Book Two: Chapter 6

Kings Landing doesn’t become much quieter at night. In Highgarden, night would lead the hush of activity and a sweet, warm darkness that would fill the air. Winterfell’s night was different, cool and crisp and broken only by the howling of wolves and the hooting of owls. In Kings Landing, dusk leads to the end of the work day, the downing of tools and the lifting of goblets and flagons as people rush to the many taverns of the city. In whorehouses the clinking of coins fills the air as people delay the return to their own homes, and vendors selling meat and bread peddle their wares to inebriated citizens. Under the cover of this noise and activity, Sakura is able to slip unnoticed through the streets, Hyewon and Yuri by her side.

Her new handmaiden Nako hadn’t asked questions when she’d requested some plain, dark clothes, and had helped her dress before slipping from the room. Her cloak has a wide brimmed hood which shadows her face, and her hair is pulled back into a sensible braid, running thick and heavy down her back. There is no way to tell that she is one of the most powerful women in Westeros. The dagger Eunbi gave her hangs heavy at her side, hidden within her skirts. Their path leads them down darkened alleyways and cobbled streets, until they emerge before a tavern with rotting walls, and a sign which squeaks as it blows in the wind. The moonlight is dim here, slanting between the tall, rickety buildings of Flea Bottom to emerge in strange beams of light which sends leering shadows.

Together, they slip into the busy tavern. They make it a few steps towards the stairs to the upper floor before a hand reaches out and catches Hyewon’s arm, pulling her to a stop. The girl’s hand goes to the sword, but to Sakura’s relief she doesn’t draw it.

“No one upstairs without paying,” The innkeeper growls from a grisly, scowling face, and Yuri drops a few coins smoothly into his hand before saying, with easy seduction.

“We’re expected upstairs.”

The innkeeper’s eyes travel over them suspiciously, and Sakura is sure to offer him a pretty smile when his gaze finds her. Eventually, he grunts his approval, and lets Hyewon go, bustling away into the crowd with loud shouts to two men beginning to brawl. The distraction allows them upstairs, where the sounds and the smells are more of a brothel than an inn.

Yuri leads them down the hallway, until they round a corner and come to a rickety wooden door. Sakura gets to her knees before it, extracting a pin and a lock from her skirts, and carefully begins to pick quietly at the lock. She wonders whether the squire who taught her how to pick locks, and kissed her so soundly in the stables that she lost her breath, ever imagined she would be using the skills she taught her for such a purpose. Beneath her fingers, the lock clicks, and swings upon at the lightest of pushes. Inside the room is dark, but the slant of light let in through the door illuminates the bed, and they can see the whites of two eyes staring out at them. The woman in the bed is trembling, the blanket pulled up to cover her bare chest, and she opens to shout when Hyewon draws her sword and Sakura presses a finger to her lips.

The woman’s mouth snaps shut again, and she watches them with fearful eyes as they pass through the room towards her. Yuri gestures her from the bed, as Hyewon gathers her clothes and presses them into her hands, urging her into her dress and cloak. While they work, Sakura slips her hand into her dress again and extracts a small vial, sealed with wax and stolen from the Measter’s chambers. Unpicking the wax, she presses the liquid into a rag and holds it over the mouth and nose of the boy in the bed.

Under her hands, she feels the boy stiffen and cough, and then his eyes shot open and he is left staring up at her as he struggles for breath. Hyewon joins her, her firm grip keeping the boy still as he stares up into Sakura’s eyes, wheezing and gasping, a choking sound emerging muffled behind the cloth. It takes several moments, but his eyes eventually roll back in his head and he falls still and silent.

From the other side of the room, a stuttered exclamation draws their attention, and Sakura extracts the damp cloth from the boy’s mouth as the woman, still half , staggers back a step, her horrified gaze taking them all in.

“He isn’t dead,” Sakura tells her, as she struggles to find her voice. “We just need to talk to him.” She gestures down to the boy, and their gazes all follow the slow rise and fall of his chest for a moment.

The woman appears slightly relieved, rushing to pull her arms into her dress, and Yuri stops her before she can leave, taking a handful of gold coins from the purse Sakura had given her earlier in the night.

“For your troubles,” She tells her, lightly, and then adds, “And your silence.”

The woman’s eyes widen when she sees how many coins are in Yuri’s hands, and she takes them without a word, nodding their way before turning on her heel to dart out of the door.

“She won’t give us any trouble,” Yuri assures them both, with satisfaction, and with the door locked behind them they stir the fire in the grate and drag out the single chair from near the fire. The boy’s limp body is sticky with sweat and surprisingly heavy, and it takes all three of them to carry him to the chair and tie him securely in place. Then all that is left to do is to wait for him to wake.

When his eyes finally flicker open, he wakes with a strangled sound, muffled into his gag. Their eyes are drawn to him in unison, and Sakura watches as his gaze spirals around the room, his eyes wide with panic as he takes in the three people watching him. Sakura pushes herself away from the wall, approaching with carefully measured steps, and crouches before him.

“We have some questions for you.” She tells him, coldly. “If you cooperate and tell us what we want to know, we can make it worth your while. If you don’t…” Her voice drops, her fury like ice beneath it. “We will hunt you to the ends of this earth and kill you slowly and painfully.” The boy’s eyes are filled with horror and fear, and she sees his throat bob as he nods. “Good.”

With her dagger, she slices through the gag he wears, and watches without compassion as he coughs and wheezes.

“What did you give me?” He asks, at last, still spluttering and Yuri laughs mirthlessly from behind her.

“You tell us, you’re the Grand Measter’s apprentice.”

His eyes dart to her, narrowed with anger, and Sakura speaks before he can, cutting through the words resting on the tip of his tongue.

“You have some information that we need.”

“Don’t know what you’re talking about.” He spits, stubbornly and Sakura quirks her head at him, curious.

“I’m sure you do. What did you give my father and the king?”

“Nothing.” The boy’s lips press together. “Only what the old man sent me with.”

“That’s a lie, and we both know it.” Her voice is falsely pleasant. Behind her, she hears Hyewon draw her dagger from the sheath strapped to her leg and watches the boy’s expression stutter at the sight of it. “What’s your name?”

He eyes her, uncertain and suspicious, but finally answers. “Glenn Stane.”

“Glenn,” She offers him a friendly smile, “How much did Pike Lannister give you, hm?”

“Nothing,” Glenn glares at her, “I didn’t do nothing.”

“Our sources tell us otherwise,” She flips her dagger in her hands, playing idly with the sharpened blade, and watches as he stares at her, his breath coming more quickly. “You think Lannister deserves your loyalty? He won’t care if you die over this Glenn, he’ll probably be glad.”

“No,” Glenn flinches back in the chair when her blade comes a little too close to him. “You’re wrong.”

“So you did work for Lannister?” Sakura eyes him over the blade, and sees the panic flicker through his expression.

“So what if I did?” He tries to shrug off her questioning. “The Lannisters are good for it, they pay their debts.”

“Oh, you mean this blood money?” Yuri holds out the heavy bag of coins they had found in the trunk at the bottom of his bed, and it’s the first time the boy really struggles against his bonds.

“Give that back, that’s not yours!”

Sakura lets out a cold laugh, “Oh believe me, if you don’t tell me what I want to know, you’ll have no use for that. No will a corpse who can’t pay.”

“You’re full of ,” He growls, and the moment his words leave his lips, her dagger goes to his throat, plucking another strangled yelp from him.

“You think?” She presses a bit closer, so that the blade pulls a thin trickle of blood from his neck, and then lets the weapon skim down his body, to where a patch of wiry hair covers his flaccid, wrinkled manhood. “I have no desire to touch your dirty little ,” She hisses, darkly, “But I’ll make an exception to cut it off.”

The boy whimpers, flinching violently away from her, and she watches him, cold and emotionless, to see what he will do.

“Lord Pike…” Glenn says at last, his voice trembling. “He’ll kill me if I speak.”

“He won’t know until it’s too late.”

The boy’s eyes take her in, assessing her honesty. “How do I know you won’t just kill me?”

“You don’t,” She admits, flexing her blade, “But do you want to take that chance?”

He swallows heavily, finally nodding. “Fine. Lord Pike… gave me money to give Lord Tyrell something else.”

Though she already suspected it, to hear the words said aloud sends a flush of fury through Sakura’s body. “What did you give him?”

Glenn’s eyes are fearful, but when she brings her dagger closer to his prick, he cries out and flinches away. “Tears of Lys! I gave him Tears of Lys!”

“Tears of Lys?” Her dagger falls away in her surprise, and she watches as he gasps for breath. “You’re sure?” When he nods fiercely, she glances back at Yuri and Hyewon. “Where would Pike get Tears of Lys from?”

“I don’t know,” Glenn tells her, earnestly, “Please, I don’t know anything else.”

Her eyes travel over his body, disgust curling at her lips. “I believe you.” She says at last, and then breaches the small distance between them in less than a moment, pressing her dagger against his neck once again, so close that she feels him catch his breath beneath her. “You killed my father, and I am only keeping you alive because I need you, do you understand?” He nods his head minutely, tears leaking from his eyes. “You live by my grace, don’t forget it.”

“I know, I know my lady.” His voice quivers and breaks and she pushes away from him, sheathing her dagger.

“Here,” She tosses the bag of coins onto the bed, “We don’t want your money. But when we come for you, you’d better be easy to find.” She gazes down at him, “If you even think of running or squealing, I promise I will hunt you to the ends of the world, cut off your and make you eat it before I gut you.”

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The castle is never truly silent, but at this time of night, when the moon is high in the sky and sends slants of white light down through the murder holes in the walls, it is as close as it ever comes to quiet. They slip their way through the deserted corridors, dipping away from approaching footsteps and slipping into the shadows to avoid the torchlight of nearby guards. Yuri left them in Kingslanding to make her way back to her own bed, but Sakura can’t even think of sleeping in this moment. Her blood is still roaring in her ears, pressed into a hard, thin line as she thinks on what the runner said. Her own father, poisoned by something as malicious and secretive as Tears of Lys, a flavourless, odourless, colourless potion meant to twist the insides into a slow, painful death. It’s a raw, graceless way to die.

“Lady Sakura!” The voice from behind them startles her from her reverie, and she and Hyewon turn at the same time, their hands going to their weapons. The approaching figure is familiar however, and when Lady Fern’s handmaiden Margo comes into sight, red haired and plump, she relaxes. “My lady!”

“Margo,” Sakura sheathes her dagger again, pausing to watch the girl approach down the dark corridor. In the light of the moon, she can see the worried twist of her expression. “What’s wrong?”

“Thank the gods I found you!” The girl pants, coming to a halt beside them. “It’s Lady Fern, something has happened, you must come!”

“Lady Fern?” Sakura’s eyes widen, “Is she well?”

“No, please, please help us,” The girl’s voice trembles over her tears and Sakura and Hyewon make to follow her when she leads them back the way she came. The girl hesitates, looking back at them, and then says, uncertainly. “Ser Snow… I think it best if you stay behind.”

“What?” Hyewon stares at her, astonished. “Why?”

“Lady Fern… she was attacked by a guard,” Fresh tears spill over her full, freckled cheeks. “Seeing you would just scare her.”

“Attacked by a guard?” Sakura echoes, horrified. “A Lannister guard?”

The girl nods miserably, but Hyewon shakes her head. “I won’t leave Lady Sakura.”

“Please, I need Lady Sakura’s help and I can’t trust anyone else!” Margo’s voice rises, hysterically, and Sakura glances back at Hyewon.

“Lady Fern knows Hyewon, she knows she won’t hurt her.”

“You have to come, my lady,” Margo takes her arm, tugging her harshly towards her, and Sakura staggers closer.

“Not without me,” Hyewon darts closer to separate them, and it is only that fumble that stops the dagger Margo presses into Sakura’s stomach from sinking far enough into her to kill her. Sakura shouts out as Hyewon throws her backwards, the dagger still buried part way into her stomach, and she lands on the floor with a terrible jolt. Pain blossoms like a red flower from her midsection and she feels bile rise in , gasping for breaths. Before her, Hyewon strikes with a flurry of blows against the young handmaiden, but Margo rolls out of the way with unthinkable skill. She pulls another dagger from her skirts, and is able to fend off Hyewon’s mighty blows. In the small corridor, the sound of metal hitting stone rings out, and when Sakura puts a hand to the wound in her stomach, she feels sticky wetness.

Groping along the ground, she finds her own discarded dagger, and pulls herself upwards with a pained grunt, trying to ignore the weakness that sends her head spinning. She raises her dagger just in time to block Margo’s attack, shoving the girl backwards with all her might towards where Hyewon waits. Hyewon manages to inflict a nasty cut into the girl’s arm before she spins out of the way. Moments later, Hyewon is fighting for her life, as the skilful assassin manages to back her into the corner where Sakura is leaning, her dagger still brandished. Hyewon takes a defensive stance in front of her, her injuries weeping, and Margo gazes at them both, her expre