baetiful | IC CONTACT POST

The Kingslayer.

[ Her tone is wintry, but considering the matter at hand, it seems only appropriate. She's had time, between Jorah's message to her, and Tyion's appeal, and Jon's concern, to forge her ire into something she can use. ]

Do you know of his whereabouts?

I stumbled across him at a bar within De Chima, so I assume that is his city of assignment. I cannot tell you more than that as De Chima is not under my watchful eye.

[ Were Jaime in Maurtia Falls, he could have easily sold out his location. But. ]

I am glad Ser Jorah passed the news along. I felt it would be better for you to hear it from him rather than anyone else.

Do not take it upon yourself to decide what is better for me, or what I would prefer to hear from Ser Jorah. You swore to advise me.

[ Much of what he says of De Chima is brushed to the side. ]

But I am glad you understand the significance to me of Jaime Lannister's presence in this world. I need you to find him, Lord Baelish, and then you will bring him to me.

[ Oh. There it is. That's the Targaryen crazy he expects. Ordering him around like they're in Westeros or something. ]

I did not say you would prefer it. I said it would be better. Ser Jorah knows the significance of this, but he also knows you, Your Grace. He knew how to speak the words and deliver the news far better than I could.

[ How in the hell is he supposed to drag the Kingslayer anywhere? It's a good thing this is video, because Baelish is already looking exhausted. ]

And what will you do with him once he is brought before you?

You flatter him, [ is a comment that is dry in delivery without lapsing all the way into good humour. Enough to indicate that, probably, news well delivered was not exactly what happened.

His question is expected. She is not dispassionate when she says; ]

I will gaze upon the killer of my father, and I will do what I think is fitting and just.

[ An ambiguity that cannot be called indecision; only true. Most men she has had killed, and all men she has had spared, she has looked in the eye.

It's also a bone thrown, of deniability. ]

[ Beginning to understand why Jorah never gets the girl. Alright, how to dance with this dragon? Baelish has to think on his feet. Clearly, he had overestimated Daenerys's diplomacy. ]

I'm certain you are well aware that imPorts cannot die. If you were to look upon his face and decide that death is a suitable solution, you would find that he returns to the world only a day or so later -- unharmed, alive, and full of a vengeance for you and yours. Not to mention, you would be arrested by the authorities here and your powers would be nullified. As Drogon is part of your powers, I am not certain what that would mean for him. But if you were to torture him, much the same would happen. Our form of justice simply will not work within this modern world.

[ A pause. ]

That being said, I do believe the two of you should meet. You need the chance to confront him and he needs to look upon the face of the daughter he had orphaned and drove into a life of exile. But you should also listen to what he has to say on the matter. There may yet be more to the story than you realize.

Lord Baelish.

[ Here, she sounds close to weary, but still sharp. Anger will do that, even in a Targaryen, but she has listened. She can't sass him about his capacity as adviser and hit the mute button, tempting though it is. ]

I ask you for the man entire, not his head. You believe the two of us should meet, and that is as I have commanded. But understand that I will not do so over a glass of wine, or a chance encounter in the street, or frivolous banter over the network.

I want him brought to me, in the time and place of my choosing. He will be made to understand me. And perhaps you will understand that what I consider justice has precious little to do with the world we come from.

[ She's been redefining this concept for the fall of three cities, after all. ]

You want this meeting on your own terms.

[ He parrots the words back at her. Well, at least there's some reason in there. Still a whole command to drag the kingslayer before her. But he'll try. ]

And if he refuses and cuts me down? [ Because that is a very real possibility. ]

If you cannot persuade him, Ser Jorah is your bodyguard, is he not?

[ And he has a talent for Lannister delivery. Even if the first one was probably smaller. ]

And I understand that the Kingslayer is a swordsman without his sword hand.

Why not send him in my stead? I am not refusing, of course. I have no qualms about meeting with Ser Jaime and requesting this of him. But Ser Jorah would likely be more persuasive than I. Ser Jaime is not very fond of me, Your Grace.

Truly?

[ She manages not to make this prod particularly suspicious, just insistent for information. ]

You both shared a court for the most part of the Usurper's reign, and his downfall.

Truly. Lord Varys and I did our jobs and did them well, but we were not friends of the Lannisters. Cersei once ordered my death simply as a display of power. And with her disdain for both myself and Lord Varys came Ser Jaime's, as I'm certain you are aware the two of them were...close.

[ Implied intimate relations in the term close. ]

I betrayed them as well. [ A quiet confession. ] As the war waged on in the seven kingdoms, I found myself by the side of Sansa Stark. A bright young woman and kind young woman, I'm certain you'll agree. I had married her aunt and together, we had taken her under our protection. It's no secret that I had harbored fondness for her mother, and out of my own personal loyalties to Cat, I felt I owed it to her memory to keep Sansa safe. When her aunt Lysa took her own life, that duty fell upon my shoulders alone. I came to view Sansa as the daughter I never had.

And so, I devised a plan for her to reclaim Winterfell. It wasn't without its faults, but in the end, we were able to unseat Ramsay Bolton and defeat the Lannister allies who held Sansa's home. There, I declared my loyalties to House Stark.

[ Unseen, unheard, Dany clicks her claws on the edge of her vanity, watching herself in the mirror as she listens to Baelish explain. Family names, lines of loyalty, logical leaps, but missing from Baelish's tale is some personal transgression that has transpired between himself and the Kingslayer.

She feels her anger like the crunch of dragon jaws on struggling prey, and she feels herself ease up on the pressure. ]

What was he like? [ she asks, after a beat. ] When you had your run in in De Chima.

[ It's a pertinent question. Also something of a delaying tactic while she picks through her emotions and Baelish's words, but the answer interests her regardless. ]

Distant. Cold. Sarcastic. Suspicious. He looked worse for the wear. And he's missing a hand on top of it. His sword hand.

[ So it's quite likely the kingslayer will not be slaying any kings in the near future. Or ever. ]

A changed man.

[ That caustic edge hasn't left her tone, even when wry, but now it seems more directed towards the true object of her ire -- the Kingslayer himself.

She's quoting someone. It's probably Tyrion. ]

In the physical sense of the word.

[ Because Baelish hadn't noticed much else that was different about Jaime Lannister. ]

Pity.

[ Not really.

There's a pause, a considering silence that she does not fill in with questions as to Jaime's nature -- key though they are, they are likewise uniquely unsatisfying, as so many answers as to the world of Westeros can be.

She will see for herself.

Finally; ]

Ser Jorah does possess a talent for retrieving Lannisters.

[ Phew. The gravity of this situation is lifted off of his shoulders. He doesn't have to be the one to bring Jaime before Daenerys. He has been let off the hook. And it's much better to proceed in a voluntary manner than to be forced to give up a man who had threatened him with always paying his debts.

But Petyr should be there, if he can. He should see what happens for himself, if he can. ]

Ser Jorah does possess such a talent, yes. And Ser Jaime had expressed interest in meeting him.

[ Probably not being dragged off by him, though... ]

I can talk to him. I can see what his reaction will be -- if he is willing to come before you peacefully or if he will put up a fight. And then you will know where he stands -- if Ser Jorah is needed to retrieve this Lannister. But I do hope this all will come to a peaceful conclusion.

One must always hope for peace. [ So you do that. ] And if Jaime Lannister were to come to me in the mind to humour the Targaryen orphan girl in mere obligation to peace, we may never have it.

[ Her tone is flat, mildly exasperated, but there is at least some grim satisfaction gained in watching someone turn her command into his own idea and present it back to her, if with softer language. Perhaps this is the difference between America and Westeros.

There is no room in her graciousness to thank him for it. ]

I said I would have him before me, at a time and place of my choosing. If you believe yourself able to accomplish this task, then I leave it in your hands, Ambassador. If the Kingslayer resists, then send for Ser Jorah.

[ Dany may think it's her own order parroted back at her, but this way is less of an order for Baelish. The responsibility falls off of his shoulders and now it's merely a suggestion that he will bring this up to the kingslayer to see his response. If Jaime comes peacefully, Baelish will involve himself. If Jaime refuses, he will not take part in this. It puts him right evenly in the middle, where he would prefer to be. ]

Like I said, I will speak with him. Will that be all, Your Grace?

Yes.

[ Because she must consign herself to the fact that she will not feel at peace until this man who roams the streets is brought before her. Her anger feels coiled within her, settling in for the wait.

They are voices only, over this transmission, but there is the sense of her gaze lifting away, settling elsewhere. ]

I'll await your counsel, keenly.

IC CONTACT POST

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject