Chương 15: Arriving King's Landing
298 AC, King's Landing…
Rody left behind a deserted village while leaving for King's Landing. More than a hundred able-bodied men, women and children were following him. Some were young men with families while the others were the old veterans of Robert's Rebellion.
However, the most surprising thing for Rody was the beast of a man hidden amongst the villagers. The man was the biggest person he ever saw, he was three of four heads taller than him.
Only after learning the man's origins, he considered it normal. His name was Crag and his mother was a local of the village while his father was one of the Umbers.
Unlike his appearance, Crag was a silent soul but according to what was said between the men, he was said to be a real berserker when blood washed over his eyes.
He was carrying a huge warhammer on his back and apparently from his hands, he had some experience with it. Rody was afraid the giant of a man would be mistaken for a real giant when he grew up as he was only a year younger than Rody and every part of his body was covered in thick hair.
Although the younger generation was unruly, they knew a little bit of common tongue so Rody was using them to communicate with the older generation as all of them only knew the Old Tongue spoken in some parts of the North and Beyond the Wall.
The journey to the capital was uneventful for Rody. They were in the capital even before the king and his convoy arrived.
Their entrance to the city was as Lord Stark predicted as the guards were delaying their process. That was why Rody split the group into six or seven parts and gave some coins to each of them and told them to hide their weapons and furs in the carts.
All of them were stopped before the gates and only after insisting that they were traveling with their families to pray in the Great Sept of Baelor and paid some coins discreetly, they were allowed to enter the city without any search.
While they were regrouping in the city, Rody went on his way to rent out several houses in the Flea Bottom. It was going to be a little crowded for a few days but considering the conditions of the area, he knew none would find it strange.
While everyone was busy with settling down, Rody stripped down his clothes and wore rags he bought from one of the beggars.
This place was going to become his lord's home for some time and he had no intention of living here without any information.
His first stop was the local inn as it was the perfect location for gathering some information. He sat on a corner of a modest inn and ordered some ale as he listened to the talks. Only after an hour, an interesting talk was picked up by Rody's ears.
"Heard the wolves of the North are coming down with the king." said a drunken man with a long beard.
"Wolves, you mean Starks?" said another while burping.
"Aye, the one whose wife was fucked by the Master of Coins. I heard him talking about it in one of his whorehouses." said the drunken man laughing with the other one.
"A hearsay after all," said the other man after his laugh.
The drunken man looked around and lowered his voice, "I am a regular of a crimson haired whore working in one of the brothels. According to what she said, Lord Baelish visits her often and each time he cums into her, he moans the Stark woman's name."
The other man creased his brows and scolded the other, "Be quiet, what if one of the gold cloaks hear us? You know they are on Lord Baelish's payroll."
The drunken man grumbled but stopped speaking. Rody left the inn after hearing about that talk. He visited several inns until the evening and then returned to one of the houses he rented.
He helped the families to settle down for a time as this was only a temporary settlement until Lord Stark came to the capital.
Rody roamed the city for several days while waiting for Lord Stark. During that time, he learned which gates required bribery to pass through and which ones were guarded loosely.
He was observant of every little detail as they were going to become crucial in their time in King's Landing. Lucky for them, they did not catch the eye of the influential figures of the city as most of the Northmen he brought with him stayed in the houses and did not go anywhere.
It took a week for the king to arrive in the city with Lord Stark and others in tow. Rody caught them while they were passing through the streets.
"Lord Stark, Lord Stark!" Rody yelled while trying to get through the crowd but the guards preventing the crowd getting on the road stopped him.
Rody saw Lord Stark turn his head and look around so he waved his hand and, finally, Lord Stark saw him.
He motioned for the guards to let him through as Rody came close Lord Stark began walking beside his horse.
"How did you fare in your task, Rody?" Lord Stark asked.
"It was fruitful, my lord. A hundred greybeard and twenty younglings around my age, ready to die and fight for our cause." Rody said as he took out the stone given to him by Lord Stark and extended it to him, "As you have said, they obeyed as soon as they saw the stone. However, none of the old men speak Common Tongue, that could be a problem."
"Problem? I don't think so…" A small smile graced Lord Stark's face as he picked up the stone, "There is no one who speaks the Old Tongue below the Neck, except for some clansmen in the Vale. Now, when I give an order, no one will know what it is until the deed is done. The spies listening to the talkings of our guards won't be able to carry any words to their masters.Most of all, no clansmen would ever take bribes."
A realization came upon Rody's face. "Then I will pick out the best of the younglings and bring it to you my lord so you won't need to worry about communicating with them."
"Although I know some words, what you said would be a good idea…" Lord Stark said, "Also, bring them to the castle, no use hiding them in the city when they could be accommodated near my family."
"One last thing, my lord…" Rody started with a nervous look as Lord Stark's curious eyes turned towards him, "I had done some diggins while waiting for you and there are terrible rumors around the city. I would like to tell them to you when you are available."
"So be it…" Lord Stark said, "I will have Jory wait for you at the gates so no unwanted people cut your way."
Rody took that as dismissal so he nodded his head and turned back towards Flea Bottom. It did not take long for the Northerners to gather their belongings and make their way towards the Red Keep.
As they neared the Red Keep, all of them revealed their weapons. With the animal furs on them, they looked like real savages coming from the North.
Rody saw Jory waiting for them before the gates. However, seeing the coming savages, the guards waiting at the door pulled out their swords and yelled for them to stop.
Only Jory's timely intervention prevented a catastrophe as several gold cloaks came from the other side of the gate.
They were let in with the watchful eyes of the guards on them. However, the most shocking for the guards was the giant amongst the Northerners. Some of the guards even mistaken the big Northerner for the Mountain That Rides.
Jory led them to the quarters prepared for Lord Stark's men. The women and children were left to settle while the men moved forward towards the Tower of the Hand.
Jory told them on the way that Lord Stark was busy with the dealings of the small council so they had to wait a little bit in the tower's small hall.
The hall that was referred to as small was actually able to accommodate at least a hundred men so they had enough space to settle.
While they were waiting for Lord Stark, a small creature jumped on Rody's back. Rody turned around to find that the creature was actually Lady Arya.
"Rody, I thought father sent you back to North just like Jon!" Arya's eyes were shining as she was clinging to him, "Sansa said this was your punishment, I knew she was wrong."
"Lord Stark sent me to invite some friends to protect your family." Rody put down Arya and said, "They are from your great-grandmother, Lady Arya Flint's lands."
Arya was quick to make friends amongst clansmen despite the language barrier. After an hour of waiting while chatting amongst each other, they were greeted by Lord Stark himself.
Seeing Lord Stark, all of the veterans rose to their feets and knelt on the ground while calling Lord Stark "Magnar". Rody pushed the young man who he first met in the village forward so he could interpret what was said between each party.
Rody watched as Lord Stark interacted with the clansmen. Lord Stark ordered them to settle in the castle and come back to the hall when it is dinner time as he wanted to have a drink with his brethren. His words were welcomed by the clansmen as they left the hall with a vigor that did not burn in them since the Robert's Rebellion.
On the other hand, Lord Stark called Rody and Jory to his solar as they needed to handle the organization of the clansmen's duties.
Lord Stark sat on his table while Jory took one of the chairs. On the other hand, Rody filled three cups of wine for his lord and Jory.
"I want you both to cooperate during our time in King's Landing. Despite the clansmen joining us, our numbers will be tight." Lord Stark said as he looked at Jory, "Put the clansmen in key positions that require silence. Their inability to speak Common Tongue will be a boon to their positions."
Jory nodded his head and Rody voiced out a request, "My lord, this place is treacherous more than the swamps of the Neck. I implore you to take a personal guard with you. Me and Jory can defend you against the three or four men but you need someone who can intimate your enemies just by seeing him."
"I believe you have a candidate then?" Lord Stark raised an eyebrow.
Rody nodded his head with a glee, "You must have witnessed the giant amongst the clansmen. They say his father was an Umber. I believe he could be the perfect guard for you."
"I agree, my lord." Jory also nodded his head, "The man is taller than the Mountain. If we make him wear full plate steel armor, I think even the Mountain would be wary of clashing against him."
Lord Stark thought for a few moments and then nodded his head, "Take him to Tobha Mott's shop tomorrow, tell him that the Hand requires his service. Since this position was forced on me, it is time I make use of it."
"Now, tell me what were the rumors you've wanted to talk about?" Lord Stark asked as he looked at Rody with tired eyes.
"There were several rumors and facts, my lord. Let me talk about the facts first." Rody said, "The commander of the gold cloaks is on payroll of Lord Petyr Baelish, despite being directly under Lord Renly Baratheon's command."
"Lord Baelish is not a man known for his rich lands. Although he has some brothels around the kingdoms, he shouldn't be able to have coins to pay for the gold cloaks regularly." Lord Stark said thoughtfully, "Either he is receiving the coins from someone else, or he is getting the coin through his position as the Master of Coins. Considering the Crown is six millions of gold coins in debt, I believe it is the latter."
Jory began coughing after hearing the figures, "I'm sorry, my lord. Did you say six millions of golden dragon?"
"Yes, I believe our Master of Coin is taking bribes from some merchants for his own benefit." Lord Stark began to message his temples, "Anyway, that is a matter for me to deal with."
Seeing that Lord Stark waited for him, Rhodey spoke about the other things but near the end he got nervous as the thing he dreaded talking about needed to be told soon.
"And lastly, there is another rumor I've heard about in several inns, my lord." Rody spoke while lowering his head.
Seeing this, Lord Stark got curious and motioned for him to continue.
"The smallfolk talk about your wife and Lord Baelish, my lord." Rody said.
Lord Stark creased his brows and said, "Speak plainly, Rody. I won't blame you for another's fault.."
Rody fumbled about but, in the end, he let the words leave his mouth, "The people are talking, my lord. They say that Lord Baelish bragged about how he has taken the maidenhood of your wife. They also say that he visits red-haired whores often to think about those moments…"
Tình trạng nguồn điện hàng tuần
-- Xếp hạng
Quyền lực 
-- Đá
Quyền lực