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Part III.2: Cycle of the Maiden

The Maiden dances through the sky,
she lives in every lover's sigh.
Her smile teaches the birds to fly,
and give dreams to little children.

Illyrio Mopatis. Even his name smelled fishy. The first thing Sansa thought when she saw him was that he looked a little like King Robert, only shorter. But she quickly realised how wrong she had been. The Magister was nothing like King Robert. He was courteous, manipulative and cunning. When Elie told him who his new guests were, the man's face had been a mixture of pleasure and annoyance. It had only lasted a second before the mask of politeness slipped on again. He had not believed Jon's lineage, even when the eunuch claimed they had proof. Well, Sansa was not about to show Sheepstealer to the rich Pentosi nobleman. Though, he had believed Sansa's claim of being a Stark and therefore welcomed them. Yet, they were not well served on their initial purpose.

"A shame you arrived this late. Viserys and Daenerys Targaryen left only two weeks ago." The man said at supper that night, when they asked again where they could find the Targaryens. He had refused to answer when they arrived, pretending not to hear. "They were very eager to leave."

"Do you know where they went and why?" Sansa asked politely.

"I do not. I did not think it polite to question King Viserys. I was only their host." The Magister replied. Sansa definitely did not believe him.

Apparently, neither did Elie. "Magister Illyrio, the Targaryen siblings have been your honoured guests for five years." It was funny how everywhere in the world 'honoured guests' really meant 'hostages'. "Surely they would have told you where they went before they left." Sansa did not know if his voice was dripping with honey or poison. Probably both.

"I don't know." The nobleman repeated more virulently this time. Jon was silent on his side of the table, looking sullen.

Elie was seething later at night, when the three of them met in Jon's room. There were not many chairs in Magister Illyrio's villa, he seemed to prefer sofas of crimson velvet and small tables made of bronze. The walls were painted with sceneries of feasts or pictures of some gods.

"The leech!" Elie spat. "He lies to us blatantly, does he not know that half of his staff is under my thumb? The boy who brought us the apricots has been informing me since he was four! I would have known if Viserys and Daenerys left?"

"At least we get to keep you with us a little longer, Elie." Sansa commented with a little bit of mischief. The situation amused her. Not because it was amusing, but because it showed that men of power were all the same. They thought that they could do anything, tell the most obvious lies and find their way out of it. "Fret not. I believe you. We will find a way to get to the Targaryens." She declared sipping on wine.

"How?" Jon snapped. She had not realised how on edge he was.

"We will think of something." Sansa vowed softly.

They did not explore the city, they barely even explored the villa. Magister Illyrio did not assign a guard to them, but he clearly instructed some to keep watch of Jon and Sansa at good distance. They walked through the gardens and found some part that were barred by closed bronze gates. It was the same inside the villa. Some of the doors were locked. Sansa could only imagine that Viserys and Daenerys were beyond those barred passages.

Magister Illyrio showered them with gifts. Dresses made of silk or Myrish lace, Pentosi robes and doublet for Jon, necklaces, broches, bracelets, combs, hairpins, most of which were depicting a direwolf. He dined with them almost every night, ordering a small feast every time. He was trying to charm them. He even let Ghost and Lady roam the gardens freely, though they had to stay out of the villa except for Sansa's and Jon's rooms.

When they dined, Sansa and Jon often asked if they could go in search of his uncle and aunt. "If they are not here, we ought to look for them. You must at least know which direction they left in, Magister." They would say.

He always had an excuse. "My steward saw them off, not me." or "A storm is brewing, I should advise against leaving now." or "There is a crossroad just a league away, it would be impossible for you to find them." or again "You ought to rest." All of it was false. He had no one steward, he had dozens. No storm ever came. Elie confirmed there was no crossroad until a small fishing village twenty leagues from Pentos. And they had rested plenty.

Whenever Illyrio served them his lies, Elie would keep his neutral face, or even a small polite smile, but his eyes were darting daggers at the Pentosi nobleman. He was perhaps the most furious of them, though Jon was not far behind. No, Jon is not furious, he is frustrated. Sansa corrected herself in her mind. She did try to soothe him with her kisses. It worked some, when they kissed, he was solely focused on her, but as soon as she broke away, he started worrying again. Sansa thought that something more… intimate might be more useful, but she could not bring herself to do more. Besides, Jon wanted to marry her, he would never accept her in his bed so long as they were not husband and wife.

"Why is he keeping us here?" Sansa asked Elie after another rant of the two men. "If he has no wish to let us see the Targaryens, why does he not give us false instructions and send us on our way?" She wondered.

"Somehow, you could be even more valuable to him than Daenerys and Viserys Targaryen." Elie answered. "He is certain you are a Stark and he has been informed of your 'escape' as we could call it. I would not be surprised if he was trying to send word to Varys." Sansa cursed herself for not thinking of that sooner.

"What do we do about it?" Jon asked suddenly alarmed as well.

"I know what his little birds that fly above the sea looks like and I know how Illyrio works, for such information, he will not want any intermediary. Only one little bird. There has been none as of yet." Elie explained. "When there is one, I'll make sure they don't make it across the Narrow Sea."

"I don't see how it could be of value to him." Sansa said. "You already informed Varys that we were in Braavos and that has brought you nothing." She observed. "What makes him so certain that he will gain from telling King Robert where we are?"

"Because he intends to take you himself to King's Landing and give you back to the King and your father… for a price." The eunuch answered.

"What price?" Jon and Sansa asked together.

"What he's always craved." Elie paused. "A lordship."

Sansa frowned. "Why would a Pentosi nobleman need a Westerosi lordship?"

Elie smiled and leaned forward as if to tell them a great secret. "He is not a Pentosi nobleman." The eunuch revealed. "Everyone assumes he is because of his wealth, but he is just the richest commoner you'll ever meet. The youngest Pentosi lords treat it as one of their own either because they forgot what he really was or because they need his money. Yet, the older ones, especially the members of the Council are not blinded by his money. He is still made to bow to them and serve them. He hates it." Elie chuckled. "If he was to become a Westerosi lord, he would be respected by all. Not only the youth. Besides, he would be untouchable, the Council would never risk angering the Iron Throne."

"I doubt some disrespect toward a Pentosi made lord would anger the Iron Throne." Sansa snorted.

"You know that, my dear, but they don't." The eunuch pointed out.

Elie left them eventually. "Do you think he can really stop the Magister from informing Westeros?" Jon asked taking her into his embrace.

"Better than us at least." Sansa replied. "I still think we should not linger here, but what can we do if we cannot find your uncle and aunt? And how do we escape?"

"I don't know. But we have to, we cannot go back to Westeros." Jon said resolutely.

"I am the one to say that usually." Sansa chuckled making Jon smile.

"You are, but he said he would give us to the King, not our father. My head will end up on a spike before your father can get to us if he gives us to Robert. And you'll marry Joffrey." He reminded her.

"Not necessarily, Joffrey could already be married and they could think you ruined me." She countered.

"Who would marry this monster?"

"Margeary." Sansa replied. "She did without much hesitation last time. Well, then her grandmother and Littlefinger killed Joffrey but she had no idea that it was their plan."

"How can you be so sure?" Jon peppered the crown of her head with kisses, she leant deeper into him on the bed.

"I knew Margeary." She replied. "She would have done anything to be Queen. She would not endanger her position by killing her husband before having a child in her belly at the very least." She reasoned.

"You sound like you admired her, but she does not seem all that nice."

"She was… and she wasn't." Sansa said. "I wonder if she'll marry Joffrey again."

"What do we do about my aunt and uncle?" Jon refocused their conversation on the important matter at hand.

"We need to find out where exactly they are kept and then find a way to get there undetected." Sansa summarized. When said this way, it sounded almost easy, but it was not it was anything but easy. "We cannot use the dragons, they would risk being seen." Sansa said after a while. "But what about the direwolves?"

Jon seemed to guess where she was going. "They can move about the garden. But they have been confined to the same parts as us. How will the guards react if they move to other quarters? Won't they try to kill them?"

"The guard are not stupid and stubbornly loyal too. If they see the wolves, they'll inform Illyrio but they won't kill without orders. Nobody can expect them to keep wild beast away…" She said laughing. "Anyway, we'll be mindful." She reassured him.

"We should split up, we'll cover more ground quicker this way." It was clear he was worried about what could happen to Ghost despite Sansa's reassurance.

"As you will." Sansa said.

At least it smelled good. It was the only thing she liked about the place. It smelled of the pure air of the sea and grilled meats with a hint of flowers. Those were not flowers she was used to though. They were too colourful. More than once, she launched and attacked what she thought was a small animal only to discover a ruined flower between her paws. Flowers tasted bitter. And she was too warm. Her fur insulated her a little from the heat, but it was not enough. She was panting all the time which irritated her. How was she supposed to be discreet and hunt if all she could do was pant? The ground was also uncomfortable. The rocks were sharp and tiny pricking at her sensitive paws. They seemed to be burning too. And the grass which had always been her safe haven had turned traitorous as well. It was dry and stinging.

She walked slowly from beneath the colourful bushes. Some of the humans had positioned a piece of meat on a disk for her and her silent brother. She was not stupid, she knew she needed to eat it, but she did not want to. She had tasted it the night before, whatever animal this had been – she could not think of what it was – it had been lazy. Its meat was laced with fat. She liked a little fat, but this was too much. This had not struggled when it was killed. Pathetic. She would have much preferred to be presented with a living thing, at least then she might have enjoyed the kill. And the taste would have been fresher. Whatever this was, it had been dead for at least a day or two. Most of the blood had drained away.

She growled lowly. She did not even have the satisfaction to see the humans flinch. These humans never flinched, she did not frighten them. She found it highly disturbing. Her girl and her siblings were the only humans she met before who did not flinch.

Bored and resolved she bit into the food. Fatty and bloodless, just as she expected. She would prefer even a bony frog to that. She did not have a choice though, even frogs seemed to have deserted the flowery cage she had been put in. She could easily have jumped over some of the walls, but she could not leave her girl behind.

After her meal, she decided to stretch her legs a little. Her silent brother left on the opposite direction. Maybe this time they would manage to meet up on the other side of the manmade construction. It was big. How big a stone cage did these humans need?

She passed by a blue bush full of flowers that formed big balls, crossed a stony path carefully and disappeared between two trees bearing odorant fruits. Quickly enough she found a corner between a stone wall and a metal one. The metal did not smell like iron, the awful metal had a distinct smell which was not this one. This one smelled acidic almost. She guessed it was not much better.

Tensing her strong muscles from her back legs, she leaped above the metal wall. It was easy enough. She had never been in that part of the flowery cage before. At least she could have something to explore. She was bored otherwise.

At first, she looked around the stone wall, but it was more of the same. More strange flowers. More nice-smelling fruits. More scratchy grass and more pointy rocks. She decided to go back toward the human lair. Maybe this part was different otherwise it would all be disappointing.

The lair in itself was the same, or close enough, she found. It was the same colour, with roughly the same structures. But she found strange humans. There were two. One male, one female, she thought. Their hair was very pale. Not as pale as snow like her silent brother, but pale like some of the metals she had seen her girl put in her hair. The male looked angry. He spoke very loud and made grand gesture. She knew better than to step closer. She staid in the shadows. She did not understand the sound his mouth made, there really was no point to her staying there. But she felt compelled to stay and listen anyway. As if a small part of her could understand what was happening and needed to keep listening.

"Jon, Jon!" She called as soon as she opened her eyes again and saw the painted ceiling of her room. She walked up from her featherbed and to the sofa where Jon laid. His eyes were completely white. He was still in there. She shook him by the shoulders, trying to bring him back, to no avail.

Five minutes later, he opened his eyes on his own. "Sansa?" He frowned trying to remember where he was apparently. "I saw them I think."

"I did to." Sansa smiled, sitting by his side.

"I think Viserys was angry, but I could not hear what they said, I was too far, I did not think it would be good to show myself." He explained.

"I was close enough, in the shadows." She informed him.

"So? What happened?" He asked eagerly.

"Viserys was indeed angry." She explained. It was strange, when she was Lady, she could not understand a word of what was said, but now that she was herself again, she remembered the conversation as clear as day. Viserys' angered tone, his exact words and Daenerys' hushed comforting words. "Apparently, Magister Illyrio has locked them too. He does not like that. He said no one could lock a King, lest a dragon…" The Prince had not sounded very sane. "Daenerys tried to reason with him saying that the Magister had been a very gracious host and never asked anything of them. Then she complained that she wanted to go home. Viserys snapped at her, telling her that she could not remember their home." She paused. "Home is where my family is." Daenerys had said, firm for the first time. "I am your family." Viserys had replied a little taken aback. "Exactly, therefore your home is my home." The lost princess had reached for his hand. "I think there is something between them." Sansa told Jon. "Love."

"Brotherly?"

She shook her head. "Something more. Viserys said he did not regret that Magister Illyrio's plan to marry Daenerys to a horselord had failed. That this way they could marry one day. It did not look as if it repulsed her." She explained.

"Marry a horselord?" Jon repeated. "Is that not what happened last time?"

"It is." Sansa confirmed. "By now Daenerys was a widow with three dragons, she had also lost her child. And Viserys was dead by her husband's hand." She recalled. "It makes me wonder now why it did not happen this time. I don't feel like anything changed on their side of the world."

"I knew it!" Elie exclaimed when they told him what they had found. He was a bit worried that they had risked their lives though. They had told him that they had snuck on the other side of the villa, but he did not know that they were wargs. Sansa even doubted that he knew what a warg was supposed to be. They were part of the Northern folklore after all. So, he believed that they – as in Jon and Sansa – had climbed over the fence and snuck to the back of the villa to catch a glimpse of the Targaryens.

"It does not solve our problem." Jon lamented from his side of the room. "We still have no idea how to get to them."

"If the guards were normal ones, I'd suggest we give them good liquor to drink or pay them so that they can go to a brothel. But these are Unsullieds, they won't be swayed. They only know to be loyal." She sighed.

"My Lady is well informed." Elie chuckled. "Unsullied indeed are fearsome warriors who cannot be moved by the small pleasures of life… if they are used in an army or remain in training." He added and Sansa frowned, so he explained. "Unsullieds used as household guards by the rich Pentosis, Lysenes, Myrishes, Norvosis, Volantenes, Mereeneses, Yunkaiis and what not are not the strongest of the bunch. They are as much a show of wealthiness as an expensive vase or pretty silks. Some of them have been here for decades doing almost nothing. They will still obey the master of the house, but they can be swayed. If not by women, then by alcohol." Elie said. "But I'm not sure how we could acquire such quantities of liquor in so little time with you stuck here."

"You're not stuck here." Jon pointed out.

"I'm not, but I don't drink, Illyrio knows that." The eunuch replied.

"What about the change of guards?"

"The previous guards wait for the next to leave. There is no time when the posts are not occupied." Jon said, he had apparently been looking.

They did not find a solution that night, nor the following night. Jon and Sansa continued to warg and roam the gardens. Jon because he wanted to see more of his aunt and uncle, and Sansa because she was trying to look for a way around in her human form. She always used the same way. She jumped from the low balcony of her chamber, followed the wall of the villa until the fence, turned along the metal under the bushes and finally, when she arrived at the stone wall, she leapt over and did the same backwards on the other side. She listened to the conversations between Viserys and Daenerys from right under their balcony.

After a few times, it became clear to her that Viserys was not completely sane. He was prone to ranting and screaming, but beneath it all, he cared for his sister. Loved her maybe even. And she trusted him. She feared him, but she trusted him.

By the third night, she had a pretty good idea of the guards and her movements. In fact, the path she took as a wolf had very little guards around it. She could not smell any actually even though she saw a few in the distance. They did not seem to notice her either. Would she be less discreet as a human than as a wolf? She probably would. And how would she get over the fence? She could not. It was too high and there was nothing for her to old onto. She would end impaled on the spikes. Actually, she remembered, I jumped from the battlements of Winterfell, how much harder would it be to climb over a fence?

For lack of a better plan, she decided to speak about the path Lady took to Jon. He looked at her as if she had turned mad. "Sansa…" He said. "We're not wolves. The fence is simply too high and sharp. Besides I'm pretty sure we would make too much noise if we tried and get caught." Her mood darkened. She knew he was right, but she was frustrated that they had not found a solution. "Actually, I had another idea."

"What is it?"

"We've been focused on getting to my father's siblings… what if we got them to move to us?" He suggested.

She frowned. "How would we do that?"

"We never showed ourselves when we went to see them as Lady and Ghost. If we did, they could follow us. I've found a place near the fence where the bushes are too thick for the guards to see through. On both sides." Sansa felt stupid for not thinking of such a plan before.

"It's worth trying." She acknowledged. "How do we get their attentions though?"

"We could offer them something." Jon shrugged.

"What?"

He looked around him in search of an inspiration. His eyes settled out the window. "A flower." He suggested.

Ghost was indeed very dashing with a bright purple flower in his mouth, Sansa thought as she came back to her senses following the warging into Lady. Jon was still in there. His body sat up against a thicker part of the bushes. He had been right, they did hide them pretty well. They could not stay there all night, they would be found, but if no one was actively looking for them they would not be found.

She had come back in advance, staying inside Lady just long enough to make sure that Daenerys was actually following the wolf. Jon and herself had decided that it would be easier to target his aunt than his uncle.

Suddenly, she saw Ghost, the flower still in his mouth. He spat it quickly though. It tasted bitter Sansa knew. Jon's eyes started to open. "Where did you go?" The voice of Daenerys sounded disappointed. She had not gone into the bushes.

"Princess Daenerys." Sansa called. She heard a gasp on the other side. "It's alright, we won't harm you. Please come into the bushes." Sansa insisted. For a few seconds, she worried that Daenerys was too frightened and had ran away, but her silver hair picked through the bushes as she tried to find a way into the leaves and branches.

The princess lifted her head and finally saw them. Her face was a mixture of confusion, fear and excitement. She was about to say something, but her brother's voice was heard beyond the plants. "Dany?"

Viserys Targaryen

Viserys looked out to the sea below the villa of Illyrio Mopatis. As King, he had been given chambers befitting his status. It proved that the Pentosi nobleman was not a complete fool. He knew when he had one of his betters in front of him. Though, Viserys could not help but think the man arrogant. Even his mansion was arrogant, he had built it on top of the city as if he was some sort of King. But he was not, Viserys was. Crowned by his own Mother, the Queen. He was the heir of House Targaryen. The blood of the dragon.

Currently, he was angered. Even if Mopatis was not a complete fool, he still disrespected him when he thought that he would not notice. But Viserys noticed. The first time had been that whole ordeal with the Dothraki. Mopatis had been the one to suggest the match with this Khal Drogo in order to get an army. Viserys had accepted without thinking. He had always known he would marry Dany one day, but he had been so desperate for a way to get back to Westeros. He had almost caved when Dany had said she had no wish to become the savage's wife. How he understood her! She was a dragon too after all, only a dragon can have a dragon. They should not repeat their brother's mistake and Dany knew that. But, at the time, he had reacted the only way he knew how when he himself was in doubt. He had become angry and snapped at her.

It had all been for naught. A few hours later, Mopatis had said that the Dothraki horselord had had a change of heart. Viserys had gone into one of his rages. He always regretted his rages. Well, not the rages in themselves, it was good for a King to show his displeasure with force sometimes, but he hated the look of fear he saw in Dany's eyes every time. He had been even more angry when, a few days later, a wench he was bedding – a King had needs after all – told him that the Khal had married one of Mopatis' friend's daughter. He had slapped the wench. A pity, she was pretty with dark curls, olive skin and innocent blue eyes. She had nothing to do with it too. But he had been angry at Mopatis for thinking he could play with him as such.

Since that incident, he had refused to even consider a betrothal for his sister. Mopatis had tried more or less forcefully, but Viserys always refused. He refused betrothals for himself as well. Dany seemed to be thankful for that. It made him smile to see something other than fear on her face now.

Today was another day when Viserys was angered by Mopatis. But it was not because of a stupid betrothal this time. It was part of his job as a councillor to suggest matches even if they annoyed his King. What was not part of his job however was locking them in the southern part of his mention. Viserys had tried to get to his favourite balcony over the city, in the northern area, only to be refused the access by guards and locked doors. Even when he tried through the gardens, the fences dividing it – which were always opened – had been closed.

Viserys had immediately demanded to see Mopatis and, after a good half hour of ranting, one of the guards had accepted to go ask his master. He had come back with a negative answer. Dany had tried to soothe him with her sweet words, the pretty little thing that she was, but it had not worked. He felt a pinch of guilt in his chest for snapping at her that night. He had calmed down since; he was still furious but less destructive in his anger. He felt treated like a child. He hated this feeling. By what right would the man deny him anything. He should be on his knees begging for forgiveness and so should his stupid guards who had denied the King access. He felt his blood starting to boil again. He needed to find Dany, she would probably not have thought of a clever way to get out, but at least the sight of her would be a comfort to him. He walked out to the balcony. It was empty. It was weird. She usually liked to look at the moon and stars on the balcony at this hour. He went to check her room, but it was empty as well. The whore she had for a handmaiden did not know where she was either. Useless slut.

Could she have gone out to the gardens. She usually preferred them during the day, but it was surely one of her favourite places. When they were younger, no matter where they were staying, the place she always enjoyed the most was the garden. It suited her, he thought. "Dany? Dany?" He started calling her from the balcony. Where could she have gone. It was not like her to wander out at night. He started to worry. Had the Usurper found a way inside Mopatis' mansion? Did he capture or kill Dany? Was Mopatis in on it?

He climbed down the stairs leading to the gardens and started searching for her. In case Mopatis was part of the plot, he did not want to alert the guards. So, he did not scream his sister's name. He just called her. And he did so in every corner of the vast gardens. The places that were open to them anyway.

The warging is back! What did you think? Any thoughts and expectations on Viserys?

Next chapter: the Targaryens get truly reunited and think of a plan to escape. Guest POV: Daenerys

Guest reviews:

- (Lyae) Thanks. You'll see moe interaction next chapter. I was not about to make Joff all nice out of the blue x)...