Chapter 7: After The Feast
After much deliberation, and two flagons of wine to drink himself to sleep, Will had awoke with a painful hangover, one of the most painful ones he could remember.
Two flagons and I'm dying? I must be losing my edge...
From what he had seen at the feast, King Robert and Queen Cersei definitely didn't have the happiest of marriages. Robert had walked from the dais and into the crowd of men and women, and started kissing and fondling quite a few of the serving girls, even placing his own crown on their heads whilst Queen Cersei looked at him scornfully.
Ok, you go with the royal family to wherever they go, find a ship, and go to Essos. Easy, a simple plan...
William took the time to clothe himself in his Drang armour, leaving his cloak and hood and began to wander the halls of the keep. His stomach was rumbling, begging for anything edible. He walked in on Robb and Jon, and thankfully, Theon was nowhere to be seen.
"Morning, Will! How's your head?"
"Pounding, Robb. Could you speak a bit quieter, I think my head vibrates when I hear when somebody speaking..." Will replied.
"Of course, Betha, get Sir Will some bacon, bread and some ale, before he keels over in front of us." Robb said with a cheeky smile, with Jon smirking as he continued eating his own food.
Will took a seat next to Robb, and they began to discuss what they thought of the royal family. Will was not surprised when both Robb and Jon shared the same opinion as Will when they began to talk about the Crown Prince, Joffrey Baratheon. Yet he had still managed to latch onto Sansa's affectionate side, to nobody's surprise.
"I saw the way he was looking at Sansa when he arrived through the gates, like she was a piece of meat." Jon said as he finished off his last rasher of bacon.
"As did I, Jon. I felt like punching the blonde shit." Will replied.
"I think we all saw it," Robb stated. "He wasn't exactly making it subtle."
"He doesn't look like the subtle type to me."
"When have you ever heard of a subtle Baratheon, Jon? You saw how King Robert was acting with the serving girls last night, it wasn't exactly subtle, was it?" Robb looked at Jon, who had a tired look on his face.
"He has a point." Will said, as a plate of bacon and a mug of ale was placed in front of him. Will took the ale and downed it in one go, desperate to dull the pain in his head.
"Desperate, Will?" Robb asked with a grin.
"More than you know, Stark. I think I have been blessed with food." Will replied. "What is happening today?"
"Apparently the Lannister men and some of our lads have started making bets at the sparring arena in the courtyard. Me and Jon are gonna go there and have a look what's going on, feel like coming with us?"
"Got nothing else to do, might as well. Gods, it might even be fun."
Bloody hell, how long has it been since we had fun?
Too long...
William wolfed down the bacon and went with Jon and Robb to the courtyard. He could already tell it had been turned into a mini-war. The Stark men had occupied the left side of the arena, coloured in the grey and dark greens, whilst the Lannister men had taken the right side, dressed in their lion-like armour, coloured in golden and crimson, with Prince Joffrey leading them, The Hound right behind him.
They call themselves lions, Ornstein was a lion, may his soul rest in peace...
"Will, over here!" Robb called over to him.
Will marched over to the Stark side of the arena, and when he turned around, he could see Lord Eddard and Lady Catelyn looking over the arena, with Ser Rodrik Cassel in charge. As Will walked through the collection of guards, he could see Bran, covered in padding, a wooden sword in his hand, preparing for a round in the arena, most likely against the youngest prince, Tommen.
"I know you can do it, Bran. You'll be quicker than him, because you have less padding and you should be able to get more hits." Jon reassured him, patting him on the shoulders.
"Ok, Jon. I think I am ready." Bran mumbled, loud enough for Jon to hear him.
"Alright, little lord, get in their and show those Lannisters what Starks are made of!" Will shouted, getting the Stark men riled up as they began cheering for Bran.
Just like Jon had said, Bran was a lot quicker than Prince Tommen, Bran was dashing around the arena dodging nearly all of Tommen's strikes, and landing most of his own. Tommen was taking the hits like he was in his own suit of armour, if the armour was made entirely out of padding. The match was soon over, when Bran thrust the wooden sword at Tommen's chest, falling over into the dirt.
"Bran wins!" Rodrik cried out, with a smile on his face.
Tommen was red in the face, panting and puffing every breath, whilst walking back over to the Lannisters, and his older brother. Who had snatched the wooden sword away from his brother and had marched into the arena with a grin on his face.
"Any of you weak Starks dare to fight me?" He proclaimed, looking at Robb with a smirk.
Will looked at Jon. "Robb is better with the lance, Jon. Why won't you fight?"
"Because a bastard like me cannot hurt royal blood. It would have to be another high-born, like Robb."
"Oh, fine. Give me the bloody sword." Robb said with a sigh. Jon and Will smirked as he walked into the arena slowly.
Robb was the first to start attacking, and he attacked well. He wasn't letting Joffrey catch his breath, and with Joffrey caught off his guard so much, he couldn't even form his defence. Will could tell he wasn't trained in swordsmanship at all. He was pathetic, trying to swing his sword while his side was wide open to attack by Robb. The fight ended when Robb punched Joffrey in the face, his hand tightly wrapped around the handle of the sword.
"I don't even think the prince was trying there..." Jon murmured to Will.
"After that display, I don't think the boy knows what trying even is." Will replied, getting a small lagh from Jon as Robb marched over, a triumphant smile on his face.
Joffrey looked furious, if what Will could see was any indication. His face was red, and the side of his face where Robb had punched had a little cut on it, as it slowly began to bleed. The Stark men were laghing at the display, and as Robb walked over to them, they gave him a load of pats on the back, cheering out 'Stark! Stark!'
Then the unmissable golden hue of the Kingsguard had marched over to the Lannister side, with Sir Jaime, marching into the middle of the arena, looking over to the Stark men.
"It is nice to see all these Lords and Princes fight, but I think it is time to let the real men fight, with live steel. Is there anyone willing to spar with me? Anyone? Trust me, I don't bite. I am willing to go easy on you." Said Ser Jaime, arms spread out wide, looking at everyone and waiting for a reply.
Come on, show him what you can do. You can defeat the Lords of Cinder, you practically are one. This guy is like the Ruin Sentinels in comparison to you...
That is a bit mean to compare him to the Ruin Sentinels, don't you think?
"Sod it, I volunteer." Will yelled out, to recieve a wide smile from Jaime.
"You look familiar, I haven't defeated you at a tourney before, have I?" Jaime asked.
"No, Sir William Redding. I come from a small house, you won't know it, Ser Jaime."
Will drew the twinswords he had taken from Black Hand Gotthard's corpse and gave them a little twirl. He looked at Lord Eddard, who was watching with anticipation. Sansa had walked beside her mother and had her hand wrapped around her mother's. Sansa was sporting a look of concern on her face, as was Lady Catelyn, and the soldiers around the arena had gone silent.
Their concerns are well-recieved, this is the great Jaime Lannister, or so I have heard...
The fight had been a blur from the beginning, and Will had completely focused on Jaime, and all he cold hear was the crashing and clanging of steel, with the occasional scapring as the swords pulled away from each other.
Keep calm, it is how you bested Gundyr, and it is how you bested the Dancer...
It was like William and Jaime were dancing with each other. It was like two wolves fighting over a mate or prey. Jaime was indeed a good swordsman, no doubt, but compared to Will, he was nothing. He moved with grace, enough grace that it looked like he was levitating off of the ground. Will would block his strikes with his two swords, and use one sword to land a quick poke or slash at Jaime, who would occasionally block it or dodge.
"You surprise me, Redding, I thought you would be terrible."
They went back and forth, steel meeting steel, making sparks fly with each blocked strike. Forward and backward, forward and backward. Each of them going blow for blow. Will managed to block Jaime's attempted head slash, holding it down with one sword while the other sword strike knocked Ser Jaime's sword right out of his hand, ending the fight.
Easy...
"You proved me wrong, Redding, you actually are quite good." Ser Jaime, with sincerity in his voice as he picked up his sword.
"Aye, you as well, Ser Jaime. You are definitely the best swordsman in the realm."
He wasn't that good, I just don't want to hurt his feelings...
Will and Jaime shook hands and walked over to their respective sides. The men had dispersed now, and it was just Robb, Jon and Bran at the other end of the arena. Lord Eddard had marched out, with Lady Catelyn and Sansa in tow.
"Well fought, Will. Fighting against the Kingslayer is not an easy thing to do."
"Thank you, Lord Stark." Will replied with a smile.
"You fought just like Barristan the Bold or the Dragon Knight, Will. That fight was incredible!" Bran had exclaimed.
"It felt incredible."
No, it did not, it felt boring. Maybe the Ruin Sentinels were harder...
He could feel Jon and Robb smacking him on the back, with grins on their faces. They had congratulated him on gaining the victory before they walked off with Bran, leaving William with Eddard, Catelyn and Sansa.
"Will, Sansa, we need to talk in private about something. Come, we shall talk in my office."
The walk over to Lord Eddard's office was quick, but he was met by some servants and guards who had gave William a quick congratulations for his victory over the Kingslayer. They soon were in the office, and Lord Eddard had taken his seat, and he was looking at both William and Sansa in front of him.
"If you do not know by now, I have been chosen by King Robert to be his Hand of the King. Which means I will have to travel to King's Landing, and I know that Robert also wants me to have one of my children marry one of his. We have decided to have you and Joffrey marry."
"Oh, thank you so so much, Father! Thank you!" It sounded like Sansa was going to burst into tears then and there as she gave Lord Eddard a loving hug.
"It was nothing, Sansa, anyway, since we haven't been to the capitol, I am bringing some of the household guard with me, and I want you with me too, Sir Will."
"Of course, my lord."
Looks like I will be with Lord Stark for a while...
"And because of this, I have also decided to bring Arya and Bran with us as well. Bran can experience what it is like to see other knights, and Arya can see what it is like to..." Lord Eddard sighed. "Be a lady."
Sansa giggled at the comment, trying to hide it.
Arya? A lady? Don't make me laugh, she probably would run back to Winterfell if she knew of the reason why she was coming with us.
"But, you are my daughter, Sansa, and King's Landing is a dangerous place, you never know what might happen whilst we are there. I am making Sir William your sworn shield, Sansa."
The Starks are coming with me to the capitol, I can keep close to them because I am basically a bodyguard, and I can watch the little shit that is meant to be a prince...
