Chapter 154 - Artican Trade in Essos 09 (Daenerys Targaryen 01).

[Chapter Size: 3500 Words.]

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Thrid Person POV

Essos, 296 AC.

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"Let's go, we have nothing left to do here," Jon informed his men as he approached them.

"Yes, my king. Did you hear, men? We are returning to the ship at the port." The Artican men quickly started issuing orders as they began to move.

Soon, the Artican troops began moving towards the gate. Meanwhile, Magister Illyrio approached Jon, starting to leave with his royal guards.

Illyrio approached, bowing his head in a sign of respect. "Artican King, it seems we shall leave the rest to be negotiated next time we meet," he spoke calmly as Jon nodded, maintaining a watchful eye on the man who seemed full of schemes. Jon did not want to act openly against him, after all, he first wanted to understand what this man was hiding and how he would deal with the Targaryens.

So, Jon just nodded and let him go as he began to retrace his path through Pentos to the main port.

Daenerys still stood in the same spot after hearing all this, wondering what it all meant as she found herself there, not realizing how much time had passed.

She shook herself and quickly looked at her hands, where there was the ointment that Jon had handed her, and also a letter. She thought about it for a couple of seconds before tucking the letter between her breasts, to not lose it, realizing she could not stay there any longer.

She began to return to her room, then took her secret path. It didn't take long to pass through the corridors, dodging the guards, until she finally reached her room through a false wall she had discovered some time ago. Illyrio seemed to keep these in his house in the rooms for some emergency cases.

After closing the passage, she couldn't help but be curious and looked out the window. But no more Articans were present at the mansion. She just sighed and moved away from the window and sat on the bed while opening the glass jar with the strange cream, which she received from Jon, who said it would help her with her wounds.

She couldn't help but wonder whether she should trust this person or not. 'I don't know him... what reasons would he have to help me...' she murmured somewhat conflictedly.

After all, on one hand, Jon Artica should be a stranger to her and she to him, even an enemy of her family, but on the other hand, it was odd how he treated her, as he was nothing like she imagined. There was nothing wild as she expected, his touch was warm, warmer than any person she had ever touched. Yet, it was a pleasant warmth.

Thinking about this, she saw no reason to distrust him, despite finding his behavior towards her very strange. He did not have disdain in his current appearance, but rather a gentle look, almost concerned about her. Then, she began to take the ointment from the jar and apply it to her face.

The contact with the substance made her feel a bit of cold on her skin, but quickly, with a slight tingling, the rashes and pains she still felt began to be relieved. Seeing this, she took more ointment and applied it to all her wounds.

Quickly, she felt relief in her silent suffering, and her purple eyes looked with some admiration at this jar. Closing it and quickly placing it on the table, she lay down on the bed at this moment while her eyes stared at the ceiling, thinking about what she should do... going back to thinking about Jon's words to her.

'I and Viserys are not the only Targaryens...?' she asked herself internally, confused about what she had heard.

"Why did he tell me this... why did he help me... who is he...?" She wondered all the time without understanding yet, but also thought about why he did it when he simply left after saying something like that to her.

She then touched her clothing and, taking the letter hidden in her bosom, opened it carefully while observing the handwriting of the Artican king. She was momentarily distracted by his good writing, but her focus returned to the letter.

'I know it must be hard to understand why I gave you this letter, but it needed to be done, after all I wanted you to know about your family, since there are so many Targaryens out there that you and your brother aren't even aware of, the family still lives and I want to help you, aunt.' Daenerys paused at this part as her eyes trembled with that last word, wondering if he was really addressing her, perhaps in error, but after staring at the same word for 2 minutes, she couldn't say that he was mistaken, so with still shaken eyes, she moved on to the next word.

"I know it's hard to understand, but I am your nephew, son of Rhaegar and Lyanna... I have their marriage certificate, which proves that I am their legitimate son, it was a shock to me when I learned the truth, after all the document was inside a book I had looted from the citadel, after finally knowing who my mother was, I didn't know what to think, but in the end, I am still Jon Artica, the name I was not born with or given, but something I built for myself in this world..." She read this paragraph not knowing what to comment as she read on to the next part.

'However, I cannot say that I am the only Targaryen alive besides you... Aemon Targaryen, the third son of King Maekar I. He had served as a Maester to the Night's Watch for decades, where I supplied him with provisions for the patrol. He has been in Artica since then, helping me build our nation, he has always been a smart and kind person, he even joined the night's watch to not instigate a crisis in the kingdom with the succession of his brother King Aegon V Targaryen, who had a right to the line of succession, but he sacrificed going to the farthest point of Westeros so as not to see his family caught in another crisis after so many others, he is the man who did everything for the family and told me many times how agonizing it was to hear the news from the south during the Baratheon rebellion... He always asked me to look for them, pleading that I help, even before knowing that we shared the same blood...'

Jon had written every one of the words he lived in recent years, Aemon never abandoned his family and Jon could not say that for him, that was what mattered most, even if he had to sacrifice himself. He was glad that he was his family too.

Daenerys was surprised with every line, not imagining that this man was in the Night's Watch and now, in Artica, if she was not mistaken in the line of succession she learned from her family, then this must be her father's oldest uncle, making him her great uncle. "First the Artican king... then this Aemon..." Daenerys could hardly believe what she was learning there.

"We are not the only Targaryens in the world then..." She couldn't help but embrace the letter with some force, part of her wanting to believe the words that she and Viserys were not alone.

She sighed a little, letting some tears escape from her eyes containing all her hope, before placing the letter in front of her and continuing to read, even though a part of her said that this was very strange and sudden, she did not have a very healthy life when her fate is to be handed over to whoever can provide the best army for her brother, no matter how she would be treated. Of course, any contact with another reality might give her the desire to escape from this, especially with a stranger claiming to be her nephew after treating her more kindly than anyone else had ever done without trying to gain anything in return, after all people only acted like that to try to gain her brother's favor, who was often disappointed with his explosive behavior.

Returning to reading, she sighed deeply, after all Jon had not mentioned Aemon, but rather two sons of his deceased older brother.

'And there's her, someone I met in Dorne... I admit I was enchanted by her beauty, I didn't know at the time that we were siblings, but it seemed we had some kind of connection. But it wasn't hard to find out who this woman was, after all, she is my sister... legitimate daughter of Rhaegar and Elia of House Martell. What I most wanted at that moment was to have gone back in time while I was in Dorne and embraced her as my blood, but that will be done soon, after all, you are not the only Targaryen I need to find here, Aunt. I sent my men to Dorne on a secret mission aiming to fetch her after sending a similar letter to what I did with you.' She read while once again becoming stunned.

"If this is true... then Viserys has no right to the Iron Throne just by birthright..." Daenerys could not help but comment, thinking about how violent and uncontrollable Viserys would become upon learning this, saying it was a lie and taking it out on her as he always did, thinking about this made her tremble immediately with fear of her brother, she sighed after calming down a bit before continuing the letter.

'That's why I say, your brother will never have a right to the throne with two heirs above him, and from what I've already seen of him, he is not worthy of being a good king... perhaps even worse than your father and all in Westeros will see this, he will not have the support of any kingdom that thinks rationally and trying to put Dothrakis against the Seven Kingdoms is a lost fight, after all, Westeros can gather more than 200 or even 300 thousand men to fight by combining all the seven kingdoms... not to mention that the Dothrakis may be skilled with a horse, but they have never faced a cavalry with armor and spears in the desert or even a siege as they would have to do in thousands of castles if they wanted to gain territories.' Jon had written his thoughts on his brother's plan, while Daenerys had not thought much about war and was not even educated to understand this, but she ended up agreeing with Jon's logic.

'That is why I am going to end this letter with a question, which I probably already asked you when I delivered it, if I did so.' He wrote in the last lines not being absolutely sure that he would find her, as otherwise, a raven would be delivering it to her window.

Then the letter continued. 'You don't deserve this life, Daenerys Targaryen, you are my blood, my family and I want to take you out of this place, this life before it's too late and give you a life as you deserve in Artica with your family and away from the madness of your brother. I'm trying to leave the decision with you after all I don't want to kidnap you and scare you with this, that's why I ask as your nephew that you accept my help, and I say this because I don't want your brother in my way, I've already noticed he's an ambitious madman and will drag you down with him, I know you are a smart girl... you know that your brother will not be able to reach the throne with other members of your family alive and neither I nor Aemon want this for you, it's time for you to live as a true Targaryen and not running from assassins or being a disposable chess piece for people around you, you will always be welcome in Artica as my blood and will live in the glory that the ancient Valyrians had in Valyria. I will appear again and hope to hear your answer, but remember, I will not accept your brother either.'

Daenerys finally finished reading the letter and didn't know what to say... this was a chance for her to escape, despite not knowing anything about Jon or even if he was telling the truth or not, she couldn't say she wasn't seduced by the idea of fleeing with the Articans... Arya Stark, whom she had met, seemed like a strong, mature, and cheerful girl... someone she was far from being... even earning Daenerys's admiration for how she wished she could be, after all, she was a shy and sad girl, longing for and desiring a home she had never seen, just hoping that one day she could stop running and live peacefully, even if it meant giving up the throne, all she wanted was a place she could call home.

"What do I do..." she murmured as she read the last part of the letter, which told her not to show the letter to anyone, after all, Jon did not want to put her in danger because of it and would have to invade Pentos if it was read by others, not wanting to expose his real paternity yet. He even had a bird at her window just to ensure it would not be read by anyone.

On impulse, she simply nodded in agreement, knowing there was a lot of shocking information and her brother certainly would not accept it amicably, and she would directly suffer his wrath. It was at that moment that she stored the letter away when the door opened at that moment, with a servant bringing her food.

"Here," she simply said as she placed the plate on the table. Daenerys ate in silence, with darkness taking the place of the day. A few hours later, she spent the night not reading some books as she used to, after all, she wasn't in the mood for it. She just applied some more of the ointment Jon had given her, feeling much better. She lay down in bed and was thoughtful about what she had learned that night, trying to decide what to do next, and as she lay there, the hours passed and she finally fell asleep thinking about it all.

That night, Daenerys had a dream unlike any she had had in her life.

"Hm?!" She saw herself at a very high altitude as the wind hit against her, not knowing where she was and how high she was at that moment, even having some difficulty breathing in that atmosphere.

Before looking for an answer, her gaze fell downward seeing where she was, a strange structure, a kind of platform made of stones, in a way she had never seen before, all clean and well built, with pillars around. Despite this, the whole space was open, and she did not know what she was doing there. The wind hit her face, forcing her to lean forward, trying to reach the edge of that platform to understand where she was.

It was then that she reached the edge, carefully not to fall, startled by the height she was at, even seeing clouds below it, down below, there was a pasture with kilometers of extension while it had all kinds of plantations she did not understand coloring the space. Nearby, there was a large river being extended in a straight line looking almost artificial, after all, she knew that rivers do not follow a straight line.

Following the river to one of the edges, her eyes opened astonished to see a huge city below the point where she was. There was a massive tree in the middle of it covering a large part of the city, which must have been at least 300 meters tall, making her realize that she was on a platform more than a thousand meters high, turning her attention to the giant tree, with red leaves that reflected a blood-red under the sun. Her gaze went to the horizon as she saw the place surrounded by frozen mountains, which was strange as this place was green, there was life in abundance... it was magical for Daenerys.

"Where am I?" she murmured.

At that moment, she heard a sound of very strong wind beating, and as she looked down, a huge shadow emerged, coming from below. She startled, screaming and falling backwards to the ground as her face turned towards the creature flapping its wings and moving towards the platforms above her, while emitting a loud growl. It was at least 30 meters in length with its enormous wings generating even stronger winds, disappearing above her, and she realized she was on a kind of structure full of platforms.

"This... can't be real," she murmured, watching the creature disappear into other platforms, trying to believe that it could be real, that it was actually real, that she was seeing a real dragon.

"Mommy, mommy, let's see the Ancient Dragon!" Suddenly, she heard the voice of a boy exclaiming joyfully behind her.

Looking to the side, she awkwardly got up, seeing the boy running as he entered this platform from a staircase in a corner, with the boy jumping while looking back.

From the staircase, other people began to appear. Two other children also emerged. The boy in front should be about 8 years old, and the two children, one 6 and another girl 4. The last one walked awkwardly, having her little arm held by a woman whom Daenerys looked at with even more shocked eyes, seeing someone with white hair and purple eyes like hers, but a few years older and extremely beautiful, more beautiful than any woman Daenerys had ever seen, wondering if her mother was like this in her youth.

"Be careful!" the woman said sternly to the boy.

"But mom, let's go! I want to see the Ancient Dragon! I love hearing its stories," the boy jumped and shouted joyfully.

"Even so, it's dangerous to walk like that in the temple of the dragons. I'm sure you've heard this several times from your father, when he used to come here with you to ride." She continued talking, as the boy finally seemed to calm down a bit.

"Okay, sorry about that," he said, still anxious, but appeared embarrassed by his behavior.

"Mommy, isn't daddy home today?" The woman continued walking towards the next staircase that advanced to the next platform, while the girl asked about the supposed father at her side with a curious tone.

"No, your father went to the south today. He had some things to sort out in Winterfell, but he'll be back tonight to have dinner with you and your siblings." The woman spoke with a sweet tone to her daughter.

The young Daenerys stood frozen, watching them start to walk to the next platform, with the boy in front beginning to behave better as he waited for his mother and siblings. But suddenly, the older woman stopped.

"What's wrong, mommy?" Both children in her arms looked at her. Daenerys was there watching while nobody seemed to pay attention to her until now, as if she were invisible, but then the older woman opened a slight, closed smile.

"Let's do this," she began. "You can go ahead, and wait for me on the next platform. But be careful with the edges, understood? Falling from here is dangerous, and there won't be any dragons to save you in free fall..." She made it very clear. The children, although confused by their mother's attitude, nodded in the end, starting to move away, heading towards the stairs and climbing them while the older brother helped the other two siblings.

Daenerys was still paralyzed, wondering what that woman was doing there, but as soon as she looked back at her, she found the woman staring at her with intense eyes and maintaining the same smile.

"You...." Daenerys immediately knew that was her as soon as their eyes connected, a future version of herself, never imagining that something like this was possible. Both stared at each other, with the younger version cautious and frightened, while the older one just maintained the smile, until she decided to break the silence.

"You have a choice, Daenerys. Remember that when the time comes. Your future has two extremities, so know very well what to choose," she said, and the next moment, the whole place began to blur, and Daenerys found herself back in her bed, waking up sweaty and frightened, not understanding what had just happened.

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