章 16: Chapter 14
At this point, Daenerys figured she should have been used to assassination attempt by now. She had been shocked when she had nearly died due to poison when she had still been married to Drogo and then nearly died in the House of the Undying several times in Qarth. Thankfully she had her dragons to rescue her and they had fried those blue skinned bastards to a crisp before she, Ser Jorah and her Dothraki servants had managed to steal Xaro Daxos's possessions and buy a ship so they could sail to Qarth to purchase the Unsullied.
It was along the way that she had met Ser Barristan Selmy one of her elder brother's former guard and the former Lord Commander of the usurper Robert Baratheon's Kingsguard. He had informed her of Baratheon's death and that he had been searching Essos for her to ask her forgiveness and join her queen's guard.
It hadn't taken much prompting on his part to allow her to see the merits in having such an accomplished commander as one of her protectors, especially after the life she and her brother had had of dodging assassins.
He had also informed her that Renly Baratheon was dead, slain by his brother's hand and that Stannis Baratheon had attempted to obtain control of the city by a raid on the Blackwater Bay. He had stuck around just long enough for the Lannisters to prove successful against Stannis before Joffrey had insulted him and he had left.
Cersei Lannister was a treacherous woman and Barristan had been gravely insulted not only because he had had his own suspicions about what had happened to King Robert from her hand, but also because her vicious boy was no king at all but a bloody coward who fled from the battle at the first sign of trouble.
There was no honor in serving a craven like that.
He had served in a time when there was once honor in the Kingsguard. Theirs had been a position of pride and honor and duty that he had been happy to serve in. And now what was there?
A man who was more dog than human, a child beater and several other fools that were only there because they were being paid by the Lannisters to do whatever Joffrey told them to do.
Barristan wanted to serve where there was honor again. He had felt a certain amount of guilt ever since he had agreed to be part of King Robert's guard.
The prince he had sworn to protect was dead so what else was there for him? The only other member of the guard with any sort of competence was Ser Jaime and Barristan had a certain amount of distaste for him after what had happened during the sack of King's Landing.
Perhaps Queen Daenerys had been his last chance for honor in this life, to prove that he wasn't some sort of turncoat.
But whatever the case the youngest Targaryen had accepted him and Barristan felt some sort of honor in being able to take up the mantle of knight as it should have been once more. And now a person from the past was standing before him reminding him of the time he had served in the capital.
After he had heard of Stannis Baratheon's papers flying about the city which the queen claimed were all lies, along with the disappearance of Prince Caspian the only royal child who had looked an inch at all like Robert Baratheon, Barristan had begun to wonder.
He might have left to serve said prince himself if news of the prince's terrible shipwreck and death on the way to Dragonstone hadn't reached him. It had been a terrible shame as Caspian seemed to be the only one of the princes who had shown any interest both in honor and in making something of himself.
Barristan had liked the boy as he was driven in both mind and body and had spent many an hour instructing him in the finer points of swordsmanship. He had been a quick learner, with a good eye and keen instincts and Barristan had wondered if there might be a time when the prince took over for his uncle as the greatest sword in the seven kingdoms.
If he had received word that the prince had lived Barristan wasn't sure what he would have done. He knew he felt a responsibility to the remaining Targaryens as it was from them that he had defected.
Robert Baratheon had been a man who had taken the throne by conquest and to this Barristan wanted to cringe at how the king had laughed when the bodies of the dead Targaryen children along with Elia Martell had been presented to him.
He had felt an almost inexorable guilt then for it had settled on him that he had betrayed the family he was sworn to protect. At the time he had not known that there were some still alive however and had he known, he might have left to the Free Cities so he might have defended them.
And now Viserys Targaryen was dead, and his sister was the last of the Freehold of Ancient Valyria. She had as good a right to the throne as Prince Caspian had and now that he was faced with this conundrum, Barristan didn't know what to do.
Caspian Baratheon had been overlooked by his mother the queen who had poured all of her time and effort into raising his older brother to be a king and had essentially left the second prince to his own devises.
That was to Tyrion Lannister and Ser Barristan's gain however because the boy was relentless in his training and in learning all he could about history and numbers and politics.
There had been many ways in which he was like his grandfather and that had worried Barristan, but while the boy did possess a ruthless streak he was also fair, something the old knight had respected.
And now here he was, standing before him alive. He was taller and leaner than the last time Barristan had seen him and he looked the spitting image of his father decades earlier before politics and whoring had gotten the better of King Robert. He looked more like a king than a prince.
But there was something different about him from the last time the old knight had seen him. There was a hollowness and a deep grief in the prince's eyes that had not been there before. His blue eyes so like his father's had grown hard and unyielding like those of a man twice his age who had seen too much of the world. The smirk he bore reminded Ser Barristan rather disturbingly of his grandfather Lord Tywin for there was no warmth in it.
Dany for her part, stared at the young man she had never seen before who had saved her life. He looked oddly familiar and rather world worn. He could not have been much older than she was as her sixteenth name day was fast approaching and he appeared no older than that. He had long thick black curls that brushed collar of his cloak and piercing deep blue eyes that were narrowed at her. He was very handsome but there was something about him that seemed rather ruthless as well.
What also alarmed her was the fact that Ser Barristan seemed familiar with him. And so she turned to the commander of her guard and looked at him with confusion in her eyes. "Do you know this man?"
"Aye," the old knight replied. "I know him. When I trained him he had the potential to be one of the greatest fighters the Seven Kingdoms has ever seen and I see that has not changed at all."
"Flattery Ser Barristan," the young man said his smirk widening at the knight. "Pretty words does not become you thus."
"I do not flatter your grace, only state the truth," the knight replied back and Dany looked between Ser Jorah and Ser Barristan in alarm. "Your grace?"
"Aye," Barristan replied and he suddenly looked ten times older than he already was. "May I present to you your grace, Prince Caspian Baratheon. The second son of the late King Robert."
Dany whirled back around to stare at the young man and suddenly it all made sense.
Her brother Viserys had ranted on and on how the Usurper Robert Baratheon had stolen the throne from the Targaryens and how he was a traitorous dog. One of his favorite sayings had been that the dragon answered to no one.
She had hated that expression because it had allowed him to do whatever he wished to her and claim he was unanswerable to anyone.
In time she had come to hate him too and that was why it had been all too easy to watch him die after he had threatened to cut her child from her womb and drag her back to Pentos kicking and screaming.
She had watched as Drogo melted his skull open for that.
Drogo would have killed anyone who would have tried to harm her and there were times when she missed his protection. She missed when someone else made the decisions so she didn't have to. But there were also times when she didn't miss it. She was a queen now and with the death of her brother she had been able to grow as a person and develop her own ideas and her own opinions and do things herself as she had never been able to or allowed to do before.
It had led her to a dangerous and frightening new path in which she led and didn't follow anymore. The most frightening thing she had ever experienced was when she and the Dothraki were wandering towards the red waste towards Qarth after Drogo's blood riders had ridden away.
She had never been more certain that she was going to die in her life and the only thing that had kept her going were Drogon, Viserion and Rhaegal. They had provided her with comfort and enabled her to escape the Undying in Qarth before burning them all to a crisp.
And now here she was in Astapor looking to purchase the Unsullied and going over some potential ideas for buying them with her advisors. There was only one idea that she kept coming back to however.
And then there had just been an attempt on her life which this young man standing before her had thwarted.
And he was a Baratheon.
Somehow the past had come back to her.
"You're a Baratheon?" she asked narrowing her eyes at him.
To her surprise, the young man grimaced. "Unfortunately. Though I would thank you to remember your grace that we cannot be defined by our fathers. Surely that's something you understand Ser Barristan? You served both of them."
It might have been her imagination but Dany wondered in that moment if the old knight felt as uncomfortable as he looked. She frowned.
Viserys always had nothing but good things to say about their father and how the Lannisters had betrayed them, that the small council had been full of lackwits that had failed Aerys Targaryen in their time of need.
But then Ser Jorah had told her some rather uncomfortable things that he had known her father to do and she wasn't sure what to believe anymore.
Pushing aside her confusion, Dany narrowed her violet eyes at the handsome young man. "And what would a son of Robert Baratheon be doing in Astapor so far from his home and his Lannister mother?"
It had been meant to be an insult to test him but instead of getting offended, to her surprise he laughed. "I have no mother your grace, I haven't had a mother for a long time."
Dany frowned at his word games. "Did Cersei Lannister birth you or not?"
His blue eyes sparked dangerously. "Aye she did, but that is all and I wish to have no further dealings with her unless it is to put her head and that of my brother on a spike where they belong."
Her frown deepened at the words that were filled with a quiet venom. Just what had happened to this man to make him so full of hate?
The anger was practically a shroud he wore about him like the cloak he was wearing. Dany observed the hand that was still gripping the venom encrusted blade tightly and she looked at him a bit warily.
"You seem to have a good deal of vengeance in you for someone so young," she observed and a bitter laugh tore from Caspian's lips. "Those who have not suffered some form of pain in this world your grace are those poor bastards who have not set one foot outside of their keep."
His blue gaze flicked quickly over to something near the wall behind them and then he raised a hand. "It's alright Orin, you can come over now."
As Dany turned around to catch sight of who this person called Orin was, she saw a small boy no older than ten years old with two baskets in his hand hurrying towards them.
He skidded to a stop in front of Caspian with the baskets clasped tightly in his arms, looking singularly relieved. "Are you alright my lord? You moved so fast I could barely see you!"
Dany was a little startled when Caspian reached out a hand and ruffled the boy's hair in a familial manner. "I'm fine Orin, a few bruises perhaps but nothing major."
He took one of the baskets from the boy's arms and looked back at the knight beside her. "May I ask what news from Westeros Ser Barristan? It's been a long time since I have been back."
"I'm afraid the news is dire your grace," the knight replied. "Not long after you were shipwrecked, your uncle Renly Baratheon was killed by some sort of…witchcraft I am told it was."
Caspian's eyes widened and for a moment he felt the breath leech from his lungs and he knees became unsteady. "Dead," he whispered in shock.
"I'm afraid so," Ser Barristan said gravely. "Your other uncle Stannis Baratheon then declared himself king of the seven kingdoms and took the other banners of the Stormlords to besiege the capital."
"And then?" Caspian asked, his mouth dry.
"The attack was to be by sea," Barristan continued. "But it would appear that your other uncle Lord Tyrion had an attack planned that Stannis was not expecting. Wildfire."
"What?" Caspian whispered in shock. "That's not possible. The alchemists guild who was responsible for producing it was disbanded years ago."
"I wish that were true your grace, but it would seem that Queen Cersei was in control of stock piling it and they were making it for her."
"Go on Ser," Caspian said feeling sick and not sure he wanted to hear anymore.
Barristan looked grave. "I was in the battle and happened to see what your lord uncle did. He had a ship filled with wild fire and set it loose into the bay towards Stannis's entire fleet. And then as soon as the ship was close enough, he had an archer on the wall set an arrow ablaze and fired it at the ship."
"No," Caspian whispered almost to himself.
"The effects were instantaneous and nearly the entire fleet was destroyed. What became of Stannis Baratheon I have no idea. If he is not dead than he has somehow made it back to Dragonstone. Although I doubt it."
Caspian suddenly felt all of his hopes deflate of claiming an army and returning to Westeros where he might kill his brother and his mother for their treacherous nature. His brother was dead, both of his uncles were dead and therefore any hopes he might have had for vengeance were gone too.
What am I going to do now? he thought to himself. I have nothing to go home to. Almost all of my family are dead.
"What of the north?" he asked quietly.
"They were still several days ride from the capital when the attack occurred," Barristan explained. "I was dismissed from the Kingsguard soon after."
"Dismissed?" Caspian asked with a frown. "Why?"
"Age," the knight said bitterly. "The queen mother claimed I was too old to be serving the king and that I was to be…put out to pasture."
Another bitter laugh from Caspian's lips causing Orin to look at him in alarm. "It seems all people who might do some good for the realm are being sent from it in odd and bizarre ways."
Daenerys was still looking at him somewhat oddly. "So it would seem. And how does the son of Robert Baratheon come to be all the way across the Narrow Sea from King's Landing and not by choice?"
"That your grace," the prince said somewhat heavily, "is a very long story and one I am hesitant to tell here for there might be any number of other warlocks about."
"I agree," the blonde man standing rather close to the Targaryen said. "Your grace we should really move to a safer locale."
"Yes," the beautiful blonde said blinking slightly. "We should retire to the ship. Will you accompany us Prince Caspian? I would hear more of your story and it's the least I owe you for saving my life."
Caspian glanced down at Orin who was gripping the basket of money they had managed to obtain and looking back and forth between him and the others so fast it was as if he were a puppet on strings.
While a part of Caspian wished to be alone with the grief he was feeling for the loss of his uncles which was beginning to weigh on him, a part of him also wished to talk about it with someone. Ser Barristan was a familiar face that he hadn't seen in a long time. He had been his mentor at home along with his uncle Tyrion and knew him very well.
Perhaps Ser Barristan would provide some semblance of normalcy. He didn't fault the old knight for changing his loyalties what with Joffrey on the throne and Caspian being assumed dead and all.
In a way, his father had taken the crown from prince Rhaegar, the woman's brother and if anyone had as theoretically good a right to the throne it was Daenerys Targaryen.
Theoretically speaking of course.
There would be plenty of other people who might disagree.
But at the moment Caspian didn't really want to think about who might next ascend the throne as he was suddenly feeling exhausted.
Just for a moment he didn't want to think about politics. For weeks his mind had thought of nothing but survival and the absence of it now was prompting a loss of adrenaline in his veins which made him almost want to fall over from fatigue.
It might have been a good idea to refuse but then he also couldn't think of a good enough reason to. Ser Barristan had been in Westeros longer than he had and he really did want to hear more news of home.
So instead of refusing he graciously inclined his head.
"Thank you your grace. I would be honored."
As it turned out, Daenerys Targaryen had come to Astapor in the same manner Caspian had. The ship with what turned out to be her Dothraki servants in it was in the harbor closer to the rock wall that formed the edge of Qarth only several hundred feet from the one Caspian and Orin had come in.
It was a bit of a grander ship with crimson and golden sails and the length of it was about thirty feet longer as well.
The Dothraki eyed him and Orin warily the moment he boarded the ship in the company of Ser Barristan, Daenerys and the man known as Ser Jorah Mormont.
Caspian had been a little surprised to see the former heir to Bear Island who had been sent into exile for selling trappers into slavery with the last Targaryen but he hid it well. Then, he remembered that he had agreed to spy on Targaryen in return for pardon for his crimes.
When they had boarded the ship, Daenerys said a few swift commands in Dothraki which Caspian did not understand and then gestured to him rather quickly. The eyes of her servants shifted to him quickly before going back to her.
But what she had said must have been favorable because they all nodded and went back to the work they had been doing securing the ship. Caspian kept his hand on Orin's shoulder the entire time and ensured the boy was never far from him. He also kept a firm hand on the handle of the basket that was carrying his dragons.
He knew this was a potentially dangerous situation as he didn't know what the Targaryen would do if she learned that he was in possession of four of the creatures.
She may have seemed appreciative of the fact that he had saved her life but he also wasn't so foolish as to trust her yet. She was a Targaryen and he was a Baratheon by blood, their fathers had warred against each other and even though both were now dead that sort of bloodshed wasn't the sort of thing one got over easily.
She seemed more level headed than her ancestors but he wanted to assess that for himself before he decided on anything.
The moment her servants had gone back to their work, she beckoned Caspian along with Ser Barristan to the helm of the ship where they might talk privately without anyone else overhearing them.
Surprisingly, she didn't ask Ser Jorah to come with them something which showed on the man's face. Privately Caspian wondered how long the man had been with her to warrant such an expression but that was pushed aside the moment the three of them and Orin were alone.
Daenerys smiled at the small boy who bowed slightly in return, his eyes a little wide when confronted with someone as beautiful as she was.
"Now then," Daenerys went on as soon as Orin had stepped to the side somewhat and Caspian gave the basket with the dragons in it to his servant. "Tell us your story Caspian Baratheon."
The prince waited until his servant had walked off to the side before he spoke. He wanted them away from the queen for the time being until he was able to see whether he was trustworthy or not.
They were only a few days old and no bigger than kittens at the moment, thus being very vulnerable if someone tried to kill them.
Caspian didn't think she would try and kill Naelarion, Edrion, Veneys and Zergyx if she knew about them. But he wasn't convinced that she wouldn't try and take them from him either.
And that was when he would see who was faster with a blade.
The idea of talking about the past was something that made him want to grimace but at the same time Caspian had a feeling that he wouldn't learn anything about her if he didn't tell her anything first.
And so with this quid pro quo exchange that had been silently agreed upon, he took a deep breath and began.
He wasn't sure how much to tell her because no matter how he sliced it, the end result was his telling her that all of his siblings were bastards and he was Robert Baratheon's only trueborn son. And Caspian couldn't afford to do that. If she knew that she had the only true son of the former stag king in her possession there would be very little to convince her to not kill him and thus any other claimants to the throne would be swept away. His siblings were bastards and thus had no claim to the throne so they would be simple enough to dispatch.
Caspian would be essentially sticking his neck out for her to take off if he told her the truth. So that left him with only one possibility.
He needed to lie.
So he did.
"Upon the death of my father and the ascension of my older brother to the throne, I was informed by my uncle that I would be leaving for Storm's End. What his purpose was for sending me there I do not know. Upon my arrival to the keep I spent a few weeks in the care of Ser Cortnay Penrose who was the designated castellan of Storm's End as well as with my bastard brother Edric Storm."
For a moment the sixteen year old had to pause, his hands gripping the railing as he remembered the innocent little boy his half-brother had been and the life that he should have had before his mother took it from him.
After a few seconds however he mastered himself and continued.
"My uncle was away at the time gathering the stormlords preparing to march on King's Landing because there was a belief that was circulated between my father's younger brothers that my father's death while hunting was not an accident."
"Did you believe it?" Daenerys asked. She was looking at him closely and he could tell that she was trying to see whether or not he was lying.
This was something his uncle had taught him when it came to moving throughout politics. One couldn't be a Lannister without learning to lie effectively.
"I'm not sure," Caspian went on because he didn't know for certain although given what had happened to Edric he was more inclined than ever to believe that his mother had something to do with his father's death. "But whatever my feelings on the subject were, they didn't seem to matter. My uncle informed me he had a ship ready to leave for
Storm's End the next morning and that was the last I ever saw of the capital."
He decided to be honest about his half brother's death as it wouldn't hurt for the Targaryen to see where his motivations lay but that was all. After that it was all too easy to say he had decided to sail back to King's Landing with his uncles to make her pay for her crimes, both against the king and his brother before his shipwreck had happened and he had been stranded in a cave in the Gulf of Grief somewhere. After this he had been picked up by a merchant ship who had tried to kill him the moment they landed in Astapor after he had said he wanted to buy Orin and he had been forced to take them out."
As soon as he said this, Barristan looked somewhat impressed and a little pleased that the two weeks he had been stranded hadn't dulled his instincts.
Daenerys meanwhile looked wary. "And so your purpose in Astapor is to return to Westeros Prince Caspian?"
He knew that she wanted to see whether or not he intended to make a claim for the throne. In truth, Caspian wasn't sure what he wanted anymore.
He knew that he wanted to take the heads from his mother and brother's shoulders and mount them on spikes for all the city to see. And if that was something that made him a king well then so be it.
But now as he looked around and took in the manner in which Daenerys Targaryen seemed to be handling herself, it wasn't hard to guess that she was trying to make a claim for the throne as well.
Gods does the entire world want that chair? He wondered to himself. For most of his life he hadn't and now that the potential for it was in his grasp all he could think about was how he wanted to remove the corrupt people from it.
"My purpose has become so far to take vengeance on those who took my uncles and my brother from me," he said quietly. "And after that…well I suppose we'll see."
He could tell as they stood at the back of the helm looking out into the harbor of Astapor as the sun was beginning to go down that she wasn't entirely pleased with his answer.
"And do you plan on making a claim for the throne?" she asked.
Before Caspian could answer, there was a screeching sound from above and he looked up startled to see a large winged creature fly past the deck of the ship and land on the railing a few feet from him.
And here he had thought he was the only one in the world who had them.
For here was another dragon that very clearly belonged to Daenerys Targaryen.
It was much larger than his dragons and appeared as if it were a few months old at the moment. It was completely black except for the redness in its wings.
Caspian was startled but more so more so from the fact that there were more dragons than he had known about rather than being shocked at seeing one for the first time.
He could feel the Targaryen's eyes on him assessing his reaction and his rather lack of one must have surprised her.
Well then, the prince thought to himself. It seems the game has changed somewhat. I'll need to be even more careful now.
Though he had dragons of his own, they certainly were not as large as this one and it would be a while before they were fighting size. This dragon would be able to eat his own without much effort and Caspian knew he could not make any sort of illusion to the fact that he had dragons.
Curious, he took a step forward towards the black dragon and after a moment hesitantly held out a hand to brush the top of its scaly head.
To his surprise the dragon stuck its head forward and allowed Caspian to rest his hand on the top of its head making odd clicking noises the whole while.
"He likes you," Daenerys said sounding a little surprised. "Drogon is normally quite temperamental and the last person he let touch him like that besides me was my servant Dorea."
"Was, your grace?" Caspian asked taking his eyes from the dragon to look into her violet ones for a moment.
He was surprised to see that she looked rather sad. "She was a…friend of mine. She died a while ago."
Caspian nodded, too well appointed with grief to press for details. "I see. Is he the only dragon you have?"
She shook her head. "There are two more, Viserion and Rhaegal but they are below resting."
Three dragons…and I have four that have just hatched. Bloody hell things have just become more complicated. And again the game has changed in a way that I have not foreseen.
At the moment Caspian knew he was treading on dangerous ground. His dragons were going to become bigger and he was going to have a hard time hiding them until he knew if he could trust her or not.
"And with these dragons you intend to take back the Seven Kingdoms your grace?" he asked, deciding he would just try and feel her out.
"I wish to abolish the slave trade here first," the queen replied. "But then I can focus my attention the Seven Kingdoms."
"And may I ask why you want them your grace? That throne has brought nothing but grief to those who have sat upon it since Aegon the Conqueror came to Westeros."
He spoke the truth for he was beginning to revise his opinion of power entirely. It was a tool and a good thing but ultimate power did corrupt and it did ruin. It ruined his father who didn't know what to do with it. It corrupted his mother and Joffrey prompting them to pillage and murder and burn. It had destroyed his uncles and nearly all of the Stormlords and any chance Caspian might have had for reclaiming it was gone.
There were still his dragons of course but it would be a while before they were fighting size and Caspian was many things but a butcher of men wasn't one of them. He only killed when it was absolutely necessary and not for pleasure or for gold.
"I want them because they are mine by right," Daenerys continued. Her tone had grown rather soft as she looked at Drogon who was still preening under Caspian's hand.
She reached out one of her fingers and rubbed the scales down the side of Drogon's neck. "When has the Seven Kingdoms had a person who can rule justly and fairly?"
"You think you can be that person?" Caspian asked with an eyebrow raised.
"I do."
"And what makes you think that you will not succumb to power and it will kill you like all the other kings who have come before us?" Caspian countered. "Every man or woman who has fought over that throne has never died of natural causes, or if he has it is only to leave chaos to his heirs and ancestors."
"That's not the sort of queen I want to be," Daenerys said.
Caspian uttered a bitter laugh. "You will forgive me your grace but I've heard many people say that. It was never my father's intention when he waged a rebellion before I was born to take a throne. He simply wanted the woman he loved back and when he did not have her at the end of it, the result was a broken man who held onto the past until the day he died and beggared the realm nearly into destruction."
"And you will forgive me if I do not sympathize with the Usurper," Daenerys said somewhat coldly.
Caspian wasn't offended. "I can agree your grace, I was not inclined to sympathize much with him either."
Her cold expression changed to one of curiosity. "And why would you not sympathize with your father?"
Instead of answering her right away, Caspian turned back to Drogon and asked another question of his own. "Tell me something your grace, what is it that makes a man a father? Is it simply his seed or is it something more?"
Daenerys looked at him for a long moment as if trying to read every inch of his face. "Both I would think."
"A good answer," Caspian said. "And you would be correct. It is no one thing that makes a man a father. It is his seed which allows your physical body to form but it is his will and character that enables you to become the son or daughter of this man. And if you look throughout history you will see very few men who were actually fathers. The examples they set for their children carry over to the next generation and the next generation and the next. And each time the pile of bodies grows higher and the ocean of blood grows deeper and those at the bottom are left with a higher hill to climb and a longer swim to reach the top."
He turned to her then. "And you think you can do better? What makes you so certain?"
Daenerys stared at him for a long time and Caspian got the distinct impression that this was something she had never thought of before.
Caspian chose to take his hand from Drogon then and look her in the eyes so she would know he was deadly serious. "You've grown up away from the throne your entire life your grace and you will forgive me if I think your opinion is somewhat biased as mine is as well. But to think that you can rule better than those who have come before us simply because you have a claim and you think you can do better is the height of hubris."
Her eyes narrowed at him and he could tell she was frustrated that she didn't know what to say to him.
"And what do you think Ser Barristan?" she asked the old knight standing next to her who had been oddly silent throughout the entire exchange. "Do you think that the throne is worth retaking?"
The knight suddenly looked older than Caspian had ever seen him and he truly looked as if he were beginning to feel the weight of his age.
"May I be frank your grace?" he said after a moment.
She nodded. "Please."
"Prince Caspian has a point. I have served the throne of Westeros for a long time and fought in numerous wars, but there are very few kings who I can say have had a successful reign and made the realm better in the process. That is not to say that you cannot be that person, but you will need to approach it in a different manner than those who have become before you."
"And how do you suggest I do that Ser?" Daenerys asked.
"Surround yourself with the right people," Caspian suggested and both of them turned back to him. "The best way you can benefit both your rule and the people living in the kingdom you hope to rule is to surround yourself with people who have the same ambition you do. And that is to make Westeros a better place."
Daenerys looked at him for a long time, a look of intense speculation on her beautiful face. "And is that something you want Caspian Baratheon?"
"What do I want?" the former prince asked with a tired laugh. "I only want two things right now in this very moment and they are a soft bed and a warm meal that doesn't consist of fish. After that I will consider how deep my desire for vengeance is and whether or not I can do some good for the world whether or not it is on this side of the world or the other."
Her gaze on him was very intense but somehow Caspian wasn't intimidated and stared right back.
"You're absolutely right," she said quietly almost as if she were talking to herself. "And if I want to be a better ruler than my father and my brother and your father than I am going to need the right sort of people around me. And the right step in that direction is appointing the right sort of someone who will be the second most powerful person next to me. I am in need of a Hand Caspian Baratheon and so far you have convinced me that the person I should name for that position is you."
Of all the things he had expected her to say with regards to her reign, asking him to be her Hand was certainly not one of them.
He blinked once…twice…three times…and then finally found control of his tongue.
"Me your grace? You just met me no more than two hours ago and we have had all of one conversation since then. What makes you think you can trust me?"
It was an honest question. He certainly wouldn't trust someone he had met two hours earlier even if that person had saved his life.
"I don't," she said calmly. "But I'd much rather have someone who is going to be honest with me and you are either an incredible liar which I am not completely convinced of or you are telling me the truth. We have someone here who can vouch for your character as Ser Barristan has known you almost his entire life and he is someone I trust absolutely not to lie to me. Do you think Prince Caspian would be a good choice for my Hand Ser?"
The older man looked over the young man in front of him and Caspian was a little surprised to see a flash of pride in his eyes before it disappeared. "I don't think there would be anyone finer your grace. He still may have lot to learn but so do we all."
"There you have it then," Daenerys replied turning back to Caspian who was feeling increasingly shell shocked. "You are someone who will not just tell me what you think I wish to hear like the other flatterers and fools that were on my father's small council. It would be an interesting political manoeuvre having you as my Hand, but at the same time you are the only one I have met so far who understands the political climate of Westeros and have for the past several years. Ser Barristan was not called to Robert Baratheon's small council which was a very foolish decision and I am in need of someone who will help make the hard decisions. You didn't even really know be before you were telling me the horrors of power and the throne I seek to take. And that tells me that even if I don't trust you, you know enough about power to not muck this up."
Caspian blinked and then gave her a small smile. "I didn't think I was that easy to read."
She shrugged. "You are not. But you are also someone it seems who is rather fearless when saying and doing things. And I am not simply asking you to advise me because you saved my life earlier. But because I trust Ser Barristan's opinion of you and I know that he would not steer me wrong."
Caspian looked carefully between the young queen and his mentor and Lord Commander of the new Queensguard. Ser Barristan seemed completely at ease with the idea and if this was something the Lord Commander thought to be a good idea, than perhaps it was.
But the former prince wasn't quite so certain. He still had his dragons to think of. There was nothing to go back to in Westeros now, his uncles were dead, the stormlords had gone underground and his psychopathic brother was ruling with his mother standing behind the throne with that familiar cruel smirk on her face.
Just thinking about what she had done to Edric made him seethe and he had to clench his fists and loosen them a few times before he calmed again.
At the moment, there was no army waiting for him in Westeros and he had seen enough killing to last him a lifetime. In truth Caspian was exhausted but perhaps that had more to do with the fact that he needed to sleep and eat something other than his mental exhaustion.
So he did the only thing he could do at the moment.
"Before I agree," he said slowly. "Perhaps a…probationary period is needed."
Daenerys looked intrigued. "A probationary period?"
"Aye, it will allow me say…one week to ascertain your style of ruling and see how capable of a ruler you will be your grace. And at the end of it, than I will give you my answer."
She cocked her head to one side at him obviously not used to being refused. "Very well…but may I ask why?"
Caspian's small smile increased. "Suppose I wish to get to know you better? I believe in seeing someone away from the political spectrum is the best way to ascertain their character. You don't know me and I don't know you. We are bound to think very differently on a variety of issues. Better that we realize that now rather than a year from now when we do not agree on anything and the result is a serious problem. And during this week you can also see how I will act as your Hand so you can decide whether or not you want someone like me by your side."
It was a bit of a gamble, but Caspian wanted some time to consider his dragons. He wanted to understand whether or not Daenerys would be a capable ruler and how she might act if she were to ever learn that he had dragons.
If he chose to not be her hand and return to Westeros with Orin and the dragons, unless he chose to remain hiding, there was no way he'd be able to disguise Naelarion, Edrion, Veneys and Zergyx for long.
Dragons tended to gain a lot of unnecessary attention and there was not a chance in hell that Caspian was going to allow his mad brother to get his hands on the four winged creatures. Other than that what else was there for him to do?
If he chose to accept the position of the queen's hand than it meant he would be given an inordinate amount of power more than he had ever had before which would be second only to the queen herself.
It was a tempting offer and one he wanted to consider further.
The only thing that was holding him back were the four small creatures that Orin was currently keeping a close eye on in the basket across the helm of the ship.
"It is a sound suggestion your grace," Ser Barristan offered and Daenerys appeared to be thinking rather hard.
"I suppose it is. Very well Caspian Baratheon you shall have your week. But I would know your answer soon."
The second prince bowed slightly. "Of course your grace."
"Now then," the queen said turning around and calling something down in Dothraki to one of the servants below on the main deck. "I believe it is time for a hot meal."
She turned back to the former prince who was watching her curiously. "Will you join us Caspian?"
He noted that this was the first time in their two hour long conversation that she had called him by his name. It sounded rather nice on her tongue.
And this time the smile he gave her was genuine. "That your grace is something I would be sincerely happy to accept."
The next two days passed in the following manner:
Every morning, Caspian and Orin would rise from the boat they had come to Astapor on and take the small boat back over to the ship that Daenerys had brought with her.
Orin seemed to blend in well with the Dothraki and one of the older ladies had taken him under her wing and was beginning to teach him a few words and phrases. It was the first time Caspian had seen the little boy smile in all the time he had known him.
After allowing a fair breeze to blow the ship he and Orin had been staying on over nearer to the ship that the queen and her entourage were staying on.
The little boy knew a trick for turning the ship that Caspian had never seen before and he was a little relieved when the two vessels were closer as it would allow people to come back and forth.
When she saw the enormous crates of rather expensive spices in the hold of the ship Caspian was living in, Daenerys had been rather impressed.
She seemed even further so when Orin told her somewhat excitedly that Caspian had killed off the entire crew just to free him.
She didn't say anything about it to Caspian however for which he was grateful. In truth he didn't think it was that heroic. Doing what needed to be done had become second nature to him, bravery and heroics really had nothing to do with it.
In the mornings, both she and Caspian would walk through Astapor with Ser Jorah and Ser Barristan following.
Daenerys had explained to him that she had come from a meeting with Kraznys the magister of this city about purchasing the Unsullied forces for an army so she could use them to retake Westeros.
Caspian had concurred that it was a good plan but at the same time questioned the legitimacy of conquering a kingdom with slaves.
She had surprisingly agreed with him and suggested that should she purchase them, it would be her objective to free them before asking them to serve her as free men.
"There is always a gamble when slaves are freed," Caspian explained to her as they walked slowly down the walk of punishment. He hated that place but it was one of the few areas they weren't likely to be over heard because of how loud it was.
The archway up ahead of them which was crowned with several Unsullied soldiers themselves looked impassively down on them as they walked along slowly.
Caspian had offered her his arm as a gentlemen would and this was something that had been drilled into his head by his mother since he was a boy. She had taken it which allowed them to walk closer together so they didn't speak as loud.
Caspian could feel both the eyes of Ser Jorah and Ser Barristan on them but it was the former than unnerved him slightly. Ser Jorah had been the most silent out of all of the servants of Daenerys about his potentially joining this odd band of comrades. He had to remind himself of the Mormont's so called pardon from Iron Throne. And thus he has to be careful in presence of the Bear Islander. While, he was polite to Caspian but the prince got to feeling there was a part of the knight that was wary of him.
But that was something he had decided to put aside for now.
"They may be grateful enough that they will wish to serve you," he went on. "Or they may choose to go their own way. As deplorable as it is, the lack of choice in slaves ensures their loyalty to you, take it away and you have no idea how they might respond. We can perhaps count on the knowledge that they do not know anything else than fighting so that may be a deterrent for their leaving but one does not know for certain."
"I do not wish to be a hypocrite by taking back the Seven Kingdoms with slaves," Daenerys said rather vehemently.
"Nor should you be," Caspian went on. "And they may yet choose to serve you if you should buy them. You will not know until the deed is done. Such is the nature of the impossibly irritating future."
Daenerys snorted quietly. "It does seem to have a rather exasperating habit of slipping through my fingers each time I reach out to it."
They shared a small smile and Caspian felt slightly more comfortable now. He had only known this young woman for a few days but he could tell she had a good heart and a desire to do what was right.
He was only concerned with what she might do with power once it was given to her. Her people called her khaleesi because of her marriage to a Dothraki khal who had died several months ago. And to them she was the mother of dragons because of the three she had raised from the egg.
And what the bloody hell does that make me? The Father?
Naelarion, Edrion, Veneys and Zergyx were growing quickly and were now about cat size as opposed to kitten size. He had seen puffs of flames emanating from their nostrils and knew that soon they would be able to breathe fire without any prompting from him.
They were beginning to fly as well and thus Caspian had had to restrict their movement to the belly of the ship and keep the door to the lower levels closed at all times. He knew that there would be a time coming when they were too big to hide anymore and their presence would become noticeable.
At that point, he would either have to confess to Daenerys that they existed and hope for the best, or else he would have declined the offer to be her hand and traveled somewhere else.
At this point however, he was a little tired of being on the run and it was rather nice to stay still even if it was for a couple of days at least.
"So then as part of this probationary period," Daenerys went on. "How would you advise me on what to do?"
Caspian pursed his lips slightly. "Purchasing eight thousand Unsullied will be a monumental thing and as you are, you do not have the funds to do."
"That was my thinking as well."
Caspian paused, considering something for a moment. "There is a way that you might be able to obtain them."
"Tell me then, I would hear it."
Caspian chuckled to himself for a moment. "It is my thought that the only thing you possess to make him part with this army are your dragons."
Daenerys flicked her gaze to his, violet orbs asking if he had taken leave of his senses.
Caspian's calm blue ones blinked back at her. "Hear me out your grace. From what you have told me, this Master Kraznys is a cruel and narcissistic man whose eyes gleam at the sight of women and coins, is that not right?"
She nodded.
Caspian nodded. "Right. Then you need to appeal to his greed. Right now there are only three known dragons in existence and if you were to offer one of them to him there is not a doubt in my mind that he would refuse. Now for my next question. Do Drogon and Viserion and Rhaegal listen to your commands the first time that you give them?"
Daenerys frowned at him. "They do. Drogon is the most temperamental of three of them but he is also the one who is most in tune with my wishes."
"Good," Caspian said. "Then he must be the one you offer to Kraznys."
"He is also the biggest so that may prompt the man to accept him," Daenerys mused and Caspian nodded. "Indeed. He may try to get as many as possible out of you but he must only be given one."
"It has merit," Daenerys replied. "But once I hand Drogon over to Kraznys what then? I will have an army yes but a dragon is worth more than any army, Aegon Targaryen proved that."
And then she stopped and looked at the eyebrow Caspian had raised and realized what he was getting at.
"Drogon will always only respond to your commands your grace," Caspian went on. "Therefore if you tell him to do something he will to it, even if he has a new master in name. And therefore you can use him to eliminate Kraznys."
"Like dangling a fish in front of a greedy man who is standing on the edge of the cliff and then yanking it away when he lunges forward so he falls off the cliff to his death," Daenerys neatly summarized and Caspian smirked. "Precisely."
She turned to him then. "That is a very Lannister way of thinking."
Caspian's smirk widened. "I had to inherit something from my grandfather and if his intelligence is the only thing I received well then it is a small price to pay for bearing his name in certain situations."
"I suppose it is."
The two of them turned around and walked slowly back down the walk of punishment. Over all the sounds of people talking to each other in their native languages, Caspian could hear the moans and low cries of the prisoners tied to their beams and left to bake in the midday son.
Caspian was just glad that Orin wasn't with him as the boy had begun to shake the moment he had stepped onto the walk of punishment.
He had a feeling that the boy had been in this area many times before even he had been sold to the sea captain from Qarth.
And that made Caspian even more curious to know about Orin's past.
"As soon as Kraznys is dead," Daenerys said to him quietly, prompting Caspian to turn his attention back to the beautiful Targaryen. "I am going to remove this pathetic excuse for a walk way and then set all of the slaves in this god forsaken city free."
Caspian wasn't as vehement in his verbal demonstration to get rid of the walk of punishment as he privately agreed. When he and Orin had walked down the walk of punishment the first time a few days earlier to sell their spices, he had offered water from one of the skins aboard the ship to one of the suffering slaves and what the man said to Caspian was something the Prince would never forget.
Let me die, for there are no masters in the grave.
And that was when Caspian knew something needed to be done.
He glanced at the Targaryen on his arm. "Well I suppose that can be discussed when the man in burning on a pyre."
Daenerys gave him a meaningful look. "And it shall be soon. No man should have a master with such power over them."
Caspian raised an eyebrow at her. "Then what do you call the gods your grace?"
She had an answer for that right away. "They are even crueler task masters."
The prince turned aware so he might look out over the walk of punishment and the sea beyond and see the sunlight glancing off the water in the harbor. "I simply prefer to believe that they do not exist. And if they do, they are even more sadistic bastards than the slavers in the Free Cities."
The look the queen gave him then was unfathomable. "Yes I suppose they are. But if that is the case than we must be better than them."
Caspian chuckled deep in his throat to himself which prompted her to look at him in surprise. "Did I say something amusing Prince Caspian?"
"No your grace," Caspian replied. "Though to many here and in Westeros it is known that to blaspheme the gods is to invite death."
Daenerys wasn't impressed. "If the gods wish for us to fear them then they should make themselves known to us so we are not simply bowing to effigies of stone and wood and metal. Otherwise what is the point?"
Caspian shrugged. "People need to have something to believe in."
She shook her head in disgust. "What have the gods done to help man since human beings were placed upon this earth? Nothing, people cry out to the Mother for deliverance from the pain of labour and then they die and the child is left to live in a cruel world with cruel people."
Caspian looked at her oddly then. He wondered for a moment if she were talking about herself. "Or where is the Warrior to protect a little boy with no defence from slavers and assassins?"
They both had grief they were dealing with and when he saw the look of empathy in Daenerys eyes, he had a feeling that she understood.
She set her mouth in a firm line. "Then it is my hope that after this that they will learn to believe in us."
Caspian raised an eyebrow at her. "Us your grace?"
She appeared very serious when she looked at him next. "Yes. If people need someone to believe in, why not another human and not some god whom they have no idea will hear their prayers. Why not us?"
Caspian felt a small smirk coming to his lips. "Yes indeed your grace. Why not us? And once this venture is complete there is also something that I want both for myself and for this city."
Daenerys fixed him with a look. "And that is?"
Caspian glanced down at her. It wasn't hard given that he was half a head taller than she was which he had been privately amused at. Her violet eyes stared into his blue ones with no intimidation or awkwardness whatsoever. She had a confidence in herself that was something he was coming to appreciate about her in the last few days since they had met.
It would serve her well if she became queen.
"Hope," he said quietly. "I would wish hope for us all."
It might have been his imagination but her eyes seemed to soften ever so slightly and she cocked her head to one side as she looked up at him.
"Then come Caspian Baratheon. Let us be the bearers of that hope."
クリエイターの想い 
DaSalvatore
DaSalvatore Upto 20 Chapters of Caspian the Great are on Patron, follow and subscribe at: /karansolanki
Don't forget to favourite, follow and review!
週次パワーステータス
-- 推薦
ランキング 
-- 推薦
チケット