Blood and Winter

The Dragons

Chapter LXVII - Ser Bronn

Just under twenty thousand men.

That's how many soldiers Bronn had counted since his arrival here on Dragonstone. Their escape from Kings Landing hadn't been easy, but they had succeeded. If it hadn't been for the timely warning of Varys and his aid with setting up a rowing boat and then a merchant ship a little way out, they would have been killed or taken prisoner. Bronn imagined that it would be the former for himself, he was only a Sellsword with little worth as a prisoner.

He supposed, however, that things had worked out well for him in a way. Ser Bronn of the Blackwater, that's the name he had gained after his actions in the defence of Kings Landing against Stannis Baratheon.

When working for Tyrion, Bronn had been able to enjoy the comforts of being friends with a dwarf from a rich family. He was in command of eight hundred men and captain of Tyrion's personal guard. Considering the riches he received in turn, it was quite an illustrious position and one Bronn had enjoyed. Then the Battle of Kings Landing arrived and with it, a Knighthood. But in return, a lot of his responsibilities were taken from him and in turn, all the rewards he received along with it.

But it seemed things were finally looking up for him once more, though getting here hadn't been easy.

Their journey upon the merchant ship had been tense, fraught with worry that they might be discovered. Yet they escaped the waters surrounding Kings Landing, sailing up Blackwater Bay and through the Gullet. The Targaryen fleet was behind him and now they had an open ocean with which they could set sail for Essos and far away from Westeros as possible. Only to sail straight towards Dragonstone where three Dragons flew in the air and the signal of House Targaryen was displayed proudly.

They had escaped Kings Landing and the Targaryens, only to end up in their grasp anyway. Bronn was just thankful that he didn't suffer the fate of Tyrion. The imp was a Lannister by birth, the family that was responsible for the sacking of Kings Landing and the brutal fates of Elia Martell and her daughter and son.

He had been dragged away in chains, put away in a cell where from what Bronn had heard the young Queen, Daenerys Targaryen intended to let him rot. Podrick, ever the fool didn't know how to keep his mouth shut and had been dragged away as well.

Bronn on the other hand knew how to keep his mouth shut and also how to make the best of a bad situation. Bending the knee and pledging fealty to the Mother of Dragons hadn't been difficult, just one look at the Dragons made that choice very simple. The question was, what was he going to do now?

He was a member of her Queensguard, directly under the supervision of the mad bastard, Belwas the Strong. Now, they were making plans to conquer Westeros. Bronn didn't really know how this would go.

Did they have Dragons? Sure, but Bronn had seen the skeletons beneath the Red Palace. The Dragons Daenerys possessed were still small and young in comparison. Perhaps if she had full grown Dragons then Bronn would feel a little more confident, but she didn't. However, he liked living and it was looking like this was the only way to stay alive in this world, either that or running to Essos.

But as a large, beefy arm wrapped around his neck, dragging him down the corridor, Bronn knew that would be easier said than done. "Strong Belwas has come to bring you to the little queen. Come."

Not even attempting to struggle out of the grasp, that would only make Belwas keep a tighter grip, Bronn instead allowed himself to be practically carried to the war room. The doors opened, two Unsullied standing guard and holding the doors open as he and Belwas entered inside.

It was only then that Bronn was released and he could properly breathe once more. Around the room, various individuals stood waiting, their frames tense and eyes narrowed in caution.

There was, of course, the Dragon Queen herself, sat at the head of the table in thick furs that did little to detract from her beauty. To be entirely honest, if Bronn didn't think he'd be killed in attempting it, he'd try and sleep with her.

There was Ser Barristan Selmy, Lord Commander of the Queensguard and Hand of the Queen.

There was Grey Worm, commander of the Unsullied and his second in command, Hero.

Tal Torag, Captain of the Stalwart Shields. Symon Stripeback, Captain the Freed Men. Marselen, Captain of the Mother's Men. All of these companies were formed from former slaves that had been freed by Daenerys, each staunchly loyal to the Dragon Queen.

There was Rommo, a Jaqqa Rhan, something Bronn had been told by Belwas meant that he collected heads. How much of that was the truth, Bronn had no clue because Belwas wasn't exactly the most literate or intelligent of beings. Not that you could expect much from a guy who was raised in the fighting pits and someone who purposefully let people cut him before killing them. Who did that?

And finally, there was Ben Plumm, Commander of the Sellsword company, the Second Sons.

All in all, Bronn would say it was a strange gathering of people, hardly a war council similar to anything Bronn had seen before. According to Belwas, there was another guy back in Mereen, some guy called Dario Naharis, Commander of the Stormcrows who was overseeing the ruling of Mereen in Daenerys absence.

"Welcome, Ser Bronn." Daenerys greeted amicably. "Forgive Belwas for his manhandling of you, he was told to treat you fairly." It was kind, but there was a subtle undertone that told him he would have to do as she asked. Not that Bronn would refuse, Belwas was a scary bastard and one that he had no intention of getting on the bad side of.

"It's alright." He replied. "Can I ask why I've been asked here? You ain't exactly been welcoming or trusting of me, so I fail to see what you need me for?"

"We would like a more in-depth understanding of what the situation is like here in Westeros. Which Lords are loyal to which King, their numbers, and other details." Ser Barristan requested.

Bronn looked around the room in disbelief. "You're telling me you have no clue what's going on in Westeros?" Ben Plumm muttered something in Valyrian or some other language that Bronn couldn't understand. He didn't need to though, he could tell just from his posture that it wasn't a good thing.

"We are aware of the war taking place." Daenerys continued. "However, we would like a report from someone who has been here in Westeros while it has been taking place. Hopefully providing more information than what we already have at hand. It would make our next move much easier."

Bronn shrugged his shoulders. "Ain't got much to tell you besides the obvious. You got a horde of a hundred thousand Wildlings marching south to the Wall. Stannis is camped there with thirty thousand men or somat around that number. The Boltons and Greyjoys have less than ten thousand men and are stuck. The North is divided and in the south, well Robb Starks all but won. He has the largest army and the most resources to field such a large force. Plus he's got the best commanders plus himself to lead them all."

"That's it?" Barristan asked as a young slave girl recounted his words to those incapable of speaking the Westeros tongue.

"What more do you need?" Bronn shot back. "I've looked at your force and sure, you've got maybe around twenty thousand men at most. But the Dornish and the Golden Company, they had near thirty thousand plus those large creatures of those. But even if you allied with them you would still be outnumbered two to one."

There were some harshly spoken words by one of the Dothraki Bloodriders, Jhogo if Bronn wasn't mistaken. "We have Dragons." Words that were translated by the dark-skinned girl.

"Yeah, Dragons that haven't grown fully. I've seen the skulls under the Red Palace, believe me, what you have ain't anywhere big enough to get you victory. If I can see that then you can be damn well sure that someone in the Golden Company or the Young Wolf will as well." Bronn retorted. "Look, I think you misjudged your arrival by a tiny bit. If you'd arrived a few weeks ago, you could have got involved in the battle between Robb Stark and Tywin Lannister, taken 'em both out in one go. But you didn't."

"So what do you suggest then?" Daenerys questioned and Bronn released a breath.

"You've got one of the smartest men in the world looked away in your dungeon. Use him." Bronn said simply. "He's an ugly fucker, simple as that. But you won't find a smarter man in Westeros or Essos than him. It was because of him that King's Landing was able to stall Stannis long enough for Tywin Lannister to arrive. Don't know about you, but I'd say that letting him rot in a cell would actually be helping your enemies."

So, another chapter is done and I hope you all enjoyed it. Anyway, if you have any questions or suggestions, please let me know.