A couple of days had gone by since Oberyn had reached the city of Qohor.
True to his word, once the man who had been guiding him, had helped him settle into the inn, had vanished and no kind of restriction was imposed upon him and his entourage. They were free to do as they pleased in the city of Qohor, of course, within the ambit of the law.
Even so, Oberyn had an inkling that he must be being watched constantly. If not, then he would assume that this supposed niece of his was not very bright and sharp.
A sharp ruling mind would never let someone important vanish in front of their eyes and let them do as they pleased, especially when the said person was in your very own territory.
It was one of the basic rules of statecraft. Little did Oberyn know, Rhaenys did not need lessons on spying and espionage from him.
Lord Aeos, whom she served, was way ahead in espionage. While it was merely a way for the likes of Oberyn to collect information, Lord Aeos was conquering cities and felling rulers using spies. Even Varys, one of the most formidable spymasters in a long time and with a vast network of spies, could not even think to do and achieve what Lord Aeos was achieving on a daily basis.
The two days since his arrival had passed in a blur for Oberyn. They had spent the time lost in the enthusiasm of the Dragon Steel and had spent the majority of their time roaming and exploring the streets of the blacksmiths.
They all had acquired a weapon of their choice, and Oberyn had even wanted to buy a lot more for his people in Dorne, but much to his frustration, he learned that he could not buy in bulk so easily.
For that, he would have to place an order which had a bit of a long waiting period, pay some coins in advance, and then wait for the time of delivery.
Even though disappointed, he had already placed his orders and had written to his brother informing him about all this. Though he would not be the first to acquire this steel in Essos, he doubted that anyone in Westeros would have yet learned of this.
By the time they would learn and scramble to place orders, Dorne would have already gained a massive advantage. Maybe he could finally see himself having his revenge against the Baratheon and especially against the Lannisters.
And maybe, if Rhaenys really proved to be his niece, all of it would not even matter. Leave alone that he could get almost unlimited supply of the dragon steel, with her dragons, they could fly to Casterly Rock and feed the Mountain, Gregor Clegane, to her dragons.
All of this was mere assumption. Oberyn was not sure about anything. He could not be. What she wanted, what she intended, everything was a big question. Answers to which he had arrived here to find.
Even if she was Rhaenys, was she even willing to recognize the Martells as her family? Was she willing to return to Westeros? Oberyn did not know.
Though he and his entourage had a lot of things that they could do in Qohor, Oberyn was getting impatient. The very first moment he had arrived in Qohor, he had expressed his intention about wanting to meet Rhaenys, not that it had been needed to be explicitly stated.
His request had been acknowledged by the man who had been acting as his guide in the city, but now, even after two days, he had heard nothing from him. He had no idea, no inkling of when he would be allowed to meet Rhaenys.
And at this moment, Oberyn had resolved that he would wait for a couple more days before he would seek other methods to approach Rhaenys Targaryen.
Back in Pentos, Varys had just emerged from another of his strategy meetings with Viserys. His shoulders were slumped, an expression of exhaustion was plastered on his face, and the usual calm smile he had on his face had faded, replaced by a tired smile. He was burnt out.
"What do you say?" Illyrio, standing next to him, questioned with a hint of amusement in his voice. "Now do you understand what I underwent in dealing with Viserys?"
He was surely enjoying this condition of Varys.
"I understand, Illyrio," Varys sighed.
It had been a few days since his first encounter with Viserys and Daenerys, and Varys had held a few of these discussions with Viserys.
The stated intent of these discussions was to make strategies regarding how to capture the Iron throne and defeat the usurper but the real purpose for Varys was to judge Viserys depth and how able he was to rule or to lead an army.
It was too easy to fool Viserys. The conversation was simply directed toward discussing the strengths and weaknesses of the major houses of Westeros and how they could use a few things to their advantage. Viserys was a fool to fall into the trap.
He spoke haughty words about retaking territory and punishing traitors and rewarding loyalists, but he never wondered how they were going to execute any of these plans. How were they going to form an army with which Viserys could retake the throne? It was as if everything would automatically fall in place or more specifically he was content to believe that giving an army to him was Varys's responsibility. In mere days, he had started to act as king and Varys as his member of the small council. It was no concern to him about how to accomplish things. He had delegated the responsibility to Varys and now it was his headache to achieve all these things.
Varys was utterly disappointed by the Targaryen. He had no quality that could make him an able ruler. Not only this, dealing with Viserys's whims was an extremely difficult task.
The man lived in his own world, and though he was able to subtly manipulate Viserys about a few things, Varys was not able to alter his core beliefs. The arrogance and the false show of strength that Viserys displayed, Varys had tried to temper it, tried to caution Viserys that he should rein himself in, but the young Targaryen was not ready to listen. He was not willing to come out of his world of illusion.
Dealing with the man had left him exhausted. The realization had struck him that he could not place his plans on the shoulders of Viserys.
"Viserys would not suffice for our goals, Illyrio," Varys sighed, the flashbacks of his conversation with Viserys still repeating before his eyes.
"You mean to look at another option?" Illyrio questioned, finally getting serious. "Daenerys?"
Varys sighed but did not say anything. Yes, Daenerys was another option.
Though she had mostly remained silent for most of the duration Varys had interacted with the siblings, he could safely say that she was far more intelligent and practical than her brother. But Daenerys was not the one he had in mind.
If you wanted to move on from Viserys and needed another Targaryen, then why limit yourself? Why not seek the best of them? The one with five powerful dragons, who had captured a city without any resistance, and who had the power to take over Westeros alone? Why not look for Rhaenys Targaryen herself?
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