Chapter 25: The Truth
Jon Sand
He, along with his sisters and mother, they were excitedly waiting for the arrival of their father at the docks. Nym was standing close by, and his uncle was waiting in Sunspear, in the main hall; no one could really blame him; that was how usually every lord would greet their guests, but Jon couldn't wait until his father arrived at the castle, and the same was for the rest of his family, his sisters were all waiting for his boat to arrive, The first to greet him would be Ellaria, then Nym, Jon, and the others, from oldest to youngest.
The bastard felt his heart filling with joy as the ship appeared on the horizon. "You can't wait to hear father's stories about the War?" Nym teased him, nudging him slightly with her elbow.
While that was true to a certain degree, Jon was mainly excited to know who his mother was; after his dream with the talking dragon, Jon had not had another dream about a dragon again.
Jon had let his mother and big sister know why he was so excited about his father's arrival; it had been almost six months since he left, and the bastard of Dorne had reached seven-name days old.
Jon saw as the waves rocked against the boat, yet it didn't stop it from sailing forward. Jon smiled broadly when he saw his father in the front of the ship; his eyes analyzed him, and he looked the exact same, sighting in relief knowing his father hadn't lost any limbs or any other permanent damage.
Obara was standing by his side; the bastard suddenly felt a pang in his heart; his father's smile wavered slightly when he made eye contact with him; Jon quickly ignored it; it was just his imagination playing dirty tricks or the sun falling on his eyes.
The ship soon stopped in front of the docks booming with people; Prince Oberyn and Obara were the first to walk out, immediately surrounded by their family.
Oberyn kissed Ellaria before greeting each of his children; when he finally reached Jon, he gave him a big hug that the latter appreciated; pulling away, Oberyn saw that Jon hadn't changed much, a bit taller but nothing else.
"How was the rebellion, dear sister? Was it glorious?" Nym teased, walking up to Obara, who made a sound as if disguised.
"Fighting against squids was boring; none of them knew how to fight properly," she responded with annoyance as Jon walked up to them.
"Did you at least see anyone interesting?" Jon asked with a little smirk; both his sisters knew what he was talking about; despite being only seven name days, their father had made sure to tell Jon about Lust, Love, Sex, and the way of reproducing, while that would be considered too young, in Dorne was completely normal.
Obara put a finger on her chin as if thinking about it before shaking her head, "Not really; everyone was a green boy," she explained, giving Deamon Sand a sideway glance, a glance that many would miss except Jon and Nym, who smirked at each other as if they both scored a point.
"Really! Did you see the king? Is he really a Demon?" Jon questioned curium; like everyone else, he knew that Robert Baratheon was regarded as the Demon of The Trident, wielding his enormous hammer, smashing the chest of the Targaryen Prince. Many feared him, and one didn't just take the name 'Demon' without being a powerful man.
Obara snorted; she made a disgusted face, sticking her tongue out as if tasting something horrible. "Him a Demon? A pig like him can't go to the bathroom without help; you could smell the taste of alcohol and piss from a mile away," she explained, while she knew the King wasn't really that fat... yet. She could tell from how he ate and drank without manners and definitely not stopping. Leave it a couple of years, and she wouldn't be surprised if the Iron Throne wouldn't be able to hold him any longer.
"Forget about the King. Did you see Ser Barristan Selmy?" Jon questioned with a bit of awe in his voice, something that his sisters noticed; Obara rubbed his hair, much to his annoyance, and moved his head away.
"Does someone want to be a squire?" she teased, smiling at him before getting a bit serious.
"Yes, I saw him, a little too old, didn't see him fighting, but I bet we could beat him," she said, spreading her arms, side hugging both Nym and Jon, who rolled their eyes at their sister's antics.
Soon they reached Sunspear; the people were happy to know their fathers and brothers had returned safely back home; their journey back home was uneventful; some people cheered the return of their prince, and his father asked them what they had done while he was gone.
Jon told him he had been training using swords and studying even more before telling him with a small voice that he had seen dreams again, something Obara was visibly disturbed; she quickly asked Jon if he was scared to sleep alone. Still, the bastard boy proudly stated that he was a man grown now, much to the amusement of his family.
Reaching the castle, their father informed them not to be late for dinner since he wanted the whole family to eat together. Everyone agreed; Jon noticed the way his father was glancing at him with an uncertain look; the bastard boy decided to ignore it; he was quite looking forward to the dinner and then perhaps asking about his mother after it.
Oberyn Martell
"Bring it here," He ordered ser Oswell, who paused for a moment and went to do his job only after Ser Gerold nodded in agreement.
"Oberyn! Are you sure about this?" Doran's voice reached his ears, making him turn entirely to him.
Doran always considered himself the voice of reason in the family, the one who thought before doing anything; his brother told him before leaving for the Rebellion that he wanted to tell Jon the truth about his identity. At first, Doran had thought his brother was joking or had lost his mind; The Prince was still too young to be told about that; personally, Doran wanted to wait until Prince Jon reached at least ten name days to be told the truth.
But Oberyn had slowly convinced him that was for the best; compared to Oberyn and his children, Doran knew he didn't spend as much time as them with Prince Jaehaerys. But he had his own spies informing him of every progress the prince made; hearing the Prince was an amazing swordsman, liked to read, and was smartly relieved him; therefore, it came to no shock to him to find out that the prince was slowly having doubts of his origin, specifically his mother.
But what Doran hadn't known, and he would kick himself for not knowing it sooner, was the fact that The Prince was somehow dreaming the day Elia and her children were butchered; not only that, but he dreamed of Aegon Targaryen and his sister wives, that would make everyone suspicious of their origin, especially someone as insightful as the Prince.
So Doran agreed with Oberyn that he could tell him the truth; he just wanted to make sure again that his brother knew what he was doing and wouldn't come to perhaps regret it later.
Oberyn looked at Doran for a second before nodding. "Yes, brother, Jon is not stupid; he will understand," he said, this part more to himself than Doran.
"Very well, but I think we should bring the chest to his room instead of here," Doran explained; his brother reluctantly nodded.
With that out of the way, Ser Oswell soon returned with a chest in his arms, Doran didn't know what was in it, and neither did Oberyn since the King's Guards didn't allow them to look at it.
"Tonight after the dinner, I'm going to take Jon to his bedchamber to tell him everything," Oberyn explained, looking at the king's guards, waiting to see if any of them was against the idea, none of them said anything, and Oberyn thought this was good enough.
"Prince Oberyn, before we tell the king the truth, what should we do about Ser Barristan?" Arthur questioned the Red Viper, who took a deep breath, scratching the back of his ear.
"If what you said is true, Arthur, then I think we can trust Ser Barristan. I know him and know he wouldn't betray us," Ser Gerold spoke instead with a deep, authoritative tone that made both Arthur and Oswell straight up slightly.
Oberyn wasn't sure how to feel about it when Arthur told him that Ser Barristan knew that he was still alive, the Viper had been half-convinced to make some accident during the Rebellion, but Arthur convinced him to lay down his blade.
"Ser Barristan is not a man of politics; I highly doubt he will say anything; if he wanted, then we would have had already received the letter from the King to surrender Arthur to them," Doran spoke with a calculating look, his finger pinching his temples.
After Oberyn had returned, Doran had a long talk about everything that happened; his brother had finished the job and killed The Spider; according to him, Varys had done it for revenge, which confused them both; Doran had decided to think about it later, Oberyn told him after killing him, he hides the body in a secret room inside the Red Keep, they wouldn't be able to find him there, that until the smell of a rotten corpse would be too much.
After the stupid Tourney ended, Oberyn returned with ten thousand gold dragons, saying he thought of giving it to Ser Gerold once he sets out to Essos to make a Sellsword company and possibly find Princess Daenerys and Prince Viserys.
Doran had nothing against finding the princess; if anything, having her would make things much easier to make alliances; but if they found Prince Viserys, perhaps he would need to move a pawn.
Soon it was time for Dinner; Oberyn was mostly quiet throughout the whole Dinner; his son was having quite a conversation with Arianne, Nym, and Obara; he couldn't hear what it was about but decided not to ask.
During the dinner, Jon decided to sing a Dornish song for the return of his father and sister, much to the embarrassment of Obara. The song was simply beautiful in every way, almost making Oberyn shed a few tears.
Faster than he hoped, the dinner ended; just as Jon stood up to go to his bedchamber, he said 'Goodnight' to everyone when Oberyn stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.
"Go to your bedchamber; it is time for you to know. I will come soon," he whispered in his ears, his voice so quiet that even Jon had trouble understanding every word.
"Yes, father," Jon complied immediately with a sudden nervousness in his voice.
Seeing him walking away, Oberyn whispered the word father; he wondered if Jon would see him as such after tonight; he hoped he would. He hated to admit it, but to him, Jaehaerys Targaryen, Jon Sand, was a son to him as much as his daughters were; seeing the way his eyes sparked whenever he talked with him always filled Oberyn's heart with joy. He didn't want that ever to end.
Soon Oberyn found himself walking towards his bedchamber, As he approached the door that belonged to his son, the Red Viper felt his heart pound in his chest, and his hands began to sweat.
Finally gathering the courage, he opened the door, letting out a low metallic sound; walking inside, he found Jon sitting crossed-legged in the bed. The room was brightened by a dimly light from several candles around the table near his bed.
"Father, is it true you meet Ser Barristan? Obara said that-...wait, why are you sweating... and your face's pale?" Jon asked, standing up now, with a concerned look on his face.
Oberyn breathed in and out; the night's cold air calmed him somewhat. One thing he appreciated was the cold temperature during the night.
"Nothing to worry about, Jon, just a bit tired," he said with a downcast look. His son gave him an uncertain look before simply nodding his head.
Oberyn rubbed his hair before walking over to Jon; sitting at the edge of the bed, he put an arm around his shoulder, pulling him closer, almost afraid that his son would disappear.
"Jon, I promised you I would tell you the truth; there's a reason why you have Dragon Dreams, why you dream of that Cursed Day," Oberyn spat at the end, his voice full of venom.
Jon kept quiet, knowing his father wasn't done yet; he rather liked to ask questions after the explanation was done.
"At the Tourney of Harrenhal, you know how Rhaegar crowned Lyanna Stark, Queen of Love and Duty, and not my sister? I didn't know much back then, but apparently, soon after the Tourney of Harrenhal, Elia met Lyanna; while I doubt she truly ever forgot Rhaegar, I don't think she blamed Lyanna for what happened; we can never know. My sister, she was too good for this cruel world; she loved too much despite her weak heart, she would have loved you as well," Oberyn said with pain as if each word he said hurt him, pausing for a moment, feeling his eyes welling up.
Jon wondered what Lyanna and Rhaegar had to do with him, but a very small part of him was already thinking of a possibility that he didn't like at all. Despite the fact that he never voiced it out, he had seen how he looked nothing like his father, not even a tiny bit.
"My sister accepted Lyanna," at least I think she did, Oberyn thought, feeling his temples sweating.
"Everyone thought Rhaegar kidnapped Lyanna, but that wasn't true; they loved each other, just two people in love who wanted to go away from the world, to go away from their problems, Rhaegar took Lyanna as his second wife. After the rebellion ended, Lord Eddard Stark and some of his banners reached the Tower of Joy; Arthur Dayne, Gerold Hightower, and Oswell Whent were guarding the Tower, and everyone back at the Trident wondered where the Sword of The Morning had been during the fight; apparently, he had been guarding the Tower where Lyanna Stark was pregnant and giving birth," Oberyn suddenly paused, not bearing to look at Jon, whose face had gone pale, as white as snow, his breathing getting heavier the more he heard.
"Not wanting to fight a pointless battle, Lord Stark requested to see his sister. The king's guards allowed him; he reached Lyanna just as she gave birth to a little dark-haired boy. She made him promise that he would take care of him; Lord Stark listening to the advice of Arthur, went to Dorne, knowing the child needed to be kept safe; after it was decided that the child would live in Dorne, I decided to raise him myself as my son, Jon Sand," Oberyn finished, only now looking at Jon who had gone way too pale.
Jon opened and closed his mouth, trying to process everything he had just heard, yet no words came out, not a single one, as he tried to speak again. "I-I'm-I'm-" Jon felt everything going dark as his head hit the bed mattress, with Oberyn shaking him and calling out his name.
Jon Sand
' "Who am I?" Jon asked as he walked in the darkness, was it all a dream? He asked himself, thinking that perhaps it was just another stupid dream.
"You're Jaehaerys Targaryen; you're a dragon," he hears the voice of the old dragon.
Jon sees the old dragon walking in front of him, with bright purple eyes and red scales like blood, horns as big as a horse.
"I don't feel like a dragon," Jon answered with a neutral tone.
"You will, dear child, one day you will. A Dragon must have Three heads; you and she are the two heads, but who is the third," The old dragon spoke and walked closer to Jon.
"Who do you want to be?" The old dragon asked with a deep voice.
Jon thinks but doesn't know the answer, at least not anymore. For a long time, he had wanted nothing more than to make his father proud.
Silence took over them, the dragon looking at Jon in a way that he was familiar with.
"I... I... I always wanted to have my place in the world," Jon finally answered.
"You're a Martell, a Stark, but you're a Targaryen as well; knowing the truth won't change anything," the old dragon said.
Jon shook his head in denial, he had so many questions in his head, but the one that worried him the most was, Does father even love me? He asked himself, everyone knew how much Oberyn Martell despised House Targaryen, and now it turns out he's the son of the woman that stole Rhaegar's heart, causing the Rebellion.
"My time is coming to an end; decide soon who you want to be," the old dragon said and disappeared amid red flames.
Jon suddenly finds himself in a garden with beautiful flowers everywhere; Jon had seen this garden before, a little girl close to a lemon tree, she was playing, she had silver hair; Jon looks at her with a smile and then hears. "Princess, come inside," The little girl ran inside the house.
Jon sees himself in front of a giant wall of ice; he then hears a loud noise like screeching, Jon then looks in horror as the huge wall of ice crumbles and falls, and a massive storm of Winter comes from Beyond The Wall.
Jon then sees himself in the lands of shadows and fire; Jon sees The Huge Black Dragon flying and landing close to him.
"The time has come," the dragon said with an old voice.
Jon looks at his green eyes. "Time for what?" Jon asked, not afraid of the massive dragon in front of him.
"To Dance With Dragons and Fire. The world shall hear the Song of Dragons once Again," the dragon roared, and everything went dark.
Jon opens his eyes slowly and sees his father looking at him, looking around and seeing he is in his room.
"Jon, you alright?" Father asked, concerned, helping him to stand up; Jon simply nodded without saying anything.
Sitting in the bed, Oberyn waited for Jon to say something, anything, but his son was as silent as a grave.
Jon briefly noticed the large chest on his bedchamber; where did that come from? He briefly wondered before finally looking at his father.
"D-do you Hate Me?" Jon asked, his voice cracking, eyes welling up with tears, as his father hugged him tightly.
"Why would you think that?" He asked; he had thought of many different reactions, but Jon asking something like that wasn't one of them.
"M-my parents, th-they were responsible for Aunt Elia's death and-" "Hey, Hey, look at me," Oberyn stopped him, cupping his small face with his hands.
"I don't hold you accountable for what happened to my sister; I-I would be lying if I said that I didn't hate your father for a long time, and a part of me still does, but I would never hate a child for what their parents did," Oberyn spoke sincerely, his own tears rolling down his cheek.
A smile spread across his face; Jon smiled before asking something else. "C-can I still call you my father?"
Oberyn smiled, feeling like a huge weight was lifted from his shoulders. "Of course, Jon, I love you like my son and always will," he said, kissing his cheek.
"Thank You, Father,"
Oberyn didn't know how long he stood like that; to him felt like a few seconds until Jon pulled away.
"Who else knows?" Jon asked.
"Doran, your king's guard of course, Ellaria, Ashara, your uncles Eddard and Benjen Stark," Oberyn answered; Jon smiled, knowing his sisters didn't know the truth yet, and neither did Arianne.
Jon thought of ways of telling them until he felt something against his shoulder.
"Your mother left it for you," his father said, handing him a letter; the young prince spoke nothing, holding his letter in his hands before finally opening it, almost afraid to open it as his hands were trembling.
"My Dragonwolf, if you're reading this, that means I'm not with you and can't tell you this myself.
I love you, Jaehaerys, more than anything else, and so does your Father. I know your life will be hard, and you will feel alone but remember, we love you, and we will always be there with you.
In the chest, you will find things that belong to you, my wolf pup, that will help you.
If you can meet with your great uncle on the wall, he has something that belongs to you.
You're the true heir of The Iron Throne but don't take it if you don't want it, I want you to be happy, and that's what is always important.
I wish you a good life and happy life, my little pup.
Your mother Lyanna Stark Targaryen."
Jon's tears were falling freely on the ground, and he couldn't stop crying and sobbing, "Jon," he heard the voice of his father calling him, then he felt him hugging him. "Is alright, Jon, just let it all out," he said quietly, hoping his words would ease his pain.
"Can you leave me alone?" Jon asked, not looking at his father, who asked if he was sure; the prince reluctantly nodded; Oberyn was uncertain but left the room without saying another word.
Jon took the letter and put it in the chest near his bed; he saw there were other things as well. The prince sees another letter; it looks the same as his mother's letter.
Reading it and is just a confirmation of his parent's marriage, Jaehaerys Targaryen, Jon thought, not sure how to feel about his actual name. It sounded too long to him; he was used to Jon, unsure if he would ever get used to his actual name.
Putting away the second letter and sees a cloak and takes it in his hands.
It was my mother's cloak, Jon thought, amazed as more tears rolled down his cheek; the cloak was magnificent; the cloak was white with a Stark symbol stitched on the chest and grey lines around the arms and around the Direwolve Symbol.
He let it lay on his lap and looked at the other things. Jon sees another letter; on it was written the name of his true father.
From Rhaegar Targaryen
My child, I hope I could tell you all this myself, but if you're reading this, that means I can't.
I love you, and you should know I love your mother more than anything else in the world.
If you ever feel alone, you should know that your mother and I will always love you.
Remember those words. 'A Targaryen Alone in The World is a Terrible Thing.
If you can meet Uncle Aemon on The Night's Watch, he has something that belongs to you.
I'm giving you something as well, in the chest, you should find something I saved for you. I love you, my little Dragonwolve.
Your father, Rhaegar Targaryen.
Jon felt his words were genuine, he didn't know the man, and he never would, but he was thankful, despite thinking that perhaps their love was what caused the Rebellion and so much death.
Putting the letters away, Jon looked at the last thing in the box; he didn't need to ask what it was. The red scales around it, how it shone from the fire in the candles, made it look the prettiest thing he had ever seen.
Grabbing it in his hands, he gasped when he felt the heat coming from it, not too much to burn, more like a pleasant warmth. Suddenly A strange voice reached his ears.
"Perzys Ānogār,"