[Red Keep Training Yard, an hour earlier]
Walking toward the training yard, Ser Torrhen had come at the perfect time to see some of the Household Guards from Houses Lannister and Baratheon sparring to pass the time as well as hone their craft.
Although he would've liked to be by his little lord, Alaric's side conducting his duties as a sworn shield, he had been dismissed for the moment as Lord Eddard accompanied his nephew and Lord Arryn to the King's solar for negotiations, something Torrhen was slightly glad he didn't need to be apart of despite his earlier reservations.
As he walked toward the main fighting area, Ser Torrhen saw two golden-haired men, both in Lannister garb, sparring with one another using wooden swords, while the two seemed to hold relatively decent skill with a blade, he could see faults in both of their forms.
The older of the two who looked to be in his late thirties, was currently on a fierce offensive against the younger knight who couldn't be older than his early thirties.
As the two continued their bout, the older knight kept his offensive, sending strike after strike into the shield of the younger knight, forcing him to back peddle and try and gain some distance only to be followed in pace by the older knight who at this point looked to be bored with the exchange.
As if he could read minds, Torrhen couldn't help but chuckle as the older knight finally sent a devastating strike toward his opponent's head, smashing his wooden sword in the side of the younger knight's head, effectively ending the fight and giving a last remark.
"This fight could have bore me to death, how is it you managed to survive this long with shabby swordcraft like that little brother?" The older knight said gruffly, betraying any assumed affection a brother would show another.
"Cousin Damon, Stafford just isn't as cut out for battle as you or I are." Another knight said off to the side, he too possessing the typical Lannister coloring and outfit.
The younger knight, now identified as Stafford Lannister, seemed to take the slight to heart and stomped away angrily, much to the amusement of the various knights and man-at-arms surrounding the fighting area in the training yard.
Deciding to quell his boredom with a nice bout, Torrhen approached the older knight who was now engrossed in conversation with the similar-looking man who spoke up earlier in mockery of Stafford Lannister's martial prowess.
"Excuse me Sers, I watched your earlier spar with Ser Stafford and I was wondering if either of you would care for a quick bout?" Torrhen asked the two Lannister Knights, both seemingly disinterested, that is until they noticed the sigil on his tunic.
"A Stark? And yet, the coloring is different, pray tell who might you be, Ser?" Ser Damon Lannister inquired, the other man looking even more disinterested almost as if the Starks were a minor house in his eyes.
"Aye, although I may be a Stark, I hail from the White Harbor Branch, you may know my father Ser Beric Stark, he has held past dealings with the Lannisters of both Casterly Rock and Lannisport," Torrhen responded to the knight's question.
Seeing the recognition on both the knights' faces, Torrhen proceeded to properly introduce himself.
"I am Ser Beric's second son Torrhen Stark of White Harbor, and I know who you two are considering the golden hair atop your heads, so I ask again, shall we have a spar?" Torrhen said, slightly miffed at not crossing blades yet.
Although the second Lannister just grunted at his introduction, Ser Damon was more, well, amiably he supposed at his introduction, Torrhen couldn't quite call it receptive yet he wasn't outright dismissive of him.
"Well met Ser Torrhen, I am Damon Lannister, cousins to Lord Tywin and his younger brother Ser Tygett who stands beside me, if it is no difference to you, I shall take you up on your offer." Ser Damon replied, taking hold of another wooden sword and shield.
Before he could walk to the fighting area, Torrhen stopped him.
"Uhm, Ser, if it's all the same to you, I propose we spar with blunted blades, wooden swords are for children and incompetent swordsmen," Torrhen stated, aiming his jab at Ser Stafford who was sulking in the corner.
Instead of getting angry at some perceived slight, Ser Damon chuckled good-naturedly and responded with a simple nod.
"boy, go get two blunted longswords!" Ser Damon called out to a boy of no more than ten who, despite his hazel eyes, held an uncanny resemblance to not only Ser Damon but also the still sulking Ser Stafford
"My nephew and squire, Daven, he's a good lad, and thankfully he is already shaping up to be a much better commander and fighter than his father." Ser Damon said aiming his verbal jab at his half-brother Stafford who grunted at the older knight's words.
Only a moment later the young Lannister squire returned to the training yard with two blunted long swords and gave them to Ser Damon who tossed one to Torrhen and promptly assumed a fighting stance with his shield up and ready and sword in hand.
Torrhen, who was now fired up for a good fight, gripped the blunted longsword in anticipation as he also grabbed a shield and readied himself, shield up and sword pointed toward Ser Damon.
The two knights slowly began to circle one another, looking for any perceived openings or angles that they may exploit for the first blow.
As they continued, Torrhen could see out of the corner of his eyes, that Lords Alaric and Eddard Stark had arrived in the training yard and took their places to get a good view of the sparring session between himself and the Lannister Knight
feeling a little emboldened, Torrhen sent the first strike, a horizontal slash which was quickly blocked by Ser Damon who promptly attempted to send a riposte in kind toward the northern knight.
Ser Damon's thrust came quickly and Torrhen had to maneuver himself to where the thrust slid off of his gauntlet on his shield hand giving him ample ability to quickly send a shield thrust at Ser Damon followed by a thrust of his own.
Although the shield bash struck true, Torrhens thrust was amply blocked and led Ser Damon into returning the thrust with a diagonal cut across the northern knight's chest, a strike which was blocked with his shield, however, without giving him and reprieve, Ser Damon continued to send attack after attack toward the northern knight's shield in hopes of tiring him and causing him to make a mistake.
As small chunks of wood continuously flaked off of the shield, Torrhen knew he needed to find some way of getting out of his current predicament, and as if the old gods themselves heard his plea, Ser Damon faltered a step as he overextended himself in a would-be strike upon Torrhen's shield, which gave him the perfect chance to spin out of the defensive position he was in and strike with his blunted longsword across the knight's arm.
his swing, striking true, caused the Lannister Knight to recoil in pain, only to be soon after beset upon by Torrhen who unleashed his own torrent of attacks against the older knight's shield and even managed to make Ser Damon stagger a step after giving him a good strong shield bash.
The staggering knight quickly regained his bearings and quickly came right at Torrhen in an attempt to end the bout as quickly as possible, however, while the bout soon came to an end, it wasn't in the manner Ser Damon wished.
The Lannister Knight made the mistake of overstepping during his chain of swings and thrusts and led himself right into Torrhen's trap as he promptly gathered himself and finished the duel with his blunted longsword blade pointed directly at Ser Damon's throat.
Seeing that the bout was over, Ser Damon could only sigh in defeat before yielding.
"I yield Ser." Damon Lannister said, a slight smile spreading across his face as he began to laugh good-naturedly, betraying what most of the men in the yard were expecting, considering the usual haughty attitude of the Lannisters.
"Haha, now that was a well earned win my good Ser, it's been a while since I've seen such a talented youngman who wasn't foolish or overly arrogant, what a breath of fresh air this exchange was." Ser Damon declared clapping Ser Torrhen on the shoulder and giving him some pointers on small things ranging from his stance at the beginning to some openings he had.
As Torrhen listened to the older knights words, he realized that he hadn't truly won the bout between them, instead, he was being measured during the whole fight and Ser Damon used it as a way to teach the young northern knight new tricks.
After a while longer of talking, the two knights parted ways as Torrhen made his way over to his lord, Alaric Stark, the boy to whom he had sworn an oath of protection and allegiance.
While some may have found it bizarre for a man of his young age to pledge his sword to that of a boy of three, Torrhen knew it was the right thing to do, as long as he drew breath he would see to the safety and protection of his best friend and distant kin's son.
Contrary to how most southern houses treat their distant relatives or junior branches, House Stark has always stayed a tightly connected House, the two junior branches of House Stark, both descended from the sons of the Artos "The Implacable", enjoyed priveledges most minor branches of other houses could only dream of.
Save for the Lannisters and their endless list of golden-haired relatives and the Tyrells whose number grows daily, most noble houses either disregard their junior branches after a certain point or just outright attempt to prevent any branches from forming that could rival the lordship of the main line.
Thankfully, the Starks were different, the two branches of House Stark, those being the Starks of High Hill, descendants of Artos' first son Brandon, and Torrhens own family, the White Harbor Starks, have many dealing with their main line cousins, they even have many dealings among each other, with his older brother Benjicot being wed to Sara Stark, the younger sister of Artos Stark, Master of High Hill, who himself is married to Torrhen's elder sister Alarra.
The Starks enjoyed a healthy system of dealing with one another considering both junior branches both have their specialties.
While the White Harbor Starks hold an extensive trade network, The main line and the Starks of High Hill both help boost that trade with their own enterprises, namely being the raising and herding of the recently discovered Northern Furred Cows, a species of cow that has, well, long fur.
the discovery of such a vital staple to the north can be attributed to Brandon Stark, the eldest twin son of Artos Stark.
Brandon spent his youth in Winterfell growing up alongside his cousin, the future Lord of Winterfell, Lord Edwyle Stark, and his sister Jocelyn Stark. Following the death of his father Artos, Brandon set out to find wealth for himself and not be reliant on his lord-cousin. While traveling through the Northern Mountains, Brandon would meet his future wife, Sara Wull, the youngest child and third daughter of Lord Wull.
Sara and Brandon would eventually fall in love and get married, setting out to adventure alongside one another. While on an expedition at the behest of his Cousin Lord Edwyle Stark to survey the mountains for any possible ore locations or anything to help the north, Brandon and Sara managed to stumble across a sizable herd of Furred Cows along with a small cave that led to a copper mine.
Seeing the value in this newly discovered hardy breed of cattle, Brandon reported back to Edwyle and they developed a plan to move these cows into a larger pasture area north of Winterfell just south of Long Lake in the Starks's personal lands, in exchange for enlisting the clansmen's help in moving this new breed of cattle, Edwyle gave the small Copper mine to House Wull who were closet to the mine. For the rest of his days, Brandon would oversee the breeding, herding, and butchering of the furred Cows in service to his cousin as well as Edwyle's Son, Rickard Stark.
His second son Beron Stark would be granted a town charter by Lord Rickard Stark, gods rest his soul, for the growing settlement of the workers and caretakers Brandon had employed, along with this charter, Lord Rickard would officially name Beron the Master of High Hill, the name of High Hill, being the area surrounding the small valley in which the main pasture is located, doubly being the name of the small stone keep the High Hill Starks reside in.
Although they governed the area, as they were a masterly branch of House Stark and not lords, they didn't own the land but administered it for House Stark, however, since they were a junior branch and still connected with the main line, it made little difference.
Although only of a masterly status, they are still afforded the courtesy of being referred to as 'lord' due to their heritage, the Glovers and Tallharts are in a similar situation, although them being referred to as 'lords' is mainly due to their rich history and loyalty to the Starks.
Sadly, Lord Beron perished alongside Lord Rickard whom he followed south to try and secure his own son's return, Edric Stark, the second son of Lord Beron, who also sadly died along with all of Brandon's companions, save for Ethan Glover, who still couldn't escape death.
'if it wasn't for Father calling me back for some business I likely would've met the same fate.' Torrhen thought with a shiver as he finally stood before Alaric and Eddard.
"Ah, Ser Torrhen, come, there seems to be some big announcement from Lord Jon Arryn, and I must say, that spar of yours was very enjoyable." Little Alaric said
'He may only be a boy of three, but those intelligent eyes and the way he speaks shall forever betray his age.' Torrhen thought with a smile as he followed the boy and his uncle 'The Quiet Wolf' toward the throne room for some 'grand' announcement.