22 Corlys Velaryon I

Author's Note: Truly and incredibly sorry for the recent lack of chapters, not only do I have to deal with exam season, but I was simply bogged down with a shit ton of extracurricular projects, when I get free I'll drown you with chapters, but until then please simply wait.

It was very hard writing Corlys, so I hope I made him justice.

Check out my patreon and the discord for five chapters in advance, and four chapters of a nascent DxD fanfic.

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"How goes our merchant fleet?"

The rhythmic ebb and flow of the sea was a calming, familiar sound to Corlys' ears, he has spent more time in wooden ships than stable land, so much so that he felt at home here.

In the expanse of the unending sea, the Seasnake was the most comfortable.

Vaemond answers from his right. "We received news of their arrival at Starfall; they lost some two ships in a skirmish with privateers disguised as pirates, but their numbers allowed them to repel the enemy." He says. "The captains should have already started negotiations with Dayne's representatives, they say they may not be able to procure exclusive contracts, but the Dornish seem open to trade, almost too much so."

Jacaerys worked in proximity to him, cleaning the deck. As his squire, instead of cleaning his armor and taking care of his horse, Corlys' thought it better to have him get familiar with ships, he worked as a deckhand too in his youth, and those experiences –grueling as they were- turned out to be invaluable in his tenure as a captain.

The boy, praise his soul, didn't say a single complaint and worked diligently in the Sea Snake, the other sailors made up many japes at his expense, but he could see the gleam of respect in their eyes.

It was about time, as his heir, it is only natural for the boy to get groomed for the position.

"Good." He answers his brother. "Tell them not to bargain too much, we want to secure as many contracts as we can before Otto manages to sway their lords, by the time the procession returns to their castles I want them to be so enamored by our gold that they discard whatever promises they made."

It was a shame that Corlys couldn't stay too long in Kingslanding, his fleet –merchant or otherwise- needed close supervision in order to function optimally, and in such a critical period, optimal was the minimum.

Corlys was a smart man, he can certainly feel when the winds shift, and the Conquest of Dorne could change everything for their house's prospects, overshadowing the Stepstone's importance. Holding onto those islands allowed for great short term benefits, and as long as they were the sole focus of his house, they were worth the hassle.

But Dorne's inclusion could mean greater long term advantages, alliances established at its onset could endure generations, securing his house's prosperity for more than decades, maybe centuries. In revenge, the Stepstones were always in flux, and he never expected to hold onto them for long anyway.

"Jace."

"Yes, Captain."

"You're dismissed for the day, you did an adequate job. Tomorrow, you will start shadowing me."

The boy's tired face lights up in elation. "Yes captain!"

Corlys notices his brother's disdain at the prospect. "What?" So he forces the issue.

"You know what." He answered. "That boy has not a single speck of your blood; it took him weeks to catch his sea legs, his puke coloring the sea all along. How could a Velaryon be so uncomfortable in a ship?"

His bravado dies as he comes across Corlys' stern gaze. "He was loved by my son as his; he carries the Velaryon a surname, my name!" He lectures. "He is the son of a Princess, and betrothed to my granddaughter, and most importantly, he rides a fucking dragon." He says. "So for all intents and purposes, he IS my grandson, and his sons will be Velaryons, not unlike you or I. So you will treat him as such, or else it is not me you will have to answer to, but the King. Understood?"

Vaemond's face scrunches in momentary anger, not answering out of defiance.

"I. Said. Am. I. Understood?!" His voice echoed in the ship, but his men were too experience to get startled.

"I will respect your wishes, brother." He says. "But know this, it is only my duty to you that pushes me so, I hold no respect for the boy, and I never will."

"As long as you keep your mouth shut, I have no need for your respect. He is our house's legacy, MY legacy, and I'll be damned before I see you endanger that." Corlys answers. "Now go on, tell the Maester to relay my message, and prepare for onboarding, I could see the city on the horizon."

His brother turned around without another word, causing the Seasnake to sigh in frustration. "My family will be the end of me." He complains.

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"Am I late?" Corlys asks the occupants of the room.

The Triarchy's envoys were already received at court, but the weather didn't allow for Corlys to be present for it.

However, the negotiations won't start without his presence, it was his gold, ships and men that participated in the war of the Stepstones, and his influence and fame were held in high regards by Essosi houses, so the small council thought it prudent to include him in, his experience at war and during his travels thought to be invaluable.

"Not at all, Lord Corlys, please take a seat." The King spoke, the latter was much healthier than the last time Corlys saw him, and he bowed and greeted him before sitting at the other end of the small council table.

The last time he sat in this room it was a completely different situation, Lord Strong has been alive for one, and the Lord Hand held almost absolute authority, only second to the king. While his coffers were hemorrhaging due to the Crabfeeder's tolls.

Now while Otto was not defanged, his claws were certainly duller, and the Prince -who sat at the King's left- was the man of the hour. The other members were largely different, with the exception of Grandmaester Mellos and Lyman Beesbury.

Tyland Lannister was the new Master of Ships, while Jasper Wylde replaced the late Lyonel Strong as Master of Laws.

Both seemed happy with their situation, the new betrothal of the prince to Lady Cassandra Baratheon was in some ways credited to the Stormlander, giving him much favor from his fellow lords. While the Prince's Canal brought much trade to the Lannister lands, and he lately heard rumors of a three way deal between the Lannisters, the Tullys and the Prince concerning the Riverlands that sought to bring them even more benefits.

Prince Daemon was also invited, considering his past, even if he probably didn't have much to say, and he sat next to Corlys sulking in his own way, seemingly bored out of his mind.

"Who did they send, by the way?" Corlys asked.

"Drazenko Rogare from Lys, Racallio Ryndoon from Tyrosh, and Serana Ormys from Myr." Grandmaester Mellos names.

"Hmmm…" Corlys scratches his beard in thought. "I believe the Triarchy's position is clear."

"I concur." Otto agrees with Corlys, for once in his life.

Baelon shrugs. "They didn't try to hide it." He says. "My Braavosi connections are saying that the Rogares and Tyrosh's Archon are currently in a controlling alliance, and that they are adamantly pushing the High Council into securing a truce with us."

Lannister's smirk was downright smug. "That also means that we can dictate the terms of the negotiation."

And that, was the point of contention, each member of the council will wish for different terms from the Triarchy, every one of them is serving their own interest after all.

"Speaking of terms, what should our goal be?" The King finally asks.

The Maester of Laws promptly answers. "I think we can all agree that we must demand the cessation of all Triarchy backed raids in the narrow sea. Many Westerosi ships are getting besieged by the large amount of pirates and privateers sponsored by Triarchy gold, and they must put a stop to that."

Everyone else nods in assent.

But Corlys frowns. "That may not be as easy as we think it'll be." He says. "Their envoys will agree easily enough, but the Triarchy have their own factions, and the raids are primarily financed by their militant factions, which seem to have lost influence in favor for the pragmatists."

"Some dragonfire may work better than words." Daemon finally speaks. "The militants may fund the raids even if we assure concessions from the whores, but they cannot publicly claim responsibility. Send me with a couple of ships, and I'll burn them all to the ground."

"That… may actually work, since they cannot claim responsibility that makes the pirates free for our retaliation, as long as we establish a reputation against piracy that should be able to scare the rest away." Tyland agrees.

"If that is our chosen strategy, then we must come to an accord with the envoys in advance, we should collaborate with the pragmatists in order to disallow the militants from inciting another war to break out." Otto says.

"Any collaboration would give them leverage to get more favorable conditions concerning tolls and tariffs alongside the Stepstones; I think we just deal with the pirates and be done with it." Corlys interjects.

To be honest, Corlys doesn't give a fuck about the pirates, his fleet is large enough not to worry about them, whatever the other lord's losses are, they are surely much lesser than his. His singular goal amidst these negotiations now that the Stepstones are out of his hands is to get the lowest rates for his ships.

"Speaking about tolls…" The Prince interjects. " I'd like to propose what many of you may consider a radical idea."

Once everyone's attention was focused on him, he continued. "I say we abolish all tolls and tariffs for the ships traversing the Stepstones."

He took advantage of their shocked silence in order to elaborate. "There are several aspects that may shift Westerosi trade from one focused in imports to a more self-sufficient one capable of exporting goods instead." He says. "The north is in the process of gathering a surplus of timber, cattle, iron, fur, and are already in the process of exporting ice to the hotter regions of Westeros and Essos."

"The Dornish were already major exporters, and with their integration they should be able to fill up their deficiencies from Westerosi channels at a much cheaper price, the increase in trade allowed many men to exchange goods in Lannisport in exchange for gold, while the Riverlands aren't and still won't cater to eastern merchants. The Stormlands have a new navy getting built at this very moment, which will allow them to also trade in timber, wool and grain.

Also, with new farming and smelting processes, newly discovered dyes and an increase in production capacity, the Crownland are capable of exporting a great deal of new specialized goods to not only Westerosi markets, but Essosi ones too. And finally, the increase of self-sufficiency of the other kingdoms means that the Reacher lords might find themselves with a significant surplus in foodstuffs, even with Dorne's demand for it."

The Ironborn were left out because everyone knows that they don't do trade.

"At this point any ships that cross the narrow sea will leave with more goods than what they'd be bringing, so it'll be much more advantageous for us to abolish all tolls and tariffs. Additionally we could focus even more concessions, like the disallowing of all and any merchants dealing in flesh to cross the narrow sea."

It took a moment for the rest to register his words, but Lyman was surprisingly the first to interject.

"I believe his grace may have a point, over the last couple of years we saw an increase in taxes from the other kingdoms, in fact, I believe that your grace(the king) has also received more petitions from lords in order to lower tariffs." Beesbury says. "All proceeds gained from the tolls would go to the treasury anyway, so only the royal family would take a loss."

Corlys could work with this. "Taxes from increased trade will compensate the loss, and if not there is always the option of renegotiation."

A shrewd light made its way to Lannister's face. "Increased trade is always a boon, I'm sure your subjects would be excited at the prospect, your grace."

Otto and the rest just stayed silent.

The King considered the offer for a while, before coming to a decision. "I think this strategy is feasible, let's use it."

Now that the large picture was decided, the rest of the preparations were particularly boring.

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Corlys and Otto stood side to side at the door of the small council chamber; the last members had already left, leaving only the last two rivals left.

"You seem to be accumulating losses as of late." Corlys began.

"The gods test us in many ways." Otto answers.

Corlys eyes his old adversary, the hand of the king is skilled at hiding his emotions, yet the Seasnake was familiar enough with him that he was able to glimpse at his inner thoughts.

Otto was somehow strangely unbothered by the coming situation, a treaty signed between the Crown and the Triarchy would allow the mercantile blacks to gather more riches, and therefore, even more influence for their competition against the traditionalists.

"You seem to lack vision, Corlys." Otto says. "As long as the Prince is in power, neither of us is going to triumph over the other, I thought you'd be able to realize that."

With that mysterious comment, the hand left Corlys to stew.

Corlys was thinking on his words for hours, until he received a list of the men who would be present for the negotiations.

He noted the absence of the Hand's, but it was overshadowed by the presence of another's. At the bottom of the piece of parchment, the name "Aegon Targaryen" was written.

The Velaryon lets out a loud laugh. "Fucking Baelon." He says.

"Fucking Baelon."