2 The First War Council, again.

"If you want the Iron Throne, take it. We have an army, a fleet, and three dragons. We should hit King's Landing now. Hard. With everything we have. The city will fall within a day."

The voice came from the newly appointed Queen Yara. It was Daenerys' first war council again.

Olenna, Ellaria and Yara were seated across the painted table, Missandei and Tyrion were standing near the head, and Daenerys was a step away from the table, looking at the sea through the balcony. Grey Worm and Varys were standing at the opposite side of the table.

Tyrion responded to Yara gravely: "If we turn the dragons loose, tens of thousands will die in the firestorms."

While Daenerys still looked at the sea, Tyrion and Ellaria start arguing. She thinks of Jon Snow who'll arrive on her shores in less than a moon's turn. Suddenly, she says:

"If we attack the city now, it will fall within an hour. But winning this war is not our sole objective. I'm not here to be Queen of the ashes."

"That's very nice to hear. Of course, I can't remember a queen who was better loved than my granddaughter." responded Olenna, a bored expression on her face.

"The common people loved her, the nobles loved her. And what is left of her now? Ashes. Commoners, nobles, they're all just children really. They won't obey you unless they fear you."

"I'm grateful to you, Lady Olenna, for your counsel. I'm grateful to all of you. Rest assured we will attack King's Landing. And I will do so with my Dragons."

As Tyrion is about to say something, Daenerys continues:

"They shall not be loose, Lord Tyrion. They will destroy the fleet stationed there if there is one, they'll destroy the siege weapons they have on fortifications and breach the walls.

After that, my Unsullied and the armies of the Reach and Dorne will enter the city. I'm guessing the sight of the army and three massive dragons will make those still loyal to Cersei drop their swords quickly. The Reach is still well liked by the people of King's Landing and the Unsullied will maintain order and can be trusted not to attack the smallfolk."

After a beat, Daenerys continued:

"My grandfather was named 'The Mad King'. He has earned this moniker a thousand times over. The most blaring thing he did on that front was have his pyromancers fill King's Landing with wildfire. Beneath the streets, beneath monuments. In his last moments he ordered it set ablaze. A city of half a million people would've turned to ashes in mere moments.

Jaime Lannister stopped him and his pyromancer before that happened; but Cersei seems to have picked up my father's practice. She used wildfire to blow the Sept of Baelor and she is bound to have more."

She saw Olenna Tyrell, who always endeavoured to appear perfectly at ease during these type of meetings, grip her chair and her face hardened for a moment. Daenerys continued,

"We cannot expect her to act rationally. So while we could take the city tomorrow, we need a plan to take the Red Keep quickly while our forces secure the city.

I've been told there were a number of tunnels that lead to the Red Keep, including one accessible from the beach?"

Varys looks confused for a moment. He opens his mouth before closing it, searching for his words.

"There are, your Grace. May I ask who provided you with this information?"

"Does it matter? A question I feel is more important is why Lord Tyrion and you failed to inform me of this."

Try as she might, in that moment she couldn't keep the steel from her voice. Had they ever trusted her? Or was she always a placeholder for the next pretender they could make dance to their tune?

Neither Varys nor Tyrion say anything for a moment. Silently, they looked at each other.

"Well? The queen asked you a question." Said Ellaria, always looking to put pressure on a Lannister.

"Your Grace, we.. hum.. we…" Tyrion started to look slightly panicked.

Why was he so wary of her? Hadn't she proven to be a just ruler? Hadn't she proven to be forgiving when she still pinned a Hand on his tunic even after he treated with the treacherous slavers who ended up bringing their fleet to Meereen? Hadn't they been friends at this point?

"We didn't feel you needed to.. I mean, it hadn't occurred to me that this information was relevant as we were planning on laying siege to the city. It's still the best plan, your Grace. Attacking the city with your dragons, the death toll would be..

"And having tens of thousands of innocents die of hunger, that seems the more humane option to you, Lord Tyrion?" Daenerys retorted sharply.

"No, but.."

"Perhaps when she hears of her people dying of hunger in the streets, the Good Queen Cersei will declare 'no more!' and sue for peace." She said sarcastically.

While looking at him she heard Ellaria scoff.

"Well, I'd say you know her best out of any of us, Lord Tyrion. How realistic do you think this is?"

Tyrion said nothing, a grimace locked into his face.

After taking a moment to exhale, Daenerys pressed on with the meeting:

"Still. This attack, as short as it will be, will take planning. For the moment, we must take actions to ensure our forces are protected."

Tyrion, probably sensing a new opportunity to appear clever after being chastised during a war council, launched into his speech with a new wind.

"Yes. Well whether we attack or not, we should lay siege to King's Landing. Stopping Cersei from gathering forces is imperative. Cersei will try to rally the lords of Westeros by appealing to their loyalty, their love for their country. If we have Lady Greyjoy ferry the Dornish army to King's Landing, the Dornish can lay siege to the capital alongside the Tyrell army. Seeing the armies of two great kingdoms united against Cersei will make the lords of Westeros rally to your cause."

Unimpressed, Lady Olenna responded: "So, your master plan is to use our armies? Forgive me for asking, but why did you bother to bring your own?"

Tyrion reaches down and picks up the figurine resembling an Unsullied helmet. He begins walking back around the map of Westeros.

"The unsullied will have another objective. For decades House Lannister has been the true power in Westeros. And the seat of that power is Casterly Rock. Grey Worm and the Unsullied will sail for the Rock and take it."

As Tyrion knocks the lion figurine with the one he has in his hand Daenerys can't help but stare longly at him. Why had she agreed to this plan?

She admits that the first time around she knew little of Westeros, her only knowledge of her homeland coming from the bitter-filled ramblings of her brother when she was younger. Is this why she hadn't questioned his plan? Probably.

Tyrion came to her as a Lord from Westeros having served as Hand of the King, carrying himself with nobility and presenting himself as a dwarf who had to be smarter than the rest of the nobles of Westeros to get their respect.

But she couldn't afford to make the same mistakes again.

"We're not taking Casterly Rock. It holds no value to us. In what way is it the seat of power of the Kingdom? No. The Unsullied shall protect Dragonstone and the Dothraki shall be sent to protect Highgarden."

"Highgarden?" asked Lady Olenna, suddenly turning her attention to Daenerys.

"The Iron Throne is destitute. Robert Baratheon's reign and the war of the Five Kings saw to that. Cersei will need gold to pay the Iron Bank. She'll need gold to pay sellswords to bolster her army. Sooner or later she'll turn her sight to Highgarden. She knows there's no making peace with you and the Reach is now the richest Kingdom in Westeros."

"Your Grace, my little birds inside the capital have sung no tales of Cersei being in talks with the Iron Banks or any sellsword company." Varys piped up.

"Your little birds are not your little birds anymore. They now answer to a man named Qyburn."

"Qyburn?" Varys asks with urgency.

She could see the man at least knew whom she was talking about if not the fact that he had taken over a good portion of his spy network.

"Cersei's Hand of the Queen. Also her grandmaester and her master of whisperers."

"Where exactly did you gain that information, your Grace?" Varys asked after having tempered his look.

"More importantly, what's to be done about this?" interjected Lady Olenna, now appearing upset at the idea of Highgarden under attack.

"You and Missandei will go to Highgarden accompanied by the khalasar and two thousand Unsullied. From there, Highgarden will withstand an attack from the Lannister army and the Tyrell vassals who have declared for Cersei. If I've already come back at that time me and Drogon will support you.

Highgarden and the gold might be safe but I want to make sure to make a dent in Cersei's forces and we must protect the smallfolk of the Reach and their harvest. After that, we'll discuss whether it would be better to maintain a presence in Highgarden or to consolidate all our forces to Dragonstone."

During the declaration, Tyrion looked more and more disconcerted. Finally, he tried his luck. "Back?"

"I'll accompany the Greyjoy fleet to Dorne."

Their role having been mentioned once more, Theon stood at attention and Yara fixed her determined gaze on her.

Seeing her allies look at her expectantly, Daenerys continued:

"Euron Greyjoy has hundreds of ships. As he has not been able to curry favour with me, he'll turn his attention toward another Queen. One desperate for allies."

"Son of a whore." Said Yara. "You think our Uncle is going to get in bed with Cersei?"

"It's already done. Well, not the getting in bed part but I believe there were promises made.

Euron might attack you on your way to Dorne, might attack you on your way back. His fleet might stay ferried in King's Landing or on the Iron Islands. I'm not taking any chances.

Me and Drogon will accompany you to Dorne while Lady Olenna makes her way back to Highgarden. Greyworm, the rest of the Unsullied, Viserion and Rhaegal will stay and man Dragonstone until we return."

After a beat, where everyone could take measure of her plans, Daenerys concluded:

"Do I have your support?"

"You have mine." Queen Yara said with resolve.

"Dorne is with you, Your Grace."

Lady Olenna nodded her head sharply in agreement and Varys made a show out of bowing deeply to her.

"Good. Outside of that, we only have some small matters to deal with. Lord Varys, Lord Tyrion you know the Red Keep better than anyone, can I trust you to make a map of its tunnels and access points? Discreetly."

Before either could answer Daenerys continued:

"We also need to start mining the dragonglass on Dragonstone. It'll be crucial if we want to bring the North into the fold."

Before anyone could ask her about her enigmatic statement, Daenerys marched on:

"Grey Worm, can you see if there's still miners around the island who could do this? Offer them a good amount of gold to assuage their fear. And add to their miners with smallfolk still around who have need for the gold and Unsullied soldiers who'll receive a bonus to their pay. It's capital that we have a steady and fast supply of dragonglass."

"Yes, my Queen. I will do this." He responded

"Me and Tyrion will help him meet with the miners and set the prices."

Daenerys smiled warmly at Missandei and nodded her head slowly.

"Lady Ellaria? You have a daughter currently posing as an acolyte at the Citadel, have you not?"

At her question, all heads seemed to turn to Daenerys. Queen Yara and Lady Olenna both had an inquisitive and somehow amused look at the revelation. Ellaria shot her a slightly worried look. A natural reaction, as Daenerys should have only learned of her existence in the North, during a council meeting, after the disappearance of Lady Ellaria.

"Sarella. She's not my daughter, she was Oberyn's." She responded, still confused.

"And is she.. committed to your cause?"

"She is. In her own way. She's not interested in ruling or even leaving the Citadel at the moment but we're still in contact. She saw how complacent Doran had been after Oberyn was murdered and she approves of our coup."

"That's good. Do... Do you think you could get her to borrow one of the Citadel's glass candles and get it to me? I wouldn't ask but it could prove invaluable to the war effort."

Ellaria, at the mention of glass candles, dropped the reserved look she had on her face and gave her a more measured, puzzled one.

"That shouldn't be a problem, your Grace. And don't worry about danger. Sarella was raised by Oberyn. The doughy maesters of the Citadel won't be a problem for her."

Daenerys nodded her head firmly.

"I'm grateful for your presence here Lady Ellaria. Please make sure to contact her as soon as you can."

After a pause, Daenerys concluded the meeting:

"Well, if there's nothing else, you all know what you have to do." She said in a definitive tone, finally sitting down, while her counsel gradually made their way to the door. She could see the somewhat mesmerised, somewhat impressed look in her allies face and couldn't help but feel pride.

'I've brought Dragons back from stone. Let them ask themselves. Am I a gifted military mind? Am I a seer? A witch? They shall hear no definitive answer from me.'

The truth is that asking for a Valyrian candle was a stab in the dark. Before her vision, before her first death, Daenerys didn't really pay magic any real thought.

She had brought back dragons after a dream had shown her the way but that was destiny. She had seen impossible things at the tower of the Undying but that was the tricks of Pyat Pree. She felt connected to her dragons but they were her children.

But after staring the Night King in the face, after seeing what Bran Stark could do, after dying and feeling what the difference was between what she felt now and the giant schism left by the death of Viserion and Rhaegal that she didn't really notice during her first life she was compelled to stare at herself and her connection to magic.

She felt the need to understand it, to tame it. Already, just acknowledging it, she had felt a more deep and intense connection to her dragons than ever before when she visited them before the meeting.

After a moment of intense reflection, she realised she was alone in the room, bar her two Unsullied guards, Mellos and Blue Gnat, standing at attention near the door and her Hand, Tyrion looking at her with a troubled look on his face.

"Your Grace, could we talk more about the decisions you made today concerning the war effort?"