Chapter 11 14 страница

A frantic knocking on the cabin's door abruptly ended their conversation, and Jon was just able to turn around and hold his retracting lightsaber behind his back as the door was thrown open by a frantic looking Asha, a state Jon had never associated with the woman.

" Lord Nox! Talisa needs your help now! "

Nox immediately stepped forward beside Jon. " What is going on? "

Asha swallowed hard, the fear rolling off her in waves so thick Jon could almost taste it. " It's Dacey. She…She has Greyscale! As does the Karstark lad and two others that went with us to Valyria! "

Cold dread settled in Jon's stomach at the thought. 'Gods be good…Greyscale. How – No, not like this! Not after everything we went through! '

However, Lord Nox didn't say anything. Instead he went over to one of the cupboards in his room and pulled out a large glass jar the size of a man's head that contained a thick yellow substance inside. He also grabbed a satchel of what he called 'surgical instruments', which to Jon just looked like very small knives and also a small bottle of vinegar. 'The strange substance that he made from all that molding food? ' Jon thought, trailing behind Nox who was following Asha out of the cabin and down to the next level of the Sea Wolf. 'He called it medicine…Penici – Er, something like that. He said it would help cure diseases…But can it truly cure greyscale? Was this why he insisted on making so much before we left the North? '

As they descended the stairs, Jon could hear Dacey's distinctive voice shouting. " Just give me a fucking axe and I'll take the gods damned rotting arm off myself! "

" I keep telling you that won't do any good! " Lady Talisa's voice joined in at nearly the same level. " Cutting off your arm won't help matters! "

Shouldering past Asha, Lord Nox made his way into the small room with Jon right behind him. Inside were five people, Lady Talisa, Lady Dacey, Lord Eddard Karstark, and two of the sailors that'd come with them. Talisa currently had Dacey's arm held tight with her sleeve rolled up, and the others were seemingly trying to put as much space as they could between themselves and the two women in the room. The moment Nox entered, the yelling stopped as they all turned as one towards him and Lord Nox.

" Sorcerer, " Dacey breathed, hope shinning in her eyes. " Please, please tell me you can heal this! Or, at the very least, use your fire-sword to cut my damn arm off! I won't turn into one of those mindless beasts! I won't! "

Setting the glass jars and satchel down, Lord Nox replaced Lady Talisa on the stool just in front of Dacey and took hold of her arm. Peeking over his mentor's shoulder, Jon shuddered at what he saw. A fist sized patch of skin on the top of Dacey's forearm had turned black and grey and was starting to resemble scales more than flesh. " Jon, " Nox said, not moving from his spot in front of Dacey. " The tools I brought, start cleaning them with the vinegar and then let them air dry. Someone else go and get fresh clothes for all four of them that haven't been used recently. As for you four, strip. Now. Everything you're wearing needs to be destroyed. Even your small clothes. "

Grateful for the excuse to leave the room, Jon picked up the small satchel of tools and the bottle of vinegar and left to do exactly what Nox told him to do. It took longer than he cared to admit, mostly because most of the knives were so small and sharp that Jon had to be extremely careful when cleaning them out of fear that he'd cut himself open. But eventually he managed to get all the knives and other various strange tools cleaned and dried.

When he returned to the room, he noticed that all four that were afflicted with greyscale had shed their clothes and were now each wrapped in a blanket to give them some modesty. And, once again, Dacey was seated before Lord Nox and Lady Talisa. This time the two were wearing gloves as they examined the blackened scaled skin on Dacey's arm. " Just in time, Jon, " Nox said and, without looking, reached back and swiftly took one of the smaller knives, more like an oversized needled, from the pile. " I want you to tell me when you can feel anything, Dacey. "

Dacey nodded. Her eyes wide as she tracked the oversized needle point as Lord Nox brought it down on her arm. He first poked directly in the center of the blackened skin, and Dacey shook her head. He then continued to poke, slowly moving away from the center of the blackened mass until he came to the edge. The moment he poked the skin just outside the black, Dacey winced as a small amount of blood appeared on her arm. " I felt that. "

Nodding, Nox reached behind him once more towards Jon. This time he grabbed one of the larger knives available. Taking the knife, he carefully laid the flat of the blade against her skin just outside the greyscale and moved forward. Dacey stiffened and flinched but his Master's hold was too strong. So much so that she couldn't move, even as the knife sunk into the black skin. The instant the knife cut into the greyscale, yellow pus surged forth from around the knife. The stench and sight of which nearly made Jon lose the contents of his stomach immediately.

" The pus means that her body is trying to fight the greyscale, " Lady Talisa noted. For the first time Jon noticed that she had a quill and a parchment beside her, which was already half full of notes written in her delicate hand. " The fact that she can feel outside the visible greyscale area means it hasn't spread too far. At least, that is what is widely believed. The best treatment is lime or vinegar to try and stem the tide of the infection until the individual can recover, but that doesn't always happen. "

" Because that would be like trying to dam up a lake the size of Volantis using only twigs, " Nox lectured, to which Talisa immediately began writing again. " No. We need to remove the visible infection first and then treat the infection from the inside. "

Talisa's hand stopped writing. " Treat the infection from the inside? How? "

Turning around, Nox grabbed the bottle filled with the strange yellow substance. " This is called 'penicillin'. It's an antibiotic from my homeland that's created from mold. It will help the body fight off the infection. "

Talisa stared at the bottle as if it were the most valuable gem in the world. " How? "

Setting the bottle aside, Nox took the vinegar from Jon and poured some out onto a cloth and began to wipe at Dacey's arm around the greyscale. " It's difficult to explain, so perhaps an analogy then. Think of your body fighting off an infection like two armies fighting against one another. This medicine is basically a second army of reinforcements that will combat against the infection, aiding the body to get rid of the invader. "

" Amazing, " Talisa breathed, staring at the bottle. " But…does it work for greyscale? "

" I don't know, " Nox answered honestly. " In truth, I'm not even sure if it is a true cure for greyscale as, to my knowledge, it's never been used to treat this disease. But if we combine the penicillin with the removal of the visible infection, and then keep the original infection area clean with methods that you know of, it should be enough to help the body overcome the greyscale. "

" Well, this is all fascinating… But can we please move on to getting this shit off me instead of just talking about it?! " Dacey nearly screamed as she kept the blanket clutched around her body with the arm that Nox was not holding onto.

" Very well then, " Nox nodded. " Talisa, I'll need your help with this. You as well, Jon. So, get your stomach back in place. If you feel the need to lose it, for god's sake do not do it where I'm working. "

Swallowing the bile that was steadily rising in his throat, Jon stood next to his Master as he held his hand over the greyscale. He wasn't sure just what his Master was doing, and it seemed to also confuse Dacey. " Sorcerer, what are you doing? I can't feel anything in my hand or arm! "

" Good, " Nox stated, picking up the large needle again and poking it into the normal flesh on her arm. When she gave no reaction, Nox nodded and swapped the needle for another knife. " You might want to look away for this part, Dacey. It won't be pleasant. "

Dacey quickly looked away, and Jon wished that he could as well. But he didn't want to disappoint Lord Nox. So, as hard as it was to watch as Nox and Talisa worked in tandem to slowly and methodically removed the blackened scaled flesh from Dacey's arm, Jon forced himself to watch. 'Gods…How can they do this so calmly!? ' Jon wanted to scream as he watched the yellow pus stream out around the knife Nox was using to cut into Dacey's flesh while Talisa stood next to him, a pair of pincers in her hands as she helped to lift the cut flesh away. 'The sight…The smell! Gods. How can they do this? '

" Jon, bowl. "

Wordlessly, Jon picked up a wooden bowl that was next to Nox and held it out for him. Just as he was about to ask what it was for, he nearly lost his stomach once again. Nox casually dropped a piece of hardened flesh the size of his thumb into the bowl. Coughing and swallowing, Jon pointedly looked away from the bloody, pus-soaked flesh, and towards the others. Dacey was still pointedly looking away from what was happening but didn't appear to be in any pain for some reason. The other four, however, they had all turned completely white as they watched what was happening to Dacey, knowing that they would be next. After what felt like an eternity, the infected flesh on Dacey's arm was gone, leaving her exposed flesh for all to see.

" That was step one, " Lord Nox said, making Jon curse as he wondered just how many 'steps' there were. " Now, we need to clean and disinfect the wound before going about healing it. "

Setting their tools aside, Nox and Talisa went about collecting clean cloths, water, and vinegar before going about cleaning the exposed flesh on Dacey's arm. By the time they were done, the cloth they'd put on the floor was covered in blood, but the wound on her arm didn't look nearly as bad as it had.

" Now, to cheat slightly, " Nox proclaimed, holding his hand above the wound.

Jon could feel the manipulation in the Force this time. He'd seen his Master use this technique before, the Force Healing he called it. It was capable of completely healing most physical wounds. And, unfortunately, it was a technique that Jon had next to no affinity for. In fact, neither Robb, Arya, nor Bran seemed to be able to use the Force Healing. Which, according to Nox, wasn't necessarily surprising as the technique required a very specific understanding of the Force and often couldn't be taught. And just as Jon had seen happen several times before, Dacey's flesh under his fingers mended on its own. Leaving behind completely unblemished skin such that you wouldn't be able to tell that anything untoward had happened.

While Jon had seen the healing before and wasn't surprised, the same could not be said for Talisa. The Volantis noble was doing a very impressive impression of a fish out of water as her mouth soundlessly moved up and down. " By the all the gods! How – How did you do that?! And, if you had such a technique, why didn't you just use it to cure the greyscale at the onset? " Talisa all but yelled, moving to touch the freshly healed skin, only to think better of it and stop. " Is…Is her flesh safe to touch? "

" Honestly, I don't know, " Nox answered cryptically before elaborating. " About the 'touching her flesh' part. I'm not entirely sure just how deeply the infection runs for now. So, until you all show no resurgence of symptoms, you are all under quarantine. As for why I didn't just heal her, the simple fact is that the Force is limited in this capacity. I can heal wounds, but not diseases. In this case, we had to remove the infection as much as possible and then I could heal the physical injury that was left behind. "

" Amazing, " Talisa breathed as Dacey found the strength to finally look down at her arm, her eyes going wide as she did. " What now? "

" Now, we send in the 'reinforcements', as it were, " Lord Nox answered, turning and grabbing the glass of yellow liquid. " Each of you will need to take two spoonsful of this a day. Once when you wake and once before you sleep for the night. You'll stay on this regime for a week. And once that time is up, we will reevaluate your condition. Jon, wrap up Dacey's arm in a bandage so she isn't tempted to touch where the greyscale was. As for the rest of you, who's next? "

Keeping a firm hand on the ship's wheel, Asha Greyjoy kept her eyes steady on the horizon as she guided the massive Sea Wolf towards the edge of the Stepstones. She hadn't been on a ship since she'd been torn from her home after her father's ill-conceived rebellion, and until now she hadn't truly realized just how much she'd missed this. At the same time, she recognized just how pathetic it was that such feelings had gone unnoticed for years. She was an Ironborn, for fuck's sake! Not some soft greenlander. Salt was in her very veins, yet her time in Winterfell had softened her far too much. Within the next two years she would be able to return to the Iron Islands, and if she returned as she was now, she would never be able to achieve her long-term plans. Plans that would see the Ironborn rise above their status as simpleminded reavers and the dreads of Westeros. No, she intended for the Ironborn to be feared and respected once more, only for something more than reaving. And if she were to do that, she needed to forgo the greenlander tendencies that'd been drilled into her by Lord Stark and his family.

Not that she was ungrateful to Lord Stark, far from it in fact. The man had treated her like his own daughter despite her status as his ward. He'd treated her a hell of a lot better than her own father had, that was for sure. But that was just another reason why she needed to put her greenlander tendencies to the wayside. She wanted to protect the Starks; something she would've never thought she'd be saying in a hundred years. To do that, she needed to take over the Iron Islands. Because she knew, as things now stood, it would only be a matter of time before her father or some other fools decided to try their luck raiding the North. And that was not something she was about to let happen. Mostly because she didn't want her people to end up dying at the hands of the sorcerer.

Just the thought of the sorcerer drew her attention to the man, who was currently standing at the bow of the ship with Talisa and Jon right by his side. Jon being next to him was a forgone conclusion, he was his apprentice after all. A position that Asha had coveted when Nox had first explained to her the levels of learning within his doctrine. But after a few years, she began to realize it was futile for her to keep holding out the hope that she would take Jon's place. The irritating truth was that she just wasn't as strong in the Force as Jon, or any of the other Stark children were. To be sure, she could do a few tricks, but what took her an extreme effort to accomplish, Jon and the others could do as easily as if they were walking.

Talisa staying by his side however had been a relatively new development. After Nox had cured greyscale on Dacey, the Karstark boy, and the other two, the noblewoman from Volantis had pretty much stuck to the man's side like tar on the side of a ship, picking his mind every waking second. At first, Asha had thought that the noble woman was infatuated with Nox. An idea which made her chuckle, especially at the thought of what would happen when they returned to the North and he reunited with his lover, Nyra. That woman might have once been a serving girl, but Nox had raised her well above her station and she'd grown fangs, sharp fangs. It was a not-so-hidden secret that she'd nearly beaten the backside of a particularly ambitious whore red when the whore had tried to sneak into Nox's private chambers, which Nyra had been using to take a bath at the time.

But it quickly became apparent that Talisa wasn't interested in him physically, an extremely odd thought to Asha as she would easily admit that Nox was perhaps one, if not the, most handsome man she'd ever met. But Talisa didn't seem to care about that. Instead, her interest in him was purely for his knowledge, nothing else. Alternating between watching the slowly approaching island chain and Nox, Asha was able to glimpse a peak as Nox used his powers to lift a section of rope in front of Jon and Talisa and tie it into several knots before setting it back down on the deck.

Seeing such a casual display of his power brought back memories of Valyria. She'd seen the destruction he'd caused when he rampaged through the Pyke firsthand years ago when he almost singlehandedly ended her father's extremely short tenure as King of the Iron Islands. At the time, she thought that was his peak. But now, after watching what he'd done in Valyria, she was forced to accept the unthinkable. He hadn't even been taking things seriously when he'd invaded Pyke with the Starks. If he had, there wouldn't have been anything or anyone left alive. It was an incredibly chilling thought. And one that made her renew her vow that she would change the Ironborn, make them more than just reavers. Because if they did not change, if they went back to reaving the greenlanders once more, then Nox would come for them. And she doubted that he would hold back a second time.

Moving off the sorcerer and his little lesson he was giving, she scanned over the rest of the deck of the Sea Wolf. Which honestly, was sparsely populated even at this time of day with the sails at full mast. Outside of the normal amount of crew required to be on hand, the only ones of note were the Dornish and the Lannister sitting together, of all things. And talking…amicably.

'Honestly, ' she thought with a shake of her head and a slight chuckle. 'A Lannister sitting with the Martells and talking with them like they are old friends. Any doubts I might have had about Nox's ability to do the impossible have been greatly diminished. Thought it might have helped Gerion's cause when his first action was to beg forgiveness from Obara for nearly stabbing her in the back and then following up his apology by calling his brother an ambitious cunt. '

Seeing that they were now close enough to see the first of the Stepstones, Asha cranked the wheel of the Sea Wolf, turning to port so they could align their starboard side with the island chain and make their way towards Dorne, where they would be harboring for a day or so to resupply and drop off their Dornish passengers. As the ship leveled out, she felt something. A nagging in the back of her mind that would not leave her alone. A nagging that she had grown accustomed to after hours spent under Nox's tutelage as he tried to coax out what power she had.

" Take the wheel, " she commanded, not looking nor caring as to which sob grabbed the wheel as she turned her back and walked to the very aft of the ship and peered out into the distance.

Tugging at a small metal cylinder on her belt, she pulled on the tube as it extended to four times its original length and held one end up to her eye. 'Myrish eye glass, ' she smiled as she closed one eye. 'Heard about em when I was younger, never thought I would see one in my time and always thought they were a waste of…shite. '

" An Ironborn leaving the helm of a ship. Never thought I'd see the day. "

Not rising to the bait, Asha merely held the eyeglass out for Manderly to take. " Straight behind us, on the horizon. "

Blinking at her curt manner, Manderly took the eyeglass from her and held it up to his pudgy face. " Looks like, two longboa – no. Two galleons. Both flying colorful banners. Can't quite make them out with the wind on our backs…More than likely merchant vessels from Lys or Volantis on route to Dorne or perhaps Oldtown. "

" Unlikely, " Asha countered, taking the eyeglass back. The two galleons were already starting to get slightly larger in the eyeglass, enough so that she could start making out the colors of the banners flying high on their main mast. " The ships came from within the Stepstones, and the banners are not those of Tyrosh, Myr, Pentos, or Braavos. Those aren't merchant vessels. "

Manderly made the connection quick enough, " Pirates. "

" Aye, " Asha nodded, lowering the eyeglass. " And even with us at full mast with the wind at our backs, they are gaining on us quickly. "

" Who is gaining on us quickly? "

She just barely managed to keep herself from jumping, Manderly wasn't so fortunate. Though it was a testament to the carpenters that built the Sea Wolf that the floorboarding held under the force of the fat man landing flat on his ass. " Fuck, sorcerer, you trying to make my heart go out? "

" If I was trying to kill you Manderly, you wouldn't know until you were already dead, " Nox deadpanned before turning towards her. " What do you see? "

" Two ships, at least galleons in size. Probably a crew of fifty strong on each. " Asha explained, moving to off the eyeglass to Nox on reflex, only to stop as she realized just how stupid such an offer would be to a man with no working eyes. " Both flying banners with colors corresponding to either Lys or Volantis, but they sailed out from the Stepstones and are making their way towards us at full mast. "

" Pirates then. " Nox nodded, seemingly unsurprised. " Not surprising. Our journey to Valyria was not necessarily a well-kept secret, especially in Volantis. More than likely they were waiting for us to finish our little expedition and then waited to ambush us at a location of their choosing, and a place where they could garner more likeminded allies to help take down a ship the size of the Sea Wolf. "

Asha immediately made the connection in her mind as to just how they would know if they'd been successful in their venture or not. " The two longboats that attacked the Sea Wolf while it was anchored offshore waiting for us to return. They must've been sailing nonstop since the engagement to make it back to wherever they made berth to set all of this up. "

" Benefits of using smaller and faster ships, " Nox commented idly.

" Two galleons, no matter their speed, won't be a match against the Sea Wolf, Lord Nox, " Manderly boasted, having finally managed to regain his footing. " We'll show these pirates that the North is not one to be trifled with. "

Again, Nox seemed to ignore Manderly as she felt his attention on her being. " Asha, what would you do if you wanted to take a ship like this? "

Frowning, Asha thought for several long moments. She'd learned the hard way, the very hard way, not to simply answer any of Nox's question with the first thing that popped into your head. She still wasn't sure just how he managed to use that lightning trick of his to hit her backside while she was facing him and he was across the room not even facing her. So, she contemplated, deeply and carefully. Not only with her mind, but she thought through the Force as well, just as Nox had taught her to do. " Two galleons cannot take on a ship the size of the Sea Wolf and expect to come out on top. Not unless they loaded up their ships with enough men to almost capsize them. But I would do just as they are now. Use my galleons to draw the attention of my target, then once engaged I would have smaller longboats or even other galleons that were waiting in ambush to strike. "

Nox seemed to ponder her strategy, nodding his head as she spoke. " And on the flipside, how would you defend against such a strategy? "

She didn't need to think as long to come up with an answer this time around. " The Sea Wolf is strong, but even she can be overrun if attacked from multiple sides. Our best option is to fight the two behind us and then after we've finished them off go after whoever else is out there. I'd have the sails pulled to half – no, quarter – mast and let those two catch up. While they were, I'd order the crew to begin preparing quietly for battle to not tip our hand. When they get close enough to make their move, we preempt them and strike first. And, if for some reason they turn out to just be simple merchant vessels, then we don't attack and go about our day. "

" An ambush is only an ambush if one party does not know about it, otherwise it can be used against the aggressor. A sound strategy, Asha, " Nox congratulated her, which caused her chest to swell with pride as Nox was not a man known for handing out compliments easily. " Well, Ser Manderly? What are you waiting for? You heard her. Get the men ready for battle following her instructions. "

To her utmost surprise, the fat man started barking out orders that followed her strategy exactly. " What? " Nox asked, as she glanced towards him. " Your strategy was sound. No reason not to follow it. Even Manderly knows that. Stop doubting yourself just because of your ancestors' stupidity and look to the future. "

After he walked away, Asha turned back out to the horizon. The two galleons were now close enough to see without the use of the eyeglass. 'Well, time to show these Northerners why the true Ironborn rule the seas. ' She thought, leaving her spot on the deck to retreat to her cabin so she could collect her axes and don her leather armor. Steel had the benefit of offering the greater amount of protection. But during a sea battle you really did not want to be wearing anything heavy. If you fell into the water, then your armor became a weight that would drag you to the bottom of the sea.

By the time she'd got her leather jerkin on tight, grabbed her axes and made it back on deck, the two galleons were close enough for her to start making out individual details of each ship with the naked eye. The biggest clue was that colors they were flying. While matching Lys, they were incorrectly patterned. Hells, one was even upside down!

'Definitely not merchant ships, ' she thought as she made her way back to the helm, taking care not to fully acknowledge the men who were hiding as best they could along the ship's railing with bows in their hands, waiting to spring their own ambush. Feeling her heartbeat wildly in her chest as she gripped her axe tightly, she took her place beside the sorcerer and Jon, who were also standing next to the helm alongside the fat Manderly and Prince Oberyn.

" Well, Asha, it seems that your hunch was spot on, " Nox stated, nodding off into the distance in front of them towards the Stepstones. " I can sense a lot of…less than savory individuals perhaps a league or so ahead of us. We should be able to deal with the two annoyances behind us before the others crawl out from under the rocks they're waiting under. "

" And how are we going to handle the two behind us Nox? " Oberyn asked, risking a glance over his shoulder. " The scorpions onboard are not in position to fire accurately at either ship. And turning quickly to give the two a full broadside is not a strong point of this ship of yours. "

" We won't need to use the scorpions on the galleons, " Nox countered as he motioned towards the galleon approaching on their starboard side. " When it starts, have our archers concentrate on that ship. Once they've cleared an opening, a boarding party led by Jon and Asha here will clear the deck and claim the ship. I'll deal with the other galleon. "

" You'll deal with the other galleon…by yourself, sorcerer? " Manderly gaped. " I – I respect your strength, Lord Sorcerer, but isn't that—? "

" Overkill? Yes, I suppose it is, " Nox commented, making those who had seen him in Valyria chuckle darkly at the thought of just what was about to happen. " But it can't be helped, I suppose. Oh, and Jon? "

" Yes, Master? "

" Don't hold back the advantage you now have. And give these bastards no quarter. If it were up to them, we would all be dead or in chains. And as for Dacey, Asha, Ellaria and Obara… Well, it is better not to say what fate would await them should these pirates have their way. "

Asha wasn't exactly sure just what Nox meant by Jon not holding back his advantage, but the bastard sure did as he gained a hardened look in his eye and his hand twitched towards belt. Specifically, towards a long slender leather pouch that hung on his belt. 'Well, no point in wondering about it for long, ' she thought as the two galleons drew close enough for her to start making out the members of the crews on board. 'The mystery will be answered soon enough. '

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