I flew over the Vale, and turned south following the roads. Normally, I would have loved the opportunity to travel the countryside again in my astral form. Unfortunately, it was hard to enjoy anything at the moment.
Now that the war was over, the Vale's forces would be close to returning home. I was at sea for a long time, traveling from Dorne to Starfall, and then back home. I was hoping they had a longer stay because of Jon Arryn being named Hand of the King. But I knew that they would have already left to come back home, and it would be quick. Especially since it was dominated by cavalry. I didn't have to wait for very much longer to spot my targets. There were only a couple of days from reaching the Vale.
"Damn my luck." I muttered as I looked down upon the thousands of men coming home from successfully taking down a Dynasty, all because of me.
I closed my eyes and when I opened them again I was standing beside the weirwood tree that started all of this mess, with my right hand touching it. A part of me couldn't help but resent it a little. It was all my fault, but I didn't realize the repercussions that it would have.
I took my hand off of the tree and walked back towards my tower. I was not afraid of using my greensight so flippantly. The tower that was once rundown and barely standing had changed since I left. Lina had a courtyard built for the small tower that reached out to my weirwood and was surrounded by a small wall. It provided the privacy that I needed to stop the rumors of blood magic.
Should have been my first renovation.
I opened the white weirwood door to my new tower. The bottom floor hadn't changed that much since the first time I had arrived. The main thing was the massive table in the middle of the room, with many maps laid out on it. Ashara, Ben, and Lina all stood around it.
When I walked in, their arguing stopped and they looked at me, expecting me to speak. I obliged.
"We have a month at most, but the way they were moving tells me they know of Eon's failure, and death. They will be here in two weeks." I told them bluntly.
"Anogar and I will be ready." Ben immediately told me with a hard look on his face.
Anogar was the name he chose for his dragon, and I couldn't help but find the name fitting. It meant 'blood' in High Valyrian. I was reminded of Ben's nickname: red. He was given that name because of the blood on his person after killing a man. Anogar was a fine name for a dragon, and would serve it well.
"He isn't wrong." Ashara said as she leaned over the table looking at a map of my lands.
He is. I thought in response.
"The dragon's will prevail. Maybe they'll leave us alone once we show them how far we're prepared to go." Ashara continued passionately. I described in detail how our dragons had caused a respectable army of men to run away with piss trailing behind them. Ever since then, she had looked at Weirña with trust and awe in her eyes. Vorian followed in her footsteps.
"We'll make them." Ben said as he crossed his arms.
He's changed.
I looked at Ben in a different light, ever since Anogar was born and he was bonded. It had taken him weeks to get used to having another presence in his mind constantly. I am convinced that he did not come out of the experience unscathed. It was almost as if he had a deeper bond than even Weirña and I. Although I could not believe that.
He is a dragon now. I couldn't help but think as my eyes ran over his form.
He stood up straighter than he used to, and his nose was pointed to the sky. The sword on his waist was looser than he used to wear it and his armor was becoming tighter and better fitting. His blonde hair was starting to look more and more silver with each passing day. I had brought it up many times in conversation. Ben would just shrug at me, brushing the comments off. Despite it all, he kept his green eyes, even if they became more intense by the day.
And his ability in the sparring grounds was improving at a rate that can only be described as prodigal. Nothing near my own, but that was unfair to compare considering the Gamer ability. I knew it was because of the ritual and Anogar influencing him and his mind but the masses didn't. They took notice of him just as much as they did me now. A part of me loved his transformation. He was noble, brave, skilled, smart, and majestic. Just like a Rider should be.
"No." I told them. There was no way. "They will not leave us alone. Assuming we are victorious over the Vale, Robert will march with the full strength of the Seven Kingdoms. This may be Jon Arryn's doing, but he'll weave his lies into Robert's ear. They'll make it into a story, something to rally the men behind. 'Robert the Brave saw his former friend and the general of his armies wicked ways. He marched with the Seven's blessing to slay the dragon once again.'" I quoted as I thought of how I would lead my armies against myself.
"It'll be a hundred thousand men against two dragons, not full grown." I continued as I pondered the odds against myself.
We fell into a silence then, and I could see them pondering my words. "The only scenario we can come out of this on top, is if we had an army of Westeros soldiers and the blessing of the Faith. We have neither. Even if we burn them to the ground, we cannot rule them. We would have rebellions in each of the kingdoms for the next fifty years. We need the local population's support and we do not have it." I added on top of everything, to really try to paint the picture of what was happening to us at the current moment.
"Do we plead mercy? Present ourselves to Robert, swear fealty?" Ashara asked as her voice became slightly weak at the option.
I knew why too. She was worried about Vorian and what might happen to him. His biological father would force Robert to kill him immediately. Now, because of me, he would have no future in Westeros.
"We'll hang the next day." I told her before turning to Ben. "They'll butcher Anogar and Weirña. The royal family will wear swords with dragon bone handles made from them for as long as they rule." I explained, trying to get them to understand just how far Jon Arryn would go to get rid of me.
"So what are we going to do?" Ashara asked, with her eyebrows furrowed with worry.
"There is only one thing we can do…" I said somberly, although I didn't want to admit it.
"Retreat…"
"Retreat where?" Ben asked with an angry snarl and heavy breathing.
"Where Robert Baratheon has no influence." I answered. "And we can acquire the means to return one day."
I had thought about it almost every waking moment since the news came that I was branded a traitor. I kept returning to a singular conclusion, Westeros is dead to me. The masses were already against me, and the only way I can change that is with time, time I don't have.
"We're going to Essos."
"Run? That is your solution. Flee?" Ben retorted, getting angry.
Ashara's head whipped towards him. She had never really gotten used to the idea of a knight talking back or giving his opinion when it wasn't asked for. "Watch your tone! That is your Lord!"
"Enough Ashara. Ben is a friend and I value his opinion, he may give it." I told her gently.
"We have never retreated, Petyr." Ben said, in a more calm manner. He knew that he fucked up a bit. He was a valued friend yes, but he was not allowed to talk to me in the tone that he had. Of course, I would never call him out on it, but he would have to be careful who he did it around.
"The odds were never against us like this Ben. We always had better trained men. Now we only have two small dragons, and an entire continent believing that we are demons who use blood magic." I explained. "But if we go to Essos, we won't just be a Lord and a Knight looking for a home. I have bigger ambitions than that, ambitions that we can see through to the end."
"Ambition?" Ashara asked, curious as to what I meant. We hadn't talked about what I was about to say to her. In fact, she might be mad that I never had.
"What do you have in mind Petyr?" Ben asked.
I reached beneath the table, for a map that I had Davos procure for me while I was in King's Landing. I unrolled it carelessly and slapped it onto the table. I had other copies, obviously.
On the paper was a map of three cities in an almost perfect triangle. Between them was a span of land with a bold title in the middle of them that read 'The Disputed Lands'. I gestured to it before answering them.
"A Kingdom."
I stood on top of the wall that enclosed my weirwood tree to my tower. From my vantage point, there was a sea of people beneath me. Almost every man and woman that lived inside my lands was gathered there. And almost every eye was on me.
"I have been branded a traitor."
Shock and cries rang out through the crowd beneath me. Surprisingly, they did not know about it, by the looks on their faces. That gave me some hope.
What a great opener…
"When I came here, there was nothing but chaos across my lands. The mountain clans pillaged and raped as they pleased." I said as I waved a hand, gesturing to the land around me.
"Fish was plentiful, but food was hard to find. I brought peace to these lands. I brought great harvests. I brought stability to you and your families." I continued.
I turned to the sea behind me and I gestured to the ships docked out at the sea. "I gave you ships to pull more fish out of the sea. I gave you jobs to build those ships. I let you keep the fish to trade for clothes, and other pleasantries."
The crowd let out cries of joy and cheers.
"Then Robert Baratheon's Rebellion called for me, and I answered!" I yelled that part, making sure they could hear the passion in my voice.
"I conquered Gulltown! I defeated Randyll Tarly at Ashford! It was my strategy that led to Jon Connington's defeat at the Golden Bridge." I paused again, to take my breath, and to let the crowd calm down. Because they were definitely getting rowdy at hearing everything I had done. They already knew of course. Events during a war spread quicker than any gossip.
"Even after Jon Arryn stripped me of my command, I CONQUERED KINGS LANDING!"
Weirña roared from her position on top of the tower behind me. She let out a jet of flame into the air so hot that I could feel the flame tickle my neck. The crowd beneath me covered their eyes as she did. All of the hard earned work we had done with the people to gain their trust for her would soon be for nothing.
"Now they brand me a traitor! Well I will not stay where I am unwelcome. In seven days, I will sail away from Westeros and find a new land. Any who wish, are welcome to come. Those who wish to stay, I give you my blessing and no harm will come to you. Make your decisions."
I tuned out the roar of the crowd as I turned around and walked away.
"You must regret it." I murmured in her ear as she laid on my chest. We hadn't been sleeping much lately. It was hard to when I feared an assassin would climb my tower and try to murder me at any moment. Being a traitor was stressful, but it was also freeing.
I felt like my own man, much like I had in my past life. I had no more societal standards to hold myself to. I was my own ruler, and my own king. Westeros was in my rear view at this point, I was ready to leave. But was my wife?
"Regret what?" Ashara asked, turning her head on my chest and looking up at me.
"Our marriage. I'm sure it's nothing like you expected." I elaborated. This topic had been bothering me for a while. I had married her, expecting to save her from an unfortunate fate. But I had just doomed her to another.
She didn't answer me for a while, and my heart ached even though I had only known her for a short time. This was my wife, someone who I was supposed to rely on in times of need, and someone who was supposed to stay by my side no matter what. But this was Westeros, and she was high born, meaning that politics ruled her. Our marriage was not love, but convenience. Lust did play a part, but I knew it would fall away if love did not replace that lust.
"At times, I do think this yes. But then I see you play with Vorian and treat him like your own, just as you promised me. I see you lead men twice, even three times your age without struggle. They follow you, and I am enamored by that." Ashara said as her hand rubbed up and down my side.
She lifted herself up and our lips met. "I could not have asked for a better husband. You are meant for more than this land, I can feel it inside me that you are making the right decision. You will carve out a piece of this world, and I will be by your side."
She grabbed my hand, and brought it to her stomach. Her face became extremely vulnerable at that moment and she rubbed my hand a little lower right over her womb. I got the message before she even spoke and my face lit up.
"As will our child."
"I had hoped for a break, My Lord." Ser Davos said as I walked down the pier to where he waited for me.
I couldn't help but laugh at that comment, something about it was funny to me. "Bah, I know you love catering to my every demand Davos." I joked with him as I approached, with Ashara and Vorian at my side. I had been in a better mood since Ashara had told me she was with child. There was something inside me that liked the idea of furthering my line. It was an assurance that my legacy wouldn't die with me.
Vorian was my son, in everything but blood and he would be my heir, but I couldn't shake the voice in the back of my head that told me he wasn't my blood. I had vowed long ago to fight that voice until I died because it was the right thing to do and it was what I promised Ashara and him. Now that I knew my own blood was secured, it cemented his position as my heir even more. I couldn't explain it.
He gave me a small grin, but did not show much more emotion than that. "Where to?" He asked when he wanted to say something like 'fuck off, My Lord'.
"We will discuss that in private, although it will be long, painful, and most importantly it will be fruitful." I told him as I patted him on the shoulder and walked up the ramp to my ship.
We set sail almost immediately, with another ten ships behind us. Most of them had skeleton crews. It turns out, that people did not like to move that often in this world, unless there were guaranteed benefits. I had about a hundred people coming with me, and almost all of them were sailors to man the ships. They weren't the type of people to stay put in one place for very long anyway, their life was the sea.
One of the major benefits to being a lord, was that I only boarded a ship when it was about to leave within the next few minutes. With seven days notice for Ser Davos to load up all the supplies on my ships, he was more than ready to set sail and we had enough supplies to last us the entire trip across the Narrow Sea.
"Where are we going?" Ashara asked as she moved her knight forward on the board in front of us. Vorian sat in her lap watching the game with a confused look on his face. I knew he wanted to ask why the horse could move like that but he didn't want to interrupt. Had Ashara not asked me a question, I would have answered his unasked question.
"Myr." I told her as I pushed a pawn, forcing her to move her knight.
"I've always wanted to go to Myr." She said as she stared at the board. "It's a good thing I speak Valyrian." She said this as an off hand comment.
That caused me to pause. I was going to conquer Myr, without nearly any warning. I would be seen as an outsider. If I didn't speak their language, then it would cause an even further risk of division between myself and my new people. I had around a month or two until we docked in Myr. With my Gamer power, that should be more than enough time to become fluent in the language.
"I'm glad you mentioned that. I need to learn High Valyrian."
"House Grafton, My Lord." Davos said as he looked out over the rail of the ship.
There were probably eight ships approaching us, coming straight at us, as a matter of fact. We had to head south to our destination, and we were following the same route we had taken from Dorne not a month previously. We weren't really hiding ourselves either. I'm sure there were spies along the coast that continued to see our ships traveling south. It wouldn't be hard to track us, even if we were on the sea and moving at a fast pace.
I had a particular luxury though, one that House Grafton would soon learn if they attacked us.
"Continue moving forward. Signal to Ben and the other ships to prepare for conflict." I commanded as I stood behind Davos as he gripped the wheel of the ship. I told myself that I needed to learn the proper terms of a ship for as long as I had been on one.
I stood there for a long time, and called for Weirña to fly closer to me and prepare herself. She was currently above the clouds, as I had commanded during our journey. All this flying would help her grow strong for when I could ride her in the future. At night, she would dip beneath the clouds and land on the ship to rest. She was also allowed to make brief trips to the mainland to hunt and rest so long as she stayed close enough to us.
I could feel her anger roll through me as she understood the situation. People were threatening her Rider, and she did not like that. She was prepared to light the sea on fire.
It didn't take as long as I thought it would for the ships to cross the distance between them. Before I knew it, they were within a hundred yards and they had yet to make any attempt to communicate with us.
"What do we do My Lord, we cannot just let them ram us." Davos said just as I gave a command to Weirña.
"This." I told him as my white dragon dove beneath the clouds.
Weirña dive bombed to just above our ship and when her wings unfurled, she roared. A roar that was getting louder and louder as she grew. I knew that the other ships approaching heard her, as did anyone in a mile radius.
I waited a bit, and yet I did not see a single ship start to turn around. I did start to see a flurry of activity on the ships, however now that we were getting closer to each other. I gave Weirña another command and she started flying over to the other ships, starting low and then swooping up above them and out of arrow range.
She crossed the distance between us in seconds and sure enough, black dots began to paint the sky as they shot arrows at her.
I sighed, and rage poured into my veins. Why did they make me do these things? It was with a slightly somber and mournful tone that I gave Weirña the last command.
Burn them, my love.
The Grafton fleet lasted another hour before every single ship was burned and sank into the Narrow Sea. They hadn't expected Anogar to swoop in and burn them from the east, while Weirña swooped and burned them from the west. It was a massacre, and their standard arrows hadn't even left a bruise on our dragons.
I did my best to fight the ego and arrogance that slipped into my mind with my dragons. I did my best to hold on to the mournful feeling of condemning souls to a death of fire, or water. I tried not to let it go to my head, that I was capable of such things.
I'm not sure if I was successful.
Language:
Common Tongue (Westeros): 94%
High Valyrian : 78%
Low Valyrian: 36%
I smiled as I looked at the progress I had made since my journey began to Myr. Once you got the sentence structure down, High Valyrian became easier and easier. Some words were shared with the Common Tongue as well. It reminded me a lot of Latin in my old world, although I personally thought it much more beautiful and poetic.
"Welcome to Myr, my love." I spoke to Ashara in a slightly accented High Valyrian.
I could see the city's towers rising into the sky from the sea, and I was just beginning to see the docks. Fortunately for us, the Myrish either didn't think ten ships heading it's way was a threat, or it was confident enough to not worry about such a thing. I thought it odd that we hadn't encountered a pilot ship to discern our intentions yet.
"Welcome to our new home." I said again in High Valyrian as a smile graced my face.