Chapter 3: Our Steel is Strong 3

Greensmith Chapter Three

Hillview Hall 150 A.C.

Three moons have come and gone since I returned to Hillview Hall, five hundred gold dragons richer and a little more famous. In that time the gold was put to good use, either invested into my Brown Honey business or another project, like our planting field expansions. Since the four field crop rotation took off and every farmer in our lands has adopted it I've started working on a new plow and trying to recreate the seed drill. The new plow is close to a Dutch plow if my memories are right but with a few modifications, mostly making as many parts not the blade out of sturdy wood pieces to cut down costs for the average farmer to be able to buy one.

My Father was right there with me learning how to craft each machine so we both could actively build one of each at a time. The plow and seed drill sold like hotcakes once they were tested and perfected. It was helpful that House Greensmith now had a bit of a reputation amongst the Smallfolk for producing better materials for Farm use, our circle harness being the biggest hit so far and our high quality handtools were always in demand. I rode out to several farms during the first planting season the plow and seed drill were used and I was almost amused when the farmers got done so fast they were baffled, but I kept it contained and just suggested an expansion to the men before I rode off to watch the next farm.

The Brown Honey business was growing as well with orders from the Hornwoods and my fellow vassals coming in as well as orders from the Manderly's and their vassals. The Vale was a bit trickier but once I worked out a deal with lord Torrhen he put me into contact with a trusted Merchant that sailed under the Manderly's flag and did a lot of work in Gulltown, safe to say the man quickly became my go to for fulfilling all my orders to the Royces and Graftons plus their vassals.

The sailing merchant was worth the ten dragons I had to pay him every trip, since he was reliable and had the contacts to see the product transported while there, a responsibility on the Buyer I made sure they were well aware off. This was a surprisingly common way of doing things in Westeros since logistics could be such a nightmare Merchants were the usual go betweens, with one being paid to start the process and the other getting paid on delivery. Wheres my money some may ask, well as a noble I get paid upfront unless previous agreements were made for a different method.

This way of doing business wasn't full proof of course but reputation was a prominent factor in Westeros and neither Noble nor Merchant wanted a reputation of being bad business cause of course that meant less coin going their way. For now my operation was in it's infancy and with time I hope to stabilize my channels of transportation eliminating any possible losses. The one thing I didn't enjoy about my business growing was the constant stream of Couriers sent to Hillview Hall from customers but I'll just have to bare it till house Greensmith becomes important and large enough for a Maester, something I don't think I'll see in my lifetime.

Besides my businesses slowly gaining momentum, my family was also doing well. My Father was hard at work as the head of our house and helping me fill equipment orders but otherwise was happy as a peach with a young son and grandson to help care for. We did have a discussion of building a second wooden wall to expand our buildings further but nothing was decided yet. Asher, my adorable little brother, was beginning to become a little terror driving his and Torgun's nursemaid ragged with his energy.

Torgun though was my pride and joy, he loved playing with Asher for a short while but when that tuckered him out he would somehow slip away from both the Nursemaid and Asher. This would usually cause massive worrying by a lot of parents and would've for me if Torgun didn't just find his way to my forge after ditching Asher. The first time he did it he came in screaming "Papa!" as he entered and nearly made me drop my blacksmith hammer on my foot from surprise.

Now you may think a Forge is an unsafe place for a child and almost one hundred percent of the time you'd be right but I'm the exception since Asher started watching me in the forge from time to time when he was the same age as Torgun now. To make sure my little brother didn't get hurt I set up a "Kid Corner" in the corner closest to the door of my forge complete with wooden toys made by me, a carpet to keep off the dirt floor, and a little child fence to stop them from wandering.

I even introduced Balto to Torgun and now my loyal husky would come jump the fence too play or nap with my son. The first time I saw them snuggled up sleeping was one of the cutest things I've ever seen and made me desperately want a camera. My little daycare was also a plus for the nursemaid since she was able to focus on Asher and quelling his storm of energy.

Right now I was enjoying my successes since in a moon I will be riding too Barley Lief Hall to discuss something of importance with master Lief. Before then though I had plans to make with my Father about expanding the Brown Honey business further since word is spreading to further Northern Houses of our syrup. Right now after about six months of sales house Greensmith has made a Profit of two hundred gold dragons after cost and a further thirty gold dragons will also have to go to taxes but still one hundred and seventy gold dragons is nothing to sneeze at for a house such as ours, especially in just Six Months.

The real crux of my plan depends on my ability to expand selling to the rest of the North and having my return customers ordering in greater quantities as they develop more of a taste for the syrup. Some other plans were also in the pipeline but some needed cooperation with other nobles and some needed more gold making them, as of now, wait and see ideas.

The speed of information traveling from place to place in Westeros was another thing that gave me headaches trying to follow but I guess news of work in my lands had finally started to spread and I was now seeing more people migrating to Hillview Hall. Between five to ten new comers showed up to Hillview every moon now looking for new opportunities. I settled a few second sons of farmers, with families, in some land not under plow and taught them the Four Field Crop rotation, they proved reluctant to adopt the practice that the Greensmith lands saw commonplace now but they did agree to it after I threw in plows and seed drills for them, with an increase tax for some time to pay for the equipment of course, I was generous not dumb.

Ax men with families were another common immigrant, the men were quick to trade their axes for tree taps though when they learned how well I paid. They and any wood craftsmen were moved to one of our three lumber villages to collect sap and craft our Brown Honey casks.

The fishing villages were the only part of my lands that weren't thriving as of now. I thought long and hard about this issue and after visiting the villages and observing the river I came up with an idea, fishing boats. Now I know, fishing boats? they must already have those and yes they do, small rowboats used to fish further up or down the river but nothing else. No the boats I was thinking of would be something that could travel down the river to the inlet of the Broken Branch too netfish the Bite then travel back up river with their catch.

This was one of my plans that needed gold because if I was to purchase such a boat, if one able to perform as I need is even possible, it would cost a pretty penny then I would have to times it by five so all the villages could have one. That didn't even include the cost of hiring men to teach some of my people how to pilot the craft, because there was no way I'd let inexperienced Smallfolk wreck such an investment and possibly get killed, both must be avoided at all cost.

I haven't even approached lord Torrhen over this matter knowing it wouldn't be worth anything till later on. Plus there was also the issue of where to store them during winter since them being frozen in the river while docked could seriously damage the ships which was something else I wished to avoid, I was hoping to reach out to lord Manson of Ramsgate to see if he would be interested in leasing the fishing boats and crews during winter to allow both to keep making a profit for all parties.

In a year I will reconsider the possibility of this idea, if my savings and business were both in healthy standing, since it would be a major boon to my lands. For now I will start by accepting the Cerwyns and Flints of Widow Watch exploratory orders of five casks of Brown Honey a piece.

The days flew by for me what with staying busy keeping an eye on the collection and processing of my Syrup, building plows and seed drills, and being with my family. With more reorders coming in my Father also informed me he was going to to write to lord Hornwood of the possibility of purchasing the giant logs of their forest to build our second wall. Then it was the day for me to travel to Barley Lief Hall, the goodbyes weren't awful this time since I'll hopefully only be gone a week at most.

The two and a half day ride wasn't as bad as others I've had to endure and before I knew it the part stone-part wood motte and bailey keep of house Lief came into my view and we were ushered inside it's gates where master Hullen and his three children waited to greet me.

Master Hullen looked the same as he did at the Hornwood Oath Feast, standing proudly at six feet tall, brown hair nicely done in a lord's style and a quality sword at his hip. His eldest was a daughter named Lyla who at six and ten Namedays old, she was a beauty in my own opinion with her shining black hair, pale skin and tall stature of five foot nine Inches for a lady but her sparkling grey eyes really drew me in though. She stood with her twin brothers Benjen and Beren, nearly identical at three and ten except for their hair, Benjen the elder and heir had his Father's brown hair while Beren matched his sister in black.

"Master Lief it is good to see you again, I hope you and your's have been well since we last spoke." I approached and greeted the Master.

"Thank you Ser Alyn. My family and I have been well and from what we've heard you exalted yourself quite well at house Royce's latest tourney, congratulations on that I'm sure your family is quite proud but please partake in my bread and salt and be welcomed into our Hall." Huh most Northmen didn't care about my victory making it a surprise master Hullen brought it up and slightly suspicious, a chance to butter me up for something?

"Your words honor me master Hullen, now how about introductions to your family?" which got the man to do a spiel of his children that I mostly listened to before we adjourned inside for me to freshen up before dinner.

The night turned out pretty alright and I stayed busy fielding questions from Benjen and Beren about the exciting parts of knighthood. Lyla threw in a couple of her own here and there but mostly was satisfied to sit and let her younger brothers pester me. Master Hullen and I shared words a bit at times but he too was happy to let his sons wear me out with their curiosities. Soon enough we all retired for the night to sleep, with business set for taking place in the morning.

I slept as well as I could with my anxiety on the fritz for my meeting with master Hullen. I lamented the fact that I wouldn't be able to release some of my pent up energy in the yard before this meeting but I sucked it up and dressed sharp to compliment my game face. I was escorted by one of master Hullen's men to his study after I exited my rooms, ready as I could be.

"Master Hullen thank you for agreeing to this meeting." I spoke in greeting while entering the man's study.

"Of course Ser Alyn, I believe neighbors should try and stay in good standing with each other but please take a seat and lets discuss what you came here too." Ahh polite but still straight to business gotta appreciate the Northmen's mentality.

"I think our houses' could benefit greatly from closer cooperation master Hullen and I believe the best way to accomplish this is through marriage, namely between your daughter Lyla and myself as the heir to house Greensmith." I come right out with it marriage for closer ties.

"Hmm, I think that could be agreeable, what would you expect for a dowry?" was master Hullen's probing reply.

"We want control of the rest of the conjoined forest that sits in between our lands." was my monotone statement, even though I was sweating on the inside because if he agreed it would literally double the amount of Maple Trees at my disposal.

"The only reason I'm not laughing you out of my study is because I know you have more to offer me in return for thousands of leagues of good hunting and timber area." was master Hullen's response with a note of irritation hidden under his otherwise even tone.

"We can supply better farm tools for use on your extensive fields that will cut down on plowing and planting time by a great margin while also introducing a new field rotation of crops that has seen house Greensmith's lands flourish." Was my counter offer to the master.

"I already know of your harness but what else could you have that would speed up the plowing and planting process?" questioned the now curious head of house Lief.

"My Father and I recently developed two pieces of equipment that has seen an expansion of our crop fields, since the farmers have extra time to tend to them now. The first is an upgraded plow that is smaller with greater dexterity compared to most used allowing for far more precise and narrow rows. These narrower rows are then take advantage of by the seed drill when it sows it's seeds tight and even through out the field increasing efficiency. Both of those combined with the Green Field Crop Rotation will see your lands produce more than enough to make up for the loss of the forest master Hullen." was my long winded reply trying to best summarize what he would gain if he agreed to this deal.

"I am inclined to believe you ,Ser Alyn, since I have noticed a steady decline of grain exported to your lands which means farming has definitely increased in the area. I will agree to this marriage on one other condition though, my second son Beren will squire and attain knighthood from you." was master Hullen's final offer.

"That is acceptable master Hullen. We are in agreement then?" I asked hoping to be done with the negotiations for my future wife.

"Yes control of the forest for agircultural supplies, marriage and squireship. I will have our Acolyte write up our copies of the deal and another for lord Hornwood since this includes land changing hands." master Hullen spoke in agreement to our deal.

"Excellent, now about the marriage it will be done in the Godswood near Hillview Hall. I expect you may want some time before this to prepare so I say it will be held in six moons time from now if that is agreeable." I throw the proverbial ball back in master Hullen's court.

"That is acceptable. I'm sure you will also need the time to inform all your friends and make proper arrangements yourselves." Was his agreement and reversal of my words.

"As a show of good faith though I will take your son on immediately as my squire, he can even leave with me if it can be arranged. I will also begin building the first five plows and seed drills for you to dispense to your farmers as you please master Hullen along with a farmer who will demonstrate the applications and teach the Green Field Crop Rotation if that works for you?" I offered as the meeting winded down further.

"That will work well, Beren can be ready to depart if you postpone one more day and can I expect the delivery of the machines and farmer within two moons?" was the quick, almost excited, response from the master of house Lief.

"One more day will not hurt and yes I'll have them ready within two moons giving your chosen farmers plenty of time to get familiar with them before next planting season and it will also give me the time to find the right man to mentor your farmers." was my confirmation, basically bringing an end to our meeting.

I left master Hullen's study soon after too relax in my room till lunch mentally fist pumping to a big win. Lunch was a rather subdued affair with the twin boys seemingly in shock and Lyla a little taken aback herself, hopefully it will pass. Over the course of that night and the next day I tried to initiate conversations with Lyla whenever we were in speaking distance and we even took a ride out to see some of house Lief's land, with an escort of course and through these small interactions I applied all the lessons of courtship I learned from Lady Manderly to try and leave as good impression on Lyla as possible. I don't know if I succeeded but I did learn Lyla has a pretty if shy smile.

The next morning Beren and I left bright and early with my Men at Arms to make it back to Hillview Hall in a reasonable amount of time. Beren seemed excited about squiring for the Dancing Bear, it baffled me to hear that name be spoken with any sort of respect but Beren's earnest words moved me a bit and made me feel slightly better about taking my future goodbrother as a squire. I still had a small voice in my head saying he could be a spy sent to learn my family's secrets, but I'm starting to heavily doubt that.

Our party arrived at Hillview just before noon on the eighth day since I left for Barley Lief Hall. My Father, Asher and Torgun were all present to welcome Beren and I home to Hillview though Beren drew a curious look from my father but not even a glance from my six nameday old brother and four nameday old Son.

"Welcome home son did everything work out during your negotiations with master Lief?" My Father spoke to me first breaking the ice.

"Thank you Father, and yes I am to be married in six moons to Lyla Lief. For the dowry I managed to acquire the rights to the rest of our forest while also having to give up our machines and field rotation to even up the deal. I also got myself a squire now, this lad is Beren Lief second son of master Hullen." I replied revealing the success of my endeavor.

"Excellent work my boy. Beren Lief allow me to make proper introductions, I am Ser Rod Greensmith father of Alyn. This young sandy blonde ball of energy is my younger son Asher. The brown haired little one standing next to Asher is Torgun Snow, Alyn's natural born son. We welcome you to Hillview Hall for however long your squireship lasts and promise to make you a knight that demands respect." My Father sure did have a way with words when he felt the need, my squire already had stars in his eyes.

"Thank you for your hospitality Ser Rod. I'm excited for my time here and know it'll be a great experience for myself to learn from two respected knights such as yourself and Ser Alyn." Beren reverently replied to my father.

"I'm sure Alyn will keep you plenty busy lad, he's the accomplished tourney knight of the family after all, the Dancing Bear and all that you see!" was my Father's cheeky reply to the boy, god I'm gonna curse Wyman till the day I pass for pinning me with that ridiculous nickname.

"My brother was so jealous when Father informed us I would be squiring for Ser Alyn, The Dancing Bear, Rune Carver , and Ser Hammerstone victor of the melee in Runestone. It is truly an honor to be Ser Alyn's squire and I hope to be so well know so young myself." Was the lad's somewhat hero worship like response to my father's jape.

"Relax kid you make me sound like some kind of hero from a song but I'm just a man who does things the best he can nothing more nothing less. You'll get there someday too just work hard and I'll do my best to teach you all you'll need to know." I said to Beren trying to ground the kid somewhat.

"Thank you Ser Alyn. I will work as hard as I can at whatever you teach me." was Beren's earnest reply.

"Well now that introductions are all wrapped up should we adjourn to the hall for food then Beren and I can rest after our journey?" I asked directing the question to my father.

"Grand idea Alyn. I'm sure you boys are famished and tired, we spotted your banner a while ago so the food should almost be ready." was the reply I hoped to hear from my old man.

The food was warm and filling, perfect after such a journey that I just returned from. Beren even seemed to start to relax thanks to my younger brother's questions. Torgun was just happy to sit next to me and enjoy his food while I embellished the story of my trip to him. After having my fill I retired for the night to rest and relax knowing my schedule will be packed starting tomorrow.

The next morning started bright and early for me, beginning with waking my squire and putting him through his paces, including my personal agility drills with foot weights to mimic armor. After wearing my squire out I challenged a bunch of the Men at Arms to spars, keeping them and myself in shape. Sparring was followed by a visit to the Brown Honey processing building to check in, since the operation was now being run by reliable people in the building and in my group of tappers, I only ever interfere now too expand or too organize transport.

After lunch I worked in my forge finishing some tools and drafting up our raw materials order for my Father to approve of and send off to our suppliers. The sooner we got the materials for the Lief's plows and seed drills the better. Before dinner I fit in another workout with my squire to stay limber and make the lad earn his meal tonight. After dinner my Father and I would retire to his study to work on the paperwork that came with our holdings. It was during our first of these meetings when my father informed me that lord Hornwood agreed to sell us the wood to build our second wall and it shall start arriving after the first payment has been received, perfect it could hopefully be done by the time the Wedding happens.

I did also take the time in my Father's solar to start filling out the invitations to my wedding. Lord Hornwood, Manderly and Locke were givens since the first was our overlord the other two were friendly houses. House's Donnar and Dixon would also receive invites as per social etiquette if I would rather not invite those two bickering fools. An invite would also find it's way to Yohan though with his wife pregnant, according to his last letter, he probably won't be willing to travel, understandable if a bit saddening.

That is how my day's went till my wedding, training my squire, keeping an eye on my businesses, building the Lief's plows and seed drills, and fulfilling my duties as heir to my house. After six moons Brown Honey was still growing in popularity with our latest round of orders bringing in three hundred gold dragons after cost and taxes, almost as much as what many smaller houses make in a year. This aloud my father and I to hire more workers to finish our second wall in time for the wedding. The twenty foot wooden wall now sat proudly around Hillview, almost daring any to try it's fortitude.

Beren also settled in well and was finally showing more of his personality now that the excitement of his squiring has subsided. I actually quite liked the lad, not loud but not quiet either with a good sense of humor and a level head on his shoulders, good thing too since only his knight is aloud to be fucked up mentally.

My Father was running himself ragged making sure everything was prepared for the wedding, I helped where I could but with my own responsibilities it was hard, I tried to make up for it by making sure Asher and Torgun gave him space to get all his work done. Speaking of my little brother and son the two were excited for the upcoming festivities even though they both will be kept mostly in the background because of their age thankfully.

Before I knew it the time has come and the first to arrive were my new in-laws and wife. It was awkward introducing my bastard son to them but it was too late to back out now with all the notable nobility coming and loosing major face, a dirty tactic forsure but I wasn't gonna let anyone use my son against me even if it may cause some friction with my wife but that I can work with.

Master Hullen grew very stoic at the mention of Torgun while Lyla and Benjen seemed stumped not really knowing what to think of the situation. I did make it clear any sons Lyla gave me would inherit, as if it was really a question, Torgun was my responsibility though since his mother was dead. The words seemed to lessen the tension somewhat but I didn't really care to be honest. We adjourned to the Hall after for refreshments since the next guest weren't expected till tomorrow and the last invitees the day after.

Dinner was tense but that was almost entirely master Hullen's fault though my Father put up a valiant effort to ease the man out of it, to little luck though sadly. I was busy myself trying to reassure Lyla about Torgun's existence and how it wouldn't endanger our future Heir, my stomach churned though when she would just smile and look at me with eyes filled with trepidation, great she must think I'm one of those knights that goes around tourneys putting his dick in anything that moves, fucking fantastic.

The issues Lyla and I had made the greetings to Lord Hornwood and Masters Donnar and Dixon extremely awkward and borderline embarrassing, it didn't help that as soon as she could Lyla ran from me as if I had the plague, double fuck. I had to nip this in the but before it grew worse and the only way I could think of how is like with all my problems, head on like an idiot.

I found her alone in the stables petting a horse talking softly, and looking close to tears.

"Mi'lady I feel we need to speak frankly on somethings, I don't wish for you to resent me before our marriage even begins." I say softy behind announcing my presence.

"Why so you can try to charm me with your smile Ser like you do with all the pretty maidens?!" She asked me suddenly raising her voice.

"I don't care about charming pretty maidens with my smile mi'lady but I do care about my son, who came from a drunken mistake made by my four and ten self before a marriage was even thought of for me. I know not saying anything about him earlier was poor sport on my part but I couldn't let your father have that in negotiations. I refuse to let my son be used against me in such a way." I reply trying to keep the heat in my voice down to a minimum.

"Then who is his mother? The nursemaid or some other whore?" Lyla came back with plenty of heat though.

"Well she was a whore, a reaching exploitative whore of a maid that slept around at the tourney that saw me knighted and ended up sneaking her way into my bed. I honestly didn't even know about Torgun till his mother died and Wyman brought him to me last Spring." was my strained response hoping she got the picture and cooled off a bit.

"So there are no other Bastards I should know of Alyn? One I can accept now that I know what happened but if anymore show up I swear I'll have your balls?!" was her acceptance of Torgun and threat of my manhood, is it weird I actually kinda got turned on from that, bad Alyn.

"There are no others mi'lady I swear, the maid was the only women I've ever slept with knowing my duties to my future wife. I ask only one thing please do not call him a bastard, if you must just refer to him as my son, there will be plenty of people outside our walls that will tear him down for his status but here he's family." was my admission and demand of my own.

"I can accept that Alyn and honestly I thought he was Asher's twin when I first saw him, they are so similar in look just Torgun's brown hair seperate them." was Lyla's acceptance of my demand and observation of my boy.

" He gets his size from his Father just like our Sons will Lyla and our Daughters will be Maidens so fair the Stark's themselves will want one as a Bride." was my enthusiastic reply.

"I'm gonna have my hands full with you aren't I Alyn?" she questioned me with a cute giggle.

"Of course I'm the Dancing Bear, I have a reputation to protect afterall." was my joking reply causing more giggles from my bride. At least that nickname proved useful for something, Wyman is still a dick for giving it to me though.

Our talk improved things drastically and I think Lyla even had words with her father cause he seemed to lighten up himself when I saw him at dinner that night. After another day of welcoming guests we were ready for the wedding the next evening.

I stood in the Godswood infront of m y Father who was standing in-front of our stoic Heartree himself to conduct the ceremony. The drums started then and Lyla appeared being led to our tree by her Father. When they reached their spot my father began.

"Who comes before the Old Gods this night?" My Father booms the question to start the ceremony.

"Lady Lyla Lief, a woman grown and true. Who comes to claim her?" Master Hullen spoke his part in response.

"Ser Alyn of house Greensmith, a man grown and true. Who gives her?" I spoke next as the groom.

"Master Hullen of house Lief. Her father and head of house." was the expected response

"Lady Lyla do you take Ser Alyn of house Greensmith as your Husband?" was the question my Father needed to ask next.

"I do." was Lyla's simple expected reply

"Do you Ser Alyn take Lady Lyla of house Lief as your Wife?" was the second part of the question.

"I do." was my simple expected reply

"Then cloak her in your colors and approach the Heartree for the first time as husband and wife." was my Father's ending statement. I quickly took off Lyla's maiden cloak, handing it to her Father, and replaced it with one in house Greensmith colors, Light Green with the White shield accompanied by a Dark Grey Hammer and Anvil on top. We kneeled before the Heartree after and bowed our heads before we rising as one to applause, then I picked up my new bride and carried her back to Hillview as tradition dictated.

The feast was the grandest Hillview has ever seen, my Father really outdid himself tonight. The Lords and Ladies in attendance ate and drank their merry fill all night. I was distracted by my new bride most of the night but I did find the time to break away and network a bit. Lord Torrhen made the trip in his benevolence and I chatted with the man and sounded him out about my hypothetical boats and Lord Torrhen said he would have to discuss it with one of his Master Builders to see if such a craft is feasible. A expected reply but at least it got the ball rolling somewhat on that project.

The other lord I made sure to chat up was lord Locke since he and his second son Jason made the trip to mingle since such events were rare. Now surprisingly to some lord Locke is one of the biggest suppliers of Ale in the North, with said Ale being purchased by every lord on the Eastern Coast and parts of the interior. For him I pitched an idea of a Brown Honey Infused Ale and he seemed curious if such a thing was possible so I offered him five free extra casks of Brown Honey with his next order to see if such a concoction bore anything which the aged lord agreed too, nice.

After that my mingling stayed pretty superficial till the bedding ceremony was called and Lyla and I were hauled off by horny drunks. We found each other naked in my chambers shortly after and did what comes natural to a newly married couple.