Chapter 64: Question Game (Part 3)
"You're right," Aris said, and then he was silent for a moment, seeming to feel there was no point in hiding it anymore. "We shouldn't have let the 'Mountain Weasel' leave alive at that time. We thought he hadn't found anything, but we didn't expect the Black Falcon to threaten us soon after."
"But you haven't been to Taman Village, have you?" Aris changed the subject. Otherwise you won't be walking out alive, he added silently.
"Fortunately, I found other clues quickly and didn't have to do that risky thing."
"What clues?"
"The pitiful speed at which you moved the 'Blackfyre treasure'."
"What?"
"You only have one 'caravan', and with so few men you can't even move the 'treasure'? How did you transport the plundered goods?"
"They can only be temporarily stored in the traitor's village." Aris answered in a low voice. He knew this was the only possibility.
"At this point, I formed a theory—that the so-called Blackfyre treasure doesn't exist, and the items you transferred to the abandoned fishing village are simply the valuable goods you plundered. It was this theory that brought everything into focus."
"I don't understand."
"I've said enough. Think about how many questions you asked in our conversation just now?" Ian stopped at this point. "If you want to know what follows, I'm afraid you'll have to answer my questions first."
"You bastard—"
"You transferred the goods to this abandoned fishing village. There's a ship coming to retrieve you, correct? Where are you planning to go?"
Hearing this, Aris changed his relaxed attitude and became instantly alert.
"You're very resistant to this question and don't want to answer it. This won't do, my friend. We're playing the game according to the rules you established. This is my respect for you, but if you don't respect me, then we can only continue according to my rules."
Aris took a deep breath and calmed himself. "Of course we're going to Gulltown, where else could it be? We plan to sell the goods there and make our fortune."
"Lie." Ian interrupted Aris in a low voice, then met Aris's gaze and held it for three seconds. Finally, Aris lowered his head first.
"We're planning to go to Braavos," Aris said after a moment's thought. "We want to use this coin to form a sellsword company there and build our own fortunes together. You know, my brother and I are bastards, and Daeron is only Lord Grafton's second son. We have no natural inheritance rights."
"An excellent reason, but I know you're still lying."
"That's not part of the game's rules," Aris forced a smile. "I'm only responsible for answering. Whether you believe it or not is up to you." After Aris finished speaking, he felt something was wrong. He worried the young man who'd captured him would turn on him, so he added, "Anyway, what I said is the truth."
"All right, let's continue the game," Ian clapped his hands.
Aris looked at Ian in disbelief. He hadn't expected to get through so easily.
"Then continue with your answer to the previous question. What did you think when you realized that what we were transporting was just plunder, not the Blackfyre treasure?" Aris continued.
"It solved a question that had long puzzled me: where did the Blackfyre treasure originate?" Ian even allowed himself a hint of irony. "From the moment my sellswords first raised the matter, to my questioning of the Black Falcon's adopted son, to my conversation with Ser Wilder, everyone seemed convinced of this treasure's existence.
But after sorting through all the theories and clues regarding this treasure, I was surprised to discover they all stemmed from the same person—your brother, Ser Simon.
Coincidentally, when the Black Falcon Company first appealed to all the local lords for aid regarding the bandit company near Whitewalls, you ignored them. But
when Ser Wilder saw the black dragon emblem on the bandits during battle, Darry, having long since withdrawn from such affairs, actually sent reinforcements to Wilder and his men.
Then, Ser Simon, representing Darry, quickly introduced the story of the Blackfyre Restoration treasure, capturing everyone's attention and proving that Ser Wilder was correct about what he saw that night.
He wanted everyone to believe it was a black dragon, not a red one, that Wilder saw on your breastplate!"
"Seven Hells! Wilder remembered?" Aris was shocked.
"No, that's just my deduction," Ian said, then asked, "Can you tell me why you wore the red dragon on your breastplate, Ser Aris?"
"Is that your new question?"
"I suppose so."
"Heh," Aris said with a bitter smile. "I didn't paint it. That was the plate armor of my uncle Jonothor Darry. He was a member of the Kingsguard to Mad King Aerys II, and he fought for Prince Rhaegar to the very end at the Battle of the Trident."
"And how did you come by his armor?"
"King Robert admired Uncle Jonothor's valor and ordered his body returned. Uncle Jonothor's plate armor was of such high quality that it wasn't damaged, so my father kept it."
"That's something Robert would do." Wait—what had I overlooked before? Ian suddenly struck his forehead.
He realized he should have noticed something unusual about House Darry earlier... he'd sent Keith and two local sellswords to purchase armaments at the crossroads inn.
They had first visited Darry, only to find it bare before heading to Harrenhal.
My first assumption was that House Darry, deeply loyal to the Targaryens, had been subjected to the harshest oppression, unable even to salvage equipment from their fallen soldiers.
This was a reasonable assumption; after all, a new dynasty like the Baratheons would be wary of them.
But I'd forgotten that the new ruler of Westeros was Robert Baratheon!
Young Robert wouldn't behave that way!
Young Robert wasn't the pot-bellied drunk he'd become later in the books, but a leader with immense personal magnetism who could win over even his enemies.
Robert Baratheon disdained to strip surrendered foes of their arms, as anyone who submitted to him would gladly fight for him. Furthermore,
the two men accompanying Keith were local sellswords.
Wouldn't they know if Darry had weapons for sale to local sellswords? The only reason they chose to go to Darry first was that the last time they went there, weapons had been available.
But this time, there were none. So where did all the surplus weapons in Darry go? Of course, they could only have been used to arm these "ghosts that appeared from nowhere"!
Such a crucial clue and I overlooked it? Ian pinched the bridge of his nose.
If he'd noticed this earlier, who knows how many detours he could have avoided.
Ian sighed softly, then said to Aris, "All right, I'm finished."
"No more? Are you certain?" Aris felt happiness had come so suddenly.
"Do you think you successfully protected your house?" Ian looked at him with some pity.
"What else? I'm just a bastard. If I'm merely a bandit, there's no way I could implicate my house, correct?"
"You're not merely a bandit."
"Oh, ser, you already said you wouldn't ask any more questions. The game's over. As agreed, you'll leave my family out of this."
"I truly don't need to ask any more questions, because you already answered the most important one at the beginning." Ian shrugged.
"I asked if you wanted to distance yourself from your house to avoid implicating them, and you didn't deny it, which means you're indeed doing something that will implicate the house."
"This..." Aris felt a terrible foreboding.
"Think about it—what crime could a bastard commit to implicate his house?" Ian continued.
This struck like a thunderbolt.
After a long pause, he stammered, "Only treason."
"If I'm guessing correctly, after completing the transfer and loading of supplies, you plan to sail directly to Pentos to join Viserys Targaryen, don't you? After all, he's betrothing his sister to a certain mighty khal.
And the restoration of the Targaryen dynasty is the last hope for House Darry and House Grafton to reclaim their former glory."
"How do you know about the khal? Daeron clearly—" Aris said mid-sentence, suddenly realizing he'd inadvertently confessed everything, and his face instantly drained of all color.
Across from him, Ian was equally shocked. The claim about joining Viserys was his boldest guess, based on the conclusion that 'only treason' made sense.
After all, the journey from Vaes Dothrak, where Khal Drogo dwells, to Pentos, where Daenerys resides, is nearly three or four months. It wasn't unusual for Magister Illyrio, Viserys's patron, to propose this to the khal a year in advance, so it was possible this news had reached Ser Daeron beforehand.
However, because these two men didn't appear in the original timeline, Ian hadn't been optimistic about this guess.
Unexpectedly, he'd guessed correctly. Then why didn't they join Viserys and his sister?
Just when Ian was pondering this, Aris's voice came again: "Can I ask one last question, ser?"
Ian made a gesture of invitation.
"Who are you?"
"If things go well, I will be Ian Rivers, the younger brother of you and Ser Simon." Ian said as he gripped Aris's hair.
(End of Chapter)
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