Chapter 1 - Water, Ale and Steel
Aenys Targaryen, the first of his name ascended the Iron Throne as King of Westeros in the year 37 A.C.
In the years that followed, many would say that Aegon the Dragon might have united Westeros, but it was Aenys the King of Dreams who made them one.
This is in many ways true enough. It was not under Aenys that House Targaryen and their domains reached their Zenith, nor was his reign one of the great eras of peace and prosperity which would define the modern age before it came crashing down in flame and ice, but without his reforms, technological advancements and bureaucracy, the kingdom of Westeros would most certainly not have reached the peak of it's imperial might, power and territories to the degree it would under his successors.
Historians, nobles and the clergy have in the years afterwards given him several epitaphs, from the positive, such as "The Reformer", "The Lawmaker", and "The Good", to the bad, such as "King Abomination", "King of Ashes" and the "Breaker of the Faith", however, the epitaph which history would remember him with was as his father before him, the one his people at large would choose to call him.
Aenys, "The King of Dreams."
Extract from "The prelude to Maegor's Conquests." by Arthur Pressborn, historian at the Royal university of Bloodstone city.
---
Aenys Targaryen, crown prince of Westeros, firstborn son of Aegon the Dragon and heir to the largest country in the known world, was laying up against a dragon, piss drunk and snoring in the middle of a small plateau.
By his legs lay several open caskets of rather expensive ale. Or rather a couple of empty kegs, as they had clearly been cleared out of their content.
That was rather impressive, given he had only been away from dragonstone castle for two days. Not to mention completely out of character for the man.
Aenys had never been a heavy drinker, in all the years Steven had known him. He barely had a taste for light Northern Mead, much less heavy ale from the stormlands. Yet that was what he had apparently been downing over the course of two days. And been keeping it down if the lack of vomit was any indication.
He approached the two of them, man and dragon, carefully and slowly. Aenys just kept sleeping, but Quicksilver turned her head and appraised him with silver eyes.
She made no move to incinerate him with fire, which was a good sign. The she dragon had always been a social creature, rarely snappy, unlike many other dragons steven had known in his years of service. She also knew him from the time she had lived at dragonstone, before Aenys took her across the kingdom. That did not mean he should be brazen about approaching her.
If she decided he was a threat to her master… Well he would die quickly at least. The charred remains of an orca which had probably served as her lunch that day, was a hard reminder of the power of this creature.
She did not decide to burn him thankfully, and he was allowed to approach Aenys unmolested.
He knelt down and inspected the prince. Aenys had seen better days. A red nose and flushed cheeks, along with the smell of a man who had spent 2 days with a dragon. The smell of sulfur was heavy in the air and on the prince. Thankfully he looked much better than he had for the last week. The crown prince had come down with a harsh fever, which had nearly killed him. No trace of that remained though. His forehead was cool and natural and though filthy and drunk, he looked no worse for wear than any other piss drunk man.
This was not the first time the crown prince had gotten this sick, and more likely it would not be the last time either. Despite a rather immense amount of physical training, he had never managed to overcome his inborn frailty.
That said, despite being laid low with sickness many times in his life, Aenys had an astounding ability to bounce back from his near encounters with the stranger.
None of them had been as astonishing as this time though. One day, he had seem as he would finally succumb to death. Then in the morning, he had come out of bed, fever gone completely and sound of mind.
Then, as if to challenge that, he had taken two kegs of ale, a bag of food, bound them to Quicksilver's saddle and taken off.
There hadn't been much anyone could have done to stop him despite the insanity of going flying so quickly after a fever. Prince Maegor was in the Stormlands for a tourney, Queen Visenya was on a trip across the narrow sea, and King Aegon was on a trip to chat with his bastard half brother at Storm's end, and Aenys own family was in King's Landing.
With neither the prince of dragonstone, nor a dragonrider there, no one was able to prevent the prince from doing as he pleased. That was the problem with the blood of the dragon. If they decided to do stupid, foolish things, there wasn't much you could do to stop them. Lady Ceryse certainly was not up for challenging the blood of the dragon.
He had assumed the prince had left to go back to his family, but then they had gotten word two days later from a local shephard that Quicksilver had chosen a spot 3 hours ride from the castle to roost.
He had made the choice to go check up on the prince, as was his duty, and had made the trip on a donkey.
A couple of Maegor's guards had come with him, but they had remained down below the plateau. They had come to guard him against bandits, not dragons.
The prince stirred beneath his touch, then slowly, grogedly he swatted away his hand.
"Who the he… Who the hell are you?"
His eyes swam for a second, before his pupils stabilized as he finally managed to focus.
"You're… You're the maester. Stannis? No. Stannis is…" He shook his head as he suddenly cradled it after a bout of pain which could only be a monstrous hangover.
"Yes your grace, i am Steven, the Maester of Dragonstone."
He handed the prince a wineskin.
The Dragon Prince eyed it along with a groan.
"More vineis the last… Last fucking thing i need now."
"It's a brew for the hangover your grace." He replied calmly.
Quick as a cat the prince snapped the wineskin from him. He then clumsily fumbled the opening for a few tries before he finally got it off and began pouring it down his throat.
Then he gagged, and Steven got the delightful look of Aenys trying his best to not throw up what he had already swallowed.
Ah… He Lived for that look. Disappointingly, the prince actually managed to keep it down, though with some obvious struggle as he forced himself to swallow.
"Fuck me, what is this stuff?"
"Raw eggs mixed together with aurochs blood." Steven replied cheerfully. "It's a classic riverlander for hangovers popularized during the reign of the Teagues, and as it happened, we have some captured auroch at hand at the castle, so i mixed this up for you."
He stared at him as if he was mad.
Then he looked down on the wineskin, then back at the maester, before handing it back.
"I'm afraid to ask, but… Why do you have captured aurochs at Dragonstone?"
"Oh your brother had some imported from the Trident. He's been enjoying himself recently by having bulls charge him, dodge their charge, them butcher them with Dark Sister."
He continued staring it him with that oh so enjoyable dumbfounded look. Then he looked beyond him and stared out over the seas. Southwards. Towards the storms.
"That does sound like Maegor."
"Your brother has been complaining that tourneys are growing dull. He's been talking that if the aurochs pose no challenge for him, he plans of taking a ship north for the Barbarians melees instead."
He shook his head, then winced in pain.
"God what a fucking nutcase." He muttered as he staggered to his feet.
Then he blinked, and looked at Steven, as if he only now realised that he was actually there.
Probably not the smartest move to say that about Steven's Lord while he could hear it. Not that Aenys needed fearing him telling it on. He had lived through his years as Maegor's Maester by having tact. He was not planning on losing his head by egging Aegon's sons against each other.
Especially not when king Aegon was still strong and implacable as dragonstone itself. The old king seemed likely to rule another decade more at the very least.
"Wait… Did… Did you come all the way from the castle just to give me that… Monstrosity of a brew?"
"Of course." He replied cheerfully.
"We're a day's ride from the castle! You walked all this way?"
"We're three hours away from the castle your grace, and i rode along the sea, then climbed up here. If it was true isolation you seek, i would recommend the plateau to north."
He pointed in that direction towards a rather forboding black mountain range.
"Your aunt is fond of the place, and it's impossible to reach from ground."
"Thanks… You… You need any help getting back?" he asked as he began to fumble his way towards Quicksilvers saddle.
The dragon had observed them quietly during their chat observing them. Now though, seemingly sensing that it was time to go, she began to stretch those enormous white wings.
"No, i have two guards with me to keep me safe your grace. Also, you should know that i've prepared the egg you originally came for. It's waiting for you by the gate house in the courtyard."
"I see. Thanks."
With that he started to climb up into the saddle and began the work of fastening himself to the dragon.
"Take care Stan-Steven."
With that he finished his work, and without any further comment, or signal from her rider, the enormous beast took a short burst of running steps before she threw herself into the air. Her enormous pale wings blocking out the sky over the plateau.
---
As Quicksilver began to truly soar over the water i cursed myself. I cursed my carelessness, i cursed my idiotic way of handling the shock of new situation and i cursed this abysmal body.
3 days ago i had been old, with all the things that plagued those who reached their twilight years.
Now i was relatively young, yet somehow i was even worse off.
And that was only physically, not my situation. I had been old, but i had a sweet pension, a nice house, and all the podcasts i could have wished to live out my twilight years in peace. Now i was young, and i was the heir to a kingdom that should have been fiction, as non existent as middle earth.
Oh god, was Tolkien's legendarium real too? Did all of that happen somewhere far away from earth? Or in the past? Or in another universe? Or wherever the hell i actually was.
I had been a quiet historian of the victorian age. Now i was the heir to a medieval kingdom. Well, let's not mince words, it was an empire, not a kingdom.
There wasn't a united culture here. People did not think of themselves as westerosi first, and regional origin second. And in the original story they never would.
It had been the realisation that i would have to do something to change that which had set me off to go find some "Strong" drinks and get some peace.
I would need to do something to forge a national identity for the majority of a continent.
And fix up Kings landing. And deal with the faith. And end the custom of incest. And deal with Maegor and Visenya. And do something about the dornish raids. And beat winter. And prepare for the others. And to raise as much land as i could possibly do from the sea. And make no less than 4-5 canals, each at least twice as long as the suez canal. And deal with the maesters. And make a road network to connect all the kingdoms.
And the rebellions, lets not forget those. I had one foreign invasion, one noble rebellion, one peasant revolt and one religious revolt. And the faith would undoubtedly rise up as some point as well.
God it was too much.
And that was not even getting into all the tech i needed to get implemented as quick as humanly possible. Aenys was not young, even by the standards of the times, and that was not counting the physical weakness he was cursed with.
At 29 i was middle aged, and in the original timeline, Aenys had either died of stress or been poisoned at the age of 35. Even assuming i managed to beat that, i could still drop dead from a random disease at any time.
It was to put it mildly, a lot of stress.
I had handled that stress… Poorly.
I could not afford to do that again. Aenys, always sober suddenly becoming an alcoholic with no explanation? No, that wouldn't raise red flags at all.
I would need to find some convenient excuse if my father-i mean if Aegon asked.
I had a thousand problems, and infuriatingly, i could not begin working on any of them for… Months? A year?
I knew literally nothing about between now and when aegon died. The year was 36 and Aegon the first died in the year 37 at Dragonstone while talking with his grandsons.
And that was it. I didn't know jack shit about how things would unfold up until then. I knew a lot of what would happen after, but that did not help much in the here and now.
Before i became king, there wasn't much i could do other than plan. Getting Aegon to go along with my plans wasn't gonna happen.
There was no way in hell i was going to get my cheapskate old man onboard with something as ambitious as turning the entire blackwater bay into raised farmland.
It would be a rather expensive affair, but unlike most of my plans, it would effectively pay for itself.
Well, after i had created the great dikes that would allow me to turn the entire blackwater bay into a freshwater lake anyway. That part would be slow, expensive and require lots of manpower and time. And it would not pay for itself. It was necessary though. Completely necessary, if the crownlands were to become competitive with the rest of the continent. Sure i would not be able to compete with the stormlands own raised lands(Thanks Winter) but it would still become the second most fertile region of westeros.
And god knows it needed it. The revenue the crownlands produced was embarrassing. It should not be the second poorest region of the nation, but that it was. In terms of self generated cash, only the iron islands lagged behind.
If it wasn't so sad, it would have been hilarious how The Crownlands sucked the wealth out of the rest of the continent and didn't use that cash for anything other than royal shit. Hell, Aegon hadn't even bothered to invest in roads within the region itself.
It was no wonder that westeros had never managed to become one Kingdom in spirit as well as name. The capital province was allowed to languish, and the rest of the provinces had not been incorporated at all.
Well, that shit was not going to stand.
Jaehaerys might be a terrible Dad, and not gone far enough in his state building, but he, and he alone had had the vision of truly uniting this continent under the dragon.
All he had done, i would need to do, as well as far more. And in much shorter time than he had.
And like all endeavours, it would need cash to get it started.
Thankfully i had ideas for that. Schemes i had learned from the glorious conquest of the sea my homeland had waged so tirelessly, things i had learned from extra history, as well as a couple of schemes of my own.
Still, for now there wasn't much i could do, other than plan and wait. And do regular royal duty stuff.
For one thing i kinda had to get my ass back to the royal progress. This entire trip had all just been to go pick up a dragon egg for little Alysanne, then get the show literarily back on the road.
So that something to look forward to. An endless parade of feasts, hunting, mingling with nobles and all around parties. Actually, yeah, that was something to look forward to. Royal progresses were great stuff, at least for the monarch leading it. It meant i got to enjoy tons of good free food, travel and all around the perks of being a crown prince.
It would be a nice calm period before the enormous storm that would enfulge the continent upon Aegon's Death.
He had forged this land together in blood and fire. The metal was not tempered however. That would be my job. I would bind it together as one it with Iron, Fire and Steam.
And dead bodies. LOTS and LOTS of dead bodies.
Because what good king of westeros got anything done without killing thousands of people?
Speaking of which…
As we flew across the waters back towards Dragonstone castle, i spotted something in the sky. A black dot moving, far away, flying towards me.
It would seem Aegon the Dragon had finally gotten news of his son's illness.
---
Lady Alyssa Targaryen was not having the best of times awaiting her husbands return.
Recovering from giving birth was not an experience unfamiliar to her. She had after all gone through it 4 times before, and she had recovered fully after each time.
And like all her children, little Alysanne was a young strong child, thank the gods. She had come when she was supposed to and she had screamed as a young strong babe should. Now she was sleeping soundly, in the room they had designated for her.
They were supposed to begin the latest royal progress, this time a year long journey through the reach, to witness all it's greatest castles.
But Aenys, finally caving in to Rhaena had agreed that they could not set out before they had gotten a dragon egg for little Alysanne.
That trip was only supposed to last a day or two. It had now been over a week since Aenys took to the skies across the waters.
First they had gotten word from Dragonstone that Aenys had gotten sick, then they had gotten a message he had recovered, and they had presumed he would finally return to the city.
That had been 3 days ago.
And yet still no signs of Quicksilver in the sky.
Rhaena had been talking about taking Dreamfyre and going to Dragonstone herself to find out what was taking her father so long.
She had forbidden it of course. As the only dragon rider remaining with them, it was of great importance she remained in case they were attacked while they were outside the walls of Kings Landing.
Rhaena had argued that the 400 strong group of knights, retinue, Kingsguard and freeriders would be enough to protect them if someone decided to try and attack the royal party. She might be inclined to agree, but it was a far better prospect to have overwhelming power on one's side. Not to mention that just having a dragon assured that no one would be foolish enough to even try.
Neither brigands or rebels would dare to attack them so long as a dragon was camped alongside them.
As was her wont, Rhaena was fuming at being denied something, but she had not flown off in the night, for which Alyssa was very grateful for. She was far too rowdy for a lady.
Not to mention the company she kept. Now she had retreated to her room along with lady Royce and Lady Stokeworth.
She had complained to Aenys several times about it, but he had always been indifferent to her… escapades with her ladies.
"Let her have her fun, so long as it isn't a boy, what does it matter?" He had never taken her seriously on the matter. So long as she did not attempt something along those lines with boys, Aenys would not act to prevent it.
Not that they needed to worry about that. Other than her family, Rhaena had never meet a boy she had given the time of day.
She far preferred her ladies, her dogs and her cats. And Dreamfyre. Dreamfyre above all.
As for her other children, Aegon and Viserys was off exploring Aegon's new Castle, or at least the parts that was finished. The only part that was relatively done by now was the great hall around the Iron Throne.
That was still more than enough for the two boys. Well, that and the knights training there. She had no doubt Aegon had restarted his training again. He so did love to play at war.
Viserys did as well, but he was 7 and Aegon was 10. They were not equal in their training, nor in body. She was glad they they were taking to it so well. Aenys was driven but… Well his love for swordplay had died years ago. Now he only did it to keep in shape.
Gods know he needed that.
Aegon and Viserys were cut of a different cloth. Strong for their age, and with an enthusiasm Aenys had not had since before they were born, they had taken to the training yard like a dragon to the sky.
They weren't Maegor, but she was proud of them nonetheless. They would make fine knights one day. For now they would have the honor of squiring for a king.
For her part, she was going over letters from all across the realm. She had built up an impressive number of friends over the years traveling across the kingdoms of Westeros, and much and more they would share with her.
And ask for favors as well. Thats was part of being royalty.
As she read through a letter from highgarden, a hornblast rang. She stiffened as it came again. If there was a third….
The third hornblast came, and with it, the knowledge that a dragon rider had come to King's Landing.
Which either Meant Aenys had finally come home, Visenya had came back from across the sea, or Aegon had returned from Storm's end.
As it would turn out, all three were true.
---
King Aegon landed on the plain outside the walls of kings landing, on the spot the wheel house the royal family would travel with rested.
Alongside him, was her father, Aenys, her grand aunt Visenya and somewhat surprisingly uncle Maegor, who had ridden with his mother.
All the targaryen family was once again in King's Landing. It had been a while since that happened. Ever since grandfather and auntie Visenya's big fight, the queen had avoided the King whenever possible.
As they landed, she and her mother alongside little Jaeherys were there to greet them with all the nobles who were preparing for the progress.
In front was of course sir Rupert Crabb and Robert Flowers of the Kingsguard, who knelt as his king descendent from the back of Balerion. Behind him, another man descended from the black dread. He was of average height, a bland nondescript face, with black hair and blue eyes like the sea, dressed in a coat of chainmail and a white cloak over his back.
In his belt a wicked black warmace was fastened alongside a knife. She thought he seemed familiar, but she couldn't place him. Well whoever he was, the white coat and lack of any sigil made it pretty clear he was the new King's Guard member grandfather had gone south to recruit.
Grandfather was his usual stoic self, until he saw her and Jaehaerys, upon which he smiled. People always said grandfather was an eternally calm and stoic figure, but she had never known that man. He had always been generous with smiles, gifts and praises to her and her brothers all Rhaena's life.
Father did not look his usual self. Truth be told, he looked a mess. His hair had obviously not been washed in a while, his beard had not been trimmed and his nose and cheeks were far too red, as if he had been having a fever or been drinking.
His eyes were tired, and though he mustered a smile, she could tell there wasn't much energy in it. He must really have been sick at dragonstone, if this was the amount of enthusiasm he mustered for a smile.
Uncle Maegor was as he always was. A jaw which seemed like he incapable of unclenching it, seething stare and a stance as if he expected combat at any times.
Aunt Visenya tried to look the same as she usually did. But her eyes betrayed her. She was mad about something. Truly mad.
It was grandfather who first broke the silence after descending from Balerion.
"Rise." He told the two knights on bent knee.
Then he turned to mother.
"It's good to see you again my lady. I would like to speak with you before you leave, but i am sure you are eager to speak to your husband after his brush with death."
She blinked. Death? Had father truly been so ill that he had nearly died?
Her mother seemingly had similar thoughts.
"I was… Unaware that the sickness was of such grave matter. The letter we got from dragonstone simply said he had a sickness and would recover for a few days."
For a second she could have sworn grandfathers eyes, quickly flashed towards Visenya and Maegor, but if so it was only for a very brief moment.
"Is that so? Well, mayhaps he did not wish to spread the news to the kingdom at large. No matter. What is done is done. Mayhaps it was for the best."
He nodded to Aenys before continuing.
"Either way my lady, i shall be quick before i leave you to my son. I see that neither my hand nor older grandsons are here. I assume my squires can be found at the keep?"
"They can indeed your Grace. The boy's have been most eager to explore the castle, now that it's nearing completion."
"It's not. I have seen the work from above. The castle is barely fit for holding court. But time shall remedy that i am sure. For now, i shall have to go speak to my Hand."
That was… A rather strange way to talk about what was the second largest hall in the land. The hall which had sprung up around the Iron Throne was a true marvel, even amongst the enormous grand halls of westeros, and Rhaena had seen many of them in the progresses she had been on.
"Also, we shall need to outfit our newest member of the king's guard."
He motioned to the black haired man.
"This Raymont Baratheon, the newest member of the order. He shall accompany you on your journey once he is properly outfitted in plate."
The man bowed his head.
"A pleasure to meet you. It shall be my honor to serve as your shield." Even his voice was bland as sand.
"A pleasure." Mother replied courtely.
After that the gathering split up. Grandfather gave some orders to some knights who went with ser Raymont into the city.
Then he took off with Balerion towards the castle.
Grand Aunt Visenya also took off with her own dragon, but uncle Maegor went off with some other knights.
Once grandfather had finally left, mother finally went up to father and gave him a hug. She was rather fond of those, no matter how many of the court was watching. In this case, some of their ladies in waiting and a number of knights. Around his leg, Jaeharys did the same.
Father, showing how tired he must surely be only gave a hesitant hug of his own.
Gods he must be tired.
Quicksilver eyed the place where dreamfyre currently lay curled after her meal of two bulls.
They were siblings, having both been come from the late Meraxes, but if either of the animals cared, She had yet to see it.
Samantha and Alayne both stared and gaped at Quicksilver, as she stood tall and with her head upraised, appraising Dreamfyre.
She smiled, both her friends not being used to dragons the way she was.
The Blood of the Dragon was not afraid of it's own fire.
"Quite a sight is she not?" She said in a teasing tone.
"She's beautiful." Samantha said in a breathless tone as of one of the gods themselves had come down from the sky.
"Like living silver." Alayne replied in agreement.
She scowled.
Neither of them had reacted that way towards Dreamfyre the first time she had shown her to them. They'd been terrified of her and her great blue wings, yet here they were marveling at Quicksilver who was one and half as large.
"I suppose."
Wanting to quickly change the subject, she went on.
"So, what did you you think of Ser Raymont? Not quite what i expected when Grandfather said he would find the greatest knight of the stormlands."
Alayne stared at the dragon for a moment more before finally snapping out of her reverence.
"Well… he did seem a little plain. Very much so in fact. And such dryness."
"Even old Humfrey strikes a more galant figure i would say." Samantha piped in, finally having finished gawking at Quicksilver.
"Is he truly son of Lord Orys? It's hard to believe that such a boorish man could be descended from a Targaryen."
Yes. That's right, he was father's cousin, she remembered now. Well half cousin. Was that a thing?
"Speaking of Ser Reymont. The king said he would need to be armored before we go did he not?" Alayne said, looking after the party of knights that had gone towards the city gates.
"I believe what he said was that he would need to be outfitted before he accompanies us."
She rolled her eyes.
"You know what i mean Rhaena. My point is, how long will that take? I mean, we should start today now that your father has returned right? That was the plan was it not?"
"I'm not certain. I suppose it would depend on whether they have armor fit for ser Reymont at the castle. If not they will need to forge it and… how long would that take?"
She turned to Samantha expectantly
"Depending on how many pieces that needs to be made for him, it could take anywhere from a couple of days to months."
She grimaced.
"There's no way mother would wait that long. She's been eager to get us going for weeks."
"I suppose… Still, are you sure your father will be well enough to travel?" Alayne asked, glancing over at her father.
Rhaena glanced in his direction as well, as he was finally beginning to untangle himself from Mother and Jaehaerys grasp.
"I'm not sure. Unless he leaves Quicksilver behind he shall need to ride her as we travels. He might not be up for that."
Gods, he looked out of it. He was a man always so full of life and energy. Now he seemed lost and as if he wished nothing more than to go and rest.
She couldn't hear what he and mother talked about, but she guessed they were discussing something along similar veins as their discussions on point of departure.
---
Barad Knifefoot was used to to knights and armed men coming to his shop. It was part of the business of being an smith specializing in armor.
So when his doorman came and informed him that 2 men wearing the dragon livery of the king came in, he was not surprised.
Most likely, they were knights or men at arms in need of some armor.
So he had gone to greet them with the usual smile for customers,and asked them what their business they were there for.
They had unceremoniously told him he had been summoned to the castle for a meeting with the crown prince. Right then and there.
They had given him a few minutes to dress for something less… Boorish, but nothing more than that. No cleaning his face, or grooming himself for the meeting with royalty.
It was not the way one wished to be summoned to the court, but it was the way of things. The Dragons were Queer folk, all men knew. One did not question them.
So as he dressed in his finest black doublet, embroidered with Silver Helmets, he had left it to his men to do the business for the day as he was escorted to to the castle, uncleaned and smelling of all the delightful smells of the forge.
Thankfully his escorts weren't the silent type. When he asked why he had been summoned they had told him they did not know, but that Prince Aenys was summoning every single Smithy owner in King's Landing to the castle.
Well, wasn't that something. He wasn't sure what it was exactly, but it was something.
As they walked up the large hill, he saw other smiths being escorted up to Aegon's High Hill. Some he recognized from fellow members of the Armor Makers Guild. Other he did not.
He recognized that bastard Eddard Northmaker who had stolen more than a dozen customer from him through better steel imports, old Tommen Storms the guild master and others he was relatively familiar with.
All around was men in work, stones being carried by cart, masons doing their stony work and knights their slashing and smashing.
The stones weren't anywhere close to done, but one could see the bones of what one day would be a massive fortress.
He was wondering where they would be holding this little get together, when he saw a relatively large open space, where a rather massive number of his peers were standing around talking. Unsurprisingly, that was where he was led.
As they approached, a man holding a writing board in one hand a quill in the other stepped up to them.
"Name and shop?" He asked in the bored tone of a man going through the motions.
"Barad Knifefoot, i am the owner of Barads Emporium."
He nodded boredly, wrote on the board for a moment before moving on to the next smith being brought in. They continued on to the gathering.
There was a few tables with tankards of water and some cake.
Cake. It said something about how rich the royal family was that they could afford to whip out cake to feed over a hundred men for nothing more than a side dish.
Unsurprisingly, a lot of smiths were gorging themselves on it. He smiled. Uncultured barbarians.
As he began to mingle with his peers looking for someone friendly, he spotted good old Sammy, a man he often worked with for chainmail.
Sammy did not spot him though, busy as he was consuming some pink cake.
"Oy, sammy!" He called out.
In response he stiffened, before turning around and looking at who said it. Then, seeing who it was, he relaxed and flushed down what he had in his throat with a tankard of ale.
Only when he was finally done with that did he respond.
"Barad, i see you made it you old turtle. Come man, there's still plenty of cake left for ya. Eat it before the prince comes and drags us back to business."
I smiled. "As much as i love good food, i think i shall refrain. The last thing one wants is to be stuffing oneself as the prince comes to do business. Stuffing one's face is a rather good way to kill dignity."
"Suit yourself. I on the other hand shall continue to enjoy our great host's hospitality. As for the whole dignity part…" He chomped down on a brown cake piece before continuing.
"If his grace was planning to talk to us individually, he would have done this in smaller groups or one by one. That he has gathered ALL of us, here, means we are going to get hit with some overarching decree of some sort. We aren't here for some commissioned work or the like. Not with ALL the guilds present."
"Just another business meeting. Those comes every week. Cake however, does not." He took another bite of his cake obviously enjoying the taste of the brown pastry like a man in Dorne enjoyed Water.
That made some sense, though it went against all he had ever learned of meetings with nobles down south.
He did step up to the table and pour himself some water though. Clear and clean like crystal it was, which made it stand out from the water the blackwater had produced lately.
"So, how's things going with the watch?" He continued, not wanting an awkward silence to form.
"Any luck with that break in?"
"Oh yes, they found the thief and my stolen goods. Stupid idiot hadn't considered that my personal mark would give it away. Then again, i doubt the man could read, most burglars can't."
"So you got it back then? That's good to hear."
Sammy scowled. "Most of it. I didn't get back any of the chainmail, and i lost 10 Dragons to the damned watch for their troubles. Five to get my stuff back and 5 more to make sure they didn't just let the bastard off with a beating."
"Ah, the glory of law and order."
"Aye, they've been growing much bolder since the King moved to Dragonstone. They didnt skin you back in the day before king Aegon moved out of the city. Oh, there were a few bribes here and there you had to make, but that's just business."
"The hand might be amazing at generating coin, but he aint good at inspiring fear in his men. The city guards aint like men at arms bound by oaths. Men who fight only for money need to have some fear instilled in them. And Stokeworth just ain't up for that.
The city guard was a pain in the arse for any of the shops that had to deal with them. They knew the shops could pay, and thus they took bribes to just do their damned jobs.
"So they cut off his hands or hang him?"
"Hanged."
Well, it was one less thief in the world.
After that, it was chats of their wives and his mistress, the market of armor making of the last era and they had gotten into a debate about the pros and cons of selling to mercenary companies, when a shadow from above suddenly covered the him and Sammy in darkness.
He knew what he was about to see when he looked up. He had grown up in King's Landing after all.
Still, the sight was one which struck him with awe.
Two enormous wings like sails, a coat of gleaming shining scales which in the sunlight burned like the sun, bright and radiant.
Then, with a sudden burst of speed the burning light descended to the ground like a bolt of lightning.
With a slam of sound it landed right by the crowd, and the wind it created as it hit the ground blew off more than one hat in the gathering.
"Seems the play is about to start." Sammy chuckled as he devoured one last piece of cake.
Aenys Targaryen was a tall man. Not as wide or powerfull as his father, but he was half a head taller than most of the gathering.
And he wore silks of such magnificence that it put the finery of everyone to shame. A marvelous robe of purple trimmed with spotted eremine, outfitted with a belt of golden plates imbued with Rubies shining like fire in the sunlight.
Like all of his family, the prince had a mane of that unnatural silver gold hair, dropping to his shoulders in ringlets. On his chin he had a well cleaned but somewhat unshaven beard, like one who had been on a journey. And those eyes… The true purple of Valyria of old that was.
All the pomp and majesty could not hide one obvious truth however. The man was tired. Exceptionally so.
One could see it in his eyes, whereas he wore a smile, the dark shadows under his eyes and the way he adjusted his eyes, spoke of a man who desperately wanted some rest.
As he stepped down from the massive silver beast, he stood still for a moment taking in the gathering. Then he was approached by a few servants, along with 4 guards who hastily approached and flanked him.
Aenys talked with them in tones to quiet for them to hear, but soon enough he finished whatever it was they were talking about, and the servants made haste on whatever it was they were doing.
Only then, flanked by 4 men in black plate did he finally approach the gathering of blacksmiths.
He opened the talks with a loud voice which carried far on the open ground.
"Ah, my Blacksmiths of Kings Landing. I must apologize for this sudden summon, but alas, i do not have much time to spend here before i leave."
Well, he did have an impressively loud voice. It was melodious and calm, though not feminine in any particular way.
Answering the prince, one of the guild leaders(He was not sure of what craft he was master off.) stepped forward and bowed.
"Nonsense your Grace. We are all Dragon men. Ready and eager to serve our monarch and his family as it pleases you."
"I am glad to hear of it. But i am not here for service. I am here for a business contract."
Then he turned his look to the crowd all around, maybe 120 or so men.
"I have recently invented a new form of smithy which allows for a blacksmith to both hammer and cast steel and other metals 10 times stronger and faster than smithies currently do."
Silence.
The Prince's grin changed from calm to the look of a cat who just got away with a chicken.
"Now, i am sure that all of you are rather interested in exactly how this can be the case."
"Tell me, how many of you are familiar with the inner workings of a water mill?"
More silence.
Water mill? That thing that… Grinded flour? He had seen a few in his time, but… He had never gone inside one if that was what he was asking.
The prince waiting maybe 10 seconds of silence before he continued.
"For all those who do not know, water mills uses large wheels of wood at their sides to power machinery inside to grind grain into flour, stronger, faster and more consistently than humans ever could."
"Oh." Sammy let out in a low voice. Barad looked at him. He had the expression of a man who had just figured out something that had baffled someone for all his life.
The Prince went on.
"It is a rather simple change, one which one would think someone else had discovered long ago, but apparently not. So the invention fell to me. For you see, i recently realised that one could modify the machinery of the Mills to harness the power of the rivers to do other things than simply grind flour."
He was starting to see what sammy had probably realised. Probably.
"In this case, a new form of hammer i have have dubbed "The Drop Hammer". As the name implies, it is a massive hammer, large as one of the stones of this castle, which is is lifted up by the power of the water, and slammed down upon the anvil with force far greater than any man would ever be able to hammer a hammer."
"Simultaneously, i have also developed a design for a bellow to go along with the anvil, also using the power of the water to pump with far stronger force and consistency than any humans could ever do."
Barad felt that old ache in his bones. The ones he had last felt when he had been forced to leave old Qohor. He was not stupid. He understood what the prince had just explained. His world was changing once again.
"Combined, this design will allow for the construction of a new form of smithy, one which will outstrip any old smithy in productivity a dozen times over."
"Now, as i am sure you all understand, this will mean that any smith who does not adopt the new system will never be able to compete with those who do."
That was putting it lightly.
"I am also perfectly aware that most blacksmiths does not have the coin to commission a brand smithy. Thud they will be left bankrupted as they are left behind by those who can."
He lifted an open palm for silence as angry sounds began to be heard from a large number of the smiths.
After about 10 seconds of them quieting down, Prince Aenys continued.
"As i do not want any of man of expertise to become destitute, i have prepared a contract for all of you, establishing a deal between any of you who sign it, and me."
He motioned with his hand as servants brought stacks of paper and a writing board.
"The contract is simple enough. The crown will begin to construct these new forges down by the blackwater, and as each of them gets finished, i will exchange the ownership of each for the property of the old shop of the new owner."
That… sounded pretty good actually.
"Subsequently, i am also developing a new form of smithy even more powerful than this one, and any who signs will commit themselves to doing this dance again, once i have finished the design for this new forge. That is years and years away though. Now, if anyone have questions you may feel free to ask them."
As it happened, many did.
Sammy was the first to step forward, as everyone else began to just ask and thus just drowned out each other.
He again motioned for silence. Then as silence once again reigned he turned to Sammy.
"Yes?" He asked, taking no notice of Sammy's filthy hands and sleeves.
"Your grace." Sammy said with a short bow.
"How will you determine who gets the trade for new forges the first?"
"Why, it is determined first by what the blacksmith works on, then in an alphabetical order based on their names."
Alpha-what?
"First of course will be armorers, then followed up by weapon makers, then bolt makers and so on and so on."
He looked to the rest of the massive crowd.
"Any other questions?"
There was a lot, but none that Barad cared for.
He had some plans to make.
As people began to sign the contract, he stood in turn with Sammy at his side once again.
"Exciting ain't it?" Sammy said with a smile.
He snorted. "It would have been much more so if we didn't have to move outside the city walls."
"Eh, we'll be fine. I lived by the river long before i moved here. Pirates dare not attack King's Landing anyway."
He nodded towards the silver beast that was currently being fed with a sheep they had carted here for it.
Barad wished he felt as confident as his friend. He had grown up on the Dothraki Sea. It had been many years since he felt safe outside Walls.
"Amazing no one has thought about this before. The idea is the same as how you Qohormen hammer back home back over the sea right?"
"Yes." He confirmed.
"Back home we use men to lift the large hammers, but the idea is the same. Lift a huge hammer then let it's massive weight do the work."
At least he thought that was how this new form of hammer would work. He didn't quite get a good picture from the Prince's description.
---
After i was done getting the blacksmiths to sign on to my contracts, i took to the sky once more on Quicksilver.
As we rose up and up and up, i began to take in the city of King's landing.
God, it was a fucking mess.
It wasn't AS bad as it would be 250 years down the line, but fuck me it was a huge ass mess.
It was filthy, it stank, it didn't have easy to get clean water, it didn't have a sewer system, no grid layout, countless alleyways, the streets weren't filled to the brim with shit, but they were filthy as any streets i had ever seen.
I would need to rip it down and build the entire thing from the ground up. There was no other way to fix this problem. And the longer one delayed, the more it would hurt to fix it.
And i knew just how to do it. Lots and lots of apartment complexes. That was the simplest way to do it. Every single building in the city made for living in, would be an apartment complex. That way i could build everything around a grid system, and making sure that every single road was wide enough for a cavalry charge.
There would be no fucking barricades by revolutionaries here thank you very much.
I would also need to build a second internal fortress to compliment The Red Keep.
I would use that as the headquarter for the national army.
God, there was so much to fucking do. And where to start? Should i focus on building an army to finish my last conquest and the riches that would come from it? Or should i focus on the city? Or was a more balanced approach the best course?
Well, at least the very first thing i needed to do was clear. Making sure that i crushed the uprisings quick and decisively.
Also probably try and save Ronnel Arryn and his family.
Unsurprisingly Gyldayn's writing was wrong on many accounts. Some where he just hadn't bothered going into depth about stuff and other times where he didn't bother and probably times where he just didn't have the right sources.
In the case of Ronnel Arryn, the Maester had not bothered to mention what happened to neither his wife or his children nor that he even had any.
I did not need to be a genius to predict they probably joined their father out the moondoor in their kin's short lived rebellion.
As for the moment, the heir to the Vale was one Arya Arryn, second child of Ronnel arryn and Eddara Stark, and the oldest living child of the union. She had a younger sister as well named Sharra, but for the moment i would focus on Arya.
As the heir to the Vale, she would need a consort, and what better consort was there than a prince?
For my part i needed to get rid of Jaehaerys. Preferably by marrying him off somewhere remote. And short of the North there was nowhere more isolated than the Vale.
With the benefit of hindsight, i knew Jaehaerys was the most charismatic and capable of my children. Great for overthrowing a tyrant usurper. Not so good to have around when his brother would take the throne.
He could grow up to become a massive threat against Aegon's reign, and it was better to nip that threat in the bud before it ever materialized.
With a bit of luck, i could get Ronnel to send Arya to serve as my ward during my Royal progress. That would allow her to associate with Jaehaerys, as well as making sure that if i didn't manage to save Ronnel, i would still sit with the Ruler of the Vale.
Then i could choose a regent as i pleased.
As for other matches for my children, i needed to find a bride for Aegon before he did something Stupid and eloped with Rhaena. It would be much better to let her have her female company and remained unmarried.
Aegon was a different story. I needed to find him a betrothal as quickly as possible, and from one of the great houses. Preferably the Lannisters. More gold was always better.
Not to mention i would need them to maximize setting up a national bank for the kingdom. A marriage would help greatly with that. Viserys would also need a marriage, but it was nowhere near as urgent to prepare.
Also find some title to give him.
It was tempting to just grant him Harrenhal, and give him the task of turning it into a city, but i had no interest of the supposed curse befalling my family.
So i would need to find him somewhere else to settle. Summerhall perhaps? Or maybe one of the cities i was building in the riverlands. I had a lot of planned settlements i could give him.
Either way, i would make sure he and Aegon got to spend as much time as possible together. Foster that brotherhood to the hilt.
For now, i had done what i could do here. I had used almost every piece of cash i personally owned to set up this deal with City's Blacksmiths. And i would need them ready to go when i became king.
I would have preferred to jump straight into the era of coal and steam powered hammers, but that wasn't happening. To make those i needed steel much stronger and better than anything westeros was currently capable of making. So i would need somewhere to really get water powered trip hammers going, then use that place to make all i would need to make steam powered hammers.
Then i could use steel from those to begin constructing more steam hammers all across the nation. It would take tons of time, but once i got it going i could really begin to get this age of steel and steam going in earnest.
Also, i needed to have as many suits of armor ready to go as possible for the army.
The first host would be some 8000 men or so, and i wanted all of them so well outfitted as i possibly could have them.
Given where my only conquest would be, i did not need any cavalry at the moment, but i did need as many heavily armored footmen as humanly possible. And archers. Well, crossbowmen. Bowmen would be a thing of the past once plate became a thing anyone of any means could buy.
Speaking off, i kinda should try and figure out which armor designs i would use for my army. I wasn't an expert when it came to plate. Well, other than later age cavalry anyway.
Which wasn't going to be relevant here. That outfit was for the age of guns and cannons, which i was not going to bring about.
Oh, i would introduce gunpowder. I kinda had to in order to increase mine productivity which was going to be so important for my plans. It would also help farmers making new fields, which was always helpful.
Guns though were a different story. I had no plans of helping with that in any way whatsoever. My biggest military advantage was dragon riders, and there was no way in hell i was going to jeopardize that advantage by introducing cannons to the world.
My successors could deal with that when Westeros had a field army numbering in the hundreds of thousands.
If westerosi tech development was any indication, it would probably take the better part of a millennia before they invented the flintlock. Well, unless i got a good school system going.
It wasn't that high priority for me, not compared to my quest to bring about the age of steam, but if i had extra resources to spare, i could probably put together a rudimentary public school system to go along with my universities.
Teaching my subjects basic math, how to read and the dangers of inflation was a pretty important thing after all. Not to mention a great spot to bring in propaganda into the newer generation.
South of the neck i was going to make a new ritual to celebrate one's adulthood by being granted a copy of the seven pointed star. That would hopefully drum up interest in learning to read.
Then, if i got the resources i could use that demand to set up a basic school system by making it a smallfolk right to be taught to read.
God, there was so much to do.
And before my Old man got that stroke of his, there wasn't too much i could do beyond laying some groundwork.
---
"The most heathen and vile of all kings that has ever been in all the world, intent upon destroying the one true faith, which the seven has created to guide and shepard all people. An abomination born of incest, whose father fucked his sisters, to create these monsters in the shape of men."
"We must throw down these vile heretics, lest we shall all follow them down into the seven hells. We must cut down the demon serpents that serves them, or we will all burn like bonfires, our skin seared off us and our bones ashes in the ruined remains of our homes. Do you hear it? They come now, stand strong men, stand against the demons, shoot them out of the sky."
Extract from "The Final Septon" by Anonymous writer.