Chapter 12

Daenery's sighed loudly to herself as she walked barefoot through Magister Illyrio's breathtakingly beautiful garden. Rows upon rows of flowers as far as they eye could see, in hundreds of different colors ranging from the darkest black to the brightest yellow.

"What's wrong Milady? You look troubled" asked her handmaiden Ella.

"Nothing, Ella. I'm just bored is all" replied Dany as she turned her attention away from the flowers and towards the handmaiden.

Ella was a tall girl of 20 years old, with long brown hair, large brown eyes, and large beautiful smile. She had been given to her as a gift by their host Magister Illyrio when they had first arrived in Pentos. Since then there hadn't been a day were Ella wasn't by her side, wherever she went Ella was sure to not be far behind.

"At least it's a beautiful day for one to be bored on" said the young woman, a large smile spreading across her face.

"There is that I suppose" agreed Daenerys as she closed her eyes and enjoyed the warmth of the sun upon her honey-colored skin.

The beautiful weather was one of the main reasons she had decided to go for a walk in the garden in the first place (that and she loved how the lush green grass tickled the bottom of her feet whenever she took a step forward). The other reason was that it was one of very few places on the Magister's entire estate where she could escape the ever watchful eyes of her older brother Viserys.

Ever since she had matured from young girl to young lady, her brothers violet eyes had followed her wherever she went. Always watching, always leering. He had touched her too, on several occasions. On her breasts, and on her bum, his hands groping and touching in ways that a brother hands shouldn't. He had told her time and time again that it was natural for their family to wed one another in order to keep the Targaryen bloodline pure, and that it was her duty to do whatever he pleased lest she "woke the dragon".

She knew that he spoke the truth about their family marrying each other. Her own parents were a testament of that, being both brother and sister as well as husband and wife.

This incident had happened many moons ago, but ever since then, she couldn't stand to be in his presence for longer than absolutely necessary. She didn't hate her brother. She couldn't hate him. He was the only family she had left in the entire world, and despite all of his personal flaws, he had raised and protected her since they were both small children and for that, she would always be grateful.

"Mistress Dany, someone's climbing over the wall " whispered Ella as she pointed off into the distance.

Raising her hand in front of her eyes to block out the harshness of the sun, Dany looked in the direction her handmaiden had pointed. Sure enough, a lone dark silhouette of a man could be seen standing atop of the wall.

"Should I fetch the guards?" asked Ella as she began to back towards the direction of the villa.

"Not yet," whispered Dany, her eyes never leaving the silhouette. "I want to see what he's up to. If he makes his way towards us then you can call the guards."

For several moments the two of them stood side-by-side in silence as they watched and waited to see what he was up to. Eventually, the figure walked over to the edge of the wall and began to climb down the wall and into the Magisters property.

"Mistress?" asked Ella, eyes wide as she looked to Dany for direction.

Seeing as the man had chosen to decide to enter the Magisters property, Dany was just about to give the order for Ella to fetch the guards, but what she saw next stopped her in her tracks.

The man had suddenly stopped his descent of the wall a few meters from the top. Being at such a distance she wasn't able to see the reason why he wasn't moving, but she could somehow tell that something was right with him. Her eyes widen slightly in shock as not ten seconds later the unknown man's body fell backward from his position on the wall and landed on the ground with a heavy thud that even she could hear from her position several hundred meters away.

"Mistress. Mistress! What are you doing!?" called out Ella loudly as Dany took off at a run towards the direction of the fallen man without a moment's hesitation.

Dany paid her no mind however as she sprinted as fast as she could to the fallen man's position, her dress whipping around furiously in the wind and her the fresh green grass feeling heavenly between her toes as she ran for all she was worth.

She didn't know why she had reacted the way she did. Perhaps it was the side of her that was curious to meet someone who wasn't related her or worked for the Magister. Perhaps it was her naturally caring personality to make sure that whoever the person was that they were alive and well. Either way, she was curious to see if the person was still alive, and the reason they had tried to intrude on the Magisters land.

The first thing she noticed as she came to a stop several meters away was the horrid smell that surrounded the body. So horrid was the smell that she had to take several steps backward before her lunch decided to make a reappearance.

His body was sprawled out on the soft green grass. His arms and legs were spread out in various directions as he lay flat on his back, eyes closed and body unmoving as he faced the sky, a peaceful look on his dirt-ridden face. He wore a thick gray cloak that was wrapped loosely around him, from underneath which she could see the handle of a sword.

Covering her nose and mouth with the crook of her elbow, she slowly moved closer to inspect the body, falling to her knees in order to get a closer look at the man. What she discovered, however, was that he wasn't a man at all, but a teenage boy who by the look of it was about the roughly the same age as herself. He had shoulder-length black hair that was disheveled and matted and stuck to his face and forehead by a combination of blood and sweat. His youthful face was covered in a thick layer of blood, sweat, and grime. His cheeks were hollow, his lips cracked and red raw from lack of fluids, and he had had dark black bags under his eyes as though he hadn't slept properly in weeks. A large cut ran down the center of his left cheek, and judging by the amount of yellow pus was most definitely infected.

Pulling her long, silvery-white, hair away from her ear, she bent forward so that her ear was level with his chest and waited several seconds to see if the boy was still alive or not. Surprising even herself, she let out a sigh of relief when she heard the tell-tale signs of a very faint heartbeat.

"Misstress, what on earth are you doing?" called an out-of-breath Ella as she finally caught sight of Dany kneeling in front of the fallen man, her head pressed tightly against his chest.

"Seeing whether he was alive or not," replied Daenerys as she quickly got to her feet, "He's just unconscious by the way If you even care that is".

"He's a lot younger than I thought he'd be" exclaimed Ella as she finally stood beside Daenerys to get a look at the body, covering her own nose in a similar fashion when the smell invaded her nostrils, "and smells like death warmed over"

"It's like he hasn't had a bath in weeks, and I thought the same thing when I first saw him " agreed Dany, "he doesn't look as if he's even seen fifteen namedays"

"What do we do now then Mistress?. We can hardly leave him here to rot in the sun. should I fetch the guards to remove him from the premises?" asked Ella after several minutes of silence.

"We help him. We heal his wounds, we give him food and water and wait until he awakens. Only then will we learn the nature of his wounds" replied Dany after several moments of looking intently at his face. There was just something about him that made her want to learn more. She was a naturally curious person, always wanting to know the how's and why's of the world, but this went beyond wanting to know who he was, why he was here and how he had gotten himself into such a situation. She wanted to know all these things it was true, but what she wanted more was to help someone who looked like they desperately needed it. She couldn't for the life her leave him to the mercy of Magister Illyrio's guards, they would sooner kill him then help him. Some people - like her brother - would turn their nose up at helping someone who didn't benefit them in some way, but not her. Knowing that she had helped someone in their time of need was all the compensation she needed. It didn't hurt that the boy - even in his current state - was quite easy on the eyes.

"You can't be serious Mistress" yelled Ella, " It isn't your obligation to help him, you do know that right? For all we know he could be a criminal or murderer, who could attack us the moment he wakes up. Someone doesn't end up like this by being an upstanding member of society. I say we inform the guards and let them deal with it, less trouble for all of us that way".

"Look at him Ella, does he look like someone who could do us harm, especially in his current state? Somethings happened to him, something bad by the looks of it because I highly doubt he did any of this to himself. I can't leave him here, not like this at least" whispered Dany quietly, "Without us, he's as good as dead".

Not waiting for Ella to respond, Dany knelt down once more beside the boy, her small hand sliding underneath his back as she threw his arm around her shoulders and tried to stand up. To her surprise, the boy was rather easy to lift, even given the fact that he stood a good head taller than her already respectable 5ft frame.

"Fine" sighed the handmaiden eventually, before helping Dany in her quest to lift the unknown boy's body into a standing position, "but If the Magister finds out, I'm telling him this was all your idea and that I had nothing to do with it".

Dany just smiled as the two of them made their way back to the villa, each of the boy's arms wrapped around each of their shoulders as they carried him between them, "Thanks, Ella, you really are the best handmaiden a girl can have, you know that right?"

"Yeah yeah, just don't get me into any trouble and It'll stay that way" replied Ella, rolling her eyes but with a large smile on her face, "Oh, and Mistress?"

"Yes Ella?," laughed Dany, smiling at her handmaiden's attitude.

"You're going to be the one giving him the bath. You know, since this was your idea and all"

If anyone was around to witness the exchange between the two, they would have seen the young princess's eyes turn comically wide and her face flushed a dark shade of crimson, as well as Ella's roaring laughter as she caught sight of Dany's reaction to her statement.

Sorry for the Short chapter. Just getting back into it after a short hiatus. More to come soon.