Breaker, Broken | Jorah Mormont

Chapter 5

They could only wait.

Daenerys sent a group of Unsullied in to speak to the slaves of Meereen, guiding them in a revolt against the masters.

Saera wasn't entirely sure she agreed with her sister's idea. She liked the concept of giving the Meereenese slaves control over their own city, but wondered if it was right to encourage them to kill the masters. Though she appreciated the thought that they would be taking power over those who hurt them, she'd liked what they'd done in Yunkai more: the slaves left without blood on their hands. Was it right to encourage the Meereenese to slay their own masters, to take on that guilt and darkness?

(She wondered if they were doing the wrong thing by weaponizing the suffering of each group they found. She wondered if it did more harm than good to command that they kill the masters themselves. She felt guilty for thinking any of it, for having any thoughts that opposed her sister's.

Maybe Saera was completely wrong and Daenerys was right. Maybe that's why her sister distrusted her.

Saera wished she'd learned more about politics.)

The gates were opened by the slaves, who welcomed Daenerys in by tossing their collars to the floor, leading her in by the hands and calling her Mhysa. Jorah, Ser Barristan, and Saera walked close behind, following her to a platform where she looked down at all the freed slaves, Meereenese and Yunkish alike. The surviving Masters had been gathered, awaiting Daenerys's judgment.

"Remind me, Ser Jorah," said Daenerys, "how many children did the Great Masters nail to mileposts?"

"One-hundred-and-sixty-three, Khaleesi."

"Yes, that was it." She looked at Grey Worm, nodding her head. He mobilized the Unsullied to do the same to as many Meereenese masters as it took to fill up the mileposts.

"Your Grace," said Ser Barristan uncomfortably. "May I have a word?" They stepped aside. "The city is yours. All these people, they're your subjects now. Sometimes it is better to answer injustice with mercy."

"I will answer injustice with justice," said Daenerys clearly.

Saera couldn't help but speak up, "Then how on earth do you expect them to see you as better than their Great Masters? You claim you are not here to give commands, you claim you are better and will give them freedom. But you made them spill blood on their own hands– these people may never have taken a life before this– and you brought upon them guilt... you encouraged them to listen to their most primal instincts. You are feeding them blood and making them enjoy this sadistic display."

"I would not have thought you to oppose killing," said Daenerys, narrowing her eyes.

"No, Your Grace, I am desensitized to performing the act myself. But even the Dornish taught me not to kill unnecessarily. I killed in Yunkai because we were going to be met with force, because they intended to use the Second Sons to back us down. But the amount I killed was minimal because the slave soldiers surrendered. And when we left, we did not slaughter the masters, we simply let it be and moved on."

She gestured to where the Meereenese were cheering as the masters yelled, trying to escape their fates, "You've made these people listen to their violent urges, you put blades in their hands, you turned slaves into murderers just as the Astapori masters did. Not all of them were in the fighting pits, some have never harmed anyone but now they have, because you made them want to. You're making them crave this 'justice,' as you call it, but really you're repeating the cycle the masters used. The target may be different but the act is more or less the same. They will see this and they may like it now, but what happens when there are no more masters and they realize you will do this to any criminal among them? Ser Barristan is right, you ought to show mercy. Imprison the masters if you must, or let us leave this city behind, too. People change when they see blood on their own hands, Daenerys. I used to be afraid of it but since I was realized as a killer... that stain is never washed away. Is this what you want for them?"