Chapter 8: Our Steel is Strong 8

Hillview Hall 154 A.C.

Leroy P.O.V.

There was a tenseness found within Hillview during the month between our return from White Harbor and our imminent re departure for Winterfell. Lady Lyla has gotten to the point of her pregnancy that she is able to move little and do even less under my beautiful Wylla's newest orders. Ser Alyn has been switching between anxious concern for Lyla and brooding over what had occurred during his meeting with the Manderlys.

I had asked a couple weeks ago what had been said that bothered him so but all Alyn had deemed to tell me was that he is coming to grips with the fact his former mentor may not have been as benevolent as he had believed. It was hard not to feel for him but lord Torrhen's reputation as a master of politics is well known in the North ever since he held the office of Hand of the King after lord Cregan's tenure and did a magnificent job dealing with reaching nobles as well as further stabilizing Westeros after the Dance.

The only reason lord Torrhen wasn't still serving as Hand of the King was because his father and elder brother had passed from a plague that spread after the Dance and he had to return to White Harbor so that he could take up the responsibility of being head of house Manderly.

Thoughts of the Manderlys wasn't all that has taken up Alyn's attention because he has been running the the few ravens of Hillview as well as Ortha ragged ferrying messages between himself and lord Hornwood for reasons I am not yet privy too. Thankfully with our departure towards Winterfell tomorrow I might just be able to figure out what is going on soon but even if I have to wait a while longer patience has always been my strong suit especially with a friend like Alyn testing it constantly.

The wondering thoughts that I had preoccupied myself with were broken when Ser Alyn strode out of his castle, wearing not but sleeping pants and Stonebreaker upon his shoulder into the upper courtyard. *sigh* Looks like Wylla will be waiting a little while longer for my return home tonight.

Shouts for his attention seemingly fell on deaf ears which worried me as we drew nearer to the small Godswood of Hillview. It was only when we reached the Wierwood in the middle did Alyn finally stop. Then as if under a spell Alyn dropped Stonebreaker on the ground like it was a useless piece of scrap metal and not his prized weapon of choice before rifling through his pockets for something.

Said something turned out to be the small bronze hammer and chisel set gifted to Alyn by lord Royce as a recent nameday present. When the objects were secured in his hands Alyn delicately took off the polished ash wood handles before grabbing a few thicker branches of fallen Wierwood off the ground. It was only when he turned to me did I notice the most shocking thing, Alyn's eyes had taken on the red coloring of Weirwood leaves. All he mumbled as I stood there befuddled was for my dagger, in my shock I didn't notice myself handing it over to him without willing it such.

Slowly and methodically Alyn chiseled down the pale wood into handles that almost perfectly replicated the previous ash ones and when they were placed upon the bronze tools the wind started howling in what felt like happiness. Alyn then started chiselling upon Stonebreaker while I stood aside and watched, time passed us by like a river and I found myself unable to tell how long we spent in the Godswood. Finally almost as if no time had passed at all, Alyn stopped chiselling and I could clearly look upon his hammer.

Runes, a shit ton of runes is what Alyn engraved upon his his hammer from the head all the way down the shaft had symbols now etched upon it. The same hammer Alyn had swore he would never decorate with them as he had wanted to keep it the same as when his father and him had first forged it. The only spot left untouched was the Greensmith sigil that had already been engraved upon the warhammer by father and son. Before I could bend down and retrieve my dagger Alyn snatched it back only to slice open his palm with it before slathering the quickly dripping blood upon Stonebreaker. Or more specifically the runes I should say because as soon as Alyn's blood touched the symbols they started glowing with a bright white light, as if the Old Gods had seen and blessed his actions this night.

After each of the runes had been covered in Alyn's blood did the spell slowly start to lift and I was able to grab my dagger from the ground where Alyn had dropped it. Only then did I hear Alyn speak once more, not to me but to the Old Gods themselves while pressing his still bleeding hand to the white bark.

"A blood offering for protection and guidance just as it once was offered in days past now begun anew. House Greensmith descendants of house Redsmith stand ready for the dark to come again all we ask is to be blessed on our path."

It was a strange pledge and house Redsmith? I don't know of any house named such but I am not the most learned individual in the field. Before my thoughts drifted further the Wierwood answered Alyn's prayer.

" Go descendant of the Griffin King with our blessing and message. The darkest enemy comes again. The North must remember and strengthen itself for the trials to come. Alyn of Greensmith, decedent of the Redsmith, carry this weapon in our honor and remind those that dare seek the destruction of our ways their folly."

Then the Wierwood reverted to it's silent vigil. Alyn then gave a grunt and asked a question I would expect from him.

"Why the fuck am I out in the cold shirtless?"

I spent the next half an hour helping Alyn back to his room and explaining what had happened in the Godswood, as the master of Hillview seemed unable to remember anything that went on.

After the story Alyn spent a little while staring at the newly redecorated Stonebreaker as well as the healed wound on his palm, deep in thought before breaking out of it and ordering me to silence. I was of course aloud to tell Wylla, but no one else as he would only tell Lyla. I quickly agreed since others would think us mad anyway if they heard the story. As we still had to rest before our departure we went our separate ways after Alyn returned to his room.

Wylla took the story much better than I had thought she would, but being a crannogwomen has put her in closer contact with the Old Gods than I. My love didn't seem overtly worried about what had transpired but said that Alyn will have to closely inspect the Runes engraved upon his hammer as they may reveal more clues to the Old God's plans.

Alyn P.O.V.

My travel party set out a little later in the morning than I had hoped but it was inevitable after what happened last night. Sleep ended up eluding me after "waking up" from my late night trance or possession. I spent the night studying the new runes engraved upon Stonebreaker by candle light while referencing what I could with the books I've gotten over the years from Yohan.

Most were complex runes that were far more esoteric than I was able to understand and decipher. Others were basic but now somehow felt complete compared to any others I have carved so far. What ever had occurred last night has changed my hammer into something magical for a lack of better term and I will need to learn how to recreate and record the process for my decendents.

I reflected on Stonebreaker's new look and what Leroy claimed was spoken in the Godswood all the way to Hornwood. The bit about house Redsmith and the Griffin King also drew a fair bit of my curiosity but I had little in the way of learning more about them, maybe I should ask Yohan about them when Lyla and I visit next spring. It was only when my travel party was in sight of the castle of our lord did I find the mental strength to push away all my inner questions to focus on the upcoming trials at Winterfell.

Lord Horton was surprised to find such a large party following me to Winterfell. Fourty guards and three horse drawn carts would seem a little excessive but when I explained the contents to Horton he laughed at my savvy business sense. Two of the carts contained fourty Ice Augers that Gerold would be selling in Wintertown while the festival was commencing. With several people flooding into Wintertown for winter security Gerold should find several customers for our wares. The last cart contained fifty casks of BH as well as seven swords all forged by me personally for the lord Cregan and his sons as well as one that I crafted specifically for Beren like I had promised back at White Harbor.

Beren would receive his blade when the Lief's retinue joined us on the road just as the Donnars would later on. With Asher coming along all vassals of the Hornwoods would be represented at Winterfell, even if Asher wouldn't officially take his place amongst us till he came of age and married lord Hornwood's daughter. Before the other houses could join us lord Horton and I took this time to plan our my meeting with lord Rickon.

"I already know some of your thoughts on this meeting from our letters Alyn but what do you believe to be the heart of the matter?" Horton straight up asked me what I have hinted at in our letters.

"I believe lord Torrhen is trying to gain our support for lord Rickon in order to gain something for house Manderly. I do not know what it is as of yet but it is the only thing I can think of for hiding the fact that my son Torgun's mother was lord Rickon's bastard sister and trying to leverage that connection as a driving force for allying with them now." I explained my recent thoughts of this mess.

"Very possible Alyn and aligned with my thinking as well. Though this is a good opportunity otherwise because even with the games lord Cregan tries to play or how much bleating lord Ryswell does no Northern lord worth his salt would question lord Rickon's place in the succession and us allying with him is overall a good move."

"Wise lord Horton and with my established relationship with house Poole we could frame the meeting as a means to ramp up trade come spring between House Stark's holding and ours. We can even begin production of charcoal this winter during a warmer period when the dome shaped copper ovens can be transported to the timber villages within the former Dixon lands." I offered.

"A fine idea Alyn. The villages can stockpile the charcoal throughout winter and come spring we can start selling quickly. Will you still be willing to acquire a longboat for house Hornwood?" Horton questioned me knowing of my cooled relationship with the Manderlys.

"I have come up with an alternative instead lord Horton. House Greensmith will lease one of our boats to you in exchange for you paying the wages of the crew. The men will fish the bite and split their catch between their village and Hornwood and you will be able to charter the ship for transport of charcoal and wool to the houses south of us along the Bite. This will give me time to create my own small shipyard."I explained my thoughts on our path to further self reliance.

"The Manderlys won't like a shipyard, even a small one, popping up on their border that is not under their control." Horton pointed out.

"Tough shit, last I checked I swore vows to Hornwood not New Castle."I exclaimed with derision.

"Ha damn right Alyn. You will obviously have my support but I expect to have a longboat for house Hornwood made within a year and a half of spring breaking." Horton made clear that he will have patience as long as results come. Fine with me as actions will always prove my worth.

Our enlarged party made steady work of the journey on the road to Winterfell. The next group to join us was the Liefs as expected. Master Hullen along with both Benjen and Beren joined our growing group with five and ten guards of their own. It was good having my good family amongst the group as they were good men and allies, though Hullen was a little saddened that Lyla hadn't been able to attend but also pleased that she was soon due to give birth to another child. I felt a little awkward internally about not being there for the birth of our second child but it was a normal thing in Westeros culture for expecting fathers to carry on as business as usual even if that business was traveling weeks away for a giant party.

The Donnars joined a few days after the Liefs and with them house Hornwood and it's vassals stood united for the first time since the end of house Dixon. Master Rickard personally spoke of his appreciation of the fact the leeches of house Dixon would curse us any longer. In private he even congratulated me on personally ending Rickon's life, proving the feud between the Dixons and Donnars was anything but "petty".

Overall everything was staying pretty mundane until we drew closer to Stark lands where I developed a feeling that our large party was being watched by something within the woods. After some subtly questions no one else sensed anything wrong or that we were being watched. The only other being that seemingly felt the eyes on us as I did was Balto. My best boy would constantly be staring into the forest as well as place himself between it and my back whenever I sat with it exposed to the trees.

Only when we had entered into Stark controlled land did the followers finally decide to show themselves, to Torgun. The first night we had camped out amongst Stark land Balto decided he needed to lick me awake in the middle of it. After my husky made sure I was awake and willing to follow him did he lead me to the most mind boggling sight I have ever laid eyes on. Torgun, my nine nameday old son, playing in a moonlit meadow with two wolves the size of quarter horses. Holy shit I'm looking at real live Direwolves.

The apex predators must have sensed my gaze as they slowly stopped their playing with Torgun in favor of staring at me and Balto through the trees. Torgun being the child he was broke through the tension like a hot knife through butter with a shout of "Papa!" giving me a cue to step out of the tree line. After catching Torgun in the midst of his tackle hug I took a closer look at the the two amazing animals in front of me. An all black male and an all white female I could easily tell from a few looks alone and I guess a token for the Starks from the Old Gods via house Greensmith.

The Direwolf couple decided not to show themselves too the rest of the travel party but I was personally awoken the rest of the mornings to Winterfell by the male direwolf breeding the female huskies I had brought with. Don't ask me how the beasts fucked with such a size difference but I've been around canines long enough to know what was going on by sound alone. The male always finished up and left before the rest of the travel party awoke, it was honestly surprising how easily he could sneak into our camp so easily without a human or horse spotting him at all.

The rest of the journey passed quickly and we made it to the fortress of house Stark with a few days to spare before the final few houses arrived. As soon as our party passed under the third gate of Winterfell into the main courtyard I could easily see the factions surrounding the Stark family. At the head of the family as usual was lord Cregan along with his current wife and daughters. Around him were lords Dustin and Mormont, old friends of the lord paramount.

After Cregan stood Rickon Stark and his wife with their unwedded daughter. Lord Torrhen stood near them along with heir Jon Umber and his wife Serena Stark. I'm sure the heads of the Mountain Clans will be drawn to the group as well since Rickon is the nephew of the Lord Norrey.

Then came Jonnel and his Ryswell wife surrounded by lords Ryswell, Bolton, and Glover as all of them were linked by marriages with lord Ryswell's daughters. A strong faction and the direct contender to Rickon's position. Edric the tool stood next seemingly oblivious to the frown on his brother Rickon's face from Edric's looks were directed at his daughter Sansa. Lyanna and Barthogan stood next in the processionof Starks but drew little attention from me, though I would challenge Barthogan to a spar while here to see if his reputation with a blade is well earned.

Last stood Brandon Stark with a dark look upon his face. The youngest brother must be especially unhappy with his recently announced betrothal to lord Karstark's daughter Alys. Maybe the younger man had stronger feelings for Wylla than I had assumed.

Introductions along with bread and salt were offered quickly,along with an expertise showing how many times the Starks have already done it. It was amusing and daunting in equal measure when having every Stark male size you up as an alpha does a challenger. I'm sure all the brothers will want a go at me in the yard now, and I'm sure Stonebreaker's new look had many curious about the weapon's potential. Thankfully they won't approach me about such a bout till all the lords have gathered for the festival.

Before everyone arrived though I expected that lord Torrhen would organize the meeting he desired bewteen me and Rickon. Lord Horton already expected the same which is why we had hammered out the details before hand. There were also plenty of other lords and heirs I wanted to network with while here to help strengthen house Greensmith's position within the North.

I was surprisingly right about my assumption of the meeting but instead of taking place within a solar along with lord Torrhen, Rickon asked me to meet him alone within the Godswood of Winterfell.

"Ser Alyn Greensmith, my good uncle has asked that this meeting take place and I have reluctantly agreed now feel free to speak your piece." A very vague opening from a Northman. It could mean he thought this meeting pointless or had his own thoughts of why this could be fruitful in a different way.

"Lord Rickon I care little in all honesty for your family's inner squabbles but what I do care about is the North and making it stronger." I made my and by extension lord Horton's stance on the matter be known.

"Hmm so do I Ser Alyn which is why I granted this meeting, Master Tion has been singing his own praises of you and as my close friend his word means more to me than lord Torrhen's." Huh that was incredibly amusing but also made sense as Tion was only a few years older than Rickon and both grew up here.

"Master Tion is a good man and house Greensmith his honored to be trade partners of house Poole." I defurred to the politically correct answer to such a statement.

"The machines you trade have shown their value to those who care to look and I find myself intrigued. Such equipment has increased our ability to cultivate more fields than before but when I look deeper the Hornwoods experience even better results than the Pooles and I find that most curious don't you Ser Alyn?" Well didn't think this is what would come up. Time to bat for the fences.

"That would be because lord Hornwood has implemented a new crop rotation that was developed by me." I explained.

"A new crop rotation? And Horton just accepted such a thing?" Lord Rickon exclaimed confused why a smart man would seemingly risk such a thing.

"Obviously he didn't accept such a thing on my word alone. The fields around my keep did the talking for me."

"And the yields from this new rotation?"

"Are good enough that lord Hornwood and I had to purchase a bare minimum to supplement our stores for winter. And we will keep expanding our growing fields where we can till our lands are completely self sufficent or growing a surplus."

"That is a large claim Ser Alyn but I like your confidence. Come the second harvest of next summer I will personally travel to Hornwood to see this new rotation in action." Rickon decided, now I will really have to keep him alive during the Conquest of Dorne.

"I hope it would not be presumptuous of me to be present as well lord Rickon? The smallfolk of Hornwood call it the Green Field Rotation for a reason."

"Of course I would like for your to be present Ser Alyn, it will give us more of an opportunity to discuss trading your farming machines with House Stark." Rickon explained. What went left unsaid is that like BH once the Starks started using something the rest of the North will follow.

"I know it is not my place lord Rickon but to truly strengthen the North we need to repopulate the Western Coast and protect it. There are many places in the west with good farmland but no one wants to live there because of the danger from Ironborn and Wilding raiders."I spoke my mind of what would solidify a Northern power expansion.

" And give the holdings to who? Lord Torrhen's second or third sons? Or maybe my brothers the ungrateful swines?" Lord Rickon huffed clearly tired of hearing the same thing from others.

"While it does pain me to admit giving either the Stony Shore or Sea Dragon Point to the Manderly's wouldn't be the worst idea, though it would show favoritism the same as with your brothers unless they earn such things through merit. But what about the Cassels? They have served Winterfell and the North capably for generations many would say they deserve lands and a keep of their own. You could even look outside the North and poach a noble family like the Roxtons, everyone has heard of the bloody feud between them and the Peakes that they are slowly loosing, if push comes to shove you could welcome them within the North like the Manderlys and gain a steadfast ally of house Stark with a maritime background." I explained all the different paths he could take.

"Those are some of the better suggestions I have listened to Ser Alyn thank you but I will have to think of everything over carefully and even then I will need to wait for my father to pass before being able to make such appointments." Rickon admitted but the fact he has already been thinking about such things showed he was the man the North needs to succeed lord Cregan.

Our conversation took a dramatic shift then and we started discussing fatherhood and I made a show of asking for tips about raising daughters. Rickon returned with his own curiosities about my rune work and what I thought of them. A servant had to be sent to fetch us by Rickon's wife for the midday meal, so lost we were in our now friendly conversation.

The next day and a half saw the rest of Northern lords arrive and the Fall Harvest Festival could officially begin. First order of business was the gift ceremony for the Starks. As per tradition all the major lords presented first followed by minor nobles then the minor masterly houses followed lastly by landed knights and clan heads of different regions, like the clan heads of the Wolfswood. Last festival my father presented almost at the very end, it saddened me he wouldn't be here to present at our new position.

Like most of these long and boring kiss up ceremonies I spaced out most gifts except the likes of lord Horton's humongous Moose rack with a forest scene engraved upon it depicting eleven wolves running amuck. A smart present that was immediately sent to be hung in one of the halls of Winterfell. When it finally got to my turn I pulled out all the stops in appearance for myself and Torgun who would present with me as I did with my father. Matching dark grey leather pants and boots to start with along with a similarly colored doublet highlighted with pale green accents. To complete the clothing we had matching green dress cloaks that proudly displayed our hammer and anvil abreast a white shield. The lining of my cloak was the only difference between Torgun's and my outfits, black bear fur added another strong accessory.

When Torgun and I reached the bottom dais of the Stark Seat we bowed and I started our part of the ceremony.

"Lord Stark in honor of a good summer and your houses continued rule please accept house Greensmith's gifts to you. Fifty casks of Brown Honey has already been delivered to your kitchens for storage but please also accept these six swords I have personally forged for you and your sons." I would of also had daggers for all his daughters and granddaughters but I felt that would be pushing it a bit.

"House Stark accepts these gifts that are offered and wish house Greensmith health and prosperity even in the harshest parts of winter." With his acceptance servants rushed forward and gave the blades to the male Starks while Torgun and I retreated back to our table.

After the rest of the givers had went food was quickly served and the first feast of the festival was in full swing. As tonight had drug on long enough with the gift ceremony there wouldn't be a dance but I'm sure plenty of lords would stay and drink socially after the feast ended. As Torgun was fairing alright this trip without Fang a guard would escort him back to his and my room while Leroy and I will stay and drink. The dinner feast concluded with a large desert menu which to my delight contained many dishes that used BH in them.

Torgun was a little disgruntled about being ordered to bed right after desert concluded but a mighty yawn ceased further whining from my son. Leroy and I quickly meshed into the crowd of lords and ladies drinking to their hearts content. The first lord I approached was lord Ironsmith. An older but respectable lord that ruled the lands on the northern tip of Long Lake making them neighbors of the Umbers and the Mountain Clans. They were also one of the only houses that still inscribed runes on their armor like the Royces.

Their castle is even named Iron Rune, a play on words I can appreciate. The older lord seemed deeply enthralled by Stonebreaker and asked where I learned my runic work. The man was deeply surprised after gauging that my knowledge fell short of the work on my hammer. Leroy finally broke and spilled the story, with some parts censored, after a poor jape from the lord about my knowledge level. To say lord Ironsmith was stupefied by the story was putting it lightly but there were too many keys within the story that told him it was real. The main selling factors was the bronze tools I had used along with their replaced Weirwood handles as well as the blood coating needed for charging the runes, both were considered long time secrets of First Men houses that were the weapon crafters of old.

I didn't know what went through lord Ironsmith's mind after realizing the truth of my story but he offered to have some of the more advanced Runic tomes belonging to house Ironsmith copied and gifted to me as token of goodwill. I was taken aback by the pledge but I accepted it wholeheartedly, hungrier to learn more about runes than ever. After spending a bit more time socializing with the head of house Ironsmith Leroy and I moved onto my next target, lord Dustin.

The elder head of house Dustin was a boisterous man but with a keen mind honed from years of lordship and being lord Cregan's friend. It took a bit of ego stroking but I quickly gained a spot at his table for drinks and we started talking about trade. Here I continued stroking his ego by mentioning how Barrowton was the model in which I wanted to build Green Town after. Lord Dustin was humored by the idea, hoping it'll take the Manderlys down a peg if nothing else.

But we both know that such a settlement will fail to reach it's potential if it lacks one crucial thing, shipwrights. The Dustin's shipwrights are quite skilled at building fishing vessels, small trade cogs that can go up and down rivers because of their size and Longboats built for battle instead of fishing and trade like mine. Their shipwrights are known within the North as the best in west for good reason. It's a shame the Saltspear isn't suitable for bigger vessels otherwise I'm sure the Dustins would have already dominated the western coast.

Negotiating to try and have some men sent to train in Barrowton's shipyard was a bit of a hassle but eventually we came up with a deal we could both come away with semi happily. In exchange for ten young men from Green Town to be able to live and train at Barrowton's shipyard house Dustin would receive five orders of fifty BH casks half off as well as a Greensmith plow, seed drill, and reaper machine free of charge. I'm sure lord Dustin haggled so hard for the free machines in hope of reverse engineering them for his own benefit. This left a sour taste in my mouth but as long as I get my shipwrights I'll suck it up.

I'll probably have to speak with lord Horton about this and discuss a longer time frame for Green Town to be able to produce quality ships and see if we are able to fit small but still sea worthy cogs up the Lower Branch to the town. It would be game changer for both of our houses if such thing was possible and we could split our fleets during winter between the Flints of Widow's Watch and the Mansons, keeping the seaports close allies. With the stimulating negotiations over Leroy and I excused ourselves for the night as I wanted to wake up early for rounds in the yard and maybe an early morning ride with lord Rickon and Torgun if it can be arranged.

I caught a good night sleep with Torgun curled up close to my side and awoke while it was still dark, not uncommon as the sun is starting to take longer to show itself at this time of year. I'm just glad the snows haven't begun falling in earnest, such a thing would make getting home a nightmare. After shaking Torgun awake and getting us both ready for training out in the yard we got their when the sky started to brighten up in the early dawn.

To get the blood flowing I started Torgun on his stances and holds for his hammer. After making him go through the stances perfectly ten times I started him on side shuffles while holding his hammer at the ready for a few minutes between lines I drew in the dirt while I started stretching out my shoulders and hips. This is how the other noble men found us when they started trickling out into the yard, the Umber heir seemed particularly amused by our exercises.

"What kind of pansy ass shit you and your lad doing Greensmith? Getting ready to run away from a fight like the typical Andal shits?" The Umber heir prodded and Torgun looked to me irritated, Lyla has really rubbed off on the boy.

"With how much wind you expand flapping your mouth it's amazing you Umbers have any strength to actually fight at all." I smarted back quieting down the yard of laughs that stemmed from the Umber's japes.

"Those be fighting words Greensmith you sure you wanna be beaten bloody infront of your son?" Came the self assured rebuttal of the seven foot heir of house Umber.

"The only person Torgun is gonna watch be beaten bloody is you Umber now get in the ring if your done talking." I hotly fired back playing up my anger while pointing Stonebreaker at the sparring ring in the center of the yard.

As if to mock me Jon Umber started stripping his upper layers till he was shirtless in the Northern custom of duels to the death. I scoffed when he looked at me challengingly before finally entering the ring. Not one to be mocked in such a way I grabbed the collar of my training shirt and ripped it off like a wanna be male model revealing my stacked physique. The only affect it had on the Umber heir was making his eyes narrow in irritation.

We slowly started circling each other like a couple of bears about to fight over a dead stag. Defense was completely disregarded here as I only wielded Stonebreaker while Umber only had his axe that could be used either dual handed or single.

With a roar Umber charged forward with a single handed over head swing that I met with the with the steel shaft of my hammer and quickly leveraged it to side sending the axe scraping down and off my hammer with the added benefit of also sending Umber stumbling forward off balance slightly. Before I could take advantage Umber sent a wild swing backwards that had me move a little further away. Quickly trying to take advantage the tall man tried closing in again with another overhead swing but this time I caught the axe on the shaft of my hammer with both hands locking us in a stalemate. This let me use my impressive strength to push the deadlocked weapons upward so that I had enough room underneath to ram my forehead into the Umber's nose.

This caused the Umber to stumble back and grab at his nose in pain. Using the opening I came in and hooked his ankle with the pointed end of my hammer and gave a mighty yank to send the giant man tumbling backwards while knocking his axe out of his hand. While stunned on the ground I placed Stonebreaker on his chest and asked for the yield.

"Haha that took balls Greensmith but I yield can't have too messed up of a face for the wife." After that I signaled Torgun to pick up Umber's axe while I helped the man to his feet while apologizing for getting to carried away. Umber just shrugged it off and said a fight is a fight and with how he was testing Alyn Umber had expected nothing less even if the fight was shorter than he had hoped. I promised a more proper spar later but suggested Umber get his nose checked out by the Stark's Maester. Umber took my advice and walked off to Maester tower after grabbing his axe from Torgun.

The rest of the time in the yard was spent sparring with different challengers. Torgun even got in a few spars with a few lads his own age like Asher and Dontell as well as a few other sons and to my pride Torgun won more often than not. Just as I had expected though each of the Stark brothers besides Rickon took turns at me.

Out of all the brothers I faced Barthogan turned out to be my toughest opponent. Wielding two longswords that he had self taught himself to fight together with against my hammer and shield was a clash that rocked the yard. It had started out pretty slow with one sword constantly blocking my hammer while the other would slash away at me and cause my shield arm to work overtime. Barthogan's defense was impeccable with his dual blade style. Every time I thought I had found an opening one sword would angle away from it's target and intercept my strike perfectly.

The heavy clashes seemed to bother Barthogan little making jarring the blade from his hand during a particularly vicious slam unlikely, a common method I used to help disarm my opponents. Getting under Barthogan's skin also brought little positive results, as the man was as cold in battle as his ancestors must have been. Back and forth we traded similar blows with only glancing cuts and hits being absorbed. The watchers could tell we weren't going a hundred percent but as we were both without armor and wielding live steel we kept well away from lethal or crippling attacks and turned our bout into a test of whose endurance was greater.

In the end I had to yield as my the exhaustion from all the sparring caught up with me and I bowed out of the contest. Barthogan commended me for my endurance and grit before proceeding to find a new challenger. Rickon appeared after Torgun and I separated from the crowd and offered to escort me to the Maester tower. We talked on the way to the tower but I couldn't help noticing the strange looks Rickon was giving Torgun, *sigh* that is another thing I'll have to mention if I can get him to accompany me on a ride outside the walls.

Rickon left Torgun and I outside the Maester Tower with an invitation to seek him out after we were done and changed into proper attire since I was still shirtless from earlier. The Maester was quick about getting my cuts cleaned and bandaged before sending us on our way again. Torgun and I quickly stopped at our room to change into riding gear before searching out Rickon again. Surprisingly the heir to the North was relaxing near the stables with a few nobles, amongst them was Wyman.

"Ahh Alyn already changed I see would you and Torgun be up for joining us for a ride out in the Wolfswood?"

"We would be honored lord Rickon are we heading out soon?" I politely asked

"As soon as the horses are saddled we ride Alyn, I already took the liberty of having a horse and pony readied for you both." Rickon answered.

Soon enough our group was leisurely riding out of the western gates of Winterfell towards the Wolfswood. During the ride out to the forest I learned who else made up our group besides Wyman. Wilhelm Dustin , heir to house Dustin was present along with a Norrey cousin of Rickons as well as the Forrester and Tallhart heirs.

Before we even breached the forest I felt the eyes of the Direwolves on us, ready to reestablish their connection with house Stark. Hours of riding and chit chatting passed as we all enjoyed the easy ride through out the woods. Soon enough Wilhelm had lead the others on a race to a nearby stream while Rickon, Torgun and I hung back staying true to our pace, we would catch up in a few minutes anyway. I took the privacy to bring my surprises to the light.

"Lord Rickon I have something I wish to speak with you about." I started.

"Spit it out Alyn I'm all ears." Rickon replied.

"Torgun's mother was your bastard half sister that served as a maid for the Manderlys and from the mixing our blood he has awoken a gift." I explained.

"Yes lord Torrhen explained to me about Torgun's mother but what is this gift he has awoken?" Rickon asked curious.

"Torgun has bonded with a wolverine we house at Hillview named Fang and can warg with the animal." I spill the beans earning me a sharp look from lord Rickon.

"Warging is a open secret within the North. The Umbers and crannogmen have the most well known wargs around currently and you are saying Torgun also has this ability?" Rickon questioned.

"Yes and I think through our shared blood the Old Gods want to awaken the Stark's warging blood as well." I cryptically claimed.

"How would you do that Alyn?"

Instead of answering him directly I turned to Torgun and asked "Are they close son?"

"Yes father, just a few minutes south of us." Gotta love Torgun's increased senses.

"If you wanna believe me lord Rickon let us go south and find house Stark's blessing from the Old Gods." I claimed while staring directly into Rickon's eyes.

"Lead on Alyn" Rickon confirmed allowing me to turn and nod Torgun into taking lead.

Quickly Torgun led us off the beaten path into the thicket. Our pace slowed to a snails as we tried avoiding getting hit by the low hanging branches. After ten minutes we broke into a clearing that appeared empty but even I could feel the eyes that were closely watching us. Torgun dismounted then was followed closely by me after I tied up our horses to a tree. Rickon followed my example so we both could follow Torgun into the very center of the clearing.

As soon as we all were standing in the center the male and female direwolves showed themselves from the woods. This spooked the horses a bit but thankfully they were tied up tight enough on the trees along the edge. Rickon went slacked jaw upon first gazing at the magnificent creatures.

"A blessing from the Old Gods Rickon?" I japed.

"A blessing indeed Alyn." Rickon distractedly answered.

Slowly the big male direwolf and Rickon approached each other before Rickon laid his hand upon the beast's head and whispered. "As it was in the past begun anew." With this positive sign the direwolf knocked Rickon over and started licking all over his face like Balto is so found of doing to me. The Female direwolf seemed content off to the side for now waiting to meet her own Stark to bond with is my guess. We quickly got the horses calmed down and returned to the path we deviated from with the direwolves following a distance away.

We ran into the rest of group upon our return and it was satisfying seeing all the shocked looks given to the direwolves that joined our party by the other nobles. We quickly made our way back to Winterfell where we received even more godsmacked looks and were even greeted by the rest of the Stark family. Here the female direwolf broke off and approached Brandon to the youngest brother's delight, it was the first time I've seen his face without a scowl marring it. Rickon approached lord Cregan after the female direwolf's show and loudly stated for everyone to hear.

"House Greensmith has done our family a great service father and brought our house's guardians back to us." Rickon proclaimed while petting the male direwolf's head absentmindedly.

Lord Cregan just blankly stared at the direwolf silently before turning and returning inside Winterfell without a word. Rickon just stoically watched before turning to me and nodding before approaching his wife and daughters to introduce his new partner.

Before I could leave myself Brandon approached with his new shadow.

"Thank you for this gift Ser Alyn she will be appreciated greatly" Brandon stated but I needed to correct that.

"They are gifts from the Old Gods lord Brandon. Show the other lords why they chose you as their blessed." Hopefully that won't be taken the wrong way but it felt like the right thing to say as Brandon gave serious nod of acknowledgment and departed in the direction of the Godswood.

That night at the feast I played another one of my cards, that of the life of the party. During the dance I was approached by many ladies who wanted to test the Dancing Bear's chops. It was during this I lamented the fact Lyla wasn't here to ward off the unwanted advances of some of the ladies though the daughter of Lord Mormont lamented the fact Lyla wasn't here as she would have love to meet the lady who snagged such a handsome bear. I had a sneaking feeling Lyla and her would get a long like a house on fire with myself caught inside.

Lady Mormont did encourage her daughters to dance with Torgun which pleased me immensely as my son was a bit put out by the lack of young ladies willing to dance with him. Finally after too many awkward dances with handsy ladies the event died down and the nobles reverted to drinking while playing games or singing.

Here I sat with lord Horton and the other vassals sworn to Hornwood and began explaining a new drinking song I had developed in my free time. I told them all to follow my lead.

"From the North I hail!" I began which caught everyone's attention by the silence that followed

"Where the Starks battle the coming winter!" here I took an exaggerated drink to show where you take a pull during the song.

"From the North I hail!"

"Where the Hornwoods are righteous and wrathful!" another big swig.

"From the North I hail!" This time more voices joined in.

"Where the Greensmiths are stronger than steel." Drinks being chugged all around.

"From the North I hail!" Shaping up into a proper call and answer song now with almost everyone joining in.

"Where the Mormonts stand here and proud!" That got a cheer and swig from lady Mormont and her father.

"From the North I hail!"

"Where the Karstarks bring the sun in winter!" A cheer from the Karstark table along with everyone taking a pull.

The communal song lasted till every Northern house I knew of got there part and everyone begged for me to restart for another round. By the time I retired for the night I had led the song four or five times and needed Leroy's help in returning to my room from all the consumed alcohol.

The rest of the festival flew by with all the networking and socializing I did to help strengthen house Greensmith's ties within the North. Rickon also made a habitat of seeking me out during the days to discuss benign matters and show house Stark's confidence in house Greensmith. Lady Mormont and heir Wilhelm Dustin both sought out my presence for friendly chats here and there on there own proving to myself house Greensmith's stock was on the rise.

Finally it was time for the nobles to depart Winterfell and return home before Winter fully set in. Reports were already coming in from the Castellans left at the Northern holdfasts that snows were starting to become more frequent up there. My group joined with lord Horton's for the return home. The Stark's came out in full force to see us off but I mostly said goodbyes to Rickon, Barthogan, and Brandon before my group was ready to set off. It was nice that this time house Greensmith left Winterfell a stronger player within the North after all my hard work. And I wans't even close to being done yet.

A/N: Hello everyone. I'm sorry it took so long for this chapter to come out but real life came up and bit me for about a month and it was tough to work 10-11 hour shifts and find the energy to write. I'm also sorry if the chapter felt disjointed or felt rushed I tried my best but I'm just a normal guy who writes for fun so im liable to some glaring mistakes and can only try my best to correct them so please keep that in mind. The next chapter might also suffer from this but i will try my best to write a little faster without my writing suffering. I hope though you all enjoy this chapter and like the little bit of fun I had with it while walking the fine line of keeping things as realistic as i can. Some parts were influenced a bit by other stories I'm sure you can tell but I hope to utilize them in a different way... like a man learning his family's history might be deeper than what is believed? And their connection to the Old Gods originates from another Kingdom perhaps? but that stuff is still about four- five chapters away sorry. Next time the death of a king and the march of war.