Chapter 5 - Adventures in the North 02.
[Chapter Size: 2454 Words]
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Third Person POV
Northern Kingdom, Farm north of Tallhart Territory, 289 AC, a few hours later
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The farm Jon discovered to be called Icehill Farm was managed by three families. They harvested every four months during the summer years and sent the produce to their lord's town to the south. In return, they received profits after deducting the use of their lands, tools, and seeds.
The eldest man Jon had met a few hours earlier, named Dult, was a North-born man and the overall head here, being the oldest. His younger brother, from another family, was another Northerner, introducing himself to Jon as Lucas. Their parents, the Pik family, were the former owners of the farm, a family of peasant farmers. The farm was managed by their parents' parents, brothers, and some sisters who married other farmers in the area. They were the only ones left from the old generation due to past winters; their parents had passed away, leaving the children to take over the land.
A third family joined the farm to work as traders and negotiators for the farm itself. The patriarch of this third family was in Torrhen Square to conduct business with their lord's latest shipment of grains.
Dult, the 40-nameday man, had four children. Three of them were on the farm when Jon arrived, with one son and one daughter the same age as Jon, and two young adults aged 18 and 20 namedays. His wife was at home taking care of their younger children and household chores.
Lucas, at 30 namedays, had only two teenage children since his wife died giving birth to the youngest. He initially left the farm to his older brother and became a guard for the Tallharts' house for years, but returned to the farm a few years ago to help his brother after their parents died.
The trader family's patriarch was Greg, with three daughters and two sons, both still children, as Greg Juit was 24 namedays old. The family had no blood relation to the two brothers here, but their parents knew Greg's parents, so they were welcomed to work as negotiators here because Greg had some literacy and knew the Juit family's business.
Jon, initially cautious, opened up to the families and got along well with the welcoming families for a night. The adult women felt sympathy for Jon's story and easily embraced him with warmth. The girls were excited about such a handsome boy with eyes they had never seen before arriving at their door. As children, they wanted to play with him all the time. Even the elders, with a brief exchange of words with the boy from the forest, ended up liking talking to Jon. They still found his story absurd but appreciated Jon's ability to speak and handle words like any noble's child. He shared various things he had heard and read in Winterfell, which garnered much admiration from the families as they could learn new stories. The boy realized for the first time how making friends was so easy, unlike his old home where he would have to hide from any visitor, and the servants would never be willing to talk to him.
Jon, in turn, was moved by the families of this humble farm. He couldn't remember being treated so kindly in Winterfell, except by his sister and father. He warmed up to people like these. They welcomed him, despite his absurd and suspicious story, gave him some food, even though the conditions of these families would make anyone turn away a stranger at their door, let alone bring him to their own table to spend a night here.
For Jon, after seeing all this kindness firsthand, he didn't care how poor their conditions were or how the food was inferior to that of Winterfell. The boy was beginning to see how the world was much bigger than he imagined while in Winterfell, and of course, Jon had a great help here to get along with the families, and that help was Caraxes, who, with Jon's magic, developed an intelligence that a normal bird shouldn't have. This made everyone enjoy his attempts at singing and his courage to attract people's attention. The young eagle had a somewhat narcissistic personality and had a compulsion to become the center of attention.
At the end of the night, Jon lay in a bed on that farm and endured the cold to get some sleep that night. It was something many families like these were used to, and he was too, to some extent, due to his cold room in Winterfell. But his heart was warmed for the first time in a long while.
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Dult POV
Northern Kingdom, Icehill Farm, 289 AC, the next morning.
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That child was kind, amiable, intelligent, and even literate.
"How could anyone send a child like this to the Wall? If this child's parents are sending him to such a fate, I'll raise the child myself!" the older man on the farm said to himself.
"I agree, my love," said his 35-nameday wife, Myka, who heard him murmur as she woke up.
"He would be an addition to this farm, and we could have him marry our youngest daughter, Petra, in a few years," she added, and I had to agree with her reasoning.
"When I asked him the reason for going north, to the Wall, he avoided all my questions," I said in defeat; the boy was a mystery. "Knowing it was a sensitive subject for him, I didn't press it for now, but I want to stop him from going to the Wall."
"Anyway, you can talk to him while he's here; now let's prepare a meal for our children while they're still asleep," she said, getting up and heading to the kitchen.
I sighed and got up too, hoping to talk to the boy later.
After setting the tables, while my family along with my brother's and Greg's were coming for their meal, Jon finally appeared with his little eagle. He seemed well-rested, not that I can say he looked tired to begin with, but I'm always surprised by his genetics with incredibly handsome features for a boy and his peculiar eyes. It's amazing that even though he's a Snow, he had a good education and lived well, despite being a bit lean. His education was good, something that would even make my older children ashamed.
"Good morning, everyone," Jon said with a shy smile.
"Good morning!" The children and women present greeted him. Jon sat down; he didn't seem very comfortable, but he managed. His children, nephews, and Greg's children began chatting animatedly with Jon.
Another thing that surprised me, despite his manners, our families had terrible conditions, something that shouldn't be the reality for someone like Jon. However, there was no disdain in his eyes, more like empathy. I am determined to have Jon join our families; he would be a great addition with Greg. Greg knows a few things about reading and writing, but nowhere near ideal, and Jon growing up here to be a trader would be highly appreciated by someone literate like the boy, who was also very intelligent.
Watching the boy eat and converse with his children enthusiastically, I couldn't help but notice how he sometimes talked to the bird. Besides its magical appearance, there was that strangely intelligent bird, as if we could speak to the bird itself, and it understood us most of the time, something greatly appreciated by my children. Yes, an animal shouldn't understand humans, but this bird seemed to do just that.
While lost in my thoughts, the boy suddenly called me.
"MR. Dult, could we talk alone after this meal?" the boy said, pulling Dult out of his thoughts.
"Of course, Jon, let's talk, and you don't need to address me like that; I'm not a Lord, just a commoner, so just Dult is enough," I said, feeling that this would be the opportunity to talk to the boy about my ideas and his future, even though I didn't think it would be this soon to discuss it with him.
After the boys had their first meal, where everyone was still chatting with Jon about legends, wars in the South, and laughing at Caraxes's antics, they finally went for a walk together. He was sure he could prevent the boy from going to the Wall, seeing how Jon became emotional and connected with his family, despite being a bit shy. Knowing equally well that bastards didn't have a normal or very happy life, even here in the North, where they might be treated better than in the South, it was still a tough life. From what I saw, though, from that expression Jon gave most of the time and how he was very cautious initially with strangers, it seemed like it was a much worse life than usual. I wondered which family Jon belonged to and why they would send him to the Wall, something he refused to comment on his reason and family all night, saying it was personal for his children. I wanted to know who in the North behaved like a southerner around bastards; I knew this because I had heard from traders that bastards in the South live a shitty life when I visited the city with Greg. If the illegitimate children weren't killed at birth, they were thrown into some random orphanage. After thinking for a bit, I gathered courage and said to Jon.
"Little Jon, would you like to stay with our families instead of going to the Wall?" I said without expecting much, but I noticed the expressions and reactions on the boy. I saw a shocked expression on his face; I even saw his eyes get a little moist. "What kind of life has this boy lived?" Dult thought in shock when he saw this reaction.
"Dult, I'm sorry, if it were some time ago, I would really accept, but going to the Wall is something even the gods need me to do..." the boy said reluctantly. If Dult could read his mind, he would see that Jon was genuinely trying to stay with his family.
Ignoring the godly things, thinking it was a way of saying, I continued insisting.
"I really would like to insist that you stay; we're poor, but we can welcome a child with such a cruel fate," I said. But when I saw the boy not responding to me and looking at me cautiously, I thought about discussing this at another time. Now I was curious about why he called me to talk.
"But, if that's not the case, may I ask why you wanted to talk?" I said a bit curious. Jon looked at him and said:
"I need a map, Dult, to get out of here and go to my destination in the north, for that, I need silver stag coins and buy a..." Jon said, and Dult looked cautious as to where the boy was going; he was still insisting on going to the Wall.
"What do you mean, Jon? You know we're poor; money is a hard thing for us and to sustain three families," I said to the boy.
"But I have a way to make you earn the money I need; I can make your harvest thrive like no other, turn your land fertile for generations to come, you won't be poor anymore. I just want enough money for a map in return," the boy said, making me remain silent for a while processing everything I heard.
"How could I say anything after hearing this? Wasn't it absurd for a child to speak such fanciful words? Does Jon think he's blessed or something?" I exclaimed all these phrases in my mind as I looked at the child the same age as my own.
After a while, incredulous, I said, "And how do you plan to do that?" I finally said, not that I still didn't think all of this was absurd, but I wanted to see the child's response. Without saying anything more, Jon walked a few steps to the harvest area where we had removed all the new grains and planted new ones that we still had in stock.
I watched him carefully the whole time, wondering if the child would perform some kind of trick or play. I was even starting to find the situation amusing, something that reminded me of my children and their childish absurdities. But when he was about to play with it, my jaw dropped a little.
Jon pressed both hands into the ground; I was now looking in disbelief at the child, wondering what he was doing because I felt that something was going to happen, a premonition like no other.
"I plan to do it like this, watch." Jon said, and in his hand, a green glow began to appear where he touched the soil while pressing the ground.
I was looking in shock at that magical light, wondering if I was still asleep after all.
And then I had the vision, the vision that I would never forget in my life. The harvest they had just planted with the new seeds in the last few days, the plantation that wouldn't be ready for the next 4 months, the one that I was sure most of it would die, due to lack of nutrients, pests, or wild animals, suddenly in front of my eyes, began to magically grow at an instant speed, and soon, in that harvest area, it transformed entirely into a green plantation, covering 100% of the area.
I fell on the ground directly with my butt on the soil after losing my balance with this; I still couldn't believe my eyes, was completely incredulous with this miracle.
This small planting was at least 5 times larger than what he would harvest throughout the year in the total area of his farm.
'How is this possible?'
'Did the boy really do this?'
'Is he truly a child of the forest?'
'I've never heard of anything like this, let alone seen it in person!'
'Is this real?'
'What in the North is this child?'
"This child... this child..." I began to whisper as my gaze returned to the child responsible for all this.
I noticed Jon on the ground too, breathing irregularly and with blood on his nose.
"YOU ARE... YOU ARE... BLES... YOU ARE BLESSED BY THE GODS!?" I shouted hysterically, no longer acting like a 40-year-old adult should.
The boy looked at me timidly, shamefully, and said
"Can you keep a secret?" He asked me as I was about to faint with all of this.
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