Chapter 196: The Message from the Lord of Light - The Disputed Lands
"Illyrio said Viserys would bring an army of over fifty thousand Dothraki to join us, but now not only have we not seen the khalasar, Pentos has been sacked! If we had followed my advice and married Daenerys to Quentyn Martell earlier, we could at least have secured Dorne!" Tristan Rivers complained.
"I told you Illyrio was playing with fire. The Dothraki are unreliable," another sergeant echoed in support.
"My opinion is to send troops immediately. If we wait until Tywin is subdued by Robert and all of Westeros submits to the Crowned Stag, we will lose our last chance."
"Tywin can never be our ally! Have you forgotten the crimes he committed against the Targaryens?"
"We have no choice! Our forces are insufficient to deal with any one of the Seven Kingdoms, let alone all seven combined."
"So you choose to be a coward?"
"Watch your tone, or I'll cut your tongue out."
"Then you'll see how my sword responds to you."
"Enough! You're all like a bunch of gossiping fishwives!" Harry Strickland, seeing his two senior sergeants about to come to blows, finally had to assert his authority as captain.
Unfortunately, they only gave him a cold look, not taking him too seriously.
Everyone knew this former paymaster was a coward. He only became captain because he was the most senior member of the Golden Company after Jon Connington's departure.
However, the officers stopped after each had their say a couple more times, knowing that such arguments wouldn't solve anything.
"Any new word from Pentos?" Captain Harry breathed a sigh of relief after everyone had shown him some respect, then turned to the intelligence officer, Lysono Maar, and asked, "Any new information from Illyrio?"
"No, Captain," Lysono shook his head. "Half of Pentos has been burned to the ground, including Illyrio's manse. We don't even know if Illyrio and Viserys have escaped."
The room fell completely silent at Lysono's words.
"If," Treasurer Gorys Edoryen broke the silence first, "I mean, if they haven't escaped, then our plan to restore the kingdom..."
"We..." Captain Harry hesitated, but finally decided to reveal the secret. "Ser Jon Connington is not dead."
"What did you say?" Several men immediately stood up.
"He is protecting our last hope—Prince Rhaegar's eldest son, Aegon Targaryen." Harry glanced at Jon Roxton and Marq Mandrake, two high-ranking sergeants who, like himself, already knew the secret, and continued after receiving their nods of support. "I have already sent word to Jon Connington requesting his presence. Once he arrives, we will make our final decision."
---
Lately in King's Landing, Varys had often stared into the flames, hoping to glean some new vision.
Since his last dream, Varys had begun to doubt whether he had truly inherited the Targaryen gift of prophetic dreams, and thus had scoured every book on dreams he could find.
To his surprise, he couldn't find any precedents like his own. The content of prophetic dreams was always cryptic, mostly difficult-to-interpret symbols and omens, while he had so clearly seen a human face.
This made Varys wonder if some god or demon was trying to convey a message directly to him.
Unfortunately, in the days that followed, he never had a similar dream again, nor did he see anything in the flames.
He could only hope that his little birds on the other side of the Narrow Sea would bring back some valuable information about the young count.
Of course, this process would take considerable time.
A knock on the door interrupted Varys's thoughts.
"Lord Varys, Lord Baelish requests an audience," a servant inquired at the door.
"Have my old friend wait for me in the solar." Varys chuckled softly. It seemed someone else was also getting restless.
---
"I feel my power draining," High Priest Benerro of Volantis said to his trusted confidant Moqorro, standing beside the sacred fire. "No, it should be said that the power of the Lord of Light has once again fallen silent."
"That shouldn't be. The tide of magic has only just returned. R'hllor's power should be recovering."
"A few days ago, I had a dream. I dreamt of a young Andal knight, with a black dragon behind him. Most terrifyingly, I saw his face clearly," Benerro paused. "The Lord of Light has never conveyed a message to his followers in such a direct manner. Perhaps this is what has depleted his newly recovered power, forcing him into silence once more."
"What does the Lord of Light want to tell us?"
"I don't know. The dream ended the moment I saw his face," Benerro shook his head. "However, anyone who would make R'hllor risk falling silent again to warn us must be either the Lord's chosen champion or the herald of the Great Other."
"The night is dark and full of terrors. Lord of Light, defend us, and show us the way."
---
For the next three days, Ian slept almost the entire time, but even after spending a full fifty hours in the dream dungeon, he barely managed to clear Scene Three.
Moreover, since moving through the dream dungeon didn't allow for physical rest, after three days Ian felt dizzy and exhausted.
Therefore, he had to temporarily abandon exploring Scene Four and decided to rest for several days.
By this point, he had gained 4 points of Spirit and 2 points of Agility in this dream dungeon. If he could clear one more scene in the remaining time, he would gain at least 8 attribute points in total.
On the morning of the fourth day, Ian's new captain, Koro, finally recruited all the sailors for the 'Deep Blue Siren.' More than ten of them were Koro's former crewmates. Upon receiving Koro's summons, they didn't hesitate to rejoin his service.
The 'Deep Blue Siren' was a great cog registered in Volantis, with two hundred and eighty oars. To expedite the transaction, Darren paid six thousand gold dragons for it.
Unlike the hasty purchase of the first ship, Ian had ample time to arrange personnel this time.
He ordered the dismissal of all the original sailors, appointed Koro as captain, and transferred half the crew from the Breeze Goddess's Kiss to work on the Deep Blue Siren.
For rowing duties on both ships, Ian purchased three hundred slaves from Tyrosh, selected from five different ethnic groups and speaking three different languages.
He also acquired eighty slave warriors and several crates of crossbows to bolster the ships' defenses.
With everything arranged, that afternoon Ian chose a favorable wind and led his fleet away from Tyrosh.
Over the next two and a half days, they traversed the Stepstones, officially entering the Summer Sea.
The entire voyage went surprisingly smoothly. They encountered no pirates, a common menace in these waters.
If nothing unexpected happens, they will arrive at their next free city—Lys—three days later.
However, Ian doesn't plan to dock at Lys. They've stocked sufficient supplies in Tyrosh, allowing them to sail directly to Astapor.
(End of Chapter)
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