The village of Ash-hill nestled against the gentle, rolling foothills of the southern Sheep's Head Hills, sitting right along the banks of the Broken Branch.
The Sheep's Head Hills were a series of mountains in the eastern North, located south of the Weeping Water, east of the White Knife, northwest of the Ramsgate, and northeast of White Harbor.
The Broken Branch traced its source back to the Sheep's Head Hills.
Hornwood, the ancestral seat of House Hornwood, was situated near the northwestern edge of those very hills.
Don Quixote rolled up the parchment in his hand.
It contained the meager information he had ordered Cole and the others to gather about Ash-hill the day before.
There wasn't much to go on, and what little they found was fragmented and slightly contradictory.
He had only noted down a few geographical details that were highly likely to be accurate, just to get a rough lay of the land and a basic understanding of his new fief and its surroundings.
"Looks like Ash-hill is a remote little backwater. Even the merchants who constantly travel out of White Harbor barely know it exists.
"Makes sense. If it were a prime location or a wealthy village, it would have been handed out to someone else ages ago. It wouldn't have fallen into my lap."
Don Quixote remembered a line from the original story, where Wyman Manderly spoke to Davos Seaworth—the "Onion Knight," Hand of the King, and core advisor to Stannis Baratheon:
"From Widow's Watch to the Ramsgate to the Sheep's Head Hills and all the way to the headwaters of the Broken Branch, all men answer my call.
"House Locke of Oldcastle and House Flint of Widow's Watch look to me for leadership.
"My bannermen include a dozen minor lords and a hundred landed knights."
That quote made it abundantly clear just how high House Manderly's status was and how deep their roots ran in the lands surrounding White Harbor.
It also meant that any high-quality fiefs around the city had likely been awarded long ago.
"I need to wrap things up in White Harbor as quickly as possible so I can head out and take control of my lands."
A few days ago, right as the tourney was drawing to a close, almost all of House Manderly's key retainers, bannermen, and the prominent figures from around White Harbor were conveniently gathered in one place.
Perhaps Lord Wyman simply hadn't wanted to bother organizing a separate, formal investiture ceremony back at the Merman's Court in the New Castle.
So, he had conducted the official knighting and granting of lands right there on the tourney grounds:
Officially establishing the new landed knight Don Quixote's title, the borders of his fief, and his hereditary rights to the land.
Of course, since Don Quixote's newly acquired lands didn't yet have a keep...
His formal title remained simply Ser Don Quixote.
He couldn't be styled with a locational suffix like Ser Symond Templeton, the Knight of Ninestars; Ser Rolland Storm, the Bastard of Nightsong; or Ser Denzell Dalt, the Knight of Lemonwood.
Furthermore, the vast majority of commoners in Westeros only had given names; they lacked family names.
A lord's tax rolls usually just listed a single, simple name.
There were a few exceptions, of course—commoners who had been granted a surname by a noble or acquired one through other means.
If multiple people in a village shared the same name...
They were usually distinguished by height, weight, physical traits, their village name, their trade, or their age.
For example: Pate the Smith, or Hank the Swineherd.
Or Squint-eyed Jenny, Simple Robb, or Egg (the childhood nickname of Aegon V Targaryen).
Or Old Will and Young Will.
But now that he was part of the nobility—even if it was just the lowest rung as a landed knight...
He needed a family name.
And Don Quixote had already chosen his:
Don Quixote .
Don Quixote of House .
In addition to the formal granting of lands, a mutual oath of fealty was sworn on the final day of the tourney.
As a new landed knight, Don Quixote publicly swore his sword to his liege, Wyman Manderly, pledging to fulfill his martial obligations:
To provide a specified number of soldiers, horses, and equipment in times of war; to personally take the field in armor and on horseback; to follow his liege lord into battle; and to never flee the field.
To pay his taxes on time.
To obey the laws set forth by Lord Wyman.
To attend his liege lord's councils and courts to offer counsel, and to be present at important events such as tourneys, weddings, and funerals hosted by Lord Wyman.
To never violate the lands, honor, or family of his liege lord.
To offer hospitality and shelter to Lord Wyman and his retinue should they visit.
And so on.
In return, Wyman Manderly publicly swore:
To protect his new landed knight, Don Quixote , along with his family, lands, and property, from foreign enemies and bandits.
To send military aid should Ser Don Quixote come under attack.
To never arbitrarily strip Ser Don Quixote of his lawful lands or rights.
To uphold the honor and status of Ser Don Quixote , treating him with due respect in public.
To dispense justice for Ser Don Quixote and mediate any disputes he might have with others.
And so on.
With the mutual oaths of fealty sworn, the granting of the fief became legally binding.
In short, as a landed knight, Don Quixote lacked the right of high justice on his own lands.
Meaning he had no authority to hold court for major disputes or felonies; those had to be reported to his liege, Lord Wyman, who would make the final judgment.
But aside from that, his rights were essentially the same as those of a minor lord.
Though, of course, his social standing was still lower.
At major gatherings, he would always be seated below the titled lords.
---
Pulling himself from his thoughts, Don Quixote looked around his empty room:
"I still don't have enough capable, trustworthy men around me."
Adele had already left for his fief, traveling ahead with one of Lord Wyman's trusted retainers. The retainer was to formally read the lord's edict to the smallfolk, officially notifying them that the surrounding lands now belonged to Don Quixote.
Naturally, there were also practical matters to handle: taking inventory of the estate's assets, reassuring the villagers, and preparing a temporary residence for him.
Once that was done, all that remained was for him to arrive and formally accept the fealty of his new subjects.
This was standard procedure for many newly landed knights and lords.
Traveling with Adele were two sellswords from the Bloody Hand who possessed basic reading and writing skills.
And both of them, of course, were already completely loyal to him.
Making a decision, Don Quixote stood up, walked out of his room, and called for Cole and Alden. He ordered them to gather the rest of the Bloody Hand.
Before long.
The men began trickling into the courtyard.
Spotting Warren, Don Quixote gave him a nod. He then turned to the seven members of the Bloody Hand who had already arrived and said:
"You men wait out here in the yard. Have a seat, get comfortable. Cole, Alden, head over to the tavern and pick up some food and ale."
He paused, looked at Warren again, and smiled:
"Warren, come with me. There's something I need to discuss with you."
"Yes, My Lord!" Warren replied respectfully, though he had no idea what it was about.
Without even realizing it, the men of the mercenary company had universally started addressing Don Quixote as "My Lord."
"Yes, My Lord!"
Cole and Alden bowed and hurried out of the courtyard to fetch the food and drink.
Meanwhile, the remaining members of the Bloody Hand exchanged confused glances and began muttering among themselves:
"Do you think the Lord is planning to take all of us to his new lands?"
"Probably, but maybe not. I asked him about it a while back, and he made it sound like not everyone would be going. He wants to leave some men behind in White Harbor to keep the Bloody Hand Mercenary Company running."
"Damn, I don't want to stay behind. I want to be knighted and become one of the Lord's sworn swords."
"Yeah, me too."
"So, you think that's why he pulled Warren aside?"
"Maybe."
"Hmph, the Lord will probably give Warren a heavy responsibility. He's always favored him, and he's been with the Lord the longest."
...