Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Age or A Song of Ice and Fire
The Phoenix and the Griffin
Chapter 6: In Pursuit of monsters
Omega purred, Borosi devoured, Styx rowed and Chimeron read the map and listened. He was not sniffing the salt air, or feeling the wind, but on the lookout for something else.
"So that's why they're called the Fingers, they look like a hand," he chuckled.
"Why the Fingers?" Styx asked.
"There are all sorts of places across Westeros where one can find monsters, the Fingers just happen to be the closest. There's an interesting bit of history behind them you see, long ago there existed two significant lords of the Fingers, Dywen Shell and Jon Brightstone, both declared themselves king of the Fingers. In order to turn the tide in their war with each other, both hired Warlords from the Andals, thus the Fingers became the landing zone of the Andals that infested this country and whose descendents are considered natives today, ah the Fingers," Chimeron breathed deeply and sighed in bliss.
"What became of both would be kings?"
"They were betrayed of course, King Shell was roasted alive, and Brightstone was tortured and beheaded, and to add insult their daughters were taken by the very men who killed them, turned into bed warmers and wives," Chimeron laughed as if he had listened to a joke. "What the Andals don't like to admit to, is that when their ancestors landed, they left a bloody path in their midst," he frowned, his hand shaking in fury. "Why the Fingers you ask, because it is where the most bloodiest of conflicts began, a conflict that is still raged today, religion," he snarled. "The Andals brought with them the Faith of the Seven, considered the new gods today, outside of the North a vast majority of people believe in the seven, or at least claim to, its politically and socially convenient after all. I'm pretty sure most lords couldn't give two shits about this god or that god!"
King's Landing
Underneath the preaching of the Septon, there was another sound that threatened to fill the air. If the Septon stopped talking for but a moment he would hear a terrifying sound. A sound that made Cersei Lannister and her entourage struggle to contain their laughter. Robert was not present, Jaime and the children were though. Even Joffrey had some respect for Revka Amell at that moment.
"I want a new show father!" she suddenly called out.
The Lannisters coughed to keep it all in. Revka hung her head down, her mouth wide as she snored.
"You're saying it wrong, the line isn't will not it's 'YOU SHALL NOT PASS!'" she yelled.
At that point, everyone in the Sept was stifling their laughter. The ceremony ended and Revka rubbed her eyes as she walked out with Cersei and the children, the Lannister and Amell guards behind them. Cersei looked over her shoulder at the men, all of them in silver armour and mail, silver gauntlets over black boots, blue cloth masks over their mouths and silver helmets with nose guards. Some had blue coat of arms with white wings on them, the commander himself had great wing ornaments on the sides of his helmet. They all carried black shafted cross spears, the side blades shaped like wings.
"For as long as I knew the Amells, their personal guards had red armour, what has changed Revka?" Cersei asked.
"Oh," Revka perked up in surprise. "Well not long ago, Revion decreed that our elite fighters would now wear silver and blue, in honour of the grey wardens."
"And the new sigil?" Jamie asked.
"The White Swan legion, represented by the wings of a swan, there's the White Falcon under the command of Dayk, and the black raven under Revion in the Meadow," Revka explained.
"You're putting together your own private army aren't you?" Joffrey asked.
"It was an idea Revion had, as opposed to lords simply dragging boys off of the street or calling banners, there would be a singular army to represent the land, trained and equipped. Part of the education we include at the Meadow is mandatory military service, not something I would have agreed upon but Revion stated that no lord should have an army face their battles, an army should fight only for the interests of their home!"
"I've never agreed with lords having their own army, its primitive, no better than the hill tribes, there needs to be a standing army, trained by knights and loyal to the crown," Joffrey said.
"Revion actually hoped to lay the foundation for such an idea my prince."
The statement caught Joffrey off guard. He and Revion had never been friends, in fact when training once Joffrey had tried to kill the Amell heir, only to be humiliated. Though Joffrey was no great intellectual, Revka saw the intellect in his idea of a royal army, one Revion shared. One army, united by a singular purpose, the protection of the interests of their home state. The Amell legions would not be peasants dragged off of the streets whenever there was a grudge to be settled, but soldiers trained in how to properly fight and how to carry out a strategy.
Revion's decision had been met with some resistance. He decreed that, other than the household guard and town guards, the lords of the Meadow would turn control of their militias to the Amells. There weren't a great deal of houses in the Meadow that had fighting men. Those that did included House Darkwynd, House Sunflare and House Greenward. Though Selene was the only daughter of Richard Greenward, he like Luther Darkwynd was not willing to agree to a decree that limited his power and authority. Tiberius Merryweather Sunflare (a minor lord who clung to complicated names as badges of honour) had no great army, but he still bore a grudge against the Amell's for an affair that Dayk had with his daughter Carla. It had cost him a marriage with the Freys, and though the Amells gave him a dowry, he disowned his daughter due to her birthing Dayk's bastard.
Luther was the first to assemble his forces. The Darkwynd knights were ruthless, feared and known for the demonic armour they wore. Luther himself stood at the head of his infantrymen, wearing a horned helmet that concealed his face and pressing against the ground a double sided blade. Greenward had provided many more infantry men and cavalry, which Richard led alongside his brother Henry and two sons James and Godfrey. They did not directly join their armies on the field, splitting them apart instead. Sunflare joined his men with Greenward's, the man wasn't even in armour, bloated and out of breath he sat atop his horse. He was a contrast to the armoured and prideful Richard in his silver plate.
"How long have they insulted us Lord Greenward, taking the Meadow from you, opening its borders to elves and foreign traders," Tiberius said.
"It was something I would have done," Richard aimed a glare at the man, who cowered for a moment.
"Still, there are other insults, demanding we disband our personal armies, the Shame bedding my betrothed daughter, and making demands of you whilst married to yours," Tiberius explained.
On the Amell side of the field, a legion of silver armoured men prepared the camp that would be their home for the coming days. Revion was helping them, shirtless and digging a latrine pit.
"A rider approaches," one of the lookouts called.
Revion kept digging, instead the matter was left in the hands of his wife. Selene emerged from her tent, a black chest plate over her blue dress, she put on a pair of black gloves and was quickly flanked by two silver guards. They walked to the rider, who climbed off of his horse. He was a handsome, brown haired man dressed in a gold chest plate with a red, short cloak over it. Gold and red leather covered his trousers, pads his shoulders and a simple pair of gold and red wrist gauntlets covered his hands.
"Lady Amell, as beautiful as ever, where is Revion?" the man asked.
"Digging a shite hole Mister Bainan, how is your wife?" Selene asked.
"Still angry."
"Perhaps you shouldn't sneak away to see your mistress then," Selene huffed.
"Actually I haven't seen her in two months, I fear she'll think I'm neglecting her, as per Revion's instruction I have had Treetop's army absorbed into the silver legions. And in response to this rebellion I have come to offer my support, send me where you will lady general," Bainan explained, bowing his head.
"Thank you Uther," Selene wrapped her arms around the man, a hug he returned as if they were old friends.
Uther Bainan could barely be described as a lord. Even before the Amells, his family had governed a small patch of easily defensible land called the Treetop. Built on top of a great oak, the small town was one of the prosperous regions, having produced the majority of the grain for the Meadow. Uther and Revion had studied swordsmanship together, and grew as close as brothers. Many whispered that their friendship was much like Ned Stark's and Robert Baratheon, Revion representing the stoic and honourable Ned, and Uther representing the boisterous and womanising Robert. In actuality though neither were close comparisons to either men. When Uther reached the command tent, he took water instead of wine and treated many of Selene's hand maidens with respect.
"When can we expect Dayk to return with his men?" Uther asked.
"He won't be I'm afraid, he will remain in Highgarden," Selene said.
"Drinking and whoring I suppose," Uther chuckled.
"Actually it was Dayk's idea, he wishes to arrange a marriage between himself and Alla Tyrell."
"Alla Tyrell, granddaughter of Victor Tyrell, a cousin of Mace Tyrell, wouldn't have been my first choice of wives for him to settle for...I mean settle down with," Uther smirked as Selene shook her head at him.
"By arranging a marriage between himself and a Tyrell, he hopes to bring our two families together."
"So wait Selene, if Dayk is in the Reach, and Revion is here, whose looking after Resolute keep?" Uther asked.
"Who else could?"
Within the halls of Resolute keep, a furious representative of House Lannett, a cadet branch of House Lannister moved through the halls. Two silver guard opened the door to the dining hall. Set at the centre as always was the round table of Resolute keep. Some seats were empty but there were four currently occupied. A man in black garbs sat on one chair, crimson leather armour adorned his chest, wrists and calves. Fingerless gloves covered his hands and a scarf concealed his mouth. Across from him sat a taller man, a large red, sleeveless coat covered him, his right arm was covered by a chainmail sleeve and gauntlet, whilst his left had a gauntlet and fingerless glove to cover it. In front of him, resting on the table was a helm with gold wings poking out of the back of them. Another man sat facing the door, he was a dark skinned man with grey stubble across his face. His armour consisted of black plates worn over chainmail and red skirt armour. A black helm with a bear's head on it was set on the table in front of him.
"I have been kept waiting too long, the Lannisters always pay their debts, and they expect debts to be paid as well," the Lannett man said.
He looked to another man in the room, not sat at the table. The man appeared to be a farmer and was conversing with someone whose chair was facing away from the table, their back to the door.
"Just a moment," a near muffled voice spoke from the chair. "Please continue," a hand covered by black gloves gestured to the farmer.
"Well Mi lord!"
"I am no lord, simply an appointed representative of Lord Revion, though if it pleases consider me his second," the unknown man said.
"Thank you sir, you see with harvest coming soon I'm in need of hands to work the fields, my wife's pregnant you see," the farmer stated.
"Your first child?"
"Yes!"
"Congratulations, if memory serves you had two boys working your fields didn't you?"
"Aye sir, one has moved to the North to marry a girl, last I heard of the other one he was in the West, stupid boy took something from the market places, ended up taking the black," the farmer explained.
"I see, I will send a sister from the Chantry to support your wife, a pair of initiates can also assist you in the fields until the harvest period, at which point you'll need to have saved the money to pay for two farm hands yourself, are we clear?" the man asked.
"Crystal sir, crystal, and thank you again."
The farmer was smiling as he walked past the Lannett man. He looked to the turned away chair and snarled, making his way around the table.
"I heard a Lannister saying, Revion never borrowed from the Lannisters, the Lannetts however, I do recall a loan of a ship in exchange for some..."
"A storm overwhelmed the ship, and I demand compensation," the Lannett said.
"We paid you the price of the ship," the man said.
"That is not..." the Lannett man gasped when he saw the face of the man sitting in the chair.
Or rather he couldn't see the face of the man. He wore a white veil and hood wrapped firmly around his head. The Lannett man could only see the man's blue eyes, and pale skin. He saw that the man was wearing blue leather armour and a grey vest.
"Continue," the man said, gesturing with his hand.
"Who are you? Where is Lord Amell?"
"My name," the man said as he slowly rose. "Is Oliver, and does Tywin Lannister know you are here sir Lannett?" he asked.
"He-he..."
"Does he know that you are trying to embezzle money from us , when we've already paid the debt? Does he know that you skim a little bit of taxes for yourself, that you can afford luxuries some of his own cousins can't? He probably won't mind so much, unless he was to see clear evidence of your dishonour," Oliver explained.
"I, you, you gave additional money..."
"To the widowed families of the deceased crew, so as far as we are concerned, there's nothing more for us to discuss, but if you still feel that interest is required I suppose I could write a letter to Lord Tywin asking him what he thinks!"
"No, that, it won't be necessary," the Lannett trembled. "Forgive my intrusion and my temperament."
"Its forgiven, now get out, we have other people to see," Oliver said.
The Lannett man glared as he walked out of the room. Upon the door being closed, the two men with their helmets laughed.
"I thought he was going to piss himself, that old lion Tywin really is feared in the West," the man in red said.
"Well Cassius, he did eliminate one of his chief rivals, immortalising it in the form of the 'Rains of Castamere'," the man with the bear helm said.
"Slaughtered his rival would be a more accurate description Balthazar," Oliver said. "Kai!"
The masked man raised his head, standing up and uncrossing his arms.
"See to it that the Lannett man makes his way across the border, we don't want him interfering with Lord Revion's battle, just a precaution," Oliver explained and the masked man nodded his head.
"Heavy is the head that wears the crown," Cassius said, placing his feet on the table.
"If you get things right, it's quite simple, the land runs itself," Oliver said.
He tapped a sheet of paper on the table.
"Lord Dayk intends to marry a member of the Tyrell cadet branch, I believe this is a mistake we'll gain little profit from," he stated.
"Perhaps we should have the others present for this," Balthazar said.
"Revion gave them clear instructions, and he entrusted me with his will, or at least with what options are the best going forward. Lady Margaery has another hand maiden in her service, Mira Forrester, her family has priority over Ironwood trees in the Wolfs wood," Oliver explained.
"You intend to tell our young lord who he can marry?" Cassius asked, laughing at the end.
"Perhaps, moving forward we would need to forge bonds with powerful families, that is lord Revion's desire. The Reach, the North, the Westerlands, the latter of which will be the most difficult to forge a bond with, I will need to do more thinking, a lot of thinking," Oliver rubbed the bridge of his nose.
When he removed his hand, there was a speck of blood on it.
Chimeron walked through the cavern formed by the natural rock. He held up his torch, seeing the crabs and other sea based insects scurry away from him. Scouting the rocks he had found a few children playing in the caverns. They played the games he expected most boys played, knights and dragons, recreating great battles. When they saw him, they were already in awe of him, as Chimeron expected. He imagined he looked like a hero of some fairy tale, more so if he grew his hair longer. That had not always been the case though.
When the witch found him on the shore of Lake Calenhad, he was close to death, his right half burnt. It was fair, he supposed, after all he had burnt one side of his rival and marked his face for life. Although some scars weren't for life, as the witch showed him. Still when Chimeron looked into a mirror or a puddle, his mind's eye could see the 'monster' that the blood magic had wiped away. Though personally Chimeron didn't know why burns were considered monstrous, or those whose growth was stunted, Eunuchs, those afflicted with grey scale and the like.
'Why are they considered monsters?' he shook his head in dismay. 'People are very foolish, they have yet to see real monsters.'
"Or rather, they have already seen monsters," he grinned as he began to sing.
"And who are you, the proud lord said, that I must bow so low?
"Only a cat, of a different coat, that's all the truth I know.
"In a coat of gold, or a coat of red, a lion still has claws.
"And mine alone are sharp my lord, as long as sharp as yours.
"And so he spoke, and so he spoke, that lord of Castamere.
"But now the rains weep o'er his hall, with no one there to hear.
"Yes now the rains weep o'er his hall, and not a soul to hear."
"Lord Tywin Lannister, I look forward to the day we meet," Chimeron laughed.
Once he had scouted out the caverns, he went back into town. Omega and his other companions hid, and Chimeron bought with his money some salted beef, bread, cheese and two flasks of wine. A man with so much at his table could draw the hungry in, and Chimeron knew what he was. To some he seemed an ideal meal ticket, he was a mystery that some may want to solve, a man with a sword to befriend, or a handsome man whom may make a good bed warmer and husband. A local drunk was eager to drink and laugh with him, a hedge knight joined them, curious over who Chimeron was. Two girls took Chimeron's bait, one sitting closest to him to the chagrin of her companion. Then there was a red priest.
"So Sir, whom are you sworn to?" the hedge knight asked.
"No one, and I am no sir, just a man who has worked hard for what he has, what of you?"
"I have not yet sworn my sword to anyone, I am deciding things at the moment. In the Meadow lord Revion Amell is preparing to engage rebels against his rule, and in the Reach I hear that Dayk Amell has financed a tourney, either way I will have a chance to show my skills and hopefully pledge myself to a worthy lord," the knight explained.
"I knew an Amell once," Chimeron muttered.
"What brings you to the Fingers?" the red priest asked.
"I'm searching for something you see," Chimeron said.
"What is it?" one of the ladies asked.
"You do strike me as the kind of man who is looking for something, though I do not think it is as simple as gold or flesh," the priest said, his words off putting for some of the people on the table.
"You're right, I've been searching this country for something I sometimes fear I won't find, or perhaps I have found it and like many others in this land I deny it, perhaps my expectations are too high," Chimeron explained.
"Perhaps I can help, it is what I am here for after all."
They had bought a small barrel of wine, and halfway through that Chimeron invited them to his camp. The two ladies were fascinated by him, and both wanted to see how far they could take their advances. Chimeron offered to travel with the hedge knight the day after, whatever path he took. The local man was there for the food, and the red priest was as fascinated by Chimeron as he was by him.
"You are from Thedas you say?" the priest asked.
"Yes, there we worship the Maker, the one god of this world," Chimeron said.
"There is only one god, the lord of light, he who has helped us to drive away the great darkness, and he who will help us again, his fire shows us the way," the priest explained.
"Perhaps, I have doubted both the Maker and the seven."
When they returned to the camp that Chimeron had made in the cavern, they drank and ate for a little bit before Chimeron stood up.
"Do you know what this place is?" he asked.
Looks of confusion spread across the faces of those he had gathered.
"You see during my years in Thedas, I developed a theory, one many dismissed. Lyrium, both the dwarves and the Chantry control its trade. Now I can't speak for the dwarves, but I've always believed that the chantry had control because they knew how it was formed, from the aftermath of great tragedy," Chimeron explained and when he saw the looks of further confusion he grinned.
"It's the blood you see, like seeds they seep into the ground, and over the ages we have lyrium fonts form. Mage blood in particular, why do you think all the circles are formed at places where the veil is weak, surely it would make more sense to reduce the chances of possession by building circles in places where the veil is strong, when a mage is possessed, they have an excuse to kill them, to let their blood flow into the dirt," Chimeron traced his hand over the rocks and smiled.
"Is magic real, is there truly magic in Thedas?" one of the ladies asked.
"Nonsense, with dragon's extinct mages have long since passed from this world," the hedge knight said.
"Oh how narrow viewed of you, the world is bigger than Westeros and Essos, it's bigger than Thedas. There are lands out there with methods of magic even the elves do not know of, say red guy," Chimeron said, catching the priest's attention. "You fire priests are big fans of blood magic right?"
"There is power only in the blood of kings," the priest said.
"Why?"
"Excuse me?"
"Why? Why on Earth would you come to the ridiculous conclusion that there's some difference between the blood of a king and the blood of a peasant, how laughable," and Chimeron did just that, rolling his head back. "Take away the crown, the gold, the armour and the army, and you'll find that there is absolutely no damn difference between a king and a peasant. The weight of their life is equal, that being said morally speaking they are both equally as worthless. But that's the problem with religion, is tries to hypocritically place a value on life. 'God loves all,' 'but monarchs are closest to god'."
Chimeron turned to the rest priest and grinned. The shadows emerged from the darkness, one dragging its blade across the stomach of the local man. Guts and entrails leaked onto the floor and the man fell to his knees, futilely trying to keep them in. The second shadow stabbed the Hedge knight's sword hand, and then sliced his tendons. Chimeron drove his sword through the red priest's chest.
"How I despise religion, how I despise the concept of god, what a ridiculous idea that shows how truly pathetic people are. Leaders can't lead on their own merits, so they create a fiction to enforce fear and promote order. Followers can't see the wonders in front of them, so they must conform to a story, a false promise that if they live their lives a certain way and bow their heads then they will be rewarded. IT'S FUCKING PATHETIC!" Chimeron dragged his sword out of the priest, leaving him to fall to the ground.
The two women screamed, only for the shadows to block their way out of the cavern. Chimeron turned to the wall, removing one of his gloves.
"When the Andals slaughtered the kings of the fingers, they weakened the veil and created a font of lyrium, just enough for me to use blood magic even with the influence of the wall," Chimeron stated.
He bit into his hand, drawing blood, then he slammed it into the wall. Layers of rock broke apart as the cavern shook. Sections of the wall melted, revealing shining blue rocks. But slowly, the blue shifted into red and a song began to fill the air. At least that was the closest thing the ladies had to describe it. Chimeron pulled a shard of red lyrium off of the wall, smirking as it stretched in his hand.
"Sir knight, you wanted to serve a worthy lord, well allow me to oblige you," Chimeron suddenly threw the make shift spear across the cavern.
It struck the knight, piercing through his chest. He screamed in utter agony as his eyes glowed red, a light gushing forth from his mouth. Shards of red lyrium burst out of his back, and through his arms. He recoiled on the floor, still screaming as Chimeron let his blood drip onto the floor.
"You both wished for new lives, let your desires be fulfilled," he said to the two ladies.
From the drops of his blood they emerged, beautifully terrifying, demons of desire that flew towards the two women. They screamed as the demons passed through their bodies. Both women looked at one another in horror, it was as if insects were crawling through their skin. One stepped back, clutching her head and then lifting it up, she screamed before blood burst from her mouth. The other fell to her knees, blood leaking out of her nose and mouth. With a swish of his hand, Chimeron levitated the corpse of the local man and the still breathing red priest.
"But you're right, there is power in blood, it can bind, and it can summon," he squeezed his hand into a fist, eyes glowing red as the Fade began to partly appear through the cavern.
The red priest screamed as his body was broken and folded inside out. Bones crunched and his screaming ceased when there was nothing but a ball of fabric and crushed flesh. The same had been done to the local man. Singularities formed from their remains and ghostly figures emerged from those portals.
"Yes, come on, come on, come here to me," Chimeron urged the forms onwards.
The ghostly formed shifted, the one on the left becoming a type of grotesque, bull sized snapper turtle, its shell formed of numerous stones that sparked with electricity. Then the one on the right, whom had once been the rest priest became a crustacean, snipping its razor bladed pincers, emerging from a viciously elaborate shell.
"That's it, return to this world, be ready to unleash your rage upon it," Chimeron laughed.
Both monsters glowed, and then took on the form of men. The turtle became a tall, bearded man with a green coat of arms, a sigil emblazed on his chest of a ring of six stones. Then the crustacean became a lanky man with a white and black doublet, his half cloak had on it the sigil of a shell on a blue field. One man wore a crown of beautiful shining stones, and the other wore a crown of sea shells.
"Welcome back Kings of the Fingers," Chimeron said.
The men, fading in and out of existence looked at Chimeron. A red mist emanated from their eyes as they bowed to him.
"Master!" they both said.
He smiled, his spell had worked, his plans could begin. It was time to think bigger.
Revka tapped her gold hand as she walked into her office. Waiting for her was Tyrion and the guest she had been expecting for some time. She was a red haired girl, beautiful, though her eyes were cast to the floor as Revka walked in.
"Chin up girl I'm not the queen," Revka said.
"Lady Revka, may I present Kira, I believe she will be..."
"Sorry Tyrion, I need to be straight, Kira, I don't need a Handmaiden, I run my baths I write my letters and I brush my own hair, I don't need someone to pick my nails or my clothes out. I know you've taken Lord Tyrion's offer because you want to get away from Baelish's brothel, this however is not a charity case," Revka explained.
"I understand My lady," Kira said.
"You speak well, can you read and write?" Revka asked.
"I can, lord Baelish had me serve as a companion to lords, customers who paid well but..." the girl lowered her head slightly and Revka stepped up to her, looking her up and down.
"Your appeal once was that you were a virgin, and Baelish could convince customers you were a virgin, now though, you are a young woman, a beautiful woman," she said.
"Thank you Lady Revka," Kira said.
"I'm simply stating a fact, consider yourself lucky Kira, this is an opportunity I know plenty of women their deserve, some of them probably more than you, so don't take it for granted, ever young lady," Revka explained and Kira nodded her head.
"I won't, and I know that you have done a great kindness for me, I will be forever grateful for it," Kira bowed her head and Tyrion smiled as Revka placed her hand on the girl's shoulder.
"There is strength in you Kira, let me help guide that, I will give you work, you will accompany me, act as additional eyes and ears. It is an opportunity, but do not think it a kindness yet...you must have some great iconic speech prepared Tyrion," Revka looked down at Tyrion who shrugged his shoulders.
"I'd probably say something along the lines of 'you're in the great game now, and the great game is frightening'," Tyrion said.
"That actually does sound quite good, if you said it with a bit more oomph," Revka pumped her fist and turned to her desk. "Is there something else Lord Tyrion?" she asked.
"Only to ask if you will be joining me for a drink this evening?"
"Another time I'm afraid, I wish to have an early night, I'll be leaving for my estate tomorrow morning," Revka said.
"Very well Lady Revka, I will wish you good night and safe journey tomorrow," Tyrion said.
He bowed his head and then walked out of the room. Revka took up a cup and jug and poured some wine into it. Then she removed her golden hand, placing it with a clunk on the desk.
"Out of all the Lannisters, Tyrion is probably one you can trust more than the others, but that is still a stretch, now be straight with me girl, are you a spy for him or Baelish?" Revka asked.
"I..."
"Before that, know that I pride myself in being able to spot certain tells, every time you lie you look to your left, it's quite a common tell, you've not been with a man have you?" Revka asked.
"No my lady I haven't," Kira said.
"Baelish didn't keep you for rich men did he?"
"No, it was much crueller than that in a way, they say men are vicious things, but we women can be just as monstrous," a small tear slid down Kira's cheek.
"Show me," Revka commanded.
Kira turned around, loosening the laces on her white dress. She pulled her dress off of her shoulders, and revealed a tapestry of scars and bruises.
"Baelish only had one rule, never touch my face, break my skin, but never cut so deep that it could kill me, there are women whom have everything in comparison to me, everything but the love of another, so all they have is hate," Kira explained.
"I know these kind of people, I know this kind of hatred," Revka said.
"Do you?" Kira asked, looking at Revka with a glare.
"My niece once struck the prince, he painted a story about how she and her friend attacked him. The queen knew he was lying, but she wanted to punish them both, not because she cared about the law or thought she would protect her child's pride or life, she wanted it because she was cruel and wanted to see those beneath her suffer. So, as I was their guardian, and since I myself had struck the prince, I took a blade and cut off my hand, unflinchingly and then I threw it at her feet," Revka explained.
"You cut off your own hand? Why?" Kira looked at the woman in shock.
"Because fuck that bitch, that's why," Revka said, smirking.
"My lady I..."
"I will teach you to be strong, but in the end, it is a choice you must make, I will teach you how to survive the game and still keep hold of your pride, to be better than your opponents and not simply beat them. Now tell me, who are you spying for, Tyrion, Baelish or Varys?" Revka asked.
"All of them my lady," Kira said, "they all offered me something."
"I see, well I will try to make your life as good as I can, I will treat you as a friend...if that isn't enough, know that whilst we Amells seek first and foremost redemption and righteousness, there is something to be found in forgiveness, but know this...sometimes we'll take revenge too!" Revka explained.
Kira nodded her head, seeing the resolve in Revka's eyes and believing her completely.
"Good," Revka smiled. "Now come, share a drink with me, and tomorrow, we'll start discussing your future."
She poured a drink for the young girl and smiled as she took it.
Further away, in the cold of the night, at a camp fire near Snakewood, Chimeron sat with his new companions. The two women from the fingers had red robes wrapped around them, both huddled together, their eyes giving off a red haze as Borosi gave them pieces of meat from the spit. A boar that the two women had slaughtered themselves. Chimeron looked to the hedge knight, now a red knight, standing constantly on guard. The young man stood up and walked away from the camp, adjusting the cloak he was wearing. Omega joined him, rubbing against his leg and purring.
"It was a good day today girl, five valuable companions, and I got to screw over that fucking red church," he reached into his pocket and pulled out a red lyrium stone.
Omega began to dig a hole into the dirt, and Chimeron threw the stone into the hole. As his dire cat buried the stone, Chimeron sat and looked up at the stars.
"Well girl, it's a long way to Castamere, and to be completely honest with you, I don't think I'm ready for it. To be so close to that family, to use the spell on that many. It took all I had to bind those Finger kings, and let's face it they weren't exactly the most powerful of the Westerosi families. What awaits in those mines at Castamere will help me, but I'll need to get strong, I imagine he's stronger over in Thedas as well," he grinned.
The Dire cat laid beside him, rubbing her head against his open palm. Chimeron reached into his bag and took out a book, its pages encased within a brown leather cover that read 'A history of kings and queens before conquest'. Then he pulled out his map, unravelling it and looking at where he was.
"The last king of the Vale was just a boy, hardly worth the effort of getting through the bloody gate, Torrhen Stark bent the knee and they keep all of the bodies in that tomb. House Hoare ruled the isles and the rivers, but they took that from House Greyiron from the Islands and House Durrandon of the Stormlands took the Riverlands from House Teague, the River Kings. House Gardner, kings of the Reach," Chimeron moved his finger from the Reach to the Westerlands. "House Rayne wasn't the only house to be destroyed by the Lannisters, the first lords of Casterly Rock, they never took the name kings, but there's no denying that is what House Casterly was," he explained.
Omega nudged his elbow with his paw.
"What is it girl?" he asked.
She let out a snarl, pawing at the area that the Meadow was.
"Ah yes, the Meadow, you're absolutely right girl, I don't have to rush my plans, I need to establish myself first, winning over a few small folk is good, but an up and coming noble family? Steadily growing in its power and influence? And his family, oh I can't resist the opportunity girl, we're going to war now, to help our rival's family," he chucked as he rolled up the map and returned to camp with his cat, his plan for the future set.
Next Chapter 7: In pursuit of dragons
Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter. The new look of the Amell guards was shamelessly inspired by the Gondorian soldiers of Lord of the Rings. With new characters Balthazar and Kira I mind-cast Idris Elba and Daisy Ridley respectively. Did some heavy research with the A Song of Ice and Fire Wiki for my future plans involving Chimeron, there was also some inspiration from a discussion I had with 00virtuezero too.
Next time, James Marcher/Fausten finally finds Daenerys and Viserys.