Souvenirs
Chapter 34
Souvenirs
Harry seemed to be the only one worried that they were lingering far too long from the capitol. Meanwhile, the king seemed content enough to stay away for as long as he could get away with. They spent their days hunting and flying over the horizon. Robert was lucky enough to down several animals that he cleaned and skinned himself, trading some to commoners for supplies or foodstuffs though he liked to keep the finest for himself with the intention of turning them into mantles as soon as they returned. They even downed a shadowcat, to which Robert gladly laid claim to, offering the meat to Buckbeak, so long as the king could have the hide. While Harry disliked being away for so long, he couldn't argue that there was a certain boon to Robert's company. He learned a great deal from the king, not just with hunting, but evening spars and regular morning exercises became a norm and grew a hope in Harry that his physique would soon fill out.
They visited common villages and Robert indulged in interacting with peasants, using their chosen pseudonyms of Ser Bob and Squire James to maintain discretion, though for a man as big as Robert, it was difficult keeping a low profile. It was doubly so, when trying to conceal the massive eagle-horse they rode on. Thankfully, Buckbeak was clever enough to keep himself hidden when Harry instructed him to. Each time, he commended the hippogriff for his successful stealth and the steed preened with the shower of praise. At least one of them was being discreet. It stressed Harry to no end any time Robert drew unnecessary attention to himself.
In the time they were away, they made their way along the Crownlands into the Stormlands to visit Robert’s home Storm's End and were welcomed warmly by the steward who was surprised but pleased to see his liege just the same. The castle wasn’t the largest Harry had ever seen, but it certainly could have been the strongest. It was surrounded by a massive outer curtain wall, one hundred feet high and forty feet thick on its thinnest side and nearly eighty feet thick on its seaward side. It was composed of a double course of pale grey stone with an inner core of sand and rubble. The wall was smooth and curving, the stones so well placed and so perfectly fit together that the wind could find no purchase when it blew against them. On the seaward side there was a hundred fifty-foot drop below the wall into the sea and there was no safe anchorage by the castle.
It was quite the handsome structure and throbbed with a strange foreboding magic that nearly sent Harry stumbling to his knees the very moment he approached its raised gate. A terrible headache overpowered him and though Harry wasn’t sure, it felt as if the castle was repelling him somehow.
“You alright, lad?” Robert asked, upon seeing his squire stumble.
“F-fine, your grace. Just dizzy is all.” But he was so much more than just dizzy. Harry could barely move. Behind him, Buckbeak was also growing agitated, likely due to the castle's energy that had assaulted both of them.
“Well get back to your feet and follow along. I want to show you the castle of my fathers.”
For some reason, the moment Robert had said those words, the dizziness that fogged his mind vanished abruptly and Harry felt himself straightening to his feet again. He felt something trickling from his nose and wiped a hand across it only to find a smear of blood marking his glove. The sight of the red had him scrambling for a handkerchief, though it seemed as if it had blessedly stopped bleeding before growing out of hand.
Though it had been cause for some concern and confusion, Harry soon put the thought out of his mind as bigger things drew his attention. He was introduced to the castellan Ser Gilber Farring, who greeted his liege with great enthusiasm and called for a squire to give Harry a tour of the impressive structure while he and Robert spoke alone.
The following weeks would see that to be a consistent theme for Robert when they traveled to a keep. Harry was often distracted with tours and activities while the king and their current host spoke alone about matters that he was never made privy to. Harry tried not to dwell on it, but the mystery had his curiosity piqued.
They stayed in Storm’s End for three days, but in total, they had been gone for well over eight from the capitol.
In the back of his mind, Harry just knew that the moment they had returned to the Red Keep, Eddard would be on them both with unending lectures and restrictions. Harry was practically begging Robert to let them return. Reluctantly, the king agreed, and Harry urged Buckbeak to fly as fast as he could back to the capitol. By the time they arrived, fourteen whole days had gone. Eddard was waiting for them in the paddock with the expected lectures along with several members of the kingsguard and small council. Everyone had various looks of disapproval and different versions of the same lecture when they landed. Harry cringed, bracing himself the moment he had slid to the ground with Robert following behind him.
Lord Eddard stepped up first, “Your grace, you’ve been gone for so long, I thought for sure you had been kidnapped or attacked or worse. And you!” He turned on Harry, who deflated at the tone. “Why did you take him to… wherever you went?”
“Apologies, Lord Stark. I only followed the orders I was given.”
But Eddard didn’t seem to accept that excuse as he ranted on. “Why would you keep him for so long?”
“He’s the king! What was I supposed to say? No?”
Eddard turned and rounded on Robert. “Harry is no knight nor a kingsguard. And the last I checked, he was my ward. You cannot rely on him for protection, nor is it fitting for you to make such demands of him when he does not even belong to your house!”
Robert bristled, angry to be getting told off by his friend. “Well, maybe I’ll make him part of my house. He’s only a ward, after all!”
“You can’t do that!”
“There’s no law that says I can’t!”
Harry stood there, switching his gaze from one man to the other while feeling the phrase “caught in the middle” more than he ever had before. From the corner of his eye, Arya snuck up to stand at his side. It didn't seem like anyone had even known she was there until she emerged from out of his house. She was dressed in a cotton smock and some loose comfortable pants, which was her usual attire for her water dancing lessons. She too turned her gaze back and forth between the two men with him.
“I think Mother and Father are fighting over you, Harry.”
“Is that what’s happening right now?”
The men argued more, and Harry felt a strong urge to hop right back on Buckbeak and fly himself as far away from these two as he possibly could get, but that would have been unfair to the steed, who was just as tired as Harry. After days and days of travel, he had rightly earned a good meal and a long rest in his comfortable den. Harry himself was feeling the need for a hot bath and some much-earned rest. As awkward as this whole situation was, he just wished Lord Eddard would get done with yelling at them already.
“This is weird,” he muttered down to his foster sister.
She nodded. “A bit. Yes.”
He turned his attention from the two arguing men to the girl on his side. "Has a lot happened since we've been gone?"
"Not much. Though, there was a message from Robb that came in a day ago. I'll tell you about it later."
He nodded and waited patiently. But the argument had risen to shouting and Harry had finally decided he had enough.
“Alright, I’m out!” He turned and remounted Buckbeak.
“Hey, where are you going?” Robert and Eddard said at the same time.
“You’re not putting me in the middle of your… lover’s tiff, okay. I can’t take either side here, because one way or the other has the same loser: me!”
“And I’m going with Harry,” Arya piped up with the same amount of disapproval for both men. “You both treat him really unfairly.” She reached up and Harry helped her into the saddle behind him. Before anyone could stop them, they were flying off again, escaping from the situation.
They had landed on the side of a grassy cliff, clad with wild pink trumpet flowers that had a strong fragrance and left Buckbeak's coat feeling soft and shimmering when he rolled in the tall mounds. It was one of Harry's favorite spots to break and test his magic in private, but all he had the energy to do right then was lie down and rest his eyes. It had been a very long trip indeed. Arya sat beside him, fawning over a silvery beetle that she had found in the grass. She was busy tying a thin string around it as a sort of leash. It had been a trick she learned from one of the stable hands and the shapes that the string made when the beetle flew around was quite the amusement.
"Did you at least have a good trip?" She asked him, keeping hold on the string as the beetle flew above their heads.
"Good enough," Harry informed, eyes still closed while he rested. "We visited Storm's End."
Arya's head snapped towards him with the news. "Really! In just two weeks? But it's so far away."
"Buckbeak's a fast flyer," he remarked without further explanation.
"Oh, I wish I could've come with you. Did you get any souvenirs?"
"A few, though mostly animal pelts. We killed a shadowcat that nearly gutted a man on the road."
Arya wiggled with excitement. "Really? Did you take it down or the king?"
"Robert," Harry informed. "He'll make it into a cloak."
"If you go on more adventures with him, could you bring me back something next time?"
Harry opened his eyes. "Now that you mention it. I actually do have something for you." He got up and moved to the saddlebags that he had removed from Buckbeak to let him bound around a bit easier. He rummaged through the contents until he found what he was looking for and told Arya to hold out her hand. Arya felt him drop something smooth and hollow into her palm. She stared at it and realized she was holding a small trinket box made of two glossy mussel seashells. Something was rattling around inside and when she opened it, she found a shimmering black baroque pearl.
Admittedly, Arya wasn't much for trinkets or jewelry, but the attractive pearl and the little box had Arya gazing at the shimmery treasure with rapt interest. "How pretty. It's shaped so strange though."
"Well, that one reminded me most of you," he explained. "See, it might be shaped different and colored different, but no matter what, it's still a pearl. They served mussels one night for dinner at Storm's End and I got lucky and found not just one, but two pearls that night. The other one is for Sansa." He rooted in his bag and showed her an identical trinket box, except the pearl inside was a misty grey blue, almost the same color as Lady's fur. "Think she'll like it?"
"If I know Sansa, she'll love it."
"Good," he tucked it into his pocket and was about to lie back in the grass before his memory jogged and he was sitting back up again. "Oh, right. You said Robb sent a letter?"
Arya nodded, leaping on the topic energetically. "He and Hermione made it to the Reach! He said they arrived at Horn Hill and are staying with House Tarly for Evelynn and Roslynn Tarly's nameday. He said the journey was mostly safe though there was some trouble with bandits on the Roseroad, but they and Grey Wind defeated them and turned them in to House Meadows and earned a reward for their capture."
"Were they injured?"
"Robb said he got a cut on his neck, but it wasn't deep. Hermione dressed it and it was completely healed by the time they reached Horn Hill. He also stressed that the pins Hermione gave us are really lucky and we should keep them on us at all times." As if to prove the statement, she pulled back the collar of her shirt and revealed her identical direwolf pin tucked beneath it.
Harry felt a breath of relief leave him with the news. "That's good to hear."
But then Arya shifted, her mood sobering almost immediately. "There's also something else."
"What?"
"Lord Randyll had another message sent ahead of Robb's. He wants permission from Father to wed Robb to his daughter Evelyn."
Harry wasn't sure how he was supposed to react to that news. "O-oh. Well... I guess that's good?"
But Arya didn't think it was good at all. "I don't want Evelyn to get married to Robb!"
"Why not?"
"Because I want him to marry Hermione," she stated firmly. "I'd much rather have her as my sister than some lady I barely know. But that's not even the worst part. Lord Randyll said that he would generously attempt to arrange a match for her with Gerold Dayne in Dorn while he was at it. She can't live all the way in Dorn! We'd never see her again!"
Harry stared at her, mouth agape. While it wasn't really his place to comment on the marriage pacts that Lord Stark made for his own children, he had plenty of an opinion about what the man considered and decided for Harry and Hermione. "I--how long ago was that?" He demanded.
"It was right after you left," Arya stated.
"And what did Lord Eddard say?"
"I don't know. I think he wanted to stall for a while before giving them a decision."
Harry ripped himself to his feet, reaching for the saddle and calling over Buckbeak immediately. "We have to get back to the keep right now."
The king, Lord Stark and the rest were no longer in the places the two children and hippogriff had left them by the time they all returned to the keep. They left Buckbeak in the paddock to be looked after by one of the Stark men who had been approved by the hippogriff personally while they escaped to look for their patriarch. Harry climbed the stairs for the Tower of the Hand two at a time, with Arya jogging behind him. By the time he reached the office, Harry's heart was hammering in his ribs, and they were both almost completely out of breath. He still had energy enough to pound strongly on the door, though he entirely missed the shouts on the other side.
"This isn't over, you hear me! I have friends at court who will not stand for this!"
With that, the door was flung opened, startling them both. A man in a gold-cloak uniform was furiously standing on the other side and his mood only worsened when he looked across at the two of them. Once he realized who it was, he turned back to the other occupants in the room while his hand flung out at Harry. "Is this who you'll replace me with? The king's little pet?"
"That's enough, Ser Janos," Eddard proclaimed, rising to his feet behind his desk. Jory stood at his side, looking firm. "You are dismissed. Leave this castle before I make you leave the city, likely on a ship headed to the Wall."
The man huffed like a bull and shoved Harry aside, stomping down the stairs in a fury. The whole display had both Harry and Arya confused as they watched the man disappear.
"What was that about?" Harry couldn't help but ask as both he and the girl moved into the room.
Eddard dropped back into his chair, leaning backward wearily. "Just making a few changes to the city watch. I had a message from Robb that strongly advised I do so."
The mention of Robb snapped Harry back to the reason he had rushed back to the keep so suddenly. "Arya told me all about the message he sent you. She also mentioned another message from Lord Randyll."
Eddard paused and then sighed again. "Jory, could you give us the room?"
With a bow of his head, the captain left through the open door, closing it behind him.
"I see Arya has already informed you of the messages I received," Eddard stated the moment they were all alone.
Harry took a deep breath, trying to remain calm as he found his words. "What do you plan to do? I know I can't speak about any matches you make for Robb, but what about Hermione? I don't even know anything about, Gerald... whoever."
"Gerold Dayne," Ned clarified. "I'm... well aware of the man. He has also asked for my approval to marry her."
At his side, Arya provided her own opinion on the matter. "Well, I don't approve! I don't want Hermione to marry someone that far away. We've never even met this man. What if he's horrible."
"Peace, both of you," Eddard demanded, lifting his hand to silence his daughter. "I understand your concerns, but I have already received word back about this matter."
He lifted a long slip of paper, and both the teenage boy and little girl stared at it with held breaths.
"This is from Lord Fossoway. It would seem that a great deal happened while Hermione and Robb were staying at Horn Hill. What do you know about the Bad Apple?"
Harry didn't recognize the name, but Arya looked at the ceiling consideringly. "Wasn't he a member of the Band of Nine during the War of the Nine Penny kings?"
"Precisely. No one knows what became of the man after their defeat at the Stepstones, but it would seem that he has recently resurfaced and started raiding settlements along the Red Mountains. The Tarly forces managed to defeat them. However, Robb and Hermione were captured by the rogues. Don't worry, they're alright now." Both Arya and Harry had jolted with the frightening news before Ned calmed them. "With the help of some prisoners, they triumphantly managed to take their keep while the rogue army was away."
"They took the keep?" Arya repeated with a cry of alarm. "Hermione and Robb? All by themselves?"
"It would seem so," Ned confirmed. "Fossoway goes on to commend them for their contributions and informs that the two resumed their travels to the Citadel without further issue."
"So... what are you going to tell Ser Dayne and Lord Tarly then?" Arya asked carefully.
"I have no intention of accepting any betrothals at this time," Eddard decreed. "Hermione will do as she wishes, although Robb and I will have our own discussion about his future only once he returns. In the meantime, I have much to discuss with you, Harry. Arya, return to your room."
She may have been about to complain, but the look her father sent her left no room for argument. They both sensed the tension in the air increase as the girl hurriedly left the room. Harry had hoped he had escaped this lecture when he escaped the keep, but it turns out he had only prolonged it.
"If this is about the trip, I wanted to return sooner--really I did! But the king wasn't having it," Harry explained hastily, hoping that would alleviate some of the lord's anger.
Eddard looked less than impressed with that excuse. "I understand Robert is a difficult and demanding man, but I would have appreciated some kind of word, Harry. Especially if he chose to leave without even a single kingsguard."
"Robert--the king--told me he informed you that he would be leaving for a few days with Buckbeak and me."
"Well, yes. In way of leaving a brief note with Arya which she was only allowed to deliver during breakfast the next day."
Harry's mouth hung open. "What? He did that?"
"Indeed. You understand then, the severity of this, correct? I need to know exactly what you both did on this trip."
"We traveled mostly through the Stormlands," Harry reported to him. "We met commoners and hunted and flew around on Buckbeak. If we ventured into any settlements, then we used aliases. At night we camped, and I put up wards to keep us safe and hidden while we all slept, so there was no danger during the night at least. We also visited Storm's End."
"You flew that far?"
"Buckbeak has gotten very fast," Harry explained with a shrug.
"I see then. What did you do at Storm's End?"
"Robert had business to discuss with the steward. I was excused from those conversations, so I don't know what they were about, unfortunately. After a few days at the keep, I was finally able to convince him we should head back."
After the explanation, Eddard scowled in thought and pressed a hand to his mouth. He was thinking for so long that Harry began to get a little uncomfortable with waiting. "Um... what are you thinking, my lord?"
"I'm not sure," Eddard admitted. "Though, if I'm being honest, I have to admit that Robert looks a lot better after his journey than he did before it. While I don't approve of leaving without a guard to protect him, I will concede that they may be good for him just the same."
"What would you like me to do?" Harry asked.
"In the meantime, go about your normal tasks. If the king calls on you again, I want you to immediately inform me. None of this going off for two weeks without any word anymore."
"Yes. Absolutely," Harry immediately agreed. Eddard excused him and Harry was more than glad to leave, thinking again of a nice bath and a well-deserved rest.
Before returning to the paddock and his own quarters, he was sure to seek out Sansa, since she was on the way, and gift her the little seashell box and her blue pearl like he had for Arya. Just as her little sister had predicted, the gift had her absolutely swooning. She tried to convince him to stay for some tea and lemon cakes, but he postponed it in favor of the rest and relaxation he was looking forward to. Just the same, she still made him promise that he would make time the following day, so she could hear all about his adventures with the king.