Chapter 28; The next steps in our dance
Characters of the chapter
Falcon Agent in service to Iledia
Isabela Captain of the Siren'sCall II, admiral of the Felicisima armada (self-appointed)
Tallis Ben Hassrath operative
Yara Greyjoy Master of ships on the small council of the south kingdom, commander of the royal navy, Queen of the Iron Islands
Cursive/Bold text is in Qunlat
"Ah, home sweet home." Yara said, as the shores of her home islands were within sight. "I've been away from home on longer voyages. As far as Essos. And yet somehow it feels like I have not been back here in ages."
"A lot did happen in a very short span of time. I for one don't blame you for feeling a little homesick after that. And you had good reason to return already. Precious gifts you're bringing back." Isabela said.
"Yeah, you're very right about that. Precious gifts…" Yara said, her hand going to stroke the railing. As soon as the Triumph had gotten close to the Iron Islands, her people had been very spooked by reports of a dreadnought sailing for their homeland. More than one group of longships had challenged them along the way. Fortunately they had taken care to fly both the Targaryen and Greyjoy colors, which had allowed them to avoid an incident. Still, her people were being very cautious, one ship following them along the entire way, to keep track of their movements and ensure no other dreadnought would be mistakenly allowed to get to the Iron Islands. She was only pleased of their alertness. Better to be a little paranoid than to let an enemy such as this slip past their defenses because of negligence.
From her people she had received some good news. The other two fleets that had been sent against the Qunari had made it back to the Iron Islands. She had apparently been correct in assuming that the Qunari had lacked the ships to engage all three fleets at once. And with a timely warning the rest of their navy had had plentiful time to turn around before they could be attacked as well. The sea offensive had still undeniably been a failure, but at least enough ships remained to give her home a solid defense and realistic assets to continue the war with. Furthermore she had been informed that the royalist forces had achieved a victory against a large Qunari army, driving the Oxmen out of the mainland. All in all things seemed to be going reasonably well despite the setbacks. Enough to make her feel hopeful about the future.
"You know, I've been thinking, at this time of the year it would probably be best if you wait out the winter storms with us. You'd be welcome if you want it." Yara suggested.
Isabela smiled. "I was hoping you'd ask that. And it's true that it's probably best to wait for spring before setting off again, especially as everyone else that has the option is going to be doing that. I have been around these parts sufficiently long to know difficult sea travel in wintertime can be. Very well. I'll stick around for a while."
"Good." Yara said, smiling in turn.
"Drop anchor here. The harbor isn't large enough to fit a ship as big as the Triumph." She told one of her crew. A boat brought them ashore, where Yara found people from her castle already waiting for her.
"Welcome home Your Grace. We have been expecting you back for a while now. What would you have us do with the Qunari explosive powder?" The closest ironborn asked.
"Wait? You know of the cargo I carry?" Yara asked, astonished.
"An easy enough guess to make, considering the ship you returned with. What's more a letter from the Dragon Queen arrived before you did. It told us of your accomplishment and told you what she wishes to be done with the powder." The Ironborn said.
Yara glanced at Isabela, who shrugged. People around them knowing things they should not have possibly been able to know was a thing that had been happening more and more of late. Perhaps they should be used to that happening by now.
"And I was looking forward to seeing the look on your faces when I told you, too." Yara said.
"Might I see this letter?" She then asked.
"Of course my Queen. Here it is." The ironborn said, handing her a piece of paper. "There is also one for your… friend. From someone in Thedas by the looks of things. Once we learned she was travelling with you, we thought it best to bring that message to her now." He added, handing Isabela a second letter.
A moment of silence followed as both women examined the messages given to them.
"It says here that the Dragon Queen wants me to send all of it to Winterfell, from where it will then be sent onwards." Yara commented.
"Best get that underway right away then." Isabela said. "Only a matter of time before the Oxmen hear we have it. When they do they'll send spies to make sure we don't get to keep it or make any more of it. Holding on to it would only put your people at risk."
"Yeah, probably the wisest course. Pass it on so it's no longer any concern of ours. It's not like we would have the mean to figure out how to start making this stuff ourselves." Yara said. "But it's a bit of a shame. This likely means that the dreadnoughts cannons will be unusable for a long while. Won't get to do what we did to that transport a second time until then. And just as we were about to get her a full crew once more too. Though I'll suppose it will afford us a chance to examine the cannons and the structure of the dreadnought's hull. Those two at least are things we might have a chance of figuring out on our own.
"Getting it all to Winterfell could prove to be a tricky thing to do though. Her message implies the need for haste, so I'm guessing she wants this done before winter is over." She contemplated.
"The Triumph can be set to the task of transporting most of it to the mainland. She ought to be sturdy enough brave even the worst storms. Just in case I'll have smaller amounts divided between other ships, the biggest and most seaworthy I can find. That way even if we lose some to bad weather there is a good chance some of it will make it to its destination. And I'll send each ship on a different route, so if the oxmen try to intercept the shipments at sea they are unlikely to find them all." She decided.
"Sounds like a good plan. You just need to move quickly enough to get the powder moving before the Qunari have a chance to attack it while it's all still here." Isabela said.
"Let's get to the castle first. We and our crews can take a brief rest, then we'll get right on to organizing the shipments." Yara said.
"Out of curiosity, what was in your letter?" She asked as the two were walking along the path leading to the castle. She had noted how puzzled the expression of the pirate had become after reading it.
"It was from Varric. And the strangest thing, he's asking me to go to King's Landing. Not immediately, but soon enough. He said that he is going to be there himself for some meeting." Isabela said.
"A meeting? What meeting?" Yara asked.
"He didn't say. Just that something was going on that could use my help, since I'm in the neighborhood anyway." Isabela replied. "It's rather unlike him to leave out details like that. Normally he'd be upfront about any plan of his. Which means this is either not his plan or its something so sensitive he can't tell me about it over a letter. And the latter is not usually the kind of thing he gets up to, so I suspect the former. Still odd, but he has gotten tangled up in messes bigger than him on occasion, like for instance with the Inquisition. Though if he's hoping to drag me into something like that he had better have a good incentive at the ready."
"You may have that already. If he's asking you to go to King's Landing there is a good chance this is going to be even more work for the Kingdoms." Yara pointed out.
"I've been working for you, not the Kingdoms." Isabela countered. "But seeing that helping the Kingdoms is something you'd like me to do, I suppose there is no harm in hearing what he has to say. Plus he's an old friend. Helping those in need is kind of a given, even for someone like me. And I'm admittedly more than a bit curious now to hear what is this all about." She added.
"Do you suppose this could have something to do with the explosive powder?" She asked after a moment of further pondering. "I mean, King's Landing is probably the place where it will all end up, after all. That or Oldtown are the best bet to figuring out its secrets.
"It's a possibility." Yara admitted. "But if so, I'm still confused as to what your role might be in that. No offense, but I don't think you have the kind of skills needed to recreate the formula. At least nothing that the Twin Kingdoms and the Inquisition would not already have access to."
"They did not ask you to bring something with you? Supplies or people?" She asked.
"No. Just to get myself to King's Landing at least a few weeks before a date he mentions. And to make sure my ship and crew are there with me. He was very specific on that point." Isabela said.
"Then it sounds like they might be asking you to transport something or someone pit pf King's Landing. And since they don't tell you what, it implies they wish to keep matters secret, like you pointed out. Though that still leaves a lot of unanswered questions." Yara pondered.
Then she sighed. "I don't think speculating will get us closer to figuring what this is about. I suppose you will be told that when you get there."
"I suppose so." Yara said. "I just hope whatever Varric has in mind it's something I can agree to do. I'd hate to go to King's Landing for nothing. Particularly as this means I will have to brave journeying at this time of year after all." Isabela agreed.
"And so must he." Yara said.
"Yeah. I hope he finds a good ship and crew for that. Varric is not a sailor by any measure, so he may not appreciate the risks he's taking. Not all Kirkwaller crews would either."
The two had reached the gates of the castle by this time, walking through them. The other Ironborn went on their way, while they continued towards Yara's rooms.
"I guess you won't be able to stay like we had planned after all?" Yara asked, not masking her disappointment.
"Not all the way to the beginning of spring, no. But even as this is a long journey, it will be several weeks before I need to leave."
"That's at least something." Yara said with a faint smile.
"But even so, do make sure you leave yourself generous time to travel. This time of the year will slow you down a lot. You might get blown of course, get lost a few times. Might even have to beach your ship from time to time if the weather turns truly foul. And something tells me this is a meeting you don't want to be late at." She added.
"I've taken that into account, don't you worry." Isabela assured.
"Good. Then there is just one more thing about this that occurred to me. One we should take into consideration as well." Yara said.
"Are you sure this message really came from your friend?" She asked. "I mean, with everything the Orlesians managed, the ambush of my fleet and the King, I think there is a good possibility that this is some kind of trick to lure you out into the open so they can take you down."
"I… I'm pretty sure it's from him. It's his handwriting and he makes passing references to things only he would know to talk about." Isabela said hesitantly. "If this is a fake then it's made so well even I can't tell the difference. And if this were to be a trick, then I doubt they'd tell me to go south. They'd try to get me to go northwards, where I'd be more likely to be in range of their ships. I think it's more likely this is a genuine message. And if it's not, again it's made so well I couldn't possibly tell it apart from the actual thing."
Yara nodded. "Very well then. I'd just hate to see you leave here only to sail straight into an ambush. But if you trust this, then…"
Her words were interrupted by a sudden blur of motion. One of the castle servants was just opening the door to Yara's room for them when another man came around the corner, rushed to the servant and stuck a dagger between his ribs.
"What the shit!?" Yara exclaimed, hers and Isabela's hands going for their weapons as the servant dropped to the floor, already dead.
"Wait, wait, wait!" The second man shouted, dropping his weapon, raising up his hands and backing up a few steps. "I'm not here to fight you. I mean you no harm."
"Yeah, right. You just come out of here, knife a man, then try to say you aren't here to fight us. Very convincing. I guess we'll lower our guard and let you slaughter us now." Isabela sneered. Yara for her part had noticed by now that this other man was someone she had never seen before in her life. And a foreigner at that by his appearance. How one had managed to get all the way here apparently unnoticed was she would chew the castle guards over later.
"This man was an infiltrator sent here by the Qun, a traitor to your cause, which was why I was sent here to kill him. I can provide proof of this if I'm allowed but a moment to explain myself." Said the man.
An uneasy pause, both women keeping themselves armed.
"Speak quickly. Move from that spot or make any sudden moves and you're dead. Got it?" Yara said.
"Got it." The man confirmed. "I am in the service of the mage Iledia, who in turn is currently in the service of Queen Daenerys of the Twin Kingdoms."
"And your name?" She asked.
"Is one I will not reveal to any who is not a colleague of mine. You may refer to me as *Falcon*, which is the codename given to me to hide my identity." Said he.
"In any event, I was sent here by Lady Iledia to kill this man, who as I just explained, is a spy for the Qunari. One that we believe betrayed your battle plans to his masters, resulting in the trap you fell into. On the beach nearby you can find a cottage where he raised pigeons. Within you will find messages written in the Qunari tongue. I have already been there so I can show you where they are. I have enough knowledge of Qunlat to tell they contain reports of events here on the Iron Islands. Once you've had those independently translated they will confirm his true allegiances."
"And how are we to know these weren't planted by you?" Isabela asked.
"I am a recent arrival, having only been here for a few days, as your people will be able to confirm. Those reports reference earlier events, before I was even here. Should you investigate you will doubtless find they were events he could have observed or heard about, whereas I would have not had time to learn of them. Also, if I was a Qunari spy it would make no sense to reveal myself by taking this action. Not even in an effort to gain your trust. Far better in such a case to present myself as something nonthreatening and work slowly from there." He replied.
Yara thought back. Indeed she could faintly recall this now dead servant being present when she had discussed her battle plans with Isabela the last time she had been here. Like with other servants, she had paid him little mind. Most others in the castle would not have either. He would have been in a position to learn much, while going completely unnoticed. During the course of today he would have probably overheard the plans she had been discussing with Isabela just now. If so this spy standing before her deserved thanks instead of suspicion. If…
"I'm still not sure if I believe you. You say you would not have known of these events, yet you knew of these supposed messages. How could that be if you only got here recently?" Yara said.
"Because that much was revealed to me beforehand. How they knew of this I have no idea, but their information proved correct. That is good enough for me." He said.
"You may write to Queen Daenerys of this, Your Grace. She will confirm everything I've just told you. Until her reply arrives I can consent to remain under guard, around the clock if you insist. I only ask that you not restrain me any more than that. I have a second mission here to help you safeguard the dreadnought and the Gaatlock you have captured. I will not be able to perform that task if I am stuck in a cell." He added.
Yara considered. "I will write to her, like you suggested and keep you under guard until then. Your second mission will have to wait until I have that confirmation, however. Advice you give will be taken into consideration, but until I know for sure you are who you say you are I'll have to keep you away from the explosive powder. And at an arm's length from everyone else important." She finally decided.
"I guess that is the best I can hope for, considering my actions just now. But this really was to your benefit. Hopefully you will be able to see that soon enough." He said.
"Perhaps. And if so I am willing to apologize for my treatment of you. But until then I'm sure you appreciate the need to be careful." She said.
"Of course. By all means, take all the precautions you feel are necessary. Such measures are sorely needed in circumstances like this. And I merely intend to add to that effort as soon as that becomes permissible." Said Falcon with a bow of his head.
Yara turned her eyes back to the dead servant. If indeed he was one of their spies, she wondered if he might have had time to send word of their acquired prizes back to the Qunari. Word of that had reached here before them, after all. She hoped that was not the case. But all the more reason to move quickly, just in case.
Tallis and her friends were gathered around a fire in their tent. After fleeing from the battlefield they had managed to find a ship, spending several days crammed in the hold with other survivors as they were ferried to Bear Island. The journey had been made all the more miserable by the memory of the loss their team had taken. Upon their return they had reported the death of Hammer and held a small private meeting in his memory. Qunari belief held that a dead body was no longer the person they had been in life, but even so they had all agreed they wanted to pay their respects to their comrade. He deserved as much, and it was the only way for them to move forward. They had even gathered the ingredients for making their own alcohol for the occasion. The Qunari did not approve of alcohol or other foodstuffs of indulgence except on a handful of very special occasions, but this time none of them gave a damn about the rules. Not even Calm, who was normally the strictest of them about such things.
The days that had followed had been uneventful, This had been more true of Tallis than the others. Dart and calm at least could run the occasional errand and keep up their training exercises to maintain their skills. But because of her injuries she had been forced to stay put and wait for her wounds to mend and long periods of inactivity had degraded her physical fitness somewhat. Only now had she recovered enough to take part in light work and start to rebuild her strength to what it had used to be. She could not quite decide which part of this was more annoying: The feebleness she had to work through because of her injury, or because she had had far too much time to brood as a result, dwelling on the events of the battle, wondering if there was something she could have done differently, so Hammer would be here with them now. The weather had not made things any better, the coldness that had descended on them making things miserable. The proximity of the ocean had mellowed the drop in temperature a little, but it also brought winds that bit straight into the bone and were strong enough to threaten to rip away their tent more than once.
Much of their days had spent huddled around their fire, as sheltered from the snowfall and the winds as they could make themselves. Whilst a sullen silence reigned in their tent she lay on her bedroll, staring into the embers of the fire. Then some light from the outside entered the tent as the head of a Qunari soldier peeked inside.
"Elf who is Tallis, the commander has requested your presence." Said the soldier.
Tallis frowned, wondering what this could be about. "I'll be back soon." She told the others.
She stood up and followed the soldier out of the tent, through the encampment and inside the castle that had once belonged to House Mormont. When she had beheld it last it had still been a pile of rubble, its reconstruction only starting. Much had changed since then. The walls had been restored and improved upon by superior Qunari architecture. Cannons now guarded the castle alongside the soldiers patrolling the battlements. Inside all was arranged in perfect order and cleanliness as befitted the Qunari military. The Qunari banner was in evidence in many places, reminding all of the new power that now resided here.
She was led into the hall which had been turned into their command center. There she found the Qunari commander in charge of the invasion of Westeros. He was currently reading a message, a significant number of other letters and maps on the desk before him. No doubt his time had mostly been spent feverishly figuring out how best to continue the fight once winter had passed. No easy task at the moment, considering the beating their local land forces had taken. New forces could be called upon, but any sent here would inevitably be lacking from somewhere else. She had to wonder just how many lives and resources the Twin Kingdoms were worth, considering the pressure from on other fronts. But it was hardly her role to estimate that. That duty belonged to their commander and the Arishok.
She went to stand before him at attention, while the soldier that had brought her left the way he had come.
"You wished to see me, Commander?" She said.
"I did." The Commander said, lifting his eyes to hers. "A critical situation has arisen. Your team is to be deployed to deal with it immediately."
"Deployed?" She repeated. "Commander, my team is not ready for another mission at this time. We are short a man and I'm hardly at my best at the moment."
"I am aware of your status. But all regionally available Ben Hassrath assets are being scrambled for this, regardless of circumstances. This includes your group." She said.
That certainly gave her pause. Even as there were only a handful of them in Westeros, to have everything move on this, even suspending other operations if she had understood it correctly… this had to be bad.
"We have received word from our agent in the Iron Islands. Our enemy has reportedly commanded the people there to prepare for the arrival of a captured dreadnought… and a shipment of Gaatlock." He continued.
This time her heart actually skipped a beat. "Gaatlock? And you claim they captured an entire dreadnought? H-how can that be?"
"How this was accomplished doesn't matter. But a dreadnought has been missing since our battle with the hostile naval forces, so the information is likely to be genuine." The commander said.
"The demand of the Qun is that both the dreadnought and Gaatlock be removed from the control of the bas immediately. A full naval deployment is not possible during this season so your team will make the first attempt to locate and destroy them." He continued.
Tallis nodded. It made sense. Even if their warships could survive the trip they would almost certainly end up scattered all over the place. Too easy for the enemy to pick them off one by one with their own fleet. Or with the dragon. Even if they managed to regroup themselves by then the enemy would have plenty of time to move their prizes to a new location, somewhere beyond their easy reach. They had the lucky break of knowing where these things were right now. They had to act before that changed. Otherwise by the time they located them again their enemies might have had the chance to learn too much.
"A ship will smuggle you to the Iron Islands, where you will begin your search. You can recover your strength along the way, so you will be ready for action." He said.
"Does our agent there have any details to share of the situation on the Iron Islands?" She asked.
"Nothing new since his last message. But upon arrival you will contact him and he will assist you. You will be provided with the information necessary to contact him. He will be the replacement for your missing team member for the duration taking care of this matter will take." He replied.
"Understood." She said, nodding again. This spy would not be a proper replacement for Hammer of course, but it would be good to have her team at full numbers for the mission nevertheless.
"Of our two objectives the gaattlock is the more immediate danger. You are to destroy that first before turning your attention to the dreadnought, unless of course the opportunity to destroy both at once arises. If the enemy has already moved the gaatlock by the time you arrive you are to pursue without delay and leave the dreadnought to others." He continued.
"We will do so." She confirmed. "If there is nothing else, Commander, I will now go to inform the others of this." She added, then turned to leave.
"Wait. There is one more matter." The commander said, stopping her in her tracks.
"By all the reports you have been reluctant to inflict civilian casualties, even among the bas, so I am compelled to say this. If the gaatlock is allowed to become a tool employed by unthinking hands, countless lives may be lost. Not just for us, but for the Bas as well. Far more than any the destruction of this batch could cause. Because there is such great risk, the powder must be destroyed, at any cost. All other consideration are secondary. Under no circumstances are you to allow your compassion to prevent you from accomplishing this task. Far too much is at stake." He said.
"Do you understand this? Will you do your duty to the Qun, without deviating from your orders this time?" He asked.
Her expression became heavy, the realization of what might be demanded of her sinking in. "I will do my duty. As will my team." She nevertheless said, with as much conviction as she could muster.
The commander gave her a long look, trying to gauge her commitment to this task. "I will accept that. On your way then, Tallis. Your departure will occur tomorrow morning. Documents with additional information about your mission will be sent to you within the day." He said finally.
She departed, her mind lingering on this upcoming mission. "No biggie. We're only dealing with the perhaps worst security breach in the history of our people, about to depart on a mission more important the any we might ever undertake in our lives. Enough for success or failure to define the face of the future foe every one of us. No big deal at all." She thought with some sarcasm.