125

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208 AC

Harrenhal

Daenerys Targaryen

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"Are you ready to talk?" I ask as I look up from the book I have been absentmindedly reading while my Husband scribbles away like a madman possessed.

"Talk?" Aerion finally looks up and is a bit confused as he looks around his solar and notices he is not as alone as he previously thought.

"You show up with Moonfyre wounded and Drogon goes crazy-" I shake my head remembering how my mount became furious and is now hovering over Moonfyre like a hen its chicks. "-then you talk to the Lords as if none of them saw what state Moonfyre was in." I shake my head once more knowing what the people are saying.

"You rather casually stated Oldtown is no more and that House Hightower is extinct and if anyone from that House is found they are to be executed for treason." Mya speaks up while resting her feet on the edge of Aerion's desk which he scrunches his nose at.

"I told you, the High Tower turned into a giant black tentacle and tried to kill Moonfyre and Me. It spat strange 'birds' at us and even a giant spear that carved a trench through the city before Moonfyre blew it to hell with a giant breath of fire that might have been made of light." He lowers his head and returns to writing while everyone in the room looks around wondering the same thought.

Presumably, at least, everyone is wearing the same 'is he serious' look on their face.

"Alright." Gwenys nods while standing up a bit to pull her chair closer to Aerion as she peeks at what he is writing. "I will leave all of that madness to others to decipher, instead I want to focus on what you are working on now." I rub my forehead as Aerion fake smiles a bit and adjusts in his chair to let her get a look at what he is working on.

Every day I wake up wondering if my Life will get stranger.

It always does.

"These are orders to move a significant portion of the gold stored in Harrenhal to a small fleet of ships in Blackwater Bay?" I perk up as the words leaving Gwenys mouth are not nonsense and I can actually understand what they mean.

I will put the matter of a tower turning into a tentacle aside for now.

I need more wine before I think about whether he was serious or not.

Though I already accepted it as fact, Aerion would not lie about something like this.

Not when Moonfyre was hurt.

If what he said is true, she was in a far worse state after the 'fight' and he had already healed most of the damage that was done.

Which means there is a threat out there that can kill the dragons.

Big problem.

"-Tessarion will take a Summer Island Princess as his Wife and will support her with not only his dragon and the small fleet but the gold as well. He will draw the best fighters of the Summer Islands to his side, his Wife's side, with the coin he is taking down there. She will then begin unifying the Islands as the first Princess Xanda Qo did during the slave wars." Aerion looks toward Narha who looks unbothered by his sudden plan as it's something that has been discussed before, it was just not expected to happen soon.

"Why rush, I thought we planned to wait until we purged the pirates from the Pirate Isles?" Gwenys asks as she takes the sheet of parchment Aerion was writing on and holds it close as she scrutinizes it closely for any imperfections.

"All of the plans need to be moved forward, I want to head to the far East sooner than expected and I don't want to have to come back West until I have dealt with some major problems..." He trails off as his face turns Stony.

"What problems?" I ask while thinking about what we will have to do here in Westeros to not have to return for quite some time.

"Oily Black Stone." He cryptically responds and I frown but seeing him roll his eyes I am put a bit more at ease as he is obviously confused himself and is having trouble putting things into words.

I will see for myself the next time.

I won't let him and Moonfyre escape my sight from now on, I know Drogon feels the same way.

"Tessarion will handle the summer Islands with the resources I send with him, I do not doubt that in the slightest." Aerion pushes forward as he rubs his head with narrowed eyes. "He will handle the plans for Naath as well, or at least he will reach out to them with a messenger and will seek an answer about the proposal I sent to them almost half a year ago." I feel myself smile a bit knowing that Naath will be safer than ever in the future.

I have no doubt they have already agreed to the proposal, they do not have a main 'Leader' so it's hard to get an 'approval' from the Island. But the messenger we sent was Naathi himself and can travel the island without fear of the Butterfly fever, so he likely has already spread the message to various settlements.

Regardless though, we will claim the Dragon fort that was built by the Dragon Lords of Old Valyria.

Then we will have a child of our blood marry a Naathi.

A Butterfly Dragon.

Capable of leading the Island of Naath and being immune to their Butterfly fever.

A protector and middleman in the world's economy.

The people of Naath used to sell their Shimmering Silks all around the world, as far as the North in Westeros and the capital of Yi Ti, Yin. These days they can't even reach their own shore without fear of slavers, instead they stay inland knowing the slavers can't reach them before succumbing to the Butterfly fever. 

But with a Targaryen ruling over the Peaceful people keeping them safe, they can easily get their goods into the markets around the world.

Shimmering Silk and Mulberry Wines mainly, that is the real 'money makers' that Aerion is after at least.

But I know from my time listening to Missandei in my past life that the Peaceful people also make wonderous handmade crafts.

I can't wait to see those reach the markets as well.

"-I will fly over to the Gods Eye to talk to the Children of the Forest as soon as Drogon stops trying to keep Moonfyre pinned down." Aerion sighs and I blink in confusion having gotten lost in thought. "I want to deal with the Old Gods as soon as possible and also make a more official pact with the Children of the Forest." Aerion's eyes drift to Mya and Gwenys, he plans to have them serve a similar role that Roach did with the Great Stallion.

"What about the Ibbenese?" Shiera asks as she idly watches the castle from the window.

"We will give them what they want to get them to bend the knee without needing to burn them all down." Aerion fills his wine glass and looks thoughtful before shaking his head.

"Sounds like things are going to be moving fast." I speak my thoughts and nearly everyone nods other than Aerion.

"Not fast enough." His eyes are filled with uncertainty as he lifts his glass and drinks from it.

I purse my lips before feeling annoyance almost boil over out of me.

"Does this new 'foe' truly have you worried?" I speak my mind and Aerion looks up from his glass and slowly nods as he locks our gazes.

"It does." I try and remember a time he was worried about something.

Sure, he gets stressed all of the time.

But he can brush that off easily, either by keeping himself busy or having sex.

I actually can not remember the last time I saw him genuinely worried.

I would be lying if I said it does not make me concerned.

"We will work through it though, this is something we can overcome." He speaks up again after clearing his throat realizing his mood is affecting everyone else in the room.

He bounces his head from side to side.

"It's a big problem, I won't lie." He slowly shifts his gaze around the room stopping on everyone present. "But I have faith." He smiles and for the first time since he got back, I can tell it's not faked.

Good.

That eases my worry considerably.

"I have faith as well." I always have I suppose, I had to, to survive the life I once did.

Faith in myself that kept me alive, that slowly grew into the faith I now have in my family.

I smile at that thought.