Pre-Chapter A/N:Another chapter on time? Guess my lock-in is going pretty well. If you haven't already, I recommend turning on notifications for my stuff so you can see when new stuff drops right as it drops. More chapters on my patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga)— same username as here and link in bio. Since I just started a new story, there's a cheeky discount on said patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga) page for anyone interested (expires in two days from now so don't snooze it).
XXXXX- EIGHT MOONS BEFORE THE WEDDING
Some days, you just woke up and didn't want to get out of bed; others, you wake up and can't wait to be out of bed. This one was very much the former. I stared at the ceiling above me. I hadn't foreseen just how boring life would become when things didn't need me to be constantly on top of them. The Shipyard was producing at full capacity, we had more glass than we'd been able to sell, the Sept was almost complete, the Colosseum was basically complete, and I was waiting for replies that would accelerate work on my University and Bank.
There was shockingly little for me to do day-to-day when things weren't burning down around me. The lack of fires to deal with, and the fact that it seemed my hiring practices had been spotless for the most part, meant I spent most days moving from place to place hearing the same report I'd heard the day earlier. Yesterday had driven that point home, so before going to bed, I'd decided not to do the same thing again.
And now I just lay in bed. Maybe I could take Ser Ben out to the yard for some sparring. We'd last sparred two days ago, and I'd won all of them for sure, but maybe picking up a new weapon would give him a good shot at a fighting chance. I had always liked the idea of spears. Gungnir, my brain supplied instantly. My favourite spear from legend. Making something like that here would be impossible. We had magic, but not that kind. Maybe I could make one that sang as it swung through the air with Valyrian steel.
Thinking of Valyrian steel did, of course, make me think about Valyria. There was no chance of me figuring it out on my own. I had no metallurgy experience in my first life. I had no idea how to make Damascus Steel or whatever, so a magical metal was far out of my capability ceiling.
But figuring it out wasn't the only way to get my hand on the metal. Valyria herself. I could do it, I knew. I just had to come up with a good enough plan and it would work. I was already on the Narrow Sea. The distance wouldn't be all that much. If I started working on it now, and stalled work on everything else, I could have a serviceable ship with which to make the journey in about a moon or two. The journey itself wouldn't take more than a moon both ways with how quick my ships were, and I didn't anticipate spending a lot of time there.
It would be a quick raid. In and out in a matter of days. Loot it for all the gold and Valyrian steel my ships could carry. If there was any knowledge, I'd take that as well, but that was far less likely all things considered, since we wouldn't be touching mainland Valyria with a ten-foot pole.
"Wouldn't be," I whispered to myself in the stillness of the room with a scoff.
I was going to do it, I realised. The seed had been planted and there was no dislodging it once it had been. Mother had forbidden it, Laena thought it was a stupid idea, but I was confident in my plan and that I could do it in a relatively risk-free way. The second things seemed likely to go wrong, I'd just turn around and come right back. No one had to know.
A copper-sheathed double-lined hull was doable. Rhaenos had been able to confirm as much with smaller experiments. The plague suits from Braavos had arrived a moon ago, and they'd need very little alterations to make them the best tools for passing through the Smoking Sea. The Smoking Sea was the main impediment, and then there was the chance we'd come across inhuman creatures on the island. We had highly skilled veterans of the war for the Stepstones here. Surely quite a few of them would be willing to come along.
Vaemond for sure would be. I breathed out a sigh. I was actually doing it. In the back of my mind while I made enquiries and did experiments, it hadn't felt real. It had been more like just proving whether my theories could work for passing through, but now that I was making concrete plans, it was clear that I was going to go a bit farther than just merely proving my plan could work.
What wedding gift could I present Laena greater than Valyrian steel? A sword our sons and grandsons would wield after we were gone. Completion of our father's legacy. No. Doing this wasn't selfish. It was the right thing to do.
Was it the right thing to do because I wanted to do it, or did I want to do it because it was the right thing to do? Did the difference even matter? I wanted it either way, and the more time passed, the more my window of opportunity closed. It was probably better to work on it first and then see what happened with the various tools I created before I committed to either path.
Keep things in flux, you know? And so I rolled out of bed with a mission in my mind and a plan on my lips.
— THREE DAYS LATER.
"So do you think you could manage to build it?" I asked Rhaenos as I stared at the drawings he had produced based on my description.
"I wouldn't have drawn it if I couldn't build it, My Lord," he said. I nodded.
"And how long will it take?"
"If My Lord does not mind, I asked Parvella about securing the copper and I was shocked to discover that there is already a sizeable stockpile on Bloodstone. If we can use that, we can work with some existing ships in the yard and finish two in a moon and a half," he said.
"And if I removed every other project from your plate? How long would it take then?"
"If all the manpower of the shipyard was focused on only getting those two ships to readiness, I anticipate we could be finished in about a moon," he said. I nodded. That was good. A moon was all the time I needed to assemble all the other factors.
I left the shipyard and made my way to the administrative centre of the city, the Longhouse. Parvella had taken on additional responsibilities beyond managing concrete production and infrastructure construction. Most of that work had gone to Bernard for the day-to-day monitoring while I used Parvella's admittedly more resilient brain to manage the higher-level requirements for the various industries. Placing her between Thoren and me, or Rhaenos and me, meant I wasn't disturbed with every minor fire that popped up. I was only called when there were uncontrollable firestorms that actually needed me to take care of them. It was a massive unlock in terms of free time and brain space.
I walked into the Longhouse and was instantly led to the door I needed to be at.
Parvella was waiting on the other side, head buried in a stack of papers. Part of me pitied her, but the rest of me knew she actually enjoyed this. She enjoyed the chance to work on several things at the same time; the chance to prove herself indispensable; and most importantly, the chance to show that her brain was superior to most others.
Her brain was probably even superior to mine. Only the advantages of modern education and the systems of thinking that had come along with it made me the dominant one in this dynamic. Well, that and the fact that I was the one paying her wages.
She rose as I walked in and dropped into a perfect curtsy. I nodded.
"Sit," I said after I had walked up to her table and taken the seat across from hers. I looked around the office as she did so. It was a simple space. Quite large initially, but filing cabinets had been brought in to fill in every spare bit of space to make it feel more like a broom closet than anything else. It showed what her priorities were, at least. And I liked what I saw.
But then again, it could just have easily enough been an attempt to manipulate me. If she chose to steal from me, she'd be the very last one I suspected. Who would think the woman so focused on the cause that she spurned the chance to have a sprawling luxurious office would be the one to skim off the top? Of course, I tried to prevent the risk from being a thing by ensuring she was well compensated for her efforts. I paid all my people well because I could afford it, but Parvella? Her, I paid more than well. Her, I paid like a modern-day CEO from my first life.
She more than earned it with her work and loyalty, I felt. And I had the gold to spare.
"How are things proceeding with the suits?" I asked.
"The tailoring is complete and the alterations to the designs have been made in accordance with your designs. The lenses were replaced with special clear pieces from the factory," she said, testing out the last word like a strange bit of meat. She, at least, was more comfortable using the 'strange' words I slipped out here and there.
"That's good then. Anything else I should worry about?"
"My Lord, I know you yourself have thought about the risks and considered it before choosing to take this action, but I must add that this is an especially risky path to take. The success rate is 0 percent. I have seen the preparations you have made and while they seem robust to my view, my understanding of the fundamentals of the risks you will be facing is limited. I assume that yours is limited as well. There is a reason no one has gone to Valyria and returned," she said.
"Yet," I added.
"My Lord?"
"No one has gone to Valyria and returned yet. Continue the preparations as planned, Parvella. I have never failed you, have I? I tell you now that I will succeed in this and we will make history," I said before rising.
"Prepare for departure in a month. While I am gone, you will be in charge of seeing to it that all my plans are fully implemented." She nodded at my instructions and said nothing else. Parvella was not one to beat a dead horse. I doubted I had convinced her that this was anything but foolish, but she had come to accept that my mind would not be changed.
I left the room once I was sure that she understood what had been asked of her and headed back to the castle. Vaemond was going to be the first I spoke to. I had no doubts that he was aware of Corlys' plans for a tenth voyage. And I knew for sure that if there was anyone that was going to be behind finishing off his dream for him, it would be his loyal younger brother who had lived his whole life under his shadow like moss under a great baobab.
Ser Ben waited at Parvella's door and took his place at my back—my own ever-present shadow. I realised then that I had just assumed he would be coming along without ever asking him if he wanted to. This was a risky mission, after all, and while he had sworn oaths to be my sworn shield, it was one thing to ask him to put his life in danger to save me from unforeseen threats; it was another to ask him to willingly venture into the Seven Hells with me.
"Ser Ben?" I asked as we walked out of the room and climbed our horses.
"My Lord?" he replied.
"You know what I am preparing for, yes?"
"A trip to Valyria," he said.
"What do you think about it?" I asked.
"It is not my place to do any thinking. My place is to guard you from dangers large and small."
"And yet I asked you the question regardless. Be honest."
"In House Celtigar, like House Velaryon I am sure, we are taught about Valyria from when we are children. Even at a young age, it was driven home that a quest to the island was courting destruction and the work of fools or the especially reckless."
"Don't hold back at all, will you?" I said with a smirk.
"But I have stood at your back for over ten years now. In that time, not a single time have I ever seen you truly fail. Others think they understand the scope of your ambition. I know for sure that they are wrong. Because I've made the same mistake multiple times. When you put your mind to something, you find your way to succeed. I thought this venture in the Stepstones would lead to endless war, but I look around me now and I see a thriving city being built on the corpses of those who had dared to stand in the way of your dream. I was taught that Valyria is an unachievable dream. And yet, with you, I think we could just do it," he said.
"So I guess there's no need to tell you that you can always choose to stay behind. I will not hold it against you if—when—I return."
"I have only failed to guard your back once, and that was at your behest. Every second I waited at Driftmark while you journeyed into the Lion's Den was torture. I will not let that happen again," he said, and that was that. We continued our journey down to the castle.
"Ben?" I called after a few minutes of silence.
"My Lord?"
"You are a good man. The best," I said.
"Thank you, My Lord. That is high praise."
"It is the truth," I said, and we returned to our comfortable silence.
I went over the pitch I would give Vaemond in my mind as we walked.
—
"This is foolishness," he said minutes after I'd begun my explanation of what I wanted us to do.
"Pardon?" Because surely I had to have misheard.
"I told Corlys when the fool idea first took root in his heart. Valyria is gone. There is nothing there for our families anymore. We moved to Westeros with House Targaryen, and for that choice, we escaped the Doom. Risking the future of our house by going back spits on all the sacrifices all your ancestors made to get us here. Do you know what legacy is left behind if you fall on a fool's venture to the lost island?" he said.
"Do you know what legacy I stand to leave behind if I succeed? The first man to captain a fleet to Valyria and back. The first man to come back with new Valyrian steel. Swords for my sons, healthy dowries for my daughters, and more importantly, even more gold to fund my endeavours here. You might not be aware of it, but the treasury is quickly emptying," I said.
"How would it not be? These projects of yours are not free. And if your goal is to convince me that the only way to fund them is with a foolhardy trip to Valyria, then you have come to the wrong place. Reduce the number of birds you hunt at a time, and you will find yourself having a much better time of it. Maybe that—what did you call it? University?—of yours could wait a decade or two and you will find things much more healthy for you to move forward," he said.
"I never took you for a coward," I scoffed.
"I am a man who understands that there is no need in risking what one has and needs for what one does not have and does not need," he said.
"And you see, that is the difference that has always existed between my father and you—he needed it. Just the same way I need it. I am not risking what I have and need for what I don't need. Because I need this win. Now the question becomes, Uncle, does that oath you swore to me after I burned my father's corpse mean anything to you?" I hissed the words, leaning my head closer to his so the desk between us seemed to shrink.
"When I swore to follow you as my Lord no matter where you led, I did not expect it to lead to Valyria of all places, but I haven't much of a choice, do I?"
"Good. We will be taking two ships. I will Captain one, and you will Captain the other. And technically speaking, we won't be heading to Valyria itself," I said.
"I don't see that distinction helping me get any sailors to agree to join on this journey of ours," he said.
"Promise a healthy payment to whatever family they leave behind if they do die on the journey. And if they do not, then thirty thousand gold dragons for each man that accompanies me on the journey," I said. Vaemond whistled.
"The treasury will not be able to bear that."
"Valyria has gold aplenty. And if not gold, I know houses that will pay a King's Ransom for a Valyrian steel," I said.
"Then we better hope we succeed then," Vaemond said.
"Find me a crew, Uncle. We leave in a month," I said before rising to my feet, and turning to leave him behind in the private dining hall.
A/N: Of course, Valyria will happen. While this seems a bit sudden, you can see that MC has been planning for it in the background even if he hadn't admitted to himself just what he was doing. Stockpiling copper, ordering the plague suits and having them refitted, making plans and testing if the ships would be able to handle the danger of the smoking sea. We'll spend a bit of time on Valyria and then loop back in time for the wedding. Is MC being completely logical here? Nope. But who ever is? As long as he can admit as much to himself then all is mostly well. Next four chapters up on patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga) (same username as here and link in bio), support me there and read them early. Started a new story, so there's a discount for the rest of the month on patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga)(expires in two days from now so don't snooze it): feel free to check that out as well.