Chapter 64: I prefer the tune of Bloody moon
Proofread by: Akisu.
One moon after visiting Old Tully and getting what she wanted, Lady Dustin arrived to Lannisport.
She cursed under her breath for seeing so many blond people, as she came to share her son's distaste for the lions.
She was sitting in a reclining chair on a balcony of their biggest Inn in the city enjoying the sea breeze and sea view with little Bri quietly sleeping in her lap while hugging her body.
At the same time she was enjoying the sun and the smell of freshly baked bread from their bakery located on the opposite side of the street.
She looked to the table and almost burst out laughing again, remembering the sight of her guards coming in one by one with pastries for the little treasure of hers unaware that their other brothers had the same idea.
She jokingly scoffed at it, but knew that it was just because they loved the girl like one of their own.
Behind her stood as always her guardian, Ser Hadrian with his men vigilantly observing the surroundings.
Some of the guards stood on the balconies next to hers with crossbows in hand watching the roofs.
The inn they were in was one of the biggest buildings in the city and it was a sign of wealth and prosperity for their house.
Like most of the businesses on the whole street the yellow buildings belonging to them made the prices skyrocket in the neighborhood, but here, they just had this one street and nothing more.
The day after her arrival Lady Barbrey had a big argument with the manager of their businesses here, as he wanted to expand and open more of their establishments to the Lady's disapproval.
Barbrey didn't take it to heart, she knew he wanted what's best for them.
"It's not the right time Tomas. You are a part of our big family, but there are things you do not know. Trust me now and wait. You will know when the time comes." after hearing his Lady say that he finally admitted defeat.
Tomas was a blond handsome man, unquestionably of the Lannister line, but he hated them as the Dustin's did as his mother was murdered by the Lannisport branch of the lions.
That was one of the reasons he wanted to extend their reach in the city, just to hurt the golden shits more.
She enjoyed her peaceful time when she heard screams, from a few houses down the street. From her memory of the location, it seemed to come from their Pleasure house.
The Lady didn't want to wake the child in her arms up, so she just looked at her knight.
It was enough for the old Ser to turn and send Ser Bryce with a few men to investigate.
A few minutes later the guards came back, and from the new scratches on their armor it was clear to the old man things were more serious than he thought.
Lady Dustin's guards were the best there were, most of them trained for years by him personally so anyone who could land a hit on them must be a skilled warrior at least close to Praetorians in level.
Hearing what Bryce told him his brows came together in a frown.
"My Lady..." he whispered as gently as he could not to wake up small Bri "You're needed..."
Lady Dustin looked at him irritated that her rest was disturbed.
She stood up carefully and gave Bri to the older head servant that waited behind the cordon of guards.
"Place her in my bed." she said while handing the child to the old head servant woman.
"Yes my Lady." The servant took Bri and walked away with a smile.
Even if she wanted to hide her affection for the child, her closest people already knew being close to the two on the trip.
"Ser Hadrian." she was so angry about the whole situation.
"My Lady, Lannister men tried to kill one of our girls." he dryly said without emotions.
"They dared? Kill them." there was no compromise.
"They say they are Queens men." now that was a surprise. Why would the Queen want to kill a simple working girl...
Barbrey already had a bone to pick with Cersei so she didn't hesitate and walked out with her men.
When she arrived she saw four men bound in ropes on their knees.
"Do you know who we are you fucks?! You will hang for this!" one of them, clearly the leader was really articulated about their situation.
"Oh? And why is that?" Lady Dustin just entered and looked at the broken furniture and signs of fighting in the room.
There, in the corner stood a blond haired beautiful woman with two crying babies in her arms.
She did almost everything she could to placate the infants to no effect.
When she saw the lady that came in, she instantly knew who it was.
The guards armor, yellow cloaks, respectful gaze of her manager, just these few indications and the rumors she heard a day back were enough for her to come to this conclusion.
The pleasure girl dropped to her knees and sobbed not having the courage to cry out loud.
Why was she attacked by the Lannister guards?
What will she do if she loses this job?
Where will she go?
What about her children?
Hundreds of thoughts went through her head.
"We are the Queens men! Unhand us!" they were still making demands even on their knees.
"Do you know where you are?" Lady Dustin asked with a gentle but firm voice.
"In a whorehouse can't you tell? Are you new here? Want me to be your fir..." he couldn't finish as his mouth met the floor leaving two teeth and a lot of blood from his mouth and nose as a welcoming gift.
"Maybe we should try again?" she looked at the man next to the previous one.
"In House Dustin Pleasure house." he stated correctly in fear. His red armor, red cloak and funny helmet trembled in tune with his body.
"And yet you still decided to do what you did knowing well who this place belongs to." she sat on a chair that one of the servants brought after Tomas told him to.
"The Queens orders, we obey Lady Barbrey." he wasn't stupid and wanted to live.
Lady Barbrey had enough of Cersei poking her nose in Dustin family's business.
"You do know that all of our employees and guests are protected by the guests rights when they are in our establishments right?" she asked rhetorically. "And yet here you are assaulting one of ours in broad daylight. Tell me please, what is so important that you are willing to part with your life. You surely must've known we won't let this go, or did you think the Queen will protect you?"
The men started to shake in fear but stayed silent.
Up till now they thought that they could do as they pleased and where they pleased just because of the support at their backs, the Queen.
"We were just following orders, the Queen said that if your men block us we should play Rains of Castamere! It's all the Queen! She ordered to kill the children and sell the whore to Essos." one younger man couldn't take it anymore because of his weak will. "Please don't kill us! I don't want to die!" he begged while wetting the floor under himself.
Lady Barbrey looked at the woman in the corner, her infants and back to Lannister men.
She made up her mind.
Slowly standing up she moved to the 3 conscious men extending her hand beyond them in Ser Bryce direction that was standing at the backs of the prisoners, her hand became heavy by the object he handed her after some hesitation and under her cold gaze.
She lowered her sight and looked the man in his eyes.
"I preferred the tunes of Bloody moon..." she said and plunged the dagger into the young man's head from below his chin.
"The man that passed the sentence should swing the sword..."
She watched the despair in his eyes while he choked on his own blood, she saw the resignation on his face when the light was slowly leaving his eyes and his body became limp after convulsing.
The smell was terrible as the dead man's bowels relaxed releasing everything they were holding.
The other two were terrified, they didn't understand how someone could object to the Queens orders.
Before they could voice their fears another man had his throat slit by Ser Bryce behind him and the one on the ground now had a sword in the back of his neck thanks to Ser Hadrian leaving only the smart one alive who recognized Lady Dustin earlier.
She came up to the survivor and kneeled again watching him without any visible expression on her face.
No emotions, just a cold blank stare that made the man think that his worst nightmares were a child's bedtime story in front of this woman.
Lady Dustin slowly looked down at her bloodied hand that was holding the dagger, she looked back up at the man again.
Unknowingly she increased the terror he felt.
Reaching for his cloak she meticulously cleaned her hand and the weapon and while doing that she said.
"I will let you live. Please be a dear and inform the Queen that House Dustin takes guests rights seriously. If her Grace wants to continue this type of games she can always speak to my Liege Lord and Warden of the North. You know who that is right?" she finished and handed the blade to the same man she took it from.
The prisoner Lannister guard nodded his head like a woodpecker working on a tree, his consciousness holding by a thread from the number of emotions he felt at that time.
She heard something and looked down only to see his pants turning darker by the liquid he released from fear.
"Take him away." she ordered while standing up. "And clean the place. We can't keep our guests waiting." she turned to leave. "Come with me girl." Lady Barbrey didn't wait for the terrified and hesitant woman and left in the accompaniment of her guards.
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