Beast Slayer Online: Initialization
Copyright© 2026 by CaffeinatedTales
Chapter 150: Ashes Across the Castle Walls
Lannor had crossed the Conjunction of the Spheres Rift for one reason only, to return Arya safely to her home.
And now, after all that, Arya herself seemed perfectly fine, while her entire family looked as though someone was preparing to cut away the pillar holding up their roof.
By Lannor’s judgment, Eddard Stark was a good man.
More than once during the journey to King’s Landing, the Witcher had overheard the Hand of the King quarreling with the king over whether two children across the Narrow Sea should be assassinated.
Eddard never yielded. Whether it was because of knightly spirit or simply his own sense of right and wrong, he stood before the furious Robert like a cliff of glacier stone, cold and immovable.
Lannor did not dislike such men.
Quite the opposite.
“Come on. Let’s head back. I doubt your father knows nothing as Hand of the King, but another piece of information never hurts.”
After patting Arya’s shoulder, the two of them started down Iron Street toward the Hand’s Tower in the Red Keep.
On the way back, they passed merchants, peddlers, and performers hurrying out of King’s Landing with the tools of their trade slung over their shoulders. Their faces were flushed with excitement rather than worry, the look of people racing toward coin and amusement.
Lannor thought of the Tournament being held for the new Hand of the King.
There were no festivals or holy days near at hand. Nothing else would stir up such commotion.
So the Tournament grounds were likely outside the city walls.
Even Arya, usually incapable of resisting excitement, had no mood left for gawking. After everything she had gone through in the Otherworld, her self-control had grown by leaps.
Near the gates of the Red Keep, Lannor showed the pass signed by Eddard and returned smoothly to the Hand’s Tower.
It was already near midday meal.
Before Eddard could step fully into the broad, slightly empty dining hall, Arya grabbed her father’s arm and dragged him toward a corner.
“Arya, stop causing trouble!”
Sansa called from the table, sitting upright with all the proper grace expected of her.
In her eyes, this was simply another one of Arya’s mad fits.
Eddard clearly thought the same at first. He rubbed his tired face and opened his mouth.
“Arya, if you want to play, go find...”
“Jon Arryn didn’t die naturally, did he, Father?!”
The exhaustion vanished from Eddard’s face in an instant.
He stared at his little daughter as though he had stopped understanding his own language. It took him a moment to gather himself before the words finally came.
“How did you...”
“Don’t ask here. Too many ears. Come with me.”
Eddard let himself be tugged along, thoroughly bewildered by the way Arya was speaking.
“Too many ears?”
Since when did Arya understand that sort of thing?
“Sansa, don’t let your sister...”
Sansa tried to stop the prank before it grew worse, but Eddard interrupted instead.
“Sansa, eat first. Arya and I need to talk.”
The room fell quiet for a heartbeat as he allowed himself to be dragged out of the dining hall.
Sansa blinked.
So did everyone else at the table.
Eddard loved his children deeply. Even if he was poor at showing it, everyone could see it well enough.
But this was different.
He was not humoring Arya’s antics. He was going to “talk” with her.
At the table, Sansa opened her mouth, then closed it again without a word.
Meanwhile, Arya dragged Eddard through several turns until they reached the small, secluded corner where Lannor waited.
It was tucked away neatly out of sight.
Lannor noticed immediately that Eddard was different from when they had left that morning.
A dagger hung at the Hand’s waist now, one Lannor had not seen before. Its hilt was wrapped in gold around the polished bone of some unknown creature. Much like the Sword of the Lady of the Lake on Lannor’s back, its value was obvious at a glance.
The Hand of the King finally looked from his daughter to the cat-eyed guard she had somehow acquired, suspicion flickering behind his tired eyes.
Then he crouched down before Arya and asked seriously,
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