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RIN
It was difficult looking at Bronn again even after all the years and realities between us. I had never understood my feelings for him. I didn't know where they had come from and why they never fully went away. Why did I recall our time together with any fondness? Was I broken in some way?
The answers didn't matter as we walked through Storm's End. My feelings for the sellsword weren't great enough to keep me in this reality. The rhythm with which Jorah stepped on the stones made me feel calmer about this venture.
"So is your companion going to take a name?" Bronn asked.
"Robin." I replied calmly.
The same name as Lord Robin Arryn in my home reality. I had been able to take over the Eyrie because his people hadn't liked him. And when I had come in as a force of nature, they had bowed and allowed my request. That had been the same night I had been able to free Jon and have him become my husband for a short time.
"And does he agree with it?" Bronn asked and I could sense the fear in his voice.
I understood the uncertainty that was plaguing him now. A strange woman had come to his doorstep and asked for his help. His eyes were now opened to a greater world than many were aware of. At least he wasn't running away from the truth. Possibly he still wanted me in some manner.
[It is fitting.] Jorah told me. [You do like to recall the past with your names.]
"He does like the name." I replied. "He and I can talk with our minds. It wasn't an easy ability to master. But worth it in instances when silence is required."
Bronn shook his head and continued to walk. His reaction to the truth made me more certain it was dangerous to let the whole truth out at once. He was getting used to the fact alternate realities existed and I had powers granted to me. I didn't want to risk his sanity by telling Bronn how I had killed Robin. How my victory had allowed me to drive the mad Daenerys Targaryen away. The memory was hard to push away as what she had become still tore at me.
To escape the past I focused on the present. Though we were some distance away from the shore, I could still smell the bay. The scent reminded me of the Raqus estate. How things had been much simpler back then. How I hadn't been pulled into a game of political intrigue back then.
"You can stay here." Bronn said and opened the door to a moderately sized room.
Jorah and I went in side by side. There was a large bed, a fireplace, and a small table. A simple chair was by the table and a large chair was in front of the fireplace.
"Thank you, Bronn." I replied.
"Just don't cause any problems." He retorted gruffly. "We'll speak more in the morning."
With that he shut the door and left. Jorah took off his mask and put it on the table. He ran a hand across his head and I could tell he was deep in thought. Before taking us to our room, Bronn had divulged some facts about this reality. Daenerys hadn't turned and the thought made me happy. There was also a worry in my mind that the longer we stayed, the more likely it was I would have to kill her again.
"You haven't changed your mind." Jorah said simply.
"I think the situation makes us more needed." I replied.
That was a lie. Sarisa Targaryen was having a great life in a world of peace. There would, of course, be conflicts but for now there was nothing for the girl to worry about. She had a loving mother and father to watch over her. One day a tutor would come to her that she respected. There was no need for us to stay here.
"I owe it to Jon Snow to watch over Sarisa Targaryen." I argued. "She has driven away all of her tutors. She will respect me. She will listen to me. I am the wildness that flows through her veins. She will have no choice and so learn to be a good ruler."
"Sarisa is protected by another me and Khaleesi." Jorah pointed out. "She doesn't need us. We can fly away tonight and go somewhere else. Possibly even to the point in time where a Yeerk first entered a Gedd."
It had been the need to flee from the Andalites that had caused us to be here. My mistake had put us in another version of Westeros. A version of Westeros that contained Jon's daughter. I had hatched his children, but they weren't human. Sarisa was human. She could carry on the Targaryen bloodline that had been lost with Jon, Daenerys, and Tyrion.
"She is protected, but not by me." I said. "How can a human compare to the protection Lightbringer can provide? Jon died and the least I can do in his memory is to protect his offspring."
"Any debt you incurred from Jon was paid by defeating the Night King and granting Westeros two hundred years of peace." Jorah reassured me. "The guilt you feel now is not real. It is just a remnant from another time."
I looked into my love's blue eyes and saw something buried beneath them. After spending centuries with him I had learned to read all of his signs. Signs that were sometimes buried under his conscious mind. He could do the same with me. If he ran into Daenerys he could do the same with her. I would say nothing to him until I could understand the fear that was eating him.
"And what if being with Sarisa is the only way to make sure she lives?" I asked. "There are infinite Sarisas, but does that mean we can leave this one alone? Just because it seems like she is protected?"
"We need to go." Jorah replied. "We found out what we needed."
Others wouldn't have spotted the growing fear in his voice, but I did. I heard it just like I noticed the subtle movements of the wind while flying or heard the soft sounds of prey while hunting. My love was stronger than most but even he had his limits. Even he had things that would make him flee in terror. In this reality there was only one thing that would affect him so. It was my duty, as a wife and friend, to make him say his own fear. To admit his own insecurities.
"You're hiding something." I told him. "Your main concern isn't Sarisa."
Jorah nodded and I read much in that simple action. He was not an uncaring man and so his fear was making him run away from helping a girl. I wondered what it would be like to see the human child of Jon's loins. My children with him were Kaari and not human. How long had it taken for me to fully accept I wasn't human? To be so casual as to refer to myself as my species? This reality had seen the death of the Kaari and all the descendants would not have the blood that contained magic. The magic that was one of the few things people remembered about my House.
"My main concern is you, as it always has been." Jorah lied.
We had been through many trials and tribulations over the centuries. With his help, I had taken down the Mad Queen Daenerys Targaryen. I had defeated the Night King. I had killed R'hllor and so earned the eternal support of the Nieth. And when we had traveled across realities, we had faced other hardships too. Each time we had helped each other survive. No, not survive: live.
Surviving meant you merely put one foot forward and continued to breathe. To live you needed to embrace the universe as it was and smile. With Jorah, even in the darkest moments, there was joy. True bliss existed when I was with him and there was nothing for us to do.
"As always, I am thankful you chose me." I replied. "But I am not the only person you have loved. I am not the only one to warm your bed in winter."
"But you are the one here." Jorah said and took my hands in his. "You are the one that owns my heart. If you die I will be broken and alone. I might find another then. Until that dark day comes to pass, you own me completely."
I believed him. Yet how he took my hands showed how scared he was. He expected me to be like a human and respond to things humans would react to. I was different not just because I was a Kaari, but because I was raised by direwolves. I had found a scent and would follow it until the bitter end.
"You're lying to me." I said and looked into his eyes. "There is another that haunts your dreams. Someone else you have loved."
"You know I would never seek Daenerys' bed." Jorah argued.
"I know, my love."
Jorah squeezed my hands as if to steady himself. The fear was twisting his mind to the point he had tried to lie to me. This would make me nervous if I wasn't well aware he would conquer his fear. He loved me too much to lie for any great amount of time. Finally he let go of my hands and stood by the fire.
"Jon Stark is still alive." Jorah said slowly. "He is not only alive but King of the North. He has made sure there is peace between North and South. I doubt that will change unless he dies and is no more."
Jorah leaned down and put his hands in the fire. Because we shared one life, he was not burned. Not even singed. He stared at his hands to gather strength for what he would say next. He never put his hands in any flames unless it was for contemplation. He had told me once it was the only way to think at certain times in his long life.
"He is alive." Jorah continued with his hands still in the fire. "For now our adventures would be limited to the South, but things are rarely simple when we visit other realities. Who can say for certain if we'd never go to Winterfell. If we did then...then I would have to see him again. Seeing his death has tainted every version of him for me. I don't feel joy at the thought of seeing him again, I feel a profound sadness."
"Then I'll make sure you don't have to visit Winterfell. You won't need to ever worry about seeing him." I replied.
"I can stay away from this Jon like you can keep your cunt away from this reality's version of me. You have stated before how there are some ties that extend between realities. How some people will always be drawn together if given the right circumstances. To resist such a pull would be a power only a god could have. No, not even they could resist such a bond. Even if I did my best to stay away from him, I would have to go to my husband."
"Your bond to him is nothing like it is to me. If it was then this reality's version of you would be ******* both Daenerys and Jon."
Jorah stood up and walked over to me. He put his hands on my hips and, as always, desire started to course through my veins. His eyes told me he did not believe me, but he would take relief in my strength. I put my hands on his shoulder and we shared a brief kiss. All of our worries and doubts lessened by the time we stopped.
"I'll kill R'hllor again." I promised my husband of centuries. "That way if we need allies, the Nieth will be there for us."
"How many times have you killed him? I've lost count."
"I am your blade, my love, and you wield me well."
He kissed me lightly on the lips and I wondered how many times I had killed the rogue Nieth. In a few realities R'hllor had turned out to be a real deity. A powerful one at that that had not reacted kindly to his attempted murder. In those times I had to flee. But the times I had killed the rogue Nieth had greatly outnumbered the true deity. And after awhile it had become second nature to kill the creature that had once seemed like a threat.
I ran my fingers through his hair as our kisses deepened. His lips had been one of the constants in my long life. We had ****** once and had become inseparable. I remembered Alex and how things had been uncertain with him. Yet by the end he had more than proved himself to me. He was the dark to Jorah's light.
"You mean to stay here, don't you?" Jorah asked. "What would be the purpose of killing him again?"
"The same reason we do it in the other realities: it keeps everyone safe." I replied and noticed his touches becoming more sexual. "And you're wanting to distract me so we leave here in the morning."
"Is it working."
"No as killing R'hllor will protect Westeros. There was a reason the Nieth considered killing R'hllor important."
"They didn't go to King's Landing. It's not as important as you think."
"Or they tried searching and failed. Or found him but were killed in Asshai."
Jorah took me in his arms and I chuckled. I adored these moments of peace. These moments where the rest of the world did not seem to exist. R'hllor was nowhere to be found. My need to protect Sarisa Targaryen was gone. Jon Stark was nowhere to be found. My husband and I kissed yet again.
"Do you want to stay here, Jorah?" I asked wistfully as he started to undress me.
"No, Rin, I don't." Jorah replied as he lost control of himself. "But there are no arguments I could make that wouldn't sound like they came from a coward."
We made love and took comfort in each other. Afterwards I lay in his arms with my head on his chest. He ran his fingers gingerly through my hair. We kissed gently and I felt sleep start to overcome my body. But there was one more thing I wanted to tell him.
"I'll kill R'hllor quickly, my love." I promised my husband. "Then we can leave."
"And I will stay here where Jon will not come." Jorah agreed. "He is in the North far away from Storm's End."
It would be awhile until I could feel Jorah's warmth like I did now. It would be awhile until we could **** again. But we would have many centuries to embrace each other like we had. We would have many centuries to fall asleep next to each other and wake up to gentle kisses. Besides, with our telepathy we could talk even when a great distance apart.
"What will happen once you return." Jorah asked.
"I don't know." I replied. "Maybe the choice will be decided for us."
"Maybe you'll do something that Tyrion would approve of."
"That is a possibility."
We chuckled as we fell asleep. Tomorrow would come and we would be ready for it.
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