章 22: Chapter 22 Tyrion, Daenerys
Tyrion
Tyrion could already see the mouth of the Skahazadhan River that would take him to his destination: the city of Meereen on Slaver's Bay. A week ago, Tyrion had set sail from the coast after receiving a message from Sansa Stark, sealed with the Winter Wolf's seal, directing him there.
The fleet, consisting of twenty warships and twenty supply ships, had set sail from Braavos almost two months ago. Although reaching their destination took just over a month, they had to wait on the desert coast because, according to the Winter Wolf, it was not yet time to negotiate with the Dragon Queen. Now, the order was to advance up the Skahazadhan River and conquer Meereen; they were to arrive by sunset that day.
By these orders, they were there at that moment, after slowly advancing along the coast for a week.
The people of Meereen saw their advance, and when their fleet refused to reveal its purpose, a fleet of fifty ships stationed itself at the mouth of the Skahazadhan River, intending to prevent them from advancing to Meereen.
"Uncle, order the attack; we must advance to the city now," ordered Tyrion, seeing that it was already mid-morning.
Since this fleet did not allow them passage, it was evident that they would have to force their way through. In any case, the orders were to conquer the city; sooner or later, they would face their fleet.
"Tyrion, we have twenty ships," warned his uncle Kevan, who was observing the enemy fleet from a kilometer away, from the bow of the ship beside him.
"Uncle, I have seen these 'cannons' in action in Braavos. There I saw how a mountain of rocks, ten times the thickness of the walls of King's Landing, crumbled after a few shots. These wooden ships will soon be nothing but floating splinters," said Tyrion with a sigh.
Unlike his uncle, Tyrion received a guided tour from the Braavosi to see the cannons created by the Winter Wolf. In Tyrion's opinion, these weapons would turn future wars into true slaughterhouses.
His uncle Kevan leaned over the rail to see the gun ports, from which cannons would emerge once the battle began. But those were not the only preparations, as a hundred men were lined up and hidden beneath the ship's hull, with their rifles at the ready, prepared for battle and any attempt to board. Although Tyrion did not expect they would need to intervene.
His uncle Kevan sighed and looked at the ship's captain.
"Battle formation, advance and destroy that fleet," ordered his uncle Kevan, an experienced commander of naval battles.
On this occasion, not having knowledge about the new weapons, he could only give a general order and observe the battle that would follow, as the Braavosi and the Northerners were the only ones who knew how these ships functioned. In recent months, his uncle Kevan and he had many things to study for him to be entertained with the new weapons.
Tyrion and his uncle's mission was to swear allegiance to the Dragon Queen, proving to be useful in what she needed most: political support. For the new weapons and ships, Tyrion had plenty of cousins and relatives who would take care of learning about them.
The ship's captain, with his uncle's permission to advance and start the battle, shouted so loudly that Tyrion felt the sound pounding in his ears. Next to the captain, one of his cousins used two signal flags, also the work of the Winter Wolf, as the new weapons generated a hell of explosions. Those who did not wear ear protection would be deafened.
Tyrion and the rest of the crew wore special helmets. Although none wore armor, they wore somewhat strange padded jackets with two heavy steel plates, one in front and one in back. They were supposed to stop a projectile from the new weapons, although Tyrion had seen in tests that the projectiles pierced armor as if it were made of paper.
On the other hand, if he were shot in any part of the body other than his chest or the part of the head covered by the helmet, Tyrion would have to bid farewell to this world. Fortunately, at this moment, only the Braavosi possessed these weapons and the plans to build them. Since they did not get along well with the slave cities, they guarded these new weapons as zealously as a wife. Tyrion himself was the subject of a distrustful glance when he approached the captain to inquire about the ship and its weapons.
With the movement of signal flags, two other young men on the port and starboard sides began signaling, and the ships' boilers began releasing smoke.
The fleet of ships began to move and form up, leaving their ship, which led the attack in the rear, about fifty meters behind the support fleet. These were also new ships, but they were for transport, and their defense did not include cannons, but rather men armed with rifles.
The enemy fleet, upon seeing them move, unfurled their sails and rowed, advancing to meet them. Although their speed was less than half of their own fleet's, they charged forward with all they had. At five hundred meters, the captain of their own fleet ordered them into battle formation, and ten ships took the forefront of the battle, forming a line abreast. The other ten ships guarded the flanks, although from their position, Tyrion knew they were only there for last-minute maneuvers, as the cannons were on the sides.
His uncle Kevan frowned at the maneuver but said nothing. He knew the cannons were on the sides, and the ships needed to align themselves to fire them. Those who should be confused were those of the enemy fleet, who probably had no idea what those strange ships moving without sails or oars were doing.
The lookout warned that the enemy fleet was already four hundred meters away, and since the ships were in line, the captain ordered to fire, while the crew adjusted their helmets to withstand the noise.
Tyrion stuffed extra cotton padding into his helmet, suspecting that the reason the captain was shouting so loudly and growling too much was that he was already going deaf due to the new weapons, and he didn't want to end up the same.
Tyrion held a spyglass as the cannons sounded like thunder and sparks falling before them. At four hundred meters, the fleet advancing with twenty ships in front seemed to run into a wall in the middle of their path, and their ships were literally turned into splinters.
Tyrion could only compare the scene to a scaled-down model of a ship being struck with a mallet. There was no explosion or flames; this was the result of sheer brute force. Although for Tyrion, who had seen a mountain of rock collapse under the fire of these cannons, seeing wooden ships splinter was something he already expected.
"By the Seven!" exclaimed his uncle Kevan upon seeing the results of the first round of shots.
"Uncle, we can only thank the Seven that the war had ended before these weapons could be used against us. If that were the case, there wouldn't have been much of our family left to be exiled," said Tyrion as a second round of shots ensued, turning the first row of enemy ships into splinters that hadn't even entered attack range.
Tyrion hurried to order a ceasefire after two rounds of shots, and the captain shouted for the signal flags to move. After only three rounds of shots, the firing ceased, just a minute after it had begun.
The fleet maintained its battle position, but in the enemy fleet, the rear ships hurried to flee, while those that had faced the cannons either sank or were too damaged to move.
A fleet of fifty ships had been decimated with three rounds of firing, no more than ten cannons per ship. Although these ships had forty cannons each, the Winter Wolf had calculated that against current fleets of ships, ten cannons were more than sufficient for any battle. In this battle, it was proven that he had exaggerated too much.
Tyrion supposed that with only five cannons being fired per ship, any fleet would be decimated before they could counterattack. These weapons could conquer the entire world without any opposition.
"Uncle, let those heading out to sea retreat, pursue those who choose to return via the river, and order the capture of the ships left behind," said Tyrion, watching as the terrified remnants of the enemy fleet hurried to flee along the coast, moving away from the river mouth and forgetting about the city they were supposed to protect.
"They will abandon the ships and return to the city on foot," warned his uncle.
"Uncle, I believe that with this battle, you understand as well as I do that their actions don't matter. If these weapons are aimed at an enemy, only defeat awaits them. Since only we and our allies possess them now, it will be decades before our enemies can face us on equal terms," said Tyrion.
"Tyrion, I am the military commander. You should opine on diplomatic matters. These weapons cannot protect us from daggers in the back," replied his uncle, ordering not to pursue those fleeing along the coast.
Tyrion knew this, but in reality, the cause of losing the war and his family's exile was the Winter Wolf and his absurd network of information. Tyrion didn't believe that their new opponents had anything similar, and if they did, this time he would also have insider information. The disaster of King's Landing would not be repeated.
…
In the late afternoon, after reviewing and seeing how many projectiles had been expended, the fleet advanced up the river, and now they were within shooting distance of the docks of the city of Meereen, which, according to what Tyrion saw using his spyglass, the Meereenese were trying to set on fire at that moment.
"Fire!" ordered his uncle, who was seeing the same as him, and the captain shouted, causing the signal flags to move throughout the fleet.
Seconds later, the three ships that had taken firing positions in the front roared their cannons. After turning part of the docks and anchored ships into splinters, the remaining troublemakers fled in terror.
The ships only fired one round and immediately began maneuvering to dock, as they were ordered to take the city, and the troop transports were already advancing on the right bank of the river.
Tyrion, being a diplomat, would not participate in this war, and the Braavosi and Seven Kingdoms' army was not under his jurisdiction. He was a temporary commander and only had authority to attack predetermined targets. He could not look left or right of them, so he stayed on the flagship, observing everything, until it was his turn to act, which according to the Winter Wolf's letters, would be no later than tonight.
Meanwhile, Tyrion observed everything and took notes, especially on the new weapons. According to what Tyrion knew about them, these weapons were the new dragons of this world, but these were dragons made literally of gold and also fired gold because they were too expensive to produce, both in gold and silver costs and resources.
The Braavosi and Seven Kingdoms were running out of iron for the construction of these weapons, and as Tyrion heard, the material causing the explosions was many times harder to come by than iron. That's why each cannon was as valuable as an entire ship, and each projectile was worth its weight in gold.
If it weren't for the immense wealth the Braavosi gained from their deal with the Winter Wolf, even they would have been bankrupted by building these weapons. But with an economy that had skyrocketed and taken control of the world, the Braavosi and the Seven Kingdoms were destined to dictate the rules and laws of this world in the future.
Tyrion looked at the city in front of him, stretching for kilometers, in a landscape dominated by a huge wall at its edges and pyramids at its center. There were also combat arenas so colossal that they were part of the city's landscape alongside a large pyramid and the wall.
According to what Tyrion had read, this city was three times larger than the surrounding cities and was once the pride of the ancient Ghiscari Empire.
The city was built with multicolored cobblestones, even its walls, and had wide streets that revealed meticulous planning in its construction, as well as the wealth of its inhabitants.
Tyrion had read about the inhabitants of this city. Now he had also seen them at the docks. Their clothing was very different from what was seen in the Seven Kingdoms, and he would say it was scandalous, with a fabric they called tokar, which they wrapped around their bodies leaving one of their shoulders exposed. They styled their hair into horns or bat wings, something they did to worship their deity, a harpy with a scorpion's tail, a kind of unpleasant-looking chimera in Tyrion's opinion.
…
An hour after the troops landed, Tyrion also disembarked, along with his uncle and escorted by twenty men carrying rifles, hurried towards the walls, from where they could better observe the troops' advance on the city.
Since they arrived via the docks, capturing part of the walls was the troops' first objective, and once there, they were advancing to take the rest while heading towards the city center. However, there were obstacles everywhere, and the range of rifles was not an advantage. Therefore, the troops advanced cautiously to avoid falling into ambushes and dying by the sword when they had weapons capable of firing effectively at four hundred meters. That would be a true tragedy.
…
"Sir, there is a second army attacking the city from the red desert," reported the ground commander, who had already set up his operations tent on the Meereenese wall.
"Very well, advance along the wall and open the gates," ordered his uncle, who like Tyrion, knew that this was the army of the Dragon Queen.
"Sir, that won't be necessary. The Meereenese have sent the forces defending the wall against us, and the army has taken advantage to attack their gates. The last message I received said they were about to enter; they should already be inside the city at this moment," reported the ground commander, who unlike the ship commander, seemed to be a northerner.
"Commander, send a message to your men. Do not engage with this army, maintain your current positions, and retreat if they insist on pushing us aside," ordered his uncle, and the ground commander began to write an order, which he sealed and sent with a messenger.
"Uncle, it seems the Dragon Queen is somewhat impatient," said Tyrion with a furrowed brow, because she should already know they were there and that they would take the city for them, as a gift from the Winter Wolf.
Since this was the case, Tyrion didn't understand why the Dragon Queen would advance her army on the City. Tyrion also knew that the relationship between the Dragon Queen and the Winter Wolf was very good, and she wouldn't take action if he offered her a gift, because it was something offered sincerely.
Tyrion didn't understand what was going on, and he didn't like it, so he hurried back to the ship to ask if any letters had arrived.
At midnight, the city had fallen, and the desperate screams of people being brutally dragged out of their homes to the city square were not good omens for this city.
Tyrion was heading to the city square after meeting with part of the Dragon Queen's troops, and learning that the issue was not with them, and that the Dragon Queen would receive him at any moment, and that at this moment she was in the city square…
"Shit!" exclaimed Tyrion as a rider, who must have been a mercenary, passed by shouting in front of their group.
"Uncle, what was he dragging behind?" asked Tyrion, and his uncle grimaced; apparently, they had seen the same thing.
Tyrion saw the stain of blood and entrails left behind, and further ahead, a hand.
"Shit!" grunted Tyrion. He didn't want to serve a second mad king.
…
Tyrion advanced towards the square, and the further he went, the more blood he saw. Some of the people being dragged in groups were trying to escape, but the horseback mercenaries chased them down and trampled them mercilessly. Then, if they were still alive, they were finished off by the foot soldiers. Still, due to the brutality with which they were being dragged, some still preferred to try to flee, as it didn't seem like anything good awaited them in the future.
Mercenaries with whips lashed the group from which the unfortunate guy had run, shouting at them to move forward, because their queen was waiting for them. People cried, but only received more lashes and death threats. Tyrion had to admit that he was already scared.
…
Upon reaching the square, Tyrion saw the place, which was huge and illuminated by torches from an army wielding spears and surrounding the entire place. From their standard gear, Tyrion knew these were the Unsullied army, who with stony expressions and indifferent eyes, watched as mercenaries kicked and beat people towards the center of the square, where hundreds of people already gathered.
Tyrion gritted his teeth because by their attire, these people were the leaders of this city, and this was definitely not the best way to start a conquest, as they hadn't even established if these people intended to resist beyond the city's capture.
Tyrion looked to the center of the square, where a group of people watched as others were dragged among them, and this group was led by the Dragon Queen.
Introductions were not necessary because Daenerys Targaryen stood out among the crowd with her platinum blonde hair. She and Sansa Stark stood in front of their group, watching as people were dragged in front of them.
Behind the two young women were three young Dothraki men, and Ser Barristan Selmy, who wore a white armor and cloak of the Kingsguard. Their faces and expressions were serene.
A few steps behind, stood the rest of the group made up of women and men, most of them northerners. What stood out most in this group were four women holding onto a skinny girl who growled and writhed, trying to free herself. But aside from the four women securing her and covering her mouth, no one else seemed to pay her any attention.
Tyrion approached under the gaze of the group of people, and with the torchlight, and being about five steps away from the Dragon Queen and Sansa Stark, he could see clearly their reddened eyes. They had been crying, so Tyrion understood that something else was happening in this place, and he decided to stand aside without greeting. His uncle Kevan and the fleet and ground commanders accompanying them, upon seeing the queen, followed suit without asking anything, as they also understood that something serious had happened to the Dragon Queen at the hands of the Meereenese.
An hour of screams and pleas later, they didn't bring anyone else, and an old woman with a bleeding mouth and some missing teeth was dragged before the queen.
"Who gave the order?" growled the Dragon Queen.
"Mercy!" cried the old woman, but the queen looked at the mercenaries holding her, and they beat and dragged her back to the prisoners. Then they brought another elderly man wearing similar clothes but of a different color tone.
"Who gave the order?" growled the queen.
"Have mercy!" begged the old man, and the mercenaries dragged him after knocking him unconscious, moving on to another.
…
The Dragon Queen asked the same question over and over, but the interrogated ones only begged for mercy. Most were not pleading for themselves, but for their families, and an hour later, none of the interrogated ones answered the question, although Tyrion already had some answers.
Firstly, whatever these people had done, it was clear that they were all guilty. Secondly, their crime was so heinous that they knew there was no chance of being forgiven, and they begged for mercy all at once.
The red-rimmed eyes of the queen indicated to Tyrion that she wasn't going to move from there without getting an answer, and it was likely that many of the interrogated ones would die before she gave up on getting an answer…
The queen finished asking her question to a middle-aged man, and as he didn't respond, the mercenaries acted and then dragged him away. But instead of bringing someone else, a mercenary stepped forward and knelt in front of the queen to offer her a smile.
The kneeling mercenary was a tall, muscular man with a braided and painted beard. His appearance was that of a wildling, but still outstanding, and apparently, by the shine of his skin, he had bathed in oil, so he wasn't a smelly type.
"My queen, these bastards are just wasting your time. Leave them to me; I assure you I will get the answers you seek from them. My queen should rest, for this battle has been long," said the mercenary, and the red-rimmed eyes of the queen, which previously seemed to have no room for anything other than the prisoners, seemed to look at him.
"Aunt Daenerys, Captain Daario is right, you should rest," advised Sansa Stark, who also realized that they wouldn't get anything there.
"I want their names!" growled Daenerys at the mercenary and walked away from the square without looking sideways.
Sansa Stark looked at Tyrion and his group, but then followed the queen.
"No! They must all be killed! Give me Needle; I'll kill them myself!" shrieked the skinny girl they held captive, and with the movement of the retreating crowd, she managed to free her mouth. But then they managed to cover it again and left with her as she continued to wriggle to free herself.
"Uncle, I think it's better if we wait until tomorrow to present ourselves," said Tyrion, and his uncle nodded in agreement.
"Let's talk to one of these mercenaries to see what happened before the queen's army arrived at this city," said his uncle, and Tyrion nodded in agreement.
…
The next day, Tyrion was already informed and could only grit his teeth. He hadn't even been accepted as an advisor yet, and he already had a crisis on his hands. What happened was that after plundering Astapor and Yunkai, the Dragon Queen set her sights on Meereen, so the Meereenese got scared. To reduce the attractiveness of their city to the Dragon Queen, they cut down all the olive trees to destroy one of her main sources of income.
As the Dragon Queen demanded her conquered cities to free the slaves, the Meereenese decided to teach her a lesson by crucifying slave children along the path of the queen's journey to Meereen. According to the most reliable sources, there were over two hundred children, and some were still alive when the Dragon Queen reached them.
"It's surprising that this city isn't burning right now," said your uncle, taking a sip of bitter wine, seemingly savoring it to rid himself of the bad taste in his mouth.
They were in the sitting room of a two-story house located near the dock, where one of the Great Masters who ruled the city used to live and who were now prisoners, being cared for by the Dragon Queen's mercenaries, who demanded the names of those who ordered the crucifixion of children. Tyrion didn't expect the guy to return soon.
"She has chosen to attack when she could have waited, and she has also ordered the dragging of the so-called Great Masters, and she hasn't yet passed sentence. Seeing the city burn is still a possibility," said Tyrion.
Tyrion had spent two months studying the economy of this region in order to convince the Dragon Queen to establish her own kingdom here, instead of committing suicide by declaring war on his sinister nephew. But now the Meereenese seemed to want to engage in a fight to the death...
Tyrion shook his head; he couldn't think like that. He had to make new plans and think clearly. In his view, the actions of the Meereenese were a declaration of war to the death, but that was from his perspective because, in the eyes of the Meereenese, the slaves were their tools, and what they did might just have been a warning in their eyes. If so, destroying the city would be a loss because it meant they weren't really willing to fight.
Tyrion nodded to himself in his mind and decided to change his plans based on this assumption, only because the other option would be the definitive ruin for his family, and if they were going to ruin, planning was a waste of time.
"Uncle, we'll assume that the Meereenese don't actually want to commit suicide…" Tyrion began to weave his new plans taking into account the actions taken by the Meereenese.
Now that this had happened, the leaders of the city had to be sidelined. Although he might excuse the rest, with the actions of the Great Masters and the queen's counterattack, this was already a hatred that wouldn't be left behind.
Tyrion had already read about the culture of these people, and they were no less obstinate than the nobles of the Seven Kingdoms. Letting them live was letting an enemy live, and Tyrion was of the opinion that enemies should be underground whenever possible. And that was precisely the situation right now, where the Dragon Queen had all the power in her hands and also all her enemies with a sword at their necks. Not taking advantage of this would be a mistake that could later cost them dearly, turning this city into a pit of sharp knives.
…
The next day, the Dragon Queen remained absent until mid-morning, which didn't mean that things in the city remained calm. The mercenaries continued to pull the Great Masters out of hiding, while the Unsullied escorted large groups of people to the pyramids to loot gold, silver, jewels, and artworks. The grains stored by the Great Masters were being taken to the city's large storehouses, and although the inhabitants remained locked and hidden, the streets were being taken over by thousands of people who, under the leadership of some others, seemed to be mapping the city in search of places where they could stay. Craft workshops, shops, and markets were also being inspected.
The most important thing was that the mercenaries weren't looting, and at night, a group of them was discovered assaulting a former slave and were executed on the spot. The only ones the mercenaries could drag were the Great Masters, confirming Tyrion's thoughts. This was too much hatred to overlook, but as for the other inhabitants of the city, they could still be considered for negotiation.
Tyrion smiled on his way to the Great Pyramid, which had become the queen's headquarters, and one of her messengers informed him that the queen had called for a meeting with her advisors, and he was invited, so Tyrion hurried to the place.
…
Upon arriving at the throne room, which was the apex of the pyramid, Tyrion was announced by a guard and entered the makeshift throne room, which was a large room open to the sky.
The first thing Tyrion saw was the dragons crouching and sleeping next to the throne with many Dragon Queen's pillows. The dragons were the size of small horses, only a year old, and undoubtedly could already intimidate the people around them who kept their distance, except for Ser Barristan, who stood a few steps from the throne.
The attendees were also few and were the same ones who accompanied the queen at night. So this was a meeting of the closest advisors, and there would be no negotiation with the city of Meereen yet.
Tyrion suspected that the queen was waiting for the Great Masters to confess and hand over some guilty parties on whom to vent her anger and pain.
Of the Dragon Queen's advisors, Tyrion recognized Sansa Stark and Jorah Mormont. He could also infer the identity of another of them, as he wore armor used by the Unsullied and must be Grey Worm, the current commander of the Unsullied army.
The others were an elderly man with Dothraki features, three young Dothraki, an old mercenary in gleaming armor, and a huge mercenary with a big belly.
Tyrion evaluated each of them before reaching ten steps from the throne, where he stopped, leading his group composed of his uncle Kevan and his aunt Genna, instead of his husband Emmon Frey, whom his aunt slapped, and left behind looking for a place for their future residence.
His aunt Genna was officially a Frey; her husband was a Frey, and her children… bore the Frey name. But Stannis seemed to have found out that his aunt used to slap her husband on the head and had taken a position on Tywin Lannister's council, and was also exiled.
The old Frey didn't dare to protest, and the Wolf of Winter, who already had plans for his family, looked away, so his aunt Genna also packed her bags and was now there.
"Your Majesty!" greeted Tyrion, bowing alongside his uncle and aunt. Daenerys Targaryen looked at them coldly.
"Lannister, you have the nerve to present yourselves before me," said Daenerys, who still had red eyes; it seemed she hadn't slept much.
"Your Majesty, the past cannot be forgotten, but it remains the past, and ultimately, we all live in the present. Nevertheless, there were reasons, motives, and grievances that led our families to become enemies.
"Your Majesty, your family was ousted from the throne, and the Lannisters were among those who contributed to it, but now we too have been exiled, our old land expropriated, and our roots severed. Now we seek a new home and a new king to serve, so our destinies intersect once again," said Tyrion.
"And you want me to receive you as my servants when you have already betrayed my family before," growled the annoyed queen. Reminding her of the exile seemed to remind her of her family's fate and the Lannisters' betrayal.
The Dragon Queen looked at him with anger and a veiled threat in her eyes, waiting for his excuses, but Tyrion had no excuses, only the sad truth.
132. "Your Grace, have you declared yourself queen of the seven kingdoms?" Tyrion asked instead of making excuses.
133. "I have not declared myself queen, I am the queen!" Daenerys scolded.
134. "And who supports you in the seven kingdoms?" Tyrion asked and, without waiting for an answer, continued speaking. "Highgarden fought for your family until Prince Rhaegar died and they bent the knee. Your own family in Dorne settled for seeing you exiled and signing a dubious contract to turn your majesty and your brother into their puppets, and now, faced with a small threat, they have revealed everything and now they fight like vultures for the crumbs that Stannis throws at the feet of their lords."
135. "On the other hand, the Lannisters are in front of your majesty, ready to swear allegiance and serve you," Tyrion concluded.
136. "Lannister, to be a beggar dwarf, you are too arrogant!" Jorah Mormont scolded. "Your majesty…"
137. "Silence!" the queen scolded, directing her fury at Jorah Mormont. Tyrion smiled in his mind, for he doubted that the exiled lord wanted to help him.
138. "Tyrion Lannister, are you the new lord of your house?" the Dragon Queen asked. Tyrion nodded, because the Lannister who did not recognize him as Lord would end up begging in the street, because he now had all the money of the family. "Very well, Lord Lannister, I Daenerys Targaryen, am willing to accept you as my servant and give you a position on my council," Daenerys declared, making some people blink, because she did not name herself queen. Even so, Tyrion bent the knee without hesitation, and his aunt and uncle followed him.
139. "I, Tyrion Lannister, lord of House Lannister, swear allegiance to Daenerys Targaryen of House Targaryen," Tyrion swore, and he did not add the queen's titles either.
140. …
141. Daenerys
142. Daenerys gestured with her hand to the new lord of the Lannisters to indicate that he should rise, although her hand trembled with anger, so she saved words and, with another gesture, sent him aside. She would see if he was really of any use, for she believed that Sansa was right, and she needed someone who had experience in government and politics, for she had made a decision about her future, and that is why she had summoned only her closest advisers, because she wanted to see how useful they were.
143. "I have decided to settle in this City and name myself its queen by right of conquest!" Daenerys declared and, before anyone did anything, continued speaking. "As my closest advisers, I want to hear your opinions on how to deal with the Meereenese and your proposals for the future of this city," Daenerys concluded and looked at her Bear Traitor, for he had been the origin of her path to here, and Daenerys had also made a decision about him.
144. "Your majesty, I support your decision to settle, your army needs rest and your dragons are still young. As for the Meereenese, the slave masters are already your enemies, you cannot trust them. My advice to your majesty is that you execute those you consider guilty and exile the rest along with their servants. Your majesty should occupy their positions with your own servants," Ser Jorah proposed.
145. Daenerys looked at her blood riders.
146. "Khaleesi, we have left enemies behind us, there is no need to increase their numbers, the slavers are under your sword, cut their throats," Aggo proposed and Jhogo and Rakharo nodded in support. Daenerys looked at Brown Ben Plumm.
"Your Majesty, behead the Great Masters and place their servants in their positions, thus you will have their sincere support. Your servants are loyal to you, but none of them owes you anything, and at any moment they can leave. In contrast, the life and death of these servants depend on your own life," advised the old man, and Daenerys was clear that like her bloodriders, her death sentence on the Great Masters also included their children. Daenerys looked at Sansa Stark.
"Your Majesty, on this occasion, I agree with Ser Jorah's advice," Sansa said simply.
Daenerys had already heard from her oldest advisors, so she looked at the most recent traitorous advisor, who also seemed to displease her Traitor Bear.
"Your Majesty, I agree with Ser Jorah Mormont in part; the Great Masters are your enemies, and you must execute those who ordered such heinous crimes, but you should not exile them, nor their servants. Instead, what another of your advisors proposes is more appropriate. Replace the Great Masters with their servants, and these will be bound to your Majesty, so they will be loyal to you. Furthermore, they possess all the necessary knowledge to manage the assets that your Majesty puts in their charge, but for this, your Majesty must divide these assets.
"As for the Great Masters, your Majesty must not underestimate their wealth. If your Majesty drives them out of the city, they have businesses in other cities of Essos, commercial fleets, and investments. Their wealth outside this city may equal what they maintain here. If your Majesty releases them, you will only give them free rein to use their wealth against you.
"Therefore, your Majesty must keep them prisoners and demand ransom for them and what remains of their families, demanding no less than half of these external riches. To know about all these businesses, the servants of these families should have all the information your Majesty needs.
"Of course, all this is only the first step of what your Majesty could do if she is determined to rule this city. With your Majesty travel thousands of people and from what I have seen, they are well organized. Your Majesty can use this…" Daenerys blinked as Tyrion Lannister continued speaking and outlining governance plans for taking power in the city. After he gave his proposal to establish his authority, he immediately moved on to a stable economy and sources of income.
Daenerys would use the freedmen who followed her to revive the city's economy. Tyrion Lannister already had information about the city's economy, which had three main sources of income: the slave trade, the fighting pits, and the olive plantations.
The olive plantations were fine, but the Meereenese had cut them down and would have to replant, so this source of income would take years to contribute to the city's economy.
The fighting pits were a crime, as was the sale of slaves, and they were ruled out. But Tyrion brought with him a new plan to revive the city's economy. First, the city had abundant copper mines, which was one of the strategic resources demanded by the city of Braavos and the Seven Kingdoms. Its market price had skyrocketed, and he recommended selling ten percent of the production and storing the rest.
Tyrion had spoken with the Braavosi and the Wolf of Winter, and they had agreed to a trade treaty. Daenerys only needed to give her approval to begin. This treaty involved the construction of saltworks and sugar mills, in which Meereen would retain 40% of the profits, and the remaining sixty percent would be in the hands of private investors. Of this sixty percent, the Wolf of Winter would reserve a 5% stake, the North 10%, the Iron Throne and Braavos 10%, and a 5% share to be decided by Sansa Stark. The other 30% stake would be decided by Daenerys Targaryen.
Sugar production would require crops and warehouses. In addition to this, an economic cooperation agreement could also be signed, which would share technology for building railways, steam engines, and weapons factories.
Braavos wanted to use Meereen as a headquarters for some of its textile factories, and they would be the main investors, but Meereen must grant them no less than 50% of its production for a period of not less than ten years.
As for security, mercenaries and Unsullied could not handle this, as they were an army. Daenerys should organize a city guard with no fewer than ten thousand personnel, who must be trained by people she trusted.
As for laws…
Daenerys could only blink and look just as stunned as the rest of her counselors because Tyrion Lannister had gone far beyond her request. While Daenerys blinked, he even spoke of a plan to replace the Meereenese Harpy with the Faith of the Seven, as the latter promoted peace and the Harpy tolerated slavers. Therefore, it had to disappear, but not by force.
Daenerys, as queen, would promote the Faith of the Seven, granting benefits to its believers and, subtly, ignoring the Harpy and its priests, who turned a blind eye to slavers and wild customs and traditions, such as outlawed death matches…
"Lord Tyrion," Daenerys interrupted because she had already forgotten at least a quarter of what her new advisor had said. "That's enough; for now, I must consider everyone's advice and come to a decision later," Daenerys said.
Tyrion Lannister bowed and took a step back for his aunt to hand him a large package.
"Your Majesty, this is something known as paper, one of the many new enterprises from Braavos, which is the replacement for scrolls, often cheaper and easier to transport. Written here are all my proposals for your Majesty. If your Majesty has any doubts, you can call on me, and I'll clarify anything," said Tyrion Lannister, approaching a few steps to leave the package of the so-called papers a few meters from the throne.
Daenerys nodded somewhat dazed, but then her purpose in this meeting returned to her mind, and she looked at her advisors.
"Advisors, I will consider what you have told me; you may now withdraw," ordered Daenerys, as her mind was once again haunted by the faces of those children, and she promised herself that the slavers would not go unpunished for their deaths.
Author's Note 1: We continue with Daenerys Targaryen; I hope to conclude this part in the next chapter, with a POV from Daenerys and one from Tyrion or Arya. I haven't decided yet.
Author's Note 2: In the next chapter, I will explain more about Tyrion's governance plans for Meereen and why the Braavosi are willing to collaborate.
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