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

[conqueress]

[ His reaction reminds her of a street merchant who's just been told the true value of his paltry wares, and must now press forward with the sale to save face. She raises pale brows, though her voice is kind still. ]

You need not be ashamed. [ Perhaps that's what it was? ] It is a title given me by my lord husband's khalasar. "Queen," it means, a queen of the Dothraki horselords who reign over the Great Grass Sea and all that lives within it. [ And all that lives on the outskirts, too, unless they're bribed to keep the peace. ] They are hardened warriors, and they conquer without mercy, yet they taught me many lessons that are useful to me still. [ Chief among them: She must be strong, or none will follow her. ] They were my first people, and I would honor all that I have learned from them by remaining Khaleesi.

[ Besides, it seems to her that this place has as much need of a khaleesi than a queen, if not more so. ]

[semiurge]

It's not shame, just slight embarrassment? Not a big deal. [ He'll grin here, still more than a little excited to meet her. At least she's given him a good excuse to keep using Khaleesi, because he can't imagine calling Daenerys anything else. ]

After hearing that, I think I make the right choice from the beginning.

[conqueress]

As do I. [ She smiles; his cheer is infectious. ] One day you must ride with me, and tell me how I may help this place. I am no queen here, true, but I have hatched three dragons, led my people through a vast desert, and freed thousands of slaves in three cities. Even without a kingdom, there is much I might do. [ She would just as soon trust advice from a good heart as she would an ambitious one, and in him, she thinks she senses the former. ]

And I will have need of friends soon enough, I think.

[semiurge]

Wait, did the dragons come with you? [ Sorry, a lot of what she just said was lost because dragons. But not even a moment after Billy asks about them, he realizes that they're probably not here. Who comes into this world with dragons attached? ] I mean, I guess they didn't. Dragons are kind of hard to miss.

Um, but about the rest of it? I'd be happy to help show you around. There's a lot that could be done here.

[conqueress]

[ She might have mustered a laugh at his earnestness, had he not touched upon what pained her most. Drogon, Rhaegal, and Viserion are her children in all but body, and being without them, she feels--in pieces. Instead, her smile is sad. ]

You are not surprised. Why? [ The dragons, he said; everyone else has been shocked that she has any. Perhaps they're plentiful where he comes from. Thus far, it seems that dragons everywhere are either threatened with extinction or mythical, and it haunts her. ] When I have pleased this realm and won them back, you may see them. They are my children, and I will not see them lost to time.

[ She runs a hand over her pillow soothingly, as she once did over Viserion's head. ] Good. I wish to know all, and I have no knights to bring me news.

[semiurge]

[ At least the question about not being surprised is easy to answer. He'll take it carefully though, because it's clear how sad she is. ] We don't have that many dragons in my world, but they also wouldn't be the strangest thing around. I had just spent a few months traveling in outer space before I ended up here. So, I'm pretty used to weird.

I can't wait to see them, when you have them back. [ He sounds pretty confident in her ability to get them back. A lot of that's just Billy, and how much he believes in people. ] And you might not have knights to bring you news, but I'm sure you're going to find friends that will.