It has been three months since the wilding raid. After that successful raid, there had been a lot of changes in Bear Island. The most obvious one is the explosive growth of the population.

More than 500 people, 300 men and the rest women and children migrated to their island after multiple boat trips.

This allowed Jorah to open the mountain area for these people where the land is fertile and covered with large trees and there are still many wild animals to hunt. Earlier, it was simply impossible with the small population of the bear island.

Most of the people live near the shore and they are engaged in fishing which is really easy and less labour intensive and showed little or no interest in wild hog or pig farming.

Now, the situation is completely reversed. Most of these wild hogs and pigs have been taken away by the new people of Bear Island and they are precious resources for them.

So, wild hog and pig farming has caught up to a good speed and maybe in a few months, there will be enough meat for all the people on the Island.

If the wilding settlement on the island was a source of relief for the original people, then the sight of twenty longboats along with three large merchant boats pushed their happiness higher than Bear Mountain.

The soldiers sent by Jorah for the ‘shopping’ trip, came back with bumper harvest. Just the amount of coal was shocking enough for everyone. Coal is called ‘Black Gold’ in the north because even though the northern region is filled with mountains and land, so far, no one ever found a coal mine.

This makes coal one of the key items that needs to be purchased from the south, especially from Vale and Dorne and the prices are never cheap. It was only because of the rebellion, that there was a surplus in these regions and Jorah got it cheaply.

The same is true for grains, honey and fruits from Highgarden and cows and horses from Riverlands. The war displaced many merchants, killed more and many bandits robbed these goods and sold them cheaply.

The sight of so many ‘precious’ things brought tears to many people on the island. On Jorah’s orders, a batch of these items was distributed freely and the rest was sent to warehouses.

Cows were sent to wildings to raise and Horses to mostly soldiers and their families.

Honey, fruits and grains were sent to the castle and Jorah decided to use these rations for his 'Bear Army' and 'Newton school kids' mostly. Only a small amount would reach the common people.

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These six months brought peace and prosperity to Bear Island and kickstarted the plantation, fishing, and animal husbandry at a large scale. The first batch of kids from the island and wildings also got a chance to learn precious knowledge from the Lord's house and got free books to read and study.

The whole Island seemed to be coming alive and life was getting better and better every day.

Finding everything working normally, Jorah decided to sort out another matter. The friendship with the Clover Family.

With the passage of time, the Northern army is moving back in batches and after almost six months, Lord Clover is also back along with his small army.

“Tory, the men ready for the trip?”

“Aye! M’lord, should I bring more men?”

“For what? We are not going to war but to just pay respect to Lord Glover. I heard they came back three days ago with other northern lords. It’s just us going and making peace. The gifts are ready right?”

“Yes, m’lord.”

Early morning before sunrise, Jorah Mormont left his warm bed and his lovely wife before crossing the freezing waters to meet Lord Glover at Deepwood Motte. If Jorah delayed more time, he was worried this century-old friendship between the two houses might end because of his marriage.

Lord Glover or Galbart Glover might look like a kind old man but if the word of his new wife reaches him before he personally came to fix the situation, the Glovers will prove why they have a silver fist on their red flags with practical actions.

Plus, even though it might seem like the distance is not that far, between Bear Island and the Deepwood Motte, they left the early morning before sunrise, the sun was already almost on top of their heads when they finally reached the shore.

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(Inside the Deepwood Motte Castle)

After a bunch of pleasantries and handing over the gifts, Jorah and Lord Clover sat in the study room to discuss Jorah’s sudden arrival.

“Lord Clover, I know about the marriage arrangement that our families were made when my father was the Lord. Marriage between our houses might bring us closer and I also support it in principle.

However, during the war, I lost my heart to some other woman. I deeply apologise for offending your house, but I already married her after the war was over. I thought it is best you hear it from me other than someone else that might create some tension between our houses.”

Knowing the temperament of Lord Glover, Jorah directly approached the topic respectfully.

“Hmm…. Is she with a baby or something? I don’t understand your hurry in the marriage.”

“No. It’s not a baby. Not yet. But it’s more like she moved the frozen heart,” Jorah spoke trying to be as tactful as possible.

“She pretty?”

“Yes. Think so.”

“Better than my niece?”

“Not seen the niece you speak of in last five-six years. The last time, I met her, it was a debate between us if I could ride a horse better than the stable boy.”

“The stable died during the war. An unfortunate accident.” Lord Clover spoke the words those words with a straight face but Jorah understood. A stable boy that he raised to watch out for his horses, tried to reach for his niece.

Hence, he met with an unfortunate accident.

The atmosphere was a little awkward until Lord Clover spoke again.

“Hmm… I appreciate you coming and speaking this to me before I hear some servants gossiping about it. Anything else?” Lord Glover evidently not comfortable with Jorah wanted to end the conversation.