Chapter 74: Act 2: Chapter 20

Thirteenth day, Seventh Moon, 253 AC (+21 days)

Koryn snorted as he finished the letter in his hand. "This is their offer? Can we even call this an offer?"

There were amused smiles around the table as the rest of the family agreed with him. We had finally received a letter back from Lord Greyjoy about possible trade opportunities, and the letter was less than stellar. Not that I expected much, but I had hoped for a little more to work with.

"An offer to talk might be a better way to describe it," I replied. "It avoids any mention of an apology for the raid, and completely avoids talking about the history of them raiding our shores. For all that, it looks like he is interested in seeing what kind of trade we could do between us."

"Well, your original idea was to have them buy the goods from us, and then transport them south and sell them, correct?" asked Nyra.

"Yes, I don't think it is smart to let the Ironborn take anything from us, with only a promise of future payment," I said, wryly.

Koryn laughed. "Aye, that'd be a bit much."

Violet worried her lip in thought. "What would we trade them for? And when? We are still stockpiling for the merchant fleet, and I don't think we can replenish our stores to sell to the Ironborn anytime soon."

"Not anytime soon, I would think. At least a year, perhaps even next summer," I replied.

Nyra nodded. "It will take long enough to exchange letters and hammer out the details. We can drag it on as needed."

"That'll work," I replied thoughtfully. "I need to see what Greyjoy is willing to trade. I would imagine iron, but I have no idea what else they could sell us in exchange."

"Garum?" asked Alessa, Koryn's wife.

I shook my head. "No, we can make our own garum easily enough. I will probably even have the garum hidden when we do make the trade, just to make sure there are no bad reactions to us copying their food."

"As raiders, I would imagine they have loot? Jewelry, gems, weapons, and other things they steal. We could buy it from them," suggested Violet.

Nyra looked dubious. "Perhaps some of it, but we don't really have any use for gems or jewelry. We would just hold on to it until we can sell it off to someone else."

I shrugged. "Too much would be a bit of a problem but having a store of precious items tucked away wouldn't be a bad thing."

Zane looked uneasy. "So, are we just going to let them sail into the docks here at Redbridge? That still seems like a bad idea to me." He clenched his left hand in remembrance of the raid. His left arm had a large scar running down most of the forearm that still pained him. Luckily, it had never gotten infected and healed up relatively nicely, but it had made his arm a lot weaker and unable to hold anything heavy.

"No, I was thinking we would eventually set a specific date for them to come, and to arrive at Stonefisk, not Redbridge," I replied.

Koryn sighed. "That means we would need to ship goods there, and ship guards there as well."

"True, but it's less distance for the Ironborn to travel and get distracted."

Koryn snorted at the idea. "Yes, we wouldn't want them to get distracted."

Violet looked surprised. "Surely they wouldn't raid when they are directly following the orders of their liege lord?"

I grimaced. "Probablynot, but the Ironborn are not known for their smarts, kindness, or forward thinking."

Koryn chuckled. "If they did raid while under orders from Greyjoy, Lord Stark might finally be able to get the King to do something about them. Granted, that'll mean we have to suffer another raid."

"Aye, and when I set it up, I'll make sure they only come at an arranged date. I don't want Ironborn arriving continuously throughout the summer."

He nodded. "That's smart."

I shrugged. "We don't really have the population to sustain continuous trading, and I'd rather everyone know that if there's an Ironborn ship out on the water at an odd time, it'll be raiding, and for them to take precautions."

Zane's face hardened. "We need t' make this a show of force, too. Show 'em that we aren't weak, and if they raid us again, they won't like what comes of it."

Koryn nodded in agreement. "A strong statement is a good idea."

I scratched my chin as I thought it over. "A fully armored guard spread throughout Osend would send a strong message."

"Having some sort of fortification would be good too," Nyra chipped in.

"You mean where the castle ruins are?" I clarified. At her nod, I continued, "That could work. We are already planning to build a barracks there but adding a wooden tower, or some other defensive features could work too. I'll take it over with Jon and Donovar and get their opinions."

"Even a temporary castle-type of thing would send a big message to them," Koryn replied.

"When I stop by at Winterfell and talk with Lord Stark, I will ask him about possibly sending another ten or twenty guards with me to help us with this trade."

"Do you think he would give you any?" asked Koryn.

"Most likely," I replied, "He is interested in making sure this works, and that we send a strong message to the Ironborn. The only reason I think he would decline is that he wants me to do it all myself. After all, he has already loaned me ten men."

"At what point do those men have to be sent back at?" inquired Violet.

"Probably at the end of summer, but I will be confirming that with Lord Stark. After the latest intake of soldiers, our forces stand at seventy men, with another five for Donovar's castle. About three-quarters of those men will be for garrison duty, while the rest will be Rangers."

"I wouldn't think we would need to ask Lord Stark for more men to help us with the Ironborn trade if we have that many people. It would look better on us if we didn't have to ask," said Nyra, with a thoughtful look on her face.

I leaned back in my chair and took a sip of the well-watered wine while I collected my thoughts. "It's not as much as you would think. I can't send all seventy men to Stonefisk for the trade, because what if they betray us and raid Redbridge again? We can't take that risk. At most, I would send half of that. And with 35 men, that's not even a longboat's worth of potential raiders. It depends on how many ships come to trade, but I want to be able to treat it as if they were all potential raiders."

Nyra grimaced. "If we received twenty men from Lord Stark, on top of the ten we already have, and send 35 men all to Stonefisk, that would put us at 65 men. Would that be enough?"

"Well, I would send Donovar's five men as well to defend their home, plus any of our family would be around in case of an emergency. So that's what? 75 men? I think we should limit the trade mission to about 100 people then, for the first trip. If they behave, we can increase the second mission and go from there."

Zane smirked. "So, we'll treat them like dogs then?"

Koryn laughed. "Flea-bitten ones, maybe." He looked thoughtful for a second, before adding, "With a bit o' mange."

"That will be a small trade mission then," said Violet, getting us back on track.

I shrugged. "Not much we can do. Still, if they send two knarrs, depending on the size, would probably be about twenty men. Throw in a longboat for protection, and that's sixty men coming. Seventy, if we get three knarrs. The boats themselves can carry anywhere from ten to thirty tons of goods each, so there would still be plenty to trade."

Violet nodded. "I mean – any trade would be good, but it won't be as big as the upcoming merchant fleet. And much riskier too."

"True, but this is but the first step, in a hopefully prosperous and long relationship with the Ironborn," I replied.

Koryn looked amused, and Zane was disbelieving. Oh well, can't convince them all, I suppose.

"Oh," said Koryn, "I know you were going to speak to Donovar about the number of guards a few days back. What came of that?"

"Ah," I replied, "we were mostly discussing how many Rangers I should have, and how to call up levies if needed."

"How many Rangers do you plan to have then?"

"Ideally, I would like to have one percent of the population as Rangers, which at this point would be around 370 people."

Koryn let out a low whistle, while Violet's face blanched. "370 people?!" she asked incredulously.

I gave her a reassuring smile. "Ideally. Obviously, we can't afford that now, but we will work up to it. It's further complicated by the fact that my people are so spread out. I can't really hire a Ranger from the people near the guy who is trying to farm rice, for instance. And if I hired 370 Rangers from Redbridge only, it would kill our growth."

Violet looked a bit calmer. "That's a bit better," she mumbled.

Addressing Koryn, I said, "We also worked a bit on what exactly you and he would both owe me in terms of vassalage."

"Aye? Meaning what?"

"Usually, you would provide men for any fighting for a fixed period as part of your terms for being my vassal. However, I would much rather Rangers and professional men, than untrained and barely armored boys.

Nyra nodded firmly. "Good, I don't want any young boys fighting in wars for us."

I returned her nod. "Aye, neither do I. Anyways, we were planning on a tax that you both would pay me in order to fund the Rangers for a reduced number of possible levies. We also did some planning in order to come up with districts to see how we can call up men as needed, but we have yet to come up with anything final. I can show you that later."

Koryn nodded. "That's fine. I can try and help you with the district thing, but I don't know how much use I will be."

"A fresh set of eyes might help regardless."

"When do you want to send out the letter to Greyjoy?" asked Violet, bringing us back to our original topic.

"It might as well wait for Ryden and I to pass through Winterfell in another two months. Otherwise, we would have to pay for a messenger to bring it there, and then ultimately on to Pyke."

"Ah, did you still want to work on a draft letter now?"

I shrugged. "Sure, why not? Can you go grab some paper and ink?"

While Violet went off to grab some supplies, Nyra went about refilling everyone's drinks and brought out a few more snacks.

When Violet brought the paper back to the table, I looked down at the stack and realized it would be even more paperwork for me. Damn.

Containing my sigh, I turned my attention to the family's discussion on the proper greeting we should start with.

It was time to get to work.

A/N: Sorry for the delay in chapters. I've started my master's program, so updates will be a bit more delayed than I typically aim for. I don't have an exact schedule, but I am aiming for a chapter a week, depending on my workload.