Chapter 27: Only Death Can Pay For Life

Daenerys

"The beggar Queen" they called her. When she was a girl, her brother had sold the last of her family's treasures just to house and clothe them as they moved from place to place. Before she was sold to Khal Drogo, even her mother's crown had been sold. Her brother would do anything to take back the seven kingdoms. When he had sold everything else, she was the last thing to be sold. She was to pay for an army to help him cross the Narrow Sea. She had married a grown man as a young girl of only ten and four. She had given birth to a boy, still born, and walked through deserts, her feet bare and bloody, losing the bulk of her khalasar. She had walked through the red waste, lean, and starving, and eaten her own horses just to survive. She had watched the deaths of those whom she loved. Her family had everything stripped from them. The Usurper and his dogs had taken the throne. Her mother had fled to Dragonstone with her as a babe in her belly. She had spent her childhood wandering Essos as a pauper, depending on the kindness of strangers and Targaryen loyalists. Westeros was her birthright, but it was a stranger to her. Now she was a stranger in a strange place, and the place that she called "home" called her "outsider," and "foreign queen." She was tired of trying to make Westeros love her. If they could not give her love, then she would rule over them with fear. The people running along the cobbled streets below looked like ants. The air was thick with smoke and ash, and she could feel it filling up her lungs. Sweat soaked through her clothes and they clung to her form almost like a second skin and she could feel a cool breeze around her as she flew through the clouds. Drogon flapped his wings hard and fast, and his body vibrated with power and fury. She squeezed her thighs together, and he knew that she wanted him to go straight, straight towards the Red Keep. Below her, Daenerys could see swarms of people, running and scrambling. They were afraid. She heard their screams and as she listened to their cries, the sound pushed her onwards, towards the Red Keep, towards where Cersei slept. She was drawn to the seat of her ancestral power. As she approached the walls of the castle that her family had built, the home that had been stolen from her, all that she saw was retribution. She wanted to rip it down stone by stone. She wanted it to fall, and she wanted to watch as it happened. As she heard the anguished screams of the people of King's Landing, all that she could hear echoing in her head were the screams of the Maegi. The sound filled her ears, and vibrated inside her, like an echo inside her head. She had trusted the maegi Mirri Maz Duur. She had taken the life of her child, and the man that she loved. When Daenerys ordered her to be bound to the funeral pyre, the obstinate woman had boasted to Daenerys that she would not die screaming. But she was a liar. She did die screaming, and her screams sounded like a song to Dany's ears'. Daenerys smiled to herself, as Drogon's wings flapped hard against the wind, "yes, it was a song." When the witch screamed out her pain, It was a song for Rhaego, a song for Khal Drogo and a sacrifice to bring her children into the world. Now the screams below would be a sacrifice to bring about the new world, the world that she intended to make. She would break the wheel, as she had promised. She remembered what she had been told by the witch, when she begged for Khal Drogo's life, her moon and stars. The witch had coldly told her that "Only death can pay for life." She had paid the price, and she would have what she sought. Beneath her, the heat from the melting stones of the red keep warmed her face. She watched as the red stones came tumbling to the ground, and the ants below her scurried like animals looking for shelter. Drogon swooped lower, and she felt him hot and powerful between her thighs, his body like pure living flame as he surged closer and closer to the small forms before them.

"Dracarys!" She heard herself say. Only death can pay for life.

King's Landing had no love for her. She had no love for it. It was a cesspit, and the fire was cleansing it. Fire purified.. It is known.

"Dracarys!" She heard herself say again. She watched as the swirls and puffs of smoke rose into the air around her. She could feel Drogon's body vibrating below her as he hissed before letting out a large gout of flame. The building in front of her came tumbling down, and the people below screamed, and wailed and begged for the gods to have mercy on them. The smell of burnt flesh rose into the air. Soon, their screams began to sound muffled to her as she rode against the wind, and all that she could hear was the wind.

Behind her, through the screams and the smoke, she could see a flash of green, Rhaegal. Jon Snow was flying towards her, he was yelling something, but she couldn't hear him. She didn't want to hear him. She couldn't hear anything but the screams, and the wind, and the sound of Drogon's wings flapping.

"Dany STOP!" Jon called out to her. He didn't understand. He couldn't understand. She squeezed her thighs together and leaned her body down against Drogon, feeling his warmth. He took her cue and accelerated towards the bell tower. As they approached, the people below her came into view, running, screaming, and hiding in alleyways and corridors. The bell was ringing out through the city square. The Queen was dead. Long live the Queen.

Cersei was dead. Finally she had done it. She had retaken her kingdom. She was Queen. She was Queen of Westeros, and she would rule. She was Daenerys Stormborn, First of Her Name, The Unburnt, Queen of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men, Queen of Meereen, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Protector of the Realm, Lady Regent of the Seven Kingdoms, Breaker of Chains and Mother of Dragons, and she was home. She was going to make this her home. She had paid for it, with fire and blood. Only death can pay for life.

Rhaegal was beside her now. He was snarling at his brother. Drogon turned to look at him.

"Dany!" Jon's voice screamed out hoarsely. "Stop this madness!" He flew closer to her, and Rhaegal reached out with his legs towards his brother, striking him. Drogon began to turn his body, and Daenerys could feel herself losing her grip on his scales.

"Dany!" Jon cried out again, and Drogon twisted his body violently, as his brother bit him at the base of his tail. He tried to shake Rhaegal off of him, and Dany felt her hands slipping, slipping. She fell.

She was falling, and she had nothing to hold on to. The air rushed around her. There was nothing for her to grab. There was nothing for her to hold on to. Her heart raced inside her chest. The cold air rushed around her body, and she could see the ground getting closer and closer to her. Through the wind, she heard Jon's voice. Through the smoke, she saw a flash of green, and soon she felt two strong arms wrapped around her waist. She was breathless and tired, and Jon held her tightly. He was pulling her onto Rhaegal. She lay across Rhaegal's body, limply, staring down at the ground. She closed her eyes; her body and her mind were tired. As she began to drift away, she saw Drogon flying. He was hurt. He needed to heal, and he was flying in the direction of Dragonstone. She understood. She could see the Unsullied below, the Lannister soldiers had surrendered. Grey Worm, Torgo Nudho, was marching his men into the castle, he was taking the throne to hold for her. She had done it. She could rest now. The wind had been knocked out of her when Jon caught her, and she felt drained. Her eyelids felt heavy, and soon she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep on Rhaegal's back.

Dragonstone

The moonlight shimmered on the water as Jon approached the island of Dragonstone. Daenerys lay passed out across Rhaegal's back. He could see in the distance, lit by the moon, the dragon shaped tower Windwyrm. He squeezed his legs together, and lightly tugged on the scales he held tightly in his hands, and Rhaegal began to descend. He landed gently, clawing at the volcanic stones beneath his feet before coming to a complete stop. Two Unsullied guards came towards him.

"Jon Snow," the soldier, Trash Rat, said. "Have we won?"

Jon wasn't sure. Yes, they had taken the iron throne, but had they won? He nodded a "Yes."

"Our Queen has had an accident. She needs to be taken to her room. Is Sam here?"

"Yes Jon Snow," said one of the men, Blue Flea.

"She needs a Maester." Jon said. He picked her up into his arms, her body seemed small and frail. Yet, she had caused so much destruction.

He saw Tyrion Lannister walking towards him. When the dwarf reached him, he looked at him expectantly, his green eyes searching for something, Jon knew not what.

"Lord Tyrion," he said.

"Jon Snow," Tyrion nodded at him. "What news? I see that our Queen is not well."

"Yes. Not well. We need to talk." Jon put his hand on the smaller man's shoulder, and he watched as Blue Flea and Trash Rat carried Daenerys back into the castle.

"She killed innocent people Tyrion. She burned the city, razed it to the ground. Before I knew what was happening, as I caught up with her, she was just indiscriminately burning people. I watched people screaming, running on fire. I watched her hunt them down, even as they tried to hide. It was as if she was mad."

Tyrion fell silent. For once, the dwarf was speechless, he only looked at Jon, wide eyed and mute.

"Have you spoken to her? Did she give you any reason...any?

Jon interrupted, "There is no reason to do something like this. Tyrion, we were winning this war. It was as if she was gone. I called out to her. I begged her to stop. She kept flying, she kept burning, and her eyes were vacant, and distant. I had to knock her off of Drogon's back."

"I...I don't know what to say. What do you want to do?"

"What do I want to do? You are Hand of the Queen. The people are already afraid of her, now they will not follow her. She must step down."

"This is treason."

"Is it? You didn't see what I saw. You didn't watch what I watched. I flew across the city trying to stop her. She was determined. It was like she was determined to kill every single person in King's Landing."

"They've taken her to her chambers now. When she awakens, we need to discuss our next steps," Tyrion said. Jon could hear the fear in his voice.

"Have you seen any indication that she could do something like this...prior to today?" He felt like he was pleading for reason. The Dany that he knew-that he loved- was tough, and strong, but kind. She didn't burn children to death.

"I have not. I mean," Tyrion ran his hands through his hair, "I know that she can be ruthless, and tough, but she is not unnecessarily cruel."

"I need to know why." Jon said.

"I feel the same...and...what of my sister." Tyrion's eyes met Jon's.

"Cersei is dead. They rang the bells." Jon thought he almost saw something like sadness in Tyrion's eyes. "We have won...but at what price?"

Tyrion said, his voice almost a whisper. "I have often heard it said that the shadowbinders in Asshai have a saying…only death can pay for life."

"If that is true, what kind of life have we bought?" Jon asked.

"That remains to be seen," Tyrion said, and they walked towards the castle, the stone dragons watching over them like silent sentinels.