Chapter 17 — "The Price"
Three weeks passed.
Lord Edwyn Starke arrived at the Bloody Gate on a grey morning with six riders and no ceremony, met with the Blackfish for two days behind closed doors, and then rode east to the Eyrie where Jon Arryn was present thier a rare occasion,for holding his autumn court. What was said in those meetings Alaric didn't know in full. What he knew was that Edwyn came back from the Eyrie after four days with a letter bearing Jon Arryn's seal and a expression that said the argument had been made and accepted and the details were now the problem.
The details were always the problem.
The camp had grown into something between a military post and a settlement without anyone deciding it should.
It sat two miles east of the Bloody Gate on a shelf of flatter ground where a stream came down from the upper approaches — good water, defensible naturally, far enough from the Gate that the garrison's discomfort with the arrangement didn't have to be managed on a daily basis. Alaric's men had built it in the first week. The Painted Dog fighters had helped without being asked, bringing the particular expertise of people who had been constructing shelter in mountain terrain their entire lives.
The result was functional in the way things were functional when necessity drove them rather than plan.
Fighters and their families. A rotation of Vale rangers and knights including men who participated in the mission. Supply lines back to the Gate three times a week. Alaric in the largest of the shelters which was not large.
The Painted Dogs had started treating him as chief somewhere in the second week.
Not formally. Nothing announced. Just the gradual shift of a people who had lost their leadership structure and filled the vacancy the way water filled the available space. The senior fighter — the one who had been last to kneel, whose name Alaric had learned was Davan — managed most of the daily interactions. But when something needed deciding Davan came to Alaric.
Three of the elder members had made trouble in the first week. Old men who had spent their lives in the mountains fighting the Vale and found the present arrangement difficult to reconcile with everything they had been. They had been vocal about it. Then less vocal when Alacric intervened,Then they become quiet because the younger ones were afraid to do anything against the Bloody men they witnessed in the passes.
Lord Edwyn arrived at the camp on a morning.
He came with his riders at the Gate, walked the two miles himself along the stream path with his cloak against the mountain wind and his eyes taking in the camp with the methodical assessment Alaric had been watching him apply to everything for two years.
He stood at the camp's edge for a moment.
Looked at the shelters. At the Painted Dog fighters moving through the camp with the routine ease of people who had made a decision about where they were. At the children playing near the stream with Vale ranger children who had drifted into the camp over the past week for reasons their fathers hadn't explicitly approved.
He looked at Alaric.
"Well, you have certainly made yourself a name in the Vale, When you came here. I certainly expected you to do great. But you have exceeded my expectations" he said.
"My lord," Alaric said confused to say anything really.
They sat outside on two stones near the fire and Edwyn's eyes kept moving around the camp in the way of a man updating a picture he had formed before arriving.
"Jon Arryn approved the land grant," Edwyn said. "A section of the lower eastern approach. Thirty acres of workable ground, access to the stream that runs through it, hunting rights on the upper slopes." He paused. "It's rough land."
"They're rough people," Alaric said. " They will survive somehow "
"It will cost money to make it livable," Edwyn said. "Structures. Tools. Seed for the first planting season. Livestock." He looked at Alaric. "More money than the Blackfish's and Lord Paramount Jon Arryn discretionary budget covers. More than mine easily."
"Aye, it's really a great investment, Lord Jon Arryn providing Land grants is already a good thing but doesn't solve the whole thing" Alaric said.
"What's the total amount left after budgets and your part"
Edwyn told him. It was a huge amount
Alaric was quiet for a moment.
He thought about the purse Ned had given him at Winterfell's gate three years ago — for the road and the first months — and everything he had added to it since.
Tournament winnings. Gambling wins .The Blackfish's campaign payment. Three years of ranger pay accumulated without much to spend it on as his expenses either beared by Lord Edywn or the Rangers budget.
He thought about the number Edwyn had given him.
It was most of it. Afterall it was almost 10% of the whole project investment.
"I'll cover it," he said.
Edwyn looked at him.
"Alaric—"
"I'll cover it, It was my decision to bring them here. I have to take some responsibility." he said again. Same tone. Not a discussion.
Edwyn was quiet for a moment. His eyes went back to the camp. To the children at the stream. To Davan sitting with two of the elder fighters near the largest shelter with the patience of a man who had learned to wait for outcomes rather than chase them. They are patiently listening to the situation.
"You understand this money doesn't come back to you," Edwyn said.
"I understand that."
"And you're certain."
"I brought them here," Alaric said simply. "They gave up their ground and their chief and came through the Gate on the strength of what I offered them on that ridge." He looked at Edwyn. "I don't make offers I don't keep."
Edwyn looked at him for a long moment.
"You are a fool, i am ashamed that I raised you like that, That you would be so political unware" Edwyn said. Not a criticism. Not praise. Just the plain observation of a man who had known him before and was noting the distance between then and now. " You fool, you have the leverage you have solved a portion of a problem that have been affecting Vale for centuries. You should demand a return and reward. Maybe even a return on investment if you are going to provide a money."
"My Lord " Alaric started to say something but Edwyn intervened
"Shut up, so smart and yet so stupid at the same time." Edwyn said. " You are mix of your father and Ned Stark. Ned and I are great friends. He is good man but also naive in political matters. Don't be him. This make me feel like I didn't do a good job fostering you."
He stood. Looked out over the camp one more time.
"I'll have the papers drawn," he said. "The land transfer can be completed before the first snow if we move quickly." He paused.
"There will be conditions attached. Jon Arryn's conditions. Fighter service obligations to the Gate. Patrol commitments. Terms for if the arrangement is broken."
"They'll agree," Alaric said.
"You sound very certain."
"I'll explain the terms to Davan myself," Alaric said. "He'll make them understand."
Edwyn nodded." And about your part and investment,you would remain shut in that mouth. I will talk to Lord Arryn about it myself on your behalf. You can't be given any tittle due to your Heritage as Your Guardian is Lord Eddard Stark, so his permission is quite necessary Otherwise I would have demanded a tittle. But no worries, financially I would get something that would help in long term."
That left Alacric quite stunned and speechless
He picked up his cloak from the stone and ready to leave.
"Your uncle asks about you," he said. "In his letters."
Alaric said nothing.
"He doesn't say much," Edwyn said. "Ned Stark rarely does. But he asks." He looked at Alaric. "You should write to him and your siblings as well. They are waiting for your letters. Come home , you haven't been there for quite a while boy."
He walked back toward the Gate path.
Alaric watched him go.
Behind him the camp continued its business — cooking fires, voices in two languages finding the words that bridged them, children at the stream, Harys somewhere giving instructions to the morning patrol rotation.
He thought about Ned.
About a leather purse handed over at a gate three years ago, Although he didn't Needed it as Lord Edywn is quite generous. But it did help him in gambling and making much more money than he ever seen.
He went to find Davan.
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