The Age of Daenerys Targaryen

Part 23: The fall of Braavos

Belo Aenolis, Sealord of Braavos, watched from the highest tower of his palace as doom drew nearer. Today was one of those rare fog-free days in the lagoon with the hundred islands on which Braavos had been built. Therefore, Belo had a clear view of the mainland, where the soldiers of the so-called League of Free Cities had gathered and the dam, which was under construction, with which the league troops wanted to gain access to the city.

The attack of the alliance of the Free Cities of Qohor, Norvos, Pentos and Lorath had come as a complete surprise to Braavos. For centuries the Braavosi had felt invulnerable in their lagoon city, especially since they owned the most powerful fleet in this part of the world. But the league did not even try to challenge Braavos at sea, instead marching with a hastily deployed army reinforced with mercenaries via Andalos and the Braavosian Coastlands directly to the lagoon. It had never occurred to anyone in the city that an attack might threaten from the land side, because the area around the lagoon was extremely impassable, with its thick pine-covered hills and numerous swamps. Bringing a land army here required determination and good logistics.

The lagoon itself formed Braavos' last line of defense and should actually be insurmountable thanks to its powerful navy. But the attackers simply began building a dam towards the city and using catapults to keep the Braavosi warships in check. The sheer audacity of this endeavor was breathtaking - and now everything looked like it would be successful.

The Braavosi had initially been able to disrupt the construction of the dam through a few nightly attacks by their fleet. However, more and more catapults were set up on the shore, which led to heavy losses of ships. In the meantime, the league troops had worked their way up to the point where they were able to bombard parts of the city with trebuchets from a platform specially heaped up in the lagoon.

In addition, the enemy had destroyed the aqueduct that supplied Braavos with fresh water. The cisterns were still well filled, but when the water supplies were used up, the city would have to surrender. However, it looked like Braavos would fall long before it happened. The Sealord estimated that the dam would be ready in two weeks at the latest. Since it had never been considered necessary to wall the lagoon city and the enemy's troops were four times superior to those of the Braavosi, it was clear to everyone what would happen then.

Belo Aenolis let out a sigh that expressed both resignation and resentment. He cursed Sansa Stark with all his heart. When the Queen of the North came to see him a few months ago, he had no idea what threat this woman posed. The young monarch was a real beauty, and Belo, still quite young to be a sea lord in his early forties, could not help but admire her charm. But he soon found out that he didn't like her. Maybe it was because everything she said to him could be summed up in one sentence: "Daenerys Targaryen cannot be trusted." Or with: "Daenerys is crazy and dangerous."

Of course, Belo Aenolis was also appalled by the King's Landing massacre. But war was cruel and before that the Dragon Queen had proven often enough that her heart was in the right place.

The Sealord had later learned that Sansa had been to the House of Black and White after her visit with him. How good that he had spoken to the Faceless Men before. The assassins also had their principles. They did not like slavery, so they generally regarded Daenerys with benevolence. So it hadn't been so difficult, for a small donation, to get them to promise not to accept any murder assignments against the Empress.

In the end the Queen of the North had to leave Braavos with nothing achieved, but the other Free Cities had been more receptive to her siren song. On Sansa's initiative, Qohor and Norvos had ended their border war and, together with Pentos and Lorath, founded the League of Free Cities. And when Braavos refused to join, the attack followed shortly afterwards.

Belo suspected that the League of Free Cities was afraid that Braavos would support the Empire in case of war. Seen in this light, the attack made sense, especially since Empress Daenerys was leading a punitive expedition against Qarth to take revenge for the warlock's attack.

The Sealord knew that only Daenerys and her dragon could save Braavos. Although he had already sent a request for help to Volantis, it was clear to him that the Empress would never return from the east in time before it was too late.

The besiegers continued unstoppable with the construction of the dam. All attempts to thwart or at least disrupt the project were drowned in the hail of catapults. For their part, the Braavosi did not even manage to set up their own artillery because of the heavy fire.

When the league troops had worked their way to the city, they sent thousands of soldiers to assault over the dam. It was clear that there was no stopping them. As soon as the clash of weapons and the screams of the wounded and dying could be heard in the Sealord's palace, Belo Aenolis set off for the remaining ships. It would be of no use if he let himself be captured by the enemy.

While his ship sailed under the Titan, the huge statue that stood with legs apart over the entrance to the lagoon and also served as a defense against attacks from the sea, Belo took one last look at his city. Huge temples and palaces, some of them larger than the Red Keep in King's Landing, rose above an endless sea of houses. In some places, fires broke out as a result of the fighting. Fortunately, the city was mostly built of stone.

The Sealord turned and looked out to sea. Between him and the safe Volantis lay a journey of thousands of miles through enemy waters. The remnants of his fleet would suffer further casualties, but would still get through. Belo clenched his fists. He would go down in history as the Sealord who lost Braavos. But he would win it back too - with the help of the Empress. She had to help him. She owed it to him.