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“Jon Targaryen!” The sea water carried the voice of his father towards him, but Jon simply flapped his fin and soared away.
Away from the castle. Away from the constant reprimanding. Away from his mother’s disappointed glance. Away from his father’s judgment.
“You're the crown prince, for Poseidon’s sake.” Rhaegar roared. “You have to marry eventually!"
Jon put his fingers in his ears and kept on swimming. He couldn’t do it anymore. He couldn’t smile another fake smile at a girl who was after the crown and diamonds and not after him. He couldn’t listen to another endless list of their daughters' useless qualities from mothers who were after a room in the palace. And if his father would tell him one more time that all his queen needed to be was pretty and healthy so she could produce heirs, Jon would do something he would certainly regret at some point.
Was it too much to ask for a girl who was not just pretty, but also intelligent? Was it too much to ask for a wife who wouldn’t just want to be queen, but who also wanted him? Was it too much to ask for something like his parents had? Was it too much to ask for a little more time before he would throw his dreams away and would settle for a fake marriage?
“We'll talk about this later, young man!”
Later. Later meant not now. Later meant that for the next few hours they would leave him alone. Later meant time. Not much time, but time nonetheless.
Jon slowed down and he closed his eyes while he broke the surface. The rays of the burning sun warmed his face and the singing of birds replaced the scolding of his father in his ears. He was not supposed to be here. But at least here he could be alone, at least here he could be just Jon.
Not crown prince Jon. Not beloved son Jon. Not husband material Jon. Just Jon.
A smile spread across his face while he let the waves carry him closer to the beach. He loved the water and the company of fishes and sea horse, but he also loved the wind and the warmth of the sand between his fingers while he watched the crabs crawl away from him.
“Leave me alone…”
He opened his eyes again when a soft and weak high pitched voice caught his attention. Usually the beach here was deserted. It was too far away from the human world and hard to reach. And the tide here was too dangerous for humans to swim.
And yet there was someone on the beach now.
“O, come on, Sansa Stark.” A male voice replied. “No need to play hard to get. Your father already agreed to our marriage. Whether we do it now or after our wedding, what’s the difference?” The man grabbed the shoulders of the young woman firmly and Jon swam a little closer to the shore. “Practice makes perfect. If we fuck now, you might actually be able to enjoy our wedding night.” He leaned towards her and his tongue licked her cheek before his lips touched her ear. “And the beach is the perfect spot for our first time.”
The red haired girl trembled. She had piercing blue eyes, but tears were rolling down her cheeks. “I said leave me alone!” She raised her hands and placed them on his chest. But her attempt to push the man away failed hopelessly and he only tightened his grip on her.
“You will fuck me, Sansa Stark.” He hissed between his teeth and his face was now dangerously close to hers. “If not today, then at least in a few weeks. You can’t outrun me.” He pressed his lips firmly on hers and then he all of a sudden let her go.
Sansa tumbled over her own feet and fell backwards in the cold sea water. But instead of attempting to get back up again, she just laid still. Awfully still.
“Sansa?” Jon rushed towards her and he let out a relieved sigh when he saw her chest moving up and down. “Are you okay?”
Her eyes flashed open and all of a sudden Jon pulled back. She wasn’t supposed to see him. She wasn’t supposed to know that he existed, that creatures like him existed. “Do I look like I’m okay?” She pushed herself up and her eyes wandered over his body. When her glance rested on his tail she swallowed. “Okay, I’m probably even worse than I thought.” She took a few deep breaths. “Did I hit my head? Do I have a concussion? Am I dead?”
Jon quickly shook his head. “You're none of those things.”
“Am I dreaming then?”
Once more Jon shook his head. “You're not dreaming either.”
“Well, and here I thought that this day couldn’t get any weirder.” She let her hand go through her wet hair. “First my father tells me that he found a suitable husband for me. Then when said husband invites me for a romantic walk to get to know each other, it turns out he’s a monster. And now a merman is telling me that I’m not dreaming and don’t have a concussion.”
Jon let out a soft chuckle, but when Sansa shot him a sharp look he quickly pulled himself together and coughed instead. “I’m sorry. It’s not funny. I know.”
“You do?” Sansa raised her eyebrows and she crossed her arms over her chest. “I bet your father is not just giving you away to a charming young man as some kind of object. Gentle, brave and strong. Yeah, right. Ramsay Bolton is none of those things.”
Jon cocked his head and he made himself comfortable next to her. “I’m Jon Targaryen, crown prince of my people and my father isn’t really selling me, but he’s kinda forcing me to take a wife. One I don’t like.” He bent his head and he let his elbows rest in the wet sand. “He says I need a queen. And an heir. Mostly an heir I guess.” He let out a sigh. “I want a queen. And an heir. But not like this.” He flipped his fin and splashed some water in his face. “I want a queen who loves me and an heir born from our love making.”
“It sucks to be you.” Sansa leaned back too and for a while they just sat there in absolute silence.
“Can't you tell your father that you don’t wanna marry that guy?” Jon eventually turned his face towards her, but her mocking smile already answered his question before she opened her mouth.
“Can’t you tell your father that you don’t wanna marry a girl you don’t love?”
He bit his lip and kept quiet for another while. “Maybe marrying wouldn’t be so bad if those girls were a little more like you. Fierce and strong and intelligent. And not just after a pretty crown, jewels and a title.”
Sansa curled her lips up into a smile. “Didn’t you say you wanted to marry a girl you loved?”
Jon shrugged. “I'm saying that I can love someone like you.”
“But…” She licked her lips. “I’m not a mermaid.” She cocked her head. “And you’re not a human who can ask my father for my hand.”
Jon shove a little towards her. “Does that mean you wouldn’t be against it?”
“I’d much rather marry you than Ramsay Bolton. At least you haven’t tried to fuck me yet.” She smiled even brighter now and Jon couldn’t help but smiling back at her. She was beautiful. She was funny. She was smart. She was everything he had hoped his future wife to be.
“When will you get married?” Jon locked his glance with hers.
The smile on Sansa’s face faded. “In two weeks. At the night of the full moon.”
“And what would you give to not have to marry that guy?” Jon whispered and he fought the urge to stretch out his hand and touch her.
“Everything.”
Jon nodded. “Meet me here. One week from now at sundown.” He knew that the magic of the sea witch came at a price. “Say goodbye to everyone you love, but take Ramsay with you.”
“What are you gonna do?”
Jon smiled once more and then he slowly slid back into the sea. “I'm gonna tell my father that I’m gonna get married.”
“How?” Sansa shook her head and Jon looked over his shoulder one more time before he dived into the deep.
“You will see! Just be there. One week from now. Sundown. With Ramsay.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Sansa’s heart hammered against her ribs. A thousand, or maybe even a million, thoughts were running through her head and most of all she prayed. There were so many things that could go wrong and she didn’t want to think of what would happen then.
Ramsay had made his plans with her quite clear. And each and every of his plans terrified her.
But when she had tried to tell her mother about it, her mother had only assured her that every girl was terrified of her wedding night. Sansa had not even listened to the rest of her mother’s so called pep talk.
Her parents had clearly no idea what kind of man Ramsay Bolton really was and what he really wanted to do with their daughter. If they had known, they certainly wouldn’t have promised her hand to him in marriage.
“I knew you would change your mind soon.” Ramsay had his arm tightly around her shoulders. He didn’t seem to notice that all her muscles were tensed. Or maybe he simply didn’t care. He thought he would finally get what he wanted and probably that was all that truly mattered to him.
Sansa forced herself to smile however.
Maybe she had been hallucinating Jon Targaryen. Maybe his father would make it impossible for him to show up. Maybe he already regretted promising Sansa a way out of the miserable life that was waiting for her. Maybe she would end up regretting bringing Ramsay here, telling him that she had thought about what he had said and that she did want her first time to be here, on this beach.
Ramsay leaned towards her and his warm breath touched her ear. “I can be very gentle if I want to.”
She doubted if his definition and her definition of gentle were even remotely the same, but she turned her face towards him and nodded. “Thank you.” She bent her head and stared at her bare feet covered in sand. From the corner of her eyes she watched the setting sun.
Jon would be here at sundown.
She only had to make it through the next few minutes.
Next to the shore Ramsay stood still to face her. He had a devilish smirk on his face and there was something gleaming in his eyes that Sansa didn’t quite like. There was actually quite little about him that she liked. “Do you have any special wishes for tonight, my lady?”
The wind carried his whispers towards her and Sansa straightened her back. “Yes.” She spoke firmly. Her eyes scanned the surface of the sea, but she didn’t see Jon anywhere.
But Jon was a merman. He could be anywhere. Hopefully he was anywhere near.
“I want to do it in the sea.”
The smirk on Ramsay’s face brightened and in one smooth movement he pulled his shirt over his head. Looking at his bare chest almost made her throw up and once more she stared at the waves crashing on the beach.
She took one more deep breath and then she took off her thin summer dress. She didn’t like how Ramsay’s eyes scanned her almost naked body. She didn’t like the tip of his tongue licking his lips while his glance rested on her bra. She most of all didn’t like the sweaty hands he placed on her hips, his thumbs resting on the insides of her thighs.
“Relax, Sansa Stark.” If his touch was meant to be comforting it failed hopelessly. “Just try to enjoy it. I certainly will.” He pressed his lips on hers and for a moment Sansa was unable to move or kiss him back. But that didn’t seem to bother Ramsay at all.
The few seconds that passed seemed to last days, but eventually he stepped back and pulled down his pants which gave Sansa the chance to rush into the sea to wash her lips with salted water.
“Good…” Ramsay wrapped his arms around her and Sansa felt a strange and unwelcome pressure in her back. “You already made yourself wet.” His hand shove down her stomach into her briefs and Sansa closed her eyes firmly.
Her lips whispered an endless prayer, but tears were stinging in her eyes when Ramsay’s hand slid between her legs.
“Sansa…”
Her eyes flashed open again when she heard her name and when she saw Jon’s wet black curls only a few inches away from her she gathered all the courage she had left.
An unpleasant tingle rolled down her arm when her elbow crashed into Ramsay’s ribcage, but his hand was gone, his arms were gone and when she turned around she saw how dark purple tentacles curled around his wrists and ankles to keep him down in the water.
“Is this the girl you were talking about, Jon Targaryen?”
A shiver rolled down Sansa’s back, but Jon appeared next to her and nodded firmly.
He kept his distance. He didn’t place a hand on her back. He didn’t wrap an arm around her. But he wore a frown on his forehead and he constantly tucked the same black curl behind his ear.
“What's your name, girl?”
Sansa didn’t know who was talking, but when she looked at Jon he nodded once more. “Sansa Stark.” Instinctively she reached for Jon's hand and she lifted her chin when their fingers entwined.
“And you are willing to leave the human world behind?”
The palms of her hands were sweating, but her voice didn’t even tremble. “Yes.”
She had said her goodbyes. She was sure that her parents and siblings hadn’t understood that they were goodbyes, but she assumed they would figure that out soon enough.
“And you understand you can never ever return?”
She hoped they would all understand why she had done it. “Yes.”
Jon’s grip on her hand tightened and he moved a little closer towards her. The heat of his body was comforting. But it was most of all his silence that made her feel at ease. And somehow she knew that if she would change her mind now, he would let her go.
“How will you pay for your new life?”
Sansa looked at Jon and Jon gestured at Ramsay Bolton, who was gasping for air and fighting the tentacles holding him down. “I will pay with the life of Lord Ramsay Bolton.” She kept her eyes firmly on his struggling body.
Her parents had raised her to be compassionate, but she couldn’t feel any compassion for the man who had promised her nothing but misery. And if that made her a bad person, she liked being one.
“I accept your payment.”
Ramsay Bolton could breath one more time before he went under again and this time for good.
“Would you like to watch him die?” Jon squeezed her hand and when Sansa nodded he dived down and pulled her with him.
One more time Sansa took a deep breath and with her eyes wide open she followed the crown prince into the depths of the sea. Her sight was surprisingly clear and a strange kind of warmth rushed through her veins when she saw Ramsay looking at her.
His kicking and pulling grew weaker and weaker. Eventually his entire body stilled. His chest was no longer moving up and down and the last little bubbles of air left his open mouth.
All of a sudden Sansa realised that she was not holding her breath. She was breathing. She was underwater and breathing. And when she looked at her legs and feet she noticed they were gone. Instead she was flapping a beautiful black fin. A smile spread across her face and when she looked at Jon she saw how he was smiling back at her.
“Would you like to see the kingdom?” He hadn’t let go of her hand and Sansa pulled him closer towards her.
“Thank you.” She whispered.
But Jon shook his head. “Don't thank me.” He reached for her other hand too and together they were soaring in the water. “I gave you an option, but you did this yourself. You chose this. You chose me.” He swallowed. “I hope you’ll never regret it.”
“I doubt it.” Sansa pulled him even closer until his chest touched hers. Her arms circled around his neck. “And there are always more fish in the sea.”
Jon’s arms slid around her waist and then his nose brushed hers. “But not one as pretty and brave as you.”
Kissing Jon was everything Sansa had hoped it would be. Instead of all her muscles tensing she felt herself relax. And even though they were surrounded by salted water his lips tasted as sweet as sugar.
But most of all his kiss was tender and slow. His tongue didn’t touch her lips before she slightly parted them and invited him in.
She didn’t know if minutes, hours or days had passed when they eventually pulled apart to catch their breaths. “Now I want to see your kingdom.” Her voice sounded a bit hoarse, but Jon tucked a strand of her bright red hair behind her ear.
“It’s no my kingdom, princess. It’s yours too now. It’s our kingdom.”