Trials and Tribulations of the Oathkeeper

Chapter 133: Dragon's Fire, a Raging Storm

Burned bodies and cargo were strewed about the ash covered ground; dead bodies of both the Dothraki and royal armies were piled up onto carts and were being led off. The surviving 60,000 Dothraki escorted the remaining 3,000 troops before Daenerys and her largest dragon Drogon, who stood behind her along the nearest hillside. Among the prisoners with their hands tied and bound behind their backs were Mace Tyrell, Stannis Baratheon and Randyll Tarly. Drogon was in rather rough shape: with his wing and leg were badly struck with multiple scorpion bolts. The dragon wouldn't be able to fly for at least a while longer.

"Keep moving," Connington shoved Stannis forward.

The Lord of Dragonstone was bloodied and bruised; most of his battalion of soldiers had been sacrificed to buy time for the rest of the main royal armies to retreat back to King's Landing. Injury and exhaustion made him slower than usual with the back of his calf bleeding out. Thrown onto the ground with the rest of the ranking generals and militia leaders, Stannis looks up to see Daenerys staring down at them. He squints at her, weak from blood loss.

Drogon screeched while tending its wounds.

"Nakho elat yeri rhae, chiori! (Stop dragging your feet, woman!)" Qhono roughly grabbed a resisting female militia by her hair and threw her to the ground.

"I know what Daveth has told you," Daenerys addresses her captives, "that I've come to destroy your cities, burn your homes, murder you and orphan your children. That's Daveth Baratheon, not me—"

"Liar! You bring nothing but chaos to our homes! Pain, suffering and death like the Mad King did—!" one of the militia captains hollered.

One Dothraki rider rode up and smacked him on the back of the head rather roughly, forcing him to his knees and beating him bloody. The Dragon Queen, unfortunately, heard that last remark about her father and felt the need to set the record straight.

"I know what my father did, how the Mad King got his name," she said, hoping at least some of them would hear her out. "My father was an evil man. I understand your reservations towards me. On behalf of House Targaryen, I humbly ask for your forgiveness for the crimes he committed against all your families... but I would also like to ask you to not to judge a daughter by the sins of her father."

A couple POWs looked at each other in confusion as she resumed her speech.

"I'm not here to murder. I'm not here to conquer. All I want is to destroy the wheel that has rolled over rich and poor to the benefit of no one but the villains of the world. I offer you a choice: bend the knee and join me. Together we will build a better world than our ancestors have left it. Or refuse and die."

Out of the 3,000 gathered, only two or three knelt to the ground whilst most remained standing. Drogon moved closer and roars loudly, prompting ten to fifteen more to quickly kneel while the rest remain standing—including Stannis, Mace, Randyll and Dickon.

"Step forward, my lord," Daenerys motions to Randyll. The Lord of Horn Hill and Master of Ships steps forward towards the Dragon Queen and stands in front of his comrades. "You will not kneel?"

"I already have a King," he answers with a frown.

"You mean the Usurper's boy," Connington concluded. "Strange how your loyalties tend to shift – considering you were the only man in Westeros to ever defeat Robert Baratheon in battle, Lord Tarly; not even Prince Rhaegar could beat him at the Trident. House Tyrell, the Tarlys... they've always supported House Targaryen faithfully since Aegon the Conqueror agreed to spare their lives in exchange for their sworn allegiance in perpetuity. That means forever."

"I know what perpetuity means, Connington. There are no easy choices in war – like how you failed miserably searching house-to-house at Stoney Sept for too long until Hoster Tully, Jon Arryn and Ned Stark arrived. You could've ended the rebellion had you burned the city to the ground, but no, you wanted the glory of slaying Robert in single combat and didn't want to gain the reputation of a butcher."