If Sansa had felt like smiling, this would have been the moment where she kept a private smile for herself -- one at the memory of flying upon a bird so large enough that it could comfortably carry her and Minister Tzilan. But smiling was once again one of those uncomfortable acts, and she was taken aback by his. At first, she wondered whether he realized it was still treasonous to grin over the old king in such a manner. And next, she wondered how he grinned at all.

Robert Rat, it seemed, was the very youngest in his large and eager rat family -- nosing about in the hopes that they should find a veritable paradise of grain in the deep sopping holds of the ship. His family was a family of hungry opportunists. But Robert Rat! Oh. No. See, Robert Rat was an explorer.