The Pale Upstart

Chapter 2: Turmoil

 Lord Tyrell had often told him that he did not take enough time in a day to admire the beauty of the Reach. Until now he had never found a reason to do more than roll his eyes at the old man. Of course he would be biased towards his home. But he had known that the man–eccentric as he was– was one to consistently seek objectivity. 

 " To trust only your own feelings on a matter is to always risk being short-sighted. One could say this was the main problem of many Lords of days past. Each day I am alive, I seek to distance myself from such faults in my character." 

 He could only understand the wisdom in those words now that his Lord was dead, and his Lord no more. He had not exaggerated it one bit. Essos had often struck him as a desiccated land. He knew, from a select few merchants he had pestered about their homelands, that it was not even slightly the case. He only knew of a fraction of the large continent. Try as he might, he could not prove himself as objective as Lord Tyrell, he could not get the image of a gigantic desert out of his mind when he thought of Essos. He certainly had enough hatred for sand to last a lifetime. 

 The Reach, however, was a lifelike painting. It could not be real. If he ever met any fool lacking in wits enough to claim any of the other 'Kingdoms' were the equals of the Reach, he would certainly question their sanity. It was warm, but not overwhelmingly so like Dorne or Essos. Everywhere he looked, he saw green and a healthy green at that. Not the fading green making way for the death Winter brought with it. He idly wondered if the region had been transformed over time to become this breathtaking. Could nature produce this on its own? 

 He knew in his heart he was making a mountain out of nothing. There had to be other such places in the world. Not all the beauty men could ever partake in this world belonged to the Reach. This was, however, the very first time he ceased his endless scheming and paused to….

 " Take in the sights, Gideon. Loath as we may be to proclaim our love for it, with all the suffering it has brought us, this is our home. And I mean the whole of the Seven Kingdoms. Not just the Reach. There are sights all across the land. One should appreciate them, free of the judgement that comes from misplaced pride in a single region always meant to be part of a whole."

 He always had such a dopey smile whenever he tried to impart these lessons to him. He knew his dear assistant was merely hearing him. Listening, it appeared so now, only came once the old man was no longer around to dispense some much-needed wisdom. 

 He would take these lessons to heart if only to be a man comparable to Aster Tyrell in the lightness of the heart. The man was a feather uncaringly floating along the winds. He had enough reasons to be miserable, the rest of House Tyrell had made certain of that, but he stood in a world of his own making. 

 Days passed whilst his mind remained fixed solely on his old master. He made sure to make frequent stops; there was no need to work the poor beast to death. The horse, whatever its name may have been certainly seemed grateful every time he jumped off. 

 Whenever he made camp, he had to push down thoughts on how repulsive the food he had to eat was. Blame Aster for it, but he had acquired a taste for somewhat fine products. Not the kinds that the Lords would consider luxurious, but certainly that which a peasant like him would never have had access to in the past. Perhaps he could see his fate as a slave as a disguised chance? Lord Tyrell certainly was fond of that. Looking at painful memories and somehow twisting them into helpful and even necessary ambushes in one's journey. 

 He lost count of the days that had passed since he had left Honeyholt, but at long last he had reached the Crownlands. Thankfully he had stopped by Tumbleton on the way to stock up on food. It had been far more expensive than he had expected.

 He had heard of high taxes pushing prices in the Crownlands but certainly not in the Reach. Then again Lord Aster was more often than not the one handling financial matters. In a way, Gideon had actually lived as some sort of pampered child under Lord Tyrell. That thought made him giggle softly. 

 According to his map, he would soon reach a small village named Vainwood. He could only shake his head at the name. It wasn't exactly the most ridiculous one he had heard in Westeros, let alone Essos, but it certainly was bizarre. He would briefly stop by the village to recuperate from the journey and then reach the Kingsroad. From there he would go to Rosby and seek information on the Vassal war in the Riverlands. 

 He had entertained the idea of visiting King's Landing, but he could hardly stomach the thought. Lady Tyrell had certainly complained enough over the few years he had spent with her family. According to her, not one single city in the entire world could be more foul-smelling, repulsive and corrupt as King's Landing. It sounded less so like the capital of the Seven Kingdoms and more like an overgrown den of unwashed bandits. When he had voiced the thought during one afternoon on the road to Highgarden, she had told him he was not far off from the truth. 

 No, he would not even approach the-

 He furrowed his brows as he reached a crossroad. The road to the left seemed almost erased. He could hardly make it out as bad weeds had completely overtaken it. What truly caught his eye, however, was a jolly looking woman beckoning him. He had wrapped his head again on the road if only to avoid any risk of burning under the unforgiving sun. Thus, she did not seem as wary of him as one ought to be. Especially a peasant woman by the looks of it. 

 " Are ye making way fer King's Landing milord?" 

 Her voice was sweet, sickeningly so. He saw a few bushes rustle to his right but kept his eyes trained on her. 

 " Not exactly, but I am following the Kingsroad. Why have you stopped me, woman?" He exclaimed. He was quite used to making his voice sound far lower than it really was. He sounded every bit as young as he was, and he couldn't say he appreciated it. 

 " Well milord, I wouldn't r-recommend going that way" She pointed at the Kingsroad. He noticed how she struggled with the word." There's been bandits am afraid, milord. Them Crownmen or Crownguards or whatever, they've said to avoid the big roads." She finished with a half-smile. 

 He wondered what it said about him that he could easily spot the fakeness of that smile. She glanced at the bushes but only for a split-second. Unfortunately for her, he could hear further than the common man. A Maester had once told him it was a natural occurrence, linked to his poor sight. He never trusted those creepy old fools though. 

 An ambush then? He couldn't quite guess just how dangerous this situation truly was. He was certainly no great knight. With his current skill and, more importantly, his prowess, he guessed he could handle himself in a fight. The problem resided in the fact that his strength was far greater than his skill with a blade, and he was not even that strong to begin with. An ambush meant more than one adversary to face. He quickly picked his usual choice when facing any sort of danger: running away as swiftly as humanly possible. 

 " Got the little fucker!" A nasty voice registered behind him. Two strong arms wrapped around his stomach before he could react and he was lifted off his horse. He thrashed in his captor's grasp and crashed the back of his head into the man's jaw. 

 " Agh! The little shit's got balls." 

 He scrambled to his feet and made a mad dash for the forest. Judging by the shrieks of anger behind him, the others had not appreciated their fellow bandit's idleness. The bastard probably expected him to actually fight back instead of running away. Most of them did surprisingly so. Did he actually look like he was stupid enough to face impossible odds willingly?

 No matter. Once in the forest, he had to admit he had no real plan besides 'Trying to outrun them.' Then he heard the gallop of his own horse and loudly cursed. 

 " This has to be a fucking joke! My horse!?" 

 It wasn't a horrible idea, but he would have preferred if they had just chased him on foot. Whilst he somehow started running even faster than before, he looked for any hiding place he could use. He was not outrunning a horse and he was certainly not facing them. Alas, he seemed out of options. No matter where he would crouch or lie down, they would see him. 

 ' Think fast, think fast. The one on the horse will reach me first. If I can get him off and get back on my horse right after, I can leave them behind!' 

 He took out his sword and briefly admired its gleam. Lord Tyrell had probably spent a small fortune on it. It was fairly short truth be told, but it was a beautiful thing with intricate patterns on the pommel and the guard. He could admire it once safe and far away from this damn place. 

 Try as he might, he couldn't prevent his hands from shaking. He breathed heavily, and with each sharp intake of air, he hoped he was right, and they wouldn't all arrive at the same time. The next second, he saw the horse. He tried to anticipate, to drive his sword into the bandit's body at the right time, wherever it may land, so long as it got him off his horse. For his trouble, all he got was the handle of the man's axe snapping his head back with a single hit. He saw darkness before he collapsed.

 A droplet of blood touched the grass beneath him and his eyes widened at the sight. His wrappings had come undone, and as the bandit turned the horse around, he took in the sight with far more horror than he had any right to feel. 

 " What manner of fucking demon are ya!?"

 Crass as he was, he seemed more articulate than his female companion. Gideon clutched his bleeding head and opened his mouth to answer, perhaps even plead for his life, but in lieu of the bandit before him, he first saw a blindingly bright sentence hanging in the air. It had been pulsating in the corner of his eyes as soon as he was grabbed on his horse, but only now did it directly appear in his face.

[ The Champion has received a new quest!]

[ New Quest: Ambush by the Road, First Part ] 

 Objective: Survive

Time limit: 30 seconds. 

Rewards: ???

 He couldn't quite believe his eyes. 30 seconds? What did that even mean? Did he have 30 seconds until his demise or was he meant to survive for 30 seconds to receive his rewards? The 'First Part' written in red letters was perhaps the most worrying sight. He had to calm himself. He had to ignore the pain. He had to. 

 " I-I would say attacking a demon is an especially foolish idea. Wouldn't you think so?" He did not what pushed him to speak those words, but that was about all he could think to say. He was entirely too used to intimidation. Only now he could admit, he should have worked on other skills to get his way. 

 Unsurprisingly, the man's ugly mug did not contort itself in fear. He merely sneered but did not get the horse to move. He was waiting for his companions. Gideon did have a sword, unskilled as he was with it. He clutched it with all his might, as though it could save him on its own. 

 And then, the sound of a galloping horse again. No, this time he heard not just one horse. The large bandit before him heard it, too, and the colour threatened to leave his face, but he steeled his resolve. 

 " Ya fuckwits, get yer asses here! We's got some Crownmen!" He bellowed. 

 Gideon couldn't smother the shame he felt when he winced in fear as the rest of the bandits showed themselves. All eight of them. He could have only escaped with that hastily made plan. And they seemed fairly equipped at that, and disciplined enough not to scramble in fear as the forces of the Crown approached. 

 That much he could not quite understand. He hadn't even known the King had forces beyond the Kingsguard and his City Watch. And if he had forces indeed, he would expect them to at least be fearsome enough to send bandits scrambling away. All his questions answered themselves when he saw the 'Crownmen' arrive. Five horsemen, just that. 

 They wore the heraldry of the Great House Baratheon on their pauldrons and chests. If the bandits were well equipped, those knights were about the most shiny-looking bastards he had ever seen. 

 "Halt you scum!" The rider at the forefront screamed. He sounded far older than his build suggested. A well-built old man, a first for Gideon. 

 " You stand in the lands under direct control of his Grace King Robert Baratheon The First of His Name, King of the Seven Kingdoms! You lot would already be hanged to death in other lands, but you dare act under the watchful eyes of the King!?" 

 Whilst the man talked, Gideon ran– or rather scrambled for safety behind them– and found that none of the bandits so much as tried to stop him. He had an increasingly bad feeling about this. The knights were outnumbered, but even then they were a striking sight. None of these fools running around robbing people in the middle of the day looked even worried. He did not go with the assumption that they were overconfident. 

 " Whaddya mean scum!? A man and his friends ain't allowed to wander the woods at this hour? Is this about this here demon? Fool struck his head gainst' a tree!" The leader of the band, and the very same fucker on Gideon's horse, exclaimed. 

 " Seriously?" The knight at the front scoffed, and so did the others, for that matter. " We have full authority, bestowed by His Grace himself, to apprehend individuals under suspicion. Under mere suspicion, proof of ill deeds or not." 

 Again, not a lick of fear. Except on that woman's face, the one who had spoken to him. She had nothing but some ridiculous knife she held as though she knew anything about weapons, and clearly she did not. 

 This time he did not need the words to appear before him to focus on them. 

[ Quest completed: Ambush by the Road, First Part ]

Rewards: +1 Military, Access to the Second Part. 

 He had sincerely hoped this would end with the arrival of the Crownmen. Apparently, the Gods did not wish to grant his wishes on that day. The second quest appeared, right about the same time as another group of bandits did, a few feet beside the Knights, who now found themselves pincered. 

[ New Quest: Ambush by the Road, Second Part ]

Objective: Defeat the Bandits with the help of the Crownmen. 

Rewards: Access to the Ressource Menu, +10 Relation with the Crownmen. Insignificant Reputation gain in King's Landing. 

 He knew it was a fault, a black mark on his character. But he could not help it. Greed represented in many ways who he was as a man. And when he read those words, this soothed the burning pain far more than the empty words he kept repeating to himself. 

 He had to survive anyway, but incentives were always appreciated. He used his sword to push himself upright. He had trouble standing, but he could somehow manage. 

 " You wish to face the Crownmen, you cur? You believe numbers will protect you?" The knight almost seemed offended. Gideon could understand it. All that shiny metal and those peasants thought they could win. Then again, he had seen his fair share of fully armoured men being defeated in frankly humiliating ways in Essos. There were gaps and weaknesses in every armour, no matter the blacksmith who made them. 

 The bandits paced around, both those on the right and those on the left. They did not know when to attack, but they were certainly not going to give the Knight an answer. Another Crownman beside him spoke in a hushed tone, but Gideon heard him all the same. 

 " You prepared for it already, Ser Lewyn. We only need to wait for the others. No need to face these fools with our numbers." 

 He could not see the face of that Ser Lewyn under his gleaming dark silver helmet, but he knew the man was just itching to stab the first sob he could get his hands on. This would certainly not be handled by a greater force of Crownmen. Gideon could not truly fault the man for it, but it would have made his life a bit easier for certain. Curse the do-gooders really. 

 He did not even give his fellow a response. With his sword unsheathed, he pointed it at the bandit on the horse, who certainly seemed a bit worried by the Knight's own lack of fear. Seems this has been mostly posturing with the hope that the Crownmen would back the fuck off. 

 Gideon couldn't hide the cruel smile that spread on his face as the bandits faltered. 

 " We shall see if number bests quality today. I'd wager it does not matter much as we also have the numbers on our side. " Only at that did the bandits truly realize their mistake. But it only spurred them further. They had to win and run away before the rest could catch them. 

 " Your ilk have been poisoning these lands for long enough. Bless His Grace for giving us this role. The Crownlands have been in need of rat-catchers" 

 [ A circumstantial objective has been unlocked!]

New objective: Personally defeat as many bandits as you can. 

Rewards: Dependent on the number of targets eliminated. 

 The things he had to do to satisfy his greed sometimes…