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"This is my squire?" Ser David Cook frowned in dismay at the shy, dark-haired boy presented before him. He was dressed in simple, poor clothing and he kept his eyes downcast, refusing to look up David.

It wasn't as if David imagined a lot for his first squire, especially since he was still a newly appointed knight, but he had expected someone a little, well, more. Bigger, maybe, bolder, or from a higher born family at least. But this boy didn't look like a squire. He looked more like a stable boy, or a kitchen boy - a servant, not a knight in training!

"He is your squire," Stan said coolly, lifting an eyebrow at David. "He is the eldest son of the House Archuleta, and his father wishes for him to become a squire and serve the realm as a knight."

David glared at his stepfather. Stan wasn't all bad, really, but he wasn't even a true Cook, he'd only married David's mother after his father had perished to gain access to her lands and to her wealth, so it wasn't like he had the right to make decisions like these for David. Beth may have taken Stan's name, but Adam was already of age, and he was Lord of House Cook now, no matter what Stan liked to pretend.

"I've never heard of them," David said sourly.

"They've just recently been granted status by the King," Stan responded.

David stared at the boy, who was still refusing to look up.

"What's your sigil, boy?"

The boy looked up suddenly, his hands still clasped in front of himself. He had huge, wide hazel eyes, and a comely face. If he ever made it to knighthood, he'd be one the girls would sigh over in the tourneys, David thought with a faint smirk. He was older than David had thought, though obviously small for his age.

"Ser?" His voice was as soft as his face looked. Soft and pretty. David made a face.

"Your sigil. The mark of your House, boy, what it is?" David gestured to the Cook sigil, sewn carefully to his jacket. It was a black terrier on a red field with a brown rat in it's mouth, and it was on all the banners that flew above their homestead. Their House words were "Never Give In" and it was a constant reminder to David and to his brothers to always push forward.

"Oh," the boy said sheepishly, and licked his lips nervously. "Um, it's the - the horned horse, Ser."

"The horned horse?" David asked, incredulously. "The mythical creature from lore? Your father chose that to be his sigil?"

The boy seemed embarrassed, but didn't drop his gaze as he nodded.

"Yes, Ser. Lore describes the horned horse as being as powerful as it was beautiful, and that it was graceful, gentle, and swift." The boy smiled slightly. "Also magical. They were said to be magical."

David's eyes narrowed a little, but he let it go. "And the words of your House?"

"Faith and Family," Archuleta intoned softly.

"I see." David sighed and turned to his stepfather. "This is him?"

Stan smiled. "This is your new squire. David Archuleta."

David's frown deepened even more.

"Great."

--

After they’d done the whole kneeling and pledging fealty thing, David led the boy to his rooms in the estate.

"As my squire, you'll need to wash my clothes, help me dress, help me into my armor if the need arises, take care of my horse, possibly write letters for me - you do know your letters, don't you?" David squinted at his new squire narrowly.

"Yes Ser, I do."

"And you’re going to need a name other than David - I can't go around calling you by my name. I'll just call you Archuleta for now, I guess."

"Yes Ser, whatever you'd like."

David sighed. His new squire was obedient to be sure, but the subservient behavior was a little annoying if David was being honest.

"You know, you don't have to call me Ser all the time. Just on formal occasions or in front of other people – when it’s appropriate."

Archuleta tilted his head up and made eye contact, his mouth quirking down in thought.

"Yes Ser," he answered dutifully, and David nearly slammed his forehead into his palm. "But what will I call you, if not by your title?"

"Just call me David. Or Cook, if it bothers you to call me by your name." He would have settled for anything but ‘Ser’ at that point.

"Alright ... Cook." The words sounded stilted and uncomfortable, but it was one battle won, and David was pleased. He rewarded his squire with a broad smile and clap on the back.

"There you go! You learn fast. Now go saddle up Avalanche, and pick a horse from the stables for your own. Something small and hardy - you don't need a warhorse, you just need to keep up and be able to carry our things. I'll meet you in the stables soon."

As Archuleta trotted off to do his bidding, David wondered if this made him a real knight, having a squire and going to tourneys - if this is when he'd start feeling useful.

In a way, he already felt like the boy made him feel a bit better about himself, for whatever reason.

--

David met his squire in the stables after instructing the servants to pack a travel trunk for himself and for Archuleta. Normally his squire would take care of those duties as well but they were short on time and David was anxious to start riding. They had a long way to go and he didn't want to be late.

His big grey destrier was saddled and trimmed for travel in the Cook colors: black, red, and brown. Beside him stood a much smaller chestnut mare wearing a mean, mulish expression and she was eying his stallion with contempt. She was also saddled for travel. Archuleta was tightening the girth on a brown packhorse, checking the empty saddlebags before he finally noticed David.

"Are you ready to go Ser? May I go get your things?"

David wagged his finger at the youth. "What did I tell you about that 'Ser' thing?"

Archuleta made a very slight face at the rebuke and David grinned.

"May I go get your things Cook?" the boy tried again politely.

David waved a hand dismissively. "It's being taken care of. I want to reach the Dorne capitol within a couple of days, so I'd like to leave while we still have daylight." He pointed to the wicked looking mare Archuleta had tacked up for himself. "Are you sure you want that filly for your mount? She looks a little - mean."

Archuleta shrugged his shoulders. "I've always been good with horses. And the stable master said she wasn't being used for anything so I figured no one would mind if I rode her."

"You're my squire. You can have any horse you want," David said with a frown. He didn't want Archuleta to be poorly horsed because the boy was modest.

"I want her," he insisted stubbornly.

David threw his hands up in defeat. "Fine, fine! Do what you like. Come help pack up the horses, come on," he gestured to the neatly rolled packs and two large trunks that the servants were carrying towards them.

He was bending down to help when he saw Archuleta stiffen abruptly out of the corner of his eye, and saw him try to bow awkwardly with his hands still full.

"My lord," his squire said timidly, his eyes wide, "my lady."

David stood and turned to see his older brother and his mother standing before him. Adam looked well that afternoon. He was wearing fawn colored riding pants and a leather vest over a crisp, lightweight shirt - if David didn't know better, he'd almost believe Adam was simply in the stables to go for a ride of his own. But not with their mother, and not with her still dressed in her skirts. It was merely a ruse, to make it seem as if their paths crossing was a coincidence. David stepped closer and frowned at the way Adam was holding onto their lady mother. To anyone else, it must seem as if he was merely escorting her, but David could see how tightly Adam clutched to her, and how tense his mother held her arm, supporting his weight. He's worse today, David thought grimly.

"Come to see me off?" he asked with a teasing smile.

"Is this all you're taking?" Adam asked instead of answering. He was frowning. "I wish you'd take an entire company with you. It's not safe to travel in such few numbers."

David rolled his eyes. "Adam, I've made this trip a dozen times. There are no bandits on that road. And even if there were, I'm a knight! What kind of knight would I be if I couldn't take care of myself?"

"You're an unseasoned knight, and bandits are no laughing matter," his mother warned.

If it had been his brother to say that he would have argued, but since it was his mother, he tried a different tactic.

"We're faster as only two, mother, and we're already setting off later than I would have liked. I don't want to be late," he explained impatiently.

She seemed to deflate a little, and waved her hand in a gesture of acceptance.

"Here," Adam said, taking a piece of parchment from a pouch at his waist and offering it to David. "This is for Andrew. No peeking at it, you."

David snatched it up with a huff.

"What am I, a raven?" he snapped, but there wasn't any heat behind it and he tucked it into his own belt carefully.

Adam laughed, sounding like the boy David had grown up with. "You look like a puffed up bird, with that ridiculous hair," his older brother teased, and David hastily raked his palm over his unruly hair, trying to tame it into obedience.

His mother stepped forward and reached her hands out, cupping David's face tenderly.

"You can give your brother this as well," she said, smiling, before kissing both his cheeks, and brushing hair off of his forehead to kiss there too.

"I'm sure he'll be thrilled to receive that from me," David deadpanned, but grabbed his mother's hands and gave them a sweet, affectionate kiss. "Can we leave now? With your permission, of course."

"Yes, yes, go ahead and go, before it gets too late." His lady mother swatted at him fondly, and Adam hugged him briefly before Archuleta led Avalanche up and steadied the big horse for David as he swung up into the saddle.

"We'll be back in a few weeks, don't worry so much." David told his brother and mother with a grin, glancing back to make sure Archuleta was on his temperamental mare, and had the packhorse in hand before kicking his horse forward and away from the estate.

--

They cantered on down the main road for about a half an hour before Archuleta spoke up.

"Ser, if we keep going at this rate, the pack-horse isn't going to be able to keep up. We should walk for a while and let him catch his breath - he isn't as fit as our horses are."

David looked back at Archuleta, and saw that he was right. The poor bay gelding was struggling on the end of his line attached to the mare, though she didn't look tired in the least. David nodded and pulled up, stifling a sigh of disappointment. He had been enjoying the open road in front of them, and the rush of wind through his hair.

Going places. It was always his favorite part, leaving the estate behind. He loved his home, and he loved his family, but he loved leaving it all behind for an adventure. It's half of why he liked being a knight so much. The constant travel invigorated him, and with his sword and shield he could go pretty much anywhere he wanted to go. It was freedom.

They walked in companionable silence for a while, but David could feel that Archuleta wanted to say something. He waited - he wasn't going to make it easy on the boy, and learning to speak up was a trait he should learn, and he should learn it fast.

"Ser-" Archuleta began, but David cut him off.

"What did I say about that?"

Archuleta sighed and was quiet for a moment.

"I'm sorry, it's just - habit. Manners. My mother always taught me -"

"Unlearn that habit," David said simply. "Some men love the title, but I don't care. I don't want to be called 'ser' by you all the way up until you become a 'ser' yourself!"

David didn't turn to look, but he could imagine the disgruntled look on Archuleta's face. He didn't know his squire very well yet, but he'd already learned he was respectful and well mannered, and didn't enjoy bending the rules for anyone, not even for his knight.

"Why are we going to Dorne se- Cook?" Archuleta finally asked, curiosity evident in his voice.

David smirked and twisted in his saddle to look at the boy. "Haven't you heard? The Dornish prince has announced his betrothal. He's getting married, and he's holding a tournament to celebrate."

Archuleta shook his head slowly, looking interested. "I hadn't heard. Aren't the Houses sworn to Highgarden supposed to be - ah - not that friendly with the Dornish though?"

David laughed and turned to face front again, flicking his reins when Avalanche tried to stop and eat a weed.

"That's just the Houses along the mountains, although really, that feud is long over, they should stop with the bitter rivalry. No, my family has always been welcome in Dorne. I was a ward with the Royal family for almost five years." He tilted his head back to catch Archuleta's reaction, and wasn't disappointed at the open-mouthed stare and wide eyes. "Not a long stretch of a time by any means, but I grew very close to the Prince and Princess especially. My brother is there now, actually, as a ward, like I was. I try to visit as often as I can."

He smiled fondly and looked forward again, wondering what the letter to his brother contained, and why a raven couldn't have sent it. He hoped it was just a convenience thing (why send a raven when David was on his way there anyway) rather than a safety thing - ravens could be shot down, true, but what could be in the letter that would be dangerous enough to not risk a raven?

"Who is he marrying?" His squire asked, effectively interrupting David's thoughts.

"What?"

"The Prince. The Dornish prince, who is he marrying?" Archuleta nudged his mare up a little closer to Avalanche, and soothed her when she pinned her ears and bared her teeth at the big stallion. "Is it someone from the Realm, or from beyond?"

David glanced sideways at his squire, taking a moment to admire his stark profile. Pretty as a maid, David thought to himself, and chuckled.

"She's from the Arbor actually. Jennie Redwyne. I don't know why they waited so long to married, they've known each other since they were children."

"Really?" Archuleta looked interested, his face bright and attentive. "How did that happen?"

"Jennie was spending three months in Dorne as possible prospect for another Dornish lord's son future wife, but when she was presented in front of the Prince and Princess, the Prince demanded that she become his playmate. She spent the rest of her time with him in the capitol, despite the original plans. And it was so funny - the Prince, even as a child - he was smitten. I was their ward at the time, and I got to spend a lot of time with them, growing up. I've never seen a pair so well suited to each other, honestly." David smiled fondly, eager to get to Sunspear and see his friends.

Archuleta was smiling too, touched by the romantic story. "That's lovely," he said gently. "So we're going for the wedding?"

David nodded. "Yes, and for the tourney."

"You're competing?" His squire sounded surprised, a note of worry in his voice.

"Yes, of course." He paused. "Is there a problem?"

Archuleta looked away, down at his hands where he was holding his horse's reins.

"I've just - I've never squired for a tournament before." He sounded so small and sad in that moment, that David had the strangest urge to lean across the gap between their mounts and put a hand on his shoulder.

"I don't want to let you down," Archuleta explained earnestly, "especially not in front of your friends."

David halted, forcing his squire to halt too.

"Archuleta - look at me," he demanded firmly. The boy shyly turned to face him, the corners of his mouth turned down anxiously. David lost himself for a moment, staring into his eyes. He'd never seen eyes like that before, like fragments of dragonglass, so pale and so dark at the same time, flecked with gold and deep as the sea.

"You will not let me down," he said softly. "Ever."

The boy stared carefully at him through his long dark lashes, and David wanted to cup his chin, force him to accept it as truth, but he waited. Finally, Archuleta let out a breath and dropped his gaze.

"Okay," he said.

"Okay," David said as well, nodding firmly. He clucked a little and nudged Avalanche into a trot. "Besides, everyone has to have a first time. You'll do fine!"

--

"Tell me something," David asked as they loped downhill, still on the main path. The sun was beginning to set, and the horses were getting tired, but David was in high spirits. They'd made pretty good time, despite the late start, and he was content to find a place to bed down for the night soon.

"Anything," Archuleta answered demurely, beginning to slow the horses so they could catch their breath, and so he could scout for a good place to set up camp.

"How did your father gain his lordship from the king? It must have been quite an impressive thing he did. They don't just hand out titles and land to anyone, you know."

He was curious, and he barely knew anything about his squire at all, he figured they needed to get to know each other somehow. David didn't know how the other knights did it. He knew some became quite close with their squires, and others treated their squires like servants. Was there a right way and a wrong way to host a squire? He wasn't sure. He just wanted it to be comfortable, for both of them, so he followed his instincts.

Archuleta fidgeted on top of his mare, and then glanced up at the sky. "Shouldn't we stop soon to set up camp? The sun is beginning to set," he hedged, avoiding the subject.

David frowned, shaking his head. "No, will go on a little more. Tell me about your father," he insisted gently.

There was a long pause and finally his squire's shoulders slumped. "My father is a healer. He's actually - he's the healer, the one who cured King Robert."

David's eyebrows shot up in surprise. Everyone knew about King Robert's illness. It had almost killed him, and the royal family had sent out nationwide plea for any and all healers to present themselves to try and heal King Robert, since their Maester could not seem to do it.

"That was your father?" He asked, still shocked.

"Yes," Archuleta nodded, "we stayed in King's Landing for almost three months with the King and his family as my father healed him. He was - he was very, very sick, and it my father had to work very hard to save him. But ultimately, when he got better, he was incredibly grateful. Hence the title and lands."

Archuleta gave him a weary smile.

"That's amazing. I had no idea - no one ever mentioned the name of the healer, we assumed it was a foreigner," David explained. "How did you like King's Landing? I've only been a few times."

"It was stressful. We mostly just stayed in the castle. We weren't sure - we weren't sure if father was going to be able to heal him and we were afraid that we'd be, you know, punished for it. So there was a lot of tension." Archuleta shook his head slightly, as if clearing cobwebs from his memory. "My mother used to sing to the youngest Baratheon children. She has a beautiful voice, my mother. Her father was a bard, and he taught her how to sing and to play the harp. And my younger sisters -"

"You have sisters?" David interrupted, surprised. He shouldn't have been surprised, he supposed, since everyone had a family, but he hadn't expected it.

"Three of them. Two younger and one older, and I have a younger brother as well." His squired smiled, and David found himself smiling back. "The little princess Myrcella, she became very attached to my sisters. The queen insisted - she insisted we leave Jazzy behind to stay to be a lady of the court. So that's where she is, playing lady maid to the little prince and princess. King Robert even suggested she could be a wife for his son Joffrey when they both came of age, but the queen said no. Our family - we have no lineage, no titles, no land, except for what King Robert gave us. It wouldn't be a good match, she said."

"That must be hard," David said, furrowing his brow a little.

"It is - you don't know, you're used to it, the traveling, the strangers, the lordship - but for us, family is all we know. Faith and Family - our House words weren't chosen lightly. They mean everything. Being so far away from my family is difficult." Archuleta seemed to hunch down into himself, making him seem even smaller. "I miss them."

David left him for his thoughts for a little while, until they drew closer to a clearing that would be perfect for the night. The sun was really going down now, and they'd have to move fast to get it all up before they had to work in darkness. To hurry the process, David helped Archuleta with the horses and with setting up their fire pit and with the tent as well. Before long they were working by the light of a crackling fire, but at least they got it all done.

"Excellent," David said, clapping his hands together briskly. "Go look in those bags over there, I'm pretty sure there's bread and cheese packed for us."

After their dinner, Archuleta checked on the horses one last time, making sure they were rubbed down and had fresh water, and that their lines were long enough so they could graze, but not so long they would get tangled together. When he returned the fire, David scooted over so he could huddle close - the night was cold.

"What are you going to name your mare?" David asked, once they'd settled. He was drinking a sweet wine from the Arbor, and it was making him feel relaxed and warm.

"What?" Archuleta asked, distracted. He was poking at the fire, trying to avoid the hissing sparks and nearly jumping out of his skin when one log fell and the flames danced higher.

"Your little red mare. You know, the evil one? She needs a name now that she's yours."

His squire paused in thought, staring into the fire intently. Then he looked up and over at the red mare, who was pinning her ears at their poor packhorse, and lifting a hoof in warning.

"Flame," Archuleta said firmly. “She has fire in her, and she can burn you, but not if you know how to handle her.”

David smiled fondly.

"That's a good name,” he murmured softly, affectionately. Then he heaved himself off his seat and offered a hand to help his squire up. “C'mon, put out the fire and let's get some rest. Long day of riding again tomorrow, and will probably hit the desert by noon which will be fun. And don't even think about trying to sleep out here with the horses - you'll sleep in the tent with me, and you won't argue, you hear that?"

Archuleta made a face, but shrugged his shoulders in assent. "Yes Ser," he responded, no doubt adding the 'Ser' just to be obnoxious. David let it go. He kind of liked his squire, after all.

--

When David woke up, there was already a meager breakfast of dried fruits and cured meat set out for him, and Archuleta was tearing the camp down methodically around his head.

"Good morning," the boy greeted cordially when David stepped out of the tent blearily. "I figured you would want to head out early, so why don't you eat and I'll keep packing, and then I'll help you get dressed and cleaned up and we'll be on our way."

David wanted to say 'I thought you were my squire, not my mother' but he held his tongue and glared balefully at the chipper youth. The sun was barely peeking over the mountains, damn him. Couldn't he have let David sleep a little longer?

David grumpily ate his breakfast and watched Archuleta pack up all their things and load the horses. He didn't feel bad about not helping, and took his time. He did feel a lot better when he had a belly full of food and a few sips of wine, and was in much better spirits when his squire began to clean up his mess.

"It's a beautiful morning," he admitted when Archuleta approached him with clean clothes, and began to help him dress. "We'll make good time."

"You aren't angry at me for waking you up so early?" Archuleta asked neutrally, a blank, innocent expression on his face. David narrowed his eyes at his squire, suspecting he was being made fun of.

"No, I'm not. You did well last night and this morning," he said instead of snapping at him, and thrilled in the look of shock on Archuleta's face. He obviously hadn't been expecting a compliment, and it made David feel smug to catch him off guard like that. "Now I'm sure we'll make the desert by noon, so I hope you've filled the canteens with water. We're going to need them - it gets damned hot in the middle of the day, and we'll be traveling through the worst of it on our way to the capitol."

He swung onto his grey stallion without any help, and motioned for Archuleta to tie the packhorse to Flame, and to mount up as well. They may as well start now, and if they were lucky they might cross the desert by nightfall, and reach one of the towns to stay at an inn during the night.

They set off at a brisk pace, but an hour into the trip, David was feeling antsy. They were making good time, but still - he sighed.

"Listen, I'm going to scout on ahead a little bit. Just stay on this road, I'll double back for you," he told the boy.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? To go on ahead alone like that?" Archuleta clutched the reins a little tighter and leaned forward in his saddle anxiously, looking concerned.

David waved him off and shook his head. "I'll be fine. I won't go that far, I promise. I just need -" he sighed, and glanced over his shoulder at his squire. Archuleta had settled into his saddle and was gazing at him intensely. David felt like he was under scrutiny, and sat up a little straighter despite himself. Finally, the boy sighed and nodded - whatever he had been looking for in David, whatever mental test he had applied, David must have passed and he was given permission to ride on ahead.

David grinned and winked at his squire, and then spurred Avalanche forward, wrapping one hand into the stallion's long gray mane to steady himself as the horse snorted and galloped off.

This is what he lived for: the sound of hooves thundering beneath him, carrying him swiftly over the ground and feel the wind whipping around him. Avalanche was a big horse, a warhorse, but he was the fastest destrier that David owned, so naturally he was one of David's favorites. He'd named him after the great snow earthquakes that happened on the mountains, avalanches. David had never seen a real avalanche, but his father had, once, and had described it to him. 'Like a wall of white, rushing down a mountain,' his father had said, and swore he saw the wave of snow completely wipe a town off the map. Men caught in avalanches rarely survived, and they were hard to escape because they were so difficult to predict. They were fast, unpredictable, and deadly, and they left nothing but whiteness in their wake. David thought it was an apt name for his snowy-grey charger, with the dark grey dapples on his haunches, like snowdrifts painted on his hide. Fast, unpredictable, and deadly, David thought to himself as they tore down the road. It was everything he wanted to be as a knight.

After fifteen minutes of hard riding, David pulled his horse up reluctantly. He had promised not to go too far, and he didn't want to wear his tourney mount out either, and they still had a ways to go - at least another day and a half of hard riding until they reached the coast, to where Sunspear lay. Instead of turning around and retracing his steps however, David chose to slide off his horse's back and led him to a small creek a little ways off the road to let him drink. It was good to let the horses drink their fill now, while there still was water close the road. The trees were already beginning to thin, and the dirt was less packed around the road, shifting under his feet as he walked. They would be at the Dorne Desert within an hour, David predicted, and settled in to wait for his squire to catch up. He had a feeling it wouldn't take too long.

Sure enough, ten minutes later David heard hoof beats and he led Avalanche back to the main road so he could flag down his squire. Archuleta's face was tight with anxiety as he cantered Flame and the packhorse down the road. When he spotted David, his face crumpled with relief.

"You worried me!" the boy chastised as he pulled up, frowning. "You didn't fall off did you?" he asked a little more urgently when he noticed David wasn't on his horse. He was already swinging down to the ground before David could answer, reaching for David to check him for injuries.

"Easy, I didn't fall off. I found a little stream that the horses can drink from. We'll be hitting that sand soon, and I want them to be hydrated." he motioned for Archuleta to follow him. "Also, you might want to fill up any canteens we have, if they aren't all already filled."

Archuleta made a face like he wanted to say something, but was holding back.

David sighed. "What is it?"

"Well," the boy began, "you really shouldn't drink from streams you know. Not without boiling the water first, at least."

As the horses drank, David stared at his squire. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Have you ever noticed you get kind of sick after drinking from a river?"

"Well, yeah," David conceded. "Stomach cramps, the shits, sure. What about it?"

Archuleta pointed to the little babbling brook they were standing next to. "Rivers and streams have lots of things in them that can make us sick. Animals bathe in them, and mosses grow in them, and fish live in them...”

“Right, right. I get the picture. So what do you do about it?” David asked impatiently.

“I boiled the water last night when we built a fire, and then filled the canteens with the purified water to sit and chill overnight,” Archuleta explained. “The heat seems to scour away most of the things that make us sick, if I keep the water hot enough for long enough. Most people just prefer to drink wine or ale because of the cramps they can get when they drink from running water, but water is a much healthier option.”

He recited all of this to David with an air of patience that came with practice – he’d probably explained all of this to a dozen other people in his life. Archuleta wasn’t a fool – and his father clearly wasn’t some hack healer, if he had truly saved the King from his deadly illness. David still wasn’t sure he believed his squire, but it was a near thing.

“Why is it healthier than wine?” he demanded. “What’s wrong with a good cup of wine?”

Archuleta made a face. “Other than making you drunk, there’s nothing wrong with wine. But water will clear your skin and give you strength, where sweet and heady wines alike will sap you of energy and give you a ruddy complexion.”

David observed Archuleta closer – his skin was very clear, smooth and glowing in the morning light. He rubbed a calloused hand over his bearded chin thoughtfully.

“And?” he prompted, sensing Archuleta had more to say on the subject of wines.

“And wines and ales clouds your judgment. Water won’t do that – it gives you a clear mind.”

David grinned. His squire was something of a prude. “It’s okay to indulge in the pleasures of the flesh occasionally, Archuleta. You should try it sometime.”

He was thrilled to see his squire’s cheek flush a bright pink, and laughed as he mumbled something about discipline.

“Come on, mount up. We’ve still got a long way to go,” David urged, and led them both back out to the main road.

--

They rode Southeast in companionable silence, watching as the trees faded from the side of the road, and gave way to tall grasses that waved and rippled like an ocean around them. Eventually, even the grasses faded away, and the dirt became loose and pliant underneath their horses hooves.

"Look," David said, pointing ahead of them. The horizon stretched out in front of them, a long, flat expanse of nothingness, and the desert spread out beneath it, nothing but rolling hills of beige.

"Welcome to the only desert in all of the Seven Kingdoms." He grinned.

It had been getting steadily hotter as they traveled further South, and David was sweating under the high sun. Still, he reached back to pull his cloak up over his head, and motioned for Archuleta to do the same. He reached into one of his saddle bags and pulled out two long, thin pieces of silk, and handed one to his squire. Archuleta stared at it, uncomprehending.

"Tie it around your mouth and nose," David explained, demonstrating so the silk covered the lower half of his face, leaving only his eyes and forehead exposed. "It will help prevent getting sand in your nose and mouth. Trust me, you'll be glad you have it. The first trip I made across the Dorne Desert, I didn't know about this. There's nothing like a mouthful of sand - not even water washes it down, and you're stuck with a sandy tongue for hours."

Archuleta grimaced at the imagery and obediently fashioned the silk around his mouth and nose as David had done. When he looked up, his wide hazel eyes just as expressive as the rest of his face, David gave him a thumbs up and watched the corners of his eyes crinkle up a little in (what David was learning) a shy smile.

"Thanks," Archuleta said from beneath the silk. It fluttered against his mouth, and David could see the shape of his lips very faintly against the thin cloth. He didn't say anything in return, just stared, smiling a little, before nudging Avalanche forward so they could begin their trek across the sand.

--

"Tell me more about your family," David asked as they rode, breaking the easy silence between them. He glanced at Archuleta from the corner of his eye, saw how the boy sat up a little, his posture stiffening. He'd noticed the boy seemed reluctant to talk about his family, and yet clearly loved them a lot. It was an interesting dichotomy, and it made David hungry to learn more.

"I'm the oldest boy," Archuleta began slowly, "but I have an older sister. Claudia." He said her name with a gentle accent, the vowels soft and pretty in his mouth. David had never heard anything like it before. "She's a year older - she's an excellent dancer."

David couldn't see his squire's face, but he heard the faint smile in his speech. "She's not betrothed to anyone?" he asked curiously.

Archuleta shook his head and then shrugged his shoulders. "We weren't - not yet. I think father is looking around, but nothing has come up yet."

"Maybe my younger brother would be a good match," David suggested casually. "He's a third son, true, but our family has some status in the Highlands, and it would be a good boost for your own House."

His squire went even tenser, and his mare pinned her ears in warning as he held the reins too tightly. He relaxed automatically, soothing her with a soft coo, but David could tell he was still uncomfortable.

"Ah - maybe? Shouldn't they... meet? To see if they get along and all of that."

David tilted his head curiously. "It's not a requirement. If it's a good match, they'll grow to love each other, or at the very least be able to live together and have children together. You want her to marry for love? Or to a higher House?"

He'd be lying if he said he wasn't a little offended. Why wouldn't Archuleta want to tie their Houses together? The Cook family was fairly wealthy and well spoken, even if their reach didn't spread quite as far as say, the Highgarden family. They at least had a legacy, which was more than David could say about the Archuleta family.

"I only want her to be happy, Ser." Archuleta answered softly. Shit, he was using the damned title again - a way to distance them. David wouldn't have it.

"You'll meet my brother when we get to Sunspear," David said, nodding decisively. "He's a good guy. A little immature, but that's why he's with the Prince - to grow up a little. I was a little immature at his age too," he admitted, "but I was also sent as a ward to the Martell family too, and I turned out fine."

He flashed a smile at the boy, realizing belatedly that he wouldn't see it because of his silk kerchief.

Archuleta nodded absently, toying with his reins. "I look forward to meeting him," he responded politely. David sighed - the words sounded stilted, and all their easy camaraderie had vanished. What was it with this boy? Still, David wasn't going to give up that easily.

"What about your brother? What is he like?" he coaxed.

"Daniel should have been the squire," Archuleta admitted suddenly in a tumble of words. David lifted an eyebrow at the outburst. "He's the second son - and he's already bigger than me, even though he's two years younger, and he's always liked sword training, and fighting. He's so mad at father, because he was forced to stay home."

"If all this is true why isn't he at my side instead of you?" David asked, not unkindly.

Archuleta shrugged a little. "Father thinks he's too young. He thinks I could be knighted quicker - and I think he wants a Ser in the family as quick as possible." His voice sounded pained, as if he seriously doubted his father's prediction.

"How old are you?" David realized with a start that he hadn't bothered to ask, and didn't actually know.

"Daniel is thirteen, and I had my fifteenth name day in the last darkest month."

David twisted in his saddle to stare at his squire in shock. "Fifteen?" he said incredulously. That was almost a man grown - and yet Archuleta barely looked to be in his twelfth year as skinny and soft faced as he was. His eyes were full of wisdom, true, but David never would have guessed he'd passed his thirteenth name day already.

Archuleta's shoulders hunched forward in embarrassment. "I know, I don't look it. Daniel is taller than me, and broader, and everyone thinks he's the older brother when they meet us. He takes after our father," he said miserably.

"You look like your mother?" David asked gently.

"Like a carbon copy born into a boy's body, my father has said," Archuleta said, a strange tinge of sadness lingering in the words.

"Lady Archuleta must be very beautiful indeed then," David blurted out suddenly as he stared at his squire's profile. Archuleta blinked at him in shock and then quickly averted his eyes in embarrassment.

David could have kicked himself for saying that. He didn't even know why he said it, only that Archuleta sounded so sad and unsure of himself, and that he wanted to offer some comfort to the boy. And he found that he meant the words. His squire was strangely beautiful, and so the mother he claimed to look so much like must be just as beautiful. It wasn’t common to find boys as handsome as Archuleta, but David knew it didn’t mean they were less than men, just because they had features as fine as women. Ser Loras Tyrell for example, called the Knight of the Flowers, was prettier than any man had a right to be, and yet he was one of the most talented tilters in the tourneys, and one of the best swordsmen David had ever seen in action.

Still, most men (even men as well mannered and demure as his squire) didn’t take kindly to be complimented in that way.

Archuleta didn’t say anything though, just kept his eyes straight ahead towards the horizon, and so David did the same.

--

Archuleta saw it first.

“What’s that?” he asked curiously, his brow furrowing as he squinted towards the horizon. He pointed to what looked like a smudge in the desert, a dark spot swimming in the sea of beige.

David wiped a hand across his brow, mopping up the sweat that was convalescing there and preventing it from dripping into his eyes. When he spotted what his squire had noticed, he whooped cheerfully.

“That my friend, that is an oasis. One of only a couple along our way. We can stop there and cool off – I’ll race you!” He winked at his squire, whose brows furrowed.

“That’s not a fair race,” Archuleta pointed out, and he was right. Flame looked like she could be quick, but she was no match for Avalanche, particularly not with their ungainly, uncoordinated packhorse tied to her.

“Maybe you should cheat,” David suggested, before yelling wordlessly and spurring his stallion forward, drawing away from Archuleta in a cloud of sand as Avalanche grunted, digging his hooves into the thick sand and surging forward.

He heard Archuleta yell something from behind him, but his ears were filled with the sound of Avalanche’s breathing and his own blood rushing as the big horse galloped through the desert, each stride sure and powerful.

Out of the corner of his eye he caught a flash of movement and glanced back, surprised to see Archuleta leaning over Flame’s neck, one hand wrapped in her wildly fluttering mane. They streaked across the desert together like wildfire, the poor pack-ladened garron trailing desperately behind them at the end of his tether. David was amazed to see his squire was actually gaining on him, and he laughed with pure joy.

They galloped together until Archuleta was forced to slow down, the slower packhorse dragging at his mare until he pulled up. David waved at him as he sped past, eyes focused on his goal, the little smudge of darkness getting bigger and gaining clarity until the shapes of palm trees and the deep, blue water of the oasis was visible.

He practically vaulted off of Avalanche’s back and tore his heavy clothes off until he was naked. The sweat stuck to him and made undressing difficult, but once he was free of them he dived straight into the oasis, bursting to the surface and spooking his grey horse who snorted and shied away. David laughed, dunking his head into the cool water again. It felt so good to wash away the grime and sweat from riding in the heat and the sand, and he tipped his head back, squinting against the bright sun, just reveling in the moment.

Archuleta trotted up a few moments later, looking hot still dressed in his cloak and silk mouth-screen. He stared down at David with an unreadable expression in his eyes.

“Come on, strip down and get in. It’ll cool you down and clean you up,” David said, crouching in the water until only his nose and eyes were above the water. It wasn’t a very deep pool of water, but it was wide and cool and refreshing. David could feel the dirt sloughing off his body as he stroked from one side of the pool to the other.

His squire dismounted, but hesitated. David thought maybe he was worried about dropping the horses’ reins to let them roam without being tethered.

“Go on, let them go. There’s nothing out here but a lizard or two – they won’t go anywhere. They can graze and drink here,” he encouraged, gesturing to where Avalanche was grazing on the sparse desert grasses that sprouted by the waters edge.

Archuleta nodded and looped the reins around their necks so they wouldn’t drag, watching as the horses snuffed at the sand inquisitively. And yet still he did not undress. David stared at him curiously.

“Why don’t you come in? Can’t you swim? I promise, it’s not very deep. Look,” he stood, and the water only came to his waist, “see? I won’t let you drown.” He smiled and sank back down so the water lapped at his chest.

Archuleta obediently removed his cloak, folding it neatly, and pulled off his boots, his tabard, and tucked the silk cloth that had protected his face into the pouch at his waist, which he unbuckled and let fall. He was left barefoot in his riding breeches and loose cotton shirt, but he made no move to undress further.

He’s modest, David realized with a start, and threw his head back and laughed brightly. It was so funny to him to see such modesty in a boy his age, as if his innocence was still preserved after all of these years. David had a sudden flash of wonder about his squire’s past, and what he had truly been before he was David Archuleta, eldest son of Lord Jeffery Archuleta, and Squire to Ser David Cook.

“No use being shy,” David coaxed, when his laughter had faded. “Unless you’re a maid in disguise, you don’t have anything I haven’t seen before. And even then, it’s not as if I’m an innocent babe.” He grinned and cuffed a wave of water towards the boy, who was flushed bright pink, and not from the sun.

He made a point to turn away though when the boy ducked his head shyly and began to pull his shirt over his head. It was unnerving to be watched as you undressed, David knew. Well – he could guess. David had grown up with servants helping him dress and undress since he was a toddler – modesty was not a trait he possessed.

He half turned and glanced at the boy from the corner of his eye, noticing Archuleta had turned so his back faced David. He was undoing his pants and pushing them down over his hips, stepping out of the fabric as David watched closely. He had a fairly broad back, David noted with approval, although it was not defined with muscle and he was still skinny. David’s gaze traveled down his back, attention drawn by the boy’s narrow hips and long legs. He stared for a long minute, wondering if the boy would keep his curves or shed them as he gained muscle, and then deliberately made himself look away as Archuleta turned.

He was only assessing his squire’s physique, he reassured himself. He had less muscle than David would have hoped for, but then again he had been skinny at that age too. He hadn’t put on the heavier muscle until his late teens, so perhaps there was hope for his little squire.

David waited until there was a splash near by him before turning, smiling at Archuleta who was chest deep in the water. The boy smiled back hesitantly, and then held his breath and descended below the water. He emerged a few moments later, gasping for breath, water rivulets running down from his hair and over his face and down his neck. David followed their paths with his eyes, noticing how Archuleta licked away the water that had gathered at his lips. Suddenly the pool of water felt much too small for two people.

“I’m going to get out and dry off,” he announced, clambering out of the water and heading towards where the horses were resting beneath the few palm trees that offered shade. Out of the water, the sun was intense and the heat seared at his skin. He’d be dry in a few moments, so he didn’t bother using his cloak to wipe away the moisture, or cover himself. He stood barefooted and naked in the sand as the sun dried him, shielding his eyes as he gazed out across the horizon.

Despite their little break, David figured they might be able to reach Vaith by nightfall. Perhaps a few hours into night, but the road was well marked and David wasn’t afraid to travel in the dark, and sleeping under a roof of an inn would be well worth the extra travel time, even in the blackness of night.

He shifted his eyes and caught a flash of movement from the oasis. Archuleta had ducked beneath the water again. When he resurfaced, he kept only his eyes above the surface, and David carefully angled his body so he could watch without being obvious. Archuleta’s eyes were studying him thoughtfully, and David wondered if he was assessing David’s physique as David had assessed his. He resisted the ridiculous urge to flex, and ducked his head to hide his smirk. He had an enviable body, he knew. His thighs were thick with corded muscle, and his back was broad and strong. His chest and arms were well defined, all the result of hours and hours of hard work with a sword and a lance. He was thicker in the middle than some men, true, but nowhere near as fat or rounded as most men became as they aged. Archuleta in his skinniness probably couldn’t imagine becoming as fit as David was.

“Alright, enough splashing around. Get out, we’ve got to get moving soon,” David instructed. He was bone dry again, all in a matter of mere minutes, and he reached for his clothes as Archuleta pulled himself out of the water.

His clothes were dirty and sweat-stained, but at least his body wasn’t sticky as he put on each layer. He’d send for their laundry to be washed when they got to the inn at Vaith, David thought idly as his squire scrambled to dress himself. He was slower than David had been, still a little wet from the water and struggling as his clothes stuck to him. David smirked as he pulled his cloak over his head to protect him, and refastened his silk mouth screen.

“Hustle,” he teased as he tugged on the leather straps of his saddle and nudged his horse awake from the nap he was taking. Archuleta huffed an aggravated sigh as he tugged on his boots, and David could have sworn he almost glared at him.

Finally Archuleta was dressed and mounted, and David set off at a brisk trot, not looking back to check if the boy was following or not. David knew he would be.

--

“We absolutely must get you a nickname,” David complained as they rode.

Archuleta flicked his eyes over. “Why?” he asked.

“Calling you by your surname is so cumbersome,” David said, “and calling you by your title is so impersonal. ‘You, squire!’ – can you imagine me saying that to you?” He laughed.

“I imagine you’ll call me what you want,” Archuleta mumbled under his breath, but it wasn’t bitter, just amused.

“Ah well, perhaps when we get the capitol the Prince will find a nickname for you. He’s pretty good with nicknames, the Prince is.”

David could practically see Archuleta’s ears perk up in curiously. “Really?” He seemed fascinated by the Dornish Prince and Princess, though David had only mentioned them a few times. He didn’t want to spoil too much – it would ruin the excitement of letting Archuleta meet them for himself.

“Oh yes. He nicknamed his personal guard himself, a man he sometimes calls ‘the Doctor.’” David grinned wickedly as Archuleta’s eyes grew a little wide. He waited.

“Why is he called the Doctor?” Archuleta finally asked, unable to stop himself. “Is he a healer as a well as a guard?”

David laughed out loud at that, nearly bending in half over Avalanche’s neck as he laughed.

“No, definitely not,” he said after he’d caught his breath. “Neal is very good at what he does. Clean strokes, like a surgeon,” David explained, sweeping his arm in a vicious cut in front of his body. Archuleta’s eyes went even wider at that and he fell silent for a few moments, processing David’s clear meaning.

“Prince Joffrey has a personal guard he calls the Hound,” his squire said in a quiet voice. “He’s a very – angry man.”

“Neal can be angry too,” David admitted. “But he’s a good man at heart.”

“I think the Hound is too, he just hasn’t had the chance to be one.”

David regarded his squire thoughtfully. Something about staying at King’s Landing with the King and his family for so many months had affected Archuleta, and David couldn’t tell if it was for better or for worse yet.

“Do you believe in a truly evil person?” he asked, curious.

“No,” Archuleta answered instantly, no doubt in his voice.

David said nothing, just nodded. He wondered if that was Archuleta’s youth shining through, or the ‘faith’ his House words spoke of. He wondered how his squire could be so doubtless, and if that belief would waver in the coming years. For now he said nothing, and merely accepted Archuleta’s answer as it was.

--

The hours were long and tedious with nothing but desert all around them, but David tried to make light of the situation, and told his squire story after story, each growing a little more bawdy than the last until Archuleta was embarrassed enough to tell him to stop. He sang, belting out classic bard ballads in an exaggerated baritone that made Archuleta laugh.

“You know, you have a nice voice,” Archuleta commented after a particularly slow and sweet song about a Princess and the lowly hedge knight who fell in love with her.

“Really?” David asked eagerly, flushing with pleasure. He’d always fancied himself somewhat of a singer – he loved to listen to the musicians who passed through their town, strumming their instruments and singing songs. “I wanted to be a bard when I was younger,” he confided.

“Truly?” Archuleta looked like he was stifling a laugh, and David laughed with him, a little embarrassed. It was silly of course – those born into lordship would never stoop to a job like being a bard. Singers were fine and good, and some were even revered for their skill and made plenty of coin on their travels, but they would never have any real status or be taken seriously.

“My brother was horrified. I think that’s why he sent me off to Dorne, to chase those notions right out of my head.”

The corners of Archuleta’s eyes creased up in a smile. “And did it work?”

David swung one of his arms out in an open gesture. “Here I am, knighted and at your service.” He turned the sweeping motion into a half-bow, and grinned to hear Archuleta’s soft giggle.

“You are talented though, Cook,” his squire said in a gentle voice. David was pleased that he’d used the name they’d agreed on, and not his title. And it didn’t sound like he was lying.

“You said your mother has a beautiful voice – what about you? Did she teach you how to sing as well?” David felt safer asking about Lady Archuleta than he did asking about his squire’s father. Archuleta had clammed up nervously whenever David had tried to pry any information about his Lord father out, and yet he seemed close to his mother.

“Oh – oh no. I mean, yes, she taught me how to sing and I do love singing, I’m just not very good.” Archuleta flushed. “I don’t sing in front of other people.”

David leapt on the opportunity. “Oh come on, you must! I’ve sung for you, and there’s nothing that could be worse than my warbling. Sing!” he commanded, but Archuleta shook his head firmly.

“Not today,” he said with conviction, and David sighed dramatically.

“As you will,” he grumbled reluctantly. “But you will sing for me one day, won’t you? I could make you sing.”

“One day,” Archuleta said with a shrug. David was content with that for now.

“Why have we not seen any other travelers along this road?” Archuleta asked in a sudden change in conversation. “It’s so empty… it makes me a little nervous.”

“The sand folk who live in the desert don’t use the roads. They know these hills like we know our forests, and they have encampments out in the far reaches of the desert. There is even a real city built in the midst of all this nothingness, although it’s several dozen miles South of us,” David explained. “Don’t worry. As we reach the rivers, there will be more activity. We’re already drawing near to the end of the desert.”

“We are?” Archuleta asked, surprised.

“Oh yes. Look ahead, there’s some foliage cropping up. Soon the sand will recede and we’ll meet the mouth of the river that will take us to Vaith. We’ll stay there for night, at an inn, and then it’ll be half a days ride to the Greenblood River, cross that, and straight to the coast and to Sunspear.” He smiled beatifically.

“Is Vaith a big city?”

David nodded. “Not as big as King’s Landing or Sunspear, but yes, it’s a central city in Dorne.”

Archuleta hummed thoughtfully, a pleasant sound, and fell silent. David kind of liked how quiet he was, and yet he knew that if he could only get the boy to open up, he could probably talk for hours. He just seemed so withdrawn and not fully comfortable with David yet. Still, it had only been two days since they’d met, since Archuleta was on his knees swearing fealty to David and to David’s House. He had to give it time. It was only that he was so impatient.

--

The desert faded away from them, and David turned to congratulate Archuleta on surviving his first trek through the Dorne desert. From there they followed the Vaith River eastward, the sun at their backs casting long shadows in front of them as they rode. Archuleta was quiet, but David didn’t press for conversation as he had earlier in the day. He was feeling weary too, shifting uncomfortably in his saddle and longing for a bed to sleep in. He wanted a hot bath and clean clothes, a hot meal, and a tankard of ale, and then maybe he’d be ready to socialize again.

It was well past sunset when they finally reached Vaith. The city was still buzzing with evening activity, and while Archuleta gazed around with wide eyes, David merely kept riding on until he found what he was looking for.

‘The Muddy Bank Inn’ was a place he’d been coming to since he was a child, and it was named for the sticky, muddy sides of the Vaith River that the Inn was near to. It was the perfect material for insulation, and the entire structure was covered in the thick goo. Ugly, true, but cheap and useful. David greeted the groom who ran up to meet them, and swung down from Avalanche, handing his horse’s reins to the young boy.

“Ouch!” he heard from behind him, and wheeled around to see another groom trying to lead Flame away from Archuleta. His elbow was bleeding slightly. The boy scowled and reached up to smack Archuleta’s red mare across the mouth when she pinned her ears and lunged again, nearly bowling him over. He leapt back, scrambling to get away from her.

“Oh! Don’t, don’t – I’ll take care of her,” Archuleta said in a rush, reaching for Flame’s headstall as she attempted to snake her head down to take another chunk out of the groom. “I’ll take care of all our horses, if it’s okay. Just – just show me where the free stalls are. Don’t touch her.”

“That nag is fucking crazy,” he heard the groom say loudly. “We don’t want her in our stables – she’ll tear the place apart!”

David had his dagger out and unsheathed within seconds, leveling it coolly at the outspoken groom.

“You’ll mind your tongue around my squire, boy,” David said in a hard voice. “And you’ll not refuse any of Ser David Cook’s mounts, you understand? Or you’ll be the one to tell Heka why I had to take my business elsewhere.”

The groom went white-faced and nodded, his eyes on the dagger held calmly in David’s hands. “Yes Ser, of course. Right this way.” He eyed Flame nervously, but didn’t say another word as he lead the way into the stables.

David sheathed his dagger grumpily. “Go on, make sure they get watered and fed and rubbed down. I’ll be inside getting some food. Come and join me when you’re done,” he said to his squire.

Archuleta nodded, looking embarrassed. “I’m sorry, I had no idea she would do that – I only thought –“

David held up a hand to cut him off. “Archuleta,” he said patiently, “I’m tired, dirty, and hungry. I don’t need to hear excuses or apologies. Just go make sure they’re taken care of, and then come and take care of yourself, all right? It’s already forgotten,” he assured the boy, when his face still looked worried and unsure.

David stalked into the inn, annoyed. He probably shouldn’t have drawn his dagger – at least he hadn’t drawn his sword – but he hadn’t liked the way the stable boy had eyed his squire, as if he was sizing him up for a fight. And he’d tried to refuse them, which was ludicrous and insulting as hell. He took a deep breath and calmed himself, remembering how pleasant most of the trip had been. It was just exhaustion getting to him, he knew, so he took a moment to compose himself before he entered the inn.

It was noisy, as he knew it would be. It wasn’t packed full, but full enough with people sitting at tables eating food and talking, and others leaning up against the bar with pints of ale and glasses full of wine. He shouldered past a few people as he fought his way up to the bar, his cloak skimming the ground.

“Well, if it isn’t Ser David Cook,” a raspy voice said amongst the din of patrons eating and talking. An older man with leathery, wrinkled skin appeared in front of him like magic, his white hair standing wildly on end. He had dark eyes that looked filmy, but David knew they could see just as well as any fresh-eyed young man. The old man grinned, showing off a mouth of yellowed teeth and swept into an exaggerated bow, refusing to come out of it until David huffed and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck.

“None of that you old man, get up, you look foolish,” David grumbled good-naturedly, quirking a smile at him. “You would happen to have room at this inn for a Ser David Cook, would you?”

“For you, Heka always has room,” Heka said with another broad grin. He clasped David’s shoulder firmly. “Single bed, yes? And you’ll be wanting some food I’ll bet.”

“Two beds this time Heka. I’m traveling with a squire now.” David couldn’t help the note of pride in his voice, and ducked his head modestly when Heka whistled and cackled.

“A personal squire, my, well alright, that’s doable.” Heka mumbled, shifting through a stack of papers. “Food for him too, huh?”

“Yes,” David agreed. “He’s taking care of the horses right now. Heka, I think it’s time you got new help in the stables.”

Heka looked up at him, his wide mouth curving down into a frown. “What do you mean?”

“One of your boys tried to refuse me and my mounts. He gave my squire lip.” David lifted an eyebrow.

“He will be gone in the morning,” Heka said with a flourish of his hand. “No boy of Heka’s will refuse Ser David Cook anything, or talk badly to his squire. Now, food!”

Heka scurried away and David pulled up a chair at a nearby table, smiling to himself. Before he moved to Vaith and began running the inn, Heka was sandfolk, a member of one of the traveling tribes that roamed the Dorne desert. No one knew how old he was, but David had known him since he was a little boy and he’d always seemed ancient, the years of hard living obvious in the deep lines in his face, and the scars on his hands and forearms. He was a good man, and fond of David, which is why David always came back to the Muddy Banks Inn, even though there were finer places in the big city. Heka always treated him the best.

Within minutes a serving girl placed a bowl of hot soup under his nose, with the promise that as soon as the cook was finished roasting the duck, it would be on his plate shortly. He thanked her and began to eat, keeping one eye on the front door as he watched for Archuleta.

The boy entered hesitantly ten minutes later, scanning the busy inn for David. His shoulders were tense and he looked even more tired than David felt. He was dirty, and there was hay clinging to his cloak, but David didn’t care. He lifted a hand and beckoned the boy over, then turned and summoned a serving girl to bring another bowl of soup for his squire.

“Are the horses settled?” David asked once Archuleta had sat down.

The boy nodded, breaking off a piece of bread and dipping it into his soup. “Yes. Flame took a little longer to calm down – I was afraid she’d break the stall door down if I left her too soon,” he said as he hungrily stuffed the bread into his mouth. “A servant came and took our things to our room apparently. I didn’t want to let him take it, but he insisted.”

“I told you, you should have picked another horse,” David muttered. “And it’s fine, that’s good. Our things will be waiting for us and we won’t have to drag them up there. I’m sure Heka sent the servant out to you.”

“I’m glad I picked her!” Archuleta protested. “At least we know no one will try and steal her.”

“Not unless they were touched in the head – I’m beginning to wonder if you are,” David teased, laughing when his squire blushed.

“Who is Heka?” Archuleta asked, when their plates of duck had been brought to them. As Vaith rested right on the river, much of their meat was waterfowl, and David preferred the fatty ducks they served than the greasy, fishy swan, so he dug in eagerly, already beginning to feel full.

“I am Heka,” the old man said, appearing out of nowhere. David chuckled at Archuleta’s soft sound of surprise. “And who are you?” the inn keeper asked in return, leaning close to peer at the boy with his dark, filmy eyes.

“Heka, be kind. This is my squire, David Archuleta.” David answered for Archuleta.

“Two Davids? My my my,” Heka tutted, shaking his head thoughtfully.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Archuleta said nervously, bobbing his head politely at the old Dornish man.

“It is a pleasure to serve the squire who serves Ser David Cook,” Heka replied, smiling kindly with those yellow teeth of his. “He is a great friend to Heka, since he was just a boy. You will be a great friend to Heka too, yes?”

David nodded in amusement when Archuleta glanced at him nervously, looking for approval.

“If it pleases my lord,” the boy said to Heka, and David was about to correct him and tell him Heka was no lord when he realized Archuleta meant him. He felt himself flush with unexpected pleasure, and smiled at Heka when Heka grinned at him.

“Acceptable terms,” the old man agreed, and clasped one of Archuleta’s hands in his. “Let me get you glass of Dornish wine, the finest wine in all the Seven Kingdoms. Don’t let those lying Redwynes fool you. I don’t care if their daughter is marrying the Prince, their vintage will never match one from Dorne, you’ll see.”

He vanished in a flash before Archuleta could protest, and David could see he did want to protest. David reached across the table and grabbed his squire’s wrist firmly, holding tightly until the boy looked at him in confusion.

“It would not be wise to refuse a Dornish man when he offers you wine,” David warned seriously, lifting an eyebrow. “He would find it extremely offensive.”

“I don’t drink wine very often,” Archuleta said, frowning.

“You’ll drink it tonight.” David released his grip on his squire’s wrist, though he didn’t look away from Archuleta’s gold-flecked eyes. He had meant to convey how serious he was, but instead had managed to get trapped in his gaze. “Just a few sips, and then if you want I will drink the rest. Though you may find you won’t want to give it back,” David said, leaning back with a grin. “Dornish wine is very good.”

Archuleta didn’t look convinced, but when Heka came back with a glass of sweet wine for him to try, he made all the appropriate noises, taking slow, little sips and praising the quality of the drink to Heka. Heka beamed at him, pleased, before bowing modesty and leaving them to the rest of their meal.

As soon as he was out of sight, the boy shoved the glass over to David, who laughed and took it without any qualms. He finished his own glass of wine, and Archuleta’s, and was feeling warm and drowsy by the time their plates were taken away and a maid came to show them to their rooms.

The girl led them up a flight of stars and down a narrow corridor to their room and curtsied when they reached the door. David could tell by the way she looked at him boldly and sighed noisily, and how she lingered by the door when they entered that she would easily allow him to take her to bed, perhaps even let both of them take her. He gave her an appraising look, and was almost tempted – she was typical of the sandy Dornish look, with smooth, dark brown skin and large dark eyes. She had long straight black hair with brightly colored threads braided into it, and she was maybe sixteen or seventeen, old enough that her maidenhood was probably not an issue. Not that the Dornish people put as much emphasis on maidenhood as the Northern kingdoms did – they were a sexually liberal nation, and the sun did not rise and set on whether or not a girl was a virgin when they were wed.

It wouldn’t be a good idea for tonight though, so David thanked the girl and offered her a copper for her trouble, telling her they’d have baths drawn as soon as possible. She looked a little disappointed, but curtsied again and thanked him, promising that they’d have their baths soon.

Archuleta was still checking their things, doing an inventory to make sure nothing had been stolen when the servants came with hot water and large enough basins to bathe in. David nodded in approval and then beckoned his squire over.

“Would you like me to help you with your clothes, Ser?” Archuleta asked when he’d abandoned their packs.

David nodded gratefully, and allowed Archuleta to worry about the clasps and snaps and ties of his clothing, sighing in relief as they were removed, one item at a time.

“Our clothes will need to be washed as well,” David told the servants when he’d stripped and there were two hot baths waiting for them. “You may take them now,” he said with nod, gesturing for Archuleta to undress as well. His squire turned pink at the prospect of undressing yet again in front of people, but he did as he was bid, quickly and efficiently, handing both sets of their dirty clothes over for the servants to take away.

David sank into his bath with a happy sigh, grabbing the bar of soap the servants had left balancing precariously on the lip of the washbasin. He scrubbed over his body in quick strokes, shivering as the dirt scrubbed away and left him feeling clean and fresh. He dunked his head twice and ran his fingers through his hair, shaking loose any sand and washing away the dried sweat. Next to him, Archuleta was doing the same at a more sedate pace, taking the time to run the soap over his chest and shoulders, under his arms and all the way down to his toes.

“Will our clothes be cleaned and dry when we leave in the morning?” Archuleta asked as David stood and picked up the bucket of clean water to pour over himself and wash off the soap.

“Probably. Heka is very good at what he does, and if I ask for clean clothes by morning, I’ll get clean clothes by morning. Besides, we won’t have to leave as early tomorrow – Sunspear isn’t too far from here.” He gasped as the cold water sloshed over his body and stole his breath, cursing and shivering.

Archuleta paused for a moment, the water in his basin making soft splashing noises. Then he stood up as well and repeated the motion that David had just done. David heard his sharp intake of breath and smirked, glad to know his squire’s cleansing water was just as cold as his own. They both stepped out of the bath and toweled off before slipping into dry nightclothes.

David summoned servants to take their used bath water and basins away, and finally, finally slipped into his bed, sighing happily as his head hit the pillow. The room was dark and quiet, only disturbed by the faint sounds of Archuleta settling into his own bed. David was just starting to welcome the warm embrace of sleep when he heard a soft, questioning sound from his squire’s bed.

“Cook?” the boy asked in a hushed voice. He sounded older in the dark, more his age when David wasn’t staring at his soft features.

David sighed, but answered dutifully. “Yes?”

There was silence for a long few moments, and David wondered if the squire had drifted off to sleep. He was working up the energy to be annoyed, when Archuleta spoke again.

“Thanks,” he said, sounding tired but content. “For taking me as your squire. For – for being kind to me.”

David swallowed past a rather unexpected lump in his throat, and smiled into the dark. He was glad Archuleta was happy because he realized he was happy too. He was pleasantly surprised with his timid squire, despite his initial misgivings, and even though they had a long way to go in their relationship, David felt like it would be okay. Maybe more than okay.

“It’s not a problem Archuleta,” he said, “you’re not so bad.”

David paused and listened – he could hear Archuleta’s soft, rhythmic breathing and knew he was asleep. It only took a few moments before sleep claimed him as well.

--

When David woke up, it was still dark. This was wrong. He was not supposed to be awake, it was too early, why was he awake? He felt so groggy, but upon hearing rustling noises – someone was moving in their room – he stiffened and forced himself alert.

“Archuleta,” he growled in a sleep-thick voice, “do you not understand the meaning of ‘sleeping in’? What are you doing up? Go back to bed, we’re still sleeping.” He struggled with the covers and turned over on his side in time to see a dark shadow creep closer to his bed. The light of dawn was barely peeking through their window, pale, pale pink and orange against the pitch black of the receding night.

“I’m just going to go check on the horses,” Archuleta whispered to him, a hand reaching out to presumably touch David reassuringly on the shoulder. Only he missed his target, and his fingertips trailed over David’s face instead. His touch was gentle, inquisitive as it bumped over the ridge of his brow and the slope of his nose. His fingers swept over his cheek, impossibly light, and then the hand disappeared. David watched through half-lidded eyes as his squire slipped out of their room almost silently, and rolled back over.

He reached up and skimmed his face with his own fingers, tracing the path Archuleta’s touch had taken. His skin tingled, and David roughly rubbed his hand over his entire hand, scrubbing away the last whispers of feeling Archuleta’s touch had left. He couldn’t sleep while Archuleta was out of bed however, and felt the worry eat at him, suddenly feeling very vulnerable, not knowing where Archuleta was exactly, or when he’d be back. It was hard to gauge exactly how long his squire was gone, and David was beginning to tense in his bed, ready to go looking for him, when the door to their room opened and shut, and Archuleta slipped in.

“How’re the horses?” David asked, surprised to find his voice was still gruff and hoarse, as if he was barely awake. He could have sworn his squire had been gone for hours, and he’d been lying awake, worrying, the whole time.

“Fine,” the boy whispered, walking silently past David’s bed. He hesitated at the foot of the bed. “Go back to sleep Ser,” he said finally before walking on and getting into his own bed.

Knowing that Archuleta was back in the room, their door locked, and into bed, and that he could sleep for at least a few more hours was all the permission David needed to fall back asleep. It was blissfully easy to welcome the darkness as he closed his eyes and thought of absolutely nothing.

--

“Cook,” someone was shaking him very gently. “Cook, wake up. It’s past dawn now, you should get up.”

David woke slowly and resisted the urge to drag Archuleta into a headlock, reminding himself he liked his squire, even though he was too fucking cheerful in the mornings for his own good.

“How long past dawn?” David asked grumpily. “How many hours?”

His squire stopped shaking him. “The sun is high in the sky,” he sniffed, sounding annoyed. “I let you sleep as long as I could. You said Sunspear was still a day’s ride away.”

David heard him walk away, and then suddenly the room was filled with light. He groaned dramatically and tried to pull the covers over his head to block the sunlight.

“Come on Cook! Get out of bed. I told Heka you’d be down for breakfast, and I’ve already gotten our things repacked. Just get dressed and go downstairs,” Archuleta coaxed, tugging the covers down from over David’s head.

David sighed dramatically and rolled until he was sitting upright, narrowing his eyes at his young squire.

“You’re obnoxious,” he said, pointing his finger accusingly at the boy. “But useful. All right, I’m coming. Have you got clothes for me? Ah, thank you.” David shed his nightclothes quickly and started pulling on his pants, lacing them quickly and quickly put on a shirt. Archuleta seemed to have busied himself with neatly stacking their trunks and packs by the door so the servants could gather them up with ease. David chuckled a little at the sight, slipping on a silk vest over his shirt and disregarding the cloak. He tugged on his boots and tied them up as well, before standing and spreading his arms for inspection.

“Well?” He said, “I’m ready. I’m going. See? I can be quick too.”

Archuleta tilted his head and smiled at him, perhaps one of the first true smiles David had really seen on him. It lit up his whole face, and his eyes seemed ever brighter and more translucent than ever, though that could have been the morning light reflected in them.

--

Breakfast was a huge affair, with a platter of fruit, a plateful of sliced meats and cheeses, and a huge bowl of rice pudding to choose from. David had burst out laughing when he saw the display and immediately started looking around in earnest, asking where the army they were supposed to feed with this much food was.

“Will you be terribly disappointed if I can’t eat all this food?” David asked Heka, a twinkle in his eye.

Heka nodded gravely. “Very disappointed. Very offended. Everything that I offer you, I offer you in respect and love, Ser Cook! It would be insulting if you did not accept my gifts.”

“Heka, if I eat all of this I will not be able to get on my horse. I will be too fat,” David argued, laughing.

“Wonderful! Then you will stay here and pay me lots of money for a room and more food and I will be richer than you will be fat, one day!”

David burst out laughing and even Archuleta had to giggle, though his squire covered his mouth politely. Heka just smiled widely at them, encouraging them to eat until they both refused more food, insisting they would burst and that they had to get going soon.

David thanked Heka for his hospitality and slipped him an extra silver piece and refused to take it back when the old innkeeper protested.

"Just keep it, you've earned it. I want you to eat well and live another thirty years, you hear me?" David said firmly, swinging up into Avalanche's saddle with help from his squire.

Heka shook his head, white hair floating in the breeze, but finally pocketed the silver. "Yes Ser. On your way back after the wedding, you'll stay at the Muddy Bank, won't you?"

David looked at him in surprise. "You're not going to the Prince's wedding?"

Heka waved a hand. "I have been to a dozen Dornish Royal weddings - they are all the same. I must stay here and work! There will be many foreign people needing a place to stay when they come for the ceremony. And when all the other places are closed, where will they come? To the Muddy Banks," Heka explained proudly. David only rolled his eyes and smiled.

"We'll see you on our way back," David promised. "Come on Archuleta, don't be slow. Sunspear awaits!"

Archuleta glared at him as he pulled himself into Flame's saddle and gathered up her reins, but he didn't bicker. He did, however, cluck to the mare and set off trotting down the road, leaving David in his dust.

David snorted in disbelief, digging his heels into his stallion's sides as he chased after his squire, Heka's laughter following him out.

--

They didn't talk as they fought through Vaith's crowded and noisy streets. Archuleta seemed content watching the city surge around him, and David had seen it all before so he merely blocked out the sounds. With David once again rightfully in the lead, they navigated past the merchants selling their goods, and out of the city, back on the main road that twisted it's way towards Sunspear. They left Vaith behind them, and the air became much stiller and quieter, more peaceful.

"Tell me more about your family," David asked of his squire when they'd put a few miles between the city and them.

Archuleta gave him an odd look. Now that they were out of the desert, they didn't need the silk mouth screens, and David noticed how the boy's mouth curved down ever so slightly at the question.

"I've told you all there is to know about them," he answered cautiously.

No you haven't, David thought to himself, but he didn't push. He shrugged instead. "We barely know each other," he pointed out casually, "I'm just trying to figure you out."

Archuleta stared at him with some complicated emotion hidden in the depths of his expression. Then he looked away and made a soft, noncommittal sound, like a sigh of permission. David studied him back and suddenly remembered something Archuleta had said a few days ago.

"You said your family spent three months in King's Landing as your father healed the King - but that's not true, is it?"

His squire sat up straight like he'd been hit by lightning, his spine stiff as a rod. Bingo, David thought triumphantly.

"It is true!" Archuleta protested quickly. "Why would I lie to you?"

That was a good question, actually, but David ignored it for now. "Maybe your whole family was there for three months, but you were there a lot longer, weren't you?" he asked, lifting an eyebrow questioningly.

Archuleta was quiet for a few moments, and then he nodded stiffly.

"How long?" David pushed.

"Eight months."

David whistled long and low. "You did your pagedom there, didn't you?" It wasn't really a question; David was just seeking an affirmation to his theory.

Archuleta nodded silently, his eyes staring straight ahead through Flame's pricked ears and deliberately not looking at David. David frowned.

"Look, I don't know what happened while you were there-" he began.

"Nothing happened," Archuleta said loudly. David rolled his eyes and snorted in contempt.

"Yeah right, listen, something happened, or you wouldn't have lied about it." David scoffed.

Archuleta ducked his head in embarrassment, acknowledging David was right with that slight gesture.

"I don't know what happened," David started again, a little more gently, "and I don't know why you don't want to talk about it, but I'm not going to force you to talk about it with me until you're ready." He studied his squire. "I hope you'll trust me enough to talk to me one day."

The boy did look at him then, and David felt a surge of gratification and hope, so strong that it took him by surprise, but his squire’s expression was sad and withdrawn. Still, Archuleta smiled a little bit, nodding his head in acceptance.

“I will remember,” Archuleta promised, and David nodded absently, tearing his eyes away from his squire to focus on the road before them.

“You know,” David said casually after a few minutes of awkward, uncomfortable silence. “It’s okay to ask me questions.”

His squire shot him an amused look, almost questioning, as if he wasn’t sure he was really being given the permission. David smirked back at him and lifted a hand, gesturing with his hand for him to go ahead and ask whatever he wanted. Whether or not David answered however, well, that was his prerogative.

“Alright,” Archuleta started slowly, mulling it over. “What about your family? How much older is Lord Adam than you?”

“Ten years,” David answered immediately, and then smiled wryly. “He was always so much bigger than me – he could have been cruel about it you know, but he wasn’t. He’s a great guy.”

“He’s married now?” his squire asked curiously.

David nodded. “They have two kids, a boy and a girl, barely as tall as my knees. I love them, the little shits,” he grinned.

Archuleta smiled back fondly, and David realized he wasn’t just asking because he didn’t know what else to ask, but because he genuinely cared. Faith and Family - the Archuleta House words. David suddenly felt under pressure, as though his squire would judge him if he didn’t answer correctly.

“And you said you had another brother? Um, a younger brother who is at Sunspear?”

“Andrew, yeah.” He held up four fingers. “He’s four years younger than I am and twice as annoying, if you can believe that. I also have a sister, though she was married to a Northern Lord, so I rarely see her. She’s got a few kids herself by now, but I haven’t met them yet.”

“Cook –“ Archuleta started hesitantly, “what happened to your father?”

He hadn’t been expecting that, although maybe he should have. They were talking about families, after all, and David’s father – well. He swallowed roughly against the thick emotion that welled up inside of him, and calmly forced it down. He had dealt with his grief a long time ago, and even though it liked to sneak up and surprise him, he was no longer an ill-behaved child who couldn’t control his emotions.

“My father was killed,” David said bluntly. “It was an accident. He was helping fix a roof on one of the storage shelters on one of the estates bordering ours, and the entire thing collapsed. He shouldn’t have been up there anyway – a servant’s task – but my father always liked to do things his way, or else it wasn’t done right he always said. By the time they dug through the rubble to get to him, he’d already been crushed and had died.”

Archuleta stared at him, horrified. “That’s awful!” he exclaimed in a heart-felt tone.

David shot him a grimly amused glance. “Death often is,” he quipped. Then he sighed. “I was nine when it happened. I didn’t understand how he could be dead. He lived through the fucking war, you know? He was always strong, always healthy. He had four children – how could something as trivial as a roof kill him?” He shook his head. “I was a menace that year. That’s what drove my mother to sending me to Dorne as a ward, I think, to get me out. I was too underfoot all the time, too much trouble, and my behavior was erratic and disobedient. Grief does that to children.”

His squire nodded sagely, as if he understood. He was quiet, listening intently, so David pressed on.

“I was sent to Dorne and Adam was suddenly the Lord of our House. While I was in Sunspear learning Rhoynish customs and manners at the strap of the Royal Maester, Adam was handling our income, the taxes, managing our household, and trying to find a wife so he could father the next Cook heir. At least he had our mother to help guide him.”

Adam was always going to be the next Cook Lord, so it wasn’t as if he was completely clueless when he had to step into their father’s shoes and become the head of the Household. David knew he had been studying under their Maester’s tutelage for some years, and he was grateful his older brother was so much older – mature enough to deal with their father’s death, in ways that he hadn’t been. Andrew had been too little – he was only five at the time, and he didn’t really understand their father was dead.

David wished it didn’t still sting so much, the loss of his father. He’d lived without him now for more years than he’d lived with him, and yet the pain still gnawed at him some time. Blood was certainly a thick thing, he thought to himself.

“And your mother? When did she meet and marry your step-father?” Archuleta asked with innocent curiosity.

“My mother was hounded with marriage proposals from the very day my father died,” David snorted in contempt. “A beautiful woman with status and land and a title – it didn’t come as a surprise that she was so desirable, of course, but it was tiresome for all of us. She held out three years before agreeing to marry Stan.”

He hesitated for a moment and then said, “It was the only time I was allowed home during my five years in Sunspear with the Martells. For the wedding. And of course, I went with an escort.”

He’d been miserable the whole time, David remembered. He would have rather stayed in Sunspear with the Prince and Princess, but Adam had wanted him there, and he couldn’t refuse his older brother’s demands. He’d been good through the whole ceremony, congratulating his lady mother on her new union and being polite and respectful to Stan, though of course Maester Etole had been by his side the whole time, a constant reminder to behave. He had felt numb, and going back to Sunspear afterwards had been a relief.

“It must have been nice to see your family again,” Archuleta commented.

“It was,” David said, deciding not to divulge how angry he’d been during the ceremony, and how Andrew had screamed at him for leaving him there while a stranger came into their home, and how Adam had barely spoken ten words to him the whole time. “But I liked Dorne. I did my pagedom there, when I returned as their ward after the wedding, and when Adam called me back to the House after a full five years, I was already a squire to a Dornish knight.” He shrugged his shoulders. “I didn’t really go home until the knight I served released me from his service. And then I was called to King’s Landing, where I was knighted under King Robert Baratheon and now –“ he smirked, patting Avalanche’s neck firmly, “- I serve the realm. Which of course is mostly riding around, going to tournaments, and breaking up common skirmishes when applicable.”

His squire seemed to shift uncomfortably on top of his mount, rearranging the excess reins he held so they lay on the opposite side of Flame’s neck. “We are blessed to live in a peaceful era,” he said diplomatically.

David smiled wryly, but said nothing more on the subject. Yes, they lived in a peaceful time, but for how long?

“Come on,” he said, changing the subject, “let’s canter for a bit. We want to get to Sunspear before nightfall, don’t we?”

Archuleta gave him a look, but nodded and kicked Flame into a canter, as David did they same. Their conversation dried up as the horses’ hooves beat against the path, and the wind whistled in their ears.

--

By late afternoon, they reached the Greenblood River. It was a wide, slow moving, and shallow river, and aptly named – it’s murky depths were green with scrum, and made quite the impression as they drew closer.

“Oh!” Archuleta said in surprise, his eyes widening as he gazed upon the river. David smirked to himself.

“The name fits, doesn’t it?” David said, leaning over a little. From this vantage point, the river really did look like green blood, thick and oozing.

“I wasn’t expecting –“ Archuleta started hesitantly, still gazing wonderingly at the river, “- I mean, I thought it was just a name. This is incredible.”

David shrugged. He’d seen it dozens of times before. “The only thing that’s really different about it is that it’s harder to spot the lizard-lions lurking under the water. The green helps camouflage them.”

“What!” Archuleta turned to stare at him, open-mouthed with shock. “I thought they only lived in the Neck! How are we supposed to cross the river with the horses if lizard-lions are in there?”

David couldn’t help but laugh at his squire’s fear, and pointed to the river. “Look – that’s how we’ll get across.”

He grinned in amusement as Archuleta’s attention snapped to the river, and saw the look of recognition and understanding when he found what David had been pointing to. There were several little boats floating down the Greenblood, house-boats, with low roofs and beautifully painted designs on their hull. Men with long poles steered them along, passing each other serenely on the wide river.

“Who are they?” Archuleta asked as they rode closer. “Their boats look very old.”

“That’s because they are old,” David said. “These are the Orphans of the Greenblood, descendents of the first Rhoynish people in Dorne.”

At Archuleta’s blank, confused look, he sighed and halted Avalanche to explain further. “Sometimes I forget most northern folk aren’t educated about Dornish history. Alright, the Rhoynar were one of Dorne’s first settlers, centuries ago, before Westeros was all one nation and still split in Seven Kingdoms. They came from across the narrow sea, where they used to live on the river Rhoyne, led by Nymeria – you at least know about the warrior queen Nymeria, don’t you? – and she helped unite Dorne into one nation. The Rhoynar and the Dornish have since mingled, but there are still Rhoynish descendents who choose to live the way their ancestors did. They’ve chosen the Greenblood as their ‘mother River’ so to speak, and consider themselves Orphans, cut off from their true home. Does that make sense?”

“Er,” Archuleta said, “I guess so? They’re – Rhoynish people who practice really old Rhoynish customs?”

“Yes,” David said simply, even though it was maybe a bit more complicated than that. “Basically. Listen, I’ll set Maester Etole loose on you when we get to the capitol – that man is obsessed with Dornish history – but for now just know that they can help us get across the river with our horses without getting gobbled up by lizard-lions.”

Archuleta still looked dubious, but apparently he put faith in the fact that David had made this trip dozens of times, and had so far gone back and forth unscathed, because he didn’t protest and accompanied David when he went down the riverbanks to get close enough to catch the attention of the Rhoynish people.

It wasn’t difficult to flag down a boat and ask one of the Orphans to ferry them across the river. After all, these people were approached almost every day by travelers as a means of transportation. It was a part of their livelihood. They were mostly traders, true, but they traded coin well enough, and David’s coins were good enough to get them transport across the river. They had to dismount their horses and somehow coax Flame onto the small, rickety boat, due to the low roof that was built above.

“She’s stubborn,” the man who would be poling them across the river commented, as Archuleta struggled with his mare.

“Come on Flame, come on!” he cajoled her, pleading, “It’s just a boat! It’s not going to hurt you –“

David was watching with his arms folded across his chest, amused. “Yeah,” he commented to the Rhoynish man, “you’re telling me. C’mon Archuleta, get her up there or we’re leaving her here, and you’re riding behind me on Avalanche.”

Archuleta pulled even more frantically on his mare’s lead. “I expect better from you!” he hissed at the horse, who snorted in his face before finally taking a cautious step. Before long, Archuleta had gotten her completely on board, and motioned for the Rhoynish man to push off shore so they could get across quickly – hopefully, without Flame realizing she was on a boat.

David mock-pouted at his squire. “Didn’t know you hated riding double so much, Archuleta,” he teased.

Archuleta flushed, still keeping a tight grip on Flame’s headstall. “It’s not you, it’s me Ser,” he said with a straight face. Both David and the Rhoynish man laughed loudly, and Archuleta gave him a flickering little smile in response.

It was far easier to get the horses off the boat than it had been to get them on, and they were settled and ready to go by the time David had thanked their guide and paid him. When he turned and saw the road that would lead them to Sunspear, he couldn’t help the wild grin that erupted on his face.

“Almost there,” he sang happily, letting Archuleta help him up into the saddle. “Sunspear is just a few hours away, and I’ll be so glad when we get there.”

The truth was he missed the palace. He missed his friends. He missed his brother. Sunspear was his second home, the place where he did most of his important growing up and learning, and the place where he felt the most wanted. He was always welcome by the Prince and Princess at Sunspear, always treated as an honored guest and he usually found a use for himself while he was there. That wasn’t always true at the Cook estate, though it would always be his true home, the place of his birth.

“You’re going to love it,” he told his squire enthusiastically. “I can’t see how you wouldn’t. And we’ll have a day or two to spend with the Royal family before the tourney starts, and they’ll all be busy with the guests, and planning the wedding. I’m glad we left when we did, or else I’d never get to spend any time with the Prince.”

“You’re really excited, aren’t you?” Archuleta commented, sounding bemused.

“They’re my best friends,” David admitted, smiling. “Wouldn’t you be excited to see your best friends again?”

His squire just smiled at him for a few moments, almost fond, before nodding. “Of course,” he answered softly, “of course I would be.”

--

David entertained Archuleta on the last leg of their journey by reciting the old song ’The Bear and the Fair Maiden’, singing the lyrics joyfully and putting on deeper or higher voices when he sang the bear and the maiden’s parts. It kept his squire in giggles and it helped pass the time until they finally trotted up to Sunspear’s gates.

Sunspear itself was not a terribly impressive city. The houses and walls were made of mud and sand and straw, and everything was brown and beige colored. Even the people had brown skin and brown eyes and brown and black hair, blending into the walls of the city. But then they turned a corner and there was another set of gates, but these were gilded gold and stood much higher than the city gates. Beyond them, the palace and the Sun Tower loomed above the city, far more grandiose and elegant in design and material. David saw Archuleta’s eye light up with interest the closer they got, and grinned to himself. The palace had huge, beautiful stained glass windows all around, and they made the palace sparkle like a multi-faceted gem, different colors glittering from every angle.

“It’s beautiful,” Archuleta said in awe. “I don’t think the Red Keep in King’s Landing is this beautiful!”

David nodded to himself, allowing himself to be a little awed too, though this had been his home for five years of his life, and he’d been here a dozen times more. He could hear the sea from where they were, and looked past the palace to see the Sun Tower spiraling up on the cliffs, over looking the sea.

“The city around it may be mud and mortar, but the palace at Sunspear is a thing to behold,” David murmured under his breath. They had reached the third set of gates, the ones just outside the courtyard of the palace, made of curving ivory and more for show than actual defense. The courtyard was lush with well-groomed plants and flowers, a beautiful pond with black swans swimming docilely at the center of it.

“We’ll wait here for someone to come and greet us,” David informed his squire, halting Avalanche just outside the ivory gates. Archuleta looked around curiously, and patted Flame when she pawed at the graveled ground impatiently.

“How will they know we’re here?” Archuleta looked intently at the ivory gates, noticing nothing but a few birds that chirped as they balanced carefully on the beautiful fence.

"You think these gates don't have guards?" David asked in amusement, his mouth curving up at Archuleta's conflicted expression.

"I don't see anyone," Archuleta said slowly, once again raking his eyes over the scene in front of them. And it was true – the gates appeared to be unguarded, although they could only be opened from the inside.

"Let me put it this way," David said patiently, "Do you think these gates don't have spies?"

Archuleta stiffened, suddenly looking tense. David observed curiously, wondering why his squire had such a visceral reaction to something David would have assumed was common knowledge. He said nothing about it, but filed that particular reaction away for later.

They were both distracted by the appearance of three riders approaching the gates on the other side. A wizened, old man draped in colorful silks at the front, and what looked like two guards in cloaks flanking him. David smiled broadly and nudged Avalanche closer to the gates, lifting a hand in greeting as the riders got close enough to speak.

"Are you sure you should be on a horse, Maester?" David asked in mock concern.

"I am not too old to give you a good beating," the old man said calmly, fixing David with a severe look. His face was sun weathered, with deep grooves that mapped the many years he'd been alive. His hair was a dark silver and neatly trimmed underneath his square Maester's hat.

“And I remember those well,” David muttered under his breath, grimacing slightly at the memory. The Dornish Maester’s attention was no longer on him, however, but directed solely towards David’s squire.

“And who is your companion?” Maester Etole regarded Archuleta coolly with his steely, unwavering gaze. “Surely not a present for his Highness, this close to the wedding.” The Maester shot David a sharp look.

Archuleta looked horrified. David wasn’t sure if it was because of the implications of being a present, or if it was simply the influence of the Maester himself. Maester Etole could be – intense. David only laughed, shaking his head ruefully at his old teacher.

“No, no, I wouldn’t do that. Don’t you trust me? This is my squire, David Archuleta.” He presented the boy to Maester Etole with a flourish and arched an eyebrow, waiting patiently for the old man’s judgment. Archuleta, to his credit, seemed to sense the Maester was one he needed to impress, because he bowed low enough on top of his horse that his nose brushed against Flame’s red mane. His eyes were wide and his face was pale, but he had regained his manners and composure, despite Maester Etole’s serious face.

“It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance David Archuleta,” Maester Etole said gravely, bowing to the boy, though not nearly as low as Archuleta had done. “I wish you luck in your endeavor to serve Ser Cook. I expect you will need it.”

Archuleta flushed a little, two points of color high on his cheeks, clearly unsure of what to say to that. David only rolled his eyes and gestured to the gates.

“We ask permission to enter the Palace of Sunspear as humble guests of the Prince and Princess Martell,” David recited dutifully, in a bored voice. It never mattered how many times he visited as an honored guest, much less a humble one, he’d never gotten through the Ivory Gates without saying those words.

Maester Etole’s mouth seemed to tighten in either amusement or annoyance – David couldn’t quite tell which it was – and then he nodded sharply and called for his guards to step forward.

“Permission granted,” he said, and the guards leapt off their horses to open the gates to David and Archuleta, allowing them access to the Palace courtyard. David nodded at them as he led the way through the gates and into the courtyard, stopping next to Maester Etole.

“Thank you,” he flashed his most charming grin that, typically, had no affect on the Maester.

“We’ll go to the stables to situate your horses, and then we’ll proceed to the throne room. The Prince and Princess have already been informed of your arrival, and should be ready to accept you by the time I escort you to the throne room.”

“You’re not going to let us clean up first? We’ve been traveling all day, Maester Etole,” David argued with a frown. They were being formally presented in front of the Dornish Royalty, and it would be his squire’s first introduction to the Martell family – he would have liked to have been given a chance to wipe the sweat and grime off of them both before such an event.

The Maester appraised them critically. “Perhaps that would be wise, if you’re quick.”

Archuleta was mute beside him, but David wasn’t exactly surprised. It wasn’t as if his squire was the chattiest at the best of times, and the oppressive weight of meeting the Maester of the Royal Martell family was surely pressing on his shoulders. David snuck a quick glance at the young boy, and saw that his eyes were cast downward and that his lips were pursed in a firm line, neither curving up or down. He wasn’t even steering, merely allowing Flame to follow the horse in front of her as they made their way towards the beautiful stables of Sunspear.

“Hey,” David legged Avalanche closer to Archuleta’s horse so he could keep his voice low. “Don’t worry, he has that effect on everyone at first.”

Archuleta looked up in surprise. “What? Oh –“ he said, his eyes flicking to the front, where Maester Etole was riding in the lead. “It’s not him, really!”

David shook his head ruefully, smiling a little. “You’re a terrible liar. He’s not that bad, I swear. He takes his job very seriously though.”

“Did he –“ Archuleta’s eyes were wide, and very clear. David tilted his head curiously, willing his squire to go on. The boy licked his lips nervously before continuing, his voice so soft David had to strain to hear it. “Did he really beat you? When you were a ward here I mean,” the squire added hastily, as if he might insult David by implying the Maester could still punish him, despite David’s ‘Ser’ status.

David chuckled softly. “Yes he did, and I deserved every licking I got. Made me a much better person – which should tell you just what a terror I was as a kid.” He winked at Archuleta. “Didn’t you have a Maester growing up? Or were you just so good you never knew the sharp end of a switch?”

“We didn’t – I didn’t grow up – um, it was only my mother. My mother taught us our letters and maps and punished us if we misbehaved,” Archuleta explained awkwardly, and David realized that he’d stuck his foot in his mouth again. Of course Archuleta hadn’t grown up with a Maester – only Lords had Maesters in their households, and the Archuletas were a newly minted House. He felt stupid.

“Right, of course. I’d forgotten.”

Their conversation was cut short by Maester Etole halting in front of a large, low-roofed building – they had arrived at the stables.

“Go ahead and dismount,” the older man instructed, carefully but confidently sliding out of his own saddle and handing his horse’s reins over to a small, dark-skinned stable-boy who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

Archuleta dismounted, but clutched at Flame’s reins hesitantly. The groom who hovered near him, ready to take his horse, seemed conflicted – he clearly wanted to do his job, yet was too intimidated by the Maester and by David to dare to speak to David’s squire.

“Go on boy,” the Maester barked, when he saw Archuleta was hesitating, “give him your mare. The Prince and Princess wait for no man, not even for your Knight.”

His squire flushed with embarrassment. “I’m very sorry Maester, it’s just –“ Archuleta fidgeted. “Flame doesn’t like a lot of people. I don’t want her to hurt anyone… Perhaps Ser Cook should go on ahead without me, and I’ll settle the horses myself. He can come and collect me after meeting with –“

“Absolutely not,” David said, putting his foot down. He glared sternly at Archuleta. “I will not meet with the Prince and Princess without my squire present. These boys aren’t common grooms like the ones in Vaith, they’re horse-boys, hand-picked by the Royal family to care for Dorne’s most prized possessions. Give him your reins, Archuleta. I promise, they will handle her right.”

For a moment it almost appeared as if Archuleta wanted to argue, or still refuse him, but then he crumpled and cautiously allowed the groom to take control of Flame. There was a moment where Flame balked, her ears pinned and her muscles taut, but then the boy made a soft clucking nose, wiggling the reins gently under her chin, and she gave in, following him calmly. Archuleta’s body relaxed, and he turned back to David and Maester Etole.

“Now that that’s cleared up,” the Maester said dryly, clearly unimpressed with being kept waiting, “I’ll show you to your quarters. Your things will be delivered later, but you can at least wash the dust off your face before I take you to the throne room.”

Maester Etole led them towards the Palace at a brisk walk, not bothering to look back to check to see if they were following.

"Your quarters will be on the east side, facing the sea and the morning sun," Maester Etole explained. "You'll be in the same section but not the same wing as the Royal family's rooms. You're being given this privilege due to Ser Copk's status and history with the Martell family. I assume you'll want to be quartered together?" The Maester calmly glanced back at them as they approached two massive double doors on the far side of the palace - not even the main entrance, but a side one.

"Together will do fine, if you have accommodations for us both," David answered, cutting Archuleta off before his squire could offer to sleep in the servant's quarters or, knowing him, the stables.

He tried to sneak glances at his squire as they entered the palace, watching the play of emotions that crossed Archuleta’s face. The Dornish Palace wasn’t like any castle in the North – the very first difference being that it wasn’t a castle at all. It wasn’t made out of thick grey stones and mortar, but out of the sand and mud mixture that almost everything in Dorne was built from. The walls were smooth and rounded, no sharp corners, and the roof was high. The floors weren’t drab packed dirt or cold stone, but a myriad of colorful tiles arranged in a beautiful mosaic beneath their feet.

Archuleta was gaping openly, looking almost afraid to walk on the meticulously designed tiles.

“These are amazing,” he murmured softly, his eyes following the spiraling sun design on the floor.

“I don’t need to remind you we’re on a bit of a schedule,” the Maester said impatiently, causing David to laugh and put his hand on Archuleta’s lower back, pushing him forwards gently.

“C’mon, you can admire the décor later. I’m anxious to introduce you to the Prince and Princess – and then maybe they’ll even feed us afterwards.” His eyes flicked up to Maester Etole, but the old man acted like he hadn’t heard David at all.

Their room was huge and luxurious and round, just like most of the rooms in the palace. There were, of course, more standardized guest rooms for other visiting knights and dignitaries, but because David was practically family he got to stay in the finer section of the palace. There was a wide window facing outward that looked over the Sea of Dorne, and as David leaned out of it and looked down, and he saw their particular room sat on the cliffs. He laughed and drew back, turning to face the Maester.

“Trying to get us to fall to our deaths?” he asked casually, jerking a thumb at the window. Archuleta hadn’t moved from the doorway, his head craned upwards as he looked at the high, vaulted ceiling and ornate crystal chandelier that hung from it.

The Maester sniffed indignantly. “Well, don’t lean out of it like a fool and perhaps you will not fall. If you fall, it will be your own fault, and by no plot of mine. Go ahead and shed your travel cloaks, the servants are bringing basins of water for you to wash your hands and faces with, and then we really must go.”

“Maybe the Princess will actually be on time if we’re late,” David suggested, unclasping his dirty riding cloak and draping it on one of the finely made chairs in the room. He removed his jacket as well, deciding to attend the throne room in only his shirt, vest and breeches. It would have to do.

“I doubt that,” the Maester murmured, stepping out of the doorway as several servant girls hurried in and knelt in front of David and Archuleta with the basins of water balanced above their heads.

This ritual was normal for David, so he automatically dunked his hands into the basin of water and began to scrub the dirt from his beneath his fingernails and from his forearms, but Archuleta was hesitating, looking bewildered.

“What are you doing?” David asked, shooting him a concerned look. “The water isn’t going to burn you.”

“But – she’s underneath it!”

David blinked for a moment, and then remembered that Archuleta wasn’t accustomed to Dornish servants. Even if Archuleta had grown up in a royal household, or even just in a Lord’s household, it was true that the servants in Dorne took thing to the next level so to speak. He shrugged and leaned over the basin to splash water on his face, rubbing his face vigorously and wiping off the dust and sand from his travels.

“Its only going to take you a few minutes, and this is the most efficient,” David explained patiently. “This is her job, Archuleta. Like your job is to serve me, she is serving us in this moment. Don’t act so scandalized.”

David watched critically as Archuleta slowly and hesitantly began to wash his hands and face, trying so carefully not to slosh water onto the serving girl. He sighed, grabbing a towel and dried his hands and face briskly.

“Are you ready?” Maester Etole’s voice brought David back to the present. “You look a bit more presentable now – as well as can be expected under the circumstances. Come with me.”

David turned and smiled widely at his squire, who was white as a sheet and looked terrified.

“Ready to meet Dornish Royalty?” he asked with a twinkle in his eye. Archuleta winced and shook his head, and David laughed.

“It’ll be a piece of cake,” David soothed, guiding Archuleta out the door with a hand on his shoulder. “You lived as a guest of the King of all the Seven Kingdoms for nearly eight months – a harmless little Prince and Princess shouldn’t intimidate you so much.”

“But they’re more than just a Prince and Princess,” Archuleta hissed to him, trying to keep his voice low, as they’d acquired two guards on their way towards the throne room – security that David doubted they needed, but appreciated none-the-less. “They’re you’re friends. I don’t want to make a bad impression.”

He looked so earnest and worried that David could only smile fondly at him for a few minutes before shaking his head and squeezing Archuleta’s shoulder in reassurance.

“You won’t make a bad impression. Do you know why? Because you made a good impression with me.”

He winked at the blushing boy and felt a huge surge of self-satisfaction well inside of him.

--

The throne room was located in the Tower of the Sun, a tall, domed building gilded with gold and decorated with leaded glass. The circular throne room sat directly below the dome, and was a large, round room with huge stained glass windows all around, and a beautiful marble floor, different from the rest of the palace, which was tiled mosaics. The light that filtered in cast green and red and blue sunbeams on the white marble, and David looked over at his squire just in time to see him bathed in a beam of pink, his expression awed and wondering. The capitol at King’s Landing was surely impressive, David knew, but nothing beat the beauty and elegance of Sunspear.

He smiled to himself, casting his eyes away from Archuleta and instead looking towards the two nearly identical thrones situated on top of the dais in the front of the room. They were exquisitely designed chairs, with none of the blunt of savagery of the Iron Throne with its sharp edges and dangerous points. These matching thrones were made for luxury and elegance, fit for any Dornish Prince or Princess. The only difference between the two thrones was that one boasted the Martell Spear, and the other displayed the shining Martell Sun, the two symbols that made up their sigil.

Maester Etole led David and his squire to the center of the room, facing the dais where the Prince and Princess of Dorne sat in their thrones, flanked by their personal guards and their loyal subjects, who stood formally and humbly to the side.

David caught his brother’s eye, standing on the far left behind the Prince, and grinned, patting his right chest pocket knowingly. I've got a message for you. His brother smiled briefly and then rolled his eyes in acknowledgement of the not so subtle signals David was sending him. David took a moment to really look at Andrew and evaluate how much he'd changed since the last time David had seen him. He looked older, less like a gangly, goofy teenager and more like a man. Time with the Martells would do that to a person, David mused wryly.

Maester Etole cleared his throat, and David snapped his attention back to the task at hand.

"Kneel before His Royal Highness, Prince Andrew Skib Martell, and Her Royal Highness Alexis Skib Martell, Heir and Heiress to the Kingdom of Dorne, under the reign of King Robert Baratheon of the Seven Kingdoms."

The Prince and Princess were both beautiful examples of the classic Dornish Royal blood. Their skin was a smooth olive color and they had long, shiny black hair. Andy's hair fell around his ears, while his sister's spilled all the way down her back in waves. She was wearing the thin, sheer, gauzy pants and cropped top that most women in Dorne wore to avoid the heat. The opaque pale purple color did nothing to hide the curves of her body. David could see the tips of Archuleta’s ears turning bright red as he averted his eyes from Alexis. Andy was wearing dove-colored cotton pants that hung loose on his legs, and a plain blouse that was open at the neck and half-way down his chest. Sitting side by side like that, they were not the poster children of modesty, though in Dorne modesty was not as revered a trait as it was in the more northern states.

They could have been twins, Andy and Alexis, they were so similar, but Alexis was actually a few years older and therefore the heir. In Dornish law it wasn't the eldest son who inherited, merely the eldest child regardless of gender – although at this point in their lives, it could go either way. Andy was about to marry Jennie Redwyne and no doubt produce heirs – if Alexis failed to marry and have children, Andy would become heir by default. Or perhaps she may just step away from her duties – for as long as David had known her, Alexis had never wanted the responsibilities that came with being Princess of Dorne.

David knelt automatically, but Archuleta seemed to be too intimidated to move, frozen on his feet. David made an annoyed sound and wrapped his hand in Archuleta’s cloak, tugging him down bodily until the boy dropped to his knees with a start, bowing his head and biting his lip in embarrassment. He shouldn’t be that intimidated. True, the Dornish people treated their Prince and Princess as royals, and all custom and culture demanded they be treated as such, yet technically Dorne was simply just one of the Seven Kingdoms under King Robert’s reign, and had no true independence outside of pretty words and customs. They had no more power than any other Ruling House – save their political leverage, but even that had been stretched thin. Archuleta’s father had healed the King of the Seven Kingdoms, and Archuleta had spent over three months in close proximity with the entire Royal family, and yet somehow he was nervous and embarrassed in front of the Martell family.

“I present Ser David Roland Cook and his squire, David James Archuleta to the court,” Maester Etole said gravely, sounding every inch the professional he was. David bowed his head briefly before lifting his eyes and making eye contact with Andy, grinning a little when he saw the broad smile on his friend’s face.

“Rise,” the Prince said, sounding a little informal. “Ser Cook – you’re early.” His eyes were twinkling slightly. “That’s rare.”

David managed to grab Archuleta’s elbow and hauled him to his feet as he rose, making sure the boy didn’t overbalance and fall over while smiling charmingly to the Prince and Princess.

“I wanted to get here and make sure I got a good room before the masses arrived,” David explained. “Perhaps being settled in early will give me the upper hand for the tournament.”

“I doubt that,” Alexis said dryly, smirking at him. David resisted the urge to pout at her, and merely inclined his head a little in respectful deference – Maester Etole was fidgeting to the side of him, clearly uncomfortable by all the informality happening in the throne room.

“So you have a squire,” Andy pointed out, looking interested. “Step forward.”

Archuleta took a small step in front of David, but he didn’t tremble and he didn’t slouch.

“Your name is David too?” Andy asked. Archuleta nodded. “That’s quite a coincidence.”

“He calls me by my surname, your Highness,” Archuleta said. His little shoulders shrugged up and down. “It’s not so bad.”

“I was hoping I could get your help on a nickname,” David interjected, lifting an eyebrow at the Prince. “Since you’re so good at them.”

He shot a glance at Andy’s personal guard, Neal, who shifted subtly behind the Prince’s throne, and Andy laughed brightly at the implication.

“We’ll think of something,” the Prince promised.

“Do you accept Ser Cook and his squire as guests in the Dornish palace for as long as they wish to stay?” Maester Etole interrupted suddenly, looking impatient and annoyed with their idle chatter. He was a strict Maester, and to him the court was a place for serious business and formal custom, not for familiar conversation.

Alexis wasn’t even paying attention – she looked bored. Andy nodded sharply and sat up a little straighter.

“The Martell family accepts and welcomes you and your guest into our home, Ser,” Andy recited formally. “We will endeavor to serve you as fit, and in return we ask that you submit to Dornish law and custom during your stay within our borders. Is this acceptable?”

David thought it was ridiculous that he had to go through every time he visited the capitol, but it was tradition.

“We accept these terms and thank you for your generosity. May the sun always rise on the Martell family,” David intoned quietly, bowing his head again.

Maester Etole relaxed a fraction and nodded briefly in approval. Andy smiled, just a quirk of the lips, before lifting his hand dismissively.

“You may go,” he announced, and then David and Archuleta were led firmly out of the throne room and towards one of the main halls.

--

“Are we free now?” David asked the Maester once they’d been escorted out.

“Yes, you are. Supper will be served an hour before the sun sets – the Prince has requested your presence and you will be seated by him. Would you like your squire to attend you? A servant will be provided if necessary.”

David gave Archuleta an assessing look. “He can eat with the other squires tonight, if you have any in attendance. We’ll be there, Maester. Don’t look so pinched.”

Maester Etole’s face seemed to only grow more serious. “Having you around is giving me flashbacks to when you were a ward,” he said in a flat monotone. David bit back a laugh. “I still reserve the right to take a switch to you if you’re late,” he warned.

“You taught me well,” David soothed, “I won’t be late.”

In a flurry of robes and the clinking of his many-linked necklace, the Maester was gone, leaving Archuleta and David alone in the hallway. Archuleta looked a little shell-shocked, but seemed to be holding up alright.

“Are you doing okay there?” David asked, waving his hand in front of his squire’s face. “I promise you Andy and Alexis are not that intimidating. Okay well, Alexis is, maybe. But I doubt she even noticed you – she’s not easily impressed and you were kind of mute in there.”

“I didn’t want to say the wrong thing,” Archuleta sighed heavily, looking forlorn. “It’s a lot different being presented as someone squire than it is being presented as someone’s son.”

“You did fine,” David assured him, and clapped him on the shoulder with one hand. “Come on, I’d like to find my brother.”

It was a good thing David had practically grown up in the palace, or else it would have been very cruel for Maester Etole to just dump them in the middle of that hallway with no discernable markings or directions. As it was, David just steered his squire away from the Tower of the Sun and towards where he knew the front of the palace lay, where his brother was probably loitering at that very moment, avoiding work and waiting for him.

Sure enough, it didn’t take David more than fifteen minutes to find Andrew.

“Is that my little brother?” David teased once he got close enough, opening his arms up to sweep Andrew into a bear hug.

“Little maybe not so much,” Andrew said back, grinning at their matching height. Shit, he really had grown. David could have sworn he’d had at least a few inches on him the last time he’d visited.

“Glad to see all this sea-air is doing wonders for your growth,” he pushed Andrew away with a laugh and then stroked his hand along his breast, searching for the pocket that held Andrew’s letter.

“I’ve got something for you,” he waved the folded paper in front of his brother’s face after extricating it from his pocket. “It’s from Adam. He told me not to peek, whatever that means, and look – seal is still intact. I was so good, wasn’t I Archuleta?”

Archuleta seemed startled by the sudden attention, and swayed on the spot as his brain tried to catch up with what was going on.

“Oh!” he exclaimed. “Yes, very good. Didn’t even hold it up to the light,” Archuleta promised earnestly, leaving David feeling amused and fond.

Andrew looked suspiciously between the letter, David, and David’s squire.

“Right,” he said skeptically, and snatched his letter up. “Thanks. Where did you get the kid from?”

“Stan,” David shrugged, like that explained everything.

“Stan,” Andrew groaned, laughing a little – because it did explain everything. David grinned at his brother while Archuleta just hovered in the background, looking confused and unsure. “I feel sorry for you,” Andrew muttered under his breath.

David felt a hot surge of defensiveness swell inside of him, despite the fact that this was his brother and he was the one who had started the teasing anyway. “He’s not so bad,” David protested, glancing over his shoulder at his squire. “He’s been damn good so far anyway, and I like him well enough. I think I’ll keep him.”

“Hmm,” Andrew mused thoughtfully. His eyes were just a little too knowing – fuck, David hated how much more observant he was now. A few years ago he wouldn’t have paid attention to David’s demure squire at all, and David didn’t trust his calculating gaze. “Which House did you say he was from?”

“Archuleta.”

Andrew’s head jerked in surprise.

“As in the Healer Archuleta?” he asked intently, his eyes sharp in a way that reminded David of their older brother. “The one who healed the King – Jeff Archuleta?”

“Yes,” David said hesitantly, eyes narrowing. “David is his eldest son. Why? What do you know about that?” David certainly hadn’t connected the dots when he’d first met his squire, how could his younger brother have picked up on that so fast?

Andrew snorted inelegantly. “All I do all day is field letters, and read tomes, and study maps. I’ve picked up a lot. It was quite a miracle what he did, wasn’t it?” Andrew directed his question towards Archuleta, leaning around David to face him head on. David hadn’t even realized he’d stepped in front of his squire like that. He swung around to monitor the boy’s reaction, unaware that he and his brother had adopted the exact same stance – head cocked to the side, arms folded in front of their chests.

“Um, I suppose. My father is a very good healer – but I’m sure he had a bit of luck as well,” Archuleta answered meekly, his eyes shifting between the two Cook brothers anxiously. His eyes sought David’s face, looking for approval or comfort or – something. David wasn’t sure, but he smiled reassuringly anyway.

“It was a great thing he did, and the prize – nobility – was well earned. I feel like I should congratulate you, only you had to be stuck with my oaf of an older brother as a knight, so instead I offer my condolences.” Andrew’s dry, cutting humor made him popular amongst a lot of his peers, but David predicted it wouldn’t exactly translate for Archuleta. He was so literal, and so damn humble, and loyal – all of the things a good knight should be, David realized belatedly.

Sure enough, Archuleta’s face twisted in confusion, but before he could open his mouth and protest and sing David’s praises or something, David turned to his brother sharply and cut him off.

“That’s cute Andrew. You’re just jealous you’re here with the Maester and I’ve got my very own squire – I know you want one for yourself, don’t lie,” he teased easily.

Andrew rolled his eyes. “Yeah, it’s so hard living in a palace like this,” he said with a flashing, mocking smile. Still, David could hear the undertone of bitterness in his voice – he’d hit a vein of truth somewhere. Living as a ward away from the family, away from home could make anyone feel like an outcast. He sighed a little and reached up to clasp Andrew’s shoulder.

"Well, I know mother misses you at home while you’re here. By the way," David grabbed his brother's head firmly in both hands, grinning wickedly. "This is from her."

Andrew started to struggle and pull away as soon as David had grabbed him, but David was too strong and too fast, and he swooped forward to place a wet, smacking kiss on his little brother's forehead, mimicking the gesture his mother had bestowed on him when he left for Dorne. Andrew yelled wordlessly and started to flap his hands at David’s face, swatting at him with wild, uncoordinated movements. David let go and leaped away, laughing as his brother rubbed away the wet kiss.

Andrew glared balefully at him when he’d straightened up, looking just as much the surly teenager David knew he really was. “Don’t you have things you ought to be doing?” he asked pointedly, crossing his arms coldly across his chest. David shook his head cheerfully.

“Not really. Don’t you have things to do?”

“Actually, yes.” Andrew uncrossed his arms and smoothed out his robes, which had gotten slightly disheveled during their rough housing. “We’ve still got to prepare accommodations for the rest of the guests, who will probably show up tomorrow, and they’ll probably bring gifts for Andy and Jennie, so I need to check inventory before all of that happens, and I’ve still got my regular studies on top of that.”

“Aw,” David smiled fondly, unable to help himself as he reached up and ruffled his brother’s hair. “What a good little scholarly apprentice. You make your House so proud!”

Andrew rolled his eyes, but didn’t bother justifying David’s comment with a retort. “Yeah, sure. Thanks for the letter. I’ll see you both at supper.” He nodded curtly at David’s squire and then did a brief half-bow automatically at David, before finally turning and disappearing through one of the many doors that led out of the common room.

David shook his head wryly, categorizing all the ways Andrew had and hadn’t changed. He was a little more responsible now, sure, and definitely better mannered, but underneath it all he was still the same smart-ass kid who hungered for things that would always be just a little out of his reach.

“Cook?” Archuleta asked hesitantly. David glanced over his shoulder at his squire – to be honest he’d forgotten the kid was still there.

“Yeah?”

“Um, what now?”

"Now we should find the Prince so I can introduce you properly." David said, already headed for the doors.

"Oh, um," Archuleta sounded confused, but followed David hastily out of the palace and into the courtyard. "That wasn't a proper introduction? Back in throne room?"

David snorted inelegantly and shook his head, squinting as the low afternoon sun caught his eyes. "No, that was a formal introduction," he corrected. "Andy hasn't really met you, just your title. He doesn't know anything about you, and I'd like him to."

Archuleta muttered something quiet under his breath, sounding a little bit like you don’t really know anything about me either, but David chose not to acknowledge it. He did too know his squire already, even if the boy was a little reluctant to share information about his past – David would get it all out of him eventually, he knew. He just had to be patient.

“Excuse me,” David said to a passing servant, one who had wide, guileless eyes, and her arms full of laundry. “Would you happen to know where His Highness is? Did you see them outside?” he asked kindly, smiling gently at the servant so he wouldn’t intimidate her.

The servant blinked at him in surprise, her mouth working silently for a few moments before she finally nodded shyly.

“His Highness went down to the kennels with his guard,” the servant explained, adjusting her grip on the basket full of clothing. “One of the hunting bitches just had a litter of puppies, and they went to inspect them, Ser.” She inclined her head respectfully, keeping her eyes lowered.

“Thank you,” David said and dismissed her with a carefree hand gesture. She left without another word, and David didn’t spare her another glance as he turned to his patiently waiting squire. He grinned. “Want to go see some puppies?”

Archuleta couldn’t seem to help the wide, excited smile that broke out on his face. “Oh my gosh, yes!”

--

The kennels were down on the West end of the palace grounds, past the stables. It was a little bit of a walk, but the path was well paved and the air was cooling now that the sun was beginning to set. David could hear the dogs barking already, and the sound only grew louder as they got closer.

“Do you have a kennel at your House?” David asked as they approached the low-roofed hutches that housed the Dornish hunting dogs.

“Oh,” Archuleta shook his head. “No, we don’t. I think we’d need a good breeding pair first, for a litter? I mean, we do have dogs, but they don’t hunt much. They mostly beg for scraps and stuff. And they’re not – they’re just mutts, you know. They’re nothing fancy.”

“Pedigree isn’t everything,” David felt the need to point out, glancing sideways at his squire. Archuleta barely even acknowledged the comment, just hitched his shoulders up and shook his head briefly, not in disagreement but in exasperation. David could see the corners of his mouth were turned up, though he kept his eyes on the ground.

David frowned. "Well it isn't!" he tried to insist, sensing his squire’s disagreement simply through his body language.

That's when Archuleta started laughing at him. "Cook - it is. In this world, pedigree is everything," he said as he giggled. "Who your father is, which House you come from, how powerful your House is, how far back you can trace your bloodlines, what political alliances you have - whether you're a bastard or a first born son or a second son or a daughter.” He scuffed his boot on the ground, David noticed, but his tone was still warm and light. “I understand what you’re trying to say. Blood and titles – they don’t make a person better or worse. But you’re lying when you say it isn’t important.”

“I never said it wasn’t important, I merely said it wasn’t everything,” David felt the need to point out, feeling satisfaction swell in his chest at Archuleta’s sweet, unexpected laughter.

“Alright,” Archuleta conceded warmly, maybe even fondly, “so you did say.” He fell silent then, but they were close enough to the kennels now that the barking couldn’t be ignored, and David gently pushed Archuleta towards the entrance of the building.

The kennels were the most Northern looking thing in Sunspear, built with less elegance and little Dornish influence. They were simply in a low-roofed shelter that had individual dog hutches within it, housing all manner of hunting dogs for the royal family. It was probably the simplest structure on the premises as well, simple and plain and merely functional, with none of the gloss or beauty that the Dornish people loved to include in their architecture. But then again, it was technically just a giant doghouse. It didn’t have to be fancy.

Andy and Neal were leaning over one of the dog crates, talking in low voices to one another, their heads tilted towards each other intimately. David was used to the scene, but he felt Archuleta hesitate beside him, clearly afraid of interrupting a private conversation. David wanted to roll his eyes and tug him forward, but he just settled for stomping extra hard as he walked in, and clearing his throat loudly. Andy turned around to face him, his expression mixed – half curiosity and half princely annoyance, before he saw it was David and his face relaxed. Neal’s expression didn’t change at all; he still stared into the kennel contemplatively, not even looking up as they entered.

“You found us,” Andy said cheerfully, walking up to David and touching him briefly on the shoulder. Not quite a clasp of brothers-in-arms, but a familiar and fond motion, one that welcomed him and also granted him the permission to be informal. Archuleta, however, did not pick up on this silent signal, and bowed low from his waist, looking nervous.

“Your Highness,” he said meekly. His hands were curled into fists at his sides, but David noticed his voice didn’t actually quiver or stammer at all. He traded glances with Andy and grinned easily at the way Andy rolled his eyes..

“Archuleta, right? Stand up.” Andy commanded. Archuleta immediately straightened, his mouth in a tight, firm line. “Relax,” Andy soothed and though he didn’t touch Archuleta, it was as if he’d unlocked him from a cage, the way David’s squire relaxed. “You’re amongst friends now. Don’t bother with titles or anything.”

David snorted doubtfully. “Good luck with that one,” he said when Andy lifted an eyebrow at him curiously. “I still can’t get him to completely shake calling me Ser, even though I’ve told him not to a hundred times by now.”

“He’s got a thing for titles huh?”

“It’s proper,” Archuleta said, flushing indignantly.

“It is,” Andy agreed. “But I’m not even a true prince -- I mean, I am, but I’m not recognized as a true prince under your King and Protector of the Seven Kingdoms.”

David watched Andy closely, surprised by the slightly bitter tinge in his voice, the sarcasm he injected into the phrase “King and Protector.” He quirked an eyebrow at his friend curiously, but Andy just shook his head in a brief negative – he didn’t want to talk about here, or now, David realized.

“You are a prince though,” Archuleta protested. “And – you deserve the proper titles.”

“If it makes you happy,” Andy shrugged, “go ahead. Maybe we can compromise though – you can call me Highness to your heart’s content, but won’t bow to me when it’s just us. It gets tedious always telling people to rise and be at ease. Understood?”

Archuleta hesitated, but when he heard the steel in Andy’s voice, he capitulated and nodded. It wasn’t so much a request as it was a command, leaving no room for argument.

“Good. Now, do you want to see the puppies? Go on over to Neal – he knows more about the dogs than our kennel master, I would guarantee it.”

David lingered back as his squire cautiously approached Andy’s guard and peered over the fence Neal was leaning against, into the kennel. David smiled as Archuleta cooed at the puppies, his arm dangling over the fence so he could skim his fingers along their furry bodies.

“Honestly, where did you get that one?” Andy asked, nodding in Archuleta’s direction. David broke his gaze to glance at Andy, grinning a little wryly.

“That seems to be the question of the year,” David said dryly, thinking of Andrew’s earlier comment. “Are you asking how he became my squire or where he actually came from? Because one has a simple answer, and one is a lot more complicated.”

Andy smiled warmly. “I suppose I’m asking how he became your squire, but if there’s a story behind his past, I’d love to hear it someday.”

“So would I,” David admitted, watching his squire closely as Archuleta turned his face up to ask Neal a question. “He locks his mouth tighter than a lizard-lion when it comes to personal information. I know he’s hiding something from me, I just don’t know what it is.”

“Do you think it’s dangerous? Whatever he’s hiding from you?” The Prince’s expression had grown serious.

“No, no. I just think it’s very painful for him to talk about,” David mused, “or at the very least it makes him incredibly uncomfortable. I think it has something to do with the Baratheons. We danced around the subject once, but then he closed off and I couldn’t get anything more out of him.”

“Piss on the Baratheons,” Andy muttered darkly. “No wonder the boy is tight-lipped about them, I’m sure if he has anything bad to say about them it’d be considered treason. He’s probably just scared.”

David gave his friend a strange look. “What is this attitude you have towards the King and his family? You’re awfully agitated about it.”

“Did you know King Robert hasn’t made the trip down to Dorne to see us here? Not during his entire reign, and it’s been, what, seven years? Eight? He’s sent a few of his wife’s lesser cousins to come collect taxes though.” Andy snorted derisively. “He’ll take our money but he won’t face us like a man. You’d think he’d actually want to see the Seven Kingdoms he governs and protects. But no, he sits in King’s Landing on his fat ass and eats and drinks and whores.”

“I wish you would watch your tongue,” David said, shifting uncomfortably. Normally it was Alexis with the sharp tongue, and Andy with the cool head, and this sort of vicious slander was the kind of talk that could get Andy arrested if the wrong type of people overheard it.

“He’s not here! How could he possibly hear me?” Andy pointed out. David gave him an exasperated look, but decided against pointing out that the King could have spies in every region of Westeros.

“This really bothers you, doesn’t it?”

Andy looked down at the ground for a moment, his brow furrowed. “Alexis and I had to kneel in front of the Iron Throne in King’s Landing, in front of King Robert Baratheon, and pledge our fealty to him. We were still just kids really, and I didn’t understand it then but now that I’m older – it makes me furious we had to do that. Dornish Princes kneel to no one,” Andy said defiantly. “Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken. Our House motto wasn’t chosen by random. We’re proud, and strong, and unruly. Literally unruly - no one should rule us. But it’s the lack of respect that bothers me most.”

“And the fact that you think he’s doing a bad job,” David said easily, smiling a little as Andy blew out a breath and nodded.

“We do live in peaceful times though, thanks to the King,” he said, parroting what his squire had said to him earlier in the week. He watched for Andy’s reaction carefully.

“I don’t think that will last much longer,” Andy said grimly, “do you?”

David frowned and shook his head slowly. He didn’t think so either. All eras come to an end, even – maybe even especially - peaceful ones.

“Listen, we’ll talk about this more later. There’s actually something I wanted to ask you. But we have plenty of time,” Andy assured him.

For some reason, David was filled with a sense of unease and foreboding, and merely nodded to the Prince before deciding to join his squire and Neal, who had moved on from the puppies and were now standing at one of the adult hunting dog’s cages.

“This is my dog,” Neal explained, a hint of pride in his voice.

“Oh!” Archuleta said brightly, kneeling down to peer through the slots at the dog’s eye level. “He’s enormous! Does he have a name?”

Cook could see Neal’s huge, black and white hunting Dane pressed up against the panels of his kennel, his long thin tail beating back and forth in excitement as he whined for attention.

“Yeah, I call him Sixx,” Neal said, reaching into the kennel to scratch the dog on it’s head.

“Are all the dogs named numerically then?” Archuleta asked, distracted. He was sticking his fingers through the slots and giggling as Sixx licked playfully at them.

“What? No, the rest don’t really have names.”

Archuleta looked up, confused, but Neal wasn’t paying any attention to him, he was gazing down at his dog with a sort of soft fondness in his eyes.

“Oh,” Archuleta said, still sounding confused. “Okay then…”

“He’s got a name because he’s a pet,” Andy interjected, grinning at his guard. “Sixx is Neal’s baby. He pampers that dog with more love and respect than he ever gives me.”

“At least he pulls his weight around here,” Neal growled, glaring at the Prince, “unlike your yappy little dogs, that live in the palace and have gotten fat on your food. At least Sixx does some hunting, like he was bred to do.”

“You have dogs?” Archuleta asked, standing up and brushing the dirt from his trousers.

“Alexis and I each have a low-belly hound of our own. We breed them to hunt and catch the sand squirrels, but our dogs don’t hunt. They’re essentially lapdogs.” Andy grinned, completely unashamed. “They’re so freaking cute! Their kennels are just down this way – they’re the ones making all the noise. The Danes rarely bark, but the hounds go absolutely mad for company.”

“I’ve never actually seen any low-belly hounds before, are they native to Dorne?” Archuleta said, following Andy down the row of kennels.

David stayed a few feet behind, following them at a more sedate pace with Neal. Andy answered Archuleta’s questions patiently and led him to the yappy, short-legged, long-bodied absurd looking dogs in their kennels.

It was interesting to watch Andy interact with his squire, especially now that Archuleta was distracted enough that he didn’t seem intimidated by Andy’s royal status. Andy, in turn, was relaxed and animated with the younger boy, pointing out certain dogs and gesticulating with his hands as he embellished one story or another. David was glad they were getting along, but he couldn’t help but feel a twinge of irrational and unprovoked possessiveness, envious of Andy’s ability to put that bright, interested look on Archuleta’s face.

Dwelling on those emotions would lead him nowhere though, so David distracted himself by glancing at Neal.

“What’s up with Andy lately? He’s never cared so much about the politics of Westeros before. Is this new?” he asked Neal, slowing his pace even more so they were well out of earshot of Andy and Archuleta.

Neal shrugged his shoulders a little, staring at Andy. “Yeah, maybe. Ever since Alexis denounced her title, he’s definitely stepped up in his duties I guess.”

“What? Alexis denounced her title? Meaning—“

“Meaning Andy is the official heir, yeah.” Neal glared at David, who was gaping at him. “She hasn’t denounced it publicly, obviously, don’t look so offended.”

David pursed his lips and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “So he just decided to take an interest in his future duties?”

“Well, was forced to at first. He started taking private lessons with Maester Etole – even I wasn’t allowed in the room—“ Neal scowled, as if the very memory of that slight was enough to sting. “—and he used to complain to me every time he returned. But eventually the complaints started to taper off, and then he started bringing books back to his rooms, big thick history books.”

“Let me guess,” David said dryly, “you read them together?”

Neal shrugged, looking unconcerned. “He said he needed help getting through a few of the thicker tomes. Wanted to know everything there was to know about the kingdom before it was united with the other six, when it was still a sovereign nation. He also wanted anything about the old Rhoynish culture, his ancestry, everything.”

“And you didn’t think that was odd.”

“It’s not my business to think it’s odd,” Neal replied coolly. “What do I know? I’m just a guard.”

“Oh bullshit,” David snapped, frustrated. “Do you know what he’s planning? He seems like he’s been stewing in his own head for a while – he’s not going to do anything dangerous is he?”

David didn’t know how he was going to react if Andy had some harebrained, noble idea to take back his kingdom from the realm. They were all so young still, and foolish, and Andy sometimes was swept up by romantic ideas. But ideas sometimes spawn plans, and plans inspire action, and acting upon such ideas could be disastrous.

“He’s not an idiot, Dave, don’t be stupid,” Neal growled back. “He’s still learning. Give him time to adjust. He’s just angry because only now is he learning the true oppressive weight on Dorne, when once upon a time it was one of the last great independent Kingdoms. He’s changing. You’re going to have to get used to it.”

Neal fell silent then, and David didn’t push him. David didn’t have a problem with Andy changing - he was growing up, that was expected. But Andy could change the course of his kingdom with only a thought, and that – that was worrying. Because it meant one day David might have to choose between the place he considered home, and the realm he was well and truly sworn to.

Andy and Archuleta walked up to them then, both of them smiling. They looked young, so much younger than David felt, and suddenly he was exhausted just looking at their grinning faces. Still, he masked his sudden weariness with a cocky smirk and a raised eyebrow.

“I think I’ve come up with a nickname for your squire here,” the prince said, gesturing to Archuleta.

“Oh?” David asked, arching both eyebrows curiously. “And what nickname would that be?”

“Archie! It’s fitting, huh? Short for Archuleta.”

“How very uncreative of you, Andy,” David said, “but I suppose it’s alright. Do you like it?” he asked his squire.

Archuleta shrugged little sheepishly, but nodded shyly. “I don’t mind it,” he said diplomatically.

Andy rolled his eyes. “He means he hated all the other names I tried to call him. This was the only one he didn’t make a face at.”

David grinned at Archuleta, and winked. “So it is acceptable then. I like it. Squire Archie,” he teased.

Just then a bell rang, a deep gonging sound, and they all looked up curiously at the palace.

“They’re calling for dinner,” Neal remarked casually, nonplussed.

“Then we should get to the dining hall quickly or Maester Etole will come searching for us with a switch in hand,” Andy said cheerfully – far too cheerfully for someone joking about receiving lashes from the Maester. David knew the sting of those all too well.

They left the kennels hastily, and made their way to the palace to join the rest of the household for dinner.

--

David forced Archuleta to eat with the other squires instead of letting him serve David, insisting that it would be good for him to mingle with other boys his age and rank. There were a few knights who had arrived for the tournament and were joining them for dinner that evening, so there were a few other squires that Archuleta could rub shoulders with. And of course, that meant there were few more old friends for David to greet as well.

It was a bit like slipping into an old cloak, warm and familiar, perhaps a little worn, but still comfortable. He sat next to Andy and across from Jennie and Alexis, with Andrew on his other side, surrounded by the people who knew him best. David had missed his brother, and spent most of the meal alternating between flirting with the girls and teasing Andrew, sometimes managing to do both simultaneously at once. It was easy to fall back into the rhythm of Dorne, to fall back into the companionship and the ebb and flow of conversation over a hot meal. For a while, he forgot about Archuleta and his earlier conversation with Andy, and forgot about his responsibilities as a knight of the Realm.

So it was easy indeed to accept Andy’s invitation to the Laughing Girls House after dinner.

The girls had already taken their leave from the table when the food had started to cool and servants began taking away the plates but refilling their cups with ale more often. Andy had kissed his fiancé’s hand and smiled beatifically up at her as he bade her goodnight, and David couldn’t help but think it was a good match. He’d thought so all along – not only was it a strong political marriage, but it was also a marriage of love, or so he thought. Truly, there were few people Andy Skib Martell admired and defended as fiercely as he did Jennie Redwyne.

Only when both Alexis and Jennie had left did Neal step forward out of the shadows and slump into a chair beside Andy. The Prince smiled at him and pushed a goblet of wine towards the guard, who grinned lazily in thanks.

“I think tonight is as good a night as any to go out,” Andy announced, arching an eyebrow at David. “It’s been a while since you’ve been to the Laughing Girl, hasn’t it?”

David’s eyes lit up at the thought. Pleasure houses were a luxury he rarely let himself indulge in on the road in strange cities, but the ones in Dorne – especially the ones in Sunspear – were practically as familiar as the palace itself. Perhaps one of the greatest and most advanced parts of Dorne was its liberal attitude towards sex and sexuality. Pleasure houses, whorehouses, prostitutes, homosexuality and other various perversions weren’t taboo in the Kingdom. In fact, sometimes they were even celebrated and encouraged. As young budding men, they had all experimented and become educated in the various, exquisite whorehouses that Dorne had to offer. Dorne was nearly as well known for their exotic prostitutes, most of them from the island of Lys, as it was for its sweet wine.

“It’s been too long,” David agreed readily, taking a deep drought from his cup. “I’ve missed the women here,” he teased, grinning.

Andy grinned back, and then his smile went a little wicked. “You should bring that squire of yours. I want to see how your shy Archie does when thrust in the middle of a den of sin. He seems a little repressed, don’t you think?”

“Oh shit,” David laughed, “I’d nearly forgotten about him.”

“Already?” Neal said, “Not a great sign, Dave.”

“Give me a break, I’m still adjusting.”

David cast his eyes down to the other end of the dining hall, where he spotted Archuleta sitting awkwardly with a few other young squires. He looked embarrassed and unsure of himself, and though he flinched when one red-haired boy flung his arms out in a dramatic gesture (no doubt telling some exaggerated tale of his time on the road to Dorne), he didn’t appear miserable.

David smiled fondly. He was once again in that warm, glowing place that drinking a bit of ale and wine took him – he felt both heavy as a stone and yet a strange sense of weightlessness also. It seemed to him that taking Archuleta along to the Laughing Girl was a very good idea indeed, and he swiftly stood from his chair.

“Archie,” he called, trying out the nickname. His squire didn’t respond at first. “Archuleta,,” he tried again, rolling his eyes as the boy jerked up and scrambled out of his own seat, barely glancing back at the group of youths he left behind. He was at David’s side in an instant, ready to do David’s bidding – whatever he might ask.

“Yes Ser?” Archuleta lifted his chin a little, gazing seriously at his master. The damn ‘Ser’ title was back – of course, they were in a semi-formal setting surrounded by their peers, so perhaps it was warranted in this situation. And there was a part of David that did like the sound of it coming from Archie’s tongue, the deference in his tone.

“We’re going out,” David explained, smiling knowingly. “Come on, you’re coming with us - I think you’ll enjoy it.”

He turned and followed the prince and Neal out of the palace, with Archuleta trailing obediently behind, and missed the dubious and distrustful look on his squire’s face.

--

“Where exactly are we going?” Archuleta asked nervously once they were all inside the carriage.

“Somewhere fun,” Neal answered with a smug smile. That only made Archuleta even more anxious, if possible. He glanced from Neal to Andy, and then to David, trying to read their amused expressions for hints.

“Relax,” Andy soothed. “It’s nothing dangerous. You are far too wound up. Didn’t you have anything to drink during dinner?”

“Oh no-“ Archuleta began to answer, but David cut him off.

“He is my squire, you know, I don’t want him clumsy and drowsy with cottonhead from the wine,” David said smoothly. He didn’t want to arouse his friends’ curiosity by letting Archie explain his reasons for not drinking, and he didn’t want to insult them either. The Dornish did put a lot of pride into their fine wines, and to have a man purposefully refuse to drink it for unknown reasons would be a great insult to Andy. So David improvised a little.

“Surely he has time off to have a little fun,” Andy insisted.

David rolled his eyes. “I know this is a foreign concept to you, your Highness,” he said sarcastically, “but a squire is actually a knight-in-training. Which means, no, he doesn’t get time off. He serves me whenever I see fit. Besides, is this outing not ‘a little fun’ for us all?”

Andy frowned. “Even our servants get a day off in rotation,” he said.

“How generous of you,” David teased, which only served to make Andy’s frown deepen. “But I don’t run your household – so leave my squire to me.”

The prince wasn’t often told no, and David could tell that it irritated him, but the issue was small enough that he let it go and turned instead to Neal, striking up a conversation without including David – a petty little turn of his nose, David figured wryly.

Archuleta seemed to relax a little during the carriage ride, peering out of the little curtained off window at the city as it rolled past them, and lulled into security by the sound of Andy and Neal talking to each other in low murmurs. David watched him closely through half-lidded eyes, letting himself be lulled into relaxation as well.

He wondered how his squire would react to the brothel that he and Andy and Neal were taking him to, if he’d be scandalized or angry or excited. Archuleta was terribly modest, David had observed that much, and so he assumed that so much naked, willing flesh might be a little overwhelming to the boy. But he wouldn’t actually find out until they arrived, and maybe his squire would surprise him. David felt a curl of anticipatory heat wind in his stomach, sinking deep in his body. It felt good, hot, like balancing on a blade’s edge, tilting towards arousal but not quite there.

He blinked a little, realizing that he’d been staring at Archuleta for a while, all while the heat built inside of him. He reasoned that he was just anticipating the women of Laughing Girls House, lithe, beautiful, exotic women that would tend to whatever he desired. He hadn’t lain with a woman in a while – there just hadn’t been any convenient chance to do so, so his eagerness was understandable.

Still. He let his eyes drift over Archuleta’s face, which was in dreamy repose, far far away from the moment inside of their carriage. He wondered if his squire would mingle with the girls, let them paw at him and ask him what he liked, wondered if he’d kiss them, touch them, and maybe even fuck them. He’d find out soon, either way, whether Archuleta would flee in modesty, or indulge in the pleasures of the flesh.

--

Neal led the way into the building, one of the few stone constructs in the city of Dorne. It was a tall, elegant building, but Neal didn't pause for a single moment to admire the decor on the landing floor, instead choosing to walk up the narrow steps to the second floor unhesitatingly. Andy followed suit at a more relaxed pace, with Archuleta and David bringing up the rear.

"Where are we?" Archuleta asked as he followed Andy, glancing over his shoulder at David. David smiled at him.

"We're at the Laughing Girls House," he explained, nudging Archuleta forward more quickly. His squire's brow furrowed in confusion.

He was about to ask what that meant, David was sure, when Neal suddenly paused in front of a woman in a bright green bustier and lacy green tights who was reclining on a plush chaise at the top of the stairs. Archuleta made a weird little noise in the back of his throat, clearly taken off aback. David had to cough to hide his amusement, turning his head so no one could see his mirth.

The woman sat up as she saw them, her lips painted a dark, jeweled amethyst color. She smiled at them slowly, the gentle, sloping curve of her lips a practiced move, one David had seen many whores use.

"Good evening gentlemen," she purred, her eyes flicking to Andy greedily. "Your Highness," she amended graciously, lowering her thick eyelashes in deference to his title.

He smirked at her, amused, and David rolled his eyes. Neal just shifted impatiently.

"We'll need the use of the back room tonight," he told her, barely looking at her as she rearranged herself. "Get Kira and whoever she wants to bring."

"Of course," the woman answered smoothly, and then seemed to notice Archuleta shrinking in the background as she stood up. She smiled with teeth this time, her eyes bright and hungry, and winked at the boy as she turned and walked to one of the adjoining rooms, the door closing behind her.

"Oh my gosh," Archuleta groaned, and David laughed. "We're at a-- we're at a--!"

"A whore house, yeah Archuleta, have you never been?" Neal glanced at him darkly, and then took initiative and starting stalking towards the back of the building, finding the door he wanted and opening it to slide inside. Everyone followed him automatically.

"I don't think I should be here," David's squire tried to insist, but David caught him easily by the wrist and held him.

"Don't worry," he soothed, meeting Archuleta's panicked eyes. "Just stay for a little while. If you still feel uncomfortable, you can go wait outside for us, okay?"

He figured it would be easier to shoot for a compromise immediately, rather than grapple with his squire, or order him to stay. He just wanted to see Archuleta's reaction.

"I -" Archuleta clearly didn't know how to respond to that without flat out refusing, so he just caved, his shoulders slumping with defeat. His eyes gazed apprehensively at Andy. "Aren't you, um..." He couldn't seem to find the words.

"Betrothed?" Andy supplied easily, not looking that upset. Archuleta nodded hesitantly.

"Jennie knows. She understands," Andy said, shrugging his shoulders. "Besides, now that it's official I don't actually... touch them."

David lifted his eyebrows in curiosity - that was a new development.

"He likes to watch," and that was a new voice, female but bold, almost brassy in the way she entered the room and looked at them all without flinching.

"Evening Kira," Andy drawled, smiling at her warmly despite his tone.

Kira was a curvy, milky-skinned woman from the Island from Lys. Her skin was littered with inky tattoos, just like Neal, but it was her bright, grass-green hair that was the real shocker. Archuleta was gaping. Kira, never one to miss a thing, latched onto him immediately, and the bow of her mouth tilted down.

"Who's the fresh meat?" she asked casually, striding forward to wind a circle around David's squire closely, smirking as he flinched away from her.

"Be nice," David warned, wagging a finger at her. "He's my new squire, and I don't need you scaring him away. We brought him along to unwind a little."

Kira met his eyes and smiled her acknowledgement. "Ser Cook," she said playfully, "it's so nice to see you again. It's been a long time," she chided, and slid forward to give him a gentle, barely-there peck on the lips.

Neal growled from behind them, and Kira pulled away, laughing.

"Surely you're not jealous?" she asked Neal, finally making her way towards him, her hips swinging back and forth boldly. "Not after all the times you've shared me so sweetly with your Prince."

Neal's inked hands slid up her curves proprietarily, like they belonged there. "That's different," he said in a low voice, leaning up to kiss her.

David looked away from the pair, noting Andy who was already smiling and settling himself into one of the many plush couches, watching Neal and Kira together hungrily. Then he turned to check on Archuleta who was notably anxious, his jaw clenched and his brow furrowed.

It was an interesting reaction to see, the fear and apprehension in Archuleta’s eyes as he watched the threesome nervously, as if he was afraid that a God was going to smite them where they stood. He was obviously bewildered – and David understood that compulsion, at least in theory. He’d been Neal and Andy’s companion for too long to be taken off guard by their familiarity and intimacy – he’d seen them twine around a dozen different women together, and had seen them ditch the women just to be with each other.

Looking at them now, the way Andy wistfully followed the motion of Neal’s hands petting Kira’s curves but kept himself at bay out of respect for his soon-to-be-wife, how ferociously Neal claimed her mouth, almost angry, one hand tangled in her wild, bright green hair, David could tell that this new chapter in their lives was going to take some adjustment for all of them.

He quickly turned his attention back to his anxious looking squire, who looked panicked at the very thought of having stay in the same room with Kira, Neal, and Andy.

"Easy," David said warmly, rubbing his hand briskly against Archuleta's arm to comfort him. "I'm going to take Archuleta out to one of the main rooms," he told Andy. Neal was a little busy, his hands full of Kira and his mouth occupied. "I'm obviously not needed here either," he added dryly, since Andy barely looked him, already loosening the ties on his pants.

Andy just laughed and waved him away distractedly.

"Come on Archuleta," David coaxed, and guided his squire away from the back room.

--

“I don’t understand,” Archuleta babbled as soon as the door swung shut behind them. He didn’t even notice as David gently steered his squire towards another room, too busy staring at the ground in confused thought. “Why would the Prince come to a place like this when he’s getting married in less than a fortnight? And what did that – that woman mean when she said that Ser Neal shared her with the Prince? Why would the Prince want to watch them together anyway?”

David shook his head a little against the barrage of questions and smiled in amusement. He halted them both and tilted Archuleta’s chin up to meet his eyes.

“Archuleta, this is not the place – nor is it even your right - to ask questions,” he chided gently, eyes soft when he saw his squire’s face flush red with embarrassment and shame. “But I will explain it all later. For now, I think we should indulge ourselves as Andy and Neal have done.”

He pushed through one more door and into a large, open room filled with people. Talking and laughter filled the air as people congregated around different lounging sections within the open space. Men and women prostitutes alike flirted with clients, trying to coax them into one of the more expensive private rooms. Everyone had to pay to even step foot into the Laughing Girls, and the price only increased dependent on your appetite.

“Look Archie,” David gestured, “no nudity here. Nothing scary. Come flirt a little, it’s harmless fun.”

He clapped Archie on the back, scanning the room for someone who could help quell the heat in his loins. It didn’t take long for him to focus in on one of the dancers on a dais. They had black skin that shone in the low light, a strong jaw and a flat chest. Their eyelashes looked impossibly long and their lips had been painted ruby red. Their short cropped curly hair only added to the androgynous look.

“I’m going over there to talk to them,” David said, and glanced back with an arched eyebrow.

His squire squinted. “Is that - a boy or a girl?” he asked, confused.

David laughed. “I don’t know, and I don’t care. I guess I’ll find out if they agree to going to a private room with me.” He smirked, and refocused on dancer, missing Archuleta’s reaction - whatever it might be.

Archuleta had a long way to go, as far as opening his mind. But David remembers being just as ignorant as his squire, many years ago. Dornish customs could be - radical if you were from the north.

“Cook wait!” Archie said, grabbing David’s wrist. His fingers were cool against David’s hot skin. “What do you want me to do?”

David regarded his squire softly, noting his flushed face and conflicted eyes. He clearly didn’t want to be a bother, but he wasn’t comfortable either. David felt a twinge of regret, bringing him here. It wasn’t very kind. He should have left him at the palace to get accustomed, maybe make some other squire friends. But it was too late now, and David wasn’t about to ignore his baser desires to escort his squire back.

David snorted, and dug for a few silver pieces from his coin bag. He placed them in Archuleta’s hand firmly, curling the boy’s fingers around the silver.

“Entertain yourself,” David advised, grinning. “Or just stay out here and while away the time. It shouldn’t take me long.”

He didn’t wait for the squire’s reaction this time, but slipped out of his grasp and towards the dancer. He made intentional eye contact and waited for those ruby red lips to smile at him, a row of white teeth flashing in his direction.

He glided closer, extending a hand to help the dancer off the dais, which they took gracefully, bare feet stepping down to be level with David.

“What do you like to be called?” David asked as he leaned in closer, not letting go of their hand. The gauzy slip they were wearing brushed up against his forearm and sent shivers along his spine.

“My name is Isla,” they said, sounding amused. Their voice was light and airy.

“Well Isla,” David continued, turning on the charm, “how much would it be to entertain you in a private room?”

They chuckled and held out their hand. “Twenty five silvers, you can have me for the night.”

“Done,” David purred, and leaned in for a kiss. Isla kissed back skillfully - they were a professional, after all, and David was sure he would have a good night.

—

Two hours later there was a knock on the door. Isla slid off the bed, a robe draped around their body and opened it casually.
“Your Highness,” David heard Isla say, surprised.

“Cook, let’s go,” Andy barked into the room, completely ignoring the prostitute. “Grab your clothes, your poor squire has fallen asleep on the steps to the entrance - he’s going to get fucking robbed.”

David groaned and pulled up his pants, not bothering to lace them. His shirt slipped on easily, but he made sure to grab his coin purse. He’d made that mistake before, and the Laughing Girls House didn’t return lost items.

“Thanks for the good time,” he murmured as he passed Isla, kissing their cheek affectionately as he ducked out the door.

Andy huffed and dragged him along. “You’re not marrying them, you just fucked them,” he growled once they were out of ear shot. Someone was grumpy.

“Let me hear you say that about Kira in front of Neal!” David said under his breath. Andy just shook his head.

Neal was waiting for them on the steps, having already woken up Archuleta. Kira kissed Neal goodbye and patted Archuleta gently on the shoulder, her make up smudged off. “Archie, you do need to come by some time and see me,” she said sweetly. Neal was rolling his eyes. “I can teach you about Dorne,” she insisted, “nothing scandalous.”

“Can we go?” Andy snapped, already getting into the carriage. David shrugged and ushered Archuleta in while Neal followed quickly behind. As much as Neal loved Kira, his love for Andy was always first. And David guesses that maybe Andy was testing that love in these weeks before his wedding to Jennie. And maybe, just maybe that was part of Andy’s bad attitude at the end of the night.

--

David was rudely awakened in the morning, not by Archuleta for once, but by a servant rapping on their door. He groaned and blearily opened his eyes, glaring at the ceiling as the knocking persisted until David heard Archuleta swiftly walk to the door and open it quietly, obviously trying not to wake David. Too late for that, he thought grumpily, and began to sit up, wondering who would wake them up so fucking early in the morning. It had to be early, even by Archuleta’s standards, or else the squire would have already woken David up.

By the time David was fully upright in bed and attempting to push his covers aside, Archuleta had already dealt with whoever was at the door and sent them away. Still, there was no way around it – he was awake, and unlikely to go back to sleep now.

“What did they want?” David asked with a growl, his voice still thick from sleep, the way it always was when he first got up.

Archie fidgeted for a minute. “We are invited—“ he began.

“You meant required,” David interrupted dryly. He raised an eyebrow when Archuleta hesitated.

“Well…yes. Invited to breakfast with the Prince and his guard. Immediately following breakfast we are to accompany His Highness and – and Ser Neal on a short hunting trip.”

Archie seemed unsure, hovering in place as he waited for David’s reaction. He was already dressed, David noticed vaguely, blinking the last cobwebs of sleep from his eyes as he slid his gaze down his squire’s body. Archuleta was wearing a filmy, pale green shirt that laced at the neck, but he must have thrown it on in a hurry because the laces were still undone. David followed the line of his smooth throat all the way down to his chest, and could even see a small, dark smattering of hair at the very bottom of the ‘V’ at the neck of the shirt. It was mesmerizing, in a way.

He must have pulled his pants on hastily as well, David observed as his eyes drifted lower, because while they were laced up, the ties were loose and messy, and the pants sat low on Archuleta’s hips, exposing a few inches of tantalizing skin. David thought of when he’d seen all of that skin a few days ago at the oasis, and lost himself in the memory of it for a few moments.

“Cook?” Archie queried gently, clearly waiting for some instruction from him.

“Oh, right.” David shook his head a little, trying to banish the thoughts. “Still half-asleep,” he lied. “Yes, okay, can you get my riding clothes? My nice pair, not my travel pair. Thank you.”

David swung out of bed and sighed as he stared at his feet. Archuleta was busy bent over halfway, digging through David’s trunk looking for the right clothes. David frowned slightly, looking at him. He recognized that he was attracted to the boy, perhaps had been all along, even if he hadn’t admitted it to himself until just this morning, and he was fine with it, truly. It wasn’t the first time he’d been attracted to another man – in fact, it was even legal in Dorne, men with men – but there was a big difference between attraction and the stirring in his loins. He had to be careful. Archuleta wasn’t some pouty prostitute boy from Lys – he was David’s squire. And though of course he’d heard of knights and their squires attending each other like that, he knew it would carry unwieldy consequences for them both.

And besides, he liked Archuleta. He didn’t want to ruin their tenuous camaraderie because the boy had a mouth that David would love to devour.

“Cook.” Archie’s voice once again drew David from his thoughts.

The squire was holding David’s clothes in front of him, ready to dress him for the day. David made himself smile at the boy and allowed him to attend to him – though, David thought wistfully to himself, not exactly in the way David wanted him to.