#queensguards

[acteurnl]

Voor een evenement met een Brits tintje kwamen onze Kings Guards in actie. Onder Elisabeth bekend als The Queens Guards. Officieel The Grenadiers Guard. Bij ons minder officieel maar gewoon enorm leuk om in te zetten voor evenementen en communicatie. https://www.acteur.nl/the-kings-guards-the-queens-guards-british-royal-guards/

[spiderliliez]

Ser Lorent Marbrand, the Queen’s Sworn Protector HOUSE OF THE DRAGON: S2 (2024) [+] EMMA D’ARCY [GIF Collection] ✨ [+] ..more on “HOTD”

Just a quick appreciation post for Ser Lorent. ⚔️🛡️ The fact that Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen wept for him in the book speaks volumes about how much she valued him. He truly embodied the honor of the white cloak.

[cruciology]

My most random ship has got to be Sansa/Podrick. I’m right about this I know in my heart of hearts he would treat her right.

[my-ass-as-cold-as-mars]

this poor guy

[aemondswifexoxo]

a thing that is pissing me the fuck off during this season of hotd is not the supposed scrapping of nettles, the sudden name drop of daeron, not even criston cole, but the fact that NO ONE in the black council has pointed out that rhaenyra needs more queenguards. by the start of the season she only had three, and since then they began dropping like flies. ser lorent marbrand is the only one left standing. where is the search for the other six??? aegon solved his kingsguard problem really quickly, why doesn’t lord celtigar or fucking arthur broome say “hey rhaenyra, maybe it’s time to start recruiting some men that will swear to die for you, because, you know, we’re at war and the people we are fighting against have already sent an assassin to kill you”.

while i’m on the matter, WHERE IS HAROLD WESTERLING??? last season it was implied that he would go to dragonstone, but it’s been 6 episodes and none of him. did he pull a barristan selmy and is on his way to volantis to declare himself to saera targaryen?

[lightningandfireinmybones]

what do you think about the new season of HOTD?

DUDE I JUST ONLY HAD TIME TO CATCH UP YESTERDAY

aemond speaking high valyrian so smooth,,, HOT

aemond tormenting aegon after aegon tries to torment him,,, HOT

milly back as rhaenyra to torment daemon,,, HOT

Jace’s new hair and backbone,,, HOT

and the emotional angst do be getting me, i’m feeling inspired

[therosepetalrps]

@n0rthsqueen・❥・𝐂𝐋𝐎𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐑

𝐀𝐒𝐊𝐄𝐃: for sandor : 〔𝟘𝟛𝟙. 𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕥𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕠𝕗 𝕒 𝕘𝕒𝕫𝕖𝕓𝕠 𝕒𝕤 𝕚𝕥 𝕣𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕤〕

『✣』 The rain, thin as it was, had already turned the snow to slush beneath his boots. The cold bit at any hint of exposed skin. Sandor was starting to fear that he'd never get used to it. Although he had the colouring of a Northerner, he did not have their veins — which he was sure were shards of icicles beneath their skin.

The weather was hell on his joints and even crueler to his bad leg. Chasing Her Grace around this godsforsaken castle did it no favours either.

He'd gone to her chambers intent on escorting her to the Great Hall for a long morning of conferring with her vassals. She had not been there; an occurrence which he was growing to expect. The little sneak was worse than her sister had been, he swore.

He trudged across the yard, having already checked the library tower, the kitchens, and nearly two dozen corridors. The rain was picking up, and with it, the clouds were smothering the sun's attempt to rise. He approached the small wooden structure built where the godswood met the Glass Gardens. He saw her silhouette, bolstered by the bulk of a dark, fur-lined cloak. He muttered a curse.

In his dun breeches and drab layers of wool and leather, he often looked more peasant than Queensgaurd. But that was indeed his role, in all but name…and livery. No white cloak, nor emblazoned sigils. Not even of his own house. He was no more a Clegane than he was a Targaryen princess. Not anymore. He was a sword, as he'd always been. Though, he was now a sword swung by a far more merciful hand than any that had wielded him before. If she ever let him swing at all.

Sandor stepped onto the decking, the wooden slats creaking beneath his weight, staring at her back.

❝ 𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐂𝐇 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒, ❞ he grunted, by way of greeting. ❝ 𝐍𝐎 𝐔𝐒𝐄 𝐈𝐍 𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀𝐍𝐘 𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐃𝐘 𝐆𝐔𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐒 𝐈𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐊𝐄𝐄𝐏 𝐒𝐂𝐔𝐑𝐑𝐘𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐅𝐅 𝐎𝐍 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐎𝐖𝐍. ❞

[desertdruidcrafts]

Some new giant variants, the two more demodands, a tiefling archer, a time dragon, and some fun little guys. I always enjoy designing giants and elementals. I'll have some variants out for these next week, including a purple time dragon like the 3.5 days.

[virgil-is-a-cutie]

Did anyone watch Quobo when younger?

Because I watched Jane and the Dragon and looking back and learning how actual royalty works I need to talk about it

[zoklaanogar]

ok hotd friends ──── seems i got a decent response to my planned hotd verse, so, please LIKE this post for a hotd starter from jon!

[hauntingblue]

AEMOND FIRED HIS MOTHER????!!!

[maegalkarven]

A future fic carcass I'll write when I write (after I finish 9 ungoing fics)

King Viserys dies at the wedding celebration of his daughter, Crown Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen.

No one else does.

I am a firm believer Otto and Viserys are the rot on the face of the House of the Dragon and without these two everything would be fine-ish.

Unfortunately, we need Vissy T for his kids to be born, so Viserys dies soon after Aemond is conceived. Sorry, Daeron, not this time.

Joffrey doesn't die because he doesn't manage to provoke Criston before the king dies.

Rhaenyra overrules his father's decision and marries Harwin Strong.

Their son Jacaerys Targaryen is the heir to the throne, Lucerys Targaryen is the heir to Harrenhal.

Daemon marries Laena and lives at Dragonstone (Rhaenyra grants him that), their firstborn is the heir of Driftmark.

Laenor joins the Queensguard and is sent to Dragonstone to protect Prince Daemon (ha) and his future heirs.

Criston Cole becomes the Commander of City Watch while still retaining his white cloak (what? He did it in canon, can do it here).

Rhaenyra removes Tyland Lannister as the master of ships and appoints Corlys Velaryon (back).

When Baela and Rhaena are born, it is decided to betroth Prince Aegon and Lady Baela, making him future lord-consort of Driftmark (and successfully removing him out of succession of the iron throne).

When Jace is born, his and Helaena's betrothal is announced.

Baelon is born without an issue and the royal family meets at the celebration on Dragonstone, where Aemond claims Cannibal and loses an eye in the process.

(Kinslayer, everyone. It fits).

Afterwards Luke is sent as a ward to Harrenhal with his father. A huge ass scene ensures there Luke clings to Aemond and refuses to go.

Aegon makes a greasy comment and gets punched.

Both Aegon and Baela are sent as wards to Driftmark.

Lucerys still leaves.

Harrenhal doesn't burn bc even if Larys kills Harwin and Luke, there's still Lyonel and Joffrey in the equation. Lyonel keeps serving Queen Rhaenyra as her Hand.

Years later the royal family meets at the wedding celebration of Baela and Aegon, where Luke and Aemond behave very much like Rhaenyra and Daemon at Rhaenyra's not happened wedding.

Rhaenyra and Alicent clutch at their pearls, Rhaenyra suggests father died because of seeing something like that.

Daemon asks if she implies they killed Viserys, then asks where is Baelon.

Laena replies Baelon is playing knights with Joffrey.

Rhaenyra and Harwin Strong (no) have three more children, Aegon, Viserys and Visenya, all silver-haired like their mother (her uncle).

Laena is fine with it, they have a poly. Laena doesn't have more children because Baelon's birth was a ghasty one.

Baelon claims the Grey Ghost.

Otto is never called back to the capital because (suprise!) Rhaenyra didn't rush to kill her 3 y.o brother or the other one who was born after Viserys' death. Instead she marries Aegon off so he's no threat.

Aemond eventually joins the Queensguard and is appointed to the future lord of Harenhall.

Lucerys refuses to marry and appoints his brother Viserys as his heir, who marries Visenya. They have a very good life in Harrenhal.

The reason Luke skips over Joffrey is because Joffrey is always at the sea (with Baelon), and Aegon the Younger is bethrothed to Baela and Aegon the Elder' firstborn, Laena.

Everyone lives happily ever after, Otto gets to be the head of the house Hightower after he successfully plots against his own kin, since his blood is secured on the throne, if in unconventional for him way.

He once tried to manipulate Aegon, but was cut off sharply by Rhaenys and Corlys, who kind of adopted the boy as theirs.

Aegon enjoys wandering about Essos very much, he, of course, whores around, but he and Baela have an agreement. One of Baela's children is born from Alyn of Hull, but no one is any wiser, since everyone just thinks the child looks like her.

Jacaerys and Helaena have three kids, Jaehaerys and Jaehaera and then Maelor.

Jaehaera is oldest and so is the heir.

Oh, and Rhaena is happily married to Corwyn Cobray. They have a daughter, Rhaenys.

[davey-in-a-minivan]

is george moreau the first new friend jane makes since the rowley conspiracy???

[istumpysk]

Operation Stumpy Re-Read

ADWD: The Queensguard (Barristan I) [Chapter 55]

Welcome to Part II of the LOCUSTS MYSTERIES.

Click for Part I.

"You were the queen's man," said Reznak mo Reznak. "The king desires his own men about him when he holds court."

I am the queen's man still. Today, tomorrow, always, until my last breath, or hers.

God please shut the fuck up.

+.+.+

Barristan Selmy refused to believe that Daenerys Targaryen was dead.

Perhaps that was why he was being put aside.

"Wait for it" will not prepare you for the nonsense that's coming.

+.+.+

One by one, Hizdahr removes us all. Strong Belwas lingered at the door of death in the temple, under the care of the Blue Graces … though Selmy half suspected they were finishing the job those honeyed locusts had begun. 

Why? Is there a single thing you could point to that would justify that belief?

+.+.+

Skahaz Shavepate had been stripped of his command. The Unsullied had withdrawn to their barracks. Jhogo, Daario Naharis, Admiral Groleo, and Hero of the Unsullied remained hostages of the Yunkai'i. Aggo and Rakharo and the rest of the queen's khalasar had been dispatched across the river to search for their lost queen. Even Missandei had been replaced; the king did not think it fit to use a child as his herald, and a onetime Naathi slave at that. And now me.

The more George amplifies Bad Guy Hizdahr, the uglier his death will be.

+.+.+

And this mistrust was mutual. Hizdahr zo Loraq might be his queen's consort, but he would never be his king.

Perhaps that was why he was being put aside.

Yeah, I wonder why Hizdahr wouldn't want you protecting him.

+.+.+

"If His Grace wishes for me to remove myself from court …"

"His Radiance," the seneschal corrected. 

x

"Might I know which men His Grace has chosen to protect him?"

x

"May they defend His Grace against all threats." Ser Barristan's tone gave no hint of his true feelings; he had learned to hide such back in King's Landing years ago.

"His Magnificence," Reznak mo Reznak stressed. 

x

"I am His Grace's to command."

"Not Grace," the seneschal complained. "That style is Westerosi. His Magnificence, His Radiance, His Worship."

His Vanity would fit better. "As you say."

I'm sorry, we're going to have to address this before we can move on.

This is so fucking obnoxious, it makes Daenerys look like the world's greatest xenophile.

He's not just refusing to use the proper title, he's actually insulting Hizdahr zo Loraq.

"A whore, you mean."

"They call them Graces. They come in different colors. The red ones are the only ones who fuck." - The Dragontamer, ADWD

The Graces are priestesses of the Ghiscari region. Some of them are prostitutes. There's no vanity, Reznak is requesting common fucking courtesy.

Pay attention to how Reznak mo Reznak addresses Barristan Selmy, despite knighthood not existing in Meereen.

Surely you can understand that, ser.

Your other duties shall remain unchanged, ser. 

Incredible how easy it is to be respectful.

+.+.+

"No, no, no, you misunderstand me. His Worship is to receive a delegation from the Yunkai'i, to discuss the withdrawal of their armies. They may ask for … ah … recompense for those who lost their lives to the dragon's wroth. A delicate situation. The king feels it will be better if they see a Meereenese king upon the throne, protected by Meereenese warriors. Surely you can understand that, ser."

I understand more than you know. 

HAHAHAHA.

no.

You are a clever imp, just as Varys said, and Daenerys will have need of clever men about her. Ser Barristan is a valiant knight and true; but none, I think, has ever called him cunning. - Tyrion II, ADWD

+.+.+

"Might I know which men His Grace has chosen to protect him?"

Reznak mo Reznak smiled his slimy smile. "Fearsome fighters, who love His Worship well. Goghor the Giant. Khrazz. The Spotted Cat. Belaquo Bonebreaker. Heroes all."

Pit fighters all. Ser Barristan was unsurprised. 

Slaves. They're slaves.

+.+.+

Hizdahr zo Loraq sat uneasily on his new throne. It had been a thousand years since Meereen last had a king, and there were some even amongst the old blood who thought they might have made a better choice than him. 

Gosh it almost sounds like now would be a bad time to kill his wife.

+.+.+

And the king's protectors grew fewer every day. Hizdahr's blunder with Grey Worm had cost him the Unsullied. When His Grace had tried to put them under the command of a cousin, as he had the Brazen Beasts, Grey Worm had informed the king that they were free men who took commands only from their mother. As for the Brazen Beasts, half were freedmen and the rest shavepates, whose true loyalty might still be to Skahaz mo Kandaq. The pit fighters were King Hizdahr's only reliable support, against a sea of enemies.

I'm not about to defend his decision to try and takeover the Unsullied.

+.+.+

"May they defend His Grace against all threats." Ser Barristan's tone gave no hint of his true feelings; he had learned to hide such back in King's Landing years ago.

Perhaps that was why he was being put aside.

+.+.+

"Your other duties shall remain unchanged, ser. Should this peace fail, His Radiance would still wish for you to command his forces against the enemies of our city."

He has that much sense, at least. Belaquo Bonebreaker and Goghor the Giant might serve as Hizdahr's shields, but the notion of either leading an army into battle was so ludicrous that the old knight almost smiled.

Slaves. They're slaves.

+.+.+

This time his oily smile betokened dismissal. Ser Barristan took his leave, grateful to leave the stench of the seneschal's perfume behind him. A man should smell of sweat, not flowers.

Amazed you can even smell him with all that brown on your nose.

This (not the) perfumed seneschal is a walking dead guy.

+.+.+

The Great Pyramid of Meereen was eight hundred feet high from base to point. The seneschal's chambers were on the second level. The queen's apartments, and his own, occupied the highest step. A long climb for a man my age, Ser Barristan thought, as he started up. He had been known to make that climb five or six times a day on the queen's business, as the aches in his knees and the small of his back could attest. There will come a day when I can no longer face these steps, he thought, and that day will be here sooner than I would like.

Eight hundred feet? What the hell is George R. R. Martin smoking?

He's Cressen!

To reach him they must cross the gallery, pass through the middle and inner walls with their guardian gargoyles and black iron gates, and ascend more steps than Cressen cared to contemplate. Young men climbed steps two at a time; for old men with bad hips, every one was a torment. - Prologue, ACOK

+.+.+

Mezzara, Miklaz, Qezza, and the rest of the queen's young cupbearers—hostages in truth, but both Selmy and the queen had become so fond of them that it was hard for him to think of them that way—had gone with the king, whilst Irri and Jhiqui departed with the other Dothraki.

I bet they haven't forgotten.

+.+.+

Only Missandei remained, a forlorn little ghost haunting the queen's chambers at the apex of the pyramid.

So she's kinda like a ghost in Pyramid?

+.+.+

The Yunkishmen burning their dead, he realized. The pale mare is galloping through their siege camps. Despite all the queen had done, the sickness had spread, both within the city walls and without. Meereen's markets were closed, its streets empty. King Hizdahr had allowed the fighting pits to remain open, but the crowds were sparse. The Meereenese had even begun to shun the Temple of the Graces, reportedly.

The slavers will find some way to blame Daenerys for that as well, Ser Barristan thought bitterly.

A leader should not take credit when things go right if they are not willing to accept responsibility when things go wrong.

+.+.+

Forty-seven years, and the taste still lingered in his memory, yet he could not have said what he had supped on ten days ago if all seven kingdoms had depended on it. Boiled dog, most like. Or some other foul dish that tasted no better.

You are such a twat.

+.+.+

Ten years ago I would have sensed what Daenerys meant to do. Ten years ago I would have been quick enough to stop her. Instead he had stood befuddled as she leapt into the pit, shouting her name, then running uselessly after her across the scarlet sands. I am become old and slow. Small wonder Naharis mocked him as Ser Grandfather. Would Daario have moved more quickly if he had been beside the queen that day? Selmy thought he knew the answer to that, though it was not one he liked.

Too slow, old man?

If he is anywhere near her when she dies I will climax right then and there.

+.+.+

Her hair was aflame. She had the whip in her hand and she was shouting, then she was on the dragon's back, flying. 

+.+.+

Beyond the gates had been a solid press of people. Maddened by the smell of dragon, horses below reared in terror, lashing out with iron-shod hooves. Food stalls and palanquins alike were overturned, men knocked down and trampled. Spears were thrown, crossbows were fired. Some struck home. The dragon twisted violently in the air, wounds smoking, the girl clinging to his back. Then he loosed the fire.

It had taken the rest of the day and most of the night for the Brazen Beasts to gather up the corpses. The final count was two hundred fourteen slain, three times as many burned or wounded. 

TWO HUNDRED FOURTEEN?

He's already dracarys'd two hundred fourteen people with her mounted on his back?

She better hope I don't find any evidence she said the word.

+.+.+

Some swore they saw her fall. Others insisted that the dragon had carried her off to devour her. They are wrong.

That's true, actually.

+.+.+

"She might be flying home," he told himself, aloud.

"No," murmured a soft voice behind him. "She would not do that, ser. She would not go home without us."

Ser Barristan turned. "Missandei. Child. How long have you been standing there?"

"Not long. This one is sorry if she has disturbed you." She hesitated. 

Not Barristan Selmy being caught off guard by Missandei paragraphs after he contemplates whether he's too old and slow.

+.+.+

"Skahaz mo Kandaq wishes words with you."

"The Shavepate? You spoke with him?" That was rash, rash. The enmity ran deep between Shakaz and the king, and the girl was clever enough to know that. Skahaz had been outspoken in his opposition to the queen's marriage, a fact Hizdahr had not forgotten. "Is he here? In the pyramid?"

"When he wishes. He comes and goes, ser."

Yes. He would. "Who told you he wants words with me?"

"A Brazen Beast. He wore an owl mask."

He wore an owl mask when he spoke to you. By now he could be a jackal, a tiger, a sloth. Ser Barristan had hated the masks from the start and never more than now. Honest men should never need to hide their faces. And the Shavepate …

Skahaz of many faces coming and going as he pleases. Love the sound of that.

Honest men should never need to hide their faces.

Lol.

+.+.+

He did not like the taste of this. It smelled of deceit, of whispers and lies and plots hatched in the dark, all the things he'd hoped to leave behind with the Spider and Lord Littlefinger and their ilk. Barristan Selmy was not a bookish man,

We can tell.

+.+.+

but he had often glanced through the pages of the White Book, where the deeds of his predecessors had been recorded. Some had been heroes, some weaklings, knaves, or cravens. Most were only men—quicker and stronger than most, more skilled with sword and shield, but still prey to pride, ambition, lust, love, anger, jealousy, greed for gold, hunger for power, and all the other failings that afflicted lesser mortals. The best of them overcame their flaws, did their duty, and died with their swords in their hands. The worst …

The worst were those who played the game of thrones. "Can you find this owl again?" he asked Missandei.

"This one can try, ser."

"Tell him I will speak with … with our friend … after dark, by the stables." 

Exactly what Barristan Selmy is about to do.

There you have it, in his own words, the worst of the Kingsguard.

+.+.+

Missandei turned as if to go, then paused a moment and said, "It is said that the Yunkai'i have ringed the city all about with scorpions, to loose iron bolts into the sky should Drogon return."

Ser Barristan had heard that too. "It is no simple thing to slay a dragon in the sky. In Westeros, many tried to bring down Aegon and his sisters. None succeeded."

That was three hundred years ago.

Weapons evolve over time. Dragons haven't.

+.+.+

Aegon's son Jaehaerys had bestowed the white cloak on him when he was three-and-twenty, after he slew Maelys the Monstrous during the War of the Ninepenny Kings. In that same cloak he had stood beside the Iron Throne as madness consumed Jaehaerys's son Aerys. Stood, and saw, and heard, and yet did nothing.

But no. That was not fair. He did his duty. Some nights, Ser Barristan wondered if he had not done that duty too well. He had sworn his vows before the eyes of gods and men, he could not in honor go against them … but the keeping of those vows had grown hard in the last years of King Aerys's reign. He had seen things that it pained him to recall, and more than once he wondered how much of the blood was on his own hands.

It's unreal he has so much disdain for Jaime Lannister.

I'm allowed to hate Jaime Lannister, Barristan Selmy is not.

+.+.+

If he had not gone into Duskendale to rescue Aerys from Lord Darklyn's dungeons, the king might well have died there as Tywin Lannister sacked the town. Then Prince Rhaegar would have ascended the Iron Throne, mayhaps to heal the realm. Duskendale had been his finest hour, yet the memory tasted bitter on his tongue.

It was his failures that haunted him at night, though. Jaehaerys, Aerys, Robert. Three dead kings.

God damn your life has been pointless.

+.+.+

Rhaegar, who would have been a finer king than any of them. Princess Elia and the children. Aegon just a babe, Rhaenys with her kitten. Dead, every one, yet he still lived, who had sworn to protect them. And now Daenerys, his bright shining child queen. She is not dead. I will not believe it.

Me thinks Barry is going to have to convince himself Aegon is not real.

+.+.+

Afternoon brought Ser Barristan a brief respite from his doubts. He spent it in the training hall on the pyramid's third level, working with his boys, teaching them the art of sword and shield, horse and lance … and chivalry, the code that made a knight more than any pit fighter. 

Slaves. They're slaves.

+.+.+

With no king to guard, I will have more time to train them now, he realized as he walked from pair to pair, watching them go at one another with blunted swords and spears with rounded heads. Brave boys. Baseborn, aye, but some will make good knights, and they love the queen. If not for her, all of them would have ended in the pits. King Hizdahr has his pit fighters, but Daenerys will have knights.

Slaves. They're slaves.

Why do you have so much contempt for these slaves?

+.+.+

He kept his sword and dagger. This could still be some trap. He had little trust in Hizdahr and less in Reznak mo Reznak. The perfumed seneschal could well be part of this, trying to lure him into a secret meeting so he could sweep up him and Skahaz both and charge them with conspiring against the king. 

Reznak mo Reznak has yet to do a single thing wrong in this book.

#JusticeforReznak

+.+.+

If the Shavepate speaks treason, he will leave me no choice but to arrest him. Hizdahr is my queen's consort, however little I may like it. My duty is to him, not Skahaz.

Wait for it.

+.+.+

Or was it?

The first duty of the Kingsguard was to defend the king from harm or threat. The white knights were sworn to obey the king's commands as well, to keep his secrets, counsel him when counsel was requested and keep silent when it was not, serve his pleasure and defend his name and honor. Strictly speaking, it was purely the king's choice whether or not to extend Kingsguard protection to others, even those of royal blood. Some kings thought it right and proper to dispatch Kingsguard to serve and defend their wives and children, siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins of greater and lesser degree, and occasionally even their lovers, mistresses, and bastards. But others preferred to use household knights and men-at-arms for those purposes, whilst keeping their seven as their own personal guard, never far from their sides.

Ahem.

Look at honorable Barristan Selmy desperately searching for justification to skirt his duty.

+.+.+

Then a shadow detached itself from inside an empty stall and became another Brazen Beast, clad in pleated black skirt, greaves, and muscled breastplate. "A cat?" said Barristan Selmy when he saw the brass beneath the hood. When the Shavepate had commanded the Brazen Beasts, he had favored a serpent's-head mask, imperious and frightening.

"Cats go everywhere," replied the familiar voice of Skahaz mo Kandaq. "No one ever looks at them."

Please don't tell me he's wearing a cat mask.

Please don't tell me the man who may have attempted to assassinate Daenerys is wearing a cat mask.

LMAO.

+.+.+

"If Hizdahr should learn that you are here …"

"Who will tell him? Marghaz? Marghaz knows what I want him to know. The Beasts are still mine. Do not forget it."

Oops, oops. Who surrounded Daenerys the day the fighting pits reopened?

At the base of the Great Pyramid, Ser Barristan awaited them beside an ornate open palanquin, surrounded by Brazen Beasts. Ser Grandfather, Dany thought. Despite his age, he looked tall and handsome in the armor that she'd given him. "I would be happier if you had Unsullied guards about you today, Your Grace," the old knight said, as Hizdahr went to greet his cousin. "Half of these Brazen Beasts are untried freedmen." And the other half are Meereenese of doubtful loyalty, he left unsaid. Selmy mistrusted all the Meereenese, even shavepates.

[...]

"A mask can hide many things, Your Grace. Is the man behind the owl mask the same owl who guarded you yesterday and the day before? How can we know?" - Daenerys IX, ADWD

+.+.+

"I have the poisoner."

"Who?"

"Hizdahr's confectioner. His name would mean nothing to you. The man was just a catspaw. The Sons of the Harpy took his daughter and swore she would be returned unharmed once the queen was dead. Belwas and the dragon saved Daenerys. No one saved the girl. She was returned to her father in the black of night, in nine pieces. One for every year she lived."

Hey stupid, ask him why they would kill the daughter if half the city believes Daenerys is dead.

He could almost hear them whispering—Great Masters, Sons of the Harpy, Yunkai'i, all telling one another that his queen was dead. Half of the city believed it, though as yet they did not have the courage to say such words aloud. 

+.+.+

"Why?" Doubts gnawed at him. "The Sons had stopped their killing. Hizdahr's peace—"

"—is a sham. Not at first, no. The Yunkai'i were afraid of our queen, of her Unsullied, of her dragons. This land has known dragons before. Yurkhaz zo Yunzak had read his histories, he knew. Hizdahr as well. Why not a peace? Daenerys wanted it, they could see that. Wanted it too much. She should have marched to Astapor." Skahaz moved closer. "That was before. The pit changed all. Daenerys gone, Yurkhaz dead. In place of one old lion, a pack of jackals. Bloodbeard … that one has no taste for peace. And there is more. Worse. Volantis has launched its fleet against us."

In other words, the peace was real?

Hey stupid, ask him why the locusts were poisoned before Drogon touched down in the fighting pits.

+.+.+

"Volantis." Selmy's sword hand tingled. We made a peace with Yunkai. Not with Volantis.

The peace deal with Yunkai allows for slave trade to continue everywhere but Meereen. Volantis launched their fleet because Daenerys destroyed the slave trade.

I can't know for sure, but I think war could have been avoided once they arrived.

This arrogant child has taken it upon herself to smash the slave trade, but that traffic was never confined to Slaver's Bay. It was part of the sea of trade that spanned the world, and the dragon queen has clouded the water. - Tyrion VI, ADWD

+.+.+

"You are certain?" "Certain. The Wise Masters know. So do their friends. The Harpy, Reznak, Hizdahr. This king will open the city gates to the Volantenes when they arrive. All those Daenerys freed will be enslaved again. Even some who were never slaves will be fitted for chains. You may end your days in a fighting pit, old man. Khrazz will eat your heart."

His head was pounding. "Daenerys must be told."

Lying. There's still a contingent of Yunkish lords who wish to honor the peace deal.

Poor old Yezzan. The lord of suet was not so bad as masters went. Sweets had been right about that. Serving at his nightly banquets, Tyrion had soon learned that Yezzan stood foremost amongst those Yunkish lords who favored honoring the peace with Meereen. - Tyrion XI, ADWD

x

"No. Have the Yunkishmen chosen a new commander?"

"The council of masters has been unable to agree. Yezzan zo Qaggaz had the most support, but now he's died as well. - The Spurned Suitor, ADWD

+.+.+

Skahaz grasped his forearm. His fingers felt like iron. "We cannot wait for her. I have spoken with the Free Brothers, the Mother's Men, the Stalwart Shields. They have no trust in Loraq. We must break the Yunkai'i. But we need the Unsullied. Grey Worm will listen to you. Speak to him."

"To what end?" He is speaking treason. Conspiracy.

If the Shavepate speaks treason, he will leave me no choice but to arrest him. Hizdahr is my queen's consort, however little I may like it. My duty is to him, not Skahaz.

+.+.+

"Life." The Shavepate's eyes were black pools behind the brazen cat mask. "We must strike before the Volantenes arrive. Break the siege, kill the slaver lords, turn their sellswords. The Yunkai'i do not expect an attack. I have spies in their camps. There's sickness, they say, worse every day. Discipline has gone to rot. The lords are drunk more oft than not, gorging themselves at feasts, telling each other of the riches they'll divide when Meereen falls, squabbling over primacy. Bloodbeard and the Tattered Prince despise each other. No one expects a fight. Not now. Hizdahr's peace has lulled us to sleep, they believe."

"Daenerys signed that peace," Ser Barristan said. "It is not for us to break it without her leave."

Astonishing how often this man calls for blood.

The Shavepate has a harder heart than mine. They had fought about the hostages half a dozen times. "The Sons of the Harpy are laughing in their pyramids," Skahaz said, just this morning. "What good are hostages if you will not take their heads?" - Daenerys IV, ADWD

x

Dany studied the scroll. All the ruling families of Meereen were named: Hazkar, Merreq, Quazzar, Zhak, Rhazdar, Ghazeen, Pahl, even Reznak and Loraq. "What am I to do with a list of names?"

"Every man on that list has kin within the city. Sons and brothers, wives and daughters, mothers and fathers. Let my Brazen Beasts seize them. Their lives will win you back those ships." - Daenerys V, ADWD

+.+.+

"What of Hizdahr? He is still her consort. Her king. Her husband."

"Her poisoner."

Is he? "Where is your proof?"

"The crown he wears is proof enough. The throne he sits. Open your eyes, old man. That is all he needed from Daenerys, all he ever wanted. Once he had it, why share the rule?"

Why indeed?

That's not proof.

I don't know Barristan, why don't you take a second to think about it. Could there be a less opportune moment for Hizdahr to kill Daeneyrs?

Pit fighters all. Ser Barristan was unsurprised. Hizdahr zo Loraq sat uneasily on his new throne. It had been a thousand years since Meereen last had a king, and there were some even amongst the old blood who thought they might have made a better choice than him. Outside the city sat the Yunkai'i with their sellswords and their allies; inside were the Sons of the Harpy.

And the king's protectors grew fewer every day. 

x

The pit fighters were King Hizdahr's only reliable support, against a sea of enemies.

And while you're thinking that through, try to think of anyone else who might have motive to falsely incriminate Hizdahr.

Hizdahr zo Loraq might be worth a careful look. Sooner him than Skahaz. The Shavepate had offered to set aside his wife for her, but the notion made her shudder. Hizdahr at least knew how to smile. - Daenerys I, ADWD

x

The Shavepate's eyes brimmed with fury. It had been his notion to have the Brazen Beasts follow her betrothed and take note of all his actions. - Daenerys V, ADWD

x

If I wed Hizdahr, will that turn Skahaz against me? She trusted Skahaz more than she trusted Hizdahr, but the Shavepate would be a disaster as a king. He was too quick to anger, too slow to forgive. She saw no gain in wedding a man as hated as herself. Hizdahr was well respected, so far as she could see. - Daenerys IV, ADWD

x

The Green Grace says there is blood between Loraq and Kandaq, and the Shavepate never made a secret of his disdain for my lord husband. - Daenerys VIII, ADWD

+.+.+

He could still see the air shimmering above the scarlet sands, smell the blood spilling from the men who'd died for their amusement. And he could still hear Hizdahr, urging his queen to try the honeyed locusts. Those are very tasty … sweet and hot … yet he never touched so much as one himself …

How to Not Get Away with Murder.

The Lannisters were framed for the murder of Jon Arryn. Tyrion was framed for the murder of Joffrey Baratheon.

Hizdahr did not poison the locusts. Is there a dumber POV? (Don't you dare say his name.)

+.+.+

Selmy rubbed his temple. I swore no vows to Hizdahr zo Loraq. And if I had, he has cast me aside, just as Joffrey did. 

Perhaps that was why he was being put aside.

+.+.+

"This … this confectioner, I want to question him myself. Alone."

"Is it that way?" The Shavepate crossed his arms against his chest. "Done, then. Question him as you like."

"The Shavepate has ways of finding the truth."

"I do not doubt that Skahaz would soon have me confessing. A day with him, and I will be one of the Harpy's Sons. Two days, and I will be the Harpy. Three, and it will turn out I slew your father too, back in the Sunset Kingdoms when I was yet a boy. - Daenerys IV, ADWD

x

The Brazen Beasts had taken dozens of the Harpy's Sons, and those who had survived their capture had yielded names when questioned sharply … too many names, it seemed to her. - Daenerys V, ADWD

x

"If he is not the Harpy, he knows him. I can find the truth of that easy enough. Give me your leave to put Hizdahr to the question, and I will bring you a confession."

"No," she said. "I do not trust these confessions. You've brought me too many of them, all of them worthless." - Daenerys V, ADWD

+.+.+

Skahaz's smile was savage. "My word, then. No harm to Hizdahr till his guilt is proved. But when we have the proof, I mean to kill him with my own hands. I want to pull his entrails out and show them to him before I let him die."

No, the old knight thought. If Hizdahr conspired at my queen's death, I will see to him myself, but his death will be swift and clean. The gods of Westeros were far away, yet Ser Barristan Selmy paused for a moment to say a silent prayer, asking the Crone to light his way to wisdom. For the children, he told himself. For the city. For my queen.

"I will talk to Grey Worm," he said.

Great! Two people with a vendetta determining if the accused is guilty. Sounds fair.

Final thoughts:

I hate Barristan Selmy more than Tyrion.

There, I said it.

-> return to menu <-

[kaerinio]

sitting here thinking about how the goodness that radiates from dany, from her actions, from her impact has this transformative power that makes others believe. it's not even just as simple as believing in her, but it's very much an adoption of her very world. we see this most faithfully in barristan. yes, dany is more than a queen to him; she is his salvation, his evolution, his own redemption and rebirth. but, barristan believes so wholeheartedly in dany and her vision and her world that he doesn't just refer to her people as her people, but as her children, as she does. some of his anger at quentyn isn't political or anything of the matter, but rather, there's this fury that he harmed one of dany's children in the process of trying to be a dragon tamer. not just one of her dragons, but one of her children. also, don't get me started on the juxtaposition here of barristan's love and belief in dany and jorah's desire for her (and how that desire does not lend itself to that deep belief . . . i mean??? jorah refers to her people as 'mouths with feet' and 'slaves' even after she insists and corrects him numerous times? and when dany dismisses jorah from her service, he tells her that he crawled through the sewer like a rat for her, that he loved her, and it all has this spurned lover vibe, rather than being more dedicated to the service of the cause. IDK barristan is just so much more deeply dedicated to dany and by extension, her causes).

[velcryons]

♦ (shaera, daella, & corlys iii , I'm uno reversing you with love 🩷)

Send me a "♦" for the first word my muse thinks of when your muse is mentioned.

Corlys iii: Queen Daella: Friend Shaera: (my) Child