On Gryn's fifth day of work in the Queens Quarter, reinforcements from Whispers arrived in King's Landing.
The fifty men sent as reinforcements were all Crabb clansmen. Mutton Waters had brought them from the docks on the Blackwater Rush.
Crackclaw Point had much in common with The North. Nearly all its people were descended from the First Men, and they were generally tall and sturdy, with black or brown hair and eyes.
[Andals mostly had colorful hair and eyes.]
[Westeros was made up primarily of the First Men, Andals, and Rhoynar. The First Men lived mostly in The North, the Rhoynar mostly in Dorne, and the Andals in most other places.]
[The titles of the kings of Westeros began with: King of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men; Lord of the Seven Kingdoms; Warden of the Realm...]
From the clansmen's improved discipline, Gryn could tell that the soldiers hadn't slacked off in their training just because their lord was away from his lands.
The newly arrived clansmen gathered at the command post in the Queens Quarter. After watching them march in formation for a while, Gryn was very pleased with their impressive bearing.
Gryn liked the soldiers of Crackclaw Point, where the people were so simple and unpretentious. They had the look of men just waiting for him to give the word so they could go cut someone down.
With their simple, unpretentious nature and their steadily improving discipline, Gryn believed that the Crabb forces would become the strongest army in Westeros sooner or later.
Gryn spotted a young man standing behind the crowd who looked nothing like the Crabb clansmen.
The young man wore battered leather armor and carried a bow on his back. He looked about the same age as Gryn.
He was tall and lean, with shoulder-length, wavy red hair and a face covered in freckles. He seemed ill at ease.
Gryn raised an eyebrow and beckoned the red-haired young man over.
The young man nodded nervously, then glanced at Mutton Waters, who was standing nearby, before hurrying over.
"Greetings, my lord. My name is Anguy."
At the name, Gryn's eyes flickered. "How did you end up here?"
[In the story, Anguy won the archery contest at the Tournament held in King's Landing to celebrate Eddard Stark becoming Hand of the King. He later joined the Brotherhood Without Banners, and no one could match his archery.]
Anguy answered respectfully, "I joined a mercenary company, but it disbanded later. I've been hanging around the docks lately, looking for a suitable company to join. This morning, I met your guard, Ser Mutton, at the Blackwater Rush docks. He brought me here."
As it turned out, while waiting at the docks, Mutton had spotted Anguy in the crowd. He looked ordinary, but Mutton's beastlike instincts had sensed his strength.
Mutton's instincts told him that Anguy was no ordinary man, and that Gryn would like him.
Mutton trusted his instincts above all else. He'd approached Anguy and struck up a conversation, then brought him along to introduce him to Gryn.
Mutton's broad frame appeared, and he said with a simple smile, "Lord Gryn, I thought Anguy seemed pretty skilled, so I brought him along."
Gryn nodded, then asked Anguy, "What are you good at?"
Anguy, who had been ill at ease until now, puffed out his chest. "My lord, I'm best at archery. I can hit whatever I aim at."
Gryn knew Anguy was an incredibly skilled archer. He wanted to promote him to a personal guard, just like Mutton. Mutton excelled in close combat, while Anguy specialized in long-range attacks. Together, they would make a formidable team.
A lord's personal guards were his trusted confidants. Appointing a newcomer directly could seem unfair to the soldiers.
But it was different when the newcomer was exceptionally skilled.
Gryn sat down on a chair and clapped his hands to draw everyone's attention. "Anguy, show us what you can do."
Anguy first glanced around, then looked up at the sky. Calmly, he took an arrow from his quiver, walked forward a few paces, and stood it upright in the ground.
Anguy looked frail, but he was strong enough to drive nearly half the arrow into the ground with a single push.
Once he was done, Anguy stepped back.
He took up his bow, nocked an arrow, and aimed it at the sky, drawing the bowstring taut.
His movements were smooth and natural, brimming with confidence.
Anguy released the arrow, and it shot straight into the sky with a whoosh.
After quite a while, the arrow he had shot upward came whistling back down, aimed directly at the arrow he had planted in the ground.
With a crack, the falling arrow split the planted one into a V shape, sending its two halves flying apart, then buried itself deep in the ground.
It was a miraculous feat!
Gryn's men couldn't help but marvel at Anguy's archery.
Satisfied that he had achieved his goal, Gryn appointed Anguy as one of his personal guards in front of everyone.
From that moment on, Anguy became one of Gryn's personal guards, just like Mutton.
Anguy, born a commoner, could barely contain his excitement. A personal guard had a very good chance of being knighted by his lord.
For a commoner like Anguy, it was a chance to rise to a higher social class.
Anguy dropped to one knee before Gryn and thanked him loudly, overcome with emotion.
Gryn smiled warmly and waved for Mutton, grinning broadly, to take Anguy away and get him settled.
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