Steffon sat next to his injured father as he slept, the arrow that had pierced his chest had gotten infected through means that even Maester Godric couldn’t figure out. He held his fathers hand and gave it a squeeze while a soft smile went over his face. Gregor while in his slumber could feel the squeeze and his eyes opened slowly.

“Steffon my boy, I’m happy you’re here with your old father.”

“Of course I am, if I hadn’t run to the forest you’d be healthy. But here you are, barely able to sit.” Steffon said this with tears building in his eyes.

“Calm down boy, I’m glad that the wannabe assassin didn’t find you! He would have cut you down like a piece of grass.” Although Gregor had said this kindly, it felt like an insult to Steffon who hadn’t been the most skilled in the art of combat, just another way to disappoint his father. Steffon scowled and turned his head.

“Did you see him at all boy? Surely he couldn’t have been far from where you were reading.” Gregor asked while straining to sit up.

Steffon paused before he spoke, taking a second to think “I’m sure I saw a man run into the trees after I heard the thump of you falling from your horse. But I can’t be sure who it is was.”

Gregor winced at his pain, “The arrow he bloody shot me with has some unknown poison on it according to Godric. Gods knows when I’ll recover.”

This was the first Steffon had heard of poison, this was more than just a hunting accident, this was an actual attempt on his father! It seemed no one else knew this, only Godric and now Steffon himself. Who would gain anything from the murder of a local knight? The Naylands had no enemies and everyone loved his father. Then something struck Steffon’s mind, who would gain anything from his fathers death? His brother Rickon, son and heir to the land of Hag’s Mire. When Steffon looked back at his father he was asleep once more, this was not something to bring up to him anyway, not without proof. Steffon would find who did this, by any means necessary.

As Steffon left the room of his father he looked to the guards and gestured for them to listen: “Post an extra guard on his door, there’s something rotten in the lands of Hag’s Mire.”