27 Chapter Twenty-seven: [Interlude] Webs are spun.
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~~~Viewpoint: Varys (the spider) fourth moon, 276 AC~~~
As I watched my caravan move forward, I thought about what motivated me to make this long journey.
It wasn't until seven moons ago that I found myself in Volantis when the first little mouse climbed onto my table and informed me of what was happening in Slave Bay, more precisely in Astapor.
The city had fallen to a Dothraki Khalasar, and that set the alarm bells ringing in many free cities, from Braavos to Qarth. I knew the danger the Dothraki Khalasars presented, for those savages were hated by many and feared by all.
So high was their reputation, and now, with the news that the city, which was encouraged by having the most disciplined and fierce soldiers in the world, the unsullied, had fallen.
That made the cities and merchants all the more afraid of the Dothraki hordes, for if even the unsullied, those who had defended Qohor from a Dothraki horde with only three thousand, those same ones who had now failed against a Khalasar with more soldiers, then that meant that other cities might be in danger.
Over the next few moons, I received reports of the free cities preparing more tribute than usual for the Dothraki hordes to avoid Astapor's fate, but it didn't stop there.
Over the next few moons, I heard how that same Khalasar, the one who had conquered Astapor, now had the unsullied legion under his command, and that changed the game board by one hundred and eighty degrees.
It was already terrible news that this Khalasar had warriors strong enough to fight the unsullied of Astapor and emerge victorious, but now, this same Khalasar had at his disposal entire unsullied legions.
This prompted several free cities to unite in an attempt to strike back against this Khalasar before he grew any larger.
One of them was the union of Volantis, Yunkai, and Meereen.
I had learned that they sent emissaries every week to complain to the Khal of that Khalasar, though they all returned with their tails between their legs with discouraging news, until the patience of Khal Azrael, as the Dothraki was called, ran out, and he threatened to bring his armies against Yunkai, Meereen, and Volantis if they continued to make a nuisance of themselves.
That had caused the three cities to halt 'civilized' advances; instead, they began to hire several mercenary companies, to attack Xandar together, the city that, according to my sources, had risen above the destroyed Astapor.
All of this caught my attention, from a Dothraki Khalasar wearing armor to cities being created out of thin air, to people being able to fly.
So, like a moth drawn to the light, I told my faithful friend Illyrio that I would embark on a journey from Volantis to Xandar to confirm all those words my little mice were sending me, which were becoming harder and harder to believe.
So without wasting any time, I took use of a caravan of traders that would go to Xandar, which would give me additional protection, I knew that these traders visited the city many times, according to them, because the city offered pure gold in trade, whatever that meant.
"Bang Bang!"
Two loud bangs on the window of my caravan brought me out of my reverie, and with a frown, I opened the window.
Bario, mounted on a horse, the merchant and owner of the caravan in which I was being transported, waved to me, as he waved his right arm towards the front.
Following the line, I saw a giant mountain range, leaving the Titan of Braavos as a child, which stretched for miles until it reached the sea, where it continued perhaps for miles over the sea until it curved around a bend.
"That mountain range is Oblivion!" Bario said, in his familiar shouty tone of voice, "We're four hours from Xandar, so go get my pay ready!"
Smiling modestly at the damn man, though what I wanted to do was poke his eye out with a fork, I replied that his pay was ready; he just had to drop me off in the city.
Bario nodded, while I spent the rest of the trip looking out the window, watching the mountains grow much larger.
After three hours, the caravans of traders arrived near the foot of the mountains, where the road turned and followed the foot of the mountain.
The caravans continued to advance until the mountain range ended, giving way to a large gorge, a very deep and wide one, with red sand, much like that of the red desert.
As the caravans advanced further, I could half-visualize the city stretching to the horizon at the other end of the great canyon, with the great walls of the city in the distance.
After two hours, we came to a settlement style, where more caravans were already waiting.
Looking around, I saw that the only passes through the great Canyon and into the city were three, two of them being guarded by two huge gates, with the third in the middle, which was the Worm River if I was right, though this too was fortified with large metal gates.
Getting out of the caravan I was traveling in, I saw Bario talking to other merchants, so I approached him.
"Yes, the gates open in ten minutes; right at noon, the Xandarian clocks are very accurate; they never fail."
"You must try the pleasure theaters; they are exquisite."
"The Arcane Center sells very good potions; one of them helped me grow my hair back."
Grimacing a little at that last part, I spoke to Bario: "The agreement was that you would drop me off in the city, not at their gates, which aren't even open."
Bario gave me an angry look, as he spoke in a very raised voice; apparently, this man didn't know how to speak in a normal tone. "That's what I promised, and you see, the gates will be open very soon!" Bario explained, as he pulled out a shiny artifact from his fine clothes and showed it to me.
"Here it shows that it is eleven fifty-three minutes past eleven! When it strikes twelve, the gates will open; these people only open the gates five times a day; if you didn't get in or out during the time it was open, you're fucked."
Looking at the so-called clock, a device that measured the hours of the day with the utmost precision, I decided to wait a while.
At exactly noon, the two gigantic gates opened simultaneously, leaving me wondering how on earth they managed to move those monstrosities. At the same time as the two big gates opened, the passage in the river also opened, letting several ships pass through, which would sail down the river until they reached the summer sea.
However, a collective shock was heard, and deciding to see what it was, I joined the crowd and managed to see how, from the gate we were about to enter, which was to the north of the river, thousands and thousands of men mounted on steeds were coming out.
All of them, and absolutely all of them, were wearing steel armor; hell, even their steeds were wearing green armor that gleamed in the sunlight.
Behind the ranks of armored men, I saw for the first time the famous chariots of Xandar, and seeing them with my own eyes was far better than hearing their descriptions from my little mice.
With their great wheels and beautiful craftsmanship, along with the huge beasts that pulled them, they made for a beautiful sight. But what left me with a puzzled look was to see the group leading the almost endless retinue of men.
A group of eight men were all wearing armor like the others, but what differed was that they wore Valyrian steel; their armor had the characteristic smoky pattern of the precious metal, leaving me shocked at the revelation.
The eight men, in black cloaks, walked around a man wearing armor of the same metal, who was also accompanied by giant wolves.
I stood watching the great host move further and further away until Bario shouted to me that we had to move forward and enter the city if I didn't want to stay outside and wait three hours for them to reopen.
"What was that I witnessed just now?" I asked Bario since my little mice had never told me anything about wolves and Valyrian steel armor.
"That was the Khal or the king; whatever his name is, rumor has it he's heading for Vaes Dothrak," Bario replied, giving me clarity on the matter.
The Khal would not be in the city, and by showing up, he had taken his Khalasar with him. That information was worth gold, and this trip was giving me more and more satisfaction.
