The morning following the dinner passed in a hazy blur for multiple reasons. The first and foremost was that I was completely hungover. After the dinner my future brother-in-law and me joined the soldiers back in the mass hall, and more ale was spent than I had seen in my young life. The culmination of the night was when John proposed that we play a drinking game called "the Dornishman's wife". After that event, my recollection of the night was rather blurry. Two hours after sunrise I was rudely awakened by the sae man who had drunk me to sleep.
"Come on brother, rise and shine, the Seven have blessed us with another lovely morning! Can't you feel the excitement in the air?" John's loud voice interrupted my sweet, dreamless, coma-like condition.
"You bloody twat," I grunted, "It is far too early in the morning for you to sound that fresh and well rested after a night as last night." As I spoke I noticed that the copious amounts of alcohol I had consumed last night still were affecting my tongue.
"Well pardon me, my lord baron," John replied mockingly, "I had thought the Reynes were good in everything, but I fear that short nights with a lot of drinks are not meant for them. You need your beauty sleep to go talk to my sister?"
"My lord Tarbeck," I answered in the same tone, "I would have you know that we Reynes practice with more elegant means of drinking, not the same ale the beggars drink at the harborside inn."
"Too good for a bloody mug of ale, are we know? That would probably be due the fact that you can't handle a little head-ache?"
"A little head-ache I can handle very well," I said, as I rose to a seating position on the bed, and put on my briefs, "But I feel as if the Smith himself is swinging his hammer continuously at my head. Surely if I was of a lesser breed, my head would have exploded by now."
"I'll give it to you, you handle yourself well for a sixteen year old, but with me in the family, you'd better get used to drinking ale until the morrow lad."
"Ha! I recall that during this night's festivities, we have pointed out that you are only three years and 211 days my senior, and therefore not much more than a boy yourself, like me." I got up and washed up my face with the water that was placed there for that use.
"Your talent with words continues to amaze me brother, here you are insulting a man three years your senior for a little brat! I should be insulted." John replied, laughing as he clapped my back, an unfortunate habit he had, that had caused me to spill my drink on more than one occasion the past night. "Anyway, I came to wake you because I thought you ought to know that the first men have arrived this night. a thousand men have already assembled in front of the walls. Lord Harris of the Watch has brought every able man in his lands, and has brought word of the some smaller lords, who are doing the same as we speak. Of course Lord Harris has the most, as his hold comprises of the largest cities."
"I will go on an inspectionround as soon as I am properly washed, thank you for bringing this news John. Girl, go and fetch ser Toran and tell him to bring my armor." The last was directed to a servant girl who had brought in some wine to ease my hangover.
"You're welcome little brother, when you are ready, send for me, I wish to accompany you on your route. I shall be at the guard's quarters training." With that John left, and I returned to washing up more thorough.
Ser Toran arrived a few moments later, with my armor. He helped me dress myself, as putting an armor on alone is close to impossible. "I am afraid I will need to get a squire, I do not wish to bother you with such menial tasks my good ser."
"I serve at your pleasure my lord, I gladly take the task while you have not yet a squire." He got on his knee and bound my swordbelt around me. "You will need a new blade my lord, your current one has seen too many winters, it is not fitting a man of your status."
"No worries Toran, my father promised me a new blade when I reach Oxcross, and I feel rather confident that I will not have to use one until than." I shook my shoulders to mae sure the armor was strapped on properly. "Now let us go to the training quarters, I want to go inspect the troops with John."
We walked to the training grounds, where John was training. It was certainly a sight to see. John's northerner blood became apparent when he was fighting. The blood of his grandmother, a northerner noblewoman who had been wed to the lord Tarbeck of that time, was clearly present in the way the hulk of a man moved about with two war axes in his hands. He certainly had a brute skill that could be well harnessed as a front fighter. His presence would lift the moral of all the troops and devestate the enemy. It was good he came as commander of the Tarbeck host, only answering to me, I could use his particular talents on the field.
"Oi brother, care to join me in a bit of practice? Or are you afraid to rip your new tunic?" John laughed at me.
"My dear big brother, are suggesting a lion knows fear? You may have your axes that make you boastful, a lion still has his claws!" With that answer, I jumped into the training ground. "I do hope you will lend me one of those axes, as my sword is currently not in the best of shapes."
John smiled, and threw one of his axes at a pole next to me. The blade buried itself deep into the wood. "I shall pretend to have confidence in your aim, dear brother, and not assume that the axe was meant for my head."
That mad John laugh even more, "My little brother, if I wanted to crack your skull, I would have not missed, you can take my word for that."
And with those words, a severe training began. and even though my tunic did rip, as John had predicted, I managed to prove that a lion does has claws, We trained for a while, until we took a break for the midday meal, and in that time he showed me the basic arts of combat with an axe, a knowledge sure to come in handy. At the end of the practice, he told me to keep the axe, as he had quite a collection and he had not given me anything to celebrate my bethrodal, except for a hangover. I strapped it at the right side of my belt. We broke are meal and during it, we were informed that another 600 men had arrived at the castle, the host grew, and would soon be ready for deployment.
We thanked the servant for the news, and prepared ourselves to go and inspect the army, the first host I would ever command, and the first host either of us would ever fight alongside with.