(Dragonstone: 10/4/298 AC) Mai IV
The half drawn, woven shades, filtered the morning light and illuminated her desk just enough to read the contents of her reports, given to her by Clarysse Paege, a member of the Order of the Burning Tree. The thirteen-year-old girl, with dark brown hair, had previous been stationed at Castle Black, but several 'incidences' saw her return to Dragonstone, quieter, and timider than she had left. She and Azula had been incensed at the girl's experiences, and Azula made Lord Commander Mormont know of her displeasure and her expectations of punishment for the offenders.
"How dare they attack one of mine!?" she remembered Azula's rage and the sweltering heat of her audience chamber. "I will see their ashes dispersed into a damned gutter!"
'Had it not been for the Targaryen,' Mai shuddered at the thought. Clarysse Paege, like the others in Xai Bau's order, reported to one another, to allow faster, more discreet communication, then the information was disseminated to her, Stannis, Azula, or all of them, depending on the nature of the reports. Her ornamented chair creaked slightly, as she lifted Su Ai's missive, written in Fire Nation script, from the Stannis Fort. Another unopened report, from 'the Big Betha,' awaited just beneath the one she currently held.
"Initiate of the Order of the Burning Tree, and Communications Officer stationed at the Stannis Fort, Su Ai, to Fire Lord Azula of Dragonstone, Lord Stannis Baratheon of Dragonstone, and the Lady Mai, Overseer of the Grand Academy, and the Agni Shipyard:
Progress Report on Stannis Fort operations. Period 9-01-298 AC through 9-30-298 AC;
We have, thus far, managed to recruit several sellsword companies to our cause, as per the Fire Lord's command."
"Stannis will not be happy to hear that," Mai muttered to herself, pressing her finger against her sliding spectacles, remembering Stannis' dislike of sellswords.
"The Stormcrows and the Second Sons have both signed on to assist Commander Mormont in training our current stock of freedmen. The Golden Company has declined all generous offers for employment, while the others were far too barbaric, or too costly for what they offered. This decision was made in accordance with the Fire Lord's guidelines for hire."
She nibbled on a warm sweet roll, and sipped at her tea, before rubbing her fingers together, ridding them of stray crumbs. Down below, in the courtyard of the Administration complex, she heard the sounds of uniform footfalls. Turning to glance out of her window, she heard Chi-Ha shout.
"How many times have we done these cadets?"
"Ma'am, not enough, ma'am!" her trainees replied. Even at this distance, Mai could still make out Margaery's soft brown curls, tied up though they were, she stood out like a sore thumb amidst her straight haired peers.
"Not enough! That's exactly right, cadets!" the lieutenant turned around, facing her charges, running backward, and keeping pace. "How about we keep going until it is enough!"
"Ma'am, it'll never be enough, ma'am! We are inexorable, we are inevitable, and we are unstoppable! Our Flames, our Fury!" the cadets roared in unison.
The lieutenant had seemed taken aback, for she hesitated in her response. "The Fire Lord and her husband's house words, are more than just words, cadets! Today you have finally understood that. When those words are said, how do we respond?"
"Ma'am! Our commitment, our loyalty! Ma'am!"
"Well done, cadets! We will return to the Academy, you will hit the baths, and settle in for an hour of rest before classes!" Chi-Ha turned back around and led them down the path to the Academy.
"Ma'am! Thank you, ma'am!" Mai looked on for several more minutes as they disappeared beyond the crest of the hill. She returned to reading her reports.
"Triarch Nyessos Vhassar expresses his displeasure at having such a large army of sellswords and freedmen so near Volantis. Despite administrator Lama Ai, and Triarch Malaquo Maegyr's, constant reassurances regarding them, and our promises of having our support should anything threaten the Triarchy's well-being, Vhassar is still hesitant. Our sources within the city and the temple, hint at possible pressures from another, outside the Triarchy, influencing Nyessos Vhassar. We await the Fire Lord's orders on pursuing our investigation."
"In addition, our trade agreements with Volantis have made all those involved obscenely rich, and Doniphos Paenymion has shown his gratitude with his, albeit less than enthusiastic, support. Requests for paid escort on ships leaving Slaver's Bay have increased. Some of the masters of Slaver's Bay have offered the equivalent of four hundred Gold Dragons for a simple trip to Volantis. A trip which cost us but three days and around one hundred forty dragons in supplies and wages. Evidently, the example the Fire Lord and Lord Stannis made of the Stepstones, in regards to piracy, has shunted pirate raids from the Basilisk Isles. So long as 'the Firestorm' or 'the Inferno' were seen as part of the escort, that is."
'Depopulating a chain of islands would have that effect on people. Pirates or no,' she mused, tearing off a small piece of her honeyed pastry. Its sweet scent filled her nostrils, as she bit into it, savoring its sugary flavor.
"Salladhor Saan and his fleet still remain under our employ, a portion of his fleet escorts the newly built 'Inferno' in patrol along the ruined coasts of Valyria and the Summer Sea. The other half of his fleet escorts the Firestorm back to Westeros, with the requested luxury goods. The portion of thirty percent of the profits is still acceptable as the price of the business with Saan and his sellsails. Even so, Mormont has advised proceeding with caution, with both the Triarchy and our mercenaries, both ship, and sword. The Administrator and I agree with his assessment."
"Understandable," she sipped at her tea, refraining from taking another piece out of her sweet roll.
"On another note, Kraznys mo Nakloz, a Good Master of Astapor, has offered one hundred Unsullied for an Iron cruiser. While the offer was indeed insulting, the Administrator has taken it under consideration, so as not to offend Kraznys, and keep communications open for negotiation, upon review by the Fire Lord."
Her eyebrow twitched, "Azula is certainly going have a good laugh out of this one," she scoffed. "One hundred Unsullied for a cruiser? Pfft." She turned the page and continued reading.
"Furthermore, sporadic reports from freedmen who had gone as far as Vaes Dothrak spoke of rumors about a hidden city in the Bone Mountains taking in refugees escaping from Dothraki hordes. There may be nothing to these rumors, given the majority of the freedmen are prone to superstition, however, I felt it prudent to include this in my report."
"Finally, sightings of 'the ghost ship' have turned up again. Though the source of the information was questionable, a man who claimed to have sailed near the ruins of Valyria, reported seeing a ship similar to the one Lieutenant Chi-Ha had burned during the Stepstones, 'the Silence.' The captain of which she had reportedly killed, Euron Greyjoy. The ship's description was nearly identical to the one Chi-Ha had put in her report, down to the red, lean look, single mast with black sails, and dark red hull. The man even claimed to have seen a mouthless maiden, of black iron, on its prow, before the ship had disappeared into the Smoking Sea. I have informed initiate Shun Ko, stationed aboard 'the Big Betha,' just in case Ser Davos' business in the Summer Sea find him at odds with this supposed 'ghost ship.'"
"Hmmm," she tapped her finger for a moment, looking down upon the parchment.
"End Progress Report on Stannis Fort operations. Period 9-01-298 AC through 9-30-298 AC;
Initiate of the Order of the Burning Tree, and Communications Officer stationed at the Stannis Fort, Su Ai."
Setting down the letter, she lifted the unopened report from 'the Big Betha,' and slid it open, breaking the small wax seal. A set of nearby iron paper weights, fashioned into stags with burning antlers, were set into place to prevent the report from furling back up. Emptying the cup of tea, she set it aside, focusing on the Fire Nation lettering.
"Initiate of the Order of the Burning Tree, and Communications Officer stationed aboard 'the Big Betha,' Shun Ko, to Fire Lord Azula of Dragonstone, Lord Stannis Baratheon of Dragonstone, and the Lady Mai, Overseer of the Grand Academy, and the Agni Shipyard:
Reconnaissance Report: Summer and Jade Seas. Docked at New Ghis. Period 9-01-298 AC through 9-30-298 AC;
After discovering our quarry was headed towards Qarth, we set off in pursuit from Lys, as per our previous reconnaissance report. Vargyros' former first mate, Lazorno Ennatis, gave the Orange Shore so a wide a berth that it almost seemed as if their heading was taking them towards the Summer Isles. Given the location of the Stannis Fort, and more importantly 'the Inferno's' usual patrol route, along the Orange Shore, Ennatis' decision may have been intentional."
'You don't say?' her mind quipped, causing her to raise an eye at the mention of Vargyros. The man she had heard scream pitifully in the caverns all those months ago. 'So the rumors of him being in possession of the Targaryen girl were more than mere rumors?' She did not care for the man, he had been of ill repute, but the girl seemed to be an innocent caught in Azula's game. 'Ivory,' she recalled the name Azula had spoken.
"One of the few ships to have gotten past the blockade, and it was holding a Targaryen heiress," Stannis snorted. He stood still, examining the map of the continents resting on Azula's desk, tracing the outline of the Stepstones with his finger.
"Possibly, I heard rumors on and off for years before the Stepstones, and now I have something more substantial than smoke and shadows. She's a loose end, if true," Azula said of the girl. "One Robert would reward us handsomely for cutting away," she glanced towards Stannis. "Were I a superstitious woman, I would almost have called her escape…"
"Fate," Stannis finished for her. "Are we to trust the word of a pirate, then?" he questioned.
"Of course not, but we cannot exactly let this go," Azula answered, looking down at the map, her eyes resting on the Stepstones. "It's too big of a risk. Not to mention, he apparently had plans to trade her to a third party. However, he did not know the identity of the individual, only that the buyer's envoy was a Red Priestess, who always seemed to be cloaked in shadow."
"I assume it wasn't one of ours?" she questioned.
"As far as I can tell, no. I have enough spies within the Red Priests that follow me, to know something like this," Azula responded in a huff, the red flames suddenly flaring blue for a moment. "I am confident it to be the Red Woman, or one of her followers, who spoke against me. They have all since vanished from all the places they once frequented."
They remained silent, quietly contemplating their next move.
"We should inform Robert of this," Mai stated finally.
Azula's brow wrinkled up, a scowl lining her features. "Are you insane? The King's court is full of more holes than Braavosi cheese, and it's just as unsavory. Once word gets out that there may be a living Targaryen claimant, this 'Ivory,' everyone will seek her out. Both our enemies here, and abroad, would end up making our job at tracking her down that much harder."
"You propose silence on the matter?" Stannis frowned, his arms crossed.
"At least until we discover the truth and have her in our possession," she answered. "Then we deliver her to Robert, and he can figure out how to deal with her. So long as we were the ones to do it, we get the laurels and the recognition for the task. Perhaps then, Robert will hand us, or at the very least Steffon, the Stormlands, and give Renly some small holdfast far beyond the wall? He wouldn't dare take Dragonstone away from us after all the work we have put into it, nor would our work go unrewarded. Ty Lee inherits Dragonstone, claiming the fleet, Steffon inherits Storm's End and the Stormlands with it, while Ursa claims the North through Robb, and given the relations between the Vale, and the Riverlands, to the North, we will have all the alliances we need to crush the Lannisters. Stabilizing Robert's reign in the aftermath of the revelation."
"And we still hold Margaery," Mai added, somewhat saddened by even mentioning Ty Lee's friend, her friend, in their conversation.
"That we do, though the Tyrells and the Reach itself remains divided," Stannis grunted his reply. "The Tarly fiasco has given them all quite the headache it seems."
Azula's finger drifted to the former seat of the Tarly's, Horn Hill, now the seat of Garlan Tyrell. "Should the Tyrells unite the Reach against us, then Highgarden, and all the other lordships are the King's to…reassign," a dangerous smirk came over Azula's face.
"So be it," Stannis stated simply.
Snapping out of her memories, she returned to her reading of the report.
"Upon nearing the ruins of Valyria, an unexpected tempest found us losing track of him. Once the storm dissipated, we encountered a trader slightly past the ruined coasts, transporting various dried foods, hailing from Slaver's Bay, and headed towards Volantis."
"Hmmm," she reread the words on the previous report of the man who had sailed near Valyria, and had supposedly seen 'the Silence.' "The same man?" Mai questioned out loud, making note of it on a small scrap of parchment near the corner of her desk before she continued reading.
"He appeared shaken from the storm and was a cautious sort, keen on hugging the coastline in the event of another catastrophe. Before the wind and rain assaulted his vessel, he claimed to have seen a ship bearing the description of Ennatis' vessel, reddish-brown with purple sails, 'the Bloody Woman,' doubling back, towards the Basilisk Isles. Ser Davos theorized that his ship may have suffered some damage in the storm, for him to have chosen such a dangerous port. My father made the counter argument that perhaps Ennatis realized we were tracking him, and chose the Isles in particular for their hatred of any ship loyal to the burning stag. I chose the third option of it being a combination of both reasons."
'The best case would be for it to be the first reason, but knowing our luck it is the second,' the pessimist within her replied.
"Regardless, the risk has become far greater, especially if he knows and has spoken of our presence. Ser Davos has uttered the names of several pirates maimed during 'the Firestorm's' tour of duty, who would gladly risk their lives to destroy agents of the Fire Lord. Should brigands from the Isles choose to engage us, while we are on the open sea, we would be at a disadvantage given our small size and crew. We have only three benders, myself included, one repurposed, and seven Flameguard, in addition to Davos' standard crew of eight. Making port at New Ghis affords us some protection, but soon we must depart, and we only await the Fire Lord's command on whether we should return to Volantis and see if Ennatis returns that way, or if we should move on towards Qarth, to see if the pirate still intends to bring our quarry there.
End Reconnaissance Report: Summer and Jade Seas. Docked at New Ghis. Period 9-01-298 AC through 9-30-298 AC; Initiate of the Order of the Burning Tree, and Communications Officer stationed aboard 'the Big Betha,' Shun Ko."
She rose from her seat, remembering the random sailor both reports had told of and made her way to the large map of the Essosi coastline.
Her eyes were drawn towards the place where the capital of the great Valyrian Freehold was raised. As she stared, a small part of her was reminded of home, of the Fire Nation, with which the Freehold shared many similarities with. It's affinity for fire and dragons, but unlike the Fire Nation, the Freehold had long ago been reduced to a sad, broken ruin.
She reached out, her fingers running over the place where the Freehold once stood. 'The heart of an empire,' she ruminated. 'A country whose history spanned millennia, cut out and destroyed in a mere century.'
She had no idea why the morbid thought had come to her, but perhaps it was because, with Azula gone, Zuko would have become Fire Lord. Zuko would be the one to steer the history of the Fire Nation, and Mai hoped it would not be the same path that had led the Valyrians to their doom. She understood now, why Azula would stare at it for so long. It was not the thought that Zuko would lead the Fire Nation, but the realization that Azula would forever be denied the opportunity to do so herself.
Shaking her idol musings away, Mai recounted the approximate location where Shun Ko had encountered the trader and the story the man in Su Ai's report had voiced to her. 'Su had said she would warn Shun,' her mind focused, 'and since it had not been in his report, he must have encountered the man first, and that means…'the Silence' was following them. Or could it be it was following the same lead they were? How…'
Her thoughts went unfinished by a sudden knock at the entrance to her office. "Overseer Mai?" uttered Clarysse Paege's voice from behind the sturdy oaken door.
"Enter," She replied. Watching as the young girl meekly pushed open the door. "What is it?"
"Word from the Fire Lord, in regards to the reports," she responded in a squeak.
'Awake already, Azula? Don't you sleep?' Mai reached out for the rolled up scroll. "Thank you," she said to the girl, who quickly gave her the Fire Nation salute, of fist under palm, before scurrying out of the office. Breaking the wax seal of the scroll, the words found therein were clear.
"Fire Lord Azula of Dragonstone, to the Lady Mai, Overseer of the Grand Academy, and the Agni Shipyard. Message verified by the Red Priestess of Dragonstone Cyvia, Grandmaster of the Burning Tree, Xai Bau, and Ser Steffon of Dragonstone:
Summon Chi-Ha, and have her describe the events of the Stepstones once more. It cannot be mere coincidence that both the Crow's Eye and possibly 'the' Red Priestess were present at the Stepstones where the Targaryen girl was to be traded. Report your findings. I will speak to Greyjoy on his uncle.
Fire Lord Azula Baratheon of Dragonstone."
She lifted the small bell on her desk, ringing it. The large form of the Flameguard currently stationed at her door opened the entry into her room. "Clegane, could you please have one of the junior ministers summon Lieutenant Chi-Ha?"
"Yes, my lady," his gruff voice replied.
"Thank you," she returned to staring at the map of the Essosi coastline, before turning on her heels and striding up to the window. The morning had become bright, with seagulls cawing in the distance.
