Chapter 12
GALEN
Galen's life had become rather hectic after he had taken up a position in the King's council, and while previously he could turn all his focus on helping the people of the city.
Now, he had to temper that with the rest of his duties. So, despite the Sun having long set, and the streets of the city now lit up by fires, he still sat in his humble little home dealing with the ill who had come seeking his aid.
"Apply this on his wounds," he offered a little paste, as she carried a sleeping babe in her hands.
"Do that for a week," he said, and the woman thanked him profusely, as he pushed himself back up and led her outside, and saw Morro standing there.
"How many more?" he asked, and the dutiful man that he was answered quickly.
"A dozen," and though he tried not to show it, he was truly exhausted.
"Shall I send them away?" Morro asked, seeing through his weariness, but he shook his head.
"No, they must have waited for hours," and so he walked back inside as a woman brought in her old father, with stiff joints and debilitating pains, and the only thing he could offer her was half a remedy.
Massage, and a spice extract. And with that, he moved on to the next, and then the next, and as he was halfway through the last dozen people, someone entered his House as he was palpating the abdomen.
"You are not following your own advice," and he looked to the side, and saw a man standing there with a sack flung over his shoulder. His hair was thick, coarse, and frayed, and he smelled of the sea itself.
"Garlan," he greeted as the man came in, and hugged him.
"I did not know that you were coming back so soon," and Garlan was one of his first patients, and both of them had been boys then. Garlan was no older than himself, a weak little boy who had been abandoned much like himself.
Galen had found him on the outskirts of Old Town, along with three dozen other children, and had tried to help them as Maegelle had done so for him. In the end, he was the only one to survive, and through that, they had forged a bond that lasted to this day.
"Just found ourselves a good wind," he answered as he plopped down on the chair, while he put down the sack, as Galen quickly finished dealing with the patient.
"I hope the voyage was successful," Galen said, and the young man smirked.
"You were right about the Sea Snake, the man knows the seas," and after he had saved him, Garlan had followed him for some time before realising his true calling—the seas.
And it was around that time that the Sea Snake was looking for men and women to man his ships, and so Galen had given him his gold and his blessing as Garlan listed himself as a seaman in the Sea Snake's fleet.
And now, years later, after two successful voyages, Garlan had helped a dozen others like him follow their destinies.
"There are now rumors that the Velaryons might be richer than the Lannisters themselves," and that was an exaggeration, though one could argue that more gold flowed through the Markets of Driftmark than the Lannister lands.
"I have heard that they might even get a new city charter from the Crown," and that would never happen. Spicetown had indeed begun to sprawl, and even without a charter, it was already half a city.
But in the end, to develop it fully, the Vealryons would need a city charter, and the Crown would never grant it to them. Neither now, nor in the future.
"That won't happen," his words silenced the man, as Galen put on a pot with some water and offered him some of the bread and soup that a woman had brought for him.
"Tell me about your voyage," Galen asked as Garlan quickly dug into the food, sighing with relief.
"I have missed this," and in these times most of time, especially near the end of a voyage they had no choice but to rely on thick tasteless jerky and pickles to get them through the days.
"Where are the rest of you?" and while most of the people that he treated had families to return to, many others wanted to begin an entirely new life and heard the calling of the Sea.
After Garlan he had sent many others to him, young boys and girls who had parroted the same dream as him.
"Half of them stopped at Old Town, the rest are with the merchandise we acquired," and that was good.
"What places did you visi..." and Galen himself wanted to join them, and see the world for himself but in the end he did not have the heart to leave the city while thousands relied on him for living.
So, he stayed satiating his own hunger and wanderlust with stories from Garlan and the rest.
"Tell me about the pla..."
"Hey!Forget about me, I just remember that I heard a few people mention that you saved a Princess," and his joy and excitement, all went away in a second at the mention of his recent activities.
"Aye, I did," and Garlan smiled wildly.
"Ohh! Then that means that the rumors about you becoming a part of the King's Council. They are true as well," and Galen nodded again.
"Yes, they are true..." and Garlan was surprised.
"I want to hear about this and don't you dare leave out anything, Galen," Garlan commanded as he raised a brow.
"And how will you know that?"
"I will, I will..."
.
.
.
And so after spending nearly an hour offering Garlan each and every detail about his recent encounter with the Royal family, the older boy shook his head.
"You sure are a lucky bastard," and Galen rolled his eyes, as Garlan yawned.
"Well, that is nature's calling, but before I go I found you something," and with that he reached into the sack and took out what seemed to be a box.
"We found wood carver from Yi-Ti in Pentosh," and immediately his interest was peeked as Garlan smiled and slowly lifted the lid to reveal what seemed to be a simple funnel, but was anything but that.
"I gave him the paper you said, and he was able to carve it out for you just as you wanted," and for many years now, Garlan had hired a dozen or so woodworkers to build this for him, but none had succeeded.
Not until now.
"Try it," Garlan offered as Galen picked it up, and the little funnel had two holes, one larger and one smaller and though Garlan was no healer, he had learned the basics from him and he lay down as Galen put the smaller hole to his chest and leaned down to put his ear over the other hole.
"LUBB...DUBB" "LUBB...DUBB"
"It works," he gasped as Garlan smiled as he heard the sounds of a beating heart.
"That's not all," Garlan whispered before he pointed towards the box once more.
"Look inside," he said, and as he was reeling from that shock, he leaned forward and looked inside the box once more, and his heart nearly stopped as he saw what was inside it.
"It was damn expensive but I found a merchant fool enough to take your order," and inside were nearly a dozen pieces of glass, clear as day lying on red cloth.
"I don't remember what you called it, but that is made out of the clearest glass that can be found in Myr," and it was as if the world wanted him to succeed, for he had been trying for years to get his hands on this, but only now was it happening.
"You have no idea what you have done," Galen whispered as he picked up a lens and put it in front of the candle.
"I just paid a merchant to get me some roundish glass," Garlan whispered as he looked his friend in the eye and shook his head.
"No," he whispered.
"You, my friend, have changed the world..."
0000
JAEHAERYS TARGARYEN
"He promised her what?" he nearly screamed as he heard Alysanne's words, his anger boiling over as she tried to soothe him.
"It was a lie," she assuaged quickly, and that did not bring him any peace as they lay beside one another in their beds.
"Though he offered her his own head first," but to still to give false hope to his daughter. He had not expected this out of that boy.
"Do you truly believe he can achieve it?" he questioned, for if it were anyone else, Jaehaerys would have had their head cut off for spouting hubris.
But Galen, that boy was special.
"He believes so," Alysanne offered, and so Jaehaerys began to think about the repercussions of such a thing. The Maesters had spoken with certainty that Gael could not birth a child, that she had lost her ability to birth a child.
It was a great blow for her and the Royal Family, but if Barth's son could prove them wrong, and turn that impossibility into a possibility—it would change everything.
Gael was a Princess, and so she was rather popular amongst the people. If he were able to give her back this gift, then it would be a direct show of the Crown's trust in this new institute, and with that trust would come the trust of all the lords and ladies of the realm.
And so now, Jaehaerys wondered if the boy had thought so far ahead, or was it simply a ploy from him to force his hand into supporting him.
"The Crown cannot be seen supporting a rival to an institute as important and crucial as the Citadel," Jaehaerys announced as Alysanne gasped.
"Jaehaerys, Gael is our daughter. Even if there is a slight chance that the boy can help her, then we must take it," and he raised his hand, stopping her.
"As a King, I speak for the Crown," he announced, and Alysanne had ruled beside him for years to see through his intentions.
"But as a Queen, I can have a different voice," and so she realised his ploy.
"So, you want me to offer him the backing of the Good Queen," and indeed, for who else but the Good Queen would see the plight of the people of her city and act to assuage it.
"Visenya's Hill has always sat empty and should have enough land to accommodate further expansions later," and a peasant thought in years, a lord in decades, and a King in centuries.
Perhaps, it was the blood of his friend that he trusted or the tales of brilliance from Citadel that compelled his heart, but a part of him expected him to succeed—hoped for him to succeed.
"The Lords are not stupid," Alysanne whispered as she grabbed his hand, and of course, he knew that.
"Yes, but this is a necessity. The Citadel, and though it is Old Town, has a monopoly on all the knowledge of the land. They control the histories and the sciences, and though they may wear those chains and swear all the vows, I learned long ago that men are fickle," for even a man as pious and noble as Barth had fallen a prey to his desires.
"That their words are wind and their oaths brittle," and with that, he had long lost his trust in them.
"Knowledge. Medicine. History. Religion. Each one was a weapon that helps shape dynasties, and right now Old Town controls all four of them," and as the King of the continent, he would wrestle that control away from them.
"It will not be easy," and he knew that.
"Few things worth having ever are..."
0000
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