A/N; Don't take this story too seriously with the criticism. This isn't a work of high fiction or anything like that. I'm having fun with it and if you don't find reading it to be fun, then don't. I'm not forcing you.
Of course, the next three chapters are available on Pa-atreon. Sadly, I need to eat and all that jazz, so you'd have to toss a few into the jar to read em. Enjoy.
Seven months passed in a blur. I spent that time doing a variety of things. I trained with Syrio for most of the day and spent the rest of my time playing Cyvasse with the Sea lord. I tried to deflect his subtle and not-so-subtle probes on what I planned to do with the ship and money. Where I planned to go next, all that jazz.
I went towards the shipyard like I did every day. Yesterday, the Sealord informed me that the ship was ready. I handed over the plans and schematics for the compass to the Sealord. Their tests would take about a week. They would allow me to leave if it all went well.
I accepted that and went back to the palace. The Sealord was holding a feast tonight for some reason or another. I didn't much care to find out. There would be food and wine. I would be there.
The week crawled by and I was finally on my ship. Preparing to set sail. I commanded the crew with all the best ship terminology I knew, "port to starboard, all hands on deck". I shouted at the top of my voice with the widest smile I ever had. The crew the Sealord gave me looked at me like an idiot. "Belay that" I finally said. "As you were" I added as I went into my quarters.
I spent some time in there as I waited for the ship to sail straight into the open seas. The compass shocked the crew. The risk of losing oneself at sea had limited sea travel for ages. When we were on the open sea, I went up to the deck to give directions.
I'd avoided giving any information about my destination before we set off. The Sealord and I had a friendly relationship but if he knew my destination, he'd have me killed before I left Bravos. Balon Greyjoy's revenge be damned. He despised the slave trade to a ridiculous degree. Unfortunately, I was heading straight to buy some slaves. I needed a loyal crew to go with me on my journey and there was no crew more loyal than the unsullied.
"Set sail for Astapor," I said while handing the compass over to the first mate. I sat down to observe all they did. My experience on longships in my childhood would not be enough to serve my needs. The crew moved like a well-oiled machine. Their skills had me impressed.
It ended up taking us about two months to sail to Astapor. This ship was fast, and the ability to sail on open seas allowed us to take a more direct route than we otherwise would. Upon arrival, I had the ship set anchor and then said goodbye to the crew the Sealord gave me. I made sure they were on their way on the first ship to Bravos before dismounting mine.
I ran into a small conundrum at that. I couldn't leave my ship in the port untended. There was no way to prevent it from getting stolen or for some idiot to have his way with my hard-earned gold. I sat on my ship for close to five minutes before I had an idea that might end up working.
I strutted down the gangplank and walked straight to the harbour master. He was a fat man with more gold teeth than white ones. He was negotiating rates with another captain. I didn't have the time for that. I cleared my throat to catch his attention and spoke in my most commanding voice, "Bring me one of the Good Masters. I want to make a large purchase and I'm uncomfortable with the idea of leaving my ship unguarded." I tossed him a few gold dragons and watched greed take over his eyes before he scurried away.
The captain he was speaking to turned to me, offended. I shrugged and went back to take a seat on my ship. I waited for almost an hour before the harbour master returned with four unsullied. He claimed that the Unsullied would guard my ship while I spoke to the master.
Not at all what I intended but it would have been a bit ridiculous to expect one of the rulers of the city to heed my call so easily. I'm guessing the only reason they did this much was that no good businessman turned down business without knowing what the business was.
I was led to a large manse. It competed with the Sealord's palace in splendour if not size. Glass windows, tapestries of gold, this building had every sign of wealth. I suspected that I was being shown a longer route because the distance between the entrance and the meeting hall was unusually long.
Eventually, I arrived and was introduced to Greizhen Mo Ullhor, the 'most splendid and wealthy of the good masters'. He was shockingly thin but well dressed in beautiful flowing yellow silks. His teeth were perfectly white and his smile seemed to light up the room. The contrast between him and the harbour master was comical. The harbour master had volunteered to translate for me, and I was thankful for that. The free cities spoke low Valyrian, a collection of bastard spin-offs of High Valyrian. Speaking one didn't give anyone the ability to speak the others, and the Astapori variant was even more broken off from the mother tongue.
"Tell him I want two ships and five hundred unsullied" I finally spoke out. I hated haggling and all the posturing that went into business. Greizhen said something to the harbour master and laughed before the harbour master translated that the master would sell to me for 400,000 gold pieces. That was ridiculous.
"Two longships cost between 10 and five and ten thousand gold. A single unsullied goes for about five hundred gold pieces. I'll pay nothing more than 250,000 gold pieces." He looked amused at my reply once it was translated to him, and he barked something out in Astapori.
The harbour master looked nervous to relay that message to me. That was perfectly understandable though. I was over 6 feet tall and built like a brick. He finally settled out for squeaking that the Master would accept nothing less than 350,000 gold. I saw no need in haggling further. I could probably get a lower price if I did but I wanted the Master to see this as a good deal and me as a lucrative partner. I didn't need the money either way. "I'll agree to the price if he adds another longship and fifty unsullied skilled in sailing." I relented.
The harbour master translated, and I knew my deal was complete from the smile that erupted on his face. I was very sure he'd be making a commission on this trade. His interest in seeing it go through had been very apparent from the excited bearing he possessed as he led me to the manse and his talking up of Greizhen as we made our way here.
After the deal was struck, we agreed that the four unsullied already on my ship would be transferred to me. The rest of my purchases would be made available in a day. The Astapori were frighteningly efficient when it came to their principal trade. I spent the rest of the day browsing the markets to see how much supplies would cost. At the end of the day, I decided that using Greizhen to acquire supplies would be a better use of my time. None of the sellers on the open market had the kind of volume I needed.
When three longships were docked next to mine the next morning, I knew that my deal was about to be completed. I allowed Greizhen's money counters to count the seven chests that I'd moved out of the cargo hold with the aid of my new soldiers the night before. The Sea Lord was kind enough to pack my million gold into twenty chests, each containing 50,000 gold dragons.
His counters did what they did while I walked up to him with another proposition. "I need supplies for my ships. Enough to last me and my new crew for two years. I'll pay 50,000 gold dragons for it" I stated. The harbour master was nowhere to be found today so one of Greizhen's translators did the job. He smiled and the translator told me that I had to wait a day to receive my supplies.
I was probably overpaying by quite a bit, but the money would be useless where I was going while the supplies would be essential. Greizhen passed over the symbol of control for the five hundred and fifty unsullied I purchased and told me through his translator that the supplies would be here by morning the next day. I thanked him and waited for him to leave before I started issuing orders to my new crew. I had them divide themselves into groups, with two hundred going on my flagship, that I'd named Grey wind (Take that, Robb), and another hundred on each long ship. I had the unsullied with sailing experience group themselves in the same ratio.
The only instructions I gave them were to find somewhere to sleep for the night and set up a guard rotation for the night. For the first time since I left Bravos, I slept soundly. I wasn't surrounded by a crew I didn't trust or four soldiers in a town of people that would love to kill me. I had none of that tonight. I slept with a small army of highly trained killers entirely loyal to me. I was as safe as I would ever be.
We set sail with our supplies the next day. I had the unsullied on all three ships gather on the decks so I could speak to them. "Unsullied. The mightiest warriors in the known realms. You have lived as slaves, but today, I say no longer. There are no slaves on my ships. I would have you all as free men or not at all. I give each and every one of you a choice. You may leave this crew and I will ensure to drop you off at the nearest port, or You can join me. Join my crew. The greatest the seas will ever see as we sail towards a location none have ever survived. Join me to plunder the treasures of Valyria. To step on lands no man has trodden upon in centuries. Join me and make history. Join me and be immortalised in the minds of men for eternity!" At the end of my speech, I was screaming at the top of my voice. The unsullied chanted my name and banged their shields in unison. Not a single one of them left the crew. History would know our names. Theon Greyjoy and his 500. The first to sample the lands of Valyria and return.
A/N; Enjoy it?
