Hello there,
If you enjoy my stories you can read advanced chapters in my patreon page: patreon.com/Samael61
Her Eternal Excellency, a Genshin Impact and ASOIAF crossover, Raiden Ei Reborn as Argella Durrandon, is 15 chapters ahead
DCU:Blacklist, a Raymond Reddington inspired OC SI using his knowledge for his own advantage, as well as the rest of the world, is 15 chapters ahead,
Geek's Guide to Thriving in a Low End Fantasy World, a Robert Baratheon OC SI in an AU, is 15 chapters ahead,
Commander Shepard, The Greatest to Ever Live, a Mass Effect story where Shepard is greater than ever, is 15 chapters ahead,
Loki: The God of Magic , an OC-SI into Loki who is not aware of the MCU, is 4 chapters ahead.
By supporting me, you can read advanced and special chapters, as well as vote on how you want the fanfiction to proceed.
Note: Apple store payments will be refunded, because of the company's 75 day hold policy.
—
Stormlands
Asgard
Robert's Temporary Headquarters
"I am curious about something, my lord." Tyrion asked while reading over some documents.
"Go ahead." he responded, reading documents just like the Director of Finances was doing.
"You have the power; you come from the lines of kings. Have you ever considered just taking the Seven Kingdoms for yourself?" The young director put down his quill, watching his lord's reaction.
His question earned him raised eyebrows from Princess Rhaelle and Ser Davos, who were also busy in the room.
Robert put down the papers and turned to the dwarf, regarding him.
"If having power meant I could do whatever I wanted, then I would be no different from the likes of Aerys or Tywin, and I don't really feel like dealing with the problems of seven different kingdoms." he responded after a minute of silence.
"Most people would consider them, or at least Tywin, as great people." Tyrion said, refusing to address Tywin as Father after everything.
"If most people consider someone who orders the death of innocents and children as great, then there is something wrong with them, not me."
"If only everyone thought like you, this world would be a better place." Rhaelle shook her head, sighing.
She had lived long enough to see just how right the young Lannister was.
"Asgard will not be just a trade empire, but a place where law and rules matter and people will not be able to run amok as they wish." Robert declared.
"Lofty goal, my lord, even more so than a trade empire." Davos commented, wondering if he could actually do it.
"It won't be easy, and none of us may live long enough to see it, but not trying at all would be worse than simply failing." Robert sounded resolute in this, knowing change, especially in a society that rarely faced it in 8,000 years, would take time.
"How will you do it then, when even the rules and laws of gods could not?" Rhaelle asked, curious about how her grandson would change the very nature of humans.
"Through education to bring people together and make them understand we are stronger when we stand together as brothers, not when we stab each other in the back for selfish gains." Modern education systems of Earth had varying degrees of success, depending on several factors, but if Asgard could gain the wealth Robert envisioned, it would solve one of the biggest hurdles in the face of education.
Lack of financing.
There were other factors as well, but solving the problem of money would make solving the others much easier.
"I hope you can succeed, Robert." Rhaelle said with sincerity, knowing if anyone can, it would be him.
"Onto less serious matters then." Tyrion said, changing the subject to ships.
Ships of Westeros used oars when the wind blew in the opposite direction. This took space, meant more men for the crew, which led to an increase in costs, and was slow, and while Swan Ships of the Summer Isles were known to sail without oars, they also became helpless when the winds died.
Robert's solution to this was the pre-industrial ships of Earth, which, rather than having oars, used friction and angled sails to zig-zag towards the wind even when it was blowing against them, as well as special rigging to catch even the slightest breeze to sail the ship.
Which he was going to describe to the shipwrights as best as he could and let them handle the rest.
As they were technically experimental ships, Robert was going to start small and go big when they succeeded.
—
The shipwrights were reluctant to stray from their proven practices, but Robert was insistent as well as charming.
Their job for now was to start designing the ships, using Robert's descriptions and their knowledge to create a ship that could sail long ranges without oars.
But for now, they would have to do with the traditional ships.
—
While Asgard was small, that did not mean there wasn't any trouble requiring Robert's attention, so here he was, holding court in the lodge he took for himself, listening to two families petition over one family's cow eating the other's crops.
How fun.
His verdict was they would build a fence, and the one with the cow would cover half plus the price of the crop, while the other family would cover the rest.
Next was a man accusing a peddler of scamming him, saying the tonic he bought for a sore throat gave him the runs.
The gurgling of his belly and the smell of the tonic made the decision fast.
Robert had banned the sales of tonics, elixirs, and other remedies without having a permit from him and ordered the man's coin to be returned.
He would have to get a maester or two to see who sold something actually useful and who did not.
Then he had to deal with several livestock farmers and the grazing rights, each one requesting they be given the rights.
Robert created a timetable for each of them to graze their animals at certain times, with penalties if they broke it.
"There is a woman outside who wishes to speak to you, though she hasn't given her name. She claims to have important news for you." Tyrion said, checking the list he had.
"Any description of this woman?" Robert asked.
"One with red hair and eyes, my lord." Tyrion said, which made Robert think.
That sounded familiar, but he couldn't remember exactly.
Ladies couldn't resist him, and it was not like he could remember them all.
She was let inside, and Robert's face dropped at seeing who it was.
With red hair, red eyes, pale skin, and way taller than the average woman, she was a beauty to behold.
"Greetings, Azor Ahai. "I am." she began, and Robert rose with a vengeance.
"Melisandre of Asshai, I know who you are." Robert seethed, which took the Red Woman back.
"Get the hell out of my city, and never set foot here again, no matter the reason." Robert's voice was cold enough to freeze the very flames she commanded.
Robert's hatred earned curious glances from around the room, while Sandor went to throw her out.
Stumped at Robert's flat-out refusal and clear hatred of her, the Red Woman left without saying anything.
"That sounded personal." his grandmother commented, wondering what just happened.
"You don't want to know, or you might just go and kill her yourself." Robert said, indicating for a wine, a rare indulgence these days.
"Tyrion, Davos, new decree. Red Priests are banned from entering Asgard, and anyone who gives them passage knowingly will face a fine of one hundred gold dragons." Robert ordered, taking a sip from the wine to cool his nerves.
Killing Renly at Stanis' behalf, and then burning poor Shireen?
The only reason he did not kill her then and there was because she technically did not do these things.
"Yes, my lord." both said at the same time.
"Next." he ordered, and Sandor opened the door, letting the next petitioner in.
It was about two men fighting over a woman.
Robert held up his sign, not wanting to look as if he did not care.
—
Petitioners were done, and Robert found himself doing something fun now. He and his grandmother had gone to tend to their dragons. Robert commented on how big Ormund was getting, as the black dragon was growing way faster than Obelisk, Ra, and Slifer.
She said soon enough Ormund would be bigger, and it led to back and forth about what made a dragon better—size, speed, agility, or intelligence—and here they were, testing which dragon was faster, Ra, the fastest amongst his trio, or Ormund.
They would race from the city to a hill about 20 miles away and return back with the first dragon back as the winner.
Davos was the referee, standing in front of the spectators, ready to start the race while Robert checked his flight suit and Rhaelle her riding leathers.
News had gone out quickly, and there was a crowd now, ready to watch who would win.
Davos took a piece of cloth and held it high.
"You may start when the cloth hits the ground." he said and threw it up.
Both riders locked eyes on the fabric, waiting.
"Volā!" and "Sōvēs!" they shouted as the cloth hit the ground, both dragons responding to the languages they were taught.
With flaps of their mighty wings, both dragons took off, racing towards the hill at full speed.
"Get ready to lose, Grandma." Robert shouted over the sound of the wind rushing his face.
"Hah, the folly of youth." she shouted back, trailing slightly behind him.
"Aderī!" Rhaelle shouted, urging her mount forward, and the black dragon began to gain on the golden one.
The riders locked eyes as Ormund almost gained on Ra.
"Now!" ordered Robert, and this time Ra sped up and began to widen the distance.
Rhaelle scoffed, and Ormund growled in defiance, pushing himself as fast as he could to gain on his opponent.
"Halfway there, Grandma!" Robert said, and Ra was the first one to reach the hill and began to turn back.
"I'll see you at the finish, Robert!" his grandma said, turning back before she reached the hill.
So that's how it was going to be.
Two can play that game, grandma.
Ra rose, heading above the clouds and disappearing from Rhaelle's sight.
She narrowed her eyes, knowing Robert was definitely up to something crazy.
After a while, Ra descended, somehow pulling in front of her, racing full speed towards the city, with Rhaelle and Ormund right behind him.
"Too late, Grandma!" Rhaelle turned right, seeing Robert flying with that flight suit of his.
Her shock was gone quickly as she turned back to the race, Ormund pushing with all his strength.
Rhaelle and Ormund landed a second after Ra did, almost slamming to the ground with how fast they were.
A couple minutes later, Robert landed on the square too, the crowd cheering at seeing the Winged Knight of Stormlands.
Robert took his helmet off, basking in the adoration of the crowd.
"Thank you, thank you. I know I am great. Thank you so much." He waved to the still cheering mass.
"You know, Grandma, I'll admit, I didn't expect you to play dirty like that." Robert admitted, leaning on Ra.
"Well, it didn't work on you now, did it?" She crossed her arms, smiling in exhilaration, her heart still racing.
"Of course not, but anyone else and you might have just won." Robert conceded, grinning.
It has been some time since he had fun like this.
—
All too soon though, it was time for Rhaelle to go back to Storm's End.
Grandson and grandmother were hugging, saying their goodbyes, but Robert also had a request.
"Can you see if you can convince the Florents to send me some grown mulberry trees?" he requested, as getting a message from Storm's End to Brightwater Keep would be much easier.
"At this rate, they would give you their whole orchard if you asked. Why do you need them, though?" She asked, knowing her grandson preferred grapes.
"If it works, it will be a nice little surprise; if not, then I'll just have some fruit trees." Robert said, not giving anything away.
"Hmm, you can keep your secrets, I suppose, but I'll see what I can do." she agreed as Robert helped her mount her dragon.
"Take care of yourself, and do visit sometimes." she ordered as Ormund took off, waving goodbye to her grandson.
"As you wish, Princess." Robert teased, waving back.
He watched until the dragon turned to a mere dot in the sky and went back to his inn.
His workload had decreased with his grandmother's help, but there was still much to do.
—
Two weeks after his grandmother had left, the shipwrights came with a rough drawing of a schooner with three masts, just as Robert had described. He had them start the work immediately to build a trial ship to see what worked, what didn't, and what needed adjustments.
Robert liked it now that the things were underway, but he still had to secure large amounts of wood.
Perhaps it was time for a visit to Lord Manderly.