Big thank you to all of those who reviewed, favorited or followed! Thank you for your support!
Chapter 5 – Age 23
V
"She is beautiful Dara." Rohar said, smiling over at his first daughter. "Isn't she boys?"
His sons looked skeptical, looking down at their still slightly pink faced sister. Both he and Heddara couldn't help but chuckle at their reactions.
"What name should we give her?" She asked.
The boys looked uncertain. "Maybe Serena?" Rodrick proposed.
Jon frowned at that "But there are so many Serena's. Maester Luwin said so!"
Rodrick pouted. "But it's pretty!"
Jon shook his head. "Our sister is not just pretty. She is strong, like mamma!"
Rodrick's frown deepened. "How is she strong like mamma if she is just a baby? Babies can't do anything!"
The brothers went back and forth under their parents amused eyes until finally they settled.
"Welcome home, princess Sansa!"
Three moons after his niece was born, Benjen was rowing a small boat to a place he had never thought he would see in his life.
The Company of the Rose's wish to go back to what they still saw as 'home', had left Heddara with three options: say no; say yes with open arms, hugs and kisses; or say yes but first demand a proof of loyalty.
His sister had never been one for hugs and kisses with strangers, so her choice had been obvious.
And the task she had chosen for the Company to prove their loyalty was what had gotten him where he was now.
Well, it was not like he had been forced to come, in fact, he had volunteered. He had thought that it would be good training for when he enlisted in the Watch in a few of moons.
But still, it was a bit surreal to finally set foot in the place, he pondered, as he helped bring the rowboat to shore. Even though the Company had been left alone to do most of the job by themselves, as per Hed's directives, he was still supposed to supervise and take note of all the decisions made by them. And hopefully let of a bit of steam by helping kill some Skaggs.
Every northern child's stories were plagued by three bogeymen: The Others, the Wildlings and the Skagosi.
And while the Skagosi were mostly considered the minor ones, they were still scary for three simple facts: almost no one had ever actually seen one, some people said they were cannibals or unicorns, and they undoubtedly existed.
And he was now following a former sellsword Company into the heart of their main island.
The reason why Heddara had sent the Company to Skagos was simple – they were ignoring her missives.
Skagosi were known for not caring much for northern politics and had notoriously been absent from several battlefields in recent years. The most recent? The rebellion itself.
Many Wardens and Kings had been content to ignore Skagos existence in return and leave them to their own devices.
But not Heddara.
Skagos was part of the North, conquered from pirates by the Starks centuries before, and therefore had to answer to the Starks of Winterfell. Heddara was not about to let herself be lulled into a sense of false security, only to have another Skagosi rebellion on her hands, like it had happened about a century before.
All the members of the Council had been in agreement, though Benjen suspected that for Lady Tallhart only two things mattered: if they were rich, they should be paying taxes, if they were poor, they should be receiving help from the crown until they were in a good financial situation and could pay taxes.
And that was how he got himself a personal opportunity to find out what was true and what was myth.
Unicorns? True. One of the gigantic goat like bastards had almost gored a couple of Company men, before it had been promptly speared by more attentive warriors. The two distracted men had promptly been told off by their officers, before the group had continued, word passing down the ranks about the threat the animals might possess.
It had been a bit disheartening to see that unicorns were so ugly, but that had quickly been pushed back in his mind when he, and everyone else, had come face to face with another possible threat.
The unicorns had been a prelude to the people of the Stane Clan, that had hissed threats at them being on their land, but ultimately had been unable to do anything against them due to their sheer numbers and weapons.
Oh, they had tried. They had obviously seen their ships coming, and prepared several ambushes for them, but the Rose Company was not one of the oldest companies in Essos for nothing. There was a reason they had taken so long to mount this offensive after all. They had spent moons preparing and gathering information, even going all the way to Eastwatch by-the-Sea to talk to the brothers of the Night's Watch stationed there.
The Skagosi had launched volley after volley of arrows – most likely poisoned – but the Company had held firm due to their armors and shields – and antidotes, most likely.
In the end, they had managed to turn around and defeat them, though they had made sure to keep most of them alive.
The leader of the Stane Clan had tried to protest and claim they were invading his lands, but the truth of the matter was simple and not in his favor. They had attacked Stark men, that had come out of ships flying the Stark banner. He had raised arms against his Queen.
Afterwards things had progressed easily – if one considered putting down several Skagosi easy.
It would have been too easy, if one discounted the fact that the Skagosi had almost been annihilated after their rebellion one century before. The Starks had payed the price too, with the death of Lord Stark and many of his men, but one century had not been enough to bring the islanders numbers anywhere close to what they had been.
Two days later Brandon Snow had the three leaders of the Skagosi in front of him at the square in front of the seat of Clan Crowl, Deepdown, with Benjen looking on in the midst of the other Company men.
"You ignore messages from your Queen, then you attack her emissary, making it impossible for him to even get out of his boat." The commander said, a sneer on his face. "Is it such a surprise that she would send an armed force to enforce her will?"
The Magnar Clan leader spit out. "We have no pansy Queen."
Brandon wasted no time in backhanding him with such force the gigantic man almost fell over.
"And that is treason." He spit back at the man's feet. "Your ancestors were appointed as protectors of this land by the Starks. Instead of doing your duty you quarreled, killed your neighbors and enslaved woman. Then you decide to raise in rebellion causing the deaths of hundreds. If it was me, I would have killed you off and given this land to better deserving people. But the Starks gave you another chance. And yet this is how you repay them."
The Stane leader laughed. "You say all that and yet you follow some cunt Stark. How much of a man are you if you let some woman order you around?"
It was Brandon's turn to kick back his head and let out a bark of laughter.
"You have stayed so closed up in this Island that you have forgotten what true warriors are like, haven't you? Never seen a Mormont slam her hammer on an Ironborn raider, have you? Or Heda commanding a host against a Targaryen army." He chuckled. "And you have no idea of the true warriors of the North because you have never been amongst them in batle."
Turning to the Company warriors surrounding them, he called "Malika!"
A woman stepped forth, a bloodthirsty grin gracing her features. "If any of you would like a go at a true northern warrior, why don't you let Malika here give you a demonstration?"
What followed was a beautiful plummeting of the Stane Clan Leader by the Company's strongest woman, shutting up any jeers from the Skagosi present.
"You will bow to the Queen's emissaries and follow her laws. You will accept the presence of any men appointed by the Queen to access the state of affairs in Skagos and pay the taxes deemed appropriate. In return, the Queen will invest in Skagos in the form of seeds, glasshouses and any other products you believe you have a need of. The Queen will also take control of the abandoned island of Skane and build a military and merchant port there. In return, this port will be opened to trade with Skagos at a token tax"
The Magnar narrowed his eyes. He was thinking now. Good. Being part of the North could actually give the Skagosi better living conditions. Benjen had not been impressed with the seats of the three clans.
A strange screech was heard all around, as the trees shook in a sudden wind. The Skagosi turned pale and shifted, looking around in a panic.
Magnar's mouth opened into a slow smile. "We will bow and swear, if you give us a better show of your so-called warrior powers."
Brandon frowned. "We have already done so."
Magnar laughed as the screeches continued. "Not enough. You kill The Cannibal, we follow your Queen." He looked up at the agitated trees and frowned. "Scatter!" He screamed.
The order was apparently familiar to the Skagosi, for they all moved away to hide. Benjen noticed that they all chose houses made of solid rock and with no windows, that seemed to dot the village, as their hiding places.
Brandon seemed to notice too, for he soon let out his own orders. "Do as they did! Don't trust them! Only Rock! Give me a bow! Now!"
Benjen hurried to find a less used hideout and quickly went inside with Brandon and what seemed half of the Company. The screeches seemed to be coming closer, and the wind was picking up.
"What is happening?" he asked, hurrying over to the thin slit that passed as a window.
"It seems like some sort of flying beast." Brando said, stopping by the other side of the window. "And Magnar wants us to kill it"
One of the Skagosi in what he now assumed was a purposeful shelter, considering its lack of furniture, snorted. "No one can kill The Cannibal."
Benjen narrowed his eyes, considering the words of both this man and his clan leader. The screeches were almost upon them, and he wanted answers. "What is The Cannibal, and how long has he been around?"
The Skagosi. "The Cannibal has been around for a very long time. Longer than us. He comes and goes around the islands of Skagos."
Brandon swore, and a mighty screech came out, prompting Benjen to look outside.
He understood were the rumors of cannibalism came from now. The Skagosi themselves didn't eat men.
Something else that lived on Skagos did.
"Considering there are no signs of summer ending anytime soon, the works in Moat Cailin will be continuing in full force" Lord Karstark explained. "The works to Deepwood Mote and Flint's Finger are going well. The wall's reinforcements have gone to plan as well, and I believe that the Prince Consort has already sent back the men he has been training these last few moons."
Rohar nodded. "That is correct. The new walls will prove a challenge to the Flints. We sent one hundred Stark men to man the walls and train Flint men until they are up to the task. Lord Glover will have no such problem."
Heddara nodded at the news, before giving the next member of the council leave to speak.
"The works for the pier in Widow's Watch go as expected. Ramsgate, however, seems to be a problem." Karstark frowned. "I sent a man to check on the progress and the work was stalled. I know not what the Lord of Ramsgate is doing with the money he has been keeping from his taxes for almost a whole year!"
Heddara's eyes narrowed.
"You believe he is using it on other things?" She combed her memory for information her scurry little friends had shared lately. "There have been more orders for luxury items from Myr for Ramsgate, haven't there Lord Dustin? It stroke me as odd, but I figured the influx of money to the workers might have spiked an interest in those smelling soaps of theirs."
Lady Tallhart joined Lord Dustin in consulting her books before raising her voice to the discussion. "It is the most likely reason. It's not just smelling soaps they're ordering if these numbers look right"
Lord Dustin frowned. "Lady Tallhart speaks truth. Seems they are buying silks and hair decorating pieces also." The Magnar of trade said, sneering.
Heddara sighed. Any other time, she would be preparing her horse to ride to Ramsgate to figure out what was happening, but unfortunately, she had still not recovered completely from Sansa's birth, and showing any weakness in front of a money swindling – possibly turning hostile – bannerman was not wise.
"Lord Umber will make his way to Ramsgate as soon as this council is adjourned. The Consort will accompany him with a force of one hundred men." She ordered. "I want to get to the bottom of the issue. If the Lord of Ramsgate proves unfit for his responsibilities, Lordship of Ramsgate will pass to the next in line. If that one proves unfit also, you will go down the line until you find one that will be fit to it."
Lord Umber nodded with a smirk, easily mirrored by the rest of the council. No one liked to be stolen from, and considering Ramsgate had been given exemption from taxes, and a big loan from the crown, every Lord in the North expected its Lord to put the money to good use. Not to buy frivolities. "And if none of the man's sons have a lick of sense between their ears?"
Heddara snorted. "Then you will look at his daughters, nephews and nieces. And if the Old Gods have seen fit to forsake the whole bloodline, you will appoint a steward and leave a guard contingent to oversee the investment of the crown."
The two men nodded, and assured of their understanding, Heddara turned to Roose Bolton.
"Lord Bolton, what of the state of the Kingdom when it comes to facing Winter? While there is no sign that Summer will be ending any time soon, there have been almost four years of it now, and we all know how short Autumns can be."
Roose nodded. "The number of glasshouses available have risen in every Keep, as per the plan supervised by Lord Karstark and myself. Most of them were built with coin from the crown and several repayment methods have been agreed to with those Keeps Lords." He looked down at his books before adding. "Several barns and woodsheds had to be rebuilt due to their degraded state. Storing wood in a rotten wooden shed is not always safe, even for the North. It is just asking for a disaster. So is storing grain in the Keeps cellar is just a present for the rats."
He frowned at his papers. "Some villages in the Rhills are refusing the new woodsheds and Barns because of some belief that their taxes will be raised to incredible and unbearable amounts. We are still trying to explain to them how this is actually done."
Heddara nodded. "Hopefully, once they hear of the conditions their neighbors have been offered, they will approach your men for their own new buildings, and it will be easier to explain to them then. Please keep me updated on the developments."
Looking over at the list of subjects she wanted to broach during the meeting, she turned to her master.
"What news have we of the men sent to the citadel?" She asked
The Maester bowed to her, before giving a please smile. "Two more have forged their healing and herblore links and have decided to head back North by boat. That makes a total of six men now, my Queen."
"Good" Heddara said, with a pleased smile. "And what of Shipbuilding, Engineering and Arquitecture?"
Karstark puffed with pride. "My nephew has forged a chain in Engineering and Arquitecture my Queen!" he announced proudly.
Karstark had been one of the many Lords to follow her advice on sending the 'lesser', and less gifted at arms, members of their households to the Citadel. And his nephew was now the third high born man to have been able to forge a chain in a very useful discipline.
"My congratulations, Lord Karstark!" She gave with a smile. "I have no doubt he will be joining your Order very soon."
She turned to the council at large, bringing her hands up to lean her chin on. "We are finally in a place where we can move forward in our quest to advance our country. First order of business is Winter Town." She turned to Jonah Snow, sitting beside his Magnar and nodded. "The town outside these walls has its name from the fact that it mostly sits vacant during the summer, as smallfolk move to their farms where harvest awaits. However, Winterfell is now the seat of a Queen and its council. More and more people come to this town looking for the jobs that naturally appear due to the presence of a court, that has been gone for so many years. We are seeing dirty streets, dangerous and poor houses and dare I say it, even the beginnings of a dump." She sneered at the mere mention of it.
"I will not stand for such conditions in what is in all truth the capital of this Kingdom. So, master Snow, I task you with creating a plan for reorganizing this Town, that is for all intents and purposes, on its way to becoming a city." The man nodded, a gleam in his eyes at the challenge. "The most important aspects to take into consideration is firstly, the need for several cheap, but sturdy houses. Winterfell has always been a safe haven during winter. Even to the poorest of the smallfolk. Second, the smell. There will be no Kings Landing in the North."
The Lords present shouted in agreement, all of them remembering the stink of the southern city, strong enough that not even the small fires started by the Lannister could smother it.
"And third, I want two large buildings created: one where teaching will occur, and another where healing will be available to the inhabitants of the city. Maester Luwyn, as the Magnar of Healing will be the one that will tell you everything you will need to know about these two buildings, as they will fall under his wing."
Murmurs of agreement went around the room, as the purpose of the Order of Healing was finally taking shape.
Keeps needed their Maesters, so for the Order of healing to launch, more healers where needed. That was why Maester Luwin had sent ravens to every Keep, asking their Maesters to recommend men they believed had the necessary temperament for it.
After interviewing each man, Heddara had decided to sponsor seven of them and now, with six of them ready, it was time to spread the knowledge, and put it into practice. Soon, they would not need to send more men to the Citadel.
After all, there were woman interested in the subject and the Citadel was no more than a castle full of misogynistic fossils.
"Lord Cerwin. It is also finally time to fully launch the Order of Guilds. With the expansion of trade, many more skills have been learnt by our people, and many more are still in need. I know you have been preparing these last few years and have already started your work, just as we have discussed. What have you prepared for me?"
For the first time in around 111 thousand words written in this site, I finally feel like I managed a half- decent cliff-hanger! Yay!
So Heddara decides to welcome the company, but first they must prove themselves!
Now what is The Cannibal? I can tell you I got this one from a mix of the books and some fan speculation and decided to add my own twist to it!
Lots of people are asking about white walkers. I'm planning to make this a trilogy, and they will definitely not be in this story, because it will only go up until a bit before cannon begins, but if you read the Epilogue of 'The Princess of Winter', I'm pretty sure you can guess what will happen in the third book. :)