This chapter is gonna cover a lot of ground mostly because I felt bad for the unannounced hiatus.

"The mind is its own place, and in itself, it can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven." - John Milton

Chapter 17: Paradise Lost

They've hit a dead end. The nobles of Qarth saw them as nothing but entertainment. Daenerys did all she could to make sure Daemon didn't kill any of them though she herself was tempted. They heard their pleas but did not listen. Daenerys remembered pureborn sat upon their wooden chairs.

The pureborn controlled the civic guard and a fleet of war galleys. They wanted that fleet and the men who sailed it. That fleet alone can ferry their horde. They could stop at Volantis then sail for the shores of Westeros.

But they are not at sea. They are currently in a palanquin with Xaro Xhoan Daxos. Their bloodriders and Ser Jorah ride around them along with Irri and Jhiqui. They ordered Doreah to stay behind with their guard to protect the dragons. Daemon didn't like them being out in the open.

Xaro seemed genuine in his questioning of their pleas. Daemon always reminded her that he wanted something from them and to never trust him. Daenerys already knew this. Xaro was just like everyone else who came to see them for their dragons, just more ambitious.

Xaro made sure that all those who came to see the dragons, the wealthy and humble alike, gave a token to them. They received many gifts, bags of coin, silver chains and jewelry, lace from Myr, amber and dragonglass from Asshai, chests of Saffron from Yi Ti. Singers sang, dancers danced, jugglers juggled and a woman gifted them the dried corpse of her late husband, it is believed such remains hold great power, especially if the deceased had been a sorcerer, as this one had been.

"I've noticed that you're brother and dragons have a good sense of smell." Xaro commented. Dany smiled politely. "This wine is ordinary. I hear across the Jade Sea they make a golden vintage so fine one sip can make all other wines taste like vinegar. Let us take my pleasure barge and look for it."

"The only golden vintage I will take is those of the Arbor." Daenerys replied.

The Abor is an isle south of the Reach ruled by House Redwyne. Lord Redwyne fought for their father until the very end. 'Will he fight for us when we return?'

"Let us sail to the Arbor but we must take a warship instead of a pleasure barge." She replied.

"I have no warships, war is bad for business." Xaro replied.

'But you can afford warships.'

"I have not asked you to take up a sword for us only lend us ships." She replied sweetly.

"Of trading ships I have few. But who can say how many, one may be in a storm in the summer sea, another sinking as we speak or one of my captains may take the riches for himself. Every day I grow poorer." The merchant prince replied.

Daemon spoke after what felt like a century, "The same can be said of the contrary. Perhaps your ships have favorable winds or that your captains remain loyal and are returning to Qarth as we speak. And every day you grow ever richer." He met Xaro's eyes with an even look.

Xaro replied after a moment, "Nothing in the world is certain." He simply replied.

Daemon smiled politely, "And you only take action in endeavors that are certain to make you richer."

Xaro smiled, "We all take endeavors that are certain to end in our favor."

"A Dothraki horde the size of ours is certain to sweep the Seven Kingdoms. All we need is enough ships to ferry us to the shores of Westeros and all who've aided us will be rewarded handsomely." Daemon replied easily.

"Marry your sister to me and every ship in my possession is yours." The merchant replied, "She enchants me, in my sleep I see her in my dreams. I promise I will treat her like the goddess she is."

Dany saw Daemon's eyes turn cold, "Pretty words, Xaro." She quickly cut in, "But beneath them is still a no."

"You speak of this Iron Throne, it sounds monstrous and cold, the idea of you cutting yourself on these old jagged swords you speak of worries me." His jeweled nose made him appear to be a bird, "Your brother, on the other hand, is all the warrior. A thousand cuts could never slow him down. Let him take the throne while you make Qarth your kingdom, a god queen and I your king. I will bathe you in gifts and give you a golden throne should you wish it."

Daemon moved to defend her but she spoke, she should defend herself, "You underestimate me Xaro. I will endure a thousand cuts, ten thousand, a million if that's what it takes to reclaim Westeros. Like my ancestors Visenya and Rhaenys, I will sit on the throne of our ancestors as much as Daemon."

Xaro shed a tear, "Is there nothing turn you from this madness?"

'Empty tears.' She noticed.

"Not even the gods themselves." She replied taking a sip of wine. "If each of the Thirteen offered us ten ships we-"

"You would have a hundred and thirty ships we no men to sail them." Xaro replied.

"We're quick learners." Daemon replied.

"Are your Dothraki?" Xaro countered.

"Then we will seek out the Guild of Spicers and the Tourmaline Brotherhood." Daenerys states.

"They will give you nothing but flattery and lies." Xaro replied.

"Much like the pureborn." Daemon replied, "If ships won't be given to us then we will buy them."

"With what gold, my king?" He asked.

'With the gold, we've hidden from you.'

"With the gifts seekers give us." Daemon replied, "You're a man of business Xaro and currently our business is buying ships. We need ships, how much does a small fleet cost?"

"More than you have, Your Grace." The prince stated.

"I'd like a straight answer Xaro." He said more sternly, "Let us not mince words and speak true and blunt."

Xaro blinked before glancing outside, "Why are we slowing?"

Daemon would've pushed if they hadn't stopped. Daenerys peaked out of the palanquin to speak to Aggo, "Why have we stopped?" She asked in Dothraki.

"A firemage, Khaleesi." The bloodrided replied nodding towards the wall of people.

"I'd like to see."

"Then you will." Jhogo replied pulling her silver by her reins.

She hopped out of the palanquin onto her mare and Daemon followed shortly hopping onto his own black that Rakharo pulled. They rode ahead and atop their horses they could see the firemage above the heads of the crowd. The man created a ladder, a crackling orange ladder made of fire, that rose from the floor and towards the sky. They noticed that the crowd is made of people not of Qarth.

Daemon scanned the crowd before seeing a young girl in a felt hat, "There." He nodded at the girl.

Daenerys followed his gaze and saw the girl, "A cutpurse." They weren't pampered nobles who were raised in a castle and were blind to such things. They saw cutpurses aplenty in the streets of the Free Cities. Daemon even convinced Viserys to cut pockets and purses once.

The mage made gestures with his hands and the ladder grew higher and higher with each upward sweep of his arms. The crowd craned their necks upwards whilst Daenerys looked down at the cutpurses who scurried in the crowd. Daemon kept his eyes on the mage in silent wonder. When the ladder reached forty feet the mage leapt on it and climbed it with the speed of a monkey. Each rung he took turned to smoke as he climbed. When he reached the top of the ladder disappeared into smoke as did he and the crowd cheered.

"A fine trick." Jhogo said with admiration.

"Not a trick."

They all turned to find Quaithe, "What do you mean, my lady?" Daenerys asked.

"Not a year ago the man could hardly wake fire from dragonglass. He had a small skill with powders and wildfire, sufficient to entrance a crowd while his cutpurses did their work." It was simple misdirection, "He could walk on hot coals and make burning roses bloom in the air, but he could no more aspire to climb the fiery ladder than a common fisherman could hole to catch a Kraken."

Daenerys looked where the ladder once stood uneasily while Daemon looked intrigued. The smoke now is gone and the crowd breaking, all going back to their own business. They would soon find their purses empty. "And now?"

"His powers grow, Khaleesi. And you are the cause of it, the both of you." She answered, placing a hand on Dany's wrist, "You two are the Mother and Father of Dragons are you not?"

"She is and no shadow may touch her." Jhogo lightly pushed her hand away from Dany.

"Shadows are servants of light." She replied before gazing at the two, "You must leave this city soon Daemon and Daenerys Targaryen, or you will never be allowed to leave again." She warned causing the hairs of Dany's neck to stand and her wrist still tingle where Quaithe touched, "As I said when you first arrived. Those have come day and night to see the wonder of dragons and they have lusted. They are fire made flesh and fire is power but so are you."

"And where will we go?"

"To go north, you must journey south. To reach the west you, much go east. To go forward you must go back, and to touch the light you much past beneath the shadow."

Daemon gave an exasperated sigh. Quaithe's cryptic words have all but reached his limit.

'Asshai.'

"What will the Asshai'I give us?" She demands, "Ships, riches, an army?"

"Truth." She replied before bowing and disappearing with the crowd.

Dany turned to Daemon who was in deep thought, "What do you think?" She asked.

He looked up to meet her eyes, "Whether we listen to her or not it doesn't matter we can't go anywhere without ships."

"Let us return to my palace." Xaro said from his cushions having watched the whole exchange, "We will discuss more business on the morrow."

They silently rode back to Xaro's palace. The entire time both twins thought of Quiath's words. She was indeed right about many people coming to seek out their dragons. Maybe she was also right about them not being permitted to leave.

When they reached the great palace they dismounted and let Xaro's slaves take their horses to the stables.

"What are we to do, Qoy Khal?" Rakharo asked uncertainty.

"I'm not sure but we need to-" Daemon paused at the sight of blood pooling underneath their door. He quickly unsheathed his sword as did the others and Dany with her dagger.

Daemon cautiously gripped and twisted the doorknob and Jorah did the same with the other. With a quick nod to each other, they pushed the doors open. Behind the door, they found their Dothraki guard all on the floor on pools of their own blood.

"Jorah, notify Xaro now!" He ordered and the knight nodded before running off.

They slowly entered their wing and found more and more of their Dothraki dead on the floor. When the reached their chambers they saw Doreah dead on the floor.

"Doreah!" Dany ran ahead to their handmaid's side.

Both king and queen looked up to their bed to find their woven cages gone and with them their dragons. They looked to each other and saw that they had the same burning rage in their eyes.

"Where are our children?!" They both shouted.


Xaro arranged a meeting of the Thirteen to discuss the matter. Daemon has lost all patience and gripped his sword and Daenerys wouldn't hold him back. That fact that it's likely one of these people only fueled the fire burning within them.

"We would like you to launch a full investigation to find out who took your dragons. That is all we ask." Daenerys states.

"You expect us to use our own resources to find your little pets?" One dark-haired man asked.

"They aren't our pets." Daemon sneered, "They are our children and we will tear this city apart looking for them."

Enough with the pleasantries, smiles and pretty words. Someone has taken their children and they will know the wrath of their mother and father.

"Perhaps it is for the best." A portly man suggested, "Your dragons would've brought the world nothing but death and misery."

"I can easily bring death and misery without my dragons, my lord." Daemon replied with a sneer, "But that can be avoided if you aid us in finding them."

"Is that a threat?"

"Not a threat a promise." A voice hissed behind them.

Everyone turned to find Pyat Pree entering the room, "Faceless Men, never make empty threats."

Daemon glared at the warlock "How do you-"

He raised his hand to speak, "I felt the magic within you the moment I laid eyes on you." He stopped before them, "But that is not the reason why I am here, I've come to help you."

"How?" Daenerys asked.

"I will take you to them, your children. Come with my to the House of the Undying." He answered and their bloodriders immediately glared at the man. "Where I have put them."

Jorah stepped forward and shielded them, "You seek death warlock." He pointed his sword at Pyatt.

"No, I seek an agreement. I've already made one with the King of Qarth." He announced and the Thirteen laughed.

"There is no king of Qarth." One of them chuckled.

"There is now." Xaro stood and the laughing died.

"You?" Daenerys glared at the man.

"You should've accepted my marriage proposal when you had the chance, Khaleesi." The man replied before turning to the rest of the Thirteen, "For too long Qarth has been divided, you, the Guild of Spicers, the pureborn, the Tourmaline Brotherhood, all of you live in the past. No longer, I alone will lead Qarth to greatness with the warlocks at my side."

"And you think any of us would allow this to happen?" He shot out of his chair.

"You can't allow or deny anything in death." Pyat Pree stated as thirteen cloaked men stepped from behind each of the thirteen and slit their throats. They dropped their hoods to reveal that they each were Pyatt Pree.

They were easily outnumbered and outmatched, "We need to get out of here now!"

Their small group ran towards the door but we're blocked by Pyatt, "Children should be with their parents." He mocked as Daemon threw a dagger into his heat and he disappeared into shadow and his dagger fell to the floor.

A lanky shadow caught their attention and they saw Pyatt standing by the window, "They are waiting for you at the House of the Undying."

Before he could say anymore they ran. They scurried out of the palace and into the stables where their horses waited. They quickly mounted and rode away.

They rode away until the shades of orange and purple filled the sky. They stopped inside an alleyway and sat in silence, the panting of their horses being the only sound in the narrow alley.

Jorah broke the silence, "My king, my queen. We must make haste for the gates and ride away with the Khalasar."

They both snap at him, "And leave our children?" Daemon glared at the man.

"They are not your children, Your Grace. They did not come from your seed and grow in the queen's womb."

"We will not leave without them." Daenerys replied.

"You're at risk here, my queen." Jorah pleaded.

"We're have always been at risk, this is no different." Daemon countered

Neither king or queen will relent. They will stop at nothing until they get their children back.

"What will we do, Qoy Khal?" Jhogo asked.

"Seek Quaithe, she will help." Daenerys commanded.

"She can't be trusted." Jorah protested, "She arrived with Xaro and Pyatt."

"She warned us of their plan." Daemon reminded, "If she was involved why would she do that?"

"How will the shadow lady help us?" Irri asked gripping onto Rakharo.

"Ask her to let you through the gates and prepare the Khalasar to sack the city." Daemon ordered, "While Xaro is distracted we will go to the House of the Undying and take our children back."

"You can't go alone. I will go with you." Jorah offered, "I'm sworn to protect you, die for you."

"And to serve us, you will command the Dothraki to take people prisoner not kill them." Daenerys said gently, "There will be no raping, or stealing, only kill the soldiers."

Jorah and the Bloodriders nodded, "We will return and when we do we will leave this damned city with a fleet." Daemon promised, "Now go, find Quaithe." He ordered.

The bloodriders rode away and Jorah gives Daenerys one more worried look before riding away. The twins turned to each other before riding to the opposite direction. They stayed close and had their blades ready should they run into one of Xaro's men or Pyatt Pree himself.

"What will we do once we reach the House of the Undying?" Daenerys asked unsurely.

"We cut down any man who dares stand between us and our children and when we find them we kill Xaro and Pyatt." He said without hesitation.


When they reached their destination they took pause. In a city so full of colors they expected the House of the Undying to be the most extravagant but before them stood a grey ruin. They low tower told alone with only black barked trees with blue leaves around it. These leaves were used to make the drink the shade of the evening.

"I guess we now know why it's called the Palace of Dust." Daemon muttered before they dismounted.

"Even the sunlight doesn't reach this place." Daenerys said looking up to the cloudy sky. While the sun kissed the rest of Qarth it never reached here.

They tied their horses to a nearby tree and began to walk towards the tower.

"This is no doubt a trap." Daenerys said

"Keep your dagger in hand." Daemon replied.

The trees over them blacked out the grey sky. The street leads directly to the door of the tower. The door was oval-shaped in the style of a mouth with a stone face around it. They stopped before the door before looking at each other and nodded. Together they pushed the door open and entered the dark abyss.

In the darkness Daemon immediately felt the absence of Daenerys. "Dany!" He called out.

In a single pillar of light a glass goblet stood on a pedestal with a blue liquid in it. Shade of the evening.

"Drink, Dragon King." Pratt Pree's voice echoed through the darkness, "Then take the door to the right, always right until you find the chamber of the Undying only then will you reach you bride and children."

Daemon glared at the darkness around him. He cautiously walked towards the pedestal and eyed the goblet. He slowly picked it up and sniffed it. It wasn't poisoned.

He closed his eyes and sipped the blue liquid. Taste made him cringe in disgust. It tasted like ink and rotting meat but when he took another sip the taste changed. He felt familiar tastes of wine, mare's milk, Drogo's seed, and Dany's wet honey.

"Now enter." Pyatt's voice boomed.

The light spread throughout the room to reveal three doors. He scanned the left, the center and the right. They all looked the same. Only one will lead to Daenerys and his children. He headed for the door to the right. His hand shook when it gripped the cold doorknob. Without hesitation, he twisted the knob and entered.

He found another room identical to the one he had just been in. This has to be a trick of some kind. He took the right door again and the room was the same as the last. He took the right door once again and it was the same as the others. He took the right door again but this room was oval-shaped instead of squared. The walls were worm-eaten wood. Instead of four doors, there were six. The new layout threw him for a moment before he took the most right door.

He entered a long, high ceilinged hallway. On the right wall, torches were perched emitting a low orange light and to the left were doors. He could hear the sound in the walls, small scratches than him think of mice. When the scratching stop the only noises were behind the doors. He heard whimpering as if someone was trapped and another came a moan. He quickly walked past these doors but saw the last few opened.

He tried to keep his eyes ahead but his curiosity outweighed his reasoning. He looked into the door to see a beautiful woman curled into a ball. He noticed her skin is a pale blue color with icicles in her hair and raven picking at her head. He reached to help her but as soon as he reached past the doorway the cold from the room made him recoil a step back. He looked down at his hand to find a thin layer of ice encasing his hand.

He rubbed his hands together to warm himself before continuing. He then saw a dead lion in a field of golden roses. He noticed that the lion had foam and bile spilling from its mouth. The thorns of the roses pricked the dead lion.

Moving past the room he saw a pool of blood. He leaned forward to see what lurked beneath. Before he could react a slimy tentacle jetted out of the blood and lashed at him. He jumped back and closed the door before it could coil around him.

He decided to scurry past the rest of the doors both open and closed ones. The hall seemed endless though. The doors varied in size and material. Iron, wood, dragonglass, steel they were never the same. He never stopped walking until he reached large bronze double doors. It was larger than the other doors.

He pushed it open to reveal a great stone room, larger than he's ever seen. The ceiling was blown open revealing a cloudy sky. Snow rained down from the sky upon a pile of swords melted together. It made him feel uneasy. He backed away before he walked away.

He next door was a familiar sight. The sky was black and he saw himself sleeping on the floor before a great fire. The other rooms contained things he didn't recognize but this memory was fresh. He was about to walk away but stopped when he saw a silhouette in the flames. The silhouette grew larger as it approached his sleeping form. He kept watching until the door slammed itself shut. He tried to open the door, he kicked, tackled but it wouldn't budge.

He didn't have time to pry open this door so he moved on. He stopped at the sound of boiling. He looked through a door to see a cavern with a pond of molten magma. On the black stone shore, he saw two men making love. He felt himself getting hard at the sight. The man on his back was encased in scarlet flames and the man ravishing him was a black shadow. They intertwined in a dance of light and dark, sighs and moans. He fought the urge to relieve himself and walked away.

Daemon kept walking for hours until he reached the end. He found himself at the foot of an ascending staircase. He looked up at the darkness. He unsheathed his sword before climbing the steps. At the top was a pale, old splintered wooden door. He paused at the door and hesitated. Beyond the splintered door he heard three cries.

His dragons cried for him and Daenerys. He closed his eyes and could imagine them yelling, 'Father, mother, where are you?!'

Daemon opened his eyes with a solid resolve as a father. He forcefully pushed the door open and entered a large, gloomy circular room.

At the center of the room were Drogon, Viserion, and Rhaegal chained down to a pedestal under a blue beam of light. The pedestal was too small for the three of them to stand. Drogon took the most room and Rhaegal barely stood at the edge and Viserion clung to the side. Daemon looked up to see Daenerys at the other side of the door. They smiled before they ran to the pedestal.

When they reached the pedestal they gently reached down and comforted their children, "How do we break these chains?" Dany asked.

"Back away." He said before raising his sword eyeing the chains.

"Mother of dragons…"

The whispering moan caused Daemon to pause.

"Father of dragons…"

Daemon and Daenerys both turned around their backs to the pedestal their blades pointed at the darkness. Their dragons hissed at the voice.

"Dragons… dragons… dragons…"

More voices joined the first. Some male, some female and one of a child, the voices sang in unison. A thumping echoed through the room and the blue beam of light beats with the thumping. Daenerys looked up to see a blue human heart floating above them.

"Daemon."

He looked back and followed her gaze up to the heart. For a brief moment, she saw his face shift uneasily before he glared out in the darkness. "We are Daemon and Daenerys of House Targaryen, rightful king, and queen of Westeros. Release us!" He demanded.

Just as he finished his sentence a withered old figure came from the shadows. His skin was grey, lips blue, nails bluer still nearly black. The whites of his eyes were blue. His head is bare of any hair. He must be one of the Undying Ones.

"Mother of dragons… Father of dragons… children of three…"

A withered woman appeared from the shadows.

"Three?" Daenerys questioned.

"Three heads of the dragon…"

The ghosts chorused in unison. One right after another they emerged from the darkness. Their lips blue, skin grey, nails nearly black.

"Mother of dragons… Father of dragons… children of lightning and storm… fates intertwined…"

"Three lights the mother must light… one for life and one for death and one to love…"

Their voices became a song.

"Three lights the father must fade… one of blood… one of jealousy… one of mercy…"

The blue corrupt heart began to beat rapidly.

"Three mounts the mother must ride… one to bed… one to dread… one to love…"

They became louder.

"Three mounts the father must tame… one to lust… one to hate… one to love…"

And louder.

Both the twins began to fall to the ground. Their strength leaving them, their hearts slowing and their breath shallowing.

"Three treasons the mother will know… once for blood and once for gold and once for love."

Daenerys leaned on the pedestal to try and stand but fell again.

"Three traitors the father will know… one to hate and one to kill and one to torture."

"Release us…" Daemon's voice was almost as faint as theirs.

"What?" Dany tried, "What are you showing us…"

What was happening to them? Their very lives were being sapped away from them.

"Show them…"

Pale grey hands with blue nails grabbed them and dragged them away from the pedestal. Daemon struggled as the image of Viserys falling to the floor in a lump, dead, filled his mind. A tall silver-haired king stood before a burning city. Green flames erupted from the stone floor and engulfed a bound man as an old king laughed. "Father of dragons… weapon of life…" A long bridge breaks in two over a great river. A golden skull melted in a meadow of flowers. On a black sand beach, a flock of seagulls feasted on a Kraken. "Father of dragons… bringer of death." Viserion glided over a sacked city with a dead black goat beneath. Atop a wall of ice, a black shadow stood emitting a calming presence. "Father of dragon… one of three."

The visions came faster and faster, so fast they overwhelmed his senses. A bloodied grey-eyed girl ran through a narrow street. A sorrowful woman wailed as a storm raged outside her window. Thousands of calloused hands reached out for him. "Father!" They wailed for him, pleading. "Father, father!"

The Undying Ones began to scratch, pull, and grapple at him. The visions gone, he began to wrestle against their grip until his sword arm broke free. He swung his sword down and hacked away at them. They hissed and still grappled at him.

"Dany, to the pedestal!" He yelled hoping she can hear him.

He kicked and hacked them away before he crawled away from crones. His strength still gone he crawled towards his children who screeched for him. He used the sword as a crutch and got on one knee. He tried to stand up but fell forward against the pedestal. He climbed the pedestal until he propped his chin on it and found Daenerys already there.

They reached across the pedestal and clasped their hands together and looked into each other's eyes. The Undying began to wail and crawl towards them like spiders. They paid them no mind before, together, they roared, "Dracarys!"

The blue-lit room became engulfed in jets of black, gold and yellow flames. The Undying wailed in pain as the fire consumed them. Daemon looked up to the pale blue heart still beating. He raised his sword through the jets of flames as if holding the fire in his hand he trusted the sword into the blue heart. The blue light faded as the black heart rotted away.

Feeling the heat of the flames they stood. The intensity of the fire melted away the chains that bound their dragons. The whole room was ablaze and the Undying were naught but piles of ash now.

They smiled but the smiled quickly died as the room began to shake. Their strength back, they gathered their dragons and bolted for the door. Daemon kicked open the door to a serpentine passageway. The only light was that of the dying flames behind. The passageway had no doors left nor right. Their run broke into a sprint as the walls collapsed behind them. They ran and ran until they reached an oval mouth shaped door. Together they tackled the door open and into the sunlight.

The harsh light made them flinch but they still ran until they reached their horses. They stopped and panted. The cracking of stone made them look back to see the House of the Undying collapsed in on itself.

"Our dragons did that?" Daenerys said astonished.

Daemon shook his head, "I think without the Undying there was nothing left to support that ruin." He looked down to see Viserion muzzle his neck, "And now…" He panted.

"Now we seek retribution." Daenerys said determinedly.

They mounted their horses, kept hold of their children and rode away towards the sounds of screaming, horses, and hooting.