Chapter 128. Lord Septon.

Chapter 128: Chapter 128. Lord Septon.

Jaehaerys’s boot had begun to grow a second sole, not as sturdy as the first, but just as thick. The layer of mud made walking through the town somewhat harder. Not enough to stop him. During the war he had fought at sea, on sand, in mud, and across every sort of slippery ground.

He was not there anymore.

The horrors of war could follow a man for the rest of his life. Jaehaerys was no exception. Yet it was not the horrors of war that stole his attention several times a day. It was something else. The horrors he had committed in the war. But the war was over now, at least that one. Jaehaerys knew Westeros was hardly known for lasting peace.

So he had to prepare. He looked around his lands. ArgentStone was alive, people moving this way and that, barking orders, dragging tools. The prince watched two men collide because they were walking too quickly.

"My lord, it will take longer if we go around..." a foreman said hurriedly. He was not speaking to Jaehaerys, but to Samwell Tarly. Randyll’s son had taken part in the city’s construction. He had read the plans and offered ideas of his own to improve them.

"If you go in a straight line, you’ll end up with the trench running through the middle of a house," Samwell said, with more confidence than he had ever possessed. He was still a coward, but he improved whenever he lost fat, whenever he knocked a man down in the yard, whenever he learned something new.

"Samwell knows the plans," the prince cut in before the foreman could answer. "You may not understand it now, Eldric." The man’s eyes brightened when the prince said his name. Jaehaerys had made an effort to learn the names of several workers on the site. "You will when everything is finished." He clapped him on the shoulder. "If it goes wrong, Samwell will sleep in the trench," he said as he walked away.

Samwell watched the foreman leave laughing and seemed more cheerful himself.

"That was a joke, wasn’t it?" he asked the prince.

The prince looked toward the sky, tilting his head from side to side. He shrugged. "It would be a waste to have you sleep in the trench. Better to make you work on repairing everything," he said. "You’ve never fought in mud, have you, Sam?" Jaehaerys asked as an afterthought.

"No, my prince," Tarly answered at once. Despite having been given permission to call him prince, he still found it difficult.

"You will later," the prince warned him.

Fighting in mud was different from fighting on a normal training ground. You could be the finest fighter on solid earth, but in mud one slip was enough to send you flat on your arse onto an enemy’s sword. Making a man crawl through the mud was not particularly glamorous. It was not chivalrous, nor the sort of thing that appeared in tales of princes and princesses. But it was something a man who wanted to survive a war had to know.

"Prince Jaehaerys," a man from the castle approached with a message. The prince ordered him to speak. "Lord Wode has arrived at the castle." The silver-haired man’s expression soured slightly.

"I’ll go wash," he said. "Give him guest right."

"You won’t receive him in person? He might take offense." Jaehaerys nearly rolled his eyes.

"I need to look presentable."

Lord Wode’s lands were the ones involved in the dispute over the copper mine. Daenerys had tried to acquire them. But Wode would not yield at all, still insisting that the mine was his. Jaehaerys could climb onto a dragon’s back and burn his castle until nothing remained but melted stone. The matter would be resolved quickly, but a hundred others would arise afterward.

Not for him. The prince did not believe all Westeros would unite and go to war against him. But what sort of legacy would he leave Rhaelle? His other children yet to come? One in which they would live with Westeros’s hatred, feared by all, everyone waiting for the perfect chance to put a dagger in their bellies and remove the danger once and for all.

Diplomacy. That was the answer, at least this time. The prince hoped Lord Wode would prove more amenable in person than he had by letter.

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When Jaehaerys entered the small hall, he saw his wife, his guest, and someone else besides. Lord Wode did not look as though he had come prepared to negotiate. The septon beside him offered a clue as to why he had refused even gold.

It was not a dispute over a copper mine. It was a dispute between religions. That was more complicated still. Part of his population continued to believe in the Seven, all the more so because of the migrations his lands had undergone. To move openly against the Seven meant offending his own people. Few things moved a man more powerfully than faith.

"Lord Wode," the prince greeted him neutrally.

"Lord Jaehaerys," his guest replied brusquely. Jaehaerys saw Daenerys tense. It seemed she and Wode had already had a conversation.

"That is the official title for his position," the septon interjected.

"I appreciate the reminder," the prince said curtly. "I had hoped to discuss the mine, Ser Wode." The man shifted in his seat. House Wode was a knightly house. They did not properly hold the title of lord.

"It belongs to my house. Its entrance is on my land," Ser Wode said. The remark had made his face begin to twist with anger. Jaehaerys did not know why the man seemed to hate him so much. He could not remember any confrontation between them.

"That has not been established. The entrance lies on the border between our lands. Whether it belongs to ArgentStone or House Wode may come down to only a few meters," Daenerys said now.

"I have lived in these lands all my life. I know where my lands end and where Harrenhal’s begin. You have been here little more than a year, and already you want to change what belongs to me?" Lord Wode did not seem to fear the prince at all. Did the backing of the Seven give him that much confidence?

The man has no idea how easily I could break his bones with my bare hands. I do, and more than one Ironborn does too... did, the prince thought.

"The borders have never been properly marked. I could not tell you with certainty at which meter your land begins and at which mine does. We can spend moons or years arguing over which patch of ground belongs to whom. Or we can settle it with an agreement that benefits us both," Daenerys continued.

"The Seven wish for the dispute to be settled properly, Lady Daenerys," the septon interjected.

Jaehaerys almost laughed at the man. He seemed to be trying to provoke them with that. Calling Daenerys Lady would not make her any less noble. It would not make the dragon she rode disappear.

"We have already offered you gold, Ser Wode," Daenerys said. Apparently the change in title bothered her more than it did Jaehaerys.

"I do not want it," the man said stubbornly.

"You may name a price. You have already made the journey here. It would be a shame to leave empty-handed," the princess continued. Jaehaerys watched her grow more irritated by the moment.

"I would rather leave empty-handed than let you touch a single piece of copper ore," the man said again, becoming more fucking irritating by the moment.

"You seem to hate us, Ser," the prince said this time. "I do not remember giving you reason for that. I think I would remember."

"It is not hatred, my lord. It is disappointment," the septon said. "You have abandoned the path of the Seven. You have chosen to worship trees and nameless gods. Gold will not buy the mine, not without the blessing of the Seven." Jaehaerys could not help himself and let out a small laugh. "Do you find that amusing, my lord?"

"According to the explorers, the mine extends into ArgentStone. I will have my men dig directly above it and make an entrance. Then we will mark how far I may excavate and extract copper. I swear to you, Ser Wode, I will not touch a single piece of ore beneath your lands." Jaehaerys’s patience had run out.

"Have we offended you, my lord?" Wode seemed satisfied.

"You have merely saved us gold, Ser Wode." Daenerys smiled at the man. Jaehaerys watched him lose himself in his wife’s smile for longer than necessary. The idea of going to war with the Faith suddenly became less distasteful.

"The North has corrupted your beliefs, my prince. We only wish to show you the path," the septon said again, more peacefully now. "Lord Wode has decided he can allow you to mine his lands, provided you pay taxes on his lands." Jaehaerys considered it. Perhaps he could avoid ending up at odds with the Seven if he accepted. "And that you build a sept in ArgentStone. Once the Seven are in your lands, you will see who the one true God is." The offer was no longer so tempting.

"Tax?" Daenerys asked.

"Half the copper extracted. It may be sold back to you, of course," the septon said, looking pleased with himself.

"I’ll have someone show you to your rooms, unless you would rather return today. Our men will begin digging in a week," Daenerys said. She was more diplomatic than Jaehaerys wanted to be. "I hope you enjoy your time in ArgentStone, Ser Wode, Lord Septon." Jaehaerys smiled as he watched Wode turn red and glare at the septon.

He definitely loved his wife.

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Stones! Stones!