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.

“The thought had occurred to me,” Jon grinned now.

“Hey, I’ve had your wife. No reason that you can’t have mine,” Tyrion added, “she’d have to want it, but the potion will ensure that, among other things.”

“What about Arya?” Jon asked now.

“Is she really a grown woman now? It’s hard to imagine this. When last I saw her, she was a real terror, a girl with very boyish ways, more interested in fighting than in sewing. I hear that she’s been ... an assassin, no less! That she joined the Faceless Men of Braavos. If I ever did take her to bed, I’d have to be very careful indeed. You, on the other hand, are her brother, even if strictly speaking her cousin instead. She loves and adores you. She always has, I think. You’d be far safer than me!” Tyrion smiled as they left the Great Hall for Maegor’s Holdfast to eat their midday meal there.

“Yes, well, I must confess that I am rather smitten with Lady Arya Stark myself. And now I’m a lord, much better rank to claim such a lady for my own. Even if she once pretended to be a boy instead of a girl and apparently slew several men. She appears to have rescued her own uncle, Lord Edmure Tully of Riverrun, too, from captivity by House Frey. Which family she nearly wiped out, I might add, by poison,” Gendry expressed his own admiration for Arya Stark, once his close friend, now the object of infatuation.

“She sees you swing that warhammer and slay some White Walkers, she’s much more likely to want to grace your bed,” Davos chuckled now.

“That’s the point, I believe,” Gendry laughed as well.

“Well, you’re the only Baratheon whom I don’t despise for what your father did to my brother, well, living one that is. This tragic victim Shireen would be the other exception, from what I heard. I wish you the best of luck in winning Lady Arya’s affections. It is high time for Houses Stark and Baratheon to unite, just as it is for Houses Stark and Targaryen as well as Stark and Lannister. It will be much easier to bring this realm together with all of the great houses remaining in the same camp. That was the plan, was it not, Lord Tyrion, my Imp?” Dany reminded the others.

“Indeed it was! In any case, what is today’s dinner? Pheasant? Perhaps some chickens!” Varys inquired now, being rather famished.

“Pigeon pies all around. We’ve been busily cooking them up, because they’ve grown so fat that they could feed an army. It’s amazing how much lovelier this town is without them, anyway. No more pigeons stuffing their beaks with the dead that we’ve had to burn, not when they can be stuffed themselves,” Sam finally spoke.

“No surprise that it was Sam who answered that query, my friends,” Jon playfully needled his good friend, who knew him better than to take offense.

“If you wish to know of meals, ask the fattest man you know,” Sam retorted with a belly laugh, in which he was quickly joined by the rest of them.

They had little else to say right then, however, as they had some pigeon pie to devour, thankfully not of the poisoned variety. None would share Joffrey’s fate if they could help it.