Right of the Victor

Damian takes his gladius from the ground and after leaving his bow on the ground he leaves the forest to the road. His battle against the bandits with crossbows only lasted a few minutes, four minutes at the most, so he didn't expect the guards to have finished off the five other bandits in such a short time.

Of the five bandits, one is on the ground dead and the other four are still fighting the guards. Two of the guards are in front of the cart that Alester and Alysanne are riding with their weapons raised. Another guard is on the ground clutching his right shoulder, blood dripping between his fingers and Damian can practically hear him groan in pain.

`Four against four, the bandits are losing so there is no need for me to intervene.` Damian stays close enough to intervene if necessary but still far enough to not get in the way of the guards. He turns out to be correct and in just a few minutes the guards defeat the bandits, three of them are killed and the last one tries to flee into the forest.

`If he runs away he might try to recruit more men and come after us for revenge.`

The bandit was unlucky enough to run away in the direction Damian was standing watching the fight, the redhead pulled one of his throwing knives and when the bandit was close enough he hit him square in the back with it, right between his shoulders. The bandit fell to the ground and rolled a few times in the leaves.

As Damian walked to his side to pick up the knife, he heard the bandit groan and whimper for a long minute, after which all life left his body.

"Why did you kill him?!" Benton strode over to him and glared at him. "We could have interrogated him to find out if there are more bandits in the area!"

The guard grabbed his tunic and pulled Damian towards him looking at him menacingly.

"I didn't see you try to catch him when he was running away." Damian returned his gaze without flinching. "Let go of my robe, Benton." The redhead's voice dropped significantly, being almost a whisper, a low one with a sharp edge.

"Or what? What are you going to do? Whine and ask Alester for help?" Benton openly mocked him. The smug, mocking smile he sent Damian irritated him even more.

"Benton! Release Damian immediately!" Alester came running over and proceeded to scold Benton. "What were you thinking? Threatening my guest like that—Gods, Benton! Your manners need a lot of polishing—"

Damian relaxed his right hand, his hand that was a few millimeters from the hilt of one of his hidden knives.

The constant hostile and threatening glares, biting words, and continual attempts to turn everyone against him irritated Damian more than he realized.

`Thank you Alester, your timely appearance was very lucky.` Damian would not have killed him, no, the control he has over his temper is better than that, but he would have left Benton with a "souvenir" for life. `It seems my physical age is affecting me more than I had anticipated, adolescent hormones really are a nuisance.`

"-that does not happen again." Alester finished scolding his guard and looked at him expectantly.

"Aye." Benton replied grudgingly, looking like he just swallowed a lemon.

"Good." Alester turned to Damian and smiled brightly. "You already told me you are quite a good hunter but I did not expect you to be such a good marksman, my young friend. You are full of surprises!"

Alester patted him on the back and proceeded to praise his skill as an archer, Damian could only smile at the merchant's enthusiasm.

`He almost looks like a child.` He thinks good-naturedly.

Alester's jovial and friendly attitude was like a bucket of cold water on his nerves, still sensitive from the events of the last hour (especially Benton's hostility and threats).

"It seems our guest is more useful than we expected." Alysanne looked at him in a new light and Damian could practically see some of the suspicion in those bright green eyes fade away and be replaced by something even more dangerous. "Not many men could take out four crossbows. You really are very intriguing, Damian." Her tone is full of curiosity and she looks at him almost as if she is expecting him to reveal all his secrets.

When Damian said nothing she pouted and her gaze filled with even more intrigue and interest.

`That look is dangerous, Alysanne is very smart and insightful, if I let my guard down- Well, currently I don't have any big secrets apart from my future plans and my past identity, but still. This girl will grow up to be a very dangerous woman. If she'd been born on Earth, I wouldn't have been surprised if she ended up as CEO of some big company before turning thirty.`

"We have checked the surroundings and there are no more bandits, Master(*) Alester." One of the guards informed them. "The caravan did not suffer any damage and we can continue our journey at any time."

"Before that we should discuss what to do with the corpses." Alysanne looked around, on the road there were four corpses and in the forest at the edge of the road there were another five.

"We should bury them." Alester says, surprising practically everyone. "Despite the fact that they were criminals in life, in death they are just men. Everyone, regardless of the life they lived or their position, should receive a burial, as the Gods Above dictate."

"Father-" Alysanne wants to say something but she bites her lip.

"Alester, these creatures are scum not men. If they had their way they would have killed all the men, raped the women, and stolen whatever they could have taken with them." Benton looks at him disapprovingly. "We should hang their bodies from the trees by the roadside to serve as a warning."

Damian hates that he agrees with Benton so he doesn't say anything. Alester protests but no one agrees with his philosophy. When he sees the merchant, Damian remembers Galahad, who had the same look when he proposed any idea or showed him something. He sees the same anxiety and yearning for approval in Alester's eyes.

Remembering the years that Alester spent as a slave, he is not surprised by his attitude. Damian took pity on him and decided to help him:

"Master Alester is a very pious man." Damian says loudly for everyone to hear. "In truth I heard many septons preach about forgiveness and justice, in particular I remember one who always said that mercy in life will be rewarded handsomely in the promised afterlife. Septon Olyvver always said that the most pious men are those who know how to forgive. Those who forgive those who are not deserving of that forgiveness are the most pious devotees. Septon Olyvver said those men will be received by the Father Above once they leave this realm."

Damian looked at Alester with "admiration" and "respect".

"I really did not expect to meet someone like that, someone who has the heart to forgive those who have wronged him so horribly. You truly surprise me, Master Alester."

Alester blushed and looked away, Alysanne looked at him with even more intensity and most of the members of the caravan began to murmur among themselves.

"Master Alester is someone very pious."

"He is a devoted and honest man."

"Certainly his actions speak for themselves."

After Damian's short speech no one objected to burying the bandits. While half of the employees dug the graves, the other half prepared lunch, since it was already midday. Meanwhile Damian went looking for Marengo, who luckily responded to his whistles and galloped back to his side.

Damian strokes the mane of his horse and kisses him before leading him closer to the caravan.

"Good boy, you behaved very well my friend. You deserve a reward." Damian took an apple from one of the bags tied to the saddle and gave it to Marengo, who neighed happily before eating it in one bite.

`Today was a productive day despite everything. Four crossbows and a spear, well the spear I will give to the guard who defeated the bandit in combat but the crossbows, yes, those will sell for a good price.` In Westeros there is an ancient law when it comes to combat, the law is known as the Right of the Victor and dictates that in a death match the victor has the right to claim the worldly possessions of the loser.

This applies to things like weapons, armor, and mounts, not the loser's house or properties. That is, he can claim the possessions the loser has with him at the time of the duel. That law also applies in situations like this, in a bandit attack.

`Legal looting` Think Damian with a grin.

Crossbows are quite expensive, a good quality one sells for the same price as a horse, at approximately 600 silver stags. Damian already checked the quality of the crossbows and it's passable, he calculates that he can sell all four for about 2000 silver stags or 9 golden dragons and 110 silver stags. The sale of the horses and supplies of the bandits that attacked him the other day provided him with a good fortune that, added with his own coins, gives a total of 1582 silver stags.

`At this rate I will end up accumulating enough coins to start some of my projects before I arrive to Oldtown.`

Damian picks up one of the crossbows and inspects it closely. It closely resembles fourteenth-century crossbows: a short bow fixed transversely on a stock made of wood, it has a groove to guide the bolt, a sear to hold the string in the cocked position, and a trigger to release it.

In itself it is a fairly simple and easy to use model, the bandits also had a piece of metal with them that helped them load the crossbow faster. An amateur could take about two or three minutes between shots, the bandits took about a minute, showing that they were quite skilled and experienced.

The bandits wore bannermen's clothing, and they were even able to identify the banner of a Reach lord, so they identified them as deserters from the army that fought in the War of the Ninepenny Kings half a decade ago. Apparently there are many men who deserted from the armies, some because they did not want to die and others for more selfish reasons, in the end most of them ended up dedicating themselves to banditry since desertion is a crime punishable by death therefore none of them were able to return to their homes. Armed with stolen weapons and with an empty belly, banditry became very attractive.

"What are you doing with those things, boy?" Benton approached him with a nasty look on his face, a facial expression Damian was used to by now.

"It's none of your business." The redhead responds sharply.

Benton's face takes on a red tint and Damian can practically see the smoke coming out of his ears.

"Don't play with the crossbows, or you might damage them."

"So? What if I damage them? They are my property after all." Damian grins.

"Yours? They're not yours! They're-"

"They belong to the one who killed their previous owners." Alysanne intervenes. "That person is Damian, or weren't his arrows the ones that ended their life?" Alysanne looks at Benton expectantly, waiting for him to contradict her.

"Well-" Benton stutters something and his face reddens even more. After mumbling something incoherent he walks away obviously annoyed.

"Annoying your guard is not very wise, merchant girl." Damian tells her.

"Is it wise for you to anger him?" She retorts.

"Our paths will part as soon as we get to Bitterbridge, and until then- Well, I'm used to sleeping with one eye open by now. On the contrary, Benton will continue working for your father even after we arrive to Bitterbridge."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that." Alysanne's response surprises him, she reads his expression and proceeds to explain: "My father is not someone who enjoys confrontations, in fact he tends to avoid them if he can, but he is more assertive than you think. Benton has been a troublesome guard since day one, we hired him half a year ago and in that time he's contradicted my father more than all the other caravan employees combined."

"I see." Damian smiles. "Thank you for your help." He isn't just referring to her recent intervention, both today and in recent days she has intervened more than once just in time to stop an argument between him and Benton.

"Hmph." She crosses her arms and turns her head a little. "Do you really believe what you said earlier?"

"About forgiving?" He asks her and she nods. "No." Damian answers honestly.

"Then you don't have to thank me for anything. Let's say we are even."

Damian can only laugh and shake his head.

`This girl... I really like her, maybe we could be friends after all.`

***

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*In my fanon merchants are addressed as Master/Mistress. It is an unofficial title but very common, it is not always used but when it comes to rich merchants it is a must.