~~~ New Valyria — The war Camp, ~~~~
Artys Arryn POV
I stood at the edge of the ridge and looked out at the plain below.
It stretched flat and pale in the morning light, the dry grass bending in a slow wind that carried the smell of ash from the Smoking Sea somewhere to the east. Good ground for a cavalry charge. Terrible ground to defend if you were on the plain.
But we were not on the plain.
A group of white horses came galloping toward the camp from the south—five riders, moving fast, their cloaks trailing behind them.
"The scouts are approaching, my lord," one of my men said, stepping up beside me with his fist pressed to his chest.
"I can see that," I said. "Blow the horns. Tell the men to get to their posts. Things are about to get interesting."
The horns sounded—three long blasts that rolled down the valley and bounced back off the mountain walls on either side. All across the camp, men began to move.
I turned to Soyrn, who was standing a few paces back with his hands folded and his usual expression of long-suffering patience.
"Soyrn. Get Khal Mongo's wife and crucify her at the gate."
He raised an eyebrow.
"With pleasure," he said, and went.
Bryce and Noll found me a few minutes later, falling into step behind me as I made my way toward the scouts.
"My lord," both said at the same moment.
I turned and looked at them. Two grown men now, broad-shouldered, covered in full armor.
I still remembered the two thin boys I had pulled out of a slaver's pen in Blackwater Bay more years ago than I cared to count.
Each now commanded their own company—Bryce commands the Blades of Broken Chains, while Noll commands the Spears of the Widows, six thousand and four thousand men respectively.
"How are your men?" I asked.
"Ready," Noll said simply.
Bryce tilted his head. "They're eager, if anything. Though I've been waiting to ask you something, my lord, if now isn't a terrible time."
"Ask," I replied.
"These men we recruited from Astapor—the ones who failed the Unsullied training." He glanced over at a group of them drilling near the eastern wall, moving through their forms with the mechanical precision of men who had been trained hard, even if they hadn't quite made the cut.
"They fight well. Better than many. So I wonder, why did the Wise Masters used to kill them when they failed the test?"
"Reputation," I said.
"Astapor's entire economy runs on the unquestioning obedience of the Unsullied. If it became known that the failures could still fight, the price would drop. Can't have that." I watched the drilling men for a moment.
"I paid the Good Masters four gold dragons a head for them, off the books."
Even then, I could only get ten thousand over five years. I had to make a promise never to reveal who they were, and most of them were barely more than boys when they arrived. Four thousand didn't make it—disease, wounds, exhaustion.
"The ones still standing are worth every coin."
"They are," Bryce said. "The men who came from the fighting pits are good too. Different, but good."
"As long as they're loyal and they follow orders, I don't care where they learned to fight," I said, and turned toward the scouts.
The five riders had dismounted and were waiting near the outer ring of the camp. One of them stepped forward as I approached, only to be stopped midway by a Silver Knight's hand on his shoulder.
"Let him through," I said.
The scout came forward, dusty and breathing hard, and pressed his fist to his chest.
"My lord. The horde is approximately five miles out. We saw the dust cloud from the high ridge—it stretches more than half a mile across. They are moving at a steady pace. They should reach the lower valley within the hour."
"Good." I looked past him at the plain. "Go rest. You've done your part."
The man departed. I turned back to Bryce and Noll.
"Looks like our guest is eager to see his wife." I glanced toward the hill where Soyrn's men were already working, the wooden frame going up against the skyline. "Go. Stick to the plan. No improvising."
"Yes, my lord," they said together, and split apart, each heading toward their respective positions on opposite sides of the camp.
The screaming started a few minutes later.
"Khal anni mahraz zhi dosi yeri ray anhaan," she shouted in Dothraki, her voice cracking as they fixed her to the wooden frame at the top of the hill, where the entire valley below could see her clearly.
"My Khal will kill you all for this."
"Hash ray," I answered in Dothraki, not looking up at her.
"We'll see."
I walked back to the ridge and stood there, watching the plain. In the distance, I could see a wall of dust rising slowly into the blue sky.
So they have arrived.
Above the clouds, a huge number of black dots were following them through the sky.
My birds.
They soon gathered above the camp. Crows mostly, circling the camp in slow loops overhead. The new recruits were already eyeing them nervously.
Superstitious they were, especially the ones we recruited from Elyria and Tolos for this campaign.
Then one bird broke from the rest.
It dropped out of the circling mass and came down fast, leveling off at the last moment, and landed on my right shoulder with a sharp grip.
He was One-Eye Crow. Old scar across the beak.
"Fury."
"My Emperor," the crow said, dipping his head slightly toward me. "Your loyal servant is at your service. Caw, caw."
"Report, Fury. What is the horde lord's plan?" I said quietly, keeping my eyes on the dust cloud in the distance.
"Emperor, those Sons of whores are traitors. Caw, caw," he said abruptly.
There was real anger in the bird's rasping voice.
What?
I didn't move.
"Speak plainly."
"One of ours heard Khal Mongo speaking to his inner circle. He has made a deal with the commander of the Second Sons. When the attack begins, they will open the gate from the inside and let the horde through. Caw, caw." Fury ruffled his feathers with obvious disgust.
I stood very still for a moment.
I had placed the Second Sons at the lower gate at the bottom of the hill, and half of them at the upper hill to take the brunt of the attack.
Those were freshly made by us in the span of twenty days. If they had been stone walls, things would have been different, but they were not.
"Forgive us, Emperor, for the delay in the report," Fury added with an apologetic dip of his head. "It took time to find birds who understood the Dothraki tongue."
"Never mind that," I said. "I didn't expect them this quickly to begin with." I glanced at the bird sideways.
"But why would the Second Sons do it? It would be breaching the contract I had signed with them," I murmured.
"Their reputation would go down, and no one would ever hire them."
"My lord, the bastard, in return for this betrayal, has demanded that Khal Mongo help the Second Sons take over Tolos," Fury gave the information to me.
Ah, now it makes sense.
If they control Tolos, they would never have to worry about coin, no longer whore themselves out to the highest bidder like whores.
But making a deal with the Dothraki is foolish.
If they were to win, the Khal would kill them too.
"Go back to your brothers," I instructed as I looked up at the birds circling around in the sky. "Attack the horde from the sky. Make it hell for them."
"As you command, my Emperor." Fury launched himself off my shoulder and spiraled upward, rejoining the mass of birds circling overhead and immediately started giving instructions.
I looked at the upper gate, which was a hundred meters away from my position, and started making my way toward it at a quick pace.
I am going to make them pay for this. All of them.
"Master Artys."
Kalen's voice stopped me. He stepped out from between two tents, six and a half feet of expressionless Unsullied, his spear resting across one shoulder.
"Where are those sons of whores?" I said before he could speak.
He blinked. "Sons of whores, master? I would need you to be more specific. Among our men alone, at least one in five is literally a son of a whore. Possibly one in two, depending on your definition of whore."
"The Second Sons," I said flatly.
"Ah." He nodded without any change in expression. "At the gates, as you ordered. Mero and half his men are at the lower gate to receive the first wave. Daario Naharis commands the Second Sons on the upper gate along with our men. I was on my way there myself."
I pulled him closer and kept my voice low.
"They've betrayed us."
"They're going to open the upper gate when the attack begins. Get your men to the upper gate—take control of every section except Daario's. Leave Daario's section to me."
Kalen's expression didn't change, exactly. But something behind his eyes shifted—the particular quality of attention that Unsullied got when violence was close and sanctioned.
"Yes, master," he said, in the voice he only used when he intended to be thorough about something.
I turned back toward the gate and raised my voice slightly.
"Ser Alen."
The Silver Knight appeared at my side almost immediately, the afternoon light catching the pale metal of his armor.
"My lord," he said, bowing a little.
"Tell the Silver Knights to be ready and wait for my order, and as soon as I say the word strike, tell them to kill every man from the Second Sons company they can see, along with Kalen's men," I ordered the knights.
"I will take care of the lieutenant of the Second Sons," I added.
Ser Alen straightened.
"My lord, but you alone dealing with that savage—"
"Don't muddy your hands with that lowborn. Let me deal with him," he requested.
"He tried to backstab me. I shall bring punishment," I said.
"There is an old saying in the North. A man who passes the sentence should swing the sword himself." I said with a smirk.
"But let me send at least five knights with you. Going alone is dangerous."
"Don't worry. I have Kalen," I said, raising my fist with my thumb pointing backward and motioning toward the giant beside me.
Ser Alen looked at Kalen for a long moment. Kalen looked back at him.
"Make sure he doesn't get hurt," Ser Alen said quietly to the giant.
Kalen inclined his head and gave a nod.
Ser Alen turned and went, his knights falling into formation behind him.
I looked at Kalen.
"Let's go. Get the Unsullied who are in formation behind the gate to take positions near every Second Sons man and, on my orders, kill them," I said.
"Yes, master." He fell into step beside me, spear in hand, as the dust cloud on the horizon grew darker and the valley below began to fill with the distant sound of hooves and the screams of men.
POV Ends