Turns out, the fortress of Dragonstone is smaller than I thought, and there was no way I'd ever fit Azkaban onto the main structure. Which obviously left me with only one possible solution: I would just make the two islands float next to each other. While not as cool as what I had in mind, it was the next best thing.
And so I immediately got to work. Though in the beginning, most of it was just boring back and forth with Pyra about possible magic to make them float permanently, how to steer it, and things of that nature. It involved a myriad of Ancient runes which we twisted and shaped to do exactly what we wanted, and in the end, we came up with a runic scheme that had to be charged once to make it run, and it would then proceed to convert the ambient energy of the world into its fuel.
Yep, energy, not just magic. I didn't want my future choice of worlds to be limited by a silly thing like that. It would, of course, require additional testing in the future, but hey, that was a possible problem for future Emily and not me. I wasn't that worried though, there were additional runes to make the island float on water, just in case.
Then came the carving, and since I was the only one with magic, I had to do that by myself. If I ever see a goddamn chisel ever again, I might just go berserk, but for now, it was done. And all it took was seventy hours, give or take a few.
"Haah… Done. Finally!" I came back into the Map Room and sprawled myself on the cold stone floor. The floor looked so comfortable, my back thanked me instantly.
"Ugh— Being hunched over for so long sucks ass." I grumbled, much to their amusement.
"We told you to take breaks, but nooo~, you had to be stubborn about it." Pyra chided me playfully, and Dany with Kinvara nodded along.
"Tsk. What's done is done. Now I just need to charge it." I propped myself onto my elbows and eyed the throne. Because, of course, we put it there.
"Are you sure you're not tired?" Pyra said, eyeing me with concern.
"Not really, I just like to complain." I shrugged, stood up, and stretched myself.
The stone throne was definitely not what I would describe as comfortable. I got the feeling that my butt would hurt real bad if I sat on it for a long time. Gotta add cushions later. After putting my arms on the runes carved into the armrests, I slowly started to fill the whole thing with my magic, and bit by bit, each rune lit up.
I only stopped after about five minutes, when I felt I could no longer push more magic into the runic scheme.
"Battery is charged, but let's wait with the flight for now. I think that it would give the servants a heart attack." Of course, there were servants. I kinda didn't think about that part. Thankfully, Selyse took the majority of people with her, so there were not that many. I think that Pyra said that there were around five people left. A cook and three maids who chose to stay with Shireen and the old man Cressen.
"Oh, any response from Stannis while I was busy?" I suddenly remembered.
"The maester sent the raven, but until Stannis reaches King's Landing, we won't get a reply, and he left only two days before we came." Kinvara replied.
"Wait, King's Landing? Why would he go there?" I asked confusedly.
"... To meet up with the King and talk strategy? You thought that they would immediately fight?"
"Umm~ Yeah?"
"Oh… My Lady... The King and Stark are sailing from White Harbor directly to King's Landing. Wars don't happen just like that. They need planning and coordination." She said slowly and gently.
"Why? Look at the map. The King marches through the Neck, Stannis sails to Saltpans, and Tywin meets them somewhere in the middle. Isn't that a good plan?" I pointed at where I thought the battle would take place, the Trident.
"..."
"The battle will most likely take place in Riverlands, but definitely not in the way you envisioned. Armies need time to march, and even if they started preparing when the Lannisters disappeared, they'd be far from done. The logistics of war do not move at a speed of thought." She said with surprising patience.
"So they're just what? Assembling then?" I sighed.
"Pretty much that, and talking alliances and stuff."
"So there won't be one big battle?"
"Pft! Hahahaha~ W—wait! Wait… You really thought that they would what? All come to one place and fight?" Dany burst out laughing. She laughed at me so hard, she looked like a tomato.
"Okay, okay! It's not that funny." I grumbled, though judging by Pyra's amused smile and Kinvara's twitching lips, the girls thought otherwise.
"I mean, wouldn't it be so much more efficient to get everyone together and get it over with?"
"Emmy, wars aren't bar fights. They won't just show up and swing swords at each other until one side is left standing. No, they will scheme, maneuver, and delay." Pyra said with eyes full of mirth.
"... Ugh— alright, alright. Wars take time, people are slow, and politics are a nightmare." I rolled my eyes with a dramatic sigh.
"I guess I have to put my career as a general on pause then." I said jokingly.
"Yeah, the world simply isn't ready for the true brilliance of your battlefield strategies." Dany snickered, and I gave her a pouty glare.
"Never change, Emily, never change. But that is enough for now. Before we got sidetracked, we were talking about the servants." Pyra, god bless her, changed the subject.
"Servants… what were we talking about?"
"*sigh* You, not wanting to give them heart attacks."
"Right! Yeah… that. We should call them and tell them." So I did exactly that. Enhanced shouts resounded throughout the fortress, and not even five minutes later, Shireen and Cressen came in, accompanied by all the frightened servants left.
"Um… Hello? Is this everybody?" I asked Cressen, he seemed like the guy who would know that kind of thing.
"Ah, yes… my Lady. These people are all that remained."
"Great. So… I'm going to make the whole fortress fly, and I don't want you panicking when I do so." Yup, all the people looked super scared right now.
"I–is that wise?" The measter was the first one to shake it off.
"Absolutely not. But it will be great." I grinned at him.
"W–what about supplies?" He added.
"Kinvara will take care of that, do not worry."
"Of course, my lady." She replied with a smile.
"If any of you wants to leave, now is your chance." I looked over the servants, and although they were scared, they didn't move an inch away from Shireen.
"It would seem, my Lady, that no one intends to leave." Cressen said, after examining the gathered servants.
"Really? Not even a single person?" I raised an eyebrow, and a hesitant silence hung over the group. Then, one of the older maids cleared her throat and spoke.
"Lady Shireen stays. We stay." Her voice was steady despite her clear nerves. That was actually kind of heartwarming. Having people willing to follow her into the unknown… that meant something.
"Awww… that's sweet." Pyra barely managed to hold back a squeal.
"Well then, people, hold onto something, this might be a bit jarring." With a final breath, I placed both hands firmly on the armrests and felt the charged runes connect to my magic. Everything was ready.
Then, with a touch of my magic, I willed Dragonstone up. The runes lit up once again, and then, motion.
The fortress didn't just lift, no, it ascended. Shame I couldn't see it from the outside. The sound of rock being torn apart, the intense wind crashing into the walls, accompanied us as Dragonstone defied gravity.
The servants clung to whatever they could, eyes wide with a mix of terror and awe as they watched the ground slowly shrink from view. Cressen looked more than a little concerned. Shireen, on the other hand, grinned from ear to ear.
Once I felt we reached a sufficient height, I stopped supplying magic, and the fortress calmly settled, as if its place was always in the sky.
"Okay, people. It's done. No need to hold on anymore." I reassured them with a grin.
"That was incredible! Did you see?! We are actually flying!" Shireen turned to Cressen, who was still gripping a table, and started babbling excitedly.
"I–I saw…magic of this scale… this is unprecedented, my lady." He slowly exhaled, clearly trying to calm himself down.
"I know! It's like out of the Age of Heroes!"
"You know, people keep mentioning that, and I still have no idea what that even is… Pyra, will you tell me about?" I whispered to her. I knew she read about it, I saw her multiple times with a book about that.
"Sure." She just smiled.
"Great, thanks." I returned the smile and turned back to the gathered people. My eyes once again stopped at the grey skin Shireen had on her face, and unlike the last time, this time, she noticed, and immediately her smile disappeared, and she hung her head.
"Do you want me to get rid of that, kiddo?" I saw that it clearly bothered her and that she was ashamed of it.
"W–what?" She asked, and her fingers brushed across the grey skin.
"The grey skin. Do you want it gone?"
"Y–you can do that? B–But there is no cure for it."
"Of course I can. Kiddo, unless you turn into a paste of meat, I can heal pretty much anything." She paled a bit at that imagery. Maybe I should have chosen my words a bit more carefully.
"Y–yes."
"Kay! This will tingle, or be hot and cold, dunno really. Episkey!" The spell took effect instantly, as the soft pulse of magic enveloped Shireen whole. I didn't know where else she had it, so I'd rather heal her whole, just in case. The grey skin began to fade, its rough, hardened texture smoothing out into soft, untouched skin. Shireen's breath hitched as she carefully touched her face. Her finger traced over the now unfamiliar skin, and her wide eyes met up with mine.
"It's… It's gone." She whispered in disbelief, but that expression was quickly replaced by a grin so wide I think I saw all of her teeth at once.
"Yup, it sure is." I replied with a satisfied grin matching her own.
"Take a look." I quickly conjured a mirror and floated it to her. She eagerly caught it and started inspecting her face.
"Thank you, thank you." She babbled as she prodded and poked at her cheek.
"No problem, kiddo."