Thirteen years had passed since the birth of Harry Stark, thirteen years where the North had a small increase in military strength and population, it was not an increase that could alarm the Southerners, but some Northerners noticed what was happening, the Stark family was making small moves, to elevate the north.
Only four houses knew perfectly well what was happening in the north, and who was responsible, the House Umber, the Manderly, the Mormont, and the Karstark. Those four houses were the first to realize how little progress the North was making, before the Starks could raise 20,000 soldiers on their own, being the most powerful house by that number.
But now they surpassed that number by many more, they did not have an exact number but without a doubt, they were generating many soldiers.
Another thing that helped this small advance not to expand, was the increased surveillance that the Starks put on the Boltons, not even the lord of house Bolton was realizing that, and all the north knew that they always sold information to the Southerners, practically every time the north was in the process of being what they were before the Dragons came and subdued them, they had to set up a conflict to take the power of the north.
The Lords of those four houses said nothing, but they wanted to know, who was responsible for the activities that the Starks were doing, Brandon and his son in these years were touring the territories of all the northern houses, why were they doing that, were they assessing their loyalty.
So they had their balls in their hands, and they went to Winterfell to find out if the Starks were suspicious of the houses that could be considered the most loyal houses to the Starks. And what they found was impressive, Richard Stark was talking to his three children, Lyanna, Benjen, and Brandon, which was not the weirdest thing in the world, the weird thing came when his grandson was there, and he was talking, while the four Starks were listening.
The boy was a true Stark, his look made you feel respect and caused intimidation, it was the same as the old lion, although they did not want to admit it, Tywin Lannister commanded respect and intimidated with his presence, the boy had not yet reached that, but his eyes showed that it was as if a predator was watching his prey, it was like the old Starks.
In that little encounter they discovered that the Starks were negotiating with Braavos, buying food that could be grown quietly in the cold climate of the north, and the expeditions that Brandon and his son were making, were to know which of all things had the most fertile land.
Though it was not the whole truth, Brandon and his son were looking for mines, the north was full of them, of every mineral that could be considered, gold, silver, bronze, precious stones, and many more, but they could not bring them to light, because of the Targaryen. They wished to see the North as weak as possible, for if it were not for the dragons, the North was never going to be conquered, and now that the dragons were no longer a problem, the North could grow and return to what it was before.
But they couldn't, if that happened, not only the crown going to be on them, but the other kingdoms, anyone was going to be able to take advantage of these resources, but they couldn't, it wasn't the time yet, so they had to wait for the Targaryen to be much busier, so they wouldn't realize that the north was growing.
And it happened, something that certainly surprised everyone, Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, kidnapped Princess Lyanna Stark. That she was engaged to Robert Baratheon, was a commitment that Brandon and of course, Harry did not like, and they disagreed with the decision of his father and grandfather, but it was already done and nothing could be done, this kidnapping, made the Stark house, lost two valuable men, Richard Stark and Brandon Stark, who went to the capital to ask for the return of Lyanna.
It was a hard blow for Harry to lose his father, for Ashara it was the same, to lose the love of her life when they were expecting a second son or daughter, it was undoubtedly something very painful for her.
But now she had to support her son, in everything she could, she had to be calm because if something happened her pregnancy would be in danger, and Harry was not going to allow that, so he had to use magic on his mother so she would not feel so much the loss of his father.
It was hard for him, but he was not going to let his mother suffer with the pregnancy, her life was in danger, and the king had asked for his head and of all the Starks, for treason, so he called all the most important houses of the north for this meeting, even the Boltons were in this meeting, no one was going to say anything, the boy was the future leader of the Stark house, and even with thirteen years, he was there, with a serious look at the loss of his father and grandfather, but he was prepared.
At that moment Eddard Stark arrived, who was in the valley, Eddard lived practically a great part of his life in that place, which made him a man that they thought everyone was good, the thing that was out of reality, Eddard was not going to see that a person was going to betray him, although that could be seen for miles and everyone knew that, and when he saw that the son of his brother, sent for all the lords of this place, it was without a doubt a great relief.
- "Lords of the north, lend me your power to avenge my brother's death" - Eddard could see everyone's faces, they were bloodthirsty, his father and brother were loved by many of the leaders of the northern houses, by the wolf blood - "We have to leave as soon as possible, to meet with the armies of Robert and Jon Arryn, call your..."
- "You will take 10,000 men, no more and no less" - Harry spoke interrupting his uncle, who looked at him attentively, they were too few men for the war that was coming, and even the lords were surprised by Harry's answer knowing that his father and grandfather were dead because of the Targaryen. - "Don't misunderstand me, I also want to take revenge. But I will not allow Jon Arryn to use the Northerners as bait."
- "Harry, they are too few soldiers" - Eddard had planned to change his nephew's decision, but Harry hit the throne where he was sitting very hard, making that blow be heard in the whole room.
- "Now I am the Lord of House Stark, the guardian of the North" - Harry shouted, he even stood up to look at his uncle, Eddard felt as if his father and brother were looking at him at the same time, for a moment he felt intimidated by Harry - "I have to watch over the people of the North, out there are the 10,000. I hope that a great part of those soldiers will return if it is true that Jon Arryn is a good strategist."
Eddard did not have more than to accept and left the room with the army that Harry prepared, none of those men were released from the houses of another northern house, they were all of the Starks, and with that, the house to be was left with a little more than 50,000.
- "Lord Bolton, I have heard rumors, that you will try another coup on the Stark house, I hope it is not true, because I will have no mercy, like my ancestors...if it is true think about it...you can leave, the rest of you I want to talk with you."
Harry took his seat again and looked at the twelve lords he had in the room, since the age of seven, he had mobilized to have a large number of soldiers, how did they do that, with the gold, silver, diamond, and other precious stones he brought from his old world, what he brought served him a lot, but that was the only memories Harry had, besides his knowledge, then he could live peacefully, he could enjoy a family, he did not know if, in his previous life, he had parents, but he was not going to go into details, he only enjoyed what the god of death gave him.
With that amount of resources, what did the Starks do to have a military force of then 60,000, since now 10,000 went with Eddard, they bought the soldiers called immaculates.
The Unsullied are soldier-slaves and eunuchs, trained in Astapor from an early age to serve with unquestioning obedience and immense military might. They are used as guards by all the Free Cities, for they are excellent soldiers, who neither plunder nor rape. They are sold by the hundreds or thousands. They worship a particular goddess, whose name is secret but who is known as Lady of Spears, Bride of Battle, and Mother of Armies.
Every year, they bought immaculates in two periods divided into six months, to buy the largest number of soldiers, who were very well treated, even Harry was experimenting with an elixir to make his member that was cut off, grow again, although it was certainly a process that was going to take time since he did not want them to sink in lust.
The immaculates that came to the north, could already feel emotions, until they put on their helmets, at that moment they went back to being the same soldiers they were before. But those soldiers were very well camouflaged.
Winterfell was much larger than it was before, but not so much to draw the attention of the world, but enough to house a large number of people, who were undoubtedly happy about the space that had been created for better circulation.
The lords looked attentively at Harry, who got up again and went to a box where he took a roll of paper, Harry had planned to make all of these Lords loyal, and with a little magic in the process, so that they would not think of betraying him, that is why he ordered Lord Bolton to withdraw, as he did not wish to give him power.
- "I have prepared a series of gifts, for you Lords of the North" - Harry turned his eyes back to the Lords, who were quiet, what kind of gifts, were going to be given to them, it was curious because the boy had waited a few minutes since Lord Bolton had left to say that. - "Many must have realized that my late father and I, rode through the North.... that had a purpose...and these are the gifts I am going to give you...with the details of the deal for delivering these gifts" - Harry passed by each lord, to deliver the gift that corresponded to him - "I plan to make the north a power, the most powerful of the seven kingdoms, so much so that those fucking southerners are going to have to unite to defeat us, but even so the north will come out victorious."
The first to react to the document Harry handed him was the Lord of House Karstark, Rickard Karstark, who was granted Skagos, a large island located at the entrance to the Bay of Seals.
In theory, the island is part of the North and subject to his authority, however, the inhabitants of the island have little contact with the hinterlands and, in practice, govern themselves independently, something that was to cease to happen, as the Karstarks were to have full control of the island.
Skagos is the largest of the islands located in the Bay of Seals, off the northeast coast of Westeros. It lies south of Skane and at the beginning of the Sea of Shivers. The island is mountainous and its shores are treacherous waters, with currents and peaks, making navigation difficult, especially during autumn storms, when the cold can freeze ships.
And here came the second surprise, Skagos was to be used as one of the four naval ports that Harry had planned, but the joy did not end there, some mountains surrounding the Karstark house, there were bronze mines that had to be exploited, even being a man known for his rudeness he could not hold the happiness and knelt before his lord with some tears on his face.
The next to act was Wyman Manderly, who removed his sword and prostrated himself on his knees before Harry showing loyalty, the Manderly had the main seaport of the north, and the only one currently, it is one of the five settlements in Westeros large enough to classify it as a city, but that did not matter.
The Manderly was to be in charge of the North's main seaport and would be granted eight hundred and fifty thousand gold dragoons, and the Starks were to give them the blueprints for the ships the North had to have. For the Manderly it was a great honor, knowing that it was the main of the four naval ports that Harry wished to make, and of course, as such, he had to show the greatest possible power.
But because Harry wished the Manderly to be the principal port. For its white knife river flows into the Bite, an expanse of water, larger than a had but smaller than a sea that lies between the North and the Vale of Arryn. It opens to the Narrow Sea, for that very reason, for there they were going to be able to put a lot of pressure on the Vale, so much so that they were going to be very afraid.
House Umber was going to personally take care of guarding the Boltons, but it was not the most important thing, near the Umber were mountains, of Gold, Silver, and Bronze, which gave them much more profit as they were the only ones who possessed all three minerals. Harry didn't know why this was, but perhaps it could be because they were the closest to the wall, which consumed 35 percent of the north's magic, it was very little use, but that was why the northern trees grew so much faster, the north needed the magic to flow with more power, that was why he was there to do it.
Lord Umber, removed his sword and knelt before Harry, with such a beautiful gift, he was going to watch the Boltons as much as possible, but in his request, there was something else, the Boltons did not have to know about those mines, because when they are eliminated, the Umber will occupy that land, creating a new house loyal to them, but that will happen when the Boltons are eliminated, something that certainly made him much happier, as he hated the Boltons, and only awaits that day with great eagerness, he was a very patient man after all.
Rodrik Ryswell, stood looking at what was given to him, they would be in charge of the breeding of Northern horses, and horses prepared for war, they would also be in charge of having the largest cavalry in the North. For that he was given five hundred thousand gold dragons, plus forty horses that came from those that were purebred, to be combined with the northern horses that resist the highest temperatures, to create a new breed of horses, the perfect breed.
Then he saw his son-in-law, Willam Dustin, who was looking attentively at his document, of all the north, they had the most fertile land of all, they did not possess mountains with gold or other minerals, but they were going to take care of the second largest food production of the north, where their main branch was going to be fruits.
But there was more, they were going to be the only massive producer of beverages, so they were going to be given new recipes to create beverages that were going to throw the southern wines to shit, but it didn't end there, the Dustin was going to have a port, taking advantage of the fact that they were near the sun spear river, which is a narrow entrance to the Bay of Shining Water.
The two lords were happy with what Harry gave them and did the same as the other lords, they knelt before the Stark, who smiled at the sight, and even his uncle Ben was happy because so far all the lords were gladly accepting their prizes or gifts.
It was the turn of the Tallhart's, the lord of that house was happy when he was named as the only house that was going to be in charge of the forging of weaponry, but that was not all, thirteen hundred thousand gold dragons to be granted for them to hire young blacksmiths as veterans of Qohor, to teach their blacksmiths, as plus they coincidentally had an iron mine, as big as the gold mine that the lions possessed, but it was also the only one that possessed iron, and a large amount that would undoubtedly be of great help.
The Lord was happy, with this he was going to make sure that all the Northerners had armor that would make all the Southerners envious of them, and he had already thought of a special design for the new Lord of the Stark house, that would agree with his attitude, and would give him a lot of presence, this only out of gratitude for such a wonderful gift, it was the only thing he could do, in addition to his complete loyalty.
But something was missing, Harry wished to have fourth ports, and a Naval force, and that was where House Glover came in, they were going to be in charge of the creation of all the ships that the northern force would have.
All Harry was doing was raising the charter of each house and the lords realized with every word they were reading, the happiness was so great that their anger for the death of grandfather and his father, was being exchanged for absolute happiness, and Harry realized it, but even so, those contracts with his signature, gave him the right to all that, but that contract had something special, it would force to fulfill all the orders that were in those papers, and of course, they would not think of being ambitious, as they were not going to think of betraying the north.
He was not going to control them, but he was going to prevent them from being greedy and wanting more, since that was certainly something that could happen, so implementing a little magic, was not bad, they were not going to be puppets, he was only going to prevent them from being greedy, as well as loyal, not to house Stark, not to him, but to the north, everyone here was going to be loyal to the north.
House Mormont, was not far behind either, they were going to be the last naval fleet of the north, to protect from the west, and the main trade route that the north was going to have with other places to that side. Although he did not rule out that there was gold on the island, the mountains of the island had to be better explored, but the best did not come there.
The Mormonts and Starks were going to get together, Benjen Stark was going to marry one of Lady Maege Mormont's daughters, they would be vassals of the Starks, and they would have Dragon Point as their home. Dragon Point was full of hills with gold and precious stones, as well as good trees that will be useful for the creation of the ships, and of course will be shared by the new house of Benjen that for now will not have a name, since they will wait for the war to end, to know how to move.
Benjen smiled, at what his nephew wished, he was thinking of going to the wall, but, his nephew wanted him here, and he was going to follow his orders.
With that, the north already had the posts for the four ports, which were held by the Manderly as the main port, and the most powerful, the Karstark the hidden port, where the ships will be created, and then divided among the four ports.
The Dustin although it will have warships, will be the main port of trade, so it was going to be the weakest of the four, and the Umber that was going to be the one with a large extension, for more ships, so it was going to be the port with more warships, and trailers since its port was going to be from Bear Island to Dragon Point.
And the last three lords that were missing were the lords of House Hornwood, and the lords of House Flint, which were divided in two, they were surrounded by mountains, which had silver and bronze, as an indefinite amount of precious stones, so it had to be exploited.
With that, all the lords had their gifts, and each one signed the contract that Harry prepared for the delivery of those gifts, or goods. With big smiles on their faces, for all that Harry had given them, of course, one person was missing in this room, that was his uncle Ned, but when the time came he was going to talk to him.
It was time for the North to move, he only hoped that those who made this blow to the king would be the victorious ones, for if that did not happen, he would have to deliver his uncle's head, for treason to the crown, he only hoped that Robert would be victorious.
Although he knew that someone was going to tip the balance, and that was the lions, Tywin, was undoubtedly the most dangerous of all the lords, a calculating, intelligent, politically astute, and ruthless man. He dedicates his life and efforts to maintaining the prestige of the Lannisters, ensuring their respect, and in some cases fear.
He knew that man was waiting for the one who has the advantage to choose a side and give him victory.
Harry was thinking carefully about what he could do, if the Targaryens won, he had to deliver his Uncle Ned's head, to ensure that the Dragoons would not be a nuisance. But if Robert won no doubt it was an absolute benefit to his plans, Robert was madly in love with his Aunt, so he had a great affection for the Starks, that was a good place to start, if Robert reigned, the north was going to become powerful, and no one was going to be able to stop them, but if Robert died on the throne he was going to start the chase, so he had to take advantage of all the loose ends.
He had to have alliances with three houses, the Lannisters, the Martells, and of course with House Tyrell, but it was not only to save himself trouble but also to control them, so he calmly walked through Winterfell, while the people around him bowed a little in respect.
Until he reached a corridor where the light of the day did not reach and even more because the sky was completely cloudy, Harry stared at the corridor for a few moments until he realized that there was no one to enter it.
- "Master" - The voice sounded, Harry undoubtedly gave off the essence of the God of death, and it did not take long to find him, after all, he had been given the full name, they were everywhere, from north to south, from west to Essos, waiting for orders. - "What do you wish, my lord?"
- "I want you to go to King's Landing, and bring Elia Martell and her children."
That was the way to keep the Martells under control, they were going to owe him a favor, for saving his sister, and they were going to have to live in the north so they would not be discovered, so they were going to form a marriage between the first son of one of his uncles, with the daughter of Elia or the son, that was going to be seen in the future, but if the mad king remained as king, she was going to be his ticket so that the north would not suffer.
- "I also want them to go to look for... ...a girl...in this paper is her name... bring her to me as soon as possible."
Harry left the place, making his orders clear, he would save four lives, but four lives would be taken after that, and he had the names of the northern traitors who would take the lives he had saved.
Harry was aware that his plans were a tremendous risk for the North, but for that, he had to make those houses think that he was not playing the famous game, for now, he was only going to concentrate on the power of the North and nothing else, but even so, he was sure that many houses would not agree and would have a conflict with them.
So he had several things in his mind, first of all, the Lannisters, Tywin would be one of the people who would have him completely watched and would try to kill him if he was a danger, so he needed to get along with him, or he would think that the Starks were allies and not enemies, and a strong ally was more valuable than a weak ally. So depending on what happens with his aunt Lyanna, he will decide whether to marry her to Robert and ask for the appointment of Tywin Lannister as the hand of the king or see if he could break the marriage of his aunt with Robert so that he marries the daughter of the lion, it would give much power to the Lannisters, but that was why Jon Arryn, the guy was Robert's master and was going to influence a lot so that the Lannisters do not have more power than normal.
The Martells were also dangerous, and more with their way of murdering, the poison, but he knew that they adored his sister Elia, and knowing that if Robert was going to ask for her head, that was assured, so they were going to give her asylum in the north, where they would protect her from the fury of the Baratheon, or in the case that they lose, make sure that the king understands that Eddard Stark betrayed them and took the soldiers who respected them, and as a security measure they put Princess Elia and her children to safety.
Although that plan was only known to him, so he was not going to see much trouble, the lords of the northern houses were going to see, as if Harry was protecting them from worse punishment.
Even though he was his uncle, he did not trust Eddard as he was raised by an Arryn, that was why none of the men that went with Eddard was an Immaculate, he was not going to let anyone know about that, so that was one of the best-kept secrets in the north, where two of them were already dead and only his uncle Ben and himself knew about that army.
And finally the Tyrells, his greatest enemy is Lady Olenna Redwyne, nicknamed the Queen of Thorns, although she was now Olenna Tyrell, perhaps marriage was the best option, he had heard that his granddaughter was the same age as him, and was a beautiful woman.
Perhaps on that side, he was going to be able to get the Queen's attention, as now there was no way for her to fear the North, but when you can't buy information you will want to know everything about an enemy's advance, and what better way than with the head, they would look for that.
With that, he was going to be able to have more control of those three houses, and knowing that they were going to think of the Northerners as barbarians who don't think, they weren't going to notice that they were going to be manipulated.
And first, he was going to play with the Lannisters, he had to be thankful that Tywin still didn't see that incredible potential that his youngest son had, and he knew how to convince him. Tyrion Lannister had a girl he adored. So he was going to visit a guy, so he could take advantage of it and disappear from the place without anyone seeing him.
.
Casterly Rock
Casterly Rock is the settlement of the, even though the most important and well-known port of the West is Lannisport, Casterly Rock has a small access by sea.
This land has always had great wealth and most of the buildings and outbuildings are carved into the rock, in what is considered one of the greatest architectural achievements of the Seven Kingdoms. The fortress is in an area rich in gold mines and has never fallen to an enemy. It is popularly believed that the fortress looks like a lion resting before the setting sun.
That was the home of one of the most feared men by all the seven kingdoms, Tywin Lannister, is a calculating, intelligent, politically astute, and ruthless man.
He dedicates his life and efforts to maintaining the prestige of the Lannisters, ensuring their respect, and in some cases fear. He is a proven commander in battle and a very powerful presence.
His youngest son knew that, since they did not have the best relationship in the world, as his father saw him as the dishonor of the Lannister house for being a dwarf, but he did not kill him because he knew his mother would not love him.
He also knew that his father would not allow him to have a relationship with a commoner because of what happened with his father's second wife, so the welfare of his beloved was in danger, he knew that his father had already found out, that was why he asked him to have a conversation about an important issue that he might already know.
With just a glance he could tell that his father understood what was going on, but how was he going to make his father allow him to have this relationship.
- "Tyrion Lannister" - That voice made Tyrion throw his bass of wine, and turn to see a subject sitting at the window of his room quietly, he did not understand how the fuck that subject entered since he was only waiting for his father and no one else. - "You want to save your beloved Tysha, I have the exact words you must use, and I assure you that your father will allow you" - Tyrion looked at the subject, he did not understand why it gave him that feeling that he had to listen to him. - "So, let's make a deal. ...we save your beloved wife or let her die...in exchange for a favor. How about that?"