CHAPTER 1: The Lost Princess

DURING ROBERT BARATHEON'S REBELLION

"That's her, that's the last Savage."

"King Robert wants her alive but if you must kill her. By all means, kill her."

The ship was sinking faster with every second that past, most of the crew is lying dead on their own ship. More brutal soldiers came into view of the last Savage as she tried to take cover for her life. She was almost across the sea to Essos when ships from the Seven Kingdoms found the one she happens to be aboard. Emilia Savage, the last of her name, only 16 years of age runs to the end of the ship with soldiers following after her. It's pitch black and the rain hit harder than the waves but that didn't stop anyone from going after the Savage girl. Stopping Emilia's in the corner of the very edge of the ship, looking at the running soldiers she leans off the bow. Her hair and clothes cling onto her body, her breath is uncontrollably loud but that's the last of her worries. The king has wanted her head since the war started, now the fight is over and his soldiers have finally found her. The Captain of the ships who attacked the one she's on comes to stand in front of her only a few feet away before yelling.

"Lady Emilia Savage, A Princess Of The Forest, traitor, Exiled and outlawed from the Seven Kingdoms, you are under arrest for the crimes against the new king, Robert Baratheon."

"What crimes have I committed?" Emilia shouts through the rain while glancing down at the untamed sea, "My family has done nothing but give loyalty to the throne!"

"Your family's loyalty is to the mad King!"

"It's to the forest! Nature! The Seven Kingdoms know this!"

"Then why did you run? Lady Savage, we are no fools."

"Robert Baratheon executed my parents because of the rumors and bedtime stories!" She cries out in agony while looking for an escape, "Would you have me believe he wouldn't do the same for me!?"

"He would have spared any child's life, not yours after running. Now. Men, arrest her!"

The nameless Captain orders without giving her any more reasons to her arrest. She begins panicking knowing if they capture her, her death will not be with any mercy. Her parents weren't given a clean death, why would she? Soldiers begin coming towards her, one grabs her wrist and she backhands him. He steps back in shock before moving to hit her but he never gets the chance to. Emilia pushes herself off the edge before anyone else can lay another hand on her. She falls into the sea and all the Soldiers run to the edge to see where she's at. They see the forest green cloak that she was wearing only seconds before she fell floating up with no body attached. A soldier turns to his Captain after a moment of no sign of her and yells.

"Capt'n, we can't possibly find her in this weather!"

"Look!"

Another soldier blurts out making the Captain go to the edge of the ship. All the men look around curiously trying to find the reason to the man's single request. The men stand searching for a few moments and start to believe there's nothing to look at when a flash of red comes to their eyes. At first, they all think its blood, the blood of the last Savage, but as they all stare at it they realize the red isn't blood but scales. Red scales shimmer in the moonlight under the water making everyone on the ship look as if they've seen a ghost. The red turns into green scales that flip out from the sea and let the soldiers see that the scales are a huge tail of a shark. Well, not a shark but the shape of one, no shark has ever been bright red or green. The tail goes back into the water as quickly as it came out and disappears into the deep blue. After a second of shock, all the men turn to their Captain in hope that he will tell them was is behind this madness. Shaking his head at seeing the impossible the ship's Captain announces.

"The Last Savage is dead. She died on her way to Essos, her body drowned in the sea."

"But Cap-"

"Are we clear?!"

"Yes, sir!"

All the soldiers shout as one before following their captain back to their own ships. They don't know what to make of what they saw in the water, how could they? They didn't see Emilia's body but instead a tail that changed from red to green. The Captain walks back to his ship more stressed than when he left it. How is he supposed to explain this to his King? He wasn't though, he wasn't going to tell the truth of this because the truth was nearly impossible. Two soldiers still linger by the bow, however, they look down at the cloak in the water. One then looks up at the other thinking like a madman before whispering to the other in complete bewilderness.

"Maybe that was-"

"No, can't be." The other soldier automatically says knowing what his friend's thinking, "It's not possible."

"She was named a princess of the forest."

"It's just a name. Plus this is the sea, not the forest."

"A forest can be under the sea though."

"That rumor you think of isn't real."

"Then why kill her?"

AFTER ROBERT BARATHEON'S REBELLION

"Okay, I finished my supper. Tell us again!"

"Tell you what again?"

"The legend of the Forest Princess, of course."

"It's a story, Ayra. Not a legend."

"Same thing!"

Edward Stark, the warden of the North, chuckles at his two little girls banter while he quietly sips his soup. The entire Stark family's eating dinner in the dining hall on a long wooden table in front of the fireplace like any other night. His wife, Catelyn Stark, sends him a look across the dinner table from seeing her daughters fighting once again. They always fight and Edward is always no help when trying to dissolve it. Rickon Stark, who's barely a year old, begins to cry from the commotion. Robb and Bran Stark look at one another with an awkward gaze before trying to finish their food to leave the table. Sansa then ignores the argument she started with her little sister before asking her father.

"Father… Please… Tell us. One more time."

"Come on." Ayra speaks up, the argument forgotten, with a pouting expression, "It's our favorite story."

"Why don't you tell it to me this time." Eddard Stark sighs while leaning back in his seat, "I'm awfully tired."

"But you tell it better. You haven't told it in forever." Sansa points out while playing with her food, "Everyone here wants to hear it."

"Is that so?"

The head of the table asks innocently while looking at his children. The girls nod instantly, they're practically bouncing in their seats. They ask to hear the story at least once a week. The boys, Robb and Bran, look at him with a guilty expression making him realize they too would like to hear it. The boys never admit it but the story was one of their favorites too, it always seemed so real when their father told it to them. Turning to Catelyn she sends him a tired expression, she didn't care what he talked about. She just wanted them to stop fighting and the baby to stay asleep. After looking at each one of them he looks up and across the room to a child sitting by himself near their table. His bastard son, Jon Snow, sits alone at a table near theirs so he's able to listen to their conversation. He's been listening and watching as he ate his dinner. When seeing his father looks his way he looks down to his food quickly so it seems like he's just been peacefully eating. Sighing Edward looks back at his kids and nods before asking as if he didn't know the answer.

"So what story do you children want to hear again?"

"You know which one we want to hear."

"There are just so many stories…" Edward groans before looking over at Jon and saying, "Do you know the story they're talking about, boy?"

"The Princess of the Forest Kingdom." Jon coughs out nervously while glancing their way, "… Right?"

"Yes! Jon, yes!" Ayra shrieks while grinning excitedly, "That's the one. Oh, please tell it, father."

"Fine. Fine… Someone help me start it." Edward leans back in his seat before asking, "Catelyn, darling?"

"It was a long, long time ago." She says dramatically making the children grin, "Back when the Targaryen family ruled the seven kingdoms and full grown thirsty dragons ruled the sky. There was a kingdom, no common man knew of it… Honey?"

"It was a Kingdom made of the forest." Edward continues the story with as much enthusiasm as his wife, "Every forest, land, mountain, ocean, lake, and river was connected as one big kingdom called… "

"THE KINGDOM OF SAVAGES." Ayra and Sansa scream on the top of their lungs.

"Correct." Edward chuckles while his wife sighs from their yelling before he adds, "It wasn't a Kingdom of Savage men and women though. It was a kingdom of savage animals. Any animal you can think of was a part of that kingdom. All the dragons, birds, lizards, wolves, all animals lived in the Kingdom. However, it wasn't ruled by animals. The kingdom was ruled by a King and Queen, but not by just any King and Queen. It wasn't any Targaryen or Barrathon or even any mortal man on the throne that we know of. It was the Savage family."

"The Savages?" Catelyn snorts while closing her eyes, "What an original name."

"It's a real house name, The Savages. Just like it was a real kingdom, a long time ago." Edward snaps as he sends his wife a look to not ruin the story, "The Savage family were far more priceless than gold, any land, or even a single dragon."

"A dragon?" Bran whispers with his food completely forgotten, "How are they more priceless than a dragon? They're extinct now."

"Because they could transform into dragons." Edward leans on the table with a voice that held true secrets, "They could turn into any animal they wanted at any time. That's why they were the Kings and Queens of the forest. They were the only ones who could understand or control the wild creatures in the forests… For centuries the Savages ruled over the forest by being a dragon or a lion or any animal for that matter."

"What about the princess?" Arya speaks up loudly before adding, "Father tell us about the Princess of the forest."

"I'm getting to it child." Edward laughs before giving his youngest daughter a smile, "The only people who knew about the kingdom were the animals living there and the royal family of the seven kingdoms, the Targaryens. They would visit one another often discussing anything that had to do with ruling their kingdoms. They did this without telling anyone, but people listen and rumors spread. One day they decided it was time for the world to know about the Kingdom of Savages. Along with that decision, came a promise. A promise to unite the kingdoms with marriage. They had a vision of all living things being ruled under one King and Queen. So they promised that the next Savage daughter would marry the King of the Seven Kingdoms."

"For many years," Catelyn speaks up wanting to tell this part of the story, "The Savage family only had sons. No daughters."

"Until finally," Edward raises an eyebrow and smiles softly, "They did."

"Last time you told us this story you said she never did marry the King." Robb speaks up curiously as his mind skips ahead in the story, "Why not?"

"Well, when they had their daughter they finally told the people of the seven kingdoms about the Kingdom of Savages along with the Royal family's ability to transform into animals." Edward answers seriously forgetting for a moment it was supposed to be just a bedtime story, "As more and more people learned about them the more people began to fear them. When people are afraid... they do unforgivable things."

Catelyn looks up at her husband with a warning expression. He was getting very close to the true history and not a fake legend. All the kids were hanging on every word he said though. They've all heard this story a million times, but every time they heard it they felt like it was the first. Their father always told it as if it was real as if he was there when it happened. They know it isn't though, how can anyone change from a person to a dragon? Looking around the table Edward eyes lands on Jon at the back table. Jon was looking at his food but his father knew better, he knows Jon's listening to every word of the story. With his eyes still on him, he continues the story.

"The Savages daughter, when born, was known all over the world as the Princess of the Forest. Some even called her the Goddess of the forest. Everyone loved her but as she got older people began to realize she too had her parents gift. At the time people were scared at the fact they could transform into animals. They thought it was witchcraft and dark magic. It didn't take long for the people to fear her being their Queen. They didn't want someone with power like that on a throne. So a group of people planned to kill every member of the Savage house. They killed everyone in her family and she was next on their list to murder but before they could she disappeared."

"What do you mean disappear?" Bran blurts out angrily, "She can't just disappear! She's royalty."

"Her family let the group kill them so she could escape and leave to Essos." Edward says in a low mysterious voice but at the end of his sentence, he turns to look at Jon seriously before finishing his story, "Legend has it… That she's in Essos at this very moment. Waiting. For the Prince she was promised to crown her Queen the Seven Kingdoms."

"Did I hear the Dothraki correct?"

"Yes… Apparently, they found a Goddess living in the caves."

Jorah Mormont answers truly confused as they follow their Queen down the narrow cave. Daenerys Targaryen, true Queen of Westeros, follows two Dothraki soldiers with torches down a cave they can't see the end of it. Behind her are her most trusted friends and allies, Jorah Mormont and Daario Naharis. Behind the two men were three more Dothraki. The cave is right below when the Dothraki live, it's pitch black and rocky in every place imaginable. The Dothraki wanted to leave with the Dragon Queen but refuse to go unless their hidden Goddess came with them. They found her when they came here and haven't left this place since. The three of them have no idea what they were talking about, there was no such thing as a real Goddess. If so how could she be under here for so long? As they continue to follow the soldiers Jorah says more to himself out loud.

"It explains why they've made this here resting place for so long."

"They made it clear they wouldn't leave with me unless the Goddess came along." Their Queen, Daenerys Taryegan, points out as the Dothraki soldiers show her the way to the cave, "They believe it's will bring bad luck to them all if we leave her."

"Who is this so-called Goddess, anyway?" Daario snaps with an awkward chuckle, "She can't be that powerful if she's trapped in a cave."

"They said She's the Goddess of...The Forest or Nature, I think." The Mother of Dragon thinks out loud before asking, "Right, Jorah?"

"Pretty much. They said nature but that could mean a lot of things."

One of the Dothraki speaks up using his original tongue.

"He says we're close."

When reaching the end of the rock narrow cave a huge dome appears. The Dothraki men stop walking at the edge, one hands the torch to Daenerys and the other hands it to Daario. The three look at one another worried since just that action alone lets them know the soldier will not be following them any longer. The three slowly walk out into the big dome, they look anywhere for any sign of life. The men go in front of Daenerys at they walk further into the cave but stop when hearing a chain move against the rock floor. They wave their torches to find where the sound came from. The chain sound fills the room once more before the sound of a growl or takes the sound. Suddenly fire fills the air letting the three see a dragon in the flames. They all back up in shock, it wasn't possible. Dragons only became existing a few months ago by Daenerys, how could one be under here.

The fire the dragon breathed out lights torches all around the cave that the Dothraki must have put up. The three cover their eyes from how bright the room has became only to see a glimpse of the Dragon shrinking into a human body. The cave is now completely light up, it's much bigger than they thought it was in full light. In the center of it was a woman with a chain around her neck. The chain was long but not long enough to reach where the three were standing. The woman has long dark brown hair with only a simple slave dress on. Daenerys walks past the men to get a closer look at her. She's never seen this woman before but she doesn't look from Essos. People in Essos usually have tan skin and deep dark from hair with familiar faces. Her face looks different, her skin was lighter than people born in Essos. Coming a little closer to the woman Daenerys ask loudly.

"Who are you?"

"I'm the Goddess of Nature to the Dothraki."

"I know." She says with her voice slightly shaken, "But what is your birth name?"

"Princess of the Forest."

"You're house name." Jorah then asks more precisely, "What is your house name."

"Savage."

"Savage?" Daario asks as if he heard it correctly, "I've never heard of such a name."

"But I have." Daenery says in complete shock, "My brother, Visery, told me a story when I was young. About the Kingdom of Savages."

"Oh?" The woman begins laughing slowly while sitting in the center of the cave, "So you've heard that bedtime story."

Daenerys eyes are wide from thinking back to when she was only a child. Visery used to tell her a story in their studies about a Kingdom of Savages. It was a kingdom only made up of wild beasts ruled by a human and an animal. He said it was the kingdom of all forests the Savage house ruled over. Apparently, the Targaryen house adored them, loved them like their own family. The seven kingdoms didn't though, they feared them and wanted nothing to do with a King and Queen that could be human and a beast. Viserys told her the day all the dragons died the Savage house did too. It was always some made up legend when he told her the story. She vaguely remembers the story he told her but she'll never forget the name Savages. Coming closer to the woman Daenery asks cautiously,

"Was it true? The Kingdom, the family, the deaths."

"Every story told about my family is a little different." She mumbles without looking their way, "The kingdom was real, the family was real, all the deaths were real… but one."

"Yours."

The mother of Dragons breathes out in shock while coming even closer. She remembers Visery saying the family died along with all the dragons. He must not have known about this woman, about her surviving. Then again he never told her about how many were in the Savage family, he always talked about them as one thing. The two women, neither one born in Essos, were in Dothraki clothing standing inside a cave almost as big as a castle. The Savage woman sits with a chain around her neck that connected to the middle of the rocky cave. Kneeling down Daenerys looks at the chain and finds words embedded in a language she can not read. The chain must be rare enough not to be able to broke it with any weapon or fire, someone must have made this chain for people who were less than a god but more than a man. The last Targaryen stares at the woman in rare chains for a moment before asking.

"Can these chains come off?"

"Anyone can take it off beside the person wearing it." The woman answers while standing up and turning to her, "Would you dare take it off me? You've heard the stories."

"I dare say yes." Daenerys smiles before waving her hands around and saying in surprise, "If you help me take back the throne."

"Dany." Jorah speaks up in warning while taking a step closer, "She was a dragon moments before. Take it off her and who knows what she'll do."

"He's right." The woman growls with a smirk while she starts walking toward them, "I can turn into any animal I want to at any time. Westeros feared my family because of it, Baratheon killed my family and exiled me because of it. The people who chained me up years ago feared me because of it. So tell me, why dare set me free when I am nothing but feared by many?"

"I'm a Targaryen, the last of my name." Daenerys announces while reaching the woman, "In my family, we don't fear a gift, we embrace it."

"How do we know she will stay true to her words?" Daario then asks from where he's standing, "Maybe there's a reason behind her being exiled."

"She'll stay true to her word, that's all a princess knows how to do." The Mother of Dragon says as if she's talking about herself before looking the woman in her eyes and saying in raw emotion, "Fight for me, Savage, help me take back the throne. I will restore your family's name and honor them the way they should have. I will give you your freedom back when all this is said and done. We will restore-"

"What makes you think I care about my family's honor?" The outlaw spits out in the chains holding her, "My family's name is nothing more than a bedtime story for children because of the throne you want to sit on. I want nothing to do with the Seven Kingdoms."

"What do you want then?"

"I want to live the rest of my life in peace." The Savage declares only inches away from the so-called queen, "I've been running and fighting my whole life. I don't want to die that way."

"After I am named Ruler of the Seven Kingdoms, I will provide you safety to live the rest of your life in peace. I promise you that." Daenerys offers an emotional expression, "But you have to stand by me and fight for me until I'm named Queen of Westeros."

"Agreed." The woman states while throwing the chain beside Daenerys, "Now takes this bloody chain off me."

The two men behind their Queen looks at the women in fear and move to attack position. Taking a deep breath Daenerys goes to the chain around the woman's neck and unlocks it. It falls to the ground and makes a loud shattering sound against the rocks. The Savage look down at it in shock of it actually coming off like that. She's spent years trying to take it off and trying to break it. Rubbing her neck she turns to Daenerys in disbelief that it came off that fast. The woman then pops her neck and shoulders from finally having that weight lifted off from her. Smiling wildly the Savage feels her blood pumping excitedly. She's ready to get out of the godforsaken cave and see the light again. Daenerys holds in a smile from seeing the woman's reaction before asking.

"So tell me. What is your first name?"

"Emilia." She announces with pride of who she is, "Emilia Savage, last of my name, outlawed and exiled from Westeros, Princess of the forest, Goddess of Nature, and once ruler of the fallen Kingdom of Savages."

"It's a day's journey until we reach Westeros…"

"When we reach Dragonstone we'll have one night of rest. Next morning we'll begin."

"I haven't seen Emilia all day…" Tyrion Lannister, a man who always repays his debts, informs his traveling companions until he notices one missing and blurts out, "Has anyone seen Lady Savage?"

"Oh, please." Missandei speaks up with a playful smile before looking at the morning sky, "How could you miss her?"

With that said Tyrion rolls his eyes and looks up to see that Missandei is true to her words. Grey Worm, the Commander of the unsullied, grins before looking up to the ship's deck with his hands behind his back. Lord Varys sighs like he's the father of a bunch of children before too looking up to see where Emilia is. Only Daenerys Targaryen keeps looking straight ahead, she doesn't move a single muscle as she sees Dragonstone come into view. Seeing it forces her to smile and let out a shaky breath, she's so close yet so far away. After a moment the Mother of Dragons finally looks up to see her three babies and Emilia. Her three dragons soared in the air like they owned it, their wings were out for the world to see and they roar as loud as they like. The fourth dragon is in front of them all flying like it's on a mission. The scales we're forest green, they're so bright that it could blind a man when the sun touches them. Her wings soar in the air like no others have seen, she'll be at Dragonstone before anyone. Daenerys walks to the bow of the ship smiling before telling everyone.

"Emilia's ready to get off this bloody ship just as much as me."

"Pardon you're grace." Lord Varys speaks up while saying lightly, "But Lady Savage as barely been on this ship since we got on it."

"Yes…" She looks down at her shoes grinning away, "I suppose so."

"Dany, I must warn you." Tyrion goes to stand by his Queen, "When people find out that you not only brought three dragons but woman from legends they will fear everything else you do."

"Good." She lifts her head up high with her hands entwined in front of her, "I accept that challenge, I'll show the world they should not fear something their ancestors told them to fear."

"... When my father told my family the story about the Savages he told it like they were the villains. Like they were the monsters of the world." Tyrion looks up to the Dragon turning into an eagle, "Seeing her in the flesh… Makes me wonder how he could tell the story so wrong."

"When I met her. She told me every story told about her family is a little different." Daenerys looks to her second hand and declares, "I plan to tell the world the real story."

"It's a beautiful idea but can it be done?"

"One look at her and they'll know everything they were told was a lie."