Chapter 25: Meet the New Boss

Of course, before I went around re-arranging the skyline, I had to meet my new subordinates. I had sent Nevermore ahead to tell them when I’d be arriving and to ask for a meeting of the lord’s council. Then Nevermore had winged his way north to Winterfell; it was hard for Ned to be so far apart from the rest of his family, and that way he could at least get and send news in near-real time.

After ordering a servant to find Dany rooms near my own and look after her needs, Jon and I were led off to greet the officers of Harrenhal and Harrentown.

There was the Marshal, who was in charge of all military affairs, Ser Deran Middlebury. A fierce man with a cynical outlook into his middle years, he had a stout build. He preferred to organize and command from the rear. He was responsible not just for the men, but for their logistics as well.

The Captain of the Guard was Ser Levir Hawick. Stern, average height and solidly built, his red hair sported a widow’s peak. He was in his thirties and very respectful. His job was to see to the day to day operation of the Guard, focusing more on a tactical/executive level than a strategic one. He was Ser Deran’s second in command.

Ser Kase Crane was Master-at-Arms. Restless and energetic he was a strong man but with a bit of fat to him and despite being fairly young had thinning brown hair. His job was to train the soldiers in how to fight, and help lead them in war.

The Master of the Horse was Ser Darran Perk, a gentle man, especially with horses. He had sandy hair and his long face suited his lanky frame. He was responsible for selecting and caring for the horses and helped in training the men to ride and fight from horseback. Like Ser Kase, he would help lead the guardsmen in combat.

Chief Constable Arnol Stally was outspoken and a bit of a braggart. Tall, with salt and pepper hair and beard he kept the populace of Harrenhal and Harrentown in line.

Chief Steward Stefon Bridges was my senior civilian manager and advisor. He looked after the finances for my house, which Jon would now be helping with, made sure taxes were collected, and commanded the castle’s servants. He was assertive, confident and competent. His blue eyes, black hair, thin frame and average height made me think he might hail from the Stormlands.

Mayor of Harrentown Edam Blest was a bit of a worrier, wringing his hands during our meeting. He was shorter than average, solidly built, and had a large bulbous nose.

The Harrentown Dockmaster was Dorran Lander. He might as well have had his picture under the encyclopedia’s entry for sailor; he was talkative, average height, had light brown watery eyes, a broken nose, and missing a finger that he’d likely accidentally cut when gutting fish or lost in a net.

The Septon, Marcyn Chess, was a disagreeable and self-righteous man, taller than average, soft in body and not a great orator. I suspected that we might have trouble after I showed off my magic.

The Maester was called Connor Rislet. Compassionate, intelligent and pragmatic I was glad to have him. Physically a little shorter than average, he was fit but skinny and had thinning salt-and-pepper close-cropped hair.

Master Smith Bryan Teague was the senior smith for the castle, and the most accomplished in the region. Sharp-witted and tongued he had a reputation for no nonsense. Shorter than average but built like a beer barrel he reminded me a bit of a fantasy dwarf-smith.

Chief huntsman Orwen Wyne was calm and quiet, of average height and build, and brown haired.

After meeting them and hearing their reports on the state of my lands, I wasn’t particularly happy. Nor was I particularly surprised though. Things were as I’d been told to expect by Ned and Robert. I wanted to get started with my magic then and there, but decided it might be better to wait until I had spoken with Ned and Robert, laying all my cards out on the table. Even if they knew and suspected the truth, it was just polite and what a friend should do.

So instead I laid out my general vision for the future. How I’d be using my knowledge to better than double the food production. How we were soon going to be the top steel producers in Westeros. How Harrenhal was going to be the first place in Westeros with a proper paper-mill and printing press.

Basically, that there were good things coming, and that I’d be leading the territory to wealth and power for all involved.

Furthermore, I’d be fixing the damned castle.

They seemed cautiously optimistic, which was about what I was hoping for, though they obviously disbelieved my last claim to fix the castle and its curse. Now that I’d met them and verified there were no critical emergencies, I was able to go back and start gathering together the caravan of smiths, alchemists, and other experts. Of course they’d need an escort on the road, so I told my new Captain, Ser Levir, to take as many men as he thought necessary to be safe on the road to King’s Landing and then escort my experts back to Harrenhal. It would take Ser Levir about two weeks to get to King’s Landing; I certainly wasn’t going to travel at that slow pace.

I sent Hue back to Ned with the message that I’d be by King’s landing tomorrow and would like to speak with him and Robert.

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I left Jon behind to start getting the clerks using double entry book-keeping, and to find some boys from Harrentown who could be trained up as clerks to go back through the last few years of accounts and re-record them in a better format. Daenerys was taking a much deserved rest and relaxation. And I left in the morning for King’s Landing.

Riding quickly and fueled to endure with extra charges of Green, Aethon, Togo and I managed to arrive in King’s Landing some nine hours later. It was still the early afternoon. Ned and Robert weren’t busy, and were happy to meet with me.

I looked at them slightly nervously, hoping that they’d react well to what I was about to say. “So. I’m not sure how exactly to say this… You know how Togo is absolutely massive, and Aethon can run faster than any other horse but Shadowfax? There’s a simple reason for that. I’m a wizard.”

Robert and Ned just looked at each other and burst out laughing.

I was taken aback. “That was not the reaction I was expecting,” I muttered.

Robert was howling in amusement and smacking his leg in his paroxysms. “I’m a wizard! Hahahaha! As if that’s a secret! Ahahahaha! And his face, Ned, his face! AHAHAHAHAHAH!”

I narrowed my eyes. “Alright then. I’m glad I’ve amused you,” I said snarkily.

Eventually they calmed down a bit. “So what brought this stunning revelation on, Odysseus?” Ned asked. Robert started laughing again as soon as he heard the word “revelation.”

“I’m planning on coming out about it, at least to an extent,” I replied. “Harrenhal is a wreck. I’m stunned that none of the towers have collapsed yet, but it’s only a matter of time. Ten years, twenty, fifty… I have no desire to be buried in falling rocks. And the place is fucking cursed to boot. There’s no way to fix either of those without a lot of pretty obvious spells getting thrown about.”

Ned raised his eyes. “Your magic can fix something like that?” he asked incredulously.

“I’ve gotten a lot stronger since leaving Winterfell,” I admitted. “And I roughly doubled my strength while in Essos. I figured out how to achieve some of the same effects of the wonders there. Volantis’ Black Wall taught me how to mold stone and repair it, while in Qohor I saw enough of how they reforged Valyrian steel to be able to make my own.”

That last one had their attention. “New Valyrian steel, you mean?” Robert asked seriously.

A wide and gleeful smile dawned on my face. “That’s right. I need to work on it while it’s being made by a master smith, but I can manage it. I’ll be selling them at set rates, a hundred times the weight of the weapon in gold for true Valyrian folded steel. Twenty five times the weight of the weapon for unfolded Valyrian steel. Or five times the weight of a metal item to have it given a Valyrian blessing.”

“What’s the difference?” Robert asked.

“The Valyrian blessing is the basics of the magic they put in the steel. It makes it so the metal doesn’t dull or break, at least not that I’ve been able to manage at the sorts of forces a human can exert. The metal also gets a lot lighter, which is both a good and a bad thing. Swords and other weapons rely partially on their weight to cut, after all. The best part about the Valyrian blessing though is that it can be applied to something that’s already been forged, including armor.”

I could just see their eyes light up at that.

“One level up from the blessing is unfolded Valyrian steel, or as I think of it false Valyrian steel. This does everything the blessing does but also makes the edge of the blade very sharp. However, it needs to be cast while the blade is still somewhat fluid. After the sword will have an edge sharper than the finest razor.

“And then there’s the pinnacle. The problem with true Valyrian steel is that it needs a smith with skill, soul and heart sufficient to shape the magic. I can provide the power, but not the inspired act of artistic creation. But true Valyrian folded steel is truly amazing. To begin with this takes the advantages of the less sophisticated techniques and makes them even greater. Then the magic and the smith work together to imbue the blade with the conceptual ideal of cutting. If cutting was a god, then the sword would be its saint. Beyond that, there is something about the blade that causes them to strike true. Lastly, the sword gains metaphysical weight to replace what was lost to the magic. When the blade strikes it hits just as hard as non-magical steel of that size and speed would, but since the blade is lighter and thus faster it actually allows the wielder to strike harder.”

Ned nodded. “That has been my experience with Ice,” he agreed. “How many of these blades can you make?”

I grinned. “We will be making a single item a month. The right to choose what is made will be auctioned, then the purchaser will pay the price of the item itself.”

Ned sighed. “Of course. Your pricing seemed far too reasonable. I should have expected something like that.”

I shrugged. “One a month, auctioned, will bring me more than enough income to help reform my territory. But I was thinking we might help each other. Lord Manderly has a quarterly auction of the treasury bills and bonds. I was hoping you might add three of my monthly items to the auction, one for each of the months of that quarter, and publicize it ahead of time. We could start with the auction in two months time.”

Robert nodded. “That would certainly bring a large crowd to the auctions,” he agreed.

I smiled. “Thank you, Robert.” He had told me after I brought back Daenerys that if I didn’t call him Robert, at least in private, that he’d appoint me to the small council too. “Now, in appreciation of our friendship I wanted to offer the two of you some gifts. First, you can ask for whatever weapons or armor you like from me before the auction. I only ask that you wear it to the first one, and show it off.

“Other than that, I wanted to offer to improve you with my magic. I can make you supernaturally strong and fast, make your flesh as hard to damage as stone, give you a slight premonition of danger, give you a defense as powerful as leather armor that will work on any attacks – even magical ones, shield you so that it would take a dozen archers shooting at once to overcome the protection and harm you, make your bones nigh unbreakable, make it so that you heal faster and are healthier and harder to poison in general, improve the good qualities you can absorb from your food, make it so that dirt and sweat comes off of your body and you stay ever clean, and make it so that the wind assists you when moving and cools you when standing.”

Their eyes glazed a bit at the list of upgrades you could provide. “You have all of these?” Ned asked incredulously. “And they’re safe?”

I nodded. “I do. And, they are safe. For you, at least. The supernaturally enhanced strength and speed might make bed-sports dangerous if the woman is someone not so blessed, and you will have to take care when practicing not to accidentally injure your opponents,” I clarified. “I am willing to offer the same to Catelyn, Ned, and your children save for the strength. And for you, Robert, I can offer the same to your future wife, and to Lord Barristan. But I think you can understand why I am wary of making too many superhumans, and the process is not without difficulty.”

Robert was stunned. “Damn. That’s quite the offer. Let me think on it a minute.”

I smiled. “There’s no rush. I can always give you the upgrades later.”

Ned was considering it, then after a minute he nodded. “I will take you up on the offer, in full,” he agreed. “And I will ask Catelyn to do the same.”

Robert sighed. “Ah, fuck it. I’m in too. But not the strength; I couldn’t bear to lose out on my fun. Mayhap things will change after I’m married, but I wouldn’t count on it.”

“The regeneration brings increased stamina as well. Your future wife might surprise you,” I said, grinning.

Robert laughed. “Now if you want to truly make a fortune, you should sell that!”

I shook my head. “No, that is only for my friends.”

“And we’re honored to be counted as part of that number,” Robert replied, draping his arms around Ned and me. “Now, I think this calls for a bit of a celebration.”

Robert proceeded to try and get us all drunk.

Huh. I guessed I should have mentioned how hard that was going to be for him in the future.

Nah. Let him find that one out on his own.