1,392Wish upon a fallen star
On the eastern side, shoreline yielded to stretching basins and plains, studded for as far as he could see from the low viewpoint on deck with orchards and irrigated fields, while on the western side rocky cliffs towered into view harshly ascending until they finally gentled enough to allow tree and shrub to find purchase among the rocks.
It struck him as passing strange, as he watched the heart of the Dayne lands unfold more and more clearly from his view at the prow, how different these parts looked to what he had seen of Dorne on this voyage.
There had been rocky bluffs crowned with forests of towering silver ebonies, evergreen oaks, and Dornish firs, scrublands so thick with vegetation that the earth disappeared underneath, and flat planes dotted sparsely with the crooked, gnarly trees called Sandbeggars that spoke of nearby water and the desert to come just out of sight, entirely different all.
And those deserts, when they had come into sight those rare few times, had left quite an impression. Towering dunes of red sand stretching as far as the horizon, like waves frozen in motion and kept in place by the harsh, shimmering heat warping the air that not even a strong breeze could dispel. Out there, the wind brought only painful grit, lashing out and scouring the flesh from the bones of those cursed with foolish pride, betrayal, or simply bad luck.
It made for a harsh land, even if the stretch they had sailed past had not lasted very long, unforgiving and plain deadly for anyone that dared underestimate the toll of crossing. Naruto had seen the maps kept by the Prince in his solar, how the deep desert stretched league upon league upon league, far larger than the short stretch that had managed to conquer a piece of shoreline suggested.
How different would his own lands be, he wondered? Their stay in lord Wyl's domain had been short and had offered little time for inspecting the sights, but for all he knew fifty leagues upriver would transform the land entirely in any case, except of course for the Red Mountains that sheltered it.
Words, encouraging though they had been, could only do so much to explain. He believed Prince Doran well enough and had detected no obvious deceit in the offers and terms they had exchanged, but he would see for himself what truly awaited them. His own senses, ordinary and not, would be the final judge in deciding the true value of it all. In the end, that was what this was all really about.
Dorien and the others had been granted their own rewards, knighthoods and gifts commending their leal service to House Martell, but he had been the one to land them in his new domain. Maron, Yander, Brys, Conayn and Varn all knew about him and what he could do, even if it had been only that one glimpse in the kingswood. And they had been afraid, that had been clear as day.
They had made camp a hard day's ride past crossing the Wendwater when he had thought it right to address.
"You are afraid of me."
Dorien had looked up from stoking the fire, his blue eyes dark in the gloom, before throwing a glance to the right where Brys sat and very attentively oiled his side sword. "Yes," the simple answer came with a shrug. "There's no use twisting words to get around that. It's hard to know you are so incredibly outmatched."
"Then why stay?"
"Because there's a debt. A debt of life, and a debt of honour. I might only be the son of a seamstress and a cobbler, but I know that much. Even so a coward would have run. No one did." The fire had cracked and sparked when Dorien added another bit of kindling. "Being scared, that's nothing to worry about. If you're outmatched, you should be scared. It means you're thinking straight. And I find it hard to trust men who don't."
For a time, Naruto had lingered in silence. "I would rather no one was afraid of me."
"Then you'll spend your life fighting endless battles against those who will never love you. It's a tool in the end, like any other."
Naruto still had trouble accepting that others would think of him first in fear beyond everything else. It made him uncomfortable, and he thought there was nothing he had ever wanted less.
But all the same, afraid or not, all six of them had stayed and followed. And he liked to think that by the time they had reached Sunspear, there had been than fear to keep them around. Their accepting of his offers was as good a sign as any on that account.
Everything else would have to come in time. He'd seen enough of wooden decks and weathered sailors for at least a few days.
The broad-bellied merchanter he had boarded at Planky Town slowly drifted further and further into the narrowing bay, Starfall's many towers and curtain walls an edifice built of pale rock. Like a guardsman, the large castle stood sentinel on the small island dividing the Torentine before it could flow out into the Summer Sea, the gates behind it the towering mountain range wending its way north on both sides of the river – closely on the western side where the river widened and slowed, and much more distantly on the eastern where it rushed and tumbled through a narrowing path.
The castle was nestled among its solitary island's uneven platform, straddled cunningly among the rising tide of rocks headed west, so that the approach to the heart of the keep was stretched through the entire construction. Opposite the bridge connecting island to coast, there was only a sheer drop of four hundred feet down to the surface of the western arm of the river.
Unlike Sunspear's domes, flat roofs, and intricately carved decorations, Starfall had a decidedly different look about it. Slate roofs sloped sharply, whether atop the many round towers or the larger buildings, not unlike those he had seen in parts of the North and Riverlands, and the castle's beauty was foremost in its palpable might and utility as a whole and less in the particular skill and craftsmanship that had shaped any one small part.
A port and the attached township hugged the eastern shore, where a small inlet blunted the current enough to allow ships to dock and a bridge of red stone some distance up a sloping rise spanned the gap to the central island of the castle. He felt the ship move below his feet, angling itself towards the two dozen docks of varying size, lines tightening as the wind drew the ship towards its goal.
Half the moorings were already filled with other ships of a similar kind to the one he was on. Traders, hailing from Lannisport, the Arbor, Old Town, or any of the other hundreds of ports big and small that could be found all over the Seven Kingdoms, not to mention those from much further away, all here to make the further voyage east or west to more bountiful parts. A swan ship from the Summer Isles was anchored just across from a Braavosi vessel with furled purple sails, come to resupply and exchange one cargo for another.
As they closed on the harbour Naruto could see a group of five assemble to meet them. Two of them were marked by the trappings of the harbourmaster's office while the other three were there as insurance against any possibility of violence, armed and armoured in what had to be the way of the township's guardsmen and with Dayne colours marking their allegiance.
From his position at the bow, he could see the activity on deck shift in response to the approaching landing. Mooring lines were being readied and checked, the sail slowly being turned and furled, and the merchant captain had come to the main deck to handle the coming affairs of fees and taxes and contracts in person. When it came to money, the stout, bearded Dornishman clearly did not trust anyone but himself to make the best of it.
Naruto left the sailors to their craft and went below to collect his belongings, few though they were. His bow and a simple sea chest, most of which was filled by his armour and a few pieces of clothing, and tucked away below all of it at the very bottom a small little satchel sealed against intruding water and filled with tightly rolled pieces of vellum. All the rest had gone moons ago by ship, secreted away among the far more voluminous belongings of a lady attending court.
By the time he returned to the deck, mooring lines were already being tossed overboard to a swift youth that had been first across the rail, the ropes snapping tight as they were secured to the dock. A final jerk and the ship came to a stop, arrived at last.
The seagulls circling overhead were the first to take advantage, alighting on the mast to look down with beady, curious eyes at the people below. The harbour officials simply waited on the dock, barring the way onto land until they had collected their dues.
"Ah, my lord. The voyage was to your satisfaction, I hope?"
Naruto took in the smile stretching weather-worn cheeks and felt his mood sour. Their first meeting in Planky Town had kindled a keen dislike for the captain of the Golden Treasure, one he could not quite explain. The man ran a tight ship, the crew quick and capable no matter the obstacle they faced, whether an early autumn storm or a sudden dead calm, but there was just something that bothered him. "I welcome its swift conclusion."
"It gladdens me to hear such." The smile stretched even wider, now noticeably false. "I must attend to my duties as captain and the local customs however, so might we then come to the matter of the final payment before I leave you to your leisure again, lord?"
"Of course."
After giving the man his due – and ignoring the glimmer of greed in dark eyes – Naruto left the captain and his first mate to disembark first, list of goods and purse of coins in hand, before adjusting his sea chest and stepping onto the dock himself. The guardsmen let him pass with barely a glance as the harbourmaster conversed with the captain, the familiarity between both men more than apparent. He didn't doubt that palms had been greased here more than once, and would be again, but that was the way of traders and officials.
The small village extending inland from the shore had a peaceful air about it, even with a wooden palisade circling the outer edge and a few unmanned wooden towers overlooking the two gates and acting as simple harbour defences. There was no hint of war here, or even of its passing, except perhaps for the somewhat emptier streets. But then that had been true in Sunspear and Wyl aswell.
People here simply went about their daily lives, browsing the market square or working their crafts while looking with interest at the goods being unloaded from the ships, whether ordinary luxuries or curiosities from an entire world away.
A well-dressed woman was looking at coloured fabrics with a critical eye, a man old enough for the grey in his hairs to have turned white sat at the harbour line and showed a boy how to twist cord into a net, and nearby four dockworkers took a break from unloading one of the ships before quickly returning to their work under the scrutinizing gaze of their foreman. A young man haggled about prices at a crofter's stall while two women with children sleeping in slings on their backs conversed nearby and threw fond looks at a group of boys and girls chasing each other through the square among peals of laughter. All of it pleasantly ordinary.
The main road leading from the docks was cobbled with red stone and brought Naruto past the local town hall and church, a simple smithy, and a few other workshops and houses before a small barracks and gate came into view.
Three men were on duty at the moment: one crossbowman above the gate and two men with cudgels and spears below. The older of the two had a serjeant's band around his right arm and was currently using the privilege of his rank to lean back and watch while his second talked with an old man riding an oxcart heading out of town.
As he arrived, he felt the serjeant's gaze move to him, a tepid yet scrutinizing attention. The man was chewing on something as he raised a calloused hand to stop him before he could pass through the gate. "Headed up?"
Naruto looked at the path wending its way up to the bridge across the right-hand arm of the river and nodded.
"I don't recognise your mug. You arrive here by ship?"
"I came into port on the Golden Treasure."
"Captain Garel?" The serjeant's eyes narrowed on him, taking in his appearance and then the sea chest he was carrying. When Naruto gave him confirmation, he wrinkled his nose, quickly dipped his head into a brusque bow and waved him through. "Forgive me then, and a good day, lord."
"There he comes again," the crossbowman called from above just as he thought to ask how the man had known.
Naruto watched with all the others as a young boy of nine or ten in a page's garb rushed down the path on the back of a young gelding and then skilfully weaved past the cart and guards having barely slowed to a trot in time. Past a soft curse as the serjeant was forced to dodge out of the way, there was neither surprise nor much of irritation in either guardsman. If anything, there was something of amusement in their expressions. Having taken a step back just as the serjeant had, he wondered about that. "What was that about?"
"That's the bailiff's boy, Lucas. He's a page up at the castle. They've had him come hurrying down from the castle every time there's a ship for five days now." The serjeant gave him another scrutinizing look. "Seeing as Garel's ship brought you here, I'd figure it's you they've been expecting, lord."
"I should better hurry, then," Naruto said, amused, before turning to make his way up the simple dirt road leading up the hill.
It did not take him long to overtake the poor old oxen lumbering up the path, weighed down by the sacks of charcoal loaded in the cart as it was, and halfway up the hill he had left it behind entirely. Most of the other people using the road at this time of day were headed up to the castle as well, bringing supplies for the castle smithy or kitchens in drawn carts of their own or carrying lighter loads in woven baskets on their backs, but a few also came the opposite way. A frowning man in a feathered cap passed him softly cursing under his breath, a father and son on an empty cart made clipped argument, and a group of young women in plain dresses with a basket of clothes carried between them offered him curious glances and smiles ranging from shy to bold.
The top of the hill held a commanding view of the surrounding area, not only out to sea but also across much of the land stretching south and east. For miles, he had a view of farmsteads and vineyards, forests and grazing land, tower houses and knightly estates. In that regard the castle itself, and foremost the Palestone Sword jutting out highest among all the white towers, was undoubtedly even more impressive.
Dirt turned back to cobbles below his feet as he neared the bridge spanning the eastern arm of the Torentine. Wide enough for a cart to pass between people standing on both sides, the solid stone construction spanned a gap of nearly sixty yards, and walking across that length the river still rushed audibly even three hundred feet below.
At the end came a drawbridge to protect the last of the gap and then past a short stretch of wall fifty feet high running parallel to the road the large gatehouse guarding the entrance to the lower castle. But the drawbridge was lowered, the gate left open for passage, and the only guards seemingly on duty were those he could hear laughing and talking above as he passed beneath the murder holes.
The yard beyond was a cobbled square with a wooden platform in the middle. To the right, a three-storied barracks abutted the gate house and wall, while a simple but large stable was to the immediate left, followed by the other buildings nestled in the crook of the wall as it swept in to meet the jagged wall of rock rising directly ahead.
Atop that small cliff, by itself already some fifteen feet taller than the outer wall, rested another wall just as high and bristling with arrow slits, merlons, and towers. The path to the upper castle ran in the shadow of those defences, every yard up the approach contested by a hail of projectiles in the event of an attack.
And yet higher still stood the Palestone Sword, watching from above.
As he took in that sight Naruto heard a familiar shrill call echo through the air and knew immediately where he needed to go.
He continued his ascent with a new impatience pushing him onward.
On his right hand a group of buildings sheltered inside the walls, notably more opulent than those he had seen back in town. By the attached outbuildings and the symbols wrought in painted metal jutting out toward the path, it was not hard to recognise them as the workshops of accomplished craftsmen and artisans successful enough to afford the privilege and cost of living inside Starfall's walls. The resulting proximity to their lord and his lucrative patronage was another added bonus.
Much of the traffic headed for and out of the castle was directed there, bringing materials and other supplies so the people could work their crafts, or coming with business that required an expert's touch. Still, with storehouses, granaries, and all the necessities better to have immediately to hand, there was still more than enough necessitating a trip further up.
After a sharp turn to the left, Naruto had reached the upper gate. Just like the one below it stood open, but not quite so laxly guarded. Though with the garrison off to war that still amounted only to a single man in mail and Dayne colours making sure no one entered who had no right to do so.
Naruto did not particularly feel like wasting time answering questions, so when the opportunity to avoid them presented itself in a distracting conversation between the guard and a kitchen maid returning from town, he quickly moved to the side of the gate and out of view. A quick look back to make sure no one was close enough to see, and then he jumped and began to climb.
The chest he carried made for a bit of a complication, but with chakra assuring his grip he pulled himself up and over the crenellations without too much trouble even with one hand occupied.
Naruto descended using the stairs on the other side and then made his way across the large courtyard towards the keep. The way inside was easy enough to find, and so was the way into the circular turret he was looking for. Stairs lead down and up, built in a tight switchback to take up as little space as possible. Naruto felt a tingling in the tips of his fingers and began his ascent.
Soon he was taking the stairs two at a time, and a dozen flights later he was taking them in threes. And then he was there.
Naruto reached to open the door but stopped short. Everything had reached a peak now – his throat tight and his muscles taut as cord. He shook his head, and then exhaled a long, drawn-out breath through his nose and felt the tension fading.
Before it could return, he opened the door and quietly stepped inside.
The chamber was large and airy, with a low flame cracking softly in the hearth and fine carpets covering the floor. A bed dominated the far side, with pale curtains hung for privacy that swayed gently in the warm breeze coming in through the window looking out on the bay.
After putting down his sea chest Naruto walked to the bedside, halfway to sneaking. A familiar necklace was laid on a low table together with some unfinished needlework, the diamond at its centre tarnished by a dark crack running through one half of the precious stone. The failure did not matter much to him. What value a shiny stone compared to the safety of his family?
Ashara slept, untouched. Seeing that, more than simply knowing it, was what he had needed. The small part of him that had not been able to let go of his worries finally relaxed.
He swept a hand through her hair and leaned in to press a kiss to her brow. Naruto thought he felt her relax in response, even lean into him, as if her body could recognise his touch, awake or not. There was a novel kind of bone-deep comfort in that.
A soft little noise, one among many, like a small breath caught and then released, drew his gaze away from his wife, finally too much to disregard any longer. Past the bed, near a divider depicting the castle and bay in colourful strokes and lines, was a cradle painted in white and purple. The sword and star of House Dayne had been wrought in silver and marked the footboard.
Naruto caught himself hesitating for no reason he could name. Looking down at Ashara's sleeping face, at the small lingering remnants of exhaustion lining her features, he could only shake his head at his own foolishness. He could face a dragon without issue and stare down armies with a cocky smile, but this made him nervous.
He crossed to the other side of the room, even more aware than before of every little sound he made.
The cradle's edges and corners had been worn and smoothed over years of use, the wood faintly discoloured where new coats of paint had been added to match the old. The silver emblem was recently polished.
Resting on a bed of down and swaddled in wool and an impossibly soft length of deep purple silk was a babe. Pink and soft and wrinkly, and even at a look so terrifyingly, breath-takingly fragile that it humbled him even as it rooted him in place. He had seen babies before of course, but even with Asuma and Kurenai's young daughter Mirai it had not been like this. He had been younger then. But even so, this was different.
He reached down, more carefully than he had ever been with anything in his life and ran the back of his finger along a plump little cheek. It earned him a soft noise of complaint, half exhale and half grunt, but the little one slept on.
"He is beautiful, is he not?"
Naruto smiled, strangled with emotion. "Yes." He drank in the sight a little longer, imagining he could see parts of Ashara and her brothers in the angle of the nose and the dark dusting of hair, before looking over his shoulder. "He is perfect."
Ashara had sat up in her bed and when he joined her bedside again, they shared a heartfelt greeting filled with all the emotions carried over moons of separation. He had missed her terribly and she clearly felt the same.
"I'm sorry I couldn't be here."
"And do what?" Ashara gave a smile. "It is a woman's battle. Better you were where you could make a difference."
Naruto could not help a small grimace. He had made a difference, there was no doubt of that, but that did not mean he did not feel conflicted about the events that had transpired.
Fingers closed on his unscarred hand, a gentle grounding pressure. "Tell me."
"Everyone escaped the capital well enough," Naruto began after a moment of thought, "but our pursuers caught up with us in the kingswood. Tywin Lannister's band of murderers and thugs, as Elia told it, but they had double our numbers at least. I would have liked to lead them on a merry chase through the Stormlands, but it would have taken half a week at least to reach the Wendwater Crossing and throw them off our tail convincingly. So we faced them instead." Ashara squeezed his hand, and he wordlessly squeezed back. "I killed a lot of men that day."
No words followed his declaration, neither excuses or judgements nor words of praise or condemnation, and he was infinitely grateful to her for that. Peace was allowed its reign in the tower chamber.
"Elia and the children are well, then?" came the eventual question, when they had lingered in silence for a time.
"I left her to plot with her princely brothers," he said, unsure whether that was truly a good thing.
Ashara gave a sad, sympathetic smile. "There is little else she can do now that Rhaegar is dead. Better, I think, that Elia has a goal in mind and plans to reach it than if she were to give up entirely. Her children's lives depend on it."
"Do you think she has any hope of succeeding?"
Ashara bit her lip and smoothed the coverlet she had been using. "No, not as things stand. Dorne can survive, even alone, but no amount of history and pride will make that grounds for victory. Survival alone will not place a crown on Aegon's head." She shook her head. "But Elia knows that all too well and even a Prince of Dorne cannot change it on a whim." She met his gaze square. "Once they have a plan, they may ask for you."
"Elia already did," he admitted with another grimace, recalling their fraught exchange. "She asked me to assassinate Tywin Lannister for her, as retribution for the attempts on her life and the lives of her children."
His wife saw right through him. "And you denied her."
"I did." Another request, he might have agreed to, but not that. Never that.
"I'm glad." When he raised a brow in question, Ashara continued. "I love Elia well, but our friendship does not preclude me from my own priorities. I need not approve of every scheme hatched, especially not when the one put in danger is my own lord husband." The momentary sharpness dwindled from her voice, released in a deep exhale. "What will come of it all in the end, I cannot say. Perhaps we will get involved again, in one way or another, but that time has not arrived yet. And until it has, there is our own future to consider," she said, putting the topic to rest. "My mother and Carella were glad to know me safe, and it has been good to return here again after so long, but I mislike insisting upon generosity. It is unbecoming, even among family."
"There will be no need." Naruto raised their entwined hands and pressed a kiss to the back of hers. "By Prince Doran's decree, I am now the lord of Vulture's Roost and all the lands and incomes of the Upper Wyl. It's fertile land and well suited to our purposes. The lords Wyl were entrusted a stewardship some seventy years ago to maintain taxes and law, but with the title and honours changing hands at a whim every few years it has become a bit of a festering spot for bandits, smugglers, brigands, and the like." Dealing with that sort was common enough for Shinobi, though handling all the consequences would be a first for him. Nonetheless, he smiled a smile tinged with excitement, dimmed only slightly by the bare shadow of the weight of responsibility. "It will be a deal of work to get it all in order and I'm sure lord Wyl won't look very kindly upon us, but I am looking forward to the challenge."
"You would," Ashara laughed, smiling fondly. A look to her right, at the peaceful little wooden crib and their son sleeping inside, and fondness was joined by a determined ambition. "But I agree that it is a worthy challenge. We shall see if we cannot make something grand of this place."
After he had shared all he knew of the place that was to be their home, they talked of other plans, though with no intent to decide on anything substantial yet. It was only thinking aloud in comfort, allowing ideas to take shape and combinations to slot into place where they may.
Naruto considered taking out the other documents made in Sunspear from his sea chest, agreements reached and deals agreed to with the Prince of Dorne and writ in ink, but he thought better of it. There would be time for such dry fare on another day.
A new sound made him prick up his ears.
Steps outside, a soft knock, and then the door began to open. "Ashara, my sweet, are you awake? There's been another ship." Tall and willowy, but with little of fragility about her, the woman that entered was handsome no matter that she had seen some fifty years. Time had been kind to her. The grey streaking her tightly coiffed hair only enhanced the quiet dignity of her bearing and the lines that had managed to leave their mark in her face were those of a life spent with laughter and smiles. Identifying her was easy enough; she had given much of herself to her children. Upon seeing him seated beside the bed, she stopped, surprise written into her features before she mastered them again. "Well now, this is a surprise." The shadow of a grin whispered across her lips as she glanced at Ashara. "But I must admit you described him fittingly."
Naruto gave his wife a short look and came forward to greet her mother. "It is good to finally meet you, my lady." He ignored the flutter of nerves as he dipped his head into a short bow and pressed a kiss to the back of the hand she offered him and then put on his most winning smile. "I am Naruto, newly the lord of Vulture's Roost. I hope my arrival was not too sudden."
Lady Dayne offered a small smile of her own. "Oh, nothing of the sort. We had word of your coming already, though I must admit to expecting we would have our first meeting in a more… formal capacity." A hint at mild disapproval came and went before she banished the matter with a wave of her hand. "But no matter, what is done is done and there is rather no use spilling any tears over it now. I bid you welcome, my lord, to our home and hearth."
"Thank you, my lady." He chewed on his words a moment, before deciding to simply come right out with them. "I know events did not happen as would have been proper, but I hope you might see past that in time. I promise you that I will keep your daughter safe, and that I have no wish to bring shame or dishonour upon your family and House."
She looked rather pleased by the words, which seemed as good a sign as any. "That is good to hear, but as I said, what is done is past." Her voice turned wistful then. "And I do remember what it is to be young and in love. My Vorian was always dutiful, but had we been promised to others instead… Well, it does not bear thinking of." She sighed, full of longing and old pain, and shook her head. "But enough of that. I am sure you are weary from your travels and would rather a bath than an old widow's recollections. I will have the steward show you to your chambers so you might refresh yourself. I trust you will be staying a while?"
"A few days at the least. A week perhaps," Naruto said. There was much work to be done, and only so much that could be accomplished from hundreds of miles away. Though hard as being away from his new family had been, leaving again would surely be even harder.
One week turned into two and almost turned into three before it really was time to leave Starfall again. What time he did not spend with his family he had used for long outings to the surrounding lands with the page Lucas as his guide, noting down all he found in tracings of charcoal and lines of ink.
Much of it was worth little, either too small to bother with or far too deep for easy access, but that knowledge itself was valuable. The few already existing mines in the vicinity had been most fruitful for his work: untapped veins or deposits of ore covered by nothing but a wall of rock in already established shafts, whether for expedience or the abandonment of hope so unknowingly close to reaching the goal. Either way, he thought Alaric would be glad to know and then see the fruits of that knowledge in time.
The morning of his departure was grey and cool and wet, with a gentle drizzle of rain descending as he stepped through a postern into the outer yard after an early meal and began his way further down. A fog had begun to gather in the bay last evening and had encroached all the way to the castle gate, haunting the walls and bridge with its soft embrace.
At the outer gate, where the lowered portcullis blocked a horse-drawn cart from entering the castle, a commotion had sparked across the thick bars of fire-hardened wood and iron reinforcements. The raised voices of argument echoed in the air, drawing his curiosity.
The guard on duty, a hawkish narrow-faced youth called Stoney by the other guards, was shaking his head as Naruto came close enough to make out the words being exchanged.
"And why would I do that?" Stoney asked with a tired frown, one hand leaning on the sword at his belt in clear irritation. "You can wait until the next bell, as everyone does, and if you won't leave, I have a mind to turn you away even then. I won't wake her ladyship for every troublemaker comes along asking her leave." He waved an angry, dismissive hand. "Now turn your cart and fuck off, before I come out with steel."
"Just—" the driver of the cart stopped short in frustration. The shadow of his cowl hid most of his face from view, what was visible of the lower half dominated by a fierce scowl below a dark tangle of beard. One of the horses shook its head with a snort, breath billowing visibly in the light of the two lanterns hanging on the inside of the gate.
"Please, good man." The new speaker stood in the bed of the cart, plunged in shadow by the gatehouse above. "We have good reason to ask for entrance but the matter we bring is one for the members of House Dayne to attend to." He moved to the back and clambered down with a pained grunt. Leaning on his left leg he came up to the portcullis bars. "We have proof of our words. And one of my companions needs a Maester's attentions."
Naruto saw the proof revealed in the softly flickering light of the lanterns playing across the silver and gold inlay in white and closed his eyes for a single silent moment. "Open the gate, Stoney," he called over the remaining yards, finally drawing attention to his presence. The guard turned at his words, surprise on his face and a rebuttal on his lips. "And then inform Lady Carella and Lady Dayne of this. I vouch for this group, should either of them take issue."
The young guardsman gave a clipped nod. "As you command."
It had been nearly a year since their last meeting, but Naruto had recognised Ethan Glover easily enough. Lean where he had been haggard and with a dark beard covering his jaw instead of pale lips and bruised skin, he looked to have recovered well from his ordeal in the black cells. The young Northerner was travel-worn and wet, the bandages peeking out from beneath his mail sleeve and vambrace to cover his wrist brown with dust and dirt, but any pain he felt he wore with bright eyes and a pride-stiffened chin.
The scabbard Ethan held was similarly familiar, and the blade inside entirely unmistakeable even while sheathed.
Among rattling chains and the groaning of weights and turning wheels, the portcullis began to rise. Ethan ducked below the spiked ends once he was able, not quite limping but favouring his left side all the same. There was another bandage around his right knee. Once the way was fully clear the cowled driver gave the horses a lick of the reins and led his cart inside as well. Naruto recognised both horses from an abandoned, old Dornish watchtower far to the north.
"I owe you thanks for a second time now, it seems," Ethan said by way of greeting as the cart rumbled onto the square. Three others rode in the open bed, huddled below cloaks and woollen blankets against the rain and chill of early morning. Who they were was impossible to tell, though he could guess at two of them well enough.
Naruto turned to walk with Ethan, matching the younger man's slower pace as they followed the cart away from the gate. "You owe me nothing," he said simply. When the portcullis was closed again and Stoney had started up to the keep, he continued. "I doubt your words will be received well."
"Yet my lord has asked me to bring them in his stead. Had there been no other duties to keep him away he would have been here in person to speak them, as a matter of honour."
Naruto gave a nod in response and turned his attention to the cart.
The first figure had been laid down on their back right down the middle and was cocooned in at least two blankets and cloaks, their short stature plain to see. Their chest rose and fell in quick shallow breaths that spoke of pain and fever. The second figure sat against the left side, knees drawn up and head dropped forward in sleep. The third figure, huddled in a corner at the very back of the cart and with a rounded shape visible even beneath the cloak, drew his eye the most by instinct alone. Naruto seldom had cause to mistrust his gut and he did not have one now. He inclined his head in greeting. "My lady."
A start and then a tentative nod, which was confirmation enough. He felt a certain, quiet satisfaction bloom, which felt inordinately inappropriate.
"I assume you would prefer if not everyone knew who is part of this group," Naruto said, turning back to the man beside him.
Ethan's mouth thinned so much it disappeared in his beard. "That would be best."
"I will do what I can." He headed forward, to the driver's right-hand side and met the broad-shouldered man's eyes for a single moment, before he turned his cowled head away again, looking at him from the very corner of his eyes. Naruto gestured up the rise. "Bring your cart into the upper ward. I will have the gate opened for you to pass."
Facing the front again, the man gave a wordless nod and clicked his tongue and reins. The former Kingsguard horses obeyed without fuss. Naruto watched the cart begin to move and frowned, unsure what to think.
Ethan had pulled himself onto the back of the bed, wedged between the laying figure and raised side. The sheathed sword was laid across his thighs. Any plans of leaving abandoned for now, he followed behind.
It was almost an hour before everyone was gathered around a table in Starfall's main hall, the hastily stoked fire still cracking and sparking though all the newcomers had long since dried and warmed themselves from it. Only the driver of the cart still stood there, separate from everyone else and still in his covering cloak, his calloused hands held towards the flickering flames. A bed and warm meal had been asked for him, which would come in time.
Howland Reed had been brought to a separate room to rest and recover after Naruto had seen to him as much as he was able. The young lord had barely been clinging to consciousness for days now, weakened and fevered from infection after taking a wound to the side of the neck. It was half a miracle he had survived it at all until now.
Two serving women entered to place hastily prepared fare on the table dividing House Dayne and their sudden guests and then left again with quick bows. No one seemed inclined to eat at the moment. Candles had been lit, but the light in the hall was dim nonetheless, with the world outside the paned windows so grey.
Naruto stood behind his wife's chair instead of claiming one for himself. Ashara's mother and Carella, Alaric's slender and gentle lady wife who ruled in his absence, sat to the right. Ethan Glover sat across the table and wrung his hands in obvious discomfort, while Lyanna and Wylla stood off to the side with the babe.
Glancing at the cracking hearth, Ethan exhaled a rallying breath and stood. "My ladies, I am Ethan Glover. I am a loyal servant of Eddard Stark, lord of Winterfell and all the lands of the North, and I bring you these words in his name and by his leave." He turned to pick up Dawn and presented the blade with a bowed head, revealing the familiar white scabbard for everyone to see.
A quiet sob broke through a lady's careful control, the sound of a mother's anguish and chilling grief. Naruto laid a hand on his wife's shoulder, hoping to grant some comfort just as she did by reaching for her mother's hands. The others had politely averted their eyes, and he found his own turned towards the hearth.
Hands had retreated from the fire, now fisted tightly at the thighs. When another choking sob rang out the cart driver hurriedly retreated from the hall, never looking back.
After a moment Ethan continued, looking at each woman in turn. "We happened upon your son, and brother, and battle broke out. Upon its conclusion my lord instructed me to travel here, so that your family might reclaim their rightful possession." He groped for words, visibly uncomfortable with such naked emotion. "He fought well and stayed true till the end."
Naruto stood and listened, and thought unbidden of the very first lessons Kakashi had taught, on the day Team Seven had come to really exist.
Down the gallery to the right and through its colonnaded end, out onto a short walkway, and then through the open doorway ahead, there came an inward-facing balcony faced with glass looking down on a circular chamber with only one true entrance on the floor below, the heavy iron-banded door double-locked by night and looked over by a Dayne guardsman that had found his posting suddenly turned more than ceremonial again.
The small tower served no defensive purpose at all, facing out onto the Summer Sea between a proper turret and the keep itself, the only windows high up, paned with coloured glass, and without a walkway on the inside to stand on.
Its purpose, of course, had nothing at all to do with repelling an assault on the castle. It was, like the castle sept, a place of veneration and exultation. A sacred place, even if in another way. The only fixture of the eight-sided chamber was an altar in its very centre, a broad pedestal of pale marble on which sat a hunk of darker rock, chipped and grooved until it was an open flower of rock to nestle the storied sword it had birthed thousands of years ago.
Dawn rested now, until there came a new Sword of the Morning from among those knights of Dayne blood worthy of the title.
"You are sure?" Ashara's whisper was barely a breath. She stifled another yawn with a hand, but there was no changing the late hour. Nor the dropping temperatures. Cooled though the Dornish heat was with the Torentine and coast so close at hand, hours after nightfall little more than a spectre of it remained anymore, leaving only chilly darkness.
Naruto drew her closer into his side, hoping to share some of his warmth, and silenced the treacherous whisper that said he might have been wrong in his assessment. Some things, perhaps, simply pushed a man too far. But no, he was confident. "He'll come."
"Well, wake me when he finally does." Resting fully against him, she soon dozed off, breaths slowing and gently tickling the side of his neck.
He could only smile, shifting carefully to accommodate her better and settling in to wait a while longer.
The flickering light of another torch drew closer with heavy steps and the rustle of mail, just one more of the smattering of guards roaming the castle's two curtain walls and baileys in the night. Step by step the illumination trekked through his field of vision, reflected by the merlons just ahead of their chosen spot.
A few more paces and the two lights joined together, and after a clipped greeting between the two guardsmen they fell into quiet, rumbling conversation. A minute or two of this, to escape some of the monotony of a peacefully quiet night like most any other, before the first man would continue his route while the second remained at his post.
The rhythm was always the same, roughly. Certainly predictable enough for someone sufficiently capable and motivated to exploit it, especially when the gaps where larger with so many gone to war with their lord.
Muffled conversation came and passed, and the lights split up again, one swaying away on further guard duty while the other remained. Naruto watched the additional light fade out of sight, night darkening slightly before his eyes adjusted to the old conditions again. With the moon nothing more than a sickle there wasn't much to be gained.
Soft-soled shoes whispered over stone.
Naruto could hear the careful, cautious placement of every step, slow and steady in a way that hinted at inexperience. Of course, a knight had precious little need of such skills as skulking and sneaking, and there was no need for worry at this one's cause for stealth.
Coming closer, then ascending the staircase, away from the door and the guard with his light, every step even more prudently placed. Naruto saw the shadows shift with motion, darkness moulded onto a rounded shape that tried to meld with the opposing side of the walkway as soon as the top of the stair was reached, and he also saw the furtive look around, sweeping quickly in their direction before moving past, unseeing.
The figure moved off, for the balcony in the small tower. When the steps had almost faded from his ears again, Naruto gently nudged Ashara by the shoulder to wake her. She stirred with a quiet groan of complaint, but reason won out against the desire for rest. There was still time for that afterwards and letting this opportunity slip by would be rife with regrets.
Eventually, the steps returned, coming back their way, and Naruto felt his wife turn to regard the barely visible shape in the meld of shadow and night.
His fingers found the wick of the oil lamp he had brought, and chakra sparked between the contacting digits. A small, gentle flame bloomed, yet it was more than enough to illuminate them and their hiding spot, as well as the person a few paces from the stairs leading back down to the walkway below.
The cloaked, slightly hunched shape started, a sudden jerk of motion as if intent on running before the idea was visibly discarded again, the stiffness draining away with a deep breath. Standing fully from the near crouch, the man moved closer, into the light, and drew back his hood.
Arthur looked two decades older than he had the last time they had met, the handsome face drawn and hard-lined, an effect enhanced by the deep shadows playing across his features and the unkempt beard crowding his jaw. Pride and quiet, steady confidence had died a terrible death out at that tower. He did not look surprised about being found out, only resigned.
Ashara stood, a minute tremble to her arms, and then she was holding fast to the neck of the brother she had thought lost to her and knew by the manner of this meeting to be again very soon. Naruto left the two siblings to their murmured conversation for a time. By the way Arthur's hands were grasping the back of Ashara's cloak as she released the first hiccuping sob, he was taking just as much comfort from this as she was.
When they loosened their embrace, Ashara was the first to speak, resigned sadness still a soft note in every hushed word. "Must you truly go? There has to be another way for you." She turned to give him a short beseeching glance. "We could–"
Jaw tight, Arthur said nothing and took his sister's hands in his own, holding them down between them and putting the idea to rest.
Rattled, Ashara took only a moment to change angles. "What about Allyria? Alaric? And mother?"
The accusation washed over Arthur like breakers against a surf, the only chip it managed an averting of eyes.
Ashara bit her lip but did not force an answer from him. "Where will you go?"
"Away," Arthur said sharply. He plainly had no intention of revealing any specifics. "There is nothing left for me here. The only good I might still do is elsewhere."
The harsh words hung in the air, unopposed. Ordinarily, Naruto might have said something in protest, but he well knew that disagreement right now would only further fuel Arthur's insistence on secrecy and defensiveness.
Instead, he stood to lay a hand on his wife's shoulder and step up beside the siblings, a small little barrier against any growing ill will. "You go with the babe, then?"
Arthur's gaze slid to him, a glare under dark brows that quickly lost all heat again, the effort abandoned. He pursed his lips and gave a stiff nod.
Naruto smiled and gave a nod in kind. "Good. That's honourable." Ashara laid a hand over his and gave it a gentle squeeze. There was no need for words between them. "And once you get used to the cold, you might come to like the North well enough. It's peaceful in its own way."
The words earned him only a rigid regard. Such a careful non-reaction in fact, that he knew immediately that he had been wrong.
"Except you are not going north, are you?"
Arthur grimaced and seemed to contemplate taking refuge in stubborn silence. Averting his gaze, he stared into the darkness for a time, his hands fisted at his sides. He released a tired breath, shoulders dropping heavily. "The Braavosi coast," the words were barely more than a whisper. "Close enough by ship, but safer, should the boy take after his father more than his mother."
And wouldn't that make for a hard explanation. A boy with Valyrian colours, a Northern bastard, when every milk maid and stableboy had heard tale of Lyanna's disappearance? People would know, immediately, and then everything would turn difficult very quickly. How difficult exactly, the Starks would know better than he did, which was likely part of the reason for this course of action.
It did not bear thinking about any more now, especially when he could taste an opportunity.
Naruto drew his dagger, sheath and all, and held it out for Arthur to take. "If you are heading east you might wish for more than ordinary steel again. It is a fey place, in my experience."
"Keep your gift," Arthur said, giving the offering a dark, sidelong glance. "I have no more need for swords." The contempt in his voice was more than just a thin veneer, chillingly bone-deep and laced with the embers of shame. And its true target was only too receptive.
"It's not a gift," Naruto said in response. He couldn't be discouraged by a riposte that was instinct more than anything else and not even well disguised. "I expect you to return it to me, when you have no more need for this one either. If you keep it sheathed until then, all the better for you and your company. It will not rust either way."
Still, Arthur hesitated, the wounds bare and bleeding in his eyes.
Naruto hated that sight. He had only training to judge, but that had been more than enough. It was a silent truth said with every swing, every block and parry, every stop thrust and false edge cut. The man in front of him lived for the sword, truly came alive with steel in hand, and seeing that reality turned into a withering corpse was a damn shame.
Yet words would not breathe life back into that part of him. Arthur needed to find honour for himself again after he had discarded it; forsaking his sword, his title, and even his life.
And so he waited, dagger presented in silent offering, and felt Ashara's fingers anxiously tighten on his own as they watched that delicate struggle play out.
Their little lamp flickered in a sudden draft, plunging half of Arthur's face into darkness. When light returned again, his expression was firm.
Arthur reached out, hesitated, and then carefully closed pale fingers around the dark leather of the sheath. Though he held it gingerly, like a thing of strangeness and distance, the small weapon seemed to weigh heavy in his hand. A visible weight, but a good one here and now, since it grounded Arthur in the certainty and truth to be found in word and deed. One finger stroked along the rippling steel of the small crossguard, gentle as a kiss. He inhaled deeply and his fingers tightened. "You will have her back, untarnished."
Naruto smiled. "I look forward to the day."
Arthur gave a firm nod and secured the weapon to the left side of his belt. Swords would have to wait a while yet.
A chill wind blew over the walls, whistling along merlons and through arrow slits. Barely audible for its distance, there was the rumble of an approaching storm. Tomorrow there would be rain, no doubt.
Arthur looked at the northern sky, where clouds were already thicker. Straightening his cloak, he reached for his hood.
Naruto started, thinking. "If you should meet a shadowbinder with a red lacquer mask…" He searched for the right words, unsure what he was even truly worried about happening should they come upon Shiera by sheer chance. She wasn't one for haste or recklessness, but then he had failed in reading her correctly before. It felt pertinent to say something, nonetheless. "...take care."
Arthur accepted the words with a grave nod. "I will. Thank you."
And then there were no more words to be said between them. Arthur gave them another once over, took in the long familiar walls of the castle he had grown up in, the home of his youth and of ancestors uncounting, and dipped his head for a final goodbye. Hood drawn up, he left.
Naruto felt the impulse for action in the curve of Ashara's shoulders, but she did not surge forward to stop her brother as he turned and walked into the darkness. She knew, as he did, that what Arthur needed would not be found here, if only because he did not want it to be. He rubbed her arm and held her close.
Together, they waited and watched as her brother disappeared into the night.
Long after any signs of his passage had faded away, Ashara drew herself up. Lamplight glistened in the still-wet tracks on her cheeks, but her eyes were free of sadness. There was only strength to be found there. When she spoke, her voice was thick with emotion. A single word. A name.
Naruto drew them together and pressed a kiss to the crown of her head. That was enough.
In the coming days, the honourable passing of Ser Arthur Dayne, Sword of the Morning and knight in the Kingsguard of two Targaryen monarchs, was officially recorded and added to the history of the House. The records sent to Oldtown, to be redistributed to Maesters all over the Seven Kingdoms also included note of a son of Dayne blood of the same name, born to the lord's sister some weeks before.
I hope you enjoyed chapter 52.
It's been a long while, and I won't bore you with excuses for the delay. I am working on the next chapter already and will publish as soon as I am able. This chapter marks the end of part 2, with the next acting as a sort of interlude to bridge the gap to part 3, and therefore contains a lot of important set ups and consequences that happen way before the canon time.
Dorne is pretty much Spain with a bit of Morocco mixed in, at least geographically, right down to the Rhoynish (Moorish) influences. Though in ASoIaF that went way more peacefully. The maps differ majorly on how exactly that looks, and where exactly mountain ranges end and begin, so forgive me the freedoms I took here. I'd think the border would pretty much follow the mountain range. Vulture's Roost is probably the old seat of the Vulture Kings, the first of which was probably a Blackmont, who raided into the Stormlands from the Red Mountains. I'd imagine once Dorne joined the Iron Throne that kind of thing wasn't tolerated in quite the same way any more. Here the Martells took that land for themselves but never cared beyond the taxes and nominal order. Non-contiguous territories are actually quite common in medieval europe.
This time around, the exact people at the ToJ are a bit different. No Willam Dustin, no Gerold Hightower, and a few less deaths, though enough people theorise that Arthur and a few others might have secretly survived even in canon.
I personally think Ned's returning of Dawn to House Dayne in canon, regardless of any involvement with Ashara at Harrenhal, is an incredible act of honour. It's probably where much of his reputation originates in the first place. Claiming a sword like that, entirely unique in the world, or even a Valyrian steel blade which is far more common in comparison, is a testament to your own prowess and capability as a man and warrior. Especially in the North. Returning it, to an official enemy no less, with no obvious gain, while still technically at war(!), goes way beyond decency or chivalry. Keeping these swords after victory isn't even frowned upon.
Any way, thanks for reading and reviewing. Until next time.