Hello everyone! So it has been more than a year but to my suprise, I could see people were still reading it. Which amazed me :-) So I thought I would write another chapter! And I plan on writing more, should people still want it (though I said so in the past). This time, I truly do plan on it. I hope you like it
Chapter 11 - An expedition
The wine tasted stale and moldy, but Tyrion had long since admitted to himself that he wasn't drinking it for its taste. He had confined himself while reading in his new tiny room during the chaos that had followed the battle.
More than a week had passed since the attack and he could no longer feel the terror from that night, save in occasional shivers that came randomly. His wound didn't bleed anymore. A brown and ugly scab covered it, making him look more like the deformed creature the rumors called him.
The arrival of the new king made everything uncertain, and no one knew exactly what awaited them. The one thing he knew though, was he was no longer the hand of the king.
It had therefore surprised him when a messenger had come to inform him, that he was expected at a small council meeting. Knowing his father, he would have done anything to keep him and his shame away from the new king. Even so, it couldn't possibly be anything good.
He briefly considered if this was a reward for his actions during the war, but dismissed it as ridiculous. Despite what the great Tywin pretended he had no illusions about his children. He knew Tyrion was brilliant. If he didn't, he would never have made him hand of the king. But that had been a desperate situation. Tywin had needed someone very competent to manage and defend the capital whilst he was fighting the war. But now he was no longer needed, so he would be discarded. His accomplishments meant nothing. His father would never look at him with more than anger, grief and shame.
And he was sure a man of beautiful perfection like Aerios Batorion would never see him as more than a deformed stump either.
It was an imperial command so his trepidation mattered little. When the time came and he left his gloomy yet safe confine, and went to the small council chambers.
When the chamber doors came into view, a crowd of nobles waited by the door. None of them dared to be the first to enter. It was the merest common sense for a new king to purge those he deemed loyal to his predecessor's memory. No one wanted to be the first to draw his focus.
Tyrion did not have those same worries. In fact, in the time after the battle he had grown strangely numb to the fear. Instead a sense of apathy had taken over. It didn't really matter what happened to him. Either he would be killed or he would be shoved into some corner of the realm by his father. Out of sight and mind. Anxious to simply get it over with he didn't hesitate when he reached for the door.
He was greeted by the sight of two figures with their heads buried in documents, neither looking up to see who had entered. This was the fourth time Tyrion saw the new king, but his almost painfully beautiful features struck him again, and he make an effort not to stare.
Aerios sat in the king's chair still marked with the stag of house Baratheon, while Tywin sat in the hands seat.
An interesting scene unfolded, as neither man said a word nor offered a seat to the others. It was Lord Baelish who first moved, shamelessly sitting next to the king. Cersei took the seat next to Tywin of course, knowing that he was her only possible ally in the room.
Tyrion knew it was foolish to display boldness and anger his father in his first meeting with the king, but he couldn't help himself. After all, this might be his last chance to prickle him. He grabbed a chair and slid it across the floor until it stood in front of the new king.
Silence drew out like a blade, until Tywin finally looked up from the papers and spoke:
"So what do we have then?" Directing the question to Varys.
Seeing the king didn't react at all, Varys seemed to simply carry on as he would normally.
"Lord Jaime has been found and is being escorted to kings landing by guards of house Bolton. He is expected to arrive within the next two weeks. The Starks seemed to have abandoned the rebellion and are currently traveling back to the north. Harrenhal was briefly in the possession of House Bolton but they have now left and so the castle is abandoned." Varys finished.
"What of the Stark girls?" Tywin continued.
"As you ordered, Lady Sansa Stark was asked if she wished to remain here or travel home. She very strongly wanted to leave and left with an armed escort yesterday. The younger Arya Stark's whereabouts are unknown since she left the capital. We have been unable to locate her."
The meeting continued and various news from the seven kingdoms were discussed. The ravens carrying the proclamation of the new king had by this time reached all the other wardens, save perhaps Dorn. But it was too early for any responses to have arrived and earlier still for any information to have trickled back through the spy networks controlled by the people in the room.
It was decided that Lord Baelish was to marry Lysa Arryn to ensure the Eyries loyalty to the new king. Before the discussion could move on, Tyrion spoke for the first time.
"Far be it for me to hinder true love, but Lord Baelish's absence will present certain problems. We may thank the gods…" he said catching himself. The meetings had become so familiar he almost forgot the new figure in the room.
"I mean we may thank the king for ending the war with the northerners, but the storm lands, the reach and the iron islands are still in open rebellion. Summer is over, hard days lie ahead. I do not think it would be wise to leave the crowns finances unattended."
"I thought so too." Said a voice that made everyone in the room sit up.
The king was now looking directly at Tyrion which caused him to unconsciously take a sharp breath.
"Which is why I name you the new master of coin." He said, a hint of a smile forming on his face.
"Your grace. If I may. Please. I have lived a life of great wealth. It has not taught me much about managing it." He said, all of his usual humor gone.
"I disagree." The king said. "I think you will be very suited for this task but worry not. It is not permanent and I have other plans for you. Your fist assignment will be to assist your father to negotiate the price the Tyrells will have to pay to regain the crowns favor."
Tyrion was completely dumbfounded. "I don't understand. Why would you give such an important job to me? Besides my father is perfectly capable of doing this on his own." The words flowing out of him.
"You saved this city just as much as I did. You organized its defense and while the king was hiding in fear, you lead a counter attack. That ploy with the wildfire was very clever too. You may never get credit for it but a reward is definitely well deserved. I assure you I will have plenty of work for a man like you." The king said as if it was obvious.
Tyrion was shocked to the core. Of all the things he had expected from this meeting this was the last of them. He opened his mouth to say thank you but the young king spoke again.
"Now. I am sure you all have many question about the changes and ideas I have for Westeros. But those will have to wait until Tywin and I have formed at least the outlines of a general plan." It was not very subtle, but the inclusion of Tywin in the planning of the future certainly confirmed his status in the new order for the other nobles.
The king continued "Without more time and information it is simply not possible to reveal anything of substance right now. What I can say is that I have grand plans for the future of Westeros, and that the first step into the future is to salvage what we can from the past. I am therefore planning an expedition into the ruins of Valyria."
This made Varys and Pycelle visibly flinch. All of them have heard stories of armies disappearing forever into those ruins. Sending an expedition into that cursed land would be no different from tossing them from a cliff.
"You might think this is reckless but it is simply too important. The wealth in simple gold and jewels within my family vault represents years of income for all the seven kingdoms combined. There is also hundreds of weapons and armor of spellforged steel or Valyrian steel as you named it. But all of this is only secondary to the real objects of power in there." Aerios said, turning very serious.
"I too have heard the stories of those lost to the mists. But magic is nothing foreign to me, and I shall personally go with the expedition. Therefore, I want a fleet of twenty of the fastest war galleys we have, fully staffed with our most capable sailors. Furthermore, I want a selection of the 500 best fighters in the Lannister army to accompany me."
An astonished silence filled the room. The situation had become a little strange because collectively the lords thought it suicide. But the death of this new and foreign king might not be such a bad thing.
"The expedition won't take place until we have held a tournament. Tyrion, this will be your second assignment" Tywin said, breaking the stupor of the room.
This time however, Tyrion was not lost for words "A tournament? By the gods we are still at war. If we do not receive help from the reach then the city will starve itself to death before spring, and you want to spend what little finances we have on a tournament?"
"The current kings guard is nothing like it was. The realm is in chaos and there are countless who would profit from the death of a new and powerful king. This is not the time for foolish optimism, lest we forget what happened to Renly Baratheon not a few months ago. I will not have the king protected by fat and drunken fools who pass themselves off as glorified bodyguards. We shall have a competition, where the greatest of the champions may actually be as skilled as their title claims them to be." The hand of the king retorted, anger staining every word.
To this, Aerios only smiled. The magic of the contract was in full effect it would seem.
The council meeting ended after several hours of discussion. It was decided to save the crown the vast expenses on the prizes for the champions. Instead the rewards would be swords or other weapons made from Valyrian steel, of which the new king had plenty. Furthermore, the tournament would also be used to select the 500 that would go on the expedition.
Other points were discussed too, such as sending the deserters from the battle of Blackwater to the wall. Aerios had little knowledge of the wall, but he had read it was one of the only construction in existence that could rival the wonders of Valyria. Also it was even older than Valyria and said to possess powerful elder magic. Valyrian mages had studied it in the past but learned very little, concluding that the magic was not suitable for humans.
Aerios left the meeting satisfied but with a bitter feeling. Things were proceeding as quickly as he planned but he was used to fast conquests and a new horizon at every dawn. He dismissed Tywin who wanted to further discuss the coming assembly of the wardens. Instead, he travelled under guard to the dragon pit. He always thought better in the air and Ragnirion was losing his mind because of the distance.
A ride always lightened Aerios' mood but the uncertainty of the future bothered him.
To turn Westeros into a shadow of what Valyria once were would be an overwhelmingly massive project. It would take decades to complete simply the most basic of the constructions required. He did not even want to think about the resources it would take, and also how he would impart the knowledge of construction to so many without it leaking to the outside. Which it never could.
And that was the simpler of the tasks he had to solve. He would have to figure out a permanent way of retaining dragons so they wouldn't ravage the land, whilst still making sure they wouldn't degenerate into crippled mockeries of their race. He could not hold them captive but they could not roam free either. There was no natural volcanic climate for dragons to thrive so something replacing this would have to be created in some way. He doubted that would be an easy thing to do.
Another major project he would need to accomplish was the introduction of the great resource called magic to the seven kingdoms. He had been tempted to monopolize the information inside his family, but magic was simply too important for the civilization to evolve. Instead he would confine it to the capitals of the seven kingdoms. This way, unless the whole continent exploded, the failures of Valyria would not be repeated, whilst also making it possible to restrict the information from outsiders.
There were three major schools of magic so he decided that each of the six kingdoms that were not the capital, would specialize in one of those schools. This way, there could be two kingdoms dedicated to each path of magic, whilst the capital would be the center for all three. He would build great academies in each of the cities, but Kings Landing would forever be the center of magic in the world.
Such academies never existed in Valyria as the respective great families would guard their magical knowledge like treasure, for often times it was their most valuable possessions and the key to their position. This was unnecessary in the new kingdom for here the Batorion family would reign supreme, so it would be easy for Aerios to bind all practitioners of Valyrian magic in exchange for the teachings.
This was why the expedition was absolutely necessary. Aerios didn't dare say it publically yet, but the biggest reason for the journey was to acquire the knowledge of magic his family possessed. His mother had been an archmage in the school of artificing and his uncle in the school of blood. He may have been one of the most powerful destruction mages in Valyria and his skill in artificing was enough to make him a grand mage in the craft. But the school of blood was largely unknown to him, and that would be the biggest problem.
That's why he needed the books and artifacts left in the vault. Furthermore, he needed the collection of eggs, if he was to create a stable dragon empire once more. Magic in this world had all but died out. He needed dragons to reawaken it. The distribution of dragon eggs was another headache though.
The contract magic that served as the foundation of Valyria was blood magic. Tywin didn't know it, but the contract he had signed was actually a priceless artifact called an "Eternal Oath" made by an archmage of blood. It would be used only by the most powerful of families to permanently bind other houses as vassals. It included a binding to the dragons of the house and unlike the mundane contracts, it could be passed on to the next head of the family.
He had taken it from the vault, but there were none of them left. It would be centuries before another could be crafted and Aerios needed at least six more of them. If Westeros was to evolve he would have to start passing out dragons. But that would be a very dangerous business without an eternal oath to retain the bond between riders and dragon.
Tywin could freely distribute dragons to those of his own blood. The connection with the dragons would simply be held by the oath, and so by Tywin through his bloodline. Even if Tywin died despite the life energy he receives, the dragon bonds would simply pass on to the next to hold the eternal oath. But the lesser oaths, the one Robb Stark had signed, could not contain even a single dragon bond. And should Robb be given a dragon, then after he dies, that dragon would be wild and for anyone to tame.
There was no choice but to heavily restrict who received an egg. The golden egg he had given Tywin was a dragon of the highest bloodline with a flame that specialized in artificing. Its sire had been his mother's emerald dragon, one of the two eggs it laid in its lifetime. Unfortunately, the more powerful the pair of dragons, the more difficult they are to breed. Aerios was unsure if Ragnirion could ever have even a single child with another superior dragon.
The tasks ahead were very difficult but luckily the first step was obvious. After determining exactly what knowledge and artifacts were in the vault, he could better plan for the future. He even considered launching another, perhaps smaller expedition to Valyria, should the first one be successful. He knew personally, where many stores of great wealth and power was located. If even one remained, it would be worth the trip many times over.
Despite all of this, Aerios found his optimism again. "What about you brother. Are you happy?" He asked the massive dragon under him.
You. With. Me. Yes.
There were certainly worse fates than his. The sunset was beautiful over the water and the air tasted sweet in his lungs. He was alive. Ragni was alive. In the end, that was all he could ask for.