Skoll smiled wryly under his helmet as he walked through the halls of the Targaryen mansion, observing as yet another servant bowed their head in visible fear the moment they caught sight of him.
Ser Willem was a loyal man, but he was not a kind one, not when it came to the safety of his royal charges. Every servant in the house feared the old knight completely and would go to great lengths just to carry out his orders without delay.
The servants had been given strict orders never to speak of Skoll, not even among themselves, and they were following that command to an extreme degree.
There was a lingering fear of Hati in their eyes as well, though they had been assured the great wolf was harmless unless one proved to be a threat to the beast or its master.
Skoll reached Rhaella's chambers amidst his musings and found Ser Willem standing guard at the door as always.
"Are the children inside?" Skoll asked, receiving a silent nod from the old knight before he knocked and entered.
"Enter," Viserys' voice called out.
Daenerys jumped onto Hati with a giggle the moment she saw the wolf, and the beast instinctively crouched to allow the little girl to mount him.
Viserys stood up from his mother's bedside to give Skoll room to inspect her condition. Skoll offered a brief, reassuring pat to the boy's shoulder before he sat in the chair beside Rhaella's bed. He was pleased to find her awake and alert.
"How long before I may be able to walk?" the former Queen asked while Skoll began to remove his heavy gauntlets.
"Six to seven days, perhaps," Skoll answered. He placed one hand firmly on her brow while his other hand held a piece of parchment with an intricate magic circle carved into its surface.
His hand began to glow with a soft green radiance as his magic seeped through her body and the diagnostic spell took effect.
Skoll could feel that the curse was still active and attached to her very soul, but its physical effects had lessened as her body regained its natural strength.
He knew that even if Rhaella's body reached its full potential, the curse would simply continue to gnaw at her soul, leading to a much more painful death if it were left as it was.
"It is surreal to watch magic being performed on oneself," Rhaella muttered after Skoll moved his hand back and offered a nod.
"I have seen how they view magic in the Seven Kingdoms, and I am more surprised by how accepting you are toward it," Skoll said with a casual shrug.
"I tried praying, and the only thing that showed any result was your magic," Viserys added. In truth, Rhaella had been quite skeptical of being treated with sorcery, and it was Viserys who had eventually convinced her to trust the process.
Skoll chuckled before patting Viserys' head before getting up.
"I recommend you try moving your toes and fingers whenever you can. It will help your muscular movement recovery," Skoll said to Rhaella as he moved to leave.
"No! Stay! I want to play with Hati," Daenerys whined. She knew that if Skoll left, Hati would follow, and that was unacceptable to her.
The little girl clung to the wolf's head and looked at Skoll with a pleading, wide-eyed expression.
Viserys was about to chide his sister with a sigh, but Rhaella held his hand and watched with a mischievous smile, wanting to see how the giant warrior would bargain with the little Princess.
"You remember the sweet I gave you the first time we met?" Skoll asked. Daenerys gave him an eager nod, sitting up on the wolf's back instead of laying across him.
Skoll wordlessly held up three fingers, offering a silent deal. Daenerys shook her head and raised both of her hands to show him all her fingers as a counter-offer.
Skoll struck a thinking pose, placing a hand on his metal chin and humming as if he were weighing the terms of the trade.
Then, he shook his head and held up two fingers this time as if he was meeting her in between.
Daenerys mimicked his pose, placing her small hand on her chin as well. After a moment of pretending to think, she opened her mouth. "Deal," she said, raising her hand to shake Skoll's as a show of finalizing the agreement.
"How are you this precious?" Skoll asked with a laugh. He picked her up and spun her around, drawing a yelp of delight and a giggle from her. "Here."
He fetched three candies for her and three for Viserys, handing them both their treats.
Viserys frowned in thought at how Skoll treated him like a child, in stark contrast to Ser Willem, who treated him as an adult and forced him to grow up much faster than his years.
However, the boy said nothing as Skoll placed his sister back down and walked toward the door. Daenerys noticed her brother's frown and offered him one of her own sweets, wishing to brighten his spirits.
Rhaella chuckled and opened her arms to invite her daughter in, holding Viserys' hand and bringing him closer as well before she began to ask them what she had missed while she slept.
Skoll closed the door to the Queen's room and gave a final nod to Willem.
"Thank you," the old knight said, his gaze returning to the hallway.
Skoll inclined his head before he and Hati merged seamlessly into the shadows.
They navigated the darkness at a high speed, moving through the city like a blur of cold air as they leaped from one shadow to the next in form of shadow based short distance teleportation.
They eventually appeared in front of an inconspicuous, dilapidated house in the city. Skoll remained invisible, staying within the gloom and checking the perimeter for any prying eyes.
When he was certain the coast was clear, he stepped out and entered the house. "Come out, it is me," he called.
A woman's head peeked out from one of the side rooms. "It is him!" she shouted, and suddenly people began to emerge from their hiding places all over the structure.
Most of them had been staying on the upper floors so that anyone looking through the entrance would think the building was abandoned.
Skoll smiled under his helmet and nodded to Hati, who produced a large sack from the darkness of his shadow.
"Here, there is enough for everyone," Skoll announced. He opened the sack to reveal it was filled with fresh meat, fruits, and bread.
He handed the food to one of the women and received whispered words of gratitude from the crowd. "Be ready on the morrow. There is a ship arriving from Dorne, the place I told you all about."
The people in this house were slaves he had freed, and they were not the first. Ever since he had stepped foot in Tyrosh, he had been liberating slaves and arranging for them to be sent to Nightshade.
After the first few batches, however, he had thought of making an alliance with one of the Seven Kingdoms or any important person the neighboring free cities who would br able to grant them new, free lives.
During Ra's wedding to Elia Martell, Skoll had observed Prince Doran and decided that Dorne would be a sufficient place for the freed people to call home.
A moon after the wedding, he had requested a meeting with Doran and was accepted immediately.
Doran had agreed to receive the slaves, though not strictly out of the goodness of his heart. The Prince of Dorne knew that an freed slave would be completely loyal to the land that granted them their freedom.
He gave them a roof and food until they could earn their own way, but he was most interested in their talents.
The Tyroshi slaves Dorne had received had helped their industry and food production immensely.
Many were shipwrights or experts in infrastructure, and they had introduced new crops and preservation methods to the desert sands.
Those who could build ships were valued most of all, as they helped expand the Dornish fishing fleet, making the region less reliant on the rest of the Seven Kingdoms for food.
Skoll knew all that and agreed with Doran's methods as he knew in the end the freed slaves were getting a more than fair deal.