12 YA
Storm's End
"These Essosi are sure arrogant." Saiguu grumbled, reading the report over Ei's shoulder.
It detailed the discrimination several merchants had faced in Tyrosh in regard to their wares being deemed inferior because they were made in the Storm Kingdom.
"Indeed." Ei remembered the day they had sent envoys in great secrecy, trying to buy her protection.
—
Flashback
3 YA
Ei watched the envoys of Myr, Lys, and Tyrosh speak over each other in an attempt to curry favor with her.
"Enough." A small amount of her power leaked, and the envoys stiffened up, falling silent.
So arrogant.
"The Tyroshi envoy will speak first." Ei declared, waiting to see if anyone was foolish enough to challenge her.
She had decided on Tyrosh for the sole fact that the envoy arrived earlier than the others.
The assured looks of the envoys fell, and the Tyroshi man approached first. His confident grin wavered, but regardless, he presented Tyrosh's case.
"Your Excellency, Tyrosh is face-to-face with the aggression of the Targaryen barbarians." The envoy's speech was mostly about insulting the dragonlords while praising Tyrosh and its mercantile ways, which could offer a lot of trade to the Storm Kingdom.
The Myrish and the Lyseni envoys spoke of much the same, as if they weren't allies against the Targaryens, each one seeking protection for their city.
They did not name it that way, of course, lest their pride be hurt, rather choosing to speak of the opportunities their cities could offer, which would be lost if the Targaryens conquered Myr, Lys, and Tyrosh.
Expensive gifts were also brought forward, and after the Lyseni envoy finished his piece, Saiguu burst into laughter.
"Myr, Lys, and Tyrosh, civilized? You are slavers, living in cities built by people that were only saved by their filthy blood magic from turning into animals wearing human skin because of their inbreeding, about to be conquered by the last remaining vestige of ancient Valyria."
"And here you are, trying to earn the protection of a god, yet arrogance drips from every word that spills out of your lips as if you have anything worth our time." Saiguu flashed an innocent smile, speaking as if the envoys were children, clear signs that she was mocking them.
"I could not have said it better myself." Ei raised her shoulders faintly.
Saiguu waved her hand, and a small disposition circle sent the envoys and their gifts back to the docks.
It was a little trick of hers, one that she used in her pranks, but with her greater power now, Saiguu could do a lot more than just switch the places of small objects.
—
The envoys had promptly left after that, insulted at the treatment they received, and Ei was petty enough to send small clouds to follow the ships, pouring rain straight down into the ships day and night.
Handing the latest reports from Essos back to Jocelyn, Ei turned her attention to the annual report of the academy.
Everything was going excellently. The classes had settled into a pace where both the teachers and the learners discovered new knowledge every day, and with the tidbits they taught whenever available, the academy would overtake Citadel in no time.
A sore point for the lords of the Reach, especially the Hightowers.
—
While the land grew richer with villages, towns, and cities, so did the number of people living in the kingdom. Smallfolk of the North, the Vale, and the Kingdom of the Rock were moving to the Storm Kingdom for a better life.
Especially due to the laws protecting the lives, homes, livestock, and everything the people owned, regardless of their birth, as well as promising fair wages to all workers. This meant that the nobles could not exploit the smallfolk as they wished.
The neighboring kingdoms faced the trouble of losing their farmers and laborers, forcing them to pass similar laws, which faced outrage from the nobles, something that the nobles of the Storm Kingdom could not afford to do.
The bounty of the seas, from new merchant ships to fishing fleets, was also bringing great coin to the Storm Kingdom. Trade wasn't the only face of it, as Her Excellency wished to build a royal navy to protect the seas and the vessels of the kingdom.
—
Essos
The lull in the conquest of the Targaryens saw the birth of two children to High Archon Aegon I. A daughter from Visenya, named Aleryse, and a son from Rhaenys, Vhamond, born three months apart.
Rhaenys had softened up with the birth of her son, while Visenya was hoping for a son as well. As was the custom, the children would be betrothed once grown, and for now, their dynasty was secure.
However, internal strife in the empire was not over. The dissidents, mostly nobles whose slaves had been freed and their brethren punished to death, had taken great care to stay hidden.
Different gathering places, masks, false names, tunnels beneath houses, and absolute secrecy were the measures they had taken for protection while discussing what to do about the Targaryens.
Wild plots were thrown around, from assassinating the Targaryens either with a blade in the shadows or poison to finding sorcerers to curse them with the foulest of magic.
But reason prevailed, and one young man laid down a well-thought-out plan. The Valyrian Empire was recovering, but slowly, and if the nobles were to put their wealth together, they could assume great power in the empire.
The Council of the Nine was founded that day, and the nobles were quick to act. The burned parts of the cities were bought for a pittance and built with their wealth to produce goods solely under their control.
Everything the empire needed for the conquest—clothes, weapons, and foodstuff—they produced and sold to the imperial house, strengthening their place in the empire.
The Targaryens were pleased that their empire was recovering and turned their attention to Volantis, unaware of the trouble brewing at home.
—
The attempts to fix the trade of the empire had worked to a certain point. The rest was a matter of time. The loans from the Iron Bank would take time to pay back, and the Storm Kingdom was growing in trade each day, cutting into their coffers.
Queen Argella's protection of Braavos was another matter, and the Targaryens decided to return the favor by creating ties with the Vale, the Westerlands, and the North to reduce the Storm Kingdom's trade.
It had mixed results.
The Vale was receptive, for the wealth of the new Valyrian Empire was too great to not trade, and the Vale of Arryn was becoming set apart from its neighbors. They would not take arms against Argella Durrandon, but it would be preferable to buy goods from the Valyrians rather than from the lands of a false god that had trampled upon the Faith of the Seven.
The North was accepting of the trade too, but not at the expense of paying more coin for the same goods. The Kingdom of the Rock was making good use of the canal and had the best relations with the Storm Kingdom, so the Targaryens did not have much to offer.
It was an attempt bound to fail.
—
The internal strife in the empire had been culled but not solved entirely. Consort Visenya, after informing her husband and sister of her plans, created the Umbasāeksagonī, the Shadow Watchers.
They were created to be the eyes and ears of the imperial family across the empire, keeping them abreast of important events while foiling plots against House Targaryen.
It was they who had first become aware of a gathering of wealthy nobles, but not the names involved, nor where the gathering took place. Visenya, worried about a possible thorn on the side of the empire, had sent her fledgling watchers to find these nobles.
Only for them to come up with empty hands. The leads went nowhere, and the previous informants had suddenly decided that they were wrong in their words.
Visenya did not believe it for one second and always had the Umbasāeksagonī keep one eye on the nobles.
When word of it spread, it became commonplace among the people to believe that there was a shadowy group threatening the rulers of the empire behind the curtains.
The Council of the Nine did not wish to risk being revealed and created watchers of their own to keep the empire's dogs at bay while silencing any loose mouths.
They had even attempted to establish a foothold in Westeros, specifically the Storm Kingdom, but that ended horribly for them.
—
The Storm's End
Chiyo frowned.
A ship had recently arrived in the city, not to trade, but to buy. Warehouses, homes, and production areas—they were trying to buy it all in silence, but there was a reason she had been tasked with keeping an eye on the arrivals from Essos.
Usually, it was a boring job, but one Ei had felt was vital, and perhaps today was the day it paid off.
—
The people under her command were tasked to watch the buyers very closely, and after several days, their reports were concerning.
Distant members and attendants of several different noble families in Essos were acting as one entity in their attempt to buy land and property, and combined with the news from across the Narrow Sea, it appeared these shadowy figures in the Valyrian Empire were real.
Or at least, the nobles were attempting to establish a presence in the kingdom.
—
"My lady, the targets have realized they were being watched and are sailing away after abandoning everything." The captain of the First Divine Eye rushed in, reporting the situation with an urgent tone.
"Oh well, as long as they are gone." Chiyo turned her attention to the papers before her, but the captain's next words had her left eye twitching in fury.
"They also killed one of our own."
"Huh, you don't say?"
Chiyo left the warehouse for the docks, watching the ship sail away after shedding the blood of her subordinate, thinking they could escape.
She planted one foot back, her hand on her sword, eyes closed in concentration as Chiyo bent low.
The stone ground cracked, sending chips of rocks flying around, and she disappeared from sight with a great gust of wind. Fast enough that she could move without breaking the surface tension in each leap, Chiyo's electro vision glowed, and she pulled her sword.
The sky darkened for a second as the electro surged forward, extending her sword long enough to cut through the ship from the back of the hull to the front. The sailors below the deck were bisected, and the top half of the vessel slid off into the sea.
Chiyo finished it by using the floating hull to jump back to the dock, the shockwave sending the remaining half of the ship forcefully beneath the waves.
Her landing was more graceful than the jump, sparing the docks from further damage.
—
Ei considered Chiyo's words. She did not care about the rumors of a shadowy cabal in Essos trying to weaken the Targaryens as long as those rumors stayed across the Narrow Sea.
But now that her friend suspected that they were here, it changed her feelings.
"Have we caught any of them?"
"Three survivors from the ship. They were very forthcoming once Saiguu took over." Turning one of the men into a mouse and letting a cat chase him around had loosened their stiff tongues.
It was amusing too.
"Hang the two, send one of them to Essos with a message. If I hear even a whisper that they are trying something like this again, I will tear that continent apart until every single one of them is dead." She truly didn't wish to start another war, especially one between the continents.
Chiyo rolled her shoulders gently. "I don't have high hopes for these nobles, but as you wish." They might just be stupid enough to try this again, but she would be there.
—
Essos
Once the sole survivor had returned from the Storm Kingdom with the tidings that they were forced to reveal everything and the God-Queen's warning, the Council agreed to ban any further attempts to infiltrate the domain of Argella Durrandon.
The word that the Crimson Maiden had destroyed a ship from Pentos had the Shadow Watchers on alert, and they sought the only survivor.
He was found hanging from the ceiling of his home, with a letter claiming he could not handle the things he had seen in the Storm Kingdom, once again leaving the eyes and ears of the Targaryens without answers.
However, it was shadowed by the plans of conquering Volantis, the most populous as well as one of the richest of the Free Cities, and their hardest battle was yet to come.
The Black Wall that protected the heart of Volantis, two hundred feet high and so thick that annual chariot races were held at the top of it, was entirely made of fused dragonstone. Even if the outskirts fell, without the heart of the city, the Targaryens could not call themselves the conquerors of Volantis.
There was one way they could get through the wall, and it was to have the assistance of the Temple of the Lord of Light.
The priestess that had broken the curse on Balerion had assured them that the temple would be willing to assist, provided Targaryens declared all other religions as false and lies. That was a cost too high to pay, as it would definitely lead to revolts.
Which is why they began to seek a different path.
Envoys were sent, as customary, to treat with the triarchs in the hopes of bringing them into the fold peacefully. The terms this time were more generous, promising that Volantis would rule itself while swearing loyalty to the Targaryens and paying tribute. Any slaves they had now could be kept, but no further ones could be taken.
Volantis would be tied to the empire on foreign matters while ruling itself as it always had.
The triarchs considered the offer, with debates lasting for days, and answered with their own terms. Everything the Targaryens said would be accepted, but if they were to abandon slaves, there would have to be more concessions on trade, taxes, and tributes.
With five slaves for every free man in the city, Volantis was the key to the slave trade. The triarchs wanted lower taxes than all other cities, which could not be changed, and no fees or tolls for merchants, traders, and ships hailing from Volantis.
One final term was a pact of marriage. A female from the elephant faction would wed Vhamond and become the sole consort of the High Archon, and Princess Aleryse would be the bride of one of the old families of the tiger faction, a compromise to keep both factions happy.
Now, it was time for the Targaryens to consider the terms and make their decision on whether to parley further or declare war.
—
In the next chapter:
The parley between the Targaryens and the Triarchs went on for two years, with offers sent back and forth. When Volantis agreed to abandon slaves in return for lower taxes, exemption from tolls, and such, which would make the city barely a part of the empire.
The entire point of the discussions, in essence, was haggling over coin.
Volantis, more like the elephant faction Triarchs, wanted compensation for their largest source of coin being abandoned, but the Targaryens weren't willing to give the amount they desired.
Both parties weren't idle while treating. House Targaryen kept working on improving the state of their realm, mostly choosing to increase trade between the cities and with Westeros as a whole and rooting out dissidents, as well as preparing their hosts for Volantis.