Rising Threat
(Varys POV)
- Kings Landing, Small council -
288 AC
I walk into the Small Council room and sit down. Grand Maester Pycelle has already found his way to a seat. I do wonder what he does the whole day. I mean, I know what he does, it just confuses me, how such an old man ... nevermind. I am always reminded of the time in Myr when the sorcerer used me for his blood ritual. It made me hate anything magic related. In that regard at least, I can relate to the Grand Maester.
The door opens again and Stannis Baratheon walks in. Stannis is a large man - tall, broad-shouldered. He is a serious, stubborn, rarely forgiving, hard man with a strong sense of duty and justice. He is proud and protective of his honour, not unlike the Starks. Stannis is an accomplished commander, sailor, and warrior with no thirst for battle, instead commanding from the rear, which is also why he holds the position of Master of Ships.
He has never had the affection of nobles or smallfolk and in his adult life, Stannis seems to be increasingly embittered by the lack of affection he receives from King Robert, even though he serves the king as well as he can. These two details, make him a rather unassuming player of the game because sometimes you have to bend if you don't want to break.
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Finally, Jon Arryn, Hand of the King walks in and sits on the seat which is meant for the King. But since His Grace is currently drunk and 'playing ball' with two prostitutes. Instead, Her Grace, Cersei Lannister has graced us with her presence. She thinks that she is cunning, but she is not as cunning as she thinks she is, which makes for a rather embarrassing spectacle.
"King Robert won't grace us with his presence?", I ask carefully, knowing full well that he won't.
"The King is employed elsewhere, so we shall start without him. As you all know, the King has asked for a Turney to celebrate his 5-year reign. Lord Stannis, how are we looking in terms of financial situation?", Lord Hand asked the Master of Ships who also currently had the position of 'temporary' Master of the coin until we find a replacement.
"Bad. I don't recommend holding another Turney."
"I already tried to get Robert to rethink this decision, especially now that we are lacking a Master of Coin, but he is adamant about holding it."
"His Grace seems to be ... bored lately.", I say and see the disgusted sneer of the Queen.
"How much money are we throwing away this time?", Stannis asks, always using a straightforward approach.
"40'000 Gold Dragons for the winner of the Joust, 20'000 for the winner of the melee and another 10'000 for the archery contest.", Lord Hand answers with a frown. It seems he was against this, but seeing that the King asked for it, there is little he can do. A long time lies between the young stag who learned from Jon Arryn of the Vale.
"That's ridiculous. If my brother wants to waste his money, he should first make sure we have our coffers full and stop wasting it.", Stannis says with a harsh tone. I understand him, the situation is not ideal for the realm the way it is right now.
"Well, that will certainly put a dent in our already empty coffers. How high is our current debt again?", I ask.
"It's staggeringly high and there is no sign of it begging better. No matter what I do, Robert simply keeps spending. *sigh*"
"Yes, the King's spending is getting rather extravagant. But if there is a problem, I'm sure my father would be delighted to help out the realm with a generous loan.", Cersei Lannister says. Just as I thought, she is not as cunning as she believes.
"Well-"
*Crash*
The door opens and we all see King Robert Baratheon come staggering in, dressed in a loose linen cloth. Surely he has just put something on so that he didn't come here nacked. The smell is putrid and I have to focus not to change my expression.
"J-jon ... how's the Tourney looking?", the King slurs all of his words. I can see the deep frown on Jon Arryn's forehead.
"It's not looking good, Robert. We are deeply in debt and this won't help our situation at all. I recommend postponing the Tourney until we have gotten word of our business in Essos. With the deal we might get, there is a chance we could hold the Tourney in-"
"BAH! Counting coppers is all you do. Forget about that. But now that you mention it ... how is the situation of the Dragon Spawn, eunuch? Are they dead yet?", the King addresses me.
"Ah, the Targaryen's are as elusive as ever. It would seem that since Ser Willem Darry has passed away, the two siblings have somehow vanished. But my little birds tell me they are still in Braavos.", I inform the small council. That was strange indeed. I wasn't really able to get any concrete information about the two siblings after Ser William Darry's death, the servants he had hired stole all they could. The young Targaryens were put out of the house a while after. However, after that, they seem to vanish and appear at random times.
"F*cking Dragonspawn! I want to see their dead bodies lying before me! Get someone to do that!", the King shouts.
"I would gladly do that, Your Grace. But at the moment the Free Cities are in a bit of a bad mood currently. A Dothraki Khalasar seems to give their slave trade some trouble.", I try to explain.
"A Dothraki Khalasar? What does a bunch of savages like that have to do with the Targaryens?", the Queen asks.
"Well, Your Grace, much as it turns out. The slave trade is in shambles right now, giving many of the cities of Astapor, Yunkai and Meereen a headache. This in turn also seems to concern the other Free Cities as they see their business endangered by such a daring Khalasar."
"Get me the Dragonspawn's head! I don't give a shit about some horsec*ck sucking savage!", the King roars and then leaves the Small Council again. What a nice visit.
.
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(Marghar zo Loraq POV)
- Meereen -
288 AC
We Great Masters are the ruling class of Meereen, one of the cities of Slaver's Bay. For centuries we have enjoyed wealth and prosperity in Meereen and now an upstart Khal thinks he can disrupt the Status quo like this?
"This has to stop!", Great Master Pahl opens the meeting and hits the table with his fat fist.
"I agree with Master Pahl. This has gone on for long enough. I don't know who this Khal thinks he is, but disrupting our business time and time again has to have consequences.", Master Ghazeen says with his calm demeanour.
"What is that Khalasar even doing in the Red Waste? There is nothing there for them. What do they do with the slaves? Because they aren't going to Vaes Dothrak, we checked.", Master Naqqan asks. He is right, it makes no sense. The only other explanation is that the Dothraki are killing all the slaves, but we haven't found any sign of a mass grave of any kind.
"We don't know, honestly. They could be using the slaves for work."
"No, we would know about that with the amount of slaves that have been stolen. The reports aren't very good, but they all point to the new and young Khal the Dothraki call the blood fist or father's bain. The attire he wears is very unusual for a Dothraki Khal and he is also not wearing any braids, despite never having lost a fight."
"Why 'blood fist'?"
"Rumour has it, he beat his father to death when he was but a few name-days old."
"Pahaha, what nonsense. The Dothraki and their barbaric beliefs."
"Never mind that. What are we going to do about it? The other Free Cities are already laughing at us. We can't take this in stride any longer."
"Something is already being done. We have contacted a rather exclusive assassin group from the Shadow Lands. They have agreed to kill Khal al Ghul, as he is called and kill him. They have assured me, that they either manage to kill their target, or die themselves.", I tell those who don't know.
"The Shadow Lands? To think we have to result to that."
"Yes, quite a low point for us."
"Why not just employ the Golden Company then? Seems to be the simpler option, no?"
"They are currently not available. It doesn't matter in the end, as long as that Khal dies.", I say.
"It better work. I spent so much gold on that contract. I still think we should have sent the Golden Company."
"..."
.
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(Venersis POV)
288 AC
I watch my Khal face off against the assassins who came for him. This has become a recurring occurrence. The Free Cities, especially the Slaver Cities were bound to target the Khal after he killed all of the slavers who travelled to Meereen, Asapor and Yunkai. But what appeared this time is unlike anything that came after the Khal before.
They are dangerous and there is a certain darkness that spreads from them, like looking at a poisonous lake whose water slowly flows down the river and threatens to kill anyone coming into contact with it. They are dressed the same way. Nothing individual. Everything is dedicated to the cause and to the job they have taken, which in this case is the death of my Khal.
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Their movements are deadly and seem unnatural. But I know the truth, they have lost what made them human. No emotions remain, no hate, love, ambition ... fear. They are the perfect killing tool, or so one could think. Having no fear means that they wouldn't listen to their instincts and therefore make them reckless.
However, I have no worries about my Khal's safety. I have been by his side for a year now. He summoned me looking for a Great Warrior who was skilled in leading others into battle as well as fighting on horseback.
It was like Lady Meina told me before she died ... 'you have everything except a Glow that's worthy of your devotion. That will be your downfall.'
She was right, of course.
When I was called upon, after my death, I believed to be forced into a similar situation. But I was wrong. The Khal ... my Khal was different. I saw it in his eyes and his actions. He wanted to learn from me ... that surprised me. My Glow would have never done that. He saw himself as above that.
I began teaching him in earnest. I was incapable of betraying him, but even if I could, I wouldn't do that now. He was worthy of my devotion.
.
The fight started.
The assassins jump into action. They speed towards the Khal and slash him with their blades. The first one reaches the Khal and stabs at him with his claws. The Khal didn't change his expression and simply moved out of the way, letting the arm pass by him. He had his sword in hand and blocked another attack coming from the left side.
*Clang*
He bends his knee and ducks underneath two knives that were thrown at him. His hand blurs and he grabs both of the blades with his left hand and turns around, using his momentum to kick the first assassin in the face and shoot him back.
*Bang*
*Boom*
The Khal finishes his spin and throws the two knives he caught at the approaching man. The man shows impressive reflexes though and manages to dodge the attack. The Khal is still moving and slashes his sword to the right while grabbing the wrist of another assassin and clenching his fist.
*CRACK*
A loud crack is heard as the Khal breaks the man's wrist. His sword swing is met with an attack coming from two of the assassins who managed to get back up. The strength of the slash is too much for them though and they are pushed back slightly. But not enough to throw them back fully. They bend their upper bodies to dodge a wide slash from the Khal and then straighten back up.
*BOOM*
As their body is upright again, they are hit with the body of the assassin whose wrist my Khal broke. He used him as a projectile and threw him at the assassins. He moves his sword in quick succession and blocks a series of knives and blades coming at him from behind.
*Cling*
*Clang*
*Clang*
*Shing*
Two assassins approach the Khal from the sides and one from the front. Their speed hasn't diminished in the slightest. They can't feel the pain and neither can they feel fear ... they will not stop until they are dead.
The leader of the assassins hasn't moved yet. He is only looking at the scene with indifferent eyes. He is the real threat here, but that won't matter. The fact that he isn't attacking will make his end more embarrassing. I continue to watch the fight between the Khal and the assassins.
.
I continue to watch the exchange and wait for the moment the Khal stops defending. He uses every chance possible to train himself. But he doesn't play around. He understands when a situation demands a quick solution and acts accordingly. The fight continues this way until I feel a change in the Khals movments. It is time ...
Another assassin approaches from the right side and swipes his claws at the Khal. The Khal doesn't move. The blades come closer and closer until ...
*SHING*
*SHING*
The Khal swings his sword faster than the eye can see ... and two of the assassins are cut apart, straight thorugh their bodies and killing them instantly. He has come a long way.
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The Khal doesn't move from his position and simply awaits the assassin's attack. And like the mindless puppets that they are, they atatck him. A sword is swung at his head and one towards his stoamch. The Khal jumps and twists in the air, passing through the middle fo the two blades. He lands and kicks the first assassin in the knee, breaking it to 90° in the wrong direction.
*CRACK*
*SWING*
Another swing and the head of the second assassin flies off his head. The Khal turns around and kicks the incoming assassin. He grabs the arm of a third assassin and swings the assassin around, blocking incoming projectiles. He then slams the body of the assasin liek a baseball bat at another assassin, making them both into bloody paste.
*SWING*
*SHING*
*SHING*
...
*Thud*
*Thud*
*Thud*
...
"خیلی خوبه کال قدرت و سرعت شما دوباره افزایش یافته است. مهارت شما در استفاده از تیغه و اسب بی عیب و نقص است. من معتقدم که زمان ان است، اگر شما هنوز هم مایل به یادگیری "نیروی"." - (Very impressive, my Khal. Your strength and speed have risen again. Your skill with the blade and horse is impeccable. I believe it is time, should you still wish to learn 'Force'.), I say.
He nods his head and looks at the last remaining man.
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