VIDEO ( UNSEELIE LOCKED );

[conqueress]

[ The locket reveals the face of a young woman--some would say a girl--peering into it. Her hair gleams silver-gold in the candlelight, her eyes an unusual purple color. In the background, an imp peers over her shoulder, its claws clinging to her bared skin. ]

There is magic in the Free Cities and Qarth alike, yet I have seen nothing half so convincing as Allaidh Darach. It is ... [ She hesitates; what to call the place that's imprisoned you against your will? ] ... intricate work, truly. Were I settled into my kingdom, my children fierce and grown, perhaps I would not mind it so much, calling Caer Scima home.

[ For a fraction of an instant, she looks sad. Did Drogon sense her as she faded into this world? ]

But lush pillows will not shield my freedmen from those who would send them back to the shackles, no more than peach tarts will keep famine away from my gates. [ The imp shakes a foul little fist at the locket in punctuation, as though its fellows didn't help to abduct her only four nights ago. Dany turns and fixes it with a measured look. ]

Leave me now. I want no spies.

[ It hesitates, but something in her voice convinces it. Muttering, it releases her shoulder and shrinks away as though scolded. Dany waits impatiently for two more of the creatures to leave her presence, some private struggle raging beneath. Then, at last, she exhales in a sigh. ]

Yet time is not so easily disrupted, I have learned. Tell me, was I spoken true? [ It's phrased as something of a demand, but there's a very clear plea beneath it. The queen is there, but so, too, is the girl. And the girl is frightened, fearing for her people and her dragons alike. ] Will my people notice I have left them, or will all be as it was? How may I be assured of their safety?

[ Restless fingers pluck at the fringe of the cushion in her lap. ]

Comments

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[tacticalturtleneck]

Hell if I know. I mean, probably. Pretty sure the Queen wouldn't lie to me.

But seriously you haven't even seen my spire, which is pretty much the most awesome place in this world. If this stuff impresses you well... [Laughing right now.]

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[conqueress]

[ She's testy at these scant details. ] If I wished to hear more uncertainties, I would ask the imps.

[ -- And yet, he's laughing, this man. The cheery sound is strange enough to shake some of her carefully-concealed fury. ]

Perhaps, but I have seen many spires. [ Challengingly: ] Perhaps I will find yours lacking.

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[uneulogized]

You get the bigger speech yet? About what happens if we lose? [From the way she speaks, Jason guesses that she is someone with some authority and power in her world. "My people" says as much. That she cares about them is a good thing, but he wants to make sure she knows all of it.

Also, the fact that she cares impresses him to some degree. He's always slightly on edge about someone who comes from power and privilege, but she seems to be awed by what's around her.

Then again, he could be wrong. "My people" could mean something else. He realizes, after mentally offering her his sympathy, that it could be that.

Which means it's time to figure it out.]

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[conqueress]

[ This one would be of an age with her, it seems--or near enough to make no matter.

For a moment, she studies him. And then she demands: ] A worse fate than thousands dead or re-enslaved? A crueler fate than one hundred and sixty-three children left to die alone in the sun? A more monstrous fate than eight thousand slain innocents and strangled dogs? [ Her nostrils flare. ] It is true that I am only a young girl and know little of the ways of war, but it seems to me that these threats to my people's safety are no small matter.

[ And then, just as sharply as it appeared, the fury begins to ebb from her eyes. Her face softens, albeit with effort. ] I have spoken you unjustly. Even without my dragons, I have a dragon's temper, it seems. [ SORRY, JASON. She knows he didn't deserve her ire. ]

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[chaoticwhimsy]

[When Lumina appears on the locket, she has an imp of her own perched on her shoulder, his face painted pink and black.]

Aw, don't chase the imps away. They're great friends if you let them be.

[She was kind of biased, though. Mostly they were awful little monsters.]

And nobody really knows about the time thing between her and everywhere else, so you're prooooooobably not gonna get a definitive answer.

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[conqueress]

[ She hasn't yet forgiven the imps for taking her away from her quarters atop the Great Pyramid, even if she knows they are only messengers. ]

Perhaps when I have forgiven the imps for treating me ill, I will treat them more gently. It seems they have a thirst for my wine, and enjoy being scratched behind the ears.

[ Her face softens somewhat at this. Her dragons favor being scratched in much the same place. ]

I see. [ The answer is delivered calmly, but inwardly, a cold, hard fury settles into her belly. ] Thank you for your honesty, all the same. What is your name, my lady?

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[extramural]

There are few assurances in life, in this world or any others. Are you so certain of their safety in your own world?

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[conqueress]

[ She has never seen such a man, for all her travels. His appearance gives her pause, though she has the grace not to show her surprise. ]

I am their queen, and none can give the same protection in my place. [ She explains--no, protests, as though her presence there is unquestionably a better option. ] I am mother to the last three dragons in the world, and I command an army of ten thousand Unsullied soldiers. I am certain I prefer those odds to what is left, if I am truly gone from Meereen.

[ She likes the odds better where her dragons' safety is concerned, too. She can feel the fear beginning to gnaw at her again. There are too many in the world who would do them harm, and Rhaegal and Viserion are only the sizes of dogs still. ]

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[enthraller]

[It would be kind to tell her there's no point in sending away the potential spies when using the monarchs' network anyway. But unfortunately, it's hard to do that without sounding like you have something to hide from the monarchs yourself, and Saralegui is playing the good Unseelie for the moment.]

I don't think there's any real proof anyone can give about the time issue. It's a concern for everyone, but with no way back and more present concerns to worry about here, most just settle for that answer and hope for the best.

[A sympathetic smile, which after a moment slides into a more curious look.]

...You look a bit young to have children.

[Some start young, true. And adoption is a legitimate and respectable thing in some countries. And you can never really tell ages with the people brought here anyway.

But still, it bears asking.]

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[conqueress]

[ That draws a bitter laugh from her. ] That is defeat, by some other name.

[ Dany has never liked the taste of defeat. In fact, she's always found some new way to avoid it--but it seems here, she may have no choice. Here, she will have to fight new battles, a new war. In her young life, she's become a khaleesi, a mother of dragons, a conqueror, and a queen. Is another adaptation truly so different?

If I look back, I am lost.

Saralegui's query draws her out of her thoughts. ]

I am not so young. For all that I have seen and learned, I feel old. [ She smiles faintly. ] I have wedded a khal of the Great Grass Sea and carried his son inside me. [ And lost them both, all the same. ] But you speak of my dragons, I think. I have three.

[ There is love in her eyes, but the pride, too, is unmistakable. ] They are all that remain in the world, I am told. Once, dragons roamed the skies of Valyria freely, but they were all killed, by treachery or otherwise. I brought them forth from stone in my lord husband's funeral pyre, and I have been their mother since that night.

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[skjalf]

( Oh how she can empathize with this girl. Truly, at first glance they are cut from similar cloth. Royal, obviously, from the way she talked about her people. Young, and with eyes which have seen too much loss. Had Elizabeth not gone through something similar in nature and scope, she would never have caught it. That brief flash in her eyes, for the most fleeting of moments.

But as it is, it is like beholding herself in a mirror. For their shared dignity and so that she, herself need not weaken herself before the eyes of all the Unseelie, she locks the conversation ahead of time. At least they might speak freely. )

I asked the very same question upon my arrival, and was told that time does not continue to pass while we are gone. I left behind my mother and four sisters, all that remain of my family. My people, conquered.

Only ruin and death await me at home. There is a great appeal in making this land one's home. But for you.. you say you have children?

( She is very fortunate. Elizabeth thinks this, assuming she refers to human children. ) You may at least be rest-assured that for them, it is as though you have not left. For time, so far as we know, truly does not continue to pass while we remain ensconced here.

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[conqueress]

[ There is kindness in this girl's words, Dany thinks. She is comforting, reasoned. For a moment, she wants to tell her all. My father is slain, she thinks. My brother, fallen. I am all that is left. I am the last, the last. In the end, what holds her back from confessing her loneliness is the memory of her bear knight, her banished betrayer, walking as though defeated out of her audience chamber.

Once for blood and once for gold and once for love. Is this girl another betrayer? Perhaps Dany is absolved of such prophecies while she is here, but the past is too raw, too fresh. ]

I have three. [ Betrayer though she may be, perhaps she could also be a friend. Suddenly, Dany wants to weep. ] I had a son within me, once, but my dragons and my freedmen are my children now. I have been strong for my dragons as a mother must be, fed them at my breast and toasted their meat on a brazier, yet they grow bigger and bolder.

[ The blood of the dragon does not weep. So she does not. ]

A dragon is no sweet babe, you see. [ She smiles, sadly. ] They are all that remains, and when men do not seek to steal them, they speak of having them killed. [ Perhaps she'll always feel a chill at the notion. ] Yet they are mine, all. Mine to grow and mine to ride, and one day, I shall take them across the Narrow Sea, and reunite my royal father's kingdom--but not as yet. I have found there are cruelties I must punish, justice I must mete out, before that day comes.

[ She wants to believe this girl has suffered betrayal, too. She wants to believe it badly, though not because she wishes her ill. ] Your words are kind-- [ She pauses, unused to giving someone else the same title as her own. ] --Your Grace. I have heard no counsel half so comforting in this place.

[ She wants to repay the favor, when she is able. ] I would know your name.

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[thebreakingwave]

[ Win or lose the war of the gem, Harry knows that he will not return home again, but he doesn't want to dash that hope quite so quickly for others. ]

I want to say this is a good place, but that's not quite right either. This is a necessary place and whether or not your people miss you, they need you here. The Void comes and the End of all Things too, and that'll take your people just as surely famine or chains.

[ It is worth noting that Harry has been here for some time and his appearance has changed over the years: half his face is covered over in old scar tissue, surrounding a false eye made of red amber. ]

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[conqueress]

[ She sees the deformity, and thinks he must have been burned. To her, the sight isn't promising. Do these Unseelie not reward those who fight for them? Why, then, have they not healed him? ]

I wish to speak to those affected. [ She's doubtful still, but one thing she isn't, and will never be, is idle. Perhaps taking her measure of this realm will bring to light what words cannot. ] Where will I find the common people of this place?

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[entitles]

Your kingdom?

[There didn't seem to be much in the way of nobility here - perhaps ones who have earned titles in this world, but not ones who were and always have been royalty.]

If time will remain as it was, it could prove advantageous. Years, potentially, to think on strategy and management.

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[conqueress]

If it is as they claim. [ It's a very reluctant agreement, but there's little she can do to verify. There's little she can do about any of this but accept it, it seems.

The query about her kingdom gentles her somewhat. This man, at least, isn't pleading with her to pledge her faith to a cause she scarcely understands. ]

I am Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen, Queen of Meereen and the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. [ She favors him with a faint smile. ] Are these names known to you, my lord?

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[selfimage]

[ it's a bit like déjà vu, in a sense, but it's easy enough to shake off. there's a pair of bright green eyes that are looking at her, as if he's trying to place her. ]

Time and space are an interesting subject when you're at the end of the world.

[ he's talking to her he's talking to her he's talking to her he's talking to her. don't fanboy, Loki. he may be just a tad more animated than normal, here. ]

Erm, well, here's the thing, they don't really move the same way and there's entirely no way to tell. I've done this before, it gets a little ... disorienting. [ finger waggle. ]

Regardless, this end-of-the-world type place is of great import, if they haven't already stressed the whole ordeal enough.

[ mother of dragons, meet mother of monsters. ]

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[conqueress]

[ Here is a gaze that seeks her own eagerly, Dany thinks. Does this man know me? She thinks she's seen something like it in the eyes of merchants in Qarth who came to Xaro's manse bearing gifts, though it was her dragons they truly sought.

Boldly, she stares back. His is no face she recognizes. ]

I have heard all I wish to hear of what may happen. [ After speaking with so many with fire and purpose behind their words, she understands she's to believe this is some godly battle for the fabric of the world. And curiously, she's calm. Whatever the truth of this Drabwurld is, it would seem she cannot leave, however much she wants to. There is nothing more she can demand for the sake of her people. ]

I will speak with the common people tomorrow, and learn of the Unseelie court. I would know its history, what is being done to help those who cannot fight, and how I may advance in their esteem. [ She has no bloodriders to scout her surroundings, no Jorah to speak to captains on her behalf. She must do it alone. ] Perhaps you mean to tell me what I have overlooked?

[ Her smile is meant to invite counsel. Don't think she's forgotten your interest in her or the experience you claim to have traveling between worlds, Loki. ]

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[fulminants]

[ Johnny's listening, noticing -- this is a young woman evidently grown too quickly into a position of power. Princess? Lady? Queen, or maybe Empress? He's got the bearing to pull it off.

She talks about her people, her children, and her concern for her home is understandable; he imagines a lot of them here are wondering about similar things. ]

Been wondering about that myself. But sometimes, people from your world come in, too; whether from the future or the past. [ He pauses. ] What kind of world did you come from, anyway?

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[conqueress]

[ What kind of world? She's never heard such a question before, and so she puzzles over her answer for a moment. ]

You ask too much in one question, I fear. [ It's a tease. ] I have crossed the Dothraki Sea and six of the nine Free Cities as a child. Now, I am queen to the city of Meereen and a realm of seven lands. There is little common ground among them, but each place in the Known World is ruled by some Triarch, lord, or king. Everywhere, there are people who wish to be free, from shackles or otherwise, and masters who would keep them in chains. It is wise to be strong, if you would survive.

[ His mention of people arriving from the same lands didn't escape her notice. ] If you can explain all these places as one world, then you are cleverer than many men I have met, and I would have you named to my council. [ Another jape, though he may not understand it as such. ] Tell me, are there any here who have hailed from a place called Westeros?

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[fauxdysseus]

[ His tone, when he speaks to her, is urgent. This is a fact he had not been made aware of, and it gives him much, much hope. ]

My lady Stormborn. Who told you of this? That time was not disrupted, back home?

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[conqueress]

Captain Flint. [ Her tone is somewhat warmer than polite, for their prior acquaintance. ] I had not thought to hear word from you again so soon.

[ She's not certain she trusts the allegations, but perhaps they'll bring him some measure of peace. ] It is something I had heard from those around me in this court. Baron Archer claims to know it from the Unseelie queen.

[digophelia]

[ A queen, then? She doesn't look that much different in age. ]

Housing, definitely, but it is not your home as long as you feel your heart calling for true home.

[ Alice can only sympathize so much; she really never considered her housing in London home. ]

But it is true what they say -- it will be as if you haven't left, at all. I knew a woman by the name of Tauriel who left and came back and nothing was changed for her. It is a strange anomaly, isn't it? I don't fault you for doubting. You're wise to keep your guard.

[conqueress]

[ This evidence sits with her far more easily than secondhand or thirdhand claims originating from the Queen, and the resulting relief she feels (however cautious) almost brings Dany to laughter. This girl's words ring true for her, far more than she knows. ]

I thank you, truly. [ She feels almost giddy, yet thin and fragile as a string, as though she's as likely to weep as she is to laugh. Perhaps the real madness is within her, as it was in her father. ] You have given me a precious gift, and I would ask your name.

[huntedby]

I like to believe that people do not know I have left.

[She reaches into the ether, and it tells her nothing on such things.]

We will never know; but I do know that the Queen often spins half-truths...but for some reason I believe her on this one.

You must do what you can to find comfort, here. For many things will make you feel quite the opposite.

[conqueress]

[ The air of this woman is curiously wise, and her portent reminds Dany of Quaithe, though she wears no mask. Her fingers leave the pillow at last, reaching for her silver goblet as she listens. ]

This much, I have learned. [ Her tone is wry. ] Discomfort is no new fate for me, my lady.

[ Perhaps the claim sounds ludicrous, given her lavish surroundings, but it's true nonetheless. She's been frightened and alone for much of her life, with precious few comforts. ]

How long have you served in this place?

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[semiurge]

[ Billy's already taken some time to calm down, but there might still be a faint hint of possible recognition in his gaze. That's going to be taken over by concern very quickly, however. He remembers what it's like to be new and unsure, in a strange place far from home. ]

Everything I've heard is that time doesn't exactly work the same way here. I don't really have a better answer than that. Sorry.

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[conqueress]

[ Closely as she's examining the faces in her locket for signs that would alert her to someone of Westeros, she does see something--but it's not enough. He's as quick to show his concern as Elizabeth is, and she sees nothing feigned in his face.]

Thank you, but I have had some answer. [ She relays this news pleasantly enough, but her eyes are violet flint. ] As I understand it, we may vanish from here and find ourselves reclaimed by Allaidh Darach, with no memory of change. Mine is a return delayed, no more.

[ Her voice warms slightly; he's done her no ill. ] I will have many hundreds of names and faces to learn here, it seems.

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[ofmyth]

[Thor has not been here long himself, and so he cannot say with confidence whether she's heard correctly. But he knows enough.]

The outcome of this war will affect the safety of all our worlds, I have been told. It may be that all our worlds will come to an end, or not, depending on what we shardbearers accomplish.

[He grimaces.] But that is no comfort. I, too, fear for those I care for back in my home.

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[conqueress]

I have heard the same. [ And it chafes at her still, to know she fights for something she cannot see. ] May or may not, I will risk no lives lost in this game of uncertainties.

[ She peers at him, and is astonished at how strong he seems. ] Then you are newly-arrived as well, it seems. [ Her smile holds a touch of sadness; those who have been here longer than she has seem to have long accepted some fate they have little say in. ] Which realm is yours, Ser? [ She thinks him a knight, though his armor is more splendid than any she's seen. ]

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[sculptor_of_aman]

To the best of my knowledge, they spoke truly to you. Time acts... strangely here. When my own children were among their number, they all had different sets of memories, different points in time. But none remembered the others being thusly separated from them.

[Video]

[conqueress]

[ Her shoulders untense at this confirmation, ever so slightly. ]

This is the best proof I may hope to learn, it would seem. [ The woman in the locket wears beauty like a cloak. Nobility, perhaps? At word of children, a quiet comes over Dany. She's without Drogon, Rhaegal, and Viserion here, but what it must mean to have had children here, and then lost them-- ]

I am sorry they are no longer with you. [ Something weighs upon her features, empathy darkening her brow. ] Were your children returned, my lady? [ For this woman's sake, she hopes her children were returned to their realm of origin, and that they aren't among the slain. ]