Chapter 45: The Journey Back (I)

Kingswood

Robb Stark

Looking at my father greeting every guard and them apologizing for leaving him alone, I approached the group.

"It was my idea, Father. I knew that they wouldn't dare to harm you since they would have a valuable hostage, but there was no way our men could have survived if they accompanied you to the throne room," I said guiltily, though I knew I made the right choice.

With the gold cloaks following Baelish's orders, our men would have been butchered, so it was the right call to extract them before everything started.

"I understand, Robb," Ned nodded. "I am glad everyone is okay and didn't die because of my mistakes."

The guards kept apologizing until Father berated them for doing too much, and while they were discussing, I addressed the last person in our group.

Lady Elyse was mostly silent, clearly out of her depth, but she tried to keep calm while listening to the conversation. As I approached her, she lifted her head to meet my eyes, and at that moment, I realized how much time had passed since I last saw her. During her visit to Winterfell, I still had to look up at her whenever we spoke, but now I was taller than her.

"Lady Elyse, thank you for following my men without much fuss," I smiled at her, hoping that seeing a familiar face would help her calm down. With my expanded senses, I could see her preparation and that her breathing was somewhat shallow.

"It's been too long, Lord Robb," she smiled dimly. "And if a tenth of what you wrote in that message is true, I'll have to thank you for taking me out of there. I can't imagine what kind of war will be fought for the throne now that the Lannisters are in charge."

"Bah, keep calling me Robb. My new position doesn't erase our friendship." Then, I sighed guiltily, "It's going to be at least ten times worse than what you're imagining, Lady Elyse."

She smiled brightly at that before it dimmed. "Tyrion is going to be in danger," she murmured. "Do you know if he knew about everything, Robb?"

I put a calming hand on her shoulder. "He will be alright. I sent him to Astapor where he will work for me until it is safe for him to come back."

She slumped her shoulders in relief when she heard that, but her face hardened afterward. "Did he know?"

I looked at her seriously. "He couldn't have told you; it would have put you in danger," I said softly. "He was the one who asked me to take care of you, not that I wouldn't have done that, mind you, but that means he had your protection in mind before his travels," I smiled somewhat teasingly.

"He is a good friend of mine, Robb." She smiled prettily. "It's a shame he has to leave so far away."

"It is for the best, Lady Elyse," I nodded. "Now it's time we start our journey… we are really far from home."

"What will happen to me?" she asked, tilting her head.

"You have an offer for the same job you've done here in the capital waiting for you in Winterfell if you'd like," I offered with a bright smile. "I wouldn't suggest you stay in the Vale; things are not as simple as they seem, and you would be safer in the North with my family."

She thought for a moment before nodding firmly. "Thank you, Robb. For everything."

Nodding back, I walked toward my father, who was resting near a campfire Jory and the rest had created.

"Everyone, we need to start moving fast," I said loudly. "We are in enemy territory, and we left a bloodbath in the Red Keep while escaping with my father. They will send people looking for us."

Everyone nodded firmly and started moving to our horses. We were in the Kingswood, so at least we would be difficult to spot, but when we start traveling to Winterfell, we'll face a lot of enemies.

"We'll ride to Tumbleton, then we'll have to cross the Blackwater Rush to enter the Riverlands. We'll only stop when it's necessary, but if everyone can ride, we'll do so," I said firmly, hoping that we had time to make a stop at the Isle of Faces.

Two weeks later.

The Riverlands

We were finally approaching Ivy's Inn. The journey was short, but it took a toll on everyone. I didn't feel it affected me that much because I'd been doing this for a while, but for the rest of the group, it was tiresome. We traveled near the riverbank since I tried to keep a distance from the King's Road to avoid being seen.

From the smallfolk we encountered during our travels, we learned that there was already a manhunt for everyone with me, except for Lady Elyse and me, of course. Lords, smallfolk, sellswords—everyone was looking for us, trying to earn the gold the Lannisters promised as a reward for any information regarding my father and the guards' whereabouts.

Thankfully, since my dyed hair still holds up under scrutiny, I was able to approach some merchants to buy different attires for everyone, including cowls to hide their faces. Most of the guards were burning up inside since they were men of the North, and the extra cloth and heat were getting to them.

I had seen, thanks to my power, a lot of people searching everywhere. There was a lot of activity on the main road to the North. And it was a shame since it meant we couldn't use it as it would attract attention to us.

Thankfully, we didn't lack food, even if the only thing we ate for every meal during these weeks was meat from the game I obtained. The other good news is that thanks to the enhancement I obtained from consuming royal blood, I was able to leave commands to everything I had under my control, so at least I could sleep while knowing we were protected.

"We need to make a stop," I said with a small smile. I always tried to keep a smile on my face to show that everything was alright. Father was already depressed enough for starting this war, as I heard from some of the smallfolk that the queen sent the Mountain to sow chaos in the Kingsroad.

He wasn't sent before since we didn't take Tyrion as a hostage, so that was delayed, but it seemed that the Queen thought it was a good idea to move scrutiny elsewhere while she took control of the capital.

There was no news of a direct destination, so I didn't know if he would do the same thing as in canon to make problems in the Riverlands or if he was traveling directly to the North. But this decision was costly for Cersei since the different lords were pissed that he was making a mess of things in their territory.

I hadn't heard anything about the Reach or Stannis, but I was sure that the fight would start soon. Father did tell me that he sent a raven to Stannis, and I was present (with my bugs) when he had his conversation with Renly, so they would start moving soon.

"Where do we need to stop, Robb?" asked Ned with a questioning frown.

"The Isle of Faces," I said grimly. "I need to find out something that has been bothering me."

"Is it truly important, son?" he asked, somewhat confused if it was a truly necessary stop.

"It won't take long," I nodded. "I felt something inside me when I passed, and I don't ignore those kinds of feelings."

Ned nodded in understanding. "Aye, you must follow your instincts."

With everyone in on the plan, we ignored the main road and started picking up speed to arrive faster.

It was true, when I passed near God's Eye on my way to King's Landing, I felt like something was calling to me, and I ignored it since I was short on time. But now that I had some time, I needed to seek whatever was calling me, and I knew it wasn't my imagination since somehow, for the first time in my life, my power failed.

I panicked a little bit since this had never happened before, but my insects couldn't enter the perimeter of the Isle, and this made me doubt if this was the best idea, after a moment of reflection, I nodded to myself and continued galloping to the village on the outskirts of the lake.

When we arrived some hours later, we noticed that everyone here was a firm believer in the Old Gods, and they were happy enough to lend two boats so that we could go to the Isle when we acted like newly converted tourists.

As we were approaching the island, I was getting nervous. Somehow, I couldn't see anyone besides our group, and as we disembarked the boats and made camp, I somehow lost control of every being in the vicinity. I could feel they were there, but I couldn't command them as I normally could.

"We have been waiting for you, outsider," a chorus of raspy and creepy voices was heard, and I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand in alarm.