Now he has designs on our own city!" he roared at the crowd, only to be met with more silence. Perhaps he was expecting something else but the crazed look in his eye did him no favors. I dearly wished to momentarily move my eyes off him and smirk at my mother atop Vhagar a ways away but I was not so foolish as to turn my attention away from an armed, and desperate adversary.
"He wishes to establish a new Valyria! One where he and he alone stands at the top!" he continued to yell, his bellowing voice spreading across the crowd that was now murmuring.
"I will not allow it!" he said in a flash, as he spun around and drew his dagger. It was a fine one, not quite Valyrian Steel but very well forged. Not that it mattered, however.
My guards did not even get a chance to react, neither did the Prince as Dark Sister left its sheath on my side faster than anyone could see. I swung my Valyrian Steel sword with my full might, and the speed at which it flew through the air beggared belief. In mere fractions of a moment, Prince Nevio was no more. His head was split in two by my razor-sharp blade.
A sudden gasp rolled out through the crowd and Prince Nevio's guards moved to react but my own stood in their way. A tense standoff ensued, accompanied by an ever-loudening crowd before I signaled to my mother and to my dragon. Soon enough the roar of two dragons silenced any loudmouths.
I scanned the crowd, ensuring that the nobles and magisters I needed to be detained had some of my soldiers, disguised or not, nearby before I began to speak.
"People of Pentos!" I yelled, and the quiet crowd watched me with rapt attention.
"Prince Nevio Iranhor was a traitor to Pentos!" I said first, planting the idea before I levied my accusations.
"He conspired not only against me and my family. Plotting to kill my infant sons and daughter! But he plotted against you as well!" I spoke loudly and clearly, and the crowd was quickly swept along by my soldiers dispersed through the crowd who had already been told how to respond to my speech.
"He sought to undermine our righteous war against the Braavosi! Sending saboteurs into the army! Working with Braavosi spies!" I levied the accusation and the crowd continued to be whipped up into a fervor.
"Now he wanted to kill me! He has rotted this wonderful city and his accusations are false. For I do not seek a new Valyria. But a Pentos ascendant! Free from its woes and enemies. Is that so wrong?" I yelled into the crowd and was met with a series of cheers and no's.
"I ask that you all join me! Join me in making Pentos greater than it ever was! Join me in sharing the spoils of prosperity! Join me in victory!" I roared and the crowd roared with me. Fully swept along by the bravado.
This whole charade was of course cover for the true happenings within the crowd and within the more exclusive area separated from the unwashed masses. My soldiers were systematically taking all those who were poised against me in the conclave into custody. My theatrics were simply to get the crowd onside and cover up the effective abduction of one-third of Pentos's ruling class.
I continued to play up the crowd, doling out small amounts of gold and announcing new policies, programs, and festivals. All the while more and more magisters and nobles were stolen away. Gagged and dragged into back alleyways and buildings.
My proper ascension to power would come later. When my wife and children returned to the city the newly reduced conclave would vote me into official power. But for now, it was time for a purge.
…
Standing on the great docks of Pentos. I impatiently tapped my foot on the stone as I waited for the ship I was anticipating to appear over the horizon. My family left Dragonstone with a royal escort of Velaryon ships a sennight ago and were due to arrive very soon.
The original plan, when I had first sent my family away was for my mother to return and pick them up. That was no longer possible. Sure Vhagar could carry my family on Dragonstone and my mother. Even if it would be quite the squeeze to fit two adults and three young children in a single saddle. But the birth of Vermithor complicated matters.
The hatchling dragon was far too young to fly from Dragonstone to Pentos. I doubted even Dreamfyre could make the flight at her age and size. So my father had elected to send them back on a ship, with a five and thirty ship escort from House Velaryon.
'Another debt that must be repaid,' I thought with a frown. I was loath to owe Aethan Velaryon anything but I supposed I could cook up some exemptions for his family. Reduced tariffs, and trade agreements, doling out some of my artisans' inventions. House Velaryon was a trading family after all.
Not only was I now monstrously wealthy but I was also the de facto king of Pentos. Even if all the reforms I had planned were not yet passed, my position as Prince of Pentos was already powerful. All decrees and laws ran through me. I personally stamped every law that went through the conclave and I had already moved into Nevio's old palace. It was only a matter of time until I got some sort of symbol to represent my complete dominance of Pentos.
Prince Nevio's old manse was a start but it was distinctly not portable and had issues. The sizeable estate in the center of the city was not exactly what me or Shiera wanted. Given the noise and smell of the city would undoubtedly beggar our ears and noses daily.
I needed a proper symbol to represent my newfound position. I had debated a crown with my mother and allies but hesitantly decided against it. Crowning myself right after conducting a purge was probably not the best way to assuage people's fears over Nevio's claims. We ultimately decided on a Valyrian Steel Sceptre for my usage.
I had acquired a decent bit of Valyrian Steel from the Iron Bank. It was not an enormous amount. Not like I could make a suit of armor out of it, honestly, I doubted I could even make a large sword out of what I acquired. A scepter meanwhile was symbolic enough and was not a slap in the face of my brother who just helped me dearly.
His letter toward me had if not assuaged, at least lessened many of my fears regarding my elder brother. He clearly wished to uphold some sort of familial ties. Whether or not that involved my regaining of Dragonstone was yet to be determined.
I wondered what it was like for Shiera, getting to live in the home that ought to have been ours. If I had been afforded my ideal life, I would have been punished with some sort of house arrest on Dragonstone, getting to keep my island and raising my children there. Now she was returning from the delightful and calm Dragonstone to the hustle and bustle of the city.
But thankfully we were no longer limited to just one palace. Not only did I still have my villa out in the Velvet Hills, now made habitable by the arrival of spring, but I was quickly becoming the largest single landholder since the days of Old Valyria.
Military tribunals had been going on for a full sennight now. The laws and courts of Pentos were helplessly corrupt so I had basically done away with them. New courts would be established and staffed with competent loyalists once some of my reforms began being passed. For now, however, the trial of traitors and "traitors" would be done through military means.
Banishment was the most common sentencing. For crimes entirely made up or real, dozens of magisters and nobles were stripped of their lands, wealth, titles, and dignity. Their families were disgraced, their daughters married off, their honor tarnished. Some of the worst offenders were even killed, even if I tried to avoid handing out that fate so readily. Everyone who stood against me was punished.
The trial of those who switched to my side after my assassination attempt was put on hold. Not until Shiera returned and began interrogating them would I make my decisions on their fate. I had to be certain of their change of heart after all. I had already dealt with assassination attempts twice in my life. I had no desire to do so again.
'Should I make something of a Kingsguard?' I wondered as my eyes continued to scan the horizon. A kingsguard like a royal guard would make me sleep a lot better. My current guards were certainly loyal but imperfect. The attempt on my life was a clear example of it. No serious attempts had been made on my father or family back in Westeros since their creation. So I was thinking of how to make it work.
Obviously, I could not simply carry the same system over. Not only did Pentos not have nearly enough knights, even if the success and love of my sellsword company was popularizing it again within Old Andalos, but the system my mother created was imperfect.
The Seven Kingsguards were woefully insufficient to guard the royal family, even with the royal guard serving under them. I trusted the Kingsguard well enough to guard my family from anything seriously dangerous but there were too few of them and their underlings needed reform as well.
They were simply too few in number, especially with its recent expansion. If they just had to guard the king seven could do, especially with a large contingent of the regular royal guards. But they guarded the royal family as it was and Instead of four royals, the Kingsguard in Westeros had more royals to protect than members to protect them for the first time. At least before my family left.
Such a system would not work here. Even if I could probably afford to lessen my security detail now that the Faceless Men were well and truly extinct, I would not do so. My carefree attitude and poor planning had almost cost me my family twice now and I would not allow it to happen again.
Picking loyalists, confirmed by my wife or mother, would be very easy. The Black Company would be the first place to pull from, them and my current royal guards. Not to mention the huge number of slaves I was going to free.
The families being dispossessed of their positions also gave up their slaves. They were technically property after all and after they were transferred to the state, I would have them freed. What to do with them after would be a question for later, thankfully there was plenty of land and small towns that would not be upset at getting an infusion of motivated workers.
Regardless, I needed a proper royal guard here in Pentos. My family was still growing and I needed more protection for them. I planned on retaining a more standard royal guard. Which would be screened but perhaps not as thoroughly as I planned for the true elite guards.
I liked what my mother did with placing the security detail of the royal family in the hands of the Lord Commander. Not only would it free up workload for me, but it would also give the guards more to do. Boredom was a killer after all and delegating out tasks both kept my aids down and freed up time for myself to spend with my family.
My time away from them had made it clear but I was spending far too much time neck-deep in politics. I decided many moons ago that I would change that. With my political dominance over Pentos absolute, I could afford to shirk off some of my more mundane tasks.
I of course would not stop working entirely, I was not such a fool as to cede all of my power onto others. But I would happily shirk off wrangling the conclave onto Illyrio and Gessio. Aeron could manage the army and the reforms I had planned, and I could place my trust in Rego to handle much of the new monetary burden of Pentos.
Now that the path was clear for me. I could see so many possibilities swirling in my head. Until now I had always been busy with some other more immediate concern. Like a war to fight or a political crisis to deal with. But now I had finally achieved the peace and security needed to start with my reforms.
My dwelling on that topic ended abruptly when I finally saw the teal and black banners of distinctly Westeorsi ships appear over the horizon. 'They're finally here,' I thought with delight as I stopped tapping my foot.
My family spent a little more than a year on Dragonstone. I had them sent away in the tenth moon of 32 AC and now it was the end of the first moon of 34 AC. They spent less time than I thought they would on Dragonstone but more time than I hoped they would have had to.
My fight with the Faceless Men was agony precisely because I had no idea how long it would take to exterminate them. Leaving even one alive was absolutely unacceptable after what they tried for the second time. But both me, my mother, and even Shiera all quietly understood that it could take years. Yet I was blessed with good fortune and my wife and children were only taken from me a little more than a year.
'Hopefully, that will be the longest we are separated,' I hoped vainly. I knew deep down that war would eventually call my name again. But it was all the more reason to treasure the time I had with them now. I would not let a second of it go to waste.
My mother to my right finally spoke up, with her previously being completely silent like myself. "There they are," she said with what I could tell was a good sort of impatience.
My mother had it perhaps even worse than myself. I am certain that when she moved here she was expecting to be able to spend practically all day with her grandchildren. Being denied that and suddenly thrust into a life-or-death war, even if it was a relatively short one. was no doubt upsetting for her.
She put up a strong front, however. Her efforts could but be overstated, what with her having killed the vast majority of the Faceless Men. I thought about how to repay her earlier but I ended up with the conclusion there was no real way I could. Not that she would accept anything I offered to her. The only thing I imagined she even really wanted in her life right now was more time with her grandchildren.
"Yes," I offered simply. Neither of us wanted a true conversation right now. All we wanted was to see Shiera step off that boat with my children in tow. We had fought hard and long for that sight. My mother tortured for it and I torched a fifth of Braavos for it. Yet in both of our eyes, it was a miniscule price to pay.
Not another word was shared as the boat neared closer and closer to the docks. There were crowds nearby us but I deliberately tasked my soldiers with providing a more private atmosphere for our arrival. The dock was mostly closed down, with ships left for the time being or moved to other docks. Meanwhile, the streets were made clear with soldiers.
As the clearly marked royal barge arrived, I was practically giddy as my eyes scanned the surface of the ship, just waiting to spot a head of snow-white hair. It did not take particularly long for the sight I had been dreaming of to arrive.
I spotted the distinctive, lovely shade of pure white that adorned my wife's hair and I could not help the smile that appeared on my face. Her red eyes soon met mine and we could not help but stare until the ship was finally moored to the docks and Shiera practically ran off the ship.
I met her halfway, both of us colliding into a ferocious hug. I lifted Shiera clear off the ground and spun her around once or twice while she squeezed me with all of her meager might. Meanwhile, my mother moved past us with a very obvious quickness in her step. She soon boarded the ship and disappeared into the cabin. Meanwhile, I remained on the dock, embracing my wife whom I had missed so dearly.
I thought of what to say then. "Welcome home," did not feel right. Pentos was quickly developing into a home for us but I still longed for Dragonstone. Now that Shiera had gotten a proper taste of life there, I imagined she did too. "I missed you" also felt off because no doubt we missed each other.
Eventually, I settled on, "I love you," with my face pressed into the top of her head. She was much too short for me to actually stand with her face-to-face.
She mumbled, "I love you more," back into my chest and all I could do was chuckle. I felt bad about sending her away, as I could see the damage it caused to her. But I would make up for it now. There were no more looming threats, nothing that could separate us for more than a few days, given the speed of my dragon.
Shiera suddenly seemed to snap back to life and pulled away from my embrace. Confused, I raised an eyebrow at her before she took my large hand in her own.
"Don't you want to come and meet your daughter?" Shiera said with a smile, tears of joy brimming in the corners of her eyes and I felt like I could punch myself. I missed the birth of my first daughter and I had not even seen her yet.
Shiera did not need to pull me as we both made our way back to the cabin of the ship. The guards and sailors on board all showed me due reverence but I ignored them as both me and Shiera approached the cabin with an even greater speed than my mother could manage.
Entering the cabin, the opulence and treasures on display within were irrelevant as my eyes quickly found Daeron. He was sitting on the ground messing with some sort of toy dragon. It was painted so I could not quite tell the material but at a glance, it looked wood. Either way, he was much too big from what I remembered and I could not help but hate the Faceless Men even more, as they had deprived me of my children for more than a year.
The next soul my eyes found was Baelon. Who was sitting on the ground near Daeron. The copper-colored dragon egg I heard about nestled in his arms. 'So it did not hatch,' I thought before casting the thought away. I could think about dragons and politics and the future later.
Then and lastly, I found my mother sitting in a chair, cradling a tightly wrapped babe in her arms. The location of Vermithor was a mystery to me, likely in the cargo of the ship but it similarly did not matter. As I neared the two, it was my wife who was the first to speak.
"Visenya and Visenya," Shiera chuckled and I could not help but laugh too as my mother gave Shiera a look filled with a myriad of emotions. Incredulity, shock, excitement, and gratitude. It was a positively foreign look on her face but Shiera's laughter mixed with my own at least brought a smile to her face.
I gingerly plucked my daughter from my mother's hands and lifted her closer to my face. So that I could get a better look at her. No words needed to be said in the cabin. As the atmosphere was more than sufficient. What was in that cabin was exactly what I had fought for, what I brought Northwestern Essos to its knees for. My family was with me again, at long last.