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In the solar, the architect Donnel Arryn excitedly introduced his new castle plan to Ned and Kral.
“With the kingsroad outside Winterfell as the center, we can build three castles. I have already named them: Springwelcome, Summerhold, and Goldharvest. Lord Eddard, give me enough men, timber, and stone, and these castles will be as magnificent as Winterfell.”
Ned gave him an awkward smile.
“Donnel, Winterfell is more than enough for me and my family, and it can receive my bannermen when they come for feasts. I intend to expand Winter Town, not build castles.”
Donnel said solemnly, “Lord Eddard, what are the words of your House Stark? Winter is coming. In other words, life is short. In the brief span we are given, we should leave a few wonders for those who come after us. What use is building little wooden houses in Winter Town?”
Kral, the financial advisor, smiled faintly.
“Do you have any idea how much your plan would cost? Where is Lord Eddard meant to find that coin?”
Donnel said, “I am only an architect. I want to leave behind grand castles and great works. Money is not my concern.”
Ned said, “It must be your concern. If Brandon the Builder had ignored cost, he would never have left the Wall and Winterfell behind as wonders. If cost did not matter, the Eyrie of House Arryn might have been abandoned half-built, and Storm’s End of House Baratheon might have stopped at half its height.”
“Donnel, I can see that you are a talented young man with dreams. You have a soaring imagination, but you lack grounded practicality. The North is a harsh place. If you want to serve me, you must be practical. I will not undertake works that exhaust the people and drain the treasury. Do you have any projects that would strengthen the economy?”
“I do. My talent is not limited to castles.”
Donnel put away the castle plan and drew another sheet from his sleeve.
Once he unfolded it, Ned saw a map of the Seven Kingdoms.
Donnel had marked several roads across the North.
“Lord Eddard, the North is vast, yet poor. Why? Because the North has too few roads. Only the kingsroad runs north and south. Look at the west, where the Lannisters have the goldroad. The Tyrells of the Reach have the Ocean Road and the roseroad. The riverlands have the river road. Their trade flows smoothly, and their economies prosper.”
“If we build roads in the North, we can raise a coast road along the east and another along the west. The west coast road would begin at Deepwood Motte, connect to Torrhen’s Square, pass through the Rills, and meet the kingsroad at Barrowton. The east coast road would begin at Karhold, pass through the Dreadfort, Ramsgate, and Oldcastle, then reach White Harbor. From White Harbor, another road would connect to Winterfell.”
Kral said with disdain, “Donnel, have you never seen northern snow? When winter comes and the earth freezes solid, what use are roads?”
Donnel replied coldly, “When the earth freezes, most northern fields lie fallow as well. Does that mean no one farms in the other seasons? Once my roads are built, Barrowton, White Harbor, and Winterfell will be linked together, radiating trade across the entire North.”
Ned noticed that although Donnel’s plan seemed far ahead of its time and impractical for the present, it might be possible in the future.
“Donnel, your road idea is much better than your castles. This is the sort of work I want, something that earns coin and enriches the people. Do you have other ideas?” Read the latest chapters at novelping(.)com.
Donnel pointed to the North’s long western coast on the map.
“Lord Eddard, have you noticed? The North has no proper port on the west coast. Not one. Tell me, how are Deepwood Motte, Bear Island, and the Rills meant to trade with the south?”
Ned looked at the map.
“The Rills mostly choose the kingsroad. House Ryswell has plenty of horses. As for Deepwood Motte, its timber can only go to Winterfell and then be carried on to White Harbor. Bear Island’s pelts and timber go by ship through the Bay of Ice, then all the way around to White Harbor.”
Donnel said, “Northern goods depend too heavily on White Harbor. Why not send goods from Deepwood Motte or the Rills directly south? The riverlands have populous towns. Lannisport in the west has the gold of Casterly Rock and the wealth of the westerlands. Oldtown in the Reach gathers the Reach’s fruits, wines, and fine goods.”
Ned sighed.
“The North has tried many times to open trade routes along the west coast, but the damned ironborn sit in the way. The ironborn are natural pirates. They often raid northern fishing villages. Our fishermen barely dare cast nets far from shore.”
Some ironborn longships came to trade with fishing villages near Deepwood Motte and the Stony Shore, buying northern timber because the Iron Islands devoured wood for shipbuilding.
But without customs houses on the west coast, most of that trade was smuggling.
Ironborn captains paid local lords a little coin in exchange for permission, and Winterfell received no tax.
Donnel said, “Pirates are everywhere. The ironborn, at least on the surface, have submitted. The Stepstones across the narrow sea are far more lawless, yet swan ships from the Summer Isles, Ibbenese whalers, Braavosi ships, Oldtown ships, and King’s Landing ships still risk those waters every day.”
“Lord Eddard, forgive my bluntness, but northerners fear the sea too much. You are descendants of the First Men. When the First Men reached Westeros, they crossed the Arm of Dorne. Now the Arm is long since shattered by earthquakes into the Broken Arm and the Stepstones, yet the North’s fear of the sea does not seem to have changed.”
“Abandoning west coast shipping because of a handful of ironborn pirates is no different from refusing to eat for fear of choking. When I lived in Gulltown and King’s Landing, I often spoke with captains and sailors. They told me that when they sailed to trade with the Reach and the westerlands, they went north at most to Seagard and Lordsport in the Iron Islands, then turned south again, because farther north there is no decent harbor.”
Donnel studied the map, his gaze stopping on the Barrowlands.
“I think the answer should be here. These are the rivers flowing down from Barrowton. They run south through the Barrowlands and into the Saltspear, which opens into Blazewater Bay. Barrowton itself is upstream, one of the most populous places in the North. If we build docks and shipyards where those rivers meet the inlet, goods from Winter Town, Barrowton, and even White Harbor could sail south from Blazewater Bay to trade with Lannisport and Oldtown.”
“Of course, farther east, the mouth of the Fever River also feeds the Saltspear. I have not been there, but look at the map, Lord Eddard. The lake by Torrhen’s Square and the nearby waterways all drain toward that inlet, and the Rills could reach it by road. Its shipping value should not be poor.”
Under ordinary circumstances, northern wool, pelts, timber, and other goods were carried down the White Knife to White Harbor.
If a northern ship wanted to trade with Lannisport, it had to leave the Bite, sail south past storm-tossed Shipbreaker Bay, skirt the long, barren Dornish coast for more than a thousand miles, pass through the Redwyne Straits, continue past Oldtown, and then go north again to Lannisport.
If the harbor town Donnel envisioned truly developed, northern ships could leave directly through Blazewater Bay and sail south to Lannisport, cutting the voyage by nine-tenths.
His plan would also strengthen coastal defense.
The North had two great fortresses: the Wall in the north and Moat Cailin in the south.
Moat Cailin had never been taken by enemies from the south.
But west of Moat Cailin, the Fever River flowed to the sea. New chapters come out on novelping.com first.
If enemy ships used the long, narrow inlet reaching into the North and sailed up the Fever River, they could easily threaten Moat Cailin from the west.
At present, Ned’s saltworks and watchtowers stood near the mouths of the rivers feeding the Saltspear and Blazewater Bay, but the population there was low.
Only scattered fishing villages dotted the coast.
If those mouths could develop, the North’s economy would rise, and its defense against foreign enemies would become far stronger.
Donnel rolled up the map.
“Lord Eddard, if I were you, I would immediately speak with your bannermen in Barrowton and the Rills about developing those river mouths.”
The lord of Barrowton was the widow Lady Barbrey Dustin.
The lord of the Rills was her father, Lord Rodrik Ryswell.
Both had long been less than eager to obey Winterfell’s orders and had even exchanged flirtations with Roose Bolton of the Dreadfort.
Fortunately, Ned had taken Domeric Bolton, heir to the Dreadfort, as his foster son.
Domeric was Barbrey’s nephew and Lord Ryswell’s grandson.
If Winterfell planned to build a port on the west coast in the future, Ned believed Barbrey and Lord Ryswell would cooperate.
Ned looked at Donnel with appreciation.
“Donnel, many of your plans would drain labor and wealth, and some might take many years to bear fruit. But you have strategic vision. You deserve a seat among Winterfell’s advisors. From now on, you are chief architect of Winterfell and the North. I have an important project to entrust to you.”
Donnel’s eyes shone.
“What task?”
“Go build a warehouse beside the pigsties in Winter Town.”
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