The Wars to Come - J.S.

9 - RULE

— meereen —

After the fight with the Masters' champion and Dany's speech to the city, they develop their plan. Grey Worm will lead a band of Unsullied into the city via a tunnel system, dressed as slaves and carrying bags of weapons to distribute to the slaves of Meereen so that they can free themselves.

The plan goes well, and soon the Great Harpy of Meereen that watches over the city from atop the Great Pyramid holds the Targaryen flag. 

Aurora smiles at the people as she walks through the streets behind her Queen. 

"Mhysa!" they yell as she passes them, everyone reaching out to touch her, to thank her for giving them the courage to break free from the Masters. 

They end their walk at the raised platform where, just days before, some of the Masters had sat in chairs with their slaves standing behind them and watched Daenerys beat their champion and launch crates of collars at their city. Now the Masters stand surrounded by Unsullied, prisoners of her war. 

"Remind me, Ser Jorah, how many children did the Great Masters nail to mile posts?" she asks, a bitter tone to her voice as she looks down on the masters. 

"One hundred and sixty-three, Khaleesi." he replies. 

"Yes, that was it." she mutters, she turns her head to look at Grey Worm and gives him a nod. He nods back and then looks to one of his soldiers standing with the Masters and nods to him. 

The Unsullied begin pushing the Masters away on Grey Worm's command. 

"Your Grace, may I have a word?" Barristan asks, she turns to him and they step a few feet away from the others. "This city is yours now, all these people are your subjects now. Sometimes it is best to answer injustice, with mercy." 

"I will answer injustice with justice."

— 

The Masters are nailed to posts, just as the children were before them. Except these posts are in the city, where the other subjects can see them. 

Aurora cringes as she sees a man staring at the nail in his hand, screaming in pain. Though it is an unpleasant sight, she understands why Daenerys did it. Because those children were not born to the "right" people, they were seen as property and taken away from their mothers to be nailed to mile markers. For what reason? She is baffled by the logic of these so-called "better men", as they see themselves. Had it been their own children that someone had done this too, she can't imagine that they would be very happy with that. 

Though, that brings up another thought. Some parents abandon their children in the snow, would her parents have cared if she ended up like those children on the mile markers? Aurora always knew the world could be cruel, from the day she could understand the story of how her father found her, she knew that it was a cruel place. But seeing those innocent children, thrown away like garbage, left to die in the hot sun with nails in their bodies, she is brought to the realization that she has to make it less cruel.

— castle black —

Jon Snow has received much hate in his life, but none like the hate he is getting since his return from his stint with the Wildlings. Some of his brothers, the ones he loves like blood, Grenn, Pyp, Edd, Sam, they understand. But others, such as Ser Alliser, hate him with every bone in their bodies.