Now the people of Meereen also called her Mhysa, which only made her smile. They cheered when they saw her and waved their removed collars as she walked through the city streets. Everyone smiled back at her and she felt happy again, even though she couldn't call this city her home.

Those of the Masters who were still alive were gathered in front of her, surrounded by soldiers so that they could not escape or do anything to her. She looked at them in silence for a moment, wondering what she should do. She should do justice and punish them for their crimes.
But she didn't want to do this now, deal with such unpleasant things, when she was happy again.

"For now, throw them into the dungeons." Visenya said to Ser Barristan before turning towards the Great Pyramid.

Once she was upstairs, on the huge balcony, she felt like a real ruler for the first time. At the same time, it reminded her of the times when she would go out on her balcony at Casterly Rock and admire the sea, or in King's Landing, where her room also overlooked the city.
But there was no Targaryen sigil on the top of the building. She didn't rule there. There she looked at the endless sea or at a city that didn't know her or only gossiped about her. Here she ruled, everyone heard about her, they knew who she was, what she had done and what she could do. She wasn't an unwanted guest, she was a queen, it was her place.

From here everything seemed so peaceful... There was no noise of the city, no people in sight, and the blue sky stretched overhead. She would like to stay here for longer, but she couldn't. There were a lot of things to discuss. So she turned around, removing her hands from the stone railing, and returned to the interior of the chamber.

"So...?" she only said, signaling that they could start discussing the current situation.

"King Joffrey Baratheon is dead, Your Grace. Murdered at his own wedding."

She raised her eyebrows at the words coming from Ser Arthur's mouth.

Joffrey is dead. This bantling...

She still remembered how one day he decided to bully her, started pulling her hair, wanted to tear it out, and when she stopped him, he suggested that they could check if Targaryens are actually immune to fire.
He'd be surprised...

And now he was gone. This meant that his younger brother, Tommen, will take the throne. She didn't know much about him, but she heard that he was the complete opposite of his older brother.

"And Second Sons took over the fleet of Meereen, my Queen." Daario stated, turning her thoughts away from Joffrey and his brother.

"Did someone ask you to do this?" she asked, clearly surprised that he did such a thing.

"No." he shrugged and, sitting next to the others at the table, reached for the dates lying on a plate in the middle of the counter. "But I heard you need ships."

Somehow she suppressed a sigh. On the one hand, she was upset that he did it without asking her permission, but on the other hand, it was a nice gesture in a way and she didn't want to be angry about it.

"How many ships?"

"Ninety-three." Ser Barristan replied.

"How many people can they carry?"

"Nine thousand three hundred, not counting the sailors."

"Would that be enough to take over King's Landing?" she asked with a dose of uncertainty in her voice, closing her eyes a little as she imagined it all.

These ships are enough to transport them to Westeros, Dragonstone, or even straight to King's Landing. Something that was once only a dream of hers now became a reality. She could return to the place from which she had once had to flee...

"The Lannisters have more soldiers." Ser Arthur said without hesitation.

"But they've been fighting Joffrey's war for several years now, and they're tired and scattered." Ser Barristan replied. "And their king is dead. Eight thousand Unsullied, two thousand Second Sons. If we sail into Blackwater Bay and attack the city gates without warning, that might be enough."

"But the city still needs to be held. What if the remaining Lords of Westeros turn against us? We may not defend ourselves." the two knights began to discuss various options among themselves, while Visenya listened.

"After living under Joffrey's rule, they will probably breathe a sigh of relief and accept a queen who is not mad and wants well for her subjects."

"You can't be sure of anything. Especially since no woman has ever sat on the Iron Throne."

"What about Rhaenyra Targaryen?" she interjected.

"Some houses ignored their oaths and preferred to support Aegon. You don't want to start a war you're not ready for."

This time she didn't hold back a sigh and after Ser Arthur's words, she turned her gaze out the window for a moment, to the still blue sky. It was so peaceful there, when here there were only problems with many solutions, but none of them was certain.

"There are also other news." she turned her gaze back to them when she heard Ser Arthur. "From Yunkai: When the Unsullied left the city, the Wise Lords regained control. They put people in chains again and swore revenge on you."

"Anything else?" she asked, although she wanted to say that she had enough of this news.

"From Astapor." he continued. "The council that was supposed to rule the city was overthrown by a butcher named Cleon, who proclaimed himself "His Imperial Highness" and now rules the city..."

"Enough." she blurted out before she could bite her tongue. There was silence for a moment until she spoke again. "Please, leave me alone." she watched as everyone got up from the table and started leaving. Looking at Ser Arthur, she added "You stay, ser." only then did she turn around and go back to the balcony, where she clearly felt better.

Ever since he helped her see a purpose in her life after Daenerys' death, she felt like she trusted him more than anyone else. When she became more confident, they started talking to each other a lot, especially during the travels.
It also seemed like she was starting to see him as the father figure she never had. Thanks to him, she got to know her father from a different side, not in the usually bad light in which he was presented by the chroniclers paid by King Robert.

"The whole world looks good from here." she said, taking one last look at the view from the balcony, and then turned to the knight. "What am I doing wrong? In one city, a former slave took over, and in another, the Masters once again dominated the slaves. If I leave Meereen, one of these two will probably happen here too."

"It was certain from the beginning that most of the Masters would not accept being removed from their comfortable position."

"But an ordinary man who was once a slave now decided to elevate himself. I can't understand it..." she finished a little more quietly, lowering her eyes a bit, wondering why nothing went her way.

"You can always leave it all behind and sail to Westeros, Your Grace. On the throne sits a boy whom many consider a bastard. Their troops are devastated by the war, everyone is fighting among themselves, the Crown has never been so weak."

"Me too, I suppose." she admitted, although it sounded strange in the context of her whole story. "The Lannisters can't hold the Seven Kingdoms, and I can't hold three cities. I'm doing worse."

"Essos and Westeros are very different."

"Is that so? Here, the great families of the Masters exploit slaves from generation to generation, and in Westeros, the great houses also rule over others, forcing them to war, and they don't even know why they are fighting. It's not that different." she explained her point of view, leaning back against the balcony railing. "I will not allow those I freed to be put back in chains. We're not going to Westeros, we're staying here. And these Masters whom we now keep in the dungeons..." she hesitated for a moment. "They should be executed or nailed to the posts on which the slaves were previously hanging." she looked away, crossing her arms on her chest.

She didn't want to see his reaction to decisions she wasn't sure about. She knew she couldn't keep these people locked up forever, but would killing every last one of them be a good move? Perhaps this will scare away the Wise Lords of Yunkai or, on the contrary, they will want to take revenge on her even more.

"Are you sure?" she looked back at him, a bit surprised that he addressed her directly, but she didn't mind that.

"Are you questioning this decision?"

"Are you sure?" he repeated the question.

At first she wanted to lie, but she quickly gave up on that idea, he would see through her immediately, she knew she wouldn't be credible now.

"No." she replied truthfully. "But it will be justice. Life for life."

"Crucifying them will not be justice, but revenge." he noted, pointing out to her the thin line between these two values.

"If I spare their lives, the former slaves will not accept it, and the Masters will consider me weak."

"Some of the for sure. And some will think that they have been given a second chance and will do everything to avoid losing life. You should try to make everyone think this way. You won't change the world by murdering everyone who doesn't think like you, but by convincing them to your values. You just took over the city, set the law for them to follow. If they break it, then you will punish them."

She silently considered his words and felt that he was right. It was a pretty good way out of the situation and she couldn't think of any better solution anyway, and probably won't come up with one. There was only one thing left she had to ask.

"What about former slaves?"

"You liberated them, they will listen to you. The law applies to them too. You yourself said: You must be just, not cruel to some and kind to others."

A gentle smile graced her lips. She wanted to tell him at that moment how happy she was to have him by her side, but she didn't want to go beyond the rather professional nature of their relationship.

"Tomorrow, go with Daario to find the officials who dealt with the law in Meereen and bring them to me. I will review the laws with them and make any necessary changes. During this time, we will keep Masters in the dungeons, they will have time to think about their lives and choices they have made." when he nodded also with a slight smile, bowed slightly to her and moved to leave, she turned back to the beautiful sight before her.

Not only everything will look good from here, soon when walking through the city streets everything will be as beautiful as from this distance.

Robb hissed loudly, gritting his teeth as Sam cleaned another arrow wound for him. He saw Jon briefly before he left for Craster's Keep beyond the Wall, where the deserters were staying.

It may have been just a short moment, but it was the first time he finally felt something more than self-pity. Words couldn't express how much it meant to him that Jon was glad he didn't die at the Twins, even though such words went out into the world.

So they killed me before they actually killed me...

All in all, considering the situation he was in, it wasn't a bad move. He won't deny the rumors, because he will immediately reveal where he is, so he will sit quietly and let everyone think this way. One way or another, the Lannisters had won.

"You're lucky none of them got infected." Sam said as Robb grimaced badly again. He didn't even want to look at what his torso looked like now.

"Just when I want to die, the world keeps me alive, ironic..."he muttered, although it would have been better if he had remained silent, because this time he cursed the next time Sam touched the wound.

"I'm sorry." Sam muttered, seeing that he was causing a lot of pain while cleaning the wounds, and he was about to start sewing one of them...

"Don't apologize, it's my own fault..." he leaned his head back, trying to calm his breathing and breathe deeply. It didn't help that the images from that evening were flashing through his head again, bringing tears to his eyes. "I should rather apologize for the trouble and thank..."

"It's no trouble for me, and Jon's friend is my friend." he replied, smiling slightly at Robb, trying to cheer him up. "And now they won't disdain any extra pair of hands on the Wall, even if you are not and do not intend to be a brother. The wildlings are heaing to the Wall." he explained.

Robb would like to be able to forget about the world around him, at least for a moment, but even sleep wouldn't let him do that. Whenever he closed his eyes, he saw his mother having her throat cut, or a man stabbing Talisa's belly repeatedly with a knife, or other terrible scenes from the wedding.
What happened to his uncle anyway? They killed him too? Are they holding him as a prisoner?

He would give everything he has - even though he currently has little - to turn back time. However, Lord Karstark was right, he lost the war on his wedding day. He could beat Tywin in every battle, but he couldn't force him to fight him when he retreated and looked for another way to get rid of him.
As it turned out, he had so little honor in him that he decided to stab him in the back.

Damn honor, does anyone even care about it anymore? My father died because of it, I lacked it to keep my promise, but did it really matter that much? I wouldn't be betrayed either way?

That evening he closed his eyes, thinking that he won't find peace again. But to his surprise, he dreamed about something else.

A large, ruined room, and in front of him stood a silver-haired woman. He stood with his hand outstretched towards her.
He asked her to dance?