Chapter 4; Queen in the South;
Characters of the Chapter:
Daenerys Targaryen The Mother of Dragons, the Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, the Unburnt, the Breaker of Chains, Queen of the of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men of the South, Queen of the South Kingdom of the Twin kingdoms and Protector of the Realm
Tyrion Lannister Hand of the Queen to Queen Daenerys
In King's Landing the Queen and her Hand were in the middle of their morning routine of going through the messages and letters that had arrived the previous night, discussing matters therein presented, so they might be ready for the next small council meeting.
"And the next one is from… ah, Lady Sansa, a reply to our invitation to the Coronation Day celebration. She thanks us for the invitation, but tells us that she is already acting on plans to spend those celebrations in Winterfell with her cousin." Tyrion said.
"Hmm… eight years in a row." Daenerys mused, sipping at her wine. "How many more years do you think it will be before she actually accepts our invitation?"
"Hard to say. Perhaps never. The last time she was in this city she lost almost everything and had to endure many years of horror as consequence. In her mind King's Landing is cursed beyond redemption, so I believe." Tyrion replied.
Daenerys frowned. "The city has changed a great deal since she was last here. All her tormentors are long gone, and I certainly intend her no harm."
"I'm certain she would agree wholeheartedly with you on a rational level. But I've found that fears like this are not always rational and cannot simply be explained away."
"Perhaps. Still, a shame." The Queen said. "I suppose this means that Jon will be staying at Winterfell as well?"
"Very likely yes." Tyrion said, which caused the Queen to sigh with disappointment. "I assume that means you wish it would be otherwise?" Tyrion said, giving a knowing smile.
"Of course I wish that. It has been far too long since we saw each other last, months at least. I miss him, and my son." Daenerys replied. "Maybe I should visit Winterfell instead." she offered after a moment of consideration.
"I'm not certain that you would have the time. Coronation day celebrations mean that there will be official proceedings that require your presence, and preparations to oversee before that." Tyrion said.
"It's not like I would be gone for long. Dragons fly fast. I could be back here in less than a week's time." Daenerys replied.
"Well, maybe that way then." Tyrion mused. "Still, I don't think you should just appear over there unannounced. To host a visit from the Queen in a manner appropriate to her station requires preparation, and preparations, once again, take time. Jon might be willing to forgive you for the breach in protocol, but the castle staff might be a different story entirely. It would reflect very poorly on them if they offered less than their best. Send a raven a few weeks before your arrival at least."
"That seems fair. A raven it is." The Queen agreed. "So, what does the next letter say?" she then asked.
"That would be from Ambassador Derek, requesting an audience to renegotiate some of the tax levels we levy on Kirkwall goods."
"What, again?" Daenerys asked, mildly astonished. "What is it now, three times in the space of a few months?"
"He is persistent, but to be fair he is just doing his job. No doubt our taxation is a strain to many merchants and he is doing his best to ease matters for his own people." Tyrion replied.
"True enough, and I suppose that I should remember that he has been very supportive of us in other ways, that earns him a few points." The Queen said. "It just feels like half the country is up for sale these days, all just to make sure the crowns finances don't collapse because of debts others created for us. At this rate we'll find ourselves auctioning the Iron throne." she added, to which they both laughed.
"Very well, point him at Manfrey. He'll know where we can compromise and where we can't." she then ordered.
"Our master of coin should be able to handle him." Tyrion said, approving.
"I'm surprised to hear you say that. I thought you objected to his appointment?" Daenerys said, raising an eyebrow.
"I did, when I still didn't know him, or his merits for the job. Forgive me for thinking it but I thought you were playing favorites with your choice, particularly since you chose him over all of my candidates. But like with many other things, I was wrong about that. He takes his job seriously, and he has a really good head for numbers." Tyrion said.
"Well I thought he might have. And I thought it wise to keep Dorne happy. Appointing their prince to the council seemed like the best way to do that." Daenerys said. "Let's move on to the next one."
"The next one is from the High Septon, demanding that something be done to defend the Faith against the Chantry presence in Westeros, on the grounds that the Faith of the Seven is still the official faith of the monarchy." Tyrion read from the next letter.
"Presumptuous of him to assume that is still the case. I have not made any official statement that would suggest that." Daenerys commented. "Does he not understand how dangerous it might be to provoke the Chantry?" She then asked. "One has only to look at their history books to realize the risk. The current Divine might not be too keen to declare an Exalted March, but we can't be sure that will always be the case. Even if Victoria remains as merciful as her reputation, one day there will be a new Divine, and who's to say what thoughts she might think?"
"Men like the High Septon tend to think with their faith rather than with their reason. If we asked him, he would likely say that the strength of the Chantry does not matter so long as the Faith in the Seven remains strong." Tyrion commented dryly. "Which reminds me, there is also a letter from the local Chantry officials, calling us to shield them from the *fanatics of the High Septon*. Ironically they seem to use much the same reasoning as he as the basis of demanding our aid."
Daenerys pinched the bridge of her nose, exasperated that she was once again made to balance between these two religious groups, when she herself had no interest in gods. As if she didn't have enough to deal with…
"Send them both the same reply: The Crown's primary interest is the maintenance of peace. To that end, any disruption of peace will be dealt with appropriately, regardless of who the instigator might be. Beyond that, the Crown expresses no interest in deciding questions of faith, nor in expressing a preference in such matters, or in taking action to dictate such choices to the citizens of the realm." She told her Hand.
"A strong response, your Grace, though one that is also likely to cause some bristling." Tyrion replied.
"Let it. Perhaps that way they will realize that I'm not taking sides in this nonsense." the Queen responded. "You would think that would have been clear enough from the start, considering I have gone through the trouble of being crowned and married along the rites of the old gods, the new gods and even the Maker when he became relevant to this kingdom.
"Perhaps that just made all three faiths assume that you were on their side rather than the others." Tyrion quipped.
"So it is increasingly starting to seem." Daenerys said, sighing. "Does that mean that all that effort was for nothing?"
"Hardly. Despite everything, it had the advantage of reinforcing the legitimacy of your rule to the largest possible number of people, regardless of their beliefs." Tyrion said in reply.
"A silver lining on every raincloud I suppose." The Queen said. "Still, of all our issues, this is one of the most annoying. One can only hope that we can keep this rivalry from escalating to full scale war, because I don't think we can afford such on any level. But enough about them, I haven't the patience to discuss them further today. Next letter."
"The next one is rather strange." Tyrion said, taking the letter to his hands. "It's from one… Frederick of Serault. He introduces himself as a draconologist from the University of Orlais. He writes here that he is working on a book that argues that the Thedosian dragon and the dragons of Valyria are two distinct species with a common ancestor species. He states here that would like access to your dragon for research purposes.
"Oh… and… what would be involved in this research?" Daenerys asked, unsure what to make of this request.
"He does not specify." Tyrion replied. "The tone of his letter implies enthusiasm that somehow comes across as sounding unintentionally sinister."
"How does one manage *unintentionally sinister* in a letter?"
"I couldn't say exactly how, there is nothing specific I could point to, but it's there."
"Let's write to him in reply, ask for clarification. I won't tolerate anything invasive or dangerous near Drogon." The Queen decided. "Talk to the Orlesian ambassador as well. I want to know this man's credentials before I agree to anything."
"I hope he receives me." Tyrion said with a sigh.
"Why wouldn't he? I thought you two were friends." Daenerys asked.
"We are, as far as I know." Tyrion confirmed. "But of late he has been distant. I do hope I haven't done something to offend him. It would be a shame to lose someone like that. The man has a clever mind and a witty tongue, and knows his wines, cheeses and chocolates better than just about anyone I know. And once when I happened to mention that I wanted to own my own vineyard one day, he went and bought one for me for my next name day, and hired a vintner to help me design the wine to be produced according to my tastes."
"But now you say that something has changed?" Daenerys said thoughtfully, wondering at the meaning.
"It might be nothing in the end, some personal issue of his that's distracting him. Or maybe I'm just imagining things." Tyrion said uncertainly.
"And maybe not." Daenerys replied. "As it happens this is the second odd behavior on behalf of Orlesians lately. Last evening Manfrey told me that there seems to be a marked drop in the number of ships coming to our ports. He only noticed this recently, because it's starting to feature in his income calculations. He looked into it and apparently all traffic through the Corridor to here just stopped about three weeks ago. Ships are still allowed to go to Thedas but nothing is coming back, so the problem must be on the far side of the Corridor."
"You think there is a connection between that and the ambassador?" Tyrion asked.
"Maybe. Something strange is definitely going on, and I don't think I like it."
"If only we could have some of Varys's little birds in Orlais." Tyrion said wistfully. "That way we might have a better understanding of what is going on."
"The last time we tried that none of the ones we sent survived the attempt, and then Orlesian agents sent us a message threatening to wipe out half the children in Flea Bottom at random if we ever tried again. Or at least we think it was Orlesian agents, we cannot prove that it was. Regardless, that's a lesson I at least have learned abundantly well. I refuse to have that kind of blood on my hands a second time."
"If we were to be more careful, we might not be caught this time. The information we get might be worth the risk…"
"No." Daenerys refused. "I have no doubts that they meant the threat they made, and nothing is worth a price like that. And if we defy them again, they may decide that their threat just wasn't sufficient motivation. Then they might decide to target the children of nobility to make their message clearer, and that might include my son. He is well protected, but hardly invulnerable. I cannot gamble with his life. No mother could."
"I understand." Tyrion said, nodding gravely.
"Speaking of weird incidents, do you have an update on the Inquisition activities?" The Queen asked next.
"Their overt work continues as before, occupying the castles at the Wall, recruiting volunteers to work for them and maintaining a diplomatic presence. There have also been more odd incidents in various cities where they might be involved, though as before there is no hard evidence, and we still have no idea what is truly going on."
"What about the incident here in King's Landing?" Daenerys asked.
"Nothing much to say about that I'm afraid. We do know that some kind of big clandestine operation took place, one that appears to have left a small group of seemingly unconnected people dead, but nothing more than that. We can't even say for certain that the Inquisition had a hand in this. The only reason I think they might have been involved in this at all is because they exchanged information with us not long before the incident happened."
"What did the Inquisition want in that exchange? What did you give them?" Daenerys asked.
"Some Tevinter messages I had managed to acquire. How they knew I had them I've no idea, but since I couldn't decode them, I gave them to the Inquisition in exchange for them doing so for me."
"You couldn't decode them?" The Queen asked.
"It's very hard to do without the appropriate cipher available." Tyrion replied. "And even on the off chance we manage to do so, they change the codes every month, sometimes more often, meaning that our ability to decode their messages never lasts."
"I see. Did you learn anything from these Tevinter messages once they were decoded?" Daenerys queried.
"Sadly no. It seems that the Imperials are being very careful, and added a second layer of code. They are using made up terms for everything. Without understanding the meaning of the terms, their writings are almost unintelligible." Tyrion responded.
"Could we use this whole mess to press the Inquisition for answers? Just to get a better idea what in the hells they are doing here?" She asked next.
Tyrion considered. "I don't think so. As I explained, there is no hard evidence that proves the Inquisitions involvement. If they choose to deny everything we wouldn't actually have anything to press them with. Besides doing so might not be in our interests. Given that we were not affected, this whole thing might have been to our benefit." He said finally.
"Be that as it may, I don't appreciate the Inquisition slinking around this way. Favors given in the shadows tend to wilt when viewed in the light."
"…But if the Inquistion sought messages of the Imperium, could it mean that the Tevinters were one of the actors in this mess?" Daenerys asked next, after a moment of contemplation.
"If indeed these events are related, then yes." Tyrion said.
"And this would mean that the Imperium has spies inside the capital itself." Daenerys continued.
"Has or had as the case might be." Tyrion confirmed.
"All this right under our noses and us completely unaware of the situation until the inquisition involved themselves?" The Queen asked, to which Tyrion simply nodded.
"It's an outrage." Daenerys said, shaking her head angrily. "This cannot stand. We can't allow foreign powers to operate within our borders with this level of impunity. If these are the kind of things we are catching them doing, what might we be missing? For all we know these foreigners have a blade to our throat and can shut us down with a single order. I won't have it. Discovering how to match them on this field should be our first priority, else we might all be in danger."
"It will be done, your Grace." Tyrion replied. "The first step is likely to be establishing organizations similar as what the Thedosian nations have. To do so we will need professionals who can show us how to do such a thing in a practical manner. Thedosians themselves are likely a good option. I'll look into finding reliable ones to hire to our service. But what of Jon and the North Kingdom? This is likely as much their problem as ours."
"All too true, and since the northmen don't really play these kind of shadow games, Jon might not even recognize this as a real threat." Daenerys replied. "I'll have to talk to him about this when I see him next, try to make him understand. And if not him, then perhaps Sansa can be convinced, being more experienced in such matters."
"Sansa should be able to understand the problem and treat it with sufficient seriousness. You might even want to talk to her first, since she is now conveniently in the same place as Jon." Tyrion said approvingly.
"I might." The Queen said. "Are there more letters, or are we done?" She then asked.
"That was the last one that requires immediate attention I believe. The rest are day-to-day reports and pleasantries, I can handle those. There's also a report from Yara Greyjoy on her activities against the Thedosian pirates, one that ultimately boils down to *continuing action, but no significant developments*."
"Ah yes, before I forget, there's one more in fact, arrived less than an hour ago." Tyrion said then, producing a raven scroll from his pocket. "It's addressed directly to you, so I haven't had the opportunity to read it, but judging from the seal it's from the Night's Watch."
"Why in the world is the Night's Watch writing us? The Wall is on Jon's half of the kingdoms. It's his job primarily to solve issues that might arise there." The Queen asked, perplexed.
"Asking after new recruits if I had to guess, though I can't figure out what for. The White Walkers are gone and the Wildlings are too few to be a threat even if someone managed to unite them and convince them to attack us. And with their alliance with the Inquisition providing everything for them, I'm surprised they need us at all." Tyrion answered.
"Yes, it does seem a little redundant now that…." Daenerys began to say before stopping mid-sentence, staring at the opened raven scroll with a shocked expression on her face. She blinked, and read the lines of text again, reluctant to believe the words. Her eyes never moving from the piece of parchment, she tried to lower the wineglass in her hand to the table, only to miss the table's edge, the wineglass shattering on the ground. So fixated she was on the raven scroll that she didn't even notice."
"What is it? What's wrong?" Tyrion asked, alarmed.
"Call the small council to convene. Twenty minutes." The Queen said as her answer, her voice full of determination. "Make sure they read that scroll beforehand. Afterwards I want to speak with the Kirkwall ambassador, but not about taxes. That talk will have to wait. And summon the Orlesian ambassador before the court this evening, after all these other talks. The whole court."
As soon as she had given her commands she stormed off, walking to the door with brisk steps.
"Your Grace!" Tyrion called to her just as she raised a hand to the door handle. "What has happened?"
Daenerys tried to find the right words to explain. "Read the scroll. I need to think." She finally said, and left without another word. Tyrion reached over the table, taking the scroll from where it lay discarded, wondering what could have caused the Queen to react this way. He read the words on the scroll, the words that told of the attack against Eastwatch, how Orlesian warships had bombarded the castle with fire and death, how they had rowed boats into the port and set fire to the ships that lay at anchor there. His mind quickly connected the dots: The attack, the sudden stop in traffic from the Corridor, the ambassador avoiding him. It had to be connected, and he would bet good money it was just the beginning. He leaned back on his chair and exhaled as the information sunk in.
"Well… shit." He said aloud to the empty room.