Chapter 10

Robb's POV (Age 09), 289 AC moon 01 

White Tower Inn, Oldtown, Reach

As he sat at his table in his room, with windows and curtain open, sipped on watered wine in his hand and watched people go about their day. Normally he would not have wasted his time in such a manner, but today was a day of celebration. Not only did he forge the last of his chosen links with the Maesters, but the true reason for his being in the South was finally complete. Less than a week ago the last of tomes he'd had taken from the Citadel had been copied by his servants.

Ice trade business had seen North get some much-needed gold, after the birth of Brandon, his little brother, winter came. While it was short, it was brutal. North was saved by coins generated from the ice trade. House Mormont and Manderley, voluntarily donated half of their profits generated from 3 moons of ice trade for purchasing extra food. Which allowed the North to face winter without any deaths.

When he was leaving, Father had given him two thousand gold dragons with instruction to purchase a medium-sized mansion in Oldtown for his stay. With one thousand gold dragons, he had purchased a mansion with ten rooms, a lord's solar, and a hall of the size of four rooms. He had immediately converted the hall into a room for printing books.

He had brought with him ten and two men, two rooms full of paper and ink. There were four learned men among his ten and two men. Thus dividing them all into groups of two. Each group with a shift of eight hours. Since he needed books to be taken out of Citadel, he negotiated with them that for every book taken out, he would pay a silver stags. Living in a mansion situated in front of the Citadel helped out too. And he wasn't a thief, so the books that maester didn't allow him he took them without their permission with the help of an Archmaester, hundreds of Maester and Acolyte serving under him.

The Citadel was located upriver on both sides of the Honeywine, connected by stone bridges crowded with halls and houses. Boys and men gather there from all over Westeros to learn, study, and forge a master's chain. The Citadel is considered to be the greatest seat of knowledge in the known world. For Now. He had the loyalty of five hundred men in Citadel.

As he was sitting and enjoying the view, he thought about his first meeting with Archmaester Marwyn. Marwyn was a fifty-names old, short man, with a round belly and unkempt hair. When he first met Archmaester Marwyn, he had already copied two thousand books in two moons. He had already visited every other class. In Marwyn's class, he was the only one, so he didn't teach but talked about his travels in Westeros and Essos, to the far land of Asshai and Yi-Ti. Different kinds of magic are encountered from Shadowbinders to Red Priests.

At the end of the class, he had invited him to his mansion for dinner. After dinner in Lord's solar, he told him to follow and showed him a printing press. "Archmaester, you believe in magic. If I tell you a story will you believe me?" Without waiting for an answer he told him to find Winter Throne and discover bloodline abilities. He told him about spreading knowledge and destroying the monopoly of Citadel. Then Marwyn told him how maester is against magic, how they killed the last of the dragons.

When their talks ended it was already morning, Marwyn had accepted him as his lord and agreed to come to Winterfell with him. He had given him the task of finding maesters that were trustworthy and could be useful to him in developing North. Through his connection with Marwyn, he had access to rare tomes and scrolls that were not allowed for him to borrow and could only be accessed by an Archmaester.

And repeating these tasks for three years he had already made copies of every book in Citadel. Every moon a Manderley ship will arrive with Ice and fresh paper supplies and leave with wax-sealed boxes of books bound for Winterfell. Marwyn had already collected a group of five hundred men who were loyal, useful, and in Marwyn's opinion not the stuck-up fools the others were. These five hundred men knew every subject taught at Citadel. Some of these men were at Citadel and some were in Essos but everyone was told to come to be there at Winterfell by Bran's fourth nameday.

His musing of past years was ended by a soft knock on the door and Marwyn entering with a robed woman. "My lord, if you have a moment to meet this woman. Please do so, she and her sons were slaves and she was told by Qyburn after he set them free to come here and meet you?". Qyburn was another surprise that Marwyn brought. A man who has more healing chain links than the current Archmaester of Healing, Ebrose.

"Please sit everyone and tell me, what can I do for you, my lady?" he asked without turning. As they sat in the chairs beside him the robed woman pulled down her hood. With shoulder-length black hair and red eyes. She was a beautiful woman somewhere around the age of forty namedays.

"My apologies, my lord, but I am not a lady. My name is Alys and I am a slave from Lys. I arrived here to meet with you after being instructed by Qyburn to directly come here instead of with him to Winterfell." After a few moments, she continued,

"My former master's father dreamed of joining Conclave of Magister. From a young age, I was trained to be a spymaster and spent his profits building a spy network that now spans throughout Essos and Westeros. My master's spy network may not be as extensive as one controlled by the Master of Whispers at the Royal Court, but his people were much better placed. Allowing a greater detail of information they provided."

As he listened to her silently, he could already see the intent behind Qyburn actions.

"Two moons ago, his heart failed him. My lord, he kept secrets from everyone, including his son. As his spymaster only knows of its existence. My former master wanted to sell me to a brothel owner and my two sons to slave masters at Astapor. I contacted Qyburn, as he was in the city, and knew he was in your service that in exchange for my services, I will only be loyal to you."

After finishing, Alys withdrew something out of her robes and placed it on the table. Nearly six inches of dragon bone, with runes carved on it. "What is this?" He asked as he stared at it.

"In his youth, my master found this during a trip to Volantis" Alys answered. "At the time the merchants claimed it was a dragon whistle. I have no clue if it can summon a dragon, but no raven can resist its call."

As he looked up, Marwyn and Alys were looking a him to reply. "Very well," Robb replied with a smirk. "You and your children shall have protection under me and House Stark. Prepare. We will be leaving by week's end."