They were given a clean place to rest until the ceremony demanded their presence at dusk.
Kai barely spoke a word after entering the venue, and Meg seemed to have noticed the absence of expressions on his face, their hands still together, and their fingers still entwined in each other. This was a dangerous place, and any moment of relief and lapse would cost them their life.
It would have been foolish to think that they were the only Contestants here.
For now, they must act as if they were some unmentioned storyline Characters — A lord and his lady. And, yes. A young, sly steward.
The moment we present those Dragon eggs, Meg had discussed with him and Petyr one night, all Contestants will get to know that something's wrong. Now, as your main mission is about Daenerys herself, then we can concretely assume that she doesn't have any top-floor Contestant protecting her, and by extension, there wouldn't be any Protector for Drogo or any main storyline Character worth protecting in the wedding those who are related to her.
So our enemies will be hundreds of 3rd-floor Contestants and dozens of 4th-floor ones. But like us, they wouldn't get to use their powers in the open as well. We must use the clamor after Drogo and Daenerys departure to teleport out of this world.
The plan seemed flawless at one glance, but there were tiny loopholes that would only emerge while putting it into action, Kai knew. Still, no reason to discard the plan itself. There was no plan completely perfect in this world, he had learned in his previous life. The entire game was about marginal errors and allowances, and how impressively one would improvise once they would show themselves.
The rest of the afternoon burned away as Kai gawked at the vista of pure carnage going on under the raised earthen ramp.
Women were dancing, and then a warrior lunged at one of them, having her then and there like a beast. Then another warrior came into the circle, claiming the same woman for himself. A jape, a shove, an alien curse, and soon, their arakhs were out; long razor-sharp blades, half sword and half scythe, a weapon that Kai found quite fascinating to behold.
Kai licked his lips as he saw the two warriors dance around each other, his blood boiling. They leaped at each other, whirling the blades, and spat insults at each clash. No one interfered. Another noticeable thing was the movements of their feet as if they were dancing in a rhythm.
An Ability?!
Kai exchanged glances with Meg, who was looking down at where his fingers had tightly gripped her own. -/Is there a movement Ability hidden among the Dothraki?/- he asked telepathically, ignoring her dazed expression. She lifted her eyes, misty like oiled pearls.
"Uncountable," Meg replied.
Kai's heart pounded, and he looked back.
It ended as quickly as it had begun. One Dothraki missed a step, Kai saw, his eyes squinting, and the other swung his blade in a menacing arc. Steel kissed the flesh just above Dothraki's waist, and opened him up, spilling his entrails into the dust. As the loser died, the winner took hold of the nearest woman, and not even the one they had been fighting over… and had her there and then again.
Slaves carried off the dead body, leaving behind a trail of blood and dangling flesh, and before the time of the gift ceremony came another dozen men had died.
Now, Khal Drogo clapped his hands together, and all sounds came to a sudden halt.
Both the bridegroom and the bride stood up to receive the bridal gifts. Kai saw as the prince, dressed in red silk with a dragon on his chest, gifted his sister three handmaids. A knight approached her then, leaving his seat that was just below the prince, and gifted the bride a collection of old books.
It was time, Kai knew, as he saw the knight stepping off the ramp.
Their moment had come.
Both Kai and Meg stood up, eyes adjusting to gawk at them, at Meg's unworldly beauty, and the immense chest, now being lifted by the servants.
But before the clamor could die, Kai ordered Petyr to disappear, taking shelter in his body. He couldn't afford someone recognizing the young man once they had gone up there, no matter how low and ridiculous a possibility it was. The translator followed them, his head bobbing around in search of the sly steward, but one bloody look from Kai showed him his place too.
They stepped towards the ramp like two celestials ascending the stairs to the heavens.
Not even Khal Drogo and Daenerys seemed to match them in the picturesque scene they seemed to portray in thousands of eyes, and only the power and status of the Khal and Khaleesi were keeping everyone from comparing these two couples to each other.
As they neared the bride, from the corner of his eyes, Kai saw the prince, Viserys, eying Meg with two eyes filled with pure lust and hunger. The beggar king leaned towards Magister Illyrio, whispering something, but never took his eyes off her.
The world was already shaking for Kai.
Once again, the book was shaking, trying to rip apart the fabric of space and lunge at Daenerys' tale, he knew. But Kai had no desire to devour her tale now. His path was already set.
The translator came running forward, followed by the servants who put the enormous chest in between the two couples. Kai felt hundreds of ill-intended gazes on him through his Perception and instinctively knew that the Contestants had finally sensed something was awry about all this.
Kai had no leisure to think about those gazes for long, though.
He was eying the Khal, the monster of a man. Even at this distance, he could feel the heat coming off Drogo, making his Perception shiver. Drogo didn't seem bigger than Andrik to him, but there was something about the Khal that screamed he wouldn't win against the long-braided man without showing his Skill, in which case he would die either way.
The translator introduced Kai and Meg as the heir to some distant kingdom and his queen, while the servants threw the chest open. A gasp escaped the girl's mouth, and for once, Kai put all his attention on her.
She is young, Kai realized, forgetting that he was a 16-year-old youth himself. 13, the system mentioned her age. Even younger than the young Cersei.
As the bride fumbled with the eggs, Kai remembered the fate that awaited her tonight.
He looked at Viserys over his shoulder and felt a deep disgust for the man who had sold his own sister to this barbarian. Oh, no. If it was in Kai's hands, he would have sold Daenerys too for power, but not if she were his family. A hypocrite the world may call him, but the world could go fuck itself in his eyes. Never had he claimed himself as an honest one, to begin with.
Even Demons had some things they cherished as they thirsted for power.
Family, killing without benefits, and taking risks without reasoning…
These were the points where the Blood Demon drew his line.
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Bonus Chapter Deal (applicable for both Webnovel and ScribbleHub readers):
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