Dragon chapter 6
277 AC
The last months played how as I remembered, the debacle that would be Duskendale would be starting soon. Already the lord had started to not pay his taxes. The realm was holding its breath to see how this would play out. It has been long since a lord or vassal has refused to pay the tax. I hope the events would play out as they had in cannon, even though cannon had gone to absolute shit once again.
However, my plan stayed the same, already over the last few months I had sent out my spies to the other kingdoms ahead of time, by the time the news would spread then no one would pay attention to my people. And the best part of this is the long game. While it seems that most southern houses go through spies like wine, mine would be there for a long time. None would suspect them…at least for now.
My network would be more integrated and vast than that of the spider, soon I would know every whisper and murmur of all the houses. When my spies eventually get hired by the lords of the land to be cooks and maids, then and truly then I would know mostly all.
As I began to go further down that road, my eye ached to remind me not to get overconfident. Lest I actually lose an eye this time.
On to my other endeavors, over the last few months my luck was starting to look up, a vast majority of the seeds and plants I had been looking for had finally come through. With the potatoes I had previously grown, I could now start to make vodka. Although I think I'll rename it to something more local sounding. Hopefully, it holds up to the smallfolk's tastebuds. I already had a plan to see it as cheaply as possible, then make a higher-end version for the nobles. The pretentious fucks.
With this, I would start a new money empire for the Starks and once the other plans and ideas paid off, all of Westeros maybe even the world, would know the name Stark and that we had more money than even the Lannisters.
But first I had to see how Duskendale would play out.
XXX
A few months into 277 AC, Lord Denys Darklyn invited the king to hear his proposal at Duskendale, which the king accepted.
It appears that the game was still in my favor, the princess had not changed anything as of yet. As a matter of fact, the princess was still touring the kingdoms and was currently in Dorne. Quiet possibly the safest place she could be right now. Fucking hacks man. It's not fair, I was supposed to be the only one with hacks! Fucking bullshit, fucking princess and her fucking bullshit!
Once again my descent into madness and anger aside, it would be a week or two before Aerys would get to Duskendale, so until then more experimenting and planning! My future self depends on it!
About 2 weeks later shit had officially hit fan. The king had been taken hostage and the seven kingdoms were in uproar, the nobles were preparing for war, the hand of the king was waiting for Lord Darklyn's demands in order to reject them and I was having the time of my life. It appears that the gods smiled upon me because all of my current projects were near their end. Meaning I had a method of making salt and the liquors that I wanted. I had also gotten some of the animals I needed to start making farms in the north. I almost had all the plants and seeds that I needed for farming once I had my own castle or ruled the North.
And best of all my spies were about to settle in and I would have my pack of spies.
Things were looking up. I might take a shot of vodka to celebrate.
XXX
I might have used up all my luck…its been about 2 months since the king was taken hostage and things were looking good for a bit. Until the Princess decided to return from Dorne and stir shit up. Cause why the fuck not.
While the king was away she decided to take her mother from the capital and head back to Dragonstone.
Why would she do that?
What the fuck do I know?
Apparently, she told no one of this, other than the prince and they both snuck out.
Fucking Princess and her fucking bullshit hacks.
With the queen out of the Capital, there is a chance that Daenerys and Viserys won't be born once this is all over. Now, wouldn't that also be a kick in the balls?
On that note, it was time for afternoon practice once again, lately, I haven't had many partners to spar with, since I've beaten all the squires and guards in training at least once. The only one that can challenge me at this point is Robert, but we are banned from sparing without Lord Arryn present since the princess left, and Robert lost himself in rage during a spar and almost killed me. Then the spar after that got so intense that we wouldn't stop until one of us was on the ground. Of course, I really didn't give a shit. This was mostly one-sided, with all the hate and aggression coming from Robert. Such a child sometimes.
XXX
With the Capital in an uproar over the Queen and princess in Dragonstone and the king being held hostage, the seven kingdoms were unsure of how it would end. If the rumors were to be believed the Hand of the king was controlling everything and the Prince was being groomed to take the thrown earlier than he thought.
Then Tywin began the siege of Duskendale…
At least it was playing out like it did during cannon? Was my only happy thought, because I didn't have any idea how shit would play out once the king was rescued.
With Tywin sieging Duskendale, the Queen whisked away to Dragonstone and the Princess not being old enough, the duty of ruling the capital city fell onto the shoulders of Prince Rhaegar. From what I was hearing from just gossip alone, the people were happy, the prince was apparently taking steps to fix the smell of that place and how to make the lives of the smallfolk better.
There was a sentiment amongst the smallfolk and some of the nobles in the capital that they did not want the king back. Some were even hoping that the king would perish, so Rhaegar would inherit the throne earlier.
That part did not line up with cannon or my plans. Which is why I think I used up all my luck.
Tywin was also seeing the writing on the wall, apparently, he was pressuring Rhaegar to take Cersei Lannister as his wife. However, he still had a duty to try and rescue the king. That was the only saving grace for my plans. If Tywin got the crown before I was ready or able to get my plans going then I was fucked.
What was even more worrying, I was not the only one to see where this was going. Already moves were being made in preparations in case the king truly fell.
I was also called back to speak to my father, just in case the banners had to be called.
This was truly not good, but at least I would present some of my findings to my father. Maybe he would even approve a few of them. If not I would still be fine, my original schedule is still on track.
XXX
The players of the new generation were taking shape…
XXX
As I traveled back to the North, I quickly realized that a lot of my motivation to make stuff better was just spite. As I once again vowed to make roads better as soon as I can, cause fuck this noise.
Once again my ranting aside, I was a few hours away from Winterfell. I had no idea what was waiting for me once I arrived, would Ned's father be happy? Angry? I had no idea how to interact with the man, to be honest. We also never really read or saw anything concerning Rickard Stark. All we knew was that he had a long, stern face and quiet dignity. And died in King's Landing.
It also didn't help that before I could form any bonds with the man, she shipped me away to the South to make friends. I can't tell if the man cared or not. He could be a ruthless lord for all I know, but at the end of the day, he was still family, and for some weird reason I was starting to care about my family in this world and I didn't even know them that well!
I blame this body…
As we rode into Winterfell I gazed upon the castle that held the seat of power for the north and was the home of the stark for centuries.
It was time to face the music and speak to my father, my brother was would on a hunt apparently and might not be back in time to see me depending on how the meeting went. While my sister was doing god knows what, and then little Benjen was slowly coming into his own.
As I walked into my father's room and my gaze landed upon him, I couldn't help by look in awe. Rickard Stark was a giant of a man. He stood about 7 feet tall and my mind briefly wondered if the Starks had some giant blood in them. Also, according to some of the books I briefly read as a child and then somewhat confirmed at the Eyrie, Rickard Stark was one of the few Starks that could wield Ice one-handed. That small fact alone was a testament to how much power his body held.
"Ned" he Greeted, "Come sit. We have much to talk about."
"Father." I nodded back as I sat in the chair he gestured at.
My father set the papers he was looking at down and looked at me as if seeing me for the first time in his life. To be fair I had changed a lot since he last saw me.
"You have changed since I last saw you Ned, much has changed." As he ended that sentence he looked outside the window and gazed off into the distance. "You now carry scars and are building alliances, while your bother still chases the skirts of the smallfolk." He shook his head as to clear that line of thought and then continued.
"But that is not why I called you back, the realm is holding its breath to see how Duskendale will play out, there could be a war in the next six months." Here his gaze hardened. "If I have it my way, the North will stay out of this spat."
I was surprised by this admittance and decided to ask. "Father, why the hold out? For as long as I've been aware, you've wanted the North to ingrate with the South. Why change that now?"
Here he looked surprised, then resigned. "I thought that the North merging into the South would be a way to save us, but after..but after… I changed my mind. In order for the North to be strong it is better if we remain separate."
The trail off in the middle was worrying. I wondered what made him change his mind…or who changed his mind.
"Very well Father, how do we proceed now?" I asked.
"For now, we do nothing. However soon we will need to find another source of food if the Flowers join the war and we don't." His answer came swiftly and the way he said Flowers made me remember that the fucking Reach has been overcharging for basic grain for far too long. Many of our people have died because of that and the North remembers.
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Once again couldn't really hit 2500 words, but I'm working on it!
The next chapter is already out on the p=tron. If yall want to send me some money lol.
S95N out!