Chapter 13(a)

The next several days for Caspian fell into a sort of routine. He would wake up, build a fire, catch a fish, eat the fish and then he would go exploring.

He had torn what was left of his tunic into strips to form a sort of makeshift bag that he could sling over his shoulders and place the dragon eggs in. He was reluctant to let those things out of his sight even though he knew that he was most likely the only living soul around save for the fish.

Caspian knew he was being paranoid but every morning when he slung the makeshift satchel about his shoulder and tied StormBreaker to his waist he felt comforted by having the weight of the four dragon eggs about his shoulders.

He knew how rare dragon eggs were in the world he lived in since the dragons had been thought to be extinct since the fabled Dance of Dragons centuries ago. Finding one much less four eggs was an astronomical thing.

And he didn't intend to let anyone else get their hands on them.

The rest of the caves that he was able to get to simply by walking didn't have much else in them. A few old rusted knives, plenty of driftwood that he hauled back to the main cave and a lot of seaweed that had washed up on shore. None of them went as far back as the one he had been staying in however which disappointed him a bit.

It wasn't like he had been expecting to find a treasure trove of wealth but the fact that he had discovered four dragon eggs and a valyrian dagger beneath the enormous skeleton of a dragon that had been in the cave for the gods only knew how long had prompted him to hope in the impossible. As dagger could only belong to a person but lack of skeleton had him theorized that the dragon probably swallowed the owner. At least what he could a certain from his imagination.

The wood and the seaweed would prove useful when lashing wood to the raft that he might be able to use to escape. There was also an old wine skin that was serviceable enough that he might be able to fill it with water and bring it with him should he decide to try for the mainland.

The only thing that Caspian didn't know was how far from the mainland he actually was. The water around the caves was fresh water, indicating that he might not be as far out to sea as he had first believed and that if he somehow managed to walk far enough along the coastline of the caves than he might get to some semblance of civilization before long.

That idea didn't really appeal to him either but at the moment if he ever wanted to leave this gods forsaken place he would either need to flag down a ship which didn't seem likely or walk in order to get out.

The other option was even more obtuse and that was that he could pray for one of the dragon eggs to hatch, wait until it had achieved an acceptable size and then use it to carry him to civilization.

The only thing was however the chances of that happening were slim to none and Caspian had no guarantee that the eggs ever would hatch. For all he knew, the creatures in them had long since died and he was walking around with a bunch of centuries old colorful rocks.

But until he knew for certain, leaving them behind would be foolish. If anything he might be able to sell one when he got to the mainland. A dragon egg was a rare enough thing on its own and the price of one would be worth scores of rubies.

Money like that would be able to take Caspian places and perhaps if he was lucky enough it would enable him to buy passage on a ship to civilization.

Not knowing what was going on in the real world was driving him insane and he knew before long he would make an attempt for freedom. But in the meantime, he would still need to gather supplies and make his plans. Even after a week of being marooned in that cave, Caspian was beginning to become tired with eating fish day in and day out.

He couldn't complain too much however as there was food to eat and water to drink and a warm dry place to sleep at night. He may have been a prince once but he was not spoiled that he didn't know how to appreciate something good when he had it.

More than once his thoughts strayed to Myrcella and Tommen and his Uncle Tyrion. The last word he had heard from Myrcella was that Tyrion had arranged a marriage for her with Trystane Martell in Dorne and that she was sailing there when she was writing the letter. She should have arrived in Dorne by now and he hoped she was doing well.

And speaking of the time that had passed, he had most likely been declared dead by now and his two uncles would be trying to regroup and re-plan an assault on King's Landing. The only thing that Caspian feared was that his uncles would have no qualms about murdering everything in their path once they reached the city.

He didn't care what happened to Joffrey or his mother though he regretted not being there to take her head off himself with StormBreaker for what she had done to Edric, but his uncles weren't the type to let any of the Lannisters live after what they had discovered.

And that included Tommen and Tyrion.

Caspian prayed that his short uncle had somehow found a way to get his youngest brother out of the city and that he would himself be alright as well. He could almost hear his grandfather's words in his mind as the Old Lion would command them all to stand their ground.

Joffrey was a coward, but he would command no respect from the people or the soldiers if he did not fight in the battle that was sure to come.

The thought of that brought a smile to Caspian's face. It would serve the prick right lose face and run screaming from the battle like a coward. He's never used a sword to kill a man in his life and he thinks he will be some great hero like the ones of old. He would be lucky if he doesn't die in the first five minutes.

Because Caspian hadn't been in line for the throne he had had far more aspiration than his brother to train in the art of sword fighting and weaponry and the person he had turned to most for help with that besides his father had been Ser Barristan Selmy. Ser Barristan was one of the greatest fighters the Seven Kingdoms had ever seen and Lord Commander of Robert Baratheon's Kingsguard he commanded a high level of respect.

Even though he had been a Targaryen loyalist during his father's rebellion, Robert had told Caspian that the man's courage and bravery had been sight to behold and it would be a shame to let a man of such loyalty like that die. He wondered for a moment where the man was now.

He remembered his uncle telling him about two or three years ago that Ser Barristan was a fiercely honorable and loyal man and he had served the Targaryens with pride. And even when Robert had sent his own personal maester to tend to the knight's wounds after the battle at the Trident and offered him a place as Lord Commander of the Kingsguard which Ser Barristan had graciously accepted, Caspian could see that the man had not regarded his father as the true king.

He had never given voice to his thoughts but Caspian hadn't been positive that he had not been happy serving the man who had killed the prince he had been sworn to protect.

But Caspian didn't spend too much time thinking about Ser Barristan for long.

He had too much to do.

There were numerous caves along the coastline where he had been marooned and Caspian intended to explore each and every one of them while he was currently stuck here.

He had no means of transportation with which to get away from these

Caves and though he had the raft with which he had used to paddle to the coastline itself, it was in bad shape and he didn't want to use it unless he absolutely had to. But he had a feeling that there was a time coming when he might have to.

The days he had been marooned had all sunk into a continuous sort of blur and aside from catching fish, exploring the caves and sleeping as well as examining the four dragon eggs he had found, nothing new happened.

The only good thing he supposed was that with the constant physical exercise and time spent in the sun, the fat that Caspian did have on him from a court life style melted off of him and was replaced with lean hard muscles.

He had never been someone who overindulged in food and he could probably be called the prince that was the most accomplished with a sword as that and constant study were all he had time for in King's Landing, but with the new lifestyle he had adapted to, Caspian was probably in the best shape since start of his martial training.

When he was bored or simply looking for something to do, he would unsheathe StormBreaker and practice sparring against an imaginary foe. He couldn't get very far without a partner but there were times when he did remember techniques that Ser Barristan or his uncle Jaime had taught him and he could certainly practice his footwork.

The weather was so hot that he spent half his time in the water anyway and his swimming became stronger as well, something he had never had time for when he had been living in the keep.

The quiet time had led to a lot of self-reflection on his life in the past few years since he had discovered the truth of his mother's infidelity with the unknown man that had made his siblings all bastards.

At the time Caspian didn't want to know the truth because if he ever learned who the man was, he knew he would have had a responsibility to his father to inform him. And he didn't know if he would be able to hold off Robert's rage long enough to allow Tommen and Myrcella to escape.

Robert would have no doubt wanted to kill every Lannister that he found from that point on and they would have been as abhorrent to him as the Targaryens had been.

My father had a personal vendetta against Lannisters and Targaryens that was the size of an ocean. Now Caspian wished he had spoken of despite the fact that he had had no solid proof at the time.

But it didn't matter now.

He was marooned on the other side of the world and a war was being fought in his absence. He was sure he had been declared dead and unless a miracle happened, he was going to be stuck on this shoreline of caves for quite some time.

There were a few times in the last week that he had been stuck there however where he had a moment of insanity and he wondered if that would be such a bad thing. Before he had been saddled with the responsibility of taking over from his brother as it was his birthright he had wanted to travel and see the world. His uncle Tyrion had loved to do that was well and Caspian had had a secret hope that one day it would be something he and his uncle could do together.

Now it seemed they never would.

When he had sat by the fire late at night and watched out from his cave like hovel into the darkness of the ocean, Caspian wondered to himself if this was what it had to come to in order for him to see the world. The thought brought a dark chuckle from him but at the same time he couldn't dismiss the irony of it all.

I wanted to see the world at one point, he thought to himself. It seems I am now able to do that and the only way I had to go about it was to get myself into a shipwreck and be presumed dead by the rest of my family.

But then he would return to himself and remember that he had a vendetta to carry out and there was nothing that was going to keep him from it no matter how long he had to wait.

He had waited long enough to see his mother answer for her crimes and if he had to he might be able to wait for years. But one way or another, he was going to return to Westeros and see her with her head on a spike for what she had done.

Caspian knew vengeance was something he couldn't be overcome by no matter how hot it was coursing in his veins. His mind was on survival mode for the time being and that was quite enough.

It had been a long time since he had had to use every muscle to the full outside of training with his uncle Jaime and Ser Barristan and he was feeling it every night as he went to sleep. His muscles had hardened and his skin had darkened even though there were times when he spent inside the cave when it was raining. Caspian had also begun swimming around the area to see how far the caves went back to the mainland.

With the discovery of the dragon eggs he had been able to conclude that he must be somewhere near or in the ruins of Old Valyria. It was the only explanation that made sense. The skeleton that had once been a dragon had obviously been killed in the Doom beneath the hundreds of tons of rock that were on top of the cave and had died guarding its eggs.

And if he was in Old Valyria, Caspian had a feeling that he was also somewhat near to Slaver's Bay and the Gulf of Grief. It was said that the ruins of Old Valyria were nothing more than a series of grotesque rock formations in the sea, the only remnant of the once greatest civilization on earth.

But if he were somewhere in the ruins of Old Valyria that meant that there were hundreds of caves and water channels between himself and the Gulf of Grief. Of course he might also be on the edge of it inwardly towards said Gulf as well but he would not know until he went exploring and discovered the truth for himself.

After a few weeks of being on stranded in the cave where he had landed, Caspian knew he was going to go stir crazy if he didn't do something.

And so after strapping StormBreaker to his back once more and tying the valyrian dagger he had found in the caves to the inside of his arm with seaweed, Caspian prepared himself to leave the cave for good.

He tied his doublet about his arms once more and knotted the four dragon eggs in his tunic which he hung on his shoulder along with the coins he had managed to bring back from the cave with him. He filled the old wine skin with as much of the fresh water as it could fill and piled the fish he had managed to catch and cook and had been stock piling ever since.

After a few weeks of eating frugally, Caspian knew what it was like to be hungry and just how long he could go without eating. He knew he had lost weight but it was weight he could afford to lose without looking particularly malnourished.

After all this was complete, Caspian got onto his newly repaired raft that had been lashed together with other pieces of driftwood and seaweed, and paddled off into the open water.

Over the course of the first day, everything went well. The sun was hot and the wind was favorable which pushed him in a north easterly direction towards what he hoped would be land. The tide seemed to be far gentler than it would if he were on the high seas and Caspian could only hope that this meant he was getting closer and closer to some city where he might hopefully first buy himself some clothes and perhaps get on a ship bound for Westeros once more.

The sixteen year old was beginning to feel mildly irritated with the way things were going and the only thing that gave him any sort of sanity at all were the dragon eggs that he had knotted up in his tunic. He was clothed in only his breeches which were beginning to show increased signs of wear and his doublet which had held up reasonably well through an insane storm and a shipwreck. His arms were bare to the sun as he strained at the paddle and he was as dark as they had ever been.

I probably look as dark as a slave now.

Caspian continued paddling for most of the day stopping only a few times to rest and perhaps take a few bites of fish and a few sips of water. He was careful to conserve as much fresh water as possible because he didn't know when he would get it again.

The farther northeast he went however, Caspian was sure the salt water would begin to diminish and the fresh water in the bay would begin to increase. But the more inland he went, there was also the greater chance he would be spotted by a ship and Caspian knew that in Essos, the primary method of trade was slavery and a young man with a sword on his back, valyrian dagger in arm and four dragon eggs in his possession would be a prime target.

I'd rather toss these eggs to the bottom of the sea than have some money hungry slaver get their hands on them. These may be the last known dragon eggs in the world and even if they never hatch, they are beyond the price of kingdoms.

Caspian knew he would have to consider selling one when he got to one of the Free Cities. Even selling the smallest one which was the red one would make him a rich man. He wasn't foolish enough to believe that he possessed the amount of skill to fend off a band of men who might come after the dragon eggs.

Selling one might have been his only option for survival.

But Caspian also knew that revealing he had an egg at all would perhaps put a mark on his head and people might begin to wonder if he had any others. There would not be many people who might be able to buy such an egg for the price he had set out either which meant that he would have to go to the magister of any city to sell it. And a young man in poor clothes looking like he had survived a ship wreck he had would set off alarm bells all throughout the wealthy and powerful in the city.

For a moment, Caspian wondered whether it might be useful once he reached one of the Free Cities to simply smuggle himself aboard a ship bound for Westeros as it might simply be the easiest thing.

After a moment though he rejected that thought simply because he wasn't convinced in his ability to be completely unnoticeable for several weeks on end before they were able to dock. Plus there was still the matter of getting back down to Storm's End in order to reconnect with his uncles and see where the war was at.

Caspian didn't know how long he had been gone even though his period in the cave had been about two weeks. He didn't know if they would have commenced on the plan of battle without him or if King's Landing had already been taken or if one or both of his uncle's had died in pursuit of that goal.

He didn't know a damn thing and it was driving him out of his mind.

He would paused every few hours when he was paddling to rest but he dared not sleep for too long because he feared the current would take him back out to sea and he would be entirely lost then.

It was on this third day that Caspian's luck began to change.

It began with the appearance of a ship on the horizon coming from the south. Caspian realized he would be directly in its path and they would have spotted him long before he saw them and so he paddled as hard as he could to clear out of their way so if they hadn't seen him, he would be far enough away that it didn't matter.

Unfortunately for him he should have realized by now that such things as luck weren't really in his favor with about four exceptions.

And so Caspian was left to curse and rage quietly to himself as the tall ship pulled alongside of him and several of the sailors leaned over the side to shout down at him in their unfamiliar languages.

He didn't understand all of what they were saying as some of it was in a dialect of Valyrian. He recognized High Valyrian among them as it was the favored tongue in Essos and he had read it in many books and manuscripts that were still left in the keep.

He could read Valyrian well enough, but writing and speaking it were two different things. But somehow using broken phrases of Valyrian he was able to call back to them that he had been shipwrecked.

That was probably obvious given that he was sailing the Gulf of Grief on a poorly put together raft but it seemed appropriate to say none the less. Caspian found himself a little wary because he didn't know if this was a slave ship and immediately pulled the eggs that were knotted in the tunic closer to him and raised his hand to the sword that was slung across his back.

A rope ladder was thrown down and Caspian found he had no choice but to climb aboard. He knew he was taking a rather large risk doing this but this ship might have also been his only chance to make it to one of the free cities. He didn't know how far he might have to sail his little raft otherwise and the water would run out before long whether he reached land before that happened or not.

So with his mouth dried out, heart pounding and half formed curses of frustration on his tongue, Caspian climbed aboard the ship. The first thing he became aware of immediately was that it was a trading vessel for it was much smaller than a ship of war. The sails were pure white which gave away its trade and the first thing the former prince smelled the moment he climbed aboard was the scent of spices.

He immediately wanted to breathe a sigh of relief for this wasn't a slaver's vessel at all, merely a merchant ship on its way to one of the cities in Slaver's Bay. He wasn't foolish enough to think that there weren't slaves aboard though.

These were the Free Cities after all.

The moment he had gotten his feet under him however, Caspian found himself back against the side of the railing with several curved blades at his throat as the sailors and captain demanded to know what his business in those waters was.

It was on the tip of Caspian's tongue to ask sarcastically whether or not they were some sort of coastguard who patrolled the Gulf of Grief but he knew how much trouble his tongue would get him into if he did that.

So instead he held up his hands in a defensive gesture and calmly reiterated that he had been shipwrecked and he was simply trying to get back to civilization. After taking in his patched and torn clothing, it wasn't hard to see that he was telling the truth.

"I can't simply let you ride to the cities for free," the captain claimed and Caspian nodded, having expected nothing less and glad he had brought some of the coins he had found in the cave with him.

"Is this sufficient?" he asked handing over the handful of monies and the captain's eyes widened as he took them in.

"Where did you get this?" he demanded and Caspian immediately felt the prick of blades against his throat once more.

The captain's broken Valyrian was almost painful to hear and Caspian nearly grimaced at the sound. He didn't expect the man knew how to read or write however so that must have contributed to his lack of vocabulary and his terrible diction.

"The cave I was shipwrecked near had them," he explained. "I don't know who they belonged to or how long they had been there. They might have been the monies of some poor bastard who died. I don't know and I don't really care. Is it enough to buy me a passage to wherever you are going because if not I have no problems getting back onto my raft and going my way. Unless of course you want to try and stop me."

As he said this, he glanced down into the water again and saw with relief that said raft was still bumping against the hull of the ship.

The captain eyed him warily and Caspian could see that he didn't really trust him, but at the moment he didn't exactly care. He was tired, hot and eager to be rid of the sea.

The captain looked from the coins to him and back and forth for so long, Caspian wondered if the man was simply going to throw him overboard and have done with it.

"Very well," he said in his broken Valyrian at last. "We'll be in Astapor in two days anyway."

Astapor.

Not the most ideal location, but right now Caspian would take it. After having been shipwrecked for weeks he could help but feel a burning desire for some semblance of civilization again.

And besides he might be able to discover news of Westeros in Astapor and get some idea of what was happening back home. It took a stare down between him and the captain while all of the sailors were watching in a circle about them in order for something finally happen.

The captain growled out several curses before pocketing the coins Caspian had handed him. He didn't really have much of a reason to say no and unless he was a cruel bastard which the prince didn't somehow think he was than he wouldn't simply throw him back overboard.

"Don't think this means you're not going to work pretty boy," one of the sailors muttered to him as the captain stomped back to the helm.

Caspian smirked at him, the lazy smile somehow not betraying his relief at finally being off the open seas. "I didn't think I would."

He wanted to grimace at his poor grasp of the language but it wasn't something that could be helped. Some of the words had been said in the common tongue and others had been said in Valyrian as he hadn't known the names for them.

It didn't appear to be that large of a ship and there were only what appeared to be twelve crew members aboard.

Caspian was optimistic of his chances of getting to Astapor in one piece without it coming to a fight, but he kept his hand near StormBreaker nonetheless in the next few hours.

Some of the crew members viewed him with distrust but since he had paid for his journey essentially there wasn't much they could do. Caspian was just glad that Astapor was only a few days away so he could get away from this band of arrogant seamen.

Though Caspian didn't know the ins and outs of a ship as he had only been aboard one a few times in his life, he had to learn on the job as he couldn't afford to mess up and give them a reason to throw him overboard.

He had seen some of the crew members eyeing the makeshift bag he had slung about his shoulders and knew he had to keep that on him at all times. He was prepared to kill anyone who tried to get their hands on it but Caspian didn't really want it to come to that.

In the meantime however while he was rushing about the deck and helping the crew as best he could, Caspian happened to notice a small boy aboard the ship as well. He appeared to be no more than perhaps nine or ten years of and judging from the brand on his neck he was a slave that had been bought and paid for.

He appeared to be some sort of cabin boy and was rather small for his age. His hair was unkempt and wild, he was dressed in a tunic that was badly in need of a wash if the dirt on it was any indication and his large brown eyes were blank and full of sorrow.

Seeing the boy who was no older than his brother Tommen at this time, Caspian was filled with two emotions. One was a slow building rage and the other was a sorrow that he didn't know he had.

Slavery was illegal in Westeros though it was the primary method of trade in the east but Caspian had never been close enough to it before to get a sense of what the slave trade actually meant or looked like

It meant oppression, it meant, fatigue and it meant sorrow. Caspian remembered his father telling him about a incident a long time ago about a lord from Bear Island who had been caught selling trappers into slavery to apparently keep his Hightower wife in silks. Then in his last Small Council meeting with Lord Stark, Varys mentioned Mormont spying on Targaryens for pardon of his crimes.

The outrage that Robert had expressed over such a thing was unprecedented ad Caspian had heard him ranting about it for days after he had received the letter. Slavers were seen as the lowest forms of life in Westeros and Caspian felt immediate disgust upon seeing the brand on the back of the boys neck.

He wanted to grimace. Gods that must have been painful.

The brand glared out at him from beneath the small boy's tunic and made it hard to look away, though Caspian had to force himself to do it.

The afternoon aboard the ship wore on and Caspian kept an eye on the boy as he hurried to and fro about the ship performing whatever duties the captain barked at him. He wasn't foolish enough to believe that they wouldn't put him to work on the craft even though he had paid them, it was cheap labour after all.

Caspian didn't mind as long as it got him to Astapor and off god forsaken ships for a couple of days. He still had a handful of coins left from paying his passage and had to be careful to move without causing them to jingle and draw attention to himself.

Later that evening after the work aboard the ship had been done for the day and the crew had gone below to get some rations for themselves, Caspian remained above deck content to be away from them for the time being.

He had to admit, it was a beautiful evening and as the sun went down, it cast its golden rays across the sky and caused the pink and blue clouds to be shot through with rays of light.

The horizon had turned a lovely burnt orange color and the breeze was calm but carried just enough of an edge to continue to propel them along.

The moment to himself was rather nice. The crew had been giving him odd looks all day and Caspian was keen to stay away from most of them.

He rubbed the side of his face wryly where a slight beard was beginning to form. He had never grown one in his life and chuckled quietly to himself as it seemed he was doing a great many things lately that he had never done before.

He glanced down at the contents of the bag that were slung about his shoulder. His neck and shoulders were aching from keeping it tied to him all day but he would be damned if he put it or StormBreaker down and someone looked in it.

I'm not opposed to having to get a little blood on my hands when it comes to protecting these eggs. I just hope that if it does happen it's a little closer to land so I don't have too far to go.

There was a slight sound to his left and when he looked in that direction, Caspian happened to see the small boy he had been keeping an eye on come out of the hatch and walk toward him. He had a plate of food in his hand and as the smell wafted towards Caspian his stomach growled pitifully.

The former prince bit back a curse as he had forgotten how hungry he was having worked aboard the ship the entire day. The boy looked at him cautiously before coming towards him and holding out the plate.

Caspian's eyebrows rose as it was obvious this was the little boy's meal and he was willing to share it with him.

He felt something soften as he looked at the boy who was no older than Tommen and slowly reached out a hand to take one of the piece of bread on the plate.

"Thank you," he said gruffly.

The boy nodded and then came to stand next to him at the edge of the ship so they were both leaning against the railing. They were silent for a moment as they ate and after a moment, Caspian turned to the boy next to him. "What's your name?"

The boy was quiet for a moment before answering. "Orin…my lord."

Caspian wanted to laugh bitterly at the response. "I'm not a lord boy. I'm barely older than you are. How old are you anyway?"

The boy shrugged and Caspian got the feeling he didn't know. It wasn't that much of a shock given that he doubted the boy knew how to read or write. If he knew his age that meant he would know his numbers as well and that was something the former prince doubted even further.

"How long have you been on this ship?" Caspian asked.

Orin scrunched up his face as if trying to remember. "I don't know. It's been a while though."

"Hmm, do you like it here?"

Instantly Orin's expression changed to one of nervous anxiety and he looked around the deck of the ship to see if there was anyone else around.

Just the difference in his countenance was enough for Caspian to get the feeling that Orin wasn't comfortable at all. It must have been somewhat better than serving some pompous magister or working in the pleasure houses but not by much. What could a slave in Essos really call a satisfactory occupation anyway?

"Would you leave here if you could?" Caspian asked.

Orin cast his eyes down at the deck of the ship but from the very slight nodding of his head, the prince was certain the answer was a yes.

"Well then," Caspian said quietly, feeling strangely reckless all of a sudden. He didn't know why he was doing this as it would potentially be a dangerous thing but he couldn't help himself. He saw Tommen and his little brother Edric who had been so brutally murdered in front of his face and he knew he wouldn't be able to in good conscience leave the ship without taking this small slave with him.

Perhaps it was compassion, perhaps it was it was a desire to help someone who didn't have much or perhaps it was simply that he felt the need for companionship, someone to talk to after weeks on his own. But whatever the case, when he got to Astapor, Caspian knew he would be leaving the ship and he would be taking Orin with him.

"What if you were to come with me?" he asked and Orin's big brown eyes went enormous as he stared up at Caspian. "With you sir? You'd want me to come with you? Where?"

"Never mind that for now," Caspian said in case one of the crew members were close enough to hear them. "But would you like to come with me if you could?"

There was a long pause where Orin seemed to be thinking rather hard about what was being offered to him. He looked like he wanted to trust Caspian but at the same time was having a hard time of it given the life he had had so far.

At the same time however Caspian didn't think the life he would off the boy would be much worse than the slave's life he had had so far. Finally, Orin looked up at him bit the edge of his lip and nodded. "Alright my lord."

I'm going to have to break him of that habit, Caspian thought with a grimace.

"I'm not a lord Orin," he said quietly. Seven hells I'm not even a prince anymore. "You can call me by my name."

Orin frowned at him, obviously unsure if whether or not the young man was being genuine. "Than what shall I call you?"

Caspian considered something for a moment and then took a deep breath, a lump gathering in his throat as he remembered a similar question his other little brother had asked him a while ago.

Perhaps this was the best way to honor his brother. Gods knew he didn't want to be known as a Baratheon anymore. Plus this might be the best way to travel undercover.

"Storm," he said quietly. "Caspian Storm."

The next two days aboard the ship passed rather quickly and Caspian was forced to work like a dog to earn his keep. He quickly learned the ins and outs of the ship from Orin who explained it all to him rather quietly during the nights where they were supposed to be sleeping in their hammocks.

As a result of this instruction, Caspian learned extremely fast. He also discovered among other things that Orin had a good eye and a keen gaze and was very quick on his feet. He had fast hands and excellent reflexes and things like that would prove to be very useful when they arrived in the city.

Caspian also knew that they had better dock soon as some of the sea men were asking questions. One of them had pointed out his Westerosi accent and he had had to explain that he had been aboard a merchant ship from Westeros bound for Lys before a terrible storm had blown them several days off course before there was a ship wreck and he had been stranded.

They had seemed to buy the story for now, however Caspian had a feeling that as the more time went on the more questions they would have and he wasn't in the mood to pour out his whole life story.

Even then one of the crewman's hand's had drifted towards the bag he had been carrying and Caspian's hand had twitched toward his hidden dagger that he had on him to cut the man's fingers off.

At the last minute he had restrained himself but the look he had sent the sailor must have been incredibly dangerous for the man backed off immediately.

Caspian knew that the rest of the crew didn't really like but for the life of him he had no idea why. For the most part he was worse off then them, stranded in a distant country with little money very little grasp of the language and nothing but an ancient sword, a valyrian dagger and a few dragon eggs. The last part of that statement was the only good thing that had happened since he had been shipwrecked and he would be damned before he let any other sailors get their grubby paws on the treasure he had found.

When Astapor finally came into sight on the horizon, Caspian breathed a huge sigh of relief as he wouldn't have to spend too much time aboard this damnable ship before finding one that would take him back to Westeros. The first thing he wanted to do however was change his clothes, get something to eat that wasn't fish and perhaps take a sleep as he had done little of either of those things since he had been aboard the ship.

Like the ancient Ghiscari peoples, Astapor was populated by people who had once been part of the magnificent empire before the Valyrians had torn it down and made it part of their empire. With the collapse of Valyria after the doom however, the Free Cities had prospered and became independent.

The city itself was located behind a high stone wall and Caspian could see the pale white of the buildings behind along with the tall stone roadway that was known as the Walk of Punishment all throughout the free cities of Essos. That was where slaves were left out in the sun for as simple an action as stealing a loaf of bread and getting caught.

They docked towards the end of a long line of ships that was near the rock face of the coast and well away from the others. When they docked however it was early evening and there didn't appear to be as many people around. Caspian approached the captain and informed him that he wanted to buy Orin.

"That mongrel?" the captain demanded. "Why would you want a whelp like him? He barely earns his keep aboard this ship? And what money could you possibly have that you haven't given me?"

Caspian raised an eyebrow, not impressed by the man's tone and attempts at intimidation. "As far as I'm concerned that's none of your business. We can do this the easy way or the hard way. Either way I'm taking Orin with me. Now name your price."

The small boy who was standing next to Caspian looked between the captain and former prince with wide eyes.

The captain seemed to possess less than half his brain for he leaned into Caspian's face with a terrific sneer. "He's not for sale."

It was rather stupid that the captain had just said that Orin wasn't worth his weight in terms of potatoes and now was saying that Caspian couldn't have him, but at this point the second son of Robert Baratheon was growing impatient.

"Then how about this?" he hissed in a deadly whisper before unsheathing the dagger strapped to his leg and pressing it into the sensitive skin of the captain's throat faster than he had thought possible. "I take him and the price is your life. Because either way he and I will be leaving this ship."

He had had enough of the man's insults and sneers that he had thrown Caspian over the past few days. This might have been a merchant ship but the man had the look of a slaver. Caspian had glimpsed the greed in his eyes when he had handed over the coins that had bought his passage and knew that the captain was going to look for whatever means he could to squeeze as much as he could out of him.

There had been a number of coins the captain had asked about the sword on his back but Caspian had refused to answer. He thought they might have demanded that he give it up when they took him aboard but apparently the gold coins had distracted them enough to keep away from it for the time being.

Now it seemed that they hadn't for long.

The captain's eyes went wide and he growled out a curse at Caspian. The prince gave a cold smirk. "Now that wasn't nice."

Just then Orin let out a cry of alarm and Caspian barely had time to catch the shadow of a man behind him before he swung around and stabbed the sea men who had been creeping up on him in the eye. The man let out a howl and stumbled backward before landing flat on his back on the deck.

He turned back to the captain. "Now see what you've done? I wanted to settle this peacefully, but you've left me no choice."

The captain had a dagger at his waist and Caspian glimpsed his fingers twitch towards it, but before he could, he flicked the bloody dagger he had been using towards him and stabbed the captain in the throat.

There was a wet thumping sound as the blade slid into the man's throat up to the hilt and Caspian grimaced in distaste as he pulled it free. He was at once glad that they had docked farther from the city than the rest of the ship as he didn't want anyone to hear the noise of the fight. Orin watched in horrified fascination as the body of the captain slid to the deck, his open eyes glassy and unseeing.

"He beat me sometimes," he muttered to himself just loud enough for Caspian to hear.

"Well, he won't be doing that anymore," the former prince muttered. "But I have a feeling the night is going to get a lot bloodier before we leave this ship."

Sure enough there came a pounding of footsteps on the stairs below the hatch and Caspian knew they were about to have company. Darting forward he stood at the door that led to the hatch as the footsteps became louder and Caspian beckoned Orin to do the same. Quickly he handed the bloody dagger to Orin and unsheathed StormBreaker.

"Do you know how to use a knife?" he whispered.

Orin's face had gone white. "Not really."

Caspian gave a grim smile. "Well there's no time like the present to find out."

Caspian was later glad that he had already killed the captain and one of the other sailors thus leaving him with only ten to deal with. The first one was easy to take out as he had been surprised and not expecting them.

The last thing that he saw was the body of his captain and fellow seamen on the deck of the ship before he felt Caspian's blade in his throat. Once he had tossed the man to the side, Caspian moved on to deal with the others who had come pouring out of the hatch.

Nine against two weren't really great odds especially since Orin didn't really know how to handle a blade but Caspian wasn't going to let that stop him. The second man out of the hatch was a little harder to dispatch but he had managed it nonetheless. Now that there were only eight left to take care of Caspian felt the odds were better.

And he had weeks of pent up rage to spend on something, why not take it out on these fools who had mocked and belittled him his fortune over the last two days. Caspian was a relatively patient person, it was one of the few traits he had inherited from his grandfather but even his constancy had a breaking point.

And he had just reached it.

It didn't matter that these men weren't slavers at the moment. He hadn't trusted them from the moment he climbed aboard this thrice damned ship and as far as he was concerned vengeance was long overdue.

And so he let go of his patience completely.

Thankfully he was only two weeks out of practice with a sword and these men were not used to the broad sword fighting that Caspian had been training in since he was five years old.

They came at him with sword quick strikes and their curved knives which Caspian ducked around. For the most part he had to fight defensively but when he glimpsed Orin stab one of the sailors in the gut with what must have been sheer luck because of his size, Caspian felt the tables begin to turn.

He also knew that he couldn't let any of these men go alive or else his and Orin's heads would be on the walk of punishment come morning.

He had known what he was about to do when he put the knife to the captain's throat and as far as Caspian was concerned, the time for caution had passed at this point.

As his grandfather had told him there was a time for planning and a time for action.

And at this point the action had come.

One of the sailors swung at his head and Caspian ducked under the blow before stabbing the man in the gut and kicking him back into the sailor who was just behind him. He swung StormBreaker and took both of their heads off at that point.

He managed to twist to the side in time to avoid what would have been a glancing blow to his shoulder and turn around to stab the man who would have attacked him from behind in the side.

The man let out a howl and collapsed to the deck.

Now there were only five.

Caspian darted his eyes around, assessing strengths and weakness and noticed one of the men was limping slightly.

So he dove forward into a slide and slashed the man's legs out from under him before turning on a dime and stabbing the second man who had come at him in the gut. The sailor nearly collapsed on top of him and would have if Caspian hadn't twisted to the side just in time.

He felt a spray of blood against his face, but made no move to wipe it off. There was a menacing smirk on his face and in that moment once more anyone who would have known Robert Baratheon would have said that Caspian was the spitting image of the demon his father would have presented at the Trident. It was truly a scary picture and now with only three men left, Caspian was more at ease about his chances.

It also seemed the sailors were getting more and more cautious about facing him. StormBreaker was dripping with blood and as Caspian steadied himself, gripping the hilt of the sword in both hands, he was beginning to feel the fatigue.

And from the grim smiles the other sailors exchanged, they knew it too. Slowly they began to back him towards the side of the ship where they might knock him overboard.

One of them had a menacing grin on his face. "It's the end of the line for you pretty boy."

Just then Caspian caught sight of a flash of movement behind the men and saw Orin tugging on some of the ropes. What the bloody hell is he doing?

And then suddenly one of the lower masts of the ship began to move towards them with a silent speed and it clicked.

Orin had lived on this ship for long enough that he knew every part of it and knew how it worked. He knew how to steer the ship and how to move the rudder, which chain lowered the anchor…and which way to turn the boom.

And that was what he was doing right now.

Caspian only had a second to duck before the huge wooden beam was upon them. With a sickening crunch and the sounds of bones breaking the three men who had converged on him were knocked overboard and landed in the water with a splash.

Caspian dove to the side and leaned over in time to see the three bodies come up floating on their stomachs, from the way they had been struck however, Caspian saw that their necks had been broken.

"Well," he said quietly. "It was the end of the road for someone."

"Are you alright my lord?" Orin asked hurrying over.

"A few bruises but nothing that won't heal in a few days," Caspian replied. "He turned and gave the boy an appraising look. "Thank you Orin."

The boy smiled. "I've been on this ship a while, I knew which ropes to pull."

"And thank the Seven you did or else that would be me floating in the water," Caspian said looking over the side of the ship with a grimace.

"And speaking of that, we'll need to burn those bodies Orin. We can't have them floating out to sea or to the rest of the docks and having other people see them and wonder where they came from."

He glanced back at the deck of the ship that was littered with blood as well along with the bodies of the rest of the sailors. "Something tells me we'll have to have a bonfire tonight."

They were still at distance from the dock as the captain had chosen to drop anchor farther out in Slaver's Bay. For whatever reason he had chosen to do that, Caspian didn't know and he didn't much care. He had been a little stunned when the captain hadn't taken him prisoner when he had first climbed aboard the ship but it wasn't until all the bodies had been piled on board the vessel that Caspian was able to wash the blood off of his face from a basin that Orin had brought him and see why.

"Some of the men were afraid of you sir," the small boy explained and Caspian stared at him. "Why?"

"Not all of them were, but there's an old story told in these parts about a god who comes from the sea dressed like a man and those who don't welcome him aboard the ship he curses. But those who do he blesses with good fortune. I heard them talking about it."

That's got to be the stupidest thing I've ever heard! Caspian thought.

"Many times some of the men were going to jump you on the deck and take your sword and whatever was in your bag," Orin went on. "I heard them talking about it but the others still thought you were a god who might curse us. That's why some of the sailors didn't like you. But last night I heard two of them and the captain talking and they said they were going to kill you once they reached Astapor either that or take you as a slave. I think they had realized by then that you weren't a god. That's the only reason they didn't take you as a slave or kill you first. There are many stories told about the gods here. And killing one of them might bring curses."

Orin glanced down at the bodies on the deck. "But I'm glad you killed them first."

I can say the sentiment is shared Orin, Caspian thought to himself. That's why they didn't try and kill me or take me as a slave first. Gods but people here are superstitious here. It worked to my advantage though even if it almost cost me my head. I was afraid to take too much sleep at night because I was constantly afraid of the men jumping me. It seems they would have after all.

He glanced down at the twelve bodies who had been piled on the deck. "I don't suppose there is a way to start a fire on this ship without alerting the other ships or burning down this ship is there?"

He doubted it but it was worth an ask anyway.

Orin looked like he was thinking hard for a moment and then his small face lit up. "No...but we may be able to burn the bodies in that cave over there."

Caspian blinked and turned toward where he was pointing. He had to focus his eyes for a few minutes before he saw what the boy was pointing to.

There was a small cave tucked near the shore by the walls of the city. It was tucked into a cleft in the rock and would require a boat to get to but it would be an ideal place for burning the bodies so that no one could see.

"Is there a small boat aboard this ship Orin?" he asked.

The boy nodded eagerly. "Yes sir but we'll have to lower it into the water."

"Good," Caspian replied. "We'll pile all of the bodies on board the boat first and then lower it into the water so we can get to the cave. We have some bodies to burn."

They immediately set to work dragging the limp and still warm bloody bodies toward the life boat.

By the time he had finished doing this, Caspian was panting and sweaty but the result was the boat lowered in the water and he unsteadily climbed down the ropes into the boat so he might paddle the one hundred feet to the cave. Fortunately the water in the bay was calm and within a few minutes, he was pulling the boat onto the sandy bottom of the cave.

There were a few piece of wood in the bottom of the boat which must have served as a means to dig into the sand and prevent the boat from slipping back out into the water.

It would be an adequate means of starting a fire.

The whole while, Caspian had brought the tunic with the dragon eggs knotted up in it with him. He had almost forgotten they were with him as his adrenaline had been going a mile a minute.

But it wasn't until he had hauled the bodies of the sailors out of the boat and onto the sandy shore that he got an idea. It took a few minutes to light the fire and set the bodies ablaze with it but somehow he managed.

And then it wasn't until the bodies themselves were burning that Caspian remembered the eggs and another worm of an idea entered his mind.

In the past, it was always fire and blood that awakened the dragons from their slumber, the former prince mused to himself. I wonder if the same principle will home true in this place. There's certainly enough blood to do so here.

At this point, he had nothing more to lose.

Taking a deep breath, Caspian walked back towards the boat and retrieved the knotted satchel of eggs from the bottom of it.

It wasn't until he had brought the eggs back to the fire and unwrapped them from the tunic and laid them at his feet, that he realized what he was about to do.

A part of him was excited because he wasn't certain that this would actually work, but he knew he had nothing else to lose and this would be his best chance.

If it didn't work at least he would have confirmation that the eggs had hardened into stones over time and he would be able to sell one which would be enough to buy him passage on a ship back to Westeros. And so it was this thought that propelled him to push all four eggs into the heart of the fire.

Caspian fully intended to wait until the bodies had burned out before returning to the ship because he wanted to be on hand in case someone were to catch sight of the fire so he could quickly put it out.

The eggs had all but disappeared into the flames at this point and Caspian couldn't even see them anymore.

Calmly he sat down with his back to the rock wall to wait for the bodies to burn out which shouldn't be too long. He wanted to wait until the bones were nothing but ash as well before he left as no one could be allowed to discover what he had done.

As he sat there, he felt his eyes getting heavy but he forced himself to stay awake knowing it would be disastrous if he were even caught in this position.

Plus he wanted to wait to see if the eggs would truly hatch.

He doubted it but there was no harm in hoping.

The minutes slowly ticked by and the warmth of the fire almost made Caspian doze off a few times.

Each time though he forced himself to stay awake however and glare into the fire waiting for the flames to die down and for the bodies to disintegrate into ash.

But it wasn't long before his will wasted away and he felt his eyes closing almost as if the hand of some foreign god had reached down and shut them.

Caspian felt his breathing steady out and the constant rise and fall of his chest lured him into a deep slumber.

At that point, it was very hard to care whether or not someone came upon him when sleep seemed to be the thing his body was begging for.

And so he gave in.

Caspian didn't know how long he had been asleep for when suddenly a sound entered his consciousness and he jerked awake.

He blinked and cursed at the lack of heat that had been around him and wondered how long he had been asleep for. It must have been at least an hour as the fire was dying out and any part of the bodies that still remained had dissolved into piles of ash.

How on earth did it burn that fast? He thought to himself. I must have been asleep for longer than I thought.

Oddly enough though he felt strangely energized as if sleep had been all that was necessary to get him back on his feet again.

Caspian gave a wry smile and made to get to his feet when all of a sudden he heard a sound that drove him back to his knees.

Several of the ashes within the dying embers of the fire were moving. Caspian blinked and rubbed his eyes, wondering whether or not it was his imagination or if he was still dreaming.

But the ash piles continued moving and Caspian felt his heart begin to pound in his chest as realization slowly seeped back into his mind of what it could be.

The moment he thought this however, one of piles of ash was pushed aside and Caspian got a glimpse of a creature he had for a long time thought extinct.

For he was looking at a living breathing dragon.

As it nosed its way out of the ashes towards him, Caspian was stunned to see that it was a deep sapphire blue color, the color of the night sky as soon as the sun goes down. Its scales were as shiny as stars and the spines were sticky up on its scaly back. Two small horns were protruding from the side of its head and curved back so they formed a crest.

It was about the size of a kitten and Caspian hesitantly held out his hand towards it, his brain completely shut off and he had no other thought to think, his heart was pounding so.

"Hello there," he said quietly. "It's been a long time since I've seen one of you."

The dragon cocked its head to one side as it wanted to ask him a question before crawling unsteadily on its forelegs towards him. The moment its snout touched his hand, Caspian felt a tingling in his veins and the hair on the back of his neck stood up.

He remembered reading a long time ago in one of the books in the Red Keep that dragons had a deep seated connection to magic so this must have been what he was feeling.

Imagine that, he thought to himself. A dragon born to a Baratheon. I imagine that's the first time in history that something like that has happened.

In the meantime, the blue dragon had crawled onto his hand and was now making its way up his arm to his shoulder.

Caspian kept very still both because he didn't want to startle it but also because it was the oddest sensation he had ever had. The feeling of sharp claws crawling up his bare arm was intensive and somewhat painful but he had a feeling the more it happened he would become use to it.

Caspian remembered looking down into the small creatures eyes then and wondering whether or not that was a female dragon.

He wasn't sure but he had a feeling that this one was a female.

The moment the blue dragon reached his shoulder, his eyes were drawn back to the dying embers of the fire and they widened further to see that the piles of ashes were still moving.

It was the oddest most wonderful experience he had ever had in his life watching three more dragons nose their way out of the ashes towards him but the feelings that welled up in him were indescribable.

The other three dragons were red, white and purple just like their eggs and as they crawled towards him and into his lap, Caspian was suddenly struck by the first feelings of joy he had felt since Edric had died.

These four small creatures, though tiny and helpless now would one day grow into enormous beasts that would be the terror of kingdoms. He was suddenly overwhelmed with feelings he couldn't explain because of what this all meant.

A dragon had hatched for him.

No, four dragons, all the size of kittens were now sitting in his arms and on his lap were somehow bound to him and they had chosen him to hatch for. He remembered all the stories he had read about dragons hatching to those who were worthy with fire and blood and wondering just what exactly that meant.

And now he knew.

Gods this is incredible, he remembered thinking. All I would have to do in order to take back the kingdom that has been stolen from me by my brother is to wait for these dragons to grow as large as Aegon's were and then unleash them on my enemies.

After a moment though he stopped.

He wasn't a Targaryen, he was still a Baratheon even if he didn't call himself by that name anymore.

And a Baratheon wasn't someone that dragon eggs hatched for until now. So he had to wonder what strange game the gods were playing at. He hesitantly ran a hand over the scaly back and gossamer like wings of the dragons. For the moment they were impossibly soft, but he knew that they would harden and become more durable with age.

He glanced down at the other ones all of varying colors in red, purple and white and wondered at the sexes of these dragons as well.

The red one had similar shaped eyes to the blue one so he wondered if that one was a female as well. The white one and purple one he had an odd feeling were male. They looked to be slightly different than the red and the blue one which drew him to this conclusion somewhat.

I had better get back to the ship, he thought absently to himself even though his shock at the hatched dragons hadn't abated at all. Orin's got to be wondering where I am right now. He must have seen the fire go out because we aren't docked that far from the cave.

Still in a state of disconnect, Caspian carefully picked up all four dragons and rested them on his arms and his shoulders before scattering the ashes from the fire and setting off in the boat back to the ship.

He imagined Orin would be quite surprised to see what he had brought back.