Chapter 5: New Management
[Yunkai. 4th and 5th day of the 9th moon. 299AC]
Metal scraping, screeching against ancient stone, the golden paint chipping off the thick steel bars as the portcullis rose, and the chants that came with them were music to her ears. Daenerys gave the nod to Grey Worm, who commanded his Unsullied through the gates of Yunkai to split the sea of commonfolk. He shouted commands in Valyrian, and another century marched in to assist in keeping the sea from flooding the streets again.
Half a million people called the Yellow City their home, almost twice as much as her sister Astapor, and half a hundred thousand people were now calling out to her, screaming for her attention. Daenerys had the nagging urge to crowd-surf them, but she fought it off; the nasty looks the masters shot her from their palace patios as she walked the streets encircled by her Unsullied made the choice of staying on the solid ground easy to accept.
Calls of "Mhysa" drowned out the delighted screeches her children gave her as they soared overhead, unleashing their flames now and then. Black and red, green and bronze, and pure golden fire dotted the sky in a beautiful show; Daenerys will spoil them for that later.
She saw a little girl sitting on her father's shoulders, trying desperately to gain her attention, waving her little arms around and calling "Mhysa." Daenerys looked at her, smiled, and gave a little wave. And the smile that made its way onto the little girl's face was beaming. Daenerys felt like a fucking rockstar!
'Should I have a school built?' Daenerys wondered, seeing another group of children. It would be nice to have clever people in her kingdom; she wouldn't have them learn too much—reading, writing, language, sums; that was all she would allow. 'Yes, a school, maybe a bathhouse,' she thought as she noticed the filth that clung to the people.
She glimpsed collapsing stone and resolved to see the towers maintained, manned, and flying dragon banners before the moon turned. So they were going to stay for four moons, she decided. And, before moving on to Meereen, Yunkai would be under House Targaryen's rule until the end of days if she got her way. She would get her way.
It will be hard, she had no doubt, but she was confident in her abilities to keep the masters in line while in the city; once gone, it became complicated. 'A Spider would be so helpful,' she thought before quickly shaking it away; that man who had no clear objective was one that Daenerys would rather see losing his head than spinning his web.
"Is something troubling you, My Queen?" She looked at Missandei, garbed in a splendid black silk dress that favoured her eyes and clung sweetly to her body; how could Daenerys be troubled with such a sight before her?
"Not at all," she said after her wits returned to her. Missandei nodded, fiddled with her ring, chewed on her cheek, and did not believe Daenerys. She changed the subject. "They look pleased, don't you think?"
Missandei looked around, a sparkle coming to her eyes. "They do. They see how just our Queen is. Mhysa means Mother. They see how you love them without knowing them, My Queen, and have given you a name that I believe with all my heart no one deserves more." Daenerys smiled a little.
She spotted the first one falling, its petals as purple as her eyes, but hundreds more drifted through the sky before she could appreciate the little thing's beauty and grace. Then, curious, Daenerys looked up. Atop the harpy perched on the greatest of the pyramids was a group of boys her age emptying baskets of flowers over the city.
"Hmm," she hummed, "who paid them to do that? And how much of my coin did it cost you?"
"Had they accepted, then it would have been I, Fair Queen," Daario said, rudely pushing past Ser Barristan. Daenerys glared at him, sensing his nervousness despite his attempts at hiding it behind a coy smile. "Alas, they rejected my coin-"
"I seem to recall your coin is still mine," she reminded him.
"It is as you say, My Queen," Daario put a hand over his heart, bowed theatrically, and smirked when she scoffed. "What is mine is yours, and what is yours is yours. Either way, they rejected the coin. 'The Liberator is our Mother,' they told me, quite rudely, I might add, 'this is our gift to her.'"
Her false smile shifted to a truer one at his words. Daenerys stopped to watch the flowers glide aloft, and her people stopped with her. "That fills me with such joy, Daario Naharis," she said at last. Then, she bent down, picked up a single flower, held it to her nose, and rose. 'Vanilla...' She liked that smell.
Daario's smirk grew behind that forked blue beard of his, and she saw the shimmer of his golden tooth. "If they took you up on your offer, the city would smell like ash instead of vanilla. But, luckily, those boys are decent men, don't you agree?" The smile quickly fell, and Ser Barristan rudely shoved past the sellsword.
Daenerys smiled at the Bold Knight, who nodded with the tiniest of smirks before she turned to Missandei beside her. And despite her efforts, Daenerys could see Missandei was annoyed by Daario's fruitless endeavours. So her grin turned sneaky, and she stuck the stem of the purple flower into Missandei's hair behind her ear and turned away from her friend. Then, she started the parade once again.
She heard Missandei's tiny voice say, "Thank you, My Queen," and put her hands behind her back, leant forward, and looked over her shoulder. Her grin returned as she spotted the redness on the former translator's face.
Daenerys kept walking, looking over her shoulder as she leant forward until, finally, a smile broke across those sweet, full lips. Daenerys stood upright and walked ahead, catching up to Belwas. She was in a good mood after putting Daario down.
And it seemed Ser Barristan noticed, too. "The Queen is playful today, My Lady," she heard the old knight saying.
"She is," came Missandei's soft reply.
Belwas wiggled his eyebrows, and Daenerys gave a devilish grin.
—————
'Finally!' She thought, collapsing into the soft feather bed. Finally, she had finished writing the new reforms and could rest after such a long first day in her new city. It still felt odd to think about that. She now had two cities under her rule and had been waiting to hear from Astapor for some time.
'Daenerys can handle it tomorrow,' she thought, yawning. 'Dany can sleep tonight.' She turned on her side and stared out the open doors at the rising moon. It was a full moon tonight, and Dany found the pull drawing her to sit on the balcony ledge hard to resist.
And then Dany made her way across the room to the balcony and climbed on the ledge. Finally, after standing and gazing across the city for a while, she sat cross-legged and stared at the starry sky and the giant full moon, a content smile across her lips as the chilly breeze stirred her hair and silk gown. She breathed in deeply and felt him behind her.
"Hey, boy," she said as Drogon beat his wings while perched on the limb of the golden harpy. He roared, and her smile grew. "Look at you, being all menacing and stuff." Then, Drogon jumped from the harpy and glided down to the ledge beside her. Her son pushed his snout into her arm, and she laughed and scratched his head. "Where is Rhaegal and Viserion?" Drogon snorted. "Asleep, then. Alright, you get all the attention tonight. Just don't go bragging now, or they'll be jealous."
Dany sat on the ledge for an hour at the least, stroking her son's warm head as he lay it across her thighs, staring up at the moon. Eventually, she heard a horn and looked to the pier; Drogon raised his head above her and bared his teeth, grumbling at the annoyance.
Narrowing her eyes, Dany could see the most incredible ship she had ever seen. Of course, she couldn't see the entire thing as many others, and the occasional tower blocked it, but the sails hinted at the immense size. It had black sails, she noted, with a dragon skull. She nearly laughed. Drogon hissed, and the dark red sails on his back rattled.
"What? Too anti-dragon for you?" Drogon twisted his neck to look at her with fiery red eyes. He gave an annoyed huff, and she rolled her eyes. "I want to meet the Captain of that ship. Do you think he'll like it if you came along?" Drogon's lips twisted into a grin; she swore it! She shoved his neck, earning a throaty chortle from the oversized lizard.
She jumped to her feet, rolled her neck, and looked over her city again. She could hear the songs being sung loudly, the Red Priests praising her as Azor Ahai reborn, she who woke dragons from stone and would bring the dawn. Dany sighed. Another thing Daenerys would have to deal with is prophecies. She shook her head and hopped off the ledge before walking to her bed, ready for a beautiful night's rest.
She heard Drogon take off to join his brothers in their self-proclaimed lair beneath the pyramid amongst the gold, jewels, and other valuables. Though Dany had tried to convince them to stay with her until they were a bit older and more capable of burning any fucker that tried anything to cinders, her sons adamantly refused, preferring to be alone and far from their mother... at least whenever their brothers were nowhere to see them.
'Is this what a rebellious phase is? If so, when do dragons grow out of it?'
In her dreams, molten-golden pools of beauty greeted her.
—————
She woke when the knock came. Sitting in bed, Dany stretched and hummed in satisfaction at the audible crack. "Come," she bid. It could only be Missandei; it was time to break their fast. Then, Missandei walked into the room with a platter as Dany ran a hand through her hair, groaning at the dishevelled silver locks.
Missandei arrived at the bed, and Dany looked at her. "Good morning, My Queen," she said. "I take it you rested well?"
Dany gave a nonplused smile and raised her brows.
Missandei laughed. "So that is a yes, then? Hmm, good."
Dany peeked at the platter and got a whiff of a lovely scent. "What do you have there?" She hummed and patted the mattress. "Sit. Show me, and I may tolerate you having some."
"I would be honoured, Fair Queen," Missandei teased.
"Ugh," Dany groaned and glared at her friend humorously. "Missy, tch tch tch, you should not mock our sellsword captain. It isn't nice."
Missandei grinned and sat, placing the platter on the bed between them. Then, in an agonisingly slow show of it, she lifted the lid off. Dany gaped at the curry bowls before her, practically drooling at the mere sight and smell of the heavenly concoction of foodstuffs.
Dany dramatically wiped her cheek. "I could cry just by looking at it, Missandei."
Missandei laughed and put the lid aside. And then she waved her hand over the feast, saying, "On this lovely morrow, we have chicken breasts marinated in yoghurt from Ib, garlic, ginger from the Summer Isles, dragon peppers, and a dash of salt, My Queen. With a sauce-"
"Stop, stop," Dany raised a hand. "You're spoiling the surprise... No lemons?"
"Very well," Missandei giggled. "And, of course, no lemons.
Dany smiled. "Shall we?"
Missandei nodded, her eyes shining. "I suppose we shall."
—————
Later that day, after she had left the meeting and warned the former masters of the newly established laws, Daenerys walked the docks and observed merchants, sellswords, and the like unloading their ships. She was interested in the "Trade Talk," as they called it, a guttural tongue created with various phrases from all over the Known World. She would like to learn it... maybe.
Yet, the ship from last night had taken most of her interest. It was a work of art—a double-decked galley of three hundred oars. Though the sails were up, she still saw a black skull ram widdled into the shape of a dragon. Daenerys found it quite amusing; how would this Captain and crew react to live dragons in the same city? They were new arrivals, after all, and had no way of knowing whether she was here yet.
Irren's son Floki almost squealed. He was not the most attractive man, with crooked teeth, feverish green eyes, and a messy moustache. Floki had taken up the craft of a shipwright while his brother Hadvar had followed their father into the smith's trade. They had come from Astapor, and before that, Qohor; Daenerys had taken a liking to the odd family during the travel to Yunkai and had thus offered them positions in her service.
"She is... this here lady..." Floki stammered, and Daenerys couldn't help but laugh at his childlike amazement. "Gorgeous! I tell you, gorgeous!"
"Calm down, Floki," Daenerys said. "You're scaring the child."
The tall, thin, mad man looked around and saw the girl hiding behind her father's leg. It was the same father-daughter duo from the day before, and Daenerys gave another little wave to her. The girl smiled at Daenerys but hid in her father's leg when Floki waved excitedly.
Floki's shoulders slumped in depression, but when the girl's father put a hand on her head, he grinned as she looked at him meekly. Next, Floki unclipped his mallet, spun it around with elaborate tricks, and when the girl started smiling, he threw it up before clapping his hands and catching it by the bottom of the handle on the tip of his nose.
The girl giggled and came out from behind her father's leg, allowing him to get back to packing the bottles of wine into the crate, and started clapping giddily for Floki. Then, she said something Daenerys couldn't understand, and Floki dropped the mallet onto his toe, shouting, "Ow! The agony," and the girl squealed with laughter.
"You alright, Floki?" Belwas asked, laughing.
"She called me a fool!"
Daenerys laughed, "Do you think her false?"
Floki's mouth opened and closed like a fish's, and Daenerys chuckled some more. Just then, they arrived at the ship of Daenerys's attraction. Daenerys heard the crew shouting at each other, working together in near-perfect sync, and could not help but admire them.
Jaime would have called it art, but Daenerys had a higher expectation regarding art; she had seen fire mages do impossible things and art (in the literal sense) that would have Leo da Vinci foaming at the mouth. It was like the Unsullied were taken, made a little rowdier, and trained to work a ship instead of a spear.
"Like what ye see?" Daenerys saw a woman sitting on a post. She had a large beer tankard in her hand, and her emerald eyes eyed Daenerys suspiciously. She was short but still taller than Daenerys, with red hair that reached the middle of her back.
Dragons.
'Ironic...' Daenerys thought, smiling slowly. "She's incredible. Floki here would love to speak to the person who designed her." Floki nodded quickly.
"My father, then," the woman said. "Unfortunately, he's been dead for ages, and he's taken his secrets to his watery grave along with him; more's the pity."
"A shame," said Daenerys, patting Floki on his shoulder. "And who might you be?"
"I'm the Captain of this here ship," she said, puffing out her chest. "But more importantly, who are you, sweet thing? A master's plaything?"
Ser Jorah stepped forward and pulled his sword three inches from its sheath, glaring at the woman who jumped off the post, stepping back in slight fear. One of the Captain's men saw the altercation and drew his sword, but the Unsullied lowered their spears, keeping him from advancing further.
"Let me take her tongue, Khaleesi," Jhogo sneered, his knuckles turning white so hard was his grip on the whip.
Raising a hand, Daenerys looked at the Captain with glowing eyes. "Calm down, all of you. I'll not have needless blood spilt on my docks." The Unsullied stepped back, and Ser Jorah reluctantly sheathed his sword. "To answer your question, Captain, my name is Daenerys Targaryen, and Yunkai is under new management."
She could sense the fear and see the curiosity. "Whose?" The Captain asked, a shaky hand hovering over a dagger on her belt. Ser Jorah gripped the pommel of his sword, and Belwas took a step close to Daenerys. Seeing this, the Captain showed them her hands.
Daenerys liked the way the Captain's eyes shook as she searched the docks for an escape route, and she enjoyed the gulp the Captain gave when she found none.
Daenerys smiled a sweet smile, one that put people at ease. But she knew that it had the opposite effect on the Captain. "Mine." A set of roars filled the sky, and Daenerys wondered who had taught her dragons to be so dramatic. "Oh, they're's too."
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Alex here :D
Super, super sorry about being a lazy PoS, but I am so picky about how I want the fic to go. And thus, I sit and write and re-write draft upon draft, over and over, and today I finally landed on something I liked, and that's just barely.
I am aware that some may not appreciate original characters. Still, I don't think there's a (realistic) chance that Dany would meet some of the talked-about characters without feeling super forced. And, to my chagrin, even these new characters felt a little forced.
I hope you all come to enjoy Floki and Captain's presence in the story and Hadvar and Irren when they appear, along with any characters I start bringing into Dany's story.
Dany's story is not dropped; I am just a slow person, but I enjoy bringing my imagination to life in the form of writing, and I love reading positive and negative feedback (Of course, I like the positive stuff more).
I would love to take suggestions on ways to improve my craft.
Thank you for being patient with me, and please know that I will eventually update again.
Goodbye and see you whenever :D
-Alex.
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