LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 8: 'The First True Knight %&$#*?!/#*…………'
[Hello everyone, and forgive me in advance for this small ice barrier slowing down your reading of the chapter.
Some readers have inspired me for a little idea.
You must know that normally, when I read or write, I aggravate my experience by listening to music. Mostly soundtracks from TV series and movies. That's why I would like you to participate in this little statistical survey. [ Do you want me to share the music files that I listen to for chapters production?]. If you are able or willing to please write a short comment next to this text. You can choose between these 3 options :
1) I don't give a sh**!Don't waste your time on this cr** and just concentrate on writing! Daddy needs more chapters!!!
2) I have no complaints about it, but don't expect me to listen to the tracks. I like to read in silence and I don't think mine and your musical tastes can coincide.
3) I'm with you Duncan!!! I'm a sick nerd of that genre too!!! I will follow you in this war no matter what!!! Even if it means stabbing Jon Snow in the heart! FOR THE WATCH!!!!!!!!!!
Please comment next by writing even just the number. I will make a decision as soon as I reach 100 votes! Thank you so much!! I'll attach the two pieces that inspired me for this chapter next to it to give you an example. Good reading!!
P.s. If you also have songs to recommend, I invite you to share. It's one of my favourite hobbies to find new songs that inspire new ideas!]
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POV: Author
Five seconds after Leobald's announcement...
Maester Qyburn stared at the reason and goal of his long journey north, the one for which he had been handsomely paid...
A child of barely four years old, pale skin typical of the Norse, well-groomed steel-white hair, peculiar light-green eyes that shifted into silvery eye-sockets, a normal height of just over three feet and a gait worthy of a nobleman. This was the first information Qyburn was able to glean in these brief moments.
"Torrhen's Square welcomes you honourable Maester Qyburn. I thank you for your trouble in coming all this way to the North just to satisfy the whims of a curious child. I hope I will have the opportunity to show you hospitality worthy of Northmen and a person of your rank." Said the child, in a polite and formal tone (as much as a child's voice could), making a small bow.
Leobald Tallhart, hearing how Duncan displayed perfect linguistic etiquette, gave a small proud smile.
He looked at his nephew for a moment for the signal of confirmation.
Duncan made an imperceptible sign to his uncle with his gaze and a small smile.
"Well my lords, we will leave you to your discussions too tedious and complex for our humble minds." Said Leobald jokingly as he nodded to Paul and the guards to follow him.
"No bother young Lord, it is always a pleasure to satisfy the curiosity of capable young minds. I thank you for your hospitality and the undeserved honours you bestow upon me. I am but a humble man of knowledge in the service of the citadel." Said Qyburn belatedly on account of both Leobald and the shocking display of a child barely four years old.
"If you don't mind taking a few steps Maester, there is a room on the castle's attic ready for us. If you'd like to follow me." Said Duncan showing the stairs.
"No displeasure whatsoever Young Lord. The citadel is carved by thousands of steps and I personally find it a pleasant exercise to keep my body healthy and my mind sharp." Qyburn replied kindly, giving a small amused grin.
"Well said maester Qyburn. 'Healthy mind, in a healthy body.' Ahah." Replied the child smiling.
A few minutes later...
"I hope the view is pleasant maester." Duncan.
"Splendid my lord, the structure is not as tall as the great tower of the citadel but the naturalistic landscape is unique." Qyburn replied sincerely.
"I found your book 'History of Man's Diseases from Valyria to the Present' incredibly forward thinking and detailed. You have a unique style and mind Maester. It is especially your 'whys' that are so frequent in the text. A unique trait that spurs the reader to think and stimulate curiosity on multiple topics. You could be dubbed the 'thousand whys' maester." Duncan praised with sincerity.
"I am amazed and honoured that you were able to read and more importantly understand my book Young Lord so thoroughly." A visibly surprised and pleased maester replied.
"I had the opportunity to greet Maester Golbarth before your meeting. He did nothing but praise your great achievements in studies with joy. I note with pleasure that the rumours of your fame are honest and well deserved."
The maester continued, wanting to return the kindness shown by the little genius.
"Yes...Maester Golbarth... I wonder how long the maester has been passing on information about my House at the citadel..." the child said quietly.
Qyburn froze for a brief moment but recovered quickly.
"...My lord I do not know what you..." he was interrupted.
"Please maester. I believe I have already proven my abilities to you sufficiently. I ask, if it is okay with you, that we both speak frankly and sincerely, so as to save time in unnecessary word games. After all, time is the most precious resource of any man, woman or child." Said Duncan in a confident and not at all threatening tone.
Qyburn stared hesitantly into the child's piercing eyes in silence for nearly a minute.
".....imagine that this is the case Young Lord." Said Qyburn slightly resignedly.
"Please maester, just call me Duncan if that's okay with you. I don't hold any titles yet." The boy.
"As you wish Duncan, you may also cut the title from my callsign in return." Qyburn.
"If you don't mind me asking Duncan...Is the real reason I'm here to 'replace' myself with the current Maester Golbarth?" Qyburn asked in a manner more curious than frightened.
"Only if you wish it maester. Golbarth will repay my family in due course...The real reason, why I have gone to such lengths to meet you, is to talk to you about a vision...my vision of the world to be precise." Duncan.
"But first a little demonstration for your eyes only." The boy quickly moved his hand, barely whispering verses. All three candles on the candelabra on the table lit up. The man sitting opposite drew his head closer in shock and curiosity.
"'A little trick, nothing more, but it was magic maester Qyburn . An art known and developed in the antiquity of great empires and kingdoms and to this day sadly lost or forgotten." Said Duncan with a sad face.
"You and I both know who, in the Seven Kingdoms and to some extent in other free cities, is ensuring that such an art remains lost and sealed in perpetuity." Duncan.
"If it were out of simple fear of the unknown I might still accept it but that is not the case. Am I right maester?" Duncan.
Qyburn, activating every brain cell in his possession, nodded, motioning for the conversation to continue.
"The citadel, Old City even the Hightowers house that supports and protects it, are in my opinion the true invisible evil of this world."
"The Archmaesters declare to the world that all maesters are 'the knights of the mind' but in reality they are nothing more than a bunch of 'marauders'. Human refuse who want a slice of power and a privileged place in this world and instead of developing, increasing and spreading the knowledge they have gained, they block progress and civilization in the lands known to this day." Duncan stood up walking towards the penthouse balcony, Qyburn following him.
The boy stared at the view in silence for a while.
"What do you really want from me Duncan Tallhart? You don't need my confirmation of your theories from what I hear." Qyburn had abandoned the jovial, simplistic tone. He now addressed the boy as his equal.
"Before I answer you, I will tell you something that very few people know...I possess abilities Qyburn, abilities granted by gods if we can call them that. I see possible futures and have learned knowledge lost or unknown to this world...and I have seen you too Qyburn...your studies...your experiments and a possible future I will not tell you about...you are what many would consider evil...but in my eyes, you are a necessary evil to heal this world...a worthy and capable companion on a dark path full of dangers." Duncan.
"Could you please look to the horizon and tell me what you see?" The child prodigy asked with a friendly smile.
Qyburn stared at Duncan with a deep, meditative expression, and complied with his request.
"A majestic blue lake, mountain ranges, forests, plains and valleys." Qyburn said succinctly as he studied the horizon.
"...I see infinite possibilities. Where you see a lake I see a great trading port with fleets of ships trading and protecting the coastline. Where you see mountain ranges I see unexplored mines of new and precious minerals. Where you see plains and valleys I see cities, great cities full of people, well fed, well educated, cheerful and industrious. Instruments that can light up the streets at night, clean and safe streets, tall and mighty buildings, a mother safely escorting her daughter to a school...a better future Qyburn, a future where people who seek conflict will find it only with others of the same intent, without involving innocent people who seek only peace and harmony..."
"...I don't want to offend you, but what you seek is a utopia. Even if you had the means to achieve it you would have to go to war with the whole world to get it..." replied Qyburn coldly.
"You are right I would have to face quite a few enemies...but the possibility of obtaining this 'utopia' is there Qyburn, I have seen it. Any child, who sees a majestic building for the first time, will think that beings more powerful and magical than ordinary people built it having no idea how to build it. Yet it was man who created it, stone by stone. Look at the great empires of the past and what they created." Qyburn remained silent at that answer.
"What I really want from you Qyburn is for you to swear allegiance to me. Absolute loyalty...and I want you to help me change this world.
I cannot promise you that we will succeed, but I can promise you that history will never forget our actions. History will remember men who fought to the end, using every means and resource possible and dying on their feet in an effort to better the world." Duncan.
"Take the time you need to decide. Even if you decide to refuse, know that you will have safe passage to the citadel, on my dream and ideals I swear, but be aware that the moment you step foot in the safety of your home, I will consider you my enemy." Said Duncan serene and relaxed.
Qyburn looked at the boy and nodded with a slight smile and an understanding look.
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POV Qyburn
Three days later....
Qyburn was standing on a plain, watching a small village near Torrhen's Square in the distance. He had spent the first day after the 'meeting' in pleasant and fruitful discussions with young Duncan.
He had explained to him his theory about different 'antigens' on blood and micro beings called 'bacteria and germs'. He found the subject bold and brilliant, well worth investing years of study in their research.
He spent the last two days here on this little meditative trip.
He had a boy attendant with him for his needs and four guards for security.
He thought back to a story he didn't want to remember.
The story of a boy who lived in a small village like this one.
One day the boy fell ill and was fortunately helped by a passing maester. He was able to treat his symptoms and cure him with several treatments. However, the maester did not know what kind of illness it was.
A month later an epidemic struck the village and the region of the little lord who protected it. The epidemic started with the boy himself.
No one in the village survived, not even his family, except him, who was now immune to the disease, and fires were set in and around the village to prevent the disease from spreading.
Years later the boy went to the citadel to follow his dream of becoming a healer just like the maester who saved him.
He devoted himself to learning as much as he could and achieved excellent success. He forged several rings in a very short time.
Many apprentice healers practice on hopeless cases to temper their mindset in failure and lower empathy for patients. For the boy, empathy never lowered. Although he had seen dozens of patients die, he approached cases with the utmost care by doing everything he could. He wanted with all his might to be able to prevent an event similar to his village's fate from happening to others.
However, that moment also came for him years later...
He discovered while archiving various documents, an order written by the high council of the maesters, which reported the command to a certain maester to stop his attempts to cure a disease that was afflicting a certain village. The high council wanted this new disease to be spread in a localized manner to study its nature. When the boy confirmed that not only was this the case in his village but that all research done was sealed, to prevent its spread and make it a secret weapon for the citadel, it was at that moment that his empathy collapsed. It wasn't his empathy for the patients no... but for the world itself.
The village boy died that day.
'Why don't I just stop second-guessing myself and keep staring at this village?' thought the maester. Shortly thereafter a small secretion foreign to him oozed from his right eye. He picked up a drop composed of a clear liquid, scrutinized it and analyzed it at length.
He had perfect control over his emotions and knew that by now "that boy" was dead and buried. However, she analyzed his mood and perceived emotions such as mild anger, confusion, fear, excitement and something that could be called ''courage''.
' The time has come to answer.
Qyburn returned the same evening to the castle.
End POV
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POV: Author;
Gods wood.
That same evening...
"So Qyburn, have you made a decision?" asked Duncan staring at the maester.
"Death... betrayal, indiscriminate violence, corruption, innocents suffering, loss of loved ones, hatred, stupidity, barbarism, flames and destruction. The chaos resulting from a war inevitably leads to these and other terrible fates... and you, you will face the greatest of them all." Qyburn said with a frosty look.
"Do you think you will be able to carry and bear this burden in the future?"
Duncan smiled at the maester's question.
"No maester... the question is 'Will we are able to carry and bear this burden?'..."
Qyburn looked at the boy again... and gave a small, softening smile at his answer.
The man walked over to the boy and bent his knee to the ground.
He took -with both hands- from his neck a heavy jingling object, a symbol of pride and prestige for every maester in Westeros, and placed at the child's feet.
"I, Qyburn, son of Barren and Celia, born and raised in the village of Rose Peak, swear to you, Duncan of House Tallarth, here, now, and forever eternal loyalty."
Duncan slowly picked up Qyburn's chain. He detached a small sprig of dam tree and chanted a short incantation.
The twig wrapped itself around forming a wooden outline on a ring of Valyria steel. He gently placed the chain around the man's neck and said:
"Arise Ser Qyburn, First True Knight of the Mind of Westeros!"