After the battle, Jaelena led the Dragon Soul Guards to secure Torturer's Deep, wiping out the last of the pirates who had refused to surrender.
Lo Quen sent a ship back through the rift to summon Janice and bring the rest of the fleet inside.
When Janice arrived, she and Jaelena immediately joined forces to take full control of every part of Torturer's Deep.
By the time dawn began to break, the two women approached, looking weary but composed.
"Lord, what should we do with this man?" Jaelena asked.
Roro Uhoris was shoved forward by two Dragon Soul Guards and forced to his knees on the cold stone. Tear-streaked, he sobbed, "Lord, I swear I never betrayed you! I knew nothing of Crab Claw's ambush! My life is in your hands—how could I ever dare…"
As the guide during last night's deadly trap, suspicion had naturally fallen on Roro. Jaelena had ordered him seized as soon as the fighting ended.
"That's enough, Roro."
Lo Quen's calm voice cut him short. "Stand. This truly had nothing to do with you."
He gestured for the guards to release him.
In the chaos of the night before, Lo Quen had seen it clearly—several of Crab Claw's arrows had skimmed Roro's scalp, nearly pinning him to the deck.
As the restraints fell away, Roro nearly collapsed, then scrambled upright again. He bowed over and over, tears running freely. "The gods will praise your mercy, Lord."
Lo Quen turned to Jaelena. "Our casualties?"
A shadow crossed her cold features as she answered gravely, "One hundred fifty-six Dragon Soul Guards fell. Most were caught in the first volley of arrows from both sides as we entered the channel—killed outright or wounded and swept into the sea. Fortunately, Janice and I have already resurrected them."
Each time a Dragon Soul Guard died, they had to be raised anew with magic, which consumed no small amount of strength.
Though Jaelena and Janice were now Flame Knights and wielded magic of their own, their power was still limited.
Lo Quen took their hands in his.
A warm, steady surge of magic flowed into them through his touch, restoring some of what they had spent.
"Thank you, Lord," Jaelena murmured softly.
She glanced back at the line of ghostly pirates standing behind her. "We also used the corpses of a hundred pirates each to replenish the Dragon Soul Guards."
With Lo Quen's dragonblood purity now at twenty-two percent, his soul bond with the two Flame Knights had deepened, allowing him to sustain and convert even more Dragon Soul Guards.
Jaelena's limit had risen to four hundred, while Janice's had reached six hundred.
Lo Quen looked past her at the bloodstained corpses of pirates that now stood in perfect formation, lifeless eyes staring forward.
He nodded. "Have them armed with the weapons and armor we brought back from Valyria."
They had hauled back vast stores from the ruins. Beyond the eight hundred Dragon Soul Guards already equipped, over a thousand more sets of weapons and armor remained.
Nearby, Roro gaped in shock at the sight of dead pirates walking again. His gaze drifted to Lo Quen's foreign features, recalling the blazing swords he and Jaelena had wielded the night before—and that single flaming arrow.
The thought struck him like a hammer. Lo Quen could only be a sorcerer from far beyond the seas. Awe surged within him.
At that moment, a weary-looking woman with long brown hair came rushing from a wide sea-carved cave below, clutching a baby swaddled in rough cloth. Her eyes went wide with relief as she spotted Roro freed.
"Wylla, my Wylla!" Roro cried, hurrying to her. He wrapped her and the child in a desperate embrace, his voice breaking. "Thank the gods… thank the gods… you're safe…"
He carefully took the bundle from her arms, staring at the wrinkled little face within. A foolish, blissful smile spread across his face, the smile of a man who had survived disaster. "My sweet one… Daddy's back…"
Wylla clung to his arm, still trembling. "Roro, what happened out there? The ground shook, there were screams and fire everywhere. We hid in the deepest cave, too terrified to sleep a moment all night…"
Roro quickly whispered an explanation. When she heard that Crab Claw had been slain, joy broke across her face in a rush of relief.
They had lived as hostages in Torturer's Deep, forever in fear, while Roro was forced to plunder in Crab Claw's name. That nightmare was finally over.
"Is this your wife?" Lo Quen's gaze fell on Wylla.
Only then did Wylla notice the imposing figure beside her. She hurriedly bent her knees, holding the child close as she offered a respectful curtsey.
Lo Quen gave a slight nod, his eyes shifting to the infant in her arms, busy sucking on its tiny fingers. "What is the child's name?"
Roro scratched his chestnut hair with a sheepish grin. "Lord… Roro Uhoris."
Lo Quen couldn't help but laugh—three generations all bearing the same name.
Startled by that soft chuckle, little Roro screwed up his face and suddenly let out a loud wail. His piercing cry shattered the solemn stillness of the cliffside platform.
Roro and Wylla panicked, fumbling to rock and pat the child in a clumsy attempt to soothe him, the scene descending briefly into chaos.
Once the cries finally died down, Lo Quen turned to Roro, who let out a long breath of relief. "Roro."
"Lord." Roro straightened at once, his face solemn. He now regarded Lo Quen as a mighty sorcerer, not someone he would ever again dare to take lightly.
"Will you swear loyalty to me, Lo Quen, and serve under my command?" Lo Quen asked.
Roro froze. He could not forget how, just the night before, this man had burned Crab Claw's head to ash with a single arrow. He could not forget the Dragon Soul Guards, silent as iron and fearless in death. Nor could he forget Jaelena, her flaming sword cutting through the rock face like a goddess of war.
Most of all, he could not forget that they could raise dead pirates into tireless soldiers.
To follow such strength was a chance Roro Uhoris had never dared dream of.
He drew a deep breath and dropped to one knee. "I, Roro Uhoris of Tyrosh, swear by the gods themselves that from this day forth, I pledge my loyalty to Lo Quen."
Though Tyroshi culture knew no knightly vows, they had simple words for oaths of fealty.
When he rose again, Lo Quen turned to Jaelena. "How many pirates have surrendered?"
"In total, more than eighteen hundred," she replied.
Lo Quen looked back to Roro. "You once commanded more than a hundred men. From those who surrendered at Torturer's Deep, choose another three hundred. That will give you five hundred, and from now on, they will be under your direct command."
"Under my direct command?" Roro's head snapped up, his eyes blazing with disbelief, his voice trembling with excitement. "Truly, Lord?"
"Of course." Lo Quen's tone was firm. "You know the waters, the reefs, and the islands of the Stepstones better than anyone. If we are to take root in these seas, we will need your knowledge. These five hundred will be your men."
He paused, his gaze sweeping over Roro. "Do your duty well."
"Lord, Roro will keep his oath!" Roro was so moved he nearly dropped to his knees again, but Lo Quen raised a hand to stop him.
With these urgent matters settled, Lo Quen ordered the sisters to move the supplies from the ships into Torturer's Deep's storehouses. Only then did he take Roro with him to properly survey the pirate stronghold he had just claimed.