Seeing Barristan forgiven by Daenerys, Jorah Mormont couldn't help but show a look of anticipation. He believed he had never truly betrayed her. Compared to Barristan—who had once betrayed the Mad King Aerys to side with Robert, and now had turned against the Iron Throne to serve Daenerys—Jorah considered himself far more loyal. Since Barristan had been forgiven, he was confident he would be as well.
"Now it's your turn, Jorah Mormont," Daenerys said as she returned to her throne, fixing her gaze on the still-kneeling Jorah.
"Khaleesi, please believe in my loyalty to you. I…" Jorah lifted his head, rushing to defend himself.
But Daenerys cut him off, her voice filled with emotion. "Loyalty? No, you've never been loyal to me. From the very first day you stood by my side, it was all a lie. Your so-called loyalty was a lie. I even wonder if you had a hand in that fire. Otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence that you left the feast to drink outside just in time?"
Jorah quickly protested, "No, Khaleesi, I swear I've never done anything to betray you!"
"Never?" Daenerys's eyes blazed as she challenged him. "You passed along the whereabouts of me, my brother, and my nephew to the usurper. Isn't that betrayal? How else could he have known exactly where our wedding feast was being held, and sent assassins? Wasn't that thanks to you?"
Jorah shook his head, denying it over and over. "No, no! Khaleesi, it's true that I sent information to King's Landing, but it was only trivial matters. I never passed along anything about your exact location."
"Enough. You've lied enough. I can't believe another word you say." Daenerys ended her questioning there. She looked at Jorah, whose face was full of sorrow, then turned to her advisers. "No matter how many lies you've told, you've saved my life more than once. I won't ignore that. And I know I'm not in the right frame of mind to make a fair judgment. So I will leave the decision to my close advisers. They will make a clear-headed ruling."
She then instructed her handmaiden to place two differently colored clay pots in a side room. Her advisers would each go in and place a coin into one of them. If the white pot received more coins than the black, Jorah Mormont would be deemed innocent. Otherwise, he would be found guilty.
Upon hearing this, Jorah seemed to have already guessed the outcome. His face turned pale as he sat down. There were only a few among Daenerys's advisers who had a decent relationship with him. Most were indifferent at best, and some were outright hostile. The result of leaving his fate to their vote was easy to imagine.
And just as Jorah feared, only two coins ended up in the white pot. The rest were in the black.
When Daenerys saw the result, she couldn't hide her disappointment. But she quickly composed herself, adopting the dignity of a queen. "Jorah Mormont, I hereby declare you exiled," she said. "You are to leave all lands under my control and never return. If I ever see you again, you will be executed."
"No! Khaleesi!" Jorah cried out in anguish, still trying to defend himself, but Daenerys was done listening. She waved her hand, signaling the guards on either side to drag him away.
Once Jorah was gone, Daenerys turned to Arianne. "Later, give him some money and see that he boards a ship from the Miracle Guild's fleet. He may have betrayed me, but I haven't forgotten everything he did for me. He deserves his due."
"Your mercy is admirable," Arianne said with a respectful nod.
Daenerys then dismissed the meeting but asked Arianne, Harry Strickland, the Bloodriders, and a few of her trusted advisers to join her in her study.
Once everyone was seated, Daenerys turned to Harry Strickland, commander of the Golden Company. "Commander Harry, I hope to hear from you that the old powers within the city have been purged."
At first, Daenerys had never intended to conquer Qarth. She only wanted to purchase grain so her people could survive the difficult times ahead.
But after arriving, the Thirteen proposed a marriage alliance, suggesting she choose a husband from among their descendants. In return, Qarth would fully support her conquest of Westeros.
At the time, Daenerys had no interest in invading Westeros. All she wanted was enough food to support her forces. She had no interest in the marriage alliance and merely gave polite but noncommittal responses, never agreeing to the proposal.
Later, the warlocks from the House of the Undying invited her to visit, saying the Undying Ones wanted to see her. Her curiosity was piqued, so she accepted.
What she didn't expect was that once inside, the warlocks and the Thirteen tried to seize her young dragons—only to be burned alive by the dragonfire. The House of the Undying itself was engulfed in flames, turning into a blazing inferno.
Daenerys fled back to her camp outside the city and, on Haldon's advice, took advantage of the chaos. With all of Qarth distracted by the fire, she launched a surprise attack and captured the ancient and massive city in one swift blow.
Because the entire event was so sudden and unplanned, she hadn't prepared enough personnel to govern the city. Nor did her current followers have the experience to manage a place of such scale. As a result, she was forced to appoint officials left behind by the Thirteen.
Though she tried to pick people who had bad ties with the Thirteen or who had been marginalized, some die-hard loyalists remained. These individuals kept themselves well-hidden and, together with the surviving Sorrowful Men, carried out multiple assassination attempts, putting Daenerys in constant danger.
That's why she tasked the Golden Company with rooting out resistance within the city. They had years of experience moving through the streets and were far more adept at handling such threats than the Dothraki.
But judging from the extremely dangerous assassination attempt that took place just a few days ago, it seemed even the Golden Company's capabilities had their limits.
"We've arrested several suspects, but we haven't found enough evidence to prove they were involved in the assassination," Harry said, bowing his head. "Your Grace, we still need more time to fully infiltrate Qarth..."
Daenerys responded sharply, full of frustration. "More time? Are you planning to wait until I'm killed by assassins before rooting out those snakes hiding beneath the surface?"
Harry felt a sudden wave of anxiety and wiped the sweat from his brow. "Your Grace, we're not stalling deliberately. The truth is, we're unfamiliar with Qarth. It's extremely difficult to integrate ourselves here and gather reliable intelligence. The people are openly hostile toward us—especially the slaves and servants who used to be under the control of the Thirteen, the ones you freed. They often protect one another, leading our men into traps. We've already lost more than a hundred good fighters."
Daenerys paused in surprise. "I freed them from the Thirteen's slavery and gave them their dignity as people, and they still hate me?"
"Dignity doesn't fill empty stomachs," Harry replied seriously. "After the death of the Thirteen, we inherited their wealth, but not the trade networks they controlled. Countless shops in the city have closed, and many people have no work and no food. If this continues, I fear..."
Harry Strickland trailed off, but everyone in the room understood what he meant.
Daenerys fell silent, seemingly stunned by how bad things had become. She had believed she had Qarth firmly under control, that the city was still functioning, and that everything was progressing according to her plan. Only now did she realize how dire the situation truly was.
"Why didn't anyone tell me this sooner?" she demanded, unable to contain her frustration.
Sister Lemore reminded her gently, "Your Grace, Haldon did raise this concern more than half a month ago, but you were occupied dealing with the ambush by Khal Drogo's men at the time. A few days ago, Princess Arianne also brought it up, but between the assassination attempt and the news of Jorah Mormont's betrayal, it was overlooked again."
Daenerys fell into a stunned silence. For a moment, she didn't know what to say, and the room went quiet.
After a long pause, she finally asked, "What should I do to resolve this crisis?"
Everyone exchanged glances, but no one spoke. None of them had a solution—except one.
Arianne finally spoke. "Actually, it's not that hard to resolve, Your Grace. It just depends on what kind of stance you want to take toward Qarth."
Daenerys looked at her, puzzled. "What do you mean by that?"
"The heart of the issue is your long-term vision," Arianne said, her expression serious. "If you still plan to claim the Iron Throne and launch a future expedition to Westeros, then Qarth is not a suitable place to serve as your base. In that case, we could sack the entire city. Take all the treasure and supplies we can carry, absorb anyone who can be recruited, and execute all the nobles and any suspected individuals. Leave behind only the commoners we can't take with us. That way, the lower classes will fight among themselves for control of Qarth. Even if someone does manage to gain control, they'll be in no position to retaliate. In fact, they'll likely fear your return and might even pledge themselves to you, just to avoid another sack. And then, you'll only need to control that one person to control all of Qarth. You won't need to fear assassination anymore."
Everyone in the room inhaled sharply at her words. A few of the Bloodriders, who had earlier tried to cozy up to Arianne because of her beauty, instinctively took a few steps back.
No one had expected such ruthlessness from someone so striking. If her plan were carried out, at least a hundred thousand people would die, and it would be optimistic to expect even a few tens of thousands to survive in Qarth afterward.
Yet, it was impossible to deny the effectiveness of the strategy. It was a brutal, permanent solution. If executed, Qarth would no longer be a burden to Daenerys, and her safety would no longer be at risk.
But as everyone had anticipated, Daenerys immediately rejected the idea. Without hesitation, she shook her head.
"No. That's absolutely out of the question."
Arianne seemed prepared for her rejection. As soon as Daenerys refused, she smoothly presented her second option.
"If you no longer desire the Iron Throne and instead want to establish your own kingdom centered around Qarth, then you must stabilize the city quickly and eliminate all hidden threats. And since we're unable to solve these issues on our own, we should seek assistance from outside forces."
"Ask for help from other forces?" A thoughtful look appeared on Daenerys's face.
Just then, someone seemed to catch on to Arianne's meaning and asked, "Princess Arianne, do you mean the Miracle Merchant Guild?"
"Yes," Arianne nodded. "As far as I know, the Miracle Merchant Guild is a key partner of Prince Lynd's intelligence network. Wherever there's a Miracle Merchant Guild outpost, agents from the Hall of Summer are usually embedded as well. We may be blind to what's really happening inside Qarth, but their spies aren't. If we can form a partnership with the Miracle Merchant Guild, those snakes hiding beneath the surface in Qarth will have nowhere left to run.
"And more importantly, we can take over the trade ventures once held by the Thirteen and conduct business directly with the Miracle Merchant Guild. Once they start turning a profit in Qarth, other merchants will come flocking in. We won't even need to recruit them—they'll approach us themselves, eager to strike trade deals."
Daenerys was clearly moved by Arianne's reasoning. She could feel that this approach was the most viable path forward in her current situation. Bringing the Miracle Merchant Guild into the fold would also help relieve some of the pressure she was under.
But her greatest dilemma remained unresolved—whether to stay in Qarth and build a kingdom of her own, or to continue expanding her forces with the ultimate goal of returning to Westeros to reclaim the Iron Throne.
In truth, deep down, she no longer wished to fight for the Iron Throne. With Lynd standing in her way, even her dragons might not be enough to take it back. More importantly, she didn't want to become Lynd's enemy.
And yet, perhaps it was something in the Targaryen bloodline—a deep-rooted obsession with the Iron Throne. As her strength grew, she found herself more and more often imagining what it would be like to sit on that throne once more, to fulfill House Targaryen's long legacy, to carry out the wishes of her brother and nephew. Even now, she could still hear their dying screams in her dreams—Viserys and Aegon, burning—echoing through the darkness alongside that one haunting phrase: the Iron Throne.