It's been a year since the Shivers ended. For one, Daenerys returned to her usual self, bringing happiness and joy throughout the Red Keep and the city of King's Landing. Though, for reasons that'd befell him, it seems that Daenerys decided to focus more on Erik rather than her full-blooded siblings.
Oh sure, Daenarys was still finding time to spend her available time with Aemon, Baelon, and baby Alyssa, but for a year now, Daenarys was spending much of her free time towards Erik. Erik doesn't mind, in actuality. Daenarys somehow always manages to bring a smile to his face, and Erik was still engulfing himself in the feeling of having an actual sibling.
What was weird in Erik's mind was his interaction with his stepmother and father. Since the 'miracle' that healed Daenerys of her Shivers, Queen Alyssane has become more warmhearted to him, for lack of a better word. Not only was his mother personally appointed by Queen Alysanne to be one of her handmaidens, which caused a lot of commotion within the court, especially among noble ladies, as the role of being the Queen's handmaiden was considered to be a privilege and to have his mother receive it caused a lot of curses and mutterings thrown upon his mother's way, he was also given a monthly allowance.
When he asked why he's been given a stipend, the response he got was confusing. Confusing in that his stepmother acts as if she knows something he isn't privy to, yet keeping it a secret to herself and acting grateful for his work.
Erik wasn't sure how to respond to his stepmother's actions, especially considering that he was a bastard. Instead, Erik acted out like he shows when given a boon by someone important: being thankful and humble. Though, given how she reacted to how Erik acted seems to indicate that perhaps he'd made a mistake. But why would he? Erik only performed accordingly.
As for his father... Erik certainly wasn't expecting his father to approach him one day, being reminded of his duties toward his family and the like. And while Erik received his father's words with nothing but stoic silence, his father became more insecure as the second passed.
And while Erik's tempted to remind his new father of the apparent neglect he's giving him, Erik's prepared to give his new father a second chance. Fatherhood is a job that requires a delicate balance, after all. One must always be able to balance his duty for his work and his wife and children lest the other overshadows the other.
It's what happened to him, after all. Being the General of an entire continent's army tends to forget that you have children to reach back home, especially when regarded as the Last Dragonborn. Thankfully, his former Altmer genes had allowed him to reconnect with his two sons.
And so, life returned to normal in the Red Keep. Although, given that he's now seven years of age, and with the amount of free time he could use, it's not before long that Erik delved back to his roots during his time as an Adventurer.
And that includes studying the thousands of books the Red Keep's library could provide. If there's a repository of knowledge that Erik could use to learn more about the continent, it would be in the Red Keep's library. And although as much as Elysar's a great teacher, Erik doesn't have the patience to hear Elysar's words, despite how incredible he is teaching children.
Thankfully, Erik's a voracious reader, with it becoming his favorite pastime during his tenure as both High King of Skyrim and High Lord-Governor of the Summerset Isles when he's politicking with snobbish Altmers or stubborn Nords.
Though he might have to scale a bit to spend time with Daenerys and his other siblings, given how much time he'd started to spend in the library. Erik also blames the puppy eyes that Dany would give him every time she wanted to play in the Godswood.
In any case, Erik was content with what he'd read today. Learning about the story of his great-grandfather reminds him of what Tiber Septim did to unify the continent of Tamriel under the banner. Then again, House Targaryen has dragons at their disposal, while Tiber Septim had only his wits, skills, and leadership. All the while living in a world where Magic could kill you with a single whisper and Daedra's haunting Tamriel.
So, in all aspects, Tiber Septim was a more capable conqueror than his great-grandfather, Aegon the Conqueror.
As Erik prepared to leave the library, Erik found himself stopping as his face met the cold feeling of steel, stumbling down to the floor. Reorientating his thoughts, his eyes wandered before looking up, the look of a northerner greeting him.
"I'm sorry about that, child. Are you okay?" The northerner asked as Erik accepted the offered hand.
"I'm fine, my lord. Thank you for asking." Erik thanked before furrowing his eyebrow as Erik's eyes looked back to the northerner, "If I may ask, my lord. Are you, by chance, Lord Stark?"
"Aye. That is me. And you're Erik Snow, the bastard son of our King Jaehaerys." Alaric Stark, Lord Paramount of the North, said as he stared at Erik. Erik, for his part, did the same: locking the two into a staring match. The staring was broken when Alaric gave Erik a brief chuckle, his eyes filled with amusement.
"To think that our king would lay with a Northern woman. I understand why he's done it, but still, you being here brings him a bad reputation. A reputation he'd likely want to remove. Still, I hope you haven't made your stepmother's life miserable, especially when rumors of Northern 'magic' and 'witches' bring rumors to our home in the North." Erik shakes his head negatively, giving the Stark lord a small smile.
"I'd like to say that I'm not the problem child my father's looking for. Besides, aren't nobles children, given how they act towards the smallfolk." Erik's words caused the Stark lord to let out a bark of laughter, his eyes filled with merriment, "Ha! You say the most amusing of things, Erik. There's hope for you in the North, after all."
"From what I heard, the North is filled with barbarian heathens who eat people and offer human sacrifices to your Old Gods." Erik japed, the Stark lord letting out barks of laughter.
"Ah, you'd make for a great mummerer, Erik Snow. I haven't laughed that hard for a long time." Lord Stark said before his face became serious, "But in all seriousness, you'd make a great Northerner, Erik. From the rumors, you're excelling in your studies and are already good with a blade."
Erik internally grimaced while his face remained passive. Those damn rumors would be the death of him. All he did was ask for training from one of his father's Kingsguard, Ser Gyles Morrigen, the current Lord Commander, and from there, rumors spread throughout the Red Keep.
It didn't help that Erik managed to hold out on his own when Ser Gyles offered to spar with him when everyone on the court was watching him in the courtyard. Admittedly, in hindsight, he should've asked for a spar in a more secluded area. Alas, mistakes were made, and you can't change back time.
"I'm sorry to disappoint you, my lord, but I'm shit in my swordplay. Though I'm seeking to rectify that mistake, I assure you." The Stark lord let out a scoff at that: his face switching to a more thoughtful look.
"You're rather humble, I see. And to think that you're a bastard... one might wonder if you're born a full-blooded Targaryen." Erik's eyes narrowed upon hearing Stark's words.
"Those are treasonous words, my lord. My father already has an heir, and I shan't seek to supplant my brother's rightful claim." Erik intoned, as the Stark only gave an eyebrow, his lips crinkling in amusement.
"Aye, you have the blood of the North within you, without a doubt. Come, I want to talk to you about something." Seeing no reason to reject his request lest he wants to incur the wrath of a Great Lord, Erik followed Lord Stark back to his room, sitting upon the offered chair.
"If you don't mind me asking, Erik, do you know why I'm here on King's Landing instead of tending to my lands in Winterfell?" Shaking his head negatively, the Stark continued, "It's because I want to talk your father of seeking compensation for taking New Gift from our hands and giving it to the Night's Watch. As much as the proclaimers like to say that I'm 'happy' gifting the New Gift to the Watch, the rest of the lords in my lands aren't. Do you understand, Erik?" Erik nodded at his reasoning.
As much as the Watch are thankful for the New Gift, at the end of the day, the Night's Watch is an order of soldiers, not farmers. Erik could bet all his savings that the Night's Watch would let the New Gift alone, hoping that what they'll get from the land would be enough to support them in the coming years.
The problem would be its management of it. With the New Gift doubling the size of lands the Night's Watch needs to defend, the Black Brothers would be stretched to the fullest, protecting their newly acquired lands and repelling the Wildings that are crossing and raiding the Night's Watch's newly acquired lands.
In short, much like Brandon's Gift, the New Gift would be left abandoned as the wildings would seek to raid closer towards the North, especially the ones that border the New Gift, like the Umbers and the mountain clans.
"If that's the case, what do you seek as compensation for the New Gift, my lord?" Erik asked as Lord Stark pondered on his question.
"Well, we've suffered from a famine a year prior, and we'd like the king to give us a tax break when importing foodstuff from the Reach and the Riverlands. The fact that the famine was caused by my bannermen not listening to me when I ordered them to stockpile for the winter and their reason for not listening to me was that I was seen as weak for obeying the words of our Queen tells you the reason why I'm here in the first place, you know?"
Erik could only offer a nod of understanding as Erik realized Lord Stark's position.
"Then, how would you convince my father to give the North a tax break? I doubt he'd want to be seen as weak, given what happened to my grandfather the last time he only appeased people." Erik reasoned as Alaric nodded his head.
"True, I doubt the king would give us a break that easily. Still, from what I've learned interacting with the king is that he's dedicated to the throne. And he'll need loyal vassals if he wants to maintain the peace within the kingdom. In short, I think I can convince him to allow us to recover from our famine through the issues caused by the New Gift." Ah, so Lord Stark's going to guilt-trip his father to convince him to give him a tax break. An effective strategy, if Lord Stark could act, that is. From what he'd seen in Lord Stark, however, Erik doubts he'll be successful in convincing his father to give him a break.
"Then I could give you my blessings that you succeed in your endeavors to convince my father to give you a respite to your woes, good day," Erik said, utterly tired of his talks with Lord Stark. By the Divines, he was only seven years old! He was supposed to enjoy his childhood, not being the center of attention from bored gossipmongers and lords.
"Oh, and Erik. If you want to be fostered beyond the Red Keep, the gates of Winterfell shall remain open to you. My grandson Edric would love a friend to be with." Was Lord Stark's parting words as Erik left the library. Erik let out a sigh as he felt his energy spent. If it wasn't for the fact that he has the abundance of energy one would usually find in a child, Erik sensed he'd be slumping on his table.
Still, fostering seems like a fantastic opportunity to explore the land, especially since the North reminds him much of Skyrim, according to what he'd read about the region. Besides, it'd be a huge opportunity to fix the strained relationship between the Crown and the North.
It'd depend on how the talks between his father and Lord Stark would be. Still, Erik could cheer for Lord Stark's efforts.
"Oh. I forgot about my meeting with Dany. Shit." Was Erik said before sprinting as if his life depended on it.