Ch.54
(Talrit POV)
We approached Astapor though as we reached there, seems word has reached the rest of the Slaver's Bay. As there was a small navy there, only a few hundred, maybe a thousand ships.
"Send the wyvern riders and dragon turtles, then I want all the Dothraki on land. With Five thousand heavy infantry. The Dothraki will move to begin sieging Yunkai, while we deal with Astapor," I say as my orders are being sent out.
"Oberyn, do you and your family want to go with me to begin the siege of Astapor?" I ask him as Rokgar, his son, and the rest of the wyvern riders along with the dragon turtles begin easily destroying the Navy blockade. With several ships moving to the shore to drop off the troops.
"Finally!" Oberyn says to me as we all head to the shore and march with the heavy infantry to surround Astapor.
"Can I come too? I want to see this," Daenerys says to me.
"My Queen, that is a bad idea. Your safety is of the utmost importance," Jorah says to her referring to her as a Queen, most likely trying to still convince her to fight for the iron throne.
"If you are coming, come now," I say as start the incantation to mass teleport us to shore. The Dothraki are already riding to Yunkai to begin the siege there which is about a hundred miles north of Astapor.
Daenerys, the Martells, and Jorah all stand by me as I teleport us all to the shore. Once there I can see the defenders are already stationed at the walls. Some of them even being Unsullied, which can easily be identified from their uniformed leather armor and spears. The sounds of death and sinking wooden ships fill the air as the wyverns and dragon turtles easily dispatch the blockage.
"Stand down! I do not wish to kill more than I have to!" I shout to the defenders who all remain silent and stare down at us. As the Unsullied are trained from a very young age to not fear anything and to obey any order given to them by their 'Master'.
"Do you not see just how easily we are destroying your fleet?! You all will die a pointless death! Why die for the same men who enslaved you?! We bring freedom!" I shout hoping to convince them before giving the order to being the attack.
"Brother, they are Unsullied, they will die before anything else. Unless their 'Master' gives them the order to surrender," Oberyn says to me as I sigh knowing he is right.
"I could send word to the priests in the city to try to have the mass fight from the inside for you," Kinvara says to me as she goes with me everywhere if she can do so.
"No that will only lead to countless innocent deaths…" I say while trying to think of a way to take this city over, as the other ones we were able to intimidate into surrendering. As for this city, the Unsullied will not let us do that making a large-scale battle and more death than necessary be the only way to dominate the city.
"Wait! I have an idea, have the wyvern riders and dragon turtles pull back once they destroy the fleet. I will sneak in with a small group of soldiers inside the city tonight. We will find the Master of the Unsullied. Taking the staff that signifies the commander of them, forcing them to surrender and turn on the masters," I say to everyone as I remembered how the Unsullied are commanded from my time here all those years ago.
"That would work, but be very dangerous," Oberyn says to me and I nod my head.
"Which is why I will only be taking those who I can trust to not cause a scene and are discreet," I say with Oberyn smiling at me, as he will be coming with me and he knows that.
"So who else is coming with us?" Oberyn asks with that knowing smile on his face. As the soldiers begin making camp outside the city, with the ones attacking the now destroyed enemy fleet returning to ours to being our blockage of the city.
"I assume your daughters, niece, and nephew will want to come. You think they can handle that?" I ask Oberyn who looks at his family and nods his head.
"Yeah, I trained them myself. Plus with both of us looking out for them, they will be fine," Oberyn says laughing while patting my back.
"So, once we finish here in Essos and head to Westeros, are you gonna take the title of King there?" Oberyn asks me as we wait for night to fall to carry on the plan as the soldiers finish making camp.
"No, I have no want to be King. Though it seems I am now the Emperor of Draconica, so I will appoint someone as King to rule Westeros while I rule over them all. Rokgar will be King of Essos, as for Westeros or 'The Seven Kingdoms'. I am not sure who I will appoint for them, most likely your niece or nephew, as they are the rightful heirs," I say to Oberyn who nods his head listening to me.
"What if they don't want it? They have grown to love exploring and seeing the world, especially from the stories of my time doing that," Oberyn says to me while I sigh.
"Then I do not know… maybe Daenerys as she is next in line. I would have chosen her brother but he is… not well in the head," I say while Oberyn laughs.
"Well was just a thought, you still have a lot of time to think about it…" Oberyn says as we fall into a comfortable silence. Over the years, Oberyn is the first human who I have considered family and would do anything to help.
"I want you to be my Hand or whatever the equivalent is to an Emperor," I say to Oberyn after a few minutes of silence and he looks at me surprised.
"There are many other better options. I was never one to rule or even learn what it means to rule," Oberyn says to me with a serious face, which he rarely has even during serious times.
"I know you are not the best option… Though I'd rather have someone I love as a brother stand beside me and help me make this world into a better one," I say to him with a teasing smile in the beginning but turn serious in the second part.
"Well, in that case, I'll take the position! Bow down world I am now Oberyn Martell the Hand of the Golden God!" Oberyn says shouting it while laughing and making me shake my head with a smile on my face. We then fall silent again for a few more minutes.
"I have also found a way I believe that might extend your life. Though it may have… certain side effects," I say to him as my research in that area has led me to many different paths to take.
"What?" Oberyn says to me confused.
"I am old, very old. I have outlived everyone I have ever cared about and I know I will continue to live much longer, especially now that I am part god. I have come to see you as my family and I want to not see you grow old and die, leaving me alone once more. Though if that is your wish then I understand. Just think about it," I say to him as he goes quiet thinking about what I said.
"What about the rest of my family? Would you do the same for them? I'd rather not see them grow old and die too," Oberyn says to me and I understand his reasons.
"I could, but the side effects I do not know yet. As this ritual is something I came up with and I have not experimented with it yet. I was planning on testing it on a willing creature, but those are hard to come by," I say to him and he nods his head.
"Well, we have a lot of time to think about this. I will think about it and let you know what I feel sooner or later," Oberyn says to me before standing up and stretching.
"Sure take all the time you need," I say to him and he nods his head smiling at me.
"Now I am going to find Ellaria and fuck her like I am going to die tonight. That way I am fully focused for this mission to come. You want to join me?" Oberyn says to me with a smirk at the end.
"No, I am fine. You go have fun and don't tire yourself too much," I say to him and he laughs before walking away to find his wife in all but name.
"Can I join you, Talrit? Or should I call you Emperor now?" Daenerys asks me walking over after Oberyn left and most likely having heard Oberyn's declaration earlier.
"Go ahead, I have a few more hours before the mission," I say while I sit by the campfire outside my tent the dragonborn have set up.
"I heard you are declaring yourself the Emperor of Draconica, does that mean you will appoint people to rule over certain areas?" Daenerys asks me as news spread that I am now Emperor, probably from the dragonborn who heard Oberyn earlier and the fact they love and view me like a god. Being very excited at the idea that I am taking the position.
"Yes, that is the plan now that I have started this war. I assume you want to take the position of the Queen of Westeros," I say to her while waiting to see her response, as I am curious if Jorah has finally convinced of taking the throne, even after learning about her niece and nephew.
"No… I was tempted some time ago before I met my niece and nephew. As I thought my brother and I were the only living Targaryens. I would rather not have my brother taking the throne, though now knowing that my niece and nephew live. They might just be a better fit for the throne," Daenerys says to me and I can see she is being honest, making me respect her more.
"I see… what about your continued attempt at winning me over?" I say to her with a smirk trying to make her embarrassed.
"You tell me, is it working?" Daenerys says to me with a smirk back completely not embarrassed making my statement fail.
"If I say yes?" I ask her trying to tease her one more time.
"Then we should go to your tent and make it official," Daenerys says back as my eyes widen seeing how she has become much more direct instead of the nervous girl I first met a year ago.
"Oberyn has been talking too much with you," I say to her with a sigh as I now realize that is why the two have been speaking so much. He has been trying to help her seduce me. Daenerys laughs hearing me.
"He has just been trying to help us both," Daenerys says with a seductive smile as I grunt.
"You two are going to drive me insane," I say with a laugh as Daenerys just shrugs.
"I won't stop until I am the only thought in both of your heads," Daenerys says to me while raising her eyebrows every few seconds. I look at her confused as she smiles seductively at me.
"The one here and… here," Daenerys says first pointing to my head and then to my lower half. As my mouth opens a bit from this unexpected directness.
'What the fuck Oberyn! You turned this innocent girl into a female you!' I think while she laughs seeing my face.
"I never thought I'd see you speechless from something I said. Seems I should learn more from your brother," Daenerys says with a laugh, which I am starting to enjoy hearing.