[Chapter Size: 3700 Words.]
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Third Person POV
Arctic, 298 AC.
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Jon returned to the castle along with his guards, as he passed through the gate entrance and saw Eragon lift his head toward him in the distance, in one of the corners of the garden, together with the other dragons.
Jon had a certain issue to resolve with the size of the area that kept growing and would not even come close to fitting inside the garden and the space within the castle walls. Eragon was already reaching his limit, even more so when the space was already being taken by others, by the smaller dragons, both from his children and his wives.
Jon entered the castle and headed for the entrance, stopping with his horse while castle men quickly took it after greeting the king. He approached the entryway and saw Val nearby.
The young woman was a little sweaty after training with a female royal guard, whom Jon had instructed to teach Val while he could not, since he had promised her he would train her but could not be present all the time with so many tasks before the war.
The woman, if anything, was becoming much stronger than before, making the former wild princess, as many called her, a shadow of who she was becoming at this moment. She was strengthening herself due to the potions and the intense training she endured, wanting her body to grow stronger.
Jon intended to provide her with a new dose of potions, but he would first have a conversation with her and check her blood, in order to determine some new formulas.
In any case, Val saw him staring at her and their eyes met, but she only nodded with her typical more reserved manner. Jon nodded back with a smile, and soon his attention was on the castle's entrance before he could do anything else.
And as soon as he set his first feet on the huge gate, he had to stop when one of his little sons came running toward him, laughing loudly as he ran with his tiny legs. They never ceased to behave like mischievous children, and Jon smiled as he saw little Bran, his fourth son.
"Bran, don't run like that to your father!" shouted Ygritte, coming from inside the entrance hall, while Jon kept his paternal smile for Brandon running to him.
"Daddy!" said the excited boy, as Jon bent down and picked him up, hugging him and pulling him close.
"Daddy, you finally came back! I missed you!" he said in his childish tone, while Jon kissed his face before turning his attention back to Ygritte, who was approaching, looking at their son with a sigh, and carrying Laena.
"Why does he always run like that?" she said, tired, but returned her husband's smile with a loving look. "Hello, Jon, welcome back."
She was carrying the other baby in her arms. "Hello, my love. Hello, Laena." Jon went to her, kissed her forehead, touched Laena's face with affection, before stepping back. "I hope things have been well while I was away."
Ygritte sighed. "Jon, it was awful... Lyanna has been impossible lately," she said, while Jon listened in silence.
"I know... what did she do this time? I know she took Aegon's toys?"
"Yes! And now she keeps hiding inside the fireplaces, just because she doesn't burn and no one can catch her except you... She's ruining all the dresses I had made for her! Besides that, she took Aegon's toys, the boy cried and Dany had some trouble calming him afterwards," Ygritte complained.
Jon couldn't help but look at that woman. Almost eight years ago, if someone had told him that the redheaded wildling he had once met would one day talk about dresses and concerns over her daughter, he probably would have laughed, calling them a foolish idiot with a fertile imagination.
Well, she had gone from wildling to queen, and then to a mother worried about the actions of her eldest daughter. Who was very wild, by the way.
However, Ygritte didn't seem to be finished. "She's also, in the past few days, thrown food at some of the kitchen maids, scaring them and running away before anyone could bring her to me. I myself had to discipline her... We have to deal with her. She's getting worse. Loki can calm her many times, he is much better behaved than his sister, but he's not always with her."
"I'll talk to her." Jon came out of his thoughts and spoke in a serious tone, still holding Brandon in his arms.
"Please, Jon. She listens to you more than to me. She's always worse like this when you're away," the red-haired queen said.
"At least she gave back all of Aegon's toys, right? And didn't let them burn?" Jon asked with concern.
"No, she didn't take them into the fireplace. Even Lyanna knows wood burns more than she does." Jon was forced to laugh when he heard that from his wife. His eldest daughter was terrible and needed to be restrained.
"I wonder why she has this strange habit of setting herself on fire all over the castle... That must be stopped as well," Jon commented.
"You still wonder?" said Ygritte in an accusatory tone, while they already heard footsteps approaching them soon after.
Nevertheless, Jon had to keep his attention on Ygritte, as she continued, now with a tone full of mockery. "Seryna once told our children that you used to bathe in boiling water, even in lava. Lyanna probably marked that in her mind to start doing such things. She admires you more than anyone, she always wants to copy everything you do or have done."
Jon only sighed at hearing that. "I understand... I'll talk to her," he said, before seeing Rhaenys and Hiyori approaching. At the same time, another pair of little legs pattered against the floor, coming toward him. Jaehaerys was running to his father just like Brandon had, escaping his mother's hands when he saw his father.
"Jaehaerys, you must be careful!" his worried mother shouted, unable to run while also holding Visenya in her arms.
"Let me get him." Jon said as he left Ygritte and waited for his third son to run to him, happily watching that he seemed full of energy. Jon grabbed him too, holding him together with Brandon, one in each arm.
Meanwhile, Rhaenys was coming his way along with Hiyori, who was carrying Daemon as she approached.
"Hello, Jaehaerys." Jon said, kissing his face as well, while the guards kept their distance both inside and at the castle entrance for the royal family's gathering.
"Daddy, mommy said you were going to do something dangerous in the south," said Jaehaerys with curious eyes.
"Not that dangerous." Jon replied with a calm smile. "I just went for a walk and to check if I needed to protect Aunt Arya."
"Aunt Arya is in danger?!" Brandon exclaimed from the side. He had been silent during his parents' discussion about his older sister, feeling he couldn't say anything to them.
Jon shook his head. "No, not anymore. But she got into some trouble."
"Something happened with the meeting of the king of Westeros, is that it?" Rhaenys stepped forward, looking intensely with the purple eyes she had inherited from her father and from Jon.
"We'll talk about it away from the children's ears," Jon said in a tone that indicated they needed privacy for the subject, something that shouldn't be had in front of children. Rhaenys, however, still frowned when she heard that.
"Father, we're adults already!" Jaehaerys exclaimed, dissatisfied with his father's words.
"Yeah, 'adults'..." Rhaenys mocked her brother.
"You'll only be an adult when I decide so, and when you can protect yourself," Jon said, addressing his son of only three namedays.
He only made a face, while Jon turned his attention back to Brandon, knowing he was about to say something but seemed to hesitate in his arms.
"Father, if Lyanna can bathe in flames... can we too?" Brandon asked after hearing the whole conversation earlier between his parents.
"No!" Ygritte exclaimed immediately, louder than she intended.
Jon raised his hand for her to calm down and turned back to Brandon, who looked shrunk after his mother's shout. "Calm down. We can make a test. But if you're not immune to fire, you'll never get near any flame again, understood?"
"Jon, you're not thinking..." Ygritte protested.
"It's all right, Ygritte. I am his father. If he shows any sign of pain in the test, I'll stop before he can get burned. It's good we're sure of this now, so he doesn't grow overconfident with flames and shove himself into a fireplace like Lyanna did. She could have burned herself." Jon said. He didn't believe in that saying, 'No dragon burns with fire.' He would never let any of his children get hurt by such words—after all, all Targaryens up to this point were not immune to flames.
Rhaenys touched Ygritte's shoulder. "He's right, Mandia. It would be good for your son to know if he is immune or not to flames before he might try to tame a dragon. If he burns with fire, he'll have reason to run from flames before he could be burned," she said.
"The same goes for you too, Jaehaerys. You may not be like your older siblings, but that doesn't mean you are any less. After all, I am not immune to fire like your father. I want you to take the test as well. If you burn, you must always stay away from flames, understood?" Rhaenys said to her son in Jon's arms, beside Brandon.
Her son looked on the verge of crying at the thought of not being able to match his older siblings. Loki and Lyanna were immune to flames, they had shown it themselves, while Jaehaerys had been afraid at the time and didn't want to test with them.
"But regardless of the result, that doesn't change the fact that you are a dragon and your father's son, inheriting many of his powers. You are a special boy, both to him and to me, as well as a prince of Arctic," she said in a serious tone. Not only Jaehaerys, but even Brandon listened to her attentively. After all, children could be disappointed if they didn't have the same abilities as their parents and older siblings.
She seemed to fear that her son might start setting himself on fire all over the castle like Lyanna had been doing. Rhaenys was certain her son was a true dragon and wouldn't burn, just like all of Jon's other children. Their father was far too special for his children not to inherit his main magical traits... She only hoped Jaehaerys would behave like Loki. He was as radical as Lyanna, who even shoved herself into fireplaces to hide.
"Anyway, let's meet the others. I'm tired of staying here at the entrance," Jon said, not wanting to drag out the conversation here. They had practically not even entered the castle properly yet.
Jon simply stepped closer and kissed Rhaenys and Hiyori, while caressing Visenya and Daemon. Visenya was practically asleep in her mother's arms after being nursed at Rhaenys's breast before they met Jon. Daemon looked at him with curiosity.
"How are you?" Jon spoke to Hiyori, who had remained silent during Rhaenys, Ygritte, and the older children's conversations. She secretly feared that Daemon might burn himself in the future, but she kept silent, planning to speak of her worries in a private room, when she had the chance to lie with her husband again.
Meanwhile, Jon turned his attention to the three babies there, who were growing quite healthy. There were no typical illnesses, no fevers, nausea, or vomiting, which children usually have, making parents worry about them.
They were perfectly fine. Still, Jon could not help but stay a little alert to any side effects of his strengthening potions, after all, Loki, Lyanna, Jaehaerys, and Brandon had grown very strong. However, that didn't mean all of Jon's babies could not react differently. Bodies could act differently from person to person. Still, none of the babies seemed to reject the potions. He knew his formulas were correct enough to give to the children without compromising any other area with side effects.
Thus, the king finally began walking through his castle, but stopped shortly after when he looked toward one of the other side exits and saw Val approaching. She held a training sword, sweat clinging to her hair, while beside her came the royal guard who trained her.
She made a face upon seeing Jon there with all the other wives and children.
"Aunt Val!" Jaehaerys greeted her immediately as everyone stopped to look at her.
Jon smiled. "I would kiss you if you weren't so sweaty, Val. And speaking of that, I want to see your skills later, but first I'd also like you to meet me in the laboratory tonight." Jon said, while she stared at him with a neutral look, though Jon knew she reacted to his words with embarrassment, since she showed herself a little ashamed to be in that state, sweaty and hearing that from the man who had taken her.
She had expected to have entered the castle with him already elsewhere, not to see him there, since she felt ugly for her man when she wasn't wearing pretty clothes like the other wives. It was ironic because Jon often trained her himself, but it was a feeling Val couldn't shake inside. And Jon knew that lately she had been developing a rivalry with the other women, which was normal when you had a harem.
"Yes..." was all she said, moving inside, fleeing from them. All to take a bath and remove her training clothes.
"Look at you, Jon, making a Free Folk woman start to worry about her looks after training," Ygritte mocked at his side, smiling.
"From what I heard, you used to do the same thing," Rhaenys said, laughing.
"It's true. Jon has always had that effect on Free Folk women," Ygritte replied, amused.
"I would say not only on them, but also on women from the deserts of Dorne, from the Free Cities at points, and even from more distant regions like Yi-Ti." Hiyori joined the conversation for the first time, making the three women laugh at the comment.
"Really? I want to be just like Daddy!" Brandon said innocently, making everyone laugh, even Jon.
"Well, I'd prefer if you weren't a womanizer, son. Do as your father did: find a woman you love and take her as your wife," Jon said firmly. "I just had the pleasure of finding six of them." Jon had some political relationships among them, like Val and Hiyori, but he had learned to love them all, and they loved him, admired him, and desired him—that was what mattered.
He certainly had no plans yet for his children; they were still very young, but he also knew he would need to hear what they had to say about their future betrothals and marriages. He would not force them into anything, like arranged marriages. He wanted nothing forced in that regard.
"But I can get a lot of wives too, but how did you manage it? After all, I like all the mommies a lot!" the boy said, while Jon looked at him and nodded carefully.
"Well... if you can manage to have several women in the same place without them killing each other, while all of them are in a relationship with you, then you can certainly have them." Jon said, but quickly added: "But that's a conversation we'll have in about fifteen years, maybe. No thinking about marriages or women before that, Brandon. That's for adults, and children like you should enjoy childhood." Jon spoke.
The little boy grew thoughtful, and Rhaenys sighed. "Jon, I hope you won't lead our son down a path of debauchery. I don't want my little boy to be a womanizer and reckless," she said, referring to Brandon as her own little one too, even though he was Ygritte's son. She was like an aunt to him and cared for the other children as well. Which was quite normal, since they usually said they were sisters by marriage, or Mandias, which meant sister in High Valyrian.
In any case, they advanced to the higher floors of the castle, as they joined Daenerys and Seryna, who were in one of the inner gardens. Seryna didn't move much due to her pregnancy, which was already in its last moons and her belly was finally visible.
Lyanna and Loki were also with them, playing. Lyanna, however, seemed to be in a bad mood after receiving punishment for her latest mischief. She wore a new outfit that her mother had demanded she put on, and the punishment imposed was that she would have to sew her own clothes. Obviously it was a lie, since no child of almost four years could possibly sew dresses, but that was not for Lyanna to know. She was frustrated with the idea.
"I don't know why I have to do this! Then I'll just take the clothes off first... I like to be in the fire!" Lyanna shouted to her brother, complaining about the unfair treatment her mother had imposed on her.
"You can't be serious, sister..." Loki said, incredulous at her words.
"No girl will take her clothes off to step into flames in this castle!" everyone was interrupted when Jon's voice echoed through the corridor, after hearing what his daughter had just said. The door opened wide, the royal guards allowed entrance, and Jon entered the place along with the rest of the family, except for Val, who must have gone to bathe somewhere.
"Daddy!" Lyanna shouted when she saw him, running to him.
"Hello, daughter," said Jon, crouching down and finally setting the two brothers he carried on the ground, picking the girl up in his arms. Loki also ran to Jon.
"Daddy!" said the boy, hugging him, while his father grabbed him.
Jon had been away for a few days, as he usually did, since there was always some matter outside Arctic. But he never stayed as long as in his longer sea voyages.
Normally, it was only two or three days away. And whenever he returned, he received the grand reception of his children shouting for him. He couldn't deny that it was a pleasure, and he could understand why Lord Stark, his uncle, always smiled when he found his children with a broad smile in the courtyard when he returned to Winterfell. But he also couldn't allow chaos to reign in his home.
"Lyanna, I am very disappointed in you," Jon said in a serious tone after he stopped smiling at the older children in his arms, as he lifted both her and Loki, while the other women joined Seryna and Daenerys.
"You know?" the girl asked cautiously.
"You think there's anything Daddy doesn't know about what happens in this castle?" Loki mocked her from the other arm.
"Not only do I know, but I was the one who reported you, Lyanna!" he said seriously.
She looked at him stunned, seeming hurt to hear that. "It was you, Daddy?" as if she had been betrayed.
"Lyanna, I did not teach you to treat your younger siblings that way. Why did you steal Daemon's toys and hide them while you went into a fireplace? He is only a few moons old, have more consideration for your younger brother! He cried because of you," Jon said firmly.
Lyanna at least had the decency to feel ashamed upon hearing that.
"I thought it was just a game..." Lyanna said, clinging to her father's shoulder, without the courage to face him. Jon, however, remained serious, disappointed with her.
Meanwhile, Loki watched from the other side, his eyes complicated, seeing how their father dealt with the rebellious sister. He didn't understand much, but he could tell it was wrong.
"That made your brother cry," he said, looking at Daemon, who was being held by Daenerys and staring back at him. The baby looked at his father, stretching out his hands, wanting his presence.
But Jon turned back to Lyanna, touching her head. "Look at me, Lyanna," he said firmly.
She slowly pulled her face away from his shoulder and raised her eyes, meeting her father's gray and green ones that pierced into her purple ones.
"You are the eldest sister of most of your siblings. You should take care of them, along with your mothers. One day, you will have a great role in this family. They are your siblings, and sometimes they need a caring sister instead of a playful one—especially when it comes to the babies, who are fragile."
"But Aegon always laughs when I play with him..." she said in a low tone.
"I'm sure he does, daughter. But not all games will be pleasant. I just want you to be careful not to hurt your younger siblings, understood?" Jon asked.
She quickly nodded her head at last. "Great. Now let's go join them," Jon said, as the family gathered in the garden, full of children and women. No guards were there; they had stayed at the door, ensuring the royal family's privacy, who now sat in the garden with waters running through the middle of the castle.
"Only Mommy Val is missing," said Loki.
Jon smiled. "That's true... Let's hope she finds her way here."
"I've already seen her here a few times!" Jaehaerys exclaimed.
"Then maybe she'll show up," he said with such confidence that made the women exchange glances, knowing very well how Val often distanced herself. It was no surprise that she had begun sleeping with Jon and had gotten closer to them, but she was still distant.
In any case, Jon went to Aegon, who was asking to be held. He picked up the little boy with black hair like his own and his mother's eyes, after setting Loki and Lyanna down, who went to join Brandon and Jaehaerys.
Jon also went to Seryna, touching her belly. "He will be born soon..." Jon said.
"And he will be a very strong boy," she said.
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