Chapter 18: Aftermath of the Conquest
The day after the big banquet was relatively quiet. Everybody wanted to calm down for a bit and let the events of the day sink in. The news of Attilius Di Natale was rapidly spreading from the port of Lys towards the Known World.
The slaves mercanaries and gladiators of the Di Natale family couldn't sleep the whole night. They were already thinking about achieving glory on either the battlefield or the coming event in the colosseum. Achieving not only fame and fortune but also skipping classes into the world of nobles was something most slaves didn't even dare to dream about. In the feudal society of Game of Thrones something like that was practically unheard of. People in modern society can't even comprohend how desirable a latter to the world of nobles would be to slaves at the bottom of the society. All the gladiators of the Di Natale family were training, even sleep deprived, to be as prepared as possible for the fights in August. Nobody wanted to miss the chance of freedom and the slighest shiver of a chance towards a noble title. The fights in the colosseum of Lys were going to become even more brutal and savage.
Victor and Oberyn were leisurely having breakfast on the balcony of Victors home in Canahs. They were laughing and joking with each other while hearing the screams of training soldiers from the distance, a sound both Oberyn and Victor enjoyed more than beautiful music in dance rooms. The world of military families was certainly different.
"I hope your little success doesn't make you too arrogant. Somebody like Tywin Lannister wouldn't even look at your information for more than a few seconds. For the average 17 year old your deeds might be impressive, but for real geniuses and warlords you din't really do much at all. You just beat a few undisciplined pirates with the elites of the Di Natale family and a army of slave warriors capable of using formations. Your biggest victory was even achieved by using poison on some useless pirate leader. I don't want to lose my only friend to arrogance." Victor said in a calm tone.
Oberyn wasn't surprised by Victors tone, even a little grateful for the concern. "I am well aware of what I am worth and that most of my success comes from your careful planing and the support of the House Di Natale. The Red Viper is talented in man to man combat and using poison to achieve success on a small scale. I might even be a good leader for small scale skirmishes, which makes me quite suitable as the leader of a sellsword regiment. I know that I will never be a warlord fighting battles with thousands of elite soldiers on both sides. I will never stop to be impulsive, a little deceptions might turn into a fatal mistake on my side. Don't worry Victor I won't get over my head. Let's leave the big fights for the nobles of Westeros. The both of us will slowly find our own way. There is no need to risk everything in one big battle. Gaining many small wins and enjoying life along the way is our path to go."
Victor couldn't help himself and smiled for the first time this morning. He wasn't sure how the young Viper would behave after having the first taste of conquest. Not everybody was the material to become a warlord and not everybody could be a leader. Oberyns character would always be a great danger if he wanted to become a marshal and fight large battles of elite solver versus elite soldier. Victor would never support him if he tried to capture a piece of land in Westeros for example, because that would mean fighting a large scale war against existing noble forces. Before the fall of the mad king the interests in Westeros were set in stone. The Red Viper regiment would crach harder than an egg if they tried to hit that iron plate. Gaining small benefits in Essos is their way to go, while taking chances in the coming rebellion of Robert Baratheon.
Finally free of his remaining worry Victor began talking about the upcoming event in the colosseum.
"I promised you a big celebration if you conquered all of the Stepstones.. but honestly, even if I gave you another year or two you would never be able to conquer them all. Many interest groups are already watching the Red Viper Regiment. If you were to attack another island they would all unite together and give you a devastating blow. Never underestimate the chessplayers of the world. If not for the backing of Lys and your identity as the son of Martell you would already face relentless attacks from many famous sellword companies. We now need to calm down for a year, maybe even two. At the moment all the interest are clearly divided, we need to wait for chaos to appear to be able to reap some benefits. Lets calm down and adjust our position, gain knowledge of the world and be happy with what we've got. You should visit your family and give some benefits to the family you insulted. Don't wait for people to deal with the mess you left, become an adult and deal with the problems you caused by yourself. Your mother shouldered many responsibilities by herself and gave birth many child and raised the three of you. You have no idea how much pressure she faced as a female ruler over Dorne. Visit her, share her worries, show Dorne what a man you've become and take care of your siblings, they might need you more than you think."
Oberyn was visible moved and his eyes started turning red. He stood up and walked towards the balcony looking in the direction of Dorne. Minutes went by and Oberyn finally gathered his emotions.
"The sea is as salty as always, isn't it?" Oberyn muttered.
Victor ridiculed, "Whatever you say. Get your shit together or I will sell you as a courtesan to the Ormollen family."
Both looked at eachother and their laughter echoed across the sea. Isabelle was taking care of Giulia in another courtyard and couldn't help feeling relieved. Victor never made any friend of his age and she really thought the child was way too lonely and shouldered too many burdens even though he wasn't yet six years old. Even though Oberyn was more than ten years older, at least they seemed to form a deeper friendship. Noticing VIctors change over the last year, as he sometimes worried about his friend, sometimes being happy when hearing good news relieved her a lot.
In such a happy mood the big event of the colosseum drew closer.
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