Afternoon.
Arthur stood on the docks, watching the three ships raise their sails and glide out of the harbor one by one, disappearing into the vast expanse of the Summer Sea.
"Pack your things. Let's go," Arthur said to Wick and Vic, who were still gazing reluctantly after their brother.
"They will be back in less than two turns of the moon."
Wick and Vic withdrew their gaze and nodded. "Yes, My Lord."
Compared to the small group of six that had arrived, the party leaving Starfall Port with Arthur now numbered over a hundred. They had also hired eight wagons to carry their goods.
In addition to the smiths, craftsmen, apprentices, and swordsmen brought from Braavos, the group now included the strays "Ledger" Pate had taken in: several dirty, malnourished children, a few peasant families, and five or six Dornish sellswords with blades at their hips.
"Cousin, they... they look so thin. And dirty," Edric said, riding his pony beside Arthur, who was mounted on Shadow.
"I saw a boy there. He was missing two fingers on his left hand."
"Maester Oswell taught me that under the laws of Westeros, thieves who are caught often lose a finger."
Edric's eyes betrayed his unease. "He... he told me to stay away from such... bad people."
"Maester Oswell speaks the truth," Arthur glanced at the children as he spoke, his tone suddenly shifting.
"But sometimes, people have no choice. Losing two fingers is better than losing your life."
Edric didn't understand the meaning behind Arthur's words. "Cousin, if you know this, why do you hire such bad people?"
"Good and bad are not defined by others, but judged by your own eyes." Arthur fulfilled his duty to teach his page diligently.
"House Stark follows an ancient tradition: The man who passes the sentence should swing the sword. When you take a man's life, you must look into his eyes and hear his final words."
"If you cannot bear to do that, then perhaps the man does not deserve to die."
Finally, Arthur gave his judgment: "In my eyes, they are just a group of pitiful people who were starving. And that boy missing fingers is..."
Edric didn't catch the rest of Arthur's sentence, but he nodded as if he understood. He looked at the boys pushing the heavy wagons with a newfound pity.
Beneath the walls of Starfall, the hundred-man group split into two. Pate led the majority toward the rented manor in the hills downstream of the Torrentine.
Arthur parted ways with them at the stone arch bridge east of the castle.
To Arthur's surprise, Edric insisted on going over to them. He actively offered the raisins he had bought earlier to the boy with the missing fingers.
Edric chatted with the boy for a long time, showing none of his usual shyness or fear of strangers.
As they rode back into the castle, Edric excitedly announced:
"I have a friend!"
"He says his name is 'Eight-Finger' Jerry. His friends all call him that."
"He gave me this." Edric proudly showed off a small wooden doll holding a sword and shield.
"Jerry said he wanted to be a great knight like Ser Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning. But he said with two missing fingers, it's impossible in this life. So he entrusted his dream to me."
Edric held the doll as if it were a real sword and declared solemnly, "Cousin, I will become a great knight one day!"
Seeing Edric so serious and grave for the first time, Arthur couldn't resist pinching his chubby, round face.
"Before you become a great knight, you must first learn to be a good page."
---
At dinner that evening, a determined Edric specifically invited the Master-at-Arms, Ser Clegg, to join them. He announced his ambition to become a great knight to the table.
Except for Arthur, everyone was surprised by Edric's declaration and the shift in his personality.
"Ned, hearing you say that makes me truly happy." Aunt Allyria wiped away tears of joy and kissed Edric on the cheek.
"Child, that is a noble ambition." Maester Oswell affirmed his goal and offered loyal counsel. "But everything must be taken one step at a time. You must have perseverance."
Ser Clegg struck while the iron was hot, regaling Edric with tales of legendary knights from the Seven Kingdoms.
Stories of Symeon Star-Eyes, John the Oak, Florian the Fool, and other heroes poured from his mouth like beans from a sack.
Caught up in the excitement—and perhaps the wine—the old Master-at-Arms stood up to act out the scenes.
His slightly clumsy movements, distorted by drink, made Allyria and Edric laugh heartily.
Especially when he mimed Serwyn of the Mirror Shield slaying a dragon and accidentally slipped, causing even the usually composed Maester Oswell to spray a mouthful of egg across the table.
Dinner at the main keep of Starfall ended amidst rare laughter and noise.
---
Back in his room, Arthur organized and analyzed all the information he had gathered over the past seven days, along with reports from Pate and the others.
First, the identified problems.
Starfall faced several obvious and thorny issues:
Raids by mountain clans or wildlings from the Red Mountains; merchant caravans being robbed by bandits; and petty lords encroaching on the lands of weaker neighbors.
To Arthur, these three problems were actually one: The Lord was young and weak, and the actual ruler, Maester Oswell, was too old.
This meant Starfall could not effectively control its vassals, especially the ambitious ones.
Although Edric was beginning to develop the character of a qualified Lord under Arthur's guidance, a six-year-old boy could not become a commanding ruler overnight.
Arthur faced two personal problems:
One was securing suitable land to establish the smithy district and the orchard/manor.
The other was fulfilling the remaining three of Maester Oswell's five conditions.
The remaining conditions were:
Knighthood: Maester Oswell required him to become a knight, dubbed by the most prestigious and respected knight in Dorne.
Contribution: Since he did not bear the name Dayne, he had to make a contribution recognized by everyone in Starfall as extraordinary.
Dawn: To gain the acknowledgement of Dawn—that is, to draw the sword from the Palestone Sword Tower.
Actually, for Arthur, gaining Dawn's acknowledgement might already be complete. Every time he used [Creation ex Nihilo] to dream, he could enter the sword in his sleep.
After summarizing this, Arthur had a clear and definite goal for the current stage.
Two words: Bandit Suppression!
By hunting down bandits, he would accumulate merit, re-establish Starfall's authority, and earn the recognition of the people.
By destroying bandit strongholds, he would expand the territory effectively controlled by Starfall, allowing Pate and Jal Bhar to better locate—or build upon the ruins of the bandit camps—the smithy district and orchards.
As for who the bandits were, which group to hit first, and how to do it—these required careful consideration and more intelligence gathering.
As for where the money for this campaign would come from?
The rich get their money back, the smallfolk split the rest three-to-seven? Arthur hadn't thought about that.
After all, if he wanted to make money, securing land for orchards and smithies by clearing out bandits was better than anything else.