This is my first Fanfiction. I hope you guys enjoy, if you have any questions, feel free to PM me or review.
I still could scarcely believe it had worked. An hour ago I had commanded the Unsullied, the largest and supposedly greatest slave army in the world to kill all of the masters in astapor. The distant sounds of fighting had finally stopped as the last pockets of resistance had been stamped out by the unsullied's great skill and efficiency.
'How ironic that they trained such a fearsome army, yet their own soldiers were so inadequate in comparison. Although I suppose having 8,000 enemy soldiers appear in the middle of the city would destroy any cities defenses.'I mused as I watched my dragon land in front of me, he looked exhausted from flying around so much and from breathing so much fire in such a short period. I lightly stroked the side of his head as it nuzzled against my palm, much like a cat would wont to do.
"Your grace." A voice behind me said.
Turning around I noticed that Missandei one of the slaves I had freed barely an hour ago stood there with an unsullied a few steps behind her standing at attention spine straight and shoulders tensed, ready for any command. But the thing that drew my attention was the girl herself, her eyebrows were furrowed and she seemed almost confused. "Yes Missandei? Is something wrong?"
"I...am unsure?" She fidgeted for a moment as if trying to properly voice her thoughts.
My brow raised and some concern grew in my stomach I glanced at my guardians and advisors, Ser Jorah Mormont and Ser Barristan Selmy, both of them mirrored my expression, she was a translator and knew a great many languages, and yet she seemed at a loss for words. Something truly must be ammiss for this type of reaction.
Taking a deep breath she continued "This one-" She gestures to the unsullied standing behind her. "-says he is unable to fulfill your order and is ready to receive his punishment."
I froze for a few seconds trying to process her words. "He is unwilling to fight the masters of astapor?" I was shocked, I would think that he would be happy to slay those that had brought him such pain and humilities.
"No your grace it was not that order he could not do…It was the breaking of the slaves chains that he could not do." Even Missandei was conflicted on how to feel about that, as evident by her pause.
I thought I was shocked before but now I was absolutely stunned. Instead of questioning Missandei I decided that perhaps it would be more prudent to talk to the soldier. "You do not wish to free the slaves?"
The unsullied spoke his voice monotone "It is not what this one wants that stops this one from fulfilling your order, Unsullied do as we are commanded regardless. But this one is unable to fulfill this command and so awaits your punishment for this ones failure."
"If it is not your unwillingness to free them? Then what is it that is stopping you from fulfilling my command?" I was confused and curious at the same time. 'What could stop an unsullied if not himself?' "And regardless of your answer I will not punish you."
"You commanded us to break the chains of the slaves. But there is one whose chains this one is unable to break." Like all the unsullied, he appeared to have no sense of self, as he constantly referred to himself as 'this one'.
"Show me." And with that simple command he turned around and led me through the city to a great manse and proceeded to lead me inside. "Whose home was this? It is very….obnoxious" And it truly was, with roofing gilded with gold, doors made of silver, and the floor made from the finest of marbles and polished till it had more in common with a mirror than actual stone.
Missandei who had followed along on this trip answered me. "It is the home of the good master of Astapor, Kraznys mo Nakloz."
"There was nothing Good about the 'masters' of Astapor." I felt disgusted and full of rage at the obscene extravagance that was Kraznys' home. 'How many people were killed or sold to slavery to make this obscene structure?'
Missandei was silent for a moment as we followed the unsullied through the many rooms and corridors. "...I know your grace…." She once again struggled to voice her words. "Even with the Goo-" She caught herself and continued. "-them dead it is hard to break the habit ingrained in me for most of my life"
I glanced at her in the corner of my eye, sympathy was surging within me. I could scarcely imagine the horrors she had endured after spending so long a slave.
Finally we stopped inside what appeared to be Kraznys bedchamber. If I didn't see it with my own eyes I would not believe it, the bedchamber was somehow even more extravagant than the rest of the home. The bed post was made gilded with gold and the tops encrusted with small gems of varying color. Even the sink was made of silver and gleamed in the evening sunlight streaming through the open curtains. Curtains which upon further inspection was made of thinly spun gold threaded together to form a tight mesh. Even the walls, which was made of the same polished marble as the floor had golden designs inlaid into it. The contents of this room could have probably fed a a small village for years.
The Unsullied walked towards one corner of the room and pressed one of the golden designs. To my surprise the design gave way to the pressure and slid back revealing a small hole barely bigger than a closed fist. He reached into the hole and pulled out a small key. He walked across the room and pushed the key into a small hole just big enough to fit the key located just over the headrest of the bed and gave it a small but precise twist.
If he hadn't pointed it out I probably would never had noticed it in the face of all the wealth scattered throughout the room. I wondered if that was by design or simply a happy coincidence.
After a brief pause a resounding click was heard and a section of the once seamless wall next to unsullied pushed itself outwards a few inches. The unsullied grabbed the wall and pulled, the thick slab of marble swung open on silent hinges, a testament to the the skill of the one who built it. Revealing a set of stairs leading downwards into the dark. The unsullied grabbed an unlit torch found just inside the entrance and lit it, and took a step into the stairway.
When I made to follow, Jorah put his arm out in front of me, "Let me take the lead Khaleesi." Seeing the wisdom in letting my guard lead into the unknown I nodded. We stepped into the now torch lit stairway, Jorah behind the unsullied, me behind him, Missandei followed in my wake, with Selmy taking the rear. Only after perhaps forty steps we came across a solid iron door. Which was swiftly unlocked and opened by that same key used earlier to unlock the hidden stairs.
A minute of walking and three more iron doors later, finally I couldn't help but voice my thoughts. "What in the world would convince kraznys to have such a deep and secure passage constructed." Truly I did not think it was possible to dig so deep into the earth, I could only imagine how much earth and stone lay between me and the surface.
The Unsullied' monotone voice spoke "The Good master Kraznys most treasured slave lies at the bottom."
"All this for a slave? What makes this one so special as to require this much security?" After all this walking I had nearly forgotten why we had come down here in the first place. "What makes them so special to deserve this much security?" My mind racing with possibilities. 'Perhaps some sort of pleasure slave? Some noble he had captured and turned into a slave? Maybe a warlock of qarth, kept for the secrets of their magics?'
"She is unlike any slave that the Good Master had ever owned. She possesses abilities not seen in anyone he had ever known." Came his reply.
'She? A pleasure slave then?' Any further thoughts ended as we came to stop at a door. But this one was unlike any of the other doors, for one, it was far thicker than the rest, and at the bottom of the door the last five inches were missing. That was a common thing to have on the door to a prison cell. A simple, efficient way to give food to a prisoner, via sliding a tray of food under the door. It also reduced the risk of escape to zero, since the door never actually needed to be opened.
The unsullied unlocked the door and with straining muscles, and a slight grunt, began to pull the thick metal door open. What greeted my eyes left me speechless.
I had images in my head of a beauty beyond compare, laying on a soft mattress perhaps, waiting for her master to return so she may pleasure him. Instead what lay beyond the door was a woman sitting on her knees on the stone floor who held more resemblance to a skeleton, than a woman. Her complete lack of clothes showed off her disturbing figure in all its horrid glory. The skin on her body clung so tightly to her that her musculature and bones were clearly defined, her face so gaunt it was almost painful to look at. Her hair was dry and a dirty brown color, and looked so caked with grease and dirt that it might not have been washed in years. Her skin was also caked in filth, what little amount of skin I could see through the grime was inhumanly white, it was more akin to snow than flesh. But the woman's eyes were an otherworldly blue, I had never even imagined a person with such gems for eyes, but despite there vibrant hue the dullness of her eyes made me think I might have been staring at a corpse. Her arms were bound to each other in a set of thick metal cuffs, but instead of a chain linking the two cuffs, it was a bar of metal. Her arms where effectively locked into place by those cuffs, unable to get closer or farther apart.
Despite the strangers in her cell she showed no physical signs of being alarmed or any other type of emotion. Only her too blue eyes moved to track us as we made our way into her cell. Once we had all crossed the threshold, her cracked lips opened and she spoke, her voice as monotone as the unsullied's.
"You are not Master Kraznys." It was a statement of fact, not a question. Her voice sounded hoarse as if she had not used it in ages.
Stepping slightly forward to bring her attention to me, I tried to make my body seem less threatening by kneeling a few feet in front of her, doing my best not to grimace at kneeling in such a filthy environment and keeping my voice as gentle as possible. "No we are not him. Kraznys is dead. My name is Daenerys Targaryen, what is your name?"
I had hoped that by telling her of her 'masters' death that she would show some emotion or perhaps trust me more. But instead all I got was a blank stare, not a single muscle so much as twitched at the news. "You are free now."
This on the other hand garnered a reaction from her. Her posture slightly stiffened and her eyes looked more aware, more alive. "Free."
She said that single word so softly that if I hadn't been sitting as close to her as I had been I doubt I would have heard her. Steeling myself I gently moved my hand to rest on her shoulder, her very thin and dirty shoulder. "You can do anything you want with your life. You are free now. There are no more masters in Astapor."
Her eyes bore into mine now, searching for any lies in what I had said, the tiniest glimmer of hope shining in her eyes. "How?" She said it quietly, but in the silent cell it sounded loud.
"I tricked the masters into giving me command of the unsullied, and ordered them to kill all the masters and free all the slaves." Upon saying this I remembered exactly what had brought me here, the unsullied had said he couldn't free her. "May I see your cuffs?" I gestured to her arms.
Slowly she raised her arms so that I could have a closer look at the cuffs, her eyes never left mine, still searching for signs of deceit.
The cuffs themselves were rather crude in there design, simple steel circles connected by a bar of steel, each circle had a lock at the top and bottom of each circle. My brows furrowed as I noticed something about the cuffs, they were too big. The woman's arms were so thin from hunger that she should have been able to slip out of the cuffs with room to spare. I grabbed the cuffs and made to pull them off, only to meet resistance and for the woman to hiss as if in pain.
My eyes widened in horror as I realized why she hadn't simply slipped out of the cuffs. A thin metal rod was put through the top of each circle and out the other end, and held in place with those two locks. But to do that the rod had to go directly through the woman's arms, possibly even through her bones. It was brutal, yet effective in keeping the cuffs on.
(For a visual representation in case I didnt explain it properly the cuffs look like this Ø-Ø but with the lines being vertical instead of diagonal)
Indeed I could now see a small amount of blood oozing out of the holes in her arms due to me irritating them by pulling on the cuffs.
Quickly I looked to the unsullied, "Do you not have the keys to the cuffs?"
"No your grace. Master kraznys kept the location of the key a secret. I was only aware of how to get to this room because I was assigned to guard it in the past."
Taking a moment to think I came to a decision. Standing up I offered my hands towards her. "I will get you out here."
She stared at me for a few seconds, her hands hesitantly reached up and grasped my own, with a surprising amount of effort I managed to pull her to feet. She weighed far more than her thin frame suggested. Quickly I unclasped my cloak and wrapped it around her nude form. She looked mildly uncomfortable, the fabric hanging loosely off her shoulders, the clasp being the only thing keeping it from slipping off.
"Once we are out of here I promise we will figure out how to remove those cuffs." Gently gripping her shoulders I nudged her towards the door. The walk up the stairs was done in silence, the girl being naturally silent, and the rest of us not knowing what to say to the possibly traumatized girl.
The whole way up I gripped her shoulder both to reassure her and in case she fell. Originally I had wanted Jorah or Selmy to carry the frail looking girl up the stairs, but she tensed up whenever anyone else go within touching distance, so I decided I would help her up the stairs myself.
With her emaciated form I had thought that she would be incapable of even going up a single step without aid. Surprising everyone including myself, she managed to walk up the staircase without so much as faltering.
When we finally reached the bedroom, my legs were burning from the exertion, I gratefully sat down on the bed. Looking around at the others it looked like I was in the worst condition out of all of them. Even the girl'I really need to get her name'seemed in better shape than me despite her time in that cell. Speaking of the girl I watched as she started to shamble towards the window and start to slowly lean out of the open window. Worried that she might try to throw herself out of it, I quickly got up and rushed to her side despite my legs protests.
I grabbed her shoulder and started to pull her back, or should I say attempted to pull her back. It felt like trying to hold Khal Drogo back. I dont know how the wisp of a woman was overpowering me but thankfully she stopped once her torso was out of the window.
Sighing in relief leaned out the window as well enjoying the cool breeze. Looking to my right I studied the woman's face. In the light of the sun her gaunt face looked even thinner and her cheeks even more sunken. But her eyes, her eyes were even more breathtaking in the sunlight, they truly seemed like gems twinkling in the midday sun.
I put my hand on her shoulder in silent support when I realized that her eyes weren't just twinkling from the sunlight, but also from the tears that were starting to form. And as they finally made there way down her cheeks I heard her dry and croaking voice.
"I'm free."
feel free to review or pm me. im eager to hear from people. lol this is my first story.