Ch. 11.5 Skyreach.

"I can't understand why he can't stay a few more days…" Malessa said, grief all over her slightly trembling voice.

"Despite being so young, he is already a man, a learned man, he already found someone he wants to spend his life with, we shouldn't stop him," I said while drinking some wine.

"I know that! He has always been so smart… It's hard to believe that when my baby was of ten namedays he already gave us excellent ideas to develop our lands, he is already taking care of his sisters and training his sword, yet he finds time to help us." Malessa said while smiling a bit. "Do you remember Franklyn? How surprised were we when the letter arrived? Who would have thought that the land could be worked in such a way."

"Indeed, not even our farmers believed in this technique, yet I made them try it. Hehehe, I still remember their faces full of disbelief when they saw the land giving more than ever. Now, Hoodridge, Bottleneck, Skyreach, and Cadgemont are producing twice the amount of food, that's only taking into account the crop rotation that Sylas suggested, not even Mateo knew about it, and he learned about agriculture in the Citadel. Did you know that the smallfolk are calling it 'Hawk's system'? Hahaha!" I laughed boisterously at the accomplishments of my son. "He even sent letters to start quarries and get as much stone as possible… Those terraces are nothing short of a miracle! Food production is through the roof! We are supplying the western parts of Dorne by ourselves, that's with a few terraces as the quarries are gaining attraction after we upped the wage." I smiled softly at the prosperity that my son has helped him tremendously to achieve.

"Hahaha, The terraces also have a rather fitting name, 'Hawk's Nest' They call them since they have to throw sticks and dirt to make the solid robust." My wife said while giggling.

"Yes, these discoveries in agriculture will help our lands develop at a much faster pace, I have already heard of many births. The elders of a few villages are reporting a clear bolster to their numbers due to them not fearing for lack of food."

"That's also thanks to you, dear. You are a merciful and humble lord, you don't take everything away from the smallfolk, you are a great man." Malessa said as she hugged me and kissed my cheek.

"Indeed, now our smallfolk will have even more meat, with one of the last letters that Sylas sent, we will be able to start trying our hands with the husbandry of pigs, cows, oxen, sheep, and even horses! We have a great amount of gold to start, Sylas also gave us a path ahead, and I shall follow the advice of my dear heir." I said proudly while caressing Malessa's waist.

"Indeed, with our farmland producing one-fourth of food for the cattle, we will be able to get a great amount of food for it, so we will be able to maintain a good number of it roaming our lands without a problem!" My dear wife said happily.

"Indeed, my dear wife, with more food for cattle, we can maintain more than before. With more cattle, we can feed even our smallfolk with meat and if the winter hits hard, we might be able to dress them in leather and wool, our men might ride local horses and our daughters enjoy milk and cheese daily."

"I can only hope our dear son can come up with more recipes and new food! The few he has sent are marvelous!"

"It really helps when we don't have to eat meat that's burnt. Thankfully our cooks can follow the recipes well enough."

"Yes! I want to eat brisket again! I still can remember the tenderness and juiciness of the meat, or maybe we can eat ribs." My wife said I could hear her swallow her saliva.

.-Small Folk POV-.

"Have you heard?!" My dear friend Matt came running and yelling at me as soon as he spotted me in the tavern.

"Heard what?" I asked curiously.

"Our young Lord visited Skyreach briefly!" Matt said extremely excited.

"Matt, I know you are his devoted follower, but don't raise your voice so much," I said while feeling slightly awkward as everyone in the almost full tavern was looking at us.

"What do you mean, I bring great news for everyone! Our young Lord has faced Ser Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning, in combat and he was injured twice before they stopped fighting, in the end, Ser Arthur Dayne submitted to our lord and swore for him!" My friend yelled loudly.

A really loud round of cheers started inside the tavern as everyone started celebrating their young Lord's achievement with great enthusiasm.

"H-How? I get that our young Lord is great and all, but he is but thirteen namedays! The Sword of the Morning should be ten-name days older!" I said softly.

"Hahaha! I can attest to our young Lord's talents in the sword! When he was but nine namedays, the last time I saw him, he was able to beat black and blue a squire of fifteen name days! Hahaha!" A cheery guard of the castle yelled loudly.

"You know nothing! I saw him today enter the castle! He looks like a man now! Puahahahaha! He is as tall as a grown man, and he now looks like he has muscles on him! I can't believe our young Lord is a lad of thirteen namedays! If someone told me he was of eighteen namedays I would have believed him!" Another inebriated guard yelled loudly as well.

"I still don't understand why you don't like our young Lord!" Matt said curiously.

"It's not that I don't like him, he is after all the one that has helped many to get some food on the table, I haven't heard of anyone dying from hunger in months, even the religious men are praising him and Lord Franklyn for donating food to the poor, it's just that… it's hard to believe that a lad so young was able to accomplish everything he has on his name, you know?" I said while trying to find someone to understand me.

"Bah! Pure nonsense lad! I have heard of young lords being as smart as grown adults all my life! I have even seen some smallfolk! Our lord though is different, he is as smart as the smartest grown, which is rare, but not unheard of. I believe the lad was blessed by the Smith, the Warrior, and the Crone!" A bearded man beside Matt said with a happy smile.

"Yeah, plus, he hasn't done anything but help us, the smallfolk, now almost everyone has a job that can put enough food on the table, I have heard that there are new posts for miners in the quarry of Widewatch or the mines of Cadgemont," Matt said with a knowing smile.

"I want to become a man-at-arms under Fowler's banner, my father still stands strong and has given me the thumbs up, so I have to train hard for my dream," I said.

'Although I don't hate the Fowlers, I find it weird, but they have allowed my father to put food on the table and that is something that I'm grateful for and I want to repay in the only way I know.'

"And here I thought that you hated them!" Matt erupted in laughter.

"Obviously I don't, they have maintained these lands for generations, and they have never abused the smallfolk or have left us alone like other nobles that we have heard of. Those Stormfucks or Reachcucks have many stories like that, thankfully, House Fowler has never left us to rot like others!" I said with conviction in my words as it was the truth, not even the most despotic Fowler has left his smallfolk to rot and die like dogs.

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