The Age of Daenerys Targaryen

Part 65: Premonitions

Daenerys, Illyrio and Kinvara had breakfast together on a balcony of the guest house. It was the same house Daenerys and her brother Viserys had spent part of their childhood in: the house with the red door, in which she had her own room, with a view of the garden. A lemon tree grew right under Dany's window.

The Empress, of course, slept in her old room. Even the tree was still there, despite Braavos' harsh climate. It must have taken a lot of care to keep a lemon tree alive outside of a greenhouse in this part of the world. Dany was glad the tree still existed.

As a child she hadn't even known that the ruler of Braavos was her host. When the old Sealord died, a new one was elected who pursued a different policy and sought good relations with the usurper Robert Baratheon. In order not to upset him, he unceremoniously banished the Targaryen siblings. Daenerys hadn't understood any of this then. The sudden loss of her home had been traumatic and the memory of it hurt the future Empress for years.

Illyrio talked about the negotiations and whether they should make concessions to the Westerosi at the beginning. He suggested sticking hard at first, only to give in later and demand concessions on trade issues.

Kinvara, on the other hand, was strangely calm.

"Did you sleep badly?", the Empress asked her friend.

"When I was in the Red Temple last night", said the High Priestess, "I saw in the flames two dragons fighting in the fog ... I don't know what that means. Apart from you and your sons, nobody has dragons."

"Jaqen H'ghar has one", said Daenerys, "but Daarion is still too small to carry a rider. And if Jaqen wanted to do something bad to me ... well, he's a faceless men."

"I don't think the vision is about Jaqen either", Kinvara answered a little too quickly.

The Empress hid her smile behind her hand. If she wasn't mistaken, the High Priestess was in love with the assassin.

"The fog is an indication of Braavos", said Daenerys. "But Joron, Barrion and Daarion are in Volantis."

Jaqen H'ghar had escorted the Imperial delegation to Braavos, but left his dragon behind in the Imperial Capital.

"Well, if this vision means something, it will show itself", said Illyrio.

Bronn licked his lips and nudged Tyrion with his elbow as Empress Daenerys, High Priestess Kinvara, and Imperial Chamberlain Illyrio Mopatis entered the room where the negotiations were being held.

"This High Priestess is almost as adorable as Daenerys", whispered the Master of Coin. "If I understand correctly, the Red Priests are not celibate. No wonder their religion is so successful."

"There is even temple prostitution", Tyrion whispered back. "But if you want to enjoy these ... services, you have to convert to the faith of R'hllor."

"I'm seriously thinking about it right now."

When everyone else was seated, Sealord Belo Aenolis sat in the throne-like chair at the head of the table. On his right sat the Empress, on the left Queen Sansa. Queen Asha lolled in her chair next to Daenerys, followed by Illyrio and Kinvara.

Tyrion sat on Sansa's left, followed by Bronn and Samwell Tarly.

Belo Aenolis cleared his throat and said: "As Sealord of Braavos, I warmly welcome you all again. We are gathered here to formally end this world war that lasted four years and killed four million people. In order to ensure a lasting peace, many open issues must be resolved. This will be a difficult task, but if we negotiate with honesty and good faith instead of being guided by suspicion and hostility, we are sure to succeed."

He then gave the names of the negotiators pro forma and listed the basic demands of the parties that had already been recognized in principle in the ceasefire agreement: The New Valyrian Empire wanted to annex all Free Cities except Braavos, as well as Dragonstone. The Six Kingdoms wanted compensation for the destruction of King's Landing and an irrevocable waiver of the Targaryen dynasty's claims in Westeros. The latter naturally also applied to the north. And the Iron Islands wanted their independence, this demand was supported by the Empire.

Unfortunately, not everything was as simple as it seemed at first glance.

For Tyrion, Dragonstone was a fly in the ointment. By owning the island, the Empire had an outpost dangerously close to King's Landing and control of access to Blackwater Bay. The dwarf insisted that the garrison size of Dragonstone should be limited and that all ships could pass the sea route without controls and taxes.

In addition, Sansa and Tyrion demanded a restriction on the size of the Iron Fleet, which Asha sharply rejected. As for the amount of compensation for King's Landing, there would be a long haggling between Bronn and Illyrio. And the Stepstones, that chain of islands between Essos and Dorne, were contested. Both the Empire and the Six Kingdoms claimed it. At the moment the islands were completely occupied by the Imperials, which is why they had a better negotiating position in this regard. But the Empire also sought advantageous trade relations with the Westerosi. Illyrio wanted a free trade deal, but Tyrion feared that the farmers in Westeros (and their liege lords) would be ruined by massive imports of cheap grain from Essos.

That and much more had to be clarified. At the end of the first day, the negotiators just agreed that they disagreed.

In the evening Tyrion, Bronn and Sam, accompanied by Podrick, went to the 'The Sealord's mug', one of the inns in the vicinity of the palace. Although Belo Aenolis entertained his guests more than adequately, Tyrion and his companions did not want to spend all their time in the palace. Sansas and Tyrion's guardsmen also took over the wine bars and brothels in the vicinity that evening - but this also applied to the Ironborn and the two hundred soldiers of the Imperial Army that Daenerys had taken to Braavos. The previous evening there had already been initial fights. Despite strict instructions to stay away from the men on the other side, injuries and perhaps even deaths were to be expected over the next few weeks.

As the men entered the pub, a huge white dog with a missing ear appeared out of nowhere and began to sniff Sam. But it wasn't a dog, Tyrion realized at once, but a direwolf.

"Ghost", said Sam. "What are you doing here?"

"Hello", came Jon's voice and the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch pushed his way through the crowd to the Westerosi.

"You shouldn't be here", Tyrion said, sharper than intended.

"I'm here to buy supplies for the Night's Watch", Jon replied.

"And this is so important that you have to take care of it yourself instead of having one of your officers do it", Sam said sarcastically.

"It's about Daenerys", Tyrion sighed.

"I had a dream", said Jon. "I believe she is in danger."