10 Scarred Gold Mark

296 AC: Highgarden

Mace paced back and forth from the end of the table to the other and back as his mother Olenna sat eating some snacks and drinking watered down wine. As he was clearly unsettled, Olenna finally broke the silence.

"Will you sit down already, you oaf."

Mace stopped to look at his mother before taking his seat.

"I don't understand why you're not stopping this here and now mother, why have Margaery wed to a northern barbarian, one that's not even holding the title of paramount but a vassal house! It's ridiculous! She deserves to wed the crown prince."

Olenna looked upon Mace and smirked before chuckling as she sipped her wine.

"Fool, who do you think holds the real power in the North, it's plain to see, hells their influence reaches as far as the Westerlands and Stormlands even while growing every day. They hold more power than the crown itself and the only reason the drunk stag even has his crown is due to House Frost. Do you know why we failed to strike a blow to the rebellion even though we sent the majority of our forces under your order?"

Mace looked uncomfortable hearing of his latest debacle within the war, high on success against Baratheon and seeing an opening, he thought to capitalized. Only to have his mother laugh in his face when word came back that half their forces were lost and the lords barely held his judgment rather deferring to his mother instead.

"Well I know their army is impressive but Maul is no more… Thank the gods. They do have a good sized fleet as I remember someone saying too. Ah, but we have more troops and gold than them to be sure plus the North buys from us for food so we could easily squash them under our thumb haha!"

Olenna's smirk faded and scowl replaced it as she nearly hid her frustration in the palm of her hand.

"Do you truly know so little you idiot…"

Mace recoiled at the harsh tone his mother laced those words with before trying to think as she voiced out her thoughts.

"House frost is ranked the richest house in the seven realms and has held that title for three generations now regarding the maesters ledgers of finance. They haven't bought grain or any food imports other than berries and southern delicacies. Last I had heard, House Frost holds a large portion of the North even compared to House Stark, so much that their army and naval power correlate as such since they run a military system under a consolidated leadership normally held within House Frost for them and their vassals."

Mace tried to understand the meaning of that but his face showed it all so his mother continued.

"They control every man under their vassals when they go to war under a single general normally with the vice commanders to head off regiments under their leadership."

Mace started to get it little by little, he just needed a little push.

"This gives him almost twice the original number of troops all under his control when you add his vassals. The last I heard, they had somewhere around 100,000 give or take a few ten thousand."

Like a lightbulb, Mace sprung from his chair knocking it over as his hands slammed on the table.

"That would mean they have almost equal numbers to us! That's preposterous! How can they feed so many in the cold lands of the North? They must be buying from somewhere else if they are so rich!"

Olenna sighed and sipped her wine once more bringing relief to her dry throat. The door to the room knocked and opened inviting Loras, Willas, and Garlan inside to take their seats at the table. Eyeing the new guests, Olenna spoke out after setting her wine down.

"I was just telling your father of how strong of an alliance partner House Frost would make and why they are such a large force in Westeros."

Willas looked at Mace's shocked expression and deduced the reasoning but guessed not everything was revealed yet so threw a shot in the dark testing the waters.

"I suppose you must be shocked to hear how they practically control King's Landing with the cultural conversion of the city due to all the merchants and holdings they have in that place, I mean it's almost a northern city at this point with how many northerners are there."

Mace's head snapped to Willis and his mouth opened in surprise as his legs began to quiver just by a hair's breadth. Garlan saw what his brother was doing and pitched his thoughts on House Frost honestly from personal recounts and the histories he had learned of.

"Their warriors are renowned to be the best fighters in Westeros and Essos it is said, they even have a prestigious academy dedicated to the arts, studious pursuits and martial prowess. I heard only a few dozen can be allowed to attend outside of the North and even then they stay there for years and years before coming out as changed people. If Kadderon Frost went to the academy, that would explain how me or Loras being unable to beat him in a spar as of yet."

Mace seated in his chair with his face in his hands finally looked up and spoke.

" Suppose House frost is truly so great, do you think they could give Margaery the crown she deserves?"

Loras with his arms crossed, and eyes closed spoke out finally in this gathering. 

"I presume it'll seem she has a crown already as soon as she is within Frost land's father. Which brings to why I am here, I wish to go with her as her sword."

Everyone present looked gob smacked other than Willas and Olenna to the youngest members' proclamation. Though Garlan recomposed himself fairly quicker than Mace did probably due to how close the two siblings were. Olenna coughed lightly, drawing attention to herself as she gained the group's gazes.

"Actually, you and Garlan will be going to the North as you'll both be attending the academy within their lands as per part of our agreement for the marriage alliance. You'll attend for no less than two years and be able to take whatever they have to offer you at your own decision though I would suggest a few of the courses since it would help here in the future."

Garlan and Loras looked to Olenna this time both in shock as Willas sat quietly contemplating the words spoken.

"I also heard that Lucarys Frost would like to meet you Willas, he said something about how such a small injury shouldn't impede you so he'd take a look at it himself while you're there."

"I thought you said only Garlan and Loras were going to be admitted?"

Willas's confusion painted across his face though Olenna only seemed to chuckle more.

"He did mention that you wouldn't be properly admitted till your injury was settled."

The room settled before smiles broke on the three brothers' faces at once. Olenna smiled while Mace could only ruefully smile from the corner of his mouth at the new knowledge that was crammed into his head all at once. 

Kadderon Frost 296 AC: Whitegaard Castle grounds

Smelling the fresh northern air, I was jubilant on being back finally. It was as if my lungs could finally breathe again with the crisp frost that hung in the air. Margaery by my side wrapped in high end wool and furs to keep the southern rose warm though once we crossed into Frost lands, The air seemed only crisp, refreshing, only cool on the skin as it caressed you. She would soon come to love it, I was sure. Seeing the battalions though by the hundreds and the constantly shifting naval presence in the waters was probably a shock considering that we held our military to a higher standard than even the Lannister. Here, being a warrior and being a soldier were two different things, the reason why I had to begin my studies at once at the academy in preparation of not only my officer training but also my training in being a lord and handling my managerial skills.

As our group, myself, Margaery, Loras, Garlan, Willas, and a group of ten knights from House Tyrell made our way across the busy open grounds leading to the main keep, we came across a sight I wouldn't think to see anytime. 

"Fuck you you overgrown Frostback giant! I'll chop you up from balls to tongue, you say one more damn thing about my commander!"

In front of us by a fair margin and yet the noise was reverberating, a group of men and women were facing off against one another as two centralized individuals seemed to be smack dab in the middle. One large man, against really as the other had called him, was only smiling as his turquoise eyes seemed to sparkle at the provocation. His blond scruffy beard and medium tied back hair only reverberated in my mind as I came closer with my group.

"Oi, Kor! What's going on?"

Kor seeing me approach smiled from ear to ear and turned his head my way showcasing the giant angry red scar he sported going down half his face and blinding one of his left eye.

"Oh shit, if it isn't the not so little lord anymore!"

"I'm surprised you remembered me at all"

As my steps drew closer, the smaller man, black in hair and wearing a goatee seemed to simmer in anger but the way Kor had called me 'little lord' threw him for a bit. Our group now closer only imposed further danger though to both the other groups and the smaller group leader seemed to see this before his eyes caught on to something.

"A bunch of southerners, it seems, the house of Tyrell from the Reach, what's a bunch of southern flowers doing in the North, come to grovel like every other lord does, haha. Ya might as well go back before ya get scared and end up sucking your motha's milky tits for comfort haha."

Hearing the crude language directed at my now family was like a blow to my own respect and my family's name. 

"Who are you?"

It was short, sweet and simple. While we were close to the keep, we were also somewhat close to the academy and if they were enrolled, my noble statues would hold little sway, but House Frost was special like that.

"Names Barron, Rok Barren heir of the knightly house Barren under house Whitespear. I don't care wh…"

"Shut up, I don't care what else you have to say and your introduction was already too long as is. Take your grievances and settle them elsewhere without involving my now family in it."

Rok Looked like he would be steaming from the ears, honestly it was rare to see a fresh tomato in the North with how things were. Before Rok could do anything to dampen his standing or family, I stepped forward.

"If you must, present your grievance here and now in the name of House Frost, I will stand vigil over the presiding. Will that placate your anger?"

Rok with one step back and Kor smiling like a devil bout to strike gold, everyone seemed to stand a little bit straighter. It only made me wonder how much the name Frost held weight outside our keep and to the high lords since most of my dealings were with fellow nobility and high ranking individuals. 

"I apologize lord Frost, I only expressed such anger because this brute was disregarding my leaders accomplishments saying how they were 'hogwash' and weak compared to himself. I only wished to show him that it wasn't true."

Margaery stepped forward and when our eyes met, I had to admit, I was curious.

"And who would this 'leader of yours' be by chance?"

Rok taken off guard from Margaery's words, tried to say but was countered before his first word was out

"Yors, a fellow gold mark though he's of lowest in the rankings as of now after dropping three ranks from being injured badly in a mock battle recently. A mock battle against my group who beat them soundly though it was expected since he was ranked 6th and challenged the 2nd place holder."

I listened with indulgence getting up to speed on the ranks and trying to figure out any changes in the years. From Margaery's subtle confusion from the topic, I took over.

"Well I can understand the frustration of his words as they may be but the results speak for themselves, why start a battle when already crippled. That would only lead to your downfall in the war when you're not fully prepared. As much as you might wish to see Kor forgive and show respect to you commander for the leadership they have given you, I know Kor isn't the type of man to submit to just anyone, it just isn't in his ideals as a man. If you want revenge or just a sense of accomplishment, I suggest waiting and fighting another day. I doubt Yors would want you to waste your time doing something foolish."

Rok while still angry, at least heeded my words at least but not before staring intensely at Kor who only smiled with that same shit eating grin.

"I'll be here whenever you guys are ready for another smackdown."

As the retreating party of warriors went back on the trail ahead leading to the town below, Kor stayed with his group and looked my way with that still annoying grin. 

"So Uhh, big lord? No, how bout big lord… no that won't do. Oh! Big boy lord!"

I seriously wanted to punch him now… Margaery and the others were only chuckling and whispering and it honestly infuriated me more.

"Kade, Kadderon, or heir Frost will do Kor. You call me anything else and I might have to castrate you."

Kor's laugh reverberated through the surroundings before he calmed down, the guy had a solid few inches on me even though he was presumably years older than myself, it still was disappointing having him look down on me so casually.

"Ah, Kade it is. The other one is too long and the last one is too formal for someone who hasn't beaten me in a fight. So you wanna rematch? Maybe this time I'll whack you so hard, you'll stop growing eh?"

Another round of snickers and it wasn't even funny, Kor just had that effect on people. Someone who led naturally as it was breathing and a person who could get close to people through his gregarious attitude but anyone who was his superior technically and it was hell till you proved yourself to him. 

"Anyways Kor, tell me, is Tors a new addition to the gold marks, I haven't heard of him since last time we met."

"Ya, the man showed up from Stark lands under sponsorship from lord Stark himself, next commander in training and all that I suppose or maybe just a fancy warrior to show off to the people. In any case, he knows how to fight, strong arm and keen eyes take him far though he's too tenacious in reaching the top. Something about getting something out of the vault in the decade tournament coming up I think."

I had guessed new people would reach higher heights as old people would leave but it sounded like it must've appeared no earlier than a year or so and that was impressive. 

"Well you still beat him so I suppose he wasn't that strong to be reaching for the top just yet. I'm more curious about how you received that scar, I thought you were too durable to be hurt by simple weapons haha, maybe a dire bear got you."

As we stepped up the path deeper into the grounds of the keep, Kor's grin turned feral almost and his hands twitched ever so lightly.

"Aye, a fire beast that thought to claim my life."

My curiosity peaked as we reached our split off point and said our farewells after some idle chatter. 

"So what dire beast could scar you so."

Kor looked out forward as he began to walk then looked back as he lagged behind his group to catch my ear in the departure.

"Tors"