Hey!

Thanks for such a fantastic response to the beginning chapter of ARC III!

Posting this a day early because it is done and I am excited :D

Anyway, the story continues, enjoy :)


Chapter 65: The Great Games

A few hours later …

Seastone Chair chamber, Great Hall, Great Keep, Pyke, Seat of Power of House Greyjoy in the Iron Islands


The only thing stopping Kenna from landing face first onto the cold stone floor were her two tied palms that she braced against the floor and halted her downward momentum.

Seascum, Kenna berated the crew members of the Iron Victory that had dragged her to Seastone Chair chamber all the way from the ship under Victorian's gleeful eyes to throw her to the ground before their King.

She took a second to compose her face before raising it to meet the dark black eyes of the man claiming to be the King of the Iron Islands.

King Balon sat comfortably in the Seastone chair as he looked down at his latest stolen prize. His stringy grey hair fell below his shoulders and his aged face showed weathered lines and gaunt skin.

Yara stood on his left while Aeron had merged in with the many Ironborn raiders in the chamber and Victorian hovered just behind Kenna, like a proud fisherman displaying his catch for the day.

"Queen Kenna," Balon spat more than greeted, "I always knew I would see you in this chamber again."

"I had hoped never to set foot on these forsaken islands ever again," Kenna pushed herself backwards so she rested on her back heels with her bound wrists placed just above her grounded knees.

"And now you will die here," Balon said viciously, remembering the image of Kenna stabbing his brother over and over. She had not been much than a little girl then and now she was a fully-fledged Queen.

Balon's intent was no surprise to Kenna so she took the news in her stride before enquiring, "And what of my husband?"

"He is in the Guest Keep and will remain there until his father pays his ransom," Balon informed his captured foe, missing how she was rubbing her hands together.

"The Vale has gold too," Kenna said cautiously.

Balon let out a harsh laugh at Kenna's implication, "No amount of gold will save you. You belong to the Drowned God now and his wrath is almost as raging as mine."

"Then get it over with. I killed your brother so kill me now to settle the score," Kenna baited hoping Balon's clear anger could be manipulated into giving her a personal and intimate death at his hands.

Balon unsheathed a small dagger from his belt but did not relinquish the Seastone Chair.

"This is the very knife you used to kill Euron," Balon examined the slim steel knife in his hands then rose from the chair, "It would be poetic if it was the weapon that also ended your life as well."

"I didn't think you to be an aspiring poet or sentimental," Kenna jested continuing her reckless streak.

Balon's nostrils flared as he pushed himself from his chair and advanced on Kenna with the knife held tightly in his grip but he was stopped by an unlikely source.

"Brother," Victorian said sternly before stepping in front of Kenna, "You promised I could take her as a salt wife. I captured her so she is mine."

Balon squared up to his taller and bulkier brother showing no fear that Victorian was clearly physically stronger than him, "By all means have your fun Brother but she will die by my hands after she has felt my wrath."

Victorian didn't look particularly happy at his elder brother's decision but he reluctantly nodded before turning to look at his bound prisoner.

But she wasn't bound anymore.

Kenna jumped up and slashed at Victorian's throat, she felt her blade drag over flesh and Victorian dived to the floor with a blood curdling scream.

She moved onto her next target.

Balon stood no more than a metre from her. He raised the knife in his hand and watched her close the distance between them. As she was about to lunge, Kenna felt her legs being taken out from beneath her and her body hit the stone floor hard knocking the air from her lungs.

Kenna tried to scrambled to her feet again but she felt rough hands hold her arms down and blow after blow rained down on her from above. They came in such quick succession she couldn't even see her attackers or memorise their faces. After about a dozen unanswered blows a particularly strong one smacked into her face causing her head to smash against the hard floor and she lost consciousness.


"Victorian?" Balon questioned as he held out his hand to his downed brother.

Victorian rose from the ground without accepting any help with one hand firmly planted against his left eye. Balon could see blood dripping through his brother's fingers and down his cheek.

"The bitch got my eye," Victorian roared half in pain and half in anger.

"A good outcome considering she was aiming for your throat," Balon pointed out in an indifferent tone as he looked down at the battered woman lying unconscious on the floor with half a dozen Ironborn surrounding her limp body. One of her blades was rimmed in red blood.

"Take her blades," Balon commanded and while his men carried out the order Balon placed a hand on his brother's shoulder, "I know you like to live dangerously brother but she would make a poor salt wife. More likely to take your other eye and your life then give you any pleasure or children. You don't want to end up like the Red Kraken."

Victorina didn't say anything but shrugged his brother's hand off his shoulder, still with one hand covering half his face, and stomped over to the defenceless Kenna to aim a hard kick to her ribs before storming off out of the Great Hall.

Balon looked down at Kenna; her face was covered in blood which her brown hair was beginning to stick too and no doubt the bruises would be on display tomorrow. They would contrast nicely with her light blue and white hooded tunic robe.

Balon remembered seeing her sister Alyssa arrive in Pyke, she had had none of this fighting spirit that Kenna had just displayed. Euron had already beaten that out of her before their arrival.

I wonder how long it will take to beat the fighting spirit out of you, Balon mused down at Kenna before commanding to his men, "Take her to the Sea Tower."

He watched as she was unceremoniously dragged out the chamber by her two arms as if she were nothing more than a sack of wool.

Balon re-seated himself in the Seastone chair and scanned the room. His eyes briefly crossed with his youngest brother's who gave him a slight bow of his head before walking to a group of drowned priests in the corner of the room with an unreadable expression on his sea weathered face.


The same day …

Daznak's Pit, Meereen, Slavers Bay, South Essos


"How long until this world is blessed with another golden-haired cub?" Ellaria asked leaning towards Cersei as they sat in the crowd waiting for the Great Games to begin.

Cersei raised her eyebrow at Ellaria's question, it wasn't like they were friends.

"Oh, come on, I am trying to be polite," Ellaria hummed but still Cersei's intuition was screaming danger at her.

Ellaria Sand being polite was like a snake wrapping itself around you and claiming to keep you warm before squeezing the life out of you.

"I will probably give birth next month," Cersei replied quickly turning her head from the Dornish beauty to watch the two competitors come out of the tunnels and saluted their newfound Queen who sat only a dozen metres to their right.

"I bet you never thought you would give birth in Essos," Oberyn said from Cersei's other side.

"No," Cersei confirmed flexing her fingers that rested in her lap, still uncomfortable discussing her pregnancy, before switching the topic seamlessly, "Have you noticed that our Queen's dragons are nowhere to be seen."

"Yes, I managed to get one of the unsullied to tell me that she has locked two up and the largest one is missing," Oberyn revealed in a hushed conspiratorial tone.

"Do I want to know how you elicited such information from one of Daenerys's loyal soldiers?" Ellaria asked salaciously.

"Another time my love," Oberyn winked before looking around him to see all the high born Meereenese nobles had gone quiet and the atmosphere was getting tense.

Then a single clap punctuated through the thick blanket of tension that had built around the great circular arena and it erupted with shouts of cheer and excitement.

Oberyn looked to the middle of the arena and saw the two combatants trying to kill each other, the smaller one looked in control for now but all it took was one mistake and the bigger beast would strike.

Oberyn murmured into Cersei's ear, "The smaller man will win, he is faster and more agile."

"Robert was neither of those things when he hammered Rhaegar's breastplate in," Cersei replied watching the contest intently.

"We will see won't we," Oberyn laughed before straightening up.

A minute later and the bigger beast did strike and the smaller man lost his head.

"Normally the quicker man wins the contest in my experience," Oberyn muttered dejectedly.

"My love you can't be right all the time," Ellaria said across from Cersei with a chuckle on her lips enjoying the sun more than the fighting.


The arena entertainment continued as a dozen new fighters entered the pit and honoured their Queen.

They were all from different fighting backgrounds, Cersei could identify a Dothraki, a Meereenese champion and a Braavosi swordsman but the rest of the fighting styles were lost on her.

Ellaria tugged at her arm, "That one," she said pointing towards the quick Braavosi, "He will win this."

Cersei simply nodded, the excitement of the contest waning for her as she reflected on why she was here.

Her purpose wasn't to watch such frivolous activities, but to convince a Queen to invade her homeland and spare her children in the ensuing aftermath. Each day she spent waiting in this random Essos city for Daenerys Targaryen to realise that there was no practice run at ruling was a day wasted in her quest to avenge Joffrey's murder and finally teach her father that she was the one that he should have focused all his efforts on, not Jaime and not Kenna's bastard sons.

Cersei was so lost in her thoughts that she completely lost her balance as Oberyn shoved her to the floor before impaling a mask wearing noble Meereenese who had been sitting behind her with his dagger while Ellaria slid her own concealed dagger into another mask wearing Meereenese nobleman's soft Adam's apple that had been sitting beside her.

"Come now," Oberyn shouted with urgency as he half picked Cersei up and the trio started to make their way towards the royal box.

Cersei let out a shout of warning as three Sons of the Harpy stepped into their path.

Oberyn effortlessly killed one by throwing his dagger at the woman's torso before producing a second dagger to quickly knife the second to death while Ellaria ducked to avoid the third's wild swing at her before stabbing the man in the back and pushing him down the row of seats.

They reached the royal box to see Daario, Ser Barristan, Jorah Mormont and Daenerys's Unsullied guards protecting her and Missandei while more and more Sons of the Harpy appeared in the stands.

"They are everywhere," a panicked Missandei said as she grasped on to her Queens's forearm.

"We need to move," Daario shouted as he stepped over Hizdahr zo Loraq dead body.

"Down into the pit," Oberyn suggested as he picked up a spear from the ground and thrust out at a golden masked female who wasn't quick enough to avoid the viper's bite.

"Go now," Ser Barristan demanded as he and Daario joined with Oberyn to fight back the wave of masked killers.

Jorah lowered Daenerys and Missandei down into the pit as some Unsullied jumped down to clear the area before turning to Cersei and offering his hand. Cersei accepted and found herself huddling with the two other non-combative females as the rest of the group caught up with them forming a protective circle around their chosen Queen.

A lone Son of the Harpy broke through the Unsullied wall and went straight for Cersei with his dagger out in front of him but before he could reach the heavily pregnant woman Oberyn's spear burst through his chest.

"Thank .. you," Cersei managed to utter weakly as she took in their surrounded position.

"I just gave you a few more minutes," Oberyn said his eyes darting back and forth around them.

Oberyn didn't look scared, he had that wild look in his eyes like he didn't mind if he died just as long as his enemies' blood soaked through his clothing before he fell.

Daenerys's guard party of Ser Barristan, Daario, Jorah, Oberyn and the two-dozen unsullied remaining were easily more skilled than the masked men and woman accosting them. But even the ten most skilled killers in the words would not win against a mob of over two hundred in such a contained space.

The protective circle surrounding Daenerys was getting smaller as the Sons of the Harpy pushed the Unsullied back with their numbers.

Just as Cersei had finished praying to the Mother, there was a horrendous screech that stopped all those in the arena in their tracks.

The flapping of wings could be heard for a few beats then a dragon the size of a small building rose over the stadium before plunging down and landing in the sandy arena, causing many Sons of the Harpy to start fleeing away from the terrifying beast.

Cersei watched opened mouthed as the dragon roasted a pack of the masked killers then practically ate one right in front of her before discarding the body by throwing it into the stands.

Her mind couldn't fathom the fact she was seeing a real live dragon and it was shredding any perceived threat to its mother with brutal power and tenacity.

The carnage it was recking was beautiful in its own way as the fire and blood spread around the arena, indicating where the large black dragon had been.

Suddenly the beast let out a pained screech as a spear thudded into its scaled body. Before the dragon could roast the offending parties the Sons of the Harpy had regrouped to fire more spears at the lone beast.

Daario took out the lead spearman with his throwing knife but Drogon was still screeching in pain as Daenerys pulled out one of the spears then hauled herself on top of her child.

Cersei heard Daenerys utter a single word, "Valahd," and in the next instant Drogon was running and lifting off the ground to soar into the sky, and with him went Meereen's Queen.

The former Queen of the Seven Kingdoms could only look on in amazement as the black dragon flapped its wings and flew into the distance.

Oberyn tapped her on her shoulder with the end of his spear to indicate that the remaining members of the party were moving, "We need to get out of here before the Sons of the Harpy regroup and decide to slaughter us all."

Cersei nodded and with one hand on her belly she moved with the visible distraught party to the now unbarred exit of Daznak's Pit.


A few hours later …

The Great Pyramid, Meereen, Slavers Bay, South Essos


Cersei sat down heavily on one of the steps leading to the throne in the Great Pyramid, giving her pacing feet a rest and her burdened body some respite. She looked down the steps to see the somber party, or what was left of Daenerys people just milling around.

Obeyrn and Ellaria where in the corner in a loose embrace whispering into each other's ears. Cersei didn't think for one second they were contemplating the current political mess this city was in or understood what a catastrophe Daenerys disappearance was for the Dornish war effort.

The frustration got to her and she couldn't hold it in, "Are you going to do anything?"

Her voice echoed off the enclosed walls and all the faces looked to her but no one spoke. They all seemed crushed by their Queen's absence as if she was the only thing giving them purpose and life.

"Are you going to do anything?" Cersei asked again but louder, demanding an answer in her tone this time.

"What can we do?" Daario moaned dejectedly.

'We can go find her," Ser Barristan said rising from his sitting position to face Daario and Cersei.

"If you leave and take the Unsullied with you Meereen will plunge into civil war," Varys commented appearing from the shadowy corner of the room.

"I will not take the Unsullied, I will take Daario and we will track our Queen down," the old knight stated.

Jorah approached Ser Barristan, "I will come with you."

"You are the Hand of the Queen you should rule in her stead," the wise knight retorted.

"I am not that type of Hand, I advise my Queen I will not rule for her," Jorah said, clearly wanting to be part of the party responsible for finding Daenerys.

Ser Barristan stayed quiet at Jorah statement, shaking his head slightly.

"Fine," Daario said keeping the peace between the two Westerosi knights, "Grey Worm will stay here with the Unsullied to maintain order and everyone knows that Missandei speaks for our Queen they will trust what she says."

"I do not know how to rule," the dark-skinned girl said in a doubting tone.

"No but she does," Vary's voice vibrated around the room catching everyone's attention while his own was firmly placed on Cersei.

"She is our Queen's enemy," Grey Worm spoke up with one hand resting on the white bandages that encircled his waist.

"Maybe but this is the perfect test to give her to see if she wants to change that," Vary commented.

"Why can't you rule Meereen," Cersei questioned the eunuch, "you have served four Kings and a Queen you must have picked up the knowledge of what ruling is by now and your network of spies will help greatly."

"Indeed but I collect information and disseminate it to where it needs to go, I do not make the decisions based on it much like how Missandei is our Queen's mouth piece but not the source of the words," Varys replied.

"We do not have time for this banter," Jorah said explosively, "We need to track down Daenerys, now."

Daario and Ser Barristan both stood and walked towards Jorah, "I agree," the white-haired knight said, "We must go and you must figure out how to rule this city until we come back."

The fighting trio quickly walked out of the chamber keen to start their quest as soon as possible.

"Prince Oberyn, this might also be an opportunity for you to gain a favour from Daenerys," Varys said turning to face the charming Martell.

"Oh?" Oberyn replied, disengaging slightly from Ellaria and giving Varys his full attention.

"If you help maintain our control over Meereen she would be in your debt and more likely to listen to your pleading to speed up her invasion of the Seven Kingdoms."

Oberyn smiled at the bald man, "I was asking, not pleading and in Dorne we help our allies."

"Then we will begin," Varys announced looking around and eyeing each one of his fellow ruling council members; Cersei still looked distrustful but that was her default expression when it came to other people's ideas, Grey Worm and Missandei seemed hesitant but were not suggesting alternative ideas, Oberyn and Ellaria seemed content but Varys knew what their magnanimous smiles could hide, and Melisandre seemed to still be communicating her Lord of Light in her chambers, for which Varys was immensely grateful for.


Author's Notes

LOL Victorian becomes the new Euron and Cersei just got a city to rule, albeit under the watchful eyes of everyone around her.

That Oberyn and Cersei comments regarding who would win in a single combat fight or trial by combat situation (smaller man or stronger man) had me in stitches XD I am happy Oberyn is still alive in this story so far and that is saying a lot considering I love writing death scenes :P

A few things on the Dany/Meereen plot line:

This story hasn't really spent too much time with Dany and obviously going into the last ARC she is going to become a much more central character but she still isn't the main focus. For clarity please assume her storyline has followed cannon up to the points where Cersei, Ellaria & Oberyn appear instead of Tyrion and Melisandre & Vary appear slightly earlier than in cannon and Ser Barristan did not take part in that Sons of the Harpy ambush that put Grey Worm out of action for the Great Games fight and is hence still alive at this point. Oh, and Dany forgave Jorah Mormont instead of exiling him so he is Dany's Hand if that wasn't clear. I have changed a lot with her story on second thought :P

The best reason I can figure for Varys not knowing about the Sons of the Harpy attack is that he only just arrived in the city and is still in the process of establishing his spy network within the city (Varys can't know everything .. can he?) The more suspiciously minded of you might be thinking why weren't Varys and Melisandre at the Great Games, well Varys doesn't enjoy mindless killing and was never at any King's Landing tourneys and Melisandre is too busy staring at fire at this moment in time to participate.


RIP:

Hizdahr zo Lorag (Stabbed to death by Sons of the Harpy)

Well I didn't have anything cool for this character to do other than what happened on the TV show so goodbye! (But his conversations with Tyrion in cannon were A+)

Countless Sons of the Harpy (Take your pick on causes of death - Impaled, stabbed, set on fire, and half eaten etc.)

Drogon went beast mode and with Ser Barristan, Oberyn and Ellaria added to Daenerys's protection circle she had a lot more skilled warriors defending her this time.


Reviews:

Supremus85 – Hahaha do you expect me to kill a character every chapter? Well this story could certainly well have 57 chapters left so LOL

Sv21075 – Indeed! Like a second Rains of the Castamere event ;) It is a bit heartbreaking to see Cersei begging for her children's lives (Tommen's in particular) because she is so used to be able to protect them herself and is entirely at Dany's mercy if the Dragon Queen does take the throne. House Lannister has pissed off so many people …. It isn't just Daenerys they have to worry about ;P

Dark Angels and Light Angels – Aw thanks! I try to keep the characters as close to their cannon counterparts in terms of personality and what they might do in certain situations as much as possible as we love them as they are. I get you but in that type of world it must be hard to find someone who isn't bias and willing to tell you the truth. Most people are divided by who they support – Rebel or Targ loyalist, Green or Black, etc. Dany first appeared in Chapter 62 :)

Guest (commented on 30/07/2020) – Yep I know but I think as a mother you would still be pissed off your father killed your son, no matter how insane he was because that is your baby. I feel like I have already killed babies in this story. Let me check. So not including Talisa and Robb's unborn child (Chapter 12) Ramsey killed Edmure Tully's baby boy in Chapter 44 but you are right, killing babies is not good. I don't think Oberyn would be capable of doing this as he always lays the blame at the feet of the person who did the deed not their children or grandchildren. Ellaria … probably could.

NightlyRowenTree – Thanks Tree! PS How did you come up with your name?

Ksyushangel – Hey Angel! The weather isn't too great where I am either :( I was getting nowhere fast on my own so I needed to draft in my readers for help :P When you have time I would love to know all your answers! Yeah it is obvious :D but we all have our favorites :D I really tried to make it a bit of a Robb vs Tywin type of conversation with Royce smacking them on their heads to get them to work together and I know Tywin's character normally wouldn't need such treatment but I do think sometimes he likes to revel in his own victories a little bit and to him the Red Weddings and Kenna's children are his victories. Friends might be a stretch considering he is banging his sister and she is banging his father … how about acquaintances that have the common goal of survival? :P Ah Kenna she is in a lot of trouble but every action you take in life should have a consequence and she is about to receive the consequence for her actions on Pyke fifteen years ago. Haha everyone is already eyeing Dany with suspicion ;D I think coming back early was the right decision I feel validated by all the responses and I can't wait to get writing now :)

Cashy7183980 – Yeah! I am back, long live the writer! :P

Chris141linardi – Hey there! Starting early, I think will speed up the process of me writing this story so I think it was the right decision. Thanks, glad I could make your day, I am always so happy when my writing can do that :) Thanks for saying that about the characters I was worried I might be a little bit rusty!

Shadow Wolf 15846 – It has been awhile but it was a scheduled break. I am on a weekly posting schedule for every Thursday for now so expect a chapter ever Thursday :)

Mister LaGuardia – Thanks, happy to be back :)


Next Up: Kenna receives an unlikely offer in the Sea Tower as she licks her wounds, Tyrion and Olenna handle the defense of the Realm while Balon finally unleashes his anger on the Bloody Falcon.


If you are enjoying this story please *Toss a coin to your writer, Oh valley of readers* and review, follow and favorite!