Jon Arryn
"Kneel, you scum!" Big Waldo roared. "This is none other than Jon Arryn, Lord of the Eyrie, Defender of the Vale, and the Hand to the King Robert Baratheon."
Kai kneeled. The rest of the sellswords had already been gone. What Big Waldo had done with them was a mystery? The older sellsword had protested. 'I did as I was told,' he had said. 'Why is this pretty thing getting selected? Let me have at it with him then. I can cut him in half in one stroke.'
'That's why you are not selected, fool,' Kai had thought then. But he had refrained from making jests in front of the old man. As the Hand and Big Waldo exchanged a few words, Kai stared down. Not at the earth, but at the notification.
[
Side Mission: Get chosen by Jon Arryn for the job
Side Mission Status: Success
Side Mission Rewards: 100 Mission Credits
Main Mission Timer is triggered
]
Kai took a breath of relief. 'Weird. Why did the Damage Done notifications not appear?'
"OK," Jon Arryn said. "Now leave us. I will have a word with this boy."
"No, my lord," Big Waldo said, rejecting the order vehemently. "I won't leave you with him alone. The boy is still a sellsword. And sellswords have no more honor than a sheep."
Kai's lips twitched upon hearing that. "He is right, my lord," one guard said. "It will be a grave mistake to be alone with him. Let me stay with you at least."
'They are not making any sense,' Kai thought. And as if sensing Kai's thought, the Hand, Jon Arryn, asked, "Are you hearing yourself?" The old man pulled down his hood, making Big Waldo and the guards flinch. "Haha!" he chuckled. "This young man is supposed to be my shadow for the coming week. If I can't trust him now, then better put an army around me. Enough, leave us."
Kai could feel the stern gaze of the guards on his back. A dangerous feeling rose in his heart before disappearing for good. Big Waldo left along with them, closing the fence, leaving Kai alone with the Hand.
"Stand up," Jon Arryn commanded. "Big Waldo has told me enough about you. You have good instincts and sharp eyes. But he didn't tell me your name."
"Arlen, if it please you my lord," Kai replied, standing up, and giving the old man's face a good look. "Big Waldo has said the truth. I am all that, but even he doesn't know my true worth."
As the Hand looked at him, Kai observed the old man back. For an old man, Jon Arryn seemed strong with his broad shoulders. Half of his teeth were missing, and his eyes were blue. Under his aquiline nose was a long, healthy beard. And what hair was left on his head shone almost gold under the noon sun.
'I can't make him my father,' Kai told himself. 'He's too old for that. Grandfather? Maybe.'
"Is that so? You are too courteous for a sellsword, I'll give you that," Jon Arryn said, smiling amiably, but then his face became grave suddenly. "Arlen, I hope Big Waldo has told you the severity of the service I require of you. I am in danger, and that means you will be in danger, more than you can think of, given your age. Are you sure you want to do this?"
The Hand had asked a question, but Kai knew better than that to think over it. 'He is still testing me,' Kai thought. 'What a shrewd fellow?' "I have never been more sure, my lord," Kai said. "Assassinations or direct assault, I can handle anything."
"That's good then," Jon Arryn nodded, approaching Kai and putting a hand over his shoulder. "Do you know what your duties will be?"
"Yes, my lord," Kai answered, following the old man out of the stable. "I am to act as a Page, and as you have said, your shadow the most."
That made the old man laugh. 'Heh!' Kai sniggered. 'Laugh all you want, old man. For the next week, you can't die even if you want to.'
*
*
Kai followed the Hand's litter on a mare.
The moment he had neared the non-magical beast, his Glitch had awakened. If he wanted to, he could devour the mare. 'Even I am not that desperate,' Kai thought, staring at the sweat-drenched people on the streets.
By now, Kai had learned a few things about his location. Not to be found as abnormal, Kai had to ask in a roundabout way. He was in the largest city of the Seven Kingdoms, King's Landing, the capital. Even while riding the mare, Kai could see three hills rising towards the sky.
"Aegon's High Hill," Kai called out loud. It was the hill he was bound for. But Kai was more fascinated by the beast surmounting the hill. The Red Keep! "The castle of a king."
Kai was no stranger to gigantic structures. Compared to the Wall he had seen in the Primordial World, this castle was nothing. But it had its charms. Like the red fingers of the demon, the towers of the castle were reaching out of the hill, trying to snatch the entire sky in one grip.
Kai had even changed his attire. 'You are now the Page of the Hand,' Jon Arryn had told him. 'You must act like it then. Even if none are watching you, which is impossible, because you will be watched all the time. I can promise you that.'
Kai was wearing a blue doublet over white breeches. His armor was under his jacket, and the guards had given him a simple longsword. The sword had no Stats, but it looked almost the same as his Castle Forged Longsword that he had lost.
The castle kept becoming larger and larger as Kai neared it. The ragged-looking people had been replaced by patrolling armored guards. Their gold cloaks fluttered behind them as they watched Kai and others. Whenever a guard passed by Kai, his Perception roared bloody murder.
'They are too strong for me,' Kai reflected, and not with a pleasant expression. He was about to ask one of the two guards riding with him when a dozen horses came galloping towards them. Before Kai could tell what was happening, the nearest guard said, "Are you unlucky, boy?"
"Huh?!" Kai replied, confusingly.
"You must be," the guard said, shaking his head. "Otherwise, why did the prince decide to come out now?"
*******
Author's Note: Following things are available on Discord now (https://discord.gg/YYU3GyfZnv)
1. A snippet of Mare (with Image)
2. King's Landing (Image Reference)
3. Doublet and Breeches (Cloths with Image References)
4. Gold Cloak Guards (Image references)