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After listening to Maester Luwin’s advice, Ned murmured, “Going to Robert’s court in King’s Landing and asking for the king’s judgment is certainly an option. But at present, we lack proof.”
Maester Luwin said, “Mikken told me any skilled smith could tell that the axe and armor sent by Lord Roose Bolton are the work of ironborn smiths. The stoneborn pirates are even sailing ironborn longships. That is proof.”
Ned said helplessly, “Lord Balon will surely argue that weapons and armor of Iron Islands craft can be bought in any port city in Westeros. As for longships, the Iron Islands have sold many, and shipyards elsewhere can imitate them without great difficulty.”
In Ned’s plan, after the northern army cleared out the stoneborn pirates burning and killing along the east coast, it would cross the sea and sweep Skagos.
Once he found proof that Balon Greyjoy of the Iron Islands had colluded with the stoneborn, Ned would send word to King’s Landing and ask King Robert for judgment.
Ned was Robert’s close friend.
Lord Balon, chief among the Iron Islands raiders, was a traitor who had once risen in rebellion.
Ned believed Robert and the Hand, Jon Arryn, would support him if conflict erupted between the North and the Iron Islands.
But without proof, going to King’s Landing with accusations would be useless no matter how many friends Ned had at court.
Maester Luwin moved his fingers over the links of the chain at his neck.
“To find proof, we must go deep into Skagos. Can the North’s naval strength accomplish that? Even if Lord Eddard does not yet ask King Robert for judgment, you can still ask King Robert to send the royal fleet to help us sweep away the stoneborn pirates.”
“King Robert’s second brother, Lord Stannis Baratheon, is now Master of Ships. During Balon Greyjoy’s rebellion, he shattered the Iron Fleet in the Straits of Fair Isle. Stannis is a renowned commander at sea. Even the ironborn could not stand against him. If King Robert sent Stannis north with the royal fleet, the stoneborn pirates would collapse at the first blow.”
Ned thought about it.
“No. Even if Robert were willing to help me, the ministers on his small council would oppose it. The royal fleet protects the royal family in King’s Landing and hundreds of thousands of smallfolk. If the royal fleet sailed north, King’s Landing would be left exposed. Who can say whether pirates from the Stepstones might set their sights on the capital?”
Ned had few friends on the small council besides Jon Arryn.
From what Ned knew of him, even Jon Arryn would not agree to send the royal fleet north to help the North deal with stoneborn pirates.
Jon Arryn’s own lands in the Vale were plagued year after year by mountain clans, yet Jon relied on the bannermen of the Vale and the knights of the passes to suppress them.
He had never asked Robert to use the strength of the Seven Kingdoms to destroy bandits.
Even if everything went smoothly, if Robert and Jon Arryn generously agreed to send the royal fleet north, exposing the North’s internal troubles to the court and the Seven Kingdoms would be extremely dangerous. Find the original chapter at novelping(.)com.
Outsiders would read it as proof that House Stark of Winterfell lacked the strength to put down an internal rebellion, drawing the eyes of plotters who had not yet acted toward Skagos and tempting them to use the stoneborn against the North.
Ned touched Skagos on the map.
“Luwin, this discussion ends here. Now send ravens and command the bannermen to gather their armies at Winterfell. The North is too vast. We must call the banners early.”
An arrow loosed could not be called back.
Ned knew that once the ravens carried Winterfell’s orders, the bowmen and crossbowmen of House Glover and the wolfswood clans, mounted archers of House Tallhart of Torrhen’s Square, horsemen of House Ryswell of the Rills, cavalry and infantry under Lady Barbrey Dustin of Barrowton, Lord Wyman’s knights of White Harbor, infantry of the northern mountain clans, and soldiers of Bear Island would all march from across the North toward Winterfell.
Gathering a great army would undoubtedly affect planting and farming in every region, place a heavy burden on the smallfolk, and make the bannermen complain.
But Ned had no choice.
If the stoneborn were allowed to ravage freely, agriculture and trade along the east coast would suffer even greater damage.
And if stoneborn pirates spread to the waters near White Harbor in the Bite, the entire North’s economy would take a grave blow.
After Maester Luwin left, Ned summoned Kral, his financial advisor.
“If the Iron Bank is willing to lend to us, will five hundred thousand gold dragons be enough?”
The sapphire ring on Kral’s finger flashed.
“Lord Eddard, why use the word if? Do you lack confidence in me?”
Ned frowned.
“You believe the Iron Bank will certainly lend to us? Nothing is absolute. Five hundred thousand is a vast sum.”
Kral smiled.
“The Iron Bank earns money by lending. Lord Eddard is Warden of the North in the Seven Kingdoms, and House Stark was once royal in the North. How could the Iron Bank bear to reject such a fine client?”
Ned relaxed slightly.
“Once this money is in place, it must be used for Winter Town’s expansion, shipbuilding, and destroying the stoneborn pirates. Do you think it will be enough?” The source of this chapter is NovelPing.
Kral rubbed his chin.
“If it were only for expanding Winter Town and building a small fleet, it would be more than enough. But now you are going to war with the stoneborn. Lord Eddard, I hear Winterfell’s last suppression of a stoneborn rebellion took three years. Once war begins, any number of gold dragons can vanish into it. If Lord Eddard is willing to borrow another two hundred thousand gold dragons, that would be safer.”
Ned said, “Aside from the Iron Bank, I have already decided to borrow one hundred thousand gold dragons from Lord Wyman of White Harbor. Kral, borrowing from the Iron Bank already places a great risk on me. I will not borrow a single dragon more from them.”
Kral smiled.
“Why not borrow from King Robert in King’s Landing? King Robert is also a client of the Iron Bank. He owes them a mountain of coin.”
Ned said, “You said it yourself. Robert is buried in debt. And I should borrow from him?”
Kral said, “Borrowing eighty or a hundred thousand gold dragons from King Robert would not be difficult. I hear Robert spends tens of thousands of gold dragons on a single tourney, to say nothing of whores and feasts. Robert has the proper attitude. If you owe one million gold dragons or five million, what difference is there? Either way, you cannot repay it. I also heard Robert promised to help an exiled prince of the Summer Islands reclaim his throne and planned an expedition there.”
If Robert truly planned to invade the Summer Islands, Ned could only call it madness.
The Seven Kingdoms could not even annex the Stepstones on their doorstep.
What business did they have sailing tens of thousands of miles to the Summer Islands, where the people worshiped strange gods and had skin black as night?
Jon Arryn would never allow Robert to act so wildly.
Ned said, “However much Robert owes, I will not borrow from the crown. Kral, you served the Iron Bank for many years. Tell me this. When Iron Bank representatives negotiate with clients, how much room do they have to bargain? Or can they only lend at rates fixed by the bank?”
Kral licked his lips.
“Lord Eddard means, can the rate be negotiated? Of course it can. When the Iron Bank representative reaches Winterfell, watch how I deal with him.”
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