Chapter 13: Two Years of Hard Work & Jon Snow I
Created: 1.13.21 - 1.15.21; Edited: 5.2.22 & 6.2.22
Circa 294-296 AC
It took almost two years after my first visit to Winterfell, until I was back for the Harvest Feast to celebrate with the many other Lords and important people of the North, the coming of autumn and the culmination of two years of sweeping changes throughout the North. This feast was being heavily attended, as travel had greatly increased ever since I started on my task of repairing and building concrete roads that stretched to every major House in the North. There were still a few remote areas that were waiting to be completed, but all the more central travelways had been upgraded to the new roads to the delight and excitement of every House of the North.
The project had been brutal and difficult beyond anything I had originally estimated, with the rough terrain throughout the wilds of the North not lending itself to an easy paving job for my many teams of road construction crews that had a steep learning curve after getting started. There were now over twenty full crews that made up the Northern Road Project (NRP), all of them working practically around the clock, reaching into the remotest and wildest lands of the North, and connecting them all together with quality concrete roads. Many of the Lords had originally kicked up quite the fuss when they learned of the task I had, and the rewards for undertaking it, as many saw Moat Cailin as too high a prize to be given to a lower noble Family like the Lockes.
Though none would dare besmirch the roads themselves, as almost every House and town was being connected to their neighbors with slightly crested for water run-off, but mostly flat, smooth, and wide solid roads that made travel in the North hundreds of times easier for everyone. Several Lords had even offered obscene amounts of money and goods or daughters even to get more of their lands paved, or their town streets and roads leading into their castles or ports, making the whole undertaking a rather profitable one all things considered. Though not profitable enough to finance every single building project I had, which is why I had traveled to Casterly Rock a little over a year ago to sell a very valuable Valyrian Steel Greatsword to House Lannister.
Lord Lannister was very reluctant to take my meeting, as I wouldn't say what said meeting was about and only that I had an opportunity for him and his Family that I didn't think he would want to pass up. Eventually he agreed to give me five minutes, but I ended up only needing one second to show him the Valyrian Steel Greatsword I had recovered in Essos that I was offering to sell to him, in order for him to dismiss everybody as we bartered for several hours. I left with an exorbitant amount of gold dragons after refusing several possible wives or spies among his extended family and bannermen, and was grateful I brought several hundred of my best fighters with me as we were ambushed three separate times trying to get out of the Westerlands with my money.
I knew the Old Lion was responsible for at least two of the ambushes as the first happened before we could even leave the lands around Casterly Rock, and the third was conducted by the Mountain himself. Pleased that I never really felt the need to fight fair, I had littered the Mountain and his men with arrows and crossbow bolts after our scouts alerted us to their quick charge, before making our way around them. They chased us for quite a ways into the Riverlands, but ultimately fell behind as we continued harassing them and slowing them down so they couldn't ever catch back up.
I was happy with my sword fighting skills at this point, but I also wasn't a suicidal idiot with a death wish, so did the smart thing and ran from the insanely large man and had to sacrifice a few good men in the process. When I finally made it back to Moat Cailin and crossed into the North with all my gold, I was very pleased to have survived and ready to continue building up my strength and the North, hoping to leave Southern games and politics for a few more years. Having spent most of the two years between visits to Winterfell going to practically every corner of the North, the NRP itself was also a great asset in forging alliances and trade agreements between myself, my Family, and many of the other ruling Families, though not without its own complications.
The biggest complication was that I was often approached by young daughters meant to entice and ensnare me, hoping to attach themselves to my growing successes and wealth, as many Families quickly realized the growth and wealth of Oldcastle and the Locke name. Luckily, I was still single and looking for the perfect bride, not in any hurry to get married while my life was so busy and hectic, constantly on the move living in tents and working deals and agreements with the various people I met and encountered over the years. I had been very tempted though by Dacey Mormont, as the tall girl was quite beautiful and a complete menace to fight in a training ring, she was by far the most pleasant of those I encountered.
She had a wicked sense of humor and very sharp tongue, spoke her mind, didn't take shit from anybody, and was almost the exact same age as I was. She was also completely opposed to the idea of marriage in general, not wanting to be the Lady to some Lord when she could stay on Bear Island and do exactly as she wanted. One of her several years younger sisters, Lyra, who greatly resembled the tall lanky beauty of House Mormont, was the other biggest contender at present, as she was interested in marriage to me, but was still only 15 to my now 24.
Lyra was a beautiful girl, growing tall and strong, but still slender and feminine, and was definitely interested in me. The biggest problem though, was that she was still a girl even if this somewhat barbaric land considered her of ripe marrying age, if I was to wed her it would have to wait at least two more years. The biggest drawback though to marrying a Mormont, was that they didn't have much in the way of tradable goods, or vast lands ripe for farming, nor where they even really connected to the mainland of the North, which presented its own headaches. A marriage to them would be because we got along, and not for any political or financial gain, and while that was a great ideal, my Family had become one of the more sought after over the last few years due to our growing wealth and status, and I wanted to capitalize on that.
Most of the other eligible girls from the big Houses of the North were all too young for me, as I wasn't going to wed a little girl regardless of how much her Family could bring to the table, and wanting to find someone that I also got along with to some degree. With the staggering amount of people that followed me, either in my own traveling retinue, or scattered between Oldcastle, Horseshoe Bay (the Settlement that grew up near Ramsgate), East Locke (the first Settlement near our glass making business, near the borders with White Harbor), and West Locke (the newest Settlement still being built on the western side of the Bite Bay at the recently begun Grand Canal entrance), I never lacked for company. Though my mother would probably be shocked and offended at how often I found certain darker skin types in my bed, which I blamed on Ellaria Sand and several old girlfriends from my first life, and were even rarer among the Northern population outside of my own rescued people.
Those populations had only grown too, as we increased trade with Essos and now had people in Lorath, Morosh, Pentos, Tyrosh, and Lys whose only job was to look for talented slaves and servants to be rescued and relocated to the North. After the initial letter from the Iron Bank telling me where to find rice and hearty grains in Morosh, I had shortly after taken my ship on a short trip, stopping in Braavos to meet with the Iron Bank representatives to keep them happy, and ensure I had the initial loan investment in my Northern Roads Project. They were even more pleased when I arrived with the payment to pay off our first loan in full, and provided them with a large chest full of Locke's Ledgers, blank ledger books we created for "double-entry accounting" that I implemented at all our settlements, towns, and camps, before moving on to Morosh. We even stopped in Lorath as well to dispatch a small team of recruiters that would look for the cheap or opportunistic slaves looking for a better life.
In Morosh itself, we found the necessary rice and grains along with several other animal herds that were purchased in bulk in order to bring back to Westeros, along with several thousand poor slaves who were granted freedom and settled somewhere in the North.
Each of our original settlements had been somewhat established now with more permanent structures, and were each their own diverse growing city and community, with a main keep under the rule of my former lieutenants. The original settlements were constantly growing too from the influx of the new settlers, who also came with the increased trade ships from all over Essos and some of the Eastern port cities of the North we began trading more with.
Oldcastle itself was now on the verge of overcrowding, and in my last letter with my father, was told they were currently trying to clear several square miles of land behind our large castle and away from the coast to expand the city. It was still just a tad smaller than White Harbor, but was easily now the second largest city in the North even before this latest expansion and continuing to grow. Horseshoe Bay had been turned over to Cale and Cletis Burke to run, so that Sydel, Juden, and Rickard could move and take over the newest settlement we were calling West Locke, on the eastern coast nearest Moat Cailin, and the home of the recently started entrance to the Grand Canal.
The Graymander cousins had successfully built up Horseshoe Bay as a booming coastal port town in no time, with a large fishing industry, the largest of our cement factories, our secondary glass manufacturers, and housed the several mines for limestone, iron, and even silver they found in the hilly lands off the coast. They were also the location of most of our large war galleys, as their large naturally protected port, and closeness to the eastern coast of Westeros made them an ideal location to act as our primary Naval defense. The growing and diverse city now housed more than 25,000 people and made it one of the largest cities in the North, as only White Harbor and Oldcastle were currently larger with over twice that population.
It was roughly the same size as the newly renamed first settlement, the city of East Locke, which was still run by Geremy and Alston Rivers, on the border between Oldcastle and White Harbor lands, nearest to our primary Locke Glass Factory and growing Locke Soaps & Scents business. On the eastern coast of the White Knife Bay, it was the first of a pair of growing twin cities on either side of the large bay leading towards the White Knife River and White Harbor, and would act as the early defense and protection of White Harbor and entrance into the center of the North by sea. With Winterfell so close to the White Knife River, and White Harbor the biggest known city in the North just north up the bay, it was important that we took our overall defenses seriously.
Likewise, we had just recently begun construction on what was to be called West Locke, on the opposing side of the White Knife Bay, and only a day's ride east of Moat Cailin, it was designed to help protect the White Knife River entrance. It was also serving as the entrance to the newly designed Grand Canal, that was going to cut straight west and meet up with the Fever River just west of Moat Cailin and provide easy ship access to the western coast of Westeros. The Iron Bank of Braavos had just invested half the money they expected the canal to cost, knowing that the easy access it would give them to a larger market on Westeros' west coast would quickly be recouped by their trade ships. (*map available)
West Locke on the east at the Grand Canal's entrance and Moat Cailin on the west would hold the gates to the Grand Canal, responsible for protecting and allowing access and passage to traveling ships, and taxing all those who used it in the process. Of course Braavosi ships had a five year half tax due to their initial investment, but I felt that we would be doing just fine in a few years and it became more well known and utilized. For now, the canal was simply an area marked for digging, with large crews at both ends getting started on the gates and protective elements that were to defend it from either side.
I currently had Sydel, Juden, and Rickard, the Graymander cousins running both West Locke and Moat Cailin, as despite the cities and castles not being built up yet, there were large camps of almost 10,000 at both sites ready to continue the initial work and populate those two regions when they were done. I was waiting to have the Canal in place and operating, as it would quickly bring in money and more goods, and make traveling to Moat Cailin easier for our trade and cargo ships to build that massive structure back to its former glory. I was actually planning to ask the other Northern Lords while at the Harvest Feast, if they could spare any manpower to come down and help dig the canal or help rebuild Moat Cailin, and reveal the plans after first debriefing Lord Eddard.
One of the other growing towns, as it was just too spread out to be considered a city, was the location of the Locke Distillery, now called the Locke Hills or Locke Farms, as somewhere along the lines of 20,000 people called the enormous rural area home now. It was the home to a staggering amount of large farming communities that spread out over the impossibly huge area filling up almost all the land between White Harbor, Oldcastle, and Ramsgate with countless farms of every type. These farms were the lifeblood to many of our growing industries and population, as they provided the food, herds, and natural resources that were in high demand throughout our growing area of the North and kept our essential food costs down considerably.
It was not just my Family's lands that had seen such an economic and population boom, as Ramsgate, Widow's Watch, Hornwood, and even White Harbor had also seen quite a bit of growth to their own populations as more and more people came to the North to settle. Our Locke Distillery, was now one of the most sought after commodities throughout the North especially, but also was starting to make a foothold in Essos and was slowly catching on to other parts of the world as it was introduced, and along with our growing glass business, was a real money maker for the Family. We were just really starting to see the return on our earlier investments in growing our production, as every day now it seemed new ships were arriving from Braavos mostly at first, but then others started arriving from other parts of Essos.
We had strengthened our towns into thriving cities with all the increase in trade and the many new foundational businesses anchoring each city and giving it something to be known for. Having Locke Glass and Locke's Soaps and Scents both being based out of East Locke gave that new city under Geremy and Alston a large boost that saw it quickly reach and surpass the population of Oldcastle after our first infusion of people at just over 25,000 and growing stronger. Meanwhile Locke Concrete, the Locke-Dontaryon Shipbuilding School & Company, and almost all the farming equipment was being manufactured and sold through Horseshoe Bay under Cale and Cletis, doing a great job of putting the Easternmost city on the trading map. Finally, the Locke Paper Mill, growing Printing Press, Bookbinding Industry, Locke's Soaps & Scents Testing Center, Locke Hospital, and Locke Jewelry were all being made and sold from Oldcastle making it still the most populous and thriving of the new cities.
All in all, I was very pleased with the progress made over the last two busy years and was happy to finally be resting in Winterfell after the last several months working on the latest part of the Northern Road Construction Project, ready for the Harvest Feast to begin in the next day or so, once the rest of the expected guests arrived. My own traveling camp, was currently staying near Torrhen's Square, and was now numbered close to twelve thousand people and was practically a traveling town on its own. With over half that number consisting of my newest brigades of the various fighting forces, nobody was going to mess with them or cause any problems with Tristifer in charge and builder teams working at Torrhen's Square building one of many military 'Legion Posts' for our Northern troops.
The North itself wasn't the only thing to change a lot over those years, as several of my former lieutenants of the army started setting up roots and taking more permanent posts that put them in positions of oversight and control they managed splendidly. Tristifer was now the unquestioned leader of the armed forces, as I was too often away dealing with the nobles or some problem or another, leaving my right hand man often in charge of my traveling training camp and therefore the training of the newest brigades. He had really continued growing in skill and filling the role well, now standing well over seven feet with impossibly strong thick shoulders, chest, and arms, he was one of the most impressive fighters in the North, more resembling an Umber man with a strong and well known reputation among the leading families.
Only myself and Axel Whiteye, our veteran Head Trainer, were close amongst those in the army to the skill and power he showed with his war hammer, and very few among the Northern Families had members that could even deal with him one on one. I could still beat him more times than not, though that was more due to my overwhelming speed and unconventional dual swords, but he had been giving me more and more trouble to keep up with as of late. Axel too was a thick and strong man, a thirty year old veteran fighter that few ever wanted to be up against, and had earned a similarly strong reputation as the size of my forces continued to grow and move to the various settlements and around the North.
Juden and Sydel Graymander were both thriving running the camps and building projects at West Locke and Moat Caitlin along with their cousin Rickard's help, and all three men had grown into able leaders I could really rely on. Likewise, Geremy and Alston Rivers had equally stepped up and taken on the role of leadership at East Locke, and were as far removed from their Frey roots as was possible to get, and had grown significantly from the thin young boys they started as. Cale and Cletis Burke were doing well in charge of Horseshoe Bay, though neither was as exceptional as the others in the role of leadership, they both knew their limits and had surrounded themselves with good and smart people to help them run the growing port city while they trained up their specialized Berserker Units that few would ever want to mess with.
My armed forces had also grown significantly, but also had been further divided between the many new and existing cities, which were all now being run almost autonomously by my former lieutenants, so I didn't have the exact numbers at each location. Each city did start with two Infantry brigades, and one each of Cavalry, Pikemen, and Archers so 5,000 people of each city were part of the original armed forces they all started as. With the constant influx of new people though, those numbers were woefully out of date, and I knew that my own camp was constantly training up brigades and then sending them out to be replaced with the newest trainees every six months or so.
My camp had basically become the traveling training and recruiting camp, in order to get soldiers trained and placed in new brigades, and get them used to the conditions and accommodations of living and marching in camps, along with learning to follow the chain of command. It was working quite well, and the continual rotating made it always a new and slightly different experience with each successive brigade, and introduced them to me and Tristifer who were the overall armed forces leaders. That we had also continually picked up young men and even several women from throughout the North to join us, our numbers were just continuing to grow, and the strength of our forces and ties to the other Northern Houses grew along with it.
I knew now after having been part of the Northern Army during the Greyjoy Rebellion, and then touring the entire North with my road project, that no other House in the North came even close to the amount of numbers I could field, including the Starks themselves. My army coming back from Essos was larger than the Stark levies, and better trained, and that army had only grown in both size and experience since then until we probably equaled almost the entirety of the Northern host without us. It didn't matter much right now, as few really knew the complete size of our troops or the growth of our several new cities, each armed better than every other Northern House, but it may come up sooner or later and I would need to be ready.
It was one of the things that actually surprised me the most, the lack of awareness of almost every House I encountered in the North about the growth of Oldcastle, the arrival of new cities, and products that had only reached them periodically through my visits with the Northern Road Project. Few of the Houses of the North had yet to really understand just how large the Locke Family holdings now were, and really outside of Braavos, our greatest trading partner as of now, we were still a relative unknown in the grander world despite producing quality goods for years now. Our Rum and Soaps were actually the products that had gotten the farthest reach, but even those were just starting to show up in the standard markets of Essos, as the earliest batches were all hoarded by the elite and wealthy.
Today though, I would be telling Lord Eddard the rough size of each city, as I had arrived at the Harvest Feast with the necessary taxes that needed to be paid to my Liege Lord, and the staggering amount of taxes would be a pretty clear indication that House Locke was doing quite well at present. My plan was to continue on the current path, building up the armed forces as much as possible, strengthening and rebuilding Moat Cailin once the Grand Canal was built, and increasing the cash flow in the North so we were as ready as possible when the time came for the troubles to begin. I estimated that we were still about two years from the start of the TV show that I remembered, as Robb Stark was only 13 and no word of finding Direwolves by the Stark children had yet occurred, so I still had some time with Lord Jon Arryn still operating as Hand of the King, to Robert Baratheon.
I arrived at the Winterfell training ring early the first morning after my late night arrival, hoping to get in a nice workout before the rest of the parties arrived and the Harvest Feast began in earnest, and knowing the next few days were going to be filled with noise and chaos and the Northern equivalent of politicking. I was now a very well known figure among the other Houses and Lords, and showed and demonstrated my martial skills and wealth based on the size and accommodations of my camp and the industries associated with the Locke name that were becoming more and more commonplace every day. I knew that I would need to be sharp and on my toes, making deals, and avoiding the attention from the eligible daughters of the North, and needed to burn off some steam before I got too bogged down by it all.
Luckily, the training ring was pretty empty when I arrived, much earlier than most as my sleeping issues had still not improved, and I started going through several of my usual limbering exercises to properly warm myself up before training. One of the first to arrive was a young Jon Snow, who probably had the same idea to get in some training before the rest of the visiting Lords and guests arrived, and I greeted him with a large smile and nod of my head. He was still a young lad of only 13, but had grown a lot taller since my last visit two years previously, and I was happy to get the chance to spend some time with the man I knew would be so important in the years to come.
"Greetings Jon," I spoke with a nod as he looked ready to turn around and leave when he saw someone already at the training yard, causing him to freeze and stare at me with wide surprised eyes.
"You remember me?" he asked shyly, ducking his head and seemingly trying to disappear behind the rack of practice swords.
"Of course," I answered with a small smile, "why don't you join me, and show me what you've learned?"
"Yes my lord," he answered automatically, still staring wide eyed at me.
"None of that please," I chuckled with a good natured smile, hoping to put the lad at ease, "just call me Donnell."
I could tell he was shocked at my request, both the invitation to show off his growing skills, treating him like a normal person, and asking him to call me by my name, but it was important I reach out and at least become friendly with the lad. For the next twenty minutes I had him sweating and bruised as I took him through the paces of sword training, and was quite pleased with how well he handled himself. He obviously still had a long way to go to reach my level, but he was a quick study who rarely made the same mistake twice, was eager to learn and improve, and I could tell he was really enjoying himself.
"Don't you think the poor boy's had enough Donnell?" came the question from a familiar feminine voice I hadn't heard in months, but put a smile on my face all the same, as I turned and found Dacey Mormont watching us with a cocky grin on her face from the rack of practice swords.
"Dacey," I greeted the newcomer with a wide smile, barely pausing before throwing off another of Jon's attacks with relative ease and spinning away from his guarded front, to land a soft blow to his right shoulder that had the sword falling out of his exhausted hands and knocked him to the ground. "Couldn't stay away, I see?"
"Please," she huffed with an exaggerated roll of her eyes, though I could also see the smile on her face become a bit more genuine.
"Why don't we pause here Jon," I spoke to the young man, offering him a hand to help him back to his feet and taking in his truly exhausted state, "have a bit of a break ...and watch me teach this fine lady some manners."
The answering growl from Dacey was quite pleasant, and very bear-like, causing my grin to widen as Jon stared wide eyed between the two of us as he limped out of the training ring to make room for the tall growling woman to enter. She wasted no time, picking up her mace and storming into the training ring, not even giving me any time to chat as she started launching incredibly strong attacks that would fell a lesser man. I took everything she could throw at me, letting her stay on the offensive for a few minutes to give her some time to work out her anger, before slowly starting to fight back with small hits to her arms and legs, fractionally slowing her down and increasing her anger at the same time.
She was breathtakingly beautiful when she fought in a rage of emotion, and I knew there were few men in the North who would be able to withstand her skill and charms if she was truly interested. I could see Jon on the sidelines watching in amazement at both her power and skill, but also in my ability to keep ahead of her attacks, and constantly harass and turn the tables on her at every turn. Her rage was only increasing however, even as her skills started to slow down, as she couldn't best me and it was driving her crazy, although my somewhat cocky little grin probably wasn't helping much.
"You are ravishing my lady," I spoke at one point, her hair a wonderful mess and her cheeks and skin a beautifully flushed pink, but my words only incensed her more, knowing she hated being called a lady, and me loving every minute of our flirting.
"Fuck you, Locke," she growled low in her throat, not stopping her relentless offense despite not gaining any ground, and only making my grin widen at getting her so worked up she reverted to last names.
"Is that an offer my lady?" I asked, my grin threatening to split my face in half it was so big, as the tall beauty growled again and renewed her attacks with an almost unheard of strength for any woman.
"And what if it was?" she asked in a whisper, doing an almost 180 from angry to sultry, as our weapons locked in front of us and my eyes went impossibly wide.
Apparently, that was part of her plan, as the distraction her question offered me, had me completely unprepared for her lunging shoulder to my chest. With my stumbling back and trying to keep on my feet, I wasn't able to fully get up a block or dodge her follow up swing with her mace. The hit to my side that followed was definitely going to bruise heavily, but I don't think anything was broken as it spun me around and to the ground, where I landed on my back looking up into the smuggly grinning face of Dacey as she placed her foot on my chest pinning me down.
"I'm not sure you can even handle me, Locke," she spoke smuggly.
"If it involves getting pinned underneath you again ...then I'm all for it," I replied wagging my eyebrows as my grin grew again, while her eyes narrowed dangerously as she pushed a little harder on my chest to remind me who was in control here, and making me raise my hands in the universal sign of surrender.
"Save a dance for me, my lord," she whispered, leaning over to get closer and putting even more of her weight on my chest, knowing exactly what she was doing based on the visible mirth in her dark blue eyes before she simply disappeared out of the training ring and courtyard all together.
"Are you okay Lord Locke?" came the timid question from Jon Snow nearby, having watched the fight in awe, and was now looking at me in curiosity as I laid on my back with a slight grin on my face despite losing.
"Never better Jon," I answered, sitting up and giving the young boy a smile, seeing that he had caught his breath and seemed to be doing okay, "and I thought I said to call me Donnell? Want to go another couple rounds?"
Jon practically sprinted back into the training ring, and I got up with a small chuckle at his eagerness. My mind though, was still thinking about the latest encounter with Dacey and wondering what to make of it. It wasn't the first time we had sparred both physically and verbally with a heavy dose of flirting, but it had never seemed to progress to such lengths, where afterwards I was confused whether or not I actually had a shot with the tall Northern beauty. When I saw her last, over six months previously while I visited Bear Island as my road construction team was working near Deepwood Motte, we flirted a bit too but it was completely harmless with none of the underlying tension from today's little meeting and it made me wonder if her circumstances had changed.
By the time Jon was again pushing against total exhaustion, several others had come out to the training ring in order to get some work in, two of whom I had become quite good friends with a few months back. Lord Galbart and his younger brother Robett Glover, my good brother who was married to my sister Sybelle, had been great hosts and quick friends during my week-long stay in Deepwood Motte. Both men were a few years my senior, though Robett was only two years older, but were good men who I got along with really well during my stay, and had really helped out as a favor to my sister and new friends.
I had given them a great deal on the additional roads around their keep and extended all the way to their nearest port which was quite the distance, showing them how to make the mobile siege equipment and other defenses they could employ against the usual Ironborn or Wildling raiders they most often encountered. We had also struck up a great trade deal for their controlled lumber, and the massive amounts of limestone in the mountains to the northeast that they owned. They were both strong thick men with dark brown hair and eyes, and knew they liked to spar often, even if they were both much better archers than sword fighters, they worked together well during the few exhibitions we put on when last we were together.
By this time, Jon was joined by Robb, and the pair watched on in excitement as I took on the pair of brothers simultaneously, and even made it look easy as I wore them both down and defeated them one right after the other in under ten minutes. That started a stretch of several more challenges, usually two at a time after people realized how easy it was for me one on one, and none lasted very long, including the Winterfell Master of Arms, Ser Rodrik Cassel and his son Jory who was close to my age. Eventually though, I had to beg off to rest, shower, and meet up for lunch with my two sisters who were both in attendance and I so rarely got to see.
I gave Robb and Jon a smile and wink when I left, and told them to keep practicing if they wanted to try taking me on as a pair, leaving both boys gaping and me laughing as I made my way back to the room I was given. Finding a very busy housekeeper cleaning up one of the rooms in the old guard barracks I was staying in, with all the other non-married young lords and men, I asked if they could arrange for some water to be brought to my room for a bath. I cleaned myself up quickly, again lamenting that fact I would never again take a long hot shower from my old world, before getting dressed in some of my better clothes and making my way to the main hall to meet up with Sybelle and Haylia.
I had to do a double take, and then congratulate Sybelle when I saw her and realized that she was pregnant, having not noticed when they arrived the previous evening due to the heavily layered clothing she wore, and got twin chuckles from my sisters at my cluelessness. Our lunch was wonderful, having gathered foods and brought them out to the Godswood, where it was easy to find a quiet corner away from anyone and enjoyed a wonderful picnic lunch, even if being in the Godswood had me a little on edge. They both caught me up on their lives at Deepwood Motte and Widow's Watch since I had last visited, and I told them a few stories of my recent travels throughout the North and some of the problems we had encountered in the road construction project they both found hilarious.
Sybelle was four months along in her pregnancy, and was very happy to tell me and Haylia all about it, in much greater detail than I ever cared to know, but knew my sisters were very happy to have this chance together. Her and Robett were doing really well, and had been much busier in the last half year since my most recent visit, trying to complete all the projects I helped them get started, and increase their castle and town defenses. Haylia was gushing about her more recent wedding just two months previously, of which neither Sybelle or I could attend, but was attended by our father and mother and how much it meant for her to have them both there.
We talked about our Grandfather's passing the year before, something I had gone back to Oldcastle for though neither of the girls were able, and how much it seemed to sadden our father now that he was the Lord in charge. Haylia mentioned how he seemed to have bounced back a bit by the time of her wedding, or at least didn't show any of the depression I noticed when back in Oldcastle. Sybelle just complained about being so far away from Oldcastle, and not getting to see all the new changes and growth that was happening all over our lands, the new cities that were popping up, and her parents and family more, but very happy to see the Locke name becoming so much more respected throughout the North.
It was quite an enjoyable lunch, and something we had never really done before, just the three of us sitting around chatting about our now adult lives, and I promised to always be there if they ever needed me for something like this again. Our lunch was eventually interrupted by the ringing of the bell, indicating another noble Family had arrived, most likely the Karstarks, as they were the only Family yet to arrive that I knew about. Making our way back into the courtyard for the customary receiving lines, I bid both my sisters farewell for now and let them return to their new Families in the large line of Northern Nobles.
I found my place in line between Lord Halys Hornwood and Lord Vinton Manderly and their wives and sons Daryn Hornwood and the one year old Donnell Manderly, who was named after me. It was a bit of a surprise when Lord Vinton and Lady Lyra arrived with their young son, happy to show him off and tell everyone how nice it was to finally have a family and heir of their own. They thanked me countless times for getting them together, officiating their wedding, and all the help and gifts I had provided that had really made Ramsgate flourish over the last two years as well, while we waited to greet the last arriving family before we could begin the Harvest Feast.
—-Locke's Legion—-
Jon Snow I
"Keep practicing if you want to take me on as a pair," spoke Lord Locke, sorry …Donnell, after he single-handedly defeated over two dozen of the best Stark guards and fighters before walking past Robb and I to get cleaned up after his morning training.
"Did you see that?" exclaimed Robb in absolute excitement, having watched transfixed for the last twenty minutes as the strong Northern Lord decimated every challenger who entered the ring.
"You should have seen him fight the She Bear from House Mormont before," breathed Jon with a slight blush growing on his still young face, that his half-brother instantly noticed.
"Why?" grinned Robb with a silly grin, he usually only wore around Theon when talking about the Iron Islander's penchant for whores.
"She beat him," he whispered quietly, as if afraid of saying it out loud, "said something to him that completely threw him, and took advantage …before that it was incredible."
"What did she say?" whispered Robb excitedly, always interested in gossip about one of their favorite topics of the last few years, the amazing Donnell Locke.
"I couldn't hear it," grumbled Jon, "but it sure shocked Lord Locke."
"Donnell," said Robb, correcting Jon just as Donnell had done minutes before, and laughing at the somewhat embarrassed look that Jon wore every time he called the Northern Lord his name so informally.
"Fine, yes …D-Donnell," responded Jon with an eye roll to his laughing half-brother, "but he just laughed it off and started training me some more."
"You got a lesson from Donnell this morning?" came the excited question moments later once what I said registered with Robb.
"Two," I breathed out in exhaustion, "and once I can lift my arms again …I'll show you everything he told me."
"Ugh," groaned Robb in dismay, "you are so lucky!"
"Really?" I asked surprisingly, "because even my bruises have bruises now."
"Well, hurry up and rest," complained Robb with a whine, "so you can show me those new moves."
"Ugh," I groaned in an almost identical way to my best friend and half-brother, as I knew the rest of my day was going to be hard to stay awake for.
I had thankfully recovered enough after lunchtime, and without lessons with Maester Luwin due to all the visiting Lords and Nobles, I was able to take Robb to the Godswood where we could practice in peace away from the eyes of his mother. I showed him the moves Donnell used and demonstrated, also the two exercises he recommended for them both to do if they were serious about becoming better sword fighters. Robb didn't have any interest in running every day to increase his stamina, or to use weighted training blades to quickly build up the necessary muscles to become a legendary fighter, but I sure as hell did and resolved myself to hard days ahead.
Watching as the many Lords and their Families interacted with one another, I was left a little surprised at how stuffy and annoyingly polite it all looked, especially Donnell who didn't resemble the warm man he usually was in the training ring while talking with old men. Maybe for the first time I saw a benefit of not being included among their ranks. Though I still harbored a lot of ill feelings towards my status as a bastard, lately, it seemed to matter less and less to me as I watched the important nobles having to put on their performances and started to see it for what it was. Politicking would always have some place to play in the world, but Northern politics were always much different from the rest of Westeros, less fake in his opinion after watching Caitlyn Tully Stark express the virtues of the Seven with Lord Manderly, one of the few Northern Lords who actually followed the mostly Andal religion.
I scowled at the hypocrisy of the mean spirited woman who proclaims herself so devout, and thought back to this morning and something Donnell had said in passing that I hadn't caught at the time, but now watching these people play out their parts, made a lot more sense. It wasn't the same North for everybody. Some had to play a part to fit in, some did it naturally, but they each had a part to play in running the North even if I thought most of those parts were less than useless compared to others. So few of these Lords and Ladys did anything with their power and education and money that helped make the world a better place, only occasionally doing things that would benefit them exclusively.
He thought back to his Uncle Benjen, who gave away all those trappings of power and lordships, to serve the realm fighting the good fight on the Wall among the Black Brothers, and the respect he had for him over most of these others. Lord Locke was actually one of the few that he knew was doing things to help others, and it was one of the main reasons he looked so favorably on the younger lord, though how he treated Jon was another point in his favor. If he could grow beyond the selfish thinking of most nobles, and do things that bettered the North and others, then the other people at this Harvest Feast could and should do the same.
But, as I watched a few of them play their stupid little power plays and word games trying to trip one another up, or exploit someone's mistake, I realized this wasn't the way to make the world better. I then wondered what I could do to make the world better, and thought back to Lord Locke's training this morning, and how dedicated I would need to be if I wanted to be free to do what I truly wanted. I would also need to stop worrying about Caitlyn fucking Stark and what she thought of me, because it wouldn't matter in the long run. Instead I would start working on getting myself better, taking my training as seriously as Donnell suggested, doing the leg work and researching and keep learning mentally as well as physically.
"I'll give you a fight the next time we meet," I whispered to myself late that night after skipping my usual brooding around outside the Main Keep, to continue practicing and studying fighting techniques in preparation for another morning lesson with Donnell, for the first time since learning he was a bastard …and just not giving a fuck.