Crowns and Cruel Intentions || Game of Thrones

30| 𝔰𝔞𝔢𝔯𝔶𝔞

qarth, essos

— XARO XHOAN DAXOS' REASSURANCES THAT THEY WOULD GET TO THE BOTTOM OF WHAT HAD HAPPENED DID NOT REASSURE SAERYA MUCH. Nor Daenerys. Even when Ser Jorah returned to aid them in finding the dragons, in finding justice. There wasn't much hope here, where there was no one they could trust and everyone had a viable motive. The dragons were the most valuable things in the world. Why wouldn't someone have taken them? And despite Xaro's claims that there was nothing the dragons could buy him that he could not buy for himself, Saerya found that she still did not trust him. Still, all they could do was wait as Xaro called a meeting of the Thirteen. Of course the Thirteen were unhappy, but their wants were the last things on the girls' minds just then.

"I did not leave the comfort of my home to come to yours and be called a thief!" The spice king was saying.

"No one is calling you a thief." Xaro replied calmly.

"Who are they to accuse us?"

"Please." Daenerys spoke up. "They're our children. I'm begging you."

"Begging us?" another stepped in. "It wasn't very long ago you were threatening us."

"Without us the dragons will die!"

"It will be for the best." the spice king said. "Your dragons will bring the world nothing but death and misery, my dear. If I knew where they were, I would not tell you."

"You are cruel, my friend!" Pyat Pree retorted at that. "The Mother of Dragons and the Moon Dragon are in the right. They must be reunited with their babies." He smiled at the two. "I will help you."

Saerya frowned. "How?"

"I will take you to the House of the Undying," he said as if it were obvious. "Where I have put them."

Her eyes widened slightly. "You have our dragons??"

"When I learned you were coming to our city, I made an arrangement with the King of Qarth." laughter circled the table, but he paid it no mind. "He procured them for me."

The Targaryens were evidently confused. "But there is no King of Qarth!" Daenerys protested.

"There is now." Xaro put in. "That was the other half of the arrangement." he strode towards the rest of the Thirteen. "You would keep your gates and your minds closed to everything outside your walls, but Qarth cannot remain the Greatest City That Ever Was if it refuses to change." Daenerys took a slow step backwards, her hand wrapping gently around Saerya's wrist to tug her sister behind her as well. "I will open Qarth to the world, as I have forced it to open itself to me."

"Your ambition is an inspiration." The spice king said as Pyat Pree moved to stand beside Xaro. "But like all upstarts, you overreach. Three dragons the size of cats and an alliance with a charlatan do not make you a king."

"An upstart and a charlatan?" Xaro echoed, bemused. "Empires have been built by less. Those on the margins often come to control the centre, and those in the centre make room for them, willingly or otherwise." he stepped aside, allowing the warlock to take the stage.

"The Mother of Dragons and the Moon Dragon will be with their babies." He grinned eerily. "They will give them their love, and all will thrive... forever." masked servants that had previously been standing in the shadows suddenly stepped forward behind the Thirteen, slitting their throats all at once. All of them were doubles of Pyat Pree. With a small gasp, Saerya scrambled backwards, dragging Daenerys with her as the girls were herded away by Kovarro. Before they could reach the exit, though, he appeared in their path again. Then a sword was driven through his back. Jorah. He just kept on smiling. "A mother should be with her children." he disappeared, leaving a mop of clothes behind only to appear again behind them. "Where will you run to, Princesses of the House Targaryen? Your dragons wait for you in the House of the Undying. Come see them."

Guarded by Kovarro and Jorah, the girls instead feld through the now-open doorway, leaving the House of Xaro Xhoan Daxos – which had never really been as safe as they imagined – and the warlock Pyat Pree behind them.

°

Hidden away in a small, secluded courtyard whose entrances and windows were now boarded up, the Targaryen girls still weren't safe. Because they were still in Qarth.

"Careful, Khaleesi." Jorah warned as Daenerys peered through one of the cracks. "Xaro owns this city and the Warlocks have a thousand eyes watching for you." after a moment, he added. "I found one – a ship with a good captain. She leaves for Astapor tomorrow."

She frowned. "Astapor?"

"We cannot stay here."

"They have my dragons! Mothers do not flee without their children."

"They are not your children." He implored. "Please, listen to me, both of you. You love them, I know, but you did not carry them, you did not feed them at your breast. They are dragons. And we are not safe here. If we stay in Qarth we will die."

"Sail to Astapor, then, I'm sure you'll be safe there." Saerya snapped suddenly.

"You know I would die for you both." He replied. "I will never abandon you. I'm sworn to protect you, to serve."

"Then serve us." She pleaded softly. "If our dragons are in the House of the Undying, then take us there."

"That's what the warlock wants." he argued. "He told you so himself. If you enter that place, you will never leave again. His magic is strong-"

"And what of our magic?" She swallowed hard, reaching out to take his hand between hers. "Please. You saved me once. The day I lost my Saelyra. Haella, Meraxes... they are all I have left of her." a strange sort of fear seized her as his expression changed. A fear of the surge of power she suddenly felt as she thought that perhaps Xaro was right. Perhaps Ser Jorah did love her. The idea of holding such sway felt dangerous. But right now she needed it. "Take me to them."

Slowly, he nodded. "As you wish."