Dreadfort Castle
POV of Domeric Bolton
When Lord Stark was about to say something, they heard a knock at the door.
Both of them frowned at the interruption as the door opened an inch and Maester Wolkan peeked inside the room.
"My lord, Lady Barbrey sent me to inform you that Lord Rickard Karstark and his men have arrived for the tourney."
"Lord Karstark is here, isn't he? Then send one of the sewer cleaners to escort him out of my lands."
"My lord, that would be seen as a huge insult. Lord Karstark would not let such disrespect go without any retaliation."
"Disrespect huh... Good enough for an old fossil that I don't respect at all." He mumbled.
"My lord..." Maester Wolkan hesitated a little but still continued, "Lady Barbrey said that if you don't arrive to welcome the lord within 5 minutes, then she'll come here on her own to ask you politely to come with you."
He grimaced at the maester's words and glared at Lord Stark who started chuckling at the maester's words.
"Very well then." He nodded grudgingly before a feral smile took place on his face, "Call for all the wargs, giants, and the entire horse riders around Dreadfort. Tell Briar to call for the entire direwolf pack as well. Lord Karstark wants a welcome, doesn't he? I'll give him such a proper welcome that he won't dare to come to my lands ever again."
Maester Wolkan paled at his words but went to follow his words as soon as he glared at the man.
His enmity for Lord Karstark might be petty but he can be petty sometimes too.
"Lord Stark, if you give me leave, I will go and welcome Lord Karstark with all the proper respect that he deserves," he said with a feral grin and Lord Stark grimaced before nodding at him.
Suffice it to say that the look on Lord Karstark's face when Domeric's welcoming party came out of Dreadfort and surrounded the Karstark men completely, was one for the books.
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Dreadfort Castle
POV of Domeric Bolton
"Lord Karstark offered me the hand of his daughter in marriage. The gall of the man. Can you believe it?" he asked in slight anger and annoyance as he huffed and sat down on the chair in his study, trying not to look at the amused smile on his aunt's face as that would only serve to annoy him even more.
"And what's wrong with that?" his aunt asked innocently. Too innocently. "Alys Karstark is the same age as you and is the daughter of one of the Great Houses of the North."
He gave an annoyed look to his aunt who barely managed to keep a straight face for a short moment before she started giggling to herself.
"Very funny Auntie. Very funny."
"Okay, okay. Perhaps not Alys Karstark then." Her smile dimmed and her expression turned a little serious. "But that doesn't mean that you can remain a bachelor much longer. You need to think about your house and about having an heir."
"I'm only 13 years old Auntie." He said with a long-suffering sigh, but she was not one to be deterred by such feeble excuses.
"Old enough to marry and sire a child." She said "Dom. Listen to me. Despite the great amount of progress you've brought to your lands, despite all you've done for your people, as long as you remain without an heir, the people in your lands will always feel insecure. I know that you want to enjoy your freedom for a while longer, but you have to stop thinking about yourself and start thinking about your people."
He let out a sigh at her words. "That was a cheap shot Auntie." He mumbled to her. She knew how much he cared for his people and was not above using it to manipulate that fact to help him.
"So. Will you think about it? There are still about three years until the non-marriage contract's expiration date between us and Starks, but we can always speed things up. Have you made up your mind about Sansa yet? Although you especially stayed away from her when she was Dreadfort, she paid attention to his studies here diligently." She said, and he sighed once again and felt himself slide down on his chair in an inelegant display.
"Looks like I don't really have much of a choice in that matter." He told her and she sharply turned to look at him and frowned.
"What do you mean that you don't have a choice?" she asked.
"Well..." he hesitated for a moment but then realized that she'd find out soon enough anyway, so he continued, "Lord Stark thinks that House Bolton even has amassed too much power in the last two years."
Her face turned grim "Well, he's not wrong there. If I was in his position, I would have done everything to stop your advance. Maybe even try to assassinate you if the opportunity arose. Though I have a feeling that he still doesn't understand the true scope of your powers."
He gave her a deadpanned gaze and she just shrugged.
"Well... the point is, Lady Catelyn Stark has convinced Lord Stark that he couldn't leave such a powerful vassal all alone anymore without having official familial ties to them. Even if we have already signed a non-marriage contract till the next betrothal negotiation in about three years." Domeric said.
"How dare she!" And the lioness roared.
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.92: Stalling Plan of Domeric
Ch.93: Tourney Starts