Chapter 117 - 117 - White Harbor (I)
"They're here." Aenar Targaryen watched as the fleet of House Targaryen appeared on the horizon.
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North - White Harbor
"Your Grace." Wyman Manderly, Keeper of the White Knife, Shield of Faith, Defender of the Dispossessed, Lord Marshal of Mander and Knight of the Order of the Green Hand, greeted Aenar with a respectful look as he watched the gigantic crimson dragon lie down at the back of New Castle.
Even though it wasn't the first time he had seen the creature, he still couldn't help but feel a sincere fear in the face of the gigantic beast, capable of reducing White Harbor to ashes in a few minutes.
"Lord Manderly, I see you're still in good health? and eating a lot." Aenar greeted the lord of White Harbor with a joke.
Leda stood behind him, watching the fat old lord of New Castle, the castle of House Manderly. She couldn't believe that man could walk as big as he was. She estimated that no horse could support his weight.
Wyman touched his enormous belly with his fat fingers and let out a loud, powerful laugh.
"Perhaps I should have eaten fewer eels."
"These are my sons, Your Grace. Wylis and Wendel, both great knights. Next to Wylis is his wife, Leona." Wyman introduced his sons with a big, proud smile.
"Your Grace." Both brothers bowed with difficulty and greeted the king with respect. They looked at him with admiration. The first impression Aenar gave them was of an incredibly tall man.
Like their father, Wylis and Wendel were huge and fat. Curiously, the wife of Wylis, heir to White Harbor, Leona, was a rosy, plump woman with yellow hair. Her face was round, fleshy and ruddy, although you could see that she had been a beautiful woman in her youth.
"These beautiful young ladies are my granddaughters, Wynafryd and Wylla." Wyman introduced them with an even prouder smile than when he had introduced his sons.
"Your Grace." Wynafryd and Wylla greeted Aenar with curious looks. They were shocked by the king's height, feeling like children next to him.
(Note: Damn George Martin for creating such similar names. Although it's normal in Nordic and English regions, I still want to cry when I remember how many similar names this guy wrote in his books.)
"You have a fine family, Lord Manderly." Aenar complimented the old lord of White Harbor with a smile. He could tell that the whole family was close-knit and cherished the affection between them.
"I'll order them to serve a sumptuous lunch. I hope the king will be pleased with the hospitality of House Manderly." Wyman said, maintaining a cheerful, charismatic smile.
"Perhaps later, Lord Manderly. My fleet of a thousand ships will arrive at White Harbor in a few hours." Although Aenar had said that the fleet would arrive in a few hours, in fact, it would only arrive in half an hour.
Wyman's face changed dramatically when he heard the number of ships. A thousand ships was not a small number; perhaps no port in the world could dock so many at the same time.
What's more, the city couldn't support so many people. He assumed that there would be between sixty and seventy thousand men!
"Don't worry, Lord Manderly. They're bringing supplies to camp outside the city and prepare for war."
Aenar certainly knew about Wyman's concerns. Any lord of a port city would be stressed by a fleet of this size.
Wyman's face relaxed when he heard the king's words. It seemed that Aenar had everything prepared and that he, as the host, wouldn't have to worry about many things - which pleased him.
At the same time, he was shocked by the size of the king's fleet and army. This was no small number of men. In fact, it was second only to the Reach in quantity, surpassing the Western Lands and Storm's End.
With the horses lent to them by House Manderly, Aenar, Leda, Wyman, Wylis and Wendel set off towards White Harbor's Outer Harbor.
Once on the quay, Wyman looked at the horizon, but saw no sign of the fleet. Just as he was about to suggest that Aenar sit down, he couldn't help holding his breath when he spotted small black dots on the horizon. There were countless of them. And as they approached White Harbor, he could see the immensity of the fleet.
Thousands of ships were breaking the violent waves of the Narrow Sea. The black sails, bearing the crest of House Targaryen, filled his entire vision.
"Incredible."
There was no other word to describe what he was feeling at that moment.
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Visenya watched the port city with a surprised look. Between the choppy waves, White Harbor seemed to emerge from the sea. The entire city was white and looked especially imposing from afar.
"White Harbor..." Visenya murmured with a bright gaze.
She wanted to see Aenar as soon as possible. Being away from him for a year and a half had simply been agonizing. Only when he wasn't around did she realize how much she missed his presence. Even dinners were less lively without him.
"Looks like we've arrived." Rhaella commented, balancing herself on the ship without stumbling.
She had flown on a dragon countless times, keeping her balance on a ship was nothing compared to this.
Looking at her daughter, who seemed excited to be reunited with her nephew, Rhaella rolled her eyes. However, she understood well the pain of being away from the person you love.
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She couldn't help but think of the man she had loved when she was just a girl, at Daenerys' age. He was just the heir to a minor house, while she was a queen. In the end, she married Aerys, not the man she loved, on her parents' orders and out of duty, as was expected of a princess.
Suddenly, the temperature around them rose, drawing the attention of Visenya and Rhaella. Both noticed the approach of the Reverend Mother, Kinvara.
"I've already ordered the fleet to slow down." Kinvara spoke in a respectful tone and, as soon as she had finished, a trumpet sounded. Other trumpets soon followed, announcing the order to the entire House Targaryen fleet.
"Thank you for your hard work." Rhaella thanked Kinvara with a kind look. The two had become great friends over the past three years.
Kinvara shook her head and replied in a pitying tone:
"It is only my duty as my Lord's servant. I am merely a tool for his purposes."
Rhaella rolled her eyes, but she understood why Kinvara and so many others considered Aenar a god.
His powers, the Prescience and brainwashing, were enough to make the commoners worship him with sincerity and devotion. If she hadn't received a higher education, she might also have believed that Aenar was a god.
Suddenly, Kinvara looked up at the sky. In her eyes, the blue and red hues seemed to be fighting a constant battle in the sky. She knew it was the gods fighting, and the scene before her was a reflection of this confrontation still in progress.
"Great Other." Kinvara muttered the name of the enemy god of her faith with extreme antipathy. If there was a more disgusting entity in the world, it was the Great Other himself.
A being who hated life and had wanted the destruction of the human race since the dawn of humanity.
Fortunately, R'hllor and the other gods prevented such a catastrophe from occurring, preserving the spark of humanity era after era, until the present day.
Now, Azor Ahai had finally been reborn.
Thinking of Aenar, Kinvara couldn't have been happier. The Son of Light was everything she had hoped for, and more. He had turned the entire Red Faith into an indoctrination machine, making the religion gain more followers in a decade than it had in the last thousand years.
How could that not be impressive? For her, Aenar was her spiritual pillar, her living faith. With him by her side, she felt at peace to face the wrath of the barbarian gods without any fear.
Observing her friend's increasingly fanatical gaze, Rhaella subtly pulled away, as if Kinvara were infected by a contagious disease - which, in a way, was true. After all, indoctrination and fanaticism really did act like a plague.
Suddenly, as they approached the pier, Rhaella and Visenya couldn't help but notice the incredibly tall young man waiting for them. Although his stature was completely different, how could they not recognize Aenar?
"Welcome to the North... and to the start of our reconquest."
They heard his voice clearly, despite the distance of dozens of meters.
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