The Dragon and the Hawke 26
Daenerys Stormborn was not pleased.
It had taken her only a few minutes to come to this conclusion, and a few more to realize that along with not being pleased, she was rather angry. Livid, was a good word to describe her current emotional state.
And the reason for this current state of anger was standing before her. Marain smiled back at her impetuously. Dany decided that she had to make her feelings known, "I am not happy."
"I know, you've said that like six times now," Marian agrees, taking a bite of one of the near infinite number of apples she somehow always seems to carry with her.
The reason for the queen's anger was the simple fact that she had been stuck in her rooms until she cooled down. How this came to be had a lot to do with the fact that she decided she wanted to feed all of the noble lords of Meereen to her children for the simple fact that the Sons of the Harpy had dared to try and take two of the people most precious to her, from her.
Barristan, Marian, Missandei, and even Daario had all shared looks, and in an instant the queen was over the guard captain's shoulders and in her rooms. She'd then experienced several very enjoyable hours that had taken her mind off of the attempt on Marian and Barristan's lives. But that soon ended, and when she was out of her satisfied glow she was ordering Daario to collect the former Great Masters and heads of noble families.
Daario had smiled at her in a pained manner and left the room. She had not thought much on his expression, and only realized that her orders weren't being followed when Marian had entered the room and explained the situation to her.
It had then taken two hours for her to get to mentioning that she was not happy for the sixth time. After that, she finally decided to ask, "Why are you stopping me? They tried to kill you!"
"Lots of people try to kill me," is the reply, accompanied by a shrug and another bite, "And none of them have ever succeeded."
"They could have gotten lucky."
"Nah, I've got an amulet of luck," Marian tells her
Dany gives her a flat look, "You've said so in the past, and I don't see how that would help now any more than it did then."
"It always helps!" Marian squawks indignantly, "I made this thing myself! Put the magic in and everything! Are you saying you don't trust the superior magical talent of yours truly?"
Dany sighs, leaning her head back against her chair and then changes the subject, "Very well, you were in no danger, they still made the attempt!"
"Yeah, but ambushes in crowded streets are something I'm used to."
"That doesn't make it better!"
"Okay, fair enough, but I'm telling you, it's fine! I'm fine, Barristan's fine, you're angry at the wrong people and so we're stopping you from making the wrong decision here," Marian points at her with her apple, "As much as we want, as much as we hate them, we can't kill them without proof."
"We have proof!" Dany snarls, "They went after you and Barristan!"
"And me and Barristan were painting a target on our backs!" Marian tells her, "For hours! We could have caught their attention at any time. Just because we weren't at court today doesn't mean that it was one of the nobles at court that sold us out. Hell, that might actually be a point in their favor."
"What do you mean?" Dany asks
"Well they never saw us leave, so they had no idea we were out on the town, so how could they tell anyone to target us? We could have been elsewhere in the pyramid, or anywhere!"
Dany sinks in her chair, frowning. She drums her fingers on her leg as she thinks, and then after a moment she nods, "Fine, I'll believe you, and your theory, for now."
Marian claps her hands together happily and bows them, "Thank you! Your confidence in my intelligence is inspiring!"
She then takes a bite of her apple and starts skipping out of the room, "I'll call a council meeting!"
Dany nods, not caring if it's seen or not, and stays in her chair, thinking. Her thoughts rage around her head, and she cannot quite keep a stern grasp of one or another for long. The one thought that keeps flying through her head looks like her brother, and it looks like him and her merging into a single person.
Her shudder of disgust cannot be held back, and it is when he nails dig into her knee that she realizes what her own thoughts are trying to tell her, killing the masters was something that Viserys would have done, or her father before him.
She was meant to be better than both men, and she had almost fallen to their level. She did not like that, but from what Barristan had told her not a day ago, her family was plagued with madness, even her. She would have to fight against the pull of it for the rest of her days, no doubt. But she would not become like her brother.
It takes her five minutes to calm down fully, and when she stands to join the council, everyone had arrived and was waiting patiently for her to start the meeting. She slides into her seat and looks at Hizdahr, the man gazing back at her impassively.
Finally, she speaks, "I agree with your request, Hizdahr, we will reopen the fighting pits."
Mossador is the first to react to this news, and stands, shouting an incredulous and enraged, "What!?"
Dany raises a hand to calm him, "It will not run as it had in the past. Daario, as a former fighter himself, will help come up with a new system that reflects my new empire. If there is even a hint that the slave masters are trying to bring back what i have destroyed, they will find themselves in the arena with any man who wants to have a piece of them, and they will not be allowed a champion, as is the custom in Westeros."
Mossador, closes his mouth, narrows his eyes, then turns to Hizdahr, "Your family owns much in the arena."
"And i have volunteered to gift my holdings to the queen," Hizdahr tells him, "My wish is to see Meereen united, and I feel that the arena has always been something we all enjoyed."
It is clear that Mossador wants to disagree, wants with all his heart to tell the queen that Hizdahr is full of shit, but he cannot. He sits back in his chair, and nods.
"Did you enjoy the fights when you were still a slave?" Dany asks gently, having watched the internal war play across Mossador's face, much like her own must have
The former slave simply nods glumly, then also adds, "It was the only time myself and my master agreed on anything."
Dany nods, and she once places her faith in the fact that everything that Mossador and Hizdahr had agreed on up until this point had worked out for the better. Turning to Daario and Barristan, she starts a new subject, "How goes the hunt for the Sons of the Harpy? Especially after today."
"Today?" Hizdahr asks, "Something happened?"
"Me and Barristan got attacked in the streets," Marian tells him
"My gods, are you alright?" He asks in alarm
"Yeah, we're fine," Marian smile, "Nothing some time with Missandei couldn't fix at least."
Hizdahr blinks and his eyebrows rise as he turns his attention to Missandei, "I was unaware that you were well practiced in the healing arts?"
Missandei blushes, and Marian snorts. Then Hizdahr gets it, and his mouth pops open in a silent 'oh' of understanding. Daario snorts, and Dany smiles as she comes to the conclusion that Hizdahr probably had nothing to do with the attack.
The council meeting lasts another hour, with things like taxes and tariffs being the main source of discussion, but there is a certain sense of accomplishment as Mossador and Hizdahr leave the chamber. The pair are used to being the only two to leave; they may be advisors, but they aren't friends as the rest of them are.
"So, calmed down?" Marian asks, smirking as she bites an apple
"I have," Dany nods, sighing, "I have also thought about how close I came to being as bad as my brother, or my father."
"Your grace," Barristan steps over to her, and with a kind smile he lays a hand on her shoulder, "You are a far way away from being your father, and I am so very proud of you for that."
Dany smiles up at the old knight. Not since William Darry had died had she felt like she had anything close to a father, and now she had Barristan, and she was happy. She was happy to have friends as good as those she did.
She even, to some degree, was glad to have Jorah, terrible traitor though he was.