Game of Thrones: The Ruler

Jon continued to entertain his opponents for some more time, parrying and dodging their coordinated attacks with casual ease. His movements were like air moving in through their ranks.

But when he finally decided it was enough, he made his move. In a matter of moments, every last one of them had been cleanly taken down. Grey Worm being the final one to fall. The two wooden swords in his hand had moved like a flash of light as they found their mark on their necks. He obviously did not strike them but only gave a slight tap.

A maid quickly approached and handed Jon a cloth to wipe the sweat off his body. At this moment, one of the Supreme Shadows, entered the arena at a brisk pace. He walked straight up to Grey Worm and whispered something in his ear.

A frown immediately formed on Grey Worm's face.

"What is it?" Jon asked, catching the change in his expression.

"My lord," Grey Worm replied, "there are two women waiting outside the mansion. They are requesting an audience with you."

Jon raised an eyebrow. Two women asking to meet him? That in itself was not strange. Countless people tried to gain his attention every day. What made this unusual was that they had managed to reach a point where even a Supreme Shadow felt it necessary to inform their Commander directly. This sure was interesting and his curiosity piqued.

"One of them claims to be a Red Priestess," Grey Worm added the interesting part of the information. "Her name is Melisandre."

Melisandre? The name hit him like a hammer. What in the world was she doing here?

Jon's mind churned as thoughts gathered in his mind. Melisandre was one of the most enigmatic figures in the canon. She was someone almost impossible to judge. Was she kind? Evil? Zealous? Misguided? Corrupted? Fanatic?

Even after everything she had done, her true alignment had been a kind of mystery. What she saw in those flames was a hard thing to tell.

Her loyalty? That had always rested with who she claimed to be Azor Ahai i.e. the prince who was promised. But who was Azor Ahai? Even she did not seem to know for sure and she had changed her supposed saviour more than once.

Initially, she had served Stannis. She had then birthed a shadow to murder Renly Baratheon. She had burnt Stannis' daughter, Shireen alive.

And yet after Stannis died, she shifted her loyalty to Jon Snow. She had then brought Jon Snow back from the dead.

If it had been original Jon Snow in the body, then he would have been fated to be brought from dead by her hands.

Melisandre had also played a pivotal role in the Battle of Winterfell against the Night King and his forces. Her magic had played an important role in the battle. She was a determining factor in the victory of living over the dead and Arya slaining the Night King.

And when the Night King was finally slain, she chose death. A complex character, indeed.

"Send her in," Jon finally said, his voice calm but thoughtful.

.

.

.

Melisandre and the young woman accompanying her were finally ushered into the mansion.

It had been a long journey for them from the port of Meereen to the towering mansion atop the Great Pyramid.

Every soldier or official they encountered along the way lacked the authority to grant them direct access to Lord Aeos. And yet, time and again, Melisandre had somehow compelled them, through her identity or persuasion or something else to escort her to someone of higher rank.

Only after repeating this process half a dozen times, did they finally reach the gates of the mansion, where a member of Lord Aeos's personal guard deemed their message important enough to bring forward. And now, at last, the wait was over.

The soldier led them through the grand halls of the pyramid, finally guiding them into a large arena within the mansion itself. It was the same arena where Jon had been sparring earlier.

And they did not need any introductions to recognise who Lord Aeos was. Seated at the centre of the space, on a wooden chair, was the man they had come to find.

A striking young man with black hair awaiting their arrival with a calm, composed air.

His subordinates- Slyvia, Grey Worm, Jelerion, and several Supreme Shadows stood silently around him, forming a protective circle. There was no mistaking it. This was Lord Aeos.

As Melisandre and the young woman stepped into the arena, Jon spotted them the very moment they entered.

His eyes first settled on the older woman. Melisandre, the Red Priestess.

She looked almost exactly as he remembered from the shows. Draped in flowing red robes, her hair was a striking flame red and her skin was pale as cream. And those unsettling crimson eyes. And the glowing red ruby tied to her neck.

But then Jon's gaze shifted to the young woman standing beside her.

The moment he laid eyes on her, something stirred within him. A strange sense of familiarity crept inside him. It was his blood doing the bidding.

She had silver hair that shimmered softly in the light, her skin pale and smooth. Even beneath her ragged, worn and travel stained appearance, she radiated a natural, effortless beauty.

Her eyes were tinged with a soft hue of violet. And her face… Her face looked too familiar.

While Jon was focused on the young woman, she, too, could not take her eyes off him. From the moment she stepped into the arena, her gaze had remained locked onto the man seated before her.

Her heart was beating faster with each step she took as her fingers were instinctively tightening around the cloth bundle in her arms.

She was staring, not out of awe or surprise, but out of something deeper. A certainty blooming from within.

She instinctively compared every detail of his physical appearance to the image etched in her dreams. The face had not been clear in the dreams but now, seeing him in the flesh, there was no doubt in her heart.

This was him. The man from her dreams. The man who had been riding the dragon. The one she had come searching for.

"Leave," Jon's echoing voice snapped her out of daze as there was a small commotion and every occupant in the arena scurried away leaving the three of them alone.

No one questioned or objected his command even though Grey Worm gave a stern look to Melisandre before departing away. It was a silent warning on his part.

And finally, it was time for the discussion between them. And the young lady did not have any idea what she was going to talk about.

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