Sansa watched as Gendry and Arya threw their arms around each other and held on like one was going to vanish if the other let go. The other Baratheon's were all injured in ways that made Sansa wince. Mya was wearing what appeared to a patch over her eye made of beautiful fine gold and black silk, Edric was walking on a metal foot with his other arm in a sling, and even from here, Sansa could see that Bella appeared to be missing one of her ears. Gendry had a terrible scar down his face, and they were all standing carefully like they didn't want anyone approaching them. Daenerys walked over and talked to them softly, and they began to walk out of the room. Gendry looked up when they were about to leave and whispered something to Arya. She nodded, looked at Jon, who also nodded, and they all walked out of the throne room.
She wasn't sure when she stood up, but Sansa took Theon's hand, and the two of them walked over to Daenerys. There was something bothering her, and she wanted to take care of this right now. Yara clasped her brother on the shoulder while Daenerys smiled softly.
"Sansa, Theon, it's lovely to see you both again, and I'm very glad it is under better circumstances," Daenerys said. "I know neither of you is fond of the south, so I'm very happy you decided to make the trip. I felt it was important for all of us to be together when we confronted this."
"I agree," Sansa agreed, and she pressed her lips together. She glances at Theon, and he looked a little confused, like he wasn't sure what was bothering her but squeezed her hand nevertheless, which meant that he was going to support her no matter what she asked. "The little girl from the settlement that was attacked, Elemy, where is she?"
"Missandei is looking after her; why?" Daenerys asked.
"I wanted to thank her," Sansa said. "She is the one who prevented a war between the Crown and the Iron Isles, and while I'm not overly fond of the people who treated my husband like he was lesser, I know we would have both been heartbroken if the worst had happened." Sansa hesitated. "I also know what it's like to stare down court as a child, and I wanted to make sure that she was okay."
"Of course," Daenerys turned to Quentyn and asked if he could handle things right now. He nodded, and she gestured for Sansa and Theon to follow her. She guided them through to the gardens as Missandei was quietly talking to the scared little girl who was fascinated by all of the pretty flowers. Sansa tried not to think of the many times she walked through these gardens with Tyrion or on the arm of Loras or Margaery as she tried to think of a better life. Those memories hurt, and while there was a very good chance the Tyrell's were just using her like everyone else, she did appreciate their kindness in their manipulations. Daenerys walked over to Elemy and knelt down in front of her. "Elemy, would you like to meet two friends of mine?"
"Are they nice?" Elemy asked, and something in Sansa's heart shattered at the fear this little girl was trying to hide from them. The implication was that all of the noble's this little girl had met frightened her, and she wanted to know if Sansa and Theon were any different. Sansa squeezed Theon's hand tighter as she tried to keep herself in check.
"Yes," Missandei replied. "They are very nice." Elemy glanced at Daenerys, who nodded as well. Elemy finally nodded carefully, and Daenerys gestured for Sansa and Theon to join them. Sansa immediately got down into the dirt, so she was eye level with Elemy, uncaring of what it did to her dress.
"Elemy, my name is Sansa, and this is my husband Theon," Sans said as Theon joined her on the ground. Both Daenerys and Missandei stood up and gave them a little bit of privacy while staying close enough that Elemy could see them.
"Hello," Elemy said carefully.
"I wanted to thank you for being so brave," Sansa said. Her voice cracked, and Theon pressed his shoulder against hers, but she soldiered through this. She refused to let the bad memories of the Red Keep make this interaction with this innocent anything less than good. "The bad men that you helped stop today were going to try and hurt the place where Theon is from, and because of what you did, no one is going to get hurt. We wanted to personally come and thank you for that." Elemy blinked as she looked at the two of them like she didn't quite understand what was going on.
"I just told them what I saw," she said.
"You did," Theon said, and Sansa had to stop herself from physically reacting to the tone of his voice because she hadn't ever heard him talk to someone like that before. "But you still did a very brave thing, and you saved my home and my people. You're a hero."
"I am?" Elemy asked, and something in her brightened.
"You are," Sansa said softly. "In honor of being a hero, I'd like to help you. I want to help you find somewhere to stay. Do you know where your uncles or aunts or grandparents live?"
"Oh, no, I don't have anyone, but mama and papa, and they're-" Elemy cut herself off as her expression crumbled. She stumbled forward into Sansa's arms and began to sob. With her wide eyes and messy brown hair, all Sansa could think about was Arya and how she tried to be so brave as a little girl too. Theon moved, so he was holding both of them because Sansa didn't even realize that she was silently crying as she held this little girl in her arms. Theon pressed his forehead to hers, and the three of them sat together in the dirt and the mud of the Red Keep's gardens for a long time. Elemy eventually stopped crying, and she reached forward with tentative hands to touch one of Sansa's braids. "Your hair is so pretty." Sansa wasn't sure if she laughed or sobbed, but she pressed a soft kiss to Elemy's forehead.
"You're a sweet little thing," Sansa whispered. Elemy buried further into her chest and eventually fell asleep in her arms. Daenerys and Missandei made their way over and knelt down with her and Theon. "She doesn't have anyone," Sansa whispered. "She told me that she doesn't have any other family. She helped prevent a war, and she has no one."
"It looks like she has someone to me," Daenerys whispered. "In the days since Gendry and I found her, Elemy hasn't let anyone aside from Missandei, and I touch her, and even then, it was just taking her hands. She went right to you, Sansa; she went right to both you and fell asleep in your arms. I think the Old Gods are trying to tell you something." Sansa looked at the sleeping little girl in her arms and then at Theon, who smiled softly at her.
"We did always talk about adopting someone who needed a home someday; who better than the one who saved mine?" he said, and Sansa was so proud of how steady his voice was. Theon had come so far from the man who had to hide in their room and couldn't be around too many people. This time since the war had been good for him and Sansa was the one who felt weak. He was sitting here, looking and sound strong, who Sansa felt like she was about to fall apart at any moment.
"If it's what she wants, she can have anything she desires," Sansa whispered as she looked at the sleeping Elemy in her arms. Theon settled next to her, his arm around her shoulders, and they both watched Elemy sleep. Sansa looked up when Daenerys squeezed her arm, and her and Missandei left them alone. Theon pressed a soft kiss to her hair, and Sansa breathed in the sea air of the Red Keep that haunted her nightmares and tried to feel peace.
Arya followed the Baratheon's back to the room that they were sharing and watched as all four of them seemed to relax a little the moment she locked the door behind them. Gendry pulled her into his arms again and held on for dear life like she wouldn't vanish if he looked away from her. He kissed her forehead, and the four of them moved to a small table and chairs in the middle of the room.
"You were the one," Gendry said softly as he touched her hand with the missing fingers gently. "You were the one that snuck into the castles and collected the fake wills. It was you, wasn't it."
"I wasn't going to let them get away with what they did to you," Arya replied as she looked at all of the Baratheon's. She loved them all so much; sometimes, it made her heart burst. "I'm sorry that we didn't get enough to stop Connington."
"Queen Daenerys granted Lord Connington mercy for the part he played in attempting to unseat me, but I'm confident he'll see justice," Edric replied carefully.
"Justice? Not revenge?" Arya asked, and Edric smirked like he knew something that she didn't.
"Yes, justice," he replied.
The trial started the next day, and Arya could not express how relieved she was to sit next to Gendry and hold his hand in public again. The previous night the Stark's and the Baratheon's had dinner with Daenerys and Quentyn, and for the first time since the wedding, Arya felt like they were all happy to be in the same room. Daenerys once again apologized for believing her Lesser Lords and everything that happened, but the Baratheon's in particular, didn't seem to hold it against her. If there was anyone who suffered in the name of this conspiracy, it was them as they all still wore the scars of their journey on their bodies. Arya looked at her left hand and the missing fingers that were there; it was her reminder of how close she came to losing everything and how hard she was going to fight to keep the people she deemed worthy of being her family.
Connington spent the trial talking on and on about everything that had happened. It appeared that she was right that these people were cowards, and Connington was confident now that he was granted mercy for his part in trying to kill Edric and the Baratheon's. Arya kept an eye on Edric, whom she knew was the angriest about this entire thing, but he set his jaw and didn't say a word. Connington explained how Lord Lannister reached out to all of them and how they all could gather enough power to pressure Daenerys into declaring war on the North and executing every single member of House Stark.
It bothered Arya more than she cared to admit that, in the end, this was all about her family. For so long, they were looking at connections to the Baratheon's and then the other Lesser Houses but now that it was all out in the open, it was them. A portion of this was put into motion the moment Joffrey had her father executed, and the thought that this all went back to that horrible day made her a little sick. Connington spoke about how they wanted to see the Iron Isles burn like there weren't people there, and Theon had to reach forward to put a hand on Yara's arm to stop her from jumping the table and cutting Connington's throat.
The evidence was hard to deny. The letters and Davos' completed cipher showed all of the houses spending the months after Cersei died planning this entire thing. This wasn't something that they planned on a whim. The moment that Daenerys took control of Westeros, they were in motion to make sure that this happened. Lord Lannister said nothing to defend himself, but he did spend the entire trial looking like he wanted to kill everyone in the room. Lord Redfort tried to appeal to Mya and the connection she once had to their house, but she raised an uninterested eyebrow and did nothing to defend him. Lord Royce glared and spoke about how Robin was a good man who was truly coming into his own who didn't deserve to die in pain the way he did.
Lord Bracken fell on his knees in front of Edmure, and Arya didn't think she had ever seen Roslin look as angry as she did at that moment. Arya actually thought Roslin was going to take the sword from Edmure's hip and take care of Lord Bracken herself, but Edmure did nothing to protect him. Bracken had spent most of his gold to buy nice things to bring to Riverrun when he took the castle. That gold was going to be hard to replace, but Daenerys promised any support she could to help Edmure. Lord Velayron tried his best to argue that Elemy wasn't a good witness which made Sansa and Theon look angrier than Arya was expecting. There wasn't a fake will, but there was evidence that they were planning on building ships so they could petition to be in charge of the royal navy.
In the end, Lord Lannister still did nothing to defend himself as the various Lesser Lords declared that they were loyal to the crown and to Daenerys and that they only wanted what was best for all of Westeros, but Daenerys glared them all into silence. She stood up and walked down the stairs from the Iron Throne. She stood before the handful of men that had caused so much pain, and she looked as angry as a dragon.
"You are not loyal to me," Daenerys snapped, and everyone in the room went silent. "If you were loyal, you would understand that war is never the answer. I made peace with both King Jon and Queen Yara because peace and alliances are the things that make Westeros strong. Not these petty squabbles between boys claiming to be men. We all lost and suffered during the previous wars, and the fact that your first instinct is to cause more war and more bloodshed is only proof that your values do not align with your Queen's. I find you all guilty of high treason against the crown, and for that, you will be put to death. I will not have your poisonous ideals go to Essos or anywhere else. I am Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen, of the blood of Old Valyria, and with fire and blood, I will end your lives.
"However, I do not believe in the punishment of the children on behalf of their father's. I will be calling your sons and your daughters here, and if they can swear loyalty to me, then they may keep their holdfasts. If not, I will grant your family's peaceful exile from Westeros. Those are the terms of my ruling, and I will not allow anyone to try and force my hand again. I truly hope this is the last time we need to stand in this room and have a trial like this one," Daenerys said. She nodded to the guards who dragged all of the Lord's back to the Black Cells until it was time for their executions. Connington was smiling a little to himself, and Arya watched as Edric slowly got up and walked over to Daenerys, so they were standing side by side.
"Lord Connington," Edric said. "Our Queen has granted you mercy for the attempted murder of my family and me, is that true?" Arya frowned as she glanced at Gendry to see if he understood what was going on, but he was staring straight ahead. Mya and Bella had the exact same expression on their faces as well. Connington at least made an attempt to look like he was actually sorry for what he did to them.
"I will spend the rest of my life trying to make up that transgression, but I am humbled by the mercy of our Queen," Connington. Edric raised an eyebrow and glanced at Daenerys, who looked deeply unimpressed.
"Lord Connington, I granted you mercy for the crime of attempted murder of your Lord, and I will not go back on that ruling," Daenerys said, but Connington was starting to look a little nervous. "However, that was not your only crime. I hereby find you guilty of the crime of slavery. I am the Breaker of Chains, and I do not take kindly to men trying to throw people into bondage." Connington went white as a sheet as everyone in the room began to mutter to themselves.
"You granted me mercy!" Connington yelled. "You all saw her grant me mercy!"
"She granted you mercy for the attempt on my life and that of my siblings," Edric snapped. "But that wasn't your only crime; unlike your fellow members in this little conspiracy, you decided to sell us into slavery to a man that you would know would want to punish my family in Daenerys' name. Do you know what would have happened to my sister's if we weren't able to escape? Do you know what almost happened to one of them?" Connington fell to his knees as Edric stepped closer and closer. Bella sat up a little taller, and Arya wished they were sitting next to each other so she could reach over and take her hand.
"Not only that," Daenerys said, and there was that fury again. "You used a man's loyalty to me against my family. You knew that I did not hold Robert Baratheon's actions against his children, but you let Daario think that. You manipulated him, and you tried to sell my family into slavery, knowing it would be done in my name. I cannot think of a greater insult to me. So, yes, Lord Connington, I did grant you mercy for the attempt on my cousin's lives because I knew you would turn on your fellow criminals. As Lord Baratheon said, I did not grant you mercy for the slavery, and for that, you can join the rest of your traitors to meet dragon fire." Connington wailed as he was dragged away, saying that he was granted mercy and this was wrong, and someone needed to come to his defense, but none came. Edric watched him get dragged away with barely contained fury, and he briefly made eye contact with Arya.
Justice indeed.
Daenerys had no patience to put off the execution of these traitors. She was so angry that they not only tried to trick her into a war, she's even angrier that they hurt her family to do it. It hurt her to see the wounds and scars that her cousins were going to carry for the rest of their lives. It hurt her to see how reluctant they were to leave each other's side. This justice was the very least she could do for her cousins, for Robin, who was taken from this world far too young, for the scar that Edmure would carry for the rest of his life. The very least she could do was not put off this execution any longer than she had to.
The ravens were sent out to the children of the various lord's and Daenerys already had a headache as she tried to think about what they were going to do with the Westerlands. She hoped that the children would swear and she wouldn't have to put anyone else in front of Drogon, but Daenerys would do whatever it took to prevent another war. She would do whatever it took to protect people.
The guilty lords were brought to the Dragon Pit as Drogon slowly circled the castle. She had asked Edric if he wanted to personally take care of Connington, but he declined. He said he was too angry and he would be doing it for the wrong reasons. Daenerys wasn't even sure she was doing this execution for the right reasons, but it had to be done. She could not let these men go to Essos and poison minds there. The risk was too great. As it was, she needed to make a trip to Meereen and remind the men there that she liberated them and she could just as easily seize power back. Daenerys resented Daario for what he did and how he thought for even a moment that she would want something like that.
There Pit was already full of the witnesses, and Daenerys called out to them as she said what these men were guilty of. She made eye contact with her cousins, with her nephew, and they all nodded. Quentyn stood tall but away from her. She was the Mother of Dragons, and this was an execution by a dragon. Drogon landed on the ground next to her, and several people let out gasps; some of them hadn't seen the dragon up close before. Some of them had no idea the power they were about to witness, and Daenerys was glad. It was time to remind Westeros that she was their Queen, and it would be in their best interests to remember that.
"Dracarys," Daenerys said as she watched the last of her enemy turn to ash.
