Chapter 56: Combine!

The resulting mixture was a little crude, but it was sturdy and malleable enough to accomplish its intended use.

Gregor and the architects had a steady arrangement. The Mountain's blacksmiths smelted the concrete; the architects used it to build a thirty-foot wall along the northern border of Moat Cailin. They also used it to reinforce the houses in the villages and the moat's towers.

Although Gregor had told the architects how concrete was created, he had not given them a demonstration of the process. So while they knew how the compound was made, they did not know how to make it themselves.

During their stay at Moat Cailin, the architects proposed that Gregor give them the recipe for smelting concrete. That way, they argued, they could make the compound themselves without relying on his blacksmiths or overworking them.

Gregor was tempted to share the recipe. However, his blacksmiths assured him that smelting concrete was no chore for them.

Moreover, Gregor saw a business opportunity. While there was no such thing as copyright in this world, so long as Moat Cailin alone held the recipe for concrete, the ability to manufacture and sell it would be exclusively Gregor's.

So he declined to share the recipe with the architects. They were disappointed, but they accepted his choice.

Concrete and cement were the first objects from his first life that Gregor had introduced to the Known World. Through his connections, he had sold massive quantities of both of those substances on the markets of the Seven Kingdoms, the Nine Free Cities, and Slaver's Bay. They had brought in a tremendous amount of income for House Clegane of Clegane's Keep.

Gregor still owned the patents to cement and concrete. As long as they remained his, the treasury at Moat Cailin would continue to grow fuller. All he had to do was ensure that the required materials were always in abundance.

Water could be provided by the Cut or the moat's aqueduct, sand could be imported from Dorne, and clay could be dug up from the lands surrounding the moat.

The only material that proved a bit of a challenge to locate was the calcite-rich limestone. Fortunately, Gregor had ways of acquiring that mineral.

If there was one thing the Westerlands were known for (other than having the vainest and proudest Great House), it was that they produced the greatest miners in all the realm. Many of the Westerlander Legionnaires had at least some experience with mining. Gregor opted to put those skills to use.

After getting special permission from Lord Eddard Stark, Gregor had tasked those Legionnaires with locating and digging up any valuable caches of limestone or other precious metals in the southern half of the North. This past year had yielded very fruitful results. So far, they had found veins of limestone, moonstone, zinc, iron, ebony, silver, malachite, quicksilver, and even an occasional gold one.

The mining operations were even more lucrative than the concrete and cement marketing. The profits generated from these operations were around ten times greater than the expenses incurred.

If this enterprise became successful enough, Gregor would probably push to continue their mining operations throughout the rest of the North, all the way to the wall.

At any rate, now that a wall of solid concrete had been erected along the northern border of Moat Cailin, the fortress was protected from both directions now. There were only three gates in the wall, and each of them could be sealed off with concrete doors if need be.

Once the Long Night occurred, the concrete wall would provide a formidable obstacle against the Others. Gregor knew it would not hold them off forever, but it would greatly delay their advance south. The Legion without Banners would even be given some time to push the Others back or evacuate the moat.

Furthermore, once the Others were past the concrete wall, their hardships would not stop at Moat Cailin. Even if they managed to obliterate the Legion, they would still have to face the hazards of the Neck. Gregor did not know how deep the swamps were, but he believed they would be able to swallow up a huge proportion of the White Walkers before they reached the Riverlands.

That was one of the two reasons why Moat Cailin's location made it the optimal choice for the Legion without Banners.

The other reason was due to the moat's position relative to the rest of Westeros. It was just barely in the North. It could actually be rather humid at times. Even so, it shared the same climate of the rest of the region.

As Gregor knew well, the landscape of the North was frigid and inhospitable year-round. The temperature never rose about seventy degrees, and there were snows even in the summer.

Only the Northmen were accustomed to such everlasting cold. Gregor hoped to familiarize everyone else in the Legion without Banners with that climate, too.

That was why Gregor had selected a northern holdfast as the Legion's base of operations. It would be as a precautionary measure.

After the Ironborn Rebellion, the Great Summer would come, and it would last about a decade. While the rest of the realm would bask in sunlight and heat, the North would stay somewhat chilly.

In Gregor's mind, by indefinitely stationing a significant percentage of Westeros' fighting force in the North, every member of that company would become well-acquainted with the chill during the Great Summer.

Therefore, once the Long Night came about, the Legionnaires would not be strangers to winter. That would give them a greater chance of surviving the extreme weather.

It would do the Legionnaires no good if they forgot how hazardous winter could be. They would have enough burdens to contend with without having to adapt to a steep drop in climate.

Even before he first went north, Gregor knew that life at Moat Cailin would be difficult. But in the long run, the extra difficulty would be worth it.

A few weeks after Gregor learned that his wife was in the process of making their first heir, Westeros was touched by winter again.

This winter was no more pleasant than the two before it. But at the very least, Moat Cailin was better equipped to endure this one. The Legionnaires and the smallfolk all found ample shelter from the blizzards within the confines of the moat.

Remaining indoors did not block out the cold completely, but everyone was able to find a way to stay warm.

For instance, at night, Gregor and Dacey were able to keep each other warm. Very effectively, one might say.

Although she was with child, Dacey was not opposed to engaging in intimate activities with her husband. In fact, her pregnancy seemed to exacerbate her libido.

Gregor was all too happy to feed her appetites. Every night for the first two months following Maester Kennick's diagnosis, the Bear Islander and the Mountain made love at least three times.

That had been a rather exhilarating experience. It actually made Gregor think of a joke he had heard in his first life:

'What do you get when you combine the Lord of the Rings with porn? You get A Song of Ice and Fire.'

While not especially clever, he always thought that joke was hilarious. Partly because it was undeniably true. He and Dacey could attest to its authenticity.

Apart from that, the Legion without Banners now had enough female members that the Legionnaires could establish a city of their own.

Gregor had not been the only one to notice that. Some were taking advantage of it, as a matter of fact. It was not hard to determine which ones. At Moat Cailin, there were hardly any secrets about who was fucking who.

Whenever they were in bed, Gregor made sure his wife was always on top. That was how they usually did it even before she became pregnant. Before, they had done it primarily so that he would not smother her.

Now he did it so that he would not put too much pressure on her abdomen. He would risk no hurt to his unborn child, especially not whilst doing the act in which he or she had been conceived.

Gregor had sworn to himself and to Lady Maege that he would not treat Dacey like an invalid or a weakling when she was with child. While he stayed true to that promise, he did become a little more protective of his wife.

Once a week, Dacey stopped by Maester Kennick's chambers for a checkup on her condition. Without fail, Gregor accompanied her to each of these appointments.

He wished to know everything: the growth of the fetus, the details of what Dacey could expect, the recommended alterations to her diet and exercise routine, and everything else.

One would thing that Gregor was absorbed with his wife. Of course, even a fool could plainly see that Gregor loved and cared for Dacey deeply. Be that as it may, his true enthusiasm was driven by the bear girl's slightly protruding lower belly.

That fixation was simple enough to comprehend. Gregor was not obsessed; he was merely undergoing the sensation of euphoria, just as any eager young man soon to be a father did.