𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐈𝐅𝐓𝐘-𝐎𝐍𝐄 | The Imp

{ Coren }

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"𝕮an I know your reasoning behind this?" Coren rocked back and forth behind Daenerys, looking down at the smaller woman and where she was sat.

"I have told you my reasoning." Daenerys huffed. "The masters have learnt that I am not weak or feeble, that I will stand by my word and that there will be consequences. Now, I will show them that I am also willing to adapt to their customs and to be more open-"

"I was merely asking the reasoning for bringing our daughter to the fighting pits." Coren cut his wife off, placating carefully as he pressed a hand to her hips. "I know your reasonings, and I trust them."

"Oh." Daenerys paused, before smiling down at her daughter. "Everyone has come here. I do not trust her protection to anyone other than you."

"What about Falkor?"

"He is not human." Daenerys turned back to her daughter, smoothing her red dress gently. Their daughter's nose was scrunched up in a pout, her hands reaching to grab onto the ring on Daenerys' finger, though she was struggling to grasp it due to Daenerys moving her hand around as she spoke.

Slave fighters began to emerge from the pit ahead of them as Daenerys' expression settled into a regal one, and Rhaenerys was handed back to her father. Coren winked at his daughter, who was giggling at him, before setting her down in front of him.

"Your Grace." The slave owner rushed forward, bowing his head to her and nodding towards Hizdahr, who was unfortunately sitting beside Daenerys where Coren stood behind. The owner turned to Rhaenerys, bowing his head once more, though the little dragon ignored it for the wooden toy that she was presented with. "Your Grace. You honour us all."

The owner had already rushed back to his fighters, nodding his head as they all chanted in unison;

"We fight and die for your glory, O glorious queen."

Rhaenerys was too easily distracted to notice what was going on, eyes on the toy as she beamed.

Waving her hand, Daenerys was quick to move slightly further in front of their daughter so that Rhaenerys could not see the training ground as the gladiators began to fight. One of them, a large bald gladiator, was dominating the fight easily, killing those around him swiftly.

"I think I've seen enough." Daenerys muttered, clasping her hand in front of her. She might have acknowledged that this was the best course of action, but Coren knew how much she hated seeing this.

"Your Grace." Daenerys turned from her standing position as Coren prepared to leave. Hizdahr's words had her pausing, which caused Coren to fight a scowl. "It is tradition for the queen to stay until the victor emerges."

"I think I have seen enough." Daenerys hissed, trying not to let those around her hear her speak. Coren kept an eye on the pair, grabbing onto Rhaenerys and pulling her closer so that she could rest against his legs.

The girl was still enamoured with the wooden toy, watching it with wide eyes as Coren kept his eyes on the fighting. The bald gladiator was now beating another's head in with a rock, though someone else had stepped out, making steady work of the remaining victors that were still alive.

Daenerys turned to watch them, positioning herself in front of Rhaenerys carefully, before sharing a look with Coren as the gladiator continued to kill the others, with a wide variety of methods. He was a decent enough fighter, Coren supposed.

As he finished butchering the other slaves, the crowd began to cheer, and the man approached the platform. The Unsullied were immediately on guard, as Coren stepped forward, drawing his sword carefully so as to not disrupt Rhaenerys in front of him. She didn't need to know that they were on edge.

The gladiator reached up, beginning to pull his helmet off of his head and Coren was faced with someone he did not think that he would see again for a long time. Someone who he had sworn to kill.

He gave Rhaenerys a nudge into her mother's side, before standing to push past her, his eyes murderous.

"You son of a bi-" Daenerys placed a hand in front of her husband, holding him back with one steely look from her violet eyes. Coren growled, turning to stare at her. He had sworn to kill Jorah, surely she would not deny him a second time.

"Get this man out of my sight." She hissed as Coren grabbed onto Rhaenerys' hand. His daughter had seen the shine on his sword and was now reaching towards it with wide eyes.

"Khaleesi...please..." Coren's face contorted into fury at the man who dared to speak to his wife, dared to use her title in that way. He caught eyes with Jorah Mormont, and every feeling of anger in his body returned. It did not take long for the memories to rush over him, reminding him of every way that he had betrayed them. "I just need a moment of your time. I brought you a gift!"

"Why would we want a gift from a rat who should be dead?" Coren ground out, as Daenerys placed her hand over his, stopping him from lunging forward and decapitating the man ahead of him.

"It is true!" Another voice joined the fray, one tainted with a Westerosi accent, similar to Ser Barristan's. A smaller man was walking towards them, chains around his wrists as Coren struggled to place him. "He has."

"Who are you?"

"I am the gift." The man looked up at them, a half-smile on his face. "A pleasure to meet you, Your Grace. My name is Tyrion Lannister."

Shock settled across both Coren and Daenerys' features, all thoughts of anger being lost on them as the weight of this landed on their shoulders. 

"We return to the palace." Coren sheathed his sword, as the guards were urged forwards.

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{ Daenerys }

"He did not follow orders, I should kill him." Coren muttered, following after Daenerys as they headed for the main hall in Mereen.

"Not yet."

"Daenerys..." Coren grasped onto his wife, stopping her before they could enter the main hall. "I have never asked you for anything, I am begging you now to let me kill Jorah Mormont."

"I know. I understand what you are asking. My words from last time still stand." Daenerys turned to face him fully. "Please, let me deal with the Lannister first and then, you and I can have this conversation properly."

"Of course." Daenerys sighed in relief, leaning into her husband's touch slightly as he pressed a soft kiss to her cheek. She twisted on her heel, continuing into the main throne room as everyone turned to face her.

"Your Grace, I want to say..." Jorah started to speak as soon as Daenerys entered the room, causing her to glare. 

"You will not speak." The man was stunned into silence, before Daenerys turned her glare on the other man in the room, who had revealed himself as 'a gift' only a few hours earlier. "How do I know you are who you say you are?"

"If only I were otherwise." Daenerys' glare darkened. Why would he speak so cryptically in a time like this? She just wanted people to give her straight answers.

"If you are Tyrion Lannister, why shouldn't I kill you?" Daenerys glare turned harsher. "To pay your family back for what it did to mine."

"You want revenge against the Lannisters? I killed my mother, Joanna Lannister, the day I was born," Tyrion spoke softly, though there was a hint of spite in his tone. "I killed my father, Tywin Lannister, with a bow to the heart. I am the greatest Lannister killer of our time."

"So I should welcome you into my service because you murdered members of your own family?" Daenerys scoffed. Confessing to murdering family members seemed like a horrible way to gain someone's trust.

"Into your service? Your Grace, we have only just met. It's too soon to know if you deserve my service." Coren bristled behind Daenerys, anger rolling off of him.

"If you'd rather return to the fighting pits, just say the word." Daenerys snarked back.

"When I was a young man, I heard a story about a baby born during the worst storm in living memory. She had no wealth, no lands, no army, only a name and a handful of supporters, most of whom probably thought they could use that name to benefit themselves," Tyrion started up the steps towards them. "They kept her alive, moving her from place to place, often hours ahead of the men who had been sent to kill her. She was eventually sold off to some warlord on the edge of the world and that appeared to be that. And then a few years later the most well informed person I knew told me that this girl without wealth, lands, or armies had somehow acquired all three in a very short span of time, along with four dragons. He thought she was our best, last chance to build a better world. I thought you were worth meeting at the very least."

"What makes you worth meeting?" Coren's voice was cold, causing Tyrion to turn to him, as if seeing the man for the first time. "Why should she listen to anything you have to say?"

Tyrion looked like he wished to ask who Coren was, but was distracted by Daenerys' cocked eyebrow that demanded an answer to the questions. Missandei had returned, joining Coren's side as the pair muttered something to each other that she could not hear, most likely about what had happened at the Fighting Pits.

"Because you can not build a better world on your own. You have no one at your side who understands that land you want to rule." Tyrion unfortunately made a lot of sense but that did not mean Daenerys had to like that he was in the right. "The strengths and the weaknesses of the houses that will either support or oppose you."

"I will have a very large army and even bigger dragons." Daenerys argued.

"Killing and politics aren't always the same thing. When I served as Hand of the King, I did quite well with the latter," Tyrion shrugged as if to tell her that it was her choice. "This was considering that the king, in question, was cold and more prone to violence. I could do an even better job advising a ruler worth the name if that is indeed what you are."

"So you do want to advise me? Very well." Daenerys rolled her eyes, before turning to look at Jorah with a scowl. "What would you have to do with him? I swore I would kill him if he ever returned."

"I know."

"Why should the people trust a queen who can't keep her promises?" 

"Whomever Ser Jorah was when he started informing on you, he is no longer that man. I can't remember seeing the same man as devoted to anything as he is to serving you." Coren scoffed at Tyrion's words, causing Daenerys to hold a placating hand out. There was a quiet string of curses spat out, before he went back to brooding behind her. "He claims he would kill for you and die for you, and nothing I have witnessed gives me reason to doubt him. And yet he did betray you."

Tyrion began to approach Daenerys once more. The guards around her raised their spears, but Daenerys waved them off. If Tyrion was to try anything, then Coren was right behind her. He would kill Tyrion before anything could happen, of that she was certain. His mood was foul enough that he would kill first and think of his actions later.

"Did he have an opportunity to confess his betrayals?"

"Yes, many opportunities." Daenerys acknowledged.

"And did he?"

"No. Not until forced to do so."

"He worships you. He is in love with you, I think." Daenerys felt her stance falter. She hated that this was the argument used to support Jorah. Why should him loving her make him worthy of forgiveness? He had betrayed her. He had told the people who wished to kill her of her son and almost succeeded in poisoning her? How could Jorah claim to love her if that was what he did? "But he did not trust you with the truth, an unpleasant truth to be sure, but one of great significance to you. He did not trust that you would be wise enough to forgive him."

"So, I should kill him?" Coren stepped a little closer at her words.

"A ruler who kills those that are devoted to her is not a ruler that inspires devotion," Tyrion shook his head as a sigh sounded behind her. "And you're going to need to inspire devotion, and lots of it, if you're ever going to rule across the Narrow Sea. But you cannot have him by your side when you do."

"Remove Ser Jorah from the city." Daenerys kept her voice steely, watching as Jorah was led out of the Pyramid by the Unsullied. Daario followed him out, Ser Barristan and Coren moving to follow but Daenerys caught her husband before he could. "We can have this argument later."

Coren's face was guarded, eyes tense, before he nodded reluctantly.

"If you wish to track him down and kill him after this has happened, you and Daario can go and do that. Yes?" The Unsullied soldier stopped beside them.

"The princess is awake and asking for you, Your Grace."

"Bring her here, thank you." Daenerys nodded, before looking back at her husband. "Can you speak with Missandei and Grey Worm about the Fighting Pits and their opinion? I wish to hear their words, and your own."

"Of course." Coren nodded, before pressing a swift kiss to her cheek. There were small footsteps on the floor as Rhaenerys reappeared, her white curls a little messy, and a wide grin on her face as she raced to Daenerys' side, clinging onto her legs. "Be good, Little Dragon or we will not be seeing Kor later."

"Kor?" Coren shook his head as Rhaenerys pouted, before she buried her head into her mother's leg, her fingers grasping onto Daenerys' dress. Daenerys fought a chuckle, before running her fingers through her daughter's hair as Coren turned back to face her.

"Are you sure you wish for her to stay with you?"

"I am a mother and a queen. My daughter is my priority, and if she wants to be with me, I will not deny her." Daenerys had never known her own mother, and she would rather her own daughter always know the warmth of a mother's love. She wished for her daughter to understand that nothing was more important than her, not even ruling. "I am merely going to send the man to his chambers, and our daughter and I will be fine."

"You have a daughter." Tyrion turned to her, having approached further, cocking an eyebrow. "That news has not reached us."

Coren looked like he wanted to say something, or threaten the man, but he merely rolled his eyes, ruffled his daughter's hair and followed after Missandei, heading further into the palace.

"I know. I made sure it would not." Daenerys agreed, as Rhaenerys peered cautiously around her legs to stare at the man, before hiding once more.

"I take it her father is not Khal Drogo?"

"No. The guards will show you to empty chambers. We will speak more on the morrow." That was all that Daenerys offered on those topics, picking her daughter up with ease as she watched the guards lead the Lannister away.

"Who he?" Rhaenerys' hand clutched onto her own.

"We shall see." Daenerys smiled at her. "Let us find you some food."

Hiya,

So, I'm alive. I've just started my new course which looks super intensive, but I'm hoping that I'll be able to continue updating and I'll keep you updated. Tyrion is here, Jorah was here and is now gone, Coren and Dany gonna fight sometime soon, and Rhae is so cute, love her. I will edit properly tomorrow, but hopefully this is fine?

Let me know what you think,

Love Li xx