Fatebringer | Viserys Targaryen

Chapter 15

She made it known they held Astapor.

Maester Kedry was given a gigantic pile to help her transcribe for the purpose of sending letters all over the world. Some to Norvos and Qohor, to broadcast what they'd done to those who'd been their allies. To Meereen and Yunkai, to make clear that they acted because of Astapor's greed and in-line with the threat they'd made. Several to the Great Houses of Westeros, to inform them of the reputation Viserys and Daenerys had, something very different from what Tywin had tried to say about them.

Viserys would be seen as a fierce defender, a man who did not tolerate insults to those in his house and had the strength to slay the cruel men they'd undoubtedly find on the mainland. Daenerys would be seen to hold a gentle heart that took care of children and freed slaves, but still had the ferocity to see a threat through if it affected her family. Ysira was proud of how the King and his heir would be perceived now that they were keeping slavery out of Astapor... for however long that might last.

She had their men begin packing provisions onto all two-hundred ships once they'd laid claim to the majority of those Astapor had to offer. She commissioned banners to be made, black sails bearing the Targaryen sigil in blood red. She numbered them off and assigned sailors and soldiers to each, ensuring a checklist was followed to categorize supplies and what'd been done for ship maintenance.

Daenerys and Viserys were placed entirely in charge of the Unsullied, and would be taking note of who would stay in Astapor and who would come with them. They'd be communicating with the Unsullied captains to delegate tasks and, with a bit of luck, hold Astapor for a long time to keep it free of slavery even after they left. Viserys and Ysira weren't sure that Daenerys understood the very real possibility that slavery would simply return the moment they left. She simply said that once they took the Iron Throne, they could send the Unsullied back with their captains and do something about it all over again without necessarily meddling past Westeros.

Letters began to arrive again, informing her of what was happening in Westeros. Lord Hoster Tully had died and at Robb's counsel, Edmure– now Lord Paramount of the Riverlands– had formally pledged his support for Viserys. Ysira replied with thanks, but gave no outright promises of reward, since they weren't yet sure what they'd have to offer. Still, she hoped to reward Edmure with a good marriage if he didn't find one on his own.

Tywin had been making moves left and right. Her uncle heard that he was planning to marry Petyr Baelish to Lysa Arryn to make him acting Lord of the Vale and use their forces against Robb and Edmure. On top of this, he'd done what Viserys more or less predicted– he'd betrothed Cersei to Ser Loras and was going to force Sansa Stark to marry his son Tyrion, the newly named Master of Coin. Clearly, Jaime had not yet made it back to the Crownlands.

Robb was understandably furious. Not only was Sansa being pawned off to a Lannister, but Arya had still not been heard of. Ysira knew they could not waste much time in Astapor, they needed to go and aid their allies and stop Tywin from seizing too much control in the Vale.

She sent word back to her uncle asking that he get on with their 'plan' for Tywin. Joffrey and Margaery's wedding would be an opening for him to be nearby. As long as he was subtle, using a slow-acting poison, he could be out of the city before any signs appeared. She underlined several times the sentence where she wrote that he was under strict instruction from her and his King that he do what he set out to do and nothing more. Putting him near the Lannisters was risky enough, given his temper, and she could not risk him on a terrible grudge. She told him that she expected him back in Sunspear by the time they arrived– she meant to finally meet him and would not be happy if he wasn't there to welcome them.

The last letter was more surprising, word having been sent by a captain of the Golden Company, a man named Harry Strickland. He claimed that his great-grandsire had lost his lands when he rose alongside Daemon I Blackfyre during the First Blackfyre Rebellion and, thus, Harry, his father, and grandfather all found themselves born in exile and raised by the Golden Company. He stated that he and the other captains were willing to reconsider their price, given what they'd heard about her coming into a great deal of gold.