Two years had passed since Daenerys Stormborn had taken Meereen and declared it the seat of her growing rule. Two long years filled with rebuilding, pacifying unrest, and learning what it meant to wear the mantle of queen not just in name, but in action.
And yet, unrest never slept.
Kael stood atop the Grand Pyramid, his eyes narrowed as they scanned the streets of Meereen below. The copper-pink light of dawn painted the city in warm hues, but the tension in the air made the beauty feel thin, like a veil over rotting fruit.
From here, he could see the flickers of movement that didn't belong—tight gatherings in the alleyways, messengers moving too quickly between districts, guards whispering in corners. They were the signs of a city teetering toward rebellion, even after the hard-won peace Daenerys had forged with blood and steel.
But Kael didn't move to intervene. Not yet.
Behind him, the heavy steps of armored boots approached, and then paused.
"She's in the war room," Grey Worm reported. "The scouts have returned."
Kael nodded. "And?"
"They say Volantis has begun moving troops eastward. Three thousand men, mercenaries. No banners yet, but they're preparing for war."
Kael gave a small smile, one that didn't reach his eyes. "So it begins."
Inside the war room, Daenerys was already seated at the carved stone map table. Her silver-gold hair fell in long braids down her back, partially tied with dragonbone pins. She wore armor now—sleek leather lined with steel scales, dyed a deep obsidian black. It suited her, Kael thought. Not just the queen, but the conqueror.
She didn't look up as he entered. Instead, her finger traced the etched lines of the map slowly, halting just above the mark that denoted Volantis.
"They're going to try and choke us here," she murmured. "Before I can march westward."
Kael took the seat beside her, his voice quiet. "Let them try."
She looked at him then, her violet eyes flickering. "I don't want another Meereen. I don't want to hold a city that crumbles the moment I look away. If I'm to rule the Seven Kingdoms, I must start by commanding Essos. Not begging it to accept me."
"You'll do more than rule it," Kael said softly. "You'll remake it."
A silence stretched between them. Daenerys leaned back, hands resting on her thighs. Her gaze drifted toward the high windows, where the sunlight bled through smoke from the forges.
"I've kept the dragons grounded," she said. "I thought it would make them fear me less. That if I ruled as a woman and not a goddess, they would believe in me."
"They fear you more now," Kael replied. "Because you've given them no excuses. No magic to blame. Just you. Your judgment. Your fire."
Daenerys's lips parted slightly. "And if I let the fire loose now?"
Kael leaned in, voice low, intimate. "Then Volantis burns."
Preparations for war turned Meereen into a living forge. Every street echoed with the clang of hammers and the shouted orders of commanders. The Unsullied drilled with perfect discipline. Freedmen took up spears and shields—less graceful, but no less determined. Blacksmiths worked day and night to reinforce armor and sharpen blades. The three dragons flew in wide circles over the city, their shadows casting waves of awe and fear.
Kael moved through the city quietly, unnoticed when he chose to be. He listened to whispers in the market, watched coin exchange hands in dark taverns, and heard mutterings of rebellion.
Some still saw Daenerys as a foreign tyrant. Others saw her as a liberator gone soft. Even among her allies, there were those who questioned her choice not to conquer more quickly.
In the night, Kael met with Missandei atop the pyramid.
"She's pushing herself harder than ever," Missandei said, worry plain in her voice. "She sleeps in her armor. She's stopped smiling."
"She's preparing for war," Kael replied. "And war hardens everyone."
"She needs to feel," Missandei whispered. "Not just fight. If she loses her heart, she loses the thing that makes her worthy."
Kael said nothing to that. He already knew what Daenerys was slowly becoming. The divine blood stirred in her veins, drawn out with each moment of passion, of pain, of choice. The more she led, the more she opened herself to the fire he had given her—little by little. A dangerous gift. A necessary one.
He would not take it back.
The march began with fire.
Kael stood beside Daenerys as she addressed the soldiers from the steps of the Great Pyramid. Her voice carried across the square like thunder.
"Volantis stands against us. Not because they hate Meereen. Not because they hate me. But because they fear what I represent. A world where no man is born to chains."
She turned, her gaze sweeping across thousands.
"They think us weak. Divided. A queen without a kingdom. But they will learn, as every tyrant before them has learned, that dragons do not yield."
Her dragons circled above, screaming into the sky.
"They want a war? We will give them one. And we will not stop until the Black Wall of Volantis bears my banner!"
The roar of the army was deafening.
Later, as night fell and the campfires stretched like stars across the open plain outside Meereen, Kael found her sitting alone in her tent, polishing her sword.
"You were born to lead," he said softly.
She looked up, her eyes tired but fierce. "Sometimes I wonder if I was born to destroy."
Kael stepped forward, kneeling in front of her, taking the blade from her hands.
"You were born to choose," he said. "And that is more terrifying than any dragon."
Their eyes met. The silence between them felt heavy, charged.
She reached out, her hand brushing the side of his face. "Stay close to me. Even if I fall."
"You will rise," he said, voice steady. "Even if I have to carry you through flame and ash."
That night, Kael lay awake, watching her sleep beside him. The flickering firelight bathed her in amber and gold, and he felt the temptation to reach into her soul and ignite the divinity slumbering within.
But he held back.
This was her war. Her journey. He would walk beside her, bleed for her, burn the world if she asked—but he would not steal her victory.
Not yet.
Outside, the drums of war sounded.
Volantis awaited.
And the dragon queen was coming.
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