The forces from Haystack Hall and Bronzegate had joined the men of Sharp Point and Stonedance, waiting for the vanguard from Storm's End. The banner of Haystack Hall showed a yellow haystack on an orange field, while Bronzegate's bore three brass buckles on sky blue.
"Thank the gods." In the command tent outside Bronzegate, the Braavosi had hurried all the way to catch up with Gendry. The banker was short and stout, but the strange three-tiered purple felt hat on his head made him seem a little taller.
The Braavosi, Noho, looked at the people gathered around Gendry in the tent: the red priestess Melisandre, Ser Barristan of the Kingsguard, the red-haired, freckle-faced Anguy, Lothor Brune, Jon Snow. The two female guards, the Maid of Tarth and the she-bear, had remained on Dragonstone to protect Daenerys. On the folding chairs below sat several Stormlands lords, including Justin Massey of Stonedance and Lord Duram of Sharp Point.
Noho understood that Robert's son was far harder to deal with than Robert himself. That was what the Iron Bank's informants had reported. The Storm was tall, fierce in battle, and seasoned and deep in his schemes.
Gendry was carving a plate of roasted lamb with a Valyrian steel dagger. The dagger had once belonged to Littlefinger, and now there was no reason to waste it.
"The soldiers of the Stormlands are useful, and the meat is good." Draped in a golden surcoat over black scale armor engraved with dragons and stags, Gendry swept through the plate of roasted meat as if wiping out his enemies.
"Lord Noho, you are the first to come and see me. By rights, I should feel honored," Gendry said. "But we will have to discuss these terms properly."
Noho of Braavos was very humble. "I would not dare call myself a lord. I am only a small employee of the Iron Bank of Braavos."
A banker who dared come to him asking for money was no ordinary banker. Gendry studied Noho, the envoy from Braavos. Bankers loved money as much as life itself, and Braavos stood foremost among them. A sword was faster than gold, but the Braavosi were clearly much harder to handle. Besides, the amount of money was still within a controllable range.
"How did you get here?" Gendry asked.
"I brought three ships to Tarth. I thought I would meet you at Storm's End. I did not expect your march to be like lightning. You had already defeated the false king Renly, brought Lord Stannis to heel, and begun moving your vanguard against King's Landing. Truly, you are the triumphant Storm, a great conqueror." Noho's Common Tongue was smooth and natural, with only the faintest accent.
"The Iron Bank's words are so pleasant that I am almost moved. Still, you must have had a hard journey."
"Indeed, Prince. Crossing the sea at this season is dangerous. If one ship runs into trouble, there is no help to call upon, but three ships can look after one another. The Iron Bank is always cautious in such matters."
"There was no debt between us to begin with. That money was borrowed by the late king. I did not enjoy a single coin of it. Besides, traitors pocketed a great deal of it as well," Gendry said, feigning anger. He rose with his sword in hand, and in that instant the tent seemed swept by a sudden gale, like a tiger loosed from its cage.
"The debt belongs to the Iron Throne," Noho corrected carefully. "Whoever sits the throne must repay it. At present, your chances of victory are very great, and we believe it necessary to discuss this matter with King Robert's heir, with you, Prince Gendry. So long as you prove yourself trustworthy, we would of course be glad to provide whatever assistance you require. Everything ran smoothly during Robert's lifetime, and I would be glad to serve you as well."
"Then may I avoid paying interest? Or reduce the principal a little?" Gendry asked.
"You jest, Prince," Noho said. "The essence of banking is profit. The Iron Bank does not tolerate default. We can discuss terms, but lending must always bring returns. Even if a king refuses to pay us, that is unacceptable."
Gendry looked at Noho, this banker who was neither servile nor arrogant. He did indeed have plenty of confidence. The Sealord, the Iron Bank, the Purple Fleet, oh, and the Faceless Men. The Faceless Men possessed terrifying professional skill. They could not destroy King's Landing or leave every street piled with corpses, but they certainly could kill.
"Let us be direct. How many golden dragons did the late king owe you?" Gendry asked.
"That is a complicated figure," Noho answered respectfully. "Mainly because of the interest. I will need to calculate carefully."
"Wait a moment. Ser Barristan knows some of the details." Gendry had Ser Barristan speak.
"Yes, Prince," Ser Barristan said. "As far as I know, the total royal debt exceeds six million. House Lannister is the largest creditor, along with Lord Tyrell, the Iron Bank of Braavos, the Tyroshi trading houses, and the Faith. The crown owes House Lannister about three million one hundred thousand golden dragons, the Iron Bank about one million two hundred thousand, the Faith about nine hundred thousand, and Lord Tyrell and the Tyroshi merchants roughly seven hundred thousand each."
"Prince, as far as I know, you need not repay the Lannisters or the Tyroshi merchants," Noho said. "So you need only concern yourself with our modest million or so golden dragons. It is merely the interest."
Now that the Storm and the lion were mortal enemies, once the Storm defeated House Lannister, not a coin of the Lannister debt would need to be repaid. As for the Tyroshi merchants, Gendry had already purged them, and most of the old powers had vanished.
Noho felt a chill in his heart. Physically eliminating creditors was the most ruthless method of all. But judging by Gendry's manner, he did not seem likely to overturn the table for just over a million golden dragons.
"So it is the interest." Gendry said, "The situation is difficult now. I command a great many soldiers, and every day consumes a sea of golden dragons." This was not merely pleading poverty, but a negotiating tactic.
"And besides this sum, I will need to borrow more. I need loans to hold until spring. This gold will be used to buy food and subsidize lords in various regions. In short, I will need even more golden dragons in the future," Gendry told Noho. Noho's courtesy was impressive, but Braavos's reputation in debt collection was known to all. One did not ask the Iron Bank for money lightly.
Yet Gendry knew the greatest upheaval was about to come. The Others would march south, and winter was coming. The long night, the war between light and darkness. At such a point, the borrower would be the real lord. Perhaps he would even bring a huge sum of golden dragons to the Iron Bank, making the bankers serve him well.
"Then we can discuss it properly," Noho said. "Your ability to bargain reminds me of an old acquaintance."
"Petyr Baelish, the former Master of Coin?" Gendry asked.
"Yes, Prince," Noho said. "I heard he became a traitor to the throne, murdered Hand of the King Jon Arryn, and stirred up civil war in the realm."
"That is right. Petyr has already flown away. But speaking of Littlefinger, I recall that Littlefinger seems to have had some deposits in the Iron Bank. Since Littlefinger has no heir, that money should by rights belong to the treasury. Perhaps..."
Not only Littlefinger. Gendry suspected House Targaryen might also have wealth deposited with the Iron Bank, but that matter was not easy to confirm. It could only wait until later.
"Five hundred thousand golden dragons," Ser Barristan added, then looked expectantly at the Iron Bank's envoy.
Noho sighed. "Using debt to repay debt is not very likely, Prince."
"Nothing is impossible."
"You bargain like a fishmonger in the market," Noho said.
"Thank you for the compliment."
A poor beginning was still a beginning. Their negotiations soon continued, turning the impossible into the possible.
The two sides crossed blades across the negotiating table. Even though the amount of gold was not large, the Iron Bank had to be made to feel as though it had gained something after a turn in the talks. Only that kind of gold would bring satisfaction.
Gendry and Noho spent more than half an hour turning the impossible into the possible, then another half hour agreeing on the terms. Anguy brought a jug of hot wine, which helped them resolve several troublesome disputes.
Braavosi interest and principal were not easily forgiven. In the past, only Jaehaerys I the Conciliator had exploited the matter of the three missing dragon eggs. Because the Sealord had stepped in, the Iron Bank of Braavos had agreed to forgive the principal owed by the Iron Throne, instantly cutting the crown's total debt in half. But Gendry did not have that kind of leverage now. His dragons were still young and hidden, and his realm was in turmoil.
The two sides calculated one million two hundred thousand in principal and seven hundred thousand in interest. Both agreed to use the five hundred thousand from Petyr Baelish's secret account to offset the seven hundred thousand in interest. Gendry would immediately repay two hundred thousand in principal to the Iron Bank, and no further interest would accrue from that point. As for the remaining one million in principal, Gendry would repay it in stages after the Battle of the Blackwater Rush ended. In return, the Iron Bank would refuse to support any other claimants to kingship, while Gendry promised to give the Iron Bank priority when new loans were needed.
Looking at the slightly drunk Noho, Gendry signed the parchment drafted by the Braavosi, then glanced once more at the interest figure. These bankers truly were black-hearted, demanding money from him and daring to set such a high rate. If not for Littlefinger's secret hoard of five hundred thousand, he would absolutely have pressed the interest down further. Since recovering Littlefinger's secret hoard would not be easy anyway, it was better to steady the Iron Bank first.
"If I need money, then I cannot simply push the Iron Bank aside," Gendry said.
"Indeed, my lord. All nine Free Cities have banks, and some have more than one. Bankers must learn to fight for every coin like dogs over a bone. But our Iron Bank is richer and more powerful than all the other banks combined," Noho said. When rulers defaulted on debts to other banks, ruined bankers could only sell their wives and children into slavery before cutting their own wrists. But if a king dared refuse to repay the Iron Bank, usurpers would spring up across his realm to contest the throne.
Gendry had trading houses, money changers, and bankers in Myr and Tyrosh under his command, but their strength was still far inferior. Gendry had not listened to the Twin Cities bankers' proposal to create a great bank to oppose the Iron Bank. There would be time. Later, he would have time to deal with the Titan's threat.
"If the weather turns cold in Westeros, what about Braavos?" Gendry asked Noho.
"I fear there will be a chain reaction, Prince," Noho said. "If winter is close at hand, the canals of Braavos will begin to freeze as well."
Gendry understood. The Sealord's city was the northernmost of the Free Cities, and winter affected it greatly. If that was the case, the Braavosi would certainly interfere actively.
Gendry had heard those terrible stories. In the northern seas, there were dreadful Krakens and sea dragons, sea beasts the size of islands cruising through cold gray waters, while drifting icebergs hid within the freezing mists.
"With the red comet's appearance, the weather does indeed seem to be growing colder. Some say it is because of the dragons," Noho suddenly said.
"I would rather hope there was a dragon here. It would be warmer," Gendry said to Noho. Braavos was known as a land of gods. It seemed there would always be superstitious people saying such things.
"My lord jests, but forgive me if I cannot laugh. The ancestors of us Braavosi fled from Valyria and the wrath of the Dragonlords. We never joke about dragons."
Gendry nodded. "My apologies, Noho." After all, I really do have dragons.
"It is all right, Prince. I am a little hungry. Recovering such a large debt does wonders for the appetite, especially since I may lend out even greater sums in the future. Might I have something hot to eat?" Noho said.
"My treat."
So more onion-roasted lamb was brought up, tender and juicy, filling the whole command tent with the aroma of roasted meat.
"A pleasure doing business with you, Prince," Noho said.
"A pleasure, Envoy." Gendry smiled, though in his heart he was already thinking of ways to kill off his Braavosi creditors in the future.
He and Braavos had fundamental differences that could hardly be avoided. First, Braavos would never allow a hegemony to emerge, a powerful new power spanning Westeros and the lands across the Narrow Sea. Second, Braavos might not wish to see the Dragonlord family flaunting its strength. That made the window of opportunity very important, while the old Sealord was sickly and weak.
Even the Iron Bank and the Faceless Men must have ways to be dealt with. Gendry hated threats, and he was best at solving threats physically.
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