The Sellsword

(3rd Person POV)

Yunkai is located on Slaver's Bay. One hundred leagues to the south, following the old Ghiscari coastal road, is Astapor and about fifty leagues – at least a hundred and sixty-three miles - to the north of Meereen. 

Yunkai, also called the Yellow City, is made of yellow bricks, with crumbling walls, towers, and tall, stepped pyramids. These include the golden pyramid of Qaggaz. Yunkai is one of the Slaver Cities on the eastern coast of Slaver's Bay in central Essos. Ruled by the Wise Masters, Yunkai's main export is bed slaves. It is said to be a disreputable place and that is true. 

In this yellow city, a man walks through the streets at night. He is followed by two Unsullied guards who don't say a word. The man, who is a Wise Master, is unhappy at the moment. He was 'called' to a meeting this evening but when he arrived there, no one was waiting for him. What's worse, it was said that he hadn't been called in the first place. 

'Liars, all of them. They are plotting something and I will find out what it is. Or I'm not Zaldrak Maeraz.', the man thinks to himself. 

Yunkai was not nearly as impressive at night as it was during the day. And while Zaldrak was walking rather quickly to arrive at his large mansion, he wasn't worried much despite the dangers lurking in the dark. He believes that the other Wise Masters are planning to get rid of him. After that 'fake' summoning, he was certain that something was going on. 

There are whispers of rebellion among the lower classes of Yunkai, inspired by the recent abolitionist movements in neighbouring cities. Zaldrak must navigate these waters carefully, balancing suppression with strategic concessions. But not only that. Within Yunkai, other Wise Masters seek to undermine Zaldrak's influence, meaning he must constantly outmanoeuvre his rivals to maintain his position and not be killed after he loses his worth. 

.

Zaldrak finally arrives at his mansion. He paid a lot of money to have it built and as one of the newest members of the Wise Masters, he had to prove himself. The mansion was one way he did that. He used more money than necessary to make the mansion look more extravagant than other Wise Masters' houses. 

The mansion is rather dark for this time of day, but Zaldrak is far too angry and occupied to bother with it. 

"Bring me Mandrena to my room!", he barks the order into the room and walks into his quarters. The two Unsullied know not to bother him now and leave to their respective places at his door, to keep watch. 

In his solar, Zaldrak gets to work. He starts to create plans and goes over notes and letters he has gotten from his spies in the last couple of days and weeks. He is feverishly looking for clues on what the other Wise Masters are planning and how he could outmanoeuvre them. But it wasn't yielding any results. He couldn't find what was wrong for the life of him. 

Angry he throws the documents to the floor and calls for a slave. 

"Driss, bring me some bloody refreshments. And where is Mandrena?!", he screams. 

... but no one answers ...

The door stays closed, there is no sound of working slaves or talking people. He hasn't even seen his family yet. What was going on? 

Zaldrak stands up. He is livid right now. He walks to the door of his solar and yanks it open. 

"WHAT IS GOING ... on?", he shouts loudly at the start but then quiets down when he sees the scene in front of him. 

There sitting at his dining table, is a rather tall man. The man has scruffy short black hair, red eyes, and white skin. He wears a worn-out open grey trench coat over a loose-fitting shirt, with tan stitched pants and a thick brown belt. He wears boots which he has placed on the table. But that is not really what made Zaldrak stop talking. No, it was the state the stranger was in. He was all bloody and his clothes were torn and red from the blood.

Next to his feet lay three weapons. An axe and two machetes which were dripping blood. All around the room were blood stains on the floor and the walls and bodies were piled up all around. 

There is something that the man has never seen before. The stranger has something in his mouth and is puffing on it, releasing smoke out of his mouth. 

[Picture]

"Wh-at ... who are you?", Zaldrak asks but the stranger doesn't reply. He only looks at him with his red eyes, sending shivers down Zaldrak's back. 

"You're Zaldrak Maeraz?", he says. 

"Yes. And who are you? Quite rude to intrude into my house and just kill everyone around, no?", Zaldrak asks and slowly makes his way to a seat which is far away from the stranger. He knows that if he was supposed to be killed, he would have already died. But this man had let him live, so there was something he wanted and that's what he could work with. 

"My name is not important. I am here for you.", the stranger says. 

"And what business do you have with me?", Zaldrak asks. 

"Roughly 4 moons ago, a young man, we shall call him Dave, found love in his retched world of pain and humiliation. A woman who was in a similar situation as he was, but not as dirty as he thought he himself was. She was 'pure', that's how she was described to me. This unlikely and seemingly impossible union of two lonely souls found each other and for the young man Dave, it was as if life was smiling on him and everything he had to go through, all the torture, was only a test to see whether he deserved the sweetest of all the gifts in this world ...", the man stopped for a moment and looked into the distance, seemingly reminiscing about something. 

"A lovely story, but what does it have to do with me?", Zaldrak asked getting rather annoyed with the stranger. 

"I am getting there. As I said it seemed like all the darkness in Dave's life was finally receding through the woman who was his sun. But reality is often disappointing. On a fateful day, 3 moons ago, as the two shared their souls with one another, a man came across the scene and only saw one thing. The purity of the woman. And the only thing he could think of was how to possess and destroy it. So he took the woman for himself, in front of Dave who had to watch as his sun was forcefully ripped from his life. 

Days he searched for her, for weeks he was waiting for a single sign of life. After a fortnight, he finally found her. She lay on the side of the streets of Yunkai. The blood of her loins still dripping on the floor and while her heart was still beating, all the life had left her eyes and her soul had died. 

Dave's own soul broke that day and he had to not only bury his sun but also release her of her torment. Imagine that. I have long ago become a nihilist but when he told me the story, even I almost shed a tear. He fled his life. He gave up his 'safety' and all that he knew and went away, searching for one thing. Someone to help him avenge his sun, which was taken from him and had plunged his life into darkness again..."

"THIS IS GETTING ANNOYING! What do you want?! Tell me!!", Zaldark shouted suddenly. He had enough of this farce and was getting really pissed at the stranger.

"You see, Zaldrak Maeraz, on the day Dave died ... he found me."

"Ohhh, I understand. So that's what this is about. You were paid to kill me and avenge the slave whom I supposedly killed. What a joke! What a stupid joke this is! Who do you think you are, huh?! You come in here, into MY HOUSE. The house of a Wise Master and threaten me with death?! I will have your tongue ripped out and force-fed to you. I will have you killed and shamed publicly for this! DO YOU HEAR ME!"

"... I hear you. But how are you going to do that? I killed everyone who was in the building. Your family is not in the house. So ... who will do that for you?"

"I see, I see, I see ... Very well. Well played sellsword, very well played. Hahahaha, alright tell me ... how much will it cost me?"

"Everything."

"Huh?"

"It will cost you everything."

"I can give you power, I can give you slaves ... let's talk about this. I-"

"There is nothing you can give me, that I can't take myself. I will loot your treasury and then burn your mansion to the ground.", the stranger says as if it had already happened. 

"Wait wait wait! Let's ... Let's talk about this. Leaving me alive will help you mo-"

But the stranger doesn't listen. He stands up suddenly and starts to walk towards the man. Zaldrak moves backwards and pushes the chair over. It falls to the ground and Zaldrak stumbles. His heartbeat starts to quicken and he starts to do the only thing he can ... run. 

He runs as fast as he can towards the main door. But when he arrives there, he sees that it is locked. He bangs his fist against it, but the strong and sturdy door doesn't even budge. He paid top money for it after all. He looks to the back and sees the stranger walking towards him at a leisurely pace. 

Zaldrak almost gets a heart attack and starts running towards the stairs. He runs as fast as his short feet and heavy body can. After becoming a Wise Master he got fat gradually. Most of his work was done mentally after all and the food, wine and women he indulged himself in, weren't helping him to stay in shape. 

Panic could be seen on his face as he wobbled his fat body through room after room, looking for salvation and help but finding none. He made it to his sleeping chamber and tried to open a window. But it was too heavy for him, and he had to stop. He looked around desperately searching for a chair or something heavy to throw against the window. He needed to scream for help. Someone had to come save him ...

*thud thud thud*

Footsteps could be heard through the mansion. The walls reflect the sound of the heavy boots the stranger is wearing. After a long time, he comes strolling into the room where Zaldrak tried to open a window. Scared to death, the Wise Master moves further back until he hits the wall. 

"P-p-please ... I beg you ... w-we can talk about this ... I have money, do you want money? There is a lot in my secret vault down below. I also keep secret files on the other Wise Masters in there. W-with this key on my neck ... I-I-It will open the vault I swear, just please DON'T HURT ME!"

"I want you to know that Dave wished for this to hurt ... a lot. And it will. You will go through the worst pain you never thought possible. I will strip you naked, I will torture you and after I'm finished with you, I will take all of your wealth and burn down your mansion. The other Wise Masters will take all that you own and divide it amongst themselves. No one will remember you ... Do you understand?", the stranger asks as he looks down on Zaldrak who has started to piss himself. 

"Noo-"

*swing*

A small cut appears on the Wise Master's neck as the stranger cuts his vocal cords to stop him from screaming. 

"Good. Then let's begin."

...

..

.

Hours later, shortly before the dawn breaks, alarms are rung. The house of a Wise Master is burning. The commotion affects many people as the flames threaten to affect adjacent housing. 

One man stands to the side observing the house burn as the people run about. His expression is unreadable. 

"Rest well ... nēdenka vēzos.", the man mutters and leaves the vicinity.