"Griff, what the hell are you doing?!"
Varyn's shout ripped through the darkness and jolted the rest of the men awake. They stared at the bloody mess in front of them. Several sellswords lay dead with their throats slit in their sleep.
Leo's face went hard. He glared at Griff. "Griff, do you even know what the fuck you're doing?"
Griff gave a cold laugh. "Isn't it obvious? We're killing the lot of you."
"Have you lost your goddamn mind?" Varyn snapped, eyes flicking to the men standing with Griff.
Besides Griff's two cronies, every other sellsword there was someone Varyn had recruited himself. He couldn't believe they'd turned too.
"Griff's gone crazy, but you idiots are following him? Do you know what happens when you attack a noble? You want every lord in the Seven Kingdoms hunting your asses?"
The others traded uneasy glances, then looked back at Griff.
Griff sneered. "Noble? This prick isn't even from the Seven Kingdoms. He's just some foreigner who washed up here. Killing him doesn't mean shit."
"Varyn, you and you three might as well join us. We'll gut this lying outsider, split the bandits' treasure, and live like kings from now on!"
"These bandits were brought down by us. The loot should be ours by rights! But this bastard wants to keep it all to himself just because he hired us. Wouldn't even let us see inside the cave. Is that fair?"
The sellswords around Griff started shouting in agreement.
"It's not fair! We took those bandits—the treasure belongs to us!"
"He's no noble from the Seven Kingdoms! He's a fraud. Killing him isn't attacking a real lord!"
"Even if he is some foreign noble, who cares? He came to Westeros alone with no servants. We kill him here, no one will ever know. We just say the bandits did it."
"Smart! Look at that armor—he's clearly trying to pass as a Lannister. We take it to the Westerlands afterward and we might even get a fat reward!"
"Yeah! The bandits killed him. We fought hard, beat the outlaws, and recovered the body. No one can touch us!"
Even the three chainmail sellswords beside Varyn started wavering, trading uncertain looks.
Varyn stepped in front of Leo, sword raised, furious. "You worthless bastards! Have you no shame? No honor?"
"Shame? Honor?" Griff rolled his eyes. "Can you eat that shit or drink it? Does it shine brighter than gold dragons and silver stags?"
"Brothers, what the hell do we sell our swords for? For the gold and silver, right? For endless meat, the best wine, and all the women we can handle?"
"You want to keep kissing these spoiled noble boys' asses like always? Or do you want pockets full of gold dragons and to live it up on Silk Street in King's Landing? You really planning to go back to Flea Bottom and drink that rat-piss ale for a single copper?"
Griff had been fed up with Leo for a while. After they wiped out the bandits and found their big stash of silver stags, greed took over.
While they were eating earlier, he and his boys had quietly worked the other sellswords, convincing them to kill their employer and split the loot.
Honor and shame?
What the fuck were those worth?
"Brothers, let's cut them down! Take the treasure and live like kings!"
The sellswords roared together, raising their weapons. "Cut them down! Live like kings!"
Griff looked satisfied. He smirked at the three armored sellswords, shot Varyn a mocking glare, then raised his hand. The shouting stopped.
"You three, what's it going to be? You really want to die protecting this foreigner?"
He still hoped to sway the armored men. Their chainmail made them dangerous if they fought for Leo.
"Hahahahaha—!"
Before they could reply, Leo suddenly burst out laughing.
His loud laughter drew every eye in the cave.
When he stopped, Leo pushed Varyn aside and pointed at Griff. "This is fucking hilarious. You're really that naive?"
"Yeah, I'm a foreigner. So what?"
Leo casually reached into his pouch and tossed a handful of gold coins onto the ground. Everyone's eyes widened at the gleaming gold dragons.
"You know my father is Duke Ni Shiming of the Great Tang Empire, far to the east? He has royal blood and rules lands bigger than any duchy here. Hundreds of thousands of armored soldiers, endless horses, and a fleet that controls the seas!"
"I'm just the second son with no inheritance. He gave me thousands of elite troops and more wealth than you can imagine to explore the world."
"Right now I'm only separated from my men because of a storm at sea. They're out searching for me. You think they won't check the riverside inn?"
The group froze.
"Sure, you could kill me here. But everyone at that inn knows I hired you. And suddenly you're all rich? What do you think my men will do when they find you?"
The sellswords Griff had swayed started looking nervous.
Leo kept going, pointing at the gold. "I've got plenty of money. Think about the wages I've been paying you—more generous than any employer you've ever had, right? Want to live it up on Silk Street? Stick with me and you'll get everything you want."
"You'd really kill me over Griff's bullshit and become hunted men? Is it worth it?"
"One good meal, or eating well for the rest of your lives? Pretty easy choice."
The sellswords' expressions shifted. He was making sense.
One side offered a generous lord who paid well and treated them decently.
The other was the massive risk of murdering a noble.
Seeing them waver, Griff flushed red. "Don't believe his lies! He's full of shit! Second son of a duke? I could claim I'm a lord too! It's all talk from his mouth!"
"His imaginary troops aren't as real as the gold right here. Even if it's true, we kill him, take everything, and sail to the Free Cities across the Narrow Sea. We can live like kings there too!"
The sellswords looked back and forth, uncertain.
Leo spoke calmly. "Right now, whoever kills Griff gets all the gold on the ground."
Everyone stared at the coins—more than ten gold dragons.
The next second, a longsword thrust from behind Griff and ran him through.