POV Helman Tallhart
Lord's study, Torrhen's Square.
Year 281 AC, the ninth day of the fifth moon.
Eight days after Duncan's visit.
Captain Tom stood there in silence in the Lord's room.
He had his most faithful and capable men repeatedly check to see if there was even the slightest chance that a spy could have been eavesdropping on the voices in the room. As far as he knew there was none.
Helman Tallhart was reading some papers for future work waiting for his brother Leobald's daily report.
There was a knock on the door.
"Your brother, my lord," said one of Tom's two appointed guards dutifully.
Leobald entered without complying with the formalities and closed the door again.
"It is confirmed brother, Golbarth is a Lannister spy." He showed a scroll in his hand, stained with a few drops of blood as proof.
Helman read the scroll scrutinizing every detail. Finally, he clenched his fist crumpling the report.
‘Duncan is truly blessed by the Ancients’ thought a concerned father. Helman trusted his son, with all his heart, he would have already torn Golbarth apart the morning after his visit if his brother and Tom hadn't calmed him down and talked some sense into him. He still had to be sure before he condemned the man who had served his family for over ten years.
"That boy Henry hit the bird with a shot from almost two hundred feet away, never seen anything like it... I had a small bag of silver coins ready to reward him, but in the end, I decided to put two gold dragons in his hand. Congratulations on your choice, Tom." Said Leobald still slightly in disbelief.
"That boy is shit in the mix, but give him a bow, five arrows and five married men armed with swords and there will be five more widows in the world. "* Replied the captain with a small grin of satisfaction.
Helman nodded in approval.
"I want your honest advice on the proper course of action. Tom?" asked Helman.
"My lord, I believe that before we make a move against Golbarth, we should wait for winter to pass. He is currently the only one in the castle with true Healing abilities. I also recommend postponing the production of this 'Soap' until early spring. We are already selecting men and women of unquestionable loyalty. Preparing a suitable location that meets your requirements will take more time." Said Tom with sincerity.
The Master of Torrhen’s Square nodded at his right-hand man and turned his gaze to his brother.
"As much as I want to strangle Golbarth with his own entrails, Tom is right. Sure, we could also threaten him, keep him in check, and send false information, but the point is, if we need him and should he feel his back is against the wall, he might make a bold move. A man who has nothing to lose, especially one who holds another person's life in his hands, is a dangerous man." Said Leobald reluctantly and went on to say:
"Not to mention the fact that I don't want my nephew to be traumatized forever. If the maester disappeared now because of an 'accident,' the boy in the near future would realize it was his fault and as a result, it would be a major blow to his growth." Helman nodded with slight reluctance but continued to listen carefully to all the suggestions.
"On the second point I am on the same page: it is better to take time and also secure a good supplier with steel contracts in the meantime. We must enter into a commercial contract with the suppliers before they know of our success." Leobald concluded.
Helman greatly appreciated his brother's advice. Leobald had always been more talented at negotiation, logistics, and history than swordsmanship.
The Master of Torrhen’s Square stood pondering for a couple of minutes with his eyes fixed on the crumpled document and the three prototypes of Soap, then he looked up again.
"So brother, what are your orders?" asked Leobald curiously.
"We will wait a few months before taking action against Golbarth, but we will not stand still." Replied the brother.
"Tom, I need your son Ronan, I want him to attend classes with Duncan from now on and keep an eye on the maester. If I'm not mistaken he is more attracted to books than swords right?" The lord asked already knowing the answer.
"Yes my lord, lucky for me. I already have two sons who can't wait to die in a glorious battle..." Tom replied with a small, surrendered sigh.
"And how many men-at-arms do we have whose loyalty is ironclad?"
"Forty for whom I would vouch with my life. Two hundred more who would not run from a battle without an order to retreat." Replied the captain thinking a moment.
"The best six of the first group will henceforth see to it that Duncan is undisturbed in his experiments and future visits to Godswood.
I want Chief Steward Paul to go to Oldtown and seek out a certain maester Qyburn and personally invite him here as our esteemed guest. Give Paul the gold needed to sugarcoat the request and the men needed for the escort." Said Helman, thinking of the new birthday gift his son had requested. His father had insisted after learning that he had sacrificed his last gift for the good and prosperity of the house.
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"Leobald, you will go to Braavos to find suppliers and deal with the Iron Bank. Our grandfather had opened an account there, there should be more or less 5,000 golden dragons, use them and apply for a loan for everything we will need. I will delegate full authority to you for negotiations. Also, use their services as collateral for the trade contracts you will make." Said Helman without hesitation.
"Yes, my lord" Leobald replied, abandoning his youthful cockiness. This was the most important assignment his brother had ever given him, and he did not want to disappoint him.
"Tom, I want you to go with my brother. You will have a different assignment. I want you to hire the best weapons master you can find to take care of Duncan's training. No matter how much time or gold it takes. Have Leobald help you with the money. Take as many men as you need for you both to return safely."
"It will be done, my lord." They answered in unison, the two men to whom Helman would entrust his life.
*[Author's Note: In case any of you are wondering, "If he's so good, why doesn't the archer go to some tournament and win an archery contest, win millions and live out the rest of his life in booze and whores instead of serving a lord for pennies?" It's not that easy, for three reasons:
1° Usually tournaments are only for knights and nobles except in some rare exceptions (e.g. King Anguy's First Knight Tournament, where the archer won 10,000 Golden Dragons).
2° The cunning lords would not allow a peasant in their service, with such a high talent, to win a large sum and escape from their hands.
3° Peasants without a nobleman or armed men to protect them are practically condemned to death when they merrily prance here and there with a bag full of gold on their shoulders. In this world, if an ordinary person accidentally drops a gold coin from his pocket and picks it up, he will find his throat slit at night...imagine a bag full of gold. In 99.99% of cases at least one lord in the audience will send his men disguised as bandits to hunt him down].
End POV
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POV Duncan
Godswood, Torrhen’s Square.
Year 281 AC, nineteenth day of the tenth moon. About five months after Tom and Leobald's departure...
"Seraphine, in te influat fidei vis. Gratias agimus tibi propter divina officia tua, fili et magni patris servi! Seraphine, in te influat fidei vis. Gratias agimus tibi propter divina officia tua, fili et magni patris servi... I think that's enough for today, phew I'll only have to do this for another four hundred and twelve times* and the debt to Seraphinus will be paid." I got up from the ground and looked at the snow that had almost completely melted.
Winter had now been over for more than a month. The days became warmer and the roads were once again safe.
My father had responded to Lord Whent's invitation to the tournament in Harrenhal, apologizing for his and Leobald's inability to attend.
I was almost tempted to ask my father if I could attend. I would have been able to see for myself, Rhaegar and Aerys Targaryen, Barristan Selmy, Arthur Dayne and all the greatest knights and lords of Westeros!
Having calmed my emotions and excitement, I finally began to think rationally.
I couldn't risk changing even a flap of my wings in that event. The butterfly effect scared me considerably.
"Who knows, maybe by being in the spectator stands, Rheagar could have been distracted by my unusual appearance and been thrown off by ser Barristan at the last fight..." I thought it was a bit of forced and improbable reasoning, but it was still possible.
I looked at the temple's heart tree one more time before leaving.
I was becoming more and more resistant to the pain I felt from touching it. I had gradually acquired a lot of knowledge but there was still a long way to go before I could recover all that was due.
I still hadn't acquired the knowledge of the lost art of Damascus Steel. Not that I was in a hurry - it was certainly the most dangerous knowledge I possessed. Steel that would put the other lords' metal to shame. It was second only to the steel of Valyria.
Why was it the most dangerous knowledge?
Early men were able to conquer most of Westeros because they had bronze weapons compared to the obsidian weapons of the Children of the Forest.
The Andals invaded the Early Men and conquered five of the Seven Kingdoms because they had steel...
The big news of the last period was that I could finally use the magic trick of the Druid class!
When I touched the tree about three weeks ago, I felt that I could assimilate a spell and what I wanted was there!
I had no doubt about the choice: "Druidcraft"*.
Unfortunately, I could only try it at Godswood for the time being...
I walked out of the temple and met my Uncle Leobald waiting outside.
"Uncle Leobald has been back from Braavos for over a month but Tom hasn't..." I was a little worried.
"Greetings Uncle, today will you finally tell me what happened to poor Tom? And if above all I'll ever see him again?" I asked a little angrily.
"Don't even try, nephew, your father has been clear on the subject. Tom is on a mission on a family business, and no one can know where. Don't worry: he knows how to take care of himself." Replied Leobald playfully.
"Don't give me that angry bear pout I'm not lady Myra. I will not give in to your 'cuteness' haha!" He said, pinching my cheek.
"But I do have a little present for you, I think you'll like it. Only if you pay your debt..." he waited for an answer.
I looked at my Uncle for a minute staring into his eyes and trying to win the staring contest. Finally, I gave up. I approached the center of the open square attracting the attention of the guards and servants nearby, I took a deep breath and loudly proclaimed:
"LEOBALD TALLHART is the most BEAUTIFUL, STRONG, KIND, COURAGEOUS AND INTELLIGENT uncle a nephew could ever wish for!!!" My uncle bent over in laughter enjoying the moment. Half the castle looked in this direction, many whispered and some laughed.
Last month my uncle, who had just returned from Braavos, brought me a gift, a game called Cyvasse. He explained the rules and pretended it was his first time too. We started with a small bet of a penny. I kept winning game after game, Leobald was frustrated by the constant defeats, each time doubling the amount. Until he brought up this stupid bet... and it wasn't until I lost miserably that I realized he had me in the bag from the start.
"Ah ha ha!!! enough, I can't take it anymore my tummy hurts!" Uncle took a couple of breaths.
"Alright that's it, the debt has been repaid, come on nephew." Leobald turned around and I followed him.
He led me into the solarium of the castle and there I saw two men talking: one was Paul, the chief attendant and the other a thin old man in his fifties wearing a black robe and a large chain, made of dozens of different rings.
"Nephew, I present to you maester Qyburn from the citadel!" Uncle said loudly, announcing our arrival.
‘Oh! Now that's a fine gift! We can finally get a certain Lannister to pay back his debts.’
*[Author's Note: When Matthew (Duncan) had asked Seraphinus for his employment contract for a modification he had crossed out the number "1" by a prayer for each hour of service and replaced it with a "4". He was originally supposed to pay only one hundred and forty-four prayers, but had chosen to pay Seraphinus one prayer for each time he fell in battle fighting for him i.e. five hundred and seventy-six (4 x 144= 576)].
*[Author's Note: By whispering to the spirits of nature, the caster creates one of the following effects within range.
- The caster creates a tiny, harmless sensor that predicts the weather at his location for the next twenty-four hours. The sensor might manifest as a golden orb in the case of clear skies, a cloud in the case of rain, a cluster of snowflakes in the case of snow, and so on. The effect lasts for one round.
- The caster causes a flower to instantly bloom, open a pod, or unfold a bud.
- The caster creates an instant, harmless sensory effect such as a pile of flying leaves, a gust of wind, the sound of a small animal, or the vague smell of a skunk. The effect must be no larger than a cube with a 3-foot edge.
- The caster instantly lights or extinguishes a candle, flashlight, or small campfire.
A trick can be cast indefinitely under optimal conditions].