Oathkeeper

Chapter 41: Fourteen Years Later

A scarlet leaf floated its way down onto the page of the young boy's book. He always found himself sitting beneath the sacred weirwood tree, no matter where he set to end up that day. Being here made him feel more connected to the world, to Westeros, and strangely, the past. The winds of the Gods would speak to him and provide him with reassurance whenever doubt of his place here in the North would set in.

When the cold would allow it, the boy would sit out in the snow, just like he did today, for as long as he could. He'd stop reading his illusive stories about dragons and close his eyelids. Lifting his chin up into the air as he embraced both the light of the sun and the specs of snow on his pale porcelain face. His long fiery curls danced with the breeze of the forest. He found his place on the page again, now mumbling the words to one of his favorite tunes.

"For once there was a fellow, his hair and teeth were yellow"

Suddenly a man and a woman appeared. Out of thin air, they were now sitting on the rocks beside the boy underneath the tree. They looked out to the river with their heads somewhat low, as if they'd just received bad news.  He titled his head as he lifted himself from the cold ground, recognizing the red hair both he and his mother had on the woman. From behind she looked like she could have been her, only his mother was inside the Great Hall, the place he was avoiding.

The man's light auburn hair remained unfamiliar. A large sword sat across his lap as he held a dusty cloth in his right hand, polishing it. The boy moved closer to the pair, tiptoeing in awe of them approaching without noticing each other.

"The raven brought more news," The woman spoke. "The king rides for Winterfell with the Queen, and all the rest of them.

The man's expression went grim as his head fell even lower before responding, "If he's coming this far North . . . there's only one thing he's after,"

"You can always say no, Ned," She said, almost begging him to.

The boy took a few steps back, startled to hear the name of a man he knew was dead. Realization began to set in, as he connected the stories from his mother with the appearances of the man and woman before him.

"Grandfather?" The boy called out.

The man snapped his head back, now looking towards the boy. He jumped back, now kicking himself as he stupidly revealed his presence. The eyes of the man scanned the woods back and forth, as if he couldn't see them by standing right in front of him. After spotting nothing, he turned his attention back to the conversation.

Just as the boy took a few steps closer to the pair again, they vanished. Right in front of his eyes, simply gone. He blinked a few times, wondering if his nerves about today had finally driven him insane. Suddenly, his name echoed through the forest. He was sure he was going insane, until it grew close enough for him to recognize. His body tensed up in fear of the woman behind the voice finally finding him.

She finally spotted him, now directing her horse in his direction. Her back length platinum blonde hair bounced as it galloped towards him. He looked nervously out into the woods, recognizing the royal thick black woolen outfit that sat unfinished on the bed of his mothers room just a few days ago. The boy tried to swallow the knot that formed in his throat as the horse finally stood a few feet in front of him. He quickly collected his things and threw his bag over his shoulder, clutching to the strap as his eyes wandered nervously to the face of the woman.

"Rickon, what did your mother tell you about wandering off without telling anyone, especially on a day like today!" Brienne scolded the boy.

"A prince can't even wander the grounds of his own castle," He scoffed.