While Asshai was caught in the grip of a monstrous catastrophe, Lynd had already flown past the island of Great Moraq. From the skies, he saw an army laying siege to the island’s only major city—Faros. Among the troops, he recognized the banner of the Golden Company. It seed Daenerys was making her move to wipe out the last remnants of the Thirteen of Qarth before holding formal talks with Nyria.
When Daenerys had taken Qarth, she had also placed the Thirteen’s families and allies under house arrest and secured the defenses on Qarth Island. However, she hadn’t been able to imdiately take Great Moraq, located just across the sea.
At the ti, Daenerys’s main forces were Dothraki. And though they had submitted to her, most of them were still unwilling to fight overseas.
Moreover, even with all her forces, she could barely hold Qarth and Qarth Island. She simply didn’t have the strength to launch a seaborne assault.
But now, things had changed. Daenerys had purchased a large number of Unsullied from Slaver’s Bay. She’d also hired several rcenary companies and incorporated a portion of Qarth’s forr military, giving her a surplus of troops. That was why she now moved to claim Great Moraq, a resource-rich island that would secure her rear lines.
Seeing this, Lynd didn’t mind lending a hand. So, as he flew over Faros, he had Deltos unleash a blast of Dragonfire directly at the city gates, blowing them to pieces and helping the Golden Company overco their most difficult obstacle in the siege.
During the attack, Lynd also noticed so changes in Deltos after their ti in Stygai. For one, his Dragonfire was no longer just a high-temperature fla—after integrating new powers, it could now produce different effects. For example, when burning Faros’s gate, Deltos had infused the fla with thunder and lightning magic, causing it to explode on impact and inflict devastating secondary damage.
According to Deltos, this might be due to an improvent in his mastery over his own magic, which had led to new techniques for using it.
Even more exciting was the news that his fire-elental wings were nearly fully developed. It wouldn’t be long before he could wield three different types of magic at once—a huge boost to Lynd’s future strength.
Lynd had also discovered during the thunderstorm that destroyed Stygai: when he and Deltos worked in sync, the power of his rune magic was amplified significantly—nearly doubled, reaching levels akin to strategic weapons from his past life.
And that was before Deltos had fully matured. Once he completed his growth and unlocked the full power of the four wings he possessed, Lynd suspected their combined strength would increase exponentially. Just how much, he couldn’t even imagine.
So after returning to the ruins of Valyria, Lynd decided to leave Deltos behind. The Black Stone there was different from that in Asshai or Stygai and would help him grow. Lynd himself then mounted the lava dragon Neltharion and flew back to Sumrhall Castle.
Upon returning, Lynd imdiately expanded the Miracle Fleet and ordered both the Fleet and the Miracle Guild to begin expanding eastward, using Qarth as the central hub. At the sa ti, they established Port Morraq as a forward base to begin exploring the continent of Sothoryos.
Lynd’s high-profile expansion of the Miracle Fleet quickly drew the attention of many powers in Westeros. But once they realized his goals were far-off Essos and Sothoryos, most quickly lost interest.
Only Dorne expressed a desire to cooperate. They sent Manfrey Martell, acting Castellan of Sunspear, to Sumrhall to discuss an alliance. It appeared Prince Doran had decided to shift his strategy and strengthen ties with Sumrhall, fully aligning Dorne with Lynd’s camp.
Lynd was naturally pleased. Though he had wealth and resources, what he lacked was manpower—especially experienced sailors. Even though he had ramped up training, it would take ti before new recruits could handle things independently.
Dorne’s participation helped imnsely, providing a wave of seasoned captains and sailors. It patched up the biggest gap in Lynd’s plans and allowed his eastward and southward expansion to skip the prep phase and move straight into execution.
Unlike Dorne, however, the rest of Westeros’s nobles showed no interest in distant continents. They were far more concerned with the current war in the Seven Kingdoms.
While Lynd had been away from Westeros, little had changed in the Riverlands. The region remained locked in a stalemate. What did surprise many was that Stannis Baratheon had landed at Stonedance and was now facing off against Renly at the border between the Crownlands and Stormlands. Many wondered if Stannis had lost his mind.
After all, most believed Stannis should be joining forces with the North to attack King’s Landing—or perhaps the Westerlands. But instead of targeting the real enemy, he had turned his sword on his own brother.
It was no wonder people thought Stannis had gone mad.
But only those truly familiar with Stannis knew he had no choice. Before taking King's Landing, he needed to secure his claim as Lord of Storm’s End and head of House Baratheon. Only then could he sit on the Iron Throne with rightful legitimacy—and that legal and symbolic authority was sothing Stannis valued above all else.
Compared to Stannis’s seemingly baffling actions, most eyes watching the war had shifted to the young King in the North, Robb Stark. Still only newly co of age, Robb’s recent military feats had been nothing short of dazzling.
First, he bypassed Golden Tooth through a hidden mountain path and took the undefended Ashemark. Then, when Golden Tooth sent reinforcents, he abandoned Ashemark altogether to intercept the relief force en route.
Tens of thousands of n were slaughtered, and only a few thousand made it back to Golden Tooth. The commander, Forley Prester, and his officers perished in battle. From that mont on, Golden Tooth lost all power to threaten the Riverlands and could do nothing but hide behind its walls on the defensive.
After routing the reinforcents, Robb circled back and retook Ashemark, then went on to capture The Crag within days, forced the surrender of the Doomfort, and pressed forward with his army toward Sarsfield.
Unlike Golden Tooth, Sarsfield was not a fortress, just a standard inland stronghold with no terrain to defend. If Robb wanted to, he could easily bypass it and strike directly at Casterly Rock.
Even Tywin Lannister began to panic at this point. He imdiately wrote to the lords of Crakehall, Cornfield, and Feastfires, ordering them to send troops to reinforce Casterly Rock. He also spent a fortune recruiting soldiers in Lannisport and contacted Faircastle, urging them to dispatch a fleet to threaten and potentially reclaim The Crag.
Just as everyone was bracing for Robb Stark’s assault on Casterly Rock, attention suddenly shifted from the west to the east—because Renly Baratheon, Lord of Storm’s End, was about to marry Margaery Tyrell of Highgarden.
This was a bombshell across Westeros. While the war north of the Blackwater raged on, the Stormlands and the Reach had preserved their full strength. If the two joined forces, their combined army would far outmatch those of the Westerlands, the North, the Riverlands, and the Vale. Everyone believed that once this united army crossed the Blackwater, King's Landing would fall, and the Iron Throne would change hands.
...
“Should we prepare a wedding gift in advance?” Bert quipped, glancing at the intelligence dispatch. “To congratulate the new king on his coronation.”
But his joke didn’t land. The others simply glanced at him, then returned to the docunts in their hands without a word.
“Mus, you’ll represent at Storm’s End tomorrow for Lord Renly and Lady Margaery’s wedding,” Lynd said, closing the folder on Storm’s End and making his decision.
“Yes, my lord,” Mus replied.
“My lord,” Jon interjected, “I’m afraid it’s not entirely appropriate to send Lord Mus. Lord Mace is your liege lord, after all. His daughter is getting married, and he sent you a formal invitation. If you’re not going in person, you should at least send soone of proper status.” As he said this, he realized how his words might co off, and quickly turned to Mus, adding, “Lord Mus, I ant no offense—I'm not belittling your status, I just—”
“No need to explain, Lord Jon. I understand what you're saying,” Mus said with a smile, cutting him off. “To be honest, I think so too. After all, I’d be representing the prince himself. If the representative’s status is too low, the other nobles might take it as an insult.”
Lynd looked at them and shrugged. “Mus is the steward of Sumrhall and oversees all its affairs on my behalf. Isn’t that high enough? And if you still think the rank isn’t sufficient, then fine—I’ll make him a count. Rather than fussing over sothing so trivial, you’d all do better to focus on what actually matters.”
With that, he pulled a docunt from the table and laid it before them.
“This is more important than anything else. From now on, this is where your focus needs to be.”
Everyone took a copy of the docunt, read it carefully, and one by one, their expressions turned to shock.
“Pentos wants to join the Kingdom of Lorne?” Bert quickly recovered from his surprise and asked, “Isn’t that sothing Her Majesty the Queen should be handling?”
“She’s occupied with other matters. Pentos falls to us,” Lynd replied, answering Bert’s question. Then he pointed to a list in the docunt before them. “Pentos has forty princely families and twenty magistrates. Right now, only thirteen magistrates and seven princely families have expressed interest in joining Lorne. That’s not enough for a peaceful integration. I don’t want a civil war that leaves Pentos fractured—I want a unified Pentos.”
Hollis Redwyne, the recently returned Supre Commander of the Miracle Fleet, asked, “And what if civil war in Pentos becos unavoidable? Should we intervene directly?”
Lynd paused in thought before answering, “No direct intervention. Just ensure the farmlands in the plains remain protected. As long as their civil war doesn’t spill beyond Pentos, we stay out of it. Still, avoiding a civil war altogether would be best. No matter how contained, it’s a drain—money, manpower, supplies. Your priority is to sway more of the princely families and magistrates to our side. Use subtle tactics if necessary—that’s fine. I’ll have the Silent Court and the Mage’s Association assist you. In so situations, they may handle things more effectively than you can.”
“Yes, my lord,” the group answered in unison.
Just then, a page entered the council chamber to report that Malora and her group were already waiting in the castle’s side hall.
Lynd declared the eting adjourned, dismissed Jon and the others, and instructed the attendants to bring Malora and the rest to him.
Jon and his companions rose and left. As they crossed the courtyard in front of the castle, they happened to pass Malora and her group coming the other way. Both sides exchanged only slight nods, no words.
Per Lynd’s deliberate structuring, the various forces under Sumrhall were loosely divided into three factions: the secular faction, made up of the bureaucrats and army officers of Sumrhall; the occult faction, composed of mages like Malora; and the religious faction, centered around shrines and temples like the Redemption Sept and the Miracle Sept.
Unlike the religious and occult factions, which often collaborated on experints or rituals, the secular and occult factions had virtually no interaction. Not due to animosity, but out of mutual caution.
Jon and his peers understood that the matters Malora and her circle dealt with were among the most closely guarded secrets of Sumrhall—things not ant to be shared, even considered taboo.
To them, even soone as trusted as Jon would face consequences if they got too close to such forbidden knowledge. Thus, both sides avoided unnecessary contact, whether in public or private. On the rare occasions where interaction was needed, they would only et in well-populated places, or with a representative of the religious order present.
As the two groups passed, Bert suddenly stopped in his tracks. He glanced curiously at Malora and her companions as they made their way toward the council chamber, a puzzled look crossing his face.
“What is it?” Mus asked.
“I think sothing big’s about to happen,” Bert murmured. “Not just the key figures from the Black Hollow showed up—people from the Mage’s Association, the Matron of the Quiet Court, even the High Priest of the Temple of the God of Magic are all here. And that forest-dweller called Graystone. What do you think it ans...?”
Jon shot Bert a sharp glare and cut him off. “I don’t know what it ans. But I do know that if you keep asking, Lord Lothor might invite you to visit the headquarters of the Blood-Armored Guard for a friendly little chat.”
Bert turned his head instinctively toward Lothor Brune—just in ti to catch Lothor smiling at him. It was only a smile, but it sent a chill through him. Bert quickly lowered his head and stepped into the lift without another word.
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