Chapter 11: Into the Great Wide Open
Created: 1.6.21 - 1.7.21, edited: 3.9.22 & 6.2.22
Circa 293-294 AC
Soon we were in the familiar position of being on a march, this time heading east along the coast away from Oldcastle, making good speed despite our large numbers due to the familiarity of my people with moving a large camp. It was pretty refreshing to be back in the more familiar routine of marching, after the last several years of it for me and Tristifer, and I enjoyed the freedom and outdoors even more now that I was in my beautiful homeland. We marched for almost a week over heavily forested and rocky ground, when we started heading more north along the coast and soon found what my maps assumed was the mid-point between Oldcastle and Ramsgate based on the dilapidated old tower that's been abandoned for a century at least.
We set up camp that night at the halfway point, and I had my scouts go check out the next few miles of coast to see if there were any settlements or signs of Ramsgate controlling these lands, and had my camp look around the area to see if there was anything else of note nearby. The scouts returned late in the night with reports that there was nothing for at least the next fifteen miles, just more of the same uninhabited coastline, but there were some greater elevations about two miles north that would make an excellent defensive spot to establish the coastal settlement. I gave the order to move the next morning, to find and settle our semi-permanent camp nearby those hills and cliffs at least temporarily, while we continued scouting the surrounding area, and I continued on to Ramsgate to ensure we weren't going to be having any problems settling there.
The next day we found the high cliffs along the coast forming a sort of horseshoe shape in a small protected bay, and several larger hills as we got further away from the coast. I instantly saw and understood the strategic value of the stronger defensive position with the protected bay, and ordered this to be our proposed site until I squared it away with Ramsgate. I left Sydel, Juden, and Rickard to start setting up a more permanent temporary camp nearby, so they would be close to the work we wanted to do in order to build a permanent coastal town, and took Tristifer and the 1st Infantry brigade along with my wagons of goods, and continued further north along the coast until we reached Ramsgate.
Without the additional 15,000 people we left to make and set up the new settlement, we traveled much faster, especially since it was just the 1st Infantry and an additional 100 veteran camp helpers to keep us fed and going strong. It only took three days of much faster marching north along the coast to finally reach some signs of civilization, though the small fishing village of maybe 500 people wasn't much of anything. They were terrified of us though, and it took them a moment to see my Family Sigil, before they relaxed a bit and their village elders came out to greet me.
"Greetings," I called out to the three older men that approached, all wearily looking at the large and well provisioned and armed soldiers behind me, "I am Donnell Locke, Heir of Oldcastle. I am on my way to visit Ramsgate with some gifts, and to get to know my immediate neighbors. We mean you no harm, and simply need to pass through your village to continue our journey."
"Of course milord," stumbled the lead man nervously, bowing his head, "Ramsgate is about a three hour walk on foot from here. We don't have much, but I can offer you a warm meal if you want it?"
"Thank you, that is very kind," I responded with a smile to the man, hoping to put him at ease somewhat, "but, we are well provisioned and I don't want to impose or take up any more of your time."
"Of course milord, thank you," he answered somewhat gratefully.
I told my men to be careful marching through the village, and to go out of our way to not disrupt these fine people, getting many grateful looks from the villagers, and continued on my way towards our destination. It was only a little more than two hours later that we could see Ramsgate in the distance, a large well made castle with a decent size village surrounding it and a small port on the coast near the opening of the Broken Branch River. There was currently only one small merchant boat docked and not too much visible activity from this distance, and I estimated Ramsgate was less than half the size of Oldcastle from when I first arrived in Westeros, and in great need of refurbishing and an increased population.
Hopefully they would be hard up for money, and we could strike a beneficial deal for my Family to control more of the lands between us, as they didn't seem to be doing much visibly outside of their castle. As we got nearer, I could see more signs of life in their surrounding village, but it seemed to not be big enough to support more than a few thousand people at most, and if we were an invading army, could wipe it out in under an hour. From this close, I could see activity up on the defensive walls of the castle, again probably only half the size of Oldcastle's own castle, and was hoping the Manderly branch that controlled it would actually meet with me, and weren't total pricks.
I gave orders for the Infantry and the small number of camp helpers, to set up our camp outside of their small village so as not to startle them too badly, as Tristifer and I would travel up to the main keep and seek an audience. Making our way up into the village, many people stopped to watch us, eyeing either our armor and weapons, or the Family Sigil Tristifer carried, and I was a little surprised by the obvious sign of poverty for the smallfolk of this village. Finally reaching the gate of the keep, we saw a pair of guards boredly blocking the only walkable path inside, though the one on the left instantly said something to his partner, before bolting inside the gate at our sight hopefully to get someone to welcome us.
"I am Donnell Locke," I called out as we approached, "Heir to Oldcastle. I am here to speak with whoever is in charge."
"Of course milord," came the muttered voice of the remaining guard, "Jyff just went to fetch Lord Vinton and Maester Yulver."
"OPEN THE GATES," came a distant shout, and the stuttering guard quickly pushed open one side of the large heavy door, before moving over to the second half, and letting me enter through the arched gateway and see the interior courtyard of Ramsgate for the first time.
"Greetings Heir Locke," came a somewhat familiar voice, and I looked up and saw an old familiar face of a fellow soldier and minor noble from Greyjoy's Rebellion, Vinton Manderly, a distant cousin of Lord Wyman, who resembled the heavier man well.
"Greetings Lord Vinton," I responded with a respectful bow, keeping to the pleasantries as was custom.
"Come have some bread and salt, and we can get inside and talk," replied Vinton, obviously disliking the customary greetings as much as I did, which was refreshing, "and you better bring Greenhands with you ...I don't trust him alone out here."
"Good idea," I smirked back, getting Tristifer to let out a protesting 'hey' I ignored.
I didn't remember Vinton being a Lord during the Rebellion, so I could only assume he had recently taken over, and quickly obliged by eating a small bit of salted bread and following him inside with Tristifer right next to me. The castle was pretty bare and basic, and other than resembling Oldcastle, had none of the same level of activity or warmth to it, and I wondered if Vinton had fallen on hard times. Walking until we reached a first floor solar just off the main and probably only dining hall, he guestered us both to a pair of seats as he went around the large desk and sat in his chair facing us.
"I guess you didn't hear that my father passed away two years ago," he responded as we settled in our chairs, and I remembered he wasn't much for flowery talking or a lot of words and decided to get quickly to the point of my visit.
"No, I didn't," I responded, "I am sorry for your loss."
"Don't be," he answered easily enough, "he was an ass ...and a drunk."
"Sounds like my old man," replied Tristifer with a grin, that just had me shake my head in exasperation, and not wanting to offend Vinton.
"I won't waste your time Vinton," I replied interrupting anything else Tristifer might have been ready to say, "I'm taking a small tour of the North now that I am back, going to go visit my sister in Widow's Watch next, and had a few gifts to give, and a question about the lands between us."
"Gifts you say?" he asked curiously, before he paused as a knock sounded on his door moments before a very old head was seen, followed by one of the oldest Maesters I had ever seen, who shuffled slowly into the room, "this is Maester Yulver, he'd know best about the lands between us."
"Wonderful," I added nodding to the old maester, before motioning to Tristifer who pulled a bottle out of his small shoulder bag, along with four small tin cups.
While Trisitfer poured out four shots of our rum, I explained that we had started a distillery for making ale and two other spirits, this rum and a soon to come vodka that I learned about in Essos. I was traveling to my neighbors to both introduce myself and our newest products, but more specifically Ramsgate to come to an agreement with the land that was between us being completely unused. I pulled out the maps I got from White Harbor all those years ago, and showed what the White Harbor Maester had a record of, in regards to the plots of land we each controlled.
Maester Yulver looked over the maps carefully, but nodded his head in agreement that this was most likely the most correct and up to date map of each of our lands, and I could tell Vinton was surprised that his portion was much larger than he was currently utilizing. I first asked if he had plans for his lands outside of the main keep and village, and wasn't surprised when he told me he hadn't the money for anything other than the basics of maintaining his own village and castle after his father drank them to ruin. I then offered to help, promising to buy the land between us at a decent rate in order to give him the coin he needed to make improvements and better the situation in Ramsgate and the neighboring village.
He quickly agreed, and Maester Yulver wrote up a contract for us both to sign after I handed over the 500 golden dragons we settled on for control of over 100 square miles of land, much more than I had even hoped for. We now owned everything up to just about a five mile circumference around Ramsgate itself, which was going to be an enormous boon for my Family's and my plans. I then asked my companions to raise their cups and toast to our newest agreement, enjoying the burning heat of the rum, and the coughs of both men when the rum turned out to be much stronger than they thought it would be.
I told Vinton I was leaving him a large barrel of rum in thanks, and if he wanted more, to contact my Family, and then asked Tristifer to pour everyone another glass as we sat and chatted about more normal topics. It soon came up that he was currently still without an heir or a wife after his last one died years before the Greyjoy Rebellion, and I asked if he was overly particular in what he wanted, and laughed when he said anyone that would take him. I promised to keep on the lookout for a good match, as I would be traveling a lot of the immediate area over the next few months and possibly find some candidates for the man already in his forties.
He told about the hard times they fell in after his father drank them out of most of their wealth, and the sickness that had come through two years previously and killed a good third of their population. I asked why his Manderly cousins hadn't sent help, and had to internally grimace at the man's stubborn refusal of offered help from his Uncle's family in White Harbor, and not fully disclosing the severity of the problems he was facing keeping Ramsgate functioning. I promised not to provide charity, but that I would be increasing production and the population around Oldcastle, and if he was amenable, could probably send some people to help settle the area and help it grow.
By the time we were done and I was leaving Ramsgate's main keep with a happy Lord Vinton singing my praises, it was getting late in the evening, and there were now many more small fishing boats tied up along the port and surrounding coast. I spoke to a few of the captains and owners of those boats, and paid them to transport my camp across the river in the morning, so we could continue on to Widow's Watch, and left some very happy fishermen behind. The next morning, almost every boat in the area was ready and loaded with as many soldiers and items as they could hold, and we spent the first few hours of the day ferrying everyone to the other side of the Broken Branch River.
It saved us a day's march to the nearest land bridge and injected some much needed coin into the hands of the local population, which had us cheered for when everyone was paid and saying their goodbyes. I had sent a pair of men who were staying at Sydel's nearby settlement with the terms of our agreement with Ramsgate, and the orders to map as much of the land around them as they could. Since it was now all under our control, I also ordered them to use the horseshoe cliff site for building our newest fort settlement as it was the most defensible and desirable spot they encountered along the coast, and to send a few interested people into Ramsgate to help them grow as well.
From the eastern side of the Broken Branch River, it was another four full days of marching until we were approaching Widow's Watch, the easternmost point in this region of the North. Despite the much heavier winds in this part, the population was easily double that of Ramsgate, and closer to what Oldcastle was before I started bringing more people there. The surrounding port town was in much better shape as well, and we even saw a Locke ship in port, and a handful of Locke men as part of the guards throughout the town and castle when we approached it.
Again, I left my army camping outside the gates of the town, but this time brought three entire wagons full of gifts for the Flint Family and my sweet baby sister, necessitating several more men to transport them all. Luckily, the Locke Sigil meant something here with my sister, the soon to be wife of their current heir, Robin Flint and we were welcomed immediately into the castle's courtyard to be received by the ruling Flint Family. I didn't recognize any of the main Family from the Greyjoy Rebellion, but Robin the current heir was only just now a man of probably 17, and was probably too young at the time, and his father didn't look well.
Lord Rupert Flint, was probably of a similar age to Lord Vinton of Ramsgate, but with a younger healthy wife, a young son and two even younger daughters, he looked much too old and sickly as he stood watching my approach. Smiling at my sister Haylia, who looked beautiful now that she was a woman of 15, and looked so much like our mother, I dismounted my horse and handed off the reins to a stable hand. Seeing the stiff formality, I realized that this might be a longer and more formal meeting than the previous one I had, but bowed to the Lord of Widow's Watch.
"Greetings, I am Donnell Locke, Heir of Oldcastle," I spoke clearly, looking the older man in the eye, trying to get his measure, and finding myself not too impressed.
"Greetings, Heir Locke," he spoke softly, coughing a little at the end, "Welcome to Widow's Watch ...I am Lord Rupert Flint ...and this is my wife Lyessa, my son and heir Robin with his intended, Haylia ...and my daughters Luthsia and Rhyleen."
"You have a beautiful family, my lord," I responded easily, smiling at them all as I stepped forward to shake his hand, and then kiss his wife's hand, before going down the line, shaking Robin's hand, hugging and kissing my sister on her cheek, and then kissing the hands of his probably 12 and 11 year old daughters.
"Thank you," he replied after a slight coughing fit, "please have some bread and salt and be welcome?"
"Thank you my lord," I replied, taking the offered food and securing guest rights, before motioning to the wagon being brought into the courtyard behind me, "I have brought some gifts ...for you and your family ...and one large one for my sweet sister."
"Donnell!" came Haylia's excited yell, coming forward to hug me again.
"I have a barrel of our new alcohol from Locke Distillery, we call it rum," I announced to Lord Rupert, before turning to his wife, "and a chest of fabrics from Essos, a newly designed scorpion, and a catapult for defense."
"Thank you," came the grateful response from Robin Flint, looking in awe as said scorpion and catapult were wheeled into the courtyard on a pair of large wagons.
"And as a gift for Haylia and her new home," I continued as another wagon was wheeled inside the courtyard, though this one covered with blankets and strapped down securely, "We would like you to have a glass greenhouse."
The gasps this time were audible from the entire Flint Family, as glass was considered a very expensive luxury that few if any could afford, and currently only Winterfell had one as we had not been selling or advertising our growing glass business locally and just keeping the stock for ourselves and future settlements. I smiled as the blankets and straps were removed from the final wagon, and everyone could see hundreds of pains of relatively clear glass surrounded by grooved strips of metal we designed to support the structure. We brought enough for a twenty foot square building of glass, which while not much by modern standards, was big enough to allow the Flint's to grow flowers or food inside it to keep them very happy and show the capabilities the protected glass greenhouses had in this cold environment.
"Thank you Donnell," came the happy exclamation from my sister as she hugged me tightly, surprised and happy beyond words at the gift and seeing a member of her Family after months of being here practically by herself, except for a small group of staff, guards, and two lady's maids.
"You are most welcome," I whispered back, happy to have brought her joy, and some things that would help keep her safe and improve her life and situation here in Widow's Watch.
After everyone got over their shock at the gifts I brought for them, I was invited by Lord Rupert to join him in his solar in one hour, and left to get reacquainted with my sister in the meantime. Haylia was very excited to show off her future home and spend time together, having not seen me in four years, and even then for only a month or two, and then nothing for the seven years before that. It was actually kind of surprising that she even remembered me at all with how little of her life I was around for, but was happy to see and spend some time with her catching up on everyone in the family and what I had been up to in Essos.
She also told me a little about everyone here, how much she was growing to care for Robin and his sisters, how the Lady of the House was very kind and teaching her about running the Household, and how Lord Rupert had been sick for the entire time she had been here. She didn't know what exactly he was suffering from, but knew he had been steadily declining in health even before her arrival according to Robin. She seemed quite happy overall, and despite missing her Family and her sister the most, she was settling in very well, treated like family, and preparing for her life here.
My meeting with Lord Rupert went pretty well, even if it was rather short due to his worsening condition, and I asked if he shouldn't invite Robin to join us later for the planning of where to build the new glass greenhouse. It was my subtle way of encouraging him to start including his son and heir into the decision making process to build up his confidence and experience, while his father was still around to help and guide him. Looking at Lord Rupert, I wasn't filled with much confidence that the man would survive the year, making it even more important that Robin start getting his feet wet so to speak before he would be forced to take control of Widow's Watch.
That evening at supper, I got to speak with Robin, Haylia, and Lady Lyessa on their thoughts of where the glass greenhouse should go, and the possible options for what to grow. I told them about my mother starting a flower garden in one of ours at Oldcastle, that she was using for perfumes, soaps, and cleansers and also the one I started to house tropical fruits I found plentiful in Essos and wanted to bring to the North. It made them think about plans for the greenhouse, and we eventually all agreed on a great location next to their Godswood as it was out of the strongest of winds, and got good sunlight most of the day.
I had Tristifer head back to our camp, and bring the few people we had with the experience of building the glass greenhouses, and when they arrived the following morning, immediately got to work after getting spot approval from Lord Rupert. That day, I again met with Rupert, who included Robin this time to my pleasure, and we discussed some of the projects we had going on in Oldcastle, and the need for improvements and growth throughout the North, and made small agreements to start trading more. I could tell that Robin was very interested in me and the Legion, and a good man, though a bit young and naive, but would be a good match for my sister, and make an acceptable Lord and friend down the road.
When Lord Rupert inquired about my desire for a young wife and put forth both of his daughters for consideration, I knew I needed to change topics quickly, but also learned about a widowed younger cousin of Rupert, whose husband and their former Castellian, was one of the unfortunate few who died during the Greyjoy Rebellion leaving her childless and alone at the age of 31. I brought up having just come through Ramsgate, and meeting with Lord Vinton Manderly, a widow himself without a wife or heir, if they were serious about forming more ties with others in the region. Lord Rupert looked quite pleased with the idea, and I simply nodded to them both to consider it, before we moved on to other topics, and asked if they had any young men interested in some army training and travel.
My visit only lasted another three days, as I offered my transportation services to Lord Rupert and didn't want to overstay my welcome, as I still had a lot more traveling and places to visit before I could return home myself. The final day in Widow's Watch, it seemed the whole town turned up to see the unveiling of the glass greenhouse to much excitement from the entire Flint Family, and a lot of praise for the Lockes. I was also leaving with a group of forty young men between the ages of 14 and 24, mostly unimportant fourth sons, poor mall folk, or bastards, that wanted to join my army and make something of their lives, which was a nice bonus.
I had already sent them yesterday with the army under Tristifer, from Widow's Watch and up the east bank of the Broken Branch River directly up towards Hornwood, and the seat of my mother's Family, the Hornwoods. The march would take them close to two weeks depending on how quickly they were able to move on the land, though it should go faster as I made arrangements with the Locke ship in port to transport all our wagons directly up the river and meet them. It would save a lot of time not having to transport the two dozen wagons up the coast on land, and allowed me to make a quick stop back in Ramsgate to introduce my extra passenger to her future husband, Lord Vinton Manderly.
The Lady Nyra Flint, was a relatively plain but not unattractive woman just over thirty years old with brown hair and eyes. She had been married only briefly years earlier, before her husband went off to fight in the Greyjoy Rebellion, never to come back and leaving her without a child or any connection to the man. She had lived with her older cousin Rupert with whom she grew up near ever since, and had helped raise his girls, but longed for a family of her own and was quick to accept her cousin's proposal for a marriage to a man she didn't know, if it meant the possibility of having those children.
She was pleasant enough company, a quieter woman but very comely and kind hearted, and I hoped she found a match in Lord Vinton, and started producing heirs and bringing more life into Ramsgate. She was coming with a nice guard of twenty men, with a dozen attendants and servants that were part of the dowry to her new House and Lord, that should help in revitalizing the somewhat dreary and poorer castle of Ramsgate. That it would increase relations between Ramsgate and Widow's Watch was another bonus, and my involvement also ensured help from Oldcastle as well to make sure they both flourished and grew.
Lord Vinton Manderly himself was waiting for us on the docks of Ramsgate as the Locke merchant vessel came to rest on the small wooden dock, and got his first look at his soon to be bride. I could tell he was pleased, as the Lady Nyra disembarked from the boat followed by myself and then all her guards and attendants, looking around at the more rundown port and nearby village that surrounded the Ramsgate castle. She was harder to get a read on, as her face didn't change a bit as she curtseyed to the Lord of Ramsgate, and Vinton in turn bowed low to her, took her hand and gave her knuckles a kiss followed by a very flattering compliment.
That evening we had a small welcome feast in the main hall of Ramsgate, and afterwards, the Lady was escorted throughout the castle and surrounding grounds of the main keep by Lord Vinton himself. I could tell the pair would get along just fine, and even saw a few small smiles from Lady Nyra throughout the evening that boded well for their match. The next day was more of the same, with the Lord of Ramsgate showing off his village and the rest of the main keep to his new soon to be wife, and the pair simply getting to know one another better. At dinner that night, they asked me to officiate their wedding ceremony the following evening in front of the Weirwood tree that marked the central point of their Godswood, as both had already been married before and didn't want to make too big of a deal of it, something I instantly agreed to.
I had brought ten guards myself since I was away from the main body of the army for probably two weeks, and I used most of my time in Ramsgate, training myself and them up a little. I was now consistently defeating two or three decent fighters at a time, and even tried four when they were less experienced, and was becoming a real force with my pair of swords. Many of the guards of Ramsgate, and the few who came with the Lady Nyra from Widow's Watch were all in awe of my skill wielding dual blades, and I was challenged by quite a few of them who wanted to test themselves against me, as I used my time to improve and train the others simultaneously.
The ceremony on the third night in the Ramsgate's God's Wood, went pretty quickly and smoothly though I made sure to not touch the seemingly alive tree myself, and that night we feasted again at their reception, with a small crowd of only about thirty witnesses from the small number of supporters and the higher-ups of Ramsgate and Lady Nyra's own attendants. I promised to write to my Family, and have them send a proper wedding gift of a glass greenhouse, and thanked the new couple for their hospitality and allowing me to be a part of their celebration, while wishing them nothing but the best. The next morning after writing said letter and sending it off and breaking my fast with a smiling and thankful Lord Vinton, I left Ramsgate to get back on the Locke merchant vessel and sail up river towards Hornwood with the remaining almost thirty wagons filled with more glass greenhouses, scorpions, catapults, mobile industries and supplies for the rest of my trip.
Traveling by boat was much faster than by land, though going upstream did slow us down a bit, and by the time evening approached we had reached the docks used by House Hornwood at their small river port to unload all the wagons and supplies I was transporting. My small army was probably still a week away from completing the march from Widow's Watch, but I wasn't about to wait for them as I had another important Family to see and get to know better. With all the wagons with me and ten men, I had everything I needed to provide the gifts I was giving, and just needed to hire some horses.
I hired six horses to make the almost mile long journey from the river coast up into Hornwood itself, to pull the three wagons I was bringing as my gifts to House Hornwood, leaving the rest with my men to guard and make a small camp. I would have preferred to have larger numbers, but had been limited by room on the merchant vessel to bring any more, and was at least not too worried about thieves or bandits this far into the North. With eight of my men that I've been training personally for days now having control of the remaining 27 wagons, and a pair of large tents, they built a small camp further up the river from the port and were told to wait for the rest of the army to arrive, and keep watch on all my goods.
With two horses hitched up to each of the three wagons, I walked them single file with two of my men each guiding the other two horses and wagon, up the dirt road from the river port to the town, and ultimately the Hornwood castle. It took an hour to reach the town luckily before evening truly fell, as we made our way through the somewhat crowded streets of the decent sized town that was still only the size of Oldcastle when I first arrived, maybe just over 10,000 people. We attracted many curious looks at both myself and my wagons, as even with the sheets on them, it was easy to tell they were large and probably very valuable to the average person.
Most recognized or at least understood the significance of having the Family Sigil on each of the wagons, since it meant they were the property of one of the Noble Families of the North, and few smallfolk wanted to run afoul of any of them, even if they got several greedy looks. It left us being watched heavily, but not approached or worried as we led the horse-pulled wagons up the main street and towards the gate into the main keep's courtyard. Gate guards saw our approach, one running inside the courtyard to announce us coming, while the other waited until we approached, and then nodded at me, dressed in my full armor with my family sigil painted on the breastplate and knew I was someone kind of important.
Entering the courtyard itself with three tall and covered wagons drew a lot more attention from the stable hands, the other guards, and countless other servants and workers of the keep. It wasn't long until Lord Halys Hornwood himself appeared from within the keep, followed quickly by his wife and a Maester, all of them middle-aged and dressed remarkably well as I approached. Lord Halys was fairly tall, above six foot for sure, and had a remarkably similar build to myself, more of a slender tall frame rather than bulky or overly muscular and seemed very sharp as he studied me upon my approach, even though we had met several times in the past.
"Greetings Lord Hornwood," I called as I neared him and his wife, "I am Donnell Locke, Heir of Oldcastle ...I come with several gifts for you and your Family ...to introduce myself to the North, and get to know my neighbors better."
"Greetings Heir Locke," spoke Lord Hornwood with a bit of shock at finally recognizing me, and then he took several glances at the large covered wagons in utter curiosity, "Welcome to Hornwood ...this is my wife Lady Donella ...our son and heir, Daryn is currently hunting ...I hardly recognized you."
"Thank you my lord," I acknowledged with a bow of my head and a small grin, before coming forward to shake his hand and kiss his wife's knuckles in a greeting that earned me pleased smiles from the pair of nobles.
"I have recently returned home from Essos after spending the last three years in the Disputed Lands, and brought some items and designs back with me that I was hoping to gift you with," I continued, nodding to my men that had untied the straps and now pulled off the cloth coverings on each of the three wagons, drawing gasps from many of the people surrounding us in the courtyard.
"The catapult and scorpion are easy to tell of course," I continued to their now wide eyed looks of shock, as despite being somewhat known items, mine were obviously well made and portable, making them very valuable, "also, a barrel of our newest alcoholic drink form Locke Distillery, we call rum, a small chest of fabrics from Essos, a gift box of soaps and perfumes we are producing in Oldcastle, ...and if you will permit it, the frame and panels for a twenty foot square glass greenhouse, compliments of Locke Glass and my mother, Drendylia Hornwood Locke ...for her favorite cousin."
"You honor us Heir Locke," spoke a wide eyed Lord Hornwood, with a respectful bow of his head towards me that had me smile and acknowledge with a nod of my own, "please ...share bread and salt, and enjoy House Hornwood's hospitality."
"Thank you Lord Hornwood," I responded gratefully, observing guest rights before giving some instructions to my men to return the horses to the dock and camp with the others until the rest of our party arrived. "I have some men coming that can help build the greenhouse ...but they are marching up from Widow's Watch and are expected in about a week. I just came by boat as I had to make a stop in Ramsgate to officiate the wedding between Lord Vinton Manderly and his new bride, Lady Nyra Flint."
"Vinton got married?" came the gasped question from Lady Donella, who I remembered was also a Manderly cousin, but didn't know her relationship with the current Lord of Ramsgate, and only nodded as she continued, "and he didn't even think of inviting his own sister?"
"I am very sorry my Lady," I apologized, realizing that she may in fact have reason to be upset with me as I was the one who found and set up the match and now spilled the beans about it, "but, it was a very quick and small affair. I'll tell you all about it, if you would permit it?"
"Please Heir Locke," she responded gratefully.
"Of course my lady," I answered, "but please call me Donnell."
I was then led inside the keep and brought to the main hall, where Lady Donella asked a servant to bring up a small selection of snacks, so we could eat while catching up on the news of her brother, while Lord Halys stayed with us to join in the conversation, interested in the happenings of one of his neighboring lords. It was over an hour later when we were interrupted by a young maybe 15 year old boy coming into the hall asking about the large wagons in the courtyard, and I was introduced to their son and heir, Daryn Hornwood. He was a happy lad of ten and five, at the age where he was eager to prove himself a man, even though he was barely there, but a good sort who joined us in talking about the gifts I brought and what I had been doing fighting on the Disputed Lands after fighting in the Greyjoy Rebellion.
I quickly became Daryn's newest hero, as he peppered me with naive questions about the glory of battle and fighting, to which I could tell his father didn't completely approve of, but I recognized it for the young excited interest it was, and indulged him a bit. I also offered to, if his Lord father permitted, to spar and train with him during my stay since we had about a week until my army caught up with me. Lord Hornwood was grateful for my indulgence and inclusion of his son, thanking me after his son left to get cleaned up for supper, and I was quick to assure the man that I trained and taught quite a bit, and was only too happy to offer my assistance.
I was then given a personal escort to a set of very nice rooms for me to enjoy my week long stay at Hornwood, and told to wash up for supper and a small welcome feast with their Family. I was quick to change out of my armor, and put on a dark leather shirt with a pair of gold keys stitched on the chest, as it was the nicest piece of clothing I owned, and gave my leather boots and doublet a quick shine to look more presentable. I then worked my way back to the main hall, finding the three person main branch of the Hornwood Family ready to eat at a large central table along with Maester Medrick, who I was briefly introduced to earlier, and two more men in much more normal clothing, that turned out to be the old Castellian, Ardur Gates, and the thirty something year old Man at Arms, Trent Morelock another veteran of the Greyjoy Rebellion that was familiar.
Dinner was a lively affair, with conversation all over the place, though most was focused on me and my time spent in Essos and the Disputed Lands, as well as the catapult and scorpion I arrived with as gifts. Of course, at some point in the meal, Lady Donella asked me about marriage prospects, and lamented that they didn't currently have any of-age females among the Hornwoods or Manderlys, which had me slightly embarrassed. I replied that Ser Wylis often commented on the same during my time in White Harbor, but I was going to be traveling quite extensively throughout the North over the next few months, and hoped to find someone compatible during my trip.
She of course spent several minutes going through all the noble ladies she could think of in her head, and commented on many of those I might meet, which only made me smile and her husband shake his head. Luckily, the Maester asked a question about the glass greenhouses we designed and built, and how we discovered the secrets of glass making, as the Myrish were very possessive of it. It caused me to spin the story of my rescuing of 20,000 Myrish slaves after the Myrish Conflict in the Disputed Lands, and how I offered them all freedom and retained a great many of them in my newly expanded camp.
"Once we had such a large population, we had to develop new ways of doing everything," I started, explaining the start of our mobile industry. "We needed more tents, shoes, clothes, armor, weapons, traveling kitchens and food storage, and countless other businesses, just to support us all and survive."
"But still, to have come up with all of these?" asked Lord Hornwood in wonder.
"Necessity is the mother of invention," I laughed at his still stunned look, shared by the rest, "we needed to make tents while marching, so we loaded our weavers and looms onto carts and dragged them with the others. Same for weapons and armor, food and drinks, and several other trades, we had workers that knew the skills and the supplies needed, so we just brought everything they would need with us and turned it into something we could use and it quickly grew into our mobile industry."
"So, all those members of the Legion now live in your lands?" asked Lord Hornwood, as he was finally starting to see the tremendous resource of all those people, working towards a common goal could become, and you could see the lightbulb moment as he turned to me with a much more calculating look than earlier, causing my grin to sharpen.
"We have plans in place to build at least two new cities on our land," I replied with my grin still in place, "and possibly a third depending on my discussions with Lord Stark."
"You are continuing on to Winterfell?" came his return question, seemingly thinking about his own plans and how this fit into them.
"I have twice as many wagons for him and his Family," I laughed at his surprised look, "no offense cousin."
"And the glass?" came the question from Maester Medrick cautiously trying to direct the discussion back to the point, as few would interrupt a discussion between two lords, even if this was at a larger setting with a bigger audience and I didn't bat an eye. "I can't imagine Myr is happy with you."
"And you'd be correct," I laughed, "Myr has already sent four separate assassins after me that I know of, though those were all while I too was in Essos, and before they even knew I had the secrets of glassmaking."
"What?" asked Daryn, not understanding, "then why were they after you?"
"Did you hear much about the Myrish Conflict of a few years ago? I was part of the group of Sellswords that fought for Tyrosh, and defeated the Golden Company and Forced Myr to several concessions they were most displeased with," I responded with a grin, "I believe Councilor Delvinthe has declared me an official enemy of Myr."
"Wow," breathed out Daryn in awe, while Lord Hornwood was still looking at me in thought.
"Several of the slaves I rescued from Myr and freed, where in the glass businesses, and helped me create Locke Glass," I responded easily, knowing this was the story we had put out and using this opportunity to further cement that story, as I was always going to have problems with Myr after what happened, and what we were now doing. "A few of the former ale brewers and I were able to start Locke Distillery and figure out this new drink we are calling rum that I brought along to share, and have started developing another we call vodka."
"That barrel you brought earlier?" asked Lord Hornwood, and at my nod called for it to be brought in and pour everyone a small cup, as I told them it was much stronger than any Westerosi ale or wine.
"To the Hornwoods," I called raising my cup, and being joined by Lord and Lady Hornwood, their son Daryn, Maester Merick, the Man At Arms Trent Morelock, two of the household guards, the head chef who had somehow snuck into the room, and the older Castellian with a sour frown on his face.
"And to the Lockes," added Lorn Hornwood with a nod to me, before I tossed the cup back and enjoyed the pleasant burning warmth.
It never failed to put a smile on my face, watching the coughing and over the top reactions to a first timer taking a drink of rum, as every single one of them was shocked at the potency and strength of the drink. I could tell that Lord Halys and Trent Morelock, both liked it very much, and quickly refilled their cups while the others got their coughing fits under control and laughed off their reactions. Daryn, at only 15 was somewhat used to having a watered down cup of ale at mealtimes, but quickly discovered that the more potent rum gave him a quick buzz that had his mother forbidding him from having any more for a few years still, which brought laughter to the rest of the table, and set the mood for most of my very pleasant visit in Hornwood.