Chapter 5: Entry Four
Date: 298 After Landing, Spring
Peggy,
The trip to the Capital has been, interesting.
I enjoyed my time at Winterfell. Though raised in the land of the free, I can see the appeal of a single benevolent Lord or King watching over their people like a father watching over children. Lord Stark is a firm leader, but he truly cares for those who he is sworn to protect. I saw him no less than three times stop to help one of the "common folk" with a chore or listen to their words of concern. He loves his people, and they him. That same care and reverence seemed to apply to his children as well, who I had the opportunity to spend much time with. Before Bran fell from the tower and into a coma I spent time with him and his "direwolf," (a wolf that grows to be several times larger than the wolves you or I have seen) and he seemed to be a good kid who looked up to his brothers Robb and Jon.
I had little opportunity to speak with Robb, but from the short time we spoke you could sense an air of authority that may actually be deserved. He is much like his father, even if he looks more like his mother, who seems to care about the people. At the same time he is still a boy, and you can see his inner need to fight and seek adventure. Ha, I guess he and I have that much in common. I'm only a few years old than him, and I couldn't wait to join the war effort. His half-brother, Jon Snow, didn't hold the same sir of power but he did show himself to be more mature. He left Winterfell the same day we did, and while I did encourage him to stay home and build a life for himself before joining the Night's Watch, he had long ago made up him mind.
An interesting event happened a few days after setting out, where we stopped for a day of rest outside an inn near a river called the "Trident". Arya, Lord Stark's youngest daughter whom he pays me to train, and I were exercising (Peggy, you should see how determined she is) and she was doing her best to match me push-up for push-up. She didn't know I was taking it easy on her, but the large smile on her face told me how much fun she was having. We were just finishing up when her sister, Sansa, and Prince Joffrey showed up and starting trying to make fun of her for wanting to do "manly things." When I pointed out that Westeros has an established history warrior women, the boy grew angry. And when I noticed the smell coming from the wineskin at his side, and I asked why he was drinking, he grew irate and drew his sword on me.
I put Arya behind me and used my shield to deflect the boys aimless strikes, while Sansa seemed more interested in yelling "stop." I couldn't tell who she was directing the order towards, but I had no intension of lowering my shield while he carried a sword. When his swings came slower, and he grew visibly tired, the Prince finally lowered his blade and told me, "I'll take care of you." This didn't sound very encouraging.
Joffrey hasn't out of sight for more than five minutes before his guards, and the Hound, came to escort me before the King and Queen. It didn't surprise me that he went and ordered me taken, but what did surprise me is that he lied about what happened. He claimed I struck him, and that he drew his sword to defend Sansa. For her part, Lord Stark's eldest daughter did nothing but make things worse by saying she didn't remember. Arya was brought before them all a few minutes later, and she backed me up with the truth, but it was all one person's words against another. That I am an outsider, not of this realm (or time), only made things harder for me. But the timely arrival of Lord Stark with a new witness, a red-haired boy called Mycah, who had been watching everything from afar saw everything righted. Joffrey was humiliated before everyone there when Robert slapped him for making false accusations. It seemed as if his wife, Cersi, wanted to say something to Robert but instead she fixed me with a look that made me want to shiver. I'm fairly sure that I made a few enemies today, just for telling the truth.
It does highlight a growing concern for me. Since I've arrived, I have met a Lord Commander, a Lord, and a King. All of which, if they had been inclined, could have had me killed for no reason. While a benevolent King is good for the realm, a corrupt or maleficent one isn't. That was why when my forefathers sought freedom from England, they established a nation ruled by law. Not ruled by man. Sadly, I don't think anyone here would be able to fight for such a thing, even if they badly wished for it. One man in a suit of armor is like a tank to these people, able to tear through the unarmored and unarmed with ease.
Later that night Robert and Eddard took me aside and asked if I had told the truth, and then their faces fell as I swore it. They knew all along I had been truthful, but didn't want to believe it. Robert, possibly drunk at the time, spoke quite freely about how disappointed in Joffrey he was. How the Prince had been nothing but trouble for years, but protected by the Queen so he could not show him the error of his ways. Lord Stark looked sad to say it, but he brought up the possibility of ending Sansa's pending marriage to the Prince. Robert seemed to think of it for a time, but eventually he said the marriage must continue. Something about binding the two houses.
The next morning, news of Mycah's death spread through the camp. No one knew who killed him, but the obvious suspect was Joffrey. It made the rest of the trip very, somber.
I could smell King's Landing, the Capital, long before I could see it. The air grew tinted with the smell of sweat, piss and feces. As you get closer, you don't breath it so much as swim through it. But I will admit that as I drew closer it was an impressive sight. The city itself is surrounded by a wall with 7 gates, and within it holds more than a half million people inside. But what I first noticed was the poor and unlucky who had built a shanty-settlement on the outside of the walls.
Maybe I will find some way to aid them as I learn more of this place.
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