Thank you for your patience...it is greatly appreciated.
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Late 109 AC – Elamaerys
Admiral Bryce Arenter POV
"Admiral!" The shout, accompanied with a harsh knock on the door, jolted him out sleep. "Cook's about to finish up the stew!" Bryce recognised the voice, realising it belonged to Jorvan, one of the younger boys serving on the ship.
"Alright boy!" Byrce shouted out a little groggily and a little hostile too.
Gods, he hated mornings, he thought as he removed the lion skin bedding from himself and with a tired sigh he sat upon his bed before he cleared the sleep dust from his eyes with a weary hand, the sound of the pattering rain against the hull of the ship falling into a faint and distant echo.
He'd barely gotten a decent night sleep for the past four or so moons since he'd been here. When he reopened his eyes, he turned towards the window of his cabin and saw that it was barely dawn. He shook his head and finally decided to get about his day, the planks beneath his feet creaking as he moved.
A little while later, after he'd dressed himself, he'd made it out of his cabin towards the great cabin that functioned as a mess hall where the crew and officers congregated in the morning, the smell of fresh bread baking a heaven send as he walked down the steps.
He arrived at the great cabin and saw the food being served up by the cooks.
"Admiral" the sailors acknowledged whilst some of the younger ones saluted and Bryce gave them a sharp nod before he sat down next to his second officer, Seldan, a boy of four and twenty with the hair and looks of Old Valyria but with mossy green eyes, who had sat alone and away from the rest of the crew, as was the standard of the Prince's Navy.
"Sir." Seldan said before he pushed a bowl of stew towards him and Bryce nodded to the young man who he'd gotten to know well over the past eight or so moons after they'd sail from Corinth.
He had a good shoulder on his head and he was loyal and dutiful too, and Bryce mused that he'd done well in picking the boy as his second officer. His previous second officer had been promoted to take possession of one of the new built Galleon, just as Fisherman, Locke's second officer was promoted to Captain.
If the boy continued to do well over the next few years, he'd be promoted to captain a Galleon in due time. 'Mayhaps not even take a few years' he mused.
From what the Prince was telling him, they'd managed to improve the shipbuilding yard to be able to build three Galleons a month and now they boasted a fleet of some twenty Galleons, half of which should be arriving in Elamaerys with another few thousand men.
Though Bryce suspected that the shipbuilding rate was to drop off the coming moons since it wasn't cheap at all build that many galleons, nor was it easy on the men.
He ate largely in silence, preferring to listen with half an ear to the chatter of the crew. Conversations were less cheerful, the novelty of setting foot on new lands that no man has ever been on before had long ago vanished.
It tended to be so when you were needed to put in hard labour like the rest of the 'pioneers' as the Prince had chosen to call them.
Whilst the lands west the Silver Mountains – mountains that crested the horizon south and east of their present location – were largely flatland, there were still many forests and plant life they needed to clear to make way for farmland.
The reddish-brown trees had soon become the bane of many a men with their tough bark and wide girths, and the task of cutting the logs was no easy feat either though he supposed they were lucky enough that they brought enough horses to help pull the stumps out of the ground and level the land with iron land levellers.
He glanced at his crew that sat at the tables before him.
None of them had complained, at least not in such a manner that it reached his ears, that they were tasked to help out the farmers, the men-at-arms and the builders in getting the lands prepared for farming and settlement.
Still…whilst the men were less cheerful, they were still committed to difficult task at hand. They'd been chosen exactly because of this hardworking nature of theirs.
Their food stores could last them for over a year along with the abundant deer-like animals that roamed these lands whilst the strange predators of these lands were slowly being rooted away for leagues around them by the men-at-arms. They had shelter on the ship and if they had to stay by the clearing sites, there was enough tents to go around.
Truthfully, the concerns they had was neither food or shelter or safety but rather the damn biting pests that seemed to come alive when the rains fell. There had been nary a man who hadn't had marks of red pin bites on their body, even him.
There was no escaping them if you were by the river or the lakes several leagues northwest and the men, those who could not find board on one of the two ships anchored in the river, had taken to tent out in the forest where they were not so inclined to go, at least until the cabins were good enough to keep the pests away.
The Prince had oddly been concerned about the nature of these pests, more so than the burning ants or the yellow tailed scorpion to whom they'd lost a man to, but after a few weeks, when none of them had fallen ill, the Prince had relaxed.
Over time, they learnt that the pests were most active during dusk and dawn so a strict schedule had been issued out to the men working in areas where the pests were likely to ravage and they were more than happy enough to work to it though, of course, they were less so happy to work during the night when it was their turn.
Bryce hummed silently. Whilst their concerns were few, all things considered, and the promise of land, well-earned gold and well-built homes like the kind the builders had shown them plans for was a powerful motivator, there was no denying that, despite their willingness to work for the future of their people, that there was a deep need amongst the men.
Most of the men were married, another powerful motivator to ensure they succeeded, but they were missing their families and quite obviously, they were missing the comforts of a woman.
Eight moons without one was a long time, and most of these men were not the hardened sailors like his old crew was.
He was going to raise the issue with the Prince today.
After he was done eating, he and most of his men disembarked from the ship and they made their way down on the muddy and trodden ground towards the settlement where the builders and the men-at-arms would be at the time of day.
Some of the crew separated away and made their way to the fields to which they were assigned to whilst others followed him to the settlement where they would carry out their assigned work.
Long before he set eyes on the settlement, he could hear the sounds of axe hitting wood and the sounds of hammer hitting nail and wood, and when he arrived at the settlement, he saw the several hundreds of men working on the felled trees.
Already they'd built several dozen cabins, each that could house four to six men, and he expected in the next fortnight, they'd build another dozen of them, allowing the majority of the men on the ground a roof over their heads instead of living in tents.
Whilst there was little concern any more of the demon birds or the strange lion like animals, both of them having been hunted to death in their area in the first few weeks of their arrival, having the comforts of good solid walls against nature and its dangers would do the men good.
He spoke briefly with Maros, the knight in charge of overseeing this site, about their needs and their food stores, before he left him and his men to their devices and made his way with young Tobin and two armed men to the cartographers and the builders that should have returned to their main camp, a camp that was past the main farming fields which laid several leagues to the West of the settlement, and they did so with the warm sun beating on their backs.
If there was one thing he loved most about these lands, it was the pleasant weather that was much like that of Corinth. Even when it was raining hard and fast, which rarely happened in Corinth, it rarely got cold, even during the coldest night it was but a pleasant cold like autumn on Dragonstone or Kings Landing.
He'd been to the Reach a number of times in his long life, and, as he glanced around at the rugged but mostly flat green land, he could imagine that these lands would be as productive and heavenly as Corinth or the Reach had been.
Though he doubted he'd live to see it become like the Reach and its never-ending golden fields. For all that these lands were fertile with plentiful local source of water, he knew that flattening these lands and preparing them for crops and building the irrigation channels would take many, many years.
Preparing the fields on this side of the river, which had been largely forest and shrubbery free, would very much take considerable time, more than it took to prepare the lands of Corinth which had been blessed with lands that had long ago been flattened even if they had been abandoned for centuries at least.
They continued to walk for several hours at a steady pace, his sea-legs having been strengthened by practice over the past few moons causing him to no longer need his walking stick, and by the time they arrived, they were greeted with the sight of black earth amidst largely seas of bumpy greenery against a backdrop of distant forest at the far side, the sun approached that of the noon-sun.
With the naked eye, the amount of land that was levelled and turned seemed much but he knew that they'd only prepared something like a quarter of a thousand acres thus far at this site, which was the main farming field, and only several dozens of acres prepared at other sites which included the flood grasslands.
This particular site, whilst not as flat as other parts of this land, was much closer to a tributary of the main river which ran on a downward slow to this area. These lands would allow a lot less time to build the irrigation system to feed the crops than other lands despite their easier conversion into farmland.
For a few moments, he took in the site, enjoying the way the sun hit blades of green and embers of black, and for a moment, he imagined seeing it all turned into golden fields and rows upon rows of plants of all kinds of shades of green, and a faint smile came across his face before he shook it away and carried on.
He briefly spoke with the man in charge of this work site, a farmer called Deran Sawler over bread, rabbit meat and a side of dried fruits before he continued on his journey towards the builder's camp beyond the forest.
The builders and the cartographers had found several locations for future stone quarries on this side of the river, closer than the stone quarries on the other side of the river but still some four leagues away from the settlement.
Presently, some of the builders were planning out how to mine for the stone when it would be needed though it wasn't their only purpose.
The builders he was going to see, led by a man named Lazyros Anerohr of Braavosi origin, one of the few men who had spoken with the Prince through the dragonglass candle, had been tasked by the Prince to look further for marble and other coveted stones such as granite.
The Prince wanted them to be certain that there were nothing of such value for two dozen leagues around them. The cartographers that had gone with the builders were tasked to map these places. In a way, these men had become their scouts in this direction.
Before his once in a moon call with the Prince, he wanted to know if any progress that he could tell the Prince. He'd told Anerohr to meet with him on this day back at the camp. The journey through the forest took several hours, in which time they'd encountered a few more of this land's native animals, taking particular care to look out for any yellow tailed scorpions which seemed to dwell amidst the fallen leaves, though fortunately not the hairy bear-like creature which were twice as bad as the demon birds.
By the time they made it to the clearing, he was honestly exhausted and reminded himself to remain insistent when he came to face Anerohr who'd refused him last time to come back to the settlement on the eight and twentieth day of every moon.
He came to see eight men at the camp who looked a little surprised at the sight of Bryce, Tobin and the two other men before one of them made their way towards them. "Admiral" the man he thought was called Bander, said with a respectful nod.
"Bander is it?" Bryce asked and after he got a nod from the man, Bryce continued "Where is Anerohr?" he asked after a glance at the men who decidedly did not have Anerohr amongst them.
The man, looking to be in his mid or late twenties, grimaced slightly, almost sheepishly as he answered "Admiral sir…he won't be back yet I don't think until probably tomorrow."
Bryce frowned heavily "Why? He knew that I would be coming." The damn uptight bastard even insisted that Bryce come to him. He also knew why he was here too.
Bander nodded "He didn't forget, sir." Bander seemed to hesitate a bit before he continued "It might be best to just show you why he's not back yet." Bander said before he turned around, leaving Bryce to follow the man with a heavy frown.
Bander spoke with a few of the men before one of them went towards one of the tents and brought out a bag. "This better be a damn polished marble stone." Bryce said a little harshly.
"If only, sir." One of the men said in a nervous laugh that seemed a little off and he could see why when the man carrying the bag brought out a skull…of something.
The skull, grey verging on black in colour, was in the shape of a human skull but…that was where the similarities all ended. The temples bore small but hook like bone that curled strangely curled inward whilst there were two fang-like bones the size of a little finger in its jaw, much like where the incisors in his mouth were but in this creature…they were part of the skull.
"We found several cave entrances three leagues from here. We thought mayhaps we could find gemstones like the caves in Corinth but instead, we found this amongst other bones by the water inside of the cave." Bander explained.
Bryce extended out his hand and the man holding the skull dropped it in his palm.
He rolled it in his hand before he picked it up and looked at it even closer. He'd seen a fair few skulls in his life and this had many more differences than simply the two sets of strange bones. For one, the back of the skull was rounder and shorter, and the cheekbones were thicker than that of a person.
What the seven hells was this damn thing? He knew of rumours of strange fish people in the north of Essos, and he'd also heard of the accounts of the men who went with the Prince to Toad Island about the frog like people and their worship of a demon god, so strange man-like creatures existing was not so strange to him.
But find such an existence here?
Did the boat and the arrowhead belong to one of these creatures?
Gods, he hoped not. He looked at the skull closer. It was old…very old. It could have been only a few years since this thing had died since caves were not kind to bones, but he had the impression it was much longer than a simple few years.
"Tell Anehohr I want him back at the settlement in the next day." Bryce finally said after he peeled his eyes away from the skull and turned to look at Bander and then the other men. "You were not meant to look for gemstones or bones of long dead creatures." Bryce said harshly before continuing after taking a deep breath.
"Do you have anything worth telling me?" Bryce asked with a harsh look.
It was harsh to say that this skull was not worth anything. Far from it. But concerning themselves about things that were long gone from this world was not what they should be doing.
"Eh…yes sir. We have discovered a source of slate." Bander explained, a little subdued. After giving the man a look, the man continued "It's used mostly for roofing, sir. It's desirable in places like Qohor and Norvos because it's a good stone to prevent leaks coming in which you get in rainy places like those Free Cities."
"That's good." Bryce said after taking the bag from one of the men and throwing the skull in. So far, it seemed it rained heavily for a few days each moon though he was not sure if it was because it was Summer.
They showed Bryce a few of the rocks which didn't look like much in truth. Given what he'd seen in the plans, he wasn't sure the Prince would like this stone to cover the roofs of the buildings and homes of the city.
"No signs yet of granite or marble?" Bryce asked the men as his eyes flittered across the faces of the men when he looked away from the stone.
They shook their heads "No sir. The boss, eh, I mean Anehohr" Bander quickly corrected after seeing the frown on Bryce's face at the description of calling the irritating man 'boss' "and the cartographers think that we may have to look in the valleys further upstream of the settlement nearer to the mountains there."
"Very well." Bryce said after a few moments and he paused before he shook his head "If that is all, I will take my leave." Damn Anehohr for making him walk all this way for nothing…well…almost nothing, he thought with a sigh as he glanced at the bag he held. "I will take this with me" he said when he saw their looks after looking back at them. "And if hear a single word about this creature, I will string you up by the balls myself and hang you to die, is that understood?" Bryce said with a heavy note in his voice with his eyes promising that he meant every word of it.
He didn't like ordering people even if he was given the authority to do so by the Prince…or threatening them as he was doing now. In any case, each of the men in charge of this colony knew their roles and responsibilities and he had not needed to use his authority to get them to comply to do their damn jobs.
But in this instance, he knew that spreading word of monster-people possibly living in their lands was not something they could have.
Bander and the other men looked at him with great surprise on their faces. "I said…is that understood?" Bryce said in a half-growl.
"Yes sir!" all of the men said and Bryce didn't nod but the slight lessening of his facial muscles was enough to assuage the men.
"And Anehohr must return to the settlement within the day. Make sure he understands that is an order, is that clear?" Byrce said with a no-nonsense tone.
"We'll make him understand sir." Bander and the other men said and after that, after quick meal with the builders, he left them and began the long damn journey back to the Discovery.
"Speak your seven damned mind, Tobin." Byrce said with an irritated voice as they journeyed through the forest after having seen one too many glances at the bag.
His words seemed to make the boy jump up a little but he quickly recovered from the sharp demand "Do you think there any like that still alive?" the boy asked a little tentatively.
He could see the curious looks from the two other men too.
"No." Byrce said curtly before adding "I do not think so. Otherwise we would have seen them" His voice was resolute though inwardly…
He hoped none of these beasts still lived which was far from what he wanted to know…or what the other men should be allowed to know, at least at this stage.
"Do not concern yourself over legends such as this, boy." Bryce said to the boy who looked a little contemplative, a look that was strange to see on the normally thick-headed but charming boy "Such creatures are long since dead much like the Children of the Old Gods." Bryce said before glancing at the men who nodded to him, silently giving him their word that they would not speak of this either.
He'd speak with the knights in charge anyway to make sure that they would act as they were needed should things turn ugly.
Bryce sighed a little. It seemed like this meeting with the Prince would take quite some time to finish and they already had much to discuss regarding what they need delivered to them in the third arrival.
-Break-
Late 109 AC, Corinth
The flame within the dragonglass candle dimmed as he broke the connection with the mating candle in Elamaerys and his hands moved away from either side of the candle, a look of contemplation on his face though inwardly deep concern ran.
"Quite like him to add such a profound discovery as an afterthought to everything else." Edwyn said with an almost exasperated tone in his voice.
Aegon looked towards Edwyn and an amused half-smile grew beneath his beard.
"He did look distracted during much of the briefing. Probably wasn't sure how to tell us and decided to just say at the end." Aegon said before he shook his head as his expression shifted into something more serious.
It was…disconcerting to find evidence of whatever they were. The only thing that he could say was a positive, truly, was that there was no evidence of settlements.
That…that would have been so much worse.
For one…that would have meant that they were at least an advanced species with intelligence and importantly, capable of cooperation.
Of course, not finding anything that suggested such a thing didn't mean it didn't exist. Absence of something is not proof of the non-existence of that something.
Especially since they had only explored a fraction of Elamaerys.
"Does this change anything?" Edwyn asked him, breaking him out of his thoughts and when Aegon met the man's eyes, he could see that he had similar concerns.
"No." Aegon said after a few moments, resisting the urge to clench his teeth in both frustration and also, a little, trepidation. "It changes nothing." Not yet at least. They were far too deep in their plans to relocate to Elamaerys.
If…if…these creatures or people or whatever the fuck they were, still existed, it might, might, change things. His memories went back to the fish-like, frog-like, people of Toad Isle and the thing they worshipped.
This time he couldn't stop the urge to clench his teeth. Were these also the consequence, or similar consequence, of whatever happened to those people of Toad Isle? Or were these truly something else? Something more natural?
"I will speak with the knights tomorrow at noon their time and order them that they are to ensure that the information does not make it passed them." Aegon told Edwyn. He'd told Bryce to bring the knights in charge and Anehohr to bring them in so he could speak with them.
The last thing he wanted was superstition to take root. Aegon closed his hands to settle his nerves.
There were already plenty of that nonsense taking root already here in Corinth, the last thing he needed was people to think that Elamaerys was cursed.
'But even you don't know that for sure now, do you?' an irritating thought he couldn't control came into his mind.
And he had to admit it to himself…no he did not. The fact that such pristine land was so…untouched by humanity worried him greatly.
The only real alleviation for him was that he'd known places like New Zealand had been untouched by humanity until like the fourteenth century or something like that due to how far it had been and disconnected from land and largely sea routes during the tens of thousands of years of human migration.
And it was a weak alleviation too since this world was not Earth, far from it. Supernatural things existed in the crooks of this world…just at the edges of the periphery, waiting, watching, hungering, like some kind of Lovecraftian horror.
Who is to say that every land in this world hadn't been settled by humanity at one point or another, only to become heavily depopulated at some point in history?
Aegon's hand went to his forehead and he massaged it with his coarse palm and fingers. If only the damn worries could just remain to be worrying about disease carrying insects and the wildlife rather than worrying whether or not he'd be condemning his people…mayhaps his family even…to be playthings for some evil horror.
"My Prince…" Edwyn's concern's voice broke him out of his thoughts and Aegon looked up at him after shaking his head.
"Just a mild headache…nothing a good night sleep won't fix." Aegon said with a put-on amused look on his face and Edwyn looked surprised for a moment and Aegon didn't allow Edwyn to notice too much of his slip as he spoke next.
"We can send the supplies Bryce has requested to the Targaryen Islands with the next galleons set to return from their maiden voyage" Aegon said, changing the topic. "One of the ships anchored in Elamaerys can make the journey to the Isles." He added before he looked at the list Edwyn had written down regarding the supplies he wanted such iron nails, ropes, more dried fruits and so on.
Edwyn caught on easily enough and nodded with a mild frown "It would give the new captains much needed experience" At present, a combination of promoting merchant captains and second officers of galleons in the budding Navy was used to man the galleons they were building.
In addition, their merchant fleet of carracks were gradually being reduced in experienced sailors, moving them to man the galleons, whilst letting younger men take their place in the merchant fleet, further increasing the pool of potential captains.
They were running out of suitable captains, and, considering that they were set to build, in total, forty galleons over the next two years, an expenditure that made him internally wince, precaution and careful planning was necessary.
"Aye, it would." Having the newly promoted captains make the journey to the Targaryen Islands was a good way to let them gain experience.
The Summer Sea was much calmer than the Sunset Sea, which was treacherous and often subject to towering and ravaging storms, and he could only imagine how dangerous the Sunset Sea was during autumn and winter, which probably wasn't too far away now.
"We'll need to adjust our plans for the third wave." Aegon continued as he sat back in his chair. "I had not considered the…loneliness Bryce has observed in the men."
Not to that degree anyway, Aegon mused to himself.
In his old life, he remembered a little about how tough the first settlements had it in America, particularly those of North America. It had been why he'd been so focused in insuring that the men had food, shelter and weapons in great abundance.
In all of that, he'd largely missed out the human element of all things.
Edwyn nodded slightly.
"Yes…an oversight on our part." Edwyn paused for a moment before he met Aegon's gaze. "How many of the wives and children should we send? We cannot separate the women from their children so the number of men we can send in the third wave will be practically nothing." Edwyn commented.
"No, we cannot." Aegon agreed as he tapped his finger on the table "But it is not so much of an issue, truth be told. With the arrival of three thousand men to Elamaerys in the next…fortnight, along with the levelled and prepared land, we should be able to get to a point whereby we can plant at least five thousand acres of crops in the next…eight to twelve moons."
Whilst Bryce was sceptical in their estimations of farmland in the next eight to twelve moons, Aegon believed that his scepticism was borne largely from the early days and weeks of hard labour that adjusted their expectations of the 'promised land'.
Whilst they unlikely thought that it wouldn't take work, they didn't expect it to be as much work.
Fortunately, it seemed like it hadn't impeded their duties.
"Most of the women who will be making the journey are the farmer's wives and at least women who have worked with their hands in some capacity or another. They can help with the planting of crops." Aegon continued.
"It would also leave the men to continue to turn more land into farmland with planting and the majority of the other necessary work being taken care of by the wives." Edwyn stated and Aegon inclined his head.
"I will inform Bryce, the knights and Anehohr tomorrow of my decision and have them share this information with the men."
"It will be well received." Edwyn said with a little smile on his face and Aegon chuckled a little which was enough to say how much he agreed with the sentiment.
Aegon shook his head as he remembered something "It's likely near the time of our Seventh Day Mass." Aegon said as he rose from his seat.
Edwyn blinked a little before he looked at the half gone wax candle "Yes…we've been here for a few hours." Edwyn said a little surprised at how easy time flew by before he frowned and looked at Aegon. "We've missed our meeting with the scholars. Do you want to meet with the scholars today but after Mass?"
Aegon considered it before he looked at Edwyn. "Has there been much to discuss with them?" Edwyn shook his head.
"No, the lessons of the former Slaver's Bay slaves are continuing well and so far, we haven't had an issue again since…" Edwyn trailed off and Aegon nodded.
They had to quietly dispose off of several men who proved to be untrustworthy.
One of them in particular he was happy to get rid of. A silent type that had the kind of eyes you'd see in truly dangerous men…predatory eyes that observed and logged everything in his mind, to be used at a later date.
Even if these people had once been slaves, it did not mean that they were not people. Their circumstances were unfortunate and undeserving for no man or woman or child deserved to live in chains, yes, and more than likely most of these people were…for a lack of a better word, decent people that could be easily moulded into compliance, but not all of them were 'decent'.
The tens of thousands of slaves that lived in Corinth had a fair fraction of such people amongst their ranks and just as he'd gotten rid of those people, he got rid of these people amongst the freed Ghiscari.
"Then no, we won't. Arrange with them a more infrequent briefing." Aegon told Edwyn. The scholars in question were tasked to teach a modified form of governance, bureaucracy and economics that he'd see incorporated in Elamaerys, which would be well suited to their cities and their culture.
Stability after pulling out roots of cultural, societal and political norms was the name of the game and having ready made leaders who understand the people, the culture and more importantly were like them, would go a long way in allowing him to be at least somewhat confident that when he left them, he wouldn't leave them defenceless and rudderless.
Edwyn nodded and soon enough they made their way out of his solar and Edwyn left. He made their way through the halls of his fortress home flanked by his guards, and Aegon paused briefly by the royal apartments where Rhaena, Solonys and Breannei were attended to by the pseudo-governess and two other servants.
He smiled as he spent a little time with his youngest children, with Rhaena and Breannei chatting his ear off and he was a little relieved they hadn't asked to go see the dragon hatchlings to which all three of the children had bonded with.
Out of the four eggs that consisted of Liāzmariña's clutch, three of the eggs, which had been nurtured with dragonflame, whilst the fourth one had been allowed to turn to stone, one for each of the children, had hatched.
Whilst he used dragonfire to nurture the three eggs, much like how the fires of Dragonstone would nurture clutches, he'd been deliberately starving the eggs from the magic that was contained in the fires of dragonflame by allowing the eggs to rest on pyres with dragonflame for a very small amount of time.
The elderly dragonkeeper had been useful with this finding, who imparted his own thoughts on the matter of hatching dragon eggs – which made Aegon wonder how many others in Kings Landing might know a few things about the dragons they probably shouldn't know – and with his help, he was able to prevent the eggs from turning to stone whilst also reducing the chance of the eggs hatching.
It wasn't a problem per se, since he knew how to hatch a dragon from stone, but it was wrong to let the dragon eggs 'die', in a matter of speaking, if he could avoid it.
He glanced with a long look at his daughter and niece who had taken to show him a few of the drawings they'd made, which he'd praised with a smile even as he continued to think with half a mind.
The two girls had gotten on like fire to a dried bush, and their relative close age, with Rhaena three and a half namedays old and Breannei about four namedays old, made it all the more easier.
And in all honesty…Breannei had fitted in well their family all together. His sons had welcomed the girl and Gael…well…Gael had taken to her as one of her own, in some way considering the girl as the sixth child they were destined to have.
And all of that made it…difficult to disallow the girl from having given an opportunity to bond with a hatchling. He was fond of the girl, to be sure, but the precedent the girl set was one he was not happy with…a precedent Aegon allowed to be set.
He cared not that she was borne out of wedlock but he did care what it meant in the future. Their power was based, rooted, in their dragons and as much as he was doing to institute his family as a cornerstone over these people he was leading, culturally, socially, religiously, he knew that dragons would be the glue that bound the foundation together.
It was the symbol of their House and now…now there was a bastard girl, though with a Targaryen father, that had a dragon. The implication of it was dangerous.
Understandably, the situation he considered, a distant situation, did not convince Gael that it was reason enough to deny the girl that had started to call Gael mother and him father after seeing Rhaena and the other children call them that.
Gael's argument that they'd taken responsibility for the girl, that they'd taken her in as one of their own, and so, to refuse the girl the opportunity to bond with a dragon was akin to declaring her to be not part of their family and as the Breannei grew up, she may well come to resent them for it and that it could have consequences later when they wanted the girl to marry one of their sons.
Promising the girl a dragon upon marriage with one of their sons would only deepen that resentment, she'd suggested.
For a very brief moment, he'd wished that Gael had more about a typical Faith of the Seven worshipping woman.
He'd been in half a mind to leave the hatching of the dragons at a later date but of course, fate wouldn't allow him the time to decide one way or another and made the decision for him with all three of the dragons hatching at the same time less than a moon ago.
Stormfyre, a blue-white male dragon that bonded with Solonys, his two nameday son, who named the dragon so after Valarr egged the toddler on in his ear.
Tyria, a brown she-dragon with silver hues, named after an ancient Valyrian city, bonded with Rhaena, whilst Breannei named her green-brown dragon Leysia, another Valyrian city, after a cute discussion with Rhaena.
'It is what it is' Aegon thought with a shake of the head.
The most fortunate thing about the situation was that Breannei was a girl and mayhaps he could twist the situation factoring in that along with the fact that she was getting raised as a Targaryen.
He only remained for a little while before he left, knowing that the children would soon go to bed after they were tired out by his staff. They were too young to go Mass and neither he nor Gael liked their youngest children out of the fortress.
He passed by the dragonstables and passed all the way down towards the training yard where he expected his sons to be at this time hour after having completed their lessons earlier in the day.
Gael was in already in town, having gone in the morning to sort out the final arrangement of the new papermill and would meet with them at the congregation.
One of the of the scholars from the Learned Guild, the institution of Science, Mathematics and Philosophy where all scholars and apprentices learned their trade and experimented, had come to them to provide the funding to create a larger scale papermill than the one they used for their own purposes and that of Corinth.
Recently, they'd improved on the quality of the paper, and now were able to produce larger number of sheets through water-powered mills, opening up the potential of selling paper abroad.
The Learned Guild wanted to use the funds of the papermill as an independent source of income, something they were a little adamant on since their entire budget came from his pocket and he was not inclined to provide funds for anything that he could not see any use for, and so, they were keen to become more independent in the projects they wanted to do.
Aegon wasn't against it, truthfully, he was rather supportive of it but there were a few finer points that needed to be settled, namely how much his family owned and what the pricing they could set for the reams of paper.
He was also quite intrigued to see where this would lead. Most of the industries, though there were privately owned family businesses, were fully in his control, from the lowliest textile producing family, to the largest porcelain producing factory. This papermill might well become the first industry that his family had significantly less control and ownership over.
Lo and behold, his sons were training with their fellow squires, boys who were likely set to be joining the military as officers after he'd formalised and codified the miliary into an administration within the state when he'd returned to Elamaerys permanently, just as he'd do so with the navy.
The boys came to a stop when they saw him though he'd bid them to continue and he smiled a little to himself when he saw his sons train with a little more vigour knowing that he was watching them.
Over the past moons, he'd observed a marked change in his three sons, all of whom had learnt of Aegon's capability in performing magic when Polaerys told them about that night and when Aegon confirmed it further to them.
It seemed like they'd heeded his words very much though he suspected their vigour would likely drop off sooner than later once they lost their fascination about magic.
They'd practically hounded him about learning the magic but he'd remained steadfast that they'd only learn it when they were older and if they showed enough responsibility, adding a number of…fabricated horror stories about what happened to those who misused magic as a reason why magic is not to be considered lightly.
And though some of the stories were fabricated, he'd added enough truthful stories of what he experienced that reflected reality…that magic was genuinely dangerous in this world, to the user and to the people, even if magic, in many ways, was almost symbolic of power in this world.
The crueller the magic, the more powerful it seemed to be.
Sacrifice of others, sacrifice of self like Bran Stark had done, were all multipliers in the strength of magic one could bring to bear, a lens, no, a mirror of the kind of sacrifice of humanity many of the peoples in this world do, gaining power as they trod on the steps of cruelty on their ascent to power.
Blood and sacrifice and cruelty led to power and victory.
Of course, he wasn't so ignorant to think that this nature of the peoples wasn't similar to that of Earth in the medieval era. Far from it.
Earth's history was teeming with abundant cruelty and monstrous actions and many of these people were reflective of their counterparts on Earth…albeit almost to the point of being poor facsimiles.
Aegon shook his head clear of those thoughts, thoughts that served no use and returned his attentions to his sons…and how he taught them.
He often…stretched truths or, in some instances, blatantly lied to his sons.
For their own good…and the good of the family and their people, he needed them to adopt a worldview that would be lasting…A worldview centred on scepticism, on realism and on responsibility whilst trying to instil in them a sense of wanting to strife to be better but only when the situation allowed for it.
He wanted to shape them into pillars that would stand tall and strong against those who wielded hammers and axes intent on bringing them down, whether they did so in the open…in the field…or in their solars.
He had no intention of allowing his sons to grow up naïvely about how dangerous this world was, especially to a Targaryen. Their family being the last dragonriders was as much a blessing as it was a curse.
The dragons granted them power, the dragons earned them Westeros, but the dragons also painted a target against their back. Covetous plotters with power would plague their family for all time and he had to prepare them for that.
And, as he watched Castorys best one of the squires, he wanted each of them to learn to manage the dangers of the worlds on their own…and together.
He was fortunate that his elder sons each had their own distinctive interests and personalities, distinctness that would see them thrive in their own ways.
Polaerys was curious, studious, and with a mild disposition that he could see do well in furthering Aegon's studies of the arcane and the threats of this world.
Valarr was an explorer through and through. Bold and brave, his third son had a kind of curiosity that may well see him explore the world at one point or another.
And he had a feeling that his third son would be like a fish to water if given the opportunity. Mayhaps one day Valarr would find the route West that led to Yi-Ti.
Castorys…Castorys worried him a little.
Castorys was more greatly affected by the pressures he feels he has…pressures that compared Castorys to him, and despite their lessons together, despite their talks, he knew that Castorys still felt the responsibility of 'measuring up' to Aegon.
He'd been spending more time with Castorys to address these issues with his firstborn and he hoped that he could get through to Castorys that he didn't need to stress himself out to live up to Aegon, especially since everything else he knew about his son was showing him that Aegon was fortunate to have Castorys as his successor who absorbed the lessons and topics Aegon was teaching him.
Once Castorys grew into his own, Aegon had no fear that their family was in safe hands when he passed his position as Patriarch of the family and the future title of Archon of Elamaerys to his eldest son.
Aegon continued to watch and, on occasion, offered advice to his sons and to the other squires and just under an hour or so, one of his servants informed him of the nearing Mass and so Aegon and his sons made their way into town where all those not still on duty would congregate.
In Westeros, typically such gatherings didn't happen on a weekly basis save for the largest cities like Kings Landing, Old Town or in Lannisport…and he supposed Corinth now too.
The Seventh Day Mass was a city-wide religious congregation that built on the sense of community that had been fostered in Corinth, where hymns of the Seven Pointed Star were sung and sermon was given by the septon.
The Seventh Day Mass…Aegon's eyes dulled slightly as he remembered when it came about and how…quickly it was adopted as a standard evening of worship. One of the former slaves from the first arrivals had been extremely taken with the Faith of the Seven and begun to host congregations over two year and a half ago which grew more frequent a year or so ago.
At first, it hadn't been much to pay attention to, Gael hadn't and Aegon hadn't when he returned from the campaign in the Basilisk Isles, but over the past year, the strength of the Faith of the Seven in the hearts of the people of Corinth had grown substantially…and he and his sons were partially responsible for that.
The rest of the fault was entirely on the head of this Septon Aerio. The stories that Aegon had told his sons, such as the story of the Lord of the Rings creation myth mixed with that of the Faith of the Seven.
It was a great tale, and it should have stayed a tale but it took a life of its own and it became more complicated with the finding of Elamaerys, the promised land, which Aegon had blundered into practically claiming was shown to him by the Gods and it caused uncomfortable comparisons of his person to that of Hugor of the Hill, the King of the Andals, the equivalent of Moses in the Andal religion.
He knew that he'd been playing a dangerous game when he proclaimed that the 'promised land' had been 'shown' to him by the Seven, for the sake of his family that was as compatible with the current form of the Faith of the Seven as Buddhism was with the Dothraki, but he'd not expected that he'd be embroiled in the Faith as much as he was now…
Aegon shook his head.
There was little he could do about it. Religion was exceptionally powerful and meaningful, especially to people had long had little power and to act against what was happening was only inviting problems. For now, all he could do is ensure that Septon Aerio and others like them remained firmly under his and Gael's control.
Truthfully…it wasn't all bad, this increase in religious fervour. Already, the Faith of the Seven was not alike to that of religion he'd been taught in Kings Landing.
The conversion of tens of thousands of slaves, who outnumbered the people of Dragonstone by a factor of five, from a culture that was very different to that of Westeros, made it all but inevitable that the religion would change, especially when you consider how much more of a focus there was on the parts that disparaged slavery within the Seven Pointed Star.
In Westeros, there was more of a focus of living the 'right' way, living in accordance to the way the Septons, who spoke with wisdom gleaned from the Seven Pointed Star that few of the commonfolk would get to read, and much of that 'right' way was living in obedience, with piety, and against sin.
Here, in Corinth, there was far less focus on that, thanks to the lack of influence of Septons who benefitted from telling the pious how to live, and more of a focus on community and piety…which resonated with many of the people, especially the people who, before Corinth, had only known chains.
And, Aegon mused to himself with a silent expression, he could tell that there was a 'want' of a kind to feel special in a certain amongst his people.
Already, the people of Dragonstone had such a bearing about them…having taken pride in their ancestry of being descendant of the people who'd left Old Valyria with Aenar the Exile, something he'd fostered in them and it has since taken on a will of its own.
The former slaves also had such a want of destiny too…the freedom they'd gained under him and the beckoning new land where they could truly start a new life.
People had a sort of thing about them…to want to find meaning in things. He himself had sought that out too…why he was reincarnated and why in this era…
And as much as he wished he didn't need their reverence for his family to ensure their safety and long term prosperity, he couldn't help but be happy for his people to find meaning, to believe that they were being 'chosen' to be gifted these lands.
He knew the value of such a thing…after all…he'd found his own meaning in his family and in doing his best for his people.
They arrived at the main square of the town, which had crowded as over forty thousand people, just under four fifths of Corinth, congregated in front of the podium that stood in front of the Sept, an expanded building that once served as a textile manufacturing building.
He and his sons made their way, escorted by a small army of guards, to the podium where Gael stood waiting on the right side where he and his family were seated.
Gael huddled the boys over to their seats whilst Aegon stood by his wife, his hand settling on her back. Gael smiled a little as she felt his touch. She turned to him and he leaned to her ear and whispered if all went well with the town-meeting.
"Yes…we've settled on a price and a forty percent of ownership with sixty percent of the profits until our investment has been paid off and in future, they would come to us for approval and funding should one of their fellows wish to start up their own business." Gael told him and Aegon hummed thoughtfully.
"A good agreement." Aegon said to her.
Especially the point of approval. He had a lot of ideas of what to introduce to his people though rarely did he have enough time to experiment to make the ideas work anymore, like large scale steel production which would be made feasible by the abundance of wood in Elamaerys in the absence of coal.
Mostly, the Learned Guild had primarily focused on developing mathematics, astronomic charting, chemistry and with a few of the more philosophy inclined helping Aegon with the codification of laws and morals into a detailed body of Civil Law.
Having such an agreement was a good precedent for not only the Guild, but also for the rest of their people, that they had a chance of receiving funding for their business ideas.
With the gold that would come from Slaver's Bay, there would be plenty of that to go around anyway.
"The meeting with the Admiral?" Gael asked a little quietly.
"Requests for more supplies but generally, the settlement is progressing well. Though there was something they discovered." After seeing her curious look, he continued "I will tell you later." Aegon said to her,
Gael nodded and it wasn't long before the Seventh Day Mass began.
The Mass took over an hour and a half to finish, as the Septon went on a sermon and hymns were sung by a few septas and volunteers. Before he left, Aegon spoke briefly with Septon Aerio, a conversation that he dreaded most often times given the fervour of the man, and was only glad to be finally in their bedchamber.
As they undressed, Gael asked about the discovery and he described to her the discovery of a skull that may have belonged to a kind of ape-man, not unlike the Brindled Men of Sothoryos.
Gael showed some interest in the topic though animals and discovery was rarely much interest to her.
Of course, he knew that would change if he shared his concerns, concerns that he omitted. Sharing the concerns he had about the creature or his concerns of how little they knew about Elamaerys, would only worry her possibly needlessly, so he wouldn't share them, at least for now. He sighed internally.
Hopefully, over the next few years, before he and his family left for Elamaerys, any such concerns of nefarious forces will fade away. Otherwise…otherwise he might well have to rethink everything…including his plans for Slaver's Bay.
"Something is eating you." Gael said suddenly and Aegon looked back at her and he saw her studying him intently.
"Nothing is eating me up." Aegon told her and she looked at him sceptically.
"Truly? You've been wearing that face of yours, the same face you wear when you are troubled by far too much." Gael said with a raised eyebrow.
"'That face?'" Aegon repeated after her with a curious and bemused expression.
"This face." Gael set her face in a grim solemn almost pouting face as Gael did her best to replicate his face.
Aegon's laughter rumbled out of his throat and he looked at her fondly, her teasing replication making way for a teasing smile. She knew his facial cues too well. He looked at her with a touch of exasperation as he slumped his shoulders a little.
"Am I that obvious?"
"Only to me." Gael said softly as she peered at him and Aegon's fond look grew in affection.
Aegon pulls her in closer.
"There's just so much to do." Aegon finally said after a few moments. "Ensuring the colony survives and thrives…the ships, our people, our trade fleets, the integration of the slaves…even the issue of our children's marriages is often on my mind, finding them appropriate matches."
Though he was sidestepping the present thing that was occupying his mind, all of these were issues and matters that he had to address and manage, including the topic of his children's marriages.
As much as he disliked arranging the marriages of his children, he knew that he couldn't afford the luxury of his children choosing their brides.
Too much hinged on developing the ideal alliances and connections. And…he thought to himself, he needed to make sure the matches for his sons were not problematic. The last thing he wanted, was an overambitious harlot that placed her own priorities over the family…the Targaryen family.
They were solving the issue of marriage for one of their sons with the presence of Breannei almost certain to marry one of his sons but that still left three sons and a daughter he needed to find matches for.
He'd been firm to Gael that he would not allow his children to marry one another – if he could help it he'd prevent sibling marriages in their branch altogether – and thankfully she did not fight him on this.
She knew his discomfort about such marriages even if she likely assigned the reason of his discomfort to his visions of the future rather than an inherent discomfort.
Of course, he knew the children of his children marrying one another was an inevitability but he's made his peace with the cousin marriages. To maintain power in the family, it was necessary…
Aegon mentally shook his head. Anyway…
Most of Westerosi nobility was out of the running since they brought little to the table. There were only five Houses in Westeros he'd consider matches for.
House Lannister, House Redwyne, House Reyne, House Stark and House Celtigar.
House Lannister had, beyond wealth, the people that interested Aegon. Jewellery makers, miners, artisans and a swathe of professions that would mesh well with Elamaerys and it would be them he would want as dowry. And fortunately, House Lannister had a number of girls within appropriate range of his sons.
From an objective point of view, a daughter from House Lannister marrying his eldest son was the best option amongst the options available and if he played it well, he would have their support should things go awry.
House Redwyne and House Reyne were similar to House Lannister though several factors lesser but the advantage of these Houses was that cajoling them into compliance was less difficult.
House Stark and House Celtigar were options for entirely different options…namely their blood.
The main branch of House Stark did not have any daughters but the third and fourth sons of Brandon Stark, the son of Torrhen Stark, 'the King who Knelt', had sons of their own and each of these Starks had granddaughters about the age of his own sons, whilst his old friend Bartimos Celtigar had a daughter of five namedays now and his younger brother had a daughter too though she was around three namedays old.
The Celtigars were of Valyrian descent and though they did not have Targaryen blood, they had an unbroken line of marriages with Valyrian Houses with Bartimos' mother actually being from a cadet branch of House Velaryon.
Their blood was made them as good a match as any outside the Velaryons and his family, even if their prestige and value paled in comparison to most Westerosi nobility.
It was a similar situation with the Starks though it was different. Whilst he could consider the likes of House Blackwood as a match since Bloodraven was proof that the blood of the First Men ran strong in the Blackwoods, he knew that the Starks were the 'special ones' amongst the First Men.
The chances of wargs being introduced into his family line was stronger with them. Marrying one of his sons to one these Starks, perhaps Valarr or Solonys, would provide that opportunity.
The only concern he had was the connection the Starks had with the Hivemind that were the Old Gods. He hadn't forgotten the anger of the Child of the Forest about what his presence had wrought…the change in the song of ice and fire…nor did he forget the contract they'd bound them to about his city.
There was a nagging thought in his mind that he was playing with fire should he tangle with the Starks…even the Starks that were far removed from the main line.
His thoughts were broken when he heard Gael hum a little quietly and he met her gaze when he looked back at her. "We have time for all of those things and our people have things well in hand in all of those things outside of our children." She said.
She peeled herself off of Aegon and looked him directly at him with unblinking eyes as she spoke. "Plus…you left out your schemes in Slaver's Bay…that which occupies your mind the most." The way she said schemes was…unpleasant.
She was not fond at all of his plans with Slaver's Bay, the little that he shared.
It had come about after she'd noticed, early on, before anyone else, the increased training and his moves to standardise the units of men into a more professional army and it hadn't been difficult to put one and one together.
She was the only one outside of Uthrik and Edwyn about who they were targeting next and that he planned to have her and their children relocate to Elamaerys before he went to war.
"This war doesn't need to happen Aegon." Her voice was quiet when she spoke.
"We have enough to deal with. We can't solve all of the world's problems, no matter how awful they are."
Aegon looked away from her gaze, a wave of tiredness washing over him. Why was she asking him about this now, after not inquiring about the details for moons?
The few times they'd talked about this had mostly been talking around the war, namely Aegon leaving behind Gael and their children in Elamaerys to go to war, never the reasons why he was actually going on it.
Aegon shook his head and decided to just tell her his reasons. "That is not why I am planning this war, Gael." Aegon said to her after a few moments as he looked towards the maps that were stacked on the desk, one of those maps being that of Slaver's Bay that bore the cities, the towns and the farming fields near the Great Cities.
"I have no interest in destroying slavery nor do I think I am capable of it." He said to her as he turned to face her.
"Then why?" she asked patiently, her face gentle as she met his gaze unblinkingly, seemingly unwilling to push him further into the mood that was gripping him.
"There is no singular reason." Aegon said before he sighed heavily.
"I could say that it is because it is the right thing to do but it wouldn't be true. No, the reason why I am planning this war is because it is opportunistic in several different ways. The fact that I will cause the destruction of the sickness of the worst kinds of slavery is a merely a side-effect that will bring me great contentment." Aegon said with hard eyes.
"Opportunistic?" Gael parroted, stepping back a little and the look on her face was one of shock and more than a little dismay. "Do you hear yourself, Aegon?" Gael was more forceful now when she spoke.
"Of course I do." Aegon said calmly but his eyes were stern as he continued "Do you think I want to go to war again? Yet I will because our family, our people will benefit from it"
'A war where I will commit half a dozen atrocities, even if it is against slaving families.'
"You have no reason to go to war" Gael said heatedly as she gestured to the maps on the desk. "We literally have a home free of people waiting for us where we can live in peace and undisturbed." Frustration crept in her voice.
"It is because we have a home that is peaceful and undisturbed that I must go to war against Slaver's Bay, Gael." Aegon voiced out, his face determined.
They needed the wealth, the people, and the allegiance, of the cities of Slaver's Bay. Wealth that would secure their position financially…a source of people that could help populate their lands…and allegiance of hundreds of thousands, if not several million, of people who they could rely on as allies and as trade partners.
And…whom they could rely on as a distraction and as an agent of change throughout Essos with careful management and planning.
"What?" Gael said in confusion and Aegon sighed as he brushed a hand across his face before he walked over towards the desk and took one of the maps that laid below several other maps on top and it was a map of Elamaerys, the landmasses of their new home.
"It is everything I hoped it to be." Aegon admitted to her, softer, his bush of a beard barely moving. "It is isolated enough and it will take decades for us to be truly threatened, if ever. We could live in peace like we always wanted." Aegon said to her.
"Which is clearly not enough for you." Gael said scathingly and it surprised Aegon how strongly she felt he was in the wrong in this.
Aegon looked at her sadly, an almost forlorn smile not quite hiding behind his well-kept beard. "It is, Gael but Peace cannot be had without winning it. Not in this world." Aegon's expression darkened, his eyes turned unseeing.
"And what I do in Slaver's Bay will win us a Peace – and if I have my way eternal allies – that should our descendants and our people secured for generations."
"What do you mean?"
"Our departure will be noticed. It is inevitable. Already, I am certain that we are being monitored by Viserys and the Free Cities. And when it is discovered that these lands exist, they will take interest." Aegon told her.
"Whose 'they'?"
"Anyone!" Aegon said with a raised and frustrated voice, "Everyone."
Aegon looked at her with intensity in his eyes "This land is new. Untouched. Brimming with potential. When words reaches their ears they'll imagine wonder. Gold. Silver. Gems. A land that is different and riches that can be reachable and tamed unlike Sothoryos which had been tried and tried to be settled to no avail."
An age of exploration might well be kicked off once everyone knew of Elamaerys. Whilst it was unlikely that they would try and muscle in on Elamaerys, who is to say they won't do so in any other lands nearby?
Essos, whilst huge, was also plagued with Dothraki who have destroyed dozens of cities and were directly responsible for the deaths of tens of millions of people.
The Free Cities staved off the Dothraki only because of their walls and their gold and tribute, and even they were still subject to lose entire settlements on the whims of the Dothraki.
Having the chance to settle colonies on new virgin lands that may be profitable would be an irresistible allure and may even offer the mother-cities the capital they need to expand further into Essos, especially Volantis.
This was also one of the reasons why he wanted these cities in Slaver's Bay to be free and strong. Their existence would prove to be a valuable distraction as Elamaerys grew stronger in the West.
"We will burn them if they dare come and infringe on our lands and if that isn't enough, we'll come to their lands with our dragons." Gael said with heat in her voice and Aegon smiled a little.
"It should not come to that" Aegon said to Gael "Not after I show them the folly of standing against our House." Aegon said firmly.
Gael calmed herself and asked "Tell me. What are you planning?"
Aegon's expression lost its darkness and his eyes turned hard, his voice as hard and sharp as Valyrian Steel as he spoke. "I plan to take the Cities in Slaver's Bay and uproot their society from root to stem. The Masters, the nobility and those who support them will be done away with." Aegon spoke with dangerous undertones and from the way Gael's eyes widened, she was understanding what he meant.
For a moment, he regretted telling her the scale of his cruelty but he stamped it down and continued "Their gold, their silver, even some of their people, we will take and, in the process, from the ashes of the old, new states shall form in the hands of those who once wore shackles around their wrists."
"Those people that came on the trade ships and are learning…you're going to use them to bring about these new…states." Gael said with understanding blooming.
"Yes. Edwyn and the other learned men who have been helping me with developing the laws and institutions for Elamaerys are educating them on how to bring back stability to their cities along with turning their cities into republics." Aegon confirmed.
"…How? How will you even accomplish this? You obviously don't want to destroy the cities and we don't have the men to accomplish even a fraction of what you're wanting to do." Gael asked
"We don't have the men, yes" Aegon agreed "and that is why we will take Astapor with subterfuge first and grow our army. From there, with an army thrice the size, Yunkai, Meereen and the other cities will be no challenge to take intact."
"Volantis and the Triarchy will see this as a threat, mayhaps existentially too, but they will come to understand that we have no interest in conquering Slaver's Bay…" Aegon said as he went into one of the drawers of the desk, bringing out a stack of letters from one of the hidden compartments.
"These are letters I made Saathos Saan write. There will be other letters, correspondence letters from the masters of Astapor and Meereen, that will give us the justification for the war and we will share that with the rest of the Free Cities." Aegon said as he turned back to look at Gael.
"In those letters, there will be plans directly aimed at enslaving our people because they serve our family, the last Dragonlords, and how these people would be prized amongst the nobility of the Slaver's Bay for this fact. It gives us an image of reciprocity rather than one of naked aggression."
"And at the same time showcasing the consequences of attacking or enslaving our people…our family." Gael finished as she was coming to understand the depths of Aegon's scheme.
"Exactly so, and at the same time, we grow our wealth to an obscene level with the coin we take from the Slaver's Bay nobility whilst also creating allies in the former slaves who know they owe their freedom to me, to our family."
"The Free Cities won't stand for it. You'll disrupt the entire slave trade."
Yes…the destruction of the slave trade in Slaver's Bay would reverberate across Essos…no the entire Known World. How unfortunate…
He'd make enemies of much of Essos and he was certain he'd face assassination whilst he was on this campaign and when he was stabilising the region.
If his scheme with the Iron Bank failed, one that would see them give their support, perhaps their full support instead of tacit support that he suspected was more likely, he might even have the faceless men after him.
It was partially why he was so focused in having the Slaver's Bay cities turn into Republics so that the Iron Bank specifically did not see this as a conquest.
"They will have no choice but to stand for it and they'll be warned that they are to leave the newly abolitionist cities alone lest I come and do the very same as I did against the Slaver cities. And as for disrupting the slave trade, good. The havoc I will create will cause internal instability."
Gael looked at him for a long while before she shook her head, her hands gripping tightly on her dress. "How long?" she asked and Aegon sighed heavily.
"After I leave Elamaerys…I think three years." he admitted to her. After taking Astapor, he'd need a few weeks to conquer the rest of the lands near it, particularly the farms, and also to set up the Republic.
Yunkai and Meereen would mobilise though their forces would be limited. Even if he was unlucky and they had sellswords nearby, it was not nearly much of a concern, not after he had Astapor and the Unsullied.
Presently, there were thirteen thousand Unsullied with half that still boys.
Astapor itself had about a population of something five or six to one slave population and often times that number could swell to seven or eight to one when the Dothraki brought captured people into the slave city.
Convincing another few thousand men to come to war with him won't be an issue and his numbers could swell to over thirty thousand with only a third of it being his men. If he could manage to convince some of the Princes of the Summer Isles to join him in this campaign, that number would swell even further.
Aegon stepped forward and took her hands before he guided her face to look at him directly in the eyes. "I know…I am asking a lot." Aegon said quietly.
He was…he really was. Asking her to manage Elamaerys, a colony of tens of thousands, even with the help of the likes of Edwyn, Cedrick and Uthrik, was a lot.
"But this will go a long way in securing our family and our people."
"If you die in this war?" Gael asked quietly, a war of emotions playing out in her eyes. She didn't need to say 'what happens to our future then'. It was implicit.
It was a possibility. His death. A decent possibility and if Braavos oppose him, for whatever reason, it would jump up to a very good chance that he'd die.
"I will not." Aegon promised her as he pulled her into him and he kissed her on the head. "I promise you I will return to you and our children, my eternal flame." He'd do all he could to succeed and return.
His children still needed him. He would not let himself die in the damn desert.
For a long few moments Gael didn't move. Only when he felt her arms snake around him did he relax a little. He knew that he had not won her support on this but that was fine…it would be years before it was time.