personal6

CHARGE!" His screams echoed through the narrow passages of the red mountains.

His sword fell onto the poor rabble like wheat, and Dawn cut through three heads with every swing like a farmer to his wheat.

This was but of many attacks against the local bandits of Dorne.

You see, the blockade of the Stepstones didn't do any good for the Dornish people, the land was suitable for farming yet people needed to be close to large sources of water for them to do so, and in order to fulfill their livelihoods, instead of wheat and barley, people mostly farmed luxury goods, olives, pomegranates, oranges, and cotton, per example.

They brought many riches, yet riches alone won't fill their bellies.

The greatest source of food for Dorne in fact, is bartering. The rest of Westeros were in  extremely bad terms with the princedom, which left only Essos as a source, whose merchants charged extreme prices for grains and wheat that were –ironically- grown in Westeros.

Once Corlys' blockade became Essosi ships could no longer travers the narrow sea, especially close to Dorne, and so the people starved. The Lords ordered their smallfolk to begin farming cheaper foodstuff, yet that wasn't enough. Most common people had to commit to thievery or banditry, or starve.

Once the treasonous Yronwoods and the Martell vipers fell, inroads into the reach and the stormlands opened, giving them access to food that were not only aplenty, but also cheap.

The issue her is, the bandits were too used to taking what they wanted, many apprentice to a trade could not finish his education, and had fed himself and his family through raiding more unfortunate folk. Most importantly, with the renovations at the Torentine the use of the river was unavailable, and so the food merchants either had to head to Starfall through ship, or traverse the land through the Prince's Pass. 'That name meant something else entirely now.' Alleras thought.

A purple eyed, black haired, knight approached him atop his horse. "Cousin, the bandits are dealt with, we should be done here promptly."

Alleras nodded. "Thank you, Trystane." He surveyed the scene calmly. "I shall leave you here to take care of the aftermath, if any others are sighted, I give you full authority to deal with them. We cannot have any other attacks on visiting merchants, Dorne counts on them to feed itself."

The man solemnly agreed. "I shall do my best, my Lord."

After patting his shoulder, Alleras headed for Starfall.

All surrounding the island, there were many ships, most were galleys or simple fishing ships, yet most noticeably were large, flat ships with broad, sturdy hulls, they stretched long and wide, a floating platform and sails of flax. Those "barges" were a Rhoynar creation, used by their ancestors to traverse the rivers whilst carrying large amounts of goods, and in times of need, troops.

They were an idea borne from the queer man brought by Baelon, the Braavosi expert who had the idea to build upon the Torentine to make it more accommodating to its people.

The man had told Alleras that even after his modifications, the Torentine will always be treacherous for bigger ships, and that whilst smaller ships would be able to do so, their carrying capacity would be too small to be of any significant use.

And so, the barges, their wide shape made them extremely stable upon water, and whilst their speed is slow, the fast current becomes an advantage as it speeds them up in a satisfying manner.

They were also great at ferrying large amounts of goods and men to and fro, which is why Alleras disembarked into his island atop one.

A screeching sound suddenly gathered his attention, while a man walked briskly toward him with a concerned expression.

"My Lord, we have guests!" Alleras stared at the relatively, olive green, dragon that circled his lands. "The Seasnake, Lord Corlys Velaryon, is here!"

He stared back at the man. "I gathered that much." He says. "Take me to him."

The man looked down and up at his form. "Like this, my lord?"

Alleras noted his worn and bloodied armor. "I hope to make a point." He shrugs.

The guard sighs while turning around, leading him to his destination.

--*

When he entered the guest chamber, Alleras found the dark skinned Corlys happily munching on olives, while a tanned brown haired boy nervously sat next to him, his curious eyes roaming across the room.

"I hope you don't mind my sorry sight, Lord Corlys." He says. "Or my smell."

The young boy seems slightly shaken by his appearance, yet the Seasnake simply laughs. "If you think your sight is sorry, lord Dayne, then you should have seen me in the Stepstones!" He japes. "Everywhere one turned his eye, all you saw were miserly men covered in soot, shit and ashes from dragonfire!" He says. "'Twas a harrowing experience."

Dayne laughs at his words, sitting down in front of the legendary seaman. "Welcome, Lord Corlys to my humble abode." He turns to the boy. "And this must be lord Jacaerys? I believe I saw his dragon circling the island."

The boy nods. "Greetings, Lord Dayne." His voice was firm yet respectful, it spoke well equally of his manners and confidence, Alleras thought.

Corlys huffs jokingly. "That lizard has taken to the sea like- well… a Seasnake, it enjoyed circling our ships and gorging itself on fish and wales so much that it is having a tantrum at being at land."

Alleras laughs. "As can be expected from a Velaryon's bond." He had met Rhaenyra at his visit to Kingslanding, and any man with eyes would see that the book looked like neither his mother nor his father, but in Dorne, people understand more than most the inutility of blood.

A boy raised by a man is the man's son, looks or blood notwithstanding.

He could see Corlys' smile become more genuine at that, so Alleras thought in hindsight that he'd make the same comment even if he were against it.

"Yes." Corlys turns to the olive bowl. "I must say, though. These olives taste extremely fresh, yet I am of the assumption that these do not grow here? How do you do so, I'd love to know your secret."

Alleras laughs again. "'Tis no secret, my lord. We simply store our merchandise in special containers, with filled with ice encased with sand at the bottom to keep them cold, olives, oranges, even the spices taste fresher."

Corlys nods. "Truly?" He says. "Then I am afraid I cannot replicate such feat, ice in such large quantities can only be found in the North, and they do not like trading it in large quantities." He shakes his head then. "I could send my men there, and they'd be able to get me ice by simply shoveling the roads, yet the ice would be impure and induce sickness, only when harvested from lakes and rivers can it be gathered in grand quantities while staying pure."

Alleras wordlessly agrees. "House Manderly are the primary transporters of ice in the world, they use the same method to preserve their goods, and charge a petty penny for transportation of foreign goods." He explains. "It is only our house's friendship with the prince that convinced them to trade us, and a discount in luxury goods, of course."

Corlys' laugh is slightly sardonic. "I see." He states. "I hear songs of your friendship with the prince, it seems getting along with the boy in the fishing ship must've had untold boons. I envy your position, I must admit."

Alleras smiles. "There is nothing to be envious of, I'm sure the only reason you do not have the same privileges is that you simply didn't ask, you are family, you and the prince." He says. "The prince does not scorn family."

Corlys puts a hand over his squires head. "An admirable quality, for sure." He agrees. "Tell me, Lord Alleras, I saw that your port is not full, yet all ships are filled to capacity." He says. "Is there some issue in that regard?"

'Ah, so that's his angle.' Alleras muses.

He makes a show of solemnly agreeing. "Yes, I am afraid so." He says. "We find ourselves with an overflowing amount of goods, the lack of trade over the last decades, in addition to "Prince Qoren"'s waste of ships means that we find ourselves with a dearth of vessels to move them, there is plenty of demand in the seven kingdoms, lords chomping at the bit to acquire our products, yet we do not have the ships to transport them. Most of our ships are stuck ferrying goods from Dornish settlements to the islands, leaving us with few in order to export."

'But you don't' He wanted to say, in fact, the Seasnake has a whole fleet who just got free from guarding the Stepstones, most of those ships were military ones meant for sea combat, yet it is easier to adapt those to mercantile use than the opposite.

If those ships stayed idle then the Velaryon would start losing gold only in maintenance, he'd have to have them make more gold than their costs or he'll be forced to sell them in low prices.

Corlys does not show his eagerness. "Then you are in luck, Lord Alleras." He says. "I can move your goods to anywhere you'd like, from Oldtown to the Wall, my ships could make your goods accessible to all people of the seven kingdoms. For a fee, of course."

"That'd be phenomenal news, my lord." Yet he frowns. "But my people are untrustworthy by nature, dealing with centuries of Martells and Wyl's has hardened us against schemes, real or imaginary. I'm afraid that my merchants wouldn't allow anyone to move their merchandise, the sea is an unpredictable beast, after all, and my people would only trust captains that they know to have survived prior journeys for the job."

Corlys scratches his beard in thought.

"That is a conundrum." He turns to him. "You know what; I think I may have an alternative." He says. "I shall not demand a fee prior to transport; instead, I'd expect a portion of the profits made from selling the cargo."

"How much would be your cut?"

"One in ten to three (10-33%), depending on the cargo." Corlys answers.

Alleras shakes his head. "I cannot do that. How about half(5-15%)?"

Corlys sighs. "Tell you what, Lord Alleras." He begins. "I do love me some bargaining, but in my old age I find myself without the patience for it. How about this, we do one in… two and ten to five(8-20%) instead, and in addition, I'll insure every merchant gets paid a third of what he sent for in case the ship never comes back for the next five years."

Insuring ships is usually only done in big cities where the markets are big and already established, in addition to that, merchants usually have to pay for the service.

He knew, that if he refused the offer, his tradesmen would seriously consider revolting against him.

'He must be trying to secure the market, if he is willing to pay so much, then who am I to refuse?' He thought.

Otto Hightower had offered him a similar deal in the capital, but whereas Corlys offered pure profit, Otto tried to wrangle his favor using political alliances and greater representation in the royal court in exchange, things that can be secured as long as his friendship with the prince stayed strong.

Alleras knew without a shadow of a doubt that houses like the Yronwoods who fought against the prince would accept the Hand's offer; they simply lacked Baelon's support and need a voice to protect them in Kingslanding.

Alleras extends his hands. "We have a deal." He says.

Corlys finishes the handshake; his hands were callused even in his inner palm from years of work and his grip firm. Signs of hardworking man, he could respect that.

"To a greater partnership." Corlys responds. "Now, tell me about the blood on your garments, for the head of the house to be deemed worthy of wielding Dawn, you must be a fearsome warrior…"

The rest of the day is spent in pleasant company, showing a guest around made for a great excuse to evade ones responsibilities, after all….