"Ah Braavos, a city that for so long was a pain in the side of the Iron Throne. No Targaryen King ever brought the damned city to heel. And yet I have done so. I believe this will be the crowning achievement of my reign. I am more than happy to have it be so. This, this is more than a legacy. I have destroyed the Titan, and now, now we are secure."
King Robert I Baratheon
Triumphant, that was how Robert felt. He had taken on the Titan and destroyed him. As he sat looking over the great hall from the Sealord's Palace, he could not help but smile. This was an amazing feeling. The Titan was on his knees, and now the killing blow would come. He looks at the man kneeling before him and says. "Do you know why we have come here? Why we reached this point?"
The Sealord is a middle-aged man, perhaps a few years older than Robert himself, he seems bowed and broken. His voice is soft. "I do not my King."
It is with great satisfaction that Robert says the next few words. "Braavosi greed. You have for too long demanded things but not offered a fair return. I have looked through all the trade deals you have agreed with myself and my predecessors, and in all of them, Braavos is the one who has benefitted. I do not know what compelled a crowned monarch take orders from a lowly city such as yourself, but I know that that ends here. Today Braavos' power is broken."
The nobles who surround the hall murmur in agreement, the Sealord looks up then and asks softly. "What of the debt the throne owes the Iron Bank?"
Robert laughs, admiring the gall of the man. "Did you not hear what happened to your precious bank Sealord? Your bank has been looted by my men. The debt we owe has been written off because of that. Your bank has no more collateral on us, nothing. You have nothing. The debt, it is gone. You are now servants to my will." He feels a lot of pride in saying that.
"And what is your will Sire?" the Sealord asks, though Robert can hear a mocking tone in the man's voice.
"My will?" Robert muses aloud. He had thought long and hard about this, trying to decide what would be the right thing to ask of the Braavosi, the right thing to use to punish them. Eventually he had reached a decision. "My will is that from this day forth, Braavos will be a vassal of the Iron Throne. You will never be able to trade with anyone without the permission of the throne, you will not sell a loan to anyone without the throne's permission. The throne shall determine the tariffs you set, and the rates of interest also set. We shall determine all of this and more."
"And if this is deemed unacceptable?" the Sealord asks.
Robert stares at the man, surely the man is not so foolish as to deem this unacceptable. If he wanted to Robert could order his men-and they are his regardless of what their lords think- to destroy everything in Braavos. After a moment, he laughs and says. "Then the city will burn, and you will be remembered as the Sealord who allowed his city to burn, instead of swallowing his pride."
He can tell his words have a profound effect on the Sealord-good that is what he was hoping for- the man seems to hesitate, eventually, he sighs. His voice is heavy with grief when he replies. "Then I, as Sealord of Braavos and representative of my people, do hereby swear fealty to you, Robert Baratheon, King of Westeros, and do recognise you as our liege lord, from this day to our last."
Smiling, Robert stands, and walks down to where the man kneels. He places his hands on the man's shoulders and says. "I accept your oath of fealty. Rise." He helps the man up, then embraces him with the hug of friendship. He might be many things, but he is no fool. Once the embrace is ended, he looks at the man and says. "Go, have something to drink, eat, we will discuss the finer details of things later." The man bows his head and turns and leaves.
Once the man has gone, he hears his son ask. "Why did you let him keep his head, father?"
Robert turns and looks at his son. The boy had not done much during the storming of the city, but he had fought well once they were in the city, at least that was what Ser Meryn told him, but Robert did not much care. The boy was here now, and had shown an eagerness to come that he had not thought him capable of. He takes a breath then explains his reasoning. "The Sealord was chosen by a majority of the powerful here in Braavos. It does no good to replace him with someone else. He has an established network of allies and enemies. That is something I can use. Appointing someone new would take more time, and we do not have time." He thinks of the ghost he saw as he fought, Rhaegar's armour glistening in the sunlight, Rhaegar standing there taunting him, and he knows the time is soon coming.
"Do you think the man and the city will remain loyal?" his son asks curiously.
Robert considers this question, he thinks over the thing he saw, and he thinks on the images he saw in that house, and he shudders silently. Aloud, he looks at his son and says. "I think they will. If they do not, we will come back with all the might of the kingdom and destroy them." He sees his son nod, and he knows there is still some work to be done.
"We shall rise from the ashes. We always do. Dragons could not stop us."