POV: Daenerys Targaryen
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Qarth smells like spice and lies.
The warlocks call it the greatest city that ever was or will be. Daenerys calls it a painted tomb. Every wall is a mural, every smile hides teeth. She learned that in the House of the Undying. She learns it again now, in the port market.
"Dragons," the merchant whispers. "The Mother of Dragons honors us."
She does not feel like a mother. She feels like a girl with three hungry children and no army. Drogon hisses on her shoulder, and the merchant flinches. Good. Let him.
"I seek news," she says. Not silk. Not gold. News. "Of Pentos. Of my brother."
The merchant's smile dies. "Viserys the Beggar? He is dead, Khaleesi. Crowned with gold. The Dothraki saw it. My cousin was there."
"My cousin was there," she repeats. "And did your cousin see the body after?"
He blinks. "The khalasar does not keep corpses. They burn or they leave for the crows."
"Crows," she says. The word tastes like iron.
Ser Jorah finds her an hour later. He always finds her. He is sunburnt, scarred, loyal. Too loyal.
"You should not walk the market alone," he says.
"I had Drogon."
"A dragon is not a shield. Not yet."
They walk back to the house Xaro Xhoan Daxos gave them. Given. Nothing in Qarth is given. Everything is a debt.
"Someone is asking questions," she tells him. "About my brother. About his death."
Jorah frowns. "Who?"
"A man. A masked man. They call him the Raven. He came to Pentos six days ago. He paid a gold honor to every beggar who saw Viserys die. He asked them: 'Did you see the body burn? Did you see him stop breathing? Did you see him dead?'"
Jorah stops walking. "And?"
"And none of them did. They saw him scream. They saw him fall. They saw Drogo ride away. Then the khalasar left. The pit was empty by morning."
"That means nothing." But his hand is on his sword. Jorah only touches his sword when he is afraid.
"It means someone wants my brother to be alive," she says. "It means someone is spending gold to unbury a ghost."
They reach the house. Xaro waits in the garden, fat and perfumed and smiling.
"My moon and stars, you look troubled."
"Xaro, have you heard of a man called the Raven?"
"I have heard of many ravens. They shit on my statues."
"This one wears a mask. Iron. He asks about Targaryens."
Xaro's smile does not change, but his eyes do. They go still. Still water is deep. "Pentos is full of masks, my queen. It is a city of traders. Every trader has two faces. The one that buys, and the one that sells."
"What is he buying?"
"Stories," Xaro says. "And stories are the most expensive thing in the world. More than dragons."
That night, she dreams of Viserys. Not as he was the last time she saw him: screaming, burning, human. She dreams of him as he was when they were children in Braavos, before the door with the red door. He braids her hair. His hands are gentle. He says, "You will never hurt again, little sister. I will be king. Kings protect."
She wakes crying. Rhaegal and Viserion are curled at her feet, warm as coals. Drogon is at the window, looking east. Always east. Toward the Dothraki sea. Toward the pit.
She goes to the balcony. Qarth is black and gold below, a city of towers and secrets. Somewhere in that dark, a ship from Pentos will dock tomorrow. Merchants. Sailors. Maybe masked men.
"Do you think he's alive?" she asks the night.
Drogon clicks his teeth. It sounds like no.
But Jorah, who has been standing in the doorway without her hearing him, says, "I think it doesn't matter."
She turns. "It matters to me."
"Why? So you can mourn him again? So you can forgive yourself for not stopping Drogo?"
"I did not—"
"You watched," Jorah says. Not cruel. Tired. "We all watched. We let a khal kill a king because it was easier than stopping him. If he lived, he will not come to you for forgiveness. He will come for payment."
"Payment for what?"
"For being weak. For being a beggar. For being your brother." Jorah steps forward. The moon makes his hair silver. "Daenerys. If Viserys Targaryen walks the world, he is not your brother anymore. He is a claimant. He is a knife. And he will cut you before you cut him."
She wants to slap him. She wants to kiss him. She does neither. She is a queen. Queens do not do what they want.
"Find out who this Raven is," she says. "Before he finds us."
Jorah bows. "I will send word to my contacts in Pentos."
"Don't send word. Go."
"My place is with you."
"Your place is where I tell you it is. Go to Pentos. Find the Raven. If it is Viserys… bring him to me."
"And if it isn't?"
"Then bring me his mask. I want to see the face of the man who buys my ghosts."
He leaves at dawn. He does not say goodbye. Bears do not say goodbye. They just walk into the cave.
Two days later, a boy comes to the house. He is no older than ten, barefoot, ribs like a ladder. He holds a scroll sealed with black wax. No sigil.
Daenerys breaks it. The paper is thick, yellow. The ink is brown. Not ink. Blood.
Sister.
You let me burn.
I did not die.
Debts do not die.
The bear is mine now. He chose.
I will see you when the moon is black.
Do not run. Ravens always find.
—R
She reads it three times. The fourth time, her hands shake and the paper catches fire. Drogon did not breathe. The sun did it. Or her rage.
Xaro finds her in the ash. "A bad letter?"
"My brother is alive."
"Ah." He sits. The bench groans. "And will you pay his debt?"
"I owe him nothing."
"We all owe something, my moon. The question is only the currency." He touches her hand. His rings are cold. "If you need ships, I have ships. If you need men, I have men. If you need poison, I have that too. Family is expensive."
"He is not family," she says. "Not anymore."
"Then he is an enemy. And enemies are cheapest when they are dead."
She looks at the ash. The letter is gone. But the words are not. The bear is mine now. He chose.
Jorah.
No. He wouldn't. He couldn't.
But Jorah knelt to her after kneeling to Viserys. He traded one dragon for another. What if the first dragon came back to collect?
She stands. Drogon flies to her shoulder. His claws prick.
"Ready the ship," she tells Xaro. "Not yours. Mine. The one with the red sails. We sail for Astapor."
"Astapor? But the Raven is in Pentos."
"The Raven wants me to go to Pentos. So I go west instead. Let him chase." She touches Drogon's head. "And tell the warlocks: the Mother of Dragons is done asking for things. She is ready to take them."
Because if Viserys is alive, he is not the only Targaryen who learned about debts.
She learned too.
And her currency breathes fire.
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Author Note:
Chapter 3 puts Dany in play and raises stakes: Jorah might be compromised. The "Raven" is moving pieces.
Next chapter: POV Illyrio Mopatis — The fat man gets a visitor with an iron mask and a ledger. And Illyrio owes more than gold.
Question: Should Dany believe Jorah betrayed her, or is the Raven lying? Comment your theories — best theory gets a named character in Ch5.