AN: This will be another long chapter, exceeding the 10k word mark. This'll soon change as I won't need nearly as much worldbuilding in later chapters.
Amelia Noscrim had had a bizarre day. She'd begun the day in her usual manner: sleeping in until ten o'clock, then spending the time gossiping with her friends via telepathic bracelets, then eating some snacks in her room in lieu of a proper lunch. In the afternoon, she'd been invited by her twin sister to watch their half-sister's experiment, and decided to go on a whim. Her mother had attended too, and shown a little disdain towards Amelia, but that too was usual.
Then we got summoned… and … and eight people were killed for it! Even… Even babies!
It had seemed like a nightmare, one from which she kept hoping to wake. Yet that hadn't happened. She hadn't woken up, even as her mother had taken part in a long and increasingly horrifying discussion. She hadn't woken up, even as she and her sisters had been locked away in ice. She hadn't woken up, even as they'd dug out from underneath the ice and hurried over to see their mother lying on the ground.
There were so many people lying around, dead… when I saw her like that, not moving, I thought… I thought she also…
Her mother wasn't dead, it turned out. And that led to the current situation.
"I have never heard of Lescatie, Royal Makai, Zipangu, Dragonia or Court Alf," replied Barristan the knight. He showed far more signs of aging than Amelia was used to seeing, with wrinkles covering his face and hair completely white. "Nor have I heard of any Demon Lord or Chief God."
"Then it's clear: my daughters and I have been sent somewhere very far from our home," Amelia's mother said. Immediately afterwards, she took a bite out of a bread roll slathered with jam—the third she'd had so far in this meeting.
They were now sitting in a house near the western wall of Meereen. This house showed signs of being well-used: food stains on the floor, pots lined up against a wall, a doll lying in one corner. Barristan had asked the inhabitants to leave temporarily to provide a private venue for this meeting.
At least he was nice enough to bring lots of shoes and socks here, for us to try on, Amelia thought, shifting around her no-longer bare feet. It was absolute torture, having to run around barefoot…
Then Amelia remembered the bloody corpses from last night, and she shuddered. Perhaps she shouldn't be treating her own mild discomfort as "torture", even in her own thoughts.
"I can ask others to make inquiries, to find any information that may be relevant to you, my lady," Barristan said. "Moving on to a new topic… you are sure that your… transformation of the dragons is not harmful?"
"It may reduce their strength somewhat," Wilmarina admitted, having already finished her mouthful of food. "But it should also make them calmer, easier to communicate with."
Barristan nodded slightly. "I left instructions. The first people the dragons meet when they wake will be people who have known them for years. They are to raise the alarm if anything happens. Given that there has been no alarm… either the dragons are still unconscious, or they are indeed calmer than before."
"What of the third?" Wilmarina asked. "I heard that the queen flew away on a third dragon."
"That is the black dragon known as Drogon," Barristan said, "and Her Grace's followers are currently searching for them. I'm hopeful in their success; a dragon is no easy thing to miss."
"Hmm… when she returns, I can explain all this to her as well," Wilmarina said. "Do you expect her to take offence at what I did to two of her dragons?"
"Considering that, on the same day, you relieved her beloved city from siege?" Barristan said. "I do not think so. And I swear now, I shall speak to her on her return, to ensure she accepts what you have done."
"I'll hold you to that promise," Wilmarina said. "Now, I've heard that there is a sickness spreading in Meereen. How many have fallen ill?" She took another bite.
"Thousands," Barristan said sadly. "Perhaps more than ten thousand now. Exact numbers are difficult to obtain. Often, those with the bloody flux try to hide it from others, for fear of being abandoned."
"What can you do for the affected?"
"Unfortunately, there is little that can be done," Barristan answered sadly. "My queen ordered healers to attend to them, but many still died. Even some of the healers have fallen ill as well. The best measures we've found are to separate the healthy from the ill. 'Tis said that if four men contract the bloody flux, three of them will eventually die."
Even after hearing the local language for hours, Amelia still had much to learn. She was blown away by how quickly her mother had picked it up.
That said, she understood enough of it to follow the general thread of the conversation, enough to understand unbelievable statements. At home, people dying of sickness was limited to far-off countries and history books. At home, people becoming sick at all was rare.
"Then there is little time to waste," Wilmarina said. She then sipped from a mug containing some kind of cheap ale; Barristan had offered better food and drink earlier, but she'd turned it down in favour of whatever could be obtained most quickly. "I can help you with your epidemic."
"Th-That would certainly be appreciated," Barristan said. "But how…"
Wilmarina turned around in her seat. "Girls, you should look away for this," she said softly.
Next to Amelia, Elise hugged Colette—still wrapped up in petals—and closed her eyes in trepidation. But Amelia decided to keep her eyes open.
"Mom, just what are you planning?" Amelia asked.
"Another demonstration," Wilmarina replied. "Amelia, you do not want to see this—"
"I'm seeing it," Amelia retorted. "I'm not letting you do something stupid again… like trying to fight two wyverns again and almost getting killed!"
Wilmarina looked guilty at that. Barristan and the other humans looked between the two in confusion—the two succubi had switched to their native language for this exchange.
"…If that's your decision," Wilmarina said. "This won't be so dangerous. All I plan to do is give myself a small cut and then heal it."
Wilmarina summoned her purple sword again—causing the humans to flinch and some to reach for their own weapons—and did as she said. Crimson blood began trickling down the edge of the blade.
"M-My lady!?"
Did you really have to go this far, Mom?
The bleeding was allowed to continue for a few seconds, during which Wilmarina casually dismissed her sword and used her uninjured hand to finish eating her bread roll. Then she brought her uninjured hand to her cut one. There was a soft white light, and the lost blood flowed back in through the cut, which shrank down until it was completely gone. Only smooth skin remained there.
"I can heal various injuries and illnesses," Wilmarina said. "I have my limits, but based on how you've described the bloody flux, it should be possible to heal that."
That made Amelia think about her own ability to heal… if it could even be called that. She could heal a small cut like what her mother had just inflicted, but curing disease? And a deadly disease at that?
I never had to learn that… only people who plan on going abroad would ever want to learn serious healing… And Mom says she knows how…
To Amelia, Wilmarina was an annoying older succubus who kept hassling to focus on her studies, to not spend so many hours each day on fashion and friends, to get a proper job.
Yet before that, Wilmarina had been one of the heroes of Lescatie, divinely blessed humans trained for the goal of hunting monsters. Amelia had seen one book describe her as "the most competent hero of the old Lescatie, skilled with the sword, offensive magic and supportive magic, an inspiring leader, a beauty who would not lose to most monsters". At the time, it had seemed like an exaggeration…
"I-Impressive…" Barristan said. His eyes moved from Wilmarina's hand to her scarred face. "But if you can do that, then why—?"
"I prefer to leave traces of injuries from battles," Wilmarina explained. "To remind myself to never be complacent."
"I see," Barristan said. He then looked nervous. "What do you ask in return for this service?"
The other humans looked nervous too. Based on what Amelia had seen so far in this strange world, they expected "demons" to demand human sacrifices.
Just what the hell do they think of us!? I mean, I guess monsters in general need men… out of us four, Elise and maaaybe Colette might be interested… but only if they want to be with us! Isn't that common sense!?
"Only that you keep to your vow: talk to your queen when she returns, and have her agree to host us in Meereen," Wilmarina said. "Until the time when we are able to return home."
The humans exchanged uncomfortable glances. Amelia wasn't sure what worried them more: letting monsters stay in their city or the current absence of their queen.
And just when can we go home? From the looks of things, we only ended up here because Colette's experiment went wrong. Can we even make that happen again on purpose?
"When she returns, I will ensure that she agrees, you have my word on that," Barristan said, pressing an armoured fist against his equally armoured chest.
And isn't he hot in all that metal? I feel a bit warm, and I'm wearing nothing compared to him! They don't have magic here for keeping cool… He must be really into being a good knight.
Wilmarina stood up. "Then it is time to begin. Lead the way to the nearest gathering of patients."
After being in this house for over an hour, they finally stepped back out into the sunlight. There was an ox-drawn covered wagon here that hadn't been here before. Also, a small crowd had gathered outside, kept back by a line of Unsullied.
"It's true…"
"Demons brought into Meereen…"
"They will bring ruin on us! Just like the accursed dragons!"
Amelia shrank back under the flood of attention, much of it negative. Her sisters reacted similarly.
"My apologies," Barristan said, clearly embarrassed. "Please enter the wagon. We will maintain a circle around you, ensuring your safety until our destination."
"Another demonstration would be simpler."
Wilmarina pushed her way past the line of soldiers. The crowd shrank back at her approach.
Then Wilmarina swept her hand in a horizontal line, sending out a wave of white healing magic. Amelia expected gratitude in response, but what happened next were screams of horror.
"She's cursed us!"
"Oh, Great Harpy, save us from this evil!"
"Run!"
"Look at yourselves," Wilmarina said bluntly.
The command was so sudden that the crowd froze in surprise. A few people began looking at others, and then there was a chorus of gasps.
"Khraz, your warts—they're gone!"
"What!? How!?"
"You, didn't you have a big scar on your nose before?"
"My teeth aren't hurting anymore!"
A few people did end up running away, apparently not accepting what had just happened. The rest were looking at Wilmarina in a very different way compared to before.
"I have the ability to heal," Wilmarina said. "If you have any loved ones who will soon die, I can probably help them. For now, I am going to help the victims of the bloody flux, or the pale mare, as some of you call it. Do not get in my way."
There was a moment of silence, then the crowd quickly parted.
"…Now, girls, let's get into the wagon," Wilmarina said.
The three succubi and one alraune entered the wagon. The driver of the wagon, a nervous-looking dark-skinned man, spurred the ox into movement, and the wagon began trundling along.
Now that she was only among family, Colette opened up her petals again. The alraune's pink eyes were filled with worry and fear.
"They were so angry before…" Amelia said quietly. "Even though we hadn't done anything bad to them…"
"They were scared," Wilmarina replied. "From what we've heard, they've been under siege for months. Many of them are starving, ill or both. Many have seen loved ones die of starvation or illness. And, more recently, to dragonfire. It only makes sense for them to be scared."
Dying… it's not something that really happens in Lescatie, Amelia thought. Everyone who was there at the time it got saved, or who was born after like me, is too young for it. There's, like, three people who moved in from other countries and were old enough to pass away. But they just moved on to the Underworld, living people can still talk to them, so it's not even a big change…
"I almost considered having us all disguise ourselves as humans," Wilmarina continued. "But we've already been seen by the hundreds of guards who were on or near Meereen's walls. There's no keeping secrets when there's so many witnesses. So, I decided it would be better to publicly help the people of Meereen, to counteract their negative preconceptions of us."
"Negative preconceptions"… They apparently don't have the Order here, but they still don't like monsters. Seriously, thinking we actually want sacrifices…
But it doesn't look like all of them hate us.
Amelia recalled the stares she'd received before entering Meereen, from both the Yunkai-led forces and the Meereenese forces. There was obviously surprise at her inhuman appearance, but there was also a lot of lust in those stares.
Nobody here dresses like me, do they? I noticed Barristan trying his best not to look at my boobs, and the… Unsullied don't look like they care at all, but the other soldiers with him kept on looking.
Come to think of it, those other soldiers aren't around anymore. Looks like he decided to send away the ones who'd get distracted.
At home, Amelia welcomed the attention she got, and her part-time job depended on it. Now that she was in this strange world… perhaps she should change into a less revealing outfit when she had the chance.
Out of curiosity, Amelia peeked outside through a gap in the canvas that covered the wagon. She saw Barristan and the Unsullied riding or marching around the wagon. There were also humans staring at the group from behind windows and in alleys between buildings.
They're everywhere… even one street has more humans than I ever saw before.
And some of them look… too thin, with bones sticking out…
Eventually, they arrived at a large and ramshackle wooden building. There were no people visible in the buildings near it. And, even from the outside, Amelia could hear the moans and groans of the dying—sounds she'd already heard too much of from the battlefield outside Meereen's walls. She didn't want to get any closer to this concentration of misery. But at the same time, she didn't want to just stay sheltered and ignorant.
"Here we are," Barristan said. "Those beginning to fall victim to the bloody flux are brought here. The ones more stricken by the disease are cared for by the ones still relatively healthy."
"Then it's time to begin," Wilmarina said. "Girls, perhaps you should wait outside—"
Amelia shook her head. "You want us to be safe, right? Then we'll be safest if we stick with you."
"Y-Yes," Elise said. "It'd also be better for us to… to understand what this world is like."
"Don't go, Auntie Mary," Colette said, still within her petals. This caused the nearby humans to flinch, as none of them had heard her speak yet. "Not… again…"
"Alright. Then let's all go inside."
An Unsullied—wearing gloves, Amelia noticed—pulled open the door. They walked into the building.
Inside were dozens of people. Most were lying on straw beds on the floor, and they were the source of the constant moans and groans audible from outside. The floor around many of these poor souls was covered in blood and… and faeces. Others walked around to give water to the ones lying down and clean up the mess. Even these "relatively healthy" ones looked gaunt and shrivelled, as if the water had been partly squeezed from their bodies. Finally, a horrific stench filled the air, one so foul that Amelia had to cover her nose.
How is something like this even possible? How can any god let people suffer like this?
The relatively healthy humans looked in shock at their visitors. One asked, "S-Ser Barristan? And… who are these… er… creatures?"
"That is a long and complex tale," Barristan replied. "Suffice to say that they are here to help. They have… access to magics of healing."
The relatively healthy humans exchanged glances. Then the first one said, "…S'ppose it's worth trying. We're all dead in here anyway, sooner or later…"
Wilmarina approached the nearest patient, kneeled down and placed a hand on his head.
"By any chance, do any of you know the cause of bloody flux?"
That was met with confusion. Barristan eventually said, "That is often debated. I have heard tales of it being a curse from the gods. Others claim it is due to a poison in foul water."
"The second is closer to the truth. There are… tiny living creatures, too small to see with your eyes, that occur everywhere and in everything. Some of these cause various kinds of disease, which may be spread through fouled food and water. When these creatures get into a person, they multiple and cause problems." Wilmarina took her hand away. "I've now cleared those tiny creatures from this man. Bring me water."
A relatively healthy patient blinked, then picked up a wooden cup from a nearby table and hurried over. Wilmarina snatched the cup away and looked inside.
"Is this the cleanest water you have?"
"Y-Yes. We get our water from a well… erm, it's not us who gets water, exactly. Some soldiers carry water over from the well and dump it into a barrel—that's out the back. We use the water from that barrel…"
Wilmarina held one hand over the rim of the cup and then moved it upwards. A small dark particle, almost too small to see, rose out of the cup and hovered beneath her hand. She then dropped this particle on the floor and brought the cup to the sick patient's mouth.
"Girls, can you go to that barrel and purify its water?" Wilmarina asked. "Ser Barristan, send some of your troops with them."
That was how Amelia found herself standing next to a barrel behind the building. The water in this barrel looked clean, but when her sister stuck a finger on it, she grimaced.
"This level of contamination…" Elise said. "People actually drink this?"
"This is not unusual for well water in Meereen," an Unsullied explained. "It is no issue for the healthy, at least."
"Well, it wouldn't be up to standards in Lescatie, that's for sure," Elise said. She removed her finger and then held out both hands over the barrel. "Let's see if I remember how to do this right, it's been years since I cast this spell…"
With a look of intense concentration, Elise moved her hands upwards slowly. A dark grape-sized ball rose up from the barrel water. When she was done, Elise dropped the ball on the nearby ground with a queasy expression.
"That's all the microbes and suspended matter," Elise said. "Hopefully this is enough."
"H-Hang on, I can try something too…"
Colette reached out two green arms from between her petals, to the surprise of the three Unsullied guarding them. Her hands were held together, forming a bowl filled with a clear liquid. She deposited this liquid into the water of the barrel.
"What… is that?" the Unsullied asked.
Colette quickly withdrew her arms into her petals. "Th-That is! Um… it's…"
"That's alraune… um… something flowers make," Amelia explained. She didn't yet know the High Valyrian word for nectar. "It's… good for the body?"
"Th-That's right," Colette said. "Hearing them in there… I couldn't just… I had to do something to help…"
"I'm certain it will be appreciated," the Unsullied said.
"Let's bring this barrel inside for now," another Unsullied said. "It will make it more convenient to fetch water from it."
They went back inside. The mood here was now completely different. The first patient Wilmarina had healed was now sitting up with an expression of amazed relief. Wilmarina had already moved on to someone else. In fact, when also counting the patients who were lying down but appeared relieved, she was on her fifth patient.
"Mom, we've got the pure water," Amelia announced in her native language. "Is there anything else we can do? I mean… all of us did learn basic medical magic, it's a mandatory course in school."
"No," Wilmarina said firmly. "Clearing microbes and their toxins requires more than the basics—in part because monsters don't catch such illnesses in the first place, so your course wouldn't teach this skill. It's entirely possible for an inexperienced healer to remove the patient's cells along with the microbes, or otherwise cause problems." She stood and moved on to another patient. "Truth be told, even I'm uncertain about doing this. My training and experience are in emergency healing on the battlefield. Your aunt Sasha would be far better suited to this…"
Yeah, Mom… but your experience is still a hell of a lot more than what we can do!
"But there is one other way you three can help," Wilmarina said. "When I start feeling tired, you can donate your mana to me."
Meanwhile, Barristan was giving orders to his soldiers. Most of them left the building, leaving only two behind.
"Where have they gone?" Wilmarina asked in High Valyrian, not looking up from her current patient.
"To bring as many of the bloody flux patients here as possible," Barristan replied. "Those who can walk will come here by that means, otherwise they are to come in whatever wagons can be obtained. It won't be feasible for everyone to come here, some might not survive the journey, so for now my men will only gather those in this area of Meereen."
"Hmph. Thank you for the assistance."
A couple of hours passed in this manner. Hundreds of sick humans were brought in, some unable to even stand, yet every single one was soon able to leave on his or her own two feet. Whenever Wilmarina ran low on mana, one of the other monsters laid hands on her to transfer their own. Barristan and his soldiers, no longer needing to fear infection since they could be healed afterwards, began carrying sick patients over to Wilmarina so she didn't have to move around. Outside the building, grateful patients and their families left coins, jewellery, flowers and other offerings, despite repeated statements that this wasn't needed.
By the end of it, Amelia was tired to the point of wanting to lie down and have a nap, and she hadn't even been the one doing the healing. Yet the one actually doing the healing looked completely unfazed.
"That's everyone here…" Wilmarina said, dusting off her hands. "Barristan. How much of the population is now healed, in your opinion?"
"Possibly a tenth," Barristan said. The old human did show signs of fatigue, yet he still remained on his feet. "For the work of hours, this… this can only be called a miracle!"
"Well, I'm not finished yet," Wilmarina said.
"Wait, Mom, you seriously need a break!" Amelia said. "You're going to collapse at this rate!"
"Yes, not a single person would hold it against you, even if you rested until the following morning!" Barristan added. "You've already saved hundreds of lives!"
"…I was not saying I would continue right away," Wilmarina said, sounding miffed. "It is noon now. And at least where I come from, we eat a meal at noon."
Barristan calmed down. "Ah, my apologies. Yes, that is a custom here as well… at least, in some cultures. Where would you like to dine, and what foods would you like?"
"Here, in order to recover before moving anywhere else," Wilmarina replied. "As for food, for myself, bring a loaf of bread and a jug of milk. My daughters can make their own requests."
"A-Are you certain that's all you desire?"
The former improvised hospital was much cleaner than it had been hours ago. The healed patients, wanting to repay their saviour however they could, had diligently scrubbed away all the messes. Now… it was hardly a luxury hotel, but neither was it a miserable place to be in.
"As I said, I want to recover as soon as possible," Wilmarina said. "Now, girls, tell them what you'd like for lunch."
Amelia and her sisters made their requests, which were granted in short order. None of them was in the mood for feasting, so they all made simple requests like their mother.
Though they still didn't go to the extremes that Wilmarina did. When her lunch arrived, she soaked her bread in milk thoroughly and then ate it at a tremendous pace, finishing both bread and milk in minutes.
"Mother, is that really necessary?" Elise asked, holding a half-eaten peach.
"Taking the time to savour food is for times of peace," Wilmarina replied. She was now walking round slowly, presumably to help digestion. "When I've been on campaigns in the past, I also made my meals quick."
"Okay, but… are you seriously going to start healing again right after lunch?" Amelia asked. "There's no way you can fill up that fast! You haven't got Dad here to recharge, and this place isn't a monster realm!"
Wilmarina slowed to a stop. "I've had to go out of Lescatie before, without Elt with me, and still fought in battles… because of that, I've trained my body to be able to run efficiently on just energy from food."
Amelia was reminded again of just how little she knew of her mother. She recalled a few times from her youth, when her mother and some of her aunts would go away for a few days. She hadn't known the purpose of those trips back then…
"And Meereen isn't quite as dry of mana as you think," Wilmarina said. "I'm sure you've all had other things to worry about, but now that we're able to relax: close your eyes and try to feel the mana in the atmosphere."
Amelia closed her eyes, focusing on the input from her other senses. But sensing mana had never been her strong suit. Several seconds passed without her noticing anything unusual.
"This feels like… the mana of dragons?"
Hearing Colette's voice caused Amelia to reopen her eyes. "Wait, is it from those two wyverns—well, apparently they're dragons here?"
"Yes," Wilmarina said. "It's similar to what they were emanating before I transformed them: the blazingly powerful mana of dragons. I'm curious as to where they obtain their energy from: could they get all of it from the food they consume? There is almost no other kind of mana in Meereen's atmosphere, so the dragons can't be obtaining their mana from it. And, obviously, their previous forms were not obtaining mana from intercourse."
The humans in the building would be very startled by the current conversation, were it not being held in a foreign language. As it was, they focused on their own lunches and politely avoided asking what the monsters were talking about.
"The dragons of this world may be very different from the dragons we're familiar with," Wilmarina said. She switched back to High Valyrian. "Ser Barristan. What do you know of the Targaryens, the Valyrians before them, and their dragons?"
Barristan set down the sausage he'd been eating. "I am a knight, not a maester studying history in detail. But if you are content with my perspective…"
Over the next ten minutes, the human knight recounted the story of the Valyrian Freehold, an empire that had covered almost all of the huge continent of Essos. With the power of tamed dragons, it had first conquered the-then Ghiscari Empire to its east, then turned westward.
"The great river Rhoyne was inhabited by the Rhoynar peoples. They fought the Valyrians for two and a half centuries, their water magic proving an effective counter against dragonflame. Yet in the end, even they fell, before a force of three hundred dragons…"
Three hundred dragons… Amelia thought. There might be that many in Lescatie, if you include wyverns and wurms. Dragonia, obviously, has lots more. But they'd never do all this… killing people, again and again, just so they'll give up and join someone's empire…
Barristan then spoke of the Free Cities, great city-states founded by Valyria in western Essos. The name came from them being self-ruled instead of being directly ruled by the Valyrian Freehold. It didn't come from the people being free, since large portions of the Free Cities' populations were slaves, something that remained true to this day.
"The Valyrians also founded colonies on Sothoryos, the continent to the south of Essos. Yet none of those colonies persisted. Sothoryos is a fearsome and wild place, one that all the dragons and other sorceries of the Valyrians could not tame."
Even dragons couldn't? Just what's down there?
Barristan spoke of Westeros, the continent the Valyrians seemed to care little for. It wasn't beyond their capability to conquer, as the Targaryens later demonstrated. Yet the Valyrians only set up an outpost on the imaginatively named island of Dragonstone.
"Then the Doom occurred." Barristan's voice became grim. "Most accounts agree that there were many volcanic eruptions, destroying the Valyrian Freehold and leaving a charred, smoky wasteland in its place. To this day, there is endless speculation as to the cause. Some say it was a natural, if terribly disastrous phenomenon. Others claim it was the wrath of the gods, punishing the Valyrians for their hubris."
Due to the Doom of Valyria, the empire split up, with each of the Free Cities going their own way and other parts being conquered by other nations or simply destroyed. The Targaryens on Dragonstone were among the few surviving Valyrians, and they decided to make their own empire in Westeros.
And they lost that… and one of the survivors is queen of this city, which… used to be owned by her ancestors? Argh, history is so complicated!
"The Targaryens of Westeros retained their dragons for almost two centuries." Barristan had a sombre expression. "And then many died… fighting other dragons. 'Twas a civil war between two rival factions of House Targaryen, now known as the Dance of the Dragons. The only dragons hatched after that point were sickly, and eventually the species died out completely."
"Until three were hatched by the last Targaryen…" Wilmarina said.
After all that, Amelia spent the remainder of lunch thinking.
It kind of reminds me of how Dragonia used to be, back when it was… Drakai? Can't really remember the details, but it was back when monsters were still ugly and vicious. Humans in Drakai used dragons to fight, treated them just like animals, until one guy started a rebellion to stop it, made other humans treat them as partners. And when all monsters got made into part-succubi, the dragons started being partners in another way too.
But the dragons over here never got a break. Always treated like animals… or even worse, just as weapons.
Now two of them have turned into proper monsters. I'm guessing Mom plans to turn the third too. How is that going to change things…?
When everyone was done eating, Barristan again asked, "Are you certain you are ready to continue, my lady?"
"Yes," Amelia's mother said bluntly. "If you wish to help, then send orders to begin gathering patients in the next part of the city. Also, help us get there without being disturbed."
Barristan glanced towards the door, where muffled voices could be heard since a while ago. "We shall do our best."
They all stepped outside again. And once again, there was a crowd outside the building, but this crowd was larger and showing very different emotions.
"They saved my life—"
"Saved both my parents, 'n' my brother too!"
"Not demons, they must be agents of the gods!"
"While dragons just bring death death, they bring life!"
"How dare you!? The dragon queen freed us—"
"Aye, to starve and die! And she's dead now!"
"Mhysa is not dead!"
Amelia and her sisters shrank back from the crowd. While Barristan's men were keeping them at a distance, it was still concerning to see people on the verge of getting into fistfights.
The four monsters hurried back to the wagon, which soon began moving. From inside the wagon, Amelia heard Barristan repeatedly calling for calm.
"This is a problem," Wilmarina grumbled. "I never intended to supplant their queen in any way."
"But it's not like we can't help them," Amelia said. "Not when it's literally life and death."
"As soon as I'm done with this epidemic, I'm not waiting: I'm going out and bringing their Queen Daenerys back. I plan to tell them that we came specifically to support Daenerys' cause, even if it's a lie—"
"Okay, but that is not happening today, Mother!" Elise said. "You're already doing too much!"
Colette looked down at her lap. "E-Everyone, I'm sorry. It's all my fault. If I hadn't… If I hadn't done that stupid experiment, we wouldn't—"
Wilmarina set down her skewer and pulled the alraune into a tight hug, leaning over the latter's large petals to do so. Amelia and Elise joined in immediately after.
"Don't be silly, this isn't your fault!" Amelia said.
"I discussed the theory with you, and I know for a fact your experiment wasn't enough to do this!" Elise said.
"Don't blame yourself," Wilmarina said. "Your experiment certainly didn't have enough energy for a portal big enough to transport us all. I suspect that only happened because those sorcerers performed their own summoning ritual at the same time, and the two spells… intersected. No one could have possibly predicted that."
They remained in this state for a few moments. It had been… at least a few years since Amelia had done anything like this.
Colette sniffed. "But… But what now!? We're in someplace we never even heard of, and we have no idea how to get home!"
Wilmarina rubbed Colette on the back. "If we could be sent here, it must also be possible for us to be sent back," she said firmly. "And the people of Meereen are indebted to us now. They'll let us stay for as long as it takes for us to find a way home. Moreover, don't forget about our family back home. They'll be doing everything in their power to find us. There's your Auntie Mimil, a genius in many kinds of magic who's also highly experienced. While she lost interest in magical research years ago, I'm sure this incident will fire her up again."
"O-Okay…"
Soon after that conversation, they arrived at the next gathering of people suffering from the bloody flux. It was a plaza where hundreds of people had been laid out, some on rugs, others on bare ground. The stench of blood, faeces and misery was almost as strong here.
Wilmarina began her work as soon as she left the wagon. She proceeded much more quickly than in the first session: she laid hands on someone for about one second and that was it.
"Before, I wasn't certain of how my magic would affect the people of this world," she explained. "I had to take a slow and cautious approach, checking each person's condition during and after the healing. Now that I've successfully healed a wide variety of people, I don't need to be as cautious."
Another notable difference was that this location was out in the open, rather than being the interior of a building. While soldiers cordoned off the streets leading into the plaza, to avoid any interference, people still watched from adjacent buildings. This meant the monsters were the target of many stares, sometimes lustful stares. Though she also occasionally saw one human slap another for staring, saying it was being rude to their saviours.
The last difference was Wilmarina already putting her aforementioned plan into practice. Whenever she was thanked, she brusquely replied by saying that the thanks should go to Daenerys instead, as the queen was responsible for her being here.
The healing of those in the plaza finished in the early afternoon. Despite the sun still being high in the sky, Amelia just wanted to drop into a bed and sleep until tomorrow. And yet…
"It's time to move on," Wilmarina declared. "Girls, I can handle the next session by myself. It's alright for you to stay in the wagon from now on."
Amelia sorely wanted to refuse that offer, to insist that she could keep helping. But her traitorous body was too tired to say the words. And her sisters were in the same condition.
They rode in the wagon again. This time, Wilmarina ate during the trip, and Amelia was unsettled by the amount of food her mother was consuming.
"Mother, is that really healthy?" Elise asked, just as Amelia was about to ask this question herself.
"Not if I were to do this every day," Wilmarina admitted. She swallowed one last mouthful of pre-pulped peach. "But this much won't be a problem. Just as we have superior strength and agility to humans, we also have a superior ability to digest food—though it still takes training to make use of that."
Amelia shook her head. "I can't believe how many skills you have… and is this really one you had to pick up? You said you needed it when being away from Dad, but why couldn't Dad go out with you in those trips?"
Wilmarina closed her eyes in reminiscence. It took a few seconds for her to reply.
"He wanted to… oh, how he wanted to. He wanted either to accompany us, or for us not to leave at all. But we always managed to convince him, in the end. Elt… your father is a good fighter purely in terms of skill, but the few times he's fought serious opponents, he's… often hesitated."
The implications of that were clear. Amelia's mother and aunts had gone out on trips that involved serious, life-and-death fights. And while her father hesitated to kill people, her mother and aunts did not.
That… it should be a scary thing… but…
Amelia recalled those sorcerers who'd sacrificed humans for their summoning ritual. She recalled the old lord who'd ordered this summoning, as well as the others who'd shown no problem with it.
Was it right to… to… to put them down? I don't know… it's all a mess…
"For that reason, we insisted that Elt stay behind," Wilmarina said, bringing Amelia's mind back to the present. We didn't want to expose him to harm…"
"But…" Colette said nervously. "But Father must not want you to be exposed to harm, either… I'm sure of it…"
Wilmarina had no response to that. They spent the rest of the wagon ride in an awkward silence.
Afterwards, they stopped in yet another part of Meereen to heal yet another huge group of people. Then a fourth, then a fifth. Amelia and her sisters started helping by transferring mana again in the fourth session, but that left them too exhausted for the fifth session, even after eating and resting in the wagon. In the sessions where they weren't able to transfer mana, Wilmarina just compensated by having energy-rich snacks.
And this isn't even everyone who's sick, just the ones who'd die soon without healing… there's thousands more we haven't even looked at! Barristan mentioned… his guys are now having to literally hold lots of people back, so they'd don't take up healing time from those who really need it…
They travelled to yet another plaza. Wilmarina dismounted and began the healing of several hundred more people.
At least this one's the last for today… but seriously, Meereen is huge! Amelia thought. She peeked out from the wagon at the pyramids that dotted the skyline. It's even bigger than the capital of Lescatie…
"Hey! You have to help Quentyn!"
Amelia turned towards the source of that voice. Her two sisters joined her at the gap in the wagon's cover, and all three spotted a blonde man struggling against the Unsullied guarding the plaza.
"Do not interfere!" an Unsullied said. He pushed the blonde man to the ground with a blow from his spear's shaft.
Next to Amelia, Colette gasped and covered her eyes.
Yet the blonde man was undeterred. He tried to push past the Unsullied again, and again, heedless of what injuries he suffered in the process.
"Just who is he?" Elise asked nervously. "If he has someone whose life is in danger, then maybe we should help?"
Then they saw Barristan walk over to the blonde man and, without warning, seize him by the collar. Amelia and Elise flinched at the act of violence.
"Ser Gerris," Barristan said. "Why have you escaped? You were being held for your own safety."
"Fuck my safety, Quentyn's dying right now!" Gerris retorted angrily. "All because your queen rejected him—"
"Prince Quentyn made his own choice," Barristan said coldly. "He reaped the consequences of that choice… as did many others, unfortunately."
Amelia wasn't sure who Gerris or Quentyn were. Barristan hadn't mentioned them during the earlier discussion. Yet she could get a good idea by looking at the Meereenese citizens watching from nearby buildings: they looked at Gerris with positively murderous gazes, some of them even spitting in contempt.
"You should not have come here," Barristan said. "Since you have already come, you will wait here until the healing of these hundreds of other dying people is complete. Afterwards, if Lady Wilmarina agrees, she may look at your prince. But not before."
Barristan gave some instructions, and Gerris was brought to one side of the plaza and made to sit down, with an Unsullied standing watch behind him. Afterwards, Barristan returned to his work of carrying patients around.
"W-Who is that guy?" Amelia wondered out loud.
During all this, Amelia's mother had continued her healing. Perhaps she'd glanced at Gerris when he first arrived, but if so, she'd ignored him afterwards.
A short time later, a covered wagon entered the plaza, Gerris was—rather roughly—bundled inside, and the wagon departed.
Amelia bit her lip. She was tempted to call over Barristan or one of the Unsullied for an explanation, but they were busy helping her mother with the healing. She didn't want to waste their time.
Finally, as the sun was starting to set, the sixth healing session finished. There would be no more for today, as it would be dangerous for humans to move around in the dark.
Life here is so different from in Lescatie… It's not just that humans have bad night vision. There's a lot less light here, people can't just flick on a switch and make everything bright…
"On behalf of Queen Daenerys, I thank you deeply for all you have done for Meereen," Barristan said. He didn't let his fatigue, which also had to be considerable, stop him from bowing deeply. "I would now offer you the hospitality of the Great Pyramid of Meereen."
Surrounded by lengthening shadows, they began travelling towards the largest pyramid in the city. This was a true giant, being over twice as tall as any other pyramid. And when the wagon finally reached its base, Amelia stuck her head out for a close look.
The sides of the pyramid weren't smooth; like the other pyramids, the Great Pyramid could be conceived as a stack of huge blocks, each with sloping sides and arranged with smaller blocks over bigger ones. Each block thus had part of its top side exposed, forming terraces. The pyramid was painted with horizontal bands of colour—Amelia saw red, orange, yellow, white and grey in just a single glance. All this formed a magnificent sight in the orange rays of the dying sun.
"This is bigger than anything in Lescatie!" Amelia exclaimed.
"But the humans here have much less developed magic," Elise said, also peeking out. "How could they possibly build this?"
"Slave labour, I suspect."
These words from their mother cooled the succubus sisters' awe in an instant.
These guys have to do everything by hand… so how long did it take to move all those bricks here from… from wherever they made the bricks?
While Amelia had these morbid thoughts, the wagon entered an opening at the very base of the Great Pyramid. As soon as they did, the already-dim light gave way to a near-darkness, interrupted only by burning torches.
The stench of animals was strong in here. Amelia saw stables crammed with horses, donkeys and a third kind of animal that it took some time to recognise as mules. Many of these animals had ribs showing.
Even the animals aren't getting enough to eat…
After the stables was the bottom of a set of stairs. The wagon stopped here.
"These are the stairs that will take you to the higher levels," Barristan said, dismounting his horse.
"Wait," Amelia's mother said. "Do you have… a place for keeping people so they cannot escape, here or on a lower level?"
Barristan blinked. "Yes, there are dungeons beneath the Great Pyramid. Why do you ask?"
"That man with yellow hair, from earlier. Is he being kept here, and if so, I wish to speak with him."
Amelia gulped. She'd never been in a dungeon or talked to a prisoner before. Then again, she'd never seen live sacrifices or slaves or war before today.
I… I don't want to stay ignorant. I want to know what's going on.
Wilmarina was reluctant to let the younger monsters accompany her, and it took some effort to persuade her. Not all of them decided to go in the end, however. Colette decided she didn't want to see the dungeons, so she was put in a side room with six Unsullied to stand watch.
The rest followed Barristan's lead, walking through a labyrinth of corridors, under three stone arches, then down a stone ramp to an even gloomier level, something Amelia hadn't thought was even possible.
There were two human men in animal masks at the entrance to the dungeons—Brazen Beasts, if Amelia remembered right. One had the mask of a locust, the other an owl.
"Ser Barristan?"
"They're the demons everyone's talking about…"
"Our guests would like to visit a prisoner," Barristan explained. "Kindly open the doors.
The Brazen Beasts opened the doors, two constructions of solid timber reinforced with iron. Amelia's group passed through. Amelia herself noticed the two men peeking at her body, but she said nothing.
Once inside, Amelia sniffed the air. There was an odour, one she wouldn't have recognised before today.
"I-Is that…?"
"Dried blood," Wilmarina confirmed. "Barristan, is torture performed here?"
Barristan looked conflicted. "I suspect that is the case… to be clear, I do not approve of such things. Men in chains do not need further torment."
Amelia tried not to let anyone see her shiver.
They passed through a corridor with cells on both sides, tiny rooms with front walls consisting of wooden bars.
Amelia had read about dungeons in adventure books—the only kind of books she found any enjoyment in. They were often described as places where innocent monsters were locked up, pending execution… but inevitably a human guard would take pity on a monster inmate, free them and eventually find love with them.
This dungeon was nothing like that.
"W-Who…?"
"Wings…? Just what are you!?"
"Come to take us…?"
The cells were inhabited by humans with emaciated figures, matted hair and ragged clothing. They comprised multiple races, both sexes and… a range of ages. Most were lying down or sitting against walls. It didn't look like they'd seen the sun in weeks.
While still walking, Wilmarina sent out a pulse of white light that filled the corridor. Some of the prisoners had visible, half-healed wounds, and these rapidly disappeared.
Ignoring the shocked reactions of the prisoners, Wilmarina asked, "Do you know what these ones are here for?"
"A-As I recall, they are suspected of helping the Sons of the Harpy in their murders," Barristan said. His guilty tone implied he wasn't so sure of that himself. "Thank you for your graciousness in healing them as well, my lady."
The Sons of the Harpy were a group Barristan had mentioned all the way back in the morning's discussion. Apparently, they were a mysterious group who hated Queen Daenerys' anti-slavery policy and murdered her supporters during the night.
"Is that everyone here…?" Elise asked timidly. "Even the… children?"
"It's possible… in theory," Wilmarina said. "Barristan, do you know of any who'd bear a grudge against Daenerys?"
Barristan grimaced. It looked as if he was recalling a past incident.
Just… what the hell has been happening in this city?
They turned around a corner and came across more cells. Wilmarina healed their occupants too, causing more shock.
Amelia glanced at the cells as she walked past. The only bedding was mats of straw, while the only… sanitation method was buckets. Literal buckets. Some of them currently filled with substances that would've made Amelia nauseous if she hadn't already smelled such things repeatedly.
They turned another corner and arrived at a cell isolated from any others. This one looked cleaner than the others, and had two occupants in relatively tidy clothing.
One of them was the familiar Gerris. The other was a heavily built man with a head devoid of any hair. Both were already staring at Amelia's group from the moment they turned the corner, presumably having heard their footsteps.
"Arch," Gerris whispered in a language completely unknown to Amelia. "Hey, it's them! I saw the blue-haired one—the one with long blue hair before, but the other two are new!"
"For the sake of our guests, I must request that you speak in High Valyrian," Barristan said firmly. "Now, allow me to introduce them. This is Lady Wilmarina, the one responsible for curing over a thousand of the bloody flux today, as you already know. These are her daughters, Amelia and Elise."
Arch, the bulky man, stared at Amelia's group like they were some kind of never-before-seen animal. Gerris looked at each of them in turn, then subtly winked at Amelia.
Oh… I see. He's obviously used to flirting with girls, and wants to try his charms on me, so I can get Mom to help this Quentyn. He thinks I'm easy because of how I dress.
Amelia knew Gerris' type. In Lescatie, females outnumbered males over five to one. Many monsters hoping to get laid, even if it was just a casual relationship, therefore went for a man who was already married. Even some of Amelia's own sisters had done this. As a result, many men in Lescatie were highly experienced.
"Greetings," Gerris said with a casual smile. "We didn't off to a—get off to a good start before, but I'm Gerris of House Drinkwater, and this my—this is my—" his smile faded. "My apologies, but would you happen to know the Common Tongue? My Valyrian isn't that good."
Wilmarina shook her head.
"If there are particular words you have difficulty with, tell me and I will attempt to translate," Barristan said. "Otherwise, you are to use High Valyrian as much as possible."
"Alright, then this is my friend, Archibald of House Yronwood," Gerris said, already putting his smile back up. "We're from Dorne, from Westeros."
"What did you do to be put here?" Wilmarina asked.
Both Dornishmen looked guilty, even Archibald, who seemed to have even less understanding of High Valyrian than Amelia did.
"Well… that's…"
"We should tell them the truth," Archibald said. It was the first time Amelia had heard him speak.
Gerris glanced at his friend. "Arch, that's not a great idea when trying to get someone to—"
"Do not forget of my presence," Barristan warned. "You will answer all questions truthfully."
Gerris sighed. "Alright, have it your way, ser. So… have you heard about our prince, Quentyn?"
"Barristan, what is a prince?" Wilmarina asked.
"A title higher than a lord but lower than a king," Barristan explained. "Dorne is ruled by princes—or their female equivalent, princesses."
"I see… then I recall you mentioning that name a short time ago," Wilmarina said to Gerris. "Did he come to Meereen with you?"
"Yes, and he's the raisin—reason we came here," Gerris replied. "We came all this way, crossing seas and deserts, so that our prince," his blue-green eyes were filled with seemingly genuine sadness, "could marry the queen."
Amelia was surprised by that. It was a more romantic motive than she'd expected.
"But wait," Amelia said. "Isn't she already… uh… what's the word again?"
"Married," Barristan supplied. "The queen is currently married to a lord of Meereen, Hizdahr zo Loraq."
"But she wasn't back when we first came!" Gerris retorted. He looked at Barristan with obvious anger. "Quentyn came, offering a royal marriage, and she laughed at him!"
"She never laughed at him," Barristan said coldly. "I was present as well. I know that she only treated him with courtesy."
Gerris opened and closed his mouth, seemingly trying to find the right Valyrian words. "Courtesy, you say, but she turned down an excellent offer for—to instead get married to this Harzoo, who everyone knows she didn't even like!"
"What were the details of this offer?" Wilmarina asked calmly.
"It… alright, as I've been saying, Quentyn is a prince," Gerris said. "He's heir to Dorne, one of the kingdoms of Westeros—you ever seen Westeros?" When Wilmarina shook her head, he continued, "Westeros is a land to the west, a great land with over a million people, opening—no, starting with the snows of the North, then going through vast forests and tall mountains, right down to the desert of Dorne in the south."
Gerris was quite the storyteller—indeed, Amelia wondered if that was a tactic he used to pick up girls. Even though she didn't understand all his words, and he himself was speaking in a second language, her mind was still filled with vivid images of beautiful landscapes.
"Quentyn was already a prince of Dorne, and if Daenerys had married him, she would've had fifty thousand Dornish spears on top of her existing armies!" Gerris said, gesturing wildly. "With that kind of force, she could've taken the rest of the Seven Kingdoms! That great land I just talked about? She could've ruled all of it! Now do you know why it's an excellent offer?"
Wilmarina looked towards Barristan, clearly wanting his opinion.
"…It was, to an extent," Barristan acknowledged. "I, personally, hoped for Her Grace to accept the offer, marry Prince Quentyn and return to her rightful place in Westeros. But she chose otherwise, chose the now-King Hizdahr for the sake of restoring peace and prosperity to Meereen."
Gerris clenched his fists in frustration. Archibald placed a meaty hand on his shoulder.
"Gerris, calm down," Archibald said. "What's done is done."
"…Fine." Gerris let out a breath.
"And how did that lead to you two being here?" Wilmarina asked. "Where is this Quentyn now?"
The two men's expressions twisted with a mixture of guilt and… what seemed like grief.
"Quentyn, he…" Archibald said in mispronounced High Valyrian. He looked down at his hands, which were covered in bandages. "He…"
"Prince Quentyn made an unfortunate choice," Barristan said. "A choice that, inadvertently, led to the release of the dragons."
"His choice…?" Gerris snorted. "The dragons chose to go wild and set the city on fire! Queen Daenerys' pet dragons!"
"It was his choice to try to steal them in the first place, knowing it was foolish," Barristan said. "His choice to murder the queen's men who were guarding the dragons."
"Wait, really?" Amelia exclaimed.
Gerris looked ashamed. "It's not—look, I know it's wrong, but it wasn't Quentyn's choice at all. The Windblown—ah, those're people we worked with—they're the ones who did the killing." He glanced very briefly at Archibald. "Erm… what was supposed to happen, is us getting past the guards without a fight. We had this, this…"
"Watchword," Barristan said. "A word that guards would say to each other when changing shifts."
"Right, watchword, all we had to do was say it and the guards would swap out for us, so we could pass… That got us past one set of guards, then we ran into another set, and saying the word just made them angry… and then the Windblown…"
"In other words, the murders happened because your prince tried to steal the dragons," Barristan said succinctly.
Gerris looked stung by those words. He punched the bars of the cell, causing Amelia and Elise to jump back.
"He wouldn't have had to do that if she just taken the damn offer! Didn't even like her husband Harzoo, anyone with eyes could see it! Oh, and," Gerris looked at the knight with a smug smile, "I've been hearing rumours he's a traitor, almost poisoned his wife. I can tell you one thing, Quentyn would never have hurt his wife!"
"…King Hizdahr is still under investigation," Barristan admitted.
That's a ridiculous amount of history there, Amelia thought. And two guys fighting over one girl? Another thing you'd never get in Lescatie.
Gerris turned back to Wilmarina. "Well, that's the story. The dragons went wild and burned Quentyn. Now…" he swallowed, "Now he's barely holding on to life. I heard that someone who can perform miracles is in Meereen now, so I broke out looking for her." He got down on his knees. "I saw her saving even those poor bastards shitting themselves to death. All I want… All I want is for her to save him too."
That plea was filled with desperation. It was clear that Gerris saw Quentyn not just as his prince, but also as a friend.
Archibald got on his knees too. "Please. Save him."
Gerris can pull off the "sad boy who needs help" routine really well… a lot of girls might melt just from seeing his face right now. Obviously won't work on Mom. And not on me. But Elise…
Amelia glanced at her sister. Just as expected, Elise was looking extremely shaken. If it had been up to her, she might have already given in and sworn to do everything she could to help.
"How badly is Quentyn burned?" Wilmarina asked, unmoved.
"I shall answer that," Barristan said, possibly to spare the Dornishmen the pain of having to describe their friend's injuries. "Prince Quentyn… is in a terrible state, with every part of him burned. I fear he will die within days, without intervention."
Wilmarina was silent for a few seconds. Amelia began to wonder if her mother was doubting if she should heal Quentyn.
It sounds like he's made a terrible mistake… but he still needs help, right? Everyone deserves a second chance.
Well… maybe not people like the ones back in that army camp.
"…I will check on his condition," Wilmarina said. "In the meantime…"
Wilmarina cast a healing spell on the pair in the cell. Gerris' hand had started bleeding when he punched the bars, yet that wound vanished, much to his amazement.
"You may remove your bandages now," Wilmarina said to Archibald. "Thank you both for answering our questions."
Without another word, Wilmarina turned and began heading back. Amelia hurried after her. Elise hesitated, looking back at the cell and the prisoners shouting their thanks, but Amelia tugged on her arm to get her to follow.
"It still astounds me, how effortlessly you can work such miracles…" Barristan said as he walked.
"I have had many years to practice my skills," Wilmarina said.
They made their way out of the dungeons, passing by numerous awed prisoners.
At this rate, we'll be starting a new religion! …Well, I'm sure Mom will keep doing her best to stop that happening.
Once they were at the room where Colette had been waiting, the three monsters all gave the alraune a hug. Barristan and the Unsullied guards politely said nothing, despite seeing them apparently hug a giant flower bud.
With Colette back in the group, they began making their way up the stairs, ascending the Great Pyramid.
"…Huh? Hold on…" Colette said after she'd finished hearing the Dornishmen's story. "Quentyn is from… another land? But he came to mally—marry the queen?"
"Yeah, I was wondering about that," Amelia said in her birth language. In High Valyrian, she said to Barristan, "Just how long did they know… uh…"
"Know each other?" Barristan said. He was huffing a little as he climbed the stairs. "They did not know each other before the prince's arrival in Meereen."
The three younger monsters came to a stop.
"What?" Elise said in disbelief. "When… when did that happen?"
"Approximately… three and a half weeks ago."
"And he thought she marry him!?" Amelia gasped. "Thought she'd marry him!?"
"Marrying for political reasons is common for royalty," Wilmarina said. "Let's keep going, girls."
They resumed moving. Amelia couldn't stop thinking about what she'd just heard.
Marrying someone you barely know, who you might not even get along with…
It was unthinkable in Lescatie and most other societies Amelia had heard of. For monsterkind, being forced into love was a nightmarish fate usually only mentioned in fiction.
But today… in a span of less than twenty-four hours… she'd seen multiple nightmarish things. None of it was fictional. None of it would go away as soon as she closed a book or stopped looking at a picture. Everything and everyone here was real.
Restoring peace and… something else to Meereen… that was what he said…
Marrying for benefits still sounds horrible, but… if it means people won't have to suffer so much… maybe it's worth it?
AN: I've given Wilmarina a wide range of skills in this fanfic. While her most recent profile only states "she possessed outstanding swordsmanship skills and the magic of ice", this doesn't necessarily rule out her knowing other kinds of magic. I'm also showing a much older Wilmarina, so she's had time to learn new things.