The Age of Daenerys Targaryen

Part 19: R'hllor save the Empress

When Daenerys opened her eyes, she saw Kinvara hunched over her.

"Thank R'hllor", the high priestess uttered with obvious relief. "You are with us again."

Daenerys found that she was lying on a stone table in an unfamiliar room lit by fire baskets. "Where am I?", she asked.

"In the temple of the Lord of Light. You were brought here after you died from the manticore sting."

The Empress shivered when she heard the other woman's words. "Rhaegar and Viserys. What's up with them?"

"They are fine", the priestess assured her. "Fortunately, you were able to kill the manticore before you collapsed."

"I really owe the Lord of Light something", Daenerys said quietly. This was the second time he had brought her back to the living. She sat up and found that she was naked. Kinvara handed her a linen shirt and red robe.

"How much time has passed? Are there any clues as to who smuggled the manticore into the palace?"

"The attack was hours ago, it's already night", said Kinvara. "This time it took longer for the Lord to answer my prayers. A suspect was caught trying to escape the city. It was difficult to get hold of him because he used dark magic."

"A wizard?", Daenerys asked while she was getting dressed. Her gaze fell on her left hand, where the manticore had stung her. The wound had healed completely. "Maybe from Qarth?"

"That's exactly what it looks like", said the high priestess grimly. "We're holding the man here in the temple. The servants of R'hllor know how to counteract witchcraft."

"Good", Daenerys said, smiling coldly. "Lead me to him."

Kinvara wanted to contradict at first, but then thought better of it. She led the empress into the cellar vault of the temple. They paused in front of a massive wooden door where four Fiery Hand warriors stood guard.

"Let us in", demanded the high priestess.

One of the men unlocked the door and gave way to a small, torch-lit cell. Chained to the wall was a thin man dressed only in a loincloth. His pale skin had an unhealthy bluish cast and his lips were black-blue. Daenerys had no doubt that he was a warlock from Qarth.

"So you are the man who wanted to kill me." Her violet-blue eyes were hard as steel. "Congratulations on your success."

"But your effort was in vain", Kinvara said with a fine smile. "The Lord of Light has brought our Empress back to us."

The prisoner raised his head. Although he had bruises all over his body, he smiled arrogantly at the Empress. "Your luck will not last forever. We are many. Pyat Pree will be avenged."

"You and all other warlocks will share his fate", Daenerys promised. She remembered her experiences in Qarth as well as if it had been yesterday. The warlock Pyat Pree had tried to keep her and her dragon chicks imprisoned in the House of the Undying because their presence increased his magical powers. However, Daenerys had managed to kill him with the help of her dragons and escape. Later there had been an attempted murder of her in Astapor, which resembled the one in the Imperial Palace and had also been carried out by a warlock - who had disguised himself as a little girl through his magic.

"Ridiculous", said the prisoner. "You couldn't even prevent me from smuggling the manticore into your palace."

"But YOU couldn't escape", Kinvara reminded him. "Your poor witchcraft is nothing against the power of the Lord of Light."