บท 14: Uprooted Evil 3
A few hours had passed since they'd left Ramsay's house of nightmares, conversation had been free flowing, Harrion had soldiered on despite his clear discomfort due to his injuries and they were making good time he thought. What he didn't like was the fact that the sun was quite low in the sky now and the oranges of the evening sky were starting to dim with every step they took.
"We might have to make camp soon, carry on in the morning." He shouted over his shoulder at the pair of them following behind.
"Anything is better than being back in that place." Alys replied, Harrion grunted in agreement.
"There's smoke about 10 minutes north from where you are." Kireina whispered in the back of his mind. She'd stayed close to them throughout the entire journey, high up in the clouds. The world's best personal tracker she was.
He really hoped that smoke wasn't another shack full of nutjobs, he'd dealt with plenty of them today.
As promised, 10 minutes later, smoke plumes could be seen just ahead through the canopy of the forest. He slowed his pace down just a little and Alys did the same with their horse.
"What's the matter Jon?" She asked, worry written all over her face. Harrion tapped her on the shoulder and pointed up into the trees, he'd obviously seen what Jon had seen too.
"How do we proceed? I'm not gonna be much use if this is a fight in front of us but I'll fight if I have to." Harrion said.
He slowly approached the edge of the forest and peaked out from in between the dense tree line. There wouldn't be another fight tonight.
A castle loomed in the distance, nowhere near as big as Winterfell but still a sight to behold.
This has to be Hornwood, for the love of god be Hornwood.
He wanted to make sure they got to safety before he left, this unfortunate detour had cost him almost a day. He could have been in Winterfell by now if it wasn't for this Ramsay cunt.
"Is that..." Alys proclaimed as they moved up next to him.
"Hornwood Castle. Thank the gods." Harrion answered.
Thank the gods indeed.
The three of them slowly trotted out of the treeline and made a beeline towards the huge gates of the castle.
"Let's hope somebody is in." He said with a grin. Alys just shook her head and smiled at him. The relief for the pair of them must have been immense.
The castle walls loomed tall ahead of them, with very little fanfare, the front gates slowly rose and revealed two mounted knights heading straight for them. One of them was holding the banner of House Hornwood, a brown bull moose on a field of dark orange. An orange that almost matched the sky.
"Halt!" One of the men shouted in a harsh tone. Jon and Alys stopped the horses in their tracks.
"State your business." The same guard who'd spoken to them asked whilst eyeing up the three of them. One of the guards looked at him and then just over his shoulder, no doubt at the two swords on his back.
He looked at Alys and Harrion, they seemed to be struggling how to approach this. He decided to help out.
"This is Lord Harrion Karstark and this is Lady Alys Karstark, we request food, shelter and access to one of your ravens if it wouldn't be too much trouble." He said in his most superficial lords voice he could muster. Alys just looked at him with an eyebrow quirked and a small grin on her face.
He turned back to the guard who was speaking to him and noticed the man's eyes had widened. It would seem this wouldn't be as difficult as he'd expected it to go. However, before he could open his mouth again, both guards were unsheathing their swords.
There goes that idea.
He quirked an eyebrow at the pair of guards, he could take them quite easily but it wouldn't look great if he did, it'd end up causing more headache than it was worth.
"Very bold of you to try and ransom Lord and Lady Karstark in person, bit of a thick decision but it gives us an easy job. I know a few Lords who would like to make an example out of you." One of the guards sneered as they started to move closer to Alys and Harrion, almost like they thought they were protecting them.
Before Harrion or Alys could open their mouth to correct them, Jon was beating them to it "I see common sense isn't your strong spot. Use your fucking head next time before throwing accusations around. If I was ransoming them, wouldn't they be tied up or something?" He said. The guards looked at the two Karstarks, both of them showed just how annoyed they were with the pair of idiots in front of them.
Both of the guards seem to come to the same conclusion and sheathed their swords. One of them spoke up "Apologies. The castle and the surrounding area have been on high alert since Lord Hornwood had announced Lord and Lady Karstark had been kidnapped."
"Can't have been on that high of an alert, we walked right up to your castle gates unperturbed. You need better scouts." He said in an uninterested tone.
"Jon! You're not helping." Alys chided. He just grinned in response.
"Enough of all this! Are you gonna let us in or not? Fetch Lord Halys, we've met once before. Anything to get me in there where a bath, some food, a maester and a feather bed could be found hmm." Harrion exclaimed. It looked like it took the remaining energy in the man's body to raise his voice to the pair of dolts.
The guards looked at each other before riding past the three of them, back towards the castle gates. One of them shouted over their shoulder "Follow us but any funny business and you'll regret it."
"Probably not but okay." He whispered under his breath. Alys heard him as she rode by and slapped him on the shoulder like a mother chidding a child, Harrion just smirked.
Homely would be the word he'd use to describe the inside of the castle walls. It was like everything was 25 percent smaller than Winterfell, Jon was almost charmed by it all as he looked about the place. A few more guards were eyeing the three of them up and some workers even stopped what they were doing to witness the spectacle of Jon riding a horse.
"Please, no more trouble. You have no idea how much I need a hot bath and some warm food." Alys said as she leaned closer to him.
He held up both of his hands in mock surrender "You can do the talking, my lips are sealed." He said as they came to a stop and dismounted from their horses. Harrion was a bit wobbly on his feet but shook off any help, Jon just shook his head as he handed the reins of the two horses to the stable keeper.
Northerners could be so stubborn sometimes.
The three of them were escorted into the main keep of the castle and told to wait there as one of the guards disappeared, to get Lord Halys he presumed, and the other kept an eye on them. The guard watching them was looking at Jon intently so he decided he'd do the same and just stared at the man with what Gerion used to call, his Tywin glare.
Jon won the imaginary war as the man looked away.
That's right bitch, look away. He grinned over his success and stopped when he saw Alys looking at him unamused. He looked back at the guard who now had a grin of his own.
"Prick." He said under his breath. The guard heard him and started moving towards Jon but was stopped by a bellowing shout from the other end of the hall.
"Harrion! My good man, it's so good to see you in one piece. And you, Lady Alys! Lord Robb will be very happy to know his intended is safe and unharmed, he's been very worried I tell you." A grey-haired fellow boomed across the hall. This was Lord Halys he presumed.
Alys to her credit, curtsied to the lord "Thank you Lord Halys, news about my intended is always welcome, hopefully as welcome as we are in your castle? The past few days have been truly awful my lord, my brother here will be in need of your maester and we'd appreciate accommodation for the night if that's okay my lord?" She asked. You wouldn't have thought she'd just been through hell with how she'd spoke.
Robb's got a good one there.
Lord Halys waved her off like she'd asked for something absurd "Of course it's okay Lady Alys." He shook his head and smiled at the two Karstarks "Lord Robb will be ever so pleased to see you, wracked with worry that one earlier. They should be back soon, getting dark out there." He said as he held out his hand to Harrion and shook it.
Back soon? Robb is here?
He couldn't think more of it as the Lord of the castle moved across to him and eyed him up and down.
"And who is this?" He asked as he looked in Harrion's direction.
"This was the man who saved us, if it wasn't for him, I don't know what would be happening to us right now." Harrion said as he gave a sad look in Alys' direction.
Lord Halys turned back to him "Well he certainly looks like he can handle himself, especially with them two swords on his back that he shouldn't really have at the moment." He said as he looked at the two guards that had escorted them. They had the decency to look down in shame with their failure to claim his weapons at the gate.
"Do you have a name lad?" Lord Halys asked as he turned back to him.
"Yep."
Lord Halys shook his head and grinned "And are you gonna tell us it?" He asked.
"Probably."
"Jon..." Alys warned.
"Ahh! So, its Jon. Jon what?" Lord Halys said as he grinned at Alys and then looked back at him.
"Snow." He replied. Lord Halys' eyes widened.
"Jon Snow...Lord Stark's lad?" He asked. Lord Halys' eyes lit up like he'd struck gold.
He just nodded his head in response. It was out there now. Jon Snow was back in town.
"This just keeps getting better and better." The man seemed to mutter to himself.
Harrion cleared his throat "Lord Halys, if it wouldn't be too much trouble, we'd like to get out of these dirty clothes and I really would like the maester to take a look at me." He said, clearly impatient now.
"Ah, yes yes of course. Donella always said I could talk the ears off anybody when I wanted to, of course she's the one who gets the worst of it..."
Harrion just raised an eyebrow.
"I'm rambling. Right, you two follow me. Jon, these servants will take you to the kitchens for something to eat while I get the rooms prepared." Lord Halys said as he escorted the two Karstarks away. Alys looked over her shoulder at him and mouthed 'Be good' at him. He just saluted her and she shook her head.
He could smell the food before he could see it, and when he did, he realised just how hungry he was, he'd had nothing all day. It looked like the leftovers from a feast but he didn't care, one of the servants handed him a plate and told him to help himself. He nearly kissed the man.
With his plate full and a horn of ale, Jon made his way out of the kitchen and into the halls where a different servant showed him to his room. There was no conversation between the two of them even with the girl constantly eyeing him up, it would have been rude to speak with a mouth full of chicken. He wasn't in the mood for conversation either, he was buzzing with excitement instead, excited to see his brother again.
I hope he's not mad. I don't know how I would handle that.
He was shown into his room, it wasn't large but it had what he needed. A roaring fire, a featherbed and a hot bath. The servant curtsied and left him to it.
He placed his food and drink on the table and took his blades off his back. He grabbed his plate and horn and sat on the bed, he almost sunk into its softness. He lent against the wall the bed was next to and quietly enjoyed his dinner.
I've got good food, good northern ale, a nice soft featherbed and a steaming hot bath. He was also gonna be seeing his brother again, the gods were looking down on him today. Hell, he might even treat himself tonight and toss himself off before he goes to bed.
With his food polished off, Jon undressed and sank into the copper bath he was provided with. The muscles in his arse and back were singing in pleasure at the relief from all that riding. He cleaned himself off fairly quickly and just laid there with his eyes closed, letting the heat soothe the rest of his body. If he wasn't too careful, he'd fall asleep with how blissful it was.
He must have been laid in that bath for nearly half an hour, it might have been even longer if it wasn't for the clear commotion that was happening outside his room. He looked over his shoulder at the door, if he was about to be attacked, he wouldn't hesitate to fight his assailant stark naked. Thankfully he wasn't about to be attacked, going on the shout he heard outside from his window. Somebody was at the gates and by the sounds of it, they were being opened.
Robb!?
He'd never got out of a bath quicker in his life, water sloshed all over the ground as he towelled off with the fresh linens he was provided with. He dressed as quick as he could, strapping his swords and his dagger in their appropriate positions. He ran his fingers through his damp curls and picked up his horn of ale before necking the remains of it in a single gulp.
Please don't be mad Robb.
There was a knock on the door and he must have startled the servant with how quick he opened it.
"Lord Halys has told me to tell you the search party has returned mi lord." The man said as he bowed and walked off.
With a spring in his step he all but jogged through the keep and out of the front door. He was surprised at the amount of horses and dogs that were in the courtyard.
Search party? Robb must have a small army here!
There was a lot of movement in and around the horses that were currently being moved to the stables. There was a small crowd in front of him and he was stood at the back trying to see if he could spot those tell tale auburn locks, what made him scrunch his face in annoyance was the sight of one Theon Greyjoy.
Of course that prick was here, why hadn't he considered that earlier?
His face calmed and a smile grew as he saw his brother, he had a few more inches on him now, still a poor excuse of a beard though. He chuckled at the thought of that, he'd told Jon years ago that he couldn't wait to grow one.
His brother was in an embrace with a woman, from the back he couldn't really tell but if he were to guess by the beaming smile his brother had on his face, it was Alys.
He was glad he'd been in the right place in the right time. He would have to thank Kireina for her intuition, if she'd not got his butt moving this morning it could have been a whole different story.
He saw Lord Halys walk up to Robb and shake his hand, Alys was currently stood next to Robb with both of her hands holding one of his, almost hugging his arm. He couldn't spot Harrion but if he had to guess, the Lord was probably still in with the maester.
Lord Halys then moved across to someone stood behind a horse and held his hand out, who he saw made the blood in his veins run molten, he could hear his heart beating in his ears and his vision narrowed.
Why did I not think I'd be this angry? Why does he have to be here right now? Am I supposed to play nice because we have an audience? WHAT THE FUCK DO I DO?!
He would have to think fast, the man in question had Lord Halys whispering in his ear and his eyes darted all over the place like he was looking for something.
"Where!?" The man said, almost yelling at Lord Halys. Robb looked at the man confused.
That's when Lord Halys looked around himself and finally locked eyes with Jon and smiled. Jon wasn't in the mood for smiling anymore.
He was pointed at by Lord Hornwood and all eyes turned to him, especially the two Starks that were in the yard.
Robb was almost crying when he finally realised who he was looking at but the other man...
Lord Stark.
Well, he looked like he'd seen a ghost.
"...Jon?" Lord Stark almost whispered, almost like he didn't want to scare him away.
Jon just looked at him with cold eyes and didn't respond.
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