"...Drogo Khal commands the largest Khalasar, numbering over forty thousand warriors."
Illyrio's voice, distant and faint, reached the guest rooms overlooking the garden only if one strained to listen. "...Your Excellency, rest assured, I have confirmed information. His Khalasar is now near Dagger Lake on the Golden Plain, moving north along the Rhoyne River. It won't be long before they arrive near Pentos. When a banquet is held at his palace, I will certainly create an opportunity for you."
The fat governor's guests chuckled with satisfaction. "Haha, 'the shrewd Governor Illyrio' lives up to his name. But I don't understand, when did the Governor become interested in Tyrosh's shipping routes to Dorne?"
The voices in the garden grew closer.
"Hehe, whether by land or sea, having multiple routes is never a bad thing," Illyrio said slyly. "What do you think, Your Excellency?"
"Haha, that's true. If I had the Governor's business acumen, I wouldn't be doing this thankless job of being an envoy for my brother."
"Your Excellency flatters me."
The two in the garden seemed to have already settled something, and were now just exchanging pleasantries and jokes.
After the servants cleared the dining table from Daenerys's room and left, the conversation downstairs had shifted from business to the armored mercenary, who was dressed so differently from everyone else.
Illyrio started it: "Your Excellency, the guard behind you is a knight, isn't he?"
The word "knight" even caught Daenerys's attention. She quietly got up from her seat, tiptoed over to her brother Viserys, who was standing by the window and looking down at the garden, and peeked her head out to look.
"The real deal," the green-bearded Tyroshi envoy chuckled. "A knight anointed by the High Septon himself. Ser Jorah, come forward and speak to the Governor. Perhaps you'll find your next employment."
Daenerys saw the "knight" in the garden. He was a middle-aged, burly man, about forty years old, with thinning hair and dark skin. He was wearing chainmail and leather armor, and a dark green outer coat embroidered with a black bear standing on its hind legs. Daenerys had heard from Viserys that this kind of attire usually meant he was a knight with land, like Ser William Darry, whose brown coat was embroidered with a black farmer. The green-based black bear standing on its hind legs should be his heraldry, but it was a heraldry Daenerys had never heard of.
At this moment, Daenerys glanced at her brother's expression and found him expressionless.
The knight in the garden spoke, his voice thick and serious: "The mercenary Jorah Mormont greets you, Your Excellency."
Illyrio asked with keen interest, "Ser Jorah Mormont, how did a knight, anointed with holy oil, end up leaving Westeros and becoming a mercenary across the Narrow Sea in Essos?"
Jorah's tone was calm and serious. "I am no longer a knight. It's not a glorious past worth mentioning. I did things I'm ashamed of, lost my honor, and was exiled here."
"Just a trifling matter," the green-bearded Tyroshi envoy interjected, speaking up for the mercenary. "'The Usurper' put a price on his head. He sold some poachers he caught on his own land to our slave traders instead of handing them over to the Night's Watch. Ridiculous laws! Everyone should have the right to dispose of their own property."
"It was all for money. My actions violated the laws of the Seven Kingdoms, and that is dishonorable." Jorah's voice was filled with a strange sorrow, as if there was more to it. He quickly regained his gruff voice, his face serious and composed. "I am now just a mercenary knight earning a living. If you have any matters you wish to employ me for after the envoy's contract is complete, your Excellency, please feel free to say so."
Ser Jorah was deliberately lowering himself in his words, but coupled with his stern Northern face, it gave a convincing sincerity, a natural feeling that this man was trustworthy and would keep his word.
"So, you were a knight before," Illyrio took the lead. "You should know a lot about the Seven Kingdoms, then?"
"I am a Northerner from Westeros, your Excellency," Jorah replied. "If you wish to ask me about matters of the North, perhaps I can answer to your satisfaction. I also have some personal knowledge of the Iron Islands and the Westerlands. As for the other places in the Seven Kingdoms, I only know from my family's education. For example, I know less about many things in Dorne than the envoy here does."
Jorah's words seemed modest, but they were actually confident. Since he was near Dorne, with constant trade routes, he dared to say that he knew about as much as the envoy of the Tyroshi lords.
People were moving in the garden, soon passing beneath Daenerys's window.
Viserys's mind stirred. He turned to look at Daenerys, finding her also eavesdropping with great interest. He had an idea. He pulled Daenerys up, saying eagerly, "Come to my room."
They quickly walked out of Daenerys's room and into Viserys's.
Outside, Illyrio said, "It's like this. I went to King's Landing to do business some time ago. I happened to encounter the naming day tournament of Prince Joffrey. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to wait for the end of the grand event before leaving. Many merchants were betting at the time, but I didn't know the famous knights of the Seven Kingdoms well, so I just bet on Thoros of Myr, the Red Priest. Now, the tournament should have ended at this time, but the results haven't reached Pentos yet. Do you think my bet has a chance of winning?"
Outside, Jorah said, "I'd like to know, did the Governor bet on the jousting or the team tournament?"
Viserys's room was now empty. The servants who had moved the dragon bone boxes for him had left, leaving only the box containing the dragon bone gifts in a corner of the room.
Viserys led Daenerys into the room, as if eager to hear the conversation outside. He didn't even close the door, letting it remain wide open. He told Daenerys to sit by the window and walked over to the table where the drinks were placed, turning the wine glasses to himself.
Daenerys noticed her brother's abnormality. She turned her mind from the garden outside the window and looked at her brother with confusion.
The table holding the wine bottles in Viserys's room was positioned between the door and the wall, with Daenerys's room on the other side of that wall.
As Daenerys looked at her brother, Viserys was carefully placing an empty goblet in the corner of the doorway. He then meticulously tipped the goblet over and stood there, staring at it.
Outside, Illyrio was saying, "What difference does it make?"
Outside, Jorah replied, "I know Thoros of Myr. His flaming sword, which burns because it's coated in Wildfire, has earned him quite a reputation among the sellswords of the Seven Kingdoms. He can use it to scare an opponent's horse, and with that trick, he often wins the team tournaments at the Seven Kingdoms' jousting events. But in a joust with lances, he can't use his flaming sword."
Illyrio's frustrated voice came through, "Ah, I should have met you sooner."
The Tyroshi envoy's joking voice came through, "It seems you won't be getting your bet back, Governor Illyrio."
Daenerys had lost interest in the conversation outside. She held her breath, watching Viserys, realizing what he was doing.
At one point, Daenerys saw Viserys squint. A few breaths later, she saw the expression on her brother's face change.
After a while, Daenerys saw her brother reach down and pick up the goblet in the doorway. He then went back to the table as if nothing had happened and poured himself a drink.
Footsteps approached the door, and Daenerys looked up to see the maid, Annie, appear in the doorway.
She seemed to be heading somewhere.
"Oh~" Viserys, holding a wine cup, smirked and said, "You came at just the right time. Clean my room while you're at it."
The maid bowed her head and said, "Yes, honored guest."
Viserys didn't say anything more. He hurried to the window with the wine jug and cup. He continued to eavesdrop on the conversation outside with Daenerys.
Outside, Illyrio was asking, "Ser Jorah, who do you think will win the jousting tournament?"
"I've heard a little about this tournament from some sailors on merchant ships passing through the docks, but I don't know the full picture or who's participating," Jorah replied. "But I heard the name Jaime Lannister. I think it might be him."
"Why do you say that?"
"To be honest, Governor, I fought him in a tournament, and I've been impressed with him ever since."
"You fought him?"
"Yes. It was a long time ago."
The voices in the garden faded, requiring held breath to hear.
Daenerys wasn't paying attention to the conversation outside, but then Viserys asked her, "What do you think of him?"
The voices outside were already inaudible.
"Who?" Daenerys asked instinctively.
At the door, the maid moved quickly, returning with cleaning tools. No one paid her any mind, so she quietly began to clean.
"Who else could it be? It's that 'knight' mercenary," Viserys said.
Daenerys's thoughts returned to the topic. She had heard a sense of honor in the mercenary's words, something he himself denied, which reminded her of Ser William Darry.
But now that Viserys asked, she wasn't so sure.
Daenerys asked vaguely, "He's a knight, isn't he?"
Viserys answered just as vaguely, "A knight in exile."
....
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