(Dragonstone: 1/1/298 AC) Lady Stork II

'Hmmm, she has redecorated,' the former mummer from Braavos, now royal body double, thought. The Firelord had summoned her, and the former maester, Qyburn, to her office beneath the Administration Building Complex. She had been sitting there long enough, that her mind began to wander. Over the last seven years since their first introduction, the Firelord had carved in and downwards, using her altered Tank-train, that allowed for a mounted drill-head, from a predetermined location within the Administration grounds. It had taken a little more than a year, after several 'technical difficulties' as her engineers had said, for the experimental design to make its way down to the caverns. What had taken longer, was construction of the lift, which had taken a rather large amount of men and materials to make for a 'quick lift,' as the Firelord had called it. Due to being who she was, the Firelord wanted expediency, and the utmost safety, when she deigned to descend into her inner sanctum. At the top of the lift, was a large steel covering which would slide open to allow for descent, or ascent from below. The covering was disguised, on the opposite side, as a large thick, circular, rug bearing the Firenation sigil. It was housed within the Firelord's royal apartment building, which itself was the most heavily guarded building on the Island. It was located close enough towards the Academy barracks to allow for a quick response if the Firelord needed assistance below.

In addition to the lift, a central hall, and several large rooms had been added to the underground facilities since. A meditation room, complete with small, adjacent, quarters, had been constructed to house and train the acolytes of 'the Order of the Burning Tree.' She was still unsure of how their meditation worked, and neither the Acolytes nor the the Firelord had been forthcoming with information. As curious as she was, she knew not to begin asking questions, or the Firelord would grow suspicious. If it concerned her position as Royal double, then the Firelord would tell her. If it did not, then "stay silent," she would say. The large study outside of the Firelord's office was expanded and could now house twice as many people as it had before, with several rooms having been added in the dim, underground, halls to allow the red priests and priestesses their own living room, away from prying eyes.

However, by far the 'greatest' additions to the caverns, were the holding cells from where the old Maester would 'recruit' men for his experiments. The cells, currently overflowing with recent pirate prisoners from the Stepstones campaign, were damp, confined little spaces, in near pitch black lighting. There were enough of them to hold upwards to nearly three hundred poor souls. They were fed the barest of sustenance, given thin sheets that seemed unlikely to keep away the cold, and they were always watched by the Maester's creations.

'The old man held the title 'Master of Medicine,' within the Grand Academy, but if people knew the truth,' Lady Stork thought, casting a sideward glance towards the man sitting beside her, head buried in a book, 'they would call him the 'Maker of Monsters.''

The only silver lining for the prisoners was that the Firelord did not want them dying of infection or cold, and would provide a time where a 'cleaner' would arrive to spray them down with a warm jet of water and provide fresh clothing, in addition to a single time a day to relieve oneself in the privy. Escapes were sometimes allowed to occur, to blood the newest batches of the Maester's 'Repurposed men.'

As she continued staring at Qyburn, and the illustrations within the book, one of the last being of a forehead with some form of an eye, tattooed, in its center, did Lady Stork finally asked, "What are you reading Qyburn?"

"Oh!" he chuckled in surprise as only a 'kindly' old man could. "It is a fascinating book, gifted to me from her royal majesty, the Firelord," he looked towards Azula, and her eyes followed.

The Firelord was still focused on whatever she was writing, when they had entered, or attempting to write. She appeared to be trying to mimic a form of hand, found on a separate sheet of parchment, to one she had before her, with varying degrees of success. She tried to get a better look at the signature, on the original copy of parchment, seeing the letters "Pe" cut off towards the bottom, before the Firelord spoke, startling the Royal double.

"You are being nosy again, Lady Stork," the Firelord uttered, without raising her head.

She tried to quickly recover, preparing her response, before the Firelord added, "I was not finished yet."

Lady Stork remained silent, hands at her lap. At the corner of her eye, she noticed Qyburn, finally set down his book, but not before marking where he had left off.

"Judging by what you just saw, without looking back down at what I am doing, what did you see?" the Firelord questioned. "Qyburn, keep an eye on her and make sure her eyes do not wander back towards me until she answers the question."

She heard Qyburn shift to her side, causing her to gaze upwards towards the black stone ceiling. "You are trying to mimic the hand of another," she stated, and the Firelord remained silent, as a signal for her to continue. "To send false correspondence, and perhaps conflicting commands?"

"You are observant and quick in the art of deduction. That is good. However," the Firelord stated, "you still lack the patience I can be known to exhibit. Though to be fair, you did last an hour and a half this time, as opposed to last time's forty-three minutes. Bravo." She continued, looking down at her parchment, writing down another line, this one closer to the target hand than the last.

She was set to ask, 'How?' but knew the Firelord was formulating her own response.

"It was your breathing. You can always tell when someone begins to focus," she finally said, head still down, hand still writing. "It's a minor detail you need work on, but nothing catastrophically bad. At least, not for the mission I have planned for you and Qyburn."

She heard the seat to her left creak, as Qyburn straightened himself up, with her quickly following.

"As you well know, we recently had some problems, involving pirates," the Firelord began. "What you do not know is that, while the pirates were an unforeseen development, my son's involvement in the subsequent campaign was not accidental. For I had intended for him to earn his knighthood, and this provided an opportunity. However," she finally set her quill down, and looked at them, "my husband chose to be unreasonable. So I had to create an opening for Steffon to exploit, without his knowledge, in gaining passage aboard the 'Firestorm.' I knew Steffon was skilled and hungered to prove his worth," as she spoke, the Firelord turned, and glanced towards the portrait of the family she forged with Lord Stannis. Lady Stork's eyes followed her. Like the boy in the portrait of her family from childhood's past so too did the young boy in her current family portrait, hold a small warm smile. In a sea of stern faces, only his face, and the face of the bubbly youth, Ty Lee Baratheon, stood out. The eldest Baratheon daughter, Ursa, remained emotionless as if carved from stone. Lady Stork saw the Firelord shake herself out of her own thoughts, before clearing her throat, and continuing. "More importantly, I also knew the King would wish to knight my son, himself," she turned back towards them. "Therefore, the King would need my son to go to King's Landing, and I would not need to expose myself too soon. Before we disembarked from the Stepstones, I gave my son a message to pass on to Lord Arryn. A message which, given recent developments within King's Landing, has proven to have had the intended consequences. As such, the time for the Firelord to make her return to King's Landing, is finally at hand."

'She has a knack for the theatrical, she would have made for quite the mummer,' Lady Stork thought.

"I have begun preparations to make our way to King's Landing, and we set sail, in nine days," she proclaimed.

'Nine days?!' she thought in brief surprise, not letting the surprise come to her eyes.

"When we arrive, Lady Stork," the Firelord continued, "we will arrive as each other. You will be me, and I will be you," she cast a quick look towards Qyburn, "and you will stay the same." The Firelord rose from her ornate desk, and searched through the bookshelf behind her, before choosing a large, well-bound, black book. "This," she slammed the book down, "is a series of notes, describing locations you both are to visit, individuals you are to speak to, questions you are to ask, and paths you are to take while in King's Landing. While Lady Stork bears my likeness, I don't want either of you leaving each other's sights. Qyburn?"

"Yes, Firelord?" the elderly man responded in a quick bow of his head.

"Do you still have the short list I had you make a few days ago? Of the 'Repurposed' you have ready?" she demanded.

"Yes, my Firelord," he replied, "they are in my quarters."

"Pick two of the most capable," the Firelord ordered, "and make them ready for the trip. For they will be your shadows," she stared at her and Qyburn, before continuing. "I do not want either of you to enter or even go anywhere near Xai Bau's tea shop. Especially you," the Firelord pointed at her, "while you are wearing my mask. You, Lady Stork, will be sharing quarters with my husband to keep up appearances. Rest assured he knows you will be in disguise, and I will come relieve you of your duties nightly, so you do not find yourself in a compromising situation. Not that my husband is a man prone to blind passion, or any such nonsense, like his brother, but as his wife, I'd rather not leave him alone with another woman at night. Qyburn, my spies have secured some modest quarters for you, at an Inn within Eel Alley, on Visenya's Hill. When you are not me, Lady Stork, do not seek Qyburn out. That goes double for you, Qyburn," she looked towards the old maester. "And if you two should happen upon each other during those times when I have no pressing need of you, do not be seen walking together or speaking together, unless she bears my likeness and can either bend or has your two shadows. Is all of this clear?" the Firelord demand.

"Yes, my Firelord," she and Qyburn responded in unison.

"Good, research the notes I have given you, and remember, we have nine days. Oh! And Qyburn?"

"Yes, my Firelord?" he asked.

"Leave a list with your disciples on which ones are ready and which are not. At last count, I seem to remember there being around thirty being combat capable, correct?" she asked rhetorically.

Lady Stork knew the Firelord was never one lacking in information. When she asked, she asked to see if your information held any discrepancies with her own up to date information. When she asks in surprise, she does so to lower your guard. 'She was good,' Lady Stork thought, 'and she taught me well, but I am not arrogant enough to assume she taught me everything she knew. Seven hells, I'm not even sure the few 'tells' I managed to divine from her were genuine or just meant to make her think she identified them. Damn you…' she let out a mental chuckle.

"Yes, my Firelord, thirty exactly," Qyburn stated proudly.

"Before you leave, tell your students to raise that number to sixty. We have full cells, at the moment, so let's make use of them," the Firelord instructed.

"By your will, Firelord," he responded serenely.

"Well, we all have preparations to make, before we leave. You are both dismissed," she commanded.