Breaker, Broken | Jorah Mormont

Chapter 13

Varys's letter arrived in the morning.

Her body was still shaking from the decision she'd made. It felt so very wrong but she refused to think of anything else now. She wanted the throne, out of spite. Just to prove she could be a better Queen than her sister.

She'd reached her last nerve, her final straw. Despite how often she tried to convince herself that she didn't want it, that she only wished for peace and to see her little sister happy, nothing could have prepared her for the realization that she was meant to do this. To take enough control so that stubborn Daenerys couldn't mistreat her, so that she could have the freedoms she wanted on her own terms.

She didn't even have to stay Queen. She just had to do what Daenerys couldn't and take the Seven Kingdoms. She was the only one who could now.

Now all that was left was finding an army that would challenge the Lannisters.

She'd just finished a tension-filled session with Black Fist and Kavarro when a small boy ran up to her, offering her a note. She knew it was one of Varys's little birds, and wasn't surprised that this communication was given directly to her; he'd never met Daenerys and if Tyrion was right, Varys was a firm believer that Saera was a better option.

He'd trust her to carry his message.

-

Princess Saera,

I write to you directly to tell you that I've successfully arranged for all 20,000 Dornish men to be ready at a moment's notice for when your sister arrives. Ellaria is an interesting woman and has much to say about you.

I ask you to tell your sister the grave news. Cersei Lannister has been crowned Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. She used the caches of wildfire to blow through the Sept of Baelor, killing all the Tyrells except for the Lady Olenna, who desires revenge. She has agreed to support Daenerys in her quest to retake the Iron Throne. All 100,000 men in the Reach are hers when she arrives.

Varys

-

She held the parchment tight in her hands, already figuring out how this could be done.

If she really needed to, she could use the leftover money she took from the masters to buy out the 10,000 men in the Golden Company to aid them in the attack on Casterly Rock, where they'd be paid even more with Lannister coin. She didn't want them to be her primary army but she would keep them in the back of her mind in case she required it.

The Martells offered 20,000, the Tyrells 100,000. She'd give Olenna Tyrell the head of Cersei Lannister without a problem. Their loyalty, she could guarantee.

The Lannisters, she didn't want to make extinct. She was sure there were some who were forced to fight for them, maybe even some related to Cersei who were not bad people. She'd accept the surrender of their forces– ask for it, even, before the attack. Surely they'd be intimidated at the sight of a dragon. She could have them march her up to the Red Keep where she could take Cersei prisoner and hand her over to Olenna.

The North might offer about 50,000 men, perhaps less after the horrible business with the Boltons. Still, a significant amount. She would have no problem promising them a free North if they did her this service; she'd even betrothe one of her children to a boy or girl of the next Stark generation.

The Vale, she wasn't sure what to do with now that Lysa Arryn was dead and her son was growing. She didn't need the Knights of the Vale, from the looks of it, but she could perhaps still stand a chance of winning the boy lord over by offering him a ride on her dragon as Visenya did so long ago. Then, she could have their loyalty and keep them on standby, should she need them.