A message had reached the Magisters of the free cities of Lys, Myr and Tyrosh and would spread all over Essos in a couple of days.
The message had arrived from the camp of Lord Aeos and it had caused a huge wave of shock and disbelief to the Magisters and to all those who learned of it. It seemed that every decision that Lord Aeos was taking and every action he was doing was to cause them pure shock and surprise.
The first news that they had received was something that they had been expecting for a long time. The camp had started to prepare for departure and soon the army would be on the march. This was the expected news and had been inevitable.
But everyone had been interested in the second news. The direction in which he had decided to march. Which city was going to be the first to face his wrath? The first of the free cities to fall to him? The first city on the coast of the Narrow Sea to fall to him.
And the news arrived the next day. And this was the news which had shocked them. For the army of Lord Aeos was not marching in one or even two directions. They were marching in three distinct directions.
The forces had been divided into three parts and each part was marching towards Lys, Myr and Tyrosh. It had been an utterly shocking piece of news and had thrown the entire Essos, particularly Lys, Myr and Tyrosh into complete disbelief, shock and chaos.
An urgent meeting of Magisters had been called in the city of Lys. The atmosphere in the meeting hall was quite solemn and heavy. The magisters of Lys had not really been expecting an attack on themselves. They had thought Myr to be the likely target, and even if one island city was to be attacked, the magisters of Lys had thought it to be Tyrosh. Tyrosh was close to the shore, closer to the city of Myr which Lord Aeos was sure to capture. And they had assumed that, in all probability, the attack on their city, though inevitable, would only come after Lord Aeos had stabilised his rule in these two cities.
Around twenty men were sitting surrounding a rectangular table placed in the centre of the massive hall. Of these, the man sitting on one end of the table had white hair and a beard and appeared to be in his late sixties. His chair too was larger and more luxurious than the rest of the chairs and denoted his higher standing among the Magisters.
He was the First Magister of Lys. And while the first magister of the city could not be compared to a king in power, influence, and authority, he was still a very respected figure and had enough influence to command the support of all the magisters, especially in times of crisis.
"So," the first magister began the meeting. "I believe that I do not really have to state why this meeting has been called."
"All our hopes that Lys would not be the first city to be targeted, and that we still have time before Lord Aeos sets his eyes on our city, have been quashed. An attack is imminent on our city and the men could be at our gates in as fast as 8 days or 9 days."
"What is Lord Aeos even thinking?" one of the magisters questioned in sheer shock. "Dividing his forces in three parts and going for all three cities?"
"Well," he continued. "It does not really matter to us. But what is the use of sending the infantry in our direction? Without ships to carry them from the shore to our island, they are useless."
"And then what of his ships? Is he going to divide his navy too? One half for Lys and the other for Tyrosh? Six thousand men for each city? Nothing makes sense. All this sounds so nonsense."
"We have eight thousand men, and even if somehow he manages to still bring four thousand men from the shore, which in itself is an impossible task, we will still be at an advantage."
Nobody replied immediately. Whatever this magister said made sense. But again, it was Lord Aeos they were talking about.
"Logically speaking," another magister said after a couple of moments. "Everything my colleague said is true. Dividing the forces does sound like foolishness but then again it is Lord Aeos we are talking about. I would not think Lord Aeos to be foolish in making this decision."
"We had thought him to be a fool the previous time when he sent all his men marching away and left his cities nearly defenseless, and look what it brought to us. A humiliating defeat. We wasted so much of our coins in that campaign. And what an unpredictable move he played. He has always been a step ahead of us, and even now we should not take him as a fool."
Most of the magisters nodded in agreement while one interjected.
"I suggest we do not debate on how foolish or intelligent Lord Aeos is and we prepare for the incoming invasion to the best of our abilities," he said. "That being said, it cannot be denied that this is the best chance we have got."
"If Lord Aeos had decided to conquer each city one after another and not simultaneously, we might not have had a chance. But now we have a golden chance. If all three of us can push him back and give him heavy losses, we might really be able to hold on to our cities."
Everyone nodded. Prima facie they did seem to have a good chance to repel that particular attack from Lord Aeos.
"We should surely focus on the strategy to defend the city," the first magister picked up the conversation. "But before that, I want to throw another dice on the table and I know that many of you had this in your mind but were too afraid to speak about it publicly."
"So, I will bear that burnt." he continued. "I want to know what all of you think about surrendering the city to Lord Aeos?"
Though this question caused a little wave of surprise among the Magisters, they were not exactly shocked. It was only because Lord Aeos had decided to divide his forces, they were even thinking that they had the ability to defend the city. If they had to face the full brunt of his army, everyone would have seriously considered the option of surrendering to him very seriously.
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