Dragon's Heir

Chapter 7

Rhaenyra starts making new laws to protect her new kingdom. She receives an unexpected visit. We finally see what is happening in Westeros and they get a surprise. A little Valyrian magic in this chapter as one of the gods makes an appearance. I hope you guys like it. 🥰

Rhaenyra was tired, she had only slept for a few hours. She had conquered Astapor, killed the good masters after they refused to surrender, and freed all the slaves in the city. The possessions of the good masters she had killed had been divided and given to the slaves. The Astapor slaves had gotten the same choice as the ones in Yunkai, they were all free to leave if they wished. They all decided to stay in the city. Rhaenyra and Laenor had spent hours speaking with different people, from the lowest slaves to some of the wealthier families. She had heard from the slaves about one of the wealthy lords, he was not the wealthiest, but he was also not destitute. The lord's name was Ezmez na Hasha, and he was known for buying slaves who were treated badly by their owners and giving them better work and a better life.
Listening to several stories about the lord, Rhaenyra had decided to pay him a visit. She needed to meet with him in person and see if what they were telling her was true. Ezmez had been everything the slaves had said, so Rhaenyra had made him a proposition. She would leave him in charge of Astapor, for now, and would pay him a fee every moon for taking care of the city. She let him know slavery would no longer be tolerated, and the people living in Astapor would be paid for their work. The Lord had accepted eagerly, happy that the new queen had decided to trust him. Rhaenyra made sure he was aware that if he betrayed her if he allowed his ambitions to get the better of him she would kill him without remorse.
Rhaenyra had arrived at the palace after the hour of the eel, her first stop had been to Visenya's chambers. Her daughter had been deeply asleep, her cut healing nicely. Another healer was in the chambers with the small girl, letting Rhaenyra know that after this night the princess would no longer need to be watched while she slept, but she would still need to rest for a few more days. Rhaenyra had dismissed the woman for the night, choosing to stay with Visenya. She had not been able to sleep for long, her duties were pressing and there was a lot to be done.
Once she had awoken she had called for the healer to stay with her daughter, kissing Visenya's head before leaving. She had the maid prepare a bath and help her ready for the day. Once she was ready she had left her chambers, two guards trailing after her.
Rhaenyra's most pressing matter at this time was to do with the unsullied, who had all chosen to stay in her service. She was now in charge of over fifteen thousand unsullied and was not sure what she was supposed to do with such a large army. Between the unsullied and the e Dothraki, she had over one hundred and thirty thousand soldiers. She would have to set up a method to pay the unsullied for their work and find a place to house them. She also needed to speak to Laenor about finding the most effective way to rule over Meereen, Yunkai, and Astapor. Rhaenyra could not help but snort at the thought, she had not wanted to be queen of one city and now she ruled over three.
"There is a lot of work to do." Rhaenyra walked into the golden chambers. She had designated the room for official business with her council. Right now only Laenor was present, her cousin was her unofficial co-ruler. He had almost as much power as she did. "We have to decide what to do with the Unsullied, we need to decide how much we are going to pay them and where they will be housed."
"I actually had an idea about that." Rhaenyra sat at the end of the table, waiting for Laenor to pour himself some wine and sit down beside her. "I was thinking we could divide them between Yunkai and Astapor. They are loyal to you and they will be able to protect the cities."
"That is a good idea, I will speak to them about it." Rhaenyra played with the ends of her hair. "I was thinking we should set up a council to rule Yunkai and keep a close eye on Ezmez, make sure he is capable of ruling Astapor without attempting to take it over."
"We shall work on that. For now, there is something else I wanted to talk to you about. Trade deals." Rhaenyra frowned as Laenor handed her several papers. "There are several trade agreements that need to be reviewed since you are now queen of Yunkai and Astapor. The contracts they had with the free cities are pretty straightforward, but I am sure several things will need to change since you will not be enslaving people and selling them as whores and soldiers."
"No, people will not be slaves anymore. One of the first laws I want to put in place is against the sale of children." The scribe who was usually present for all the official meetings started to write. "The sale of children of either sex is not permitted, pleasure houses are prohibited from purchasing children. Anyone who is caught attempting to sell a child will be executed."
"What about the pleasure houses we have right now?" Laenor asked her.
"Anyone under the age of ten will be turned over to the crown. Once we assess their situation they will either be returned to their families, providing that it was not their family who sold them, or they will be taken to orphanages where they shall receive care and an education." Laenor nodded agreeing with her. "All the women at the pleasure houses who do not want to be there will be released immediately and paid a year's wage."
"What about the ones that want to stay?" Laenor wondered.
"Whoever wants to stay working at the pleasure houses will be allowed to, but they will no longer be slaves. They will be paid for every client they take and will be well protected." Rhaenyra took a sip of her water. "Astapor will stop selling slaves, the two thousand children who were being trained as unsullied will be taken to an orphanage if they are less than ten-name days old. The ones above that age will be given the choice to be taught another trade or they can still train as soldiers. They will not be trained as slave soldiers, but as free soldiers, knowing that they are free to leave if they so wish."
"All trade for slaves that we have in place with Westeros will be terminated immediately," Laenor said as he tapped a finger on the table, looking thoughtful. "There is a shipment of slaves that was supposed to leave for Lys in a few days. The payment has already been made."
"Then we will return the money to Lys and make sure they are aware they will not be receiving any more slaves from us." Rhaenyra waited for Laenor to nod before continuing. "We still have the best tutors for pleasure house workers, fieldhands, scribes, craftsmen, other tutors, and soldiers. The free cities can send their people to be trained by us, the crown will charge a fee and the rest of the gold will go to the tutors."
"That is a very good idea." Laenor gave her a smile. "I knew you would be an excellent queen."
"Well, I do have help." Rhaenyra gave her cousin a smile, which made Laenor chuckle, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. He was happy that she supported him and did not try to change him. "I also want to speak to some of the unsullied, I would like to pick a few of the best fighters."
"For what reason?"
"They will train Visenya." Laenor was startled, but then nodded, understanding her apprehension. "My daughter will know how to defend herself, she will not be taken advantage of. Visenya will be a warrior."
Laenor opened his mouth, but Rhaenyra's steward walked in, interrupting whatever Laenor had been about to say.
"Your grace." The man bowed to her and then to Laenor. "There is a woman here requesting to see you. She says she brings important news."
"Have her pass." Rhaenyra made herself comfortable.
A few minutes later a woman was shown in, wearing red and black robes. She was older, but Rhaenyra could not guess her age. The way she looked at her made her nervous, it felt like the woman saw more than the mere physical aspect of things.
"My queen." The woman's bow was deep, her forehead almost touching the ground, before she straightened. "I have been sent to help you and teach you the ways."
"Who are you?" Rhaenyra stood up but did not move any closer to the woman. "Who sent you?"
"I am Haemys Naelnaris, a priestess of the fourteen flames from a temple in Volantis." The woman's smile was gentle. "I have been sent by the gods to show you the way of Valyria, the way of the dragon."
"The gods?" Rhaenyra had never followed the seven like her father had, she had always been a follower of the fourteen flames, the gods of her people. But she was still skeptical that this woman would appear two days after her daughter was attacked. "Why would the gods send you?"
"To teach you, to protect you and your heir. To return the magic which was lost in the Doom. Your blood will one day save the world from the long night." Rhaenyra frowned not completely believing the woman. The priestess's smile never left her face. "From your blood comes the prince that was promised and his will be the song of ice and fire."
Rhaenyra's entire body froze as her eyes opened wide. The one and only time she had heard those words had been when she read them out loud when her father had shown the secret hidden in Aegon's dagger. There was no way this woman knew about it, the prophecy was passed from the king to the heir, and not one outside of it knew of it. But this woman knew, and she had said from your blood. Did that mean the promised prince would come from Rhaenyra's bloodline?