Chapter four
The Eagle and the winged horse
It had been less then an hour since Justin had left for the feast and he had finally arrived he handed Thunder's reigns to Dexard who began to take the horses to the stables. "Remember Dexard your place is with the squires now, not with me" Dexard nodded and picked up the pace. As Justin entered he could smell every type of meat anyone could imagine with different combinations of spices and vegetables to stuff them. He had found his uncle and had sat down besides him pouring himself a large mug of ale. "Justin I had not thought to see you tonight, not with all the other guests and tables around" his uncle gave him a smile taking a mouthful of his own drink. "Perhaps it was a lucky accident uncle, or maybe an unlucky one seeing how the night goes" Justin began filling his plate with potatoes, onions and boar meat. "Have you seen Lord Stark yet? You should really think about paying him a visit lad, it will look good on the family if you were to bend the knee as a knight" the thought had not even crossed Justin's mind. "But father already bent the knee to Lord Stark why would me bending the knee change a single thing?" His uncle gave him a look as if he had just forsaken the gods. "Because it will be expected of you that's why, if Lord Stark see's you bend the knee and pledge your sword to his we may get more men to deal with the brigands that are constantly attacking our farms" Justin pondered on that thought not sure what to think, there were very few knights in the north and even fewer fighting men under the Maxward banner, if he was able to convince Lord Stark to send more he may give some experienced fighting men to the family, when he had left most of the men at Eaglesend could barely tell the hilt from the pointy end of their swords "I shall approach him after the Tourney, if he sees how well I have fought and how well I've represented the North I'm sure he'd send us some of his garrison" his uncle patted him on the shoulder giving him the classic smile he had grown fond of. "My Lord, Ser Dallin Tavner has asked me to invite you to join him at his table, he said he had some important news for you" Justin began to stand up before his uncle placed a hand on his shoulder pushing him back onto the bench. "It's me Ser Tavner wants to see Lad, that's what the important business I was talking to you earlier was about" Justin could not help but feel disappointed at that news, he believed he may be able to plead his case and ask for Rina's hand in marriage, but it seemed that it had to wait for another day.
Justin was having a rather enjoyable time since his Uncle had left, he drank, he laughed, he ate and a chorus of the Dornishman's wife had started at the table. Justin looked around the feast, he spotted two girls in the corner looking towards him and giggling whenever they noticed him looking back. "Too good to sit with your old friends now you're knighted Ser Justin?" Justin rose from the table turning around and gave a cocky smile. "I would have happily sat with you Robin, but the food up here smells and tastes a lot better then the pig shit they're feeding the squires and bastards" Robin looked both shocked and furious not sure how to respond to what Justin had said before he smiled and opened his arms for a hug. "You really are an arrogant prick sometimes you know that Ser Justin?" Justin was not yet accustomed to people calling him Ser, he thought he would soon wake up from a dream, a loud knock on the door forcing him to wake and leave the dream behind, he hoped, no he prayed that it wasn't a dream and that everything that's happened was real.
As the festivities came to a close Justin felt exhausted, he had drank too much and ate too much, as he stumbled his way to the exit he had noticed his uncle still talking to Ser Tavner, he had thought about going over to him to talk to the man, to try to convince him to let Justin marry his daughter, but in his current drunken stupor he had realised that would be a bad idea. As he finally made his way outside, his stomach began to hurt and rumble, he felt incredibly hot and dizzy, before he knew it was happening Justin threw up all over the place, not caring about where he was or who was around him. "Are you alright Ser? Should I fetch the horses?" Justin looked up noticing Dexard, his face was filthy and his lip had split but Justin was in no mood to ask the boy what had happened, he simply nodded and Dexard had rushed to the stables. "I hear you've had a busy day Ser Maxward?" Justin recognised the voice even without turning around. "I have Lady Rina, I beg your forgiveness for not finding you, and that you've found me in the state I'm in now" Rina helped Justin stand up from the wall as Dexard had brought the horses round. "I had heard a man of the North could out drink anyone in all the seven kingdoms, clearly the stories were wrong, I've nearly had a flagon of wine to myself alone tonight and I am nowhere close to being as drunk as you are now" Rina giggled and helped Dexard to get Justin mounted onto his horse. "Make sure he doesn't drink anymore tonight, if he does look for my Father at the dancing dragon inn, his sigil is a winged horse, ask my father to accompany you to the inn and sober him up" Dexard nodded and mounted his own horse riding as close to Justin's side as he could.
As they both arrived at the inn Justin tried to dismount Thunder before losing his balance and falling face first into the mud, as Dexard began to help him up Justin pushed him away and almost lost his balance a second time. "I'm fine get these horses to the stable, brush and feed them then you may come inside" Dexard nodded and began to pull the horses along towards the stable as Justin staggered his way into the inn. "Innkeep a flagon of ale here please" it was not the innkeep but her daughter that had brought the flagon over to him as Justin slammed the money onto the table filling his cup. "Ser do you think it's a good idea to still be drinking? You should really stop" Justin looked up giving Dexard a look of contempt. "A squire does not tell his knight what to do, the knight tells the squire" shouted Justin, the other patrons began to stare as Dexard had hurried out of the inn. Justin had finished the last of the ale before Ser Tavner had arrived, Ser Tavner took the mug from Justin's hand took one sip and threw the rest away. "What in seven hells are you doing boy? You damn near drank yourself to death at the feast, now you've come back to finish the task you started, is that it?" justin could barely raise his head to look at the man. "I'm just having fun Ser Tavner, will you join me for a drink or am I to stay alone drinking?" Justin went to call for another flagon before Ser Tavner stopped him. "Listen to me boy, I've met knights all over the seven kingdoms, on battlefields, at Tourneys and hedge knights who have nothing to their name, you have everything any knight could want, a noble birth, a bed to sleep in and a fire to keep you warm at night, you're disgracing every knight who swore their vows, to protect the innocent, to stand against an enemy that your liege lord has commanded to you, look at you now, drunk and acting the fool, no real knight would act that way" Justin felt uncontrollably guilty, he should never have allowed himself to drink as much as he did, to get into a situation where he'd be seen as a drunken fool and not the knight he really believes he is. "I'm sorry Ser Tavner, the night has been a long one, it's disgraceful the way I have behaved, I will not drink anymore tonight, I swear it by the old gods and the new" Ser Tavner turned to Dexard then back to Justin. "Take him up to his room boy, make sure he doesn't leave it till the morning, stand vigil if the need arises" Dexard helped Justin up the narrow winding staircase dropping him onto his bed and pulled a chair up by the door, if Justin had decided to go back down and Dexard was asleep he'd have to be woken by Justin to let him out.
The sun beamed through the window as Justin slowly opened his eyes, his head was incredibly sore and his body felt like he'd been attacked by a giant wielding a club, he slowly got to his feet and woke Dexard up, he remembered exactly what had happened last night in the inn but he remembered nothing up until that point. Both Justin and Dexard had made their way down the narrow staircase and found themselves a table to sit at, before long they had plates of food in front of them hot sausages, bacon, boiled eggs and toasted bread. "Ser do you have any tasks you need me to carry out today?" Justin did not answer, he was too busy buttering the toast and cutting the sausages. "Fetch the sparring swords from upstairs we'll practice as soon as our food has settled" Justin took a large mouthful of bacon and stood from the table, his brother had often told him he could eat more then a giant but he never noticed it until he had finished his breakfast. Justin stepped out onto the street holding both sparring swords in his hands and walking around to a secluded alley, he threw the sword at Dexard who missed even the easiest of catches. "Listen to me and follow what I tell you" Justin readied his sword before swinging towards Dexard and giving him instructions. "Left, right, right, center, overhead, legs" to Dexard's credit he was able to keep up the pace as Justin pushed harder and faster, he made a few simple mistakes that left him exposed but for their first lesson he did well. The boy looked exhausted after that, his hair was dripping with sweat and he was struggling to lift his arms. "You did well today Lad, keep it up and you may even be knighted at a younger age then me" Justin laughed and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Thank you Ser, I feel exhausted now though, I didn't think being a knight would be this difficult" Justin patted him on the shoulder taking the sword off of Dexard and making his way back into the inn. The rest of the day was mostly uneventful save for the innkeeper throwing out two men fighting at the table across from Justin. Night slowly crept up on them Justin ate the evening meal and had gone up to the room, he took off his clothes placing them in a neat pile next to the bed before climbing into the bed and closing his eyes.
As Justin slept he dreamt of many a terrible thing his father and brother stabbed in the back, Maxward men killed whilst they slept or tried to fight off other other troops. A twin castle loomed over him as he watched the camp burn, a soldier brought his blade up to slash Justin's face, thats when he woke, a cold sweat forming on his head, his breath erratic and his heart beating fast. He arose from the bed slowing walking to the window trying not to wake Dexard. The sun was rising on the city, he spotted many people travelling back and forth, merchants setting up their stools and eager customers lining up as they prepared for the day ahead. Justin could not stop thinking about the dream he had, even at breakfast he barely touched his food, lost in the thought of what the dream could mean, the old Maester at Eaglesend had told him that every dream has a meaning, some could mean impending doom, some could mean good things on the horizon, but the Maester had usually said that dreams of battle and death often meant war on the horizon, Justin was just a child when he was told that but even then he could have told anyone that dreaming of battles meant war, battles happen in war not in peace times. After his breakfast Justin and Dexard began to travel the streets to the Blacksmiths to collect Justin's armour, the street of steel seemed even busier now then they had previously but Justin had realised that was because the Tourney was now only a few days away, knights, Lords and sellswords all moved up and down the streets browsing the wares of all the merchants and haggling prices for even the cheapest of items. Justin climbed down from Thunder and tried to hand the reigns back to Dexard before realising the lad staring at a girl browsing the stalls with a man whom Justin assumed to be her father. "Dexard, you seem to be rather interested in that merchants stall, or is it who's on the stall" Dexard jumped before turning to face Justin his face a bright shade of red. "Ser I-I just thought his blades looked very well made" Justin smiled at the lad and leaned in closer to him, "it seems odd you can admire his blades when his stall is filled with Shields" Dexard face turned an even brighter shade of red now which had even moved to his ears it seemed. "Well Ser I um, well I just thought I had seen a sword there for a second clearly I was wrong" the lad's eyes were moving so fast at this point Justin was convinced they may just roll out of his head. "Go talk to the girl, tell her father whomever he is that you're my squire and that House Maxward wishes them good fortune in the foreseeable future, but tie the horses to something first, and keep an eye on them too" Justin handed Dexard the reigns and before Dexard had time to protest walked into the Blacksmiths. "Ah good Ser I was expecting your arrival, I would have sent a boy to inform you your armour was ready but you neglected to give me the details of where you were staying" the Blacksmith had an almost slimy grin on his face, as if he was the cat that just got the cream but Justin was in no times for niceties today, he wanted to get in and get out as soon as he could. "Yes I did, I was in a hurry at the time and completely forgot to mention that goodman, is the armour ready?" The Blacksmith smiled again and gestured Justin over towards a table at the back of the room. The armour seemed to be very well made, the chain mail seemed to be strong and the right length for his body and the chest plate had the Sigil of House Maxward stamped into it it seemed. "What about the shield? Where is that?" The Blacksmith clicked his fingers and the girl from before had come back with the shield meekly handing it to Justin, he brought the shield up to the light and could see how well the girl had painted the shield, he could imagine himself looking like a heroic knight of old on the field with the shield now, like Aemon the DragonKnight, Ser Arthur Dayne or even Ser Barristan Selmy, the thought of that brought every boyhood fantasy back to him, except now he was a Knight, but what type of Knight he would be was still to be answered, would he be known as Ser Justin the Brave the greatest swordsman the Seven Kingdoms had seen since Ser Dayne, or would he be Ser Justin the Drunk who disgraced himself every time he had a drink. Justin shook those thoughts from his mind thanking the Blacksmith and his daughter and leaving again.
"I don't care who sent you boy, what do you think gives you the right to interrupt and talk to me when you're dressed like that, I bet you're not even a squire, just a peasant boy looking to pick my pocket as you flatter me. I've never heard of anyone called Ser Maxward" Justin sighed the Lord Justin had seen earlier with his daughter now had Dexard hanging from the scruff of his neck. "My Lord, apologies if my squire insulted you, I simply sent him over to look at some shields and wish you good fortune in the Tourney" the Lord dropped Dexard almost instantaneously before clearing his throat, stepping over Dexard and making his way towards Justin. "Ah it was no bother good Ser, I had thought the boy was a ruffian after my purse, I had never heard of the name Maxward is all I assumed it was a forged name to get into my pocket, but clearly not, may I ask good Ser where does House Maxward originate from?" The man had an awful air of arrogance around him and an even stronger smell of perfumes it seemed. "Eaglesend my Lord, a stronghold in The North, that may be why you've never heard of it, us Northerners don't bother travelling too far south of the neck, we're likely to run into men who think it's acceptable to beat young boys" the mans eyes met Justin's then he seemed unsure whether or not Justin was joking or being serious, but Justin's stern face should have given the man the answers he needed. "That explains the rude behaviour and oafishness of your squire, a Northerner teaching the politest of ladies would have her come back as a belching whore" Justin began to walk closer to the man now his fists clenched and ready for a fight, the Lord went to draw his sword before Justin slammed it back into its scabbard. "I wouldn't do that if I were you my Lord, we Northerners are a brutish and violent bunch, I doubt a southern fairy like you could do much to stand against me, now move aside, I believe my squire needs aid" the Lord looked at Dexard and then back at Justin his hand still gripped firmly on his hilt. "Come along marrianne, there's a foul stench here, one I'm no longer Keen on smelling" the Lord stormed off as his daughter quickly followed behind him, Justin walked over towards Dexard helping the lad up and dusting him off, Dexard gave him a smile and thanked him for what he had done. "Well fetch the horses and that armour on the ground there is mine, pick it up and fasten it to Thunder's saddle, I want to leave within the next five minutes is that understood?" Dexard nodded and fetched up the armour and shield Justin had left by the doorway. It was a rather uneventful ride back to the inn, save for Dexard nearly riding his horse into a merchants stall when the girls of a nearby brothel caught his eye, Justin couldn't be angry at him for that, the lad was at that age, Justin was exactly the same if not worse when he was his age. After the horses were brushed, fed and watered it was back to Dexard's training. They had spent at least four hours training when Justin had finally stopped pressing Dexard, it seemed cruel to go longer he had thought, even Ser Douglas wouldn't leave Justin to train for that long without a break, Justin had a bath drawn up for Dexard and had payed for his clothes to be washed and dried for him, he didn't think a knight's squire who smelt like the backside of a horse would make a good impression on the other knights, plus the lad had done well in his training, he deserved something good to happen to him after the terrible day he had already had.
After their evening meal Justin had decided it was time for him to sleep, he tasked Dexard to send a letter off to Eaglesend, he had been gone now for five years but he still missed it every day, he missed his brothers, his mother, his father, playing in the godswood and praying beneath the heart tree, he even missed the old hag who had forced him to wash, dress properly and combed his hair so hard he was sure at some point it would all fall out. As he pushed open the door to the inn and closed the door behind him he heard someone clear their throat he quickly grabbed for his blade and spun around the steel rasping as he pulled the blade from the scabbard. "Scared of a woman Ser Maxward? Not a very brave knight are you?" Justin dropped the blade to the floor and almost ran across the room picking Rina up and spinning her around in his arms. "My Lady I have missed you much" Justin ran his fingers through her fiery red locks before placing her down again. "I missed you too Justin, it's been so long since we've been able to have a proper conversation, I know it has only been a week or so but from speaking everyday to not seeing each other at all has pained my heart" Justin pulled up a chair for Rina helping her down onto the seat before walking back across the room to pick up his sword, slowly sliding it back into the scabbard. "What are you doing here? A lady like you shouldn't be seen in a place like this" Justin pulled up his own chair and sat facing Rina placing her hands in his. "I had to see you, I know Lady Elina and my father will most likely punish me, but I missed you Justin, you had always brought a shine to my day that no one else could, my father told me not to approach you, but I had to see you, and give you this, it's for good luck and protection in the melee, I found a jewellery maker in the market the other day, he was making brooches, necklaces and rings, I asked him to make this for you, it's a simple silly thing but I want you to have it" Rina pulled a small silver winged horse from her gown and handed it to Justin, her slender fingers wrapping around his as she closed the gift into her palm. "If you wear this under your gauntlets it will make your arm strong and true, it'll bring you good luck and my love in the melee" Justin looked up at Rina, she looked perfect in this light, the sun setting brought out the fire in her hair and the blue in her eyes, he knew this would be the woman he would marry one day, even if his father disapproved, he would relinquish any rights he had to Eaglesend to be with Rina. "Thank you Rina, this present means so much to me, I will wear with it with honour at the melee" he kissed Rina on the cheek and placed the horse beside his bed. "I must go now Justin before Lady Elina notices I've gone, I told her I was simply going to fetch some more wine, that was near an hour ago I believe" she stood from her chair gave Justin one final kiss and was gone, he watched from the window as she hurried down the street, his uncle and aunt were most likely staying as guests of the Tyrell's or the king himself, whilst Justin languished here in some filthy inn in the arseend of kings landing. It was not long after Rina had left that Dexard had returned, the lad was so tired he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the floor, but Justin couldn't sleep, he ran the winged horse through his fingers, thinking of Rina, of what his father would think of her and what her father now thought of him, but his thoughts turned away from Rina and back to his dreams and what they could mean, if both his father and brother died at the battle that would make him Lord, he couldn't be a Lord, he barely kept his courtesies as a knight, how would he fair as a Lord keeping those same courtesies, but then he had remembered the end of the dream, the sword swinging down upon him, if he died as well what would happen to the Maxward line? Would Danard have an heir by then? Would he have an heir if Danard didn't? If not would Lucas be the new lord? He never did bother to learn of a bastards claim to a lordship if the rest of the family were dead, he didn't see it as a realistic outcome, he had always thought that the king had brought peace to the land for at least a century or more, but if his dreams were true it would mean the death of his house and the end to the peace he had grown up with. Justin finally placed the winged horse on the table besides his bed and rolled over, hoping not to dream of terrible things again, the Tourney would start soon and he needed all his focus to be on that not the dreams of war and death.