Chapter 31: The Wedding pt 1
Skagos, The North, 7th Moon of 278 AC
The city of Winterhold changed a lot in the last seven moons; the city had officially passed the mark of 100000 citizens; a few moons ago, there was a massive arrival of immigrants from the Eastern part of the north, most of them coming from the Boltonlands in search of a better life. Three moons after the Lord's children arrived, Durin, the shipwright, told Ragnar that he and the 100 shipwrights had finished training 1000 men as Ragnar demanded and that now they could begin to work on building new ships; Ragnar agreed and told them to build only warships for now. Ragnar told Durin to get 100 of his best shipwrights and build a three-mast massive ship, Durin told him it would take at least two years to get it done, but Ragnar said it wasn't a problem. This led to Skagos opening new trades agreements with Ibben and House Umber for timber; the trade agreement made House Umber extremely happy as it brought an additional income for their lands.
Another thing Ragnar did was help house Crolw to mine the iron on their lands. The Iron was to be stored and later on used to make armors and swords; Ragnar planned to get Marwin the mage to help him on making a Blasting furnace, which would make Steel production significantly cheaper. Ragnar would sell this steel to the mercenary companies in Essos and help House Crowl.
Ragnar was at the moment in the training grounds of Jorrvasrk, which he had summoned a few weeks past. He was observing his three foster sons battle each other with wooden swords and shields.
Benjen Stark was a prodigy in swordsmanship as he was in magic; Harwin Crowl had a decent talent but lacked the strength to back it up, Theon Stane was a strong young lad and a smart one as well; his skill and talent with the sword were lacking, but Ragnar thought that something havier would suit the boy better, a Battle-axe maybe.
" Benjen, for the last time, raise your fucking shield. Being good with a sword doesn't mean you can forget about your defenses. If you were fighting with someone a little better than Harwin would've lost three moves ago." Benjen nodded and continued to fight; the two Skagossi were trying hard to win against him, they were failing miserably.
" Harwin, what are you doing, boy? Are you attacking or defending? Look at your feet, boy! You are attacking Benjen with your swords, but your feet are in a defensive stance. If this is a strategy, you must constantly fight with a raised shield. If you fail to transition your upper body to a defensive posture, the shield will help you to deflect a fatal blow. " Harwin looked confused but then nodded; apparently it wasn't a strategy he was just afraid of Benjen's prowess, but he corrected his feet' position. They continued the fight; to the guards watching, they were legends in the making; no children of one and ten, like Benjen, or ten, like Harwin, could fight that way, Benjen and Harwin, who had been training under Ragnar for the past 4 moons, were extremely good for their ages. Theon, who only arrived a few weeks past, was slowly but surely catching up with them. The new rumor in Skagos was that anyone Ragnar trained would become a legendary warrior, as Benjen and Harwin could already beat boys of five and ten. This rumor spread so quickly that by the time the Lords arrived for the marriage, the whole north would be aware of it.
Unfortunately for the boys, Ragnar didn't share the guard's opinion; for him, they had potential but it was hidden under pounds and pounds of failure and flaws.
" Good, Benjen good work! But if I have to remind you to keep your shield up tomorrow, I will glue it to your head and make you swim on the Redwater for a whole hour. Understood?" Ragnar asked
" Aye, Archmage!" Benjen said as he nodded.
" Harwin… I don't know what is going on with your legs, but you need to make them work with the rest of your body. Tomorrow you do synchronization exercises, spin your hand to one side and your feet to the other, and stuff like that. No sword for you for a whole week; you can't die in battle because your feet didn't change from defending position to attacking." Ragnar said, Harwin looked sad about not being able to use the train with a sword for a whole week, but he nodded in the end.
" Theon, if you plan on using a sword you better take this plan, burn it and throw it away as soon as you can. You have no talent for the sword; I've been trying to show you this ever since you got here. It would help if you had a heavier weapon, your legs are smaller than your upper body, and you will be able to make powerful swings. I recommend you a battle-ax. You will see what I'm talking about in a few moons." Ragnar said and Theon just nodded stoically; Ragnar liked the young man
" Aye, my lord. I will ask father to send me battle ax." Theon said.
" You don't have to. I will get you one. Just as long as you understand that sword is not for you." Ragnar said
" Benjen, go back to the college and study self alteration for the rest of the day. I don't trust you will keep your shield up in a large-scale battle. You will learn to make your skin harder, so I don't have to go to your funeral before my sons go to mine… if I die, that is" Ragnar joked, and Benjen laughed.
"Aye." He said.
" Hardin and Theon, today you will follow Davos around, he is my best friend, and he is the one who talks to the smallfolk. You need to learn how to listen to your people's claims and manage those claims. Davos will help you with this. I hope I won't hear any complaints from him. If I do, boys, you will spend a moon in the mines training your arms strengths." Ragnar calmly said and both boys nodded.
" Now go. I have a few things to do." Ragnar said.
Ragnar went inside Jorrvaskr and found Dacey seated at the great table talking to her mother who had arrived a few moons ago to help with the wedding. Maege Mormont, the she-bear was a strong woman; she was proud that her oldest daughter found a husband like Ragnar, a strong yet intelligent man. There were other people in the Nordic hall, most of them were servants or lords of minor houses of the north that came for the wedding; there were twenty men of the Dragonguard guarding the hall and preventing any trouble from surfacing.
" My Lord!" The two guards at the entrance saluted!
"At ease," Ragnar said and walked to the table, and sat on Dacey's side.
" Ragnar. Did you finish the training of the boys for today?" Dacey asked after Ragnar kissed her.
They didn't love each other, but they wanted to fuck like there was no tomorrow, and that was ok for both of them; Ragnar was from Skyrim, they married people they found attractive; rare was the time a long courtship took place before people of Skyrim married, and Dacey was a woman she was lucky she felt attracted to the man she would marry. They were sure love would come later on.
" I did. Benjen Stark is a exceptional young man. Harwin Crowl is good with the sword. Theon will grow up to be a strong man. I guess they will be ok." Ragnar said, and Dacey smiled.
"That's, good. What are your plans for the day? You have to teach at the college and then what?" Dacey asked.
" I plan on going to the Port to check on the them. The fishing trade is stoping right now as now is the reproductive period of some fishes. I banned the fishing this time of the year, they want to go up the shivering sea to fish there. I asked my students to crave some heat runes on some stones, I have 200 of them, I will distribute them to the sailors to help them with the cold up there. Do you want to accompany me? It won't take long." Ragnar said as he put a hand on her tight.
" Aye, I can acompany you if you wish. We can train later as well. It's been a few days since we trained together." She said and Ragnar smiled
" Aye. It seems the she-bear wants to show her claws… dangerous" Ragnar joked.
Ragnar and Dacey did as they planned, the port was full of live even with the fishing market on it's lowest. Ragnar had two unicorns pulling a wagon with the stones, once Ragnar and Dacey arrived at Kingshouse Town the citizens gathered to welcome them. He gave them the stones and talked to them about this plans. Ragnar told them to be careful and to avoid getting far away.
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A/N: Hey guys sorry for not updating these last two days. I worked till late.
I'll write anothe chapter today. It will probably be posted later on.
Question: should Ragnar bring the Ice Dragon to his Wedding? Rhaegar and Arthur will be there as will Gerion Lannister.
Yes
No
Other?
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