Ikarus runs across a plain at high speed.
His destination: Barrowtown.
After hiding most of the loot from the house, the shinobi runs into town with only his weapons, a bag of coins, and the bag with Frosteye's head.
The distance between Oakwood and Barrowtown is a week on horseback. Ikarus can cover that distance in less than a day.
Barrowton is centered around the large hill Great Barrow, on which House Dustin's castle, Barrow Hall, was built.
The town itself was surrounded by a moat and walls made of wood. The Walls had a few towers, each tower was rather small with a radius of less than 2 meters.
Access in town was permitted only through the vaulted access gates which were closed at night. At day the gates were guarded by 4 guards, 2 standing on each side.
It had steep, meandering streets, with irregular width. The picturesque but crowded streets were full of obstacles preventing a comfortable movement across town: carts, horses, big wooden boxes with variant merchandise, people,...
Most of the buildings were made of wood with a few buildings made of stone here and there.
In the center of the town, on a hill, was a castle surrounded by a wooden wall.
There is an old windmill and a grassy courtyard located near the gatehouse. Wide and wooden stairs lead up the hill to Barrow Hall's keep.
"Excuse me, good man." Ikarus approaches a guard. "Where do I have to go to collect a bounty?"
The guard looks him over from head to toe and doesn't seem very impressed.
His partner snorts and laughs.
"You're still young to hunt criminals, boy. Go home to your mother before someone kills you."
`If only you knew that I have killed more than forty bandits in the last two days`
The shinobi is a bit irritated by the attitude of the guards. But he knows that showing a bad attitude will only get him into trouble.
It takes him a few minutes to convince the guards that he means business, and they finally tell him that the castellan of Barrow Hall handles the big bounties.
Ikarus had the foresight to hide Frosteye's head before going to ask for directions. Men are curious and greedy by nature. If any guard found out about the bounty he is going to claim he might try to steal it.
`I have already encountered corrupt guards in this world`
After picking up the bag with Frosteye's head on it, the young shinobi heads towards the castle.
`I didn't expect to visit a castle today, luckily I bought new clothes and took a bath this morning.`
After the rampage of murder that he had in the last two days Ikarus was bathed in blood from head to toe. His clothes were ruined.
`Wash dried blood is almost impossible.`
He is currently dressed in a green sleeveless tunic with brown pants and leather boots.
He climbs the wooden stairs and at the top he is stopped by some guards.
"Stop! Who goes there?"
"Good day. I am Ikarus Senju, I came to see the castellan to collect a bounty."
The guards look at each other and one laughs.
"A bounty? You are just a boy"
"That is what Benjen Frosteye thought before I cut off his head." He retorts scathingly, already fed up with being treated like a child.
The guards gaped at him.
"There is no way a boy killed Frosteye." He replicates a guard with short black hair and gray eyes.
Ikarus briefly sticks the head out of the bag.
The guards look at it with wide eyes.
One of them approaches and tries to grab his bag, Ikarus takes a few steps back.
"Are you trying to steal my bounty?" He says loud enough for all the surrounding guards to hear.
Several heads turn towards them.
The guard backs away, face flushed, muttering something about just wanting to get a closer look at the head. But the shinobi wasn't fooled, he saw the greed in his eyes.
`65 golden dragons, many would kill for that amount.`
Another guard guides him to a solar in the castle.
The castle itself is nothing spectacular.
It is made of stone like most castles. It has two large doors made of wood reinforced with iron as the entrance. Five towers surround the castle. The interior consists of two connected buildings.
The Main Keep is four stories high. Its interior is quite gloomy, decorated with some stuffed animals, a few paintings and some armors. The floor is covered with a yellow carpet. House Dustin's coat of arms can be seen in many places: paintings, shields, banners...
The other building is only two stories high, it is the Great Hall. Place where Lord Dustin, Lady Dustin in this case, receives guests and holds banquets.
He waits for quite some time in a solar accompanied by a guard.
The solar is a fairly large room with a fireplace in the corner. Two windows overlook the courtyard where guards can be seen training. There are several shelves full of books. Ikarus gets a little closer and sees several titles: "History of the Seven Kingdoms" by Maester Lark, "Six Times to Sea: Being an Account of the Great Voyages of Alyn Oakenfist" by Maester Bendamure, "Watchers on the Wall" by Archmaester Harmuneā¦
While waiting Ikarus takes a book and reads. "Watchers on the Wall" includes many legends about the Nightfort. Notably, it tells the story of how Brandon the Breaker allied with the King-beyond-the-Wall Joramun, to end the thirteen-year rule of the Night's King and his corpse queen.
About two hours later two men entered the lot.
One of them wears armor with a thin golden cape. He has golden eyes and dark hair, his square jaw is perfectly shaven. He is handsome and intimidating.
The other man is an elderly man in his sixties with gray hair and a well-groomed beard.
"We're told you have the head of Benjen `Frosteye` Snow." The first man's voice is loud and echoes across the lot.
"Aye." Ikarus opens the bag and pulls out the bandit's head.
They both get closer.
The first man takes the head and examines it carefully.
"Aye. I would recognize his face anywhere. How did you kill him?" The man in armor surveys him from head to toe, his eyes calculating.
"I stick a dagger in his chest." He shrugs the shinobi.
They both look at him in disbelief.
`I seem to have a hidden talent: wowing the locals`
"What's your name, boy?"
"Ikarus Senju."
"Ikarus Senju?" They look at him with recognition.
"You know who I am?" That took the shinobi by surprise.
The first man relaxes a bit and pats him on the back.
"Ser Gregor told us about you."
"Aye. And what a story that was. A young boy defeated two corrupt guards while his hands were tied. And instead of killing them as was his right, he urged the old knight to fulfill his oaths." The old man tells.
`Ser Gregor`
"My name is Ser Beron Olssen, I am the Lord Commander of Townwatch and this is Lord Harry Flint, Castellan of Barrow Hall."
Barrowtown is much closer than Winterfell, so it makes sense that Ser Gregor would come here to expose the crimes of his superiors. In addition, House Frost is a vassal of House Dustin.
Going directly to House Stark is an insult and an offense that is difficult to forgive. Ser Gregor knew this, so he came to Barrowtown to give himself up.
Once here he told his story to the castellan and the Lord Commander, both were impressed with the bravery and mercy of the young foreigner.
Ikarus's visit to Barrowtown took longer than expected, he only thought of collecting his bounty and leaving. But Ser Beron and Lord Harry insisted that he stay at least one night in the castle.
Unfortunately Lady Dustin is not in town, she had gone to deal with House Frost personally.
Ikarus spent the night eating delicious food and drinking the sweetest of wines. The meals served in the castle are far better than anything he has eaten up to that point in Westeros.
The next day he left the castle with a bag full of coins.
Before leaving the town he bought some souvenirs for the siblings.
And now, after two weeks, Ikarus is finally coming home.
His blood runs cold.
The scene before him-
