Daenerys

"The mistake many young lords make is believing that they have earned luxuries due to their status," Viktor had once told her. "They believe that once they take up their father's seat that they will be able to sleep till noon, wander about without any to call them out for their sloth, and feast and fuck well into the night. And they can do these things… and watch their house be rendered penniless, offers to join their families with their neighbors dry up, and eventually have their heads on blocks by wrathful smallfolk who do not take kindly to lords who believe that they deserve honors and respect without doing anything for their people.

"And for kings this is all the more true. Robert Baratheon believed that he could go to seed and the Kingdom would thank him for it. A rebellion within his first 10 years on the throne was his reward for such foolishness and the current civil war his legacy. His son Joffrey was little better; even if one removed his foolish actions the laziness of that boy forced his Small Council to rule in his stead. Aegon the Unworthy nearly destroyed the realm yet again with his inability to rule himself, so that any bastard born of House Targaryen must be smothered in their crib lest they rise up in revolt.

"A king does not earn the right to such luxuries as sleep. In fact they sacrifice them. Aegon the Conqueror would wake up at dawn so he might go down to the yard and train; it was not uncommon for him to also take time to teach the pages and squires who were preparing armor and swords new methods of battle. Jaehaerys the Wise would often leave feasts not to sleep but to return to his solar to work a bit more on some project. Eddard Stark even now finds time to tour his new kingdom, making sure that it is ready for Winter.

"Remember this, Daenerys. And remember well that they are men and you will be a woman and the shortsightedness of your subjects will see you always needing to do a thousand more than any man just to earn the same amount of respect."

That was why, while her advisors and Small Council slept still, Daenerys slipped out of bed and quickly dressed, not bothering to awaken her hand maidens. She knew that they would help her dress if she asked but she saw no reason for them to do so; honestly it felt a bit silly. Drogo hadn't needed three men to pull on his smallclothes and make sure every strap was in the right place. And Daenerys wasn't even wearing any undergarments, choosing instead to merely slip on a simple long robe and a pair of sandals that the former slaves still favored due to being quickly and cheaply made. Which was important as Daenerys made her way through the Great Pyramid of Meereen with only the torches to keep her company. Her hair had been simply braided and there were no rings or gems adorning her fingers or dangling from her neck. Simple. That was what was needed.

Reaching the window Daenerys took a breath before bursting into a run. No matter how many times she did it there would always be the delightful terror of her leaping out a window hundreds of feet up from the ground below. The rush of air on her face, the sudden sensation as she began to fall…

…and then her opening her mouth and allowing the flames to flow over her body, burning away the robe and the sandals as the fire became her clothing and caused her to rise in the air.

Like the red comet that had heralded the birth of her dragons Dany streaked across the skies above Meereen, making sure to take a weaving, erratic flight. She wasn't foolish enough to believe that she was beloved by all and there were people down there that longed for the return of the old ways. Masters who had seen their easy lives destroyed. Merchants of Flesh who found their livelihood destroyed. Even, sadly, former slaves who hated their freedom and longed to return to the comfort that was the chains. They were down there and they wanted her dead. Daenerys was sure that even now they plotted how to kill her and while she was rather sure her fires would burn up any arrow that might be shot at her it was something she did not want to test; nor did her Small Council when she had suggested it, though Wade had gotten rather… creative… in suggesting where they might shoot her just in case it did fail to not damper her 'sex appeal'.

'Why he went on that long rant about Queen Alicent and her feet I'll never understand,' Daenerys thought as she banked left and made for the lands just on the edge of the city.

There, curled together and under the watch of a few trusted Dothraki, were her children and Daenerys smiled as she came to a stop before them, hovering in the air.

"Well?" she called out, crossing her arms just under her breasts.

Drogan cracked an eye before closing it.

"I know you are awake."

Viserion let out a snort that was the dragon equivalent of a fake snore.

"Come now!" she called out in a chipper tone. "Up! Up!"

All three dragons snuggled closer together and she heard in her mind the whining that it was too early.

"Well… if you want me to have all the steers to myself…" she said slowly rising in the air.

She forced herself not to burst out into laughter as the dragons all scrambled to get up, flaring out their wings and roaring in protest that she would take their breakfasts. Rhaegal was bouncing like a puppy who had seen a piece of bacon while Drogan growled low, clearly pouting at her comment.

"No," Daenerys said when the black dragon flashed his teeth at her. "No." After a moment Drogan ducked his head and Daenerys nodded, flying over to stroke the snouts of each of her children. She had come to realize that her children needed a strong mother to keep them in line, as otherwise they would become rather savage and violent. Ser Barristan had suggested she read about the history of her family and dragon care and while there were few tomes written about such things the history books on the Targaryens all mentioned the wild dragons of Dragonstone; dragons that had been allowed to become feral beasts due to improper care and attention. They could be trained once more to listen to their human riders but it was always a dangerous process and Daenerys didn't want that. Furthermore her dragons were not beasts to be taught tricks but her children. They would behave as such.

Sure they were awake Daenerys focused, smiling as all three instantly perked up as the flames around her expanded and swelled until she was inside a fiery burning construct of a truly gigantic female dragon. Three times the size of Drogan her dragon flame form flared its wings at her mental command before she took to the skies, her children following after her.

'They are my children but they are still dragons and must learn how to live as dragons,' she thought to herself as she flew to the great grasslands that lay roughly an hour's ride on horseback outside of the city. For a dragon though it was far quicker to get to the area and soon Daenerys saw the flags bearing the sigil of House Targaryen snapping in the breeze. 'And they learn far quicker what to do and what not when I appear like them.' It was one thing for Dany to call out a way to roll or to dodge (for while she hated to think about it she knew that one day her dragons would need to know how to fly in the middle of a battle) and another for her to show them with her own 'wings'. 'And it is good training for myself,' she thought. 'This is a powerful weapon I have, to create this shape.' Bruce had suggested she try other ones as well, once she had mastered fully the dragon form, pointing out that being able to become burning monsters would strike fear in her enemies and also make her harder to battle.

She put such thoughts aside though as they swooped over the grasslands. An area roughly three times the size of Meereen had been selected on the very edge of the grasslands, with great wooden fences erected to separate the two and flags of yellow and black spaced every ten feet; only the first two, at the main gate, were of her House. Within the fenced in area were the steers, all of whom had a yellow x done in paint upon their sides. She paid good money for the cattle but it was worth every penny to ensure her children were well fed… and knew what food was theirs.

Wade had been the one to bring up that idea, surprisingly, at one of their first Small Council meetings.

"Listen, I know Chaos and he's not going to be happy having your dragons chained up in some underground pyramid."

Dany had balked at that. "I would never imprison my children!"

"Even if they began to rampage about, killing innocent people because they wanted a snack?" Wade had countered. He'd learned back in his chair, feet kicked up on the table they were all sitting around. "Because that's what's going to happen if you don't find a way to teach them that we all aren't little snacks on legs." He wiggled his index and middle finger back and forth. "You need to come up with a solution before he does and trust me he can get creative with solutions. Maybe have it that we find Pym Particles and all your dragons shrink down to pocket size."

She hadn't liked that talk but as the others had pointed out… Wade was correct. Her children were getting bigger. She couldn't keep them with her anymore. And because she was the Queen of Dragon's Bay she had duties she had to attend to. The Dothroki could try and help keep eye on the dragons, just as the Dragon Keepers of old had done for her family before the fall of the Dragonpit, but they were horsemen, not dragon men, and her children would rebel like all youths did.

It was up to her.

The solution had been rather simple, once Daenerys had finally settled upon it. The grasslands were stocked with cattle that were meant only for her children. Most had yellow Xs painted on their sides; these her dragons could eat whenever they wished and knew that. They didn't need to wait for her to arrive and take them to the grasslands; if they were hungry they could fly over and snap one up. But there were a few though that had no paint on their sides; the largest and according to the sellers, tastiest of the cattle. These ones her dragons could ONLY consume if she were there. The former slaves that had been hired to watch over the cattle would do regular checks and if it were discovered that a dragon had tried to sneak a bite they would be punished by not getting the right while their brothers did. Dany had learned that her children all had different ways of attacking and cooking their food so it was easy for her to determine which dragon had done what.

It taught her dragons that they could hunt and eat but only what she wanted them too. Yellow Xs meant that it was up for grabs. Anything else they needed permission; it wouldn't do if she were forced to go into battle with them if they refused to use their fires against her foes because they lacked the Xs and the paint.

Hovering over the grasslands she turned to each of them, the flames of her dragon construct turning with her. Bellowing out as loudly as she could she roared, "Kisalbar va sepār mēre, ñuha riñar!"

Drogan, Rhaegal, and Viseron all let out roars and swooped past her, eager to claim one of the special cows before selecting a second to finish their morning meal. Daenerys watched them fly off, their body language making it clear they were in full hunting mode, before looking down to notice a figure watching her who was not dressed in the standard shepherd clothes that the former slaves in charge of the cattle pens had taken to wearing. Diving down she smiled and shook her head as she saw who was waiting for her, a robe draped over his arm.

Dany landed and the man turned so she might reabsorb the flames into her body, allowing her privacy as she slipped on the robe. "What are you doing out here, Bruce?"

"I was sleeping," he said, reaching up and scratching at his stubble-covered chin. "Now I'm awake."

"Hmmpf," she said with a smile, running her fingers through her hair. "And here I thought that I gave you a perfectly good bed."

"I thought that a queen would be more disturbed talking to a member of her Small Council in just a robe with her hair tangled and her face free of makeup. You don't even have sandals." He gestured at her bare toes and Dany responded by wiggling them in the grass.

"A true queen does not need such things," she commented. But then she added, "And you are… different… Bruce."

"Oh?" he asked, leaning against the wooden fence and watching as Viseron dove at a cow, clearly playing with his meal before cooking it. "And why is that?"

"Because you understand what it is like to have to portray yourself as one thing when you are truly something else. What it means to have something savage within you that you must be careful in using." She glanced at him before looking back at her children and the cattle there were stampeding in an attempt to avoid a roasting death. "Why are you out here, Bruce?"

"The savage that lets us connect," he commented. "I get nightmares, your grace. Anyone would after what I've seen in my travels. And the Other Guy? The last place you want to be if he wakes up from a nightmare is under the same roof as him. Better for me to head out here when I can tell a nightmare is coming. Better for everyone."

Dany found herself nodding at that. "I have been meaning to ask you about that… there are rumors of where you went to. How you managed to become the Hulk. Is it true-?"

"Yes," Bruce said flatly. "Its true." He took a slow, steady breath. "I went to Pentos and had some nice clams. Next day I was the Hulk."

Daenerys gave him a dry look.

"Come on, that was a little funny."

"Not in the slightest."

"Eh, you had to be there." Bruce shook his head. "Valyria. I'll give you this… you are at least not dancing around it. So many people want to know what happened, what I saw there, but they don't actually want to ask me, you know? They want to dance around the topic like it's a glass of wildfire." He let out a weak chuckle. "Its actually rather refreshing that you have just come out and asked about it."

"What did you see there, Bruce? What happened?"

"There are some things I'll never reveal," he stated simply. "The world is better off not knowing. Many have tried to go to Valyria… I'm only one of two to get out of there alive and the other one didn't survive."

"Princess Aerea," Daenerys whispered.

"You remember the tale?"

"Oh… very well," Dany said and suddenly she wanted nothing more than to drop her robe and bathe herself in flames. "At one point my brother got it into his head that we should sail to Valyria. 'It is our birthright, Dany' he hissed at me. 'The lands of our people. If we were to reclaim it the entire world would bow to us again!' He thought for sure there must be armor there, and swords, made of Valyrian Steel. Or relics only spoken of in the texts. Weapons of power. Artifacts of destruction. For nearly a moon's turn he was obsessed with returning there but then Master Illyrio held a feast. He said it was for his daughter, because she was marrying the Lord of the Reeds, but I know that in reality it was so he'd have an excuse to bring in storytellers and mummurs. One told the tale of Princess Aerea."

"That must have made for an upsetting dinner. 'Here, good people, listen to the story of the poor little girl whose eyeballs melted and had snakes with faces wiggling out of her vagina'."

Dany screwed up her face at that. "I wasn't supposed to be listening. I was told to go off with the other children. But Viserys was going to hear that tale and I wanted to listen as well." She shivered. "I wish I hadn't." The nightmares that the story had given her still sometimes returned… but it had always, thankfully, forced Viserys to abandon his plans to try and take by Valyria.

"The maester was wrong. They weren't snakes with faces."

"You… know what they were?"

"I do," Bruce said. "Just as I know what caused the Doom."

Dany didn't even need to say a word. Not a single thing. Bruce already knew what she desired and began to speak.

"The Valyrians were the first dragon riders. That is how they rose to power. But while dragons gave them power they eventually grew to hate them. That was the true reason, I think, that your ancestors fled. They still loved their dragons."

"I… they hated their dragons?" Daenerys hated how dumb she sounded saying that and yet what Bruce was telling her went against everything she had ever heard about Old Valyria. They had been the dragon lords who had worshiped the great beasts, treating them better than they did their own children for they understood that their power came from-

Dany's eyes went wide.

"Oh," she whispered softly. "They hated them because if the dragons gave them power…"

"Then it was the dragons that were powerful, not them," Bruce confirmed.

Rhaegal let out a roar and there was a blast of flames as he finally decided that he was done hunting and was ready for a meal. Bruce winced as the flames darted towards them but Dany merely held out her hand, drawing them to her. She let them dance along her fingers before she opened her mouth, sucking in the fire that clung to her fingers like a dock worker licking their fingers clean after eating some chicken. She looked back at Bruce and smirked but the man merely rolled his eyes before continuing on.

"The Valyrians came to resent their dragons because so many feared them and not their riders. The Valyrians believes themselves to truly be gods who had descended from the Heavens; they forgot much of their origins and only the tales they told themselves to stroke their egos and justify their crimes against the rest of the world. Now, they couldn't just kill the dragons as that would be foolish… they were a great weapon, after all. It would be like someone having a famous sword and being annoyed that their name didn't hold as much sway; you don't shatter the sword…"

"You build up your own name."

Bruce nodded. "They sought many different ways to build up their own power. Some through studying what we now know as the maesters' arts. That is how the supposed war machines they were said to hold came into being. But others… others knew that even if they created something that could kill a thousand men with a single pulling of a lever it still didn't make the Valyrians strong. They'd just replaced one dragon for another. No… to become strong they had to focus on themselves.

"At first it started simple, according to the records I found. A few of the lesser families decided to learn the ways of the slaves so they could make their bodies like them. To be able to run harder, jump farther, swim faster. They would still have their slaves but they would be their betters, able to slaughter and kill by their own hands if needed. But even that wasn't good enough to compare to a dragon. After all, the dragons had shown themselves the equal of a thousand slave soldiers… in the end a war would be won by them, not a man skilled with a sword. So they sought other means."

"How do you know all this?" Daenerys asked.

Bruce smiled ruefully. "Everyone who went to Valyria was seeking wealth. Their gold and gems, their swords, their relics. I wanted answers. A way to save my cousin. So I was quieter… sneakier. That's how I survived." He looked out and Dany saw that while he appeared to be looking at the cattle pen in reality his gaze was back in Valyria, looking upon that destroyed land. "When I first arrived I was startled to find… so many ships. So many of them, Dany." She didn't call him out for his slip of the tongue, of being so informal around her; she was captivated by his story. "Designs and shapes and builds so strange that it was wrong to see them all there. I had been forced to row out myself, in a tiny little boat that barely kept the water from lapping up inside of it, and yet there were all these massive galleons all around me. I felt like a child swarmed by adults. When I made it onto the dock there were… swords. Bags upon bags upon bags of Valyrian Steel Swords. Axes. Daggers. Spears. Heaped up around the ships. I ventured onto a few of them and found the same thing. Valyrian Steel. All left behind because everyone that came to Valyria… they got just a bit more greedy. 'Go farther'. 'The really good stuff is deeper'. Had I come with a ship seeking to plunder I could have simply loaded up from the dock, never stepped foot on Valyria's shores, and left the richest man in the world. But everyone is tempted to find the better stuff because… well, if this was what so many had left behind surely what could be found deeper in the ruins would be all the better.

"I didn't care about that though. I wanted my answers. So I entered Valyria and searched not for swords and shields but books. And that's where I learned what had happened. The Valyrians sought to make themselves greater than the dragons and to do that they turned to the darker aspects of the world. The hidden things. And that's how they found the Ritual."

"The Ritual?"

He finally turned to stare at her. "Does this not sound familiar? Sacrifice a person in a fire, feed the flames the blood of a Valyrian… and you will unlock your power."

It did sound familiar. Horribly familiar. 'Drogo's funeral pyre. The bloodriders Logan brought back. And my blood… the blood that dripped from my shattered womb after that witch destroyed my son and left me barren.' It was how Logan had gained his claws and the ability to heal from any injury. It was how she was able to control the flames. Suddenly Dany very much wanted to corner Wade and find out how he had become able heal like Logan as well. She had a feeling the answer would also sound familiar.

Bruce continued on. "They sought to make themselves truly gods. And for a short time… they were. They were beyond their dragons. The scrolls I read, the diaries left behind... my High Valyrian is a bit rusty but from what I could tell they succeeded. There was even talk of giving their slaves powers, because there was no fear of them rebelling as the Valyrians were so powerful. But you should know that when one has power it does not merely satisfy. Power craves power. Their powers weren't enough. They wanted more. Far more. To be even mightier. Until… they went too far."

"What… what did they do?"

The man beside her swallowed.

"Bruce?"

"The final survivors… they wrote his name once was En Sabah of House Nur. But by the end he was known by a single name: Apocalypse."

Daenerys felt as if every death god that had ever existed had suddenly walked past her, ghosting their fingers along her skin.

"None of them could decide what he could do. Whatever it was it was… horrible. World breaking. It took the full might of all Valyria, united as one, to defeat him. Millions of men, women, and even children charged Apocalypse, along with their dragons and their chimeras and everything else they could bring. Five survived to see his death and even then they were doomed to die. One day… one battle… that was all it took to destroy the Empire. And the lands remain cursed because of it."

"Cursed?" Dany asked.

"Apocalypse's corpse still rots even now, centuries after his death. It is a massive thing and since nothing wishes to go near it the decay is slow. I saw it only from a distance but I had nightmares for weeks that he would suddenly rise up again, alive and well and seek to continue his war. If he did we would all die, I know that. His blood taints everything, pouring from a thousand different wounds on his body, running down the dried up riverbanks and tainting wells. I had to be careful how far I journeyed because each day I had to return to the ships and drink from their casks of water; I didn't trust anything in Valyria. Because all that drink of it are blessed with power… but go mad." He paused. "Princess Aerea's did not have snakes with faces writhing in her. Those were maggots, drunk off the blood of Apocalypse, rendered giant with lava for blood. Those with hands were becoming dragon flies… and I don't mean the ones you see buzzing about on clear wings. Disgusting, twisted things… insect and dragon forced together into a hideous creature that seems to be in agony so it wants to cause all others agony as well. They get into anything that lives and roast them alive, consuming them before laying their eggs and bursting out of the charred remains. I saw the corpses of dragons turned into their hives. Had Barth and Benifer not submerged her in that ice bath those maggots would have attacked them too… and most likely swarmed the Seven Kingdoms from Dorne to the Neck." Bruce shook his head. "The poor fools… they had no idea they'd saved all of Westeros."

Daenerys swallowed at that. "And… the Hulk?"

"My own curse," he admitted. "A cut on my finger near the wrong puddle. Believe me though… I will take the Other Guy over what happened to some of the people that I saw."

"You… saw other people?" Dany whispered.

"If you can call them that," Bruce stated. "That's the thing about Valyria: the people who come to plunder it? They don't leave. They become just more guardians. Everything in Valyria becomes obsessed with it, unable to leave. You go deeper expecting to find more, the great prize. You remain there forever its protector."

He turned to look back at the dragons as they feasted on the cattle. Her children hunched over the cooked and charred flesh of the cows they had selected for their dinner, crunching on bones and gulping down great mouthfuls of darkened flesh. The ground around them was cooked and cracking, and suddenly Daenerys saw not the earth but a girl's skin, blistering and blackening. And from the cracks came slithering things. Horrid things. Creatures that were the heralds of twisted wrecks of flesh that would drag her back to the place of her ancestors. Force the blood of Apocalypse down her throat and then watch as her limbs became distorted and her mind shriveled until her only waking thought was to protect the very thing that had destroyed and doomed her.

"Well… I should head back," Bruce said, causing her to jump. "Your grace?"

"I'm fine," Daenerys said. The dirt was just dirt again. She was in Meereen.

Bruce looked at her before nodding in acceptance. "I'm going to head back to the city. A bit of a walk and I know you wish to start the Small Council meeting soon. You going to stay here? Will be a quick flight back."

Daenerys thought of her powers. Thought of the leaps and bounds she had made. How she was making herself stronger. Of the Valyrians doing the same.

She turned to him and forced her voice to be steady. "If… you do not mind… would you escort me back to the city? Perhaps tell me of your cousin? You care for her very much and I would like to know more about her. I hope she might be a friend as you have become one to me."

Bruce smiled at that. "Of course, your grace. Brienne was born a sickly girl, I think I've told you that far too many times so I am sure you are growing bored of hearing that-"

"No no, I don't mind," Daenerys interrupted. "But she is not now?"

"Not from what I've heard! My work on my own blood helped her out greatly… her transformation far more controlled. In fact I dare say she prefers her other self though that might be because she has full control. But even before that she was a delight. So utterly determined. When she was but a girl…"

The two began down the path, Dany not cared as the stones poked at her bare feet or the wind chilling her skin as it slipped through her robe.

Never once considering taking flight.