To Die For You If Need Be Chapter 12: Of Wolves and Dragons

This is a Game of Thrones fic. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

This chapter has been edited due to content. If you want to see the unedited version GO HERE.

Daenerys Targaryen

It was a beautiful day outside as I was too far south to start to be affected by winter. But instead of being outside with my dragons I was in the Room of the Painted Table with Tyrion. As I was queen there were politics to deal with. Specifically the matter of Jon Snow who should be coming here soon.

Years ago I would have waited for him to arrive before having a full plan. But now I knew my weaknesses and that planning helped things go better. Hence Tyrion and myself were currently talking about how I should handle the King of the North.

"If only I wasn't trying to break the wheel." I said and looked outside. "Things would be so much easier. I could just burn all my enemies alive and force the Westerosi people to bend the knee."

"It's good you aren't, though." Tyrion replied. "All the Westerosi people need is for a worse tyrant to rule over them. My sister is bad enough as is. A woman crazy enough to release...I hate her but I never expected her to go that far."

Sometimes I had found myself worried about going mad. But at least I was aware of those moments and worked against them. I wasn't like Cersei who seemed to revel in every perverted act she performed. If I remembered not to fall that far I was safe.

"Jon won't ever bend the knee." I mused. "Not if he is as honorable as he is said to be. No self-respecting Northerner would ever bend the knee to a Targaryen. Not after the embarrassment my ancestors put Torrhen Stark through."

"And if he bends the knee the North might just follow Sansa instead." Tyrion said. "She's a strong woman and is your equal in strength."

I nodded even though I had never met the woman. For a short time she had been his wife, though the marriage had never been consummated. A lot of men would have raped a young woman and not have felt bad about it because the woman was their wife. Tyrion was more moral than he let on with his constant jests.

"You'll have to talk with him as an equal." Tyrion said. "He will want your respect so that he'll know to trust you."

"How can I earn his trust when he'll know I want the North?" I asked. "He'll know that any conversation will always end with me asking to have the North. Which means he'll upset the rest of the North."

"Maybe he doesn't care about politics. Then you can smile and he'll bend the knee."

"I didn't think of you as such a fool."

"I just hide behind wise words of dead mean."

"No, you hide behind words of dead men which are really your own. I would hardly call them wise."

I turned to see Tyrion raise his chalice before drinking it. If not for how long we had been talking, I wouldn't have grinned. It was a childish turn of conversation and yet I needed the levity. Ruling was hard work and he was one of the very few people I could trust. Hopefully I could add Jon to that list.

"What does House Stark think about polygamy?" I asked.

Tyrion suddenly looked at me with intense interest. He had, of course, been paying attention all of this time but now something had changed. Now he was truly invested in our conversation which meant I had said something right. Something a ruler would say.

"I've never heard about those in the North practicing polygamy." I said slowly. "Should I have?"

"No, but if you're asking that means Jon seems like a suitable suitor to you." Tyrion replied.

"Since I can't convince him to bend the knee, it only stands to reason that a marriage proposal may persuade him. I did leave myself open to finding a husband for merely political reasons. If what is said of Jon is true, he is an honorable man that will be good to have by my side. Since the Northerners trust him so much, I could gain allies because of him."

"What they say of him is true or else I would have been against summoning him to Dragonstone."

"You were insistent on that. Why didn't you talk to me before about Jon being a good husband for me?"

"I am merely your Hand while you're a queen. It seemed wise to allow you to come to that conclusion rather than forcing you."

I wanted to disagree with the Imp but couldn't. It was my place to decide my future. If my reign required me to find a husband besides Jorah, I would. But until that time I didn't want to think of finding another man to warm my bed. I needed no other man than Jorah. So if Tyrion told me about his marriage plans for me, I wouldn't have listened. I might even have done everything in my power to find a way to avoid marrying the Stark.

"You are right." I replied. "It's your place to advise me when needed. Before marrying Jon was not importance to my reign. It was only important to you. Why was a possible marriage with Jon a concern to you?"

"Because he's perfect for a political marriage." Tyrion explained. "While you were born on Dragonstone, you have lived the majority of your life in Essos. Thus to the Westerosi you are an outsider. You need a husband that the majority of Westeros both likes and is honorable in his own rights. There are other suitors for you to strengthen your reign, but Jon is the best option."

I wished that my heart could decide my husband. But I was a queen and as one I had to think outside of love. Marriages were the best ways to strengthen bonds between allies. The right marriage could secure a ruler more power than even three dragons.

"Would Jon, as a Northerner, be open to a polygamous marriage?" I asked.

"As a Northerner, Jon wouldn't like it." Tyrion replied. "It is not something he would see as normal. I don't know, though, if his honor would be against it. It all depends on if he sees a polygamous marriage proposal as dishonorable. If he sees honor in it he could very well agree to marry you."

So I would have to hope that Jon saw polygamy as honorable. It was strange working with a man such as him since most disregarded honor when it didn't suit them. If doing something dishonorable would keep them alive or bring them power, most men would have no qualms about doing it. Even Jorah, so long ago, had sold people into slavery just so he could please his wife.

"Would there be any way to persuade Jon into marrying me for merely political reasons?" I asked. "He's a king, surely he is aware of how marriage works for people such as us. He must know that marrying me will secure him a lot of power."

"Jon wasn't raised as anything more than a bastard." Tyrion answered. "He might not be used to thinking in terms of political maneuvering. A political marriage might not be something he sees any value in."

"Does Ser Davos know more about politics than him?"

"Davos advised Stannis Baratheon which means he does have experience."

Tyrion and I had guessed that Jon would bring someone better at politics with him. Sansa would have to stay in Winterfell as there must always be a Stark at Winterfell. Which meant Davos would be traveling with the King of the North. Though it would have been safer for Jon to remain in the North and let Sansa travel in his place. Which showed him to have great trust in me. Or maybe he was stupid.

"I don't hate Jon but...he's hard to deal with." I said with a sigh. "And he hasn't even arrived yet. He's a good and honorable man that deserves my respect. But I have to look at him and see every advantage there is to gain with an alliance. I can't look at him as a friend until my power is secured."

"Ruling isn't for the weak." Tyrion agreed. "It's a good thing, then, that you aren't weak. You managed to gain power from nothing in Essos. At least now you have both power and a reputation to go with it. Your reputation doesn't mean as much now, but people will still judge you by it. Allies will come to your side once you have made a name for yourself here."

"And gaining a good reputation here means fighting more honorably than I want to. I can't just use Drogon, Viserion, and Rhaegal to burn my enemies to ashes. At least not if there is another way."

Which is why my conquest was taking so long. Every decision required too much time to see it implemented. Aegon must have conquered the Seven Kingdoms in under a week. At least that's what it seemed like. Him and his two sister-wives must have had an easier time. I must be shaming them for how long it was taking me to do what they had.

"I think it's a safe bet that Jon will agree to a marriage to you in the end." Tyrion said. "You are not only powerful, but young. Jon is also young and might be driven by certain urges."

"You know that's not true." I replied and shook my head. "Jon can love but it won't make him act foolish. I haven't gotten that impression from what you have said of him."

"Maybe he'll surprise us both."

"If he does surprise us that way, I'll be disappointed. It will show me that his honor isn't real. I don't expect him to be a god, but I expect him to be a competent ruler. He can't just let his cock make important decisions."

"And why did you **** Daario?"

"I never had any plans to marry him. And I left him behind once I decided it was time to go to Westeros."

Daario had been an instance of me simply being human. He was a handsome man and his childish ways were amusing. He was the kind of man that one never settled down with. I briefly wondered if leaving him in charge of Dragon's Bay was the best decision. Had I just given him the position as a way of saying sorry?

"What if Jon wants to marry for political reasons but is put off by me already having one husband?" I asked. "I don't mind if he finds a woman he loves outside of our marriage."

"You could bring up the fact that you're barren." Tyrion answered. "That will assure him that there is no reason for you two to ****. You, Jon, and Jorah can all lie about the bastard consummating the marriage. All the Westerosi people will care about is a show. As long as you put on the show of ******* Jon, no one will question the lie."

"I don't see being barren as something not to care about! I want to have children of my own. I...I lost my son. My dragons are the only children I'll ever be able to have. I love them to the depths of my being, but I want to birth my own son or daughter."

I had risked everything to save Rhaego but he had died anyways. Not since him had I been able to conceive a child. I had ****** Daario so often that I should have conceived a child. So it was hard to believe the witch hadn't made me barren. She had had every reason to betray me.

How dare Tyrion suggest I tell Jon I could never conceive! He was a stranger and should not see that weakness. What if he mentioned it to someone else and ruined any potential suitors? But what other suitors did I want? What others gave me as much power as he did?

"It is a last resort to mention that you are barren." Tyrion assured me. "You need him as a suitor if you wish to claim the North."

"I will never tell him I am barren." I said.

"So you'll choose your pride over doing what is politically sound?"

"What about the prospects of other suitors? If Jon doesn't agree to marry me and that gets out...no man will agree to marry a wife that won't bear him a son."

"I assure you that Jon is an honorable man and won't tell anyone else. He might not be fully aware of the political ramifications of your bareness being known to others, but he will know that a woman's bareness isn't something that is mentioned often."

Tyrion was right. To be a queen meant I couldn't focus solely on what I wanted. There were lines I wouldn't cross so that I wouldn't lose myself in a quest for power. At the end of the day me not revealing my bareness to Jon would do more harm than good.

"You're right, Tyrion." I finally said. "Revealing my bareness to Jon is a calculated risk that I need to take. Gaining the North is important enough to allow myself to be embarrassed for a moment."

"You've made the right choice." Tyrion replied with a nod. "And if this is the wrong move to make you can just have one of your children burn me alive."

"I would never do that. You're annoying at times, but I'll never do that."

"And that is why I still serve you."

There were many Westerosi that believed, even though I hadn't yet made a move, I just wanted to burn Westeros to the point it was a land of ash. But they were wrong. Maybe I would have as a younger woman but I had changed.

"I can't stay in here all day." I said and looked towards the sky. "And we have discussed all we can have for now. Talking about Jon won't make him arrive any faster."

"You're right, Your Grace, there's nothing more that can be said." Tyrion agreed. "At least we've made progress in your plans of how to negotiate with Jon."

"I wish we could both be certain about how he'll react."

"You'll do the best you can and no one expects anything less of you."

"You're wrong. They want so much more. They want me to be someone I can never be. They want me to be a goddess they can worship instead of a human they can follow."

"I'm not following you because I think you're a deity, I'm following you because you're a strong leader. You're someone that will bring down my sister and unite Westeros once more. You're the leader that the Seven Kingdoms need now more than ever."

I wished I could believe in myself like he could. But the truth was that I couldn't live in such a fantasy. Maybe I couldn't afford to if I ever wanted to sit on the Iron Throne so that House Targaryen could reclaim that seat of power.

"I'll do the tactical meeting tomorrow, Tyrion." I said. "Today is too good to be spent going over anymore plans."
* * *
My children flew high above me and I had to squint to see them. Drogon was the leader while Rhaegal did an admirable job in fighting him. Viserion was off hunting fish and didn't care about what his siblings were up to. I smiled when he flew up to the cliff with a large fish in his jaws. He started eating his kill quickly only a few feet away from me.

Viserion looked up at me for only a moment before spreading his wings out around him to ward off predators. The moment he finished his kill, the others flew down to see if there were any scraps. Drogon snapped at Rhaegal as he had first choice over everything.

Drogon roared loudly enough that it shook the ground I was standing on. This caused Viserion to fly away and the other two to chase after him. I smiled at the simplicity of it all. Simplicity that I couldn't afford to have now or ever.