章節 11: Harvest Feast
It had been three months since I talked with Old Nan and Benjen was already back from the Wall with our aunt. Like I have seen, the attack on the group happened but this time, the wildlings were all slaughtered and there were only two losses on our side.
I had a long talk with my aunt and she nearly refused but thanks to Nan, she accepted it after a long talk with her. I also had completed rituals with Robb and Old Nan.
However, the biggest development had been the renovation of Winterfell and Wintertown. Already Broken Tower was being rebuilt and the wooden houses in Wintertown were being demolished and stone houses were taking their places. All of this was thanks to the treasury I have found in the crypts.
I had some loyal men make a list of the things inside the crypts. I left all the trinkets inside but all of the gold was counted one by one and most of them were put into chests and readied for transport. There were approximately fifteen million gold dragons worth of coins. Ohh, boy! I'm fuckin' rich.
Another positive development was with the Harstarks. Lord Manderly accepted the betrothal and after I talked with the oldest Harstark, Artos Stark's grandson, an agreement was made and he was given the empty castle to the south of Hornwood lands.
We even made an agreement with Lord Manderly about minting the coins I found in the crypts. Lord Manderly said that according to the capacity of the Old Mint, it was going to take a year to mint all the coins. Although it was illegal as it meant going against the Crown, the benefits of the gold were going to be very helpful for Manderlys fleet venture.
The hardest part had been organizing a small army in Bear Island to raid the Frozen Shore. Although House Mormont agreed to the marriage, we still needed to transport rations and men to the island. Benjen was going to be the head of the raiding party and already, one or two men were leaving the castle every day.
We needed approximately five hundred fighters to raid the Frozen Shore and then invade the Lonely Light. It was going to be hard to hide all of these but I was sure that my reputation was going to help me in this endeavour.
However, the biggest shock had been the news of Catelyn's pregnancy! I mean I gained +100% fertility so it was expected but what was not expected was the news I heard from Maester Luwin. It was not just a baby that was coming but FIVE FUCKING BABIES!!
I even heard talks about having a Tully in every household. Of course, I put a stop to these talks as I can't allow it to continue like this or it would damage my reputation.
I mean it could have been twins or even triplets but what the fuck is quintuplets? I fucked up the canon. At least, I was not worried about her death as Styr was preparing some mixtures every day for her to drink.
I think the babies were conceived during our second wedding night. Damn, that night was memorable. I remember doing it like five or six times thanks to increased fertility. But there was something I was wondering. Was it the "gluttonous" trait that was pushing me to have sex every day? I mean I didn't have the "lustful" trait so this much sex life was not normal.
Two months later, the lords were already on their way to Winterfell for Harvest Feast. Catelyn, despite her bulging belly, was making preparations for the Harvest Feast and Benjen's wedding.
I had many things to announce during the Harvest Feast. One of them was the elevation of the new lord of Sea Dragon Point, Hodor's father Elric Stark. The man was shocked when he learned that he was a Stark and questioned his grandmother about it. Although he welcomed the news gratefully, he still needed to be educated to rule the land. Though his rule was going to be short, I still needed to continue this ruse.
It took two weeks for all the houses to arrive at Winterfell. The castle was bustling with activity and wine and beer was flowing like a river. I was aware that Northerners didn't care about table manners but this was something else. I mean a normal person wouldn't grab a big piece of butter with his hand and bite it. Even I, a man who had the "gluttonous" trait, didn't eat like that.
I sat at the head of the table and listened to them talking about their lands. It was obvious that the war caused great losses to the North as most of the young men were killed in the South. Thus, there were many orphans and widows and they didn't have any jobs to support their families so many of them turned to whoring or begging.
This can't be allowed. They are Northerners, not some Andal whore. I told all of them to send those widows and orphans to Sea Dragon Point as Elric was going to need folk as most of the land was uninhabited there.
The North had always been sparsely populated but I was intending to rectify that. My coffers were going to gain thousands of gold coins in the coming month so I was not worried about coins. Besides, when the sacrifices were completed, there wasn't going to be any food shortages in the North as we were going to be able to feed ourselves without depending on the Riverlands and the Reach.
At first, I thought about asking men and women from the slums of King's Landing but their blood was of Andal and they didn't worship our Gods. I couldn't force them to convert and they didn't know any jobs so they won't be productive members of the North and that is a big problem for me. Besides, bringing them here would cost me at least a million gold coins as they would need ration, carts, horses, new furs etc.
Therefore, I have decided to do the best thing for the North. Child benefit for every baby that is born but only once time payment. When I told this to the lords, they roared in anger as they thought that it was going to be their own coin which would be taken but I told them it was going to be House Stark who was to pay for all the children in the North.
And that made them happy as they were going to gain manpower and do nothing. I stated that the first child was going to receive 10 silver stags, the second 20 silver stags, the third 30 silver stags, the fourth 40 silver stags and the fifth 1 gold dragon.
It looked like a lot of coins for a child but I think each child as an investment. They are going to be productive members of Northern society and in the next war, their ilk is going to be soldiers ready to kill Southerners.
The second roar of anger came with me announcing the construction of a road system in the North which would connect all castles to Winterfell. Of course, I wasn't going to pay for all the roads so they had to pay at least a third of its price. They were unwilling to pay any gold for a road but on my insistence, they relented albeit with some anger.
After the official ending of Harvest Feast came the wedding of my brother and Dacey Mormont. Maege brought all of her daughters to the feast so they were the ones who stripped and guarded my brother. On the other hand, protecting Dacey from unwanted hands had been my task and I believe I did a great job at that.
However, I was not happy with their wedding. The fuckers caused a great ruckus in the castle and their moaning did not let us sleep all night. Come the morning, Dacey couldn't even leave the bed and Benjen called Maester Luwin for help. It must be a Stark trait because I remember Catelyn also was in the same state after our wedding.
Although Benjen had a great night, I had to break their happy moments because it was time for Benjen to go to Bear Island and began raiding the wildlings. Surprisingly, Dacey decided to join him and they travelled to Bear Island together.
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I know it is short...
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