Daenerys Targaryen
Daenerys took Meereen and decided to remain there for a time. During one audience she received envoys from Astapor. From their words it became clear that the city desperately needed aid, for Cleon the Great — once a slave — had seized power there. His position was precarious, as the overthrown Masters struggled with all their might to restore the old order, whilst the freed slaves proved incapable of governing the city and stumbled from one blunder to the next.
Meanwhile, in Yunkai — the city she had left behind — the Masters had reclaimed power and legalised slavery once again.
*
It was a bitter time, a time when she grew disillusioned with much she had done. She had dreamed of abolishing slavery throughout Slaver's Bay, yet instead realised with horror that she had brought only suffering, bloodshed, and pain.
Already many people called her conquests and rule the bloodiest era since the days of ancient Valyria and the Ghiscari Empire. Never in centuries had so many died within those cities. Never before had trade and culture fallen so low.
The former slaves proved poor rulers and wretched administrators. They could neither govern cities effectively nor command armies. Once the first euphoria faded, most simply did not know what to do with the freedom suddenly thrust upon them. They did not know how to seize control of their own fates — let alone the fates of others.
Daenerys wished to bring peace and prosperity to Meereen. Yet the divisions within the city ran so deep that she scarcely knew how to mend them. She had destroyed the old order, but could not reconcile former masters and slaves.
Nor could she devise a new system of rule that would satisfy all.
In the end she was forced into concessions and once more allowed voluntary slavery. With famine gripping the city, people had already begun selling themselves back into bondage by the hundreds for a handful of coins even before she granted permission.
The growing dragons did not remain idle either and soon became yet another source of trouble. More and more often the local people came before her to complain that the dragons killed not only livestock, but men as well.
The former rulers of the city, calling themselves the Sons of the Harpy, began murdering and persecuting her followers. Meereen sank deeper and deeper into bloody madness. Men died every night, each dawn bringing dozens of fresh corpses, and Daenerys did not know what she ought to do.
With bitterness she realised she lacked wise and capable counsellors. No one could offer truly sound advice. She was surrounded by good and honourable people — Barristan Selmy, Grey Worm, Missandei — yet none of them had ever been politicians. Their counsel, though born of good intentions, lacked depth and foresight.
Daario Naharis, captain of the Stormcrows and now her lover, possessed courage, strength, and cunning in abundance, yet he could neither see far ahead nor look deeply beneath the surface.
Daenerys keenly felt the absence of truly intelligent, competent people within her circle. She desperately needed someone cunning and far-sighted — a man who understood the movements and motives of human hearts, who could weigh many factors before making decisions, who was skilled in ruling others.
More and more voices called for the restoration of slavery. And what irritated her beyond measure was that many of those voices belonged to former slaves themselves, people long accustomed to being told what to do and how to live.
A delegation arrived from Qarth, led by her former acquaintance and would-be suitor, Xaro Xhoan Daxos. He offered her thirteen great ships, but only on the condition that she abandon Meereen and cease interfering with trade.
Daenerys could not fit all her people aboard those ships and refused him. In answer, Xaro sent her a bloodstained glove — a sign that Qarth had now joined the military coalition against Meereen.
Astapor came under siege from the armies of the restored Yunkai, whilst the Sons of the Harpy grew ever more hostile. Refugees from Astapor flooded into Meereen, and then true famine began. Her people recorded the first cases of cannibalism. Worse still, the former slaves brought with them a new plague — the bloody flux.
By then the opposition within Meereen had found its spokesman in Hizdahr zo Loraq, one of the Great Masters of the city, an influential merchant, and, as Daenerys herself suspected, the leader of the Harpies.
Tall and slender, with a long face and flawless amber-coloured skin, he dyed his hair black and red and styled it into the shape of wings. A thin beard hung from his chin, threaded through with golden rings. This man was a direct descendant of the old Ghiscari. He was handsome, intelligent, cunning, and graceful.
Exactly the sort of man Daenerys needed upon her council.
But Hizdahr wished to become her husband. He demanded a partial return to the old traditions and, in exchange, promised to calm the Sons of the Harpy and restore peace to Meereen.
He promised much. Yet Daenerys could not accept his terms. Unfortunately, she simply could not...
Instead she gave Hizdahr an evasive answer — if not a single murder took place in Meereen for ninety days, she would become his wife.
(End of Chapter)
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