Daenerys
A good ruler understood the importance of perception.
A mighty warrior would forever fight an uphill battle for respect if their voice came out as a squeak and a high pitch whine. The most cowardly and worthless of lords could still gain loyalty if he made his castle grander than his neighbors, with high towers and battlements that were the envy of all. How one dressed, how one held themselves, how one spoke and what words they chose... all of this could win or lose a war before it even began.
Dany had come to understand this well. One only had to look at her own family history to understand that strength could be won and lost purely through how others perceived you. Aegon the Conqueror had claimed domain over Westeros because of his dragons, this was known. But would he have been so successful if his dragons had resembled great fluffy canaries with brightly colorful wings and chirping songs rather than roars? She had her doubts. Her ancestor had understood the power of perception and done all he could to make it work for him. He had named his dragon not merely Balarion but Balarion The Black Dread, so that people knew what they should feel when they heard of his coming. He named his capital King's Landing to remind all that he had come to Westeros not as a warrior who became a king but their king already even if they hadn't known it. Even the title of King of the Seven Kingdoms when Dorne had refused to bend the knee and had continued to do so for generations hence showed the acknowledgement of perception; what good was a king who could only claim 6 of the 7 great seats?
The people of Qarth believed in perception too. It was why they called the lands beyond their walls the Garden of Bones and did nothing to hide the corpses of those who were refused entry. They loved their lofty titles and their confusing customs, for both made a stranger feel small and stupid when faced with them. They competed with each other all the time to determine who could create the greater aura of power, even if there was none for any of them in actuality. For if enough people believed you deserved power they would soon begin to give it to you freely. And that was so much easier than being a conqueror. To have people surrender themselves to you with a smile and THANK you for the privilege... that was the greatest of powers.
A king, a priest, and a rich man are in a room, before them a common sellsword. Each commands the man to slay the other two. Who lives? Who dies? The answer was simple: whoever made the sellsword believe they had the greater power.
So Daenerys not only understood why they were putting on the grand showing in Viktor's manse but embraced it.
She was seated on a stone throne upon a dais, the seat rather plain by most standards but the high back and dark stone made up for the lack of jewels and gems. She was dressed in new Dothraki leathers but rather than the ones worn for riding these had been instead been sewn by her servants in the style of what most closely resembled something 'formal' for the Horse Lords. They reminded her of Drogo's leathers, from when he'd first ridden to Magister Illyrio's estate in Pentos to finalize his marriage to her. Made of the finest leather from a pitch black bull with buttons made from its horns, the garments stood out against her silver hair and tanned skin. Blood red stripes, like Drogo's dark blue ones, had been painted upon her chest and shoulders. Her hair had been braided through onyx rings that reflected back even the weakest of light. She wore the special gloves that Viktor had commissioned for her and in front of the cringing audience she created a tiny ball of flames and began to juggle it between her fingers, similar to the manner she'd seen a sailor do with a coin back in her youth. She kept her posture loose but ready, with a lazy air that Ser Jorah said mimicked the Red Viper of Dorne, who was well known for being able to lounge about only to suddenly burst into deadly action within the flickers of one's eyelashes.
Beside her chair stood Ser Jorah himself, the armor that he'd worn to the House of the Undying polished and cleaned to the finest shine. He's face had been shaved clean and he kept his head held straight even as he scanned the room with his eyes, his hands resting on the pommel of the sword that he held, blade bare and ready should he need it. On her other side was Logan, dressed too in finer Dohtraki leathers, though in the brown and dark yellows he had sported on his march to the House of the Undying, the cowl in place over his face, his fingers occasionally twitching and with each flick of them those that stood below her cringed. Bordering the room were a mix of her bloodriders and Viktor's household guard, all with weapons at the ready should any make the mistake of trying to do something foolish. Behind her throne, on three tall perches, were her dragons, hissing and chirping at each other occasional but otherwise at the ready to unleash their flames with those of their mother if she gave the command. She forced herself not to smile as she sensed their excitement and could hear them practically begging her to give the command so they could leap once more into battle as a family.
Perception worked both ways. Strength and weakness. And on the ground before her the Pureborn were doing little to make her think of them as little more than cringing vermin. They couldn't keep still, they flinched at every small movement, and they either wore looks of free or anger, splitting them between frightened mice and feral rats. And it wasn't even Dany who was making them react as they were but the man to her left, who sat in the center of the room on a throne even taller and more imposing than her own.
Doom.
"It is true that the Thirteen are gone. Slain." Viktor sat with his hands together in front of his face, fingers threaded together. It made him look like he was pondering something that was completely different from the words that left his mouth, though what they might be was a mystery to all. He had not changed what he wore for there was no need too... that grim mask and emerald cloak over his armored form was more than enough. To have changed it would have been to actually ruin the effect, for it made clear to all that here was a man who held such sway he did not need to command respect through garments. "And it is to be expected what you did next. The balance of power suddenly shifted, our triangle becoming merely a bar and you thought that with this new development your time had come. That you could seize control of the Guilds and rule once more as you always had. As predictable as it is mundane. The greatest change in all of Qarth and yet do you change with it? No… you choose the same patterns and same routines. You dream of the future you desire but you refuse to move towards it, remaining forever in the past. And you not only think that this will help you rule but means that you deserve to.
"Never mind that the Guild saw the exact same situation and held the exact same supplies and strength of men that you had. You assumed that you would be able to dominate them with the Thirteen no longer drawing half of your attention away. Did you not consider that what plagued you plagued them as well? Of course you did not… the bloodbath on the streets is proof of that. The molten ruins of the House of the Undying had barely…" he paused, turning towards Dany who caught a ball of fire on one of her fingers and let it linger before she flicked it up into the air and ate it like a sweet. Perception. "…cooled before you raced out to claim Qarth. And you met the Guild in open warfare." He untangled his fingers and held his hands out in a gesture of receiving. "What did you earn from such a brash act?"
The Pureborn before him grit their teeth or looked down in shame, depending on how much courage and arrogance they had left, and didn't answer.
"Nothing save for the elimination of nearly half your respective forces. Still, you eliminated half of your enemy's men so it can be at least said that your men gave as good as they got." Viktor leaned forward and tapped the armrest of his throne. "But you forgot one thing, you pure bred fools: the Thirteen were not, as the name suggests, merely 13 men. Beyond the leaders there are soldiers, guards, Unsullied warriors, kept spies and paid assassins. Generals, archers, shieldmen, wardens and watchers. And that is merely what we shared with each other. Each of us had an entire battalion of our own trained fighters, from sworn swords to simple household guards.
"Perhaps in your arrogance you thought they would swarm to your banners. That like a dog freed from their leash and lost in a strange place far from home they would come to the first that offered them a scrap of food and a pat on the head. That they would become your men and supplement your loses. I imagine you comforted yourselves with that fantasy when the full count of your loses after your first failed attempt to claim this city was delivered to you."
Viktor once more leaned back on his throne, one hand lazily draped over the side while he placed his finger above the mouth slit of his mask. He kept silent for several moments, letting his broken foes stew in their anger and failure before he finally began to speak once more. "But that isn't what happened, is it? For in your brashness you never considered we drilled into the very souls of our men a hatred for your and the Guild. Where you instilled in your men fear of what you would do to them should they ever betray you we found that it was far better to place disgust and repulsion of you within them. We told them of your crimes and your vulgarities, of every piece of rumor and heresy that has ever been spoken of you both. Of your perversions and demented lusts. We made it so that you were the antithesis of all they held as good and right so that the moment one of your spies attempted to gain them to your side it would take all their strength not to slit their throats. The fact that they didn't and instead waited to come to us, so that we might find ways to turn your own spying against you, is a testament to the training we gave them.
"So when I came to them with Daenerys Targaryen, her sworn swords Ser Jorah and Logan, and her bloodriders, and told them that I would wipe out both you and the Guild… they asked me how soon it would be done. They flocked to me with smiles and a lust for victory… and a desire to wipe your treacherous and corrupting souls from this fair city." He paused again, straightening in his chair as he regarded them all. "You think your men will still mount a rescue, don't you? That my army can be broken? Allow me to dissuade you from that delusion; you have no men left. Their fear of you was crushed under my boot the moment I took you. Remember… you never gave them a reason to hate me save you commanded it. And with you no longer holding the whips and chains… they are free to turn their cloaks. They are mine now… every last one of them."
'For now,' Daenerys thought. Viktor had let only her, Ser Jorah, Logan, and his most trusted officers know that the offer of peace he'd made to the Pureborn and Guild's men was only temporary. 'How can you trust a man who has betrayed one lord already?' she thought. It made sense after all she'd seen with the Dohtraki. Many had come to the horde offering to show them the way into a city, so they might sack it all the easier. And every time the khals had slit their throats, quietly and without a word to all save a few, and then ensured that the traitor's remains were wiped clean of the earth. 'A scorpion would always sting, it was known, even those it claims to aid' her handmaidens had told her and Dany found herself agreeing with those words and she herself had realized that if she hoped to take back her family's kingdom she would have to remember them well. Men who had betrayed her father would quickly betray the Lannisters when she arrived on the shores of Westeros with her dragons… and would just as quickly betray her to another power that offered better odds. One couldn't kill without thought, of course… that was a waste. But when a former foe's uses were spent that was when one turned their attention on their… reward.
That was why the remaining men of the Pureborn and the Guilds were being separated and integrated into Viktor's forces. Split so that they couldn't work together… and so that eyes could be kept upon them. Once Qarth was secured Viktor would see them eliminated. He'd told her of a story he'd once read of a great Emperor who had made friends with his clan's sworn enemy, pretending to be a simple ally who wanted peace. And when the rival clan was spread thin and the war that had brought them together had reached its end messengers had been sent with a single command: wipe them out. All of them. Viktor would do the same. When Qarth was his Viktor would wipe away the last remains of the Pureborn and the Guilds.
'Of course there are to be exceptions to such strategies,' Dany thought, doing her best not to glance as Ser Jorah. 'He betrayed my father but because of orders from his liege lord. No matter what he would have had to betray one. Thus forgiveness can be given for that.' Inside her mind she frowned and she steeled her heart. 'So long as he understands now and forever that a second such splitting of loyalties can never happen again.'
Daenerys would forgive… but never forget.
One of the boldest of the Pureborn, one who had not yet been broken by his defeat, stepped forward, ignoring the guards as they gripped their swords all the tighter. "And what are your plans, Vondam? You seek to take Qarth and do what? Make it your new domain?"
"Why do you sound so surprised?" Viktor asked. "You wanted the same."
"But you… you are not of our stock! Not a drop of blood from Qarth flows through your veins!"
"And all the better that it does not," Viktor countered to the shock of the Pureborn, those gaudy fools who held their lineage as so important to the running of their city. "I have seen what the undistilled blood of Qarth has done to this city and I am not impressed. You have allowed what could have been the greatest city in all of Essos to rot like a scrap of meat in the sun. Your petty need to cling to delusions that the world might return to what it was before have ensured that we have never moved forward." Viktor slammed his fist down on his throne. "The Dothraki have grown more than we have! No… the blood of Qarth has led to stagnation. It will be through outside wisdom and outside thought that we will finally rise above what we have become and truly become worthy of all the pompous airs you and your ilk have put on."
"What do you think you are then, Vondam?" the Pureborn demanded. "A prince? A king? A tyrant? A revolutionary? A dictator? A savior?"
He stared down at them, eyes narrowed.
"Doom. Is. Doom."
With that he held up his hand and his guards swarmed forward and grabbed the Pureborn, clapping heavy chains around their wrists and metal collars about their throats. Those that tried to fight back were forced to the ground so that the soldiers could, with utter silence and precision, shatter their kneecaps and ankles. Their cries filled the room and Daenerys forced herself not to react as the proud and pompous men were reduced to sobbing screaming wretches. Some plead for mercy. Others claimed to have hidden knowledge; secret vaulted filled with treasure and forbidden texts that only they could get to. A few made threats or claimed to be placing curses upon Doom should he harm them. A handful tried to escape but were quickly recaptured, beaten all the worse but left alive. It did not matter what they did, how they screamed his name or what baubles they tried to offer him in exchange for their lives… Viktor did not react.
For in Qarth Doom's word was now law.
Dany didn't know where the guards were taking the Pureborn… she had a feeling she'd rest easier not knowing. It was painfully hard to merely sit there and watch what was happening unfold but she knew that she had to. The Pureborn, had they had their way, would have kept her an 'honored prisoner', gawked at by their children like a tiger kept as a pet for the amusement of its owners. Her own children at best would have been broken so that they might be tamed (if such a thing could even be done) or worst killed so that every part of them could be sold to fuel the Pureborn's lifestyle. So instead she sat and stared without a flicker of emotion as the former third of Qarth's ruling trinity were dragged from Viktor's hall until none remained.
"Let us discuss our personal matters in a private setting," Viktor suggested and Dany nodded in agreement, motioning for Logan and Jorah to follow her, her handmaidens gathering her dragons in their special baskets and taking them away. When Viktor glanced her way when Logan and Ser Jorah moved to bracket her and she merely smiled a cool smirk.
"You just arranged for men you plan to kill to murder their former masters. I trust you, Viktor, but not enough to be alone with you."
Rather than being offended he nodded in approval. "You are learning." He motioned for two of his guards to follow them as well, keeping the numbers matched, and led the way out of the Great Hall and through his estate, climbing a set of steps before arriving at the door of solar, where another two guards were waiting. His eyes flicked to them and when they nodded he only then opened the door and motioned for Daenerys to enter. It wasn't politeness though that saw him do that; rather she wagered he wanted her to be the first form to enter should there be an assassin waiting for him.
As if reading her thoughts he said, "I have taken control of Qarth, something no single man has ever done before. Where others would be arrogant in their holding of such power I suffer not that flaw. I know how dangerous the cliff edge I stand on now truly is and I will not blinding step towards the abyss."
"And when will you feel that your position is secure?" she asked, taking a seat in front of his desk, Ser Jorah and Logan moving to stand close enough to her to defend her but far enough away that they won't tumble over each other if there was a trap.
Viktor shook his head. "I could have control of the entire world, with every man from the richest lord to the poorest beg idolizing me. I could make myself a god in their eyes so that the very thought of striking me would be the most vile of sins. I could rid all of existence of violence, till the word murder was nonsense in the ears of all. I could strike down the Stranger himself so that none aged or died and the world we live in surpassed the Seven Heavens. I could do all this and still I would not believe my grasp to be complete." He sat down and stared at her intently. "Remember that well, Daenerys Firestar. Remember that when a ruler becomes lax and complacent it means their end... for their enemies will not have the luxury of such emotions."
"I will remember," Dany stated firmly. "What will you do now?" she asked, moving away from such grim predictions.
"I will do as I told the Pureborn and as I will tell the Guildmen who now rot in my cells: I will rule. I will remake this city, altering it from the ground to the highest point until it is worthy of being knowing as the Greatest City There Is."
"That is a tall undertaking," Dany stated.
"No taller than seizing control of Seven Kingdoms who remember still that your father was a madman who burned his own Wardens and raped his own wife so violently that all the Red Keep could hear her screams?"
Dany winced at that. Viktor had not been kind when it came to discussing her family. No, he had been utterly blunt and direct, telling her how he felt about each and every member of the House of the Dragon. His opinion of her forbearers was rather low, to the point that she was quite sure his comments to the Pureborn had been directed as much to her as they were to them. It had been painful to hear, for Viserys had told her such heroic tales of their family, preaching sometimes for days on end of how noble and heroic their family was. How they had brought Westeros out of darkness and savagery and made them great and had the jealous traitors in their midst merely accepted that they were lesser when compared to The Dragon then all would have been better for it. She had felt such pride in her family from all those tales and had always loved to tell people that she was Daenerys of House Targaryan, the great dragon lords whose lineage was filled with heroes and visionaries.
Viktor had utterly destroyed those fantasies.
He spoke of Maegor I, Maegor the Cruel, who had finished the Red Keep on the backs of workmen that he then slaughtered by the hundreds if not thousands purely to keep all the secrets to himself. Who had murdered his allies just so he could marry their wives. Aegon the Unworthy, who he'd enjoyed bringing up whenever she commented on the Usurper, pointing out that when it came to drinking, whoring, and siring bastards she couldn't point to her family and claim them better. Aerys I, her father's namesake, who had been a worthless king who would have left Westeros to be destroyed by it enemies had it not been for his hand, The Bloodraven. Aenys I, a weak king who acted as if the Targaryens had ruled for centuries rather than a few decades and did not understand why enemies would ever rise against him. Aegon II and Rhaenyra, the two claimants in the Dance of the Dragons that caused the deaths of tens of thousands of innocents because of their petty squabbles. Daeron I who waged a pointless war that saw even more people killed along with himself. And finally her father, the Mad King himself.
She had railed against him when he had told her that her father would go down as one of the worst kings the Seven Kingdoms had ever seen, and quite possibly the worst king to ever rule any kingdom. She'd argued that all he claimed were lies, that her father was a good man and a good king who had been betrayed by his scheming bannermen. When he explained, in graphic detail, the deaths of Rickard Stark and his brother Brandon she had said they deserved it, that her father, had he done such a horrid thing, would have only done so for the best reasons. She called him a liar who spread false words about her family for his own schemes.
"Doom does not lie. Ever." He had then banished her from his solar and refused to allow her to be in his presence for nearly a fortnight. During that time Dany had forced Ser Jorah to tell her all he knew of the war and he had admitted that many of the claims Viserys had made had been false, telling her at last, when she had called him a liar as well, "Do you hold the word of a man who attempted to kill your unborn child over those who love you?"
She'd wept after that, finally understanding that what her brother had told her had been sweet lies and Viktor and Jorah gave her the bitter truth. She'd finally sent a message to Viktor apologizing for what she had said and he'd welcomed her back to his solar to hear his council… though not without a final warn: "Do not disappoint me again."
So when Viktor brought up just how difficult it would be for her to claim and rule the Seven Kingdoms Dany merely nodded in acceptance that he had a point, that both of them were dreaming rather grandly and yet both also had the will to see their dreams be made real.
"Where will you start?" Daenerys asked, reaching over and pouring herself a glass of wine.
"From the very top and the very bottom," Viktor stated. "You have seen the former with my handling of the Pureborn… next will come the Guilds. I must cut the heads from the beasts before I can truly begin to shape and mold this city into something better."
"And the bottom?"
"Show the people that I am not like those that came before but without others to check my power." He tapped his finger against the desk. "I have ordered the homes of those sentenced to die be drained of all food and slowly given to the poor. Slowly." He stressed the word. "I will not have my new subjects frolicking naked and drunk in the streets. That is a waste of time and supplies. No, I will feed them but only as much as they need, not a morsel more. Whatever can be kept and stored will be, for there will come a time when the trade ships can not sail and the merchants do not cross the desert to trade in our markets and I will not have my people starve."
"So prepare as if any time there could be a siege," Dany inferred. Viktor nodded in agreement. "And after that?"
"I will reshape how things are done. Too much time and effort has been wasted on pomp and ceremony. I will simplify things so that one might do as they need to without it taking days or weeks to accomplish the goal." She could tell he was smiling. "I have been thinking about this for a long time; long before word reached me of you. I have refined my plans like a wine maker does their Arbor Gold and at long last it is time to put my thoughts to action."
Daenerys took a sip of her wine, unconcerned if it were poisoned or not. She kept now a small flame burning in her stomach which burned away any poisons that she might ingest (Jorah had NOT been happy when he found out how she'd determined that) and the wine merely fueling the flame while ensuring she did not grow drunk (Logan had been glad he wasn't the only one who could drink barrels of ale and wine and not suffer the effects). "And of course you are keeping yourself open to new possibilities."
"Of course. I will not fall into the same trap those that ruled before did, believing that they were leading Qarth into a new golden age when all they managed was to keep this city trapped in the past. I WILL remake this city until it is the envy of all the Free Cities." He paused, considering his words for a moment. "I have already given the first command to see us move forward."
"And that is?"
"Ironically enough something from the past." Viktor gestured towards a map of Qarth. "Did you know that despite their claims otherwise that this city did not always belong to the Pureborn? Of course it was so far in the past that none remember it. And the Pureborn did their best to purge the world of that knowledge, for they knew that should it become known their claims to this city would turn from steel to sand. Well, the name Qarth has become a bitter poison in my mouth, burning my tongue every time I say it. So I will return us to the name this city once had, a name that Doom will be proud to proclaim."
"And that would be?"
"Latveria."
"Latveria," Dany said, rolling the name around on her tongue. "It doesn't sound like any name I've heard before. Not High Valyrian, that's for sure."
"The people who coined it are long dead," Viktor said. "I am the first to utter it in centuries. You are the second."
"What an accomplishment," Daenerys said flatly and she heard Logan snigger at that. "How did you find out about the name if the Pureborn worked so hard to erase it."
"Fact can't truly be destroyed," Viktor stated plainly. "It can be withheld, it can be slowed, it can be delayed, it can be corrupted. But you can not make them truly disappear. Oh, it can be lost to the ages, of course. It can fall out of favor or be suppressed. But for it to destroyed so that it never has a chance to be learned again? No, Daenerys, that isn't possible. That is the great lie that the cowardly and the corruptible tell the masses."
"But there is so much we do not know," Daenerys pointed out. "So much that has been lost and there is no hope to learn again."
"That is a child's rebuttal," Viktor stated. "Be an adult and fight me with actual thoughts."
Dany scowled at that but knew he had a point. Had she not done the same with the Dohtraki whenever they had claimed something and simply said, when pressed, "It is so"? She pursed her lips in thought before saying, "Valyria. The Doom happened centuries ago and their great accomplishments are lost to us. My family is the last link to Old Valyria and with my brother's death I am the last of my family. And I tell you now I do not know the answers to the great questions."
"But there are those that do or will one day," Viktor replied.
"And how is that not a child's rebuttal?" Dany retorted.
"Because Doom backs his words with facts." He leaned forward. "Valyria isn't gone. It still lies out there, waiting for the right person to uncover its secrets."
"All that go there die," Dany stated. "It is kn... no one who has gone there has returned."
"I have heard word from Meereen of a traveler known as 'The Lonely Man'. He went to Valyria... and returned." Viktor leaned back in his chair. "I know that there have been claims in the past. Fakes and mummers who have sold gaudy trinkets they claimed they got from the ruined lands of the Dragon Lords. All were exposed and dealt with. But this is different. He seeks not attention or coin for what he has done, in fact he seems rather reluctant to speak of what he saw. I have been searching for him... there are far too many snippets concerning him for him to be a mummer's farce, created from whole cloth. A man, apparently from Tarth, went to Valyria. And he lived. He holds knowledge thought lost." He shook his head. "It remains that fact can not be destroyed. No one knows how to make Valyrian Steel, only how to reforge it. This is accepted by the world. But I argue that there is someone, possibly many someones, who know how to achieve it and simply desire to hold their secret close."
"And why would they not reveal it?" Dany asked.
Viktor waved his hand about. "When is a secret worthless?" When she didn't answer he said, "When everyone knows it. A secret gains power the less it is known. If I knew how to make Valyrian Steel I would never tell a soul until I neared my death. For if I control the forging of that metal I control the world."
"And if you are wrong and no one knows?
"Then it will be discovered again. The knowledge didn't suddenly fall from the sky, delivered by the Seven. It was discovered once and can be discovered again. One only needs to know where to look." He gestured to an old book that sat on a table to his left. "I found the name Latveria there, in the writings of a disgruntled scholar who had seen all his works burned. He hid the knowledge well but it was found again by me... and will return to the world. One only needs the dedication to find it."
Dany though didn't look at the old faded book but rather at the collection of scrolls next to it, the ones that had been found in the bottom floors of the House of the Undying, saved from her flames thanks to being shielded by a safe made of thick steel. She fought the urge to shudder as she looked at them. "And will you seek out forgotten knowledge in those?"
"You disapprove."
She did more than that. She could feel the fires burning in her belly, screaming to be released, to turn the scrolls to ashes. Daenerys wanted nothing more than to wipe out every last remaining sign of the Warlocks, the monsters that had taken her children. And not just for them but for her allies… her friends… as well. They had tormented Logan and Ser Jorah with their visions and for that they had paid. Dany had been protected in her youth, from those that took her across the Narrow Sea as a babe to the men that welcomed her and her brother into their home. But they had always wanted something, she knew that now. They wanted the blood of Old Valyria to mingle with their own or to be able to show her off like a trinket they'd bought from a merchant. Many times she was an after thought; it was Viserys who mattered, who would be king. She was the spare, nothing else. They did not care for her. But Logan and Ser Jorah did. Ser Jorah, her fierce bear who had given her a true taste of home and who had sworn his sword to her. And Logan, who had shown with the magic of the Warlocks themselves that his greatest desire was to be by her side, protecting her. Not out of a sexual desire or a greed-filled need for possession but because he cared for her as a brother would… as her brother SHOULD… and wanted her safe.
For that she wanted the scrolls destroyed.
What stopped her though was the knowledge that Doom would not allow such a thing to happen. Assuming those were even the real scrolls (and Dany was convinced they were not; Viktor wasn't that foolish as to leave something so valuable lying about) were she to burn them she doubted she would escape his manse in one piece. And even if she did her people would not. Doom had proven his ability to destroy just moments ago and he would take his rage out on her Khalasar. The children and the old would be slaughtered for her actions and thus, as he had taught her, sometimes a good leader stayed their hand in the name of their people's safety.
"You say knowledge can not be destroyed?" She thought back to what the Warlocks had put her and her allies through during the rescue of her children. "I wish their knowledge would be rendered into dust."
"You can choose to be ignorant, that is your right. But I wish to know how they did what they accomplished. The secrets of the House of the Undying will be mine. Their tricks and conjuring will be learned and put to good use. Magic has returned to the world, Daenerys, and I will not be left behind while others learn how to craft spells, conjure illusions… or gift powers to those among them. And with those powers I will create wonders and miracles."
Daenerys was unconvinced. "And I say only nightmares can come from such knowledge."
"Then we will have to accept that we will never agree... and both of us must hope you are wrong." Viktor turned from staring at the scrolls to examining her features. "You have asked what I will do now... but what of you? I know that your path does not lie in Latveria."
"No, it is not," Daenerys said. While others would have seen Qarth's upheaval as an opportunity to plant some roots and stay, especially with her connection with Viktor, Dany simply couldn't bring herself to do it. She hadn't even considered it until one of the citizens had questioned if she was to be their new queen. Qarth was not her home. Her home lay across the Narrow Sea-
'Or does it?' a voice, which had been utterly quiet her entire life out of fear of angering her brother's wrath and disappointing those that supported her but had grown in strength in the last few months, whispered. The Warlocks had not shown her the Iron Throne her ancestor had crafted… they had shown her the door she always saw when she thought of home. And she couldn't even claim that it was because she'd never seen the throne and thus did not know what it looked like for the Warlocks had shown Logan a child, apparently his own daughter, that he had no memory of…
-her home lay across the Narrow Sea.
She had to keep reminding herself of that.
"Have you considered what you must do next?" Viktor asked.
"If you mean have I removed the notion from my head that I can merely arrive on the shores of Westeros, proclaim myself Queen, and all will flock to me and carry me to the Red Keep then yes, I have." She shook her head in mild disgust. "My brother claimed that all loved us, that they longed for us to return, that they sewed dragon banners in secret and drank toasts to his health. That it was only a few high born lords who hated us and that their own soldiers would turn on them the moment we returned. And yet if that were the case why did he need the Dothraki Army? Why was he obsessed with it to the point that it cost him his life." She took another sip of wine. "He knew. He didn't like it but he knew. And I know as well. I can not take Westeros on my own." She snapped her fingers and a small plume of flames appeared on her finger tips, dancing and swirling before she got it to resemble a throne. She was learning how to shape the flames, to make them resemble objects; it was hard and came easier when she did it purely by accident rather than force it, but she wanted to learn. The chimera she had created by accident in her assault on the Warlocks showed that it could be a powerful weapon. "And this power, while mighty, can not win me the throne on its own." She paused. "Nor will it win me the hearts of my people. The opposite, actually."
Viktor nodded in approval. "You are already far wiser than nearly all your family in seeing that. You need an army but you will need to also show that you are not Aegon the Conqueror. There is a time for men such as him but not now. And you are not him. Your family was obsessed with the Conqueror but you must cast him aside. Do not replicate him… surpass him." He leaned back in his chair and held his hands out wide. "You will wish support from me, I assume?"
"I brought you Qarth. I would say it only fair… no. Fair does not exist in the world, does it? You were about to say that. So instead I will merely state this: I brought down the House of the Undying and gratitude for that will be remembered."
Once more he gave his silent approval. "And you will have it. But it won't be as much as you hope." He held up a hand to forestall any comment. "If I provide you with everything than you did not take Westeros. I did. That is what the lords will claim… well, your womanhood has already made the fools of the world believe you can not rule. I am not so ignorant… my mother ruled our house before her passing, not my father. She was the power and I see in you echoes of her. That is why I can provide the first step in your journey but I can not take you to the end. That you must do on your own. All I can do is aid you at this moment… and then, perhaps, in the final push."
Dany nodded. It was better than she had expected. Less than she had hoped but better than she expected. Had the Warlocks never forced the situation then she would have had to rely upon the Trinity of Powers for aid and knew they would have been far more reluctant to provide for her and her people. And had she gone the way of the Horde and rampaged through the city she would have gotten pillage but at the cost of men. This way was for the best… and Viktor was right. She had to do this on her own. She was not Viserys sister. Drogo's wife. Rhago's mother. Doom's student. She was Daenerys Firestar and she would win the Iron Throne through her strength and knowledge and cunning, not because she was put up as a puppet by others.
"And I thank you for that."
"You will receive gold and ships, enough for you to transport your Khalasar in. I know they do not like the sea but they can handle hugging the coast… the Dothraki do not like admitting it but they have done it in the past, when desperate." Viktor glanced at Logan and Dany didn't know why but he seemed amused by something. Logan, for his part, growled. "What will you do with these things is up to you."
"And I already have settled on a plan," she stated, set her goblet down. "Even with my Khalasar we are too few to take on even one of the Seven Kingdoms, let alone them all. My dragons are not yet grown so I can not rely upon them yet. I need more men. Not just any men either… ones trained for war. Bred for it." She sat back in her chair and smiled slightly. "I make for Astapor."
To her surprise it was Ser Jorah who spoke. "Khaalesi no… Slaver's Bay-"
"Ser Jorah, mind yourself," Daenerys warned him.
"You have taken my council before, I beg you take it now," he said, not heeding her words. "If you march into Westeros with an army of slaves no house will side with you, even the most loyal."
"You sold slaves," Logan grunted.
Dany turned to see Ser Jorah had whirled around to face her other defender. "And thus I am the best one to speak on this for I know the damage such a thing does! I did it out of desperation and nearly lost my head. None would open their doors to me in the Seven Kingdoms. If she does this-"
"Ser Jorah!" Dany snapped, her tone sharp and quick like a dagger's edge. "I have heard what you said now hear me: hold your tongue." Ser Jorah turned and bowed her head but she could see in his eyes he disagreed with the entire plan. That pleased Dany… it showed that he was willing to speak up but also willing to be silent and let her do as she saw fit if she couldn't be swayed. He would not be like the conniving aides and advisors she had seen in Pentos, nor like the Grand Maester who had betrayed her father. She needed men like him.
Viktor tapped the desk and she once more turned to face him. "And just what force do you seek, Daenerys?"
"Only the finest will do. I will have the Unsullied."
"And how many?"
"All of them."
Viktor narrowed his eyes at that. "I will provide you with enough then to buy every last soldier they have." He held up a hand. "But only that. The ships you will have to return to me. Supplies you will repay me. If you want your army you will have it but that will be all I will give you."
"And if I buy your ships?" Daenerys asked.
"With what coin?"
She smirked, eyes narrowed. "Yours." Now it was her turn to hold up her hand. "The Unsullied are trained to obey their master, correct? Their CURRENT master." She gave a lazy shrug. "So… should a certain Khaalesi order her newly bought Unsullied army to slay the Wise Masters of Astapor, who suddenly find themselves without any warriors, and reclaim every fleck of gold she spent…"
Viktor let out a dry laugh, the sound reverberating through his metal helm. It wasn't a boisterous sound, like a drunken man pounding on a tavern table. No, it was a long, steady noise that grew with speed as he stared right into her soul.
"And right here you prove my point about Qarth… and shown me it is no different from all of Essos. For centuries the Wise Masters had sold men and it has taken an outsider to understand their grand mistake! One even I missed!" He let out a pleased sigh. "Will you keep them slaves once you are done?"
"No," she said. "Ser Jorah is right. No one will raise my banners if I march at the head of an army of slaves. But… should I march with an army of freed men I will win over the hearts and minds of many. And, I imagine, the Unsullied will remain great enough in strength once free to still form the bulk of my forces… and allow me to train new soldiers and hire in sellsword companies as needed."
Viktor at last poured himself a drink, raising his glass. "Oh… you will change Essos, Daenerys, you will change it."
She raised her own. "You dream too small, Viktor… I will change the world."
~MC~MC~MC~
Author's Notes: If you follow me on Twitter you'll remember that I complained about Dany being in pretty dresses during her conqueror phase… this here was an attempt to once again show that isn't going to happen. Dany isn't Cersei or Sansa. Even though her time not leading them was short she still "came of age" with the Dothraki and that affected her greatly.
Fun fact: Doom's poses are all based on actual comic images as I wanted to show Viktor's relaxed and yet intimidating way of pondering things
People asked to see Dany's reaction to all the tales of her family… the negative ones… being told to her. It never worked out to make a pure chapter about that but this was the next best thing.
Next time we rush to King's Landing and find out how their story is going now that the Battle of the Blackwater is done…