24 Lorassyon

(Shivering Sea)

Jon countered an overhead strike from Joffrey by directing the blade off to his left, however as he went to punch him in the face Joffrey ducked underneath it before swinging his sword sideways which Jon stepped back from "You're getting better, you always fell for that move before." Jon said with a smile on his face.

Joffrey who was sweating and breathing heavily felt a wave of pride flow through him again, it only made him more dedicated to winning, he held his sword up "K-Keep g-going," He breathed out heavily as he felt his muscles stretch and burn. They'd been sparring with each other the whole morning once they had left the port of Lorath, Jon was impressed with this newfound dedication that Joffrey was showing it gave him hope that perhaps he wouldn't have to kill him after all.

Joffrey swung his sword though it was pretty weak, Jon swiped it aside with his blade before slashing at him. Joffrey managed to avoid the blade though in his effort to duck underneath the swing his legs gave out and he fell flat on his back on the deck. Jon pointed his sword down at him "It's good to have dedication, but pushing yourself harder than your body allows will only harm you." Jon said as he sheathed his sword and reached down to give him a hand up, one which Joffrey took reluctantly.

"I can't waste time relaxing, If I want to become a warrior king like my father I need to work harder!" Joffrey snapped.

Jon raised his eyebrows at the boy's statement, he'd not expected Joffrey to have such a goal in mind but it was good that he did "And you will become one, but make sure your body doesn't break in the meantime." Jon advised.

"There are also skills a King needs to have other than fighting." Jon said with a smirk as he led Joffrey by the shoulder to the captain's cabin where inside on his desk was a stack of books "To be a good king you must be able to see the path ahead, but a great king will look at the path laid behind him, read the histories of past Kings I expect you to be able to tell me what mistakes they made during their reign and how you'd fix them." Jon said as he shoved Joffrey inside.

"Read all of that! There are four books!" Joffrey said incredulously.

"I know I'm rather jealous," Jon said with a smirk before shutting the door. As he walked up to the wheel of the ship he caught the glance of both Obara and Samaya who shook their heads in disapproval "To condemn the boy to such a fate, you are a cruel one, Jon." Samaya said as she steered the ship.

Obara nodded in agreement "Even I feel sympathy for the boy, why not let him train how he wants, his father was a brute with little education." She said.

Jon shook his head "Robert was barely a King, his council ruled while he fought, hunted and fucked. A king should be strong and wise in equal measure, wise enough to know when to talk and strong enough to fight when talking fails." He stated.

"Then why are you, not King, Jon Snow the warrior maester?" Obara asked mockingly as she chuckled.

"You do indeed have all the characteristics of a true King, Westeros could do no better," Samaya said in a serious tone not understanding Obara's tone.

Jon waved them off "A king's life is short and full of ungrateful people trying to lick crumbs from their hands, I could not think of a worse fate than to sit on the Iron Throne." He said as he leaned against the railing.

"If I had then me and you would have never met Samaya," Jon said as he smirked at the tanned woman before him.

Samaya looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding "Then I am glad you did not become King, even I must admit that a life of adventure suits me better than my old life." Samaya said with a wide smile.

"Jon what will you do about the Prince," Obara asked abruptly.

Jon looked to Obara and shrugged "I will do what he paid me for and then once I find what I'm looking for I'll leave, escaping should be easy." He said to her.

"How so?" She asked.

"Once we enter the Labyrinth I'll mark each route we take until I find the correct one, it's unlikely he will keep track of where we go and will trust me to do it for him." He explained.

Obara nodded her head in understanding "So once he betrays you, you rob him and escape, then we head home."

Jon nodded "Do not worry Obara I am just as eager to begin our next quest as you are but do not forget how dangerous the place we are travelling to is." He reminded her.

"You have not told me much about this place Jon, only that it is in the Grey waste." Samaya chimed in.

"That's because I do not know myself, that is what makes it so dangerous, though even the people who guard the five forts have never stepped foot in the grey waste," Jon said in a serious tone.

"Is she... worth such a journey?" Samaya asked though there was no malice behind her words mostly curiosity.

Jon didn't take offence to her words and instead smiled at her "There isn't a place I would not travel to bring her back, and may I die a thousand times before I feel any different." He said to her.

Obara couldn't help but crack a small smile at his words, as much as she hated Jon and found his personality annoying she knew that what he felt for Tyene was real and beyond anything she'd seen before. Never had she seen a man who was ready to defy death to bring back their loved one, many people wish they could but none would be crazy enough to do it.

"I am going to go sleep, let me know when we arrive." Jon said to them as he pushed off the railing and headed downstairs, though he could hear the creaking of wood behind him which made him sigh "Alone!" He shouted and the footsteps behind him stopped.  He cracked a small smile as he could hear Samaya muttering curses in her language.

———————————————————-

It took most of the day but by the late afternoon the island of Lorassyon was in the distance, anchored far offshore from the island was the fleet of Lorath, Jon and the others could see boats continuously ferrying men back and forth between the ships and the island.

Jon turned the wheel and decided to anchor his boat somewhere else, as a smaller ship the Princess Lyanna could anchor closer to shore than most boats "Jon what're you doing?" Obara asked as she saw him turn the ship.

"We don't want to be anywhere close to the fleet when we have to escape, it's better we hide the ship." He replied, Obara nodded at his reasoning and remained quiet. As he sailed away from the fleet and around the island he managed to find a cove that looked promising as a place for him to hide the ship though he had to be careful as he wasn't sure how deep the water was.

After anchoring the ship close enough to the cove that they could jump to the rocks without difficulty they all jumped off the ship though Jon had to carry Joffrey as he did "Why am I even coming!" Joffrey whined as he wiggled in Jon's grip.

Jon sighed as he carried Joffrey on his shoulder as he and the girls traversed the rocky environment "Experience is the best teacher, as hopeful as I am there is no doubt we will be getting into quite a bit of trouble which will be good for you." Jon stated.

Joffrey started wiggling more "If there's going to be trouble then surely the King should stay away from it!" He said nervously.

"If the King is cowardly then indeed you are right." Samaya chimed in making Obara snicker.

"You said you wanted to be a Warrior King like your father? Your father would not think twice about heading into danger." Jon told Joffrey who stopped wiggling and went limp on his shoulder.

"People to fight and women to fuck that's all the King thought about," Obara said mockingly. 

This annoyed Joffrey and he scowled in her direction "My father was a great man and King!" He shouted at her.

Obara laughed "He was a great warrior I will admit but a great man and king? No, he was barely an improvement on the previous king." She said bluntly.

However, this served to inflame Joffrey's anger even more and he started trying to get close from Jon's grip "YOU BITC-"

"Enough!" Jon shouted as he walked ahead, he wasn't in the mood for another argument about Robert Baratheon, he didn't much like thinking about the man as it brought back painful memories of beyond the wall.

"She was spouting false truths about my father!" Joffrey spat out as he looked at her venomously.

"They are not false truths Joffrey, your father was a great warrior and that's all he was, he didn't want to be King and had no interest in ruling," Jon said bluntly.

"The crown is millions of gold in debt to fund his constant tournaments and war campaigns, all while people struggle to eat, had this been winter then thousands if not more would be dead." He continued much to the shock of Joffrey.

"It was only the small council that stopped this kingdom from falling completely into ruin." He said before hoisting Joffrey off his shoulder and onto the ground "You have an opportunity to be better than him, but you won't be until you stop idolising him and not recognising the mistakes he made as King." Jon lectured.

Joffrey stood there speechless he was enraged and yet he couldn't think of a single thing that he could say in defence of his father "Now let us not revisit this subject, we have to keep moving." Jon said as he kept walking.

———————————————————-

"This is truly an incredible sight," Samaya said with an awe-filled expression as they approached the Prince's encampment outside of the Labyrinth. The Labyrinth itself was something that awed all of them as they saw it, the walls that made up the Labyrinth were half as high as the Wall in Westeros and each passage could fit at least one hundred men standing shoulder to shoulder.

"It truly is, how the Mazemakers built this is truly a mystery, the sheer amount of resources needed to build such a structure is unthinkable," Jon said as he inspected the maze, his mind raced as he tried to find answers but he couldn't, nothing he learned in the citadel nor his experience delving into ruins could assist him in coming up with an answer to how such a structure was built.

"What if it was not built but carved out of the ground or a mountain, like my home," Samaya stated.

However Jon shook his head "If it was a mountain there would be remnants of it left behind and if it were carved from the ground then it would be a lot lower than it is, but right now it's perfectly level." Jon explained.

"It is best to leave such things a mystery, it does us no good to dwell on them," Obara said dismissively, while she found the structure to be impressive she didn't much care how it was built and was not interested in learning. Joffrey was much of the same mind and wasn't much interested in learning how It was built though he did consider that it would be a good place to build a fortress like the Red Keep.

Jon and his group approached the main camp where they were already expected and so were let in and escorted to the command tent where Qarlon resided. Jon turned to the girls "Take Joffrey and go find our tent, I won't be long." Jon instructed and they listened to him with Samaya grabbing Joffrey by the scruff of his neck before he could complain.

As Jon entered the tent he saw Qarlon sitting in a throne-like seat with two women beside him, one on his lap and the other feeding him fruit. He had a handful of the girl's backside as he pulled her closer when she tried to take the fruit away, however as Jon entered the tent Qarlon saw him and he quickly pushed the girl off his lap and stood up "Jon my friend! It is good to see you arrived safely I was concerned when I arrived and you were not yet here!" He said as he approached Jon and pulled him into a hug.

"I decided to take the scenic route as I didn't want to arrive too early," Jon explained.

"Understandable my friend, these waters are indeed beautiful are they not." He said rhetorically as he let go of Jon.

"Now that the pleasantries are out of the way we have a lot of work to do." Qarlon said as he led Jon over to the table where he had a map of the island spread out "My Cartographers have mapped the island and managed to estimate how big the maze is, as you can see it's bigger than initially thought." Qarlon explained.

Jon looked at the map and saw different landmarks drawn onto it, such as the camp he was in right now, however a huge chunk of the map was blank, he surmised that this was the Labyrinth "Have you not begun to map the Labyrinth?" Jon asked as he looked up at Qarlon.

Qarlon nodded as he reached for a rolled-up piece of parchment, he unrolled it out on the table, and a map of the labyrinth or at least a partial map was drawn into it, at least a third of the labyrinth was explored with the rest being blank "As you can see we have made little progress, at a certain point the Labyrinth changes and mapping it becomes a lot harder, between that and the Cult that wander the maze I've lost a lot of cartographers." He stated.

"So that's why you brought an army here? To clear out the maze?" Jon asked.

Qarlon nodded "Indeed, but I cannot clear out a maze that I cannot navigate which is why you are here." He explained.

"Then I suppose we should get to work," Jon said with a smirk.

"That is what I like to hear, now let me take you to the others," Qarlon said as he led Jon out of the tent.

"Others?" Jon asked.

"You did not think you were the only one the be brought here?" Qarlon asked with a grin.

"You were my first choice but when I failed to get a reply from you I had to contact other sources who replied and took my offer." He said as he walked through the encampment with Jon getting closer to the Labyrinth.

Jon sighed, while he could understand his reasoning he didn't like working with other people as they were usually all idiots or worse prideful "I suppose that is fair, though I have to admit I am not happy at the prospect of having to work with others." He made it clear.

Qarlon waved him off "It will be fine I am sure, you are all working for a common goal after all." He said as they approached the entrance to the maze.

"Oh, seven hells..." Jon said as he saw one of the groups that he was expected to 'Work' with.

The man that Jon had seen also saw Jon approach and a scowl made its way onto his face, he even reached for his sword, Jon doing the same "What are you doing!" Qarlon shouted as both men drew their swords and got ready to fight.

However, neither man responded and instead kept an eye on each other "Daario... I see you've finally learnt how to read if you're taking jobs like this." Jon said with a smirk.

"Jon... I see you've finally grown up if you have more than that ball fluff you used to on your face." Daario replied.

The rest of the men stood quietly as they looked at the two strong men and looked each other up. Though the tension broke when they both burst out laughing, the rest of the men there whom Qarlon had hired started to laugh nervously as they watched both Daario and Jon laugh.

Though the atmosphere changed immediately when Daario screamed and swung at Jon, Jon sidestepped the swing and arched his blade in a semi-circle before slashing down at Daario, a move that prompted him to roll out of the way before trying to sweep him off his feet. Jon jumped over the sweep and then parried a thrust made from Daario though he couldn't avoid the shoulder barge that Daario followed up with.

Unfortunately for Daario since they had last met Jon was a lot stronger than he was before so with his offhand Jon shoved Dario away stopping his shoulder barge and sending him to the ground. Jon laughed at the look on the man's face "I didn't realise you'd become so old and frail!" Jon mocked which enraged Daario even more as he stood up.

Before he could fight again Qarlon stepped in front of Jon "Enough!!!" He shouted. Not wanting to kill his patron Daario stopped his swing and put down his sword "This man is a thief and a liar!" Daario said pointing to Jon.

Jon snickered "Oh and you're as pure as a septa, you've cheated and killed more people than I have." He replied.

"Enough! I don't care! All I care about is navigating this maze, if you cannot work together then leave and let the men who can work!" He said to both of them.

They both sighed and even considered leaving, though Jon was the first to dismiss that, he needed to be here and he needed to get the crown, nothing not even a pain in the backside like Daario would stop him "You are right Qarlon I apologise for my actions." Daario said politely as he bowed his head, though his face twitched when he saw Jon smile in amusement.

Jon didn't say anything to Daario and instead walked towards the entrance to the labyrinth, the rest of the men that Qarlon hired were old and looked like the kind of people you'd find in the citadel, in fact, he was sure that one of them was a Maester by the look of him. They were gathered around a part of the wall which had words carved into it "The learned men I've hired believe that this could be a hint to how to navigate the Labyrinth." Qarlon said as he stood next to Jon.

"Which is a load of horseshit, it's probably just the name of the maze and nothing more." Daario said dismissively "We should be constructing towers and bridges to navigate above the maze." He suggested.

Jon shook his head and so did the others, anyone could tell from first glance that to do what Daario was suggesting would take too long and would take more resources than this island had, the gaps between the passages were too wide "We have had no luck translating the language, while some words are similar to Sarnori it is still very unfamiliar." Qarlon said ignoring Daario.

Jon walked closer and looked at the language "This isn't Sarnori, it's most likely an ancient form... but it's also got other languages in there as well..." Jon said as he kept studying.

"That was my hypothesis as well." An old man in robes stated which caught Jon's attention.

"Apologises My Lord I am Qyburn." He said as he bowed.

Jon smiled and instead shook his hand "I am no Lord Qyburn please call me Jon." He said as he walked closer to the wall and started to run his hands through it.

"It seems to be a proto form of Sarnori, perhaps the language of the Fisher Queens." Jon theorised.

Qyburn stepped closer as well as he nodded his head "Indeed though I am having trouble reconstructing it as it is very unlike the Sarnori language of today." He stated.

Jon hummed as he stood there thoughtfully "Qarlon let my companions know I'll be spending the night here, and could you please get me some parchment." He asked without turning. It was going to be a long night.

———————————————————-

Mya stood at the bow of the ship as it cut through the waves along the shivering sea, the moon was high in the sky when they saw Lorassyon in the far distance. It wasn't difficult to discover where Jon was as everyone on Lorath was talking about it, though it annoyed her greatly that she had missed Jon by only a day. Her thoughts were interrupted when Gendry lumbered over to her "What are we going to do, if Jon is on Lorassyon it's most likely he has the support of Lorath behind him." Gendry stated.

"What of it." She said bluntly not even turning to face him.

"We do not have enough men to fight against the Lorathi forces, we need to wait until he leaves and we can ambush him again," Gendry advised.

Mya laughed mockingly "You want to fight him at sea again, are you purposely being foolish?" She asked rhetorically.

"No we will ambush them tonight, between us three we will decimate their soldiers and we can capture Jon," Mya said bluntly.

"Three? But Edric is still injured he won't be able to fight." Gendry said with confusion.

"Edric will fight or he will be thrown overboard..." Mya said coldly as she turned to face Gendry, her eyes had been replaced with flames and Gendry felt himself start to sweat as he subconsciously took a step back.

"Is there anything else..." she said

"No," Gendry replied before turning and leaving, he didn't know why but ever since she got that amulet it's as if she's grown more callous and brutal.

(AN: To be honest I don't have much to say this chapter, except stuff is gonna finally start next chapter with all four groups of people entering the Labyrinth. Anyone wanna guess what the inscription on the wall says? It's related to the Cult of Boash. Anyway hope you enjoyed the chapter.)

If you like my stuff consider supporting me

Patreon.com/Captainalfie78Works