By the time Viserys rode away on King Ghidorah, the two mercenary companies had already begun packing, ready to coordinate with his main force at a moment's notice.
At dawn, Viserys returned to the rendezvous point he had agreed on with Ser Arthur, a canyon less than thirty li from Yunkai. The fifteen thousand soldiers Arthur commanded had already made camp there. The Unsullied stood in neat, solemn formations, while the Free Folk troops were noisy but in high spirits.
"Your Grace." Ser Arthur came forward to greet him, joy on his face. "You've returned safely."
"Yes." Viserys then briefly explained what had happened. "So Yunkai now has fewer than twenty thousand slave soldiers and freemen left, while we've gained four thousand battle-ready mercenaries."
Ser Arthur could not help looking impressed.
Once representatives from the Second Sons and the Stormcrows arrived at the camp, the final war council began.
"Look here." Viserys traced Yunkai's outline on the map with his finger. "Yunkai has three main gates. The eastern gate faces Slaver's Bay and is the most heavily defended. The northern gate connects to the coastal road leading to Meereen. The southern gate leads to Astapor, which is the direction we'll attack from. I want your mercenary companies to split into two forces and attack the northern and eastern gates."
Mero frowned slightly. "Split our forces to attack? Your Grace, that will spread us thin. Besides, our mercenaries aren't skilled at siege warfare."
"They won't be real attacks," Viserys explained. "They'll be feints. Your main task is to stop Yunkai's Wise Masters from escaping through those two gates. The main force of Unsullied will launch the real attack from the southern gate."
"King Ghidorah and I will support you from the air. Once you begin your feints, I'll first help the