What is dead may never die (Chapter 7)

I should have been worried

Theon POV

The final day of the Hand’s tourney was here. It was an archery competition. With a lucrative prize of ten thousand gold coins, many people come from princes like Jalabhar Xho to small folk, who know a bit of bow. If I remember correctly, it was some guy from Dornish Marches who won, he had a weird name, so I don’t remember it.

Well, half of the competition got out when we were shooting from fifty paces. From me, it was an easy shot. I just needed to calculate the distance, which was said before shooting, and an angle to hold my bow. Then just release the arrow and let it puncture the target.

“Sorry, Jalabhar, but it is my gold to take,” I spoke to the exiled prince.

“You have to win over me first,” He replied.

“Which isn’t hard considering I won every time we held a competition,” I responded with a smile.

“Ha, we will see, young lord,” Jalabhar told me and left to shoot at the seventy paces range.

Well, even if I joke, it isn’t that easy. One mistake, one poorly calculated wind flow, and you are out. With the increase of distance, the probability of hitting the target is going down. But for my body, it was natural to hold a bow. Many times I struggled with a sword, but never with a bow.

At a hundred paces, there were only four people left. I, Jalabhar Xho, Balon Swann, and Anguy, the man with a weird name, won in the books. I concentrated harder than ever on this shot. Waiting for the wind to settle, angling my bow a few times to make sure I didn’t make a mistake. My arrow flew true, hitting the target.

The only other guy who did the same as I did was Anguy. He looked determined to win this, but to me, the winnings were my freedom, so I couldn’t let him have it. A hundred and twenty paces was a distance that even Anguy couldn’t overcome. I, on the other hand, didn’t have any problem with it.

“You have a great skill,” I told Anguy.

“Thank you, my lord,” He replied. “But it isn’t as great as yours.”

“Still, great skill is a great skill,” I spoke to him. “How about you come work under me? I have gold to pay, so you don’t have to worry about it.”

“My lord, it would be an honor, but,” Anguy began.

“Lord Stark will ask you to join him, but he won’t pay you as well as I do,” I interrupted him. “It would be disrespectful to refuse him. You wouldn’t want it. After all, he is the Hand of the King. You won’t find a better offer, and don’t think anyone would want to take you after you insulted the Hand by refusing him.”

“It would be an honor, my lord,” Anguy agrees with me.

“Don’t worry. I will take care of you,” I swing my arm around Anguy’s shoulder and tell him. “Have you ever been to Chataya’s? Wouldn’t you want to go to the Summer Islands? You heard the stories about it, haven’t you?”

Anguy was a petite guy, but he had excellent skills. Someone like him would serve well for me. And it would be nice to have him be my servant, who doesn’t have any unique background.

…

The chest with ten thousand gold dragons was in front of me. I split it into bags and pouches, each pouch having a hundred coins and bag a thousand. I took two of the pouches and two bags before leaving the Tower of the Hand. The destination is the harbor. It was already an early evening.

A tavern in the harbor filled with sailors wasn’t hard to find. Just follow vulgar songs, and you find yourself surrounded by sailors. Entering one of the taverns, I looked around and found someone who looked like a captain, with fine leather clothes and a fancy hat.

“I need a ship,” I spoke to the man after sitting in front of him.

“And?” The man didn’t even look at me and asked.

“And I need to get somewhere,” I told him and threw a pouch full of gold.

“And where would you like to go?” The man’s tone instantly changed as he checked the contents of it. “I, captain Hardvir, can bring you all over the world.”

“I will keep that in mind,” I told him. “I might bring some more men with me, and I want to go to Summer Islands. There is plenty of gold to you if you agree.”

“This captain would be pleased. When do you need the ship to be prepared?” He asked me.

“From tomorrow to whenever I come,” I answered.

“Well, that not specific at all,” He spoke with uncertainty. “My men are busy, and if they are not leaving soon, it would be hard to live in this city.”

“I can help with it,” I told him and threw my two bags. “There are more where that comes from, so just stay and enjoy the splendor of King’s Landing a bit. I will find you when I need to go.”

“Well, my boys can use some fun. We had long journeys on the seas that just drained our will. We will rest while waiting for you, my lord,” He responded with a smile.

I left after that. Tomorrow Lord Stark will argue with the King about Daenerys and will prepare to leave. In that time, I will slip away. But first, I need to visit the brothel and enjoy the night. I need to sell the image of a young man celebrating his winnings.

…

It was a clean and extravagant brothel. It was more than I expected, especially women, who were dressed in revealing silk robes. I could smell a lovely fragrant perfume that didn’t hurt to breathe through my nose. Littlefinger was awaiting me with his smile.

“Welcome, honored guest,” He greeted me.

“Yes, yes. Can we go to business already?” I asked.

“As you wish, as I promised, everything is on the house,” He told me. “What kind of girl would you like?”

“Virgin,” I told him. I have nothing against their profession, but I didn’t trust their cleanliness, if I may say.

“Very well,” He replied and clapped his hands.

Six women came into my view. No, they weren’t women, just girls. I could see fear hidden in their eyes. I felt sick. I knew it was a standard in this kind of world, but making those girls do something like this. It was disgusting to me. They were no older than fourteen, maybe fifteen. Others were even younger.

“Listen there, you sick bastard. You may enjoy little girls, and the only reason I won’t kill you right now is that I would die myself. But I wouldn’t try my patience,” I didn’t hold my tongue, not even tried to do so. “Get them out of there. I will take that one.”

“My apologies if I have disturbed you,” He didn’t look apologetic in the slightest. “Eri, come, girl, it is a good choice. She is new in here but very capable.”

“I don’t want to hear your voice again, you sick bastard,” I replied to him, anger running in my blood.

“Very well, at least take this wine. It’s the best you could get,” Littlefinger told me.

I took the wine but didn’t reply to him. Eri was my age, she looked lovely. I was taken to a room on the second floor with a window. Eri didn’t waste time and wrapped her arms around me. I, on the other hand, felt sick. I couldn’t help but think of those girls. I remembered what Littlefinger did to Jayne Poole.

“Just go to sleep. I don’t have any wish to do anything but drink,” I told the woman.

“It is nice for you to think about those girls, but it is useless,” She replied to me. “Just enjoy yourself, and forget about all that worries you.”

“If only it could be that easy,” I responded.

“It is our life. We don’t need your pity,” She replied angrily.

“Pity? Maybe that is what I feel, but more than pity, I feel disgusted. Disgusted at Littlefinger for running this kind of business, at myself for not being able to do anything about it,” I responded and took the wine bottle.

“Stop it,” Eri took the wine from my hands. “Just went your anger at me, don’t drink to forget. It will only hurt more.”

“You saw it happen before?” I asked.

“My father. After my mother died, he drank until he had forgotten the pain. No, until he didn’t feel it, you can’t forget something like that,” Eri spoke. “He drank until he didn’t have any more coins than sold me and drank even more, till one day he was found died in some dark corner.”

“Hah,” I sighed. “Just go to sleep. I promise I won’t drink.”

She reluctantly agreed. I went to the window and looked at the moon. I wanted to go home, where I didn’t have to see this kind of thing. Where I can just report to the police and know they will take care of it. Where I felt safe, but the moon was the closest thing to that dream.

I don’t know how much time had passed as I thought about my home. But the moon was high in the sky, and the city had quieted down. I could hear Eri sleeping on the bed as I sat by the window. Then I heard the door opening. I looked at it and saw a man.

“You should be asleep,” He told me and rushed at me.

It was dark inside, only moonlight shone from my back, so I didn’t see his knife. Only when I felt a burning pain on my side did I realize what was happening. Like waking up, I grabbed his hand and punched him to the face. He let go of the knife inside me.

Ignoring the pain, I grabbed his collar and pushed his head into the window. The class broke, the sharp glass fragments dug into his neck. I heard a scream from Eri, which distracted me. The man used it and tried to free himself. As he wanted to push back, I wanted to push him through the window. The pain at my side didn’t let me exert my strength, and he freed himself.

“He said you would be asleep. Well, it doesn’t matter anymore,” He spoke.

Should I be asleep? It only took me a moment to realize. Wine, I should have drunk the wine. It was Littlefinger, but why? I stopped myself as the rugged man neared me. I took the wine bottle and smashed it to his head.

He was stunned for a moment, and I, using all my strength, tackled him. Both of us went through the window. It was only a second floor, but I heard a crack. Looking at the man under me, I saw his neck broken. I tried to stand up. But weakness and darkness soon engulfed me, and I just rolled to the side.

The last thing I heard was the clanking of armor. I felt as blood was dripping from my side. But my mind was clear, and the only thing I thought at that moment was, why? Why wasn’t I worried about that creepy smile?