Casterly Rock, 298 AC
Allard slowly and carefully manoeuvres on the unleashed sea. He knows Casterly Rock is not far now, but this part of his trip is the most difficult one. He has left Dragonstone and his father a few weeks ago, has sailed south through the Narrow sea, avoiding going too close from King's Landing, then south again, crossing the Stepstones, sailing offshore Dorne's coasts. No answer has been received from Dorne to Stannis's offer. The Targaryens were not all dead. Doran Martell is probably more enthusiast about a Targaryen on the Iron Throne, than a Baratheon. To strengthen a little more the alliance with Robb, he has proposed that Sansa would marry Theon Greyjoy, whenever he will free her. Thus, he hopes to ensure Theon's loyalty. He is unsure about the young lad, but he knows he loves Robb, and being officially a member of the Stark family would please him. Robb foresees to send him in Pyke, to win Balon's loyalty, but the Greyjoy Lord is still bitter about his missed rebellion, in which he has lost all his sons, including Theon. Not really a Stark, not a Greyjoy anymore in his father's eyes, Theon's mission seems perilous. Catelyn does not like the idea, and is trying to make Robb change his mind. That's all Allard know so far. He is going to leave for a long time, and only hopes he will not deceive the King and his family. He relaxes a bit when he gets in The Arbor, then in Redwyne straits. Here, he is among friends. The Tyrells are a great ally in the war. Once he passes the Shield Islands and the Sunset Sea, he gets very defiant. But, somehow, the sail is safe, and calm. Of course, he has to weather some storms, but he is a good sailor, just like his father, and he manages to get to the Westerlands, his ship as good as when he left. Casterly Rock is very impressive from the sea, and surely much more from the land. But he cannot be distracted: he has a plan, and he needs to stick to it. As he gets into Lannisport, and moors his boat to a quay, some soldiers arrest him.
"Where do you come from, and what are you doing here?"
They look obviously nervous: the war is not going on well for the Lannisters. But Allard knows how to play the innocent lad:
"I am just a merchant, Ser", he points at his boat, and the merchandise he has in it. The soldiers make him take the boxes out and carefully examine them.
"Where do you come from?"
"King's Landing, Ser", Allard nods and bows slightly. "Flea Bottom", he smiles. "This is crab I am transporting. You can have a box for you and your ladies, Ser", he says again.
The soldiers look tempted, and glance at each other, but the older one gives the boxes to Allard.
"You can come in and sell your stuff, boy" he glares at him.
"Thank you", Allard nods and bows again, quickly grabbing his boxes and walking to the other merchants. Casterly Rock is very different than King's Landing: less overcrowded, the streets are cleaner, and the fruits and vegetables perfume the air. No one could know, seeing the town, they are at war. The stalls are full, surprising Allard. He knows the Reach is like the breadbasket of Westeros, but it is obvious that the Westerlands know how to cultivate. Quietly, he finds a spot and starts selling his crab. He needs to get rid of it anyways, so he announces the cheapest prices. Soon, he has more clients than anyone and he notices servants, young women, talking between each other about the castle. His heart skips a beat and he smiles charmingly at the girls. His aim is to seduce one, get in the castle with her help, and then look for Aistan during the night. The servants giggle at him, and the one who blushes the most buys more crab than the other. He holds her back as the others walk away, and proposes her to meet later. She seems to hesitate, but he charms her well, and she ends up agreeing, her cheeks red as a beetroot. As she goes back to the castle, she waves shyly at him. Her name is Margot, and her hair blonde as a field of wheat.
They meet at night, quite late, and, after kisses exchanged out of the castle, she leads him in, to her room. She shares a small room with three other servants, and Allard is careful of being as silent as possible, taking her against the wall so the bed does not creak. When she ends up falling asleep in bed, he stares at her, then at the ceiling, and slowly moves away from her arms. As he gathers his clothes and gets ready to leave, he hears:
"Where are you going?"
He turns around and sees her, naked, sitting on the edge of the bed. He smiles softly at her:
"I have to go. Your master would not be happy to see me in your bed tomorrow."
She looks at him, and suddenly burst into tears. Allard rushes on her and stifles her tears, placing his hand on her mouth. He can't risk her to wake the other servants up. She has more or less told him where Aistan was, and he needed to search for him. He has to find him before dawn. She keeps crying and whispers against his hand "Please, take me with you. I want to run away from here. Please! No one has seen you, we can leave on your boat before dawn!" For a second, he is tempted to knock her off and leave, but this is not how his father has raised him. Margot is beautiful and young. He could marry her, why not. His father would not mind this. So, he nods with a smile and whispers back "Leave before me, go to the harbor. My boat is pretty small and called Marya. Go on it, and wait for me. I have to do something first. I will not be long."
Margot nods quickly and dresses back up. Allard kisses her passionately before walking out silently. When he is alone in the corridors, he follows his instinct, hiding behind pillars when he hears voices of the soldiers. He takes a little dagger out of his boot, hoping he will not have to use it. Slowly, he makes his way through the castle, looking for Aistan. He knows the prince will be kept safely. He ends up reaching a corridor, lightened up by torches, and two men guarding the door. Allard swallows hard and waits for a few minutes. Luckily, one of the guards tells the other he needs to pee, and walks towards Allard. Silently, careful so the other does not see him, Allard knocks him off when he passes by him, and steals his sword. He notices the man is more or less the same height than him. After a second, he decides to steal his clothes, and dresses up like him, before hiding the inconscious body in an empty room. He stands straight as he comes back to the other guard. He looks relieved to see him, and can't stop fidgeting:
"Fuck, I have eaten bad fish I think…"
He holds his stomach, this one making really impressive noises. The man winces and suddenly becomes very pale.
"Don't puke on me!" Allard tries to imitate the other soldier the best he can. He glances at him, and runs away, his armor noisy as he leaves. Allard sighs relieved, and takes the keys hanging on the belt of the armor he is wearing to open the door of the room. In the bed, a little boy is sleeping peacefully. His hair is dark as coal, but Stannis had warned him to be careful: maybe the Lannisters would use other boys, because they would expect an escape. He has thus told him about a birth mark Aistan has on the butt, and has told him he had to check. The young man walks silently to the prince, and, swallowing hard with embarrassment, he moves the sheets away. The boy moves slightly, and Allard moves his breeches down until he sees the mark. He is so relieved he pulls the breeches back a bit abruptly and the prince wakes up, turns around and Allard has just the time to place his hand on his mouth before the boy cries out with fear. His blue eyes are totally panicked, and Allard places a finger on his own lip.
"I came here to take you back to your parents, my Prince", he whispers, holding a parchment to the boy, who reads it. It is a simple word from Stannis, so the boy knows he is safe. He nods slowly and looks at the armor. Allard takes his hand off:
"I am Allard Seaworth, son of Davos Seaworth. I came here to take you home, but you need to follow me now. Don't take anything with you."
He stands up and walks to the door. Aistan does not follow him right away: the boy is still very young, but memories of the life he is about to leave comes back to him. He even hesitates, for a moment. Lord Tywin would never forgive him for running away, for abandoning him, but what is more important? His family; or the man who has fostered him? If only war would not have happened, if only Tywin would have not been a Lannister, but an ally to his father. He wishes, for a second, that he could see Tywin, could tell him goodbye and thank him for teaching him so much. He remembers the days spent with him, how he was watching him train with swords, train with bows, how they could spend hours discussing old battles, strategy and history of Westeros, how Aistan would ask him thousands things about the Targaryens, and Aerys, and how he has felt so bad when he has seen a shadow passing in Tywin's eyes, a shadow of sadness. The old lion would not show feelings easily, but there has been times when Aistan, pretending to be asleep in his bed, could feel the hand of the old man stroking his hair gently, as a grandfather would do, and Aistan remembers this wonderful feeling of being loved and protected by a man chosen by his parents.
Aistan remembers all this, but he stands up and holds his arms at the young lad. He picks him up and runs away quickly.