Chapter 50

A few days later, the great feast for Robb Stark's 13th nameday would happen, once all the Lords of the North had arrived in the Winterfell.

In the meantime, Harry had a very productive time.

Once Robin had finished her negotiations with Lord Manderly for the necessary naval infrastructure and transport over the land, they could make their deals with the different Lords of the North.

The greatest profit of the Skagosi food export, besides Skagos themselves, would have House Manderly in White Harbour.

Not only would they gain a fixed percentage of every export since they were handling the transport of the food all over the North, they had also acquired a deal for cheap food with a fixed price in the forseen future in exchange for a commission of 15 galleys for Skagos.

While Skagos under Harry had constructed a small fleet of rudimentary ferry's, they actually required him to travel with them since he had to repair them magically multiple times during the whole journey.

Skagos simply didn't have any expertise in ship construction, nor did any of the people working under him or himself.

A small fleet would bring his own trade ambitions a long way forward and open up Bravos, Essos, and the rest of Westeros for him.

Besides that, White Harbour, famous for their silversmiths, agreed to regularly buy some of their ore in exchange for goods and money.

The second-largest buyer of their food crops was House Stark. Lord Eddard, as Warden of the North, was responsible for the well-being of all the people in the North; he often had to help out the poorer houses.

He was happy to acquire food crops in mass for a reasonable price. In exchange, he even extended the tax exemption in exchange for half the crops; the other half he pays fully.

Harry used up his full storage of their harvest this year during his trade deals.

With the magically enhanced crops, there was no way the Skaogsi would starve, and their surplus would be soon replenished. But in exchange, he gained a lot that would boost the Skagosi economy.

Wood, especially ironwood from different houses in the North, wool and Pelts, clothes, furniture, tools, pottery, and more. Every last bit of it was something he wouldn't have to produce himself in the forseable future.

Would he have more than enough for his people? Yes.

But at the same time, he would need it. He was certain that soon more people would migrate to Skagos.

And if he didn't have enough, the gold he gained from his many deals would serve to import what else he needed.

It also gained him a good reputation with the Lords of the North; many of them had a grudge against the Southern Houses since they were extorting the North in exchange for their crops.

They were happy to acquire a source of food for a reasonable price while being able to put more resources into their own land instead of paying the exorbitant prices of the South.

Harry was already certain that many Southern Houses would be angry with him. But until they realized that a major source of their income had lessened and what had caused it, Skagos would be so strong that they had no chance to cause him much trouble.

The good impression he had left on many Houses of the North also became clearly visible during Robb's nameday feast.

He was invited to drinking contests with many of the Northern Lords. The ones especially happy with him were Lord Karstark and Lord Umber.

Karstark and Umber territories were, besides the Mountain Tribes, who rarely left their homes, the northernmost and harshest ones. The amount of crop they could produce was limited thanks to the extreme climate in their territory.

They relied on imports from further south. Skagos was basically their neighbor; the Karstarks and Umbers would benefit massively from direct trade with Skagos. While they produced a limited amount of food, they were decent producers of wood and Pelts.

But his popularity with the nobility in the North showed itself in a completely different manner too.

Besides Robb Stark, Harry had become the most popular bachelor among the younger generation. From Lord Manderly's grandson to Karstark's daughter Alys, every last one of them asked him for dances.

It was obvious to Harry that any of these houses wished to secure a marriage alliance with a big food producer in the North. There was not much brain capacity needed to realize that it was a smart move to send their daughters towards him.

Harry had barely a chance to take a seat that night. The most eager one was Sansa Stark, the 10-year-old daughter of Eddard Stark, who looked quite tall and mature for her age.

To be honest, Harry didn't think that Lord Stark had asked her to get close to him; he didn't seem like the type. More likely, she simply enjoyed dancing like a lady.

At least that was the impression Harry had of Sansa Stark. From the few chats he had with the girl, he realized she had a very idealistic and naive view of the world. Her head was full of chivalrous knights and honorable lords.

This could become very costly for her one day.

There were many lords he met during his time in Winterfell, but the one who made the biggest impression on Harry was the Lord of the Dreadfort, Roose Bolton.

He had been the only lord that had brought any of his children to the celebrations, with his only son Domeric currently squiring in the Vale under House Redfort.

But it wasn't that fact that had gained his attention.

No.

For some reason, Lord Bolton felt very dangerous to Harry. The so-called Leech Lord, with his pale skin and milky, ghost-gray eyes, left an impression just based on his looks. He reminded Harry of a vampire in some ways.

His looks were only the first hint that something about him was different.

Not only was his status, for some reason, completely concealed; Observe was not giving him any information beyond the name of the man, but Harry was also unable to read the man's mind.

Either Roose Bolton had some kind of magical ability or the man had natural defenses against mind attacks.

Well, Harry hoped it was the latter. Natural mental defenses weren't uncommon. Some people were born with them; others, with a lot of self-discipline, would gain them.

In the end, the strange matter about Lord Bolton wandered quickly to the back of his mind that night.

Because after the feast in his private chambers that were assigned to him, his communication mirror began to ring.

Communication Mirrors were one of the few magical artifacts Sirius knew how to enchant. The pair that Sirius had gifted Harry in the Wizarding World had been enchanted by the man himself.

While mirrors were expensive and rare in Westeros, the only group of people able to produce them in a suitable quality being the Glassmakers of Myr, Harry had managed to acquire a pair of them.

And the first thing he did was to enchant them with the two-way communication spell, so Skagos could contact him anytime. Unfortunately, the spell didn't work between worlds; it was one of the few things he had tried first.

Harry carries one of them always with him, while the other was in the Hands of Lust, who was responsible for managing Skagos in his absence.

"What is it, Lust? Did something happen?" Harry asked directly, since he knew she wouldn't call him for no reason. She had permission to handle most of the problems as she saw fit.

"Oh, there is a bit of news I believe you would like to know." She said it with her usual flirty tone.

Harry wasn't sure whether he had to be worried that something serious was happening or if it was something completely different. While he had no doubt that Lust was loyal to him, especially thanks to the power of his contracts, she still had a disregard for regular humans.

For her, humans were nothing more than pawns. While she is very efficient and capable of handling matters regarding her territory, she didn't care whether the majority of people survived, as long as she had enough to handle the territory.

"What happened? Are we in trouble? Is someone dying?" Harry tried to get more information out of the sexy homunculus.

"Nothing like that. But it would be better if you headed back rather sooner than later." She replied, still unbothered, clearly playing around with him.

"Out with it, Lust! I am running out of patience." Harry sighed, annoyed. "Why do I need to rush back? While we have accomplished our goals here, it would still look strange if we just rushed back now."

"No need to rush that fast; just be back in the next few days or you will miss an opportunity you were looking for." She replied with a smirk, "Your pet Ishvalian came for a visit and left the first batch of his people here."

Scar? So the first Ishvalian refugee has arrived on Skagos? But what opportunity is she talking about? Oh, Right.

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