Chương 7: Chapter 7
*On behalf of Daeron*
After another month with representatives of House Manderly present, it was time to leave. During this period, Robb and I were introduced to Wyman Manderly. Generally, my first impression of him was positive; he treated me without disdain and regarded Robb very calmly.
The hardest moment came when Lord Stark explained our training with the northern houses. Arya's reaction will be long remembered. It included everything from tears to pleas, but I managed to leave after promising that I would send letters and fulfill any of her wishes upon my return.
Two days later, Robb and I stood on the threshold of a new chapter in our lives, and the farewell was surprisingly composed and calm.
"Boys, remember what I taught you, and make the most of this time away from home," Lord Stark told us before we set off.
We nodded in agreement. Leaving the place I had called home all my life in Westeros stirred mixed emotions, similar to when I first went away to study in my previous life; it felt like my childhood was ending...
Shaking off these thoughts, I started observing my surroundings. I noticed tears welling up in Robb's eyes, which he was trying to hold back. To offer support, I placed my hand on his shoulder with a look that said, "I'm with you!"
Robb immediately perked up and nodded in gratitude. At that moment, we caught up with Lord Manderly. When he saw us, he smiled and I asked:
"My Lord, how long will it take us to reach White Harbor?"
"Oh, if the Seven will it, from a month to two," Wyman Manderly replied kindly.
The rest of the journey was peaceful. Our first stop was at Blackpool, the ancestral castle of House Slate. The Slates are one of the oldest northern families, once petty kings during the time of the First Men, but now a minor and inconsequential house. We spent about a week here before continuing our journey.
My impressions of Blackpool were mixed; the castle, although ancient, lacked the grandeur of Winterfell and clearly needed significant repairs.
Further stops were in remote areas with few villages. A month and a half after starting our journey, we reached White Harbor.
It truly lived up to its name. White Harbor is one of the largest cities in the North, the fifth most populous in the Seven Kingdoms. It is located on the eastern coast at the mouth of the White Knife, the North's largest river. It is the main port of the northern lands. If Winterfell is the heart of the North, White Harbor is its gateway. The city is built with whitewashed houses topped with dark gray tiles on steeply pitched roofs, and the streets are straight, wide, and neatly paved. The city is encircled by walls of white stone.
The outer harbor and the adjacent fish market lie outside the city walls; from there, one can enter the city through the large Seal Gate. Beyond the gate lies the city square with an ancient fountain shaped like a merman holding a trident, the sigil of House Manderly; according to Winfred and Willa, this statue is called Old Man of the Sea, though the square has another official name in honor of a long-dead city ruler.
A large, bald man with a scar from forehead to lip, wearing the heraldry of House Manderly, came out to greet us.
"Hello, Father, girls!" exclaimed this man, likely Wendell Manderly, the second son of Wyman Manderly and uncle to Winfred and Willa.
After the family members had embraced, it was our turn to be introduced.
"The black-haired boy is Jon Snow, and the red-haired one is Lord Stark's heir, Robb Stark. They will be our wards for the next two years," Wyman Manderly introduced us.
Wendell simply nodded at us, and we continued our tour through White Harbor. The locals were pleased to see Lord Manderly. The city was livelier than Wintertown, with a diverse population that included Andals, typical northerners, and individuals from further afield, ranging from white-haired beauties with purple eyes to blue-haired men in flamboyant attire.
"It's quite a place, isn't it?" Lord Manderly commented, seeing our interest.
Robb and I just nodded, which made Lord Manderly grin. Besides the bustling crowd, another notable feature was the prevalence of septs, far more common here than in Winterfell.
Our destination was New Castle, the ancestral seat of House Manderly, located on a hill within the city limits of White Harbor. Unlike Winterfell or Blackpool, its architecture suggested origins from the region from which the Manderlys hailed. After a brief journey, we arrived at New Castle, and seeing it in person was different from viewing it through the eyes of a crow. The castle, built of milky white stone, appeared magnificent. A paved stairway of the same white stone led from the harbor to the castle, flanked by marble mermaids holding bowls of burning whale oil.
After the feast, Winfred and Willa showed us around the castle, which contained many interesting features. There was a Snow Sept with a domed roof adorned with large statues of the Seven. The castle's Great Hall, known as the Watery Hall, was another highlight. They also showed us an underground passage linking the castle to the Wolf's Den.
The Wolf's Den, more akin to northern architecture, currently served as White Harbor's prison. According to what I'd read, this building had changed hands many times, owned by Starks, Greystarks, Lockes, and Dodds, to Holt and Ashwoods. It had not yet been transferred to House Manderly, who had moved their main residence to New Castle after its completion.
Thus began my life with Robb in one of the wealthiest houses in the North and the entire Seven Kingdoms.
The next week after our arrival and check-in at the Manderly house, our training began. First of all, we were taught seamanship. Unfortunately, all I could learn from such lessons was how to determine the direction and map the visible world in general terms. I didn't have a passion for this business, and neither did Robb; we were both more interested in economics and trade.
The main partners of White Harbor were people from Braavos, as they were located much closer than the rest of the Free Cities. Thanks to this, we were able to learn the basic rules of doing business with representatives from the Free Cities.
All this took place with visual demonstrations, ranging from the reception of merchants at Lord Manderly's to live examples of merchants in the city.
On one of these days, when I missed Robb, I met Ternesio Terys, a merchant and captain of the ship "Daughter of the Titan". According to him, he is the father of two children, the eldest named Yorko and the youngest Denio; the eldest already worked on the ship for his father. The youngest was in Braavos with his mother. At the same time, we helped each other; he helped me improve my Valyrian, and I helped his son with Andalusi.
I learned a little more about Braavos from him than before. At the moment, the Sealord was a young representative of the House of Prestayn, and the First Sword was surprisingly Syrio Forel. Meanwhile, I was telling him about the North, in general terms. According to him, he had only recently started doing business in Westeros.
I can't say that I've made a friend or a spy, but I'm sure I've made a good friend. Besides the merchants from Essos, I also met many people from different parts of the Seven Kingdoms; the most favorable impression was left by people from the Riverlands.
Along with the creation of communication skills with different people, our development in the combat unit also continued. Wendel Manderly helped us with this, and very quickly he realized that it was worth much more adult people to stand up against me. Sometimes he opposed me himself, but more often he put me up against the guards. Wyman Manderly was often present at such training sessions.
A year later, Robb and I had already become very famous in this city, and our knowledge of the city's structure had also increased. My communication with merchants and other interesting people continued. I also had more or less up-to-date information about Essos; for example, I met a very interesting girl from Volantis, named Triala Velaros, a well-born girl who wanted to see the world. For this, she created a good squad consisting of Impeccable and people who understand navigation, with a small ship. It was from her that I learned that a year ago, the Beggar King and his sister came to them in Volantis. The impression that Viserys left on Triala was, let's say, very bad, starting from arrogance and ending with sadism already manifesting itself. When I asked her,
"Where are you planning to go next?"
"Hmm… Probably to the Vale," she replied with an infectious smile.
She even offered me to join her team once, but alas, now I can't sail with her. But despite this, we still had communication, because thanks to my abilities, I could find her in Westeros, not only thanks to animals, but mostly thanks to the weirwoods. At this point, I could already steadfastly endure the enormous information pressure that was in these trees. Thus, I was able to feel an interesting person in the information field of the weirwood network, I do not know how he did not feel me, but I felt him very strongly. Because of him, I couldn't travel back in time as brazenly as I could without this person.
At the same time, my crows made their way to King's Landing, but I did not climb into the castle itself, because all the crows that flew into the castle did not fly away from there, since they were all caught by one black cat, with very intelligent eyes not inherent in ordinary cats. And his systematic catching of crows with letters that fly to Pycelle suggests that something is wrong with this cat.
In addition to King's Landing, I was able to get into the Eyrie, where Lord Royce ruled, since Jon Arryn was in the Red Keep and de facto ruled the Seven Kingdoms. For I happened to see what King Robert was doing, and there was no time left for him to rule; it was already visible how his form was being lost day by day, sinking deeper and deeper into lust and gluttony.
Although Jon Arryn is trying to fix all this, he is increasingly unable to cope with this task, because the king loves all kinds of feasts and tournaments. I have never seen such feasts held one after another over and over again. And old age began to take away my right hand, I was also able to see Petyr Baelish, in a word, a cunning bastard.
I also often saw someone too ordinary in public places, this ordinariness made me keep an eye on him, and for good reason, I will tell you. This man turned out to be Varys. After one time when I saw his reincarnation, it became easier to find him, but the animal's nose and eyes did their job. But to spy on Varys, I did not use a crow, but the dogs that were in King's Landing. One of these days I heard him talking with a tall and incredibly fat man with yellow hair and beard, which he combs in two and anoints, bringing to a golden shine. He has piggy eyes, thick cheeks, and crooked yellow teeth.
"Hello, my old friend, how is young Griff?" Varys asked casually.
"Still wandering with old Griff, but in the company of mercenaries," the fat man replied.
"Are there any rumors about red dragons?"
"I heard that the Beggar King visited Volantis and they were chased away from there quite quickly, alas, I did not hear about them anymore."
Further conversations were about the Seven Kingdoms in general. From what I learned, there is an alleged survivor of Aegon Targaryen in this world...There are more and more problems.
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