Right Under Their Nose

298 AC, Outside of King's Landing…

The sun was already up and the people were leaving their homes to handle their mundane jobs. Meanwhile, a lone man and a little boy were trekking down towards Kingswood.

Rody was forced to drag the boy along after learning that he did not know how to return through the tunnels. He thought of leaving him to one of the villagers with the hope of them returning the boy to the Red Keep. However, after thinking it through thoroughly, he decided that bringing the boy with him was the best course of action.

No matter what, the boy was a prince and he was the heir to the Iron Throne for now. And Rody was not going to give the boy away freely. He was too valuable for that. Since he was already deep down in shit, there was no reason to return.

At first, Rody was heading back to the North but he decided against it after taking a few steps. He remembered that he told the little spy whom he met in the tunnels, he was a Northman. If he went north under these circumstances, he would get caught on his first day because the boy he brought with him was a clumsy little thing and he was slowing him down.

Nevertheless, Rody stole a few clothes from a random village on his way to the south. He shed his armour, fearing that he would be recognized. The prince was still wearing his expensive clothes which screamed for attention so he did the same thing with the boy.

By the time they entered the Kingswood, the sun was already up and the birds were merrily singing their songs. Rody looked down at the boy and saw him walking with a scared expression like he was leaving King's Landing for the first time.

Rody was planning to head south, into the Stormlands, and meet the youngest Baratheon. From there, he was going to board a ship to sail back to the North.

He did not know any politics but as far as he was concerned, Lord Stark was sure to support the Baratheon brothers in this struggle. After all, the royal children were illegitimate and no one would ever support a bastard.

"When are you going to let me return home?" The prince asked with a cracked voice.

Rody did not deign to look at the boy and continued to walk. However, the prince continued to pester Rody with his endless questions. In the end, Rody stopped at his track and turned around, looked him in the eye and said, "You know boy, we are in the middle of the forest and no one would find you if I leave you here. So keep your big mouth shut or I will not be responsible for what happens to you."

The prince stood still like he was bored as Rody ranted. However, his eyes told a different story as his fear was obvious to anyone who saw those glinting orbs.

Rody turned around and began walking without even a care about the boy. He was certain that the boy was going to follow him no matter what he said because the little prince was too cowardly to go on his own. And as he expected, he began to hear his pitiful steps.

Rody knew he was a bit harsh with the boy but he was in no mood to listen to his questions. His stomach was clinging to his belly and his head was dizzy. The boy was lucky that he was not eaten by him so far.

After a few hours of walking, Rody began to tire. He stopped the boy and sat at the foot of a tree. The prince sat beside him and pulled out something from his pocket and began gnawing it.

Rody turned his head sharply when he heard the sound. His eyes grew big as he watched the boy eating something. Here he was worrying about dying due to starvation while the boy he kidnapped was filling his belly.

"What?" The prince asked with a mouth full of food.

Rody grabbed the half-eaten hardtack from his hand and stuffed it into his mouth. He did not let even a crumb leave his mouth as he forced the dry food through his throat.

Then, his eyes turned back to the boy as he asked, "Do you have more?"

The prince held his pocket like he was hiding something and shook his little head in fear. However, his hand did not escape from Rody's eyes. Rody threw himself forward and yanked the boy's hand away. He put his hand inside the pocket and felt several square things. He pulled them out and his eyes were greeted by similar hardtacks.

He stuffed them into his mouth while the boy tried to take back his food from Rody. However, his efforts did not give any fruit as Rody ate them all and gulped them down his throat.

"You barbarian!! They were mine!!" The prince yelled in a blatant fury.

"Be thankful that you had some food or this barbarian would have eaten you." Rody wiped his mouth and mocked him. "Besides, where did you find them?"

"I found them in the village while you were changing your clothes. It was lying on a table in the backyard." The prince said.

"So you stole them?" Rody raised an eyebrow.

"No, I am not a thief." The prince spoke indignantly. "Mother always says that we can take whatever we want from peasants because they live to serve us."

"Your mother is a stupid cunt." Rody scowled. "No wonder you are like this. Anyway, get some rest. We still have a long way to go to Stormlands."

"Don't talk bad about my mother, she is the queen!" The little boy rose to his feet and clenched his fists in anger. "My mother told me about everything. Northerners betrayed my father and tried to usurp my family's birthright."

"Hmph, you will need a bit of sleep if you do not want to be left here." Rody snorted but held his mouth as he had no patience to convince a little boy. "Also, do not try anything funny or you will get a blue eye."

The little prince continued to watch Rody with clenched fists but that was it. He could do nothing else as the fear of getting beaten by the Northern barbarian was too much for him.

Rody was not a good judge of character but, at least, he could see that the boy had no inkling of courage inside him. He put his sheathed sword on his lap and closed his eyes to rest for a little bit.

By the time Rody opened his eyes, the sun was already setting. He looked for the boy but he couldn't see him anywhere. He rose to his feet quickly and grabbed his sword. He cursed himself for his folly as he had trusted the boy's fear. Nevertheless, there was no use crying over spilt milk.

He put his hand on the spot where the boy was sitting. The boy was probably not far away because he could still feel the warmth of his body on the ground. He looked down to see his footsteps and followed them quickly.

He only walked a few minutes and saw the boy walking towards a camp. He fastened her steps and ran after him. However, when the prince heard that someone was running after him, he turned around to look. The sight must have been scary because the prince panicked and ran towards camp while yelling for help.

Rody groaned in annoyance but he still followed the boy. A few men, roused from their chatter, stopped the boy and their eyes turned to Rody who was running towards them.

"Stop right there, man. Why are you chasing the boy?"

Rody stopped before them and spoke in words that belonged to his past. "Forgive my git, milord. I was takin' him to me brother to have him work in the field but the boy escaped hearing he was to work."

"He is a liar!!" The prince yelled, hiding behind the big man who spoke earlier. "I am a prince!!"

"Shut it, boy!" One of the men with sharp eyes slapped the prince on the back of his head. Then, he turned his head to look at Rody. "Since when do roaming peasants carry shiny castle-forged swords with them?"

"Stop Horrace, let the boy speak." Said a man with his eyes glued on Rody.

The prince looked at Rody with fear in his eyes but still spoke freely. "I am Tommen Baratheon. This Northern savage kidnapped me. If you help me to return home, my mother will give you lots of gold."

"A prince you say…" The men looked at each other. A silence took over the campsite for a few seconds and eyes with greed shined brightly. Finally, one of them said, "If what he says is true, we should bring the boy to the king."

"Fuck the king, I say. We serve Lord Steadmon, not the king. Lannisters would butcher us if they catch us with the princeling." A man with blonde hair spoke.

Rody was confused. First, they referred to someone as king, then they talked about Lannisters. The king they mentioned was probably Stannis Baratheon, if so Rody still had a chance to have these men see the light. "Forgive my previous words, good men. I mistook you for Lannister men." Rody spoke with a chest held forward and head held high. "My name is Rody Greyguard. I serve Lord Eddard Stark. This boy's family tried to kill the king's brother. If you bring him to King Stannis, you would be doing a great service to the realm and fulfilling your oaths."

The five southern men surrounding the camp stopped and turned their eyes to Rody. The sharp-eyed man spoke with a mocking voice. "Now you speak truly. Your Northern accent was a giveaway, anyway."

"Did you crawl out from a cave, boy?" said an older man who looked like the leader of the group due to his shiny armour. "Stormlanders don't bow to Stannis. Our oaths belong to Lord Steadmon who owes his oaths to Lord Renly Baratheon. We will escort you and the boy to Lord Steadmon. Then, he shall decide what to do with you."

Rody did not mind the words uttered by these men. No matter what, he could achieve what he wanted by following their way. "I would appreciate the escort, Lannister men would be roaming these woods soon and I wouldn't want to be the only sword against them."

One of the men turned around and muttered something to the others. Then all of them turned back to Rody. "Follow us then. Ser Rody Greyguard. However, we would advise you to speak less. Few would pass through this road in these times but your thick accent would make a target on our heads. As you said, Lannister men will be roaming these lands soon."

Rody nodded his head and let his hand, which rested on the pommel of his sword, fall. He did not know when he put it on the pommel but his nervousness was apparent from his sweaty palm.

The men began to gather their belongings while the prince cowered in a corner with frustration building up inside him. On the other hand, Rody began eating his fill after asking for food from the Stormlanders.

The old man who was the leader of the group pulled out a small cage from one of the tents while packing it. Rody watched as the old man tied a small scroll to the raven's leg that was in the cage. He asked the old man where he was going to send the raven.

"My brother is the castellan of the keep. I will be informing him about you and the prince. Hopefully, they will send some people to escort us midway." said the old man.

Apparently, they were patrolling the road but had to go inside the Crownlands after receiving orders from their lord. Though the old man refused to tell the reason to him, Rody guessed they were probably sent to raid villages belonging to their neighbours. It was a common thing amongst the nobility to disrupt the order of their neighbours to benefit from it.

Half an hour later, they were on the road. They were going towards the seat of House Steadmon, Broad Arch. After filling his belly with food, Rody regained his vigour and life grew back in his eyes.

They trekked down the road with only three of them riding horses. The prince continuously asked when they were going to reach the castle but the answers he received did not appear to satisfy him as he sulked with his round face.

"Did you truly defeat Ser Barristan Selmy?" asked one of the younger men-at-arms.

"I wouldn't count that as a victory, Ser Barristan is past his prime. He would have trashed me if he had been my age." Rody said.

"Humility is not a thing for you knights." The old man who was riding a horse beside them snorted, "Defeating a common soldier is one thing, defeating the best swordsman in the Seven Kingdoms is another. A win is a win, there is no excuse for that."

They stopped in a village during the night. The villagers warmly welcomed the group. It was obvious that the group were frequent visitors to the village. One of them even had family members among the villagers.

The group was staying in the same house. The old man arranged a room for Rody and the prince. Rody was grateful that he was going to sleep in a bed after more than a week. The room reminded him of his old room while he was staying with Uncle Duncan.

This room was as poor as his old room. The woods on the ground were rotten and he was certain that there were some bed bugs around here.

The little prince was quick to sleep. He was even snoring and calling for his mother in his sleep. Rody did not know how he was going to sleep while the boy made sounds like that. He took a deep breath and pushed himself out of the bed.

He wore his breeches and boots and walked out of the room. They were on the second floor so he took cautious steps to not wake others. He slowly descended the stairs and intended to leave the house to take the fresh air into his lungs.

He put his hand on the door's handle but stopped at the last moment after hearing some sounds coming from the outside. He frowned and opened the door slightly to see who it was.

The old man who was the leader of the group was talking with the sharp-eyed man and another man who Rody did not see before.

"So we need to deliver the boy to Lord Renly, directly?" asked the sharp-eyed man with a whisper.

"Not a lord anymore, he is a king now," said the old man.

"Apparently, Lord Buckler does not want the boy in his castle," said the third man. "He intends to deliver him to the king right away and reap the rewards."

Rody got confused about what they were talking about. Lord Renly was a king now? That was impossible because King Stannis was older than him. Still, things were not looking well. He was thinking that he should take the boy and escape the village and go on his way. Yes, that was what he was going to do. Rody slowly attempted to close the door but the next words he heard made him stop.

"What about the Northerner?" asked the sharp-eyed man. "He said he serves Lord Stark and will be bringing the boy to him. He won't allow us to take the boy to King Renly."

"Aye, that is a problem." said the old man with a sigh. "The boy must die. We cannot let him be an obstacle for us. Horrace, go and slit his throat."

"Why am I the one who always does the hard work, eh?" the sharp-eyed man complained, throwing his hands in the air.

Rody let them to their own devices as they continued to bicker. He slowly closed the door and made his way up the stairs. He returned to his room and woke up the boy gently.

"Boy, wake up… wake up," he whispered to his ear as he shook him from his shoulders.

The prince opened his eyes and rubbed them. "Why did you wake me up?" he asked.

"I've got some bad news for you, boy," Rody said. "Your uncle, Renly, declared himself a king. And those men that escorted us here, intend to take your head to him as a bounty."

The prince's eyes grew big in fear as he opened his mouth to speak but no word came out. Rody knew what he said was a lie but he had no other choice than this to make the boy listen to him.

"But don't worry because I won't let them take you. We will escape from here together but you need to do whatever I say to the letter. If I say jump, you will jump. If I say duck, you will duck. Is that understood?" Rody asked.

The prince nodded his head like a duckling and quickly tried to leave his bed to gather his things but Rody stopped him.

"Wait, do not leave your bed. Act like you are sleeping. One of them will soon come here to slit your throat. We will catch him unaware." Rody said. Then, he went to his bed and arranged his pillows like someone was sleeping there. He wore his belt and took all of his belongings. He was holding the Valyrian dagger in his hands. He hid behind the door and waited for his victim.

On the other hand, the prince was shaking like a leaf while trying to act like he was sleeping. Rody groaned and touched the boy's foot. The prince jumped up in his bed with a stifled cry.

Rody motioned for him to calm down and said, "Stop shaking, or they will realize you are not asleep and both of us will die."

The prince nodded his head and pulled the blanket all the way to his head. Rody sighed in relief seeing that the boy was not shaking anymore. He put his back on the wall and waited for the man to come.

It did not take long for him to hear light steps resounding through the narrow corridor. The door creaked a little bit as Rody saw a glowed hand grip the door. Rody attached himself to the wall and waited for the man to come inside.

The man crept in with slow steps but unlike what Rody was expecting, the one who came inside was the old man, the leader of the patrol group. The old man probably had enough of the sharp-eyed man's bickering and decided to take the reins to his hands. However, he probably did not know what his actions were going to cause.

As the old man closed the door behind him and slowly moved towards the bed on which Rody should have been sleeping, Rody lunged at the old man. He put his left hand on the man's mouth to cut any sound that would come out. His right hand, which held the Valyrian steel dagger, moved forward and stabbed the old man from behind at least a dozen times.

After the deed was done, the only thing that was heard in the room was Rody slowly putting the old man's body on the wooden ground. He did not waste any time and dragged the boy out of his bed. He grabbed the sheets of the bed and tied them to his own bed's sheets.

He tied one end of the sheets to a sturdy bedstead and opened the window to droop down the tied sheet. He turned back and looked at the room to be certain that he had forgotten nothing. After that, his eyes turned back to the prince. "Quickly grab the sheet and climb down but be quiet."

The prince shook his head in fear, "I cannot do that, I'm afraid of heights."

Rody got frozen for a moment and sighed in annoyance. He went before the boy and turned around to kneel on the ground. "Quick get on my back, close your eyes and I will carry you down."

The boy's arms and legs tangled around Rody as he went climbing down using the tied sheets without any hesitation. Despite his small stature, the boy was heavy. Rody broke a few sweats as he climbed down and as soon as his feet touched the ground, he shed the boy from him and tossed him to the ground.

The prince groaned and picked himself up from the ground. He angrily looked at Rody but did not say anything for fear of getting heard by the men in the house.

Rody and the little prince moved away from the village in the middle of the night. Grasshoppers were buzzing and the moon was clear in the sky. Rody was roaming aimlessly as he did not know where to go. To his north was the Crownlands which were controlled by the Lannisters. To his south and west were Tyrells and the Baratheons which were under the rule of the newly crowned King Renly.

The only possible way seemed to be the east but even then, he did not know which route to take. There were no ports he could use on the eastern coast of the Stormlands. Besides, using the ports was a big giveaway with the prince beside him.

In the end, Rody decided to try his chances by doing the most unthinkable thing. He was going to hide under their very noses. Riverlands was his final destination but his path was going to take him to Westerlands…