authorsnote: so we arrive somewhere new!

also a lot of the source material is THIN in some of these places, so do excuse my embellishments...

I did have great fun writing this though, I do love a new place

songrecs: compromise and consequences - hotd season 1

'The Volantene apple had rolled a fair distance from the Valyrian tree'

- Quentyn Martells thoughts

-x-

Three weeks later they arrived in Volantis.

It was hotter than Pentos, more humid, more sticky. Jon felt most out of place and had even relented and stripped out of his usual leather jerkin into a simple beige tunic, out of pure desperation for some cool air. His siblings were much the same, Aegon dressed similar to him and Dany wearing the lightest dress she had packed.

Not only was it hot but the heat felt wet. As they approached and looped around the waterfront the pavements seemed to shine from the water, the tiniest of breezes offering some relief but not nearly enough. He could see Jory sweating and Wylla fanning herself. Pentos and the road had been warm, but this was something else.

None of them spoke as they picked their way through the city. Dany and Aegon wore cowls to cover their heads and Jon kept his head down. It was unlikely they'd be identified here but they couldn't risk it.

Anger bubbled in him as it had many times since fleeing Pentos, anger, anger at the men of Westeros, anger that they had disrupted their home.

Of course, they had grown up on tales of caution, that the Westerosi nobles were scared of them, scared for the day they'd take back power, scared of their popularity and their divine right. They had been told time and time again that things could change any second, that assassins could sail across the sea and disrupt their lives. Again, and again they had been lectured.

But they had become comfortable, settled, they had found their routines and gotten used to not looking constantly over their shoulders. They had relaxed.

Out of all three of them Jon had been the most on alert. He was always the most cautious, the one to brood in silence. He had taken the lessons more seriously and always been a little more prepared, a bag always packed and ready under the bed, just in case. He had always trained a little harder in Westerosi fighting styles and sat up straighter in lessons about poisons and antidotes. Still, even so he had relaxed more, and he berated himself for doing so.

There was no chance for relaxing, not anymore at least. Assassins did chase them now, and his anger would not make them go away. They needed to be vigilant, more so than ever before.

And they would, they had to be.

It had been a long walk to Volantis, and night had fallen by the time they had arrived at the city. He felt more vulnerable, but it was quiet, and he made sure to keep a hand strapped to the sword at his hip, Aegon did the same, and Dany was between them, the two Targaryen males flanking her, Jory led at the front, a hand on his sword too, Wylla next to him.

They had to be vigilant.

They hadn't been followed on the road, and no one should know they were here, but they still had to be careful. They didn't know Volantis, sure, they'd learned about it, and he knew out of the three of them Dany had studied it the most, but they weren't used to it. They didn't know the customs, they spoke hardly any Volanetene, and they were strangers, foreigners. They needed to be extra careful until they understood the area a bit more.

With a small sigh he continued to walk through the streets, the darkness overhead making him nervous. It was one thing to enter somewhere new during the day, never mind the dead of night. The darkness and the quiet made him nervous, and he gripped his sword tighter.

"We'll be okay" Aegon whispered, to reassure his siblings, probably himself too.

Dany nodded a little too quickly, and Jon managed a grim smile.

"We will" He said, trying and failing to sound completely confident, though his next words he sounded sure of himself, "We'll protect each other"

"Always" Aegon sounded confident then too, and nodded, gripping his sword.

"Forever" Dany said, and Jon nodded, feeling a little better.

They would always protect one another, the three Targaryen's. They had a country to take back, Kingdoms to rule, and each other to look after. They would always protect one another. Forever.

He felt nervous, but he tried not to let it show on his face, thankfully the darkness managed to obscure that, and the cowl here wore hid him as well.

He had to be brave, to be strong for his siblings. Sure, they all had their strengths, and he wasn't the best at everything. Dany had a much better handle on diplomacy than him, and as much as he hated to admit it (and never would out loud), Jon was a better fighter than he, but Aegon had always been more of the leader.

Sure, Dany was too, one day she would be a Queen of somewhere fierce and would probably do more of the ruling than her husband. Jon would lead the North and he was a good leader himself, a great fighter, fantastic tactician and fair and good. But, Aegon knew he had always taken more of a leader stance, Jon was more reluctant, Dany too nice, he was more ruthless, he wanted to be King, in charge, the leader, the most out of the three, and he was the oldest, only by a bit sure, but it lead to him slipping into the leader role.

He wasn't in the sense he bossed his siblings around (as if he'd try, Dany would clip him), but he tended to speak to strangers for them, tended to lead their daring and reckless plans, would be the one to speak up first. It worked, especially with Jon who tended to be quieter, brooding, more observant. In that sense they complimented one another perfectly.

And so, he felt additional responsibility because of that, and Jory and Wylla had fostered that in him. 'Protect your younger siblings' He knew of course he wasn't much older, and Dany wasn't his sibling exactly (though they always referred to one another as such), but he'd taken on that responsibility fiercely. He would always protect them, with his life if he needed to.

And so, as they stalked the streets of Volantis, night having long fallen he wasn't focusing on the city, or the heat, but rather the people they walked past, the alley's they hurried through, the doors that people might burst out of. His hand clutched his sword at his hip, and he was ready to fight if he needed to.

He could appreciate Volantis, it was grand, at least that behind the wall, the large palaces and castles hidden in Old Volantis. He wondered if that's where they would have stayed had they all been born and raised in Valyria, most likely, but now they were relegated to the West side, for foreigners.

Still, as they made their way through, he trusted Varys, he knew he would never send them somewhere horrible or awful. He cared for them; he'd make sure they went someone fitting to them.

Though it was somewhere new. Aegon wasn't so bothered by change as Jon, who liked things to be constant. He found more adventure in it … usually. Tonight, he felt nervous, on edge, he knew they weren't exploring, they were hiding.

"You okay?" He asked in a hushed voice to Dany, who he could see looked nervous hidden under her shawl, but she offered a nod.

"We'll be in bed soon" Jon spoke, sure but his voice wavered a little, "I can't wait to sleep"

"Me too" Dany said with a nod, that broke the tension a little. And god, Aegon felt the same, he was desperate for a good night's rest.

And they would. Tomorrow they'd scope out Volantis, he knew he and Jon would need to study up, Dany already knew plenty about it, perhaps she could teach them, though he ruffled a little at the idea of being tutored by his little sister, it may be necessary. They needed to learn, they needed to understand their new home.

Tomorrow they'd learn, tomorrow they'd eat and make up for 3 weeks on rations, tomorrow they'd bathe away the dirt and grime of the road, Jory and Wylla would shop for fresh clothes for them and they'd make their home a home.

Tomorrow.

For now, he just wanted to get to safety, to rest, to rejuvenate, to sleep. Tomorrow they'd plan and think ahead. Tomorrow.

Volantis was a lot bigger than she was expecting.

She had learned about the great city of course in her lessons and had taken a special interest in it over the other free cities, considering its proximity to Valyria. She had learned all about its government, it's culture, it's laws and traditions. She despised it's place in the slave trade but found herself wondering if she'd been born in Valyria like her ancestors, would she have visited Volantis often?

She had learnt about it but nothing had prepared her to see it.

She remembered in the books, scholars had said Volantis could hold the entire of Bravos it's in harbour and she could see they might have even underestimated that. It was huge. The long sparkling harbour seemed to stretch for miles and miles, and once she turned to the city that was only bigger.

They of course had entered the west side of the city, as foreigners they would not be permitted to enter the east side. As she looked across she could see the big black wall diving the two, and she could see her brothers looking at it to.

"It's impressive" Jon noted, "Would hold in any siege"

"Yes" Aegon agreed, "But dragons would take it"

She let out a small sigh as Jon nodded, but all three of the Targaryen's looked slightly saddened. Dragons were gone from the world, if they were to return home and take Westeros one day, they needed an army at their back, as they'd have no winged beasts.

She turned back then to look at the wall. She remembered reading that six four horsed chariots could race along the wall, and she would concur with that view, it's size was simply staggering.

"Children come on" Wylla spoke then, and all three of them chafed at being called children but nodded and turned to their guardian. She could see Jory handing some gold to an official looking person, before he joined their group and lead them forward.

It was night, so the city was quieter than normal, and no one bothered them. She kept her hood wrapped around her hair, as did Aegon, only Jon had the freedom to not hide, as he didn't have the distinctive locks. She was both jealous of him and pitied him. He didn't have the Targaryen look but to her he was a Targaryen. The looks didn't matter, only blood.

The blood of the dragon, all three of them had it, all three of them would take what was theirs, with fire and blood.

That was what they repeated to themselves (Jon reluctantly, he couldn't stand grand standing), before bed. Jory and Wylla talked practically, about the kingdoms they would rule, the areas of Westeros that would support them and those that wouldn't, talked about their future to rule. But she, Aegon and Jon just repeated that mantra, that was what it always came down to.

They were Targaryen's, blood of the dragon.

She followed along, Aegon one side of her, Jon the other as they wound through the city. She could see slaves washing the streets, thick collars around their necks and felt a horrid twinge of guilt, it was awful, Jory and Wylla had always taught them that slavery was abhorrent, there was no place for it in Westeros and she quite agreed.

As they made their way forward she saw a slave scrubbing at a wall, and she could see the young man looked ready to drop dead. Without even considering it she reached for her water skin and stepped forward but was stopped as Jory turned, and placed a handout in front of her.

"What?" She asked and realised as she looked Jon had raised his too and was about to do the same. Aegon looked sheepish and quickly grabbed his and she offered him a smile. It wasn't that Aegon was unkind but he wasn't as observant nor as furiously invested in justice as her, and Jon was even worse.

"No" Jory said "We are guests in the city, they won't take kindly to us breaking their laws"

"Breaking their laws?" Jon said, his voice filled with outrage. Yes, Jon took justice and honour very seriously, she thought it had to be a mixture of his Northern blood and Jory's teachings. If Jon were to rule the North one day if was essential, he take honour and justice more seriously above all else. The South didn't have the same emphasis on them as the North, Jory had told them.

"No one is allowed to feed or give a slave a drink" Wylla said, her voice filled with sympathy but she lifted her hand to lower Dany's water skin with a shake of her head, "I'm sorry"

"But it's wrong" Dany said, as though it were obvious. To her it was.

"Of course it is" Jory said, "You and I know that, we all know slavery is wrong and will never be practised in Westeros, but here it is different"

"So you're saying we have to respect it, even though it's wrong?" Jon said fiercely, "Barbaric?"

"We should do what is right" Aegon said with conviction. He wasn't quite as seeped in outrage as she and Jon when it came to issues of social justice but he was still on the right side and would always back his siblings.

Jory offered them a sad smile, "I encourage your sense of justice, I really do, but not here, not now"

As all three of them opened their mouths to argue, Wylla stepped in.

"As do I, you should never lose your passion and fierceness for justice, in Westeros especially it will be celebrated, but we need to stay here, in Volantis, until Varys returns and instructs us further, we won't be able to do that if we break their laws" Her tone was gentle and Dany deflated a little under it, she could see Aegon do the same, "For now we must follow their laws as much as we may dislike them"

"This is wrong" Jon said, outraged, the only one not to lower his water skin. Dany felt a prickle of guilt she had, even though she now understood there was nothing they could do.

"I know" Jory said, moving to clap a hand on Jon's shoulder, "But we can't right the wrongs of the world if we're all dead to assassins"

"But.." Jon began

"Jon" Wylla said, her voice still sympathetic but a touch sharper, "Not tonight, not now"

She felt a bit of tension in the air, like Jon would go against their guardians, but he like she and Aegon had did deflate, though seemed to take it harder as he stowed his water skin. Jory gripped his shoulder and began to whisper to him, Dany turned away and followed Wylla, Aegon next to her, giving them their privacy.

"How far is it?" Dany asked ten minutes later. Jory had gone forward again as their leader and Jon had re-joined them, looking a little calmer. She had squeezed his hand and he had offered her a smile and Aegon had done the same, clapping his hand on Jon's shoulder just as Jory had done, and Jon seemed to calm some more at that.

The three of them would always comfort one another, they had closer bonds than any other.

"We're here" Jory said then, and she smiled as they turned to see a manse ahead, realising they'd circled to the waterfront but away from the port. Now they were in a nicer part of the West city, where manses sat in rows on the water, and the buildings were nicer and clearly owned to live in, not work.

The manse was nice. Smaller than the one in Pentos but nice. And there was surely a bed somewhere, that was the main thing and Dany let out a sigh of relief as they hurried up the steps and went inside, she suddenly felt exhausted.

Soon though they were ushered into their rooms. As children they'd shared, now they had their own spaces. Dany sometimes missed sharing, staying up late under the covers, sleeping next to each other when it had been a hard day of training. Still, she did like having her own space.

She didn't take much time to explore it though. It looked comfortable if sparse, nowhere near as opulent as the manse in Pentos but she didn't mind.

All she managed was to take a quick wash (she'd bathe in the morning), brush her hair, change into a comfortable shift before crawling under the covers. She didn't even manage to think about her new home, to wonder how long they'd be here or what they would do, no, instead as soon as her head hit the pillow her eyes fluttered shut and she was soon falling asleep and into the lands of dreams.

She dreamt of wings, of a roar of fire, of scales a jewelled dark black, iridescent green and gleaming white. She dreamt of dragons, flying over the great shimmering blue sea.

my lil justice warriors (for now lol)

and so we are in volantis! I am researching my ass off to make sure everything is correct

where else would you like to see this story go?

speak soon