bakerstreet | (no subject)

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[A slight frown, though mostly because she could assume the other woman's second-guessing.]

There is no need to apologize. I wish to learn of all of the country, of all of its people and their lands. Go on, if you wish to.

Alright. Umm...

Our castle was by the shore. It was very rocky and the beach was narrow. You had to know just the right path to get down to the shore, and of course my older brother showed it to me as soon as I was old enough to walk. I then in turn taught it to my younger sister. Every day when our lessons with the septa were over we would go down and watch the waves coming in and collect seashells. She said it was our duty to have all the shells in the whole world, because it's the sigyl of our house.

One day when she was about 10, she insisted we bring a wheelbarrow down to the beach with us. She spent all afternoon filling it up, and by the time the sun went down she was too tired to walk back up to the castle. I had to put her on top of her hoard and push them both back up the path. I almost spilled them both several times, but we made it.

A few weeks later she gave me a crown she had painstakingly made from those shells, and she declared me queen of the shore. I thought at the time that being it would be the only time anyone would ever call me a queen. I guess I was wrong about that.

[Daenerys was quiet as she listened, nibbling her lip and nodding in the right moments. It was a simple story, true, but full of many things that she herself had never properly known -- sisterhood, even just innocent familial bonds, playful domesticity.]

Do you miss it? [Her home, the title, anything Jeyne wished to answer.]

The Crag? Oh, not in the least. It was gray and dreary and often the weather was poor. I love it here, the sun is nearly always shining. It's as if my blood knows that it's come home. My great-grandmother on my mother's side was from the Summer Isles.

[Jeyne paused, thinking again on her sister, Eleyna.]

I do miss my sister. I wanted to bring her with me but it was not possible. I pray every day that she does not fall victim to our mother's treachery, as I did.

[A short nod.] Were you able to speak to her, at least? Warn her of -- [Of whatever she'd need to be warned about. That sort of thing was very important to Daenerys.]

[Jeyne paused to look at a flowering bush covered in crimson red blooms.]

I told her to be careful, and not to trust anything. I do not know if she will heed my word, but I hope she will.

You see, my mother was not happy that I married the King in the North. She felt he had no chance of winning the war, and that I would end up beheaded. So while Robb and I diligently worked to conceive an heir to his throne, she was giving me a contraceptive and telling me that it was a fertility drink. All I wanted was to make him happy and to give him a son, and my own mother betrayed me and kept that from happening.

This was a very hard lesson to learn, but I learned it well. Just because a people have been conquered does not mean they are loyal. My mother's heart remained with the Lannisters and their money even after Robb had taken our home in battle.

[Of course, Daenerys could have assumed that there had been some great tragedy, beyond just the one that was apparent, in this story. She had grown to assume that of most everyone's story. But the particulars still caused her to gasp softly, sympathetically.]

I am sorry to hear that, my lady -- the loss of any of those things, hope or family or love, can be difficult, but when combined...

[Well.] That is an important lesson, though, I do agree.

Yes, your grace. I hope that now you understand why I wish to help you. The Baratheons and Lannisters took and maintained their power through brutality, murdering innocent people and leaving those like you and me behind to grieve. It is not right. Someone must show them how wrong they are.

I do. [Her tone went even more resolved for a moment.] They and others who would do the same need to be told that we will not stand idly by as they ruin the lives of others.

And in my opinion, your grace, nobody alive is more capable of teaching them that lesson than you.

[Jeyne began to wonder if by some miracle she might become friends with the Queen. It would be nice to have a friend again.]

Will you tell me about the cities you have seen? The stories of how you liberated the slave cities are impressive, but I have yet to see these places for myself.

[Friends were, in Daenerys' experience, quite a rarity in this life, but a welcome one. The idea rarely crossed her mind given the level of inherent distrust she had to have, but it was not one she was opposed to.]

What would you like to hear? I've spent my life traveling, and though the stories are less pleasant than most, I'm sure I could find one to suit.

[Jeyne had little knowledge of the details of the Queen's life, so she knew not what to ask. She opted for a more generic question, one that would hopefully be well received.]

Of all of the places you have lived, which one was your favorite and why?

[She sighed -- that was an easy answer, truly, though she couldn't say anymore whether it was for real reasons or just for the comfort that had been afforded her there.]

When I was young, I lived in a house with a red door in Braavos. My brother and I lived there under the care of one of our father's most loyal knights, and it was... [Home. It was home. She can't bring herself to say that, though.] It wasn't nearly such an adventure, but it was the sort of stability a little girl is the better for.

[Jeyne nodded, sensing that the topic might be difficult for Daenerys to talk about.]

Did you swim in the ocean often? I always wanted to but the water was too cold. The day I arrived in Pentos I ran into the ocean fully dressed just to see what it was like. I think I may have appeared to have lost my mind.

I admit that I did not. [A slight shrug, a slighter smile.] I suspect there were many things I could have done but didn't, but for a time I felt very safe, and that was enough.

I understand, your grace. I took feeling safe for granted. I never realized how important it was until I no longer had it. Part of me still wonders if I am being hunted.

[At that, her tone turned more serious.] I promise you that my people will do all they can to keep you from harm's way, my lady.

Thank you, your grace. I don't see what threat I could be to the now, it has been long enough that they know I am not with child. There will be heir to the King in the North.

[Jeyne knew she would always feel like she had failed Robb in not conceiving, though it was not her fault.]

[It was another -- for lack of a better word, sensitive topic for Daenerys, that of children, but it was a different sort of sensitive it was for Jeyne, and she could understand that.]

There will not be, but he will not be forgotten.

Yes, your grace. As long as we keep the memories of those we loved alive in our hearts, they are never truly gone. Though even I can admit that punishing those who killed them would ease the pain of missing them.

[She smiled a bit sadly at that.] Sometimes that is true, though it's not always so simple as we would wish it or as would be just. [A lesson she had learned rather the hard way.]

Of course, your grace. Such is the way life goes, I suppose. Nothing is what it should be. It is up to us to make peace with what is, and let go of what could have been.

Well-spoken, my lady. [Tilting her head, then:] Even being granted the chance to make that peace is something to be thankful for, I suppose.

Yes, your grace, though at times it does feeling more like a curse than a blessing.

I've found there are few things in this world that are not a little bit of both.

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