The Stormborns

Morning, 15 days later

Pentos

The streets of Pentos were a shade of blue and gold when they sat in a carved palanquin, hoisted over the shoulders of over dozen rented servants.

Slaves, to be precise, but nobody here would admit to that. Not in the Free Cities.

Within the Palanquin, Kai was sitting leisurely, dressed in a lavish navy-blue doublet of velvet-silk with a white snake on the chest, its edges gold. His long white hair was tied meticulously behind his head, and they swayed not unlike threads of golden-white silk as well.

Opposite him, in a soft green gown, was Item-M, now in her original form.

She had attended to her hair, it seemed. For the curls of her red hair were dancing with every shake of the Palanquin like fire dancing, lashing out with whips of flames. Her low neckline, and the deep, thin ridge in the middle, promised full, firm breasts.

She found him staring at her, and blushed, but couldn't take her eyes off him. She stared back at his face, his hair, and the curves of his face, but mostly his eyes.

Kai looked away.

'Her Charisma would come in handy,' he thought, recalling the reason for this change. 'I can't risk getting found out by any stray contestant, either.'

So, yes. He too had canceled his assumed appearance before hiring the palanquin, and to the gasping disbelief of Item-M, although it was she who had recommended doing so.

To her left, smiling slyly over some unknown quip, was Petyr Baelish, dressed in a plain brown doublet with the same embroidery on his chest as his master. Kai, in silence, stole his gaze off his face and moved it to the chest resting in their middle, bound in bronze.

Within this chest were three dragon eggs; the noblest House of White Serpent's gift to Khaleesi from the Shadow lands beyond Asshai.

15 days were neither short nor too many, depending on how one had intended to spend their time.

Kai and the group had too much to do indeed.

After the initial joy and ecstasy of all the notifications had died, Kai wanted to return to the ship to increase his Status of the Title, Interdimensional Pirate. Item-M had stopped him, though. Her reasons were too terrifying and urgent for him to ignore them.

'We don't know if the Pokemon World's Retribution would return or not once you have gone back into the sea,' she had told him, 'especially now that you have left the sea and the ship. You wouldn't have the assistance of Focus Punch this time, either. Not to mention, we need to hire servants, clothes, and other necessary things to make ourselves presentable at the wedding. If we were to go in these clothes, with three eggs in a sack thrown over our shoulders, then forget the wedding, we won't even get to leave the city walls, master.'

Petyr had chuckled then. 'Or,' he had quipped, 'we can sell my lady to a merchant and get her weight in gold if you are in a hurry. Now that would be a sight to see, wouldn't it, my lord?'

'They don't understand,' Kai had complained to himself, letting go of his desire. 'They don't understand the lure of Power, just inches away from one's grasp.'

At last, he decided against his thoughts. No, not in fear. Kai wasn't some ordinary runt who would equate fear with timely caution.

So, he had spent the coming weeks dancing on Petyr's fingertips. Among the group, only he had knowledge and wits enough to gather all that Item-M had pointed out, without forcing Kai into another Magical Contract. Time, they already had, so they used it in their favor, and when combined with Kai's Charisma and Petyr's glib tongue, it was impossible to not find prey even in Pentos.

Petyr had even broken the barrier of language using a single silver coin. The translator he had hired was as sly as him, if not more.

The traffic within the city was such that they didn't reach the venue by late afternoon. Kai wasn't worried, however. They already knew the gift would be presented at dusk, and they had already sent a few servants ahead to let the guards know of their arrival.

The sun burned bronze against his pale skin as Kai stepped out of the palanquin. Now he must act like a noble. Here lay his advantage.

He was a noble, to begin with. His every turn of face, look, and movement brimmed with unmatched nobility. After running his left hand over his doublet, taking care of unwanted creases, he held out his right hand.

Item-M placed her hand, shining like honeyed milk, over his hand, and stepped out.

The shock, lust, and desire for her on men's faces were tangible.

If he was a sky, then she was the sun. And if he was a storm, then she was the heat within coursing through him; one cloud to another like a red bolt of lightning.

Petyr jumped out, never leaving the limit of 10 ft from Kai.

The translator, an old, fat man, came simpering after him. Petyr smiled, sharing some whispered jest, and the man laughed along with him, his eyes finding Item-M now and then. It took four servants to take out the chest.

"Let's go," Kai said, and Petyr neared him, the translator following the three like a dog behind the Khalasar.

The Dothraki guards didn't stop them.

Arrangements had already been made before their arrival, and Kai's silks were too bright, smelling of riches and power, that none related him to a white-haired boy, pronounced fugitive and enemy of the crown in Westeros; a filthy pirate.

And even if they had a hundred eyes, Kai doubted they would have looked at something other than Item-M.

Kai had scarcely seen so many people in one place, nor so barbaric and roughened. Men and women were wearing painted leather vests over bare chests, and warriors seemed to have greased their long braids using the fat from the rendering pits. They were gorging themselves on horseflesh roasted with honey and pepper, washing it all down with what looked like fermented milk to him. Wines, japes, and blood were everywhere.

To the senses of a Contestant, there was much more hidden behind all these details. A heart-palpating danger; another tsunami caused by a thunderstorm. But Kai knew even Focus Punch would fail in letting him live if needed against this sea of bronze-skinned warriors.

And above this seething sea, over a mighty earthen ramp raised among the grass palaces, Kai found her sitting with a beast on her side, and garbed in her wedding silks.

'Daenerys Targaryen,' Kai's lips pronounced the name, his breath seeping out noiselessly. 'A Stormborn.'

********

AN: Chapter 234 and 235 were 1 single chapter, but the word count had become too big. So I seperated them in two chapters.

There are a few in-text images that I use on Patre0n within the chapters that elaborate some scenes which would only make sense when one see them while reading the story. So, I would not upload those images on Discord, and would rather keep them Patre0n exlusive to avoid confusion.

thank you