20. All Wrong

As soon as I finished my words, my stomach seemed to disagree with me, making a scary noise, like a large animal roaring. Little Arya, looked scared, and when she realized what it was, by my embarrassed face, she started laughing a lot.

Her laughter infected everyone there, including the stoic Eddard, who looked at the scene. In his eyes you could see that he was conflicted about what to do with me. Which I found funny at one point.

"I understand why you collapsed in front of the gates last night. Come on, I'll have something ready for you to eat. I need to see a few things when you're at your best." Eddard says, holding out his hand to help me to my feet.

As soon as I get up, he motions for a soldier to lead the way, while he motioned for me to follow him, and came right behind, with his children. Arya, instead, held my hand as she poured out questions.

"Your name is Victor from what? How old are you? Where do you come from? Because your skin is darker? How many men have you killed?..." she looked like an animated machine gun.

"Arya, calm down a bit and let him answer the questions already asked." Robb says, not hiding that he was enjoying his sister's mess.

"Oh." that's all she said.

I could only laugh at this, and responded in order.

"Yes, my name is Victor. I'm 16 I think, I don't really know. I came from the West, across the sea, a city called Braavos, that's why my skin is a little darker. To date, only 13 men have been killed by me..." She widened her eyes at my final response.

This bunch of nonsense that you have to come up with on the spot was quite a challenge. But at least I wasn't dragging or taking too many breaks, which didn't give away that it was a lie.

"Wow, are you really good with a sword then?" she starts again, but this time, she was calmer.

"You are never good with a sword, little lady. There are always improvements." I tell you sincerely. Doom's swordsmanship earned him Master status, but I was at most an expert.

I trained a lot, to at least reach that level, or some of Doom's enemies might notice the difference and take advantage of it.

"After he feeds, I'd like to ask you to spar with our squires so I can confirm your story is true." Eddard says behind my back.

"I will do as you ask, sir." I answer calmly.

I was taken to the kitchen, where they would serve me something to eat. There, many believed they were feeding a giant, because I ate well, truly satisfying my hunger.

Then, taken by one of the guards, who returned my now clean armor. I quickly put it on, without the help of a squire, which also caught people's attention. I forget that here, that is not the norm.

But to be honest, putting on and taking off my armor was much simpler than theirs. The breastplate they wore was two pieces, while mine could be considered two pieces, but was actually one piece.

Which made putting on and taking off much faster.

We arrived at the castle's training area, where I was given a wooden sword. And I started to see some serious problems. They were used to long swords, which were heavy and difficult to handle.

With my strength, I could handle them with just one hand, and still be very agile, but the weight was wrong.

Wooden swords weighed almost half that of metal, and many of those squires trained without armor, which was another mistake. I noticed because they were showing to be uncomfortable with the half armor they wore.

"Squire XXXX, spar with Ser Victor for a moment. But be serious." Eddard says, standing on a balcony where he and his family could watch the meeting more comfortably, with more space.

"Sir, I'm sorry to be honest here, but even if you sent the 4 of them to attack me at once, they wouldn't be able to defeat me." I say directly.

"Why do you say that Ser?" he raises an eyebrow, curious. His other children's expressions follow his.

"If they're going to fight with sword and shield, these models of swords are a terrible training method, if they're going to fight with broadswords, it's even worse. Not to mention, they don't have the habit of training with armor, and just wearing socks, they are already uncomfortable and impaired in their movement." I explain directly.

Eddard Stark just looks at the squire he summoned earlier.

"Regarding the armor, it's true, sir, but with regard to the swords, I can't say." he is also sincere.

"Ser Victor, explain why the weapons are inadequate." Eddard asks.

"Simple, this wooden sword is half the weight of a long sword, which does not prepare young people for their real weight. For a short sword, the length is much greater, which hinders the balance and the notion of distance.

For a greatsword, I think the explanation about the previous two is enough to understand the problem. That's without putting up the shields, which, if added to the weight they would carry, would just make them a flesh statue."

I glare at him, and he stares back. Just over 30 seconds later, he cracks a smile.

"Thanks for the explanation Ser. My weapons master will be your opponent, and I hope to see a good fight."

I nod to him, putting on my helmet and facing the experienced man in front of me. A wooden shield was given to me, and the same given to my adversary.

"I expect a clean fight. Begin." Eddard screams.

His voice had barely died in the air, I closed the distance between me and my opponent, made a light body feint, which led him to try a lunge. Using the momentum of the feint, I started to rotate my body.

My shield found the side of his sword, making it deflect very little, when in fact, my intention came later, I made the shield run across the blade, hitting his fingers and making him start to release the sword.

My back went right into his shield, helping me to continue my body roll, but it made him lose a little of his balance as he positioned his body to receive a push from mine.

He took a step forward, which, at the end of my spin, left him with his back diagonal to me, where my sword followed until it stopped inches from the back of his neck.

"I win." I say smiling.