~~~Third Person, Eleventh Moon, 277 AC~~~
~~~Branch of the Bank of Xandar, King's Landing~~~
Valka and Azrael looked at each other with a meaningful countenance, both realizing that something was going on, and it wasn't right. "Where is Minister Charles?" Valka asked, to which the Dothraki who greeted them was quick to respond.
"He is in his solar, he said he would not receive you because he was busy with some very important business," and it was that which set off alarm bells in Valka and Azrael's heads.
No one, and when they said no one, it was because no Xandarian person would refuse to be near their king, their savior, the one who had freed them from slavery, and much less if that person held an important position within Xandar, all the more reason to be present at the arrival of their king.
And if that was not enough, before the Minister left Xandar for King's Landing, Azrael had ordered him not to hire Westerosi to work in the Bank, for any reason, and now; that Charles had done this, made Azrael, more than annoyed, surprised, since something like this had never happened, the fact that a servant under the effect of the book of loyalty defied an order of his, was something unheard of.
"You know what this means, don't you?" Valka said to Azrael as they walked through the corridors of the Bank towards Minister Charles' solar, all excitement of meeting the facility vanished; instead, Azrael kept a serious countenance constantly, and by the mark on his cheek, it was noticeable that his jaw was clenched.
"Either Minister Charles challenged the book's control... Or that's not Minister Charles anymore," Azrael looked at Valka, pausing for a moment, he had been thinking that too, but he wanted to see Charles first, the possibility that he had beaten the book of enchantments was an absurd idea, if even a Wither hadn't managed that, how would Charles?
Valka then made a few motions with her hands, making signs and symbols, which made Azrael's eyes widen briefly, he, as a language teacher, knew to sign language to perfection, in over eight different languages, so he devised one based on High Valyrian, to secretly communicate with the witches, the Blood Riders, and his family.
And what made Azrael momentarily startled was that Valka told him that perhaps it was a Faceless Man. Although the notion seemed crazy, maybe it was true, so Azrael addressed his Blood Riders with the signs, "Be alert, we may encounter an assassin."
This caused the quiet atmosphere to spook, the Blood Riders rested their hands on their Arakh, as Azrael looked back at the 'nothingness' with a meaningful look. To then walk on.
"My king, what is going on?" the Dothraki who had been leading Azrael and his group towards Charles asked in confusion, "Nothing is going on, just keep leading us."
"Yes, Your Majesty," the Dothraki said nothing more and started walking, being followed closely.
It wasn't but after a few minutes that they arrived at some double oak doors, guarded by two guards, and neither of them Xandarian, which made Azrael's lips pucker, "open the door," the Dothraki said almost in a contemptuous shout, to which one of the two guards dared to speak, "we are sorry, but my lord will not be able to pass with all of you, how much much, only you with the beautiful lady."
Azrael, who was already angry, looked at Valka, and with a simple order, two bodies fell to the ground; "Akein", Onno and Essino, who were more in front, unsheathed their Arakh and in perfect synchrony, swung them horizontally, the curvature of the weapon embraced the neck protected by the chain mail of the guards.
But like butter subjected to a hot knife, this was no adversary to Netherite steel, so both Arakh cut metal and flesh alike, both heads fell to the ground, and seconds later, the bodies followed.
"Get the Unsullied, have them take all the 'workers' of the Bank who are not Xandarians and give them five gold coins each, and then throw them out, I don't want Westerosis here, anyone who won't leave, cut off their heads," Azrael ordered, and with a kick, opened both oak doors, causing a clanging sound.
But upon entering the plot, they found no one. The Blood Riders drew their Arakh and began to inspect the plot, finding the window open, papers strewn on the floor, and even dried blood on the couch. "Search him, interrogate everyone if necessary, I don't want anyone to leave or enter here, don't rest until you find the damn murderer!" Azrael, at this point, was furious. Charles' death was unproven, but at this point, to think otherwise was to be stupid.
"He can't be far away, check the exits, the walls, and the corridors, he could even be hiding in the facility without knowing it," Valka also got to work, and as if by magic, her riding clothes changed, instead, a completely dark tunic took its place, covering legs and arms, along with a hood.
"I'll help in the effort, go to the Red Keep, surely there must already be envoys from King Aerys waiting for you," Valka said softly, giving Azrael a tender kiss, then disappearing into thin air. Azrael looked around, analyzing the plot, not quite understanding how this had happened. The witches were supposed to be aware of all this.
"Come on, King Aerys is waiting for me," Azrael said listlessly, heading in the direction of where they had arrived earlier. "Charles was a good man, very good with numbers," Cakoqqo, being the most... Understanding the eight Riders spoke regarding Charles' death, which made Azrael nod, "he was an assistant to a merchant in Yunkai, he mentioned that the love for beads he got from that experience, that amidst the pains, mistreatment, and hunger, something good he got from it." Azrael mentioned briefly, then fell silent again.
Now, the important thing would be to find the killer, which, although it was not proven, it was safe to assume that it was a Faceless Man; no one else was capable of impersonating someone else, only Faceless Men had that ability.
And yet, that was what made Azrael most furious, that time, when the House of Black and White was destroyed, Azrael had decided to send his people directly inside the temple, to prevent anyone from escaping, but now it seemed that those measures had not been completely effective, unless they were Faceless Men who were outside the Temple that day.
"Your Majesty Jaesyrian, it is good to see you again," arriving in the open field outside the Bank, Ser Barristan Selmy, wearing white armor, which shone as it was reflected by the sun, "Good morning, Ser Barristan." Azrael greeted him courteously, though his tone remained cold. Stable lads brought nine warhorses, bowed, and then departed.
"Shall we go, Ser Barristan?" Azrael asked, though he did not let the knight of the Kingsguard answer, but began to ride, guarded by his Blood Riders, but the moment he passed through the gates of the wall that protected the Bench, the foul smell assaulted him like a kick in the shin.
"Damn, what's that smell?" Azrael complained at the smell of death, shit, and urine, it was an unbearable smell, for someone who was used to the smell of lavender and cherry trees that covered Xandar, due to the amount of bushes or trees planted all over the city, being thrown into a place like this was torture.
Mottaekho quickly pulled out a handkerchief specifically prepared for this eventuality, approached Azrael, and offered him the handkerchief, who did not hesitate to place it over his nose and mouth, while controlling his horse with his right hand.
"His Grace has been doing his best to combat the stench in the city, cleaning the sewers has been the most important thing, but with thousands of refugees from the neighboring villages coming into the city daily due to the famine, the efforts have had setbacks." Barristan gave his opinion about the stench, although he thought something like that could no longer be fixed.
Centuries of shit and piss wouldn't go away in days or years. And that even Ser Barristan knew. During the ride down Pig Street, little people stood on both sides of the street staring in awe and fear at the heavily armed group riding by.
Such a reaction was no surprise; anyone who saw eight men the size of the Mountain with shadowy masks on their faces would be frightened. More so if they were accompanied by a King's Guard and escorts from the City Guard, "Your people are weak, they are afraid, they are not even warriors, shame on them." Kakho was quick to blurt out a derogatory comment, making the group of Dothrakis laugh, who agreed with their brother.
"Well, so are the people here, dirty, weak, and ignorant, but I don't want them talking about it, even in Dothraki, I don't want any trouble," Azrael said by way of a wake-up call, as one of the gates of the Red Keep wall came into view at the front, and with it, the entrance to trouble, games, and headaches.
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