Pursuit

In the hazy darkness, Gary rode the warhorse Eddard had given him, ambling leisurely along the Kingsroad.

Something stirred within him, and he looked back toward Winterfell.

Winterfell's outline was hidden in the night, with only scattered points of firelight dotting the darkness.

Gary's feelings were complicated. Everything had happened too suddenly. Yesterday, he had still been patrolling nearby and hunting bandits, hoping to get back and rest soon.

Today, when he set foot on these grasslands again, it was to leave Winterfell for good.

Gary briefly gathered himself and chose to set off again.

"Hm?"

Just as he put his hand on the saddle, he noticed a new coin pouch hanging from it.

Gary opened the new pouch. Inside were exactly twenty-seven Gold Dragons. These were all newly minted coins, though, rather than his century-old ones.

That meant Eddard had not taken his money.

It made sense. The lord of Winterfell hardly needed his twenty-odd Gold Dragons.

He glanced at the other two coin pouches at his waist, the ones Snow and Robb had given him.

"This debt of kindness... so heavy, yet so warm. Looks like I'll have to give some real thought to how I can repay it."

Gary's gaze was resolute. He even thought about helping House Stark claim the throne once King Robert died.

But these were only idle imaginings. He had no plans or intentions in that regard yet.

There were still four years, anyway. There was no rush; he could take care of his own affairs first.

Gary squeezed his horse's flanks, and the warhorse quickened its pace a little.

At noon the next day, at Moat Cailin.

Moat Cailin was a collection of ruins at the southernmost end of the North, surrounded mostly by dangerous swampland.

Fortunately, the Kingsroad allowed Gary to pass through safely even without knowing the route.

This was the gateway to the entire North, a strategic stronghold, and a place Gary had to pass on his journey south...

But it was not wartime, so no house stationed men here.

Gary had traveled all night and was tired and hungry. He urgently needed to find a village to replenish his supplies and rest.

But this was swampland on the border between the North and the Riverlands. No one could possibly live here.

He would have to travel farther south and reach the inhabited parts of the Riverlands before he could find a somewhat larger village.

Gary traveled another half day. Only as night approached did he finally leave the swamps behind and find a village of a dozen or so households.

He stopped there, dismounted, and bought some supplies from the villagers.

Most people in this village were hunters, and they all had a few decent fur blankets at home.

Gary had been worrying about having nothing to keep him warm when sleeping outdoors, so he readily bought three of the best blankets.

Besides the blankets, he bought plenty of provisions, mostly black bread, dried meat, and similar foods. They tasted poor, but they kept well and were extremely filling.

Then he bought a hunting bow freshly made by an old hunter, along with a dozen or so arrows.

Including some fodder for his horse, everything cost one Silver Stag and a handful of copper coins.

Once Gary finished trading, he left the village without delay.

He could not afford to let his guard down around others, so there was no way he would stay in the village to sleep. Human greed was far more frightening than wild beasts.

He made his way leisurely back to the Kingsroad and, after some thought, decided to light a fire and rest in the woods beside the road.

"Clip-clop, clip-clop..."

Rapid hoofbeats suddenly sounded behind Gary. He looked back in puzzlement. Had Eddard changed his mind and sent someone to bring him back?

To his utter surprise, the rider was Arya?!

Arya rode her little white horse up beside Gary and stopped, panting. She had been so angry she had cried, and dried tear tracks still marked her face.

"Why were you riding so fast? I've been chasing you for an entire day and night!"

Looking at her sorry state, Gary held back a laugh. "Why did you follow me? Did you want to see me off? All right, I appreciate the thought. Now hurry back."

Arya shouted angrily, "I'm not going back! I left the castle before you last night and waited for you in the woods outside. But you just rode off! I shouted after you until my voice went hoarse!"

Gary had ridden hard all night, with the wind roaring in his ears. How could he have heard anything else?

He pinched Arya's chubby cheek and smiled. "Then I apologize. I'm sorry. All right, hurry back to the North."

Arya swatted his hand away, her cheeks puffing up like a squirrel's. "I told you, I'm not going back! I want to travel the Seven Kingdoms with you. Didn't you tell me that great wandering heroes are destined to roam the world?"

Gary's face darkened. If he had known, he would never have told this brat those martial arts stories. "Be good and listen. Hurry back. You're still little, and I don't have time to look after you."

Arya stiffened her neck and said stubbornly, "I'm not a child. I don't need you to look after me."

She patted a wooden box tied beside her saddle and declared, "I have money. Lots and lots of money!"

Gary looked down. Wasn't that Catelyn's jewelry box?

Wait, why was there a familiar longsword hanging from Arya's saddle too?

Gary pressed a hand to his forehead. "Arya, did you steal Ice?"

Arya replied without a hint of guilt, "Father never uses it anyway. He just leaves it in his study all day. I'm going to travel the Seven Kingdoms now, so I'm borrowing it."

Gary pointed at the long wooden case on the other side of her saddle and the wooden spear strapped to it. "Haven't you already brought two spears? What do you need Ice for?"

Arya looked at Gary in confusion. "Haven't you always complained about not having a sword that suits you? I stole... borrowed it for you. You use it."

Gary: "..."

After a moment of silence, he said, "His lordship is probably going to send men to hunt me down and kill me, isn't he?"

Arya disagreed. "Why would he? Doesn't he always say you're the most capable of all the children? He likes you so much. Why would he kill you?"

No, I think he would.

Arya, you really are making trouble for your father.

"Grrr..."

Arya's ears turned red. Holding her stomach, she said in embarrassment, "Do you have anything to eat? I finished the bread I brought. I'm hungry."

The black bread and dried meat were both too hard. Arya probably would not be able to chew them.

Gary pointed at the woods ahead. "Let's rest over there for a while. I can hunt something and roast it for you while we're at it."

Arya finally smiled again. "All right."

The two entered the little wood, tied their horses to trees, then gathered firewood and lit a fire.

Both horses had run all night, so this was also a chance for them to graze and rest.

Gary tested his newly purchased hunting bow. Well, it was individually made, after all. Neither its workmanship nor its draw strength matched Winterfell's standard-issue wooden bows.

Though this hunting bow could not shoot through a wooden shield, it was more than adequate for hunting.

Gary took the bow deeper into the woods. Before long, he returned carrying two wild rabbits.

He condensed an ice blade and deftly gutted the rabbits, skinned them, and removed their heads.

Then he took out a small bag of coarse salt he had bought in the village, selected a few chunks, and rolled them back and forth over the rabbit meat.

Arya swallowed hungrily beside him. She had sharpened two branches and was just waiting to skewer the rabbits.

Gary had not eaten much either and was hungry too. He took the two branches from Arya, skewered the rabbits, and set them over the campfire to roast.

A full half hour passed before fat began to seep from the rabbit meat. Accompanied by the crackling and sizzling of fat, a rich, roasted aroma drifted into their noses.

Gary tore off a rabbit's hind leg and checked that the meat was cooked through before handing it to Arya. "Eat. Once you're finished, I'll take you back."

Arya hurriedly swallowed the piping-hot rabbit meat in her mouth. "You can't go back. Mother must think you're the one who stole Ice by now. If Father catches up with you and his men, you'll probably be thrown into Winterfell's dungeon."

That nasty woman Catelyn had disliked him for ages. If he went back now, wouldn't he be walking straight into trouble? That seemed to make sense. This troublemaking child was right.

Gary took a gloomy bite of rabbit. Why did he feel as though a seven-year-old brat had him completely under her thumb?