-Chapter 127-
-POV Garth Flowers-
-12th day of the 9th moon of the year 299 AC-
"Lord Garth, His Excellency Grand Master Grazdan zo Galare is here and requests an audience," said a woman wearing a pristine white tunic.
I slightly lowered my head in a sign of respect to the White Grace, then said, "Tell His Excellency that I would be very pleased to have a discussion with him."
A few moments later, a man arrived; the man exuded arrogance, but in my presence, he deliberately put away his arrogant expression and bowed deeply.
He was afraid of me and, honestly, I could only understand why.
'To think that the noble city of Meereen almost got sacked by the king's aunt, with just a few thousand slave-soldiers and a dragon barely bigger than a dog.'
If Daenerys Targaryen had managed to inflict such damage on the Bay of Slaves, then it was only natural that he would suspect what my king could do with a navy of tens of thousands of sailors and hundreds of thousands of battle-ready soldiers.
'Especially after the show of force we had made,' I thought with a small smile as I reminisced about the memory.
-Start of Flashback-
"Lord Garth, are we really going to let him escape just like that?" said one of the assassins I had recruited in Essos.
"It's an order from my king, nothing must happen to either his aunt or Jorah Mormont," I said in an icy tone.
The latter lowered his eyes, then I said, "Send scouts to give the signal. We are going to ambush the rest of the Unsullied deployed in Meereen. Engage in combat only once you have managed to hit them primarily with poisoned crossbow bolts."
"Yes, Lord Garth," said one of my lieutenants.
-End of Flashback-
'2213 Unsullied. That's the number of Unsullied killed tonight in the panic,' I thought.
"Lord Garth," Grazdan said, bringing me out of my thoughts.
"Forgive me, I was reminiscing about the magnificent victory of the Great Masters."
Grazdan smiled, then he said, "We know perfectly well that the victory was yours, since we merely followed your directives."
"You are free to believe me or not, but it wasn't my plan, it was His Majesty's plan," I said without hiding the admiration and hint of fear I felt towards my king.
He frowned, then said, "Your King is a unique figure, capable of predicting the movements of his adversaries thousands of kilometers away. I think only he is capable of such feats."
Although I agreed with him, I understood he was trying to flatter me and win my trust while he did not believe a word of what was coming out of his mouth.
So I asked, "Did you want to talk about a particular topic?"
"Ah yes, I wanted to talk to you about a subject that is particularly close to my heart. I would like to initiate a cooperation that would benefit you as well as your king and, of course, myself," he said.
"Please elaborate," I said, feigning interest.
"As you know perfectly well, the Galare family possesses many riches: we have gold, influence, ships, and slaves. So I would like to discuss with your king a partnership to increase this influence while strengthening our ties with the crown."
I nodded, then said, "But... I may be mistaken, but to my knowledge, only the family head can make such decisions, and the head of the Galare family is not you, is it?"
Grazdan frowned and then said, "Old Krazdhar will not see next year; he is very ill, and with your support, I can become the next head of the Galare family."
I frowned without responding, then said, "Why should I accept this collaboration instead of simply denouncing you to your family? I imagine they do not know what you are plotting on your side, do they?"
His eyebrows tightened a bit more, then he said, "Meereen is far from its sphere of influence. Having a devoted person in command of this magnificent city would be a significant asset, don't you think?"
I nodded, then said, "I cannot make such a decision. We will talk about this at another time. Right now, what matters is finding Queen Daenerys' whereabouts."
"Now that she has passed the Kyzhai Pass, there aren't many places where she could be hiding," Grazdan said, tacitly agreeing to change the subject.
"She cannot go through the Red Wastes because she has made many enemies in Qarth. Her only choice is to head towards Lhazar to prepare her revenge for the future," I said, already aware of Queen Daenerys' next plan.
"Do not worry, we will soon convene a council so that an army will head to Lhazar. By the way, the Wise Masters of Yunkai have arrived; this will be an opportunity to discuss an alliance," said Grazdan.
"It will be an opportunity for me to finally meet our future allies," I said with an enigmatic smile."