Silver Stag

Daenerys

Rain fell on the beach and the castle, lightning flashed, and thunder crackled overhead.

Daenerys, Daemon, Aelinor, Tyrion, Grey Worm, Missandei, and Varys were standing in the Chamber of the Painted Table, staring out at the storm.

Tyrion and Aelinor had had a mini reunion of their own as they watched the two siblings meet for the first timr.

"On a night like this, you came into the world." Tyrion told her.

"I remember that storm. All the dogs in King's Landing howled through the night." Varys noted.

"I wish I could remember it." Daenerys turned away from the window and walked over to the table. "I alwys thought this would be a homecoming. It doesn't feel like home."

"Our true home was destroyed centuries ago." Daemon added.

"We won't stay on Dragonstone for long." Tyrion told her.

"Good." Daenerys looked at the figurines placed on the table. "Not so many lions."

"That is what happens when you make enemies in nearly every Kingdom," Aelinor said.

"Cersei controls fewer than half the Seven Kingdoms. The lord of Westeros despise her. Even before your arrival, they plotted against her. Now..." Varys began

"They cry out for their true queen? They drink secret toasts to my health?" Daenerys walked closer to Varys. "People used to tell my brother Viserys that sort of thing, and he was stupid enough to believe them." She picked up a dragon figurine from the table. "If Viserys had three dragons and an army at his back, he'd have invaded King's Landing already."

"Conquering Westeros would be easy for you. But you're not here to be queen of the ashes." Tyrion told her.

"No." Daenerys set down the dragon figurine.

"We can take the Seven Kingdoms without turning it into a slaughterhouse. If the great houses support your claim against Cersei, the game is won. Aelinor's son is the Lord of Highgarden. With the Tyrell army and the Dornish on our side, we have powerful allies in the south."

Daenerys looked at Varys. "I nevr properly thanked you for that."

"They joined our side, my queen, because they believe in you."

"You served my father, didn't you, Lord Varys?"

"I did."

"And then you served the man who overthrew him?"

"I had a choice, Your Grace-serve Robert Baratheon or face the headman's axe."

"But you didn't serve him long. You turned against him."

"Robert was an improvement on your father, to be sure. There have been few rulers in history as cruel as the Mad King. Robert was neither mad nor cruel. He simply had no interest in being king."

"So you took it upon yourself to find a better one."

"Your Grace, when I was ready to drink myself into a small coffin, Lord Varys told me about a queen in the east who-" Tyrion began.

"Before I came to power, you favored my brother. All your spies, your little birds, did they tell you Viserys was cruel, stupid, and weak? Would those qualities have made for a good king in your learned opinion?" Daenerys asked Varys.

"Until your marriage to Khal Drogo, Your Grace, I knew nothing about you, save your existence and that you were said to be beautiful."

"So you and your friends traded me like a prized horse to the Dothraki."

"Which you turned to your advantage."

"Who gave the order to kill me?"

"King Robert."

Aelinor looked down.

"Who hired the assassins?" Daenerys walked closer to Varys. "Who sent word to Essos to murder Daenerys Targaryen?"

"Your Grace, I did what had to be done to-"

"To keep yourself alive."

"Lord Varys has proven himself a loyal servant." Tyrion told her.

"Proven himself loyal? Quite the opposite. If he dislikes one monarch, he conspires to crown the next one. What kind of a servant is that?"

"The kind the realm needs. Incompetence should not be rewarded with blind loyalty. As long as I have my eyes, I'll use them. I wasn't born into a great house. I came from nothing. I was sold as a slave and carved up as an offering. When I was a child, I lived in alleys, gutters, abandoned houses. You wish to know where my true loyalties lie? Not with any king or queen, but with the people. The people who suffer under despots and prosper under just rule. The people whose hearts you aim to win. If you demand blind allegiance, I respect your wishes. Grey Worm can behead me or your dragons can devour me. But if you let me live, I will serve you well. I will dedicate myself to seeing you on the Iron Throne because I choose you. Because I know the people have no better chance than you."