-Chapter 126-
-12th day of the 9th moon of the year 299 AC-
-POV Jorah Mormont-
Entering the city of Yunkai to officially crown my queen was an immense honor for me. I thought her ascent was now unstoppable and that with her advent, the whole world could live under a just, noble, and legitimate reign.
That the whole world could then see her as I see her, as the purest being in the world.
But very quickly, everything took a much darker turn than anything I could have imagined, even in my wildest dreams.
Very quickly, once we left Meereen, the news of the fall of the power we had left in place and the death of the 500 Unsullied and 2000 guards responsible for the security of the city reached us.
The man who had managed to overthrow the power we had left to ensure the safety of the former slaves now free thanks to my queen was himself a former slave and had taken the name Cleon I, King of Astapor, and had even assumed the title of "Cleon the Great."
The rage I felt once the messenger informed us of the news cannot be expressed in words.
I immediately suggested turning back to retake Astapor from the hands of this ungrateful piece of shit, but ultimately the Queen decided to leave this matter for the time being because we first had to eliminate the last bastion of the Slaver Masters in the Bay of Slaves.
Thus, we proceeded to Meereen and astonishingly, the city surrendered on its own without us having to shed a single drop of blood.
According to the testimonies of the common folk, we were informed that just a few days before our arrival, the Slaver Masters of Meereen had decided to flee, taking with them most of the grain, food, and riches of the city, aiming for Volantis.
The celebrations lasted several days, and I still remember the joy I felt seeing the smile of my queen in response to the gratitude of all the people who were regaining their freedom after years of slavery, or even those who were discovering the very concept of freedom given the circumstances of their birth.
But nothing could have prepared us for what happened next.
How could we have known that everything was false?
How could we have known that among the people cheering us, some traitors were hiding, waiting for us to lower our guard to harm us?
How could I have known that I was putting my queen's life in danger simply by forgetting to stay alert for one evening?
It was my complacency that gave these dogs the opportunity to get us, and just remembering that moment still gives me nightmares.
---
-Start Flash-Back-
"FIRE!"
Late in the night following the festivities that occurred after the liberation of Meereen and the end of the campaign to abolish slavery, explosions sounded throughout the city.
I woke up instantly, and what I saw from the top of the Pyramid where we had established our headquarters instantly froze me with horror.
Green braziers could be seen at the four corners of the city.
'No, it's impossible, they wouldn't dare,' I thought, shocked as I saw the Wildfyre ravaging our...
"SHIT"
I quickly grabbed something to cover myself and my sword, then ran towards the Queen's apartments.
Upon arriving at the Queen's apartments, I pounded on her door, and a few moments later, the panicked face of the Queen greeted me.
"My Queen, we must absolutely deploy the Unsullied to prevent the Blaze from reaching our granaries, or we will face a food shortage and the Great Masters will have the advantage in a prolonged siege."
In a state of shock, still stunned, she said softly: "Handle this matter as you see fit, Ser Jorah. I have complete trust in you."
I bowed and then quickly left to give my orders to the Unsullied.
With Grey Worm absent, the 4,000 Unsullied in Meereen now received their orders from me, as I was the Hand of the Queen.
After receiving news of the uprising in Astapor caused by Cleon, my queen ordered Grey Worm to return and secure the safety of Yunkai by all means possible.
He took 1,000 Unsullied and 2,000 novices, far better trained than the average soldiers, and returned to Yunkai.
Although reluctant, he did his duty, and I had to do the same.
---
"SAND, SMOTHER THE FIRE WITH SAND," I shouted at the Unsullied as I saw them and the freedmen who came to help us extinguish the fire attacking the city's granaries trying to use water to extinguish the aggressive fire that was spreading much too quickly.
I set to work myself once I arrived on the scene. I saw that it was not the granaries that had been set on fire but the surroundings.
With enough determination and hands, we might even be able tocontain the advance of the blaze.
But after a few minutes of carrying sand to smother the green-colored fire, a question kept looping in my mind.
Why burn the surroundings and not the granaries directly?
By destroying the granaries in which we stored the grains we had brought with us from Yunkai as well as those remaining in Meereen, they could have completely paralyzed the city and might have even turned the starving population against us.
Why choose to give us the opportunity to save the granaries?
I stopped in my tracks, accidentally knocking over an old woman carrying sand, but I didn't take the time to check on her because something more troubling struck me.
"Black Rat"
"Black Rat at your command," he said.
"I want you to send ten men to each gate of the city as quickly as possible. Have them report back everything they find to the Queen's Pyramid," I said before heading to my horse.
He nodded his head and then ran off.
I nodded to my escort, who began to run after me as I tried to reach the Queen's Pyramid as quickly as possible because if my suspicions were correct, we might well be facing a threat of total extermination.
Swiish Swiish Swiish
A volley of arrows rained down on me and my escort, one of the arrows landed on my horse's flank and another lodged in my shoulder but, numb to the pain, I simply spurred my horse to accelerate.
'I really wish I had been wrong,' I thought as I risked a glance back.
The entire squad tasked with escorting me was decimated, the arrows, which were actually crossbow bolts, had pierced their leather armors, and then the assassins threw themselves at them in overwhelming numbers with only one goal: to kill.
'50 Unsullied dead in a single ambush, this is a damn organization of professional assassins,' I thought, my heart pounding both in fear and relief that I had escaped the assassination attempt on my own life.