The Temple of R'hllor in Volantis was said to be three times bigger than the Great Sept of Baelor in King's Landing but for Tyrion looked as big as the Red Keep itself. A fortress of towers, bridges, columns and statues, the temple was massive and left the Imp speechless. Inside, the main hall was full to the brim with slaves, noblemen and soldiers who listened to the songs and the prayers of the priests. In front of them stood a burning heart made of stone and another priest knelt before it. The man's skin was pale as milk with red tattoos in the shape of flames around his eyes. His voice boomed across the temple, speaking in Valyrian:
"The night is dark and full of terrors. But do not fear! R'hllor, the Lord of Light, knows all and sees all. He knows your pain, your tragedies. He knows the burden of the slave, the misery of the poor, the greed of the rich. Nothing is secret from our Lord! He peers inside our hearts with burning eyes and his flames illuminate our souls! If inside your hearts lies tempest, he will calm it! If inside your hearts lies pain, he will sooth it! If inside your hearts lies hatred, he will quench it. Let the Lord inside you, to be remade by him into agents of good!"
Tyrion understood pretty much all of what the priest said, as he had time to study Valyrian in detail while travelling. He was impressed by the impact the priest had on the audience. Everyone in the temple was listening and some of them were weeping. Either this religion was the biggest lie in the known world or it was truly something that brought peace in the hearts of men. Emmon Frey, who accompanied Tyrion, was also impressed. None of the septons he knew in Westeros could work a crowd as well as the red priests. After the religious service, people started to leave the temple. A few of them remained to talk to some of the priests. Tyrion wished to talk to the pale one but before he could ask one of the others, the man approached him.
"Tyrion of House Lannister of Casterly Rock and Emmon of House Frey of the Crossing. Am I correct?"
The priest spoke the Common tongue almost perfectly, with only a bit of an accent.
"Yes… yes! And you are…?"
"I am many things to many people. For you, I am Benerro, the Light of Wisdom and the Flame of Truth, First servant of the Lord of Light and Slave of R'hllor. I am the high priest of this Temple!"
"Then maybe you can answer some questions for me, your excellency!"
"Depends on the questions, Lord Tyrion. Come to my chambers, alone. What am I going to say to you is for your ears only! No disrespect, Lord Emmon!"
Emmon could only nod, as the allure of the priest almost paralyzed him. Benerro's eyes descended upon the little lord:
"Come with me!"
The two climbed a large staircase to the second floor and Benerro invited Tyrion into one of the rooms. A large chamber, with a view of the city and a lot of small, heart shaped statues in it, the Imp assumed that it was the priest's office.
"Not many people from outside the clergy are invited here!"
"So I can consider myself to be honored?"
"Maybe. But I don't think you came here seeking to be honored. You came here for answers. To what questions?"
Tyrion told Benerro what happened with the pirates, how he was saved by a practitioner of the Lord of Light's religion in Lys and his desire to reach Valyria. The priest only listened, without opening his lipless mouth even once. After Tyrion ended his tale, Benerro smiled:
"Well… It seems to me that I was right about you!"
"You…did?"
"The moment you entered this temple I knew that you are someone special. Only a few people are chosen by the Lord to become his champions."
"Me, to be a champion for R'hllor? I am not even a believer!"
"That doesn't matter. The Lord chose you not for your fervor. For that, he has his red priests. He chose you for your kind heart and for your capacity to differentiate good and evil!"
"Were you not listening? I killed men! I poisoned them and I watched them die! I am not a kind man!"
"You did what you had to do to survive and to continue your journey. Consider that a… test from the Lord! A test you passed. This is why you are important for the balance!"
"The balance?"
"You see, every notion in this world has an opposite. Light has darkness, land has water, life has death… But more importantly, good has evil. Indeed, the world can be viewed as a battlefield between good and evil."
"And this… good… is represented by your Lord of Light, of course!"
"It is. The Lord is a benevolent one. But even he cannot disrupt the balance of nature. Evil chooses to do so, trying to bend the forces of nature for its purposes. That's why it must be stopped!"
"Do you really think that evil can be stopped?"
"Well, Lady Melia did stop the evil that was destroying you, didn't she?"
"Yes, but… why? And why nobody in Tregar's manse remembered her?"
"Why should they remember her? She completed her task. Her presence wasn't needed anymore."
"You are saying that her sole purpose there was to save me?"
"Hmm… Do you know why there are no children in Asshai?"
"I do not know. Westerosi don't know many things about Asshai. We know only legends told in whispers and stories from the merchants who visit the city but other than that…"
"I see. Well, to answer my question, you have to remember how Lady Melia saved you. What did she do?"
"She… It was very blurry but… She stabbed herself in the belly. She said A child for another child. She said prayers to the Lord of Light…"
"Good! So, now back to my question. Do you know why there are no children in Asshai?"
Tyrion froze. It was more disturbing than he could ever imagine!
"They… use their unborn children for blood magic rituals…"
"Exactly. An unborn child is innocent, clean from impurity and other blemishes that life would inflict on him. Warlocks and shadowbinders use this to prolong their lives. Imagine that a woman is pregnant with a child that would live, let's say, fifty years. If she uses her child for the life-prolonging ritual, she would add another fifty years to her life. The oldest sorcerers in Asshai are thousands of years old. Imagine how many children they must have sacrificed!"
Tyrion was completely shocked by this revelation. A life must pay for another life… This is too cruel!
"What are you saying is… completely absurd. If the Lord of Light is good, why would he allow this to happen? Why would he want the life of an unborn baby?"
"He doesn't want this. But like I said, the balance must be kept between light and darkness. For example, you! You would've died in Tregar's mansion but the shadowbinder brought you back to life. Your life was already forfeited to the darkness. But she snatched you from the shadow and brought you back into the light. But the shadow had to claim another, to take your place!"
"So… it was not just those pirates I killed, but an unborn baby too?"
"The baby was killed by the shadowbinder, not by you. And like I said, a balance must be kept. Without it, there would be chaos!"
"Also… when the…shadowbinder brought me back to life, while I was unconscious, I had a… dream? Vision? I saw King's Landing. And then, a city so beautiful that I almost wanted to remain there forever! And then fire…"
"Well, the visions the Lord deem to give to a man can only help that man. You need to find your own answers on that account and to choose!"
"The shadowbinder told me to choose as well. What choice would I need to make?"
"The choice is not mine to take and to know about. You will find your answers, I've no doubt about that. Like I said, since you entered this most sacred Temple, I sensed something in you. You will bring much change to this world, Lord Tyrion."
"With all due respect, your excellency, but I don't buy this. I don't believe this Chosen One shit. That woman saved my life with some parlor trick and nothing more. If she really sacrificed her baby to save me, she is clearly fucked up in the head."
"I suppose you are unaccustomed with the inner workings of magic, Lord Tyrion? You must be, as magic died long ago in Westeros. Your maesters saw to that. Since the death of the dragons, the Sunset Continent lost its source. Surely, one could argue and say that those trees your Northmen are praying to have a magic of their own but I highly doubt it that it's active. But here in Essos, there are other magical sources. Darkness, light, wind, water…"
"Unborn babies."
"Indeed. Ah, enough with the theory. Let's do something a little more practical. See that brazier over there?"
Benerro pointed towards a small brazier burning with a green flame.
"Its power will allow me to see your future, if you let me!"
Tyrion was skeptical. He should have known better than try to find answers in a religious temple, but it was an experience so he accepted. The last time someone did a reading on him was a year back when a witch from Lannisport told him that he would marry the most beautiful lady in the realm. He immediately knew she was lying. But even Tyrion, as cynical and skeptical as he was couldn't argue with the fact that whatever Lady Melia did to him in Lys, it worked. So maybe this priest could help him.
"Good, so now what?"
"I would need a bit of hair from you, Lord Tyrion!"
Benerro cut a few strands of hair from Tyrion's head with a pair of scissors and put them into the brazier. After this, he murmured a prayer to the Lord of Light and looked straight into the flame.
"So, what do you see?"
"You won't find a sword in Valyria, Lord Tyrion. You will find a crown."
"A crown… Maybe I will find grumkins and snarks too."
"You laugh but it's the truth… Also…"
"What?"
"I see a pride of lions ruling their land with an iron fist. They dominated every other animal in their forest. They hunted down the stags and killed the wolves but… I see a lion cub tearing the alpha lion's throat. The pride will scatter all across the world. But the lion cub remains. He will persevere! He will suffer tremendously into doing so, however. There will be times when he will feel all alone but he will find friends that would help him… a spider… a bear… a dragon even!"
"Now I'm a lion cub? You couldn't make me something a little cuter, like a kitten? And what about the dragon? Will it massage my mane?"
"Laugh all you want. This is your destiny, my lord. And know this: every red priest in this world will help you through this ordeal. We are your friends. And to prove it…"
Benerro clapped his hands and a young blond woman, with blue eyes and dressed with a long, silky red robe entered the High Priest's office:
"Your excellency!"
"Lord Tyrion, her name is Aerea of Braavos. She will accompany you on your journey to Valyria, only if you let her. Consider her a trusted ally!"
"My lady… I would be honored but you know how sailors are, especially Westerosi ones… They consider women on board to bring bad luck…"
Aerea laughed:
"Lord Tyrion, I only bring good tidings and even better luck! Don't worry, they will accept me! You have no maester on board and I am specialized in healing arts!"
"Well, in that case…"
After another discussion with Benerro, this time a more philosophical one, Tyrion and Aerea left the Temple alongside Emmon who didn't find many answers for his own questions.
"Tell me, my lady, as you are from Braavos, I suppose you frown upon slavery. My uncle Gerion hopes to buy slaves to man the ship throughout the Smoking Sea. Would that be a problem?"
"It won't be! You do what you have to do! A man should use everything he has in his hand to do the work of the Lord of Light!"
"Your enthusiasm is encouraging, Lady Aerea. But aren't you a bit afraid of our journey?"
"Ser Emmon, no man or woman in this world who has the Lord in her heart will ever be afraid of the Doom!"
"Well, don't count me among them. I am no religious man and certainly I am very afraid of the Doom!"
"Every man is what he is. The Lord doesn't try to change the nature of man, but to improve it. Is it wrong to stop feeling fear?"
Before Emmon could say another word, Tyrion replied:
"Well, fear is what keeps humans from going full speed in the jaws of danger. Oh, this is the Laughing Lion!"
Aerea was impressed with the Lannister ship. Even though it was not as large as the Volantene trading ships, it was much more beautiful, with sculptures and motifs and bright colors. Gerion Lannister was already aboard, accommodating his new crewmates.
"Uncle!"
"Tyrion, Emmon! Come up! Let's talk!"
The two noblemen and the red priestess walked on the ship.
"So, nephew, who is this exotic lady?"
The priestess blushed while the Westerosi part of the crew frowned.
"Well, she is lady Aerea, a priestess of R'hllor. She will accompany us on our journey to Valyria! She has healing abilities so, as we don't have a maester on board, I agreed to have her come with us!"
"Absolutely, I am delighted to meet you, milady!"
"Likewise, but please, call me by my name. I am no lady, I am a servant of the Lord of Light, therefore, I am your servant!"
"I didn't know my uncle is the Lord of Light!"
The noblemen laughed. Aerea giggled as well. Garon Flowers approached the priestess and bowed before her.
"This is our courageous captain, Garon Flowers, natural son of Lord Garth Sloane of Petal's Dusk. He is a follower of your religion."
"Oh, yes? There aren't many Westerosi who worship the Lord!"
"Many Westerosi didn't go through what I've gone through. The Lord helped me during those hard times. I am honored to have you on my ship. I swear to you that I would never let anyone on this ship hurt you, priestess!"
"So gallant! Thank you, captain."
"I'll show your quarters. Follow me, please!"
After Garon and Aerea left, Gerion started to laugh:
"I wager ten dragons that by the end of the month, they will fuck!"
"Uncle…"
"Fine. I knew you don't have the balls to wage against me…"
"Twenty for them fucking by the end of the week!"
"Great. That's more like it!"
Emmon Frey spoke:
"Where did you get those slaves, Gerion?"
"I went to the Triarch with five thousand dragons. He was more than happy to accommodate me and so, he gave me those fellows over there, though I believe he wanted to get rid of them more than I wanted to buy them. But for five thousand… I'll take what I get. Ah, I remembered…"
Gerion climbed over a large barrel and shouted:
"Who of you can speak the Common Tongue?"
A young boy approached him:
"Me… I speak Common Tongue."
"Are you Westerosi?"
"My mother is from a place called Riverlands in Westeros. My father is from Volantis. I have a lot of brothers and sisters so they sold me to the slaver!"
"I see… What's your name?"
"Ullo."
"Nice name. Now, Ullo, can you translate something for me? I want everyone on this ship to know something!"
"Yes, lord."
"My friends. Even though I bought you from a slaver, I want to tell you that on this ship, you are free men! Nobody will beat you, nobody will hurt you! If we manage to return from Valyria, I will give each and every one of you your weight in gold! Those of you who want to return to Volantis, will return as rich men, free men! Those who would follow me to the Seven Kingdoms, will become members of my honor guard!"
After Ullo translated, each slave started to shout Kelio, Kelio. Tyrion knew what that meant. It meant lion. The reputation of the Lannisters reached even the slave pits of Volantis. And everybody knew that a Lannister always pays his debt. Captain Garon returned and he started to shout orders, both in the Common tongue and in Valyrian:
"Lads, attention! We sail now for the Smoking Sea! I know many of you are afraid. I am afraid too. But imagine this! We will be heroes! Our names will be sung by poets and minstrels a thousand years from now! Here we are on this ship, this melting pot of cultures! We have men, women, Westerosi, Essosi, slaves, nobles, commoners, pillow biters, those born in the light of the Seven, those who accepted the fiery love of R'hllor, those who pray to the Black Goat, those who pray to the Pale Child, those who don't believe in no god. Here, that doesn't matter. What matters is that here, we are a family. We will help each other complete this task! May the Lord light our path…"