10 A New Job
294 AC, Winterfell…
If there was one thing Rodrik knew, that was he did not like this place. It was cold and damp.
The dungeons of Winterfell were not like the castle itself. Rodrik remembered the constant feeling of warmth when he was in the great hall of the castle years ago. It was like there was a fire burning everywhere to keep him warm. However, the dungeons were different. The cold was constant and no light was getting inside.
Although Rodrik did not stay there for more than a day, the cold and darkness brought memories he dreaded.
He was visited by some people but the first one to visit him was Jon…
*Flashback*
Rodrik was sitting against the entrance of the dungeons as he mused about what he was going to do once he was released. After all, many people knew about his job and Jack was one of the first people who saw him going after the bandits. Thus, Rodrik was sure he was going to be released soon.
Just as Rodrik's thoughts were beginning to wander toward the things he was going to do after he was released, he heard sneaky footsteps coming up from the stairs.
He rose from the ground and looked at who was coming. His eyes grew wide seeing the person with a torch in his hand.
"Rodrik?" Jon whispered seeing him and ran beside his cell, "I saw you brought last night, I knew it was you." What did you do this time?"
Rodrik snorted, "I did nothing wrong, I was just after some bandits, that's all."
"I saw Ser Rodrik and others riding out to go after some bandits during the day but I wouldn't have thought they would come back with you in tow." Jon creased his brows, "They were talking about how you killed four men."
"It was all luck," Rodrik sighed, "If not for Lord Stark's men, I would have died there. Now, leave my matter aside, and tell me of yours. Does Lady Stark still nag you about what you did?"
"Don't even mention her, I don't understand why she does all of that… I mean I am not the one who wronged her. I heard her talk with septa about how I will steal Robb's seat if they do not kick me out. I would never do that to my brother…" Jon continued to ramble while Rodrik listened to him stoically.
This was a normal occurrence for Rodrik as whenever they met each other, Jon would talk about Lady Stark and what she was doing nonstop.
If Rodrik did not know Jon, he would have thought he enjoyed being bullied by that woman. Besides, the more Rodrik heard about this Lady Stark, the more he got annoyed by her treatment of Jon.
Jon was a good boy and even better than some boys he met on the street. Even though he heard about how nobility treated bastards, he did not wish something like this to happen to his friend.
"You know, if you are having that much of a problem here, why don't you come with me? That woman won't let you live here when his son becomes the next lord. By coming with me, you can create your own path." said Rodrik.
"Robb would never allow that to happen," Jon did not hesitate to answer proudly, "Besides, when he is not with Greyjoy, Robb always plays with me. We are real brothers."
Hearing the word 'Greyjoy' made Rodrik grimace in anger. The things he lived were all because of those fuckin' scum's family. However, he quickly hid his anger behind his face.
One of the things he learned from Uncle Duncan was not to show any emotions to the people so they could not use them to hurt him.
"You are lucky you have such a family who is willing to look out for you. My advice to you is never to let what others say get into your head. Only those who are afraid or jealous of you would belittle you." Rodrik's last two sentences were spoken to him by his Uncle Duncan and they were the words he always held close to his heart.
Jon lowered his head and looked at the ground. Some of the servants who came from the South with Lady Stark were always looking at him with disdainful eyes. Although Jon ignored them mostly, knowing that it was all because of his status was disturbing him. Still, he knew Rodrik was telling the truth, caring about what they said was the least helpful thing for him.
"Enough of this… The reason why I came here is to tell you that Ser Rodrik will come down in an hour to release you. He is planning to offer you a place amongst the guards. I heard him telling Lord Stark that you have a talent for swords and know enough to do the honourable thing." Jon said, "However, Lord Stark told Ser Rodrik to make this offer only once."
"Me, a guardsman? Besides, why only once?" Rodrik asked with a frown on his face.
"You will not be a normal guardsman. From what I heard, Ser Rodrik is planning to nurture your talents as a household guard for Lord Stark so you will be staying at the castle and won't be patrolling the streets like the others," said Jon. "And Lord Stark told him that he does not want someone who would hesitate to serve his family close to him."
Rodrik fell into deep thoughts… He had great plans like visiting various places around the Seven Kingdoms and doing menial jobs to earn some coins to book a place on a ship to Essos. He knew it was hard to rise in the Seven Kingdoms but this offer gave him some hope. After all, having a chance to serve a great lord was the best offer he could get.
"I would be an idiot to refuse such an offer," Rodrik snorted, "Even though I had plans of going South to earn some coins, serving the Starks is the highest honour a Northman could get."
After a small talk, Jon bid farewell to Rodrik and left the dungeons. A few minutes later a stout man with soft flesh under his chin came in. He had white hair and large white whiskers and a guard with black circles under his eyes were following him.
The stout man turned his head to the guard beside him and told him to wait. Then, he came close to Rodrik's cell and opened its door with the keys.
"Get out boy or do you intend to stay here for the rest of your life?" said Ser Rodrik Cassel.
Rodrik listened to the knight and left his cell and followed the knight outside. They took him to the yard of the castle. Several guards were waiting for them.
Rodrik looked at the white-whiskered man with expectant eyes. However, the question he was expecting was never asked.
"I know Jon visited you before me," Rodrik Cassel spoke while looking at the yard, "So you probably already have an answer."
The white-whiskered man drew a sword from his belt slowly, the blade made a hissing whisper as it was removed from the sheath and he extended its handle to Rodrik.
"Now take this sword and face the three men who are standing in the yard or leave this castle at once." said the old man.
Rodrik did not hesitate to take the sword. There was no doubt about the sword's quality. Except for Uncle Duncan, there was no one he couldn't win against until now so he was eager to fight someone who was properly trained.
Rodrik went forward and looked at the three men waiting for him in the yard. They were looking at him disdainfully and murmuring amongst each other about a green boy.
Rodrik let them rant about him as he grabbed his sword tightly and rushed to them without a word.
He slashed to his right as he was about to reach them. The man parried the strike with surprise and anger on his face.
The other two pulled back and looked at each other. They understood that the boy was not as green as they thought so they circled him and began striking him simultaneously.
Rodrik sidestepped to the right just enough and the blade passed just beside his face. Quickly, before they could respond with a follow-up, Rodrik swiftly slashed forward, knocked out the sword from his hand and hit his face with the handle of his sword.
The man fell to the ground and blacked out. Rodrik was still not done and quickly turned around to slash the one who was planning to attack him from behind.
The man blocked his strike and Rodrik felt another blow coming to him from behind as the other man was nowhere in his sight. So he sidestepped and let the man hit his friend with the sword.
While they tried to get off each other, Rodrik kicked one of them from behind his knee and made him kneel to the ground and put a sword to his throat from behind.
The man threw off his sword to the ground with a resigned expression on his face.
Then, Rodrik's eyes turned to the last man who stood before him. He waited for the other party to attack this time. The man weighed his sword and took a deep breath.
Rodrik felt the man was too slow so he did not wait anymore and moved forward. He slashed so hard that the man lost his grip on his sword and was left unarmed and fell to the ground.
Rodrik was not satisfied, he was expecting more from men trained to fight on the battleground. If this was the standard of Stark guards, he was sure they were going to be the first ones to die during a clash.
Nevertheless, these men were going to be his friends in the coming days so Rodrik had to shape them up or else there wasn't going to be anyone who could watch over his back in a fight. So he extended his hand to the man who lay on the ground and helped him to get onto his feet.
He turned to Ser Rodrik Cassel and saw him looking somewhere behind him. He followed his gaze and saw Lord Stark standing there with a stoic expression on his face.
Lord Stark nodded his head towards Ser Cassel and left the yard to go back to his castle.
Rodrik went beside Ser Cassel and gave him his sword back. In return, Ser Cassel put his hand on Rodrik's shoulder and wore a slight smile on his face.
"You have talent, boy." said Ser Cassel, "However, two Rodrik is too much for Winterfell. You will be called Rody from now on."
Rodrik grunted in answer but did not say anything.
