Chapter Twenty-Five

Docks. King's Landing.

When the strange messanger had arrived to let the rulers of the Seven Kingdoms know that the new Prince of Stepstones would be coming here for a visit, Cersei Lannister, she'd never think of herself as a member of any other noble house, had wondered what it meant. Was the new ruler coming here to bend the knee to the King of Westeros as one of the Targaryan princes had done when he'd finished messing about with those pirate-infested islands? Or was this conquerer planning on expanding his dominion? If so he'd find fierce resistance in these lands as the Seven Kingdoms were far more united than the Stepstones.

Most likely the new Prince of the Stepstones, a man called Lord-Captain Maximinus Thrax, had come to open up diplomatic ties with the Seven Kingdoms since no lord of pirates could hope to take on the combined might of most of Westeros, something that the Iron Born had learned in recent times. A unified Steptsones might be a bigger threat than the Ironborn due to their size and population, but she felt that they would still win a war.

Cersei had heard the Master of Coin mention that even this new Prince of the Stepstones set up a tariff on ships sailing his waters it would be worth it since trade with Esso had always suffered due to pirates and storms. Only the gods could do something about the weather, but pirates were just men and men could be killed. Assuming that the new Prince of the Stepsons was a normal man.

Already there were strange stories about Thrax reaching her ears. Talk about how it was Prince Thrax who destroyed Astaphor before very quickly taking an army of Unsullied to the Stepstones so that he could wipe out the slavers and pirates who called the islands their home in a short amount of time considering the distances involved. If he'd really wiped out all the scum then the waters around the Stepstones should indeed be much after to sail upon.

There was also talk of his warriors carrying weapons that were becoming more common in the Free Cities. The Master of Whispers had acquired a few, but the Maesters hadn't figured out how they worked only that the guns needed special metal bolts called bullets to function and the Free Cities were keeping a tight hold on their ammo as they called it.

Since everyone had been told that a ship would be arriving at noon on this day the royal family had donned their best clothes before making their way down to the docks so as to await the ship, and to make sure that this Prince Thrax got a proper welcome. The sheer number of knights they'd brought with them made sure that the smallfolk were kept at a suitable distance and the display of might would help to ensure that this Rogue Trader wouldn't get any ideas about expanding his little kingdom further west.

"What in the Seven Hells is that!?" a voice called out.

Someone who had looked up while everyone else stared out in the Blackwater saw something that should not have existed in this world. Cersei didn't understand it at first and then it struck her that the rumours of flying ships and sky carriages were true. Those that had conquered the Stepstones must be the people who caused the New Doom so far north that it had been beyond even The Wall and perhaps it was they who had removed all human life from Dragonstone. It had either been these flying people or the gods and somehow she didn't think that gods would have bothered to smite the wildlings, because if they did do such things they would have done so a long time ago.

She had to wonder if the stories about Astaphor were also true, about how a man had come to that city and taken many of the slaves away before destroying the sinful place. If these sky people were those who had destroyed Astaphor and shaken The Wall, then what would they do to the Seven Kingdoms? This Prince of the Stepstones had to be appeased and made an ally of House Lannister or all would be lost. She could only hope that Robert didn't offend the visitor too much or King's Landing might soon be destroyed.

Looking around she saw many faces, some of which were slack-jawed in awe, but a few showed some concern, no doubt they'd come to the same conclusion as she had, her poor excuse for a husband seemed to be delighted by the sight before him as the strange metal ship landed not here at the port, rather outside of the city.

"To the gates!" shouted Robert.

While some had made a mad dash to the nearest gate the royal family could be moved in such a rush due to the crowded nature of the city. The gold cloaks did their best to keep the streets clear, but they had little success the smallfolk either rushed away from the metal ship or towards it in the case of the braver ones or younger and more foolish in this case.

Cersei knew that this would not impress their important visitors and she would have to salvage the situation as best she could when she spoke to the Prince of the Stepstones. Cersei wasn't as clever as she imagined herself to be, however, she was smart enough to understand that if one flying machine could cause this much trouble then the strange people who flew them would have an easy time invading as their presence alone was enough to start a few small riots. What would happen if they actually attacked? She dreaded to think about it.

By the time her carriage got out of the city, the visitors had long since landed and the flying ship had opened up. Before the machine was what Cersei assumed to be the Rogue Trader's honour guard. To her surprise, they were female as were those who followed their lord down what looked to be a ramp. Cersei couldn't see inside the metal flying ship, so she had to settle for a view of those who came out of it.

Lord-Captain Thrax, the new Prince of the Stepstones, looked more the part of a ruler than Robert had managed in many years. His choice in clothing was odd, a mixture of fine materials, and body armour. Cersei found it to be somewhat alien yet she'd always had an eye for fashion and Thrax's outfit spoke of a man who saw himself as a king who conquered, not one who just sat on a throne. As for the weapons he carried, he had a sword at one hip and what had to be a gun of some kind on the other.

Cersei listened to gossip because she was the queen she had to remain aware of how the ladies of the court would behave, and she picked up some useful information among the rubbish most other women spoke about, much like nuggets of gold might be found in a riverbed somewhere in the Westerlands. She'd heard that these guns were somewhat like crossbows only much louder and faster they fired many bolts before they needed to be reloaded. They also had better aim than a crossbow.

If this was true then she had to make sure to acquire these guns for House Lannister and her house alone so that would have an advantage over all the other houses when it became time for Joffery to take the throne. That time might come sooner than expected if Lord Stark began looking too closely into the matter of Jon Arryan's death. Another good reason to ensure that this Lord Thrax became her ally no matter what it took. Gold, lands, riches, women, her own cunt if needs be, she'd get him what he wanted and it would get what she desired.

"Presenting The Rogue Trader Maximinus Thrax, Prince of the Stepstones and Lord-Captain of the Glorious Aspirations" declared one of the women guards "Here representing his Divine Imperial Majesty the God-Emperor of Mankind".

The titles meant little to Cersei, she was now focused on Thrax's honour guard, who carried a varity of weapons, but what got her attention was the outfits that displayed quite a bit of their wearer's female charms even if they were covered from head to toe. Perhaps in the Free Cities, such a style would be acceptable, however by the standards of Seven Kingdoms they were scandalously dressed and perhaps that was on purpose, it was distracting many of the men here and that gave Lord Thrax's guards an advantage.

When she heard the last part of the declaration she wondered what it meant. Who was this God-Emperor? And did he claim kingship over all men? She had so many questions and since she couldn't ask the Rogue Trader about them, at least not yet, she kept her ears open and listened, just as her father would want her to. Tywin Lannister was on his way to Kings Landing and should arrive soon. By then she would hopefully have laid the groundwork for an alliance between House Lannister and House Thrax.

"Will you not kneel before his Grace," said one of the Kingsguard.

That had been a demand as well as a question and the queen bit her lip as she heard it. Thrax was not just some lord from one of the Seven Kingdoms or a ruler of a single city far away, he commanded flying ships and might have already destroyed Astaphor. Did they want Kingslanding to be next?

"I will only kneel before the God-Emperor" stated Lord Thrax "My loyalty is to the Golden Throne, not to the Iron Throne".

There were mixed reactions to this. Some took offence such as the Grand Maester who'd made it out here rather quickly despite his normally slow pace of movement. Others were confused, having never heard of a golden throne, as for Robert he didn't take offence. Not that shocking given how little he cared for sitting his fat arse on that uncomfortable chair.

Things calmed down with one of the Rogue Trader's female guards came forward and presented the contents of a large box that she'd been carrying. Inside it was a warhammer much like Robert would have used at the battle of the Trident all those years ago. Cersei was no expert on weapons but she'd never seen any warhammer that looked like the one offered to Robert. He took it gladly and some of the tension began to melt away.

"Very well," the king said, "let us return to the keep so you can tell what brought you here".

Another march through the city would not be welcome for Cersei, but she would not miss out on the coming conversation, not with so much at stake.