Chapter 44 - The Great Market of Harrenhal 01.
Chapter 44 - The Great Market of Harrenhal 01.
[Chapter Size: 2600 Words.]
---------------------------------------
Third Person POV
Harrenhal, 101 AC.
---------------------------------------
The arrival of the wolf quickly stunned everyone in the market that had formed around the events of Harrenhal, while Lord Tallhart had to order the guards to clear a path.
People began running and gathering at the sight of the giant wolf, as news started spreading through the area, seeing him ever since he had left the northern camp being ridden.
Most of the Northern soldiers were already accustomed to the animal's presence. As long as no one bothered Ghost, he posed no threat whatsoever. But the people of the South were not used to such a monstrosity walking beside the young lords of the North.
"I didn't expect we'd attract so much attention. This is incredible!" Rickon said beside Jon.
"I think this isn't the good kind of attention..." Jon murmured, looking at the people. Some pointed at him, but Ghost was clearly the center of attention.
Jon did not like the way everyone watched them as they moved forward. Ghost was at his side, surrounded by guards who were opening a path through the crowd.
Even Ghost seemed bothered by all the attention. People climbed onto crates and higher places to watch and comment. Vendors stretched their necks to catch a glimpse of the giant wolf among the guards, while others began shouting, frightening the crowd even more as they announced the presence of a monster.
Jon truly had not expected a reaction of that magnitude from the people of the South. There were bards, performers, people seeking glory in the tournaments, and others who had come merely to see the high nobility of the Seven Kingdoms. There were also knights, lords, and young noble lords and ladies like themselves walking through the area to enjoy the local festivities.
Shortly afterward, Jon realized that his group had brought an entire area to a halt just to look at Ghost. They were not looking at them or trying to greet the northern nobles; they were looking at the wolf, which was larger than most of the men present, surpassing even horses, like some monstrous creature.
There were rumors and stories about this wolf in the North, but the South certainly did not speak much about Winterfell's direwolf. That was a subject for people more interested in the region, not something told in taverns or widely discussed throughout the southern kingdoms.
That was why seeing that there truly was a direwolf walking through the area was such a shock and a huge novelty for everyone. And it would certainly become a topic of conversation among most lords in the coming hours.
Even those secluded within their camps or settled inside the castle would eventually hear about the animal. After all, that was where the high nobility of the Seven Kingdoms was gathered at that moment, along with the candidates for the Iron Throne.
"This is too much attention," even the young Lord Tallhart murmured.
He looked at the children beside him. The group already attracted attention on its own, but Ghost took everything to another level.
Even so, it was not as though they could hide him.
"At least they're seeing him now, surrounded by guards, instead of hearing rumors and trying to sneak into our camps to look for him," Edric Tallhart commented to Jon.
Jon stared at him for a moment before nodding. "Yes, you're right."
Even so, he remained somewhat uneasy. At that moment, he did not like seeing Ghost so uncomfortable. The wolf was not used to having perhaps thousands of eyes fixed on him like that. Even the castle, which stood a good distance away, was filled with people at its windows watching the commotion from afar.
It was almost as if they were looking at a Targaryen dragon that could neither burn nor eat them.
"Anyway, let's ignore them and keep moving," Lewyn Manderly said.
That northern group consisted of:
Jon, Lyra Stark, Rickon Stark, the Tallhart heir, Edric Tallhart, the Glover heir and his two siblings, Brandon Glover, Harwood Glover, and Gilliane Glover, the Manderly heir, Lewyn Manderly, the Manderly twins, Orys Manderly and Yara Manderly. The Ryswell heir, Osric Ryswell, and the Cerwyn heir, Torren Cerwyn.
"Well, as long as they don't hurt Ghost, it's fine," Yara commented beside Lyra.
"I doubt they'll do anything. I mean, Ghost is walking with us. It's not like they have any reason to harm him," Lyra murmured, though she also seemed concerned.
"Well, I'm not worried they'll try anything with Ghost. The problem is that this might attract some bad looks, right?" Rickon said.
Then he turned his attention back to the two girls. "And you talk as if Ghost belongs to you."
"He belongs to Jon," Yara said, while both girls stuck their tongues out at him. "But that doesn't stop us from caring about the wolf. In the end, we like him just as much as Jon does."
"Jon is his owner..." Rickon rolled his eyes. Meanwhile, Jon could already see an argument beginning.
"Stop it. Let them worry about him. Besides, you wouldn't want to make a face at the Glover girl, would you?" Jon teased.
Rickon immediately looked at the young Gilliane Glover standing beside her older brother, the same girl Rickon clearly had a crush on.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Rickon replied, even managing to turn a little red for a Stark.
"Would you look at that. The wolf is blushing," Jon mocked. That only made Rickon shoot him a furious glare.
In any case, they continued walking through the area until they stopped in front of a tent.
Under the young Tallhart's lead, they began examining the goods on display.
There were carved wooden dragons, symbols of noble houses, knightly coats of arms, and even the sigils of great families from the Seven Kingdoms, all crafted from wood.
"How much does this cost?" the young Glover girl asked, approaching a small sculpture of an Arryn eagle. "My sister liked it."
"Wait, wait. Let me buy it for her," Rickon quickly stepped forward.
The girl smiled at him. Her older brother simply smiled as well. It was no surprise. The Glovers had a great interest in a future marriage between their youngest daughter and the Stark heir. Benjen Stark also strongly encouraged the two to spend time together if his son was so open to marrying her in the future.
"Of course, Lord Stark. Feel free to buy my sister a gift," Brandon Glover said. The other young nobles exchanged amused smiles at the situation.
Jon rolled his eyes. It was becoming far too obvious. Meanwhile, he himself became interested in the carvings.
He stepped closer to examine a carefully carved wooden dragon. That was when he heard a shout from the stall owner, who had just finished serving Rickon.
After selling a Glover eagle and a carved giant wolf, receiving a few silver coins, the man stepped back upon noticing Ghost beside Jon.
"My lord, please... I would appreciate it if you could keep the beast away from here." He spoke cautiously, looking at Ghost with considerable fear.
The wolf stood beside Jon, examining the carvings with curiosity as well. He was much larger than Jon while standing over him.
There were wooden carvings of dogs, as well as several wolves that seemed to have caught Ghost's attention, as he looked at the objects before him with a certain intelligent gleam in his eyes.
"Hey, he's not a beast!" Rickon immediately complained to the man upon hearing that.
Jon, however, calmed him. "Wait, wait, Rickon. It's fine."
Ghost would not harm anyone, but Jon did not want to cause trouble either. He ran a hand along the wolf's neck before giving him an order to wait a few steps back with the others. That reassured the vendor, though he still seemed cautious.
"Very well, my lord. I apologize." He merely thanked him, not wishing to offend Jon, who did not look ordinary in the slightest and had a wolf, even without a sigil on his clothes like most of the boys and young men around them. He assumed Jon was a noble.
Jon then took out some of the savings he had. After all, he received some money for the work he did with the blacksmiths of Winterfell.
He then began looking over the dragon carvings. There were remarkably detailed replicas of Targaryen dragons, painted and carved from wood. They were popular toys among the common folk.
"And what dragon is this? How strange..." Lyra murmured, approaching Jon, also interested in the dragon carvings.
"Oh, that's Caraxes." She carefully picked up the carving.
The design was quite accurate. The dragon had a different shape from the others, especially because of its much longer, serpentine neck.
"Really? You know it?" she asked curiously.
Jon gave her a strange look. "You didn't know? That's Prince Daemon's dragon."
Jon already knew the creature's description, though it was the first time he had seen a visual representation of it. Until then, he had only known Caraxes through books and the accounts of the maesters.
The dragon had been documented for a long time. With more than half a century of life, it was relatively easy to identify. Besides, Jon had already heard rumors that Prince Daemon had claimed it a few years ago, stories brought by merchants passing through White Harbor who enjoyed repeating sailors' tales.
"Oh... I just didn't know he looked like that. He's kind of strange," Lyra replied.
Jon knew very well that she was not the type of person to spend hours reading books about dragons.
He set Caraxes aside and soon became interested in another dragon. One that he did not remember seeing in any of Winterfell's books.
"Hey, can you tell me which black dragon this is?" Jon turned his attention to the merchant.
"Ah, that's Balerion, the Black Dread."
"No, not that one. I'm talking about the other black one." Jon pointed to another carving.
He knew Balerion. But it was not the only black dragon he expected to find there. What caught his attention about that other black dragon were its green eyes.
"Ah, that one? He's not very well known, young lord." The merchant replied, though Jon made a slight grimace at being called lord once again.
Even so, he did not correct the man; the mistake was understandable.
"But I would like to know his name. Do you have it?" Jon murmured, studying the figure.
"Ah, that is none other than Cannibal." The merchant smiled.
"Cannibal?" Yara, who had joined them, asked.
"Exactly. They say he's the wildest dragon that exists. Some even claim he devours other dragons." The man spoke in a provocative tone.
"Really? He eats other dragons!?" Lyra grimaced upon hearing that, moving even closer to Jon to examine the carving.
"No one can tame him. No one knows his origin. He simply lives on Dragonstone." The merchant shrugged before continuing.
"No one knows whether he was born there or came there. Some say he is older than the Conquest itself. They say that when the Targaryens left Valyria and arrived at Dragonstone, he was already there." His tone was full of mystery and insinuation.
It was obvious that those were nothing more than rumors and speculation, but the man was trying to sell the image of a powerful and mysterious dragon.
For Lyra, Yara, and even the others listening to the conversation, it seemed to work.
Jon, however, narrowed his eyes. "I'll take it."
He had already intended to buy a few wooden dragons to bring back to the farm. He wanted to give some to Sam, Mary, and the others.
But that black dragon... That one was for him... After all, he felt it was the same dragon from his dreams.
The same dragon with green flames. The same one that had tried to hunt a smaller dragon a few days ago.
Jon still remembered trying to stop it, and the dragon had not been happy about that at all.
Even awake, Jon could still remember the anger the creature had directed at him. He did not understand why he could see through that dragon the same way he sometimes saw through other animals.
But he knew that was far too dangerous to share with anyone. That was why he never spoke about it.
Even so, he felt that dragon had some kind of connection to him.
Jon bought the carving and carefully packed everything into a few boxes to keep them from breaking, along with the other dragons he had bought for the farm. He knew his brother would love them.
"You spent all your money on those dragons, didn't you?" Rickon asked as he approached and looked over everything Jon had bought.
"What can I do? I liked them." Jon shrugged. Upon hearing that, Rickon grimaced.
He still had some money left. Maybe he should buy a few books.
"You should buy a sword." Lyra joined the conversation as well.
Jon shook his head. "I'm perfectly happy with my sword."
"You've had that sword for... what? Three years? You should replace it by now. Besides, it's starting to get too small for you." She insisted.
Jon turned his head and looked at her. "Since when did you become so observant?"
"I'm not blind, you idiot," Lyra replied. That made the others start laughing.
In any case, they continued walking through the merchant tents.
Jon ended up finding exactly what he wanted. Books, lots of books.
While the others practically dragged him from one stall to another, Jon immediately became interested in a tent full of old works.
They only stopped there because Rickon asked, and Lord Tallhart also agreed.
The young man found several interesting titles, but what caught his attention most were a few books written in High Valyrian.
"Why are these books cheaper?" Jon asked the merchant. The man was clearly not from Westeros.
"Well, I can sell books more easily in Essos, but they're not very popular here, young lord," the man said, then continued. "I'd rather sell them all here at once than try to take them back to Essos."
Well, that made some sense. After all, those books were rare. They should not have been cheap, but Jon immediately became interested.
There were several interesting titles, and this was an opportunity to learn more about High Valyrian. Despite the books he already owned and one of the few maesters whose help he had requested in Winterfell, he was not sure he had learned everything he could.
"I'll take all of them," Jon said immediately.
The man broke into a wide smile. "Of course, young lord."
"Hey, Jon, are you really going to take all of them?" Rickon asked.
"..." Jon did not even bother answering.
Rickon simply sighed, pulling a gold coin from his pouch. "Pack everything."
"Why are you doing that?" Jon asked, turning his attention to him with a raised eyebrow.
He could pay for it himself, even if it meant ending up practically broke.
"You're irresponsible with your money. Father and Grandmother would be annoyed if they found out you spent everything within a few minutes of leaving the camp." He said, and Lyra clapped her hands.
"Very good, brother!" she said. "Jon is kind of an idiot when it comes to books."
Jon stared at him for a few moments. "Well... thank you then, Lord Stark."
Rickon merely shrugged. "Just please buy a new sword." That was all he said.
Jon shook his head. "My sword is good enough." He grumbled. Then he turned back to Lyra.
"And don't call other people idiots." Jon grumbled.
◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆
🦝 Raccoon here: 🦝
I deeply appreciate your support since the beginning of this exciting journey!
🌟 RaccoonLeague | Patreon🌟
Visit our Patreon for more: https://www.patreon.com/RaccoonLeague
Extra Content Already Available:
🏴☠️ One Piece - I Am a Different Luffy!: 30 extra chapters!
👑 Game of Thrones: The Legend of Jon Arctic!: 30 extra chapters!
👑 Game of Thrones: DragonBorn! 30 extra chapters! [100%]
👑 HOTD: Jon Arctic! 30 extra chapters!
🌀 Naruto - Minato Namikaze SI!: 30 extra chapters!
🗡️ The Witcher - As Uchiha Madara! 30 extra chapters!
⚡HP - Jon Arctic as Severus Snape! 30 extra chapters!
⚡ Harry Potter - Shadow Monarch! Finished! [100%]
⚡Danmachi – The Alchemist! [Coming Soon.]
Visit our Patreon for more!!
◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆