This chapter has been edited due to content. I made minor edits in this chapter. If you want to see the unedited version GO HERE.
JORAH MORMONT
Sarisa Targaryen looked fierce even though she was not yet an adult. Her eyes had a mix of both her father and mother. Though she seemed to be more of her father than her mother. We were in the godswood of the Red Keep. It was a poor imitation of a godswood and my yearning to go North burned in my blood. That was until I looked at my daughter.
"Come on, Father!" Sarisa chuckled before running away again.
"Let an old man catch his breath!" I said and pretended to have trouble breathing. I could rush to her now and end the game, but it was much more enjoyable for the both of us to extend the game. Her footsteps quickly disappeared in the distance before I again resumed the chase with a smile on my face. It didn't matter that she was actually Jon's daughter as she was still the offspring of Khaleesi. And I was bound to anyone with her blood.
"Ha!" Sarisa said with glee when she jumped from behind a tree. "I got you."
"Yes, yes you did." I agreed.
Here before me was the future of House Targaryen. Here was the hope that the House I had once helped destroy could continue. She would go on to be a worthy ruler like her mother before her. At least once she grew out of this childish phase that should have long ago passed. But at least my daughter had time to grow as now was a time of peace. The War for the Dawn had been recent enough that people still yearned to work together. Something that would pass away much too soon.
I started to run away from her and she chased me. I kept my pace slow enough that she wouldn't have any trouble keeping up with me. I could imagine her black hair billowing out behind her as her short legs pounded the ground beneath her. Sarisa would one day become a fierce queen, but for now, she was merely a girl with nothing to worry about. One day she would have the fate of Westeros on her shoulders but now she couldn't understand the world.
Sarisa stopped and I turned around. My eyes followed her to the two dragons flying overhead. One was green and the other black. Rhaegal and Drogon had both survived the horrific war. Hopefully the smaller one would find a rider one day. Jon had Targaryen blood in him and should've taken Rhaegal. But he was too much of a Northerner to do so. That was something I could respect.
"Will I have a dragon one day?" Sarisa asked.
"Maybe Rhaegal will allow you to be his rider." I mused. "We have found other eggs and yet they haven't hatched. Something was special about your mother."
What a sacrifice it had been. Drogo and her son had died. It could be that those deaths had been considered sacrifices by the gods. An amusement to them to offer dragons back into the world as long as unneeded blood was spilt. Yet I couldn't remain angry at them when I saw Daenerys' children.
"I want one as big as Drogon." Sarisa said.
"I understand the appeal." I replied and looked back down at her. "Dragons only grow so large if they are free to roam. Drogon left your mother's side for awhile. Hence his stature."
"Why did he return?"
"I've told you the story before."
"But I enjoy hearing it so."
Her childish innocence was enough to break any barrier I might have had. We found a tree to sit under before I started. Sarisa couldn't help but twitch in excitement. She couldn't wait to hear yet another story about her mother.
"Daenerys had exiled me a second time but I needed to win her favor." I started. "The only thing that matters to me in this world is being in service to her. Since there was a fight to be held in her honor, I decided to risk my life for her. Maybe she would be impressed enough to allow me back by her side. Whatever her decision at that moment would've been is something I will never be able to tell. It could be that me helping to rescue her from the Dothraki helped change her mind completely or maybe it was already changed."
"What about Drogon?" My daughter begged.
"You are an impatient one. But yes, to Drogon. Just as the fight was ending the Sons of the Harpy appeared. It was by my spear that your mother was spared. We rushed to the arena to exit how I had entered. But the traitorous group had blocked that way. It seemed like we would die there and I wouldn't allow your mother to die without a fight. When all hope was lost there was the most beautiful sound I have ever heard. Drogon roared with all the fury he was able to. He landed in the arena and rode away with your mother. Without his appearance you would have never been born."
"He returned because Mother called to him?"
"That is the only possible reason. He knew his mother was in trouble and came to her aid. He would've died for her."
"I will do the same for Mother if the situation ever calls for it."
Sarisa didn't know what she was saying. She had never had to contemplate death or think of a cause bigger than herself. It was also perverse thinking of a child dying for her parents. My time would come and she would carry on the line. My children from my first wife had never breathed air and she had died trying to birth the sixth one. Sarisa didn't deserve to die before Daenerys did.
Even though I wanted to reprimand her I couldn't. It was better to have her cultivate her strength now when it was easy to do so. Later she would need all the strength she could muster to rule the Six Kingdoms.
"Sarisa, you know that learning is important." I said. "Especially for the future queen. Yet you keep chasing off one tutor after another. Soon there might not be any willing to teach you."
"One day there will be a maester to teach me." Sarisa argued. "Then I won't have to worry about getting a tutor."
"And when will that be? To become a maester is not an easy task. Nor can one earn the rank in a few simple years. You might be a woman by the time a maester is available."
Sarisa looked away from me and I allowed her to. For one such as she, it would do more harm than good to push my lesson. She would listen only as long as she wanted to. It was delicate work raising a child and I planned to do so correctly. I didn't want to drive her away from me and needed her to learn the right lessons.
"You and Mother aren't going to die soon." Sarisa said and met my gaze. "There are no rebellions and no one would dare kill either of you now."
"We can't always be certain of the future." I reminded her.
I couldn't continue and think of Daenerys dying. There had been many a time in the War for the Dawn where the possibility of me getting news of her death was more than certain. Summer was not the time to entertain the cold thoughts of winter.
"But my tutors are annoying." Sarisa replied angrily. "They act as if they forget who I am. They give me lessons that don't make any sense. Why should I learn long poems? How will that teach me to rule?"
"Teachers teach." I reminded her gently. "There are things that you won't learn unless they tell you. My knowledge only goes so far and I am well aware of my limitations. There are lesson that I couldn't help to teach."
"Like what? You know everything."
"While I am good at tactics, Tyrion Lannister is my superior in that field. While I am a politician, Sansa Stark could easily overpower me in a political battle."
"And how did poems teach you anything?"
"They are a form of recording history from the actual events to how people perceived them."
"Do you know anything about the cowardly Kaari?"
"I think only the maesters know anything of worth about them. All I know is that they were extremely talented in magic and were wiped out by House Targaryen."
With her eyes Sarisa begged me to tell me more and then sighed when it became apparent I couldn't. House Kaari was a mystery that had been forgotten by many. Nowadays it was merely an expletive used by the remaining Targaryens. And, even then, it was not commonly used. My daughter did like to learn about the obscure which made having a wise maester a necessity. Though part of me worried that she would attempt to become a maester herself one day.
"Sarisa, I understand that you don't like your tutors but that doesn't mean you're allowed to treat them with such disrespect." I told her as I got up. "You won't be able to do only the things you enjoy your whole life. Your responsibilities as queen makes that more certain."
"But you get to do what you want." Sarisa argued and started to follow me out of the godswood. "You're able to form the South in anyway you want."
"No, I'm not." I told her. "I have to follow rules like anyone else. While Jon is an ally, his descendants might not be. All deals worked with him are kept with that in mind. I also must make certain to not cause unrest in the South. Once this peace is done then I have to be ever more vigilant."
"It doesn't seem like you have to follow rules."
"You'll find your perceptions change over time, Sarisa."
We were silent as we took in the beauty of the godswood. When I had taken my place as Daenerys' king, my life had changed. What was once closed off had become open to me. These days I experienced more freedom than I had in a long time. My bed was shared with the woman I loved and I was able to help her build her new world. The world she had dreamed of ever since walking out of the pyre unburnt.
There was one point in time when to get back home I had to make a deal with King Robert Baratheon. In my weakness I had agreed to spy on Viserys and Daenerys. But without agreeing to that Khaleesi and I would've never crossed paths. Maybe committing one sin for such beauty had been acceptable.
"When have you had to do something you didn't want?" Sarisa asked.
"Too many things for this mind to count." I replied. "I had to watch as my second wife leave me for another man. I had tainted my very soul for her wellbeing and yet she left me. She preferred riches over a good heart. I had to go into exile when your mother banished me from Meereen."
"But you returned. So you got to do what you wanted."
"The moment she banished me I had to accept my fate and it was only when I had something valuable that I could return."
"You mean when you kidnapped Uncle Tyrion?"
She laughed once I nodded in reply. It had been while traveling through the Doom of Valyria that I had bonded with Tyrion. We had recited a poem together and I realized he was more than an annoyance, he was a smart man. Later I had found out that he would've arrived in Meereen without my help. It hadn't occurred to me to think why he had been in Essos, only that he was.
"Could Tyrion tutor me?" Sarisa asked.
"No," I replied. "He has enough duties with being the Hand of the Queen."
Sarisa nodded but it was as if she didn't really understand what I had said. She, unlike her mother, had grown up in comfort. She didn't yet know the harshness of the world and what one had to do. What one must sometimes endure for the sake of survival. Though Daenerys, herself, had taken a long time to understand the concept of compromise.
My daughter and I walked to her room. We passed by many servants and guards, all of who bowed to us. I bowed my head to show my respect while Sarisa didn't follow suit. I held back a sigh as I realized yet another lesson that would need to be taught to the Targaryen child. Just because someone held a lower station than you didn't mean you could pass them by. In my life I had been Lord of Bear Island, an exiled knight, and King of the South. I had experienced first hand how life could humble you.
I opened the door to her room and she rushed in. It was a large room fit for a future queen. On one end of the room was a fireplace. Something that was unused until the Wintertime. On Bear Island I would have my fireplace burning throughout the year, though more so when winter came. Around its edges were small toys that had been scattered throughout the course of a week.
Her bed was too large for her now but one day she would grow into it. The sheets were black with a red sheen to them. I closed the door behind me and walked over to her bed. I put a hand on the bed and felt its softness. My daughter had known nothing but these sorts of comforts her entire life. How was she to rule if she couldn't truly understand Westeros? Should she spend time with Jon? Could she learn something in the North that she couldn't in the South?
"Father!" Sarisa shouted and I turned to the table.
Beside the table was a bookshelf so that she could spend her days learning and her tutors could have easy access to valuable resources. The table currently held no items except for a small cup of tea that Sarisa was fond of. She sat in one chair while I went in the other.
"Can you stay here today?" Sarisa asked.
"Unless my duty calls." I replied.
"I understand. You can't always do what you want."
Her tone was dismissive. If she picked up any of my lecture today that was a good thing. She had time to learn and embrace the truth of the world. In the meantime she drank her tea and we talked. Unlike earlier our conversation was full of jesting and when she laughed I smiled. This child was not of my loins but I couldn't tell that right now. I doubted she was disappointed that her other father wasn't here.
A short time passed and she started playing with her toys. I sat in my chair and just watched her. Even though she asked for me to join, there was never an opening that lasted more than a minute. I turned my head to see Khaleesi enter the room. She stood behind me and looked at our daughter. She looked at the next queen of the Iron Throne.
I felt one of her hands squeeze my shoulder. She was worried as was her right. If Sarisa continued to drive off every tutor, the South could quickly devolve into chaos. For now the South was kept peaceful because its rulers were smart enough to navigate through every pitfall. Daenerys and myself depended on Tyrion, but we didn't use him as a crutch. We used him to understand things we hadn't thought of. If Sarisa remained ignorant of the world then it would be her hand or king who ruled the South, not her.
"Sarisa," Daenerys said. "Your Father and I have some things we need to discuss."
"Can't they wait?" Sarisa asked.
"No, but we will be back later."
"Will you be back soon?"
"As soon as we can."
Sarisa nodded and we left the room. Now by my daughter's chambers was Maridos Foren, a former slave turned servant to Daenerys. When he was granted freedom due to my queen's insistence on freeing slaves, he eventually made his way to Westeros. He was shy of nineteen years old and had an eye for my daughter. If he were of more prestigious background and not in the Queensguard, an arranged marriage between him and Sarisa would've been formed.
"If he lays a hand on Sarisa-" Daenerys whispered as we walked away.
"He won't have hands." I replied. "He is much too shy to do more than look at her."
"You mean like how you were with me? I wished you had touched me sooner than you did. Maybe even with Drogo feet away?"
"It would've been a good way to die with my **** deep inside you. Your moans muffled in my mouth."
"I was serious with Sarisa, we do have things to do. After we go over a list of more possible suitors, we can do something else before we return to our daughter."
We smiled at each other and we were soon at our chambers. On her desk was a scroll full of different names. From the poor handwriting I could tell it was Daenerys who had written the list. The people mentioned went from those I hadn't heard of to those whose names I barely recalled hearing. With so many failures we weren't likely to get any famous tutors. Until a good number of maesters had been trained, it wasn't certain that even our own could give Sarisa the education she needed.
"Maybe Bronn knows someone." Daenerys said with a groan. "What else do we have to lose?"
"We shouldn't give up hope yet." I said and sat down at the desk. "Has Tyrion gone over this list yet?"
"I was hoping to get your opinions before asking my Hand."
"There is no name that I remember clearly. There is not much help I can give."
Daenerys let out a loud sigh. I could tell the signs of her impatience. She didn't trust my opinion more than his, she just wanted to get this problem solved. It was up to me to keep her calm and collected. That was my job as both husband and king.
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