Chapter 23: The Hunt
(297AC)
Stannis Baratheon Lord of Dragonstone and Master of Ships stood at the brow of his ship. They had been sailing for two weeks and had been blessed with good winds and calm weather.
They had just passed the Stepstones and Stannis knew very well that these were treacherous waters, filled with pirates looking for ships to plunder.
So far, no pirates had been seen. But that could soon change. Pirate-ships were fast and fairly sturdy. The vessel he had taken from Dragonstone, the Golden Antler, was a fine ship but not made for a chase.
Stannis cursed his brother for making go on this crazy hunt. He was well aware of how dangerous of an existence the girl was and the most humane way was to give her a quick death. But whenever the matter of assassins came up the king shot them down, he wanted to kill the girl himself and no one could convince him otherwise.
The very fact that Robert wanted to go to Lys was insane too , thank the gods that he had let his younger brother handle it; the king would have gone with his warhammer and started a war on the Perfumed Sister just for the sake of it.
Stannis was going to take a more subtle approach, a single ship with a handful of men. He didn't know the name of the brothel but a little discreet questioning and they would find her, an easy in and out job.
He had the gold to bribe any guards if needed to; they were only sellswords with no honor after all.
"Pirates on starboard's side!"
The shout from the nest sent the sailors working the sails, catching the wind trying to get away, but the pirate-ship was soon upon them.
xXx
Oberyn was playing cyvasse with Doran in the keep of Sunspear, when the news of Baratheon ships coming into port was announced.
Stags and Lions were not welcomed in Dorne; everyone knew that, which was why it was so alarming.
"It is Robert?" Doran asked the messenger.
"No, my Prince. It's his brother; Lord Stannis."
"Now why would the sullen lord of Dragonstone come here?" Doran wondered.
"It seems they are repairing their ship, my Prince."
"And why did he not announce his arrival?" Oberyn continued.
"That… I don't know, prince Oberyn."
"Hm. You can go now, Aran." Doran waved him away.
The boy bowed and left, leaving the two princes alone.
"The nerve!"
"Calm down, Oberyn. Nothing has happened."
"Not yet. What is he doing so far south anyway? Robert might be witless but I thought his brother had something between his ears."
"I wonder that as well. Doran pondered. "Maybe we should send a spy to King's Landing to find out."
"Why not just go down there and beat it out of Stannis right now?"
"If Stannis has left the capital it is on the order from the king. Robert is up to something, if you go down there you will only hear lies, if you want the truth you go to the source."
"King's Landing."
"Exactly."
"But if he means to hurt Dorne in any way…"
"…he would not come here just for repairs. There is more port cities in Dorne, in better locations, Sunspear just happens to be the largest."
"I still don't like it."
"Neither do I, brother." Doran made his move over the board. "Neither do I."
xXx
She was now six weeks along and she could feel it. Her formerly flat stomach now had a small bulge where her baby was resting.
Standing in front of the mirror she stroked her bump.
It was probably a girl, seeing as Oberyn only had daughters, and it made her slightly worried.
She didn't want her daughter feeling the humiliation it was to grow accustomed to the life of a whore.
She knew that boys were used as prostitutes also but it was more common for girls. She didn't wish that life for her child.
She had begun to use more loose-fitting dresses. Not that it was needed yet but because she felt like her girl would feel better that way. In her head she knew it didn't work that way but she refused to realize that fact.
She was humming a lullaby as she continued to stroke her belly, imagining a small girl with her father's dark locks and her mother's violet eyes, squealing with joy in the sun.
She thought of what she would call her little daughter; maybe a nice northern name, though Lyanna was too obvious, or maybe a cute dornish name but she didn't know that many, Elia of course and Ellaria but they didn't seem right.
Well, she still had many weeks to go and much time to think about it.
Suddenly Zazarra rushed through the door, wild-eyed and panicky.
"Pack your belongings you have to leave."
Jean looked at her surprised.
"What in the world? Leave? Why?"
"There are men looking for you!"
"There's nothing unusual with that, right? I mean, we're in a brothel."
While Jean answered Zazarra ran around throwing clothes in a bag on the bed.
"This is no laughing matter! The men had stag-sigils on their breastplates!"
Jean grew cold. Baratheon soldiers, they had found her!
"How… how do you…?"
"Varys, the Master of Whispers. I knew his mother, after he left Lys they kept in contact until she died, we continued to keep in touch after that." She looked at the shocked Jean. "I knew who you were a few days after you came here. But I wasn't the one who sold you out. Now hurry and pack your things." She threw her an extremely simple dress, the kind that the servants used. "Put that on."
With a feeling of déjà-vu Jean put on the rough, brown dress, and began packing what she might need. The little harp, her jewelry and the blanket she had bought for the baby among others.
"Where will I go? This is an island; I won't be able to evade them forever even if I leave here."
"There's a ship leaving for Volantis embarking in half an hour, if you sneak out the back door you might be able to get away."
"What about you? If they found out you helped me they'll kill you!"
"Don't worry, no one cares about me. You have to think about yourself and the little one now."
Jean touched the tiny bump and suppressed her tears, now was not a time for crying.
The bag was not overly heavy and well-hidden within the cloak she swept around her.
Both of them ran through the corridors until they reached the little wooden door in the kitchens.
Zazarra touched Jean's cheek and spoke to her.
"Goodbye, my friend. Live, and be strong."
After kissing her forehead and pulling up the hood, Zazarra pushed her out and gestured for her to hurry before closing the door.
With a short wave and stifled sobs Jean ran towards the docks.
She heard the shouting from inside the brothel. She got out in the last second; they were on her heels now.
The streets of Lys were lit up by lanterns hanging from the houses, the evening sun was disappearing on the horizon but still people crowded the street.
Lys was a city that never slept. The shops just changed character and the more shady merchants came to show off their goods, such as poisons or narcotic drugs.
It was also the time for muggers who preyed on defenseless fools strolling outside.
In the hurry she had just taken one of her dirks which she doubted would be enough if a group decided to jump her.
She had about twenty minutes until the boat left and it were a long way down to the docks. She knew a shortcut through an alleyway but at this time of day it was very dangerous so she hesitated.
She heard shouting behind her and she saw a couple of men in armor searching roughly the women on the street.
With fear in her bones she sprinted through the alley praying to the Old Gods to come out untouched.
For the most part it went well; she saw no one, except a couple who experienced the rush of making love outside, but before emerging into the street a husky man came before her.
He had the typical lyseni look, with ashen-blonde hair and lightly tanned skin. He held a long shiny dirk in his hand, much bigger than hers.
"Gimme the bag and I won't hurt you."
As strong-looking as he was; the grip on the dirk was all wrong and she realized that if she played it right she could actually defeat him.
She walked a few paces forward and pretended to pass him her bag, when he reached for it she took another fast step forward, pulled out her own dirk and with a swift movement slit his throat.
To kill someone was surprisingly easy, for a minute she just stood there seeing him bleed to death on the ground.
After he stilled she turned to the wall and threw up. After emptying her bowels she glanced back at her victim and nauseously hurried to search the robber's pockets.
She found a small pouch with some coins, no doubt the loot of another mugging. It was not much but he didn't need it anymore.
She stashed it in her bag and after a silent prayer for forgiveness, she rushed onwards.
xXx
Getting into the city had been easy and it was not hard to find the right brothel. The praise of the Violet Rose of Lys rang through the streets as loud as the complaints about the lack of sex recently from her side.
Her activities in bed were irrelevant to Stannis but he quickly found his way to Rūklon, with a lotus flower decorating the wall above the door.
While clean, the inside stank of perfume and sex, making Stannis grimace in disgust.
The startled small man at the desk tried to stop the soldiers while they searched the brothel top to bottom, all while rounding up the frightened prostitutes in the hallway by the desk.
Stannis sent men down the street from the back door and concentrated his attention at the man who he presumed was the owner.
The man yelled something in valyrian that Stannis neither understood nor cared about.
The sketch that he had been provided with showed a fourteen-year old girl with forlorn, violet eyes and straight black hair, a feline nose and slanted eyebrows.
"Do you understand the Common Tongue?"
"Yes." He was nervous, who wouldn't be when foreign soldiers raided your establishment.
"Good." Stannis showed him the drawing. "Do you know this girl?"
The man looked at it and his face became absolutely expressionless.
"So many girls. Don't know."
"Listen here, this girl is wanted in the Seven Kingdoms; if you know where she is you will tell me."
"Don't know."
"You…"
"Lord Stannis!"
A soldier came towards him dragging a beautiful, dark-skinned woman in her forties behind him.
"I found this one hiding in the kitchens."
The woman stared at him defiantly.
"Do you understand the Common Tongue?"
The woman said nothing.
He showed her the drawing.
"Do you know this girl?"
She still said nothing.
Stannis started to understand the difficulty Varys' must have had gathering information in Lys.
The people kept their secrets close and did not let go of them easily but there were always ways to get the directions he needed.
Uncertain whether the woman understood him or not he turned to the owner.
"You can tell your employees that if I don't get the information I want you'll end up dead."
The man looked at him with a confused look on his face. He didn't understand anything Stannis just said!
"He does not speak the Common Tongue." The woman spoke.
"I see." Stannis glared at her. "So let's try this again." He held up the drawing. "Do you know this girl?"
"No."
"Are you sure? Look again!"
"I don't know!"
"I see." Stannis straightened.
His man had gathered the girls in a line in front of the entrance. He nodded to one of his men who swiftly slit the throat on one of the whores.
The young girl fell to the floor as she in her last breathes tried to stop the blood with her hands.
Screams broke out among the survivors and they clung to each other to get away from the growing puddle of blood.
The dark-skinned woman looked furious but still refused to say anything.
The owner was devastated and shouted at her in valyrian, yet she kept quiet.
Was she going to let all of them die? Stannis hoped it would not be so, he was irritated. The woman was obviously stalling.
"I will keep killing them until you tell me where the girl is." He growled at the beauty.
She glared at him before turning away in defiance. This irked him to no end.
"Lord Stannis!"
He was just about to order another throat-slit when one of his men came rushing.
"What is it?"
"Someone was running down the street from the back door! Ser Travan is following them as we speak."
"Let's go, men." He gestured to the soldiers, without a glance at the irritating woman.
"NO!" She screamed. "You can't!"
He ignored her and began running with his men close behind him.
He would not let the Dragonspawn get away."
xXx
Captain Brachar Dirrelar of Volantis had been a sailor since he was a boy.
He had been everywhere from King's Landing to Qarth, from the Islands of Ib to the continent of Sothoryos.
He had traveled more than most yet he always wished to see more. He enjoyed the freedom it was to sail the seas, not to be tied down by the rules and laws on land.
He made a living by being a merchant though he never got involved with the slave-trade. Though he would probably make quite a profit from it he deemed it too much of a hassle. More supplies would be consumed and slow down the journey.
Which was why his visit to Lys was to acquire perfume and silk, not slaves.
For almost two weeks he and his crew were staying on the Perfumed Sister and now it was time to return home to Volantis.
It was not something Brachar looked forward to, he preferred the refreshing sea-air to the hot and foul stench of his hometown, but he knew lyseni perfume was very popular both on the Long Bridge and beyond the Black Walls.
He stood on the pier supervising when some of the men were loading the cargo-hold with the various goods while the rest were getting ready for departure.
The sun had almost set completely but he never had any problem navigating in the dark, some would call it foolish he would call it exciting.
When the last crate was onboard he turned to signal to raise the anchor when he suddenly heard a girl behind him.
"Excuse me, captain?"
He turned to see a small cloaked figure a few meters away. She was breathing hard like she had been running and as she looked right at him he noticed that she was extremely beautiful.
"What do you want?"
"I'd like to go to Volantis with you."
"Sorry, little lady, I don't take passengers." He turned away and began boarding his ship.
"Wait!" She yelled. "I can pay!"
He sighed and looked at her.
"I told you, I don't take passengers. Now go away."
"Please, I beg you I have to leave Lys tonight."
He narrowed his eyes and studied her.
"Why? You're not a runaway slave, are you?"
"No! No, no that's not it. But I have to leave. Please."
She was now sounding so helpless and tired Brachar began feeling sorry for her.
"How much?"
"What?"
"How much can you pay?"
She hurriedly handed him a small pouch, he emptied it in his hand and counted up to twenty lyseni coins. It was not a bad sum.
Still, he hesitated. Her behavior was suspicious; she was fidgeting and constantly glanced behind herself. If she was a slave on the run she only meant trouble.
But on the other hand Brachar loved to live dangerously and she was barely a woman grown.
"I don't have any empty cabins but if you don't mind sleeping in the cargo-hold you can come."
Her face broke out into a smile that took his breath away.
"Thank you!"
He shook his head while he let her go before him onto the ship.
xXx
Jean sat on a crate in the cargo-hold while leaning on the wall. Her bag sat next to her. Lanterns hanged from the beams and lit up the space.
She realized that she had been lucky, a few more minutes and she would have missed the boat. Now she just had to keep herself safe the few days it took to reach Volantis.
She had seen her pursuer on the pier before boarding but he had missed her. So she got away but she worried about the ones she left behind. The chance she would ever return to Lys was slim so it was next to impossible to know what had happened to Zazarra and the rest; she hoped they were all right.
She touched her belly. She had to keep her baby safe, but how? She couldn't work in a pleasure-house in Volantis because only slaves worked there and though she technically was a slave no one knew that and it was probably for the best.
Jean had heard of the slaves in Volantis; tattooed and abused. The slaves outnumbered the freemen five to one and the trading with the cities in Slaver's Bay was very frequent.
Volantis was a dangerous city but her only option.
She sighed. She was tired. The day had started so well; just to turn into a hunt.
She had known that Robert would find her sooner or later, but how? The only one who knew who she really was was Zazarra and Jean trusted her more than anyone.
Someone had to have figured it out, even though she had been careful. Or had she?
Thinking about it she had made quite a name for herself; the Violet Rose of Lys, one of the most sought after courtesans in Lys and exotic in her own personal way. No, she had really stood out, hadn't she?
She sighed again. It was too late to undo it now so she just had to look toward the future. A future where her child could be free and happy.
With her hand on her stomach, Jean closed her eyes and fell asleep to the rhythmic movements of the waves.
xXx
Stannis found an apologetic ser Trevan on the docks, without the girl.
The sun had completely set and any ships still in the harbor had their storm-lamps lit. It was now too dark to embark for anyone.
"Well?" Only one word came from Stannis lips but it was not really a question, more like; 'I know you didn't get her but I will give you one chance to explain yourself.'.
"My Lord, I followed her here but I lost her in the crowd, please forgive me."
"How many ships have embarked since you got here?" He ignored his apology.
"Only three, most will wait until morning comes."
"Have you talked to the Piermaster?"
"Um, no I…"
Stannis scowled and stalked passed him towards a building with a huge sign with a helm painted on it.
It was safe to assume this was where the office of the Piermaster was located but when the lord tried to open the door he found it locked.
The windows were dark and not a sound could be heard from the inside. He would find no answers here.
This was bad. He couldn't possibly return without the girl and if he didn't find out where those three ships were heading he had no leads to go on.
"My Lord, perhaps we can return in the morning?"
"Indeed." Stannis agreed with the man. "In the meantime lets return to that brothel, I have a feeling that woman knows where the Dragonspawn is going."
Leaving the docks the Baratheon walked back into the city.
Author's Note:
This chapter was very hard to write, not only because it mattered so much in which order the POV's came in but also because I had to keep a close timeframe at the end.
When Jean (Helena) first arrives in Lys it takes about half an hour before she is delivered to the brothel, and they were walking so if she runs almost the whole way to the docks maybe it take twenty to twenty-five minutes so it timetable holds.
Please review and tell me if I made any mistakes and I will try to do better.
Mimi890