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—
Storm Kingdom
Storm's End
120 YA / 120 AC
Today was a great day for the domain of the God of Thunder.
The first train to be built in this world would be starting its journey from the city of Storm's End to the city of Fairmarket. A byproduct of the solar engine created by Elmund Kidwell and Jon of Stoney Sept, a commoner who had become one of the wealthiest individuals in the kingdom.
The train was the latest, but definitely not the first tool to be created with the solar engines. Pumping water out of the mines was the first field of the engines. It had spread like a forest fire after that. Textile, infrastructure, and many more fields were trying to adapt the machines.
Ships were next in line.
Under the farewells of the court and the citizens, the First Princess Aluna began the journey. The safety of the trains has already been proven. She had nothing to worry about.
The first stop was the Bronzegate station. The journey was not merely for pleasure. The cargo wagons were full of trade goods. The station in Bronzegate would receive everything and fill the train again for the next stop, Felwood.
The train then would cross into the Reach Prefecture through Grandview and then into the Riverlands. Depending on the success of the railway, which was expected to open a new page in the history of the trade.
Plans were already being drawn for a railway network across the kingdom. From Storm's End, several central railways would reach to the edges of the kingdom. Oldtown, Highgarden, Planky Town, Seagard, the Bloody Gate, and Duskendale would each be the central pieces of the network.
Those points would then reach the rest of the prefectures, spreading like a spiderweb. In time, the trains would also carry passengers. Rather than just trade, the new method of transportation would increase the pace of life.
—
Aerys Targaryen, the High Archon of the Valyrian Empire, was scheming. He had managed to convince one of the three councillors of Kandac. He would assist with his dragons to secure the remaining two islands, and Kandac would have an alliance with the empire.
In his short time in the inner sanctum of the councillor, he had seen many wonderful sights. Kandac possessed many artifacts that had reacted to the magic in his blood. They would be tools for the empire to use against the false god of Westeros.
While Aerys dreamt of payback, his empire was shaken with the recent news in Westeros. A steel wagon that ran on sunlight and carried a trade ship's worth of goods inland. It had traveled from Storm's End to Fairmarket within days.
Worst of all, they intended to create more steel wagons to cover the entire continent. The wagons would change everything. Most trade happened via ships. Wagons that could do the work of a ship would make trade within the empire soar through the clouds.
The Storm Kingdom would leave the Valyrian Empire in the dust.
The severity of the situation was only understood with the arrival of the trains. They were not the only wonders created by the solar engines Academy of Transience. Massive pumps that worked without men, horses, or waterwheels, capable of draining the underground waters in mines within hours.
New power looms that wove far faster than the old ones, Iron Works that worked better than before, and more.
The Council of Nine was quicker to seize the opportunity than the empire. It was a unanimous decision to send envoys to buy the machinery for their own end. The envoys approached the Ministry of Trade, offering large sums for the machines.
They were met with a blunt refusal.
The First Princess had forbidden the sale of the engines, or the machines that made use of them, without her written permission. It was approved by the God-Queen, and the matter was closed.
So they resorted to more underhanded methods.
Stealing and smuggling such a machine out of the kingdom was not possible without inside help, which they did not possess. However, the academy itself was open to every citizen of the kingdom, regardless of birth.
Branch members of one of the founding houses would pose as traders wishing to migrate to the kingdom. Their excuse would be the lack of opportunities in the empire and the dangers of trading with Yi-Ti and the cities further east.
It would go against the ban on infiltrating the Storm Kingdom set by their ancestors, but times had changed.
The first report of the family had arrived, and the results were pleasing. The port officials had granted them temporary asylum. Their petition has been sent to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to be processed. The officials were confident that the petition would be accepted.
Now, they had to wait.
—
Kingdom of the Rock
Casterly Rock
King Aldric sighed. "At least the cargo of a trade galley, you say?"
He had gathered the court to discuss the latest events happening in the lands of their neighbor. Lord Sarwyck had witnessed everything with his eyes, and it did not look good.
"Aye, Your Grace, possibly more," he said, bowing deeply.
"These trains would make the wares of the Storm Kingdom cheaper than ever. How are we supposed to match that? It would be the end of our production." Lord Westerling put his head between his hands, looking down with a blank face.
"The God-Queen did not force Vale to open its markets. Should we stop trading with her kingdom, I see no reason she would force us as long as our current agreements are honored," said Lord Banefort, though he was not certain if it was a good idea. Vale had no choice but to bend the knee in the end, and the God-Queen did not even have to lift a finger.
"True, but she would also close the markets of the Storm Kingdom to us. That would be an equally grievous blow." Lord Greenfield shook his head. His house traded heavily with the Storm Kingdom. If it were suddenly cut, he would be in dire straits.
"Damned if we do, damned if we don't," Aldric muttered.
"Your Grace, I hate to be the one to say this, but there appears to be only one choice available to us." Lord Reyne said. The mines of Castamere were not infinite, but the wealth of the Storm Kingdom appeared to be.
"To become another prefecture in her kingdom," Lord Tarbeck stated the obvious.
Lord Reyne shrugged. "Aye. How are any of us supposed to match the wit of a god?"
The Lord of Crakehall suggested funding an academy in the Kingdom of the Rock to duplicate the machines of the Storm Kingdom. Unfortunately, the scholars of the kingdom preferred the Academy of Transience and moved to the Storm Kingdom permanently.
There weren't many scholars they could find. Either maesters that were too stuck in their ways or the disgraced scholars of the Academy. The gold mines of the Kingdom of the Rock could not offer any reputable scholar an environment that the Academy of Transience could not outperform. Any attempt to create a center of learning would take decades, perhaps centuries, before bearing any fruit.
They only had mere years.
Lord Marbrand laid out the idea of an alliance with the empire, but even the Targaryens kept heavy tariffs on the goods from Westeros to preserve their coffers. The dragonlords were not a solution.
"My lords, I have heard your opinions, but as the king, the final decision is mine," Aldric said, silencing the room.
—
Storm's End
"Huh, here I was expecting the Starks to come forth first," Saiguu said. As the closest to the messenger, she had taken the letter bearing the sigil of a lion.
"For what?" Ei asked, brought out of her meditation.
Saiguu waved the letter. "The King of the Rock wants to meet you for a momentous occasion for both kingdoms."
There was nothing else he could offer that could be described as momentous. Except for declaring war, which would be momentous in the wrong way.
"That does not necessarily mean he wants his kingdom to become a part of ours," Kage said. The Kingdom of the Rock was in a better state compared to Vale when the current Lady Arryn had bent the knee. Though, with the advancements of the Storm Kingdom, they would be hard-pressed to stay that way any longer.
"One of his lords was at the train station. He looked troubled," Chiyo added.
When it was announced that the God of Thunder would be joining the unveiling of the train with her friends, the number of attending delegates had increased, greatly so.
"So was every other foreigner. Does that mean they all wish to be part of the kingdom?" Sasayuri asked.
Not that it looked improbable for Aldric Lannister to surrender his crown and become a part of the kingdom. She would just prefer more concrete proof than a letter that did not state anything directly.
"If it weren't for the Targaryens, I am sure they would be," the kitsune goddess said.
She chuckled, remembering that arrogant little boy who was scheming something that she did not see as important enough to investigate.
"Are you going to accept it?" the oni maiden asked.
Her advice would be to accept it for several reasons. Not only would it unify the southern side of the continent, but she was sure the relevant ministries could extract more precious metals from the land than the nobles could.
"Yes. The mines could be good to funnel the growth of the railway system." It was just one of the reasons, should it actually be what Aldric Lannister wanted to speak about.
"I was getting bored anyway. It would give us something to do," Saiguu muttered.
Laying around all day was boring.
—
In the sixth month of the 125th year of ascendence, King Aldric Lannister of Casterly Rock visited Storm's End with his court. He was granted an audience and made his case to the God-Queen.
The Kingdom of the Rock would fall behind in times with how fast the Storm Kingdom was progressing under her rule. They were already behind in many aspects, but the trains and the new machines used in production would make them a poor kingdom in several years.
He, with the agreement of his nobles, wished for the Kingdom of the Rock to become another prefecture of the Storm Kingdom.
In front of the public.
Ei accepted the offer on the spot. Aldric surrendered his crown and, with the nobles of the Westerlands Prefecture, had given his oath of fealty.
The rest was a matter of discussing how the new prefecture would be ruled. She agreed to appoint Aldric as the first governor. He would have advisors who were experienced in management across the Storm Kingdom to facilitate the growth of the new prefecture.
Work on the infrastructure would begin immediately. The neighboring prefectures already had roads extending to the border of the Westerland Prefecture. It was just a matter of repaving the roads inside the land according to the Standard Infrastructure Decree.
The railway network would also be extended, starting with Lannisport and spreading from there. The taxes from the valuable metal mines would be used to facilitate the construction.
There were many parts of the new prefecture already propped up with the help of the kingdom. At the time, none had considered the idea of the then Kingdom of the Rock becoming a part of the Storm Kingdom. Now, it had only made their work easier.
The North, once they received word that the Kingdom of the Rock was no more, began to consider their options.
The Kings in the North had kept trade with the Storm Kingdom small, only buying foodstuffs while selling raw materials of equal value. They, too, had accepted the assistance provided by the Academy of Transience and the kingdom as a whole, but to a more limited degree.
The Northerners were too prideful to be told how to rule their lands. Only the Starks, Boltons, and Manderlys had taken the suggestions.
Yet, one matter made all of them reconsider whether they should have taken it or not.
The Others.
No matter how much the nobles wished to deny the existence of the monsters beyond the wall, they could not. A Child of the Forest was teaching the existence of the Others in the Academy of Transience.
The god who had revived the decaying Storm Kingdom and conquered the remaining kingdoms in Westeros would not be foolish enough to let it happen without a good reason.
House Stark had sent several joint expeditions beyond the Wall to see the proof with their eyes. Yet, all that had been accomplished was dozens of missing men.
There was another matter proving the existence of the Others, depending on who you asked. The seasons in the Storm Kingdom had changed.
Three months of summer, fall, winter, and spring each, rather than years of summer followed by winter, with fall and spring barely felt. Argella Durrandon's kingdom did not have to worry about famine, the harsh winter, or raiders.
Thousands of smallfolk had already left the North to settle in the Riverlands. There was work for everyone, and it paid more for the same effort in the North. No one went hungry, the nobles could not act as they wished, and the lives of the smallfolk were comfortable.
Every smallfolk they had lost was one less worker for the blacksmiths, what fields they could till, and every other work that required manpower.
Stopping the smallfolk would lead to rebellions, yet not stopping them would lead to shortages.
The North was sharing the fate of the Vale, even if it was slower.
With the Lannister king bending the knee, being the subjects of the God of Thunder did not seem to be such a horrible prospect anymore. The people were allowed to practice their faith without facing backlash, though most worshipped Argella Durrandon these days.
Yet their pride stood in the way.
Artos Stark, the King in the North, was considering his options. Half his lords, the more sensible ones, would agree to the idea of becoming a part of the Storm Kingdom, finally unifying the continent.
But the remaining half would refuse out of spite. The North had endured for thousands of years; they could endure for thousands more. However, the issue wasn't enduring.
The smallfolk wanted better lives, and as things were, the Kingdom of the North could not offer that. The nobility would find that their blood did not make them immune to hunger, thirst, or cold.
Which would be their fate if there were no smallfolk left to work in the North.
He ordered letters to be sent to his lords and waited. May his forefathers forgive him for what he was about to do, but he saw only one way forward that did not end in his kingdom splintering like a rotten board.
—
In the next chapter:
The times were dire for the North. So much so, Arthos had no choice but to summon his lords in the middle of the winter. The people of his kingdom were resilient in the face of hardship.
It did not mean they wanted to traverse all the distance to Winterfell in the dead of winter.
"My lords, welcome to Winterfell. We have much to discuss," he said to the nobles assembled around the table. Warm drinks and food had been served to raise their spirits.
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