Chapter 8

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The Twins, shortly after Jon was proclaimed King in the North

Jon approached the mass crowd of people who had been forced on their knees. His war party surrounded residents of the twins while he and a select few stood in front of the captured Frey family. "Ygritte, is this all the residents?"

"It is, your grace" his kingsguard replied. "We also located some prisoners. I think they are mostly people captured during the massacre that took place here."

"Good, I'll speak to them later" he replied. Jon then turned his attention back to the crowd before him. It was time to enact his plan. "Tormund, bring me Lord Frey."

Tormund Giantsbane, Ygritte's former chief, grabbed the elderly lord and dragged him towards Jon. He roughly threw him at Jon's feet. Lord Frey looked up at the one who led the attack on his fortress with fear in his eyes.

"Do you know who I am?" Jon asked. "No" Walder replied.

Jon bent down and whispered into his ear "My name is Jon Snow. Robb Stark was my brother." He stood back up to see Walder looking absolutely terrified.

"Wait, wait. Please, I beg you..." but Walder's pleas were cut off as Jon proceeded to beat the old man as brutally as he could. While this was going on, Tormund signaled for the free folk to begin herding the non-combatant population of the twins into the nearest buildings like Jon had instructed them. Jon occasionally stopped to rest for a moment before resuming his attack on Walder. Finally, Jon glanced up to see Tormund nodding towards him. It was time. Jon stopped beating Walder and grabbed his hair, forcing him to turn towards the buildings.

"I want you to see this" Jon said. He turned to Blizzard who stood a few feet away from them. "Dracarys!"

Blizzard reared up on his hind legs and took a deep breath. He thrust his head forward and his freezing dragonfyre exploded from his mouth to engulf the buildings the people had been put inside of. Jon heard shouts of dismay and horror from the remaining prisoners as Blizzard's breath not only flash froze the structures but caused them to start crumbling from the sheer power of his breath. About a minute later, the dragon stood down and nothing was left except frozen debris. Jon turned back to Walder, who had a horrified look on his face. He then glanced towards Tormund and nodded. At this, Tormund and the other free folk drew their weapons and tore into the Frey men and soldiers. Soon, only three guards were left.

Jon drew his sword and forced Walder to bend down on a block of wood that had been brought before him. "Walder Frey, you are guilty of breaking guest right and mass murder. As king in the north, I sentence you to die." He swiftly brought his sword down and soon Walder Frey's head was rolling on the ground. Jon picked up the head and brought it to Blizzard, who promptly froze it. Jon then dropped it into the sack that contained Roose and Ramsay's heads before turning towards the three guards who were still held prisoner. Jon took each guard in turn and pushed their faces into a pile of frozen wood, causing them to scream in agony as the sheer cold caused frostbite to form on their faces.

Once this was done, Jon quickly wrote his ultimatum down and brought the senior guard to him. He handed him the sack and letter before telling him what to do. "You and your fellow guards are to go south to King's Landing. You are to go before the royal family and all their court and tell them what happened here. You will show them the contents of this sack and hand this letter to them. Understand?"

"Ye...yes" the guard replied.

After the guards were a few miles away from the now ruined fortress, Jon entered the barracks that his soldiers had used as a shelter for the residents of the twins. He entered to find some of his men guarding the women, children, and elderly. "People of the twins, I am Jaehaerys Targaryen, king in the north. I know you all are scared right now, but I tell you all there is no reason to fear me any longer. You will all be spared."

Present Day

"Afterwards, we waited another day until a host of soldiers from Lord Howland Reed arrived. They took the prisoners and marched them to the dreadfort. I arranged for a garrison of free folk spearwives to guard them until I deal with Tywin Lannister. At that point, they'll be released and returned to the riverlands where we'll help them resettle and rebuild their lives."

Jon finished his story and was amused to see Tyrion looking dumbstruck. "But... but... why would you lead those guards to think you killed all the smallfolk too?"

"To ensure my bluff would be easier to swallow" Jon replied. "I know Tywin is a master manipulator. I needed to find a way to get him and his allies to think they're dealing with a ruthless enemy rather than one who actually cares for the people. I'm not just settling the score with him, I plan to beat Tywin at his own game. I'm hoping to stir up terror in him and his allies, maybe even scare some of them into declaring for me."

Tyrion contnued to stare in shock at Jon for a few more moments. Then, he started laughing and promptly fell out of his chair. "I can't believe this! My father was caught off guard and bluffed!"

Sansa appeared to be relieved that her brother/cousin wasn't the mass murdering tyrant that he'd led the Lannisters to think he was. Rickon was also laughing, though not as hard as Tyrion was. "Sansa" Jon said "I also know we didn't know each other well when we were younger. But I would never deliberately hurt someone who was innocent."

Meereen

Daenerys Targaryen sat on her throne as Jorah was brought before her.

"Jorah Mormont, you were found to be a spy in my ranks for House Baratheon."

"Khaleesi..." Jorah's response was cut off by Daenerys.

"I am not going to have you killed. I may still have use for you."

Jorah now looked confused, as did the rest of the people in the throne room, including Missandei and Ser Barristan Selmy.

"As you are aware, I was recently presented with a letter from one of my relatives in Westeros. He claims that I have a nephew who is ahead of me in the line of succession. I want you to return to Westeros and seek him out."

"What is it you wish me to do once I find him?"

"You are to act as an envoy for me" Daenerys replied. "When I received that letter, I felt like I was without a purpose. I had been preparing for years for the day when I would take back the Iron Throne, only to find that there is another person whose right to it is greater than mine."

"Khaleesi" Barristan spoke up. "We discussed this. Just because you have a nephew ahead of you doesn't mean..."

"Ser Barristan, I'm not in a state of despair anymore. In fact, I'm elated that I have more family still out there. But I don't know anything about them. Jorah, I want you to speak with them for me. Find out who this Jaehaerys really is. If he is my nephew, tell him I wish to ally with him against the lannisters and this other threat that he is facing. But if this is some kind of deception, if this person is not my nephew, I want you to make it clear that he will suffer for using my family name to further his own plans."

Tywin had been running from the direwolf for so long now, but it wasn't doing any good. The giant wolf just kept coming no matter how fast or long he kept running or how much distance he put between them. The streets of king's landing were completely deserted, no one was coming out to help him. Well, not completely deserted; they were littered with the bodies of his soldiers. Suddenly, he tripped up and fell face first into a puddle. A laugh caused him to look up and see a northman dressed in Targaryen armor before him. Suddenly he felt something huge press him back onto the street. The direwolf had caught up to him at last.

"Targaryen" he called out. "Please, call off your wolf. Please, I surrender."

"Poor Tywin '' Jaehaerys said as he stared down at him. "You think yourself a great man, a feared ruler, a lion in human form. But in reality you're just a scared kitten."

Tywin felt his anger rise beyond his fear. "How dare you! I am the lord of the Westerlands!"

"Bad cat! Don't talk back to your king!"

"You are not..."

"QUIET! Sit!"

Tywin found himself on all fours as if he were bowing. "Sit at my feet, where you belong."

More laughter echoed around him. He turned to see three figures surrounding him. One looked similar to the Targaryen whose wolf had been chasing him, and another was a young dornish woman. He knew these to be Robb Stark and Elia Martell. But it was the third person who truly shocked him: she was the single most beautiful woman Tywin had met in his life, the love of his life. "Joanna?!"

His wife dropped her amused look as he called out to her and replaced it with a look of scorn. "You dishonored the Lannister family for the last time."

"Sooner or later," Jaehaerys said, drawing Tywin's attention back to him, "your crimes were always going to catch up to you."

"Husband" Joanna said.

"Tyrant" Robb Stark said.

"Monster" Elia Martell said.

Jaehaerys stepped forward and grabbed Tywin's hair, forcing him to look up at him. "You can never suffer enough in this life for all the lives you destroyed, Tywin. But now, now your reckoning has come."

Jaehaerys let go and walked back to where his dragon was swooping down.

"Farewell, Tywin" Joanna said.

"Go, join your old friend the mad king" Robb said.

"HA" Elia laughed. "How does it feel to be wiped from the face of the Earth?"

Jaehaerys turned back towards him as his dragon landed. "Dracarys!" The dragon reared back, and dragonfire exploded from its mouth. Tywin let out a horrified scream as the creature's breath engulfed him.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Tywin woke up screaming, briefly not knowing where he was before remembering he was in the tower of the hand. He was dripping with ice cold sweat and breathing like he just ran a marathon. It was the same nightmare again, the one that had been plaguing him more frequently since that ultimatum had been brought to the capitol. He reached for a pitcher of wine on the table next to his bed and poured himself a drink.

The door flew open as two armed guards stormed into the room, weapons drawn and looking around the room. "Lord hand," one of them said. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine" he responded. "I just had a nightmare."

The guards left shortly after looking through the room for any sign of a possible intruder. Tywin downed all the wine he poured in one gulp. He was reluctantly starting to understand Tyrion's near obsession with wine.

After setting his cup down, Tywin placed his palms on his forehead and sighed in frustration. It wasn't supposed to be like this. The red wedding was supposed to stop the war, not escalate it further, and certainly not to a point where his victory seemed like a near impossibility. It's as if the gods were torturing him for the fun of it. Hadn't he suffered enough when Tyrion was born?! That day cost him his beloved wife and handed him a dwarf son.

He had just ended the war with the north and secured his family's dominance over the continent. Yes, there was still Stannis Baratheon on the isle of Dragonstone and the ironborn were still in rebellion, but the main enemy had been Robb Stark and his family and they were gone. It seemed like his legacy was almost completely secured, the only loose end being Jaime's continued insistence on remaining in the kingsguard. But months after Robb Stark and his wretched family had been wiped out, those three Frey guards had come to the capitol with news of a new challenger. And it wasn't just any challenger: a TARGARYEN! Those dragons didn't know when to give up!

But it wasn't just the Targaryen that was gnawing at him, it was the fact that the Targaryen had been present all along. The new king in the north had been right in front of him the entire time and not once had he had so much as a suspicion. When Tyrion (honestly, why did he need to be the most useful of his children) had told the entire throne room of Eddard Stark's ruse Tywin felt like a complete idiot. Of course his so called bastard was really his nephew. The wretched spawn of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen.

Rhaegar. That prince had been part of his ultimate ambition, but of course the mad king wouldn't allow it. Tywin had been publically insulted when Aerys turned down the idea of his son marrying Cersei. Then Rhaegar had disappeared with that northern girl and plunged the continent into civil war. Of course, that war had gotten Rhaegar killed and allowed Tywin the opening he needed to finish Aerys and Rhaegar's children, along with the bitch who had been chosen over his daughter. Then he finally got his family into ultimate power in Westeros by Robert Baratheon marrying Cersei.

But it turns out Rhaegar had a secret heir the whole time. Tywin just knew this Jaehaerys was no bastard. The kingsguard wouldn't have been guarding Lyanna if she was pregnant with a blackfyre. This meant that Robert, and by extension his grandchildren, were all usurpers to the iron throne. There were too many people who would never accept another family as the monarchy as long as any Targaryens were still alive. Of course with Robert's armies and the alliances from the rebellion had secured the throne from any remaining Targaryen loyalists. But the recent war that his grandson so idiotically started had destroyed those alliances. Now the Targaryen heir was bearing down on him while his power base was practically depleted. And to top it all off, his opponent had a dragon at his command. A dragon that was said to be the largest in all of recorded history.

The news of the dragon upstart had caused him so much trouble. His gall to demand his head, the riots in the capitol, the latter of which caused an attempted assassination by the smallfolk, Joffrey and Cersei behaving like spoiled children, and then Tyrion disappearing with the Stark girl. Then he heard suspicions among the small council that said the Tyrells were considering withdrawing from their alliance. Tywin had taken steps to ensure that if the Tyrells came to that decision that Margarey would be securely kept in the city. Olenna would never risk her granddaughter's life if Tywin managed to keep her as a hostage. Finally, according to Varys' little birds the Targaryen boy was currently sending envoys to Dragonstone to open dialogue with the remaining Baratheons.

Now, that last bit of news had given a possible opening to them. If they could slip an assassin in among a diplomatic party the Targaryen boy could be taken care of, and even if they failed the Baratheons would get the blame. But Tywin was still hesitant to do this. As the ultimatum said, any action against the north (which now included the riverlands once again, as the riverlords were sending emissaries to Winterfell to re-pledge their loyalty to the northern throne) would bring the dragon down on them, and there was no guarantee the north wouldn't figure out who was truly behind a botched assassination attempt. Instead, Tywin was focusing on waging economic warfare against his newest rival. If he could compete with the north for the grain shipments that were being arranged to be sent from Essos, he could wear down the north's armies. Of course, that still left the dragon, but he'd arranged for extra help from the citadel in designing a new weapon for taking the dragon down.

Tywin laid back down and closed his eyes. "Targaryen, you will not best me. No matter what you throw at me, I will not submit to you. You won't take my head."

But as Tywin tried to get back to sleep, little did he know that there was someone else conspiring against Jon, and they were determined to see him assassinated regardless of the risks.

Dorne

Doran Martell was sitting on a step in one of the many pools in the water gardens. The cool water felt wonderful , no matter how hot the dornish sun would make his desert kingdom. Actually, the water's temperature was perfect when the sun warmed it just a tad, like it was right now. If Doran didn't have to worry about drowning he could fall asleep right there. The waters weren't just soothing on his body, but submersing himself in the water gardens was also a good way to help ease stress, something that had rudely come and paid him an unwelcome visit when his brother sent him a letter about a major political upset in the capitol.

His moment of peace was interrupted by an excited cry from his right. Opening his eyes, Doran saw his daughter run to the edge of the pool, leap into the air and splash down in front of him. Arianne's little antic soaked the upper half of his body that he'd been keeping out of the water for the time being, his unconscious attempt at shielding himself by raising his arms a failure. Arianne resurfaced a few feet away from him with a mischievous look. It was clear that the child-like happiness she and her siblings and cousins had been experiencing since Oberyn sent his message was not wearing down.

"Arianne, did you really need to do that?"

"Oh come on, father. Even you with your peace-mongering philosophy should be excited by the lannisters' predicament."

Doran was annoyed at his daughter's jab at his little act. Of course, she didn't know it was an act. He had only conspired Tywin's downfall with Oberyn while letting the rest of Dorne, and the world, think he was taking a neutral position on the injustices that befell Elia and her children.

"You're a young woman. Sneaking up on your father and surprising him like that is too childish for you."

"Is it, or are you just so old that you can't have fun anymore?"

"Oh ok, that's it." Doran splashed his daughter and proceeded to leap off his step into the pool. However, this caused a searing pain to shoot through his legs. His gout had left him semi-crippled for years. Arianne dropped her playful attitude immediately and embraced her father.

"Father, I'm sorry. I didn't..."

"You didn't do this Arianne. I chose to leap up. Maybe you were right about me."

"No, no. I'm sorry I said that. I know you can still have fun despite your condition."

"Ok, let's stop this. Actually Arianne, I need to talk to you."

"About what?"

"Not here. Come to my solar in half an hour. I'll tell you there."

Half an hour later, Doran was sitting in his solar looking at the letter Oberyn recently sent him. Tywin was certainly getting a major headache. This Jaehaerys Targaryen certainly knew how to make an opening play. But unlike Arianne, her brothers and the sand snakes, Doran didn't find as much humor with the news of what was occurring beyond Dorne's borders. Of course he found Tywin's problems amusing. But the new Targaryen had made him somewhat upset.

Rhaegar's son with the woman he disgraced Elia with. At least, that's what he had thought. But Oberyn said the Targaryen had named Elia as his mother's co-wife. Of course, it was an old custom in the Targaryens' culture to take multiple spouses, just as much as it was for them to marry their siblings. Doran hadn't considered before that it was possible Elia hadn't been discarded by her husband. He also didn't know if a possible alliance with Lyanna's son was a good idea. Yes, they had a common enemy in the Lannisters and yes he had a dragon. But this boy also seemed to be starting to show signs of his family's madness. The saying was when a new Targaryen was born the gods flipped a coin to decide if they would be sane or mad. While he might be Rhaegar's son and had been raised by Eddard Stark, Jaehaerys' decision to massacre the entirety of the twins' population was something the mad king would do.

Of course, Doran understood the Freys had butchered his family and he wanted to avenge them. He felt the same way since Elia and her kids had been killed. But there were lines that shouldn't be crossed and killing innocents was one of them. This was why Doran refused to allow Myrcella Baratheon (or waters) to be harmed, no matter how much some of his citizens wanted to. Doran needed to know more about this Jaehaerys who had declared war on Tywin and his grandson.

Arianne entered the solar wearing new clothes to replace the ones she wore when she went swimming earlier. "Well father, what did you need to talk to me about?"

"Arianne, you remember the Targaryen. I feel like we need to know more about him, and I think you would be the perfect one to do so. I want you to act as Dorne's emissary and go north to speak with him and his court."

Arianne looked quite surprised. "I thought you were against approaching him because of the disgrace his parents brought on Aunt Elia."

"I'm not against allying with him. But I need to know if he is someone who would make a good ally or if he is the latest unstable Targaryen. You will be escorted by my best guards, and you are to be careful around him. But I need to know about him. Also, try to find out what he is playing at by claiming Elia wasn't cast aside by Rhaegar."

"I will try father."

"Good. You will leave for the north at sundown. I will send a letter to Winterfell to let them know you are coming."