On the eighth day after the First Fleet left Tolos, the white dragon that had long hidden in the clouds to spy on New Ghis vanished.
On the eighth day after the First Fleet left Tolos, the white dragon that had long hidden in the clouds to spy on New Ghis vanished.
By this time, the allied First Fleet had already left Slaver's Bay and passed beyond the reach of Maiden's Isle, entering the broader Bay of Grief.
That night, as usual, the Lord of Tolos, Balo Terys, summoned each of the city's defense commanders for questioning before retiring to bed.
Terys, one of the Fourteen Flames, co-governed Tolos alongside the Valorys family.
Originally, the position of city lord should have gone to Pierro of House Valorys—still in his prime and, conveniently, Balo's son-in-law. He was well-suited to deal with the increasingly assertive Dragon Queen across the sea.
But a month ago, a summons arrived from Matalis: a personal letter from Jenny herself, requesting warriors of noble Valyrian blood.
Tolos and its neighboring city, Elerya, along with Matalis and Oros, were all directly governed Valyrian territories.
It was quite strange. Compared to Matalis, Elerya and Tolos were geographically closer to the epicenter of the Cataclysm—the Fourteen Flames—yet these two cities remained entirely unaffected by the curse.
Even so, Tolos had never severed its connection with cursed Matalis.
For the past four centuries, many essential goods were transported from Tolos to Matalis along the Valyrian Road.
Thus, Tolos remained well informed about events in the Land of Long Summer.
The people of Tolos knew of Jenny Baleris from Oros and of Benny Milarsis from Matalis.
Upon receiving Jenny's letter, Pierro did not hesitate. He immediately led a group of noble-blooded youths to Matalis, leaving the position of city lord in the hands of the aging but wise Balo.
"Lord Citymaster, the West Gate is secure. No outsiders entered Tolos today," the West Gate commander reported.
Behind a carved purple sandalwood desk, Balo scooped a spoonful of breast milk and lotus seed porridge with a white jade spoon, chewed slowly, swallowed, and then asked, "Are the mercenaries in the Western Camp behaving?"
"Same as always—causing trouble. Three were caught stealing sheep from the manors, and four assaulted a town girl of Valyrian descent," the silver-haired, purple-eyed commander replied, barely suppressing his anger.
Clang—Crash!
The veins on Balo's hand bulged like roots. He swept his arm across the table, sending the bowl and spoon crashing to the floor.
"Those bastards! One day I'll send them to Meereen as cannon fodder!" Balo cursed.
The West Gate commander sighed inwardly, understanding the implication: they still needed the mercenaries to fight the Dragonmother. This would have to be handled quietly.
He bowed silently and took his leave.
"All is calm at the North Gate—no unrest, no spies. The granary and armory at the North Camp outside the gate are also safe.
At 3 PM, Cobbler Gilo Reha's spear regiment—1,600 lancers and 4,000 infantry—arrived via the Valyrian Road from Matalis. They also brought 500 scorpion ballistae," reported the North Gate commander.
"I know Cobbler Gigo. He's a guest at my city estate," Balo said.
A new bowl of lotus seed porridge had been placed before him—having a bowl of mother's milk each night before bed was his habit.
"With the addition of the spear regiment, Tolos now has nearly 30,000 troops and 2,000 scorpion ballistae. Now I can finally sleep soundly," the old lord said with a sigh of satisfaction.
After the North Gate commander left, the South Gate commander arrived.
The south side of the city faced the sea, and the South Gate commander was also responsible for dock security.
"Lord Citymaster, seven ships from New Ghis arrived at the docks today—four grain ships, and three carrying Astapor liquor, white sugar, and white paper."
"Excellent," Lord Balo nodded and smiled in relief. "Since the First Fleet departed, I've been worried the Dragon Queen might feint one way and strike another. That's her favorite tactic.
But over the past eight days, the number of ships arriving from New Ghis has remained steady, which means the route from Tolos to New Ghis hasn't been disrupted."
"Lord Citymaster is truly wise," the South Gate commander flattered.
"But I heard Slaver's Bay has already blocked all trade. How are we still buying their sugar and liquor?" Balo asked curiously.
The allied base was far from Slaver's Bay. Matalis had no grain production, and even the sea route from New Ghis to Tolos spanned over a thousand kilometers. The cost of long-distance transport alone should've been prohibitive.
Undeniably, buying supplies from the Dragon Queen wasn't just cheaper (she was running promotions); it was also much closer.
If she were willing to sell grain, the alliance would be overjoyed: buy food from her, ship it across to Tolos, and feed the troops from Matalis to Meereen. It was almost absurdly convenient.
But the Dragon Queen never sold food!
She sold olive oil, liquor made from sweet potatoes and grapes, beet sugar, refined salt, textiles, and even copper goods (she didn't sell iron—she only bought it), but she never sold wheat or rice. Not even dried potatoes or sweet potatoes.
Yes, she sold high-proof spirits made from sweet potatoes, but refused to sell the sweet potatoes themselves—quite the paradox.
As a result, Astapor was bustling. Merchants bought goods from the Dragon Queen and shipped them to New Ghis to resell to the alliance.
New Ghis, being a mere 100-mile-wide island, couldn't possibly supply an army of hundreds of thousands.
The liquor drunk by the alliance troops was diluted Astapori spirits, often mixed with water or fruit juice; the salt and sugar they consumed came from Astapor; the ornate silks and robes worn by officers were also from Slaver's Bay.
Even the soldiers' monthly wages—copper and silver coins—were minted in the Dragon Queen's own factories.
Why did Dany do all this?
Because the sea merchants never arrived at Slaver's Bay empty-handed. They brought her everything she needed: refined iron, forged blades, tanned leather, sheepskin, whale oil, and even rice and wheat.
That's right—there really were sea merchants smuggling Allied rations to the Dragon Queen, because she offered high prices and even provided subsidies!
One hundred catties of rice could be exchanged for 10 catties of high-proof liquor, which could then be diluted into 200 catties of sweet wine.
Since rice was a subsidized item, not only was it tax-exempt, but sellers also received discount vouchers worth 30% of the grain's sale value.
For example, if Zhang San sold 100 coins' worth of grain in Slaver's Bay and then spent those 100 coins to buy liquor there, before he left, the Dragon Queen would compensate him with an additional 30 coins in gold.
Who could resist a deal like that?
Even the Allied forces were aware that sea merchants were selling grain to the Dragon Queen. They turned a blind eye—or even encouraged it.
The reason was simple. Which costs more: transporting 100 catties of grain from Volantis to New Ghis, or transporting 200 catties of sweet wine?
After all that shuffling, the Dragon Queen's grain stores didn't shrink—in fact, they grew.
Military clothing, too, was traded: high-cost, high-margin silk was exchanged for low-margin but highly valuable furs.
Only furs could keep one warm in winter!Although cities like Qarth, Volantis, and New Ghis along the southern coasts had never known winter—they wore silk robes and embroidered cloaks.
Combined with the export of highly profitable goods like white paper, salt, and minted coins, even with the Dragon Queen's aggressive subsidies, her treasury continued to grow.
This… was actually a win-win?
"Targaryens keep their word," the South City Guard Captain said with a serious expression.
"Oh? I've heard that before. But what does it have to do with us continuing to purchase goods from Slaver's Bay?" asked Lord Barlow curiously.
"Back then, the Dragon Queen signed contracts with several small merchants from Volantis, New Ghis, and Qarth, ensuring that Slaver's Bay would never reject 'VIP clients' under any circumstances."
At this, the South City Guard Captain couldn't help but sigh. "Those small merchants of yesteryear have grown into powerful sea traders within just a few years thanks to trade with Slaver's Bay.
Take Fat Dorsim from Volantis—he used to be a slave, then became a live-in son-in-law of a small merchant family. Now, he's even eligible to run for Triarch."
"Fat Dorsim? I know him. That glutton is despicable—profiting from both sides, between the Allies and the Dragon Queen," Lord Barlow said with disgust.
The South City Guard Captain merely shrugged and made no comment, continuing, "The Dragon Queen has remained true to her word. Even during lockdowns due to plague outbreaks, she opened exclusive docks for VIP clients. Business never stopped."
"I see!"
Barlow scooped a spoonful of lotus seed soup sweetened with Astaporian white sugar and swallowed it contentedly.
After the guard captain left, Barlow finished the last mouthful of soup, stood up, stretched lazily, and sighed, "Another uneventful but peaceful day. Let's hope—"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Three successive explosions rang out across the silent city.
Rumble!
The castle of the City Lord's estate trembled slightly.
"What's that—" Barlow's face changed drastically. He turned to the window on his left and saw, about four streets away, an 80-meter-high tower—the city's iconic landmark—engulfed in flames.
It looked like a giant torch had been lit. Every resident of the city could see it.
"That's… the Raven's Nest!"
The Raven's Nest was under attack.
Barlow froze for a moment before shouting in horror, "The Mother of Dragons is attacking! She's launching a full-scale assault on Tolos, starting by cutting off all outside communication!"
Boom boom boom!A series of explosions erupted throughout the city, followed by shockwaves and bursts of fire that lit up the dark night sky.
In the firelight, he saw the shadows of the dragons streaking across the sky.
They were incredibly fast—three massive dragons, flying with no hesitation. It seemed as if they were following a pre-planned route, soaring gracefully through the sky, changing direction mid-flight, searching for targets, and setting towers ablaze.
In the brief moment that the old city lord stood frozen, seven or eight towers had already been set on fire.
All towers!
"Damn it—they're all Raven's Nest towers."
Peering out the window for a while, the old city lord—who had lived in this city for over fifty years—immediately understood: every target was a Raven's Nest.
What did that mean?A chill ran down the old man's spine.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The fires in the city began to spread randomly. Some areas didn't even seem to have Raven's Nests.
At least, not that the old city lord remembered.
What he didn't know was that the three cats and three storm-petrels had already conducted a full-scale carpet search and knew exactly where everything was.
In less than 20 seconds, over forty "stars" had lit up—some bright, some dim—over the city of Tolos, now shrouded in darkness.
From a distance, each burning tower looked like a twinkling star.
Then—Boom!
The old man's face changed again. From the west side of the city, near the residential districts, a ballista platform hidden among the houses erupted in a mushroom cloud of green flame.
It rose 15 meters high, obscuring even the 6-meter-high city walls. The entire surrounding district was enveloped in a blanket of green fire.
Even from a mile away, the green light cast a ghastly hue over the city lord's face.
"Wildfire…" Barlow croaked.
(End of chapter)
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