chapter 102 part 1
Chapter 102: Captains of Thirty
The Whispers, the Lord's Hall.
Glyn accepted a horn cup from Carlaia, took a sip of the local red wine, and his brow furrowed naturally.
Still as bad as ever.
Glyn handed the horn cup back to Carlaia and spoke to the short man kneeling on one knee below. "Rayke, descendant of the First Men, I accept your fealty."
[Reik Snow, in his early thirties, a bastard of the North, leader of the Vale's Sea Sellsword Company, a "gift" from Petyr.]
As he spoke, Glyn rose from his chair and strode toward Rayke.
*Step, step...* Glyn stopped before Rayke, looking down at him for a moment before drawing his sword with a *clang*.
Glyn stared at the perfectly still, head-bowed Rayke and nodded slightly.
Rayke felt the cold longsword on his right shoulder. A drop of cold sweat slid down his forehead; he felt like a catfish on a chopping block.
He had no chance of survival... Rayke dared not move a muscle.
In a few moments, the back of Rayke the sellsword was already covered in a fine, cold sweat.
"Reik Snow, I hope the next time I draw this sword, it is for my sea-faring knight."
Hearing this, Rayke could not help but raise his head and look at the speaker.
Suppressing the surging emotions in his heart, Rayke, with the longsword still resting on his shoulder, declared with impassioned fervor, as if shouting, "Lord Glyn, I am forever at your command! I swear by the Old Gods and the New, until death."
Glyn sheathed his sword, glanced at the emotional Rayke, then turned, ascended the dais, and reseated himself in the lord's wooden chair.
Glyn lowered his gaze to Rayke, saying nothing more.
Under Glyn's stare, Rayke's excitement instantly calmed, and he circumspectly lowered his head.
Only then did Glyn speak, "Rayke, I command you to recruit sailors in Mermaid Port. Enough sailors to crew three ocean-faring ships."
"I obey your command, my Lord!"
"Rise, Rayke."
Glyn's gentle tone at this moment made Rayke's heart pound with uncertainty. After rising, his expression became even more respectful.
Glyn looked at Foley, who stood waiting at the side, and added, "Captain Foley, arrange accommodations for Rayke's family on my behalf."
Before Foley could reply, Rayke's eyes trembled slightly as he spoke first, "My Lord, thank you for your benevolence!"
Glyn looked at Rayke, a hint of satisfaction on his face. "Rayke, House Crabbe is descended from the First Men. You will have a new life. You may leave."
Rayke kowtowed and left the Lord's Hall with Foley.
After the two had left, Glyn's long fingers tapped on the armrest of his chair.
He was thinking about his cousin, Lyanna Crabbe, whom he had met the day before.
Lyanna had already renounced her right of succession to House Crabbe, and Glyn needed to make appropriate arrangements.
Lyanna had already married once for the benefit of her House. Whether she chose to remain beautifully single now or search for true love, Glyn did not intend to interfere with her romantic choices.
Would she encounter a bad person again? Please, who would dare to whisper such things in the lands of Lightfort... Besides, The Whispers would always be Lyanna's home. As long as Glyn was around, Lady Lyanna's station would remain, and she would always have his protection.
Therefore, as long as Glyn was around, the one who should be worried was any man who caught the eye of Lyanna Crabbe.
...
A week later, after inspecting the new farms in the old lands of House Crabbe, Glyn, accompanied by his vassal knight Ma Beck, arrived at Lightfort, the former castle of House Crabbe.
Lightfort was a ruined castle overgrown with weeds, constructed from ancient stones without mortar, perched on the edge of a precipice.
Thick green moss grew in the cracks between the stones, and trees sprouted from the foundations. The retaining wall along the cliff's edge had already collapsed, and clumps of poisonous red vines grew on the piles of rubble.
Fifty feet below, waves surged into a dilapidated old lighthouse, and behind the tower was the entrance to a large cave.
The sea had eroded a series of hollows beneath the cliff. When the waves rushed through the subterranean caverns and passages, they would create a rumbling sound, from which Lightfort derived its name.
There was another legend about the origin of Lightfort's name. It was said that Clarence Crabbe, the legendary hero of Crackclaw Point, stood eight feet tall and was strong enough to uproot a pine tree with one hand and throw it half a league. No horse could bear his weight, so he rode an aurochs.
Clarence's wife was a forest nymph. For every man he killed, he would bring the head home for his nymph wife to kiss its lips and bring it back to life. These men were all lords, sorcerers, knights, and pirates; one was even the king of Duskendale.
After being resurrected, they only had their heads, so their voices could not be very loud. To pass the time, they never stopped talking. Thus, the Crabbe castle became known as Lightfort.
...
Glyn gazed for a while at the ruined ancestral castle, then spoke, "Knight Ma, I intend to restore our ancestral home."
As a descendant of generations of vassal knights to House Crabbe, Ma Beck was naturally overjoyed to hear Glyn's words.
Ma Beck had grown up in Lightfort and held a special affection for the place.
In Ma Beck's memory, Lightfort had been half-ruined even then... Indeed, it seemed the Crabbe ancestors never cared about their living environment. As long as it was habitable, it was fine—truly a noble house of half-wildlings.