snow and stars| jon snow

xi: the honoring

The Queen of Ilta had been in her room for hours on end, only coming out for dinner, in which she was uncharacteristically very quiet for. Usually she had a story, or a joke or something to say about politics, but for the past two days, she spoke not a word to them besides formal greetings. Even the whole keep had been getting a bit more gloomy every day, as if they were feeling what she was. The rest of Jon's company saw it as a woman being moody, but Jon was concerned.

Ramona had stopped him on his way to follow her. She, along with everyone else but the guilty party, could see the attraction between the two monarchs. She looked him up and down before smirking at him. "Where are you going?"

He didn't blush, surprisingly. "To see if she's alright."

"The Queen is alright." She answered. "It is just very close to the Honoring."

Jon had heard Ramona say that before. The day they first arrived, she was red hot mad at the apparently blatant 'disrespect' he and the other three had presented towards her queen by simply being in her presence, and so near the Honoring. "What is the Honoring? Is it something to do with the gods?"

Jon didn't like the way she was looking at him. "We worship no gods in Ilta." She said, shaking her head at him like he was a learning child. "We worship only the Queen of Ilta and her husband."

He was getting agitated with her happy disposition, because, damn, he was curious as to what was making the other woman so upset. "So, what is it?"

Ramona got serious all of a sudden, the smile off of her face and out of her voice. "The Honoring is something Andromed- Queen Andromeda does every year, in honor of her fallen kin." He sighed and nodded, understanding it all too well. "Every year since she has been the queen, she puts a new constellation in the sky, one for each member of her family. It's her way of letting them live on with her, her ultimate honor."

He was a skeptical man. No woman could put stars in the sky. No woman could change destiny, for he thought the both of Daenerys. "I understand." He didn't.

"She has already placed her mother, father, and oldest sister in the stars." Ramona said solemnly. "Tonight, it is Hyperion's turn." She walked away, turning quickly on her heel and taking his place in following the dark haired woman.

                                     §

Jon had informed them on what was happening before they all went outside to sit on the grass and watch the Queen of Ilta work her magic. They understood, Tyrion most of all, but Jon was skeptical. Putting a constellation in the sky? No one could put a constellation in the sky, not even a so called Night Queen.

   Tyrion tried to tell Jon many times that Day and Night Queens existed. For some reason, the man believed in dragons and an Army of the Dead faster than he believed that a woman had the power of the skies in her. And he found it extremely hard to believe that one could manipulate the stars, even if they were extremely rare. He only began believing the fact that she controlled the sky when the thunder expressed her emotions on the day of her arrival. But no one, not a soul, could move the stars.

   Ser Davos Seaworth, Tyrion Lannister, Gendry Baratheon, and Jon Targaryen sat watching with the Iltan people, who all bowed their heads simultaneously as their queen emerged, the night sky lighting her features. She stepped out gracefully, her large dress following her as Ramona walked diagonally and behind her, waiting in the wings. Andromeda stood right by the water, her dark blue dress with white that was barely visible in the dull lighting becoming damp by the shores.

   "The Battle of Ilta happened on this night, seven years ago." Andromeda started, her voice as hard as rocks. Her back was turned away from her people. She knew she would break if she looked at any of the faces that had been present on that day. "I have done something that unfortunately no Queen of Ilta was fortunate enough to do before me between now and one hundred and fifty years. I have placed my fallen kin into the sky, where they will live on eternally."

   Ser Davos looked at Jon, a comment that was probably not considerate on his tongue, but Jon held up his hand in silencing. If he could not call her 'queen', then he would at least give her the respect of one.

"Hyperion, you gave your life for mine. You died defending me and your home, and no one will ever forget that. You were the brother that taught me to fight, to shoot an arrow. But most importantly, you were the brother that taught me that it was okay that I wasn't princess material. You loved us all. Each and everyone one of us, you loved us differently in the ways we needed but all the same. You were a loyal protector, and the greatest knight the world has ever seen and will ever see, even if you were not yet called a 'Ser'. You taught me many things, and I will never forget them, brother." She lifted her own bowed head.

Ramona stepped closer to her, but she knew it was vital to not touch her. She had to do it alone, she had to make it right. Even though Ramona felt her pain, all she could offer was her body heat, and the reassurance of her knowing that someone who had watched it with her was still there, standing beside her.

   "I, Andromeda of the Houses Vela and Martell," her voice broke on the last word. "The first of my name, the Queen of Ilta, the last surviving Vela, bringer of the Storm of Seven nights, bringer of the Light of Eight Days, and the fourth Queen of the Night," She sniffled, her hands beginning to illuminate with celestial light. "Place you, Prince Hyperion of the Houses Vela and Martell, into the skies along with our mother, father, and sister. I create an image of you that is immortal and place you into the night sky. I reincarnate your name and memory into a scorpion."

She threw her hands up to the sky in the direction where three other constellations sat, close to each other yet far from any other lone stars. The light escaped from her hands and she cried, a single tear escaping her eyes as Ramona stood and watched, as the whole world seemed to stand and watch. Under her command, the stars slowly formed next to the constellation of a crown, a snake, and a swan to make what was undoubtedly a scorpion, tail pointed up and curled inwards, a loyal protector.

A slow, quiet sob escaped the queen who had her back to them as Jon stood in shock, as even Tyrion stood in shock at the extent of her powers. Ramona placed her hand on her queen's back, rubbing it slowly and softly as she cried on her shoulder for a moment. Her people's heads were all down, the air thick and heavy with grief. A louder cry came from her throat, something that was closer to a wail as she realized that she had put another one of them in the stars, one more Vela to be rejoined with his family, even if only in her mind. Ramona reluctantly let go of her queen, who wiped her eyes and slowly turned towards her people, who's heads raised just as slow. Andromeda breathed in once, and out once.

They stood, the air whipping her hair around as she looked amongst all her subjects, and as she looked at the four men she had previously blamed for all of this. It was quiet enough to hear the whistling of sea shells. When she finally spoke, it was in a powerful voice. "And forever will he shine."

The men and women all around her kneeled and plunged their swords and spears into the earth as the children simply took a knee, a swift movement in unity. "And forever will he shine."

That was the first time King Jon wanted to kneel.