Game of Thrones: King of Magic

Chapter 47

Solomon. Braavos.

Twenty minutes had passed since Paulina had returned from Ars Paulina, and now, in the same living room of the mansion, Kirana and I were in the same living room with glasses of wine, watching Lavena chewing on the bread I had created with a very disgruntled face, cheeks puffed up like a hamster. And it was a sight that both Kirana and I found amusing. And all wounds, of course, were healed without a trace.

Daughter and mother had different reactions to the resurrection. Kirana found the feeling of returning from the other world unusual, overwhelming, but mesmerizing.

When I asked her to share her thoughts, she very passionately began to describe the feeling of weightlessness and a kind of freedom in an endless dark space with a bunch of shining stars. Apparently, Kirana's soul had found itself in that hole in the sky that gaped at Ars Paulina. Also, she spoke of her new interest, the stars, which was unusual, for before, only magic and family duty had been on her mind.

Lavena, on the other hand, was irritated, disgruntled, and indignant, but I could clearly sense a sense of frustration emanating from her. It was what could fully describe what she had experienced from killing Kirana and essentially having her wish fulfilled. But for all that, I could see her relief that things had been reversed.

Now Lavena didn't know what to think or what to do next. She had achieved her goal, but she was not satisfied with the result. However, it became clear to her that there was no way to get what she wanted. Kirana just wasn't that kind of person. Feelings of guilt or shame were simply not present in this woman. At least not right now.

Among other things, I was contacted by Shiro, using the Master and Servant connection, as well as informing me of a rather interesting development concerning Daenerys.

Well, she has faced the consequences of her decisions. The Dothraki horde is indeed numerous and has the potential for conquest, but it also has a whole list of factors unsuitable for her situation.

The climate and landscape in Westeros is quite varied. Dense forests, swampy and rocky terrain, roads eroded by rain or snow, and so on reduce the effectiveness of the Dothraki by at least half, because they rely on mobility and horses, and use open spaces to make the advantage of numbers work to its fullest.

They don't have the siege weapons, armor, shields, ships, or organization to mount a meaningful counter or siege against the regular army of the Seven Kingdoms, except to exhaustion. And because of this, the horde's advance will be slowed down many times over.

Also, conquest does not equal rule. The clearest example of this situation would be Genghis Khan and Alexander the Great. That the first and the second are great conquerors, but their methods were radically different.

The Mongol Khan conquered the land, leaving autonomous rule in the hands of local rulers, demanding tribute and constantly on the move. He understood what his people needed and what principles built his society, and therefore, in fact, did not rule the conquered lands, but rented them out, so to speak.

The king of Macedonia, on the other hand, ruled. His ideology, when the enemy should be defeated but not destroyed, subdued but not humiliated, allowed him to unite many different peoples under his flag and make them work as a single mechanism. And so his army consisted not only of Mongols, like Genghis Khan's, but of a whole hodgepodge of nationalities.

In Daenerys' case, she's an outsider among the Dothraki, so she can't think like them. She doesn't have the charisma, strength, or brightness to draw people to her and encourage them to follow her.

Right now she's just a young child with great ambition and potential, but her current situation is forcing her to choose and think and testing her to the limit. Caliburn has only made it clear that she has a chance to become a ruler, but not a guarantee. And now it's up to her.