The Dragon and the Hawke 41
Aegon blinks at his aunt, "You can't possibly be serious?"
Dany nods, "Deadly. You came to me, you said you wished to join my empire, and you brought with you an army."
"I fail to see the problem," The prince furrows his brow and turns his head, confusion written all across his face.
"The problem is that I do not trust you," Dany tells him bluntly, "I have difficulty doing so and thus I do not want your army within invasion distance of any of my cities."
"But, we're family?" Aegon tries
"You did not know your uncle, so I will not hold it against you that you did not know exactly how little that means to me," Dany tells him
Aegon, who had been raised to believe that the Targaryen name and family meant everything, was incensed at this declaration. He stands angrily, and slams his hands on the table, "You would defile the family name!?"
Jon Connington steps up to his charge and lays a hand on his shoulder, and in a harsh whisper he grinds out, "Aegon!"
The prince blinks, turns his head to the man who raised him, then closes his eyes and takes a breath, "I - apologize. That was out of line."
"It was, and it draws to mind unpleasant similarities that you have with my brother," Dany tells him. She leans forward, hands resting on her crossed knees, and tells him, "Take your army, begin the conquest of the Grass sea. I may have loved Drogo, but I did not love his culture of slavery. End it as I ended Slaver's Bay, and I will welcome you."
"How would we pay for this?" Jon, ever the pragmatist, asks
"I will supply your men with food, gold, and women if you so require and they are willing," Dany tells him.
"Why are you sending me away?" Aegon asks, nearly begging for an answer
"Because I do not know you, Aegon," Dany tells him, "And I do not know why you came to Meereen."
"I could tell you, if you asked," Aegon offers
Dany blinks at him, raises an eyebrow, and asks
"Because the seven kingdoms are fucked right now," Aegon tells her honestly, "Dorne is in the middle of a revolt, King's Landing is going insane, the Eyrie is being led by a whoremonger, the North belongs to everyone and no-one, and everywhere else is trapped in a state of war. No crops are being grown, no gold is flowing, and there is nothing for me or my men to gain by invading Westeros."
"And coming to me was easier than that?" Dany asks
"It was," Aegon nods
"And thus why I want you to prove yourself to me, you and your men."
The prince sighs, then nods, "I'll tell the men we set off at the end of the week. Will we have our provisions and gold by then?"
"And women!" Marian reminds him, "Apparently there are a lot of single poor ladies in town now that their husbands are dead after trying to pull a coup and I looted their houses to the bedrock. They should be perfectly willing to join you for a warm bed and a good meal."
"That will make the men happy," Jon notes
Aegon nods in agreement. He purses his lips, rurs a tongue over his teeth under them, then asks, "So that is all?"
"It is," Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen, Empress of the Dragons, stands and nods to him before turning to leave.
Everyone watches her go before Marian plops down on the table looking at Aegon, "Don't take it personally, kid, you just remind her of her brother. From what she's told me, your uncle was a real piece of shit."
Aegon looks up into the wide, smiling face of the storm god, and asks, "Tell me, please."
And so Marian regails the quickly appalled prince with everything terrible that her best friend had told her about the Beggar King Viserys Targaryen. By the end of their talk, Aegon couldn't well blame his aunt for her distrust and dislike of him. He did not like it, but he understood.
By the end of the week, the Golden Company was departing, with its number near doubled. When it had been learnt that the Company would be departing for war, a large number of men and women decided that they did not want to be in the same city as the woman who destroyed their culture.
Most of them were former slavers, though a few were the seriously indoctrinated former slaves that were somehow still convinced that the old ways were better, even if their lives had improved over the last few years.
By the time the start of the new week had come around, the city was just a tad emptier, and the number of complaints that Dany had to deal with everyday during her audiences were greatly lessened.
It was at one of these sessions that she came upon a surprise petitioner, the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, Jon Snow.
"Your Grace," he bows his head in respect
"Lord Snow," She returns the nods in equal respect, "What has brought you to my throne? The White Walkers are not making their advance, are they?"
"No, my Lady," the Lord Commander shakes his head, "I come before you to request the presence of the Storm God, my sister, and her husband. All three saved my life on the night Alliser Thorne and his men saw to have me assassinated, and now that I have come to a decision on what to do with the men, I would ask that they be present at the passing of the sentence."
Dany's eyebrows raise and she turns to regard Marian and Tyrion. Both nod in agreement, and with Tyrion, by this point she knew he also spoke for his wife, and visa versa. She turns back to Jon and nods, "They see no issue with joining you for the passing of judgement. Was there anything else, Lord Commander?"
"Two more subjects, your grace," he tells her, "The first is the presence of two people at the Wall that tell me they are searching for my sister. I have told them nothing of how close she is, but I would ask if they know her."
"And who are these people?"
"A woman named Brienne of Tarth, and her Squire Podrick Paine."
"Pod!?" Tyrion exclaims, "He and the Maid made it all the way to the Wall?"
"You know them, my lord?" Dany turns to her advisor
"Podrick was my squire before I was arrested, I dismissed him so he would not be killed with me, my brother sent him off with Brienne of Tarth," Tyrion tells her, "I would very much like to meet with both, when we journey to the Wall."
The issue dealt with faster than Jon or Dany had expected, they momentarily flounder at what to say or do. Then Marian coughs and waves her hand to get their attention, "You said you had two more things to talk to Dany about?"
Jon blinks at her, then starts and turns back to the Empress, "Yes… Your Grace, as you may know, the Night's Watch has taken the criminals, undesirables, and bastards of Westeros alongside honorable men. I wish to ask if you would like to extend this offer to the men of your Empire."
"You would ask for rapists, murderers, and thieves?" Dany asks, not truly understanding.
"The Watch has taken any man willing for thousands of years, your grace," Jon tells her, "Including the men we'd rather not have. We must man the wall for when the Walkers come for us, and we need numbers to do that."
"So you would take the worst that my cities have to offer?" Dany asks
Jon nods
"Dany leans back in her throne and thinks, then tells him, "There are harsh penalties for terrible crimes, Lord Snow. I do not believe joining the Watch is so terrible a punishment."
"Forgive me, your grace," Jon sighs, "But you have not walked through Castle Black. As much as I love it, I will not shy away from the truth that it is a dark and cold place that hardens a man or kills him. Your criminals would not escape punishment there."
Dany narrows her eyes, then asks, "Tell me, Lord Snow, is the offer you extended only for Lady Sansa, Lord Tyrion, and Marian?"
Jon blinks, "Do you mean to come?"
"I do."
"Then you will be welcome, and you will see I speak the truth."