[I know most of you are eager for the story to move to Westeros but it will be few capters before story actually reach Westeros. Meanwhile, as the event unfolds we will have episodes containing reactions, plans and game of different people of Westeros. Slowly and slowly Westeros would be coming into picure before the story fully moves into Westeros.]
The news that an army thirty five thousand strong composed of the Dothraki and mercenaries of the sellsword companies, one that had been marching against Meereen had somehow been defeated was spreading rapidly.
Reports and rumours of ten to twelve thousand casualties at the battlefield were circulating throughout all of Essos. The account of eye witnesses was spreading far and wide and was the news of the continent. From small inns to large and luxurious pleasure houses to wine establishments, every place only this news was discussed and was being discussed with so much passion.
But the truth was so strange that it was very hard for most of the people to believe in it.
When the reports first began to emerge, everyone dismissed them as fabricated tales of fantasy. And they could hardly be blamed. The claims about the corpses were difficult to accept. Bodies torn apart by beasts, corpses with no visible external wounds, and many other bizarre details. How could all this happen?
The other troubling fact was the complete absence of any sign of the forces that had fought for Lord Aeos. If it was Lord Aeos who had defeated them as he had announced it in his city, then he must have some strong hidden army? But there was no proof. No corpses from his side. Nothing. That only deepened the mystery.
It was plausible, some argued, that Lord Aeos had carried off all his dead to give them proper funerals. But to do so before any spy could reach the battlefield? That seemed nearly impossible.
Another possibility was that the Dothraki and the mercenaries had fought among themselves. But what could have caused such infighting just a day before their planned attack? How was Lord Aeos aware of his victory? Was he the one responsible for the infighting? After all, he had left Meereen with the declared intention of trying to negotiate with them.
And the talk of beasts and animals made no sense at all. Was Lord Aeos also responsible for this?
But as more and more reports came in, each one verifying the earlier claims, people had no option left but to believe. Not every person and spy could be cooking fantasy stories.
And the people who could tell the whole truth,the surviving Dothraki khal, and especially the mercenaries were nowhere to be found. But the magisters were hoping that they would soon be located.
Another couple of days had passed since the mercenaries from the Golden Company had joined Lagsan's battalion. And on this day, another gathering of magisters had been called. Gathering of magisters of Myr.
The meeting had been arranged in complete haste in response to the circulating reports.
Around two dozen people were seated in a large hall, glasses of wine in their hands. The mood was dim, and every magister wore an expression of unease and anxiety.
"I believe no one needs to be told what the purpose of this meeting is," one of the magisters began as he rose from his seat. This particular magister was one of the most prominent men in the city of Myr. "Our plan, the grand and meticulous plan which we had crafted together with the magisters of the other cities, has failed miserably."
"Let alone ravaging, pillaging, and destroying the city of Meereen, our plan was not even able to inflict a single scratch on its walls. They are standing taller than ever with another feather of prestige added to the crown of Lord Aeos."
The magister looked toward another seated magister, who nodded and stood. He was one of the wiser magisters, known for his strategic mind and respected highly among his peers.
"As the magister said, we have failed in our plan," he continued. "But that is the least of our worries. We have far greater dangers looming over our heads."
"Firstly, and most obviously, to fund this campaign we have nearly exhausted the city's treasury. The city hardly has any coin left to hire more sellswords or the Dothraki to defend us if and when Lord Aeos' forces arrive at our gates."
This implied that if need arose, they would have to use their personal coins to fund the defense of the city.
"Apart from this," he went on, "this extraordinary victory of Lord Aeos has bolstered the morale of the people. A victory that was all but impossible, when defeat was all but certain and that too in such a manner, 'divine,' as the common folk are calling it, has put Lord Aeos on the front foot. Even the cowardly have found courage."
"And we know from Meereen and Yunkai that internal rebellion does more damage to the masters than any external army. It was that internal rebellion that threw open their gates."
"But how did Lord Aeos kill our army?" one of the magisters demanded in frustration. "If he had another army capable of defeating thirty five thousand soldiers, where had he hidden it? How could we not find about it?"
"It does not make sense for him to have a hidden force so large," he added. "And what is all this talk about beasts?"
No one answered. These were the very questions everyone was desperately seeking answers to. By all logic, Lord Aeos should not have such a large hidden army. Where could he have kept them concealed? Such a vast number of soldiers could not be hidden for so long without someone discovering them.
Just then, one of the magisters was about to speak when the doors of the hall were pushed open. A middle aged man stepped inside, gulping nervously. He knew that interrupting a magisterial meeting was a grave offence but the urgency of the news he carried left him no choice.
He hurried to the magister who had spoken first. The magister's face twisted in displeasure at the interruption, but the intruder bent down and whispered urgently into his ear.
Though annoyed, the magister listened. And the more the subordinate whispered, the faster the displeasure faded from his face.
Finally, the man finished and hurried out of the room, sweat staining his back. He was fearful and was happy to walk out of the room.
"Gentlemen," the magister announced, "we have news."
"Ten thousand men of the Golden Company have been spotted," he declared, startling the entire gathering. "Not far from the city of Meereen."
"And no, these are not the ten thousand men we hired. I have been keeping a constant eye on that force, and they are in an entirely different location."
"And it appears this ten thousand strong force is moving toward the other half of the Company."
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