The valyrian Freehold

Chapter 8: The Son of Amai

"The fisher queens ruled from a floating place in the midst of the silver sea, while the fisher kings ruled from the misty isle, perhaps in the gods eye, where the large lake overtakes the heart of the westerosi continent".

"In the southeast the proud city-states of cohor arose and the forest to the north along the shores of the shivering sea were the domains of the wood walkers, a diminitive folk who may be kin to the children of the forest between them could be found the hill kingdom of samari the long- stiffened hair and the brown skinned pale haired zecora who rode to war in chariots".

"Beyond the forest of cohor essos opens up to a vast expanse of windswept plains gentle rolling hills, fertile river valleys,  great blue lakes, and endless steeps where the grass grows as high as a horse's head from the forest of cohor in the west to the towering mountains known as the bone  grasslands, that stretch more than 700 leagues, it was here amidst these grasses that civilization was born in the northward of the shivering sea".

"Our council is that of a lower lord. A kingdom no grander than a water bank. The very thing that makes us special has also made us weak and without the rhoynar war will soon be upon us. With the death of our soldiers our kingdom is now divided..."

"A kingdom no grander than a water bank you say one of men repeated".

"I fear  your statement is untrue. The shivering sea is vast and has taken root for many centuries. It is how we have survived the ghiscari, the very gold you wear comes from our pockets, our seas, so tell me that again... they have thirved with us, hunt these waters, build on these very fertile lands without us half of essos wouldn't survive".

The man who had spoken before laughed. "Essos would survive your little recount of history but it does not save us from our predicament. If we stop trading with ghis the king will take it as treason, soon these very fertile lands will become theirs".

The second man who spoke before held a stern gaze at the kings door.

They rose high in their seats as the kings door opened. The son of Amai entered, the resemblance of his late father did not go unnoticed. Amai was buried in his hairy cloak alongside his famous chariot almost two years ago. Since then the kingdom has lost it's valor. They sat down once the king was seated. The sun shifted upon the balcony as his highness spoke. The light almost seemed to lean towards the bone mountains. No one knows of it's dangers but it is has been said that strange men ride on horseback with long braided hair as the wind sings in bells. That's when you know their coming. A folkstale from foreignors who no not of their might.

"Our kingdom is divided, we will use this turmoil in our favor. Calmorian Grazdan the Great will have half of our men to control and use as he pleases". The kings words shook the small council. "Let me finish", he said. "We will give him our men that favor us, all of them will be our spies. The gold that we have acquired will be given back to the shadow lands".

"But, Why?"

The first man asked in disbelief. "For an army far stronger than the unsullied, more powerful and demanding than ghis, with the help of this army the traitors who are still loyal to the ghiscari will have no choice but to bend the knee to the victor".

"I've already sent for our army. The only thing we must do is act ambiguous. As for the rhoynar I've already sent word".

"Now we must play like lambs for the slaughter". No one on the council spoke, as the king had already done his own bidding , they could only nod as the sun moved farther east setting near the bone mountains.

"He sent out our men to oppose them, under the king's own banner," how could his highness not see the danger we are in.

"If only I had gotten word sooner I could have taken some of that gold to buy ourselves a few sellswords".

"Blaming yourself for the kings plans does nothing, why don't you take his highness advice and act ambiguous".

"Thank you, old friend". The first man from the council said as he watched the boats leave the harbor. The man he spoke with left to join his crew also. He was told of their departure to the river rhoyne. A good deal in timing since he asked his friend to deliver a message to a water mage. His only hope was that the mage would remember their promise and help his king fight this battle.

Captain Claive joined his men as the bell rung in the harbor for a second time. The men removed the plank as they left the dock. The wind seemed to pick up in their haste. The message he was given had no seal the words on the parchment were nothing but old rhymes and stories to scare children. He placed it in his coat pocket before he departed to his quarters. Claive watched as his second in command followed slowly behind him with maps of their destinations in hand.

Rogers, "What have you heard?"

The poor lad stumbled on his feet as they entered the room above deck. A simple manoeuvre everyone could see. Don't let his small petite fool you. Those small manoeuvre have stabbed a man as sly as he.

"Captain", the short hand replied courteously.

Rogers placed the maps on the desk as his captain placed his coat on his bed. "As you already know this is a simple refresher. The rhoynar is a city-state governed independently. They praise the mother rhoyne, dieties of old like the crab king and the man of the river. They say that women are equal to men and homesexuality is tolerated but not in the way one may think".

The captain only indulged in his second in command hints with a sly smirk. "As you were Rogers".

He smiled before continuing. "They believe Garris the grey a hero drove the hairy men from the area of ny sar. And where the long night is considered a hero may have united with the children of the goddess, mother rhoyne to sing a secret song to end the long night. The andals also live close by, they trade with one another, and share knowledge of ironworking. I've been told that Princess Nymaria also resides in ny sar. Our destination is sar mell further down the river, it's close to Sarhoy, it may have the information we need about the water mage".

The captain said nothing as he left his room to chart their course. Roger followed in suit soon after, leaving behind his maps intenionally as he eyed the captain's coat suspiciously.

The first man from the council returned to the palace at dusk thinking of the many ways this war could be avoided. The only reason the Sarnor got invested in ghis was the whispers of an attack on the kingdom. The spies were to track down a conniving man in ghis who loves to make puppets out of men. But the information started to change when the valyrian escaped, knowledge of an empire ruins tends to get one's attention, especially when another one will soon rise in it's place. He could only hope it was theres.