His understanding of the younger mind, Rhaegar found, was not at its sharpest. He stared uncomprehendingly at the two boys before him, trying to piece together the blabbered speech they'd delivered about a river, some rocks and a storm. Even if he managed to get that, he could still not understand what it had to do with the gardens and why he should not step onto the small narrow dusty road which led to them.
"Once again, if you please," he requested, "why must I not make for the gardens?"
The same cacophony met his ears a second time around, made even more brutal by a sudden ray of sunshine sneaking from within the tree braches just to land on his eye and blind him temporarily. He listened carefully to the explanation, then promptly decided there was some secret involved and having no other matter to occupy himself with decide that solving a misery was quite the thing.
"You are not going to go there, are you, Your Grace?" the youngest Stark asked innocently, clearly unaware that it was a mistake on his part.
His brother nudged him, not at all gently, and gave him a harsh look. They were terrible liars those two. It occurred to Rhaegar that they were extremely lucky their mother hadn't decided to take them to court with her. King's Landing was much safer place for the Lord Hand that way.
"Ah, I am afraid I cannot oblige," Rhaegar answered the question with a smile. "You see, now that you have mentioned the garden, I am really interested in seeing it." Benjen's face fell and Rhaegar almost felt a wave of pity for the child, but he recovered soon enough, just in time to deliver the finishing blow. "And the two of you must come with me."
He had walked the same path with Arthur Dayne, but his friend had disappeared sometime during the hours of the morning, no doubt loitering about and taking in the sights. Rhaegar knew that he would return at some point. Unbothered by his absence, the Prince decided that he too would explore on his own for the time being.
And that was how he came upon the two small sentinels standing at their post. They made for a comic image, truly they did. Little Benjen trailed despondently after his brother and Ned, he believed that was the older one's name, cast him a sullen glance.
They walked for some time before they heard voices, distinctively young voiced. However that was not all. Rhaegar strained a bit but he could swear he picked up Dayne's voice too. He turned to look at the two boys following him. Both had gone rather white, a chalky complexion that spelled nothing good.
Truly intrigued at that point, Rhaegar decided against waiting anymore time. He gestured towards the boulders with his head and tiptoed closer. It was an easy thing for him to climb atop the rock. Tall and lean, he done his fair share of climbing as a child – at the insistence of Arthur, for Rhaegar himself had preferred jumping intellectual hurdles if it could be helped. But back to the matter at hand, he turned towards the brothers.
Benjen accepted his aid with a pout, but his older brother made do without any sort of help. They looked down upon whatever sight greeted them. To their utmost surprise – but mostly to Rhaegar's bewilderment and the other two boys' chagrin – a small child looked up at them with his eerily mismatched eyes.
It took not very long for Rhaegar to understand that he stood before, or rather above, that small creature that was rumoured to have made its home inside of Lord Tywin's keep.
"Tyrion!" Benjen said loudly, trying to catch the child's attention. "What are you doing?"
"Playing hide and seek," the little lion answered. He grinned up at them, seemingly unaware of the fact that they might have all landed in a spot of trouble. "Who is that?"
"Where is Cersei?" Ned countered.
"Somewhere with Lady Lyanna," a new voice entered the discussion. "I see you have finally decided to join us, Your Grace. A bit late to hide, but you may help us seek."
"How generous of you, Dayne," Rhaegar answered. He watched as Arthur picked the boy up in his arms.
More in awe than one would consider healthy were the other two boys. "Cersei? Playing with Tyrion?" Benjen questioned doubtfully.
"On pain of having all her beautiful hair shorn," Arthur replied solemnly. "I heard Lady Lyanna say it with her own mouth." At that he looked towards Rhaegar and winked. "I told you she'd be trouble before long," this he addressed to his friend.
Sliding down from his pervious spot, Rhaegar glanced at the dwarf – for it was clear the child was one. "I say we should not waste anymore time." The words were met with enthusiasm on the part of Tyrion, a wry smile where Arthur was concerned, and mild interest for Ned and Benjen.
"We'll go after the twins," Benjen said, walking to Arthur and Tyrion. "They always hide together." He turned towards Rhaegar as if to share a great secret. "Always. I know."
"Then we shall search for Lady Lyanna, won't we, Ned?" Rhaegar asked of the other Stark.
"I suppose we shall." The boy sighed and gave his brother a hard look. "Take care that Lord Lannister doesn't see you."
The warning was met with nods of assurance and the speediest departure Rhaegar had ever been blessed to see. "Do you know your sister well enough to hazard a guess as to where she might be hiding?"
"If it's Lyanna, then it's most definitely that she isn't hiding at all," Ned offered blandly. "But for the sake of appearances, she'll try to make it seem as if she were."
That was rather interesting. Rhaegar gave the boy a long look. "Why would she do that?"
"Because of Tyrion," Ned shrugged as if it were the most natural thing.
It was indeed a most interesting information to have hold of. Rhaegar followed Ned as he led them towards the stables. He confidently claimed that Lyanna was very fond of horses. "She rides very well and she would probably do it all day long if she could."
As the guess had been a rather easy one, it seemed only fair that Lady Lyanna was not actually hiding in the hay. Ned searched for her diligently as Rhaegar eyes a strong stallion that had started kicking at the small door of his stall.