>>FROM:@STORMBORN | >>TO:@ALL

[dorzalta]

I ask that you use caution if encountering Yhych in the courts. Or at least carry with you an anti-toxin.

[ dot dot dot . . . ]

Is anyone a weapon-maker here?



>>FROM:@STORMBORN
>>TO:@BURGERKING, @PONYTAIL, @MODERATUS, @POINTANDKICK, @DIEDHARD, @BOARING, @AEGONNER, @PERSONALSTAFF

Ignore my next message until you are alone or are able to control your reaction.

[ There will be a pause, one which seems to tick away as an eternity for her. And then: ]

I'm told Kebechet is here.

Comments

[goodandtrue]

I understand, but I think poison might be the only weapon some can use while we are here. I wonder if these creatures don't appreciate under handed methods over honorable ones?

[But she doesn't blame anyone for turning it down. What she was suggesting went against what many saw as acceptable combat.]

If you find that you are not fine, I have something that might help ease the pain and illness.

[She wished she could make sense of the feelings in her, the horror and the sudden thrill at making an enemy scream. Deep down, perhaps a part of her was blood thirsty. She couldn't know and wouldn't unless she actually exacted vengeance. This place was exposing her to thoughts she never considered before but found didn't actually bother her.]

If I manage to make a stronger antitoxin, would you be willing to try it?

[dorzalta]

They aren't creatures, they're living beings like you and I. Don't view yourself their superior, lest you prefer to steer your thoughts and actions in the Regency's direction. This is their world, and poison is their weapon just as a blade is one in ours.

[ Calling anything different a savage, a beast, or a creature tends to rile her up. Her Dothraki are not savages, her Unsullied are not eunuchs, her dragons are not beasts, and she is not merely a foreign whore or an invader. ]

Your husband's brother saw it fit to stab me repeatedly and insistently with one of the brooches. Lest you have something to deter him from his enthusiasm in the future, I must respectfully decline your kind offer.

If I'm poisoned again, perhaps.

[ That answer does not come easily. It requires trusting, and she finds it difficult to trust during times like these, when she'd foolishly consumed the food proffered to her with no thought of what it might contain. Her mistake. But it would also be her mistake to consume an antivenom without knowing whether it truly is what it is. ]

[goodandtrue]

Oh. Forgive me. I didn't mean any offense. I have never encountered anyone like them before, only the versions of spiders in our home. I forget that they aren't simply spiders.

[She was still trying to adjust to everything. Not only the idea that creatures could be on her level, but the differences in technology, the balance between the sexes, the idea that she could be more than simply a wife, or that honor might not always be the way to win.]

I'm not certain. My brother is very much like my husband and he reacts with passion first rather than sense. It speaks of his feelings for you, if he is carried away like that.

I envy you that.

[If they were speaking in person, it would be softly and shyly offered. Seeing their love only reminded her of what she was missing in her life.]

[dorzalta]

Nor have I, save for Irriella. For however savage they may appear, there's a clear class structure they follow. They've visitors from other worlds, and have two organizations vying for their support in a war.

[ Honor was not the only way to win. Vengeance was another way to win. What care did she have for honor, when it landed so very many dead, and so stupidly to boot?

The mention of Jon as her brother gives Dany pause, if only because she's so rarely heard of him referred to as such. ]

I've seen far more sense over passion, lady.

[ Maybe in Westeros--but she's witnessed that passion, as well. Either way, it makes her uncomfortable to discuss dead and living brothers, or a younger woman's envy. She hadn't gone looking for a lover, merely an ally. ]

I was young when my husband died. He was passionate like the men you describe, and promised to spill the blood of many in Westeros to avenge me when the Usurper almost poisoned me.

Focus on growing and becoming who you're meant to be, instead of what you've lost.

[goodandtrue]

Their class structure is what surprises me. There are so few societies that seem to allow women to be in such control. My brother said that he believes this culture is similar to Westeros. I suppose that is true, only men are in the place that women are expected to hold.

[She could appreciate Dany's advice about finding herself and her way, aside from simply mourning Robb. She knew that the queen was right, as it seemed to have benefited Dany. She was a leader of men, brought dragons back to Westeros and soon would reclaim her home.

However, it was difficult to imagine achieving anything close to that. Dany wasn't like anyone else.]

It's not that I don't mean to find who I am, but I am not ready yet to move forward. I can't let him go yet.