Lucius Domitius Aurelianus

Lucius walked leisurely next to Ben. They were on their way to the tournament. Three days ago, they had stayed at the Inn of the kneeling man, a curious name for which Lucius had inquired. It was where King Torrhen Stark had knelt to Aegon the Conqueror, or so Ben had told him. But to Lucius' misfortune, his young friend didn't know a lot about history and couldn't keep up with his questions. All he had been able to gather about Westeros was the name of a few towns and castles in the Riverlands, that Lords ruled and smallfolk obeyed. He admitted it wasn't much, considering he had been living among the barbarians for three years. But he had taken those years as a much-earned respite after a lifetime of war and ruling.

He had to admit that the last three years had been quite enjoyable. He had done nothing more than simple farm work, training and learning the brutish language of those who lived here.

Ben put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him. "The sun is to set soon. We should rest here, get some shuteye and continue at dawn." He said. Lucius nodded and helped him set camp by the Riverroad. In a few minutes, a fire was ready, cooking a rabbit they had bought from a wandering merchant on his way to Riverrun. They sat next to it, drinking wine he had stored from the time he killed some bandits. "Why do yeh never drink more than one cup?" Ben asked him. They had been drinking in silence until now.

"Are yeh ever goin' to run out o' questions?" He asked back. Ben shook his head, smiling.

"I'll do when yeh stop bein' weird," Ben replied. "Yeh goin' to answer me question or not?" He insisted.

Lucius rolled his eyes. "Cause, Ben. A man ought to be moderate and reign his desires. Else he is no more than a clever beast." He explained to his unwise friend.

Ben laughed. "Yeh should think fewer, Lucius, yeh always talk about what a man ought to do or be when yeh should be enjoying life while we are still young. Sometimes me thinks yeh would make a better Maester than yeh would a Knight." He told him.

Lucius shrugged. "A wise warrior is oft' more dangerous. It never did no one no harm to be wise."

"That don't change me mind. I still think yeh chose the wrong profession." Ben said just before drinking what wine remained in his wooden cup. "Pass me more wine, will yeh? Yer uptight nature is no excuse to stop me fun." He gestured with his cup to the bottle of wine next to Lucius' feet.

"We ought to sleep." He told his drunkard friend while shaking his head. He finished drinking the last of his cup.

"Don't be an arsehole," Ben said while standing up. Lucius kicked the bottle of wine, and it spilt all over the grass. Ben looked at him frowning, and Lucius raised his open hands.

"I'm sorry, Ben. I be a bit clumsy after drinking." He told his friend smiling.

Ben shook his head and threw himself on his blanket. "Yeh are an arsehole." He said while reposing, facing away from Lucius. Lucius lied down on his blanket and tried to sleep while looking at the stars. He would never stop enjoying pissing Ben off. He fell asleep with a smile on his face.

Lucius woke up to Ben throwing cold water on his face while laughing maniacally. Lucius rose to his feet and unsheathed his sword and his eyes frantically searched for the source of the unexpected attack. When he saw Ben running away, he finally understood what had transpired. He sighed as the figure of Ben disappeared into the woods. The boy had learned of Lucius' quick temper the hard way and had come up with the strategy of running away after his misdeeds until Lucius calmed down.

The sun was yet to come out, but there already was some morning light. Lucius' stomach grumbled, and he got to the task of eating breakfast. The breakfast consisted of some bread and water. It had done so since they had left Ben's father's farm. It was only slightly worse than the bread and milk he had gotten used to during the last three years.

While he was eating breakfast, Lucius heard footsteps behind him. "Already came back, Ben? Want some bread? It's tough as a rock though." He told his friend, who stopped walking. He waited for a response, but as it failed to come, he turned around. Lucius almost jumped when instead of his friend, he saw a fully armoured man leading a horse. He seemed like he had just dismounted.

Lucius' hand went to his sword. The intruder raised his hands and smiled. "Worry not, lad. I mean no harm." He said, not the least bothered by Lucius' threatening movement.

"What do yeh want then?" He asked the man, his hand still on his sword and his eyes darting around, looking for signs of Ben. The man moved a few steps towards Lucius.

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"I saw the fire, and since we are relatively close to Harrenhall, I gathered I should come to see if we headed in the same direction." He gestured towards Lucius. "Seeing you wear leather armour and carry a sword, I can't think of other places you would be going." He told him. Lucius released his sword and examined the man. His height was average, his hair brown, and his eyes too. The man, encouraged by Lucius, who seemed now more welcoming, came closer and offered his hand. "I believe an introduction is necessary. I'm Ser Sefton of the Paps. Who might you be?". Lucius looked at Stefon's extended hand and then back at his face. He shook his hand. His handshake wasn't as firm as he had expected.

"Yeh speak weird." He commented. The knight laughed and sat by the fire after taking a wineskin from his horse's saddlebag.

"I speak properly, unlike you, boy." Sefton retorted and took a large swig from his wineskin. "Now. Who are you?"

"I'm Lucius Domitius Aurelianus." He told the increasingly rude knight.

Sefton frowned and shook his head. "Too many names. You must be from the other side of the narrow sea. I advise you to drop one of those in your introduction. Most in Westeros don't find foreigners trustworthy." He stopped for a moment and took a good look at him. "You speak with a common riverlander accent. Thus, most won't wonder about your foreign names." He took another long swig from his wineskin while pointing at his sword with his free hand. "Do you at least know how to use that?"

Lucius frowned. "Yeh speak too much, and yeh shouldn't drink so early." He shook his head and sat down with the drunkard. It had been a displeasing morning so far, and he wanted to enjoy his breakfast. "And I know how to use this." He said, placing his hand on the hilt of his sword. He picked up the bread he had dropped when startled, cleaned it a bit and then continued eating it.

"Are you a squire, boy? I see two blankets here, and I doubt you can carry all the bags here by yourself." Sefton asked him.

Lucius shook his head. "We are not squires. We hoped that if we performed well in the melee, some knight would accept us as squires." He said. Sefton laughed at him.

"That is not how it works. At all." He said between laughs. "First, you are too old to start squiring. You must be what, fifteen? Second, I doubt you will be able to participate in the melee. It will be a seven-sided melee in the ancient style." He waited for a moment before continuing. "But I'm guessing you don't know what that means." He said.

Lucius was about to respond when he saw Ben walking towards the fire from behind Sefton, his hand resting on his sword. He didn't seem nervous. Ben wasn't usually wary of strangers, and Lucius blamed this trusting nature on the boy's young age. "Who is yer friend Lucius?" He asked. Sefton stood up with a big smile on his face and extended a hand towards Ben.

"I'm Ser Sefton of the Paps. Who might you be?" He asked. Ben's eyes immediately lit up, and he hurried to take the man's hand. It didn't surprise Lucius. The boy was fascinated by Knights and all things related to them.

"Me name is Ben, I'm from Riverside, it's a village south of the Oldstones, I be sure yeh heard not of it, it's rather small." Ben blurted words so quickly Lucius could barely follow, and he doubted Sefton had understood anything at all. Sefton laughed, most likely because he didn't know how to respond to Ben's vomit of words. But it didn't take long for him to regain his senses.

"It's a pleasure, Ben. Your friend Lucius was telling me about your ambitions for the tourney. I was about to give him some advice if you don't mind." Sefton said and smiled at Ben, who was still shaking the Knight's hand. Ben nodded with enthusiasm. "Now, if I may." Sefton looked at his hand and opened his palm, it took a second for Ben to understand, but he let go of his hand.

"Yes! I be sorry, Ser. I just be excited. I always wanted to meet a Knight." He said as he seated next to the Knight and awaited his wise advice. Lucius would admit that it irked him a bit that Ben took the advice of some random Knight so easily when he largely ignored his. It was a shame that Ben didn't realize Lucius was not only a foreign child he had rescued who was rather gifted with the sword but that he had been Emperor of the greatest Empire to ever exist. Sadly there was nothing Lucius could do. Experience would teach Ben all he refused to learn from him.

Oblivious to Lucius' musings, Sefton began to talk while raising a finger. "Well, for your first problem. You are too old to start squiring, but you might be able to be knighted. I doubt you are skilled enough fighters for that to happen, but stranger things have happened than young lads being better with a sword than expected. If you fail to be knighted on the tourney don't fret, You will have many more opportunities. You are still young." He then raised another finger. "Your second problem is more urgent really. You can't compete on the melee unless you are in a team of seven." He said and made a dramatic pause. "In the seven-sided melees in ancient style, teams of seven compete against each other. Two teams face, and the loser is thrown out of the competition. This repeats itself until there is only one team left. Then the seven in the team face each other until only one man is left." He smiled. "Lucky for you, I intend to participate in the melee, so we have a team of three already. We only need four more." Ben was nodding during the entire speech of the Knight.

"I thinked knights competed in the joustin'," Lucius questioned.

"They mostly do," Sefton admitted. "I've never had a talent for jousting and I find few things as thrilling as a good melee." He said. "And it's said thought not thinked." A smile appeared on his face. "Now, let's spar a bit before we get moving. If we make haste we will arrive in a quarter of a moon. But I want to test your skills a little. It will not do me any good if you two are the worst fighters in the Riverlands." Sefton declared.

Lucius frowned "We never said we would team up with yeh." He told the Knight.

Sefton grinned widely while standing up and unsheathed his sword, walking away from the fire. "It's not like any more skilled men are offering you to team up, so you will. Now stop wasting time. I want to test your skill. We will start with you, Lucius." His grin got wider.

Lucius sighed and stood up. "Aye, we will." He said while unsheathing his spatha, the morning sunlight dying on its black edge.