Fire and fury | Daenerys Targaryen

Unspoken promises

Absence of Jorah Mormont was a delightful change for Ardella as no other member of the council despised her presence at the queen's court. While Missandei reflected her queen's acceptance of the Baratheon, Ser Barristan respected the princess as a knight who served both the Targaryen and the Baratheon dynasty.

They were present along with Ardella when the queen was receiving supplicants of Meereen to hear their wishes and worries. Ardella watched her queen resolving issues with admiration that tightened her chest with both love and loyalty for the silver haired woman.

Her brown orbs shifted to a shepherd entering the hall with a bundle tightly carried in his arms. The timid shepherd knelt down and spoke in foreign language that Missandei translated, "I have brought you... He came from the sky... The black one... The winged shadow...My little girl"

The sobbing man revealed the charred corpse of a child in front of her. Ardella's breath hitched at the sight alongside with Daenerys's who froze in front of the man who lost his child because of hers.

"The mighty beasts of House Targaryen. Both a source of power and fear." Barristan sighed out loud after Daenerys retired to her chambers with Missandei and Greyworm.

A remembrance of another charred corpse flashed before her eyes when Ardella answered with a distant thought, "A fire is a terrifying thing, afterall."

Ardella couldn't help but to wonder when Daenerys's dragons are full-grown, what destructions they may cause in the future. Only chars and ashes may be left of the Seven Kingdoms much like the innocent girl who have burned to her death.

The red priestess's last words that she can never escape the fire crossed Ardella's mind. Melisandre must have cursed her to find solice in the dragon queen's side who may take the Seven Kingdoms with fire and blood.

"I wonder what the queen would do. Only a Targaryen can control a dragon." Ser Barristan interrupted her thoughts.

The idea that someone could control such destructive beasts seemed silly but before she could speak, the queen ordered her to meet her at the catacombs as she passed by them.

When Ardella catched up with her, she found Daenerys chaining her two dragons with iron collar. Her eyes widened at the sight as she was bewildered by her decision.

Dragons of Daenerys are not only symbol of power but also a promise of her future. A promise that she will descend upon Westeros much like her ancestor to reclaim her throne along with the glory of her house.

But when she watched the tears of Daenerys as the unsullieds closed the catacomb, Ardella's heart was striken with realization that not only are they her hope but also her children.

"You grace.." Ser Barristan attempted to protest but Ardella's firm grip on his arm stopped him. With a look that eerily reminded him of her uncle at his most prime time, Ardella silently guided the queen away from the prying eyes.

When they are alone in her chambers, the Baratheon pulled the dragon gently towards herself. Her hand stroked Daenerys's silver hair soothingly and whispered, "It will get better...We will find a way. I promise."

Tears of her queen dampened her chest but Ardella continued to hold her until Daenerys pulled back and kissed her.

The kiss was none other than the ones they had before. It was gentle and slow much like an unspoken words of confessions were shared between them.

A moments like this makes Ardella think the freedom that she lost when she met her queen was worth it. The heaviness of not knowing what may come tomorrow weighed on her when she was free and alone. But serving the Targaryen and receiving her affection allows the young princess to see the hope in possibilities instead of the burden that comes with it.

~~~

Since that day, unbeknownst to her queen Ardella made it a habit to visit Rhaegal and Viserion with an offer of sheep to feed the dragons. It was an attempt to protect her life more than gaining the trust of her queen's mighty children.

After the dragons eat their daily offer, she would often sing to them the High Valyrian song she once heard in Pentos. Ardella couldn't explain why the song "Hāros Bartossi" stuck with her as she was roaming the streets that faithful day.

"...Prūmȳsa sōvīli, Gevī dāerī" as her last note of the song vanished into the darkness of the catacomb, she would say to the dragons in common tongue, "We shall fly as we were destined. Beautifully, freely..."

Each day, after Ardella visited the dragons, a solemn look would paint her face as she doubts herself whether she would be able to keep the promises she made to Daenerys and her children.

Despite the uncertainty that reels her in, she would still attend the council to offer her service to the queen and visit the dragons to soothe them in their confinement. But to her, it wasn't enough anymore.

Perhaps her love for the queen ignited a will to give her the world she deserves but the intensity of it left her burned with her shortcomings to make it a reality.

"I am still a helpless girl afterall." She whispered to herself as she was strolling through the streets of Meereen under the veil of night with a sky high dreams and a too small wings.

Ardella's steps halted with a look of fear when she spotted a familiar face in front of her. The night was dark but she could tell it is him even if she was blind.

"Your highness." The man sighed out of relief and knelt down. His usually soft demeanor despite his rough appearance still present but the hardships of his travel was noticeable to Ardella.

"He must be here to take me back to my father." She thought with disdain but the old knight said, "I am here to ask for your forgiveness and to receive my punishment for my sins."

Then he told the tale of betrayal that erased the entirety of her family, the last of true Baratheons succumbed to the madness of power of fire that caused even the last of their loyal subject to raise the blade to end their lives.

With tears of disgust at himself, Davos Seaworth offered his own sword to Ardella, silently wishing that she would rightfully take his life.

"What use is a dead man to me? Vow here right now that you will serve me until the death finds you on their own. Without question. Without hesitation."

Ser Davos looked up with disbelief just to meet the fiery gaze of Ardella that left him trembling even when she was younger. "I vow it, your grace."

"Your grace." She mumbled to herself that struck a realization of who she has become the moment her father drew his last breath. The last words of Jorah rang in her ears. That her very existence threatens Daenerys's future.

"She knew." Ardella frowned as she put together every last memory of Jorah's persecution of weeks ago. Perhaps it was months since Daenerys knew it.

The accusatory thought raised more questions of trust and sincerity. As her eyes well up with tears of fury, she blinked them away. "I thought you were captured by Daenerys Targaryen. I prepared a ship and waited for an opportunity to break you free, your grace."

Ardella Baratheon turned to the Great Pyramid and stared at it for a long time. It was where her queen is waiting and it was where her heart is with her.

The entirety of her being was in conflict. While her feelings rushes her to throw everything away and run to the embrace of her queen to see another sunrise with her, Ardella wanted something more.

Something far greater.

It was dawn when she finally reached a decision. With a terrifying resolve, she turned to leave the opposite direction with her knight following her every step.

Only at the harbor of Meereen, Ser Seaworth questioned after accompanying the Baratheon all night without a word, "Where to, your grace?"

"To Westeros."