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—
King's Landing
Robert could have gone to other places to get the necessary timber, but the thing was he didn't want to deforest Stormlands, mostly Asgard, and with the lands lacking infrastructure, mainly a large enough port or roads, and the workforce, getting that much wood would be more trouble than it was worth.
So until he could see to the development of the Stormlands and Asgard, he was going to have to buy them.
North, as the largest and the most underdeveloped of the kingdoms, had untouched forests larger than some of the kingdoms, and White Harbour already had a fleet and the necessary workforce to build more from scratch.
It cost around five thousand gold dragons and took one to two thousand trees to build a galley, but Robert wanted bigger and faster ships, which meant higher costs, and the vast amount of forests in the North meant it was the prime place to buy cheap, high-quality timber.
His other options were Lannisport, the Redwynes, or King's Landing, but this was a long-term contract he did not want to give to any of them, especially after the whole debacle with the merchants.
So here he was, at the Red Keep.
Usually, when one wanted to visit the royal resident of the Targaryens, there would be steps to follow. Send a letter first to inform the royals of your reason for visiting, wait for an audience with the king, and then see to your personal business.
Robert had a special pass in the form of three fire-breathing flying lizards capable of burning the said keep to the ground, so he was an exception and could head straight to speak with Lord Manderly.
Wyman, as far as he bothered to remember the Lord-Too-Fat-to-Sit-a-Horse, was a shrewd, calculating, and intelligent man with a vengeance streak a mile long, if the theories about him killing three Freys and having them baked into a pie were true.
But he was lord of the only trade port in the North and good enough to be made the Master of Coin, so they should have no problem making a deal.
They didn't, but by no means was it easy.
Under all that fat was a calculating but fair businessman who would do pretty well in the 21st century Earth as a high-level executive.
For now the timber would be delivered by the fleet of White Harbour, and it would be more expensive, but as soon as Robert had his large cargo ships, the costs would go down even further.
Both sides had left that day satisfied with the deal.
—
It wasn't all smooth sailing, of course. He had been hoping to leave the Red Keep without bumping into anyone but came across the Starks of all people.
"I read your letter." Lyanna Stark opened her mouth just as he was about to pass them by.
"What letter? I didn't send you anything." Robert replied after a moment of cursing in his head.
"The one you sent to the king." she clarified, almost causing a misunderstanding amongst her retinue.
"That sounds like his problem, not mine." he said, about to push past her guards.
"You threatened him. I want to know what exactly you were going to do." She demanded as if she had any power over him.
Robert sighed, about to tell her to fuck off, but had a better idea.
"Did the little girl get scared when the grown-ups were fighting?" He said with a mock childish tone, crouching down a bit and coming down to her eyesight.
The future queen of the Seven Kingdoms' nose flared in anger; she gritted her teeth to not lose control.
"Remember who you are talking to, my lord." The sole Kingsguard escorting her warned, though Robert couldn't put a name to the face.
"I was just going to walk past without saying anything, but she had to open her mouth. Now, get out of my way, so we don't have to see each other anymore." Robert said, shooing them away.
"No, not that easy. I want to know what you meant by that letter. Were you going to kill us if he didn't bow down to your demands?" She kept running her mouth off.
"And why would I want to kill you when you are already dead?" Robert asked with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.
Lyanna was taken aback by Robert's comment, confusion etched on her face.
"What are you talking about?"
"Simple, really. Lyanna Stark, who spent more time riding horses and practicing sword and jousting as a mystery knight, is dead. Becoming the queen, you will have to spend your time making connections and engaging in politics when you are not having children, and if you try to go back to your old ways, the court will eat you alive. So let me ask you again, why would I wish to kill you when you are walking to your death with a smile on your face anyway?" Robert said, stunning the whole retinue, including the dear old Ned.
He pushed past the frozen guards and left.
Really, she just had to open her mouth.
—
He was leaving the Red Keep when his ears caught something interesting. Rhaegar, his younger brother Aegon, and Jaime Lannister were getting married in two months in a single ceremony at King's Landing.
Rhaegar and Lyanna would tie the North and the Riverlands via Brandon and Catelyn to the crown, while Aegon's marriage to Janna Tyrell would bring the Reach into the fold, and Tywin Lannister would finally have his dream of marrying into the Royal Family partially fulfilled with Jaime and Shaena.
The weddings would have happened by now, but Queen Rhaella was severely weakened with the birth of her daughter Daenerys, born in King's Landing amidst a storm last year.
She actually should have been born in 284 AC, but with all the children Rhaella and Aerys had, she was late, so to speak.
His claims about her being the one to bring the dragons back if he had not done so already made some of the common sense-lacking lords try to offer a betrothal to the newborn.
Rhaegar, in his infinite wisdom, decided to marry his sister to the son he will eventually have with Lyanna.
Which didn't concern him at all, as he wasn't going to be there anyway.
If they didn't try anything, neither would Robert.
—
"What a pleasant day, is it not, my lord?" A man, with a cowl hiding his face, sat on Robert's table at the inn.
You couldn't tell who he was with how much of his face was covered, but you could tell with the smell.
"Varys." he simply said after swallowing his food, wondering what the Spider wanted that brought him here.
"Imagine my shock at learning who the man that stole the dragon eggs and Valyrian steel sword of my good friend Illyrio." The Master of Whispers raised his cowl a bit, revealing his face to Robert, with a grandfatherly smile hiding his true nature.
People might call Dornish snakes, but in his opinion none could match the bald eunuch in front of him.
"Good friend? I thought you two were family, good brothers in fact. I mean, his wife was definitely Valyrian, and with what I have seen of you, I assumed she was your sister." Robert came clean, wiping the smile from his face.
"So tell me, are you two Blackfyres or Brightflames? That part wasn't really clear in my dreams." He raised the stakes even higher, watching the eunuch, but he didn't react at all.
"Quite the powerful thing, dragon dreams. They saved House Targaryen from the doom, which led to Aegon eventually conquering the Seven Kingdoms, and now they seem to have made you all-knowing." the Spider said; no doubt everything he said regarding his dreams had made it to his ears.
"So what brings you here?" Robert asked, not commenting on the whole dragon dreams thing.
"I wanted to ask you a question. You and the Targaryens harbor no good feelings towards each other, and I was wondering why you simply did not destroy them." Varys wondered, knowing he was the greater threat to his plans.
"You know, you are the second person to ask me that. As for why, beyond my personal views on power and how it should be used, I simply have no desire to rule the Seven Kingdoms and solve the problems they present. I mean, if someone repeated what Tywin did to the Tarbecks and Reynes in the lands I rule, they would face the same fate as their victims." Robert shrugged, though he couldn't help but be curious about what the Spider was playing at.
"How righteous and just of you, my lord." Varys sounded amused but didn't dare mock him.
"In a land where the rules of the jungle apply, progress would be nonexistent because of the constant fighting and lack of appreciation for scholarly matters due to what people perceive as their lack of application in warfare. That is why Oldtown is bigger and better than King's Landing, even though it doesn't have the population and is not the capital. But Asgard? It will be even greater, and when I am long dead and gone, the city I built will tame this world and then the stars. By then the Seven Kingdoms and the rest of this world will be on their knees, begging to be a part of my legacy. Do you know what will make Asgard the greatest to ever exist, Varys?" Robert asked, taking a deep breath.
"I assume you are about to tell me, my lord?" The eunuch was subdued now, listening to Robert's greater plan.
"Law, rules, and justice and the desire to be better, to push ever forward. That is why I don't care about conquering the Seven Kingdoms, because I play the longest game anyone ever has, and when it's finished, everything you ever do will be a mere footnote in history." Robert took another bite of the chicken, watching.
"Curious, why explain your plan to me and risk something happening?"
"Easy, because I don't care about your schemes or who rules the Seven Kingdoms, whether it be a Targaryen, a Blackfyre, or a wilding, as long as they don't cross me or my family."
"Message well received, my lord." Varys said after contemplating it quickly.
Robert got up and left after paying for the lunch.
—
After his unexpected meeting with the spymaster, Robert called Obelisk down with a whistle and left.
He had much to do.
—
Asgard
The first thing Robert did after returning home was to inform the shipwrights they would get their timber.
Next was a meeting with Davos to tell him they were going to pick up the artisans from Braavos while he had a meeting with the Sea Lord. The journey would be longer than what he has been going on for a while, so he gave them ample time to prepare for it.
The city was left to Tyrion to manage in their absence with Sandor in charge of security, and he sent a letter to his grandmother to act as a deterrent. He didn't want to call her back so soon after her visit, but with him gone for a while, who knows what could happen?
The Black Betha and the Prize wouldn't be enough to transport all those people and their luggage, so they were going to hire ships in Braavos while Robert collected the interest his account had accumulated.
Davos had also opened the matter about bringing his wife and children to Asgard, and Robert had been open to the idea, but they would have to get a maester first, and that would have to wait until they returned.
Of course, sailing wasn't going to be easy because compasses did not exist here, and he had no idea how to make one. On Earth, the compass was first invented by a Chinese dynasty, but it was used as a tool for fortune telling at first, so perhaps they had a compass analogue in Yi-Ti?
He would have to get some scholars ASAP and have them start finding ways to bring his knowledge to practice.
It was like having a mountain of gold dragons but no way to use it.
He should actually start writing down what he remembers before forgetting things like Elia.
Dropping down another crate on the ship, Robert wiped the sweat off his brow with the back of his hand. He stopped for a while, watching the horizon, suddenly feeling the weight of his plans for the future and just how heavy it was.
But the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step, and he already took it.
He would finish it one way or another.
—
The ships set sail the next day under the shadow of three dragons, taking another step on Asgard's journey to the top of the world.
—
Note: No idea how much a ship costs goldwise, so I tried to use numbers that sounded logical to me.