Chapter 15
~Dacey Mormont~
Wind is strong today, Dacey thought as she grabbed at her hair that was already coming loose from the braid Aly had tied. Going to be hard to look presentable like Mother wanted if I can't keep this under control.
Ordinarily, the Mormonts would wait in the hall of their keep when receiving noble visitors. The thick wooden walls were a shield from the wind and kept in the warmth of the hearthfires. But the man coming wasn't just any noble, Torrhen von Carstein would possibly be Dacey's betrothed if things went well. And so, at her mother's insistence, Dacey was walking down to the docks, watching a ship arrive.
And of course it's Hullen's boat. If any other trader shows up we should declare a holiday for the whole island.
Hullen was part of the cadet branch of the Starks that lived in White Harbor. He had had some kind of disagreement with his family and had wanted to put as much distance as possible between them and him without leaving the North and so had purchased a trading vessel and stayed exclusively on the western coast. He had occasionally gone as far as the Riverlands when he needed the money but he generally avoided going south of Cape Kraken, less likely to run into Ironborn that way.
With well practiced ease, the sailors of Hullen's boat threw ropes to one of the local fishermen, he had been tying his own boat off but he was also the only person on the dock so the duty fell to him. Bear Island did not see enough naval traffic to warrant a proper harbor, it was simply littered with what docks people chose to build to make bringing in their own daily catches of fish easier. The one exception was this dock because of its proximity to Mormont Keep, but just because it was a sturdy dock that extended far enough out into the water to accommodate larger ships did not mean the Mormonts kept someone there whose sole job was dealing with ships, there just wasn't any reason to.
Dacey stepped onto the dock while still trying to tame her hair into some semblance of presentability. Seems contradictory, Mother wanted me down here to meet Torrhen down her, give us longer time to talk to each other, but she also wants me to look my best. I could either put on a proper dress and wait in the keep or be down here, not both.
Dacey didn't have many but she did have some dresses. They were not fancy or expensive compared to what most noble ladies would wear, but Dacey liked to think she wore them well. She had certainly gotten plenty of glances from men the last time she had gone for a walk around the keep while wearing one. That being said, none of her dresses were effective at keeping her warm when she was being buffeted by the wind.
"Ho there, is that Lady Mormont come to greet us?" Hullen shouted from his ship.
"Aye! Though I'm mostly here to escort your passengers," she hollered back.
The gangplank was lowered in place and said passengers began making their way off the boat. The first was an absolutely massive man, fully encased in armor with an enormous great axe across his back. Dacey could hear the gangplank groaning under his weight and she honestly wondered whether it would snap and send him plunging into the water below. But he made it off without issue and took up a silent position next to her.
Dacey was tall, not just for a woman but tall in general, and even she had to tilt her head back to look up at the man. But she couldn't make out anything, his face was hidden by his helm. Brave man to wear all that on a boat. If he fell overboard he'd drown long before he could get out of all that weight.
"Which Mormont are you?"
Dacey turned to look for the source of the deep voice. Stepping onto the dock was a man wearing a black doublet with white trim and matching trousers. Atop his head was a grey hat in a style she hadn't seen before but the wide brim grabbed her attention. Probably does a good job keeping rain and snow off of him. But the lower portion of his face was covered by a black cloth, tied across his nose.
That last piece of clothing was what convinced Dacey that this man, not the giant, was Lord von Carstein. Her mother had told her of how, when the pair had shared some drinks outside of King's Landing, he still didn't uncover his face.
"Greetings, my lord. I'm Dacey Mormont, eldest daughter of Maege Mormont."
"Oh, hello. Sounds like you already know who I am. You're. . . younger than I thought you'd be."
"I am four and ten" she responded, not sure what else to say in response.
He visibled flinched. "Sorry, that was rude of me. It's a holdover from my time abroad. I was raised with the belief that you aren't a man or woman grown, and therefore not suitable for marriage, until you're eight and ten."
"Is that common practice in Essos, my lord?"
"Not even remotely," Torrhen said with a laugh. "But my people's belief system have always been off center compared to our compatriots. No matter how long I live in Westeros, I refuse to go completely native. There are parts of my home I will retain and age of consent is one of them. So if we do end up betrothed, I hope you don't mind a four year wait until the wedding. Also, you can drop the title and just call me Torrhen."
Seems earnest enough, at least he's not trying to woo me with falsehoods.
"Very well, Torrhen, if you'll accompany me to Mormont Keep we will give you guest right." She gestured up towards her home. "As you can see, while it isn't far it will be a bit of a walk."
"Definitely a steep one, yes. Bet the people here have killer leg muscles. Probably makes for quite the defensible position against attacking Ironborn."
Dacey smirked as they started walking down the dock. "That is why the keep was built there despite other parts of the island being better suited for the nearby smallfolk to live on."
"I can see that. Looks like most of the houses are either down here by the water or way up by the keep. Awful lot of nothing in between."
"The path used to be littered with trees, some as old as our House. They acted as an effective windbreak for those that walked it. But when I was four or five I asked if the trees would block our arrows when we were defending against an attack. After that, they were all chopped down."
The amusement was clear in Torrhen's voice as he asked, "No one had thought about that before?"
"It's known that all Mormont women must learn to be warriors, but I likely wasn't expected to be quite the tacitican at so young an age," Dacey japed.
"Tactics have never been my forte. When it comes to battle my mantra can typically be summed up as 'If you can't solve the problem with brute force, you aren't using enough.'"
"Overwhelm the enemy with sheer numbers?" Mother told me he was a sellsword, I guess they aren't all Golden Company quality.
"That is one method but not the only one. For example, when I fought Gregor Clegane. He thought he was taller than me, so I taught him about density."
Dacey had to take a moment to process Torrhen's words. Even after some thought, they still didn't make much sense. "I'm almost taller than you, why wouldn't the Mountain think he was?"
Torrhen let out a very long, very loud sigh, leaving Dacey feeling she had made a mistake but with no idea what it was. "Nevermind, it only makes sense if you're familiar with that turn of phrase. The point was, while my arms are spindly I'm quite a bit stronger than I look, people are usually caught by surprise with how hard I can hit."
"Sounds like you're trying to get me to challenge you to a spar. That or you just enjoy bragging."
"I killed The Mountain That Rides and The Sword of Morning in battle, I've sparred with Jaime Lannister on multiple occasions and won about half those times. I like to think I'm allowed to brag a little."
"Mayhaps, but I will withhold judg- ACK." Dacey was interrupted by the wind picking up and causing her braid to whip around and fly into her open mouth.
There goes any chance of him thinking of me as a dignified noble, she thought as she spat her hair out and then followed it up by plucking at some loose strands that were sticking to her face due to her spit.
The sad truth of the matter was that the women of House Mormont rarely had good marriage prospects. They were an old House with a storied history and even possessed a Valyrian steel sword but their holdfast was one of the most isolated locations in all of the Seven Kingdoms and had little in the way of material wealth. Most Mormont ladies either became spinsters or married smallfolk on the island so a noble of the North coming here to discuss a betrothal was a significant event. The large exception was Anna Mormont, who had married Alaric Stark during the reign of Jaehaerys Targaryen. But according to a few letters she had sent to her family during her life that were still kept in the Mormont library, Anna had been chosen mostly because Alaric had been so prickly that every other viable match at the time had refused to marry him, despite him being the Lord of Winterfell.
Torrhen stopped walking as he watched Dacey try to control her hair. "Surprised it took that long for the wind to interrupt our conversation. Was honestly expecting my hat to blow off first."
Dacey was unable to detect any malice in Torrhen's words, he did not seem to be mocking her misfortune, if anything he sounded honestly sympathetic to her loss of face.
"It is a rather strange hat, I've never seen the style before," she said once she grabbed all of her hair and stuffed it down the collar of her clothes.
"You know, I've gotten more comments on my hat than any other of my wardrobe choices, and I wore a poncho and chaps while in King's Landing."
"My mother told me of how you were dressed when she first met you." Dacey paused, choosing her next words carefully. She didn't want to lie but she also didn't want to cause a rift between Torrhen and her mother. "It was not a flattering description."
Torrhen did not seem the least bit offended as he nodded vigorously. "I know! I was expecting backhanded compliments at least, not silence and deflection. I was disappointed."
"You wanted to be derided?" Dacey asked, confused.
"Eeehhhh, kinda sorta. It's not that I specifically wanted to be laughed at, but I did want to be forgotten about and left alone. My assumption was the best way to get that was if people viewed me as a weird foreigner and ignorant of their game of thrones."
"Would depend on if you had something they wanted or not," Dacey said. "Or, if you didn't have something they wanted, it might have the opposite effect, making you memorable when they would have otherwise dismissed you as unimportant."
"Jaime Lannister said the same thing. I ditched most of the outfit at his urging."
"But you kept the hat."
"But I kept the hat," Torrhen agreed. "It keeps the sun off my face."
"Wouldn't want to burn your face. . ." Dacey trailed off. She wanted to say something, Torrhen had just given her the opportunity to mention the subject without coming off as rude but she had no idea how to ask the actual question without giving offense.
"Right, yes, my face," Torrhen said quietly. "My mouth is, well it's not a pleasant sight, I keep it covered to avoid people staring."
"I've seen people with missing or rotted teeth," Dacey said neutrally.
"Yes but have you ever kissed them?" Torrhen snapped. "Because if we were married-" He stopped talking with a huff. "Nevermind, that's putting the cart before the horse. Sorry. Let's - let's just get to the keep."
Torrhen swiftly started walking up the hill without waiting for Dacey, leaving her standing there with his giant.
Stupid! That was so stupid! If he keeps his face covered of course he's going to be sensitive about it! Why did I bring it up when we just met? That's something I should only have mentioned after we had known each other for a greater period of time.
"Did I just ruin my chances with him?" she asked the guard, not expecting an answer but not seeing any way it would make things worse.
She could hear the creak of armor as the big man slowly turned his head to look at her. He didn't speak right away but when he did, she was surprised that, given his enormous size, his voice was not as deep as Torrhen's. "I first met him during the rebellion, we spent some time together in Dorne. I quickly learned that whatever goes on in his mind was beyond my ability to understand, so I do not try."
"Oh. Well, thanks anyway," Dacey said as she began quickly walking up the path to follow Torrhen. Neither her mother or uncle would be pleased if Torrhen arrived at the keep without her.
So focused on catching up to her possible-betrothed, she barely heard the giant mutter to himself as he followed her, "It makes no sense. Who buries their best weapon beneath the waves? He should use the beast."
~Jon Arryn~
Despite the marriage ceremony being completed in the Great Sept of Baelor without a problem, despite how well the feast was going, Jon was on edge. He likely would continue to be nervous until the next morning. This was the first royal wedding of the Baratheon family, everything about it needed to go perfectly. They were creating an image for how the Seven Kingdoms would be now that the Targaryens were gone, and that image needed to be stability.
While Jon had wanted to betroth Rhaenys to Robert's eventual first born son in order to head off a potential rebellion in a decade or two he could admit that marrying Stannis to a Dornishwoman provided more immediate stability. It showed that the Baratheons were not overtly vengeful, that those on the losing side of the war would not be unjustly punished for supporting the Targaryens.
Just means we will have to figure out some way to remove the threat Rhaenys represents. Maybe tie her to her brother? Would Ned agree to that? Would Lyanna? Or would they be happy to get him out of the North?
It was said that the only thing that moved faster than a raven in flight was a rumor on smallfolk lips. They hadn't heard anything official from Winterfell and Varys hadn't yet confirmed anything through his little birds, but the story had made its way to King's Landing from Lannisport via merchants on the Gold Road. He had no doubt that Tywin would make up such a rumor if it suited him but Robert had already ended the betrothal to Lyanna, there was no discernable benefit to the Lannisters to create a tale of Lyanna attacking her son, nephew, and goodsister in a fit of rage.
Then again, finding out about it certainly put Robert in a mood. Never would have thought I'd wish he'd skip a Small Council meeting.
Robert did not like being king and had no qualms about letting Jon know how much he found ruling to be tedious and boring. As far as Jon could tell, the only reason Robert put in an effort at all was so he'd have something to write to Lyanna about. Their initial correspondence had been done via ravens, with Winterfell as the transfer point (which had prompted Robert to order Pycelle to train a raven to fly directly to Dreadfort) but the messages had gradually increased in length until they were too large for ravens to carry, resulting in them having to be sent by ship or man on horseback.
What will happen when Robert marries? It would not be appropriate for him to continue writing to his former betrothed. . . but if I force him to stop will he stop caring about being king? Mayhaps his wife will be able to bend his ear, whoever she might end up being.
Jon was lying to himself and he knew it. There was only one person who could be queen: Cersei Lannister. The vast majority of the noblewomen making themselves seen in court were either of too low status, too young, too old, or from families that didn't deserve a royal marriage.
Walder Frey doesn't actually think one of his daughters will get chosen, did he? After he sat out most of the war, it's ridiculous.
Granted, the Westerlands had sat out most of the war but they had taken King's Landing and Jaime Lannister had saved the city so Cersei, in addition to being the daughter of a Lord Paramount, had sufficient standing to become queen.
Hasn't stopped Tywin's rumblings about having Jaime reinstated as his heir though.
Putting aside that Jaime had never once expressed any desire to leave the Kingsguard, the position had always been for life with the only precedent of dismissal being when they were sent to the Wall, Lucamore Strong being the most famous example.
Jon was pulled from his thoughts by someone shouting his name. Turning towards the voice, he saw Robert striding towards him while holding the hand of a woman with a homely face but a truly prodigious bosom.
"Jon, any other duties that I need to be part of? Or can Walda and I go somewhere private?"
Hmmm, he's asking me and his speech isn't slurred. I was expecting him to be much more drunk this late in the day. "The only thing left is the bedding-"
"Right!" Robert shouted. "THE BEDDING!"
Having the king make such a loud declaration immediately caused those in attendance to echo it.
Jon could only sigh quietly to himself as the shouting continued and the crowd converged on the newly married couple. I hope they were finished with their meals.I'll have some servants take some cheese and bread to their room in a few hours just in case.
"Now then, while everyone is busy stripping Stannis and Larra, why don't you and I head off to my room?"
Jon ignored whatever Walda's response to the king was, he knew she was agreeing to it, the specific words didn't matter. He just hoped she was aware Robert was only using her for a night of fun and she didn't get her heart broken over this.
Or more likely, she's doing this with the hope that she'll be queen. Even if Robert plants a child in her, that isn't going to happen.
While Robert and Walda quietly slipped out of the room, Jon kept an eye on the crowd. One of the Dornishmen had hauled Larra up onto his shoulders and was carrying her out of the room. Probably a relative making sure the other men don't get too grabby. There was no such rescue for Stannis. While the Baratheon was normally so stern that most women disliked his company, now the women seemed to be taking delight in his reactions as they ripped his clothes from his body. Stannis wasn't quite running from them but it was a near thing.
Youth is wasted on the young. There was no bevy of young women looking to strip and fondle me at my last wedding, Jon thought as he glanced to his side where his wife was seated. Lysa had had quite a number of admirers during the bedding ceremony. She hadn't enjoyed the spectacle and truthfully he knew she hadn't enjoyed bedding him either but he hadn't held it against her. He was an old man, not the sort of husband maidens dreamed of but that wouldn't stop him from making sure she was treated well. 'As High as Honor,' after all. It wouldn't be right to make Lysa's life miserable just because she doesn't fawn over me.
"Lord Hand, Lady Arryn, this was truly an enjoyable feast."
Turning to look, Jon saw the Red Viper standing nearby, his tan doublet open exposing his muscular chest.
Hairless, does he shave? Jon wondered before quickly banishing the thought. "Indeed it was. Though I'm surprised you're talking to us, I would have expected you to be taking part in the bedding."
"Why? Just because I'm Dornish does not mean my mind is occupied solely with thoughts of naked bodies, writhing in pleasure, glistening with sweat, moaning in delight-"
"That's quite enough," Jon snapped. The last thing he wanted was Lysa getting uncomfortable because of this salacious talk.
Based on Oberyn's smirk (and the knowledge that Jon had gained of the man over the past few months as they negotiated the peace treaty), the Prince of Dorne would have continued describing carnal acts until he got a reaction so it was just as good that Jon had said something first.
"Very well, let us discuss something else. Such as your refusal to grant Sunspear a proper city charter. What if, instead, you granted it to Planky Town?"
Jon was really tempted to pinch the bridge of his nose. He could feel the beginning of a headache already. "To prevent you from asking the same question for every town and settlement in Dorne, the location was not the reason your request was refused. So no."
"Hmmm." Oberyn made an elaborate show of stroking his chin. "So what could the reason be? Do you just hate the Dornish that much?"
"You supported the Mad King, we fought against you people on the Trident," Jon deadpanned. "If you wanted a city charter, you shouldn't have pushed for this marriage so strongly. You know it was one or the other. If you had backed Robert it would be different."
Normally it would have been exceedingly gauche to bring up the war in such a manner, particularly given that Jon knew Dornish support was only due to Elia and her children being held captive in the capital. Not to mention how flagrantly he brought up the terms that bought the peace, but Oberyn enjoyed needling for reactions too much for Jon to be willing to spend as much time and effort on courtly manners as he typically would.
"That being said," Jon continued. "The crown fully endorses Dorne's plans to build up its navy to combat the threat from the Stepstones. Pirates and slavers are a blight upon our shores which is why we will be willing to shoulder half the construction costs for the next decade."
Oberyn raised a single eyebrow at the announcement. "Really? Giving us any sort of funding was something that had been refused at every turn by you, the king, and the Master of Coin whenever Larra or I asked. What changed?"
Jon internally debated how to answer the question. The reason he had agreed to it was because Tywin had been worried about the 'pirate' activity in the Sunset Sea that had increased in severity ever since Quellon Greyjoy died at the end of the Rebellion. By increasing Dorne's navy, 'pirates' would find it much harder to move along the southern border of Westeros and would hopefully be forced to limit their activity to their own seas. The reason Robert had agreed to it was much less thought out: because Stannis had asked him to as a favor for his new wife.
"You may have noticed when the couple were receiving their gifts that His Grace did not present them with anything. That is because this is his gift. With Stannis as the Master of Ships and his now wife being from Dorne, the king felt it was something that would make both their lives easier."
"I find myself surprised at the thoughtfulness of such a politically astute gift," Oberyn commented. "It's almost as if it was someone else's idea."
"A wise king knows he does not know everything and listens to good advice."
"And whose advice was it to rush the wedding? If the groom was anyone else I would have assumed there was a pregnancy to cover up."
That caught Jon by surprise, he had been under the impression that the Dornish had been pushing for the marriage to be consummated soon. "Based on what Stannis told me, it was Larra who wished to be wed so quickly."
"Is that so?" Oberyn's tone left Jon wondering if the Red Viper believed it or not. "My brother was quite disappointed at being unable to make it up here given the abbreviated time table, I shall be sure to inform him of the cause."
Does he want me to lie and say I did it? If there is animosity between Doran and Larra I see no reason to redirect it. Just because she's part of the royal family now does not mean I will fall on my sword to protect her from her own actions. "You are free to do so, Prince Oberyn. Will it be by raven, messenger, or will you be leaving King's Landing to tell him personally?"
Oberyn narrowed his eyes. "So quick to get rid of me? If I didn't know that everyone loved me I might be offended. But I probably will go myself, I have been away from home for too long and wish to see my family again."
"I wish you a safe journey, in that case."
With a bow so slight it could barely be called such, Oberyn spun on his heels and walked off with nary a word.