This chapter has been edited due to content. I edited a sex scene to plot relevant dialogue. If you want to see the unedited version GO HERE.
"Your grace." The man said and opened the door to a small room.
It smelled unclean like the rest of the house. I imagined that if I cleaned the house for centuries the stench would never go away. Instead of disgusting me, it made me happy. It made it easier to imagine I was back with my pack. It was easier to imagine the burdens that tore at me didn't yet exist.
"I am sorry that I couldn't clean up better." The man said with some embarrassment.
"It will do." Jorah said simply.
We waited until the man couldn't be heard anymore. I sat down on the edge of the bed and closed my eyes. The scent of Jon's child would not leave my mind. It called me to this place and demanded I stay. Yet I knew staying here might not be for the best. I had given up all leadership of Westeros to others. If this continent was to fall, I would leave the final decision to the gods. This wasn't even my Westeros and so I had even less of a claim to its destiny.
"We're not leaving." Jorah replied and sat beside me. "Though that would be the best option."
"The child..." I mused. "We could look after him or her for a little while. This world hardly seems to be on the brink of war. It is peaceful. If there is a war then we can leave."
"I have never known you to join a cause and then leave the war."
He rested his hand on my knee and squeezed it. I looked in his eyes and tried to lie. But that didn't work with him. Not after we had known each other for so long. If the child was in danger I would defend her. The sense of her being female lingered in her sense. No, that wasn't it. I missed my children I had left behind. My husbands Alex Isaacs, Sam Isaacs, Jon Stark, and Tristan Throin had all given me children I had abandoned. All of those children I couldn't take with me through my travels. They belonged in their own realities and not the many I traversed.
"As you've felt such a deep connection between the child and this reality's Jorah, I'd assumed the child is protected by him." Jorah reassured me. "And you know how attentive I am to those I protect."
Yes, the child would be in good hands. There was no need for me to stay here and make sure she was safe. All that needed to be done was leave her in Jorah Mormont's good care. As she was connected to Jorah and he was married to Daenerys, that meant the child also had the protection of the Mother of Dragons. There was no reason Jorah and I should stay here.
"This reality's Jorah has married Daenerys." I said. "And they rule the South. So she is sane."
"She more than deserves the Iron Throne." Jorah replied. "She managed everything without turning mad. And Jon more than deserves to rule the North. Has he married?"
"You were married twice before me, my love. You know that being married doesn't mean one has a child. The only child with his blood I sensed was the one he had with Daenerys."
I could tell my husband had more questions to ask. I also knew he wouldn't ask them as I couldn't answer them. Just as I had the weakness of the child, he had the weakness of Jon. In our original reality he, Jon, and myself had been married. To me being married to Jon was nothing more than a need to continue the Kaari line. For Jorah, however, it was something much more. The two men had loved each other. When Jon had been killed by the Night King, Jorah had been broken.
"Even if he isn't with someone, you would be interfering too much by wooing him." I told him. "Jon would be confused as you aren't the only Jorah in this reality. Besides, weren't you the one saying we shouldn't stay here? That we should move on?"
"If we stay long enough then I can have but a glance of him." Jorah replied.
"I know you as well as you know me. You couldn't resist just looking at him. You would bed him if at all possible."
I closed my eyes and remembered how primal it was when they first had sex. It was right after the Battle for Bear Island. They felt such a need for each other that they made love in the snow. I opened my eyes to see my husband looking at me. We both knew we had reached an impasse in our argument.
"We need to see someone that can help us find out more." I finally said. "Someone that we know can be trusted."
"Is Bronn alive?" Jorah asked.
"I am going to find out."
Bronn and I had a very complicated relationship. In the aftermath of Euron Greyjoy attacking Daenerys' fleet, I had been sent to Westeros by the Rasiki. The process of teleporting another was unstable. You could think of a destination and yet couldn't fully control where the person would end up. I had happened to land by the Lannister army. When I was about to give birth to Jeor Kaari, I had decided to give myself up. If my child were to live I couldn't be wandering around on my own.
When I was escorted to King's Landing Cersei Lannister, who at that time was the queen, imagined unique tortures for me. She delighted in tormenting me both mentally and physically. At one point she demanded I get pregnant. I fought off my first rapist and then Bronn offered me a deal. Instead of the violent sex that would leave me even more broken, he would **** me so that my body wouldn't suffer. He wasn't there when I had to drink moon tea and the child was aborted. Yet after that we had formed a short lived romance. I still didn't know if my feelings for him were born out of torment or if they were true.
I reached out with my mind and tried to pick up his scent. It was one that had a unique taste to it. One that tasted of blood and sweat. There was even the smell of lovemaking. He was a man that went for personal glory over the betterment of the world. He wanted both what he felt was his and to be left alone. Bronn would be the perfect man to talk to if I wanted to keep my secrets. His scent was tied to the scent of a stag.
"Bronn is at Storm's End." I said to Jorah. "At least I sense House Baratheon. It could be that the House survived and he has married into it. In any case he is where our own Bronn lived. After all this time he has a castle."
"And most likely doesn't want to be disturbed." Jorah replied. "Which means if we stay we'll need to convince him to help us. It'd be better if you appeared to him first. We'll have to hope he falls in love with your beauty like ours did."
"He has a soft spot for beautiful women but he isn't stupid. He's not my Bronn so I will not go further than I have to."
"Agreed."
I wouldn't have sex with Bronn ever again. For awhile after I had been freed from Cersei's torments, I had longed for him to touch me. For him to make love to me. Those feelings had long since passed. Besides, I highly doubted there would be any point in seducing the man. He was a womanizer and his loyalty was different than most. However, he was smart and would sense a trap. If he decided to react poorly to me then he could put the current plan in danger. We had no one else in this world we could trust. Daenerys, Jorah, and Jon were much too connected with the politics of this reality. Daenerys and Jorah ruled the South and Jon ruled the North. There wasn't any possibility that our meeting them could be kept secret.
"Is it destined that Bronn always gets a castle?" Jorah mused.
"Nothing is destined." I replied. "There are connections that go between realities, but nothing is for certain. This world's Jorah never met me nor does he know me. However, if I approach him he will start to be pulled towards me. It doesn't mean he ever has to react to those feelings, but those emotions will be there. Our Daenerys went mad and this one has remained sane."
"Or else both she and I have gone mad."
I chuckled at his joke. Yet he had a point I should consider a possibility. While my Jorah had remained sane, there were other versions of him that hadn't. Ones that had released a deadly virus in the nightmare. I shivered at the memory. The people that had been affected were turned into zombies. Creatures whose only thoughts had been to kill. I had started the Mormonts to find a cure and I had eventually succeeded. But there had been many loses until I got to that point.
"You're thinking of Alex and Sam." Jorah said and I nodded. "You shouldn't worry about this reality's Jorah. Those two were far removed from me."
"Doctors Alexander and Samuel Isaacs." I replied. "At the end Alex proved his worth. He sacrificed everything for me at the end. He gave up his love and identity so I'd be safe. So that there would be a chance that I could escape. Yet his sacrifice was in vain and I was captured."
"So even if this version of me is mad, you could turn him."
"No, I didn't turn the others. I never erased their madness as it still ate away at them. Their love for me made it easier for them to be noble. But if at any point I told them to give in to their desires, they would have done so. I wouldn't have made them noble men if I could. Their darkness reflected my own."
"It's why you stayed with Alex for so long."
Yes, that was exactly why. I fell in love with a darkness that was so similar to my own. It was a romance that started slowly and yet our passion increased quickly. Only after the death of our first child did I realize what had happened. We both changed to the point we were able to fall in love yet again. That was when Eve was born and proved to be the final test on if we would stay together. My daughter's face sometimes still kept me up at night. I should've returned to her and explained things. Not just to her but to Sam and Eyrie. My son would know the truth about me by now. I had to trust that they would continue their lives without me. I had to trust that with all those I left behind.
"You reflect my goodness." I said with a sad smile. "You're the part of me that can be noble."
Jorah leaned his head down and kissed me. Even after all these years my body reacted as if it were my first night with him.That one kiss drove us both to become lost in each other.
Jorah rolled off of me and I smiled at him. We positioned ourselves so that my head was on his chest and his fingers went through my hair.
"Sometimes I feel like we're new lovers." Jorah said with a small chuckle.
"Or we're not stable." I replied. "What stable people decide to fuck in such a precarious position?"
"There is always the hope that we will leave after meeting with Bronn."
By my love's tone I could tell he didn't truly believe we were leaving soon. Ever since I sensed the child we were doomed to stay. This was a time of peace which meant, hopefully, that no wars would start. But wars tended to follow each other. It had been a miracle that I had let my Westeros have two hundred years of peace.
* * *
"I'm sorry that I don't have better food to serve you." The man apologized.
Our host had given Jorah and myself bread and a thick broth to eat. It had already been clear that he was poor and far from wealthy. Besides that he was showing us kindness in giving food. Though that was probably due to the fact that he thought the king was in his house. Humans acted more kind to those in authority. At least most. There were always outliers that scoffed at the idea others deserved respect purely because of their positions.
"It is good." Jorah replied and the man nodded.
I could tell by his tone he didn't care. There were more important things on his mind than mere food. We had both eaten worse in our journeys. There had been times when we hadn't been able to eat for days. The fact we could be well fed today meant a lot. It meant we could better conserve our strength for later.
[We'll have to walk until nightfall.] I said.
[I thought after a few hours you could transform.] Jorah argued.
[In Essos I could hide the truth, in Westeros it is different. The quickest way to Storm's End will have too many people.]
[You're being overly cautious.]
[You'd be worried if I wasn't.]
My husband had to hold back the chuckle that threatened to escape from his throat. After breakfast Jorah and myself started to leave. Before we could, though, the man gave us supplies. We could've gotten to Storm's End without them but it would've been rude to refuse.
"Thank you, again." Jorah said and handed me the supplies to carry.
"I only wish I had some horses to give you." The man replied. "There is a tavern close by that has a decent sized stable. I am sure that you will find the prices favorable."
"I am sure we will."
Horses. Demons with four legs. Useless creatures that humans loved to use for transportation. I kept my face blank of emotions. Once nightfall came then we could make it to our destination in a few short hours at most. More if we had to lengthen our journey over a series of days.
"I haven't been to King's Landing before," The man continued. "But other travelers have told me the quickest ways to get there. I am sure the Queen will want you by her side soon."
"I know the ways." I replied. "We do thank you for your help."
"I am wondering if I may have something in return for helping you."
"Your silence will earn you your life."
"My companion means to say that you will be rewarded in the future."
[We have nothing to pay with, Jorah.] I explained.
[After two-hundred years of ruling Westeros, I expected your wilder tendencies to be in the past.] Jorah said with a sigh.
With a few more minutes of good-byes, Jorah and myself started to make our journey to Storm's End.
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