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278, Griffin's Roost

Griffin's Roost was on a lofty Crag jutting out from the shores of the Cape Wrath. The castle lied surrounded at three sides by cliffs which descended more than two thousand feet to the treacherous waters of the Shipbreaker Bay. It was said that the crag where Griffin's Roost was located was even taller than the infamous Casterly Rock. The land-facing approach was three leagues long ridge where on one end a gatehouse was located, and on the other end, the castle's main gate and two towers were located. The castle had a maester's tower and the lord's tower in addition of two guard towers by the castle's gatehouse. The keep and two inner towers had arched windows with myriad diamond shape red and white glasses. The halls were decorated by many tapestries, marble statues, and old full plate armors which showed the wealth of house Connington.

Jon was away at the King's Landing as usual to accompany the crown prince, Carl was getting bored. This year, Carl was eight names day old. Armond Connington, Carl's father, did not let Carl out of the castle easily. After the death of his wife who was a Myrish lady and daughter of an influential magistrate, he had grown some kind of paranoia over losing his sons which weirdly only applied to Carl and not Jon mostly. The fact that Carl looked like his mother more than his father did not help either. Carl guessed that his brown curled hair, brown eyes and olive skin reminded the man of his wife. In contrast Jon, Carl's brother, and Armond, Carl's father, both had blue eyes with red hair. These were actually the distinctive features of a Griffin of Griffin's Roost. Carl prayed to the Seven that his lord father did not blame Carl for his beloved's death, unlike some Lord Tywin Lannister, the hand of the king, whose reputation in mistreating his dwarf son had already reached the ears of those even in Griffin's Roost. Maybe Carl's looks and not being a dwarf had something with that.

Carl's schedule for as long as he could remember consisted of study, study, and study. Carl studied mathematics and geometry from morning till noon with the maester, after lunch he would study Valyrian tongue, culture, and etiquette from his milk mother, Talea, who was a freed slave servant accompanying Carl's mother from Myr. She was also Carl's motherly figure. Her husband, Rodrick, was a hedge knight at the time of the Ninepenny Kings' war. He saved Armond Connington's life during the war several times. After the war, Rodrick became a knight in service of house Connington and was made the captain of the guards of the castle. The couple had twin sons a year older than Carl, named Jasper and Josef.
Carl had an infatuation with the stars, as a result after dusk, Carl would study astrology with the maester. Basically, he spent most hours of his days indoors well-guarded and studying. The maester was an old man who was well aged, and he was named Maester Lorent.

Because of his father's paranoia, Carl was even banned from most physical activities inside the castle. If it was not for the persistence of the Maester Lorent over the importance of outdoor activities for young children, Carl would not have ever stepped out of the lord's tower, Carl suspected. Carl was only allowed to ride his pony on the courtyard under the watch of his lord father two or three times a week less than an hour each time at best. Recently, Lord Armond was even seeing shadows in the dark where there was none. Carl's cousin, Ronald Connington, was the castellan of the keep, but he gave a bad vibe to Carl, thus Carl believed Ronald could not be trusted, especially in the situation which his father was in. Carl had expressed his worries several times to his brother, Jon, but his worries were ignored as imaginations of a child. Jon was too smitten with that silver-haired prince to even give time to his family and anything which could distract him from being with his prince would be ignored and cast aside.

In the last year, Carl was having a dream and it repeated over and over again every full moon. The dream was strange as it showed a tall and thick castle with grey walls and a single huge drum tower that pierced the sky akin to a feast. The castle was located on a point by a stormy sea. Carl did not recognize the castle, but he felt the sea was familiar somehow, the sound of the waves had a certain rhythm to it. Carl had not spoken of the dream to anyone, he felt it was his secret and it should be kept as such, it was not normal, because Carl did not have any secret from his milk mother, Talea, or milk brothers, Jasper and Josef, other than the dream.

It was dark outside, but the full moon and the starry sky was plain enough to see. Carl was seated on his bed and was looking at the moon. Tonight he would have the dream again. Carl was sure of that.
Several knocks were heard by Carl. Carl called out, "Who is it?"
Carl heard Talea's voice, "It is me, Carl. Can I come in?"
Despite their closeness, Talea kept a respectful and formal tone with Carl when they were not in private. Thus, Carl always thought about how a true mother was.
Carl replied, "Come in."
Talea entered Carl's bedchamber, after closing the door behind her, she looked at Carl and she asked worriedly, "You seem tired, Carl. Is something bothering you? Or are you feeling ill anywhere in your body?"
Carl put a small smile on his lips and said, "I am fine, mother. I have only had bad dreams recently. Nothing major."
Talea raised a brow, She asked angrily, "Has Josef been telling you stories about monsters and nonsense. I swear that I would have a good talking with him and Rodrick who tells the boys such nonsense stories."
Carl quickly replied, "No!" he hesitated, but continued, "I mean, Josef has told me these stories, but my dreams have nothing to do with them. Do not punish Josef and Ser Rodrick, mom. I actually like his stories."
Talea sighed, she approached Carl, sat beside him, and embraced him. Carl felt relief and comfort in his mother's embrace. Maybe having a true mother is not unlike having Talea, only without polite and distant moments in public.
Talea said, "You can tell me your dreams, Carl. I would always listen to you. You need not carry them with you. Remember Carl that every secret which one holds is like a small stone. When one holds too many secrets, their weights would crush one's soul as the accumulated weight of the small stones could break a man's back."
There was silence and Carl started to think about his dream again. Carl thought, 'Should I tell my dream to mother. But I feel that it should not be told to anyone.'
As Carl was debating internally, Talea continued, "But there are things which one would keep a secret. And he would not tell anyone, because once a secret is known by more than one person, it is no longer a secret, Carl."
Carl looked at his mother and asked, "Then what about secrets which friends hold for each other."
Talea giggled, "Like you stealing sweet pies for Jasper, you little mouse." As Talea said that she giggled Carl.
Carl started to laugh and tried to stop his mother. Carl after freeing himself and getting distance on his mother, asked her, "How did you know?"
Talea asked, "Did you thought no one would know, because no one came forward to tell you about it, Carl?"
She then continued, "I got Jasper once red-handed when he was eating one of the kitchen's pies after a series of complaints from the cook. I pressured him, and he spilled the beans."
Carl gasped, He said, "Jasper ratted me out?"
Talea nodded, she said, "Not willingly mind you, Carl. But under the right kind and enough pressure, everyone would break. It took Jasper the presence of his mother and the future promise of a good beating. Why do you think I am telling you this, Carl?"
Carl answered, "You are giving me an example for your previous argument."
Talea said, "Good. It seems you are picking something of what I tell you in our sessions after lunch. If my other two sons could also be this bright, What would a mother ask in life?"
Carl started to play with his fingers, Talea saw this action which was a telltale sign of embarrassment over being praised. Carl was a shy child after all.
Talea ruffled Carl's hair, got up from the bed, and walked to the door of the bedchamber. As she reached for the handle, she said, "Carl, your father would like to see you before you go to bed. Make sure to go to see him immediately. You should have been sleeping already."
Carl looked up at his mother and said, "Okay."
Talea left the room, and Carl was alone again. Carl got up from his chair and also left the room. By the door of his chamber was an Iron Guard of Myr who was a former slave of Myr and accompanied Carl's mother to Griffin's Roost. Carl called them his shadow guard as they followed Carl like a shadow. Carl asked, "Ser Quent, my father has summoned me. Would you accompany me to his solar?"
Ser Quent looked at Carl, and spoke, "I am not a ser, little lord. I have told you as much many times. And I live to serve you as my other brothers do. You only need to give order and we would follow them."
Carl always became nervous with the attitude of his mother's former guards. They were not slaves anymore, but they acted like devoted ones for some unknown reason to Carl. Not that Carl had seen any other slaves, but servants and other residences of the castle talked, and Carl heard what was said when they were not paying attention. Talea had told him that the training which The Iron Guard had gone through when they were younger had certain effects and Carl should not occupy himself with such details. He should only accept their loyalties and treat them fairly. They were fifty of them and after his mother's death, they had laid their services at his father's feet as their new master. However, Carl's father charged them to only protect and follow Carl.
Carl said meekly, "Follow me then to my father's solar."
Carl moved out and his guard moved behind him like a shadow. Carl could not even hear the sound of the man's footsteps on the stone. Carl knew that such a cat-like movement was not normal. He had observed other guards of the castle and they were not like these fifty at all. The sound of their feet could well be heard from some distance away.
Carl reached his father's solar. Upon seeing him, the guard opened the door and announced his presence to his lord father.
The sound of Lord Armond Connington was heard on the hall, "Send him in."
The guard kept the door open for Carl to enter. Carl turned and looked at his shadowy guard and said, "Remain here till I finish my business with my father."
There was no sound of acknowledgment, but Carl knew that the man would do as he was told based on experience. Carl entered his father's solar. Lord Armond Connington was a tall man, but he was hunched over his desk as if the weight of the world was on him. His deep blue eyes eyed the corners of the room as if there were something there. He was not yet frothy, but the white hairs could be seen already in his red hair and beard.
Carl spoke out, "Father, I have come."
Lord Armond said, "Good, come closer my son."
Carl approached the desk; however, he did not seat down on the chair in front of him, because he was not given permission to. It was part of the lessons from Talea on etiquette on dealing with the nobility of Westeros who had a higher standing than you. Carl's father had obviously a higher standing than Carl.
Lord Armond informed Carl, "Tomorrow, we are going to the Storm's End. Lord Steffon Baratheon has thrown a feast for the first name's day of his third son, Renly Baratheon. He had invited lords of the Stormlands before his departure for Essos to his castle. As I am obliged to attend, you would also come with me, Carl."
Carl nodded. Already the possibilities and many wonders which could happen in this journey were coming to Carl's mind. It would be his first time of leaving the nest, Griffin's Roost. Carl tried to keep his excitement under control and said, "Yes, father."
Lord Armond said, "Good. Remember you would listen to me, you would not wander around, and you would be on your best behavior."
Carl said, "Yes, father."
Lord Armond said, "I would not expect any less of you my son than the best. Now, go and sleep, you would need it for tomorrow."
Carl bowed and said, "Good night, father." Then he exited out of the solar.
When Carl was out, he told his shadow guard, "We go back to my chamber, come."
Carl was still excited about tomorrow. About what could happen and what he would see. Carl could not remember when he reached his chamber and went to bed. Only the slumber of the sleep and the usual dream was remembered by him.