Chapter - 6

Inside Alaric's Study

"Maester Qyburn, I apologise for my Steward's rude behaviour earlier, but It was a necessity to get you onboard willingly!" Alaric broke the silence as he poured the wine in a wooden goblet to the gloomy middle-aged man in black with chains hanging on his neck, sitting on a chair across him and poured water for himself in another goblet.

Qyburn took the wine in his hand but observed the boy from the corner of his eyes. he placed the wine back on the table and dubiously gazed at Alaric.

Alaric rolled his eyes when he saw maester Qyburn place the wine back on the table. Alaric pointed his hand at the wine at the table. "It's not Poison Maester Qyburn; I would gladly drink it with you if I am not a child." Alaric raised his eyebrow. "It's harmful to a child, you know," he grinned.

Qyburn looked at the Window behind Alaric, moved the goblet back to Alaric and Cocked his head backwards, and eyes narrowed. He had not been happy throughout the journey to the North, which he considers a land too cold; besides, he doesn't like to drink.

"sooner or later, the Citadel would have caught you on your amusing activities," Alaric jested. "you know; maester! What would have happened if they did.

"beaten and my chains stripped off," Maester Qyurn added. "I just wish to know why I am here, Young Lord."

"I am saving you from that disgrace."

Under Qyburn's gloomy gaze, Alaric stood up, turned left and picked up three neatly stacked bundle of papers sewed together like a book on the shelf to his right and placed them on the table, then sat back on his chair.

"Take a look Maester Qyburn," Alaric gestured for him to read the three small books.

Qyburn leaned forward and proceeded to read the books.

"You know humans as a petty little creature we cannot gain anything without first giving something in return to obtain something of equivalent exchange, the first law of nature," Alaric interrupted the gloomy middle-aged man with narrow eyes.

Qyburn turned another page before pausing. "you could become a good maester at the Citadel!" his lips had curved into a shitty smile as he looked up.

"A pity I have another lover! The Citadel will have to make do without me," Alaric shrugged.

After a general reading of the books after an hour, Qyburn looked more Interested as he read but finally stopped as he looked towards the owner of these books. "If! I refuse Milord; I am sure I would turn up dead somewhere in the North." Qyburn turned another page. " If the contents of these books leak out, I am afraid the smallfolk will happily applause for you in celebration, but every man born noble from deserts of Dorne to the wall and the Citadel will be out for your blood.

"ain't that a beauty?" Alaric mused. "a bunch of grown-ups chasing a kid" "If justice is taken away, what are kings and lords but the self-justified band of robbers?"

Qyburn closed the books, leaned back and closed his eyes. "You will either be bane or boon; you will become a great politician, yet a terrible schemer."

"Why would I need to scheme when I have men to do that for me" Alaric raised his hand towards Qyburn."

In Qyburn's view, why would anyone show these valuable books to him; the first book is about medical knowledge about the functions of hearts, various body parts and positions and functions, bones and the veins (some of which he already knew). The second is about spycraft, and the third is named political and economic revolution, a morally rich book the best tool for a bankrupt politician. The Citadel would definitely kill to have it in their hands, even though the handwriting is a little wretched. It is hard for anyone to believe that these books are in the hands of a kid six and a half-year-old, but then again, strange things had happened in the past; this may be one of them, he thought to himself.

A strange silence had descended upon the room once again. Qyburn Took a deep breath as Alaric waited for him to give his final answer. "I accept! Milord, it was already getting hard for me to get a specimen for my research."

Alaric slammed his right hand on the table with a gleeful smile on his face. "Excellent! Maester Qyburn, come with me. You won't regret it."

Qyburn Accompanied Alaric to the south of Winterfell until they reached the river Whiteknife a little east of the king's road and west of the mountains. There he saw several plumes of smoke rising. Upon getting closer, he saw more buildings and construction site as if building a wall to surround the place.

Upon reaching there, he inquired about the buildings releasing the smoke. Alaric introduced them as Bull's Trench Kiln, a huge tower that releases smoke sprawled across land large enough to build a football field; the second building is introduced as a Beehive coke oven, a fire brick chamber shaped like a dome. The roof of the dome has a hole for charging the coal or other kindling from the top. The discharging hole is provided in the circumference of the lower part of the wall. In a coke oven battery, several ovens built in a row with common walls between neighbouring ovens. Coal is introduced from the top to produce an even layer of about 60 to 90 centimetres.

Coal is baked in these airless domes to produce coke and removed from the oven after 18 to 24 hours of time which. The soot released from the black smoke is used to manufacture ink and dyes.

The third building releasing the Smoke was Blast Furnace. The blast furnace uses coke, iron ore and limestone to produce pig iron, after which the workers would send pig iron and coke to the Puddling furnace. There are two small doors to stir the molten steel and adding the coke; one man would steer keep steering the steel while the other would add coke from time, and both men had their faces covered with clothes (Puddlers died in or before their 30s). And the final product, the finest steel never seen before of such quality in the entire Westeros, can produce 1 ton of such steel every day. After extracting it from the furnace into the shape of balls. After this, Workers will be sending these steel balls to the manufactories utilising the water wheels to power the hammer and produce swords, armours and other agricultural steel tools in small and controlled quantities.

These manufactories also have a job to produce swords, armours and tool of the same qualities as the rest of Westeros in large numbers.

Across the river, five hundred meters away from them, were more watermills. Protected by the Construction of strange Fortifications consisting of stone and bricks as materials. Connecting both areas separated by the river is a wooden bridge five hundred meters long Double timber pilings are rammed into the river bottom by winching up a large stone and releasing them, driving the posts into the riverbed. Most upstream and downstream pilings are slanted and secured by a beam, and multiple segments of these then linked up to form the basis of the bridge.

Upon Inquiry from Alaric, Qyburn found that there are more than two thousand soldiers stationed there. The majority of them his soldiers numbered fifteen hundred who are training here, while others were stationed at his request by his father.

"Did you not attract spies? In here, Milord," Qyburn asked Alaric when both of them were halfway on the bridge.

"Yes, we did; That's why you are here; you will meet them a total of fifty caught these in last six months."

"The Citadel —"

"— is a group of stagnant old drunkards," Alaric finished Qyburn's sentence.

"Times have changed, but that group of monks didn't. It's time for us to end the monopoly of Citadel, don't you agree? Let's create Healers University with you as its founder."

Qyburn nodded with ambition burning in his eyes.

Alaric had already briefed him about his task of establishing an Intelligence agency in return. He would invest a massive sum of money for Qyburn's the University of Healers, where Qyburn would become its founder.

Qyburn had studied the art of spycraft at the Citadel, but he liked to pursue the field of healer better as his favourite. He went as far as conducting live human experiments.

"Lord Stark! lord Stark!" A soldier in Stark attire loudly shouted behind and almost fell from the horse as he stopped just behind them.

Under Alaric's gaze, the soldier got off the horse, kneeled and unclipped a document from his sleeves. "Lord Stark, The Lord of Winterfell, Warden and Protector of The North, has requested your presence effective immediately. I here to escort you back to the Winterfell.

Alaric broke the seal unrolled the paper. His face turned white, drained of any colour. He sized up the soldier with sharp eyes. "We ride after an hour."

Qyburn didn't bother to ask about the matter. Alaric introduced him to the Waterpowerd frame, water-powered paper mills, his Second Steward and The Jorey Cassel, the man in charge to train the soldiers, as Alaric had told him to before he left for the Winterfell.