Chapter 225: Small Council Meeting on the Upcoming War
Bolton Lands, Dreadfort Castle
POV of Domeric Bolton
Domeric was currently in a Small Council meeting. After returning from the Wall, he needed to make some arrangements based on the decisions made by the War Council of the North and the duties assigned to him.
However, he had delayed this Small Council meeting by about 10 days because, before he could make sound decisions, he needed to grasp the current situation fully.
Therefore, in addition to other tasks he had been involved in during the past ten days, he had read and considered all the essential reports regarding the lands he ruled.
And now, he was ready to make the necessary arrangements and issue orders.
"I'm stopping all the construction work on the roads in my lands for now," Domeric said, shocking everyone in the room. He had, after all, shown a very aggressive front when it came to building roads in his lands so that one day they would reach every nook and cranny.
He opened a chart of the North and showed it to his small council. To the head of the Roads and Infrastructure Department, specifically.
"The construction workers and materials will go to the north." He said, pointing at the Last Hearth. "I want them to build a road from Last Heart to Castle Black. And then an adjacent road from one end of the Wall to another for the ease of supply transport."
"I also plan to send half of my builders to the Wall, where they'll start the construction of the castles. They will start with Castle Stonedoor, Castle Hoarfrost Hill, Castle Icemark, and Castle Nightfort. I want these four castles built to the prime and then expanded until they could hold 5000 men. I do not know how you do it. Hire more builders from Asshai if you must. I want it done by the end of the year."
His head of the Roads and Infrastructure looked a little overwhelmed but nodded anyway.
"Tyrion. You'll also help him with this." He said to the Castellan of Regalis, his port town. "The expansion of my fleet is no longer as important as it was before. Now, I want you to focus on this project. The fleet can be expanded next summer if they survive this Winter."
"Are you sure, my lord. With a larger fleet, we'll be able to bring more resources." Tyrion said.
"Yes. Aside from the cement materials, we have all the other materials here in the North. And now that the other lords are allowing me to take their resources for almost free, we shouldn't have a problem in that department. Any other questions?"
"Yeah. How many castles do the other lords have?" Tyrion asked.
"The Starks have command over two. The original 3 of the Nights Watch will remain theirs, although the Karstarks are going to reinforce them with their own men and resources. The Umbers and Manderlys also jointly command 3 Castles. The remaining six castles have been distributed among the houses of Ryswell, Dustin, Whitehill, Foresters, Cerwyn, Hornwood, and Tallhart. House Reed and Flint have been asked to rebuild and reinforce Moat Cailin so that the North won't be vulnerable to the South. House Glover, Mormont, and Fisher have been charged with building new boats and defending the West Coast so that the Ironborns won't dare attack us, while the East Coast has been given to us and the Manderlys. House Manderly has also been given the order to build a War Fleet of its own, though I don't think that they'll be able to accommodate a very large one. About 30-40 war galleys at most. Anything else anyone wants to know?"
"They seem to have given you a major amount of work and the castles, my lord." Celly, the CEO of his businesses, said, "You're not only charged with building the roads, but you're also charged with providing food, weapons, and armor for half the price. And now they expect you to hold 4 of the 18 castles, while even the Starks are only holding 2. It seems unfair."
"Oh, but it really isn't, Celly. In fact, I was the one who asked for command of 5 castles."
"What? Why would you do that?" Tyrion asked.
"Because currently, about 1 million of the total 5 million people in the North live in my lands. I also have other reasons of my own, but I don't want to talk about them right now. But the real deal is this. House Bolton itself earns thrice as much as all the other houses in the North combined. And even with giving away the food and weapons for half the price, we're still a fair bit ahead, as they also have to give their resources away for free."
He was not even lying. Even if he didn't count any of the wealth he brought over from Valyria, his House was still earning three times as much as all the other houses in the North combined.
And he expected to only grow richer in the future.
Tyrion picked up his jaw and asked, "Is there anything else, my lord?"
"Yes. Aside from the legions I already have, I am building four more legions for 4 Wall Castles, 3000 men each. I'll give the command of one to Walton, one to Tyrion, one to Tormund, and the last one to Mance Rayder."
"Are you sure you want to give me the command of one of them?" Tyrion asked while pointing at himself with a nervous laugh, "I mean… I'm not much of a warrior."
"Your job will not be to fight but to lead. I'll also give each new commander ten of my elite swordsmen. All decked with magical armor and all strong enough to fight and kill a White Walker. Your only job will be to command and lead. And I've confidence that you'll not fail me, Tyrion."
Tyrion looked shocked by Domeric's confidence in him and could only nod.
"Are you not taking command of any of the castles, my lord?" Karsi asked. Her belly was bulging. He could tell she was already 6-7 months pregnant. That must have been the time before he left for the 2nd expedition.
It seems like Varko had not sat idly at that time.
He would have to make sure that Karsi gives a safe birth, as many women die during childbirth in this era, and he didn't want that to happen to her.
Mostly because Varko deserved happiness, and also because Karsi was a competent subordinate and one of his generals.
"No. I'll be at the head of the command chain but will not lead the defense of a castle personally."
"And what about us?" Bronn asked, pointing at himself, Karsi, and lastly Mocqo, who had by now trained 1,000 men as horse archers and were training another 1,000.
"Are we just going to sit and watch?"
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Next Chapters' Name:
Ch.226: Ice Crystals of White Walkers
Ch.227: You Naughty Little Minx
Ch.228: Getting Rid of a Burden