6 Cough

299 AC 

Dragonstone

"What do you see in the fire?" Stannis questioned the red priestess, his curiosity laid bare on his face yet the stern look could be seen all too well.

"A great enemy, or perhaps …a potential ally." She replies without shifting her focus from the flames.

"Which is it !?" Stannis questions impatiently

"I don't know my king , in time the flames will tell, but Pentos is where they lie " She answered

" Pentos?! Pentos is conquered , along with Qohor thats what merchants say and Pentoshi sailors confirmed this when stopped by to sell grain a few days ago "Davos seaworth said

"Indeed they have, and they will not stop there ." Melisandre added

"What do you mean ?" Stannis asked

"Their ambition shall know no bounds and …"

The Red priestess gasped in shock yet still peered deeper into the fire seemingly looking for an answer she would never get.

"I see that this matter had warranted your attention so its some what important " Stannis stated to the red woman who only nodded in confirmation

"We should send an envoy to Pentos and to its ruler , perhaps we can come to some terms seemingly as the grain bought was sold lower than what we normally pay, you'll need food for your army your grace and the cheaper to acquire it the better" Davos advised.

The gruff king nods in contemplation it was important that he obtained enough food to feed his army of course , but dealing with an anomaly such as these new comers one had to move with caution if not , then it may end badly , but it wasn't bad out right trying .

— — —

"As you might've heard through stories my Emperor. The Dothraki are nomadic horse-mounted warriors, warriors who swept across the vast central plains of Essos in search of plunder. Most of their society is centered around their horses even their name for themselves in their own language.The word "Dothraki", literally means "riders". Incredibly dothraki boys learn to shoot bows from horseback when they are only four years old and as growing warriors they follow only the strong so in essence they would abandon a sick or injured leader who can no longer ride a horse which symbolizes his unsuitability to lead . They say that a"khal ", which is their leader , who cannot ride cannot rule." The elderly pentoshi scholar stated .

"A curious people I would say" Baldwin replied feigning ignorance getting a slow nod from the man as he now went into thought upon another time where he new the dothraki .

*Cough *cough

"Ah , yes you may continue "

"The Dothraki as we know it worship a horse god.They believe that when someone dies, the horse god parts the grass and claims the deceased for his starry khalasar, so the deceased can ride the nightlands.They further believe that the moon is a goddess, and that she is the wife to the sun. In addition, they believe in hell.

These men consider the earth to be their mother and think it sinful to cut her flesh with plows and spades and axes. This leads them to burn down fields, farms, and towns to return the grasslands to their wild state."

"Interesting , this ain't making there case for their continued existence any better in my eyes . I have what I need say no more about their history . A people that destroys civilization based upon the belief of their religion is a people that should be eradicated. " Baldwin surmised as he now looked serious

"A many have had your same beliefs empire , but none have the ability to carry it out and none would dare enter their domain for it is suicide , such a vast yet fast moving force would devastate any army on the flat lands ." The scholar says

"Indeed it would " Baldwin replies as he remembers the Mongols from his world , but unlike the mongols the dothraki weren't ambitious yet still their martial prowess cannot be overlooked. They numbered in the thousands and if he got his hands on even ten thousand which seemed few compared to what Denaerys got, but ten thousand mounted warriors could do a lot of damage over open areas. Perhaps a trip to the east wasn't so bad after all .

And once under his control and discipline and reintroduction of the true faith installed, suitable armor , then these men would be the greatest fighting force made , trampling down anything within their path .

Now there was only one issue that remained , The Dragon Queen . What was he to do with her . Kill her , marry her , interfere with her destiny to be greater than what she is now , her returning to westeros almost doomed the world when she made that thing kill her dragon , perhaps he should kill the dragons in their infancy . By now she should've been in the red waste on her way to Qarth or perhaps she is already at Qarth as he thought . Returning pentoshi merchants from the far east haven't heard anything about her so far so it's understandable that she hasn't made a scene yet.

'Hmm'

"Your services are appreciated scholar Zeramic , give my regards to Menon , hopefully when i see him I receive good news and designs . "

"Of course your majesty, Scholar Menon is hard at work for all you've requested and all will be delivered on time " he replies after standing immediately which seemed benign of his old age while giving a bow .

"I hope so and i will see by then. " Baldwin smiled at the man who nodded before taking his leaving .

*Sigh *

How far will his Empire stretch he wondered. The western parts of essos seemed satisfying enough yet still somewhere in his mind it felt little . Norvos was added just recently and at there admission of another free city to his empire tensions got even higher, even Bravos which seemed to have been in business with them for the short few months are militarizing greater .

Which is understandable. Yet still trading agreements and non aggression pacts were signed but still suspicion was still within the air. Not that there wasn't trust upon our agreement but " He always believed in verifying that trust " and Bravos being the business like state it was thought the same and none could fault them for that for we were an expanding nation which would have none topple our power or take us lightly.

If the Empire was to be great as I dreamt it would be then sacrifices had to be made . We couldn't have any weaknesses as we laid our foundations for the future . Norvos though smarter than the rest which capitulated to our demands was an equation that couldn't be left alone freely to do what they did up north . Though the truth of the matter was infiltration , infiltration was the main reason it had submitted when it did , as the city was ruled by a theocracy who's main members got to know the power of the true God and not of their pagan ones or perhaps the money they worshipped .