Stormlands
Asgard
287 AC
Robert, unlike his canon counterpart, did a lot of administrative work, even if he found it boring.
He delegated work where he could, but there were parts where he just didn't have someone capable that he trusted to handle it.
Until now.
Tyrion's official title was "Director of Finances" responsible for overseeing the payments, salaries, tolls, and overall keeping track of where the money went and if businesses were paying their taxes, no matter how small.
It took a large load from his shoulders, allowing Robert to focus more on personally handling the construction of the city.
On other good news, some of the artisans he had saved while exiled in Essos had agreed to settle in Asgard, provided Robert agrees to cover the costs.
Expensive, but worth it in the long run. After all, if Asgard produced glass, carpets, lace, steel weapons, and tools on par with the Free Cities, he could sell them all over the Seven Kingdoms.
One specific market he was interested in was silk. People of Westeros did not know how the soft and smooth fabric was produced and paid great amounts of gold for it. Robert, or rather the Matt part of him, had watched documentaries on how silk was produced and knew what to do.
Silkworms should exist in the wild; seeing as there was no industry for them to be domesticated in Westeros, he would just have to find them.
Asgardian silk had a nice ring to it.
He would have to plant some mulberry trees first, though.
A ship had arrived at the docks, all the way from Braavos, and its captain requested to speak to him.
Robert allowed it, and the captain was let in. Dressed in armor with purple and grey markings and with a clean-shaven face, the captain bowed before presenting him a letter.
"Greetings, Lord Robert, I bring you news and gifts from Ferrego Antaryon, Sea Lord of Braavos."
Robert took the letter with a nod and unfurled the parchment.
"To my friend, Lord Robert Baratheon of Asgard, the Father of the Dragons,
My friend, I write to you with great excitement at hearing your future plans to build yourself a city and wish you the best of luck in your endeavor. As we were great trade partners during your tenure in Braavos, I hope we will continue to be for many years to come.
I have heard of your desire to employ shipwrights, and to that end I sent you a dozen talented shipwrights and their apprentices to settle in your lands if you will have them.
If you find the opportunity, do visit Braavos so we may talk of business.
I know you to be a man who understands the value of trade and one who never lets his good friends down.
Once again, I wish you the best in your work and await your answer.
Ferrego Antaryon, the Sea Lord of Braavos.
Robert almost snorted. The crafty man had sent him shipwrights as a gift and invited him for business.
Meaning he was going to ask for a preferential trade between Asgard and Braavos while reminding him of the shipwrights, and it was smart, as no one would just let a strategic resource like shipwrights escape from their grasp.
"Thank you for the letter, Captain. You and your crew are welcome to rest in one of our lodges while I write a response to the Sea Lord, and you can bring the shipwrights here."
The captain left with a thank you, leaving Robert to his thoughts.
"Sandor." Robert called out to his guard, and the man opened the door immediately.
"Go find Davos and tell him we are going to have shipwrights coming now and to find them a place to stay."
"Understood." Sandor nodded and left.
At least that was one thing he didn't have to deal with.
—
His next visitor didn't have any ulterior motives, at least.
His grandmother, dressed in riding leathers atop her black dragon named after the grandfather he never met, had landed on the square, causing a commotion.
"Grandmother! You are a sight for sore eyes." Robert greeted the silver-haired and purple-eyed woman, giving her a gentle hug.
"You should have visited then, Robert; it's not like we are too far away." she chided him, pinching his cheek and checking if he was well.
"I know, I know, but building a city is no easy work; I barely have time to scratch my head." Robert made an excuse, knowing he could have entrusted others with this work, but simply put, he was too excited to leave unless it was a matter of life and death.
"Come, let me show you around." Robert offered his arm, and his grandmother took it.
Robert gave her a small tour, showing what was already built and what else was going to be. The layout of the city, allowing for wide streets and buildings with spaces between, as well as how in touch with nature the city was, had impressed her.
"I must say, these roads look good. You must have excellent workers." She commented, noticing how the road looked as if it was one solid piece.
"That was me actually."
"Why, Robert, did you already get bored of ruling and decide to be a road worker?" His grandmother teased, though she was curious what he meant.
"Not really. I just had a thought about how easy everything would be if I knew how the Valyrians constructed places like Dragonstone with magic. One thing led to another, and it gave me an idea. You see, the men flattened the soil and laid down rocks, and I used dragons to melt them. This way, I both cut down on costs and improved the durability of the roads." Robert explained, gesturing to the road stretching all the way to the port.
His grandmother gave out an unladylike snigger before it turned to full-blown laughter.
"Only you would imagine using the dragons for something so menial." she said after getting her laughter under control.
"Better than them just laying around all day." Robert shrugged.
"My lord" came in from behind as Davos approached.
"Ah, Davos. Grandmother, I don't know if you saw him when he visited Storm's End, but this is Davos, my right-hand man when it comes to sailing and trade." He introduced the man, who bowed to her in greeting.
"We have met, my lord. Welcome to Asgard, Princess Rhaelle." Davos had met the woman when he left his family at Storm's End, and from the short interaction they had, he could see why his lord spoke so highly of her.
"Thank you, Ser Davos."
"Is there something you want to report, Davos?" Robert asked, grimacing at the timing.
"Yes, my lord, but it can wait."
"Oh no, do continue your business, Robert; I am curious as to how you rule." Rhaelle insisted.
Educating Robert to be a future Lord Paramount had been an arduous affair, and at times she had been worried about his future. But here he was now, building his own city, and she wanted to see how.
"Join us then, Davos." Robert said, continuing to walk.
"Yes, my lord. The shipwrights want to know if we have a design ready to build, and they also made a list of the materials and tools they need. I have sent the list to Lord Tyrion, but planks alone will cost a fortune to buy if you truly want to build that many ships, not to mention everything else." Davos reported. His lord wanted to build the biggest trade fleet in the world, but ships were expensive.
They had a forest but not the man and workforce to make enough timber for ships at the rate he wanted.
"We will only trade with Braavos and the rest of the Seven Kingdoms for now and increase our trade routes as gold flows into our coffers. As for wood, we will increase our production and buy from the North if necessary. They have the trees to spare, and I am sure they would appreciate the gold." The Starks, and the North in general, due to how loyal they were to their Lords of Winterfell, may not like him, but everybody liked gold, and they were no exception.
That, and he didn't want to cut down his own forests.
"Shipping wood from the North to here wouldn't be easy, my lord." Davos informed, knowing even just loading the wood could take days.
"Don't worry, I will talk with the shipwrights into designing larger ships to carry more wood at once. For now, see about recruiting more workers to cut down trees and make timber for the ships, and make sure to consult the shipwrights about it."
"Yes, my lord." said Davos, and left, having finished his report.
"I was worried all those lessons entered one ear and left through the other, but look at you now, truly a lord deserving his title." Rhaelle commented, amusement and pride shining in her eyes.
"With a teacher like you, how could I fail? Now, it is almost time for lunch; would you like to join me?" Robert offered, actually happy to have lunch with a member of his family.
"Good idea; I am rather famished actually."
Lunch was a peaceful affair as they sat on the balcony of the inn Robert had taken for himself. It was mostly food with a longer shelf life, but his grandmother wasn't the type to complain about something like that.
She spoke of home, of family. His father was the same as ever, ruling, grumbling, and laughing, and his mother was the anchor to keep him down.
Stannis was more talkative now, a rather nice side effect of his betrothed. They kept in contact via raven, and apparently his little brother kept asking for help from his father on what to write.
Good for him.
Renly was calmer now with the good influence of Davos' sons and only demanded a dragon once a week instead of every day.
"The Tyrells have offered to foster Renly." his grandmother said, swallowing her bite.
"Tell Father it is a bad idea." Robert stopped, the slice of bread and cheese halfway to his mouth.
"He is considering it, against my advice, saying if we are building ties with the Florents, we might as well do the same with the Tyrells." They had a fight over it, and it was half the reason she had decided to fly over here.
"Okay, let's change our approach then. Tell Father if he does that, I'll burn Highgarden to the ground with the Tyrells in it." Robert said with a dead serious tone, earning a look from Rhaelle.
"Would you really?" She asked, trying to ascertain whether he was jesting or not.
"Their sigil should have been a vulture because they are a bunch of opportunistic bastards, Grandmother, so yes, I will do it."
"Saw something, have you?" She asked rhetorically, continuing to eat.
"Yes." Robert said simply, not explaining what he saw.
Considering how Renly became a toy in the hands of the Tyrells, he would not hesitate to commit first-degree murder to prevent it.
"Hmm, perhaps your father will listen to you." Rhaelle commented, closing the matter.
"Onto more cheery subjects. Have you thought of who to marry? You are five and twenty already; most lords your age tend to have more than one child."
With Stannis already betrothed, Rhaelle wanted to see her eldest grandson marry and be happy too.
"Unless I meet someone exceptional, I am not marrying." Robert shrugged in response.
"Exceptional? Like who?" Rhaelle asked, wiping her hands on a handkerchief.
Robert stopped. Frankly, he didn't have any idea what he meant by "exceptional" either. It was just a way for him to blow off people without bothering to explain what he meant.
"I guess I am searching for someone as great as me." Robert said, sounding narcissistic even to his own ears.
Then again, a female version of himself would be a sight to behold, he was sure.
"Oh dear, you are going to end up all alone then."
They continued to banter well into the evening.