Vibrations

Kai dismounted, along with the guards.

He had no way to tell if it was his Luck that had brought about this encounter. But if it had, then this meant nothing good for him. 2 was the value of his Luck, and it might as well have been 0 for all he cared.

Kai felt it then.

The distance must have been too large, and his Perception too low, for him to not feel it immediately. Now that the six enormous stallions were closer, he could feel it like the blows of a rainstorm.

A heart-palpitated danger!

'Who? Who is it? From where?' Kai asked himself. But the only thing he could find was that it was coming from the Prince's escort. In the front were two black-armored and gold-cloaked guards. On the Prince's left was a tall guard with a dog's helm, and on his right was a red-cloaked guard in red-black-gold colored armor. Two more of these red-cloaks were on Prince's rear, following him with a trot.

All came to a halt with a sharp command from the prince.

The danger had become a tight grip around Kai's throat. He looked at the prince then. A golden-haired, tall boy, in what seemed to be red and gold doublet over white breeches and hard red-leather boots. 'He's a prince alright,' Kai thought, seeing the scowl on the prince's face.

The prince wasn't the source of that danger, though. Kai adjusted his eyes, moving them to the prince's left. There it was! Dark stallion, darker aura. The guard was cladded in a dark armor and an olive-green cloak billowed behind him. Even from this distance, Kai could tell he was no match for this thing. Kai licked his lips, and what happened next made him jolt.

Thrumm!

A vibration! Or an excited roar?! It was hard to say, but Kai sensed it as plainly as his breath. It wasn't anything on him, or outside in the real world. This sudden shaking had come from his Inventory. From an Item within it. From the Book!

The Tales of Beedle the Bard was quaking with sheer pleasure. Kai could feel it in his bones. The will to devour something alive. The madness! And he knew what it was looking for. 'Who is it?' Kai asked the same question again, but now the meaning had changed. 'For whom the Book yearns so much? Is it the knight? The Prince maybe?'

Kai also noticed how the Book had shown none such shaking when he was with Jon Arryn, the Hand. Even then, he could tell this old man was a significant figure in this world. Yet, the Book hadn't responded to his presence. There was a hint hidden in all this, Kai knew. His hands itched to take out the Book, to open it, to try out the Item for which had risked his everything.

'Control yourself, fool!' Kai rebuked himself. 'Calm down!'

"Kneel before your prince!" one red-cloak guard said.

The guards besides Kai kneeled at the command, and Kai followed them. "Don't look up," the guard close to Kai whispered. "No matter what, don't talk back to the prince."

Kai nodded.

"Prince Joffrey," Kai heard the old voice of Jon Arryn. "You will forgive an old man for not stepping out and kneeling I hope."

"Heh!" the prince grunted. "Who is this white-haired boy? Some Targaryen bastard?"

Kai didn't like where it was going. He knew little about the world, but from the prince's tone, he could infer this word "Targaryen" wasn't some good thing. 'Why is my Charisma not working on this prince?' Kai asked himself. 'It worked fine on the Hand, though.'

"Haha!" the Hand laughed. "There are no more Targaryens in Westeros, your grace. He is my new Page, Arlen Stone. His father had done me great service in the war. Just today, the boy arrived."

"Page?!" a heavy, hoarse voice thundered in Kai's ears. "Isn't he too old for a Page?"

It was the taller guard who had asked. Kai shook even more. The Book was sending out shivers in his spine. 'It's him!' Kai exclaimed. 'The Book wants his tale.'

"Clegane," Jon Arryn addressed the black guard, "the young ones don't suit my needs anymore. I need a quick mind and strong shoulders around me. The boy is just what I need…"

The Hand would have spoken more if it weren't for the Prince's sneer. "Hah!" Joffrey, the prince, breathed out. "So a bastard he is, then. Who knows, he might have some Targaryen blood in him? Capture him and send him to dungeons. A good whipping will bring the truth out of his mouth soon enough."

'What the…?' Kai couldn't believe what he was hearing. 'Is he crazy or something?'

The three red-cloaks dismounted and would have rushed at Kai if it weren't for Jon Arryn stepping out of his palanquin. "There is no need for it, your grace. I assure you, the boy is no Targaryen. If you insist, I can bring you and him to your father, and decide it there and then."

A silence filled Kai's immediate surroundings. The entire city came to life behind him, and the shouts of people washed over the silence like cold water. "OK," the prince finally said, reluctantly. "Take away your Page, then. Dog! Keep an eye on him. Cut him down if he's up to something funny."

"Gladly, your grace," Clegane said, a sharp laugh following his words.

The horses galloped away soon afterward, leaving behind a heavy frown on Jon Arryn's freckled face. Kai stood up and turned around to see the prince's entourage disappearing far into the serpentine streets when the old man put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry about Sandor Clegane," Jon Arryn said. "It's the smaller, hidden ones I am worried about."

"Yes, my lord," Kai answered, mounting his horse again. 'But, I need to worry about this Clegane. Not for you, old man. For me! I have to find a chance to open the book in his presence somehow without getting me killed. Tch!'

Jon Arryn went for his palanquin. But before vanishing into it, he gave Kai a deep look and sighed. "I should have made you dye your hair. Too late now, I guess."

********

AN: Following things are available on Discord

1. Explanation of Kai's surname given by Jon Arryn (stone)

2. Prince Joffrey (image reference)

3. Sandor Clegane (image reference)