( Edric POV )
Both Quentyn and Aegon thanked her, as they were led to a table where a feast awaited them all. Edric could thus admire Daenerys Targaryen, and he could safely say that she was by far the most beautiful woman he ever saw. Silver hair, indigo eyes, slender, confident…gods he was charmed, like most of the other lords too.
So much that he avoided her gaze. Unluckily for him, it turns out that it settled on him a little too much, as if she had eyes only for him. Or, at least, that's what he thought he'd seen.
...
Edric just told himself that since he tried to avoid her gaze as much as possible, every time she looked at him likely felt like a languid stare.
He thanked the heavens when he saw he was placed quite far from her at the small table that had been arranged for them. Only a dozen seats, which were quickly filled.
Daenerys Targaryen herself, of course, Prince Quentyn and Prince Aegon, as well as himself, Ser Barristan, the white knight, Lord Jon Connington, Nymeria Sand, likely out of courtesy for Quentyn's partner, the Queen's translator, an odd choice, Ser Harry Strickland, the three Stormlanders, and a few lords from conquered Essosi cities.
Quentyn did not hesitate to be direct even before sitting down.
"A pleasure to see you, Ser Barristan the Bold. Your disappearance has been quite the mystery in Westeros." Quentyn looked the man up and down, judging him.
"I only wished to serve the true Queen," Ser Barristan simply replied.
"Your loyalties seem to switch a lot, Ser Barristan. Why not have declared for your rightful King earlier?"
"I did not know about Prince Aegon's survival."
"You know what I mean, ser."
"Prince Viserys was his father's son, I'm afraid." Ser Barristan shook his head.
"A boy of seven?" Quentyn questioned. "Clearly, that is the lie you told yourself so that it did not besmirch your honor."
"Careful, Prince Quentyn." The white knight warned, without success.
"If someone should be careful, Ser Barristan, it might well be you. I intend to crown her grace Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, and I do not wish for her to have a Kingsguard that changes allegiances like one changes clothes."
With that, Quentyn left the knight, slightly dazed by the encounter, and went to position himself to Queen Daenerys' right, with his paramour next to him, while Edric sat beside her.
The first order of the day was the public declaration of fealty of Shireen Baratheon to Prince Aegon, something that slightly unsettled the Queen, since there was no question of the girl kneeling before her. Princess Shireen did bow, of course, but did not address Queen Daenerys as Queen of Westeros, but rather as Queen of the Free Cities.
Nonetheless, she brushed it aside for now, and took some pleasure in talking to Monford Velaryon, surely a distant cousin if one went back far enough.
"She's beautiful, isn't she?" The sand snake phrased it as a question, but it felt more like a statement.
"Yes," Edric answered.
"More than me?" she teased.
"Yes." Edric's words came out immediately and without hesitation. Suddenly realising what he just said, he immediately turned around to apologize, but the snake just laughed.
"Don't be ashamed, Lord Dayne, she is gorgeous. I think Quent is reconsidering not asking her hand in marriage."
"I would never!" Quentyn laughed in turn.
While the courses flowed, the conversation got more serious. Daenerys and Quentyn started with some small talk, but now, we were talking about the prize.
"You wish me to marry Prince Aegon?" she asked.
"It would be preferable to unite the claims," Quentyn explained, "and marriages between Targaryens are hardly exceptional."
"You will excuse me if I doubt that my nephew is who he truly says he is."
"Lord Connington was believed dead and yet he stands before you now."
The Queen relaxed a little and conceded the argument.
"You know that I will not move until I have freed the slaves."
"A great objective, your grace, and one that I support wholeheartedly." Quentyn nodded. "But after you have freed Volantis, we must go to Westeros."
"Volantis is the key to the other cities. If I leave, it means one of the Free Cities may rise to take its place." Daenerys frowned.
Quentyn continued to press on,
"Then let it happen and free the rest later."
"Why is that," the Dragon Queen frowned, "when I can free thousands of slaves in the coming months?"
"Winter is here, your grace," Quentyn explained, "and with it, the weather deteriorates greatly. In a few weeks, it will be impossible to have a few days at sea without storms. If you invade by then, you risk your fleet being scattered to the seven winds."
Edric noted that Davos Seaworth frowned at that comment. No doubt that the sailor was feeling excluded from a conversation that he would have wished to be included in. Though, alone, it could not support the effort it would require to bring all of the Queen's armies to a safe haven.
"Besides, Westeros is fighting each other at the moment," Quentyn continued, pressing his point, "if you wait a year, even a couple months, who is to say that the realm will not be united and ready to throw you out? Having dragons is good, Your Grace, but dragons alone cannot help you. You need an army."
"I have an army."
"Of foreigners, Dothraki and Unsullied." Quentyn sighed. "It would be easy for anyone to rally against you by showing that you are not Westerosi, and that is if your army could cross the Narrow Sea and make a safe landing. The coasts of Dorne are treacherous, and so are those of the Stormlands.
The Vale and the North … in the winter? Let us not talk about it. This leaves the Crownlands, and this means a journey through the Narrow Sea and the storms, into the heart of the power of your enemies. If the weather prevents you from riding your dragon for but a moon, it will all be over."
The Queen stayed silent during these arguments, listening attentively. Once Quentyn was done talking, she finally nodded.
"And what will you bring me, then, if we sail right away?" she asked.
"I bring you legitimacy, Your Grace. With a Great House of the Kingdoms on your side, and an army made of Westerosi, who could claim that you are foreign? I bring you Dorne and its roads and resources.
No need to land on foreign shores, I can bring you my fleet, to transport you, your men and your animals, to a safe port, from which you may then launch your invasion to reclaim the kingdoms," Quentyn stated.
"you will have everything you could ask for, which you would have had to fight for if not. Logistics, men, supplies, boats…all of this if you move right away."
"And, I assume you have a price for this?" Daenerys brought a cup of wine to her lips.
"Benefits for Dorne, of course." Quentyn nodded. "As reparation for our losses when we supported your father as well as a reward for our loyalty. This, and an alliance sealed by your marriage to Aegon."
"What benefits?" Daenerys asked, curious.
"That, we can negotiate later, but some of them may be territorial."
Both Connington and Seaworth visibly reacted to this, both scowling before calming their features, although neither said anything.
"As you say, these may be discussed later," Daenerys waved that issue off, "you make good points, I will concede, but what if I choose to wait for spring?"
"The next spring may not be until a few years, your grace, the maesters have said that this winter will be the longest in living memory." Quentyn sighed. "And by then, you may only be Queen of Five Kingdoms."
"Five?" Daenerys asked, shocked.
"I…your brother, Rhaegar, sired another son, from Lyanna Stark, your nephew, Daeron Targaryen," Quentyn spoke slowly, so that Daenerys understood every word.
"Do not jest with me, prince Quentyn, I am not in the mood." Daenerys narrowed her eyes.
"What the prince says is true, your grace," Monford Velaryon intervened, "we have received word of his exploits and his dragon."
"Dragon?" Daenerys asked, confused and dumbfounded.
"You are not the only one to have hatched dragons, your grace," Prince Aegon finally intervened for the first time. "Prince Daeron, my brother, hatched a dragon and defeated the Tyrells with it. He is using it to preserve the independence of the North."
"The longer we wait, the larger it grows…" Quentyn trailed.
"If what you say is true, we can easily sway my other nephew to bend the knee." Daenerys' dismissal of the issue obvious in her tone and her words.
"You could, if the boy didn't consider himself a Stark through and through," Quentyn continued, "the more you wait, the more the resolve of your nephew to protect the North will grow, and who is to say he might not include the Riverlands and Vale in that kingdom? Or worse, will he show ambition and seize the throne for himself?
Every day spent outside of Westeros from now on is a day where your chances of claiming the throne get slimmer."
Daenerys stayed silent for a moment, then finally put both hands on her table, showing a slight smile.
"Your loyalty and honesty are appreciated and welcome, Prince Quentyn. Once we have agreed on a set of conditions, and Volantis has been liberated, we shall sail to Dorne." She then turned towards Aegon, "as for my nephew, I shall be glad to marry him, on one condition."
Aegon looked surprised, but nevertheless acquiesced.
"Anything in my power, dear aunt, I will do so."
"You are the blood of the dragon?" she asked with a smirk, leaning back into her chair. "Then claim one. That is my condition. After all, if Prince Daeron did, it should be easy for you."
Edric had never seen Quentyn's face go whiter. However, this was the least of Edric's concerns, as while everyone had their gaze fixed on Aegon, the Daenerys' indigo eyes were fixed on him. And that satisfied smirk…was clearly directed for him too.
Oh, what had Edric gotten himself into?
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