[Chapter Size: 2600 Words.]
Third Person POV.
Winterfell.
...
...
Given the result of the trial by combat between Daemon and Lord Stark, things had calmed down somewhat in Winterfell, not that people stopped talking about it, since no one had expected that outcome.
Everyone expected something ambiguous, like the death of Lord Stark or his being sent to the Wall, but instead, Daemon chose to give him the task of helping him in the south, and then send him to the Wall as punishment.
Although sending him to the south was also a way of helping House Stark, since with Robb Stark's failure, no one in the North would be willing to trust their forces to him again, no matter how many battles he had won. He still lost the war.
Putting Lord Stark in command of the northern forces was a way to achieve some redemption for Robb Stark. The North would follow Ned here. And his son could prove his worth again on the battlefield.
And now, the North was preparing to act, all the vassals had been called again with their troops heading toward Winterfell. The next day, the Skagos force arrived, Glover, Tallhart, Cerwyn, Manderly, Umber, and Karstark men began marching to Winterfell.
The Reeds would join their men when the main force descended the Neck. The troops of Howland and House Dustin were guarding the captured ships, while the Tallharts remained to maintain the ships in the west.
The Manderlys would not stay to wait in the south, as they should have. Daemon needed to relocate all the food supplies stored in White Harbor to the south, the Manderly army should already be taking provisions to Winterfell, both to distribute throughout the North from there and a good portion going to the army marching south.
Daemon waited for a response from the other nobles in the southeast of the Kingdom of the North, since that was where Stannis had placed his forces and forced some northern lords to follow him. Daemon wanted to see what had really happened there, with that witch whispering in Stannis's ear, he should pay for all the damage committed in that region.
Daemon soon began receiving messages. One from Stannis justified the reason Daemon had asked, with an unpleasant letter stating why he himself had to deal with a shadow assassin when he should have eliminated the Red Witch, when Stannis should have done it.
Stannis's letter contained a sincere apology, saying that the Red Witch had fled before he could give the order to have her executed. And he was hunting her, which was why he had not informed him of the situation, but he had not expected that she would attempt to send a murderous magic against Daemon. After what he had witnessed, he no longer believed a man could stand against a Targaryen, and how could one? What man could simply create a storm and dispel it as he wished, using some sort of thunderous magic? That was why Stannis said he was committed, and if Daemon wanted his head, at least he should give the Stormlands to his daughter, who was his rightful heir.
Anyway, the days went by, and Daemon summoned all who would be part of his military council, such as the direct commanders of the troops. In the model he had asked to be rebuilt in his old room, they gathered there.
The hall was divided between men of the North and free folk — and Daemon had placed more than half of them to command the free folk. Obviously, the lords did not like it and were not yet used to it, after all, thousands of years of fighting would not simply vanish because they had been living together in the castle for only a few weeks. But they would have to work together, just as the free folk would have to accept that they were fighting alongside the northerners, with everyone fighting for Daemon.
Some northerners were skeptical about whether the free folk would really know how to wage war and follow orders. This earned some insults from the other side. Even his uncle was insulted when he raised that question, he himself. But Daemon merely raised his hand, asking everyone to calm down.
"I want you to understand. I have been training the free folk for over a year on my own. This is not everything I could have done in that time regarding war tactics and command. However, you would do well not to underestimate them. You may have been overshadowed by my solo actions with magic and conquering castles, since that is all people talk about, but do not forget that I commanded fifty thousand men with axes from the area near the Wall to Winterfell and the seat of the Dustins."
"Some committed war crimes during this, but it was a small number, and all were executed as an example to the others. There was no mercy in that from me. So believe me: these men will surprise you. The entire North will show that there has never been an army so powerful in this age, with the alliance of northerners from the south and north of the Wall, along with others, we will crush any enemy." Jon crossed his arms.
"You said you took part in a war in that land… Skyrim." His uncle asked beside his son.
Exactly. Daemon appreciated the question, as he could further clarify everyone's doubts about the free folk, who until then were considered savages in battle.
"Exactly. I fought in war alongside northerners from the region of Skyrim, which was to that land what the North is to Westeros, as a general allied to another man. Together we organized troops and conquered enemy castles and territories. I can say that there were not as many men as we are dealing with here, but there were sorcerers and mages in both armies; it was enormous chaos and death everywhere..."
"...In the end, we won. Believe me: I know as much about war as I do about fighting or speaking the language of dragons," Daemon said calmly, opening a smile as he received surprised looks from all directions.
Many would certainly remember those words for the rest of the military campaign, but there were also astonished looks when Daemon mentioned for the first time the language of dragons; everyone knew that he could roar like thunder and, with it, unleash magic, but he had never spoken about the language of dragons.
Anyway, he shrugged.
"Well, let's wait for the rest of the troops to arrive and continue organizing. The Manderlys will bring supplies; we'll take them to the south. Stannis and his men are waiting for us on the road, I'll ask him to take Moat Cailin with the Reeds."
Daemon began pointing at the map until he reached a point and flicked a wooden symbol — the symbol representing the Freys.
This quickly earned growls throughout the room. Everyone there hated the Freys; even the free folk did not find it acceptable to see men murdering people at their own table after trapping them in their own hall. Even among the free folk, oaths had value: if you promise not to attack someone in their home cowardly, you do not do it. That was an affront to the gods.
"There is no other option; the extermination of the Freys will happen," Daemon said. "At the same time, we will attack the Iron Islands, and leave a mark that will make them never look to the North again... Then we will enter the Riverlands, drive out any Lannister with steel and fire. I want to conquer the West and also the Crownlands, dividing the army again."
Anyway, the meetings continued, with Daemon tracing routes and also asking about the terrain of the Riverlands. Robb was the source for Daemon, informing him of his military maneuver strategies against the Lannisters while he was winning his battles.
Maege also gave her opinion along with a few others who had survived the Red Wedding, bringing their battlefield experience.
Daemon dismissed everyone some time later and remained in the room looking at the map of Westeros alone, while he looked at several small wooden figures representing all his enemies. The South now seemed to be his next destination, and all of them were his enemies.
He would not only have the North, but also twenty thousand men from the Stormlands under Stannis's command, and a few more from the Crownlands.
Daemon needed more information; he needed to see what the South looked like through his own eyes, and he would do so as soon as he left, with representatives of the Iron Bank requesting an audience. He granted it and then went to the godswood.
What he did not know when he looked to the South was that he would be somewhat surprised to learn that the Tyrells had abandoned the Lannisters at that moment.
Not only because the North was marching with an army of more than one hundred sixty thousand men, plus a dragon, a legitimized and recognized Targaryen married to another Targaryen and seeking blood vengeance.
Daemon simply took the letter he had sent to Tywin Lannister and stole it using the same raven he had left in King's Landing, placing the letter later in front of Olenna, because he wanted to weaken the Lannisters and their allies even before arriving in the South.
He would not mind now if there was an internal rebellion and the Lannisters died without him having to lift a sword in the end.
Daemon amused himself with the cruel idea; he wanted to show that Tywin was no longer in control of the situation, and this seemed to make the Tyrells even more desperate — and then they made the decision to abandon the Lannisters.
Except Daemon had not expected this to be influenced by a group of ships from the Golden Company heading to the Stormlands, coming from Essos, and that was certainly a surprise for the Dragonborn, with new players entering the game.
And not only that: with the idea that the Tyrells were simply going to ally themselves with this mercenary group even against him, but Dorne was also beginning to raise its spears. Around twenty thousand spearmen were being gathered in Dorne, and everything indicated that they were also going to ally themselves with these mercenaries who wanted to conquer the Seven Kingdoms.
Daemon smiled and became interested in this, enjoying seeing how all of this would unfold, but he would only learn the truth when he reached the South. For now, he could only speculate.
However, the sight of the Tyrells fleeing King's Landing in a hurry was quite amusing to Daemon. They not only refused to marry Margaery to Joffrey, but Sansa also managed to escape from King's Landing in the great confusion.
The Lannisters were desperate. They claimed they could not make it public that Sansa had fled, as their only Stark hostage was in a very delicate situation. Tywin seemed to be losing his hair, Cersei was going insane, and Joffrey more furious than ever, hurling threats at Daemon and the North, at the Tyrells, and even at Dorne, since the news of them raising their spears had reached the king's ears.
The Boltons were heading to the Crownlands, passing through Harrenhal at that moment.
The situation was becoming quite chaotic, and Daemon found it more amusing than ever.
Tormund finally arrived from the West with his 4,200 men. He had lost 800, but massacred thousands of Ironborn across the entire Western Coast of the North, trying to seize as many ships as possible. Daemon was pleased with this and made sure to hold a feast in his honor when he returned, publicly acknowledging his military merit along with the Tallhart men who had joined the free folk.
Then, the Skagosi people arrived, kneeling before Jon, surprising many northerners. Even though they knew Daemon had forced the Skagosi to kneel by strength, seeing it personally was still surprising — it was the second time the Skagosi would fight for someone since the last King in the North had knelt before Aegon Targaryen.
Irony of fate: Daemon carried both Stark and Targaryen blood.
The armies began to gather at this moment. Ten thousand northerners and one hundred and thirty thousand free folk were assembled before Winterfell. Daemon would leave trusted men in Winterfell. Daenerys, Lucis, his cousins, and the children too young to command their troops would remain in Winterfell.
Benjen would assume the castle, since Daemon had given the order for that and passed on the Wall to Lord Commander Tormund, who accepted. There was no other Stark to care for Winterfell, since Bran was too young to be Lord of Winterfell, and his brother Rickon even more so, while Robb and Lord Stark would go south with Daemon. Arya also wanted to go. Obviously, her father refused.
Jon still had two matters to deal with in Winterfell. The first was Bran's surgery, which he ended up performing with Springs, using an ethereal evocation of Meridia. She did not need to come to this world this time, but would certainly provide healing through the veil that separates this world from others, with Daemon cutting the part of the spine where the damage had occurred in Bran and Meridia reforming the structure as if no injury had ever existed there.
Bran had to remain in bed for weeks until he was finally able to stand. But there was no doubt: he could feel his legs this time. The boy cried a lot and thanked Daemon. Later, his family gathered around Bran.
Lastly, Daemon had to say goodbye to his mother. She did so with each of her children. Even Ned had ethereal tears in his eyes. Daemon was the last to say goodbye to her, since she would no longer be there.
This was the day of his departure at last, he was going south and met her in the godswood.
"Whatever happens from now on, I will free you from this state. I hope to find you in the world of souls, mother," Daemon said, while she cried, trying to hug him, though she could not feel him. He still tried to return the gesture, making it look as much as possible like a real embrace between mother and son.
"Daemon... I don't want this to be the last time we see each other. I want to find you wherever you are. Please, take care of yourself, my son. When we meet again, I want to hear your whole story and of the great king you have become. I want you to have many grandchildren and descendants after them."
She said this knowing Daenerys was pregnant. And the two had talked much about motherhood, while Lyanna seemed excited at the idea of having a grandchild still in this world.
Daemon nodded to his mother as he stepped away. He gave a small smile, but did not shed tears. He certainly wanted to help her — truly wanted to — but he knew he would find her in the future, so there was no reason to cry and he needed to face reality. He would save her.
With that, he turned his back. Lyanna would remain for a few more weeks there, but he would no longer be in Winterfell. She would stay to speak with her brother, and care for Daenerys and even the youngest Starks, her nephews.
Daemon moved forward to join the troops that were already preparing to depart.
His time as Lord of Winterfell had ended. Now, it was time to place the Iron Throne where it belonged, in King's Landing.
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