Jon walked calmly through the neighborhoods of Valyria, his wife at his side holding his hand, they had had a few quiet days lately thank god.
Raenerys was becoming more mushy as time went on, the soldiers called her her Majesty, she smiled at the fact that she was a queen, but that was nothing compared to when they called her the king's lady.
What seemed like a way to put Jon on a higher level than her didn't bother her at all, in fact, she smiled widely, remembering that she was married to Jon, the King of Volantis, and Valyria himself, who was surprised to see that she preferred to be called "her majesty" rather than "your majesty."
Jon didn't understand why, but from his perspective, he imagined it was more because of the whole issue with her father, Raenerys hated him, and being called your majesty reminded her of the prince of the seven kingdoms, her father who abandoned her along with her brother and mother to die.
Raenerys approached him and hugged his arm, Jon didn't think it was cold, but the girl was completely satisfied.
Ashara walked a few steps behind, watching them with a cunning look on her face, Jon knew she was planning something.
The Dayne women were extremely manipulative.
Both he and Raenerys fell into her traps like flies.
Jon couldn't believe that Jon Connington and Aegon could live with her for years, it must have been terrible for the knight and the prince.
Speaking of which, Jon learned of Aegon and Sansa's engagement.
' Good for them, ' the boy thought.
It was even something strange that his brother-in-law married his sister, but there have been worse cases in Westeros or Essos, marriage between Pyrams for example was common, it was not considered incest if they were not blood siblings.
He looked at his wife and she looked at him curiously.
A little kiss was coming.
Ashara rolled her eyes at the displays of affection Jon was showing Raenerys, when some soldiers approached.
Jon raised his eyebrows at them.
He took a letter from the soldier and frowned.
"What's wrong?" Raenerys asked.
"From Ramon, apparently some allies of the masters of Meeren, Yunkai, and Asaptor were meeting in Volantis," he said.
"Do you think they are planning something?" she asked.
"No doubt, Ramon follows them, but still... Why choose Volantis?" he asked.
That the King of Volantis had allied himself with the Queen of Meeren was a known fact, planning something in Volantis was tempting the enemy.
"Unless there's someone in Volantis who supports them," he muttered.
"The iron bank?" Raenerys asked.
Jon didn't say anything.
It was a possibility.
Agents of the Iron Bank were always in Volantis, he was able to prevent them from reaching Valyria, but even so, Volantis had many.
" The slave market declined when I took Volantis, and it declined again when we took the slave cities, there is a possibility that the bank is financially supporting the former masters," he thought.
"We'd better send a letter to Daenerys," his wife said.
Jon nodded.
"Yes, better safe than sorry," he said.
"I'll go see the market," she said.
Jon kissed her goodbye.
"Don't tire yourself out, you'll have to do a lot of exercise tonight" he promised.
Raenerys smiled.
"I look forward to it, my lord," she said, teasing him.
Ashara rolled her eyes.
' Where do they keep such a sexual appetite? ' she thought.
A mental image of her and a certain Stark when she was a teenager appeared in her mind.
'Maybe it's in his blood' she murmured.
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
Ned Stark sighed at his wife's response.
"You have to make up your mind, we can't go on like this, with Joffrey's death, this isn't good news, Ned," she told him.
And the man knew it.
He had three options.
Declare himself king of the north.
His men would support him, but he had no interest in conquering the seven kingdoms, even if he did, as he controlled seven Lords. He could handle the north and the Riverlands thanks to his connection to the Tullys.
But what about the others?
He had no claim to the Reach, the Stormlands, the Vale, the West, or Drone. Nor to King's Landing. The Iron Islands were conquered, but he gave them to Stannis, and if the rumors are true, Stannis himself has fallen in battle against Euron Greyjoy.
Even if he conquered them, would be loyal to him?
The other option.
Support Stannis.
If the rumors were false, of course, and Stannis was alive, and he declared Stannis his king, then Stannis did have connections and rights to the throne.
On the other hand, he didn't want to do it.
Even if he lived, Stannis had been influenced by the red priestess.
He had killed his own brother, with black magic.
He had burned enemies alive.
Something only the mad king would do.
Not to mention that his defeats are much greater than his victories.
His fall at King's Landing had left him a shadow of his former self.
And it was the mockery of the lords.
And finally his last option.
Aegon Targaryen.
If he could bend his knee to Aegon.
He had a good ability to command troops, thanks to his experience in Essos, and practice with Jon Connington.
Because of Connington, it's also possible to get storm lords on their side. Or at least a few of them.
The Northerners seem to respect him, as he has helped them in battle and they speak well of him, Aegon was not in a king's tent and only goes out on a white horse, he eats with them, sleeps in a small tent, gets up early and helps in training, he even gives recommendations to the soldiers in training.
He's a good boy, but he doesn't have leadership skills yet.
' But that may change after the war,' he thought.
Among other good things to think about Aegon was his engagement to Sansa, which would make her queen.
That put his blood on the throne.
But the worst thing was that he was very green.
Immature in certain areas.
One of the clear examples was the few alliances that had been formed.
Ned sighed.
If he had to choose one of the three options.
Aegon was his best option.
But it could have serious consequences.
"I will bend the knee to Aegon, but only after the seven kingdoms are united, if Aegon cannot do it, I will give him a territory in the north, to become a lord," he said.
"Very well, husband. I have everything ready… Do you require my assistance with anything else?" she asked.
Ned looked at her.
"Maybe at night," he said.
Catelyn blinked, then smiled.
"Of course"
XXXXXXXXXX
Robb gasped as he attacked another man of the guard.
"Traitor! " he heard.
"You are the traitor," Robb explained.
A few days passed since Arya spoke to Bran.
The savages agreed to the deal, but some of the guardsmen were not in favor.
They Stepped out of line.
One day Robb only had to wait for them to arrive and lead them to the ancient Bolton fortress, and the next a hundred night's guards rebelled and attacked his men.
Many fell, they were not prepared to be attacked by allies.
Robb was furious.
Arya wanted to execute the traitors, throwing them off the wall.
But Robb was careful.
The boy eliminated another man.
If they eliminated even one innocent person, someone who supported them, the entire guard would be against them.
What they had to do was eliminate the leaders, to appease their men.
Then he could do a full investigation.
The rebels.
Alliser Thorne, an old enemy, who participated on the side of the Targaryens in Robert's rebellion, and the person Robb felt great distrust of. Since they arrived at the Wall, that man did not stop bothering them, and Robb had to stop him several times from giving bad orders, the fact that Arya had called him incompetent, did not help his affection for the Starks.
Janos Slynt, a coward that Tyrion Lannister sent to the Wall, accepted bribes of all kinds, and was attached to several other crimes, Robb considers him a rat, he didn't stop talking, but when something happened, he was the first to run away and hide.
Othell Yarwyck, a former builder, Robb felt sorry for him, unlike the others, he was a true night's guard, it's just that his hatred for the wildlings was greater than his interest in the guard.
Bowen Marsh was exactly the same, his hatred of savages made him lose perspective.
Robb knew he must execute Alliser Thorne and Janos Slynt without a doubt.
Othell and Bowen may be able to survive.
On the other hand, betrayal is betrayal.
Robb eliminated one more guard and reached the white room. He reached level 18 with 2 skill points.
He left the room and prepared to receive the enemies.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Arya looked at the white room, she had arrived after eliminating a dozen night guards, unlike Robb, she did not hesitate.
For her, there are no doubts.
There are no friends in war.
There are only allies and enemies.
And enemies are killed.
[T/N: ew, I-I agree with Arya?!]
She reached the computer.
{Name: Arya Stark
Title: murderess
Skill Points: 7
Level: 24 (0/11600)
Health: 1200/1200
Mana: 3500/3500
Attributes: Low
Skills: 2
Concealment magic level: 4
Cursed magic level: 5
Do you want to spend five skill points and raise the concealment magic skills level to 5?
Yes/No}
He pressed yes.
{Concealment magic Level: 5
Cost: 130 mana per spell.
Summons poison darts (Paralysis, Blind or Lethal) }
The girl looked curiously at that.
She left the room and continued on her way.
She walked in silence with her giant and new servants, she also had a squad of soldiers.
The guards attacked.
Arya saw that guards were protecting a room.
The giant kicked the door down.
The girl entered with her servants and two people inside the room saw her.
"Arya Stark," said one.
One of them was a somewhat old man, with white hair and beard, Othell Yarwyck.
The other was, younger, round, and ruddy, Bowen Marsh.
"Traitors" she greeted.
"I am not a traitor," Othell whispered.
The other said nothing.
Arya laughed.
"Oh, how happy I am that it was you," she said.
The other two pulled out their weapons.
"You see, Robb is too good to the night guards, he doesn't see trash or traitors like you for what you are. If you were the useless Alliser Thorne or the coward Janos Slynt, he would kill you without hesitation, but you, yes, without a doubt my foolish brother would offer a punishment, perhaps a couple of years on the other side of the wall... But not me, no, no, no... I am a Stark, the winter of Westeros. I have no mercy for traitors... Or have you forgotten who are the kings of winter, who have always been the kings of the north" she said.
"The guard does not obey the call of any king," Bowen said.
Arya laughed out loud.
' Mind control,' she thought and felt her mana disappear a little as she invoked the skill.
"The guard is in the north, that means they are from the Starks...Bowen, kill him" she ordered using her ability.
The man looked at her confused, then attacked Othell with his sword, who looked at him in shock as he was pierced.
"What did I do?" he whispered.
"You see...Traitor" Arya told him and turned around and walked out the door.
"Kill him"
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Attack" Robb ordered his men, he watched as they attacked the night guard without mercy.
Robb followed them, his elemental aura ignited, the fire from his sword burning more than twenty men before he saw Alliser.
He watched as Alliser waited for him and Robb faced him.
Robb openly confronted Alliser Thorne, who attacked him as best he could, but Robb was stronger and faster.
Two guards attacked Robb, and he deflected their attacks.
"Elemental aura" the boy whispered.
His sword froze and attacked the guards.
The first one fell immediately.
Turned into an ice statue when pierced.
"Witch!" the second one exclaimed in fear.
And that second of fear was all Robb needed to decapitate him.
"Come," he said.
Alliser looked at him and braced himself.
He attacked hard, Robb stopped his attack, hitting him in the face.
Alliser fell and cursed.
"You destroyed the guard," he said.
"Hail to the north, hail to the south, and you didn't have to do anything other than what Thorne always did, obey," he told him.
Alliser Thorne let out a scream and attacked.
Robb dodged and landed a blow with his hand to his jaw, Alliser fell to the ground and was penetrated in the stomach by Robb.
The boy arrived at the white room.
He went to the computer.
{Name: Robb Stark
Title: Big Wolf
Skill Points: 4
Level: 19 (0/5600)
Health: 1950/1950
Mana: 1900/1900
Attributes: Low
Skills:
Support Magic Level: 5
Swordsmanship Level: 3
Do you want to spend four skill points and level up your Swordsmanship skill to level 4?
Yes/No}
He pressed yes.
{Swordsmanship Level: 4
Cost: 60 mana
Dismember: The opponent is dismembered and this causes him to bleed out, or be in constant pain.}
The boy left the white room.
"You don't think you'll win! " He heard and watched a small army of fifty men arrive with Janos Slynt leading them.
"Get ready," Robb ordered.
Suddenly several wolf howls were heard.
Robb blinked and out of nowhere a whirlwind appeared around his enemies, the traitors were sent flying upwards, sucked into the whirlwind, and thrown off the wall.
"What the hell happened?" he asked.
"That would be me," said a voice.
Robb turned and looked around the corner, Bran, Rickon, the two wolves, a girl Bran's age, and a slightly younger boy, plus a wildling, and Hodor.
"Bran? Rickon? Hodor?" he said incredulously.
"You missed me," Bran told him with a smile.
"Hodor," the giant nodded.
XXXXXXXXXX
Ned watched Howland approach.
"What happened? " he asked.
"Lisa Arryn is dead…Menique owns the valley" he said.
Ned cursed.
"One more kingdom, one more enemy" he whispered.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Tryon looked at the cell in fury, he couldn't understand how his whole world had shattered.
"Ready to escape, my lord?" the dwarf heard.
"Varys?" he asked.
"Are you ready?" he asked again.
"Who told you to do this? My father? My sister? " he asked.
"Oh I'm afraid your father is busy, trying to weaken the North, after his constant failures, the queen is more focused on getting rid of the new queen Maergary Tyrell, King Tommen is delighted with his new wife, but I'm afraid the queen mother is not" he said.
" Tommen got married? Without being prosecuted? " he asked.
"It seems that King's Landing is more focused on the north than on his trial, the days have been postponed, again and again... Ready to escape? " He asked.
"Where will I go?" he asked.
Varys smiled.
"I think another queen will require your advice... What do you think of Meeren, my lord?"
[T/N: This chapter has been re-edited, and it's actually better than what Patreon received back in October… two years ago. Its quality now matches the latest chapters on Patreon.
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