Justice
Astaporr
Rhaella Targaryen
Astapor was part of the Slavers bay, the Unsullied easily took the city, formidable warriors they were, they didn't feel pain and they were obedient and loyal, loyal to her daughter, the woman who gave them their freedom.
She was taking a walk through the city's streets, Ser Gerold and Ser Oswell were guarding her, she walked inti the market, many stores were closed. She found a fruit store and bought a canister with different fruits and walked to the plaza of punishment. Kids were playing and laughing there, they were finally free.
She had a translator at her service, her name was Narza, a woman in her mid thirties, the masters killed her children when they were training to become unsullied. They sat on Plaza's fountain and Narza called the children, one by one they gave them fruits, fruits that only could be found in Essos and the near Islands.
Rhaella saw the children running and playing, a feeling of happiness invaded her until she saw the slaves corpses hanging, from the city walls, she walked closer to them, astonished, at first she thought that they were bleeding because if the wounds that the whips could leave on the flesh of a man, but the she saw the truth, the slaves were skinned. Many flies covered their meat and bone, it was all red with black stains.
"Why is these people hanging?" Rhaella asked, her voice was about to break.
"They were rebel slaves Your Grace, the masters flay them and then hang their corpses in this plaza to use them as an example of what happens when we dare to defy them." Narza said.
Immediately Rhaella felt the bile coming up her throat, it was a gruesome practice, only the Boltons used to flay their enemies in Westeros. "Ser Oswell, I want you to bring some unsullied and take down all these bodies, after you do that give them a proper burial." She said, the pictures of those bodies would remain with her until her last day.
"I'll do as you command, Your Grace." The knight nodded and left towards Kraznys pyramid, but Rhaella's hand stopped him before he could leave.
"I want you to count each one of the bodies and tell me if you find children among the corpses too." The knight nodded again and left them standing there.
Daenerys Targaryen
Taking Astapor was one thing, now she had to hold it for a while to assure the peace to the citizens. The first she needed to do was name the captains of the Unsullied, they worked very good in centuries, but she didn't have that amount if captains.
A crowd of unsullied arrived to the main hall of Kraznys pyramid, the man leading them looked young, but his face looked serious, his hair was short and brown, and he didn't show signs lf having facial hair, a consequence of being cut by the good masters.
"You are the officers of the Unsullied, have you chose a leader among your ranks?" Daenerys asked in Valyrian. The young man who leaded the group gave a couple of steps forward, he was holding his helmet against his chest. "Tell me your name, please."
"This one's name is Grey Worm, your grace" the unsullied replied in Valyrian too.
Dany was confused she looked at Missandei and the young translator explained. "Grey Worm, Red flea, Black Rat. Those were some of the names that the masters gave them." Missandai took a deep breath, the mere fact of saying it was insulting and Dany noticed it. "In that way they can't forget what they are, vermin."
The explanation left a sour taste on Dany's mouth, 'How can such brilliant soldiers being named like vermin?' under her rule free men should choose their names. "You are free men and you have chose to follow me, from this day you will choose your name." she looked at the soldiers and walked among them, "take the names that your parents gave you or whichever you want, feel free to do that."
"The name this one was born with is cursed, it was the name this one had when the masters took me as a slave" Grey Worm said respectfully "and Grey Worm was the name this one had when Daenerys Stormborn set him free." He added looking at her with pride.
Dany was speechless, What could she say? Nothing, she only nodded and dismissed the officers of the unsullied and her new general, but before they could leave the pyramid she remembered her knights. "wait!" she yelled, the unsullied stopped immediately. "My knights will command some of you, a century for each one of them"
"we will do as our queen commands" Grey Worm responded, his face left no space for doubts, he would follow her orders until the end of time, or his life, or whatever should come first, blind loyalty, 'nothing is more dangerous than that, they would support anything I do.'
The unsullied were leaving when Ser Oswell came, "Excuse me, your grace, but I will need a couple of unsullied for a task the Queen mother asked me to do." The knight said in an apologetic tone as he looked at his feet.
"Why does my mother need soldiers?" she asked.
"I have orders to bury the slaves that were skinned in the Plaza of punishment, your grace." The knight responded, "I ask you to not see them, it's a ghoulish thing your grace, even for me and Ser Gerold." Ser Oswell added, Dany noticed how restless the knight looked, even a man who was used with the act of killing was disturbed with the Good Masters actions.
Dany got up from the ebony bench she used as some kind of throne, she couldn't address her new subjects from the top of the stairs located in her new throne room, she wanted to see each one of them face to face, 'What kind of queen I am if I can't speak to my subjects while I look at them in the eyes?' she told Ser Jorah when she asked for the bench. "I shall see what the good masters did Ser Oswell." She said with her queenly voice, she was only fifteen, but she needed to look older and mature for her subjects.
"Your grace, I don't think that…." Ser Oswell said, but Dany cut him off.
"I will see them with my own eyes, besides, I have an idea, but we will need the presence of the good masters if Astapor." She looked at Ser Jorah and the bear knight left the room towards the pyramid they used as a prison for the most conflictive masters.
She walked with Ser Oswell and Rakhara through the streets, the city looked better with each day that passed, Dany could understand that not all the masters were bad people, many freed slaves came to her throne room to be sold and serve their former masters. 'People learns to love their chains' she thought, but slavery was forbidden now in Astapor, if someone wanted to be served they needed to pay for their servants work.
When she walked into the plaza and met her mother she understood why Ser Oswell asked her to not go with them, a few minutes later Ser Jorah arrived with the masters, they were formed like the unsullied directing killing glares towards Dany, but her eyes where fixed in a girl's corpse, it was covered in flies. She stood then in a higher position looking at the crowd.
"What you see here…" she pointed at he corpses hanging in the walls, "Is what the Good masters have done to you for years. I could burn them alive with my dragons if I wish."
"Daenerys" her mother called, she looked at her worried face and gave her a calming smile.
"But I'm not here to kill more people" the crowd stopped cheering after that. "I will pay injustice with justice!" She looked at the masters then. "and I, Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen, the new queen of Astapor, sentence you to take this bodies down and give them a proper burial, in that way maybe you'll see the consequences of your acts by yourself." With that the crowd cheered louder.
"I prefer to die before touching a slave's body." One of the masters said.
"Pardon me my lord, you can't decide that." Dany said with a cold tone.
"Fuck this Westerosi whore, we are ghiscari we came here before her." The master said to his partners.
The master's words overwhelmed her with anger, she made a subtle nod looking at Grey Worm, the unsullied walked forward with the harpy's fingers in his hands. "Then, son of Ghis, let me show you a little of your own culture." She gave the order and Grey Worm whipped the master in the back, the man's screams filled the plaza with his pain as the claws of the whip ripped his skin.
"I will not put you in chains, but you need to answer for your crimes." She said as the crowd roared with laughs after seeing a master being whipped by a freed slave.
The rest of the masters didn't need to be threatened again, during all that day they worked under the sun, many vomited with the smell of rotten meat and the flies with their grubs, the perfect lesson to make them see the gruesomeness of their acts, "Look them in the eyes, remember their faces, remember their bodies and remember that you asked for it, I want you to think in all the babies killed by the unsullied and all they boys you butchered in their training." She said as each one of the masters carried a different corpse, she felt how justice fell upon those monsters in the form of a brazing sun.
She left the plaza towards the pyramid with her Queensguard, Missandei and her mother walked with her, many people looked at her with devotion, she felt her heart full of pride and love. Many children surrounded her.
Suddenly a dozen of knives shone with the sun's light, the Queensguard surrounded her and each man unsheathed his sword to protect her, many assassins came and disturbed the fragile peace that they were experiencing. "Rakharo take the queen out of here right now!" The Lord commander barked in a broken dothraki that Missandei translated.
The started to move towards the pyramid when an assassin stepped in front of them and Rakharo had to cut him down, the fight formed a gap in the defensive position for lung enough to let a little girl walk towards Dany, she was screaming and crying.
Dany took the girl in her arms and continued running towards the pyramid, many of the former slaves helped the Queensguard and killed some the assassins with sticks and stones. When they reached the entrance the girl stopped crying, Dany put her down and kneeled to talk with her, she had blonde hair and blue eyes, she was beautiful.
"Are you hurt little girl?" she asked worried and the little girl just shook her head to say no, then she gave a little ball to Dany, it was made of wood. The girl made the gesture to unscrew it and Dany did it, but before she could open the ball a hooded man threw it away, immediately Ser Jorah and Ser Oswell tackled him down, Dany stumbled and fell on the ground, there she saw a rare insect walking out of the wooden ball, it was green and looked like a scorpion, but it was bigger and it's eyes were looking directly at her, in that moment Dany was paralyzed, the creature walked closer and closer until a dagger pierced it and, as it agonized, pulled it up.
Dany tried to look for the girl and spotted her on a roof, the only difference was that her lips were blue now, 'Warlocks' she thought and feared for her children, she was ready to run into the pyramid, when the hooded man talked to her.
"Your children are safe your grace, my partner has secured them." The man said with a respectful tone, then he took his hood off and showed his face, her mother and the knights that were protecting her were shocked. For Dany he was just an old man with white hair and blue eyes, a bug handsome for his age.
"Do you know him?" she asked to her mother and her companions.
"It would be impossible to forget Ser Barristan the bold your grace" Ser Gerold said as he walked closer to the old knight.
"I thought that would never see any of you again" Barristan chuckled before kneeling in front of Dany, "My name is Barristan Selmy, I swore to protect your family and I failed you, now, I ask for your forgiveness and for a space in your Queensguard."
Dany was confused, she looked at her mother and Ser Gerold, they both gave her subtle nods. "You may rise Ser Barristan the bold, and be welcome into my house, I'll decide later if you can join my Queensguard." She said sounding like a truly queen, the old knight nodded and smiled.
They were walking into the throne room when Ser Jorah talked to her.
"We shouldn't trust Ser Barristan your grace, the man was the lord commander of the Usurper's Kingsguard." The bear knight said with notorious concern, his old face always softened when he talked to her, Dany saw the fatherly figure that she never had with the bear knight, but she was no fool and noticed what were Ser Jorah's true intentions and feelings towards her.
"I shall speak with all the members of my Queensguard before taking a decision, I will—" she stopped talking immediately when she saw a young girl standing in the throne room, she was real beauty, she had high cheekbones, vivid blue eyes that looked like ice, but what Dany liked most of her was her thick auburn hair, she looked graceful and regal, but her face showed hints of suffering, what kind of people could make a pretty girl like her suffer?
"Your grace, may I present you to Lady S-" Ser Barristan said, but Ser Jorah cut him off immediately.
"No need for introductions, I have known this Lady since she was born." Ser Gerold said smiling.
"Ser Gerold!" she said excited and ran to meet the old knight, she wrapped her arms around the old knight's neck and started sobbing.
"May I know who is this Lady here Ser Gerold?" Dany asked, she was surprised of seeing the girl's reaction.
"This lady, Your Grace, is Sansa Stark." Ser Gerold replied and bowed subtly, Sansa noticed it and bowed too.
"She has the Tully colors." Rhaella said, "Are you sure that she's a Stark?"
"You think that bringing us the Usurper's dog kin the queen will accept you?" Ser Jorah asked bitterly.
"Careful now, Mormont, I will not aloud that you speak ill of this girl or her father." The Lord Commander said caressing his sword's pommel.
"Enough of that, I shall speak with Lady Stark in my solar." Dany intervened and both knights stayed looking at their feet, "My apologies, Lady Stark, for this honorable knights behavior, I'm sure that you have traveled a lot, I would be pleased to talk with you in my solar." Dany grabbed Sansa from her arm and walked towards the door, but she suddenly stopped before walking out of the room, "I shall speak with both of you later." She said and sent a killing glare towards the bear knight and the Lord Commander.
They walked in silence through the pyramid's halls, Dany's solar was enormous and full of luxuries, Master Kraznys was a greedy man after all. They sat at the table and Missandai brought the food with Rhaella's help, they served fruits and fish with oysters.
"Do you drink wine?" Dany asked politely, Sansa gave her a shy nod.
"My lady mother just let me drink a cup during supper" she said, her voice was sweet for Dany's ears.
"We have some of the finest wins from the Arbor and Dorne." Dany offered but Sansa didn't answer, "Maybe an Arbor wine would be good for now" Dany poured wine in two cups and offered one to Sansa, she looked mistrustful at first and Dany noticed it, "Don't be afraid My lady, I don't want to harm you, I can see in your eyes that you have suffered enough."
"Thank you your grace." Sansa said as she sipped from her cup.
"How did Ned Stark's daughter ended here in Essos with the Lord Commander of Robert Baratheon's Kingsguard?" Dany asked with a puzzled eyes.
"King Joffrey dismissed Ser Barristan from the Kingsguard and replaced him with Jaime Lannister as Lord Commander, he escaped from the Red keep after killing two members lf the Kingsguard." She said and took a small pause before continuing. "He rescued me before leaving, Joffrey and the Queen… I was their hostage after they imprisoned my father."
"I thought that Lord Stark was the Usurper's best friend." Rhaella said confused.
"He was, but the king got attacked by a boar, some people say that the queen gave her a very strong wine, it makes sense once you know she wanted him dead." she drank from her cup trying to take away the bitter taste that the memory caused. "Then she accused my father and my betrothed pf killing the king, but my father didn't do anything, he just discovered that Joffrey, Myrcella and Tommen where Jaime Lannister's bastards."
Dany was shocked with Sansa's revelation, "What happened to your father my lady?"
"The king sentenced him to die, they beheaded him with his own sword." Sansa said as her voice started to break, "they killed Orys when he tried to escape, they made me look at their heads on spikes for days, until Ser Barristan rescued me." Sansa was sobbing then, Dany's heart clenched with her sobs, she desired to bring justice for Lady Sansa, her father was a traitor, but children weren't guilty for their father's sins.
"Robb and Jon even marched south to save us, but they didn't made in time, now they are fighting against the Lannisters in the Riverlands." Sansa said between sobs, "my little sister disappeared in the Red keep, I was alone there."
Dany saw an opportunity there, Sansa could be the key to open negotiations with the North and the Riverlands, "Your brothers, what was the last thing you heard about them?"
"Robb is my brother, Jon is my cousin, my bastard cousin. The last thing I heard was that Jon defeated Tywin Lannister next to the green fork, they said that he burned many knights and horses, but tha was nonsense" she said.
"burned, why is that a nonsense?" Dany asked.
"I hear Maester Pycelle say that they had a dragon, but dragons disappeared a hundred years ago." Sansa said as she tasted some of the exotic fruits served on the table.
Dany's eyes widened, she looked at her mother who shared the same expression, 'could it be possible?' her long lost nephew was alive… maybe, but how did he found a dragon?, she noticed that Sansa was expecting a response, she needed to say something, "My children are here, I hatched them in Pentos my lady, I wouldn't discard the idea of a dragon attacking the Lannisters."
"Pardon me your grace, I didn't know…" Sansa said looking at her feet.
"There nothing to forgive, how old is this Jon Snow?" she asked.
"He's a little bit younger than Robb, they are both sixteen, but soon they should turn seventeen." Sansa answered immediately.
Dany looked at her mother, she was speechless with the revelation, "Missandei will escort you to your chambers my lady, I need to speak with my mother in private, It's being a nice chat."
Sansa was ready to leave when Dany called her by her name, "Sansa" she said softly, "I promise you that no one shall hurt you again, and I promise you that I will make justice fall upon those who had wronged you." Her face showed determination, her amethyst eyes shone like the eyes of her children.
"What do you think about our new guest story?" Dany asked her mother.
"It almost sounds like a cruel coincidence my dear, the only thing I can be sure of is that we have a potential ally under our roof, we must take care of her as best as we can." Rhaella replied.
"Do you think that he could be alive?" Dany asked like when she was a little girl.
"I don't know, I can't be sure, but the last time I knew something of him was because Ser Arthur wrote me a letter, maybe we should ask Lady Sansa tomorrow." Dany admired her mother more than anything else, she was a strong woman despite of her father's abusive behavior.
Rhaella left her a couple of hours later, Dany couldn't stop thinking about this Jon Snow, despite her mother, she was the last Targaryen, she thought about Viserys, he was probably dead already rotting in the desert after drinking all the water he had. But this Jon Snow, a bastard who probably had a dragon, if was her nephew he was no bastard at all, he was the heir to the Iron throne, his claim was stronger than hers and he had the support of the North.
Those were only possibilities, maybe he only was a bastard and no more, maybe he was just as evil as Viserys or her father, 'I need to know more about him' she thought.
The next morning Dany walked into the pit where her children slept, they got used quickly to their new home, Ser Gerold, Ser Jorah and Ser Barristan accompanied her, it was the best time to talk with the knights in private.
She entered and Balerion flied immediately to meet her, he tried to climb on her shoulder, his claws almost tore her chainmail, it was a sad view for Dany. "You're too big to climb over me my boy." She said caressing his snout. Balerion and his brothers grew bigger and bigger with each passing day.
"They are beautiful Your Grace." Ser Barristan said.
"Indeed, they are magnificent." Ser Gerold said.
"Have you think what you should do with the Stark girl?" Ser Jorah asked ruining the moment.
Dany let out a big sigh, "Ser Barristan can join the Queensguard, and Sansa Stark will be my guest."
"But your grace, we could ask for ransom, she could be a useful hostage to keep the Northern lords in line." Ser Jorah argued.
"I will not have my decisions questioned by you Ser Jorah, I will not take the girl as a hostage, she's just a girl scared that lost her father and was tortured by the Lannisters." Dany replied very annoyed, Balerion turned his head towards Ser Jorah and advanced menacingly showing his teeth. The bear knight almost stumbled as he walked back. "Leave your hate fir the Starks far away from me, if you can't do that then I shall expulse you from my Queensguard."
"I'll do as you command, your Grace." Ser Jorah said and kneeled in front of her.
"Ser Gerold, years ago you left Winterfell and my nephew to search for me, you told my mother that last time you saw him he was dying." Dany said looking as a couple of unsullied carried some animals for her children.
"Yes your Grace, I remember clearly that day." The white bull confirmed.
"Do you remember his name?" she asked.
"His bastard name was Jon Snow, but his real name was Aemon Targaryen your Grace." He replied.
"Good" Dany smirked at the confirmation that Ser Gerold gave her. "My nephew is fighting a war in Westeros, he has a dragon and the last thing Lady Sansa heard was that he defeated Tywin Lannister's host in the green fork." Then she turned to see Ser Barristan, "Is that true Ser Barristan?" she asked with an inquisitive look.
"That's pretty accurate information your grace, the last thing we heard in the capital was that Lord Tywin was chasing the bulk of the northern army when a dragon started to burn his forces." The old knight confirmed.
"How did you escaped from King's Landing Ser?" Dany had her own suspicions, but only Ser Barristan could confirm them.
"The spider helped me your grace, he gave us a safe passage to one of Illyrio Mopatis ships, then we traveled a long way to meet you, but I must warn you that the spider isn't a trustful person." Ser Barristan said, "one day I heard him talking about how he needed chaos in the realm, it would be easier for him, I couldn't hear anything else." He added.
"I will need more ships if I want to sail towards Westeros, Ser Jorah is there any city like Astapor near to us?" she asked.
"We are on the slsvers bay, your grace, Yunkai is the closest city to Astapor, but now I tell you that you don't have a reason to take Yunkai." The bear knight answered.
"How many slaves live in Yunkai?" Dany asked.
"Two hundred thousand, at least." Ser Jorah replied after thinking a moment.
"Then I have two hundred thousand reasons to take that city. I will leave a government in Astapor and march on Yunkai as soon as possible." Dany ordered as fiercely as always, a truly queen, a dragon queen.
She talked to Grey worm that day and started to prepare her conquest, it would take a couple of months to organize the bulk if her forces, that night she felt fear of being the last Targaryen again, now that her nephew was waging war against Joffrey and the Lannisters, he could end up killed, she didn't know him, but he was her family and ,based in the things Lady Sansa told her, he was a good man the kindest of all despite of his bastard status.
'I should sail right now, leave all these things behind, find him and avenge our family.' She thought, it was a tempting idea, but the memory if rotten corpses returned to her head,'I must free this people, show them that are better ways to live, I'll learn to rule before taking back the Iron throne, I need to wait for my children to grow bigger.' In that moment she felt like if she was an ant fighting a shadowcat, but the thought of the children laughter made her see that she was fighting for them, to let those children have a normal childhood without fears and threats, a childhood she never had.
'The lonely dragon' she thought 'I must find the lonely dragon.'