( ACT II; the age of the dragon. )
⟵ ◊ ⟶
chapter 18: treachery within.

THE anger that Vaegon often battled with was a well known fact among those within his company. They'd seen the way he'd sliced through the soldiers of Yunkai as if they were but training dummies made of straw and burlap, how he'd been forced to battle with his inner instinct rather than destroy any semblance of peace during high tensions. Vaegon was lethal and his prolifically well known temper had managed to make it a crossed the Narrow Sea, he'd been told, to the lords and ladies of his home that feared his return. Whispers of his return had already begun to spread throughout the Seven Kingdoms. Part of him understand the dragon that Viserys had always threatened them with; Vaegon was not cruel like him. He was not weak, either.

The exact anger that had made him so notorious was dangerously close to boiling over. The only thing that kept it from unleashing was the deep, heart wrenching betrayal that plagued his heart like a festering wound. If it hadn't been for the rage, he may have shut down entirely, too encumbered by the weight of such treachery.

Jorah had betrayed him. Despite all they had been through, despite the fatherly advice and words of wisdom the knight had offered him in their late night conversations and times of strategy planning, Jorah had been an informant for the Usurper. A royal pardon mistakenly delivered to Selmy had uncovered his actions, dated the year they met. Signed by Tywin Lannister, no less. It had been enough proof to the king as much as he'd wanted to deny it.

Vaegon, in his anger, had brought Jorah before Haelyx and Drokar in the prairie. Part of it was his momentary intent to order Daenerys to burn him where he stood, as a dragon only obeyed one rider and Rhaellor was still nowhere to be found. Instead, he allowed the charcoal and emerald dragons to serve as a reminder of who they were, what they stood for. Any person would find themselves horrified to be on their knees before such terrifying beasts. He wasn't entirely sure if he'd let the knight leave that prairie alive. His history with the knight was the only thing keeping the king from speaking the word to turn him to ashes.

With Drokar and Haelyx flanking behind the spot where Vaegon, Raina, and Dany stood, they looked to the knight that was being guarded by a pair of Unsullied, pitifully sunk on his knees. Selmy and Grey Worm stood off to the side, their expressions hardened with disgust.

"I want you to tell me now," Vaegon stated with a noticeably unstable voice. He lifted up the pardon, the paper crinkled in his iron grip since he'd first been handed it by Selmy. "What in the seven hells this is."

Jorah held a look of utter defeat, or perhaps, fear, in that moment as he looked between the furious king and the paper. Fear was what he deserved, Vaegon told himself. He told himself Jorah deserved to fear the dragon fire that he could have incinerating him within moments. The betrayal of someone he'd trusted with his life hurt far worse than he could have ever expected. Jorah had been part of his stronghold, the father he'd never had.

Haelyx and Drokar hummed low growls within their throats as they too looked down on him, teeth bared. The knight cleared his throat before speaking.

"It's a ploy by Twyin Lannister to divide us," Jorah defended himself, surprisingly levelheaded. "News of your victory has spread a crossed the Narrow Sea. They fear your return."

"Perhaps so, yet this document is a royal pardon signed the year we met. The year you joined our service when my sister married Khal Drogo." Vaegon was poised to lunge. "You mean to convince me I'm too daft to make the connections?"

Jorah stayed silent. The hill he would need to climb to convince Vaegon was more of a mountain, not worth dying on. The king was far too furious to listen to pleading. He'd seen this day coming eventually, but had hoped it wouldn't.

"Do you claim this pardon is forged, then?" Vaegon sneered as he lifted the paper up, the wind battering against it.

Jorah shook his head, the frown on his features seemingly etched into his aging face. "I confess with much regret that I did give information to Varys, the Spider, on your activities. In exchange for a royal pardon."

Vaegon crumbled the paper entirely and chucked it to the grass. "So you're responsible for Daenerys' near poisoning?" He uttered in a dangerously even voice.

"Your Grace, my actions saved her," Jorah retorted in his defense.

"You told told them of my pregnancy," Daenerys stated with a furrowed brow where she stood, under the watchful protection of Drokar at her back. Her expression turned icy. "That is why you knew to save me. Because you knew it might be coming."

Jorah looked between the king, the princess, the Stark woman and the others of the Targaryen council in attendance. When he lowered himself to his knees, he did not slump pathetically. Instead, he lowered his head with honor despite the evident defeat written on his posture.

"Your Grace," the knight pleaded as he looked back up to the king. "Please, please, forgive me. I knew not what I was doing when I was tasked with this. I didn't know I would find you to be different than your father, a better king than I had ever dream—,"

"I WILL NOT HEAR IT!" Vaegon roared. Behind him, Raina's eyes closed for a moment at the suddenness of it. "You have lived among me, among my sister, with knowledge of your treachery and what you might gain." He paused, for a moment his emotions showed through. "You sold my secrets to the one responsible for the death of our family." His thoughts stirred on the stories Viserys would tell him and Dany as children, of what Robert Baratheon did to Rhaegar.

Jorah doesn't say another word as he awaits his fate. He assumes it to be dragon fire, perhaps a poetic death considering whom his actions were against. He awaits the kings orders, whatever they may be.

Vaegon wrestled with his emotions inside, wishing to forgive Jorah to maintain his fatherly figure while wanting to burn him all the same. Treachery was treachery, he knew. As a king, he would need to learn to make hard decisions quickly. A war would be coming eventually, and war was unforgiving. He needed to be prepared.

"You have one day to leave Mereen," Vaegon uttered to knight before looking to the Unsullied. "Get him out of my site."

The king did not give another look to the knight before the Unsullied lifted him to his feet and began to lead him away. Vaegon's mind was swirling with grief and anger as he crossed his arms and looked to Daenerys and Raina, his two future queens. They both gave him looks of sympathy as they made their way to him, Haelyx and Drokar lowered their heads to their level.

"I wish that I had words of comfort for this," Daenerys told Vaegon as she placed a hand on his arm in a kind gesture. Raina looked up to him at his other side, her brown eyes sympathetic.

"I had no issues ridding myself of Daario when he tried to slight me," Vaegon muttered as he recalled how easy it'd been dispatch the sellsword, someone he'd not only didn't care for but despised. Selmy and Grey Worm wandered up to where they stood, quiet. "But this— this was entirely unexpected."

"Had I known before coming into your company," Selmy told him. "I would have warned you immediately, Your Grace. Unfortunately, I was not allowed in the council meetings while still in the Red Keep. Likely where they discussed such plans."

"You are of no fault, Ser Barristan," Vaegon uttered.

"He was so fiercely loyal in our service," Dany stated with a frown. "I could believe that he had a change of heart."

"A change of heart doesn't change the fact he came into your company with intentions of selling your whereabouts for a royal pardon," Raina countered Dany, who nodded her head in understanding.

"Security measures should be increased. For the time being. Even with Robert dead, there's no telling if any of those Lannisters might be seeking to stop you before you get too close to sailing for Westeros," Selmy suggested. "The dragons alone brought more eyes your way. Once they're grown, they'll be unstoppable."

"Cersei likely knows now that I've made it here," Raina adds in grimly. "Before I managed to escape, she was ready to use my sister and I as a token for surrender from Robb. I worry for Sansa even now."

"We've been looking into an early launch for Dragonstone," Vaegon told the two women in an effort to stave Raina's worries for her surviving family members. "The island is large enough to host the Unsullied and Second Sons and has enough natural resources to help sustain us. I only fear for the dragons. They aren't large enough for battle."

"Waiting here seems to be the wisest decision," Selmy agreed. "Allow the dragons to grow, build your army and coffers. We are still in need of ships as well. If you allow the lords of Westeros to continue their self destructive behavior while you wait, you'll be able to return with an army and large dragons to bolster your strength."

Dany clicked her tongue. "Not to mention that Rhaellor is loose somewhere."

Vaegon sighed heavily. "We will see to it that the army grows, one way or another. As well as our dragons. For now, we owe it to Mereen to instill order. It's the least we can do after taking over," he looked back to Drokar and Haelyx, who looked at them intently as if they were understanding the conversation. "Send them off," he told Dany, who then ordered Drokar to take flight, Haelyx following in tow. The king began to make the trek back toward the road that would lead them back into the city, those of his council following.

♜

HAVING a hard time believing that animal handlers would be able to instruct the three remaining dragons in existence, Daenerys looked upon the four Merenese citizens that were gathered in the receiving chambers of the pyramid. The day after Jorah was dismissed, they chose to move on with the ways of court, including finding a solution to the dragons unruly behavior. Each of the citizens had a different animal with them, one with a beautiful bird likely from the isles south of Essos and Westeros. One with a monkey on his shoulder, looking at the two women with beady eyes. The other two citizens had a very large lizard, some sort of monitor it seemed, and a simple dog. All well trained animals it seemed. Yet Dany tried to imagine how they might handle the unruly adolescent dragons in the field outside of the city walls.

Raina stood at her side, sharing a look of amusement with her counterpart as they met eyes. Dany tried her best to stifle a chuckle before she began to address the citizens. Luckily, it'd been deemed they could speak the Common Tongue."

"Thank you for accepting His Grace's request to visit us in the pyramid," she addressed them with a smile. "As well as your companions."

The bird squawked a word loudly, likely of the Ghiscari tongue.

"We have gathered you here to see if you would make suitable handlers for our dragons. We understand that they are unlike the beasts you have brought with you today," she paused as she caught site of the monitors long tongue slipping out from its jaws, sniffing. "But we will provide the proper safety measures, materials, and coin necessary for such a position."

The citizen with the bird stepped forward, a man with a dyed green beard of braids and beads; a Tyroshi man if her guess was correct. He bowed slightly in respect to her before speaking.

"Princess, my name is Sid Bathral. We are all humbled to be invited by His Grace to learn about this opportunity," he said to her. "The only issue that might pose a threat to this arrangement is our inexperience with dragons."

Raina, now having a voice in court as an equal with Dany, spoke up. She flashed them a smile as she spoke. "No one has experience with dragons, I'm afraid. The last dragon handlers were under House Targaryen before the last of their kind died out decades ago. We will be providing you with the materials necessary to learn what you can in conjunction with the skills you already possess. We have managed to acquire Old Valyrian texts that dabble on the ways of the dragon handlers before the Doom."

"Yes...", the man began to say, unsure of what title Raina held within the king's court.

"Princess Raina," Dany told the man.

"Yes, Princess Raina," Sid replied. "We are up to the challenge, we only fear for our safety. Might we inquire of the precautions as we have never interacted with such beasts?"

Dany and Raina share another grin. "For the first few interactions, one of us will be present to ensure the dragons take to your presence. As of now, only two of them will be present for training. His Grace's mount is currently loose," Raina sighed. "But you will be keeping that information confidential."

Nod his head in understanding, Sid said, "Yes, princess. We will do our best to study these texts. If it proves affective that you can handle the dragons, we will pursue training of initiates."

"We will give you one week to learn as much as you can before we take you to them," Dany informed them. "We will advance your a weeks pay as well, in good faith."

With the four handlers being dismissed, Dany turns to Raina. They pause for a moment as they look at each other before they suddenly burst with laughter. The women chuckle for a bit before gaining their bearings.

"What was that beast?!" Dany exclaimed to Raina, referring to the monitor. "The one with such a long tongue? By gods I have never seen a lizard so large!"

Raina shot her a snarky smirk. "I have, they're in the prairie outside the city walls."

Dany gave a look of feigned anger from the farce insult. "Get over here," the silver haired princess jokingly growled as she pulled Raina's forearm to bring her closer where they met in a quick kiss. "Sometimes I wonder where you get such a humor."

"You love it about me," Raina countered, grinning and biting her lower lip.