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Chapter 197: Giving Birth Is Like Going to the Privy
🕑 Added 2025-03-10 12:06:00 +0000 UTCPutting aside the matter of the Banished Knight’s armor for the time being, Lynd spent the following months by Nymeria’s side, watching as her belly gradually grew.
To ensure Nymeria’s safety, he had Malora and Qyburn put aside their work when she entered her due date, focusing solely on accompanying her and awaiting the birth of their child.
Although this was not the first time he had been present for a birth, he still felt nervous. To prepare, he had sent Glory to live in the mountains some time ago, knowing that animals like cats and dogs carried parasites that could be fatal to newborns.
During this time, Brienne attended King Robert’s tournament in King’s Landing on Lynd’s behalf.
Though Lynd had valid reasons for not attending, the decision to send an attendant in his place—especially a female one—was seen by many as a silent protest against the additional taxes the Iron Throne had imposed on Summerhall. To others, it was further proof of the growing rift between Lynd and King Robert.
King Robert was not pleased. Upon learning of it, he cursed Lynd as ungrateful within the Red Keep, making it clear that his trust in Lynd was no longer what it once had been.
However, once the tournament began, Brienne’s exceptional performance in the jousting competition softened Robert’s displeasure somewhat.
Brienne fought her way to the finals, unseating every opponent with a single well-placed strike. Her straightforward yet masterful technique became the standard by which many knights judged jousting. Soon, the name of Brienne the Exemplary Knight began to spread.
After knocking Jaime Lannister, the Kingslayer, from his horse, her final opponent in the championship was Barristan the Bold.
Like most knights, Barristan was initially displeased that Lynd had sent a female attendant to the tournament, considering it an insult to the honor of knights.
However, as he watched Brienne repeatedly best her opponents with her exceptional jousting skills, he gradually came to accept her as a legitimate knight-in-training. By the time they faced each other in the lists, he regarded her as a true opponent.
Their joust became the most thrilling contest since Jaime Lannister’s match against Jorah Mormont in Lannisport. Many believed it even surpassed that famed duel—if only because, this time, King Robert did not call a halt to the match.
Brienne and Barristan clashed for seventeen rounds, breaking seventeen lances each. In the end, Barristan, burdened by age and fatigue, made a crucial mistake and was unseated, bringing an end to the long and spectacular duel.
King Robert was thoroughly pleased with the tournament and even considered knighting Brienne himself, much as he had once knighted Lynd.
However, Brienne declined the honor, making it clear that she wished to return to the Town of Redemption and receive her knighthood from Lynd.
This only deepened Robert’s resentment toward Lynd. Though he said nothing at the time, he later found an excuse to suspend trade along the Roseroad, intending it as a punishment.
However, he failed to realize that while Lynd did use the Roseroad for trade, most of the goods traveled south to the Reach, with relatively little heading north across the Blackwater Rush. As a result, the impact on Lynd was minimal. Highgarden, on the other hand, relied heavily on the road for north-south trade. Its closure dealt them the greater blow.
Thus, when Highgarden’s inquiry reached the Red Keep, the trade route—shut down for only a few days—was promptly reopened. The entire episode played out like a farce.
After returning to the Town of Redemption, Brienne was knighted by Lynd in the Redemption Sept, as they had agreed.
Not long after becoming a knight, Brienne left the Town of Redemption and returned to Evenfall Hall, where she began assisting her father in managing its affairs and learning the responsibilities of a lord.
With Brienne’s influence, Evenfall Hall forged a defensive alliance with Summerhall. The Miracle Fleet also constructed a military port there, expanding its patrol range beyond the Sea of Dorne.
Renly Baratheon personally traveled to Summerhall in protest, demanding that Lynd dissolve the alliance with Evenfall Hall. However, Lynd refused.
He simply presented Renly with the signed alliance contract, pointing out its key differences from similar agreements with other territories like Grassy Vale or Bear Island. Unlike those, this alliance did not involve a permanent military base. The Miracle Fleet’s dock at Evenfall Hall was merely rented—no different from leasing a dedicated dock and warehouse in Oldtown.
Later, Lord Selwyn heard about the situation and took Brienne to Storm’s End to meet with Renly. In the presence of the Stormlands' vassals, Brienne swore allegiance to Renly, thus resolving the minor dispute caused by the defensive alliance.
Because of this, the lords of Crow’s Nest, Mistwood, Rain House, and several other castles within and around the Rainwood of Cape Wrath also signed defensive pacts with Lynd.
Their motivation for signing the alliance was not solely to receive periodic assistance from Summerhall’s Miracle Legion in eliminating bandits from their lands. More importantly, they sought the trade agreements attached to the alliance—gaining membership in Lynd’s Miracle Merchant Guild as high-ranking members, which granted them the right to trade in high-value goods.
After all, the earliest signatories of the alliance, Blackhaven and Wyl, had already amassed great wealth through trade, making them prime examples of its benefits.
Take Beric Dondarrion and Allyria Dayne’s wedding, for instance—their extravagant banquet rivaled those held in the Red Keep. After their marriage, they left the dull borderlands and purchased a lavish villa with a courtyard in King’s Landing, where they hosted grand feasts daily, serving fine wines and delicacies with an air of luxury.
Everyone knew the state of Blackhaven. The only possible source of the immense wealth funding Beric Dondarrion’s lavish lifestyle was his business dealings with Lynd.
If the prosperity of Blackhaven and Wyl alone was not enough to convince others, what truly stirred the interest of the lords around Cape Wrath was the transformation of Weeping Town.
Weeping Town was also part of the Rainwood territories, and its former state was well known to all the local lords. Yet, in just over a year of joining Summerhall’s defensive alliance, it had developed a grand castle, while its small harbor town had flourished into a thriving port city—so prosperous that it evoked both admiration and jealousy.
More crucially, Summerhall had aided Weeping Town by clearing out surrounding bandits and constructing a naval base on an offshore island to shield it from pirate raids. This allowed the town to drastically cut its military expenses, as it no longer needed to allocate large sums for the protection of its castle and port. A modest garrison was now sufficient to maintain order.
As a result, the lord of Weeping Town now enjoyed a life of luxury that most could only dream of.
With such an undeniable example before them, the lords within and around the Rainwood could not resist any longer. Initially, they had feared that Renly, as their liege, might hold them accountable for aligning with Lynd, but with Evenfall Hall setting a precedent, their concerns were eased.
However, they were unaware that the defensive alliances they had signed were entirely different from Evenfall Hall’s.
Particularly in matters of security—while Summerhall assisted these lands in dealing with bandits, it also established military garrisons to safeguard trade routes.
Individually, each garrison seemed insignificant. But once every domain in the Rainwood had two or three of them, Summerhall’s stationed forces in the region quietly grew to a total of 3,000 men—fully equipped, professional soldiers, clad in standard armor and armed with high-quality weapons. Their combat prowess far surpassed the local peasant levies of the Rainwood lords.
Furthermore, as the trade agreements took effect, the Miracle Merchant Guild’s network extended deeper into Rainwood’s territories. Through bribery, alliances, and strategic partnerships, it would not take long before the mid- and lower-ranking officials came under its influence, gradually weakening the authority of the Rainwood lords.
It was the same as what had happened in Blackhaven. Beric Dondarrion, perceptive as he was, recognized that his power in Blackhaven had been completely hollowed out, leaving him with no means to resist. Rather than fight a losing battle, he had taken his new wife and voluntarily relocated to King’s Landing, turning a blind eye to Blackhaven’s affairs.
With his methods already proven in Grassy Vale, Blackhaven, Wyl, Weeping Town, and Castle Greenstone, Lynd had established a perfected process for integrating new territories through these alliances. He no longer needed to personally oversee it—his subordinates simply followed the blueprint, step by step.
During this period, Lynd remained within the castle, even entrusting the affairs of the ruling council to Mus, Bert, and the others. His primary concern now was waiting for Nymeria to give birth.
Though Lynd had made thorough preparations, they ultimately proved unnecessary. Nymeria’s labor went smoothly—so much so that from the moment her water broke to the delivery of the child, only a little over ten minutes had passed. As Nymeria herself put it afterward, it was as easy as a trip to the privy.
“What an ugly baby.”
Freshly cleaned and dressed in clean clothes, Nymeria entered the study and looked at the infant cradled in Lynd’s arms, her tone laced with mild disdain.
“You don’t know anything. All newborns look like this. They’ll grow into their looks,” Lynd replied, glancing at her before asking, “Are you feeling any discomfort?”
“No, I feel great!” Nymeria shook her head, then gave her child a quick look and said bluntly, “Without that burden, I actually feel even lighter.”
Just as she had said, thanks to Lynd’s careful conditioning, her body was incredibly strong. Even though she had just given birth, it had little effect on her. Walking around was nothing—if necessary, she could don her armor, pick up a battle axe, and head straight to the battlefield without issue.
“You really don’t act like a mother,” Lynd sighed as he watched her nonchalant demeanor. He said nothing further and turned to hand the baby over to the waiting Redeemed Sisters.
Compared to Nymeria, Lynd had extensive experience in child-rearing. When it came to parenting knowledge, he was not only on par with the three elderly sisters sent by Sister Melessa—he surpassed them in many ways. After all, the medical advancements of his previous life far outstripped those of the present.
Before the child was even born, Lynd had written a detailed parenting manual and given it to the three elder sisters, instructing them to follow its guidelines strictly. While they found some of the rules overly meticulous and tedious, they ultimately accepted them without question. After all, this was the child of the Chosen One, and strict rules seemed only fitting.
“You name him,” Nymeria said. Though she had been deeply concerned about the baby before giving birth, now that he was born, she felt an inexplicable sense of relief. She had little emotional attachment to the tiny being that had come from her own body.
Lynd thought for a moment before saying, “Augustus. Let’s call him Augustus.”
“Augustus? What kind of strange name is that?” Nymeria frowned, clearly displeased.
Lynd simply smiled, offering no explanation. He then ordered Mus to spread the news of his heir’s birth, announcing the child’s name as Augustus Tarran. To celebrate, he decreed a three-day feast throughout the territory, with all drinks provided free of charge and wages doubled for the entire month.
Additionally, invitations were sent out to the lords of the Seven Kingdoms, inviting them to a grand tournament in honor of his heir’s birth. The champions of the team melee and archery contests would each receive 20,000 gold dragons, while the champion of the jousting competition would be awarded a Valyrian steel sword.
Lynd had been collecting Valyrian steel for some time, originally intending to forge a Valyrian steel battle axe for Nymeria. However, Volantis had unexpectedly gifted him one, rendering his efforts unnecessary. As a result, he had the collected Valyrian steel crafted into three longswords, one of which would serve as the grand prize for the tournament.
For some knights, gold alone might not be enough to entice them, but a Valyrian steel sword was an entirely different matter. The mere prospect of winning such a weapon had knights from across the Seven Kingdoms flocking to Summerhall. Even the great lords could not resist. The Lannisters of the Westerlands were among the quickest to act, sending over a dozen knights to compete. Jaime Lannister, the Kingslayer, arrived at Summerhall alongside King Robert and was certain to represent House Lannister in the tournament.
In no time, knights from the North to Dorne made their way to Summerhall, along with warriors and fighters from across the Narrow Sea who had come to join the spectacle. Tens of thousands of participants and their entourages poured into the Town of Redemption.
Some had expected chaos to erupt in the town due to the sheer number of arrivals. However, Lynd had long anticipated this scenario. Not only had he designated a vast open area outside the town capable of accommodating 100,000 people, but he had also prepared tents in advance. Participants only needed to settle in the appropriate tents according to their status, while only the highest-ranking nobles and lords were given accommodations within the town’s villas.
Security within the town remained exceptionally stable, thanks to the presence of the Stone Giants. Anyone caught brawling or causing disturbances was immediately arrested—facing either a fine or a public flogging.
However, the busiest individuals in all of Summerhall were Balin and Lothor. The influx of people included a fair number of spies and agents attempting to uncover the secrets of the territory. In just over ten days, they had already captured more than two hundred spies from various factions. And that was only the number they had officially detained—other locations, such as the forges and the Black Cave, were rumored to have caught many more. However, rather than handing them over, those captured in those places were quietly sent to either the mines or the dungeons of the Black Cave.
