Zaro truly lived up to his reputation as one of Qarth's Thirteen. The residence he prepared for her was so extravagant that even Daenerys, who had seen much of the world, could not help but marvel.
A vast garden blooming with exotic flowers, broad marble bathing pools, a crystal divination tower that soared into the clouds—also known as the observatory—and even a garden maze.
The entire palace complex was larger than any marketplace she had seen before. Forget accommodating her khalasar of over two hundred people—double that number could still fit easily.
In fact, Zaro had prepared two hundred servants for her alone.
After the many Dothraki of the khalasar were settled into the palace, Daenerys sat by the pool, leisurely enjoying the pleasant sensation of little fish nibbling at her toes, marveling that the Qartheen even had "kissing fish."
Suddenly, the sky above darkened. She turned her head and was startled to find that Quaithe had appeared silently at her side.
"You—"
"I'm leaving," Quaithe said.
"Oh. Goodbye." Daenerys jumped slightly, thinking something serious had happened.
"Be careful," Quaithe said abruptly, without explanation.
"Uh…" Daenerys froze for a moment before asking awkwardly, "Be careful of what?"
"Be careful of everyone. From now on, they will come day and night to pay homage to this miracle reborn into the world. Then greed will inevitably arise. For the flesh and blood of dragons are made of fire, and fire is power. Dragons are the source of all mysterious forces."
Though Quaithe's red-lacquered mask hid her expression, Daenerys could hear the gravity in her voice.
After delivering the warning, Quaithe departed just as she had arrived—quietly, without drawing any attention.
Daenerys immediately lost interest in enjoying palace luxury. She summoned Jorah and the Bloodriders to the fish pool, letting them experience the gentle kisses of the fish while she relayed Quaithe's warning in full.
"I don't like her, because I can't see through her," Jorah spoke first. "Every shadowbinder deserves our caution. But this time she didn't threaten us. Ever since we entered this city, I've felt… a very unfriendly presence. It makes it hard to feel at ease."
"I don't like the way the milk men look at us," Rakharo said grimly, teeth clenched. "Like they're staring at rare animals captured from the savage lands."
The Qartheen had abnormally pale skin—milky white, noticeably whiter than other pale-skinned peoples—so the Dothraki called them "milk men."
Daenerys glanced at him in surprise. She hadn't expected such keen perception from her Bloodrider.
Indeed, the Qartheen had welcomed them warmly today. But there were many kinds of welcome. Welcoming honored guests and welcoming a giant panda to settle in the city were clearly not the same thing.
That was why, when passing through the streets within the middle wall, Daenerys could not help but cast herself in Arthas's role.
—Lordaeron had welcomed Arthas's victorious return with celebratory bells, thunderous cheers, and flower petals filling the sky. That very day, Arthas unleashed the Scourge upon Lordaeron and slaughtered the city.
"They want to see the dragons," Daenerys said, turning to Qotho. "Arrange two teams of guards—one overt, one covert—to watch over the three dragons. As long as we remain here, we cannot relax our vigilance for even a moment."
"Aggo, Jhogo—you two arrange people. Men and women alike. Scout all the terrain around our quarters, the building layouts, and the palace's guard arrangements. Learn everything."
Finally, she looked solemnly at Jorah. "Ser, I understand our situation very clearly. I want you to go to the markets, the docks, the taverns—even the brothels. Find out how ordinary Qartheen feel about us, and gather information on Qarth's upper echelons."
After thinking for a moment, she added, "Since this is a trade hub linking east and west, there must be Westerosi and merchants from other city-states. While you're gathering information, you can also spread word of me and my dragons."
"This…" Ser Jorah hesitated. "You were worried before that the Usurper would send assassins after you. Now you want to actively spread the news among merchants of the Seven Kingdoms that you're bringing dragons back to Westeros? Even if the Usurper is dead, he still has a son."
"Sigh. That was then, this is now. The hatching of the dragons has already been exposed. If King's Landing has been watching me all along, they'll know about this the moment it happens. I'd rather turn it into a focal point—both to protect ourselves and—"
And to distract everyone, concealing her true objective.
That evening, Daenerys enjoyed the luxurious cuisine befitting the palace—stir-fried peacock tongues.
MMP. Using peacock tongues as food—something even the greediest ancient gourmands of the Celestial Empire would never have imagined.
Early the next morning, just as Quaithe had warned her, the true power-holders of Qarth arrived at Zaro's palace in palanquins, surrounded by crowds of servants.
Zaro accompanied them to Daenerys's residence. They proclaimed themselves captivated by her beauty and noble lineage, sincerely presenting gifts of silk, jewels, rare animals, dwarfs with special skills, and more. In the end, they wept as they praised the greatness of dragons, while their eyes widened as they looked around eagerly.
Yes, the Qartheen loved to cry. They believed tears were a symbol of greater civilization.
Daenerys understood their meaning. She did not refuse, but directly lifted out the small dragons still tethered by chains, causing the Qartheen nobles to weep even more fiercely.
Qarth's upper strata were composed of three major power groups: the royal family, the merchants, and the warlocks.
In the age after dragons vanished and magic faded, the once-mighty warlocks lost their power—and thus their authority. The royal family controlled Qarth's camel cavalry and city fleet, ruling the city in name.
The merchants formed the three most powerful guilds: the Thirteen, the Tourmaline Brotherhood, and the Ancient Guild of Spicers. In a city of trade, real power naturally rested in the hands of merchants.
However, internal struggles among the three merchant guilds were extremely fierce. If not for the need to jointly restrain the royal family, they would have long since torn each other apart over control of the city.
On the first day, the remaining twelve members of the "Thirteen" visited Daenerys. On the second day came the Tourmaline Brotherhood.
After seeing the dragons, the gem merchants even spent an entire week crafting a three-headed dragon crown for Daenerys: the coiled body of the demon dragon was gold, its wings silver, and the three heads carved respectively from emerald, ivory, and agate.
On the third day, the Spicers' Guild presented Daenerys with seventy-seven chests of precious spices from all over the world.
Yes—when House Targaryen unified the Seven Kingdoms, in order to integrate into Westeros as foreign conquerors, they abandoned the ancient Valyrian gods and converted to the Faith of the Seven.
In theory, Daenerys should also worship the Seven.
And to followers of the Seven, "seven," "seventy-seven," and "seven hundred seventy-seven" were all auspicious numbers.
On the fourth day, Daenerys began receiving figures from the middle and lower tiers of Qarth's power structure—small merchants, key government officials, fleet captains, and camel cavalry commanders.
When she asked Zaro whether the royal family would come, he replied with thinly veiled disdain, "The royal family now—aside from supreme dignity and ancient glory, what do they have left? You should just accommodate them and go see them yourself."
However, seeing the royal family was not so easy. To obtain an audience, one had to possess the proper qualifications—and those qualifications were controlled by several powerful figures.
Simply put, it was like Tang Sanzang going to obtain the true scriptures from the Buddha: even then, he had to give gifts to Ananda and Kasyapa. For Daenerys to meet the royal family, she had to pass through all the checkpoints and provide sufficient "courtesies."
Even trying to use back channels required knowing the right doors. Giving gifts blindly without finding the proper connections would only waste manpower and money, achieving nothing.
Zaro righteously declared that he knew these matters inside and out. He could teach her whose door to knock on, whom to give gifts to, and exactly how much each person should receive.
Daenerys really wanted to say: go to hell, I don't play this game.
But Jorah had already gathered a clear picture of Qarth over the past few days. The royal family had indeed lost actual control over the city, yet the camel cavalry and city fleet were still under their command.
Daenerys couldn't understand why a royal family that held military power had lost its ruling position. Perhaps this was the nature of a trade city-state?
Or perhaps merchants simply had more money—and money could hire more armed forces, such as mercenaries?
Zaro's urging that Daenerys use connections to seek an audience with the royal family was no secret among the upper ranks.
The royal family had likely already opened their pockets, waiting for her to toss gold inside. If she didn't go, it would be seen as disrespect. And disrespect meant they were not friends.
Hmph. Not friends, not guests—then I can make a move against you.
Jorah advised her, "This is a Qartheen custom. Even in Westeros, it's not the case that just because you come to my home, you automatically enjoy guest right.
"When a guest comes under a host's roof and accepts the bread and salt provided by the host, guest right comes into effect.
"If the host lays a drawn sword across his knees, it means he has no intention of establishing guest right with the visitor, and guest right naturally does not exist."
"But isn't extorting bribes too low-class?" Daenerys said angrily. "Do the Seven Kingdoms also have the custom of hosts demanding gifts from guests?"
"Ahem, ahem—" Jorah coughed violently, as if choking, and even his thick beard couldn't hide the flush on his face.
"No way," Daenerys said, mouth hanging open in disbelief.
"Not as blatant as Qarth," Ser Jorah hurriedly explained. "Guests present 'guest gifts' mainly to express gratitude for the food and lodging provided by the host. And when the guest departs, the host may also give the guest a 'guest gift' in return.
"This tradition usually occurs when the guest is in a weaker position, because he fears the host might deny guest right."
It was really Daenerys's fault for not paying attention to details when watching the show. What Jorah described was especially evident between the Night's Watch and the wildling Craster.
Craster, the wildling beyond the Wall—the number one ghastly father in the world of Ice and Fire. He married his own daughters, and when those daughters bore daughters, he married them as well, continuing this cycle endlessly, taking dozens of wives who were both daughters and granddaughters.
He also had sons, but every son was sacrificed to the Others the moment he was born.
It could be said that aside from the Night King, almost all the Others were his sons.
Yes—Others were not the same as wights. Others were transformed from living people, while wights were dead corpses reanimated by the Others.
Without Craster providing shelter and food, the Night's Watch men traveling north of the Wall would have nearly doubled their death rate, so the Watch depended on him.
They not only turned a blind eye to his incest, but were often extorted by Craster for iron weapons—so-called "guest gifts."
And because of guest right, even Old Bear Mormont, knowing that Craster had dealings with the Others, could not harm him.
Guest right was mutual. Not only could the host not harm the guest, but the guest also would not harm the host—even if the host was dealing with demons.
Seeing Daenerys deep in thought, Jorah urged again, "The First Men had the tradition of guest right, and the Andals have similar rules. Perhaps guest right is universal across the world—only its specific form differs."
"All right," Daenerys sighed. "I'll send gifts to the royal family. I just hope they'll also give me some 'guest gifts' in return."
...
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(End Chapter)