288 AC

After the talks with Lord Florent had finished there were some tearful goodbyes said between the mothers and children, Ryam had said his goodbyes to both Axell and Rychard as they left soon after the day of the feast. Ryam was lucky in that regard, he was not to leave until Ser Edmure had arrived and from there Ryam would travel back with his knight until they reached Riverrun.

Ryam no longer had any free time as all of it was spent being drilled from mediocrity in the yard and the rest spent reinforcing what he already knew about farming and harvesting from Maester Rennan.

Long hours were spent on the importance of crop rotations and what crops benefited others and how wasteful it was fallowing the field. Unusual for a non Reachborn education was also a way of preparing Turnips and Clover as to stretch the barley and wheat it grew alongside as to prevent starvation in the long winters.

Days quickly turned to weeks as Ryam slowly became more and more exhausted, He now was nearing the stage where two in ten bouts with Alekyne resulted in his victory which whilst it did not sound like much it was better than being beaten every time his sword was lifted. Ryam's mind was so full of diagrams of seed drills and breeding charts that he had much forgotten the histories and ravenry he had much appreciated learning about in his youth.

It was said multiple times in meetings with Lord Alester, where the great man tested the young Florent that truly he had been lucky to receive such a boon as squiring, and it had cost a large sum of promises and favors, so Ryam was to go to the Riverlands and become respected, show Lord Tully how well the Florents could be as an ally and truly if he needed to put his life on the line to protect any Riverlord he was to so with haste.

After two more weeks of such specific lessons, he was then to mock squire for his own father Erron as to give him some experience of carrying a sword with him wherever he went and serving as his cupbearer. To be a squire was to be martially inclined and to feel at home with weaponry. Ryam scarcely picked up a sword outside the of when told to by Master at Arms Kirk, so it felt weird now always having a blade on his side and frequently wearing mail or gambeson.

It was not a week into serving as his father's cupbearer when he found out that his parents were to leave in a few days for Dragonstone, Selyse felt awfully lonely, and Lord Stannis permitted some of her family to come visit for a while. Ryam had only briefly encountered Lord Stannis during the wedding between the two, not more than a year passed. Lord Stannis was much similar to Lord Florent but with less of a penchant for scheming, Other Lords could have seen this action as a way to get further in with the Florents but Stannis was not the man for such backhanded talk and the Fact Selyse had yet to bear a child led to most obvious reason such a request was made. Lord Stannis wanted her to Like him

Lord Florent insisted my father would go to Dragonstone with the best twenty galleys that Brightwater port could muster and have them added to the fleet at Dragonstone, whereas Stannis wouldn't use this familial connection to scheme Lord Alester grabbed it with both hands and so Ryam's Mother and Father would both set sail to Dragonstone.

As Ryam watched the ships slowly disappear into the horizon he realized that he was the last of his immediate family in Brightwater keep and it would likely never host all of them together again, A single tear started to form in boy's eyes but he was quick to rub it away as to not appear weak Infront of the other two Florents present, Alekyne and Alester. If Alekyne saw it, he would hear about it until he left and even then, he worried Edmure would carry the tale.

Gods that was another thing that Ryam worried about, whatever about not living up to the expectations of his house what if Edmure was not a good man? Surely his mother would have warned him if his good uncle had not been raised well but still the idea of being servant to someone cruel atleast until Ryam hit maturity weighed on him heavily.

Ryam found that sleep did not want to come to him that night, as he tossed and turned, he felt selfish. Other young lordlings would kill to squire for an heir to a lord paramountcy and here he was squandering that boon which Lord Florent kept going on and on how it had costed them great sums, truly Ryam thought he didn't specify how much it actually was
would make Ryam feel worse but then again Ryam didn't ask for this, He felt that surely Imry's Eldest Alabaster would have made a better envoy for and yet Lord Florent insisted it was to be him who squired.

The Relationship Lord Alester had with Ryam had become strained over this topic. Ryam had insisted that he could not bear the responsibility The Next Morning.

"Then Leave" Lord Florent spoke simply

"You have been given a task by the Lord of your house, If you feel I was wrong to do so or feel yourself inadequate then Leave"

"See how well you do till the fields yourself rather than learning how to instruct those who plow"

Ryam realized he had no way out of this. "My Apologies My Lord, I only feared I was not worthy of such a gift and only wanted to say I would have thought there would be more deserving of it amongst us but If it what you say then it shall be" Ryam hung his head in shame.

"Yes Lad there are those more worthy of squiring to Lord Edmure, but he requested you"

Ryam's mouth shook open as he was then led out of his Lord's chambers.