The battle was over. From start to finish, it had lasted only a few minutes.
Seven or eight bodies lay strewn across the ground. The heavy stench of blood and severed limbs made Bana and several other smallfolk, who had been cheering on the warriors throughout the fight, retch repeatedly.
Bronn's four companions skillfully searched the corpses for purses and anything else of value. Bronn walked over to the wagon loaded with goods, prodded a damaged hauberk with the tip of his sword, then tossed it aside in disgust.
Bana's thoughts returned from the past. He looked at Bronn beside him and swallowed, still filled with lingering fear and disbelief. It was far too hard to be a man in Westeros.
It was terrifying. He had watched helplessly as this man and his four brothers used brutal, cruel methods to torture Ser Guy until he revealed that he had entrusted his fortune to his mistress—his ex-wife. Then they had killed Ser Guy, broken into Seaguard, murdered his ex-wife, and made off with all the money.
Bana quietly answered Bronn's earlier question. "Yes!"
"All for this scrap metal."
He touched a dented helmet on the wagon and smiled. No matter what, he had completed the task Suleiman had given him. That was enough!
Everything was back on track. His life was starting over, and the woman who had fled with the money had paid the price.
For the rest of his life, he would serve Lord Suleiman faithfully, until death brought it to an end.
In the distance, the outline of the Lion's Den Valley, which had seemed to be nowhere in sight, had finally appeared before him.
Just then, a rider came galloping toward them. Bana felt a deep sense of foreboding.
"We have to change course, Lord Bana!" The