44 Distraction
Grassy Vale, The Reach
A group of tents sat in a large area, largely green but with a few other colors thrown in to represent the different houses of the Reach.
News of the Northern army's invasion had just reached the camp and honestly it was scaring a lot of the untested men.
Some were eager for revenge against the northeners since the Battle of the Trident, one of them was Lord Randyll Tarly himself. He had never met a wildling in his life and yet he despised them completely and the Starks alloying them to come south of the wall disgusted him. But right now, Randyll has to delay his plans to attack the Stormlands and return to defend their homeland.
The security in the camp was very good under his leadership, it was a relief in some ways Randyll thought with annoyance not to have Mace Tyrell around. His presence on the battlefield would have perhaps been better for morale but he was quite aware of the man's shortcomings and idiocy. Having him interfering would only make the war harder on the men Randyll thought and it was easier for him to fight when he didn't have him getting in the way.
He sipped on his water, not drinking wine so he could keep a clear head unlike many fools who drank when they shouldn't. Randyll turned back to the map and after a to think about defenses.
~
Harrenhall, The Riverlands
Vargo Hoat and the Brave Companions returned to the huge castle who is under control of the new Lord of Heart's Home, Ser Lyn Corbray. One man stands with the goat's soldiers, a blond man who Lyn Corbray recognized. Smirking, he goes to him.
"Ser Jaime, the King has been looking for you. And it seems you've lost a hand."
Vargo Hoat shows Jaime's cutoff hand who is around his neck, "No, my Lord. He has it here."
"Take this away."
Vargo turns to his soldiers "Send it to his father."
"You'll hold your tongue unless you want to lose it." Lyn threatened Vargo.
Corbray walks away before Jaime called him "Lord Corbray, what's the word from the capital?"
Corbray looks at him and smirks "Oh, you haven't heard? Stannis Baratheon and forty thousand men laid siege to King's Landing. They stormed the gate... and your sister... how can I put this into word? Your sister... is alive and well. Your father's forces prevailed." Jaime falls into the ground in relief and Corbray send him to the maester.
~
Astapor, Essos
"You disapprove my idea of buying the Unsullied, Ser Arstan?" Daenerys asked.
"I am no Ser, Your Grace. Just a squire." Arstan Whitebeard (Ser Barristan) said and nodded to her question.
"Tell me, how I am to win the Seven Kingdoms with no army ?"
"Half the kingdom would rise for you because of Rhaegar."
"Oh? Who would rise for me exactly? The pirates under the Greyjoy Usurper? The Westerlands under Tywin? The Reachmen are fighting for their false Queen. The Stormlands, the Vale and the Riverlands are fighting wars for their lieges as we speak."
"Send envoys to each of the Kingdoms, Your Grace. Even those who opposed your father might support you."
Daenerys raised an eyebrows "Ser Jaremy, do you believe that Tywin, Stannis or Aryan Stark will ever support me?"
Jaremy looked her in the eyes and answered "Not a chance, Your Grace. If you send envoys to those three men, Stannis will strike his head from his shoulders, Tywin will skin him alive and Aryan will feed him to his wolf."
Daenerys looked at Arstan and saw from his looks that he also believed that Ser Jaremy was correct. She continued to walk with the two men and got horrified and disgusted by slavery.
"If you want to sit on the throne your ancestors built, you must win it. That will mean blood on your hands before the thing is done." Ser Jaremy said after seeing her reaction to the crucified slave.
"The blood of my enemies, not the blood of innocents."
"How many wars have you fought in, Arstan?" Jaremy asked.
"Three."
"Have you ever seen a war in which innocents didn't die by the thousands?"
Barristan remains silent, but shakes his head.
Jaremy continued "I was in King's Landing after the sack, Khaleesi. You know what I saw? Butchery. Babies, children, old men, more women raped than you can count. There's a beast in every man, and it stirs when you put a sword in his hand...but the Unsullied are not men. They do not rape, they do not put cities to the sword unless they're ordered to do so. If you buy them, the only men they'll kill are those you want dead."
Barristan scoffs at that.
"You disagree?" Daenerys asked him.
"When your brother Rhaegar led his army into battle at the Trident, men died for him because they believed in him, because they loved him, not because they'd been bought at a slaver's auction. I fought beside the last dragon on that day, your Grace. I bled beside him."
"Rhaegar fought valiantly, Rhaegar fought nobly...and Rhaegar died." Jaremy said.
"I wish I had known him...but he was not the last dragon."
~
"I want to buy them all." Daenerys said and watched as the little girl translated it to her master.
"The slut thinks she can flash her tits and make us give her whatever she wants." Kraznys said in valyrian.
"There are fifteen thousand unsullied and another ten in training. Is that what you mean by all?"
Daenerys and everyone else was shocked, she asked "Why that much? I was expected only eight thousand and another three in training."
Kraznys snarled in disgust as Missandei translated "That filth Rogare and his city of whores conquered Myr, Tyrosh, the Disputed Lands, took the Golden Fields from the Pentosi and Braavos' control and grabbed the Orange Shore from the Volantene. Every Free Cities from Pentos to Qarth has started to beg us for the Unsullied. We are richer than ever."
"Lys? The Rogare? Why are you so scared of them?" Dany asked
The Good Masters scoffed when they heard Missandei's translation "We are not scared of those bed warmers. But no one wished to end up like that Bhorashi fool."
Daenerys tilted her head to show that she didn't understand and Missandei explained to her "One of the most prominent family of Bhorash destroyed all the businesses of Lysandro Rogare and his son in law in his lands and took it for himself. He then send a ship to capture slaves in the lands of the latter... Two moons later he died. But not before being forces to watch as all his wives, sisters, daughters and nieces were raped to their death in front of his eyes. And to watch as the children of his family were thrown into boiling water. His brothers and uncles were flayed alive. He was the last to die. He was hung from a tree from his own entrails. Since that day every city started to buy unsullied at a high price and in bulk."
Arstan, Jaremy Rykker and his nephew opened their eyes wide "Wait the Rogare son in law? Was it Aryan Stark?" Arstan asked.
Missandei looks at him and answered "Yes. The Bloody Wolf."
"I will buy them all. All twenty five thousand." Daenerys announced.
"Ohh. The slut cannot pay for all this."
"Master Kraznys says you cannot afford this."
"Her ship will buy her a hundred Unsullied, not more. And this is because I like the curve on her ass."
"Your ship will buy you a hundred Unsullied and that is because Master Kraznys is generous."
"What is left will buy her ten. I will give her twenty if she stops her ignorant whimpering."
"The gold you have left will buy you ten but the Good Master Kraznys will give you twenty."
"Her dothraki smell of shit but may be useful as pig feeds, I will give her three for all of them."
"The dothraki you have with you or not worth the cost of feed but the Good Master Kraznys will give you three unsullied for all of them."
During the Good Master's rant, Dany was looking around at all the slaves, a lot of them still children.
"So ask this beggar Queen how will she pay for the remaining twenty four thousands and eight hundred seventy seven Unsullied?"
Dany continued to look around and didn't even listen to Missandei's translation and to the shock of her companions she announced "I have dragons. I will give you one."
"You will win the throne with dragons, not slaves, your Grace." Arstan said to her.
"Khaleesi, please." Rayford pleaded.
Dany arrived in front of the Good Master "Three dragons." he said in common tongue.
"One."
"Two."
"One."
The Good Masters talked to themselves and Missandei said "They want the biggest."
"Done." she looked at Missandei "I'll take you as well."
Kraznys nodded and she left with her advisors and Missandei.
She turned to her advisors when they were alone "You are to advise me and I value it. But never question me in front of strangers again or you will advise someone else."
Missandei talked with Daenerys about the Unsullied and slavery.
"You know that I am taking you to war. And against men way more dangerous than those masters. These masters are beasts in men's clothing but they feel like unharmed children in front of men I am going to go against. You may go hungry, you may fall sick, you may be killed." Daenerys said to her.
Missandei smiled "Valar morghulis."
"Yes. All men must die. But we are not men."
~
Goldroad, The Reach
Randyll Tarly's army was looking everywhere for the northeners but they saw nothing. They were searching for them but they looked like ghost and if the villagers around Blackwater Rush and the Mander didn't all swear to have seen the Northern Army, he would have thought that Lord Footly tricked them. He expected sacked villages, rivers of blood and hills of corpses but he saw none of that. For the past moon he was following the tail of a ghost.
And when two messages came to him with the first about the Arryn-Tully army completely destroying any of the Iron Throne host in the Riverlands and Stannis destroying the Reachmen at his borders and taking control of the Blueburn River and started to install defenses. He understood what happened. The Northern Army was just an enormous distraction and now they have lost the initiative.
~
Fairmarket, the Northern Realms
Robb came to the solar and announced his return with all fifty thousand soldiers as well as the completion of his mission. Aryan thanked him and congratulated him. Robb became his right hand man as Jon was sent back North as his dragons were getting bigger, he shouldn't be too far from them.
After receiving the same news as Randyll Tarly, Aryan looked south towards King's Landing and grinned like a wolf, he then muttered a single word.
"Fools."
