CHAPTER 60 | UNEXPECTED VISITORS
MOMENTS later, Daenerys and Missandei arrived on the wet sands outside of the cave, where Tyrion and Varys waited for her. Davos appeared from inside the cave also. Maia finally recovered from her awkward episode and walked over with Jon to join the conversation, which consisted of Daenerys looking to each of them in confusion. "What is it?" She asked.
Varys glanced at Tyrion and nudged him. The dwarf sent Varys a glare. "We took Casterly Rock."
Daenerys smiled. "That's very good to hear." She watched her two advisors frown towards each other. "Isn't it?"
"More than half of the Lannister army was not present at Casterly Rock," Tyrion explained. "The rest attacked the Reach, where they killed Olenna Tyrell and their troops. They took the grain and food, as well as all the Tyrell gold."
Maia scratched the back of her head, trying to remember another instance this had happened. She thought really hard, back to past episodes she watched with her ex. She swore this happened somewhere else, but –
A light bulb ticked off in her head.
"Gods," she muttered, "they Robb Stark-ed us."
Davos turned, giving Maia a look of utter confusion, or annoyance. She couldn't tell. "What?" He asked.
"The Battle of Whispering Wood. It's only in every Northern history book in the Winterfell library, might I add," she scoffed. "It was during the War of the Five Kings. Tywin Lannister decided to split his forces in half, leading one to march North, by the Green Fork, and the other by Riverrun, which was of greater value to the Starks. Robb Stark, the King in the North, sent his largest force to Riverrun to battle that army, while he allowed his wife to lead another force to the Green Fork, which confused Tywin. The –"
Varys sighed, "Enough of the history lesson, my lady."
"You get what I mean," she muttered.
Daenerys stomped her foot into the sand and marched off, causing Tyrion to groan and chase after her. The waves crashed and rolled onto the shore beside them, making it hard to hear. The rest of the group followed Daenerys' trek across the wet sand. "You'll want to discuss this amongst yourselves," Davos mentioned.
"Yeah," Maia agreed. "Dragonglass is calling."
"You will stay," Daenerys commanded.
Jon glanced to Maia and Davos, who were rolling their eyes. "All my allies are gone," Daenerys continued. "They've been taken from me while I've been sitting here on this island."
"You still have the largest army," Tyrion reminded.
"Who won't be able to eat because Cersei has taken all the food from the Reach!"
Tyrion sighed. "Call Greyworm and the Unsullied back. We still have enough ships to carry the Dothraki to the mainland. Commit to the blockade of King's Landing. We have a plan. It's still the right plan."
"The right plan!" Daenerys spun on her heel, halting all their movements. "Your strategy has lost us Dorne, the Iron Islands, and the Reach."
Maia laid her hands on Jon's shoulder. Daenerys' anger was terrifying, but when she really thought of it, she had to give the woman the benefit of the doubt. Despite Maia's suspicions, despite everything – Daenerys had been planning her conquest for many years. Now that it was finally coming to fruition, she needed success; she needed plans to work. This didn't mean that Tyrion wasn't great with strategies, for Maia could tell he was from a moment of speaking with him. If she remembered correctly, Aegon's Conquest of the Seven Kingdoms didn't receive victory after victory. He worked hard for it, but he didn't exactly seem like a role model, from what Maia read.
Tyrion paused. "If I've underestimated our enemies –"
"Our enemies?!" Daenerys snapped. "Your family, you mean. Perhaps you don't want to hurt them after all."
"Not cool," Maia whispered under her breath, causing Jon to look away so he could release a soft laugh.
Daenerys turned to the sea washing over the shore. Her dragons flew over the waves, enjoying the windy ocean air. The open air was glorious, but they would never flee without their mother. Daenerys lofted a brow as she stared at her children. "Enough with the clever plans," she muttered. "I have three large dragons. I'm going to fly them to the Red Keep."
Maia's eyes went wide. "You'll be killing a multitude of innocent people if you fly them to King's Landing! The smallfolk aren't your target."
"We've discussed this –" Tyrion added, but was cut off.
"Our enemies are in the Red Keep." Daenerys scoffed. "What kind of a queen am I if I'm not willing to risk my life to fight them?"
Tyrion's brow furrowed. "A smart one."
She shook her head, and then her eyes landed on Jon. She lifted her chin high. "What do you think I should do?"
Jon shook his head. "I would never presume to –"
"I'm at war. I'm losing." She stepped closer, so that she was inches from him. Maia slowly lowered her hands from his shoulder. "What do you think I should do?"
Jon swallowed hard, looking to Maia for a moment. "I never thought that dragons would exist again. No one did. The people who follow you know that you made something impossible happen. Maybe that helps them believe that you can make other impossible things happen. Build a world that is different from the shit world they've always known." He explained, allowing Davos to nod in approval. "But if you use them to melt castles and burn cities, you're not different. You're just more of the same."
Daenerys took in his words, knowing he was right. She looked across the dancing waves to her dragons once more. As she looked near the horizon, all heads turned the same way. A large, war ship began rolling in with the tide. It was bigger than any ship they ever had, with a several-headed serpent carved into the front of the boat.
"What is that?" Missandei exclaimed.
"Someone coming to treat with us, I presume," Daenerys' teeth grit. She turned to Tyrion. "Wait for them to appear on shores and welcome them to court. With a ship that big, I would like to hear what they have to say."
•••
Tyrion and Varys had informed Daenerys before she held court that Jaime Lannister was commanding his army South to bring stolen gold and food back to the Red Keep. Daenerys already had a plan in mind, but an important meeting came first, as said by Varys.
She sat gracefully on her throne in Dragonstone, of which was carved into the wall itself. She looked down as the doors opened for entrance. Tyrion and Missandei led a large group of people in the room, all headed by a tall blonde with boots that clicked against the stone floor. Some in the group whistled as they looked around at the ancient extracts of the castle. Daenerys furrowed her brow, as they seemed almost like a band of idiots. Tyrion gave her an annoyed stare as he passed, placing himself in his usual spot for court.
"You stand in front of Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen," Missandei introduced with pride. "Rightful heir to the Iron Throne; Rightful Queen of the Andals and the First Men; Protector of the Seven Kingdoms; the Mother of Dragons; Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea; the Unburnt, and the Breaker of Chains."
The tall blonde in front tapped her foot on the stone below her. The woman's golden locks were tied in a tight braid, while her large blue eyes stared at Daenerys with interest. She cleared her throat. "Is that over? Sorry, got lost in my head for a moment." She laughed, turning to the side to see one of her crew members walking up to a Dothraki soldier and pricking his finger on their spear. "John Humbles, get your fucking ass back here!" She whispered violently.
Daenerys shared a wide-eyed glance with Tyrion.
The woman yanked on John Humbles' arm, pulling him to the side. "Alright, well – my name is Penny, Miss Stormborn."
"You will address Queen Daenerys as 'Your Grace,'" Tyrion hesitated, "Penny."
Daenerys lofted a brow. "Penny ... what?"
"Poison," the blonde smiled. "Penny Poison."
"Penny Poison," Daenerys repeated with a confused look.
A red-headed woman appeared beside her. "You might've heard of her. Our ship, the Hydra, has sailed everywhere. We've had success on every raid, every attack. We almost raided here once. Lucky we didn't."
Daenerys mouth dropped. This had to be the oddest court she had ever held. This would teach her not to meet with just any group of bumbling idiots that washed up to Dragonstone. Daenerys did think she heard the name, Penny Poison, once or twice, but it wasn't something that really stuck out to her. Maybe she just needed to get more accustomed with Westeros.
Tyrion cleared his throat. "And what can we help you with, Lady Penny?"
"I saw what happened to some of your ships," Penny said, pointing to the sea just outside the castle. "That Euron Greyjoy fucker attacked them; burned them all to a crisp. Probably took prisoners too. I've always heard about him, but never would I have thought to actually meet the asshole." Penny took two steps forward, causing the Dothraki to point their weapons her way. She didn't mind. "I believe that he's on the side of the Crown, and last I heard, Cersei wasn't doing so well with her people. Personally, I think all she could care about is having sex with her brother, but that's for another time."
Tyrion turned away and gagged for a moment.
"I don't think what he did was right. From what I heard in taverns and brothels, you had the Greyjoys, Tyrells, and Martells siding with you in a rebellion. Ain't no man going against his own family and getting away with it." Penny shook her head. "That fucker's tyrades have been going on for too long. I'm sick of hearing about him, and when I witnessed the carnage of your sunken ships, it ... inspired me, I guess you could say. I have never sided with anyone; never looked that much into wars, but something has changed in me."
Daenerys cocked her head to the side. "And may I ask what did it inspire you to do?"
Penny grinned big. "I want to kill him. I want to gut him." She paused for a moment. "I'll cut his balls off for you, Your Grace."
Daenerys looked to Tyrion again, who shrugged her way. His eyes said, What have you got to lose? Maybe he was right; she had nothing to lose with these folk. She was winning another group of allies without even asking.
"Well, you also have big ass dragons, we heard." John Humbles added, holding a hand up. "We don't fuck with dragons. This side seems like the better one."
"We took more than half of the remaining gold we had from our last raid to buy weapons." Penny explained. "New swords, new canons. The Hydra is equipped with some of the best necessities, and it's made of the sturdiest materials around Westeros, as it is a war ship. If we venture back to Essos before confronting Euron, we may be able to get our hands on some Pyromancer's Piss to –" Penny made an explosion with her fingertips, grinning from ear to ear.
Daenerys smiled softly towards the crew of the Hydra. "Are you allying yourself with me, Penny Poison?"
"Yes, indeed, Your Grace." Penny nodded, along with the rest of her group. "The crew of the Hydra is on your beck and call. We'll gut that Euron Greyjoy once and for all."
•••
A/N: Just wanted to let y'all know that despite all the angst that's going on, there is no cheating in this story!!!! No Jon cheating on Maia!!!!!!!!! No Maia cheating on Jon!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Also Penny/Daenerys???? Can you say OTP?????????