บท 2: Forged in Battle - part 2
He woke up after a few days in Maester Caster's room. with his grandfather sleeping in a makeshift bed next to him.
— Grandfather. — Said Gwayne, then he screamed in pain as he tried to move. he had his rib broken when he was thrown into the parade.
— Maester! shouted Ser Lymond.
A frail figure ran as fast as he could, carrying a bottle of poppy milk in his hands.
— Drink, little sir. — said the wrinkled old man. — will get better.
Gwayne began to feel the effects of the milk of poppy, his eyes became heavy and his voice slowed. he calmed down.
— What happened? Where's Cerella? —Gwayne said.
— She is fine. — Ser Lymond said with calmness in his voice. — don't worry about her.
— What was that…beast?
— Beast? — Ser Lymond said, arching his eyebrows and studying his grandson's eyes. Fear. He thought. That's what he saw in from his eyes.
— Did you catch her? — asked Gwayne with his hand pressing on the edge of the bed.
— We got it. said Ser Lymond shortly. — a beast in my village, hidden beneath my eyes. — His voice had become somber. — he paused
— You never hurt him, you're a good boy.
Gwayne didn't understand what his grandfather was saying. - A beast, in the form of a man. — on top of that, he doesn't have a shred of honor to admit his crime. — Said the grandfather, walking back and forth across the room.
Gwayne had felt that his grandfather didn't want to believe what happened.
— We got him, yes. — Said Ser Lymond. — He's in prison right now, he'll be hanged when you're better. —
— How did they manage to catch him? — Gwayne looked incredulous for a moment. — he was so strong.
— Rest, little boy. — said the grandfather, getting up. — When he reached the door, Gwayne spoke one last time.
— Cerella, it was her... Or another girl... — then his eyes started to fail, and he only heard the sound of the door closing.
A moon's turn passed until Gwayne was completely recovered. Most of the time he spent sleeping, it was as if he was in a long dream, the best of dreams. He woke up and slowly got up, sitting on the edge of the bed.
— How long have I been here. — he thought — then he walked to the door, went out into the corridor of the west wing of the castle, a long corridor full of doors and at the end the staircase that led to the main door and then the great hall, it was a small but comfortable castle. Gwayne knew they must be one of the richest knightly houses in the West, the Vikarys of StrongPride. He got down and walked to the hall, he could hear the noise coming from inside. Meanwhile the guard at the door was talking to him, but he didn't hear anything he said. He was stunned. He put his hand on his head, saw that his hair was too long. — Girl hair. — He murmured.
His hair had grown a lot while he slept, while he was examining his hair, the guards opened the doors to the great hall. Revealing what all the fuss is about.
Gwayne was frightened by what he saw.
— Ironborn.— he said quietly, in disbelief.
Ser Lymond bellowed at him from the dais with glee. — my boy is already on his feet again! — He said.
Gwayne surveyed the full room. Ser Patrick the captain of the guard and Ser Leo accompanied their grandfather, Ser Lymond. the rest of the table was full of ironborn. a huge woman got down from the dais and walked towards him. she approached him and pinched his cheek sweetly.
He thought this would be her affectionate touch, the strong one would probably have ripped flesh off her.
— A baby boy! — She said smiling. — You must be the boy Ser Lymond talked about so much, she smiled.
Long blonde hair flowed over her shoulders as she swayed, part braided and part loose with gold pendants clinking, blue eyes, wearing a blue dress with a gold belt. Gwayne liked how she looked. a graceful and menacing face.
A man appeared behind her, this one was even bigger than her, at least a head taller. then, he tousled my hair with his huge hand.
— It looks like a girl. — He said, then laughed. — two boys who looked like fifteen and sixteen years old laughed together.
Gwayne had given the man a scowling, authoritative look.
— Don't scare our new baby. — She said, closing her arms between her breasts and giving the man an angry face.
— The Lion shows its claws. You will be a great Warrior! — he said, with a gentle smile on his face, he touched her head again. Then he laughed and went off to talk to Ser Lymond behind. Gwayne didn't understand his line "the Lion shows his claws" he observed several children running around the room, playing with wooden swords, most of them being girls. Gwayne noticed Cerella watching in disbelief from the dais, her eyes were wide. Then she came running until her cousin hugged him.
— finally woke up! — she said excitedly. He responded with a dazed smile. Daeron was playing with the children. He felt a little envious. One of the girls came close to him, observed him closely, almost pressing her face to his, she twirled around and then passed her hand over his face. He had tasted the sea on her fingers. Then she left, sliding her hand up to the end of his hair, while Cerella looked intently with half-closed eyes and traced arms.
— crazy, right? — muttered Cerella.
The girl ran back to whisper with two other girls. who looked like twins in his eyes. He saw Ser Lymond and the Man shake hands. His grandfather was a tall man, but at least a head shorter than that man. After that they went outside. Cerella then grabbed her hand and dragged him away. — you need to cut your hair, cousin. — She said breathlessly. — Come, right now.
They went to the kitchen, then she pulled out a huge knife.
— are you sure, Cyre? — with half-closed eyes.
- trust me. — She said quickly, then took her hand and sat him down in the chair. she cut his hair right there, down to his neck and then made a sign that she was done. She pulled him over to the nearest mirror.
— it was good, thank you. — He said, giving she a kiss on the cheek. She smiled a little, then they returned to the main hall. The ironborn were no longer there, just servants and castle staff. Ser Lymond, who was accompanied by Ser Leo at the entrance to the castle, called out to Gwayne.
— Come on Lady Cerella, the children are outside. — Ser Leo said gently. — I will accompany you. She skipped after him. Ser Lymond had given Gwayne a thoughtful look.
— He's almost a man now, Gwayne. — he began. — I need you to be strong! — This will be difficult, but if you can do it... Ah, my good boy, everything will be different.
- For what? Gwayne asked, afraid of the answer.
— you will go with Lord Wulf. said Ser Lymond quickly. — you received part of your knight training here at Strong Pride but now you need War training. — he said with sadness in his voice.
— Where will I go, Lord? Gwayne said in an irritated tone.
— it's not safe for you to be here anymore. — Ser Lymond said, placing a hand on his shoulder, then continued. — Tywin could be behind that drunk's hands. — said the grandfather with a dark face.
- but...
— Wulf agreed to receive you, he will teach you war tactics and the art of fighting of the ironborn. — He said in a tone that he would not accept answers. He knelt down and placed his hands on his grandson's shoulders.
— It's been nine years since the last war. the Uprising of Balon Greyjoi. my second son died there... But your father and Cerella's returned, grown, strong men!
— Do you remember the dream you told me about? He said asking Gwayne.
— I remember. — he replied quickly.
— they are mercenaries from the islands of Drunn, they are known as Gudrunn. Grandfather said in a firm tone.
— The man you saw just now is their Leader. Wulf Gudrunn himself and his wife Brianna Darke. They were expelled from the Iron Islands for being "fanatics" at least that's what they say, I would say convinced.
— Wulf accepted you as a squire, you will be with him from today onwards. — Gwayne opened his mouth to complain, but gave up when he saw Ser Lymond's face.
— Do they know about the dream? Gwayne asked.
— If they didn't know they wouldn't come.— Ser Lymond said with hardness in his voice.
- Let's go now. We need to hang the damn man. They walked together outside, through the door and then the short hallway, then the castle's last defense, a large portcullis with a door carved into it. the two boys who laughed at him earlier looked at him, behind them Wulf and Brianna stood like sentinel colossi.
— come. — Gwayne said with authority in his voice. Soon Cerella and Daeron were at his side. Ser Lymond had ordered the guards to bring the man in and place a noose around his neck.
The man screamed saying he was innocent, but no one listened to him. Gwayne knew he was innocent, he was just drunk, there was no way he could do that.
— he couldn't break that window... — he murmured, only Daeron seemed to hear. Gwayne had closed his cousin's eyes. — don't see that. — he said.
Some people threw rotten tomatoes at the screaming man. Then Ser Lymond had given the order. Gwayne watched until the end, when everyone turned to continue with their business, he continued looking until there was not a shred of life in his eyes. Then, the Heart tree cried.
— Blood. — he murmured. but no one noticed.
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