Chapter 20: Catelyn's Warning

Eddard wore a black fur cloak with the Stark family's Direwolf Emblem on his chest, and he and Catelyn stood by the edge of the training yard.

The Braavosi Syrio Forel was instructing Jon and Robb, while Arya was also to the side, training with Bran using wooden swords.

Recently, Arya had officially begun training in the yard; in the past, Robb and Jon would teach Arya some simple sword moves, and Arya would practice in secret, but the Winterfell master-at-arms, Ser Rodrik Cassel, did not allow Arya to play in the yard for too long.

Recently, the old master-at-arms had gone to the Winter Town to train the Winter Town guards, and the training of the Winterfell children had been handed over to the Water Dancer from Braavos, Syrio Forel. Arya seemed to get along very well with Syrio, and the Braavosi did not mind training a girl, so Arya had managed to sneak into the training yard just like that.

Catelyn frowned and said, "How many times have I said it? Arya should be with Septa Mordane and Sansa, learning more needlework and etiquette. She spends all day mixed in with the boys; what kind of behavior is that?"

Eddard smiled, "Arya hasn't missed her daily etiquette or needlework lessons either. If she wants to play, let her play!"

Catelyn said, "Arya's nature is too wild. She often doesn't listen to what I say, and you, as her father, don't discipline her either. Yesterday, I told Syrio to stop training Arya, and he actually said something about Arya having the potential to become a Water Dancer and an assassin. He wants to train my daughter to be an assassin!"

"Syrio was just speaking casually."

Eddard watched as Arya knocked the wooden sword out of Bran's hand with a single strike, and Arya laughed out loud.

Catelyn looked at the laughing Arya, "This child is becoming less and less like a lady. Letting a Braavosi teach her will only make Arya more and more mischievous. Speaking of which, aren't there too many Braavosi in our castle? Eddard, I have never been able to understand why you would hand the children over to Braavosi to train? And you even found that Klar to manage the money; he is a foreigner, what if he steals our money and runs away?"

Eddard said, "Don't be so suspicious all the time. Klar is my financial advisor; managing the ledgers and money is his job, after all."

Catelyn was relentless, "I heard from Vayon Poole that this Klar has taken quite a lot of money from the Winterfell treasury. We only have one chest of Gold Dragons left; do you really intend to starve us to death?"

Eddard joked, "The canteens, taverns, and butcher shops that we invested in at Winterfell have opened in the Winter Town; how could we possibly starve?"

Catelyn said indignantly, "I have looked at the ledgers for the Wolf House Canteen, the butcher shops, and the taverns. The business is good, but the money earned is nowhere near enough to cover the cost of the buildings. I can hear the sound of craftsmen hammering stone even while I'm inside Winterfell, and the noise is driving me mad. Those stables, barracks, and smithies you are building in the Winter Town are simply an act of madness. I foresee the Winter Town ending up like most of the fortresses below the Wall—abandoned."

"My lady, you are too pessimistic." Eddard was full of confidence, "Many fortresses at the Wall are abandoned because the Night's Watch do not marry or have children, but the people of the Winter Town will continue to multiply, generation after generation."

Catelyn said with forced patience, "The higher you build your projects, the poorer we become. With so many laborers to feed, the wages for craftsmen, the wages for the guards, the costs of transporting and quarrying stone and timber... what will we do when our money runs out?"

"Then we shall have to borrow." In truth, from the very first day Eddard began expanding the Winter Town, he knew that Winterfell would sooner or later walk the path of debt; the only difference was how much to borrow.

"Wyman Manderly is very willing to lend money to Winterfell, but Klar suggested that it would be better to borrow from the Iron Bank."

Lord Wyman of White Harbor was considered the wealthiest vassal in the North. Ships from all over the Seven Kingdoms and from across the Narrow Sea converged at White Harbor, bringing in large amounts of tax revenue every day. White Harbor was not only a high-quality ice-free port, but Lord Wyman's domain itself was also a region of warhorses and fish, making it very prosperous.

Because House Manderly were exiled nobles from the Reach and the only great noble house in the North that devoutly followed the Seven, the number of knights under White Harbor's banner was the highest in the North; there were over 100 landed knights who had sworn fealty to House Manderly alone.

When Lord Wyman learned that the expansion of the Winter Town had put Winterfell under financial strain, he took the initiative to offer to lend money to Winterfell, even offering to waive the interest, but Eddard weighed it carefully and refused.

It was not uncommon for a liege lord of the Seven Kingdoms to borrow money from his vassals; King Robert owed millions of Gold Dragons to Casterly Rock, but Eddard did not want to owe money to his vassals.

He who takes from others is soft-handed; once White Harbor became a creditor to Winterfell, other vassals would say that Winterfell was biased toward White Harbor and could not be fair when handling disputes between lords. And these lords, due to disputes over border villages, hills, and rivers, argued almost year-round; if they could not resolve them, they would come to Winterfell to request Eddard's adjudication.

It was said that Roose Bolton of the Dreadfort and Rickard Karstark of Karhold had always complained about the salt from the eastern coast having to be transported to White Harbor to settle accounts with Wyman Manderly. If they knew that Winterfell had taken money from White Harbor, it would only deepen the dissatisfaction of these vassals.

Upon hearing Eddard say he wanted to borrow from the Iron Bank, Catelyn became somewhat anxious.

"Are you insane? Even when the winter was raging, we never borrowed from the Iron Bank. Have you forgotten 'Winter is Coming'? Have you forgotten the cold winters of the North? Now, in the middle of summer, we are borrowing from the Iron Bank. If the seasons change and we face a winter that lasts for several years, the interest will grow like a snowball, and before the next spring arrives, we will be reduced to debt-slaves of the Braavosi."

At this moment, in the distance, Syrio Forel was instructing Bran and Arya in the Common Tongue with a heavy Braavosi accent, and Catelyn looked at him with disgust.

"Eddard, take my advice: the Braavosi cannot be trusted. Let Klar go! It would be best to take this Syrio Forel away as well. They are earning our Winterfell wages while trying every possible way to make us borrow from the Iron Bank; these are internal enemies!"

The steward Vayon Poole walked over.

"My lord, the shipbuilder from Braavos, Malin, has arrived and is waiting in the hall for your audience."

Catelyn said gloomily, "Has our Winterfell become the backyard of the Sealord? How is it that another Braavosi has come?"

Eddard laughed, "Malin is a shipbuilder recommended by Lord Wyman of White Harbor; he served in the Braavosi Arsenal for many years and is very experienced."

Catelyn said, "How much of a bribe did Lord Merman take to recommend these Braavosi? Eddard, I truly wonder if Lord Merman has sold us out to the Sealord of Braavos. No wonder Lord Merman and the Iron Bank are both fighting to be our creditors."

Eddard sat on the Direwolf Throne to receive the shipbuilder Malin. Malin was in his forties, with brown hair and a brown beard that hung to his chest; he was thin and wore a blue and black robe.

"Malin, I heard from Lord Wyman that you served in the Braavosi Arsenal for many years. The Braavosi Arsenal can build a ship in a single day; when it comes to shipbuilding, you can't go wrong with a Braavosi."

Malin said, "Lord Eddard, I am a Pentoshi. Although I have had the honor of serving the Braavosi Arsenal for many years and have lived in Braavos for a long time, I was born in Pentos. It was only when my family went bankrupt and I was reduced to a debt-slave in my childhood that I had to flee to Braavos, where I grew up, married, and had children."

A Pentoshi who grew up and settled in Braavos—Catelyn would like that.

"Malin, Lord Wyman said that the shipyard in White Harbor has already begun to be used?"

Malin nodded, "Yes, following Lord Wyman's instructions, we have built some fishing boats, skiffs, and small merchant ships, but currently, it is mainly for repairing some of the merchant ships of House Manderly in White Harbor. Lord Eddard, to be honest, after I arrived in White Harbor, I was somewhat disappointed. Lord Wyman told me in his letter that he was inviting me to White Harbor to build warships and forge a North Fleet."

Lord Eddard said, "We do intend to build warships, but it is a pity that Winterfell does not have sufficient financial resources. I am sure that before you arrived at Winterfell, you must have passed through the Winter Town. My people are engaged in major construction there, and the money is being spent on the town's expansion. I am very poor right now and have no money to build ships."

"But I will not be poor forever. When I have the money, and when the expansion project of my Winter Town has progressed sufficiently, I will build ships. This will, of course, take a long time. In the future, I will definitely build ships; you can prepare in advance."

Malin said, "Actually, there is nothing to prepare. The North is not short of wood; the materials for shipbuilding can all be found in White Harbor, and if they are missing, we can simply send ships to Braavos to purchase them. I would like to ask Lord Eddard, what kind of warships do you want? The purple-sailed galleys like those of Braavos? The large ships like those of the Royal Fleet? Or the convenient longships like those of the Ironborn? Or galleons?"

Eddard pulled out a blueprint and handed it to Malin, "I want this kind."

Malin looked at the blueprint, his eyes widening.

"This kind of warship? Lord Eddard, the cost of building this kind of ship is not low."

(End of chapter)