DAENERYS
Dany could feel the excitement flutter in her belly as she watched the sun traveling lower in the sky, setting in the West, beyond the land that she would soon rule.
The anticipation made the pain that still lingered in her foot, fade to the back of her mind. The thought of her beloved children and what was to come was enough for her to be able to tolerate any amount of pain.
If she closed her eyes and concentrated, Dany could still feel the rough, stone like scales of the dragon eggs under her fingertips. It took all her strength to sit there still beside her husband, waiting for the eggs to be brought forward; that she would hatch them the moment they were laid at her feet.
There was no use in waiting and when the Dothraki would see her bring dragons back to life after a hundred and fifty years of being gone from this world, they would kneel before her again, to swear themselves to her like they had done before, when the truth had been revealed to them in her last life.
The Dothraki would be hers again, like they had never been Drogo´s.
Every time she closed her eyes, she remembered it like it had been yesterday. How they had looked at her when the fires had died down and found her with her three children, the looks of wonder and admiration.
As she sat there, beside her husband, Dany pulled the memory of how the Dothraki had looked at her when they had seen her emerge from Khal Drogo´s pyre to the forefront of her mind. Feeling the warmth of their gazes they had sent her, made her heart beat faster with excitement.
However, the expressions of wonder and awe turned hard and cold in her mind, transporting her to Winterfell, where everyone looked at her with mistrust and disgust.
The way they had looked at her made hatred bubble through her veins; they had no right to send her those looks. She was Daenerys Targaryen, the breaker of chains and the mother of Dragons. She deserved nothing less than their respect and adoration.
Dany despised the way that the Northerners had looked at Jon Snow; they should have looked at her that way, with admiration and respect.
It had been Daenerys Targaryen who had been the one to bring dragons back into the world, she had defied the odds and freed the slaves from centuries of oppression, not Jon Snow.
The only reason they had won the great war was because of her and the people of Westeros had still refused her, still denied Dany the birthright that belonged to her.
Soon, she thought to herself as the wrath of the dragon surged through her blood. Soon Dany would wake her dragons from stone and her children would avenge her, with fire and blood.
Starting with Sansa Stark.
Clenching her small fist so that her nails bit into the palm of her hands in fury, Dany could not wait for the moment when that harlot would pay for her crimes against the Dragon Queen.
It had been the red headed girl´s fault that Jon had turned away from the woman he loved and when Dany had her dragons back by her side, she would make the Stark girl pay.
A sense of justice filled her when she thought about how the harlot would beg and plead the rightful Queen of the Seven Kingdoms for mercy.
A mercy Dany would not give her.
Dany forcefully pushed those thoughts away; her dragons would be back by her side in a few moments and Drogo would be convinced to invade the Seven Kingdoms in Daenerys´s name and place her on the Iron throne. Then she would get her vengeance.
The excitement made it hard to sit still beside her husband, who was watching two Dothraki screamers, fight over a woman. Dany had not had one conversation with Drogo in this life and she wanted to surprise him with her fluent Dothraki, as well as her knowledge of their culture.
Now seemed to be the perfect time. "This is the third death, is it not?" Speaking in his mother's tongue, caused him to whip his head around to stare at her in wonder. "I think that our wedding will not be considered dull."
"You speak Dothraki." Khal Drogo´s words were a statement, not a question and she could see how impressed he was.
"Of course." Daenerys sat taller and looked him in the eye like the Queen she was. "I speak the common tongue and High Valyrian as well."
Drogo did not seem as impressed with her knowledge of the common tongue and High Valyrian as he was with her speaking his mother´s tongue, though she did not let that bother her.
"I did not think that you would speak my language."
"I am full of surprises." She smiled coyly at him, as she batted her eyelashes, knowing he liked it when she did that. Dany could see how struck he was by her.
Dany smiled brilliantly at her husband, happy how impressed he was with her knowledge of the Dothraki. The man had clearly been expecting a simpering little girl and not a woman like herself. Dany was not that girl anymore. "But you have to wait for a few moments."
"What do you have planned?" Her husband´s smoldering dark eyes were firmly fixed on her as he spoke and she could see the lust hiding in the dark depths.
"You will have to wait and see, like everyone else."
Dany barely noticed yet another man placing gifts for them at their feet where they were sitting, her attentions were drawn by another fight breaking out over another woman, this one a lot more violent that the one before it.
Dany remembered it well when she had sat here in her last life, terrified of everything before her. She had been so foolish and frightened then.
She had not understood how important this was in the Dothraki culture, that it was necessary for the horse lords to show how strong they were, as well as to make sure that the weak ones were defeated.
Weakness had no place with the Dothraki.
It was why they had been so loyal and devoted to her because she was strong like them. She was the stallion who mounted the world, not her son.
Rhaego would be powerful and great, that she was sure of. However, he would not be like her. Dany knew now that the old crones at Vaes Dothrak were wrong, they must have been confused as in the prophecy about the one who would unite all the Khalasars of the world, was always referred to as a stallion but it was about Daenerys Stormborn of house Targaryen.
It was like the prophecy about the prince that was promised, people had just assumed it was a man that would save the world, when it had been about her, the Dragon Queen all along.
Her attention was drawn to where Viserys was sitting between Magister Illyrio and lord Baelish. The small dark-haired man was whispering into her brother´s ear, making the silver haired man laugh at what the newcomer had said. Baelish had been acting like Viserys´s shadow ever since he had arrived, whispering secrets and flattering the fool at every turn.
Dany did not trust the man; she had been betrayed too many times to trust easily but that did not mean that he would not be useful to her.
Watching silently as lord Baelish continued to whisper in his ear, she felt disgust grow within her as Viserys practically screamed with laughter at what the slight man had said.
Why was he here? Lord Baelish had not been at her wedding in her former life, so why was he courting favor with her weak brother now? Something had to have changed when she had returned to her body but what?
Did someone else have memories like she did?
No, she assured herself, it just was not possible. How could anyone else have any memories of what had happened before?
Suddenly the image of Jon Snow forced itself to the forefront of her mind, feeling ice settle in her belly, she forced his handsome, traitorous image away.
Jon Snow did not remember anything, it was not possible. As she tried to assure herself that he did not remember their past lives, the memory of how easily he controlled Rhaegal clawed at her mind.
No. Dany shook her head of the thought, Jon Snow had not woken dragons from stone, he was not the prince that was promised and he could not remember anything.
Pushing the thoughts out of her mind, she repeated those facts in her mind, over and over again and watched the fight in front of her.
Dany looked on as the weaker man was defeated and disemboweled while the winner went off with two women, neither of whom had been the one the men had started the fight over.
As the winner walked off with the new women, a familiar face came up to Daenerys and her husband out of the crowd, Ser Jorah Mormont.
She almost smiled at him, happy to see her faithful knight who had been so cruelly taken from her in the battle against the Northern ice monsters.
Wearing tattered and colorless clothing and holding a few books in his hands, the knight and her husband greeted each other with familiarity and respect.
Her faithful knight walked up to her. "A small gift for the new Khaleesi," He handed her the books, which she took as she fought back tears at seeing him again. "Songs and histories from the Seven Kingdoms."
She thanked him while studying his face. "You are from my country." She stated with certainty as she held his gifts close to her chest.
"Ser Jorah Mormont, from Bear Island." He stated proudly and held his head a bit higher. "I served your father for many years; gods be good I hope to always serve the rightful King."
She did not like how he looked at her brother as he said the rightful King, the irritation swelled within her but she forced it down. Dany knew that soon; he would see that she was the rightful ruler of the Seven Kingdoms as he had done in his last life.
A servant came to take the books she had gotten from her faithful knight and the excitement rose in her again when Magister Illyrio gestured for his servants to come forward with a large and familiar chest.
The fluttering returned with vengeance and her heart started to beat so hard that she was sure that it was going to break her ribs and burst out of her body.
She leaned closer as the servants placed the chest on the ground before her, it was getting harder for her to breath from all the excitement she was feeling, now she would have her children again. She would take back what had been stolen from her and burn her enemies to the ground.
It was the only way to stop those who opposed her from revolting, she had learned her lesson in the Bay of Dragons. She should never have listened to the traitor Tyrion Lannister; she should have mounted Drogon and burnt Yunkai and Astapor to the ground before ever setting sail for Westeros.
That would have shown the lords of the Seven Kingdoms the cost of rebellion and she could have avoided burning King´s Landing.
Dany knew that if the Mad Queen had heard about how she had made the masters of the slave cities pay in fire and blood, she would never have tried to withhold her throne from the rightful Queen and Dany would not have lost Rhaegal and Viserion.
Dany should never have paid attention to Jon Snow when he had spoken to her on the beach of Dragonstone, when he had spouted something about not burning castles to the ground.
He was wrong, Aegon the Conqueror had burnt Harrenhall when the man who had held it, dared to defy him and people hailed him as the greatest King that ever lived.
Jon Snow´s words only proved how unsuited he was to rule and she should never have listened to him.
Dany pulled herself from her thoughts, she could not afford to be distracted now, not on the moment of her triumph. As the servants reached for the lid of the chest, Dany could feel her body almost shake from anticipation.
When servants opened the familiar chest, her heart froze in her ribcage as violet eyes stared into it, not sure what they were seeing was true.
Magister Illyrio was saying something but she did not really hear it. The only thing she could do was stare, hoping that her eyes were betraying her.
The chest was filled with fabrics of varying colors and on top of them was a silver crown with large sapphires embedded into it.
With a shaking hand, she reached for the tiara and stared at it as she felt fear and fury bubble in her.
"I see you remember it princess." The magister said happily as he placed his hands on his girthy belly.
Her brother was staring at the circlet in her hand with his lilac eyes filled with madness. Dany did not care about her mad brother or this stupid crown in her hands, she cared about her children.
She placed it on the ground and felt every eye on her as she moved to kneel before the chest. As she rummaged through the fabrics, looking for the eggs she vaguely noticed that the sound of music had stopped but it did not deter her search.
It felt like hours passed her by as her search grew more frantic and the beautiful fabric were hurled into the air. It was not until she had reached the bottom of the chest when the reality finally settled like a stone in her.
She turned her violet eyes to the magister. The man staring at her was bewildered as Daenerys looked him straight in the eyes as the feeling the fury of the dragon burned brightly in her. "Where. Are. My. DRAGONS?"
ELDON
The new master of Whispers rushed through the halls of the Red Keep, servants and guards hurried all around him as he almost tripped over his own feet in the hurry to reach the solar of lord Renly.
The lord of Greenstone felt his face turn red with both embarrassment at his clumsiness and the bewilderment he was feeling over what had just happened. Eldon could only hope that no one had noticed his stumble.
The rude awakening that the servant had given Eldon Estermont when delivering the terrible news had left him shocked and disturbed.
To think that the Kingslayer, his sister and their son born of incest had broken out of the Black cells was almost unthinkable. At least the guards had managed to capture Jaime Lannister, though the boy and Cersei Lannister were on the loose and certainly heading to the lord of Casterly Rock.
Eldon shuddered at the thought of lord Tywin declaring Joffrey Waters as the new King, while trying to rule the Seven Kingdoms through the boy.
Eldon picked up his pace so that he might reached the solar faster, the need to talk to Renly and get answers from the younger man drove him forward. The lord paramount of the Stormlands had to know what was going on and would have answers.
With his heart in his throat from worry, Eldon knocked on the door of lord Renly´s solar, he finally arrived as the cold sweat of fear ran down his spine.
"Come in." Renly´s irritated voice carried through the heavy oak door.
The master of Whispers slipped into the room, only to stare wide eyed at the scene before him. His nephew was standing behind the desk, leaning forward, resting his knuckles on the warm colored wood, as the commander of the garrison was mimicking a statue before him.
The commander was pale of face and still as marble as he stared at the Master of laws like he was turning into a wild beast that would tear him into pieces if he did or said anything wrong.
Lord Renly was looking more like Robert Baratheon at the time of the rebellion than the King himself nowadays. The youngest Baratheon brother was red faced and his blue-green eyes blazed with such fury that Eldon wanted to exit the room with all haste.
"Uncle, how can I help you?" The young lord of Storm´s End asked, gritting his teeth like Stannis so often did as he stared at the commander.
"I heard the news." Eldon was hesitant to speak, not wanting to anger the younger man further.
Renly looked at him, the young man´s handsome face still with fury before looking at the other commander of the guards. "You have a fortnight to fix this blunder, do not come back until you have located the whore and her bastard."
The commander looked both enraged and terrified, before reluctantly accepting his fate with a nod and scurrying out the door.
Awkward silence fell over them as Renly stared at the door, the emotions bubbling all over his face.
Eldon let his nephew gather his thoughts for a moment, looking around the solar and studying the décor. The furniture was all made with sturdy oak that matched the door, they were all decorated with painstakingly detailed carvings of majestic stags and playful does running through woodlands and fields of roses.
While the beautifully carved stags and does were pleasing to the eye, the sight of them was soured by the roses and the Tyrell green of the banners, that surrounded the leaping stag that hung on the walls all over the solar was anything but.
Even though the urge to lecture the young man reared its head, the lord of Greenstone decided that it would be best for him to keep his mouth shut about the inappropriate colors. With the flight of Cersei Lannister and her son, they had bigger problems than the color scheme of his liege lord´s solar.
"What happened exactly?" Eldon broke the silence in a gentle tone, hoping that his nephew would refrain from his older brother´s display of temper.
Renly was silent, looking like he was biting back words of anger for a moment, before he responded in a strangled voice. "The Kingslayer almost managed to flee but the guards stopped him, however Cersei and her whelp are still in the wind."
"They cannot have gone far." Eldon argued, keeping his voice calm. "Every lord and knight in the vicinity are looking for them, we will find them."
Eldon´s reassurances fell on deaf ears as the younger man shook his head. "The guards let them slip away and the Gold Cloaks have yet to locate them, with every moment that passes it becomes more improbable that we catch them alive."
"Has the King been told?" Eldon asked, dreading the answer.
"No, Robert is still sleeping off the wine and Dragonwater he was chugging down last night with a few whores." The disgust on the young man´s face was clear but the lord of Greenstone could see a hint of fear underneath.
"Cersei Lannister´s flight is not your fault." Eldon insisted. "We still have the Kingslayer in the Black cells."
"We have the Kingslayer." Renly confirmed. "But Robert will want someone to blame and he will not care that I bare no responsibility for this travesty."
"He cannot blame you for this." He protested Renly´s words. "You had nothing to do with this blunder."
"He is the King; Robert can do what he wants."
Eldon blinked at the other man, sure that the disbelieve was clear on his face. "Surely the King would not rush to place the blame on your shoulders? You are his brother."
The lord of Storm´s End snorted and sat down in his chair. "All the more reason to blame me. Stannis and I are not the brothers that he wanted, you know that."
Silence hung over them like a dark cloud which Eldon did not know how to dispel and before he could find the right words, Renly continued. "Even now with lord Eddard denying him his daughter´s hand in marriage, Robert would rather have him as his brother than us, his real kin."
"Renly-."
"I do not blame lord Eddard for this." The young lord interrupted him, the word tumbling out of his mouth with urgency. "Lord Stark is a good man and it is not his fault how our brother acts."
Renly fell silence again and Eldon used the moment to study his nephew. Ever since the lord of Greenstone had arrived in the capital, he had noticed that the younger man was not his usual charming and jolly self. Rather he was looking more troubled and weary by the day.
A hesitant knock broke them out of their thoughts and Eldon turned around, seeing a servant man poke his head in the door when Renly bade him to enter. "The King is awake and is requesting your presence in the throne room."
The servant was pale as milk with fright and hurried away when Renly waved his hand to dismiss the man.
A shiver ran down Eldon´s spine, the memory of King Robert´s reaction forced itself to the forefront of his mind. King Robert´s rage would be greater when he found out that his unfaithful wife and her bastard son had escaped, than when lord Eddard had denied him his daughter's hand in marriage; and that fury had left the small council chambers in ruins.
"Someone must have told him." Eldon muttered to himself, trying to figure out who had been mad enough to tell the King of the catastrophe that had just transpired.
"Yes, someone must have but we cannot keep the King waiting." Renly stood up from his chair and they made their way out the door.
As they hurried to the throne room, Renly resembled a man walking to the noose. The young man´s words echoed in Eldon´s mind and he had to wonder if they were really true. Would the King blame Renly for something that was not his fault?
Eldon´s blue eyes glanced out of one of the corridor windows, the sun was starting it ascent in the sky while the stars were now hiding from its rays.
Someone must have awoken the King to tell him of the news, Robert Baratheon had not risen this early ever since the lord of Greenstone had come to the capital.
They made it to the doors of the throne room, which were opened for them by guards clad in colors of house Baratheon.
The silence in the throne room was choking as lord Renly and Eldon made their way to the King, who was sitting on the Iron throne.
Robert Baratheon´s face was red spotted, either with fury or last night´s drinking while the crown on his head looked like small stag´s antlers growing through his black hair.
Both Renly and Eldon knelt before the King of the Seven Kingdoms but as Eldon glanced at his liege lord, the older man could see the barely concealed anger on lord Renly´s face. The youngest Baratheon had clearly not gotten over the fact that his brother had ordered him to stay in the capital, while Robert commanded the Stormlanders.
As he kneeled before the King, Eldon´s eyes looked to the side, where lords and ladies were staring at him and his nephew. Few of the gathered nobles were looking at him and the lord of Storm´s End with pity in their eyes, though most of them were staring at them with glee, hoping that they could use Cersei Lannister´s flight to their advantage.
Before the two men could rise to their feet, King Robert roared in anger at them. "WHERE IS THE WHORE?" Eldon felt glued to the floor of the throne room and his eyes snapped to the carpet that stretched from the door to the foot of the Iron throne.
Lord Estermont dared to glance at his Kingly nephew and for a moment he was worried that the King would catch on fire with how red he was growing. The man´s blue eyes contrasted dangerously against the red face and the black hair, making Eldon feel like the man was seeing into his soul.
"Your grace-." Eldon began but the King slammed his fist into the throne made of blades, making everyone in the hall jump.
"SILENCE." The lord of Greenstone nearly swallowed his tongue in his rush to stop speaking, seeing his King´s rage. "I WILL DEAL WITH YOU LATER, LORD ESTERMONT." Eldon´s heart dropped, hearing Robert address him by his title.
His failure of learning about the plans that the Lannisters and their allies had hatched, stung at him. The master of Whispers should have heard about this plan long before it was ever set in motion. Eldon knew that this would not go unpunished and that the lords would be circling around his family, searching for weakness.
The King turned his furious eyes at his youngest brother and the lord of Storm´s End met them; however Eldon could see a glint of fear shimmering in the blue-green depths.
The doors of the hall being opened again made Eldon jump and look back to see Ser Meryn Trant run to his side before dropping to his knees before the King. "Your grace-."
"QUIET." Robert Baratheon roared again, slamming his fist again into the throne. "You will speak when spoken to."
The King turned his eyes back to his brother and Eldon felt his insides contract in dread. The lord of Greenstone watched as blood dripped from King Robert´s hand onto the Iron throne.
The old superstition of the smallfolk rang in his ears like the bells of the Sept of Baelor as he prayed that no one would notice. However, those hopes were dashed as he heard murmuring of the nobles crash around him, like waves against the island that he called home.
His nephew, the King did not take any notice of the whispers in the throne room, he was still staring furiously at his younger brother. "Why was I not informed the moment it became known that the Kingslayer, the Whore and their bastard broke out of the Black cells?"
"I thought that it would be-." Renly spoke, gritting his teeth but he was interrupted by King Robert.
"THOUGHT? YOU THOUGHT?" The King slammed his fist into the throne of blades, causing more blood to flow from his hand. "THE WHORE AND THE WHELP ESCAPED, AND YOU THOUGHT?"
Even the mutterings of the lords and ladies observing had gone silent as the brothers stared at one another. Eldon could see the effort it took for the youngest Baratheon to keep silent as the man´s older brother bellowed at him, in front of all the lords and ladies gathered.
If the two men had been his sons, Eldon would have been furious of how King Robert was shaming his brother before the entire court. While it was his right as King and the man´s older brother, this travesty was by no means Renly´s fault and would only serve to undermine him in the eyes of his lords.
Eldon glanced to his side, where the new lord commander of the Kingsguard was kneeling. If anyone should have known what plans had been brewing, it had should been Meryn Trant and the garrison commander, who Renly had taken to task in his solar.
The brother´s stared at one another for a few more moments, before Robert Baratheon turned his fiery glare at his new lord commander of the Kingsguard. "AND YOU? WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS YOUR EXCUSE?"
The Whitecloak beside Eldon seemed indignant how the King was addressing him but Ser Meryn seemed to swallow the bitter emotions, as it was Robert Baratheon´s right to speak to them how he pleased.
"I had no idea that Preston Greenfield was a traitor." Ser Meryn defended himself, his face pale as the cloak around his shoulders. "I could not have known-."
"You are the lord commander of the Kingsguard." King Robert interrupted the other man, his blue eyes piercing and furious. "If there is a traitor in your ranks, you are to weed them out."
"Your grace-." Ser Meryn tried to speak but King Robert had enough.
The lord of the Seven Kingdoms slammed his fist yet again into the throne, blood droplets flying from the wounds. "I AM HOLDING YOU RESPONSIBLE FOR GREENFIELD´S TREASON."
The hunting trophies that the King had replaced the dragon skulls with, were all staring at the three men kneeling before the Iron throne, as the lords and ladies were as silent as the grave; as if they thought the King would turn his rage to them if they made a sound.
"If you fail me like this again, Ser Meryn you will take the next ship North to the Wall, where you can freeze your balls off while fighting savages in furs next to thieves and shepherd boys."
Then the King turned his furious blue eyes to Eldon, who felt like an icy hand had grabbed his insides in a tight grip as he waited for the King´s wrath to turn on him.
Eldon Estermont resisted the urge to say anything, knowing that it would be better to allow the King to have the first word and take his time to gather his thoughts.
Time trickled by slowly as the King stared at Eldon and for the first time, the lord of Greenstone felt like he was the nephew and not the uncle. The tension in the throne room rose as both King Robert and Eldon remained silent but eventually the larger man broke the quiet.
"You were brought to the capital because I thought that you would be up to the task of serving as the master of Whispers, uncle. Was I wrong?" King Robert growled like a wild animal, even though he seemed a bit calmer than when he was speaking to Ser Meryn.
"No, your grace." Eldon struggled to keep his voice steady. "I will not fail you again."
"You better not, my lord. I would hate to have to find myself a new master of Whispers." Even though he knew he was being threatened with a swift dismissal, the King´s words felt more like a death sentence to the older man, feeling his heart beat faster in his chest.
However, as the lord of the Seven Kingdoms turned to look at Renly, who was staring at the bigger man without any visible emotion on his face, Eldon felt relief flood him at the gentle scolding he had received from the King. "You are to find the Whore and her bastard; do you hear me? I want them found."
"As you command, brother." Eldon could hear the lord paramount of the Stormlands hold back his anger as his words were gritted out between his teeth, much like Stannis would have. "I will find them and drag them back to the Black cells, where they belong."
Robert Baratheon stared at his brother, before giving him a stiff nod. "You leave today and you better find them."
The King´s words making it clear that there would be severe consequences should lord Renly return empty handed.
