A few days after the incident with the wildfire, the whole Westeros was talking about it non-stop.
The High Sparrow and most of his followers, including Lancel, had all perished in the explosion. Kevan was saddened to hear of the death of his son but after Visenya explained to him in detail what happened, he understood that his firstborn had gone too far and could not be retrieved.
However, that left poor Kevan heirless since his other two sons had perished in the hands of Robert. His wife was too old now to produce any kids but he still loved her nonetheless. It was a worrying thing since with Tygett missing and Gerion dead; the whole Lannister family was dependent on Jaime and Trystan.
Most specifically, Trystan since Jaime had taken the oath of the Kingsguard.
It was not an easy thing and Visenya refused to tell the boy yet, not wishing to burden him more than he was already burdened to be his father's heir.
At the same time, the Dragoness had her own troubles; sort of.
The common folk talked non-stop about the incident, many being witnesses to everything. Some feared Visenya, calling her a witch but none dared to openly accuse her in fear that she would come after them with green fire.
The majority, though, thought of her as some sort of a miracle. Many said that the High Sparrow was a fake and when he tried to fake a trial and accuse someone innocent, he angered the Seven. It was them that protected her from the flames while he perished in the same fire that attacked them both.
There were a few, who actually started to call her blessed and believed she had been touched by the Seven, finding no coincidence that the Sept she was about to be trialled was on top of Visenya's Hill in the first place.
This led to some odd rumours spreading but no one truly tried to stop them. Instead, they let them happen and spread.
It helped our heroes, for now, as the common folks were more hesitant to go against them; specifically Visenya. The incident also helped spread some fear but also awe across Westeros, now that she was the first woman to live and walk through live fire like it was nothing.
The incident and the word spread far and wide all across the Westerosi Continent. It reached from the South where Dorne was located, all the way to the Mountains of the Vale.
There, Lady Sansa was still residing under the disguise of Alayne Stone, a bastard niece of Petyr Baelish.
Lysa Arryn had been killed by Petyr Baelish, on the basis that he was self-defending himself from her and protecting his niece, Alayne. Now, as temporary ruler of the Vale; he kept the undercover Stark girl close.
Lysa's son, Robin, had been taken under her wing and Petyr even thought of marrying them if the boy was to survive his sickness.
However, he made no plans yet since Tywin Lannister was still alive and ruling. If he dared make such a move, the Old Lion would be right outside his door; demanding an explanation and of course, handing back Sansa.
When the news reached them of the fire and the miraculous survival of Visenya, different reactions were drawn from them.
Petyr was the most shocked, not expecting such type of miracles or stunts to take place; like a woman walking through the fire untouched. A part of him actually did not believe it truly happened but it was rather a set-up rumour to reduce the amount of rebellions from other Kingdoms.
Sansa was relieved upon hearing that she was safe, although the way she survived was odd to her. She could not exactly imagine how but at the moment, she was glad that Lady Visenya had not died. For the young Direwolf eventually wished for the two of them to meet, under better circumstances and as powerful ladies of their respected Houses.
The dagger that Visenya had gifted her, rested hidden between the folds of her clothes. She used it once, to keep her crazy aunt away before Petyr appeared between them and handled the rest. The blade had drawn blood but Sansa had never felt more powerful of herself, finally able to stand against a bully.
She was thankful for the gift and kept it close, even beneath her pillow the nights she would sleep. It reminded her of some good times she had with Trystan, and the wise pieces of advice Visenya had given her; her primary motivation in surviving where she currently was.
Only young Robin seemed excited by the news, already mesmerized by the tale. The boy loved stories with magic and heroes and knights and now demanded to meet the woman, who was said to walk through fire.
Of course, Petyr knew better than to agree directly to his demands and told the boy they would meet, eventually. He knew that if word spread out and somehow the Lannisters found out that Sansa was held under his care, all hell would break loose and not even he would be able to escape this time.
Throne Room, Main Pyramid - Meereen, Essos
The Sons of the Harpy had landed a vicious attack on Daenerys and her companions, one that almost had taken her life. They never caught her, though, for she had managed to be saved by Drogon and she flew away on his back.
However, the days kept passing and she had yet to return; leaving behind her companions to handle everything. Two of her dragons were still chained beneath the Great Pyramid and were not going to be freed without their mother present.
Many had died in the last attack and while the Sons of the Harpy had retreated, the slavers did not. With Daenerys absent, all the peace and freedom she had managed to obtain; was slowly taken away.
Her council that had been left behind had one returning addition, that being Ser Jorah; who had previously been exiled after his queen found out that he used to sell secrets about her to King Robert and Varys.
Tyrion had also somehow made his way to Meereen after an exiled Jorah kidnapped him and brought him to Daenerys; in the hope of retribution for himself for his past mistakes. Now, the dwarf had stayed and tried to help them handle the situation.
It was during a meeting at the usual marble table that they received the news from the capital. Upon Jorah reading the letter, each person in the room reacted quite differently.
Tyrion was the one that had paled the most, his skin, though suntanned by now; turned to a quite pale version of it. He stared at Jorah and mostly at the letter in his hand before demanding to see it.
Yet as he tried to read it, he found his mind going back to a discussion he had with Varys. Back then, before the battle of Blackwater Bay. Varys had been rather cryptic about Visenya, talking as if he knew something more and yet refused to share the details.
Now, Tyrion could not help but wonder if the eunuch knew that his good-mother, apparently, was non-flammable.
In the end, he left the letter on the table. "This must be some fake rumour caused by my Father. This cannot be true," he commented, looking from the letter to the men and women around the table. "People don't just walk through the flames or survive explosions of wildfire."
Yet, Ser Barristan argued. "Some do," he said, making every single pair of eyes fall on his form. "I have witnessed it myself back at Summerhall," he continued and then saw a few confused looks from the non-Westerosi companions. "The royal family had a castle close to Dorne. One eventful night, a terrible fire had taken place that killed a lot of people and destroyed everything. That night, I witnessed Lady Visenya, merely a child, walking through the flames and safely out of there like it was nothing."
For the first time in history, Jorah actually agreed with the older knight.
"I believe him," he said, surprising even Barristan himself. "Khaleesi laid into the pyre of Khal Drogo, expected to die and yet when the fires died; she was still alive. She was unharmed and her three dragon eggs had hatched as well."
Everyone exchanged a look, some having more silent questions than others. They had seen Dragons flying into the sky, so they did not find it that incredible for people to walk through flames like it was nothing.
Yet, one question remained the most dominant and was shared commonly amongst everyone.
"So, this is some Targaryen thing, then?" Tyrion asked his companions, but none though had the answer. "Well, either way, our Queen will want to know once she is found again," he continued and then chose to change the subject, trying to kill this tension and awkwardness existing around them. "Any other news? Perhaps something happening close to us and not on the other side of the known world?"
"Yes," Grey Worm said and then started to speak Valyrian to Missandei since he was still practising his Common.
The young woman nodded her head and once she had everything, she turned to the men around her. "Grey Worm says that the dragons have been acting up. One does not want to eat and the other is very uneasy, fighting the chains and breathing fire into the room; as if wanting to escape."
Ser Barristan, who had been from the few to truly see the Dragons since they were smaller; arched an eyebrow. "Which Dragon is the uneasy one and how long has this been happening?" he asked.
Missandei translated to Grey Worm and then waited for him to answer her, so she could translate for the others. "Says it Rhaegon and it started suddenly a few days ago."
"Odd," the old knight commented and Jorah nodded his head, once again agreeing.
Twice in a few minutes? That was indeed very odd and slightly worrying to those, who knew them and how often those two argued; never agreeing on anything.
"Why is it odd?" Tyrion asked. "Sorry, but I am kind of a new player here. Don't have your backstory with the Mother of Dragons, now, do I?"
Jorah rolled his eyes, sometimes wondering why he didn't end him after Daenerys wished him dead. "Rhaegon has always been the calmest and most obedient of the three."
Yet, the dwarf could not see what was odd in the situation. "So?"
The younger of the two knights shook his head, not going to explain it any further since Tyrion was clearly not understanding the situation.
Something, though, seemed to connect in his mind; evident by how his eyebrows moved to a frown, accompanied by his lips.
"According to that letter, the incident with Lady Visenya took place a few days ago; around the same time Rhaegon started to act oddly."
Once again, Tyrion chose to speak up; in the mood to argue. "Don't tell me you think that the Dragons somehow sensed it," he scoffed and mocked faintly but it was clear from the man's look, that he did believe it.
"When we were under attack, Drogon was nowhere to be found. Yet, he came to save Daenerys and took her away from danger."
"Those Dragons see her grace as their mother," Ser Barristan argued, the time for the two men to agree on things was over, from the looks of it. "Of course, they could sense she was in danger and that's why Drogon came to her rescue. With her gone, it would explain why the dragons are uneasy and act oddly."
"Perhaps but I am not fully persuaded," Jorah argued, his hands flat on the table. "I have witnessed enough things that I have stopped being surprised by anything."
"Well, as long as it is interesting to talk of such things," Daario interrupted. "We should worry about the most important things."
"The Sons of the Harpy and the slavers. We are aware of that," Jorah argued.
Yet, the swordsman shook his head. "Except those," he commented. "Daenerys is missing and right now there is this Young Griff, as he calls himself, that people claim he is Aegon Targaryen; the nephew of her grace."
While everyone was surprised by the news, especially Ser Barristan, who rushed to argue it was impossible; Tyrion remained quiet. He did not say anything and instead thought about his small brief meeting with this Young Griff.
He had eventually found out who the boy was but even the dwarf had second thoughts about it. Everyone knew that young Aegon was a baby when Tywin sent his two most brute men to kill him and the Mountain had smashed the boy's head into the wall.
Tyrion had heard all kinds of stories on how deformed and destroyed the head of the baby was, to the point that he was unrecognisable. Yet, could Varys truly have planned it all ahead and saved the boy?
That he did not know but from the looks of it, he would find out soon enough.
Olenna's Solar, Red Keep - King's Landing, Crownlands
The Queen of Thorns had invited Visenya for a private afternoon chat with some wine, cheese and bread. However, any person who knew her by now; knew this was not a simple meeting between two friends.
The Dragoness herself knew that and she had entered the room with care and caution in her mind. She sat on the cushioned couch that she had sat quite a few times already and gladly accepted the wine offered to her by a servant.
"You seem rather well after what took place," Olenna pointed out, drinking some sweet Arbor wine from her goblet.
"Did you expect me to be shaken, Olenna? Or perhaps having developed some new fear of fire?" Visenya asked, the time for formalities long gone after what the two of them planned together.
Now, it was quicker when one would put their cards on the table and simply head to the topic; other than beating around the bush in an attempt to get as much information as possible. In addition, there was no fear of an overly sarcastic response from any of the two women.
"Ha!" Olenna exclaimed, an amused smile upon her lips. "A dragon afraid of fire. Now that I would love to see," she commented, placing her goblet on the clothed table. "Speaking of fire, have you heard how the common folk practically worship you? They talk of you as if you are the Mother herself reincarnated into a human body or the Crone, at least in our case."
Olenna had become rather good with her new network of spies, getting all the best of information and juicy gossip first. She did find some joy in that job; she was not going to lie. It had taken a while but she had become a master of it and she was slowly extending her thorns further and further away across the lands of Westeros.
Visenya sipped some wine, unaffected by the news that she already knew or the passive joke of Olenna; about her age. "Some things have been picked up by my ears, I will not lie," she answered her companion. "People saw a lot of things that day. If they were so quick to believe a man that claims he knows the will of the Seven, who says they won't believe I am some blessed woman?"
Yet, the Queen of Thorns was not so eager to drop the topic. It was not every day something like this was happening and she was eager to learn more, from the original source of course. Little birds and spies were useful but they could not learn that much. Some things, she had to do on her own and she knew it was never easy with the Dragoness. She was intelligent, and cunning and kept her secrets as guarded as a mother dragon would guard her eggs.
"Well, it is not every day that a woman walks through the flames without a single injury on herself," she said, her aged eyes scanning her body for any signs of injury but finding none; which did not disappoint.
Targaryens were an odd family, one with many lores, mysteries and unexplained abominations for children. She was not that surprised to hear such rumours, although truthfully she never witnessed anything extraordinary; until now. Of course, she would simply kill to know the full truth behind it but even while she tried, she did not expect to get an answer.
No, Visenya was too intelligent and careful for that.
The Dragoness lowered her goblet but did not leave it on the table. She turned her body to face Olenna fully. "Mayhap I did walk through the flames. Mayhap I was away from the explosion and survived because I had calculated where it would strike," she said, using similarly her words the way the older woman did during Tyrion's trial; when they were discussing how the third player in their game got enough information to smuggle Sansa out.
There was this twinkle in the old eyes of Olenna, one of amusement. She realized what Visenya was doing and the fact that the Targaryen made it clear, she was not going to give her any more details on the subject.
She was smart and cunning, the Queen of Thorns would give her that. Thankfully for her, there were many ways for one to test certain theories and get the necessary information. After all, it is never unwise to truly know your allies in the case they one day become your enemies.
"What is done has been done," she said, grabbing her goblet again. "News spread faster than your wildfire and at least your enemies now know that if they wish to kill you; a pyre is out of the question," she continued, dropping a joke into the conversation.
It amused Visenya, who did not hide it as her lips moved faintly to show her reaction before they got hidden behind the rim of her goblet. Yet, the Queen of Thorns was right about that. Those who would ever wish to harm her now knew that they had better chances with a sword through her heart than to burn her alive somewhere.
Now that could be a reason for concern.
Of course, it was so far away and there were currently; more things of importance that she had to take care of.
Like the latest word she got from one of her acquaintances from Essos, talking about someone saying he was Elia's baby son; Aegon.