The Calm Before the Flight

A/N: Hello everyone. It took a couple of days longer than I originally planned to get this chapter finished but in my defense, my birthday took place since the last update so...yeah.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this. It leans a bit on the filler side because, again, Jon is letting his she-dragon rest for a few hours before they continue flying so he is taking the chance to interact a bit more with the Tyrells, among other things. Regardless, the next sequence of chapters will be ready soon and after that, to the Battle of the Bastards we go.

Enjoy!

Jon Stark paused for a long moment as he started climbing down his dragon, his eyes never leaving Margaery. He wasn't exactly surprised to see her before him. After all, he had used his longest, most elaborate wish yet to get her out of King's Landing and into White Harbor much faster than usual via ship. But if he was honest with himself, he hadn't really given much thought to his pending negotiations with the Tyrells on the flight there; his mind too preoccupied on his upcoming battle with Ramsay.

Stepping on the courtyard, it occurred to him that his bargaining position with the Great House of the Reach might be stronger if he waited until after he had retaken Winterfell before discussing the potential terms and benefits of an alliance with them. He still had a feeling that Olenna Tyrell didn't get to become so experienced at playing the game of thrones without a considerable amount of ambition inside her, for one. Still, he did have to wait for a couple of hours while his dragon ate and rested her wings a bit before they could continue their way to Ironrath so, he supposed he might as well make the most of his brief stay in the Northern city.

So, while it wasn't strictly required of him now that he was a king, he decided to try to make a good first impression and moved to kiss the hand of the Rose of Highgarden, his gaze locking with hers in the process.

She didn't seem to mind if her growing smile was any indication.

"It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Lady Margaery," Jon assured her. "I have heard a lot about you from my sister Sansa."

"All good, I hope?" She asked with a nervous chuckle.

"Even more than you may think," Jon thought to himself, as he decided he couldn't blame his beloved sister for finding the beauty of Highgarden so attractive.

On the outside, he just chuckled back. "Well, she hasn't complained about you if that's what you are asking. If anything, she told me the only truly happy memories she has of that nest of vipers we know as King's Landing were while she was in your company. So, to that I say, thank you," He added, his tone earnest. "I am sure she will be delighted to see you again."

Margaery had a fond look in her eye just then. "I am pleased to hear that. And the feeling is mutual. Hopefully, you will be able to defeat the Bolton usurpers soon. I would like to catch up with her."

"I will make sure you get the chance," He promised. "Now, I believe some other introductions are in order," He added when he looked over Margaery's shoulders and saw the other two men close behind her.

At that, they approached the secret god and bowed their heads.

"Good to meet you, your Grace," Said the older of the two. "I am Mace Tyrell, Margaery's father. This young man is my son Loras, and I must say, thank you very much for the assistance in getting us out of King's Landing. We were in grave danger and your aid arrived just in time."

"Well, I gave my word to Lady Olenna that I would try my best to get you out of there and I take my oaths seriously," The King of the North and the Trident responded.

"So, I see," Loras said with a look of respect. "Which means you take after your honorable father. And for that, I am so glad. Being released from the prison the Faith Militant put me in feels great... especially after all the painful tactics they used to get me to confess," He added with a grimace, shivering visibly and probably not from the cold.

Jon took a deep breath as Olenna's expression grew outraged across his line of sight. "I am sorry to hear you had to go through that. If you need to see the Maester of New Castle so he can tend any lingering bruises or injuries, I will authorize it."

Loras just nodded but his stare turned morbid at the moment, which made Jon wonder about the full extent of his **** for a bit.

Shaking his head, he decided to continue with his own introductions. Turning back he noticed that Arya had already climbed down the dragon and was helping her lover on her way down. Then, she turned around and raise an eyebrow at the group as she looked at them once more, clearly trying to decide what to make of the Tyrells. In the end, she shrugged but didn't voice her opinion on the matter. Jon smiled a bit, being reminded of the old times back at Winterfell where his youngest sister rarely addressed visiting lords and ladies properly during formal events, much to the chagrin of her mother.

"This is my sister, Arya Stark," The young god announced. "She ended up taking shelter in Braavos after the Red Wedding. Once I finally learned of that, I decided to go get her as fast as I could. Thankfully, with an Ice Dragon as a mount, it wasn't a long trip."

"I can imagine," Margaery said in a tone of voice that seemed equal parts amused and impressed. "Sansa once told me quite a bit about you. I understand you never really got along that well, but for what it's worth, she really missed you by that point."

Arya's expression to that information didn't seem to reflect surprise, precisely, but she did tilt her head to the side as if wondering what to make of that.

"Good to know," She ended up replying. "It would have been annoying to learn that wasn't the case."

Jon decided to take that moment of bluntness as his cue to continue. "And this young woman here is Bellegere Otherys. She was chosen as an envoy from Braavos to my court now that we are in the process of negotiating a formal alliance.

Olenna's eyes widened at that. "Wait, you managed to talk the Braavosi leadership into backing you up?"

"And the Iron Bank," The King of the North and the Trident added, his grin confident. "It's a bit of a long story but suffice to say for now that some of our interests align and they may have wanted a dragonriding ally in case Daenerys Targaryen and her own dragons started causing trouble for them."

The Redwyne-Tyrell matriarch considered his words for a long moment before shaking her head. "You are getting more and more interesting, your Grace." She responded.

"Hmm, a very diplomatic response," Jon thought, considering "Flattering while vague enough to mean it as an insult without necessarily lying, all the while avoiding to answer her full thoughts on the matter. She really has been at this game for a while now."

Deciding he was going to have to look at her more closely during their interactions, he barely noticed Bellegere bowing deeply and in silence, still seeming a bit nervous. So, he chose to change the topic to give her more time to compose her thoughts.

"Let's get out of this cold. My dragon is not the only one who is famished."

And with that, he headed to the interior of New Castle, the others following him immediately.

About an hour later, Jon swallowed hard and finished his supper. It normally wouldn't have taken him that long but he spent most of that time in conversation with the Tyrells, catching each other up on recent events. It was also an opportunity to speak with Margaery some more, trying to get to know her a little better and wondering at the back of his mind as to when exactly would Olenna bring up the possibility of a betrothal again.

So far, Jon had to admit that he found the famed Rose of Highgarden quite pleasant and in more ways than one too. He supposed that was to be expected given what he had heard about her from Sansa. But there was something about her that seemed rattled, even if she tried to hide it behind her smile really well. The King of the North and the Trident imagined it had something to do with her near brush with **** back in King's Landing, which he certainly understood from past experience. Still, he wasn't quite sure what to make of the look of longing he noticed her sending his way when he was busy talking with her father.

Normally, he would have assumed she found him handsome with an expression like that but the lust didn't quite reach her eyes so he couldn't help but wonder why she got so emotional at that moment when looking at him. They barely knew each other.

Deciding he should probably have a conversation in private with her before leaving White Harbor, Jon turned to the Tyrell matriarch. "So, Lady Olenna, is any news on the shipment of crops we talked about the last time I was here?"

"Oh yes," She assured him with a nod. "I sent several ravens to different points of the Reach to deliver my orders. Our men are in the process of gathering the supplies and sending them to my maiden family's seat at Arbor before setting sail all the way here. The shipments will be escorted by the Redwyne fleet. I was just waiting for your return so that we could discuss the precise quantities before they set sail."

To that, Jon already had a rehearsed response he had actually thought of earlier on during their meal. "Oh, Lady Olenna, I have every confidence that you will fulfill your end of the bargain to our mutual satisfaction," The young king responded. "Besides, while winter is much cruder here, I am sure the Reach's stock of supplies was also affected by the War of the Five Kings. Just because you produce more food than anywhere else in Westeros doesn't mean you shouldn't prepare as well. So, just surprise me with the quantities. I am sure it will be acceptable, especially for Northern standards in winter."

There was a long moment of silence as they digested his words, which Jon had carefully selected to acknowledge his understanding of the Tyrells position while also subtly reminding them that he could tell they were the ones that wanted an alliance with him and since they hadn't come to a solid agreement yet then pleasant surprises would be welcomed.

He wasn't really used to playing the game of thrones yet and he still didn't particularly like it but, as beneficial as an alliance between their domains could be, Jon couldn't forget that their past actions since the War of the Five Kings started had proved the Tyrells to be quite the opportunists in more ways than one. It would be smarter to keep an eye on them until he was sure that he could trust them once their causes were more firmly intertwined.

Olenna ended up shaking her head while looking at him with a look of grudging respect. "You certainly have Eddard Stark's honor in you but now I am even more curious as to who your mother was because you definitely didn't get your negotiation skills from him. No offense," She added.

Despite everything, Jon chuckled. "I will take that as a compliment, my Lady. But your guess is as good as mine, I am afraid."

Margaery's eyes actually widened at that. "You truly don't know?"

He shook his head. "My father never talked about my mother. To me, or anyone at Winterfell as far as I am aware of.

"Hmph," The Tyrell matriarch hummed. "Well, if you want, I could set some of my spies and one of our Maesters to the task of retracing the steps of your father's youth all the way to his participation in Robert's Rebellion and your birth near the end of the war. It would probably take several moons to find any useful clues, especially with so many lords and knights from that period dead by now but I am sure we could discover something eventually."

Jon raised an eyebrow at that. He had been meaning to try and find out his mother's identity through secondary sources ever since he learned that his powers hit a wall when he attempted to get that information directly. It was especially important for him to learn more about her now, not just to get closure while sating his curiosity but so that he could then learn more about her side of his family tree. All the same, he knew that Olenna was only offering her services on that front to court favor with him but given that he lacked his own spy network at the moment and he had many other things to worry about, he supposed it didn't hurt to delegate a bit, even if he felt a bit wary about the elderly player still.

"Very well, that would be very much appreciated, my Lady," The King of the North and the Trident replied with a nod of respect. "Just inform your servants that work on the task to use some discretion on the matter. We don't want opportunistic liars trying to get into my good graces under false pretenses, after all."

Another pause filled the hall at that moment, no doubt with the Tyrells wondering if there really was a significant double meaning in his words. He decided that was an indirect enough warning for the time being but apparently his sister disagreed if her chuckle that broke the silence was any indication. Jon turned to frown at her and she shrugged, getting back to her own hushed conversation with Bellegere.

Before the Tyrells could say anything else, there was a knock on the door. "Come on in," The secret god called out.

The gate was opened and Jon couldn't help but smile when he saw Sarella Sand enter the room, the silver link she earned while in the Citadel still hanging around her neck.

She hurried to bow as soon as her eyes found him, a warm smile on her own lips.

"Good to see you again, Sarella," He told her, his tone honest. "I hope you had some time to work on the little assignment I gave you."

Her grin widened even further. "That I did, my king, and I suspect you'll like my list and the reasoning behind it. But I actually bring news that I believe you will want to hear first."

"I see," Jon said thoughtfully while he looked around the table, taking note of the fact that Margaery in particular had looked at their exchange with a raised eyebrow.

Suppressing a sigh at the situation, he decided to introduce her. "My Lords and Ladies, this is Sarella Sand, daughter of the late Prince Oberyn of House Martell. She joined my court recently as an advisor on Dornish affairs, among other things. Before that, she actually managed to successfully infiltrate the Citadel and maintain her cover for over a year in order to advance her education far more than she could have anywhere else."

Olenna actually started laughing right then. "You managed to fool the Conclave of Maesters for over a year and studied right under their noses? My dear, you would make an excellent spy with skills like that."

Sarella seemed surprised by the reaction from the Tyrell Matriarch, and by her words. "Errr...thank you?" She said hesitantly before her eyes widened at her breach of protocol with a member of a Great House. "I mean, thank you, my Lady," She said more firmly, giving a slight bow.

Then she turned to look back to Jon. "I have just returned from the nearby prison. This morning, the city watch arrested a small group of travelers once they discovered that one of them used to be a Lannister soldier. Normally, we would have waited for Lord Manderly to return before doing anything more than putting them in a cell since they surrendered peacefully but one of them managed to convince Archmaester Marwyn that he was a sorcerer. Since you told me before that you wished to understand the new magical abilities you have gained since your resurrection, I thought you might want to talk with him, especially after he claimed he wanted to offer his services for the sake of the, and I am quoting him here, "great war to come from North of the Wall."

"Huh," The secret god said with a frown after a long pause echoed across the hall. "He seems well informed then. Still, are you both certain that he is not a fraud?"

Sarella shrugged. "He thought you might say that, which is why he told me to inform you that in case you were not convinced enough to grant him an audience, then there was a word he could tell you that would prove to you he is connected to the forces of magic."

"Is that so?" The King of the North and the Trident asked as he tilted his head. "Then please go ahead. What word?"

"That would be the word Gutenberg, your Grace, whatever that means."

Jon's eyes widened and it took him a moment to control his expression. By that point, everyone else had noticed his surprise.

"I only learned of that man a couple of days ago when I was looking for innovations across the omniverse while dreamwalking and found him using his printing press on that kingdom within a different world," He thought, shocked. "I never even told Sansa about that. How did he...?"

Then it hit him. There was someone else that had admitted to examining his memories recently...the Lord of Light, R'hllor.

Jon scratched his chin and decided he couldn't ignore this. "You did well to bring this to my attention," He nodded at Sarella. "Thank you."

She beamed lightly at that and then he turned to look at the Tyrells. "My apologies but my time is limited before my dragon finishes his rest. Feel free to accompany me if you want but something tells me, I should speak to this sorcerer."

There was a long moment of silence as the Tyrells exchanged glances, probably wondering if acts of sorcery were going to be much more frequent in their presence than before during his reign. And if so, he couldn't exactly say no without lying. Before long, Margaery stood up from her chair, giving him a slightly nervous but ultimately determined smile.

"I will go with you. Please lead the way, your Grace."

He locked his gaze with hers for a moment, certain thoughts swirling inside his head for a few seconds. Then he nodded and went started walking, with Arya and Bellegere also following from behind.

A/N: Well, there you go for now. I hope you enjoyed Sarella's return. Also, any guesses as to who are the prisoners I am referring to there?

Anyway, I should be able to have the next chapter up in a couple of days. In the meantime, please consider leaving a review as a belated birthday present to me :P