Davos 1

(Personal Favourite Of The Chapters)

Davos Seaworth, the Onion Knight and a former smuggler turned knight, by the order of Stannis Baratheon, whom he did a great deed for.

He was riding through the fields of the North, trying to catch up with the Lord of Dragonstone's headstrong son Jacob, whom many thought was half-horse himself.

It was a compliment to Jacob's superior horse riding ability, only if his niceness towards women was on par with his horse riding skills.

His eye caught on Jacob riding towards him with his horse Misty in tow, with his son Devan riding beside him.

The smile that appeared on the young man's face was something rare, as Jacob never openly expressed his feelings, due to him being an expert in hiding them.

"Are you losing your touch, Ser?" Jacob said, in a gentler manner.

"No, my lord." Ser Davos replied.

Jacob's fingers were brushing against the mane of Misty, a grey stallion given to him by his uncle, King Robert and his eyes were sullen, like his father. "Shame, you can't catch up."

"My lord, you've been riding a horse, since you were a little boy."

"Luckily, the Reach has a lot of excellent horse riders." The young lord said, with a hidden smirk on his face.

"What do you mean, my lord?"

"You'll know soon enough." The young lord said, commanding his horse to go in the direction back to Winterfell.

The Onion Knight was riding behind Lord Jacob, with his son Devan in tow, as his fifth son was the young lord's squire and did his duty well.

Ser Davos was lucky, to blessed with the opportunity to accompany Lord Stannis's son on his voyage to the North and to spend time with a boy, whom he thought of as an eighth son.

The knight and his son followed the young lord through the front gates of Winterfell, as the former smuggler had not been inside a highborn castle before, since the Siege of Storm's End, but as a landed knight he was getting used to the finer things in life.

After the knight and his son put their horses in the stables, the Onion Knight followed the young lord, he was supposed to be watching for Lord Stannis's sake.

"Where can this boy be?" Ser Davos thought to himself.

"Father…..he's in the courtyard, watching the prince and Lord Robb spar." Devan called out, then scurrying after Jacob.

For the Onion Knight, watching out for Jacob of the House Baratheon was a tough responsibility, even the boy's Florent uncles didn't like him so much.

He spotted a head full of black hair, as he caught Jacob standing on the side-lines, watching the Stark heir spar with the Crown Prince.

Ser Davos was no expert in sword fighting, but from his view, it seemed Prince Joffrey couldn't swing a sword to save his life, as that was shared by Jacob's unimpressed expression, at his royal cousin's poor attempt at disarming Lord Robb.

The Onion Knight stood beside Jacob, as the young lord's eyes widened. "Terrible…" Jacob muttered under his breath.

Jacob saw the Crown Prince sneered, with a scowl on his face and said. "This is a game for children, ser, I am a prince, and I've grown tired of swatting at Starks with play swords."

"If I recall correctly, you failed to swat at me at all." Robb chuckled, as Theon sniggered, as well.

"What do you suggest, then Prince Joffrey." Ser Rodrick Cassel, the Master at Arms asked.

"I want live steel." Joffrey proclaimed, causing Jacob to roll his eyes and scowl.

Ser Rodrick shook his head. "Out of the question, live steel is too dangerous."

Joffrey scoffed at the Master of Arms's words. "Why should I bother; you northerners seem to only play with toy swords anyways." It caused some of the Lannister men at arms watching to laugh.

"Live steel should be for those, who are skilled in swordplay, it seems you are ill prepared to face a real battle with your lack of skill, cousin." Jacob affirmed, with his arms folded.

"I don't have to answer to you, heir to barren rock island with old gargoyles." The prince snarled.

"As the Crown Prince, cousin, you should remember your courtesies and manners, when you are a guest in one's home, if Ser Rodrick doesn't want you to use live steel, I suggest you heed his words, before you get seriously hurt." The young lord warned.

"How comes you have a live steel sword?" The prince questioned his cousin.

"Only because I have been trained to use one and I can swing one very well."

The Lannister guards were silent, in their contempt and glaring at Jacob. Joffrey had his fists clenched, as he was seething with anger. Instead of attempting to start a fight, the prince stalked off indoors.

Ser Davos had seen the iron steel within Lord Jacob, as he had just put his royal cousin in his place and didn't flinch in fear.

The young man was as brusque, as his father, but he carried himself, in a way that a true lord should.

"He will be a great lord someday." The Onion Knight thought to himself.

Ser Davos had followed Jacob behind the Broken Tower, as he saw the young lord laugh out loud, as it was unusual for Lord Jacob to do so, being so serious and humourless, like his father.

"What are you doing behind there, my lord?" The Onion Knight asked.

"Hiding, I bet the Queen will skin me alive for chastising her golden boy." Jacob replied, with a haunt of mischief in his voice.

"Such things are not true."

"The Queen only tolerates my presence because of Uncle Robert, since I am his only nephew."

"Are you sure hiding here will solve things."

"Only until I get my hair out of this blasted ponytail." The young lord said, removing his hair from the ponytail to see it flowing past his shoulder.

Lord Jacob and Ser Davos heard rustling of the leaves, as the young turned around for it to be a tomboyish looking girl, with brown hair and grey eyes, the primary features of the members of House Stark.

"Arya, what are you doing here?" Jacob said, in a fright, pulling his cloak over his shoulders.

"Are you scared of the Queen?" The Stark girl gestured.

"No….I'm hiding to release my hair from this accursed ponytail." Lord Jacob lied.

"Is this your knight?"

"No…. he's my father's advisor, he came to look out for me, like a sworn sword." Jacob clarified, "This is Ser Davos Seaworth, he used to be a smuggler, but he saved my father from starvation and was rewarded with a knighthood."

"Nice to meet you, my lady." Ser Davos said.

"As a result of Ser Davos's crimes, as a smuggler, my father cut off his fingers, as a punishment." Jacob said grimly.

Arya's eyes widened, as Jacob couldn't blame her. She was a highborn girl, not supposed to hear the grimness of punishment.

"I saw you stand up to Prince Joffrey, put him in his place."

"I guess you don't like him."

"He is betrothed to Sansa; she is blinded by his golden looks to see him what he really is."

Jacob knelt down to be at Arya's level and look her in the eye. "When you go to King's Landing, only trust your family, little wolf. They are the only people, who should matter, when entering the snake's pit."

"If you say so."

"Your brothers will miss you."

"Won't you be leaving as well, my lord?"

"I will be returning to Dragonstone, my father doesn't like me being too far away from him, it grinds his teeth."

"Have you fought in any tourneys?" Arya questioned, wanting to know if this young lord did have any victories.

"I fought in the melee and fought against 29 men, but only killed three in one melee match."

"Don't you joust?"

"Arya, jousting is for prissily men and boys, who only care about the most expensive horse and whom have never seen a real battle before."

Ser Davos's heart warmed to see Lord Jacob bond with the third Stark child; the young lord showed the girl his sword, as it was a gift from the Tyrells.

The only other person Lord Jacob bonded was with his sister Shireen, who was in Dragonstone with Lady Selyse and Lord Stannis.

"Are the jewels real?" Arya asked, with her eyes on the little engrafted jewels on Lord Jacob's sword.

"From the finest sword makers of the Reach."

"Robb said you were a good rider."

"Most of the lords of the Reach thought me half-horse myself, since I can outride even the Knight of Flowers."

"You don't look like a knight."

"Come, young lady. Your mother wouldn't be happy with you hiding behind a tower with me and the Onion Knight." Jacob advised, with a hand on Arya's shoulder.

Ser Davos trailed behind the two, coming out from behind the Broken Tower; he sensed the young lord was calm and not so of iron steel inside him.

"Why call him the Onion Knight?" Arya asked.

"It was what he brought to Storm's End, during the Siege to feed the starving garrison."

Ser Davos followed behind Lord Jacob and Lady Arya, as the young lord was telling the girl about his horse, whom he had for a long time.

The Onion Knight had seen a gentleness in the young lord, the young lady laughed at something Lord Jacob had said, as the knight smiled to himself.