She may have been under a lot of stress lately, but this time it was different. Not so much as she was afraid that someone would attack her after what happened right after the execution, but she was... Sad, devastated. She hoped that she could bring justice to this city, teach what it is, but she failed. At first she wanted to run away, but she quickly pulled herself together enough to realize that she couldn't give up. If she gives up on Meereen now, she might as well not go to Westeros, because an even worse problems await her there.

She couldn't sit still. Her friends were with her in her chambers, they were all silent, it seemed that they themselves had not expected such a reaction from the crowd.
She wanted to bring two social groups closer together, but she divided them even further.

"Don't worry, Your Grace. We'll all keep watch tonight, no one will come in here." Ser Barristan assured her. She continued to pace around her chambers, clasping her hands in front of her and curling her fingers, an obvious sign that she was stressed.

"Not even a mouse can slip through without our knowledge. If there are any mice here at all." Daario said, standing in front of her and gently grabbing the sides of her arms so that she would finally stop wandering around the room.

She wasn't afraid that someone would attack her. People are intelligent enough not to try to attack the pyramid, although... Who knows, maybe they will soon decide to rebel against her, since they have already started throwing stones and knives at her.

As for that knife... Daario took it, it looked just like the one found with that Son of the Harpy. It became obvious that she was ultimately the one they were hunting.
Or they want to scare her, that was the second option.

"Leave, come back later." she replied, gently removing his hands from her shoulders and forcing a small smile. She doesn't want to sleep alone tonight, that's for sure. If she manages to fall asleep at all tonight, it will definitely be in someone's arms. "Everyone leave, leave me alone." she added, but she gave ser Arthur a look that meant she wanted to talk to him privately.

Ser Barristan, Missandei, Grey Worm and Daario left the room, leaving them alone.

"Have I made a mistake?" she asked directly, pulling chair away from the table and sitting on it. She pulled up her dress slightly to see the bruise they had caused on her thigh with that stone.

"It depends on point of view." he replied, walking up and stopping only at the table where she was sitting. "If you wanted to be a queen loved by everyone, then yes. It was known that the people of Meereen would react badly to such a public execution and will not forget it for a long time." she lowered her dress and sighed quietly, lowering her eyes resignedly. "But if you care more about being fair than blindly loved, then it was a good decision."

"Someone once told me that being loved and being a ruler for a long time do not go hand in hand, that people can only be controlled by fear."

She had heard this once, surprisingly, from Tywin Lannister when he came to her history lesson with the new teacher.
This was shortly after she tricked Jaime into murdering the septa. After the punishment she received for this, she was scared as hell, she didn't even think about ever disobeying again and politely learned what she was told - with a small exception: she did not abandon her learning of Valyrian and reading books alone in the evenings.

Lord Tywin himself came to them for one of their lessons about rulers. He soon sent the teacher away and taught her that day himself, adding his opinions to the individual kings. Among other things, they died quickly or were used because they were too kind. He did not fully approve of the techniques of, for example, Maegor the Cruel, but he admitted that people could only be ruled by fear.

"It's an old, well-trodden path that's easy to follow." Arthur pulled out a chair and sat down across from her, gently grabbing her hand as she held it on the table. "But you are different and like challenges, like your father. People feared him as a warrior, but loved him as a human being. He didn't pretend to be anyone, he was real, good by nature, but at the same time fair. People followed him because they believed in him, just like they follow you. You may be continuing to achieve the goal your aunt set, but people have come to believe that you can achieve it. The former slaves of Meereen believed in your words and, at your persuasion, turned against their Masters because they decided to trust that you would be the better choice. True, it looked like they wanted to stone you today... But they're not used to justice, you know that. They need time, they need to understand. They associate punishments only with their former Masters, who punished them severely for any crime. You made a new law, they may have thought at first that maybe you were too good to enforce it, but they will learn that a good ruler must be fair. And that's why they will appreciate you, just as everyone in Westeros will appreciate you, because they have never had a ruler who treated everyone equally. They did not have a ruler who would spend his days listening to the complaints of his subjects, both rich and poor, and helping them." he smiled at her, squeezing her hand a little tighter. "They'll give you a chance, and once they get to know you, they'll believe in you, just like we all believe in you, just like I believe in you."

"Thank you." she smiled back and placed her other hand on his. She was moved by his words, and they improved her well-being and boosted her self-confidence.

She remained in the pyramid for a few days for her own safety, and during this time she reassured herself that she had done the right thing. People didn't seem so agitated anymore, and she hadn't been informed of any further attacks of the Sons of the Harpy, so things were slowly starting to look good.

"Is the city really that calm and quiet or does it just look that way from here?" she said, hearing Ser Barristan behind her, at the doors to the balcony. Laughter answered her. "What? Does it sound funny, peace in Meereen?"

"I remembered all the times your father forced me to leave the Red Keep and walk around the King's Landing."

"Why did he do that?" she asked, turning to Barristan, her back against the balcony railing.

"He liked being among people. He liked to sing to them." sing?

"Wait... He sang to them?" she asked, as if to make sure she hadn't misheard.

She liked to hear first-hand stories about her father. It made her feel like she knew him, even if he died before she was born.
Besides, now she didn't just look at him through what he had done, kidnapped Lyanna Stark. Bad deeds do not erase good deeds and vice versa. She truly believed that he was ultimately a good man, but it only made it harder for her to understand how he could do such a thing... He must have expected it to start a war.

"Yes." this time it was her turn to laugh. She waited to see what else Ser Barristan had to say to her. "Rhaegar would find a place somewhere on Hook or Seed Street and sing like other minstrels."

"And you? Did you sing with him?"

"Oh no, Your Grace, I was not made for this." he laughed briefly. "I made sure no one killed him. And I collected money." this second sentence surprised her, she didn't even notice when her mouth opened in surprise. "What? He wanted to see how much he could earn."

"So... He was good? Since people paid him."

I wonder if I could sing something too...
It's so nice to finally think about something other than this city.

"He was very good. They don't write such things about princes in books."

"I was told about him in rather negative terms." she admitted. But that was because she was his daughter, no one wanted her to look up to him or be a role model for her in any way. "But I once read that he was good at... killing people. And I read about the tournament at Harrenhal, where he even defeated even ser Arthur."

"Rhaegar never liked killing. But he loved singing."

She looked down a bit, thinking about all this. The heir to the throne, a knight who knew how to fight, but did not like to do it, preferring to go among people and sing to them.
She found a bit of herself in it. She didn't want the throne, she started thinking about it seriously after Daenerys' death. She felt she owed it to her, and only later did she begin to believe that this might actually be her destiny. She knew she was still young and inexperienced, but for now she was doing well, the rest will come with age. She felt she had already learned a lot, especially compared to herself in Astapor. And this is not the end of her journey.

"What did you do with the money?" she asked, after a long moment of silence.

"Well, he gave it to another minstrel on the street once. Another time he gave them to the Flea Bottom orphanage. And another time... We got terribly drunk." she laughed at the latter, imagining a drunken ser Barristan and her father in the same state. She wondered what the other members of the Kingsguard said about this.

I'll have to ask Ser Arthur about that...

"Your Grace." Daario appeared in the second door to the balcony. "Hizdahr has come, he is waiting for an audience."

The smile immediately disappeared from her face a little at the thought of another fight with Hizdahr. This man is like a boomerang, he always comes back.

"How many others are waiting for an audience?"

"Fifty? Maybe a hundred? I didn't count." he guessed. Well, it's still less than three hundred.

"Will you join us, ser Barristan?"

"I think I can protect you from Hizdahr zo Loraq myself." Daario interjected, apparently he hoped that today he would have her to himself. She smiled slightly at this, she even liked how jealous he was sometimes.

"I can defend myself against him." she replied, bouncing off the balcony railing and directing her steps towards the interior of the chamber. "Then go, Ser Barristan. See what the people in the city need and maybe sing one song for me, okay?" she asked, passing him in the doorway.

"Your Grace." he bowed to her and left, leaving her alone with Daario for a moment.

"So let's not waste time, let's see what Hizdahr has to tell me today, history should give him the nickname 'obtrusive'." Daario chuckled at this statement, but he completely agreed with it. He followed her as she left the chamber and headed for the audience hall. Hizdahr was already there waiting for her, she passed him, climbed the stairs and sat down in her seat. "Has he been waiting here long?" she said to Ser Arthur, who had been in this chamber all this time.

"His perseverance is admirable."

She sighed softly and gestured to Hizdahr that he could come closer. He did it immediately and started talking, bringing up the topic of fighting pits again...

"Every men must die, but not everyone can die in glory."

"Glory?" she repeated after him, raising an eyebrow. She saw nothing glorious in arena fighting.

"And why do men fight? Why did your ancestors cross the Narrow Sea and conquer Westeros? So that their name will survive, so that history will remember them. Those who fight in the arenas will never become kings, but their name will live on. This is their best chance."

"My ancestors crossed the Narrow Sea to escape doom of Old Valyria. And I am fighting to make the world a better place." there was silence between them for a moment. She had to try to reason with him and convince him, otherwise he will never stop coming here... "I understand your point of view, but I have some doubts... Do you really remember those who once triumphed in the arenas, or did you just convince them that people will remember them?"

"People remember their favorites." she didn't want to believe it... She didn't believe that they could remember slaves fighting in arenas the way the best knights are remembered in the Seven Kingdoms, but perhaps this is just another proof that she doesn't understand their culture and doesn't fit here... She should stabilize the situation in Meereen as soon as possible and go to Westeros. "Your Grace, the fighting season should begin today, it's tradition."

"I have already told you many times that I do not recognize this tradition."

"Traditions are the only thing that unites every city, your city." he emphasized. "They are the only thing that connects former slaves and former Masters. Without them, we only have mutual resentments and lack of trust."

"You earned this for yourself." she remarked, which he didn't like very much. After all, he only cared about the well-being of Meereen.

"I'm not promising you this will be the solution to all your problems in Meereen, but it would be a good start." he said, not referring in any way to her words.

"Good? Let people murder each other?"

"Only those willing will fight."

"People should have another opportunity to provide themselves with a better life than fighting in arenas. Find another tradition in which no one dies unnecessarily." she was about to send him away when he asked a question that caught her interest.

"My Queen, are there no tournaments in the lands you come from? Are they so different from fighting pits?"

"Knights don't fight to death." she pointed out. Although she has not been to any tournaments, she has read about them from time to time. She could let them do something like that, but she knew that they would somehow turn it into a murder rather than a simple fight. Moreover, tournaments were held on a special occasion, not periodically.

"But accidents happen." she didn't answer that, she just looked at him. In her eyes there were many differences between the two events, differences that perhaps Hizdahr did not see because he did not know enough.

She had already thought about what she wanted to say and was about to start arguing with him, but she thought she heard... Bells?

"Do you hear that?" she asked and stood up from her seat. She ran down the stairs and went out to the balcony, where the tolling bells could clearly be heard. "Check what's going on." she ordered Daario, who immediately ran to the stairs leading to the bottom of the pyramid.

I have a bad feeling about this...

She would like to be wrong someday with her premonitions.
She had talked to him this morning, laughed with him, seen him laugh, and now ser Barristan Selmy was dead. By the candlelight and the moon entering the pyramid, she looked at his body and would have liked to be left alone, but meanwhile she heard footsteps behind her.

"Your Grace..." I will hear that annoying Hizdahr's voice again, and... "I'm sorry."

Are you sorry? She doesn't believe he feels sorry for her. Or is he responsible for this, for another attack of the Sons of the Harpy? Ser Barristan is dead, the Unsullied squad is dead, and Grey Worm barely escaped with his life.

"If it weren't for him, I wouldn't be here." she said, not taking her eyes off the body. "He was one of the best knights who ever lived. And a loyal friend... And he was slaughtered in an alley by those cowards hiding behind the masks."

"We can retreat to the pyramid district, secure it and make it our base. Then we will start cleaning up the city, street by street, region by region, until these rats have nowhere to hide." Daario said, walking around the stone platform where the corpse lay. He stood next to her and discreetly placed his hand on hers, wanting to comfort her. She closed her eyes for a moment so that the tears wouldn't flow.

"No." she replied, immediately opening her eyes and turning to Hizdahr. "Gūrogon zirȳla." she ordered the Unsullied, who immediately grabbed Hizdahr from both sides. "Take as many soldiers as you need and lock up the heads of every great house of Meereen in the dungeons." she ordered Daario. She nodded to the soldiers to take Hizdahr to the dungeons.

"But Your Grace... I have nothing to do with it! I swear!" he shouted.

Afterwards, Daario left the room and immediately began his task. Visenya was left alone with ser Arthur, who wished he could say something to ease her sadness. He could see she was holding back tears. Even though he himself had lost a friend with whom he shared many memories, he wasn't the one who needed comfort.

"He died defending others. No matter where, he did what any true knight would do."

"If it weren't for him, I would never have even considered escaping King's Landing. And now he's dead...!" she closed her eyes, but she couldn't hold back her tears anymore, not when they were alone. "What's the point of all this if I can't protect those I care about?" finally, tears flowed freely down her face, dripped onto her clothes, onto the floor, she didn't even try to wipe them off her cheeks.

She owed much to Ser Barristan, most notably for her escape from King's Landing, and then for saving her from death at Roran's hand. If it weren't for him, she would never have left her prison and remained a docile Maegelle for the rest of her life.
Additionally, she felt guilty because she was the one who told him to go to town and sing something for her...

He won't say anything more. Never.

"People die for those they love." she heard these words once again in her life. She first heard it from Selaria before she ran to distract the guards in King's Landing so she could escape. She said that it was not the first and not the last time that someone would give his life for her, and would do it of his own free will because he loved her and believed in her. It's not her fault, she's not all powerful.

"It's unfair..." she replied.

After all, she was still very young, almost a child with a huge burden on her shoulders, he could see it. She coped as best she could, even though sometimes she seemed too good for this world. She usually didn't suppress her emotions - especially sadness - which was unique in this world where everyone was faking something. She was human, which is why people followed her so easily. She wasn't self-assured, she didn't disdain advices when she was lost and didn't know what to do.

He sees when she is afraid, but his role is to help her overcome that fear, not to distract her from it. She had repeatedly expressed her doubts about his suitability to be the ruler of the Seven Kingdoms, but he knew she was capable of it. Soon she will find herself in her role and stop having so many doubts, after all, she already made decisions quite confidently, and before she knows it, she will grow into a woman truly worthy of her name.

But for now, she had to let the sadness come and go once she got it all out. What he didn't expect was that she would suddenly turn around without a word and hug to him.
Burying her face in her hands, she rested her head on his chest. It was the first time she had come close to him in such an intimate way.

Sure, there were times when he grabbed her waist or hips, but it was always to protect her from danger, drag her away, it was never an intimate, friendly gesture. And initiated by her.

And now her tears were streaming down his leather shirt and he didn't know what to do. At first he was surprised. Not that he was never hugged by a woman - for example his sister - but she was not an ordinary woman, but a person in whom he saw the future of this world, for whom he would give his life, the daughter of his best friend and the last member of a great dynasty.

After a moment of hesitation, he slowly placed one hand on her back, stroking it lightly, and placed the other on her head, combing her hair soothingly. He let her cry all her tears on his chest, soon even resting his chin lightly on the top of her head.

He felt like he was hugging his own daughter that he never had.

And she? She loved him with a kind of love she couldn't define. It definitely wasn't the same as she felt towards Daario. Perhaps she loved him as a daughter loves her father? He was certainly the closest thing she had to the father she never had, but was that it? Or maybe love for a friend who is with you through thick and thin?

It doesn't matter what kind of love it is. She would give a lot to be sure that she would have him with her for the rest of her days.