Chapter 174

An old friend from Kuiersi was lodged in a nearby guesthouse, a place set aside just for him. To keep him away from the queen's affairs, he was placed in a small pyramid west of the great pyramid; this small pyramid had originally been the quarters of her soldiers and officers, but they found living there too troublesome, and if they wanted to act promptly or enjoy drinking and eating, the time and money cost were not low. For the sake of efficiency in troop movements, the Unsullied Legion abandoned this "camp".

The owner of the small pyramid had long disappeared, perhaps killed by slaves or perhaps fled early; later, according to the queen's order, it became a barracks and then a residence for receiving all sorts of messy people, which people habitually called the guesthouse. Compared to the guesthouse, the rooms inside the great pyramid are of higher standard, but only those allies and friends close to the queen are eligible to stay there.

Small Pyramid

As one of the Thirteen of the Qarth merchant guild, Zhaluo had his own entourage; he brought a full hundred servants and even more oarsmen and shipworkers, the oarsmen and shipworkers could stay aboard ship, but his personal attendants could not be left behind and had to lodge with him in the pyramid.

Harada Pyramid

Explaining the pyramid lodgings is easy enough, but the view from the small pyramid is not.

Adjacent to the small pyramid is the renowned Harelda pyramid; if Lord Skull's reported numbers are correct, he lost one hundred thirteen soldiers there, and the queen believes Lord Skull will not suffer a loss on this pyramid, so more members of the Harelda family will be hanged there.

Daenerys ought to grieve for the Harelda members who died unjustly, but thinking that they could still demonstrate for her against the weeping Zhaluo before their death, the queen couldn't help but smile. Qaheer should have added a word: passing through shadows is not necessarily all pain, and light is not necessarily free of bitterness.

"What are you laughing at, queen?" Jhiqui asked her curiously; only she could speak to her without reservation, as if she were indeed still that little girl on the grasslands.

"What should I wear?" Without the Green Priestess guiding her, she felt much more at ease: "If I want to seduce this Zhaluo and win his support, I should wear Qarth robes, baring my chest, but although he proposed to me and spoke words of praise, I can't tell whether he truly likes women."

"I think he only wants to marry you, then have you give him the dragons according to Qarth custom," Irri said, moving closer. "I hate weeping men; no Dothraki has any respect for this bunch of milk‑sops."

"But I need his support, I need Qarth's support," although the new advisor Gratz said they were destined to be enemies, she still wanted to make an effort, "Their people may be useless, but they have ships; this time he brought thirteen ships, and perhaps next time he could bring a hundred thirty."

"Hmph, even if he had a thousand three hundred ships I wouldn't like him," Irri said, twitching her nose. "He's a baldy; he can't even wear a bell, look at his slender fingers—he'll never snag a bell in his lifetime."

Daenerys burst out laughing, almost laughing to tears.

These nobles, whether Qarth men or Meereen men, none of them could snatch a bell. Heh, peoples who cannot snatch a bell have no right to stand here, nor to be her opponents.

Amid the laughter of a few, she ultimately chose not to wear the open, respect‑showing Qarth robe, but instead selected a dignified, elegant purple neck‑banded long shirt; Jhiqui said this shirt matches her purple eyes, and if a man cannot see this beauty, he ought to have his eyes gouged out.

The reception proceeded during the banquet, and most men didn't need to have their eyes gouged out, for they kept glancing at her, stealing looks, even though they saw nothing of her.

New Advisor

From an artistic and flirtatious angle, this was a perfect dance; the men present, including Lord Skull, the thick‑skinned supervisor who showed up, and her newly appointed advisor, all looked on with admiration.

Zhaluo Wangzan Dasos's demeanor was calmer than anyone else's; he kept elegantly biting into a fig, sipping an unknown fine wine, and aside from his bald head glinting in the firelight, everything else was utterly unrelated.

When the dance ended, the queen ordered food and drink sent to the dancers, and only then did Daenerys find a chance to speak privately with Zhaluo.

Second Heroine

"Dance is the seasoning of a boring life," he said, putting back the half‑eaten fig onto the plate and carefully chewing the remainder before speaking, "Beautiful queen, I never imagined I'd see you again in this life; I thought you had returned to Pentos, to your homeland Westeros, but I didn't expect you to make a detour at Old Ghis and sail to Slaver's Bay, ending up as the queen sung about in folk tales. Ah, when you left Qarth you were merely a little girl, a cute and ditzy little girl; after you left I really worried you might blunder into the pyramid and cause trouble, unnecessarily forcing the distant governor to spend extra effort to rescue you."

"It's wonderful that you could come here to see me; I've always been grateful for your hospitality in Qarth, otherwise I might have ended up old and alone in the ghost city."

"If you could grow old in the ghost city, I wouldn't have to cross the sea to see you here. The ones settled here are adults of the ancient Lhazareen bloodline, and I truly worry that your being here… will prevent things from being wrapped up. Ah, you really don't need to emulate a Westerosi girl; not everyone can walk out of here unscathed like that Stark girl, and I admit she set a bad example for girls."

"I've heard rumors, but all she did was steal the golden statue of the Meereen goddess." He fled in panic, whereas I liberated the city's slaves.

"Yes, she stole the statue, but you actually toppled the harpy's sculpture, rendering the world's gears unable to turn."

Qohor

"You haven't moved any wheels, yet the world has jammed: the Dothraki bring slaves, the Ghiscari train slaves, the surrounding cities buy slaves, and the Dothraki never risk crossing the Red Waste to sell slaves directly to Qarth, so Qarth can only purchase from the wealthy Meereen, Yunkai, and Astapor, and sell everything it produces to wealthy slave‑masters; Volantis is the same—that's how the world keeps turning." He spoke softly, "I don't know when the girl before me became fond of trouble and also cruel; she used to be so sweet, until I saw Meereen nobles being hanged like slaves—ah, it brings tears to those who hear it and sorrow to those who see it." He wiped away a tear.

You have never seen true cruelty. "They sent assassins to kill me; I will spare no assassin, no matter who sent them." She had not forgotten the regretful guest.

"My queen has indeed changed, she has become so cold," Xaro's words made her angry, "but she has not grown wiser—you cannot restore Meereen to its former wealth and peace; you will only bring it destruction, leaving it lifeless, just like Astapor now, whose horrors you surely know well, I cannot even speak of them. You will surely say you freed the slaves, but when I just reached the port, a slave you had freed stopped me; I barely recognized him, he knelt on the ground begging me to buy him back, for now he can only fill his belly by digging ditches for you, his once soft hands are now covered in old calluses—this is truly regrettable."

This was a slap to the queen, and she couldn't think of how to rebut.

"Ah, you must be a diligent and wise queen, but some things cannot be made up for by diligence and wisdom alone."

"Could it be the slaves who are supposed to make up for it?" she angrily retorted.

"Slaves?" he chuckled, the gem on his nose beginning to tremble and flash yellow in the firelight, looking unpleasant. He would indeed never earn a bell, nor wear one. "Diligence and wisdom cannot drive the gears of the world you have broken; Qarth, New Ghis, Old Ghis, and Volantis—these coastal cities and the vast Dothraki plains—are a ship driven by fate, and without the gear you seized—one of its parts—it cannot run."

"It can run in other ways."

"Ah, my lovely queen, you are defying fate—why are you so obstinate?" He rose, gently leading her into the pyramid's darkness, "Your home, your ancestors' legacy lies in Westeros! If you promise to leave Meereen, taking your army and even all willing freemen who would follow you, you will face no obstruction; we could even form merchant ships to carry them all to wherever you wish to land." His voice was soft and deep, but Daenerys would believe none of it: "Dragonstone? That's where you were born, and where your forebears left Valyria to land; now Dragonstone is defenseless—that's the intel I specifically gathered—or you could land at the undefended Stormlands—the gold you've looted from Meereen would surely be enough to buy all the mercenaries of the eastern continent and win you the Iron Throne, reclaiming your ancestors' all, and its people would surely call you the second conqueror, or the second heroine of Loyne! Why must you stick here, spoiling our lovely, gentle turning?"

"You are already corrupt." She could find no rebuttal, so she merely echoed the forceful part of the new advisor Gratz's words.

"Corrupt? I never imagined those words would come from the beautiful queen's mouth," he said softly, like a plea, and Daenerys felt a momentary softening: "I truly wish you would take a good look."

"What should I look at?" "I live atop the great pyramid and see clearly that they are no match," she laughed, "today I sent that Ghiscari man to capture two pyramids for me."

"My queen, my lovely queen, pyramids aren't built of bread; soon you'll face all kinds of shortages—I know you've stockpiled food, but human life needs more than grain, and you'll soon discover what's lacking," he said, sounding disappointed, "the Yunkai have brought ten New Ghis legions and also hired several mercenary companies—the Cat Company, the Spear Company, the Wind‑Blown Company, the Dawn Company, the Picnic Company, the Mad Bear Company, the Blood Raven Company—do you need me to keep counting? The Qarth guild can muster hundreds of warships from the east, Volantis will have even more from the west, and the land armies have already encircled Meereen on both east and west; soon your northern depth will be completely lost, and then Meereen will be a lone city."

"Thank you for analyzing the situation for me; if my enemies are truly that strong, why aren't they attacking? What are they waiting for?"

"Do you really have to make me say this?" he sighed deeply, "Ah, first, we are peace‑loving people; second, unjust war only breeds military oligarchies, a lesson history has taught us, and oligarchies harm people more; and most importantly, I still have faith in you—that's the reason."

Daenerys laughed. These people are cowardly, short‑sighted, and stupid—not a people capable of snatching a bell, or at least not anymore.

"My queen, my lovely queen," he thought Daenerys's silent smile meant she was swayed by his words, "If you agree and are willing to consider these conditions, the thirteen ships I brought are a gift from the Thirteen." He emphasized, "This is even just the first batch; please remember my mention of Dragonstone and the Stormlands—we are ready to facilitate that for you."

She could continue to play along with him, but she no longer wanted to toy with this pitiful man: "I desperately need ships, I need your thirteen warships," she said, locking eyes with him—there tears had just flowed, but within was a lump of ice—"to defeat Qarth's hundreds of warships and Volantis's even more."

Spear Team

"I do not accept your gift. It is wartime now," she recalled Gratzde's words, finding them indeed useful. "The queen has the right to requisition any merchant ship or warship." His expectant expression gradually faded in her words. "Furthermore, Mylin does not allow slavery; your entourage's slave dancers, sailors, and oarsmen will become free persons and must accept my employment. I hope you have other ways to return to Quels," she understood his words. The world is all her enemies; if she does not break that machine, utterly crush them, they will roll over her by inertia. "I know, according to Quels tradition, declaring war is sending a blood-stained glove; I currently have no blood glove." She leaned lightly toward him, leaving a light kiss on his face. "So, please convey my words to the giants of Quels, the spice and whatever brotherhood, and the foolish kings. I will not let anyone who attempts to assassinate me go unpunished, with those two pyramids as proof—so—due to the regrettable guest's prior assassination act—I regretfully declare war on you."