"There goes our limitless supply of dragonglass," said Tyrion as he slammed a Dragon figure on the map of Dragonstone shoving the wolf figure away.
He never thought that he would be seeing a dragon ever again on a map of Westeros, but there it was, the truth in a form of a beautifully sculptured dragon head with its mouth snarling at them. His former Queen had just taken her ancestral seat once more. That would not mean much to anyone at all if only Dragonstone was not seating on a pile of dragonglass. The salvation of all Westeros had been snatched away from them.
"This was her revenge," Tyrion said in quiet voice. "Daenerys doesn't want Dragonstone, she wanted us to beg to her for our life."
Which Tyrion knew she would not give. Why should she? After all that happened. Who would beg for the Queen's help this time? He wondered. Would it be him? How that must make his old Queen happy, seeing her former Hand waggling towards her. The traitor. Maybe they could try their luck once more with Jon Snow, besides it was him who convinced the Queen before. And maybe the fire was still there between them. The moment Tyrion thought that he already knew how foolish that notion was. Jon Snow probably still had some love for the mother of his child, but the Queen? Would she still harbor some love towards the man who killed her? That's unlikely, as unlikely as Tyrion would be able to grow three feet more. They would have some leverage if old Ser Davos was still around. Ser Davos was probably the only person in Westeros that did not give any offence to the Queen but then Tyrion remembered he was...gone.
All of them grew awfully quiet, realization of what had been done was sinking in on them. How many dragonglass is there scattered in Westeros after the war sixteen years ago? Was there any left in the North? Tyrion did not even bother to collect them after the war, thinking they were nothing but a pile of brittle glass, a useless memento of their survival. There are some weapons that the now Lord Baratheon had made in Winterfell in the previous war, where are they now? Was the Lord of Storm's End managed to take his creations after the war and keep them? Even if they still managed to acquire all the dragonglass from the previous war, Tyrion knew it wouldn't be enough. They needed Dragonstone back or they must find a different place to mine dragonglass.
"We can't even be sure if it was the Dragon Queen who had taken the castle," Lord Aurane said, distracting Tyrion from his thoughts.
The young man kept on insisting this assumption of his for the last couple of minutes. Tyrion did not know if the bastard was too frightened by the notion of a dragon that he denied the possibility of it being near them.
Tyrion turned to the bastard Lord, he was slowly losing his patience and not having any sleep at all did not help either and also knowing that the Dragon Queen was near, a few minutes away by a dragon's flight, left an unpalatable taste on his mouth. The taste of fear, he knew or maybe he just wanted to puke.
"Tell me, Lord Waters, who would take Dragonstone if not the Dragon Queen?" he asked coldly.
Lord Aurane did not look affected by Tyrion's tone as he shrugged.
"The Ironborn? It is said that Lady Yara was the Dragon Queen's stalwart ally."
"The Dornish men?" Bronn added with certainty in his voice and a hint of disgust as well. Bronn was always eager to point the blame to Dorne whenever a crisis came up. It seems to Tyrion, that Bronn never did get over with what happened to him the last time he was in Dorne.
Tyrion sighed in annoyance. He closed his eyes as he tried to control his temper. Being ordered not to drink more wine by the King did nothing to help him now.
"I'll be at the godswood. I'll try to see what happened at Dragonstone, for the mean time you will continue the meeting on my absence."
Before Podrick rolled the King away, he made one final order. "And Lord Hand, no more wine."
He wanted a good Arbor gold, a comely woman to warm his bed, and a good long sleep. And he was more likely to ride a dragon than to get all those three.
"Do you know what the Iron price is, my Lords?" he turned his attention to everyone in the room. "The Ironborn are known for pillaging. They take the valuables of their fallen foes and claim it as theirs for they had paid the iron price for it. As you have seen the bodies, my Lords, Ser, I don't see any reason for an Ironborn to leave those fine armors and swords behind, much less clean it and the corpses as well."
"Or put it in a place where everyone can see it," Bronn stated twirling his knife on his fingers. "Which is why it was the Dornish men who did this."
Tyrion almost roll his eyes in exasperation.
"And why is that my Lord?"
Bronn shrugged at him and then sheathed the knife he was playing with before reaching for his goblet, teasingly sipping from it as he looked at Tyrion.
Tyrion scowled at his former sellsword companion.
"Just a hunch," Bronn said putting his goblet down.
"Not the Ironborn then," the young Lord interrupted while nodding his head in agreement with Tyrion's statement earlier and not at all abashed by the error of his judgement. "But, I still stand by my belief that this was no dragon my Lord."
Tyrion turned to the Master of Ships and sighed.
"Would you care to explain why, my Lord?"
"Because there are bodies, Lord Hand," Aurane extends his arms looking at each of them as if they were thick to understand his words. "If this was a dragon shouldn't it be just ashes that remains?"
Tyrion admits, the bastard was right. This doesn't feel like Daenerys. The Dragon Queen was never a fan of theatrics, she wouldn't lay bodies on a bay nor put any interests on cleaning them. If Daenerys wanted the realm to beg to her, it would be unnecessary to display those bodies. All of this does not make any sense. Unless...
"You were not there, my Lords," Ser Brienne finally speaks, cutting the line of his thoughts. She had been awfully quiet since they returned from Blackwater bay, she must still be in shock. "You did not saw those banners bursting into flames then turning into dragons."
Tyrion nodded in agreement. Yes, he was disturbed by that as well. He never knew Daenerys could do fire magic other than being immune to fire and controlling dragons. But if she can block the King's sight, making her almost invisible to it, it was not so impossible for her to turn a piece of cloth to a flaming dragons for sure? Was his former Queen had gotten this much stronger ever since her death? Another puzzle that does not fit. Why the burning banners? Was the Queen merely bragging of her newly found powers? No, Daenerys never brags. As far as he can remember.
"And the last time I heard, Dorne's Prince was still a Martell and the Martell's sigil is a speared sun not dragons," Ser Brienne continued while looking at Bronn.
Bronn leaned forward, about to argue but the Master of Whisperers managed to talk ahead of him.
"Tell me about this banners," Lord Aron said to Brienne, looking rather concerned.
As he should be. It was his job to know the Queen's whereabouts and dealings, now Daenerys did not only managed to get a castle that was near at King's Landing but also a castle seating in the only substance that would save all their lives.
Tyrion looked at the Master of Whisperers coldly. Lord Aron must have sensed his stare as he lifted his eyes and looked at Tyrion's disturbing cold ones. Lord Aron fidgets on his seat as he turned away from him.
"There was nothing special to it my Lord," Ser Brienne answered, seemingly unaware of the discomfort of the Lord she was talking to. "Except that anyone who touched it burns and when the King tried to, it did not burn him but instead the cloth and the pole it was attached to bursts into flames, then twelve dragons came out from it."
Tyrion returned his attention back to Brienne. He did not see the whole thing as Ser Brienne's huge back was blocking his view at that moment, but he indeed saw the flying flames enveloping the King when she rushed down from her horse.
"Twelve dragons?" Lord Aron said, his frown deepening, his eyes looking at Brienne to avoid him. "What does these banners' looks like?"
The part about the banners were something they hadn't touched yet in the meeting and he was planning to discuss it if it wasn't for Lord Aurane's interruption earlier.
"The first banner at the top bears the sigil of House Targaryen, red dragon upon a black field," Ser Brienne answered, confidence in her voice.
Lord Aron urges her to continue with a gesture of his other hand while the other was brushing his wispy beard.
"The one below that bears a sigil I was not familiar with. It was a twelve headed dragon in a field of white and each head had different colors and all are breathing fires."
"Are you familiar with this sigil, my Lord?" Tyrion asked a little bit harshly.
Lord Aron had the gall to look embarrassed as he shake his head.
Tyrion sighed. How he missed Varys and his little birds. Now, he had to do all the solving and thinking. He closed his eyes as he tried to think past the pounding on his head. He felt uneasy, as if something was wrong. Something doesn't add up. What was it he was thinking before Brienne interrupted him?
The Queen's actions. For all the time he spend serving Daenerys he knew she wasn't as dramatic as this. She is straightforward, if she wanted something, she would have it. If she wanted to kill you, she will and she wouldn't do something unnecessary unless her mood says otherwise. But this? He cannot imagine Daenerys ordering someone to board bodies to a ship and lay it in a bay. What was the purpose of those bodies, anyway? What was the purpose of the banner? Did Daenerys really did...
Tyrion opened his eyes and gasped as he finally made the connection. The banner, the bodies and the fact that they are intact. He felt foolish then that he started chuckling. He felt the others' eyes on him but he does not care. He really was being rather dull and slow.
"My Lord?" Ser Brienne asked him, concern written on her face.
Tyrion only shake his head as he tried to staunch his laughter. When he finally calmed down he looked at the other council members still grinning like a loon.
"I had made the connection, but before I tell you what is it that I thought, I wanted to congratulate Lord Aurane for pointing out the obvious and helping me figure this one out." Tyrion grinned at the confused Lord.
"Me?" he said pointing himself, not quite believing he helped at all. "Was it the Ironborns?" Lord Aurane asked uncertainty in his voice.
Tyrion shakes his head, still grinning.
"You're right. This is not the work of Daenerys, but this is a work of a dragon."
"What do you mean, my Lord?" Aurane asked amusement on his face now.
Tyrion takes a deep breath. How slow he had really become.
"The answer to this riddle is rather easy," Tyrion said smirking slightly at Lord Aurane then to other council members. "I want you all to listen carefully and answer my questions. Who is the only person who can have a multi-headed dragon on their banner other than the Dragon Queen? And seems to held Daenerys Targaryen in great esteem and respect to put her banner above theirs? One who seems to have the same affinity with fire magic like the Dragon Queen. One who fits the description of conquering a city or an island with much success. Someone who respects their foes' death that they would not have anyone from their soldiers to steal from them."
Every members had the same knitted brows on their foreheads, until the thought sink in and their faces smoothed out, but it was Lord Aron who told the answer.
"The Little Dragon," Lord Aron whispered.
Tyrion smiled wickedly. He was impressed, he didn't know the Master of Whisperers had any use at all.
"Well, well, it seems to me you have not completely forgotten what you had told us a long time ago when the Princess conquered Qarth."
Lord Aron blushed.
"Of course I haven't forgotten! It just...slipped my mind that's all."
Tyrion ignored the bleating of the Master of Whisperers and explained what he thought further. Even he had forgotten it, he must admit, the only thing he remembered on that report was a tiny bit of information that made him admire the Princess a little more than he should.
"The Princess was known for giving back the bodies of her foes. Intact and unspoiled. Do any of you remember the Princess's first conquest?"
Lord Aurane's face lit up as he finally remembered. He had made a joke about the Princess's odd actions before.
"I remembered! I asked if she catapulted the bodies back to the city, armor and all." Lord Aurane chuckled at that before being serious, or as serious as Aurane Waters can be. "So it was the Princess we're dealing with and not the mother?"
"Yes and no," Tyrion answered.
"What do you mean, my Lord?" Ser Brienne asked a confused frown on her face.
"The daughter indeed take Dragonstone but it was by the order of the mother, after all, a daughter wouldn't do something as big as this without a mother's permission," Tyrion smirked at his own jibe. "I knew Daenerys wouldn't step in Westeros anymore after what happened because if she wanted to come, she should have done it long ago. But saying that, she needed Dragonstone and what better way than to give the honor to her Little Dragon? The Princess must have been bored, after all, her last conquest was two years ago."
Tyrion grinned feeling proud of himself but as his bliss for solving one mystery started to fade away he realized then that what he found out does not help their dilemma at all. How to convince the Dragon Queen on giving them dragonglass?
Wait. How did Daenerys even...
His heart began to beat fast on the same rhythm as the pounding on his head from what his thoughts had touched. How? He was about to voice his concern when the council chamber's door opened and in comes a gasping Grandmaester. He passed his seat and walked directly to Tyrion's side and offered him a parchment.
"You need to see this," Samwell said gasping for breath. "It's still partially complete but already unsettling."
"Have a seat first Grandmaester, have some wine if you want." Tyrion offered.
Sam sat on his vacant chair beside Ser Brienne and gestures no with his hand on the offer of wine.
Tyrion browsed the parchment and was shocked on the first sentence he had read. He lifted his eyes to Sam who nodded at him.
"There are no sign of decay my Lord," Sam said still a little breathless. "I estimated that the men of Dragonstone had been killed yesterday at dawn or more probably the day before yesterday at midnight. "
"All five hundred?" Aurane asked his voice rising a little from surprise and disbelieve.
"The report are still partial my Lord, me and some scribes of the city managed to examine about a half of the bodies, and all of them are the same. They were freshly killed and all of them had their wounds cleaned and sewn."
"B-but, surely Grandmaester that would take some time! Cleaning the corpses and sewing them and yet you said their deaths happened yesterday!" Lord Aron said ashened by the news.
"Or the day before that at midnight. It was only my theory, but it fits the time perfectly base on the...freshness of the corpses."
Tyrion did not join in the banter. He started to read to report and saw one more thing that was extremely unusual.
"The armors and swords are tended as well?" He asked, he felt his brows rise at that information.
Sam who just finished a conversation with Lord Aron turned to him and nodded.
"I had some blacksmiths to look at the armors and they confirmed that the stabs on it had been pounded and straightened out rather crudely as if rushed. The swords are polished as well same with the armors, but again, rather rashly for the sword was only polished at one side, only at the front and some parts of the armors were not oiled properly."
Tyrion knitted his brows. That's impossible.
"Surely that's impossible," Brienne said at the man beside her, voicing out Tyrion's doubts. "The time it would--"
"Not at all," Bronn said who remained quiet until now. "If they were killed the day before yesterday and they were tended immediately after that, it means the Princess or whoever attacked Dragonstone had twice the men to accomplish both the attack and the tending of corpses. I estimated around a--"
"Thousand men or more who knew how to clean corpses and who had basic knowledge in smithing." Sam cut him off.
Fits the conquering Princess's description. Only her soldiers' can execute such a feat, after all they were used to cleaning corpses all through the years they followed the Little Dragon.
"So, it was possible? To conquer Dragonstone and stay there for almost two days?" Aurane asked disbelieve still on his voice.
"Without the King knowing..." Tyrion whispered.
He felt all the eyes on him. Another riddle and an easier one at that.
"Grandmaester, how long did King Bran's eyes stayed white yesterday?"
Sam shrugged at him surprised by the question.
"He'd been like that for the whole day then he rouse us up by midnight to discuss what he saw."
Tyrion nodded.
"And are we aware what time the bodies was laid on the bay?"
Sam shakes his head.
"Ser Gerold said one of his men saw the bodies when the sun was coming up."
"Wait, I only realized this now," Lord Aron said frowning. "Does this mean the city guards are not doing their job? I mean does no one took the nightly rounds at that part of the bay?"
Tyrion was surprised once more by the Master of Whisperers, apparently he was not as big as a fool than he thought. But that doesn't mean Tyrion would go easy on him in his negligence with the Dragon Queen.
"It's good to now that Ser Gerold would accompany you when King Bran came back from his watch."
Lord Aron paled at Tyrion's statement and looked at him dangerously. Tyrion paid him no mind and turn to Sam once more.
"If we are to estimate, then the bodies was put at the bay by the same time the King woke up from his warging, is that right?"
Sam frowned at him not comprehending where his questions was leading.
"My Lord...I don't..."
"Just entertain me, Sam, what's your best guess?"
Sam lifted his eyes to the ceiling and muttered to himself, counting the possible hours needed to execute such a huge stunt.
"Aye, I guess...I guess you are right Lord Hand. But I still can't see--"
"Can't you see what Lord Tyrion was saying?" Bronn said with a mocking smirk.
"Bronn..." he said warning his friend who had taken the message from his voice and immediately lifted his hands in the air in resignation.
"W-What is it?" Lord Aron stammered looking at Bronn and him in confusion and fear.
Tyrion only shakes his head and offered a smile.
"Nothing, just forget everything I said."
This is dangerous. Utterly dangerous. He looked at Bronn once more who smirked at him. Of course a sellsword would catch up on what he was implying.
"Another question and this one disturbs me the most and frankly I just figured this one out rather recently, about a few minutes ago to be exact, and I was surprised no one did the same."
"Just say it," Brienne growled, patience running thin from all the riddles that had been thrown upon her. He can't blame the Knight, she was used to solve any problems with a sword.
"What I was trying to say, Ser, is how did Daenerys Targaryen knew we would need dragonglass even before we knew that we will need it?"
Tyrion did not know how to feel. Did he felt pride? He wasn't sure, but he did admire the Queen's plans or was it the Princess's? Nevertheless he was enjoying it, the feeling of knowing something that no one in the room had comprehended yet. He had missed this feeling.
"I...I don't..." Sam was flabbergasted like the rest of the small council. Clearly no one had thought about it until he had pointed it out.
"When we first came to Dragonstone back when I was the Dragon Queen's Hand it took us almost two moons to be there from Meereen. So, how did Daenerys knew to send her daughter ahead of time and landing in Dragonstone almost a day ahead from the moment the King saw the brewing storm beyond the Wall?"
This riddle was harder to solve than all three that has been offered to him so far. It made his head pound painfully, more painfully than earlier. He badly needed wine.
"I...how do we know the Dragon Queen had taken Dragonstone for the dragonglass?" Samwell asked. "She could have done it because--"
"Because she wanted Westeros? Grandmaester, does it ever make you wonder why Daenerys Targaryen, with all her armies, wealth and dragons did not bother herself to come back and take vengeance? She didn't even fly on Drogon to burn us all when King Bran and Queen Sansa offered lordship and lands to anyone that could kill her child."
That was his mistake, Tyrion knew. He tried to persuade the King out of this actions because he was afraid of the repercussions it would entail, he even made a substitute plan to avoid the killing of the babe. Spreading rumors that the Dragon Queen had lovers aplenty just to hide that the child has Stark blood. It worked, for some time, but the King and his sister was determined and he could do nothing to change their minds. It was only by luck that Essos was on turmoil on the early years of the Princess's childhood and the slavers and some other Essosi wanted the Dragon Queen's head or they would have burned. But even when Daenerys found out that the assassins were not from slavers but from her child's very own cousin she didn't retaliate in a way Tyrion expected. She starved them instead by stopping the trades between Essos and Westeros.
Now he had an inkling. Or rather, he had thought of it before, he just doesn't want to explore the possibilities that Daenerys was not as mad as the King or anyone had been thinking.
"Westeros does not mean anything to her anymore. She would not want to waste the life of her people to die in a war eventhough she knew she can win. This place was where she felt grief and lost everything even her life. She would not take risks on us anymore. But that doesn't mean she won't have her vengeance."
Tyrion looked down. Was this the price of all that had been done? Will they lose their life and the life of all the people in Westeros simply because the woman who was supposed to be their Queen refuses to help?
He sighed as he looked up and surprised to see that Ser Brienne, the one who sided with Ser Davos against the King's plan had her eyes closed, as if in pain. Samwell who was too craven to say anything and abstained had his head bowed. In shame? Tyrion was not sure.
He sighed as he stood up.
"Well, clearly we had solved none of our problems and we would solve less the morrow if we did not have our rest."
The other council members stood up as well.
Lord Aurane tiredly pushed himself up from his chair, before looking at Tyrion.
"I could send a raven to my father about this, Driftmark is near Dragonstone after all. If he could just take a peek..."
Tyrion only shake his head and offered a small smile.
"Thank you, Lord Aurane, but I believe this incident must remain hidden until our King says otherwise."
Lord Aurane nodded and agreed with him, then he left seemingly relieved that he can have his rest. In a brothel, Tyrion was sure. Lord Aron was next who only looked at him blandly before leaving the room.
"I must go to King Bran and see if I could offer some help," Brienne said quietly as she stood up.
"Ser, promise me you will have your rest after," Tyrion said truly concerned. Brienne only nodded at him and left the room as well.
"I must go now," Sam muttered his head still bowed.
"I would like to see the continuation of your report, Grandmaester." Tyrion said with a small smile.
"I'll have it sent to your solar, Lord Hand. I'm sure the letters for the Lords and Ladies can wait."
Ah, the letters. He had almost forgotten the Great Council he had proposed to the King. And thinking of the King, Tyrion remembered that he wanted to add a new scroll to be sent. Either this was a good idea or a bad one that would cause them their lives.
"King Bran also wanted to send a letter addressed to the Dragon Queen."
Sam looked at him with his mouth gaping open before jerking his head almost like a seizure than a nod before leaving the room.
It was only him and Bronn now who was left.
Bronn lifted his legs then put his feet up on the table and reclined his chair slightly. He looked at Tyrion and grin at him, showing off his yellow teeth.
"So, who was our traitor?"
Tyrion sighed as he went to the table to get a wine. Then he remembered the King's orders. If this was a normal King, he could have defied him and none would be the wiser, but not this King who can look at the past. He put the goblet down and stood up at the chair and then sat himself on the table looking at the map of Westeros. His eyes lingered at the island of Dragonstone. Was the Princess still there? He had not thought of that earlier. That would be another discussion tomorrow and he wished the King was with them at that time and that he had seen what he wanted to see.
"We must refrain from saying that word Bronn," Tyrion said after a long silence.
"Why? It's the truth. Someone from the inside was feeding the person who took Dragonstone with information about the King."
He looked at Bronn who had his hands behind his head looking relaxed and uncaring. Then he frowned when he realized the way Bronn named their culprit, person. Tyrion shakes his head in exasperation, Bronn was nothing but stubborn. He might still be thinking it was the Dornish men who had taken Dragonstone from them.
"I might be wrong and it might be nothing but a coincidence," Tyrion said looking down once more.
But if he was right about his assumptions earlier and if what Bronn said was true, then that explains the bodies but not how the Dragon Queen knows when to take Dragonstone. This does not make any sense to Tyrion.
He picked the Dragon sculpture and turn it on every angle, marvelling at how the scales were carved. If only Daenerys was as simple as the piece of wood he was holding. Beautiful and decorative and easy to understand, but no, she had to be the fire-breathing kind of dragon, dangerous, unpredictable and seems to be more cunning than the last time. And there are two of them now. The Mother of Dragons and her Little Dragon.
"You really think that? A mere coincidence that when the King stopped using that creepy white eyes of his, corpses appeared at the bay the next morning? You and I know that would be the only chance for anyone to sneak in King's Landing and that person knew it and used it. The King had his brown eyes all the evening and the morning when he was with us. Someone in the Red Keep was feeding that person information. We had a spy and you know what that means."
Tyrion closed his eyes as he put the dragon back at the map.
"Yes, Bronn. I know."
I had served and now I rest. The sad voice of Ser Davos whispered in his ears once more.
Note:
I will offer some insights on the next chapters from now on so that would stop anyone from second guessing :D I mean, I thought I was being obvious about the implications of Dany having Dragonstone since Bronn had said it on the 3rd chapter that they had limitless amount of dragonglass as long as they have Dragonstone. The main purpose of conquering House Targaryen's ancestral seat was to cut Westeros from any help from House Targaryen. I mean, they honestly believe Dany would just sit in Meereen having a massage while the people who betrayed her benefited from the dragonglass on her family's castle? Nuh-uh.
So...on the next chapter we will have Dany's POV. That will take some time to write because I'm not the most diligent of writers but I'll try to upload it by next week? Perhaps? Or a little bit earlier than that. You'll never know.