[AELOR’S POV]
The logistics of the cement had been passed directly to my mother.
She was entirely responsible for the shipping requirements and supply lines for the project.
Meanwhile, the maester and I sat down with the main architect and the engineer responsible for renovating the city and the castle.
The architect unrolled his plans for the keep walls, and the engineer worried aloud about the weight of the towers.
I suggested that cement could carry that weight where plain stone might crack, and both men went quiet before they began sketching new supports in the margins of the plans.
As my mother began negotiating a standing supply route with Dragonstone, since that island has a huge deposit of volcanic ash, I began to think about other locations.
I wondered whether the distant island of Skagos might have volcanic ash as well, since I vaguely remembered a large inactive volcano there.
However, Dragonstone was much closer and easier to negotiate with for immediate supplies.
After this successful building project, I began to think about simpler projects than recreating an entire cement system.
I wanted to focus on something I knew very well.
In my previous life, my main profession had been alcohol production.
It was one of the easiest things to manage, especially since the basic fermentation process already existed in this world, with ale and wine being so common across the realm.
I had already tried it on a small scale with a single wooden barrel.
I had personally crushed the grapes that grew in our castle gardens, and I had used my Essence of the Healer to manipulate the natural yeasts inside the barrel where the first batch would be made.
I had also pressed apples from the orchard into a sweet cider, which needed far less coaxing.
I also wanted to create a proper distillation process to make stronger spirits, but I did not have the correct metal tools yet.
I had drawn the design of a copper still and given it to our smith, who studied it for a long time, scratched his head, and asked what it was for.
The tools were still being forged, and specialized items took much longer because the delicate work was unfamiliar to our local metalworkers.
I went down to a damp room where I had left the first barrel to ferment.
Before I could go inside, two hands prodded me in the back at once.
I turned to find Alyssa and Baelon behind me.
They were sneaking out of their lessons with a visiting maester.
That maester had been brought along specifically to tutor the prince and princess, since Grand Maester Elysar was at the Red Keep supporting King Jaehaerys in his seat on the small council.
“What are you doing, Aelor? Where are you sneaking off to? Is it another one of those cement things?” Baelon asked, firing off questions while Alyssa looked just as curious.
“You two are the ones who slipped away from your lessons,” I pointed out.
I opened the door to the damp cellar I had been about to check, and Baelon and Alyssa followed me inside, curious about what I would show them.
The first thing they noticed was the wooden barrel, the only thing in the cellar.
As we approached, I smelled a sweetness in the air that Baelon and Alyssa could not yet detect, thanks to my heightened senses.
From the scent alone, I could tell the fermentation had succeeded.
I lifted the damp towel that sealed the top of the barrel and scooped some of the liquid into my cupped hands, since I had not thought to bring a cup.
I did not care if it looked unsanitary to them, as nothing in the entire world was cleaner than me.
The moment I tasted it, I was reminded of my past life.
This was not Arbor Gold.
It was a wine shaped by the refined processes of my old world, and despite the limited technology available to me, I had recreated it almost exactly.
“Ahhh!” Baelon gasped.
He had taken a sip too, cupping his hands as I had, and I watched him become intoxicated almost immediately.
His eyes went unfocused, and he swayed on his feet.
Though it was only wine, it was much stronger than the Arbor Gold they were used to drinking.
‘These products could enrich our territory even further,’ I thought as I took another sip.
‘I cannot help thinking about what else I could bring into this world.’
I focused my magic and healed away Baelon’s intoxication.
When he reached for another drink, I stopped him and said that this wine was a special gift for his mother once she gave birth.
Baelon blinked, complained that the whole cellar had been spinning, and then complained that he wanted more anyway, but he let his hands fall.
Alyssa wrinkled her nose after a small taste and did not seem to like the wine, which I found strange, since she usually liked whatever Baelon liked, but I did not comment on it.
I then sent them back to their lessons before the visiting maester noticed they were missing.
After this success with my Essence and fermentation, I began to create other foods that depended on it.
Pizza was one, since the dough needed to ferment in order to rise.
The first pizza I made in this world was a simple cheese pizza, with the tomato sauce made by me as well.
I presented it at a dinner with the queen and the royal children, and they all loved it.
Queen Alysanne asked for a second slice, then a third, and declared that she was eating for two.
A full month had passed since the royal family first arrived in our territory, and in that time the new products I had made had become very popular.
My mother allowed large-scale production of the wine and the sweet apple cider that I had created and presented to her.
Both drinks were quickly added to our growing list of planned exports that could enrich our lands.
When the products were first presented to her, she immediately ordered mass production, but she wanted the new drinks to debut at the coming feast and the grand tourney that was fast approaching before they were sold anywhere else.
The tourney would also be where she announced the new names of the castle and the city.
Meanwhile, Alyssa, Baelon, and Maegelle followed me around every single day.
They were curious about what I would create next in my spare time, and they often eagerly requested fresh pizza cooked by me.
“May I remind you all that the castle cooks have already been taught how to make pizza? It would be much quicker to eat if you simply went to them instead of waiting for me to finish my training,” I said through the door.
I was getting dressed, having just come in from my daily flight with Ancalagon.
“Yes, but it is not the same. The cooks’ pizzas are very good, but yours taste better, and we want yours,” Maegelle said.
It was unlike her to speak her mind so boldly, but her love for the new food had clearly pushed her past her usual shyness.
“All right, fine. Go and wait for me down in the main kitchen where I always cook,” I agreed with a tired sigh.
I changed out of my heavy riding clothes first, since I wanted a comfortable tunic while working over a hot oven.
We cousins happily ate batch after batch of pizza until we ran out of prepared ingredients, especially the tomato sauce, which I always had to make entirely from scratch.
But the lack of food hardly mattered.
Just as we finished eating, we heard a loud roar echoing from far away.
It was a deep, rumbling roar, one I had not heard since the day the king left.
“The king is back,” I told the prince and princesses.
My announcement made them all stare at me with wide eyes, and then we hurried toward the open yard where I knew the King would land.
Baelon shouted that he would be the first to greet his father, and the whole group broke into a race.
That yard was the closest to one of the castle’s main entrances, and it was large enough for a massive dragon to land safely.
As we ran, I heard my own dragon roar from the high towers where she had been perched.
Through our bond, I felt that Ancalagon did not appreciate an older dragon arriving in her territory, especially one that had just swept low over the castle in a display of aggression.
The Bronze Fury was roaring as though the castle were his own, and Ancalagon was fiercely letting him know that the skies above Harrenhal belonged to her.
Above us, her dark shape circled the tower while Vermithor’s bronze bulk banked over the walls, and the wind of their passing bent the trees of the godswood.