บท 39: Chapter 39: Half Skinchanger
As night falls, the idle nobles who have spent the day eating and drinking begin to stir. Their evening diversions, including beautiful women and fragrant carriages, are ready for them.
Meanwhile, workers and vendors, exhausted from a day of hard labor, continue to endure the harsh realities of life. They are scattered everywhere—at the docks, on the hills, in the marketplaces, and in the workshops.
In a small, somewhat dark and damp inn, a female assassin meticulously counts her equipment. She has spent her time observing Viserys's movements and found them quite predictable. He travels back and forth between the workshop and home, avoiding banquets entirely. His daily routine consists mainly of practicing swordsmanship or teaching Dany to do the same.
This assassin admires his skill. Despite being under sixteen, Viserys's talent in swordsmanship surpasses that of many who have trained for ten or fifteen years. She acknowledges his potential to become a legendary figure like the Sword of the Morning if given time. So she decides to assassinate him at night, when he is unarmed and vulnerable in close combat, an area in which she excels.
Yet, one thing makes her uneasy: the crossbow Viserys had given her, the same weapon that had once incapacitated her. It was small, exquisite, and lethal from twenty paces—a perfect weapon for an assassin. She couldn't fathom why Viserys would arm her with such a weapon. Did he truly have that much confidence in himself?
Her unease grows when she recalls Viserys's precise recounting of her encounter at sea. 'He must not know my true abilities,' she reassures herself.
The assassin takes out a small cage containing several crickets. It was through these crickets that she had gained such detailed insights into Viserys's movements. By entering their consciousness, she had essentially planted a listening device in his home. Although crickets have poor eyesight and rely mainly on hearing, it was enough for her to track his movements.
One cricket, two crossbows, three daggers, and six arrows—this was her entire arsenal for the assassination. She leans the seven-god wreath she had woven against the wall of the table, preparing to pray before the mission. But somehow, the wreath keeps slipping off the wall.
In the end, she used the small stone from the table leg to hold the wreath in place.
This small frustration further unsettled her. Could it be that the prince of the fallen kingdom is truly protected by the gods?
"Father, Mother, Smith, Warrior..." She prayed softly, finishing her invocation within seconds. After one final equipment check, she disguised herself as an old woman and left the inn through the window. As she climbed out, the garland slipped again. She left the hostel like a fish diving into the sea of darkness.
To avoid detection, she had chosen a remote place to stay. Her first stop was the nearby pier.
"Boat? To Drowned Town, to Greenwater Town, to Silty Town!"
"Is there a boat? One more person needed!"
"To Greenwater Town! Only ten iron coins!"
"Chartered boat! Twenty iron coins!"
The boatmen at the pier were shouting like taxi drivers at a train station. The female assassin noticed a skinny old boatman with white hair. His boat was small and seemed barely able to carry many people. It was also unstable, which suited her needs perfectly. She wanted to travel alone to minimize the risk of exposure.
After agreeing on the price, they set off. When they reached a quiet stretch of water, the old boatman suddenly spoke:
"Hey, where are you going?" His voice was hoarse and unnatural.
"To Bitterwell Town."
"What town?"
"Bitterwell Town!"
"Bitter what?"
"Bitterwell Town!"
"What town?"
"Bitter..." The female assassin's eyes grew cautious as she realized something was wrong. The old boatman was looking at her with a mocking expression. For a moment, she felt as if she were ensnared by a large net, her skin tingling with alarm.
"Where are you going, little sister? I, Viserys, will definitely send you there!" She was suddenly startled. It was Viserys. Who else could it be?
She immediately reached for her waist, activating her two crossbows simultaneously, but Viserys blocked them with his bare hands. No, not bare hands—a black weapon! His reaction speed was terrifying.
The female assassin's pupils contracted in shock. This young man's reaction speed and close combat skills were formidable. She had thought she could defeat him in close combat. For a moment, she wanted to dive and escape.
As if reading her thoughts, Viserys shouted, "Wait, we agreed that if you fail, you will work for me. Are you going to break your promise?"
She glanced at Viserys and hesitated. Under her brutal training, her body instinctively urged her to flee, but her brain made a different judgment. Viserys had indeed spared her twice before, as he had said. They had an agreement. Additionally, her intuition told her she might not be able to escape at all.
Seeing her hesitation, Viserys said, "Before you tried to assassinate me, the Seven Gods already gave you a revelation. Are you still going to be so stubborn?" His voice echoed over the water, scattering fish and shrimp in fright.
The female assassin's face twitched in disbelief, her mental defenses on the verge of collapse. Viserys threw the dragonbone dagger at her feet, where it quivered in the deck. She shuddered like a frightened rabbit.
"Accept the will of the gods and follow me, or disobey the will of the gods and kill yourself."
For a moment, she felt as if her body was being pulled in a strange way, like branches swaying in the cold wind. Finally, she made a difficult decision and sat down despondently. "My name is Kyla."
Viserys rowed the boat to a relatively secluded spot. "Kyla? Who sent you?"
"King Robert."
"Nonsense. I asked who gave you the order to kill me."
Kyla seemed a bit dazed. "It was Lord Petyr."
Of course, Viserys thought. Varys wanted the siblings to be targets to attract attention, so it couldn't be him. Robert was a hands-off leader. With Jon Arryn as Hand of the King, Robert wouldn't be directly involved in this. Littlefinger hadn't yet become Master of Coin, so it made sense for him to engage in some small assassination activities as a "achievement."
"Does Petyr know that you're a skinchanger?" Viserys asked.
"Skinchanger?" Kyla looked confused.
"Skinchanger, someone who can control animals!"
"You mean a circus performer?"
"No, a Skinchanger! Someone who can put their consciousness into the minds of animals!"
"What is consciousness?"
Oh, another illiterate, Viserys thought. "I saw how you caught the fish and shrimp when you were drifting at sea."
"With my hands."
"Nonsense. I mean, why did they come to you?"
"They didn't come. They swam." Kyla was genuinely confused and thought Viserys was a fool. 'The gods had chosen such a person?'
Viserys rubbed his forehead, pondering for a moment before speaking. "Can you show me how you catch fish?"
Kyla looked up at the sky and then back at the water. Viserys widened his eyes, not wanting to miss any detail. After a few minutes, Kyla's brown pupils disappeared, making her resemble a ghost on Viserys' boat. It was eerie, especially at night on a small boat.
Moments later, her eyes returned to normal, and she seemed to spring back to life. Her body swayed, and she reached out, grabbing a small fish with her hand.
"Yes, yes, yes! This is it! How did you do that?" Viserys asked excitedly.
"My mother taught me," Kyla replied.
"Tell me more."
Using some persuasive techniques, Viserys coaxed Kyla into sharing her background. Kyla was from the Riverlands, her father a local man and her mother from Beyond the Wall. Her mother was a true skinchanger, able to control black cats to catch mice. This ability allowed her to guard the Lord's granary and raise Kyla after her father's early death. But during the Usurper's War, Kyla became an orphan, abducted by human traffickers, and trained to be an assassin. She excelled due to her ability to control insects and fish, though she never matched her mother's skill.
"My mother told me to keep my abilities a secret. I'm only telling you because I think you're blessed by the Seven Gods," Kyla confessed.
"Thanks, but I have another question. When you control fish at sea, your body shakes. Why is that?"
"Oh? I'm shaking? Actually, I just feel a little dizzy at most."
Okay, that matches up, Viserys thought. He didn't ask if she felt her brain was getting dumber, considering she didn't seem very smart to begin with.
"I hope you can teach me this skill."
"My mother said that not everyone can learn it."
Viserys sighed inwardly but pressed on. "But you should be able to teach me; you have the favor of the Seven."
Kyla pondered for a moment before starting to explain. The key to warging, she said, was imagination. One had to imagine themselves as the animal they wanted to control, observe its behavior, and see the world through its perspective.
As Kyla continued, Viserys found her explanations difficult to grasp, like listening to a baby babbling. He understood the words individually, but when she spoke, they seemed jumbled. He had to rearrange and combine them, using various analogies to establish effective communication.
The two chatted for a long time until the sky began to lighten with the approaching dawn.
"If you succeeded in your assassination, how will you contact the person who gave you the order?" Viserys asked, his voice calm but filled with curiosity.
"We don't communicate directly. If I succeeded, I would have to leave a mark at a predetermined location," Kyla replied.
"And if you fail? Will there be a different sign?"
"Yes, there is a sign for failure too," Kyla admitted, feeling a mix of intrigue and wariness.
Viserys nodded, recognizing the cleverness of the system. "Is there a sign for 'preparing'?"
"There is. I drew such a symbol some time ago."
Viserys was pleased to hear this. It meant that no one in Braavos was aware of Kyla's presence or her intentions. As long as he kept sending the "preparing" sign, he could focus on participating in the tournament at the Great Celebration without worry. With only a month until the celebration, he felt reassured, knowing that Braavos was far from King's Landing and that his plan had time to unfold.
Viserys decided he would release the news of his "assassination" later, then give Kyla a new identity to keep her close. His Dragon Dreams ability allowed him to target and locate those with active "killing intent" toward him. This ability only worked for those who were actively planning and moving against him, not for vague threats or passive wishes.
For instance, Robert wanted him dead but hadn't made any specific preparations. Similarly, Littlefinger, acting on Robert's orders, wanted to eliminate him but hadn't taken concrete steps. Therefore, Viserys couldn't locate these threats.
As he pondered this, Viserys realized that if his Dragon Dreams ability improved, he might be able to sense those with mere ill intentions or even those who mentioned or thought about him. This potential expansion of his abilities excited him, as it could grant him an almost god-like awareness of his surroundings and enemies.
A sudden realization hit Viserys, and he froze. He thought about the relationship between gods and their believers. Believers prayed, and gods responded. Could the advanced state of Dragon Dreams function similarly, allowing him to know all intentions directed toward him?
The thought made him swallow hard, a mix of excitement and fear surging through him. A crazy idea formed in his mind: a long staircase appeared before him in his imagination, leading to a solemn altar at the top.
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