Internet was down, but here, I present you with an update, if anybody's still reading.
Bold words are spoken in Dothraki.
The door scapes to a shut and Sarah is seething, her escorts having just left her in her cell, the one with the funny eye contraption and speaks dothraki giving her one last look of apology as they shut the thick door with its iron bars. It's a small space, made of stone bricks, a small barred window, a small wooden chair in the corner, a rickety old cot she thought could not even hold a child is shoved to the side, and a dank bucket as a privy is in another corner. She surveys the place, the rushes crunching under her leather boots, her lip snarling in disgust.
I, a rider of the vast plains, and never submitted to anyone I cannot defeat, am locked inside A FUCKING CAGE!
She had been holding back, the very moment she walked into the big room with the silly king who looked to have never fought a day in his life, the moment they drew their weapons at her, the moment when she was looked down on by that infuriating woman in that infuriating red dress with her infuriating beautiful ice cold face, but at the present moment, she lets her fury rip out from her, the meager table and cot demolished to splinters as she rampages inside her cell. She has agreed to let them strip her of her pride as a dothraki, but they have stripped her of her weapons as well, and she has never felt so naked, so vulnerable, with nothing to grip as assurance, nothing to fight with.
I have no choice but to trust these people in their strange clothing to keep their word and not harm me.
Sarah doesn't like it. Sarah doesn't like it one bit, because Sarah does not trust, always having to rely on steel, speed, and strength to survive.
She thinks of her dagger, something she has never ever not worn, on the hands of someone else, and it makes her want to fix everything she broke just so she can break it again, and her mind inevitably veers towards how she ended up here in this strange land.
Seven months ago.
"No, I will not bloody leave Vaes Dothrak to go to this foreign land, you cannot make me!"
"Sarah, I told you to use the common tongue when it is just the two of us."
Sarah glares at the leader of the Dosh Khaleen, Khaleesis of past who now govern Vaes Dothrak. She was sitting on a chair with furs and bones, a staff at her hand, signfying her status.
"Sorfosor nakha she Havazzhifi Kazga. Vo hrazef laz yoma evethiz. Me nem nesa. " she stubbornly refuses, preferring the dothraki tongue. (The earth ends at The Black Salt Sea. No horse can cross the poison water. It is known.)
"Sarah." this time, it was a command, a reminder of who she was speaking to.
"You can't." Sarah meets her eyes, relenting on speaking the common tongue. "You can't make me, Siobhan." The head of the Dosh Khaleen shifts a little at the mention of her name, having not heard it for so long, even from the person she brought up as her own. For the first time, the anger gives way to something else, and her heart breaks a little when she sees the pleading in those eyes, sees the scared child all those years ago.
"I don't like this any more than you do child, believe me."
"Then WHY? First you forbid me to ride with the khalasar, never letting me out of Vaes Dothrak, and now you want to send me away to the ends of the earth?"
"The answer lies in your destination."
"I don't want an answer, I want to stay here and ride with the khalasar."
"Sarah, we talked about this."
"No, we didn't, you ordered me not to, without really telling me anything!"
"Dothraki do things in their own time, for their own reasons." Sarah goes perfectly still.
"Am I not Dothraki enough for you?" Siobhan realizes her mistake, seeing the the look in Sarah's eyes, more hurt than angry.
"Sarah-"
"Is this what this is about? Because I am not Dothraki born? Have I not proven myself already? Am I not one of your best riders? One of your best fighters? Is that why you did not allow the Khal to take me as his ko even though I am worthy of it?"
"Sarah, no, you don't have to prove anything. You are Dothraki through and through. "
Siobhan knows it does nothing to appease the younger woman, that it has always been a sensitive subject for her. She stands up and approaches Sarah, putting on every ounce of authority she can muster.
"You are Dothraki, and I am the head of your Dosh Khaleen. Do you not trust my wisdom, do you question my decisions?" It is automatic for the warrior to bow down on one knee, for no one dares to stand and question the leader of the old crones who rule their holy city, but she cannot stop gritting her teeth.
She feels a strong grip on her shoulders, pulling her up, and at that moment she knows she cannot outright question Siobhan as the Dosh khaleen, but she also cannot question Siobhan's love as a mother, she can see it as she stands eye to eye with the woman who has brought her up.
"This is for you child." her voice was kinder, her eyes softer. "The reason is you, it is for you. It is there, across the sea. You must go." She slowly cradles Sarah's face in her hand, feeling the jut of her jaw, the swallowed protests, and finally, the stiff nod.
"You ride tomorrow." From the pockets of her chest, she produces a scroll marked with a red seal."This is from one called Ethan Lannister, and you will speak to no one but him, understand? This will grant you safety and access in your destination." She puts her hand back on Sarah's face. "May the Great Stallion ride with you." She feels her 'daughter' rip herself away from her touch, stiffly walking out to her tent, no doubt to pack her things, but just before she can step outside, Siobhan calls her name. She stops, but she does not turn.
"When you come back, I will let you ride with the khalasar." It does the trick of making her turn, the first traces of anything else that wasn't anger and resentment painting her face.
"As a ko." This time, there was an almost smile on her lips as she grunts, then bows, taking her leave.
If not for what I get out of this, I would not be in this stinking crowded place, caged like an animal.
And she gives the poor chair one last kick, making sure it is unrecognizable from its former appearance, trying to calm down, but she paces any way, until it feels like the floor is worn out from her boots.
In the vast expanse of shelves in the library, Cosima is standing in the section about Essos, staring at a similar copy of a particular book Ethan gave her during her 12th nameday, never imagining that the contents of the book would come to be of practical use on that very same day.
Who would have thought...
"Pssst. Princess Cosima." She is deep in thought, and she doesn't hear the whispering, which eventually turned into hissing, throat clearing, and hand flapping that is happening in the shadowy edges of the shelves. Something sails past her eyes and she jerks with a start, turning her head to see where it came from. At first, she couldn't see much, but with a little squinting, she could make out Scott's figure behind the shelves. She walks as casually as she can towards him, until she is close enough to pull him further away from prying eyes.
"Here are the books I promised you." He reveals the bulge at his stomach to be a small sack containing a few books.
She reads the titles aloud, inspecting them one by one. "The Winters of Westeros...The Old Gods and the New... An Account of the History of Houses...Different Wines and the Science of Winemaking." She picks the last book up, noticing that it was relatively thinner than the others, looking more like an elegant journal than a book.
"This is incredible," she breathes out, scanning the contents, coming across words like cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir and different varietals. "I didn't ask for this, but thank you, I never knew it existed."
"Neither did I. I was just looking for the specific ones you asked."
"Where did you find it?"
"I didn't, that wasn't in the Maester's Library. It was given to me by the potion's master, to give to you."
"The po-Delphine?" Her eyebrows crunch together in confusion.
"Yes." he sighs dreamily at the mention of her name.
"How exactly did that happen?"
"Sheeee might have known that I was taking out books which weren't supposed to ba taken out."
"What?! You told her?" she hisses.
"No! nothing like that." he rushes the next words out. "I mean, she noticed that there were certain books that I was looking for and asked me about them, then she must have noticed that they weren't in their shelves the next day. She cornered me and asked me where they have gone."
"And you couldn't lie? You just dropped my name?"
"What? No! Of course not, I never mentioned your name, but other than that, what was I supposed to say?"she regrets her words at Scott's hurt tone.
I shouldn't take it out on him, he's the one doing me a favore here. It's not his fault, I mean, who could blame him? Anybody being cornered by that woman would probably confess the truth into anything she asked.
She sighs, then softens her tone.
"I'm sorry, Scott, I know you could get into trouble but you're still willing to do it. What exactly did she say?"
"Uh, she took them from me and asked if I found her demonstrations and teachings boring or too complicated that I would result to these books which were way out of context from what we should be doing and learning."
"What did you say?"
"I said no, far from it, she's actually really good in sharing what she knows without us being lost. I just said that I'm helping out a fellow who is interested in..these." He points out.
She looks at the book again, scanning the neat and elegant handwriting. "How?" she says almost absentmindedly
"How what?"
She meets his eyes. "It's about wine and wine making. Some of the terms here even I have never heard of. So how?" she asks, holding the book up, the irrefutable evidence that it was for her. "How did she know it was me?"
Scott shrugs, "She just kept looking like them, much like how you're looking at that one actually, then handed them back to me, told me to wait, then came back with that."
"What if she tells the Grand Maester?"
"Oh, no, she said she won't tell anybody."
"But how do we know if we can trust her?"
"We have no choice...Cosima. I don't know why you don't trust her, but she seems like a very decent and good person." He puts his hand on top of hers, trying to put her at ease. It was still foreign for him to address her so casually. "I did my best."
"Yeah. Yeah, Scott, I know, I'm sorry. Thank you for these. Hopefully, I'll be able to find something in them."
"There's actually this book, which I think is the exact thing you're looking for, A History of the Old World, but it's in the Grand Maester's private library, so I couldn't get it. Even we have to ask permission from him first, and it never leaves his study." her face fell in dismay.
"There's no one else I can ask except the Grand Maester himself, and there is no way in seven hells I'm doing that. There has to be another way to get that book."
"About that..." he retracts his hand, but Cosima catches the hesitation in his tone.
"What?"
"..."
"Scott."
And Maester Scott, tell this fellow of yours to come to me in the future if he or she ever needs more reading materials. Maybe I can help.
"Well, she also said she can help."
"No."
"She has access to that book."
"I said no. I'll get it myself if I have to, but I will never...wait," her head perks up, "maybe I can." her companion not liking where this is going.
"I just need to be there when it's empty. Give me the schedule of your working hours."
He was getting paler the more she talked. "I can't do that, what we're doing is serious bussiness, we are adding and expanding another branch on potions, some of those substances are very harmful. And like I said, it's in his private library, nobody simply walks in in there without him knowing."
Cosima is silent for a while, her expression making Scott grow even paler. "just give me your schedules. Let me handle the rest, I might know someone who knows a way in."
"Cosima, I can't, this is serious. You're a princess, I'm not, and my head would be on a spike if something goes wrong." For the first time, she sees serious panic and worry on his face.
"Scott, I'll never give up your name, that's why I'm the one going, so if I get caught, I'll be the only one to blame."
"But-"
"Trust me."
He looks at her helplessly. "What is this really about Cosima?"
She takes a deep breath, slowly letting it out. "That's what I'm trying to find out."
…
"My Lady , this is not a forgery, it is Lord Ethan's writing and signature." Felix was holding the paper up, examining it closely. Currently, the Grand Maester, The Hand, the Lord Commander and himself, were convening in the small council, the King off somewhere to do as he pleases to get his mind off the situation.
"Oh I know, Lord Felix, I've spent most of my twenty and one years growing up with that writing." The moment she saw the sealed on the paper as it lay on the floor, she somehow instinctively knew that it was a legitimate and official order.
"Then why did you-"
"Because a DOTHRAKI is in our city walls. No barbarian has ever crossed the Narrow Sea, the only reason why we do not fear any attack from them. But now one has. The previous Hand died before he can conduct whatever business he had with them, and he's not around to ask what that was."
The very reason people fear the blood riders now looms over the room.
"How then do we proceed with this situation?" the lord commander asks, scruffing his beard in worry.
"Might I suggest we ask the person involved." Aldous speaks up.
"Forgive me, Grand Maester Aldous, but you've seen how wild and untamed she is. We do not know her. She cannot be trusted to not cause a problem inside these walls, not to mention the communication barrier, we'd have more luck interrogating a wolf." Rachel answers with her impecable contolled voice.
A small smile quirks on his leathery face, "Ah, too true, my dear, I do not presume to know or trust her, but I do know Ethan, I trust Ethan. And if even if this recent situation seems dangerous and would no doubt cause quite a reaction, I'd like to believe that he did it for one hell of a reason worth fighting for. After all..." He holds Rachel's gaze, slowly speaking to make sure that every word he says will be heard and sink in for everybody in the room. "...he did the same thing for you, my Lady, when he fought for you to be the Master of Coin." There is a murmur of agreement, and even Rachel cannot discredit his logic. "And I do believe we can cross that language barrier."
Her brow slowly rises, while the Lord Commander Gavin visibly reacts.
"You cannot mean Princess Cosima?"
"It is a stroke of luck that she has a rudimentary Dothraki tongue. We can put that to good use and for our best advantage." Aldous calmly explains.
"She is the heir of Dorne." Gavin disbelivingly argues. "If anything happens to her while she is around such an unpredictable and dangerous person, her father will bring all of Dorne marching into the gates."
"No, Grand Maester Aldous is right." Rachel is suddenly agreeable, and Felix suspects it is the prospect of Cosima near danger and a chance to get even that is changing her mind. "We have no other translator to summon on such short notice. And if her safety is your concern, Lord Commander," she speaks directly to him before he can say another protest, "you can have one of your Kingsguard protect her at the same time watch the savage to make sure she is well behaved."
"Yes, my Lady," he finally conceeds, not really having another choice. "I will let Ser Paul know immediately." he moves to stand, but stops
"No."
"My Lady?"
"Send for Lady, Ser? Whatever it is you call her, Selmy."
"My Lady, not that I am questioning your decision, but Ser Paul has been longer in the Kingsguard and has a physical advantage."
"Ser Paul also strikes as a menace to her, keeping her agitated and on her toes, making it harder to extract the information we need. Elizabeth is the first person she allowed to have any sort of interaction with her. They have already unwittingly established a sense of trust with each other. If she was able to maim a previous kingsguard, I'm sure she can hold up well against an unarmoured female. Sometimes, it is not all about strength, Lord Commander."
It promptly shuts him up, and it is moments like these that prove just how efficient and dangerous Rachel Lannister in handling situations, making her almost irreplaceable in the kingdom.
That, or because if things get ugly, the princess has a higher chance of being hurt if it's Beth on the job, Felix muses. With Lady Perfect Psycho, you don't really know. Gods, I swear she's even worse than Allison, and that's saying something, except Allison has a heart while this one is just pure terror.
"All right then, Lady Elizabeth will be satisfactory for the job. I shall inform her."
"I'd like to accompany her when she goes to the holding cell, if you'll allow it." Felix chimes in.
They collectively turn to look at him with a questioning gaze, Rachel's eyes imperceptibly squinting.
"Whatever for, Lord Felix" she drolls.
And his lips stretch from both sides, a smile that is stiff and does not really look like how a smile is supposed to be.
"Being from Essos myself, I'd love to see a Dothraki up close."
"Nice save there Selmy. Things could've really gotten ugly."
"Are you going soft on me dipshit?" She playfully punches his shoulder, her gauntlet clanking with his armor. "Nah, it was Princess Cosima who did the real save. I wasn't even thinking when I stepped out, I sort of did it out of instinct." Her ears jar as she feels his palm connecting with the back of her helmet.
"What the hell Art?"
"I thought you were doing the right thing, now I know you did something stupid."
"Hey, it was the right thing. It worked." she protests, removing her helmet to comfort her ears.
"It worked, but you have to think things through next time, because it can mean the difference of not having a next time."
She scoffs. "I don't need you hovering over me."
"I am looking out for you. Someone has to."
She is about to snipe at him when he suddenly goes stiff, standing to attention at someone calling her name.
"Lady Selmy."
She turns, mimicking Art's posture.
"Lord Commander." They both greet in stiff notes, but he waves it away, coming to stand in front of Beth. "Walk with me." and he starts walking, expecting her to follow.
She glances at Art, who widens his eyes at her, a silent push to go after their superior.
She falls into step with him, wondering what this is about, when he slows to a stop along a hallway, and she does the same.
"You are to keep the Dothraki in line as you see fit while guarding Princess Cosima as she does the interrogation."
It takes a moment for her to process everything he just said; when she finally understands, she opens her mouth to protest.
"Ser Gavin, I'm a Kingsguard, not a babysitter, my duty is to protect the king."
"And I am your Lord Commander. That's an order."
It takes all of her to stop herself from saying something out of anger and speak calmly as much as she can, but even a fool would be able to pick up the strain in her voice.
"I know I'm not a man, but I am as capable as they are in being a Kingsguard."
He sighs. "This is not about that. Lady Rachel asked for you specifically, her explanation was too long and complicated but it has something to do about getting information out of the Dothraki easier."
Beth is trying to understand what he means, but knowing Rachel, she's sure it's more of a tactic to get what she wants, but it still does not quell the resentment in her.
"Look at it this way." Gavin tries again. "you are guarding both the Dornish heir, and the King's life under your shield, because you are in direct contact with the possible threat the Dothraki can bring. You are Kingsguard, Lady Selmy, I don't question that, not anymore. I fought beside your father during the rebellion, I respected and admired him...I still do...you were born to be in the Kingsguard, regardless of your sex. "
She doesn't really know what to say to that, overcome with emotion and awkwardness from his words.
"I...thank you, Lord Commander."
At the mention of his title, his tough and gruff mask is back, barking at her.
"I trust you still have her weapons with you." She nods.
"Good. Go find Lord Felix and princess Cosima. You're gonna go face what I'm sure is a very pissed off person. I know I would be if I were her, and you'll need all the help you can get in calming her down." without another word, he turns back and walks away, not seeing the small smile on her lips as she watches the swaying of his cape.
Sarah is still pacing, her anger not waning, if anything else, it just flamed higher the longer she stayed confined. The rushes on the floor now laying limp and flat on the countless times they've been trampled on, the meager furniture all in splinters. There is nothing left for her to break, and she ruefully eyes the wooden beam in the center of the room. She thinks about it for a second, before her anger promptly tosses her contemplation out of the small square that passes as a window and she charges at it, kicking it, hearing the satisfying trembling of the wood and ignoring the rebounding pain on her knee and hip.
"I don't think even that poor wooden pillar stands a chance against you." she whips her head around at the sound of a male voice, not having noticed that she had an audience watching her through the door's bars. The man nods to the side at what she presumes is the guard, and steps inside with two familiar faces behind him. She finds herself having to look up, for he is tall and lanky, clothed in glaringly colorful robes and curiously staring at her.
"Good news. You're out." A chirpy voice makes Sarah look around him to see a beaming Cosima, a stoic Beth beside her. Sarah's eyes are immediately drawn towards the dagger and curved blade held by the latter. Felix notices her downward gaze.
"Ah, yes, I believe you'd want them back. Lady Beth, if you please." he holds his hand out.
"Your weapons." Cosima explains to her, unaware that it is unnecesary.
Beth hesitates, fearing for his safety, which he notices.
"It's quite alright." he says with a smile.
The arakh is placed on his palm, and he turns to present it, leather bound arms wasting no time in reaching out to take it, making Beth grip her sword instinctually, Sarah noticing the reaction. Slowly and deliberately, she fingers the edge of the blade, then at the same pace, sets it at her hip, causing Beth to be on edge that whole time and trying not to lose it at the vengeful smirk she can see on the dothraki.
She thrusts the dagger's hilt towards Felix, glaring balefully.
Felix takes it in both hands, then grips the hilt, clearly not about to give it back yet. Kohl smudged eyes snap up, half in warning and half in question. He had his back towards Cosima and Beth, covering the whole incident. He calmly meets her burning gaze, then he maneuvers the knife, turning it around, so the hilt is in his palm while the blade sits on his wrist and arm. His eyes glance down to look at it, prompting Sarah to do the same, then with his other hand, he draws back the sleeve under the knife all the way to his elbows, revealing straight line of raised skin from the inside of his arm down to the side of his palm. Her eyes go wide in recognition, and he smiles, watching her as she lays her fingers over the scar, then the hilt, and he drops his arm, years of honed reflexes causing her to grip it before it falls.
He turns to the two women behind him.
"Princess, I think I'll leave the explaining to you." he says, stepping out of the cell. He can vaguely hear Cosima stumbling with her dothraki grammar as she tries to translate the instructions he relayed to her.
If she's who I know she is, she understood every word that she heard.
"I'm sorry for...this." Cosima gestures at the room, not wanting to call it for what it is, which is basically holding her as a prisoner. Beth's eyes sweep across the room, noting its state of destruction and the well worn pattern on the floor where Sarah has been pacing. She leans her head towards her translator. "Don't tell me she's been walking and destroying things non stop."
"Uh." It's Cosima's turn to truly look at the room, then at Sarah, who gives an impatient shrug as if to say 'it was the only thing I could do. Get on with it.'
"I think it would be better if we take her out of here first." She whispers back to Beth who gives a small nod.
The princess clears her throat, then smiles. "How about we discuss things someplace else that doesn't have walls." If Sarah had ears, they would have perked up, and she tries to hide her pleasure at getting out of confinement, making a move to head to the door, but is blocked by golden armour. She growls menacingly at Beth who was half a head taller than her.
"Easy there. Before we leave this room, I want you to understand some things here. Firstly, if you harm even just a hair from the princess' braids, I will cut off your hands. Can you make sure she understands that, Princess Cosima?"
Cosima doesn't know whether to be amused or horrified. "Oh, sure, uhm.. she will accompany us wherever we go, to ensure that we will not be harmed or disturbed."
"Second, if you pose any threat to the King, I will not hesitate to cut your head off."
"She is a very brave protector because she's one of the people who personally protects the king."
"Third, if she does not cooperate and piss Lady Rachel off, I will personally strangle whatever it is she wants out of your throat."
"She hopes everything will work out fine with you and Rachel and that you both work through this."
"And lastly, I'm Beth, and welcome to King's Landing, Sarah."
The first interaction between the Hand and their guest was disastrous, the two of them clashing the instant they were put in the same room. So Rachel instructs them instead to escort Sarah to one of the rooms in Maegor's Holdfast to calm the both of them down, which she adamantly refused.
"I would rather sleep in my tent, on the ground. I do not need your petty refineries." (Cosima decided to tone it down with "she prefers to sleep in her tent")then she actually spat on the floor before turning around to walk away, not even waiting for a reaction from Rachel.
That was almost a week ago, and now Cosima was flipping a map around, sure that she was lost. The dim light wasn't helping her either, but she knows she is near, because she just heard Scott and the other Maesters collectively leaving, done for the day. It took more convincing for Scott to finally reveal the times that the Grand Maester's testing rooms would be empty. However, how she ended up to be in one of the underground passageways leading to the Grand Maester's study was one of the hardest she'd ever had to convince someone. She asked Felix to procure for her a map of the underground passages in the Red Keep, offering free flowing wine to all his brothels for two weeks, which he quickly maneuvered into a 2 month long supply.
"But you own half the brothels here. It's too much. The stores for next year will be depleted."
"What you're asking is also rather hard and dangerous to procure, that I'm not asking what you plan to do with it is a huge added bonus. And I will not settle for two weeks." She finally relented to one month, feeling the loss of her best wine, and hopes that it is worth it. She flips the map again, wondering how her brain can understand higher complexities but has the lowest ability in her sense of direction, wondering whether to go left or right at a fork underground.
Her frustration gets to her and she punches the wall, inspired by Sarah, and immediately regrets when white hot pain shoots down her arm.
"Holy crrrooouch. Okay, Cosima, you have your brains, not Sarah's or Beth's wall immune knuckles. Think!"
But she cannot think, not with her knuckles throbbing. "This is hopeless." she huffs, leaning on the wall, closing her eyes and trying not to cry. The silence and solitude of being underground calms her down, and then she feels it, a small pulling in her gut. She slowly opens her eyes, deciding to trust her instincts and not her head for once, choosing the pathway on the left.
She keeps walking, until she comes across a flight of stairs, and almost skips in joy ascending them, stopping at the closed door. One last look at the map confirms that she is in the right spot, and she crams it in her chest, hoping and praying that the other side is empty. She braces both hands, and gives a slow push, opening the door a little, waiting for a moment for any reaction, then slowly pokes her head out.
"Yes!" the Grand Maester's study is empty, and she sees that the door she opened isn't a door, but is a bookshelf. She steps out, awed at the volumes of books that are only seen by a handful of people, arcane and dangerous knowledge.
She shakes her head, reminder herself as to why she snuck in, and starts scanning the spines and titles. There are a lot of interesting titles, ones she would like to look at, but resists and keeps on scanning, pulling the chair to hoist her up so she can see the upper shelves. Her excitement wanes, thinking that maybe Scott has his information wrong, because she cannot find it. She is sure she has not skipped a book, she has checked and rechecked five times already, and has not come across it yet. Upon closer inspection, she notices that the books on the top shelf had more spaces between them.
One more book could fit in here...Which could only mean one thing, someone else took it.
"I believe you are looking for this.
AN: Im sorry, but I keep visualizing Commander Lexa as a dothraki... oh, wrong show.