13 Chapter 13

Yunkai, a city with a rich history built over countless bodies of slaves. Daenerys had camped nearby and sent a messenger for the masters the surrender and avoid a sacking like that if Astapor.

The Wise Masters they called themselves. An order of rulers who rose to power by treachery and corruption. Edwyn's senses screamed at him just like the time he was in New Ghis. It was getting harder for him to keep the rage rising from within him in check. He feared that sooner or later, it will explode... and the world will be set ablaze with it.

Edwyn wanted to end his journey in Essos as quickly as he could. News from Westeros had reached him that Stannis Baratheon lost in his attempt to seize the Iron Throne. The man was being corrupted by a priestess who followed R'hllor. The man had fallen so low that he murdered his own brother with dark magic. Now that he thought about it, the order of all those who followed R'hllor was in Essos.

Edwyn smirked, 'Well, at least I have something I can release my wrath upon.'

The emissary of the masters arrived at Daenerys' camp sitting atop a palanquin carried by several slaves.

Razdal Mo Eraz, the man reeked of arrogance, so much so that Edwyn wrinkled his nose in disgust. He approached Daenerys, ignoring the chair placed for him but was stopped by her dragons as they hissed dangerously at the man.

Eraz stopped, backed away and took his seat.

Daenerys began, "Are you here to surrender? If not then prepare yourselves for a fate worse than the masters of Astapor."

Eraz stared at Daenerys and slowly gestured to his slaves who came forward and placed a chest near her men.

"I pride myself on my knowledge of the savage senseless west. And yet, why should we speak thus harshly to one another? It is true that you committed savageries in Astapor, but we Yunkish are a most forgiving people. Your quarrel is not with us, Your Grace. Why squander your strength against our mighty walls when you will need every man to regain your father's throne in far Westeros?"

He nodded to the chest and continued, "Yunkai wishes you only well in that endeavour, and to prove the truth of that, I have brought you a gift. Fifty thousand golden marks. Yours, as a gesture of friendship from the Wise Masters of Yunkai. Gold given freely is better than plunder bought with blood, surely? So I say to you, Daenerys Targaryen, take this chest, and go."

Daenerys immediately replied, "Then I too have a gift for you. Your life."

Eraz shifted in his seat and asked, "My life?"

Daenerys nodded, "And the lives of your Wise Masters. But I also want something in return. You will release every slave in Yunkai. Every man, woman, and child shall be given as much food, clothing, and property as they can carry as payment for their years of servitude. Reject this gift, and I shall show you no mercy."

Eraz glowered with anger, "You are mad! We are not Astapor or Qarth! We are Yunkai and we have powerful friends. Friends who would take great pleasure in destroying you. Those who survive, we shall enslave once more. Perhaps we'll make a slave of you as well..."

One of Daenerys' dragons screeched at him, "... You swore me safe-conduct!"

Daenerys said smugly, "I did, but my dragons made no promises. And you threatened their mother."

Eraz shot up from his seat and ordered his slaves to take the gold away. The dragons hissed at the slaves, stopping them from coming near the chest.

"My gold. You gave it to me, remember? And I shall put it to good use. You'd be wise to do the same with my gift to you. Now get out!"

Eraz glowered at her, "You shall rue this arrogance, whore! These little lizards will not keep you safe, I promise you! We will fill the air with arrows if they come within a league of Yunkai. Do you think it is so hard to kill a dragon?"

Before the man ended in the stomach of the dragons, Edwyn stepped forward, placed a heavy hand on his shoulder and said menacingly, "There are things far more dangerous in this world than dragons. You call yourself wise yet you threaten a woman who these dragons believe to be their mother. You... are 'nothing'. Your friends and your sellsword armies are 'nothing'. These slaves that came with you, they'll stay here while you'll walk back to your fellow trash of humans called masters. Either you put an end to slavery, or we put an end to you."

Eraz couldn't breathe under the pressure that emanated from Edwyn's sheer presence. With his legs shaking from absolute fright, he swiftly walked out of the tent and back to Yunkai.

Edwyn glanced at Daenerys and nodded. She handled it well and like always, he made sure to convey it to her with subtle nods or gestures so that she knew that she was on the right track.

The Yunkish masters were proud men and women. It won't be so easy to bend them to Daenerys' will.

(NAGOT)

King's Landing used to be a city in which people lived with little fear. They had food, clothing and shelter. But, since the day Edwyn was made to leave, the vultures came out of hiding and reined hell upon the innocent common folk.

After the death of Robert Baratheon, it only got worse with a crazed king on the Iron Throne who took pleasure with others' pain.

With the kingdoms at war, the common folk suffered from starvation, poverty and disease. It got so bad that mothers had to offer their bodies up to feed their children.

But soon, it all began to change. Edwyn foresaw that a day may come when the kingdom would not be able to provide basic necessities to its people. So, for years, with the help of some loyal men, he stored grain and clothing deep under the grounds of King's Landing.

Borgy, formerly a lowly cutthroat who was redeemed by Edwyn when he learnt about the man's plight, was extremely loyal to the red-eyed prince. Borgy's family was held captive by a rich merchant who forced him to do all the dirty work and kill his competition.

When Edwyn captured Borgy, the man pled guilty and asked for judgement but wanted his family to be saved. Edwyn saw talent in him and gave mercy, recruiting the man as his eyes and ears in King's Landing. Borgy was eternally grateful to Edwyn for saving his family and giving him a new purpose in life.

He, along with other like-minded men who owed Edwyn their lives, formed an order that became a network of information for Edwyn.

So, when King's Landing was suffering, Borgy sent a specially trained raven to Edwyn, telling him about everything that had transpired in King's Landing. Robert Baratheon's death, the treachery of Littlefinger, Ned Stark's execution and the plight of the Common Folk.

Edwyn, in his reply, gave Borgy the order to begin distributing food in the darkness of the night, hidden from the eyes of nobles and rich merchants. And Borgy did exactly that.

He and his men would go door to door and give small portions of grain every single night and made sure that the people knew who was responsible for feeding them when all hope seemed to have lost.

The resentment against Joffrey Baratheon slowly began transforming into worship of Edwyn. The people sang silent praises for Edwyn who cared so much for them that he was providing them with food and clothing even while he was far away in the world.

Even when Stannis attacked King's Landing, Borgy and his order didn't cease in their efforts. They made sure to tell the truth about how the king ran away from the battlefield, something Edwyn would never do.

Edwyn would have stayed and fought until he attained victory. The coward king who sat on Edwyn's throne, people wanted him to leave.

Then, the Tyrells came and refilled the markets of King's Landing with grain. However, the common folk were already indebted to Edwyn. No matter how much Margery tried, she was unable to sway the people to Joffrey's side. Which she was unaware of. Seeing that the people were happy, she mistook it for something caused by the aid of Tyrells.

Margery wanted Joffrey to see how much the people loved him in an attempt to please him. So, she had the city guard gather the people in front of the Red Keep and coerced Joffrey to go with her to greet them.

But when they came out to see the crowd, she didn't expect to see the hate on their faces.

Then, the crowd began cheering. However, they were not meant for Joffrey.

Away from prying eyes, even the soldiers who were native to King's Landing struck their spears to the ground their swords to their shields in support of the crowd.

Their cheers resonated throughout King's Landing, shaking the very ground and the walls of the kingdom, raising panic in the hearts of the nobles.

Margery fearfully glanced at Joffrey, expecting him to throw a tantrum. But all she saw was fear... Fear of the man being referred to in the chants.

Joffrey ran back into the Red Keep and shut himself in his chambers. He lied down on his bed, cried and clamped tightly on his ears, but the noise didn't stop and only got louder. The queen, Margery and the guards kept asking for him to open the doors. Joffrey screamed again and again but no matter what he did, he kept hearing...

'Maelstrom!'

'Maelstrom!'

'Maelstrom!'