The tourney at Harrenhal

David Robinson and the others only needed to train soldiers and fight, while Titus had far more to consider.

Though the Peake Army still retained its imposing facade and was still called an "army," a very intimidating name, it actually had only a single battalion left: five Companies, just five hundred men.

It was currently commanded by Ser Duncan, who was away conducting intensive training, leaving only Gino's First Company responsible for security inside and outside Starpike.

Under House Peake's established organization:

Ten soldiers formed a squad, managed by a squad leader chosen from among them;

Three squads, thirty men in all, formed a Platoon, with the most outstanding of the three squad leaders serving as both senior squad leader and Platoon commander;

Three Platoons, together with a squad of exemplary soldiers, formed a hundred-man Company.

A Company's centurion was no longer selected from within its ranks. House Peake generally chose someone else for the post, as it had with Gino. The squad of exemplary soldiers served as assistant instructors while also acting as the centurion's personal guard.

Previously, House Peake had only barely managed to support five hundred-man Companies. That was a practical limitation, determined by gold dragons.

Unlike temporary peasant levies, called up in wartime and sent home afterward, professional soldiers had to be paid by the castle once recruited. These soldiers needed prolonged, full-time training to become proficient with spears and large shields, followed by training marches into the Red Mountains to draw blood. Just as Ser Duncan was doing with his men outside now.

For men to focus on fighting rather than farming, ordinary tax reductions or exemptions were not enough to make them risk their lives.

Starpike lay in the marches, where quite a few households among the local population kept weapons and armor as family heirlooms. The martial spirit was relatively strong, providing a good foundation.

If House Peake committed all its strength, it could muster at least a hundred knights, along with two thousand levies.

That would already have been a considerable force elsewhere, but in the Reach, which had the largest population, any established earl worth his salt could field two or three thousand levies. House Peake's advantage as a house of marcher lords still lay in those five Companies of professional soldiers.

Titus had no time to concern himself with making money now. He intended to dip into his reserves and, whatever happened, first raise another five hundred soldiers.

A thousand Peake soldiers devoted exclusively to combat, plus two thousand auxiliary troops, would barely give him enough room to maneuver.

After Ser Robinson put the newly formed five-hundred-man battalion through standardized military training, Titus intended to send his guard captain, Parker, out to command it. Parker's deputy, Bowen, could go along too, continuing to assist under Parker as First Centurion.

As for the new captain of his guards, Titus privately favored Wenda, who was capable with both pen and sword, could read and write, and possessed a special ability. The rest of the earl's guard would remain unchanged anyway, so the female Skinchanger could not turn everything upside down.

If Wenda was willing to join him in earnest, she certainly could not keep using her old nickname, "White Stag." It remained to be seen whether the woman knew what was good for her.

After assigning his tasks, Titus told Instructor Robinson and Company Commander Gino to leave. As the door opened, they found Maester Greg just about to knock.

The maester had another letter in his hand...

Fortunately, this time it was not news of another death, but an invitation from the Riverlands to the north.

"...And that is how it stands!"

The maester spoke in high spirits and looked exceptionally well. This time, he had brought good news.

"This is a rare grand occasion in the Seven Kingdoms. Earl Walter Whent has spent a fortune to hold it... Did you see, my lord? The champion will receive twenty thousand gold dragons! That is twice the prize offered at the tourney in Lannisport a few years ago to celebrate Prince Viserys's birth!"

Mm-hmm, inflation has not struck yet...

The afternoon sunlight cast a warm golden sheen over the solid-wood desk. The young Earl Titus Peake had just carefully wiped down his treasured longsword with chamois leather.

Now he sat behind the broad desk, carefully reading the letter in his hands.

To his right lay a letter opener and a parchment envelope with its wax seal broken. The impression in the wax depicted a bat in flight.

Titus could sense the maester's excitement and casually agreed without raising his head:

"Yes, even second place in the joust earns ten thousand gold dragons, and the winner of the melee gets twelve thousand... Hmm? Archery and axe throwing have been grouped together, and first place only gets five thousand gold dragons. So little?"

Instructor Robinson, who had not managed to leave, had also learned the gist from Maester Greg. Even more excited than the maester, he said with a smile:

"This may be the largest tourney in recent years! Archery is a game for common soldiers, hardly worth much...

Maester Greg, did you just say that this tourney at Harrenhal, held to celebrate Earl Whent's daughter's Name Day, might last ten days?"

Before Maester Greg could answer, Titus was already nodding slightly.

Mm, noble knights never gave much thought to archery contests that even commoners could enter. That made perfect sense.

But he had to dampen the enthusiasm of the castle's instructor, who was itching to get started:

"Ser Robinson, do not forget that you need to make haste training the recruits. You have no time to travel all the way to the Riverlands to compete."

David Robinson had been too excited just now.

He had actually forgotten that he still had soldiers to train. Once reminded, he fell silent for a while, crestfallen.

Maester Greg glanced at him and said with a chuckle:

"Such generous prizes are bound to draw many challengers. Presumably Earl Whent also wishes to use this opportunity to display House Whent's strength... and his outstanding sons?"

I fear it is not as simple as Earl Whent wanting an opportunity to display his house's strength...

Titus glanced at Maester Greg and thought to himself.

Greg had studied for many years at the Citadel in Oldtown, and after formally obtaining his maester's "diploma," he had stopped using his original surname.

But the previous Earl Peake, Titus's father, had investigated him. He was indeed from the Riverlands, originally surnamed Vance, and his family was a major landholder there.

House Vance had two main branches in the Riverlands: Atranta and Wayfarer's Rest.

Maester Greg came from the Vances of Wayfarer's Rest.

The arms of the Vances of Wayfarer's Rest were divided into four quarters. Two displayed a golden eye within a golden ring on black, while the other two displayed a black dragon on white... The Vances of Atranta, in contrast to their relatives, used a green dragon on white.

As for those two houses, those who knew, knew.

House Peake had once been an important member of the Greens and later became a staunch supporter of the black dragon. Naturally, neither branch of House Vance could be considered its enemy.

House Vance was quite powerful. House Smallwood of Acorn Hall, itself a landed house, still owed them allegiance. The Vances' holdings were also vast, comparable to the lands directly held by the Duke of Riverrun, the lord paramount of the Riverlands.

Withdrawing his gaze from Greg, Titus lowered his head to continue reading the letter. He did not voice any objection to the maester's suggestion that House Whent was showing off its plumage.

House Whent of Harrenhal was the seventh house to rule the castle.

During the reign of Maekar I-the unfortunate king whom Earl Peake had smashed into a little pancake before Starpike-Harrenhal had still belonged to House Lothston.

When that family descended into madness through its devotion to black magic, House Whent, sworn knights of House Lothston, helped quell the chaos at Harrenhal... On the king's side, of course.

As a reward, Harrenhal was granted to them.

House Whent's arms followed those of its predecessors, House Lothston: nine black bats on a pale yellow field.

The invitation from Harrenhal: