“Well, that was a disaster.”
Dany didn’t look at him. Her eyes narrowed imperceptibly as she stared out the window of her office overlooking the cramped alleys and cross-streets of Flea Bottom. It was night, too dark to see much of anything, anyway, but at the moment she didn’t want to see the smug look on her second’s face. “Shut up.”
No doubt, Jon Snow smiled. “I told you you shouldn’t have sent Daario.” He drummed his gloved fingers on the desk. “If he’s not dead by now, he’ll soon wish he was. The Gold Cloaks don’t have any scruples about torturing their prisoners.”
He didn’t need to tell her that; Dany was well aware of the Gold Cloaks’ unsavory tactics when it came to dealing with the petty thieves and criminals that plagued Flea Bottom. She didn’t have to imagine what they’d do with someone caught breaking into the Red Keep.
“Daario was my best picklock,” she said, her voice unwavering despite her mounting irritation.
“You didn’t need a picklock. You needed a ghost.”
She cut him a look. “I already told you I’m not sending Arya. She’s too young.”
“She’s your best shot at getting in and out of the Red Keep unseen,” Jon argued. He leaned back in his chair at the desk where he sat. Her desk, actually. Her chair. His arrogance was part of his charm, and a large part of why she’d recruited him to join the Stormborns, her street gang of thieves–that, and his unparalleled combat skills. But sometimes, like now, his audacity really just pissed her off.
“You want me to put your own family in peril? If they catch her, they won’t go easy on her just because she’s a kid.”
He shrugged. “They won’t catch her.”
Dany shook her head. Arya was probably the best suited to break into Maegor’s Holdfast, the most secured fortress of the Red Keep, to steal the old Targaryen family crown Dany desperately wanted back. They didn’t call Arya No One for nothing, after all. But despite her reputation as a mercenary criminal, Dany wasn’t about to send a 15-year-old girl into the most dangerous place in King’s Landing. “I’m not risking it.”
“But you risked Daario.” Jon tsked sympathetically, kicking his dirty boots up onto her desk. He took the match he always kept behind his ear and stuck it between his teeth. It was a weird tic of his, one she’d never asked him about. They all had their coping habits, developed after years of just trying to survive on the ruthless streets of Flea Bottom. “You’re heartless, Targaryen.”
She ignored his dig. “Unless you plan to lick my desk clean, I suggest you put your feet down.”
He smiled knowingly at her, his leather gloves creaking as he clasped them behind his head. “You weren’t that concerned with cleanliness when I was fucking you on it the other day.”
Her nostrils flared. Narrowing her eyes, she focused intently on the red match head. Instantly, it exploded in a tiny ball of orange flame. Swearing loudly, Jon fumbled to snatch the match away from his mouth before his beard could catch fire, violently flapping it in the air to extinguish the flame. He scowled at her. “You know I hate it when you do that.” Still, he dutifully put his feet down.
Her smile was faint; she took her victories where she could, and right now she needed one, badly. “I know.”
Fishing another match out of his coat pocket, he slipped it behind his ear, pushing back his black curls with his gloved fingers. “What are we going to do now?”
Dany pushed off the window and stalked toward her desk. His dark gaze followed her movements, his appreciation obvious. “You’re going to break into the dungeons and get me my picklock back. If he’s not dead, that is.”
Jon huffed his irritation, though she knew he’d do it–if not for her, then at least for the chance to gloat in Daario’s face. “What are you going to do?”
She folded her arms over her chest. “I’m going to get the crown myself.”
Skeptically, he narrowed his eyes at her. “And how do you plan to do that?” She could hear the growing wariness in his voice.
“The Red Keep has been a blight on this city for far too long now.” Her smile turned wicked. “I think it’s time someone finally burned the whole damn thing to the ground.”
discoholicmusic
prguitarman
andulkaphoto
kianamaiart
theartofmadeline
romaincrisis
ellievsbear
