SUNSET SEA SONGS*
(An Adventure of Fire and Ice)
* I decided to give this group of stories, or episodes, a new name. The fact that the title has four S (SunSet Sea Songs - SSSS) is, I'm sure, a random event...
Episode 7 - Neither...and I'm looking forward for discovering new lands while fulfilling my duty as protector of our beloved Prince Emil.
So please prey to the old and new gods for our safe return, and don't worry with Lalli. He may do some stupid things but overall can handle himself pretty well, and I'll keep an eye on him.
With love, your grandson,
OnniOnni folded the paper carefully and took a small bar of black wax from the drawer. The heat from the candle melted the tip in seconds, creating drops of wax. He recalled seeing his grandma doing exactly that, many years ago, and how fascinated he felt as she skillfully used her ring to press the hot, soft wax, creating a seal with the symbol of their House, a Swan.
He took his own ring, with the same symbol, and tried to do the same. Hum, not as good, but grandma had much more experience with these matters. While his father Juha, and his twin Jukka, spent their time hunting and training, grandma Ensi was actually tending House Swann's daily issues.
"Well, this is done." Onni muttered to himself, leaving the now sealed letter over the desk and sitting on his bed. Early in the morning he would ask Grand Maester Taru to send it to Stonehelm Castle, and then he would escort the prince to the harbour, and board the braavosi ship towards the Sunset Sea, where they would probably die.
Remembering the optimistic words on the letter, he wondered what Ensi would think. "She won't believe in half of it!" He wasn't a good liar, but even if he was, Grandma was too smart to be fooled. But he couldn't write down his real thoughts on that crazy, suicidal enterprise. That would be criticizing the King and the Small Council directly, and Onni couldn't entrust his career, his life, to that seal. Letters sometimes "get lost", and it was a long journey from King's Landing to the Stormlands.
The mattress was soft and clean, and he asked himself when, if ever, he would have something like that again. Yes, he was a Knight, and had his share of nights spent on tents, or trying to sleep under the stars, but that didn't mean he didn't appreciated having his own room. Onni's sight drifted across the ample space, from the desk to the closet, where he could see his armour, ready for tomorrow, and from that to the door of the small privy. It was a good place, almost luxurious, a privilege granted to the Knights of the Kingsguard.
That reminded him, again, of his other option.
"The King had been clear!" said Sir Magnus Arryn, Onni's commander. "Only volunteers should go on that mission. So if you have doubts just say it, and I'll find another Knight to go with Prince Emil."
How he said that, however, made it clear that Onni wouldn't ever be looked the same way if he refused the "honour" to follow and protect the Prince with his own life. He would be left without a fixed task, and Arryn... Onni had had time to know the man well enough. The proud Lord Commander would assign him the worst jobs, always watching for the smallest mistake, until finding a way to discharge Onni from the Kingsguard.
Therefore neither of his options were good. He could go, and had a good chance to die, or stay, and had a good chance to being kicked back to his House, alive, but with his honour tainted. Wearing the Kingsguard's white armour was a lifetime job, or at least until you get to old and weak to fight. Onni's family would be mocked, and lose influence. He couldn't see his parents accepting that.
All that considered, Onni was tempted to go and put his life on the hands of the gods, old, new or whoever god ruled the Sunset Sea, but he wasn't able to extinguish that fear burning inside, waiting to spread and turn into panic.
"Well, I should sleep over it. I can decide tomorrow."
Onni blew out the candle and pulled the blanket over his chest, decided to enjoy the bed and, if he indeed boarded that ship, to appreciate the fact of sleeping over stable, unmoving ground.
---
Well, he
wanted to sleep over it, but couldn't. His mind raced among different scenarios and possible outcomes, and seemed decided to remain awake until dawn.
Onni pondered some poppy milk. He had a small flask somewhere, a reminder from those first days of training when he got beaten pretty hard. But he could end up sleeping the whole morning... Then he recalled a much more interesting alternative.
Hands crossed over the chest, he closed his eyes and took long, deep breaths. It didn't take much time to find a suitable candidate.
The owl was happy. It had just finished dinner and was picking the rat's bones for any leftover meat. The Red Keep was a great hunting place, with lots of humans whose food fed many more rats, and those grew fat and slow from eating too much, making them easy prey.
There were just two problems, cats, and dragons. Cats weren't hard. They tended to remain on the lower levels, while a good number of rats found shelter on the pieces of wood that humans shaped to support their roofs.
Dragons were much harder. Owl had to be attentive, always scanning the sky. It knew they were as up as one can be in the food chain, and already saw a few distracted owls, and even falcons or eagles, being snatched and burned.
The owl entertained those simple thoughts when it felt a headache. It was wandering what it could be, because owls didn't have headaches, and how could an owl know
that, when an unpleasant feeling washed over it, a sensation that came with a word, vertigo... something even stranger for an owl to feel, or knew, And then it fell asleep.
Onni opened his eyes. Well, actually not
his eyes, but the owl's eyes. The headache and the vertigo subsided, leaving him with a whole lot of new sensations. A full belly, the taste of blood on his beak, the gentle touch of a soft breeze on his feathers... And those wonderful senses! He could hear so well! A guard's footsteps on the other side of the castle, clothes hang to dry, flapping far away, down below...
It was a good thing that the rain was gone. There were many clouds, but he could see the stars! His vision was unbelievably sharp, despite the lack of light... Onni watched and heard, but there wasn't any dragon around, so he stretched his wings, looking down at the patio under the tower where he was perched. One of those windows, perhaps the third from the left, was his room, the place where his body rested, laying on the bed with hands crossed over the chest.
He was high, but had no fear. Owls had no fear from highs, and the one he inhabited was no exception. Onni jumped, and flapped his wings, climbing over rooftops and towers.
The Red Keep shrank, becoming a toy castle surrounded by a vast city, with its numberless houses and people, sounds and lights. He flew over buildings and walls towards the harbour, observing the many ships gathered there, creaking and joggling with the waves.
---
It felt so good! All the problems looked small and less significant while he rode an upward current effortlessly, just feeling the air pushing his wings. Onni enjoyed these moments of tranquility, and wished he could do that more often.
But he knew it would be unwise. One of the first things Grandma told him when she found their shared "talent" was the danger of skinchanging for too long. The mind started to mold itself to the body it inhabited and started to loose grip with the original. It was known that a few skinchangers never returned when they spent too much time away. Their human bodies dying from lack of water and food while their minds slowly forgot who they really were.
That wouldn't happen to him, of course, or to Lalli. Ensi had taught them well, happy to find her talent on them after her own sons showed none.
Onni just wanted to relax and choose the best option for tomorrow. Neither was good. It was like flying over mountains, his owl side thought. High or medium, he would rather fly over plains, following a river. Speaking of rivers, he had already crossed the Blackwater and was heading South... Instinctively heading home, he realized.
He missed Stonehelm. Not so much those stone walls, or the halls where he played as a child, but his family. A strong temptation assaulted him. Why not fly there and see the people he loved?
However his rational mind slapped him. It would take hours, and he would never be back in time. Somebody would go looking for Onni Swann, the knight, and find his body asleep, and that it was impossible to wake him up.
He banked, turning and starting a long descent that soon took him back to the harbour. He located the expedition ships, with the braavosi one standing out thanks to its colourful paintings. There were a few guards patrolling the pier, but everyone else was probably sleeping, resting for their departure tomorrow.
Crossing over the city outer wall, he headed back to the Red Keep, always attentive to some wandering dragon. Yet they seemed to be sleeping that night.
Then he heard powerful wings very far away and saw, way above the clouds, a dark shadow that eclipsed many stars. Balerion, he thought, judging by the beast's enormous size. Going out for a night snack, probably. Some farmer to the West would find one less cow among his herd tomorrow, and had to file a reparations request to the Crown...
Onni flew for a while, happy, over the desert streets, until he felt his owl belly complaining. Flying drained energy, and he was flying a lot. The right thing to do was to refill before returning that vessel to its legitimate owner.
It took him just a moment to locate an unaware pigeon, resting on a small square. He folded his wings and let the owl instincts took over, plunging, almost vertically, over the prey. The descent was unbelievably fast, and silent. The poor pigeon had no chance. He reduced his speed, that otherwise would turn the owl into a splatter of blood on the square floor, just on the last moment, opening the wings and feeling the brutal impact of the wind.
The maneuver was rewarded by a loud thump when the raised claws closed on the pigeon, piercing the flesh and killing it instantly. Onni carried his prey to a nearby roof, satisfied, and started to feast on the warm meat.
---
Well, rats still tasted better than pigeons, he thought, flying back to the castle. Onni circled around, watching the many high towers from above. He felt better, but still looking for a clue that helped his decision. Perhaps there was a third way... but so far he failed to find it.
The Red Keep was mostly dark, except for the braziers that warmed the guards on the walls. A single light attracted his attention, shining through a balcony on the Tower of the Hand. There was somebody awake, after all. Trond, probably.
The Hand of the King was known to be a nocturnal animal, spending long hours in the night planning and even meeting people.
Well, presently Onni was also a nocturnal animal, and therefore he decided to pay a visit to the man. He landed silently on the balcony, away from the light and out of sight to anyone inside. He didn't have to see anything, after all. Hearing would be more than enough to satisfy his curiosity.
"...and you must tell me how you did it!"
Hum, not Trond. It wasn't possible, even if Onni were using his human ears, to take that strange accent and hushed tone as Trond's strong tenor. It was, no doubt, Ukko-Pekka's voice.
"Why, blackmail. What else?"
Now
that was Trond. Onni's interest grew. What were they talking about?
"You blackmailed Asa into accepting this mission? I wonder how you did that."
"Sorry, but that's a... business secret. Did you thought yourself the only one that deals with secrets, my dear Ukko-Pekka? Asa and I... we lived through a lot of things, and she knew that one day I would collect a certain debt."
"I see. It was a good move, anyway. We needed someone to give credibility to this."
"Yes, we did. And Asa's legendary commanding skills fulfill that need. Also she's old, like me, and don't have much to lose."
Onni heard footsteps, and saw Trond's shadow on the balcony floor.
"And there's another thing. She lived a good part of her life on ships, and I know she considers an eventual death at the Sea as a fitting end for the famous Admiral Asa Ashwood."
"So she's ready to die? Or wanting to?"
"No, not wanting. She believes herself able to do what no one else did. And if anyone can... I wouldn't bet against her."
"That would be a problem, don't you agree? After all this effort..."
Onni noticed a nervous tone on Ukko-Pekka's voice, and wondered again what was going on.
"Don't worry. Remember, nobody returned from the Sunset Sea. And even if, against all odds, they actually did, it would probably take years. By then Hakan would be sitting on the Iron Throne."
"Anyone but Emil." Said Ukko-Pekka. "Can you imagine the problems?"
Trond stepped away from the balcony's door, and Onni heard a chair being pulled, and some beverage dropping on a glass... no, two glasses.
"I can. I see a big pile of problems. It would be a mess. That Lalli Swann sitting beside the throne... The Faith would never accept that! We could end with an uprising!"
"If Emil didn't blow the Red Keep before that, playing with Wildfire."
"Don't make me remember that incident! Taking a dragon, even if it was a hatchling, into that warehouse..."
Ukko-Pekka pulled a chair and drank. "Ah! This is good. Dornish, right?"
"The best! An offer from their prince. Arrived today, together with a letter suggesting a marriage between our good Prince Hakan and their princess."
"They want a Queen? That will cost more than a bottle of wine..."
Onni was getting tired of that talk. The court intrigues bored him to death. He was about to fly away when Trond's words made him stop.
"...he must never find out he's the true heir."
Ukko-Pekka whispered back, a nervous tone in his voice. "Do not speak about it! Not even here! Someone might hear." He walked to the balcony.
"Stop being paranoid, Master of Whispers! No one is listening."
Onni just had time to curl into a ball of feathers and pretend he was sleeping, while being ready to fly if Ukko-Pekka came too close.
"Well,
Hand, there's an owl sitting on your balcony. Who can tell if it is some skinchanger, eavesdropping on every word we exchanged?"
Trond walked into the balcony, while Onni tried to remain still. "I know that worrying with that kind of thing is part of your job, but don't you think this is a little too much? It's just an owl, sleeping. See the blood on the beak? Already catch its dinner, and now sleeps with a full belly."
Taking advantage of Trond's strong voice Onni pretended to awake, stirring and turning its owl head to face both man. Then he took flight, before one of them decided to grab him.
"See! Just an ordinary owl! It's cold! Let's go back inside."
Onni landed on a nearby rooftop, out of sight, and did his best to listen, but the conversation was short and neither man spoke again about that subject. After a while Ukko-Pekka left the room, and Onni decided it was time to return. He had already spent too much time as a bird, and a part of him just wanted to stay and leave all these complicated human problems behind.
He flew back to the place where he found the owl, the rat's cold carcass marking the place. Then he closed his owl eyes and left.
Moments later, when the owl opened its eyes again and looked around, it felt confusion, and its head seemed to weight a lot more than it should. But its belly was full, and the weather mild, pleasant. It took flight, back to the nest, wondering why its wings felt more tired than usual.
---
The room seemed unusually dark when Onni opened his human eyes. How amazing it would be if he was able to retain those sharp senses!
He recalled his first experience as a skinchanger, when he got inside Ensi's dog. An easy task, once he understood what had to be done. Dogs were the most accessible animals, due to their intimate relationship with humans, and that old dog was used to be a host.
The most overwhelming part was that powerful sense of smell. Many times Onni and Ensi laughed together remembering the way he just couldn't stop smelling everything in that room. Furniture, clothes, books, shoes... each had a clear, unmistakable smell.
Just like a strong wind that disperses clouds, the conversation between Trond and Ukko-Pekka came back to his mind, carrying away those cherished memories.
What those two were up to? Ensi said many times that the very rich and powerful were always playing dangerous games, and the most dangerous one was the game of thrones, where you win, or die. Those mentions to Prince Hakan rising up to the Iron Throne, and the desire to get rid of Emil were worrying signs. And what did mean that part about Emil being the true heir? Hakan, Sune and Anna were all older than Emil...
He felt there were moves happening in the dark, and wise persons should try to keep their heads down and out of the way, or risk losing them.
"But in the middle of all those games there are times when you cannot stand aside." Said Ensi to his father while Onni sat on his lap, little more than a child. "There are times when, in order to keep being able to watch yourself in the mirror, you must step into the fight, carefully, without trusting anyone, and try to do as much good as possible."
There, Onni thought. His answer. Neither option was good, but he had a duty to fulfill.
The young prince had been under his protection for more than a year, and was a good, fair person. Not perfect, but honest, and brave, as showed when he placed himself between Balerion and Sigrun.
And also, of course, he owned his cousin's heart, which was, all by itself, a danger. The Seven's faith saw these relations as unnatural and sinful, something to punish harshly, even if a prince was involved. No,
particularly if a prince was involved, to serve as a cautionary tale to the people.
And there was Lalli, of course. They were raised together, and shared their childhood with Tuuri, and Onni loved him like a brother, even when he did stupid things.
Now the possibility of staying behind, leaving Lalli and Emil without someone they could trust to watch their backs, seemed to him a shameful option. He was a knight, and would
not see a coward in the mirror. He would face the unknown with his eyes and ears open, and his sword ready.
He turned to his side and pulled the blanket, while his eyelids felt heavy. Onni knew that soon he would be asleep, and wondered if that night he would dream, again, with that safe place among the trees.
