The news of the appearance of a lady who called herself Rhaenys Targaryen and that she possessed five dragons had spread across the entirety of Essos and Westeros. The tale of how she had marked a grand entry at the gates of Qohor, how she had threatened the magisters of Qohor to surrender the city and how her dragon had killed the chief priest by chewing and tearing him apart and how then the city was surrendered to her was the tale on the mouth of every person.
And just like Varys, every person who heard this news had been utterly shocked. No matter how unbelievable it sounded, they had to ultimately accept the reality. They could have branded the first few reports as rumours and tales of fantasy but every report was telling the same and same thing.
And quite a few people had decided to travel to Qohor themselves. For they wanted to make sure that what they were hearing were true and if true, they wanted to see the legendary dragons for themselves.
And Rhaenys was quite pleased with the situation. She had wanted the attention on herself and the wave of people coming into the city was an added bonus.
She needed a lot of mouths to spread the wonders of her dragon steel and what better option than these people who were arriving in Qohor from all different parts of the world.
This wave of shock that Rhaenys had caused, was greater than the one Lord Aeos had generated over the past couple of years. The news of her conquering the city of Qohor, and the discussions that followed, completely overshadowed the chatter surrounding the impending invasion of the Free Cities by Lord Aeos and how closer and closer his army was getting to them.
The chaos, the buzz, and the chatter that Rhaenys had generated had taken over every other discussion. And why not? She had appeared with five dragons.
Five.
Aegon had only three when he conquered Westeros. To most of the people concerned, Rhaenys, with her five dragons, was already more powerful than Lord Aeos.
They did not know if Lord Aeos would succeed in his stated goal of creating the greatest empire the world had ever seen. But if this Rhaenys Targaryen had the same goals as he did, then she surely had a better chance of succeeding. Aegon the Conqueror had merely used three dragons to unify the entirety of Westeros. Rhaenys had five.
In a direct comparison between Rhaenys and Lord Aeos, the majority of the people who mattered deemed Rhaenys to be the stronger one. The only confusion that remained was whether Rhaenys was as efficient in administration and governance as Lord Aeos. She could not rule an extremely hostile population. The population had to support her and for that she needed good governance.
"Illyrio," Viserys' sharp voice cut through the silence of the hall of Illyrio's mansion in Pentos.
Illyrio cringed at the thought of approaching Viserys. So far, he had not told Viserys about the news of the dragons. He did not know how that idiot would react, and he certainly did not know what to say or what he should do. Viserys was completely insane and unpredictable and what he would do on hearing about dragons, Illyrio had no idea and neither did he have the patience and brain to handle a frenzied Viserys.
He had been waiting for Varys' response to understand what he was supposed to do and had hoped to keep Viserys in the dark until then, but it seemed that Viserys had learned the truth from somewhere else. When news was spreading like wildfire, how long could he have kept Viserys in the dark?
How could even Varys see this fool ruling from the Iron Throne, Illyrio did not understand. But he merely followed whatever Varys suggested.
"Your Grace," Illyrio stood up in greeting as Viserys entered the hall.
Daenerys was in tow behind him. It seemed that the news had rattled Viserys so much that he had first gone straight to his sister.
"Why did you not tell me?" Viserys questioned his gaze accusing Illyrio of betrayal.
If he had possessed the power his father once commanded, he would have already burned Illyrio alive for treachery. In time, he would have that throne.
"What, Your Grace?" Illyrio acted innocently.
Viserys clenched his fist, irritation creeping across his angry face. "You know what I am speaking about."
"Ah!" Illyrio chuckled. "Perhaps Your Grace is referring to the tales of dragons coming in from Qohor."
Viserys remained silent, and Illyrio let out another chuckle.
"Your Grace," he said, "first have a seat."
"My lady," he gestured toward Daenerys, who simply looked at her brother.
"I am demanding answers, Illyrio," Viserys almost snapped.
"Your Grace, please," Illyrio requested. "Have a seat, and then we can talk."
Viserys continued staring at the magister for a couple of moments before he relented.
"Fine," he said as he walked toward one of the sofas. "Sister, have a seat."
With her brother's permission, Daenerys followed suit.
"Now give me answers, Illyrio," Viserys demanded.
Illyrio smiled before speaking.
"Your Grace," he said, "I did not want to be hasty. At first, it all seemed like rumors, and I did not want to provide you with half baked answers."
"So I wanted to confirm everything before coming to you, but now, at the speed at which the rumors are spreading, it certainly seems that the news is true."
"Even so," Illyrio continued before Viserys could say anything, "I have yet to meet or hear from a single man who has himself seen the dragons. Thus, I have sent a message to one of my contacts in Qohor."
"His response should arrive in a couple of days, and at that time I would have explained everything to you with all the facts," Illyrio said.
"Oh!" Viserys reacted. Whether he believed the explanation or not was hard to tell.
"Illyrio," he said after a couple of moments, "I need to speak with Rhaenys."
"She has five dragons. I can take one or two. She can play empire and queen in Essos, but with the dragons, I will soon conquer Westeros and sit on the Iron Throne."
"As the rightful heir to the throne, Rhaenys Targaryen should kneel before me and pledge her loyalty to me."
Illyrio cringed at this. If she had truly wished to pledge her loyalty, she would have contacted Viserys and Daenerys first. Their presence was known to the whole world, and if she had not reached out to them, it clearly meant that she did not want anything to do with the siblings. But Viserys was too great a fool to understand all this.
"Your Grace," Illyrio said, "I request that you please have patience. Let us first receive all the facts about Lady Rhaenys Targaryen and her dragons. He may also provide us with some valuable counsel."
"Only after knowing everything should you come to a decision," he added.
Viserys looked thoughtful.
"Very well," he said. "I will wait for a couple of days."
A big smile spread across his face, and he was clearly pleased with himself. Most likely, he was already imagining himself riding a dragon, conquering the Iron Throne, and ruling over Westeros.
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