Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to the characters, locations, or plots from Game of Thrones. They belong to their respective owners without whom this fanfiction would not have been possible. All reviews are welcome.

Aegon; White Harbour.

It had been nearly six years since Aegon stepped onto the main dock at White Harbour, or rather what used to be White Harbour. It had been six years since he set foot in the North after the burning of Kings Landing and what would be whispered amongst the remnants of the Northern Houses as the Great Betrayal. Even after so many years, people were still divided on who betrayed who that fateful day. In the North, it was widely known that the man who was proclaimed by the Dragon Queen as Aegon Targaryen was the betrayer, and the South had their evil villain – Sansa Stark, the Usurper Who Burned.

To Aegon though, it was clear who was at fault that day as he looked up at the grey clouds above while snow floated down onto his bearded face. Closing his eyes, he remembered the voice of the one he betrayed – it was so clear in the back of his mind as if the two of them talked only yesterday.

He still remembered the Dothraki guards outside Sansa's chambers while the rest of the Queen's army – both Dothraki and Unsullied – began scouring the North for both Arya and Bran. As his footwear crunched into the already thick layer of snow on the wooden dock, Aegon remembered the two Dothraki – one of whom he would later learn had spoken of wanting to rape the Lady on the other side of the door – opened the wooden door to reveal her back towards him.

Winterfell, six years ago; 3 months after the burning of Kings Landing.

Aegon called for her, but she never turned around. Closing the door behind him, Aegon then took a few steps forward before asking why she betrayed his confidence. He demanded to know why she told Tyrion the secret she swore not to tell anyone. And there was no answer.

Sansa just stared out the window towards the distant red leaves of the Heart-tree in the godswood.

Aegon then proceeded to tell Sansa that the Northern lords had been ordered to come to Winterfell to bend the knee, "and they refused their Queen's order. They refused my order as well, Sansa." He told her that if she didn't intervene, then she was to be executed for treason against the rightful queen of the seven kingdoms. Aegon begged her – he told her to bend the knee, because then Daenerys would send her into exile with Arya and Bran, "the three of you would be alive". He reiterated that if Sansa continued to defy the Dragon Queen, then she was going to be an example of what would happen if the North continued to rebel against the throne.

"Do you know what this means?!" Aegon had exclaimed, back then, while raising his left arm as he stepped forward, "Sansa, you…"

"She seeks to blame me for her mistakes," Sansa said as Aegon stopped, his extended arm still as if it was frozen in place just before his hand could rest on her shoulder, "she seeks to blame me for creating a wall between you and her, she seeks to blame me for Tyrion and Varys' deaths, and she seeks to blame me for the burning of Kings Landing."

Sansa told him that Bran saw what she did as she flew Drogon over the capital. She told him that Arya confirmed it after she returned to Winterfell covered in ash and blood after riding out of the city as it burned. Sansa icily said, "Daenerys chose her own way. She chose to burn the city, she chose to burn Varys, and she chose to burn Tyrion." And with her back still to Aegon, Sansa continued, "she made that choice on her own. and she has you wrapped around her finger." Before Aegon could say anything, Sansa scoffed, "you and the Dragon Invader will never find Arya and Bran again."

"Sansa, please, I…"

Sansa looked over her shoulder with those blue Tully eyes for a few moments before looking away.

"Ask the question you came to ask. Ask it again, and I will answer you… only you."

"Why?" Aegon begged, "why would you break your oath to me, and…."

"Fear, Aegon."

Aegon froze as he stared at the back of Sansa's head, "Sansa…" He was about to ask her not to call him by that name, that he was still Jon. HE wanted to tell her that Daenerys could change, that she had a plan to make the world a better place – that she would atone for what was done in Kings Landing. But no words escaped his lips as he thought, 'you feared her?'

But before he could say that there was nothing to fear, that all she had to do was bend the knee, Sansa said, "Fear…. I saw the fear on Tyrion's face before you led the Northern army to the South. If your Queen's former Hand was in abject fear of her, then what chance did the rest of us have. I told you I will not be like father… I will not let a misdirected sense of honour guide my actions when my family is in danger, and I told you the Dragon Queen was a danger to us all. I swore to you that I would keep your secret because we are family, but when I saw how much Tyrion feared her… So, I asked Tyrion what he would do if there was a better person who could lead us."

"San…."

"The North remembers, Aegon," Sansa whispered, and Aegon pressed his lips together, "the Jon Snow I once knew died the moment he bent the knee, again, to the Queen who burned innocents in Kings Landing." Sansa looked over her shoulder once again, "you are Aegon the Sixth, of House Targaryen now."

"Please, Sansa… please, just bend the knee." Aegon begged her, spinning her around roughly so that they could stare into each others eyes, "please, I managed to convince her to exile you, Bran, and Arya. He wants to have your heads... please, I want you and the rest of my family to live. Please, she'll offer you exile... please, take it for me."

"You know nothing, Aegon," Sansa whispered before he opened his eyes wide – memories of another woman with red hair coming to the forefront of his mind - before looking away, "Bran's already seen what is to be. It took everything I had to convince Arya to take Bran away to where he needed to go. And after that, Arya has her own journey to complete." Sansa sighed as Aegon looked back up at her with pleading eyes, "your Queen has already made her decision. She will burn me. There is no exile… there never has been."

"No… I convinced her to…"

"You should go, Aegon."

"Jon. I'm always Jon…." And Aegon's heart was crushed at the look Sansa gave him… a look that relayed how committed she was to not kneeling in front of the Mad King's daughter.

"He died," Sansa whispered looking into his eyes, "I told you, the Jon Snow I knew died." Aegon watched Sansa turn around before he had a look of anguish on his face. A heartbeat later, he turned and shuffled towards the door before walking out of the room.

That would be the last time he would see Sansa alive.

White Harbour; Now.

Aegon lowered his head and opened his eyes before looking over his shoulder at the fifty Unsullied and their horses gathering on the dock. He looked back out towards his front and saw nothing but destroyed buildings covered in snow with the bodies of those long dead laying out in the open. Their bodies were partially decomposed mainly due to the sudden cold that swept in several days after the execution of Sansa Stark and the gutting of Winterfell – even the crypts were not spared destruction as the Dothraki rampaged through the burial grounds of the ancient Starks on the Dragon Queen's orders despite her nephew begging her to let the dead rest. However, Daenerys sought to crush the very name of the House that the North followed without question.

Aegon could only watch helplessly as one Northern Lord after another fell – he was a prisoner of hers just as he was his lover and nephew. Aegon felt the hate and sense of betrayal of the Northerners who had been held hostage by the Dragon Queen back in Kings Landing, the very same men who followed him there to witness the burning of the city. Her Dothraki looked down on him, and the Unsullied were mostly emotionless when he returned to Kings Landing.

It was a massacre that ended the lives of many people in the once great Northern Houses – Manderly, Dustin, Reed, Talhart, Glover and many others. The North was always considered to be barren, now it was truly barren since there were a handful of people living there. The vast majority of surviving Northerners fled the burning of White Harbour, the burning of the Neck, and the burning of many other Northern strongholds to travel into the South where they settled over the next few years.

And now, Aegon was back in the North once again. He climbed onto his horse as did the other Unsullied, one of whom moved alongside him.

"It is summer, and still cold," the Unsullied said in an accented even voice as he looked up at the greyish sky. Aegon didn't answer as a feeling of great emptiness formed in the very pits of his soul. He had the chance to kill Daenerys after the rampage on Kings Landing, even Tyrion himself told him that the Dragon Queen would demand Sansa, Arya, and Bran kneel.

"She will come after your sisters, Jon. And you know they will not bend the knee," Tyrion had said before being publicly burned after the dwarf tossed aside the pin identifying him as the Hand of the Queen.

Aegon knew Tyrion was right, they would never bend the knee… he knew that Daenerys would demand retribution for Sansa's betrayal. He knew they were in danger, but he still loved Daenerys Targaryen – she was his lover, his aunt, and his queen. Aegon had the dagger in the sheath on his hip… all he had to do was distract the Dragon Queen before shoving the dagger into her chest. But he didn't, and the Realm… as well as the free cities and many other places in Essos… were paying the price. Daenerys wanted to rule the world, and she now had the power to do so with nothing stopping her.

Aegon shook the memories away and looked over at the Unsullied calling himself Red Mite draw up next to him before saying, "the Queen's red priestess kept on baying about this Great Other in the North. It could have somehow stopped the ravens from Castle Black travelling to Kings Landing."

"The White Walkers were killed by the Queen," the man said as the group started to make their way up the docks and onto the snow covered streets of the city. Aegon glanced at the Unsullied next to him. He wanted to say that it wasn't the Queen who killed the Night King; it was a Stark. It was Arya… when all seemed lost, she was the one who saved them all. When the Queen made the decree that she was the one who killed the Night King, several of the Northmen in Kings Landing were outraged. Aegon tried to quell the threat towards the queen from his fellow men of the North… but the Queen sent the Unsullied to kill the rebellious Northmen.

'And I had to watch again.'

Aegon sighed, his breath condensing as he looked up at the cloudy sky once again. It was supposed to be summer…. It was supposed to be hot and muggy in the South. Instead it started to get colder and colder with each passing month after Winterfell was burned down. It was over the last year that the days were shorted with the skies over Kings Landing… over the rest of Westeros really… getting greyer and grey. Even the light from the sun was mostly blocked… their entire world now covered in shadow.

And now, over the past few months, snow was falling as far as Sunspear, Meeren, the Free Cities, Astapor, Volantis, and many other places. Then things started happening quickly; the sky grew darker thanks to the clouds block more light from the sun, and more snow started to fall. Then it was only last month that the Red Priests from Volantis arrived by ship to the Blackwater. Their chief priestess, Kinvara, requested an audience with Daenerys – who just returned after having conquered the city of Qarth – and spoke to her of the Great Other and that it was gaining power.

Kinvara said that the White Walkers and their minions were just the weapons of a time long past, and that the Great Other was preparing new weapons of Ice and darkness. She said that the Great Other was darkness itself, and that only the light of R'hllor could defeat it – and to defeat it, the Great Temple of R'hllor volunteered all its acolytes and Red Priests, as well as the Red Hand.

Kinvara proclaimed Daenerys to be Azor Ahai – the Princess who was Promised – and Drogon was her Lightbringer. Dany then sent Aegon with an escort of Unsullied to Castle Black – they had lost contact with the castle for the past months – with their port-of-call being White Harbour since the port at Eastwatch-by-the-sea was destroyed when the Wall fell six years ago. In the meantime, the army of the Red Priests and their acolytes were going to scour the lands north of Kings Landing – their mission was to destroy the Heart-Trees which were claimed to be the eyes and ears of the Great Other. It was something that Aegon objected to… but he was shot down; the only reason he wasn't burned at the stake was because of the Queen's protection.

Aegon helplessly sighed as the group began to gallop away up the road and farther and farther away from the docks. Being in the North distracted him with thoughts of his betrayal and his cowardice. He couldn't betray his Queen, his love, his aunt… he just couldn't. He loved her. Even after the fall of the North, he still loved her – and he was ashamed. He turned his back on the people he loved, and he found himself stuck in a hole where he simply wished to die.

And that was all he wanted to do. Die. Die and then beg forgiveness from the people he betrayed. Aegon gulped at the thought of passing Winterfell on the way to Castle Black, and he wondered in the back of his mind if the Queen sent him because of that very reason. To see her power… the power of many who whisper in the darkness that she is a great tyrant. House Stark, one of the oldest houses of Westeros fell, and no one was safe. It was a reminder that Aegon was bound to the Queen, and he knew he was helpless.

His duty was to keep the realm safe from a tyrant, but his love stayed his hand. His love was the death of his duty. And what remained of his family paid the price for his love.

As Aegon and the others galloped away, none of them noticed a fog gathering behind them. They did not notice the waters close to the docks and around the ship starting to freeze, although they did feel the wind getting colder while the snow fell harder as they galloped away. Once they were out of eyeshot of the ship, some of the dead bodies stirred… eyes opening to reveal bright blue orbs. While some of the bodies stood up on unsteady feet, the cold stirred the crew who were in the lower deck of the ship having some ale around a table.

Dead bodies rose from all around the area close to the docks, they then began walking towards the cobbled street. In the meantime, the crew were drinking when they suddenly sensed something to be very wrong. From their places around the table, they turned towards the entrance to the lower deck upon hearing the sound of footsteps 'thudding' down the stairs.

The crew grabbed what weapons they could find before stopping at the sight of the beautiful red haired woman, her skin flawless in its cream tone, entering the area. Shea was wearing what could only be described as black armour covered with a layer of ice. Their eyes shifted towards the sword in her right hand – the pommel and the cross guard was as black as coal, and the blade seemed as if it was made of blue transparent crystal with edges that were hard to make out. It was unlike any sword – whether it be steel, Valerian Steel, or dragon glass. Her bright blue eyes stared at them just before, a moment later, a black raven flew down into the kitchen and landed on the table.

The crew could have sworn that the raven's eyes were white in colour as it cawed.

As the water around the ship continued to freeze outwards from its wooden hull, no one heard the screams of the men in the lower deck while they were cut down. Before long, the armoured woman stood among the bodies lying in the pooled blood on the floor and titled her head. She wordlessly commanded the dead men to rise.

And they did rise. They rose with shining blue eyes.

TBC

A/N: Rest of my stories will be updated very soon (by next month at the latest). Been busy with some real life stuff. Cheers.