Daenerys was reluctant to have Rhaegar and Viserys on another woman's breast. There was nothing wrong with the young nurse Talisa. She had liked the calm, friendly girl at first sight.
But it just didn't feel right to the Empress. However, she knew that her duties did not allow her to look after the twins all day long.
"They are so lovely, your Imperial Majesty", said Talisa, rapt, while she cradled the babies in her arms. "Those beautiful violet-blue eyes ... they got them from you. And ..." She remembered just in time that Kinvara had urged everyone not to ask about the father of Daenerys' children under any circumstances. "And when they pout, they look twice as cute", she said.
Daenerys bent down to her sons and kissed both of them on the forehead. "You are so right, Talisa. Take good care of them, I won't get off work until late in the evening."
"Of course, Imperial Majesty."
"Well then, have fun with the little ones", said the Empress and left the nursery.
Doniphos Paenymion looked around the room where he had held council with Nyessos Vhassar and Malaquo Maegyr a little over a week ago. Much had changed since then.
The office of the Triarches continued, even if Daenerys had basically demoted them to mayors. Their powers were now limited to the administration of the Imperial Capital Volantis. Since their old seat had been seized by the Empress, they had to move to a smaller palace.
Doniphos, however, was no longer a triarch. Completely surprising, Empress Daenerys had appointed him her Imperial Chancellor - the counterpart to the Hand of the King in the Six Kingdoms. This was probably an attempt to placate the old families of Volantis.
The former triarch took a seat at the table. It was the same round table at which the former rulers had met. It was big enough that far more than three people could gather around it. The Empress's chair was on Doniphos' left; she would be there in a few minutes. High Priestess Kinvara sat on the Empress's left, and next to it was the pirate Salladhor Saan, whom Daenerys had for some reason chosen to be her Grand Admiral. The fourth person in the room was Oraya Valeris, an attractive black-haired woman of about forty years. She came from a free volantene family, which, however, did not belong to the upper class. Oraya was now the Imperial Secretary of State for Justice.
The other government posts were still vacant.
The door opened and the Empress entered the council chamber. She wore the same black robe that she wore at her coronation. The crown too, of course.
Doniphos, Kinvara, Salladhor Saan and Oraya Valeris rose respectfully from their chairs and did not sit down until Daenerys was seated.
The Empress looked around expectantly. "Shall we begin?"
Doniphos cleared his throat. "As you wish, Imperial Majesty. You will be pleased to hear that Volon Therys recognizes the rule of the Empire. It will be a while before we get news from Valysar and Selhorys, but I don't expect any resistance in these cities either. Not if the new ruler has a dragon, thought the Chancellor.
"Very nice", said Daenerys. "Anything else?"
"Well ..." Doniphos glanced at Kinvara. "As you know, the inhabitants of your new empire worship many gods. For understandable reasons you prefer the Red God. However, I would like to point out that the followers of the Lord of Light are not exactly known for their religious tolerance. They consider their R'hllor to be the only true God ... "
"Because he IS the only true God", Kinvara spoke up.
"Anyway. There has already been acts of violence all over Essos by followers of the Red God against people of different faiths or the sanctuaries of other gods. Here in Volantis, too, there have been a few incidents since you came to power. Little incidents, luckily. So far. You have to make sure that everyone can worship the gods of their choice without fear of persecution or there will be riot. Say what you will about the old government, but we had freedom of religion and it should stay that way."
"Indeed", said Oraya Valeris. "A restriction of religious freedom would be fatal."
"I never told my men who to worship", said Grand Admiral Salladhor Saan. "You should do it that way, Your Imperial Majesty."
Daenerys looked at Kinvara. "They are right. We don't need religious unrest. And even if I undoubtedly owe something to the Lord of Light, I cannot tolerate fanatics terrorizing law-abiding citizens simply because they do not like their beliefs."
"I understand", said Kinvara. "I will urge the priests to call for moderation. We servants of the Lord of Light have lived peacefully with people of other faiths for centuries and will continue to do so."
"I really hope so", Doniphos grumbled. "Let's get to the next point: We need at least three more people at our table, Your Majesty. We need a master spy, a commander-in-chief for the army and, above all, someone who takes care of the finances of the empire. If you are to build an empire, fire and blood are not enough. It takes a strong and prosperous economy."
The empress looked thoughtful. "Do you know Illyrio Mopatis?"
"The Magister from Pentos? An excellent proposal, Your Majesty. I would trust him to do the job."
"He sheltered my brother and me and supported us when we were in exile", Daenerys said. "So I owe him something. However, he was friends with Varys, my Master of Whisperers. I had to execute this one because he betrayed me. It could well be that Illyrio resents me."
"I see", sighed Doniphos. It would have been too easy to.
"Try to recruit him anyway. Make it clear to him that I do not blame him in any way for Varys' betrayal and that there is no safer place in the world for him than Volantis as long as he is loyal to the Empire and me."
Doniphos understood what the empress left unsaid: that there would be no mercy for Illyrio Mopatis should his loyalty falter. The warning was also indirectly directed to those present in this room.
"Yes, Imperial Majesty. What about the other posts?"
"As for the master spy, I don't want to rush anything", Daenerys said. "After my experience with Varys, I want to be absolutely sure of the loyalty of that person first. I already have a candidate for the post of commander of the Imperial Army. I will offer him the position as soon as I meet him."
The Chancellor frowned. "Your candidate is not in Volantis, I assume?"
"No. He's in Meereen. As soon as the most necessary things are arranged here, I will travel there and secure Imperial sovereignty over the Bay of Dragons." In the past few days, Volantis had received worrying reports from the east. Spurred on by the news of Daenerys' death, the other Ghiscari cities rose against Meereen. Daario Naharis was in dire straits and would certainly be defeated without assistance. The empress had no intention of leaving him to his fate.
"Good," said Doniphos Paenymion. "Then there is the formation of the Imperial Parliament. The preparations for the elections will be..."
Daenerys actually didn't leave work until late at night. She checked on her sleeping twins before going to bed exhausted.