Leaving King's landing

Jim came to the docks of the capital, where Brandon was ready to leave with the Gold to the North. The wait for the gold was extended due to Aery's involvement, so Brandon had to wait for a fortnight in the city. He had accompanied Benjen in his sword training for this time, while Gerold had allowed it saying he would give 15 days to Benjen after which followed the harsh training and studies.

Rickard had left almost no responsibilities over Brandon, even allowing him to not return to the Dustins for fostering, or train further in swords he thought it would be nice for him to only enjoy.

But Brandon had refused saying that when the time comes, he won't have the chivalry needed to do what is meant to be done, and so he trained more with the sword and indulged in the carnal desires of men for duty and not entertainment.

He had also taken a liking to a common girl in the capital, as he was not bound by the responsibility of marrying into nobility. She was the daughter of a renowned blacksmith here, and Brandon had asked if she could travel to the North with him. Love at first sight as he called it. Their marriage would be kept secret and even Brandon's ability to the girl would be hidden for a while.

Mimirsen had advised Brandon to introduce himself as a rich merchant in the North so that the Girl nor his father would choose him for being the heir to the North. In just a week she was allowed to follow Brandon, who said he would ask his father for the betrothal. He would take this sea trip for showing how serious he was in the prospect of marrying her while hiding his parentage so that she would not be overly enticed by the Lady title which she would carry afterward.

With Brandon leaving with his Busty girl the city docks in his ship, Benjen and Mimirsen were the only ones left there, as the crown administrators left for their jobs.

"Benjen."

"yes, uncle." (I thought very much about how to address Jim in public, and uncle is adequate for his public addressing, while in private, father or ALLFATHER)

"You have two years to learn as much as you can by Lord Commander of the King's guard. Take no rest till that day. After that when the Tourney of Harrenhall is announced by the crown prince, you would end your fostering here to return to Winterfell, do you understand?"

"Tourney?"

"Yes, in 281, do not speak of this to anyone and learn diligently under Lord Gerold, you have a talent for short swords, who' knows we may get a King's guard commander from the North?"

"I understand, Lord Uncle."

"Still not used to calling me uncle?" Mimirsen pulled Benjen's chin and patted his shoulders.

"I am leaving for the south, maybe return to King's Landing to meet you. Till then stay safe, Winter is coming."

"Winter is coming."

Mimirsen left for the exit of King's landing from where he would take a horse to house Footly of Tumbletone which hosted the ferry to the Highgarden via river Mander

Benjen parted on their way to the red keep where he would be a squire under Gerold Hightower.

Tywin Lannister had received a sword that he found fitting his family name, made of Valyrian steel, with the Lion carved at the bottom of the sword child which joined the main sword in its composition, the same Valyrian steel.

It was very difficult already to find jewelry of Old Valyrian descent, much less such perfect carving of such a rigid metal.

Going from the base to the tip were carved the Lannister words, Hear Me Roar! which were a mark of the fighting prowess of the Lannisters. But the opposite side of the sword also had the words, Lannister always pays his debts. Both side carvings were in such a way that they looked very majestic, at the same time without changing the balance of the sword or being uncomfortable while wielding the blade.

The Lannister words initially were Hear me roar, which adequately described the long tradition of Lannister knights even before the Targaryen dynasty. While after generations of participating in matters of the coin, the Lannisters found their way in their dealing with the economy, which made the Lannister always pay their debt their unofficial motto.

Tywin was of course very happy since their house finally had a Valyrian sword, but he would not show it on his face.

Along with the matters of receiving the sword, there were matters of incest in the Lannister legacy according to the North guest of the crown, HIS legacy. Which was unacceptable to the proud Western Lord.

Tywin dispatched the best spies he had who were unknown, even to his brother Kevan, to his own home. It was a shameful act for him to need to spy on his own house but it was a necessity that did not bear a bad taste in his mouth even for one moment.

With this, he also dispatched more spies to the North, or more specifically to the Mimirsen as he could not wait for the Lannister info to be verified before he knows what this Miirsen was brewing.

The North had just received about 14 million golden dragons, about half of which is not a loan but payments that need not be repaid. That amount of money was more than adequate to make a mid-tier city infrastructure out of nowhere, along with a good merchant fleet capable of setting sails down even to Dorne from the white harbor.

It was also adequate to arm the Northern army.

While the North did not have a large, trained army such as the Westerlands or the Highgarden or even an untrained army built of levies with high numbers such as that of the Riverlands, for their offensive stance in Westeros, they did have an adequate home ground advantage the south.

The sole reason they cannot think to rebel is due to their dependence on grain from the south, which now could be bypassed and bought from the free cities if the navy's capabilities were to be outstanding.

There was also the fact that this Mimirsen did not leave with the Stark for Winterfell, where he would go was not yet known but Tywin had his suspicions.

But these all were conjectures, which did not have a backing. Still, Tywin will have these in his mind to have contingencies against such a future, but for now, he had to work as the King in the Targaryen empire.

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Meanwhile, Mimirsen was on his voyage, via the ferry to Highgarden with the Warden of the North's letter that he would be representative in him in the negotiations with the Tyrells and the Citadel.

With this, the 278 was to end and year 279 was to start.