Paperwork

(Erlend POV, Dragonstone)

Deep in his thoughts, Erlend turned his attention away from the pile of reports that lay on his desk.

He had been sitting there for a few hours now, going over skirmish reports, financial figures, and surveys of the state of his realm. While he had long since prepared himself for the task of ruling, it didn't mean he enjoyed the bloody paperwork that came along with it.

Taxes might be the lifeblood of sovereign nations, but that didn't change the fact that it needed proper paperwork to be filed to be as efficient as possible.

Hence why he had been focused heavily on centralizing authority and reforming the tax systems within his domains.

What about the Majors Lords, won't they rebel, it would weaken their power after all. The answer would be simple, most of those that would've had the ability to do so were already neutered, and those that still could were either too loyal, or would be destroyed the second they even make a move.

Erlend would not tolerate treason and has made examples of the few Lords still foolish enough to attempt to do so. He also had no qualms about making use of the passive abilities granted to him to induce loyalty onto his vassals.

It wasn't all paperwork, there were also various reports from the shadow wardens that were placed within the various major strongholds around Westeros. Unfortunately, in exchange for pulling most of the Shadow Wardens into Westeros, he wasn't as well informed about Essos as he previously had.

While his Aura was powerful and could cover whole kingdoms, he wasn't Bloodraven who had his arse merged with a tree and had nothing better to do than spy on people and lure underage boys north.

He had an actual Kingdom to rule, thus while he was better informed than most. It was greatly limited by his duties. His imprinted animals would only alert to vital information or events, otherwise, he was reliant on the shadow wardens for the most part.

The reports given by his Shadows were that the Tyrells and Florents had finally gotten off their arses and begun actual fighting.

They were relatively minor in scale, but it showed that neither side was content sending jabs and insults toward each other. For whatever reason both had raised large armies, only to then proceeded to split them up.

The only thing Erlend was grateful towards the two sides was that they had come to an unspoken rule in regards to not burning their fertile grounds, to not piss off the rest of Westeros, who was rather keen on not starving, go figure.

Skirmishes had begun between the Marcher Lords and the Dornish, with Randyll using it as a valid excuse to ignore the call to arms by his 'Liege' Lord. If he didn't know better, Erlend would've assumed that the grizzled commander had been plotting with the Dornish to avoid helping the fat flower.

The Westerlands was only slightly better off, as none of the Major Houses had gotten involved in the courtly intrigues between Cersei and Tyrion. It also helped that Kevin Lannister was found alive, if grievously injured, and was promptly placed under heavy care by his sister Genna after he placed his full support behind Tyrion.

Cersei did have support, though it mainly came from the numerous Lannister branches, and distant cousins, who hoped to use her claim to gain control over the Rock by marrying her.

Whilst Tyrion had support from the Main Branch, specifically his Uncle and Aunts, who weren't exactly keen on seeing the branch families gain control, which could set a dangerous precedent.

The rest of the Westerlands were licking their wounds, with Tywin having sent thousands of men to their graves, they had to focus on suppressing numerous smallfolk revolts. Whilst also trying to supplement their garrisons.

Of the kingdoms under his control, the Crownlands wast the most resistant to the changes, though they were quick to fold once Lt. General Strong made his way towards them.

That brought a chuckle out of him as he read the reports made by Duncan, which tended to come off as pretty annoyed and irritated with the petty Lords of the capital region. Not that it would remain the capital region for long, Erlend had no intention of maintaining the farce that was the Crownlands for long.

For now, he was waiting for the Reach to continue to weaken itself, the Ironborn had made themselves useful, as many Captains raided its coasts while their Lords were squabbling among themselves.

The Banners had all been placed in preparation for his next invasion, which would be the deciding factor on whether he ruled just the Riverlands and the Vale or the whole of Westeros.

…

Letting out a groan of satisfaction, Erlend stood up from his seat, having gone through all the paperwork and finally being able to relax.

Just as he stood up, the door to the Solar opened, and Elia Martell walked in.

There was no denying that Nymeria's descendant was gorgeous, she was a slender woman, with dark eyes. Despite being somewhat flat-chested, she had a gentle Aura about her that attracted the usually cynical Erlend. Not to mention an ass to die for which she actively used to gain his attention.

"Princess Elia," Erlend welcomed her warmly.

He gestured for her to take his hand, inviting her to take a walk with him.

Showing no hesitation Elia ignored his hands and rather boldly interlocked their arms together, having already done this a dozen times since their discussion in the painted chambers a few weeks ago.

Unfazed by her actions, Erlend simply shook his head as the two walked out of the chambers and made their way around the castle.

None of the guards followed, well aware of the pair's wishes for privacy.

As they walked, Elia sent him a smile. "I didn't expect you to finish your work so quickly." She said.

"There weren't as many issues within reports as there used to be," he nodded.

Now that things were finally settling down, with bandits and deserters being wiped out, and the various Lords had quieted down over the tax reforms made. There wasn't as much paperwork as there had been at the beginning.

His stay in Riverrun where he did relatively light paperwork, cleansing rituals, and subsequent devastation of the mountain clans, had allowed the paperwork to pile up to ridiculous levels.

Many a night since his arrival at Dragonstone had been spent in the Lord's Solar going through them, which had the unexpected effect of improving the relationship between him and Elia.

While he and Rhaella had gotten along with each other, since his confirmation that he would protect her family, it had yet to achieve the same level as it did with Elia who looked ready to jump him at the moment.

This is despite him being frank with her about his intentions to marry Catelyn. Something she didn't seem to care about, as she couldn't give him children even if she wanted to.

"You better not be thinking about another woman at this moment, My Lord." Her eyes narrowed at him.

"Of course not my dear, just thinking about the invasion," Erlend said as he stared into her eyes, rather intensely.

(A/N: Shameless Bastard, I approve.)

"I'm glad to hear it." She nodded her head, avoiding his eyes, as red dusted her cheeks.

Erlend could feel a shudder running through her body but chose not to comment on it with a knowing smile.

Elia for her part, did her best to get herself together as she closed her eyes and shook her head. There were the familiar stirrings between her thighs and a slight tingle that went down her spine.

She had long since gotten used to it, since they first interacted, and had done quite well in keeping her composure around him.

Unfortunately for her, her form-fitting dress could not hide her hardened nipples, and his rather intense stare didn't help.

"Are you alright, Elia?" he asked with apparent concern.

'This smug handsome bastard.' She thought inwardly.

Not noticing, or rather not caring for the lack of title usage.

"I'm fine, just feeling a bit hot," she reassured him.

"Excellent, I was just worried," Erlend said.

She didn't speak after that, content with continuing to walk and doing her best to ignore the growing arousal within her.

Erlend for his part, merely smirked at her.

Eventually, whether by happenstance or deliberate action on either side, they ended up in front of Elia's chambers.

Still squirming as she bit her lips. "W-Would you like to come in?" She asked, her eyes practically demanding that he agree.

"If you don't mind, I see no reason not to," Erlend agreed to her invitation. "As for how we would spend our time in there."

Erlend separated their interlocked arms and moved in front of her as he placed his hands on her waist.

Elia let out a gasp as he tilted her chin towards him, trembling as he leaned in and began to kiss her gently. Finally after a few minutes of making out with the sensual dornish princess.

"What do you think, Princess?" He asked her. "Should we continue?"

"Yes!" Elia burst out as she let out a pleased groan. She had no intention of delaying any longer, her lips too moist to care.

Suddenly, she felt herself being carried by the young Lord, as Erlend put her into a princess carry and made his way towards her chambers.

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[Note:]

- So Elia is definitely in, as for why she can't have kids, it's mainly her body's constitution which prevents her from having another one, as the birthing could kill her. Yes, Erlend could heal her, but he won't for now since it would be counterproductive to do so until his first trueborn son is born.

- His marriage to Catelyn is important because it secures his descendant's rule over their core territories, the lands where most of the Banner's future recruits will come from, it's vital that he keeps it stable. There's also the fact that she's a redhead, enough said.

- As for the realm as a whole, Rhaenys marrying his future son takes care of that particular issue. Rhaella could technically be a viable option, but she's 'used' goods as far as the rest of Westeros is concerned, her reputation is tainted by her former husband's actions and her 'failure' to properly raise Rhaeger.