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"Are you sure about this?" Khaleesi asked.
I nodded as we walked around the ship. Everyone around us was too busy and nervous about the near future that they weren't paying attention to us. There was Euron's fleet that could appear at any time and Cersei might not be welcoming once we arrived at King's Landing. Most were unaware about Bran Stark's true allegiance which would have given them just more to be worried about. They didn't need to know even if we managed to get to King's Landing and convince Cersei to ally herself with us, we could still lose.
"I don't trust her." Khaleesi said and crossed her arms. "She never sent her men up North when they were needed. From what Tyrion has said about her, she is less trustworthy than I thought."
Unsaid was the assertion that he had been more than foolish in suggesting getting a wight to convince his sister. He should have known how Cersei would react. Now that I knew what Bran was, I thought it could be that the Stark had manipulated the Imp's mind so that there would be a chance his enemies would die. Could that mean Azor Ahai was one of the party that had gone to capture a wight?
[Sometimes when ruling you have to ally with...people like Cersei Lannister.] I replied. [I do not suggest trusting her but to always be on guard. Yet who else do we have to fight against Euron Greyjoy?]
"Jon and I can defeat Euron's fleet." Khaleesi argued. "Or are you suggesting we ally with Cersei in an attempt to peacefully take King's Landing?"
[If there is a way to spare the people of King's Landing from anyone's wrath, we should. There are so many innocents in that city. So many that have no ability to leave its confines.]
"And I would have burned all of them without thought. Bran showed you more of your abilities, if you are able to always do this, they could make you a powerful king by my side."
[Khaleesi, you will have a strong king by your side but it won't be me. Your body demands to be loved.]
"If I need to ****, I'll find a mistress for myself. I am sure everyone will want the excuse to share my bed. But I won't need to find a lover because it will be a betrayal to you."
There was nothing more I could say on the matter. She would have to learn of her body's needs on her own. The only reason she hadn't needed a lover until Daario was the grief that had consumed her. When a person goes through enough grief there are many changes their body makes. Some people found they don't need to eat as much while others found it impossible to ****.
"There is someone else we could ally ourselves with." Khaleesi said and rested her arms on the railing. "Someone who would be able to kill Bran which would make reclaiming the Iron Throne much easier."
[Azor Ahai could be anyone.] I retorted. [We don't have the time to search for them.]
"You think it could've been someone who went to get a wight?"
I growled as my thoughts had betrayed me. Cersei, Euron, and Bran were enough to occupy my thoughts. Keeping Khaleesi safe in King's Landing might not be easy and her safety would make it hard to think of anything else. Unlike before, I was not able to speak as a human would. Not everyone would understand me and those who could would hear words I did not intend. Either we would perish in fighting Euron and Bran, or we would live. If we survived then it would be time to look for Azor Ahai so that the nothing could be defeated.
[Tormund and Sandor are still in the North.] I pointed out. [If we get too close, Bran will be able to draw Northern suspicion on you.]
"Sansa would never let anything become of that paranoia." Khaleesi replied.
[Sansa Stark is an amazing woman, but she is a politician and ruler. There will be a point that if she tries to enforce her will, chaos could consume the North. Having some suspicion of you might be necessary if we go to Winterfell now.]
"Have you ever thought that you might be Azor Ahai? You were able to contact Bran and were on the mission to get the wight."
I had never thought of myself as the legendary hero. The hero reborn would need to be one that was worthy of devotion. I had sold people into slavery and spied on Khaleesi when we first met. Most likely it was Jon as he was one of the purest souls that Westeros had to offer. He had come back from the dead and most likely fulfilled more of the prophecy than I ever could. No, I had never been a contender for Azor Ahai.
[You know who I am, Khaleesi.] I told her as we headed back to her cabin. [I am not any hero.]
"You are not a pathetic man, my love." Khaleesi said with a smile. "You have done terrible things in the past but you aren't a bad man. If any alive is Azor Ahai, it is you."
[Love blinds you.]
"It does not, Jorah. I have seen the truest parts of yourself and you are worthy of great songs."
[Have you ever thought Jon is Azor Ahai?]
The only response my love had to that was to laugh loudly. She was still laughing when she opened the door to her cabin and we both went inside. Maybe I thought too highly of him or maybe she thought too little of him. If she had not chosen me, he would have made a good match for her. He was everything I could have been. It could be that these thoughts came easier to me since he was not sharing her bed.
* * *
"Your Grace, we have arrived." A soldier said after knocking on the door.
"I will be out shortly." Khaleesi said.
"Yes, Your Grace."
My love was sitting on the edge of her bed. She gripped the edges tightly as her breathing slowly went back to normal. I was sitting by the edge of the door waiting for the moment she was ready to move. As she pulled strength from the queen that was inside her, she walked to the door and I took my place beside her.
She opened the door and the Northerner bowed deeply to her before leading her to the docks. There was much movement everywhere in the ship as people prepared for any betrayal that could happen. We were visiting the woman who had blown up the Sept of Baelor. Though various rumors were said throughout the city that took the blame away from the Lannister.
Once we stepped onto the docks both Drogon and Rhaegal flew around while letting out vicious roars. They were warning Cersei that there would be **** to pay if she dared slay their mother. I steadied my mind so that I could go into Drogon's body at a moment's notice. There had been time to practice going into his body on the ride to King's Landing. If there was a betrayal I would fly Khaleesi away if at all possible.
Jon, Tyrion, and Davos joined us once we had stepped off the docks. All of us looked uneasily at those in Cersei's Queensguard. One or two of them looked at the dragons above and I smelled fear coming off of them in waves. If they weren't so loyal it might have been possible to convince them to forsake their positions.
The Stark smelled nervous but revealed nothing of his thoughts to the others. He might not have been raised as royalty, but his posture showed royal blood flowed through in his veins. Tyrion and Davos didn't hide their nervousness quite as well but did a good job at feigning indifference. Khaleesi showed herself to be a queen and revealed none of the fear she had in her cabin. I had the easiest time hiding my emotions. Not many could decipher the expressions of a direwolf. Most would assume I was angry all of the time.
It was odd looking at King's Landing through the eyes of a direwolf. After seeing the city while searching for the nothing, it looked lifeless. My ears and nose picked up thousands of signals of life. I heard footsteps and smelled freshly baked food. If I hadn't grown used to my new body the city would have soon overwhelmed me. Yet it was nothing in comparison with how I had viewed this place a few nights ago.
When we entered the Red Keep the Queensguard was reinforced with regular guards. The guards would be easier to deal with except for the fact they had more numbers than the Queensguards. I walked closer to Khaleesi as we entered the throne room. Cersei stayed seated but I could smell the fear that showed all she wanted was to run out of the room. She knew she had no power without Euron as he had been her last ally. She also must know her survival wasn't assured once the final war was over.
"I'm glad to see you survived." Cersei said with barely concealed rage. "I received your raven and am curious why you think I'd ever accept your help."
Khaleesi stiffened and I could feel the rage inside of her. She did not like to be disrespected, especially by one such as Cersei. She could have come in the night and burned King's Landing to the ground. I knew how much the loss of power affected my love. But I also trusted her to keep calm during this meeting.
"Because Euron Greyjoy betrayed you." Khaleesi replied calmly. "We know that he tried to kill you and he was able to flee this city. You won't feel safe until he is dead. I want him dead as do you. At the moment we have common ground."
While I loathed the Lannister with the depths of my being, I admired how she reacted. She could have easily yelled out her shock and acknowledged how weak she really was in this situation. Instead the only reaction she had to my love's statement was a look in her eyes that passed with a blink.
"In the Dragonpit Euron was merely pretending to abandon me." Cersei retorted and leaned back in the throne. "And I believe you met him on your way back to Dragonstone. So why do you assume he isn't still loyal to me?"
"Ser Jorah Mormont has seen it." Jon replied. "That is why we risked coming here. The only thing a man like him is interested in is power. He decided that you were weak enough to kill. You survived."
"I wasn't aware Ser Jorah had any powers."
"He was killed during the Battle of Winterfell and rose anew."
"The same battle you had promised to send me men for." Khaleesi said.
Cersei looked dismissively at Khaleesi. We should have never expected to have reinforcements from King's Landing. The only reason I had hoped that she would keep her promise was that Tyrion had trusted her in the matter. Yet he had made a deadly mistake which had at least not cost us the war. He had learned his lesson and was now even wiser because of the experience.
"If Euron was still your ally, we would have encountered him by now." Tyrion pointed out. "He wouldn't have allowed us into the city without a fight. He wants a fight so that it will be easier to kill us."
"Even if I ally with you, who is to say I will live?" Cersei asked with a sneer. "I would die either way."
"If we decide to kill you, at least you will die with honor." Jon replied.
"I don't see how much good honor is to a dead man. And you still haven't proven what you said about Jorah is true."
Khaleesi looked at me with worry on her face. It would, of course, be beneficial if I could speak directly to Cersei. But that didn't seem to be likely to happen. I could talk with my love because our romance went so deep. I could also talk with people who were innocent or at least closer to innocence than most. Cersei was not someone I was connected to deeply and she was far from innocent. She had most likely committed more crimes than could ever be properly counted.
[Queen Cersei Lannister.] I said and nearly choked on the title 'queen'.
Cersei said nothing but raised an eyebrow at Jon. In her posture there was a good attempt at feigning boredom. A dark part of my mind taunted me with the fact that Cersei is what Khaleesi could have become. They mirrored each other so perfectly at times it was hard to remind myself how worthy of devotion Khaleesi was. I wondered if such thoughts plagued her mind.
"When Jorah rose from the dead, he wasn't human." Jon said after a short glance from Daenerys. "I had allowed him to warg into my direwolf's body if he should die. Before he could return to his body, it was burned as were all the fallen heroes of the Battle of Winterfell."
"You mean to tell me that is Ser Jorah Mormont?" Cersei asked dismissively. "I will love seeing you prove that. How can he speak without a mouth?"
"He uses his mind to speak to people. Not everyone can hear him."
"Are you able to hear him?"
"No, but Queen Daenerys is able to. She and others act as translators."
"And what if one of your...translators lies? What if the Targaryen and others are just making things up?"
"Do you see how close Jorah is standing to Daenerys? If that were truly my direwolf he would be close to my side. He would not stray so far while in this throne room."
I wondered if Cersei had ever really trusted Jon or if she was too scared to admit the truth. The Mountain moved slightly which brought my attention to him. Qyburn, the man who the Lannister highly trusted, was nowhere to be found. It could be that he was dead as my vision had not focused on him at all.
I walked to Cersei and the guards took out their swords and raised their spears. A direwolf was not a creature one dealt with lightly. What felt like a peaceful walk to me, was a show of force to everyone else. At least as a man I could throw down my blade to show I meant no harm. A direwolf didn't have such an ability.
I stopped and thought of what I would do next. I ended up keeping my hind legs where they were and bent my front legs so that my upper body leaned forward. Hopefully everyone in the throne room would take this action as a bow. After a moment I walked back to Khaleesi's side.
"You could have trained that dog." Cersei said. "That is hardly a sign of the thing being Jorah."
"Then who gave the signal?" Jon asked. "You have stated before that I am the most trustworthy person in Westeros. So why would I lie?"
"You are right that the treacherous Euron Greyjoy did attempt to betray me. Unfortunately he did escape. And now you come not to protect me, but to kill him. How would I ever defy you when you have two dragons and one of the most powerful wargs?"
The fear scents coming off of Khaleesi, Jon, and everyone else were less potent. The threat was gone and now we would discuss what came after. Cersei's Queensguard didn't have to worry about being burned alive by a dragon while Khaleesi was assured the Iron Throne. While we wouldn't ask the Lannister to give up her seat now, there was no doubt that was our intent by the end of this charade.
"You have the support of every man I can spare." Cersei said. "We will defeat Euron together."
"And then I will reclaim what is mine." Daenerys stated.
"And I assume you will burn me alive with your dragons."
"That depends on your behavior."
"I am sure it does."
After an hour we left. It had been decided that Cersei would keep her title and seat until my love decided to take her place as ruler of the Seven Kingdoms. As for if the Lannister would live or die...that would be harder to decide. We had promised to make her trial fair and Jon wouldn't allow us to kill Cersei outright.
"We should have killed Cersei just now, Jon." Khaleesi said as we made our way to the docks. "We don't need her."
"You can't go killing people because it's convenient." Jon argued. "Besides, when we kill her we shouldn't have to focus on other wars to fight."
"So you will kill her?"
"I will stay true to my word."
I could hear the hope in his voice. It must be the hope that Cersei did something that would allow him to kill her. No one loved that particular Lannister. She had done so much harm that if all the people who dreamed of killing her formed a line, there could again be a land bridge to Essos. Jon had particular reason to loathe her as she had killed his father. Even though I didn't have the memories with Eddard that Jon did, it was still a deep cut to find out he had died. At least once Khaleesi had changed me enough.
"And what if Cersei does what she is supposed to?" Khaleesi asked.
"From what I know of her, that isn't likely." Jon replied.
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