Game of Thrones: King of Magic

Chapter 41

Solomon. Braavos.

Kirana's reply came rather quickly. By noon a messenger arrived at the temple door with a letter that included the date, time, and place. It was tomorrow evening at her mansion, which I found acceptable, though by her speed of reply Kirana showed an impatience that one would not expect from mere 'interest'.

And since I had my answer, I decided to take the time to do my usual stroll through the city and its notable sites, of which there were plenty. Today I wanted to check out the Moon Pond, which was relatively close to the Sea Lord's palace and the Iron Bank. Out of the corner of my eye, I had already seen it, but only from the outside, and it was massive.

The Moon Pond was the terminus where the Aqueduct ended. It was surrounded by a massive structure that had some semblance of a Colosseum, with two levels of arches and numerous entrances arranged around the perimeter.

I wanted to inspect it from the inside, and when I arrived at the site, a huge space with a massive pond and fountain opened up in front of me. The area was decorated with flowerbeds and trees, and there were benches set up around the perimeter where you could just sit and meditate.

There weren't many people, the Moon Pond was filled to about one-fifth of its capacity, which didn't create some stuffy and noisy atmosphere. Everything looked beautiful and aesthetically pleasing, reminiscent of someone's personal garden than a public pond.

As I had heard, at night there was a kind of duel between bravi, water dancers known for a peculiar style of fencing, something reminiscent of an Olympic sport from my world. The leading arm was placed diagonally, while the other arm was bent at the elbow and tucked behind the back. The Bravi used the lightness of their weapons and the agility of their bodies, aiming for vital body parts. They caught my eye, for they dressed brightly, making them easy to recognize.

I took a seat on a vacant bench and, as the surroundings allowed, the conversation with Oberyn replayed in my mind.

It went smoothly and ended soon enough. Of course, the Prince of Dorne's younger brother had asked me more than once to give him Gae Bolg, offering him land, money, and women, but of course I had refused.

Gae Bolg is a Noble Phantasm of Rank B+, a crystallization of the legend of Cu Chulainn and possesses tangible power with a special property. It can destroy armies with enough mana, and when activated, the spear rewrites causality, causing it to always seek to pierce the heart of its victim no matter how much they dodge and run fast.

Such a weapon is too powerful for this world, and putting it in the hands of the locals is simply not an option. Although it can't be activated by any living person of this world, there's no denying the spear's astounding sharpness, durability, and aura. This alone is enough to bow down nations in front of it.

Eventually, before leaving the temple, Oberyn promised me that he would personally advance to King's Landing to fulfill his end of the bargain. I raised an eyebrow at this, for his actions would be obvious, to say the least, with the fires of enmity burning between the Martells and the Lannisters, but Oberyn only grinned.

As he put it, he didn't care what anyone thought of him, the mere factor of his personal presence would make the Lannisters wary. And it's all too obvious that if they do anything against Ned, Dorne will have the North as an ally in no time.

Beyond that, it was unclear to me why he had asked me to heal his brother. There is a House of Scarlet Hands in Braavos, which is a kind of private hospital. There one could hire a healer and seek help, if there was enough money to do so, of course.

Though I doubt Oberyn didn't visit the House with that request. And if he did, either they failed to diagnose it or the disease was incurable. Given the level of medicine of this era, where most everything was treated with herbs or amputation, this wouldn't come as a surprise. Blood transfusions or surgeries were not yet known at this time, and the chance of catching something like tetanus in the process was high.