Chapter 46: Chapter 41
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***
Damian Blackheart.
I was still sitting naked, but I had already washed off the blood from the 'bath'.
Despite the fact that all my scars, even the new one that had appeared thanks to Aegon's idiotic act were in place. But my hair, like Varys'. At least my balls and cock are still there.
- Cover the shit up. - Rex threw me a cloak with my crest on it.
- How did you get to Asshai so fast? - I asked him without turning round. - It takes about six months to get here.
- It took me seven months.
- What? But...
- It's the beginning of the year 303 of Aegon's Conquest. - I was taken aback by my brother's news.
- So I wasn't resurrected right away?
- Jhaerys was first in line. - Rex told me, crouching beside me. - Drink this, it's a local tincture that will help you cheer up.
- I'm awake as hell!" I replied, but I took the tincture. - Ugh! It's infused with donkey urine.
- No, it's manticore venom, summer wine, and some other herbs. Have you seen Jaehaerys?
- Not yet. Shira told me he was expecting me, but we missed each other and he flew Jaehaerion off to the Shadow Lands for "training." I'd walked like an idiot, bloody but naked, and nearly knocked myself over five times on the way.
- I saw the bloody footprints, and I knew you were resurrected.
- When was Jaehaerys resurrected?
- Late last year. It took a while to bring him and your remains here. You were burned after your death and were to be transported to Mourningtown, but you were "lost" on the way. So was your sword and dagger, as well as the Black Flame missing from King's Landing.
- Did you return the Long Claw to Mormont?
- Yes. It served him well when circumstances demanded it. But now is a new time, and new circumstances are moving us in a certain direction.
- Did you know this would happen? - I asked him, and looking at his calm face, I realised the answer was yes.
- Yes. - He confirmed my speculations. - My grandfather and I had visions. The Lion of the Night spoke to us and guided us. He didn't speak to anyone for a while after he spoke to you, he was busy with RGlor, and thanks to his war with him, that Lord of Light was weakened, and the Lion of Night was able to send visions to his followers. And then adjusted our actions. We all needed the ancient prophecies to manifest themselves fully.
- Azor Ahai, who will rise and his loyal followers will follow him.
- You got a clue from Him, didn't you? - my brother looked at me with his eyes.
- Yes. Not right away, but I did. I had a hunch at first, and then I analysed the situation, and then I realised that there was something wrong with Jaehaerys's death. There was a catch. On the last night before Aegon's wedding, I decided to do some esoteric shit, and I did as you once advised - I recited a prayer to the Lion of Night in that ancient dialect. And a subtle message formed from my blood on the bunk, as if it had been written out with a pen: "Fear nothing, you will live!". Of course, there were doubts in the depths of my soul that I somehow misunderstood, but still I decided to act in my own manner and... as you can see, I did not fail.
- That's right! The Lion of the Night is great, many serve him, and some serve without knowing of their service.
- The Faceless Ones worship him as well?
- Yes. They merely nicknamed our god, but they did not displease him. The Faceless One who killed Jaehaerys was sent by him. That's why it was a success. But Jaehaerys was not happy about it. - We both smiled at those words. He must have felt the gratitude of our tomboy, and I can only imagine his face after waking up and learning all this information.
- And who else do we have from the "secret" followers of the Lion of the Night? - I asked the question that interests me.
- The Black Goat of Quokhora is also one of the hypostases of our god. Well, there are smaller cults, even among the Wildlings. Only they were the first to meet the Night King. And the first to die.
- And turned into his soldiers.
- No. He objected, even grudgingly. - Those who carry his blood and those who truly believe in him will never become his foolish puppets, even if they are resurrected.
Makes sense!
I think there was a Wycht in the book who rode a stag and helped Brandon Stark and Co. on their quest to see the Three-Eyed Raven.
- By the way, I was wondering. Shira is Mellisandra's mother, isn't she? - he nodded. - And did she give birth to her by Brinden Rivers? - he nodded again. - Judging by the eyes of Mellisandra and Brinden Rivers, then.....
- They're of our blood. - Rex assured me. - Brinden's grandmother was a pure-blooded native of our kind from Asshai itself. The Lion of Night had long planned to defeat the Great Other and had been doing everything to do so, not for the last few years, but since the death of the last Azor Ahai. You and I have done much for the victory that is coming, but we are not the only ones who have tried. Even now, all of our relatives and loyal followers are doing what is required of them, as instructed by the Lion of the Night. Brinden's grandmother came to Westeros and fell in love with his grandfather, who married her, and the maiden who gave birth to the future Three-Eyed Raven was born. Who was then channelled into the future by the Shire.
- Who is she?
- The high priestess of this temple of the Lion of Night in Asshai. She already became one after she gave birth and left the Blood Raven. She's been tantalising his mind for a long time, and leading him in the right direction for us. Mellisandra was also part of his plan. And judging by the way she drove Stanis, Shireen, and Celisa to their graves, she did her job well. Though Shira gave her up to the Arglorians at an early age, I think either she or one of our relatives in Volantis was correcting and guiding her secretly. And I think she was needed for your death as well. For all I know, she insisted on burning your corpse because of her visions.
- Simply put. The Lion of the Night is a schemer of such a level that Varys is just a curious boy that likes to gossip and collect other people's secrets. - I was genuinely amazed.
- It is so. His ways are mysterious, but they lead to ultimate victory.
- Your words into my ears... oh come on... Is there more of this tincture?
- There's wine. I think you're hungry and thirsty right now.
- And fuck a woman. - I smiled.
- "By the way," he smiled slyly. - 'You know that Shira is our grandmother, our grandfather's wife.
- ...
- I see not. But don't worry about the idea of laying her out on the floor. She's a naughty girl who sleeps with a lot of people. Granddad hasn't cared about her body for 10 or 15 years. She took my virginity and taught me a lot about poisons and magic.
- You don't have magic.
- But I have the right knowledge of defence against it and can identify it or whoever used it. I can easily identify a faceless person at a glance, by the way. Anyway, I have a lot of skills, I just haven't had time to tell you and show you.
- Hmm. I see. Yeah, it's a funny family.
- Our cousins and uncle live here, by the way. I'll introduce them later. And all the Nigrorrmeums from Stigai and Sotoris flock here. The ones from E.T. and the Free Cities will flock here in Volantis and Braavos. I don't know why there, it's not known to me.
- Nigrormeum. - Once again I repeated the ancient surname of our family. - I'd almost forgotten what our surname actually sounds like.
- You're just too fond of your fame in Westeros. But don't forget you have an important mission on which your future depends.
- I remember, I remember! - Sometimes I think that even if I die a normal death of my own free will, they're going to torture me with this "mission" in the afterlife. - By the way, it's actually been two years. Aren't you afraid the Night King has already reached the Wall?
- No. After Jaehaerys' death, the Night King sensed that the level of magic was dropping and the Chosen One died. There was no point in him going further south after that. He is a pawn like the simple Vihtas, but with a mind and tasks personally from the Great Other. He turned his army back to the edge of the Everfrost to wait for what he thinks is the "next" Chosen One. But we resurrected him, and then we resurrected you. If only Jaehaerys had to be resurrected, then around the time we resurrected you, we would have brought our Chosen One back to life, but with all the knowledge he needed to win.
- Let me guess, I had to do something to prevent him from feeling the sudden backflow of magic into this world, to give Jaehaerys the magic and knowledge he needed. And I was no longer hidden from anyone and my appearance is actually like a red rag to the bull in terms of the Night King.
- That's right. He should have sensed Jhaerys Targaryen by now. And he'll turn his army south again. And we have time to get to Westeros, take control there and organise a proper millennial reunion between the dead and the living.
- Interesting. - I grinned and watched the sun rise in Asshai. - Wasn't I supposed to get any powers?
- Well, as far as I know, you were supposed to be sort of "worthy" of standing next to Jaehaerys during the battle with the Night King and covering his rear, but I don't know about magic or any powers. I'm telling you, I don't have all the information. Just because he tells one person doesn't mean he's telling everyone else.
- It's very important to take your time, I've learnt that in my past life.
- Yes. He's very wise, and he's never wrong.
Now it dawns on me that this is definitely not a made-up story. The Chosen One who single-handedly saves everyone and everything? That's not even funny. The Chosen One is more like a symbol and the main striking weapon in this war, but this weapon has to be made first, forged properly, and before that, the material has to be selected, decorated and given to the one who will aim it at the right target.
Jayheiris is the local analogue of the situation, as a presidential candidate in the election of any country in my past world, wins the election. The oligarchs have already agreed among themselves who will become president, but it is necessary to win the election with a certain margin and with the right programme. And now this pre-election race and the programme are being sold to a whole group of people with certain abilities and tasks. Here, it's the same thing. All gods know who is the Chosen One, but the "team" that will lead him to victory can change. Everyone's pulling their weight. But the Lion of the Night was more cunning than the others.
And it seems to me that those visions he showed me are not just visions as a sign that these events were happening, but something he had a hand in.
That is, he had a hand in the last victory eight thousand years ago. Then he indirectly had to intervene in some events. And one of the major ones is the Rock of Valyria. It's unlikely that the Valyrian mages and their scientists couldn't have realised that some shit was happening under their feet. It seems to me that this catastrophe is thanks to the Lion of Night. And thanks to, Him, one of the unimportant clans of Valyrian nobles with dragonriders left the power struggle in the metropolis and moved to the outskirts and survived, thus becoming one of the most powerful forces in Westeros. And it seems to me that that lady daughter of the head of the clan who gave the command to resettle got her visions, as I did. What followed was a series of events that the Lion of Night instigated, and my kind helped him with it, if necessary. The Targaryens seized the Seven Kingdoms and made a more or less powerful state out of them, which in principle should be ready to repel the attack of the Others. And Robert Baratheon's Rebellion, I think it was also the initiative of the Lion of the Night. After all, thanks to these events we got the Chosen One with the blood of dragon lords and kings of the North, where the Night King comes from. That is, Ice and Flame united.....
And as for the vision of Jaime and Cersei's incest, well, I guess the Lion of Night shuffled it around and set a precedent for the kind of mess that happened. And the events directly under which I fell are a separate story, it seems to me that here he was even more involved than in previous times, because his Chosen One had already been born and it was impossible to let Jehaerys freeze his balls on the Wall, when so much useful labour and military force is killing each other. He loves blood and violence, of course, but if the Night King wins, there will be no more blood and violence in the future. He's not a fool, after all, and a fool wouldn't have cooked up such a scheme....
- I see. What about the events in the Seven Kingdoms? Who rules there? Unless, of course, Mellisandra did her best, Aegon must be a corpse.
- He is, and a corpse that's rotting in the ancestral crypt beneath Red Castle. - Rex confirmed the information. - Daenerys is ruling there now, with Quentin, a bunch of advisors and Mellisandre helping her.
- And I'm guessing some of our people.
- I think so. But I'm telling you again.
- I don't have all the information. Just because he tells one person doesn't mean he's telling everyone else. - I finished it for him. - Of course I remember that. Don't freak out, bro. I may be getting a little curious about death.
- You've had it a lot easier than Jaehaerys.
- Well, it's not the first time I've been married..." and when he saw Rex's uncomprehending look, he explained. - I mean, it's not the first time I've died.
- Ah! I see. - He smiled. - By the way, as soon as your ashes were placed in the bath, we sent a message to our agents in Qarth to hire a flotilla with supplies and move on to Astapor.
- Astapor? - I had a hunch about that, of course, but I wanted to be more specific. - What's there?
- About eight thousand Unsullied, which we'll buy for the battles in Westeros if they're with other interested parties. And fearless fighters against an army of the dead will come in handy.
- I see. Wouldn't it be easier to kill Varys and Mopatis first?
- Mopatis is already dead without our help. He was brought down by a very unhealthy lifestyle and poor diet, as you say. He was poisoned by a very exotic dish he'd been wanting to try for a long time. And his liver failed. He lay in agony for five days and then dropped dead. Only Varys remains. But don't worry about him. Right now, he and the entire Small Council are busy arguing amongst themselves, the regions of the realm, and even busier with the Iron Bank. Tywin took an extra two million gold dragons on behalf of the Iron Throne, and now they're in debt, and they have nothing to pay back now. It's not that they're poor, it's just that if they pay now, they won't have enough to repair damaged castles and villages, buy food, pay wages, and a bunch of other small things that would cost a lot of money. And if they do, they will also have to pay for the hunger and poverty of the common people, which threatens them with a popular revolt in most of the Seven Kingdoms.
- So they're having trouble getting their bearings in Essos right now.
- Yes. The soil is ready, the seed has been planted and watered. And soon enough, it will grow.
A lingering and powerful dragon roar washed over the dark in many meanings city:
- GRA-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-R!
- Oh, Jaehaerys is coming back. - I smiled, looking forward to our meeting.
- Yes. I think he already knows that you've returned from the world of the dead. He'll come to see you soon. You stay here, and I'll go meet him and get you some clothes, or you'll freeze to death.
- What a thoughtful brother you are, ha-ha-ha.
Jaehaerys' appearance hadn't changed at all. Only his movements were smoother and his gait lighter, and he probably smiled more often. The same stubble, the same shorter hair, and grey eyes that looked at the world with a kind of warmth and fire.
That's what self-immolation does!
To my really great surprise, he was not in simple clothes, but in the real Valyrian armour. It was a scaly armour, which I had seen on engravings and pictures in the school textbook about warriors of the Middle East and Central Asia of the times of Tamerlane. It was not silvery or golden in appearance, but black with a slight greyish tint to it, just as real Valyrian steel should be, and that was only noticeable up close to Jaehaerys. The final touch of this armour was the crest of House Targaryen, which was emblazoned on the chest in the form of a three-headed dragon made of bright scarlet rubies. Almost like his father's, if the stories of Robert Baratheon were to be believed.
No, he had a thick trekking pouch like a typical "druid" on his side and a helmet that reminded me a lot of the Daedra helmet from Skyrim, even seemed to have the same number of dragon horns and the same colour.
- Is the helmet also made of Valyrian steel? - I asked him, not even letting Jaehaerys open his mouth.
He smiled with the edge of his lips and shook his head.
- We haven't seen each other in almost two years, in a way, and you're asking me about a helmet?
- Yeah.
- Phe. Fuck that. It was all a gift from your kin, who acquired it back in the days of Rock Valyria, straight from my ancestral homeland. Well, the helmet... It's actually good steel, but it's got a thin layer of Valyrian steel on top. But the horns are real!
- Did you get married and grow horns at your wife's expense? - I couldn't help but tease him.
- No, we were just cutting them off you. - Jaehaerys was not in debt.
And then we laughed and hugged.
- It's good to see you, Damian. It's unusual to see you with a glistening bald spot.
- Hair's supposed to grow back. - I shrugged.
- It does. I woke up with no hair either. But then it grew back fast.
- It's nice to know I'm not walking around as a copy of Varys.
- Well, if you tear off some of the parts, you could pass for a double, but you'd have to put on a few dozen pounds to make it more believable. - Bitch, you've learnt humour from me. You can tell he's my apprentice.
- All right. So tell me, how you feeling? What have you been up to and when do you plan on getting out of here?
- Couple of weeks and I'll be done with my potions and potions. Have you met with Shira yet? - I nodded. - Well, so the programme she said I had the same programme that Rex had when he studied with her. You should probably know about it, if I'm not mistaken. Only if Rex is magic-free, I learnt how to cast more or less normal effects and spells. But I can't turn a man into a frog, alas.
- Too bad, I'd love to see Varys and Mace Tyrell.
- Alas, such spells are just a folk tale. - Jayhaerys shrugged his shoulders. - But I can cast diarrhoea, migraine, or insomnia. I can also cast impotence, though.
- Is there a distance limit for such spells?
- Not really, it's all down to magical powers, barriers, if any, and the material to cast the curse. If I have all the right elements here, I can wreak havoc on many a Seven Kingdoms from here.
- Hmm. I see. Can't you test me for magical powers or any abnormalities? Rex mentioned I could get something like that, but he didn't give any specifics.
- You should talk to Shira. I could be getting something wrong. No, I can check, but I'm not sure I'll get it right. She trained me more in battle magic and poisons and defence spells.
- I'll go find out what's what later. - I waved my hand. - Now let's drink and eat, because I'm as hungry as a dog.
- More like a lion. - He grinned. - Come on, I'll show you where the temple kitchen is.
We met Marik, who had been training with my uncle, Daniel. He looked to be about fifty years old, with long black hair that reached his shoulder blades, the same typical scarlet eyes that looked at me with interest, tanned skin, a slightly grey beard, and two thin silver strands near his ears. He was also a head taller than me. He looked like a flint, and I felt like one, too. Jaehaerys confessed that Uncle Daniel was a better swordsman than the rest of us, and that he trained the Temple Guard, which consisted of his daughters and our closest cousins. There are seven hundred of them in the temple. But, of course, there are also men of our family, but they are mostly engaged in preaching, although there are also warriors.
I decided to stretch a little, especially my body, although it's "mine", but still it wouldn't hurt to remember the skills of fighting. And I don't know why, but my uncle really cut me to pieces. Maybe it's because of more experience and constant training and fights, but I think he's just a born fighter. Even if you compare him to Barristan Selmy, Mendon Moore and Jaime Lannister, he is still superior to them.
In addition, I met a happy and tired Maric, it turns out that he found three girls at once among my cousins. That's why he was tired. Though one could guess that anyone would be happy to have an extra man here. When Jaehaerys and I walked through the lower tier, we saw a lesbian orgy performed by my cousins. It turned out, when I asked Daniel later, that it wasn't just some lesbian orgy, but quite an educational process after each training session. The loser pleasures the winner, but she herself has no right to receive pleasure from anyone, and it is not allowed to rub herself where it is necessary. And given the loveliness of "our brother", it makes them even more angry and forces them to give their best at every training session. I can imagine what happens to men when they get into their hands when these ladies leave the temple ...
But so far I haven't checked their level of training and military skill, though it will be necessary to do it somehow later.
Then I met a couple of dozen knights, squires and servants who had fled Westeros with Rex, Grandfather and Maric.
Two of them stood out: Victarion Sutherland, the third son of Lord Sutherland of the Three Sisters, and Damon Storm, the Green Cloak, who was captain of his battalion in the Stormlands, where I'd sent him to keep Gendry safe from harm. And these two rubes accepted the white from the hands of Jayheiris. And things seem to be looking up for my Uncle Daniel to do the same. Though I feel that when we arrive in King's Landing, the role of our valiant resurrected king's guard will be filled by my female relatives. And the Seven White Cloaks, more a tribute to the traditions of Westeros.
Then, towards evening, Shira had me examined. And the conclusion was rather strange. It was hard to tell about the magic, but my resurrection made me much stronger. I noticed this after I did a ten kilometre run in the evening and I wasn't even tired. Although it seemed like I had just returned from the world of the dead today....
True, I had a few theories about what else I could get out of it, but for now I decided to put them on hold until later.
For almost the entire three weeks instead of two as planned, we had been busy with my kin, Maric and Jaehaerys planning our return to Westeros and taking over. With us went my grandfather and our grandmother Shira, who, despite Rex's words, was like a nun to me (which was a shame, by the way), our men from the Seven Kingdoms, Rex of course, and Uncle Daniel, who had accepted the white cloak. Well, and another five hundred of our battle buddies from among the temple guards.
Some of them I've fought with in training fights, not all of them victorious. They've been trained here to the best of their ability and have been in real fights, but mostly either in the Disputed Lands or in the I-Tii Empire or in Sotoris, but not in Westeros. But most importantly, we have a good guard for Jaehaerys, and removing Daenerys from power is not their concern, it's ours.
And then, we set out on our journey.
I, Jaehaerys, Rex, and Shira and Uncle Daneel travelled by Jaehaerion to Astapor, while our kin and the rest of the hagalla took the sea straight to Volantis.
In doing so, we stopped in Yin, a major port city of the Golden Empire of I-Ti. There we were also met by our kin and handed over the payment for the flawless ones in the form of two petrified dragon eggs. They will not sprout dragons as in the case of Daenerys, so we can safely sell them.
We stayed a couple of days to learn about the hospitality of the Ithians and travelled on to Astapor.
And on the eighth day of our journey we came to the ancient Giscaran city, which traded in fighting slaves. Jaehaerys and I did not fall for Kraznys, but for another lord named Daargos mo Inotoros, who tried to get more from us than we had originally agreed. Instead of two eggs, he wanted four. But we promised that we would just turn round and sail on without buying anything from them, and give them such a black PR that no self-respecting ruler or magistrate would want to buy anything from them. And even defiantly returned to the ships. And the next morning, apart from this cretin, there were several other gentlemen of Astapor with him, apologising for their comrade's misconceptions. As a result, in addition to eight thousand impecunious we got slaves servants, and I also picked up Misandeya, who was sixteen years old here, and she was really like Natalie Emmanuel from the TV series.
After all, she is a pretty girl, and I have a "virgin" body, I have not yet had any women after his resurrection. So I'm gonna remember all the bases I used on her before.
Of course, we made both blameless and new servants free and offered them to choose their own way, while honestly told about the future mess in the Seven Kingdoms, some slaves really left to seek a better fate, but the rest remained.
We loaded the new army onto ships hired from Qarth with food and weapons and travelled by sea to Volantis.
Jaehaerys, myself and Rex were on the bow of the flagship, with Jaehaerion hovering above us.
- Thank you for everything. - suddenly said our dragonborn Chosen One.
- For what? - Rex asked.
- For always being on my side and always helping me. And for being my friends.
- Doesn't it bother you that we've even used you in some ways? - I asked without a smile.
- No," he answered indifferently. - You're better than my family of House Stark or even House Targaryen. I think there is a brotherly bond between us. Your initial actions may have always been dictated by self-interest, and you may convince me now that you are not loyal to me as a friend, but that you are following the will of the Lion of Night. But I know the truth. And I am very glad that we met once. - he turned to us and with a smile went to his quarters.
We wandered around the ship in silence for a while with Rex, and then my brother confessed to me:
- "If I had a little more of that, I would have felt it.
- You're losing your touch. - I smiled.
- It's not just me. You're as attached to Jaehaerys as you are to Obara. I saw the look in your eyes when you glimpsed her before you died. Before you promised Margaery the crown.
- Were you there, though?
- Well, I had to be. I was there personally supervising a couple of my new spies and I wanted to watch you die so gloriously. I didn't expect Aegon to be so stupid.
- The boy just wanted my blood. He's Valyrian, he's Blackfire, and they're just as crazy as the Targaryens. He wanted to show he could do things on his own. He also wanted to be the one who would be famous for killing Damien Blackheart. After all, he was king, and power sometimes clouds the judgement. Really... that's just my guess. I don't know why the hell he did what he did.
- But you don't deny Obara? - my brother gave me a sly look.
- No. I was looking at her. Because I was sorry I didn't get to fuck her one last time the night before my execution.
- Ha ha ha, you're still the same, bro. - he patted me on the shoulder and went into the hold.
I stood on the deck, looking up at Jaehaerion floating in the sky. And I was thinking that I felt something for that woman. Which is atypical of me.
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