Chapter 4

Daenerys

Daenerys had resigned herself to the fact that there was little that could shock her anymore. After experiencing the great and terrible upsets that she had gone through in the last few months, she was quite certain that her nerves were now made of Valyrian steel. Her marriage to Drogo and the loss of much of her freedom had been as great a blow as she had ever had, then there had been the death of Viserys brought on by his own actions, followed by her pregnancy, Drogo's death and the birth of her dragons.

In truth, her life seemed to have been a series of surprises carefully arranged so as to not cause mortal peril but still allow for a great deal of trauma all the same.

But as she stared at the great sea dragon that night, its snout resting gently in the hand of her host, Dany felt a sense of wonder overtake this new surprise. Never in her life had she suspected that there might be more dragons out there besides the three that she was mother to…and never would she have suspected that one resided beneath the sea.

And yet here was the proof.

"He's beautiful," she whispered and then instantly colored, glad that the dark of the night hid her flaming cheeks.

Judging from Loki's small smile however, she had said the correct thing for in the next instant, he held out a hand, beckoning her closer. "I'm glad you think so. Many others have had averse reactions to seeing him. But that is only natural I suppose."

Dany raised an eyebrow at him. "I suspect that that is because their first sighting of him would have been from the decks of their ships yes?"

Loki's grin grew somewhat mischievous and Daenerys realized that she liked him better with a smile on his face. "Aye, that would be a correct assessment. He prefers to roam the deep waters beyond Qarth's Jade Sea. But when I call for him he comes."

Daenerys took another step closer, her eyes transfixed by the beautiful creature in front of her. He was all blues and emeralds, his scales as deep a green as the weeds she had seen growing along the shoreline. The blue glimmered like starlight and she thought so she saw flashes of silver tipping the scales.

No…. not the scales. There were silver coins trapped between the scales, causing him to glimmer and flash like a shooting star.

Enormous webbed fins fanned out on either side of his face as if to cut the water and make it easier for him to see in the depths. Gleaming ivory horns emerged from the top of his head and his mouth opened slightly allowing her to see rows upon rows of sharp fish like teeth as long as her arm. His opened maw seemed great enough to swallow an entire ship whole and Daenerys wondered absently if he ever had.

Strangely enough however, she wasn't afraid of him. Her fascination and awe outweighed any nervousness and she found herself coming closer still until she had come alongside Loki, directly in front of the creature itself.

"What is his name?" she asked softly, feeling that adopting a reverent tone would be appropriate for a night and a situation like this.

Loki was silent for a moment, hand still rubbing along the smaller scales of the great dragon's jaw. The creatures eyes were hooded and Dany got the feeling that it was almost enjoying the sensation. It almost reminded her of the way a cat might react to having its chin scratched.

It was an amusing image.

"I have called him Jormungandr," he said lowly. "I found not long after coming to this city and rescued him from a fisherman's net. He was much smaller then and was able to communicate with me. We bonded and every so often I venture out to the waves to see him."

"He responds to your call?" Daenerys asked in amazement.

"Aye. No matter where he is in the water, he heard me."

"Magic then?"

"In part. Dragons whether they are of sea or air have always had a deep rooted connection to magic. They respond to others with the ability as well and Jor's connection to me was easily established, much like your connection to your dragons. It is why they will respond to you and no one else. With time and practice, they will be able to communicate with you."

Dany would not be deterred by the time and practice line. She had plenty of one and fierce determination for the other. She would learn to communicate with her children.

"Jormungandr," she said softly and the enormous yellow eyes turned towards her. "A strange name to be sure…but a kingly one."

"Aye, I thought so," Loki agreed, and then he paused, eyeing the dragon before the whisp of a smile crossed his face.

"What did he say to you?" Daenerys asked eagerly.

Loki's smirk grew. "He says you're very small."

Dany raised both eyebrows at the creature. "Well compared to him, I should think that anything is!"

Loki chuckled and she realized that she liked the sound even more than she liked his smiles. An uncomfortable feeling followed this realization but she brushed it off a moment later. This experience was too surreal to warrant being concerned with protocols in etiquette.

She took a step closer to Jormungandr and risked a glance at her host for permission. "May I?"

He regarded her for a moment, his deep green eyes searching before he inclined his head and moved back.

Dany swallowed hard and squared her shoulders before stepping closer to the creature. Its large eyes gleamed at her and even the slight susurration of the waves around him quieted as the two took each other in.

She was mesmerized. Would her dragons grow this large, or close to it? The creatures great head lowered until it was inches from her face, but Dany held her ground, not wanting to display any fear. She had a feeling that the sea snake would sense it.

After a long moment, the serpent blew out a puff of cool mist into her face, soaking her hair, face and dress. Dany blinked the water out of her eyes and gazed slack jawed up at the majestic creature before a peal of delighted laughter burst out of her.

She turned to Loki with her eyes alight. "And what then does that mean?"

He had an odd expression on his face as he took her in. "It means that he is approving of you."

Daenerys turned back to the sea snake and inclined her head. "Thank you."

She took in his presence for a moment longer before Loki stepped back beside her and pressed a hand to the enormous scaly jaw as if in benediction and then let go, moving back and drawing her gently with him.

At once, Jormungandr turned and slithered back out into the waves, the great arches of his body and rising and falling beneath the surface until he was out far enough that he disappeared with a quiet splash.

The water adjusted to its normal rhythm, smoothing out once more from the disturbance the dragon had caused and in an instant, the night was silent once more.

Daenerys was in awe. The world seemed to open wide before her, filled with possibilities that she had never been aware of before.

She turned to Loki in excitement. "Are there more of him?"

The man shrugged noncommittally. "If there are, I haven't found any. He might very well be the last."

Daenerys shoulders fell and she sighed. "That would be a shame. I've heard many a tale about sea dragons, but never any accounts that held actual face. One of my ancestors, centuries ago, sailed to the Yi Ti empire to the far east of here and brought back to Westeros treasures beyond his wildest imaginings. I never read the accounts myself as I imagine they all would have been destroyed, but I faintly recall being told something about his sighting a sea serpent. Though he also could have been drunk at the time too. I find that there are many people who think tales deserve embellishment in order to give them more longevity."

Loki snorted indelicately. "That sounds like something my brother would say."

And then he visibly flinched and his expression shuttered as if he had revealed something he never intended to.

Dany was instantly curious. Other than his magic and now this great sea serpent that answered to him, he had never spoken of himself in much detail. She found she was unwilling to let the statement hang in the air without address.

"You have a brother?" she asked casually. "Is he like you then?"

"An older brother," he said, his voice very quiet as he looked out to sea. "And no, he was not like me."

The usage of the past tense made Dany cringe. Perhaps that was why he had said little of his family. Mayhap he didn't have any left.

"I'm sorry," she said softly, feeling as if she had just put her foot into her mouth. Because the only conclusion that she could draw from such a subdued utterance was death. Loki's brother was no longer in the land of the living.

"Don't be," he said and his tone sharpened a bit as if he were daring her to speak another apology. "It was a long time ago."

Somehow, Daenerys wasn't sure that that was true. His face was too hard for time to have smoothed it out and his eyes were too heavy to be unburdened by acceptance that inevitably came with a traumatic death.

She would know, sometimes her eyes looked like that too.

He was still grieving.

But that was okay, she was too.

"I wonder," she began and he tensed very slightly beside her, as if he expected her to try to resume their conversation, "if you might be willing to teach me how to communicate with my dragons. You obviously have a form of communication with Jormungandr that benefits the both of you. I think knowing it, or at least a version of it might help me care for my own dragons."

His posture had relaxed minutely by the end of her speech and Daenerys was glad of it. He was downright intimidating when he was on edge.

"I suppose," he said softly. "You don't seem to have much else to do at the moment."

Daenerys bristled slightly and turned at him to rebuff the words before she realized that he was right. She paused, unsure if she should laugh at the jape or feel deflated that she had accomplished so little towards her goals since she had set foot in Qarth.

"I suppose not," she said softly and she could feel his eyes on her, though she never moved her own from the starry horizon. Suddenly there came the near uncontrollable urge to give a bit of his verbal banter back to him. "There are certainly worse people to spend time with."

He hummed next to her, seeming unaffected by the snipe. "I suppose there are."

W

"I would caution you to be wary of him your grace," Xaro Daxos said in a low voice as they walked past one of the market stalls. "Loki of Qarth is not a man to be trusted."

Daenerys suppressed a snort, wondering why on earth she had agreed to the man's invitation for her to spend time with him this afternoon. He had expressed an interest in helping her obtain her goals where Loki had not so her interest had been piqued. But now she was beginning to wonder if the man had simply wished to get her away from her host so that he might diplomatically lambast him.

He certainly had seemed averse to Loki's presence at the party the night before.

"Is it not true," she began casually, "that men who claim other men cannot be trusted are those themselves that one should have little faith in?"

Daxos chuckled, not missing a beat at her assessment. He was a charming man to be sure, but his interest in her made her wary. Already in the span of two days, he had extended invitations to contact her.

She knew there was an ulterior motive with him, even though he claimed to have her best interests at heart. There had been very few that had her best interest at heart after all. One in fact, and he was dead.

At the memory of Drogo's dear but fierce face, the Targaryen felt a sharp twisting in her chest, so painful that she pressed a hand against her heart. Not here, not now.

"I cannot claim as such for myself your grace," the man went on amiably. "But as for your host, you should be wary of his power. All magic users are…unnatural."

In part, she agreed, especially when she thought of the witch that failed to save her husband.

But when she thought of Loki's magic, the magic that allowed him to communicate with dragons and change his shape at will, she saw a tool that could be utilized to great affect against an enemy, a way to gain power where there had been none before.

"Perhaps," she conceded to the dark-skinned man. "And yet I have found that charlatans are a greater cause for concern…for they have the most to hide."

She wasn't sure if it was her imagination, but he seemed to still at her words, his face going slack.

A moment later it was gone though, and she was certain that she had imagined it.

"Listen to me," he chuckled. "It is far too beautiful a day for such maudlin talk. Tell me, did you like the dress I sent you? You looked very beautiful in it."

Perhaps presumptuousness and self-aggrandizement were commonplace in Essos but Daenerys found herself ill equipped when confronted with it. The change in topic left her blinking as they passed through the loud market square.

"I did thank you," she said. "But you need not have troubled yourself. My servants would have prepared something for me to wear."

"Ah, but you are a queen are you not?" he asked in a placating manner that had her frowning. "A queen should not be dressed in plain clothes, but in ones that draw attention to her status. I simply ensured that you would be the center of attention, as you should be."

Yes you did. And now I am wondering why.

Before Dany could formulate another thought however, they turned down a street unfamiliar to her, taking them away from the market and into a quieter avenue of buildings.

She frowned at her guide, suddenly unsure of herself and him. "Xaro, where are you taking me?"

"We are merely taking a different route back to your hosts house," Daxos said amiably. "You seemed a bit overwhelmed by the crowds in the marketplace so I thought you might appreciate the quiet of a lesser used street."

That answer seemed a bit too rehearsed and she turned to glance at Doreah who was walking beside her and who had been surprisingly quiet the whole time. The slave girl shrugged her shoulders slightly.

"I see," she replied. "And what street might this be?"

"More so of the residential variety," Daxos said with a smile. "Many of the Pureborn live near here as it is close to the center of the city. Its buildings are very unique."

As if on cue, they came to a break between the buildings and Daenerys had enough time to look through them to see a curious sight.

Sitting off in the distance, well on a street of its own was the oddest building that she had ever seen. It was fashioned out of what appeared to be ancient grey stones and was long and low, with no towers or windows. It followed a curved elongated design, like that of a snake and framing it was a grove of black barked trees. Black tiles covered the roof, some of them broken and having fallen down and Daenerys could clearly see that the mortar between the stones was dry and losing its integrity.

But it was the doorway that captured her attention the most.

It was oval shaped and set as a mouth in a wall that was fashioned into the likeness of a large human face.

It was all most bizarre, and terribly unnerving.

"What is that place?" Daenerys asked, even though some of her already had an idea of what she was looking at.

Daxos paused and glanced at her, taking in her wary expression before he offered her a slightly unsure smile. "That is the House of the Undying your grace, where Pyatt Pree and the warlocks make their home. Would you like a closer look?"

Every instinct was telling her to turn and walk in the other direction, but the young woman found that she was frozen to the street stones. "I think I can see well enough from here."

And she could.

There were murmurs in the streets that the House of the Undying was also known by its more unflattering moniker, the Palace of Dust.

As she looked at the shabby structure, Daenerys privately thought that that title was more fitting. She could tell that it had once been a magnificent place before it had fallen into disrepair but that only made looking at it more unsettling.

"Do they ever come out?" she asked to no one in particular.

"The warlocks?" Daxos asked sounding confused. "You met one of them recently your grace."

Dany resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "No, the Undying."

Her guide went very quiet. "No, your grace. No one in this city has seen them."

The last Targaryen huffed and shrugged her shoulders. "Then perhaps the rumors are true and the warlocks really do just serve the ashes of their gods. But no one would know because no one goes in and they do not come out."

"Come away," Daxos said taking her by the arm. "It is far too nice a day to be dwelling on such dark thoughts. The warlocks and the Undying are of no concern to you your grace. Do not trouble yourself with them."

Dany allowed herself to be drawn further down the street and away from the odd building. If that were true then why did you invite them to that party when you knew I was going to be in attendance? And why did one of them seek me out like there was something I could offer them? Why did they invite me to their home as if I am special for an entirely unknown reason. They seemed to want something from me, what was it?

She glanced at the back of the head of Xaro Daxos, feeling a little more wariness seep into her about the man. What do you know good sir? And what is it that you are not telling me?

W

Dany returned to Loki's house that afternoon feeling a bit unsettled. Her walk throughout the city had yielded knowledge about Qarth's culture and society but the more she learned, the more she began to realize that secrets permeated the city's very air and there was much to be gained from currying favors with the elite.

Daxos had seemed eager to help her in her journey to get back to Westeros. In fact he arranged to have her meet with some of the Pureborn with the hopes of securing help in her journey.

While Dany was eager to set her plans in motion, she wasn't sure that the Pureborn should be the ones to help her do it. Though she hadn't spoken to any of them at the party before, some of their attitudes she had caused her to be wary.

I wonder if it might be a good idea to speak to Loki before going to meet with Qarth's elite. Though he's never said that he's one of them, they obviously respect and fear him with good reason. No one else has his skills or abilities. Having him with me might be useful.

She was under no illusions that she could manipulate the man. His reasons and motivations would forever be a mystery to her. He was powerful enough to do whatever he wanted but what he wanted at least so far seemed to be causing an air of mystery amongst Qarth that had people on edge when they were around him.

The warlocks seemed to fear him, which Dany privately agreed with and it had caused her to be a bit more relieved that she had been asked to stay with Loki as opposed to someone else like Daxos. He would be valuable to have on her side, if she could just get him there that was.

Perhaps now would be a good time to find out where my host is and ask him a few questions.

It was with these thoughts in mind that when Dany returned to the house, she retrieved her dragons from their wooden nest and settled them on her shoulders as she ventured into the house grounds.

She made sure to stay away from the gardens, even though a small part of her wished to go in. Still, he had warned her off and as a guest in his house, it would behoove her to be respectful.

Instead she turned towards the terrace that overlooked the Jade Sea, wondering if he was down by the shore.

A cursory perusal of the surrounding area did not reveal her dark haired host and Dany sighed absently, strolling to the stone wall that looked out over the beach, her dragons creaking on her shoulders.

She shook her head slightly and smiled at them. "Not yet my loves. You're not big enough to go flying on your own. Once you have grown larger, I promise you may fly all you wish."

Drogon cocked his head to one side and let out a long croaking noise. Dany imagined that he was protesting the rule and smirked at him. "I have no doubt that you will be the largest of your brothers but right now that is of no consequence. You still can barely coast with your wings. I do not want the winds to take you somewhere out to sea where I will never be able to find you."

Viserion nipped at her ear and she affectionately tapped his head. "None of that, you'll get your chance, you just need to exercise some patience."

"I suppose it's a good thing that you're already used to speaking with them."

It took nearly all of Dany's self control not to jump from surprise at that familiar smooth voice. She swallowed hard and turned around to find her host standing a few feet away.

He was dressed not in Qarth's usual long robes but a loose fitting green tunic and dark trousers tucked into boots. A peculiar short gold chain hung at his throat and on his middle finger was wrapped a gold ring with a bright green stone set in its face.

He certainly does have an affinity for green doesn't he?

He cut a striking figure as he stood there watching her, one hand tucked behind his back, his handsome face blank. A gentle breeze blew and lifted his shoulder length black hair off his shoulders and in an instant, Dany realized she was staring.

With an effort, she controlled her blush and gave him a small smile. "Well I did spend quite a bit of time in the desert where all I had were my servants for company. They all addressed me with some deference. The dragons were the only ones I could really be honest with, even if they could not return my words. It was rather nice to pour out my troubles to at least them. It's silly I suppose."

He didn't comment on her words but he did come to stand beside her on the terrace overlooking the sea, elbows resting on the stone casually. "Yes how exactly did you manage to find yourself all along and struggling through the Red Wastes? I'm told that it's the most unforgiving desert in this country."

"You would be right at that," Daenerys said with a faint smile. "We got lucky finding water once, but it was a near thing. A few of us died as we made our way here. Finally, I had no choice but to send out riders in all directions, hoping that one of them would return with news of civilization. The one to the east did and told us of Qarth, whereupon we made our way here with all haste."

He didn't answer for awhile, merely looking out at the ocean as if he were taking in the weather.

"And now I am staying in the home of a curious individual who often speaks in riddles and who can talk to dragons," Daenerys concluded looking at him carefully, wondering how much of her story he had heard.

He raised one eyebrow as he turned to her. "Are you mocking me?"

She could hear the dangerous edge in his voice but somehow wasn't bothered. "Only teasing. You seemed lost in your own thoughts."

He blinked as if he hadn't expected the answer. "You wished to learn how you might speak to your dragons did you not?"

Daenerys blinked at the sudden change in subject. "That was an aim of mine yes."

"Good, would you be averse to beginning now?"

She blinked again. "I suppose not."

"Excellent."

His fingers twitched and a whisp of green light wrapped around them before dissipating. An instant later, Drogon leapt from her shoulder and flew towards Loki, landing on his outstretched hand, preening and rubbing his scaley little head into the pale skin.

Daenerys couldn't help but smile. Her dragons had taken to Loki even faster than they had Doreah and she had a feeling that when it came time for them to leave Qarth, they would sorely miss him.

"I'm sure its no surprise to you that magic was a part of your family line," Loki said his eyes still gazing at Drogon. "How else were the ancient Valyrians able to tame dragons?"

Dany frowned. "You mean my ancestors were once able to talk to them as well?"

"Indeed. They had a unique connection with the beast, forged through magic. Dragons are creatures of magic after all. They are extraordinary beings, created by great power and different from any other animal. None can stand against their might and the ancient Ghiscari knew this full well."

He looked up at her, his green eyes gleaming in the sunshine. "But somewhere along the way, the Valyrians committed a sin that blocked the usage of their magic and their connection to the dragons. Both were weakened by the loss as dragons are sustained by magic and the Valyrians were sustained by the dragons."

Daenerys was hard pressed to keep from gaping. "But…But how? How did they lose the connection?"

"The way that most bonds are broken," Loki said a soft voice, a tone that made her think he was referring to more than one thing. "One side betrayed the other."

He glanced up before she could demand more answers. "I know not the exact details, much as I have wandered ancient Valyria. All the texts have been destroyed and for all my magic, I can return something that I have never seen. I suppose we will just have to use our imagination for somethings.

"However, it would appear that one of your ancestors who was bonded to a dragon of his own, coveted the creatures power and through magic that you might call dark, he sought to obtain its power."

Daenerys sighed, not altogether surprised. Her ancestors had a history of overreaching for things beyond their control or understanding.

"He thought that by killing his dragon and drinking its blood, he would become like one of them."

The small blonde gasped, a sickening feeling of horror roiling her stomach. "No. Surely none of them would do such a thing!"

"Not to worry, it wasn't a member of your direct family line. The Targaryens were already on Dragonstone by this time and thus had little to do with the horror that followed," the sorcerer said and Daenerys got the feeling that he was making his words as nonchalant as possible so as to inflict maximum shock and horror.

"You're referring to the Doom," she said faintly. "No one knows how it began or even what happened. You're saying my ancestors fell because one of them killed a dragon?"

"Indeed," Loki said calmly. Drogon had at this point, climbed up Loki's arm to his shoulder and was nuzzling the man's ear which her host was soundly ignoring. If the subject matter of his story hadn't been so horrible, she might have been amused at the sight.

"Indeed, it began that way," Loki continued. "As soon as this magical breach was commited and blood was spilled, the other dragons rushed to the sight of their fallen and fell upon this Valyrian as well as his entire line with…what are your family's words? Ah yes, fire and blood."

His tone became somewhat mocking and if Dany hadn't been so shocked by these revelations, she might have been offended.

"Once both sides had spilt blood, the connection between the dragons and the Valyrians began to dissolve. It was a bond that had brought the land itself together for the Valyrians had woven magic into the very earth. In doing so, the loss of magic caused the land itself to rebel against both the dragons and their former companions. Volcanoes that had previously been dormant erupted once more and rivers that had been dammed and maintained were flooded causing homes and citadels to be overrun. The very land itself split apart due to eathquakes from the plates in the earth moving and those who managed to escape the natural disasters were killed by the dragons in recompense for one of their own lost. After that, well, the dragons who managed to escape the Doom…went into hiding, never to be seen again."

He paused in his recollections and stared at her as if to ensure that she was watching. "Until now that is."

Dany's eyes were burning, but she had no idea why. Why should such long buried secrets cause such emotions now?

Despite herself, a tear spilled down her cheek and she made move to wipe it away, absently feeling Viserion and Rhaegal nuzzling at her face as though they could sense her distress.

They probably can, she thought absently to herself. That connection was not lost at the very least.

Loki's eyes on her were unreadable but she thought that she saw a flash of surprise in those green depths at her response.

"I don't suppose you were ever told where these dragons were found?" he asked, his tone turning speculative.

Dany shook her head, suddenly feeling miserable. Despite her having nothing to do with this breach of trust, she felt there was a heavy burden on her shoulders now. As the last Targaryen, she would need to rectify this wrong that her ancestors had so hastily committed.

"No," she said softly in response. "They were a wedding present and the man who brought them to me was one of the magisters of Myr where I was living at the time. They were petrified so it was thought that they would never hatch."

"You were married before?" Loki asked. It wasn't so much a question as it was an observation. She was certain there were something that he knew about her already.

She nodded. "Khal Drogo. My brother sold me to a Dothraki horse lord so he could obtain an army to take back the Seven Kingdoms. One was like a king and the other had designs to be a king. And both are dead."

"By your hand or someone else's?" Loki asked and she looked up to find him standing closer to her than he had been before. His eyes were narrowed as if she were a puzzling he was working on. But then she wasn't sure he found her worth that much level of speculation. Perhaps he simply liked to hear bloody stories.

"In a way, yes," she said with a short mirthless laugh. "I had an indirect hand in it."

She clamped her lips shut and then and refused to say anymore. "The dragons were born of both their losses. Some might say that it was a fair trade for power of a sort."

"And you?" he asked, eyes still locked on hers. "What do you say?"

She glanced up at him, somehow feeling it hard to meet that intense stare. It was a stare of command and despite her stature as a queen, she was unpracticed in the role, unused to giving commands and expecting to be obeyed without question.

"I say that power is only gleaned through pain," she said softly. "And that pain can either make or break you."

"Was it fair though?" he asked in an intent voice.

"No," she whispered back. "But then, life never is."

They held each other's stare for a long moment, Dany somehow managing to meet that intense gaze

"You are correct," he said finally. "There is no such thing as fairness."

Without looking away from her, his raised the hand that wasn't holding Drogon and twitched his fingers. A green light shot from them and like a rope, wrapped around her, holding her in place.

"What are – "

"Hold still."

The oddest sensations began to course through Daenerys. It was not the first time she had felt the touch of magic, but it was the first time she had felt something this powerful. It anchored her where she stood, refusing to let her move. It was as if a fist had reach down from the heavens and seized control of her limbs.

It was wholly terrifying.

And then the touch became less insistent and more searching, as if the magic itself was sentient and looking for something.

It seemed to find it when all of a sudden, something in her chest began to loosen, a knot that she wasn't even aware of. The magic's pull on it was painful and left her gasping for breath, but after a minute, the tension began to ease before it was gone completely, leaving her feeling weak and exhausted.

The world seemed to sharpen around her, images became brighter, colors became deeper and sounds became more acute.

The waves in the distance seemed louder than before and she knew that the tingling in her fingers wasn't her imagination.

She looked up at him, her eyes wide. "What did you do?"

She couldn't tell, but he seemed amused. "Your family lost their connection to magic through Valyria's Doom. I have returned it. It was locked away, but now it is free."

"But how did – "

Mother?

The young queen's questions died on her lips as it was half formed. Her gaze jerked toward Drogon, the tiny dragon now perched on the edge of Loki's fingers was watching her intently, his yellow eyes oddly focused.

"Drogon?" she whispered in a broken voice.

"Mother."

His inner voice in her mind sounded like nothing she expected it to and yet….she knew him right away.

Tears burned in her eyes and spilled hot trails down her cheeks but she made no effort to wipe them away. Something that had been knocked ajar in her had twisted back into place again with Loki's help. She felt different…..she felt whole.

Mother.

She closed her eyes and thought back, Little one.

Mother.

This time the word was echoed by Viserion and Rhaegal.

And Dany closed her eyes and wept.

W

Does this mean that Dany is going to have magic now? Sort of. It won't be like Loki's nor would I want it to be, but I think Dany being able to use some magic makes sense since it was a part of her family line before things went to hell in a hand basket for the Valyrians. No one really knows what caused the Doom to take place, so I thought that I would make up my own reasons because that's always fun.

Dany and Loki are going to continue to grow close to one another as the story progresses. Don't worry I plan to keep some things cannon but much of this story is going to be very AU. I adore AU stories that include some elements of the original but ultimately take their own path and this one is no exception.

Also, I've mentioned this before, but I am on AO3 now too if you guys wanna check me out there. I don't have all my stuff there yet but Salvation is there, my Thor and Loki oneshot, this story is there too, along with my newest one, Dusk to Dawn (which i would really appreciate support for) my handle there is 19KatieMacpherson23 if you're interested!

I'm happy you guys are enjoying the story so far and don't forget to leave a review!