A Song of Light and Shadow
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Chapter 5
Daenerys
The Dragon queen sat on her throne. In truth, public order was getting worse in the Slaver's Bay. Yunkai and Astaphor were now utterly against her as Qarth was. The former slaves loved her, but not all were as willing to change as those without the power to change. Daenerys had given them that. Yet, at the same time, her enemies made no moves against her except for the siege of Meereen. The siege was quite, however, and the Yunkai had not yet made a move to attack the city. Her dragons were once again fully under her control, she still had many Unsullied warriors at her disposal, and now a Dothraki horde followed her in to the city of Meereen as well as the realignment of the Second Son's to her side once again. Daenerys had five times the military power she had when she took Meereen. Yet, the armies of Yunkai and Qarth were greater than her own.
She was unsure what she could do. She was about to marry a man she did not love for the sake of peace, and yet her people suffered for fact that she was still at a stalemate. Indeed, she now had the power do destroy Yunkai and Astaphor if she wanted, but it would only make matters worse. Freed men would be killed, and the warships of Qarth would move against her the very moment she made a move. However, today wasn't a day that war troubled her, it was the men that knelt before her throne. Jorah Mormont, who she swore to kill if she ever saw him again, and a dwarf who claimed to be a son of one of the Usurper's dogs.
Yet, both men stated that they were loyal to her and brought the Second Sons to her side once again. This was true. The Second Sons once again swore loyalty to Daenerys when she found them. However, there was one member that Daenerys had hoped to find in the company that was not present. Daario. Her heart dropped when she could not find him. Though she knew full well he was captured, she would have thought the Yunkai would have released him when she and her dragons disappeared. This was not the case. In truth, the Yunkai wanted to remove Daario's head from his shoulders. Daenerys wanted to stop this. She wanted to stop this, but she could not. Already the Yunkai had the advantage. Battle was eminent, everyone knew it was going to happen. However, she had her dragons. But the archers of the Yunkai had incredible aim, and Daenerys did not want her dragons to be killed by Yunkai's many archers.
Daenerys had ordered Ser Barristan Semly to keep watch on the walls in case the Yunkai should choose to attack. So far she had not reached word of any action. Her dragons were waiting for her outside the palace, the desire for battle and flesh deep in their eyes.
"Jorah Mormont," Daenerys said slowly, "You were banished from my sight, never to return under pain of death. And yet, here you stand, defying my last command and offer of mercy. And Tyrion Lannister, you are the son of a man who betrayed my father and the brother of the brother of the man who killed my father. You both have committed treason, and have forfeited your lives by coming here."
Jorah and Tyrion did not look at Daenerys. They both maintained their bow, their heads looking at the ground.
"Well?" Daenerys asked, "What have you to say in your defense? Why did you defy me, Jorah, and why did this son of a traitor come with you? Speak."
"My queen," Jorah said quietly, "we have come to beg your forgiveness. I have come because I swore to protect you. I have come because I fear for your safety. I have come because…. Because I believe in you and your cause. I came, because I am as much a broken man as my friend here. Acknowledging our sins that we have betrayed you, and in hope that we may atone for them. I had hoped to bring this Lannister before you, believing that I would be forgiven by helping you bring your enemies to justice, but he claims that he was seeking you out, hoping to join your cause."
Daenerys looked at Tyrion questionably, and bade him to speak as well.
"Your Grace," Tyrion started, "under my father's name, House Lannister had forsaken House Targaryen. Under my father's name, the men of the Westerlands came with evil intentions to King's Landing under the banner of peace. Lannister is a name respected only for its wealth, and cursed for everything else. It has no honor left. It has become a house that has not only betrayed House Targaryen, but all of Westeros. Your Grace, I seek to restore honor to my family's name. I am the Lord of Casterly Rock, yet no one will recognize my claim. No one loves a dwarf. No one will say that I have had the interests of the Realm in mind. Yet, I do have the interests of the Realm in mind. I want to bring back honor to my name. I want something and someone I can believe in. I want someone to bring peace to the Realm. I want to see you seated on the Iron Throne. And I want to serve you as Lord of Casterly Rock, as is my Gods' given right to serve you as Lord of Casterly Rock. I want the true ruler of Westeros to come back to her throne. I want Queen Daenerys Targaryen as my ruler."
Daenerys sat back in her throne. Their words moved her, but they still must be punished in some way. Daenerys would take accept their pleas for forgiveness, but they would still be under her punishment as she saw fit.
"Ser Jorah, Lord Tyrion," Daenerys started, "I have decided that I shall not kill you, but that does not mean you shall go unpunished. You both will follow me into war, and for your loyalty you will be rewarded. I will restore both of your honors, you have my word on the matter. Do you accept my punishment?"
"Yes, your Grace," the two answered.
"Then rise," Daenerys said, "and be on guard. I fear war will come sooner than we think."
Sadly, she was right. Several hours later messengers from Yunkai came to Daenerys and demanded that she leave Slavers Bay with her army and dragons, never to return. When Daenerys refused, the Yunkai brought forth great siege weapons against Meereen. Catapults were used by the Yunkai, and they used the captured as ammunition as weapons of fear. Many screams of terror despair roared throughout Meereen that day. Even Daenerys was shocked by the Yunkai's use of the prisoners. She feared for Daario, but she had to be strong. She wanted to cry right then and their but she had to be strong. She had to be strong for her people.
"If I look back I am lost," she thought to herself.
"Ser Barristan," Daenerys called.
"Your Grace," Ser Barristan answered.
"Return fire," Daenerys commanded, "Let them know that we will avenge the deaths of our own with their deaths."
"What of the dragons, my queen?" Ser Barristan asked.
"I have a plan for my dragons," Daeneryes answered, "but first we must destroy their catapults and archers, if we can. Are they attacking on all sides?"
"The northern front is not occupied by the enemy, your Grace," Jorah answered, "The Yunkai fear the Dothraki without Unsullied spears."
"Good," Daenerys answered, "Send the Dothraki out the northern gates, and have my dragons gather there, too. Keep our archers on the walls and our swords and spears on the walls and gates. Make sure we are using our catapults and ballistae to take down their siege towers and rams. The ladders will be harder to take down, so after the other siege equipment is destroyed, focus on the enemy archers."
"Your Grace," Jorah asked, "What do you plan on doing with the Dothraki and your dragons?"
"That is rather simple," Tyrion responded, "We need to get the Dothraki around the Yunkai and attack them from behind. We must be silent and slow so the enemy does not see us. The dragons, obviously, would need to take a longer route to get behind the Yunkai, seeing as large and noticeable they would be in battle. However, I don't think it is wise to send the dragons after the Yunkai just yet."
"Explain yourself, Lord Tyrion," Daenerys demanded.
"The warships of Qarth," Tryion answered, "Dragons won't do very well in defending the city from the Yunkai if the city is taken by Qarth. The enemy still outnumber us by three to one. Nothing compared to the power of dragons, but still enough that your dragons can't be everywhere at once. This isn't an open plain like the Field of Fire. You are defending a city. Much can still go wrong, and a ballista can take down a dragon. The enemy is prepared."
"I didn't know you understood the mechanics of a siege, my lord," Ser Barristan said.
"After reading about siege warfare and fighting off a siege yourself, you pick up on a few things," Tyrion said with a smile.
"Very well, my lord," Daenerys said after some thought, "We will try things your way. I will ride my dragons into combat, to boost our troops' morale. Ser Barristan and Lord Tyrion, I would have you both man the walls, seeing as you both know a thing or two on siege warfare. Ser Jorah, I need you to lead the Dothraki. Keep your wits, and make sure the enemy doesn't see you until you are on top of them. They will break under our flank."
"Yes, your Grace," the three men answered.
The four departed, each to their own duty. Daenerys mounted on Drogon's back. The large black dragon gently growled, ready to fight against the foes of his mother. Daenerys noticed that Jorah took one final look at her before he took the Dothraki horde northwards to war. In truth, Daenerys had hoped that Jorah would have forgotten his love for her. It was simply something that could never be. She pitied him for that love, yet she knew that love was what kept him so loyal to her. In that, at least, she was thankful.
She spoke to her dragons in Valyrian, telling them to fly. The dragons took to the sky, traveling westward and then south. Daenerys wondered how many warships there would be. She wondered if the ships also had ballistae on them. Though, she figured it would be safer to catch the Qarth warships by surprise than them catching her by surprise. The dragons carried her speedily across the Bay, each beat of dragon wings leaving its own gust of wind roaring behind them.
"The water is beautiful," Daenerys thought, "It will be a pity to spill so much blood in them."
Soon she happened to see the ships in the distance. She called her dragons to move faster and descend upon them. The dragons moved with their greatest speed upon the ships, breathing fire upon the ships with speed and ferocity upon the words of their mother. Too late the Qartheens moved against the onslaught of dragon fire. Again a ship went ablaze with fire and again, but there were so many. Suddenly a new ship appeared from the south. However, this ship did not have the Qarth banner upon rather, but rather the sails were black and had a golden kraken engraved upon them. As the last Qartheen warhip went into the black bottoms of the Bay, a horn sounded, and Daenerys and her dragons turned to listen.