Chapter 40: Desmond is Coming

The final result was that Arthur's party ate all the lamb chops, while the six men from House Mallister ordered the inferior boiled chicken.

After witnessing Arthur's handsome and dashing appearance, Patrick took the initiative to concede and apologize.

What Arthur did not expect was that the supposedly arrogant heir to Seagard would actually run over to his table to eat together.

Everyone is from the Riverlands, so getting to know each other is only right; these were Patrick's exact words.

Compared to his attitude when he first walked through the door, it was a complete one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn.

Of course, Arthur ignored him.

People who only care about looks are not good company.

If it weren't for the fact that he had such a handsome face, they probably would have had a fight today.

"Look at this temperament, this poise; he is simply like a nobleman of the main line from Stone Hedge."

After the meal, Patrick praised him even more profusely, as if Arthur were as noble as Janos's own son.

"Stay away from me." Arthur shot him a glare.

Of course, the Lord of Red Mill's original intention was intimidation, but what Patrick understood was "you may follow me."

After paying the landlady two Silver Stags, Arthur insisted on getting his change.

He was not stingy to that degree; it was just that the memory of the landlady running up to him earlier to ask if he could concede made Arthur feel disgusted.

It was as if I looked like someone easy to bully.

After the seventeen men rested and regrouped, they set off again; if they hurried, they could be home sometime between dusk and midnight.

Only, there were clearly six more companions on the road.

Patrick and his attendants and servants.

Since it was not Arthur's territory, he could not drive away this nobleman who had attached himself to him.

"Let's speed up and shake them off." After being annoyed enough by the clingy heir to Seagard, Arthur made a correct decision.

"Why shake us off? I still wanted to ask you to go watch the Tourney together! Do you know? It's the new Hand, Duke Eddard's Tourney. Given his relationship with the King, this Tourney will certainly be more interesting than the Prince's Name Day Tourney, and the prize money will be higher too."

Patrick rode alongside, chattering away.

Arthur knew that the Prince's Name Day Tourney he spoke of was the recently concluded Tourney for Prince Joffrey.

A Name Day is a birthday, because by the custom of the Andals, one must have a name when born. Conversely, Wildlings do not have the act of naming on the day they are born.

Arthur, of course, knew about Eddard's Tourney.

In fact, based on his knowledge of Game of Thrones, he even remembered that The Hound, Sandor Clegane, won the championship this time, receiving a reward of forty thousand Gold Dragons, and the runner-up also received twenty thousand Gold Dragons.

The champion of the group melee also received twenty thousand, and the archery champion received ten thousand Gold Dragons, for a total prize pool of ninety thousand Gold Dragons.

Wait, prize money.

Arthur had actually forgotten about this; except for the twenty thousand that the runner-up couldn't get, the remaining seventy thousand Gold Dragons could be taken by one person.

It wasn't his poor memory to blame; it was just that most of the nobles around the north bank of the Red Fork did not associate with Arthur, Lord Janos of Stone Hedge did not go to such events, and Hendry was not in his social circle, so news did not travel well.

Arthur did not keep any Ravens, so he relied entirely on word of mouth for news.

If he could get those seventy thousand Gold Dragons, would armor and weapons even be an issue?

It would be enough to buy thousands of sets of the custom-made full Plate Armor from King's Landing.

At that point, the only thing to worry about would be the masters at the smithies.

They would have to worry about whether they could satisfy Arthur's demands.

Now Arthur only needed to worry about one problem: after he left, what about the retaliation from Blackwood?

Without him, relying solely on Amber's militia and Javier's one hundred men, they could not block the retaliation of a whole earldom.

If he were there, he could at least slay the enemy commander in battle, and then sweep through the rest like autumn leaves, crushing them one by one.

The heart that had just ignited suddenly cooled down.

"Are you going to attend the Tourney in King's Landing?" Arthur looked at the heir to Seagard following beside him and asked.

"Of course not, I know my own worth; I'm just going to watch the excitement. Seagard is just too boring."

Patrick was quite honest and stated his thoughts straightforwardly.

"I would like to participate, but there are some matters in my territory that I cannot get away from."

"Hey, what could there be in that little territory of yours? Come with me, let's go watch the fun. You might only get one chance in a lifetime."

They had already introduced themselves earlier, and each knew the other's background.

Patrick heard the word "participate" from Arthur, but he did not mock him, although he felt that this Arthur might be more likely to win a championship for the handsomest face rather than in jousting.

"There really are some matters." Arthur did not tell Patrick his concerns.

Having only known each other for half a day, some things were not easy to tell him.

Besides, even if he told him, it was unlikely Patrick would believe Arthur could kill an enemy commander and crush dozens or hundreds of enemy soldiers.

"Then can you invite me to your keep? As a friend, I believe this is a necessary way to improve our friendship."

Arthur glanced at the smiling Patrick and reluctantly agreed.

In the absence of a conflict of interest, getting on good terms with such an heir to an earldom was not a bad thing.

"You can go, but I'm afraid you will be disappointed."

Patrick was quite happy and chattered on to Arthur about some rumors regarding King's Landing, even though he had only heard them himself.

An afternoon of galloping left the gamblers with weak legs, and they finally arrived back at Red Mill before it was completely dark.

"By the Seven, what are you doing? Building the largest castle in the Riverlands? No wonder you said you couldn't get away."

Patrick and his five attendants were all shocked by the scene they saw.

"It is just a defensive stockade, not a sturdy castle," Arthur explained.

"It's so big, how many people are you trying to accommodate? I'm afraid your own smallfolk wouldn't even fill this place!"

Patrick clicked his tongue in wonder.

"Then you have underestimated my territory; this stockade was prepared for them."

They passed through various building materials scattered in disarray, as well as haphazardly erected tents.

"It seems there are quite a few people on your territory capable of working."

"I merely hired some men from the Stone Hedge territory; though, it cannot really be called hiring, as I do not need to pay them."

The favor Janos granted Arthur was that those two thousand men required no wages, because this was an order signed by the Earl.

Similar to corvée labor.

Patrick was very interested in Arthur's initiative to build the stockade, and after he learned about the conflict between Arthur and Blackwood a month ago, he felt even more favorably toward Arthur.

"Anyone who hears of this matter would support you; murderers must be punished, and Justice always triumphs over darkness."

The two chatted idly as they rode their horses closer to the keep.

Amber came out to greet them with a few servants, and he brought a piece of news:

"My lord, the Master-at-arms of Riverrun, Ser Desmond Grell, has arrived."

PS: Seeking recommendation votes and monthly tickets.

A Game of Thrones joke every day:

Jon Snow, as the nephew of Duke Eddard and his nominal Bastard, when outsiders praise him for looking like his father, he actually looks like his mother.

When outsiders praise him for looking like his mother, Snow actually looks like his father.

(End of this chapter)