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—
Principality of Dorne
Sunspear
The night was tense for House Martell and the retainers hiding beneath the castle, expecting the Storm Queen outside their walls to strike and destroy them all.
In the morning, Princess Meria sent men to the enemy host's camp to relay her desire to parley.
Only for the men to report that the Storm Kingdom was breaking camp, getting ready to leave.
Meria Martell worried now, thinking that the blow would come any second, but Argella Durrandon just left with her host, not even bothering to damage Sunspear as she had done to the keeps along the way. They might be in hiding, but her vassals still managed to send her messengers.
Every second, the air grew tenser, but eventually, the Storm Queen and her host disappeared beyond the horizon, all without knocking down a single stone in the castle.
Emerging from the shadows, House Martell took the castle without a fight.
—
Ei would have preferred to give the host more time to rest, but the less time they spent in this desert, the better.
Leaving Dorne proved to be easier than entering it due to the damage they caused, but by no means was it peaceful. The host was especially down in spirit, believing that they had lost after coming so close to conquering Dorne.
Through Vaith, Hellholt, or at least the fissure where the keep used to be, Sandstone and Starfall, the Storm Kingdom abandoned Dorne.
Standing at the border after weeks of marching home, Ei turned to survey the desert before her.
Stubborn to the end, the Dornish first attacked her lands and then acted as if she were some foreign invader.
If they valued their independence so strongly, Ei would ensure no one would ever step foot into Dorne.
And no one would ever leave.
She raised both hands because the Electro Archon had never attempted to do something similar to the punishment the Dorne as a whole was about to receive.
—
Three purple commas, so great in size that they could be seen across both ends of Dorne, darkened the sky.
The host was startled, believing that the queen had changed her mind and was about to destroy Dorne.
But it was not to be.
Instead, a dome came down from the sigils in the sky, bending and twisting at the edges to fit the border, and slammed down onto the earth.
—
"Your Excellency, what?" Taryn Selmy, so opposed to her decision to retreat, was smiling now.
"Simple. We might be leaving Dorne, but the Dornish will never be able to."
Ei took a deep breath, a habit rather than a necessity for her. That had taken a lot out of her, but the war was over now.
The Principality of Dorne would never be a threat to her kingdom again, and she didn't have to kill hundreds of thousands of antagonistic civilians unable to truly defend themselves.
If the Dornish surrendered, very well; if not, they could spend an eternity inside that bubble.
—
Across Dorne, the missing nobles appeared to take their keeps back. Half of them were wrecks, with Hellholt gone entirely and members of House Uller nowhere to be seen, presumed to be dead.
Planky Town was burned down, and the river Vaith was redirected, cutting down on their usual water supply, but the invaders were gone, and the people of Dorne, common or noble, celebrated.
Then it became worse.
Three commas appeared in the sky, in that accursed purple color the Storm Queen was so fond of wearing, and the Dornish found themselves unable to cross their borders, barred by a shield.
Confused, they attempted to breach it. Arrows, swords, lances, and all other handheld weapons did nothing. So they tried to dig a tunnel, only to find that the Storm Queen's sorcery penetrated deep into the earth, deeper than they could dig.
Siege weapons were next, hurling rocks that could crush two riders standing side by side into a paste, which shattered on the purple, see-through shield.
The sea was beyond their reach, and Meria Martell realized something.
They were imprisoned in their own lands, never to leave again.
Unless they bent.
—
The Reach Prefect
Highgarden
Their return was met with celebrations, even if the Reachmen weren't enthusiastic about it. Feasts, bards, and mummers were all brought together for the victorious warriors.
That is until Ei revealed she had not bothered to conquer Dorne. There were outrages, mutterings behind closed doors, and plans of revolt in the hopes the Storm Kingdom might retreat, just as they had done in Dorne.
"You abandoned the conquest of Dorne, Your Excellency?" Lady Merina's tone was measured, but inside, she was fuming.
Queen Argella had gone and conquered the Reach, yet gave up on Dorne because the nobles were hiding and fighting from the shadows? If it was that easy for a god to lose heart, then perhaps Reach should have fought too.
"Indeed. I imprisoned the Dornish on their lands; they are not a threat anymore."
"Imprisoned them? May I ask how?" How would you imprison a kingdom? Gather all its people and throw them in dungeons? Even for a god, that sounded time-consuming.
Ei waved her hand, and the sky was covered by an illusion, showing the barrier around the Dornish borders. "I created a dome to cut Dorne off from the rest of the world."
"Oh." Perhaps it was a good thing they had not fought.
Even if the Reach had the most verdant and fertile lands in all of the Seven Kingdoms, they were still dependent on other kingdoms for a variety of goods. If they were to be suddenly cut off from trade, then not even their fields could keep them alive.
"This tax system is brilliant; well done, Saiguu." As if she had not just condemned an entire kingdom to chaos, Queen Argella praised the half-fox, half-human-looking goddess she had appointed as her regent.
"Is all of this necessary?" Her father, overwhelmed by the sheer amount of planning brought to the table, realized he was out of his depth.
"Of course it is. With a proper tax system in place, the kingdom will prosper like never before." The lords were unlikely to be paying taxes properly, and with this system, the smallfolk could not be taxed on a whim.
Argilac would trust that if this half-fox goddess could plan all this, she could make it happen too. "It will need good coin to put in place."
"I have already put it aside."
—
The hosts were dismissed, but the lords were to stay in Highgarden for the discussions on how the kingdom as a whole would move forward.
Dorne was out of the board; the Riverlands would be a part of the Crown, while the Reach would be overseen by a local governor, elected according to the nobles' management of the territory. The more prosperous the land they ruled, the more likely they were to be the Governor of the Reach Prefect for the next seven years.
For now, Lady Merina would be the governor until heirs could take their places since female rule in Reach was not something accepted easily.
The Riverlands, ravaged by war and the Ironborn, needed to be rebuilt, and with its lush fields and many rivers, it offered many potential areas to build on.
First of all, roads, bridges, and other infrastructure needed to be constructed on most of the land and rebuilt on some parts.
Dikes, levees, and watermills had to be built since the Riverlands faced constant flooding, especially around the Trident, allowing the floodwater to be used to irrigate crop fields.
Speaking of crops, they had to be diversified, and Saiguu suggested introducing flax for linen and hops for brewing, which was unsurprising.
River barges were a point Sasayuri had raised to facilitate river transport and patrols to prevent piracy.
Market towns, such as Fairmarket, would need to be created with a charter to facilitate trade, and of course, since the Riverlands suffered from banditry the most, even with the Ironborn gone, a local guard force to protect traders, travelers, and smallfolk.
Riverlands was like a gold mine waiting to be claimed but plagued by countless and constant issues. None before her—not the petty kings, not the riverlords, not the Durrandon kings—had ever considered taking the challenge.
Then again, one advantage of being an immortal was that she had nothing but time.
—
"Envoys?" Ei, sitting on the throne of the former kings of Reach, was curious. Loren Lannister was fond of sending envoys, but who else had come?
"From the North and the Kingdom of the Rock, Your Excellency." The herald bowed. He was a young knight of House Gardener, dressed in gleaming armor, terrified yet somehow keeping his composure.
Edwar Marbrand, then. "Admit the envoy of King Loren first; since we already had previous meetings, I should know what to expect."
As expected, the cousin to King Loren was admitted first, with several exquisitely decorated chests carried in by his servants.
"Lord Edwar, we meet again." What had brought him this time?
Edwar bowed, far lower than he ever had before. "Queen Argella, I bring my king, Loren I Lannister's, compliments for your defeat of the Ironborn, and his wishes of peace between our kingdoms. Long have the reavers been a scourge on this continent, yet no longer due to you."
His praises were obviously an attempt to get into her good graces, because while Edwar was diplomatic back then, he was not this eager.
"I am delighted to hear King Loren's desire for peace, and I share the same hope." At least there was one king out there not desiring war.
Edwar held out his hands, gesturing to the chests piled up behind him. "I have brought gifts for you from the treasury of Casterly Rock. I am sure you will find them more than acceptable."
Silks, gems, fine castle-forged swords, spears, and shields, and tapestries of her vanquishing the Drowned God, not entirely inaccurate, most likely sewn based on what they gathered from word of mouth.
It was nothing less than a tribute.
"Your king is generous. Do relay my appreciation." Still, she would take it. The weapons could be used to arm men, silk perhaps would make good gifts for ladies across the kingdom, and the rest of the wealth was just more resources for the rebuilding efforts.
Once the gifts were out of the way, Edwar asked for permission before approaching. "May I ask a question?"
"By all means."
"What happened to the Dornish? We had thought you were at war with them." King Loren, and most of the court, had assumed Queen Argella would take Dorne with the same ease she had taken the Reach and were prepared to sail to Sunspear.
Yet word had carried like lightning that the war was over and Queen Argelle was holding court in Highgarden.
"We were, but they decided to be belligerent, so I covered all of Dorne with a barrier. They are on a time-out until they surrender." Ei simplified her punishment for House Martell and all their vassals.
Edwar Marbrand looked as if his spirit was about to depart from his mortal coil.
"If King Loren is amenable, I would like to sign a treaty with him, to include respect for each other's borders and sovereignty, and to solve any issues that may arise through words rather than swords." Her offer mollified the envoy, who accepted it with a wavering smile.
"Your offer is most welcome, Queen Argella. I will carry your words to my king."
—
The herald announced the next envoy, a new face. "Your Excellency, Ryswell Manderly, a vassal to King Torrhen Stark, has come to speak for his king."
"Welcome, Lord Ryswel. What is it that your king wishes to say? We rarely have any dealings with the North, if at all."
Ryswel Manderly handed her a letter after his greetings, and Ei had allowed it, and after reading it, she had dismissed
The old gods had spoken to Torrhen Stark, informing him of Ei's true nature and warning that a war would see the North burn. The King in the North sent his compliments to Ei for vanquishing the Ironborn, wished for peace, and hoped for their grain trade with the Reach to continue unabated.
"How fascinating. I spoke to the old gods once, yet they never came forward again." That was unknown to everyone, as she had not cared about the matter enough for it to come up again.
As with King Loren's envoy, Ei offered King Torrhen Stark a peace agreement through Ryswell Manderly since they now shared a border.
—
"Those old gods actually exist? I thought they were just misunderstandings of humans." Even with the existence of many gods back in Inazuma, people still attributed several natural events to gods. Saiguu would know, as more than once she was blamed for things that she had no hand in.
"They do exist but are just cautious." At least, it appeared that way to Ei.
Sasayuri had seen no sign of the old gods in the North, but perhaps because she was not one and they did not deign to speak to her. "What do you want to do about them?"
"Nothing. We have no issues with the North, nor with their gods." If they did not wish to speak, Ei would not bother with them.
Chiyo offered her observation. "Still, the Lannisters are weary, as are the Starks, and the Arryns too, no doubt." Vale had not sent an envoy, and as perhaps the most devout kingdom worshipping the Seven Who Are One, they must have been especially worried.
"They won't attack us, and we won't go around conquering them for the sake of it. In time, they will see that we are not mindless aggressors." There was already too much for them to do; a new war was not something she wanted nor needed.
—
Essos
In Essos, the rivalry and constant wars between the Free Cities were heating up, and it culminated in the invasion of Norvos by the Targaryens. Unlike the ancient Valyrians, they preached freedom by banning slavery and promised the city prosperity.
With most of the ruling caste dead, the rest were either terrified merchants and common-borns or the grateful slaves freed from their chains.
But it did not end there. Aegon Targaryen had proclaimed himself the Archon of New Valyria and demanded the surrounding Free Cities submit, except Braavos.
Their roots may have touched Valyria, but none of them accepted it, instead choosing war.
Lorath, Myr, Tyrosh, Pentos, Lys, Qohor, and Volantis had readied their armies, using all available means to fight the dragonlords, especially sorcerers, in the hopes of killing the Targaryens without facing the dragons.
Having studied history, the Targaryens brought sorcerers of their own, promising them wealth and positions in his empire.
It worked, and sorcerers and other magic practitioners flocked to the Targaryens, but they did not stop there, instead offering sellsword companies a place in their empire as a part of their army.
The battle lines were slowly drawn, and Essos was ready to erupt in chaos.
—
In the next chapter:
"Princess, what do we do?" Someone asked in the gathered court, but Meria did not even look for who it was, gazing at the shimmering, see-through purple dome that had trapped them like rats in a cage.
"I haven't a clue." She muttered.
Walter Wyl, the young son of Walter Wyl who had just come of age, chuckled in a way that sounded broken. "Suppose that's why she left without killing us that day. She is punishing us."
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