Not The Plan
Necessary information:
-Everything that happened in the TV show is canon in this story, except for the Dorne storyline. I am reading the books, however I have not read anything regarding the Dorne storyline yet. Because of this I am following the storyline from the show to a degree.
-What is canon in this story:
The entire Dorne storyline up to season 5 is canon for this story, however it is differentiating compared to the storyline in season 6. So to put this shortly, Doran Martell is alive, so are all the Sand Snakes and you know that bunch.
Sorry for the long wait, I wished to finish this story before posting these last few chapters and life got in the way. Hope y'all enjoy it!
I do not own any of the characters or the TV show, this is merely my interpretation on it. No copyright infringement intended.
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The overwhelming heat was the first thing that the Greyjoy noticed when she set foot on land after weeks of being on the sea. It was about as hot as it was back in Meereen. The brunette silently cursed under her breath, having to be back in excruciating heat once more. How she couldn't wait until they were finally going to move further north. However it seemed that would still take a while since they just arrived in this new land. A land that was known as Dorne.
Yara stretched her legs while looking around the docks, seeing everyone leave the ships and look around in wonder. Most, if not all seeing the Dornish surroundings for the first time, or perhaps it was even the first time they set foot on Westerosi soil. The brunette warrior looked back towards the ship she just got off and saw a familiar blonde looking around in wonder.
"Now who is stalling getting off the ship?" Yara called out to Daenerys, teasing her like the blonde had done to her when they left Meereen.
From the distance they were standing Yara couldn't tell for certain, but she believed she saw a blush appear on the cheeks of the silver-haired girl. The blonde tentatively walked off and stopped right at the edge. Looking at her feet like Yara had done before. Never quite getting enough of teasing the younger girl, the warrior let out a snort before speaking to the other girl again. Softer this time, because she was closer to her now, but still loud enough so that the people around them could hear her remark.
"Yes, only one more step. I know you can do it." the brunette said in a playful tone, only just stopping herself from laughing at her own witty remark.
The blonde probably knew it was a joke, but still the Ironborn female got a glare in return from her. The younger girl finally stepped onto the mainland and after that walked over to Yara. They stood in silence for a while, merely looking out at all the exotic plants and different architectural structures. The silence was broken by the brunette making another remark about the heat with a grumble. Her response was a giggle from the blonde who without saying another word walked away from the Greyjoy and over to the man that she had named her Hand.
Not seeing anything else to do the brunette walked after Dany and joined the pair that were in conversation. Deciding there was no need to hurry she walked over to the two at a leisurely pace. This caused her to only catch the end of the conversation that they had been having.
"…-is what the message said. I do not know the truth of it, but I believe it was written in his hand." uttered Tyrion to the Targaryen.
The blonde who was deep in thought seemed to be considering his words carefully, weighing her options until eventually coming to a decision.
"Send a messenger ahead of us to the Water Gardens, so that they will be expecting us. If Varys indeed sends that there is no hostility here and even a chance at an alliance, then I am not going to offend our possible future allies by distrusting their words. Have the men make camp here close to the docks, we shall take a small contingent of men, to be able to move more quickly and so as to show our trust." Daenerys spoke which such finality that there was no doubting of her words.
"It will be done at once, Your Grace." the little Lord replied. He was about to turn around to go and give said instructions and have a messenger dispatched until he stopped to ask one last question. "When do you wish to leave, My Queen?"
"As soon as possible." the blonde replied without hesitation.
And that is how Yara found herself on the back of a horse beside the Dragonborn girl one candlemark later. They rode the horses at a slow trot to get to their destination quickly, but so as not to completely tire the horses after they have just been at sea for over a month. Among their small contingent were Daenerys and Yara herself of course, but also Tyrion and Missandei. And then also they had twenty of those Horse Men – that the brunette had finally learned were called Dothraki – along with them, since the Unsullied did not ride horses and would hold up their group.
Yara looked back over to Tyrion and almost had to laugh at the comical sight before her. A sight of the Lannister being extremely uncomfortable on the back of his horse. Deciding not to make any comment on it was probably one of the hardest decisions Yara ever had to make in her life. The brunette thought this was probably not the time to antagonize the little man right now. Looking back over to Daenerys who was riding beside her, Yara saw the way the blonde nervously moved the reins around in her hands. Slowly moving her gaze further up the brunette saw the clenched jaw and the unwavering gaze fixed on the horizon, where their destination could be seen.
They rode on for a little while more like that, with Yara occasionally sneaking glances at her companion. Until finally they almost reached their destination when Daenerys signalled for everyone to slow down and let the horses walk the rest of the way, instead of trot. However while the horses had now slowed it seemed that the blonde's thoughts hadn't, as she still seemed to be deep in thought, thinking over every possibility. Keeping her gaze set straight forward Yara eventually spoke up.
"Everything will be fine, as you said they could be potential allies. And even if Varys was wrong and it turns out to be a trap, you still always have your men to protect you until your dragons can arrive. Everything will be alright." the Ironborn warrior tried to reassure the younger girl.
Still looking towards the ever-growing structure in the distance the brunette was slightly surprised when she felt a small hand grab hers. She grabbed the hand back just as firmly and squeezed it. The brunette hoped that her message was conveyed to the other girl. It was not lies to reassure her however, because every word Yara had said she also believed to be true. The smaller hand from the blonde released hers and Daenerys pulled back her hand before readjusting the reins so she was holding them in two hands again. As Yara went to do the same she heard a whisper from beside her.
"Thank you."
The warrior almost wanted to tease her on the fact that before she never said 'thank you' and now she was doing it pretty often. But Yara knew how much saying those words meant to the younger female. So instead of poking fun at her, the brunette instead gave a nod in reply, to signify that she had heard the show of gratitude.
Another half a candlemark later they finally arrived at the gates of the Water Gardens. The wooden gates with carved in figurines opened up to the inside when they approached and showed them a view of exotic plants and beautiful fountains of water. Even though Yara hated the heat and felt like she was about to fall off of her horse because of it, the brunette still had to admit that everything they had seen of Dorne so far was beautiful. Slowly the group moved their horses inside. And right there waiting for them was a small group of people. The horses were brought to a stop in front of this assembled welcoming party, if Yara had to describe it as anything.
Among the group were a few guards, three teenage girls and one teenage boy, an older female with short black hair. After this she noticed a bald male standing there as well and from stories the brunette had heard she figured that this must be Varys, also known as the Spider. Most importantly of all of these people was probably the man seated in a chair that seemed to be on wheels as he was giving off an aura of authority as well as having the most luxurious clothes. These factors hinted to the man being in charge here.
Yara looked beside her to see that Daenerys was gracefully dismounting her horse and the warrior swiftly followed her example – perhaps not as gracious – in getting off of her own mount. Yara saw Tyrion and Missandei get off their horses as well, but most of the Dothraki remained seated. Deciding it was not her call to make Yara merely left her horse's side to follow Daenerys who had stopped a short distance from the man in the chair. Remaining a small distance behind the blonde, Yara began to observe what was about to unravel. This could either turn into a fight, or they could have found one of their most important allies in this fight to reinstate the Targaryen line on the Iron Throne.
The silence remained tense for a short while longer. The man who the brunette warrior had named the leader in her head was studying the dragonborn girl in front of him. Yara did not know what he was looking for in the girl, but apparently he was satisfied when he eventually broke the silence.
"Welcome, Daenerys Stormborn, I have heard much about you. Your men may dismount, this is not a trap. We are not the enemy here." the man with wavy black locks spoke up earnestly.
The blonde was apparently satisfied with whatever answer the man had given her, because she turned her head slightly and gave the command to dismount. At least that was what the Ironborn female figured she did, since Yara cannot understand the Dothraki language. The brunette got brought back to reality when she heard Daenerys speaking to the man.
"You must be Prince Doran, correct?" the blonde asked, but it was more of a statement that she was expecting to be confirmed than a question which she had posed it as.
"I am indeed him." the man who was apparently named Doran spoke up and gave a nod along with his reply.
"Perhaps we should take this conversation somewhere inside, where we can all sit and start discussing this possible alliance." Daenerys replied with a suggestion that she probably expected to be followed. A smirk spread across Yara's face at the fact that the blonde was making concealed commands already.
"We can do that. However, first I would like to introduce you to these people here." the Prince gestured at the people around him. The Dornishman first gestured at the three teenage girls, putting a name to the faces. "These are Obara, Nymeria and Tyene Sand, some of the daughters of my deceased brother Oberyn." Moving on to the older female that was standing there with a proud look about her, she seemed to be excreting arrogance, "This is Ellaria Sand, the mother of the three girls." Then the male turned to his other side and gestured at the teenage boy. "This is my son Prince Trystane." Lastly the male motioned towards Varys. "And that is Lord Varys, but I believe you are already familiar."
The Dragon Queen had given a nod to each of the aforementioned individuals, indicating her greeting towards them, however when Doran finished his introductions the Dragonborn female spoke up. "I have heard news of him and I have gotten information from him, but we have never had the pleasure of meeting one another." Daenerys said, her voice however did not indicate that it was indeed a pleasure. Yara questioned why Dany spoke this way, but knew that she was probably not going to figure it out, so the warrior just let it go.
"The pleasure is all mine, Your Grace." the Spider replied. Daenerys only gave a small nod at that, before speaking to the Prince again.
"Where can our horses be taken to be housed and taken care of?" the blonde asked.
"One of our stableman shall guide some of your men and the horses to the stables where they can be taken care of. Now shall we go inside to further discuss what use we can be to each other?" Doran simply replied, already signalling for one of the guards to turn and push his chair inside.
Daenerys merely nodded and walked along. Their small party moved to follow Daenerys by going inside after the Prince's group had already started to move towards the entrance. All except for some of the Dothraki who would take care of the horses moved to follow their Queen. Let's hope this works out, Yara thought to herself, whilst she followed the silver-haired individual who walked in front of her.
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The next chapter will probably be dialogue heavy, but who knows.
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Xoxo
Vera