Chapter 239: The Change of Bolton Lands
Bolton Lands
POV of Domeric Bolton
Domeric sat in the carriage and looked outside at his domain. Twenty horse riders surrounded the carriage, and Varko and Raksa led this guard regiment.
He had wanted to lead the guard regiment himself, but when he came out of Dreadfort on his horse, his well-wishers and fans swarmed him, and it took a few hours to get everyone to move aside so that he and his small entourage could continue their journey to Winterfell.
After that single incident, Varko had told him to enter a carriage and not show his face around so that they wouldn't be accosted by a mob once again.
He wanted to tell Varko that he would be perfectly alright, but didn't for two reasons.
First, Varko wouldn't have listened, and second, he also didn't like being accosted by a fanatic mob or being delayed by them.
So here he was now, hiding inside a luxurious carriage, enjoying the benefits of a proper road and noticing the prosperity of his domain after a long time.
He looked at the farmer using two buffaloes and employed a steel plough to till his land, while the water from the artificial canals filled his field.
He turned to Ygritte, who was watching the same thing with fascination, and spoke, "Do you know. When I first arrived in this world, these farmers used wooden tools to work their fields. They had no buffalo to lighten their loads, no proper clothing, and no proper knowledge. The soil's quality had worsened due to overuse, and they had to fetch water from the river to water their fields. Even after all of that, they could only make use of one-fourth of the field that they do now."
Ygritte nodded and turned to him. "Are the farmers of your world as prosperous as these ones?"
He smiled and shook his head. "No. They're far more prosperous. They have things called farming machines that they use to work over a large amount of land. Each farmer back there is easily ten times as prosperous as the richest farmer in my land."
"Then couldn't you give these machines to these farmers as well?" she asked.
"No." He shook his head, "I do not know how to create those machines. For now, those things are beyond me."
Ygritte nodded and crossed the carriage and came to sit on his lap. He put his arm around her waist, and they both looked out the window at the growing villages around the roads with interest.
"There were only about 400,000-500,000 people in my lands when I first took over the mantle of the Lord of these lands a decade ago." He said as his gaze went over the tree under which a teacher was teaching the younger children. Some of them were listening attentively, while most others looked bored out of their minds.
He chuckled as the sight reminded him of his own time in Hogwarts and how he and Ron didn't really like studying all that much. It seems like humans don't change so much, even in other worlds.
He was suddenly overcome with nostalgia and wondered what Hermione would be doing at that moment. She and Ron didn't get along well because of their many differences, but they stayed together for the sake of their children.
Then he thought about the Hermione that Lady Death had sent into this world. Had she lived a similar life to the Hermione he knew, or had their lives been completely different?
He wondered how his own life would have turned out if Ginny had not decided to betray him.
His hands clenched at the thought of that woman, and he shook his head, not wanting to ruin his mood.
"What is it?" Ygritte asked, and he gave her a wry smile. "Just… some bad memories."
Ygritte didn't ask, and he was thankful for that.
Domeric, trying to distract himself, began to think about Luna and Hermione, whom Lady Death had sent to this world. Hermione hadn't arrived yet, but Luna was already in this world, and most likely somewhere in Westeros.
It wasn't that Domeric wasn't thinking about Luna or wasn't looking for her at all. On the contrary, he was worried about her and wanted to find her as soon as possible.
Like him, Luna had entered the Veil before coming into this world, meaning she came into this world with a wounded soul. And Domeric remembered all too well what a wounded soul did to him.
But he didn't think he could find her by wandering around Westeros. So, he was trying to gather as much information as possible so he could start somewhere.
She was around his age, female, had survived a potentially fatal accident, and was most likely the child of a lord or noble.
Based on this information, Domeric was trying to compile a list of potential targets. He would then visit them whenever possible and attempt to contact them appropriately.
Perhaps if it weren't for his responsibilities as a lord to his own lands and the threat of the White Walkers on the horizon, he could have traveled to Westeros searching for her, but alas, that wasn't possible.
They remained silent for a while before Ygritte finally commented, "You know, these horse carriages are not that bad."
He chuckled and kissed her cheeks before looking out once again.
This time, they were going through a hastily set-up market with merchants who were most likely working under Celly, his CEO.
The shops were selling clothes, rice wine, whiskey, steel utensils, cattle, and toys. He noticed a few figurines that resembled him, as well as some that even resembled Varko, Raksa, Ygritte, and his aunt.
Huh… he didn't know that such things existed in his realm. He really should take his nose out of his books and take some time to travel through his domain and talk with his people.
They traveled at a leisurely pace for the next few days, during which he would take out his books and start reading alongside Ygritte, who had nothing better to do either.
Then they finally reached the White Knife River, which signaled the end of his territory and the start of Stark's.
He left his carriage after that, along with Ygritte, and they both rode their horses for the rest of the way to Winterfell.
A few days later, they finally arrived in front of the ancient castle.
---------------
Author's Note: You folks can also read up to +60 chapters on my P@treon Page as an early access privilege.
You can also read "+3 Free Chapter" and see some pictures as aFree Member.
www.patreon.com/vanguard_v
P@treon Page Name: V For Vanguard
Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.240: Winterfell After a Long Time (Canon Starts)
Ch.241: Lord Stark's Apology
Ch.242: We Call These Consequences