The Dragon and the Hawke 17

Ser Jorah Mormont was a simple man, and an old knight. He knew to keep his mouth shut, follow orders, and answer to royalty. This was why he was a very good knight, and why he was something of a toothless advisor. No matter how much he believed in his own words, he felt that the monarch was the last word on everything, so he never fought too hard against any of Dany's proclamations and decisions.

Now, one may hear this and think back on his service to Robert Baratheon and ask, if that is the case, why does he not still serve the usurper or his children. The answer to that was the fact that Dany had the good grace to reveal divine selection in his presence. That and he was a dirty old man who got to see her naked several times. If there was one thing that would lead a man from Patriotism, it was his little head.

Jorah never regretted the decisions his second head had made. He often rationalized them, and described them differently, but it was all the same. Rationalization was why he had never expected his feelings for the queen to be returned, and why he was not as upset as some men would be at the sight of Daario Naharis leaving the queen's chamber early one morning.

He was upset that it wasn't somebody more trustworthy though. When the sellsword smiled and walked past him, he had to watch the man stride away before turning a corner. Once Daario was out of sight, he took a moment to compose himself before moving into the queen's chamber.

Dany was feeling really, really good that morning. She hadn't had sex since her first husband died, having never even tried to consummate with Xaro for the brief time she and the fat man had been married. And like that her good mood was broken, she shuddered and got out of bed.

Dressing quickly, the Mother of Dragons strode around her council table, stopping over Slaver's Bay and leaning down to look at her territory. It was in this position that she heard Jorah enter.

"Your grace," He called quietly in his raspy voice

"You're here early," She notes with a smirk

He snorts, and with just a sound he tells her all she needs to know. As he climbs the steps to her level she rolls her eyes and turns her head to look at him, "You don't approve?"

"It's not a matter of approval, your grace, merely trust."

She snorts, "You neither approve nor trust."

"The man's a sellsword."

"Didn't you fight with the golden company before pledging your sword to my brother?"

"I did."

"I trust you."

He clearly has no reply to that, and licks his lips before trying to change directions, "Putting your faith in a man like that will only lead to-"

"I do not put my faith in him," Dany tells him, "He is very good at sex."

Jorah droops his head, wishing she hadn't said that. With his eyes averted, he failed to see Dany's smirk, who thought about all the times that Marian had told her that men got terribly uncomfortable around the idea of women of high birth talking plainly about sex. They loved to use it as a weapon, but when the tables were turned they had no idea how to react to it.

"Daario has proven himself several times, and he has asked me to find work for himself and the Second Sons that includes more than patrolling," Dany tells him, "I've told him that he is to talk to Marian for any ideas that she might have, and then, if still nothing arises, I will begin to send him and his forces out to make sure more than the cities hold loyalty to me."

Jorah nods, seeing the wisdom of her ideas, and trying not to think to hard on what she said before those ideas. After a moment, he takes a deep breath and tells her, "When you are ready, I can have the latest reports brought in."

She waves her hand for him to do so and he steps out of the room. A moment later, he returns with three servants, each carrying a book and Jorah carrying a stack of papers. She looks up at him as he and the servants set everything on the table and raises an eyebrow in question. He pats each of the books in sequence and tells her, "The laws of Meereen, Yunkai, and Astapor collected by the Knowing Slaves of some forgotten slaver lord a century ago. You will need to wade through them to find what you must change to create a single rule."

"Knowing Slaves?" Dany asks

"Slaves raised to be tutors for wealthy families," Jorah tells her

Dany nods, then shakes her head and pulls forth the book on laws in Meereen, thinking ruefully about how much easier it must be for Marian. All she had to do was throw fireballs.

Fireballs happened to be off the menu for Marian though, for the mage was relaxing in the bathing stream next to Missandei and a few other women. The former champion and current goddess was relaxing in a particularly warm patch of mud and water as Missandei wringed a rag of water.

"It would go quickler if you helped," the summer islander told her

"It would," Marian agreed, "But there is also the chance that I might set things on fire."

"You would do that?"

"Yep! I once set a week's worth of fresh clothes on fire because I got frustrated with all the wringing."

"You worry me."

"Why?"

"Your temper is nearly that of the dragons."

"Ha! Dragons have nothing on me!" Marian tells her lover, turning her head and opening one eye, "There's an old saying where I'm from; Mages are subtle in their manipulations, but quick to anger."

"You are not subtle," Missandei points out, rolling her eyes

"Yeah, but I'm quick to anger," Marian points out

Missandei snorts, and shakes her head in amusement. Her attention is turned to the sound of splashing down stream and she is privy to the sight of several unsullied having a good time. She smiles at the sight, knowing that it had never before been a possibility for them to have such whimsical activities as swimming for pleasure.

She also noticed a head staring at her. Furrowing her brow and focusing her eyes, she could see that it was Grey Worm. She couldn't tell much more, only that he seemed to be staring at her, and she really wasn't sure how she felt about that. She frowned, and stood taller, hoping to get a better look.

Sure enough, it was Grey Worm. After realizing that he was indeed staring at her, and that she was as naked as the day she was born, she covered herself. She lowered back down as the unsullied turned and swam away, a frown marring her features.

"What's wrong?" Marian asks, seeing the look on her face, sitting up and running a hand over her cheek.

Missandei looks to the swimming unsullied and gulps, she then licks her lips and tells her woman, "Grey Worm was watching me."

"He was?" Marian furrows her brow, then turns to look over at the unsullied before returning her gaze to Missandei, "Want me to talk to him when we're all dressed?"

Missandei thinks for a moment, then nods, worrying her lips as she tried to decide if she was making the right call. Marian smiled at her, kissed her, and pulled herself up, "Hey, relax! Grey's got no idea what he's thinking right now. You're very pretty, but I'll just tell him that he can look at other girls, but only I get to look at you like this."

Missandei furrows her brow again and looks up at Marian's face to ask what she meant, when she saw the look on Marian's face. She gulped in anticipation for what would inevitably come in later hours of the day.

Marian chuckles, then claps her hands, "Anyway! I've gotta go find Daario and see about setting up a city guard. Ddany wants me to try and copy the one that existed in Kirkwall."

"Didn't you say that they were terribly corrupt?"

"Yeah, but that was before my friend Aveline took over."

"Ah, and what are your hopes for Daario's guard?"

"That at least we'll know he's our kind of crooked."