Chương 27: Stoney Sept
Beware!!!! There are mention of r*pe in this chapter. Beware!!!!
298 AC, Stoney Sept…
It was the last day of the year and Rody was in Riverlands at last. Their journey through the Westerlands had been harsh as he was forced to avoid the roads and ran away from any eyes. And despite all of that, his blade was stained with the blood of at least three dozen Westerlander.
He was still carrying the scars from his clashes with them. His most recent wound was on his face, a striking red one climbing up from the corner of his lips was enlarging his mouth. It was so itchy, he was licking and scratching it continuously.
He was never going to forget about the man, or rather the bandit who gave him that wound. It was one hell of a struggle for him as the man was the most difficult opponent he faced during his time on the run.
Still, the one who died in the end was, of course, the bandit. Rody beheaded him after a long struggle which caused him his current wound. He had to stitch himself while looking at a pond of water.
He licked his wound again. As soon as he saw the walled town before him, he felt like all his stress left him. The stress was enough to drown him in an ocean of grudge. The boy traveling with him was refusing to talk to him since the day he killed the two brothers when they entered the Westerlands.
The silence was maddening and it even forced him to reconsider whether to leave the boy in a village and ride hard to Riverlands. He even nearly came to blame Lord Stark for his current state but thinking it thoroughly, all the blame was on him.
After all, he was the one who kidnapped the boy. He could have escaped by himself but he had to bring the boy with him. Returning empty handed while he could kidnap one of the Lannister gits was out of the question. Still, he groaned in annoyance thinking about all the trouble he brought to him on the road.
Nevertheless, there was no use in thinking about these things because he was finally in friendly territory. The small smile on his face was a sight to behold as he slapped the boy's thigh, who was sitting on the horse while he was walking with reins on his hand.
"Hahah, we're finally in the Riverlands, boy." Rody laughed, "You see that town? That is where King Robert was nearly killed."
The prince groaned but did not give any answer. If this had been a few months ago, he would have rained down a bunch of questions but silence was his only friend these days.
Rody did not mind him and pulled the horse towards the town's entrance. The smile on his face was enough to convince people about his current joy.
"Stop right there!" said one of the guards standing at the entrance of the small town. "State your reason for coming to our town."
Rody pulled the reins of the horse. "Oii, good men! Me and me brother just came to rest ourselves in an inn for a day."
"What is with the ugly scar on your face?" said the other guard. There were two of them and both of them were wielding crudely-made spears on their hands.
"Good question to ask a stranger." Rody said and raised an eyebrow while still maintaining the smile on his face. "I did not know people were questioned thoroughly while entering towns around here…"
"Spare us your snide remarks, boy." said a balding, and weak-chinned man who came through the gates with a few ferocious looking dogs following him. "Our town was raided by the Lannisters nearly a week ago. If we do not question strangers, we will be the ones being questioned when the time comes."
The small smile on Rody's face was removed instantly. Here he was hoping to get a good rest after arriving at the Riverlands, instead that dream was gone in an instant and, from the looks of it, he was going to be forced to reconsider his choices.
"Now, tell us where you are coming from and where you got that ugly wound," said the bald man with a hard glare. "Or else, do not even think about entering my town."
Rody clicked his tongue while the prince snorted. "No need to get worked up, friend. We are just escaping from Lannisters as well. It was a bandit who did this to me, you can ask the boy if you want."
The bald man's eyes turned to the boy who was sitting before Rody. "Is it true, boy?"
The prince raised his head and looked at him. Just as the bald man was going to call out for them, he nodded his head and said, "Yes, it is."
"See, even he agrees." Rody said, "Besides, if I was intending to bring harm to the town, would I come with a little boy?"
The bald man grunted but nodded his head. "The inn was destroyed during the raid and most houses were burnt down so you have little chance to find a place to stay. If you are willing, I can give both of you a room during the night for the right price. Though mind you, you won't find a soft pillow but only a hard ground."
"I would have thought that the owner of a town would be more generous." Rody said. "But beggars can't be choosers, right?
"I'm not the owner of the town. I'm just a huntsman. The knight who owned this place was killed during the raid, there was no one to take the reins after his death so I became that person." The bald man said. "Now, follow me. I will show you the way. Also, what's your name?"
"I'm Rody, and this is Tommen." he said and pointed towards the boy while following the middle-aged man. "What about you? What's your name?"
"I'm Hunter." said the man simply.
"A fitting name, I say." Rody smirked.
Hunter snorted and said, "You are not the first one to say."
"Your dogs look strong, what do you feed them with?" Rody asked as he eyed the three dogs following closely behind the man. All of them were hulking masses of muscles and Rody was certain that they could rip him apart easily.
"I feed them with the leftovers from my hunts." Hunter kept his words at minimum.
Rody did not insist on making Hunter talk. He turned his head and looked around. As Hunter said, many houses were burnt down and there were only rubbles. The walls of the town were probably intact due to Lannisters catching the guards with their pants down and taking the gate without any problem.
Even though there were still a few men, women and children sitting around, their eyes were empty and without any emotion.
They were, most probably, witnessed the death of their loved ones or the heinous acts of the raiders. Rody was a person who was familiar with the acts of these sorts of men.
During his time in the North as a member of Greycloaks, he witnessed many bandits raiding small villages, raping and killing women, slaying old people.
Finally, they arrived before a two story house. Hunter stopped before it and turned around. His eyes directly bore into Rody's and Tommen's eyes.
"I have a wife and a sister living with me. Don't talk with them, if they don't want to." Hunter said.
"Your house, your rules." Rody silked his shoulders, already guessing its reason.
The prince also nodded his head, not caring about anything other than a place to rest his head.
The sun was already going down and losing itself behind the hills. Honestly, Rody himself was a bit tired as well. Although the prince was on horse, Rody had to walk half a day to not tire the horse too much.
Hunter helped them to tie the horse to his house's backyard. Then, they went inside. The house was a big one for a smallfolk but that was expected as a huntsman would earn well most of the year.
However, they were greeted by silence instead of a lively house with two young women inside. Rody licked his wound and looked around.
"Follow me," Hunter said as he took them to an empty room with only a rolled up bedroll inside. The thing was patched in every way but Rody knew there was nothing they could do.
"Do you have another one for the boy?" Rody asked.
Hunter raised an eyebrow and said, "No, I thought as his big brother, you would sacrifice your comfort for him?"
Rody laughed awkwardly, "Of course, he will be the one sleeping on it. I was just asking if there was a chance to get him a better one."
The prince, standing just beside them, snorted but said nothing.
"Anyway, I will prepare dinner. I will call you when it is ready but don't expect something grand. We only have some fish, that is it." Hunter said as he left the room while closing the door behind him.
Rody looked around the room. Beside the gathered dust and the bedroll, there was indeed nothing. They were probably robbed by the raiders as well. He went towards the wooden window and opened it to let some air inside.
He stripped his leather armour and belt, leaving himself with only his breeches and shirt. He sat on the hard ground and turned his head to see what the prince was doing.
The boy was already getting ready to get into the bedroll for a short sleep. Rody did not mind him and looked at his hands.
They were dirty and there was some dried blood at the tip of his fingernails. He remembered the loot they took from the dead and groaned after thinking that they won't be able to sell it here for a good price.
The town was raided and they probably did not have any coins to pay for them. If Rody revealed the weapons and asked for some payment, they would probably confiscate them and kick him out.
His wound suddenly got itchy and he raised his hand to scratch it again. By the time he lowered his hand, his fingers were covered by blood. It was probably because of his wounds.
Rody touched his wound with his other hand and looked at it. His wound was probably bleeding again. Only Gods knew what he was expecting by scratching the stitched up wound.
Suddenly he heard some yelling coming behind the door. He frowned and looked towards it. A man and a woman yelling towards each other.
He pushed himself towards the door with a sigh and pressed his ear on it to listen to them. It was a bit difficult to hear but Rody could make out some words.
They were talking about them. The young woman was probably the sister Hunter mentioned because she was calling him brother.
"After what happened… How could… It's only been a few days…" the young woman was talking heatedly and her words were full of anger.
Rody decided to leave the room and stop them, lest Hunter yield to the young woman's words.
He rose to his feet and pushed the door and opened it. The words leaving the mouth of the young woman were halted as she turned her head to look at the source of the voice.
"The boy decided to sleep so I thought of leaving him alone for a bit." Rody scratched his face with an awkward smile as he went towards the empty table and sat on it. "If you have anything I could help with, I am ready to do, Hunter."
Rody's eyes turned towards the young girl who was nearly at the same age as him but still younger. Her blonde braided hair was waving down her shoulder and she had a pair of blue eyes like her brother. A small pendant was hanging down her neck and a scowling expression was adorning her face.
"Hmph," The young girl snorted and climbed the stairs, disappearing from the kitchen.
"You can peel these," said Hunter as he unloaded a pot of potatoes before Rody.
Rody's eyes grew wide at the sight of the potatoes and the knife extended towards him. When he said that he could help, he was expecting something like working outside and not preparing the dinner.
Still, he was the guest and seeing the situation at hand, he decided to go along. He took the knife and began to slowly peel the potatoes. It was just like skinning an animal so he did not shy away from it. Besides, he was experienced with these sorts of things from his time living with Uncle Duncan.
"Your wife looks rather young, isn't she?" Rody asked despite knowing she was his sister, sensing the awkward silence.
"She was my sister." Hunter said. "Apologies, if he offended you."
"Ohh, it was our fault." Rody said. "Despite the raid, we intruded upon your house, not caring about what you could have lived."
Hunter stopped what he was doing as the pan on his hand fell to the ground. He balled up his fists and clenched his teeth.
Rody realized that he spoke wrongly so he tried to stir away from the subject, "So did you hear anything about what happens north of here? Any news about Tullys?"
Hunter took a deep breath and picked up the pan and continued what he was doing. "Heard there was a battle near the Riverrun. Tullys lost the battle and Lord Tully's heir was captured. They are holed up in the castle."
"Ohh," Rody's interest was roused as he was not expecting some real information. News about the war was scarce on the road as they were forced to avoid people so he did not know anything about the current state. "What about Starks? Are they going to help, after all they are allies with Tullys?"
"I don't know about it, though I heard some months ago about some Northmen escaping from the capital." Hunter silked his shoulders.
From the looks of it, things were not in their favour. This was a problem for Rody. He did not know where to take the boy. Should he try to bring him towards the east, to the Vale, or should go up north, hoping to sneak through the invaded lands?
Rody sighed deeply hearing about the news. He hoped Lord Stark and the girls were alive and well. A headache was slowly coming towards him. "What about south, any news?" he asked.
"Well, I heard both of the Baratheon brothers declared themselves king. Also, one of the princes was kidnapped. A few weeks ago, some criers came and told us that there was a bounty of ten thousand golden dragons to the person bringing back the prince and twenty thousand golden dragons for the man taking the head of the abductor." Hunter said.
Rody gulped hearing the numbers. If he had not been the said person, he would have gone out of his way to rescue the prince and slay the culprit. Alas, it was not the case. At least, he was glad that he shaved the boy's head as he was unrecognizable in his current state.
By the time Rody was done with potatoes, Hunter's mouth was as loose as a doomed tooth. Rody was in shock as it was hard to see him as the cold man from before.
"A pity, you guys are leaving tomorrow. It would have been great if you had stayed a few more days." Hunter said.
"It is better this way, your sister would kick us out if we do not leave by tomorrow." Rody gave out a hearty laugh.
"Don't mind her words, she is just afraid for my wife." Hunter sighed deeply as he took a seat on the table. "You see, I was away on the day of the raid but I always leave at least six dogs behind when I go to hunt. It was a day after the raid, I returned to the town. Seeing houses with smoke fuming on top of them, the first thing that came to my mind was my wife and sister."
Rody stayed silent and listened to men. It was always hard to tell these things but once told, it would take away some of the stress on the mind of the person. Thanks to Gods, he was always the one to listen to these things, not the other way around. He didn't know what he would do if he lived the same thing as these people.
"When I arrived before my house, I was met with the foulest stench I have ever gotten. All six of them were butchered and thrown down the well. Our sheep were butchered as well." Hunter said. "My sister greeted me as I entered the house, my wife… she… she…"
Rody put his hand on Hunter's shoulder, seeing his voice crack but Hunter was adamant on continuing.
"My wife hid Serena under the floor and seeing only her in this big house, they… they…" Hunter took a deep breath. "She won't come out of her room now. And only Serena could enter inside without hearing her scream her lungs out."
"Do you know what was the first thing I told my sister after learning about this?" Hunter asked with a whisper.
"What was it?" Rody asked in return.
"It was 'did you give her moon tea?'" Words left Hunter's mouth without any emotion.
"Oh…" Rody did not know what to say. He did not want to hurt Hunter's feelings but the man was the dumbest son of a b*tch if what he said was true.
"I don't know what to do. I am sometimes relieved that I am also responsible with the town as I find myself busy with it and not thinking about my wife. It feels like I am escaping from the harsh reality but there is nothing I can do." Hunter said.
Rody remembered seeing this situation many times. These wounds were the ones that were never going to heal. However, that does not mean you should just give up and be done with it.
"Hey Hunter, we met just a few hours ago and you may not care what I say but listen to my words and pull your shit together." Rody slammed his fist onto the table. "I am not the best person to give you advice on this but you need to be with your wife right now. I saw this happen many times, if you do not act now, there won't be another chance in the future. You will slowly lose the bond between you and by the time you realize it, it won't be the same ever."
"Now get your arse up and move it to your wife's room." Rody said, trying to encourage him.
"Aye, you are right." Hunter pushed his chair back and rose to his feet. "I escaped from this until now but no more, I will face it or else how could I look at her face in the future."
Rody smiled as he watched Hunter march up the stairs with determined steps. He rose to his feet and loaded the potatoes inside the pot. He went to prepare dinner for everyone.
Just because Hunter was gone upstairs did not mean he was going to stay still. As a favour to the brave man, he was going to cook with great care and bring out his best culinary skills.
Just as he was preparing to cut some onions, a scream rose from upstairs and Rody stifled. He smiled awkwardly.
Well, no one told Hunter it was going to be easy, right?
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