Chapter 115: Interlude: Twenty-one

Twelfth day, Ninth Moon, 260 AC (+2 days)

She stretched as she opened her eyes blearily. It was warm underneath the covers, even if her husband had already woken up and left.

Violet wasn't worried, she couldn't be so soon after waking up, but also because she knew her husband was an early riser. With reluctance, she kicked off the covers and readied herself for the day. She arranged her hair into a simple style, with only a few adornments, and dressed in one of her comfier dresses. Today was an administrative day, so with no one to impress, she got to dress for herself. And with her pregnancy almost done, comfort was high on her list of priorities.

She descended from her rooms in the castle, as her family was staying there while her father and brothers were away since it helped to reinforce her authority, and she found her son, Sigmar, her daughter, Rose, and her husband, Tylan, already eating. Myna, one of the few servants in the castle, brought out some food for her and then left them alone.

"Good morning, love," greeted Tylan.

"Mommy, hi!" cheered Sigmar.

"Good morning, mommy!" echoed Rose.

Violet kissed them all before sitting down and shoving a hot cup of pine tea in front of her face.

"Mommy's so silly, isn't she, Siggy?" cooed Tylan, while Sigmar laughed at his father's antics.

She gave him the stinkeye.

"What are your plans for today, love?" asked Tylan.

"Mmm," I mumbled as I drank my tea.

Tylan laughed. "What was that?"

"I'm just going over reports today."

"I'll take Sigmar and Rose with me then; I have to check on the construction of the last bridge to the mine." Hopefully, we can finish that project soon."

Violet nodded. The previous route was long and winding, and prone to spring and fall floods, while the new one would allow for a more direct route that went over flooding spots.

"Good, the building crews are needed elsewhere. Another batch of new farmers has arrived, and they will have to settle outside Redbridge proper."

Tylan nodded. "The main island doesn't have any more room for farms," he agreed. "Where did you want to settle them?"

"Dad wants them to start moving north along the road, and I want some construction crews to start building bridges in the area in anticipation."

"Well, they should be done in a week or two, I believe."

Violet sighed into her cup. "I'll make a note of it."

Tylan got up and collected Sigmar in his arms and let Rose climb up onto his back. "We're going to head out now, but you make sure to take it easy, alright?" he said rhetorically, placing his hand tenderly on her belly.

She placed her hand on his and said, "I will. Maester Simon will be helping me today as well."

"He doesn't have class today?"

"I asked him to take it off and let one of his assistants do it instead."

Her boys and daughter left shortly after as she dug into her meal now that she had finally woken up. The meal was a standard affair, but she didn't have to make it herself, so it tasted like heaven this early in the morning. Afterward, she made her way to her father's office and lit some candles for extra light.

A knock at the door interrupted her preparations. "Who is it?" she called.

"It is Maester Simon, my lady," the voice replied.

"Ah, perfect timing! Come in."

Maester Simon was a man of average height, now in his late thirties, with the gray hairs now starting to appear in his brown hair – like the first days of autumn. Over the years he had been with us, he had adapted to life in Redbridge and smoothed out some of those irritating qualities that he picked up from his early life and the Citadel. He was a more mature man now and somewhat more relaxed – though he still had his flaws.

"My Lady," he said, bowing lightly. Formality, especially toward women, being one of them. And formality was not to be mistaken for graciousness or for kindness – though he could be both. He had little experience dealing with women, in any capacity, so he tended to fall back on formality. Getting him to accept my command once father had left for White Harbor had been annoying.

"Simon, please sit." Once he had done so, I said, "Did you bring the latest reports?"

He nodded as he handed me the pile of papers he carried. "Yes, I did. Silverhold, as the letters say, has begun digging for the storage for the castle. The mines have started to produce silver, but progress is slow since there are only a few miners at this point."

"And most of our experienced miners that came from other lands are currently elsewhere."

"True, my Lady. Your father has negotiated with some miners while he has been in White Harbor, so I expect we shall see some come from that direction soon. Silverhold now has 450 people living there, with another hundred or so in the general area, closer to the Twin Lakes."

"Hmm, that's fifty more people than only a few moons ago. Good progress," she commented.

"It is less than Osend, my Lady," he said. "Osend is still growing quite quickly, numbering fourteen hundred."

Violet winced. "The Ryswells and Dustins can't be happy about that."

Simon shrugged. "I do not know for certain, my Lady."

She waved him off. "I know; I know. Still, there is not much else I can do to remedy the situation – we have already ceased recruiting, but the power from word of mouth is strong."

"You will be please to note, my Lady, that your uncle reports that soybeans are being planted at an increasing rate, and within the year, they can begin to sell part of their harvest."

"Excellent," I said, tracing my finger over the map. The farms around Osend were slowly expanding inland, mainly along the Twin Lakes River, but a lot of work was being placed into building the castle itself. Dad had been against concentrating on it first, but Uncle Koryn and Mom had overruled him. Things with the Ironborn could always go sour, and we had no friends to the east. Dad's dream of a bridge spanning the river was still just that, a dream, but the rest of the city was booming. "How is Stonefisk?"

"Quiet, my Lady. Construction of the castle is nearing completion, but otherwise, the area is quiet."

"How is the tree planting going?"

"There is no new information about it, my Lady, other than the report last moon stating its continued success."

Violet nodded. "That is fine. Redbridge, I know, is continuing to grow as well, though much more slowly as people moving to my father's land are more likely to go to Osend and Silverhold first. That may be a problem when it comes to producing more goods here, though."

Simon shrugged. "It is reasonable, though, my Lady; Osend and Silverhold are much closer to other populated places in the North."

"It may be reasonable, but it is inconvenient. I want to increase production soon so that we can take advantage of the post-war euphoria and wealth to sell our goods in the south."

"Post-war?" asked Simon. "You believe the war will end soon?"

She nodded decisively. "I can hardly say when exactly it will end, but looking at the information I have, I can make a few guesses. The North is struggling to keep sending food, so soon, there will be massive pushback against further war – here, at least. The south will take a few more moons, I would imagine before they too start to struggle. At that point, I would imagine Lord Baratheon would push to finish the war on favorable terms. Once that happens, we have a unique opportunity."

He looked skeptical at her reasoning but kept his doubts to himself. "What opportunity would that be?"

"With new wealth and pride in a successful war, people will be looking to spend their money, and I aim to take it. I want to flood the market with as much whiskey, vodka, and other luxury goods as we can make. Westeros will win the war, I have no doubt, and my father and I intend to win the peace."

"With so much of the merchant fleet on the other side of the continent, how will you move the goods south?"

"Most of it will have to be brought overland to White Harbor, and my father will worry about getting it to King's Landing. The rest will wait here and be shipped to Oldtown and Lannisport when the time comes."

They hashed out the rest of the details before lunch, and after Simon went on his way, Violet had a nice lunch, followed by a relaxing hot bath. Her ankles had been killing her this time around, but the random food cravings were less intense. The rest of the day was spent relaxing as she waited for her family to come back home. They arrived just before dinner, and afterward, they watched the sunset together.

Standing on the walls, as the sun dipped below the horizon, coating the world in an orange glow, she stood beside her husband and children, and her unborn child was just waiting to join them properly. From atop the wall, she could see the changes that had been brought to the area – so different from her childhood. It had been a wild area, filled with trees, bushes, and animals but precious few people.

Seeing her children looking out as well, she could only wonder what they would see when they were her age.