"Your grace, allow me to present to you the captains of the Second Sons."
Let it be known that Ser Jorah Mormont was a fast worker. Not only had he found out who were friends of the Yunkai empire, he had brought the captains to her door step about an hour before sunset. So now Ranta had been seated back in her tent without her children but still had Missandei, Grey Worm, Jorah and Barristan by her side as three gruff men stood before her.
"Mero Bravos, Prendahl na Ghezn and ummm" Ser Barristan trailed off as he stared at the youngest of the trio, drawing a blank on his name. "Daario Naharis" the long, light brow haired man grinned charmingly with a small bow before the elder Selmy moved off to the side now that introductions were done. The man in the middle - Mero Bravos according to Ser Barristan, stepped forwards.
"You're the sister of the Dothraki?" he questioned curiously, earning a raised chin of acknowledgement from Ranta. "I swear I fucked you once in a pleasure house in-" "Mind your tongue." Jorah cut the man off with a low growl, much to Mero's amusement. "Why? I didn't mind hers." the Braavosi claimed as he walked up the steps leading to Ranta, Jorah matching each step he took with his own, only being held back by Ranta's calming hand that assured him that she was fine with the captain approaching her.
" She licked my ass like she was born to do." Mero plopped down on the couch, throwing an arm over the side of it and flicking his tongue out in rapid succession with a smug look upon his face. "Sweet heart I can assure you that this is the first time you and I have ever met. You would remember if we ever went to bed together." Ranta returned unfazed by his vulgar words and actions. In all honesty she found them amusing.
Mero chuckled at her response and gestured towards Missandei as his brothers in arms sat down as well - Daario sitting on the stairs at his feet and Prendahl on a bench that had been brought in for him. "You, slave girl, bring wine." he ordered flippantly. "We have no slaves here." Ranta corrected as her friend did as commanded. Mero rolled his eyes, "You all will be slaves after the battle unless I save you." he looked at her pointedly before giving her an obvious once over.
"Take your clothes off and come sit on ol' Mero's lap, and I may just give you my Second Sons." he purred. Ranta smirked as she turned her body and brought her legs up to rest on the couch between them, "Give me your Second Sons and you may end up keeping your cock after all this." Ranta returned, gaining a laugh from her couch companion that had been sneaking his hand under her dress and rubbing it up and down her bare skin much to the ire or Jorah standing only a foot away.
"How many men fight for the Second Sons, Ser Barristan?" Ranta asked unfazed by his bold move. "Under two thousand, your grace." the elder answered also unamused by the sight before him. "And how many men do we have?" Ranta added on innocently. "Twelve thousand Unsullied, your grace, and seven hundred Dothraki screamers." he reported.
"Mmm, that was right. Hard to keep track of now a days, a plight that I'm sure you haven't had to worry about during your time as captain I assume." the woman cooed to the Titan's bastard who's hand was beginning to travel further up her leg. "I hope the old man can fight better than he can lie." Daario suddenly spoke as Missandei brought him a drink, gaining Ranta's attention.
"You have eight thousand Unsullied, the four thousand marching around in armor pretending to be something they are not, aren't fully trained. And you probably only have around four hundred Dothraki screamers that are capable of fighting, you have to exclude the women in the count." he finished, flashing a sly smile when his response was met with an even stare and silence.
"You're very young to be a captain." Ranta said pointedly. "He's not a captain." Prendahl corrected, " He's a lieutenant." Ranta acknowledged this with a small nod before turning back to Daario, "Even if your petty technicalities are right, you have to admit that the odds of someone winning this fight are in my favor." she said knowingly.
"The Second Sons have faced worse odds and won." Mero waved a hand, relaxed with the situation at hand. "The Second Sons have faced worse swords and run." Jorah cracked with a sly smile of his own. Ranta chuckled openly at the Mormont's joke before turning to the scarred man next to her, "Or you can cut your loses and fight for me." she offered.
Mero smirked at the offer and gestured to Missandei to bring him more wine. "We've already taken the slavers gold. We fight for Yunkai." he said bluntly, leaning over and sniffing at Missandei in a provocative way when she refilled his glass. Seeing this, Ranta delivered a swift and harsh quick to the ribs of the sex driven man- spilling some of his freshly poured wine. Mero grunted harshly holding his side at the sudden attack, his two friends making to draw for their weapons but was stopped by Ranta's crew already beating to them to the punch.
"Hold!" she exclaimed loudly with a raised hand in the air causing Jorah, Barristan, Grey Worm and some of the Dothraki and Unsullied posted outside her tent to freeze in their tracks. "Hold." she repeated in a calmer tone once she was sure no one would move, signaling for weapons to be put away. Once the weapons had been put away and everyone was remotely relaxed, Ranta spoke again. "You'll have to forgive me Mero, I am a very jealous woman." the blue haired woman grinned innocently, gesturing for Missandei to give her a glass of wine.
"I couldn't help myself when I seen you sniffing at my translator like that." she grinned into her cup that was delivered to her in a timely fashion before taking a sip. Mero looked at her for a few moments as if seeing her for the first time and began to laugh, much to everyone's surprise. Not the chuckle he had been dishing out every since he walked in - but a genuine laugh.
"I like you." he declared. "You've got some balls on you for a woman...that is if you really are one. Show me your cunt so I can see if you're really worth fighting for." Mero suggested, uncaring of the murderous and restlessly shifting Mormont behind him. "My queen, shall I slice out his tongue for you?" Grey Worm spoke up for the first time in both meetings that day, hand on his knife. Ranta smiled at the offer, partially turning her head in his direction as she replied, "As tempting as the offer is Grey Worm, the fact remains that these men are our guests. You'll have to do it if it comes to battle." the young queen soothed, causing the Unsullied captain's hand to leave his knife.
"You seem rather fond of my wine," the Naylor observed, " how about a barrel to take home to help you and your brothers in arms ponder over my offer for the next two days?" she stated more than asked. "Goooood." Mero drawled out playfully, standing and placing his glass on the table near the table - causing his companions to do the same.
"The Titan's bastard never drinks alone." he walked down the stairs and made towards the exit, " In the Second Sons we share everything, after the battle, maybe we'll even share you." Mero turned to wink over his shoulder, and was met with a light smile in return. The blue haired queen watched as the three men shuffle out of her tent, Daario Naharis lingering and giving Ranta a visible once over as his captain did. Ranta quirked a brow at this and watched as the young lieutenant simply smiled and continued on his way.
"Ser Barristan," Ranta called as she circled her finger around her cup's edge, eyes never wandering from their forms until they disappeared from sight. " If it comes to battle...allow Grey Worm to cut out Mero's tongue first before slicing his throat open." she instructed the elder. "Gladly, your grace." the Selmy agreed all too readily.
The blue eyed woman then sighed deeply in thought, sinking into the couch and rubbing her temples with closed eyes. "Are you alright, my lady?" Missandei asked worriedly, walking forwards and stopping just before Ranta. "Just thinking is all...wondering how comfortable this couch would be if I fell asleep on it." the Naylorian simply said as she slowly slid onto her side to lay down.
"Your bed would do you more justice than a couch." Jorah noted, and then blinked in shock when Ranta's arms suddenly shot out expectantly. "Carry me." his queen commanded lazily, grabbing at the air when the Mormont hesitated too long for her liking, "I know I'm not as skinny as Missandei, Ser Jorah, but I can't be that heavy to you. You used to walk around in steel armor all day during our first few months together." she pointed out.
Jorah walked up the three steps and brought his hands under her knees and around her upper back, lifting her with ease. "I never said you were too heavy to carry." he defended himself before turning and walking back down the steps. "You implied it." Ranta pouted for a brief moment before smirking to herself and cracking one eye open.
"Tell me, Jorah, have you ever had to carry around your higher ups like this before when you in Westeros?" Ranta asked knowingly. Fighting a smirk himself, the man shook his head, exiting the tent. "I can't say that I ever have." he denied. Ranta snorted to herself, visibly pleased. "Well that's because you never served someone as amazing as me."
"Well you certainly are one of a kind, there's no denying that."
"You know, I'm not sure how to take that."
" Take it as you will, your grace."
"...You're treading on thin ice Mormont. Thin ice."
Jorah chuckled warmly at the threat that escaped past his queen's lips. One of a kind indeed.
0o.0o0o.0o.0o.0o..o0.o0o0.0
"How come every time I come into this tent, you're in bed?" Daenerys asked exasperated with the sight of Ranta yet again in bed. Truthfully, the woman had never went to bed after Jorah dropped her off, she merely laid in her bed deep in thought for hours until Daenerys came along. "How come every time I lay down for some rest and relaxation, you are there to disturb it?" Ranta fired back without bothering to open her eyes as her bed dipped under from Dany's weight when she laid down next to the older woman.
"How did the meeting with the Second Sons go?" Daenerys asked in an attempt to move the conversation forward in a progressive fashion. "I kicked their leader in the ribs and told him I was going to cut off his cock for the way he spoke to me." Daenerys' brow furrowed at this and turned her head to look at the aspiring queen.
"The man was a sex driven pig," Ranta sighed, feeling her burning gaze, " I couldn't let him keep sniffing around Missandei like a dog in heat. It was either I kicked him or have Jorah shove his blade in between his eyes the next time the man spoke to me. Something needed to happen." she defended herself. "How did your day with the dragons go?"
This time it was Daenerys' turn to sigh, "It went well, I suppose. They were more interested with playing with each other but I had Vaemarr and Laemyx to keep me company. Do you think they know that I had given up on them before they were even hatched?" she fretted. Ranta snorted and flipped her wrist dismissively, "Don't be so paranoid, they were still stone eggs when they were given to me. How could they possibly know?" she questioned, rolling over Daenerys and ignoring the strained groan she let out from the abrupt abuse.
Undoing a few ties on her dress, Ranta let the cream colored dress to drop to the floor and stepped into her tub stationed in the center of her room. "Did you know that Missandei knows 19 different languages?" the young queen mentioned all of a sudden. "Who?" Daenerys moved behind the elder woman and began playing with her blue locks hanging outside of the tub. "The lady who helped you get dressed this morning?" Ranta said flatly.
"Oh!" Dany blushed embarrassed, "...19 languages? How can she know 19 languages already? She cannot be any older than you." she pointed out. "Well we learned Dothraki within a year more or less. It's entirely possible for someone to learn that many, Missandei must have started learning when she was a young girl." The sound of the tent flap opening from behind the duo and Daenerys' sudden gasp nearly caused Ranta to fling herself out of the tub in fright.
Whipping around, she seen an Unsullied had held Dany hostage with a hand to her mouth and a knife to her throat. "No screaming, or she dies." came a familiar voice as the man cowed the Targaryen out from behind the tub and moved her to the front of it and Ranta without breaking their locked gazes. After a short moment, the man removed his helmet and revealed himself to be Daario Naharis of the Second Sons.
"Daario Naharis, is there something I can help you with? You seem to be lost." Ranta quirked a brow as she watched the man return his knife to Dany's neck. The ever present smirk he wore widened at her statement, "I'm touched. You've remembered my name and are concerned for me, makes me want you even more." he cooed.
"I wouldn't exactly use the word concerned to describe how I feel about you, I also wouldn't be that touched considering we've just met a few hours ago. Now if you would be so kind as to let my friend go..." she trailed off.
Daario hesitated slightly, wither to get on Ranta's nerves or if he was seriously considering disobeying her, the Naylor wasn't sure. But when Dany was released with a quiet command to not scream, Ranta knew it was just to grate her nerves.
"So you are here to kill me, I'm guessing." The young liberator assumed after Dany scurried behind her. "Mhm." Daario nodded with ease, having no problem with revealing his intentions. "Well now's your chance." careful to keep herself submerged in the water, Ranta raised her arms in a 'Well here I am' sort of fashion.
However, Daario meerly shook his head. "I don't want to kill you." he admitted. "Lucky me," Ranta said dryly and a huff of amusement from him, "And what will your beloved captains have to say about that when they hear about this?" She asked. Daario smirked and removed the bag from over his shoulder, "Why dont you ask them yourself?" Two decapitated heads of Mero and Prendahl rolled out of the bag and rolled onto the fur carpets of the tent.
Ranta frowned at the sight, "You know I liked these rugs, now I have to throw them away because that was gross." Dany rolled her eyes behind Ranta's back at her exclamation. "So was there a specific reason you killed your captains?" Ranta asked after she watched Daario laugh himself at her reaction to the heads. " We had philosophical differences." the man shrugged.
"Over what?
"Your beauty."
This answer stunned Ranta greatly. Her beauty? "Her beauty?" Dany voiced her thoughts for her. "Mhm." he nodded his head, " It meant a lot more to me than it did to them." Ranta stared at the brunette for a long moment before speaking, "Has anyone ever told you that you're a strange man?" she asked genuinely curious. Daario chuckled, " On the contrary I'm the simplest man you'll ever meet. I only do what I want to do."
"Which explains on why you dumped those heads onto my floor? Because you felt like it?" Ranta assumed. "You aren't going to let that go are you?" he fired back. "Not until you buy me new rugs...So why exactly should I trust the man who single handedly killed his captains?" the blue haired woman questioned. At this, Daario snorted and began wandering around her tent a bit.
"They ordered me to kill you. I said no, I'd rather not. They said I had no choice. I said I am Daario Naharis. I always have a choice...they drew their swords and I drew mine." the sell sword finished with a smirk, coming to a stop before Ranta again. The blue haired woman stared down the brunette for a long while, the pros and cons of her racing thoughts flowing through her head as she considered the possibilities before her.
"So why have you come, if it wasn't to kill me?" she asked after a long while. " To serve." he answered honestly before unclipping his curved sword from his belt, dropped onto one knee and placed the sword across it as he maintained eye contact with his new queen. "The Second Sons are yours and so is Daario Naharis. My sword is yours, my life is yours...my heart is yours." he finished with a bowed head.
Ranta looked down at him for a brief moment before smirking and exchanging glances with Dany, " Go get Jorah, Barristan, and Grey Worm. Tell them we sack the city tonight." she instructed the younger woman. Daenerys nodded and left to do as instructed at a brisk pace, leaving Ranta and the newly sworn in Daario alone. Neither ever moved during the time they were alone, the brunette man remained kneeling while the blue haired woman remained soaking in her tub.
It wasn't until Ranta got tired of waiting for the trio she summoned, did she speak. "Find a robe for me will you? One that will be comfortable to sleep in but still reasonable to walk around in as if I were in public." the woman requested. Daario straightened up and strolled past her resting form in the tub, a bit too much of a swagger to his step if anyone asked her.
After listening to Daario rifling around in her drawers for a few minutes, Ranta ended up rolling her eyes in exasperation though her lips had quirked upwards into a small smile. " Today, Daario. You can sniff at my clothes later." she called over her shoulder. "I haven't the slightest idea of what you're talking about." the Second Son commander said with a grin in his voice as he ventured back over to Ranta.
"This one?" he asked holding out a silky blue green robe with long sleeves and a sash that would have to be tied around the waist to keep the article of clothing closed. "That'll do." Ranta nodded appreciatively, standing up out of the tub and stepping out carefully. Holding the robe out properly, Daario helped the soaking wet woman dress for the up coming meeting - sky blue eyes never leaving dark blue during the entire time.
With the woman holding the robe together, Daario reached his arms around the young queen and worked on tying the sash around her curvy frame - finally breaking their gazes so he could watch the knot his swift fingers were working on. This sight is what Ser Jorah, Barristan and Grey Worm walked into when they entered their queen's tent. Not a single one of them, had been happy with the sight.
"My lady?" Ser Jorah's tense voice asked, announcing his and the others presence. The duo looked over to the trio, acknowledging their presence with their own forms of greetings. "It's about time you three showed up, I was beginning to think Daario and I would have to sack the city by ourselves." Ranta said as the sell sword finished the knot and took a slow step away from the solitary woman.
"Before we get into business though...Grey Worm. Do you see something wrong with how Daario is dressed?" Ranta addressed the Unsullied captain, whose stern face turned into one of anger when he seen the man clad in Unsullied armor after a brief glance. "Forgive me, my queen, I-" Ranta held up a hand for silence, " I don't care how it happened, I just don't want it to happen again. Post men to guard your supplies if you must, but figure something out." she instructed, gaining a nod of understanding in return but also a look she was all too familiar with.
"You are only human Grey Worm and so are your men. Mistakes happen, so long as we learn from them - everything will be alright." Ranta said softly when she noticed the look of internal berating on his face. Turning back to the rest of the group, the Naylor continued, " As you can see gentlemen, Daario Naharis has joined our side. Him and the Second Sons are now ours, which makes things significantly easier for us." Ranta then ventured over to a table and cleared some things off of it.
Grabbing a nearby rolled up paper, Ranta quickly unfurled it to analyze it before laying it out on the table before the four men. "I want Yunkai under my control by the morning...so how are we going to do it?" she asked. "Can't do a full frontal assault, you said so yourself that the walls are too strong." Ranta nodded to Jorah, "Can't starve them out when they've already got plenty of provisions inside and they won't meet us on the battle field. So what do we do?"
" We do what you said earlier," Jorah spoke, " Get someone inside the gates and the city will fall in hours. The city will be yours as sure as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. It's all a matter of who we send in and how will they get in." Daario shifted his weight and pointed to a spot on the map, " There's a back gate right there" he mentioned.
Scanning over the map, Ranta frowned helplessly when she couldn't spot where he was addressing. "Where?" she asked looking up at him confused. Moving from his spot, Daario came up beside Ranta, pressed into her side as he took her hand in his and placed their fingers down on the gate he was talking about. "There." his breath ticked her ear, neither feeling the burning stare of Ser Jorah on them.
Daario took a step back to address the others, "My men use the back gate when they visit Yunkai's bed slaves." he informed them. Jorah shifted, scratching at his beard, "Your men, not you?" he stated more than asked. "No, I have no use of a slave. You cannot make love to property." Daario said simply before turning to Ser Barristan. " This is where we enter the city, there's only a few guards there - they know me, they'll let me in." he said confidently.
"So you and who else will be going with exactly?" Ranta inquired of the brunette. "Me and two of your best men of course. I lead them through the back streets that I know like the back of my hand and open the front gate. Then comes the army and you get your city by sunrise just as promised." Daario explained with ease.
"Or you lead Grey Worm and I into the slaughter," Jorah cut in, " cutting the head off our army. The masters of Yunkai will pay you your fee and you wont even have to split it 3 ways because you've already slaughtered your partners." Ranta frowned at his logic, that was entirely possible for someone to do. Daario narrowed his eyes on the Mormont,"You have a very suspicious mind. In my experience, only dishonest people think that way."
The older man sighed slightly before turning to the silent Unsullied captain behind him, "You command the Unsullied, what do you think?" he asked. "You're a leader now Grey Worm, your input is valued very much to me. Do you trust him?" Ranta added in when the stern man hesitated slightly. Grey Worm stared down Daario for a few moments in thought before turning to his queen and nodding, "I trust him."
"Good," Ranta leaned up from her slouched position over the map, " You leave now, and do remember boys... bring me my city by sunrise. I'll be waiting for your safe return on the morrow." the trio of men designated to venture out on their mission bowed to their blue haired queen and exited the tent. As Ranta thought over what was about to come, a sudden thought came to her, "Wait!" she cried freezing the men in their tracks.
"How many slaves are in Yunkai?" Ranta turned to Ser Barristan, beckoning the men the return to the table with a single finger. "Perhaps about two hundred thousand give or take, your grace." the elder Selmy provided. The woman blinked in shock, "Two hundred thousand?!" she echoed incredulously before turning to Jorah and looking him straight in the eye.
"We have a problem." the Naylor said gravely as the Mormont came to her side. " There are going to be a lot of city guards to protect a city with that many people in it, I cannot send the three of you to conquer Yunkai alone." Ranta shook her head " If I sent every single one of my soldiers in there it still would still not be enough if the city inhabitants took up arms. I don't care how well trained the Unsullied and Dothraki are, in a battle one would think having the numbers on your side is much more preferable."
Jorah's expression softened at the young queen's concern, "We went over this earlier, my queen, Yunkai slaves are not soldiers. The only ones we have to worry about are the city guards we have to cross on our way to the front gate." he assured her but Ranta was not in the right state of mind to be swayed, something was bothering her about this now that she gave it a second thought.
"But if their masters have already commanded them, they will fight. Soldier or not. Yunkai also has a lot of money flowing into it if the number of their slaves says anything about it. I am about to be disrupting a very large and successful economic system. Do you really think the masters are going to take us liberating the city sitting down? Would you not think that they will take their money and go find themselves an army to attack us once our backs are turned?" Ranta inquired, watching as a look of apprehension began forming onto the Mormont's face as he thought over her words.
Casting a glance over to the three men who were more or less clueless on what was being discussed- though Barristan may have picked up a few phrases here and there- Jorah exhaled deeply and nodded, "What do you want us to do?" he asked. "I do not want to do it but...I am going to have to go back on my word. I won't lose anyone under my protection and command to a spiteful attack because some noble lords had their slaves freed from them. The wise masters of Yunkai cannot be allowed to live."
"Your grace..." Jorah breathed in common, eyes wide, "there are thousands of them, hundreds of thousands of them. You cannot possibly-" "I can and I will." Ranta cut off strongly, " You do not need to agree with what I decide to do but you do need to respect it." she finished with a stern stare that silenced the Mormont before turning back to the others who have been watching the exchange silently.
"Change of plans." she began, " Against my moral code, I am going back on my word. The masters of Yunkai cannot be allowed to live when we take the city. There is simply too much wealth flowing through this city, they can easily turn around and hire their own army to stab us in the back once our attentions are focused on Mereen after we leave Yunkai. I'm not risking that." she shook her head.
"So a mass execution then?" Daario spoke, " That's going to take a while even if you gave your Unsullied and Dothraki screamers a master to execute." he frowned slightly. Ranta shifted as a thought came into her head, " It won't just be human executing human..." she trailed off slowly. Turning, she made a quick gesture for the men to follow her at a brisk pace.
Reaching the edge of the camp where Ranta knew her children liked to linger around, she scanned the darkness before her for a split second before bringing her hands to her mouth and called out, "Time to come home!" her voice echoed throughout the air. The group of five only had to wait for a few minutes before the sound of wings flapping and something moving through the trees and tall grass filled their ears.
The dragon brothers were the first to come into sight, each letting out their own little roar of greeting as they circled their mother merrily before finally landing before her feet. "Hello you three, being good are we?" Ranta bent down to their height and petted the trio lovingly. "Daario meet Drogon, Rhaegal and Viserion." she said from over her shoulder, pointing to each dragon as she said their names. The sell sword could only stare at the creatures in front of him incredulously, being amongst the many who did not believe dragons were real.
When the grass suddenly rustled from in front of her, Ranta's head shot up to see two pairs of glowing tan eyes staring at her. "Are you two trying to give me a heart attack? What's wrong with you?" she demanded playfully of her children who had yet to make an appearance which more or less made Ranta look a bit insane.
Laemyx and Vaemarr each made their own hums and deep groans of amusement as they slithered out of the tall grass and up to the blue haired woman. "You have fun teaching your younger brothers how to be naughty?" Ranta smiled as the duo nuzzled her whole heartedly, knocking her onto her bottom and revealing in her soft caresses of their hard armor like skin.
Though Barristan, Grey Worm and Jorah were used to such a sight, Daario was seriously contemplating if he had suddenly gone insane and was merely seeing a hallucination in front of him. " I'm not the only one seeing the dragons and monstrous snakes am I?" he muttered to Barristan slightly breathless. The old man chuckled sympathetically, " Best get used to the sight boy, and don't bother getting surprised when all five of them suddenly start having random bursts of growth spurts. Those are our queen's children, and members of her army. The two snakes you see before you are, Vaemarr and Laemyx. " he pointed to each one, " Laemyx even helped Lady Ranta take Astapor while Vaemarr and the three youngsters remained behind to watch over camp."
Freeing herself from her affectionate eldest, Ranta was finally able to stand back up and take a few steps back. "You wanted to know how we were going to get through the executions faster, Daario?" she addressed the man, " Then watch closely." the woman told him before turning back to her family of five. "Laemyx, Vaemarr." she called and then pointed to the air with a finger. " Ignite." the two snakes looked up at the open air, and then rose themselves to their full height before releasing their blue and green flames.
"Drogon." the Naylor then turned to the black and red dragon, " Dracarys." she instructed with her finger still pointed into the air. The elder dragon's chest puffed outwards as he gathered the fire from his belly and released the fiery red orange flames into the air with Rhaegal and Viserion following along shortly after.
"You intend to burn them all alive?" Jorah breathed in disbelief, " Are you not aware that, that exactly was the Mad King's tactics? The very same tactic he used on your own family before they scattered?" he asked wide eyed. "I am very well aware of the Mad King's tactics." Ranta snapped, " There is a difference between us, he burned innocents. I am not, there is nothing innocent about what the masters have done to the people of this city."
"Your grace," Barristan spoke up, a troubled look upon his face as well after he tore his eyes off of the flames in the air. " The Mad King burned more than innocents, he burned those who stood in his way. The masters are standing in your way and you intend to burn your way out of this. I beg for your forgiveness, my queen, but your tactics are no different than his if you go through with this."
Ranta groaned in frustration, sinking her fingers into her hair and giving a harsh tug before pinning the two former Westerosi knights with a glare. "Then what would you have me do?!" she demanded angrily, "Let them leave in peace?! Give them a slap on the wrist for what they've done? A stern warning for decades of brutality?!" at the sounds of her enraged demands, the fire breathing beings paused in their actions and let out warning growls to their mother's agitators.
"Corralling thousands of people into a pen and slaughtering them by the thousands is a brutality on its own." Jorah pressed in a calm tone, eye on his queen's children, " If you want to show the slaves that there is more to this word than brutality, then you have to show it to them. Give them a trial, allow the slaves to put in their opinion on what should happen." he reasoned.
"And why should Yunkai get a trial? Astapor didn't." Ranta argued. "That is because you did not ask for a second opinion, you merely acted on your own without any consultation with me." Jorah shot back, though the moment he did - he instantly regretted it. Oh how he desperately wanted to take back the words he had just said.
An indescribable look over came Ranta's features but when the thunder began rolling in, Jorah knew he had messed up. " Your grace, I-I didn't-" a flash of lightning hitting the ground directly behind the internally seething Naylor silenced his back pedaling. The only reason why the group had not been flooded with rain water or struck by lightning by now was because Ranta knew if she did not keep a lid on her temper, the whole mission to take the city tonight would fail. It would be hard to kill gate guards if they clustered together to seek shelter from the storm.
"Go through with the original plan then, I don't care. Yunkai's flag better be in my tent by morning." Throwing a menacing look to the men before her had them internally fearing if she would physically lash out or send her beasts after them all, but Ranta simply turned around and stalked back towards the camp without a word.
Sensing her anger and hidden need for comfort, the five children belonging to Ranta followed after without hesitation. Vaemarr slithered up from behind his mother and scooped her up onto his hood in a smooth motion before continuing back to camp with his siblings leading the way through the now cloudy night. By the time the family reached the center of camp, Ranta had calmed down, though it took a great amount of work on her behalf. At this point she was just a bit cranky and was in need of some much wanted sleep.
What she wasn't in need of, was all five of her sons squeezing their way into her tent. "Um no, no, no ,no. What are you guys doing?" Ranta said with the faintest hint of laughter as the throng of creatures wriggled amongst each other trying to get comfortable. "You can't stay in here." Drogon wiggled his way up to Ranta's bed and laid his head down on her lap, bright orange eyes staring up at her innocently.
Rolling her eyes, Ranta pet his leathery skin lovingly. "I meant what I said. Those pretty little eyes of yours won't change a thing." Drogon let out a whine and wiggled some more, trying to get his body further up onto Ranta's lap. "You are too big, Drogon, to be in my bed and for the both of us to sleep comfortably." Ranta grabbed his face in her hands and placed a kiss on his nose.
With one last pleading whine, the black and red dragon finally managed to wiggle his full body on top of Ranta's bed and nuzzled his head into the underside of her chin in a form of a hug after he had pushed her onto her back. At the sight of their elder brother giving his affection to their mother, Viserion and Rhaegal grew jealous and tried to join in on the hug to express their love as well.
"No...No...too much weight... I can't breathe" Ranta wheezed as she was quickly buried under hundreds of pounds of dragon muscle and weight. Faintly, the blue haired matriarch could hear Vaemarr and Laemyx laughing amongst each other in their own strange way at the plight before the young woman. "You two are...useless." she gasped, trying and failing to lift Rhaegal's foot off of her pelvic bone. Laughing a bit more to themselves, the two snake brothers moved forwards and locked their jaws around either the tails of their younger brothers or around their midsections and lifted them off of Ranta.
With the weight successfully lifted off of her, Ranta could finally breathe normally again. Taking a deep breathe in and then exhaling, the woman got her breathing under control and then sat up to pin the trio of dragons with a stern look that was reciprocated with the trio baring their teeth at her in the form of their own smile.
Ranta couldn't help but smile with a roll of her eyes before laying back down on her side, fingers gently scratching at the head of Viserion when he and his brothers too laid down for the night by the side of her bed. "Having a little family get together are we?" Daenerys' voice called softly from the entrance of her tent. The members of the misfit family each raised their heads to acknowledge the Targaryen watching them with a smile.
"A bit unwanted but I've come to accept it. As long as they aren't on the bed, I'm fine with it." Ranta replied watching as Dany carefully made her way to the bed with out somehow stepping on a tail or wing. Laying down next to the Naylor, the duo was cast into silence for a bit - each lost in their own thoughts. "Are you alright?" Daenerys suddenly asked.
"Yes."
"Are you sure?"
"...No."
Ranta rubbed her eyes tiredly, "I don't know what to do with this city." she admitted. Daenerys turned her head to look at her closest friend, "What do you mean?" Ranta turned her head as well to look deep into violet eyes as she explained what had occurred during the meeting, what she intended to do with her children and what the reactions were to her idea.
"You do not need to consult with anyone if you do not want to. You are the ruler here, not Jorah." Dany shook her head with a frown. "I know." Ranta sighed, "But a good ruler would do well to consult with her advisors and officers, he did have a point, but I didn't appreciate how he called me out for it in front of the others. That was what irritated me, if he had a problem with how I took over Astapor then he should have pulled me aside and spoke to me in private about it."
Dany nodded, thinking the same way she had been. "So what did you tell them to do? Are you still taking the city tonight?" Ranta nodded, "I was fed up with the whole thing at that point so I told them to go through with the original plan and that Yunkai's flag better be in here by morning. Then I stormed off in a huff with these five following." she gestured to her children, "I threw a hissy fit because they opposed my idea." she summed up disappointed in herself.
"Your worry is reasonably though, it's what I'd be scared of too if I were in your place. I'd go about it the same way, turn the children loose and be quick about it. Why line the masters up and have them waiting in anticipation to die?" Daenerys asked before sighing, " I also understand their worry though too. They just fear another Mad King coming to light, but they need to understand that, that isn't you. You only want what's best for your people and sometimes doing ugly things is the only way to go about it."
0o..o00o.o.00o.o.0o.0
By morning of the next day, Ranta had her Yunkish flag delivered to her by Daario with word that the slave soldiers positioned in the city had thrown down their spears and surrendered when they seen that the Second Sons now fought for someone else. Daario had also found out for her that there weren't really as many masters as they originally thought according to slaves and some city guards they interrogated.
"If getting rid of the masters is what you truly desire then consider it done, my queen. Leave the task to me and my Second Sons and it will be done with ease before noon today." the brunette swore. "It is not so much as to my desire that I want it to happen, it is the need for it to happen. If I were doing things based on my desire then I would of had a husband by now." Ranta smiled bitterly, taking the Yunkai flag in her hand and tossing it on top of a nearby chest as she wandered aimlessly around her tent.
"Well if it's a husband you want then look no further." Daario grinned playfully. Ranta rolled her eyes light heartedly at the flirt of a man, " Jorah will not be happy if I give you the okay to do this." she noted. The young commander scoffed at this, reaching forwards and grabbing Ranta to stop her in her tracks as she passed by.
"Ser Jorah, is not the one in charge. You are. And if you want every master in the city disposed of then it will be done, wither or not if he likes it...but if you are still are having a hard time with deciding what to do with them then let me ask you this. What does your gut tell you to do?" he asked quietly, staring deep into her eyes.
Ranta stayed silent for a long moment before finally answering, "It tells me to get rid of the masters." she whispered. " Then say the word, my queen. Send me to kill your enemies." his hands moved to cup her face tenderly. Placing a hand over his rough and callused one, Ranta sighed lightly, "When the slaves come out to greet me outside of the gates, send your men to the back gates. Have them find and lead the masters out and kill them, dispose of their bodies however they see fit."
So now with the Second Sons dealing with the masters in the back of the city, Ranta assembled her army before the city as a somewhat distraction. On a large boulder large enough to fit her advisors and herself, Jorah who had not said a word since last night, stood on her right - a look of regret on his face as he did so as well as Missandei. Ser Barristan was on her left with Daario. Drogon, Viserion and Rhaegal were all stationed in front of her with a few rows of her Unsullied while Vaemarr and Laemyx took up her rear along with the rest of the Unsullied and Dothraki.
When asked why the rest of the Second Sons were not amongst them, Ranta had not replied - leading Jorah to let out what he thought was barely noticeable sigh though she knew that he had been glad that she had not resorted to burning any of them alive. A good chunk of time had passed ever since Ranta's army assembled outside of the front gates, and she was beginning to believe none of the slaves were willing to meet the very person who freed them.
"They will come, your grace," Ser Barristan spoke as if sensing her unease, "just give them a bit of time." he told her and no sooner had he said that, the great wooden gates of the yellow city opened. Slowly the now former slaves dressed in baggy white, green, and yellow clothing accompanied by a familiar slave collar around their necks began to trickle out one by one, but soon the amount of freed people were pouring out of the gates in an endless stream. Men, women, children and elderly of all ages continued their journey forwards as far as they could go until the protective Unsullied unit brought their shields up and spears down in a threatening fashion when they ventured too close for comfort.
Even though there were still hundreds pouring out of the gates, Missandei slowly stepped forwards on the boulder the group was stationed on, causing Ranta to back up as she took point. "This is Ranta Naylor. The Queen of Storms, Queen of the Unsullied, Queen of the Seven kingdoms of Westeros, Sister of the Dothraki, Liberator of Astapor and Yunkai, the Mother of beasts. You owe your freedom to her-" Missandei cut herself off when she felt Ranta touch her arm and switched places when her queen began taking steps forwards.
"Freedom is the right of every living being." Ranta began loudly, "I am merely giving it back in hopes that it will never be stolen from you again. But if it ever is, know that I will always be there to fight to get it back time and time again so long as I draw breath." she promised whole heartedly. A moment of silence lapsed through the air before a man holding his daughter next to his wife suddenly reached out with a free hand and cried "Mhysa!" triggering his family and the thousands of others around him to do the same.
"What are they saying?" Ranta turned slightly towards Missandei, "It is an old form of Valyrian, your grace, so old that it is rarely taught anymore. Mhysa means mother." the translator told her queen over the noise level of the chanting. After observing the people calling out to her with such hope in their eyes for a new beginning, Ranta began taking slow steps forward - accepting Ser Jorah's helping hand down the rock.
Stopping before her dragons, Ranta bent down to place a hand on Drogon's neck as his brothers shifted closer to the mother and elder winged son. "Fly my darlings." she whispered and watched as the black and red dragon lead the charge into the sky with his brothers following after, each letting out their own cry as they did so. Standing once more, Ranta walked down to her line of Unsullied standing guard in front of her, "Let me pass please." she requested and nodded her head in thanks when the men did as told and stepped aside to allow her to slip past.
Slowly walking forwards, Ranta appeared before the chanting crowd and allowed herself to be submerged in throng of people reaching out to touch her with at least the tips of their fingers much to the chagrin of Jorah, Daario and Barristan. Right as Jorah was about to storm into the crowd and retrieve his queen, he was stunned to see her body suddenly shoot up above the crowd and be placed on the shoulders of two of the tallest men in the vicinity to present their Mhysa before all to see.
Ranta smiled broadly and laughed warmly at the sight of her new subjects under her protection before her. The crowd shuffled as close as they could to the blue haired woman, each trying to chant louder than the other to be heard by their new leader. Ranta reached a hand out and allowed her hand to skim over many others as the two men beneath her began spinning her in a slow circle to observe the entire crowd out under the clear blue sky.
Ranta was briefly distracted by Drogon, Viserion and Rhaegal all flying past her face with small roars. Lifting her head towards the sky, Ranta was able to see the green form of Viserion circling closest to her head with his tan brother Rhaegal flying above him and then finally Drogon climbing the highest into the sky with one final roar that echoed for all to hear.
0o.0o.0o.
Thoughts of how the story's going so far and what you think should happen? Let me know so I can have some material/ feedback to help me work with :D