Chapter 119. A Dreamer.

In the absence of the Lord Commander, the men of the Night's Watch followed Aemon's orders. He was the oldest, wisest, and most respected. Elections to become the new Lord Commander were being postponed due to the army that the North was gathering.

"I, I should be the next Lord Commander, who better, eh? Who better than a king?" Aerys spoke in front of Jaehaerys and Daenerys. They had both gone to see him; he was beyond the wall, running an errand where he wouldn't bother anyone.

His role in the guard was irrelevant. He was just the madman that no one dared touch because of his history. At that moment, his task was to build a pyre with corpses and set it on fire. Recently, two men from the guard had died, and Aemon found a way to distract Aerys from the arrival of his children. He sent him along with two other recruits who kept their distance from the Targaryens. He made two pyres, both separated from each other.

Jaehaerys wondered if Aemon had considered the possibility of Aerys dying beyond the wall. He dismissed it immediately; Aemon was not that cruel.

"I am not part of the watch, I have no say," Jaehaerys said boredly.

The man in front of him was his father, but he might as well have been a complete stranger; he had not seen him in a long time. And he never raised him. Although it was strange to feel that Aerys, the Mad King, loved him. But Jaehaerys could feel it; his eyes were warmer when they looked at him.

"BUT YOU HAVE DRAGONS!" Aerys shouted. Daenerys, standing next to Jaehaerys, flinched slightly but quickly recovered. "JUST BURN THEM ALL!" he ordered his son.

But the prince didn't even flinch. He just sighed heavily. The horses they had been riding on were startled and looked fearfully in his direction.

"Learn to control your mouth, Aerys," he didn't even think to call him father.

"Now you've become a coward? How many men have you burned already? Hundreds, thousands?" The king laughed happily. "I knew it, I always knew it. You, you, you," the dethroned king began tapping Jaehaerys' chest with his index finger, his nails long but not as long as they said in the stories. "YOU BURNED THEM ALL!" he laughed again in front of his children. "And..." he paused, his purple eyes dilated. "You will burn more," he whispered, seeming almost excited as he spoke.

"This is all he is, Dany. You didn't need to see this," Jaehaerys said to his wife.

"THE MOTHER OF DRAGONS," Aerys spat as he looked at Daenerys, his eyes shining with happiness and lust. Jaehaerys felt the urge to punch him in the face. "I saw... I saw your birth and what you would bring. Rhaegar is not like that, he was a coward, you, my children," Jaehaerys found disgust in the affection in his voice, "are the pride of our house," he said as he applauded.

"The things he says, everything... somehow it makes sense, a twisted sense. As if his perspective were correct but twisted by his mad-," Dany said softly.

"I AM NOT MAD," Aerys shouted angrily, taking a step toward her, but Jaehaerys grabbed him by the neck and threw him backward. He fell like a sack of potatoes onto the snow. It was curious how the man showed not the slightest sign of being cold there.

Jaehaerys studied Daenerys' words. Everything Aerys said seemed like prophecies twisted by sadism and fire. He found it difficult to take him seriously, not because he didn't consider the possibility that they were true, but because the Three-Eyed Raven could be the one putting those ideas in his head, and they could be lies or a trap.

"You will not be Lord Commander, unless the Night's Watch goes mad too," said the prince, looking down at his father.

Aerys looked at him from the floor, his wide eyes becoming empty.

"Jaehaerys," he whispered his name. "Listen to me carefully. The others beyond the wall..." Jaehaerys couldn't help but move a little closer; it couldn't hurt. "You... you... YOU MUST BURN THEM ALL!" he shouted from the floor.

"It's time to go, Jae," Daenerys said, taking his hand.

But Jaehaerys didn't move immediately. He looked at his father, his twisted mind not a product of madness. Aerys had seen something, something his mind couldn't bear, and ended up breaking because of it. Would he have been a loving father? A kind husband?

Jaehaerys doubted it. Even when he was sane, he was a libertine and arrogant. He had more virtues and could have been a good king, but he was no saint either. There was no point in thinking about what might have been.

Suddenly, Jaehaerys heard footsteps in the distance; his senses alerted him.

FLING!

An arrow embedded itself in Jaehaerys's hand. He had barely blocked it. He wasn't prepared to fight.

"Jaehaerys!" Daenerys shouted as she tried to get in front of him, but Jaehaerys wouldn't let her.

To the right was a wooden pyre, unlit.

"Brandon!" Jaehaerys indicated with his chin in that direction. He took Daenerys and ran there. Another arrow fell nearby. He didn't look for his father.

The three took cover behind the pyre.

"Damn it," Daenerys said quietly. She took a dagger she had hidden and cut a piece of her clothing.

"The arrow covers the wound for now, Dany. Help me break it, but don't pull it out," Jaehaerys asked. Daenerys's hands were clumsy as she took the arrow and bent it until it snapped with a crack. "I'm fine," he said to reassure her.

"You almost died," Dany whispered.

"They aimed for the shoulder. They didn't mean to kill me, or it was a poor shot," the prince replied.

"They look like wildlings. I'd bet on the latter." Brandon already had his sword drawn. He tapped his wounded leg and nodded.

The wildlings were quite close to the wall. There was a wooded area about 200 meters from their location, but Jaehaerys didn't think they could shoot an arrow that far. So how did they hide?

"Ah, I see," Jaehaerys poked his head out for a second to look. In the distance, the second pyre was being built, further away from the wall. It gave the wildlings cover so they wouldn't be detected quickly. The prince looked at his father and wondered why Aerys couldn't build all the damn pyres together. Aerys was on the ground, looking up at the sky, fear seemingly absent from his body.

The wildlings emerged, about ten of them. Jaehaerys looked at the last location of the two guards. They were approaching, but there were no shots fired in their direction, not a single one. Jaehaerys took Daenerys's dagger. The men approached, sweating, and Jaehaerys nodded to them.

They nodded back. Then they sighed heavily.

"Ah, what a pity," Jaehaerys said, looking at Brandon.

They approached slowly, trying not to look nervous, but they were terrible actors. "We are so—" one of them wanted to say, but the bastard's sword pierced his heart with a clean thrust.

Jaehaerys threw the dagger, hitting the second scout, but not killing him, only stabbing him in the shoulder. His weapon, a sword, fell to the ground.

"So, you allied yourself with wildlings, eh?" Jaehaerys asked casually. Brandon easily subdued the man, twisting the dagger.

"No, no, they, they forced us. They wanted to capture the former king for a reward," he said quickly, his eyes filling with tears.

"How did the wildlings know Aerys was a former king?" Daenerys asked. The man stammered, unable to answer that question. "Brandon, we don't need him," she said indifferently.

The man died the next second.

Jaehaerys heard the sounds of footsteps approaching, moved closer to observe, but an arrow was quickly fired. He felt the heat on his cheek.

"Come out, you're surrounded. Come out, or we'll kill the king," said a thick voice.

"Are you so eager for a reward?" asked Jaehaerys. He came out of hiding, having to push Daenerys hard to keep her from following him. Brandon stared at him with wide eyes. "I'm worth more than him," said the prince.

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