109 AC, Port Corinth
Gael POV
She could hear the discontentedness even this far away as she walked towards the twin set of doors of the room deep in the cargo-hold and she began to walk a little faster.
The guards opened the twin set of doors for her and over a hundred head swivelled towards her, the discontented noises dying down as they saw her.
She had them kept in the port, at least until she could speak with them.
Already, when she rode through the town, news had filtered that Lady Dawn and Discovery had returned and her own riding with haste did not quell the waggling tongues. Whatever news her people had brought over, she needed to make sure that it would not get to their enemies or at the very least delay it as much as possible.
Whilst Corinth was secluded and protected, it was still visited by people who often came from Lotus Port. Only a few, for only a few were willing to make that journey, but still that was plenty enough. Not only that, she didn't want the Summer Islander villagers to know either.
Which was why she had Ser Cedrick sent home anyone not of Corinth and closed the gates of their town. Truthfully, she wasn't sure when they'd reopen, and if their hopes had come true, then mayhaps they may not be opened until Aegon was back.
"My Princess" rang around as Captains Bryce and Locke went down on their knee and bowed their heads to her, which the other men followed in suit, and she smiled at them as she gestured them to stand up.
"Men of Corinth" Gael began, her expression sincere and kind as she studied their faces. They looked tired but they looked in good condition still.
"I would like to say, firstly, I am relieved to see you all return healthy and hale." Gael told them with genuine sentiment behind her voice and she let it show on her expression. Truly, she was happy to see her people return safely and whole.
Her words seemed to make the men more at ease, happier and her smile turned a little gentler as she spoke "Your journey has been difficult, I can see that on your faces, and our people owe you gratitude and more and you will be rewarded for your service. I will admit" Gael said with a pause as she looked at them with a hint of sadness. "I was beginning to lose faith that we had lost you."
"Aye, my Princess. A few times, we certainly thought we would be lost too." Captain Bryce said with a chuckle in his voice and a few of the men chuckled also whilst a few others agreed with ayes and yesses.
"But the Seven watched over us and saw to it that we came to find the lands they showed our Prince!" Captain Bryce said happily and just like that, a switch happened and the men were raucous in their celebrations.
And so were the guards that had been in the room and the guards that escorted her in. As for Gael…
She felt a weight she never thought she was carrying release from her body. She'd heard the rumours when she rode in, from the guards, that they did find land but hearing it? It was everything. Absolutely everything. And…she felt relief, sheer relief, that finally…finally, they could truly start to build their lives.
'My love…you should be here to hear this first' Gael thought to herself.
Gael raised her hand and the guards assisted in quieting the room down.
"Truly? You have found it?"
Captain Bryce lost the cheeriness and nodded seriously "Aye, my Princess." Captain Bryce looked around, towards the men, and she noticed his gaze lingered on some of them, one of them being…was it Edmyn? She noted it away as she refocused on Bryce when he spoke once more.
"It is good…no, it is great land. Kaldren says that the soil should take easily to our crops. Land's huge too. And there are islands that are as good as the mainland."
She continued to listen as Captain Bryce continued to describe the land, some of the other men interjecting and telling her their own observations and she realised she'd been listening to them speak for some time.
She stopped them and her expression fell slightly as seriousness crept in.
"We will have time to discuss your incredible findings, good Sers." Gael said before she paused slightly as she glanced at the guards and then back at the men.
"I am sure you have heard of our people going to war with the Basilisk Isles?"
Grumblings and confirmation rang around to her question.
She nodded serenely "We have many enemies, good Sers. Enemies who would see us harmed and our people killed" she said to them with a sobering note in her voice and the men looked disquieted by her words.
She moved to set them at ease. "My husband and our people will prevail over the enemies in the Basilisk Isles, of that, there is little doubt. However" Gael looked to them all. "They are not the only enemy. And that is why we must be careful that we do not let this land, a treasure that the slaver cities would love to take for themselves"
The noise rose and Gael raised her hand once more and quieted them down.
"I know." Gael said to them with a kind smile "It is not their land…it is ours and we must all do our part to keep it that way and that is why I must ask you to swear to secrecy to not disclose where these lands are and not to leave Corinth."
"My Princess, you think we would betray you?" Captain Locke asked with indignant shock and it was a shock that was mirrored by most.
"No." Gael said firmly as she shook her head before she looked them and met their eyes. "I do not believe for a moment you would betray our people nor do I believe you would betray House Targaryen" at that, there was some looks of confusion and she understood.
"Then why am I asking for this? Because of our enemies." Gael told them and it was true as well. "Many of you wish to tell your families, do you not?" she posed to them and she could see the truth of it.
"I understand." Gael said with a kind look on her face. "You wish to tell them of your great achievement that has never been achieved before. You wish to tell them of the lands you saw, the seas you braved. I understand, good Sers, and I am not taking that from you." Gael shook her head.
"All I am asking of you is to not share any details of what you have found until my husband and our people have returned from the war." Gael looked to them again.
"Think of it. Think of how excited you were to find our new land. Then think of how the rest of our people will feel." Gael paused for a moment as she looked to them and she saw that they were beginning to understand.
"Our enemies would not find it difficult to learn at that point of the location and the land itself." Gael told them.
"They could not sail the seas in their ships to get to our land, my Princess." One of the men said and there was agreement.
"Mayhaps. But it is not impossible, I imagine, to be able to get there in a carrack?"
Everyone looked to the captains who exchanged a look "It is not impossible but they would most certainly lose two or three in five if they tried. Four in five without our compasses and without the guide of our findings of the trade winds."
"And do you think the slaver cities would care? When they see lives as cheap? And should they get a hold of you out at sea in some great misfortune, would they not learn that it could be possible?"
At that, Gael could see that they were accepting of the need of secrecy, and she remained there for a little while whilst she extracted the oaths of secrecy from them.
She knew that she could not rely on them keeping their oaths, for words were wind most oft, but the prospect of losing out on their rewards and the pressure that would come from keeping silent when all others were, especially before her, their Princess and wife of their liege lord, would give them pause in loosening their tongue.
Besides, she'd also make sure that none of the men would get to leave Corinth until Aegon returned.
She'd noted a few who were reluctant in giving the oaths and she'd have them especially watched amongst them all. She did not like distrusting her own people, especially people whom had done her family and their people such a great service, but Aegon's cautiousness and cynicism had rubbed off of on her.
And when matters to securing her children's inheritance, and that of her people, she would not shirk away from doing and saying what was necessary.
She told the men that they could tell their families they found the land the Prince had been blessed visions of, though not where it was located nor the journey that it took to get there. She could not expect them to keep the secret wholly, not for moons, not from their families but she expected anything more to be kept secret.
She'd press the point further later this day to address the townsfolk to ensure that the people do not speak of the land with any outsiders. It may be moons or worse longer before Aegon and their people returned.
"Ser Uthrik." Gael called as they watched the men walk towards the town, to their wives and their families, the merriment of their voices travelling through the air.
"Yes, my Princess?" the ever-dutiful Ser Uthrik responded and she turned to the four and twenty nameday old man. He was of brown of hair and brown of eyes, with skin that was sun-beaten with features that made it difficult to say where his origins may lie.
He could as easily seem to be from Pentos as he could in sunnier parts of the Reach, and it was that ambiguity that made him someone best suited for the work Aegon needed him for.
Clever as a fox, born out of the need to survive in Kings Landing as a boy not yet grown a man when his parents had died on the road at the hands of bandits, he was a man had learnt to walk in between the lines of society.
Aegon had learnt of Uthrik not long after they'd married, after the bandits who'd killed his parents had been sent to the Wall, each with one hand, and had decided to take Uthrik into their household as a squire to one of their knights.
It hadn't taken them long to know the value of Uthrik who was raised as well as a son of a noble, having been a son of a wealthy merchant, and it was to their fortune that a man like Uthrik was one of the truest men she'd come to know.
"I will have to delay your return to Westeros" she told the man with a dour note to her voice. It was a decision she was not making lightly but the needs here were greater.
The reports that Uthrik had provided her of the status of their family in Kings Landing and in the Vale was deeply concerning to Gael and she knew it would be to Aegon too.
The surprising news of Viserys' firstborn son made it clear that they needed to change the way information flowed back to them. The long distance between the Summer Isles and the affairs of the Realm did not help matters, of course, but for them to only know the birth of Viserys' son so long after was not good enough.
Much of their information gathering of the Realm over the years was far more passive than it was in Lys or Volantis, where they were actively working in their own interests, whereas in the Realm, much of their efforts being largely concentrated towards Oldtown and securing their foundations within Kings Landing and simply keeping track of the players in the capital.
That would change when Uthrik returned to Kings Landing.
The Hightower hold in Kings Landing was growing ever so more with each day Otto Hightower remained as Hand. Viserys' steward, an Aelon Malys, a son of lesser nobility of Claw Isle, had died in 107 AC to summer fever and in his stead, a lesser noble from the Reach was chosen as Viserys' steward of his household.
Similarly, other lesser yet ignorable appointments were made to the Red Keep and in Kings Landing, from the bailiffs to the Lord confessors, slowly filling Kings Landing with men of twinned loyalties.
It bore signs that Viserys' authority, and House Targaryen's authority, was slowly being eaten away.
Uthrik would be there in Kings Landing with Selyse, and find out more about what is happening with Viserys. Viserys often threw tourneys every few years, some more extravagant than others if they coincided with a nameday or some such, and Uthrik would partake in these tourneys and learn more from the nobility that would attend.
As much as the commonfolk knew of the affairs of the nobility, it was not enough nor it was wholly credible. By obtaining credible sources amongst Viserys' court and that of the nobility closest to either the Hightowers or the nobles on the small council, they'd come to understand the situation around Viserys better.
Though…this want of hers to understand was more to quell her fears that Viserys was not as blind as he seemed to be.
"I understand, my Princess, and I agree." Uthrik said with a little smile, one that was lost moments later "There won't be a moment where the men will lose sight of them"
Gael smiled at Uthrik before she looked away from him. Whilst they'd control the coming and goings into Corinth, the farmers would still need to get to the fields and plantations whilst the Port would need its harbourmen and its shipbuilders.
Speaking of the Port…she'd need to speak with Banneth Stally, the master of Ships, and see what the status of their stores of hardwoods and copper, which was used to sheathe the bottoms of the galleon ship type.
From what the men said, getting to these new lands in anything less than the galleons was placing one's entire fate in the hands of the Seven, and she knew that they'd need to build many more of the ship type.
One ship could carry, safely, over fifty and two hundred, though a minimum of a fourth to a fifth of the people needed to man the ship. To get all of their people there…it would take far too long with their current fleet of galleons.
She winced as she thought of the cost necessary to build so many ships and the labour they'd need. She shook her head. She would not think of it today, not when there were more immediate issues to deal with as her mind returned to ensuring security.
She thought it would be achievable for some of the men of Lady Dawn and Discovery to make their escape from Corinth unless their movements were tracked. She could not see a reason why they would though, for the honour, prestige and the lands the men would receive from their own people would not be found elsewhere.
"I hope it is an unnecessary undertaking." Gael said softly.
"As do I, my Princess, but better to have wasted effort than live to regret not having provided the effort it may have needed." Uthrik said kindly.
Gael inclined her head slightly. "I can agree to that, Ser Uthrik."
Later on, when she returned to the town, passing through the before closed gate that closed once more after she was through, she paused when Ser Cedrick made his way to her. "My Princess" Cedrick bowed to her and Gael bid him to rise and speak.
"We've secured the town and visitors have all gone."
"Well done, Ser Cedrick. It is a worry off of my shoulders." Gael told him before she eyed him curiously. She noted that there was more he wanted to so. "Speak, Ser Cedrick. You have worries you wish to tell me."
"People are asking questions." Cedrick said respectively but it was clear what he was trying to say. She smiled at him.
"As expected." Gael said to him. By now, the sailors had returned and were with their families. The rest of the townsfolk were dying to know what they had found.
She added "tell the townsfolk to gather in the central square. I will address them." To not address the issue at hand would have only caused problems later and this way, she could ask them to keep discretion, in a similar way she'd asked the sailors.
Ser Cedrick nodded and bowed to her before he walked away in a rush and Gael sighed slightly. 'Return soon, my love. We need you here.' Gael thought to herself before she steeled herself and prepared the words she'd need to say to the people.
-Break-
109 AC – Lys
Johanna Swann POV
Johanna sat back in her seat as she eyed the informant keenly. "So they brought the skull of Saathos Saan to the conclave meeting?"
A ship of Corinth had arrived a day or so ago so she'd known the success of the war against the pirate King within the hour and it hadn't been difficult to understand the meaning of bringing the skull of a traitor to Lys back to Lys.
What she didn't quite know was how they'd react to it.
The conclave was not a monolith of agreement.
There were interests and counter-interests and those who simply deigned be difficult because they didn't like one other for some personal slight or familial grudge.
Divisive, difficult and treacherous.
And whilst she hadn't been a pleasure slave during the time of the treason, the tale of Saathos Saan and his betrayal was very well known and very much a collective sore point amongst the nobility and even the freedmen.
"They did." Her informant confirmed.
Her informant was a freedman who worked in the Conclave Assembly, the building from which the conclave ruled and where most of the political power, outside of ballrooms and feasts, was practiced.
He was her in-between with some of the slaves that served the conclave members drinks and food, who she'd managed to turn over six moons ago once her business with the Lorys family had come to an end, when she'd pulled out their teeth.
Figuratively. For now.
"What were their reactions?" Johanna asked intently and Ritte beside her shuffled ever so slightly, barely noticeable, but enough, and Johanna knew that Ritte was also interested in their reactions.
"Some were pleased, others…not." Her informant told her before adding the names of the conclave members who were pleased and those who were not, at least according to the servant. A few names were surprising and she let the man continue as he spoke of the rest what the servant had relayed back to her informant.
After her informant finished with all that he was told, she let him leave with a bag of gold and remained with Ritte, digesting all that she heard.
It was clear that no one was unhappy to see Saathos Saan dead.
The man had been a cause of embarrassment for Lys since he'd taken over fifty warships and thousands of men with him when he defected.
Significant gold was lost with the loss of the ships and the soldiers themselves, more than half having been slave soldiers, and it had been a blow to the prestige of Lys.
So all in all, Johanna believed that they were silently cheering at the man's demise.
Still…
It doesn't change the fact that the situation was rather…awkward for the conclave.
Saathos Saan had reached an agreement with the Triarchy, at the insistence of Myr and the indifference of Tyrosh, to which Lys had been pressured to agree on with great annoyance and as such, the act of killing Saathos Saan was not one that the Triarchy as a whole should be pleased about.
And so…
Lys was in a bind.
Johanna imagined news of the death of Saathos Saan, the traitor to Lys, would spread and the freemen and many of the nobility would be pleased to hear about that news.
Should Myr demand further action against Prince Aegon, such news would be unwelcome by many and mayhaps even cause unrest amongst some of the families.
Making an unnecessary enemy at this stage was not desired at all, especially one that more beneficial as, at the very least, a neutral trading partner.
The Mopanar family would be one of those families, who are Prince Aegon's biggest supporter…in a certain way.
Granted, her informant had said that the conclave thought such a demand from Myr is unlikely to come, especially since none of them wanted another dragonlord to join into the war of the Stepstones, which was becoming a major headache.
More than it already was.
Only a moon ago, the Triarchy had convinced Dorne into the alliance, boosting their numbers and ships in the Stepstones whilst also hiring more swellsword companies, all in a bid to wrestle control away from Prince Daemon who'd secured all but two of the islands and looked set to win the conflict and take the Stepstones in his name.
A money