Chapter 23

“Found this one slipping away. Must have been forgotten somehow, Your Graces,” Ser Bronn informed King Jon Snow and Queen Daenerys Targaryen as they were formally crowned and enthroned.

“My lords, I present to you Their Graces, Jon, of Houses Snow, Stark, and Targaryen, First of His Name, King of the Andals, of the Rhoynar, and of the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, Protector of the Realm, King of Meereen, Astapor, and Yunkai, the White Wolf, the King in the North, the Resurrected, the Avenger of the Red Wedding, and Daenerys Stormborn, of House Targaryen, First of Her Name, Queen of the Andals, of the Rhoynar, and of the First Men, Lady of the Seven Kingdoms, Protector of the Realm, Queen of Meereen, Astapor, and Yunkai, the Unburnt, the Mother of Dragons, the Breaker of Chains. Long may they reign!” Missandei recited loudly enough that none could miss it.

“Long may they reign!” the audience in the Great Hall all shouted in response.

“Ser Jardan Haigh. Thought that you’d been overlooked, did you? Well, you were not! You were clever enough to defect ahead of your cousin, at least. You were very informative, too. Thank you for that. No running away, though. We hereby instruct you to act as our emissary to the Bay of Dragons, to Qarth, to Asshai, to Braavos, Lys, Myr, Pentos, Volantis, Norvos, to Lhazareen, to Qohor, and to the Summer Islands, etc.

“Your task is to attempt to convince the rulers of said cities not to bind themselves into some kind of league against us, but rather to stay neutral in this war or even side with us against the Night King and the Army of the Dead. Do well, and we are confident that you will be rewarded should you return alive,” Daenerys ordered the former Master of Coin after briefly consulting with Jon.

“Naturally, we’ll give you a purse and hire a ship for you, but you must leave as quickly as you can manage it. Lord Varys, you will arrange this, as the new Master of Coin, will you not? Go first to Magister Illyrio and also to Harry Strickland of the Golden Company. We could use both on our side. Also know that, whatever else happens, your knighthood is safe. You shall retain it as long as you live,” Jon Snow elaborated a bit more on his wife’s instructions to Ser Jardan.

“Thank you, Your Graces. I shall do my utmost to please and serve you, both of you, of course. I can only hope that Ser Wyllam proves as loyal as I will be. By the Seven, I swear that I shall not betray my King and Queen,” Ser Jardan announced his departure as he received the purse from Varys himself.

“We shall have to depart very soon ourselves, en route to Winterfell to face the Army of the Dead, shall we not?” Tyrion observed now.

“Indeed we shall. I know that you look forward to marrying Sansa, of course, and don’t even attempt to convince me that it is simply about power. You wish to marry her partly because some part of you still desires her. I cannot say that I blame you there. My sister is a beauty, no doubt of that, and she is a very strong and intelligent woman at that. She would be an excellent choice on the merits, regardless of alliances,” Jon acknowledged rather bluntly.

“Dear husband, if I did not know better, I would think that you wished to bed Sansa yourself,” Dany teased Jon.

The Mother of Dragons knew very well that there was always a chance that it could happen these days. The potions from Kinvara and Melisandre had increasingly influenced the inner circle of the new royal court and regime away from any kind of prudishness about sexual congress whatsoever. There was a lot more coupling than usual of late, and often in ways that would make even Cersei blush at times.

Tyrion had even spent the previous night sharing Dany’s bed. Jon had taken Bernadette yet again while Davos had enjoyed Rendal and Raina at Jorah’s invitation. Bronn slept with Abrey himself, even as Jorah bedded Missandei. Gendry, for his part, enjoyed a reunion with Melisandre that was much more pleasant than the last incident. Sam, meanwhile, discovered Kinvara in his bed and gladly seized his chance with the Red Priestess. It was likely one of their last nights in King’s Landing before they had to depart for the North, so they might as well as enjoy it, everyone understood. There was no sense in self-denial now.