Chapter 15: House Cavel
House Cavel was anything but modest by the Gannon’s Standards.
The town itself was small and tidy. The Cavel manor sat on a shallow hill above it - it was a well maintained stone building with a single tower and the banner of grey heron above the gate.
The gate guard had seen the white griffin crests on the knights armor from a hundred yards out and opened without being asked.
Lord Ferris Cavel received them in his entrance hall.
He was a short man of perhaps fifty, with a neat grey beard and the compact, efficient manner.
He looked at the four knights first, then at Gus and then at Encrid.
His expression initially was something careful but turned to a pleasant smile eventually.
"Young master Encird," he said. "What do I owe for such an unexpected honour?"
His tone was pitched perfectly, warm enough to be courteous and measured enough to be safe.
"Lord Ferris." Jin smiled back. "I hope the intrusion is manageable. I’ve been dispatched to the Wall - I was hoping to stay the night before continuing the journey."
Something moved behind the calculative eyes of the Baron. It was quick like a flash of something surprising, or might have been the rapid processing of new information - and it was gone, replaced by the smooth calculative expression.
"Of course. " Lord Ferris said warmly. "Of course. Please rest comfortably, you will have your rooms prepared and I’ll have the kitchens informed."
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House Cavel’s influence in the North rested on a single foundation.
The Cold Iron mine.
Cold Iron was not a common material. It was stronger than standard iron. It held an edge better and responded to Star’s energy in better ways, which made it significantly more valuable for weapons.
Cold Iron was preferred almost by all blacksmiths than anything short of mythical materials like Mithril, which was considered the metal of the gods and Star Iron, which was covered in mysteries even the novel hadn’t fully explained.
And House Cavel had a monopoly over a mine that produced it in quantity.
By any measure, this made them wealthy, extremely so.
But it also made them a target.
For ambitious house in the North that wanted the mine, for every trade relationship that hinged on the supply and for every political calculation that ran through the Northern territory - House Cavel was a very attractive target.
And to make it worse - Cavel was not a family of Knight or mages.
They did not have any distinguished knights, or military strength worth mentioning, or a bloodline that produced experts.
What they did have instead was an excellent brain - passed down, apparently with more consistency than most noble house managed with their martial traditions.
So Lord Ferris had done the sensible thing. He had joined as a banner man under Duke Aegis Von Gannon. The two houses had established a mutually advantageous arrangement - the Gannons gave Cavel their name and protection, and Cavel gave the Gannons a steady and exclusive supply of Cold Iron.
The arrangement had been running for many centuries.
And according to the novel, it would run for many more.
’Lord Ferris is a very dangerous man.’
Jin deduced as such during the first ten minutes of dinner.
It wasn’t because Lord Feris had said anything - the baron was far too careful to lay his logic plainly for a guest he’d just met.
Jin figured it out from the room itself.
The table was long and set well, the candles were quality, and the food, when it arrived was better than anything he’d eaten since he arrived in this world.
The Cavel manor was also maintained comfortably at the level which suggested that he was a man who knew how to use wealth without showing off.
And in addition to Lord Ferris - there were two sons at the table.
The younger one was seated further down, to Jin’s left. He was perhaps nineteen- lean, with sharp eyes behind a quite face.
He had a book open beside his plate, which was either extremely rude or extremely comfortable depending on how the host felt about it.
From the way no one mentioned it, Jin suspected it was simply what he did all the time. He hadn’t introduced himself either - he was eating with the calm, unhurried efficiency like he was only partly existing in the room.
The elder son was seated directly across him.
And unlike Lord Ferris who was short and compact, and the younger son who was lean and calm, Corden Cavel was a broad, comfortable structure of a man. He had their father’s grey eyes but none of the calculation behind them.
His face was well-fed and well-satisfied, much like Encrid’s and he held himself like he was at the top of hierarchy.
"So I heard you’re headed to the Wall, Encrid."
He didn’t even bother to give respect to Encrid, who was by all means superior to him in nobility.
Jin looked at him once. "Yes," he said.
"After the business with Sinclair?"
Corden reached for his cup comfortably. "Can’t say it’s surprising - I actually thought you might get disowned."
He said it pleasantly with no visible meanness.
’Wow, does this bastard has bird poop for brain?’
Jin seriously thought as the table went quiet.
Lord Ferris set his cup down.
His eyes moved to his eldest son but he didn’t say anything, then his eyes moved onto Jin and they seemed to be wondering how he would react.
Jin let out a chuckle and set down his fork.
"Corden," he said pleasantly.
"Yes?"
"How many stars have you unsealed?"
There was a brief pause and something shifted in the broad and comfortable face of Corden.
"...Two."
"And realm?"
His jaw tightened. "Ascendant."
"Good." Jin picked his fork back up and looked at it for a moment with a mild expression, checking whether this tool is the right one for a job.
Then he looked at Corden.
"Then I hope you’re fast enough to dodge this."
He threw it at him.
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