Chapter 4
THUD, THUD, THUD.
It was the relentless pounding on his front door that woke Jon up.
"Nock it off you brute, before you break my door of its hinges." Jon yelled out putting a small amount of power in his voice in order for it to reach the front of his home. Rising from his bed he dressed for the day before making his way to the front door.
"Did you really have to pound on my door that loud?" Jon said as he threw open the door revealing the twins standing on his porch Farkas with his fist raised ready to strike the door again.
"You sleep on the other side of the house had to make sure you heard it." Farkas replied as he brushed past Jon as he entered the house with Vilkas following his twin inside.
"Have you eaten yet?" Jon asks as he closes the door.
"Ai" Vikas responded.
"Great I haven't so before you get your new armor, I'm going to eat something." Jon replied a little cheekily hoping to make the two men squirm for a bit before revealing the armor he had planned on gifting them on their nameday.
"You are evil sometimes, you know that." Farkas commented from one of the chairs in the kitchen area.
"I've been told that." Jon replied as he pulled an apple from a bowl on his counter and placed it on a plate. "When we get to Westeros don't talk about magic until I say it's acceptable." Jon commented as he continued grabbing food for his meal.
"Why?" Vilkas questioned slightly confused.
"Because magic is not viewed kindly by those who follow the Seven." Sensing their confusion, he continued "The Seven is the dominant religion of Westeros, however a vast majority of the North follow the Old Gods who are a lot more lenient of magic mostly because they have no opinion on it as far as I'm aware. However, we must be cautious so no talks of the Thum or any other magic I'm letting you know this as I have another gift for the two of you on top of the armor." Jon finished as he sat down at the table with his plate.
"What else do we need to know about your homeland?" Vilkas asked intrigued by Jons order.
Putting down his bread Jon replied "there is much I need to tell all of you firstly you will need to remember that despite rising high here before I left I was nothing more than the Bastard of Winterfell a stain on my Lord Fathers cloak, there will be some who will still think of me as such, until we prove ourselves to the Lords that are backing my brother they will not trust us be prepared for a frosty reception. My brother should be happy to see me, others won't be so happy."
"Well shit, how do plan to deal with that?" Farkas piped up from behind the apple he was now eating.
"We shall prove our worth on the sparing yard and the battlefield and when the time is right, we shall show our true power and crush the enemies of my family securing their position for anther thousand years and avenge the death of my lord Father."
"I thought you said he was captured not killed?" Vilkas commented.
"Perrins information implied that he might be executed for treason even if I left now, I would not make it time to save him." Jon ground out clenching his fist "If he is still alive when we land on wetrosi soil I will do all in my power to save him however if we arrive to late, I shall rip apart his killers."
"And we shall stand by your side through it all." Farkas said as he reached across the table to slap Jon on the shoulder.
"Thank you." Jon said as he continued to eat his meal.
"All right I've made you two wait long enough follow me." Jon told the silent room as he finished his meal and stood from the table.
"Finally." Farkas exclaimed as he stood "I thought you were planning on eating for the rest of the day." He joked.
Entering the armory Jon moved to a chest towards the middle of the room. "I had planned to give you two these for your name day, but plans have changed, and I want you to have them now." Jon explained as he opened the chest revealing two sets of black armor each decorated with engravings of snarling wolves on the breast plates with the sigil of the companions inlaid in gold on the shoulder pauldrons.
"By the eight is that, Ebony?" Vilkas exclaimed sounding very surprised at the gift that he and his brother were to receive.
"Yes, it is." Jon replied as he moved aside to let the brothers get closer to the chest.
"This had to cost you a fortune. I can't accept this." Farkas said.
"I agree" Vilkas said as well.
"I own an Ebony mine as well as having part ownership in two others this was not even a days' worth of ore, it cost me practically nothing the most expensive part was having it made and Eorlund made it for me, so it was quite cheap." Jon said, dismissing their reluctance to accept the armor.
"This is still too nice of a gift, we can't accept." Vilkas countered.
"You can and you will. I will not have my captains dressed in non-matching armor even if it is Skyforged steel." Jon said as he moved towards a weapons case along one of the walls.
"Captains. Captains of what?" the twins asked in unison.
"My forces you will be the captains alongside Artan." Jon replied to their question. "You remember Artan the second in command of the Dragons Cohort, He has a set of Ebony armor as well it was a gift I gave him when he made captain however his has the cohorts sigil on one shoulder and the empires on the other, He actually had a very similar reaction to you two now accept the damn gift and get over here I have more for you."
"You will not relent, will you?" Vilkas asked.
"You know I won't, now get over here." Jon said chuckling slightly.
"What is it now, you want to give us a priceless artifact or something?" Farkas joked as the two made their way to Jon.
"In a way one could view what I'm about to give you as priceless however they are no use to me collecting dust in here when they could be used in the coming conflict." Jon replied to the comment pulling out a set of matching Stahlrim great swords from the display case. "I found them in a tomb on Solstheim held in the hands of twin draugr that tried to kill me so it only seems fitting that you two should have them. And I don't want any arguments I have no use for them and all they do is collect dust so take them please."
"What is wrong with you?" Vilkas asked.
"What do you mean I have dozens of weapons that I'll never need I have Stormblade, Icestorm, Frost and Dragons' Oath." Jon replied confused.
"No one gives away Ebony armor and Stahlrim weapons for free." Farkas responded.
"I do. You are my shield brothers I have more than enough gold to do this you agreed to go to war with me in a land far from here and a fight that you have no connection to this is me showing my gratitude for that."
"We do have a connection you. You are our shield brother, as we said we would have joined you in your last war if Kodlak hadn't talked us out of it." Farkas countered Jons point.
"I greatly appreciate it now take the gods dammed armor and swords. The armor has already been made and the swords have no one to wield them." Jon said starting to get annoyed at the twins.
"Fine we'll take them." Vilkas said relenting to Jon.
"Finally." Jon sighed in relief at them, finally relenting. "Now I have a meeting with Eorlund I need to get too."
"What are you having him make now?" Farkas asked.
"A sword for my brother and some daggers for others I see fit to gift them to Skyforged steel will be significantly nicer than any you will find in Westeros." Jon replied as he made his way towards the door. "You can just take the chest it would probably be easier than lugging the armor and the swords out by hand."
"Thanks. we'll drop the chest off later." Vilkas replied.
"Just stick it in my rooms in Jorrvasker or use it for the equipment you plan on bringing with you to Westeros." Jon told the two from the doorway of the armory.
"Ai will do" Vilkas said in response.
As the twins left with their new arms and armor Jon moved back to his room grabbing his sword from where it was resting next to his bed, grabbing the dagger from under his pillows re sheathing it on his sword belt he made his way out of the house and made his way towards the Skyforge. As he approached the legendary forge the sound of hammering started to cut through the din of the bustling city.
"Eorlund." Jon said attempting to get the attention of the famed smith.
"Eorlund!" Jon yelled, cutting through the noise of the forge.
"Jon, what are you doing here lad?" Eorlund questioned.
"I would like a sword and a few daggers all Skyforge steel." Jon answered, getting right to the point.
"What do you need a sword for? Something happen to Stormblade?" Eorlund questioned his concern for the sword he helped Jon make showing.
"Stormblade is fine. Its for my brother your steel will be a significant upgrade to whatever he's using now unless he has Ice then I have no idea if Skyforged steel is better than Valarian steel." Jon said putting the smith at ease.
"You plan on going back to Westeros then." He said sounding disappointed at the thought of Jon leaving.
"I'll be back Skyrim is my home I've spilled to much blood in her defense to just leave her." Jon responded putting the revered smith at ease.
"Good it would be terrible to lose you." slapping his hands together. "Now whilst you are over there why don't you test my steel against that Valarian steel you've mentioned." Eorlund said with a bit of excitement at a potential challenge for his steel.
"I will see what I can do, now what do you have already made time is not something I have an abundance of right now." Jon replied, getting back to the reason he came to the legendary smith.
"I just finished a longsword it's a beauty put a sapphire in the pommel. Its as deadly as it is beautiful." Eorlund responded moving towards a chest that he kept his completed projects in. "the daggers are the easy part of your order I have dozens of them as you well know the Companions have a bad habit of losing them." He finished giving Jon a look as Jon had lost his fair share of daggers over the years.
"Well sometimes you need to hit something outside the range of your sword." Jon replied a little sheepishly. "But I've gotten better about hitting what I'm aiming at and recovering my daggers."
"I'm aware I'll throw in a few extra since you won't be able to just stop by and get more." Eorlund said as he pulled out the aforementioned items.
"Thanks, Eorlund." Jon said as he took the sword and daggers from the man. "How much do I owe you?"
"750 gold." Eorlund responded.
"Ai, I'll get that to you here's fifty I'll get the rest to you tomorrow." Jon Replied pulling his coin purse of his belt and handing it to Eorlund.
"If that's all I have an order for one of the Companions that I need to get back too." Eorlund commented as he poured the gold into a larger bag that he then placed into the chest, he pulled the sword and daggers out of before handing back the empty pouch.
Jon made his way back to his house with his arms full of weapons and an empty coin purse. stopping only to store the weapons and grab more gold from the safe in his house he made his way to Arcadias Cauldron.
Entering the shop, the pungent aroma of ingredients and simmering potions hit his nose.
"Ahh Jon how nice to see you again do need more potions?" Arcadia the proprietor of the alchemy shop greeted as he entered.
"Yes I'm however going to need a quadruple batch if by the end of the week." Jon said as he moved towards the counter.
"What ever would you need that much for." Arcadia asked, surprised at the size of his order as he typically purchased a two months' supply at a time.
"I'm embarking on a long journey and wished to be prepared. For anything that may arise." Jon replied to the question. "So will you be able to do it."
"Yes, I should be able to it will cost a bit extra, but it can be done." Arcadia answered.
"Talk to Lydia she will organize payment." Jon said as he made his way towards the exit of the shop.
"I'll get them to you by Fredas." Arcadia called out as he made his way out the door.
As he left the shop, he made his way towards Breezehome, the house he had purchased for his Housecarl. Approaching the front door, he knocked on the door.
"I'm coming give me a moment." A female voice called out from behind the door.
"Jon! I had heard you were back what do you need?" Lydia asked as she opened the door.
"A few things actually we need to talk." Jon told his Housecarl as he entered the home.
"Please sit." Lydia said gesturing towards 2 chairs by the fire.
"I need you to do two things for me by Fredas first Eorlund needs 700 gold and I need you to coordinate with Arcadia the payment and movement for the potions I've ordered to stables on Sundas." Jon started "Now for the second reason I'm here I'm going back to Westeros for some time, so I'll need you to look over my affaires whilst I'm away." He finished.
"Why are you going back?" Lydia questioned as she pulled out a bottle of mead and two flagons and poured them both a glass.
After explaining the situation that was happening back in his homeland and what he planned to do Lydia was near speechless.
"I shall accompany you." She stated after his explanation.
"No I need you here I need someone to keep every thing here running. I trust you if I need you I will send for you so be prepared for a call but don't expect one but I will need you to send supplies after I arrive in Westeros." Jon told her.
"I am sworn to protect you." Lydia retorted.
"And you will be the North is poor I am not I want you to use the trading fleet to keep us feed that will be more helpful than another sword." He countered her argument.
"Fine I shall do as you command my Thane." She replied annoyed at him as she only ever referred to him by his title when she was annoyed at him.
"Thank you" Jon said as he stood. "I'm going to head home if you could organize three carts to Windhelm on Sundas that would also be great."
"it will be done." Lydia replied as she stood.
"Thank you." Jon said as he made his way towards the door.
Making his way back home he thought on what else he had to do before he left for Windhelm.