'll be updating this queen here about what I did in the south, and I hope to speak with my relatives during the march as well." With that, he resumed riding at a steady pace with Daenerys.
Everyone went back to marching after that. "I'll be passing a message to them," Mance replied, and so they resumed the march, announcing that the king was present but too busy riding with his lady at the front line.
It didn't take long for Benjen Stark to approach, carrying Brandon, as the boy could not ride alone. They were in a group coming from the middle of the army, in a covered cart, since Brandon, being a paraplegic, could not be on horseback, Hodor could not ride either, and Rickon was still too young to keep up mounted.
In any case, Benjen Stark approached Daemon, who was still talking to Daenerys, exchanging words and smiles like a couple in love.
Daemon then stopped and looked at them.
"Jon… I mean, Daemon." Benjen almost didn't know what to say when he spoke Daemon's old name. Daemon shrugged at the lack of a title, not caring, while looking at his uncle, and then at his cousin, who was watching him more intently than the last time and with less fear than before.
"Hello, uncle. How are you? Ready to return to Winterfell?" Daemon gave him a calm smile.
"Well… I heard you were about to take Winterfell," Benjen remarked. "By now, you've already done it, right?"
Daemon nodded. "What will happen now?" Benjen asked in a more serious tone.
"I'll decide when all the lords are in the castle. But let me be clear… Your brother is in White Harbor, silent since we were last seen in the North. I don't know what he's planning, but he seems to be avoiding allying with others against me," Daemon said.
"Can he escape your wrath?" the uncle asked, not wanting Daemon to harm the family.
Daemon shook his head. "Uncle, you can't beg, and much less change the past. I will deal with him. In a way… I'd be a fool to let him go unpunished," Daemon said. Daenerys agreed with his words, but Benjen seemed frustrated and even distressed.
"Jon!" Bran called once more, making Daemon turn his eyes to him. The slightest movement made Bran shrink a little before those violet eyes full of power.
He knew his cousin's gaze could not be compared to his father's in anger. Daemon's fury made his father's rage seem like a child's game.
"Speak, Bran," Daemon said, currently not offended at being called by that name.
"They say you can heal…" Bran said, stopping halfway, while Daemon arched an eyebrow and looked at the boy's legs.
"You want me to heal you?" Daemon asked. It was understandable—Bran saw there perhaps the only chance to walk again through his cousin's powers.
The boy only nodded.
"We'll see about that later," Daemon replied, while his gaze returned to the front, noticing someone approaching them: a girl together with a boy—it was Lucis with Lafy.
"We'll talk later. Tell Mance to keep taking care of everything as he was doing without my interference, while I have other matters to attend to," Daemon said, as some people were already starting to murmur, making space for the group to come closer.
As they moved away, Jon paid closer attention to his wife with her brother, opening a smile. "Hello," he said at last.
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