A Bargain Well Struck
Winterfell-287 AC
Clash
The wooden practice swords collided together sending tremors through Hadrian's hand.
'Duck' The thought came just in time for him to put it into action. His opponents sword came just over his head, barely grazing the top of his helm. Unfortunately the hasty duck left him unbalanced causing him to stumble back.
'Move.'
Rather than fight against his momentum he decided to use it, pushing himself further back and avoiding a follow up swing that would have caught him on the arm. With a gasp of effort he lifted his sword just in time to catch the follow up swing, the effort of stopping his stronger opponents swing caused his arm to release a brief flare of pain that he tempered down through pure willpower.
With a grunt he attempted to counterattack only to have his sword pushed away. In the next moment his opponent held his sword to his neck.
"Stop!" Ser Rodricks voice carried over the practice yard with an ease that he always found admirable.
Gasping, Hadrian attempted to catch his breath while wiping his face on his forearm in an attempt to wipe the sweat off. While he was greedily sucking air into his lungs, Ser Rodrick walked up to him from where he was watching on the sidelines. "That's enough for today my lord."
With a shallow nod Hadrian gave in to the older man's advice and moved to place the sword back into the stand where it came from. Then he returned to his position in the centre of the yard so that he could listen to the knights advice.
"You're doing well my lord. Your forms are good for your age, but you need to work on your footwork some more. You become unbalance too easily, making you an easy target for any skilled fighter. We will work on that some more tomorrow. You also sometimes still hold the blade too tight making some of your moves come off as too rigid. Other than that, you have made good progress on your training so far." He said.
Hadrian grumbed at the praise. "Doesn't feel like it."
The knights lips twitched in amusement. " That's because you insist on sparring against opponents who are a lot bigger and older than you are my lord. Against others your age you would not have such a difficult time."
He nodded his head in conceit to the point. When he was five Harry decided that he would start learning how to fight. From what he has been able to see and gather, Westeros can be a very brutal place and many of the lords will only respect someone if they can prove their martial ability. It was with that thought in mind that he asked his uncle Ned to allow him to start training a little bit earlier than others do.
His uncle was accommodating to his wishes up to a point. While he didn't allow him to spar until earlier this year, he allowed Ser Rodrick to begin teaching him forms.
Hadrian wasn't satisfied with that though. He felt like he was wasting time that he could use to improve. He knew his uncle was right in not allowing him to spar so he decided that he would work on his fitness and agility whenever he could, so that he would eventually have a clear advantage if he ever found himself fighting for his life. With this in mind he would wake up every morning just before sunrise and run around the battlements of Winterfell until he found himself start to grow tired. After that, he would spend an hour running through the small obstacle course he had constructed deeper in the Godswood in order to work on his balance and agility. Hadrian figured this would give him an edge against most opponents as he had observed most men only focused on their sword skills and not on their bodies. This is also the reason that Hadrian decided he would spar against older opponents in the yard, as not only was there a shortage of people his own age that he could spar against, he also used the opportunity to push himself against opponents who had some semblance of skill. After all, if there is no challenge he would not get better as quickly. The oldest person he had sparred against was only twelve and he only ever sparred with wooden swords. So it's not like his uncle could complain about him putting himself at risk as even if he was hit by them, it's not like they had the strength to seriously hurt him through the padding he had to wear.
The downside to this however, is that Hadrian found that he was quickly running out of time in the day. He would wake up at sunrise to go for a run, then he would practice on the obstacle course before moving to the Hearttree to practice his magic for two hours. After that he had practice with Ser Rodrick for an hour or so before he had to attend lessons with the Maester, who, contrary to his expectations never let him slack off. No, if anything the Maester seemed enthused with his perfect memory and used it as an excuse to make him read every book that Winterfell had in the library. No matter how trivial or meaningless the content within was. He repressed a shiver recalling the time he had to read through '1001 Poems for Fair Maidens'.
Once he was finished with his lessons with the Maester he attended the midday meal with his family before going to the blacksmith to learn from him for an hour or two. That left Hadrian with only a few hours a day to work on some of his other projects to improve the North and to spend time with his cousins.
"You should go get cleaned up my lord. Your uncle requested your presence in his solar after the midday meal."
Ah right, he has a meeting with the Lord Commander of the Nights Watch. The man had arrived the day before looking slightly haggard from his journey with a dozen brothers of the watch. So far Hadrian had only greeted the man when he first arrived in the castle and asked a few pointed questions about the state of the watch. Otherwise he left him to rest from his journey and to be shown around Winterfell by his uncle Benjen.
With a short nod to the knight Hadrian made his way to his chambers to get cleaned up.
Line break-
Sitting in the main solar of Winterfell behind solid oak desk that dominated the room Hadrian sipped boiled water from his cup while waiting for the Lord Commander of the Nights Watch to arrive for their meeting. On either side of him sat his both of his uncles, creating an image of a unified front for the Lord Commander. None of them are speaking, content to sit in silence thinking about the upcoming meeting while they wait for their guest to arrive.
While Hadrian was sure that the meeting would go well when he invited the Lord Commander to Winterfell he can't help but feel slightly nervous now that the time has come. The Gift is very important for his plans for the North. While it isn't absolutely essential for some of his plans, acquiring the Gift would make majority of them a whole lot easier.
Not only will the extra land act as a good carrot to dangle in front of some of his more stubborn bannermen, such as the Umbers, to get them to give their support for some of his plans that might be seen by some Northerners as strange or ridiculous, it will also allow him to significantly boost the Northern economy in the short term. This boost of income will give him a lot more leeway to apply some of his other plans to further increase the power of his kingdom.
Therefore it is important that everything goes well.
Hadrian is brought out of his musings by the guard outside the door knocking and announcing the arrival of the Lord Commander. Straightening in his chair, he releases a breath of anticipation before ordering the guard to let him in.
The Lord Commander enters the solar at an easy pace. Judging by the way his eyes widened slightly upon settling upon me it is clear he expected this meeting to be between himself and Ned. This is a good start. It sets the commander slightly off balance. Now to capitalise.
"Lord Commander Qorgyl, I would firstly like to thank you for agreeing to come to Winterfell to meet with me. Before we get down to business, can I offer you some wine?" Hadrian offered with the most genuine smile he could summon. He often found that it was easier to manipulate his political opponents with kindness than with ruthlessness or with petty power plays. Especially at his age, and especially when he had very little leverage over them. Most people expect the power plays once they are experienced in the field of politics, therefore being shown kindness and being treated as an equal can often throw them off. It is harder to say no to someone when you find yourself liking them. It's even more difficult to say no to children that you like.
"Aye, I would appreciate that Lord Stark." To the old mans credit he didn't show any of the incredulousness he must be feeling due to having to deal with a young boy instead of his older, and no doubt in his mind, smarter and more experienced uncles. Hadrian sent a glance towards his uncle Benjen who was quick to move onto his feet to fetch a cup for the man. While his uncle was busy doing that, Hadrian took the time to examine the Lord Commander of the Nights Watch.
Lord Qorgyl had seen better days. He was an old man who seemed like he was in the twilight years of his life. His skin was extremely pale, his eyes were tired and he seemed underweight. His movements where slow and his hands shook slightly as he picked up the goblet of wine that was placed in front of him. Hadrian guessed that's what living on the wall for over three decades could do to a man, even if he hadn't gone on rangings in a number of years.
After taking a few gulps of his wine the Lord Commander placed the goblet gently on the table and released a content sigh. "I haven't had a good cup of Arbour Gold for many years now. A man can forget how much he misses the simple pleasures in life living on the wall."
He nodded along to the Lord Commanders words and offered a wry smile." I'm afraid that I can't comment on the pleasure derived from wine. Uncle Ned has never allowed me to drink any."
His uncle chuckled softly. "When you are older, nephew. You give me enough headaches as it is."
Lord Qorgyles lips twitched slightly before a serious look came upon his face. "As much as I have enjoyed the warmth and hospitality of Winterfell, it is probably best if we get down to business. I cannot be away from the wall for too long lest some of the newer brothers grow too bold for their own good."
Despite himself Hadrian found that he quite liked the old Lord Commander. He appears to be a very serious man but you can see that he has a small sense of humour under the gruff exterior he shows to the world.
He smiled. "I quite agree Lord Commander. To put it simply at the outset of this meeting we hope to have hatched a deal with the Nights Watch which will be beneficial for both parties."
Lord Qorgyl looked slightly intrigued. "And what does this deal entail exactly?"
He let a small grin grow on his face. "The return of the Gift into the North of course."
The Lord Commanders face tightened until it resembled a statue. "The Gift was given to the Nights Watch by Jaeherys l. I fail to see how losing it can benefit the Watch. "
Hadrian suppressed the small amount of irritation he felt. "Can we speak candidly my lord?"
Lord Qorgyl nodded grimly. "I would prefer it if we did."
He smiled to try and lighten the mood. It didn't seem to work. "Jaeherys is seen as a wise king. He is seen as great king. He kept peace for almost his entire reign and managed to set a lot of the framework that holds the Seven Kingdoms together to this day. This fact is undeniable."
After taking a moment to let this settle in he continued. "But I've always had a different opinion of the man. When he gave the Gift to the Watch he not only hurt the North but the Watch itself. It's even crossed my mind that he was deliberately trying to push House Stark and the North toward open rebellion so that he could further curb our power. There are many reasons he might have done this, ranging from the fact it would have given him the opportunity to replace House Stark with another house that would be more easy to control or it could be that he did this to hurt the North to allow the faith a better chance of spreading its influence in the future or it could have been for any number of reasons. However I refuse to believe that he gave away a kingdoms worth of land on a whim because he admired the Nights Watch."
Seeing the old man open his mouth, Hadrian was quick to continue. "Let's look at the facts shall we? Looking through the old records that Winterfell had of the Watch, I came to a number of conclusions. The first being that the Nights Watch has never in its history, had the resources or manpower to effectively govern a piece of land that large. Not without breaking their neutrality and not without losing focus beyond The Wall where their efforts are meant to be directed."
He couldn't tell what the Lord Commander was thinking. Hadrian decided that he would be a good poker player. Well, if poker existed in this world that is. It took a moment for the man to reply. "And what lead you to this conclusion?"
Resisting the urge to smirk Hadrian was quick to reply. " When the Gift was first given to the Watch there were around seven thousand brothers. It's not the peak of their strength but the Watch was still pretty strong regardless. Of those seven thousand brothers, perhaps five hundred to a thousand of them were builders, stewards or blacksmiths. The six thousand left over were either warriors, recruiters or trainers. Now that is a large number, and in theory they should have the numbers to govern their increased holdings, maybe not effectively, but they had the numbers to at least keep the peace. In reality however the situation is very different. A few thousand of those men had to be used to scout beyond The Wall to keep an eye on the wildlings as is the main duty of the Watch. Hundreds of them or perhaps even thousands of them, had to be used to govern the watch itself, as there were many men that weren't there by choice and as such they had to be constantly watched for desertion before they were trusted or to prevent a mutiny, which has happened more than once in the Watch's history. Let's be generous and say that four thousand brothers were available to help govern the Gift. That sounds like a reasonable number, aye?"
The commander replied with a stiff nod and his assent. "The Watches first duty is to keep an eye on the wildlings. Many brothers would have been used to do so. If we had the numbers we would send many more out ranging than we do."
Hadrian nodded. "Aye, so four thousand brothers needed to somehow govern a piece of land that is almost a third the size of the Riverlands. That's already a difficult task. Then take into account the fact that they have to collect taxes from their lands, they have to work to maintain the settlements and they have to dispense justice over their new subjects and the Watch is already being stretched very thin. Not to mention the fact that many members of the Watch were criminals that were forced to join and that people were probably not keen on accepting the judgment of rapists and thieves in the first place. Creating strain between The Watch and the people living in the Gift. The strain was probably increased due to some Lord Commanders mismanagement, as some of them were smallfolk who were never trained to govern in the first place and commanding The Watch is no doubt very different from ruling over thousands of smallfolk. Now the Watch is spread thin and can no longer stop as many raids from the Wildlings as they used to and so they already start to fail in their duties. This creates a poor environment to live in for the smallfolk living on the land as they are suffering from an increased amount of wildling raids. As a result many of them start to move South. Jump ahead to the current date and most of the Gift is now left barren."
Hadrian stopped for a moment to let the man process what he had just said before asking his question. "Your thoughts my lord?"
The Lord Commander seemed contemplative for a moment before replying. "Aye that does seem to match up with what our histories have implied. You forget though that the Watch was already losing strength for many years before that. Since the time of Aegon the Conqueror the watch has been losing strength as less wars between the kingdoms meant that less men were sent to The Watch as a result of those wars."
He nodded his head in conceit of the point. "Aye, you're correct of course. In the time of Aegons conquest the brothers were numbered closer to ten thousand. Regardless, The Watch never had to rely solely on prisoners of war before that. They definitely used them to bolster their forces but they were never solely reliant on them. Even during the reign of Jaeherys, during possibly the most peaceful time in in the history of Westeros, there were still over seven thousand brothers. One thing you are forgetting my lord, is where many of the willing volunteers for The Watch were from."
He scrunched his eyebrows for a second before his shoulders slumped and he leaned back into his chair. "The Gift." He whispered in realisation.
Clapping his hands together he confirmed the Lord Commanders words. "The Gift!"
Leaning forward and resting his elbows against the table he decided to expand the point. "Many second or third sons joined the Watch from the Gift. Either due to not wanting to burden their families during winter or due to the fact they found protecting their families from wildlings was a noble cause to dedicate their lives to. A proper count was never taken of where the brothers were recruited from, but we both know that many today still join The Watch in order to receive a meal and a place to sleep. Many of them are even from the South. You can imagine then that for those who were starving or who were a burden on their families that a place that they could go to receive a guaranteed meal that was so close by would seem like an enticing prospect. As less volunteers joined The Watch, you were forced to rely more on criminals, dragging the reputation of The Watch down and as a result made people even more hesitant to volunteer. Creating a vicious cycle of relying more on criminals, meaning there would be fewer honourable men would be willing to join, meaning you had to rely even more on criminals."
The Lord Commander looked like he had aged a decade in a day. When he first walked into the solar he looked proud. Now, he just looked tired. He released a weary sigh. "And so the Watch failed in their duties to the Gift and as such began to fail in their duty to the realm."
I hummed. "None of that my lord. The Watch was never designed to govern a piece of land that large. It was designed to hold The Wall and to scout the lands beyond. Nothing more, nothing less. It is hardly the Watches fault they could not effectively do duties that it wasn't created for in the first place."
He just nodded tiredly. "I thank you for your words. Now I believe it would be best to bring us back to the deal you mentioned earlier."
I took a sip of water to give myself time to gather my thoughts. "To be honest with you my lord, I could probably take The Gift back whenever I wanted. I doubt it would be difficult at all. All I would have to do is ask my uncle Eddard to write a letter to the king asking for the Gift as a reward for the Norths part in The Rebellion. Throw in some words about how we would like the land back that the Targaryens stole from us and I imagine he would pretty much throw it at us."
Lord Qorgyl looked grim. "Aye, he just might. Even in The Watch we have heard about the kings hatred for all things Targaryen."
I looked him in the eyes and said in the most serious voice I could muster. "But I won't do that. I have too much respect for The Watch and your sacred duties to do that. I would much rather come to an agreement that benefits both of us, even if it increases the costs to Winterfell."
A relieved look flashed across his face for a moment so brief I would have thought I was imagining it if I wasn't specifically looking for any change in his expression. "What agreement is that my lord?"
Leaning back into my chair I flashed a small smile at the Lord Commander. "I would see the Watch compensated. Winterfell is willing to donate three thousand Gold Dragons a year to The Watch in perpetuity in order to have the Gift returned to us." Three thousand gold was no measly sum. A family of commoners could live off of a Gold Dragon for a year, provided they lived frugally and didn't waste any coin. Not that I really expected him to accept that offer, but negotiations had to start from somewhere.
I could see him straightening slightly as we now moved into more familiar territory for the man. Bartering has long been a skill that all men in Westeros have developed. For someone from a noble house like Lord Qorgyl, it is a skill that he was probably taught from a young age and expected to excel in. " While three thousand gold a year is a lot of coin, we both know that the Gift is the most fertile land in the North. Twelve thousand."
I almost chocked. The North only paid 60 000 gold dragons to the Iron Throne in taxes this last year, which makes up half the taxes that Winterfell receives from its bannermen.ยด"While the Gift is very fertile, there are no smallfolk to farm it. It will be years before we even receive a profit from it. Four thousand."
His lips seemed to twitch. "But you will be turning a profit. Eight thousand."
A grumble forced its way past my lips. "We will be forced to spend a lot of gold to get to that point. Five thousand and we will repair one castle of your choosing within the next ten years."
After taking a moment to think it through he nodded his agreement. "It seems we have a deal my lord."
With a slight smile I reached over the table to shake his hand. "Aye, it seems we do. My uncle Eddard will finalise the agreement with you tomorrow."
Lord Qorgyl gave a short nod before standing, saying his goodbyes to Ned and Benjen before marching out the door.
Hadrian slouched slightly in his chair feeling relieved. While it was more than what he was hoping to pay, it was less than he feared. He estimated that once the Gift was populated it would save the North at least 20 000 Dragons a year due to no longer having to purchase as much overpriced food from the South, never mind the coin they would gain from selling the food. Besides most of that coin would be spent purchasing items from the North, injecting the coin back into their economy where it would eventually make its way back to Winterfell.
Harry felt a pleased grin work its way across his face. He could work with this.
Looking at his uncles he saw that Benjen seemed to be gaping slightly while Ned had an impressed look on his face.
Lifting an eyebrow and adopting a small smirk he decided to comment. "What?"
Both of his uncles shook their heads slightly before Benjen decided to stand and make for the door. "I leave him in your hands brother. I need a drink or five."
Harry snorted slightly before closing his eyes in contentment. Yes, he could definitely work with this.
Thank you for reading. I couldn't find a proper value of the buying power of gold Dragons as the books seemed to be quite inconsistent when it came to that so I had to come up with my own values. I hope you all enjoyed. As always criticism is welcome as long as it's constructive.
Next chapter Thursday 26 January 2023.
To read ahead of the update schedule: Pat_ (slash) TheLifeandTimes19.