[ A question she thinks upon every day. She has discarded claws from Viserion and Rhaegal both, her only mementos of her children. Missandei's face has begun to fade from her memory, for all that her giggle has not. She misses Ser Barristan's gentle frown and his cautious counsel. She misses her little cupbearers, and sitting in her pool as the fish nibble at her toes.
But that is all. ]
My king has shattered my peace, and the slavers have already begun setting up flesh markets outside my gates. Tens of thousands of Yunkish sellswords have ringed my city in steel. When I return, I shall return to a war. I will have need of an army.
[ It is only half the reason, but it is the reason she chooses to give. ]
[ zokla is quiet a longer time as she turns over the answer. it is hard to decipher lies when written down, but she thinks she can eke out shadows of truth and falsehoods in the choice of words, in the speed with which the next ones appear. this feels like truth.
she answers honesty with honesty. ]
You should kill the slavers.
[ zokla is a braavosi girl, raised in a city that has never known a slave. the history is known; the law is clear. in braavos they would be arrested, but the dragon queen isn't braavosi. and she has three dragons. ]
[ Burn them all. They are not her words, and they never have been, but something tweaks at her all the same. ]
I have heard this counsel before. [ And from, she assumes, more wizened people than this girl.
It has grown tempting. ]
I could slay them under some pretense, that is true ... but thenceforth comes the armies, the plagues, the would-be usurpers. No choice is without unintended cruelty. I have learned that much.
[ The question is now whether the good outweighs such a cost. ]
[ zokla chews her lip. she hadn't thought of that. she doesn't know the region. but it still galls her, the very idea of slavers going unpunished. she would kill them all if she could.
she can't, though. she isn't there. and she does not know. the kindly man would remind her of how little she knows. her response is what truth she knows. ]
[ There is always talk of war. It is difficult to gauge from whence in the timeline Zokla has come: before or after her marriage to Hizdahr? ]
The Yunkai'i do not love me. [ She spared the Yellow City when they gave up their slaves. Now comes the bitter repayment of mercy. ] Qarth has declared for Yunkai, as well. Their guilds grew fat off the spice trade and the backs of slaves.
[ She might have laughed, if she did not feel so scornful. Her wedding to Hizdahr had been pleasant enough; it was all that came after that had left a sour taste. ]
I did not choose from whence in time I came. I'd wondered whether you had news, but ... well, it does not matter.
[ Normally, it would set Dany to giggling, but something needles at her. Has Loki learned of this girl's origins, as well? If he had, why hasn't he told her so? She would have liked to speak with someone of her own world. ]
We should expect no less of a god of mischief. [ The unvoiced tone here is wry, but fond. ] He was the first to greet me in Oska, though it was not willingly done. How did you come upon him?
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But that is all. ]
My king has shattered my peace, and the slavers have already begun setting up flesh markets outside my gates. Tens of thousands of Yunkish sellswords have ringed my city in steel. When I return, I shall return to a war. I will have need of an army.
[ It is only half the reason, but it is the reason she chooses to give. ]
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she answers honesty with honesty. ]
You should kill the slavers.
[ zokla is a braavosi girl, raised in a city that has never known a slave. the history is known; the law is clear. in braavos they would be arrested, but the dragon queen isn't braavosi. and she has three dragons. ]
You should burn them all.
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I have heard this counsel before. [ And from, she assumes, more wizened people than this girl.
It has grown tempting. ]
I could slay them under some pretense, that is true ... but thenceforth comes the armies, the plagues, the would-be usurpers. No choice is without unintended cruelty. I have learned that much.
[ The question is now whether the good outweighs such a cost. ]
What other tales do they tell of Slaver's Bay?
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she can't, though. she isn't there. and she does not know. the kindly man would remind her of how little she knows. her response is what truth she knows. ]
There's talk of war.
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The Yunkai'i do not love me. [ She spared the Yellow City when they gave up their slaves. Now comes the bitter repayment of mercy. ]
Qarth has declared for Yunkai, as well. Their guilds grew fat off the spice trade and the backs of slaves.
Is it yet known that I wed?
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I didn't mean to offend. It must have been a great wedding.
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[ She might have laughed, if she did not feel so scornful. Her wedding to Hizdahr had been pleasant enough; it was all that came after that had left a sour taste. ]
I did not choose from whence in time I came. I'd wondered whether you had news, but ... well, it does not matter.
Have you been here very long?
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Do you miss it?
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But I like it here too. I have mine own room and bed and food and all my clothes are new and made to my size.
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[ She thinks to speak of the big house with the red door, and her lemon tree. But she has seen no face, and not even Missandei was told. ]
There are no bedpans here, as well. There is relief in that, surely.
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You don't sound very much like a queen.
Are you a queen here too?
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[ She corrects them when they assign her the wrong title, but she's found that many have gleaned what she is simply by speaking with her. ]
Japes, though ... if the gods would like to take those from me, as well, they will have to find me in this place.
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And the gods here are odd.
Loki would probably have much to say about relieving himself.
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We should expect no less of a god of mischief. [ The unvoiced tone here is wry, but fond. ] He was the first to greet me in Oska, though it was not willingly done. How did you come upon him?
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Gods must have their sport.
Do you speak Braavosi? One day, I should like to hear it again.
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[ aka duh. ]
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She could say that her own Low Valyrian accent is Tyroshi. She could say that she left Braavos when she was a little girl of five. Instead: ]
Some other time, then.
Valar morghulis.
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