Note:
This chapter is by far the longest I made. The chapters would be longer from now on, I guess. Not sure. One thing's for certain; I'll give you a Jon chapter next. I was starting to write it now, btw.
Ps.
I edited the chapter before this (Ravens). Just added some minor details I overlooked, nothing major. (Gomenasai!)
Xxxxxxxxx
She was sailing once more. To Dragonstone. The last time she went there, she encountered tragedy after tragedy.
First was the destruction of her armada. Losing her allies. Then Viserion's death, Rhaegal, most of her Dothraki bloodriders...Jorah.
Missandei.
Then as if that wasn't tragic enough, she was betrayed as well. By her advisors: the Spider and the Imp. And then by Him. Her lover...her nephew. The last person at that time she relied on to be with her, to take her side, to understand her because he was her family. The last of her family. But apparently he never thought of her as such. Not his lover, not even his aunt, but only his Queen. His Queen he cannot bare to serve, the one he needed to kill to free himself of the responsibility of being with her.
Kinslaying or breaking his oath. Stark or Targaryen. He made a choice and it was not her.
Yes, and that was even more painful isn't it? Missandei's words echoed in her mind once more.
Yes, it does. No matter how long it was. It still hurts not because she loved him, no, but because he rejected her. She who gave everything up, who sacrificed everything, who shared her bed with him only to be thrown away like a...a common whore because of what? Because of her mistake?
No, that was even before that. It was because his Stark honor prevented him to choose her. His Stark honor that commands him to repulse her and their relationship. The same honor that dictates him to kill her.
Dany clutched her chest, right there at the scar he had left her as his curly locks and gray eyes pervades her memory once more. Poisoning her thoughts with his smile, his voice...his scent.
His words.
Not Dany then, how about my queen?
Dany closed her eyes. She killed him in her mind like she does every time an image of him passed by her thoughts.
He is dead to me.
If I look back, I'm lost. She repeated the words in her head like she often do to calm her nerves.
But the words did nothing to erase the inconsistency she felt. Dany made a promise to herself and her unborn child on the first weeks of her ressurection that she would never doubt. Yet here she was worrying for her daughter, doubting her own decisions of sending her child and not taking Dragonstone with her.
Was she doing the right thing, sailing towards Westeros again? Would she lose everything once more because of it? Would she lose another Missandei, her daughter this time?
Dany scoffed involuntarily, banishing the foolish questions off of her mind.
No, she was not sailing to Westeros. She was merely going to Dragonstone to ensure everything was in perfect order and to be with her daughter. That's why she did not sail with the full force of her army but only went to sea with five ships, why she left her Dothraki horde and take only the bloodriders that was most loyal to her. The reason she left four of her children in Meereen no matter how hard it was for her to part with them.
Dany frowned when a sudden realization hits her. How easy it was to conquer Westeros now if she attacked with the full strength of the Dothraki, the Free Cities and Dragon's Bay behind her, with ten dragons flying with her in the sky and two more to come, and in land, her daughter's army--the finest warrios Essos had ever seen--would be more than a match to any knights and peasants this Broken King can conjure. She would win, she knew.
She must admit, she was tempted. The fruit was there in front of her once more, ripe for the taking if only she reached for it and grasp it.
But, no.
She knew by now that that fruit may look sweet, but its insides were rotten and full of worms. She had tasted but a small fraction of the poisonous fruit named Queen of the Seven Kingdoms and she died because of it. She will not make the same mistakes.
Besides, what was the need of having a kingdom full of traitors and kinslayers who were more likely to stab her than to bend their knees to her? What use Westeros was to her when the Storm finally came and made it an icy wasteland? Westeros was never worthy of House Targaryen. What she wanted to do was to take back what was theirs and to stop that crippled King to use her family's resources to fix the problems on his domain. The same troubles he invited in the first place.
What she wanted to do was to take the place that was stolen from them twice by usurpers and false kings; Dragonstone.
The first time it was given to Stannis Baratheon by his usurper brother, Dany was but a small child. Defenseless and powerless. When she finally claimed Dragonstone almost seventeen years ago, she barely breaks a sweat. She never conquered it, she simply moved in. Six years had passed since her death, it has been taken then by the Broken King. Now, Dany had the resources and the power to take it back. In fact, her daughter already conquered the seat of their House like she knew she would.
It was far too late and a madness to turn the ships around now to go back to Meereen simply because she was feeling apprehensive for sailing near Westeros.
Not when her daughter already established the pride of House Targaryen, not when they had shown the known world that no one steals from a dragon.
If that was the case, then why does she still felt...uneasy?
"What troubles you, my Queen?" Daario speaks behind her, noticing her distress.
Dany only shakes her head in response. Even she had some trouble knowing what bothers her. Was it because of her daughter's absence? No, she blamed the dreams. Wasn't that the reason why she was on the deck at the first place? To escape the memories of the nightmares she was having ever since her daughter left Meereen?
Dany's nightmares were always the same. It was either the burning of King's Landing or...that one. That moment in the throne room. But her dreams were different for weeks now. Different in a way that she was seeing it as a spectator and her daughter, her Missandei was the one talking to that man. That Missandei was the one flying on Drogon's back, screaming in fury as she burned King's Landing.
Last night she dreamed of the throne room once more. Dany watched helplessly as her daughter spoke the words her mouth uttered sixteen years ago with voice cold and almost emotionless. Not like her sweet daughter.
Dany screamed then, begging for her daughter to stop. To halt the words flowing from her mouth, because by then Dany noticed the face of that man, the conflict in it then finally his conviction. When Missandei wouldn't listen, Dany turned to him, hoping that he would listen to her. She called him, begged him to spare her child. Their child. But it happened nonetheless. He stabbed her daughter, then Dany woke up with sweat covering her body, her sheets; burning.
I should have taken Dragonstone myself or help Missandei get it atleast. Dany said to herself while gripping the railings of the ship. She wouldn't worry this much if she did not listen to her daughter.
But Missandei insisted--like she always does--that she would do it. Missandei even begged Dany that she should stay in Meereen for a few weeks after her departure to ensure peace and to fool the spies--if there were any left--that Dany intend to do nothing against the Broken King, that she was still ignorant of the coming Storm. Dany saw the logic in her daughter's advice, even Kinvara agreed as well, so that left her no choice but to agree.
Although her daughter's plan of leaving her was wise, she still cannot help but suspect her daughter's hidden intentions. Missandei probably wanted her to stay far away from the battle as possible. Far away from the range of Westerosi soldiers for the fear they might target her, deeming her--the Dragon Queen as the greater threat. That she might die.
Dany sighed as their ship swayed a little as it moved forward at a snail's pace. She tried her best to subdue the scowl she would have made in her impatience and annoyance on their slow movements. She knew these was the fastest ships a man can ever make but it was far too slow for Dany.
Not for the first time she longed to ride Drogon to fly directly to Dragonstone, to meet her daughters up in the sky. That was if Missandei was still up there.
Where is she?
After a few minutes of struggling with herself, she finally gave up. For probably a hundred time since at dawn where Dany started her vigil at the deck, she lifted her face and stared past the glare of the sun, trying to look for a familiar silhouette of a small dragon with enormous wings or a small shadow of a winged girl flying down from the clouds.
All she saw was Drogon's enormous figure with his black and red scales and Rhaeko's smaller one, his red with black outline glinting at the afternoon sun as they play with a huge fish they just caught.
Dany closed her eyes and breathed in the salty smell of the sea to ease her nerves. When she felt composed enough, she turned her face forward once more.
Missandei was supposed to meet them halfway on their journey, that was the plan. But her daughter was late. Missandei, for all her carelessness and carefree attitude, actually values time. But she was late for three days.
Kinvara had told her two weeks ago that she saw Missandei sailing in a ship with Yara. Which was good news to Dany at that time.
The Kraken remains loyal.
But then her daughter invited Yara at Dragonstone and keep her company for two days and one night, delaying their plans of meeting up near Tyrosh. Kinvara had told her that Missandei, at the least, had not forgotten her orders of giving Yara the Valyrian steel sword Dany ordered Missandei to make years ago in Meereen, when her daughter miraculously managed to create spell-forged steel from a normal chunk of metal.
But Missandei's departure from Dragonstone was more than a week ago. The Red Priestess had told her that her Princess was flying with Nissa Nissa about an hour before her vigil at the deck. But where was she going? And what was taking her so long?
Then Dany felt her heart pound faster on the possibilities of her daughter's delay. All of it fuelled the fear lurking within her. Was Nissa Nissa speared by a scorpion? Perhaps the crippled's Master of Ships ambushed her daughter like the way Euron did to her. Was her daughter hurt? Or worse, taken as a prisoner by her broken cousin?
Dany, in her worry and anger, gripped the wooden railings of the deck tighter. It had taken every ounce of control in her body to remain there and not run like a mad woman to Kinvara's cabin and ask her, maybe for a tenth time that day, about her daughter. Or to keep the fire within her contained and not burn everything she touched.
She would break him, that Brandon Stark, more than he already was if he so much as touch a single strand of her daughter's hair. She would turn his kingdom to a blazing inferno even before the Great Other can turn it to his dead land.
"You worry too much, Daenerys."
Daario said in a placating manner, distracting Dany from her disturbing thoughts. Distracted she was, but his words did nothing but only to aggravate her more.
Dany turned around and face him, an angry scowl marring her face.
"How can I not worry? She's my daughter," she said, almost seething.
How can he understand? The pain, the panic she was feeling just thinking about the dangers her child may have encountered? Her only human child. How can she not worry? How can she not blame herself if anything would happen to her? She, who allowed her own child to go to Dragonstone, an island only a few miles away from King's Landing? If her daughter was indeed taken or hurt, how can she live knowing it was her fault?
"You said so yourself," Daario said with a smirk, seemingly unperturbed by the danger in her voice. "She is your daughter. Have some faith, your Grace."
"That's why I'm worried," she replied almost a whisper.
Wasn't that the reason she was reluctant on letting her daughter go without her? That Missandei might do the same mistakes she did? And yes, that was probably the true reason why she was being plagued by nightmares. She feared not only for her daughter's life but also her heart. Her daughter was stubborn and proud, naive and gullible much like she was sixteen years ago.
Her words wiped the smirk off of Daario's face when he finally understood what she was trying to imply. A man with a knife was all it takes to kill Daenerys Stromborn, the Mother of Dragons. Whose to say her daughter wouldn't face the same fate in her travels? To meet a man that she would love only to be killed by him?
No, that was far more worse than being captured by the crippled.
"No," Daario said more serious this time but worry was there in his eyes.
Dany blinked, ridding away those unpalatable thoughts by focusing on Daario's words.
"Missandei had something you didn't have when you take Westeros."
Dany frowned, turning her body to face Daario fully. She watched as he walked nearer only to stop a few feet away from where she stands then leaned on the railing. His cocky smirk was back on his face.
"An overprotective mother."
Dany raised her brows at that. Then an unwilling smile spread on her face.
"I thought you were going to say, Daario Naharis."
The sellsword shrugged then chuckled, amused.
"Yes, I was about to say that but I figured it was a good day to be humble."
Dany only shook her head in amusement. She sighed as she looked back at the sea, savoring the sway of the ship now that she was a little bit calm. Yes, she would kill any man foolish enough to break her daughter's heart. She would tear him limb from limb then feed him to her children for supper.
As she began to relax, she started to feel a little bit guilty on her outburst earlier. She realized it was ill mannered of her to turn her temper towards Daario when all he did was to ease her worries. But in her defense, the simple thought of her daughter in captivity by her worst enemies made her mad with anger. And the possibilities of her daughter experiencing the same pain and humiliation she felt before when she was thrown away made her more than furious.
Still, she should control her temper more.
But one must understand, Missandei was the only thing that she had that warmed her heart. Truly, warmed it. Her child was above her dragons or her new empire, more than gold or any riches at all. Missandei was her miracle and the hope of her House. And if Dany can truly allow herself to be selfish, she would wrap her child in a blanket and tried her best to keep her away from the cruelty of the world.
But her daughter was a Targaryen; born to conquer, to fight, and she cannot do anything to stop her. She tried it once, to restrain the fire within her child, but she only made it worse. The result of it was Qarth.
A dragon is not a slave and Dany's daughter was more dragon than she ever was.
And Daario was correct, of course. She should not worry this much. This was not the first time her daughter ventured on a conquest after all.
But this was different. Missandei had never been this far from her before. Well, except for that one time when her daughter flew off on Drogon and did not come back for almost a full moon. Nothing can compare to the grief she felt at that time. But that doesn't mean it was easier this time.
Here she was, still staring at the horizon just like she did before, pining for her child to come home to her. Wishing she was unhurt or just simply...breathing.
Dany exhaled a shaky breath. She clasped her hands together to stop itself from shaking. She was worrying again she knows. But she cannot help it.
Where are you, Missandei?
She would have sighed more until she saw Daario at the peripheral of her vision. She turned her face slightly to see what the sellsword was up to this time.
Daario was still leaning placidly on the railings of the deck. She watched as he tossed a dried olive in the air and then catches it with his mouth.
Where did he got that?
Daario wiggled his eyebrows at her as he chew. Dany only looked at him dumbfounded, unsure of what to say or react. She was suddenly torn between being entertained and worrying about her child.
"You're a tough crowd, huh?" He said with his usual playful smirk.
Dany only shook her head at him and tried her best to look stern, but she was--despite herself--quite amused by the sellsword's antics to stop her from worrying.
"Daario, if you wanted to impress me by catching olives, you better stop."
"But it's working," Daario said, his smirk turning into a full grin.
Dany rolled her eyes and turned her back on him. She so envied his optimism and his carefree attitude. The same carelessnes he managed to pass on to Missandei despite the fact that he was not--in any way--related to her daughter.
She heard the sellsword sigh deeply then walked nearer only stopping when he was directly behind her.
"Your Grace," he started while putting his calloused hands on her bare arms. "Missandei has Grey Worm and the Unsullied, her Dragonspawns as well. And let's not forget she has two dragons with her. Missandei can also defend herself pretty well. I should know, I taught that little dragon how." Daario ended his speech with a hint of pride in his last sentence.
Yes, her daughter had her army, an armada and dragons. But didn't she have the same power when she came to Dragonstone almost seventeen years ago? And where did that got her?
"But..." Dany said weakly, uncertain of what to say next. She doesn't even know why she was arguing with him in the first place. Why she felt strongly that her daughter was hurt or in danger when she knew--by Kinvara's words and assurances--that she was not at all. That she was flying to her. Coming home to her.
"...she's reckles." She finally said.
Daario chuckled behind her and started rubbing his hands on her arms.
"Yes, she is. But she's not stupid. If she was, she should have died years ago when she freed the slaves or when she stopped the revolt in Qarth."
Daario's words did not calm Dany one bit unlike the way it did earlier. And his hands on her skin did not help as well. His proximity unsettles her.
She clutched Daario's hands to stop its movement but it must have send a different message to him.
"My Queen..." he whispered to her then leaned his face on her neck. Dany felt shivers run down her spine as he kissed it.
No.
"You know, my Queen," he whispered on her ear, his beard slightly grazing the shell of it. "Maybe you just need something that would ease you up. You are so tense. I know a trick or two to make you feel good."
Of course, Daario would suggest that. He always did everytime Missandei was not in the vicinity. She knew in her gut it was the reason why the man followed her in the deck in the first place despite her orders to be left alone.
"Daario..." Dany tried to shrug him off. An inexplicable but not entirely unfamiliar feeling ran all over her system making her skin rough with goosebumps.
She took his hands off of her arms and face the man.
They had not been together that way for so many years, but Dany admired his persistence nonetheless. She smiled sadly at him and said the word she always uttered whenever he tried his luck on her.
"No."
His sigh was more of a resigned one rather than disappointed. He was used to this. She had been rejecting him for so long now that Dany felt pity towards him.
For her part, she tried as well, to fall back to her former life with Daario. But it just doesn't felt right to her anymore. Something was wrong and she knew it was with her.
Ever since she woke up her...desires were off. She thought that maybe it was because she was with child. But when Missandei came out, she remained the same; unaffected by the desires that once conquered her body. Again, she made an excuse to herself that she was just too preoccupied with her beautiful, adorable, little dragon babe. And when Essos was turned almost into a battleground and men were coming for her to kill her and her babe, her desires became the least of her priorities.
Even when she finally established a modicum of peace in Essos, being Queen of Dragon's Bay once more and Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, her daughter finally safe as she can possibly be inside the Great Pyramid of Meereen; she still remained unmoved by Daario or any other suitors' appeal. At that moment she knew then that maybe something was taken from her when she came back.
She had confided with Kinvara about her feelings...or the lack of it, when they finally reunited in Meereen. The Red Priestess and some of her brothers and sisters were lucky they managed to escape Volantis when the Tigers decided they were a threat and a traitor for helping Daenerys the Breaker of Chains and for keeping her in their temple for almost a year. Dany was never popular in that city before she and her daughter liberated it. Anyhow, the Red Priestess told her that what was happening to her body was to be expected. That some of the people whom the Lord of Light brought back from the abyss had some of the essences of their character being stripped away from them.
In her case, it seemed to be her wanton desires. She no longer felt any carnality towards any man...or woman, for that matter.
The irony of it all never fails to put a bitter smile on Dany's lips. She could only imagine all the things she could have achieved if she did not felt any attraction towards the man who stabbed her. But then again, if that happened she would not have had her Missandei in the first place. And as vexing as her daughter can be sometimes, she was worth all the pain and all the loss she had.
Dany clasped Daario's huge, rough hands on her small ones and looked deeply into his blue eyes.
"Daario--"
"No," he said with a stubborn frown. His smugness was gone, replaced by a more serious expression.
That was their little game. She would reply 'no' to him whenever he would try to seduce her and he would throw the same word at her whenever she tried to dissuade him of his love. Dany tried to hide her sadness and guilt with an indulgent smile.
"You didn't even let me finish my words," she said to him patiently.
Dany let go of Daario's hands which he placed on her hips instead, seemingly unable to resist himself from touching her. She allowed him this closeness. She owed it to the man who remained loyal to her despite the dwarf's and everyone's criticism of him being just a sellsword.
After all, it was Daario who was there with her when she pushed Missandei out in to the world. It was Daario who held her hand and comforted her when she saw the deformity on her daughter's back, it was Daario who sneaked her daughter out of her bed in the middle of the night, risking his own neck by disobeying her just to teach her daughter how to use a sword or smuggling Missandei out just to play with the other children whenever her daughter felt lonely. It was Daario who saved her daughter's life twice from the cutthroats. It was Daario who was with her now and had never left her side no matter how hard she pushed him away.
"It's because I know what you're going to say, Daenerys." Daario said masking his sadness with a cocky smirk. "And the answer would always remain the same."
My sword is yours. My life is yours. My love is yours.
Not for the first time, Dany felt the heaviness of guilt weigh her down. She looked up at him, she knew she had said this about a thousand times, but she still chanced to say it. She knew he wouldn't listen to her anyway but she had to try once more.
"You need to find another, Daario," she said to him with deep conviction that she hoped she would be able to channel to him.
Daario only chuckled while shaking his head.
"Not one of your whores. And certainly not me," she continued stubbornly as he kept on shaking his head. "But a wife whom you will share your woes, who--"
"Daenerys, enough."
Dany shuts her mouth and pursed her lips. She was fighting the urge to reprimand him for commanding her, his Queen. But she was not the Dragon Queen at that moment. She was just Daenerys, his friend. So, she stopped talking and looked at him, really looked at him.
He had grown older. There were white strands on his beard and dark hair and deep wrinkles appeared in the corner of his eyes and forehead.
While she? She knew what she looked like when she gaze at a mirror. She looked the same as she was sixteen years ago. Unmoved, unchanged...unnatural. That was another thing this Lord of Light had taken from her: aging.
As Dany was looking up at Daario, she was reminded of an old knight she tried to push away as well, years and years ago.
He died. He died without having the love he wanted and deserves.
That won't happen again, Dany promised. Not if she can help it.
Dany watched as the man in front of her struggled to form words to throw at her.
Dany knew how hard it was for him. But Daario needed to be with a woman that would love him and Dany was not that. She could never deserve Daario neither the whores the sellsword kept to relieve himself. What he needed was love. And that was something she cannot give for that was what she lacks.
And if by some miracle her heart does heal and she had forgotten the pain of betrayal from the man who took everything from her, she still would never be what Daario wanted. Because her body--despite its warmth--was cold. And Daario was a man of passion, if she was the old Daenerys she would have been with him, marry him if she wanted to, but that was a lifetime ago. The Daenerys now cannot even bare to be touched by Daario, let alone be in bed with him.
Dany opened her mouth to press her case once more but stopped when she heard a distant flap of wings. Daario who was struggling to say something as well frowned and squinted at the sky. Dany looked up but unlike Daario the glare from the sun barely hindered her sight.
Then Drogon gave a mighty roar of welcome.
Dany smiled despite the emotion she was feeling as Drogon and Rhaeko flew higher. Then a commotion caught her attention.
There were shouts and loud bangings coming from below the decks. Then a screech of two dragons came from behind them, from Jorahndal and Barriston who managed to bust out of their cages and her cabin where they were put in. Again. She just hoped her sons did not set her whole room on fire. Or her bed. She had been causing too much pain to that undeserving furniture lately.
Dany sighed. She has yet to teach discipline to her younger children. She made a promise she would when they reach Dragonstone. She cannot let the two smaller dragons fly freely. Although they had indeed grown aggressively (almost outgrewing their cages) over the months, they were still far too vulnerable to be left alone, not until they were trained. For now, she can only watch as the two dragons flew off to meet their siblings up in the sky.
Dany watched as her four sons flew off to met their sisters.
Nissa Nissa's small figure was up above the clouds as always. She can see her small shadow behind a cloud, gliding fluidly and gracefully. That small and unusual daughter of hers was so high that a normal human wouldn't be able to see her with the sun's bright rays blinding them, but it was not her daughter's dragon that caused that sound of wings.
Dany watched as Missandei, who seemed to be flying down to them, decided to fly up with Jorahndal and Barriston instead. Dany grinned as she watched Missandei play with her brothers for awhile before letting her siblings fly off towards Nissa Nissa who decided to tease them by hiding behind a huge, dense cloud.
Dany's doubts and worries vanished at that moment as she saw her daughter flying lower and lower towards them. Her dragon armor glinting and her long, braided hair resembling a silver snake as it was tossed by the winds.
Dany's face broke into a proud smile.
She looked beside her and saw Daario grinning like a loon as well, delight were there on his eyes. It seems that Missandei's appearance made him forget the sad conversation they were just having. But it did the opposite to Dany. That smile on Daario's face made her remember another reason why she was practically drowning from guilt. It was Daario's treatment towards her daughter, it was as if Missandei was his own.
Dany and Daario watched as Missandei landed gracefully on the thin railing of the ship--exactly at the same spot where Daario was leaning earlier--and then perched there, looking like a shiny, huge, beautiful gargoyle; a beast her daughter embraced as to be her moniker.
To Daario and some of her men, the title was nothing but a form of endearment and respect to their Princess. But years ago, it was originally an insult the other children and some of Dany's enemies had made to hurt her daughter. But Missandei was always a warm and kind child, she did not hold grudges against the people who hurt her by words, she forgave them and adopted the name instead. And now, men trembled by the mere mention of it.
Missandei lifted her head and looked at them with her purple-grey eyes and then her daughter's lips lifted in a playful smirk.
Oh no.
"My, oh my, Mother. Looks like some of us are enjoying my absence." Missandei drawled teasingly at her with her head leaning slightly.
Dany felt her face warmed. She was expecting that the moment she saw that smirk.
Of all the things her daughter choose to say on their reunion, it was a quip to her.
Missandei's teasing made Dany noticed how close Daario and she were standing together and not to mention his hands were still on her hips. She scowled at her daughter in reply and pushed Daario away, who was chuckling happily at Missandei's joke and at Dany's discomfort.
Oh, how she had missed her daughter's annoying attitude as well, no matter how uncomfortable it made her feel sometimes, well, most of the time. And in this case, a little guilty. She almost forgot her daughter because of Daario's tempting. It was only for a few seconds but she felt guilty all the same.
Missandei grinned at her playfully, then jumped down with grace from her perch to land on the deck with them.
"Oh, Momma, don't look so shy. I know what you and Daario had been doing when the curtains and the door of your chamber were closed, anyway."
And there it was.
"That was--your wrong," Dany said, her face warming.
That was one time, she wanted to say.
Second time, if she was being completely honest with herself but she knew it was the second (and the last) her daughter was pertaining.
The first happened way back when Missandei was nothing but a small babe learning to walk. It was when Dany felt so troubled about her lack of desire and she had tried doing it with Daario only for her to stop him midway and made an excuse that she was feeling sick.
The second time, well, she drank a little too much wine and Daario wasn't in a good shape either. Next thing Dany knew, Daario was kissing her and he was ripping her dress off. She remembered how it made her feel...troubled and not in the way she wanted.
She does not know whether it was just Daario's bad luck or something else was at play at that moment, but the then seven year old Missandei suddenly burst in her chamber through the door they had forgotten to lock and her daughter saw what she and Daario had been doing. Fortunately for Missandei she came inside rather early or else she might have seen something a child was never supposed to see. Unfortunately for Dany, her daughter had a pretty sharp memory.
As Missandei grew older and more knowledgeable when it comes to lovemaking and its arts, her daughter started to pay close attention on all the men that come and goes in Dany's life. It doesn't matter if it was Daario, a suitor, or just an innocent bystander. If the man so much as dared to linger his stare at Dany for five seconds longer than necessary, Missandei would come swooping down (quite literally at one time) to hover around her, making that person, and Dany as well, rather uncomfortable.
When it comes to "matters of the heart" or so her daughter likes to call it, Missandei would act as if she was the parent and she, the mother, was the irresponsible child. And it did not help Dany too whenever her daughter teases her about what she had seen as a child just to irritate her.
Just like now.
Dany restrained the embarrassment she felt. She looked dangerously at Missandei who leaned on the railings still smirking playfully at her while twirling her long, thick braided hair. Then she saw her daughter's eyes lingered at Daario's giving him a knowing look and a raised brow. Dany managed to caught the man behind her wiggling his brows at her daughter--just like what he did earlier--smiling proudly and acting as if he and Dany...
Dany looked at him coldly, that made him stop right away.
She turned her attention back to her daughter who was now biting her lips, trying her best not to laugh.
Dany sighed looking at her mischievous and playful daughter and wondered where she got those traits. Surely Dany was not so boisterous and playful as her daughter was when she was her age? Then again, she was never a child. Not truly. With Viserys hovering around her almost all the time, reminding her not to wake the dragon, scaring her to submission because she was all that he had that actually listens to him, that followed his orders like a true subject...yes, she was never a child.
Dany can't help but wonder, if she had been given a chance to have a mother or a true family, would she be as carefree as her daughter now? To that she had no answer. She brushed the disturbing memories and thoughts away from her mind and focus to the now.
If I look back, I'm lost.
Her daughter seems to be unable to resist her mirth anymore. She let out a very beautiful peals of laughter that made Dany's heart melt making her forget everything other than her adorable daughter.
"Oh, Mother. You are always so edgy," Missandei said as she wiped the tears on the corners of her eyes from her laughter.
"And you are late. You've been long gone." Dany said trying to look and sound austere.
Missandei looked at her, her eyes sparkling from her laughter and then her smile turned wider, more genuine and free from all the teasing. That was the smile Missandei reserved to the people she truly cared for. How can Dany resist that smile? How can anyone? A small smile breaks Dany's mask as she opened her arms to her daughter.
She laughed as Missandei squealed like a little girl and jumped onto her embrace. Dany took a few step back from the force of her daughter's jump, but luckily, did not fall down. Dany hugged her child tightly. Wings, scales, armor and all. Dany closed her eyes and let her daughter's warmth (which manages to penetrate the Valyrian steel armor, like it was nothing but cloth) and scent flooded her. Clouds, fire and honeyed lemons rushed through her senses.
My baby girl.
How she had missed her little dragon. Her hand caressed the folded leathery wings on her daughter's back and laughed as her daughter's body trembled a little at that. She reveled on her daughter's innocent giggles as she tickled her right on the spot she likes; on the thin scales attaching her wings to her shoulder blades. Dany was careful not to touch the spikes running from her daughter's upper to lower back though, they were very pointy and hard.
Dany pulled away to look at her child, to see if something had changed in her or if she was hurt. Dany noticed her daughter almost reached her height now. That was not saying something since she was not the biggest of women, but still, she got taller by a small inch since they last seen each other. Other than the height, her daughter remained the same. Still the warm, jolly and annoying baby girl she loves dearly.
"I missed you, Momma," Missandei said, with her eyes a little wet probably from the tickling or the deep emotion she was feeling.
Dany swallowed, a lump on her throat restricts the action. How very uncharacteristic of her, but then again, Missandei was always the exceptions to her every emotion. Besides, her daughter had never called her that without a teasing tone. The last time she called her "momma" innocently was when she was but a child of five, before Drogon...it was best she forget that sad encounter.
Dany masked the great rush of emotion in her chest by faking a cough.
"I may have missed you as well, if only you made me wait for you a little longer."
Missandei scowled at her, displeased by her reply.
Daario stepped forward, catching their attention. Dany had almost forgotten he was still there.
"Don't believe your mother, Gargoyle. She was beside herself with worry," Daario said. "Actually, if Kinvara and I did not advice her against it, she would have slept here at the deck, waiting for you."
Dany's face warmed by Daario's confession. Yes, she planned to sleep on the deck to watch but it was only for the reason that she was too tired to climb up every now and then from her cabin below then up again to the deck to check if her daughter was back.
Dany watched Missandei lift her delicate brows at her, clearly amused by what Daario had carelessly shared. Dany can practically hear the endless jokes her daughter would make out of that information. So, before that even happened Dany distracts her daughter's attention.
"Shall we take a bath?"
Missandei who was about to open her mouth, stopped. Her eyes turned wide then and her mouth formed a small "o" of surprise. Then she grinned like a small child and nodded. They hadn't been in a bath together for years, obviously it would excite her daughter.
Dany almost sigh in relief. She may have evaded Missandei's humor...for now. She started walking towards the stairs leading to the cabin below but Missandei's loud voice stopped her.
"Oh, I almost forgot!" Missandei exclaimed and started rummaging on the pouch tied on her sword belt.
Daario edged closer, curious. Dany as well. Was it another gift her daughter had brought from her travels? A necklace or a gem perhaps? Obviously it was not an ancestral sword or a crown this time for both were too big to fit in the pouch.
"What do you got there?" Daario asked curiously probably thinking on the same length as Dany.
"Wait, I got it...right in here." Missandei said, pulling out trinkets after trinkets out of the small sack. A leaf, a shard of obsidian, a...small dead mouse.
Missandei must have seen the disgust on their faces for she babbled that there was a cat at Dragonstone she was trying to befriend.
Impatient, Missandei pulled the pouch out of her swordbelt and started to shake the thing, and more items started to spill from it. Gladly, there were no mice but there were almost a dozen small obsidian shards on the deck floor now.
Surely her daughter did not mean for her to have dragonglass as a gift?
"Oh, there it is." Her daughter exclaimed while pointing at the wooden floor. "I thought I lost it."
Dany saw it as well.
Dany and Missandei both reached at the same time, almost bumping their heads together. But Daario beats them to it. He kneeled down and get the scroll off the floor of the deck. Dany watched as confusion and then understanding flashed in his eyes while looking at that small piece of parchment.
Daario stood up slowly.
"My Queen..." Daario exclaimed then looked at her with worry in his eyes.
Dany offered her hand for him to give the scroll which he obliged eagerly as if the thing was rolled in something that disgusted him dearly. Which it probably has because of the mouse it shared space with.
Then Dany saw the seal. And all her humor left her.
"House Stark," she mumbled.
This was to be expected. The Broken King already knew that they had taken Dragonstone. But so soon? Kinvara assured her that the Crippled was still blind to her or her daughter's presence.
"Me and Yara shoot a raven down when we were sailing. It must have meant for you, Mother, for it seems to be flying towards east." Missandei said.
Dany looked at the small roll of parchment in her palms once more. Dany watched as the gray wax glint in the light, enhancing the wolf-head figure embossed on it.
What were the words written inside this time? She thought nervously.
The last time she saw this seal on a parchment it was on a letter belonging to a man...the last cutthroat who tried to kill her daughter. What was then written inside that piece of parchment was an order from the Queen in the North to kill Missandei, or what the red-headed ingrate described her as; "monstrosity born out of madness and incest, curse from the gods and a blight that should be eradicated". The order was plainly written in a beautiful script--probably written by the Northern Queen herself--that her daughter should be killed in whatever means necessary. The rewards of the "heroic deed" were lands and a title courtesy of the Queen's dear brother, the King of Westeros. That letter was Dany's evidence tying the assassins towards the Starks of Westeros.
Ironically, if Dany remembers it correctly, it was Arya Stark who caught that last assassin. Dany wished she was there to watch the confrontation of the siblings when Arya decided to come home. She would have traded all her riches just to sit on a chair next to them and enjoy the show; to see the wolves tear at each others throats.
Dany grasped the scroll tightly almost crumpling it and by doing so she had unintentionally broken the seal.
"I had that with me for weeks now, Mother. And I did not take a peek," Missandei announced proudly.
But Dany heeded her no mind, her attention were fully at the small scroll in her hands. The scrolls and it's words.
Xxxxxxxxx
How long has it been since that day? She asked herself.
Yes, sixteen years. And before that, almost eighteen years since she was called to Meereen by the traitorous dwarf and eunuch. She did not saw the Queen in flesh then, but she knew she would someday. The Lord of Light had kept on showing the Queen's face over and over in the flames since the red comet had scarred the skies. The Queen's beautiful face became familiar to her. More familiar than she was of her own face.
Kinvara finds it unusual at first. R'hllor seemed to have chosen her on a special mission that she doesn't know back then, for she seems to be the only priestess who can see Daenerys on the flames as frequent as her. Her face always appears first before every vision, as if the Lord of Light was telling her something. As if even back then He was telling her that the Queen was special. That she should serve her.
And then it happened. She saw in the flames the man named Snow--the hidden dragon--killing her; the Queen, the liberator, the one who awakened the slumbering magic of the world. She despaired then, wanting to go to Westeros to prevent what was to come, but another vision present itself to her at the last second.
It was darkness. The blackest she had ever seen in her entire existence. And in that pitch black, eyes as blue as ice stared back at her. Then a laughter so cold and dangerous rang in her ears. She had never felt so afraid at that moment. The foe of light, the god they cannot name, had won. Darkness and death would envelope the world once more.
And she was not ready. She, the First Priestess was a coward.
She did not left their Temple in Volantis even though she knew she must. Even though she knew the Queen needed her. She convinced herself that another priestess was there to guide the Queen. Melisandre was there to take her place.
For how many moons she did not look at the flames to see, for the fear of what her absence might cause the Queen. But then the news came to her from another priestess. The Queen had won. The Queen lives.
Only then did she allow herself to look again. But the flames did not yield any good news. It was the same vision before the darkness. It was Snow killing her Queen, only the vision was more vivid, the place, already set.
She felt guilty and disgusted that she was not beside the chosen champion's side when she needed her the most. She would not make the same mistake. She would save her this time, she promised.
She remembered her preparation to leave the Temple as if it was yesterday. Her ship, ready to sail to Westeros to save the Queen from her traitor lover's hands, until one of her sisters chanced to look at the flames once more. She saw Daenerys's fall. They were too late. Daenerys Targaryen was dead.
Then the Red God had given her hope. As she and her brothers and sisters were watching the flames inside the great Hall of their temple, they saw the black dragon carry the body of its mother.
Then R'hllor had shown her another vision, a vision only addressed to her. The other worshippers did not saw it. It was a secret He had only entrusted upon her.
She saw her, Daenerys in a pool of flaming blood. The Queen's own blood. Queen Daenerys was cradling something wrapped in a smoking blanket in her arms and when she lifted the cloth, bright light comes out of it. It blinded Kinvara but she heard clearly what it was the Queen was hugging in her arms. It was an infant.
All is not yet lost. She knew that Daenerys Targaryen would live.
And so, she waited...and waited, until the dragon from the vision gave her the Queen's cold body.
Her sisters helped clean the Queen's body, but it was her who pulled the knife out. She put the knife in a casket, she did not even bother to wipe the blood off of it, knowing the Queen would want to see the weapon for herself.
The only problem she faced was the most vital part of her entire existence. To give life to Daenerys.
She had never risen someone before. Much less two individuals at one time. She had lived for so many years and she had yet to steal a mother and child from death's grasps. But she had to try.
She made a promise then, that if she succeeded in breathing a new life to the Mother of Dragons and her child of light, she would happily take her rest. She had finally accomplished her purpose. Until Daenerys's body bursts into flames.
How beautiful it was, to see R'hllor's miracle with her own eyes. And how pathetic it was to change her mind at the last second. At that exact moment, she decided to stay. She wanted to be with the Queen for quite a while or for as long as she was needed.
She lifted her scarred hand to the candle flames. Inspecting the markings of it. This was her Queen's mark.
Three knocks disturbed her reminiscing. It was the Princess, she knew. A smile suddenly appeared in her face like it always does whenever the Princess was involved.
The Light of the World.
She pulled her hand back to the sleeves of her robes and walked towards the door. She opened it to see Princess Missandei fidgeting in front of her, wearing her purple satin robe to cover her nakedness (the Princess was accustomed to sleep unhindered by clothes), her long, curly, thick hair were unrestrained by her usual braids and was running unruly upon her folded wings behind her back. Princess Missandei's robe was exposed by a slit on the back to free her dragon wings and spikes, Kinvara and her other sisters made it that way.
"Kinvara, help me!" The Princess said worriedly her hands wringing together.
Kinvara smiled and opened the door widely for the Princess to enter.
"I would be happy to oblige, my Princess."
Kinvara closed the door softly when the Princess entered. She then sat back to her stool in front of her desk while the Princess slumped carelessly on her bed. Kinvara just looked at the child in front of her, waiting for her to voice out her worries eventhough she knew already what it was that bothered her Princess.
As she stares, she cannot shake the awe she felt just looking at her Queen's child. The Princess had the Queen's face. They look so much alike that it bothers her a bit. How can she be so sure it was Daenerys the Lord of Light was showing to her all those years in the flames and not the Princess?
Princess Missandei just stared at Kinvara in return with her big round eyes. The image distracted Kinvara from her thoughts. The Princess kept making herself as adorable as possible to make Kinvara cooperate in whatever ploy it was she wished to make her a part of.
Kinvara sighed. Like always, she curbed to her Princess's wishes, no matter how petty it was.
"What is it, Princess?" she asked patiently.
Princess Missandei scratched the back of her neck like she always does when she was confused, worried or disturbed. And maybe she was feeling all of that at the same time.
"Mother seems to be angry at me," the Princess said quietly, as if she cannot believe that her mother would ever be angry at her.
Kinvara sighed once more and edged her stool closer to clasped the warm-almost scalding hot-hands of the Princess she so loved.
"What came to you to do such...reckless thing?"
Kinvara saw the "honorable" actions of the Princess in the flames. It was not part of the Queen's plans but Princess Missandei was stubborn and still...a child. A child who wanted to impress her mother.
She saw how the Princess ordered her soldiers to board the cleaned bodies of their fallen enemies on their ships. And then sailed to King's Landing with their black sails, careful to follow the route where there were few boats and few city watchers to see their advance.
The Princess flew ahead too, to make sure her plan would be executed perfectly. Kinvara watched as Princess Missandei disable a city guard making his rounds near the bay the ships would dock. Princess Missandei burned the body with her own hands to hide it. Turned it all to ashes; armor, bones and all.
The Princess then remained at King's Landing till morning, pretending to be a homeless beggar, blending in with the crowds with a certain magic she had shown the Princess but never actually thought her how to use.
Kinvara must commend the Princess, glamor was very hard to execute, even her, a priestess of R'hllor had some qualms using it. But the Princess seems to face no hardship using it for hours. And without a ruby or a moonstone on her possession.
I was right. Magic was stronger in the Princess.
The Princess's reply to her earlier missive was just a shrug. Kinvara raised her eyebrows at the Princess telling her by the simple gesture that she wouldn't have her help if she wasn't forthcoming.
"I don't know. I just...felt it was fun." Princess Missandei averted her eyes and pulled her hands from Kinvara's and then crossed her arms in defense.
"Fun," Kinvara repeated the word, testing it.
When the Princess set those banners aflame with a flick of her fingers, Kinvara had laughed with her, more in pride rather than enjoyment. The look in that false King's face was more than satisfying. But she cannot help but worry, she knew what that Raven would think now, how threatened he would be and what the Queen would say if she had found out that the Princess risked her own life just to have fun.
But what an entertaining show. The Lord of Light seemed to be agreeing with her as well, for the flames did not flicker away from the Princess in that entire moment. But then again, the Lord of Light seems to have a very strong liking towards the Princess even before she was born.
Since her brothers and sisters had found out that the Queen was with child, they tried to look at the flames for the child that would be born from the Queen. The visions R'hllor gave them in the past were always vague but when it comes to the Princess or the Queen, it was always clear. Clear as water and bright as a sun. And in the Princess's case, too bright that it almost hurts their eyes.
But the flames did not show Kinvara what the true intentions of the Princess was. Fun? No, it was more than that. Her Princess often acted like a child but she was not foolish. There must be a deeper purpose on what the Princess did and that was evident on the way she averted her eyes.
Unless...she was right on her assumptions that the Princess did that for the sake of impressing the Queen.
Kinvara straightened from her seat and smiled knowingly at the Princess. Right or not she existed to serve both the mother and the child. No matter how stubborn the mother was and how naive the daughter gets.
"Keep your reasons with you if you don't desire to share them with me, my Princess. But I don't know what I should do to help you. Your mother was a woman of her own mind."
That snapped the Princess's attention back to her. It was her time now to grasp Kinvara's hands in supplication.
"Please, Kinvara, please! Just talk to her."
How can she deny the Princess when she gave her that look?
Kinvara smiled and touched the cheek of the Princess before nodding. That made the girl smiled wider.
"Alright! I leave it to you then!"
The Princess stood abruptly then walked towards the door and then opened it. It did not took ten seconds and the Princess was already out.
"May the Lord of Light, light your way, Kinvara." The Princess said teasingly, her head poking on the small awning of the door before she fully closed it.
Kinvara cannot help but shake her head in both amusement and disappointment.
The Queen and the Princess, despite what R'hllor had given them, they still treated the true God as something of greater power that must be respected but not to be worshipped; to be asked for a favor but not be feared.
Kinvara stood up and opened the door of her cabin. The Princess was gone. She must have returned back to her own cabin, finally able to sleep sweetly when she had passed her burden to her Kinvara.
She walked down the hall leading towards the deck. As she walked she passed by the cabin of the Queen, but she knew she was not there. The door of the Queen's cabin were almost hanging on its hinges earlier in the day when the two smaller dragons break free off of their cages. Good thing one former slave that sailed with them specializes on building, with his help the Queen's door was fixed in no time.
The two dragons are getting bigger and feistier. And soon, the ten dragons of her Queen would be twelve. The vision of her Princess when she was just a child learning to see in the flames would happen. Valyria would live once more and no dark god or entities wanting to be one could ever prevent that.
...
Her Queen was standing on the deck once more. Leaning on the railings like she often do since they begun their journey towards Dragonstone.
The Queen must have been despairing at her daughter's actions.
Kinvara had tried to keep Princess Missandei's recklessness a secret when she saw it in the flames so as not to increase the burden of her Queen, but now she felt that she had made a mistake. She might have angered her. Or worse, broke her trust.
Kinvara breathed deeply. Her Princess relied on her and her Queen as well. It was part of her responsibility to not only give advice, but solace as well.
"Kinvara," Queen Daenerys called her. The Queen must have noticed her presence.
She walked closer and as she did she cannot help herself but marvel at the woman in front of her. If she was a stranger, she could mistake the Queen as the Princess's older sister.
Daenerys had barely aged. No, she did not aged at all. The Lord of Light had blessed the Queen with youth and beauty, which of course made the Queen convinced she was cursed.
Queen Daenerys was afraid, she knew. She feared that her child and grandchildren would outgrew her. Yes, that fact was daunting indeed. To see all your loved ones turned to ashes while you remained unmoved.
But it was a gift the Lord of Light bestowed upon his most faithful worshippers. How many women would kill to have what was given to the Queen? How many of his priestesses marvelled at their youth and continued to worship him because of it? But Queen Daenerys never worshipped the Lord of Light. She was never a priestess. In that, Kinvara and the Queen were in absolute agreement. Although she tried to make the Queen one of them, pushing her to see visions in the flames or talk to the Lord, but the Queen remained stubborn. Finally, Kinvara had to give up.
The Queen was different anyway. She and Princess Missandei was an anomaly that none of them had ever encountered before. The Red Priestesses' magic comes from the outside, from an object blessed by R'hllor. While the Queen? His magic runs within her very veins, on every vessel in her body. And seeing the Queen standing in front of her barely wearing any clothing to cover herself from the cold ocean breeze assured her.
Fire is truly in her blood.
The summer dress the Queen was wearing was so thin that in the flicker of the fire on the brazier near her, her lithe body can be seen right through the thin cloth. And her skin, how it glows in the light.
Same as the Princess.
"My Queen," she said, suppressing the reverence in her voice knowing Daenerys does not like to be venerated.
"How long till Dragonstone?" Queen Daenerys voice was emotionless, as if she was in a daze. That made Kinvara worry. The Princess was here, her Queen was supposed to be happy like she always was whenever Princess Missandei was with them. No matter how reckless the Princess was on her exploits, the Queen was always quick to forgive as long as Princess Missandei was with her. No wonder the Princess was worried.
"Two more weeks, my Queen." She replied rather slowly, looking at the Queen's beautiful, emotionless face. Gauging her emotions.
Queen Daenerys only nodded at her distractedly. Something was amiss. She wanted to ask but she doesn't want to be prying. Was it because the Princess's reckless venture?
No, this was something else. In her years of service to the Queen she had grown accustomed to her moods. She knew when she was barely restraining her anger or when she was simply sad about something she did or thought about. Kinvara was assured the Queen was feeling both.
Kinvara turned her attention once more to the Queen who sighed deeply with her eyes closed as if in pain. As if she was struggling over something in her mind. A very hard choice perhaps? Does it involve the Princess? She cannot resist it anymore, she needed to ask.
"My Queen--"
"Read," her Queen said, cutting her question off. Queen Daenerys lifted her hands and offered her a piece of parchment she did not notice she was clutching.
Kinvara reached for the small parchment. Parchments. There were two of them, rolled into one. Kinvara edged closer to the fire and looked at the seal. Direwolf's head. Of course this would trouble the Queen.
She must look at the flames to see what this Raven was planning, she must have missed something in her constant watch over the Princess.
She read the first scroll.
'Greetings, Queen Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen,
King Bran of House Stark, First of His Name, King of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men, Lord of the Six Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm, would like to inform you that you must ride with haste to King's Landing to attend the Great Council that would begin two moons from now. A great storm was stirring once more at the Land of Always Winter. Your presence would be expected.
Ps.
You are allowed to be accompanied by your men not exceeding of twenty.'
Kinvara wrinkled her nose in disgust by the words this false king used. He dared summon her Queen like a common lady of his realm? Must ride in haste? He presumed to order the Queen of Queens? The miracle of the one true god?
"My Queen, you cannot presume to entertain this..." her words caught up in her mouth in anger.
This is preposterous.
If Queen Daenerys wanted to help Westeros, she would and not by the order of a crippled, broken usurper.
"Read the other," her Queen said before turning her back and started walking away. "And loudly."
Kinvara followed the retreating back of her Queen with a look, she wanted so much to follow her and so she did. She rushed after her Queen all the while reading aloud the second scroll by the light of the moon.
Kinvara paled by what she read. A test for her Queen.
Kinvara wanted to speak, to offer advice or maybe to calm her Queen but all the words were caught up in her throat when they passed a hanging torch and she saw the face of Daenerys Stormborn the Dragon Queen.
Her dark purple eyes were cold, her lips drawn back in a frightening grimace. Then her Queen's hands started to burn in angry flashes of red. How long has it been since she last saw her Queen like this? She had not seen her Queen's flames when the Broken King took Dragonstone or even when some foreign envoys disrespected her. Only when Princess Missandei was in danger would her Queen burn bright.
Queen Daenerys was angry. No, furious. She would destroy, Kinvara can feel and see it. And she had never seen anything so beautiful.
Note:
Ahh, to explain Missandei's magic it was used in the book by Melisandre when she hid Mance as Rattleshirt. A similar illusion was used as well by the Faceless Men in the House of Black and White. Long story. The kindly man explained the magic to Arya as artifice, a different brand of magic from glamor that would enable the user to change his or her appearance without the use of the faces from their temple or any moonstone or ruby. It was faulty though and can be seen if one had very keen eyes.
But I believe glamor was stronger for Melisandre had shown this magic to Jon Snow and she admitted to herself it was very hard to execute.
When Mance/Rattleshirt was burned at the stake in front of hundreds of men, not even one of them noticed the deception. Surely at least one of them must have keen eyes to see they were burning the wrong man? But no one reacted so, yah. I'll let you decide. But Missandei was not using a ruby, is she using artifice? You'll now in the next chapters.
So sad the show did not include the Mance/Rattleshirt swap and just opted with Melisandre being an old woman. But then again, CGI and its costs.
What dyou think though? Do you think the show had subtly implied that Melisandre was just using glamor all the time and her youth was but an illusion? That the reason why she said it was hard to do was because she might be doing the magic not only to hide Mance but to hide her age as well? Or was her youth in the books something else?
Oh, before I forgot.
As I've written above, Dany and Missandei are a different kind of...magical entities than the Red Priestesses. Fire is in their blood, like for real this time. They were more like fire mages than a priestess. But both of them are special to the Red God in some way that's why they both have greater perks than your average street magician (e.g. the street performers Dany saw in Qarth when she and Jorah explored the city).
But Missandei was more inclined to fire magic than Dany, simply because she was young and willing to explore. Dany, less so. As Kinvara stated, Dany was afraid of the gifts she was given. You'll now more in the next chapters to come.
So, yah. Jon chapter next then Missandei. Both their chapters would evolve around their reactions over Bran's letter.