The sea was as calm as a slow-moving creek coming down a Mountain that day.
A fairly large galleon was slumbering along with the flow of the wind and water, sailing so smoothly that one couldn't even feel the usual shudders. Even a person with chronic seasickness could have calmly walked on the deck that day without letting out a single heave, so mellow were the waves.
It was the hour of the wolf, the darkest night just before the first light of the dawn.
But even in this darkness, this ship was lit up and glowing faintly under the lights of the torches, which were placed strategically all over the deck inside big permanent iron brackets that stopped them from being a fire hazard.
Making it so that even at this time, there were quite a few men out and about on the deck going about their chores with the diligence and work ethic that would put even the sailors of the Royal fleet to shame.
Some were out there meticulously cleaning the deck, others were keeping a lookout, while a few were doing their routine checks of the ropes and the sails to make sure that they were in excellent condition.
And even though none of these men looked as if they had taken a wink of sleep during the whole night, they still did not seem too fatigued or worn out, as if their whole bodies had already accepted the fact that they only operated under the light of the moon and rested during the day.
But other than these workers, there was one other person awake out there on the deck, but this one wasn't doing any kind of productive work; instead, he was just sitting there out in the open at the front of the ship, meditating with his eyes closed and silently enjoying the cool breeze.
And this man did not appear like a sailor from any direction, as not only was he wearing clean clothes, but his skin also did not have the usual tanned and weather-worn countenance like the others.
The most damning thing of all was his hair, which not only looked soft and flowing, the kind only frequent careful washes could get you(which was a luxury worthy of a king as far as any sailor was concerned), but it also came with a fresh cut that gave his curly hair the perfect platform to shine, giving him a handsome look that was bound to be a hit with any young maiden who laid her eyes on him.
"You are up unusually early today?" A curious voice suddenly asked, breaking the serene atmosphere and bringing the still boy out of his inner world.
The man who just arrived also stood out a lot from the rest, as unlike most of the sailors on the ship who were of Northern descent, this one clearly carried the features of someone from the Free cities.
But in spite of his distinctness, there was only respect and caution in the eyes of the sailors towards this captain of theirs who had the direct ears of their big boss.
"It's not that early," Jon answered without even opening his eyes, while pointing in the distance towards the right, "The Sun is already out."
"It is not—"
And just like that, not even a second later, the first rays of the morning sun peeked over the horizon, as if the celestial body had been waiting for the boy's order, bringing a hint of warmth and light into the cold, dark world over the ocean
"You know what I mean." The Advisor continued while shaking his head as he moved past the boy towards the railing, completely unmoved by his trick. He had seen him achieve far more miraculous feats than this simple gimmick of his, that even an Old sailor could succeed in 5 times out of 10.
"You usually don't show your face until about mid-day, so what is it about today that forced you to let go of your beauty sleep?" The Advisor asked as he looked out at the vast and humbling view of the narrow sea, before turning around with a teasing smile, "Are you perhaps just too happy that you will soon get to see your brother, and couldn't control your excitement?"
"Ugh, don't make it sound as if I am a slacker," Jon retorted with a snort as he finally opened his eyes and stood up, before stretching the sleep out of his body.
While the Advisor was right about Jon sleeping in until noon, it was not because he was lazy or anything; it was because Jon spent most of his nights out there roaming with his wargs, trying to keep an eye on all the important happenings around the world.
From his family in Winterfell, to various persons of interest he was monitoring in Essos and Westeros, and not to mention, his little shipping company that was now getting a little too big to handle.
"And why on earth would I be excited to see my brother, when I just saw him last night," He replied with a meaningful look on his face, 'In fact, I can still see him right now, snoring like a pig on his bed, irritating the delicate ears of my little Tweety,' The boy thought, keeping the last part to himself, to spare his older brother some dignity.
"You know what I mean," The Advisor repeated with a sigh, agreeing a little with those Dornish girls that the boy indeed liked bragging just a little too much, "so if not for your brother, then why are you already up?"
"It's the smell," Jon finally answered with a sigh, as he came to stand beside the Essosi, "One needs a very strong stomach to smell something this revolting, and not immediately vomit their guts out."
"What?" The older man asked back confusedly, before his eyes suddenly widened as he turned and looked towards the horizon that still looked as empty as it was a few seconds ago, "Can you already smell the Capital all the way out here?" he asked as he hesitatingly flared his nostrils, and breathed in deeply, but no matter how hard he tried he still couldn't feel anything other the salty breeze
"Not me, of course. It was frost." Jon replied while jerking his chin towards the sky, "She woke me up a few hours ago, complaining that her nose was burning from irritation by the smell of the city, so I had to send her away."
Ever since the Advisor had worked out his secret ability during his campaign against the Pirate King, the man's old boss, Jon, had started to become very open with him about his warging.
And as time passed and he saw more and more of his trustworthiness, he revealed all that he could about the various wargs he controlled, and what all he could make them do at any moment.
The sheer might of Jon's ability had scared the man in the beginning, especially after he became acquainted with Frost and Inky, his sea Kraken, but then, after a few days, he suddenly decided that Jon was some kind of saviour that had been sent by the gods to help the world.
This sudden fanaticism had shocked the boy for a while, but since the man did not make a big deal out of this, and was only more loyal because of this, Jon did not try too hard to correct his assumption and simply let it pass.
After all, being a little superstitious never hurt anyone...right?
"I did not know that birds could smell?" The Advisor mumbled out loud with a strange expression before shaking her head, "So, where did you send her? To the Wall?"
"No, she was out there just yesterday," Jon replied with a shrug as he remembered the late-night inspection of the Wildling camp, which was still growing larger with each passing day, especially now that most of their food-related problems had been solved by Jon, "And she wanted a change of scenery, so I sent her to Essos."
"To the others?" The Advisor questioned with an understanding expression on his face, having known that most of his Stark family was out there on a tour of the free cities.
"Aye, she is flying out there above their ships right at this moment," Jon replied with a warm smile, as his eyes became a little dazed.
Jon looked down through Frost's eyes to see Daenerys learning the art of sparring with a short sword from his little sister Arya, who was moving as fast as a sparrow, and kept spinning in and out of the bigger girl's attack with the air of a pro.
Sansa was standing on the side, cheering Daenerys on, telling her not to give up, while the girls' Mother sat under the shade some distance away, along with her husband, looking at Arya cheerfully jumping around with a look of tired resignation, as if having accepted defeat after a long-fought battle.
Watching his family let go, travel the sights in free cities, and having fun with little Dany was one of the most rewarding scene that the boy had ever seen, and the smiles on their faces, and even the rare look of relaxation on Eddard's perpetually frowning face, made it all worth it, and it gave the Jon knew much needed motivation, as he knew that there was nothing in this world that he would not fight to protect these smiles.
"So how far out are we now?" The Advisor suddenly asked, bringing Jon out of his thoughts, "Should I get the men to wake up the rest of them?"
"Yeah, get them up and ready. We should see the capital in about an hour." Jon replied as he turned around to look at the twenty large Galleys following right after their lead ships, moving in a bird flock formation, "After all, we don't want the nobles in Capital to look down on us."
...