1st Moon, 127AD
To His Grace King Loren,
I have your son.
I frowned as I looked at the words on the piece of parchment in front of me. With the way I had worded it, it sounded as if I was about to extort the king for all that he was worth. I mean, that was what I was planning to do anyway for the safe return of his son, but at the very least, I wanted to be a little bit nicer about it.
What I had just written sounded like a mob boss telling some unfortunate sob that I had his daughter and he better do what I want or his daughter might very well end up sleeping with the fishes.
I mildly remember a lot of self-insert fanfics based in the ASOIAF universe treating being a lord something akin to being a mob boss. Apparently, I had been blinding myself to that particular similarity for the sake of whatever personal decency that I had left.
It was sort of being like a mob boss.
And this was now my life.
Could be worse I guess.
I sighed before dropping my head and letting it rest on the table.
I wasn't cut out for writing extortion letters. I think I'll leave that to Lord Mooton. Delegation, it was the mark of a good leader.
I didn't need to be good at everything, I just needed to be good at sometimes and sharing the responsibilities about to people able to handle them. A lesson I planned to teach my children and hopefully they would then go on to teach those very things to their own children.
Hell, I should write a book something akin to the Prince by Machiavelli. Nothing revolutionary, just things that I would consider common sense. It might actually do some good. Most of the problems Westeros saw was that it was mostly filled with either idiots or insane idiots who had no business being in any sort of position of power.
Another note to self, when Alfie was old enough and he had proven himself capable, retire (abdicate) and let him run things whilst I go off into a retirement village and fish or something with Zhoe. That was a good plan.
This wasn't the only letter that had to be written. Hundreds more letters had to be sent to the various houses of the nobles and knights that we had captured. I felt sorry for the poor clerks that had to do all that writing. Enough writing to hurt the wrist no doubt.
This was most certainly not what I had in mind when I had returned to Riverrun.
A knock came to my door, forcing me to push myself up and make myself presentable.
"Come in."
The door opened and Zhoe entered. "A little busy are we, your grace?" She asked, an impish smile on her face as the door closed quietly behind her.
"Too busy." I replied with a half-hearted sigh.
Well, Zhoe had certainly made my return to Riverrun far more enjoyable.
She made her way towards my desk and a quick glance on the contents of my table saw the letter I had been in the midst of writing. Apparently, reading letters upside down was something she could do. Good for her. Best waifu evar.
"It seems we hold all of the cards as you say to whatever terms we end up settling with the Lannisters and Gardeners." She said as she pulled a chair back and took the seat.
I nodded as she wasn't wrong with that. Unsurprisingly, the Gardener/Lannisters had taken a beating against the ironborn, but not enough to not deny them victory. Yes, the ironborn had hundreds of ships. Longships. Not ships suited for actual open sea warfare though they had made a good effort of taking as many ships as possible with them to sink to the bottom of the sea.
That wasn't compounded by the fact that despite being over a decade now, Vickon Greyjoy and Harwyn Hoare were still at each other throats and didn't even try to work together to coordinate a defence of the islands. I'd be surprised and all, but this was the ironborn so I really wasn't surprised.
Their decade long infighting had made it somewhat easy for the allied navy to make a foothold despite numerous losses on their part and even more when it came to taking the various castles, holdfasts and keeps of the ironborn.
Apparently, according to Ser Willem, Harwyn had been able to escape to... somewhere. No-one really knew where. That guy was really good at running away by the looks of things when things got really bad. Greyjoy though had taken a knee when he realised everything was lost and there was no point to anymore fighting.
So, the Lannisters and Gardeners had won a bunch of rocks with massive casualties and loss of sea power on their side. I wonder if at the end of it all, if those bunch of rocks are going to be worth it?
"Will that be enough to bring them to seek terms though?" She asked, eyeing me with worry in her eyes.
"Probably," I admitted. "Definitely the Gardeners though. I hold their king and a prince of theirs. They try anything and well, I'll start sending ravens to Highgarden with," What was his name again? Ah yes. "Prince Gawen's fingers as their message." Yes, I noticed that I really sounded like a mob boss there.
Capturing Mern and Gawen was a total coup for us, but the crown prince had somehow been still been able to escape the men that were after him. Lucky bastard. He was probably still somewhere in my lands and might be found sooner or later before he reaches the border, but I didn't hold out any hope to be honest.
Still, two out of three plus various Gardener cousins and nephews? Mern really went all out there.
Ravens could probably carry the weight of a finger or two. Though larger body parts will probably require a more direct method of delivery.
Zhoe blinked at my statement. "That seems a bit much, does it not?"
"I don't want to fight them anymore than I need to already. I have broken their armies. Even now, I have parties raiding a border village or town here and there."
And I also had letters at the ready to send to Storm's End and Sunspear just for good measure. I'm sure news of Mern and Gawen's capture was already spreading. I had made a bit of a spectacle of their arrival to Riverrun and people had seen him. And people talked.
The only thing faster than ravens in Westeros was the gossiping of the people.
If the news hadn't reached the people who needed to know already, they would soon know and the sharks would start smelling blood in the water and start circling the unfortunate prey.
"What will be the terms you seek?"
"Gold." A moment passed. "Loads and loads of it."
Though I had to be careful not to flood the market with the Reach gold. Inflation was something that I didn't want to deal with, especially if it goes the way of the Spanish or Roman Empires. A golden hand of the reach was about weighed a little more than a crown of the Trident. More gold in it. All of them would have to be melted down and minted into a crown that was of equal weight and value to the crown.
Then stored in the treasury.
Good budgeting and spending was the motto here.
Oh yeah, had to do the same for the Lannister sovereign as well. Why was everyone's gold coins worth more than mine? I mean, the north's silver coins were worth more than mine.
A looked to eyebrow rose up Zhoe brow. "Not land?"
"I'm not really looking to expand." Why add more land to defend? The capture of the Tooth was absolutely brilliant for us and was about the only piece of land that I would demand from the Lannisters when it came down to it. "We have enough trouble with large swathes of border lands that we are hard-pressed to defend already."
"I know little the ways of war as that is the providence of lords true, but is that not what castles are built for? To protect land."
"That's mostly for areas that have a strategic value. Trade routes, crossings and their likes." I shook my head. "And anyway, if I demanded land, then that means I get to deal with former lords sworn to Highgarden as my lords. I'd rather not have to deal with that."
Zhoe smoothed her skirts. "You can just attaint their lands and expel them to Highgarden or some place in the Reach, and not in the Trident then give their former lands to loyal lords and sers. Men who have proved themselves in this war. Like you plan to do with the Hooks, Wythings and the rest that threw their banner with the invaders."
I suppose she had a point. "I'd have to look to see which lands would be of value and not cause too much of an outcry from the Gardeners."
"You hold their king and a prince of theirs. They have nothing to cry out about."
"I'm trying to be reasonable. If they feel I'm being unreasonable, they might just very well continue fighting on." She looked at me in bemusement at my statement. I shirked some as I retreated into the back of my seat. "What?"
"You say you are trying to be reasonable," She began, that look of bemusement soon joined by one of impish delight at the way she made me squirm. "But not a moment ago, you talked to sending bits and pieces of a prince of theirs to Highgarden. Some might say that's not very reasonable."
…
I scoffed and looked away from her and she probably enjoyed that more than she was already enjoying the situation. "That was only a last resort. I'm a very reasonable man."
She slid her chair back and rose up to her feet. "I'm sure you are, husband." Zhoe walked round the table to come to sit on my lap, her arms thrown around my neck. She looked at me huskily. "Now then, let's see if I can turn you into an unreasonable beast for a few delightful moments."
Like I said, best waifu ev4r!
...Wait, did she just insult me? Oh well, whatever.
***
I was man enough to admit despite being my senior by like two decades or so, Mern Gardener was a very handsome looking man. Vibrant hair that was the sort of earthy brown colour someone would find pretty instead of bland and green eyes that seemed to reflect the fields of green his kingdom was well known for.
Said eyes were doing their best to bore a hole through me. If looks could kill, I'd probably be dead several times over now.
"I hope you have been enjoying your accommodations, your grace." I said as I waved to the grand room I had given the men. He was a king and certainly not one of Harren's calibre and thus I had given him luxury apartments for his cell. "It's not every day I have a guest of your standing in my little castle. Though I suppose Riverrun pales to the majesty of Highgarden, this little castle of mine has its own charm and appeal."
He didn't say anything as he continued to glare at me. His face solid like a rock, showing no emotion except for the burning fury that was directed at me.
And here I thought I was being courteous as fuck.
"I'm beginning to think you don't like me much, your grace."
At that, he finally spoke. "At that, we can very much agree." There was a slight tilt to his voice, the workings of his accent I guess.
"Harsh words like that and you are going to make me cry, your grace." I replied with a half-smile of amusement. I didn't really care at all if he liked me or not. I wouldn't like me as well if my smug ass was sat opposite him. "I think we can both agree on the fact that the Faith overstepped themselves, goading you to strike my lands for nothing of note. They most likely slandered me to hell and back. I doubt you half believe any of the shit they told you and I don't really intend to change your mind, I have better things to do. Just know this, I didn't appreciate you invading my lands and trying to kill me or my family."
His jaw hardened just so slightly. "I bring no harm to women or children."
I snorted. "Fine enough statement to say, but you can forgive me if I don't take your word for it. I'm well aware that humans can be the worst of monsters. But monsters is not what I am here to talk off. I am here to talk of your surrender."
"And what will you require of me? For this surrender."
"Not much, I think you will find me very reasonable. I harbour no need for any more bloodshed between our two kingdoms. But you are a father and a man of family and thus you must be worried for your children and extended family. They are well, both of them." No need for him to learn that I only held one son. The other would soon be found enough.
His expression dropped some at that. He must have hoped that both would have been able to escape.
"You will bring no harm to them?" He asked, slowly.
A nod was his answer from me. "Though that depends on your actions, your grace. This war of ours should come to an end, in that regard, if you were to write letters to Highgarden and Casterly Rock beseeching peace, then no harm shall come across any of yours and the rest of your men we captured."
A confused eyebrow rose up. "The rest of my lords?"
"Them." I said with a nod. "And the smallfolk levies that surrendered."
He blinked at me, even more confused. "You captured the levies?" I nodded again. "Why? You won't get any ransom for them. It would have been better to kill them."
Only the nobility mattered. After all my time here and my knowledge of the books, I knew this, but yet, the sheer callousness of that statement riled me up something fierce.
"Your grace, I like to think myself I have something of a basic respect for human life, no matter the rank of its birth." I said smoothly, linking my fingers together. "I won't needless kill people for no reason."
Mern held himself pretty much to not scoff at my words but he spoke. "No-one will pay for their freedom." Including me when I am freed he also meant to add but didn't. "They can take all the space of your dungeons then."
"I'm not going to keep them unless they don't want to stay." That was stupid. Why should I feed them for any longer than I need to? "When hostilities have ended, I mean to drive them all to your border and into your lands. Then you can deal with them. They are your subjects after all."
He glowered at me and that did nothing to me.
I pushed forward a piece of paper that I had taken with me into the apartment across the table that separated us. "These are my terms, your grace. It be best to accept them, but if you wish to haggle some, you can do so. I won't do a thing, though I can't say the same for the Dornish or the Stormlords... Your kingdom is without a king and has lost itself quite a few men. The sharks smell blood, your grace, best be quick about it."
Sometimes, I enjoyed being a little bit of a bastard.
***
I could see it in my mind. A great city. The centre of the Riverlands. Of the kingdom. Of Westeros.
If everything went according to plan, this place would hold the largest city in all of Westeros, perhaps even come to rival the likes of Volantis in sheer terms of size. I doubted it though, because I was going to make sure that the city grew at a nice and orderly rate.
Another King's Landing Tullystadt-no, that was shit. Tullyhold? No, even shitter. Riverstadt? Eh, decent. Riverhold then? Meh, maybe.
Well, I'll come to the name later, but this city that was going to grow at the confluence of the Blue and Red fork will not be King's Landing come again. I will not have it. Even if I have to rasp and yell at anyone in my old age. It will have sewers. It will have public baths. It will have everything. A university, one or two, can't let them get complacent and they'll need the competition.
One was sort of already developing at Riverrun. I was proud of that, the better conditions and the stuff I had sort of introduced had been able to lure some half-maesters and acolytes away from the Citadel. It was surprisingly easy.
Apparently, the Citadel was not the non-political institution it advertised itself to be. The Reach dominated that place from the lowest rungs to the highest. Now I suppose that explained why Jaime had advised for me to request half-maesters and acolytes that had come from the riverlands.
With all the trade that passed through the three forks of the Trident, I was surprised that no-one had sort to try and command the sheer mercantile value this place would be able to give. If it grew large enough, it might even go on to command the Green fork some ways north of here.
Thousands of acres of space.
I was being optimistic, yes. Anything could go wrong. It could not work out the way that I wanted it to be. Yes.
But I doubted it.
The Lannisters were making noises of making peace. The ironborn had taken the fight out of them and oh yes, devastated their naval power and guess who had a pretty substantial fleet on their side of the continent? That's right! Yours truly!
My fleet made a show of it sailing close to the likes of Lannisport for everyone to see that I could just come in and raid their most profitable city and there would be nothing to stop me. I even did the same for the any of the coastal castles and towns in the Westerlands.
Loren had yet to bring up the Tooth but I think he knew that I wasn't about to give up that castle any day soon. I already had men seeing to fortifying it.
The Reach? Well, the Dornish were the first sharks to jump at the bleeding Reach. The Marcher lords of the Reach were holding them back, but that was the only thing they could do. They couldn't call for help from the Reach proper as because, well, some of the stormlods that bordered the reach were launching raids here and there.
This had turned out to be a disaster and the Reach was pretty much begging at me to give them back Mern and Gawen and many of their lords and knights and sons that I had captured. I wasn't going to do anything though until the first ransoms were brought in.
Not that my raiders were bringing back herd after herd of sheep, cows and horses from the now lightly defended northern Reach. I should probably tell them to cut it down a little.
It must suck to be the Reach as of now.
"Pa?" Aflie waddled some as he made his way to me, a small puppy wagging its tail beside him. "What are you doing?"
"Just thinking of the future son."
"The future?"
"Yes."
The puppy, a golden retriever whined some as it sat on its hind legs, eyeing the stick that Alfie held in a small hand, swinging it idly. "What about the future? You can't see into it." He stopped and peered at me with strikingly blue eyes. "Can you?"
I shook my head. "No. I can't see the future son. I'm not a greenseer."
He corked his head to the side. "What's a greenseer?"
"I'll explain sometime in the future. When you are older." I kneeled and took the stick out of his hands, tempting the puppy with it as I made circles right in front of its face. "But for us, it's the start of something grand."
"Grand?" Alfie asked as he watched me throw the stick into the distance. "Does that mean it's going to be good?"
"I'd rather not tempt Murphy son, by making any sort of statement. We'll just see."
Alfie raised his little head up to look at me. "Who's Murphy? You're weird, pa."
Being called weird by your own son was weird and very much like an arrow through the heart.
"Straight through the heart son, straight through the heart."
***
AN: And I am done with this whole prologue. Fuck me, that took longer than I thought it would. If I carried on, I'd be stuck on it for days on end and I want to move the story along. I'll patch the holes that I left in the next arc and yes, Eddy will still be a character since its not that big of a time skip until the next action.
Hope you guys enjoyed this as much as I did writing this. I still have yet to even touch most of my story ideas that I wanted to put in as well.
And don't worry, it'll still be the same thread until I reach the thread limit (is there a thread limit?) before starting a new one.
So yeah, see you guys soon with the next arc.