Chapter 338

The Queen of Meereen, Queen of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Breaker of Chains, Mother of Dragons, the Unburnt, the Stormborn Daenerys Targaryen… had simply abandoned her people at such a critical juncture?

When the news reached Petyr Baelish, he rushed to the top of Meereen’s Great Pyramid, where he found broken flagstones marking the spot where the black dragon had landed, and an empty royal chamber where Daenerys was supposed to be. For the first time in years, Petyr felt an urge to curse out loud.

The black dragon, Drogon, was the only one of her three dragons large enough to carry a rider over long distances. Having miraculously returned to Meereen, likely drawn by longing for its mother, it was unclear when—or if—it would appear again. Daenerys, eager to seize this rare opportunity, had jumped onto Drogon’s back and flown off, leaving no time to consult with her council.

Her intentions were noble: to master the art of dragon-riding, deploy her dragons in war, and bring fire and blood to her enemies. But with Yunkai's army still encamped outside the city and the Volantene fleet en route to Slaver's Bay to defend the slave trade, her sudden departure at such a perilous time was pure folly. What if, by the time she returned, there was nothing left of her followers or her city?

...

No matter how furious or exasperated Petyr felt, he forced himself to calm down and take rational steps. The first thing he did was conceal the truth, claiming that the queen was unwell and unable to hold court. He strictly ordered that news of her departure on Drogon be kept secret.

Unfortunately, rumors spread like wildfire. The more the council tried to suppress the truth, the wilder the speculation became. Eventually, Petyr was forced to address the matter publicly and explain Daenerys's absence.

Predictably, things quickly spiraled downhill.

...

The fragile balance of power that Petyr had worked so hard to maintain began to crumble. His strategy of expelling the old elite and propping up a new class of lesser nobles relied on three key elements: the military strength of the Unsullied, the loyalty of the freedmen, and the symbolic power of Daenerys’s dragons. Without the queen, that foundation was dangerously unstable.

Petyr had no direct control over the Unsullied, as he was a latecomer to her inner circle. The freedmen, viewing him as the "bad cop" in the administration, hardly liked him. And as for the dragons—well, a man with no Targaryen blood could forget about commanding them.

Things had been progressing well enough before Daenerys left. Petyr had started to feel that she might be a queen worth supporting and that his efforts were leading to real progress. But now, with her sudden and reckless departure, he was left completely isolated, fighting a desperate battle on all fronts.

The freedmen grew restless without their liberator. Petitioners were frustrated that their grievances could not be addressed directly to their queen. The two dragons imprisoned beneath the pyramid, Rhaegal and Viserion, became increasingly agitated without their mother.

Those were minor problems.

As weeks turned into months, whispers of the queen’s death grew louder. First to act on these rumors were the city’s new nobles. While they appreciated Daenerys elevating them to power by deposing the old slavers, they bristled under her rule. Many began plotting for independence.

Then came an audacious attempt from an outsider. A Dornish prince, emboldened by his distant Targaryen blood, conspired with mercenaries to steal one of the dragons. The plan failed spectacularly. Rhaegal roasted the prince with a blast of flame before escaping its underground pit alongside Viserion.

Outside the city, the Yunkai’i army, emboldened by the news of Daenerys’s absence, began considering new strategies. Peace had been achieved, yes, but why settle for limited gains when they could take Meereen itself and dominate the entire slave trade of Slaver’s Bay?

...

The city teetered on the brink of collapse, with enemies lurking within and without. At this critical juncture, Petyr Baelish made one of the boldest decisions of his life: to take the offensive. He would quell the unrest within the city while simultaneously driving off the Yunkai’i forces before the Volantene fleet could arrive. This was a gamble with no room for error.

Petyr personally went to the Unsullied camp to speak with Grey Worm, laying out the stakes and appealing to the commander’s sense of duty. After much persuasion, Grey Worm agreed to march without official orders from the queen. At dawn, the Unsullied, bolstered by mercenaries loyal to Daenerys, launched an attack on the Yunkai’i encampments. Simultaneously, the city’s freedmen militia staged a coup, arresting key figures among the rebellious new nobles.

Despite Petyr’s lack of military experience, his gamble paid off. In part, this was due to sheer luck.

...

The Yunkai’i army, already weakened by disease, was caught off guard. The plague that had ravaged Astapor after Daenerys’s departure had spread to their ranks, brought into their sprawling camps by slaves, mercenaries, and camp followers. Their loosely organized forces, stretched thin around the city in a crescent shape, were unprepared for coordinated assaults on multiple fronts.

Adding to their woes, an Iron Fleet led by Victarion Greyjoy arrived at Slaver’s Bay on the very eve of Meereen’s attack. Disguising their warships as merchant vessels, the Ironborn infiltrated the Yunkai’i fleet and launched a brutal boarding assault. Chaos erupted as dozens of Yunkai’i ships were sunk or captured. The Ironborn warriors then stormed ashore, tearing through the Yunkai’i camps like a scythe.

Petyr seized the moment, ordering the Unsullied to strike from the north while the Ironborn ravaged the southern flanks. The Yunkai’i forces, already plagued by sickness and demoralized by infighting, crumbled under the onslaught. The addition of Rhaegal and Viserion, drawn to the battlefield by the flames and chaos, sealed their fate. The two dragons unleashed fiery devastation, scattering the enemy like leaves before a storm.

By the time the sun set, the Yunkai’i army was utterly defeated. The survivors who managed to flee were few and disorganized. Meereen stood victorious, though the cost had been high.

...

Petyr had barely recovered from that triumph when the next wave of trouble arrived. The Volantene fleet, larger and far better equipped than the Yunkai’i forces, now dominated the waters of Slaver’s Bay. Their disciplined troops posed a far greater threat to Meereen than anything Petyr had faced before.

For now, he focused on fortifying the city and ensuring the survival of its people. The Unsullied were irreplaceable, and he dared not risk another large-scale battle. He sent small raiding parties to secure supplies and maintain tenuous trade with the Lhazareen. But Meereen could only hold out for so long.

It had been 107 days since Daenerys had flown east on Drogon. Was she alive? Would she return? Petyr’s thoughts were interrupted by the shadow of a dragon passing overhead.

Looking up, he shielded his eyes from the sun. His breath caught in his throat. The dragon above wasn’t green or gold.

It was black.