Queen of Meereen, Queen of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Breaker of Chains, Daenerys the Unburnt, Daenerys Targaryen, born of the Storm, had suddenly abandoned such a vast enterprise, fleeing alone at the critical moment when her venture was only half complete?
The day the Queen rode the dragon east, Petyr Baelish rushed to the top of the pyramid at the news. He stared at the cracked flagstones where the black dragon had landed and at the emptiness of the Queen's residence, nearly losing his composure and cursing aloud.
It was true, the black dragon was the only one of the three large enough to carry a rider over long distances. After it had departed and later returned, as if homesick for its mother, none could say when it might come again. That was why Daenerys seized the moment without consulting her council, leaping onto its back and soaring away.
She wanted to master dragonriding quickly, bring the dragons to war, and visit blood and fire upon her enemies. Her intentions were good. But the Yunkai army had not withdrawn, and the Volantene fleet that sustained the slave trade was still bound for Slaver's Bay. To abandon everything at such a perilous moment, surrounded by powerful enemies, was folly. Was she not afraid that by the time she returned, with dragonriding mastered, not a single follower would remain?
…
No matter how furious and disappointed he felt, Petyr returned to reason and took the measures most beneficial to the Queen. He claimed she was unwell and could not hold court, and he suppressed the news of her departure on dragonback.
Unfortunately, paper cannot wrap fire. The news of Daenerys's disappearance spread quickly, and the official suppression only bred absurd rumors. To quell them, the Hand of the Queen was forced to appear and explain her whereabouts.
Then matters began to turn swiftly for the worse.
---
Do not kill, but expel the highest nobles, and elevate the lesser houses to control Meereen. The crucial condition for this strategy was power sufficient to prevent retaliation by the old nobles, and to counterbalance the newly risen, so that the former could not restore their rule and the latter could not establish themselves, burn their bridges, and turn on their benefactors.
What maintained this balance was the Unsullied's strength, the support of the freedmen, and the legend of the three dragons.
As a latecomer, Littlefinger had no command or influence over the Unsullied. As the enforcer of daily rule, he was hardly loved by the freedmen. As for the dragons, a man with no Targaryen blood had no claim at all.
The growing rapport with Daenerys had led him to think that this Targaryen girl was worth serving, that everything was improving. With her sudden departure, Petyr fell back into isolation and helplessness. He had to fight alone.
The freedmen could not see their liberator. Petitioners could not present their needs directly to the Queen. The green and the white dragons, confined in the pit beneath the pyramid, could not see their mother.
All these were small matters.
One month, two months. As the days of the Queen's absence grew, rumors of her death multiplied.
The first to move were the new nobles within the city. Though Daenerys had expelled the old masters and elevated them, to live under an absolute queen was no joy. Self-rule would be better by far.
Then came treacherous defectors. The Prince of Dorne, who had arrived in Meereen not long before, relied upon the thin True Dragon blood in his veins and, with mercenary help, attempted to steal the dragons while Daenerys was away. The two imprisoned dragons did not acknowledge him. They roasted him where he stood, then broke free of the pit without ceremony.
As for the Yunkai host beyond the walls, upon hearing the news they formed a new plan. The Queen's absence made Meereen more vulnerable. They hoped to seize the moment for greater gain. Peace had its uses, but the slave trade was undersupplied. Why settle for Yunkai's sole dominance when they could control all Slaver's Bay and grow richer still?
Within and without, every faction stirred. The situation slid toward the abyss. At this crucial hour for Free Meereen's survival, Petyr Baelish made one of the boldest choices of his life. Strike first. Pacify the city and repulse the foe at once. Before the Volantene fleet could enter the bay, he would subdue the restless new nobles with force and drive off the Yunkai host, buying time for a Queen who might yet live.
He went personally to the Unsullied barracks, argued his case, laid out the risks and rewards, and at last persuaded Grey Worm to lead the army out without the Queen's leave, ignoring procedure. At dawn on a chosen day, they would join the mercenary companies loyal to Daenerys and meet the enemy in the open. Meanwhile, the freedmen's militia within the walls would launch a nocturnal coup, seizing and confining the overmighty new nobles, to be released after victory outside the city.
For the first time in his life, the former Master of Coin of King's Landing, who had no experience of war, was commanding one. After consulting professionals and debating plans, the council agreed. To act gave them less than even odds. To wait was certain death.
It was a desperate gamble, yet victory came easier than expected.
---
Before besieging Meereen, the Yunkai host had taken Astapor with ease after Daenerys left, the Unsullied gone and the masters dead. The battle had ended quickly, but the victors paid a price. Plague arose in the chaos and spread among them, and they carried it with them to Meereen.
After months of siege, the Yunkai, belonging to different masters without unified command, camped one after another in a long, snake-like line. Hundreds of scattered camps formed a city of silk and canvas, a crescent around Meereen. In such press and heat, disease spread with slaves, sellswords, and camp followers. The host looked mighty, but morale was unsteady, discipline nonexistent, combat strength at its nadir.
Then came unexpected aid from the sea. A small Iron Fleet had sailed thousands of miles to greet the Queen. Victarion Greyjoy arrived on the very day Meereen planned to attack. The Iron Captain sent a dozen captured merchantmen ahead as a first wave toward the Yunkai fleet, the best Ironborn hidden in their holds. Daenerys had no navy, and the slavers did not suspect a sudden blow from the sea. The merchantmen closed without challenge, and the boarding began. Behind them came forty-odd warships of the Iron Fleet. Many Yunkai ships were rammed and sunk, most of the rest were taken. The Ironborn landed and fell upon the main camp from the docks.
Here the folly of Yunkai's long, strung-out encampment was laid bare. Once the Ironborn seized the port, they charged straight into the main camp with no buffer. The Yunkai had no time to form ranks. Panic spread faster than plague, racing through the camp.
Seeing this, Petyr, commanding the Meereenese defense, seized the moment and ordered the Unsullied, already drawn up beneath the walls, to launch the general assault ahead of schedule.
To the west, the Ironborn landed and slew. To the north, the Unsullied, the finest soldiers in the world, advanced in ordered ranks. Within the camp, several fence-sitting Free Companies changed sides at once. Overhead, the green and the white dragons, loosed from the pit by the foolish Prince of Dorne, were lured by horns and fire. They circled, breathing flame again and again.
Even an elite host would have faltered beneath such blows. How could a rabble gathered from every corner of the world stand? Petyr Baelish witnessed a spectacle he would never have seen in Westeros. The Yunkai host, many times his force, collapsed like a mountain. Tens of thousands dropped their weapons before any clash. Save for a small band in the far southeastern camp who escaped in the confusion, the army was almost wholly destroyed. The Unsullied lost a little over a thousand men.
The battle outside the walls ended before the coup within began.
---
Petyr sighed and shook the memories from his mind. Though he had not fought in person, as Hand of the Queen and supreme commander, it was a triumph worth boasting of. But now, in the harbor where blue waves rippled, new enemies lined the sea from end to end.
The Volantene fleet was larger and sturdier than Yunkai's. The Iron Fleet's ships were too small to grapple them. Though the soldiers aboard were fewer, they were better trained. After taking command of Slaver's Bay, the Volantenes lay at a safe distance, hundreds of warships forcing Meereen's loyal ships and the tiny Iron Fleet into the river mouths. With the sea theirs, they gathered stragglers, dug deep trenches, raised high ramparts, and waited for reinforcements.
Though fewer than half Yunkai's, the Volantene army was disciplined and under unified command, and so no less dangerous.
Each Unsullied lost was one of the best gone forever. Since the enemy did not seem inclined to storm the walls, Petyr did not repeat his sortie and decisive battle. He held the city, sent small parties to trade with the Lhazareen for grain, and waited quietly for the Queen's return.
Today was the one hundred and seventh day since the Queen rode the black dragon east. Where was his only hope of returning to Westeros, what was she doing, or was she even alive?
Overhead, a vast dragon's shadow swept the Queen's terrace again. The black dragon had flown with the Queen, but the green and the white, freed by that foolish attempt at theft, had made the Great Pyramid's crown their lair. Whether hunting or at play, they returned here to rest. After the first fear faded, the Queen's servants and the people of Meereen found they had no wish to attack men, and so grew used to them.
It was rare, however, to see them fly so low that their shadows brushed the terrace.
Petyr frowned, shading his eyes and searching the sky for white or green.
Then his heart lurched.
The dragon that had just passed overhead was neither pale yellow Viserion nor emerald Rhaegal, but another great beast, black as night.
(To be continued.)
***
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