Reign of Silver Wolf- Obsidian Knight
AN:- The applications for beta are open. (this is a repost with some updates.)
I do not own any of these all characters and entire Got/Asoiaf universe belongs to G.R.
Chapter -5
Benjen was woken up with a loud knocking on his door. He threw the sheets off his face and rushed to open the door. There he was met with a slightly annoyed Lyanna.
"Are you ready then?" she asked.
He had donned his own trousers and tunics already before going to sleep. He nodded and moved to close his door and followed her. "Were to trying to get us caught? You could have probably not knocked any louder."
Lyanna's only response was to flash a lightning grin."You need to loosen up a little Ben, you had me wondering whether I had knocked on Ned's door. But then I remembered he has not been in his room for quite some time now, he certainly is quite busy these days."
Benjen had to chuckle and followed, wondering if Ned was really having some fun with Lady Ashara. She was really quite beautiful and Dornish had a reputation for being in bed. But then he grimaced and quashed the thought.
They were sliently stalking through the burnt ruins of Harrenhel. They had decided to practise in a grove of trees out of sight of the fortress that was dense enough for them to not be seen from any of the windows.
The sun had sun and torches were being lit, so they were free to stay up all night if they were willing to be really tired and sleepy tomorrow.
That was both a good thing and a bad thing because despite how much passion Lyanna had for the swordplay, and even if she was willing to stay up whole night, she was not most proficient person with a sword. She could hold onto a green boy peasant for a few minutes at most. She would leave her sides unprotected when she only attacked with her blade without being defensive that left her vulnerable to a potential attack that could be possibly deadly. Also she would throw herself at a fight without being concerned about the dangers of rushing headlong into a fight.
The first time they faced each other, Lyanna gave no warning and immediately rushed at Benjen, surprising him. He felt like facepalming and gave a long suffering sigh and sidestepped easily. Which almost sent Lyanna face first towards the ground. Benjen thought about letting her fall but then reconsidered, while it would be funny to see her go sprawling into the dirt it would also raise a lot of questions from Brandon if he found her head to toe caked in dirt. So being the kind gentleman and big protective brother he was, he ungracefully hauled by her dress and slowed down her descend. He pulled her back towards him and sent a playful smirk in response to the glare she was sending him.
"I did it again didn't I?," she said finally. Good at least she was learning from her mistakes.
"Aye you did." Benjen replied while nodding his head. "And this time I did not even have to tell you. That's some progress at least."
"I am trying but it's just-" Lyanna broke off as soon as she began up and took a deep breath.
Benjen picked up her practice sword from where it had landed in the dirt "I know it's hard controlling that thrill of fighting but if you go rushing off into a fight like that you are guaranteed to be killed and I don't want you getting killed by your own stupidity."
Lyanna glared at his retort but had no response.
"Also I think it would be better for you to learn to be on defensive rather than the offensive," Benjen said sitting down. He was tired. Who knew tourneys could be so tiring and he wasn't even participating. "If the situation demands it you should be able defend yourself. You will have guards on you all the time, so it's not that you shall be harmed in any scenario. But even if someone manages to sneak past or kill all your guards, you should be able to hold on your own if the opponent is too strong or there are too many."
Lyanna's eyes narrowed, "I'm not a lady that need to be protected by two score guards. You better not be saying that!"
Benjen felt like facepalming again it was as if his sister was as dumb as a rock sometimes. "Did you not hear word I said? I want you to be safe and not go around looking for fights, given that's what Robert is most likely to do."
"Yes that and sticking his prick in every woman he comes across," Lyanna bitterly pointed out.
Benjen waved his hand, dismissing her concerns. "The man's already half in love with you. I don't think he will after your marriage. And if he does he will have three good brothers who are willing to run a sword through him for that."
Lyanna gave him the look. The one that implied "Are You That Stupid?" "Do you really believe that. Men will be men. You have better luck teaching a horse how to dance than telling Robert to be faithful to me."
"Lya you should at least give him a chance." Benjen said.
To she did not deign Benjen with an answer and only sneered.
Then Lyanna's expression changed. "Let's leave all this grim talk behind. I still have a few years to spend with you and now I wouldn't to waste then bickering about my unfortunate betrothal."
"And what would you have us do instead?" Benjen asked with some amusement," rather talk about my non-existent betrothal."
"Sometimes I wish I were a boy. You are rather lucky in regards to that. You could wish to not marry and father would go ahead with it." Lya said with a dreamy look on her face.
"Yes I remember that you once proposed we dress you up as a boy and go join the Night's Watch." Benjen laughed lightly remembering the good old times.
"And you in turn said that it was stupid and we should raher go to Essos and live our lives as sell swords." This time Lya laughed too.
Benjen shrugged and answered. "Mayhaps we should have. You know I had even planned the whole escape. First we shall go to White Harbor then take a ship from there to Bravos and locate the manse of the Company of Rose. They are Northmen and would be welcome to give us a place among their ranks. Then perhaps we might buy a boat or a ship after few years of making money as sellswords and go out and explore the rest of the continent."
"What about Ned and Brandon?" Lya questioned.
"I'm sure they will live." Benjen replied.
"Maybe, I do not know." She replied in return.
Braavos
Benjen was wide awake yet again. He had had hardly any sleep last night. The wine of course helped but it only dulled the pain. Also drinking too much meant that waking up with a terrible headache and he rather have his day start without needing to bang his head on wall every five minutes.
Today was the day he was supposed to meet with the bankers. They had called him to finalize the contract regarding the jade mining in his holdings. Till now he had decided that while it would be good to have the support of Ironbank it will not be beneficial for him be dependent on them in long term. The current situation demanded that he negotiate a contract for next three to five years. Anything longer than that will have to be renegotiated at a later date. The Ironbank certainly provided him with a good opportunity to get started they were the only institution that he knew as of now that could bring potential clients and help him sale the new mineral.
He had planned to buy a ship with the money that he received from the bank afterwards. Yesterday, he had seen the famous shipyards of Braavos and they were amazing. The boast that the shipyards of Braavos could construct an entire war galley in a single day we're not certainly hollow. The shipyards certainly seemed capable of producing one. They were vast with men of all age is running around trying their best to get a new ship afloat.
He brought himself out of day dreaming and decided to focus on this upcoming meeting.
Benjen dressed himself in his finest clothes put on the scented perfume that he had bought yesterday and took out his sword from where he had kept it beside his bed. Now he was all ready to go.
He came out of his room and knocked twice on Ser Wylis room who was residing next door. The door opened and he was surprised to see the Ser Wylis sitting at the desk reading something.
"Good morning! good Ser Wylis what has your attention this early morning on such a beautiful day?"
Ser Wylis replied "The trading receipts that I usually deal with when I am in Braavos. As you might know most of the trade through the North goes through Braavos and they are our biggest trading partner."
"Of course I am aware" replied Benjen "I was just dropping by to check whether you might wish to join me for breaking my fast. " he continued.
"Of course my Lord I shall be with you shortly" he said closing the books and arranging the papers.
Benjen turned around and marched out of the door. He felt the presence of Ser Wylis following him.
He went down and ssaid to the innkeeper "I'd like to have my breakfast."
"Of course my Lord." he said and directed a servant to do his bidding.
"So Ser Wylis today, I am going to meet up with the bankers and broker and agreement today."
"As you say my Lord." he replied
Ironbank
Benjen was once again sitting in the same corridor waiting for him to be called but the difference this time was that instead of waiting for long he was quickly ushered in.
This time even the bankers were the same the oldest one looked at him with more happiness then he had seen him the day before. Mirth showed in his eyes as someone was very much excited about this proposal.
"Welcome back! Lord Benjen Stark we are honored to have you as our customer." the one sitting in the middle replied.
"Yes of course after all Ironbank is one of the most revered banking institutions in the world. It is my pleasure doing business with you." Benjen replied.
"My Lord, We went over with the other members of our bank and have decided that The Ironbank will act as an intermediatry and will help you sell jade in return for splitting of profits."
"That is acceptable" Benjen replied. "Now it depends on how the profits will be split?"
"My Lord, you shall have half of the profits while the Ironbank keeps the other half. How does that sound to you?" he replied causally. The gall of that man demanding that much.
"That is completely unacceptable! You are demanding half of the profits while doing nothing. I will be I who mines the mineral and transport and deliver all that do you whereas you only have to sell it. Why do you want half the profits is completely beyond me." Benjen replied outragously.
"You forget that my Lord that the mineral has really no value this side of the Bone Mountains. For all you can claim to mine it but is useful as dragonglass from southern isle of Dragonstone. It will have no value and is only a pretty rock. It is important that we sell it across the seas after all it wouldn't do you any good if you were able to mine all what we needed but were unable to sell it."
"But that thing is worth its price in gold in Yi-ti you cannot possibly be saying that it will be that hard to sell." Benjen replied trying to cool his head for angering the bankers would do him no good. They his only option as of now.
"Yes, that is true jade is indeed worth its weight in gold in Yi-ti but you forget that my Lord that is the price of the finished products that are made from jade. The jade you are selling is not worth as much. Just like a lump of iron is worth way less than finished blade. Also there are numerous dangers for it to reach the Golden Empire. The ships need to travel more than half way across the known world and across the Bone Mountains to reach Yi-ti. It would take significant time and money seeing there are the risks involved like the ship's sinking or pirates attacking or a captain thinking he could make more by simply disappearing and selling the goods. We are the ones that will be taking the risk of transporting it all the way to Yi-ti so it is only fair that we get half of the profits."
"Half of the profits is acceptable then, but only for a period of first three years-" started benjen only to be interrupted by the banker.
"At least for the period of first five years," he replied with a somber expression,
"then for a period of first four years and I am not increasing it further, after that we shall be splitting the profits as one-thirds will belong to the Ironbank whereas two-thirds will go to me the contract should be for period of seven years, after which we will meet to renegotiate another agreement."
This was it, Benjen had given them the bait it was a question whether or not they would accept. While he couldn't possibly transport his jade do Yi-ti since he neither had the ships nor the sailors that would be required for the ships to make such a long journey, also the dangers the banker told him about was true to an extent ships frequently sank and there was a possibility of pirates raiding and taking the ships capture. It would do them no good if the ship sank or was captured by the pirates with hundreds of thousands of gold dragons worth of cargo. Therefore the best he could do right now was wait and continue with the Ironbank while he built his own ships.
"That is acceptable my Lord, but there shall be another condition attached to it 'you can only trade your jade with the Ironbank in Essos and we shall only be the one you will sell to and you cannot mine more than 300 chests per year,"
"Why is there a restriction on how much I can mine? 300 chests per year! It's way too less" Benjen replied thinking about why in the world want to restrict him from making as much money as possible and by this partnership them as well.
"My Lord the factor that gives jade it's monetary value is that it is rare. If you were to flood the markets with lot of it at the same time the prices would plummet and you would end up making a loss. It is similar with the gold, if too much gold is available in the market then all the people have more gold than they were having before but the goods that are available on the market are in same supply. Then if all people want to buy the same things then then the merchants can ask for more gold than before, since more gold is available there are always people willing to pay their demanded price. Then the value of the gold decreases. This is a dilemma that the Lannisters of Casterly Rock face quite regularly. They are well versed in these matters.
"Yes, the Lannisters of course they will be they have been mining there region for over 8000 years now." Benjen replied thinking over his head about what the banker said. While it was true that if there were more amount of a certain goods to the market it would lose its rarity which determines its price and therefore make the prizes plummet. The Ironbank certainly said true he could not mine like a reckless fool and sell as much as he wanted because the high price of jade depends the fact that it is rare and rarity determines its price so it was OK.
"I agree what you are saying it's certainly a scenario that could likely happen if too much of jade is released into markets. So perhaps 350 chests will be mined every year whereas you would make sure that prices remain as they are."
"I am sure my Lord that that could be arranged, but that also brings up the question of nearly hundred chests that you have currently brought with you these chests themselves have the potential to fulfill the demands of Yi-Ti for nearly an entire year. It would not do you any good if you were to continue mining like this I am sure that now you have come to realize its significance."
"Yes, yes I am sure that I probably won't mine it as such but that brings up the question of nearly hundred crates that I have brought right now perhaps you could buy them off me right now." Benjen replied.
"I am sure my Lord that could be arranged we already went over and calculated the value of the chest that you have brought by our estimates it could probably be worth around six and half to seven hundred thousand gold dragons we can pay you three hundred thousand gold dragons right now in exchange for those hundred crates.
"That is completely unacceptable you are paying me only two fifths of the total value while keeping the other three fifth for yourself this is not what it's agreed on our agreement. I want at least four hundred thousand gold dragons along with a guarantee that I will be continued to pay such an amount at the same rate."
"I cannot promise such a thing my Lord, but I think that you are perhaps demanding bit too much from us you could very well do remember that people do not demand anything of the Ironbank and those that do not end up in the most fortunate places. The banker replied with a cold tone.
Benjen realized his mistake yet again and cursed himself for having the wolf blood while at not much as his brother Brandon or sister Lyanna it certainly was more than enough and got him thinking sometimes whether he could really keep it in control or not. Right now every muscle in his body was screaming for him to rise up and he was losing his cool and it took him all his willpower to curb rising up from his chair right now and threaten the bankers into giving him what he wanted. But these were the Iron bankers and he could certainly not do such a thing.
"Perhaps I'm mix spoke what I meant was perhaps you could pay me three hundred and seventy five thousand Dragons as it only seems fair." Benjen replied with a cool tone.
"Three hundred and twenty five thousand dragons." he replied back.
Oh great! Now they were now bargaining like fishmongers well two could play the game.
Benjen said." I can I agree for three hundred twenty five thousand gold dragons along with a ship perhaps."
"A ship?" he asked with upturned eyebrows add curious expression.
"Yes a ship, perhaps a trading galley with over a hundred oars."
"That is somewhat of a strange request, but I am sure we can come to an agreement." the banker replied and then began to list out the points of that agreement that they had drawn up.
"-First House Stark of Sea Dragon Point shall mine no more than three hundred and fifty crates of jade every single year."
"-Second House Stark of Sea Dragon Point will only trade that jade with the Ironbank and shall trade with no other."
"-Third House Stark of Sea Dragon Point will get half the profits during the first four years and then for the next three years shall get two-thirds of the profit.
"- Fourth the Ironbank will provide three hundred and twenty- five thousand gold dragons to Lord Benjen Stark of House Stark of Sea Dragon Point and a trade galley with 150 oars after six moons of commencement of this agreement."
"-Fifth both parties will meet at the end of seven years to renegotiate this agreement."
"Are all things in order my Lord?" the banker asked after he was done. Benjen doing a quick check in his mind replied yes and proceeded to sign the papers.
"Can the Ironbank keep this agreement a secret?" Benjen asked after he was done signing the papers.
"Ironbank shall. Is there anything else my lord?" he asked with exasperated expression.
"Also the payment for these hundred crates, can you deliver half of it in coins from the Conqueror's reign."
"You shall receive the payment of Three Hundred and twenty five thousand dragons half from the Conqueror's reign in three days hence at your desired place and time."
"Is there anything else?" he asked.
" No." Benjen replied back.
"Then it is a pleasure doing business with you my Lord." the banker replied.
"And with the Ironbank as well." replied Benjen in return and then he departed from the Ironbank with a happy face and even heavier pockets.
AN:- If you are interested in Betaship then DM me.
Next Chapter- 20/2/22 12pm EST.