-Chapter 222-

-Chapter 222-

-POV Daenerys Targaryen-

‘Finally arrived,’ I thought as I gently landed Drogon in the courtyard of the Dreadfort.

Although I had pushed Drogon to fly faster and higher to speed up our journey, it wasn’t until early in the morning that I finally reached our “secondary palace” in the North.

‘This is also the first time I’ve come here,’ I noted.

I struggled to get out of my saddle, completely exhausted from the nonstop journey I had undertaken to arrive as quickly as possible and provide assistance to the Northerners.

“Let me help you, Your Majesty,” said a man as he hurried toward me. He extended his hand to help me down and introduced himself by saying, “I am Walton Steelshanks, current Baron of the Empire and Castellan of the Dreadfort.”

Once I set foot on the ground, I nodded to acknowledge who he was, then immediately asked:

“Have you received any more ravens from our garrisons on the Wall?”

“Many,” replied the lord of House Steelshanks, Castellan of the Dreadfort.

‘And incidentally, the overseer of all the lands we own in the North during our absence,’ I thought.

“So how many other garrisons have we lost?” I asked quickly, ready for any answer.

“None,” he said, still unshaken.

“What?” I asked, puzzled.

“We haven’t lost any other garrisons,” he repeated.

“I don’t understand,” I muttered, more to myself than to him, continuing to think out loud:

“This was the perfect time to strike and destroy the majority of the soldiers stationed near the Wall.”

“They’re monsters devoid of any conscience, Your Majesty,” he said before adding, “They don’t think.”

“A creature without a conscience wouldn’t have been able to find a way to destroy the Wall using the weapons we used against them,” I countered, unwilling to underestimate our enemy.

‘And I don’t want my subordinates to do so either,’ I thought, coldly observing the man my husband had entrusted with overseeing much of the North.

“Of course,” the man said with an impassive expression, lowering his head slightly.

I nodded, pleasantly surprised by his obedience, then said:

“What orders have you given your troops?”

“All troops stationed on the Wall have been recalled. Most of them are currently en route to Eastwatch-by-the-Sea as we speak,” he said, transparently explaining the orders he had issued.

‘It’s a necessity, but they will never return in time to fight if the Walkers decide to advance without stopping straight into the North,’ I thought, also understanding that the White Walkers, who moved day and night without needing rest, would arrive here twice as fast as our soldiers.

‘Without a dragon, they could get here in less than four days,’ I thought, quickly considering my options before making a decision that could put me at odds with Aegon, but I had no choice.

‘I must do this for all of humanity,’ I thought, deciding to accept the role the Gods had destined for me without fleeing from my fate.

“Bring me some handmaidens,” I said firmly, before quickly adding, “I want to take a bath and break my fast. Once that is done, I will rest a little before departing to stop the dead from advancing.”

“Y... ”

“That’s an order,” I said, not even giving him room to object.

He watched me for a few seconds, his gaze troubled, unsure whether to defy my authority to protect me or to try and stop me.

‘He’s gambling his position because if something happens to me, Aegon will likely unleash his wrath upon him,’ I thought.

“Very well,” he finally said, reaching the same conclusion as me.

‘It’s no longer just our individual lives at stake; it’s life itself. We must all accept the need to sacrifice ourselves to defeat darkness and death,’ I thought.

“Perfect,” I said before heading inside the castle, still under his escort.

---

-POV Viserys Targaryen-

While I watched the few surviving captives being humiliatingly paraded in a festive display, some even dragged behind chariots moving through the city still celebrating our victory over the foreign invaders who sought to burn Pentos to the ground, even a day after the battle, I noticed a man under close watch by my temporary personal guard, composed of soldiers from Aegon’s Dark Guard.

I frowned, seeing that the man remained motionless. Then, one of my guards approached me and said:

“My Prince, this man claims to be a Blood Moon spy. He says he has an extremely important message for you and the Emperor.”

“Bring him forward,” I said, observing the hooded man waiting at a respectable distance.

‘Whether it’s true or not, assassins can no longer harm me,’ I thought, still grappling with the reality that, for some time now, I possessed the same powers as my nephew.

‘Even though I struggle to summon fire, my strength has been nearly doubled,’ I thought, knowing I could now snap a man’s neck with one hand.

“Your Imperial Highness,” said the man as he knelt instantly before me once he was less than five meters away.

“What is your message?” I asked, watching his every move closely, not wanting to waste time.

“The Wall has fallen,” he said coldly, handing me a letter sealed with the Imperial Council’s mark.

My eyes widened like saucers in shock at the news I had just heard, before he added, equally coldly:

“And the Empress has gone alone and unescorted to the North.”

I quickly tore open the letter, then left the balcony where I had been observing the festivities from above. Turning to the head of my temporary guard, I said:

“Prepare my saddle and belongings as quickly as possible. I depart within the hour.”

‘If we lose the North to these soulless monsters, then everything we’ve accomplished will be meaningless,’ I thought, panicked, as the White Walkers were the only creatures capable of troubling Aegon. 

That spoke volumes about how dangerous these monsters were.

---

-POV Tormo Fregar-

“This cannot go on any longer!” shouted Ferrego Antaryon, utterly furious.

“What needs to stop?” I asked, pretending not to know what he was talking about, though I was already irritated.

This wasn’t the first visit I had received.

I had already been warned by so-called allies that I would have to face the consequences of our actions alone if Emperor Aegon refused to negotiate peace with Braavos.

‘But why should I be the only one to bear the loss? Why should I even lose? I refuse to believe he is invincible! I’m sure I can find a way to kill him,’ I thought.

‘Illyrio Mopatis nearly succeeded last time. If the Faceless Men help me, I’m convinced I can silence him,’ I continued, fully confident in my resolve.

My predecessor shattered my train of thought as he angrily slammed a letter in front of me and shouted:

“We absolutely must find a more peaceful solution to this, or Braavos will end up destroyed by dragonfire if we continue down this path.”

I quickly skimmed through the letter sent by Ferrego Antaryon’s spies hidden in the city of Pentos.

It told me nothing new—just another account of how we had been utterly, and more importantly, ridiculously defeated in our attempt to reclaim Pentos from the Westerosi invaders in a single day and night.

The former Sealord of Braavos, Ferrego Antaryon, stood tall before me despite his advanced age, and said in an authoritative tone, seeing that I remained silent:

“If you do not resolve the situation you have put us in, I will act personally. You can be sure of that—I will never allow Braavos and its people to be destroyed because of your unchecked ambition.”

‘Easy to say when I’m the one cornered,’ I thought, resisting the urge to have him executed, knowing I was losing more and more support as time went on. 

Now was not the time to signal to the vultures that I was on the ropes, especially since I had no plan to escape the mess I had created for myself.

As Ferrego turned to leave, having gotten no response from me, a man burst into the room and said:

“A man has a message for you.”

I frowned and replied in a weary tone, having grown numb to bad news:

“Deliver your message.”

“The Wall has fallen,” he said simply.

“The Wall?” I asked, before widening my eyes and asking, now understanding what wall he meant: “The Wall of Westeros?”

‘The Gods have answered my prayers,’ I thought, jubilant, as I finally saw a glimmer of hope at the end of the tunnel.

The Faceless Man nodded coldly before turning and leaving, his job done, leaving me alone with my predecessor, who instantly understood what I was planning and warned me:

“Don’t do it.”

“Guards!” I shouted, summoning my men, who entered quickly.

I pointed at Ferrego Antaryon and said:

“Seize him and throw him into the dungeons.”

‘The news must not get out. No one must know until word spreads that the dragonriders have all returned to the North,’ I thought, eager to use the information I had just received to inflict maximum damage on the Empire and, at worst, secure a peace treaty on equal footing.

‘And if the intelligence is true, then Emperor Aegon might not return from this campaign and could die in the North,’ I thought, already dreaming of the day I would rule all of Essos and Westeros.

‘Emperor Tormo Fregar—that has a nice ring to it,’ I thought with a smug smile.

---

-POV Robb Stark-

As I watched the modest fleet of 47 ships, composed mainly of merchant vessels we had requisitioned upon our arrival at Eastwatch-by-the-Sea to organize the evacuation of all the survivors we had gathered since escaping Fort Nox, I shook my head in frustration, knowing full well it would not be enough to get everyone out in time.

I said in a sullen tone: “Father, we’ll never be able to evacuate everyone with so few ships.”

“I know,” he replied after a moment of reflection, his gaze fixed on the crowd of villagers, wildlings, and even giants who had taken refuge here as soon as word spread that the Wall had fallen.

‘And it spread much faster than we anticipated, thanks to the many scout posts, villages, and fortresses that communicate via ravens and messengers,’ I thought, aware that we had managed to bring with us barely half the soldiers and population from the Gift and New Gift.

‘Aegon’s new territories,’ I thought.

“We’ve managed to gather over 20,000 soldiers, roughly the same number of villagers and wildlings, and about twenty giants,” he added pensively, before continuing:

“The only solution we have left is to ensure that the ships make multiple trips to Skagos to stay out of the White Walkers’ reach.”

“And how will we decide who boards the ships first?” asked Tormund Giantsbane, eyeing us suspiciously.

“We’ll send the youngest first, followed by the elderly. Then we’ll send the younger fighters, the older fighters, and finally the giants,” my father replied firmly, leaving no room for Tormund or the other tribal leaders listening in to argue.

The newly ennobled tribal leader snorted slightly before nodding and turning to his people to explain how we would proceed.

I frowned, recalling the rumors I had heard about the men of Skagos, and asked:

“Father, if we send the ships to Skagos, won’t they risk being attacked by the…”

“Don’t worry. We have an agreement with the Lords of Skagos. As long as you are with them, they won’t attack you, especially not now,” he said.

“Why are you talking about me?” I asked, my brows furrowed.

‘I refuse to leave him,’ I thought.

‘We’ve already been separated from Uncle Benjen. There’s no way I’m losing my father too.’

“You will leave with the first ships,” he informed me, making it clear he had no intention of debating the matter.

“But you said…”

“I know what I said, but without you, the wildlings won’t even set foot on Skagos before being attacked,” he replied. Even though I trusted his word, I felt it was just an excuse.

“So you want me to abandon you? After everything that’s happened, do you really think I…”

“Robb, this isn’t a request. It’s an order,” he said in an authoritative tone before adding: “At least one of us has to survive.”

I lowered my gaze to the ground, frowning, but my father lifted my head and placed his hands on my shoulders.

“You have to be strong. You have to act like the strong man I raised you to be and protect our family. You must fulfill the mission I’ve given you. Is that clear?”

“Yes, Father,” I said.

“Excellent,” he replied, pulling me into an embrace before removing his sword and handing it to me.

“I don’t want it to be lost,” he said, before adding: “Keep it safe for me. I’ll come back to claim it.”

I nodded silently, then followed the other children, now separated from their parents, to board the ships bound for Skagos.