101 AC, Braavos
Aegon leaned forward and looked over the contract they'd offered after a few days of deliberation, his eyes sweeping across the page before turning to the next one.
"The terms are fair." Thorello Aenerris, the Sealord of Braavos commented.
Aegon looked up from the contract and leaned back in his chair, his eyes cold and his expression as stony as a rock. His gaze trailed towards the other three keyholders present in the room. He felt their eyes on him as if their gazes were real, tangible touches, prodding and poking with interest but also caution.
"I see." Aegon said calmly, his expression not changing an inch. Aegon stood up, his thin lips stretching in a façade of a smile.
"I thank you for your time, Sealord Aenerris. Keyholders." Aegon with a mild dip of the head and it caused Aenerris to show a flash of surprise, a surprise that he observed was felt by two keyholders.
The third one, Jaqados Pahrelar kept his mild appraising expression.
"It is unfortunate we wasted each other's time" Aegon said and Bartimos, Cedrick and Prince Jalla rose from their own seats as he began to walk towards the doors.
But before he reached the doors, he heard the feet of the chairs scraping and the voice of the Sealord. "You're leaving?"
Aegon continued on until his hand was on the door handle at which point he turned around. "I am." Aegon said calmly as he met the Sealord's eyes.
"I cannot agree to the terms of the contract that you believe to be fair. If that is what you believe to be fair then there is nothing else that we can discuss about." Aegon told the Sealord. The terms of the contract were not fair, not even close.
With what he was proposing to Braavos would enable Braavos to monumentally become a centre of industry all whilst at the same time tanking an important sector of Myr that Aegon expect them to swallow whole the entire industry within five years at the most.
You see, he'd figured out a way to make clear glass after a year and half of experimenting with a few trusted people, like Edwyn, a former acolyte of Elysar and who'd been with him since Elysar had died.
With what he knew – thank you Ravenscroft and English Early Modern History class – and what Edwyn had known about the process, creating rudimentary glass had been simple enough, relatively speaking…it was just getting the clarity and stopping the strange crizzling from taking place that took ninety-five percent of the time.
It was only after extensive experimenting with calcites from limestone found around the Bay of Crabs, red lead mined from the Westerlands no one had any use for and Dragonstone quartz found from the cooled rocks around Dragonmont, that they'd finally managed to find the right ingredients and more importantly the right mixture to get clear(er) glass and hopefully, a mixture that would result in glass that would remain unreactive to anything even if a decade were to pass.
It was not the kind of clarity he'd like but it was close enough.
Aegon glanced at the glass cup that water could barely be seen through along with the pane of glass that placed onto the table, both made through errors and trialling of techniques that honestly was a lot more stumbling than it was purposeful.
It was a game changer – when it came to the matters of the glass industry.
Idly, he mused, a game changer too scientifically speaking but that was probably a couple of centuries away even if he'd figured out more to 'invent' to help things move ahead. The ongoing experimentations of spyglasses fitted with refractive glasses was a good step but he was far away from Germ Theory and the like.
Aegon turned his gaze back to Aenerris and cleared his mind of distant leaps.
Myr was famous for its glassmaking and were, effectively, the only place where glass could be purchased…either by design or through lack of technical knowhow.
…which likely also by design.
They made chandeliers, gemstones made from glass, mirrors, and even fine, almost transparent glass but…even their best clear glass still had bubbles or were clouded.
The Starks' glasshouses were of this kind, he had read, thick panes of glass that heavily relied on the warmth of the hot springs to offset the limited amount of light and warmth that passed through the panes.
His glass…he mused as he resisted to break eye contact and glance at the glass cup.
His glass didn't suffer from that lack of clarity. It was highly refractive and stronger than the glass of similar wall thickness and more importantly, he knew that it would sell greatly. Hearing the glass ring so pleasantly that first time was great, and he could practically hear the gold coins falling.
It would be the signature sound of good quality.
And Braavos had the capabilities to industrialise to a scale that very few cities would be able to achieve and in a strange poetic way, Aegon thought that it was very fitting for the Venetian-like city to make glassmaking its own much like Venice had done.
Of course, that was only poetic and a happenstance.
He came to Braavos with this offer in mind – to give them the method and production rights in exchange for twenty carracks – three with copper hull plating, gold and a forty percent ownership of the glass-making industry using his method.
Demanding half of ownership might have worked at the beginning but if he was right, and he thought he was, a great deal of wealth would be generated that would cause issues down the line. Greed went hand in hand with power and he'd rather limit motives for seeking…alternative means of getting rid of him.
After all…he was still a Dragonlord and they the descendants of those who escaped out Valyria's grasps. Though there hasn't been issues between his family and the Braavosi for over a century, there was still that legacy of history.
And history had its claws that reached beyond generations as long it is remembered.
In any case, the counter offer was insulting given what Braavos would have in their hands. Edwyn suggested that glassmaking in Myr accounting for at least a fourth of their economy.
With this…Braavos would have in their hands the chance to become even more powerful and wealthier which would accompany the chance to leverage and/or the chance to sink Myr's glassmaking industry.
And Aenerris and the keyholders knew this too.
"This is a fair offer. Where else would you go?" Aenerris questioned keenly, his eyes boring into Aegon. Aegon let go of the door handle and turned around fully.
"Perhaps to Volantis?" Pahrelar inquired curiously, drawing Aegon's attentions.
Volantis wouldn't be an option for him and Pahrelar knew that too, from the way his eyes bored into Aegon, from a pure sensible point of view. A weak Volantis was paramount to every other Free City and Aegon had little doubt that Myr would hear of this before any of his ships passed through the Stepstones.
"Or perhaps even Qohor." Pahrelar added.
Qohor was only an option in theory.
Great industry, great skill and certainly possess the ability to keep glassmaking a secret but they were ill-suited if only for the fact that they would not be able to resist the Triarchy's fury let alone the fury of Myr.
Qohor relied on sells-swords and Unsullied to defend their city which was only from other bands of sells-swords in truth. The city sat on the banks of the River Qhoyne and its high walls protected it from the likes of the Dothraki barbarians but against an actually well-provisioned army Myr would undoubtedly call upon?
"No one else would offer this generously." Aenerris said with a shake of the head, as if they were doing him a great favour. Aegon smiled thinly.
"I doubt very much that other Free Cities would not better your offer. I'm quite sure Pentos would not be adverse to welcome a much needed income stream." The lack of change in Aenerris' expression looked forced and Aegon could sense that it was a dangerous point as the tension within the room thickened.
Thus far, Braavos was slowly suffocating sea trade with Pentos and the debt the Free City had with Braavos as a consequence of the war in 86 AC was significant.
That being said, the Pentoshi were not a pushover like Qohor. Their funds were low in comparison to Braavos, Qohor or Myr but they still possessed a standing army, a slave army but an army nonetheless, that almost rivalled Myr in strength.
Pentos could recover with the glassmaking industry, especially if they sought closer ties to Westeros and the other Free Cities excepting the Triarchy and Braavos.
And the Braavosi knew it too and it was not something they would see happen if they had any influence on the matter at all. Fortunately for everyone involved, he had little interest of igniting the shit-show that would come such an agreement.
Aegon continued calmly with quiet certainty. "But I have my principles and so I shall invest the time and effort to grow the business myself in Kings Landing."
Principles that they would understand without him having to say it.
People knew him as a just and honourable and blessed man, The Prince of the Commons as a consequence of his actions on Dragonstone and Kings Landing.
A reputation he'd painstakingly built over the past few years following the mess he'd made with his stupid stubbornness.
Dragonstone saw most of his improvements implemented and the island had grown both in wealth and people though the people were mostly orphans from Kings Landing but also from the purchase of slaves from Lys with the wealth he'd earned with the income of his trade ships and tourney monies.
Thus far, he'd created this façade ably and he had time still – the children were too young yet – and he had trusted competent people, to grow the glassmaking business in Westeros for substantially greater return in investment.
The likes of House Darklyn and House Rosby would leap at the chance of joining up with his family to establish a native glassmaking industry should he or grandfather dangle the opportunity before their eyes.
Whilst his grandfather preferred – a preference Aegon shared for Braavos would take the ire of Myr – not to build the glassmaking industry in Kings Landing and the surrounding cities or towns so as to avoid invoking the ire of the Triarchy that was growing more dangerous as the moons passed, he was growing weary of them and the slights they subjected the realm to with their ever rising tolls.
The negatives of giving more reasons for the Triarchy to stay aligned was, for the moment, greater than the positives of having a native glassmaking industry according to Jaehaerys. True he supposed, after all, taking glassmaking from Myr would be an escalation to a quiet conflict that House Targaryen could do without.
Especially with the House of the Dragon only just recovering its perceived strength and stability in the form of his father and the coming generation.
Throwing much needed peace away needlessly was not wanted nor sought and his grandfather made that clear along with his expectations and what he deemed acceptable regardless of what he wanted.
Aenerris looked at him for a long moment before he exchanging looks with the other keyholders, silently communicating, before he looked back at Aegon and spoke up.
"If you sit, we can discuss a…fairer agreement?" Aenerris gestured to the clerk that had stood as still as the ornaments figurines at the back of the meeting room. The clerk picked up a stack of papers, quill in hand.
Aegon smiled inwardly.
By the time they were done, six days later, Aegon got most of what he wanted, four hundred thousand gold dragons instead of the six hundred thousand but he got the ships and ownership percentages fixed at thirty percent along with at cost supply of glassware with a maximum annual weight limit for his family in Kings Landing.
Three copies of the contract were made…one for his purposes, one to be stored within the Red Keep vaults and another to be kept at the Iron Bank.
A quarter of the share of ownership would be deposited in House Targaryen's account whilst a half would be deposited in Aegon's name and his descendants whilst the last quarter would be delivered to the Royal Vault in Kings Landing.
The gold itself would go with him to Dragonstone when he departed.
The contract itself was worded in such a way that prevented Braavos from setting up other means to circumvent ownership rights, such establishing industries beyond Braavos, and intrinsically tied it to Braavos' own capacity – and those under its sphere of influence – to tax and collect payment from the industry that produced goods with the method or the methods inspired by the method he created.
There were obviously no patent laws in either Westeros or Essos – one of the main damn reasons why assassinations were almost a good business practice – so he had to work hard to get them to agree to this.
Those terms had been his own terms built upon that of his grandfather and it had been the reason why it dragged on for so long. It surprised them and gave air that they were insulted by the insinuations on their honour but Aegon argued that their successors may not be so honourable and he did not want to leave it to chance.
In the end they agreed but not without terms of their own.
For example, there were wordings in the contract prohibiting him or House Targaryen from 'conducting in matters of business that may damage the industry' but he'd confined such wordings to mean only business with regards to the glassmaking industry.
It wasn't the only terms and clauses that Aenerris and the keyholders added in to protect the interests of the Iron Bank, like allowing the Braavosi to buy out his shares in the company, which he didn't mind at all if they activated the clauses to enable them to do it, but all in all, it was a victory that satisfied him.
After all…
Half of the reason why he came to Braavos was to develop a relationship with the Iron Bank that he could build upon in the coming years and it was getting to a good start since he was invited to dine with Aenerris and his family with Bartimos Celtigar, Prince Jalla, an all-but-exiled Summer Islander with claims to Wallano and Cedrick, his squire.
Aenerris had five children, three sons and two daughters though only two sons and one daughter were present, all three children below the age of ten, the others were older and no longer lived with the Sealord at the Palace.
He answered the children's questions, of which there were many – Can I fly with you on the dragon! How does Braavos look from the skies – and did so kindly.
Some time after the dinner had finished, Aenerris asked him to have a drink with him, alone, and he obliged. There was some idle chat, some conversation about Westeros – which the man seemed to be quite interested in, especially the Velaryons – before talking about his own family and his own rise and then the conversation veered to the state of Essos.
Particularly when came the Triarchy, otherwise known as the Kingdom of the Three Whores by some of the more unsavoury lots at court.
The Triarchy had grown bolder in their activities in the Stepstones. Tolls were increased just as slaving activities had increased. Women, girls and boys were taken by the slavers and it was largely the Lysene that were taking them. Johanna Swann, a young girl not even one and ten, had been one of them two years ago and to this day, that was where she remained.
"Yes, the situation with the Triarchy is troublesome." Aenerris said with a frown before he drank of his mulled wine. He spoke again once he'd set the cup down onto the table and looked at Aegon. "Troublesome but not problematic."
Aegon smiled at the Sealord "Of course." Aegon said as he leaned back in his chair, a flicker of curiosity in his eyes. "Not that it has a chance of turning problematic, does it?" Aegon rhetorically posed.
"After all, your ships go by without the additional tolls."
The Triarchy only increased their tolls on Westerosi ships and other non-Free City ships – with the exception of Volantis – which was part of the reason why people thought that the Triarchy were insulting Westeros and urged action.
There would be no action. Not while Jaehaerys was still on the throne. Not unless it became untenable and the irritation became an undeniable slight to the Iron Throne.
Aenerris smiled faintly but said nothing else to his comment.
Even if the relationship between Braavos and the rest of the Free Cities was antagonistic, business wise? The Free Cities would hardly anger Braavos without it being a last resort. Of course, mayhaps that would change soon enough…
Aegon smiled to his silence and understanding passed between them.
"I have to say that surprised that you truly did not approach Pentos with this invention." Aenerris idly stated, changing the subject after a few moments of silence before drinking of his cup. He continued, a spark of intrigue in his eyes "You were right about them. They would have offered better terms than we have."
As if Braavos wouldn't do everything they could to prevent it…just as it was certain that Myr would come to know soon enough that he was the source of the invention.
"Telling me that I made a bad business deal after the contract is signed is poor form" Aegon commented with a raised eyebrow, causing Aenerris to chuckle slightly.
"It is not a bad business deal." Aenerris said with an easy smile. "We are both happy with the deal and such instances can never be considered bad business."
Aegon looked at the man with a weary but amused look. "So said the man who may have offered a golden coated coin to a languished and poor fisherman."
At this, Aenerris laughed a little, his easy smile growing. "I hardly think that is a fair analogy to use." Aegon only gave a faint smile in response.
Aenerris shook his head good-naturedly.
"Besides, a man who purchases slaves only to set them free and grant them livelihoods and roofs over their heads would not found it so easy to get into bed with slavers." Aenerris stated with implied assessment on his nature.
Aegon said nothing for a few moments.
He'd known that the offer he'd been prepared to walk away from had been influenced by his actions. As someone who viewed commoners as more than just resources. As someone who lifted up the standard of living of those under his care.
When it came to business – and politics – taking advantage of someone's nature was as equally a valid, however dishonourable or ugly, strategy as taking advantage of someone's weaknesses.
This was done in his world and it was done here even more so.
But Aegon knew his weaknesses and the weaknesses others perceived him to have.
"That is true." Aegon admitted before he eyed Aenerris carefully "It is not difficult to understand that I would prefer not to enrich slavers if I do not have to." Aegon said as he drank of his cup. He set the cup back on the table and eyed the Sealord.
"But the world is a cruel place, Sealord Aenerris. We both know that ultimately security and safety of our people matter more than personal interest or principles." Aegon stated, his eyes never breaking contact from the Sealord.
"Braavos understands this and knows it better than most."
At this, Aegon noticed Aenerris' lost a little of his smile. For all of Braavos' – and the Iron Bank by extension – pride as a truly free city, it held no difficulty in continuing its deep web of business interests Braavos had with the other Free Cities.
His understanding of the Century of Blood, read from books written from authors across Essos along with the books written by Maesters, was extensive and he'd extrapolated and probably surmised rightly that the Braavosi had 'gamed' the era exceedingly well and now bore the fruits of that chaos.
Trade to Braavos was now the main shipping route in Western Essos and the Iron Bank over the past two hundred years had grown astronomically whilst Volantis' power shrunk incredibly when at the start of the century post Doom the