Braavos's First Sword

The fragmented sun seemed veiled behind heavy clouds. The Secret City of Braavos faced another gloomy day.

The foul weather echoed the grim news.

In the courtyard beyond the slightly opened red gate, members of the Braavos City Watch shouted their discussions as they carried the bodies out of the house in the morning chill.

"This is horrifying."

"Blood Mushroom is far too deadly!"

"Mushroom poison is deadlier than Sailor's Wife's smile," the City Watch soldiers chattered.

Sailor's Wife was a whore who worked at Happy Port, Braavos's brothel district. She only slept with men she married.

Sometimes she married three or four times in a single night. Many men had spent their entire fortunes on her, only to die destitute in the end.

The languages of the Free Trade Cities all originated from Valyrian, though they were merely cruder, localized variants.

The bodies from inside had all been carried into the courtyard and covered with gray cloth.

There were servants with twisted expressions, along with the steward, cook, washerwoman, gatekeeper, and the aged Ser Willem.

A sick man—most had died from poison.

Their faces were bluish-green, their throats hard as stone, and their eyes bulged in terror.

Yet the black-clad Braavos City Watch soldiers did not find deaths by poisonous mushrooms particularly strange. After all, humanity had always been devoted to good food.

Every year in Braavos, people died suddenly from greedily eating fish, crabs, or mushrooms—either from overeating or simply consuming something poisonous.

Lampreys and sea crabs were truly delicious, and mushroom soup smelled wonderful too.

In the future, Pentos would even have an unlucky governor named Odro who would be poisoned to death by mushrooms at a feast.

Viserys Targaryen stood on the steps overlooking the courtyard with Rhaenys and Daenerys, looking somewhat at a loss as they stared blankly at everything unfolding before them.

One tall, thin silver-haired boy and two sniffling girls.

An adult's tears could sometimes seem fake, while a child's tears were deeply affecting.

Playing the fool was easy enough. After all, Viserys had truly lived like a useless wreck in Braavos before, and his hopes of restoring the kingdom had only grown dimmer.

Ser Willem had burned the agreement and dared not tell Viserys about the secret marriage in Dorne.

Still, that was fine. Relying on others was never as good as relying on oneself, and Viserys had little interest in Arianne Martell anyway.

As for Dorne's legendary powerful support, it was difficult to describe what stood before him.

Dorne had its own hardships: weak troops and a small population, leaving it no choice but to remain still as a mountain.

But Viserys still felt rather guilty toward Dorne. Leaving aside Princess Elia and her children, the Mad King had, before his defeat, squandered ten thousand Dornish spearmen and Prince Lewyn.

For Dorne, the least populous of the Seven Kingdoms, such casualties had practically severed an artery.

"Lord Xisa, the interior has been cleared," the watchmen reported to their leader.

This world still had its share of makeshift operations. An accidental death scene could be smoothed over just like that.

No wonder that when Joffrey died later, his own scene had also been a chaotic mess that was quickly smoothed over.

The most prominent Braavosi in the crowd was a young man with refined features: Xisa, the local peace officer of this district of Braavos.

He was also the leader of this City Watch unit.

Young Xisa wore a gray-brown coat, with Braavos's distinctive slender sword at his waist. That too was a Braavosi custom.

Such light blades were swift and lethal, emphasizing rapid, elegant movement, stealth, and balance.

Beside him stood a tall middle-aged man who also carried a sword and appeared to be his attendant.

In Braavos, only assassins wore extravagant clothes.

The truly wealthy, powerful swordsmen, and Faceless Men often wore black or dark clothing.

Braavosi officials, keyholders, and judges generally wore plain gray-brown coats.

In truth, none of the city-states of this era could be considered particularly well-policed, though the chaos was usually confined to slums and docks.

A mass-casualty incident like this in the noble district near the Sealord's Palace was still rare.

To become a peace officer at such a young age, Xisa himself had to come from a prestigious old Braavosi family.

The most eminent houses in Braavos were House Antaryon, House Zanien, and House Frega, each of which had produced several Sealords.

Below them were families of keyholders, bankers, officers, and others.

Xisa came from one such lesser noble house.

Had such a major poisoning not occurred in his district, Xisa might have nearly forgotten that the exiled true dragon family still lived within his jurisdiction.

Although the agreement witnessed by the Sealord was top secret, Braavos's upper and middle ranks knew about the exiles of House Targaryen.

"Physician," Peace Officer Xisa called.

The accompanying physician had already examined the servants' limbs, eyes, mouths, throats, and even the movements of their fingers. He then carefully inspected the residue at the corners of the dead people's mouths.

The physician had also found leftover mushroom soup in a copper bowl and remaining mushroom oxtail soup in the pot.

Viserys had once considered how to dispose of the bodies and destroy the scene, but then he decided against it.

For a poisoning scene, dealing with the bodies was the hardest part. The more one did, the more mistakes one made.

So Viserys simply chose to lie low with Rhaenys and Daenerys.

This was a risk Viserys had considered. Making a move like this was still better than having them live as beggars.

"When we arrived, the scene had not been disturbed. This was an accidental incident caused by mistakenly eating Blood Mushroom," the physician said firmly as he approached the brown-clad Xisa. "Blood Mushroom may be delicious, but it is also highly poisonous."

Blood Mushroom was rare, after all. Perhaps they had noticed only its flavor and failed to notice its deadly poison.

"So you believe the cook caused this accident." Xisa nodded, then let his gaze sweep across Viserys and the others' faces.

These servants mostly worked in the courtyard and held lowly positions.

But the people involved were awkwardly placed, so the matter still required careful handling.

"That is correct." The physician nodded.

Yet Xisa remained doubtful. The matter was too perfect, too neatly closed, making him wonder whether there was some hidden trick to it.

After all, every one of these servants had died after drinking the mushroom soup.

"Viserys, why were only these people given the mushroom soup?"

"Ser Willem had been gravely ill lately, and we had all been keeping vigil for him. When the mushroom soup was ready, I had not yet had time to eat, so I let them eat first," Viserys answered.

The explanation was perfectly reasonable.

Xisa glanced at the guard beside him, then asked loudly again.

Viserys noticed that. It was highly unusual. This guard's status clearly was not ordinary if the peace officer was seeking his opinion instead.

"Did you have any conflicts with these servants? Or did they have conflicts among themselves?"

Viserys shook his head. "They have served us for a long time. There were no conflicts between us."

"Even so, King Viserys, perhaps we could find another place to have a proper talk..." Xisa suddenly fixed his eyes on Viserys as the watchmen formed a pincer-like formation.

"I'm not going anywhere. I am the king!" Viserys shouted. His face reddened with fury as he gripped the sword, Ser Willem's keepsake.

Xisa looked at Viserys. There seemed to be some amusement in toying with this landless king.

Xisa watched Viserys while the guard beside him did not draw his sword, and the peace officer's attitude softened.

"Very well, then we will not force you. But anyone who loudly proclaims himself king is not a true king." The peace officer laughed.

"You are slandering the king," Rhaenys said. "If this were Westeros, your tongue would be torn out."

"Adorable little princess, this is not Westeros, ruled by your king. This is a Free Trade City. The matter ends here." Xisa shrugged and left the red courtyard.

The bodies would be taken away for disposal, lest they begin to smell.

Viserys watched them depart, his heart pounding wildly. Xisa's final move had been intimidation, but Viserys had played along.

But who exactly was the guard following Xisa?

"What do you think of Viserys?" the guard asked.

"Other than his looks, he is entirely ordinary. Judging by his muscles and build, he is not an especially outstanding warrior either."

"Yes. How much talent could someone possess if he had no hope even for those under his protection?"

"Then do you believe this poisoning was an accident?" the guard beside Xisa asked.

"Lord Kui Luo, I have no doubt it was an accident. When I spoke, that disgraced landless king drew his sword with a red face. Unfortunately, his skill was truly nothing special." Xisa answered respectfully. This guard was Braavos's First Sword and the Sealord's absolute confidant.

"On the surface, he does seem ordinary, without much courage or martial ability," Kui Luo said. "But this matter is too strange. That steward was no good man. I investigated him before. When he drank too much at taverns, he let slip that he was about to make a fortune. The only way he could make a fortune would be by stealing the wealth of these exiles."

But the steward had concealed himself well and could never have exposed himself. Yet he had indeed been poisoned to death.

Kui Luo could only conclude that the coincidence was too perfect. A poisoning had occurred, and Viserys's group stood to gain considerably.

For a First Sword, the most important quality was Insight.

"Then if you suspect something, why not—"

"Are we truly going to strip this king of all dignity? ...He is only a child. This is merely my darkest speculation. Based on the evidence, it was still only an accident." Kui Luo thought for a moment before speaking.

"This matter ends here."

"Yes. You may help them deal with the aftermath."

"Also, find some better servants for the landless king and the others. They must be honest and reliable, and they may serve as our informants."

"As you command."

This sudden murder case brought this long-silent name to the current Sealord's attention once more.

But to the Sealord, the current Viserys was still only a dispensable chess piece. The Sealord had merely sent Kui Luo to take a look.

Whether Westeros was in turmoil had little to do with Braavos, so long as it did not interfere with their profits.

And as for this Viserys, who knew whether he would ever get the chance to appear before the Sealord?