Loki: Game of Thrones

Chapter 72 - Icy Origins

Jon Snow stood on the edge of the Great Wall and looked into the wilds beyond. The untamed lands with their hidden dangers. The icy wind whipped him in the face, causing his already unruly locks of black hair to billow in his eyes and mouth. He blinked a couple of times against the flakes of snow, before he turned his back on the Far North. Walking back towards the elevator, he entered it and his brothers sent him back down to the ground level of Castle Black. When the wooden doors were finally drawn back, Jon Snow stepped out and gathered his black fur trimmed cloak around himself, and watched his brothers training. The clash of swords rang our through the yard, as well as the whistle of the archers practicing. "Snow!" shouted a voice, and Jon Snow turned to see Alliser Thorne standing at the entrance of the great hall. "Maester Aemon requests your presence!" he bellowed and Jon Snow nodded his head. He skirted around Alliser Thorne and entered the dark keep, knowing he would find the maester in the library, most likely with Samwell Tarly. Sure enough, the blind old man was sitting at a desk, surrounded by many candles, books, and good ol' Sam.

"Thank you for joining us, Brother Snow," Aemon said when he heard the familiar trudge of Jon.

"Alliser Thorne said you needed me," Jon Snow said in response. Aemon nodded his head and waved him over to the hearth where they were sitting.

"We were just going over ancient family trees," Sam Tarly said enthusiastically. Jon Snow had to smile at that. Poor, pudgy Sam. Always buried in a book. Aemon held up a parchment and Jon Snow took it, glancing at the line. It only took him a second to realize what family tree he was looking at.

"It's the Targaryens," he said, putting the parchment back down on the table. Aemon tilted his head slightly, and ghost of a smile graced his cracked face.

"Yes, Jon Snow. It is the line of the Targaryens. But, Master Tarly has neglected to tell you what I was really teaching today," Aemon said, and Jon Snow sat on one of the stools, still studying the paper.

"Well, what Master Aemon is telling me is too fantastic! It just can't be!" Sam Tarly said as he quickly poured Aemon another cup of wine and passed it to him. "He speaks of a time when Westeros was once connected to other worlds, each full of unique and exquisite creatures!" Sam explained and Jon Snow raised his eyebrow.

"That can't be, maester," Jon said, and Aemon shook his head.

"Why shouldn't it? Is there some law or rule that says it's impossible?" Aemon challenged, and both boys remained silent. "Nay! It does not! And I know, from personal experience." Both Jon and Sam exchanged a raised eyebrow. "Stop doing that," Aemon ordered and they faced him again. "When the last Targaryens were in power, the queen, still the princess at the time, Rhaella Targaryen, vanished from Kings Landing. Gone!" Aemon said, snapping his fingers dangerously close to Sam's nose, he was leaning that close. Jon Snow pulled his friend back, and waited for the ancient maester to continue. "The Mad King searched for his sister and future bride, but she was not found. Not for several months. Then, just as mysteriously as she had vanished, she reappeared." Maester Aemon stopped and drank some of his wine before continuing. "She told her family that she was kidnapped by a King of Ice, and made to bear him a child. A son. This boy was stripped from her by her lover and he sent her back to Westeros through a hidden path in a living tree. It is called Yggdrasil!" Both rangers looked at each other quizzically again. This story sounded like a romance story, and they were not interested in that. Even Sam found romances to be a stretch of his imagination.

"But, maester," the fatter youth said, "if Rhaella Targeryen produced a child out of wedlock, then wouldn't her brother not have married her?" Maester Aemon glanced in Sam's direction, his blind eyes unfocused as usual.

"Possibly. But! The Mad King still married her because he knew she was strong," Aemon said.

"Strong? Strong how?" Jon Snow asked. Aemon turned to him and pointed to a leather book that was over on a table. Jon retrieved it and handed it to the maester. The man flipped through it before he found a picture and held it out to them. Both Jon Snow and Sam Tarly leaned forward to see a painting of a young woman with white hair, being snatched by a blue giant with red eyes.