Chapter 060 – Start of the Conquest

[292 AC]

It had been a few months since the time Phenex had brought Jon, i.e. Jaehaerys back to Volantis, and the boy had found himself more cared for than ever before.

Rhaella was naturally overjoyed and welcomed her grandson with open arms, giving the boy all the motherly love he had never received but craved his whole life, while even Elia did not hesitate to open her heart for the boy.

Elia was a gentle soul and knew that Jaehaerys wasn't at fault for his father's shortcomings and she didn't make a secret out of her opinion. Rhaenys on the other hand was infinitely curious about her big brother and spent much of her time following him around, something Jon didn't mind at all.

Phenex knew that back in Winterfell, Catelyn had often tried to separate him from his 'siblings', not allowing him to spend time with them unreservedly.

Daenerys likewise seemed to have taken a liking to the boy, as they spent a lot of time together with both of them having received a dragon egg from Phenex. Jaehaerys also trained regularly with Obara, Nymeria, and Tyene, being fascinated by the Dornish treatment of bastards.

The dragon eggs had also already hatched.

Daenerys had struggled with finding a suitable name until she had asked Phenex for advice and finally settled on Obsidian. Jon on the other hand had named his dragon Lyra, a combination of his parents' names.

The pirate extermination was also coming along nicely and the Stepstones had been mostly purged of them at this point.

To ensure that it would also stay like this, dozens of smaller outposts had been erected on the many islands, creating an inescapable net that no ship would be able to avoid. As such it was basically impossible for new pirates to settle down on the Stepstones.

The only place that was left was now the Basilisk Isles, though Phenex had full trust in Stannis' capabilities to take care of them in less than two years, while also building some outposts there to monitor the situation and intervene if necessary.

The roads have also made great progress and were already connecting Volantis with a small port city in the former Disputed Lands that was near Lys. The roads to Myr and Tyrosh were also about halfway done.

Volantis' infrastructure was also making great leaps forward every day with more and more houses being connected to the canal systems and new bathhouses opening up all over the First Daughter.

Sapphire and Jade had also grown even taller and had at this point reached the size of Daenerys' dragons towards the end of the original story, meaning they were already massive.

And while Jade seemed to have become more mature, Sapphire didn't bother changing her rather spoiled and clingy nature, which wasn't that much of a problem considering her obedience in other matters.

Phenex on the other hand was occupied with thoughts of war, knowing that it wouldn't be long before they would attack Slaver's Bay.

Over the last decade, their business had made massive losses and the cities' power had taken great hits, as their biggest buyers of slaves had been the cities now under Phenex' rule.

Their long and rich history was what still held them up, though he knew that this wouldn't be the case for long. Soon enough he would bring them blood and war, and this time he planned to fight on the battlefield himself, alongside his Feathers.

Other more joyous news was of Ellaria having another child, a daughter named Dorea Sand. Phenex had visited them in Sunspear for the celebrations, as Oberyn had returned home with his children a month prior.

Phenex had taken Elia Martell and her children with him, using his magic to prevent any of the servants from remembering their existence after he had brought them back to Volantis.

As long as Robert was alive and King, Phenex did not want the world to know about Elia and her children. His sight and other senses also told him that the plots and schemes for the drunkard King to die were also still underway.

It would still take some years for all those schemes to really come to fruition, but he was a patient being and Elia understood the necessity for secrecy as well, even though Oberyn was a tad impatient, which was to be expected from the hot-blooded Prince.

…

[294 AC]

Waves crashing against the hull of the ship, Phenex watched on calmly as they slowly neared Astapor.

He didn't come to this city with an army, but with only a single vessel, though more than half of his Feathers were accompanying him, as were Daenerys and Jaehaerys.

In the two years that had passed since Stannis had managed to secure the Stepstones, the pirate-infested Basilisk Isles too fell under the assault of his forces and was now part of the Blessed Cities' territory.

This also meant that their attack on Slaver's Bay was imminent, though Phenex decided to let his Generals and Commanders deal with the preparations for the war and the movement of troops, while he would go ahead and take care of his own plans for Astapor.

It was only a few hours later when they finally docked at the harbor in Astapor.

"Mera, Ruyu, you will accompany us. Atas, stay here with the rest of the Feathers and make sure that nobody steals anything. The ship has enough wealth loaded to buy a whole city after all." Phenex ordered.

"We will do as told, my Lord.", Atas acknowledged, while Mear and Ruyu nodded in understanding.

"Daenerys, Jaehaerys. Come, it's time for you to see what cruelty really looks like.", Phenex anounced darkly, as he stepped down from the ship, knowing that the two would follow.

He didn't just come to the city as part of his plan to conquer Slaver's Bay, he also came to show the two budding dragon riders the reality of how cruel this world could be.

Phenex didn't want them to be unable to make hard decisions. He wanted them to be decisive and ruthless when it came to dealing with enemies, as only like that could he ensure that they wouldn't be haunted by past enemies.

The first step to learning such decisiveness though was to see the kind of horrors that would be the consequences of inaction. And where could he better show the two of them what the consequences of mercy were than in Astapor which was famous for their training of the Unsullied?

Phenex knew that this visit would leave deep scars on their young minds, but sometimes the pain was necessary to grow and since they aspired to be true dragon riders, they would have to learn the meaning of pain and suffering sooner or later.

How else would they know what to fight for? How else would they know how precious freedom was? How else would they know that losing was not an option?