The governors of Pentos had long maintained good relations with a string of khalasars.
Of course, those so-called good relations were nothing more than paying "protection fees."
But now that Gohor stood in front of them as a shield, it seemed that those protection fees were no longer theirs to pay.
Even so, Koren's proposal immediately drew doubts.
"But my lord, it is still winter. The horsemen are already weak, and who knows how long it will be before summer arrives.
On top of that, Gohor now has a fleet guarding it. Those horsemen cannot possibly pose any real threat."
Koren glanced at him and replied,
"We are not talking about attacking Gohor right away. Our moon singers say that in less than five years, this long winter will end.
We can use this time to spread word among the horsemen that the Targaryen is carrying immense wealth.
When summer comes and the horsemen regain their strength, we lure them into attacking Gohor."
The idea was sound, but the time required was far too long.
No one wanted to watch Viserys continue to flaunt himself for years on end. They wished they could see him thrown into chains the very next moment.
"What about the Faceless Men? If we simply use them to assassinate that little king?"
At this point, the "stick-thin" governor spoke darkly.
Koren looked at him and said,
"His Majesty Freygo has abandoned that idea, out of consideration for the captured soldiers."
During the reign of Jaehaerys I, King Jaehaerys had wanted to recover the three dragon eggs that had flowed out of Targaryen hands, but the Sea Lord of the time had refused.
He had even threatened with the Faceless Men.
That was because Braavos truly feared that one day dragonfire might rain down upon them.
They needed to breed dragons of their own before the Targaryen dragons multiplied beyond control.
Unfortunately, they failed.
Fortunately for them, the Dance of the Dragons later plunged the Targaryen house from prosperity into decline.
In any case, the Faceless Men were only ever employed for immense profit.
And in his letter, Viserys had made it perfectly clear that if he died, or if anyone at his side died, not a single one of the forty thousand prisoners would be spared. All would be buried with him.
Freygo still needed to bring those forty thousand captives home to maintain his position.
If he paid the Faceless Men to assassinate Viserys, he would likely lose both men and money in the end.
It was precisely Viserys's willingness to gamble his life against theirs that made Freygo hesitate.
Moreover, Braavos was extremely cautious in its use of the Faceless Men, and the Faceless Men were not omnipotent.
Otherwise, during the war with Pentos, they could have simply assassinated the hawkish leaders.
"Then what about Robert? Perhaps we could cooperate with Robert?"
One of the governors asked.
"No," Illyrio said. "Robert is still suppressing rebellions and cannot spare the manpower."
Illyrio had always kept a close eye on the situation in Westeros.
Because of the battles at the Gullet and Shipbreaker Bay, some Westerosi lords had begun to think that Targaryen rule might not yet be finished, and their loyalties had wavered.
Coupled with a real shortage of warships, Robert's campaign against the Iron Islands had stalled.
"His Majesty Freygo believes we might help him by providing some warships."
It was not a bad idea, but as soon as the merchants heard it would require them to spend money again, their enthusiasm cooled.
They had only just been bled dry by Viserys not long ago, and they badly needed time to recover.
So the plan was rejected.
Still, neither side suspected the other because of Viserys's scheme of driving wolves to devour tigers. They all believed they needed to reclaim their dignity at Gohor.
Having agreed to shift their campaign against the Targaryens from open confrontation to covert action, Koren set out for Gohor with gold and grain.
Meanwhile, escorted by Freygo, Tormo spent nearly two months before finally emerging from the Goosefeather Mountains.
"My lord, I think I see the Titan!"
Quairo turned and said to Tormo.
After trudging along for two months, Tormo looked utterly haggard.
The fat reserves on his body had long since been consumed, and there was no trace left of his former vigor.
You could throw him into a crowd of slaves and hardly pick him out.
Hearing Quairo's words, Tormo asked excitedly,
"Where… where?"
"There!"
Following the direction of Quairo's finger, Freygo indeed saw the familiar statue.
He had lived in Braavos his entire life, and once even thought the statue ugly.
Now, seeing it again, he felt an indescribable sense of warmth.
Before long, their party made contact with the local officials.
When the officials realized these were the commanders who had gone on campaign, they dared not criticize them despite their abandonment of the army, and respectfully escorted them back to Braavos.
The two were soon brought before Freygo.
Freygo was shocked when he saw them. "You were not captured by the Targaryens?"
Tormo said nothing. As a defeated general who had abandoned his army, shame forced him into silence.
In the end, Quairo explained the situation.
"No, Your Majesty. I took advantage of the chaos and led Lord Tormo away."
Freygo let out a small sigh of relief. As long as they were alive, his Antaryon family and Tormo's Freyga family could continue their alliance.
It was just a pity that he had already sent Koren with the dragon eggs to ransom them.
Even if he wrote now, it was probably too late.
"Pike, take Lord Tormo and Lord Quairo to wash and rest properly."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
After the two left Freygo, Tormo could no longer hold back and eagerly asked about the fleet.
They had puzzled over it all the way, unable to understand how Viserys's fleet had managed to pass Volantis and reach Gohor.
"It went like this, my lord. According to Volantis, the tide happened to be high that day, allowing the Targaryen fleet to pass."
"High tide?" Tormo asked in disbelief.
"Yes. High tide."
"Then what about the Golden Company? When did they contact the Golden Company?"
"The Golden Company? What Golden Company?"
Pike scratched his head in confusion. At that moment, Tormo finally realized that Viserys had only been bluffing that day.
Which meant that if he had followed his original plan, sending part of his troops to hold Viserys back while the rest pressed the assault on the city, things might not have ended like this.
I did not have to lose. I could have won. I was right. I was right. I was right.
"Lord Tormo?"
Hearing this, Tormo stopped in his tracks, standing rigid as his body began to tremble with regret.
Quairo and Pike looked at him, unable to understand what had come over him.
Then Tormo slowly raised his head, his eyes bloodshot, seized a spear from an attendant beside him, and thrust it straight at Quairo.
"My lord?" Quairo instinctively dodged, asking in confusion.
"It's all because of you, you idiot! If you hadn't stopped me from sending out the troops, I would never have lost to the Targaryen! Never!"
As he shouted, Tormo continued to stab at Quairo.
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