Wolf of Númenor

Chapter 19: Ship my ship I seek the west

They had left the castle of lord Hasty five days ago, after the victory feast, and now they were a league away from the ruins of Summerhall.

"I still don't understand why you want to go to a place in ruins, Jon," said Loras, as they stopped to let the horses rest near a river.

"I told you why. I dreamed of ruins and books and distant lands. Then I saw a castle in flames with a dragon coming under it," replied Jon, caressing his horse.

"We should go, Jon. Soon the sun will set, and we better not find ourselves in the woods or open field at night, since Stannis' men may be lurking around here," said Robar, stopping Loras from whatever the Knight of Flowers wanted to say.

Summerhall...

When they reached the destination, Jon stopped for a moment to admire the ruins of this castle, which was built by order of Daeron the good, during the Dornish reign.

"High in halls of the kings who are gone-"

"Jenny would dance with her ghosts," finished Jon. "I wonder if she is still there, in those ruined halls of a summer castle, dancing with her ghosts."

"Doubt it," replied Robar, snapping the reins, riding forward, followed by Ghost, and he and Loras, after a look, did the same.

By every step that he was approaching these ruins that had no more than forty years ago housed the royal family, Jon could feel a strange feeling, as if something was calling him, luring him. An ancient force that hopes to reveal some great truth to him. But what Destiny can a bastard from the North have?

Getting down from the horse, Jon tied him to a tree, and turning to his friends, "Robar. You go hunting. Loras and I will gather some wood for tonight."

Robar nodded, and after getting rid of the armour, he took his bow from the horse and walked away in search of game. Jon and Loras took of their armours too, placing them behind a ruined wall, and with some leaves on to hide them, before moving away in different directions.

A few moments later...

As he was gathering the faggots for the fire, Jon was looking at this ruined castle, that despite being burned by wildfyre, the walls were still standing. Putting down the faggots that he gathered, Jon started to wander the ruins, and his skin was shuddering for the emotion and the dread that he was feeling. Many people perished in that inferno; King Aegon was one of them, then there were some of his sons, and of course, there was the Lord Commander, Ser Duncan the Tall, who gave his life, trying to save as many as possible. At least according to the tales.

Running his hand over the destroyed of the hallway, with closed eyes, Jon had a strange feeling that he could hear them. The Targaryen's were crying out in torment, desperate to escape. Jenny of Oldstone was calling Prince Duncan's name, and in the end, a beautiful voice singing a lament about this tragedy. Jon immediately opened his eyes, shaking his head. This was only in his mind. There was nothing her, just ruins. Nothing magical.

However, as he was ready to go back, Jon heard something from the ruins' deepest part. A voice saying, "Come, son of the Dragon. Your Destiny awaits."

But Jon didn't follow it and returned to where he placed the logs, picking them up and moving away, back to the camp.

An hour later...

The night was already upon them, and the coldness was rising. He found a good spot where they could make a fire sheltered from the wind, and now they were sitting around it, eating the stag that Robar hunted for them, throwing a log from time to time to keep the fire alive, and he suddenly hears Loras said, as he looked around, "I really don't like this place."