The Dragon Has Three Heads - ASOIAF Quest

The past week has been... infuriating? Dany has obviously noticed that you noticed her. What's more she noticed that you noticed that she noticed you noticing her. And she has become a veritable tease about it.

Part of you blames Illyrio and all the other benefactors you have had that gave her tutors to teach her how to be a lady, how to present herself before her fellow lords, and more importantly - how to seduce a lord right under his nose; all while appearing to be nothing more than an innocent maiden with no ulterior motives. You had no idea just how many ways she had been taught to "catch" a lord's attention until she started using them on you.

Worse is that somehow in the span of a week Dany has managed to get the entire household in on it with her. The servants, the guards, even the damnable birds seem to do anything to get you to pay attention to her. Part of you knows that while the others have fun with it sometimes, there is no serious conspiracy, that this is all the normal attraction between a man and a woman, but part of you also knows that the others in the house do help her catch you unawares sometimes.

For now you suspect that she is merely having fun using lessons that once bored her to make your face red with embarrassment, but part of you fears what will happen if she gets serious. 'Who says she isn't serious already?' your traitorous thoughts echo in your mind. 'After all, if this was Westeros, she'd likely be married already. Even here, she is of age even if marriages sometimes happen a year or two later. Only in far off Asshai is she still not quite old enough.' No, you insist to yourself. If you are to marry Daenerys it will be because that is what is best for both of you, not because of a bit of teasing.

Perhaps it is time to fill her days with lessons once again, you think in a moment of inspiration. Lessons that focus more on how to rule than how to get a husband. Lessons that you could use yourself you realize suddenly.

Choose One
[] You do not mind Dany's attentions. You've known for a long while that you and she might marry. While that won't happen yet, an official betrothal would not be amiss. Dany is no commoner, waiting years to find a suitable match. As a noble she should have a betrothal already set if not a wedding, and you mean to stake your claim before someone else steals her heart from you.

[] Unlike most Dragons, you are repulsed by the idea of marrying Dany. While she herself is not repulsive, the relations you bear make things different. This custom of marrying kin will end here.

[] While you don't mind Dany's attentions, it is still too soon for such thoughts. Yes she is of age, but you've only just gotten somewhat settled in a home. Perhaps it would be best to wait and let things settle down before making any betrothal announcements. You should tell her, but save the announcement for a better time, when you can host a ball or other event.

[] You are uncertain as to your feelings, despite having had years of preparation for this eventuality. A little more time would not be amiss.

---

"...and that, my lord and lady is why..." Your new instructor drones on and on about policy, the importance of strict but just laws, how to make a distinction between an exception and favoritism, and when favoritism might be more important than justice. Your mind however is on other things.

This past month has been really, really great. Despite losing your brother, you now have a home of your own, a steady amount of food and drink, new clothes, and more importantly; just over a week ago Aegon has finally started noticing how beautiful you are, suddenly giving you to power to get him to blush almost without trying. 'Who would have thought that all those annoying "lessons" in how to capture a man's attention would be so... fun once I could actually use them!' You'll have to find that patient old lady from Pentos and apologise to her, you think to yourself as you contemplate just how you'll embarrass your nephew further.

'It serves him right though.' You think to yourself, 'He shouldn't keep a girl waiting like this. Either he should just let me know that he intends to marry me, or start hosting suitors. I know we've only just gotten on our feet, but alliance or no, I'd prefer not to have all the potential men my age already engaged with another. I'm not about to marry some wrinkly old man for a few soldiers!'

A small frustrated sigh escapes your lips as you contemplate your situation. 'We have both means and home now, so the excuse of being always on the move is over. And if we need allies, then we need them now while we are vulnerable, not once we've gotten ourselves settled and secure in our own right! Waiting longer would just be a waste.'

Still, you know that Aegon only attempts to do what is best for you both, it's just... well a girl has dreams too! And if you aren't going to stand by his side as his wife, you need to get others to stand by his side in battle. Preferable before the cursed Usurper discovers that you are putting down roots in Braavos; as he is sure to learn sooner or later.

'There is wisdom in waiting for the opportune moment, but if one waits too long for the perfect time, the only time can pass before you have realized it.' That settles it, you decide. You are going to taunt and tease your "Egg" until he either marries you himself, or realizes that you are a woman grown and at least starts trying to find you a husband before you're well on your way to becoming an old maid yourself. And nothing stops a Dragon that has made up its mind.

---

Matalarr's sword whistles past you as you use a borrowed longsword and the short sword you claimed from the thug who tried to rob you that night so long ago in Pentos. Using the two sword style is difficult, especially since your co-ordination is already atrocious anyway, but Matalarr says that he'll soon have that sorted anyway.

It strikes you how lucky you were to find him for so cheap. Such a swordsman would normally charge far more, but as a recently freed slave and new to Braavos, he was unaware of what his efforts would normally be worth and charged based on what others were offering at the time. He really was a steal.

Because you enlisted the town criers to get you recruits to interview for your farm, you can put twice as much time into training, not having to waste time going through town yourself looking for hires. Dany has been distracting you even here, and Matalarr whacks you every time your mind wanders, all while eyeing you knowingly. You swear she's doing it on purpose now. You should never have let her catch you staring the first time.

Still, it is a good lesson. Every swat you earn for being distracted by her now is a blade not in-between your ribs in a real fight later when something equally distracting might cause you to not pay the proper attention to your opponent. Every bruise gained while training is a life or limb saved they say. And if you keep putting this much time into your training, you'll get up to adequate in no time.

Matalarr warns that at first improvement happens quickly, but that once you get to adequate, it will take much longer to see noticeable improvements. After all, true mastery takes time. Still, time you have. It will be at least a few years by your current reckoning before you are leading armies into battle, and the sooner you improve, the less dead you will be.

What is your focus for the next week?

Choose Three
[] Train more with Matalarr.

[] Train for a double session with Matalarr. - Only choose two things if you pick this option.

[] Look for more ventures that you can put coin into. You have some Talons left, investments could multiply that exponentially.

[] Have Dany train with Matalarr as well. Targaryens have a history of warrior women, and you'll need her to be able to protect herself.

[] Try to discover information on Dragons and Dragon Eggs. Though this will be difficult, maybe even impossible, you need to figure out how to hatch those eggs.

[] You'll never find any real books on hatching Dragon Eggs. Targaryen kings have searched for generations. Better to experiment yourself.

[] Write-in.

---

There have been some questions about our timeline. I am using a strange mixture of both the books and the show for this. I am using the older ages of the show, but the timeline of the books, so "A Game of Thrones" will start sometime next year. Maybe... mid year-ish. Just FYI. Peter's... misfortune hasn't happened to him yet, and won't until a specific event. @Rivain has changed a major event in the series with her roll and decision on who to use it upon. One that will probably be for the better for Aegon and Daenerys. You'll know when it happens. Only a few weeks after the event occurs word will reach Braavos. If you're still there of course.

As for Dany, rolls have determined quite a few things. She is indeed interested in you, and while she was understanding of your circumstances before, if Illyrio and others could seek out potential marriage alliances for her while you were "on the run" so-to-speak, surely you can do so now. Moreover, she is like Sansa Stark, a product of her time and culture. People were very much duty bound in those days.

This is shown in how people identified. They didn't tend to identify themselves via aspects of their personalities (like being gay/lesbian or liking certain sports etc) as that was the most minor aspects of their characters. Rather they identified by what they were in society. Lord of X, father of Y, protector of Z. Each position while that of respect, also was one of duty. And the duty of a woman was to further the designs of their house.

Remember the phrase "Behind every great man is a great/good woman?" That comes from this kind of culture. It doesn't mean that no man could never perform something great and that women were responsible for everything great that men ever accomplished as the puppet masters behind the scenes (despite modern women using it that way). Rather it meant that while the men tended to do the upfront things, women assisted in the unseen ways, ways that were just as important. So while the man did do great things, he wouldn't have succeeded without the equally important assistance that went unseen. Neither of them could succeed alone. He was the front icon, while she was the hidden shadow. Both parts of a whole that allowed for greatness.

As such, Daenerys wants to perform her duty, like a man would be a failure if he didn't provide for his family and protect them in the ways he could, a woman was a failure if she didn't provide in the ways she could. Both groups had duties, they were merely different ones. (Please don't start an argument over whose duties were the better ones; that is entirely dependent on how each particular individual values certain things and is therefore arbitrary and up to personal preferences. This isn't the place for such an argument.)

Remember, Sansa was 11 in the books (still only 13 in the show!) and rather eager to hurry and marry her prince before she realized what a monster Joffrey was. She was only afraid of marriage once she knew who she faced, and after when she thought she'd have to marry Tyrion. Prior to that she was, (like all children) eager to grow up and be a woman. Dany is no different. Marriage was a big part of that. Also, people were considered adults much earlier because despite the plethora of old characters in GoT in reality most people didn't live that long in medieval times. Deaths at "young" ages were fairly common.

Per a BBC News article, "The average life expectancy for a male child born in the UK between 1276 and 1300 was 31.3 years. In 1998, it is 76. However, by the time the 13th-Century boy had reached 20 he could hope to live to 45, and if he made it to 30 he had a good chance of making it into his fifties."

If; if he made it to 30. How many of us die at 50? How many of us expect to have to hope to make it past 31? Not many. Dany is very old to be unmarried, especially for a noble lady who needs to have children and pass on the family name. And she's not the only one. You are old for this too.

This update took so long partly because I was researching this stuff and considering how fast both yourself and Dany needed to find marriage partners, (no matter whether with each other or with others) and partly because even knowing all this intellectually, it is still difficult to write it out because it requires putting yourself into that mindset about what we today consider to be children. How Martin wrote full on sex scenes starring a 13 year old Daenerys rather than the 16 year old one here and in the show, I'll never know. I probably couldn't stomach writing that.

This all now serves to give you the context to better vote without feeling like scum because we are thinking of them as children. They are adults. Therefore, Aegon's resistance isn't due to her age, but do to the person in the "older brother" position always seeing the protected "younger sister" as "too young" to be married or otherwise sexually active. The ladies here (few though they are) no doubt know, and can tell you how annoying that is. Brothers and fathers wanting girls to remain the blushing virgin forever, because we don't want some asshole to break her heart. Daenerys, like all girls in that situation, is rebelling. Especially since she is (to this world) an adult in college while her brother tries to keep her away from all guys.