Of Whispers and Dragons

Little Sam screamed until he was red in the face.

Tears leaked from his clenched eyes and drool had pooled down from his mouth and onto Gilly's shoulder as she tried to quiet her crying child. She had been walking for what seemed like hours, her eyes red from lack of sleep.

Raenerha watched her with pity - it had to be hard to be a new mother without the guidance from another. She'd had experience with children. When she was working back in Braavos she'd helped her owner's family with their children, from the time they were born until she left - it was one of the hardest parts of being sold to the Lannisters back in King's Landing. She loved those children as if they were her own.

She turned her mind back to the poor woman before her, looking as if she were ready to break down at any moment.

"If I may?" Raenerha said quietly, her eyes watching the new mother as she nearly cried with exhaustion. Gilly stopped mid-step and turned to Raenerha wordlessly. "I am good with children, Gilly. I think I can help."

Gilly eyed her and simply tightened the hold she had on her son. His blankets had fell slack around his squirmy little body and he fought against her with everything his little body had. Gilly looked desperate for relief, her arms nearly shaking from the amount of time she'd held the crying bundle to her chest. She pulled her lip between her teeth and sighed. "Alright. I guess it won't hurt."

Raenerha stepped forward with a smile, her arms outstretched for the screaming red thing. Gilly placed him in Raenerha's arms and stepped back to watch.

"Come now, Little Sam," Raenerha cooed gently, her hand on the baby's stomach. "Now, what's got you so grumpy?"

Gilly watched, her empty arms folded tightly against her chest.

Behind them the door opened and, after watching Gilly relax when she saw the figures in the doorway, Raenerha turned curiously. Sam and Jon had entered with trays of food, they still didn't trust their brothers not to harm the women. They greeted Gilly with a smile, but didn't speak as Raenerha talked to the baby.

Sam and Jon sat quietly on Raenerha's makeshift bed and watched her closely.

Raenerha positioned the baby so that his stomach and chest was rested against her forearm. One side of the baby was pressed against her body and the other side was hanging freely. The little boy was still screaming so Raenerha pat him gently on the back with her free hand a few times. A great belch left the boy, dragging a small chuckle out of his mother.

Raenerha glanced at Gilly, explaining the queer way she was holding him. "This helps free some of the air that's left in his stomach after feeding."

Gilly nodded, watching as Raenerha brought the child back to her chest, holding him like normal.

"Do you feel better now, little man?" Raenerha asked with a grin. The baby cooed and shook his fat little fists in the air happily. Raenerha rubbed his back and quickly to him back to his mother. "You have a beautiful son, Gilly."

"Thank you," Gilly said, taking her baby back.

Sam spoke up from his place on her bed. "You're quite good with children."

Raenerha blinked over at him. "Yes, well, I helped the families I stayed with raise their own. The mother was too busy with the extravagant feasts and balls she held and the father was only interested in the tourneys so I had them for a majority of the time."

"You weren't with your own family?" Gilly asked, her brown eyes curious.

Raenerha's face turned sad, her dark eyebrows pulled down. "No, I haven't seen my family since I one and ten."

"What happened to them, if you don't mind me asking?" Sam wondered aloud.

Raenerha shook her head gently. "I haven't heard from them in a long time. I served House Antaryon back in Braavos for six years, and the the Lannisters for only a few moons after I arrived back in Westeros."

"The Lannisters." Jon had been quiet up until the mention of the richest family in the Seven Kingdoms. "You were with the Lannisters before you came here?"

Raenerha nodded slowly, gauging the man's reaction. His shoulders were tight and his eyes hardened. "Is that a problem?"

"The Lannisters killed my father, Ned Stark!" Jon sneered at her, venom dripping from his every word. "Were you there when his head left his shoulders?"

Raenerha's eyes widened. "You're Sansa's brother?"

Jon nodded, his eyes trained on her. "Have you come to put an end to me? Are you one of the Lannister's spies?"

"Of course not!" Raenerha exclaimed, her face burning with anger. "I came here to stay alive! The Lannisters had began to piece together who I am, and if that happened my head would have joined your fathers on a pike!"

Jon raised to his feet with speed. "And who exactly are you?"

"Raenerha Targaryen! I am the sister of Daenerys Stormborn, the true heir to the Iron Throne!"

A collective gasp came from the room, but no one spoke. Everyone had heard stories of the Dragon Queen, they knew that she'd done the impossible and gathered armies of people who wanted to fight for her - she had three dragons and she was ready to retake the Seven Kingdoms. The three others looked at her with unreadable expressions and even Little Sam had been roused from his short sleep to look at her.

"Of course you're a Targaryen," Sam breathed as he looked at her. "Silver hair, violet eyes."

Raenerha nodded, her full lips pressed in a line. "I came here to try to find safety, to find my sister."

"Why would you come here for that?" Jon quickly. "The Dragon Queen isn't here, and you knew that."

Raenerha sighed at the dark haired man. "I know she isn't here, but I had to go somewhere and as you know Targaryens aren't welcome in most parts of the Seven Kingdoms. Your Maester is the only family I have besides my sister."

"Maester Aemon will help you as much as he can, but he hasn't heard your sister either." Raenerha glanced at Sam when he spoke. "You are the first person that's requested a conference with him outside of the Night's Watch."

"I was told to come here by the Master of Secrets. He said I would find help here." Raenerha felt helpless. "I don't know what else to do."

Jon stalked over to the door and swung it open with force, not looking at a single one of them before he left the room. Sam swallowed thickly, and shrugged his shoulders at his friend. "I don't know what's gotten into to him, Raenerha. I'll speak with him."

Raenerha gave him a tight smile, one that didn't truly reach her eyes. "Thank you, Sam."



Jon was angry.

Sam was confused, but followed him anyway trailing a few steps behind his friend.

"Jon?" He asked quietly.

Jon turned on his heel. "Sam, now's not the time."

"Raenerha's done nothing wrong, Jon." Sam said, his voice unusually stern. "She's just trying to survive. Where's the fault in that?"

"She came here from the Lannisters! You heard her yourself, she was with Sansa there, she knows what they were doing to her. If she could leave why couldn't she bring my sister with her?"

Sam gave Jon a look, his eyebrow raised. "You really think she could sneak her out of her chambers and into the night?"

"She escaped."

"She also wasn't living in a castle, surrounded by guards day and night." Sam said gently. Jon had finally stopped walking and leaned against the wall of the hallway. "She was a servant, Jon."

Jon shook his head, a sigh leaving his lips. "I know. It's just hard to find sympathy for others when members of my family are getting killed off like animals."

"And she's not getting any sympathy for her family lost."

Jon looked up at Sam from beneath his brow. "You're too smart for your own good, Tarly."

"But not for your own good." Sam laughed.

Jon gave a nudge to Sam's shoulder and smiled. Sam laughed, too, and then they were quiet. "I should go apologize."

Sam nodded. "Yes, you should."

Jon sighed and looked back to the door he was sure he'd nearly broken on his way out. It was the right thing to do, he knew, to apologize for being out of line, it's what his father would have done. But his father wasn't here, and Jon was. Jon rolled his shoulders - his father was a good man, but he was not his father.

"Next time I see her, then." And then he disappeared into his room.