Coins

Theon's room was directly below Snow's.

Knock, knock, knock.

Robb led the others over and knocked on the wooden door to Theon's room.

Before long, Theon opened the door. He froze for a moment at the sight of so many people outside. Then, when he saw Gary, a trace of panic visibly crossed his face.

"Robb... what are you all doing here?"

Snow answered, "Someone stole Luke's money pouch. Father told us to search the entire Main Castle."

They had indeed informed Eddard before coming.

Theon's expression changed drastically. "Wait outside for a moment. My room's a mess. I need to tidy it up."

With that, he tried to close the door.

But Gary was not about to give him the chance. Relying on his strength, he shoved the door open.

Theon staggered backward behind it and nearly fell.

"Luke, don't go too far! This is my room!"

Robb and Snow followed Gary inside, while Sansa held young Arya's hand and stood in the doorway to watch.

Gary pointed the hide-wrapped longsword in his hand at Theon. "Did you go into Snow's room today?"

"No." Though Theon's tone was firm, he did not dare meet Gary's eyes.

Furious, Gary slammed his bandaged left hand onto a nearby wooden table. With a crack, the table shattered, scattering pieces across the floor.

He picked up a chunk of wood and crushed it to splinters in his fist. "Theon, give me back my money pouch, or I really will kill you."

Theon's face went deathly pale, and he swallowed with difficulty. "I... I... didn't."

Gary suddenly seized Theon by the throat and hoisted him into the air. Narrowing his eyes, he spoke in an icy voice. "I'll give you one last chance. Where's the money pouch?"

Theon struggled desperately, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not break free of Gary's grip.

He stared at Gary in terror, tears slowly welling at the corners of his eyes...

"Luke, let go! You're going to strangle him!" When Gary still did not release him, Robb hurried over to stop him.

Gary let go as asked. "Where is the money pouch?"

Theon slumped to the floor, coughing violently. Now he no longer dared doubt it. Gary really wanted to kill him!

He retrieved the money pouch from beneath the pillow on his bed and shakily handed it back to Gary.

Gary took the pouch and hefted it, confirming that the amount was correct. "I'll let it go this time. I can forgive you. If there's a next time, I'll cripple both your hands!"

He took out a Gold Dragon and turned to Sansa. "Could you exchange this Gold Dragon for Silver Stags?"

Sansa glanced at the shattered wooden table on the floor, then at Gary before her, looking rather frightened. She removed the money pouch at her waist. "I only have Silver Moons. There are exactly thirty in here."

Arya, whose hand she was holding, was instead staring excitedly at Gary, seeming to like him very much.

Gary took Sansa's pouch and placed a Gold Dragon in her hand. "Thank you. I owe you a favor."

He had learned the currency exchange rates from the Three-Eyed Crow:

There was only one kind of gold coin: the Gold Dragon.

There were two kinds of silver coins, however: the Silver Moon and the Silver Stag. Because of the difference in silver content, one Silver Moon equaled seven Silver Stags.

Copper coins, the most commonly used currency, came in four types. From highest to lowest value, they were the Copper Star, Copper Halfpenny, Copper Penny, and Copper Groat.

1 Gold Dragon = 30 Silver Moons = 210 Silver Stags = 1,470 Copper Stars = 2,940 Copper Halfpennies = 11,760 Copper Pennies = 23,520 Copper Groats.

At current prices, a grilled sausage and a cup of ale cost just one Copper Penny. An adult live pig was worth roughly ten to eighteen Silver Stags.

That showed just how great a fortune the twenty-seven Gold Dragons in Gary's pouch represented.

The thirty Silver Moons Sansa had brought were worth exactly one Gold Dragon.

Robb had been on fairly good terms with Theon, so he was deeply disappointed now. "Theon, how could you do something like this?"

Theon hurried to explain, "I wasn't trying to steal the money. I'm not short of money... I just wanted to mess with Luke..."

Snow was furious. "I'm telling Father about this."

Theon's lips trembled as he pleaded, "Snow, I know I was wrong. Could you not tell the lord? I don't want to be branded a thief."

Snow and Robb both looked at Gary, seemingly wanting him to decide.

Gary sighed. Theon belonged to House Greyjoy of the Iron Islands. He was a hostage sent to Winterfell, as well as Eddard's ward.

Even if they made an issue of this, it could not become a major affair. To preserve relations with the Iron Islands, Eddard would suppress the matter.

Rather than that, he might as well do them an easy favor.

He could also use this incident as leverage to keep Theon in line for a while.

"You're Robb's friend. I don't want to make things difficult for you. I won't tell anyone about this. Robb and Snow won't tell the lord either. Behave yourself, and don't do it again."

They all left Theon's room, leaving him alone inside with his regrets.

After dinner, Gary and Snow returned to their room to get ready for bed.

The box of gloves had already been moved into the room. As Gary had requested, it contained only the left-hand gloves. The right-hand gloves had been left there for alterations, to be collected in a few days.

Gary had given the women five Silver Moons, the equivalent of thirty-five Silver Stags.

After all, the leather alone cost twenty Silver Stags, on top of the labor fee and now the alteration fee. Five Silver Moons was barely enough, if anything, and was not too expensive.

"Luke, Father told you at the dinner table just now to get along with Theon. It was too pointed... I think he knows. Did Robb tell him?"

Unable to sleep, Snow suddenly sat up and asked.

Gary lay flat on his bed. He had removed the bandages from his left hand and replaced them with a leather glove. That way, his fingers could move freely.

"Even if Robb didn't tell him, the lord would still know. He knows everything that happens here in Winterfell."

Snow was indignant. "Then why didn't he punish Theon?"

Gary said meaningfully, "Because he 'doesn't' know."

Snow was bewildered. "Didn't you say he knew? How come he doesn't know now?"

Gary smiled. "You're still too young. When you're older, you'll understand what I mean."

Snow muttered, "You're only a few years older than me, acting like a grown-up..."

Gary pretended not to hear. Looking at his left hand, he thought he should find a deserted spot to test its power.

"Oh, Luke, what happened to your left hand? Why are you suddenly wearing a glove?"

Snow asked another question.

Gary knew he had to come up with an excuse to cover it up. He could not let them keep focusing on his left hand, or it would be exposed sooner or later.

"Snow, I actually know a little magic. While practicing it, I accidentally burned my left hand and left some ugly scars, so I need a glove to cover them."

Had Snow been an adult, he certainly would not have believed Gary's words.

Unfortunately, he was still a seven-year-old child.

"Magic? Magic! Really? Quick, show me your magic!"

Snow jumped straight out of bed, utterly excited.

Helpless, Gary could only get out of bed and demonstrate. He went to the wooden table, picked up the pitcher, and poured a cup of water. "My magic turns water into ice."

As soon as he finished speaking, white frost instantly formed on the cup in his left hand, and the water inside gradually turned to ice.

"Wow! Luke, you're amazing!" Snow jumped with excitement. He took the cup from Gary and carefully examined the ice inside.

"It really turned into ice. What incredible magic. Luke, do you think I could learn magic from you?"

Gary silently returned to bed. "No. You don't have the talent for it. Besides, learning magic is very dangerous. I'm not qualified to be a teacher yet."

Snow set down the cup in disappointment. "Oh, all right."

"Also, don't tell anyone I know magic. Hmm, just say I scalded my hand, so I'm wearing a glove to cover the injury." Gary rolled onto his side and reminded him seriously.

Snow perked up again. "All right, I'll cover for you."

"Mm, thank you."

Gary closed his eyes, ready to rest.

But Snow was still excited. "Luke, could you freeze the entire moat outside the castle?"

"No. Give me another ten-odd years, and perhaps I could try," Gary answered somewhat helplessly.

"Luke, since you know such powerful magic, why are you still learning archery and swordsmanship?"

"Magic isn't invincible either. It has weaknesses too. Anyway, you can never have too many skills. Learning more is always good."

"That makes sense. I should learn more too."

"Mm."

"Luke..."

"Be good. Shut up and go to sleep."

"Oh."

Early the next morning.

After breakfast, Gary, Snow, and Robb went together to their usual spot outside the castle.

Their archery teacher, Lari, had been waiting for quite some time. He only had a month to teach them, so Ser Kesso had given him all the training time and slipped away to take a break himself.

This time, they no longer had to shoot at a tree. Three wooden targets had been set up on the grass, still fifty meters away.

After three days apart, Snow and Robb had both improved considerably.

Though they could not hit every shot, they could occasionally strike the distant wooden targets.

Gary, on the other hand, had regressed badly. He struggled to adjust to the transformation of his left hand and often made inexplicable mistakes.

Either he gripped the arrow too tightly, preventing it from shooting properly, or he released too early, before he had time to aim.

"Luke, the injury to your left hand is really affecting your performance. Rest for a few days first."

Lari had heard that Luke, who had finally awakened from his coma, had now scalded his left hand.

Gary lowered his bow and arrow. "You'll only be staying in Winterfell for a month, teacher. I have to make the most of the time."

There were actually only two reasons for his frequent mistakes.

First, his left hand had grown stronger, making its strength difficult to control. Second, the skin of his left hand was too hard, and with the glove on top of that, he could feel nothing even when holding the end of an arrow.

Without any sense of touch, controlling his strength was even harder.

"There are still twenty-six days. There's no rush. Rest for a couple of days first. I'll go instruct those two."

Lari could not favor one over the others and teach only Gary. With that, he turned to check on Snow's and Robb's training progress.

Gary tried another dozen or so shots, but his feel was still off, and not a single arrow hit.

He sighed softly, went to retrieve the arrows, and sat down on the grass in dejection.

Rustle, rustle...

It was the sound of someone stepping on the grass. The person slowly approached Gary. "Luke."

Gary looked back, somewhat surprised. "What are you doing here?"

It was Theon. Since he was recovering from his injuries, he did not need to take part in training, so why had he come here?