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The Storm Kingdom
Storm's End
100 YA / 100 AC
In the greatest learning center of Westeros, as well as the rest of the known world, a petite, female with sharp ears and earth brown skin was giving a lecture.
"Admittedly, we do not know much about the nature of the Others. They come from the Lands of Always Winter, are known to be able to raise the dead to serve as thralls, and want to extinguish all life. They do not negotiate, show mercy, or care for anything else. There is no leader among them, as far as we know. If one exists, however, we have never encountered or heard of it."
"Professor Meadow. Can you elaborate on the Night King?" one of the students asked.
"This event happened during the Age of Heroes, around eight thousand years ago, and was only passed through word of mouth among the Children of the Forest. The details, just like almost everything concerning the Others, are unclear," she reminded the lecture hall. She told the tale of the Thirteenth Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, who had fallen in love with an Other.
He took her as his queen, used vile sorcery to bind the brothers of the Night's Watch to his will, and made sacrifices to the Others. His atrocities came to an end when Brandon the Breaker, the King in the North, and Joramun, the King-Beyond-the-Wall, joined their forces to put an end to him.
All records of him were forbidden, and even his very name has been struck from the records.
"The idea that he was the leader of the Others is a common misconception that arose from the lack of reliable sources, and you know what they say about word of mouth." The Child of the Forest left the sentence unfinished.
"It grows less reliable with every retelling," several voices completed it for her.
"Correct."
"Then why hasn't Her Excellency destroyed them already?" A feminine voice questioned from the back of the hall.
Meadow raised her shoulders and dropped them. "That is a question you should ask her, not me. But she has already expelled their unnatural winters out of the kingdom. They simply aren't a threat for us, and we can spend our time on more worthwhile pursuits."
The end of her explanation coincided with the bell, and the class slowly rose from their seats.
"This is the end of class for today. If you have any questions, you know where to find me," she called out to the class.
"Thank you, Professor."
—
Saiguu snorted, a sound very unfit for a lady of her position, and then sniggered. Unable to control herself, she roared with laughter, tears gathering in her eyes.
She kept going for several minutes. Eventually slowing down for the sake of her aching belly, she wiped the tears of joy off.
"You are one amusing kid, aren't you? Go play in the sand or something," she shooed the heir of the High Archon with her hand.
"But an alliance between the Empire and the Storm Kingdom would…" Aerys tried to explain himself, only to be stopped when the goddess before him raised her hand.
"Sure, an alliance sounds good. But we don't do marriages for that purpose. Especially not between someone from the line of gods and a mortal whose family tree is a family wreath instead," she chuckled.
Where did this brat even get the idea a Durrandon would wed him? Truly, entitlement was the worst.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Aerys asked, his face as blank as his mind.
Saiguu leaned on her fist. "I, and my friends, find incest abhorrent."
It was actually common knowledge, and this child should have known it too.
"The Targaryens," he began again, but Saiguu let out a harsh laugh.
"Believe me, what you think your relationship with the gods is doesn't concern me in the slightest. Any deity that would consent to this is nothing more than an abomination in my eyes."
The Targaryen attempt of claiming divine right to rule was amusing to her. Whether R'hllor or the Old Gods of Valyria, she had yet to hear any decree.
The heir to the High Archon Daemon Targaryen, Aerys, blistered before departing from the garden with a hurry in his steps.
"All that incest must have turned their brain to a mush," she muttered, reaching for the bottle of sake.
A Durrandon female marrying a man who had less than ideal set of grandparents? Those Targaryens were more insane than she had thought.
And arrogant.
At least she got a good laugh out of it.
—
Saiguu watched Ei throw a letter into the fireplace.
"What was that about?" the kitsune asked. Ei was diplomatic most of the time and wouldn't just burn a letter like that.
"Just the High Archon complaining about how you insulted his house," she replied, giving her a half-lidded look.
"I just told the truth." Saiguu turned her head to the side. "If he saw it as an insult, that is his problem."
"What happened, exactly?" There were no immediate issues between the kingdom and the empire. The Targaryens were distant, but trade still flowed between the continents. The visit and the hasty departure of the High Archon Daemon's heir, Aerys, did cause rumors, but she had not paid them any mind.
"That idiot, Aerys, proposed an alliance and a marriage to seal it," she explained.
That boy had fallen in love and tried to pass it off as an alliance, nothing more than the folly of youth.
"Huh," Ei said. She sat there blinking.
Saiguu huffed, "Oh stop, if it wasn't so funny, I would have transformed that boy into a gecko."
She could feel the storm brewing inside her friend, both figuratively and literally. There was no need for a war over a boy being a fool.
"The gall to think he is worthy of someone from my brother's line," she scowled. Of all the mortals she had encountered in two worlds, this one she would have killed without a second.
"His ancestors have been committing incest for generations. The only reason he doesn't look like the wrong side of a bake-danuki is because of the robust genetics that blood magic gave them. Even that won't keep them whole together forever," Saiguu explained.
While the Targaryens did not practice blood magic, their ancestors in Valyria no doubt had. The magic permeating their bodies counteracted the harmful effects of incest, but without fresh blood every couple of generations, it wouldn't be enough.
"Not our problem."
"Exactly," Saiguu gave a thumbs up. "There is no need to start a war."
"Anyway, forget about the lizard lovers. What about Kandac? Are they still isolationists?" she asked.
"Yes, and at this point, I have withdrawn all our missions. There is no sense in pursuing anything with them, not when they are unwilling to interact with us," Ei answered with a shake of her head.
Kandac was a nation that they had discovered to the west of the Sunset Sea. Three islands, each one as large as the Kingdom of the Rock, were gathered together in a loose alliance, ruled by a council. Each island presented one member for the council, and they were elected rather democratically.
The alliance between the islands was fraught with intrigue, backstabbing, assassinations, and secret deals as each one of the three tried to dominate and conquer the others.
She had sent envoys, but each councillor was suspicious of ulterior moves.
It had become a part of their lives to be so distrustful of almost everyone. After one too many unfruitful missions to the islands, she had put an end to it.
The Ironborn, who were suspected to be from the west of the Sunset Sea, were indeed from Kandac. Dissidents who were dissatisfied with how the islands were run had left after stealing ships while Kandac was in the middle of a war.
The councillors did not care for their deaths, as it had happened too long ago for them to bother.
Trade was nonexistent since Kandac did not have ships to cross the distance, nor the desire to allow the vessels of the kingdom to dock.
All in all, while the expedition yielded fruits in the form of mapping Kandac and several islands that did not belong to them, there was nothing else to be gained.
However, the ships would continue further west in the hopes of finding more friendly nations.
—
Saiguu did not bother to even talk about Aerys and his hormonal offer. Rumors still rose that the heir to the High Archon was insulted.
Except for sending a letter, the High Archon had done nothing. While the empire had stabilized and grown over the decades, they were not in a position to contend with the Storm Kingdom.
The kingdom's trade had diversified, going as far as Yi-Ti. Asshai and other cities presented clear dangers and were avoided. While the commerce between the empire and the kingdom was great, it was not to the point that a shift in relations would spell disaster.
—
Westeros was more peaceful in the last century than it had been for thousands of years before. The Storm Kingdom was the dominant force on the continent and had amicable relations with their neighbors.
Vale, however, was under duress now.
As the most pious kingdom worshipping the Faith of the Seven Who Are One, the idea of having an actual god ruling the largest, wealthiest, and strongest kingdom on the continent was a sore point for them.
Thousands of years of following the Faith, yet they had not seen a sliver of the boons the God of Eternity had given her people. The smallfolk were dissatisfied, and unlike the highborn, they could simply abandon the Vale of Arryn.
It had gotten to the point that one Septon Cedric had declared himself the New High Septon, claiming the Starry Sept and its High Septon had fallen under the spell of the demon calling herself a god.
Ei did not care as long as it was contained to Vale.
The High Septon of Oldown, Marlon, gave sermons condemning the pretender Cedric, but his voice did not reach far.
The Faith of the Seven was waning in the Storm Kingdom.
The situation in Vale boiled into an open rebellion by the smallfolk when the new High Septon ordered the hanging of several village elders, declaring them heretics. Unwilling to let this stand, the smallfolk had gathered their farming tools and walked to the sept.
The knights and guards had retaliated, running down the rebels.
It had only fanned the flames.
Thousands more, assisted by a handful of nobles, rose in vengeance. The septs in Gulltown suffered heavy damages while House Grafton was slow to act.
The King of the Mountain and Vale, Jarred Arryn, gathered a host to put an end to the rebellion before it engulfed the kingdom. The houses that had suffered from the ban on trade with the Storm Kingdom, with House Grafton at the head, gathered to meet King Jarred on the field.
Redfort, Royce, Templeton, Malcom, Hunter, Lynderly, Coldwater, and even the small house of Baelish had joined forces.
The Battle of Redfort had left both forces broken on the field. King Jarred died from his wounds days later, leaving a sole, unwed daughter as his heir. The rebel lords did not have issues in the succession of their seats, but their forces were broken, and the new lords could not move forward.
The new Queen of Mountain and Vale, Carolaine Arryn, at the age of fourteen, sent a letter to Storm's End.
—
Ei was signing some documents with Kage and Saiguu when Chiyo barged in, "Ei, you need to read this."
The oni handed her an opened letter, holding the envelope bearing the seal of House Arryn in her other hand.
She took the letter, reading through it, while Saiguu and Kage leaned over her shoulders to see what was so important.
"Huh, didn't think it was that bad," the kitsune muttered, laying her chin on Ei's shoulder.
"She wishes for Vale to become a part of the kingdom? The new queen must be desperate," Kage summarized the letter.
Saiguu hummed, "She is fourteen, her father just died, and I have no doubt there are voices to put someone else on the throne. She just wants to keep her seat and rule the lands her ancestors had."
Her situation was indeed desperate, though; neither would take advantage of a child.
"What will you do?" Chiyo asked what they were all thinking. Accepting Vale did not present any serious issues. The new prefecture, should Carolaine Arryn's offer be accepted, would have to be uplifted, of course, but nothing presented a danger to them.
Bored as they were, this would give them something to do.
"I am open to suggestions," Ei said.
"Honestly, Vale was going to be a thorn in our side eventually," Saiguu said, massaging Ei's shoulders. "Luckily, it ended with a civil war rather than a holy crusade. You should act like the generous and benevolent Archon you are and accept her sensible offer."
"I mean, it makes sense to accept it on all fronts, except the religious part. There is going to be friction on that end," Sasayuri, the longtime Minister of Defence, laid out the obvious.
Concurring with her friends, she nodded. "Who is coming?"
"Saiguu should handle the paperwork," Chiyo quickly pointed to the kitsune. "It's too cold in the Bloody Gate now, and she would hate it all."
Saiguu cooed, cupping her face in her hands. "What a dear friend you are, saving me from the trouble of convincing Ei."
Chiyo's forehead twitched.
"Kage, Chiyo, and Sasayuri, the three of us will speak to Carolaine Arryn. Saiguu can run the kingdom in the meantime. Not like there is much to do in the first place," she ordered.
The ministers handled much of the day-to-day work of the kingdom; even Saiguu, as lazy as she tended to be, could handle everything with ease.
—
While the continent was abuzz with the events in Vale, something that would change the future was happening in Storm's End.
The Academy of Transience, having surpassed the Citadel in a relatively short time, was not only a place of learning but also of innovation.
In a quiet part of the academy, two friends worked on a machine that, if it worked, would change the kingdom and the whole world fundamentally.
One, a sorcerer of the Academy, and the other, an artificer, were creating a machine that could potentially make the need for manpower unnecessary. A machine that could produce the strength of a hundred or a thousand men would revolutionize everything.
Farming, travel, production, and even sailing could be made more efficient in all aspects.
Working with the solar cores whose creation had been taught to the people by Her Excellency, the new machine would use the abundant sunlight as the source of fuel.
For now, the friends continued their project, unaware of just how the future would change.
—
In the next chapter:
The Thunder Dragon soared over the cold mountains of Vale. Carolaine Arryn had taken her court to Eyrie, fearing that her bannerman might assault the Bloody Gate to depose her.
Circling down the ancient keep, the dragon hovered before the small gate. The doors of the carriage underneath it opened. Ei, followed by Kage, Chiyo, and Sasayuri. The puppet helped the Oni maiden down, while Sasayuri flew down on her wings.
The guards were running around like headless chickens. Queen Carolaine, far braver than her men, came out of the gates. Covered as she was against the cold, only her childish face that was slowly maturing was seen.
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