Adventures in Essos Rewrite:
Adventures in Essos:
When Marin was 10, he began to think about his future. Ever since he turned 6, he had been learning how to fight with swords. He mainly trained with the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, Ser Barristan Selmy. His father didn't really do anything but his mother believed that he was too young to start fighting. But Martin was determined to start learning how to fight, Joffrey never even tried in his fighting lessons and he always cried when he got hurt. Martin saw this as being a coward but of course, he would never say that to anyone. By this time, Martin was also spending a lot of time with his younger siblings, Myrcella and Tommen. Myrcella was now 7 while Tommen had just turned 4. But Joffrey was not the big brother that he should be, he always laughed when Tommen or Myrcella started crying and then he would call them weak and say that Princes or Princess's don't cry. Martin scoffed at this because he'd seen Joffrey in tears when he had been hurt in training. But Martin was fed up with Mother coddling Joffrey, several times Joffrey had bullied his younger siblings such as killing Tommen's pet fawn and mother didn't do anything about it but Martin had shouted at her saying that she needed to get control of Joffrey's behaviour but mother never listened. He knew that at Joffrey's age of 11, high nobles would often send them for foster care so they could learn, but mother wouldn't allow it saying that her 'Golden Lion need his mother.' Martin now had enough of this and he decided that it was time for him to travel Westeros and see more than just King's Landing. Martin belived that experience was better than reading, he felt like he would be a better ruler on the Small Council or Lord of a House if he had experience. For all his life, Martin had only seen the city, a city that was filled with corruption and father did nothing about it. So Martin's journey began a month after his tenth name-day. He would do two trips to Essos which would help shape him into the man he is.
…
It was the end of a regular day in the Red Keep. Martin was in his father's bedroom as he wanted to speak to him. Of course, it had to wait until father was finished with his girls. King Robert wasn't too happy about his fun being ruined by his son.
"What is it son?" Robert groaned "Why did you want to speak to me?"
"I came to speak to you because I wanted to ask for your permission to travel." Martin said.
"Travel?" Robert wondered "Travel where?"
"I want to travel around Westeros." Martin revealed "I'm not in line to be king but I can still become skilled in politics. I want to see more than just the Seven Kingdoms. I've only ever seen the capital city. I want to see more."
"You can still learn by being fostered" Robert added "Your Grandfather, Tywin Lannister, has taken an interest in having you become his ward. A man like him could teach you everything, he has a desire to have a good heir to Casterly Rock since Jaime is a Kingsguard and he hates Tyrion. You just may be the right person to become the next Lord of Casterly Rock"
"I know that father" Martin added "But Joffrey is being coddled by mother, I want to see how the kingdom is run from the other areas of Westeros. Joffrey will need help when he becomes King or else we might see another war if he angers the wrong person like the Targaryen's did. He thinks that he can do whatever he wants because he's the crown Prince but that type of attitude is only going to start a war. And mother refuses to make him stop his behaviour and it's getting worse."
Robert eyes narrowed at the mention of the Dragonspawn. There were still those in the Seven Kingdoms who called him usurper, House Tyrell fought for the Targaryens throughout the war and they were the second richest family and they ruled the second largest part of the Kingdom and also the most fertile. But Martin was right, Joffrey was clearly not fit to be king, Robert was so disappointed with the boy because he saw his son as a coward. He knew almost nothing about Swordplay and he preferred a crossbow which was meant for cowards, and he knew nothing about being a King though even King Robert knew that he wasn't a good king as he left the ruling to his small council. "All right then son, you have my permission to travel. But you're not going alone, I want you to take someone else with you, travelling is not safe alone so you must take someone with you. Your mother would kill me if anything happens to you. And I also have to convince her that you will be alright."
"Thanks father." Martin said and then he left the room.
Later that day it was dinner time for the royal family and they dined together in the royal chambers. The King sat at the end of the large table while his wife and oldest son Joffrey sat the closest to him. The King's other four children sat at the table as well with Tommen next to Cersei since he was the youngest. The table was filled with all kinds of meat from beef, port, venison and boar meat. Robert often went hunting in the Kingswood and sometimes Martin went with him. There were also barrels of wine since Robert drank a lot though he wasn't drinking too much since he had an announcement to make. He clanged a spoon against his goblet to get the attention of his family.
"All right" he said "I have an announcement to make. In a few days my son had decided that he will be leaving the city for a while. He has expressed a desire to explore the kingdoms and I have given him my permission to do so"
There were a few gasps of shock from Cersei as well as Martin's younger siblings but Joffrey had a slight smirk on his face, the two brothers had never gotten along and he was happy that he would be leaving.
Cersei turned to look at Martin "Are you mad?" she hissed "Leaving the safety of the city, you can't leave, what if someone tries to kill you?"
"I'm not going alone mother" Martin sighed as he knew that this was going to happen "I'm taking Lord Commander Barristan Selmy with me on my trip. He was the man who trained my how to wield a blade. He will keep me safe"
"You should take more than just one old man with you" Cersei tried to reason
"Like who?" Martin asked "Meryn Trant, Boros Blount, those man can hardly fight at all. Look, the reason I want to explore is because I want to see how the world of politics works. Proper experience is better than just learning it and I will not be King since Joffrey is the heir, but I might be lord of Casterly Rock or Storm's end one day and that is just as powerful as being King since I will have Bannermen to serve me and I will need to know how to deal with them."
Cersei sighed; there was no talking him out of this. Tommen and Myrcella had a few tears in their eyes and Alessia looked a bit concerned for her twin brother. While Martin loved Myrcella and Tommen, it was his twin sister that he was the closest with. Mainly for an incident that happened about a year ago.
Flashback: A year ago.
It had been another typical day for Prince Martin. Sparing with Barristan Selmy and reading from books and learning from Grand Maester Pycelle. It was harder for his sister since she had lessons with her Septa who was a woman that Martin really didn't like. Martin wasn't too fond of the Faith of the Seven since he saw the position of High Septon as a position of corruption and the current High Septon who was an fat man dressed in fine fur robes and jewels was corrupt and he read that the Faith of the Seven was meant to help people in need and all they did was gain coin to buy fancy robes and build Septs to the Seven.
Martin was on his usually walk to visit his twin sister when he heard a crash in her room. Fearing that someone was hurting his sister, Martin quickly kicked her door open and was shocked at what she saw. Her sister was lying on the ground with her face red and an angry looking Septa was standing above on. Some kind of hand crafted alter had been smashed and the Septa was concentrated on Alessia that she did not notice Martin had entered the room.
"You young lady are a sinner" the septa spat "Preying to false gods, these so called Divines, you have turned your back on the true faith of this world and you shall burn in the Seven Hells for you sins!" Martin had heard all he needed to know. He marched over to the Septa and tapped her shoulder. The Septa turned around to glare at who had entered the room but her eyes widened when she saw the Prince "My prince, you should not be here, I was just..."
"I know what you were doing!" Martin spat "You just hurt my sister, you just yelled at her and hurt a member of the royal family. You have no right to hurt her."
"She broke sacred laws!" The Septa countered
"Laws!" Martin hissed "There are no Sacred Laws here. Your Faith just makes them up to gain power. Your High Septon is nothing but a Rich man. Your faith is meant to be helping the poor but instead you tax them and use the funds to buy fine robes and build fancy Septs."
"It is a sins to speak like that of the Seven!" The Septa hissed but then Martin grabbed her throat and pushed her near the window
"You hurt my sister and dared to use your so called laws to defend yourself" Martin snarled "The Faith doesn't rule here anymore, that role goes to the King which is my father. You just hurt a member of the royal family and now in the name of my father, I banish you from the Red Keep and Kings Landing on pain of death. If you ever set foot here again, I will have you hanged." The Septa's eyes widened at Martin and then Martin shoved the Septa out of the window and she fell into the gardens and into a pond. She survived the fall but when he looked up to see Martin glaring at her, she quickly turned and ran away as fast as she could.
Martin then helped his sister onto the bed. "Are you all right sister?" he asked
"I'm fine" Alessia cried "Thank you for getting rid of that horrible woman. I never want to see another Septa again. I was fed up with hearing the Septa's rules and so I secretly converted to the Nine Divines. She found out and smashed my alter."
Martin looked at the remains of the smashed Alter "Listen, I will not have anymore Septas hurt you. I don't like the Seven as well, this faith of the Nine Divines sound right for me too."
Flashback end:
So shortly after that, Martin had converted to the Faith of the Nine Divines, the fat High Septon had tried to get him to convert back to the true faith but Martin threatened him and threatened to start having the Small council tax the Septs as well which got the High Septon to rush out and flee before Martin decided to call the guards and arrest him. Martin smirked as he left as now no one would try to force their beliefs on him. He had converted in the small temple of the Divines in King's Landing and High Priest Rorlund had performed the ceremony. He had also gained a friend in one of the healers of the temple known as Colette.
A few days later, Martin's journey would begin. He took Ser Barristan with him so that he would be safe and he wouldn't be alone. Even in his old age, Ser Barristan was still one of the best swordsmen he had seen. They also decided to bring Colette with them to help with Healing. They also took a ship with them. This ship had been a gift to him from Uncle Stannis a few years ago. The ship was a similar design to Stannis' own flagship, the Fury, and Martin named it the Thunderstorm due to its great speed. He gave one last goodbye to his family as he hugged his parents though Cersei barely gave him a hug before her attention went back to Joffrey who was sneering slightly that his brother was leaving. Alessia was happy for her brother and was confronting Myrcella and Tommen who were openly crying. When Joffrey mocked them for crying, he was rewarded with a slap from Alessia and a glare from his father. Martin gave his younger siblings one last hug before and promised that he would bring them gifts from his journey before he got on the Thunderstorm and they watched at the ship left King's Landing.
...
The first stop for Martin was Dragonstone, the seat of his uncle Stannis. Stannis Baratheon was a stern man who took his duty very seriously and so he hardly ever smiled. There was also no love between Stannis and his wife Selyse of House Florent. And though while Stannis may not show it, he did love his only child, a daughter called Shireen.
As soon as the Thunderstorm had docked in Dragonstone port, he had imminently been met by Davos Seaworth, Stannis' friend from Robert's Rebellion and a former smuggler. Martin had been taken up to see his uncle and he met with his uncle in the castle of Dragonstone. Stannis had been made Lord of Dragonstone after Robert's Rebellion but Stannis had taken this as a slight as he had failed to capture the young Targaryens during the siege of Dragonstone and Stannis had held Storm's End against the Tyrell army and had nearly died of starvation. Stannis had seen Dragonstone as a gloomy place and would have preferred Storm's End. Though it is unknown if Robert had meant this as a slight as the heir to the Throne was known as the Prince of Dragonstone so this may have been a way to make Stannis the heir.
"Uncle Stannis" Martin greeted
"Prince Martin" Stannis greeted back, Martin would have said to just call him Martin but he knew that Stannis would have called him Prince anyway. "So I see that you have decided to travel around the world"
"I have uncle" Martin said "I believe a better way of ruling is to have experience in seeing how the world works instead of just reading how to rule from books or from Maesters."
"Well experience always helps" Stannis said "So where are you planning on going?"
"Well I'll be here for a while and then I plan to visit Highgarden to visit a small tourney they're holding and then I plan to visit Oldtown and Horn Hill before I go to Essos."
"The seat of House Tarly?" Stannis questioned "Why are you visiting there?"
"I want to see the man who defeat my father at Ashford, the only battle my father ever lost" Martin replied "Lord Mace Tyrell claims victory but I know that the fighting was mostly over when Mace Tyrell joined the fighting."
"That was the only battle your father ever lost" Stannis said "His rebellion could have ended but Robert never gave up and he retreated and hid in Stony Sept until the Starks, Tully's and Arryns arrived at the Battle of the Bells and defeated Jon Connington and the Targaryen army and then there was the Battle of the Trident, Robert's finest moment."
"There is someone else I would like to see before I go on to Highgarden." Martin added "I was hoping to see my cousin."
"You mean Shireen" Stannis sighed "I hate not being to do anything for her. I love my daughter. When she first contacted greyscale some suggested that I send her to the ruins of Valyria to live out her life with the stone men before the sickness spread. I told them all to go to hell, then I called ever Maester and Healer I could find, they stopped the spread and saved her life. But she still has the scars which gives her grief. Her mother sees her as a burden but I love her and so does Davos."
"That's why I want to see her" Martin said "I have never met my cousin and I may have a way to help her. But I'm not sure if it will work."
"Fine" Stannis said "We'll go and see her."
Stannis then took Martin into the corridors of Dragonstone which felt dark and gloomy with the storms outside. Soon they came into a small room which looked like a bedroom and lying on a bed was a young girl which Martin knew must have been his cousin Shireen, she was lying on her bed and quietly singing to herself "Shireen" Stannis called
Shireen turned and jumped when she saw her father "Father!" she yelled and she ran over and hugged her father. When Shireen saw Martin, she was a little bit scared as she had never met Martin before and she hid behind her father's leg "Father, who is this"
Stannis smiled at Shireen "There's no need to be afraid Shireen" he said "This is your cousin, Prince Martin Baratheon."
Shireen looked at her father who nodded and she came out from behind Stannis' legs and gave a shy wave to Martin. Martin smiled at her cousin, Shireen had Black hair and blue eyes and had inherited her father's square jaw and her mother's large ears. But Martin clearly could see the Greyscale scaring which covered most of Shireen's left cheek and most of her neck. But Shireen's sad eyes made Martin feel sorry for her.
"I heard all about these scars cousin" Martin spoke softly to her "But they don't change my opinion of you at all. You are still my cousin and these scars don't change that at all."
"But you have your brothers and sisters" Shireen whimpered "And none of them have this" He pointed to her scared face "My mother never sees me and the only friends I have are Davos and Patches though he scares me sometimes." Patches was Shireen's nickname for Patchface the fool who was the court jester for Stannis, he was a former Slave who had been freed my Stannis' father Steffon and brought to Storm's end, he was the only survivor of the Ship when it sank in Shipbreaker Bay and driven mad.
"But you are still my cousin" Martin smiled "And that means something to me. But if these scars really affect you then I may have a way to help you with that." Martin left the room and returned with Colette "This is Colette, she's a Healer I brought with me on my journey, I thought that maybe she would have a way to help Shireen. Do you think you can help"
Colette walked over and smiled at Shireen to calm her down "It's all right Lady Shireen" Colette said calmly "I'm not going to hurt you" Colette then examined Shireen's face "I will do my best but there is no grantee that this will work" Colette held her hand next to Shireen's scared face. Stannis and Martin watched as golden light came from Colette's hand and over Shireen's face. Shireen felt her face tingle a bit and then Colette removed her hand and then Stannis widened his eyes at what he saw. Shireen's scaring had faded away and now her face was no longer cracked and scared but was smooth. The only bit of cracked skin left was a small bit near her chin. Shireen stroke her face and then looked in a mirror and gasped that her face was smooth again. Then Shireen dove into Martin and hugged him tightly.
"Thank you Cousin" Shireen cried "Thank you so much"
...
A few days later, Martin had taken the Thunderstorm and had sailed a long journey round Dorne and through the Mander River to Highgarden, the Seat of House Tyrell and the capital of the Reach. This was the originally the seat of House Gardener but House Gardener had become extinct during Aegon's Conquest when King Mern IX Gardener had been killed by Dragonfire during the Field of Fire and Harlen Tyrell yielded the castle and became the new Lord of Highgarden.
Highgarden was really beautiful with three ring walls of white stone that increased in height. Between the Outer in Middle walls in a famous briar labyrinth which slows invaders, Also the gardens of Highgarden were filled with groves, fountains and courtyards which held many plants and fruit trees. The Sept at Highgarden was rivalled by the Starry Sept of Oldtown and the Great Sept of Baelor in King's Landing. There was also a Godswood which contained three Weirwood trees known as the three Singers. The Reach was described at the capital of Knighthood there were many tourneys across the Reach held every year.
Martin also got to meet the Tyrell family, he did not think much of Lord Mace Tyrell. He thought so high of himself and he was clearly ambitious. Martin also didn't like the fact that he boasted that he defeated Robert Baratheon at the Battle of Ashford even though the fighting was mostly over when he joined in the fighting. Mace's oldest son was different. Willas Tyrell, despite being crippled in a Tourney accident during a joust against Oberyn Matrell, he was an intelligent lad, while he was unable to fight he had a good knowledge of how to rule and he would be a good lord of Highgarden even though he couldn't run and had to walk with a cane or with a limp. Willas' brothers, Garlen and Loras were good warriors but Lady Margaery Tyrell caught Martin's eye. She was very attractive and beautiful though it was clear that she had a sharp mind and was the tool to help the Tyrell's get their blood on the throne. But the true leader of House Tyrell was lady Olenna Tyrell, Mace Tyrell's mother and better known as the Queen of Thorns. She may have been old but she was ruthless and also smart. Martin, Colette and Barristan were welcomed into Highgarden and they were welcomed to attend a small tourney taking place. Barristan joined in the tourney but Martin was too young to join but he enjoyed watching the tourney. Barristan did well in the joust and he defeated Loras but would lose to Garlen.
A few days later, Martin, Barristan and Colette left Highgarden and Martin informed the crew of the Thunderstorm to sail to Oldtown and meat them later in a few days. Martin and his group travelled on Horseback to Oldtown and they would do one major stop before they reached Oldtown and that would be staying at the fortress of Horn Hill, the seat of House Tarly. Horn Hill was located in the Dornish Marches in a hilly area of the Red Mountains and had forests filled with game. Legends say that the castle of Horn Hill was built by brothers Harlon the Hunter and Herndon of the Horn. House Tarly had ruled Horn Hill for years and were described as creating some of the best warriors in Westeros. Martin knew the Tarly Sigil as the Red Huntsman with a drawn bow on a green field and they had their House words of First in Battle and the Tarlys were one of the most powerful lords of the Reach due to their Military strength and leadership. Martin was welcomed to Horn Hill and was invited to dine with the family where he would first meet the man who defeated his father at the battle of Ashford.
...
Martin had chosen to wear black noble clothes with gold trimming to honour House Baratheon. Barristan joined the meal though Colette had decided not to since she didn't want to insult Lord Tarly. Martin then got to meet the Lord of Horn Hill, Lord Randyll Tarly. Lord Randyll Tarly was a lean and balding man with a short bristly grey beard. Martin could see that he was an intimidating man but he said nothing as he met with the rest of the Tarly family. He met with Randyll's wife lady Melissa Florent and their five children. There was the oldest son which was Samwell Tarly who Martin could tell was disliked by his father, he was a fat boy and he didn't look like a soldier, there was another son called Dickon who was more of a soldier than Samwell and Randyll had three daughters, Talla, Evelyn and Melara.
The Tarly's sat down with their guests and they had their tea which was some venison caught in a hunt. The room was quiet until Dickon broke the silence "So my Prince" he "Why did you decide to visit us?"
Martin looked at Dickon "Well I decided that I needed to explore the world a bit. I believe that seeing how the world works is better than just reading about it. I went to Highgarden and I'm going to Oldtown before I go for a small trip to Essos. I came here because I wanted to meet the man who defeated my father at the Battle of Ashford, the only battle my father ever lost."
"You mean you don't believe the stories that Mace Tyrell defeated Robert at Ashford?" Randyll asked
"When I was at Highgarden Mace Tyrell boasted all about it" Martin snorted "I knew from my father that the fighting was nearly over when he joined in the battle. But even that defeat didn't stop my father and he recovered at the Battle of the Bells. Mace Tyrell just lay siege to Storm's End for a year and tried to starve them out. History may have been different if the Tyrells had joined the Targaryen forces at the Battle of the Trident, you probably would have overwhelmed my father's forces."
Randyll gave a small smirk as he could see that Martin was not some boy that believed in stories. He was a boy who when he grew up would be a great lord of a house. Randyll was saddened that Samwell wasn't like that.
Martin and the Tarly's chatted through the meal and Martin would talk about how he wanted to be a great Lord someday but was concerned about Joffrey who was a prick and an idiot. Martin made a comment that maybe Randyll should take Joffrey in to shape him into a proper King since he was intimidated. By the time the meal was over, Martin had managed to make a friendship between himself and the Tarlys.
...
The next day, Martin continued his journey to Oldtown, the largest city in the Reach and the Second largest city in Westeros and was the largest until the building of King's Landing. Oldtown was also the oldest and was the home of the Citadel where the Maesters were trained and the seat of the Hightower, a very large tower with a beacon that could be seen from all over Oldtown. Martin would spend a few days in Oldtown at the Citadel as he read some history before he along with Barristan and Colette would leave Oldtown on the Thunderstorm which had docked at Oldtown port. During his time at the Citidel, Martin met a few of the Archmaesters including Archmaester Ebrose who was a skilled healer as well as Archmaester Marwyn who because friends with Martin due to their interests in magic.
After they left Oldtown on the Thunderstorm, Martin would take his first trip to Essos and even though many were against this, he first went to the city of Astapor in Slavers Bay. Martin had wanted to see the Unsullied Soldiers for himself as they were described as some of the best soldiers around since an army of 3000 had defeated a Dothraki Horde of 20,000 riders during the Battle of Qohor. Astaphor was a city that was once built by the ancient Ghiscari Empire before the Empire fell during the Wars with Valyria and Astapor as well as the other Slavers Bay cities of Yunkai and Meereen and they became independent cities and their economy was based on the selling of Slaves to the Free Cities. Astapor had the famous Unsullied Soldiers and Martin was able to get an appointment with the Good Masters of Astapor. Thankfully Martin did know Valyrian since he had secretly learnt it during his time reading and there was no need for a translator. Martin did feel uneasy about hearing the training of the Unsullied, they were trained from they were five and trained from Dawn until Dusk in how to use swords, spears and shields. But the one thing that disgusted him the most was the final test when they had to kill a new born baby and give a silver to its mother. Despite this, Martin was impressed by the Unsullied fighting and bought five of them. When they left the city the next day, Martin has the Unsullied brought onto his ship and his freed them from Slavery and they chose to fight for him as free men. Though they chose to keep their Unsullied names which were Blue Maggot, Big Wasp, Black Rat, Drab Flea and Red Whelp.
The next stop for Martin was the city of Volantis, the oldest of the Free Cities and better known as the daughter of Valyia and controls trade along the River Rhoyne and several smaller cities built by Volantis. Volantis had two parts which were connected by a long bridge and was full of stalls and crowded with people. Martin stayed close to Barristan and his five Unsullied and it was clear that Martin did not want to stay here long. The streets were filthy and there were rotting body parts on the walls. Volantis was also full of Slaves and there were five slaves in Volantis for each freedman and they had a custom of tattooing the slaves, flies for dung farmers, hammers for builders, tears for prostitutes and flames for priests of R'hllor. The Great Temple of the Lord of Light in Volantis was three times as big as the Great Sept of Baelor. Many of the nobles were descended from Valyria and outsiders were not allowed within the Black Walls of Eastern Volantis. Martin and his group had been able to stay at the finest Inn in Volantis, the Merchant's Inn in Fishermonger's Square. They decided to leave the next day where one of Martin's biggest events would happen on his trip.
...
Martin and his group had travelled from Volantis and they planned to head to their final stop in the city of Myr and then Tyrosh where the Thunderstorm would take them back to Westeros. They had travelled for several hours but then all of sudden, they were surrounded by armed men and Barristan and the Unsullied had got their weapons ready.
"Who are you?" Barristan demanded
The leader of the armed men stepped forward and laughed, Martin widened his eyes when he recognised him from when they were at the Inn in Volantis. "I am no one special" the man laughed "But you can say that I am a businessman when it comes to human flesh."
"This guy is a Slaver!" Martin spat "I hate these guys"
"Well this time I have something else in mind" The Slaver smiled "I heard who you are, some Prince from the West. Someone like that would be pretty valuable for me if I took you hostage and ransomed you"
"You are not taking him!" Barristan snapped
The Slaver laughed and ordered his men to attack. Barristan and the Unsullied fought well and were able to take out some of the Slavers but there were too many for a small force of Unsullied and Barristan to take out. But then the Slavers were attacked by armed Militants from the side and the Slavers were killed
The leader of the men looked at Barristan and then removed his helmet, only to reveal a middle aged blond haired woman who smiled at Barristan, the woman's armour was the same as everyone else in the Militant who wore dark grey armour that was made of different plates and there were pieces of bronze carved on the armour. Barristan's eyes widened as he recognised the woman. "It is good to see you again Ser Barristan" the woman greeted
"Delphine?" Barristan gasped "Is that you?"
"You know these people Barristan?" Martin questioned
"I do" Barristan replied "This is Delphine; she is a high ranking member of the Order of the Blades. One of the oldest and most expensive Sellsword companies in the world. Their warriors are the best and they only take in the best of the best and they don't fight for greedy souls, they fight for good, most of their contracts are taking out Slavers threatening villagers or bandits, one of their most famous was fighting the Dothraki alongside the Unsullied at Qohor and were the only sellswords who didn't desert."
"One of the Blades Agents saw you when you entered Volantis" Delphine smiled "Then they spotted that Slaver leaving after you, we've been after him for a while now, he responsible for enslaving several villages so we took this as a chance to take him out and see an old friend."
"The last time I saw you was nearly 20 years ago before the Rebellion broke out" Barristan explained "I first met the Blades during the War of the Ninepenny Kings, they led the charge which took out a good portion of the Blackfyre forces which allowed me to charge and kill the Blackfyre pretender, I was once offered a place among them but my loyalty was with the King, though I started to regret my decision when the King went Mad. So how have you been?"
Delphine looked sad before he looked at Barristan "When my agent informed me that you were here I came because I needed to see you. I didn't want to bring you into this but I didn't know who else to turn to. A few weeks ago our base camp was attacked and this wasn't some bandit attack, they stole some of our ancient and dangerous relics and they Kidnapped Grandmaster Jauffre. I was hoping that you could help us, you saved King Aerys II and I really need your help.
Barristan looked at Delphine "Jauffre is a friend of mine, so yes, I will help, but I need you to protect young Prince Martin here." Martin smiled at Delphine and laughed at her reaction when she realised that she was speaking to a prince of the Seven Kingdoms and Barristan laughed when she looked embarrassed
Martin, Barristan and the Unsullied joined the Blades to where they had tracked Grandmaster Jauffre. The attackers were hidden in a small cave, with help from Barristan, they made short work of the attackers but sadly, their leader escaped and it had been so fast that no one got a good look at him and it was easy to tell that this leader was important as the men stayed behind to guard his escape. Martin and Barristan found the Jauffre imprisoned in a cage, he was badly beaten and was bleeding in many areas, the ragged shirt he was wearing was soaked in blood.
"Jauffre!" Delphine cried "Jauffre, are you okay."
Jauffre coughed up some blood "No Delphine, my time is near, I can't make it."
"No!" Barristan shouted "Look at me Jauffre, you're going to be all right."
"Ba… Barristan, so it is you?" Jauffre barely managed to say as he laid his eyes on Barristan "Listen, the artifacts they stole are here, but I'm afraid that the leader took the remains of the Xarxes with them."
"The remains of the Xarxes, but that would mean…" Delphine stated but Jauffre coughed before she could finish "Listen, there is something about that boy Delphine" Jauffre finished and he pointed at Martin much to his shock "Serve him Delphine, from now on, the Blades swear their service to Prince Martin Baratheon." And then Jauffre's hand fell from Delphine's and then tears fell from Delphine's eyes.
"I'm sorry Delphine" Barristan said "I'm really sorry."
Martin left them alone to so they could mourn, he was shocked at Jauffre's last words, how can the Blades serve him, he wasn't worthy of their service. Martin then found a small cave where there was a stack of weapons. There were many fine weapons but two stood out to him, one was a two handed sword that was a bit dirty from the dust but after Martin cleaned it, he saw the words Brightroar carved onto the blade and the hilt had lions carved onto it and a lion head pommel. Martin then realised that this was the lost blade of house Lannister, the sword which his great uncle Gerion had got missing searching for. The second one was a Blades Katana, this one was a little different from the others and it seemed to have a light blue shine to it, there was also another two handed Valyrian Steel blade as well which didn't have a name.
"Where did you get that sword from!" came a shout and Martin turned to see Barristan and Delphine nearby.
"It was here on this pile with these other weapons." Martin said "Here, if it's one of your relics then you can have it back." Then Martin noticed her look "What is it?"
"Can it be" Delphine said "Can that really be Dragonbane."
"Dragonbane?" Barristan asked "What is this Dragonbane, I've never heard of it"
"It's one of the oldest relics of the Blades that we had. It was wielded by Tiber Septim who the Blades originally served thousands of years ago. Long ago, we were bodyguards to the royal Septim Bloodline who founded the Septim Empire, the blade was forged for the founder Tiber Septim. But after the fall of the Septim Empire, the Blade was lost and we never found it. Now it lies in your hands."
Martin looked at the Blade in shock and then he handed it to Delphine "I… I can take this, I'm not worthy of wielding this sword."
But Delphine cut in "No one has found that Blade since the time of Martin Septim, the last Septim Emperor, now it falls into the hands with someone with his name, I think I now know what we must do now." Delphine pulled out her sword and then the remaining Blades followed. Martin only stared as he gained a new order that swore fealty to him.
...
Martin had met with the Blades and gained their service. Martin was shocked as the Blades were the oldest and one of the best Sellsword companies and now they had sworn themselves to him and the Blades were known for being cautious on who they sell their services to. But Martin had gathered Brightroar, Dragonbane and the other Valyrian Steel Sword and they had been placed in a cart given to them by the Blades. Now their next stop was the city of Myr. But while they were travelling, Martin had heard a groaning noise and had gone off the road to see what the sound was which Barristan had protested against.
Martin found the noise coming from a bush and he found what looked like a large Lioness creature only it was covered in Black spots. The creature looked like it had been in a fight as its body was covered in teeth and claw marks. The Creature whimpered and looked sadly at Martin with wide eyes before purring as Martin stroked it and then it died. Delphine and Barristan soon joined him and Delphine stared in shock "A Jaguar?" she gasped "Those are rare now, they're like Lion but they have been killed by hunters as their pelts are worth a fortune."
Martin then heard a cooing noise from under the dead Jaguar, he watched as a small Jaguar cub crawled from underneath the body and was followed by more. There were five Jaguar Cubs and they were different colours. Two had black spotted bodies like their mother, two had plain yellow fur and one had Black fur. "A Black furred Jaguar?" Delphine gasped "Those are even rarer than normal Jaguars."
"What do we do with them?" Martin questioned "Their mother's dead, they won't survive here long."
"We can't just leave them" Barristan replied "That would be cruel"
The Black furred Jaguar crawled into Martin's arms and Martin smiled as he brought it to his face and the cub licked him "Maybe we can take them home and I can give them to my siblings as gifts. I did promise them that I would bring them something."
"I don't think your mother would be very happy about that" Barristan commented
"They're just cubs" Martin countered "And they'll become guardians when they grow older, that will be good for them to have a pet like this."
So Martin had gathered the five cubs and then they carried on their trip to Myr. The city was known as the Heel of Essos where an Ancient Valyrian road meets the Sea of Myrth. Myr was one of the cities that Westeros traded with often and Myr was famous for fighting with Tyrosh and Lys often over the Disputed lives though they often used Sellswords. Myr was one of the most advanced of the Free Cities, famed for its arts and learning and they trade goods such as carpets, lace and glace with Myrish lenses being used over Westeros. Myr also produces fine tapestries and fire wine. Myrish Fire is a expensive Healing herb used to treat cuts.
After a few days in Myr, Martin travelled along the coast to the city of Tyrosh which was located right near the Stepstone islands. Tyrosh was a fortress city and was more of a fort than a city with walls made of fused black Dragonstone. Tyrosh also has a large fleet and that would be needed since Tyrosh is right near the Stepstones where Pirates often make their bases. Like Myr, Tyrosh is a trade city and Tyrosh traded pear brandy and fantastic helmets shaped like birds and animals. Tyrosh was also deeply involved in the Slave trade with three slaves for each freeman. Sellswords were often in the city and Tyrosh was the location of where the Fifth Blackfyre Rebellion or War of the Ninepenny Kings took place when the band of nine took over Tyrosh to use it as a base to invade Westeros.
After leaving Tyrosh on the Thunderstorm, Martin had originally planned to return home to King's Landing but decided to sail around Westeros to Casterly Rock so he could meet his Grandfather Tywin Lannister and so he could return the sword Brightroar to them. Then he returned to King's Landing where he was welcomed back by his siblings except by Joffrey but even Joffrey was happy when he presented the Jaguar cubs to them. Martin would stay in the city for a few years while he rebuilt the city before he would leave on his second trip to Essos taking Barristan, his Unsullied and the Blades with him. This trip wouldn't be that eventful as his first trip.
Martin 2nd trip started with him and his group heading North, first they stayed in the fort of Riverrun before they carried on North to Winterfell where he would meet and befriend the Stark family. Martin sparred with both Robb Stark and Jon Snow during his time in Winterfell and befriend Arya Stark who he could see was just like his sister. Brandon Stark would speak to Barristan as Bran's dream was joining the Kingsguard and Barristan said that he would see when Barristan was of age. After he finished at Winterfell, he decided to go to the castle of the 2nd most powerful House in the North, the seat of House Bolton at the Dreadfort. The Dreadfort was defiantly a very intimidating castle and lord Roose Bolton was quite scary and creepy. But the Bolton heir, Domeric Bolton was different. Domeric had travelled South and had been fostered with his aunt Barbrey Dustin as a page and then with House Redfort in the Vale as a squire where it was commented that he had the making of a tourney champion. Domeric had always wanted a brother since he was the only child. Domeric had discovered that his father had fathered a bastard child and against his father's orders, he had gone to see his bastard brother. Martin had been at the Keep when Domeric came back and at the feast that night, Domeric had complain of having stomach pains. The next morning he could hardly move. The Maester of the Dreadfort had examined Domeric and said that he had a sickness in his bowels but was unable to help. Martin had Colette examine Domeric and Colette discovered that Domeric had been poisoned and thankfully, Colette had been able to cure Domeric. After Domeric confessed to his father that he had been to see his bastard brother, Roose realised that his bastard son Ramsay had poisoned Domeric and had ordered his arrest but Ramsay had escaped but was now a wanted criminal with orders to be executed on sight in he was found. But Colette saving Ramsay created good relations between Martin and House Bolton.
Martin had one final trip in the North which was to the only major settlement in the North which was the city of White Harbour, the seat of House Manderley, the 2nd richest House in the North with their Silver Mines. Martin had stayed at White Harbour and then the Thunderstorm had picked them up and Martin went back to Essos. This trip wasn't eventful like his first one, he first travelled to the city of Saath which was the only remaining city of the Kingdom of Sarnor that was destroyed by the Dothraki after the Doom of Valyria. Saath wasn't a big city and only traded with Lorath and the Island of Ib. Martin had then travelled onto the city of Qohor which was a dark city, better known as the city of sorcerers who worshiped a Dark God known as the Black Goat and they made daily sacrifices each day. But Martin had travelled to Qohor because Qohor was the only place where smiths had the ability to reforge Valyrian Steel and that was why Martin had travelled to Qohor. The second Valyrian Steel sword he had found on his first trip alongside Brightroar was not Martin's style since he would fight with two swords and not a massive two handed Greatsword. Martin paid one of the smiths to reforged the sword into two smaller ones, one he would keep to himself and the other he planned to give to Joffrey for his nameday.
After Qohor, Martin had travelled to the cities of Norvos and Pentos before returning to King's Landing. Norvos was famous for its three Bells which directed the day to day lives and Pentos was Westeros' biggest trading partner in Essos since it was the closest to King's Landing. Nothing really happened in Pentos or Norvos and soon Martin was back at King's Landing where he would carry on trying to rebuild the City until Jon Arryn would die of an Illness.
Chapter End: Well that's the rewrite of this chapter. I plan to do the next chapter before I retwrite Chapter three but I have shown more detail of Martin's trips.