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This one will be quite a long chapter with much happening. I hope you will like it!
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Chapter XLIII: Zaldrìzes buzdari iksos daor
To avoid being seen and attacked, the Dornish boat docked in a small creek, a mile from Meereen. Daeron, his family and his Kingsguards landed while the boat sailed again, it would tour Slavers' bay until the King came back to avoid attracting unwanted attention. Daeron had thought of bringing more guards but how could he be safer than with two dragons? Besides, he refused to believe that Daenerys would harm them. Even if she was hostile, they were still family. Rhoynax and Weirion stayed on the ground both to keep the surprise effect and to prevent an abrupt meeting with their cousins.
They reached a hill from which they could see the city. It was bigger than King's Landing and from where they were, they could not smell as bad of a stink as the capital of the Seven Kingdoms. The first thing they saw was a Great Pyramid with a bronze harpy – he guessed – on top. It held the dragon banner of House Targaryen in its claws, no doubt it was where Daenerys resided. A score of other pyramids decorated the city. All of them were made of bricks of different colours from pale yellow to bright red. The walls were made of bricks as well and they were taller and thicker than Daeron had ever seen or thought possible. It was odd as the city appeared well defended, mountains on one side, a wild river and the shore protecting it. There appeared to be no easy ground to carry an attack around the city. Unless one had dragons of course and even then, it was so big it would still be no easy feat.
There was a clamour from the streets of the city, one they could hear from the mountains. Daeron was no stranger to cities now that he had been in King's Landing. So, he knew what a town full of life, with its markets, its manse, its taverns and its shops was supposed to sound like. It did not sound like this. No, this sounded like the dream he had of the Sack of King's Landing. Fighting, suffering and death… There was a battle going on in the city. But he had no idea what it was about or why it was happening.
Aemon must have heard it too since he started crying in his mother's arms. Daeron took him from Arianne, rocked him in his arms and peppered small kisses on his little face.
"It sounds like the riots in King's Landing." Sansa was the first to dare talk.
"Yes, something is amiss… Maybe my aunt is as good at keeping the peace in her city as Joffrey." He kept rocking his son but now, Arianne was pressed against him.
"What should we do?" She asked putting her hand on their baby's forehead to help calm him.
"We should wait until the clamour stops." Oberyn announced, Daeron nodded his approval. "And then find a way into the city. Maybe the ladies and Prince Aemon should stay here."
"No, we should all stay close to the dragons, they are our best protection." Daeron declared.
"But she has dragons too." Sansa countered.
"Do you see them anywhere?" Ellaria Sand intervened and pointed to the skies. "This is her city, one she claims to rule and yet her dragons are nowhere to be seen. Rhoynax and Weirion want to be around his Grace all the time, so don't you find it odd? I see two possibilities. Either she was stupid enough to lock them away… or they are completely wild and left her." All of them except Daeron looked at her with perplexed expressions on their face. She was probably right and once again, he was happy to have brought Oberyn's paramour with them.
"Could they be wild? I mean, she hatched them the same as you, your Grace." Ser Richard demanded.
"I read about dragons as a child." Daeron explained. "Riderless dragons, even if they were hatched by men were often wild. Especially if they had been neglected in their youth. Dragons are smart creatures; they understand their situation almost as humans do. If they don't feel safe and loved with Daenerys, they will leave.
The Kingsguard from the Crownlands nodded. "Are you sure you want to ally with her, your Grace?" He asked somewhat legitimately.
"I want to meet her, she's my aunt." Daeron corrected. He gave Aemon back to Arianne and turned to pet the two dragons who purred under his touch. Then, he started feeling dizzy and felt himself fall. He knew what was happening now, he knew his eyes were turning white.
Surely enough, when he next opened his eyes, he was in her body and saw his own laying on the ground with his friends fussing over him. She chirped to gain their attention and the humans looked at her with curious eyes. She turned to her brother and started chirping with him.
Humans had words, but not dragons, dragons had emotions and sensations to understand each other. The white and red dragon was overly excited since his rider had been born, but right now, they could both feel that the humans were stressed by something. Probably the loud noises of other humans killing each other in their great stone lairs. It annoyed the dragons too. But then, she felt her rider wanted to go inside the stone lairs with the other humans. They could help, in the dead of the night, they could carry the humans. There were many, but she had already done that in the great frozen desert. And she felt her brother consent. So long as his rider was on his back, he could have other humans too.
Daeron came back to his senses, he stood with some difficulty, making enough noise for his companions to hear and focus back on him instead of the dragons.
"Rhoynax has a solution to get inside the city and maybe even directly into the Great Pyramid." He declared.
"How?" Arianne seemed eager to know.
"Aemon is Weirion's rider, so long as he is on his back, he will carry you the same way Rhoynax carries me." Daeron saw her eyes widen in fear and Sansa became pale as a ghost as well. "Sansa, Ellaria and Ser Richard will come with me on Rhoynax and Oberyn and you will go on Weirion with Aemon."
"Isn't that dangerous?" Arianne did not seem to like the idea.
"Not more than crossing the city on foot…" Daeron shrugged. "Beside, I know they can carry the weight, Rhoynax did at the Wall. With difficulty, I admit, but they can do it."
"Do we really have to?" Sansa asked in a small voice.
"I'm not leaving you here Sansa." He held her arm to try and comfort her. "So, I'm afraid you do." She swallowed visibly and nodded.
...
In the end of the afternoon, the clamour started to dwindle and finally disappeared in the early evening. Daeron took it as a signal for them to leave the safety of their hill. Rhoynax chirped happily when Daeron, Sansa and Ser Richard climbed on her back, though it was nothing compared to Weirion's reaction to having Aemon with him. Sansa trembled and had a small shout when Rhoynax moved ever so slightly. Through his bond with the great grey and bronze dragon, Daeron could feel she was annoyed by this frightened passenger more than by the added weight which made her flight wobbly. The young King secured his cousin's arms around him and told her to remain still. Behind her, he could hear Ellaria whispering soothing words to the girl.
Sansa did as she was asked, in fact he could swear she had buried her face in his doublet and refused to open her eyes once they were in the air. Rhoynax and Weirion Landed on the top of the Great Pyramid, near the harpy. They looked down, directly at a terrace from which they could see light. Surely there was someone in there, if not Daenerys Targaryen then someone who could direct them to her.
She came out. With her silver hair half braided and flowing down her back and a white gown of a style Daeron had never seen before. She looked out at the city, she did not seem to have detected their presence yet. Quietly, Rhoynax climbed down followed by her brother. The sound of claws on the brick must have alerted Daeron's aunt because she turned sharply on her heels.
"Who… who's there?" She scanned the area but in the dark she could probably not see much. Daeron dismounted first and gestured for the others to do the same. Daenerys detailed him from head to toe. She seemed surprised by the rich gowns Sansa and Arianne wore, but even more by the white cloaks of Oberyn and Richard. Her eyes settled on Aemon last and her brows shot all the way to her hairline. "Who are you?" She asked backing away to the edge of her terrace.
"Hello, dear aunt." Daeron captured her attention again. "We are sorry to disturb you at such an hour, but your city seemed a little too restless in the daylight… May I present Queen Arianne of House Martell, our son and heir, Prince Aemon Targaryen, my cousin, Lady Sansa Stark of Winterfell, Lady Ellaria Sand and two of my Kingsguards, Prince Oberyn Martell and Ser Richard Brune." He pointed at his companions in turn. "I am your nephew, Daeron of House Targaryen, the Third of my Name, son of Rhaegar and Lyanna Targaryen."
Daenerys' face hardened instantly and she glared at him. Daeron had expected a little angriness and confusion, but not that determined and pure rage. "She said you would come with your lies… Who do you think you are bastard? Coming here to try and steal my birthright?"
"Who is this 'she' you're talking about dear aunt?" Daeron did not let her words touch him though he could see his friends gaze turn cold toward the Targaryen princess. "I am afraid you have been misinformed: I am trueborn. We have the documents of Princess Elia's annulment and the wedding of my parents. We have all the proofs; besides, my dragons and my son strengthen my claim."
"Lies, all of it and forgery." She snarled.
"Not at all… You will find dear aunt that all of those who said that are either dead or have come to my side. You would do well to think on that." He said flatly.
"You dare threaten me in my own city?" She bared her teeth now.
"A city you seem to have little control about from what I heard." This was a wild guess but from what Viserys had told him, it was the best he could hope for.
She seemed to be ready to shout but she stopped, paused for a moment and when she talked again, her voice was much calmer, yet Daeron could hear it hid a storm. "Where are my manners? Though you are not exactly wanted guests you must be weary of the journey. Please let me escort you to rooms so that you can rest, and we may talk on the morrow." She declared.
Daeron grinned. Did she truly think him an imbecile? "Thank you very much… May I remind you, dear aunt, that if anything should happen to us, you will have two riderless dragons mad with grief… I don't need to explain what they could do." He saw her scoff, but she still led them to the lower levels of the pyramid.
...
He had already had that type of dream when he had discovered that Daenerys had dragons. It was like looking through a Myrish lens again.
He saw his aunt in a different city, though it was adorned with a harpy as well. She was talking to a man who spoke a broken version of Valyrian. They used a translator, though he had no doubt Daenerys knew Valyrian at least as well as he did. The man kept insulting her, but she said nothing. She was making a deal, he understood.
"Fine, tell the bitch she will have her army for one dragon, but it better be the biggest one." The man said to the translator. She was a young girl with a collar that marked her as a slave. She repeated her master's wishes to Daenerys and the two men who accompanied her. One was the man who had been with her when she hatched the three dragons, and the other was older, he looked Westerosi.
"Done!" Daenerys declared despite her men's protests. "And I will take you as well, you will be your master's gift to me." She said to the girl.
The inside of the lens blurred, and the scene changed, though it appeared to still be in the same city. There was an army on a huge place, very orderly, all dressed the same way and immobile in the scorching heat. Daeron listened to the explanations of the master he had seen earlier. He was telling Daenerys of the Unsullied and their training. They arrived at the end of the plaza. There, with her men still protesting, Daenerys took out one of her dragons – it was still very small, it must have been at least a year before – that was held through a chain and gave the chain to the master who held out a whip in return.
"Is it done?" Daenerys asked.
"It is done, she holds the whip, the bitch has her army." The master answered through his translator.
Then, his aunt started speaking Valyrian, which shocked everyone but the master who did not listen. She ordered the unsullied to slay the masters.
"Tell the bitch her beast won't come down." The man ordered to the translator.
"Zaldrìzes buzdari iksos daor." She answered in High Valyrian. The man was shocked she could speak the language and realised his mistake, but too late. "Dracarys." She ordered. Her dragon burnt the man, and then half the city.
The lens blurred again and this time, he saw Meereen. They were in another plaza and Daenerys was dressed in the same gown she had when he met her, so he guessed he had to be seeing what happened earlier that day.
There were clearly two camps around her. One dressed in rags and brown clothes who held out their hands toward her, calling her "Mhysa." He did not know what that meant but he could guess it had something to do with her freeing them since they had no collars. The other group dressed in blues and yellows, they looked way more hostile towards her. Probably the former nobles and slave owners, Daeron thought.
She stood beneath a colourful dais. Behind her stood one of the two older men from earlier, the young translator without her collar, unsullieds and another man, younger. Men with long braids – Dothrakis most likely – brought in a man dressed in rags, the nobles tried to get to him but failed. His wrists were bound and the men brought the former slave to his knees.
"When I freed you, I promised you freedom and justice." Daenerys addressed the crowd. "One cannot be without the other." She paused. "We arrested one of the Sons of the Harpy, the nobles who seek to destroy the peace we have brought here and re-establish slavery. The man was about to get a fair trial. But this man," she pointed at her prisoner, "took it upon himself to kill our prisoner. Robbing us of our justice. The punishment for such offence is death." She declared and the younger man behind her walked forward to put his weapon against the former slave's neck.
The people dressed in rags all called for her. Daeron did not understand all of what they said but they did call for mercy. Daenerys looked at none of them, not even the man she had just sentenced to death. She nodded to her executioner who took the man's head but still, his aunt looked out into the sea. There was a haunting silence, followed by hissing. The former slaves hissed at her and the fighting began. The nobles against the former slaves.
Upon further inspection, some slaves were with the nobles… Daeron was starting to understand what was happening here. Daenerys had freed the slaves, but she had not bothered to give them anything to do as she had done with the unsullied. So, some of them returned to their old masters, no doubt. And the nobles who were accustomed to be served had started to crumble down… So, they had rebelled. And Daenerys talked of justice, but he was ready to bet that the former slaves had no idea what 'proper justice' meant. To them killing the masters was justice and anyone who killed them was an enemy. Daenerys surely had not bothered to learn of the people she planned to rule. She was playing at ruling, applying what little she knew of ruling in Westeros to a totally different culture. This was surely a disaster in the making from the very start and no one had bothered to stop her.
...
Daeron woke early. He left Arianne and Aemon in the room they had been given and started to ascend the stairs to the top of the pyramid. He met no guard, another of Daenerys' follies, no doubt. Even he was accompanied by Prince Oberyn who had stood vigil in front of his room for most of the night.
So, Daeron walked in on what looked to be a meeting between Daenerys, one unsullied, the old man and the young one and the translator. "What are you doing here?" Daenerys asked defensively as her unsullied lowered his spear aggressively. Oberyn did his job and blocked the man.
"I came to discuss with you, dear aunt. It is good that your advisors are here." Daeron heard a gasp coming from the old man, he turned his gaze to him. "Who are you Ser?"
"You look so much like my prince…" The old knight whispered.
"Ser Barristan?" Daenerys exclaimed. Barristan the Bold then…
"Forgive me your Grace, but he looks so much like your late brother Rhaegar… only the colouring differs." The old knight said.
"Then why are you calling my aunt 'your Grace', Ser, and not me?" Daeron smiled. The man looked uneasy. Daeron handed him the papers. "Kingsguards serve for life Ser." He reminded him.
"What is that?" Daenerys snapped. Daeron did not bother to answer, he waited for Ser Barristan to do it for him.
"It's… Prince Rhaegar's handwriting, the proof that King Daeron is legitimate… your Grace." The knight handed the paperwork back to Daeron. The King could see the inner conflict in the man.
"I would never ask you to leave my aunt's service, Ser Barristan. If anything, I'm glad she has someone like you to protected her." He told him with kindness.
The knight sighed his relief. "Thank you, your Grace." He bowed slightly.
"You believe him?" Daenerys asked her advisor with disbelief.
"I know it's true your Grace, without any ounce of doubt. Beside Lady Catelyn warned us." The name made Daeron jump.
"Lady Catelyn? Lady Stark is here?" He did not want his hope to get too high, but it was exciting news.
"She is, she arrived a moon ago, she's been my guest. I'll bring you to her later, but first, I'd like to talk to you alone." Daenerys asked. Her men took the hint and left them, though Daeron noticed the young man's fingers lingering on her forearms. "Wine?" She offered and guided him through the room. They both sat in armchairs next to one another. "So, I would like to hear your story Nephew…"
"You believe me then?" Daeron retorted.
"I believe that you are my nephew, I said nothing about your legitimacy. You only have one of my advisors convinced." She replied evenly.
"The only one who comes from Westeros and knew my father." Daeron pointed out, not touching his wine.
"It is not his opinion that matters still, I'm afraid." She argued.
"It is not yours either." He countered.
She lost her composure. "Whatever could you mean?"
"We both claim to be the rightful ruler of the Seven Kingdoms through our Targaryen blood. So, I think it doesn't matter what you or I say, it will be what the Westerosi Lords believe that will matter." He explained.
"And why should they prefer you to me?" The annoyance was clear in her voice.
"I was born and raised in Westeros, in one of the most noble Houses might I had. I am a man… I am married to the daughter of a Lord Paramount, I have Aegon the Conqueror's crown," he saw her eyes widen "and I already have an heir. It offers stability that the Realm direly needs."
"What should it matter? The Usurper's son sits our throne… I have an army." She replied. "I have the means to take it."
"So do I, though I have been way more discreet about it… I have Dorne, the North and the Stormlands already pledged to me. You would invade King's Landing with an army of foreigners? Half of them former slaves with that? That would be madness." He told her.
"Why would it be madness?"
"Westerosi children are raised with stories of the savage Dothraki screamers and barbarian slaves of Essos. You would make no friend by doing so." He simply replied.
"I don't need friends, I have dragons and an army."
Daeron scoffed. "Your father, my grandfather thought he did not need friends… Look where he is now, he nearly destroyed our House."
"That was the Usurper's fault and your uncle's!"
"Was it? Was it their fault when Aerys burnt my other grandfather and uncle alive? You don't even know the history of the Kingdom you wish to rule Daenerys. You only know what Viserys told you… and we both know he was not trust-worthy." He looked at her in the eyes.
She slapped him, no doubt angry that he said the truth about Viserys. When her hand collided with his cheek something most peculiar happened.
"Theirs will be the song of Ice and Fire. Azor Ahai. You have given me an immense gift, my sweet winter rose."
"I still don't see the point, war or not I will see this child if it ever exists."
"We really will marry in front of the Old Gods? My sweet silver Prince, I love you so much."
"We need to stay here and protect this babe, he is our king now that Rhaegar is dead."
"His name is Daeron Targaryen. You have to protect him. Promise me, Ned."
"When I arrived at the Tower of Joy it was too late. She was bleeding and there was no maester. The war was over but after what had happened to Rhaegar's other children… Robert couldn't know. So, yes, I claimed you as my own and I will never regret it. I did it to protect you, as I promised her. If you swear those vows, Robert would never be able to harm you even if the truth came out."
"That is surely a lie. Even in Dorne we've heard of the White Wolf."
"I mean no disrespect your Grace but Daeron is the rightful King of Westeros… You're usurping his title…"
"I will give you my blessing, but I have a few conditions. The first one being that you go for the Throne… If you are to marry my daughter then I want her to be Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. That's all I ever wanted really."
"Let the crown of your ancestors remind you of the burden the power represents, of the responsibilities that are now over your head, and let it remind all that you are the one true king."
"I will do no such thing. I'm not yours to command."
"You have a son, your Grace."
It was flashes, moments of his life that had led to his current position. From his mother's pregnancy to the birth of his son. He saw his parents, Ser Arthur Dayne, Lord Stark, Prince Doran, Arianne… It was all over when Daenerys withdrew her hand as if she had been burnt.
"What was that?" She asked holding her hand to her chest.
"Moments of my life, I guess." Daeron was less shocked than her, with the dreams he had, he was ready for anything.
"But… how?"
"I don't know."
"Has this ever happened to you before?" She asked.
"No." He sighed. But I have dreams… of our ancestors mostly, although I have visions of the presents sometimes, I know of the execution that led to the riot yesterday. I can talk to the old Targaryens in my dreams. I've talked to Viserys recently, that's how I know what he taught you. And Queen Rhaella… she was so worried when you married the Dothraki horselord. He wanted to tell her that, mostly because he wanted to have the same kind of relationship with her as he had with the Starks. But they were not there yet, maybe they never would.
She was clearly shaken by what she had just seen. "I… I think I believe you now." She said with a little voice. Daeron's brows shot up.
"Like that?" He exclaimed.
"Have you not seen what I just saw?" She looked at him.
"I did. But Viserys told me you would be very attached to the Throne, that he taught you to think of it as your birthright… And you were so hostile." He answered.
"Has it not come to your mind that maybe Viserys did not know me as well as he thought? I did not say I accepted your claim though, I only said that I believe you are my brother's trueborn son." She clarified.
"That gives me a better claim." He pointed out.
"With the set of rules that are currently applied in Westeros…" She announced cryptically. "But I don't intend to conquer Westeros and play by the rules of the established wheel. I will break the wheel."
"Whatever could you mean?"
"I will free the Seven Kingdoms of the set of rules that have enslaved it for centuries." She declared.
"Free the…" He had not thought her ignorance ran this deep. She was even more clueless than Sansa. "Gods, Daenerys, you are speaking of a wheel, but you don't even know how Westeros works! You cannot make the same mistakes you made here."
"Mistakes? What mistakes are you talking about, Nephew?" She snarled.
"I saw what happened yesterday…" He did not elaborate how he knew. "You have a group of noble who rebelled which led to one former slave murdering a prisoner. You had the man executed and now the former slaves hate you." He summarized.
"Yes…" She conceded.
"This could have been avoided if you had taken the time to understand the culture." He told her.
"And you pretend to understand it?" She snorted.
"Here is what I saw:" He offered. "You arrived and freed the slaves, they celebrated you as a saviour and all was well… But you stopped there, you did not give them new jobs like you did the Unsullied or your translator. You just freed them, alienating the nobles, and then decreed you would rule over the city rendering justice. You did not see that they were lost, incapable of making decisions for themselves… The nobles don't know how to live without servants, so they started to collapse and the Sons of the Harpy, was it? was born. Then, you spoke of justice, but you did not explain what justice."
"There is only one justice." Daenerys intervened.
"There isn't. What you did was apply your idea of Westerosi justice with trials and sentence… This is not what justice means here. Here, justice means the powerful decide unilaterally to kill the weak when they do something that annoy them. So, your former slave, the one you executed truly believe he served justice, because he now had power and your prisoner was weak." Daeron continued explaining.
"And you say I don't understand Westeros either?" She was clearly brooding.
"No, you see Westerosi as slaves, they aren't. They are free men." He started but was interrupted.
"But they live under the pressure of the Great Houses!" She protested. "How is that different?"
"They don't!" He exclaimed. "Sure, they fight wars with their lords and pay taxes but they also seek refuge with the nobles in times of war or winter. The lords are the holders of safety and justice to the smallfolks. Most of them like their lord or are indifferent. Unless they start starving and then there are riots and some lords are deposed. But if you arrive, furthermore with so many foreigners, and tell them you want to destroy their lords, they will rise against you. The system in place in Westeros is one of stability, though it is not always fair I don't know of a system that would be fair…" He revealed. By the gods, he could not even begin to imagine how she would react if he told her of the real threat Westeros faced. He decided to keep it to himself for the moment. It felt better than to trust her with the information and have her think him delirious, it would be the same for the dreams.
"But we could change that! Make something that's fair, with our dragons surely we can!" She countered taking him away from his thinking.
"Tell me Aunt, where are your dragons?" He asked the question he had wanted to know the answer to since the beginning.
"You know how dragons are… They go where they please, eating what or who they want." Daeron was horrified by what she implied. "I had to take action."
"You caged them." She did not reply and that was enough for him. "Gods Daenerys that is exactly what you shouldn't do! They will resent you now!"
"What did you want me to do? Drogon has not been seen in months and Rhaegal and Viserion frightened the folks! After Drogon killed a girl I had no choice. I'm sure you know how it is, you have two." She justified. Daeron felt sick.
"Daenerys… Weirion and Rhoynax never killed anybody who wasn't attacking us… Nor did they ever leave me if I did not want them to." He explained with a careful voice.
"Then you're lucky…"
"It is no luck, it's work." He retorted. "Can you see now? I could teach you Daenerys, many things and I'm sure you have many other things to teach me in return… But for that you will need to accept your own faults and your position." She avoided his gaze.
She refused to address the issue. "You said you wanted to see Lady Catelyn. I'll bring you to her now." Daeron did not press further. He knew she needed time to process all she had learnt.
What do you think of the way I portrayed Dany?
At first, I wanted to have the reunification with Cat in this chapter but it would have made it too long. At least we know she's alive.
Next chapter: Lady Catelyn tells her adventures. Another family member is found and Dany acts foolishly.
Guest reviews:
- Consider that in this story they did.
- I hope you have liked it. The interactions with Dany will be as cringy for a while but yes, she does want a family and it will play a role in her behaviour.
Thank you!