They were not greeted by Ser Leo as Lymond expected, but rather by a gray-haired knight with huge sideburns. Ser Lymond looked at him with half-closed eyes and asked him.
— Where is Ser Leo? — he said, with a frown.
The knight made a face as if he was in trouble.
Ser Lymond glanced at Gwayne, who stood to the side.
— Gwayne.
"Sir, I thought it best to leave Ser Leo to guard the Castle gate while we were away," he replied.
Ser Lymond was silent and urged his horse forward.
For a moment, it crossed Ser Lymond's mind that his grandson was one of those noblemen who let power make fools of them, that was, if Ser Leo had been removed from his post for no reason, but he thought his grandson did the right thing.
They rode along the main road and wherever they went, the people of the village celebrated the return of their lord.
Lady Cerella was leaving the Castle door with a smile on her face, she stood on the steps waving.
Gwayne dismounted and climbed the stairs, removing his gloves.
— What took you so long? — she said, crossing her arms.
Septa Lorren appeared behind her, and bowed sweetly.
— The rivers overflowed, blocking our passage. — he said, hugging her.
Then, he gathered around to watch his grandfather walking up the stairs.
— It's slow, grandpa. said Cerella.
He snorted.
— Just because you've grown up doesn't mean I'm going to tolerate rude young people, remember that. he said, then smiled at her.
—Did something happen that I should know about while I was gone? — he said, looking at her, then turned to Gwayne with half-closed eyes. — I hope I don't have any surprises. — She said finally.
— Just a drunk causing trouble in the village, but the soldiers resolved it quickly. — said Cerella, proud of herself.
Maester Caster bowed to them from the doorway, in the courtyard the knights were leading the horses to the stables. All that was left was the wagon with the trip's things and Will and his children. That seemed out of place.
Gwayne smiled at them and motioned for them to wait.
He called the steward and told him to find a house for the new residents of the village. — He pointed at them.
— and call the servants, my armor is in the cart, tell them to take it inside.
"With your permission, Lord, I will place them in the village inn until a new house is built," the steward said to Ser Lymond.
— No need, there are some vacant houses still in the village, put them in one of them and they should be fine.
He nodded and went down to take care of it.
"Sir, a raven has arrived from Casterly Rock and another from Lord Sarsfield," he said, pulling a paper from his cloak pocket. — urgent news, my lord.
Cerella and Daeron noticed Gwayne's face change when he heard "Lord Sarsfield" so they looked at each other.
Ser Lymond entered, talking to the Maester, and Gwayne was going to follow them, but Cerella pulled him away, trying to take his attention away from the subject.
— So what was she like? she asked, warmly taking him by the arm.
— A beautiful lady. — he said, with a cold smile on his face. — Cyre, we'll talk about it later.
Gwayne broke away from her and went after Ser Lymond and the letter.
Cerella made an uncomfortable face.
— This isn't going to end well. — she said, looking at Daeron.
— Did you think she was... Beautiful? — Cerella had curious eyes.
— Eh... Of course, a lot.
— A worthy lady then, I look forward to meeting you. — said Cerella, excitedly.
Gwayne found his grandfather reading the letter, Maester Caster and Ser Patrick were beside him.
— War. — said the grandfather, with coldness in his voice. — she has finally arrived, Ser Jaime is gathering an army in Casterly.
— How did it come to this? — asked Gwayne.
Ser Lymond handed the letter to him, and he glanced through it quickly.
"Defending the honor of House Lannister... Lady Stark and her supporters in the riverlands took Tyrion Lannister..."
— The Goblin was captured by Lady Stark and he summons his vassals. — finished Ser Lymond.
— You know what to do. — said Ser Lymond looking at Ser Patrick, who left shortly after that.
— What are your plans, sir?
— He will recruit the young men in the village, and also the men capable of wielding a sword. said Ser Lymond.
- Is this necessary?
"Not for the Lannister war," Ser Lymond said brusquely. — this is for our defense here at StrongPride, these men will not die for the Lannisters.
Cerella entered the room.
—What is it this time? — she said, with fear in her voice.
Gwayne seemed lost in thought.
—And what was the message about Lord Sarsfield? he asked Ser Lymond, his voice became dark.
Ser Lymond ignored him and stood up, walking over to Cerella.
— War, daughter... - he said.
Cerella shuddered at the sound and went to Gwayne's side.
— So, you and... Daeron, are you all going to go to war and leave me alone? — She said with tearful eyes.
— You will leave too. said Ser Lymond bluntly.
— What was Lord Sarsfield's message, Maester? He asked Gwayne again softly.
— Gwayne! — Cerella exclaimed, but he didn't seem to hear.
— He said he will stop by here on his way to Casterly Rock, will come with his army and want to discuss the tribute...
— I don't understand, what about the tribute? said Ser Lymond sharply.
The Maester stammered.
— I only sent part of the tribute. said Gwayne.
- You what? — Ser Lymond was in disbelief and fury filled his voice. — How dare you, what were you thinking, what are you up to? asked Ser Lymond angrily. — Know that if this is an attempt by you to come...
— You left me in charge of StrongPride, and as sir, I didn't think the charge was fair and I did what I thought was best for our house.
- My house! shouted Ser Lymond. — you insolent boy, it's my hou...
- Grandfather! — Cerella interrupted. — how can you say such a thing?
The room became silent for a moment.
Then, Gwayne broke the silence.
— I didn't make any mistakes, I put this place in order while you weren't there, I paid the bastards a fair amount. — Gwayne said in an irritated tone. — and where does Cerella go? you promised me to wait.
— Wait for what? - she said.
— I made a mistake leaving you in charge, I won't make that mistake again, do you hear me! thundered Ser Lymond.
— I'm not asking your permission, sir. — Gwayne replied with hardness in his voice.
Upon hearing this, Ser Lymond charged at him, thundering curses into the air.
Cerella stood in the way, she had tears in her eyes but anger on her face.
— Where do you plan to send me? —she exclaimed.
— Come on Cyre. — said Gwayne.
- No! She replied.
Gwayne left the room furious, Daeron followed closely behind. Ser Lymond continued shouting at him as he left.
— He left this place completely organized and led the men like few could, he told me that he won the loyalty of many among the knights, he took care of the young people and gave them jobs in the village...
Ser Lymond was silent, then she left the room in a huff.
He slammed his hands on the table, making a huge bang.
— Do you wish to be alone, sir? — asked the Maester.
Lymond sighed and sat down.
— I shouldn't have behaved that way, it wasn't a very regal way.
—What was she talking about, Maester Caster? — he asked, soon after.
— The Young Lord didn't let the soldiers become lazy and sloppy while you weren't there, he repaired some dysfunctional parts of the village, he hired men to keep the village clean and to help with various services, he reconciled the store owners and gave them young men to learn his trades... He studied the financial situation of the house, my lord.
— He is young and sometimes arrogant, but he did a good job. — finished the Maester.
— It doesn't matter that he knows all this, he's living a charade, a lie that he invented to protect himself... He's intelligent, I'm sure of that, I know he knew that the payment to the Sarsfields was something political, but instead From reason he preferred emotion. — Ser Lymond sighed. — he doesn't forget what happened in the past, he doesn't forget what was done to him, nor what was taken from him. — He sighed.
— He has his mother's genius...
— Is Gwayne's hatred about what happened six years ago, my lord?
— I was hoping he would forget all that, but he's not the type to forget...
It all started that year that preceded the death of Gwayne's parents, my daughter, Gwayne's mother, was a friend of Gerard's wife, do you remember him? asked Lymond.
— A little sir, my memory is fading with age.
— Well... — sighed Lymond.
He was a great knight, he was captain of the guard at the time and he was a good man...
Janne liked her friend so much that she brought her to serve in the castle, there was no reason for me to deny her that.
Everything happened so quickly, everything unfolded after Lord Sarsfield's unexpected visit. I had only seen him a few times, but I had already heard about his tastes... and his disgusting appearance, at that time he was already fat, I believe that hasn't changed.
He arrived during the night with just a few knights and men-at-arms, said he was going to the Rock and stayed with us for a week, abusing our hospitality, Tywell urged me to send him away after the fat Lord caused a fuss with Gerard and his wife, Janne asked me for his head, and I would gladly give it if I didn't know what would happen next. We could not sustain a war against them, even if we won, we would still be slaughtered as rebels by the Lannisters. Well, after so much hospitality Lord Sarsfield spat in my face with an extremely high tribute. This was more than I could bear, I sent him away, of course, not in the way I would have liked.
Gerard resigned from his position after this, he told me that I was not a good man and that I had done nothing to protect him and his family. Tywell drew his sword and threatened to cut off his head for it, but I accepted the insults and told him to put the sword away. Gerard was right.
I didn't want to sacrifice my home and my plans for them, and I will regret that for the rest of my life. The other day, I appointed Ser Patrick Hiks to the position, watched Ser Gerard and his family leave a cart. I remember Janne crying and Gwayne running after the cart talking to Gerard's daughter. After that I went inside the castle, Gwayne returned hours later with his face all bruised, blood was running from his mouth and his body was bruised, but the blood on his clothes was not his, he said that the family was ambushed on the road , Gerard was killed and his wife abused, They took their daughter to a greenish carriage.
I gathered my knights and we went to the location, we found the bodies of Gerard and Mary, but no sign of the girl, I sent half of my knights after the men who did this, but they found nothing.
Everything that happened to them was my fault. Lymond sighed exhaustively.
"What a terrible story," said the Maester. —Did Gwayne mention how he got his injuries?
— He didn't talk about it and I believe he never will. — said Ser Lymond — all he said was "The warrior did not come down to save us, my father was not there to save me."