Chapter 21

========== Chapter 21 (PWP content present) ==========

 About a week ago, Nymeria Sand had been asked by her cousin to find out everything she could about the northern bastard, acting rather rudely. Arianna wanted to know more about the rumors claiming the bastard was a seer or even a sorcerer. There were plenty of reasons to believe these rumors, but there was no evidence to confirm or deny them.

During the whole time of surveillance it was possible to learn a little, and from the interesting and nothing at all. Most of the boy's time was taken up with training, physical or mental. The Bastard of Winterfell spent hours in the Dane library, reading book after book. The Daines were not a house that had much interest in the accumulation of knowledge or the study of the sciences, but books were expensive and of status, so the Starfall library had accumulated many of them over the thousands of years. It was almost impossible to find a castle that could rival the Dane residence in terms of the number of books available there.

The Northman was attached to his "wives", it was obvious that he trusted them completely, but it was impossible to get any useful information out of them. Lady Dacey, even after drinking wine, could easily divert the conversation, and the savage simply did not answer questions in which she sensed a trick or bad consequences that might come after her answer. In addition, eavesdropping by the servants had no effect. When the conversation turned to something important, the bastard and the northern women switched to another language, unknown to anyone watching them. Nymeria included.

In a few days, the guests from the coldest and largest of the kingdoms would be leaving the castle, which meant there was less and less time left. The most effective way to get any information right now would be to eavesdrop on the bastard's conversations while he was drunk and in the company of his passions, hoping that they would forget about vigilance and speak a common language. Still, neither he nor the girls could simply not help but get drunk at the wedding.

Thinking of John made Nymeria feel a warmth in her lower abdomen, especially when she remembered what he looked like during his training sessions. Young, strong, handsome with a good figure, and on top of that such a gimmick from the far North. Sand convinced herself that it was probably because she kept imagining him having fun with Lady Mormont, and Nymeria wanted Lady Mormont. There was something otherworldly about the bastard himself that attracted women to him, he was surprisingly easy to talk to, and there seemed to be no one he couldn't convince of his rightness.

But she couldn't decide who she wanted more: John, Dacey, or both at once. The uninhibited Dornish woman found both the bastard and the Lady of Bear Island sexually attractive.

Nymeria wondered if the bastard himself already found her attractive, and concluded that he did. Perhaps he even found her more attractive than Arianna, and for good reason. Nymeria, thin and supple, with milk-white skin, had caught the eyes of many men and women. Tall, with long black hair that she braided into a tight braid. Her lips were full and her cheekbones high, her figure not much worse than Arianna's, her lower roundness even better. The daggers she always carries under her clothes add spice to anyone who tries to flirt with her, and help to get rid of those who do it unsuccessfully.

Nymeria, not without the aid of a rope and hook, stealthily, as stealthily as possible, made her way over to the balcony of Snow's chambers. Edric had assigned him a room in the master wing of the castle. Sand went to the window and used a small mirror to check the room. "I've definitely peeked in just in time," her thoughts raced through her mind.

The beginning of the "unnatural fornication" was well underway in the room. The bastard kissed Lady Mormont, placing his hands on her buttocks and squeezing them possessively, eliciting a moan of pleasure from the girl. Vel whimpered unhappily at this point, demanding attention for her as well. John broke off the kiss to begin a new, more demanding and passionate one. Now he had his arms around both girls' waists.

Nymeria felt a thin trickle of love juice start to run down her leg and a pleasant languor rise in her lower abdomen. When the Dornish woman saw what happened next, she realized that the northerners were more relaxed than they seemed at first glance. Daisy drew Vel into the kiss, covering her lips with his while John took turns loosening the lacing on their dresses.

A quiet moan of pleasure left Vel's mouth in response to her lover's actions. Daisy's tongue explored the blonde's mouth, and judging from the fact that she was equally enthusiastic about the process, it was clear that both were enjoying themselves. Vel deepened the kiss and pulled Daisy's dress down to her waist, the lacing already loosened. In response, Dacey placed her palms on the freedwoman's breasts and squeezed her nipples between her fingers, eliciting another moan of pleasure from her.

Finally, the girls broke the kiss and smiled at each other as they pushed their man onto the bed. Vel took the initiative and started stroking John's manhood first, then leaned over and ran her tongue along the length of it, making Daisy blush. The wildling took the guy's cock in her mouth and began to make progressive up and down movements with her head, not forgetting to work with her tongue, as Snow liked it. The girl experienced a sense of triumph when the bastard let out a muffled moan that he couldn't hold back.

Daisy, meanwhile, put her breasts to the boy's lips, he understood her desire and took one of her nipples in his mouth, beginning to suck, and with the second began to play with the palm of his hand. Lady Mormont covered her eyes in pleasure and bit her lower lip, giving herself over to the pleasurable feeling. Daisy knew that John wanted her to join Vel in giving him mouth-to-mouth caresses, but the northerner still found it shameful and couldn't bring herself to do it.

After a couple minutes the preliminary caresses were over and Daisy settled on John's hips in a riding position. After that she started rubbing her bosom on the guy's cock. It was something of a ritual before they started, and from a certain time the girls did it every time.

- You were first yesterday," John marveled.

- Vel had bet me today," the northerner didn't have time to finish her sentence as another moan escaped her throat.

The girl lowered herself onto the cock Vel had guided into her bosom. The wildling herself sat facing Dacy and played with her breasts, her lips leaving kisses and hickeys on the northerner's neck, but she didn't mind. Dacy continued to move her hips and ride John, a cry came out of her mouth as Vel bit her shoulder.

- John," Dacey whimpered. - Say it, please...

- I love you," John complied with her request and felt Dacy squeeze his cock harder inside her.

Dacy loved it when John said it, the phrase turned her on and her body responded accordingly. A few times she even peaked right after the phrase. The girl's hips moved up and down, keeping up the pace, Daisy liked it slow and gentle, face to face. Vel on the other hand liked it fast and rough, especially when Snow took her from behind. You could say that with Vel Jon was fucking and with Dacey he was making love, though he did both with both.

Nymeria, meanwhile, had already managed to cum from the caresses she was giving herself with her hand as she watched this picture. The girl bit down on her clenched fist to keep her moan from being heard.

John missed the moment when Daisy weakened, reaching the peak of pleasure, and leaned forward, held by Vel, but did not stop moving her hips. Stubbornness and a desire to bring her partner to the peak as well didn't allow it.

Vel smiled at her and got off John so that Dacy could fall on her lover's chest and kiss him. John continued to move his hips and his hands clenched his lover's buttocks again. Dacy decided to speed up herself, feeling her partner close to the peak.

- John, please, together," she gasped into his mouth.

Snow gripped her ass tighter and sped up, and a few moments later he poured inside, and Dacy blissfully closed her eyes as she caught her breath from the second, but not the last orgasm of the night.

- Now, it's my turn," Vel snorted unhappily, pushing Mormont off John, who shouted something indignant but didn't resist.

Vel lay on her back so Snow could enjoy the sight of her breasts swaying in time with her movements. He did so until Dacey was on all fours above her, rubbing her breasts with his own, drawing the wildling into more and more kisses.

...

Nymeria couldn't remember when exactly she had become a participant in this debauchery. She did remember that during one of her orgasms, she couldn't hold back a moan that was surprisingly loud. To her surprise there was a shout from the room that she could join in if she wanted. "Why not actually," her thoughts raced through her mind, this way the northerners could try and maybe even avoid having to explain their presence on the balcony.

As Nymeria walked to the bed, shedding her sweat and juice soaked clothes and daggers along the way, a wildling rose from the bed. As she approached her, Nymeria received a greedy, passionate kiss, in the process sharing the bastard's seed with her, which Sande defiantly swallowed. This was clearly not the reaction Vel had expected and she had only to shrug her shoulders. Meanwhile, there was a shout of joy from Dacey:

- You've gotten even harder! Don't you dare slack off now!

So Nymeria lies on the bed with the others and enjoys the pleasure of the caresses. Dacey licks her bosom and leaves a kiss on her thighs, somehow not ashamed of it, while the bastard and the wildling suckle on the Dorne prince's daughter's magnificent breasts.

Nymeria pressed Dacey's head closer to her bosom and moaned, throwing her head back. Sex with girls was nothing new to her, she had done it more than once with her cousin Arianna, but right now it felt so good. There was something new about intimacy with these savages, something warm and native, maybe it was from the fact that Snow was actually Sand, maybe it was something else.

- Fuck me again! - Nymeria moaned, turning to Jon.

The bastard smiled echidically and replied:

- A lady's wish is law for a knight," which made Nymeria roll her eyes.

John entered her full length at once, sending a pleasant shiver throughout the girl's body, then began to move, Nymeria didn't stay away either. Vel pulled away from Sande's breasts and engaged the bastard in another kiss. The boy squeezed one of her nipples hard and pulled on it, causing the wildling to start purring into his mouth. Dacey kissed Nymeria at this time, letting her taste her own love juice. Nymeria moved towards her and their tongues began a passionate dance in her mouth. In the next instant, the Dornish woman's back arched and her legs locked around Jon's waist, Sand's body beginning to shudder with orgasm.

- Now me! - Daisy exclaimed.

- You're more active than usual today. Is Nymeria's presence making you hotter than usual? - Snow smiled cheekily.

- No," she said, making Vel roll her eyes.

- Liar," Jon smiled and continued to move inside Sand, who was out of breath. Between moans of pleasure, she was able to shift her questioning gaze to Vel. Daisy had pouted and was now sitting on the edge of the bed with her legs pressed to her chest.

- Lady Mormont won't admit that she's attracted to men and women alike," she explained. - It's like a game between them.

- She's shy," Nymeria replied, turning to John. The girl rose up on her elbows and kissed the bastard as he broke the kiss with Vel. - There is no shame in that, in fact I joined specifically because of Lady Mormont. She was the one I wanted.

Dacey blushed more than ever before. Vel and John laughed heartily. At that moment, the door to the chambers opened abruptly, and a delighted Edric came running in:

- John, when did we-" the boy stopped abruptly, his eyes starting to run around the room looking for cover. - Oh, sorry! - A moment later, one of Nymeria's daggers slammed into the now-closed door.

Snow's only thought at that moment was, "Where the fuck did she get it from!?"

***

During his time in Starfall, Jon had tried to proofread everything he could about the First Men and their runes. The Dain, who could trace their lineage back over five hundred generations to the first humans, must have something on the subject in their library. Unfortunately, the first men themselves did not have a written language in the modern Westeros sense and its evidence can only be found on ancient rune stones and ancient relics, such as the legendary bronze armor of House Royce.

The Bronze Kings' family armor was all inscribed with runes and had magical properties that protected the wearer from any injuries. It made sense, since John Royce had been able to defeat Dacey, armed with an ebony weapon during the general fight, perhaps only because of his armor. Perhaps John's new bow might have some magical properties as well... That was what the bastard was going to find out.

The problem was that even Vel, who knew the language and runes of the First Men perfectly (as far as the wildlings were concerned), could not recognize all the runes carved on the bow, for they were unfamiliar to her.

The writing of the First Men was quite entertaining. The runes were one and a half to two times the size of the letters used in the common language. They resembled all sorts of simple figures with symbols inscribed in them; less often the figures were painted, shaded, or crossed out. Squares, circles and triangles dominated, and there was something marvelous, consisting of curved lines and difficult to describe.

The runes were not letters, but rather concepts, and there were several hundred of them. Vel herself knew three hundred runes. Words consisted of different combinations of them and, depending on the order of the runes in the word, had different meanings. Most often there were three or four runes in a word. So, for example, from the runes meaning the concepts of "man", "animal", "weapon" could be composed of words:

Hunter: human-weapon-animal;

Predator: animal-weapon-animal;

Warrior: weapon-human-weapon-animal;

Assassin: human-weapon-human;

Runes can have and different use, for example, rune "weapon" means object, and exactly the same, but inverted, means the use of weapons. This affects the written words as well. The word "hunter" with the inverted middle rune will mean "hunt".

If you put another rune in one place or another in one of these words, you get a whole new word that has something in common with the past. John found it amusing that the words from the runes of the first humans were similar to Dragon Cries, except that they were made up of words of power in the dragon language:

Ruthless Force: force-balance-push (Fus-Ro-Dah).

Dovakin came to the conclusion that perhaps enchanted objects and artifacts existed in this world too - Westeros, like Nirn, was full of magic, but it was incredibly weak. A drop compared to the ocean, the amount of it was not comparable to what he was used to. Still, the first humans or children of the forest could learn how to infuse magic into runes carved on objects and create artifacts.

The same armor of the Roys protects its wearers to this day, but it is more of an exception to the rule, as Snow has heard of almost nothing else like it. The runes on Bronze Jon's armor were not familiar to the bastard, could they have been special, magical runes? Could Jon's new bow turn out to be magical? Can any object be enchanted with runes, or are there exceptions? Is it possible to write from familiar runes words that mean protection on the armor and (or) any useful property, and then, imbuing the runes with magic, to create a magical object?

The answers to all of these questions John and Vel sought throughout their stay in Starfall.

***

As much as Nymeria would have liked to, she couldn't avoid the conversation about surveillance, she appeared to have been noticed even by the wildling. Some of the maids were acting very rude, and she couldn't help but notice their unusual interest in Vel, who was often ignored by them. And Claw wasn't just watching.

As Sand had said, Princess Arianna had compared some of the facts and concluded that Jon might have had something to do with Willas Tyrell's miraculous healing. As we know, the ruler of Dorne suffers from gout. His condition is not yet the worst, but there is little to be pleased about. Doran could still walk with a cane, but he wrinkled his nose at every step and suffered intolerable pain. The disease had taken its toll on his appearance, and from Nymeria's account her uncle looked old and infirm before he was fifty.

What surprised John was Arianna's eagerness to cure her father. He had assumed that the princess would want to hasten his meeting with the Unknowing so that she could take the throne of Dorne herself and enter into a favorable marriage. Even now, weakening Doran did not give Arianna more power and opportunity, but only concentrated more power in Oberyn's hands. It was as if Doran was unwilling to let his firstborn son anywhere near the helm.

The princess had just turned twenty-one and was still unmarried, as Jon had learned that she was offered only infirm old men or particularly ugly lords as husbands. In short, all those whom the girl would not have agreed to marry. Rumors began to spread among the Sun Spear court. First about the possible infertility of the princess, then about Prince Doran's intention to enthrone his eldest son, bypassing his daughter. Snow concluded that by helping to cure her father, the princess intended to smooth things over and earn herself a point or two in his eyes rather than stage a palace coup. Maybe that made sense, the bastard didn't see the full picture anyway.

It was a few days before sailing from Starfall, so Snow, at the unspoken request of his heiress, decided to get to work on his gout cure. Unlike the art of enchantment, alchemy definitely existed here, albeit not in the form it had in Nirn. The Alchemists Guild was more of an order of pyromaniacs than what Dovakin imagined when he heard the name. Previously, alchemists had been able to transform one metal into another and possessed the secrets of the universe. Now, however, they could only manufacture wildfire. The weapons are certainly impressive, but the stagnation of the craft is more than palpable.

As for making medicines or other healing compositions, it is necessary to turn to maesters or witch doctors, who know the properties of many herbs and plants. Jon will not be able to make potions on the level of Tamriel's, simply because the difference in the amount of magic in everything around him is too great. Nirn is so imbued with magic that everything in it has acquired a number of one property or another, often even magical. Thus, as ingredients for potions, almost anything could be used. Legion healers even joked that dirt from under their fingernails would do.

Snow decided to make the local equivalent of a "disease healing potion", a thing not very complicated in his former world, but with incredible potential here. There were two options. The first one was to use his magic on a number of ingredients to enhance their properties, he had experience with such things, albeit with ore. After that he prepared potions. In the second one, the effect was on the final product.

The potion made by the first method would be one and a half times more effective, but the cost of magic would be ten times more. In the case of gout, it is necessary to take them for a long time, accompanied by a proper diet. Eliminating the effects of gout is not like reattaching the bones of the leg.

It was an interesting task, and one that Snow was determined to accomplish before he sailed from Starfall.