Chapter 79: Chapter 79
"Brother! We need more stones!"
I watch as Dany waves at me as her dragons land next to me. She and her dragons helped me build the new capital. Her dragons are called Naemys, Maenya, and Jaelys.
I look to the side and order one of the workers.
"Give her the big chest. Three of them."
A full, big chest does not change in weight. That means even when the big chest is full with deepslate tiles, it still weighs twenty-five kilograms. A cubic meter deepslate tile is about three thousand kilograms. Carrying a stack of them without the Minecraft logic will be impossible, even for dragons.
Lucky for us, Minecraft Logic blesses us.
"My lord"
I turn around and see Melisandre walk toward me.
"What is it?"
"We received a report from Stellaris."
She gave me a letter, and I took the letter from her hand. I open the letter and read the content. I nod my head and burn the letter.
"We need to return to Stellaris, Melisandre."
"Hmmm? Can I ask the reason, My Lord?"
"A bunch of lords from Westeros are about to arrive in Stellaris. I think they want to ask for food because most of them are coming from the Northern part of Westeros."
Melisandre smiles at that news and says.
"That means the seeds are about ready to be harvested."
"It is still a long way to go, Melisandre. It is only two smaller lords, not a bigger lord."
"Oh, they will come, my lord. The small fish are already hooked and will continue eating from your hand. The others will be hooked as well sooner or later."
"If you say so."
I shake my head and shout.
"Alduin!"
While waiting for my son to arrive, I take out all the materials the workers need to continue their work. I can see them eager to work under me, and I understand why. I pay them with gold and even feed them while they work.
Melisandre, with the help of the Faceless Men, creates a rumor about the work here. Because of this, hundreds of people from the Flea Bottom in King's Landing decide to pool money together to hire small boats to take them here.
Seeing them look surprised when I keep my promise is priceless, especially when they see the coins in their hands. I even offer them to return back home to send money to their family and return. However, only a few of them take that chance because they will miss two paydays if they accept the offer.
The one who returns back to King's Landing returns with their family and more workers.
*ROAR*
I snap from my thoughts when I hear Alduin's roar. I smiled at him and made a gesture to tell him to land outside the construction site. I walk toward him, rub his neck, and say.
"Can you take us back home, Alduin?"
He nudges me gently with his snot and nods his head. I smile and give him one last pay before climbing to his neck. I help Melisandre, and when we are ready, we depart home.
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|3rd POV|
Lord Royce Coldwater looked at the room in front of him with an indifferent face. However, what the guards do not know is that his heart is so chaotic that if the palace stays silent for a few seconds, they can hear his heartbeat.
He walks toward the door to the throne room.
The guards at the chamber doors eyed him warily, their hands resting on the hilts of their swords. They did not trust him—nor should they. He is a lord of the Seven Kingdoms, bound by duty to a king who had long been an enemy of House Targaryen. And yet, here he stands, in the court of Viserys Targaryen, about to plead for the very thing that his own sovereign will never allow.
One of the guards looks at him one more time before saying.
"His Grace will see you now."
He opens the door, and Royce steps inside the chamber with a steady breath.
King Viserys Targaryen, the Sun of the Solaris Kingdom, sits on a throne made of white and smooth stones. Royce can see steel behind his violet eyes and fire that tempers those eyes. When he arrives at the bottom of the throne, he bows low.
"Rise, Lord Coldwater. It is not often that a lord from the Seven Kingdoms graces my halls. Especially one sworn to my enemy."
Royce stands straight and says.
"I come not for war, Your Grace. I come for mercy."
"Mercy?"
Viserys tilts his head at his words.
"The Northern Region suffers. The winter has been cruel, and the harvest has failed us. Our stores are nearly empty, and my people… My people starve."
Viserys exhales slowly and says.
"And yet you ask for my mercy rather than your king's."
"He… He does not offer help to us. He told us to ask the Lord Paramount instead of the crown."
"And? Have you asked your Lord Paramount, Lord Coldwater?"
Royce stays silent for a few seconds before saying,
"Sadly, no. He does not give us help even after our plea."
Viserys let the silent stretch for a few seconds before saying.
"Tell me, Lord Coldwater, do you truly believe I would part with my food to save the subjects of a man who would see my house burned to ash?"
He takes a deep breath and pulls all the courage he can muster to look the king in the eyes.
"I do not ask for charity, Your Grace. I ask for a trade."
"Trade? And what, pray tell, do you have to offer me?"
Royce reaches into his cloak and withdraws a small leather pouch. He steps forward, placing it on the table before the king. With a flick of his wrist, he loosened the strings, allowing the contents to spill onto the polished wood—glittering sapphires, deep as the ocean.
"The Coldwater mines still bear wealth. Not much, but enough. We are willing to give you a certain amount of gems and the ingots you want from our mine. Tell us the price, and we shall send them here."
Viserys looks at the gems on the table for a few seconds before saying.
"I have no love for your king. However, I am not a cruel king who abandons his subjects even when they stray from my rule. I shall give you one chance. When the time comes, I want you to support the king you think deserves support."
"You want me to support you when you attack?"
"No. I only want you to support the king you think deserves to be a king of the Seven Kingdoms."
Viserys looks him right in the eyes and says.
"Can you promise that?"
Royce's mind is working overtime, and after a few seconds of thinking, he nods and says.
"I swear in the name of the Old and New Gods."
Viserys nods and says.
"You will have your grain, Lord Coldwater. But know this—if your king learns of this arrangement, I will deny it ever happened. And should you betray my trust, no amount of pleading will spare you from my wrath."
Royce let out a breath he did not realize he had been holding. He bows deeply.
"You have my word, Your Grace."
"Then we have an accord."