Chapter 37: Chapter 37
11th Month 267AC
I was beginning to get dreadfully tired of people trying to burn my city. It was becoming more than a little vexing, especially after the last one.
Marching into the situation room with purpose, getting the attentions of the other men of import that were inside. "Your grace." They all greeted at once, bowing as they did so.
I raised them up as I rounded the table they stood around. "Can someone explain to me why the fuck my city is on fire?"
"Saboteurs, your grace." Ser Desmond Merchant answered. Looking him over, I recalled who he was. One of the old guard from my grandfather's administration, the Lord Commander of the City Watch. "Several of our patrols came across them after dark spilling oil across the docks, warehouses and many a ship."
"Tell me you captured some?" Duncan asked, a frown playing at his lips.
Ser Desmond nodded. "Some and more, Lord Hand. Give it time, and we'll soon know who sent them."
"Good." I said with a nod. "I want answers. Do what you have to." Never thought there would come a time when I would be quite alright with torture. Actually, I shouldn't be alright with torture. Torture was iffy. Fuck it, I'll deal with it afterwards. "The fire?" I prompted.
"We have it under control." Marq Stokeworth told me. He ran a hand on top of the map that rested on the table. It was a map of his city and his hand came to a stop on the docks. "We've stopped it from spreading anymore from this block here. But," he then ran his hand further down the representation of the docks. "Another one was started just a few blocks away. I have my men dealing with both, but they have come under attack from the saboteurs. They either fire some bolts or arrows then slink off into the shadows. It's been hampering the fire fighting effort."
Marq Stokeworth happened to be the Chief of the City Fire Brigade. He was the one I had placed in charge of making sure that when a fire did happen, as in this case, he would be able to direct the fire fighting efforts well enough along with a myriad of other duties that came with a fire brigade.
"I've had groups of gold cloaks running protection detail on the fire crews. Hopefully, this will curb the boldness of these saboteurs." Ser Desmond informed me. "But most of them are being used to try and keep the order."
I raised an eyebrow. "Order?"
"Memories of the fire seven years ago are still very much fresh in the minds of the people, your grace." Ser Desmond said. "They want to help as much as they can with the fire fighting. I've had men stop them from rushing towards the docks. Of course, there are others that are trying to use this chance to loot and commit other kind of crimes."
Marq Stokeworth shook his head. "Not that I mind the bravery of the people, but in this case, they will be more of a hindrance than a help. Ser Desmond has been doing good work to making sure that the people leave this to the professionals."
I looked at the chief policeman. "If you need any more men, don't be afraid to ask. We'll be able to spare some guardsmen and knights to help keep the peace."
Ser Desmond bowed again. "I will let you know of any change in situation, your grace."
I dismissed Ser Desmond and Marq Stokeworth after that. It just left me and my Hand in the room. Duncan passed me a chalice of mulled wine. I looked up as he held it in front of me.
"Drink up," He told me. "I believe it's going to be a long night. That, and we'll probably need more of this."
I took the chalice and downed some of the wine. I grimaced slightly. I didn't agree with the taste of mulled wine, but I far preferred this to wine itself. Swirling the contents of the chalice, I spoke to my uncle. "How much would you be willing to say this involves the Tyroshi?"
"A fool's bet." Duncan walked himself to his own chair. "They have been harassing our merchants and we've been harassing theirs."
"I'm starting to think the Tyrosh problem needs to be solved soon enough." I was getting rather tired of this little, sort-of war we were having. Both of us would look the other way when one of our own disrupted their own interests in a way.
"Make peace?" Duncan suggested, purple eyes flickering towards his own chalice, the contents within still as the God's Eye lake. "Admirable. But would Alequo accept it? He's after all, one of the most prominent members of the Nine."
I snorted when I thought of the Nine. "And the only one of note at that." I didn't hear much about the rest or what they were doing, but before Ser Joffrey had died, he had informed us enough to know that whilst some of the rest of the Nine had set up petty kingdoms of their own, they were nowhere near as successful as Alequo.
If I remember correctly, one of the Nine had set himself up as King of the Disputed Lands, quickly taking quite a chunk of territory that was claimed by Myr and Lys. Suffice to say, the two Daughters of Valyria took exception to this.
Apparently, he was now involved in a grinding war of attrition against the two cities with defeat inevitable.
At the very least, he was stubborn.
I took another drink from my chalice. "Well, we should at the very least make overtures of peace. I would rather not throw us into another war." I didn't mean to beggar the realm by constantly fighting wars. I wasn't going to be Richard the Lionheart.
"Who would you sent?" My uncle asked. He rubbed at the smartly trimmed beard that he had been growing. "Someone of prominent stature in the realm. Anyone less and Alequo might very well take it as insult."
That was true. The Essosi might make overtures of the Westerosi as being nothing more than barbarians, they sure played to the same tunes as we did when it came to little things like that. Mayhaps I was being too hard on them. For all I knew, back on Earth, sending someone that wasn't of suitable status could very well be seen as an insult.
"I would sent you, truth be told. A prince to a prince." I admitted. "But that would be foolhardy. For all I know, Alequo could very well capture you and try to use you against me or as some sort of bargaining chip to be used in some other way."
Duncan's eyebrows creased slightly as he frowned. "True. I would say that the harming of envoys is frown upon by ancient hospitality from the furthest of reaches of the east to the west, north to south, but history has proven that some men care for nothing as such."
"Tell me about it." The Freys and the Red Wedding came to mind. "I will have to sleep on this. I'll probably have some sort of answer later on."
xXx
The fires down by the docks had raged on for most of the night and only until a little after the sun had rose from the east was it put down. I had said I would sleep on it last night, but I had been unable to find any sort of sleep whilst my city burned.
Again.
The dock fires hadn't been as bad as the one that had happened because of my carelessness along with the scheming of the maesters several years ago, but I certainly knew I was going to feel this fire in my incomes. I cared for my cash cow more than some what would think is appropriate.
But I had business to attend to. Just because a fire had happened in the city did not mean I could just leave everything to the side for now.
It was about time that I met with Tommen Arryn. Duncan had been right. I was a king, not a merchant. My high lords cared about these things.
And it's not like I knew anything about being a merchant anyway. I just saw a lot of gold coming into treasury and hugged the gold for all it was worth.
"Your grace." Tommen Arryn bowed when I made my appearance.
I bid him to take his seat. "My lord." His branch of the family might have been ignored by the rest of the family and weren't considered true lords, but he was still a lord nonetheless.
Tommen Arryn lived up to his name of Arryn. In fact, I would dare say that if Hitler saw Tommen Arryn, he would have been proud to have him serve as a picture perfect example of the typical Aryan that he so endorsed. Blue eyed, blode haired and fair skinned, he was Hitler's dream or any a maiden's in truth.
Of course that he was going to be meeting royalty, he had come dressed in his finest clothes and in the style of the capital as well. What I meant as in the 'style of the capital', was that he simply wore a suit. Apparently, I was more of a trendsetter than I thought I would be.
I just realised that half of my court wore suits. It had become so much a common thing that I had completely come to accept it and not even notice it. I just noticed it on Tommen simply because it was mostly courtiers new to court that stood out like a sore thumb among the suits and tuxedos that had become more or less common in the capital.
I certainly hadn't seen him wear one when he first made his appearance. He certainly was wearing one now.
I noticed the white falcon of Arryn flying above a grey gull stitched onto his left breast. I moved to the decanter at the side. "Drink?" I offered.
Tommen Arryn shook his head. "No thank you, your grace."
I nodded and poured myself one. I was already here, might as well and I was rather parched. "I hope your stay in the capital has been pleasant...apart from last nights festivities."
"More than pleasant, your grace. King's Landing has always been the jewel of the Seven Kingdoms. Somehow, you have made it shine brighter than it had already been." Well, he was certainly a flatterer, I would give him that.
I rounded the table to my side and took my seat. "Been here before then, I take it?"
He nodded. "On business. It honestly surprises me every time I make port now. It's so different from how I remember it in my youth. I remember having to look at a map once, to make sure that we had sailed to the right destination, so different it was!" He finished with a pleasant chuckle.
I joined in as while. "The credit has to go the architects and the builders. Without them, this city would be wholly different." I placed my cup onto the table and wringed my fingers together. Time for business. "You are here to buy my ships."
Tommen Arryn's back straightened as he nodded. "Aye, your grace. Your clippers are simply something revolutionary to seafare. Not even the swan ships of the Summer Islanders can match their speed and cargo carrying abilities. House Arryn of Gulltown would very much like to have some of those ships in it's trade fleet."
I picked up my drink and leaned into the cushioned leather of my chair. "How many ships do you currently float?"
"Thirty-seven, more than half of them cogs, some war galleys to protect them on long journeys. We even boast one of the few swan ships outside of the Summer Islands."
I raised an eyebrow in pleasant surprise. "A swan ship? How did you come across that?" From what I understood, the Summer Islanders were fiercely protective of their ships, much like how they were fiercely protective of their goldenheart bows.
"Piracy, your grace."
I think I nearly choked on my drink. I did not expect him to just admit to it like that. "How honest of you."
"Honesty builds trust, your grace. And I would very much like it for you to trust me."
Well, that wasn't such a bad thing to have. "Not a bad policy to have, Lord Tommen." I pulled out a license and made a show of it to stamp it with my seal. "Very well, my lord. After having read your petition, you can now purchase clippers for your own use. Take this license to the Arsenal and make your order. I suggest you have the gold on hand though, your ship will be ready for you by the end of the day."
Tommen Arryn might as well have been salivating as he stared hard at the license that I pushed over to his side of the table. "So it's true then? The Crown possess a shipyard of the scale of the Arsenal of Braavos?"
I smiled then. "Mayhaps a little bit bigger. We do have more land to spare, after all."
The merchant-lord smiled then, shaking his head as he rolled up the license. "Many have tried to replicate the achievement of the Braavosi and their famous Arsenal. Many have failed, until you."
I raised my cup. "Until me."
"If not overly presumptuous of me, your grace, but how did you come to do it?"
"Crown secret, I'm afraid."
"Perhaps there is more than a measure of truth in you being blessed."
Actually now that he was here. "House Arryn of Gulltown boasts itself to be amongst the richest Houses in the Vale, no?"
The merchant-lord nodded his head, a little bit of pride in that little action. "The only ones richer than us would be the more prominent houses of the Vale. Our cousins the Arryns of the Eyrie. The Royces of Runestone. The Redforts of Redfort. House Grafton of Gulltown. Although many of them decry us for how we came to make our wealth." He finished, perhaps a little bitter.
"We all have to make our way in this world somehow." Says me, the guy that was born into royalty. Not much making into the world on your two feet when everything is given to you. "I can't decry a man for trying to put food on the table for his family."
Tommen Arryn had a strange look in his eyes but he nodded nonetheless. "Aye, that we do, your grace."
"I have a venture in mind. A venture that could very well prove to be more profitable than most. I have the men, the material and certainly the gold, but it never hurts to have partners in the venture."
"And you would like for me to invest in it?"
"If you wish. It will be costly, both in gold, men and material, I will not lie to you about that. But the numbers for it certainly mean that it will return the initial investment quicker than the time it took to build it."
I could see the gears turning in his head before he nodded. "I'll think about it your grace. May I have your leave?"
"Of course. Fair travels in your journeys, my lord." Tommen Arryn left after that, more than likely going straight for the stables and demanding for his horse before riding hard for Aegondale and the Shipyard there.
Alright, with that done, I looked to my appointment book. Who was next in todays dealings? Flipping through the pages, I noticed I was free for the day.
Huh, nice.
I was about to take a moment to relax before turning to my adminstrative duties before a knock rang of my door. It seems I wasn't going to be relaxing anytime soon.
"Come in!" I yelled out. I smiled when I noticed who it was. "Harry! Ryam!" I greeted my former squires as they walked in. I rose up from my seat and rounded to give each of them a hug. What can I say, the two little shits had grown on me, Ryam as well, even though he was political suicide for anyone somewhat barring me. "When did you come back?"
"Just now." Harry answered. He looked out the window that faced the Blackwater Bay, but I had an inkling that he was looking in the direction of the docks. "We saw the burnt buildings. What happened?"
"A fire." I told them as I bid them to take a seat. "And it wasn't an accidental one as well."
Ryam shook his head. "That explains the gold cloaks then. We found the man you sent us to look for."
I smiled. That was good news. Very good news. "And?"
"He's sort of an arse, but he's here." Ryam stabbed a finger in the direction of the door. "He's out there. We sort of insisted that he come see the king. We figured with how you said you were sending us on an important task, you wanted to talk to him as soon as possible."
"Very." I said with a nod. Ryam rose up from his seat and went to the door, opening it before inviting the man in. Maegor Targaryen certainly looked Valyrian. And a bit like a girl. Long silver-gold hair, and purple eyes, with eyeshadow that accented those very same eyes and richly dressed in Lyseni silks. He was youthful looking to the point that it was difficult to tell how old he was. I knew for a fact that he was older than me. I rose up from my seat. "It's finally nice to meet you cousin."
Ryam and Harry shared a look. "Cousin?" They said at the same time on some unspoken signal.
I gave the both of them a nod and indicated to the man who's eyes seemed to be studying me just as much as I was studying him. "Ah yes, let me introduce to you Maegor Targaryen, son of Prince Aerion Targaryen and Princess Daenora Targaryen."
Both of their jaws dropped as they looked from me to Maegor. My distant cousin smirked at the expression of the two as he bowed with a flourish. "Prince Maegor Targaryen at your service. Although I discarded my name in favour of that of Rogarre."
I took in that news, for it was certainly news to me. Why would he discard his name? The Targaryen name held some sway across the narrow sea more so than the Rogarre name nowadays. "Would you like to take a seat cousin? Drink?"
"I'll take the seat." He told me as he took the seat. "But no thank you for the drink. I don't need wine to dull my mind. I'd like to keep my wits about me in this place."
I nodded as I retook my own seat. During that time, Harry and Ryam seemed to have got their wits back and had stopped gaping. Ryam seemed to be indecisive as he looked between me and Maegor. "I-I don't understand. How are the two of you cousins, if you don't mind me asking, your grace?"
"Obviously because we share blood. Have you no wits in that brain of yours?" Maegor asked a bit too harshly before shaking his head. Ryam's face tightened somewhat, but Maegor continued speaking. "If you must know, my princely father happened to be his grandfather's brother."
"The Brightflame." Harry mouthed out, after a moment. "You are the son of Aerion Brightflame."
Ryam looked at Harry, eyebrows raised. "That madman?"
"Yes." Maegor said with a lazy drawl. "The fool that thought he would be transformed into a dragon by drinking wildfire."
I had an inkling that Maegor didn't hold that much love for his father. I looked towards Ryam and Harry. "Thank you for this. You can leave us now, I may have more tasks for you in the future."
My former squires nodded before they left me and my cousin alone. The two of us looked at each other, a silence that was neither uncomfortable or comfortable all around us.
Eventually, I decided to break it. "So Lys..." I began slowly, breaking the ice so to speak. "How was that like?"
"Clean. Lovely." His too perfect of a nose scrunched up somewhat as he sniffed. "And certainly smelled better."
I took offence at the last one. The smell wasn't even as bad was he was trying to make it out to be. It was barely even noticeable in most places of the city.
"Well, Lys is called the Perfumed Sister, so logic would dictate it smelled so." Now that I thought about it, Maegor smelled of lilacs. "Married into the Rogares? An old, distinguished and respected family."
My perfumed cousin shrugged at that. "True, but wealth matters more than most in the Free Cities. The Rogares are everything as you said, but certainly not wealthy. That is what matters there."
House Rogare had declined in stature and power after the death of Lysandro Rogare and his brother, Drazenko, consort to the Princess of Dorne. During their time, the family were amongst one of the most powerful families in the world. Hell, their bank was even more powerful than the Iron Bank and that was no easy feat to come by.
I motioned towards his clothing. "It must not be all that bad. You are dressed finely enough."
My cousin gave me a wry smile then. "Mostly my royal mother's doing. And the rest from Bloodraven...convincing her that it was more than likely best for me to be raised away from Seven Kingdoms."
Okay, perhaps I was beginning to understand a little as to why he didn't like the family name all that much. Bloodraven probably had the best intentions in mind, but I wasn't convinced that his 'convincing' did not involve subtle allusions to either Princess Daenora's very own death or that of her babe.
I winced. "I want to say I'm surprised, but Brynden Rivers, as great a servant to the Iron Throne he was, was a bit of a bastard."
He snorted in amusement at that moment. "What do you want of me?" He asked plainly. "I tire of this. I'm sure your interest in me never rested in anything more than wanting to know your distant relative or be the architect of some great family reunion."
"Who is to say that was not my intention from the beginning? Family is important."
He gave an amused snort at that. "Please, we both know better."
I couldn't help but nod. I sadly, knew better and a house divided was something I was actively trying to work against. I wanted House Targaryen to be as thick as leaves and if not, when shit hit the fan, even if some didn't like each, they would rally to one another and help each other out.
I was optimistic, something that was entirely stupid in Westeros, but I rather liked to think I was on the verge of something.
"I want to build a bank. A royal bank." I told him plainly and as simply as he had asked.
A perfectly looked after eyebrow of silver-gold raised up Maegor's brow. "...A bank?"
"Yes." I said with a nod. "A bank."
Maegor rested his elbow on the arm rest of his chair and propped up his face on his fist. "Banks are not easy things to simply build. They take time...and gold."
"I have gold. More than I actually know what to do with, and even more in the future. I also know that banks take time to build, unfortunately, I'm rather positive that no-one in Westeros knows how to bloody build one."
The more important thing was that I didn't know how to build one. Hell, as silly as it was, I didn't even know how I planned to use it other than the official means for people to store their money or borrow money from.
From that alone, I already knew that my sixth form Business Studies teacher would be all up on me simply because I wasn't identifying a need that I could exploit for profit or for potential customers. I needed to read up on the subject some more.
Truth be told, I planned for the bank to develop a vibrant economy whilst at the same time, as political capital to any House that wanted to borrow money from it. If they couldn't pay back their loan, well, I do believe that land is one of the securities that banks prefer to have. Something about it never losing it's value and instead, actually rising.
Not exactly what a bank is supposed to be used for, but well, sometimes, I needed to play dirty.
Of course, when land is taken in lieu of payment of a loan, the bank would own the land instead of the crown. But I had in mind that the crown had right to first bid on any land taken and I would probably play with a couple of strings to make sure the crown got the land.
I wasn't going to be greedy about it. Some of the scraps would be thrown to other Houses that made bids for the land, at the very least, to give the impression of being fair. I just had to be very careful about it.
Perhaps I can look into setting up a few shell companies...or lords. Lords would be preferable. Less questions asked.
My cousin almost looked amused and said derisively. "Yes, the high born tend to look down on such matters. Ridiculous really, they borrow enough coin from each other and the banks across the narrow sea." Lilac eyes looked at me. "Is that why you asked for me, to build you a bank?"
"Yes." I said with a nod. I smiled at him then. "Come now cousin, I know of your history. Did you think I didn't know you had married into House Rogare? A noted banking family? And your experience in such a sector? If I wasn't so amused by the notion, I would think myself insulted."
"Although the notion of having been spied upon irks me, I had suspected as much." He sighed before glancing towards the door. "Although your two pets didn't seem to be aware of who I was."
"They didn't know. I wanted to see their expressions."
He raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Why?"
"Because I thought it would be funny." I smirked. "Heh. It was funny."
Maegor gave me a dull look then. "You are a strange man, cousin, or should it be your grace?"
"Cousin, if you so wish, in private of course. In public? Well, we must pander to the public and their notions. Us Westerosi do care about how others perceive us."
"How vain of you." He drummed his fingers on the arm rest of his chair. "In truth, I would like to have nothing to do with the Seven Kingdoms. This place is foreign to me and from what tales my mother told me when I was young, full of liars and cheats."
"And Lys isn't full of liars and cheats?" I asked, deadpan.
"At least we are honest about it." He defended himself and his fellow Lyseni citizens. I supposed he was more Lyseni than Westerosi at this point. "We don't try to hide behind pretensions of honour and their likes. I sometimes think 'honour' is merely a word you lot throw around without knowing it's meaning."
Well, I couldn't really deny that.
Maegor continued to speak. "But...when my wife hears of this, she would be most likely furious with me at rejecting such an opportunity."
"Your wife?" I asked, amused.
He noticed my expression and shrugged. "She and the rest of her family, dream of times long past. When the name Rogare was something to be feared. To be looked upon with awe."
I saw a chance to pounce. "And this is a great opportunity as any. If you don't want to do it, at least do it for your wife. Your family." Of course, the one that he had chosen instead of the one that he had been born into.
Purple eyes of a different shade of mine locked onto my own eyes. "You aren't very much of a subtle person, are you?"
"I'm about as subtle as an aurochs." I told him with a shrug of the shoulders. "Sometimes, it depends on the day. Or the hour. It's not a very constant thing. I like it like that. Keeps people on their toes."
"You are supposed to not keep people on their toes." Maegor told me with a shake of the head in amusement. "May I have time to think this over? This is much a life changing decision that I have to make."
"Take all the time in the world, cousin." I said, smiling. "Of course, I don't mean that literally. We'll more than likely be dead by the time of the heat death of the universe." Actually, did that even matter in this universe? Clearly the laws of physics in this place didn't work properly so the same could be applied for that as well.
Maegor looked at me strangely then. "Heat...death? Pardon?"
I shook my head. "Nothing. Just the rambling of a man that has been worked too much."
When Maegor left, I think I had made a good enough impression on him. I was hopeful of him accepting my offer but it never hurt for Maegor to be encouraged from someone else other than me. Someone close to his heart.
With that in mind, I slipped out some parchment and began penning a letter to my cousin's apparently ambitious lady wife.
Dear Elaena Rogare...
Was trying to get to a man through his wife a bit of a bastardy thing to do? Yes, it very well was. I was a bit of a bastard though, so it was just fine.
And in truth, it was all about me trying to help my cousin's family. Family is important after all. But mostly the reasoning was because I was a bit of a bastard.
Before I could finish my first sentence, the doors that led into my office burst open. I didn't need to know who it was that had the gall and tenacity to just run into my office like that without knocking.
I sighed as I pushed my chair back as little feet pitter-patted of the floor, running around the table before jumping, with some struggle, onto my lap. I looked down at the mop of dark brown hair that looked almost black, queer little deep violet eyes that looked blue in a certain light looking up at me.
"What did I say about rushing into my office?" I asked sternly.
Theon just gave me a wide grin. "Not to do it!" He answered happily enough. It seemed I hadn't been as stern as I thought I had been.
Others soon joined me and my youngest in my office as Dany and Luc walked inside. I suspected my children's Kingsguard had wisely stayed outside the confines of my office. "We tried to stop him." Luc lazily drawled, looking around.
Dany eagerely nodded her head in agreement with her brother. "We really did. But Theon's fast."
"He's three." I told the two of them.
"He's a very fast three year old." Dany corrected. "Fastest in the world."
I rolled my eyes as I bounced the young boy on my lap, much to his amusement. "You need to look after your baby brother better. I'm a busy man."
Luc glanced at me and sniffed. "You don't look busy." He tried to reach for the letter in front of me.
I lightly swatted away his hand. "No. That's not for you."
"Why not?" He asked, curious. "I'm going to be king anyway. Might as well see all the letters. I'm sure most of it must be riveting stuff."
From his tone alone, I could tell that he was absolutely ecstatic about that. "I thought you wanted to be a Kingsguard?" I asked, curious.
Before Luc could answer me, Dany did it for him. "He wants to be an adventurer now. Wants to sail to the other side of the world. Like the Seasnake."
My heir nodded at his sister's words. "Uncle Benny says he's going to sail the world in the future. I want to go with him."
Luc let out a small cry when Dany pinched his arm. "You are heir to the Iron Throne. You just can't go gallivanting around the world." Although only six, my daughter's grasp of the Common Tongue and the big words was quite surprising and a half.
Luc gave his sister a look before pointing in the direction of Theon, who waved at his older siblings. "Theon."
"Theon!" My youngest parroted, enjoying himself on my lap. "I'm Theon!"
"Yes you are. Although the fact that you have to tell yourself that is a worrying sign. Mayhap he is a dullard?"
I frowned at that but before I could chastise her, Luc jumped to his brother's defence. This time, pinching her. "Don't say that. Theon is fine as he is. And he's three. What do you expect from him?"
Dany glared at Luc as she rubbed her own arm before looking towards Theon, her eyes softening. "Sorry Theon. I shouldn't have said that." Her brother looked on confused as she walked up to him to pinch his cheek. "You know I mean nothing by it. You are my favourite brother."
Theon giggled as he forced her hand away. "Stop that!"
"Favourite brother?" Luc repeated as I watched on with an amused smile on my face. "Well, at least I'm father's favourite."
Oh no, I wasn't about to be dragged into this. I decided to chastise my daughter on her previous words. "You might not have meant those words you said, Dany, but you shouldn't go around throwing a word like that around. It's a bad word."
Dany looked away from me, a foot of hers idly digging into the floor. "I know. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to."
"It's fine." I said with a nod after looking her over for a fair moment or two. "As long as you know not to do it again." I picked up Theon in my arms, much to his delight. "Now how about I come and play with you for a while? I have the time."
Luc jumped off his seat happily enough. "Can we play footie? I like footie."
"We can play whatever games you want." I told to every one of them.
I did have the time after all.
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