The Dragon and the Hawke 21
It was surprising how long the Dragon Empire got their respite from trouble. A full month of peace, progress, and strange hijinx courtesy of a mad mage and a pack of dragons. It was surprising how fast the amazing can turn into the mundane, and even dragons grow mundane after a long enough period where they don't kill people or conquer cities.
Marian sat against Drogon's flank as she threw chunks of meat at him and his brothers to pass the time. Beside her, Trod Underfoot watched with fascination as the mighty beasts devoured their treat, "How do you keep them so calm?"
"I treat them like I treated my Mabari."
"What is a Mabari?"
"It's a species of dog from my homeland. It has the intelligence of a human to a certain extent."
"How can an animal have a man's intelligence?"
"No idea," Marian shrugs, then pats Drogon's head as the dragon craned its neck to stare at Trod in irritation, "I just know that they can understand us, and if you want, you can teach them to play cards."
Trod, being the highly trained and experienced soldier that he was, managed not to shit himself as the black dragon glared at him with one massive eye. Gulping, he finally says, "Apologies, I meant no offense."
The dragon gives a snort and snags another piece of meat that Marian throws up, then his head snakes back to face forward as he chew his treat. The two humans and three dragons continue to while away the day as the mage and unsullied talk about various topics that pique their interest. One topic that both steadily avoid is their love lives.
Marian and Missandei had been enjoying each other's company for more than a month now, and it was great, but Trod was not so lucky. The Unsullied had been struck by the unfortunate nature of being a eunuch, and so his abilities were terribly compromised. As a courtesy, Marian never brought up how happy she was when she was with her friend.
Fortunately, or unfortunately due to the reason, they were accosted before they ran out of things to talk to. A large unsullied entered the great arena in search of the Thunder God and found her sitting with one of his brothers along the side of the great black shadow of the queen.
The unsullied, a particularly devoted individual, marched up to her with determination and rattled off the information that Commander Grey Worm had given him. Marian blinks up at the soldier, then stands along with Trod. Turning to his friend, she asks, "What did he say?"
Trod, face grim, tells her, "Commander Grey Worm and the Queen have need of your presence, there has been a murder of one of the Unsullied and she would appreciate your counsel."
Marian doesn't reply, merely starts walking towards the exit of the arena. After they get out of the second greatest structure in Meereen she turns to her unsullied followers and asks, "Where are we going?"
Trod relays the question to his brother, and the unsullied rattles off a location. Understanding the street name and the district, Marian sets off and the two unsullied follow. They pass through the streets, twist and turn with the roads as people respectfully step out of their way. Eventually, they reach a small house and Marian enters.
Dany, Grey Worm, and Daario stand in the building, looking over the corpse of a man. They turn at her entrance, Daario's blade nearly out of its sheath before they realize that it is her. They relax, slightly, and turn back to the corpse.
"What happened?" Marian asks, stepping up beside Daario, looking over the corpse.
The former mercenary and newly created guard captain kneels down and starts explaining, "This was White Rat, one of Grey Worm's Lieutenants. According to witnesses, he paid a whore for the evening and entered her home. The body was found early this morning by the owner of the house, who says he comes in every day to get his rent."
"Rent?" Marian asks, "Isn't that a weekly thing?"
"Not if the whore payed him in sex," Daario tells her, and she 'ahh's
"Who did it?" Dany asks, her voice choked and cold
"The only hint, is this," Daario shows them a golden mask.
"Is that a harpy?" Marian asks
"Is it?" Daario turns the mask over and narrows his eyes, "It does bear a certain resemblance to the statues, doesn't it?"
"Yeah," Marian nods, "They threw the statue in the arena when they toppled it, so I've been staring at that face all day. It's basically the same."
"So what does it mean?" Dany asks, determined to get answers
"Probably a revenge killing of some kind," Daario tells her, "It would make sense for embittered masters to try and strike back against those that have harmed them. And you, my queen, have harmed them greatly."
Dany frowns, then orders, "Have White Rat entombed in the Temple of the Graces, it should tell the masters who would dare take one of my men from me that I hold him higher than them."
Marian gives her a thumbs up, "A great big 'fuck you!' I like it!"
"Yes, it is fun, but it may incite more of this," Daario tells them
"Well then, I guess you better double the guard patrol," Marian tells him
Daario sighs, but nods, "I'll start asking for volunteers."
"Be sure to tell them that if they bring me a man who carries a mask of this harpy," Dany tells him, eyes burning with rage, "That they will receive a substantial reward."
"How substantial? I could get my boys all riled up for the right amount."
"How much would you think makes sense?"
"Extra month's pay should about do it."
"Make it so," Dany exits the room with a flourish, Grey Worm gives Marian and Daario respectful nods before following her out.
Once the queen had left, Marian sighs, "She's angry."
Daario snorts, "Of course she's angry, one of her men was just murdered. i'd feel the same about a few of my friends."
"And with Dany, everyone in her service is a friend," Marian agrees. Then she shakes her head, claps her hands, and points at the mask, "We should find the gold smiths in the city."
Daario looks down at the mask, "Right. This is fine work, and solid gold. We find who made them, we find who they made them for."
"Exactly," Marian nods
"I'll get my men on it," Daario tells her, then looks down at the corpse and says, "And I'll have them take the body to the temple."
Marian nods, and closes White Rat's eyes before they exit the small house. Before they split, Marian takes the mask from Daario, telling him that she had an idea. Heading in opposite directions, Marian picks up her entourage of two on her way back the way she had come.
Eventually, she was back in the great arena, and the dragons were looking at her curiously. Smiling at them, she asks, "Who wants to eat a bad guy?"
All three dragons leap forwards, with Drogon and Viserion smashing into each other in their excitement. With them waylaid by their own bulk, Rhaegal, who had been further from his brothers, excitedly hopped in front of Marian.
The mage smiled and rubbed his snout, before lifting up the golden mask of the harpy, "See this? Whoever wore this made your mother very upset, and he killed one of her men."
Rhaegal nods in understanding, eye slits narrowing in anger as his focus locked on the mask. He listened to Marian as his neck started to sway from side to side, "I want you to get the scent of the man who did it. Can you do that Rhaegal?"
The massive dragon chuffs in indignation at being doubted and takes a massive sniff of the mask, putting his snout right up against it. Using all of her arm strength, Marian manages not to have her hand dragged into the dragon's nostril.
Rhaegal leans his head back, having collected all of the scents on the mask. Looking down at Marian, he waits for further instructions. Marian smiles at him, "I want you to take off, and sniff this bastard out. Once you find him, or her, I want you to land of their roof and wait for the city guard to get to you, then point out the culprit. If you get attacked by anyone, you have my permission to eat them."
Rhaegal, being a dragon, was incapable of smiling, but he did have a distinctly giddy air about him as he took off. Marian watched him fly up then start circling before turning back to her companions, "Alright, next stop is the guard house."