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Chapter 3 – Meeting the Dragon Lords

The Ruins of Valyria, 127 AC…

The city that had once given the Valyrian Freehold its name was still an awesome sight even if no-one had managed to get a look in centuries. The enormous towers and other buildings made of dragonstone had held together well despite the harshness of the Doom, some had collapsed into ruins but many especially those in the former capital still stood the test of time.

It would have been a fascinating place to visit if the air was not so toxic that it would choke anyone who happened to breathe it. Another thing that might have surprised people about the Ruins of Valyria was how cold it was, even the North of Westeros was warmer than the Smoking Sea and ruined cities. The reason being that the thick clouds of smoke that filled the air blocked out any light or warmth from the sun, nothing could live here even the most basic and strong bacteria.

So the two men that were slowly making their way across the remains of the Valyrian Peninsula they had to wrap up in thick furs layered with warming charms to stop themselves from freezing to death, to say nothing of the runic masks they wore to filter out the poison in the air so that they could breathe.

"At last." One of them said muffled by the mask as they came to the last of the deserted and ruined cities of the Freehold, they had been to Oros, Tyria and the other four surviving if abandoned cities that had not been completely destroyed in the massive eruption that had destroyed the Valyrian civilisation. Picking their way through the remains they had acquired much and now they had arrived at the last and yet most important of all the Valyrian cities, the capital Valyria itself.

It was a strange sight as many of the towers still stood and the famous rivers of lava had hardened into stone and formed jagged walls between the various buildings.

"Well at least there is more intact that we though." The other man said, looking for the most stable spot around to make camp. He saw a good spot nearby and walked over, joined by his colleague they set up ward stones in a circle and then started assembling a decent sized tent within the circle. It looked small for two people but just big enough...until they were finished and could walk inside.

It was enchanted with space expansion runes and the bubble-head charm had been layered onto every single part of it, making an oasis of breathable air inside the tent which was the size of a very large hall inside. Amenities were fairly basic with a locker for rations, two beds and a fire pit which warmed the inside but it was a place they could live in while chests with similar space expansion charms on them lay stacked around them full of the things they had salvaged from the other cities. In one of the corners, empty boxes were piled up for anything they could find here. Light was created by jars filled with blue fire.

Now the tent was up and secure the men removed their masks, Sirius Black took a grateful breath glad to be free of the mask. The other man removed his and was far younger than Sirius. His hair might be black but his eyes were a dazzling green.

"Tomorrow we can start at the Great Palace, if there's anything of value that's where it will be." Harry said with a smile glad himself to be free of the mask. They could have gone today but they had spent days on foot going over the harsh and difficult terrain of the islands that had once been the Peninsula and were eager to rest before beginning their salvage mission. They each took a swing of water from their wineskins and eagerly tucked into some preserved meat, sitting on their beds in absence of a chair. Harry sighed before asking his godfather as doubt settled in.

"Do you think we will find anything? Given how long its been?" Harry looked slightly defeated but Sirius gave him a grin and said as he took another drink.

"Absolutely, you saw how intact the city was out there, we found enough stuff in the other cities this one will be no different." His grin now echoed on Harry's face as he reinforced their hopes.

Of all the expeditions they had launched over the years starting with the one to Volantis this was the most difficult and dangerous, the hostile conditions inside the Ruins tested them physically and mentally. Long hours spent disarming magical traps or struggling over hard terrain to say nothing of having to wear the masks or they would be dead in minutes.

This had better be worth it, Sirius thought to himself as Harry and he settled down to get some sleep.

-x-

At the same time. Godric's Hollow...

The conditions in the town they called home were very different as the sun shone and the day was warm and happy for those that worked in there. Farmers working in the fields outside or inside the glasshouses toiled over their crops with careful and growing experience, supervised by former Naathi Mossrelen. A man they had recruited on one of the expeditions to manage their more difficult to grow food stuffs and potion ingredients. Not to mention the cotton plants they had acquired near Slaver's Bay.

Lily as she walked through town was greeted warmly by the people, smiling as they worked their trades. She gave a nod to the women who were dying different fabrics with dyes they now made using a colony of sea-snails taken from around Tyrosh and now kept in a specially made rock pool tank under their castle. Just like the silk worms they had acquired from Naath who had their own special magical habitat, magic helped speed up breeding and silk/dye production as well as creating new colours to offer.

Past them she received a friendly bow from the Yitish woodcarvers who had taken refuge here after being on the wrong side of a dispute in their own country, now they applied their trade here making very elaborate furniture out of wood they provided. The glassblowers from Myr didn't see her as she walked by, too busy with their delicate work to stop and acknowledge the lady of the castle. She didn't mind, the coin they had started to bring in had made them wealthy and strong again, just like the Lost Legion who had trained their new army which now numbered over seven thousand the largest in the Riverlands.

She had a slightly sad smile on her face as she walked back to the castle, thinking of her late parents-in-law who had not really seen the sudden advancement given they had passed a few years ago within days of each other. It meant that she and James now had full control of House Peverell and all its lands, a fact that gave her a great deal of relief as they were free to do what they wanted to do.

That was also a reason she had sent Sirius to the Ruins of Valyria although she had been far from pleased to hear Harry had gone with him, she frowned or rather scowled at that meaning to have words with her son when they returned but managed to get back to the point as she arrived at the Arts Academy she had established. She had hoped that maybe they might find Valyria relics or treasures that they could give to House Targaryen to earn their favour, it would enable them to trade more widely across the country and beyond if they had their blessing and approval she thought with hope that there was something there to give.

She saw Ettas and their newest recruit Taela from Myr who had left Essos in hopes of getting more recognition for her obvious talent at painting and weaving tapestries, now she taught would-be artists here while selling her paintings through House Peverell. But as she gave them a friendly smile especially when Amelia, now four months pregnant with her and Sirius' second child came up to her.

"The North has placed an order for more glass to make their own glasshouses with." She told her best friend with a grin, the former auror had taken to managing the household with eagerness as she could do little else in her condition. Lily smiled and said.

"I'll get on it immediately and see if they would be interested in a joint venture to produce rice." Lily said thinking of the rice farmers that had come in search of a better life here. Given how long rice could be stored and how easy it was to cook it would be a great earner for them but it would be easier to grow up in the Neck. The North would surely jump at something like this when they struggled in some of the harshest winters imaginable. That was something which always made her curious she thought, her mind going to the fact that here seasons lasted for years. She honestly wondered if it was something to do with the planet's rotation around the sun or something else but she thought the former was the most likely scientific explanation for the strangeness although that did not answer the question of why they sometimes changed in length. Winter sometimes lasted a year or two but there had been occasions when it went on for longer, she would love to study that but short of taking astronomical readings for years she had no real way to explore that question.

The Ruins of Valyria, the next day…

The vast gardens around the Great Palace had spared it any towers falling on it or lava flowing over it and while it was still a monstrously big building that actually had Harry and Sirius a little nervous of searching, it now looked rather sad. All this space and glorious architecture and no one to enjoy it.

The two enormous Sphinxes at the gates of the palace were made of dragonstone and still looked amazing despite their sad surroundings, Sirius and Harry through their masks looked at each other and nodded in agreement, waving their wands and shrinking them down to the size of a small doll each and put them in their bottomless pouches until they could be properly stored. Since the technique to create dragonstone had been lost and these statues were very well crafted ones so House Targaryen was sure to want them for the Red Keep.

With that done the two of them wandered forward through the broken gates and started the two mile long walk to the palace, seeing the dragon skeletons around them along with the twisted human ones was a solemn remainder of what had happened here and filled them with such discomfort at being here that neither of them spoke till they reached the great doors which had been left ajar by those that had tried and failed to escape. Both men stepped carefully over the burnt skeletons and wandered inside the great structure.

"So where do we start?" Harry asked, not sure given the scale of the building where to look first. Sirius himself was unsure but then made a snap decision.

"We look in the bedrooms and then the library, sure to be something there." He said wondering what they might find the ruler of the Freehold's own house although he though with scorn to call this a house or a home was like calling a wand a mere wooden stick. This to his mind was far too big to ever really be a home.

So they climbed the marble steps and started to wander around until the stumbled on the guest bedrooms and private apartments, here they saw bodies with armfuls of gold, silver and jewels all over the place. Both men realised that either these people were trying to save their own valuables rather than getting out as fast as they could, or they were looters taking advantage of the chaos to enrich themselves.

So they slowly started picking up all the rings, necklaces, medallions, circlets, tiaras, brooches, clasps, bracelets, hairpins and coins they could find and dropping them into their pouches, More than a few were signet rings which might have greater value given their history but they would need to be checked first. They noticed a few very nice and ornamental furniture laying around too so they took a few of the desks, dressers, tables and cabinets.

It took them nearly half the day to finish going through the bedrooms and private apartments, finding many glorious paints, statues and figurines, tapestries and vases still in good condition so they took them and then they shrunk them down and carefully put them in the pouches. The galleries were next where a lot more artwork was found, seeing the sheer scale of it Sirius groaned as he contemplated the scale of the task in front of them.

This was why the palace needed to be so big he realised, to hold all the possessions.

He did a check with his wand for magical traps and saw most of the pieces were secured with sticking charms and magical traps that would need to be disarmed before they could remove them, sighing as the job just got harder and would take longer.

Later that day...

Harry now thoroughly irritated with having to spend all day in the galleries had decided to check the library to see what books could be found there and saw to his amazement so many stacks of books and scrolls that would it would make the Citadel weep with envy. He like his godfather sighed, depressed slightly at the scale of the job in front them fortunately a check revealed no traps or the like so with waves of his wand he trans-configured a chair into a box and started summoning the books out of the stacks and into piles where he could shrink them and put them in the chest which should be big enough to carry them all back to the tent where they could be stored properly.

Many of them would need to be seen by the Qarthi scholar that they had hired to act as translator back home, to see if they were of value or not. Harry secretly hoped that they might have some great magic in them or things like that or the secret to making Valyrian steel, he had wanted to wield a sword made of the metal since he had first seen Lady Forlorn although the Sword of Godric was still his greatest priority. They had found quite a few Valyrian steel weapons so far but none that really appealed to him for some reason, too big, too small, not the right weapon and so on. He was aware that he was being picky but he couldn't help it Harry thought with a slight grimace, mercifully he was interrupted by Sirius coming up to him.

"Come look what I just found in the big hall." Through the mask Harry couldn't see his face but the amusement in his voice honestly was enough to make him come in the hopes it lifted their day.

He nodded and followed him through the dark and long corridors of the palace till they got to the large hall where many desks had been set up, presumably this was the place where all the land owners of Valyria and the most powerful families had met to discuss the running of the Freehold. Many of the seats where empty except for the one that stood in the podium at the centre of the room, it was occupied by a single figure who sat in the throne like chair. Creeping close Harry saw the remains of elaborate robes on him and around his neck was a spectacular chain made of golden pieces with a precious jewel in each of them.

But fallen on the ground beside him was something even better, a three headed dragon staff nearly seven feet tall made of golden Valyrian steel with tiny sapphires for eyes and in each of the dragon mouth's was a larger ruby.

This instantly made Harry aware of who was in front of him, although the Freehold had never had a king or emperor the families who ran it elected a single leader from amongst themselves to handle the day to day matters of running the Freehold to avoid it bogging discussions down...a single leader known as the Praetor who had a dragon staff and a chain which had a link added for each conquest the Freehold made.

This was truly something worthwhile Harry thought with glee knowing his parents and in particular his mother would be pleased at the recovery of all this. Checking them for enchantments and finding none Harry carefully removed the chain from around the dead Praetor's neck and then picked up the dragon staff with his free hand. Sirius smiled inside his mask, knowing this was a big find but he was not done yet.

He led Harry to the under-level of the palace and found a large vault door that had been prised open by a group of men who all lay around dead in positions of great pain, their faces still contorted with horror. There looked to be severe swellings under what flesh remained and Harry was reminded of the tale of what had happened to Aerea Targaryen and her horrible death. Had she done something similar he wondered? Broken into a magically protected place without knowing the full risk? He was about to step away from the corpses when he saw one of the corpses wore very elaborate armour with lions pauldrons that had been inlaid with actual gold. It had many intricate patterns on it and the great sword in the dead man's hand had a lion pommel.

No Valyrian would use a lion as their symbol Harry thought and realised that this must be the lost King of Westerlands Tommen Lannister the 2nd who had disappeared while apparently going to take the riches of Valyria. Seeing his armour and a journal at his waist was enough for Harry too see that while he had made it, having tried to open the vault he and his men had fallen victim to the defences built to deter thieves.

"We take the armour, sword and journal with us. The Lannisters would give anything to have all these back." Harry said to his partner in salvage who gestured towards the open vault and Harry gave it a passing look before seeing a large space inside with piles of gold, silver and precious gems around a plinth where what looked like five dragon eggs sat.

Even though there were still plenty of places to search yet Harry honestly in a dazed state of amazement thought, we hit the mother-load. And because Tommen had activated the defences already and no-one had been here to reset them, nothing could stop them from taking all the valuables inside.

Godric's Hollow, two weeks later…

It was dark before a slight pop announced the arrival of two cloaked and masked men who instantly breathed a deep sigh of relief at being home before removing their masks and walking towards the town gates. The guard on patrol saw them and shouted.

"Halt! Who seeks entry into Godric's Hollow?"

Harry and Sirius lowered their cloaks and Harry being the heir to the house answered back.

"Harry Peverell and Sirius Black. Let us enter."

The guard recognised his voice instantly even if the dimness of the light did not let him see their faces clearly.

"Of course my lord." The guard said dutifully and the gate started to open a moment later, allowing the weary travellers in and then closed behind them once they had passed through. Walking the path to the castle they took comfort in the familiar sights of home and while these expeditions were fun they hoped not to have to go on another one to soon. The lands of Valyria had been hard and dangerous to navigate but the bounty they had brought home was well worth the effort.

Seeing his parents waiting at the gates before him Harry nearly ran over to hug them but restrained himself to calmly walking alongside Sirius, Lily his mother however was far less calm and rushed over to check him for injuries before slapping him on the backside of the head. He was stunned as where the two men present but then she flung her arms around him and hugged him for all she was worth.

"How could you be so stupid?! To go off to Valyria?! AND YOU LET HIM?!" Lily said, turning her attention to Sirius who suddenly became very afraid of his friend's wife who looked ready to kill them all on the spot.

None of them said anything, letting her anger dissipate a little before James grew brave enough to hobble forward. A previous expedition had taken a toll on his friend, a young creature in Sothoryos while they had been retrieving coffee and coco beans had bitten his leg hard and although he had recovered from the fever some kind of toxin had weakened the limb. Phoenix tears had eased the damage but now James could only really walk with a stick as a result of the weakened muscles, this was why Harry had gone with Sirius instead. There was no way his father could have managed in the harsh and difficult environment.

"We found a lot of good pieces there, care to see?" Sirius said nervously which Lily gave him a slight glare for before heading back inside without another word which they took as a signal to follow. Seeing Amelia waiting for them with her belly still swollen honestly made Sirius smile again with joy and walked over, only wishing he could see Remus the son but at this time of night all the youngest members of their two families were asleep.

They set up the tent in one of the big halls and went inside to see their gathered spoils, carefully opening some of the boxes revealing large quantities of gold, silver and precious stones. Others contained hundreds of books and scrolls while more contained valuable artwork and a hundred magical objects they had found still useable. The glass candles were easy enough to figure out but some would take a greater study to discover their usage.

The shrunken furniture came next and some it was really high quality pieces that might sell for a fortune, to say nothing of the hundreds of bottles of expensive and rare alcohol and wine that had been preserved by magic in the cellars. Along with a lot of steel which they planned to smelt and reforge into armour to help outfit their army, while they could have just mined for it why waste their own resources when they could salvage it from somewhere else to say nothing of the five hundred dragonbone bows.

Then they got to the real good stuff, piles of Valyrian steel weapons and enough armour piece to make five complete suits. The sight of all of it made James, Lily and Amelia's eyes nearly come out on stalks as this was far greater than any of them had ever dreamed. The value of these as gifts to others to earn favour would be astronomical if done sparingly, to say nothing of the cluster of dragon eggs they found, nearly thirty of which that weren't petrified. House Targaryen would jump at the chance to get even half of them.

But it was the Staff and Chain of the Praetor that made them all smile the widest, the legend attached to these items would see them as the greatest gifts that could be given to say nothing of Brightroar and Tommen's armour.

Amelia after recovering her breath said with a smile.

"I'll help go over the books and scrolls you brought back, once we have a few sufficiently interesting but not dangerous ones we can give them to House Targaryen along with the sphinxes, three dragon eggs, staff and chain. A chest or two of gold and we should gain some considerable favour." She said while James added thinking along the same lines.

"Throw in a long sword, I know they have two already but a third will still be appreciated and we have more than enough." He thought smiling but Lily then thought of something, a frown coming to her face.

"If we are going to convince people that you only just came from abroad then your going to have to be seen arriving on a ship in Kings Landing, if you don't then people are going to wonder how you left and entered the country unnoticed and so quickly. That might cause us a few problems if they look too closely." She thought hoping to keep that they had magic as quiet as possible given how so many people feared it.

Both Harry and Sirius gave her a look of annoyance but she shut them down with a glare, they had only just got home and really didn't want to go abroad for the month or so it would take to get from Essos to Kings Landing but Lily's powerful glare shut them both up, so she continued to talk.

"You can once you arrive in Kings Landing beg an audience and say you are bringing gifts from abroad, that should get you an audience." Lily said, everyone liked getting presents or rather something for nothing after all especially the rich she thought with disdain. They might be wealthy themselves within reason but she tried her hardest to stay level and modest, they bought no great extravagances or luxuries and kept only to what they really needed. Thankfully Amelia nodded in agreement, thinking along the same lines while James just sighed.

Harry and Sirius resigned themselves to a month long voyage once the gifts had been chosen and to enjoy themselves while they could.

-x-

While Amelia, Lily and their scholar looked through the scrolls and books to find ones that they could give to House Targaryen the following morning, they only needed a basic look through not a full read through Harry decided to spend some time in the yard with the men as they trained, so he dressed in his leather sparring gear.

Seeing the hard-working men made Harry smile as he picked up a training sword and joined them in their sparring, seeing the son of their lord they immediately stopped and gave him a bow but he just smiled and said.

"At ease, I'm here to practice just like you. Anyone up for a spar?" Harry said with a grin and put himself in the ready position, the men around him followed suit.

Harry was soon smiling even wider with the thrill of the fight running through him as he raised his blade in a well planned dance, weaving around to block strikes from different men that came in from different angles. Too many focused on single combat for practice but Harry enjoyed sparring with multiple men at once, it might mean you got more than your share of bruises but damn he thought as well practised reflexes caused him to dodge an incoming attack it forced you to get better. He gave in to his instincts and enjoyed the thrill of the fight, his heart pumping in his chest and his thoughts muted as he let his training take over his movements, glad to finally have the chance to let loose after so long spent scrambling over rough terrain in darkness and with only Sirius for company. As much as he loved his godfather it could be a little too much after awhile.

He ducked and weaved around the training swords, while striking out himself where possible. He felt close calls but managed to keep out of their reach, a far cry he thought from when he had started and been too nervous to manage even one man.

"HARRY!" A small group of voices squealed and Harry rose his hand in surrender to stop the fight before turning in time to see his younger sisters and brother coming hurling towards him. He managed despite being winded from the fight to keep standing as they jumped on him and gave him the tightest hugs they could manage. He smiled and hugged them back and they all started talking at once.

"Was it scary in Valyria?"

"Did you see any dragons?"

"Did you bring us anything?"

And many other questions that it would have taken a great deal of effort to follow them all but he waited for them to run out of breath and told them instead.

"It was a bit scary in there, especially with all the traps and lava me and Uncle Sirius had to dodge." He said lying about the lava to mess with them but they all took it seriously and looked at him with awe but he then laughed and while a little annoyed he had been messing with them they soon started laughing too. He might have asked his phoenix friend Fawkes to cheer them with his music but his phoenix tended to wander and while he could call him any time he wished, Harry would only do so in a dire emergency.

Then his father started limping into the yard with a grin on his face.

"Come on all of you, breakfast is waiting and your uncle Sirius wants to show you his new sword." James told them, Sirius had picked the sword from the stash they had found and claimed it for himself. Melody, Serenity and Godric quickly dashed to the hall to see Sirius and his new sword while Harry and James just stared after them with a smile.

"Are you okay son?" James asked not having had the chance too the previous night. Harry gave him a weary smile.

"Yes, but I would rather not go on another trip for awhile. Are you and mum okay?" He asked knowing full well how much she worried. James nodded.

"She spent the entire time worried about you and I was fine." He said trying to reassure his son who smiled back, James wondered if Voldemort had never come to their house that night might he and Lily have the same children in the other world but put that aside for a moment, glad that for here and now they had a family and a good life. They could only hope their first son had that chance too.

So with Harry at his side, James made his way to the hall hoping that this trip to Kings Landing went better than his own trip to Sothoryos had. With that in mind he had something to give him, pulling Lady Forlorn from his waist and passing it to his shocked son.

"Its high time you had a proper sword of your own, especially now your going to see the King." James said brightly.

Harry meanwhile was in complete awe of the sword that his family had wielded for the better part of two hundred years. It felt very light in his hands and yet very heavy at the same time, he had dreamt of wielding this sword since he had first seen it and said to his father with pride.

"Thank you, I won't let you down."

Lys, a week later…

Harry was irritated at having to spend roughly a month making it back to Westeros just to convince people that they were travelling by normal means, most wouldn't care or even notice but he sighed, better safe than sorry. They had left nearly all the Valyrian salvage back at Godric's Hollow, bringing only a pair of chests full of gold, the Staff and Chain of the Praetor, three dragon eggs, a Valyrian steel sword, a chest of interesting books/scrolls and the pair of Valyrian sphinxes to give as gifts to House Targaryen once they reached Kings Landing.

However when they arrived at the docks they discovered a...slight problem.

To avoid explaining to people how they had managed to get two large, heavy dragonstone statues into the city on their own without being notice they had to transport them the normal way. They could use magic to reduce the weight for loading, the voyage and unloading while they were in their crates but not shrink the crates to make them easier to store. Most ships were too small to carry them safely, most captains not willing to chance it in case they became top heavy. So that meant Harry thought with a grimace they had to book passage on the biggest ship they could find and it was taking quite a while to find one large enough to accommodate the statues.

Finally though he thought with relief they had found a captain with a ship big enough to carry the statues and while they were being loaded by the crew he was wandering around the dock seeking something to distract himself before they sailed. Seeing a young woman about his age being chased by what looked like a pack of drunk sailors, he started following without a second thought seeing someone in trouble his immediate thought was to help.

Seeing the sailors had cornered the young woman Harry rushed over just in time to hear what they were saying.

"COME ON LOVELY! YOU OWE US FOR THAT MEAL…NOW PAY US WITH YOUR CUNT!" The lead sailor said with an obvious drunken slur to his voice. The rest of the sailors all jeered while the young girl who Harry now noticed had the look of Dorne, olive skin, black hair and dark hair looked at them terrified.

"I paid for that with silver, I owe you nothing." She shot back which given the situation was perhaps not the best thing to say but her eyes were wild with fear and Harry instantly grew angry with what they were doing.

"Well the price has gone up, now which one first?" The lead sailor jeered and his men all laughed which only scared the girl more. Then her eyes caught Harry's and the pleading look for help tugged on his heart strings and without a second thought he jumped in with both feet.

"Leave the lady alone." He said stepping closer, his voice cold and calm.

The sailors all turned to look at him and blinked for a moment in a rather stupid manner, then they started laughing again and drew a number of plain and rusty swords. The leader spoke through his rotting and yellow teeth.

"Stay out of it you little shit! If you know what's good for you." He sneered at Harry who glared at them as he drew Lady Forlorn for its sheath at his waist, now he was heir to the house he had been finally given the right to wield it and this was his first proper fight with it. The men just kept laughing and one of them threw a drunk swing at Harry who sidestepped and easily parried before stabbing the blade straight into his side, the man gasped in pain before Harry pulled it out roughly, sending blood spewing out onto the ground.

The man fell yelling in pain and while the drunken men looked at their buddy with dumbfounded looks, Harry did not waste time rushing forward and swinging his sword across the throat of one man before quickly blocking the clumsy strike from another and impaling him in the stomach before ripping it violently out and moving on to the next. Harry's own senses felt super-heightened while his thoughts were more focused, going through the motions that he had practised with Sirius and their soldiers for years.

The drunken sailors were no threat, the booze slowed them far too much to match him even if they had the skill. He easily evaded, parried or blocked their attacks but dispatched them without any guilt. These men were going to rape an innocence girl, chasing and trapping her like an animal and scaring her to death in the process, what consideration did they deserve?

Like his grandfather had said, the world is a grim place and violence is a constant wherever you went, do not hide from what might need to be done but do not forget that the occasional kindness can be of great benefit...he had taken Sirius in and now his family had an extremely loyal man at their side to help. He was his father's right and a good one too. Being kind to a boy that had nothing and raising him in their service had aided them all.

Harry honestly wasn't sure he agreed with that advice but he saw the wisdom in it.

Soon the thugs were gone and he stood surrounded by their bodies while the girl looked on with but awe and terror in her eyes except it was now directed exclusively at him. Harry wiped his sword clean with one of the sailor's shirts and returned it to its sheath before making a show of the fact he was no longer armed (not counting the wand in a special holster up his sleeve of course).

"Its alright, I'm not going to hurt you. I just thought you might need some help."

She looked uncertain about that and slid down the wall to sit on the floor, he slowly walked over to her making sure she could see and stop him at any time but she didn't and he sat down next to her, carefully putting a comforting arm around her and with that she came undone and started crying in his arms. He sat there as her emotions finally got the better and let her sob into his shoulder for a good while till she finally ran out of tears and said while sniffing.

"Thank you good ser, I hadn't expected the outside world to be so...different to home." She said with an unmistakable Dornish accent, looking afraid still like more would come, he tightened his hold on her and reassured her.

"We are quite safe here, I will protect you but I must ask what is a Dornish girl doing here? So far from home?" He asked kindly and she looked momentarily affronted by him calling her a girl and not a grown woman but seemed to remember he had saved her life and answered him without taking offence.

"I was arranged to marry by my father but...I wanted to explore to see the world not stay locked up in some castle." She said sadly but with an edge of excitement as the thought of travel filled her. "So I stowed away on a ship and came here...but I soon had almost used up all the gold I brought with me on buying a room at an inn and a meal and I miss home." She added her voice full of longing. "My father, my sisters and brother. My servants even my horse."

Harry nodded in understanding, he had felt the same when he first left home and knew the draw but also the downsides.

"Maybe you can talk to your family about this, whatever they might say they will be extremely worried about you I'm sure." He said trying to reassure her and the fact that she didn't even object seemed to reinforce how scared she must truly be. However there was a problem.

"I haven't the coin to get home now, I didn't think to bring more." She admitted and he sighed before remembering a slight detail from when they had booked passage. The ship was sailing to Kings Landing but would stop in Sunspear first to drop off then pick up cargo before heading on, it was already going to Dorne.

"What if I pay for passage for you to get to Sunspear?"

She looked at him with surprise and then joy at the thought of returning to her homeland but then suspicion appeared on her face and she started edging away from him which he allowed so she would feel more comfortable.

"What would you get in return?" She asked him with a slight glare. He smiled disarmingly and told her.

"I'm transporting some goods to Kings Landing and the ship is stopping in Sunspear anyway, it won't cost too much and it eases my conscience to see you safe." Harry said with a smile, he said passing her a few gold dragons. "Or if you want to make your own way to Dorne, here is enough to get you there."

She looked uncertainly at him and the gold coins he had handed her, given her previous experience it was understandable for her to be hesitant to trust him. Seeing she needed some reassurance he took a dagger from one of the dead sailor's and handed it to her, giving her something to defend herself with.

Slowly she nodded her head and he extended his hand as he got to his feet, helping her up and walking with her to the docks. On the way he finally got around to introducing himself.

"My name is Harry."

"Meria." She said and started smiling again.

-x-

Sirius when he saw them noticed some blood that had spilled on his tunic and looked at him alarmed before his eyes moved to the young woman next to him.

"It's not mine or hers." Harry said quickly seeing his concern and added. "Some sailors decided she was to 'entertain them', I sent them packing and promised to see her home to Sunspear."

Sirius looked at him exasperated as once again this Harry proved just like his counterpart, leaping into something without thinking first. He didn't doubt it was the 'noble' thing to do but the wise thing? Who knows he thought before they boarded the ship.

-x-

Three weeks later they reached Sunspear, the sight of the Dornish city and as the ship docked Harry kept a careful eye on Meria who had more than once caught the sailors' eyes only for them to retreat at his glare. He then walked her to the docks and smiled as he saw her face light up with joy at being back home again, but he had to ask her given her lack of forethought in her journey to Lys.

"Have you any thought in how you are going to return to your family?" He wanted to make sure she could get home safely and she smiled at him.

"I don't think its going to be that hard, watch." She said with a slight flirtatious smirk before going up to one of the guards, Harry was confused until she appeared before the guard and he started at the sight of her, then all the pieces fell into place.

"Princess?...Princess Meria, please forgive me you grace." He said dropping to his knee. "We have all been concerned since your disappearance, we have been ordered to take you to the Sandship at once."

"Very well, goodbye Harry." She said with a cheeky wave which Harry returned, a little irritated that she hadn't told him she was a Dornish princess but amused at the same time that she had gotten one over on him. He wished her the best and hoped she would be a little wiser for her experience but could have done without the slight whack Sirius gave him upside the head.

"One of these days that habit you Potters...I mean Peverells have of jumping in with both feet and not thinking is going to get you in a lot of trouble." Sirius said with a good natured laugh and Harry couldn't help but join in. However he did Harry realise have a point, where they were going next he was going to have to be far more careful.

Although Valyria had been more dangerous in a physical sense, Kings Landing had lethal hazards all of its own.

Kings Landing, two weeks later...

Early in the morning their ship finally made its way into the harbour of Kings Landing, the capital of the majority of Westeros. The light of the sun as it peaked over the horizon illuminated the city and its many buildings, especially the enormous Dragon Pit and Red Keep. The sight of the castle was impressive Harry thought, one of the largest in Westeros although the Palace of the Praetor in Valyria had been bigger. It had a gruesomeness about it though, Harry thought just looking at it made him uneasy although he could not really put his finger on why. Maybe it was the legacy of the king that had built it by large Maegor the Cruel or a sense of foreboding that came with knowing trouble was coming, he didn't know.

Either way there was no turning back now, not after paying a messenger to send word to the Royal Court that they had arrived with gifts for the king. Not much must have been going on at the moment because they received a response much faster than they had imagined, only hours later that they were 'requested' to appear before the king and the court that afternoon.

So they with help lowered the large crates containing the statues onto fairly wide wagons and once the weight reduction charms were cancelled had to get six horses each to pull them along, a third wagon carried the rest with Harry and Sirius driving it ahead of the statues. They got many looks as they passed, a lot of people wondering who they were and shrugging it off as none of their business before getting back to their own affairs. The long route they had to take through the city streets due to the width and size of the wagons and their contents did allow them a chance to see the city but the stench of all the people, waste and insufficient drainage made it almost intolerable had they not had the sense to apply bubblehead charms.

When they finally arrived at the Red Keep the cityguard also known as the Goldcloaks bid them entry but just as they rode over the bridge into the castle they realised something passing through the gate.

The statues weren't going to fit through the gates.

"Fuck." Harry and Sirius said as they realised they hadn't considered the sheer size of the statues and the height of the castle's gates. Being able to shrink them before had made them too complacent. They thought about taking them out of the crates but even that would still be too big to fit, and looking at the wooden drawbridge that they would have to cross Harry wondered if it would be able to take the weight of the heavy dragonstone statues let alone the wagon too even if they could get them through.

As they and the Goldcloaks scratched their heads trying to figure out how they were going to get them inside they didn't realise how long they were taking and that more and more of the castle's inhabitants were gathering to watch the spectacle...until a horn announced a very important arrival.

Sirius and Harry whipped around to see a man dressed in lilac coloured silk and velvet approach with a company of knights wearing white cloaks. He had shorter than normal silver hair and even a moustache which was unusual but key to his identity was the slim jewelled crown on his head. Both of them dropped to their knees immediately and inwardly started cursing, this was not how you made a good first impression they raged internally.

"Your grace." Harry said quickly knowing he had to be the one to speak as he was supposed to be presenting the gifts on behalf of his family. "I apologize profusely about this calamity, we had not considered that the crates would not fit through the gates."

Thankfully the king did not seem troubled or angered at all and in fact laughed loudly at the situation.

"Do not let it concern you young Peverell." Viserys said loudly and with a large smile that was friendly and warming. "It has made me laugh harder than I have in weeks, although I am interested in what could be so large that it needs six horses to pull each wagon?" He asked now looking at the crates through the gates with interest.

Harry turned to Sirius and nodded, quickly Sirius rushed over the bridge and opened both crates, allowing the boards to fall away and reveal the large dragonstone statues inside. The expression on Viserys' face when he saw them for the first time was complete shock and then awe.

He did not speak as he accompanied by the Kingsguard crossed the bridge with Harry to examine them more closely. He ran his hand along the cold stone surface and marvelled at the detailed and intricate craftsmanship.

"Incredible." He finally said with a childish look of glee. "I have seen statues like this on Dragonstone but they were made during the days of the Freehold, an art since lost. Where did you find such beautiful pieces?" He asked with great interest and Harry told him calmly.

"My family sent me around all the former lands of the Freehold to see if such things could be found and I was able to locate and obtain a few treasures which I have here to give as gifts to you and your family your grace." Giving him the cover story they had come up with so as to not reveal they had actually entered Valyria itself. After what had happened to Aerea Targaryen it was illegal for any ship that had been near there to dock in Westeros and they would be executed if anyone learnt the truth.

"Then you shall have the hospitality of my home while you are here." King Viserys said with glee, happy to receive something so unique for his castle. "These will be placed right here to guard the entrance."

Harry breathed a quiet sigh of relief that the statues had impressed the king enough that he would forgive the spectacle they had caused, he then as they made their way accompanied by Sirius and the Kingsguard back over the bridge spoke.

"Your grace, the statues were not the only gifts we have for you and your house. The other wagon contains them."

"More?" Viserys said in surprise, he had been quite happy with the statues but allowed them to lead him and his Kingsguard to the other wagon where Harry Peverell and his man pulled off a blanket revealing five large chests. He watched as they unloaded them from the wagon and opened the first two, revealing a good sized pile of gold inside each which was a little disappointing for him as after the statues he had been hoping for something a little more...interesting. However when they opened the third chest his attention was caught.

Inside where a collection of old books and scrolls which he could tell where written in Old Valyrian, books like that were incredibly rare and who knows what they might contain. He would enjoy looking through them later. Then they opened the fourth chest and on a cushion lay three dragon eggs.

"I shall have to give these to my youngest grandchildren, they will I'm sure be excited to receive eggs of their own." Viserys said, glad that these dragons when hatched could be bred with his family's to inject a little fresh blood. Harry and Sirius now feeling far more confident opened the last chest. Harry carefully removed a bundle from inside it and presented it to Viserys.

Viserys carefully unwrapped it, guessing it was a sword from the size and shape and was confirmed as right when he peeled back the cloth and saw a magnificent longsword made of Valyrian steel with a dazzling blue diamond in the hilt but also he noticed it was coloured gold rather than the darker grey which was the usual for Valyrian steel.

"Does it have a name?" Viserys asked as he examined it and Harry could only try not to shrug as he answered and instead said.

"If it did then the name has been lost your grace."

Viserys thought for a moment, knowing he was no warrior and hated fighting...such a blade should go to someone that would appreciate it and a young man that he could be proud of. He smiled as he came to his decision and called out.

"Jacaerys."

A young man with brown hair and a pug nose came rushing forward at his king's command, he was Harry noticed a reasonably fit young lad and when more fully grown have maidens flocking to him. Then he realised this must be Prince Jacaerys Velaryon, the eldest son of Princess Rhaenyra, who was the current heir to the Iron Throne. The young man looked from his grandfather to the sword and a hopeful look came into his eye which only grew brighter as Viserys handed the sword to him.

"Since Aegon has Blackfyre and Daemon has Dark Sister it is only fitting that my daughter's own heir have a special sword too. What will you name it my grandson?" Viserys asked with a wide smile, enjoying the thrill on his young grandson's face. Jacaerys thought long and hard for a moment before a smile appeared on his face.

"Darkfyre." Jacaerys said and Viserys's smile grew wider while he put a hand on his grandson's shoulder.

"Good choice." He said proudly. "May it serve you well."

Harry smiled to secretly at the scene, the bond between Viserys and his grandson was clear to see and it did brighten the scene. Harry took the opportunity to take a look around the courtyard while they were talking he observed something that made him frown slightly.

It seemed that around half the people watching seemed outraged that Jacaerys had been given the sword, at the centre of the disapproval being a woman who with dark hair and a pinched expression and also wearing a crown, marking her as Queen Alicent Hightower. At her side was someone else also looking ready to murder, he looked a lot like the king but with a very sullen expression on his face, a wispy moustache and even more overweight than the king himself.

He, Harry realised must be Prince Aegon Targaryen, Alicent's eldest son by Viserys.

The other half of the audience he thought, moving on to them looked delighted at the scene between Viserys and Jacaerys. One in particular was a woman that was stout and overweight but still had signs of the great beauty she must have been in her youth. She did have the same silver hair as Viserys and a tear ran down her face as she smiled widely, surrounded by two other boys with the same brown hair and pug nose as Jacaerys. This must be the young prince's mother Harry realised, Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen.

Seeing the divide made Harry feel uneasy, the tension was plain for even a newcomer like him to see and he honestly wondered just what the hell was going on here at court before quickly getting back to presenting the last two gifts.

"Your grace." Harry said careful to not interrupt Viserys as he talked to Jacaerys less he irritate them. "There are two last gifts, recovered from a shipwreck just outside the Smoking Sea." He added before he and Sirius reached down into the chest and pulled out the Staff and Chain of the Praetor and held them forward for all to see.

There was a gasp in the courtyard as everyone strained to catch a glimpse, the large and imposing staff with the beautiful chain. Harry knelt alongside Sirius as they held them up for Viserys to take, the king meanwhile like his grandson and Kingsguard were amazed at the sight. Harry took the opportunity to explain more fully what they were.

"The Staff and Chain of the Praetor, elected leader of the Valyrian Freehold. Signs of Office for the most powerful man in the greatest empire this world has ever known, as the last of the Valyrian dragonriders it is only right that these be given to the king." Harry told them proudly and Viserys took the staff and examined it with great interest before holding it aloft proudly before Jacaerys helped him put the chain on.

He did look splendid Harry thought and added the last few details.

"The chain has a link for each of the conquests of the Freehold, my family has added a new link for each of the eight kingdoms your grace rules." They had indeed spent all night creating with magic new links as an extra touch and judging by the excited and proud expression on Viserys' face, it had been well worth it.

"EXCELLENT!" Viserys shouted as he proudly held the staff that he was sure would become the new symbol for the ruler of Westeros before turning to Harry. "We shall have a feast tonight and you shall be guest of honour."

"Thank you your grace, you are too kind." Harry said politely while glad he had gotten their foot in the door with the king, at the back of his mind he could not help but think of the division he had seen in the courtiers and wonder what kind of situation he was walking into.

-x-

Amongst the gathered courtiers who had watched the surprising gifts being presented to King Viserys by House Peverell was a young woman with a wave of silver hair that fell down to her waist in gentle waves, wearing a gown of soft blue coloured Myrish lace. Her lilac eyes watched the display and smiled as she saw the king's joy at the staff, chain and dragon eggs, growing wider as she saw Jacaerys being given the sword.

"Visenya!" King Viserys called out when he noticed her in the crowd and she nearly frowned, having hoped to blend unnoticed with the mass of people but instead plastered a smile to her face and walked slowly forward, uncomfortable as people saw her.

"Grandfather." She said pleasantly, she loved him dearly and knew he would not appreciate her calling him a formal title. He always treated her nicely and would stand for no insult being sent her way or towards her younger brothers, speaking of which Jacaerys beamed at her and held his new sword for her to see. She gave him a bright smile, glad he had gotten something that he had wanted since the moment Uncle Daemon had shown them all Dark Sister. Viserys meanwhile just smiled at her and said.

"Please my dear if you could show our young guest around? I would do it myself but there is a Small Council meeting I must attend. I am sure Ser Steffon Darklyn will be able to accompany you." Viserys said, genuinely asking her rather than telling her and making sure she had a Kingsguard knight with her to make sure she was protected and no untoward rumours could start.

"Of course grandfather." She said and turned to the young Peverell heir who had caused so much upset in the day. He was attractive she thought absently with thick black hair and sparkling green eyes that would put a Lannister to shame, she was sure many women at court would be interested in him. He was a couple of short years older than her and looked so confused and out of place though that she actually felt sorry for him, this place was nowhere anyone with any decency would want to be she thought darkly.

She caught the looks from her uncle Aegon and his siblings along with the rest of the 'Greens', sneering at her with incredible distaste and she honestly wished they would just leave her in peace. That was not to say the 'Blacks' her own family did not give her looks either, her mother and Daemon Targaryen both gave her a stern look that told her they wanted her to get the Peverells on their side as fast as possible.

She sighed, not for the first time wishing she could have just gone out flying on her dragon Rani with Baela and Rhaena today but put her best smile on and walked forward and waited for him to bow which he did before offering her his arm which she took and she felt the muscles of his arms. Not a normal soft noble she thought with slight surprise now a little intrigued by him.

"Your grace, thank you for your time." He said politely as they walked into the keep, leaving his man and the castle servants to take the rest of the gifts wherever they were supposed to go. She showed him the throne room and the rest of the 'sights' as it were in relative peace with the quiet Ser Darklyn a step or two behind them, she felt his gaze slip to her more than once but not in a lustful way as many did. Instead he seemed more curious and as they took a stroll around the gardens she decided to ask.

"What is on your mind?"

He seemed unsettled by her question, uncomfortable at being caught and but he did answer her.

"I was trying to make sense of the situation here at court your grace, I...saw that there seems to be a divide in the courtiers and I am hoping to avoid trouble while I am here." He admitted and she smiled, silently wishing him the best of luck before explaining just what was happening.

"You are quite correct at there being a divide here, it traces right back to House Targaryen." She told him with a mocking cynicism that made her sound older than her years and rather bitter. "Since my mother was named heir to the throne and Alicent Hightower had sons of her own it has been that way. Two factions, one that follows my mother and Great Uncle Daemon called the Blacks who support her in the pursuit of the Iron Throne. One called the Greens that wants Aegon as king. I am supposed to bring you and your family to the Blacks but if I were you I would stay neutral in this as both sides can be rather spiteful." She said wishing dearly she could just leave the toxic environment of court. Her dreams of freedom however were interrupted by Harry Peverell asking.

"If it as you describe and I assume no chance of reconciliation? Why are you not married if you don't mind me asking? Your faction wanting alliances and all that." He asked and the boldness of the question did put her back a step so to speak, blinking in surprise at his forwardness with such a question before she decided she might as well tell him, he'd hear it later from the Greens anyway.

"I look very different to my younger brothers as you might have noticed, the Greens have often said they are bastards born from my mother's apparent affair with her former Sworn Shield Harwin Strong, your uncle I believe." She said with a slight anger coming on her face towards the Greens for calling her darling little brothers bastards. "The Greens have said I resemble my Uncle Daemon's two girls Baela and Rhaena, saying I am a bastard too. My mother and Grandfather have always denied it but the Greens have managed to put many suitors off with that talk, most lords won't consider marrying me into their families because they believe it or don't want to take the risk of it being right."

She didn't mention that she in fact half believed it herself, her 'father' had never even once kissed her mother around her and in fact had spent more time with his squire, Baela and Rhaena did look a lot like her so she was at least partly convinced they were her half sisters.

"Then those men must be blind to miss such a beautiful woman marrying into their families." Harry then with confidence, making her smile when he suddenly realised the way it might be taken and was about to backtrack when she put her finger to his lips and said softly.

"I understand, thank you." Trying to put him at ease.

-x-

However a sudden voice instantly changed the atmosphere from fairly relaxed to very tense.

"How is the bastard today? Sucking off another man to get her mother some favour?" The man said with a mocking scorn and then a vicious laugh which instantly made Harry angry as well as Ser Darklyn behind them. Visenya weathered the insult with surprising grace which made Harry realise that this must be a regular occurrence. That only made it worse in his mind and him angrier given how pleasant and gracious a young woman she seemed to be. That was when he said something rather stupid.

"In my experience there are two kinds of bastard Prince Aemond." Harry said knowing it was him from the sapphire eye he had, a memento of another time he had opened his mouth without thinking of the consequences Harry thought with surprising glee. "Bastards by birth and Bastards by nature. Bastards by birth cannot help what they are and have an underserved bad reputation, many are in fact good and hard working people over all as they have to work twice as hard to get half the credit. You I think fit into the second category, people who are foul mouthed, loud, annoying and disgusting. Now if you don't mind I think the Princess and I are due to see the castle's godwood." Harry said and started walking off with the astonished Princess in tow and Ser Darklyn following who was struggling to get a bemused smile off his face. Aemond meanwhile was so shocked at being insulted that he didn't react till they were gone and then he growled with anger, stomping off to find his mother and brother.

"Unacceptable!" Aegon said with anger after Aemond told him and the rest of Greens what had happened in the gardens. His mother at his side nearly shook with rage at the way some nobody had insulted her son, wanting his head.

"But if we bring this to the King he will also hear of you calling her a bastard, then we will the be the ones punished." The meek voice of his sister and wife Helaena said to the side of him only to cower slightly at the look of disgust he gave her, which only made him hate her more and more determined to visit the Street of Silks tonight.

But he and the rest of his family could not simply dismiss those words, even though she was a bastard the king would never hear of it and likely punish Aemond for saying it. After all he had given one of their hated sister's bastard sons the new sword over them so it was a clear indication as to which side of the family he favoured.

"Your graces, there might be a way to get justice for the insults and weaken the Blacks at the same time." Lord Jasper Wylde said with a thoughtful look on his face, as they all turned expectantly towards him, he elaborated. "His grace is currently very happy with the Peverells but despite the gifts they have brought him they are a rather poor family from the Riverlands who are just trying to climb out of the dirt. Why not suggest to his grace that Princess Visenya and Harry Peverell wed?"

That did come a little out of the blue and none of the 'Green' Targaryens all looked surprised at the suggestion but Grandmaester Orwyle agreed with his colleague on the Small Council.

"Oh absolutely your graces, the Peverells have little coin to speak of and a very poor army. They haven't even any knights in their service, what else could you expect from a family of tree worshippers?" Orwyle said with derision, reminding them all of the fact that the Peverells worshipped the Old Gods like the Lords in the North did who were just as worthless in his opinion.

Unfortunately for the Grandmaester there had never even been a maester working for House Peverell and the last member of his order who had been in Harrenhal had been killed as a traitor to House Strong, his own prejudice choosing his words rather than useful experience.

"It would stop Rhaenyra from using her daughter to get a more powerful ally, I have heard she has been reaching out to the First Sealord in Braavos." Alicent said thoughtfully, mindful of the danger that an alliance in that city could bring to her son who she was determined to see sit on the Iron Throne. So she made her decision there and then.

"I will speak to Viserys and see it done, that should put the upstart and her bastards in their place." She said with venom and a cruel smirk which was echoed by her eldest sons.

Later that evening, the Great Hall…

Harry and Visenya were sat together at the main table at the feast that night, something that had not gone unnoticed as people wondered what was going on.

Harry meanwhile was overwhelmed at the opulence of it all, he had never been to a feast before let alone a royal one. Long tables with hundreds of people in the hall both guests and serving staff milling around, piles and piles of food in amounts that seemed incredibly wasteful, The noise of chatter was echoing all around the place and as he looked around the room Visenya smiled in sympathy.

"Its a bit much, we don't throw these kinds of banquets often. Only when my grandfather has something important to say or to celebrate." She told him, that made Harry frown.

"What is it he's celebrating then? The Statues or the other gifts?" He asked, maybe he just wanted to show off and he was Harry noticed wearing the chain but it did seem a bit much for that. Visenya just gracefully shrugged and picked carefully at her food till the main steward called out the king wanted to speak. Everyone turned to face him as he stood and with a large smile on his face he gave the reason he had called this feast.

"To all my family and friends, I have much to celebrate as not only have I acquired new treasured relics but my daughter Rhaenyra has just discovered she is once again pregnant." Viserys said with a beaming smile, the woman in question just smiling gently from the sections of the hall claimed by the Blacks while a proud looking Daemon sat at her side. Visenya herself smiled hoping for a sister given she already had five brothers and wondered why she wasn't sitting with them, her grandfather had wanted her sat at the table on his left with Harry Peverell next to her while Alicent Hightower and the Lord Hand Otto Hightower sat at his right. Clearly his important news had something to do with her but what she asked herself?

She was not kept in suspense for long as Viserys made his big announcement.

"Another reason I have to celebrate is the betrothal of my eldest granddaughter Visenya." He said and everyone started whispering quietly, this was big news...the marriage of Visenya Targaryen who many said was now as beautiful as her mother had been but was tainted by rumours of being a bastard. Many lords had sought her hand only to withdraw due to the rumours, just who was Viserys about to wed her off too? Rhaenyra and Daemon looked suddenly concerned as they had not heard about any of this and her brothers looked worried as they didn't want to lose their dear sister. No one noticed the smug look that briefly crossed Alicent and Aegon's faces.

Viserys thankfully did not make them wait for answers.

"From today my granddaughter will be betrothed to Harry of House Peverell, may their union be a blessing to both families and bring great happiness and joy to them for the rest of their lives."

There was a momentary silence as the information was absorbed by those in the room, no one could quite believe what they had heard and polite applause started in the room. Rhaenyra and Daemon meanwhile scowled as they realised what the Greens had done while the younger boys all wondered whether this meant their sister was going away to live somewhere else.

At the head table meanwhile Harry and Visenya sat in total shock at the announcement, neither able to believe it and as they turned to each other and stared into each other's eyes they realised just how their lives had been chained together and now they were very much joined at the hip.

-x-

"UNACCEPTABLE!" Rhaenyra screamed as she stormed into the room where Harry, Visenya, Daemon and several of the 'Inner Circle' of the Blacks had gathered. Daemon fumed in the corner in anger at their latest gambit for gaining an alliance having been ruined, Harry and Visenya meanwhile who had not even had a chance to talk to each other about this between themselves yet and awkwardly sat next to each other, not knowing what to say.

"Viserys refuses to rescind the betrothal! Says it is the best we can hope for with so many having already turned us down before." Rhaenyra said seething with rage as she was dealt yet another insult by Alicent and her brood. Damn the Hightowers and all their blood to the Seven Hells she raged and slammed the door shut.

"So instead of a wealthy merchant prince in Braavos, we have a nobody whelp from a minor house in the Riverlands." Daemon said angrily but this actually infuriated Harry who very much was wishing he had just given the King his gifts and left earlier but he thought with anger, no one insults my family. So he stood up and stared Daemon in the eye.

"This whelp has a name and a voice, mind what you say of my family." Harry said both of their eyes narrowing as he spoke. "And my house is far...far nothing I assure you."

Silence followed for a moment as the two men stared each other down, Daemon with his quick temper almost ready to explode and Harry with the daring and lack of fear that came from youth and inexperience, combined with a refusal to back down to anyone.

Visenya looked between them and worried for a moment that a fight was going to erupt, she honestly didn't know what to make of the situation. She had known all of her life that she was expected to marry for the sake of her family but it had never really occurred to her that it might actually happen after all the rumours about her parentage. She knew next to nothing about Harry or his family but he seemed nice she consoled herself and comely enough, perhaps she dared to hoped this could at last be an escape from the toxic environment of court.

Away from the constant fighting and sniping at each other going one between her family and the greens. If he and Daemon didn't kill each other first she thought with worry.

A quiet cough in the corner mercifully broke the tension and they all turned to look at the sole member of the Small Council that had sided with the Blacks, the Master of Coin Lord Lyman Beesbury, he looked somewhat hesitant to speak but did so.

"Your graces if I may, while it may not be as powerful a match as you had hoped for the Princess it is far from the worst. House Peverell is far from weak." The old man that had served for most of the current king's reign and longer. Rhaenyra's eyes narrowed slightly but asked politely given his loyalty.

"How so Lord Beesbury?"

"Their trading has been growing very quickly in the last ten years, they are the sole producer of silk and glass in Westeros with many fruits, dyes and wines being sold across the country amongst other things. Your own gown is made from the silks they created and Lord Daemon has a stallion bred by them." He said indicating the gown Rhaenyra was wearing and both she and Daemon were both surprised having been given those things as gifts and not knowing where they had come from.

Harry was surprised that he seemed to know about their trading but as Master of Coin it did fall within his purview. He then added something that he might not know.

"We also have the largest, most well equipped and best trained army in the Riverlands Seven thousand five hundred men." Harry added knowing he had to make these people realise that House Peverell was far from weak, he was not blind to the fact they might kill him to free Visenya to marry someone else more to their liking.

The number of men made both Rhaenyra and Daemon blink and frown as they thought on the situation, a wealthy and powerful family like that could be a real boon to them and in a perfect position to force the submission of families in that region that might support their enemies if the need came. It was a resource they could not afford to waste they both realised, and something to discuss with Lord and Lady Peverell when they arrived. Ravens had already been sent to summon them to court for the wedding.

Harry meanwhile decided it was high time he and his future wife had some time to talk, so he looked her in the eye and she nodded, wanting to speak to him too. They both got up and without anyone's leave walked out of the room leaving the shocked blacks behind them. They found an empty room and closed the door, Harry quickly while Visenya's back was turned cast a privacy and locking charms on the door to make sure they would remain undisturbed.

With that done and his wand quickly slipped back into his holster he turned to Visenya who stood there with her arms crossed, looking annoyed.

"You do realise this is all your fault right?" She asked him which irritated him.

"Me? What did I do?" He asked quickly and she just raised an elegant eyebrow.

"You are the one that decided to insult Aemond! You called him a bastard and this is their attempt to humiliate both you and me." Visenya said with exasperation and sat in an available chair sighing.

Seeing her point Harry sighed too and rubbed his temples as he leaned back against the wall, way to go Harry he thought to himself with derision. Great first steps into representing your house, insult one faction of House Targaryen only to become entangled with another.

Real professional, he thought with disdain aimed solely at himself. His only defence being that at the time, it had seemed like the right thing to do.

"So what do we do now?" He asked, not sure what do in this situation and she just told him.

"The King wants us married, so we marry. I suppose we should get to know each other, now we are expected to spend our lives together." Visenya said resigned to her fate and decided to ask him.

"What's Godric Hollow like?" If she was going to spend her life there then she should know more about it. At the mention of his home Harry smiled slightly and told her.

"Nothing like Kings Landing, we have a modest keep with the town surrounding it enclosed by high casement walls. There are trees and a park in the centre for people to enjoy and many glasshouses where we grow all kinds of fruits and plants. We have the weavers and craftsmen that work to create goods to trade." He said and Visenya smiled at the dreamy way he used to describe it, clearly seeing he loved his home very much. He seemed to realise he was going on and smiled embarrassed. "I think we need to get to know each other, so can we start again?" He asked now starting to feel really bad for getting her into this situation. He was glad when she smiled and extended her hand.

"Visenya." She said and he took her hand.

"Harry." He replied.

They spent the rest of the night just talking, hoping to find middle ground to start building their relationship. They spoke of their lives so far, their hopes and dreams and their fears too, well into the night.

-x-

Sirius meanwhile had secretly returned to Godric's Hollow and informed James and Lily as to what had happened. They and Amelia just stared at him blankly for a moment as they took in what had happened and he just stood there not sure what to say next, until Lily hit him in the back of the head.

"You two were supposed to curry favour with the king! Not drag us into some family feud by getting a princess for a bride!" She snapped in anger and rubbed her temples with anxiety as she confronted the situation they had left them in, Amelia likewise glared at her husband and hoped as she stroked her stomach that their children didn't inherit his tendency to get into trouble. James meanwhile tried to calm his wife.

"At least this way we get the aid with our trading further afield that we wanted and the princess has a dragon! Our grandchildren might be able to ride dragons too." He said trying to find a bright side to being drawn into such a struggle, she glared at him then relented slightly as she did see some positives from all this. But she knew she was going to have to have serious words with her son about tact and diplomacy when they reached the capital.

-x-

The following morning when he rose Harry found himself being taken to the training yard by Daemon Targaryen without much of an explanation as too why. There many men could be seen training but he was led over to a private area were he saw three young boys, it took a few moments but he soon remembered them. It was Rhaenyra Targaryen's three eldest sons Jacaerys, Lucerys and Joffrey all standing around to admire Jacaerys' new sword. Briefly Harry wondered where their younger brothers where but remembered Aegon and Viserys were only seven and five respectively too young really to start yet although Aegon would start his training as a knight soon. The three boys all looked up to them at their approach and stood with glares targeting him.

"You'd better not hurt our sister."

Harry was taken aback for a moment until he started feeling amused, it was really cute he thought and in a way touching. He would do the same thing if someone stated courting his sisters and smiled disarmingly at the princes before saying.

"Your graces I think if anyone tried to hurt your sister she would deal with them herself, after all she is the one with the dragon." He said. The three princes seemed a little surprised at his answer but soon started smiling until Daemon interrupted.

"Right enough of that, we are here to train not gossip." He said sharply and drew Dark Sister, pointing it threateningly at Harry. "Show me what you can do."

This made Harry frown as he wondered why if they were simply sparring did he want to use real steel, briefly thinking Daemon wanted to kill him and claim it an accident but Harry thought as he drew Lady Forlorn he was going to be sorely disappointed. The three princes looked on as Daemon and Harry squared off with their swords.

"STOP IT!" A female voice rang out across the yard and they both turned to see Princess Rhaenys Targaryen standing there in her steel and copper armour which glinted in the sun. Surprisingly for a Targaryen she had black hair (inherited from her Baratheon mother) that had started to turn grey with age. At fifty three she was a striking woman and her glare and voice stopped both of men in their tracks. She stormed over and shouted in both their faces. "This is not a pissing contest."

Harry instantly respected her strength and decisiveness and sheathed his sword although Daemon did not and walked away, clearly not liking someone interfering in his affairs. They all watched him go and Harry turned to see behind Rhaenys was Visenya and two other girls with silver hair. They both were clearly twins and could only really be told apart from their manner of dress, one wore breeches and riding clothes like a man while the other wore a more typical dress. They looked a little younger than Visenya and stared after Daemon with disappointment. Visenya took the opportunity to make introductions.

"Harry these are my cousins and best friends Baela and Rhaena." She told him proudly looking between them, both girls looked at him with suspicion but then acceptance as he did not back down from their gaze.

"Are you sure he'll do Visenya?" Baela asked with a smirk that made many of the men in the yard swoon.

"We could always have Rani, Moondancer and Starchaser eat him." Rhaena suggested with a similar smirk to her sister. Secretly she knew her dragon hated human meat, she was lucky to have one at all given what had happened to her first attempt and thanked the gods her cousin had helped her get a new egg and hatch it properly. The three of them had been inseparable until now and had trained their dragons together and kept them from getting locked up in the Dragon Pit at Visenya's insistance.

Harry however was not put off and actually smirked back and said challengingly.

"You'd have to catch me first, your graces."

They all laughed, Harry started to get more comfortable with the rest of his future family while Rhaenys looked on assessing him. Not sure if she liked him or not yet but he seemed solid enough, better than most at any rate.

A Week Later…

After a week of travel, the Peverells accompanied by some of their men reached Kings Landing and were instantly greeted but not at the gates, instead outside them.

They heard roars echoing across the sky and saw three large dragons soaring above them before plummeting to the ground, men yelled and scattered a short way while James and Lily out of instinct dove from their horses to the ground only for the dragons to suddenly pull up and one of them land with annoying ease a short distance away while the other two flew off. Lily and James glared at the spot and their eyes narrowed further when they noticed that it was their son that had been riding the dragon along with a young woman that had silver hair and lilac eyes. The men instantly eyed the dragon wearily and came closer, ready to protect their lord and lady at a moment's notice.

"Mother! Father!" Harry said with a big smile and his already messy hair more ruffled than normal. The young woman at his side was smiling just as widely as him but had more decorum.

"Lord and Lady Peverell, welcome to Kings Landing." Visenya said to her future in laws. James was taken aback for a moment by the sheer beauty of Visenya and while he would never in a million years betray Lily considered his son a very lucky man. Lily pretended not to notice this and came over to Visenya before giving a slight curtsey, looking her straight in the eye. Visenya would never realise that what Lily was actually doing, reading her mind with magic, trying to find her motivations and what specifically she wanted with their son.

Lily withdrew slowly from her mind and seemed satisfied, the Princess actually was glad to leave Kings Landing and be free of the harsh environment there although there were clear signs of approaching Civil War. She was instantly worried about her family and how they would be inevitably drawn into this struggle, the last war she had been involved in had literally gotten her and her husband killed and so her first instinct had been to avoid the whole situation but now the royal family wanted to marry into hers.

She sighed, knowing they were going to get involved whether they liked it or not.

That was when they looked at the dragon which was just watching them with curiosity, she Lily thought recognising the creature was female was strangely beautiful. A large beast easily able to carry two people and with rather attractive silver scales, having grandchildren that could control dragons would be amazing she thought to herself remembering the dragons back in her world and wishing someone could have controlled them so easily.

The dragon that was apparently called Rani flew off to follow the other two dragons while they rode to the Red Keep on more conventional horses, seeing Harry and Visenya sharing a horse was certainly a sight that got many of the commonfolk talking as they rode through the city. Reaching the Red Keep where already the statues marked the entrance they saw the King wheezing and short of breath while walking to meet them, they saw him wince as he moved probably with gout and joint pain.

"Lord and Lady Peverell." He said jovially despite his discomfort and both James and Lily bowed as did the men that had accompanied them.

"Your grace, you have our sincerest gratitude for this honour. We are delighted to have our son marrying your granddaughter." Lily said with a smile on her face which was so convincing that not even her family could tell if it was real or fake. Viserys took it as genuine and took her hand to put a kiss on it before shaking James'.

"Think nothing of it, your son has been most gracious and well mannered since he arrived here. I can think of no other man around Westeros that I would wed my favourite granddaughter too." Viserys said causing Harry to look away with embarrassment while Visenya smirked, both of them knowing full well how they had gotten into this situation due to his big mouth. James and Lily both nearly scoffed at that but minded their manners in front of the king. James then decided to make an offer.

"Your grace, I noticed you seemed to be in a bit of discomfort." James said and Lily looked worried as he asked but Viserys just waved it off.

"A case of gout, pain in the joints and out of breath. Signs of getting old." He said not really thinking much of it, it was hardly a secret after all. James seized the opportunity and made an offer.

"Your grace we have potions and salves that help with such things, I use them for my leg when it hurts." James said, dismounting with some awkwardness from his horse and standing with the aid of his walking stick. Viserys looked surprised at this and a little disbelieving at first but decided to leave it till later and walked with them into the Red Keep followed by the Kingsguard and the Peverell soldiers who eyed each other suspiciously.

Harry and Visenya followed, now forgotten by their heads of house. Visenya looked at the Peverell soldiers with surprise and commented quietly to him privately.

"Your guards are...well equipped." She commented with slight amusement and surprise. Harry smiled, one of the things his family was most proud of was their army.

"The best in the Riverlands." He said with a smile quietly in her ear. "These are our light infantry; equipped with a gladius sword at the waist, a throwing javelin and a small rounded shield which they carry on their backs. My family thought they would be less threatening." He said which caused her to look at him to see if he was being serious or joking and he only nodded to let her know he was being serious.

All their soldiers had been given the same armour, based on the Lost Legion's previous design only it had a steel breastplate, greaves and vambraces instead of leather for better protection. However each different type of soldier had different set of weapons, the light infantry was as mentioned before. The Heavy Infantry had two slightly shorter than normal long-swords which they carried in sheaths attached to their backs, two daggers worn at the waist, a shield and a javelin called the pilum. The heavy infantry was also their elite warriors that had a far more intensive training regime and was usually appointed to defending the towns alongside the light infantry, supplemented by archer/crossbowmen units which had dragonbone or weirwood bows or a light crossbow along with a gladius and pilum.

The lack of mounted knights meant they had trained a specialised cavalry force of their own which often patrolled their considerable lands, they wielded a gladius, a dagger, a rounded shield and a 6ft long ashwood spear called the Doru tipped with steel although some carried bows and crossbows to act as mounted archers who practised hard everyday to become expert shots.

The pilum was something they were particularly proud of, made of softer metal with a wooden handle it was lighter than normal and easily thrown but sharp enough to pierce a shield. However once it did the weight of the handle would bend it and it became near impossible to remove, the spear made using a shield difficult so that meant soldiers had to either struggle on with it or throw the shield aside which left them vulnerable. His mother Lily had come up with it from somewhere and it made Harry smile thinking what a bright woman his mother was.

"I am so angry with you right now that I could strangle you." Lily said sharply the moment she got her son alone. Harry instantly took a step back and tried to explain.

"I didn't court her mother, it was a Green attempt to humiliate her and us but more specifically her mother Princess Rhaenyra." Harry protested, knowing he had his own faults in this but the dynastic struggles in the capital was the real reason for the betrothal. His mother gave him a hard look and said in a quiet and deceptively calm tone.

"Explain."

So he did, told her everything that had happened and what he had learnt of the situation. Sirius had given them some of the details already but not all of them, she honestly hated this situation but could take some comfort that her future daughter in law seemed to be a good young woman with a sensible head on her shoulders. Always look for the silver lining as her father said.

Well that and the fact Viserys had given them the endorsement they needed to expand their trading to foreign ports and elsewhere in Westeros, this would really add to their wealth and influence. The king had tried some of the salves used to treat gout and joint pain they had brought with them in case James needed them and instantly ordered more for the relief they brought him and asked if there was anything they could give his daughter Rhaenyra as she had been experiencing difficulties in her latest pregnancy. She had said she'd look into it and there were several potions that would ease her symptoms and support the health of the child, not to mention there were a few that could help her lose the weight she had gained in pregnancy and she would offer them when she finally got the chance to meet the Princess.

"At least you and your new wife will be getting married in a Godswood." Lily said not wanting the problems of their own people being disgruntled that their future lord and lady had not married under the Old Gods. She personally couldn't care less but it was something they had to consider, the other lords would be a little miffed at the wedding but it was the king's own decision and his word was law she thought with exasperation.

Visenya chose this moment to enter the room and smiled.

"I just came Lady Peverell to tell you that my grandfather will be escorting me to the Weirwood with my father dead. Lord Cregan Stark will officiate as the Lord of the North and man of the Old Gods as soon as he arrives." Visenya told her with a somewhat nervous look. "I look forward to seeing Godric's Hollow, your son has described it vividly."

"Has he?" Lily said with a glare directed at her son, before turning to her. Visenya was used to far more difficult personalities than Lily so she merely smiled and told her.

"Yes, it sounds like a nice place to live and raise a family. He only got dragged into my family's troubles by defending me." She said sadly but Harry smiled now at her to reassure he didn't hold any malice towards her.

Lily meanwhile started to relax, she had been worried Visenya was only using her son or some kind of manipulator but reading her thoughts had allowed Lily to see that apart from missing her siblings she dearly just wanted to get away from the tense atmosphere of court. She had some affection for Harry and seemed to sincerely want to try to build some kind of relationship. Love...perhaps not and that did grate on her but it she sighed it was the best they could hope for.

She just hoped that nothing else happened while they were here.

Meanwhile in Sunspear, Dorne…

Meria nervously pulled at her silk dress, not sure she was comfortable in it but more so because she was about to meet her future husband.

"Stop fidgeting." Her father said sternly, he had been relieved to see her safe after her 'adventure' in Lys but furious too for running off and scaring them all to death. "He is almost here."

"I'm sure." She said sullenly under her breath which got her a glare but she ignored it as the door suddenly opened and two figures walked in. The steward called out.

"Announcing Ser Cedric Dayne and his squire Colin."

Two young men entered the room, one older than the other. The older one was handsome she noticed with a slight blush, he was tall and well-built which was the norm for Daynes with chiselled features, grey eyes and dark hair.

Her attention was so focused on him that the younger one completely passed her by, he was shorter and had mousy hair with rather dull brown eyes.

However as he and Ser Cedric walked in, no one noticed them quietly whispering to each other.

"What do we do now Cedric?" Colin asked nervously wishing momentarily that he had his camera given how amazing the room was. Cedric just gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

"Keep going, see if we can find anyone else from our world here." Cedric told him trying to be encouraging while he personally felt more nervous than he had before his first Quidditch game or entering the first task of the Triwizard tournament.

Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, please review and let me know what you thought.

Visenya Targaryen Inspiration = Jodie Comer, having recently seen her in The White Princess I can really imagine her playing a Targaryen.

The armour for the soldiers of House Peverell was based on the Lost Legion from the game, the gladius is the sword wielded by Roman soldiers and the Doru is the spear wielded by Greek Hoplites. The Pilum is the spear wielded by Roman soldiers. Just google if you want more information or pictures.

I know Darkfyre has been used by another author in another story but I can't remember which. I also know that there is some debate whether Rhaenys Targaryen had black or silver hair but I've gone with Fire and Blood (book) on this.

Harry was born in 111 AC so he is now sixteen soon to be seventeen, Visenya was born in 113 AC so she is just turning fifteen. Baela and Rhaena are around the same age now that I have changed their date of birth. Before anyone says Visenya is too young to marry I read in Westeros girls are considered women when they have their first period, Sansa was only fourteen when she married Tyrion.

Next Chapter – The Wedding