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Chapter 26 - Blackhaven
🕑 Added 2025-07-06 21:00:52 +0000 UTCStorm Kingdom
Storm’s End
8 BAC
The tourney was concluded, and the lords slowly left Storm’s End to return to their lands, though the lords she had promised glass production facilities did leave rather fast, eager to send artisans and apprentices to learn the secrets of making glass.
Ei too started her own work, preparing a workshop to teach her classes, and purchased the necessary materials and tools, though some she had to make on her own. Her father was supportive of this, since it meant more wealth for the kingdom, though news that the Reach had banned all trade with the Storm Kingdom did annoy him somewhat. Foodstuffs were not an issue anymore, and the orders from Reach had simply been sold to other customers.
Reach would lose more than the Storm Kingdom would.
On more internal matters, Garrin did not dare to approach her personally and was contacting her through Selena and, to a lesser extent, through Argilac to inquire as to what kind of boon she would grant to his territory.
She had not decided on anything specific, but in the interest of keeping things fair, she would improve the economic condition of his territory.
At a further date.
Which she made clear to Garrin directly. “Lord Garrin, you will have your boon; however, I would appreciate it if you cease using your sister and my father to make your queries. I don’t like being pestered.” Garrin nodded his head so hard, she thought he might hurt his neck.
Jocelyn Penrose, her cousin, technically anyway, was a problematic learner. She understood the subjects, but the belief that women should remain in the background had been instilled in her from a very young age. It was taking time to break her free from this mindset, though she was making progress.
Iron Works had drawn enough attention that they had a small delegation from Braavos who were interested in having an Iron Works constructed in the Free City and failed at that, securing a trade agreement that would see Braavos receive priority in the purchase line in return for orders larger than what they usually had.
Naturally, it was the second choice her father had gone for, though with the current workload the Iron Works in Weeping Town and Parchments had, she considered building another one to meet the demand, and Bronzegate was the logical choice since they had the sole iron mine known in the Storm Kingdom.
This time there were enough trained people to manage the construction without her, so she did not have to make the trip and stay there for months but would only go once or twice to inspect the work.
—
Lack of storms in the Storm Kingdom was naturally a very conversation-worthy phenomenon, and Ei received a lot of glances; some were disturbed at the thought that one person could stop the storms at will, while others were more religious in nature, wondering if it was a gift from the Seven or if she was simply deceiving them.
None dared to do anything, and Ei was excellent at ignoring those looks, so it did not affect her work.
Storms may be gone, but rain was necessary for the crops, and Ei drew a chart, periodically allowing rainfall to water the crops and fill in the water sources.
It was impossible for anyone with even a sliver of intelligence to miss the implications, but no one wanted their good fortune to end and did not want to investigate the matter.
A month later, her students for the glass-making class arrived, and the lessons began in earnest. The lords had made sure to send the best artisans they had, and the lessons progressed smoothly. Making glass required a lot of practice, so Ei had made sure to stock up on materials.
Not everyone was happy with the news of the Storm Kingdom’s attempts to produce glass, much less that their princess had been successful.
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Myr was incensed that someone was attempting to produce glass, since they were the best-known traders for finished products of glass, such as their lenses and glass panes, but there was nothing they could do to stop Ei, especially not with Volantis, their overlords, increasing the regional tensions.
Rumors that Volantis wanted to conquer Tyrosh had sent the Free Cities into a frenzy, which had started a race to prepare for war, increasing the prices of iron and steel, along with many other commodities.
Offers had been made by Tyrosh to recruit as many warriors as they could, including from the Seven Kingdoms, in a bid to draw the kings to their side, and had it been a decade ago, Argilac would have taken the offer for the riches it would bring, but now, it was no longer necessary.
Her projects were bringing enough wealth, and now, she was on her way to Blackhaven, lands of House Dondarrion, to start manufacturing the power looms, as well as setting up production facilities to have more of them sent to other lands as necessary.
—
Blackhaven
8 BAC
Lord Darren Dondarrion, lord of Blackhaven, had greeted her at the border of his territory, as the Marches could be treacherous, and he wanted to get on her good side, no doubt.
She did not mind, as it gave them further time for Lord Darren to give a progress report on the roads, which, after allocating all the coin and manpower he could, were close to the finish. Once connected to the road paved by Lord Swann, it would create a path heading straight to Grain Port and then be exported to other kingdoms and the Free Cities.
Her procession was small, and Lord Dondarrion hadn’t brought too many men with him, and so the journey to Blackhaven was not long.
The castle itself was small and modest, with black basalt walls and a dry moat, which was claimed to be bottomless.
Lady Cerys Dondarrion was a plump woman with a bright smile, her two sons and sole daughter arrayed around her to greet Ei at the gates.
It was a warm welcome, and the woman seemed to be more genuine in her actions and demeanor than other ladies she had met, which was a welcome change. A feast was thrown in her honor, with a wide array of desserts decorating the table. Lord Dondarrion, or his wife, had done their research, and Ei did not turn the desserts away.
She missed eating dango.
Lord Dondarrion gave a speech about how grateful he was for the Power Looms and how great Princess Argella and House Durrandon were and told stories about his time with Argilac, particularly all the shenanigans they would get up to as boys, such as the pranks they would pull.
As the feast came close to an end, Lady Dondarrion showed Ei and Jocelyn their quarters and assigned a servant for their needs.
—
Next Day
After having breakfast, or breaking her fast as it was called here, Ei began her work. Visiting the town adjacent to Blackhaven, she met with the carpenters, blacksmiths, and workers Lord Darren had gathered beforehand in line with her instructions and displayed the drawings of her power looms.
It was broken down into parts, with each piece assigned to the relevant artisan to produce. When all parts were ready, they would be assembled close to the river. The current amount of wool produced in Lord Darren's territory wasn’t going to be enough, and Ei looked into growing cotton near Blackhaven or increasing the size of the sheep herds.
She approached Lord Darren, who was reading the reports on the size of the sheep herds. “Lord Darren, have you considered growing cotton in your lands?”
Darren Dondarrion shook his head, handing the papers back to the man who had brought them forward. “No, princess. The storms made that prospect impossible.” He gave Ei a knowing look. “Though now that we are no longer plagued by the storms, I suppose it would be possible to do it, but we don’t have farmers with any experience in growing cotton.”
Ei hummed, considering where to find farmers who could raise cotton, as directly growing crops was not something she had attempted before, excluding the Imperial Garden in Inazuma.
There were no cotton farms in the Storm Kingdom, and they would have to bring in farmers with experience from other kingdoms, which would not be possible since they would either demand something exorbitant in return or wouldn’t allow it at all.
“Very well, let us talk about increasing the sheep pastures and focus on wool.” The prospect of growing cotton could be revised at a further date, but it was best to direct their attention to what they had.
—
As was the case when one tried to do something for the first time, the parts for the power looms did not come out right, with parts not fitting together due to size differences and issues with the material quality, but the workers learned from their mistakes and started again. Looms were much simpler compared to the complexity of ironworks, mostly stemming from their size, and parts were slowly brought together, with wool being shipped and prepped for the looms.
The work continued with Ei supervising daily to correct any mistakes, and she spent the rest of her time exploring the small town and the adjacent villages, escorted by Lord Dondarrion.
The village of Smolbarrow had mulberry trees, and Ei approached to take a handful. The village elder came running upon learning his liege was visiting.
“My lord, you honor us.” The old man attempted to bow, his age and weary body making it before Darren Dondarrion stopped him. “It is fine, old man; the Princess just wants some berries.” The village elder further panicked at hearing this and immediately called someone to bring berries for the princess, and Ei, in the interest of stopping the old man from insisting, simply waited as a young man filled a basket with berries.
“Elder, does your village need anything?”
“You have already done so much for us, princess; we can’t possibly ask for more.”
“You are a citizen of this kingdom, and I am its princess. It is my duty to see to the welfare of my citizens. Now, does your village need anything?” Ei asked once again, this time more insistent. She would not let people be afraid of their liege lords and refrain from making their concerns known, even if they weren’t vital to their everyday life.
The elder still looked conflicted but finally opened his mouth. “Our cattle died last winter; we didn’t have the coin for a new one.”
Which was an easily rectifiable situation. “You will receive new cattle and new barns to ensure they don’t perish again.”
The elder’s words of gratitude finally ended when the young man brought the mulberries. She took a handful of berries, along with a cocoon, which got mixed with the fruits.
The young man panicked and tried to reach for the cocoon, though Ei stopped him, dropping the fruits back into the basket to inspect the purple pod.
Darren knew the women didn’t like having bugs so close, but then again, Princess Argella was an outlier. “Princess, forgive them. These things are common on mulberry trees, but they are harmless.”
Ei was naturally nonplussed and kept checking the pod. “They are harmless but also valuable, extremely so.”
Darren didn’t know what value a bug could have, but the princess was a source of miracles. “What do you mean?”
“This is the cocoon of a silk moth, and as the name suggests,” she shook the small pod between her fingers. “this is what silk is made from.”
“Truly?” Darren, much like many others, did not know the secrets of making silk, though many assumed it was from a plant just like cotton was.
“Indeed. I want you to start planting mulberry trees in a select enclosure, and in a decade or so, Blackhaven might just have a thriving silk industry, half owned by Storm’s End. Keep this a secret, lest others start producing their own silk.” Ei handed the cocoon to Lord Darren, who took it gently as if the slightest use of force might break it.
How fortunate that the cocoons were of her favourite color.
