Queen in the North

Jon

This chapter doesn't really follow the episode timeline but I will be starting to deviate anyhow so it doesn't really matter.

"Begging your pardon, your grace," Davos called from behind him, the sound of iron on obsidian all around him. 

Jon turned, his hand approaching with a boy about his own age, if not maybe a little younger. The tension that Jon often carried in his shoulders and brow eased as his old friend approached. He never doubted Davos's smuggling ability, but Kingslanding was a dangerous place. "You survived."

"Yet again." Davos grinned, "Your grace, this is---."

The boy stepped forward. "My name is Gendry. I'm Robert Baratheon's bastard." Jon's heart stopped. 

'Gods be good, I hope that nobody heard that.' He thought. The tension between him and Daenerys was strained at the best of times, he had no way of telling what she would do if she learned Gendrys true identity. Jon looked to Davos, unable to conceal the panic in his eyes. 

"He was meant to keep that to himself." Davos tried to explain.

"Our fathers trusted each other, why shouldn't  we?" Gendry said.

Jon considered this for a moment. Children were not their parents, but Gendry seemed harmless enough, not the sharpest sword in the forge, but harmless all the same. "I saw your father, once, at Winterfell." He was sure to keep his voice low. 

"I met yours, in my shop." That was news to Jon. Perhaps Gendry knew more about his father's death. 

Jon could still remember King Robert Baratheon. His girth was almost as long as he was, but his face matched Gendry's. "You're a lot leaner."

"And you're a lot shorter." Gendry was bold, Jon could respect a man who didn't dance around his words more than one who would hide the truth. Although, Gendry seemed to sense his mistake almost instantly and his face fell. 

Jon smiled. "I grew up on stories about them."

"All I ever knew was that they fought together, and won." 

'Hopefully, we shall do the same.' Jon thought.

"Ser Davos told me what has happened in the North. Let me fight for you, with you, in the wars to come."

"Aye," Jon said and offered Gendry his hand. Their fingers closed around each other's in a firm grasp, signifying a mutual understanding. They would honor their father's friendship, by forging their own. 

"Your grace," Messdanei called from the mouth of the mine. "Your presence has been requested in the Chamber of the Painted Table."

"Ser Davos, I believe that we have a meeting." Jon rasped, part of his dreading the conversation to come. He knew what he had to do. "Gendry, please make yourself comfortable. We will talk later."

Gendry gave Jon his impression of a bow, drawing a soft chuckle from Jon's lips as he walked out of the mine and up to the castle, Davos on his heels. 

The dragon queen, Lady Tyrell, Margaery, Varys, Tyrion, and a man who Jon presumed to be Ser Jorah (who, according to the word buzzing around the castle, had just returned from exile) were waiting when they arrived. 

"The meeting with Cersei is secure. All we need is proof." Tyrion declared. 

"So, how will we retrieve our single soldier?" Danaerys asked, referring to a conversation had in this very room not even ten days prior. They had all agreed on trying to secure an alliance with Cersei until the Great War was finished. 

That at Hardhome flashed before Jon's eyes. The terror wafted off the fleeing wildings and Jon had watched how his fallen friends and former enemies rose up with bright blue eyes. 

"With the queen's permission, I will go North and take on." Ser Jorah volunteered. Daenerys turned to him, about to say something before he cut in. "You asked me to find a cure so I could serve you. Allow me to serve you."

"The Freefolk will help us. They know the Real North better than anyone." Jon added.

Davos glanced at him. "They won't follow Ser Jorah."

"They won't have to."

Margaery's eyes snapped to Jon's, but he only met Davos's gaze. "You can't lead a raid beyond the wall. You're not in the Night's Watch anymore, you're King in the North." He said, his voice acting as a reminder that Kings were supposed to allow others to do their dirty work. When the crown had been forced onto Jon's head, he had vowed to not be that kind of king. He would always follow his father's words, where at an executioner's block or fighting in the field. 'The man who passes the sentence should be the one who swings the sword.'

"I'm the only one here who has fought them. I'm the only one here who knows them." 

"I haven't given you permission to leave," Daenerys said. 

Jon almost scoffed. He was tired of playing the part of hostage for diplomacy. "With all due respect, your grace, I don't need your permission. I am a King. I came here knowing that you could have your men behead me or your dragons burn me alive. But I put my trust in you, a stranger because I knew that it was the best chance for my people, for all of our people. Now I am asking you to trust in a stranger because it is our best chance." He saw a smile play at Olenna's lips out of the corner of his eye. 

Daenerys nodded, stiffly. "Gather your men, you leave in the morning. This meeting is dismissed." She said, before rising and leaving. Her council followed like dogs tailing a master. 

Olenna rose slowly, using the table to support her as she walked towards him and Davos, she took Davos's arm as support. "It is good to finally see you acting like a king." She said before practically leading Davos out of the room, leaving him and Margaery.

He had grown more fond of the former queen than he cared to admit. Part of him wanted to hate her for her connection to the Lannisters, but he couldn't. They had made her suffer as much as they had made him. She understood his pain and I a place surrounded by enemies, he had found himself leaning on her. 

Margaery looked at him with her big brown eyes. "You could die." She said softly.

"I don't have much a choice," Jon whispered, feeling his mask slide off his face. He had no energy left to keep his true fear hidden. "If I don't go, we all die."

She studied him for a moment. She looked like she wanted to say more, but she simply took his hand in hers and give it a supportive squeeze before leaving him alone in the room.