"This castle used to be called Harrenhal, right?" Rowena commented as they walked.
The Stark's eyes scanned the castle, scrutinizing it as if trying to memorize it completely. That put Daenerys on guard.
"It was. It was built by Harren the Black. It was destroyed by Aegon the First's dragon," Dany said.
"Dragons. Even on the other side of the Narrow Sea, there are rumors about your dragons, princess. One black, one white, and one copper." The woman's eyes begged for information.
"They are magnificent. It is a joy to have them back," Dany couldn't help but smile.
"A joy for the Targaryens," the woman remarked.
A tense silence followed between them.
"A joy for Jaehaerys and me, for Argentstone," said the princess.
The woman looked at the three enormous towers already built. Two twin towers and a larger one behind them. She couldn't help but let out a sigh of admiration.
"Each of those towers must be larger than the Titan of Braavos," the woman remarked.
"The small ones are 500 feet tall, and the largest is 600 feet tall," she said proudly.
Dany felt incredible when she saw the admiring glances of all who visited her castle. She couldn't wait to see when the entire castle was complete.
The dragon tower had only just begun to have its foundations dug. Daenerys would like it to rise above all the other towers, taller than the lighthouse of Oldtown, taller than the wall.
But according to Jaehaerys, it was better for the tower to be built wider, although with enough dragons it might be necessary to increase its size until it touched the clouds.
"I must admit that I have only seen the pyramids in Meereen as something taller. Although given the way they are built, they cannot be compared," began the warrior.
Dany did not know who she really was, only that she was leading a group of men and women. They were probably a mercenary company.
"May I ask about Essos, Lady Rowena?" asked the princess.
"What would you like to know, princess?" Daenerys led her to a weirwood, and the woman's eyes widened as she looked at the enormous tree.
It could easily go unnoticed, as people's eyes tend to be drawn naturally to the towers. But the tree in the middle of the castle was undoubtedly the largest weirwood Daenerys had ever seen. However, Jaehaerys said that the one at Winterfell was still a little bigger.
"About that young man, my supposed bastard brother," Brandon's letter days ago had warned them of the presence of a supposed offspring of King Aerys.
Jaehaerys frowned as he read the letter, as if he had swallowed a jug of his own whiskey in one gulp.
"Ah, Aegon. I know little about him. He appeared in the Golden Company, and it was his Targaryen blood that allowed him to rise quickly. They say he is a skilled and cunning boy, and he has led the company to victory in more than one battle," explained the woman. "They speak of him with such passion. They even compared him to the Warrior," the woman teased a little.
"Don't you think he's that good?" asked the princess.
"He's good. According to the news we got from the disputed lands, he fought the Stag and came out alive; he even managed to wound him," the woman spat out Stag as if saying that name burned her mouth.
"The dragon bastard," Daenerys had heard that nickname.
"I hear some call him the Dragon Knight. I believe you Targaryens had that title before, didn't you?" the woman asked.
"Yes, Aemon Targaryen, the brother of Aegon the Unworthy," said the princess.
Her brother's story seemed strange. He came out of nowhere and rose quickly in a company of mercenaries. The princess hoped her brother Rhaegar wasn't stupid enough to trust him. She had heard that envoys from the Golden Company had arrived in King's Landing, and the king himself had granted them a private audience, although the details were unknown.
"So many Aegons, it gets a little confusing," the northern woman commented lightly. However, Daenerys could see in her as much Valyrian blood as that of the first men.
"Yes, it's a nightmare. I spoke with Jaehaerys, and we agreed that none of our children will be named after the conqueror," she said with a smile. Her hand moved to her belly.
'Until the castle is built,' she thought. It was for her safety. Although she knew it was also Jaehaerys' fear that she would not be able to endure the pregnancy.
She remembers that after the dragons were born, she hadn't had her blood moon. She ended by praying to the old gods to get pregnant. But her blood moon hasn't returned.
"I didn't expect to find a weirwood in the middle of your castle. I thought you worshipped the Seven," the woman picked up a leaf from the ground. Red as blood, it glistened in the sunlight.
Daenerys looked at the moat around the tree. It was empty, but soon it would be filled with water drawn from the Gods Eye. She had been designing a kind of system to transport water. She could order it to be filled by carrying buckets, but she wanted to speed up the work. Besides, they were already using water to make mortar, and using it to fill the ditch would delay the work.
"My husband grew up in the north. In his words, a part of the north came with him. That includes the old gods," said the princess. Thinking of the north reminded her of Sansa Stark.
"So you, princess, worship the new ones?"
"No. When I prayed, I could only feel the presence of the old ones," she said.
"I see... the gods never answered my prayers," the woman said bitterly.
"They answer from time to time. Not always," Daenerys said.
Both women sat down on one of the benches around the weirwood tree. To do so, they crossed one of the makeshift wooden bridges. Around the tree, there was a radius of one hundred feet to where the ditch began, which was about ten feet deep and fifteen feet wide.
The five Unsullied who followed Daenerys walked alongside them, but did not come too close. The woman next to Dany was unarmed.
"You're a mercenary, right? Brandon didn't mention anything about you," said the princess.
"I am. I'm the leader of the Company of Roses," explained the woman with her eyes closed.
The princess wondered for a moment if Rowena was going to fall asleep there, in front of the weirwood tree, which certainly seemed like a good place to do so.
"Stark, are you a descendant of Brandon Snow, the bastard half-brother of King Torrhen Stark?" asked the princess.
"No. Brandon's descendants are all dead. They never dared to take the Stark name. No, I am a descendant of Torrhen Stark, son of Edric, who was the son of Cregan Stark," the woman explained.
There had been several members of prominent houses who had been forgotten. If the members of the houses do not die, it can cause problems in the succession. That is why some members choose to leave home, either to avoid getting involved in the drama or to pursue better opportunities in life.
"I suppose he joined the Company of the Rose over a hundred years ago," Daenerys added, just to say something. "The Stark name carries enormous weight in Westeros; they are one of the oldest and most respected houses," commented the princess.
"I heard they rebelled years ago. They were sent back to their frozen lands," the woman continued, her eyes still closed. There was no emotion in her voice. To her, the Starks were distant relatives she was unfamiliar with.
"They took my father with them. Right now, he's still on the wall, paying for his crimes," said the princess. She was no stranger to the cruelty with which her father terrorized all of Westeros.
"Ha! A king paying for his crimes. Why didn't he make his crimes legal?" asked the woman, with a hint of mockery. It was more of a rhetorical question.
"Because the people will fight against him," said Daenerys, although the question was more for humor than anything else. "Because a ruler can only pressure his vassals until they decide they can put someone else in his place."
The woman opened her eyes wide to look at the princess.
"That way of thinking could lead to you no longer being a princess."
"I know. That's why I believe that rulers must be fair. Not only because we owe it to the people, but because they are the reason we rule," said the princess.
"You have dragons," Rowena said as she stood up.
"I have them. But I would prefer never to use them," Dany closed her eyes. She remembered how, in the Dance during a riot in King's Landing, the smallfolk ended up killing a dragon. Dragons were a formidable weapon, although it pained her to see her children used in such a manner, a superior one but not infallible.
"Princess, my Lady, the prince requested your presence at his manor," a knight approached them both.
Daenerys stood up, thanked him with a smile, and began to walk away.
Just as she passed the man, she heard, "I'm so sorry."
She barely had time to react when the tip of a spear sprouted from the man's leg. Strong arms pulled her away from the man.
"Agh!" the man roared. He looked back to see an Unsullied standing over him, his spear embedded in the man's leg.
"Drop it," said the Unsullied.
Daenerys heard something fall to the grass. She caught a glimpse of steel glinting.