The Dragonborn Comes

17. Blood of the Dragon

Daenerys Targaryen.

I was kidnapped.

Fucking kidnapped!

And by no other than the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch. Jon Snow. Why the Nights Watch had gotten a bastard-born boy as their Lord Commander was still a mistery to me, but I figured his lineage and bloodline must have been important.

"I am the blood of the Dragon!" I exclaimed "I demand you release me this very instant!"

We had been on the road for nearly a forthnight. Dragonstone was now far behind us, and we had catched up with the last of the Brothers sent to retrieve Dragonglass. Jon had a young palfrey with a grey pelt and white mane, and Ghost was trailing behind us. We were riding double, and afer my first two attempts to escape I was now tied by my wrists and ankles.

"Sorry Your Grace, but I can't" answered Jon. He was sitting behind me, and I felt his chest vibrate with his words as I was pressed closely to him. I hated not being able to see him, but at least I could profit from his body warmth and the heavy black cloak he was wearing.

"So I am 'Your Grace' " I snapped, trying to twist sideways to look at Jon.

"Your lineage isn't up for discussion" Jon said from behind me, his breath caressing my neck as he shifted in the saddle.

"What about the pretender Stannis Baratheon? Or Tommen, the boy-king that rules from the Iron Throne in Kings Landing?" I demanded, anger creeping into my voice at the mention of the usurpers names.

"Tommen is a product of incest and no trueborn son of Robert Baratheon" Jon said with an edge to his voice that wasn't lost to me.

"And Stannis?" I inquired.

"Stannis had a legitimate claim, despite what you may think. He was also the only one that came to the defense of the Wall and the Brothers of the Nights Watch. We owe him a lot" Jon said finally after a brief silence.

"What you owe him doesn't take away the fact that I am the rightful heir to the Iron Throne!" I said between clenched teeth.

"Every pretender and usurper says that he's the rightful heir to the Iron Throne" Jon replied casually "But my father used to say that ruling wasn't a right, it is an obligation. It should be your duty, not something you claim in the name of your house or your family"

I remained silent after that. He was.right, but what he didn't kniw was that I already knew that. I didn't expect to just be handed the Iron Throne, wrapped like a gift ad with a nice 'thank you' note. I knew I had to rean it. That I had to prove that I could rule.

Prove myself worthy of the Iron Throne.

"...Who was your father?" I asked carefully "He sounds like a wise man"

"...Lord Eddard Stark, Lord of Winterfell" Jon said quietly after a silence in which I feared that he might not answer.

That name I knew.

I had heard the story of Rhaegars obsession with Lyanna Stark. It had caused the rebellion, after all, and in the end caused the fall of the House Targaryen. My brother Vyserion had talked about the Wolf of the North. I gathered from what he said that Med Stark had been an honorable man. Loyal to a fault and stubborn, he was just and fair, and he had seemed like a man worthy of knowing.

"So why take the black? Why join the Night's Watch?" I questioned further, curiosity taking the better hand of me.

"My reasons are my own" Jon said cooly, remaining silent after that.