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˖*°࿐ chapter twenty-nine. XXIX. THE WHITE-HAIRED QUEEN
"KING NALDEZ FOLER IS DEAD," Allister says to the quiet woman, who stood at the edge of the table with her white dress. "Murdered at his own wedding." Laelia wears a small smile; one less enemy to take down herself. "And we've taken Quirinese Navy, Your Grace," Korben adds. She looks at him immediately, eyebrows raised in the air, Darys correcting the old man as he walked to sit in one of the wood chairs. "The Second Sons took the Quirinese Navy."
"Who told you to take their navy?"
"No one," Darys plucks a grape from a vine, munching it as he sat down.
"So why did you do it?"
"I heard you liked ships," he countered, shrugging. To Laelia, it sounded as if he said 'chips' due to the food in his mouth as he talked. She looks away, staring at the floor beneath her as Korben and Darys shrug at one another. "How many ships?" She finally speaks.
"Ninety-three, Your Grace."
"How many can they carry?"
"Ninety-three hundred, not counting sailors."
"Will that be enough to take Estanding?"
"The Leygoods have more," Allister answers the woman, staring at the table. "They've been fighting Naldez's wars for years," Korben continues to the last statement, the Greystone looking at him. "They're tired, dispersed, another king is dead. Eight thousand Unsullied, two thousand Second Sons sailing into Blehsum Bay, and storming the gates without warning." Laelia cocks an eyebrow at Allister, smirking.
"It's hard to say," he tells them. "Could be enough. But we're not fighting to make you queen of Estanding. 10,000 men can't conquer Björndottir."
"The old houses will flock to our queen when she crosses the Narrow Sea."
"The old houses will flock to whichever side they will win as they always have," Allister rises. "There's other news from Iproni. Without the Unsullied to enforce your rule, the wise masters have retaken control of the city. They've reenslaved the freemen that stayed behind and sworn to take revenge against you," Laelia turns her back to the men, walking to the door that faced the balcony. "And in Tario, the council you've installed to rule over the city has been overthrown by a butcher named Calgon, who's declared himself his 'Imperial Majesty'."
"Please leave me," she shooed away the men and woman in the room. They all stand up and begin to leave. "Not you, Allister." He walks up to her, Laelia turning to look at him. She doesn't look happy. "It appears my liberation of Slaver's Bay isn't going quite as planned."
