Chapter seventy-six: Preparations.

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~~~Azrael Jaesyrian, Fourth Moon, 277 AC~~~

~~~Tavalar~~~

Tavalar, the city of whitish walls and gardens teeming with life, had been awake for the past few weeks, a product of the hundreds of Dothraki troops pouring into the city. 

Already in the city were the five Dothraki legions that had helped conquer Qarth, while the two at Mantarys had arrived in the morning hours. I gave the green light for the seven legions, which, along with my personal Khalasar, totaled one hundred and ninety thousand warriors, which would meet at the Pass of Steel with the other three remaining legions on the Dothraki Sea marching to meet us. 

"Azrael, I want to go with you." Walking through my Khalasar's camp, I heard my name, and looking towards the source of the voice, I found Isabella, who had stopped as Fawkes, one of my wolves, stopped her. "I'm going to war, Isabella, not a walk in Central Park," I told her, wanting to make my purpose clear that I might be in danger. 

As if on cue, Isabella made a strange motion with her hand, and at the same time, I felt a strange energy coming from her. 'Magic,' I thought, watching as Valka and other witches who were always near me materialized and prepared in case Isabella sought to harm me. 

However, Isabella summoned a dark whip, as if wielding some shadow, and lashed it against the ground, leaving a dark burn mark in the grass. "I am not a princess in distress, Azrael; I know how to defend myself." 

Isabella, having made her point clear, looked at me expectantly, to which I could only sigh and nod, "Fine, you will go with me, but if I feel you are in any danger, I will send you back to Xandar." 

Isabella smiled radiantly, then directed me to god knows where perhaps to fetch her belongings for the trip. "What do you think of her?" I turned to Valka, who came beside me after Isabella's little act. "She's a strong woman. From what I know of her, she escaped her hometown after this one entered a war against the Winged Men." 

"Yeah, I know that; I'm asking you something else," I stressed, to which Valka stared at me for a few minutes, confused, until suddenly her face lit up, and she commented, "Oh, you mean about sleeping with her?" Well, not like that. 

"Yes, I understand, but know that if you decide to go that way, you will quite possibly enter the war between Carcosa and the Winged Men." I didn't necessarily have the responsibility to enter that conflict, but I knew that if I married Isabella and she asked me to, I would gladly do it. 

"Well, that would be talked about; still, tell me you wouldn't be excited to face off against turkey men," My comment made Valka laugh; one thing I had kept from my time in command of my khalasar was that I loved war, and of course, not the sight where innocents starved to death, but the idea of facing powerful enemies—that captivating feeling of feeling the adrenaline coursing through my body as I drove my khalasar forward towards the clamor of a battle. 

And maybe now, after many months of not participating in any battles after the Black and White Temple fiasco, I feel my fighter's blood returning to me. 

"My king, the horde is ready to march." Gregory, one of the most essential Unsullied generals so far and the one who had traveled with the legions from Qarth after helping in the conquest of Qarth, warned me that we could begin our march. 

The plan was to march to the stone road, where they would wait for my signal, while the legions coming from the Dothraki Sea reached the pass of Steel and went down to the stone road to meet us, where they would all wait until General Micaela's toys arrived. 

So, without wasting any time, I mounted Sullivan, the red beast that Micaela had gifted me, and then led the way with my wolves and my blood brothers while the rest of the horde followed us. Fortunately, the journey would not be extended, thanks to the fact that I had erected suitable roads from Tavalar, which connected the city with Xandar, Port Royal, and the Stone Road, which would be the only one that would be enabled after dealing with Pol Qo. 

~~~Lucios, Military Minister~~~

~~~Qarth~~~

Walking through the hall of the Thousand Thrones, I was amazed at the level of mastery and beauty that each one exuded—thrones that would look great in my king's treasure vault, which was growing ever larger. 

Besides the fact that the former owners of said thrones would no longer have any use for them since they were all killed, they, along with the merchant princes and anyone who had a shred of political, social, or economic power in the city, were executed, and while it was seen as a cruel act, the thought was lost once I remembered that those same men had organized an attack on Port Royal. This city joined the Xandarian kingdom after the slaves in the town revolted against their masters. 

"Minister," Fernando entered the room, bringing news of the city's advance. "Fernando," I greeted him, and I received some papers that mentioned the number of city inhabitants and the essential things in the city. 

"The city continues on red alert; the merchants of the free cities have been released and have already left for their cities; we are still looking for the members of the House of The Eternals; the last we knew of them was that they were in the Eternal house until it was destroyed." Fernando began to give his report, which suddenly gave me a headache. 

'Damn blue-lipped witches,' I cursed; many had escaped when the attack on the house of the Eternals was launched to destroy the barriers that prevented the witches from entering the city; however, when the witches arrived at the place, they found that only the remains of the old tower were there, but no bodies were found inside the building. 

Since then, the witches have been sweeping the perimeter, looking at every rock, wall, or sewer in search of them, but the attempts to find them have been in vain. 

"Let the witches get on with the search for the warlocks; we can't allow unknown tokens like them to be lost right under our eyes." I was already beginning to feel the king's scolding for this: "Are all the valuables already gathered? Like the inhabitants, are they ready to be taken to Xandar?" I asked, thinking if the looting had already been done since all the treasures of Qarth would have been taken to Xandar as soon as possible. 

The inhabitants of Qarth would all be taken to Xandar for the king to take care of them after their journey to the other side of the Bone Mountains. Since Qarth would be abandoned, it would be inhabited in the future by a retinue of soldiers guarding the Jade Gates. 

"The treasures have been taken to the docks; once they are done with all of them, they will come to take these thrones as well," Fernando commented. As I nodded, I may have failed on the issue with the sorcerers, but at least I couldn't end up on the wrong end. 

"As for the inhabitants, the count went up to seven hundred and forty-six thousand inhabitants, which will be taken to Xandar once the carriages reach the city; besides, the old man who had taken control of Qarth in the last few minutes died; he slit his throat." Looking up from the papers I was reading, I looked at Fernando in surprise, thinking that perhaps someone had murdered him. 

"I thought so at first, too, but no, the room he was in was sealed, and the guards never left their guard; the old man slit his throat using the diamond threads of his garment." Fernando finished by explaining the old man's death; at least, it would be someone less to care for. 

"Let the preparations leave this city continue. I will be in charge of choosing the soldiers who will stay to guard the Jade Gates until the king decides what to do with them," I said, wanting to quickly finish my things here and return home, mainly because my sister was getting a spouse on the other side of the world. That woman never knew when to rest.