A carriage drawn by two horses rolled steadily down the road. Three more horses who had been loosely tied to the carriage were trailing behind.
Inside the carriage sat Jon Snow and his newly recruited subordinate, Slyvia.
Since his entourage had grown, Jon had slowed his pace and begun taking more frequent breaks. The remaining journey which was to take 4 days would now take double the time.
However, these pauses were not purely for rest purpose.
During the breaks, Jon had started training Slyvia in the basics of sword fighting. She was also illiterate, so he had taken it upon himself to teach her how to read and write. If she was to his subordinate, she needed to be capable.
As a poor orphan, Slyvia had never known nutritious food. But despite this, her body had endured the harsh northern climate well enough and was quite strong and durable. Now, she had access to ample meat, beasts that Jon hunted with ease from the surrounding forests. Hunting came as naturally to him as breathing.
Apart from it the carriage has had few other supplies and Jon was happy to have them. He had only been eating roasted meat for the past few days and he did not mind a change.
Although Jon had accepted Slyvia as his subordinate and intended to administer one of the blood essences to her, he had not done so immediately.
He wanted to be sure. While the blood essence would guarantee loyalty, Jon preferred to observe her for a few days before making a permanent decision. He wanted to make sure that the will power and the resolve he had witnessed in her was genuine.
Eight days after the encounter with the robbers, the duo arrived at White Harbor.
At the port, Jon noticed an unusually high number of guards patrolling the area, checking random people. They were clearly searching for someone. Undoubtedly him.
But a description alone was not enough to catch a person, especially someone without any unique features. Avoiding detection was easy for Jon.
At the port, he struck a deal with a random merchant to sell all five horses and the carriage for sixteen gold dragons. Though the amount was lower than the market value, Jon knew he had little choice. Every merchant tried to take advantage of his young age, and being on the territory of a Stark bannerman, Jon could not afford to draw attention. He wanted to move away from this place as fast as he could.
Fortunately, he found a merchant ship bound for Sunspear, the principal port of Dorne. He would not have to worry to change ships between his journey.
He negotiated with the ship's captain, three gold dragons each for passage for himself and Slyvia.
It was expensive, but Jon agreed. The journey to Sunspear would take 25 to 30 days. From there, he would travel to the Tower of Joy.
Spending another three gold dragons, Jon stocked enough provisions to last them the month. Providing food and supplies was not in the deal.
The ship's captain was a burly, middle-aged man who assigned them a small cabin. That would be their home for the duration of the voyage.
A day into the journey, Jon called for Slyvia. She was lying lazily on her bed when she heard him and walked over to stand in front of him.
"Slyvia, I have taken you in as my subordinate," he said seriously. "In the future, you will have many responsibilities."
Slyvia nodded silently though she did not understand the depths of his words.
He continued, "I will grant you a kind of power that will help you walk that path."
Slyvia blinked in confusion. She did not understand what Jon meant by 'granting power' and neither did he elaborate.
He raised his index finger, and at its tip appeared a red drop of blood enveloped in a golden halo.
Slyvia gasped, stunned by this sudden and mystical display. As a northerner, she had grown up hearing tales of magic, wargs, giants, and other wonders. Unlike the southern folk, she did not fear magic, but she had never expected to witness it firsthand.
She had no time to process the sight before Jon gently pressed his glowing finger to her forehead.
A faint tingle spread through every inch of her body. Then nothing.
"What… was that?" she whispered, dazed.
"My gift," Jon replied calmly.
"But I do not feel anything," she said in exasperation.
Then added curiously, "Do you know magic?"
"You will begin to feel changes soon," Jon replied with amusement. "And no. I do not know magic. This is just a special ability of mine. Something I can use to give others strength."
Though she did not understand the distinction between magic and a 'special ability' Slyvia did not press further. She simply nodded.
Ideally, Jon might have wanted to wait for few more days before he would have given the blood essence to Slyvia. But he realised that he needed to have a subordinate whom he could trust blindingly. Also, with his blood essence Slyvia would grow strong and skilled enough, and she would not be a burden if any hardship or problem came in their way.
Meanwhile, back in Winterfell, chaos had broken out. Everything had started fifteen days earlier.
(FLASHBACK)
Ned Stark awoke late in the morning, his head pounding. He had drunk too much worrying about the situation with Jon. He groaned as he sat up, sluggish and disoriented.
After completing his morning routine, he was about to enter his solar when Maester Luwin approached him at a hurried pace.
Before Ned could ask what was wrong, Luwin spoke. "Lord Stark, Jon is missing."
"What?" Ned blurted.
"Jon… he is missing," Luwin repeated.
Panic flickered across Ned's face. "What? How? Tell me everything."
Luwin explained, "He did not show up for his training this morning. I thought he might just be sleeping in. Then he missed his class with me too. This seemed a bit unusual. Jon had never been a late sleeper."
"I sent someone to check on him, thinking perhaps he had fallen ill, but he was nowhere to be found."
Ned froze disbelief etched on his face.
Luwin continued, "One of the guards found a rope hanging from the castle wall. We suspect Jon used it to climb down and escape."
It took several moments for Ned to collect his thoughts.
"Send as many men as possible to search the area. He would not have gone far. Maybe he's hiding nearby," Ned ordered but deep down he knew finding someone in the vast north was almost impossible.
Luwin nodded.
"And Maester," Ned added, "Send ravens to all nearby houses. Especially the house which are close to us. Have them keep an eye out for Jon. Include his appearance in the message."
"Yes, Lord Stark," Luwin said, then turned and hurried off to carry out the orders.
Ned meanwhile clenched his fist in anger. He felt helpless. Truly helpless.
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