Our Steel is Strong 4

House Greensmith Chapter Four

Hillview Hall 152 A.C.

With the dawn of a New Year just past, I'm strangely reminded of a saying from my original world, new year new me. Fitting since I've had the biggest change in my life happen not four moons ago with my wedding to Lyla. Speaking of my beautiful, covers stealing wife, she has fit in wonderfully at Hillview as the lady of the castle exerting a feminine touch on the place that it has been sorely lacking since the death of my Mother almost eight years ago now. My lady wife now also regularly sat in on my meetings with my Father to better learn the in's and out's of house Greensmith.

Lyla has stepped up so well she's impressed my Father, who while jovial was scant for praise outside our immediate family, but my Wife seemed to be worming her way into my Father's heart quickly. Beren seemed both happy and displeased that his sister was at Hillview now, somehow stealing my attention from teaching him even though I kept up his usual two a days of training while also having him join me in my Forge as an apprentice. This basically meant I would be giving the Lief's a master blacksmith as well as a knight while knowing how to make the plows and seed drills I've "Created" to help his family's lands.

This was my way of making it up to master Hullen about my conscious dismissal of social etiquette in regards to informing the man about my bastard son during betrothal negotiations. The man didn't bother too ask either so I of course didn't willingly give up that information in the middle of negotiations when it would be immediately used against me, but that mattered little to courtesies for most.

Today was special though, as I was escorting Lyla on a tour of the Brown Honey processing building and while there inform her of important news I needed to tell her about as it could turnout good or ill for our House.

"Lyla, in this building you will learn the secret to our family's current and potential future financial success." I built up the tour to her as we entered the building.

"Ok Alyn no need to be so weird about it." was my wife's deadpan reply to my theatrics.

" It is somewhat warranted Love, especially now that the last piece is in place with our marriage." was my cryptic rebuttal.

"Alyn speak plainly I'm growing tired of your silver tongue." was the reply from the lovely terror that was my wife.

"Fine, I haven't completely been truthful about the production of Brown Honey to our customers, only because if the truth got out too soon everything I've tried to build will crumble." came my pessimistic confession to Lyla.

"Maybe start from the begining Alyn I'm still not following my Love" Lyla's comforting replied to my now somber mood.

"Ok, Brown Honey isn't any special mix of ingredients grown here, no it's sap collected from Maple trees and condensed down by a boiling water bath to the syrup we sell." I fessed up.

"And now you have another five thousand acres of forrest dominated by Maple trees." was her quick realization spoken aloud.

"Right in one Love, and now with almost ten thousand acres of Maple trees we could hypothetically harvest two hundred and fifty thousand gallons of Brown Honey a year, because the trees need that long to replenish what is harvested." The estimate was roughly the absolute max on the scale, but hell it sure felt cool to say.

"That's incredible Alyn, It also explains how your family was able to purchase the timber needed to build your second wall." was my wife's astonished reply.

"As of now it is growing, slowly, steadily but the courier I received this morning could end up driving sales to further heights." I leadingly replied, trying to playfully create tension.

"Well who sent an order? Don't keep you wife waiting Ser." she asked sporting a fake pout.

"Through the neighboring nobility the Lord paramount of the North has heard of house Greensmith's Brown Honey and has sent an order of ten casks for house Stark of Winterfell to try for themselves." was my serious reply to my Wife while internally freaking out.

Lyla for her part was outwardly showing what I was feeling inside, gaping like a fish out of water, completely taken by surprise just who our latest client was.

"This is huge Lyla. If the Starks like and endorse our Brown Honey, the rest of the North not already in on it will be scrambling to secure some for themselves." just thinking of the money we could soon be rolling in was sending my head spinning.

"Ok let's take things one step at a time Alyn. Do you have plans in place for even more expansion of the Processing building and Tapper retinue? What about security? Banditry could become a problem if you don't have proper men there guarding the product. This probably means finding an actual Master At Arms since not even you and your Father could manage all those men on top of your other duties." was Lyla's level headed reply to my dreams of reaching the stars.

And her questions held great merit because they all did need to be accounted for if things were going to continue to run smoothly, or at least as smoothly as a rapid expansion as the one we could experience if the Stark's like the Brown Honey proved spot on. To put the proverbial cherry on top I was even thinking about delivering the order to Winterfell personally with a plow and Seed Drill as an extra gift, for a "Continued Summer" or some such nonsense.

After thinking of that idea I had to pause, I haven't even introduced the plow and seed Drill to Lord Hornwood yet, bypassing him and bringing it straight to the Starks could be seen ungratefulness at best and be cause to dismiss my house at worst, worse things have been done for lighter imagined slights. Using your own creation and sharing it with allies by marriage was one thing but sharing it with anyone but your overlord immediately after was a different matter altogether. In my head I equated it to a show of loyalty, sure the Starks are the Lords paramount of the North but house Hornwood were the lords that landed house Greensmith and we answer to them first and foremost.

Before my thoughts could derail me any further I answered my Wife's previous line of questions in order."Yes my dear with more immigrants showing up almost bi-weekly we will have plenty of workers ready to pick up any slack where ever it appears. My Father and I have already been in talks about expanding our guard further as well, this brought up the same question as your last and my Father reached out to an old friend at Raventree Hall to possibly fill the position." was my answers to her questions.

"Who did your Father reach out to Alyn? I would rather know of the man who is to become house Greensmith's first Master at Arms and be able to ready a proper welcome." was Lyla's inquiry about the identity of my Father's old friend.

"His name is Ser Ben Rivers an aging knight sworn to house Blackwood. He's about the age of my Father, and was injured during the Dance. The injury won't hamper his ability as Master at Arms my Father claims so I'm willing to give the man a try." was all I was able to tell her since only my Father has ever met the man.

"Well I'm excited to meet the knight. Will you be delivering The Starks there Brown Honey personally? It is a good opportunity to meet them in a one on one basis." Gods she's smart, she may as well have read my mind.

"My thinking exactly Love. It is fortuitous that lord Hornwood has also sent in a reorder a few days prior as well." was my rebuttle.

"Why would that be Alyn?" was her confused question to my statement.

"Simple my dear it is time for the Greensmith plow and seed drill to spread in the North. Who better to start with than our lord and lord paramount, perfect gifts to be given to honor a continued fair and prolonged summer."

"A wonderful idea Alyn, will you also tell them about the Green Field crop rotation? It would earn you even more favor with the lords." was her even more curious inquiry, since that is a very tight lipped subject around Hillview.

"Lord Stark no, when I'm at Winterfell I will only have my word to back up my claims. Lord Hornwood yes but only during the next Harvest Season when we will invite him to Hillview, basically shoving the evidence right in front of his eyes and solidifying my argument." was my answer to Lyla's question.

"Marvelous, now I think our tour has lasted long enough Husband and I feel the sudden urge to be divested of my clothing." was my Wife's statement before turning and walking to the exit with an extra sway to her hips. I did the only thing I could as a man in retaliation, picking her up cave man style and hauling her to our bedroom to have my wicked way with my minx of a Wife.

Two weeks was all it took for the supplies and goods too be readied for the trip to Hornwood and Winterfell. Twenty mounted men at arms were selected to accompany me in protecting the important cargo to it's destinations on a trip that would take over two weeks to reach Winterfell after our initial stop at Hornwood.

I said a proper goodbye the night before I left to my Wife while giving the rest of our family farewells the next morning after we broke our fast, since I will be gone close too two months in my attempt to personally meet the Starks.

The week long trip to Castle Hornwood was pretty routine for the men since the Hornwwod's have become a major buyer of Brown Honey, proven by the five and twenty casks in their designated carriage, making this a now well traveled and patrolled road. Lord Horton was quick to greet me and host us for a night after I revealed my gifts to him. I spent the feast he threw in my Honor fielding his questions about the machines I brought him and their uses.

I explained all I was able too while throwing in my invite for him to visit Hillview during the next Harvest Season. The Lord proved curious about why I was offering an invite at such a specific time and agreed after little more prodding from myself. After a goodnights rest after the feast my retinue set back out on the road to our next destination the heart of the North, Winterfell.

The two week trip was far more treacherous than our first week to Hornwood. My men and I ran into bandits on two different occasions and saw two of my twenty men dead and another one heavily injured. The empty carriage we brought along just for this possibility was used as planned and transported The Injured man and the two dead bodies of my men to Hornwood for aid escorted by Two healthy Men.

It had been a blessing my Father and I hadn't neglected our Men at Arms Armour since my looses would've surely been higher if our equipment had been found lacking. My hammer Stonebreakeralso got a taste of blood from a couple of Bandits and I felt strangely numb about that fact thanks to this cursed dog eat dog world.

Winterfell was still the awe-inspiring sight it will hopefully always be when my retinue finally caught sight of the capital of the North. I had only been here once when I was four and ten and recently knighted at the Fall Harvest Festival almost six years ago now. This was of course before house Greensmith had been able too start producing Brown Honey, marking us pretty low on the totem pole of people to speak with at the festival.

We were greeted by Master Tion Poole, head of house Poole and Steward of Wintefell, and Ser Jon Cassel, Castellan and Master at Arms for house Stark, when we entered the gates. I grew dissapointed to not be received by a Stark, guess house Greensmith was still that far down the ladder.

"Ser Alyn Greensmith it is a surprise to see you here at Winterfell. What business brings you so far from home?" questioned the now suspicious steward of house Stark.

"We come with house Stark's first order of Brown Honey good master Poole as well as gifts for house Stark to honor a fair and continued summer."was my easy reply to his suspicious attitude.

"Well it took a little bit of time but considering the distance a fair delivery speed but what other gifts do you bring good Ser?" the now curious Steward asked while Ser Jon just kept a weathered eye on me, keeping abreast of any malicious behavior shown.

"A new plow tested and perfected by house Greensmith as well as a new machine known as a seed drill, which will plant seeds equally and efficiently throughout lord Stark's fields." I self assuredly boasted.

"These are most interesting gifts good Ser, I will bring them to Lord Stark's attention myself and he will decide how to best put them to use. Now please you and your men must be exhausted , partake in our bread and salt then be welcomed into Winterfell's Hall." was master Poole's response to my spiel. I'm sure if I get called to dine with the man tonight it will be with the intention to grill me on details about the uses of the plow and seed drill for lord Stark's benefit.

This was a kind of depressing realization but if one door closes another is waiting to be kicked open and if master Poole decided to be the door that needed to be kicked all the better. As it turned out my prediction came true, just after I had woken up from a nap and bathed a guardsman came and informed me of master Poole's invite to a private dinner, perfect. The man was sent off with a quick agreement and a promise to send an escort at the right time.

"Thank you for inviting me to dinner tonight master Poole it is very kind of you." was my courteous verbal starter after I sat down in the private dining hall I was led to.

"It is my honor Ser Alyn after seeing and hearing a little of the gifts you brought to Winterfell I thought of you as a man to know." was the Stewards flattering reply, he must've gotten good at it out of necessity.

"I don't know about that master Poole, I'm just an ordinary man who likes to work in his forge and fuck his wife." was my crass japing return. The man doubled over laughing at it too, maybe he wasn't such a tool.

"I can't disagree with you there Alyn, and please call me Tion when we are in private, lord Cregan keeps things formal enough for everyone around Winterfell." was the casual offer from Tion, surprising.

"So Tion not that I'm gonna complain about a fine dinner but would you care to enlighten me of why I'm here?" was my cautious question of the elephant in the room for me.

"Well Alyn between you and I, Lord Cregan didn't see anything significant about your machines in truth but I think differently, I see something special in them and I'm willing to establish a agreement for them to be traded to house Poole's lands." was Tion's interesting offer. While a bummer that Lord Cregan so handily dismissed my idea ,hearing Tion's rebuttal to that thinking cheered me up a bit.

"House Greensmith would be honored to trade with house Poole for a fair price Tion." was my agreeable reply to Tion's proposal.

"Thank you Alyn, my brother rules our family keep just north of Winterfell along the King's Road and these machines will be a great boon for him and hopefully change Lord Cregan's mind of their usefulness." was Tion's pleased response and we spent the rest of dinner hashing out the details of our trade agreement and I went to sleep happy knowing this trip wasn't a complete waste of time.

I returned home semi successful only to be welcomed by a couple of unfamiliar faces among my family. The unknown man was one eyed and looked about of age with my Father, I hazarded a guess the man was Ser Ben Rivers, next to the man was a girl around the age of my Brother, maybe Ser Ben's Daughter?

"Son welcome home did your trip go well?" was my father's greeting. speaking first as was his right as head of house and castle.

"Well enough Father. I wasn't able to meet with lord Stark personally but I was able to meet with master Poole, house Stark's steward, and we came to an agreement for house Poole to purchase our machines for their use. Hopefully with time this will change house Stark's view on their usability." was my watered down version of the story.

"Well you turned what could've been a negative into a positive son, well done. Now time for introductions are in order. Alyn this is Ser Ben Rivers, my old friend and our new Master at Arms and the little girl next to him is Alysanne Rivers, Ben's Daughter." was my Father's introduction of his friend and the man's daughter.

"It is an honor to meet you Ser Ben and little lady Alysanne, now lets finish the rest of this inside Hillview I'm famished and need my Wife to feed me I'm so tired." My joking statement smashed through the ice of meeting the new people with a laugh garnered.

"Try playing that card and we'll see if you get anymore of a welcome home tonight husband." came the playfully daring reply from Lyla, oh how I missed my hot Wife while on the road these past few weeks.

Things at Hillview returned to a natural hum after the excitement of the Stark's first order of Brown Honey wore off. My Father and I were in our forges constantly building plows and seed drills for the Liefs, Hornwoods, and Pooles. The men Ser Ben was training were getting in plenty of work with all the security runs they had to be apart of to protect house Greensmith's sales. As of right now between my Father and I we were managing the orders but soon if more are to be demanded we will have to bring in outside blacksmiths to help fill the void.

I was already thinking of broaching this subject with my Father so that he can retire from the forge and focus on being head of our House since we now have the monetary resources to allow it. Speaking of money matters my Brown Honey Ale idea turned out to be flop for now.

A few weeks after returning from Winterfell I had received a letter from lord Locke that he was semi successful in creating an Ale that incorporated Brown Honey into the recipe, the catch was the process as of now wasted too much Brown Honey during brewing driving up the price per batch made. Lord Locke offered to keep testing the process if I supplied some more Brown Honey to test it, I agreed but made clear that this would be the last try at the brew.

Asher and Torgun themselves were thrilled to pieces to have a new friend in Alysanne to join in their games. The girl sadly had the same energy levels as Torgun it seems and would join my son in hiding from Asher when his energy became too much for them. Pretty sure my little brother had ADHD but what is any Westerosi person gonna know about that? fuck it he'll be fine I think.

After afternoon lessons for my squire and dinner My Father, Lyla and I would retire to my Father's study to discuss any Greensmith business that had to be debated. Some of these sessions would last well into the night discussing plans on how to keep house Greensmith rising in prominence. I confided in these meetings that my dream would be to see House Greensmith rise to the level of the Lockes, Whitehills and Forresters, a powerful minor-lord sworn to one of the principle bannermen of the North.

While to some my dream would seem lack luster but I could see the reality of my situation. House Greensmith is a landed knight house as of now, which many a lord in the North scoff at as Andal shite. This doubled by casting my house in a less than positive light to the many traditional Lords in the North in terms of trade and such, this is why Brown Honey hasn't taken over the North already. Our origin will probably continue to follow house Greensmith for Generations marking us as the odd ones out like the Manderlys.

This isn't to say house Greensmith hasn't done what we could to help mitigate this stigma, it was why we borrowed house Blackwood's practice of substituting the Sept for our knighthood ceremonies with the Godswood, among other things. Brown Honey was another way I hoped to curry favor with the Northern Nobility, as a cheaper alternative for a luxury good made close to home but that was slower than I hoped as for reasons already mentioned. Only time will truly be able to tell if our efforts bear fruit in what will probably our house's longest endeavor.

To further this agenda my Father was gonna offer Lord Hornwood to foster my brother Asher in return for teaching his people the Green Field crop rotation, that the man will first learn about when he arrives at Hillview in a few months time. It was a savvy enough plan from my old man because it balanced the fact his heir, myself, was basically fostered at New Castle, so his spare should be raised by our overlords in return for helping house Hornwood become a major food grower in the North.

The months passed by with a routine quickly hashed out for me. Wake up and terrorize my squire in the yard for an hour. Then break my fast with my family, after eating I would head to my forge with Beren, to fill as many orders as possible while stopping to drill the kid for two hours before dinner. Lyla decided that while I'm busy in the forge all day that she'll take a larger hand in overseeing the Brown Honey production building. That woman is something I tell you, she's already started to better streamline it and making proper preparations for further expansion if such is required. After dinner my Wife and I would meet with my Father for a while to discuss family business, then retire to our bedroom to work off our stress from the day, falling asleep after in a naked embrace.

In the days proceeding Lord Hornwood's arrival, I rode out to several nearby farms to request the farmers not start harvesting before the day lord Hornwood arrives to ensure the best showing. It was a nervous few days before lord Horton's arrival followed by a small retinue of six Hornwood Men At Arms. My Father the talkative man he was broke the ice by starting introductions.

"Lord Hornwood be welcome to Hillview Hall as a guest of honor. Please partake in our bread and salt and allow me to make introductions."

"Thank you Ser Rod and please do me the honor of re-introducing me to your household." Lord Horton replied as he grabbed a piece of salted bread.

"Of course mi'Lord. Starting off I'm sure you remember my first son Ser Alyn and next to him is his lady wife Lyla, formerly of house Lief, while beside her is Beren Lief, master Lief's second son and squire to Alyn. After them is Asher, my younger son of eight namedays, and Torgun Snow, Alyn's Six nameday old Natural born son. Last in line but certainly not least is Ser Ben Rivers and his daughter Alysanne, the newest members of our household with Ser Ben serving as our new Master at Arms." came the long winded but expected introduction done by my Father.

"Excellent, now if I may rest for a bit then Ser Rod and Ser Alyn we shall meet to discuss what my trip to Hillview is all about" came the weary request from Lord Hornwood.

"Of course mi'Lord, you and your men have the hospitality of Hillview for the duration of your stay. Alyn and Lyla will lead you to a guest room while Ser Ben takes care of your men." my Father answered back to Lord Hornwood's unasked question about accommodations.

Lyla and I quickly escorted the lord to Hillview's most luxurious guest room, made up just for occasions as this. Before we left lord Horton's presence I informed the man that we will meet in my Father's study after dinner to discuss why I have asked him here.

Dinner was a grand affair mostly done to butter up Lord Hornwood to make sure he's in the right mood for our meeting. Several courses were served of various Northern specialties with Brown Honey mixed in where ever possible because why not. When lord Horton was properly wined and dined enough my Father and I brought him to the Study.

"Ser Rod, while I'm not opposed to the idea of visiting my vassals ,the opposite in fact, I'm sure you understand this is a busy time for such a visit?" was how lord Hornwood started our conversation after we all sat down with a glass of wine.

"Of course mi'Lord but I think what Alyn and I have to show you will make it more than worth the Trip. Alyn explain to our dear lord why we invited him to Hillview." my Father lightly commanded me.

"Lord Hornwood Hillview has more to offer you than just our plows, seed drills and Brown Honey. In the past few years a new practice has been put into place in Greensmith lands that has seen our field return shoot up more than ten times what it was. I'm sure even you have noticed our grain tax payment increase mi'Lord." I leadingly came into the discussion.

"Yes I have been slightly curious since your grain tax payment just seems to keep growing, but I mostly chalked it up to you using you Brown Honey revenue wisely in employing more farmers." was Lord Hornwoods rebuttal to my statement.

"Close mi'lord , while we have seen more Farmers settle our lands it hasn't been nearly as many as what would have been needed if the old practices were still in use." was my light denial of his theory.

"But all those plentiful fields I saw on the way here, are you saying they are managed but just a few more men than what was already here?" came the dubious question from Lord Hornwood.

"A few would be a bit of an understatement for about a hundred new farmers but ultimately yes with our new plow and seed drill has made getting seed into the ground has turned from the most time consuming part of the process to the least. Combine more seed planted with the new field rotation used here and you get the surplus we are currently experiencing." was my calm answer to lord Hornwood's curiousity.

"A different crop rotation you say? Such a thing hasn't been tried in the North in thousands of years and that led to the one we use now but you say your's is better?" was the disbelieving almost rhetorical question from Lord Hornwood.

"Yes actually, it is now referred to as the Green Field crop rotation." was my dead pan reply to his question.

"I am interested in this Green Field crop rotation Ser Alyn, but do forgive me if I still seem skeptical of it. This doesn't even take into account what you both will want in exchange for this information if it turns fruitful." was lord Hornwood's confession to my serious reply.

"We welcome you to pursue our record books mi'lord and Alyn will personally take you out to view some of our fields and answer the more technical questions you may have. The only thing we ask in return, if you find what we are trying to give useful, is that you foster my younger son Asher at Castle Hornwood" My Father spoke, jumping back into the conversation.

"That can be arranged if I am suitably swayed by what I will see and learn on the morrow good Ser. Now thank you gentlemen for a interesting evening but I will retire to contemplate what I have just learned." was lord Horton's bid goodnight before leaving the Solar.

"Think you can get him to see things our way tomorrow son?" asked my old man after lord Hornwood left.

"He'll be blessing the day his Father landed us by the time I'm down with him Father, just leave it to me." was my confident reply before I to left the study to finish my night fucking my Wife.

The next day turned out about as well as I expected. Lord Hornword was thoroughly impressed by the fields and the rotation, and by the time our tour ended he fully believed in the Green Field crop rotation. Lord Hornwood, my Father and I spent the rest of the day discussing the quickest and easiest way for Lord Hornwood to introduce the rotation to his lands, capitalizing on the rest of summer as best as possible. An agreement was also reached that Asher would come to Hornwood a month after lord Horton leaves Hillview to allow the head of house Hornwood time to prepare for my brother's fostering.

The head of house Hornwood left the day after our tour to try and make it back to Hornwood as fast as possible, as there was little time for him to waste if he wanted to start the rotation next planting season. The lord's departure also freed my Father and I up to inform the family of the agreement reached with Lord Hornwood. Asher for his part was both excited and saddened about his upcoming Fostership, excited to meet the Hornwoods and explore their castle and of course saddened to be leaving his family for so long.

My adorable little brother even started tearing up when he thought this meant my Father or I wouldn't be able to knight him. That made my Father and I exchange an amused looks before I gently rebutted Asher's line of thinking by letting him know that if he kept up his weapons training and his lessons with the Hornwood's Maester I would still annoint him a proper knight of house Greensmith washing away all my little Brother's doubts.

I personally saw my brother too Castle Hornwood when the time came for his fostering, along with carts full of Brown Honey, plows and seed drills recently ordered by house Hornwood. My little message to lord Horton showing what he's gaining from watching over my little brother. I only stayed the night to see Asher settled before I left the next morning to return to Hillview as more work needed to be done.

Sadly I wouldn't be able to continue working on orders from my forge since a letter from lord Manderly was waiting for me upon my return.

To Ser Alyn Greensmith

Alyn, I invite you and your wife to come and visit New Castle at your earliest convienance. I assure you the fish will make your trip well worth it.

Kind Regards,

Lord Torrhen Manderly

Head of House Manderly

An interesting letter from an interesting man for sure. Lyla seemed both excited and hesitant about the trip, the excitement I could understand but what has my so sure of herself wife so hesitant? Oh well I'm sure she'll feel better once I take her to the markets of White Harbor.

The trip to New Castle was as relaxed as one could expect, except Lyla had been feeling ill on and off over the course of the trip. I offered to turn back only to be refuted, it was starting to really worry me. Soon enough though we spotted New Castle and Lyla started to feel better so I chalked it up to a stomach bug while moving my party through the gates.

"Alyn, my boy, it is good to see you, and lady Lyla what a wonderful sight for this old man's eyes. How is your household Alyn?" Lord Torrhen greeted us jovially with Wyman standing by his side.

"All is well Lord Torrhen. My Father is as healthy as an ox, Asher just started fostering at Hornwood and Torgun is content to follow me around at home and Wyman you son of the Sea it is good to see you again after so long my friend." was my answer to Lord Torrhen's question and greeting to my friend and former Knight.

"It is good to see the Dancing Bear as well my friend and Lyla you continue to radiate above anything Alyn is worthy of." was Wyman's typical smartass remark to my greeting.

"Oh this Bear is worthy enough of me you believe that good Ser. Dancing or Not hammers are very good at smacking things down." was Lyla's witty rebuttal to Wyman, knowing my distaste for the ridiculous nickname.

"Ho Ho a sharp tongue, you have yourself a gem in her Alyn, better hold on tight." was Lord Torrhen's cheeky remark, while Wyman sported a bewildered look from my Wife's statement.

"Oh she is definitely never far from my presence when I can help it Lord Torrhen! Now is there something you wanted to show us mi'lord?" I asked hoping he had what I thought he had.

"Yes I do actually Alyn, let's take a short walk to the Docks so you can see what my builders accomplished." Lord Torrhen answered as he started leading us down to the docks to show us what had to be a ship.

"My Ship Builder's thought long and hard about your idea Alyn, till they argued so long they scraped the original idea and went back to almost the basics of ship building. Deciding that simpler was better with a craft such as this." Lord Torrhen explained as he showed Lyla and I what could be our first real ship.

It was a twenty meter Longboat style ship, with a single mast and a shallow bottom to allow for upriver travel. The front of the ship held a lowered flat portion meant to act as a storage area for caught fish or other goods. The back half of the ship behind the collapsible Mast, held enough spots for Eight rowers aside and a Captain controlling the rudder, making up a Seven and Ten man Crew total.

"This Ship is perfect Lord Torrhen. One of these ships full of fish would feed one of our villages for a few days at least. How much would it cost me to purchase this one and four others like it on top of hiring some of your sailors to teach my people to pilot the ships?" were my quickfire questions about cost to Lord Torrhen.

"The ships themselves will cost you fifty and one hundred gold dragons apiece. Sailors to teach people from each of your villages to handle the ships will be another fifty gold dragons." was lord Torrhen's own quick reply probably foreseeing my own questions.

"I can accept that price on one condition, you space out the building of the boats to just one every two months allowing me time to get the money in order and prepare the villages with proper docks and such." I'll probably need to send one of my men home tomorrow morning to get word back to Hillview as soon as possible to begin building a proper sized dock in the fishing village closest to our seat for our first ship. While Lyla and I are in White Harbor I should also commission Sails stitched and dyed to match house Greensmith's sigil as well.

"That is perfectly acceptable Alyn, now let us adjourn back to New Castle to celebrate house Greensmith's future fishing fleet." was Lord Torrhen's answer to my amendment.

"Well I guess I better put the cream on top of this good news cake. Alyn I'm pregnant!" came Lyla's sudden admission stopping Wyman, lord Torrhen and I dead in our tracks.

"Lyla really? Love why didn't you say something sooner this is fantastic news!" I reply while picking her up and spinning us around on the docks.

"I know Alyn but you were so excited to visit New Castle I didn't want to ruin it. Now put me down I just started feeling better and I don't need you making me sick again!" was Lyla's emotional reply to my question

"Well Alyn it seems New Castle is your lucky charm for babes!" was Wymans interruption to Lyla's and my moment receiving glares from us both.

"Do shut up son. If your Mother was around to see you ruin such a moment, well I'll let your memory fill in the rest." was Lord Torrhen's chastising comment which got a giggle out of Lyla even though my glare stayed heated at Wyman for bringing Torgun up at a time like this.

After the second bit of exciting news was over with, our group did return to New Castle to feast. The night was filled with all the delicacies you would expect from the Manderly's of New Castle and I didn't fail to notice how much Brown Honey was mixed in with quite a few dishes either.

The next morning I sent a rider home to inform my Father of our new ship and what it will cost us, as well as a request to see to the start of our new dock. Lyla and I decided to stay a week longer to socialize, and by socialize I mean Lyla did that while I enjoyed torturing Wyman and the other men in the yard. I also poached a couple of middling blacksmiths from house Manderly's forge after gaining allowance to do so from lord Torrhen since they had surplus and wouldn't mind loosing a couple, I did have to concede to lord Torrhen a one time half off coupon for his next order of Brown Honey to swing the deal. The men themselves weren't masters but with a little tutoring from yours truly they would be close enough for my Father and I to relax a bit.

Lyla and I also did take advantage of strolling through White Harbor to buy some goods for Hillview that were usually very hard to come by. I also commissioned the personalized Sails to be made for my ships, it costed five and ten gold dragons apiece but I know it will be worth it to make house Greensmith stand prominent.

I did sneak away from Lyla for a little bit to commission a pregnancy gift for my Wife. A silver necklace with the Greensmith sigil etched into an attached silver pendant, a beautiful gift for my amazing wife. We left at the end of the week with me getting lucky the night before when I showed Lyla her new piece of jewelry. The week and half long trip was as calm as could be expected when you travel with a pregnant woman who seems to be allergic to traveling.

Hillview was a most welcomed sight for my group especially Lyla who just wanted to sleep in our comfortable bed instead of her carriage. Soon enough we were settled back in and I could get the new blacksmiths up to speed. It took longer than I hoped but after a few weeks I felt comfortable leaving the two newbys by themselves while I went and sorted out our fishing boat issues.

Within days of sinking my teeth fully into the project we started making headway. First seven and ten men were recruited and sent off to White Harbor to learn to run the ship, along with the payment of two hundred gold dragons for this part of the transaction. After the future sailors left the builders dived into building the best wooden dock we could afford. It took three weeks for the dock to be completed and another five weeks for the volunteers to finish their training and return to the village.

The Smallfolk of the village were stunned to see the impressive fishing vessel proudly flying house Greensmith's sigil on it's sails dock in their little village. To cement this day in their minds I called a town meeting in the square where I decided to speak.

"Good People of the village I hope you find the gift house Greensmith has given you a prized possession for many years, but know this is only the begining. Over the next eight months the rest of the fishing villages will receive similar ships and the good people of the lands under house Greensmith rule shall never go hungry again. No longer will you have to worry if there will be enough grain or preserved fish to feed yourselves during Winter, this is a promise made by myself Ser Alyn Greensmith, heir to Hillview and heir to you good folks well being." my little speech was followed by a raucous applause from the crowd of a little over a hundred people but it warmed my heart all the same.

Over the next six months I oversaw to the next three villages receiving their ships and the building of their dock, but sadly the final village had to be handled by my Father as Lyla gave birth shortly after the fourth village was handled. We welcomed another Son to our family then. Tormund Greensmith came out loud and proud to the world around him. A big babe with a tuff of black hair and my blue eyes marking him a beautiful mesh of Lyla's and my look. I now have a legitimate heir for the world to see, a scary sobering thought but also one that hardened me and would drive me to do things I'd never thought I could do to protect my family.

Torgun was ecstatic to have a little brother to play with now. Lyla even sat Torgun next to her on the bed to allow my boy the pleasure of holding his baby brother from another mother. My heart was full that day watching my little family together. My Father instantly fell in love with Tormund himself upon his return, the second he held his latest Grandson I thought my Father would melt from happiness, though he did jape about us needing more woman in the family paired with a suggestive wink.