The Children of Spring

Jorah II - Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon

Leaving Braavos was not what Jorah thought it would be. He would never imagine that the warlocks could find them so easely, no one knew about their wherabouts. Just one foot in solid land and we have them at our troaths?, Jorah thought when they finally were away from Braavos. They were in the middle of the sea again. Jorah liked to sail from time to time, still it was too much. He would have gone to Braavos if he could. But, he could not, the warlocks had Rhaella, he could not let them have him too. Why do they want to end my parents' rule? It does not make sense. The Free Cities have nothing to do with Westeros, Jorah thought.
He was snapped out of his thoughts, when Thomas asked,
"How did they find you?"
"We don't know. They must have had spies." Catelyn said.
"Did they see the ship?" Galladon asked.
"No, I don't think so." Jenny said.
"We'll have to stop again. We could not finish the repairs." Galladon said.
"For how long can we sail?" Jorah asked.
"Eight-ten days. If we're careful and lucky." Galladon said.
"We can't do the repairs while sailing?" Mia asked.
"Not all of them." Galladon said.
"So where can we stop?" James asked.
"Meereen." The priest of the Lord of the Light said. Alright, who is this?, Jorah thought. He did not know what to think about that journey anymore. If someone had asked him, about three months ago, what would he be doing right then, going on a long journey to rescue his youngest sister from some warlocks and in middle of that discovering that his father had come back to life would certainly not be his answer.
"I don't think we intruduce ourselves properly last time. I'm Jenny and these are: Galladon, Catelyn, James, Thomas, Mia and Jorah." Jenny said and each one of them nodded.
"It's a honor to meet you. I'm Durran of Yunkai. I'm a priest of the Lord of the Light." Durran said.
"Likewise. Can you tell us why did you claim to see a vision of us in the flames?" Catelyn asked.
"Well, my parents were slaves at Yunkai until Daenerys Stormborn freed them. She freed them! As a child, I joined the Priests of the Lord of the Light. But when I heard about the Undying and the Sons of the Harpy wanting to bring slavery back to Yunkai, Astapor and Meereen, I had to do something. So I went to Meereen, that's where I found Daario Naharis. He rulled the city in Daenerys name... Meereen eventually fell and he was left commanding the resistence. When that happened, we hid in the undergrounds. I prayed to the Lord and I saw a vision of you in the flames." Durran explained. My mother saved three cities from slavery..., Jorah thought.
"So that's why you asked us if we were the daughters and sons of the heroes of the Long Night?" Mia asked.
"Yes, because I needed to know. And if that was the case, I would like to ask you to come to Meereen to help us and then we will certainly help you." Durran explained.
"We have to get to my sister. The warlocks have her." Jorah said. They could not waste time.
"Jorah, we'll never get there without stoping first. You know that. We are going to save Rhaella, we promised." Galladon said and he nodded. He knew that he was right, still he was so worried. If it was Lyanna, then he would be more calm, but Rhaella was a lady, she was a Queen, yes, but she did not know how to use a sword. I can't help it, Jorah thought.
"Besides, if your mother really freed these cities, then we have to do something." Mia said.
"It's in our blood." Thomas said.
"Are you sure? We're heading to war." James said.
"You didn't worry about that the first time." Catelyn said.
"I was saying that for you, not me." James said.
"Sure." Catelyn said.
"Anyway. We'll help you, but we need to know how to enter the city." Jenny said.
"Thank you. There's a secret passage, I'll show you when we get there." Durran said.
"Very well. Cat, help me here. We have to change the course." Galladon said.
"Sure, brother." Catelyn said and then Galladon and Catelyn changed the course of the ship.
Jorah was still confused, he was proud for knowing that his mother had freed so many people from slavery, still why did she do that? And how? He knew that she had ruled the Free Cities, he just did not know much about it.
Jorah went to his cabin, he needed to think, Mia was going after him, when Thomas said,
"Leave him alone. He needs to think."
"Are you sure?" Mia asked.
"I am." Thomas answered and she nodded.
Jorah was in the cabin siting in the bed thinking. What is this supposed to mean? What are we going to find out? But they're right, it's in our blood, Jorah thought. He had always felt some pressure in relation to the fact that one day, he was going to be King of the Six Kingdoms, still this time it was different, it was not about the Six Kingdoms, it was about his mother's legacy. He would do anything to proctect his parents' legacy. However, that did not change the fact that he wanted to get to his sister more quickly. He felt guilty for what had happened to her. If they had not come to the camp in the first place, then the others would have stayed in KingsLanding, they would have been safe. On the other hand, if they had not come, I could have lost my dragon. What is a Targaryen without his dragon?, Jorah thought. When he had seen the man with his sword going straight to Kingly and seen that he could never reach him on time, his heart had stopped. Then the most unexpected thing happened, Joan had killed the man and saved the baby dragon. Jorah could not be more thankful for that. He had always had some kind of crush, as Mia and Rickon and more later Thomas would say, on Joan. However, he had never expected to have hopes with her. She was smart and beautiful and loved the stories of knights. Jorah also liked those stories, even if no one knew about it. Still, it never seemed to him that she could like him too. After the last battle, he had finally dared to hope. He had wanted to thank her for what she had done for Kingly, he had the idea of giving her a flower, therefore he had asked Thomas which were her favourites, he was her best friend, he would know. Thomas told him it were roses and then Jorah somehow found a red rose. Moments before they went their separate ways, Jorah had finally gathered the courage to go talk to her. He had found her with Catelyn and Jeyne, he had asked to talk to her and she agreed to it. He was very nervous and, unfortunately, he could not hide it. He had given her the rose and she had accepted it smiling. However, his nervousness almost vanished, giving way to hope with her last reply before parting.
"I hope we see each other again, Jo." He had said,
"I'll be in the South. Just come back there, Jorah." she had blissfully replied.
It had given him hope and, in that moment, he knew that they would get Rhaella back and go back home, no matter what.
After sometime, there was a knock on the door.
"Who is it?" Jorah asked. He did not know why, it was automatic, because living in a castle like the Red Keep, with thousands of people, he had to be a bit careful, he could not simply say 'come in' to everyone.
"It's Gal and Mia." Galladon said.
"Come in." Jorah said and then they did.
They sat next to him and Mia asked,
"Is everything alright?"
"Yes. I'm just worried." Jorah answered.
"We'll get to her on time, don't worry." Galladon said.
"I hope so. I mean, if it was Lya, it was one thing. Lya knows how to use a sword, but Rhaella doesn't." Jorah said.
"Jorah. Rhaella is just as strong as you and Lya. She is capable of making the entire room go silent, when she wants to speak. She's a Targaryen, just like you. The warlocks do not know in what they got themselves into." Mia said seriously.
"She's right. Rhaella is just as strong as you. I know that you want to proctect her, she is your youngest sister and she and Ned are the youngest, but, right now, we can only get to her if we stop in Meereen." Galladon said.
"I know. I'm sorry that I stormed out that way, but this time I couldn't control it." Jorah said looking down.
"You don't have to control it. You are allowed to have your breakdowns. All of us have them sometimes, some more than others. This is hard for all of us." Galladon said.
"He's right. Everyone is worried, every one of us have siblings and miss them. Every one of us miss their parents. All of us miss our family. Jenny is worried about her mother, Gal and Cat are worried about their father, I'm worried about my parents. Even Thomas and James are worried about their parents. It's alright." Mia explained.
"I know, but I can't help it. This is not your fault, but I always feel like I have to keep it together. I know I'm the most calm of us and, I don't know, I just want to keep it that way." Jorah said.
"No one is asking you to do that, Jorah. You are the most calm of us all, that's true. But if you have to get it all out, just go for it. We are here for you. Everyone is here. You just have to call us." Galladon said.
"Alright. I'll do that, next time." Jorah said nodding.
"Great. Now, come. Join us." Mia said and he laughed.
"I'm glad you're back." Galladon said.
"Me too." Jorah said.
Then they left the cabin and went back to the deck.
"Hey." Jorah said when they arrived.
"Hey, is everything alright?" Jenny asked.
"Yes." Jorah said.
"We're here. For everything." Thomas said and Catelyn and James nodded.
"Thank you." Jorah said and then they stayed there talking, they learnt more about Durran and told him more about themselves as well. Durran was very happy to know that Jorah was Daenerys's son, still Jorah told him not to make a big deal about it, he was just like any other person, even back at Westeros, he had told that to the people, he knew that he was a prince and would be a future King, still he was 15 and was not special for being the son of the Queen and the King, for him and his sisters they were theirs parents before anything else. Still, despite Durran agreed to it, he warned him that the people did call his mother 'Mhysa', for what she had done, therefore it might be a little difficult for people not to think he was special, to which Jorah response was in Valyrian,
"She is really my Mhysa, so I understand them."
"Very well." Durran said also in Valyrian.
"You're kidding. Do you know how to speak Valyrian?" Thomas asked Jorah.
"Yeah. I've known since I was a child." Jorah answered a bit confused.
"You know that bet we made? Forget Sam's lab key, if I win you have to teach me that." Thomas said.
"Thomas!" Jorah said.
"Please!" Thomas said.
"Fine. But if I win, it's the book. The first and the second." Jorah said.
"Done." Thomas said and then they sealled the deal with a handshake.
"If you two are done, which bet?" James asked curiously.
"Yeah. Which one?" Mia asked.
"It's secret." Thomas said.
"Exactly." Jorah said and then they looked at them surprised and they just shrugged.
That night, Jenny and Galladon stayed on watch, each one of them made turns to be on the watch, that day was theirs. Jorah was in his room trying to sleep, it was not working, his mind was filled with thoughts. We'll be fine, Jorah thought. Kingly laid beside him as always. In the recent days, the dragon semeed sad and Jorah knew that it was one of the reasons for him to be so worried. Dragons were born of magic, they had a bond between them and maybe the fact that they could feel what happened to each other led Jorah to think that something bad had happened to Rhaella or to Rhaenys. Sometime later, he finally slept.
Some days went by and when they thought that maybe the ship could not get to Meereen, they finally saw the Great Pyramid of Meereen, they also saw the Dragon's Bay. Still, they did not dock there for they had to enter the city in secret. Durran told them to turn left and go into a small strait. Once in there, they followed the strait until the end and docked at a very poorly mantained port, it could be seen that it was not the main or even the secondary port, it was a secret port, that by then was being used to get to the resistence. They left the ship and James asked,
"Can we leave the ship here?"
"Yes, no one knows about this place and no one is going to take it." Durran said.
"Good. Let's go." Jorah said and then they entered a secret passage.
"It's a long way off from here." Durran said.
"It's alright. We are used to long walks." Jenny said.
"Yeah, it was all we did when we were children." Galladon said.
"Weren't the two of you that once walked all around of edge of Tarth?" Catelyn asked.
"Yeah. And Casterly Rock too." Galladon said.
"We went from the Wall to the East-Watch on foot. It beats all of that." James said.
"I'd like to see Westeros one day." Durran said.
"You could come with us." Jorah said.
"I don't know. The Lord of the Light guides me. Maybe at the end of this, we'll see." Durran said.
"You'd like it there. It's not the Free Cities, but it's something. Besides, if you don't count KingsLanding, then everything smells pretty good." Mia said. The place that they were walking through stinked.
"Yeah, we're in sewers of the city so..." Durran said.
"KingsLanding smells worst." Thomas said.
"No, it doesn't." Jorah said. For me. I'm used to it, Jorah thought.
"It does, but maybe one day, it won't. Who knows?" James said and they laughed.
After sometime, they finally left the passage to the underground. They got to a massive wooden door. Durran knocked three times and then three times again. Secret code. Good, Jorah thought. Then the door opened and they entered, as soon as they entered the door closed again.
"This way." Durran said.
"How many years have you been at this?" Jorah asked concerned, it seemed to be a thousand years. He could never understand how the warlocks could do this from one time to another.
"Three." Durran answered.
"Three?" Everyone said and he nodded. How could this happen? Maybe the warlocks had a plan worked out long ago, Jorah thought.
At last, they got where Daario Naharis was.
"Daario." Durran said.
"Hey, Durran. You came back. Did you find them?" Daario asked. He had brown hair and a beard, he looked a bit old, but not much.
"I did. These are: Jenny, Galladon, James, Thomas, Catelyn, Mia and Jorah." Durran said.
"You're Daenerys kid?" Daario asked Jorah.
"Yeah. How did you know?" Jorah answered a bit confused.
"Guess the old man made it." Daario said.
"Uh, what?" Jorah asked confused and Jenny and Galladon just thought, For gods' sake, he's 15.
"Nothing. I was kidding. You're named after Jorah the Andal, right?" Daario said.
"I think so. My mother said that some people called him that, but my father knew him as Ser Jorah Mormont. He was from the Bear Island, it is near Winterfell." Jorab said.
"How did he go?" Daario asked.
"He died during the Long Night and my mother said he died protecting her, he died protecting his Queen." Jorah said smilling. He might never had met Jorah Mormont, but for what his mother and father told him about him, he must have been a great man, besides he had his name, so that meant that he was going to honor it.
"I thought I had seen the last of him with that Greyscale, but I guess not. I guess he just kept coming back. And I'd never thought he would die any other way than that one. He loved your mother. I loved her too... Guess, it was your father who managed to win her heart." Daario said.
"My mother told us to find you when we get here. She knew you were going to help us. She said you stayed ruling Meereen." Jorah said.
"I tried. But, guess, the warlocks had a plan." Daario said.
"Let's bring it back. Let's win this again." Jorah said.
"You do talk like your mother." Daario said smilling and all of them smiled.
"Some of you are Lannisters, right? I know the looks." Daario said.
"Yes, we are. Whom did you meet?" James asked.
"Tyrion Lannister." Daario said.
"He's our uncle." Thomas said.
"So... you are?" Daario asked.
"Mine, James's and Jenny's mother is his youngest sister, Joanna, and Galladon's and Catelyn's father is his brother, Jaime." Thomas explained.
"And me and Jorah are cousins. His father is my mother's brother." Mia said.
"That's very confusing." Daario said.
"It is. But it's family." Jorah said.
"You two take after your fathers, I assume." Daario said to Jorah and Thomas.
"We do." Jorah and Thomas said with a smile. After some more time talking, they started to moove into more serious affairs and, after Daario telling his tale of how he had lost the city, it was time to start the makings of a plan.
"How did you take it the first time?" Jorah asked.
"Well, first, there was an idiot that wanted a single combat, in which, he was decapitated by me. Then, your mother made a speech. A great speech. After that she had the chains of the former slaves from Astapor and Yunkai trown at the Pyramid with catapults. Of course she had an army at her back. But we only won when the Unsulied infiltrated the city and convinced the slaves to fight for us, for their freedom." Daario explained.
"We don't have an army, still the last part is not impossible." Thomas said.
"Exactly. If we can get to the slaves, then maybe we can convince them." Galladon said.
"Can you get us inside the city?" Jenny asked.
"Yeah, that part is easy." Daario said.
"However, we have to know where to strike. We are not enough to strike the entire city." Catelyn said.
"The Pyramid." Daario said.
"What if we split? We'd free the slaves, then half of us would go to the Pyramid and the others'd go to the city." James said.
"Still, how will we convince them?" Jorah asked.
"Daenerys Stormborn's son will speak to them." Mia said.
"Do you really believe that I can do that?" Jorah asked.
"We don't believe, we know it." Jenny said.
"I guess they're right. Do you know how to speak Valyrian?" Daario asked.
"I know." Jorah answered, in Valyrian. Well, this will be something to see, Jorah thought.
Later that night, they stroke. They did not have time to wait, the more they waited, the strongest the warlocks got. Daario and Durran led them to the bottom of the Pyramid where the slaves were kept. Daario had said,
"After the first time you'd think that they would be smart enough not to keep them in the same place, but no. They're really that stupid." And they had laughed. It's like wanting to take the Rock from Castamere again, Thomas thought, he could not help it.
Jorah brought Kingly with him, he was on his shoulder, if he had to convince the slaves, at least, he would do it right. I'm my parents' son. My mother freed three cities from slavery and had a whole horde of Dothraki at her back. My father was made King in the North, Lord Commander of the Night's Watch and made an allience with the Free Folk. My family survived the Long Night. Now it's my time, it's our time to proove that we are their sons and daughters, that we are the heroes of our time, Jorah thought and then he started to wonder how did he got that whole speech in his head? If the next one is as good as this one, it'll be fine, Jorah thought.
Finally, after a few squirmiches, for the soldiers left to guard the city were hardly the elite troops of the warlocks army, having those gone to fight in the Westeros war, they got to the door of the slaves quarters.
Daario asked,
"Are you ready for this, Jorah?"
"I think so." Jorah answered and then he opened the door and they all entered. People looked at them surprised, a bit fearfull and also confused. Jorah took a deep breath and then started to say in Valyrian,
"Hello. I must confess I never expected to find so many citizens of Meereen in such a predicament. I expected a free city! I can't have that. We can't have that! I know that you don't know us and have no reason to trust us, still if you want to get out of here and take this city back, you will have to trust us. I know you know the story of Daenerys Stormborn, well, believe it or not I am her son. My name is Jorah and these are my family. We're here because the warlocks have my sister. Still, we could have mooved on and have gone our way, but we didn't. We can't abide to this unjustice. We simply won't have it. Our family's legacy would never allow it. We want to help you. The cities do not belong to the masters, they belong to the people, they belong to you. So, what do you say? Let's win the city back?" The slaves looked at each other unsurely and wondering if he was really Daenerys's son, with baby dragon it looked like it, still... Then Jorah had an idea. He had discovered something when he was a child. He had been in his room and then he had gone to get a book that was in a table near a torch, he had not seen and instead of the book, he had grabbed the torch, he had been about to scream when he had realized that it did not burn, it had just been warmer than the usual. He had run to his parents' room, immediately. Only his parents knew about it and apparently his mother had the same skill. He did not want to do it, because he knew that the others would freak out, still he had no choice. Therefore, he turned to his cousins and said,
"I'm going to do something. Don't freak out. I know what I'm doing." And they nodded.
Then Jorah took a torch that was in room and said, in Valyrian,
"Fire cannot kill a dragon." Then he put his hand inside the flame, the others had to make a huge effort not to freak out. When he put the hand on the flame, it just felt warm. It did not burn, it just felt warmer than usual. His skin was intact even burning in the fire. The slaves looked amazed and realized that he was really Daenerys's son. Daario smiled and the others were just surprised and relieved. When the fire effect run out, Jorah put the torch in it's place and then one of then slaves said, in Valyrian,
"Let us discuss this betwen ourselves, please, Mhysa's son."
"Of couse. We'll just be outside." Jorah replied as kingly as he could.
After an agonizing quarter of an hour they were asked back in.
"We'll come with you. Thank you." A midle-agged slave said, obviously representing the others.
"Very well. We have a plan. We'll split up. Half'll come with me and the other half'll go with Daario." Jorah said, in Valyrian, and they nodded.
"Came and get weapons."
Daario took then upon him to arm and divide the slave's army so they could go their ways.
Meanwhile Jorah turned to his cousins and said,
"They agree to it. Come on."
"Alright. We're going to have a serious conversation later." Jenny said.
"I know." Jorah said with a small smile. After that, Jorah, Galladon, Mia, Thomas and Durran went to the Pyramid to deal with the Masters and, eventually, warlocks that might also be there, while Jenny, Catelyn, James and Daario went to the city to deal with the Masters that were there.
In the city everything went well and they could take the city without any problems. In the Pyramid, however, it was more complicated. The secret passages were locked, all of them.
"The doors are made of wood, right?" Jorah asked.
"Yes, why?" Durran asked.
"Stay back." Jorah and they did. Then Kingly went to the ground and looked at the door and then at him and Jorah nodded and then said,
"Dracarys." As soon as he heard the word, the dragon breathed fire and the door was turned into ashes.
"That works." Durran said and then they entered, once inside they killed the masters and the warlocks that oposed them and, at the end of the day, the city was taken back and Jorah knew that slowly things would go back to the way they had been when Daenerys left to Westeros.
Two days after that, the ship was ready to sail again. They said goodbye to Daario. Durran also came with them, for his mission was acomplished and they had helpped him, therefore he would help them as well. He did not say but he had seen in the flames he would still have a story to share with them. Some time later, they were sailing to Qarth.