After clearing out the last mountain villagaround Tengshi Town, Linde returned to Tengshi Town to rest, planning to head east of Rose Road to the Blueburn River in a few days, hoping to clear out all the bandits and Savage Tribes roaming that area within a few months.
Now, the Savage Tribes, mountain villages, and bandits within Tengshi Town's territory have been thoroughly cleared. Next, once the areas east of Rose Road are cleared, the task of eradicating bandits north of Bitterbridge will be considered complete.
"Who is she?" In the fortress's stable, Linde took the saddle off his mount, Black Wind, and picked up a brush, preparing to groom Black Wind, when he saw Nameria walk in with a child.
"Her name is Brienne, the daughter of Lord Selwyn Tarth of Tarth Island." Nameria reached out and patted the still-shy little girl's back, making her stand beside her.
Hearing Nameria's introduction, Linde couldn't help but pause, looking down at the little girl in front of him.
In his previous life, when Linde read books and watched shows, he liked many characters in the Ice and Fire World, such as Little Devil Tyrion, Young Wolf Lord Robb, and Kissed by Fire Ygritte, but he rarely completely liked a character because every character would more or less have some traits he didn't agree with. Only two characters he completely liked without any reservations: one was Dolorous Edd of the Night's Watch, and the other was Beauty Brienne.
He liked Dolorous Edd because Edd was the only source of joy in the cruel, frozen lands of the North; his jokes made the North less cold.
As for Beauty Brienne, she was the only one in that era of collapsing rituals and music, where everyone pursued the lowest common denominator, who still adhered to and practiced the spirit of knighthood. The light she emitted was enough to illuminate people's hearts.
Now, this character he liked so much appeared before him, which made Linde sigh with emotion.
Linde walked up to Brienne, squatted down, and carefully looked at this timid but trying-to-remain-calm little girl.
Brienne now was not as unsightly as described in the books. Although her facial features looked somewhat masculine, she was not ugly; she just had the appearance of an ordinary woman. Perhaps this was because her nose had not yet been broken and her teeth were still straight. Her blue eyes were as pure and straightforward as described in the book, without any impurities.
"I am Linde Terra, it's nice to meet you, Brienne of Tarth." Linde extended his hand to Brienne and said.
Perhaps sensing Linde's kindness, Brienne shook Linde's hand and said, "Hello, Lord Linde! I am Brienne Tarth of Tarth Island."
Linde smiled, then stood up and asked Nameria, "Why is she here?"
Nameria explained, "Count Tarth and my mother have a very good relationship and he has helped me before. This time, he sent Brienne here because he wants Brienne to become my squire and receive my teaching."
"This is a good thing." Linde nodded.
Nameria shook her head and said, "However, I cannot let Brienne be my squire, so I brought her to you, asking you to take her as your squire."
Linde was stunned when he heard this and asked, "Why don't you personally..."
"You forgot, I am not a knight." Nameria shook her head, then looked at Brienne beside her and said, "She wants to become a knight, and that's something I cannot give her."
Linde showed a slightly troubled expression and said, "She is a girl; it's a bit inappropriate for her to be my squire. You can be responsible for teaching her, and when you think it's appropriate, I can then knight her."
Before Nameria could speak, Brienne stepped forward, mustered her courage, and said loudly, "Master Goodwin said that only by following a true knight can one become a true knight. Lord Linde, you are a Chosen One acknowledged by the Starry Sept, a paragon of knighthood in this world. I want to follow you and learn to become a true knight."
Seeing Brienne like this, Nameria couldn't help but smile in appreciation, then said to Linde, "Chosen One, what do you think?"
Linde was silent for a moment, then handed the brush in his hand to Brienne and said, "If you can clean Black Wind today, I will take you as my squire."
Brienne's eyes lit up when she heard Linde's words, and she quickly took the brush in her hand. Nameria, however, frowned and held back Brienne, who was trying to approach Black Wind, saying with some concern, "It's too dangerous to let her near Black Wind. Black Wind's temper might hurt Brienne."
Although Black Wind was smaller than Moonlight, its temper was much more volatile. Moonlight now allowed stablehands to wash its coat, but Black Wind did not allow anyone other than Linde to touch it. If an outsider got too close, it would kick and bite, and several stablehands had been injured because of it.
"Don't worry, I'll be watching nearby," Linde reassured Brienne, then pointed to the stable's rafter and said, "Besides, even without me, Glory is here watching, so you don't need to worry."
A huge Glory was currently lying on the rafter, leisurely swinging its tail. Its body perfectly blended with the shadow of the rafter; even looking up, one would need to observe very carefully to spot any clue.
As Glory gained control over its physical strength, some of its abilities also became stronger, especially its stealth ability to merge into shadows. As long as it merged into the shadows, even if someone walked past it, they wouldn't notice it, as if its presence had vanished at that moment.
At Linde's reminder, Nameria carefully distinguished for a long time but couldn't find where Glory was on the rafter. But since Linde said Glory was there, she tentatively believed him and released her hand from Brienne.
Brienne eagerly approached Black Wind but found that Black Wind was too tall. Even though she was much taller than an average pre-teen, she was still too short in front of Black Wind's towering size. So she searched around the stable, found a few horse stools, moved them next to Black Wind, stacked them to get enough height, and then stood on the stools, ready to groom Black Wind.
Black Wind saw a little person trying to touch it and immediately became very angry, directly shifting one step sideways and ramming its body into the little person, knocking her directly to the ground.
Seeing Brienne's disheveled appearance, Nameria couldn't help but smile.
Brienne was not discouraged by this; instead, she got back up, picked up the horse stools, stacked them again, and once more prepared to groom Black Wind, who again knocked Brienne down.
Thus, one person and one horse repeatedly enacted the scene of falling and getting up, over and over, with no intention of stopping.
Seeing that Brienne was not in danger, Nameria signaled to Linde, and the two walked out of the stable together.
"I plan to settle the mountain people you brought back this time in Red Leaf Village, what do you think?" As they walked, Nameria asked Linde.
"Weren't some Savage Tribes settled in Red Leaf Village before?" Linde asked doubtfully.
Nameria said, "Some of those Savage Tribes are a bit unruly. Settling these mountain people there will create some minor friction, and I'll have an excuse to intervene."
Linde looked at Nameria after hearing this and laughed, "You've started to learn how to think like a Lord."
"That's a must. I can't always rely on you to make decisions, can I?" Nameria looked at Linde, with a hint of complaint in her tone, and said, "You can't stay here forever."
Linde gave a wry smile and offered no response.
Nameria sighed and asked, "How much longer can you stay here?"
Linde replied, "Maybe one or two years, or even shorter. It mainly depends on Highgarden's thoughts."
In fact, Linde knew very well that his time in Tengshi Town would definitely not be as long as one or two years; he might leave this year. The time should be roughly after the Blackwater River fortress is built, because Velas hoped Linde could accelerate his plan.
Although Velas did not become the Three-Eyed Raven, he was still influenced by the Three-Eyed Raven during that period, which made him consider resisting the Others as his most important task.
Among other things, just in these few months, at his suggestion, all prisoners in The Reach's various territories, unless they committed minor offenses, were sent to the Wall to join the Night's Watch, totaling over a thousand people. This move also shocked other Lords.
Although sending prisoners to the Wall to join the Night's Watch was already a custom, not many Lords actually did so. Most prisoners would still be dealt with within their own territories, and only a very small number of death row inmates would be sent to the Wall.
So, often, the Night's Watch would send recruiting officers south to recruit prisoners, but the number recruited each time was very limited, twenty or thirty people was considered very good. This is why it caused such a sensation when The Reach's various territories sent over a thousand prisoners to the Wall.
However, doing so also caused considerable controversy in The Reach. People felt that Velas's actions were excessive, and there were even rumors that Velas's paralysis had affected his mind and emotions, implying that Velas was no longer suitable to be the heir of Highgarden.
However, these discordant voices quickly disappeared, because with a large number of prisoners being sent to the Wall to join the Night's Watch, the public order in The Reach's various territories significantly improved. Even incidents of drunken brawls rarely occurred, which led the populace to misunderstand, mistakenly believing that Velas sent prisoners to join the Night's Watch for the sake of public order in The Reach's various territories.
Although this matter was ultimately resolved satisfactorily, Velas's prestige was not only undamaged but strengthened considerably. However, the Thorn Queen and Lord Mace were both somewhat concerned about Velas's condition, so they restricted some of Velas's authority, allowing him to recuperate peacefully in Highgarden.
Feeling that he was now constrained and unable to do anything, he could only place his hope of increasing the strength to resist the Others on Linde. So, recently, Velas had already written two letters, dispatching special envoys to deliver them to Linde, urging Linde to complete the bandit suppression mission as soon as possible.
The tone and wording in Velas's letters seemed calm, but Linde could feel Velas's anxiousness. He thought that even if he did nothing and just stayed in Tengshi Town, Velas would probably take the initiative to announce that he had completed the bandit suppression mission at an appropriate time, and then hand over that enclave in the Dorne Sea to him.
Just thinking about how other knights would go mad with jealousy if they knew someone was so proactively trying to give away territory, Linde felt a surge of emotion.
Linde looked at Tengshi Town across the Mander River, and a sigh of emotion arose in his heart. After all, when he first arrived here, Tengshi Town was just a small village. Now, in just one year, it had already developed into a city. If it weren't for its location not suiting his preferences, it wouldn't be impossible for him to stay here.
Linde sighed and said, "When I leave, I will leave White Deer Wenda here. With her three hundred Rangers and your current garrison, it should be enough to handle most dangers."
"Mm." Nameria did not refuse, nodding. Then, her face suddenly flushed slightly, and she said very abruptly, "I am already twenty years old; my mother conceived me at this age."
Linde was slightly startled, turned to look at Nameria, was silent for a moment, and then said, "My bed isn't very comfortable to sleep in. How's your bed?"
Nameria initially didn't understand Linde's words, and disappointment appeared on her face, but she quickly came to her senses, realizing Linde's hint, and quickly said, "My bed was meticulously crafted by artisans from King's Landing. It has a thick layer of goose down quilt on top, very comfortable to sleep on."
Linde took Nameria's hand and smiled, "That's good. I'll sleep at your place for this period!"
For the knight officials of Tengshi Town and the knight officers of Linde's cavalry, the union of Linde and Nameria was something they were happy to see happen. In fact, for the past year, they had continuously created opportunities for the two, but the two seemed to be lukewarm. If it were other people, perhaps children would have already been born by now.
For this, Scarface even started coming up with bad ideas, suggesting that Moroa, who was skilled in various poisons, concoct some aphrodisiacs for Linde or Nameria to take. Moroa's response was to make Scarface have diarrhea for a day.
So, when they learned from the maids that Linde appeared in Nameria's castle room at night, each of them felt a sense of fulfillment, as if a long-cherished wish had finally been completed.
Only Moroa's complexion was slightly off. Smart people all knew not to approach her during this period.
However, some of Nameria's subordinates were a bit worried, because Linde and Nameria were not married at this moment. If they had descendants, they would be bastards, and bastards did not have a good reputation in Westeros.
But for Nameria's old subordinates, this was not a big problem, because Nameria herself was also considered a bastard. However, at the time of her birth, Nameria's mother had given her the surname Fudeli, and Nameria was not affected by her bastard status afterward, at least on the surface.
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