Chapter 41: Leaving Home

"Get some goose meat; I'm craving that." As soon as he sat down in the hall, Patrick shouted.

Due to its high fat content, goose is a meat favored by the nobility.

Pork, however, is not yet very popular among the nobility, as it is easy to get sick from eating it.

"Get him some pickled fish," Arthur instructed Amber.

Ignoring Patrick's reaction, he turned to Desmond and asked:

"I still do not know the purpose of your visit to my keep."

Although he did not know why the heir to Seagard was mixed up with a minor lord like Arthur, Desmond still honestly stated his intentions.

"... So I hope to go with you to King's Landing to attend the tourney; this is a letter written by Lord Edmure in the name of the Riverrun Protector."

Edmure manages the affairs of House Tully, but he is not yet the Riverrun Lord, so he can only issue orders in his father's name.

The heir to Riverrun does not want to go to King's Landing himself; for one, his martial skills are rusty, and for another, his father, Lord Hoster, is in worsening health, and he must stay with him.

Desmond handed the wax-sealed paper to Arthur.

The battle nearly twenty days ago left such a deep impression on him that after he received Edmure's permission to attend the tourney, he pestered Edmure to write this letter.

Arthur took it, peeled off the trout wax seal, and began to read carefully.

The letter is not long; the main content is to have him attend the new Hand's tourney in the name of his liege lord, stating that his territory will be under the protection of House Tully while he is away, and any attack on the nine villages near Red Mill during this period will be considered an attack on House Tully.

"You should go with me; we might not have a place in the joust, but there is still hope for the melee and the archery competition," Desmond said nonchalantly.

By custom, a tourney has three events: jousting, archery, and the melee.

Jousting is the favorite competition of all knights, from the Kingsguard to wealthy landed knights, and even wandering knights and warriors without knightly titles, all of whom yearn to make a name for themselves in the joust.

The Knight of Flowers, Loras Tyrell, became famous throughout the Seven Kingdoms when he unhorsed the Kingsguard and Kingslayer, Jaime Lannister, at Joffrey's name day tourney.

Arthur recalled this and found it quite amusing.

On his son's name day, the father was unhorsed by a seventeen-year-old youth.

As for the archery competition and the melee, anyone can participate.

If Arthur remembered correctly, the champion of this melee would be the Red Priest, Thoros of Myr.

This man is a preacher of the Lord of Light, though judging by his conduct, he is an impious, hedonistic monk.

And a melee mage at that.

He folded the letter and placed it on the table.

Patrick was not annoyed by the lack of goose, saying with a grin: "Go, just go! Look, Edmure has already given you his word; what else do you have to worry about?"

"This letter comes at just the right time; of course I will go," Arthur made up his mind.

With the promise of House Tully, Raventree Hall would surely not dare to make any small moves, and he could safely leave to head to King's Landing for the tourney.

He must win the championship of all three events and get that prize of seventy thousand Gold Dragons; only then would he have the capital to carve out a territory in the subsequent great war.

"With your hammer, I actually think the melee championship is already in our bag."

Desmond had witnessed Arthur's hammer and knew how powerful such a heavy armor-breaking weapon was in a chaotic melee.

One hammer blow to the ground, two hammer blows to meet the Seven.

Arthur shook his head slightly, "I actually think this hammer is too light. When I go to King's Landing, I will forge a larger two-handed hammer; one the size of a pumpkin will do."

Desmond's eyes widened, finding it incredible, "How much strength do you have? A pumpkin-sized hammer—what person could withstand such a blow?"

Patrick had not seen the scene where Arthur took out a child with one hammer blow, and he found the conversation between the two inexplicable: "What pumpkin hammer? What are you two discussing?"

Desmond introduced it to him: "Mr. Arthur is preparing to forge a pumpkin-sized iron hammer to use as his weapon."

Hearing this, Patrick laughed out loud.

"You Southerners have such an interesting way of speaking; a pumpkin-sized hammer—I don't think The Mountain could even swing that."

Seagard is considered to be in the North within the Riverlands, so they naturally call people along the Red Fork Southerners.

"But Mr. Arthur can swing it," Desmond chose to believe the Lord of Red Mill.

Patrick shook his head, gave a cheeky smile, and took it as a joke told by the two.

Arthur did not want to force him to believe it, so he started a new topic to chat about other things.

People always believe what they want to believe.

Before Patrick witnessed his divine strength, any amount of words would be futile.

Soon, dinner was served, and after the three of them and their attendants ate, they each went to rest.

The castle is very small; Patrick and Desmond could sleep in the guest rooms, but the attendants could only sleep outside the castle.

Fortunately, there were enough tents to accommodate them.

The next morning, in the hall.

"... You must forge this kind of spear; for the spearheads, go buy some farm tools, melt them down, and forge them yourselves. Additionally, make more great shields. After the stockade is built, gather all the adult males and have them participate in military training. War is coming, and they must be prepared."

Arthur repeated his orders several times, and Amber wrote them down on paper.

He had already ordered Amber and the Maester of Yalan Cheng, Banji, to oversee the construction of the stockade and the manufacture of weapons and armor, while Javier, an officer of the Stone Hedge garrison, was responsible for training the militia.

With the guarantee of House Tully, Blackwood was no longer a problem. Once the stockade was formed, his subjects would be much safer, and he would have no more worries about leaving.

This trip would take at least a month or so; there was no harm in being detailed with his instructions.

After even the steady and mature Desmond expressed his annoyance, Arthur finally decided to leave.

He left behind five hundred Gold Dragons for the daily expenses of the project; if it wasn't enough, they were to write an IOU, and they would discuss it when he returned.

Like Patrick, Arthur also brought four attendants: Yule, the soldier Piper, his personal servant Meidan, and the stable boy Barton.

Of course, this stable boy is not a child; he is already an adult.

Arthur's party of five, Patrick's party of six, and Desmond's party of nine—a total of twenty people—set off.

Many years later, when the fame of Arthur Bracken, the "King of Benevolent Governance," rang throughout Westeros, people always liked to chatter about when Arthur began his path to kingship.

And most people believe that it was precisely his journey to King's Landing that set him on the path to hegemony.

From Last Hearth to Dorne, his notoriety is known to all.

From Lannisport to Dragonstone, his evil deeds are known to all.

Enemies tremble at the sound of his name, while his subjects feel proud of Arthur, for this is their King.

PS: Seeking recommendation votes and monthly tickets.

(End of this chapter)