It was nearing evening.
Joel staggered through the dim corridors of Winterfell while clutching half a bottle of ale. His body swayed unsteadily, and at one point he even slamd against a wall before slowly sliding downward.
As he stumbled along, he muttered incoherently under his breath about "girls" and "having fun."
A patrol of Winterfell guards happened to pass nearby, but none of them found his drunken appearance unusual.
Over the past few days, Winterfell had been filled with drunken southern knights and wandering noblen causing disturbances at night.
"Hey, Ser, if you're looking for whores, you'd better leave the castle early!"
"In another hour the drawbridge will be raised, and after that nobody enters or leaves Winterfell without Lord Stark's orders."
One of the passing guards kindly reminded him.
Joel drunkenly waved his hand.
"I know…"
Only after the guards disappeared did the drunken haze instantly vanish from his eyes.
Joel slowly stood upright and quietly headed toward Winterfell's southern gate.
As he walked, he cursed inwardly.
"Seven hells, is the prince insane, or am I?"
"He actually wants to assassinate Lord Stark's son!"
The mont Joel recalled how greed had clouded his judgnt earlier that afternoon, he wished he could slap himself several tis.
When Joffrey first approached him, Joel, a sellsword who had fled from Pentos to Westeros, originally believed his luck had finally changed.
He thought the prince intended to recruit him as a retainer.
Who could have guessed that Joffrey instead wanted him to assassinate Bran Stark?
Joel had been completely stunned at the ti.
But the prince offered too much.
One hundred gold dragons, along with a promise to recomnd him directly to the king.
His mind grew hot in that instant, and he foolishly accepted.
However, after calming down throughout the afternoon, Joel repeatedly squeezed the heavy pouch of gold dragons hidden beneath his clothes while muttering bitterly,
"I'm afraid I'll only live long enough to take the money, not spend it."
He sighed softly while continuing to feign drunkenness as he crossed Winterfell's courtyard.
At the sa ti, he casually glanced toward the brightly lit main keep.
"That blond prince must've been kicked in the head by a horse."
"Damn it, with so many guards around, he still expects to complete the assassination within two days?"
"I'm not the Bear Slayer. I don't have that kind of ability."
The more Joel thought about it, the more he cursed inwardly while steadily making his way toward the southern gate.
He had already decided to leave Winterfell first and find an opportunity to flee tomorrow.
"After offending the prince, Westeros is probably no longer safe for ."
"Maybe I should just return to Pentos and continue working as a rcenary."
"Besides, that idiot prince already paid everything up front."
After making up his mind, Joel no longer felt the slightest burden about abandoning the assassination mission.
As darkness fell, he blended into a group of southern knights heading toward Winter Town for entertainnt and smoothly left Winterfell.
Just as he prepared to enjoy himself for the night, the sound of galloping hooves suddenly ca from behind him near the city gate.
Joel imdiately stepped aside.
Three riders rapidly charged out of Winterfell.
One of them possessed dark brown hair and a handso, heroic appearance.
It was none other than Garon Glover, who had recently risen to fa throughout the North.
"The Bear Slayer…"
Joel imdiately recalled the gigantic bear corpse transported back to Winterfell the previous day, and fear instinctively appeared in his eyes.
"Strange. Why isn't the Bear Slayer staying in Winterfell so late at night? What's he doing heading toward Winter Town?"
"Could he also be looking for fun?"
"Don't joke around. He just beca engaged to Lord Stark's daughter. He'd have to be mad to fool around in Winter Town."
"You never know. The Bear Slayer's been making a huge na for himself lately. Maybe won are throwing themselves at him."
"Heh…"
The surrounding n laughed crudely among themselves, and Joel also revealed a vulgar grin before blending into the crowd and heading deeper into Winter Town.
The nights in Winter Town were far livelier than those within Winterfell itself.
Because of the king's arrival, rchants, girls, and peddlers crowded every street doing business.
Joel skillfully pushed open the door of a brothel room, and a young woman inside imdiately greeted him with laughter.
The two quickly removed their clothes and climbed into bed together.
After an intense session, Joel lazily reclined upon the bed while drinking ale from a bottle sitting nearby.
"My lord, why are you so rich today?"
The girl lay against his chest while staring greedily at the pouch of gold dragons resting beside the bed.
Joel casually slapped her backside.
"This is paynt from a business deal, girl."
"Go get more wine. Tonight I intend to enjoy myself properly."
"Tomorrow there may not even be another chance."
A strange look briefly flashed through the girl's eyes after hearing that.
Still, she quickly laughed sweetly, climbed off the bed, and walked naked toward a nearby table.
After shaking an empty bottle, she turned back toward Joel.
"My lord, there's no more wine here. I'll borrow so from the next room."
Joel nodded casually.
He grabbed a gold dragon from the pouch and tossed it toward her chest.
"Hurry back. I'm not done yet."
The girl giggled happily, pocketed the gold dragon, quickly dressed herself, and left the room.
Joel remained reclining on the bed while staring lazily at the flickering candlelight and waiting for her return.
However, more than ten minutes passed without any sign of the girl.
Joel gradually frowned.
"Does getting wine really take this long?"
Years spent surviving as a rcenary instantly sharpened his instincts.
Sothing was wrong.
Joel imdiately dressed himself, fastened his sword at his waist, and stuffed the pouch of gold dragons beneath his clothes before preparing to investigate.
The mont he opened the door, the cold northern night wind made him shiver.
"Damn…"
The street outside was completely empty.
Not a single person could be seen.
Only muffled moans drifted from surrounding rooms, causing Joel's heart to grow increasingly uneasy.
After searching for a short while and still finding no trace of the girl, Joel finally realized the situation had turned bad.
He instantly drew his longsword and hid within the shadows beside a nearby building.
Then he cautiously advanced through the darkness.
But before taking more than a few steps, Joel suddenly heard hurried footsteps approaching nearby.
Carefully peeking out, he imdiately spotted several Winterfell guards searching the area.
"Who are they looking for?"
The thought had barely appeared in his mind when he noticed the very sa girl from earlier following directly behind the soldiers.
"Seven hells!"
"Did that idiot prince expose ?"
"Are these people here for ?"
"But I haven't even done anything yet!"
A terrible premonition instantly filled Joel's heart.
"If I get caught now, I won't be able to explain myself no matter how many mouths I have."
"To these nobles, rely accepting an assassination job is already enough to get executed."
Joel imdiately retreated, intending to steal a horse from the eastern stables of Winter Town and flee overnight.
However, while backing away, he accidentally stepped upon a dry branch.
Crack.
The searching guards instantly froze.
"Who's there?!"
Joel didn't dare answer.
He imdiately turned and ran.
"It's him! It's him!"
The girl instantly recognized Joel's clothing and loudly pointed him out.
The Winterfell guards imdiately surged forward.
"Stop!"
"Catch him!"
"It's definitely him!"
Shouts erupted everywhere as torches suddenly ignited throughout the surrounding streets.
Joel fled desperately.
Fortunately, his familiarity with Winter Town over the past two days allowed him to quickly locate the nearby stables.
Several horses were indeed waiting inside.
Without hesitation, Joel leaped onto one.
But just as he prepared to escape, a figure suddenly rushed from the shadows.
"Where do you think you're going?!"
Garon swung his sword directly toward him.
"The Bear Slayer!"
Joel nearly lost his soul from fright.
He hurriedly raised his own sword to block.
Clang!
The impact instantly knocked Joel's sword flying from his hand.
Coincidentally, the blade flew directly toward Garon's face.
For a brief instant, even Garon had no choice but to tilt his head aside to dodge.
"Hyah!"
Joel seized the opportunity and imdiately spurred the horse forward, charging wildly out of Winter Town.
"After him!"
At that very mont, Ser Rodrik also arrived with more n.
Both he and Garon mounted horses imdiately and began pursuing Joel at full speed through the darkness.
{🥳 Loving the story so far? Craving more chapters? 🥰
Support on Patreon and unlock 30 advance chapters right now, plus 3 fresh chapters every two days to keep you hooked! 🎉
✨ Subscribe or grab lifeti access with a one-ti purchase...your choice, no pressure!
👉 patreon/mythborne}
User Comments
0 comments from readers