Chapter 127. The City.

Chapter 127: Chapter 127. The City.

There were more pressing matters for the prince, such as the construction of the city. Jaehaerys had designed it to grow around the castle. It would extend all the way to the Gods Eye. The fishing village would be preserved; there was no need to destroy it in order to build the city. He had already spoken with the villagers. They had agreed to certain improvements in infrastructure and thanked the prince for not wanting to erase their homes only to rebuild over them.

They were people who had lived there for decades.

The prince’s men had already begun marking out the land to define the construction sites. They dug trenches where the channels that would feed the city would run, along with the drains that would carry away dirty water. He had to be careful not to mix the clean water with the foul.

Those drains would be made of concrete. He wanted them reinforced with iron so they would be durable. Copper would not be used for the great drains or the channels carrying water, but for more refined piping.

He had already divided the districts. ArgentStone would stand at the center, the axis of the city, the final bastion of his lands if necessary. The Grand Market would lie south of the castle. It would be the city’s principal market, where he would sell his products wholesale and conduct trade on the same scale. East of the Grand Market would stand warehouses that he would lease to merchants. Farther east would be the Merchants’ District, where he would lease mansions, houses, and inns.

South of the Grand Market would be the Cart Yard and the carpenters. West of that would be the potters and brickmakers, then the tanners and tailors, and finally, near the West Gate, the smithies. The smithies would not refine the iron. ArgentStone would provide it according to demand.

The rest of the city would be residential districts for the common people. And instead of the crescent he had originally planned, it would form a complete circle. Unoccupied spaces would be filled with plots for gardens and orchards. Everything would be enclosed by walls. There would be three land entrances: the North Gate, the East Gate, and the West Gate.

South of the castle lay the Gods Eye, which would be the only entrance by water, with a harbor for small ships. Nearby would stand a shipyard for building his own vessels. The Fishermen’s Market would occupy the place where the original village had stood. The village itself would not be inside the walls; its inhabitants had asked for it that way.

Jaehaerys looked over everything from his dragon’s back. Most of the spaces had already been marked out. The districts were beginning to gather a population, though a sparse one. With the people brought from the Iron Islands, the city would begin to take shape. And if the people north of the Wall came as well, it would do wonders for the city’s development.

That also meant arming his people better. He could not simply expect everyone to respect his rules the moment they heard them. He would not be so primitive as to impose the harshest punishments on his people, but neither would he allow chaos to reign in his lands. The Unsullied were the best guards he could ask for to patrol his territory, above all because of their discipline. Those men would not accept a bribe even if it came from a Lannister, or the king himself.

He looked toward the river that connected with the Blackwater. A line of drakkars approached slowly under sail. He linked his sight with his eagle and looked at the people aboard. Women, children, and old people. A few adults. The real work began at that moment.

They would be reassigned to residential districts and integrated little by little. He did not know how long it would take to bring all the refugees, but he hoped it would be quick. He did not want to deal with the chaos of bringing in the wildlings while so many others were still adapting.

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The following days were a madness of logistics. The people brought to ArgentStone adapted submissively. They were not happy, but neither were they unhappy. They were simply there. Daenerys was spending an enormous amount of time in the city. Jaehaerys had left Brandon and Torrhen with her for protection, along with 50 Unsullied. She also had Moonfyre circling overhead, just in case some idiot decided to try to harm her.

Dany had a gift for dealing with people when the situation was not hostile, unlike the prince, who preferred to bury his nose in parchments and avoid speaking to people unless it was strictly necessary.

Jaehaerys did not dislike the dynamic that had settled between Dany and him. Dany was a beacon of hope for the people of ArgentStone. She was kind, beautiful, and well mannered. She also had an enormous heart. Jaehaerys knew she suffered when she saw others suffer. It was one of the reasons he wanted to give his people a good quality of life.

"Da-da," the little girl on the floor called to him.

Rhaelle threw a pencil at him. Graphite had been found in one of the coal mines. In its impure form it was darker and shinier than coal, similar to it, but it did not burn as readily. Normally it was not extracted, but after hearing the description, Jaehaerys ordered that some be brought to the castle. He had it ground and mixed with clay and water, then formed into thin rods that he fitted inside pieces of wood. It was a pencil, ugly for now, but functional.

His daughter loved it. It was better for her, easier to wash off. The maids had thanked him for it, though Jaehaerys suspected they would have preferred little Lady Rhaelle not to get dirty at all.

Lady. That was the title his daughter received, though most people called her princess. Jaehaerys and Daenerys were princes; their children, however, would only be Lords and Ladies. It was part of what had been agreed. Not that he was worried in the slightest. He could obtain a principality whenever he wished.

"Dad," the little girl called him. Now she seemed annoyed with him. She showed him a drawing of a dragon soaring through the sky above an enormous tower.

At least that was what Jaehaerys thought after studying the drawing for a long time. It could just as easily have been a bird taking a shit.

"Dragon?" the prince asked.

"Fu-ahh!" The little girl spat fire.

"Grawh!" Outside, from the forest, a threatening sound thundered across the castle. Jaehaerys hurried to his daughter, worried that the dragon’s roar had terrified her.

His worries were for nothing. The little girl clapped and roared again, soaking Jaehaerys’s face with "fire," which was actually nothing more than her spit. Jaehaerys wondered if children born in the years before the Dance had been like Rhaelle. She seemed to adore dragons.

"Auu!" The little wolf in the room gave a roar of its own. Rhaelle ran to hug him. The small pup dodged her, and she fell flat on her face. Jaehaerys wanted to help her up.

"Kepa," the little girl called him.

"You can get up by yourself," the prince told her, suppressing his own urge to lift her. Rhaelle was learning to walk. Falling was normal; Jaehaerys could not help her every time. He had already done enough by having a padded carpet laid down so she would not hurt herself when she fell.

"Mhm!" The little girl stood, then looked at her father before going back to drawing on the white sheet. She picked up the pencil and resumed her work of art. Beneath the "tower," she drew a man. "Kepa," she said, pointing with the pencil.

"I see." Jaehaerys nodded. "It’s a tower, isn’t it?" The little girl only laughed. "Very well, very well." Jaehaerys sat down at his desk.

And to think the worst disrespect he would ever suffer would come from his own daughter.

He returned to his project. He needed better transportation within the city.

Leave stones or I’ll kidnap all the next Chapters.