This chapter has been edited due to content. I made minor edits in the chapter. If you want to see the unedited version GO HERE.
JORAH MORMONT
"Not that way, you fool!" I yelled out loudly to the Northerner.
But my voice was drowned out by the chaos around me. The Night King's army had attacked Winterfell and it didn't look like the living would win. The dead had been frightening enough beyond the Wall but that had only been a glimpse of their power. The Northerner I had yelled out to went the wrong way and was brutally slain by the dead.
The only two people that needed to live this day were Daenerys Targaryen and Jon Snow. While they weren't officially married, they were good as wedded. Besides the love they showed towards each other, she was now carrying his child. She was supposed to be barren and her pregnancy came as a miracle to all. Well, at least all who had known of her barrenness.
I yelled out as I swung Heartsbane into more of the dead. But the gift from Samwell Tarly could only kill so many. The dead had covered the landscape and the living kept joining them. The Night King would find even more men after this battle. I looked up to the sky to see if Daenerys was coming in on Drogon. It wasn't likely as this wasn't the only battle going on. Due to how little anyone knew about the White Walkers, we were unaware of their strategy. We couldn't tell if the attack on Winterfell was the main battle or if these wights were just sent to wear us down. We couldn't tell which of the current battles was the most important.
Earlier a few men had run away from the battle. Earlier I had called them cowards. But now it seemed they had been right. If this attack was meant as a distraction, fighting now would make us too weak. I could understand the insistence of defending Winterfell no matter the danger, but it was pure insanity to keep fighting now.
I saw a horse run and I tried to see if I could intercept it. There was a small pile of corpses that if I could get to in time I would use it to jump onto the horse. The only downside of doing so was the fact that the dead could come alive at any moment. During this battle it was revealed the dead came alive again only at the insistence of a White Walker. The dead could take hours to come alive if need be.
I took a deep breath and ran for the pile. I needed to stay alive to see Daenerys again. I wanted to be angry about her choosing Jon but, the truth was, he was one of only two people I trusted with her heart. He also had a title and a name without a stain on it. The moment I stepped on the pile my musings stopped as the dead started to move.
The horse was still close enough for me to reach. It would be quite a jump but ma-I jumped. For a moment I was hanging onto the horse's side as my feet were inches above the ground. I grabbed the horse's neck and managed to swing myself into a sitting position. Battle cries drowned out my thoughts as I barely managed to calm the horse down. It moved in a tight circle which helped me kill a few wights as I started to run away from the castle.
"Retreat!" I yelled out. "Retreat!"
This battle was lost and men shouldn't be wasted so early in the war. Death should be honorable and there was no honor in wasting one's life. I knew shouting wouldn't help as everything was too chaotic for anyone to hear everything. Yet I tried and saw my efforts rewarded. Some men started retreating from the battle.
The moment I started going away from the battle a few arrows came towards me. Some of Jon's men must have been so afraid they had started to fire at anything. I groaned as one buried itself in my back. I pushed the pain away and focused on returning to Daenerys.
Before I was able to leave Winterfell in the distance, a wight aimed its sword at me. I yelled out as it managed to cut deep into my side. Heartsbane cut its head off and then I was free. No more wights followed me as blood poured out. With each hoofbeat it felt as if everything was a dream. But if this wasn't real, I would still make it to Khaleesi.
My name. I had to at least remember my name. Jorah Mormont. Ser Jorah Mormont of Bear Island. I was disgraced because I'd been foolish enough to seek the love of a woman who cared nothing for me. Had she stayed on Bear Island or had I run away from her? I remembered Essos. It was my home. No, not my home. It was a land that I had adapted to.
The cold was all around me. It pierced my skin. I wasn't in Essos now as it was snowing. The snow was like Daenerys' skin. It was beautiful but could be deadly if not watched. But Khaleesi was not ice, she was fire. Dragons. Two? No three. One of them had died beyond the Wall. That one was an enemy.
Jorah. Jorah Mormont. Was someone calling to me? There were many wounded men and women around me. Why were we fleeing? The dead. The dead had claimed Winterfell. A few of the living fell dead. We left them. We should've done something to them. Not buried but made sure they stayed dead. Hopefully someone would figure out what to do to the fallen.
I fell down onto sheets that were warm. Were people around me? My father was there with a concerned look in his eyes. He wanted to help but he could do nothing. No matter what I had done, he wouldn't let me die if he could help it. He was such a good man and I had failed him. I had failed him to such a great extent he had given Longclaw to Jon Stark. Jon Snow? In any case he had decided it no longer belonged to me. Or had I decided that? I had left it before I had fled into exile.
Suddenly a great darkness covered everything and then I woke up. I looked around and saw myself in a very familiar tent. It was my tent. Even in my delirious state I had found my way back. I groaned when I touched my side and my back. Both places were sore and showed signs someone had taken care of my wounds.
I relaxed and thought about the fall of Winterfell. It was a great loss as it was a symbol for all Northerners. If we managed to defeat the Night King it would be possible to rebuild the castle. The battle had started out organized and then turned into chaos. The dead had the advantage of their numbers always growing. Every battle, whether the living won or not, made them stronger.
Even as thoughts of the current state of Westeros filled my mind, I managed to fall back asleep. I opened my eyes and sitting beside my bed was Daenerys Targaryen. As always she was beyond compare. Her eyes showed strength as well as a hint of love. She had a kind heart even though, try as she might, she tried to hide it. I understood that she wanted to be strong and being too kind just invited danger. Unlike her usual complexion, there were clear signs of pregnancy.
Her stomach had gotten big enough that she had to have larger clothing made. Other parts of her had expanded from her tits to her toes. It had been amusing when she first found out her boots didn't fit. She had tried to make it seem as though nothing was wrong. It took myself, Tyrion, and Jon to convince her that her feet had grown. My first wife had been pregnant on multiple occasions, though she had never given me a living child, and I knew women could get self-conscious while pregnant.
"I was afraid you'd never return to me, Ser Jorah." Daenerys said with a sad smile.
"I nearly didn't." I replied. "An archer let fear get the better of him and a wight nearly finished me."
Khaleesi's already troubled face grew more so. She still blamed herself for my greyscale. She blamed herself for the brief amount of time when she thought I was going to die. Yet, against all odds, I had managed to be cured and come back to her service. Ever since then, though, she was worried whenever I left her sight. Going away to battle brought her more anxiety than usual.
"The maester said if the archer had aimed a little more to the right you'd be dead." Daenerys said nervously. "A little more to the right and you would have never made it back."
"But that didn't happen, Khaleesi." I reassured her and resisted touching her cheek. "I am alive and ready to serve you."
"Sometimes I wonder if I deserve you, my sweet bear."
"A lesser woman would have never taken me back into her service."
Her troubled face was replaced briefly by a smile. She needed to feel joy if she were to have her child. If a woman was too nervous there was a chance at a miscarriage. Daenerys did not deserve that to happen to her after everything she has been through. She had waited so long for another child that another shouldn't be taken away from her. She had waited so long to the point she gave up all hope for having another child.
"A greater woman wouldn't have exiled you in the first place." Daenerys replied.
"I wronged you." I told her. "I spied on you and lied to you."
"But you had changed. The man who came to me on my wedding wasn't the same one I exiled."
"I still deserved punishment."
"Sometimes I think you're too hard on yourself."
I didn't disagree with her out loud but she was wrong. When you did wrong you had to punished. The gods or men would decide your fate. I had run away from exile with my second wife to escape execution. The gods then gave me a much crueler fate than death. My second wife left me and I had to live in a foreign land alone.
As my eyes looked over Daenerys I realized the gods had also given me a gift. They had given me a chance at redemption. I never expected to be redeemed, not after what I'd done, but that didn't matter to me now. What mattered was that I was by Khaleesi's side where I belonged. She was the home that I would never leave.
"You need to speak to me about something." I said.
"Yes," Daenerys replied. "I...I want to break things off with Jon Snow."
"Why?"
Jon and her had seemed happy together. He was a loyal man and one of the few that deserved her. He had an unblemished name and title. I hadn't meant to question her decision so callously, but the news came as a surprise. Daenerys smiled and shook her head.
"I knew the news would come as a shock to you." Khaleesi said. "We've been in love and I'm having his child. Everything looked clear for awhile. I'd have a noble king by my side that would never desert me. When he found out he had Targaryen blood in him...we haven't slept together since. He's told me that breaking things off with me is something he wants to think about clearly. He doesn't know if his feelings are due to his upbringing, the fear of the war, or if he truly feels them."
"So you want to stop the relationship?" I asked. "You want that power instead of giving it to him?"
"No. I can't find the words to say what I mean. I guess it's because I've wanted to break things off with him for awhile now."
Khaleesi had been doubting her love for Jon? Part of me wanted to jump on the opportunity and tell her that she should. That she should let Jon go and have me in her bed.
"This would be the best time to tell him you want him out of your bed." I told her as I did my best to be neutral. "Jon won't sense any betrayal on your part. He might even see it as you respecting his wishes and leaving him. He might be afraid to tell you to go. You are...forceful at times."
Daenerys smiled. She had two dragons and had used them to burn people alive. We had talked about that before and she had promised never to do so again. But her reputation still proceeded her and people feared being eaten by her children. Of course Jon didn't fear being eaten by dragons now. Him and Khaleesi had formed too close of a bound for that ever to happen.
"Why do you want to break things off with him?" I asked Daenerys again. "Jon is a perfect match for you. He is the ice to your flames."
"I know he's the best match for me." She said with pain in her voice. "He is young and good-looking. Just running my fingers through his hair is thrilling. He is the most noble person I have ever met. Jon cares for the common folk and not because he has something to gain from it. He is an amazing man and there will be few like him in the future. It makes no sense for me to break things off with him. Yet...I don't want him. Maybe I don't want what is best for me."
"If your mind is set on this path, I will not argue differently. What about the North? Will you still claim it or will you give it back to Jon?"
"I know Jon doesn't care about being a king but he knows about keeping the Northerner's loyalties. If I give the North back to him then his kingdom will be more likely to be peaceful. I don't need Seven Kingdoms, I'll do with six."
A break between North and South. It would be a terrifying thought if I were to forget it wouldn't be a violent separation. Jon and Daenerys were friendly with each other and I doubted that would change. The South would have an ally in the North. If anything ever threatened Westeros again then everyone would unite. This place now knew what the end looked like and that there needed to be unity to fight it.
That would be the early years after the end of the War for the Dawn. But eventually people would begin to forget the reasons for what happened in Westeros so long ago. No, not long ago. It could take as little as ten or twenty years for someone to start a rebellion. Maybe sooner even. It would take good rulers for both the North and South to remain stable for generations.
"Do you think it's possible he will accept my proposal?" Daenerys asked.
"It is a good one." I told her. "Jon won't have to deal with incest nor any rebellions that might arise because he bent the knee."
"And what about our child?"
"I don't know, Khaleesi. That is the only thing that Jon may not fully accept letting go."
Jon's father had died by the hands of Robert Baratheon. His mother had died after giving birth to him. Only recently had he learned about his true heritage. He had learned that his father was Rhaegar Targaryen and not Eddard Stark. He had learned his mother was Lyanna Stark and not some random whore. Jon knew what it was like to never know your parents while growing up.
"What if I allow him to stay in communication?" Daenerys asked. "I will also tell our child the truth of their heritage."
"So your child won't wonder like he did." I said and nodded. "That could work. Do you have another suitor in mind?"
"Yes."
She had said it so quickly that I was shocked. It couldn't be me she wanted, of course, so who else? Jaime Lannister had proved himself to be a decent man but his heart seemed to be with Brienne of Tarth. My mind kept going to every man that would be a good fit. I even went to men such as Tyrion Lannister.
"Can you guess?" Daenerys asked as she blushed.
The way she looked at me and her embarrassment gave me my answer. I hadn't dared believe and yet here was my proof. My hand was shaking as I placed it behind Daenerys' head. For a moment we just looked at each other. There were many others that were more suited to the position of king than I. But if my love wanted me I would not deny her.
After a moment of hesitation she leaned her head down to mine and we kissed. It was all that I had expected and more. Her lips were soft and fierce at the same time. How she kissed me wasn't the way a queen would and yet there was a regal air to it.
"You don't mind that the child isn't fathered by you?" Daenerys asked once we had stopped.
"Khaleesi," I told her and smiled. "It doesn't matter to me. What I have always desired is your happiness. Though I don't often say it, I care for your dragons so because they are your children. Not by blood, but you have taken them as your offspring and therefore I will protect them. The same is true of the child that's now in your womb. Your child does not have my blood, but it is your offspring and therefore I will protect it."
"It took you some time to adore my dragons so. What a lousy father you are."
I smiled and then we both broke out into laughter.
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