His first act before leaving is cleaning his hair of any and all dye. His Valyrian features are rather common in Essos, so showing them off means nothing—in fact, it helps to make him pass by mostly unnoticed, something his hair dye did not allow.
Despite his belief that his true name bears next to no meaning, he decides to adopt an alias. After a nightmare, he picks the name Zuko for himself—in the dream, it was the name given to the one good guy amidst the cruel men who wanted to kill him.
When he leaves the house, he's unsure of where to go. With Jon going back to Griffin's Roost and Ashara just as lost, he has yet to pick a place. After some thought, he decides the best option is a city he hasn't been to yet—which excludes Braavos, Tyrosh, Myr and Lys. After checking a map randomly on sale, he picks the closest Free City that would be new to him: Norvos.
He finds an inn in the southernmost point of Pentos to sleep in for the night, and in the morning he goes to the gates to find a caravan to insert himself in. A woman with pink hair, Ty Lee, allows him to follow her as long as he helps setting camp every night. He obviously agrees; it's a small price to pay, and he's used to harder work in his time aboard the Shy Maid.
The first half of the trip is downright boring and tiresome, as they cross a small desert. Aegon's fingers itch to bend every morning, to the point he has to wake up before everyone else if he wants to bend. His physical features may be commonplace, but Zuko, a peasant, should not bend lightning at all—such an ability belongs to either a Rogare or a Blackfyre, with very few exceptions. He's not interested in making up a story to pass up as an exception, or in feigning ignorance about his origins only to have people try to investigate his 'secret ancestry' to explain his bending.
Fortunately, Ty Lee likes her tent to be set up at the camp's edge, so it's easy for him to sneak out and go away to meditate—the firebending meditation he learned works quite well for lightningbending—and practice. However, since she's also an early riser, he doesn't have much time for himself.
As the sand is replaced by soil and grass, and the nothingness gives away to trees, it gets easier for him to sneak out of her view. Things get even better for him when it begins to rain at night, and the mornings turn cloudy. No one questions an increase in lightning, so he relaxes a bit.
In daytime, he engages in conversation with Ty Lee and other travelers. They are all producers who go to Norvos and Qohor regularly to sell their products. His 'boss' sells pre-made and commissioned clothes and veils; another woman, Izumi, sells homemade beverages; Zhao, a friend of Ty Lee, makes intricate furniture by commissions.
In this trip, both Ty Lee and Zhao are carrying commissioned goods to the same client. "She married a Westerosi", Ty Lee tells him. "A… what is the name of those guys who rule over Dorne?"
Aegon has to fight the urge to answer, but thankfully Izumi is fast. "House Martell", she replies. "I think they name themselves 'princes' and 'princesses', even though everyone kneels before that Iron Throne of theirs."
Dornish history is on the tip of his tongue, thanks mostly to Ashara's lessons. How their people resisted, time after time, the Targaryens' conquest efforts. The story of how Queen Rhaenys Targaryen and her dragon still sends chills through his body: after successfully shooting an ironbolt in the Meraxes' eye, leading to her fall alongside Rhaenys right on one of Hellhot's towers.
"When Lord Uthor Uller went to retrieve the Queen's body", she told him at the time, "he found her alive—barely conscious and gravely injured, though. Prince Nymor was with him and decided to send King Aegon a message through Rhaenys. He placed Rhaenys inside a casket and bent sand inside her—through her mouth, ears, nose, cunt and ass, until she finally laid dead. Then he filled the rest of the casket with more sand and sent her remains to Aegon alongside Meraxes' skull."
Over a century and a half went by until King Daeron II made peace with Dorne through his marriage to Princess Myriah Martell and the addition of several Dornishmen to his court. It left an opening for his father's bastards to rebel, and there was a lot of trouble when the king died leaving only his fourth son Maekar as firebender, but the long-term results are still noticeable today, according to Ashara.
He doesn't say any of this to his traveling companions, though. Zuko is a lowborn, illiterate, non bender Pentoshi who knows absolutely nothing about Westeros.
"Yes, the Martells", Ty Lee says in response. "Well, this lady is Norvish, but left her home to marry the Martell prince. They were in love, I think, but apparently their love didn't last, for she returned to Norvos not so long ago. They are still married, but it's more of a formality."
"He kept the children in Dorne, though", Zhao adds. "Something about being his heirs."
Naturally, Zuko has no input to offer, but Aegon thinks about what he just learned as they cut their way through the forest. The current Prince of Dorne is Doran Martell, as far as Ashara and Jon know. His 'septa' did tell him once that he married a foreigner woman, Mellario, for love, but said nothing of a separation—then again, if this is recent news, she likely never found out. Before he stated he would propose marriage to his 'aunt' Daenerys, Jon wanted to wed him to Arianne Martell, Doran's firstborn and heir, to make sure Dorne would back them up—as if being Elia's son would not be enough.
He sighs. Lady Mellario is unlikely to look at him and assume he's anything other than what he currently claims to be, so it's a moot point to think about her.
When they are half a day's ride from the city gates, Ty Lee goes around the camp offering a temporary chi block. When he asks her why, she frowns at him. "Do you not know of the Norvish ban on bending?"
He shakes his head, and she sighs. "It's a good thing you don't bend then, Zuko. Bending has been banned from Norvos since… gods, I don't even remember when. Something about a war with the Ibbenese, I think. Point is, the bearded priests forbid people from bending within the city walls, so the safest option for a bender is to have their chi blocked during their stay." A man shouts that they want her help, so she goes after him, and Aegon follows. "Of course, anyone born a bender is kicked out along with their families. Probably another reason why Lady Mellario did not bring her children along—maybe even the main one."
"Does this happen somewhere else?", he asks, trying to not show his concern. "Or is it a Norvish thing only?"
"As far as I know, Norvos is the only place where bending is illegal", she replies firmly. "Of course, it would be unwise to bend while among a khalasaar—you know what it is, don't you?" He nods—every Essosi knows about the Dothraki. "Well, I wouldn't bend near them, but I'm not sure if they count for you."
"I was thinking of cities", he agrees.
"Then it's only Norvos."
He suppresses a sigh of relief. He won't stay in Norvos any longer than needed for Ty Lee to sell her goods, but he doesn't have to go back to Pentos. There is Qohor nearby, not to mention many other cities across Essos he can pick as his new home.
Lady Mellario looks at him in confusion and says he reminds her of her 'husband's late goodbrother', but otherwise gives no comment on him and his appearance. He helps Ty Lee with unpacking and money checking. The pink-haired woman offers to pay him in return for his services, but he refuses. "I helped you in exchange for safe transport", he reminds her. "You fulfilled your end of our bargain."
She nods then. "I suppose you are not coming back with us, are you?"
"No", he admits. "I'm heading to Qohor."
"Then do take this coin", she insists. "You'll need it to pay for your trip."
He ends up taking it, not out of real need, but to keep his disguise—he's managed to hide his coin bag and Blackfyre all the way to Norvos, he won't give himself away now.
Luckily, he finds yet another sales caravan, this time to Qohor. He gangs up with a Norvish tapestry seller named Kuei, whose eccentric talks spare him of sharing his made up backstory.
The way between the two cities is marked by an increasingly dense forest, just as rainy as when he was near Norvos during his first trip. The bridge over the Qhoyne river is slightly unstable, meaning a few can cross at the same time. Kuei stands at the end of the line, and only by the beginning of the night do they cross the bridge.
High stone walls greet them the next morning. "Qohor is a land of earthbenders, as well as sandbenders", Kuei explains. "Its founders built these walls solely with their combined bending."
As Kuei sets up his tent to sell his tapestry, Aegon wanders around the city in search of somewhere to live in after his companion goes back to Norvos. A man points to a street full of three-storey buildings where one can rent a small room.
He's about renting business from Braavos, where the practice began. Someone rich would offer small homes for poorer people for regular payment—once a year, twice a year, every moon, and so on. He never saw a renter in Pentos, though he doesn't doubt some will emerge soon. Illyrio might turn to that line of business, now that he has no son to place on the Iron Throne.
On his way to the aforementioned street, he stops by when he sees a comotion on a square. He asks someone what is happening. "The daily sacrifice to the Black Goat", he replies excitedly. "And today is special, for they will sacrifice a criminal!"
He frowns. He has heard of the city's god, the Black Goat of Qohor, but he was unaware of these 'daily sacrifices' until now. "So the city uses the ritual to execute criminals?"
The man turns to him and looks at him up and down. Seemingly understanding that he's talking to a foreigner, he nods. "Not always, though. They usually offer an animal. Today is a holy day, though, so they bring criminals to the altar."
"I see", he hums. "And what is their crime?"
"Firebending within the sacred site", he replies instantly. "The only benders allowed to practice there are the ones who bend earth or its specialties. The guy claims he did not know the site's limits, since he was new to the city, but it doesn't really annul his crime—and bending the Black Goat's rejected elements is among the highest crimes."
He thanks the man for the information and leaves the square, heading straight back to Kuei's tent. I cannot stay here either, he realizes. I might meet this man's same fate.
But where will he go? He might have told himself he could pick any place in Essos as his new home, but the truth is, he has no wish to learn a new language. He's fluent in Westerosi Common Tongue, High Valyrian and its bastard variants, Dothraki and a bit of Summer Tongue, but Ibbenese is an enigma to him and gods know what languages people speak beyond the Bone Mountains. He'd rather stick to western Essos.
The best place for him is one where he could practice his bending without raising suspicion. With Norvos banning all kinds of bending and Qohor having odd rules that might earn him a death sentence, he only has the coastal cities to settle in. Pentos is obviously out of question, and so is Braavos. Volantis is notorious for its many firebenders, but no lightningbenders to speak of—those are commonplace in Lys.
He sighs. He did not really want to go to the island city, but he saw no better option. His looks are even more common there, meaning he is unlikely to draw attention. There are guilds for all kinds of benders there, and lightning is no exception. Besides, Lys is the seat of House Rogare, meaning many of their bastards and their descendants bend lightning without raising trouble. With luck, his visits there aboard the Shy Maid have been long forgotten, and his silvery hair won't pose any threat to him.
With the decision clear in his mind, he goes to find a way to go to Lys. After a lot of questioning, he finds out about daily voyages down the Qhoyne river, heading to either Volantis or Myr. He takes a ship to Myr; he remembers the mail outpost there, and thinks of writing to Jon about his exploits.
After thanking Kuei for his help, he gets in the ship. Thanks to Ty Lee's financial aid, he still has money left for when he reaches Myr, but he's not sure if it's enough for him to send a letter to Jon and travel to Lys afterwards—especially if he is to cross the Disputed Lands, a rather dangerous zone to be in. I'll worry about it when I get there, he tells himself.
The voyage down Qhoyne is uneventful, the endless parade of trees broken only once by the sight of a Rhoynar ruined city—and even that doesn't last long, for most of said ruins are stationed in the mainland.
It is only when they reach the Dagger Lake that Aegon begins to enter familiar territory. He remembers crossing the lake two years ago, when they were going from Pentos to Volantis. Like that time, this ship crosses it during nighttime, with all lights down and all passengers hidden inside to avoid pirate raids. Like that time, it is successful in its goal, and their trip goes on without trouble.
Two days later, though they are attacked on their way to enter the Lhorulu river—the one that ends near Myr. Stone men—people plagued by greyscale to the point their whole skin has a stone-like color and aspect— jump into the ship as it passes through the river's edge. He finds out through people's screams and the stone men's roars. Fuck, he swears mentally. I have to defend this ship, even if it outs me. He quickly produces Blackfyre from his bag and goes upstairs to the ship's deck.
It's a huge mess. Not only the stone men are running wild across the deck, a fog encompasses them all, making it even more difficult to tell friend from foe. Regardless, he marches forward with Blackfyre in hand, cutting through every stone man he finds on the way. Sometimes he has to engage in actual combat in order to avoid harming innocents, but he counts ten casualties from the attackers' side before they jump out of the ship.
He tries to hide his sword before going back to his cabin, but a purple-haired man notices. "Is that Valyrian steel, boy?"
Aegon freezes on spot. The question was asked loud enough for everyone on the deck to hear, and Zuko is definitely not supposed to own a sword, let alone a Valyrian steel one. Think fast, Aegon! He looks at the sword; he can't deny its material. "It is", he admits.
"Where did you find it?", the man asks, approaching him.
He tightens his grip on the sword, trying to hide the very Targaryen-like hilt. "I stole it", he claims, "in Qohor." One of the very few things he's always known about that damned city was the fact that it's the only place Valyrian steel is still forged after the Doom of Valyria.
"I'd like to take a look at it."
"I'm afraid not", he replies firmly, taking a step back. "It isn't you, lad, but I'd rather not risk such a precious weapon out of my reach."
The man decides not to argue and jumps at him instead. Aegon lifts the sword and cuts his belly from side to side. Fortunately, it is enough for the man to drop on his knees, screaming in pain as he tries to stop the bleeding.
Unfortunately, he's a member of the main crew, so Aegon is promptly shoved out of the ship right after they get far enough from the Sorrows—the lands of the stone men. "And we're only granting you this mercy because you aided us against the stone men", the captain remarks. "Otherwise you'd have been thrown out of the river right away."
He goes from one caravan to another, until the last two days of travel are made by foot. The land is not entirely desertic, but it's not forest paradise either, so by the time he catches sight of a camp at the walls of Myr, he is thirsty, hungry and so, so tired.
A Dothraki stops him and asks about his business in the city. "I want to send a letter to Westeros", he replies without thinking. He has no energy to think of what Zuko could be doing in Myr. To be perfectly honest, he's mentally congratulating himself for remembering how to speak in Dothraki.
"Westeros?", he man asks. "Who are you?"
"My foster father lives there", he says instead.
The man looks at him up and down. "Our khaleesi may want to meet you. Daenerys Stormborn."
He blinks. "Daenerys?"
"Yes", he replies slowly. "Do you know her?"
"She—she's my—aunt?"
He's barely aware when the man seizes him and drags him to a tent. He falls asleep soon after anyway.
By the time Daenerys Stormborn goes to him, the Dothraki men—her blood riders, as he found out after waking up—have already given him enough food and water for him to talk properly, enabling him to introduce himself.
Obviously, she's startled by the introduction. "What do you mean, you were raised as my deceased nephew?"
Behind her, a man appears. He looks considerably older, and—oh, no. If he is who Aegon thinks he is…
He remembers Illyrio talking about having sent a Westerosi man—a Nothernman running away from death penalty—to spy on Daenerys and give him regular reports on her whereabouts. Nothing much, only to keep track of her for when Aegon made his way to her. Now that Aegon no longer chases the Iron Throne, what is this man doing here?
Perhaps it's someone else entirely, he thinks as he sees a blonde woman getting inside the tent as well. "It's a long story", he admits, "for I've been told of this lie all my life." He sees the man growing tense, while the two women just look confused. "It could take all day for me to tell it."
"I'm in no rush", she replies. "Cersei, Ser Jorah, are you in any hurry?"
Cersei. She must be the Lannister woman Illyrio reported to have married Daenerys' brother Viserys then. Ser Jorah. The name is indeed familiar, so it must be the spy. Concern rises to his throat; is his fake aunt being betrayed from the start? Or has Jorah changed sides?
The two of them shake their heads, and Daenerys turns her eyes back to him. Sighing, he begins his tale.