A Little Dragon

Meeting

Daenerys sat atop her Dragonstone throne as her council began to trickle in to the throne room. She had sent an Unsullied guard to fetch the red priestess, and so they all waited for them to arrive.

"Your grace, I do advise you proceed with caution when speaking with this red priestess. My little birds have told me many things about this woman," Lord Varys said, taking a few steps to stop beside Lord Tyrion.

"Oh? What new information have they brought you?" Daenerys asked, slightly annoyed. Why didn't he tell me this earlier?! He should have told me way before, much earlier in the day, not moments before the woman would arrive before us! She sighed, shifting in her seat slightly.

"Apologies for not bringing this up earlier. I simply wanted to confirm the merit of the information. That being said, I do stand by my earlier statement, your grace. This red priestess, Melisandre, was indeed the one to have stood by Stannis Baratheon. And, as we all now know, the things she did and had him do were quite disturbing."

Daenerys gave a nod. "Yes. Burning people alive as sacrifices to their god is indeed quite disturbing. The lengths some people are willing to go because of religious beliefs is only one of the reasons I, myself, have never been quite religious. This red priestess..."

"A Lady Melisandre, your grace."

"This red priestess, Lady Melisandre. What new information do you have? While in Meereen, the followers of the Lord of Light were quite helpful in turning the common people to our favor. What do you say of this woman? Aside from sacrifices to the flames, how different is she from those in Essos?" Daenerys asked.

Lord Varys pursed his lips, taking a moment to find the proper wording. "My little birds say she is as mysterious as those in Essos. They all do seem to have that odd sense to them. In regard to how they speak and act at times. Some have told me much of her actions were to sway the Lord Stannis to keep him under her thumb and in her control. That, while she claimed her every action was what the Lord of Light commanded of her, as we know, some of those actions were deemed very extreme. So there are those who believe her actions done in the name of her god were, in actuality, actions done for her own personal gain. A few of my little birds even claim the Lady went so far as having persuaded Lord Stannis to sacrificing his own daughter to the flames."

An audible gasp could be heard throughout the throne room. Everyone was appalled. Sacrificing a child!? Burning a child alive!? Daenerys felt sick, the memory of small charred bones flashing through her mind. How can I meet with this woman now, knowing this? Daenerys looked around the room, seeing the same look upon everyone else's face. When she turned back to Lord Varys, he almost looked apologetic. "Can this piece of information be verified?"

Lord Varys looked confused for a moment, before smoothing his face. "Your grace?"

"I would like to know if this is truly true. It is one thing to sacrifice grown adults to a god. Sometimes there are those who even do so willingly. But a child!? No... children have no place in such environments. They are unable to make decisions for themselves. If this woman truly burned a child alive as some sacrifice... if she forced said child... then I need to know before I meet with her. I need to know the lengths this woman can go to get what she wants. And if that includes sacrificing children, then I'm afraid her words will not mean much to me."

Lord Varys nodded. "That is understandable, your grace. I was only given this particular piece of information from a small handful of little birds I have situated in the north. These same little birds have also given me another piece of information... one that I find rather very difficult to believe, and has me conflicted in what I should be believing."