The Silent Wolf

Chapter 11

There's a slight change in the chapter. I was pointed out by JohnnyNott on AO3 that MAce and Alerie were married with two kids by then. Idk how that completely skipped my research but he is right. I changed it up and kept the families the same but with different members for each sibling. Most probably this time there won't be an issue. Since only one of the two changes was known to be married but there's no mention of when the wedding took place just when their first child is born

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Strong men were always a desirable 'commodity', for lack of a better word, in whatever society someone lived in. And to show others how strong a man is, we can always find them flexing their abilities in various manners. Like a tourney.

A man who wins in even one of the competitions is seen in a whole new light, and a highborn winning one will for sure end up with more ruches, lands and even a wife before he's even left the tourney grounds.

So you can imagine the kind of attention I was getting.

My winning the Melee was thought of as Robert taking it easy on me and granting me the spotlight, not that Robert ever claimed as such. Still, I got the eyes of many ladies and from what Father tells me, many Lords had already offered their maiden daughters to me.

And then I went on to win the Joust, defeating men like Ser Barristan the Bold and Prince Rhaegar Targaryen. Nobody whispered how those men had taken it easy on me, having seen how hard-fought those victories were for me. My popularity amongst the female populace and the Fathers looking for husbands for their daughters practically exploded.

Did I enjoy the attention I got? Not really. I never really liked attention on me, that was more my brother's thing. I preferred to remain in the shadows and do my work silently, as it suited most to what I planned on doing. All this attention got in the way of me being myself and allowing me the time to think.

It didn't help when I won the archery competition on the final days of the Tourney. This was probably the last time I would be taking part in any tourney.

But why had I taken part in the tourney, to begin with? To get the attention of the right people of course.

I needed the Prince to know who I was before I approached him with my offer. A strong man compared to a weaker one always paints a better negotiator after all.

And it had worked. Prince Rhaegar had listened when I spoke and was on edge the entire time. To him, I was a threat who would soon become a capable ally. And everyone wanted a strong ally compared to a weak one.

I gave the Prince what he wanted, gave him three more things that he so dearly craved, and hung a certain carrot in front of him that was too irresistible for him to ignore. So when I put my demands before him, things I wanted from him in exchange for the things I would be giving him, he jumped at it.

My Father was an ambitious man. The North was strong and close to impossible to conquer but he wanted to grow stronger, which was why he listened when I advised him about the making of a Northern Navy, about making a second port and about restoring Moat Cailin. But I knew well enough that the man would not be happy with just that.

My father loved us, there was no challenging that notion. He was strict with the sons he had because he wanted them to live long and prosper once he was gone. He doted on his daughter and gave in to any demands she made. But that would not stop him from using us for his Southern ambitions.

He saw the opportunity when Hoster Tully, an old friend from the war, offered the hand of his eldest daughter for the heir of Winterfell. He saw the opportunity when Robert and I fostered under the same roof in the Eyrie. But I had other plans.