"Ghosts, Lyanna. They're real."
"..."
"Did you have a bad dream?"
Wylis said nothing and stared at the quest in front of him, blue and bright. He read it a few more times, trying to understand what Ghost Banishing Presence even meant. Did it mean his presence alone would banish ghosts? If yes, then that meant ghosts were actually real.
Not much scared Wylis at that point, but… ghosts were still a bit of a troubling thought. You couldn't see them, speak with them, or deal with them. He couldn't beat them to submission.
"Lyanna, do you think Brandon would care to take Harrenhal? Robert owes me a favor, and I have need of that castle. Strong as those walls are said to be, I can mend the lot of them."
"..."
He looked at his woman as she stared back silently. Then she shifted closer to him and felt his forehead, and then his chest.
"Are you unwell?"
"I'm well and wiser, Lyanna." Wylis caught her arm, drew her close, and settled back with her in his embrace. "I've been thinking about what comes next. I can't hide in the North forever. I need a strong seat in the South, to trade with the realm and tend to any troubles that arise."
"Is that all?" Lyanna asked, looking up at his face, her chin on his chest.
Wylis chuckled. She had been at his side so long she read him plain. He wrapped his arms tighter around her. "There's more. I have a new 'gift', or near enough I shall. If I can make Harrenhal mine, my mere presence will be able to banish ghosts."
"Ghost?!"
Lyanna jolted and sat up.
Now you get me, girl.
"They're real?" She asked.
Wylis drew her back to his chest. "Now you see why I woke up startled. Aye, I reckon they are real enough. And that castle truly has ghosts in it."
"Then… when we slept together during the tourney, ghosts may have seen us?" Lyanna asked.
Wylis became speechless at that question. It was so strange and out of expectation that he couldn't help but love her more.
"Aye, they most certainly saw me pound you senseless, writhing and biting the sheets," he said, giving her back a rough squeeze. "But that's not something I worry about. The worry is that Lord Walter Whent yet lives. Two of his four sons remain, and a daughter besides. I don't see how I may claim this castle at all."
Lyanna hummed into his chest. "How old is Lord Whent?"
"Not old enough to die in sleep."
"Then…" Lyanna hesitated for a moment. "I see no grand battle on the horizon to conveniently carry him off. Why not have Robert strip House Whent of titles and lands for siding with the Targaryens? They all insist that the tourney was only a veiled host assembled for that fool Rhaegar."
"..."
That… sounds efficient.
Wylis looked down at his wife's forehead. Gods, the woman was sly as a fox. No wonder everyone called her wild. That mind of hers needed to be put to better use. She gave him two options without realising.
Yes, there was a war on the horizon. And from what he knew, Lord Whent would participate in it, and also the tourney that would follow. But at the same time, he couldn't bring himself to kill the man just to take the castle. He had no proof of Lord Whent's wrongdoings to justify murder. Besides, killing him won't solve the problem.
"Aye, if Robert sees to it, that would serve us well. Seems I'll be bound for King's Landing before long. Though the man sits in Winterfell right now."
"No," Lyanna said, like a brat, then nibbled his chest, right at his poor nipple. "You have scarcely warmed your own castle's hall these few months. I won't have you riding off again so soon."
She bit him again.
"Hah! That tickles, woman!" Wylis pried her face away. "I'm not leaving. My work is here. I must raise the walls, tend the furnaces, set the water wheels turning, and take the ship out to hunt the sunken treasure off our coast. I have plenty to do here."
"And me?"
"Aye, doing you as well."
Lyanna giggled and pecked his cheek before snuggling against him.
Wylis chuckled and closed his eyes, mind occupied with countless thoughts of the future. Forgetting to ponder how the smallfolk would react to the magical wall that rose from nowhere.
####
Ramsgate Town,
Chett was just as confused and just as shocked.
It was Jonos who woke him up that morning. It was a complete mess; every man of the Ramsgate Guards had been woken up. The reason given to him was the most absurd. Jonos claimed a strange wall had risen inside the town. He almost struck the man, believing him to be drunk. But he smelled no wine on him.
Soon, he put on his clothes, chainmail, and the gambeson, and tied his precious sword to his belt. Since he wasn't going to battle, he didn't wear any major metal armor. He took Small Paul along, the man being the most helpful when it came to scaring the smallfolk.
The fog had thinned out by then, and the blue sky was visible. He mounted his horse and moved out of the castle, crossing the twin moat bridges.
As soon as he crossed the final gate, he frowned. While the area was as desolate and empty as the night before, there was something new.
"What in the Gods…" He cursed, finding a tall wall now running through his vision. He looked to the right, and the wall stretched as far as he could see, passing through the trees. He looked to the left, and the wall continued all the way to the shore.
He swallowed his words and followed Jonos, who led them.
As they passed through a massive and rather grand gateway, he marveled at it. The big central arch was finely crafted, the ceiling marked with intricate carvings. The two minor arched gates on either side were the same.
As soon as they were out, they turned right and rode along the entire new wall. It had seemingly risen out of nowhere, as the trees around it were intact. The stone also looked old, but very strong. The wall even reached fifteen meters, and each tower was twenty meters in height. They traveled the entire length until they reached the shore north of Ramsgate Castle.
Then they went back and rode the other way, reaching the shore again. Chett could see that the wall had essentially created an enclosed area, cutting off the outside from the inside perfectly.
As he rode into the residential area of the townsfolk, he heard a thousand murmurs. The people were staring at the wall.
"Ser Squire!"
"Ser Chett!"
He was just a squire, but the smallfolk already called him Ser, followed by whatever they could think of. The man who called for him was Martyn, the town's blacksmith, who worked very closely with Lord Kaiser.
Soon enough, he arrived at the docks, where many people had gathered. Old Harwin, the fisherman who worked for Lord Wylis to clear the trees, was surrounded by many. Chett dismounted the horse and walked over.
"The work of the Gods!"
Chett heard Old Harwin talking.
"Listen to me, goodfolk! This is the doing of the Old Gods. These walls are ancient, set here long before the castle and the town. They are the walls of the First Men. Long they lay buried. Lord Kaiser cleared the land, and so they rose again."
But there was no quake.
Chett frowned at the rambling of the old man. At that point, Chett was certain he could be called a learned man. He'd read about geography, land phenomenons like quakes and eruptions of volcanoes, and how springs form.
"Harwin, what nonsense are you prattling?" he called as he strode through the crowd, head and shoulders above the rest, Small Paul following. "Do not peddle tales when you know not the truth."
"And so what is the truth, Ser Squire? Lord Kaiser set his plans to raise a wall. We labored to clear the land for it. This day, the wall lifted by itself. Look to the base, as though it rose from the very ground. The stones carry the scrape of grinding as they came up. I saw them."
"..."
The truth was, Chett had no explanation. He had nothing to say that would prove Old Harwin wrong.
"Aye, I hold it a marvel as well, yet every marvel has a cause. This one will too. I shall speak with Lord Kaiser myself. The men will search the wall. No one is to climb it or pass beyond. There may be a hollow pit to swallow a man whole. Get back to raising the new docks."
Leaving them, he rode his horse back to the castle and waited for Lord Kaiser to finish his morning routine, which involved bathing, breaking the fast with his family, and then sitting down in the solar to read the ravens.
At that time, he knocked on the door and entered.
______________________
Advance chapters on [PATREON] are in long-form format. I have 12 long chapters of this story on P@treon. That's equal to 45-50 Webnovel chapters.
Check out Wylis X Lyanna Stark NSFW Art & Solo Dacey Mormont Art, and advance chapters at [email protected]/MrPlotThickens Or Subscribestar.adult/mrplotthickens
Old Free Art on Discord: https://discord.gg/W5FdB6WXaP