POV: Bob Stone
Bob was in the great hall of Starfall, drinking the newest beverage, created in his friend, Ser Jon's city, well it was Lord Jon now wasn't it? How had he risen from bastard to knight to lord in the span of a few months whilst Bob was still but a squire? He was happy for his friend but on the other side, he was also extremely jealous. Jon was more talented than him. It was as if he was just born better in some fundamental way. Heck, he was older than him. The older kids should be superior to the younger, right? But no.
He wasn't even a man grown yet and still, Jon was leagues ahead of him.
Edric spoke up from his seat at the table, "Bob, Greg, we will be leaving in one months time"
"What, another tourney? Is it my turn now to become a lord?" He half joked. The rational side in him knew it wasn't likely but deep inside, he still hoped. He missed the vale. If he was raised to a Lord, he could become the Lord of one of the abandoned keeps in the vale of Arryn, there were a few. It didn't even have to be a big one. Skydrop, that run down little keep surrounded by a few farming villages, that would be enough. He didn't need a big domain, like sea dragon point, just something to call his own, preferably with a brothel. He loved the ladies and the guys too, he wasn't picky.
"Lord Jotun will get married soon, he has requested that we three be there in four months' time. It is a two month journey by ship, so we need to go at the latest in two months but I want to have some breathing room" Edric explained, the boy of nine spoke more like a lord than some of the lords Bob had encountered.
"Really? Wouldn't he be turning five and ten in a month? Isn't that a bit young to settle down? I mean, he could enjoy himself some more before he-"
"Not everyone wants to whore himself to death like you, Bob", his knight chided him.
Bob's face grew red hot, "I just know what I like, nothing wrong with that!"
"Oh- I think every brothel in a twenty mile radius knows what you like", Allyria Dayne chuckled, "you guys go ahead to little Jon's wedding, I'll keep the city running whilst you are away"
POV: Jon Jotun
Jon was out 'hunting' alone again.
Well, he did hunt, technically but that wasn't his main objective. What he really did was search the abandoned jeeps for one thing, sea dragon eggs. According to legend, the warg kings had employed sea dragons a long time ago but before the Starks ever warred against them, the secret of how to hatch them had become lost knowledge but Jon was confident that he could figure it out, somehow. There were plenty of destroyed keeps to look through.
After a few days of searching, he gave up, for now. He would certainly try again in the future but he had a city to manage, he couldn't invest too much time into it. So, he killed a deer and brought it back to Snow's edge. Approaching the city gates, the guards nodded at him and let him walk through the open gates. The gates were made of pure stone, requiring four grown men to open, or one Jon. The gates were open during the day and would close when the sun set, only to open again during dawn.
He walked towards the castle, up the steps, past street vendors, towards the food kitchen. It had been his way of ensuring none of his subjects starved to death. The food kitchen would serve the poorest of the poor rice dishes, easy to cook and not very expensive. And, when he went hunting, he would give the food kitchen his spoils to be used in the dishes. The food kitchen was right next to the sept.
Yes, he had a sept. He didn't follow the seven but he knew that many of his followers were devout and his soon to be bride was also a follower of the seven, so he created a small building with seven corners, where the Septon could preach to all who were willing to hear it.
Despite the close proximity, everyone knew that it wasn't the septon that ran the food kitchen but Lord Jotun. The septon did however, sometimes volunteer at the food kitchen, one of nany. People from all walks of life volunteered at the food kitchen from time to time, blacksmiths, carpenters, farmers, shepherds.
He gave the deer to the cooks and walked back to his castle.
He had just turned five and ten that week. It had been a small celebration, just a small feast with a cake baked by the castle cooks.
The wedding was in four months' time, the guests would arrive in three. His bride was already on her way to the city, she should arrive In anywhere between two weeks and a month, depending on the weather and some other factors.
He walked into the training yard and picked up a spear from a nearby rack. He couldn't let his skills turn rusty, so he trained together with his guard. One of the younger recruits, filled with youthful fire, challenged him to a duel.
Jon smirked, "sure… your weapon?"
He pointed at the training sword in his hand, "very well… begin"
He just stood there, blocking his reckless strikes with practiced ease. When he had enough fun toying with him, he attacked back, a strike at the heart, "you are dead", one at the neck, "dead again", in the stomach, "and dead once more"
The new recruit was beat red and stormed off, flinging his sword at the ground.
Jon found it amusing more than anything.
It was fun, playing with your food but he had enough now, so he headed to the solar, more paperwork awaited him, huzzah!