"Wanna test that theory?" Varys asked as he reached for the hilt of his sword.
"No, thank you."
Sigurd was in no condition to fight, and even if he were, he had no intention of getting into a tussle with Varys of all people. He had nothing to prove; he and Varys had dueled countless times as kids, and it was blatantly obvious who was stronger.
"This won't go like when we were kids." Completely glossing over what Sigurd had said, Varys proceeded to draw his sword.
When Sigurd didn't move to draw his own sword, Varys pointed his blade at Sigurd's throat.
"Draw your sword, coward."
Sigurd knew his brother well; he understood that Varys was searching for one thing—probable cause. The moment he drew his sword, he knew one of them would have to die. If there was one thing he knew about his siblings, it was that they all sought their father's approval—except for him, of course.
Varys wouldn't dare kill him without a good excuse to tell their father, and drawing his sword would give him that excuse.
"Did Father tell you I got the jump on him?"
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"The idiot thought I wouldn't fight back and would just come with him quietly."
"Shut up and draw your sword."
"I'm not drawing anything. You mindless slave, you can't even do anything without Father's permission."
Varys raised his sword in the air, ready to swing at him. Just as it looked like he had made up his mind, Theon stepped in.
"What are you doing, Theon? Get out of the way! He's intentionally slowing us down so he can escape."
"I don't think that's what he's doing. He looks tired. I bet Father did a number on him. I bet he's already learned his lesson, and if he hasn't, I'll deal with him myself. You just focus on keeping everyone together."
Varys looked at the two of them with suspicion, then sheathed his sword.
"Suit yourself," he said as he walked away.
"Varys is really something, isn't he?" Theon mumbled when Varys was far enough away to not hear.
Sigurd turned to look at him. "Varys I can handle. It's where we are going that's the problem. It will take roughly a month for us to get there, and we can't stay huddled together like this in a group. It will make us easy targets. Let the two of us branch off on our own. We'll watch each other's backs until we get to the Red Tomb."
"That's a good idea. I've actually been planning to form a group and head off, but it can't be just the two of us. Others have to join as well."
"Uhh, why not? The two of us would make a great team; others would just slow us down."
"I'm sorry, but there are people here I can't afford to leave behind, like Astrid, for example."
"Who?"
"You're kidding, right?" Theon looked at him with suspicion, but Sigurd continued to stare back with the same blank expression on his face. Theon sighed. "Astrid, our little sister?"
"I've probably got tons of little sisters; you can't expect me to remember all of them."
Theon sighed again. "She's only twelve years old. We can't leave her on her own. I doubt Varys will pay her any mind, even though he lives with her."
"Lives with her?"
"Yes. Astrid's mother died, so she lives with Father, his wife, and their children. Father is the only person who cares for her."
"So no one cares for her, then."
"I think Arya will also want to come along," Theon said, ignoring Sigurd's comment. "She's a friend of mine. Is that fine with you?"
Maybe I should just go on my own.
Sigurd was genuinely thinking of going off on his own. He didn't like the idea of traveling in a group in the first place muchless with a loud mouth brat and a teenage girl. It was a combination for disaster
Theon was alright enough since he was Theon. He liked to describe Theon as a cockroach, he could thrive in any environment, regardless of where it was. Sigurd much disliked conflict since it was a hassle but if there was anyone he wouldn't want to go up against, it would definitely be Theon.
Conversely, that was what made him such a good ally.
There were still wild beasts that left their nests to roam around. During this journey he would undoubtedly run into some. He couldn't take the chance of being killed by them. Or worse, spending the entire journey fighting beasts.
The more he thought about it the more it made sense. If the worse came to worse he and Theon could just ditch them while they made their escape.
"I guess it wouldn't be all bad if it was just those two"
Theon gave him a thumbs up and went to find the two girls.
When he saw him returning with them, his stomach churned. His so-called sister, Astrid, was basically clinging onto Theon with dear life and the other girl, Arya, was making puppy dog eyes at him as she hovered close to him, a red blush on her cheek.
"What in tarnation?"
He could almost hear the tolls of the wedding bell as they approached him and they even had a little daughter at their side..
Astrid had the build of a typical twelve year old girl. She had red hair and a cute face. As for her personality, she seemed to be the shy type. The other one, Arya, was 16 years old. She was among the prettier girls in the village. She was among the many girls that had fallen for Theon's charms.
"Sigurd, I'd like to introduce you. These are whom I've been talking about, Arya and Astrid.
"Its nice to meet you"
Astrid looked at him warily and Arya returned a pleasant smile before shifting his focus back to Theon.
"Ok," Theon said with a cheerful smile "Next thing we should do is plan our route."
Theon took out a hand drawn map and layered it all out on the ground so that everyone could examine it.
"Apart from the Red Tomb, there are six other nests in the area that we might encounter beasts from. I think we should travel through here" he said as he pointed to the area on the map that he thought would be best.
Arya examined the route Theon suggested then spoke up. "Wouldn't that route be more dangerous since its so close to tw of the nests"
"Yeah you're right. The route is awfully close to the blood moth, and the sleeping crickets nest. But they are among the weakest of the beasts in the area. With proper teamwork, we can easily fight our way through."
With his sound logic and charisma, it didn't take long to convince her. Sigurd mostly agreed with what Theon said. He was mostly left wondering, how did Theon obtain a map?