The Chronicles of Valyria,
Book 1 Resurrection
Chapter 18
The next day just before noon, Aurora and Gabrielle were awoken by Ashara who knocked on the door, seeing as she was the only one the Forlorn would allow to approach the door. "My Ladies, the King is asking for you."
"Come in Ash." Ashara opened the door and with Elia in her arms, she entered the chamber, finding Aurora and Gabrielle still under the covers, rubbing the sleep out of their eyes and sitting up in the bed. When Gabrielle stretched herself out, the blanket fell down, exposing her bare breasts and causing Ashara to blush.
Gabrielle noticed Ashara's color and said, "What are you blushing about, it's not like you haven't got a pair of tits yourself."
Ashara mumbled a little but Gabrielle ignored her and together with Aurora she got out of bed and they helped each other into their armor. "Would you please go and wake the girls, Ash. I'm sure they'll want to see the little prince as well." Ashara nodded and quickly entered the room of the girls, leaving the two women to get dressed.
They were just putting on the last pieces of their armor, when the girls left their room, followed by Ashara and with Saphirus and Violet besides them. The first thing both dragons did was scurry up to Aurora and Gabrielle and rub their necks against their legs, hoping for a little affection which they had not gotten since the previous morning. Aurora softly scratched Saphirus behind his head and Gabrielle did the same with Violet, making it known to the two dragons that their punishment was over.
When they were, all done, the twins put the collars on their dragons and attached the chains to them, while holding the other end in their hands. After a little hesitation, Aurora withdrew Blackfyre from the pouch on her belt and strapped it on her left hip, next to her own short-sword. As a group, they left their rooms and were immediately surrounded by all twelve of the Forlorn, one of which wordlessly handed a small scroll of parchment to Aurora.
Aurora put the scroll away, already knowing it must be the note from Varys, and continued on their way towards the royal chambers a floor below. When they reached the doors, they found them guarded by Ser Barristan and Ser Bartimus, who immediately let them in.
They found Lyanna still lying in bed with the baby Jon in her arms, while Rhaegar was sitting at a table in a discussion with his mother and Lord Commander Gerold Hightower. When they noticed the door opening, the trio at the table looked up and Rhaegar motioned for Aurora and Gabrielle to join them.
Ashara and the girls immediately went to the bed and Lyanna showed them the little one, while the two adults headed over to the table and took a seat. "I hope you had a proper night's sleep?" Rhaegar inquired politely and after they both nodded, he got to the meat of the matter.
"I have a report here from Oberyn, and there is a particular thing in it that I don't understand."
"You mean the Forlorn?" Aurora cut him off. And when Rhaegar nodded she continued. "The Forlorn are our army. If you want to know where they came from, then I'm afraid I'll have to ask Rhaella and the Lord Commander to leave, as this is not a simple matter."
Rhaegar looked a little apologetic to his mother and Ser Gerold, who took their leave without a word and left the room. Aurora followed them with her eyes until the door closed behind Rhaella and she turned back to Rhaegar as Gabrielle began her explanation.
"We made them using the pirates we found on Grey Gallows." At Rhaegar's confused expression she elaborated, "Aurora and I can do much more with our minds than just talk with each other and exchange memories with others. We did the same as the Good Masters of Astapor, we removed everything that made them human, and replaced it with everything a warrior could possibly need to know. We made the perfect soldiers, who are superior to Unsullied, as they are not eunuchs and thus posses greater individual strength than the Unsullied. What takes the Good Masters about ten years, we can do in less than a minute, except for the physical part of course."
Rhaegar had the same appalled expression as Ashara had had when she heard where the Forlorn came from. And Aurora quickly interrupted any objection by saying, "Think about it Rhaegar, they are the perfect shock troops for the vanguard. They are nothing more than criminals and we could have killed them while taking the island, but instead we made them into something we can use. Something that will save thousands of good people from certain death before the walls of Tyrosh."
Just like Ashara the day before, Rhaegar accepted her words with obvious distaste, but he couldn't deny the logic in it. "I suppose this is one of those things you knew I wouldn't like, isn't it?"
Both Aurora and Gabrielle nodded and Gabrielle said, "Yes, Rhaegar, but there is more. After we had defeated most of the forces on Bloodstone, Aurora made her way towards their treasury, along with Oberyn, Dagmer and the Greatjon."
"In there we found the self-proclaimed, 'Pirate King of the Stepstones'." Aurora went on. "I fought him and I killed him, but that is not what matters, what matters is that he was wielding this." And with those words she removed the scabbard of Blackfyre from her belt and placed the sword on the table before Rhaegar.
Rhaegar didn't immediately recognize the sword, after all he had only heard it described by Barristan and never seen it for himself, so Gabrielle pulled the sword a few inches out of the scabbard.
Rhaegar gasped as he saw the runes that were carved into the blade, just above the cross guard. "Blackfyre," he gasped and when he looked up at Aurora and Gabrielle he was shocked at the serious look on their faces so he asked, "What is it?"
It was Gabrielle who replied and she said, "The man who wielded this sword, was Haegon Blackfyre, son of Maelys the Monstrous, and we do not know whether or not he died without children."
Now Rhaegar understood their concern, there was no telling if somewhere there was a child of Haegon who would one day rise up and make his claim on the Iron Throne. "What do you suggest we do?" he asked, now sharing their concern.
"We continue as planned, with a few adaptations" Aurora replied. "Gabrielle and I take the girls and head north of the Wall to find the Wildlings and try to persuade them to come south of the Wall. In the meantime, our forces are preparing for the war with Tyrosh, we will visit the city on our way back from the North, to see what we can expect.
Also, it couldn't hurt to get a powerful ally in Essos, so we will visit the Sealord of Braavos and the Iron Bank to seek their aid in our endeavor, seeing as they too abhor slavery and have often fought the slaver cities.
When we began, we had 3,200 Forlorn, 18,000 Ironborn, 5,000 Dornishmen and 21,000 others, for a total of 48,200. We lost about 5,000 dead and another 3,000 crippled, taking the Stepstones, so that leaves us with around 40,000 men and 700 ships, including the ones we captured. Depending on the defenses of Tyrosh, it should be enough to take the city, especially if we can somehow draw their fleet out to sea and threaten to burn them to ashes if they don't surrender."
Rhaegar nodded in agreement but asked a little hesitantly, "Once you have taken Tyrosh, what will you do with it?"
Aurora and Gabrielle shared a meaningful look and when they turned back to Rhaegar, Gabrielle said, "That depends on whether they surrender or not. If they surrender, we will free every slave and offer them safety and freedom in Valyria. The Tyroshi will be spared but slavery will be outlawed forever and every slaver shall be adopted into the ranks of the Forlorn.
If they don't surrender, we will plunder and completely destroy the city, free the slaves and offer them a place in Valyria, and add the entire male population to the ranks of the Forlorn. The women and children will also come with us to Valyria and there we shall re-educate them to give them a new place in the world.
In neither of the options will there be any raping or wanton slaughter. We will give very specific instructions to our soldiers not to harm any non-combatants. The Forlorn will be the most likely to reach the city first, and they will not harm anyone we tell them to spare. So, they can keep an eye on the rest and make sure they do not brake our orders, as the consequences will be… severe."
Rhaegar nodded again and said, "Very well, you have my blessing to continue with the entire plan, but now that Tyrosh has provoked a war, it is no longer a cause for banishment if you take the city, so what are your plans concerning that?"
Now it was Aurora who answered and she said, "Once we reach Valyria, we will declare it an independent kingdom who owes no allegiance to any foreign country or person. This will allow us to publicly break ties with you, and Westeros, and also give a free choice to anyone who came with us. They can either stay with us in Valyria, or they can go back to Westeros. In any case, we can open trade routes between the two and hopefully both Westeros and Valyria will prosper from it.
We will spend a few years to build up our forces and outfit them to our own preferences, we can afford the time to do so, as we know Tywin will be doing the same thanks to his correspondence with Pycelle. With any luck, it will be 5 years before the war will start in earnest, and hopefully, Westeros will not be involved in any of it, though we welcome any volunteer who wishes to settle in Valyria and want to fight for us."
Rhaegar looked thoughtful at these words and finally he said, "What would happen if the Seven Kingdoms came under attack and you are on the other side of Essos?"
Aurora and Gabrielle shared a look and after a mental agreement, Gabrielle said, "If that should happen we will come, if we can, but I suggest you trust in the knowledge of Lord Randyll. He is by far the best military commander Westeros has to offer, which is the reason why we suggested you name him Master of Armies."
Aurora added to this, "We will take ravens with us, and we can send messages with the traders who will travel back and forth between Westeros and Valyria. You won't be completely alone Rhaegar, but you will have to learn to do things yourself if you are ever to become the king Westeros needs."
Rhaegar sighed and said, "I guess you're right. Well then, I suggest you head for breakfast, Lyanna and I have already eaten and I'm sure you're hungry. I suppose you'll be leaving after you have eaten?"
They nodded in confirmation and Gabrielle replied, "We are. We want to reach the Wall by the end of the week and we'll be stopping at Braavos before that."
Rhaegar nodded and after picking up Blackfyre, he carefully placed the sword on a standard that stood besides the one which held his armor. He next turned to the bed where the trio of girls and Ashara were still cooing around baby Jon and his mother.
Aurora and Gabrielle likewise stood up and after they made their way to the bed, Gabrielle asked, "How are you feeling Lya?"
The new mother replied with a tired smile and said, "Very tired and sore all over, but otherwise I'm okay."
"That's good to hear," Gabrielle replied, and after she removed her gauntlets, she carefully placed her hands on either side of Lyanna's still slightly swollen belly. She sent a small probe into Lyanna's body and made a 'scan' of her lower torso.
After a few seconds, she sighed softly and stood up before saying sadly, "I hate to break the happy mood here, but I have some bad news for you and Rhaegar. Pycelle's attempt on your life did more damage than I originally expected, as a consequence I strongly advice against having any more children…"
Both Rhaegar and Lyanna looked shocked to hear this but before they could react, Gabrielle finished her sentence, "… for the next two or three years. This will allow your body to fully recover Lya, as right now, it is far too weak to be able to carry a pregnancy to term. I know I can't stop you from having sex, and I certainly won't try to, but I would advise to use some means of contraception."
At their confused looks, Gabrielle realized that they had never heard that term before and quickly added, "Use some kind of protection, but stay away from moon tea. I suggest using a condom." When she was once again met with confusion, Gabrielle sighed and muttered, "Honestly, why is it always these kinds of things that we need to explain." Before turning back to the young couple and explaining.
"You take a piece of washed and cleaned pig's intestine, about 1.5 times as long as your 'little Rhaegar', make a knot on one end and then pull it over 'little Rhaegar'. This will keep the seed away from Lyanna's womb, and allow you to have all the fun you want, but at the same time significantly reduce the chance of a pregnancy. Just be careful that it doesn't get off during sex, and make sure that Lyanna is properly wet, so the condom does not tear during the act. Also, throw it away and use a new one after every time, if you don't then it could still lead to a pregnancy."
Both Rhaegar and Lyanna were blushing heavily after that little lesson from Gabrielle, and a soft giggle from behind them reminded them of the fact that the girls and Ashara were also still in the room.
Now it was Gabrielle's turn to blush and Aurora laughed heartily along with the girls. Ashara hefted Elia a bit higher in her arms and suddenly Aurora got an idea. "Hey Ash, why don't you carry Elia in a piece of cloth tied around your chest, it would free your arms and keep her comfortable."
At this Ashara looked intrigued, she had never thought about it but it was definitely a good idea. Putting her thoughts into action, she went to a linen closet in the hallway and removed a large white sheet of 6 feet by 8 feet. When she was back in the room she carefully placed Elia against her chest, and Gabrielle folded the sheet double before wrapping it around Elia and tying it on her back, after winding it around Ashara's back.
"We'll replace it with a silk one once we get a chance to visit a market place." Gabrielle said after making sure the cloth wasn't tied to tightly. Turning to the girls she said, "I think it is time for breakfast girls, so say goodbye to the little prince, as we're leaving directly afterwards."
The girls all said their goodbye's to Lyanna and little Jon, while Rhaegar joined them out of the room. He needed to find his mother and Lord Commander Hightower to continue the discussion they had broken off when Aurora and Gabrielle had requested their departure.
When breakfast was over with, the group made their way back to the Dragonpit from where they once again mounted the saddle on Gabrielle and she flew off northwards in the direction of Gulltown, from where they would cross the Harrow Sea.
A short distance away from King's Landing, between Duskendale and Maidenpool, Gabrielle landed between a few hills out of sight of anyone and they all got off of her back. After Aurora, had shown Ashara and the girls how to properly put on the saddle, she removed a second one from a pouch on her belt and changed into her own dragon form.
They were not going quickly enough with Gabrielle bogged down by the number of passengers, so they had deiced to divide the load between them. When Aurora's saddle was properly in place, ten of the Forlorn took a seat on it, while the rest of them retook their place on Gabrielle.
With the both of them in the air, they were able to make much better time and when twilight arrived, they had reached Gulltown. Deciding to cross the Narrow Sea before they rested for the night, Aurora and Gabrielle turned north-east and continued their journey over water.
They reached the mountains surrounding the great city of Braavos an hour after midnight, and they finally landed for the night. Aurora and Gabrielle set themselves down on a small deserted island, roughly 15 miles south of the great Titan of Braavos.
Rather than changing back, Aurora and Gabrielle just curled up around the others, to protect them from the rain that had started pouring down shortly before they landed. Gabrielle spread one gigantic wing over the hollow between their immense bodies and the others all ate something before they themselves turned in for the night.
The next morning came but thanks to the thick wing covering them, the 16 humans sleeping beneath it didn't notice it. By noon they were suddenly, and rather rudely awakened by a hail of arrows clattering against the thick scales covering Gabrielle's left flank.
Wondering who was so rude to wake them up, Gabrielle turned towards the source of the noise and saw a trio of galley's lying at anchor before the island. Banks of archers were spread out on the decks of the galley's and they were preparing to release another volley at the two dragons.
As the archers loosened their arrows, Gabrielle almost lazily spit out a burst of clear blue fire and incinerated the cloud of arrows, along with the sails of the nearest galley. Deciding to end their rather rude awakening, Gabrielle stood up and with Aurora besides her, the two dragons turned to the trio of ships.
The sails of the ships showed two crossed swords beneath a crowned golden skull, and they saw many of the men on the nearest ship busy with putting out the many fires that had sprung up on the deck, or otherwise were trying to ditch the burning sail, without it falling on the deck.
Both dragons made their way towards the shoreline and lowered themselves into the water. Opening their mouths, they each took a great gulp of water and spit it out on the burning sail. Dousing it and many of the smaller fires. Taking a second gulp of water, they targeted the crews of the ships and sent them sprawling into the water.
Once most of them were in the water, Gabrielle and Aurora changed under water and climbed on board of the nearest ship. Knocking out and 'recruiting' every pirate they encountered, they made their way through the ship and soon had about 80 new soldiers under their command.
They next jumped over to the other two ships and did the same thing with those men. All those who were picked up out of the water, where likewise treated and by the end, they had gained two war galleys' in prime condition, one war galley, with a reasonable amount of damage, and 349 new soldiers.
When everything was done, they ordered the Forlorn to beach the ships, so they could give them a little make-over before they sailed towards Braavos. It might not be the best idea to sail into the homeport of the greatest naval power in the world, on three clearly recognizable pirate galleys'.
During the day, the Forlorn worked hard to strip the ships of everything that made them stand out as pirate ships. Using the dye they found in the hold of one of the ships, clearly they had captured a ship coming from Tyrosh recently, they painted the sails in a different color. The sail of the ship they had set on fire was completely lost, but using some spare lengths of sailcloth, they fashioned a temporary sail for the damaged ship.
The sails were now pitch black, with a yellow (by lack of gold), large circle of linked chains surrounding a dragon skull. When Ashara asked them why they had chosen such a design, Aurora said, "It is the coat of arms of our house, House Valaris and a sigil that will soon instill fear into all of our enemies."
During the time that the Forlorn were working on the ships, Ashara and the girls were embroidering the newly revealed sigil of house Valaris on the dresses Silvana and Lissena would have to wear during their audience with the Sealord and the Iron Bank. Ashara would wear her own dress with on the bodice the crossed sword and falling star of house Dayne. For Yara they had bought a dress in King's Landing that depicted the kraken of house Greyjoy.
It had amazed the girls and Ashara how much Aurora and Gabrielle had hidden in their pouches. When they had started to withdraw large black banners proudly displaying their sigil in fine golden embroidery, Ashara had been unable to contain herself and had asked, "Exactly how much have the two of you hidden in those bags?"
Their only reply had been to grin mischievously and Aurora had said, "That is for us to know and for you to find out. Let's just say that they hold everything we might possibly need. We have done quite some shopping during the last few months."
"With who's money?" was Ashara's counter.
Both Aurora and Gabrielle burst out laughing at that and Gabrielle finally managed to say, "Let's just say that the late High Septon was a living a very comfortable live."
"You stole from the Faith?" Ashara asked dumfounded, she had known of the extreme dislike her companions held against the Faith but she had not expected them to go this far.
"No," Aurora smirked, "We just took back what they had stolen from the people. You can't convince me of the necessity of having solid gold plates and cups, while the people outside your doors are starving. We sold everything and held half the profits for ourselves. The other half we used to buy the tents and everything else that was needed to house the people that had lost everything during the sack."
Ashara softly shook her head and muttered, "Unbelievable," while the trio of girls were grinning softly. All three had an immense dislike of the Faith and were more than pleased to hear what Aurora and Gabrielle had done to punish them. After the deaths of the High Septon and the Most Devout, the imprisonment of every septon and septa in King's Landing and the surrounding area, and the confiscation of everything of value, the Faith had been is disarray. Added to that the public conversion of Rhaegar to the Old Gods, and many in King's Landing had chosen to follow him. New Weirwood trees had been planted in the city and more than one of the smaller septs had been torn down to make place for them.
Most of the septons and septas had been released after they were interrogated, but a fair number, all of those who had known about the Faith Militant or who had helped the High Septon and the Most Devout, were sentenced to death. Just to rub a little salt in the wound, Aurora had personally executed nearly half of them, on the stump of an old weirwood, which they had found on one of their trips to a distant keep in the North.
The banners they had planted on the bow and stern of the ships and after making a cut-out of their sigil, Aurora had put a duo of Forlorn to work at painting it on every shield they could find.
The work took the entire day and part of the next morning, but around noon they were finally ready to sail the last part towards Braavos. Everyone took a bath, initially the girls and Ashara were a bit uncomfortable to just bathe in the water of the ocean, especially with over 350 men walking around. However, when they noticed that none of the Forlorn even looked at them they quickly lost their apprehension.
Aurora and Gabrielle didn't give a single thought to the Forlorn and just undressed in full view of everyone. Initially Ashara was very uncomfortable with seeing the naked bodies of Aurora and Gabrielle, especially with the now fully revealed extent of their jewelry. In addition to the rings in their bellybutton's, their nipples and around their privates, they each had a long row of small rings in each ear.
When Ashara finally got over her embarrassment she asked, blushing heavily, "Is there a reason for all those rings in your bodies?"
Aurora and Gabrielle shared an amused look before they burst out laughing. When they had stopped laughing Gabrielle said, "Some of them do have a meaning behind them Ash. Everything below our necks is purely for personal pleasure, the ones in our ears are marks of life. Each ring stands for an important event in our lives. Some are for important victories in battle, others are to commemorate personal losses, and again others are joyful occasions in our lives."
Ashara nodded thoughtfully and said, "It's an interesting idea, it certainly helps to remember those events and…"
At that point she was interrupted by Silvana and Lissena who said at the same time, "I want that too."
Aurora and Gabrielle both looked with raised eyebrows at their daughters and Aurora asked, "You want, what, too?"
"Those rings in our ears, they're pretty." Replied Silvana, "And I know two very important events that we can use for those, or actually three." That last part was added a little sadly.
Lissena nodded and started counting on her fingers. "1, the hatching of Saphirus and Violet. 2, you two adopting us. And 3, the deaths of our old family." Both girls got a little teary-eyed as they thought about their birth mother and their brothers.
Both Aurora and Gabrielle smiled softly and Aurora said, "We'll think about it ok."
The twins nodded and they all continued to wash themselves, passing around a bar of rose-scented soap. Aurora and Gabrielle helped each other with washing their long hair, each taking their time to massage the soap into her partner's silken locks.
When they were all cleaned up, they each dressed in their designated clothes, Ashara and the girls in their dresses and Aurora and Gabrielle in their armor. Their armors had been updated with a black tabard, proudly displaying their sigil in fine golden embroidery, the same as on their banners.
When they were all prepared, they boarded the ships, which had been pushed back into the water with the flood, and they set sail towards the Great Titan, which held the gateway to Bravos between its legs.
