It was Friar John himself who received Alis Waters and her party. As the head of the Alliance's civil affairs, he functioned as Aldric's Hand in all but name. He had overseen the birth of every miracle in the workshops; outside of the Lightbringer, no one understood the true value of what lay behind the monastery walls better than he.
John led Alis to a dining hall where a feast had been laid—not of coarse peasant bread, but of roasted fowl, fresh greens, and wine that didn't taste of vinegar.
"Lady Alis," John began, only to be interrupted.
"Miss Alis, if you please," she said with a honeyed smile that danced in the candlelight. "I have not yet found a man worth my dowry."
"Miss Alis, then," John dipped his head. "Ser Chard tells me you hold several storefronts in the capital?"
"By the grace of Lord Petyr, I have my interests," she said modestly, though her eyes glinted with pride. "Grains, salt, silks—whatever the High Lords find rare. But my heart belongs to the wool trade."
John frowned. It was deep autumn; the wind was turning sharp. The Alliance's people needed every scrap of wool to survive the coming frost. Exporting it was out of the question. "The Lions of the West took our flocks, Miss Alis. We have no wool to spare."
"Wool is common," Alis said, waving a jeweled hand. "If I wanted common things, I would not have risked the Kingsroad. I want the rare. I want the strange. I want more of that... Sun-Sugar."
John offered a knowing smile. Aldric's workshops were overflowing with "inventions" that lacked a market. The Alliance was a land of soldiers and farmers; they had the technology but no one to sell it to.
"We have things you will find nowhere else in the Seven Kingdoms," John promised. "Tomorrow, I shall take you to the pits myself."
After dinner, John entrusted Alis to Lina Rost. Since House Rost joined the Alliance, Lina had taken it upon herself to manage the high-born women of the monastery. Aldric had set aside the East Wing specifically for the families of the knightly vassals. It was a compromise: they kept their dignity and fine silks, provided they followed the Law and did not tread upon the smallfolk.
Aldric knew the idea of "equality" was a seed that would take generations to sprout. For now, he allowed the Lords their comforts, provided they gave him their steel.
"Miss Alis," Lina said, showing her to a clean, timbered room. "We have tried to make it as home-like as the Riverlands allow."
"Thank you, Lady Rost," Alis replied.
Lina hesitated at the door, her fingers nervously twisting the lace of her sleeve. "Miss Alis... my brother was Jacelyn Bywater. They called him Ironhand. He was the Commander of the City Watch when Stannis came. I have heard... conflicting reports."
Alis's expression softened with genuine pity. "The streets do not lie about that, Lina. Your brother was a brave man. He was promoted by the Imp, but he fell at the Blackwater. May the Mother give him peace."
Lina's face drained of color. She offered a frantic, tearful curtsy and vanished into the hall. Alis sighed, collapsing onto the straw-stuffed mattress. She was asleep before her head hit the linen.
The next morning, the heavy tolling of the monastery bells woke her. She dressed in a woman's riding leathers—sturdy but elegant—and met John at the stables.
The ride to the Workshop District took an hour. At the perimeter, they were stopped by disciplined guards in Sun-Steel mail. Every member of the party was issued a Yellow Tally-Token to hang from their belt.
"Security, Miss Alis," John explained. "The Lightbringer spends his nights in prayer and his days in the forge. The secrets here are our lifeblood. If a man takes these techniques to the capital, the monastery starves."
"A wise precaution," Alis noted. She looked out over the district. It was a hive of controlled chaos. Men were polishing gears with coarse cloth until the metal shone like mirrors. Huge waterwheels turned in the river, powering hammers that fell with the weight of giants.
"Here," John said, unlocking a heavy brick storehouse with a massive iron key. "Our surplus."
Alis stepped inside. High oak shelves groaned under the weight of goods. Sunlight streamed through the rafters, illuminating the dust like golden mist.
She reached out and touched a cup. It was white—not the dull gray of clay, but a pure, milky white that felt like polished bone. "What is this? Is it stone?"
"White-Stone Pottery," John said. "It does not rust, it does not hold the smell of old ale, and it wipes clean with a damp rag. The Maesters would pay a fortune for it."
She moved to a decanter. It was clear as a mountain stream, without a single bubble or flaw. "Crystal?"
"Dragon-Glass," John whispered. "Refined in our furnaces. You can see the color of the wine before you taste it. A luxury for the King's table."
"I have never seen such clarity," Alis breathed. She picked up a yellow bar of something that smelled faintly of lavender. "And this? Is it to be eaten?"
"That is Soap," John laughed. "For the bath. It cuts through the grease of the forge like a hot knife through butter. Our own men use it, but we can spare some for the right price."
Suddenly, a youth entered the warehouse, carrying a long object wrapped in oilcloth.
"Friar John," the boy said. "Master Tobho told me to bring this. It's the new sample."
"Ah, Edmond," John greeted him. "Show the lady."
The boy unwrapped the cloth to reveal a longsword. Alis gasped. The blade was covered in the rippling, water-like patterns of the finest Valyrian steel.
"Tobho Mott?" Alis whispered, her eyes widening. "The master armorer of the Street of Steel? Is he here?"
John remained silent, but the boy beamed with pride. "The Master says this is a replica of Lord Tarly's Heartsbane. It is as light as a feather and as sharp as a winter's night."
Alis ran a finger near the edge, feeling the bite of the Sun-Steel. "You have more than just sugar and pottery here, Friar. You have the power to change the face of war."
She looked at the rows of goods, her mind already tallying the Gold Dragons. "I will need a larger ship than I thought."
70+ chapters are available now and daily updates! @patreon.com/zefyrus