Westeros, Harrenhal, 281AC.
The the orange glow of the sun heralded the coming of dawn, the lights from the campfires made by the numerous Rose soldiers spread out and covered the eastern horizon, that flickered like stars against the black emptiness of the night now drown in light of day, the scenery was almost magical if it were not for the thousand hardened men stirring in their tents and trousers, some begin to douse the fires that marked each yoke and pack, it was the second week the Rose Legionnaires and Laborers had spent in this foreign Land, in Essos they would be split into two shifts, while the first half worked during the day the next shift of laborers would continue building the fortifications and facilities will into the night and be relieved at dawn, but Lord Roose instructed all of the laborers to work in the day and to rest at night, he also commanded the Legionnaires to patrol the sites they worked at and prevented anyone lower than a Knight from bothering the Laborers.
The soon enough the laborers organized themselves into their yoke as did the Legionnaires with the pack and slowly lined up to be served breakfast, which was as always, a quiet affair, after the meal they began to bleed out into the tourney grounds to continue their work. Cranes and claws rip massive boulders from the ground, while teams of yokes erect logs and lumber to make walls, halls and palaces for the many lords and dignitaries attending the tourney, ox driven plows level the ground and laborers beat the flatten it into a track or an arena, While the rangers escorted other laborers when gathering more material from the surrounding forests to replace the one they used up, as well as the scouting and hunting parties when they searched for food, or foes.
elsewhere...
"We waited until the last Dothraki was inside the village and then we started lighting the fires" the Bolton explained to the Prince "We allowed the few that survived to return to Khal Goron, to provoke him into an attack"
Rhaegar smiled at the simplicity of the Wolf King's plan and the grim demise of the Dothraki, even in Westeros the savage ways of the Dothraki were frowned upon, "and he did this when he was only ten and two?"
The Bolton boy nodded and Rhaegar smiled even wider, however, Lord Tywin was less easily convinced about a story of how four twelve year old boys managed to gain the loyalty of a small sellsword company to fight, and win against a Dothraki Khalasar.
"How did your King know that Khal Goron would split his Khalasar like that?" Lord Tywin asked calmly and curiously, Rhaegar looked at the Hand of the King who was sipping his wine and added "what if he had come with the full might of his screamers to that village?" Rhaegar then turned back to the Bolton boy, expecting an answer.
"In truth, that was what we were counting on, at first" the Bolton boy spoke after he takes a sip from his goblet, "the original plan was for the majority of the Khalasar to move into the village, and then while they were burning to death, we would roll the boulders down the hill, hopefully killing the the Khal and leaving the rest of his Khalasar disorganized enough that they would rout, then we'd use the shock and confusion to finish the job"
Lord Tywin nodded with genuine interest as did Prince Rheagar, Princess Ellia and Queen Rhaella politely nodded. I was behind them, with four of my brothers, ten more Lannister and ten other Targaryan soldiers lined the dining hall's walls, the Bolton boy's original ten heavy infantry guards were there too, behind him standing stern and stoic as always, while his wench stood off to the side awaiting any orders from her master, prince Rhaegar was hosting the boy in the dining hall, hoping to find out more about the King of the Rose.
"After we realized that we had only burned a large scouting party, we had to scramble to reset a different trap" the Bolton boy spoke with practiced charm, he watched the amount he drank and devoured, enough to appreciate the food but not so much as to over indulge, like the snake he was, "we built a wall along the length of the road to funnel them into a tight formation, so their numbers became their disadvantage"
"How were you able to construct a wall when you've already burned the whole village down?" lord Tywin, again pointed out a possible hole in Roose's story.
The Boy paused at the question, swallowing loudly and setting his goblet down, Queen Rhaella and Princess Ellis both raise their brows at the pause, with a sigh Roose answered "We used the corpses in the village"
"The corpses?" Ellia asked, no doubt appalled by the notion of using the dead so callously, as was I.
The Bolton nodded again "Eddard had the Dothraki corpses pulled out from the smoldering ruins and piled into a makeshift wall, they'd be high enough that the Dothraki couldn't jump over them, but then we actually ran out of bodies" the boy continued, unaware of the growing silence in the hall "so we impaled them on spears and lined the side of the road with them"
Princess Elia softly placed her glass down, disgusted by the image the Hand of the Rose Kingdom was describing, but she was unable to silence Roose, Princess she may be, but a Hand of the King, even to a foreign one, still out ranked her "we were lucky the bodies were still intact enough to impale" the northern savage continued, Queen Rhaella also seemed her stomach turn at the boy's words, though she had the authority to silence Roose, even if he were the guest of honor. But years of her king and husband's… influence had atrophied her ego, so she did as she always did nowadays, tucked her hands down her crotch and stared at her half eaten dinner.
"When Goron finally came, we were ready for him" the Bolton finished his farce.
Rhaegar took another sip from his wine, he was impressed by Eddard's ruthlessness, but did not voice it as his wife and mother abhorred violence, "they are women after all" I thought.
Tywin was more open of the Rose king's actions, "to the Rose King" he toasted and raised his goblet, an act reciprocated by Roose who raised his glass, seeing this, the Queen Rhaella followed out of pure reflex and Princess Ellia half heartedly raised her glass after seeing Rhaegar stare at her with his raised glass.
From where I stood, I saw sir Barristan Selmy's sharp eyes catch the Rose soldier's bow slightly at the toast to their King. Throughout the whole dinner he had hid his surprise perfectly, such tall men clad in thick armor and animal hides, I had no doubts that sir Barristan would win against any or all of them. Even with his age, he was still faster than any of these men.
But I did have doubts if his sword could snake around such thick steel armor, even if he could kill one he wouldn't be able to kill another without leaving himself exposed to an attack, and he doubted very much the resolve of the paid Lannister men beside him and his brothers, "would they still charge after they saw two or three of their own cleaved in half" I thought and doubted in my head.
Sir Oswell was telling his brother about the story of how and why there were a thousand laborers and soldiers outside his castle, It took a signed and sealed decree from Prince Rhaegar delivered to him by his younger brother to convince Lord Walter of house Whent to allow the army of dark skinned and heavily muscled men to begin construction of the Tourney grounds. Yet, even as he clutched the parchment in his Hand and his Brother standing beside him, Lord Whent could not keep the agitation from reaching his face as he beheld the sight of before eyes.
"Three weeks and already they've cleaned and cleared the castle grounds of bushes and hedges" Walter said looking out from his tower in Harrenhal as the sound of the Laborers rhythmically chant as they work, "and built a wall around it"
"They're organized like an army," Oswell added, he was sipping his morning beer as he stood with his brother at the window, "I don't think I've seen any of them try for any of the towns near here"
"Do you know what this, King Eddard wants?" Walter asked his brother, "Will the prince bring him into the fold?"
"From what I can't tell, no" Oswell answers, "he seems to wants to show respect to our King and his family so that he isn't seen as a threat"
"Then why did he send his Hand" Walter returned his gaze to the men working below, "and a thousand of his own men here?"
"Bolton say he had to visit his father first, then he would come to harrenhal" Oswell said, "someone has to keep the peace I suppose, besides, with all the many lords and their retinue that are coming to this turney, we'll need all the peace we can keep"
"Aye, we do" 5
Essos, outside the city of Eddar (formally the shadow slums), 281AC.
"War has changed", Edmyne thought as he stood atop the fortified walls that overlooked the outer defenses of the city, the area that was infested with beggars and briggans is now an outer bailey used to process a forest into fortress and a rabble of orphans into an army, it was now larger after the surrounding trees were felled to feed the furnaces and fortify the defenses that separates the city from the Dothraki sea.
"In the past, men were trained from childhood to be a warrior and hold his own in battle" Edmyne though as he looks down into the bailey and observes the newest recruits being drilled by their instructor on how to shuffle and slide between tight formation to replace the front line, others recruits elsewhere were learning to march in perfect unison while others were still learning to push with their shield and thrust with their swords, "now we're training young boys to fight as a single organized army, within half a year"
"In the past, a man slept in his armor or on his horse, and moved on to reach whatever the enemy was quickly as possible", Edmynes gaze turned to the rows of wooden houses that produce all the building materials they needed, he turns and walks to the other side of wall leaning on wooden crenulations, four of his household guards following his movements, he looks out into the Dothraki sea and then at killing fields the laborers had built for any Mounted horde to find, dozens of ten foot deep trenches lined with upward facing spikes carpet the land while more spike blanketed the outer wall itself, "now, everywhere we camped we built a fortress to rest and for the next group behind us, to reinforces"
"War has changed" Edmyne said to himself, from the corner of his eye he sees a young girl running, she was dress in the clean gray tunic and leather belt that most of the new recruits wore, in her hand she was clutched a piece of paper, as she reached him one of the guards blocked her path, he wore a lighter armor leather with scale mail rather than his full plated one, the girl stopped and gulped audibly at the site tall olive skinned man brandishing a thick war axe.
She straightened herself and presented the pieces of paper, her eyes focused on Edmyne, "apologies, Lord Overseer, but there is a message for you from the Hand!"
"Let her through koh" Edmyne said and the Guard bowed and stepped aside, the girl with her arm still outstretched walked to Edmyn, smiling Edmyne took the paper, the girl bowed, stepped back, Edmyne dismissed the girl and she bows again before running away.
He lets out a breath after reading the parchment, before he could train and head back to his chamber and his desk, he is truck by an Idea, "call the girl back koh" he orders
[Return, girl, Koh gestures to another guard further down the wall and ahead of the girl.
moments later…
The sound of footfalls on wooden boards rattle the floor atop the wall, at the front were two more of edmyn's guards, behind them followed three guests who were taller and thinner than the Ibbenese, their faces were tattooed with red lines and black bands and the bridges of their noses were pierced with dragon bone, they wore red sleeveless robes and leather shoes, accented with curved daggers and pouches tied to their wide belts. A scholar beside Edmyne clears his throat and speaks.
"you stand in the presence of Edmyne of house Reed, son of Hullus and Rhea, High Overseer of the Kingdom of the Rose and Governor of the city of Eddar".
"I am khain son of kharn, emissary of Isange the chieftain" The middle one spoke, he gestured to his right, "this is ha'riel daughter of kobb, our healer" he turns to his left "and this is toogm, my son"
"Thank you for traveling from nefer, my honored guests", Edmyn gestured to the secular table his servants had set up earlier, on it, various fruits, pastries and wine were placed, the guests approached the offered chairs and Edmyn followed after.
"Thank you again, for answering our invitations", Edmyn said gestured to he provided chairs "please, set we have so much to discuss"
"I must say, it was quite the surprise to receive such an invitation from Westerosi, given my people's… reputation", Khain spook, if not for his attire and entourage you could have sworn he was from Westeros, "but the Ebbenese never lie, the few that do business with us anyway"
"My King is about to embark upon an enormous undertaking", Edmyne answers ignoring the Neferi's apparent mastery of the common tongue, captain Gibb had warned him of N'ghain culture, it was considered insulting to ask a question directly, instead they said their ideas and intentions openly, but only among trusted kinfolk, "by winter we will begin turning the land north of Vaes Dothrak into a death trap for their horses, your people's reputation will be greatly appreciated during such a venture"
Khain nods and looks down at the men below, being drilled and driven into files and formation, then he looks up at the wall that was now boasting seven ballistas, "the chieftain Isange, desires to compensate
Westeros, Winterfell, 281AC.
The castle had welcomed Eddard officially with a modest feast, only attended by the host and his household, the gifts Eddard brought were spices, cheeses, salted and smoked meats, maps of several cities of cities and territories in Essos, chest of gold and silver, and a multitude of wares found only in Essos.
For the meal itself, only his siblings were interested in his stories of his adventures in Essos, his father was stern, while his mother was somber, Eddard had been given the moniker of the 'silent wolf' not only because he rarely cried during infancy and early childhood, but also for his lack of interaction towards his parents, being occupied by his need for knowledge and training of the boy Willis, he had avoided and ignored his mother to the point of openly mocking her for bothering him, he had been beaten for first and only time for doing so, but like all things Rickard simply could not devote time to all his children, especially one that didn't want it, and so over time her confusion corroded into contempt for Eddard.
But Eddard did not care, if the choice was to appease his mother or prepare for the impending apocalypse the choice becomes simpler, he would mourn for her death as he would his father's, brother's and sister's all the same, and then he would keep going, just as Jero did with his family, so would Eddard.
Moments later…
Laughter bounced off the walls like rain on a roof, the empty hall that could house a feast was now lit by a lone lamp setting on a small table where two brothers drank several varieties of Essosi alcohol brought by Eddard from his Kingdom, gin, grog, brandy, vodka, and rum.
"So there we were, right?", Eddard said slurred and slowly, "in Howl's boat, going down the weeping river and then suddenly Roose wakes up and I'm looking him right in the eyes"
Brandon's Laughter shakes his whole body spilling some of the grog he had in his cup, "we were going to drop him off to the nearest shore where a village was, so he wouldn't be able to alert the nearest castle, but with him awake I had to think of a way to keep him calm, otherwise he'd panic and tip us over"
"I knew you weren't friends with a Bolton" Brandon struggled to say through his laughter as he held Eddard's shoulder to keep him from falling off his chair, "steady on now"
"Thank you," Eddard thanked him for steadying his body, what started as a simple sampling session with the various alcoholic drinks Eddard had brought from essos soon devolved into a drinking game, "anyway I spun some half assed excuse on what we were going to do, you know, to convince him into just rowing away"
"then out of fucking nowhere, he goes and joins us any way" Eddard's body shacks as he tries to keep himself from laughing to loud and waking the whole castle.
"Why didn't you just drop him off and leave, why the lie?" Brandon asked, far more sober than his brother, he had drank with guests and guards alike, so he built up a tolerance, "and why keep up the lie for so long?"
"Looking back, I thought it'd same as admitting defeat" Eddard smiled and flashed his white canines at his brother, his face was flush red and eyes were half open, Eddard never drank with his brother, owing to his age before he left for Essos, and preferring to learn than to loiter unlike Brandon, "but time and time again his proven himself capable enough to do what I ask and complacent enough not to question them"
The brothers share a laugh, this time much more subdued than the before, a kind of agreeing or accommodating laughter that felled the time before changing subjects, and this was what Brandon was waiting for, earlier he had invited Eddard to a drink in the dining hall, it was far enough away from the sleeping quarters that any laughter would diminished in volume before it could reach anyone, especially their Lord Father and Lady mother. Brandon knew from experience, if you wanted to talk, you needed to ask, if you wanted the truth, you needed alcohol, luckily, Eddard had brought several with him from Essos and they soon tried each and every one of them.
"Ned" Brandon asked gently and genuinely, making sure not to sound too aggressive "I have to ask you something serious"
Eddard leaned in close and placed his elbow on the table to prop up his head, "ask it" Eddard answered with a smile, too softened by the liquor to be defensive.
"Why did you leave ned?" Brandon's voice almost hitched when he asked, "I know you didn't get along with our Mother, I Know you Hated Father, I know you hated Robert, but…"
Brandon paused to catch himself and clear his throat, "you got along with me and Lyanna, I know you did. you may not have said it out loud or shown it for all to see, but I know what I know, you left not a word, Father had half the North looking for you, he had Koub and all the men that escorted you thrown out of the north, along with their families for what you letting you slip"
"So tell why you did it, I need to know", Brandon watched his brother still at his question, he waited for his answer while Eddard thought of one, his brother always had an answer for every inquiry, Eddard's jaw clenched and he took a breath, Brandon saw his brother rub a hand over his face before schooling it, then he spoke.
"Are you angry Bran?", Eddard asked, looking at Brandon as if waiting for an answer
"About what?" Brandon realized that Eddard was about to tell him the truth.
"Anything, does anything make you angry", Eddard asked again.
"I don't think so, I might become difficult when I don't get my way or I'm not given my due respect", Eddard would always start by asking questions to establish a foundation of understanding before he spoke his reasoning, a pattern Brandon recognized after reminiscing during his brother's absence, "but that's expected from an heir I suppose"
"I think I am", Eddard said as he raised a glass of whisky to his lips, he sighs after swallowing "I'm very angry"
Brandon did not ask the obvious question, thinking it might interrupt his brother's rant, he knew Eddard rarely ever spoke about himself, he may answer or ask questions, but they were always about other things.
"I'm not gonna lie and tell you I'm ambitious, that the North is half the the size of Westeros' land but an eight of the wealth" Eddard looked at Brandon with eyes filled with sadness and shame, "I'm Just angry, I hate being told or taught anything, I hate not knowing what I don't know and I hate explaining myself"
"I hate being less… than our Father" Eddard takes a shuddering breath and continues "but mostly I hate myself… for being so hateful"
Brandon's eyes widened at Eddard's admission, looking back into his memories for any evidence of animosity hidden amongst childish actions that could have instigated his brother's ire, then Eddard spoke up again.
"I had to get out of here" Eddard looked away, to stare at his empty glass, "the wolf blood has runs thick in our family, it's kept generations of us ahead of everyones else, it's in our sister, it's in you brother, I guess it just hit me different"
They sat there in a silence that seemed to stretch on forever, not wishing to undermine what had been said with a ill timed jape, Brandon was thinking on what else to say, he could not leave it as it was, but a careless comment could enrage Eddard now that he'd poured out his soul to him.
"I understand Ned, you can't help it" Brandon said, stretching his hand to rest it on Eddard's shoulder, Eddard looks up and smiles at his brother "you have to leave again, won't you?"
"Yes, after the turney" Eddard puts his hand over his brother's "for good this time"
"Alright, good luck Ned" was all Brandon could say.
"Thank you"