Chapter 84

Helen Tyrell had been breathlessly awed and terrified when Lady Olenna had sent her to offer to escort her Holiness down to the town beside the river Mander just below High Garden. She knew her selection had been due to her beauty, and that she was considered not hopelessly daft. Which from the Queen of Thorns was essentially a compliment. She walked with the escort of Tyrell guardsmen down into the courtyard where her Holiness was fondly getting to know the horses that had been saddled for the day.

She felt a pang of horror that the goddess had arrived before her. Helen dropped into a low curtsy. "Holiness, I hope you were not obliged to wait."

"You're fine." She fondly scratched at the nose of a honey coated mare. "Helen, right?"

Helen's heart beat at her name even being known. "Yes, your Holiness. It is an honor to show you more of the lands of our home."

The Goddess's eyes flicked to her, an amused smile on her lips before she returned her attention to the horse. "Willas's horses certainly are beautiful."

Helen felt her heart in her throat at that. To know the power this being held, and yet to see her was…terrifying. She prayed silently she would not bring this being's displeasure. "He has a keen eye for such things. Which horse do you prefer, your Holiness?"

The goddess scratched behind the mare's ear. "I think this girl will be sweet." She stepped to the correct side and easily swung herself up into and astride the saddle with inhuman grace. "Shall we?"

Helen moved and mounted side-saddle with all the grace she could manage. "Have you seen any of our town, Holiness?"

"Not unless you count a brief glimpse from above." The goddess smiled. "So I hear you've been assisting Jon with dancing lessons?"

"Yes, his highness is a dedicated student." And stiff as a board making him a terrible dancer. Likely why while he already knew the steps he'd clearly never practiced said steps or actually danced with anyone before. She had little hope he'd manage more than not looking ridiculous if he stepped onto the dance floor. While she wouldn't mind being married to the prince, she would be bored in such a match. Not that that particularly mattered, nor was it particularly likely. But she was not ignorant of why she was being trotted out before this Prince and goddess.

The goddess laughed. "He's having a hard time isn't he?"

"While a fine swordsman he has little experience with dance." She settled on, insulting a man the goddess so clearly favored would be beyond stupid.

The goddess hummed as they rode out through the gates in the warm morning sun. "I'll help, no doubt you scare him."

"Only slightly." There was no point in denying the Prince looked like a hunted animal around women. She risked being daring then, though she ensured her voice had the correct tone for it not to be mistaken for insult. "Do we intimidate you as well, Holiness?"

The goddess's lips twitched. "A pretty man or woman flirting with me isn't exactly something I'm unfamiliar with." She looked catching Helen's gaze. "But it will go nowhere."

She felt the breath catch slightly in her throat, there was danger there. "I meant no disrespect, Holiness."

"I'm not interested, and that's not gonna change. No matter which of you try." She looked away. "Good luck with Jon though."

Helen let that settle, her heart thundering in her chest. But she could take the dismissal with grace and never speak of the faint relief her duty to her family did not include more. The goddess might be beautiful, but she was also terrifying. "Well that is a shame, you are quite beautiful. I doubt my cousins shall recover from losing the chance to woo you."

The goddess laughed outright, a pleasing sound. "I'm sure they'll live. So, besides attempting to seduce me, did you or Lady Olenna have any other plans for today?"

"We are very proud of our lands and the wealth that has benefited all our people." Helen considered the goddess, lying would be pointless. "I believe Lady Olenna intended for you to be absent as the last of the chambers are prepared for the arrival of Queen Daenerys."

The goddess nodded. "Makes sense." She paused. "Do you think they have pears?"

"Of course, anything you might wish can be acquired if it's within our power, Holiness." Helen replied easily, also frankly pears were nothing.

"Actually," the goddess turned to look at her. "What is considered a normal gift for a twelve year old boy for his name day? I'd just get him legos normally, but they don't exist here and my powers aren't exactly great for making things."

Helen knew she would be permitted some small curiosity here. "If I may, which boy do you intend to make a gift to?"

"Rickon Stark, I promised to fly back North for his name day. He's a sweet kid." And the goddess's face looked warm and fond the same way it got when she looked at prince Jon.

Helen made a quiet note that this goddess was bound to the Starks by more than Sansa Stark's warm bed. "Lord Willas was given his first hawks when he was two and ten. Loras was given a horse for his lessons in the tiltyard. Surely any gift you presented would be highly valued."

"Hawks?" She seemed to consider it. "Well, I suppose I should hunt down Willas at some point. Thank you, this world is…different."

She felt a bolt of concern at the term 'hunt down', but she was nearly certain it was not meant as a threat, merely a lack of formality in speech. "He would be honored to assist you, Holiness."

"That is still so strange." The goddess shook her head, a look on her face that was something like disbelief.

Helen risked the question. "What is, Holiness?"

"Your world." The goddess scratched at her mare's shoulders. "I don't think I'd ever seen a horse in person before I got here. Like I knew they existed, seen pictures of them and stuff but like…never seen one, let alone ridden one."

She was confounded by the concept but fascinated. Though, the goddess rode as if she'd been doing so her entire life. "Do you enjoy horses, Holiness?"

"Yeah, I like them." She smiled at the animal fondly, before looking up at her. "Please do not give me a horse. I don't need or want a whole ass horse for however long I'm here."

"I suppose taking the horse with you would be difficult." Helen replied with quiet humor, a horse lived a long life, she could see the lack of practicality of possessing one.

The goddess nodded, though her eyes had found the town. "How many people live here?"

Helen was fascinated and her terror had faded to more of quiet awe as they walked through the town. The smallfolk kept insisting on bowing, and a lot of small gifts had been collected. The Tyrell men at arms and horses were weighed down with items. Mostly foodstuffs and items from the various stalls and shops. There hadn't been time for them to prepare. It was fascinating to watch how the goddess hid it but had no idea how to handle this. Helen had been forced to step in and direct the men at arms to take the gifts. But the goddess was good, her discomfort was near impossible to note unless you realized she was mimicking the same emotional state for every gift.

But the interesting thing Helen noted was that goddess Quake did not seem to be unhappy. Rather she seemed more content, her face more interested than it was within the confines of Highgarden from what little she'd seen. And so long as goddess Quake didn't indicate she wished to leave, Helen had no intention to suggest it as an option.

A baker was bowing and passing a loaf of bread into the goddess's hands.

"You don't owe me anything, but thank you." Goddess Quake smiled at him.

He shook his head. "Holiness."

Helen's head turned as a small girl came flying out from between two men. The child tripped from the sudden change of fighting against the crowd to the relative distance they'd given the living goddess. Her toe catching on a stone, the large bucket of water she'd been carrying flying, drenching goddess Quake from about the waist down.

Goddess Quake lunged forward, catching the kid around the middle before she could face plant into the ground, the bucket smacking into her shin from the movement. "I got you!" She easily righted the child of perhaps six or seven years to her feet. "Are you ok?"

"What do ya think ya'r doing you little hellion!" One of the men yelped out while reaching to grab the kid and haul her back.

Goddess's Quake's hand shot out, grabbing the man's hand. She shot him a look that had his words dying in his throat, and face paling rapidly. Her attention returned to the girl a fraction of a second later.

The girl's face was bright red in embarrassment, her eyes were pale and shifted…oddly. "What were you doing in the road!"

"I wasn't aware the road was all yours?" Quake was smiling though, and it felt more real than it had a few seconds ago as she dropped into a crouch, easy as can be in front of the girl.

"It's rude! Just blocking things like…like a mean person." The girl's eyes teared up in sheer frustration. And to her horror, Helen realized the girl was blind and didn't have the faintest clue who she was insulting.

Goddess Quake's expression didn't flicker at the insult. "I guess that was very mean of me." Her tone was fond, a lack of danger to her. "You were getting water for your parents then?"

"The sisters, I'll never get it done now." The girl's shoulders slumped. "It's all your fault." She half spat at the god and kicked out, actually hitting the goddess's shin with her foot.

Helen was not alone, every person within earshot was holding their breath in horror. She didn't wish to see this child harmed, but it was so far past her place to interfere.

The goddess shook her head with a huff. "Well, we can't have the sisters mad at you. How about I help you get your water and we call it square?"

"Deal." The girl quickly accepted with all the passion of a seller ensuring the buyer couldn't back out. It was horrifying.

But goddess Quake didn't seem to take insult…somehow? "What's your name?"

"Emilee, wha's yours?" The girl half bounced on her toes.

And somehow the goddess just looked charmed. "Daisy." She smiled. "Now, you'll have to give me directions, but I've been told I'm kinda awesome at piggyback rides?"

Emilee's entire face lit up in sheer glee. "Really!?"

"Yeah, really really." And the goddess gently lifted one of the girl's hands and set it on her shoulder. "Any time you want."

And Emilee excitedly clamored onto the goddess's back. She was all knobbly knees and gap toothed smile as she climbed on. Helen winced, the girl had to have knocked the goddess a few times in the whole effort. The girl didn't seem to notice. "The big well's just by where the smiths are! You can hear 'em banging all the time."

"I think I can find that." Goddess Quake rose to her feet, easy as anything, one hand hooking under one of Emilee's legs to make sure she didn't fall, the other catching up the handle of the bucket. And as easy as that it was like the goddess had simply decided that a poor, unimportant child was more interesting than anyone else.

/

Daisy hid the wince at how one of Emille's knees had gotten her in the side. "Little less choking please."

The kid changed to having a death grip on the fabric of her vest instead of around her neck. "Sorry." She chirped at full volume directly into her ear.

She bit back a snort, kids were something alright. "Is getting water one of your normal chores?"

"Yeah, me an' Kober. But he was being dumb and left me." Emilee declared. "We were supposed to be getting extra water. But he said something was happenin' and left me to go see what it was."

She ignored the looks everyone was giving them. Frankly, she didn't care, and what Emilee couldn't see couldn't bother her. "Sounds very rude of him."

"It was! We gotta get extra water so we can scrub up for the Targaryen Queen." Emilee nodded so enthusiastically that she nearly overbalanced herself.

Daisy just gently adjusted to keep the kid from falling off. "Are you excited about the Queen?"

"Not really. It's not like I can see the dragons." There was a definite pout in her voice. "Nothin' interesting ever happens for us. All the important stuff is up at the castle."

She hummed, spotting the large fountain where, if her sense of vibrations was right, had water being piped in from the river. Daisy easily scooped up a bucket full of water. "Alright, which way to your home?"

"It's a right at the corner by the tannery that smells funny. Then it's the big orphanage where the stones get kinda turned up."

Daisy felt a sharp pang, she'd been right when she'd thought 'sisters' meant religious orphanage. Things were so different here and weirdly so very similar sometimes. "Do you have big plans for when you get old enough to leave?"

"I don't wanna get married." Emilee sounded positively glum.

She raised a brow at that. "Aren't you a little young to be thinking of marriage?"

"Aren't you married?"

Daisy knew that Helen Tyrell and the men at arms that were following behind were certainly listening. But, well it wasn't like it was a secret. "No, never, and not sure I ever will."

"But…everyone gets married?" Emilee's voice was full of disbelief. "And you're nice. Are you a whore or somethin?"

She smiled. "Oh I'm nice now, not a meany?"

Emilee kicked at her a bit.

"Fine, fine." She laughed, half cause the kid was adorable, and half because of the looks of absolute horror on everyone else's faces. "I haven't wanted to marry anyone. And no I'm not a whore, though the sisters who raised me would probably despair over me."

The kid perked up. "You was raised by sisters too?"

"I was, you remind me of one of the older boys there actually." Daisy had to wonder if being blind just made people inclined toward violence? Cause it was turning into a pattern in her experience. She paused as she saw what was almost certainly the panicked version of this world's nun rushing towards them. "I think one of your sisters just spotted us."

"Rats…" Emilee whined. "You're fun though."

Daisy came to a halt, setting the bucket down as the grey-robed woman came near flying towards them.

The woman had her hair covered, her clothing shapeless and undetailed in a way that set her apart. Her knees hit the road without hesitation. "Holiness! Please, she knows not what she's doing. I beg you to show mercy, she is only a child."

Emilee had the most confused sounding voice. "Sister Elna what are you talkin' about? It's just Daisy?"

Daisy spoke quickly before it could spiral further out of control. It'd been funny, but not when someone who genuinely loved the girl was this terrified. "There's nothing to apologize for Sister Elna, Emilee has given no insult." She dropped down and gently swung Emilee off of her back. "I think you're going to be going the rest of the way home with Sister Elna here."

"Why?" Emilee kept a grip on her shoulder lest she try to leave.

She sighed. "Just because I know I wouldn't hurt you, doesn't mean she knows that. But it's been very nice to meet you." Daisy handed the girl the bucket of water. "Just behind you, six steps."

"Fine…you could come visit sometime though?" Emilee tried.

Daisy wondered at how lonely the kid was for her to be this desperate after so little contact to want to keep her around. The sisters clearly cared, her guess was likely too many children as the issue. "If I have the chance to, I'll come visit. Now go on, your poor Sister is waiting for you."

She straightened back to her feet, watching as Emilee trotted the six steps to the sister without a bit of hesitation. Her small faintly shrill voice echoed. "Why are you being weird?"

Daisy watched as the woman gave a grateful bow to her as she gathered up Emilee and began to hurry her away. She turned to Helen. "Have the men take everything that was given to me today to that orphanage. They need it more than I do."

"Certainly, Holiness." Helen lowered herself in a curtsy clearly recognizing that that hadn't been a request.

Daisy almost regretted the way she'd commanded that but…no, it was the right thing to do. It was still strange to be considered a god, possibly even to be one. She paused, flicking her eyes up to the sky. "I believe I'll be leaving you here, it would seem the Dragon Queen has arrived a day ahead of her army." She glanced at the men in Tyrell colors, yeah the woman would be perfectly safe. Daisy's knees bent slightly, and then she launched herself into the air.

/

Daenerys circled high above Highgarden, the mighty strength of Drogon holding them aloft. She never felt closer to her largest child than when they were high above the clouds, the wind sharp and stinging. She felt alive up here like it was where she belonged. Below her laid out were the great green and gold fields of Highgarden. The white shining walls of the great fortress that had stood longer than her ancestors had ruled. Even with her untrained eye, and from this height she could see evidence of the Lannister forces. The front gatehouse was rubble, and across the first and second rings of the castle were large pieces missing. It was strange the only damage at all to be seen was to the walls.

As Drogon circled lower she could see the heraldry of House Tyrell flying proudly in the breeze. It would seem Daisy had done as promised. She curled her fingers around one of Drogon's spines as she felt a ripple of his muscles. And then he opened his great jaw, letting out an ear shattering roar. Dany felt it in her bones, and it felt like it was her own cry as much as Drogon's.

She watched as people rushed to form a welcoming party. Drogon changed the pitch of his body, their circle turning to be over the awaiting crowd. Two great sweeping circles before they landed on the ground which shuddered and buckled from the weight of him. Dany looked down at the welcoming party, she recognized Olenna Tyrell, Jon Stark, and Daisy. The rest of the nobles in green and gold were strangers to her. As Drogon had landed, they had as one dropped to their knees. Well, all save Jon and Daisy. Jon bowed however and Daisy just grinned up at her.

Dany dismounted, using Drogon's bent wing to go from the great height of his back down to the grass spotted with white daisies. She strode forward, without hesitation. "You may rise."

A handsome man, with golden brown curls, used his oak cane to leverage himself up to his feet. "Highgarden is yours, your Grace."

"I thank you for your loyalty." She cast her eyes to Olenna.

Olena had stepped forward. "Your Grace, my grandson and Lord of Highgarden and the Reach, Willas Tyrell."

"Well met, my Lord." Dany stepped towards Daisy. "You were good to your word."

Daisy smiled. "And you?"

"The North will remain the Starks, and I will make no claim on it. Nor shall my heirs." She agreed, the future would say whether it was the wise decision she'd made on the beach near two weeks ago. But she felt in her bones it was. And, she could respect a woman or being of her word. Dany returned her attention to the Tyrells.