Jace and Sara sat under the morning sun while they ate in the palace gardens at a finally decorated table set with a large number of different dishes. Flatbread, rice, stewed fish, and small bowls of pastes and pickles that bit the tongue in different ways. Sara took a mouthful, closed her eyes, and let out a long breath through her nose. "I've never had food this good," she said, reaching back for the bright red paste and dabbing more on her bread.
Jace nodded while he spooned rice. "No wonder my grandfather stole so many spices from this island."
"He what?"
Before he could answer, a tall servant stepped up and bowed her head. "Prince Jacaerys, your companions have been brought to you, as you requested."
"Thank you." Jace replied.
"Shall I have them washed and reclothed before they are brought?" She asked.
"That won't be necessary," Jace said with a grin. "They always smell like that. You get used to it."
"Jace," Sara hissed as she slapped his arm, though she couldn't stop a small giggle from leaving her mouth.
"Fine," he said, chuckling. "Bathe them. New clothes too."
"At once," the woman said, and left without another word.
Jace leaned back and tore another piece of bread. "Bet on who eats first and who starts complaining?"
Sara arched a brow. "That's a fool's wager. We both know."
They did not wait long. Cregan came out first in a clean robe that still hung stiff at the shoulders, hair damp and combed flat, his jaw set like a drawn bow. Edryck followed behind him rolling his sleeves as if he already knew there was food in the area.
"There they are," Jace said, spreading a hand at the table. "Come join us friends."
Cregan didn't sit. "Could you not have sent for us sooner? They scrubbed me like I was five, it didn't help they're all 8ft tall. They took my belt. I've not eaten since yesterday. The guards treat every word like an insult."
Edryck dropped onto the cushion and reached for the rice, then for the fish, then for the red paste. He took a bite, closed his eyes, and groaned. "Oh, that's good."
Sara snorted. "Right?"
"Eat," Jace said to Cregan, sliding a plate across. "Then complain."
Cregan stared at him for a beat, then sat and reached for the bread with a muttered "Seven save me." He ate fast, and the line between his brows eased by the third mouthful.
Edryck pointed a thumb at the bowls. "What's this one?"
"A mixture of crushed vegetables and fruits with oil," Jace said. "That yellow one's ground seed. Careful with the green. It bites late."
Edryck took the green anyway, chewed, waited, then fanned his mouth with his hand as his eyes watered. "Ah. Right. Late."
Sara fought a smile as she pushed a cup toward him. "Aren't you Dornish?"
Edryck gulped, coughed, and grinned at Sara. "It doesn't make me immune to spice."
Cregan wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and looked between them. "So. Why the bath, the new clothes, and the breakfast in a garden instead of the cell? What did you do?"
"I came to an arrangement," Jace said. "And I have an answer to give the God-Empress by tomorrow night."
Cregan set his bread down. "Shes not going to kill us?"
"She wants to hire us," Jace said. "Her sister is missing in the jungle inland. She wants us to find her."
"She made the offer in front of her ministers," Jace said. "One tried to stop her. She had him dragged out. Payment is spices or gems or both. Enough to fill the holds. If she is offering that much then I'm sure we ont have any problem getting what we need."
Cregan chewed, swallowed, and frowned. "How far inland? What's the ground? Do we get guides? Maps?"
"She didn't say yet," Jace answered. "When I speak with her I'll talk terms as well need quite a lot of resources. We'll need porters, two good guides at least, and a Lengii officer to clear our passage, plus a writ that speaks for her in every village between here and the far side of the island. We'll want a healer and a list of what her sister carried and who last saw her. And we'll want to pick our own kit. Steel, rope, oil, tar, jars for water, and nets."
Sara set her cup down. "Tracks are hard to read in that jungle once the rain hits. While I hid in the forest I saw patrol markers on the east path and a burned post farther north. Someone's been clearing routes, but not for long hauls. If her sister went off the main road, she'll be hard to find unless we get a sign."
Cregan nodded. "Any dangerous beats?"
"Plenty," Sara said. "Night can be loud. We'll need to double the watch."
Cregan leaned forward. "And if we don't bring her home?"
"Then we come back with proof that we tried and she's dead," Jace said. "We set the terms so payment scales. A third up front for kit and guides. A third on proof of route and last camp. A third on the person, alive or dead."
Edryck tapped the table. "We will also need to choose who goes. We can't take everyone into jungle, remember Yi-Ti? We don't want another repeat of that. We take a small group, we move quiet, we move fast. Forty at most. The rest hold the ships and maybe do some trade."
"Agreed," Jace said. "You and Sara pick the men best, though you'll probably want to talk to Allie, before you do she'll know who best to send."
"Cregan you're on equipment," Jace said.
Cregan rubbed his jaw. "I'll want rope, hooks, and a sling. If we hit a ravine we'll need a way down and up. I'll sketch what we need after we eat."
Jace looked at him. "You'll get it." he replied.
Cregan wiped his hands and glanced at Sara. "Did you send the signal to the company?"
She nodded. "I did. They should make here by tomorrow, and the ships can reach the outer quay before night if the tide holds."
Edryck leaned back and pointed his spoon at Jace. "And you. Did you confirm they have the thing we came for?"
Jace shook his head. "I have not, but it has to be here. Every trail has led to this island. It has taken us five years to close the circle, and now it is within reach."
No one spoke for a breath, he looked at each of them and set both palms on the table. "Thank you for staying with me this long," he said. "You could have walked away a dozen times, and you did not, I wouldn't have gotten this far without you... thank you.. all of you."
Sara reached over and set her hand on his shoulder and squeezed once. Cregan gave a firm nod. Edryck did the same. "Once we have it, we go home," Jace said. "This journey can finally end."
Sara's mouth tipped into a small smile. "Your father would be proud of you," she said. "For everything you're doing."
"Thank you," Jace said, and he meant it, and then he pushed himself up from the cushion. "If we are agreed, I will see the Empress now and accept the hire. Any objections?"
Three heads shook.
Edryck raised a hand as Jace turned. "One question," he said. "How beautiful is the Empress, truly?"
Jace tried not to smile and failed. "There are no words," he said, and that earned him a flat look from Sara that he pretended not to see.
He left the garden and flagged a servant by the arch. "Tell the God Empress I will meet her to speak on the task she offered," he said. The woman bowed and moved off at once, and he followed a second servant through a corridor and a set of inner doors where he waited on a bench while scribes passed messages between rooms and guards spoke at their post. After a short time another attendant arrived and led him deeper into the palace. They crossed two courts and a long hall, then turned into a quiet passage where the air felt cooler, and at the end of it he was met by a pair of officers with light armor and short spears who said nothing and walked him the last stretch to a tall door. One opened it and stood aside and Jace stepped in, and the room beyond had an even larger passage with guards marked every few metres.
They then came to a very wide set of doors that looked like they were made of solid gold. 'They say the Lannisters shit gold, I wonder what they call this,' he thought as he was led to the door.
"Her Radiance will see you right away," the attendant said before bowing and urging him to open the door.
Jace did so and stepped through the door into a chamber that could only be described as otherworldly in its grandeur and scale, so vast and cavernous that it dwarfed any hall he had ever seen in Westeros or beyond, with a ceiling arching high overhead like the dome of some ancient god's temple crafted from pure silver embedded with gems of every conceivable kind and in the very center of this immense space sprawled a miniature jungle, amid the foliage paced a massive tiger with stripes like shadows on flame, its golden eyes fixed on Jace as it tested the length of a thick iron chain anchored to a stone pillar, preventing it from lunging forward.
The sheer size of the chamber made Jace pause in awe, estimating that at least ten thousand people could fit inside comfortably without crowding, the walls lined with intricate murals of Lengii legends depicted in gold leaf and precious stones that seemed to shift and come alive in the flickering torchlight spaced along the perimeter. He kept walking inside, looking around with wide eyes as he scanned the vastness for any sign of the God-Empress, his head turning from the jungle enclosure to the distant alcoves shrouded in silken drapes and the elevated platforms adorned with thrones of carved ivory, but finding no immediate figure amid the opulence.
Suddenly, he heard her voice drifting through the air like a melodious echo, "Welcome, Prince Jacaerys, I have been expecting you," she said.
He wondered where it came from, his brow furrowing as he pivoted slowly to pinpoint the source amid the chamber's acoustics that seemed to bounce sounds from every corner, until he heard it again, clearer this time with a hint of amusement as she added "Up here, if you would join me," he realized it was coming from a balcony high above, accessible by a sweeping staircase of white jade that curved gracefully along one wall.
Jace ascended the stairs two at a time, his hand trailing along the banister etched with scenes of mythical beasts, and emerged onto an incredibly large balcony that stretched out like a garden terrace suspended over the world, so expansive it rivaled the size of the palace garden where he had dined earlier, complete with manicured hedges blooming with night-flowering lilies, stone pathways winding through beds of rare herbs that released a spicy aroma with each brush of the seaa breeze. Near the edge of the balcony, where the stone railing overlooked the endless expanse of the ocean glittering under the moonlight, lay a large pool of water fed by a natural spring that cascaded from a sculpted lion's mouth, the surface steaming gently in the warm morning air and reflecting the sun like a mirror to the heavens.
Jace saw the God-Empress Nara Zhai reclining in the pool, her tall slender form partially submerged with only her shoulders and the elegant curve of her neck visible above the rippling water, her long golden hair floating around her like liquid gold, and her golden-skin glowing softly in the water reflections. He got closer and then announced himself with a respectful bow. "Your Radiance, I am here as requested, though if you would like some time to don proper attire for our discussion, I can wait outside until you are ready," he spoke.
"It is you who is not in the proper attire, Prince Jacaerys," she said with a sly curve to her lips that revealed perfect white teeth, her almond-shaped eyes sparkling with mischief under thick lashes as she gestured toward the pool with a graceful wave of her hand. "Come, join me in the waters they are soothing on a hot day, and we can speak freely here."
"Is that appropriate for a business discussion?" he asked with a raised brow, his sea-green eyes narrowing slightly in playful skepticism as he stood at the pool's edge. "What would your husband say to such an invitation extended to a foreign prince?"
Nara smiled wider, a radiant expression that lit up her exquisite features and replied in a teasing tone, "I do not have a husband as of yet, so you need not worry about offending any consort, and besides, here there are no unwanted listeners to report our words to prying ears."
Jace looked back over his shoulder toward the chamber doors as she said that, his mind flashing to the slimy minister he had encountered earlier with his veiled threats and obsequious manner. 'Probably that Minister Cave or whatever his name was,' he thought with an inward scoff, before turning his attention back to her and deciding to play along with this unexpected turn.
Jace began to get undressed, first untying the sash of his robe and letting the silk fabric slide off his shoulders to pool at his fee, revealing the lean, battle-hardened torso beneath marked by faint scars from old wounds his muscles rippling under pale skin as he bent to remove his boots one by one, then unlacing his trousers slowly, pulling them down over his hips and stepping out of them, his powerful thighs and calves flexing with each shift of weight, and finally hooking his thumbs into the waistband of his smallclothes, sliding them off in one smooth motion to stand fully nude before her, his body a testament to years of swordplay and travel, broad shoulders tapering to a narrow waist, defined abs contracting slightly in the cool air, and his manhood hanging heavy between his legs, while Nara watched him intently the entire time, her gaze roaming appreciatively over every inch of exposed skin without a hint of shyness, her eyes lingering on the twitching of muscles across his chest and arms as he straightened up.
"You are much more muscular under your clothes than I'd thought," she remarked with a appreciative hum, her voice carrying a note of genuine surprise mixed with admiration as she tilted her head slightly, her golden hair shifting like a waterfall over one shoulder.
"A life of fighting will do that to you," he replied with a casual shrug, though a grin tugged at his lips as he stepped into the water that was surprisingly cool, enveloping his legs like a cold embrace. As he descended the shallow steps into the pool he tried to look at Nara without being too obvious, his eyes darting toward her submerged form in hopes of catching a glimpse of her body, but it remained hidden under the warers surface.
Jace sat down a respectful distance away on a submerged stone bench, the water lapping at his chest as he settled in, keeping a few feet between them to maintain some semblance of propriety amid the intimacy of the setting.
"So am I to assume you have accepted my request?" she asked, her tone shifting to one of business as she leaned back against the pool's edge, her arms resting along the rim.
"I have," he replied with a nod. "But there are a few things I want to know beforehand."
Nara nodded graciously, her expression open and sincere as she replied, "I planned to be fully honest with you regardless, no veils or half-truths to cloud our agreement."
Jace raised a brow in mild surprise, leaning forward slightly with his elbows on his knees under the water. "You did? That's not the usual way of queens and empresses in my experience."
She nodded again, a small smile playing on her lips. "What I am asking you to do will not be easy, and I do not have the heart to send you there not knowing what you will come across."
Jace crossed his arms over his chest and looked at her with a wry chuckle, "Honesty is quite refreshing; as a prince, I've heard less of it the more I grew up."
Nara giggled at that, a melodious sound like tinkling bells that sent an unexpected jolt straight to his balls, stirring a warmth in his groin despite the seriousness of the moment, "I have a similar experience, surrounded by advisors who speak in riddles and half truths." she replied with a shared amusement in her voice.
She turned around to face him more directly, the motion causing her large breasts to shift beneath the water, that sent waves lapping toward him, the generous swells almost rising above the water line to tease the edge of visibility before settling back just out of sight. 'Damn it...' Jace thought.
She had a serious expression on her face now, her eyes locking onto his with an intensity that he'd only seen when she was in court. "The truth, Prince Jacaerys," she said with a deep breath that made the water ripple around her chest as she steadied herself.
"Please, call me Jace," he said with a small, disarming smile, leaning back slightly against the pool's edge, "I'm only a prince in Westeros."
She smiled then, a subtle curve of her full lips that softened her serious expression for a moment, "The truth, Jace... my sister is not missing," she said. The revelation of which actually managed to surprise him.
"She's not missing..." Jace repeated slowly, his mind racing to connect the dots as he tilted his head, "So she was kidnapped then, taken against her will by some rival or enemy lurking in your court."
"In a sense," Nara replied cryptically, her gaze drifting momentarily to the sky beyond the balcony's edge before returning to him.
She took a deep breath, her chest rising and falling visibly beneath the water's surface, "I know exactly where my sister is; she is held in a subterranean city deep in the center of the island, a place hidden from the sun and nt known by most who walk above."
Jace leaned on his elbow against the pool's edge, his muscular arm flexing slightly as he shifted closer, "I appreciate you making my job easier by pinpointing the location, but I assume you have a compelling reason why you cannot simply fetch her yourself with your guards or an army at your command."
"You'd be right," she replied, as she moved deeper into the pool, the water rising to her neck and causing gentle waves to spread outward toward him, her golden hair fanning out. "The history of Leng is long, longer than many outsiders think or dare to imagine," she continued.
"Your history stretches back to the first emperors of Yi Ti, or so the tales go," Jace commented.
"That is the common belief," Nara said as she turned slowly in the water to face him, "But in reality, we are much older than that, our civilization first started as a distant colony of the Golden Empire of the Dawn, a foothold in these isles when the world was young and gods were said to walk amongst men."
Jace raised a brow as he leaned further inside the pool, finding this revelation fascinating.
She got more serious then, her features hardening as the playfulness evaporated from her eyes, "That is where the horror for my people began," she intoned solemnly.
She looked at Jace directly in the eye, "Do you know the tale of the Long Night, the endless darkness that once swallowed the world?"
This got Jace's attention fully, "I do, mostly at least; the stories vary depending on who tells them, but the core of it was a time of unending winter."
"Thousands of years ago, the Bloodstone Emperor murdered the Amethyst Empress," she explained, "An act that my people believe fueled a dark ritual."
"I hadn't heard that part before," Jace admitted, his interest piqued as he leaned closer, "What was the ritual, what foul purpose did it serve?"
"I'm not sure, no one is, not truly," Nara confessed with a slight shake of her head that sent ripples throughthe water, "But we believe it to have caused the Long Night itself, unleashing years of unrelenting darkness upon the world, a shroud that brought famine, madness, and death to every corner."
"Despite being an island nation far from the heartlands, we were not spared from the destruction the Long Night caused," she went on, "It looked to be the end for us, our colony teetering on oblivion, as the Golden Empire could barely save themselves, let alone a remote outpost clinging to these shores."
"That was when we found them," she paused, "We call them the Old Ones, ancient entities from the depths, but in the old language of my people, they were known as The Pap."
Jace's heart started to beat fast, though he wasn't sure why.
"They made promises," Nara continued, "They said they could protect us, shield our people from the encroaching night and its horrors, if we made a deal with them... and in our desperation, we did, binding our fate to theirs."
"Did they keep up their end of the bargain?" Jace asked.
"They did," she nodded her head solemnly, "They warded off the darkness, allowing our colony to survive when others perished, but what they asked in return after that... it twisted our souls and stained our history forever."
She became distraught then, her features contorting with visible anguish as tears welled in her eyes, her hands clenching beneath the watert, her voice breaking slightly when she forced herself to continue. "The Old Ones asked for people to be sacrificed... thousands upon thousands, offered up in ritual to sate their inscrutable hungers," she revealed, "And the empress at the time had no choice but to obey, lest the protection be withdrawn and doom claim us all."
"Why not just refuse once the Long Night ended?" Jace asked.
"The Old Ones are said to have a strange voice, one that those who hear it are driven mad by, their whispers burrowing into minds like worms in fruit, compelling obedience or shattering sanity," she explained, her tone laced with inherited fear, "Their power was great, we had no choice but to obey."
"For thousands of years, people were sacrificed in droves, their lives fueling the Old Ones' demands until the Emperor of Yi Ti after he conquered Leng, put a stop to it by severing the ties that bound us," Nara recounted.
"What happened after that?" Jace asked, his curiosity overriding the growing dread as he imagined the backlash of defying such entities.
"The Old Ones were not pleased, and they threatened to kill everyone on the island in retributio," she said, "But instead, they decided to punish the royal family specifically by forging a new deal... they would take every spare member of the royal family as a sacrifice, ensuring there would only ever be two members of the bloodline in Leng at any time: the empress and the heir, with everyone else consigned to the depths."
"So your sister..." Jace said, the pieces falling into place.
"She recently reached adulthood, and so she was sent there to be sacrificed, delivered to the subterranean city as the pact demands," Nara confirmed.
"Would it not have happened already?" he asked.
She shook her head firmly, strands of wet hair clinging to her shoulders like gold vines, "It only happens on the night of the new moon, when the land is plunged into utter darkness with no light to pierce the veil."
Jace sighed deeply as he leaned back in the pool, the warm water doing little to ease the chill that had settled in his bones from the tale, his thoughts swirling with the implications of delving into such primordial horrors, "So that's the real story... I had hoped this would be easy, a simple rescue from bandits or rivals, not a confrontation with ancient evils that predate the dawn."
Nara looked desperate then, her eyes widening with a plea that bordered on panic as she leaned forward, "Please, I have no one else I can turn to, the ministers and others in the court have thwarted my every move to try and rescue her, bound by tradition and fear of the Old Ones' curse; you're my only hope."
Jace felt his heart ache for her in that moment, the empathy striking deep as he imagined if it were Helaena or Luke or any of his own family trapped in such a fate, but dealing with this seemed like it wasn't a good idea at all, the lessons from his harrowing experiences in the ruins of Valyria flashing through his mind like warnings etched in fire, meddling with forgotten powers had nearly cost him everything before.
"I will give you whatever you want," Nara said, desperation still thick in her voice as she edged closer through the water, "I will give you your dragon's weight in gold, heaps of it enough to fill your boat a dozen times over; I will grant you an exclusive trade contract with Leng, opening ports and markets solely to your ventures; gems, diamonds, silks, spices—anything you desire, name it and it shall be yours."
She then stood up abruptly, the water cascading off her body in shimmering sheets that caught the moonlight, revealing her naked form in all its glory—her golden skin glowing like burnished bronze under the sun, smooth and flawless without a single blemish; her large breasts swaying gently with the motion, full and rounded with dark golden-tipped nipples hardened by the air; her slender waist curving inward like the narrowest point of an hourglass, accentuating the flare of her hips; and her sex completely bare of any pubic hair, the smooth mound and delicate folds exposed vulnerably as droplets traced paths down her thighs.
"You may even have me," she said as she moved closer to him, straddling his waist in one fluid motion that pressed her warmth against his hardening length beneath the water, her hands resting on his shoulders for balance while her breath came in heated pants, "You can put your cock in my hole and take my maidenhood right here, claim me as no man has; you can take my mouth; even my behind, if that is your desire, use me as you will, body and soul, to seal this pact."
Jace sighed heavily, the temptation warring within him as he struggled greatly not to touch her, his hands gripping the pool's edge instead to anchor himself while his dick grew hard as a rock from the intimate contact, throbbing against her bare sex with an ache that made his voice strain when he replied, "You don't need to do that, Nara, your body isn't a bargaining chip for this; I won't demand such a price from you."
"I will accept your request," Jace said finally, his resolve hardening despite the allure, but his face turned serious as he locked eyes with her, "There is one thing I want, however... something that is non-negotiable."
"Tell me and you will have it," Nara said breathlessly, her body still pressed against his.
"A book," Jace said without hesitation, "A book about dragons, ancient and forbidden knowledge compiled in its pages; it is commonly called Blood and Fire."
"You may have heard it be called," he continued, watching her reaction closely for any sign of recognition or reluctance.
"The Death of Dragons."
(AN: So a lot has been revealed this chapter, you finally known Jace's goal and what he is looking for, but the question is why is he looking for it. Who are The Pap? I'm sure some of you might recognise them, I wil tell you they aren't native to asioaf, but I felt that they fit in here rather well. Anyway I hope you enjoyed the chapter.)
if you like my stuff consider supporting me.
Patreon.com/captainalfie78works