Game of Thrones: Frozen Fire

Small Heroes

It was then when Dany saw a blur of dark fur jumping before her eyes. Shaggy was snarling at Theon as he had the man pinned to the floor.

"Dany?"

Swiveling around, she found her little savior, looking a bit confused and tired. Rickon had sneaked out of his bed again to look for her. She couldn't be happier he liked her so much; he made her days much more bearable just like Iagan. Rickon was the boy she imagined Robb had once been; curious and wild.

"Let's go to bed," she whispered in a sweet voice. Taking his hand, she walked quickly into her chambers where Iagan had already been put to sleep by Irri. Shaggy followed them promptly, but still growled one last time at Theon, who did not dare to stand up yet.

As she helped Rickon under the furs, he sleepily made conversation. "Will we practice tomorrow with Dacey?" He yawned. "You could tell her so she punishes Theon for hurting you."

"We'll see. Now sleep."

She did not want to tell anyone about the threats Theon had made. Suspicions started to arise in her mind that Theon was not exactly jealous of her only but of Robb as well. She did not want to believe it, but she saw the flicker of want in his eyes. He had tried to kiss her, not to choke her. Had anyone seen them, they would believe the lies of her cheating on her Wolf with no other than his former best friend.

Smoothing a hand over his unruly hair, Dany felt relief that she was not alone anymore. The thought of having people looking up for her only helped to make her braver.

Iagan was peacefully asleep, unaware of the chaos or perhaps very confident in the outcome of things. Daenerys dropped a kiss on top of his head, basking in the calm in which he bathed her heart when he was with her.

After changing her clothes behind the screen, she silently made her way to bed.

"Dany," Rickon whispered when she laid her head on the pillow.

She turned to him, seeing those bright eyes in the dark, full of innocence and life. "Yes?"

His mouth opened wide in a yawn and he blinked slowly, letting her know he was barely awake. "How do you say lower in Valyrian?"

"Lower?" Her eyebrows knitted together at the sudden question.

"Yes. Drogon likes to carry me high, and I like to ride him but it's scary. Viserion is nicer."

"Ride him?" Dany's eyes widened at the young boy's confession. Had Rickon been riding her dragons? She knew quite well the boys and dragons were very close despite their wild and independent natures. Besides, now that she had Iagan to take care of and her limited time unsupervised, she did not have much time to spend training the dragons. Bran had eagerly filled that position.

Before she could interrogate him, Rickon fell asleep, curling himself on Robb's side of the bed. It was incredible the love his brothers had for him, the people's love for him. Robb was well-liked by everyone and more now that he was being a brave man, the youngest of men who claimed the Iron Throne who was in battle.

She sank down in the bed and sighed. Probably the next day she would learn more about Rickon's adventures.

-o-

And so they had. Bran and Rickon had been experimenting with Drogon and Viserion. Well, it had been the youngest the one who offered himself since he was smaller and the dragons weren't used to carry anything or anyone on their backs. Bran also knew the beasts were still too small to carry an adult.

"Do you know how dangerous this is?" Daenerys scolded them, while both boys gave him sheepish looks and even their direwolves hung down their heads. Her dragons were too haughty to show remorse and so they looked at her with curiosity. "Without a harness you could fall! What would your mother do then?"