Chapter 25: Borrowing Money from the Iron Bank

Following Maester Luwin's suggestion, Eddard murmured, "Going to King's Landing to Robert Baratheon's court to request the King's judgment is naturally one of the options. However, we currently lack evidence."

Maester Luwin said, "Mikken told me that any skilled smith can distinguish that the battle-axes and armor sent by House Bolton are the work of Ironborn smiths. The Rockborn pirates are even traveling on longships from the Iron Islands; this is the evidence."

Eddard said helplessly, "King Balon will certainly argue that weapons and armor of Ironborn craftsmanship can be bought in any port city in Westeros. As for the longships, the Iron Islands have sold many, and it is not difficult for shipyards elsewhere to replicate them."

In Eddard's plan, after the Northern Army clears out the Rockborn pirates burning and pillaging along the east coast of the North, they will cross the sea to sweep Skagos. Once evidence is found that Balon Greyjoy of the Iron Islands is colluding with the Rockborn, Eddard will send a letter to King's Landing to request King Robert's judgment.

Eddard is a close friend of Robert, while King Balon, the leader of the Ironborn raiders, is a traitor who once raised an army in rebellion. Eddard believes that Robert and Hand of the King Jon Arryn would support him when a conflict arises between the North and the Iron Islands, but going to King's Landing to lodge a complaint without holding evidence would be useless, even with all the friends Eddard has at court.

Maester Luwin ran his fingers over the links of the chain around his neck. "To find evidence, one must venture deep into Skagos. Can the North's naval power achieve this? Even if Lord Eddard does not request judgment from King Robert for the time being, he could request that King Robert dispatch the Royal Fleet to help us sweep away the Rockborn pirates."

"King Robert's second brother, Duke Stannis Baratheon, is currently the Master of Ships. During the Greyjoy Rebellion, he crushed the Iron Fleet at Fair Isle. Stannis is a renowned naval commander, and even the Ironborn find it difficult to contend with him. If King Robert dispatches Stannis with the Royal Fleet to arrive in the North, the Rockborn pirates would surely collapse at the first touch."

Eddard thought for a moment. "Better not! Even if Robert were willing to help me, the ministers on his Small Council would oppose it. The Royal Fleet guards the safety of the King's Landing royal family and hundreds of thousands of commoners. If the Royal Fleet heads north, King's Landing will be left defenseless. Who knows if the pirates of the Stepstones might set their sights on King's Landing?"

Eddard has very few friends on the Small Council, aside from Jon Arryn. Based on Eddard's understanding of Jon Arryn, even Jon Arryn would not agree to the Royal Fleet heading north to help the North deal with the Rockborn pirates.

In Jon Arryn's own fief, the Vale of Arryn, the Mountain Clans raid year-round, yet Jon Arryn only relies on his vassals and Canyon Knights to suppress them. He has never requested that Robert use the power of the Seven Kingdoms to exterminate the bandits.

Even if everything went smoothly and Robert and Jon Arryn generously agreed to let the Royal Fleet head north to assist, exposing the North's internal troubles to the court and the Seven Kingdoms would be extremely dangerous. It would be interpreted by the outside world as House Stark of Winterfell being unable to suppress internal rebellions, causing some conspirators who had not yet acted to set their sights on Skagos and use the Rockborn to deal with the North.

Eddard touched the map of Skagos with his hand.

"Luwin, the discussion ends here. Now, release the ravens. Order the vassals in every region to gather their armies and assemble at Winterfell. The North's territory is too vast; we must summon the vassals' armies as early as possible."

Once the bow is drawn, there is no turning back. Eddard knew that once the ravens delivered Winterfell's orders, the crossbowmen of the Glover family of Deepwood Motte and the Forest Clan, the horse archers of the Tallhart family of Torrhen's Square, the cavalry of the Ryswell family of the Rills, the cavalry and infantry under the widow Barbrey Dustin of Barrowton, Lord Wyman's White Harbor Knights, the infantry of the Northern Mountain Clans, and the soldiers of Bear Island would all assemble at Winterfell from all corners of the North.

Gathering a large army will undoubtedly affect farming and agricultural production in every region, placing a heavy burden on the commoners and causing the vassals to complain, but Eddard has no choice. Allowing the Rockborn to run rampant will cause even greater destruction to the agricultural production and economy of the east coast, and once the Rockborn pirates spread to the waters of White Harbor near the Bite, the entire North's economy will suffer huge losses.

After Maester Luwin left, Eddard summoned the financial advisor Klar.

"If the Iron Bank is willing to lend us money, would five hundred thousand Gold Dragons be sufficient?"

The sapphire ring on Klar's finger sparkled. "Lord Eddard, why do you use the word 'if'? Do you have no confidence in me?"

Eddard frowned. "You think the Iron Bank will definitely lend us money? Nothing is absolute; five hundred thousand is a huge sum."

Klar smiled. "The Iron Bank relies on lending money to make a profit. Lord Eddard is the noble Warden of the North of the Seven Kingdoms, and House Stark is the former King in the North. How could the Iron Bank bear to refuse such a high-quality client?"

Eddard felt slightly relieved. "Once this money is in place, it will be used for the expansion of Winter Town, the construction of ships, and the extermination of the Rockborn pirates. Do you think it is enough?"

Klar stroked his chin. "Originally, this money would be more than enough to expand Winter Town and build a small-scale fleet, but now we are going to war with the Rockborn... Lord Eddard, I heard that the last time Winterfell suppressed a Rockborn rebellion, it took three years. Once the war begins, any number of Gold Dragons could be lost in it. If Lord Eddard is willing to borrow another two hundred thousand Gold Dragons, it would be safer."

Eddard said, "Besides the Iron Bank, I have already decided to borrow one hundred thousand Gold Dragons from Lord Wyman of White Harbor. Klar, borrowing money from the Iron Bank has already placed me under huge risk; it is impossible for me to borrow even one more penny from the Iron Bank."

Klar smiled. "Why not borrow money from King Robert in King's Landing? King Robert is also a client of the Iron Bank and owes the Iron Bank a great deal of money."

Eddard said, "You said it yourself, King Robert is riddled with debt. Borrow money from him?"

Klar said, "Borrowing one hundred or eighty thousand Gold Dragons from King Robert is not a problem. I heard that whenever Robert holds a tourney, the expenses reach tens of thousands of Gold Dragons, not to mention the money he spends on whores and feasts. This mindset of Robert's is the right one; anyway, there is no difference between owing one million Gold Dragons and five million—you still can't pay it back. I also heard that Robert promised to help an exiled Prince of the Summer Islands restore his kingdom and launch an expedition to the Summer Islands."

If Robert truly has a plan to launch an expedition to the Summer Islands, Eddard can only call it madness. The Seven Kingdoms cannot even annex the Stepstones at their own doorstep; what would they do by traveling ten thousand nautical miles away to the Summer Islands, where they worship strange gods and the inhabitants have ink-black skin? Jon Arryn would certainly not allow Robert to act so recklessly.

Eddard said, "No matter how much money Robert owes, I will not borrow money from the royal treasury. Klar, you once served the Iron Bank for many years. Let me ask you, how much bargaining power do these Iron Bank envoys have when communicating with clients? Or can they only lend money at the interest rates stipulated by the Iron Bank?"

Klar licked his lips. "Lord Eddard means, can we haggle? Of course we can. When the Iron Bank's envoy arrives at Winterfell, watch how I deal with him."

(End of chapter)