The mont Samwell Tarly had been dreading for the entire day and night had finally arrived. He had hardly slept the previous night, his mind running in circles. What would he say to Lord Aeos? How would Aeos react? What questions would be asked of him, and what questions did he himself want to ask? Whether he even had the courage to voice those questions was an entirely different matter.
Once again, it was Ecson Cousela who ca to lead him to Lord Aeos. Yet the eting was nothing like what Samwell had been expecting.
He had imagined being received in a solar or so other formal chamber, where the atmosphere would be suffocating and filled with pressure. But nothing of the sort happened.
Instead, he was led to a beautiful garden where, at the centre, Lord Aeos sat comfortably in a chair. An equally comfortable chair had been placed opposite him, with a table positioned between the two seats. The atmosphere was lively and serene, and Samwell found himself far more at ease than he would have been had their eting taken place in a solar.
"Lord Aeos," Samwell echoed Ecson's greeting and bowed to the man before him. He was still in awe that soone so young had accomplished so much in his life. The youthful face of Lord Aeos was only a reminder of the already well known fact.
"Samwell Tarly," Jon smiled. He gave a polite nod to Ecson, who quietly withdrew after dropping Samwell off.
"Have a seat," Jon gestured, and the young Tarly obeyed, sitting down opposite him. The nervousness on Samwell's face was almost palpable.
"How do you like it here in ereen?" Jon asked. "What do you think of the city?"
"The city is truly beautiful, Lord Aeos," Samwell replied. "To be honest, when I first heard those rumours about your cities being so beautiful and wonderful, I never thought they would be true to such an extent. It was an unbelievable experience."
"Wonderful," Jon said with a small nod.
"I heard you spent the entire day yesterday learning about how things work in my empire?" Jon asked.
An awkward smile spread across Samwell's face.
"I just wanted to be prepared before eting you," he admitted. "And, to be honest, I was curious myself. Once I began learning, I was so fascinated that I could not stop myself from wanting to know more and more. The way you won victories and then how you transford the city. Everything was so fascinating and exciting."
"Truly curious for knowledge," Jon responded.
"You must be wondering about everything that has been happening over the past couple of weeks," Jon continued.
"My letter to you, your arrival here… How did I know what your interests were? How did I know that you are soone I want and soone capable of handling great responsibilities?"
Samwell nodded in anticipation. These were the very questions that had plagued his mind from the start. And Jon had a story prepared for them. Of course, he was not about to reveal the truth, that in the canon Samwell Tarly had been one of the closest people to Jon Snow, a loyal man whose scholarly talent was imnse.
"I will be frank with you, Samwell," Jon said. "In the Tarly household, I have a spy."
Samwell's eyes widened slightly in shock at the revelation. Spies among noble families were not unusual. There might be more than half a dozen spies in any family but the fact that Lord Aeos had spies even in Horn Hill, so far away from ereen, was astonishing.
"A few months back," Jon continued, "I received a report about an imnsely talented young man who seed exceptionally suited for administration and official duties. I was sceptical at first. But as more reports ca in, I sent a couple of n to evaluate the claims."
He leaned forward slightly. "Turns out, those n reported the sa thing. They praised your mind. Though they noted you get nervous easily, they said you are a talent who could be grood for greater responsibilities."
Samwell nodded in understanding, though hesitation still lingered on his face. Jon could easily guess the reason. To Samwell, all of this still seed far too unlikely.
"I know," Jon said evenly. "This may all seem too far fetched. That writing a letter to a single man, and then going to such lengths to bring him here, might not seem worth the trouble."
"Yes, Lord Aeos," Samwell admitted. "I do not seem worth that effort."
"You are worth the effort, Samwell," Jon said with a shake of his head.
"You know, you might find it a bit funny, but invading and conquering cities is actually much easier than holding and ruling them. And if you wish to establish a rule with proper administrative chanisms, where the lives of people are not dictated by the whims of a few powerful and influential individuals, it becos even more difficult. Setting up an administration, building a system of governance from scratch, is an incredibly tough task."
"And while my administration may seem perfect now, with almost everyone doing their jobs well, it will not remain that way forever. Right now, I am in a position where I can personally oversee most matters. The territory I rule is not large enough yet, so I am still able to keep things under control."
"You should also know that most of the people working in my administration are forr rchants and masters of these three cities. And while I do not doubt their loyalty, I still want more competent people. People trained and made purely for administrative work. People of more scholarly nature who can pay attention to minute details. There are a lot of things that these people cannot accomplish because they are not made for these jobs. They manage things but only in broader frawork."
"Say, if I want them to fra a law book which deals with cris and punishnt to those cri. They may do it but can they do the details? You can think of these jobs being done by the Citadel in Westeros."
Samwell nodded in understanding.
"That is why I want talented people," Jon continued. "People like who are actually interested in this field. People made specifically for these jobs."
"And this is the reason why you are worth all the effort," Jon added. "You can solve a lot of worries I have in the future."
Samwell nodded again. He would not say that, all what Lord Aeos had made sense to him, but he understood his point of thinking. And whatever the reason, he was grateful for having been granted such a chance.
"Thank you, Lord Aeos," he said. "I will not disappoint you."
"You will not. You will not, Samwell," Jon remarked.
#
#
#
[Add the book to your collection. Send it so power stones. Leave a rating and a review.]
[Access advanced chapter on P@treon. Replace @ with a. One additional advanced chapter each week on P@treon. ]
[email protected]/imaginarywriter
User Comments
0 comments from readers