Dany decided to visit Cersei's "Mimi" in King's Landing three days later.She was still hesitating—should she send Little White to simply spectate as a bystander, or let Big Black go and chat a bit with the common folk of King's Landing... about the Queen Mother's splendid health?
As she mulled it over, Marwyn, chewing on a sourgrass leaf, urgently contacted her.
Yes, that Marwyn from the Citadel. He was with the Black Sister Laresa and the Fifth White Knight, "Gray Iron" Garth Hightower, aboard the Old Man of Oldtown's grain fleet.
Every night, Dany had two fixed routines: first, a soul-cleansing True Dragon Roar for Quaithe, then a three-minute glass candle session to search for Marwyn, the One-Eyed Faceless Man, and Jaqen.
As for the two Faceless Men—needless to say—Dany wished she could watch them every second, ideally tracking down all the bases of the Faceless Men.
Marwyn, on the other hand, was merely searched as a habit. Most of the time, Dany couldn't locate him at all—he simply didn't show up.
—Marwyn had made a pact with Dany: in the event of an emergency, he'd activate the glass candle to contact her during a set time each night.
After all, Hightower's grain fleet consisted of dozens of ships, held three million gold dragons, and carried magical tomes procured from the Citadel by the Old Man of Oldtown.
If pirates seized it, the losses would be catastrophic.
Her worries weren't baseless.
The Stepstones were the most infamous pirate haven in the world. Located at the mouth of the Narrow Sea, the area fed pirates from all corners of the globe.
Even the Ironborn often went there to hone their pirating skills.
For example, Euron had been a pirate in the Stepstones in his younger days. Asha Greyjoy also spent three to five years there.
And wouldn't you know it—no sooner had Hightower's fleet left the Summer Sea than pirates began trailing them.
In Oldtown, the Old Man of Oldtown had already negotiated prices and quantities with grain merchants across the Narrow Sea.
Then, the grain fleet would carry the gold across, and the major grain merchants would begin collecting supplies from smaller traders and farmers.
By the time Hightower's gold reached Myr and Pentos, the trade princes of those cities would have already gathered the grain at their ports—just in time to complete the final stage of the deal: payment in one hand, delivery in the other.
In other words, the news that Hightower was delivering gold to the Free Cities had long since spread across the Narrow Sea. Even the Braavosi in the north knew—Hightower's massive grain purchase had driven prices up fivefold. The whole world knew about it.
During the day, Dany's spirit projection met Jaehaerys in Braavos; in the evening, she met Barristan on Dragonstone; and at midnight, she crossed 6,000 kilometers through a glass candle to appear in the captain's cabin of the White Tower at the mouth of the Narrow Sea.
Just like she once said to Stannis: unlike some bored kings who pass the time grinding their teeth, the Dragon Queen is a busy woman—endlessly busy!
"What's going on?" Dany's voice flickered, like a phone call with poor signal.
Not only her voice—even her projection was a blurry silver-gray silhouette, like watching a low-res VCD on a 150-inch 8K screen.
It was due to the great distance.
Dany had publicly claimed to be in Braavos, but in truth, her body remained hidden in Slaver's Bay, attuning herself to the Song of the Wind.
In the tiny captain's cabin were only three people: Bull-necked Marwyn, the embarrassed White Knight Garth Hightower, and the magic apprentice Laresa.
Marwyn and Garth exchanged a glance. Eventually, the White Knight stepped forward, bowed, and said, "One day after we left the waters outside Sun Spear, a paddleboat openly started following us.
Hightower's fleet is so massive that the pirates didn't dare strike right away. But as we near Broken Arm Point, more and more pirates are closing in. A major battle is inevitable."
"How many ships and sailors do you have?" Dany asked.
"Over a hundred ships in total. Most are flat-bottomed coastal cargo ships around 200 tons each. Longships and ramming warships number fewer than ten. We have under 2,000 sailors," said Hightower's second son.
"If I come to rescue you, it will no longer be possible to keep Earl Hightower's allegiance to me a secret," Dany said with a smile.
The Old Man of Oldtown wanted to support the Dragon Queen to secure his family's future, yet he wasn't ready to openly rebel against the Iron Throne—not while his liege lord, House Tyrell of Highgarden, still stood with the Lannisters.
"This..." Garth lowered his head in shame at the reminder of his father's orders. Blushing, he stammered, "My father... he... he asked Your Grace to pretend to be a pirate and hijack our fleet."
"What?" Dany thought she misheard. "You want me to rob you, as a pirate?"
"Gray Iron" Garth's face turned red as a baboon's behind. He stuttered, "Your Grace, you heard correctly. Everyone knows House Hightower purchased three million gold dragons' worth of grain from the Free Cities. Pirates across the Narrow Sea have swarmed to plunder that gold. So, if you found out about it, you too would..."
"Sigh... I'm sorry," Garth trailed off, closing his eyes and apologizing awkwardly. "Your Grace, forgive me. Even if we didn't run into pirates at the Stepstones, my father would've had you intercept the fleet in Blackwater Bay."
"All right, I understand," Dany ended her knight's embarrassment in good time and even comforted him, saying, "There's no need to apologize. Earl Hightower simply wanted to preserve peace in Oldtown and protect the hundreds of thousands in his domain from the ravages of war."
"Your Grace..." Garth's blue eyes welled with tears of gratitude.
Ten thousand years ago, at the end of the First Age, a land bridge called the Arm of Dorne connected Westeros's Dorne to the disputed territories of Essos.
When the First Men invaded Westeros through the Arm of Dorne, the green seers among the Children of the Forest joined forces to unleash a mighty magic that shattered the massive land bridge—hundreds of kilometers wide and over a thousand kilometers long—into countless islands of varying sizes. These are today's Stepstones.
The Stepstones lie at the mouth of the Narrow Sea. Half the world's sea trade passes through here.
Such a golden route—even Valyria seized one of the islands and built a Freehold fortress on it: Tolos.
One of the islands, called Torturer's Deep, might not be the largest in size, but it boasted a harbor as fine as Tolos.
Now, under the blazing midday sun, Torturer's Deep's harbor—shaped like a horseshoe—baked in silence...
Blue skies, white clouds, and a gentle northeastern breeze.
Waves lapped against the shore in succession, continuously brushing against the hulls of the ships newly coated in brown paint.
"Woo—woo—woo—" The horns signaling departure echoed across the harbor. Sailors bustled under the sun—some turned the capstans to hoist the anchors from the sea, while others, under the first mate's orders, raised the pristine white sails. Thousands of rowers lowered their long oars into the water and began rowing rhythmically to the beat of drums.
Ten massive warships lined up neatly at the port. Their white sails slowly rose as they gradually sailed into the vast open sea.
"Screeeech—!" Suddenly, a deafening dragon's roar rang out across the sky.
Sailors on deck felt a shadow sweep over their heads.
Looking up, they saw a black dragon with a wingspan over ten meters burst through the white clouds, flying in turn over each of the ten massive warships.
"Ahhh! A dragon, a demon dragon!!" The sailors screamed in frenzy—was it excitement, fear, or perhaps both?
"The Mother of Dragons is here! Quick, raise the ballista!" a captain on the bridge shouted urgently.
While many men were still staring greedily at the miraculous sight of the great dragon, the captain stomped his feet and cursed, "What are you all staring at?! We're pirates! Someone like the Mother of Dragons—she doesn't even spare slave masters! You think she came here for the view? Most likely she's here to rid the world of evil—and we are the evil!"
"Woo—woo—woo—" Just then, a deep, slow horn sounded from the flagship. Signal flags followed with a clear message: Do not act rashly. Do not display any hostility!
"I am the firstborn of Daenerys, Mother of Dragons!" boomed the black dragon, its voice thundering like a lightning strike, leaving the pirates below dizzy and stunned.
"Aaah—a dragon that… that talks?!" The pirates stared in disbelief.
"I am the Holy Light! I am the Mighty Heavenly Dragon! I am…"
The black dragon's current title was even longer than his mother's. He proclaimed his grand introduction in a majestic tone, regardless of whether the people below could remember it all.
"Is the pirate leader below named Aurane Waters?" the Heavenly Dragon Dahei finally got to the point.
By now, all the warships preparing to leave the bay had come to a halt. The rowers, hearing the dragon's voice, dropped their oars and climbed onto the decks, staring up in amazement.
"I am Aurane Waters, great and mighty Holy Light Dragon, Mighty Heavenly Dragon! I pledge my service to Her Majesty Daenerys! I am the bastard of Tideshead Isle, son of the former Valyrian Count. I swear fealty to House Targaryen!"
On the bridge of the flagship, a young man with silver-gold shoulder-length hair waved his arms frantically at the sky and shouted.
Before Dahei could even explain the reason for their visit, this bastard of Tideshead had already raised his hands in surrender.
Even Daenerys, watching from within Dahei's spiritual consciousness, was momentarily stunned and speechless.
Back when they left the Wall, Daenerys had stayed one night at Tideshead Isle. During that time, aside from recounting her experiences at the Wall, she had also chatted briefly with young Count Moutrey.
Moutrey had told her that Valyrian blood did not end with him—he had an adult bastard uncle named Aurane Waters, who was currently acting as a pirate in the Stepstones aboard Cersei's grand ship, calling himself the "Sea King Waters."
He had even asked Daenerys whether she wanted to summon that bastard uncle to serve her.
Daenerys had declined at the time. She thought the bastard of Tideshead was of poor character and held him in great contempt.
For the sake of a mere ten great warships, she had no intention of surrounding herself with a disgraceful traitor who had betrayed his former master.
After all, it was Cersei who had elevated him from an unknown bastard to the position of Naval Minister.
Yet, when Cersei needed him the most, Aurane had stabbed her in the back. Not only did he make no effort to rescue her from the Great Sept, but he also fled with the royal fleet.
Even if Cersei was her enemy, Daenerys had no affection for servants who betrayed their lords.
Just like the proud Zhuge Liang refused to trust Wei Yan.
Alas, the "smells so good" law proves hard to resist.
Look at that—only a week had passed, and here she was, rushing over herself.
One week ago, Dragon Queen: Traitorous scum, get lost! Don't taint my eyes.
One week later, Dragon Queen: Smells amazing!
It really was irresistible. The newly recruited subordinate handled not only the pirate-cleansing mission with ease, but also conveniently hijacked the Haitar fleet.
Having seized Cersei's ten super warships, Aurane Waters was now arguably the most powerful pirate in the Stepstones. He had already planned to plunder the Haitar fleet—and had even coordinated with nearby pirates, agreeing on the time and place for the ambush.
Two days later, a terrifying rumor began spreading from the Stepstones to the major city-states:The newly risen pirate king of the Torture Abyss, "Sea King Waters," had sworn allegiance to the Dragon Queen. With the help of "Deathwing," he had swept through ten nearby islands in a single day (which had belonged to the very pirate allies he had assembled to raid the Haitar fleet).
Daenerys had officially become the Pirate Queen of the Stepstones.
Pirate Queen Daenerys is now online!
(End of Chapter)
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