[Kevan Lannister POV]
It seemed as if all of Essos had been swept into the heart of a chaotic storm. It was difficult to comprehend, to understand, to make sense of the massive shifts this vast continent was undergoing by the day.
It had been a couple of months since my fateful conversation with my brother, Tywin Lannister, Lord of Casterly Rock. He had commanded me to sail to Essos to seek out an alliance with Lord Aeos against the rising threat of Rhaenys Targaryen. It was a part of his plan to deal with this Targaryen threat away from the lands of the House Lannister.
When Tywin and I first had that discussion, there were only two major and powerful players shifting the balance of power in Essos, excluding, of course, the traditional powers like Volantis, Braavos, the Iron Bank, Qarth, and the major sellsword companies. The two great players were Lord Aeos and Rhaenys Targaryen. One had firmly established himself with six large cities under his command while the other was in the process of establishing herself.
But even before my departure from Westeros, whispers had begun to filter in about a third force rising in the east. When we first heard of him, he was hardly a major threat. Well, at least when he was judged by the forces he commanded. He commanded barely twenty thousand men.
Yet, the reports, or rather rumours, insisted that his true danger lay not in his numbers, but in his terrifying charisma and absolute magnetism. In his personality and his ability to lead. In his ability to strategise and fight a war.
He was a Dothraki Khal known as Khal Aero.
The Dothraki tribesmen claimed he was the Stallion Who Mounts the World. That he was the prophesied Khal destined to unite all the fragmented khalasars into a single, unstoppable horde. That he was the one behind whom the Dothraki were going to ride to the end of the world.
Twenty thousand men seemed far too small a host to inspire such grand reverence from the savage and uncivilized Dothraki. They worshipped nothing but power. Pure, savage and brutal power. There were older, far more powerful khalasars roaming the Dothraki Sea.
Yet, for whatever reason, his people believed the prophecy. And in practically no time at all, his khalasar exploded in size. From twenty thousand riders to thirty, then forty, then sixty thousand. Entire khalasars broke their own ranks to submit to him out of pure reverence. Those who did not submit, Khal Aero defeated them in battle, absorbing their strength into his own.
Rumors painted him as a demon in a fight. They said he was a warrior the world had not seen in centuries.
Tales claimed that in one particular skirmish, he had slaughtered a hundred enemy riders single handedly. That he had dyed the land red with blood.
They said wild horses obeyed him like docile and trained dogs.
I did not know how much of it was truth and how much was mere myth, but I knew for a certainty that by the time my ship docked in Essos, a terrifying new power had established itself on the continent.
And he had not yet reached his limit. Given the sheer momentum Khal Aero was carrying, it was only a matter of time before his horde swelled even larger. He had achieved all of this in a matter of mere months. He might not be the immortal god like warrior the rumors made him out to be.
But even if he had built this empire on nothing but lies and theatrics, the man was no ordinary savage.
But even this was not the end of the chaos sweeping across the continent. I had barely set foot on Essosi soil when another startling piece of news reached my ears. In a shocking move, the free city of Pentos had abruptly submitted to Lady Rhaenys. I had heard about a visit she had been about to make to the city to meet Viserys and Daenerys but this was not something I could have imagined in my wildest dream.
Her rule had expanded overnight, growing from the single stronghold of Qohor to include one of the strategically important Free Cities. Pentos.
However sudden the surrender might have appeared, the underlying logic was reasonable. It was a given that, sooner or later, Lord Aeos would turn his expansionist ambition toward Pentos. Though the magisters would never publicly admit to such cowardice, rumors erupting out of the city claimed they had bent the knee to the Targaryen girl in a desperate bid to shield themselves from Aeos's inevitable advance.
From a personal perspective, this was a development I welcomed wholeheartedly. Until this point, I had harbored deep doubts about whether Lord Aeos would ever willingly provoke a conflict with a dragonrider.
But he would surely view Rhaenys' annexation of Pentos as a provocation. As an insult to his name and might. He might not take action against her immediately, but the seeds of conflict had undeniably been sown.
With her true power base anchored far to the east in Qohor, claiming Pentos, a city sitting right on Lord Aeos's doorstep and entirely far away from her own established territory, was an extraordinarily bold, perhaps even reckless, move.
I was pleased. Almost delighted. If I had previously harbored reservations regarding my brother's grand design, I was finally beginning to see its brilliant inevitability. Tywin's plan was going to work. I hoped and expected so.
With these thoughts occupying my mind, I navigated the bustling streets of Myr. The city was currently serving as Lord Aeos' base. His new capital was under construction not far from here, and if time and fate permitted, I fully intended to witness it before my return to Westeros.
Myr. I had visited the city years ago, but the city I remembered was vastly different from the one I was witnessing now. It had been utterly transformed.
In truth, this was not entirely unexpected. I had heard the endless reports regarding the sweeping reforms and structural changes Lord Aeos brought to the cities he conquered. It was the primary reason the smallfolk across Essos were so eager to fall under his rule. And, looking at the ordered, clean and beautified streets around me, I had to concede that the smallfolk were right. Lord Aeos reign was truly something to behold.
One of my men had already gone ahead to Lord Aeos's mansion to announce my arrival and formally request an audience. I was well aware of how difficult it was to secure a meeting with the young lad, but I had leveraged a considerable amount of Lannister gold and carefully cultivated connections to pave the way. I was confident that the doors would soon open for me.
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