Daenerys

"What do you suppose they are thinking right now?" Daenerys asked as she stood on the small hill; if it could even be called that… it was more of a slight bump. But it was still the highest point upon the plains that surrounded the city of Yunkai, providing her the best view of the city. She had no illusions though that the Wise Masters had a better view of her camp that had swelled up a mile from the city's gate. Not that she minded; she wanted them to see the strength she had brought with her. Dany had made no attempt to hide the size of her forces, having learned well from Drogo that sometimes battles could be won before a single blade was drawn if your enemy was filled with enough fear. His Khalasar had been one of the biggest of the modern age, earned through blood and strength of arm, and that great size had ensured that he and those that rode with him didn't need to risk their lives continuously in order to fill their bellies. Now Dany would use the same tactic against the pillow slave makers of Yunkai.

Logan grunted, folding his arms over his bare chest. He was wearing only his leather trousers, having come to meet her before any of them had even had a chance to break their fast. The sun had only just begun to rise but she could tell it would be a hot one, meaning if there was any fighting it would sap the strength of even those that prepared for it. "They're wondering if they were smart to buy the services of the Second Sons and Stormcrows, or if they would have been wiser to purchase the Golden Company."

"Why didn't they?" Dany asked.

"Do you know how a rich man stays rich, Khaalesi?" Ser Jorah asked. He had dressed but not in his armor, merely in a loose shirt and trousers, his pantlegs half tugged into his boots. "By not wasting their money. Take it from a man who once had wealth and burned it all away. Those that showcase their wealth to the fullest don't have it for long. That is why you don't see the Bankers of Braavos throwing lavish parties like the magisters of Pentos. In a generation the mightiest families there will be paupers while the Iron Bank and those that rule it will remain."

Daenerys nodded. "And what if it wouldn't be a waste?"

"Knowing the difference is how a man stays rich as well." He shook his head. "But if you are asking if it would have been a waste here that will be determined in a few hours."

"And what do you believe the Wise Masters are thinking?" Daenerys asked.

Ser Jorah considered her question for several long moments, reminding her of yet another reason why she trusted his council. He did not go for quick and easy answers, flattery, or japes. He didn't give the stock comments that they were preparing for battle or that they knew they were doomed just to play to her ego. And he didn't waste her time on jokes, knowing that right now she wasn't in the mood to smile. Instead he considered her question like a good advisor should and weighed his responses to determine which would best serve her.

"I do not know their thoughts but I can guess their emotions. Annoyance, Khaalesi," he finally said. "They are feeling rather annoyed."

"At who?" she asked.

"Everyone." He gestured not towards the city but behind them. "They are annoyed at Astapor for not stopping you. If they'd only been smarter and not so greedy they would have put you down before you arrived here. Annoyed with Qarth as well. How dare they let their petty fighting allow you to rise. With you. Why couldn't you have known your place. With your parents for birthing you. With Daenys for having her dream that spared her family from the Doom. They are annoyed at all that their days of pleasure are being delayed because of something as foolish as a battle."

"Hmmm… that sounds about right," Dany muttered before turing to Domino. "What do you think?"

The dark skinned translator/assassin/advisor/amateur cook (Dany still wasn't sure how the woman had managed to turn some spoiled cheese and a bit of tasteless flour into the most buttery piece of beef she'd ever tastes… Domino wasn't quite sure either especially since she hadn't started with any meat) bobbed her head back and forth in thought before finally stating, "The are counting their coins and wondering how much it will cost to break you and train you, Khaalesi. They are also wondering what guise they should sell you under. Khaalesi? Targaryen Princess? Warrior Queen? Men would pay fortunes to fuck any of these. They know there is a profit in you but how to make the most of it?"

Dany frowned at that, disgusted by the thought but not surprised. The Wise Masters bred pleasure slaves, that was how they made their living. The creation of pillow girls was the only thing they knew so why shouldn't she be surprised that they saw a victory over her merely being a way to gain a new slave? After all, it wouldn't be the first time a Targaryen had dwelled in the pleasure gardens… Viktor had told her stories of her family that Viserys had never bothered to inform her about, the disgraceful deeds of her ancestors that made her skin crawl. Her mind went to the story of Princess Cera, who had given up her maiden head to three different men and then fled to Lys to become a whore. Not sold or stolen away… she had WANTED to be a whore. There were surely those in Essos who remembered those tales and cursed the fact that they had been born in the wrong century. Dany would be worth kingdoms.

'I am young, exotic, rare, and can never conceive a bastard. If I thought I would escape… and if I were truly desperate… I would consider selling myself. Within a year I could simply buy the Iron Bank itself and use it to claim my throne.'

Pulling herself from such morbid and vile thoughts she looked to the newest member of her Small Council, the commander of the Unsullied. "Grey Worm," she asked, still hating that the man refused to accept a more dignified name even if she understood his reasoning ('After all, Domino insists on that name over her real one… who am I to judge?').

The lean Unsullied Warrior looked toward Yunkai, looking very much like some sculpture found in the manse of a rich magister. He never smiled, hardly ever blinked, and was still as the branches of the sturdiest tree on a windless day. But that quietness hid well the strength and speed he had. Dany had seen him spare with both Logan and Jorah at the same time and easily match them both. There was a reason why the greatest fighters Astapor had ever created had chosen him to be their leader, and why Daenerys had named him a member of her Small Council, and it was his skill of arms and even more skilled mind. Some of the Unsullied were selected for special training, to be able to be battlefield commanders, to speak when their masters could not, and Grey Worm had been a dutiful student.

He turned that mind towards Yunkai now.

"They are confident," he said at last. "They have put few men on the walls, no more than what they might normally do. You can see occasionally a Wise Master pass by a window, not looking out once; those are not the actions of those that fear a siege. They believe that you will be defeated easily, Khaalesi. And it will result in none of their blood being split. Only those of the sellswords and the slaves and both are utterly worthless to them. Slaves are just slaves and sellswords are merely slaves that are bought and sold more often."

"Then let us see if we can buy them ourselves," Dany said. Her Small Council moved towards the tent that would serve as the meeting place for their council with the representatives not just the city but also the sellsword companies. Dany was hopeful she could tempt them away from Yunkai and to her side. But while her Small Council left the hill Daenerys remained for a few moments more, looking over the city that was her next stepping stone towards claiming back her father's throne.

A part of her, a small part that she had come to realize was the same naïve sweet child that had believed her brother's tales of the people of Westeros drinking secret toasts to his health and cursing the Usurper's name, considered going for a kinder endgame for Yunkai than the fate of Astapor. To free the slaves and allow them to rule themselves, free men and women able to build the city anew. They were pleasure slaves, after all, and would be of little use to her in the battles to come. But the part of her that had become a Khaalesi, who had learned under Viktor, who heeded the words of her Small Council, saw that this was the very reason why she must do to Yunkai as she had done to Astapor before: strip it of everything of value, slay every Wise Master there was, absorb the slaves into her army, and leave Yunaki a shell with only those that refused to bend the knee and posed no true threat to her within its yellow walls. Let it become a corpse that she never thought of again rather than a wounded foe that might rise up again one day to stab her in the back.

Daenerys looked at the crumbling walls and towers, the slaves that manned them, and realized that Yunkai was merely Astapor with yellow walls rather than red.

It would be fall as its sister had.

The great tent that would host her meetings was perfectly prepared by the time she arrived, Her children were lounging on the raised dais, full from their morning meal and allowing Dany's handmaidens to groom them. Oil was applied to their scales, dirt and grim was cleaned from their talons, and their wings were carefully stroked as a reward for being so kind. Of course that would all end when the representatives came, because it would do no good for her dragons to be thought of as trained pets by the Yunkai and the sellswords. No, they would snap and they would hiss and they would put on a grand show that only she could handle them. Drogan in particular remembered the game they had played in Astapor and Dany was amused to find that he rather enjoyed it and wanted to try it again.

Unsullied guards stood at the ready and two of her bloodriders stood prepared to defend her if need be. All for show, of course, because Dany could very well defend herself. A table to one side had food and drink ready, because Daenerys knew the importance of the carrot as much as the stick.

Originally her handmaidens had suggested that she meet with the Yunkai representative and the sellswords in the lap of luxury, to show how royal she was. Reclining a couch layered with pillows, opulent and beautiful. Like a princess.

She had instantly dismissed such ideas. She was not a princess. She was a Khaalesi. A Dothraki Warlord. A Conqueror. A master of the battlefield and sacker of cities did not recline amongst pillows.

No, Daenerys had ordered a simple but intimidating throne of carved wood be made. She'd demanded it resemble the seat that Drogo had been fond of; she remembered well how he had sat upon his own wooden throne, holding his court in a way that would have horrified the plump little lords and magisters in Westeros and Essos but would have only gained the respect of Aegon the Dragon. He hadn't stood for pageantry and visual dances where both parties went through pathetic rituals purely because it was expected. When Drogo ruled… he ruled. The same with Viktor… his seat was not some gilded throne but a simple throne of black stone, upon which he had signed away the lives of the Pureborn and elevated those wise enough to side with him. Dany would do the same as those two. She would show these Wise Masters what she meant to do.

Rule.

Settling onto the throne she reached out and stroked Rhaegal's head, her child letting out the rumbling purr of delight as she reached under his chin and gave him a light scratch. Drogan and Viserion glanced at their brother but made no move to try and push him out of the way; they had learned that doing so would only result in them having to wait to get their chance to enjoy her attention. A mother did not play favorites and she did not ignore one for another. Her children had learned this. So instead the other two dragons watched as the litter holding the Yunkai representative made its way towards the tent, carried by strong bare-chested slaves.

The Wise Master that rested inside was young compared to most of the Wise Masters, in his late thirties if Daenerys had to guess. He wore robes similar to those of the slavers of Astapor and Dany couldn't help but idly wonder if the tailors all used the same design or if there was a single family that was in charge of selling the robes to both cities. And did the Yunkai and Astapor Masters know the other wore their robes? It made her mentally laugh, imaging the Astapor and Yunkai slavers getting into a feud over whose robes were better, much like the merchants back in Qarth, never realizing they were literally the same.

The meeting went easily enough and about as well as Dany expected. The man, who had such a long and tongue-tying name she didn't even bother to remember it but did plan to reward Domino for being able to at least say it, had looked at her with an odd mixture of disgust and fear; the former because she was a foreign woman and the latter because of her dragons and the long memory all in Essos had of Valyria. First he had tried to intimidate her through history, of past deeds that meant little for those that had performed them were long dead and the dead could not lead armies unless something had greatly changed. He had then made the mistake of saying that she had committed savageries in Astapor and Dany had been quick to correct him. After all, could the utter destruction of a people and their city be called simple savagery? That was offensive… she had done far more than mere savagery. He had offered her an insulting price to move on from Yunkai, thinking that she could be swayed by some gold bars when she had taken everything Astapor had. It was like offering the ocean a glass of water.

She had rather enjoyed it when the representative had tried to take back his 'gift' only to find no slave came at his call. It seemed they had abandoned him, quietly led away by her freed followers who struck off their chains and welcomed them into the camp of the Dragon Queen. The representative had tried to threaten them, to say he would harm those they cared about, only for Daenerys to remind him that slaves didn't have families. Children were ripped from their mother's breasts, assuming they were allowed to be born at all. Slaves did not marry. Did not have homes. So how could you threaten to harm that which you had never given them? She'd then thanked him for showing her the wealth of Yunkai… it would do well for her to know just how much more awaited her within their walls. The representative had stormed off, warning her that she would not enjoy the next representative who arrived from the city.

"Do you believe it wise to provoke them like that, Khaalesi?" Ser Jorah asked once the representative left.

"If I am to be damned let me be damned for who I really am," Daenerys stated. "They know I will wipe them off the face of the Earth, I know they will never submit to me. We are two forces that refuse to bend and when we strike each other one will remain while the other is broken. To pretend anything else will occur is… tiresome."

Logan nodded in agreement. "It is the Dothraki way. A Khal does not accept minor offerings. Had they given us all we desired we would have let them live. To give so little and expect so much?" He huffed, a smirk forming on his lips. "They were asking for such treatment."

"Still, it will harden them," Ser Jorah argued.

"They were already hardened," Domino replied. "They know what we did in Astapor. There is little else we could do to make them more fearful of us."

They all turned to Grey Worm who merely stared at them before finally saying, "I kill who the Breaker of Chains commands me to kill. It does not matter to this one what those I will slay think."

"Knew there was a reason I liked you," Logan said with a chuckle, walking over to a barrel of wine that had been set up next to the food-laden table and poured himself a large glass which he downed in a single gulp. "That and you don't drink the booze and save more for me."

Domino went and got both her and Dany a glass, Ser Jorah waving off the offer. "So, do we want to discuss worst and best case scenarios?"

"Best case is that the Second Sons and the Stormcrows realize that we are the winning side, join up with us with an agreement to take a portion of the wealth we take from the city, and Yunkai surrenders without a fight," Ser Jorah stated. He suddenly paused, eyes glancing at the chests that the representative had brought. "Khaalesi, he said he brought more to our ships, did he not?"

"He did," Dany said. While she had been unable to sail everyone from Astapor to Yunkai she had used Viktor's ships to transport the weakest of her Khaalsar there, to ensure their survival. She too looked at the chests before looking up at Ser Jorah, a single eyebrow raised as a smirk formed on her lips. "Enough to pay off the sellswords to come to our side?"

Domino snorted at that. "Oh, that would be such… terrible luck for them, wouldn't it?"

"Poetic justice, I believe," Daenerys said. She motioned for her bloodriders to step forward and commanded them to send runners to the ships to get totals for the amount of gold they now had; she wanted to know how much more had been added to her bargaining power. Looking around the tent she was suddenly struck by the utter… rightness… of it all. Never before, not even with her brother, had she felt such a sense of belonging as she did with all of them. She was the Khaalesi, she was their Queen, yet her Small Council was also her family, the only ones in the world she could truly be comfortable around. Ser Jorah, Logan, Domino, her dragons… there was an understanding there, a bond that she could latch onto and almost feel in her fingers. Even Grey Worm was coming along, growing to understand that she was different, willing to speak his mind more without prompting. He'd never have the biting wit of Logan or Domino, not even of the more restrained Ser Jorah, but she already could not imagine her life without him.

"Khaalesi?" Ser Jorah asked, seeing her wistful look. "What is it?"

"I am remembering something I heard as a small girl," she said. "A knight once told my brother that so many people searched for those they would be willing to die for… when they should have been searching for those they would be willing to kill for." She shook her head, unable to truly explain to them why that was so important.

But from the way they smiled at her… she could tell they understood.

"Khaalesi," a handmaiden said, entering the tent, "the captains of the Stormcrows and the Second Sons have arrived."

Daenerys nodded, motioning for the woman to show the new arrivals in while her Small Council took up their positions with Logan moving to replace the bloodriders that had left earlier. Domino, standing by the door, listened as the handmaiden whispered in her ear before nodding and moving to make the announcements.

"May I present Mero, Prendahl na Ghezn, and Ajax, Captains of the Second Sons."

Into the tent entered three men, two built like bulls and most likely with as much subtly as them as well, while the third was smaller but had a most sinister glimmer in his eyes. They all wore leathers, had many weapons strapped to their bodies, and more piercings and golden trinkets than Daenerys herself. The one leading them had a hungry look in his eyes as he glanced first at Domino and then at her and Dany knew that he was thinking of all the carnal things he longed to do to them. She was used to men staring at her as such and had come to understand what each look meant, from the mere desire to the foul lust and it wasn't the former that Mero longed for.

"May I present Black Tom, Captain of the Stormcrows."

The next arrival was leaner than the commanders of the Second Sons, dressed in more armor those his was a dull brown, and had a far lazier air to him. His long black hair hung down to his shoulders and his beard was well oiled and came to a short point. He carried a long gnarled wooden staff made from a tree Dany knew she had never laid eyes on before. He smiled with all the charm of a viper and made his way to the food, grabbing some grapes and making a show of lifting his head and nibbling them straight from the bunch.

"And finally, representing-" Domino paused before looking at the handmaiden who gave a helpless shrug, "-Lady Margret's Sept For Wayward Girls… Wade Wilson."

"And for those curious it is W-I-L-S-O-N. I guess Chaos was too lazy to toss an Y in there to make it sound more exotic." Dany started when she heard that voice and she looked quickly to first Ser Jorah and then Logan as Wilson entered the tent. It was him… the man from their visions in the House of the Undying. The red and black garbed man that, if the visions were true, would be one of Ser Jorah's traveling companions. She had nearly forgotten about that vision but now that he was standing there, dressed in his dyed leathers, it all came screaming back to her. How wounded Ser Jorah had appeared. Domino being there and Daenerys was shamed that she hadn't recognized her. Wade's talk of his strange foreign god Chaos… "But hey, at least I'm not trying to hide behind a fake name," he sidled up right next to Ajax, "Francis."

Black Tom chuckled as he looked over at Wade. "I thought we told you to stay out of this, Deadpool."

"Okay, to be fair I do go by that too but that is purely because it sounds awesome, And yeah, you did. And then I remembered that the man telling me that was named 'Black Tom' and I couldn't, and shouldn't, take anything you said seriously." He walked over to the table and selected a banana, pulling his mask up enough to expose his horribly scarred chin before peeling the fruit… and lewdly swirling his tongue around the tip before swallowing it whole. "Ah… just like my old Septon liked it." He locked eyes with Grey Worm and gave him a sad smile. "Sorry buddy, none of that for you. No way could I handle the massive package you are hiding."

Grey Worm actually looked down before looking back up at Wade, brow furrowed. It was the most emotion Dany had ever seen him express.

The mercenary walked over to the Captains of the Second Sons and slapped them on the shoulders. "Hey guys, mind if I am the first one to talk?" Ajax opened his mouth and Wade yanked a dagger from his hip and jammed it through the man's mouth and into his brain, sending him toppling to the ground. Logan leapt in front of Dany even as she sparked her bracers and summoned a ball of flame while Grey Word and Ser Jorah readied their weapons and Domino shoved the screaming handmaiden out of the tent. The dragons hissed and roared but Dany held out a hand, stopping them from attacking. "Hey, I know it's hard to deep throat but no need to be so dramatic! Breathe through your nose, okay?" Wade commented, kneeling down next to the dying man before drawing his sword and hamstringing the Captain to his right. The Mero roared and pulled a great axe off his back while Black Tom snarled and swung his staff at Wade, who easily dodged it. "No no, no need to help there Daenerys! I mean you only got fire powers and they totally wouldn't be helpful in this situation and if you can't tell because of the mask I'm being SARCASTIC!"

Black Tom, taking Wade's words to mean that Dany was in on the plot, launched towards her only for Ser Jorah to leap to her defense, his sword striking the wooden staff but the tree it had come from must have had iron in its roots for his blade barely even notched in. Logan pushed her back further while Grey Worm called for reinforcements before swinging his spear and going after the final Second Son Captain that Wade hadn't injured yet. The red-and-black garbed warrior was busy trading blows with the warrior whose ankle he had slashed, the man showing resolve by not crumpling to the ground and instead matching Wade swing for swing.

"So I have to ask," Wade called out as he continued his duel, "did you choose Black Tom to be ironic or are you color blind and don't realize what color 'black' actually is?"

Dany's dragons prepared the unleash their fires but she sent a mental command for them to hold; she did not want to risk Ser Jorah or Grey Worm. The knight was shoved into Wade before reaching down, grabbing the knife mercenary had used to kill the first captain, and drove it right into Black Tom's eye.

Wade stopped fighting and gasped in horror.

"YOU KILLED BLACK TOM YOU RACIST SON OF A BITCH!" His sword flashed as he beheaded his foe before he twirled and gutted the one Grey Worm was fighting, sending him to the ground screaming with the last of his strength. Wade though jabbed a finger right in Ser Jorah's face. "It does not matter what you think you will respect the ethnicity of others and-"

Ser Jorah stabbed Wade in the chest while Grey Worm drove his spear through his back.

"Oh… oh come on, you know how hard it is to stitch this outfit up?" Wade complained to the shock of Daenerys. He didn't scream, he didn't cry out, he didn't fumble and whimper as he bled out… he just stood there, looking utterly annoyed, the white eyes of his mask crinkled in frustration. "Unless you have a good tailor as part of this group. Which judging by Wolvie's outfit you must. That is a good look on you, I like it." He turned to Ser Jorah. "You need an outfit like that. Right now you look like a reject from Nilfgard."

"So that's not something I expected to see today," Domino said idly, watching as Wade began to poke at the spear through his chest.

The mercenary rolled his eyes. "Oh come on, you know Wolvie over there has healing powers, is it so weird I do to?" He looked at Ser Jorah and sighed. "I'm going to begin walking towards you and if Grey Worm here doesn't pull his spear out I'm going to stab you. And not in the pleasing way."

Daenerys let out a tired sigh, already feeling a headache coming on, and waved at Ser Jorah and Grey Worm to remove their weapons from the mercenary. Wade began to pat himself down while Dany began to really regret not getting a couch because all she wanted to do was lie down and drink.

"Why did that all happen?"

"Because I felt like skipping to the point," Wade replied.

"Pardon?"

"You're going to take over Yunkai," Wade said, walking over and grabbing some melon slices and pulling his mask completely off so he could happily munch on them. All in the tent grimaced at his horribly scarred and mutilated face; even her dragons turned their heads away. "Everyone knows that. This isn't where you are going to stop because Chaos needs you in Meeren."

"Chaos?" Domino asked.

"The guy who is controlling everything."

"His god," Dany mouthed and Domino nodded.

"Anyway, we all know that you are going to win, Breaker of Chains, Mother of Dragons, Servicer of Fans. So I could have wasted your time by pretending to consider your offer and then coming back here with the heads of the Second Sons and the Stormcrow leader but I decided to just skip to the part where I killed them and took over both mercenary groups and pledged them to you."

Daenerys blinked at that. "You… pledge yourself to me?"

"Of course. My only requirement is I'm on your Small Council. You will need people like me to help you take over Essos. People who can look past the color of one's skin and see the value of their character." He looked at Ser Jorah as he said that last part, the knight just rolling his eyes. "What do you say?"

Logan cleaned his throat. "If I killed him now I could just take over both groups."

"What? Going to plunge your blades into me? Always knew you wanted to be inside of me. But I'm saving myself for Grey Worm… I'm stretching myself out to handle him and his massive member of love." He made a kissy-face towards the Unsullied and the sad thing was Dany couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not.

Even her dragons were tilting their heads in confusion.

"But here's the thing," Wade continued. "You need me. Ser Jorah is great but he's the conservative war advisor. He will preach caution and that's perfectly fine. Will, ironically, lead to less deaths of the brown skinned people he hates so much."

"I don't-"

But Wade had already moved over to Domino. "Don't worry, I'll protect you from him."

"I can remove your balls by going through the ass," Domino quipped.

"I think I had that done in Lys once," Wade admitted before clapping his hands. "Grey Worm is Grey Worm, Domino is the translator, and Logan is the centralist. You need the extreme guy. The one who suggests we build catapults, loads them up with cows-"

"That's been done before," Logan pointed out.

"While they're still alive and stuffed full of laxative?" Wade smirked at Logan's silence on that suggestion. He cupped his hands over his mouth and went "MMMMOOOOoooooooo", the sound growing softer at the end. "The point is, Daenerys, you need me. I'll give you the Second Sons and the Stormcrows and then I'll give you Yunkai."

"…very well," she said, feeling herself getting on more solid footing. "If you can do what you claim you will have your spot on my Small Council."

Wade grinned. "Perfect." He paused, looking her over. "So originally I was planning to do this speech when you were bathing, get in some tits and ass because everyone likes that… think you could pull down your top and jiggle just a touch?"

"…Logan, you can stab him a little."

SNIK!