The Rains of Castamere

Lyanna's pupils widened as she stared at Gryn's calm eyes for a moment, then shifted her gaze to Surana.

Surana seemed to understand Lyanna's concern. She smiled gently and nodded.

Herschel stepped forward as well. "Lady Lyanna, don't worry too much. Your master will get justice for the wrongs you've suffered. Everyone who hurt you will pay the price."

Lyanna finally gave him a clear answer. "Gryn, thank you. I've never hated anyone so much. There's no doubt about it: because I insisted on not divorcing Usur, I could feel that he wanted to kill me. Otherwise, I wouldn't have fled in such a hurry. If possible, please get rid of him!"

Even so, Lyanna still wasn't at ease. "If you kill him, will it bring trouble to the family? The nobles of the Vale have always been hostile toward us."

Gryn gently patted the back of Lyanna's hand, then returned to his chair. "If we do nothing, they'll only laugh at House Crabb for being weak. Everyone knows that a noble house like House Crabb is bound to take revenge."

Gryn gave a mocking snort and continued, "Someone might think House Crabb will do no more than complain to the Red Keep. A weak House Crabb, out of favor with the Hand of the King, will get this result: in the end, the Red Keep will have Usur pay a few Gold Dragons to soothe the nobles' wounded pride, and that will be the end of it."

"Are we not Half-Wildling nobles? This will even prove them right. One of our family's ladies suffered a grievance while away from home, so we got angry and, despite the distance, came all the way to wipe out an entire household. That really is a very Wildling thing to do."

Lyanna couldn't help exclaiming, "Won't the consequences be too serious? Apart from the maids I brought with me, there wasn't a single person there I liked, but... will Old Jon come after us?"

"That will depend on the skills of our esteemed Queen."

On the surface, the story could be summed up simply: a noblewoman had married beneath her station to a merchant, suffered humiliation after the wedding, and her family had retaliated against the merchant's household in anger.

The retaliation had been excessive, but it wasn't impossible to understand.

After all, in Westeros, a noble's honor could not be violated.

From Cersei's perspective, compared with her father Tywin Lannister's "The Rains of Castamere," Gryn's revenge might seem rather gentle.

Gryn was merely going with the flow, stirring up a little trouble now and then. Cersei would feel more at ease with House Crabb, which had chosen to support her.

Gryn had already quietly planned it all out. The men sent to do the job would not reveal their ties to House Crabb, and they would leave no obvious evidence.

Anyone who learned the truth afterward would know the revenge had come from House Crabb. But as long as no clear evidence was left behind, Queen Cersei could easily suppress any calls for accountability from those at the Red Keep who wanted to make an issue of it, without compromising her impartiality as queen.

King Robert could be ignored for the time being. If anyone disturbed his drinking and debauchery over something he considered trivial, they'd be the ones who had to worry about getting their skulls smashed with a tankard.

Back in his study, Gryn tapped his fingers on the desk and frowned slightly.

Given the customs of Westeros, secretly taking revenge this way, however harsh it might be, could still invite ridicule. People might mock House Crabb for not daring to fly its banner, calling them cowards and saying they had no honor.

The rules of the game here sometimes gave Gryn a terrible headache.

After a while, Gryn's frown eased. He could learn from Tywin Lannister!

Gryn personally selected a group of men from among the Crabb Clan Soldiers, then arranged for several people from his lands with beautiful singing voices to travel with them.

Gryn had just finished lunch with Lyanna, but he was still busy.

After conferring with the stewards Herschel and Surana, he arranged for Surana's eldest son, Leyton, to set out for King's Landing ahead of the others with a group of men.

Leyton, a steward-in-training, was tasked with buying a manor outside King's Landing.

Steward Herschel had already asked the traveling merchants about the prices of manors outside King's Landing. They usually cost between 80 and 200 Gold Dragons.

The impoverished Lord Gryn had grimaced as he allotted Leyton 300 Gold Dragons.

Gryn's main instruction was to find a manor as close to King's Landing as possible, and the larger the better. With so few Gold Dragons to work with, Leyton would be under considerable pressure.

The future "Crabb Manor" outside King's Landing was being prepared as a place for Gryn to station troops.

The original owner's memories contained no experience of ever leaving his lands, so Gryn had no idea how many guards a manor outside King's Landing was generally allowed to have, or what number would avoid offending the Red Keep.

As far as Gryn was concerned, the more soldiers he could station at the manor without exceeding the Red Keep's tolerance, the better. It would greatly improve his sense of security in King's Landing.

Mermaid Harbor was basking in fine weather.

Gryn rode around with his guards, inspecting the place.

With more than 200 free laborers from among the prisoners of war, the "first phase" of Mermaid Harbor was nearly complete and could already serve as a basic port.

The first phase was meant to get Mermaid Harbor running as quickly as possible. The main structures were made of wood, so they were only temporary.

The "second phase" would last six months. Stone would be the main building material, and the various shops from the first phase would be recreated on the other side. Once completed, they would take over the functions of the first-phase buildings.

After that would come the "third phase."

The third phase had two main tasks and was planned on a yearly basis.

The first task was to build new port facilities according to specific needs, continuing to expand and improve Mermaid Harbor.

The second was to beautify the completed buildings, inside and out, mainly with exquisite carvings.

Gryn took Mermaid Harbor's defenses very seriously. He didn't want the hard work of building it to be destroyed by a few visits from pirates.

Strong defenses would help Mermaid Harbor attract more people.

For now, more than 100 guards from the original residents of Fishing Village were responsible for protecting Mermaid Harbor. Two veterans selected from the Crabb Clan Soldiers trained and commanded them.

Gryn wouldn't overlook sanitation, either.

He didn't want the charming Mermaid Harbor to stink everywhere, so he had assigned someone to oversee public sanitation there.

Standing by the sea and gazing at the boundless blue, Gryn couldn't bring himself to enjoy the view.

The Crabb long-range ballistae had yet to be built, leaving Mermaid Harbor without any shore-based long-range weapons to defend against attacks from the sea.

For now, the only protection on the water came from a few small fishing boats, refitted from the original boats of Fishing Village.

They were certainly no good for fighting far out at sea. Even a slightly larger wave could capsize the little boats, and they couldn't risk going out in bad weather.

Gryn's lands lacked the technology to build large warships capable of ocean voyages.

Buying one from elsewhere was out of the question. Prices started at 1,000 Gold Dragons, which immediately put an end to the impoverished Lord Gryn's plans.

Gryn would have to put his dream of becoming a ship king on hold. For now, he decided to behave himself, pay the fare, and travel aboard a merchant's ship when he went to sea.