Hello, hello,

This is the last chapter in Essos! I know some of you are eager to move back to Westeros, so only a few more days to wait.
As usual, thank you for your support and please leave reviews if you have the time, it helps.

Enjoy!

Chapter XLVII: The Dothraki sea

"Do not let anyone leave or enter this room." Daeron ordered Richard and Oberyn. "Weirion will stay above the pyramid, if anything suspicious happens, Arianne, you call him speaking High Valyrian and you flee." With our son and not necessarily the others, was the unspoken part of his demand, as much as it pained him. "I'll come back as soon as I can." He promised.

Arianne raised a sceptical brow. "Do you even have to go?" She asked. "I mean, she should be able to come back, she's Drogon's rider."

"She won't, she has no control over her dragons…" Daeron sighed. "And I promise, if by tomorrow I have not found her I'll come back, and we will leave immediately." His wife did not seem happy, but she nodded and stopped complaining.

Though, when she kissed his cheek to say goodbye, she took the occasion to whisper in his ear. "When we go back to Westeros, those power plays you do will stop." She warned. In fact, he already felt guilty for not including her in his decisions enough. But every time, he felt like he had to take action quickly and did not have the time to consult her. He nodded his assent and gave one last look to his family before climbing up the stairs to the top of the pyramid.

Rhoynax was waiting for him on the dark yellow stones of the balcony. He settled himself in his wide saddle. "Sovegon." Immediately, the dragon elevated them into the sky above Meereen. Daeron knew he did not have to, but he still directed her back toward the pits, to see the extent of the damage and what might have befallen Daario Naharis.

Judging by the number of bodies littering the ground, he would say that most of the attackers were now dead. As for Daario, he laid on the ground, but Daeron detected some movement in him. He was wounded, yet still alive. Maybe he could still gather enough energy to rise and walk back to the pyramid. If he did not, Daeron could not say he would miss the man. He could have flown him back if given time, but he had none. The longer it took him to leave, the farther Daenerys could get.

The problem was, he did not know where to even begin with his research. He had barely seen in which general direction the great black dragon had taken his aunt. They had flown north, but who knew if they had not changed path later on. As he was thinking this way, Rhoynax started flying faster. Daeron was confused, but through their bond, the dragon sent him reassuring feelings. Maybe she knew what she was doing. Who was he to say that dragons cannot smell or feel their fellow beasts? But that raised another question: why had she taken so much time to join them when they were attacked at the pits? He suddenly felt hungry, he was startled but, with the help of some of her chirps, he understood the message. Rhoynax had probably gone hunting when they were at the fights, maybe to a place too far to fly back quickly enough.

It was not long before the yellow and orange mountains surrounding Meereen started growing smaller and smaller until they completely faded into green. It was not exactly a plain, there were hills. And the green was not completely uniform. Sometimes it was just green grass, but others, it was thin high branch-like trees. From above, they looked a lighter shade of green. He had not come to Meereen through this way, but he could easily guess where he was. This was the Dothraki Sea, or at least the southern border of it. Somehow, he had always imagined it flat. It was not. It was full of small hills, sometimes bigger ones.

They could not have been farther than two hours away from Meereen when Daeron noticed a black circle on the ground. Curious, he directed Rhoynax to land near the place and dismounted. He was right to be startled. The circle was not natural, the grass had been burnt several times there. Judging by the numerous half-charred bones littering the ground, they had found Drogon's lair. Indeed, even if the young dragon was gluttonous, there were too many remains for it to be only one meal.

"Do you think he took Daenerys here?" Daeron asked his own dragon. Rhoynax purred. "So do I… but they're not here anymore. Either he left her here and she tried to move on foot, or they flew together. If she's on her own, she is not going in the right direction, we would have seen her otherwise." Daeron commented. He did not know if he was talking to himself or to Rhoynax, he was not sure it even mattered in all honesty. "What do you think we should do?" He turned to the grey dragon.

For an answer, she lowered her shoulder, asking him to climb once more. Trusting her, he did as she asked and soon settled in his saddle again. She went north and a few miles away, Daeron saw the black dot in the sky. They had found Drogon.

Rhoynax flew faster to catch up with the beast. The black dragon dod not look happy to see them and to Daeron deception, Daenerys was not on his back. He hissed, roared and threw small flames in Rhoynax's direction. At first, Daeron's friend did nothing but follow him, until she grew tired of the other's somewhat childish behaviour. Using her superior size, she positioned herself above the black dragon and forced him down, threatening him with her claws. Not once did she roar. Once they had landed, she did. Drogon answered by hissing. The two repeated a few times before Drogon finally stopped responding and lowered his neck. Daeron had no idea if there was some form of hierarchy amongst dragons. In fact, he was not even sure if they were not solitary animals.

Rhoynax bent her neck so that Daeron could see her right eye. It seemed to scrutinize him. Once again, she purred, as if reassuring him. She launched herself upwards and Daeron was pleased to notice Drogon following them. Instead of going further north, Rhoynax turned south-east where the grass quickly turned drier and sparser.

...

He heard noises before he could see anything. Over one of the hills, he discovered a large lake, and on its shore, a camp so wide and disorganised that it resembled a town. There were dark tents made of leather, fires to cook and makeshift stalls for the countless horses. Daeron could never count how many men, women and children were in the camp. Tens of thousands no doubt. They all had dark long hair and olive skin and wore close made of leather mostly. He immediately guessed that he was about to meet the Dothraki people.

His presence, or rather the presence of two fully grown dragons was quickly noted by the Dothrakis. The horses started to panic, quickly followed by men and women alike, even though, some warriors managed not to run away. It was accompanied by screams of fear. Dragons had been roaming over Essos for three years now and Drogon, at least, had been above the Dothraki Sea, but judging by their reaction, Daeron guessed this particular horde had never seen one of the beasts.

Rhoynax landed in the middle of the camp and roared at the few people who had not yet fled. Drogon did the same just behind her. Once she had calmed down, Daeron could better observe his surroundings.

He did not know if it was luck or something else, but Rhoynax had landed in front of what looked like a command tent – it was bigger, better decorated and the people inside it had longer braids – and Daeron breathed a sigh of relief when he saw a glimpse of silver hair. His aunt was there, though she was bound at the wrists, her hair was dishevelled, and her dress looked beyond dirty.

"Fin ajjin jin? Jadat irge! Qoy che anna qoy!" One of the men stood at the edge of the tent and vociferated towards the others. He looked the least afraid and stared directly at Daeron, looking past the dragon. "Fin hash yer?" There was silence as Daeron did not understand what the man had said. Eventually, the Dothraki nodded to his men who took their curved blades and started approaching threateningly.

"Avvos tat rek! Yer tihk athdrivar." Daeron was surprised to discover that the voice which had just spoken belonged to his aunt. Good, at least Daenerys can be the translator. It made sense, after all, she had Dothraki guards. "Daeron!" She addressed him, taking him out of his thinking. "He wants to know who you are."

"Then tell him." Daeron yelled back. "And tell him I want him to give you back to me."

"Mae ajjin Daeron heala Targaryen, ate ki mae hake, khal andali men rhoynari men mataki, anna siera." Daenerys said to the three closest men, who gasped when they heard her. It took the man a few seconds to register that she had spoken to him. He kept speaking in his language.

After a while, Daeron was sick of not understanding what was being said. "What is he saying?" He asked Daenerys who was still talking to the leader.

"He wants to know how I speak Dothraki. I told him my husband taught me." Daenerys shrugged. Daeron knew very little of Daenerys' first husband, apart from the fact that he was a Dothraki horselord.

"Have you told him I'm leaving with you?" Not being able to understand the conversation was frustrating to him.

She did not answer, instead, she addressed the Dothrakis once more. The language sounded somehow crude to Daeron. It had none of the easy flowing sounds of the Common Tongue, it was nothing but harsh-sounding words and the men constantly looked as if they were arguing. Daeron noticed his aunt's eyes widening. "What is it?" He pressed her.

"He says that since I'm Drogo's widow my place is in some temple in Vaes Dothrakh…" She seemed perplexed. "He says I'm his prisoner and you'll have to come and get me."

"Well then, step away Aunt, this idiot will burn." Daeron replied coolly.

"Wait!" She held her hands up. "Can't we talk to them! Make their army ours and spare their lives." She pleaded.

"I don't need their army. I don't have ships to transport them. Most importantly I don't have the time! The situation has changed in Westeros, I need to go back." His tone was full of reproach and it took her aback apparently. Daeron was sour against her. If it was not for her, he would already have left. He did not know if he was being fair, but at the moment, he did not care. Besides, did she not know what Dothrakis were? Did she truly believe they could be turned into an army? "Step back, Daenerys." He ordered. After one last word to the man, she did as Daeron had bid.

The man shouted a few moretimes to his men who started running, weapon in hand, toward Rhoynax. "Dracarys!" The grey dragon burnt them to ashes with a discomfiting easiness. Daeron realised it was only the second time he used a dragon's fire to execute somebody. To say he did not like it would be an understatement. Previously, he had mostly considered Rhoynax as a friend and a formidable way to get places quickly. Now, after the Wall and the Dothraki, he truly understood why the Targaryens and Valyrians of old were so feared. Rhoynax was the deadliest weapon he had ever seen, and she was not yet as big as she could get.

He heard some shouts coming from the Dothrakis. The women who had been in the command tent screamed and scratched their own cheeks to the blood. Children started crying here and there and most of the men were stuck in place. It was an old woman who acted first. She dropped to her knees and flattened her face to the ground. The younger girls around her imitated her. Then, the men a few feet away. It was like a wave of people, one by one, they bowed lowly before him and the field grew silent. Daeron growled, he did not need worshippers, he needed to get away from there.

"What do we do now?" Daenerys asked him.

"You get back on Drogon and we fly to Meereen." Daeron ordered between his teeth.

"You want to leave those people here?" She sounded shocked. "They just bowed to you and you will abandon them!"

"They are not my people." Daeron pointed out. "Neither are they yours. My people need me in Westeros and yours in Meereen. You left a city in utter chaos!" He reminded her angrily.

"I was attacked!" She defended herself.

"So was I! but I did not flee!"

"Drogon took me! Even if I climbed on his back just now, he would certainly take me to another place." She crossed her arms in front of her chest. Meanwhile, the Dothrakis were still silent and on their knees.

"No, he would not. I made sure of it." Daeron informed his aunt.

Panic settled on her face and she ran to her dragon's side. "What did you do to him?"

"Nothing, Rhoynax taught him respect. Something you should have done years ago!" He added.

"Zaldrìzes buzdari iksos daor!" She retorted in High Valyrian. The volume of her voice had climbed way higher since she had rushed to Drogon.

"Neither are we!" Daeron answered. "Yet we obey rules. Him not being a slave does not mean you have to let Drogon do as he pleases. You yourself are a Queen, yet I think you have realised by now that you cannot do anything you want if you want to keep your crown and your head…" He had not planned to give her another lesson, but Daenerys' behaviour worried him. She was erratic. A few days before, he had thought she had learnt her lesson and would rule Meereen just fine with the right teachers beside her. Now, he was not so sure. She was still too impulsive and the things he had thought she had understood appeared foreign to her once more.

"Exactly, so I cannot leave these people here! They need me!" She countered. Her comment made Daeron raise one of his brows. He did not get the logic behind her thoughts.

"They don't. They are not your people. The Meereenese need you. And I need to get back to Meereen so that I can leave and return to Westeros." He explained though he was slowly losing his patience.

"But don't you see?! These people are slaves! I can free them! They could live in Meereen with me!" Honestly, Daeron wanted to laugh at the absurdity of what she had just said.

"Not even half of them are slaves…" He pointed at them all. "Most are free Dothraki riders. They have lived this way since before Valyria even existed. You won't change them now. And they have always been enemies of Meereen." He did not care that his voice had turned disdainful. "Tell me, Aunt, how will you make them live together."

"They could…" She had lost her words.

"They could not. They could nothing! Now get on Drogon, we're leaving!" He ordered Daenerys once more. This time, she did as he asked and climbed up her dragon's shoulder. "Sovegon." He whispered to Rhoynax.

When they realised he was leaving, the Dothraki stumbled to their feet and all ran towards him, their pleading hands turned toward the sky. They all shouted something, as if calling him back but he did not turn to look at them. He meant what he had told Daenerys. These were not his people. No matter the poor state they were in, he had understood that he could not save the whole world, he had priorities to have in his life.

Thankfully, he soon heard the sound of flapping leather behind him. Drogon had risen in the sky as well. Rhoynax fastened the pace and the wind whipped Daeron's cheek as they flew rapidly towards Meereen. It had taken him two hours to find Daenerys, he only needed one to come back to the city. This time, he did not look at the landscape, he was focused solely on the horizon in front of him.

...

Arianne, Sansa, Lady Catelyn, Ellaria, Oberyn and Richard were waiting for them on the balcony with Missandei and an injured Grey Worm when Daenerys and Daeron landed next to the golden statue of the harpy.

"Are you alright, my Queen?" The girl from Naath rushed worriedly to Daenerys as soon as she set foot on the yellow stones. Daeron's aunt looked startled by the fact that her councillor was so upset. She reassured the girl in hushed tones.

Daeron crossed his family's gazes. Mainly, he crossed Arianne's and Ellaria's. He walked the last steps that separated him from his wife and pressed a longing kiss on her forehead. Ellaria looked at him seriously. He could guess what she was thinking, they needed to find a way to leave as quickly as possible.

When the sun set, Daeron requested, or rather ordered a meeting of all the concerned people to decide how and when they would leave. At first, it was a game of shouts. Prince Oberyn wanted to go directly to the North using their boat. Yet, Lady Catelyn needed to see Robb. Robb who, according to Arianne, needed to be brought North as quickly as possible. Ser Richard argued that they should go to the isles of the Black Water first and gather more supporters. While Prince Oberyn pushed for their destination to be Dorne so that Arianne and Aemon could be put to safety – somehow, Prince Quentyn's former companions seemed to agree. Daenerys seemed to have switched moods once more and expressed her wish for the family to stay a few more nights.

"Enough." Daeron said calmly but firmly. The effect was immediate. Silence filled the room. "Ellaria?" He turned to the wise Dornish bastard.

She locked her eyes to his and explained her plan. "The direct royal family should fly North immediately. With the army already there, you can start the campaign in the North. Besides, I don't think we should trust Doran with Queen Arianne and Prince Aemon. I believe they need to remain with his Grace." She said with a pointed look to her paramour who held his hands up as a sign of defeat. "Meanwhile, the rest of us will use the boat to go to Driftsmark. There, we will request the loyal families' support. From there Lady Stark, Ser Gerris and Ser Archibald can go back to Sunspear to retrieve Lord Robb, Ser Jaime and Myrcella. We could ask another boat from the Velaryons to follow you North with Lady Sansa." She paused to shush Lady Stark's protest. "When the Dornish boat sails back North, it could stop at Driftsmark again and take in the troops of the loyalist to land them in White Harbour. This way, if the Boltons have not yet been defeated, the two armies can crush them from the North and the South. And if the North is free, then we will be closer to march on the Twins." She finished her explanation and Lady Catelyn rushed to voice her protest.

"Why separate Sansa and I?" She cried.

"So that not all the Starks are in the same place in the case of an attack." It was Daeron who provided the explanation and Ellaria nodded. This seemed to not satisfy but meet the understanding of Lady Stark.

"What about me?" Daenerys asked in a small voice. She was surrounded by Missandei – who clinged close to her – and Grey Worm – who stood in silence.

"You have to bring calm back to your city first, Daenerys." Daeron spoke softly to her. She seemed so lost. "Then, you are free to fly to Westeros and meet us. We will go first to the North and then move on to the Twins. If you are lost, you could still go to Dorne where Prince Doran can inform you." He was not sure how Doran would react to Daenerys, but he was somewhat confident that he would not harm her.

He saw his aunt nod. "I have been informed that Daario Naharis is already working on pacifying the city." She explained.

Daeron raised a sceptical brow. "How is he doing that? Last I saw him, he was wounded on the ground."

"I don't know, an informant came to the palace and told Missandei." She indicated before she resumed her silence. Somehow, Daeron had a feeling Daenerys would not join them in Westeros that soon.

Now, nobody wanted to add anything. Ellaria's proposition had gained support from everyone, miraculously. Though, they remained in the room for much longer, some cuddling against their most loved one, like Sansa and her mother or Daeron and Arianne. The young King could not say how long they stayed there in silence.

...

Daeron had almost forgotten how majestic weirwood trees were. With their white trunks, blood red leaves and the green moss on the stones surrounding them. With a little snow in the background, it was truly magnificent. It made him miss his young years, in the Godswood of Winterfell with Robb. For a moment, he wondered why he was seeing this tree. "I must miss home." He told himself out loud. He walked closer to the sacred tree and lightly caressed the face that had been carved in it.

Almost immediately, the tree disappeared. He looked around him. He was in the snow, to his right, a forest, to his left, the Wall. But the Wall was not as tall as it was currently. Men with wooden crane positioned blocks of ice and blocks of stone one upon the other. He saw groups of fifteen men pulling those blocks. And giants helping them. The atmosphere was… jovial. It truly was the best way he could describe it. Giants laughed with men, they made booming sound, so foreign that at first, Daeron could not recognise what they were.

It was the evening, and quickly, Daeron focused on the scene that played out just before him. There were banners on both sides. Closer to the Wall, Daeron easily recognised the Starks'. In fact, one man, wearing a crown looked disturbingly like Daeron's uncle, Eddard Stark, with black hair, a serious face and piercing grey eyes. On the other side, was a banner he did not know. Two axes crossed on a green field. It looked like the Dustins' a little, but it missed the crown and the yellow field. There were two leaders under this banner. One was a tall man, with a ginger beard and long red hair on which rested a crown made of wood and engraved with symbols, the same Daeron had seen on the blocks of stone that were carried to build the Wall. The second was a woman, no taller than a six-namedays-old child. She had a greenish tint in her skin and twigs in her hair. She spoke in a high-pitched voice.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay in Barrowtown?" The Stark asked.

"The North is too small for a Barrow King and a King of Winter, Brandon!" The red-haired man boomed. "I'm sure my little sister will take great care of the Barrowtown. I will stay here, with my men, I will make sure that your men are informed of any movement up North."

"We will help them, Brandon Stark, fear not." The green woman completed.

"Thank you Leaf. The Children are welcome South of the Wall whenever they want." Brandon Stark vowed.

"Thank you, but we won't come. Our place is here, where our magic is needed most. But we will look after you, don't cut the weirwood trees, King of Winter." Leaf said.

"We won't. You have my word."

"Have you decided who will guard the Wall, yet?" The other king asked.

"My brother has volunteered. He will create an order of strong men, to guard and maintain the Wall. He wants it called the Night's Watch." Leaf and Brandon smiled. The red-haired man burst out in laughter.

"You Starks and your fancy names!" He commented. "Give Torrhen my regards, I will see him soon. Farewell, King Brandon."

"Farewell, King Jorramun." The two men clasped each other's forearm.

Daeron slowly realised what was happening before him. He was at the beginning of the construction of the Wall. The men he had just seen were Brandon the Builder and the legendary first King-beyond-the-Wall Jorramun. But, contrary to what Daeron had always heard, he had not rebelled against the Night's Watch, he had vowed to help it at its creation under the command of a man named Torrhen Stark, no doubt the first Lord Commander of the Watch. And contrary to what Old Nan said, the Children of the Forest had not been killed in the Long Night, neither had they retreated to cave in the Wolfswood. They were North of the Wall. The wildlings were not wildlings, they were men of the Barrow Kings of the North who had volunteered to protect the Wall and the North from beyond the border. The Free Folk and the Night's Watch had been created to work hand in hand, and to use the help of the Children of the Forest.

It was not the first time that he asked himself this question, but he wondered how they had gone from a peaceful situation such as this, to centuries of conflict and twisted legends. Also, he wondered why he was having this dream. Why this? And more importantly, why now?

One of you suggested in the reviews a while back that Daeron could have dreams with his Stark ancestors as well. So, here we go, though I decided that he could not talk to them.
I tried to emphasize the relationship between Daeron and Rhoynax in the beginning of the chapter, I hope I succeeded.

Next chapter: the only hint I'm giving you is that I cried writing it...

Guest reviews:

- (archmagelite) I would not do that if I were you, the dreams give him valuable information throughout his troubles.

- Thank you! We will see Daenerys again. As for Daario... well, what is your guess? x) I know... I actually enjoy Margeary as a character, but I need her to have some hardship to get her where I want.