90 -Chapter 84-

-Chapter 84-

-16th day of the 6th moon of the year 299 AC-

-3rd POV-

"Good morning to everyone, I am glad to know that each of you has agreed to be part of the new alliance that will restore order in Volantis for the coming years," said the old triarch Nyessos Vhassar.

He paused to let the guests applaud, then raised his hand to signal them to be silent: "I have paid extremely close attention to the rise of the young King Targaryen across the strait, and it was only natural that I decided to lend him my support in the name of our city."

"Why?" asked the least popular triarch of the city, Doniphos Paenymion.

"Why what?" the host of the gathering asked.

"Why choose a side among the Targaryens?" Paenymion asked more explicitly.

"Because he has managed to bring dragons back to life, what a question," said Triarch Nyessos with a smile that highlighted the obviousness.

"Yes, but Queen Daenerys did that too," said Doniphos Paenymion.

"Firstly, 'Queen' Daenerys has only one dragon, secondly, 'Queen' Daenerys is our enemy, and thirdly, the king can also wield magic, an art that would be very useful to us in defeating the faction of the red priests that only continues to grow, don't you think?" said Nyessos Vhassar.

"I think declaring war against the Queen of Astapor, who has also just seized Yunkai, would be ill-advised and a serious strategic mistake on our part when we can gain more by building good relationships with both monarchs."

Nyessos Vhassar smiled mockingly and then said, "From Yunkai only, as it seems that even the slaves she freed do not want her as Queen and have all decided on their own to rise up and re-establish slavery by capturing all the noble families of Astapor and reducing them to slavery."

"What a horror," said a member of the assembly before falling silent, seeing that he had attracted everyone's attention.

"Exactly, what a horror. It's precisely to avoid this kind of horror happening here in our magnificent city of Volantis that I've decided to ally myself with the only person in the world capable of curbing or even completely stopping the ambitions that this Daenerys Targaryen might have," he said.

Once he had finished speaking, everyone applauded, convinced by his speech, and the evening resumed its course, but it was already clear that in the next elections, Triarch Paenymion might not be elected to lead the city again.

---

-POV Laneth-

I slipped among the crowd gathered to listen to the sermon of the High Sparrow, a septon who had rapidly gained influence lately, and what I saw and heard shocked me to the core.

An old man arrived in front of the crowd and said with a peaceful attitude: "My children, the whole kingdom rejoices in the resurrection of the dragons, but WE know that they are but the demonic instruments that this heretic, this pagan uses to control us."

He stepped forward a bit more and said while keeping that peaceful demeanor like a father calmly explaining how to do a task to one of his children:

"We all must be very careful because by not rising up against this heretic sitting on the Iron Throne, we are going against our faith, I would even go further in saying that we tacitly support the cause of this sinner, the enemy of our faith, and we will burn with him for eternity in the flames of the seven hells."

The faces of all the people listening to the septon's sermon were marked with the fear of punishment and the horror of eternal suffering in the seven hells. I understood what was happening and quickly and discreetly left the place with the sole objective of reporting what I had seen to my master.

'His Majesty must be informed of this,' I thought.

As I was about to leave the district, my path was blocked by a septon armed with a club.

I pretended not to recognize him even though I knew he was part of the parish I had just been spying on, and before I could say anything, he attacked me with his stick.

I quickly dodged to the right and then ran, with the sole objective of saving my life. Unfortunately, he was not alone, and soon a dozen fake septons surrounded me, blocking any exits I could take.

I frowned, seeing no way out, and then I remembered the first thing Connor taught me during my training as an Assassin.

'There is always a solution; you just have to find it, and if you can't, then take as many enemies with you to meet the Stranger.'

I drew the two daggers I was hiding under my robe and then charged at the closest septon to me.

He didn't have time to strike me with his club before I had plunged my dagger into his throat.

I pulled out my dagger, and in the next second, I stabbed the arm of a septon who was about to knock me out with his club.

He screamed in pain and collided with one of his comrades, who, destabilized, did not see the dagger that pierced both their throats.

I quickly pushed their still-living bodies, bleeding out with wide-open eyes, and ran into a small alley pursued by the remaining septons, with the sole and only goal of getting out of this situation and reaching the walls of the Hightower, the ancestral home of House Hightower.

The closer I got to the Hightower, the more relief I felt, but I did not allow myself to stop because the septons did not cease their pursuit.

Once I finally arrived at the walls surrounding the Hightower, I screamed at the top of my lungs, "HELP HELP ME I AM AN OFFICER OF THE CROWN AND I AM IN DANGER!"

I didn't have time to continue speaking because the armed septons fell upon me and pinned me to the ground.

The leader, with a seven-pointed star carved on his forehead, stepped forward to the captain of the guard and said, "I apologize for the disturbance, but this man is a heretic."

"He said he was an officer of the crown," said the captain of the guard.

"He's a heretic and a blasphemer; he would say anything to save his skin," said the leader of the septons indifferently.

"IT'S NOT TRUE!" I screamed.

"Silence him."

"I must requisition..."

"It's an order from the High Sparrow."

The captain of the guard instantly fell silent, and then after a few seconds, he said, "Take this heretic out of my sight quickly."

"Seven blessings upon you, Brother Thomas."

I felt all my hopes vanish, and before I could try to struggle, a septon raised his club and brought it down on me.

'KING AEGON WILL BURN YOU ALL,' I thought before drawing my last breath.