Chapter 109 Fleet
Daenerys, who was holding Drogon's little paw, quickly realized something was wrong. Knowing that Drogon had fallen asleep again, she could only carry him to the little bed she had prepared in advance. She figured he would sleep until noon the next day.
The courses offered at the academy are progressing smoothly, and Tyrion's suggestions are beginning to show results.
Only a small portion of the slaves in Yuankai could not endure the hardships of farming; the majority of the others were willing to cultivate land outside of Yuankai.
Furthermore, Daenerys promised that the land they cultivated would belong entirely to them in the future, and they could also build houses on the land for easy farming.
This system further stimulated the enthusiasm of the Yunkai people, who had once been slaves, and some even went so far as to carve out a large area of land for themselves despite the hardships.
Allowing the people to cultivate the land freely solved a major problem in Slaver's Bay, and Daenerys finally had some free time. After putting Drogon away, she picked up a history of the nobles of Westeros and began to read.
She had only been reading for a few minutes when there was a knock on the door. Xilin quickly put down her textbook and opened the door.
"Your Majesty, the city guards report that a fleet of about fifty ships has arrived at sea. Please go and take a look!" As soon as the door opened, Barristan rushed in to report.
Upon hearing that a large fleet of fifty ships was approaching Meereen, Daenerys's expression changed. She glanced at Drogon, who was still fast asleep, and went outside with Barristan.
Five minutes later, Daenerys climbed the city wall and saw, as expected, a dense array of warships on the sea.
"Have you notified Jorah and Grey Worm?" Daenerys asked Barristan with a frown after roughly counting the number of large ships.
"They're on their way with men!"
Although fifty ships could only carry five thousand soldiers and posed little threat to Meereen, Daenerys dared not be careless.
Ten minutes later, Jorah and Grey Worm arrived at the city wall. The fifty large ships stopped far away, except for the lead ship which continued to sail towards Meereen.
"It's the Iron Islands of Westeros. What are they doing here?" Seeing the sea monster pattern on the flag that looked like a squid or an octopus on a dark sea, Daenerys recalled the Iron Islands' coat of arms she had seen in the past two days.
"The Iron Islands have been occupied by Balon's brother Euron. I wonder if this fleet belongs to Euron," Barristan said, recalling the intelligence Varys had sent a few days ago.
Before long, the large ship approached the walls of Meereen. At the bow of the ship, a man wearing tight-fitting leather armor with long hair flowing down his back was looking at the walls of Meereen against the sea breeze.
Although Daenerys and the others were unsure who the person at the bow of the ship was, they could tell it wasn't Euron because they noticed the rather large curves in her upper body.
"It must be Yara, the Iron Maiden," Jorah said, looking at the person at the bow of the ship.
"I am Yara Greyjoy of the Iron Islands, and is that Queen Daenerys atop the city walls? May I enter the city to discuss this further?"
Daenerys had guessed Yara's identity and was about to speak when Yara recognized her.
Daenerys ordered the city gates, which had just been closed, to be opened so that Yara could dock and enter the city.
After Yara entered the city, she was led into the council chamber of the pyramid.
Looking at Daenerys's ministers in the council chamber, Yara's eyes fixed on Tyrion. After a moment of surprise, she gradually understood.
Seeing Yara's surprised expression, Tyrion nodded slightly to her.
"Your Majesty, I have come with fifty-two warships and three thousand soldiers, hoping to be of assistance in your conquest of the Iron Throne."
Upon entering the hall and seeing Daenerys sitting on the high platform, Yara didn't waste any words and directly stated her purpose.
"So what do you want?" Daenerys was not in a hurry to accept Yara's help.
The Iron Islands and the Riverlands were formerly known as the Kingdom of the Riverlands and the Iron Islands, unlike Yara and Daenerys' other subordinates.
Furthermore, Daenerys is not yet the true Queen of the Seven Kingdoms; Yara is essentially in an alliance with her.
"I hope that after you enter Westeros, you will help me reclaim the Iron Islands, and after you seize the Iron Throne, you will recognize me as the Lord of the Iron Islands," Yara continued.
"If I remember correctly, you have a younger brother, Theon. Would he be willing for you to sit on the Salt Throne?" Tyrion asked before Daenerys could reply.
Daenerys glanced at Tyrion and nodded slightly. Although she had been studying the history of the major noble families of Westeros, her true understanding of them was certainly not as good as that of Tyrion, a native of Westeros.
"He's dead! He can't possibly be in power in the Iron Islands," Yara said, delivering a shocking message to everyone.
"Oh? As far as we know, the facts don't seem to be as you say," Tyrion retorted.
"I once led men to rescue Theon, but he refused to come with me. He is no longer fit to be the leader of the Iron Islands."
Recalling that failed rescue, Yara was both angry and heartbroken. Although her feelings for her brother Theon were limited to when they were children, she still couldn't bear to see Theon, who had lost himself in the cage after being tortured by Ramsay Bolton.
She knew that even if Theon was rescued, he could no longer lead the Ironborn, and the Ironborn would not follow him.
After hearing Yara's answer and seeing the pained expression on her face, although no one knew why Theon hadn't gone with his sister Yara after being captured by Ramsay Bolton, they didn't dare to ask any further questions.
Although Yara is a woman, it was she, not Theon, who led the fleet to the Alliance with Daenerys, so Daenerys would naturally support her to sit on the Salt Throne.
If Drogon were standing on Daenerys's shoulder right now, he would definitely tell her the truth about Theon's current situation: he is no longer capable of leading the Ironborn, both physically and mentally.
"I wonder how your uncle Euron is doing now?" Tyrion wanted to know more about the Iron Islands.
"He killed my father, seized control of the Iron Islands, and is building more large ships. He may come looking for Her Majesty the Queen."
"Looking for me?" Daenerys didn't believe Euron would attack her and seize Slaver Bay.
"Yes, I heard that he has long admired the name of the Mother of Dragons and not only wants to possess you, but also has designs on your dragon. By the way, why don't I see any dragons?"
After hearing about Daenerys's exploits in Slaver's Bay from the Ironborn who were plundering everywhere, Yara decided to bring her remaining followers to join her cause.
I had hoped to see the legendary dragon, but I didn't see anything, which left me somewhat disappointed.
When Daenerys heard that Euron wanted to take advantage of her and the dragons, her face darkened. But when Yara asked about her dragons, her anger turned to joy, and she said, "One of them is sleeping, and the other two have probably gone out to hunt for food. You'll see them soon."
Thinking of Drogon, who was fast asleep at the moment, Daenerys couldn't help but smile, which made Yara pause in surprise.
No wonder Uncle Euron wanted to come to Slaver's Bay, and even he himself was somewhat tempted when he saw Queen Daenerys.