107 107
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207 AC
Valley of Thenn
Varr
----
"Is he still not back?" I ask my Brother and feel annoyance seeing him shake his head wordlessly.
Taric has been gone for far too long just to be pissing.
Here we all are freezing our balls off waiting on him.
"Fine..." Pushing off the frozen rock I was sitting on I step forward and away from the small fire we built to go and find the fool. "I will go and see if he slipped and hit his head." A gruff laugh is the only response I get as I head toward the small patch of woods that Taric went off into.
He better be dead.
If he is just playing with his pecker out here I will smash his head in myself.
It wouldn't be the first time... but it will be the last time.
----
"Taric!" Looking around I still find no one and slowly the thought of leaving him behind worms into my head.
It's his fault if he gets left, he should not have taken as long as he has.
"Tari-" Red snow catches my eyes and I freeze as I reach for my axe.
Crouching low I look high and low for any signs of danger as I slowly creep toward the freshly spilled blood. Each step forward the crunch of the snow sends a chill down my back as I see more and more of the blood as I get closer.
Something died here.
Recently.
"AHHH!" A scream echoes through the woods around me and I go wide-eyed as I turn toward where it came from.
Back from where I just came from.
"Oh no." Turning I start rushing through the snow knowing we have been attacked.
An ambush.
But who?
----
"TOR!" I scream approaching the small resting area where the fire once was but can't see a sign of anyone and the fire has been snuffed out.
Where are they?
* Crack *
Turning I lower myself down ready to swing my axe into someone but instead feel my legs shake and almost give out. Behind me as if it was following me soundlessly is a blue man with even bluer eyes and a long spear of ice in one hand. In the other... in the other is...
"Tor!" I grit my teeth seeing the head of my Brother held out as if to taunt me.
I will kill this freak.
Charging forward I grip the handle of my axe and prepare to cleave straight through the icy man.
Pain.
A blood-covered spearhead made of ice pierces through my back and out my chest before my eyes.
"AH!" Elbowing the second freak behind me in the face I stumble forward and swing down my raised axe with all of my strength.
* Smash *
The blue man swats aside my weapon with the butt of his spear almost like a parent swatting down a young child's attack. My Brothers head is dropped and the hand that was once holding him up by the hair reaches out and clutches my face sending my vision dark.
Dark.
Cold.
So this is Death.
----
207 AC
Volantis
Narha Targaryen
----
"Is Kepa going to burn those people?" Syrella my sweet girl asks as I brush her wavy silver hair with a dragon bone comb.
"He is." I do not want to lie to her even if I am uncertain how she will react to this... 'burning'.
Lots of people have burned during this Conquest and my daughter's dragon Greed has even burned its fair share. But this is the first time such a large number of people are being 'sent to the flames' all in one go after the taking of a city.
All of the Old Blood.
Well, maybe not all of it as there are sure to be recently freed slaves running around with the Blood of Old Valyria in them.
The young are also being spared, of course, there is no reason to throw children onto the pyre.
Well... there might not be any reason to throw anyone on the pyre but I trust my Husband.
He is not certain what the Red Priests say will happen will actually happen.
But either way, he is going through with this 'ritual', and should nothing happen then we will know for certain the 'Visions' are false.
Aerion already planned to purge as many of the old Families of Valyria as possible.
To start with something new, 'our' new Valyria as he calls it.
He does not want any of the old blood trying to claim positions in the far future when the new Valyria Empire is settled and is ruling over our lands in Essos.
"-are you even listening?" My sweet Daughter headbutts my stomach with the back of her head trying to get my attention.
"I was not, I got lost in thought." She sighs and turns in my lap to face me with her cute face scrunched up.
"I want to be there, as a Princess of House Targaryen I should be there." I clench my jaw shut stopping my immediate denial that comes from a place of concern for my Daughter.
"I don't think it's a good idea." I try and smooth her wavy hair and she shakes her head with her lips pouting.
That only works on her Kepa, not me.
"I did not say it was a 'good' idea but that I should be there." I once more have to stop an immediate response, my heart hurting at the thought of her being there to see so many people die directly.
It's different from on the back of a dragon, she has never seen so many people die all at once from the direct orders of her Father. I fear it will not only affect her mind and emotions but how she sees her Father, I would hate to see their relationship suffer. Aerion is a good Father to his children, he dotes on them all but also is firm when needed, but most importantly he is there for them even when they don't necessarily want him to be.
Not many Lords can say the same, even fewer Princes can claim as much, and I doubt many Emperors are any different.
I know how much it would hurt both of them in the long term if Syrella came to fear her Father because of what he plans to do.
"Maybe we should talk about it with your Kepa and see what he has to say about it." Hopefully, Aerion can talk her out of it, and if not at least keep her a good distance away and potentially I can just escort her away if she shows signs of being scared.
I know there will be screaming.
"Alright." I sigh in relief seeing her relax and turn back to face the mirror with the back of her head resting against my breasts. "We can go and look for him once you finish with my hair." She smiles showing a few of her front teeth missing bringing back fond memories.
"Sounds like a plan." I lean down and kiss the top of her head feeling warmth in my heart.
----
207 AC
Volantis
Daenerys Targaryen
----
"Hmm." I hum as I look over the small group being escorted into the cells of the Red Temple.
"Am I crazy?" Aerion asks and I snort.
"I think we all are a little crazy, it's the madness in our blood." The Dragon inside of us makes us act in a way that is not like our fellow 'man' and instead is more like our scaled mounts. "Having regrets?" I ask turning to meet my gaze with my Husband to make sure he speaks the truth, it's easy to read his eyes after all the time we have spent together.
"Not really... that is why I feel a little crazy." I nod and wrap an arm around his side pulling my side flush with his as I lean my head on him. "I already planned to kill these people, they worship the Old Gods of Valyria and believe themselves to be the inheritors of Old Valyria... coexistence with them would be hard in the future." With our plans to promote the Lord of Lights faith as it helps our cause, it would be hard to keep these people around.
Hmm.
The Lord of Light.
This ritual we are going to put into action will be... eye-opening to say the least.
Either Melisandre is right and everything will change going forward.
Or.
She is wrong and we will have to shift our perspective on things concerning the Red God.
The faith of R'hllor undoubtedly is the most beneficial to our cause currently, but that might not always be the case if things do not work out here. We might have to make plans to minimize the spread of the Red faith which admittedly will be hard after all the 'silent' support Aerion had given them in the last decade.
That and the slaves being freed.
Lots of people who lived in chains found themselves worshiping the Red God.
Among the freed slaves he has the most support out of any religion.
It will be messy if House Targaryen has a falling out with the Faith of R'hllor.
Trust has been extended to the Faith of R'hllor, and we might very well find out if it was misplaced sooner than I thought.
