Chapter 5. CHAMPION OF THE PITS
Part 1. LEGEND OF THE AMAZON
As soon as the Storm Breaker docks Tara searches for a ship bound for Mereen. She immediately finds one and purchases passage. The ship is not scheduled to leave until sunset so Tara explores the city always keeping the docks in sight. As she walks through the streets many men offer gold for a few hours of pleasure. She respectfully declines and goes about her business, but if someone is aggressive she breaks an arm or grabs their balls. She jabs one aggressive in the eyes with her fingers blinding him.
Soon the ship sails and Tara is off to Mereen. As on board the Storm Breaker Tara helps out on the ship where she can. After three weeks of sailing the ship arrives in Mereen. Tara leads her horse down the plank and through the city to the great arena of Mereen.
The arena foreman looks her up and down when she steps up to the table, "I wish to fight in the arena…" She boldly says in Old Valarian drawing laughs from those in earshot. Tara sighs and grabs the guard standing by the table and flips him onto his back. When the other guards draw their weapons Tara draws her swords, but the foreman raises his hand.
"You speak old Valarian…You are from Westeros are you not?"
"I am!"
"You don't look Dornish…What's your name?"
"Tara!"
"Sign her up…under the name…" He pauses looking her up and down, "The Amazon…Don't die pretty warrior!"
Tara leaves the foreman's desk and goes the betting jocks, "What are the odds on the Amazon?" She asks the betting jock.
"Fifty to one!" The one eyed man replies.
"I want to bet all this on the Amazon…"
The man takes the satchel counts the money and marks the bet, "Next!"
Tara goes to the holding area for slave combatants. As a free woman she can walk around freely. Tara is assess the combatants. Most are all slave born, but taught to fight. Only five are real threats two are from Westeros dishonored Knights probably. Tara watches the first singles match from the side viewing area where the handlers watch over their charges for their masters. After the first match a doubles match is next.
Finally its Tara's turn as she is placed with nine others to fight another group of ten combatants. The gates open and the people cheer as she and the other nine enter the arena. A wave of shock crosses the crowd because Tara is dressed in armor that cups her breasts and her hair goes down her back from the helmet. Her armor is light for functionality. She has black leggings on with a dagger on each hip. "Begin!" The Master yells from the stand.
Tara faces a man armed with a spear. He lunges forward but Tara blocks the spear and cuts the head off. She spins into the man slashing is neck and down he goes. She takes a quick glance of the remaining combatants. Tara runs toward two men still fighting. She raises her left hand and throws her sword into the back of the man on her team. As he goes down Tara places one foot on his shoulder and leaps toward the man he was fighting. With a roar on her lips she makes a overhanded chop. The man blocks but the force of her blow sends him to his back. Tara knocks his sword from his hand and crushes his neck with her boot.
Tara killed three of the eight men already dead. Sensing a man running up behind her Tara rolls backwards and stabs over her head killing the man. Then she flips him over and runs the blade of her sword across his neck. The crowd cheers her, as two men team up to face her. Tara takes the axe of the man she just killed and faces off against the two men.
She blocks with her sword and swings the axe with one hand. The man on the left is struck in the head. Blood from his wound blinds him. The other man attacks ferociously sending Tara on the defensive. She rolls under a sideways attack and throws the axe into the chest of the blinded man. Then she stabs backwards killing the other. Both men hit the dirt at the same time. Realizing that the Amazon wants to kill everyone to claim a bigger prize the remaining six men team up and spread out to surround Tara. The crowd chants AMAZON over and over again.
Tara twirls her twin swords from side to side and attacks the closest man. She decapitates him with one blow as three men try to flank her from behind. Tara one is armed with shield. She grabs the shield and flips the man over raising her legs. Then Tara rolls left stabbing one man in the gut. She lifts him up on her back with her sword still in him and her knuckles as an anchor. She places him in the path of the second man's spear. Tara drops the man and slashes the second man across the face.
The last three men attack at the same time. In the flurry of swords an arm is severed and a man is disemboweled, Tara receives a cut on the arm and stabs down finishing off the man with the severed arm. The last man yields begging for mercy.
"Kill! Kill! Kill!" The crowd chants as the Master of Ceremonies stands and points his thumb down. Tara decapitates the man and raises her sword roaring into the air.
As Tara goes to collect her winnings many nobles, freeman, and slaves walk up to her and congratulate her on her victory in the arena. "I am Alzar Fantoss…" A slender man said to Tara in a private booth of a tavern next to the arena. "Banking official for the Iron Bank of Braavos the largest bank in the world…"
"Tara Clegane nice to meet you…I want to open an account with all my winnings…"
"Of course…Do you have a personal sigil…if not I can have one made for you…"
Tara sat back thinking of her pet snake killed by her brother Gregor, "I want a sword standing up with a snake coiled around it…"
"Very good ma'am…Um the colors?"
"The snake…Red and the sword silver…I want the snake outlined and the sword solid on a yellow background…I want all my winnings betted on all my matches…"
"Very good…Um if you die in the arena who does the gold go to?"
"Adeline Clegane in Winterfell…"
"I shall draw up the papers immediately…"
Part 2. SLAVES, BLOOD, HONOR AND JUDGEMENT
The crowd roared in delight as Tara the Amazon entered the arena. Earlier Tara had made a bet with a Slave Master, his best three fighters against Tara. Then her opponents entered the arena each with different weapon. The first man of dark skin brandished a spiked ball and chain. The next man wielded a spear and the last a sword staff. All three were six feet tall and very muscular.
"BEGIN!" The arena announcer yelled.
The man with the ball and chain twirled his weapon around and around as the other two men flanked Tara. He swings and the crowd gasps as Tara catches the spiked ball with her gloved hand. She cuts the rope and throws the ball striking the man in the face just as the man armed with the spear attacks. She grabs the spear just below the spear head and slashes his throat. Then she throws the spear into the head of the man armed with the sword staff killing him.
"KILL! KILL! KILL!" The crowd chants as the ebony skinned man crawls on the ground with the ball in his face. Tara walks up to him and raises her foot.
"I must have this woman fight for me!" Omar Sykon says sitting in his sky box.
Tara collects her winnings from the slave master she made the bet with then she collects from the betting table. "Your sigil my lady…" Alzar says handing her the signet ring and a seal. Then he hands her the papers for her winnings.
"Thank you and deposit this…" Alzar leaves the table after giving Tara a slip for her deposit. She orders a bottle of wine.
"Omar Sykon at your service…Slave Master of Meereen…"
"Not interested!" Tara says as a servant walks up with her bottle of wine.
"You haven't heard my offer…I can make you rich beyond your wildest dreams…Just hear me out." Tara nods, "I often host private matches for the wealthiest families in Meereen and across slavers bay…Fight for me and untold riches will be ours…"
"What is your cut?"
"Fifty-five percent…"
Tara laughs, "Why would I fight for you when I can buy my way into these private matches and fight for myself?"
Omar shakes his head, "Because I host all the private events and you wouldn't get anywhere without me!"
"I've heard enough!" Tara says standing up.
His bodyguard grabs her shoulder, "Master Sykon did not dismiss you!"
Tara grabs his wrist and breaks his arm then she bashes him in the throat sending the guard to his knees gasping for air. "Grab me again and you die!"
"You're making a big mistake!" Omar sneers as she walks off, "No one says no to me…"
Tara goes to her room to write a letter to her mother. Later she falls to sleep but before she can close her eyes a knock comes to her door. When she answers it a masked man blows dust in her face. Tara jabs her two fingers out and blinds the man as she staggers for a few minutes. Then she hits the floor with a thud. Time is irrelevant to one drugged but awaking from her forced sleep Tara's head spin and her body tells her that several hours have passed.
The first thing Tara notices is grubby callused hands on her skin. Her left breast to be exact. The second thing she notices is the foul heavy breath in her nose. She awakens to find a short pudgy man sitting on a stool in front of her fondling her with his left hand and jerking off with the other. "You're awake…Good I will enjoy this the better…" He pinches her nipple.
"You like that big boy…"
"Oh yeah!"
"Give momma a kiss!"
He foolishly leans in and she head butts him breaking his nose and busting his lip. The man falls backwards causing the other men in the cell to laugh. "SILENCE!" The man says getting up. "You bitch! You will pay for hitting Tagren! Master!" He cries running off.
Tara is chained to a wall but there is enough slack in the chain to examine herself. She sighs in relief as she is still a virgin. Then Tara takes stock of her surroundings. There is a Dothraki warrior chained to the wall in the corner with his eyes closed. There is a Westerosi Knight in a cell, in fact all the slaves in the prison are fighters.
"Where am I?" She asks to the Knight.
"The slave prison of Master Omar Sykon!"
Tara sneers, raising her right hand to her hair and pulls a pin from it. She places the pin in her mouth and starts to pick the locks of her chain wrist. Eagen had taught Tara how to pick locks with a hidden hair pin. ("If you are ever held prisoner always keep a pin in your hair…You can use to pick the locks of your cell or chains…") He words echoed in her mind as she calmly works the pin. Soon there is a click. She takes her free hand and removes the pin from her mouth and begins picking the other chain lock.
"Free us!" Some of the other prisoners yell as she stands.
"Shush! Or we are all dead!" Tara says grabbing a torch off the wall and running up to the main door. She goes down to her knees and looks under the crack. Soon she sees eight sets of feet walking up the hallway. Tara braces herself behind the door as the keys jingle. When the door opens she grabs the jailor by the wrist and bashes the first man in the face with the torch. She then flips the jailor over and rolls backwards taking the keys from his hand. She throws them to the Dothraki who catches the keys and begins unlocking his chains.
"BITCH!" The captain screams drawing his sword. Tara ducks and shoves the flaming torch into his face burning it. A soldier armed with a spear thrusts forward, but Tara grabs the spear below the spearhead and bashes the man upside his head. She throws the torch at the next man and grabs the sword from the hip of the man with the spear. She slashes his throat and throws the sword to the Dothraki who is now free. He in turn throws the keys to the knight.
"No! No!" Omar screams running back up the hall, "GUARDS!"
Tara blocks a swing the spear and as it breaks she spins around the man and takes his legs from under him. Then she buries the spearhead in his skull. She is joined by the Dothraki who kills two men and throws a sword to the Knight who is now free. A man tackles Tara, but she raises her legs and flips him over then she breaks his neck with her bare hands. All six men are dead and Tara walks up to the jailor and cuts off his hands.
"They run up the hall and as they do the house guards enter from the other end shooting arrows. A man is hit as Tara dives and rolls under the first arrow. She throws her sword killing the first man as his comrades knock another arrow. Before they can fire Tara has closed the distance and grabs a man using him as a human shield. She spins around holding the man and decapitates the next one.
"Take their bows!" She screams to the other fighters coming up behind her.
When they reach the main floor of the mansion two dozen spearmen are waiting. The slave fighters fire a volley of arrows then Tara leads the charge against them. She kills one man takes his sword and faces off against two men. She cuts the spearhead off the man on the right and then she breaks the spear in half of the man on the left. She slashes his throat and buries her right sword into the head of the other man.
One of the slaves fighting with Tara is killed and she throws her sword into the man's back. Tara then wrestles another man overpowering him. That is when she is attacked from the side. She plaes the man she is wrestling in the path of the spear. Then she takes the sword and beheads the attacker. As the fight progresses Tara gains an axe and with the Dothraki at her side they carve a bloody path through Omar's house guards.
"My lord we cannot hold them!" The Steward says to Omar.
"Send a message to the Slave Masters…My slaves have turned on me I need help! Go!"
Omar makes his way to the stables with five of his guards. As he saddles a horse Tara appears on the balcony overlooking the stables. She walks across a beam and jumps down on two of the guards slamming her axe into the head of one and her sword into the head of the other. With one swing of her axe she kills another guard. She spins around clipping the next man with her axe and stabs down with her sword. The last guard is shot in the chest by an arrow from the knight on the balcony. Tara drops her weapons and grabs Omar throwing him to the ground.
"Order your men to surrender. NOW!" She says placing her foot in his throat.
"O…o…OKAY!"
Tara rounds up the remaining house guards and have them chained in the main foyer of the mansion. "Let's kill them all!" The Knight says.
"No! I need them alive for now!"
"Soldiers are approaching!" A slave fighter says entering the foyer.
"In the name of the Slave Masters of Meereen I order you to open up…"
Tara signals them to open the doors, "Now you are going to get it bitch!" Omar says.
"Throw down your arms this is your only warning…"
Tara nods, but keeps a dagger at Omar's neck, "Tara Clegane…I am Captain Nigel Hart of the free armies of Meereen…The Slave Masters wish an audience with you…"
"And him?"
"Oh I almost forgot…Omar Sykon you are under arrest!"
"My men!" Tara says.
"That will be up to the slave masters…"
Tara is taken to the great pyramid of Meereen where the Slave Masters live. She explains what happened before the Masters, then Omar is allowed to speak. "Lady Tara…" Hiram zo Loraq said speaking up, "…We the slave Masters of Meereen offer our deepest apologies for Master Sykon's actions…"
"You don't actually believe this Westerosi bitch?" Omar said.
"SILENCE! Your actions shame us!" Another Slave Master said.
"We have laws regarding slavery…You are a free noble woman of Westeros…Neither born into slavery, sold, or law slave…Lord Alzar Fantoss of the Iron Bank has vouched for you…Your property and all your possessions shall be returned immediately…In addition we strip Master Sykon of all his titles, lands, slaves, and wealth and we gladly give them to Lady Clegane…Omar Sykon you are from this day forth a slave and the property of Lady Tara Clegane…"
Tara bows, "I thank you great masters of Meereen…However it is not my wish to own slaves…So I ask that Omar Sykon be placed on the slave auction block…" She looks at him.
"Please no! I can be of service to you!" He begs.
"As a slave fighter…"
"As you wish Lady Clegane…This court is adjourned…Take Omar Sykon away…"
Tara returns to the Mansion of Omar Sykon which by judgment of the Slave Masters was hers now along with all his wealth, property, and slaves. Upon hearing the judgment the guards abandoned the mansion. "Greetings Lady Clegane I am Daneer Tolass…I was steward and financial advisor to Omar Sykon and now I am your steward and financial advisor if it pleases you…"
Tara sighs, "This is a bit overwhelming…What exactly is the extent of my wealth…"
"Come with me!" Tolass leads her to the mansion archives, "First Lord Omar or should I say you own three mansions and one suit in the Great Pyramid…A mansion in Meereen, one in Astapor, and another in Pentos…Your wealth also includes a breeding stock of 2,000 slaves…"
Tara frowns, "Breeding for what?" She asks with a hint of offense on her voice.
"Breeding to supply the masters of Astapor soldiers to be trained as Unsullied…" Tara is offended even more as Tolass explains the Unsullied training regime. "You also own 100 of the most feared pit fighters in Slaver's Bay…"
"How come I didn't face any of Sykon's slaves in the pits?"
"He was afraid of you actually and he wanted to keep up his reputation…" Tolass grudgingly admitted. "Also there is the underground fighting club started by Omar…a large fleet of ships in Braavos used for shipping slaves up and down the bay…There is also cattle, sheep, and horses…"
"I want to sell all the assets accept the ships, horses, slaves, and this mansion…Everything else! Sell…"
Tolass gasps, "Everything my lady?"
"You heard me! I did not come to Meereen to be a slaver! I came to build a fortune and return to Westeros to pledge myself to one of the great houses, then to build or buy my own castle…"
"It will take a few years to sell that much assets…Um what of the slaves?"
"Free them all and give them a hundred pieces of gold along with new clothes from the wardrobe…"
Tolass sighs, "You may wish to hire some sell swords to guard this mansion…Meereen is not immune to thieves…"
Of the fighting slaves 74 survived the fighting. Of that number thirty wished to remain at Tara's side pledging a life debt. "This one's name is Akbar…" The Dothraki said, "And Akbar pledges his life for his Khaleesi the Amazon warrioress…"