Chapter 155: Prophecy in the Flame
Pentos, North City Mercenary Camp
The raucous sound of singing filled the air.
"The Dornish wives are as lovely as the sun,"
"Her kisses are warmer than spring;
But Dornish swords are made of blackest iron—"
"Come here, Bronn. I have something to ask you." Dorian, captain of the Black Falcons, approached the table where Bronn was raising a tankard with his men. He leaned in and whispered, "Another instruction has come."
Bronn set down his wine cup and followed Dorian to a quiet corner of the camp.
"Instructions again?" Bronn said. "I haven't even finished the last job. The tournament doesn't start until tomorrow. The price Suda offered was a thousand gold dragons. If your Knight Lucien wants me to serve him instead, then according to our agreement, he'll have to pay three thousand."
"Whether it's one thousand or three thousand, the first condition is that you keep your life, my friend." Dorian sneered. "If you stand on the wrong side in tomorrow's contest, you'll lose more than just gold. And do you really think Ser Lucien will stand on the losing side?"
"Damn it," Bronn muttered, waving a dismissive hand. "Fine. What are the new instructions?"
"Ser Lucien wants you to return to the mercenary company as soon as the games are over tomorrow. No matter what orders we receive from the higher-ups, once we enter the XC district, we drive straight to the port and await his next command." Dorian's voice dropped lower. "By the way, he also told me to remind you: once this is done, he will give each of us a castle. He will make us counts."
"Well, I'll do it," Bronn said, his usual greed silenced by the sheer scale of the offer. "That is an irresistible price. Ser Lucien's generosity exceeds my expectations every time."
After speaking, the two men returned to the fire and the boisterous mercenaries.
Their song continued, a grim and lusty tune:
"Brother, oh brother, my end is now nigh,
The Dornishmen have taken my life.
But no matter, for all men must die,
And I have tasted a Dornish wife!"
The Red Temple, atop the Western Hill of Pentos
"Welcome, my lord Earl." Upon hearing of Ian's arrival, Celia had come to the temple doors herself to greet him.
"You are radiant, my lady," Ian said, taking the hand she extended and allowing her to guide his arm into the crook of her own. "I am fortunate indeed to have earned your favor."
"Why did I never notice how attentive you were before?" Celia asked, a playful smile on her lips as they began to walk side-by-side.
"I was a man of low status, and dared not be rude," Ian replied, then paused. "Which is why I am so curious. What was it you saw in the flames that made you look upon me with such favor?"
"My brother has already told you. It was love at first sight, nothing more," Celia said with a light laugh. She did not seem surprised by his question. "However, since you wish to know what I see in the flames, then come with me. I will show you."
Celia led Ian deeper into the temple, through two long corridors and across a fragrant garden before they entered a private chamber.
"Your boudoir?" Ian asked, glancing around at the stark furnishings. Nothing about the room suggested it belonged to a woman—though for a red priestess, he supposed that was hardly strange.
Celia didn't answer. Instead, her hand slid from his arm to grasp his palm, her fingers lacing through his. She pulled him toward a stone table in the center of the room, then took a torch and lit the brazier that sat upon it.
"You just light it with a torch?" Ian asked.
"How else?"
"I thought you priests of the Fire God could use spells, or some such thing."
"I have heard the legends," Celia said, her eyes fixed on the growing fire. "Before the dragons became extinct, there were high priests who knew the art of fire magic. Of course, even if they could, no one would use magic for something as simple as lighting a flame." She gestured to the brazier, now roaring with life. "What do you see?"
"What do you see?" Ian countered, not answering her question.
"Look carefully." Celia pressed closer, her body warm against his. Ian breathed in her scent, a heady mix of spice and perfume, and leaned down slightly.
"The Red God is giving us a prophecy," she murmured, her voice a hypnotic whisper. "In the flames… I saw the Long Night fall. I saw endless ranks of the dead sweep across the world, and their king wore a crown of ice."
"I saw a thousand fire dragons and a thousand ice dragons locked in furious combat, and the sky wept blood."
"I saw the demons of the Night Lion attacking the fifth bastion of the living, and the armies of mankind fighting a desperate battle in the wilderness."
"I saw you," Celia turned, her crimson eyes locking with his. "I saw you holding the blade Lightbringer, driving back the darkness in a land of ice and snow, ending the Long Night."
"I also saw our child." Her voice dropped to a sultry promise as she pushed Ian back against the stone table. "He will become the master of this world. He will rule all of mankind."
"And do you know what I saw?" Ian's eyes, which had been hazy from the incense, suddenly sharpened with a chilling clarity. In one fluid motion, he reversed their positions, pushing her down onto the table with his backhand.
"You… you didn't see what I described? Those… illusions?" Celia gasped, her beautiful eyes wide with disbelief.
"No," Ian smiled, a cold, predatory thing. "I saw something else. I saw a little dark player, full of lies."
As he spoke, he felt the woman beneath him tremble from head to toe.
"What are you talking about?" Celia asked, staring up at him with a blank, uncomprehending expression.
"You asked what I saw in the flames, did you not?" Ian leaned down and placed a soft, almost mocking kiss on her forehead.
"I just… don't understand your wording," Celia replied, managing a weak smile.
"It doesn't matter," Ian said dismissively. "Just think of it as me telling you a bedtime story."
"The first dark player was called Gini Taime. After starting in Pentos, he issued a wanted notice at the Qoma Inn, and through it, successfully gathered two other dark players to his side."
"There were supposed to be three, but the appearance of Bounty Mission 1 caused one of them to back down. He never joined the others. This, in turn, laid a fatal hidden danger for their entire scheme."
"These dark players then built their power in the port district. They even got aboard a ship belonging to the Hauket family and expanded their influence by participating in Pentos's slave trade campaigns."
"In the process, they also engaged in a bit of private business. They killed many other players who rashly made their way to Illyrio's manse, and in doing so, acquired a vast amount of resources."
"At the same time, they concentrated all the points they gained into one of their members, a female dark player, and had her rapidly activate the skills for Red God magic."
"With this ability, in an age where magic has all but vanished, she quickly gained the appreciation of Delif, daughter of Governor Haukote. She obtained the identity of a 'Supreme Priestess' returning from years of study in Volantis. In order to avoid the suspicion of other players, she lied and said she had returned to Pentos a year ago, but had been in secluded meditation in the inner courtyard… That way, even if a player started screening for high-level individuals who had suddenly returned to Pentos in the last three months, they would ignore her existence. After all, too many people fit the general requirements. Without prior suspicion, who would investigate a priestess with such a legitimate identity?"
It was the same principle behind his own dual identities as Ian River and Lucien Lannister. The two were so completely unrelated that no one could possibly connect them. But if someone ever did grow suspicious, the facade wouldn't stand up to scrutiny.
Celia struggled to rise, but Ian roughly pushed her back down onto the table.
"You shouldn't—" she gasped in a low voice. "You shouldn't be so rude. I am the sister of Prince Hazan! The daughter of Lady Marian!"
"Shh," Ian whispered, placing a single finger gently against her lips. "We'll get to that later. But before that, you're going to quietly listen to me finish my story about the dark players. Aren't you?"
Celia fell silent, but Ian could feel her body shaking uncontrollably beneath his hand.
"Then, disaster struck unexpectedly, though Gini Taime only ever intended his little joke to be seen once. It was just a short, misspelled bit of Valyrian. He never expected it to be seen by anyone other than his agreed-upon allies, and he changed his name immediately after they joined up."
"But what he didn't know," Ian's voice was a cold whisper in the firelit room, "was that the very ally who failed to join them… was watching their every move from the shadows."
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