Chapter 3
Robb II
The organized chaos aboard the Sun Bearer was echoed across all their ships as they prepared to dock and neared the harbor. Orders through the air flew from the mouths of the sailors as sails were raised and ropes tightened by the experienced hands of the ships crews and Robb spotted Theon among some of them, likely eager to help with the ship beyond walking around making ropes were properly tied and similar things as he had been doing since he finally got the ship's captain to relent and teach him about sailing.
As he watched Theon climb down the masts with some of the older sailors from his position on the upper deck he once more dismayed at the madness that seemed to have encompassed the world ever since his father told him that he was going to be one of the people to be sent on this mad journey. The Theon he knew would have clawed his eyes out before he practically begged anyone for anything, even if it was a lessons on sailing, something Robb knew Theon had secretly wanted for a long time but had been too afraid of being denied by his father, not that Theon ever explicitly told him so but he had know his friend for so long that he could tell that much without being told at least.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to dispel such thoughts before his head started hurting again, after a few seconds Robb opened his eyes again and turned his gaze towards the harbor and the city above it to try and see what awaited them on land.
The first thing he noticed about the city was its location, it had been built on a strangely formed mountain which resembled the shape of a bridge thanks to the fact that it seemed as if two mountains had bent whilst growing to connect above the mouth of the river in an arch, and through the arch formed by the mountain he could see the harbor which bustled with people who were no doubt rushing to prepare for the fourteen ships approaching.
He turned his eyes to the city once more and over the walls surounding he the tops of several buildings along with several guard towers and if he squinted he could make out several ant-sized figures upon it, guards no doubt, and a few banners hanging from the wall flapping in the wind but he couldn’t make out what exactly they displayed.
“A grand sight, is it not, my lord?” He nearly jumped as a man suddenly appeared next to him and when he looked towards him he saw the smirk that had tormented him for so much of the journey, “Indeed it is, my prince, but from what I’ve heard and from what you’ve told I imagine it’s not as grand to you as it is to me,”
“Oh?” the man had lifted a sharp eyebrow at his statement, “And what makes you think that Lord Stark?” The Martell Prince made no effort to hide the enjoyment he felt at making Robb squirm by simply being in his presence.
“Well,” he began, desperately trying to keep his nerves from showing as he spoke and no doubt failing miserably, “I have heard of and you have told of your many travels and I imagine that you’ve seen many such sights in your days, my prince, and so it is obviously not as impressive to you as it is to someone like me who has barely left the North my entire life.”
Oberyn Martell said nothing as he rested one of his arms on the wooden railing and turned his whole body towards Robb, the man's eyes swept over him as the Prince seemed to evaluate him with an intensity similar to how Robb imagined the mans venomous namesake would observe its prey.
Robbs body tensed as the man suddenly let out a loud laugh before pushing himself up from where he’d been leaning on the railing and putting his right arm around Robbs shoulders as he spoke again in his accented voice slightly different from his daughters and paramours ones, most likely thanks to his many years spent traveling and learning different languages, his lips now pulled up in a sharp smile,
“You are right Lord Stark, I have seen many great sight in my days, but let me tell you a secret,” the man leaned in even closer with his arm still around Robb until Robb thought he could probably make every individual hair in his mustache and beard, “the secret behind enjoying this life is letting yourself continue to be amazed, surprised and puzzled, confused and bewildered by our world, because if you can keep the wonderment so many credit only to children and ask yourself the questions they ask themselves such as how was it made, why was it built, when was it named and all such questions then every amazing thing you see, whether it’s the first or the hundreth you see, will seem just as grand and wonderful as all others.”
The taller man then quickly removed his arm and gave a quick goodbye, citing a need to check that his family was ready for docking. Robb only distantly noted himself reciprocating the man's farewell, the man's words had struck something within him, something he thought he’d forgotten or repressed for long enough to forget, an old conversation between two children in a snowy forest the aftermath of a fierce snowball fight.
”Why would wanna go there?” a young voice asked as snowflakes danced and twirled through the air as they fell towards the snow-covered ground, “it’s full of sand and slavers, and the sun will turn you into a melted pile of snow!”
The owner of the voice turned out to be a young fur-clad child currently laying in a snowdrift next to a bundle of furs topped of by a mop of dark curly hair, this bundle of fur turned out to be another child as a face suddenly appeared from where it had been buried in the furs, both children's faces were flushed red from the cold but the dark hair of the smaller one made his seem a deeper shade then his companion.
”But it’s also full of legendary cities and buildings Robb!” The darker-haired childs exclamation was accompanied by two gloved hands waving excitedly in the air as the child stood up from his place in the snowpile, “ and imagine all the sights there are to see there, wouldn’t you want to see the Titan of Braavos or the-” he was cut off as the red-haired boy also stood up,“Don’t forget the sellswords Jon! They’re men without honor and Essos is full of them, imagine what some of them would do if they got their hands on one of Ned Stark’s sons!”
“Then I’ll become a better fighter so they won’t get me,” a sad expression spread across the boy’s face as he continued, “and I’m not a Stark, they wouldn’t get much from me and they’d know that a bastard isn’t worth much.” The last words came out harsher than the rest and the excited expression on the boy’s face had disappeared, replaced by a mix of sadness and anger as his grey eyes glistened with unshed tears.
The other boy said nothing as he stared at his friend and several moments passed before he responded. No words came from him as he simply approached his brother and tightly wrapped his arms around the smaller boy, and though he most likely felt the warm tears that was pressed against his cheek he didn’t comment on it.
No words were uttered by either as they simply stood in each other's embrace. The moment was broken as a voice called out for them across the Godswood, they slowly broke apart and the grey-eyed dark-haired boy wiped his face clean of tears before they began to walk to the exit of the woods. No words were needed between either of them and their conversation would never be talked about by either of them again.
Robb was broken out of his reminiscing by the shouts of sailors as they passed under the strange mountain and neared the docks where he could make out several banners held by small figures, no doubt that was their welcoming party.
Taking a deep breath he pushed away all thoughts not related to the current happenings and made sure his fine clothing of grey and white was clean and wrinkle-free.
This was no time for dwelling on the past, this was after all an historical event, the first offical meeting of Westeros and this strange new land.
*******
Dovahkiin III
His clothes' tight collar chafed against his neck as he stood to the left of Queen Elisif with Thane Firebeard taking her right side as her most trusted advisor within the courtyard of the Blue Palace.
He still didn’t know who exactly they were expecting but he guessed it was some royalty or nobility from one of the nearby provinces, most likely High Rock, and he cursed himself for choosing to travel to Whiterun the day before the matter of their visitors was discussed, he had stupidly completely forgotten about their arrival, and when he returned it would have been too embarrassing to ask who they were meeting since he was supposed to have learned this information before he left, but again he’d stupidly forgotten about that too.
The snowy-white saber cat fur on top of his black cloak held up by a pin of darkened steel shaped to the likeness of Solitudes wolf banner tickled the back of his neck. A small comfort was that at least the brown breeches, white shirt and black coat he was wearing felt comfortable against his skin and his current outfit was fitted and made of a silky and light material, unlike the finery he had worn during his first feast as a Thane of Whiterun which had been lent to him be Balgruuf's steward and as a result had been both too lose in some places and too tight in others.
The Queen herself had dressed in a long dark purple dress with golden embroidery in the form of thin swirls and spirals, a similar pattern decorated the fitted upper arms of the dress but they were slightly wider whilst towards the wide sleeves from her elbow and below it was devoid of any such patterns. A long golden chain necklace with a round amulet inscribed with small inscriptions hung from her neck over the front of the dress ending just over her stomach and sitting around her finger was the simple golden band she seemed to never be seen without.
Jon was just about to turn his attention to some of the other people in attendance when the horn signaling the nearing of their guests blew and all whispered conversation ended. Just as he began to hear the sound of the entourage he took a deep breath to prepare for another group of prideful old men and women, after all no matter where you came from nobility and their ways didn’t change that much.
How he couldn’t wait to get this over with so he could saddle his horse and pack his things so he could get in his way to Castle Volkihar for his much needed vacation.
*******
Robb III
Their reception at the docks had been simple enough, with them being supplied with horses for the journey up to the city and as he passed through the gates he couldn’t help but note the clear signs of recent construction on the city, it had clearly been expanded and it’s streets were wide and clean.
The ruler of the land was the High Queen, and wasn’t that strange that it was a woman who ruled this place? He had been told they would meet her inside the courtyard of the Palace but as they neared it seemed like more of a castle then the descriptions of eastern palaces Maester Luwin had read to him about when he was younger.
Robb was at the moment riding alongside the northern part of the group behind the Baratheons, Lannisters and Martells, next to him was Dacey Mormont and Eddard Karstark whilst Theon rode a little behind. The two northerners were currently speculating about what sort of person this “Queen Elisif” would be. Robb himself had decided to simply wait until they met with the woman before painting any sort of picture of her in his mind.
One of their escorts pulled out a horn as they neared the gates of the palace and when he blew it they opened, they passed through towards the courtyard and Robb steeled himself for the coming meeting.
He was a Stark of Winterfell and no matter what happened here he would stay as cool as the material his family's ancestral sword was named after and as calm as the frozen lake his father had taken him fishing to once.
He could now make out a few lines of people with a crowned woman standing in the middle of the first row, he looked over his clothes one more time to make sure he was presentable before turning his attention to the two men who stood on either side of the Queen.