Feeling well rested, Jon walked over to Lord Edric's room, where one of the household guard was standing, guarding the room. They took shifts every 3 hours at night, "let me speak to the Lord, I have important news"
"The young Lord told me to not refuse you when came but if you hurt him, even a hair on his body, I'll cut off your head, bastard", the guard glared as he opened the door.
In Dorne, bastards weren't as looked down upon as in the rest of the seven kingdoms but there were still those that hated them, followers of the seven, fanatics. Jon simply nodded and walked in. Edric was sitting in his bed, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.
"You were out pretty late with the usurper, I planned to talk to you yesterday but I fell asleep at my table… so, what happened?"
"First, let me make sure no one is listening to us, in this city, you can never be too careful", he waved his hands and the chirping of the birds seized, as did the rustling of the wind and the faint sound of people in the streets below.
Edric's eyes went wide, "h- how?"
Jon chuckled, "I learned this and more two years ago… you are my closest ally, so I want you to know what I am capable of, so that I won't have to hide it in front of you"
Edric had earned his confidence. He was a child, yet he had never divulged his true identity to anyone, not even to Greg and Bob, who had become the young lord's best friends over the months that they had spent together.
"You can erase the noise… what else can you do?"
"Why don't I show you?", Jon raised his hand and the room was filled with an illusion, direwolves prancing along stags across a forest, the ceiling was converted into a night sky, as alluring as the real thing. The leaves of the illusionary trees rustled in non existent wind. With the snap of his fingers, the illusions faded, back was the boring room, "I have a few additional tricks up my sleeve but this is the easiest to show. As well as conjuring things, like this"
He tilted his hand and a dagger of bronze appeared in his hand before vanishing again as if it had never been there.
Edric stared, mouth agape, his eyes wide with childish wonder. They stood live that for a few unbearably long minutes before Edric spoke, his voice soft, "it is… beautiful"
"That it is", he nodded.
"I read in the maester's old tomes that both the first men and the Valyrians of old were mages… you think mixing their blood resulted in… this?"
"As good a guess as any", Jon shrugged. He couldn't very well tell him the truth. He wasn't even sure if a child could understand it, even if revealing his true origin wasn't a problem.
"Green sight? Dragon dreams?"
"Different faces of the same coin but yes, I have them but- well they keep shifting. The future isn't set in stone, it continues to change with every decision I or others make. I have seen myself as king and as beggar, living a long life and dying young. Fate is fickle, a cruel mistress", Jon explained, a smile on his face, "but that is not what I came here for. I am here to report on my conversation with Robert…"
"Yes- he took you into the red keep, what happened after?"
"Well, we were drinking and- well he kept boasting about his warhammer, so I made a bet with him, that I could swing it. He didn't believe me but when I did it, he was impressed. He told me, if I were to win the melee, he would grant me any one wish, within reason", Jon explained. Edric's eyes shone at that, "the perfect set up"
"Yes, I can ascend to nobility, the first step to becoming king… well the second, the first had been becoming a knight"
"You have to win under any circumstances, an opportunity like this doesn't come often…"
Later that day, the melee officially began. A few dozen knights were in the arena, alongside several sellswords.
The horn sounded, signaling the start of the event.
POV: Tyrion Lannister
The imp looked over the men charging each other. Had his brother participated, he would've bet on him but he was on duty. The most promising candidates were the mountain who rides and the winner of the joust, Ser Jon Snow.
Ser Snow had come out of nowhere and dominated the joust. No foul tricks, just pure skill. For someone his age, that was very impressive and he was a bastard too. Tyrion had always had a heart for the cast out, the cripples, dwarfs and -of course- the bastards. Ser Snow's face was beautiful. Not handsome, no, beautiful. Had it been on a girl's body, Tyrion wouldn't have minded spending a night. He must've gotten the face from the mother, it certainly wasn't the gruff Stark look and those eyes. They were blood red, mesmerising.
The imp's eyes were locked on the boy with the horned helmet, he was carrying a spear, quickly dispatching opponents left and right. The mountain who rides on the other hand ignored all opponents and charged at the bastard knight. His greatsword was swinging in a wide arch but the boy simply dodged the strike and jumped onto the giant's back, repeatedly punching the helmet with enough pressure to dent the solid metal. That was something he would expect from King Robert during his prime, not the relatively lean Ser Snow. After six swings, the mountain was down, a good strategy.
There was no way that the mountain would yield, so this was one of the few ways to take him out. Killing him would be another way but with all that armor, there was no way the boys spear would penetrate.
"I bet 100 gold dragons on the bastard knight", he said as the mountain fell. No one took up that offer, the boy was quickly incapacitating opponent after opponent. When there were only two left, the bastard wasn't even out of breath, whereas his opponent was panting. The older man gave up and Jon Snow was hailed as the winner.
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A/N: I am asking you to help me decide Jon's future house. Name, Sygil and motto suggestions are welcome. As for where his domain will be, I have three options: 1. somewhere in the crownlands, 2. somewhere in Dorne or 3. sea dragon point up in the north, I'm leaning on sea dragon point