On the walls of Pentos, several officers were fighting over a telescope, as though some grand spectacle were unfolding in the distance.
Unfortunately, it was far too distant to make out with the naked eye. All they could see was a cloud of dust.
Only the telescope revealed anything more.
"Let me have a look!"
"You've been hogging it forever! I barely got a turn!"
"The wall they're building this time is really tall," one Pentoshi officer remarked after finally getting hold of the telescope.
In the distance, soldiers climbed ladders to storm a section of newly built fortifications while defenders atop the walls loosed arrows and rolled logs down upon them.
Their weapons, however, looked rather strange.
The spears had no spearheads.
The arrows lacked arrowheads.
The swords were unsharpened.
Even the rolling logs seemed to be made of cotton. When they struck someone, they simply bounced away.
"Hmm... it's almost as tall as our city walls. Does Westeros even have walls this high?"
"Have you never heard of Harrenhal?"
Pentos and Westeros were separated by the Narrow Sea, so naturally their telescope could not possibly see that far.
What they were actually watching was a Targaryen military exercise.
Once Viserys had decided to annex Pentos, he immediately began making preparations.
The walls of Pentos were extraordinarily high, even surpassing those of Harrenhal, the largest and most imposing castle in Westeros.
If they attempted a direct assault, the casualties would undoubtedly be severe.
A prolonged siege was another option.
But there was a problem.
The other Free Cities, especially Braavos, would never simply stand by and allow it.
Once Pentos fell, Targaryen territory would effectively split the Free Cities in half.
Braavos, Lorath, and Norvos would be isolated to the north.
The Three Daughters and Volantis would be separated to the south.
Viserys could see the strategic implications.
Naturally, everyone else could as well.
If he launched an open campaign against Pentos, the battle had to be decided swiftly.
It needed to be over before the other Free Cities had time to react.
If the campaign dragged on, they would inevitably face a coalition of enemies.
Should the plan be exposed prematurely, even the future invasion of Robert's kingdom would be jeopardized.
In fact, it would be worse than that.
For years afterward, such ambitions would have to be abandoned entirely.
The Free Cities would keep him under constant surveillance.
To ensure success on the first attempt, Viserys came up with an unusual solution.
Military exercises.
He ordered his soldiers to clear a training ground between Gohor and Pentos.
There, they constructed a section of mock city wall and repeatedly practiced storming it.
The plan was simple.
Let Pentos grow accustomed to seeing drills.
One day, during what looked like another routine exercise...The acting would simply stop.
At first, the governors of Pentos had been terrified, immediately placing the city on high alert.
But as time passed, the soldiers gradually relaxed.
Eventually, they treated every Targaryen exercise as nothing more than a performance.
The drills continued for two or three months. By then, the timing was almost perfect.
The soldiers had accumulated valuable experience.
Meanwhile, Pentos's defenders had become increasingly complacent.
Inside the Dragon Palace, Viserys and his council finalized their plans. They intended to launch the assault within half a month.
Clinton stood before a map of Pentos, explaining the operation.
"When the time comes, Audro will arrange for fires to break out throughout the city.
We'll also begin another nighttime exercise.
The moment the defenders abandon the walls, we'll launch the real assault."
Arthur, Gerold, the Kingsguard, and the assembled officers listened with solemn attention.
Seated at the head of the table, Viserys added,
"I'll deploy the dragons to create confusion around the assault point."
After more than three months of growth, the dragons had reached nearly the size of young calves.
They were still too small to serve as decisive battlefield weapons.
But with their fire, claws, and iron-hard scales, they were more than capable of sowing chaos.
His proposal, however, was immediately rejected.
"Your Majesty, there is absolutely no need to risk the dragons," Clinton objected first.
"Indeed," another lord agreed. "Think of Balerion. Once they're fully grown, there will be plenty of opportunities to send them into battle."
"A single mature dragon can conquer a great fortress or suppress an entire kingdom.
If one of the hatchlings were wounded—or worse, killed—it simply wouldn't be worth it."
Arthur and the rest of the Kingsguard shared the same concern.
None of them knew that Viserys could project his consciousness directly into a dragon's body, granting it the instincts and judgment of an experienced warrior.
To them, dragons were mighty creatures...
But creatures nonetheless.
Young dragons could still be surrounded and brought down. Their concerns were reasonable.
After considering them, Viserys agreed.
He promised that the dragons would not be committed directly to battle unless the fighting reached a stalemate.
In truth, he had already decided to abandon the traditional tactic of having dragons simply fly overhead breathing fire.
Once they grew a little larger, he intended to transform them from fighters into bombers.
Wildfire could not yet be produced on a large scale.
But jars filled with animal fat and other combustible mixtures could serve as incendiary bombs dropped from the air, producing devastating results.
He could also accelerate the dragons' growth by pouring vast quantities of essence into them.
But that would be wasteful.
Every drop of essence spent was gone forever.
The dragons, on the other hand, would grow naturally with time. Unless an emergency arose, he had no intention of forcing their development.
Only after hearing that promise did his ministers finally relax.
Comparing the military strength of Pentos and Gohor, every one of Viserys's commanders felt confident that victory was well within reach.
At that moment, however, an unexpected piece of news interrupted the meeting.
The intelligence bureau established by the Hand had uncovered several spies.
Ordinarily, such a minor matter would never reach Viserys personally.
Qyburn, who had pledged his loyalty years earlier, had made remarkable progress in the art of live dissection.
He could now strip the muscles from a living animal without damaging any vital organs.
He knew exactly where to inflict the greatest agony while keeping his subject alive.
If Qyburn handled an interrogation, almost no prisoner could keep silent for long.
These spies, however, were different.
The moment they were captured, they attempted suicide without the slightest hesitation.
Death seemed almost like a reward to them. Only their leader chose not to die.
He openly admitted that he was a Red Priest. He even declared that he was willing to reveal their entire plan.
But he had only one condition: He wished to meet Viserys in person.
"Your Majesty," Davos cautioned, "fanatics like these are extremely dangerous. I don't think you should meet him."
Viserys merely smiled.
"Don't worry. No one here is capable of harming me."
"Bring him in."
What Viserys was really thinking was much simpler.
If necessary, he could kill the man himself. Once he seized the spy's memories, he would learn everything anyway.
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