Unlike the Tyrells and the Lannisters, who had chosen the land route and had taken off early enough that they would arrive almost a week before the Tourney, the Stark company, consisting of Robb, Ser Rodrik, and Lord Manderly, opted to take the sea route out of the White Harbour.
And since the voyage was so short and well-travelled, Robb decided after reaching New Castle prematurely, that they would only set off in just the nick of time, so that they wouldn't arrive until just a few days before the Tourney, as having heard so many bad things about the capital from Jon, Robb wanted to avoid that nasty place as long as he could.
But now their ships had just passed Gultown, so the boy knew that it wouldn't be long before they would reach the famous capital of Westeros, and he finally would see for himself whether the stories were all true or if his brother was just exaggerating for the sake of teasing him.
"Is there still no news of your father, yet, Robb?" Lord Manderly suddenly asked in a somewhat worried tone as he came to stand beside his Liege's heir on the deck of their ship.
The man knew that the boy had gotten a letter during their brief stop in Gulltown, and he was hoping that it contained the news of the boy's Father.
"Sadly, no." Robb replied with a quiet shake of his head, "Maester Luwin wrote that he still hadn't been able to contact father and deliver him the news yet."
"Oh," Lord Manderly sighed in disappointment, "I guess it makes sense. After all, they are on a trip in a foreign land, so it is a wonder that your family could even send a letter to the distant cities of Essos."
"My brother has his men all over Essos, so Maester Luwin needs only send the information to one of his bases and his men will take care of it from there on," Robb replied with a proud smile on his face, "So worry not, My Lord, Father would be made aware of the news about Tourney sooner or later,"
Of course, in reality, there had been no such letter that had been sent to Jon's men to deliver the news, but Robb had to say this as he wasn't about to let the man know that he and his half-brother were essentially fooling their father. After all, the man was more loyal to his Father than to him.
Robb had not been too averse to the idea when Jon had told him his plan of their family's trip, as he knew that if his father went to King's Landing, then there was a very big risk that he could find out about the disgusting things brewing in the shadows of the city.
If he knew about how the King, his dear friend, was being cuckolded by his own brother-in-law in his own castle, then he would definitely try to right the wrongs, and that would mean taking sides and participating in a conflict that their family had no place in, whether he desired to or not, as his honour would compel him to.
And after everything Robb had learned about the King, he was named after, his various vices and how he lets monsters like Gregor roam free just because it was convenient for him, he wasn't too keen on their family siding with the man.
So knowing that they couldn't directly disobey a direct order from their father, the brothers had come up with this convoluted plan of sending them on this trip, and while their father was a bit suspicious at first, he hadn't been able to sniff out their strategy, so it was all good in the end.
And even if he does eventually find out about it and suspects that they had conspired against him, they were ready to accept any punishment he might give, and since they were both together in this, it may just be a little lighter after being divided between the two of them.
"I guess even someone like Jon would find it hard to contact someone sailing out at sea in between continents, huh?" Lord Manderly chortled good-naturedly.
'Not at all, it would be a simple chore for him,' was what Robb wanted to say, but instead the boy simply chuckled, "Of course, he couldn't. He would have to have the powers of the mythical creatures, such as the Children of the Forest or be something like a priestess of R'hllor and use their witchcraft to achieve something like that, haha."
"I guess," Lord Manderly replied with a wry smile on his face.
"And don't worry too much, My Lord. I am sure that if my Father were here, he would have made the same decision as I, and would have probably also chosen me to attend the Tourney in person. After all, it is my brother who is being honoured. You should trust me on this."
"I don't distrust you, Robb," The Fat lord replied with a shake of his head, "I just fret. After all, King's Landing is not a good place..." he said, putting it mildly, "And if something were to happen to you... I don't even know how I would answer Lord Stark. Especially since I made this decision to bring you here without his direct consent."
"You think too much, My Lord," Robb said with a small smile, "We are only going to be there for a short while, so there would hardly be any place or time for someone to have a conflict with us, and besides, with Jon there, we will have plenty of people from our side to share warmth with."
"That... indeed does comfort me a little," Lord Manderly replied with a laugh, as the man had worked quite a few times with his liege's bastard and knew that he was more than just a boy and that there are few things one needs to worry about when they are with him.
Not to mention the number of skilled men he has under his command.
"Do you know about the city your father intends to land in first?" The Lord of White Harbour curiously asked after a while.
"As far as I know, their first destination should be the Island of Lys," Robb said with a musing expression on his face, "Jon had set the itinerary from there, so you would have ask Jon about more."
"Ah, so they are starting from the Bottom of Essos, huh?" Lord Manderly replied with a look of sudden comprehension.
The fat lord had been quite confused when he learned that his liege was going on a family trip, but then, instead of choosing the easier option of White Harbour, his Lord had chosen to set off from Bear Islands, which would force them to travel around Westeros.
But now he understood that they were starting in the opposite direction from the usual tour of the free cities that everyone else did.
Of course, what he didn't know was that this, too, had been the brother's idea, as the boys wanted their family to be as far as possible from the centre of Westeros so that by the time the news reached them, the Tourney would already be over and done with.
"Yes, they would probably stay a week in each of Lys, Volantis, and then come back to see the sights in Tyrosh, Pentosh and the others while slowly making their way up, and finally end their trip in Braavos. Jon wants them to tour all of the free cities that they safely can. After all, this may as well be their only chance to see them in their life."
"Ah, you are right about that," The Lord said with a hint of envy in his voice, as even he, as a Lord of a port city, hadn't yet done such a comprehensive tour, "He is indeed a good man... your brother, Jon"
"That he is, My Lord," Robb replied with a warm smile on his face, his eyes gleaming with the eager anticipation of meeting his dear sibling in person after such a long time, 'That he is...'
...
Unlike the Starks, the Dornish company lived too far away from the Capital to have such a lazy schedule of setting off whenever they wanted.
It was very much a necessity for them to take an early start as they needed to account for any possible delay along the way due to unfavourable weather conditions.
But their fortunes were truly too good this time, and they didn't even encounter a single storm while passing through the Shipbreaker's bay in Stormlands, so they had arrived well before the expected time.
And now, for almost a week, they were taking a calm retreat on the beautiful Island of Tarth, and would only restart their trip a few days later so that they were neither early nor late.
At that moment, Doran was taking a slow, relaxed stroll in the garden of a small mansion that had been bought in their family's name almost a decade ago.
Like any other wealthy Noble family in Westeros, their family members also had the habit of purchasing a good home or mansion, big or small, in every city or town that they happened to be passing through. And this property also happened to be one of those that his Uncle Lewyn had purchased during one of his trips to King's Landing, and it was now coming in use to Doran.
'Ugh!' The Dornish prince grunted as he finally couldn't endure the pain any longer and had to sit on a small wooden bench in the garden to rest his throbbing leg.
He still couldn't stay on his legs for more than half an hour continuously without feeling unbearable agony, but it was much better than before, when he couldn't even stand on his legs for more than a few seconds and had to be moved around using a wheelchair or to be carried on his guard's back.
And the Prince couldn't describe how thankful he was to that boy from the North for his cure.
If it were not for that small, innocuous piece of parchment that his brother had brought from Jon, Doran didn't know if he would have ever been able to leave Dorne and travel like this.
He had religiously kept up every single piece of instruction on that cure, from his current vegetarian diet to abstaining from spices and alcohol, and not to mention regular exercises and stretches, the man hadn't dared to miss a single day, no matter how painful or tiresome it felt.
And even during their voyage, he had found some time to take walks on the deck every chance he got, and though they couldn't be for too long or they would cause sea sickness, it had been better than nothing.
Now that he was finally back on land, he was finally trying to make up for the lost exercises, as who knows how much time he would get to rest in that den of backstabbers.
But just as he was lost in his thoughts, the calm of the peaceful garden was abruptly broken by the arrival of a servant, who was then stopped just outside the gate by his loyal guard, Areo Hotah.
Doran looked curiously as the two conversed about something in low voices, before the servant bowed and went away, and Areo made for him with a letter in his hand.
"Who is it from?" Doran asked with a raised eyebrow as he stopped massaging his leg and sat up, while wondering who could send him a raven in this mansion that barely a handful of people knew about.
"It is from Dorne, My Prince," Areo bowed as he handed him the letter.
"Ah," Doran nodded with an understanding nod. Their family, of course, had a semi-permanent spy who lived in the nearby town and had access to a raven that could travel to Dorne at any moment and vice versa.
It was a necessity for every big player of the game, as they always had to be the first to get any urgent news, to be able to maintain their family's standing.
Doran knew of at least five men and women in Westeros who had the time and the resources to set up such a large network in and around all the big cities and towns in Westeros.
After all, you can't just become a player of the game without having spent a lot of money.
"What could it be about?" he said out loud as he tore open the seal on the letter, 'Perhaps, my errant brother has finally decided to return,' he mused with an irritated look on his face.
Doran was used to long absences by his younger brother, but that was when he was back home holding the fort.
Now that he, too, was out and about, going inside a metaphorical pit of snakes, it felt too uncomfortable if neither of them were in Dorne, in case of an unfortunate accident.
After all, it wasn't only the Starks who should be cautious enough to always leave an heir in their castle.
"HE DID WHAT?!!" Doran's abrupt shout echoed in the garden only a few seconds after reading the letter; his eyes were widened in shock and incomprehension, and his hand holding the letter was shaking as if unable to believe the contents of the letter.
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