The Zon were paraded out into the square, so that the people could see their enemy. They were shouting in Zonian, threats, curses, and the promise that Zon would conquer all. Only Ming and a few others understood the words. But the people of the city could feel the threat, could understand the animosity. Here was a real enemy, not some unknown threat. The watchers that had been on the hill, who failed to spot the invaders, were forced to eat crow. They understood their failure, and the people of the city felt their shame and their resolve to do better. They would all have to do better if they were going to survive this war, and here it was right in their faces.
Arya told Ming, "We should take this show on the road and let all the realms see that this threat is real. He nodded, and this was why he suggested this 'showing'. His report was far scarier than this show. It was clear to him that Zon was scoping out the coast for attack points and mapping. That means they didn't catch them all; some may still be at work or already be running for home. The telepaths were given all information, and Bran had replied that it was good work catching the ones they did. He mentioned the extra need to get the forts up as soon as winter relented, and that he would double guards and efforts everywhere. He added that a ship would be on its way to gather up the prisoners and the intel. The ship turned out to be the last trader of the season, and it would be heading back to King's Landing when it left.
Ming asked Arya to let him keep the man he knew in his prison, so he would at least know the man was being treated well. Arya looked hard at Ming, saying, "Only if you do not allow him to do us any harm, Ming." Ming said he would swear to that and hoped he might recruit the man because he knew he was a valuable intelligence officer.
The last spy ship was floating on the becalmed sea; the people who ran the wind propulsion were too exhausted to push it any further. They were out of water and food and were about to die. Then a dragonkin oar ship found them and took them aboard. They brought all their intel aboard, and they took it to the largest Zon port. The Zon High Council had a partial map of the west coast of Westeros to work with. It would take them several years to amass an army large enough to take such a large piece of land, but they would begin. The Easterners' secret weapon had eluded them so far. But they had their own weapons in early production, and they would have the secret one too.
Calancy was worried about her mother, Elanor, who was not doing well. The older Mangana assured Calancy that the potions he had given her would snap her out of it, but she was unsure. One of the things they discovered when they came here was new types of illnesses they had never had before. They had no immunity to these bugs. It would be a several-year process to get ill and recover before their bodies built up that immunity. Elanor was old, and it was taxing her body to recover.
The treekin had done well for themselves, their new homeland was perfect for them. It reminded them very much of their old homeland, in shape, the makeup of the land, and the trees. The trees were different here; there were kinds they didn't have on the other continent. But their crops grew, and their new grove of trees from their homeland was doing well. They enjoyed the timber work they were doing, and they were well paid for it. They shipped goods from Winterfell and Brandon's Rest and traded with the locals.
The stonekin had come with wagons full of stone and built them a large stone building with double walls. The space between the walls was filled with basalt, which insulated it very well. It held about 1000 people in the dead of winter and kept them quite warm. They had built a very large wooden building, which held most of the rest. It also had double walls, with mud stuffed between them to keep out the cold. A few had built their homes half underground, and those homes withstood the cold. And it was bitterly cold, the first real snow dropped over a foot on them, even though they were in a sheltered valley. It was worse out in the woods. Nymeria's pack lost several members, and she brought them past the palisade gates to shelter under the buildings' protection. The treekin could communicate with the wolves, so it wasn't a real imposition on them. They welcomed wildlife into their lands. They ate meat, but it was mostly birds they shot with their bows. They reached a point in their studies of Westerosi that Beth no longer had to be there to teach them. Interactions with all the other Westeros people had taught them a lot. They were cold but quite happy with their new lives.