Tyrosh 305 AC.
Samwell Tarly.
His guards had ridden with him all the way to Oldtown and once there had insisted he took the first ship that headed to Essos. The bag of coin in his hand wasn't as large as he'd have wished for and the thoughts of it running out and them needing to earn coin in Essos were daunting. What skills did he have that were useful to the Essosi? What skills could he claim to have that wouldn't be proven false and leave him in an almost similar position in Essos as he faced in Westeros? No, he thought, as bad as Essos was at least there a dragon and a man he'd thought he had the measure of wouldn't be seeking him dead.
He'd thought himself so smart, had convinced himself that all Jon wanted was to have him out of his sight. Sam was even sure that in time he'd come to see the Dragonqueen for the monster she truly was and when he did, he'd seek him out. If not Jon then perhaps his sister or brother should he fall, though he wasn't sure that there was anything in this world that could bring Jon Snow down. Death itself couldn't end him, what chance did Cersei Lannister or Euron Greyjoy have of doing so.
When he'd been forced from Winterfell he'd found no one had stood for him, not Bran, not Jorah, and since it was Jon himself forcing him away, not even the one person who always had. As they'd marched he'd prayed that they'd both fall, or that the Dragonqueen would and it would break Jon's spirit. He'd prayed and his prayers had gone unanswered, Jon Snow once again found a way to return as he always did, to be the hero that he always was and Sam found he hated him even more for that. Had he been allowed to stay at Winterfell, then just as it had when he was at the Wall, Jon's glory would reflect a little onto him. Though he'd played no part, people would have believed him to be as vital as he led them to, as integral as he told them he was. Instead of what he truly was and always had been.
Once the news had come through and the victory was spoken of, he'd basically grabbed Gilly and Little Sam and they'd ridden hard to his home. He'd been welcomed as he knew he would be with his father dead and though Talla wasn't as happy to see him as he'd expected, he'd not paid it too much mind. With his father and brother dead, he was the lord now and the comfortable life that had always been his true desire was his for the taking, or so he'd thought. It had not lasted long and once again it was Jon Snow who forced him from it.
" What is to become of us, Sam?" Gilly asked worriedly as he packed their things.
" I don't know, we must travel to Essos, to go far from Jon and Daenerys as we can. He's not who I thought he was and whether it's because of her influence or perhaps the effects of his death finally starting to make him lose himself, I fear for us both." he said shaking his head as he looked at her.
" Do you really not believe his words about me and Little Sam?" Gilly asked holding the babe a little more tightly.
" He told me I should come home, Gilly, that with my father and brother dead and my mother and sister alone they'd need me. That though I didn't wish it I should be the Lord of Horn Hill, for your sake and for Little Sam's too. He told me that to my face and then he sent that raven to my sister. I don't think we can trust anything that Jon Snow says." he said and he was relieved when she moved to gather her things.
As scared as he was at being forced from the North and then from Horn Hill, the thoughts of being alone were even more terrifying. He couldn't be alone, he'd never survive if he was and he needed her company both because of what they did at night and to simply help him survive. Sam couldn't do things for himself, not practical things, they had always been done for him. He'd always had help and without Gilly to cook or clean or take care of him, he knew that he'd fall very quickly. So he was glad of her company as the ship set sail, even if at times she, Sam, and the babe she carried would be little more than a burden to him.
The men on the ship laughed at him he knew, they took their amusement from him emptying his stomach constantly on the journey. Even the smallest of waves would make him lose his meal very quickly and the larger ones would leave him in a constant state of the sickness of the sea. Gilly brought him water and food, even if it didn't stay in his belly for long. She questioned him far too often though and he was in a way glad he felt so terribly sick during the journey. Had he not been then he knew she'd press for more answers, of which he had none.
He'd hoped for Pentos or even Braavos only to find out it was to Tyrosh the ship was headed and no further. Sam then doing his best to remember all the books he'd read on the city and finding himself coming up blank when he tried to think of them. The closer they got to the city the more Gilly questioned and became uncomfortable both with his non-answers and with the warmth of the Essos weather. It had never occurred to him that she may find it uncomfortable, that being from the True North as she called it, having the sun beaming down on her may be an issue. If he was being honest with himself then he'd find that he hadn't even given it any thought whatsoever. Instead, all he'd cared about was that the heat was better than the cold of the Wall and more comfortable for him, and they were moving further away from Jon Snow and his Dragonqueen.
"We're here." the first mate shouted into their cabin and Sam got up from his bed, feeling unsteady on his feet as he did so.
"Sam?" Gilly said moving to him and reaching out to stop him from falling, it was a close-run thing, Gilly was a mere slip of a thing and Sam knew he'd put on more weight since he'd left the Wall and wasn't forced to endure the meager meals they served him there.
"Little Sam?" he said softly and he saw her smile as she turned from him and picked up the babe.
It wasn't that he truly cared for the boy, he wasn't his blood after all, but each time he'd speak to him or play with him, or even ask about him, he knew it bought him more favor with his mother.
"He's well, are we leaving?" Gilly asked.
"We are, we'll find a tavern to stay at and then look around for somewhere more permanent." he said and she nodded.
It took them far longer than he had expected to find anything close to a tavern with rooms. There were many places that sold food and drink, some that even had rooms, though these were more for a man who sought company rather than one who wished to simply stay in them. Eventually, though they found a place, and by the time he'd settled in it was time for their evening meal. Sam found he enjoyed it immensely, the food was different to what they served in Westeros and both Gilly and Little Sam barely picked at theirs, but he found the richness of it much to his taste. That it also had a chance to stay down gave him the incentive to almost gorge himself and even though he spent more coin than he should, he felt he deserved to be spoiled a little.
They were just about to take to their room when some men walked in and he looked at them worriedly. Sam could tell these men were warriors just by looking at them. He may not have ever been one but he knew those who were true ones from those who were not just by sight. His father had been, Jeor Mormont had been and Jon was one, these men carried themselves how each of them had and when they came to his table, he felt his piss roll down his legs. He'd found him, he'd found him again and perhaps this was when he'd see to his end.
"Samwell Tarly?" the man in front said and he shook his head, almost slipping on the puddle of his own making as he tried to cower against the wall.
"Leave him be, leave Sam alone." Gilly said fiercely and while he welcomed her defending him, he cursed her for naming him as the man they were looking for.
"You're to come with us, the woman can stay or leave we care not, but you've got a journey to make, Samwell Tarly." the man said, Sam finally getting a look at him more clearly now.
He was tall and had a large scar down the side of his cheek along with the darkest blackest eyes he'd ever seen. The men behind him were darker-skinned and all had stripes of the color of jade on their cheeks. Despite his desire to panic, to cower even more, and to run away as he begged for his life, something struck him, a thought that he clung to. Slaves, these men were slaves, but not the same as the Dragonqueen's slaves, these were different.
"Who….Who sent you?" he asked, his voice terrified and yet hopeful too.
"Our Triarch, he wishes to speak to you about Daenerys Targaryen, you've work to do Samwell Tarly, information to give and should you prove yourself useful then you'll be paid very well for your service." the man said.
"What does your Triarch want with Daenerys Targaryen?" he asked as he sat up a little more straight now that he believed these men weren't sent by Jon to kill him.
"To see her fall." the man said and Sam breathed out, his relief palpable and yet there was excitement too, perhaps he could come out of this alive and in a far better position after all.
Dorne 305 AC.
Dany.
He brought her to the edge again and again and only when she pleaded and begged did he finally take her over it. Dany turning her head to see him behind her as they lay side by side on the bed, this position the one she found most comfortable for their lovemaking. That it gave Aegon the chance to bring his hands to bear far more easily was simply an added delight. She felt him kiss her lips and then he was whispering in her ear, Dany quickly snuggling against him and feeling his hands go to her swollen belly as they always did once they were done.
"You were right." she said with a chuckle.
"I'm always right." he said back to her and she slapped his shoulder just to see the look of mock hurt on his face "I don't think I deserved that." he said still pretending to be hurt "You'll send a bad message to our babe, poor Rhaella will think it is allowed for hands to be placed on a king."
"And I thought my husband liked it when I placed my hands on him?" she said as she moved her hand between them and touched his now shrunken member.
"My wife is incorrigible." Aegon said with a smirk.
"You make me so." she said, kissing him once more.
They lay in silence for a few moments, Aegon's hands rubbing her belly softly, the circles he was making with them relaxing her greatly as they always did.
"What was I right about?" he asked breaking the silence.
"That we didn't need to address the Dornish lords tonight." she said.
"I've no wish to hear them complain and sit in judgment of our actions." he said and she smiled, glad he'd accepted that even though she'd gone along with him in what he had done, it was them, both of them who had acted and not just he alone.
"Nor have I, we took the city, Aegon and we lost barely twenty men to do so. Lord Dayne, Lord Yronwood, and Ser Daemon showed their own gratitude when they realized what it was Quentyn had intended to do.
"Arianne too." Aegon said.
"She did though I fear her gratitude may be fleeting." she said and felt his body tighten up and stiffen against her.
"You think she's playing us false?" Aegon asked, and she swore if she turned to look at him she'd see flames in his eyes, such was how angered he sounded at the thought of such a thing. Her wolf was growing ever more dragon-like each and every day and she found herself welcoming it greatly.
It made her own feelings feel good and just, simply knowing that he felt them too and that he was willing to do what she was. It gave her something she'd not known she'd needed. A sense of togetherness, belonging, a sense of knowing that she wasn't on the path her father had trodden, that Viserys had trodden. She was a dragon, Aegon was a dragon, and they would be dragons together but their dragons only woke and were unleashed upon those who deserved it.
"I think politics is politics, Aegon." Dany said when she realized she'd not answered for some time.
"Dany?" he asked confused.
"Arianne has two masters to please, her Dornish ones and her Dragon ones." she said as she rolled away from him and then turned to face him.
"Well, a master and a mistress." Aegon said making her laugh.
"Aye, a master and mistress." she said, enjoying how his nostril's flared when she added the northern twang to her words.
"So she has two masters and mistress?" Aegon asked bidding her continue.
"With us, she can be true, tell us how she really feels about it, or not, though I feel she'll speak her mind and has already. We gave her back her home, it cost her none of her men and she lost none of the most important people held here. Sunspear and the Old Palace doesn't burn and the army that invaded her lands is no longer here and will not be coming back." Dany said as she rubbed her fingers down his cheek and over the scar that began at his eye.
"No, they'll not." Aegon said determinedly and she saw it then, the flash of fire that she enjoyed seeing so much, her lips moving to his of their own accord when she did so.
"So with us, she'll be grateful truly. With the Dornish lords she may have to play a different game, take their side should they complain." she said and saw the flash once more "It's a fine line she must walk, we'll see if she walks it well."
"And if she does not?" he asked her curiously.
"We are not our ancestors, Aegon, we owe Dorne nothing." she said and he smiled at her before he kissed her deeply.
Sleep came very soon after, Dany feeling herself being moved into Aegon's arms and knowing that she'd sleep as truly and as peacefully as she had done each night since they'd married. When she woke it was to Aegon speaking to Lyarhaex, the red dragon laying out on the ground just outside their room as if she was an extra Dragonguard. She dressed and walked outside to hear Aegon speaking to her, the red dragon's head turning to follow Aegon's words and chirping every so often. Dany envied this a little, though she welcomed it too, his own connection to both Lyarhaex and to Rhaegal was different than hers and Drogon's, and never was this more apparent than when Aegon and the red dragon spoke.
"Aye, you did very well. I know you could have burned him completely. No, you're a very good dragon for showing restraint. Really? Well, I'm certain then that no one would ever dare harm your mother or me, and certainly not Rhaella." Aegon said to loud chirps before he brushed his fingers over Lyarhaex's scales and the dragon trilled and then took to the air.
"A needy dragon, indeed." she said with a giggle when Aegon turned to see her standing there.
"She wished to be praised, she deserved did she not?" Aegon said.
"She did, come I'm starved." she said holding out her hand which he took.
They made their way to a small room along with Ser Jaime and Ser Jorah, Brienne was resting up after being on duty the night before. Entering she saw that Tormund was sitting there alone, his head in his hands and the sound he was making showing that he had a rough night and she almost burst out in laughter at the mischievous look on Aegon's face as he moved towards him.
"Ah, Tormund, there you are, what say you, up for a spar, perhaps a ride across the sands or even in the air, come my friend." Aegon said the loudness of his voice and the slap he hit to Tormund's back all showing his intent.
"Get away, get away or I'll gut you little crow." Tormund said shaking his head.
"What's this? Water, have you turned over a new leaf, Tormund?" Aegon said picking up the mug from the table in front of Tormund and Dany looked to see that both Jorah and Ser Jaime were chuckling.
"These men are evil, Jon, I ask for a drink they bring me this, nothing I can say makes them give me what I need." Tormund said pleadingly and she was happy to see Aegon take pity on him and send for wine.
She laughed loudly when it and their food arrived, Dany eating ravenously while Aegon ate a little more sparingly. Tormund looked at them both and at the food and shook his head, instead drinking the wine straight from the jug and asking for more.
"Tell them, little crow." Tormund said when the servants didn't move as quickly as he wanted.
"Bring him more." Aegon said and she finally saw a large smile on Tormund's face.
By the time Malora, Grey Worm, Qhono, and Brienne arrived, she'd eaten another full meal. The servant then arrived with a note from Princess Arianne which she read and gave her a nod to let her know they'd be on thier way. Tormund seemed in much better spirits and when she told Aegon that the meeting had been set, she heard Tormund threaten any Dornishmen who dared to tell them they were in the wrong.
"You took this city without using the dragons, without the use of your armies. I'll fucking gut anyone who says you were wrong to do so." Tormund said and Aegon looked at her and smirked before he rolled his eyes and she laughed so loudly that the whole room looked at her.
"It seems Tormund is feeling better, my love." Aegon said and just as she'd got her laughter under control Tormund wiggled his eyebrows at her to show that he indeed was and she was lost in laughter once more.
King's Landing 305 AC.
Arya.
Finding a face to use was the hardest thing, Arya for the first time not willing to take an innocent life to do so. Instead, she looked around and finally found where the Silent Sister saw to their wounded and injured and after sneaking into where they kept their clothing, she dressed as one of them and moved among the beds. It didn't take her long to find the one that she needed, the man was a Stormlands soldier who had run afoul at one of the brothels. His time was short and yet it seemed to stretch on and on until he finally passed and Arya was able to help them move him into the room so he could be prepared to be sent back home.
Watching what they did to his body was repulsive even to her. Arya looking on as the women cut the body up into small pieces and then dropped those pieces into the large pots to boil away the flesh. It would only be the bones that were sent back and so the face wouldn't be missed. Yet it took her some time to get the chance to remove it and to drop the head into the pots with the other parts. Once she had done so, she quickly got rid of the clothes and made her way back to the Red Keep.
It was to her misfortune that she ran into Missandei once she reached it. The girl though seemed happy and when she shared her news with her, Arya was too.
"They've taken Sunspear." Missandei said, while Arya felt the face as it was hidden among her clothes.
"They are safe, both of them, the babe?" she asked eagerly.
"They are, they'll not stay long and may even fly back together." Missandei said and she could tell the girl was missing her queen just as much as Arya missed having her brother back with her.
"I had thought it would take longer." she said almost to herself.
"My queen and king do the things that no one else can." Missandei said proudly and Arya smiled at her, having seen the truth of that more than once.
"Where's Ghost?" she asked noticing for the first time the white wolf was nowhere in sight.
"Hunting, he'll be back tonight." Missandei said.
How she knew he'd be back tonight was something she could only put down to the girl's familiarity with the wolf. A sign that her brother was watching out for her just as Ser Davos had said all those moons ago. It made her think of something else that Jon had said, something he'd spoken to her about more than once. How the wolves knew more than they did and how he wished he'd listened to that more. It was something he had never fully explained to her and she was more than certain it had to do with what had happened at the Wall. She wondered if he'd not paid attention to Ghost for some reason and it made her wonder, had they all done so at some point.
"I must go to my meeting, we'll eat together later?" Missandei asked and Arya smiled at her and nodded.
She hurriedly made her way to her room and hid the face with the others she'd used before. Were it not Edric Storm she was seeking out then any of these would have been enough for her but she needed one that could get past his guards or not raise questions from them and so a Stormlands man was for the best. The rest of the day she spent training. Gendry was working with his old master Tobho Mott and making her a present and everyone else it seemed was busy with their own works. It made her feel a little useless if she was being honest and other than her wish to play the game of faces with Edric to confirm or assuage her worries, she'd found little to keep her occupied in King's Landing.
With Jon away fighting, Dany with him, and Gendry busy, she'd hoped to have found some other meaning in her life, something else to keep her focussed on. She'd even started to read up on what the requirements of running a keep was, not that she had any intent to do so but she had been so very bored and so had given it a go. It was not for her and yet she seemed to understand the basics of it well enough according to Ser Davos. The Onion Knight telling her that no matter how large the keep or the lands that fell under it, at the end of the day it was all the same basic principle.
" You keep it stocked, make it secure, and that the people under your protection have both it and your help to see them fed and sheltered."
" Surely there's more to it than that?" she said shaking her head.
" Your brother told me that, that in the end, your only job is to keep the people safe and fed. The rest is just noise and propriety." Davos said with a chuckle.
" He doesn't do properiety." she said making the older man laugh some more.
" Thank fuck for that." Davos said and she nodded her agreement.
She was making her way back to her room and was still smirking as she thought about it, her smile soon falling from her face when she both remembered that her brother wasn't here and when she then saw Edric Storm a little ahead of her. She moved quickly in the other direction and so reached her rooms a little later than she wished. After a quick bath where she spent far more time touching the small swell of her stomach than actually washing, she dressed and as she was doing so Gendry arrived back from his day at the smiths.
"Are you done yet?" she asked him after they'd kissed for a few moments.
"Almost, one more day, and then you can see it." he said and she nodded, she was annoyed he'd not tell her what it was but for now was far more eager to get to the night's work that she had planned.
"We're to eat with Davos and Missandei." she said and he smiled, Davos as much a father to Gendry as he was to Jon at times.
It was at the hour of the wolf that she finally got her chance. Arya taking the face while Gendry slept and then making her way through the keep. When she reached where Edric was staying, the guard looked at her oddly. Arya not sure why that was until she realized that the face she wore was at death's door until recently. After convincing the man she was well and then telling him she'd do his night's duty for him, she was soon left alone though she waited some time until she was sure she'd not be disturbed. Still, it was only a few moments later that she was holding her knife to Edric Storm's neck.
"Have you heard of the House of Black and White?" she asked and she saw him nod, his eyes wide and the sweat falling from his brow "You and I are about to play a game, I'm going to ask you some questions, if you lie then the many-faced god will be getting a gift this night, do you understand what I'm saying?" she asked, her voice not hers but of a long-dead guardsman.
"I understand." he said his panic and worry clear in his voice.
Less than an hour later she was climbing into her bed even more quietly than she had left it. She had been right about him, about her fears and she was ready to give him the gift but a voice called out to her and told her to find another way. Whose voice that was she wasn't sure, she thought it was Jon's at first but then she remembered that her brother had never told her what to do. True he may have suggested it and spoken to her about it, but he never told her or even asked her. Then she'd thought the voice was Gendry's and that it was him not wishing her to end his kin, yet it was different, younger, though it sounded a little like both of them. A part of her believed it was the babe that grew inside of her, a son, a son who'd be like his father, like her brother, and so she'd withheld the gift for now and instead left him with a warning instead.
" The many-faced god is watching you Edric Storm, should any harm befall your half brother then the next time we meet shall be your last. You cannot hide from us, cannot protect yourself from us and even in your keep, you'll not be safe from us. Should we be forced to come then it won't just be the Frey's they'll talk about falling in the night."
Was she right to do so? Right to let him live? She knew not, only that when she left the room the voice had told her that she was.
Sunspear 305 AC.
Malora.
Aegon had asked her to look into where the army was and so she had, he'd asked her to send word to the Red Keep about their victory and so she had. Then he'd asked her to keep Quentyn alive so that he could speak to him and so she did. Though he would not live for long and he'd spoken to his sister even before he had to the king. His injuries were severe and without her help, he'd suffer even more than he was and his time was coming to an end.
If Aegon wished it, if Dany wished it, then Quentyn could live for a few more days in agonizing pain. She had made this clear to him, to Princess Arianne and she and her guards had made it clear that no one was to offer him the easy way out. The Maester, the servants, any who came close to the burned frog prince were checked and double-checked. Malora herself staring each and every one of them in the eye and making it clear that she knew things they thought no one but they themselves did. As a deterrent or a way to see her king and queen's will was done, it was as good a one as any.
"Your grace." she said as the door opened and Aegon stepped inside.
"How is he?" Aegon asked with no concern for the man other than to know how hard he could be pushed.
"He is ready, your grace." she said and she watched as Ser Jaime moved everyone but her and the king from the room and as Aegon then moved closer to the prince.
"These men you work with, speak to me of them and I'll see your suffering is allowed to end, speak and speak the truth, Martell. For if you do not then I'll give the order that you're to live for many days to come." Aegon said and she heard the prince gasp.
"Belicho, Belicho Staegone. He's a Triarch in Volantis, the leader of the Tiger's, a dangerous man and one with ambition." Quentyn said, his voice pained but able to be heard.
"How powerful is he?" Aegon asked.
"Very, even the other Triarchs fear him." Quentyn said.
"And my wife, what reason does he have to wish my wife dead?" Aegon asked, his voice remarkably calm as he did so, yet she could see the effort he was making to remain so.
"He wants Essos, she stands in the way and there is some more to it but of that, I know not." Quentyn said, Aegon looking to her and seeing her nod that he spoke the truth.
"This army, the one that's gone from Dorne, who leads it?" Aegon asked.
"Malaquo Maegyr, another tiger." Quentyn said gasping as Aegon reached for some water and gave it to him.
She looked on as Aegon held the mug in his hands, she'd told him the army had headed north and she'd sent her birds to fly and seek them out. Malora knew that he would ask her to seek answers too, to look and see what she could find and if there were any faults in his plan. He'd done so when he and the queen had spoken about what they had wished to do with Sunspear, Malora looking deep within herself and offering up small changes only. After he was done here, she'd no doubt it would be to the North he'd go and she knew that he'd seek her to find those very same answers before he left.
"Why does he wish to go North?" Aegon asked and Quentyn looked surprised, this was obviously news to him.
"He went North?"
"He took his army and sailed to the North, why?" Aegon asked.
"His daughter, Talisa, he blames your family for her death." Quentyn said.
"My family? What have the Targaryens got to do with Talisa's death? That was the Frey's, Tywin Lannister, and Roose Bolton, and all of them are dead." Aegon said.
"The Starks, he blames the Starks. He blames Robb Stark for leading her astray, for marrying her and taking her to the Twins. He wants you all dead, wants the North to suffer, Westeros to suffer." Quentyn said before coughing loudly.
"He seeks vengeance?" Aegon asked.
"Against us all, but your family most of all." Quentyn said.
"I'll see you say your goodbyes to your sister, your suffering will end this night." Aegon said as he rose.
He moved towards them and told her to seek answers once the meeting was done but for now she was to join him and the queen as they spoke to the Dornish lords. She followed after Ser Jaime and the king, walking through the halls until they reached the large room where the meeting was to be held. The queen sat with Princess Arianne, her Dragonguard behind her and her unsullied close by. Malora saw the quick look she gave the king and the nod he gave her back before he took his seat beside her.
Princess Arianne rose once Aegon was seated and Malora looked out at the Dornish Lords and Ladies as they began to quieten down. She could see some of the looks that were directed at the king were unfavorable and while the queen got some of those very same looks, there were far less of them aimed her way. Malora wasn't the only one looking at the expressions either, as when she turned to look at the king she saw him taking note of every single person who looked his and his queen's way.
"My Lord, My Ladies, Sunspear is back in our hands once more and Dorne remains Unbowed, Unbent, and Unbroken. "Princess Arianne said to loud cheers "My brother is of Dorne, he knows how Dorne works and what way we'd respond to an army of foreign invaders and yet he chose to bring them to our shores regardless. He chose to take this city for himself and to try and not only usurp my position as your Princess, but your will in naming me so. He has paid for this treachery, my lords and ladies and he has paid dearly. Maester Caleotte and Maester Myles have ensured me that he will not last the night."
She could see this was news to some and she knew the king hadn't spoken to the princess yet, Malora looking to the queen and realizing that it was her that had relayed the news while Aegon was with her and Quentyn. It brought a smile to her face to know they were sharing such things with each other and that Quentyn's fate had been decided by them both even before the king had made his way to see him.
"We did not do this alone and were it not for their graces then far more Dornish lives would have been lost in taking back this city. Far more damage would have been done to Sunspear, to the Old Palace, and to Dorne itself were it not for Her Grace Queen Daenerys Targaryen and His Grace King Aegon." Arianne said this time to at first a decent cheer for the queen and both a muted one and then some hisses for the king "Enough, Dorne takes no issue with his grace's birth." Arianne said and loudly, though it was clear it took issue with something else, something that was about to be laid out.
"Parley was broken"
"A flag of truce was ignored."
"How is Dorne to trust such a man?"
It wasn't the princess who answered or even the king, the queen instead standing up and glaring out at the assembled lords and ladies.
"Such a man is your king, you speak of him with respect lest you incur my anger and face my wrath." the queen said her voice firm and strong "Parley was broken, that's true but then you of Dorne know all about breaking parley do you not?" the queen said glaring at those in the room.
"That was different."
"Daeron tried to subjugate us."
"He was a tyrant."
She watched as the queen let the voices shout out their grievances and objections to what she had said, Malora then looking at the king and again seeing he was taking note of each and every man who spoke.
"Be careful then that you don't turn my husband and me into tyrants, my lords, my ladies, for if we wished to subjugate Dorne we could do it far easier than our ancestors did and to far greater effect." the queen said to hushed whispers "Prince Quentyn came to the parley with hostages, with the intent of forcing us to accept him over Dorne's rightful ruler, he even offered to give up the city were we to give him his sister's head. Death of family sought at someone else's hands is still Kinslaying, is it not?"
"Her grace speaks true, speak to Lord Dayne, Lord Yronwood, or Ser Daemon of my brother's intent, speak to them and call what was done a breaking of parley on their grace's side." Princess Arianne said.
It was then the king stood up, Aegon looking out on each of the lords and ladies, his eyes more like ice than fire until he spoke.
"I care not for Dorne, just as it cares not for me. You'll kneel willingly and with good cheer and you'll be welcomed into our kingdom. Do not try to agitate or seek to be a land alone, for it won't be with a wedding that we'll bring Dorne to heel, it'll be with Fire and Blood instead. For those of you who wish to learn just what that looks like, I ask you to look to the North. Look to the army that came to make you kneel to their false prince, look to them and see what happens when you find our disfavor."
The king stopped speaking for a moment to let the words sink in, Malora seeing the angry looks now replaced with far more worried ones. If they thought Aegon dishonorable then they were right to fear him and since he had no love here, fear it would be that he'd leave them with.
"On our way to take back this city, this palace, and Dorne itself, we found that the army that Prince Quentyn brought to your lands was here no more. Instead, it has set sail for the lands of my mother, my uncles, and my cousins. It seeks to attack men and women who unlike those of Dorne, other than Lord Dayne and his men, fought side by side with my wife and me against an army that sought to end us all. All of us, my lords, my ladies, not just me, my wife, and those we cared about, all of us. Yet my wife and I stayed here to see your princess returned to the seat that belonged to her by right of blood and law. We ended a fight with few losses of life against a man with no honor, no care for who he harmed, and a man who sought the death of his own sister.
We stayed and Dorne is free once more, Unbowed, Unbent, and Unbroken as Princess Arianne rightly says. But be in no doubt my lords, my ladies, it remains so only because we choose it to be. Only because my wife and I are not tyrants. If we were then what is to be done to the army that threatens the North should serve as fair warning as to what we are able to do to you or to any who name us such."
The King sat down and the whispers spoken in the room were very different, the looks far more fearful and she saw him whisper to the queen before he nodded to her and got up from his seat. She, the king, and Ser Jaime all walked from the room and she readied to look and find answers to the questions that she was soon to be asked.
The Stoney Shore.
Theon.
Many years earlier he'd landed here, leading his own ships and his own men and seeking to take these lands for himself. He'd been a different man then, a fuller man, and it had been the greatest mistake of his life to land on these shores. No, a voice in his head said, 'your greatest mistake was to not sail back to Robb, to not warn him, to not die by his side if need be', Theon barely recognized that voice as the younger man he had once been.
Try as he might he couldn't get it through to her, she wouldn't listen and had gone so far as to all but name him a fool. Malaquo was her kin by marriage, a man who'd finally taken her side and would see her returned to her rightful place. The words she spoke as foolish as she claimed him to be, as it was clear that this man cared not for Sansa, for him, or for anything but the same things that Theon had once sought here, vengeance and power. He'd been a fool then, seeking something he truly didn't believe in and something he was ill-equipped to wield and it had cost him greatly. Each day he spent in Malaquo's or his men's company he felt Sansa came closer to paying as harsh a price as he once had.
The man himself may be enough of a mummer to let her believe his words and his closest guards and captains may understand the need for such mummery and be able to play along, those lower down did not and could not. They spoke of conquest, of bringing the North to heel, and not once did they mention Sansa when they did so. It wasn't her they'd come for, they hadn't even known about her and had come across them simply by chance. Something she couldn't understand no matter how many times he said it to her.
" They were coming here regardless, Sansa, they were heading North regardless." Theon said.
" Malaquo said as much, they sought allies and were seeking us out at Winterfell." Sansa said and he shook his head.
" He didn't even know of you, Sansa, of Winterfell or of what had happened there, so why would he be going there if he didn't know anything of the place?" he said and she laughed at him and then looked at him as if he was a child.
" He knew we were from Winterfell, Theon, that it belonged to the Starks." she said almost rolling her eyes at him.
" Winterfell had fallen, Sansa, he said he knew of Roose Bolton and that he'd not stopped off anywhere before he met us. So how did he know it was back in the hands of the Starks? How did he know that Jon had taken it back?"
" I took it back, me, it was me that the Knights of the Vale rode for, not Jon. He'd lost the Battle of the Bastards and it was only won because of me" she said angrily.
" But how did Malaquo know?" he said and she refused to speak to him, instead walking away from him in a huff and she looked very much like the girl he remembered then, the spoiled girl who never gave him any time if she could help it.
It took almost a week to get every man, horse, and their supplies off the ships. A week in which she spoke to him only twice and only the second time because he played into her own view of things. She'd spoken to Malaquo she said, spoken to him and he'd told her that it was true he'd not known they'd taken back Winterfell but he had known that Roose Bolton had played his part in the Red Wedding. So yes, he'd sought vengeance and he sought vengeance still, and with him by her side then she'd get her own vengeance too.
Nothing Theon could say to her got through and so each night they feasted and she sat by Malaquo's side while the man pumped her for information about the North and its lords or about Winterfell's defenses. He would hear her say that the garrison there was small and that once they saw she was with them they'd open the gates and welcome them inside. Theon trying his best not to shake his head and show how false that line of thinking was.
It was as they began to march that he tried once more time, as they were traveling through the Rills that he made once last effort to make her see sense. Only to find that once again she had no desire to listen to what he said and that he had only raised her ire at him. To hear her tell him that he was just like Jon and Daenerys, that he too wished to see her denied what was rightfully hers, was something he couldn't believe. No amount of pleading, of telling her that this would not end how she wished would be listened to and the only thing it had led to, was him now having guards assigned to him. For his own protection, Malaquo had said, and even though he could see that Sansa knew it was for anything but, she said nothing. Even though she knew better than any how he may feel about being a prisoner once more, she had helped him not, and so he made his choice and he cursed her for it.
"I need to take a piss." he said as they rode through the Barrowlands.
"Then piss." one of the guards said laughing at him.
"I'm stopping, you can stop with me or you can fucking ride on." he said angrily and the two guards glared at him before giving in to his request.
They were near the beginnings of the Wolfswood, lands that he knew well and when they stopped near a small stream he quickly moved behind the tree to make it seem as if he was doing what he had said. He knew these lands, not as well as he once had but he knew them and while the army was bypassing the keeps, to keep their mummery up no doubt, it was adding time to their march. Time that he would make use of, he thought as he bent down and picked up the stone in his hands.
The two guards had taken the opportunity to stretch their legs and were complaining about the cold, Theon listening as they spoke as if the sun didn't exist in these lands and of how much they wished they were back in their own. He moved quietly, hoping the horses wouldn't give him away and when he saw the bow on one of them, he knew it was that one he needed to take. Mounting quickly, he threw the stones at the other two horses driving them off, and then he was racing through the Wolfswood. There was no looking back, no stopping or slowing down, Theon instead using the paths and trails to his advantage.
A part of him felt as bad as he had when he'd betrayed Robb and though he believed he was leaving Sansa to face some harsh treatment, he knew he had no choice. He'd tried, he'd done his best to get through to her and while he hadn't much to live for, if he was to die then it would be for something he believed in and not for a lie. He hoped they'd listen to him and that they'd make ready, he prayed that Jon and Daenerys would come, and should they seek to take his head once they did then he'd accept their sentence. Theon Greyjoy could not save Sansa Stark, not from Malaquo and not from herself, he hoped that his leaving would at least give Jon a chance to do what he could not and when he faced Robb again, he hoped he'd understand.
Sunspear 305 AC.
Aegon.
Dany had set them right and he'd made the threat, between them they'd leave Dorne in no doubt where they stood. He knew that right now she was smoothing over his words, making it clear it was a threat he made, a promise, but not one that either of them wished to have to carry out. Between his wife and Princess Arianne, Ned Dayne, and Ser Daemon, they could do what he could not and smooth over the feathers he'd ruffled.
He had no time for such things, his own needs and the needs of the North outweighing the needs of prickly Dornishmen and women. So he, Jaime, and Malora walked to her room and as he sat in the corner and looked to Jaime, they waited for her to tell him all he needed to know. It took far longer than he had hoped and by the time he made it back to his and Dany's room, she'd already taken to their bed. Aegon moving to the balcony to speak to Lyarhaex before undressing and joining her.
"Aegon?" she said softly when she felt him climb into the bed beside her.
"Dany, sleep, we'll speak on the morrow." he said and kissed her cheek, glad when she drifted back to sleep even if it left him awake and alone with his thoughts.
He wanted her to go back to King's Landing, to be safe and in comfort while he went and dealt with Malaquo Maegyr and the threat he posed. The North had been mobilized, Lady Maege and Lord Wyman were on the march, and more would follow but it wouldn't be men that put paid to this threat. It would take the dragons to do so and Aegon felt that he and Rhaegal could manage it alone and that Dany and Drogon wouldn't be needed. He knew she'd not agree, even Lyarhaex didn't agree and he'd barely told the red dragon of his plans, she'd just known of them and was adamant that she too would fly North. There was no point in arguing with a stubborn dragon he'd found and compared to his wife, Lyarhaex was easy, Dany he knew wouldn't even allow him to consider going without her.
As he felt his eyes grow heavy, he began to smile, perhaps it was for the best that he'd been left alone with his thoughts after all. It would mean that when he awoke on the morrow it would not be to the argument he'd assumed he'd be having. She'd come with him no matter what he said, far better he not even suggest otherwise, he thought as finally drifted off to sleep.
His dreams were filled with dragon fire, with flames being laid down and of men being covered by them. It was different, hearing screams from the living was so very different than hearing none from the dead. Yet he felt these men deserved it, that it would need to be done. They'd not retreat and not surrender, not with Malaquo leading them. Vengeance was a cruel mistress and one that demanded her due no matter what and though Malaquo's blame was misplaced, only death would free him of his need to see his mistress sated. So death was what he'd bring him, death and an eternity of nothing at all.
"Aegon, wake up" he heard Dany say loudly, feeling her arms as she pushed him and shook him awake
"What, what time is it?" he said rubbing his eyes as the light hit them.
"It's early, we must speak, Aegon." his wife said and he turned to look at her, Dany sitting up in their bed with her back resting against the pillows.
"Must we?" he said with a smirk as he took his own pillow and covered his head with it, hearing both her little giggle and then her annoyed snort.
"We must." she said grabbing the pillow from him and throwing it to the floor, a satisfied look on her face until he reached for one of hers, and then he laughed when her eyebrow rose and she glared at him, daring him to try and take it from her.
"I'm up." he said sitting up and trying not to roll his eyes at her pleased look as she celebrated her little victory.
"Dorne is on our side." she said proudly and he looked at her before kissing her cheek.
"Even after what I said?" he asked.
"It worked, they fear us but there's more, they respect us too. I dare say they'll love us in time." she said and he looked at her curiously.
"You perhaps." he said and she shook her head.
"Us." she said firmly as she explained that though his words caused fear, it had another effect, they were looking to the North now and thinking about what they were both about to do, Dany emphasizing both just in case he was in any doubt tht she'd be coming with him.
"Malora says they march and have far more men than the North can face, three times the number and far better equipped. We must fly, Dany, without the dragons the North will fall." he said and she reached out and took his hand, holding it tight in her own as she nodded.
"There is no time for the army to sail is there?" she asked and he shook his head "Parley?" and he shook it again.
"We need to send a message, a loud one, to Dorne and to Essos too. When we're done it'll be this they speak of and not how we took Sunspear and even if they still do then it'll be with this clear in their minds." he said and she looked at him, willing him to kiss her with her eyes and Aegon unable to resist doing as she bid.
They rose together, dressing quickly and calling their men to ready for the return. Aegon asked Malora to speak to Davos and to Arya, while Dany did the same to Grey Worm in relation to Missandei. After they broke their fast they met with Princess Arianne and took her true oath of fealty, Dorne was now officially back as a true member of the Seven Kingdoms and the princess swore that they had won her to their side. Quentyn had passed during the night and despite what he had done, he would be given a funeral fit for a prince. Arianne telling them that she'd keep an eye on the lords and ladies and that should any show any true doubt, then she'd set them right.
The ships would be ready to leave by the morrow, their men leaving Dorne and heading back to King's Landing though Aegon knew that both they and Dany wished to be sailing to the east instead. It was that which he knew would be Malaquo's undoing, his taking her from what she wished to do would be met with a far more deadly response than even the one that he was planning. By the time they were finished in the North she'd be unable to travel, the babe would be too close to being born and so her people in Meereen would have longer to wait for their queen's return. It was because of this that he almost pitied Malaquo for what he was about to bring down upon himself, almost.
They said their goodbyes to the princess and to Ser Daemon, to Ned Dayne, and to Ned's aunt Allyria who he'd met only briefly. After telling Grey Worm, Qhono, and Malora that they'd return as soon as their work in the North was done. Aegon, Tormund, and Jaime climbed up on Rhaegal's back, and Dany, Jorah, and Brienne did the same on Drogon's. With a nod to each other, they took to the sky and Aegon looked to Lyarhaex as she flew in front of them, the red dragon eager to fly with her brothers and with Dany and him. She was eager to see the North and to bring their enemies Fire and Blood.