"Go on," Aaric encouraged Arya. The young girl immediately ran up to her father to give him a desperate hug the very next instant.

"Arise, Tribune Ra," Aaric bid the kneeling custodian to rise, using the appropriate formal title given only to the custodes.

Ra stood up perfectly straight the next instant.

"It is a honor to finally meet you," Aaric added as he looked at the golden eyed warrior with respect and genuine approval.

"The honor is entirely mine, my prince," Ra managed to speak, his deep voice thick with emotion.

He had dreamt of this exact moment for centuries, and Aaric’s aura and strength far exceeded all of those ancient dreams.

Even at that very moment, every single Lannister soldier surrounding them was completely unable to even move a finger.

They all felt exactly as if they were tightly trapped inside their own paralyzed bodies, with only their terrified eyes capable of following basic instructions.

Those wide eyes closely followed Aaric as he moved slowly toward Ra and stood firmly beside the massive custodian before turning his gaze in a specific direction.

The direction straight toward the grand entrance of the Red Keep, from which a certain blonde boy was currently exiting.

"It seems you all thought you could escape," Joffrey sneered as he stopped just behind the frozen ranks of his soldiers.

The arrogant boy had completely misread the strange situation. He thought the Stark family was currently surrounded by his loyal soldiers and were completely at his mercy.

"Ra, the bright butcher. My father told me all about you. He said you possessed the strength of ten men. It seems I have enough here to challenge you." Joffrey added with a cruel grin.

He did briefly glance at Aaric, but the arrogant king did not find the black haired boy important enough to be acknowledged just yet.

"Seeing as you have failed in your little mission, how about I make you a generous proposal?" the boy asked with a triumphant, mocking expression.

The white cloaks standing behind him looked around the courtyard with deep frowns.

They clearly noticed that Ned Stark and the three young girls huddled beside him did not seem to be worried or scared in the slightest.

The knights registered Ra as an immediate, massive threat, and they viewed the calmly amused Aaric as a dangerous anomaly they should definitely keep an eye on.

"I request you do not step any further, your grace," Meryn Trant advised Joffrey, who had now started walking confidently toward Ra to tell the warrior his grand proposal. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

The Kingsguard knight had deliberately phrased his urgent warning as a request so as not to trigger a negative, childish response from the spoiled boy.

Miraculously, Joffrey listened and stopped his advance.

"I officially present upon you the grand honor of joining my Kingsguard. And in return, I shall gracefully choose not to kill the northern traitors you are currently protecting," the boy king declared loudly.

He spread his arms wide, his face morphing into an expression of absolute glee.

Joffrey personally considered the Stark family escape attempt as a personal insult. He now wished to slowly torture Ned Stark far more than he simply wanted the northern lord dead.

The boy king frowned when he heard absolutely no response from the towering golden warrior.

"Shall I begin forming the teleportation circle, my prince?" Ra asked Aaric in a low voice. The custodian had not even registered a single one of Joffrey’s words.

"We will not be needing that today," Aaric whispered back.

His calm words prompted an immediate nod from the custodian as Ra stepped back and perfectly positioned himself as Aaric’s personal guard.

That sudden movement instantly gained the full attention of Joffrey and his entire royal entourage.

"Who exactly might you be, boy?" Meryn Trant asked before Joffrey could open his mouth.

The Kingsguard knight had an incredibly bad feeling about the mysterious black haired boy standing calmly in front of him.

The only answer the knight received was a sudden, incredibly loud sound of the wind violently breaking.

A massive halberd was hurled directly at him, effortlessly passing straight through the armored bodies of two Lannister guards in its path before brutally splitting Meryn Trant’s face completely in two.

Utter panic ensued immediately as the remaining members of Joffrey’s Kingsguard stepped frantically in front of him to protect their monarch.

The boy king squeaked out a pathetic, high pitched scream fit for a frightened little girl.

While the actual little girls beside Ned only flinced at the death of the kingsguard.

"How dare you refer to my prince as a mere boy," Ra asked coldly. His armored hand was still outstretched perfectly after his devastating halberd throw.

"I do not think he is in any condition to answer that question," Aaric muttered dryly, even though he knew the custodian’s words were just a rhetorical question.

"Well, our ride is finally here," Aaric said casually as he pointed his finger up to the sky. A massive, unnatural shadow seemed to have suddenly fallen directly over the entire Red Keep.

"Is that a real dragon?" Arya asked out loud in absolute wonder as she looked up at the sky at the massive object that had been completely blocking the sun.

And the little northern girl was not entirely wrong to have assumed that.

The colossal flying ship floating above them had two massive wings extending outward from its sides, with the grand bow carved perfectly in the shape of a roaring dragon.

Its wooden back extended elegantly to form a long, sweeping tail resembling that of the legendary beast.

Hawthorne family banners hung proudly from the magnificent ship, fluttering wildly in the strong wind.

(Image of the ship)

Joffrey and his terrified Kingsguard openly gaped at the impossible sight above them before looking back ahead at Aaric and Ra with newfound, paralyzing wariness.

One of the observant knights even noticed that Ra somehow had his bloody halberd resting firmly in his hand once again.

Before any of the Lannister men could even find the courage to speak, they noticed Aaric waving a hand at them right before his entire group vanished completely in a blinding flash of white light.

Upon arriving on the polished deck of the flying ship, Ra found Elia and their children waiting with bright smiles on their faces.

They immediately bowed toward Aaric in respect and greeting before looking up at the very confused, exhausted northern people standing right behind Aaric and Ra.

"Please comfort them and heal their wounds while I go explore the ship," Aaric asked the Drakensar family, knowing they were already familiar with the Starks, before he walked away.

The colossal ship was a brilliant joint creation forged by Elia, the goblins and centaurs of Nightshade, and the seven daemons. Aaric genuinely marveled at the sheer, breathtaking work of art the flying vessel truly was.

The magical runework itself was flawlessly weaved in beautiful and intricate patterns all around the wooden hull of the ship, while the massive wings greatly helped with the overall aerodynamics of the flight.

The protected core of the ship housed a glowing, spherical crystal device they called a Mythallar.

The ancient device had the ability to independently generate its own magical energy while seamlessly channeling it into any complex runic pattern or ritual.

Aaric knew the crystal could be used for much more than just powering a single flying ship.

He had found out his people were already in the process of building entire floating cities with the help of the Mythallar magic technology.

He was deeply thinking of all those grand plans when he eventually reached back to the main deck. He found the Drakensars, the Starks, and Jeyne Poole having a quiet conversation over warm cups of tea.

Ra was just about to get up from his chair when he saw Aaric approach, but the custodian was quickly stopped by a gentle, dismissive gesture from the prince.

Aaric happily joined their circle as young Rhaenys gracefully poured a fresh cup of tea for him.

"Thank you," Aaric said politely before taking a slow, appreciative sip of the warm tea.

His gaze then turned to Ned Stark and the three young girls, who were all looking right at him with varying emotions.

"Will you be taking us to the North then, Prince Aaric?" Ned asked Aaric the most important question currently occupying his tired mind, and the young prince responded with a reassuring nod.

"We shall be in the skies of Winterfell on the morrow," Elia stated when Aaric gave her a silent glance.

"How did you make all of those soldiers stop moving?" Arya asked Aaric directly, clearly referring to the Lannister soldiers he had effortlessly immobilized in the courtyard.

Ned was just about to chide his youngest daughter for her rudeness, but the Lord of Winterfell was swiftly interrupted by Aaric.

"Magic," Aaric answered her with a bright, charming grin. He playfully raised his hand with a dramatic flourish to have soft, glowing golden sparkles fall gently down onto the three girls.

Arya, Sansa, and Jeyne visibly seemed to enjoy the beautiful magical show, and the heavy, lingering gloom in their young eyes lessened significantly by the wondrous phenomenon happening right in front of them.

Ned Stark wisely chose to stay silent.

The lord had far more questions in his mind than the total amount of years he had lived and he intended to ask every single one of them to Ra the very moment he would find the custodian alone.