Snow Falls Hot

14

Sansa came to look for Enith after the war council, only to find her sister missing from her room. She continued to walk until she reached Winterfell's courtyard. Children were gathered all around as they watched their Queen in the North sit in front of the fire— a pile of dragon's eggs behind her. They weren't all of them. Enith had decided to be smart about it, saving eggs for future years.

Shadow was curled around the courtyard as she watched the scene unfold with passive interest, more concerned with her breakfast and her rider's healing than the hatching of new dragons. Grey Wind, for once, wasn't by Eddard but right behind Enith. He still didn't trust that she could walk or stand for very long on her own. And even though she hadn't the strength to tap into the magic that allowed her to see the ghosts of Winterfell, Enith suspected that Grey Wind's clinginess had everything to do with Robb, Ned, and Catelyn.

"What are you—"

Sansa held up a finger to cut Arya off. Arya and the rest of the war council had entered the area. They watched from above at what Sansa was pointing at. Daenerys squinted before her mouth dropped in slight shock.

"Those are dragon eggs... she's hatching dragons."

"More dragons?" Jaime asked.

They watched as Enith held up a single egg before her head quickly snapped up to where they had been watching. She pointed at Jon and waved him down. Jon walked down the stairs to meet her and she shoved the egg into his hands. He hesitated when she directed him to stick his hands in the fire. Jon bent his head close to Enith's ear.

"They will all know who I am if I am not burned," he whispered.

"You have died Jon Snow and come back to life, by the Red Woman's Lord of Light no doubt. Surely they will jump to other conclusions first."

He looked at her with a bit of doubt but did as instructed. She watched his eyes roll white and heard the cracking of stone. When Jon's eyes returned, he looked on in delighted shock as a small dragon was resting in his hands.

"That one's yours, Aegon," Enith said so low that no one could hear.

He held the dragon as he walked back to where the others were. They looked as Enith grabbed another egg. She placed it in the fire and touched it, only with fingertips instead of holding it with her own hand. She was trying not to form a strong connection, only help the dragon hatch and come to the real world with her.

When the egg hatched, Enith pulled away immediately and let the dragon fly off as best as it could until it landed in front of one of the children. The child looked at the Targaryen and she nodded. They extended a hand and the dragon headbutted against it before resting on their lap.

"Is she gifting them dragons?" Sam asked as they watched Enith repeat the process.

Enith called over her son and went through the same process with Eddard as she did with Jon. There were few eggs to be hatched left. She watched the most recent one fly farther than the others until it rested on the ledge of where the war council was standing. She watched with curiosity at who it would look at. The dragon nipped at Arya's fingers and Enith chuckled when she scooped it up immediately. Another went to Sansa, and the other to Tyrion. Enith grabbed the last egg and a large stick from the fire.

"Run along," she said to the kids. "You will train your dragon. Teach it to respect you or it will grow to be dangerous, only the most worthy can become riders. But even if you aren't a rider, Winterfell could always use beast tamers. Go have fun."

The kids ran off with each other— Eddard included— and Enith went up the stairs. She placed the egg in Gendry's hand.

"I don't t—"