WILOW-Ch.364: New Ships from Yunkai
On the Road to Golden Tooth
POV of Domeric Bolton
A week later.
Domeric led his army through the forest. Using forest trails that his wargs had already scouted and proclaimed as safe.
He wanted to have the element of surprise against the Lannisters, so they stayed away from the main road as much as possible.
"You think the Freys would betray the Tullys?" Ygritte asked as she rode her horse beside his.
"Possible but doubtful." He replied, "If the army of the Vale was not coming to join the war and if Tywin defeated the Northern host, then Warder Frey would definitely change sides and support the Lannisters. But with the destruction of the 2nd Lannister army in Riverrun and with what I'm going to do next, I doubt the old coot would dare do such a thing anymore."
"I still think the Tullys shouldn't let the Freys get away with it. Because of them, the Northern Army's arrival to aid the Riverlands was delayed for so long. Is it normal for a Lord Paramount to have such weak control over his vassal lords?" she asked.
"This depends entirely on the Lord's ability to govern. I might not respect Lord Tywin for his cruel methods against the innocent commoners, but he did the right thing when he destroyed the Raynes and the Tarbecks. Without those two unruly houses, House Lannister no doubt has the best grasp over its vassal lords in the whole Seven Kingdoms."
"Even better than House Stark?"
"Yes." He nodded, "It might not look like it on the surface, but House Glover, House Dustin, House Ryswell, and House White Hill, amongst a dozen small houses, don't support the Starks. They are not very fond of Lord Stark's lenient rule. Before me, House Bolton didn't either. And together we made the largest block of opposition against the Starks."
"And what's your opinion of House Stark?"
"They're good people, and I wouldn't mind having them by my side during the Long Night. If I didn't dislike being ruled by others so much, being a vassal House under House Stark might have been a good choice for me." He replied, "After all, I'm more of a Lord who enjoys developing my lands, and House Stark is a more understanding House compared to the other Wardens and Lord Paramounts."
Then he sighed and continued, "But I no longer wish to be ruled by others and limited by their visions. Therefore, after this war, I will sever my ties of allegiance to House Stark, regardless of whether I establish an empire or not."
"Do you think Lord Stark will accept your Empire Plan? It must be difficult for him to kneel before one of his own vassal lords," she asked.
"Lord Stark is still undecided. That's why he's taking a wait-and-see approach. But I think the course of the war will leave him with no choice but to support my claim." He replied, "But that doesn't matter much to me. By the time we reach that point, Kilgharrah will be very powerful. And whether others support me or not, then if I want to, I can conquer Westeros and establish my empire, just like Aegon the Conqueror did."
Ygritte frowned and asked. "By the way, why did you only hatch one egg? I thought the ritual allowed you to bind with three dragons."
"At that moment, the other two eggs weren't ready to hatch." He said.
"But they're ready now, aren't they?"
"Yes, they've been ready for a while. But Dragons are proud creatures. Even though these two eggs are lower in level than Kilgharrah, if their ages were too close, there would be a high chance of rivalry between them. That's why I waited for Kilgharrah to grow a bit." He said.
Then he added. "But the timing seems good right now. I'm planning to hatch the other two eggs soon and bond with them."
Ygritte then asked. "Will I also have to hatch one egg first and then wait to hatch the others?"
He said with a chuckle, "No. That's not necessary for you. Kilgharrah is a Wise Dragon. Essentially, all the dragons in the world must bow to him and obey his commands. That's why you can hatch your three eggs at once. Kilgharrah will keep them in line."
Ygritte nodded and said. "Having more dragons on our side during th…"
At that moment, the magical mirror in his pocket vibrated, and he raised a hand for Ygritte to stop.
He took out the mirror and saw that it was a call from Muron.
He took the call.
"My lord." Muron's cheerful voice came from the other side. "Reached Yunkai yesterday. Had a little skirmish with them. Those bastards ran away with their tails between their legs. The Wise Masters now offer us their ships and gold."
"How many ships?" he asked.
"300," Muron replied, and his eyes widened in surprise.
"What did you do to have them give you half of their ships?" he asked.
Muron chuckled, "Made a few examples. Nothing too gruesome. Those Wise Masters gave in more easily than I expected. It seems like no one really posed them any problem before us."
He nodded.
He had not expected the Wise Masters of Yunkai to give them so many of their ships and had thought that he would either have to declare war or pay for those ships.
But it seems like that is not the case.
This would help him bring the slaves he had freed from Unsullied and Astapor to Westeros.
Furthermore, his fleet would grow thanks to these ships.
However, he still needed to go to Slaver's Bay to install the Ward Stones he had prepared into the ships and expand their interior space.
With the ships he had acquired from Yunkai, Muron currently had 430 ships under his command, but even these weren't enough to carry nearly 110,000 people.
But this wasn't too difficult for Domeric. Since returning from Astapor, he had been working on special Ward Stones for the ships in his spare time, and he already had over 500.
He could make even more, but he thought this much would suffice for now. He planned to use the surplus on his ships in Westeros when needed.
After all, these Ward Stones not only expanded the interior space of the ship but also reduced its weight, provided protection against fire and impacts, allowed for slow repair of damage, and offered many other magical advantages and safety features.
Thanks to these Ward Stones, his ships could carry more cargo and people, and travel faster and more safely.
Given all these advantages, it would be a shame not to use them on his ships here.
"How much did the Yunkai pay you not to attack them?" he asked.
"300,000 gold coins." Muron smiled, "Their gold coins are not even half the size of our own, but they're something."
He nodded, "Give one third of it to your men, one third of it to the Unsullied, and keep the rest for yourself."
Muron's smile widened at that, and he bowed, "Your humble servant accepts this gift."
He almost scoffed at that.
Muron and humble would never be used in a sentence unless that sentence was a sarcastic one.
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.365: Golden Tooth
Ch.366: Golden Tooth Has Fallen
Ch.367: The Value of a Good Image