143
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298 AC
Summer Isles - Ebonhead
Eragon Targaryen
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"I am more surprised to see these tunnels than I am the coin." My mom peeks inside one of the dragon's claw and fire-dug tunnels as I hold the torch up.
"Well, you haven't even seen the coin and it's, not just coin we are stacking everything of value down here since the dragons are the best guards. We have not had any real trouble but we did find one scared serving girl who got 'lost' and ended up down here and pinned down by Vhagar." My mom turns around with a raised brow.
"What happened to her?" I shrug and lead us down to the door and start working on opening it as she takes the torch from me.
"We let her go after some discussion on the matter, it is no secret we are rich but killing someone does little to dissuade would-be thieves. Letting a potential thief run away with stories of dragons pouncing on her from the dark tunnels scares people to their very core. I mean they scream and cheer seeing them fly around but getting close to one is the last thing anyone on the Isles wants to do." The door opens and I take the torch back and spot an amused smile on her lips as she brushes past me into the vault.
"So let's see what you have amassed down here." I walk around the Braziers that were filled for this very day and the room slowly lights up as the fires grow.
"It should be enough to compete with a great house for a few years, given we have no active growth other than 'war'. We are building up our fleet in any way we can from building new ships like our Flagship the big black one you saw yesterday. We also are buying from private owners and claiming every ship we can by war, lots of ships are off on voyages though. We should easily get to the two hundred mark though so we have no problems transporting armies when needed." She runs her hands over some coins from Essos that we didn't bother to sort and takes a handful.
"I taught you better than to let something like this mix, would be a pain in the butt to sort this and there are multiple chests like this." She sighs and shakes her head but with a fond smile on her lips.
"We just dump chest out when we get more delivered from our 'winnings' and sort them from gold on the left and silver in the middle. Everything else gets tossed into these chests on the right that we will eventually sort when we are bored enough." She nods and makes her way past the assorted mess coins and approaches the silver.
"Not just coins but cups and plates along with jewelry of fine craftsmanship, did you take up my advice to hire a jewelry smith?" I nod as we have already got her plan in motion.
"Yea I am still kicking myself I didn't think of something like that, it makes sense with all the gems we have." She looks over her shoulder with an 'arrogant' look as she flicks a silver coin back into a chest with some more.
"Your mom still has a lot she can teach you that you might miss, I am glad you took me up on it as it will be a good source of income. I imagine you will hire even better smiths in the future and become quite famous for your sales if you play the field correctly." I smile as she finally gets to the gold.
My thoughts linger on how she came up with a good way to use the gems we have in abundance. Hiring a smith to forge some of our silver and a bit of our gold and make necklaces and rings along with other items adorned with our varying gems. Ruby is reserved for our house as red is our color and we like to use the rubies we have for ourselves but the rest of the gems get used. First chance we get we will sell the jewelry and see what the returns are like but I imagine it will be better than just selling the gems on their own.
Some places buy the gems to make jewelry that we will still sell some to so we don't outright make enemies before we can enter the market but we are using a vast majority ourselves.
"I would say your assumption is correct this looks more than enough to compete with a great house, for a few years at least. You must remember we have an account with the Iron bank with the gold we made off with from Dragonstone. Your father for a reason unknown to me saw fit to have a majority of the Iron thrones coffers moved to Dragonstone shortly before things got really bad. The account has not been touched and should have only grown with the deal we had with the bank, you are allowed access to it." I halt in all thoughts as I hear her words, I only vaguely remember the gold we used to have in the old house with the red door.
"Didn't you take the gold to Sunspear?" She sits on one of the chests as she faces me and chuckles.
"Why would we take everything to Dorne? We only had enough to be useful in an emergency on our person and the majority is in the bank. The bank is not to be trusted for the most part, they are not rich without cause and they are not above the temptations of man. But so long as we are a 'threat' they won't play games with our gold and try to make off with it so to speak." I fondly smile remembering Braavos and imagine flying back there one day on Arrax.
"I am sure they would keep our account accurate and treat us kindly should I land at the bank with Arrax." She snorts and stands up from the chest and looks over the other items in the room one by one.
"I am sure they would take great care of what is ours." Her hands pass over a roll of shimmering silk from Naath as her words come out ice cold.
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"I honestly can't wait, I want to see them already." I sit back on my couch as I look across the room at Shaena talking with Ashara and Melisandre.
"Impatient to see what they look like to verify they are yours?" The humorous voice of Zeina hits my ears from behind and I crack a smile.
"I think you need to worry about your own baby on the way... your wife went years without carrying and she starts staying at the palace and falls pregnant shortly after." His joyful laughs stop and I hear him groan.
"Let us not talk about this kind of thing anymore my Prince, I fear I will start seeing things and have to kill someone." I feel a full belly laugh build up as he runs his hand through his hair.
"I agree, but I have to compliment you on picking such a fine woman as I enjoyed the way her legs fel-." I roll off the couch hearing his chair screech and he is giving me the 'look'.
A battle of wills starts as our eyes meet and the room goes silent.
"Training yard?" I ask fighting off a smirk when I see his lip twitch noticing the situation changed when everyone in the room looked our way.
"At your leave my Prince." His voice is stiff as he tries to not look put off by all the attention and questioning looks.
I only make it around the corner before I have to lean on the wall as laughter fills the halls. Zeina shakes his head with a smile that shows how he really feels.
"Still want to hit the yard?" He asks and I nod eagerly.
"If we don't one of my wives will notice from out the window and question where we really ran off to." His eyes widen and he picks up the pace as we head down the halls and stairs to 'settle grudges'.
I quite enjoy the back-and-forth we toss at each other and he seems to enjoy it as well so I have no intention to stop.
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Laying in bed with Shaena laying on her side as I hug her from behind, my arm under her head slowly going numb but it's worth it. My other arm is free and my hand glides across her bare stomach as I close my eyes in thought.
"You still awake?" She asks even though it is obvious and I kiss the back of her head in response. "What are you thinking about?" I hook my free arm under her breasts and make sure I am not pushing on the baby as I pull her closer.
"Thinking about names and faces, will the baby look more like me or like you and should we name it something rare or something tried and tested." She groans a bit as she places a hand over my own.
"Not that I don't love your enthusiasm but it is late and I asked you to sleep with me so I could be cuddled not kept up." I smile at her prickly mood, just half an hour ago she was attention-seeking and needy.
"I won't keep you up to long I just want to talk a bit about it since I can't sleep without hearing your thoughts. Ashara wants to name the baby Vorian if it is a boy or Nymeria if it is a girl. I am not sure how I feel about Nymeria since we already know a Nymeria but it is a nice name regardless and Vorian is good as well. Both names are from warriors and that is what the baby will be when it grows up unless it doesn't want to then it can pick someth-." She smacks my arm and I stop talking as I scrunch my face up.
"Too much talking, not enough sleeping, If it's a boy I am naming him, and if it's a girl you can name her." I relax and she nuzzles her head into her pillow and a new nagging thought worms into my mind.
"What will you call him if it's a boy." A loud sigh escapes her as she turns around to face me and I make room to not push on the baby.
"I was thinking Rhaegar or Daeron would be nice for the brothers we lost but I am also liking the name Aemon. Now close our eyes and before you tell me about the names you like you can tell me in the morning when I am less tired." She presses her lips on mine quickly before her eyes shut closed and her head falls onto the pillow.
"Only just less tired and not well rested?" I ask playfully and when I feel her hand grip my manhood my mouth seals shut.
My head hits the pillow and I feel her grip loosen but not let go as she keeps the 'warning' abundantly clear. My name for a girl can wait until morning and it gives me plenty of time to pick one I like and will do the future Targaryen good. A powerful name for a future princess that will ride a dragon if I have anything to say about it.
I don't know when the dragons will start laying eggs but I hope it won't be too long, I want my kids to grow with their dragons so their bond is close.