"Have you fought Grumpkins and Snarks as well?" Tyrion asked when he found Jon stood on the walls of Widow's Watch.
"No. I dread the day they come," Jon said turning to Tyrion.
Smirking, he gave Jon a once over. "Who'd have thought? The Bastard of Winterfell a hidden prince."
"And the dwarf of Casterly Rock now hand to Daenerys Targaryen." They smirked at each other before Jon nodded toward him. "Picked up some scars along the way."
"It's been a long road," Tyrion nodded. "But we're both still here."
"Better than we were, hopefully."
Tyrion nodded. "And Sansa? I hear she's alive and well. Does she miss me terribly?" Jon maintained a slate expression, only just tilting his head. "A sham marriage. And unconsummated."
"I didn't ask," said Jon.
"Well it was. Wasn't. Anyway," Tyrion said shifting focus, "she's much smarter than she lets on."
"She's started to let on," Jon said with a fond smile.
"Good," Tyrion nodded. "I'll gladly step aside and annul it. Let her have happiness with a good man."
Jon gave a thankful nod for the offer. "I hope to be worthy of her."
"If Good King Jon isn't worthy of her than I don't know who would be," Tyrion said with a laugh.
"Gods," he grimaced, "you've heard that too."
"Only twice. Chorus was much better than Long King Jon."
Jon sighed, shaking his head before glancing toward the tower housing their chambers. "I hate this," he said to Tyrion's surprise. "It all feels like such a waste of time when I know he's coming. While we stand around trying to figure out who should lead they get closer to the Wall, and we're finished unless every kingdom comes together."
"You can't expect her to just give up the moment she finally makes it back," Tyrion said solemnly. "Her entire life she was told she'd return, and ever since her brother's death she knew it would be as queen. Now she finds out not only is there another Targaryen but her claim is surpassed. That she lived every hardship because her brother ran off to marry, and now his son she never knew existed holds claim to the thing that kept her going through most of it."
Tyrion sighed. "Give her time. She's a good woman, a good queen, caring, just and fair. She's not some foreign invader. She could have sailed for Westeros long ago, but she didn't. Instead she stayed and saved many people from horribly fates. Some of whom came with us… She protects people from monsters, just as you do. It's why she came here.
"But she can't just give up everything she's wanted for years, what drove her through every challenge. She wouldn't be a worthy queen if she did."
Jon glanced at him, thinking back on Melisandre's words weeks earlier. "I understand that," Jon nodded. "I do, but I can't stand aside either. Even if I wanted to, the North wouldn't accept her easily. They only accepted me because I fought alongside them and still have Stark blood. I would have spent the rest of my life on the Wall, but I couldn't, just as I can't give up now. I'd rather us all focus North, but I have to worry about Cersei to the south and now my own kin and her dragons."
"You needn't worry," Tyrion offered. "Daenerys doesn't want to take this from you any more than she wants to kill you. It's one thing to have you step aside, but she's no kinslayer, not when you're all she has. Together you two will be unstoppable, you could retake the throne and unite every kingdom under a Targaryen banner once again. We're on the same side."
"The living," Jon said firmly. "That's my side. But if I have to I'll conquer every kingdom myself to make sure we survive."
"He thinks himself a conqueror?" Daenerys asked with a smirk, impressed and amused.
"I think it more he's willing to become one," Tyrion clarified. "I suppose he conquered the North. The Vale seems to be on his side if reports are to believed. He could very well make his way through each kingdom if his attention weren't being pulled toward the Wall. If we hadn't showed up the only ones that would stand in his way would be the Westerlands and Crownlands. I doubt even the most duty bound Stormlanders would stay loyal to Cersei."
Daenerys sighed, crossing her arms as she turned from the window to Tyrion at the hearth. "And we've ruined that."
"Not quite," said Tyrion. "I believe we've presented him with more options. He had potentially thousands more men, many of whom would be killed in wars with Cersei before they ever reached him. Now we stand here with nearly all the armies that might have joined him, the Dothraki, the Unsullied and three dragons."
Daenerys arched her brow, looking insulted. "You make it sound as if we should usurp him. I will not."
"I know," Tyrion said with a smile. "Do that and we lose the North forever. Not just the Starks, but every house. They like to say the North Remembers… meaning they're patient in their spite."
Daenerys chuckled, her smile quickly falling as she shook her head. "So what? Step aside? Be.. Princess of Dragonstone? Should I just retreat back to Mereen? Retake my place as queen."
"He isn't asking you to leave," said Tyrion. "You're his kin. He's a good man, he won't ask you to become some obedient princess for him to sell of as he pleases. He knows you've worked to get here, he won't turn you away."
"So I need to accept it? Go from queen to princess?"
"There are worse falls," he said with a smirk. Seeing her stare at him, Tyrion sighed. "I suppose you could always offer to marry him. You'd both remain king and queen, unite our forces."
Daenerys' brow sank. "He's already betrothed, isn't he? To his cousin."
"Who he thought a half-sister most his life," reminded Tyrion. "It could very well be one of convenience. The poor girl suffered at King's Landing."
Tyrion frowned at the fire. "My bastard nephew had his kingsguard strip her in front of the court and beat her with their swords when her brother won a victory, made her stare at her father's severed head on a spike. Every day he found a new way to torment the girl. Perhaps Jon's doing it to keep her from being forced into another betrothal she doesn't want."
A flicker of doubt came through Daenerys' nod. "You think he'd do that? Marry her just to keep her from harm? Not to try and secure his claim in the North."
Tyrion chuckled, turning to her. "If Sansa asked him to wed her and never bed her he would, same as I did. However unlike me, he'd spend the rest of his life as celibate as he intended when he went to the Wall. He wouldn't force something on someone else, especially not someone he cares for.
"You saw as well as I did he wasn't lying when he said he rose only because he was needed. He'd resigned himself to a life at the Wall because he thought it the best he could do. He isn't bearing the burden of a crown for his sake, but for his family and the realm. He'd bear a marriage or just about anything else they asked of him. That's the kind of king I imagine Aegon Targaryen is. The kind of man Jon Snow was and no doubt still is."
Chakko stood off to the side atop one of the Widow's Watch towers looking over the sea while Daenerys watched her dragons. The three were circling each other, playfully swerving around one another over the ocean.
She glanced back hearing her dothraki guard shift, his hand on the hilt of his arakh when the door opened and Jon walked through it. Though surprised to find them there, he didn't turn away, opting instead to walk toward Daenerys near the railing.
"Amazing thing to see," he said looking from the dragons to her back.
"I named them for my first husband and my brothers," she said looking to him with a solemn smile. "They're all gone now."
"Which one's named for my father?" He asked as he came to her side.
"Rhaegal's the green and bronze one," she said pointing him out. "He's not as docile as Viserion, but not as stubborn as Drogon. They're the only family I have…" She turned to him, keeping a hand on the rail, "Or so I thought."
Jon glanced at her before turning to watch Viserion dive into the ocean and come up a moment later. "I'm sorry it had to be like this."
Daenerys glanced down with a smile, surprised to hear his sincerity. "I suppose I shouldn't have expected a conqueror to step down so easily."
Jon held back a sigh, walking to the rail. "You've been talking to Tyrion."
Daenerys rolled her eyes, turning her back to the ocean. "He is my hand."
"He enjoys talking."
"We all enjoy what we're good at."
After a moment, Jon declared grimly, "I don't."
Daenerys looked to Jon, taking him in for a moment. He was stoic, maybe sullen, but came off as regal in a way. It reminded her of the stories Barristan Selmy told her of his father, a somber man who enjoyed the harp more than he did the sword, yet had caused a war which nearly destroyed the Targaryen lineage.
Had he ever heard stories of his father? Supposedly the seven kingdoms believed Rhaegar had kidnapped his mother and raped her before she died, but even now that he knew better, did he have anyone to tell him stories of the man Rhaegar was. That his father wasn't a rapist or a mad man like her own, just a fool who believed in songs enough to think love would make everything okay.
Was he like Rhaegar? How much was he like Lyanna, who captured her brother's heart so much he left one wife to be with her? How much was he like the man who raised him, whom she'd believed no better than the usurper Viserys told her of, yet kept this man alive with a lie rather than obey his newly crowned king and best friend?
"You know I can't just return to Mereen," she said finally.
"I'd never ask you to," he said turning to her.
"My men won't obey anyone but me."
"Nor will mine."
They paused, looking away from each other before she silently took a breath and turned to him. "Tyrion suggested we marry."
To her surprise Jon looked to her, a smile flickering across his lips as he snickered. "Sansa suggested the same."
Daenerys smirked. "Your betrothed suggested you cast her aside and marry me?"
Jon turned to the water. "Not cast her aside."
Daenerys' brow arched, barely keeping herself from laughing in surprise. "She suggested you live up to your namesake."
"I won't leave her, but she knew it would be offered and didn't want me to turn it down immediately for her sake."
Daenerys nodded, turning to him with her hands clasped together in front of her. "She sounds very understanding."
"She's strong. Stronger than most think. She's been through a lot and I've done all I can to make up for not being there for her when she needed someone." He took a breath, his hands clutching the stone rail. "I wouldn't force anyone into marriage, but if it came to it I'd try to make sure it wasn't loveless or cold, and I'd never stray from those I'm sworn to. I'd do what I could to make sure they were as happy as I could and make sure they don't feel abandoned or left out as much as I'd make sure they never feel pressured to do something they don't want."
Daenerys smiled, watching him stare off at the ocean to avoid looking at her.
Then, as if she'd missed what he was saying, he added, "I'd never make a decision without all us agreeing."
Lowering her head to hold back a laugh, she turned to stand beside him looking toward the sea. "That's fair. I'd prefer to-"
The door to the tower burst open and they turned to see Varys pause in surprise at the pair of them stood side by side, but then quickly rushed to her. "I have grave news," he whispered.
Daenerys quickly stood straight and looked to Jon. "If you'd excuse me."
Jon nodded, watching her leave, Varys waiting until they were in the stairwell to inform her, "Our Ironborn and Dornish allies were attacked on route to Dorne…"
"Do you think he'll come for you?" Euron asked as he came to Yara in her cell. She was bruised and stripped to little more than a sack they threw over her, cuffed to the wall with just enough slack to reach the pot in the corner.
Yara remained silent, glaring at her uncle.
The man smirked as he moved closer. She dashed forward, trying to claw at him but her chains kept her inches away. "I heard you went to save him from the Boltons but he turned you away. You could have saved him from the man who tore off his cock, but he stayed there."
She spat at him and he grinned, wiping it with his hand and looking over the bloodied saliva before slapping her with the back of his hand.
"Do you think he didn't miss it?" She winced and turned back to him while he clarified, "His cock. Was it not very big?" Euron grabbed her cheeks, holding her face in place. "I heard you were chummy with him when he first came back. Does he still taste of salt, or was he just a wet dog?"
He shoved her face away and turned, pacing. "To turn away your own sister to serve the man who took you cock. People surely think him stupid, but do you know what I call that?" Euron came to a stop and turned to her with a smile. "Loyalty.
"The question is, how did he get it, huh? Give a man enough gold and he'll join you, cut out his tongue for you, but what makes him stay even after you've made him no longer a man?" Euron arched his brow. "Maybe he didn't care anymore. Maybe he was happy not being a man. Maybe Bolton filled little Theon so full until that was all he knew anymore and even his sister couldn't make him leave.
"Maybe that's how I should gain your loyalty," Euron said meeting Yara's gaze. Her saw a flicker of fear in her anger, making him grin. "They say there's power in kings blood. I'm a king, ready to be one twice over once we win the war. Your father was a king. Our bastards might be worth draining."
When Euron stepped toward her Yara took one back and Euron threw his head back in laughter, holding his stomach. She was confused until she saw him stumble forward and break into a run, grabbing her by the neck and lifting her as he threw her against the wall.
"I have something better in mind," he whispered to her. Yara stared at him wide eyed, noticing his tongue brush against his pale lips as he opened his mouth and shifted his jaw. His fingers dug into her throat, sucking in a breath before he reached into his jerkin. "Something to fill you up."
She watched him pull out a bottle of a blue viscous liquid, yanking the cap off with his lips and spitting it at her face. When she gasped for breath, he pushed the neck of the bottle into her mouth and moved his hand to her jaw, letting her suck in a breath and keeping her mouth closed as the awful tasting liquid poured down her throat.
When she started to hit him, he grabbed her right hand and snapped her index finger back. She choked on her scream as the liquid flooded her, feeling like she was drowning in it before he yanked the empty bottle out and tossed it behind him.. When the glass shattered Euron stepped back, watching her closely.
Yara gasped for air, looking at his grinning face. Her stomach twisted as she tasted a million things in the wake of that liquid. With a sneer she ran forward and suddenly the chains snapped so she grasped his throat with both hands. Her fingers pushed into his neck, feeling it pulse against her as he opened his mouth to laugh, staring into her eyes as she choked him. The hint of blue in his lips grew, stretching to his face as his eyes went black.
When she finally threw his corpse to the ground Yara dashed to the door, throwing it open and rushing out before confusion took her and she stumbled to a stop staring at the beach before her. She watched as figures rose from the depths, deep ones from the stories of old. Half men born of man and sea creature. Each held gilded swords, though half were rotted while others had glittering scales.
A chirp made her turn and look to a skeletal bird swimming through the air above a small white dragon cloaked in wolf's fur and chained at the neck. They were in the hall of a keep and beside the dragon stood a woman cloaked in shimmering shadows, white flames flowing beneath her skirts, searing the ground around her.
Beside them, sat atop a throne of skulls black and gold and ice was her uncle Euron. He smiled down on her, his eyes black and shining like the woman beside him. When he rose from from the throne the cloak that trailed him split. The inky tendrils writhed, grasping at everything around them until they wrapped around her throat and he leaned in to whisper in her ear.
"What do you see?" Euron asked, watching Yara sink against the wall, her hands held up by the cuffs on her wrist. When she stared at him in shock Euron barked with laughter and departed, his laughs echoing through the dim halls beyond her cell.