A/N: Daenerys is just chuffed to bits guys~
-x-X-x-
Home. At long last, she was finally home.
It felt almost surreal, really, to be here after all this time. Even before the Conquest, before all the battles that led to the creation of both King's Landing and the Iron Throne… Dragonstone was her family's seat. Dragonstone was where House Targaryen had set down roots before the Doom of Valyria, where they had fled when Daenys predicted the destruction of the Valyrian Stronghold.
More than that… it was the birthplace of Daenerys herself. It was here, in this very castle, where Daenerys had been born, her mother's life claimed in the process. And though she was just a babe when they were forced to spirit her and her brother away on a ship to Essos, Dragonstone still resonated with Daenerys in a way she never could have imagined. She finally felt like she was right where she belonged.
Her dragons agreed with her. She could feel them through the bond now, enjoying the island and all it had to offer. The people of Dragonstone were happy to have her here, the Lords of the Crownlands eager to turn on the demon tyrant and help her slip past his net to sneak her fleet up here instead of sailing right into the trap down in Dorne.
… Of course, not everything is perfect in this moment. Daenerys sits on the throne of her forefathers and Missandei stands alongside her. But Melisandre… Melisandre has most definitely seen better days.
It's strange to see the Red Priestess actually look tired for once. She's always seemed so perfectly in control of herself, down to every little detail of her appearance. And yet… the voyage has not been kind to her. Not to mention that uncovering the Dornish Plot had visibly taken a lot out of her.
Melisandre had almost failed on that front. She'd almost led them all right into the trap that House Martell and the demon tyrant were planning against them. Daenerys had to admit; it was disconcerting to see the Red Priestess struggle so much with reading the Lord of Light's portents in the flames after months and months of success. She'd always been so sure of herself before.
Even now, Melisandre continues to concern her. The Red Priestess is currently bent over a brazier, staring into the flames while muttering to herself as everyone else looks on. It's not just Daenerys and Missandei and her Unsullied Guards that fill the room to watch the spectacle either.
At the back of the throne room are numerous Lords from the area surrounding Dragonstone. Her House's most loyal supporters had been just waiting for the chance to rise up. The Minor Noble Houses from Crackclaw Point, House Velaryon from Driftmark, House Celtigar of Claw Isle… all good, strong men. Men who still held true to the House of the Dragon, even after all this time.
Meanwhile, in the center of the room, forced to their knees with an Unsullied assigned to each of them, are Lord Davos Seaworth and all of the members of his family who were on Dragonstone when she attacked.
Watching them, Daenerys can see fear in their eyes… though she suspects the fear she sees in Lord Davos to be more a fear for his family rather than himself. Everything she's heard about her enemy's Master of Ships marks him as a strangely honorable individual, in the end.
"… doesn't make any sense. Not a drop of royal blood… useless, all of them…"
Daenerys tilts her head to the side, picking up on Melisandre's muttered whispers. She's pretty sure that nobody hears them but her and that's only because of Daenerys' enhanced senses. Her body thrums with power at this point and that comes with certain benefits. Better hearing is just one of them.
Still, despite what Daenerys overhears, Melisandre straightens up from the flames she was just stooped over and returns to her Queen's side with as much grace as she can muster. Leaning in close, she speaks to the Queen quietly.
"… I would advise burning them all, my Queen. We must give proper thanks to R'hllor for helping us slip right under the tyrant's nose, after all. A proper sacrifice would… go a long way to repaying his benevolence."
Daenerys lets out a low sigh at that. Even after she'd confirmed that Davos Seaworth and his family had no royal blood in their lineage and therefore no power to be gained from their sacrifice, Melisandre was still trying to get Daenerys to burn them anyways.
She's reminded of the conversation that she and Missandei had back in Meereen that day, before leaving Slaver's Bay behind… along with the conversations they'd had throughout the voyage since. Did the Red Priestess really have Daenerys' best interests at heart? Did they really want the same things, in the end?
"No."
Melisandre rears back as if struck, blinking and staring at Daenerys with wide eyes as her advice is weighed… and unceremoniously rejected.
"Bring them forward."
The Unsullied pull Lord Davos and his family forward and push them down on their knees closer to Daenerys. None of them had heard exactly what Melisandre and Daenerys talked about outside of Missandei, so their fear only ratchets up. Davos Seaworth clears his throat, straightening his spine.
"Please… if you must kill me, I understand. But spare my children. The young ones if nothing else."
His voice sounds so defeated, so convinced that his begging will amount to nothing. And yet he tries anyways. Daenerys decides then and there that she likes him… all the while wondering what sort of man Axel Baratheon truly was, to leave his Master of Ships so broken and beaten. To reduce him to nothing but a whimpering dog… for shame.
"I currently have no intention of harming you or your family, Lord Seaworth."
The eyes of Davos and his family widen in disbelief at that, while Daenerys smiles benevolently.
"You need not fear me or my Unsullied. I have heard a great many things about you, Lord Davos. The other Lords of the Houses surrounding Dragonstone speak well of you and your time as both their nominal liege lord and the Master of Ships."
Lord Davos' jaw drops in shock and he finds himself twisting around to stare at the noble lords standing at the back of the Hall. He looks utterly flummoxed that they would speak up in his defense.
Daenerys can't quite see why he's so surprised though, truth be told. From what she's been told, Davos' predecessor was the Usurper's Brother, and while not apparently a demon like his nephew, he was a monster of a man who would rake you over the coals for even the slightest mistake.
Hells, even Davos himself had suffered from Stannis Baratheon's tyrannical rule… the finger bones he kept in a pouch around his neck to this day were evidence of that.
Daenerys giggles, drawing Davos' eyes back to her. He looks… completely baffled at this point. Amusing.
"I understand what it must have been like, slaving away and doing everything you could to keep you and your family alive, first under the likes of Stannis Baratheon and then under his monstrous nephew as well. You are not to be condemned for surviving this long, Davos Seaworth. Rather, you are to be commended."
His mouth opens and closes, but no words come out. He's been struck speechless by her generosity. Smiling, Daenerys beckons to her feet.
"Please. Bend the knee to me Lord Davos. If you do so, you will retain your position as Master of Ships on MY Small Council. Dragonstone will always belong to House Targaryen, but I will even allow you to continue stewarding my seat once I take King's Landing. You and your family will be safe under the protection of mine and my dragon's wings."
Silence falls as the entire hall becomes positively charged with tension and nervous energy. Daenerys waits for Lord Davos to fall all over himself and start swearing fealty to her on the spot while thanking her profusely for freeing him from the demon tyrant… but instead, the man hesitates.
For a long moment, he looks at her. And then his eyes slowly slide to his family, sweeping across all of their kneeling forms. Finally, he looks back… and bows his head.
"… I'm sorry. I can't."
Whispers and murmurs break out among the Lords at the back of the hall. Daenerys' smile drops and she finds herself growing angry. Melisandre even leans in again, whispering in her ear about making an example of the fool for spitting on her generous offer.
But… Daenerys just stares at Lord Davos, unable to see anything but a whipped dog and a fearful man. And she realizes… she realizes why he won't say yes. Why he won't bend the knee. It's not out of any great loyalty to his current masters, not really.
No, he's afraid. Not for himself really, but rather for his family. He's afraid that Stannis and Axel Baratheon will slaughter them all upon hearing of his betrayal. Even here and now, with Daenerys offering him her full protection, he doesn't believe that she can keep them safe.
Frankly, that would anger her if she didn't know just how powerful the demon tyrant was supposed to be. And Lord Davos was said to have witnessed his strength firsthand with his own two eyes when the Ironborn rebelled. Daenerys and her dragons might have burnt a fleet of unmanned ships at anchor in a show of force when they first arrived at Dragonstone, but Axel Baratheon was said to have sunk dozens of fully manned warships after singlehandedly killing the largest kraken Westeros had reportedly ever seen.
Letting out a breath, Daenerys forces her smile back onto her face and shakes her head.
"I understand, Lord Davos. Do not worry. I will give you another chance once the last remnants of the Usurper's House have been burnt to cinders by my dragons. After Axel Baratheon and Stannis Baratheon both lie dead at my feet, we can revisit my offer."
Davos Seaworth looks exceedingly pale as Daenerys gestures for her Unsullied to pull him and his family away. He opens his mouth to say something, but nothing comes out. Perhaps he wants to warn her, but he's afraid to do even that much. It matters little, in the end.
Lord Seaworth and his family will spend a while in Dragonstone's cells and once she's killed the demon terrorizing Westeros, the former smuggler will finally be free to bow his head and serve a ruler who will actually appreciate him and all that he's accomplished.
With them removed from the throne room, the noble lords who had been waiting in the back watching all of this slowly come forward one by one and start giving their oaths and swearing their vows to their new Queen. They seem happy to do so after her gentle handling of Lord Davos. Daenerys just smiles at the sight, even exchanging a look with Missandei to her right. The other woman smiles back and nods to her approvingly, lighting up Daenerys' world in happiness.
Meanwhile, Melisandre fumes over to her left… but Daenerys pays the Red Priestess little mind for now. She was rapidly falling out of favor, truth be told. Hopefully she would prove herself useful in the coming days or… well, they would just have to wait and see…
-x-X-x-
Axel's first, second, and third instincts are all to fly over to Dragonstone the moment he receives the news so that he can put an end to this once and for all. In hindsight, it felt like he'd been a fool to even try to go along with the trap down in Dorne.
Of course, Tyene was doing an even better job of castigating herself for her failure than he ever could. In the end, Axel couldn't even really be angry at the blonde Dornish woman, because she seemed to be ready to throw herself from the highest part of the Red Keep for failing him.
He'd stopped her and told her that her life wasn't hers to give and that she wasn't allowed to die until he said so. That seemed to do the trick for the time being.
Margaery wasn't doing much better. The Tyrell woman was pale as a ghost when she found out that several Lords of the Crownlands, mostly those either located on the coast or on islands in the Narrow Sea, had betrayed Axel and sworn themselves to Daenerys. Westeros was supposed to be loyal according to Margaery and her grandmother's network. And yet…
That said, he WAS still angry at Arianne's family down in Dorne. Given Axel highly doubted that anyone close to him had been the leak, he had to assume that someone in House Martell's camp had told the last Targaryen about the trap and warded her off.
Of course, it was worse than that wasn't it? Not only had Daenerys Targaryen avoided the trap they'd been preparing for her in Dorne, but she'd also managed to completely leap ahead in timing altogether, arriving in the Narrow Sea a week early and landing on Dragonstone before anyone on his side knew that she was there.
Unfortunately, Axel couldn't just go over to Dragonstone and kill her and all of the traitorous Lords who helped her. Maybe if she only had one dragon he could… but she didn't have just one dragon. She had three. And if she knew what he was capable of, she would be a fool to keep them together.
Rather, it was far more likely that she would send one or even two of her dragons to circle around in the night and aim to attack once he'd left King's Landing behind. And if that happened… Axel wouldn't be there to protect his pregnant Queens or any of his subjects. The entire city, from everyone in the Red Keep to Flea Bottom, would burn.
And so instead, Axel found himself staying up all night, floating above the Red Keep on constant vigil, peering out into the dark just waiting for the first spark of flame to signal that they were under attack. It was all he could do if he wanted to protect those most precious to him, in the end.
But… the attack never comes. A day passes. And then another. And yet, while the Targaryen has solidified her hold on Dragonstone and word of her three dragons flying around the island and the surrounding area reach his ears, she never shows up.
It's enough to drive a man mad… but Axel has found himself in a stalemate like this before and he remembers how he handled it then. Maybe, just maybe… there's a way to cut down on the bloodshed and prevent Daenerys Targaryen from burning large swathes of his Kingdom before he can kill her and all three of her dragons.
And so, on the third day since the Dragon Queen took Dragonstone, Axel Baratheon sends his enemy a letter. And he prays most vehemently to the Seven that she's not entirely unreasonable.
-x-X-x-
A/N: Reminder, Daenerys is an incredibly unreliable narrator. She really thought Davos was afraid of Axel and Stannis, when in reality, he was just deathly terrified of her for the sake of his family, lmao.
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