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[ 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. ]

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[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.]

[ 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.

Edited 2015-06-05 08:26 (UTC)

[It's probably also kinder not to immediately shut her down with the whole "I have no idea what a khal or the Great Grass Sea is" bit. Saralegui just smiles, ever polite and composed.]

Ah. I suppose I can't blame you for worrying over them, then. Dragons are endangered where I come from, but I'm fairly sure there are still more than just three left.

[The whole "brought forth from stone in a funeral pyre" thing is also perplexing, but it wouldn't do to barrage the newbies with a million potentially uncomfortable questions when they still have so many questions of their own.]

Then your people were not so unwise as mine. [ Her tone is sad. Dany is the Mother of Dragons, and there's no convincing a mother that her children are half so terrible as they truly are.

Which reminds her: ] Are there dragons here? [ For the first time since her arrival, she feels some measure of hope. As she pledged to Captain Flint, she intends to learn all that she can of her new realm, but first: ] There must be, surely?

Unfortunately, it was my people that hunted them to that point.

[Humans in general, that is. All before his time. But he still sounds almost apologetic to say it, smile shrinking just a little.]

There was one here, as I've heard. But it died almost two years ago, before I arrived.

[ Immediately, Dany's face falls in disappointment. ]

I see. [ She composes her gaze, recovering herself. She cannot afford to be a young girl in this place. Was it some accident? Some sickness, perhaps? No--she must move on; he seems to know very little about it. ]

Then I will speak no more of dragons. There is much else I don't understand. [ Magic. Sorcery. The words are an unknown poison on her tongue. ] How are powers acquired here?

I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

[His expression is all apology and sympathy. At the very least, he recognizes the look of someone trying not to be vulnerable.]

As for any special powers, well... I can't say I know much more about that. Those who choose to take such things up either do some research on their own or ask the monarchs for the ability, but I've avoided such things myself. I've lasted this long without magic or anything, so I'd like to think I do just fine without it.

[He is a lying liar who lies. Sorry Dany.]

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