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—
Lord Harroway's Town
After negotiating the finer details of the agreement with Lord Rhydan, they had reached a satisfactory deal.
As agreed before, Asgard Trading Company would pass through the bridge without any tolls, and Lord Rhydan would find the workers and the materials necessary for the bridge, while Robert sent the coin.
House Roote would be tasked with maintaining and defending the bridge, and should they fail in their tasks, such as the bridge falling into disrepair or the tolls increasing to ridiculous amounts, then Asgard would take control of the bridge.
Of course, it would have to wait while Robert was done with his trip to the North and beyond.
—
His next step would have been Eyrie, but with Jon and Elbert still on the road to their home from Storm's End, Robert would make his way to Heart's Home to not delay the journey and then to White Harbor.
While Lyn Corbray fought against Jon during Robert's rebellion, his father's situation was more ambiguous. Still, they were sworn to Eyrie and would no doubt be honored to host the foster son of their liege lord.
He had considered flying to Three Sisters, but their loyalty to House Arryn was tenuous at best, and with the islands having an infamous reputation, Robert didn't want to deal with any potential bullshit.
As for White Harbor, while the relations between Robert and the Starks were colder than the Lands of Always Winter, he and House Manderly had amicable dealings, owing to the large amounts of timber Asgard bought.
—
Heart's Home
Vale of Arryn
The aging lord of Heart's Home, Donnel Corbray, had greeted him at the gates as he landed outside.
His sons are Lyonel, the heir; Lyn, a member of Robert's Kingsguard in another life; and Lucas, the youngest.
Heart's Home was cold and misty due to the glacial river that flowed into the narrow bay where the castle was built.
House Corbray was an old house but also a poor one, yet they still greeted Robert with generous hospitality.
Robert refused the feast, saying he would depart early in the morning, and instead took the dragons to hunt, letting Sandor keep his feet on the ground for a while.
Obelisk and Slifer had finished their hunt and were looking for water. They landed near a small spring a couple of miles away from the castle, and Robert got off to let the dragons drink, while he quenched his thirst too.
Nothing felt like fresh, cold spring water.
Taking a mouthful, Robert sloshed the water in his mouth and spat it out, hacking at the bitter taste, while the dragons backed off.
The water was bitter.
"What the fuck? Can't I even drink water without something happening?" Robert groaned, resolved to go and drink at the castle.
At least they would have clear water.
A memory struck him, and Robert began to think, trying to remember it. It had something to do with the reason water could taste bitter like this.
Racking his mind, it took a solid thirty minutes before he remembered it.
Sometimes, ore veins leach minerals into groundwater, and trace amounts are dissolved when the water seeps through rocks containing metals.
So, there was a small possibility that there was an ore vein somewhere around the spring or near its source.
—
Lord Corbray wasn't too hopeful about the ore vein but nonetheless promised to investigate.
Not like it would cost Robert anything if the man didn't.
Sleeping in the guestroom while the dragons slept outside, snuggled together for warmth, Robert dreamed of vengeance.
—
The next morning, Robert and Sandor took off with farewells and packed up light, as this leg of their journey would take longer since Heart's Home wasn't exactly close to the northern shore of Vale.
Robert landed the dragons once, near the shore, so they could rest and feed before flying to White Harbor. The only location they could land was the Three Sisters, and Greywater Watch if they went west, which would prolong the journey.
Gliding over the Three Sisters, Robert could see that the dragons were tiring. Obelisk and Slifer would make the journey, but their stay at White Harbor might be longer than predicted since he pushed the dragons too much.
—
White Harbor
His dragons landed outside the harbor to avoid any commotion and immediately lay down to rest.
Rather than go and leave Obelisk and Slifer alone, Robert chose to wait for Lord Wyman's eldest son, Wylis Manderly. The fat lord could use the exercise.
As a procession consisting of the heir of White Harbor and his brother came, the only reason Robert didn't laugh was because of how stiff and cold he felt from flying all that distance.
The only thing that separated Wylis and his brother, Wendel, from walruses was the lack of fur and fangs; otherwise, Robert would be laughing his ass off.
Bald with walrus mustaches, both sons of Lord Wyman were fat enough to put the canon Robert to shame, with food-stained clothes, and rode on horses that barely carried them.
A couple more years, and Wylis and Wendel would likely only be able to ride elephants.
"Lord Robert, we weren't aware of your visit." Wylis was quiet for his size and formal. The fresh food stains on his clothes reinforced the idea that the noble was always hungry.
Robert offered a small smile. "I had to make an impromptu journey to the lands beyond the Wall; I didn't really have the time to inform anyone."
That explanation intrigued the lord. "What could make you cross the Wall?"
"There is a Targaryen bastard who signed his death warrant, and I intend to execute it." Robert saw no reason to keep his reason for going beyond the Wall a secret.
He would bring back Brynden's head, covered in honey to keep it from rotting.
Both brothers looked at each other, confused as to who would draw Robert Baratheon's ire from beyond the wall, and how.
"Then I extend you the hospitality of White Harbor."
"Thank you, Lord Wylis; I gladly accept."
Bread and salt were offered, and the dragons were content to follow, laying down on the courtyard to rest more, while Robert and Sandor joined Lord Wylis.
—
King's Landing
Red Keep
Small Council Chambers
"What did you just say?!" Rhaegar yelled, his fingers going white from how violently he was squeezing the table.
He seemed to be repeating that exact sentence when it came to Robert.
Varys smiled innocently while internally enjoying the look on King Rhaegar's face. "Lord Robert has decided to journey north, beyond the Wall. He claims that Bloodraven, the legitimized son of King Aegon IV, still lives and was the one who tried to kill Lady Rhaelle through sorcery."
He had already explained how Robert had saved his grandmother from certain death, with valor that defied death.
The Targaryens were exasperated, and it further added to the Spider's joy.
"How unfortunate that he failed." Daeron snarled. As long as it hurt Robert, he didn't care about any blood ties to Rhaelle.
The Queen Mother disagreed. "Daeron!" She admonished her second son, and the young man just turned his head away.
"No, no, no, no, no." Rhaegar got up, pacing around the chambers as he muttered "no" over and over again.
"Brynden Rivers can't be alive; he would have to be well over a century." Mace was good with history and preened like a peacock as the Small Council turned to him.
"Lord Robert did not share the details but appears to be convinced it was him." Varys knew that the king had an unnatural fixation on magic and prophecies, and if Bloodriven lived, then it would stand to reason the two were in contact.
The king's response was a dead giveaway.
"Your Grace, do you know anything about Brynden?" Aegon asked, suddenly worried that his brother might be dabbling in sorcery.
Jon Connington and Gerold Hightower shared a small talk, remembering the conversation the king had with Robert Baratheon back at Storm's End.
"Husband." Lyanna called out to the king, who was still lost in his own world as he paced up and down, chewing his finger in agitation. "Husband!" The Queen of the Seven Kingdoms raised her voice, holding her swollen stomach as the baby kicked.
"What?" Rhaegar finally realized someone was calling him and stopped pacing.
"Brother, are Robert's claims true?" Aegon asked. First Daeron had that sorceress from Asshai around him; now Rhaegar might be doing something similar too.
"I don't know." Rhaegar lied through his teeth. He couldn't let anyone know about Bloodraven.
Already too many knew; if the knowledge spread, it would be too dangerous.
Aegon wasn't convinced and reiterated his question. "You always speak of prophecies and the legends of the North. Are you sure you know nothing?"
Rhaegar's eyes narrowed. "Are you calling me a liar?"
His younger brother met his challenging gaze, and tension began to build up.
"I am sure your brother only meant to ask if there was something you might be overlooking." Fortunately, Queen Rhaella was sensible enough to calm her sons down.
Tywin Lannister finally deigned to speak. "We should focus on more immediate matters. Whether Brynden Rivers somehow lives and is responsible for the attempt on Rhaelle Baratheon's life or not, it does not affect us."
With Princess Shaena pregnant with his grandchild, there lay the possibility of a betrothal between Steffon's daughter and Jaime's eldest son to cement the friendship between Tywin and Steffon.
If that friendship still held any value after Cersei's actions.
Just remembering his disgraceful daughter irritated the Lord of Casterly Rock.
"Indeed, I believe Lord Steffon's daughter is a much more important matter." Mace would try for a betrothal in a decade and a half, but Willas was already fifteen winters, so it would have to be between his grandson and Lord Steffon's daughter.
"If the babe lives. Early births die more often than not." Between Daeron and Aegon, Rhaella had an early birth, with the child dying soon after.
Pycelle had claimed it was a miracle that the child had been carried that long, with how malformed the little body was.
The Dowager Queen was sure Elia Martell's letters had aided her.
"Indeed, however, my little birds whisper that Robert Baratheon brought his doctor to watch over his sister."
"That would change things. Lady Elia's healers are miracles." As the ruling house of Reach, House Tyrell was one of the first houses to have a "doctor"—and what a queer word it was—appointed by Elia Martell.
His wife, and even his mother in a rare good mood, had praised the healers, claiming the maester could afford to learn from him.
Rhaella hummed. "Let us assume the child will survive; she is too young for any lord to consider a betrothal." No lord, unless they were despicable enough, would ask for, or offer, the hand of a newborn.
Steffon definitely was not.
"Yet once she is old enough, suitors will be vying for her hand to be good-brothers with Robert." Jon, just like everyone else, had heard of all the betrothal offers Robert had received and refused, citing he wanted to wed someone as great as himself.
"That is years away. What have they named the child?" His eldest son was already wed and only had daughters, leaving Wyman no one to offer for in the future.
"Talizorah, my lord." Varys had ordered his contacts to research the name to see if there was any significance behind the name, but nothing had come of it yet in the short time.
"I… have never heard that name before, or anything like it." Rhaella racked her brain but could not remember ever hearing that name before, nor anything close to it.
"It was a suggestion from Lord Robert."
"Neither the child nor her name matters now. We still have no idea what to do with Robert's refusal to pay his taxes." Daeron was seething at the memory of how the tax collectors had come up empty-handed and how his brother accepted it without doing anything.
"We don't speak it, because there is nothing to speak. Robert is a brute that will resort to violence, and all those scorpions we had built are now useless against his dragons." Aegon hated how rash Daeron was, and to think he was granted Summerhall.
He wouldn't feel jealous of his brother, but Daeron was obviously not fit to be a good lord.
"Lord Varys should watch Storm's End to see what becomes of the girl. Lord Wyman, what of the tax collection?" Tywin steered the conversation away from Robert Baratheon; otherwise, the Targaryens would talk about him all day.
Damn their obsession.
"Fortunately, the realm is experiencing a great flow of coin, and it has increased the taxes."
It went without saying that it was due to the gold Robert Baratheon was spending to build his city.
—
Iron Islands
Pyke
"This is the greatest opportunity we have. We should strike while no dragons guard Asgard." Sawane Botley hollered. The Ironborn showed their agreement by chanting war cries.
"Even if we were to succeed, the threat the dragons possess would still exist." Rodrik Harlaw, or The Reader, reminded his fellow lords.
No amount of gold was worth the trouble of warring against a man who had slain a demon, especially the one who had destroyed Valyria.
Baelor Blacktyde snorted. "We take hostages and occupy the city. Robert Baratheon can't afford to burn his lands."
"What is to stop him from burning our keeps for vengeance?" Rodrik asked. His question silenced the lords, who looked at each other for an answer.
Their search was answered by perhaps the most deranged man in the room, and perhaps in the entirety of the Iron Islands. "Look at you, gossiping as old women do, too afraid to take what you want. Did you forget who we are? We are the Ironborn. Baratheon's ancestors lost the Riverlands to the Hoares, and he will lose Asgard to us." Euron Greyjoy used ancient history to rally the lords.
"That still doesn't offer a solution for the dragons." Balon was all for raiding and pillaging, but without dragon fire raining down on them.
And no matter how insane his younger brother was, he also had a plan.
Euron began to cackle. "I know how to bring his dragons down, but tell me, are you ready to set sail to conquer Asgard? To take its gold, riches, and women? To show the world that we are conquerors? Or will you go and hide behind the skirts of your wives, like cowards?"
He had the Dragonbinder and another surprise ready for Robert Baratheon, and nothing would stop him from taking Asgard.
Nothing.
"For the Drowned God!" "We pay the iron price!" "To Asgard!"
Cheers and howls rose from the room, and Rodrik Harlaw silently promised to find a way to stay out of the fight.
This could only end in disaster.
—
Targaryen Family Tree
King Rhaegar, eldest, 29 by 288, born 259 - Wed to Lyanna Stark
Shaena, eldest daughter, second born, canon born 267, story born 265, 23 by 288—wed to Jaime Lannister, Lady of Casterly Rock
Daeron, second son, 21 by 288, born 267 - Unwed, Lord of Summerhall
Aegon, canonically born in 272, story born in 270, 18 by 288—wed to Lady Janna Tyrell
Jaehaerys, born in 274, was 14 by 288.
Viserys, born in 276 in canon, 280 in the story, and 8 by 288
Daenerys, born in 284 in canon and 287 in the story, is 1 year old by 288.
Lyanna Stark, born in 267, was 21 by 288, had a late marriage to Rhaegar due to Robert's shenanigans, and was pregnant near the end of 287.
—
Small Council
Tywin Lannister as Hand of the King
Varys as Master of Whispers
Wyman Manderly, Master of Coin
Jon Connington, Master of Ships
Mace Tyrell, Master of Laws
Lord Commander Gerold Hightower
Grand Maester Pycelle
—
King's Guard
Jonothor Darry, brother to master-at-arms Willem Darry
Gerold Hightower, Lord Commander
Barristan Selmy
Oswell Went
Mandon Moore
Arys Oakheart
Bonifer Hasty