[A couple of weeks later]
[Runestone]
I stood in front of the window of my solar as I gaze upon Helaena that is crouching beside a bush, seemingly watching the leaves move on their own. Guards surrounded her, but they seemed to not mind about the absurdity of what she's doing.
The king had betrothed me to her, though I could see the hesitation of her mother, Helaena herself looked quite happy about it.
I'm fine with her too, to be honest, she's a cheerful girl, besides, she seems to have dragon dreams, with all those prophetic mumbling of hers…
She's at Runestone right now, the king had allowed her to visit for a couple of weeks to see what's it like here, again, her mother seems to be hesitant, but the king had said so, and she cannot overrule his decree.
Her dragon, Dreamfyre, was also quite old, but she is used to the Dragonpit, unlike Silverwing and Vermithor who lived in the wild for a while, so Dreamfyre stayed in Runestone, right at the outskirts, with the soldiers giving her a flock of sheeps daily.
Suddenly, a knock on the door sounded. I turned my gaze from Helaena, and said. "Come in."
The door opened, revealing Ser Willam Royce, bringing a stack of scrolls with him.
"My lord." he greeted me. "I've done what you asked."
I hummed at his words. He dropped the stack of scrolls on the table, and I walked towards it. "Is this all?"
"Not all of it yet, my lord." said Ser Willam. "The smallfolk thought the soldiers were going to do something to them, so they were afraid to answer the questions."
I frowned. "Do the soldiers do what they want to the smallfolk?"
"N-No my lord. But there are some… rogue ones…"
"Find who those are." I commanded. "Tell them to either choose to take the black and go north, or cut off their tongues for their crimes to be pardoned."
"M-My lord?"
"Those soldiers were supposed to protect them." I continued. "Not oppress them. Ser Willam, you should tell the commander to discipline the soldiers more."
"I will, my lord."
I sighed, then I turned towards the scrolls. It's a census really, what skills did the smallfolk have, their age, whether they are married or not, whether they have children or not… Runestone is quite small, so it's quick work.
"What about the other task I gave you?" I asked again, looking at the list of names from the scroll.
"About 10 men are willing to take the risk, my lord."
"Their skills?"
"5 are carpenters, one is an expert at jewelry, 2 are blacksmiths, and the other two are herders." answered Ser Willam. "But I must ask, my lord. Why would you give them money for low interest?"
"It's not about the money Ser Willam, it's about the development of the land." I said. "Besides, if they can't pay it back, we'll take back the things we gave them, though I doubt that will be the case."
I quickly roll out the scrolls, and put it back on the stack. "Alright, you can tell the 5 carpenters to join their hands, so the risk would be less, the two blacksmiths… let's put it on the side later, the one with the expertise on jewelry can pass, while the farmers… yeah let's group them up too."
I took out some black scrolls, and started to write on the paper. It's the instruction about what they will show to me, and what they will give me.
"Alright, you can give them these instructions." I said. "Wait, they can read right?"
"No… my lord…"
"Oh, well, no matter. You can tell them these."
"What is this, may I ask?" asked ser Royce, looking at the writing.
"If they want to be funded by Runestone, they'll need to come to me." I said. "Tell them to bring a sample item that they can sell, and I want to hear their thoughts on what they can contribute to the land. If it's good, we can support their business as long as they will pay portions of their profit to us."
"And what of the herders?"
"It's simple." I said. "Give them some sheeps to herd, the debt will be paid once they give us the same amount of sheep as we gave them plus maybe 10 percent more."
Ser Willam was confused. "Forgive me my lord, but I do not get it."
"I told you Ser Willam, it's not about the money, it's about the land development." I said. "If the carpenters' business succeeds, more craftsmen will come here to look for work, hence more skilled workers. We also got paid because of the small interest, and also the trading taxes that we enforce. For the sheeps, we're essentially giving our people work, without having to spend much money except maybe some losses of sheeps due to wolves or… well, my dragons. More sheeps equals more food, and more food equals cheaper cost of living, and that equals more people."
"I… cannot pretend that I know what you are saying my lord…"
I chuckled at that. "I know, I don't quite get it too, but you're a warrior Ser Willam, you don't have to know this, you just have to do what I tell you. Oh, one more thing Ser Willam."
"Yes, my lord?"
"Do we have enough money to make a port? Just a small one for now."
"There's still your personal gold my lord… the ones you won during the tourney."
"Oh. use that then. Make a small port and some trading ships as well, the goods will need to be transported somewhere…"
Ser Willam bowed. "Very well my lord, I will start to arrange to find some men to build a small port."
Ser Willam then exited the room, but not before the maester of Runestone, Colmar, entered the room also.
"Maester, do you need anything?" I asked him, confused on what he's doing here.
"My lord, a message from Driftmark." he bowed, giving me a piece of paper, probably from a raven.
I read the letter, and it's… unsurprising.
"
Dear nephew,
It deeply saddens me to tell you that my son, Ser Laenor Velaryon has been murdered by a rogue knight. In this letter, I ask you to come to his funeral at Hightide.
Lord of the Tides and the Master of Driftmark,
Corlys Velaryon
"
It's a short letter, probably written in haste, not even properly written as well, no flowery words, just cold hard facts.
It seems father had truly done it.
"Thank you for bringing me this Maester." I said to the old man in front of me.
Maester Colmar bowed. "Shall I fetch the princess, my lord?"
"No, I'll go to her myself."
—
I walked towards Helaena, who was still in the same spot as I saw her before. She's now playing with a butterfly that has a bronze color in its wings on her palm, seemingly whispering something to it.
"Dresses of Green have been woven, Robes of Black have been worn, yet the plates of Bronze are nowhere in sight…"
Hmm… That's ominous… Should I wear my bronze plate to the funeral instead of black clothing?
The butterfly then suddenly flew away from her palm, and her gaze turned towards me, instantly putting a smile on her face. She stood up from the ground, cleaning her skirt, and bowed slightly to me.
"Maegor, it's lovely here." she said to me. "The smell isn't quite as strong, it's quiet, and no signs of mother."
"You don't like your mother?" I asked.
"My threads will not change if I were to stay with her." she smiled, oh wow, so she really has dragon dreams. "Anyway, are you here to accompany me?"
I just smiled weakly at her. "Sadly, no. our cousin's husband, Laenor Velaryon has been murdered. We will go to Driftmark tomorrow morning."
"Oh." she said calmly. "Do you want me to wear your clothing?"
"What?"
"Do you want me to wear bronze plates?" she asked me again.
"It's your choice. You are not my wife yet."
"Very well." she smiled. "I will ask the servants for it. I hope it won't be too uncomfortable…"
She bowed to me again, lifting her skirt slightly, before walking to Runestone to prepare for the journey.
The bronze butterfly suddenly hovered in front of me, so I raised my hand, and the butterfly landed on my finger.
Plates of Bronze huh…