The next few days passed with no sign of any more attackers, not only Mero on guard but Ser Barristan and Ser Jorah constantly holding their swords as though one would leap from the bushes at first sight. She kept the smile on her face coy as Mero passed her, the looks passing between the pair as they rode in silence, before Mero would sneak into her tent at night. They hadn't gone any further, Mero swearing to keep his word as he only touched where Rhaenar would allow him.
She bit her lip, her eyes looking forward towards Meereen. It was a monstrosity of a city, large towering pyramids bathing the houses beneath in long stretches of shadows; a singular golden harpy on the central pyramid glinting in the sunlight, hovering above all. The city sat between mountains, clinging to the edge of a rock formation before a break; two large marble harpies guarding a gate. It was a beautiful sight to witness, but the slaves that had died for it made it unforgivable.
They entered an open area, her Unsullied formed a formation as the Dothraki lined up beside the seige weapons in front of them; the size of the army looked intimidating. Rhaenar kept her grip on the reins as she rode forward, her indigo eyes refusing to leave the gate as she moved to stand a short distance away. She slipped down, boots hitting the dry earth beneath her. Ser Jorah, Ser Barristan, Daenerys, Daario, Missandei, and Mero behind her as she looked up; people lining the balconies above the harpies.
The gates began to open. "Are they attacking?" Daenerys asked, her violet eyes instantly soughting out Daario.
"A single rider. A champion of Meereen." Jorah explained, stepping up to Rhaenar's side to get a clearer look. She felt insulted, one rider? Was this the Meereenese way of greeting a threat? "They want you to send your own champion against him." She watched this champion ride out, spurring his horse across the open arena. The crowds cheered echoed around them, loud and booming like thunder as they saw their champion. He stopped in line with the first row of Unsullied, slipping down from the horse.
Rhaenar looked to the others, walking close. Did he wish to speak to them? He began to talk, Rhaenar not understanding the language as she looked to Missandei, her friend's face twisting at the words. "What? What is it?" She asked softly, placing her hand on Missandei's arm.
Daario answered for her. "I believe he means to..." He began to unbuckle his armour, freeing his... Rhaenar's eyes widened slightly; she couldn't look away, not with an audience around her and with the distance between them, she couldn't exactly see it. He began to urinate, Rhaenar's eyebrow lifting at the sight. This was Meereen's champion? A man who climbed a horse to ride all the way out here and urinate. She looked at Mero, the expression on her face not pleased at all.
It brought laughter from the crowd, the mockery clearly something that pleased them. The champion in front of them continued to call out, gaining Rhaenar and the party's attention. "He says that we're an army of men without man parts. He claims you are no woman at all, but a man who hides his cock in his own arsehole."
She could have laughed, her brows raising as she kept the smile from her face. "Ignore him, Your Grace. These are meaningless words." Ser Barristan said, stepping closer.
"They're not meaningless if half the city you intend to take is listening to them." Jorah countered, gazing up to the balconies. He was right, they weren't meaningless but she could make them meaningless. Rhaenar turned, the pale braid caught in the soft wind behind her as her cape ruffled.
"I wish to speak to the people of Meereen. But first, I wish for this one to be quiet. Are Meereen expecting us to fight to the death?" Missandei nodded. "Who wishes to be my champion?"
Grey Worm stepped up first, his face serious as he addressed his Khaleesi. She smiled softly, she loved Grey Worm's attitude, wanting to prove himself and he was more than valued. "Allow me this honour, Mother of Dragons. I will not disappoint you."
"I'm sorry Grey Worm, as skilled as you are, I know you could defeat the champion but you are the commander of the Unsullied; and for that I cannot risk you." He nodded in understanding.
"Your Grace, I've won more single combats than any man alive." Ser Barristan offered himself, her indigo orbs instantly flickering to her old Knight.
She shook her head to him too. "Which is why you must stay beside, I've only just found you, I'm not losing you too."
It was Jorah's turn to step up, his light blue eyes staring down at her in sincerity. "I've been by your side longer than any of them, Khaleesi. Let me stand for you today as well."
She shook her head, not Ser Jorah. He'd been by her side from the very beginning, perhaps not always as loyal as he should have been but she could forgive. "Absolutely not, Ser Jorah. I trust you more than anyone, you offer me valuable advice when facing war, and I can't risk losing such a friend. I'm not about to let that go for a champion; not when our journeys only just began." He nodded, a smile tugging at the end of his lips.
Her body turned before anyone else could offer themselves to her, falling on the man who had all but attached himself to her sister's hip. "Daario Naharis?"
He looked down before glancing up, his light eyes alight with that glint of mischief as a smirk ran across his lips. Daenerys's violet eyes turned dark, a look of murder crossing her face at the suggestion; the look unusual on the Targaryen's face as she looked to her sister. "Why are you doing this?" She hissed, placing her hand on Daario's arm.
Rhaenar couldn't get over the fire that seemed to brew in her orbs, almost as though it was going to burn at her skin. "He needs to prove himself, Daenerys."
Daario pulled back his long hair, nodding as he petted her hand. "Your sister's right, I was the last to join your army. I'm not your general or a member of your Queensguard or the commander of your Unsullied. My mother was a whore. I come from nothing. I will return to nothing. Let me kill this man for you."
"I'm glad you see it that way." Mero stepped up beside her, his own ocean eyes sat on her sister. "You have quite an audience, give them something to talk about." Her tone was clipped as she turned away from him, her exterior cold.
"He is very brave, Your Grace." Missandei said softly, approaching her. She wasn't sure where to step, or how to approach it but Rhaenar turned, smiling at her.
"He better be, win or lose, the whole city is watching him." The rider opposite them readied his horse, a lance brought to him. She looked back to Daario, seeing Daenerys place a chaste kiss on his cheek before stepping away. Rhaenar frowned, seeing no horse. "You don't want a horse?"
Daario looked at her, a smile on his face. "Why would I want a horse?"
She quirked a brow, unsure on how he was so calm. If Daario died, her sister would never forgive her. "He has a horse."
"Horses are dumber than men." The Dothraki would beg to differ but she didn't say a word as she took her spot beside Mero and Jorah, her eyes quick to glance at the crowd.
"Don't die, will you?" She said; Daario only smiling. She could see them, excitement clinging to them as they watched their champion face Daario. The champion began to gallop, Daario glancing behind him to wink at Daenerys. The champion wasn't slowing as Mero stood in front of Rhaenar, his own hand on his sword as Daario chose to pull on his dagger, twirling it in hand.
She didn't get how he was so calm, so unaffected by the man in front of him. He threw it, the blade piercing the horse between the eyes where it fell, tumbling clumsily over its own feet. She gasped, eyes wide at the sight; the champion hitting the ground, the lance no where near Daario. A cloud of dust rose around him, his arm swinging with an arakh, slicing the head clean from his shoulders.
He turned back, a smirk on his face as her eyes bore into his. Shocked gasps and muttered echoed around them, drumming out orders as the masters grew angry. Archers stepped forward in their heavy armour, bows and arrows raised above them as they fired. They soared through the air, whistling through the distance before landing in the hard earth, feet from the group. It was Daario's turn to unbutton his breeches, urinating at the defeated attempts.
Her lips turned up in disgust, the act unnecessary. "Are you normally one for theatrics?" She questioned.
"Only when defending honour." He quipped back, stepping to Daenerys's side. Rhaenar stepped forward, the Unsullied turning behind her.
"I am Rhaenar Blackfyre." It was silent. "Your Masters may have told you about me; spouting lies or hiding me completely from you. But what they have to say does not matter to me, for I am not speaking them, only to you. When I first arrived in Slaver's Bay, I headed to Astapor; and there, I found slave soldiers, created only to do their masters bidding. Now? They stand behind me as free men." She swallowed before continuing, stepping forward so they could see her better, and she could see them.
Slaves, dressed not in the fine clothes of their masters but in brown rags and collars were clinging to the edge, listening to every word she uttered. She smiled. "After I was done in Astapor, I headed to Yunkai; and there I found more slaves. But, as you can see, they join me too." She motioned to the large gathering standing behind her, once as they were.
"And finally, I came to Meereen. I don't plan on becoming your enemy, I don't plan on making your masters your enemies but they are. They stand beside you having robbed you of life; of your children lives. They murdered 163 children just to greet me, and I'm sure the blood runs thicker in the streets." She made sure to look at their faces, just like she had looked at the faces of those 163 children. They were uneasy, how could they not be? She was a foreigner offering them a dream they had long since forgotten."They offer you nothing, they claim your chains and suffering and commands are good will, a taste of the better life. That if you listen to them, you will be rewarded; but where is your reward? Where is the reward of generations of slaves?"
"I stand before you, offering you no commands, no suffering. I offer you a choice. Your chains. Do with them as you please." She kept straight. "Forward!" The large catapults were brought forward, the barrels loaded onto them. "Fire!"
One by one they were released with the rattle of chains, the barrels stored upon them fired into the air straight towards the crowd. They rolled furiously, colliding with the buildings and shattering into millions of pieces; the thick black collars bursting from them. They were scared, but once realising that the sound wasn't one of rocks tumblings but of metal clanging as it fell they straightened, looking at what came out.
Rhaenar could only pray that the slaves would choose to cast theirs off, like the people behind her had done; that they finally took the first steps to being free.
She waited silently. "There's nothing else for us to do Khaleesi, but to wait for the gates to open." She nodded; then that's what she would do.