Jon Snow was nowhere to be seen today. It was said that after being invited by the Hand of the King to a family feast last night, he had not returned. Since Jon couldn't be found, Kal simply couldn't be bothered to look for him.
After all, there was no way that boy could possibly lack a proper set of equipment now.
"Sam, you're coming too."
Taking the reins, Kal glanced at the noticeably slimmer fat man and thought for a moment—he would have armor made for him as well.
He didn't want to show favoritism.
Besides, it wasn't as though he was short on money.
"Me?" Sam pointed at himself, blank-faced.
"If you want to prove yourself, bring a horse over."
Kal did not look for any excuse; he simply put pressure on him in silence.
At these words, Sam's fat face went pale at once, yet he did not shrink back, because he knew his life-taking father would arrive at King's Landing in a few days.
By now much recovered from last night's hangover, Tyrion also mounted a mare with a specially made saddle.
Looking at this eldest son of House Tarly, though he did not quite understand why Kal El cared so much about this cowardly fat man, he was still happy to have one more person to tease.
"Aren't you going to thank Lord Kal El?!"
Tyrion grinned, his eyes full of slyness.
At these words, Kal met his gaze in tacit understanding.
"Ah— right, lis—— uhm, thank you, Lord Kal El, wai—?"
Just then, with the groom's help, Sam had mounted a workhorse. Hearing Tyrion's reminder, he subconsciously wanted to thank Kal.
But halfway through, being innately sensitive to words and blessed with a decent memory, he immediately sensed something different.
"Lord Kal, have you already decided on your surname?"
"El, ah— why can't I quite remember what this name means?"
Muttering as he sat on his own horse, Sam rummaged through his memories, yet could not recall in which book he had seen the surname El, nor what it signified.
Seeing the fat man like this, Tyrion's sly plan succeeded.
"Stop thinking, little fatty. Even I don't remember what El signifies, because this is simply a term newly coined by Lord Kal El himself."
Kal, listening to their talk at the side, did not interject.
They, of course, would not know what El signified.
But what Kal knew was that this surname would, after him, resound through the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, and even the whole world.
By then, there would naturally be those who would know what Kal's surname El signified.
Because they would explain it themselves, just as Targaryen signifies the dragon-king family.
However, Kal paid no mind to their chat; instead, he subconsciously cast a glance at the horse Sam was riding.
As one who had dealt with these fellows for quite some time, he had no small study of horses.
This was also why Fawkes was so expensive, yet Kal still bought him to be his companion.
The horse the groom brought for Samwell Tarly was actually not the kind of warhorse that Kal and the others rode, but a draft horse—also called a workhorse—a type of horse good at carrying heavy loads.
Although they were far from ideal mounts for combat, they could still be ridden onto the battlefield.
At the moment, for Sam, it was naturally the most suitable choice.
"Interested in serving House El? You're worth more than you think."
Seeing how quick-witted this groom from the Red Keep was, and how capable he seemed, Kal thought he ought to make more effort for the House El that he had not yet fully established.
At the very least, for now, he would need such talents to help build his House El.
Hearing without any mental preparation that Lord Kal El wanted him to work for his house, the groom froze for an instant before quickly reacting.
The words of Lord Kal El before him could not have been clearer—he was being recruited.
At the same time, he understood that in the Red Keep he was merely a groom. Yet now, with this young newly risen Lord of Casterly Rock personally seeking him out, once he went to serve at Casterly Rock, his promotion to master of the stables might be within arm's reach.
At the thought of this, of the imminent raise and advancement, the clever groom immediately knelt to the ground without a moment's hesitation.
"It is my honor to serve you, my lord."
Hearing this, Kal could not help but laugh.
"You're quick and clever, and quite capable as well. Tell me your name."
Yet as soon as Kal asked for his name, the groom's face suddenly stiffened, as though he had recalled something; his eyes began to dart away, not daring to meet Kal's gaze.
"What's wrong?" Kal did not understand his meaning—was his name something shameful to speak?
There were plenty of people in this world named Dick, weren't there?
"M-my lord, perhaps you could give me a new name," the groom said in a panic, hastily bowing to the ground.
But he still did not say his own name; instead, he asked Kal to give him a new one.
Sam and Bronn both looked at him with strange expressions.
They had never seen anyone so sycophantic.
But the quick-witted Tyrion immediately understood why this groom was acting that way.
"Don't tell me your name is also Kal," the dwarf burst into laughter, as though he had just thought of something amusing.
Hearing the dwarf's words, Kal finally caught on.
But he did not feel offended; instead, he thought he and this groom were fated to meet. "It seems we share some fate. In that case, from today on, your name shall be Ferrari."
He himself, as Kal, had once raised donkeys in the Vale of Arryn, and now this Kal in King's Landing was raising horses.
It was truly amusing.
After speaking, Kal laughed aloud, tugged on Fawkes's reins, and turned his horse toward the gate of the Red Keep.
The groom formerly named Kal—now newly named Ferrari—was brimming with excitement, and only after Kal and his party had departed did he grin widely and climb up from the ground.
The servants of the Red Keep who had witnessed the scene all came forward to congratulate Ferrari.
For everyone knew that from this day onward, the lad's fortune had changed.
...
That day, Kal was dressed in a black silk high-collared robe trimmed with gold and adorned with red silk, a crimson belt with golden inlay fastened at his waist.
Over his left shoulder hung a bright red cloak just as striking.
Mounted on the chestnut-red Fawkes, his black hair streamed in the wind, making Lord Kal El appear all the more gallant and spirited.
This was his first public appearance since becoming Lord of Casterly Rock and Warden of the West.
Riding through the King's Gate, in the blink of an eye, Kal and his companions entered the stench-filled streets of the city.
Though he had grown somewhat accustomed to this kind of life, Kal still felt a faint discomfort.
"Seven hells, once I get the chance, I'll see to it this privy of a city is cleaned up—and if anyone dares dump his night's piss and shit on the street again, I'll shove his head into his own chamber pot."
Forced to slow his pace, his sharp senses caught that deadly stench, and Kal couldn't help cursing aloud.
"What are you muttering about?"
From behind, Tyrion had heard Kal saying something but hadn't caught it clearly.
He rode up, curiosity on his face, and asked.
But Kal didn't continue the topic. While letting Fawkes weave through the crowded streets on his own, he suddenly seemed to recall something and turned to glance at Tyrion, who had caught up.
"It's nothing. I just happened to remember—Sandor Clegane came to King's Landing with you all, didn't he? How did he come here?"
The reason Kal insisted on riding after leaving the Red Keep was actually nothing more than that he simply didn't want to step on any "landmines" on the ground.
When Tyrion suddenly heard Kal mention Sandor Clegane, he froze slightly.
"The Hound?" Tyrion didn't understand why Kal suddenly brought him up. "When he heard in King's Landing that you had killed his brother, he went mad and demanded to come to King's Landing—he said he had to see you."
"To keep him from going berserk, Robb released him."
As he spoke, Tyrion glanced at Kal. "But after leaving Winterfell, he was transferred to the dungeons of the Red Keep."
"These past few busy days, I'd actually forgotten about him."
Hearing this, Kal hadn't expected the matter to have unfolded that way.
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