13 Chapter 13

The meeting with his future self, or at least one from another life, changed Konrad somewhat drastically. Something that both his cousin and his teacher noticed almost immediately.

Gone was the curious little boy who was begging for new books to read or stories to hear, instead, a more quiet, more stoic boy took over him. The memories of his older self were far from being happy, but at the same time, it did help Konrad mature overnight.

All of the years as a knight of a religious order that only had one purpose and that was to help the smallfolk of their faith, changed Konrad's young and somewhat innocent view of the world. There was no honor on the battlefield, there was no honor killing a man, instead, a knight's sole duty was for the smallfolk he swore to protect, something that each and every lord was supposed to follow. Alas, from what his older self had noticed in the short life of his younger self was that there were few men and women that were worthy of the title of lord, lady, or ser.

As the hours passed, Konrad felt a strong desire to follow the same path as his older self, that of a Teutonic knight. He admired the courage, faith, and dedication of his other self, who had fought for a noble cause and had helped many people in need, and while the older him didn't allow him to see and learn anything about the world he came from, since it wasn't going to help him at all, Konrad still managed to learn or at least be able to learn the languages spoken by his knightly self from another time.

However, he also knew that he had a different destiny, that of being the future lord of the Vale. He had a duty to his family, and his people, and he could not abandon them for his personal wishes. As for his faith… it came as a shock for him when he saw the bible and had all of its pages in his memory, every word clear and forever imprinted there almost like a reminder to never become a monster, but neither to become a fanatic.

Despite his young age, Konrad decided to adopt a similar attitude in his own life. He resolved to be a good lord, but also a good knight, and at the same time he vowed to protect and serve his people, but also to seek justice and peace. Be it the old gods or the new gods, he will not force his faith onto them as that will only brew war, but if the faith of the seven decides otherwise…

"Cousin, are you feeling well?"

Konrad was brought from his thoughts by his older cousin, who had not left his room ever since he woke up. No matter how much he tried to explain to his cousin that it wasn't his fault that he got captured, Andar was adamant about being punished for letting his future lord fall in the hands of the enemy and if not for Ser Tyrek's insistence, the only God might know what his foolish cousin was thinking to do to atone.

"I'm fine cousin. Tired but other than that fine." Konrad took a look at Andar, who was sitting on a chair holding his sword close to him. "Have you or Ser Tyrek decided on my request?"

While it was only a day since he woke up, and despite the other changes that he went through, probably the strangest one was his sudden request to be trained by his cousin and Ser Tyrek, something that Tyrek wasn't quite pleased to start. Especially since Konrad wasn't exactly in any shape or form able to stand for a long period of time in the sun. Yet despite that, the young boy made it clear that if neither one of them was to help him train, he would start doing it regardless.

"Mayhaps, we should wait for Ser Tyrek to come back from his trip to the market before we talk about this subject."

"As you wish cousin."

It was still unsettling for the six and ten name's day-old knight to hear his cousin talking in such a formal way with him, even more so when Konrad was using a somewhat polite tone, rather than the excited and overall childish one that he had before the attack.

Luckily for Konrad, Tyrek returned almost half an hour later carrying their meals for the next few days. However, as soon as he got inside, the blonde knight realized that Konrad was looking at him expectingly. Letting out a sigh, he then walked close to the boy's bed before sitting beside him.

Before Tyrek could ask Konrad anything, the boy asked him the same thing he had asked his cousin earlier. "Ser Tyrek, have you decided on my request?" Konrad looked at him with a serious and determined expression, as if he was ready to face any challenge, which looked quite cute on a six-name days-old boy.

"I want to learn how to fight, how to be a knight like you and my other self. Please, teach me."

Tyrek felt a pang of sympathy for the young lord, who had gone through so much in such a short time. He knew that Konrad had seen things that no child should see and that the boy should have been raised at his home, fate wasn't so forgiven to the young lord thus they had to run and hide, at least until the boy became a man.

The boy, despite his obvious problem, was far from being a spoiled brat or worse, a useless one, no. Not even before the incident that put him in a week-long coma, did Konrad fear hard work and more than once had he joined his cousin or even him fishing or working odd jobs around the harbor. But in the end, Tyrek looked at Andar, who nodded slightly, as if to say that he agreed with Konrad's request, making the older knight sigh once again.

"Very well, my lord. I will teach you what I know, but you have to promise me something. You have to promise me that you will listen to me, that you will be patient and diligent, that you will not overexert yourself or endanger yourself, and that you will always remember your true purpose as a knight. Do you promise?"

For the first time, since he got to know the boy, Tyrek was surprised by what he saw. Konrad got slowly from his bed before kneeling on one knee in front of him before putting a hand over his heart.

"I, Konrad Arryn, heir of the Vale, and future lord paramount of it, do profess and promise to abide by the path of helping the smallfolk, and swear obedience to God and the Blessed Virgin Mary and to you, Ser Tyrek Lannister."

Both Tyrek and Andar were speechless at Konrad's sudden oath, especially the part regarding God and the Blessed Virgin Mary. They had never heard of such deities before, and they wondered where Konrad had learned about them. While it was pretty clear that Konrad was supposed the faith of the Seven, like most people in Westeros, or at least that was what they believed to be the case until now.

They looked at each other, unsure of how to react, mostly because they did not want to offend or upset Konrad, who seemed sincere and earnest in his vow, but they also did not want to encourage him in his possible blasphemy. Nevertheless, both knights decided to play along for now, hoping that Konrad would eventually explain himself or forget about his odd oath.

"I accept your vow, my lord. We will start with the basics of swordsmanship on the morrow after you rest some more."

Eddard Stark, Lord Paramount of the North, was watching his sons playing with their toy swords, like they were some knights, making him smile slightly. Both Robb and Jon were four years old and while still too young, neither one of them wanted anything other than a toy sword to start becoming knights, so that they could protect their new sister.

Watching Jon act like he was some evil knight, almost made him laugh out loud, only for Ned to remember just how much it took from him to explain to his wife, the boy's real parents. If not for Jon Arryn's insistence over the years, Ned wouldn't have told his wife the truth, but at the same time, mayhaps that wouldn't have been for the best. Now, almost two years after that day, Jon had a goodmother that loved him almost as much as she loved her son.

Suddenly, Lord Stark saw a raven landing at the window of Maester Luwin's window, making the Quiet Wolf accept the fact that he was going to have to meet with the maester.

After making sure that his boys were in capable hands, Eddard Stark made his way to Maester Luwin's room, only to find the maester ready to rush to find him with a letter in his hand. The letter had a green wax seal with the sigil of House Reed, a black lizard-lion on a grey-green field. It came directly from one of his friends and Lord of the North, Howland Reed, regarding the mission he had sent the man earlier this year.

"Lord Stark, I'm glad I found you. This letter just arrived from Greywater Watch. It's from Lord Reed himself. He has news about the mission you entrusted him with." Maester Luwin said, handing the letter to Ned.

Ned took the letter and broke the seal before unfolding the parchment. Truth be told, when he asked his friend if he had some contact over the sea, Ned didn't expect Howland to smile at him and simply tell him "That I will find what I can, Ned. Don't worry about your nephew."

And so, he was pleasantly surprised to see and read this letter:

To my friend and liege lord Eddard Stark,

I hope this letter finds you and your family well and safe. I have returned from my journey To Essos and I have to say Ned… that you were right. Someone was indeed paying off the men Lord Hand had sent to find his son, and while I have no idea who that person was, one thing was for sure, it was someone close to Lord Hand or at least someone who knew the man like an open book. However, that isn't the strangest thing that I've managed to dig up when I was searching for more information about your nephew. And while I'm sad to admit that I didn't manage to find his whereabouts, I did manage to find who was taking care of him or at least was traveling with him. One of the men is his cousin, Andar Royce, firstborn of Lord Royce, however what made me wonder what in the Old Gods name was going on, was the second man that was seemed protecting both boys. I don't know if you remember, but there was another member of the kingsguard that disappeared shortly before the rebellion and that man was Ser Tyrek Lannister. For reasons unknown to me or my contacts, the ex-kings guard is now protecting your nephew, and judging by the rather impressive pile of bodies left behind, the man did an excellent job protecting young Konrad from the assassins and hired hands that came after the boy's head. As for the bounty on the boy's head… I'm not sure who the one behind this is since there are more than fifty different bounties made under different names with different rewards. Since I can't remain here to search and find more answers, I left one of my best men behind to continue what I can't.

Before I left Essos, I got a message from Bronze Yohn regarding his visit to the North. I don't know why exactly he didn't send the letter to you, but if I were to guess, and I apologize for saying it, but I think Lord Royce isn't trusting your Lady wife's sister.

I hope that this will at least ease your mind about your nephew's well-being if nothing else,

Your loyal vassal, Lord Howland Reed of Greywater Watch.

Putting the letter down, Ned didn't know how to react. On one hand, he was happy that Jon's son was alive and from what Holland said was doing well enough under the care of his cousin and the ex-kings guard, but on the other hand… the simple fact that someone was targeting a boy no older than seven name's day old was anything but honorable. Then again, his friend acted no better when Tywin Lannister told him that the young prince had been killed by the Mountain.

"Maester Luwin would you please make a copy of this letter before sending the copy to King's Landing on a rider? I'm sorry to say it, but I fear that we can't trust anyone in the capital with this letter."

"Of course, Lord Stark. On the morrow, I will have the letter ready to be sent. Now if you excuse me."

Once he got the orders from his lord, Maester Luwin took the letter and went back into his room, while Ned slowly made his way towards his solar. When he entered the room, the first thing he did was to sit on his chair and take out the letter his sister gave him the day he found her, more than four years ago.

Of all the wrongs he did in the war, the worst one was definitely his bad decision of leaving the bones of his people behind as well as those of the kingsguards who defended Lya to their last breath. Alas if not for his younger brother's insistence, then only the Old Gods might have known just how much that bad decision of his would have hurt his relation with his lords.

Just as he was about to look over some of the reports, that he had put aside earlier that day, a sudden knock on the door changed his mind. A second later, his lovely wife holding their newborn daughter walked inside, and Ned could see just how happy his Cat was holding their little bundle of joy.

Ned smiled as he saw his wife enter the room, carrying their daughter in her arms. He stood up and walked towards her, wrapping his arms around them both before kissing Cat gently on the lips, then moved his mouth to the baby's forehead. "She's beautiful, my love. Just like you."

Cat smiled back at him, then handed him their daughter. "Here, hold her. She's been wanting to see her father all day." Ned took the baby carefully, feeling her warmth and weight in his hands. He looked into her eyes, which were a mix of blue and green and felt a surge of love and pride. He whispered her name, "Sansa", and kissed her cheek.

Cat watched them with a tender expression, then asked him, "How are the boys doing? Have they finished their lessons?"

"Aye, they have. Robb and Jon are playing in the yard, but I fear that these two little troublemakers of ours would want to start training for real sooner rather than later."

That brought a smile to Cat's face before she noticed that despite Ned being happy to see her, there was something else with him. "Ned, you don't look so good. Did something happen?"

"Howland came back from Essos."

"Did he find our nephew?"

"In a way, Cat. The boy is alive and well, together with his cousin, Lord Royce's eldest son, but for some reason, both boys are protected by one of the kingsguards."

Hearing what her husband just said shocked Catlyn, but she quickly recovered understanding that there was more to this story.

"Besides that, Lord Royce will visit us in the future. I don't know when or why, but Howland did mention that Yohn sent him a letter."

"Then we should prepare."

"Aye, that we should."

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