WILOW-Ch.338: News from Astapor
Near the Moat Cailin, The Neck
POV of Domeric Bolton
The next day.
"No southern army ever managed to break through Moat Cailin," Domeric said as he rode at the front of his personal guards.
It had been a few hours since they left Moat Cailin, and Domeric was now heading towards the Northern host.
And at this moment, he was relieving the boredom of the journey by talking to Ygritte. And it was also a good opportunity for her to increase her knowledge of the places she had seen during this war campaign.
Therefore, the topic of conversation between Domeric and Ygritte was Moat Cailin.
"Moat Cailin is to the North what the Bloody Gate is to the Vale." He added.
"And like the Golden Tooth is to the Westerlands, right?" Ygritte asked.
He thought about it and nodded, "True. But while Moat Cailin and the Bloody Gate have never been taken over, such is not the case with Golden Tooth. And it is not the only chokepoint to the Westerlands either."
Ygritte frowned but nodded, "Haven't the Andals invaded North from the seaside?"
"They have. But large-scale sea invasions don't work very well in Westeros." He said, "Mainly because firstly, ships are expensive and rare. Secondly, you can only take a limited number of soldiers with ships, and thirdly, you won't have any backup or reinforcements if you invade foreign soil by sea. That, along with a good deal of guerrilla warfare and an aggressive leader, is why the Andals never managed to invade our lands."
"You don't seem to like the Andals very much." Ygritte pointed out.
"It is not that I dislike them. I do not. But I am quite bitter about the fact that they burned down all the Heart Trees. They may believe in another god, but that doesn't give them a reason to attack other people's beliefs and destroy their religious symbols. That is also why I dislike the Citadel as an institution."
"What did the Maesters do?" Ygritte asked.
"They not only deny the presence of magic but use all their resources to clamp down on any possible magical event. They have no tolerance for anything related to magic. If they see anything magical, they will do everything to destroy or conceal it, openly or secretly." He said. "They also accelerated the slow deterioration of the dragons under Targaryen leadership."
Ygritte nodded, "Isn't it better that…"
The communication mirror inside his pocket vibrated.
He gestured for Ygritte to hold on and picked up the call. "Lyra." He said as the woman's face came into view.
"My lord." She said and gave him a bow, "News from Slaver's Bay."
"Did Muron finally reach Astapor?" he asked. "He will. In an hour or two." She said.
He nodded, "Thanks for informing me, Lyra. If you hear any other important news, let me know." Lyra nodded, and he cut the connection.
"It took them a while." Ygritte said, "Isn't ship travel supposed to be faster than traveling on foot?"
"It is." He nodded, "But Slavers Bay is very far away from Regalis Port. In fact, covering the same distance with an army would have easily taken us a whole year, maybe more."
Ygritte nodded. "What are you going to do now?" she asked.
He thought about it for a moment. "I'll go and deal with those fucking slavers myself."
"Haven't you given enough gold to Muron already?" she asked.
"I have. But buying Unsullied is not the only thing I'm going to do at Slavers Bay?" he said with a cruel smile.
Ygritte raised an eyebrow.
"By the way, would you like to have a Lady's Maid?" he asked.
"Lady's Maid? No need. I can choose my own clothes and wash myself, thank you, but I don't need someone to do that for me. Where did that come from?" she asked.
"There's a good Lady's Maid candidate in Astapor. I'm thinking of bringing her along with the Unsullied when I go there. But I need to find her a job." He said.
"Oh. How do you know that? Anyway, never mind. I shouldn't be surprised anymore that you know so much. But as I said, I'm not a Lady, and I don't need a Lady's Maid." She said.
"Hey. You have the right to have everything a lady has. And when our wedding takes place, whether you like it or not, you will be a Lady. And not just any Lady. You realize that in the future you will have to wear a crown and sit on the throne as Empress alongside me, don't you?" said Domeric, watching the changes on Ygritte's face.
"Ugh… Do I have to? I have no problem with being on your side, but I don't think I can live and act like a lady," she said, making an innocent, sad face.
"I'm sorry, my love. You'll have to learn some noble manners and practice some formal etiquette. But you'll live. And don't worry, I'll get rid of many absurd customs from Westeros noble etiquette when I write Imperial Etiquette," he said, watching with pleasure as Ygritte's facial expression contorted with each word.
"Will you be able to return before the end of the week?" she asked, "Because it would be awkward if your personal guards reach the Northern host without you."
"I will." He said and moved forward to kiss her forehead, "Still, I'm contacting you every day. Keep me informed. And tell Varko that he is the second in command during my absence."
Ygritte nodded, "Be safe, Domeric." Then she moved forward and kissed him on the lips.
He was a little surprised when she entered her tongue, but didn't complain.
They separated, and he smiled, "Don't forget to feed Kilgharrah either." He said, "Or my horse."
Ygritte rolled her eyes. "I won't."
He smiled and climbed down from the horse before he apparated to a space at a distance where his men couldn't see him.
He then retrieved his flying car from his inventory, got in, started it, activated invisibility mode, and began to ascend into the sky.
He wanted to test the portkey feature of his new flying car for this journey to Astapor, and he couldn't have found a better opportunity.
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.339: Side Business
Ch.340: Will This Be Enough?
Ch.341: Conquering the City