Geek's Guide to Thriving in a Low End Fantasy World ( Robert Baratheon OC SI AU)

Hello there,

If you enjoy my stories, you can read up to 15 chapters in advance per story on my Patreon page / patreon.com/Samael61.

Robert is a badass who treats killing gods and slaying demons like just another Thursday. Did you know it was inspired by Thairon, the protagonist of my original story, Arrival : Ruptures, long before I began to write it? Comments, likes and reviews are appreciated. Here are the links for : AO3, Spacebattles, Royal Road and Webnovel.



Asgard

Robert walked into the Administrative Hall, his curiosity highly piqued.

A woman that wanted to challenge him for his hand in marriage? It probably was a first in the continent's history.

There, waiting in the middle of the hall, was a woman wearing layered armor. Overlapping metal plates shaped like scales covered her entire body from shoulders to thighs, with the helmet of a large cat he did not recognize. Under it she had an emerald green skirt. The woman came to his shoulder, taller than most females he had met.

She looked very Asian, or to be more specific, Chinese, in her attire.

Twenty men stood behind, unarmed, standing in formation, hands gathered at the back. They looked very professional, similar to modern armies. That alone was impressive enough.

"I'll admit to being very curious. A woman challenging my hand for marriage? Never even considered the idea until now," he admitted. It usually was the opposite way, with the hero of the fairy tale challenging someone else for the fair maiden's hand.

"This is Lady Mei Lin. She hails from Yi-Ti," the man next to her, a Braavosi by his looks, translated her words.

"Yi-Ti?" Robert whistled. "The farthest visitor we had was from Moraq."

"So she heard my fame and decided she wanted me? Do I understand it correctly?" he asked, tapping on his forehead.

Mei Lin removed her helmet.

As he expected, she looked Asian, with a lovely face, accented by a shallow scar running down from her left brow to her cheek. With black eyes and hair, which was tied together in a bun, she looked like a fighter princess from a Disney movie.

And her name did sound like Mulan.

"Lady Mei Lin indeed seeks a worthy husband. All her previous prospects proved to be lacking," the translator explained.

Mei Lin did not speak so far.

"What exactly are her terms? And what do I get if I am victorious?" he asked. If he wasn't getting anything for victory, then this challenge was very unfair.

"Should Lady Mei win, you will take her family name," the translator said. The terms didn't end there, however. Mei wanted to be included in the governance of Asgard. She had a small fleet and would include them in Asgard's navy.

"Should you prove to be victorious, Lady Mei offers you this," she explained as two of her men brought forward a thick chest.

The padlock was unlocked, and one of the servants pushed the top half back.

Robert chuckled.

"A dragon egg? How interesting," he said. It was a black egg, similar to Ormund, and was inert.

"Lady Mei discovered it in the Shadow Lands, in an altar made for the gods of Valyria."

His eyes widened at the revelation. "Fascinating."

"I accept this challenge," he said, gesturing to Tyrion. "Take the lady to the training arena. I will be there as soon as I am ready."


He stepped into the arena in his armor, hammer resting on his shoulder. Tyrion, Davos, and Sandor were in attendance, as well as several guards and spectators, along with Mei Lin's men standing on the side.

"I did hear you favored a hammer," Mei Lin spoke, with a very noticeable accent. She was brandishing a steel sword with an intricate handle and a red, woven ornament hanging at the end.

Robert chuckled. This woman was full of surprises. "If you knew Westerosi, why bother with the interpreter?"

"I wished to see how you would treat me if you thought I did not know your tongue," she said, picking her words carefully.

"Naughty girl," he smirked, waggling his finger.

"Any conditions for the fight?" Mei asked, and Robert rolled his shoulders. "Not really. Fight however you want."

"No crying foul later?" She grinned.

"Nope."

Robert guessed that she had something up her sleeve, though, for her to close the ten-foot distance by jumping was not it.

Neither was her sword being set aflame green.

The Westerosi part of the crowd gasped, and swords were almost pulled.

He raised the hammer, blocking the downward attack. Weirdly enough, Mei Lin did not drop and continued to attack while floating.

The sword pressed down on the hammer, and he could feel the heat through the openings in his armor. He pushed the floating woman back and then swung wide to create more distance.

"You can fly? Neat," he said, a smile unseen inside his helmet. Raising the hammer, he cast a shadow on Mei Lin's boots. The shimmers that were almost invisible in the sunlight became apparent.

Foreign letters covered her boots, though they were almost transparent.

"That is not all," she smirked. She ran her hand over the sword, setting her gauntlet on fire, before launching a green fireball at him.

Robert batted it away with the hammer, dispelling the magical attack midair.

Mei Lin dove at him again. Her attacks were fast, but he could match them. Retaliating, however, was difficult due to her mobility.

But he had an idea.

He blocked a swing to his head and one to his neck, taking a step towards the sorceress. Pressing the attack, he swung the hammer at her with every step, forcing Mei Lin back. She was content to let Robert tire himself, making sure to stay out of the reach of his hammer.

He was testing the limits of her flight, and she was barely out of his strike range, though he couldn't be sure she was just being cautious enough to not reveal everything.

Swinging his hammer clockwise with all his strength, Robert let it go midway and sprinted forward. It missed, as he expected, but also pushed her further back. Stepping on the windowsill, he took another step at the outlying top part and launched himself back. Turning mid-air, he barely managed to grab her right boot.

It wasn't strong enough to keep both of them in the air, and he landed with a thud, still holding Mei Lin like a balloon.

Feeling the intense heat of the blade through the gaps in his gauntlet, Robert reared his arm to slam her to the ground. Mid swing, her boot expanded, slipping out of her feet, and she went flying back.

Rolling on the ground, she sprang to her feet. Glancing at the boot, he threw it to the side, away from her.

Both fighters sized each other up and charged at the same time. Robert picked his hammer up from the ground, aiming for her center chest, and swung it hard.

She bent backwards and knelt, sliding on the ground. Mei Lin then rolled forward as he used the force of the attack to turn around and bring the hammer down.

She stabbed her flaming sword at his chest, but he slapped it aside with the handle of the hammer and slammed it into her face.

Mei Lin stumbled back, shaking her head. She stabbed her sword into the ground, and two wisps of fire rose from each side, coalescing in her hands.

Robert wasn't idle, though, and immediately bolted forward to stop her.

He rolled to the right, dodging the fire stream, and threw his hammer again. It pulled the sword out of the ground, and she backflipped out of the way. The flames in her hand disappeared, and he pressed his advantage before she could retrieve the sword.

She was good at martial arts too, expertly dodging his right and left hooks. He overextended a right hook on purpose, and she used his arm as a springboard to wrap her legs around his neck. She hit his helmet thrice in quick succession with her elbow. He caught the fourth strike and slammed her on the ground.

Mei bent her knees, feet hitting the ground first, before Robert raised and slammed her again, harder, only for her to do the same.

He raised her up again, but she coiled around his arm like a viper, trying to bend it back. Grunting, Robert brought his arms closer and ripped her off. Holding her by the back of her neck and skirt, he brought her down again.

She hit the ground this time, groaning in pain while rolling over. He waited to see whether she would get up and wasn't disappointed.

Raising his forearm, he blocked the dirt she threw at his face. Using the split second, she kicked him on the head with a reverse spinning kick. Landing on her hand, she spun and slammed both feet to the side of his knee.

The kick to the head caused his helmet to ring, and the hit to the knee caused his balance to waver but did not harm him.

Back on her feet again, she launched a flurry of kicks and punches to his joints and head. He let her, taking the hits without suffering any damage.

Mei tried to land another kick on his knee, but he moved with a burst of speed. Dodging the kick, he pulled her leg towards himself, breaking her balance, and wrapped both arms around her hip from the back.

Leaning back, he suplexed her hard enough that she went out like a candle, even with her padded helmet.

Dropping the unconscious woman, Robert removed his helmet. Shaking his head, he gave a small bow in respect.

She definitely was one of the best opponents he had fought.

Ignoring the cheers of the crowd, he called for the healers.


Robert, after Mei Lin was taken to a room to rest, went to remove his armor and returned to his solar.

"Quite the interesting woman," Tyrion commented, handing him a cold glass of lemonade. He was hesitant to use the fridge at first, but once the heat became unbearable, he relented.

He took a sip, eyes closed and smiling. "That she is."

"She lost, but I wager you won't find a better fighter than her," the dwarf added.

"I just met her today. It is too soon for a romantic like me," he replied. Good thing Robert was who he was; otherwise, he would have been wed by now.

"She can use magic too. That was rather unexpected, for her to fly like that," Tyrion continued, unwilling to yield yet.

"I know, right. Did you have the boot and the sword returned to her room?" No matter how interesting they were, Marwyn would need Mei Lin's permission first.

"Of course."

"Is everything ready for the bridge opening in Harroway?" he asked, focusing on business. While the fight was a nice distraction, he still had too much to do.

"Aye," Tyrion nodded. "Two weeks after that, the construction for the barracks of the First Legion will start, and in four months, we will have our first Advancement Fair," he said, laying down the timetable.

"You might be able to sneak in a wedding between the barracks and the fair," the dwarf quipped, and Robert had had enough.

"Any news from your father?" he asked. Tywin had not sent a letter back about the fate of Brightroar, which still was hanging on a wall in Tyrion's manse.

"He still did not respond. And I don't think he ever will," he said.

His father was too prideful.

"And your aunt?" Robert continued. Not that he cared about Genna or her feelings, but it was nice to irritate a Frey.

"Happy that Walder is gone, furious that House Frey, and her by association, is being mocked to the ground," Tyrion said.

Robert sniggered, humming the tone of Walder, the Whore of King's Landing.


Mei Lin woke up the following day, nursing a headache. She admitted her loss, but Robert invited her to stay for a while. He was sure she had stories to tell, and he had nothing fun to do.

And if he liked her, marriage was possible down the line.

She was from Yi-Ti, the sole daughter of a merchant family after her father, the patriarch, and brother, the heir of the family, had died under mysterious circumstances. The family fortune would be passed to her uncles and cousins, but Mei knew in her heart that they were responsible for the deaths of her family.

People underestimated her, believing Mei to be a withdrawn and shy girl. It was due to how she preferred to stay in the family compound, training with a blade in secret.

Using how her extended family members saw her, she was able to acquire proof regarding the deaths of her family. The officials, either bribed by her uncle or not interested in what she had to say, did not do anything.

Taking the matters into her own hands, she slew the male members of her extended family at the age of seventeen. The inheritance was left solely to her, though Mei knew it would never be accepted.

She sold her family business and home, buying herself a ship and hiring a crew. For years, Mei went on expeditions, seeking long-lost treasures and ancient ruins.

Which was how she had found the Sword of the Emerald Viper and the boots.

Eventually, Yi-Ti lost its appeal, and she sailed farther, her single ship turning to a small fleet over time.

Shadow Lands, which was close to Yi-Ti, was her first destination. By her account, the land itself was cursed with something ancient.

Shadows seemed alive, but only when they weren't looking directly. Some of her men had died, with a black, inky substance pouring out of their eyes, nose, ears, and mouth.

No one knew how or why it happened, and she had stayed only long enough to find the egg.

Her next destination was Sothoryos, but the continent itself was too dangerous to map without an army. The Sothoryi near the shore were, by her description, some sort of apes that had evolved enough to be sapient, but not very bright.

There were four ruined cities on the northern coast. Three of them were former Ghiscari cities that were abandoned, but one was different.

Yeen.

Built entirely from oily black stone, none knew who owned the city in the first place. All attempts to settle had ended in a disaster, and if he remembered right, Nymeria's people had tried it once as well.

It sounded just the kind of place he would investigate to discover what ancient horror lay beneath it.

Following Sothoryos, she had fought pirates and slavers in the Summer Sea and visited the Summer Isles for their beauty. Eventually, she was too intrigued by Robert's fame to not visit Westeros.

Seeing the corpse of the demon and the horns of the kraken, not to mention the ruins of Valyria, had brought her to Asgard.

Her next destination, provided nothing happened between her and Robert, was the Iron Islands, or as he had named them, the Heaven's Stead.

The chance to see a tree that had bloomed with magic was not one she would pass up.

For now, she would stay in Valhalla so they could exchange tales and see where it led.




In the next chapter:

"The last one to voyage to Asshai was the Sea Snake, Corlys Velaryon, who lost half his crew and love," Tyrion reminded. If even a seasoned sailor like Corlys had suffered such losses, Asshai was not a place to be underestimated.

"Yes, well, he never slew a demon or a kraken," he reminded everyone.

"I can't argue with that," Tyrion said. He would just have to trust Robert to come out of this in one piece.



Curious about the next chapter? Please consider supporting me on Patreon.

Hello there,

If you enjoy my stories, you can read up to 15 chapters in advance per story on my Patreon page / patreon.com/Samael61.

Robert is a badass who treats killing gods and slaying demons like just another Thursday. Did you know it was inspired by Thairon, the protagonist of my original story, Arrival : Ruptures, long before I began to write it? Comments, likes and reviews are appreciated. Here are the links for : AO3, Spacebattles, Royal Road and Webnovel.



Asgard

One of the elephant triarchs of Volantis had sent a letter to him. Melisandre of Asshai was in the city, taking refuge at the Temple of the Lord of Light.

The temple denied it, of course, and with how many followers R'hllor had, the triarchs did not want to cause a riot.

At least he knew where she was and could plan to kill her.

Somehow.

"Put a reward on her head. One million gold dragons."

"You were hesitant before."

"Yes, but now we know where she is. With thousands looking to claim that reward, Melissandre can't attempt to leave the temple."

"We will always know where she is."

"Indeed. Send some men there to keep an eye on the temple just in case."

"It's happening again," Tyrion said, pointing behind Robert with half-lidded eyes.

His face scrunched, and Robert took a deep breath. Pushing the heavy metal chair back, he raised it and brought it down the second the demon sprawled forth. The marble floor cracked with the force of the hit, and the only thing left from the demon was the clawed arms reaching for him.

They fell to the ground and dissipated into black, inky mist.

"Have someone fix the floor," he ordered, putting the chair back and continuing to oversee the documents.

"Of course."

"Now that your potential suitor has left, what will you do with the egg?"

"I'll just give it to Tali."

"I should have expected that."

"Anyway, I am off to attend the grand opening of the bridge."


Riverlands

Harroway

Slifer landed on the town square of Harroway at noon of the next day. Rhydan Roote was waiting for him, with his family in attendance.

A massive crowd was gathered near, merchants and nobles looking forward to the new bridge. Long has House Frey fleeced passengers with their tolls, and their fall from grace would be sweet.

The new lord of Twins, Stevron, was trying to make amends, but none would hear it. Even all the ties Walder had created by marrying several noble ladies meant nothing.

Rhoydan was ecstatic in his greetings, so much so that Robert had to tell him to stop. He wasn't going to stay for long anyway.

As the funder of the bridge and the guest of honor, he would also be giving a speech.

"Today is a great day for the Riverlands and the realm as a whole. With this bridge, we break the control of the Freys. No more merchants forced to spend their hard-earned coin on the tolls. No more political marriages to keep the Freys happy," he declared, raising an open hand to the crowd.

"As an individual who cares deeply for commerce, the tolls will be modest and fair for all. Without further wasting anyone's time, I pray that this bridge brings prosperity to all of us," he finished, taking the giant scissors to cut the cord.

The crowd began to clap, and the noise quickly turned to thunderous drums banging near his ear.

As fast as he came, Robert returned to Asgard, while the first set of traders passed through the bridge.


Asgard

He dodged to the left and grabbed the demon's head, slamming it to the wall, leaving cracks behind. It burst into the signature black mist, disappearing into nothingness.

"Okay, this is getting annoying," he grumbled, dusting his hands as the Councillors of Asgard took their places.

"If she can keep sending demons after you, it is only a matter of time before one of them gets lucky," Tyrion commented, putting the ruffled papers back in order.

Robert raised his fallen chair, sitting down, "As far as I know, this whole shadow binding business is taxing on the body. It is likely the other priests are helping her."

Melisandre was obviously tired from summoning a single shadow in the show, yet to summon two of them back-to-back this quickly? She was definitely receiving help.

"Then what about destroying the temple altogether?" Sandor grunted. This whole demon assassination matter was getting

Tyrion hummed, "That temple is old; there are bound to be secret paths for escape," he said. Thousands of years old, the priests would be fools to not create exits should they ever come under attack.

"I either need something guaranteed to protect me or a way to destroy the source of their magic," he said. Half the sorcerers he met were ponies, and the other half required some sort of sacrifice.

No, thank you.

"What about the Mother Tree? Can she offer anything?" he asked Leaf. He didn't actually know her full capabilities, but reshaping the Iron Islands as she has been, perhaps the mother tree could do something.

Leaf shook her head. "Unlikely, but we shall do our best."

There went that option.

"What about the Fae?" Though, seeing as their magic was more rooted on earth, he didn't hold his hopes high.

"If she can get through the safety your beasts provide, there really isn't anything I can think of," she replied, gazing at the cracks on the wall.

"The priests claim the source of their power is R'hllor, correct?" Tyrion asked.

"If we believe their words," Davos said. Far be it from him to question the beliefs of the others, but the priests of R'hllor were a queer ilk and untrustworthy.

"The Lord of Light exists," Leaf revealed. "Yet, he cannot freely touch the world. He needs a medium to empower his followers."

The room fell silent at her words.

In hindsight, he should have asked the ancient forest elf about that.

"Then all you need to do is to sever that connection," the dwarf reasoned.

"Which most likely resides in the temple," Robert grumbled. A quick plan was formulated in his mind. He could ride Obelisk to Volantis and have him blow the temple up.

Just like he and Ra had done in their fight against the kraken.

After that, he could search for anything that was out of the ordinary.

"Assuming you even find what this connection is, there is no way to know if you can destroy it." Davos would advise caution against starting a war against an entire faith, but in this case, the enemy had started it.

"But I know a place that might point me in the correct path," Robert said, eyes glancing at the far right of the table.

Tyrion followed his lord's gaze and huffed, "You can't be serious."

"I am," he winked. What better place to find a way to put an end to R'hllor than the city that contained knowledge older than Valyria?

"What does he mean?" Davos asked, turning sharply to the dwarf.

"He thinks a solution could be found in Asshai," he sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"Fuck," Sandor grunted. Guess they were heading to the other end of the world.

"Don't be a crybaby now," he said. "Would you rather I fight off demon assassins every day?"

"The last one to voyage to Asshai was the Sea Snake, Corlys Velaryon, who lost half his crew and love," Tyrion reminded. If even a seasoned sailor like Corlys had suffered such losses, Asshai was not a place to be underestimated.

"Yes, well, he never slew a demon or a kraken," he reminded everyone.

"I can't argue with that," Tyrion said. He would just have to trust Robert to come out of this in one piece.

"We should have Maester Olivar check the Valyrian books. They might have knowledge regarding R'hllor."

"You do that, and find him some help. It will take too long otherwise."

"As you wish."

Traveling to Asshai, even on dragonback, was a harsh task. The distance from Asgard to the city that is almost at the end of known Essos was more than twice the size of Westeros. There were no friendly locations to land for resupplying and resting. The further east he went, the more dangerous things would become.

Yet, that bitch did not seem interested in stopping.

If he went and destroyed the temple, and the priests somehow survived, he would have no idea where to find them.

Killing every single priest of R'hllor to quell any further attempts, even if they did not know shadowbinding, was almost impossible to do.

Past a certain point in the continent, he'd have no reliable way of finding where they could be hiding.

His work was manageable, but to ensure the city ran smoothly while he was gone, Robert turned his sole attention to work, handling as much as he could before leaving.

Tyrion was left in charge, and he opted to have Slifer stay back for the security of Asgard before taking Sandor with him to Volantis.

First, he would try diplomacy.


Volantis

The journey had taken a week, but the outer walls of the ancient city were in sight. He could see the people beneath disperse in panic but had no time to waste on them. Urging Obelisk forward, the dragon blitzed forward, much faster than before.

Robert had to strengthen his grip and lie down flat due to the wind. He couldn't even see the city properly as everything became a blur.

The Temple of the Lord of Light was built beneath the inner, dragonstone walls. It was truly enormous, putting the Baelor's Sept to shame in size. The walls were painted with hues of fire—red, gold, orange, and yellow—with a number of pillars and other structures that he didn't even try to count.

Outside its walls, a permanent crowd was gathered, armed to the teeth.

The word on the bounty had reached the city before him.

He guided Obelisk inside the walls, causing the mass to scatter, while the preacher fell silent, looking at him with slightly narrowed eyes.

"I trust you know who I am," he asked the preacher. He guessed the priest was Benerro, though with their tendency to live far longer than humanly possible, it could be someone else as well.

Not that it mattered.

"The false Azor Ahai," the man claimed, causing the crowd to curse him. Obelisk roared, and he could see the air around the dragon's head waver.

When he fell silent, the crowd was running out of the temple.

Cowards.

"As if I ever claimed to be a prophesied savior," he shook his head.

"What do you want?" the priest asked.

"How about you surrender, Melisandre? That bitch has been trying to kill me for a while, and there is no way she sent all those demons after me without you bastards helping," Robert accused. He didn't know what sorcery was happening inside, but his dragons were disturbed.

"There is nothing for you here," the high priest scoffed.

"Well, no one can say I didn't try to solve this with words," he said, rubbing his dragon's scales. He considered giving the order to kill everyone here but held his hand for now.

They would die, eventually.

"I'll see you later."


As he had expected, the journey to Asshai wasn't easy or simple. He rested in the ruins of Valyria for the night, getting debriefed by his men that were guarding the place. While most of the treasures were extracted, they still found trinkets and small treasures, all gathered in a pile to be shipped off.

No one had the courage to approach the ruins, and without any more demon spawn, it was a peaceful post.

The morning of the next day, the dragons took off and did not stop until sunset. The Ghiscari were slavers, not the sort of people he wanted to interact with, and after spending the night in a camp far from any settlement, the dragons reached the outskirts of Port Yhos in a day.

He knew nothing about Port Yhos, since it wasn't relevant at all in the books. Before setting out on this journey, however, he had learned all he could.

Which wasn't much.

A port involved in slave trade, it acted as a slave market between Ghis, Moraq, Qarth, and the Slaver's Bay.

Again, he and Sandor camped far from the city.

Qarth, though, was one worth visiting.

The gate between east and west and north and south, it was a city built on commerce. Its port was known to be one of the greatest in the whole world, and seeing it from the skies allowed the size of it to settle in.

He landed way outside the walls to not send the denizens into a frenzy and walked the rest of the way with Sandor.

"Let's find cattle for the dragons first, then I want to see the city," he ordered. It was already noon; spending a couple of hours in the city would have to be enough.

Asshai did not wait for anyone.

They had to get through three walls defending Qarth, each with its own checkpoint. Almost everyone was gazing at them and muttering. He ignored it, of course.

Their words meant nothing to him.

Literally and figuratively.

Inside the walls, it was a lively place and the dream of every male teen with raging hormones. The Qartheen females had a tradition of leaving one breast exposed; for some, that wasn't clear in the books.

Could be just George feeling horny.

Its culture was a mix of ancient kingdoms ranging from the Middle East to India.

"How the fuck are we supposed to speak with someone here?" Sandor asked. The Qartheen did not speak Valyrian, which was the only language Robert knew other than Westerosi common.

"While the Qartheen are a bit arrogant when they call this city the center of the world, they aren't wrong about it when it comes to trade. Everyone comes here, and knowing more tongues means more wealth," he said. In cities of trade such as Qarth, where several cultures mixed in, knowing more than one language was bound to be handy.

"See?" He pointed at an inn, which had a sign in Westerosi common.

"That's a butcher shop," Sandor said, looking around as his eyes landed on the sign.

He followed Robert inside to speak with the butcher, who was considerably shorter in height but definitely longer in girth.

"Do you know Westerosi by any chance?" Robert said after the man said something in Qartheen.

The butcher blinked, perhaps unused to the sight of a Westerosi customer. "Ah, of course. What will it be today?"

"Four entire camels for my dragons. I need them delivered outside the city," he said bluntly.

"Dragons?!" The man stumbled where he was standing, eyebrows shooting up.

Good thing he put down the cleaver.

"Yes," he replied, "just have them ready; we'll come with you so there is no trouble."

Paying ten gold dragons to the butcher, they left for the inn to eat some hot food. Dried rations tended to get boring after a while.

He ordered an extra-large serving of a lamb dish everyone seemed to be favoring, along with a whole chicken, a loaf of bread, and a mug of ale. Sandor was content with just the lamb dish.

The dish was a stew with a rich, golden color and lamb meat with bones. The rest of the dishes weren't anything new, but the spices were different, and he did enjoy it greatly.

Eating beef jerky for a couple of days helped too.

"How long before someone important comes looking for you?" Sandor asked. He had already finished his stew and was nursing a smaller mug of ale.

"Don't know, don't care," he said, finishing the ale. He took a couple of seconds to enjoy the aftertaste and got up to pay for the food.




In the next chapter:

He woke up, not to Sandor's prodding, or the pleasant warmth of the dragons, or the salty smell of the sea, but to the hollering of sailors. A ship had anchored, close enough to be heard, but far enough the dragons would not think they were a danger.

Opening the flap of his tent, he looked at the disturbance. Rubbing his eyes with one hand, the other searched for the telescope in his bag.

The ship was familiar from somewhere, but his sleepy mind only remembered when he saw the woman standing on the deck. The red beauty from Moraq.

Putting down the telescope, Robert went back into his tent.



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