Chapter 22: Solitude

111 AC

Dragonhall, Fairmarket

"As of this month, I would say that things are progressing smoothly, my Prince, the last touches and finishings on the roads are being conducted as we speak and by the end of the year, I am certain that it will be all over," Jasper Grafton said as he went through the ledgers during the council meeting.

The third son of a second son, he did not have many chances for advancement, so he came to King's Landing and joined the City Watch, it wasn't his martial ability that made him stand out but rather his ability to organize and sort things out, not to mention, he was good with money and took to my double bookkeeping method almost instantly, so I took him with me when I left for the war.

"Better roads mean more trade which means more coin flowing in our coffers," Maester Waldran replied stroking his beard, the sixty-year-old Maester was one of the first people to move into the town with me a decade ago, fortunately for me, he was the seneschal of the Citadel previously and his specialty was in the gold link, the study of money and accounts, and so he was a great help when it came to running the castle and the city.

"And also means that our troop movements will be more effortless and it will be faster for us to raise more men in times of need," Ser Lorent Marbrand added.

The Kingsguard knight was given to me by Viserys as a 'sorry for your troubles with Daemon in the Stepstones' gift. I have no idea if during the reign of Daeron II or Aerys I, the Kingsguard was assigned to Maekar in Summerhall but who am I to say no to a Kingsguard, if anything else, it improves my standing.

"Those good roads could also mean that any invading army will have a quick march towards us, but we have a dragon, so our worries are for naught, I suppose," Robb Rivers, Dacey's bastard half-brother and the commander of my legion of longbowmen plus spymaster replied to Ser Lorent.

Personally financing new road networks and improving existing ones across the entire Riverlands was unheard of because nobody wanted to help the other person but I managed to convince the other Lords to get on board with my scheme of allowing me to fix their roads, it took time but it worked, especially after showing them Gaelithox whilst he was being fed, similar to what my Grandfather did with Rogar.

It's not like I was preparing for a future war and marking all the places of note. I had already done that. Grover Tully wasn't happy with me bossing everyone around but when is he ever? So he tagged along and pretended as if he was integral to it. The entire thing was expensive but it will pay for itself in the long term.

"My Prince, the census that you have ordered for the city and the lands surrounding Fairmarket have also arrived," Waldran said as he walked over to the side table to retrieve another set of parchments.

I mandated that every ten years, a census must be taken of all my lands to ensure that we knew where to allocate resources, since the taxes of the Riverlands were no longer coming into my purse, I couldn't afford to spend it all on worthless ventures.

"The city of Fairmarket holds eighty thousand, three hundred people. While the remaining lands surrounding the city and of the Blue Fork are inhabited by around three hundred and ten thousand people."

"That is an increase in both areas," Jasper remarked upon hearing the numbers.

"True, and that number will only increase," Lorent nodded.

"It was a good thing then, that your Grace, expanded the size of the city when you had the chance, else we would have an overcrowding problem in the coming years," Waldran replied and he was right.

The builders gave me a plan for a city of a hundred thousand people but I disagreed and made them expand it to a hundred and fifty thousand people and then with a new district on the northern bank, we can add another thirty thousand.

"My Prince, do you have any more ideas and plans to implement, whenever we are on the cusp of completing something you tend to bring out the second thing," My steward Brynden Thorne asked, the poor guy was haggard after dealing with my ideas for more than a decade.

I don't know why everyone was so worried about my plans, they were just a few, a plan to make a new district of the city on the northern bank, a bunch of water wheels to get smithies and flour mills running faster, a few techniques to make farming more efficient, a bunch of new forts along the bank of the Blue Fork and finally new and improved roads similar to the roman style across the Riverlands.

I didn't have to do much, all I had to do was to bring over a bunch of builders from the Essos and Westeros and give them my ideas and a rough outlook on how it should work and they were smart enough to do the rest on their own. Westeros is not lacking for intelligent people to do things, it lacks creative people who have a sense of innovation.

"For now nothing," I answered to his relief.

"Tell me, Ser Lorent, how my boys are progressing in their training," I turned to him.

I put a sword in the hands of my sons from the minute they could hold a stick, Westeros was a dangerous place and it was going to get a whole lot more dangerous and they needed to be ready. It was hard enough as it was to raise two boys without a mother and it would be much worse to do that in Westeros where you happen to be a Targaryen.

"They have taken to swordplay as fish to water, your Grace, they will become formidable and fierce warriors one day," He answered with a nod. My sons happen to take after their namesakes when it came to fighting so all good there, I suppose.

"Good, good, anything else that needs to come to my attention,"

Both Waldran and Jasper began to speak at the same time, I stopped them and told Jasper to speak first mostly because I knew what Waldran had to say.

"Your Grace, ever since you made that deal with the Lyseni bankers, the amount of gold flowing into the Riverlands and Fairmarket has tripled, while the Lords who have benefitted with us are happy but the native merchants are complaining more and more that we have given over more privileges and benefits to them and the presence of a Lyseni quarter in Fairmarket has not helped things,"

I knew this was going to bite me in the ass one day. I have a good feeling that this is a stratagem used by the Essosi merchant princes now that they are deathly afraid of us, they know full well that if we get pissed we will destroy their cities to ash, so instead, they have decided to become our friends all the while swindling control of our economy from right underneath us, we may have won the war but they have won the peace.

Robb informs me "The Braavosi and Pentoshi are no better and this trend is happening all over Westeros, the predominance of the Essosi merchants is causing economic and social upheaval, and the native merchants are now in decline,"

Waldran add to it "Branches of the Rogare bank and the other banks of Volantis and Pentos have sprung up all over, King's Landing, Oldtown, Lannisport, Gulltown, Maidenpool, Saltpans, Lord Harroway's Town, Seagard, Harrentown, Duskendale, Spicetown, the Hull, Cuy, Ryamsport, Lord Hewett's Town and even Lordsport, to put it simply they have spread all over Westeros like a plague,"

"But for us and even for King's Landing, Driftmark, and all the other major cities, this arrangement is not completely controlled by them, half the bank is under our control and the other half is under theirs," I replied. Not to mention, Lyman is keeping a close eye on them, and should anything happen, he will pull the plug.

"And we have set up a clause in our contract that should the bank prove unsound, we shall be well within our rights to seize complete control," I continued.

Unlike the Iron Bank which is an entity of the city of Braavos, the other banks and cartels of the Free Cities are family-run businesses which mean should they fail then there would be nothing to support the economy when it freefalls unless the city of origin gives a bailout and knowing the fractious nature of Essosi politics, that is just not happening.

Waldran nods "That is true your grace and while this has been written into the contracts of all the banks in Westeros, most of these lords don't know how the bank works other than knowing that they get money and even if they do understand how the money and the bank works, I doubt most of them have the resources and people needed to run a bank on their own without the help of the Essosi and course this isn't even mentioning the economic collapse that will occur when these banks invariably fail,"

The Hightowers knew this would happen all along, they decided to let it happen with the knowledge that they will be better positioned to sweep in and take control should the Westerosi economy fail, the same goes for Corlys.

There aren't many houses in Westeros that can set up a successful bank, and the amount of knowledge, prerequisite funding, and manpower needed isn't something the average lord can muster, Hightower, Grafton, Lannister, Velaryon, maybe Manderly, and of course House Targaryen, I should have seen this coming a mile back, but no worries, I can still turn this around.

After thinking for a while I said "In that case, Jasper I suggest you get ready for taking a few more acquisitions across the Riverlands when the time comes, in the meantime, I believe we must start drafting new protections for the native merchants before the discontent starts to riot,"

They nod and then Waldran brings out a roll of parchment, "A raven from King's Landing, your Grace, a tourney is to be held for the fifth anniversary of King Viserys' and Queen Alicent's marriage and you have been invited to attend along with the twins, and this letter has been written by the King's hand,"

He continues, "It has been years since you have bothered to reply to a raven from King's-"

I cut him off, "Everybody out, meeting is over, I need to think of an excuse,"

Later that day

"Any particular reason why you don't want to go to King's Landing this time? You have been giving excuses for the past three years it sits only a matter of time before you run out of excuses."

"The King hasn't asked you to rejoin the Small Council or anything, all you have to do is go there and show yourself and the children and return, don't you think its time that the boys met the other side of their family," Robb asked me as we walked towards the training yards.

"Prolonged exposure to Targaryens can be injurious to their health," I drawled.

"Said by a Targaryen about two Targaryen boys," Robb smirked.

After the war, I didn't bother to go to King's Landing, I flew straight to Raventree Hall and then Fairmarket, other than a few visits around the Riverlands, I haven't left my abode of peace.

Tongues have been waging of the brooding Prince in Fairmarket and sulking Prince of the Stepstones.

Even if I didn't go to King's Landing and if I let the shit that goes on continue its course, Rhaenyra will come to Fairmarket on her royal progress across the Riverlands. And of course, that idiot Daemon will come here and ruin my life after he is exiled for the nth time from King's Landing.

No, I can't have them ruining my peaceful life, I need to put a plug in it before it is too late.

"Do you think, you can get the boys to bond with a few dragons while you are there?" Robb unexpectedly asked me, the boys have been hounding me over the dragons ever since they went on their first ride on Gaelithox.

"I doubt those dragon eggs will hatch, I am certain that there must be a few hatchlings in the Dragonpit or the Dragonmount," He said.

"The dragon chooses the rider, not the other way round, besides it is ideal that they grow to become men first before they go after dragons, I am sure you have heard the sad and tragic story of Princess Aerea, dragons are not dogs to be brought to heel, they are wilful and intelligent creatures. The boys should mature into men before they learn to handle dragons," I answered to which he cautiously nodded.

"I suppose that is true,"

We reached the training yard to see both Daemon and Aegor hacking away at each other with their wooden swords, a smile came on my face on seeing that, both of them were equally good and no clear winner could be decided.

They were my pride and joy, they were the two shining lights in my life when I was in a dark place, the bouncing balls of energy who could scream down the whole city together, if anything happened to them I would burn the world down, and whenever I look at them my heart would clench thinking about their mother.

Then almost simultaneously upon seeing me and they both threw down their swords and run toward me,

"KEPA,"

"KEPA,"

"How are my little dragons and what are they doing?" I asked as I knelt to pick them both up and I gave each of them a kiss on the forehead.

Daemon exclaims first, "Ser Lorent is teaching us swordplay Father, and I'm best at it,"

"NOOO, I AM BEST AT IT," Aegor shouts back.

"Calm down, Aegor, the two of you are equally good," I try to mollify them.

"But Kepa, if we are both the best then how will I win?" Daemon asks in confusion while Aegor sputters in indignation. He is six and he is already gunning for the top prize. Something tells me that the future with these two might be more trouble than I can imagine.

I pretended to think for a while before answering, "When two warriors are equal, then the winner is the person with the greater desire to win, Do you understand that?"

Daemon nodded while Aegor still looked a bit unsure, So I leaned over to him, "You both love lemon cakes, don't you,"

He happily nodded thinking about his favorite treat, "Now think that there is only one lemon cake left and the two of you want it, so who do I give it to?"

"Me?" He hesitantly asked while Daemon huffed.

"If you ask me more times than Daemon then I will give it to you and if Daemon asks me more times then I will give it to him,"

"And the same goes for swordplay and everything else for that matter, the only way you will win is if you want it more than the next person and you must keep trying, keep trying to win, don't allow yourself to accept defeat and never give up, you get me,"

Aegor nodded, understanding what I meant. "Does this mean we get to have lemon cakes today?" Daemon hopefully asked to which Aegor giggled.

"You get lemon cakes every day, so stop acting like you don't" I groaned and they both burst into giggles. It was my fault for bringing up the lemon cake.

"Now, why did I come here, yes, we are going to King's Landing," I say to their shocked faces.

And then began the barrage of questions that I should have foreseen.