Chapter 6

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***

Damian Rivers.

As it turned out, I'd been delirious for almost twenty-four hours.

I woke up in our tavern, with Aubrey looking after me, and Ben worried about me. But he sat modestly in the corner and let the lady take care of me.

- We were worried about you, Damian. - she smiled. - All night you've been burning like water in a cauldron.

- How long has it been?

- It's lunchtime now, yesterday after you left, you weren't seen until almost evening. Then the boys brought you back unconscious and feverish. A strange man in black clothes came with you. He's sitting on the ground floor, waiting for you to wake up. He doesn't say much, but he says you're related to him. Is that true?

- It's true, Aubrey. - I struggled to get out of bed. I was a little wobbly and had a headache, but it was bearable. - Give me the wine.

Aubrey dutifully, and silently gave me the jug and I took a few sips and then started to get dressed. I need to talk to a relative. It wouldn't hurt to bathe too, but that would have to wait. Rex was hardly growing like a red maiden could stand the smell of my sweat. After all, part of the blame for my condition lay with his god.

When I went downstairs, I saw that the aforementioned person was sitting on a bench, but also in the lotus posture. His eyes were covered and his breathing was measured. Scattered around him were a few of our guys, including Marik and Asgen.

As I got closer, without opening his eyes he turned to me:

- Congratulations Damian, you have been honoured to receive visions from the Lion of Night himself. Not everyone gets to do that.

When I sat down across from him, he did open his eyes.

- I can't believe I'm saying this, but... Gulchatai open your face.

He raised one of his eyebrows, and I realised that he didn't understand what I was saying.

- I said, open your face. I want to look at him. We're related, but we can't talk face to face.

- If you're comfortable with that. - He shrugged and took off his hood and mask. - Do you have any questions? Ask them, and I'll answer them if I can.

To my surprise, he looked a lot like me. Same red eyes, same black hair, but cut short. His skin colour was a little pale, though, and there were a few small details that made us different, like the height of his cheekbones and the shape of his eyebrows. Other than that, it was obvious that we were related.

- Why are you here?

- I'm going to keep you safe. That's my mission.

- And if I don't want to?

- The Lion of the Night wants you to. - he says it as a matter of course. - Whatever you do, you'll do what he wants you to do. Whether you want to or not.

- I see. Then you will officially join my mercenary company. It's not really a company yet. And you will be obliged to obey my orders or those of my deputies, if necessary. No favours as a relative or servant of the Lion of the Night.

- (Whispers) Good.

- Excellent. Tell me, what weapons do you have besides daggers?

- Good with bow and crossbow, good with spear and sword, knife throwing, knowledge of herbalism and poisons.

- An interesting and useful set of skills, by the looks of it. Tell me, how much help will the followers of the Lion of Night be to us?

He hesitated for a moment, clearly thinking.

- It's hard to say. Unless it's advice or some information they learn. In Westeros, as far as I know, they don't like the Lion of the Night. So we'll be without support there. Here, perhaps they can help us with money, information. Tell me what you're interested in at the moment and I'll give it to Grandfather. They'll help us if they can. But don't expect much. We're only humans, not gods.

Well, it makes sense that their powers aren't unlimited. Still, any organisation or person should know the limits of what they can do. Rex was honest with me from start to finish. And he told it without a hitch and right off the bat. He didn't make anything up and didn't think much of it. He didn't want to hide anything from me.

- Rex, do we have a family name?

- We do, but we don't use it much. But they know it in Braavos, and they know it in Asshai, too.

- E-ee-ee?

- Nigrormeum.

- Does it mean something?

- Yes. It means "black heart."

- Are you an aristocratic family, or are you just visitors? - I also asked him.

- It's hard to say. Our family has been here since the founding of Braavos. But it's even older than the city and our roots definitely stretch back to Asshai. But I don't know what came before. Our clan is respected and known by the highest circles of the Iron Bank and the official rulers of the city, and we are considered. But we're hardly what you'd call aristocrats.

- I see. That's a pity. I was thinking of asking to be officially recognised and legitimised. But I don't think that's going to happen.

- Hmm. I don't know if I can help you with that. I could ask my grandfather. But do you really want it? From what I understand, you're going to spend most of your life in Westeros. And Westerosi don't care about the traditions and laws of Essos.

- You may be right, Rex, but the temptation is there. I think I know what name I'm going to choose when I get my own castle, though.

- Which is it?

- Blackheart.

He smiled slightly, then pulled back his hood and covered his face with his mask.

- Okay, we have extra rooms booked. So, ask Marik, he'll help you with settling in and getting to know our guys. Maric!

- Yes, Ser Damian? - Marik jumped up to me.

- Rex is my cousin and the newest member of our squad, show him around and introduce him to everyone.

- Understood, sire. - He nodded and led Rex upstairs.

A little later I took a bath, where I had my back rubbed by Aubrey, and not only hers. And then I decided to ask Rex more about the connections of the servants of the Lion of Night. I was specifically interested in their espionage capabilities. At the very least, I would be satisfied if, during my stay in Braavos, they could help me find good fighters for my squad. I'll do it myself, of course, but their help wouldn't be unreasonable.

He nodded and walked back to the temple. He said he'd be back in a few days.

In the meantime, I went about my squad's business, sometimes attending Harven's meetings. I even went to fight clubs in the evenings, even participated in fights. Out of three fights, I won two and lost one. Luckily, it was a fist fight, and I went for the Ethiopian. And I survived only because he had seen me in the temple three days before and thought that I was also a follower and even a servant of the Lion of Night. So he decided to fight me from the beginning not at full strength and not to the death. He turned out to be a great master of some martial art. It's not kung fu or anything like that. Some other technique. But I never learnt the details of it. Although after the fight, we met up and talked a bit. I tried to recruit him into my squad, but failed again. But I did hear a few stories and legends from I-Ti.

On the morning of the fourth day, Rex returned, and not alone. Standing beside him were six men. They were the blameless ones. I realised that at once. Even though I didn't look in my trousers. It turned out that he had been training all these three days, and had been waiting for the arrival of a batch of Unsullied that had been procured for the defence of the temple. They had two dozen flawless. But I was only allocated six. True, as he assured me, these were the best and most experienced of all the blameless. They had sprinkled their spears in the blood of their enemies several times. The others were not so experienced, and some of them had not even participated in real battles yet. So we can't complain. And as for the money. I won't get any for now. But in the future, if I need it badly, they'll send it to me. So I got screwed here. Intelligence information was a little better, but again, I couldn't count on much. The only thing I'd been promised was information they'd find out in the city. Probably some of the Free Cities as well. They didn't have any special external intelligence, such a need simply didn't exist.

After that, I decided to check the training of my now flawless ones, what they are really capable of. And I confess, they are really worth the fame that rattles around the world about them. Not to say that they are so invincible, three of them I defeated, but the other three defeated me, one even managed to disarm me. I offered them a fair deal. They can choose among several options right now: to serve me, to go back to the temple or to go to free bread as mercenaries. There was no point in keeping them as slaves. So I decided to play the game of democracy and rise in their eyes in moral terms. Though it was said that the Unsullied are devoid of emotion and will, they are not. And canon with Daenerys confirms this. They were only depressed, but not completely devoid. It worked out the same way with Theon.

The Unsullied thought about it for a while, and still decided to serve me. After that, a few more days passed and an excited Harven met with me.

- Damian, my friend, I'm so glad you're well and sane.

- What's wrong, Harven. You're not yourself, I see. Sit down, will you have some wine?

- There is some truth in what you say, my friend. - He nodded. - Pour it, I could really use a drink.

He took a few large sips and a little breath.

- I come to you on important business. I need your help. An old acquaintance of mine has had his only daughter kidnapped. A little girl, five years old. Our competitors are probably behind it. But that's not what's important right now, it's that she needs to be rescued. We've been able to locate the girl, but this mansion is heavily guarded and officially we can't charge the owner of the estate, as he's a respected man and property in Braavos is untouchable. We don't have a civilised, official reason to go there, and we can't prove that my friend's daughter is there. So all we have to do is find reliable people who won't talk to the world about what happened there.

- And that's where you have us. I see.

- Can you help? I know sneaking into a man's mansion in the dead of night may not be exactly chivalrous, but saving innocent children is a good thing...

While he was talking, I was thinking it over and considering the options that might work out for us. It's a risk, the rich man of Braavos has a high security detail, but I think it's worth it.

- I think I can help. At least I'll try to work it out with my boys.

- Heh. I'm very pleased, Damian, very pleased. I assure you, you're doing a good thing, a good thing that will be richly rewarded, by the way....

- I understand, Harven. - I nodded, interrupting a new round of his monologue about the common good. - But I need as much information about the target as possible: what the girl's name is, what she looks like, how many people are guarding the mansion, who they are. That sort of thing. I'd also like a floor plan of the mansion, if possible. Basically, any information you can get on the case.

- Of course, we'll give it to you. You'll be accompanied by one of my friend's experienced men. If there's anything else you need, just let me know.

- Not yet. Did the kidnappers make any demands?

- Yes. My friend is a member of a trade guild and has access to important guild information as well as the treasury. They want certain information. What kind of information, I don't know. It's so important and secret that he hasn't even told me about it. The deadline to get it and deliver it is three days from this morning.

That's not much time, but it's doable. Well, let's think and act.

Closer to midnight, I met with the bodyguard of the merchant from whom the daughter was kidnapped and got all the information they could get.

I studied it carefully, compared it with my previous considerations and analysed it. As a result, the plan was re-discussed and re-corrected several times at our council of "officers".

With me went that man from the merchant, who turned out to be a good fist fighter and master of spear wielding, Varik, as a man who had already participated in such outings when little Damian was pissing in nappies, Rex, he is the only assassin with infiltration skills, of course me, and Marik. He's learnt to walk quietly and kill fast, too. Reliable guy. Five men in all.

We got in through the sewers. Pretty primitive and old-fashioned, but still effective.

There were 20-odd good fighters guarding the mansion, according to Harven's information. So it would be suicidal for us to engage them directly. Because of that, we decided to move in a small group to the basement where the little girl was apparently imprisoned, grab her by the scruff of the neck, and quickly scramble out of there.

We moved as carefully and quietly as possible.

The road to the girl's likely location was almost unobstructed. Only two maids and one guard were caught, but we dispatched them quickly and quietly. There was indeed a little girl in the cellar. The merchant's humongous servant recognised her as "Little Mistress" and took her in his arms. We had to kill her nurse just in case, so she wouldn't make a fuss. But she was asleep when we came in. What can you take from an old woman? Maric felt a little sorry for her. But that's life, wrong place, wrong time.

On the way back, we had to kill another maid and a guard, and then we were already out of the mansion.

Relatively everything went smoothly and without any casualties on our part. It even made us feel happy and proud.

We delivered the little girl to our tavern. According to the agreement, she would have to stay with us for a couple of days for our acquaintances to solve their problems, and then come back for the baby.

When she woke up in the morning, she didn't realise where she was, because she had fallen asleep in one place and woke up in another. The funny thing is, she didn't wake up once during our escape. That's what a sound, healthy sleep is all about.

Upon waking she was entertained by her servant, Aubrey, and strangely enough Gerda. She appeared to be very fond of children. Though I'd noticed she was a bit lenient with our boys. But when this harsh northerner-berserker smiled sweetly at the little girl and played with her, I almost choked on my wine....

I even sinfully thought that she is a paedophile and wants to fuck this girl, but no, she really loves children.

A day later, Harven and his merchant friend came with ten of his loyal soldiers. They had come for the little girl and brought a generous payment.

- We are very pleased with you, Ser Damian. - The Braavosian smiled. - My friend Harven recommended you to me for this for a reason. And I am grateful to the gods that you responded to it.

- Well, I couldn't leave the poor girl in such distress. - I smiled back at him.

He smiled even wider.

- And with such a reward for her? - he added.

I pretended to be offended and wanted to play the offended mercenary, but to my surprise and that of my guests, Ben came running in and said:

- Ser Damian! There's a mob of bravi gathered outside and they want to storm our tavern. They're shouting something, but we can't make out what it is.

- Did you make a mistake? - The merchant asked with a frown.

- No!" I shook my head, putting on some of my armour and picking up my sword. - We checked everything thoroughly, there was no chase after us, no sign of tracking, there was none. And we had an expert in this with us.

- Let's just find out what these people want. Maybe it's just your people, something you didn't share with them on some gambling bet, or a woman? - Harven made his contribution.

- Let's go. - I nodded, and we went outside.

The three of us, the whole ten Braavosians, and my two tens, who stood in two lines to keep anyone from entering our tavern.

- What are they chanting? - I asked my acquaintances.

- Something about their lord..." Harven tried to listen. - Shit! It's old Geleo behind you. Apparently our enemies are already on trial, but here are the loyal but rival men decided to avenge you and me for their master. They demand our heads.

How did they even know they were here? Trouble, trouble. And all on my watch, as they say.

- Damian. I realise this is sudden, but, um.

- ..you need my help. Or rather, my squad. To fight off these parrots? I think we can do that. Ben! Go to Varick and get our men ready, especially the archers. And you guys hold the line! - I shouted to my men in front of me, who were completely blocking the path to the tavern. - You hide in the tavern for now.

- My men are at your complete disposal, sire. - Galeo nodded his thanks to me and left with Harven.

A couple of minutes later, when the bravi mob would have been about to go on the offensive, the rest of my boys came out in full parade and even grabbed a couple of "cocktails" just in case. But I didn't want to use them now. They would benefit from facing the enemy in a battlefield environment within the city. Here's your opportunity.

- Form up!

Three lines of ten men of my infantrymen formed up behind them, behind them stood the Braavosian's men and my archers, who were ready for battle. Not everyone was here. The rest were in the tavern for emergencies. As the saying goes, you can't keep all your eggs in one pot.

- Archers. PLEE!

They immediately began to pour arrows into the Bravi, who rushed at my foot soldiers, but they held the line and did not let them pass. And methodically stabbed them with their spears. But before the Bravi could reach my men, every third one was put on a spear. They're probably not too familiar with that kind of fighting. We're better off.

The number of enemies was equal to the number of my men. Though we probably had a dozen more. And though they attacked zealously and with heroism, but their feeble attempts did not bring any real results. Only as it turned out later five of our men were wounded, but none were killed.

Towards the end the enemy remained a dozen and a half. They were too busy fighting to notice my command:

- In a circle!

The guys immediately put them in a circle and those deprived of space, could not even turn towards the enemy.

The archers, who were raised by their comrades above the heads of my infantrymen, simply shot the people shouting about mercy and willingness to surrender. But nobody listened to them. A minute later it was all over.

The result is not bad, the main thing is not to stop training the guys and "improve their skills".

Twenty minutes later the local "police" with some official arrived, but Galeo already spoke to them and explained the situation. In the end, there were no claims against us. We were only "defending ourselves".

For saving Galeo's and Havren's lives, we got extra rewards from both of them and we were also given drinks, food and wenches.

After that day we had no other skirmishes even with bandits. And in Braavos they began to talk about us as the fortunate, wealthy and fearless mercenaries that call themselves "green cloaks". These rumours helped us in recruiting new members to the squad. In a happy coincidence, we even managed to recruit twenty-five former less fortunate swordsmen from Prostor to join us. They were members of the same defeated mercenary group that had been foolish enough to run into the Dothraki in a clear field without a plan, and they were outnumbered. But that knight-major who commanded them was a little... knocked on the head and didn't realise it. As a result, they barely escaped slavery. But not all of them. And Galeo helped us "find each other".

As a result, at the end of our stay in Braavos, when we were ready to sail back to the Expanse, we were joined by an additional thirty-five people. The remaining dozen that were not copiers were five archers and five swordsmen from the Northmen (mountain clans). And as a result, 82 fighters in my already, probably, a full-fledged company, not a mercenary squad.

I'll have to work a bit on discipline and cohesion. But all in all, not bad.

Well... back to the Seven Kingdoms with a clear conscience and wallets full of money.

To be continued...