Chapter 11
Northern military camp outside King's Landing, 281 A.C., the next morning…
"I'd much rather this meeting happened last night then this morning" I hear my lord-uncle Rogar Glover mutter softly as I stand with him and my other lord-uncle, Osric Fisher.
"Aye, but Lord Stark and the King wanted to host a dinner with the Manderlys and other unaligned houses." My uncle Osric mutters in response.
"Probably to get an untainted opinion from Lord Manderly and Lord Cerwyn before meeting with us." I softly put in my two cents and my uncles nod in agreement.
Speaking of the devils, I hear the tent flap open to see the fat Lord Manderly lead the slightly hungover neutral lords in with Lord Cerwyn being the most hungover. The large, ginger haired and bearded Lord of Castle Cerwyn had a grimaced expression from his hangover that morphed into a smug grin when his eyes met mine and Lord Karstark's. His back straightens and he struts like a peacock to the middle area where the neutral lords stood between Karstark and I's alliances. Greetings and pleasantries are exchanged with the neutral houses giving a cordial but cool tone to both sides.
Then the tent flaps open again and Lord Stark, Lord Dustin, and Lord Reed walk in with purpose. Lord Stark heads to a small, wooden platform while Lords Dustin and Reed stood with the neutral lords. Ned stood on the platform that put him about two feet above our heads as he gazed at us with his trademark Stark iciness aimed at his cadet branches before easing as he speaks.
"My Lords. When I called the banners of the North, the silver prince had abducted my sister, and the mad king had murdered my father and brother in a twisted mockery of a trial before calling for my execution. You answered and after nearly a year of war, we stand here triumphantly with the Targaryens overthrown, my father and brother avenged, my sister safe, and the New Gift returned!" We nod and cheer a bit before he continues. "When I journeyed to rescue my sister, I was aided by seven great Northern warriors: Howland Reed, Lord Willam Dustin, Ethan Glover, Martyn Cassel, Theo Wull, Ser Mark Ryswell, and Walton Seastark against three Kingsguard!" He said as Lord Dustin and the Lord of each of the warriors including my uncle Rogar and myself gave cheers.
"Ethan Glover, Martyn Cassel, Theo Wull, Ser Mar Ryswell and Walton Seastark died heroically in battle but with great regret we could not bring their bones back, we buried them with dignity in marked graves before having to ride with all haste toward Nightsong due to my sister's condition." A storm of mutters filled the tent as I silently looked at the reaction as I expected this though knew Wyman wasn't going to be happy. I hear my uncle Robar mutter unhappily and see the lords' faces and see a mix of understanding and anger.
"Aye. My fellow lords, I was there and Lord Stark speaks the truth. But they have not been forgotten have they Lord Stark…" Lord Dustin suddenly stands out from the neutral faction to address the tent and looks to Ned as his sentence trails off.
"Indeed, they have not Lord Dustin. My sister and I have spoken with Prince Doran and Prince Oberyn and they have agreed to collect the bones of the slain and send them on a ship to White Harbor before being taken to Winterfell where they will wait for us to arrive." The Warden of the North announced to more positive muttering as the promise of the bones of their kin seemed to mollify them.
"Which is why it disappoints me to see the once united, triumphant Northern lords, now torn apart by a petty feud that put it, what were the words? Two punches away from a civil war!" His voice becomes cold and gives Karstark an icy look before throwing it at me when quotes me from the meeting. I suppress a facepalm as it seems everyone has heard that little quip and I feel the eyes of everyone in the room as I realize Lord Stark was waiting for an answer from me.
"It… was just a small jape, things were that bad-" I say nervously before being cut off. "Your small jape was heard by everyone in the Red Keep and had his grace sending me a raven in Byrchkeep, urging me to return with all haste to, in his words, deal with the unfolding civil war on his doorstep!" Ned snarls at me practically growling at the last part as I hear the Northern lords whisper amongst themselves. "This current disaster many have been started by the Harclays and Liddles, and the Wulls and First Flints may have failed to solve it when they should have, but don't think I didn't notice that the reason things spiraled out of control was because my cadet branches were having a childish feud and pressuring houses to pick a side!" He says icily as his eyes shift to the mentioned hill clans before landing on Karstark. He turns his head to address the tent again.
"Will House Liddle and House Harclay step forward!" Lord Stark commanded as Lord Torren Liddle and Lord Gerrick Harclay stepped forth each with a single man from their clan what were the only men in the room besides the wandering crow that weren't Northern lords and Ned looks at the Liddle man.
"Ondrew Liddle, nephew of Lord Torren Liddle, you stand accused of the murder of Ronnel Harclay, heir of Lord Gerrick Harclay. How do you plead?" Lord Stark asked the Liddle man, who looked defeated. "I…killed him, Lord Stark." He said and hung his head in shame.
"Then I offer you two choices, take the black and swear the oaths of the Night's Watch or execution." Ned responded in a grim voice. The man hesitates but agrees to join the Night's Watch. "Mallador Harclay, you stand accused of cheating at a game of dice, and beginning a brawl that left two heirs dead. How do you plead?" Turning his head and addressing the Harclay man, who protested immediately. "I did not cheat, Lord Stark!"
"The dice in your possession used in the game has been found by Lord Liddle, Lord Harclay, Lord Wull, Lord First Flint, Lord Manderly and myself to be loaded die and even if you didn't cheat, multiple witnesses say you threw the first punch! So, I offer you the same choice, take the black or execution." The Warden of the North counters fiercely as the Harclay man's confidence seemed to whither with each lord named that investigated his loaded die, before lowering his head and taking the black with a defeated sigh.
With that done, Lord Stark called for Lord Wull and Lord First Flint and I see Lord Hugo Big Bucket Wull and my namesake, due to being good friends with my father when they fostered together in Deepwood Motte and Lord Torghen First Flint step forth with nervous looks on their faces. Big Bucket Wull and Torghen First Flint ironically looked very similar, same brown colored eyes, hair and beard, same hieight but the difference was Lord Wull's Big Bucket nickname came from his large gut that rivaled Lord Manderly's.
"Lord Wull and Lord First Flint, you are not the sworn lords of House Harclay and House Liddle as all hill clans are sworn to House Stark, but your two houses have the most influence and prestige amongst the clans. They turned to you to aid them in settling their dispute and you failed them by fighting amongst yourselves. Had it ended there with you waiting for me to settle the dispute, you both would have received no punishment. But it didn't end there." Ned's voice started at an even tone and I saw both hill clan lords flinch when his voiced turned cold with his next words.
"Make no mistake, you had a right to call for aid from other houses as the Harclays and Liddles called to you for aid, but you needlessly escalated the dispute by calling in too many houses. One or two more houses each would have suffice, not an entire alliance each. Therefore, you will not be punished for failing to solving the dispute or for brawling but you will face punishment for the escalation. House Wull and House First Flint will pay two hundred gold stags to be used in the restoration of Queenscrown." Lord Stark proclaimed and the tent was a storm of whispers as some lords thought it was too harsh while others thought it wasn't harsh enough.
I thought about how much of a punishment two hundred gold was for the two houses. For me, it'd be like getting a shot from the doctor, a sharp prick and then done. For the average hill clan, the loss of two hundred gold would range from harsh to downright crippling but these weren't the average hill clan. House Wull and House First Flint were the two wealthiest clans and their fortunes put together nearly matched the rest of the clans combined, two hundred gold would sting and they'd probably have to tighten their belts for a year or two but it certainly wasn't crippling. The lords in question both looked like they sucked a lemon but seeing how their bodies subtly relaxed when hearing the punishment told me they were expecting a harsher one.
Then it was our turn but to my surprise, Lord Umber was called alongside Karstark and I. Lord Stark gave us a hard look before speaking. "Lord Karstark, Lord Seastark, I have already announced part of your punishment yesterday in regards to the restoration of the Queenscrown tower and village but the second part concerns the settlers." I was thinking What settlers? when my question was answered.
"The lords that attended dinner with myself have volunteered between themselves one thousand smallfolk and House Stark will match that number. Which brings me to your punishments. Lord Karstark, for your cousin starting this feud and your part in perpetuating it, your house shall also provide one thousand settlers to the New Gift, smallfolk farmers and laborers only, no skilled artisans will be among them." This was met by loud, fierce protests from Karstark while the lords whispered about this new development. It was one thing for houses to volunteer smallfolk settlers and for Lord Stark to provide settlers from his own lands, it was another for Lord Stark to force settlers even as punishment and it made me nervous about the second part of my punishment.
"Lord Umber!" Lord Stark called out as he ignored Karstark and the muttering lords. "Due to your part in escalating the feud, House Umber will also provide one thousand smallfolk settlers. HOWEVER…" Lord Stark's voice got louder and he held up his arm as Lord Umber looked like he was about to unleash a bellow of rage. "…House Umber historically had lands in the eastern third of the New Gift, bordering the extinct House Towers and House Amber lands that were taken by House Targaryen. Therefore, for your house's thousands of years of loyalty, I will see those lands returned to house Umber." The lords muttered fiercely between themselves where this was fair or not with mostly Karstark and Umber aligned lords thinking it was unfair while neutral or Seastark aligned houses tended to lean towards it being fair. Lord Umber, for his part, didn't bellow in rage or protest but continued giving Lord Stark a hard look before begrudgingly nodding his head with gritted teeth, barely content with the sugar going down with his bitter medicine.
"Lord Seastark, for your part in the feud, you will provide no settlers…" I relaxed hearing I wasn't going to have to give up a portion of my labor force or levies. "…but you will pay for the settling of the four thousand settlers in and around Queenscrown for the first five years." Only to immediately wince from the added cost of paying for food and housing. Four thousand wasn't a huge number to pay for by any means, but the costs on top of the restoration was going to hit my treasury.
The only solace I had was the recent city charter for Wolfsport meant I paid half taxes on the city to both the Crown and Winterfell, though that was only for Wolfsport and I still paid full taxes for the rest of Sea Dragon Point. The fact that Wolfsport was by far the largest and richest settlement and my house's biggest moneymaker meant that despite paying half taxes for only Wolfsport, I'll be paying around one-third less taxes overall. Granted, that money being saved from paying less taxes in the future was now going to fund the settlement of the New Gift but at least that meant it wasn't going to hit my bottom line too hard and I wasn't being forced to give up part of my manpower.
"Lord Karstark and Lord Umber will also apologize to Lord Seastark for their insults to his house and his betrothed and Lord Seastark will apologize for his insults." Lord Stark broke me out of my internal thoughts with his final proclamation to Karstark and Umber's loud protests of Lannister meddling that made me roll my eyes and Lord Stark to my surprise, brought up his Tully wife as a counter argument to me having a Southron betrothed. I personally didn't want to apologize to those arrogant asshats, especially since the Karstarks are the ones who started this whole damn thing. But if it meant ending this stupid farce, I'd grit my teeth and give a half-assed apology. However, I noticed there was a certain someone who wasn't getting an apology from those two and decided to correct that.
"On one condition." I stated and felt all eyes on me. "Lord Karstark and Lord Umber both owe my betrothed an apology for the grievous insults they flung at her for a feud she had nothing to do with." I start facing Lord Stark but shift to speaking to Lords Karstark and Umber.
"Like it or not, Lady Myrra is to be my wife and future Lady of Castle Warg and while you don't have to like her, you will show her the proper fucking respect a lady of the North is entitled to." I say to murmurs of support from my allied houses, nods of agreement from the neutral houses, and protests from the Karstark and Umber aligned houses.
"Agreed. Lord Umber and Lord Karstark will apologize to Lady Myrra by the time of the Royal Dual Wedding in two weeks' time or face further penalties but you will apologize to each other now in front of your fellow Northern lords." Lord Starks ends the protest with his words.
I nod at Lord Stark before turning to see Karstark and Umber's sour expressions, we looked at each other in mild contempt for a moment before our faces shifted to more neutral expressions. We gave our apologies but I'm pretty sure they didn't believe my apology because I certainly didn't believe theirs. I'm not sure Lord Stark believed either side but he deemed it enough.
"Good. Don't make me deal with this again." Our sworn lord growled at both of us before turning to the crowd.
"Two more announcement on the New Gift. First, the lands in the western third that once belonged to the northern hill clans such as House Norrey, House Knott, and others clans on the border, will be restored to their houses following the historical borders with the extinct House Towers and House Frost." He said to enthusiastic cheers from the Norreys, the Knotts, and five other clan lords.
"Second, as acting Regent of Queenscrown I hereby appoint Ser Wylis to castellan of Queenscrown to oversee the settlers, Lord Karstark's raw materials and Lord Seastark's payments until the end of the regency." Lords whispered again while Lord Manderly gave a big smile. "Lord Stark, you honor me and my son." Lord Stark nodded and began finishing up.
"One final announcement, my brother Benjen Stark has been betrothed to Lady Jonelle Cerwyn and they will marry in two years, where he will be given the lordship of Moat Cailin, not to found any new cadet branches, but to create an extension of House Stark." This created storm of whispers of a new Stark of Moat Cailin as Lord Cerwyn puffed up his chest and beamed with pride. Suddenly his swagger walking in made sense as he threw gloating looks at Karstark and I.
"I hereby declare this meeting adjourned." Lord Stark declared and we slowly made our way out of the massive tent. I made eye contact with Karstark and Umber at two different points but we simply settled for icy looks and ignored each other as we left. I chatted with my uncles for bit as we walked to our horses and they mentioned their sons were with my cousin today. I heard a voice call my name and I turn to Lord Willam Dustin on a brown Northern stallion.
"Lord Seastark, I was hoping to talk to you personally." I nod and bid my uncles farewell as they walked off. I mount my horse and follow Lord Dustin to the Gate of the Gods…
The Red Keep, An hour later…
I hear muffled talking behind the thick doors leading to the Seastark quarters and I open the door to find Wyman and my other cousins Galbert Glover and Owen Fisher as expected but two new additions surprised me. My betrothed, Myrra and blonde haired and bearded knight in his thirties that looked similar to Myrra. I knew him because she introduced him to me before as Ser Maynard Hill, bastard cousin to Lord Harrold Lannister of Lannisport and her Uncle Maynard. He was her sworn knight accompanying her to the North when we married so I wasn't surprised to see him with Myrra, but I was surprised to see them here.
"Hugo!" "Cousin!" "Lord Seastark!" I hear Myrra, my cousins and Ser Maynard greet me as I walk in and I greet them back.
"Myrra, Ser Maynard, didn't expect to see you two drinking black beer. How's the Wolfsport brew?" I ask out of curiosity since black beer was a Northern beverage that we had to bring down south.
"I've never liked ale, especially since it's a smallfolk drink, but this is surprisingly good. I still prefer wine though." Myrra said with a smile.
"I thought it… strange that Northern lords drank this black beer instead of wine but now that I've tasted it, I see why! It's better than any ale in Lannisport!" Ser Maynard took a sip and raised his tankard in praise.
"It's not that we don't drink wine, Wolfsport certainly has plenty, it's that the North can't grow grapes for winemaking so all wine is imported. Black beer came about thousands of years ago as a cheaper alternative for the hill clans and petty lords who couldn't afford to import wine but its spread over the centuries to the point that the Starks openly drink it." I explain to their nods of understanding.
"Cousin, I saved you a plate!" I sat at the head of the table, Wyman to my right with my cousins to his right and Myrra to my left next to her bastard uncle with a plate of eggs, sausage and bacon, though closer to the British/Canadian bacon from my world than the American kind and a small tankard of Wolfsport black beer. They seem to be almost half-way done with their plates as I dig in after a sip from my tankard and look to see the whole table looking at me in anticipation.
"So…what happened at the meeting?" My cousin Owen asks curiously.
"Can we even discuss it in front of your betrothed due to the silence embargo? Er, no offense Lady Myrra!" My other cousin Galbert responds nervously while glancing at Myrra, who frowns.
"This damn silence embargo of yours is driving me insane. Hugo, I will be Lady of Castle Warg, I think I'm entitled to knowing the details of my betrothed getting involved in any civil wars. Not knowing what's been going on with you Northerners has had me worried and my father concerned not to mention court. Half of court thought a war between your houses was about to start and were taking bets!" Myrra complained, letting me know exactly how she felt about being kept in the dark.
"Yes, you will. But not yet. You aren't Lady of Castle Warg until we're married." I chide softly as I cut a piece of sausage and eat it.
"Besides, as far as Lord Stark is concerned, the feud is over." I say when I done chewing and this got everyone's attention.
"And as far as we're concerned? What about Karstark?" Wyman asks evenly, remembering his brawl with Arthor Karstark.
"As far as House Seastark is concerned, the feud is also over. As for Karstark, if he wants to restart it, I'll happily knock him down a peg or two." I say, impressing onto Wyman not to continue the feud.
"Did you or Karstark get any more punishments?" Galbert asked to the whole table's curiosity.
I take a sip of black beer and give them a brief summary our punishments.
"…And Karstark and Umber will have to personally apologize to Myrra." I finish as I take a bite of bacon, making a note to myself to introduce real bacon to Westeros.
"Oh yes, I heard some of the things they've said…" Myrra smiled but her eyes and voice had a cold fury to them. "…lioness whore, Lannister cunt, harlot of the Westerlands, and blonde broodmare amongst others."
"And they'll apologize for all of them." I said with steel in my voice.
"Anything else happened?" Owen asks and I explained Ser Wylis' appointment and Benjen Stark being betrothed to Lord Cerwyn's daughter and his lordship of Moat Cailin.
"Didn't he reject betrothals from you and Karstark?" Galbert inquired and I saw Myrra perk up at that question and looked at me with a raised eyebrow.
"Aye. He rejected both of us and is strutting around like a peacock now he's got a Stark betrothal." I said with mild disappointment, I wasn't too broken up about not getting the betrothal for my younger brother Edric but I still needed to find a match for him, preferably from the North.
As I finished my tankard, I thought about my plans for the day and decided to make a small change. "Wyman, we're meeting with Lord Slate this afternoon to finalize the details of your betrothal to Lady Elsa Slate. Myrra, you're coming with us." I say to Myrra's shock and I smile. "You may not be Lady of Castle Warg yet, but that doesn't mean you can't start meeting all the Northern lords you're going to help me deal with. You've already met my lord uncles of House Glover and House Fisher but today you can meet Lord Slate of Blackpool and we can go from there."
Myrra smiled. "I'd like that