The raven showed up carrying news of Ser Jamie's absence. Another one departed for the Twins almost immediately, as did a rider and a small host. The army she had at her disposal was growing small, most sit with Bronn at Bitterbridge, the small group that Jamie brought to the Frey's and now the small host Cersei has sent, left Kings Landing with no more than 1000 fighting men, quite possibly less.

" You are my master of whispers. You told me Varys's little birds were now your little birds. Is that not the case any more?"

"Your grace. They are indeed my little birds, however there are no songs being sung from the Riverlands. The region seems to have gone silent. " Qyburn for the first time began to fear Cersei.

"How does a region go silent? People don't just stop talking. They certainly haven't disappeared. SO WHERE ARE THEY?!" Her rage could be heard at the far end of the hall if someone had been there to listen.

"I will find out your grace." Qyburn gave a small nod and sheepishly withdrew from the Queens presence.

........................

The road south was harsh, winter snows had scattered their blankets over parts of the kings road. Though the snow wasn't deep it was enough to make things slick and difficult. Brienne had about enough of the endless chatter from Petyr Baelish. She was just praying for a reason to kill him. They weren't more than a days ride from the Twins when they stopped to feed their horses and themselves.

"By the gods old and new. I do believe I'm seeing a ghost. How is it that Sandor Clegane is saddling up his horse. You said you killed him. " his smug tone and slimy smile could not be more irritating to Brienne. Littlefinger strode slowly up to Sandor. "Well well, has the dog lost his bone?" Sandor looked over his shoulder with a snarl. He knew who it was, and he didn't care for Baelish anymore than Brienne.

"Piss off." It was exactly what Littlefinger had expected to hear. As he was about to turn back around and finish with his hourse, he peered over Littlefinger's shoulder and saw Brienne. " 7 hells. Figures you are with her." Brienne was moving towards them.

"I'll let you get reacquainted " Sandor liked his slimy smile less than Brienne, but he was happy at least that Littlefinger was leaving.

"I thought you were dead."

"Not yet."

"Is it true? Is Arya at the Twins?" Brienne had last seen the two of them together she could only assume that Sandor had brought her there.

"The fuck should I know. I was going there to find out." Sandor was grumpier than normal. Looking at the woman who bested him didn't bring smiles to his face.

"You could ride with us. Just wait a bit. Let us tend our horses and we can travel to the Twins together. " Brienne never hated the hound, in fact she had never met him before they had made their swords dance.

"Why would I want to do that."

"It would be a favor to me. Who knows, maybe we can kill Littlefinger together. Truth is he is the only one that talks to me. And by all the gods I wish he wouldn't. I'd much prefer your company." She paused a moment " We both wanted to protect her." She was sincere with her words. Sandor looked at her briefly.

"Fine. But hurry up. I'm not waiting for ever."

By the time of Game of Thrones, the White Walkers, Children of the Forest, Skinchangers, etc, have become little more than children's bedtime stories. And Westeros was thrown over it's head when it learned that the stories were true. I've been working on a fanfic that's set 700 years AFTER the events of the show, in a modern day era Westeros. And I'm torn between having the events of Game of Thrones, now immortalized in an in universe book, A Song of Ice and Fire, be seen as history by the people of modern day Westeros, or as a myth.

Today, we are better as separating myth from fact, thanks to historians and archaeologists. And accounts written by people who have lived in the past are now easier to read, because we learn more and more about dead languages everyday. Knowing other in-universe books, A Song of Ice and Fire is likely to be a biased piece of work, distorting events from the show to fit in with someone else's agenda, maybe there will be other accounts of the show that paint different pictures.

The question here is, do you think it would be better for the narrative, if by the time of the Fanfic, pretty much everyone knows the events of the show? Or should it be just a myth, and the heroes are shocked to learn that the stories were true?

🐉

"And who are you", the proud lord said,"That I must bow so low?"

"Only a cat of a different coat,That's all the truth I know"

In a coat of gold or a coat of red, A lion still has claws,

And mine are long and sharp, my lord, As long and sharp as yours.

Bronn and his host had arrived at Bitterbridge in the late afternoon. He and his men settled in comfortably and began their wait. Bronn greeted the Tarly host when they arrived near the end of the second day as expected. Lord Tarly and Bronn were like oil and water, it benefited them both to have Dickon Tarly play liaison between the two of them. Lord Tarly was rigid and hard. Bronn was easy going and took nothing too seriously. Though Dickon was easily manipulated and poked fun at by Bronn, which made even his existence there as a liaison difficult.

They all expected, and to a degree prayed for Jamie to show up on time, though they all understood it would most likely be a 7 day journey for Jamie at best. They waited until the 10th day before their tempers could be retrained no more.

" Send the raven to the Twins. Find out when Jamie departed. Send another to Kings Landing and update the Queen!" Randayll Tarly was red in the face and probably down to his waist . He could take no more of Bronn's indifference.

"Fine. I'll send the little birds with your little message. But that's not what my orders are. My orders are to come here and wait. I waited for you, and now I'm waiting for Jamie Lannister! But if it ul get ya out of ma hair, I'll send the bloody raven. " Bronn was irritated but never allowed himself to get as angry as Lord Tarly.

"Our orders were to take down Highgarden. That's what we need to prepare to do, with or without Jamie Lannister!" Though his face was less red he was still boiling over.

"See, that's were you are wrong. Our objective is to take down Highgarden. My orders are to wait. I'm following my orders. Something you might want to try." Bronn's smug smile was enough to send Randyll Tarly into the deepest shade of red a man could reach. Bronn leaned back in his chair and put his feet up on the table as he sipped his wine. Randyll Tarly was about to start in at Bronn again when Dickon intervened.

"Father, why don't we go ready the men. We could march as early as tomorrow morning. Bronn will send the ravens. " Dickon turned his father towards the door and glanced over at Bronn with an angry stare.

"Lord." Bronn said

"What?" Dickon looked annoyed and confused.

"It's lord. I'm a lord now." Bronn smiled his cocky smile and Dickon glared back at him but said nothing.

.........................

It's been a long journey across the riverlands. The last time Sandor clegane rode this way he had Arya Stark by his side. It was the day of the Red Wedding. It would be a longer ride for him because he avoided all the major roads. It would still be a few days before he would reach the Twins. He decided today he would stay at a familiar inn.

Sandor went in a found an empty table.

"Hey, I know you. You are the guy that was with Ary last time she was in. The hound she called you. People said you were dead. Killed by the giant woman that was trying to protect her. " Hotpie was his usual joyous self. The hound was his usual grumpy self.

"I guess the people told you false cause I'm here. And I'm not here to tell stories. And I don't want to hear stories. I want ale, chicken and a room. " "oh absolutely. Say people been saying Ary is at the Twins.." the hound turned his eyes up at hotpie and that was all it took to silence him. Hotpie brought him some ale and a short time later his chicken. As he turned to leave Sandor stopped him. "There are rumors. I'm going there now to find out if there is any truth to it. "

"Oh, well, if she is there, would you say hi for me? She was always nice to me. She was a brave one for sure." The hound gave him another stare and silenced him again.

"I'll tell her, if she is there." Sandor conceded. Hotpie gave him a warm thankful smile and a nod.

Has anyone ever noticed that Winterfell had some similarities to the Siege of the North, from Avatar the last anime rip-o... er I mean airbender? The attackers target is a supernatural entity whose death will spell the end of the world as we know it. Namely the Three Eyed Raven, and the Moon Spirit. The difference is that unlike the Moon Spirit, Bran has has no one to get him off the hook if he was ever killed, so the stakes are MUCH higher. But my vote goes to Winteferllm because the heroes take their duty more seriously than the Mary Sues of Airbender, who thought going on roller coasters in the middle of a quest was a good idea... not.

Not to mention that the Northern tribe was woefully unprepared for a siege and had to rely on kids who should have little to no combat experience to get them ready. I just can't buy it.

And if y'all wanna, i'll start: House Manderly

I see so many votes on the polls that are put out, and yet not more than 10 or so people post anything. I here by call upon you silent majority to voice yourselves. Join us.

Bran had arrived at Castle Black the night before. He and Meera were given all the hospitality that the Nights watch could offer. Bran had explained as best he could why he was beyond the wall, and how he got there. Ed didn't truly care except that Bran was Jon's brother, and Ed cared about Jon.

"I'll send a raven to Winterfell, let your brother know you are coming. Won't be long now before the armies of the north make their way here. Might be he wants you to stay here and wait for him. " Ed wasn't entirely comfortable leading the watch still. He couldn't wait for Jon to return, even if Jon wouldn't be Lord Commander.

"No. I must leave for Winterfell. I can't be here. Send your raven if you like. "

"Very well. I'll have a man take you by cart. It will be a bit easier than your girl pulling you all that way." Ed gave him a bit of a smile and turned to leave. "Ed." Bran stopped Ed at the door."thank you. " Ed turned to look at Bran. "For what?" Ed was confused, he only offered a cart, and Bran had already thanked him for everything else. " for helping Jon. You were always a good friend to him, even when you were scared. You never let your fear get in the way of helping Jon." Ed was confused about how he could have known anything about any of that. He gave Bran a nod and smile and left the room.

By mid morning Bran and Meera were on the cart and headed to Winterfell, and the raven had gone ahead of them.

..................

Daenerys has been holding meetings with her small council over how to proceed. Her patients have been tried and are running out. Both Varys and Tyrion were preaching patients but the Queens fury was building. She wanted the Iron throne and she wanted it now.

"My Queen, please I beg you to wait to meet Jon snow. He is a good man. He is a good leader. And if he is indeed the king in the north, he will be a great ally. Right now we need allies. With his support we will not look like foriegn invaders. At least wait for word to see if he will come to Dragon stone. " Tyrion was trying his best to convince her.

" Tyrion is right your grace. And if my little birds speak true, then there is another layer to befriending the bastard king. It would seem his sister now controls the River lands and house Frey is no longer. By her hand. " Both Daenerys and Tyrion turned to look at Varys.

" Sansa took the River lands? With what army? How could she take the twins? I was told, by you Varys, that Sansa was in the north?"Tyrion was completely confused and in disbelief. Daenerys looked to Varys for clarification.

"Oh I spoke truly, Sansa is in the north. It would seem that the other Stark girl has taken the Twins and done so without an army. Apparently if words be true she killed them all without lifting a blade. It would seem that the River lords never liked or trusted the Frey's, so when another family name came about they didn't hesitate to rush to her side. I took the liberty your grace of extending an invitation to her as well. I hope you don't mind." Before Daenerys could give any response Tyrion jumped in again with complete disbelief. " You are telling me that Arya Stark has magically reappeared after how many years of how many houses dedicating how many resources to finding her. Then, with no army and no blades, she kills an entire house in one of the most difficult holds in all of Westeros to penetrate? How is this even possible. Perhaps your birds have drank too much wine? It's not possible. She is still a little girl. How old can she be 19 tops?"

"It is hard to believe, that I will not argue. But my birds are honest and the reports are confirmed. The girl is so much more. Though I can't explain any more."

Daenerys stood silent thinking about what she had just been told. "How do we know we can trust this Stark girl? If she was missing for years and showed up to kill the Frey's, what would stop her from killing us? We know nothing about her, or what she wants. What if she is after the throne? How will we stop an enemy we know nothing about? If she is after the throne what is to stop this Jon Snow from siding with her? " Daenerys paused for a moment, the room was silent. Then she spoke slowly " The throne is mine! Varys. I want to know everything there is to know about her, now. Send your birds and tell them I want information. Tyrion. You had better be right about your friend Snow. "

Varys bowed and took leave to hear whispers. Tyrion took to his room to sip wine and do some research on anything that would help plan his battle strategy, and also pray that his history with Jon snow was giving him valid confidence in him.

Season 4 is entirely out now! The last two episodes are "Flames from East" and "Remains of ashes".

Here's the link : https://fanon.fandom.com/wiki/Wheel_of_Power#4.9_.22Flames_from_East.22

Jon had been working tirelessly with his people to secure winterfell as best they could. With ravens arriving near every day it seemed, there was much that needed his attention. The security of winterfell was his priority and was as good as he could make it. The raven Sam Tarlley had sent from the Citadel gave him hope. At least now he knew where he could get all the dragon glass he needed. The raven from Robyn Arryn though brought frustration and anxiety. How could he defend the wall with 500 fewer knights. At least Lord Baelish would be gone. Jon had grown tired and weary of his games and attempted manipulation. Not to mention Sansa could not tolerate his advances towards her, no matter how subtle he tried to be.

"Jon, you can't leave the north. We are just getting the north united and as one again. Send your men to dragon stone to mine the dragon glass. Why do you need to be there?" Sansa already knew the answer but she did not want Jon to go. The north had looked past her, a natural born Stark, and raised a bastard to rule the north as king.

"I have to go. I have to make sure we are working as hard as we can, I need to know we have as much as possible. I'm leaving in the morning, I'll hear no more about it. " Jon was frustrated. He understood why Sansa had to ask.

"My lord. My lady. This may change your mind. " Jon looked at the maester with dread and confusion. "A raven. From Dragon Stone. " Jon took the note from the maester and read it.

"Seven hells. Apparently the dragon queen has landed. Tyrion Lannister has invited me on her behalf to go to Dragon Stone to bend the knee. " Jon looked at the maester and before either could speak Sansa would be heard. "You can not go! It was risky and dangerous with the Lannister forces in the south. Now it's 100 times worse. You must stay in the north." Her words rang true to Jon, but he knew better.

" If I don't go, we lose this war and we all die. The long night is at our door. They won't be gentlemen and give us time to prepare to defend ourselves. If I go south and die, nothing will be different than it is now. If we don't have dragon glass we die. All of us. Men, women, children. They won't take prisoners. And when we die, the Night King will raise us up again and march us south to kill everyone else. I'm going to meet the Dragon Queen, maybe she will lend us some fire?" Sansa and the maester both wanted to object over and over again, Jon could see it in their eyes., but neither did.

............................

Sansa had taken on much responsibility while Jon was preparing Winterfell. She was giving as many orders and as much instruction as Jon was. Lord Baelish seemed to always be by her side, a privilege she could not wait to discard. Her happiest moment was when the raven arrived from her cousin in the veil demanding Petyr Baelish return to his service.

Brienne and Podric had taken over showing the common folk the basics of sword play and archery.

"Lady Brienne. may I have a word in private please." Sansa was always kind and courteous with Brienne, more than her position required.

"Of course my lady, what can I do for you?" Brienne and Sansa stepped off to the side of the open courtyard. Sansa wanted to be sure she could see all eyes that were upon her, and know that none could hear her words. " I need you to do something for me. I don't want to ask this of you, but you are the only one I trust enough to ask and be able to complete the task. " Sansa spoke softly and firmly. Brienne said everything with her expression and needed not vocalize her commitment or wonder. " My cousin, as you know, has summoned his forces back to the Veil. I need you to take the journey with them. Take 5 North men with you. I've written my cousin and told him Pyter would be doing me a favor and looking into the rumors of my sisters return. I need you to take him to the Twins. See if in fact my sister is there. If Lord Baelish were to step out of line in any way, you are ordered to detain him or kill him, which ever is easiest for your situation. I have already written the order so none can challenge you on it. The world would be better without Lord Baelish. " Brienne stood silent for a moment trying to process the command she was just given. "My lady. As you command. I will do this for you. What do I do when we reach the Twins, with or without....him?" Brienne never liked Pyter but she never expected this either. She was not sure how comfortable she was with this task, but she would honor her Lady she is sworn to.

"Discover the nature of my sister. Is she there or not. Send a raven. I want a full report. "