Grey Worm and Athena played a card game while the other members of the meeting did not arrive, and the general was surprised that she did not ignore this meeting with the guests and the other nobles. It would not be a surprise if she decided that she would not participate in this political meeting, since in recent days she did not make a point of hiding her discontent with the nobles and politicians, always making some sarcastic comment about them. So yes, it had been a surprise when he realized that she had been the first person to arrive in the meeting room.
"Athena, hiding the cards will not make you win this game. I already told you that the key to success was patience, a piece that is clearly lacking inside you." He grumbled the last part when he saw the woman return two cards to the deck of cards. "You said you wanted something that would distract your mind until the other people arrived. I warned you that you would not be able to beat me in this game so easily."
"What are you two doing?" Daenerys and Missandei were intrigued to see the two people playing an unknown game. "I thought we were the first people to arrive at the meeting, but apparently you both arrived first and still had time to play whatever that is," Daenerys said when carefully analyzing one of the cards that belonged to Athena's deck, having fun with the angry expression of her companion.
"Dany! You can't show him my letters; now he knows about a possible movement of mine in the future!" Athena complained dramatically as she took the card back and put it in her own deck. "He's almost beating me in this game, but I'm not going to give up!" She said she made a funny face when pointing at her friend, and the expression on her face made them all laugh when she noticed that she seemed to have a tantrum attack.
"Grey Worm, be kind to her," Daenerys said, giving a wink to her friend before giving a simple and tender kiss on the lips of the woman, who got her cheeks red by the demonstration of affection in public, not imagining that the queen would really show affection in public. In the eyes of all people, "Good morning, my dear princess," the queen spoke, caressing the head of Athena, who was sitting, happy to be able to share moments with her.
Grey Worm and Missandei were paralyzed, in a complete state of shock, when they witnessed this exchange of affection in public. They knew they had lost some important detail when the queen asked Athena to stay a little longer during the last night. The man lamented when thinking about the amount of gold he had lost when betting with his own partner and how long it would take for both women to take over the relationship. Since it was not a secret that the two women would form a couple, the biggest question was when they would realize that they were already united. They had bet two thousand gold coins; he bet that they would date after the war, and Missandei bet it would be before, stating that Daenerys would not wait so long after finally discovering her feelings for Athena; she would not risk dying without kissing the woman she loved. A Targaryen characteristic was impatience.
"We will have to end our game at this moment; if you two are here, it means that in a few moments the other guests will be here. I don't think it's appropriate for them to have such a quiet image of us; it's dangerous to expose our vulnerabilities; they don't trust us, and it doesn't take much to say that the feeling of distrust is returned to the same extent." He said when keeping the cards in the box where they were previously, "But I promise we'll have another one to play, and maybe I'll let you win."
The remaining minutes were spent on trivial conversations about agricultural issues and some information about movements at the queen's current seat of government. They were spending the little time they had on these rare moments of relaxation before being forced to dive into a world of bureaucracies and demands. Tensions rose silently the closer the great war approached, and they could not ignore the conflicts in Westeros, let alone the warriors who were in disguise as diplomats right under everyone's nose.
Athena adjusted the last piece on top of the map that was stretched out on the table, and the guests arrived, as predicted, without an ounce of elegance or courtesy. It deeply annoyed the woman that the envoys from the north continued to act as if this alliance were an act of charity that would save Daenerys; the men had not yet understood that the great charitable person of this story was nothing less than the queen herself. She had dragons and an almost indestructible army; she didn't need them for any conquest, and what the hell was the point of sending the whole army to battle if this would end with the dead dragon queen, her army decimated, and traitors in very comfortable and privileged positions?
"Punctuality is not your strength; if you want to be taken seriously, you need to have conduct that is expected of you as emissaries. Any other ruler would have already dismissed you for this delay and the other delays in the past." Missandei reprimanded the northern entourage and the other nobles who were accompanying them: "These delays will no longer be tolerated; if you are late again, they will be dismissed, and only through other negotiations will a new meeting be held again."
And soon after this harsh reprimand, all the soldiers were deeply embarrassed by the lack of punctuality, knowing that the queen would not alleviate the situation. He began to discuss with total fullness the arguments that were being used to try to convince Daenerys to abandon her plans to directly attack the capital to concentrate on an offensive in the north where she would certainly lose more than a third of her troops, which did not sound very pleasant to the sovereign's ears. She loses the equivalent of 40% of her military capacity without having a very solid guarantee that she will receive the additional troops, which is a bad sign. After all, they could take advantage of the lack of soldiers to orchestrate an attack against her. After all, it would not be the first time that a member of a large family would give a blow to a Targaryen.
"Your proposal is very interesting, but it is unfeasible because it is not reconcilable with my plans to conquer the capital of the kingdom. Your people will not give up independence, let alone accept that the king chosen by them bent his knee for an unknown queen after they had gone through one of the greatest wars in search of a metal crown. It is even laughable someone with the fame that you have to suggest such a foolish idea with minimal probabilities of success," Daenerys replied for the first time as soon as one of the emissaries finished arguing.
Missandei and Athena had a share of influence in this decision, and this infuriated the entourage and the old council for suspecting that the queen would hardly change her mind. The great reality was that the queen was no longer very inclined to help the supposed allies of the North, but she needed to structure a very good reason to formally refuse the request for an alliance, knowing that a shallow excuse would not be well seen in the political environment. It was not a decision made overnight, as many thought. Daenerys talked a lot with both women and also expressed her distrust of the alliance proposals that the North had offered, and in consensus, all three women gave a final verdict.
They would use all armed force to retake the Iron Throne, concentrating each soldier to overthrow traitor by traitor and ensure that the Targaryen dynasty was finally restored to its rightful place. She would multiply her armies first and ensure the post-conquest stability of Westeros so that it could then be elaborated on how the battle against the King of the Night would be carried out and how they would defeat this common enemy that would devastate the world. The queen hated the way these people took her as foolish and naive in the face of a war, being one of the richest and most influential people of Essos on her own merit, without the intervention of any of them. To many, it might seem like a greedy movement to refuse to help the sons of the north, but it was an obvious question of who was the smartest and strongest during the battle.
If she traveled north at the moment as they wanted, it would be much easier to take her down when the time came. Daenerys thought Jon Snow was a fool, no matter how smart he was in battles. Daenerys did not want to be known as the suicide queen, a nickname that would be fair if she accepted this proposal. In what world did he think that the Lords who publicly hated his family would accept submission after they had turned against the Usupador? The queen would be attacked soon after the final confrontation with the king of the night, the greedy would never miss a perfect opportunity like this.
"Your grace, in the future this refusal can make it difficult in diplomatic negotiations with the North, it is not wise to act in this way" Davos warned Daenerys who looked at the man as a prey looks at the hunt before being slaughtered "the north usually remembers those who abandon it, do not expect the people to follow you"
"If they do not follow me, Mr. Davos, I will do what the conqueror did not do when landing in his homeland. I will burn each castle until everything is reduced to the ashes and only when the last castle in the north falls will I be satisfied with everything. Beware, you are not talking to one of your subordinates or your masters, I intend to govern the seven kingdoms, either through political means or through a new conquest, but I will not be as indulgent as before." The queen warned with a peaceful and animated voice, making everyone tense, including her own companion who knew the weight of her words.
"Snow, control your dogs before this situation gets out of control. You wanted a frank conversation with us and we are having this said conversation, but if you are not prepared to listen to the swear word, no! You must leave immediately, the world does not revolve around only Westeros" Athena complained looking into the eyes of Jon Snow who nodded in agreement, taking a little longer than he should to remove the woman's eyes "We will help you but not at this moment, he will not be able to pass the wall without a dragon, the magic exists, and the same magic that did not let Queen Alyssane fly with Silverwing will be the same magic that will not allow him to reach us as quickly as you think. I'm amazed at you being the brother of the three-eyed crow and he doesn't tell you about it"
The meeting proceeded without further problems and with great effort both parties managed to reach an agreement, which although not so advantageous was enough for the time being to ensure some alliance between the two sides. Athena and Jon were talking very hard about the best directions to take and the woman wondered how they managed to make him so dumb in the television series, because she was talking to a good strategist although he had still made some bad decisions. She had not yet forgotten the stab that Daenerys had taken by trusting him and how he broke his promise by knowing that he was Rhaegar's son, but she would have to put her hand on her own conscience and understand that for now they were not the same person.
"So our agreement is made?" The queen asked finally letting out a relieved sigh when she realized that the meeting was near the end "we are going to send groceries and a small part of my soldiers will help you take the dragon glass to the North when I get to Dragonstone, which will happen soon" she said as she reached out to Jon who shook her hand firmly.
〘 ——✯——〙
Attention : There are some spoilers in the notes of this chapter.
Hello!
What did you think of today's chapter?.
As a surprise I thought of releasing some excerpts from the story here!
Athena looking at Jon:
"I will trust you, but I will also distrust you."
Daenerys realizing that Jon and Ellaria are trying to get Athena's attention:
"Are you serious? I don't share my love."
Athena realizing that Hitad is not who she claims to be and that there are many hidden secrets:
"You could have done this alone, you better than anyone could have restored the balance!"
Rumors say that Missandei is counting so far the gold coins she won by betting with Grey Worm.
What are your theories for the next chapters?
I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
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An observation: I'm not the fastest person in the world but I'm working to correct all possible spelling mistakes! Thank you for your patience and understanding.
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