Daenerys was thankful she had commanded her men to prepare themselves before she flew beyond the Wall. It made marching away from freezing Barrowlands much quicker.
In the time between her arrival at the town and their departure, curious looks and questions about missing dragons had prompted her to hold a Dragon Council with Varys, Missandei, Grey Worm, Qhono and Paxter Redwyne. She recalled the finer details of the meeting. She had addressed them without preamble. “The White Walkers are real.”
The news had hit everyone like a stone. Jon Snow had left them with enough to suspect such, but they could always comfort themselves with veils of doubt, lack of corroborations or the superstitious natures of northmen. Before her eyes, she had seen it all disappear.
Redwyne had spoken first, if she could recall well. “So, what happens now?”
“We go on,” she had said, mapping in detail the plan to fight both battles. Jon was a skilled swordsman, a proven leader and had fought the Night King before, but he needed help to win the war. Daenerys knew Redwyne would argue with her over her decision to send thousand-and-twenty of his men to Castle Black, but he would have to concede in the end.
“I gave Jon Rhaegal,” she had ended the argument simply. “Surely you can spare half your men?”
The rest of the council had passed with little surprise, she recalled, as she rode her horse past snowy lands. Not one mentioned the other missing dragon. We have a long journey ahead of us, Daenerys thought to herself. I will tell them soon, just not now.
She wondered where Varys was now. Minutes after the Dragon Council ended, he had come to her with information and a proposition. She had given her assent, which meant Varys had left the night before they did. He had the right of it, she knew, but it did not stop her from wondering if it was risky of her to assent to his ideas, as it equally was for him to embark on the quest alone save few trusted men.
*
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