Time moved at a slow pace in the Dragon Empire, at least for the Empress's circle of advisors. Dany lived day to day, dealing with matters of state and planning for the possibilities of her future conquest of Essos, Marian and Missandei spent much of the time they were away from the queen with each other, the Unsullied had finally chosen to be renamed the Scalebound, as the newly forged armor for their forces consisted of at least one piece of shedded dragon scale on the chestpiece. Equally, a new name for Slaver's bay was decided, and in keeping with the beastly theme of draconic inspiration, it was called the Dragon's Maw, or just 'The Maw' for short. People generally agreed that the selection was a good one, as it told those entering, exactly what they were in for.
Yunkai and Astapor were experiencing a similar boom to commerce and peace to that of Meereen. Under the leadership of Krazy, the renamed and last member of Yunkai's former ruling council, the former city of pleasure slaves made its trade selling all manner of depravities to the willing. It also had a very effective silk market.
Astapor, under the guidance of Ser Jorah Mormont, had become something else entirely. The city had always been known for the production of unsullied, and it had always been the first port of call for those entering the former Slaver's Bay. Now, Jorah had turned Astapor into a city sized training camp for the future armies of The Maw. From all corners of Essos, boys were bought from slavers and freed, then offered the chance to join the great army of Scalebound and serve the great Empress Daenerys Targaryen. With the other option being a far less interesting life doing something in agriculture or governance, most willingly chose to join the Scalebound. It also helped that nobody cut their balls off anymore.
The dragons, for which most of this would have been impossible without, spent their days lolling on their new perch beside their mother, hunting in the sea and the wild, and playing with the dire lion Kevan that Tyrion had left in the arena while he was in Winterfell.
Weeks turned to months and the Empire progressed. In the Dothraki sea, young Aegon was bolstered by a series of newly hired sellsword companies and managed to complete the first of the Keeps that Dany had ordered him to construct. Dany was glad that the lad was not dead, and decided that one sunny afternoon, she and Barristan would visit with the Dragons.
This was why the queen sat astride Drogon, looking off into the distance as the powerful beast soared through the air. To her left, Barristan clung to Viserion for dear life, and to her right Rhaegal seemed to take joy in flipping through the air, glad to not have to carry his own passenger.
Their journey was not a long one, only a few hours compared to the days it would have taken had they been on horseback. Thanks to this faster form of travel, they spotted a battle between the armored men of Aegon's forces and the riders of a Dothraki horde. Drogon flew over the clashing armies before Dany can think to give him a command, and as she soars above the mass of writhing bodies, she concludes that the Dothraki are losing the engagement. It was probably not obvious to those on the ground, but the armored riders were clearly gaining ground through blood and force.
Dany issues a few commands in High Valyrian to Rhaegal, and the green dragon veers away from his brothers towards the battle. To the back line of the Dothraki, his breath turns the world to flame. It takes only one pass through the lines for the horse lords to be routed, and those that can quickly break from the battle and flee.
When the area is clear, something that takes near an hour, Dany tells Drogon to land in an open area that was being set for her and her sons. The black dragon slams into the ground as he lands, sending up dirt, dust, and some body parts as he crashes into the earth. The horses around them whinney and cry in panic, biting at bits and stomping the ground. The men atop the horses are not much better, though they hide their own unease.
"Empress!" At the call Dany turns her head to see Aegon waving, stepping closer. He'd dismounted and his horse was being held by Jon Connington, "What brings you this far east?"
Dany slides easily from Drogon's back, and Barristan steps up next to her. He hadn't managed to dismount gracefully, but he hadn't made a fool of himself. She smiles at Aegon, "I am here to see the last of my family, Aegon"
The commander of the Brave Companions blinks and then furrows his brow. The last time they had spoken in person, the Empress had been less than accepting of him, and even less so of his familial ties with her. The confusion was clear as day upon his face, so Dany chose to explain, "Recent events at the capital have forced me to reevaluate my regard for family."
"You mean the Starks?" He asks, word of the three siblings reunion having been spread all across the Maw and beyond.
"I do," She agrees, "I have seen how close, how loved, they are, and it made me sad to think that there was a chance that I was passing up the chance to experience the same thing with a member of my blood."
"I am glad to hear that," Aegon smiles, his smile shy and a little unsure of how long she would be in such an emotionally accepting state.
Seeing the hesitation, Dany tells him, "This was not a spur of the moment trip, Nephew. I came to the decision to visit some weeks ago, but held off until the wind and the sun favored the trip. In that time I have thought of this often."
"So, do you ask me to return with you?" Aegon asks, confused, "If so, I cannot simply abandon my men."
"No," Dany assures him, "Of all I have had Varys gather of you, I know that you love your Companions, and they you. Instead, I will leave you Rhaegal, and he will assist you in taking the Dothraki sea all the faster, and visit me in Meereen when you are able."
"You would part with one of your dragons?" Aegon blinks in shock.
"I have asked him if he would do this, and he is more than willing to aid his cousin," Dany tells him, and turns her head to the green dragon.
From where he sits beside Drogon, Rhaegal nods at the blood of his mother. The shiny armored one called Egg-On may not have proved himself as well as mother or Marian, but he was of Mother's blood and brood, thus he must have some of her qualities, and he must have her respect to ask her son to aide the Egg-On. As an added bonus, the men who smelt of horses often road them, and horses were a treat that Rhaegal had not been able to enjoy for several years.
Aegon, seeing the agreement from the dragon laughs in joy and relief before turning to his men, "Hear that boys!? We've got ourselves a new Companion!"
The army around them cheers in glee, even those that had abandoned Meereen when the offer was made. Months facing the Dothraki had tempered them into a unified force, and as much as the former slavers hated the Empress, they could always appreciate the power of a Dragon on their side.
The army began to disperse to collect the corpses for burning and looting, and left Dany and Aegon alone with Jon, Barristan, and the dragons. Jon and Barristan, who had been friends and comrades decades ago, fell into old talks as the two Targaryens spent the rest of the afternoon talking and getting to know each other better.
The sun was starting to set by the time they parted ways, with Aegon needing to head back to his new Keep, Foothold, and Dany needing to get back to Meereen. Though the Keep name was nothing to write home about, the men of the Companions had still not managed to agree on what it should be called. All that the men knew was that the name was rather bad, but it was better than one of the other first suggestions, Horse Hoof.
Dany and Barristan took to the air upon Drogon and Viserion, and their journey back was just as eventful as the one that took them. That is to say, all that happened of interest was a slight bump in the air that nearly made Barristan lose control of the contents of his stomach. Luckily the turbulence was weak and did not last longer than a moment before they were through it and back within sight of Meereen.
The city glowed in the black of night, torches flickering across the city, and the flaming stones striking the Pyramid definitely brought the whole thing together nicely. Dany, seeing her city under seige, could do nothing but sigh and squeeze the bridge of her nose before ordering Drogon to land on the perch beside the Throne room.
He and his brother landed heavily, and not a moment later Dany and Barristan were storming into the Throne Room. Inside it Marian, Grey Worm, Missandei, Varys and Daario were all talking over a war table. They noticed her and as one turned.
She decided to jump straight to the point, "Why is my city under siege?"
Marian threw her hands up into the air, "Apparently, The slavers of the Free Cities don't like what you've got going on here!"
"And why aren't you destroying their ships?" Dany asks, curious as to why her god wasn't smiting their attackers.
"The ships are protected by some strong magic," Marian tells her, "From what Varys tells me, the sorcerers of the Free Cities all basically follow a god called R'hllor, who has all of his preachers proclaim that he's the one true god of the world. Now I wouldn't argue too much with it, but seeing as his people are trying to kill us, we've got a problem."
"So the Red Priests and Priestesses are countering your magic?" Dany asks.
"Shielding, more like," Marian corrects, "Their ships are protected, from what I've seen of the folks I turned to lightning rods when they tried to sneak into me and Missandei's chambers, the people are not as well protected."
"But they are protected?"
"Yeah, but not from conventional steel. They die as easy as anyone else if you stick a blade through them."
"I take it that is how you killed them?"
"No, I overpowered their shields, Daario stabbed them."
"Ah, so you can break their protections?"
"Yeah, but it'd take more time than we have. The battle would be decided before I managed to break their protections."
"You've been able to power through things before?"
"Yeah, but I haven't gone up against another mage in about four years."
"Why does that matter?"
"You run into a situation where you think you're the best at something, but only because the people you're up against are woefully incompetent?"
"No, I can't say that I have."
"Oh…. well that's what I'm facing. I've been using my power against people with absolutely no experience in magic, and now I'm up against people who are at least moderately good. I'd say circle mage level good."
"The mage schools from your homeland…. How do they compare to you?"
"Still won't last long, but the time I focus on them means that there's less time I can focus on the invaders."
"Focus on them," Dany tells her, "Counter their magic, stop it if you can. Daario and Grey Worm will be able to handle the more human adversaries."
Daario bows his head at her confidence and Grey Worm nods. The Commander of the Scalebound turns to Marian, "You will destroy their magic, we will destroy their men."
Marian nods, "Alright, good luck to you guys."
"And to you, Lady Hawke," Daario agrees, and he and Grey Worm set off.
"Your Grace, what shall you be doing?" Varys asks.
"I shall be here," Dany tells him, "As much as I dislike not helping, Drogon and Viserion have been flying for near the full day, and I do not want to risk my children being harmed by magic again."
"Wise," Varys nods his head.
"Thank you, Varys, are your little birds equipt to handle any attempts to breach the city by stealth?"
"More than equipt," the Spymaster assures her, "And I'm sure they will have great fun with it as well."
Dany nods, and then moves to set herself on her throne. She sits and leans back, sighing in frustration at being once more at war with the Slavers, "When this is over, every Free City that sent ships shall burn."