Jon was waiting in the castle yard. His bride to be, Desmera was set to arrive today. His fingers twitched at his side in the rhythm of an old song which he had long forgotten the words to. Looking around, his house guard was set up in fine lines to his left and right, all in proper posture. Maester Alfred was back in the maester's room, doing paperwork, it was a huge relief on Jon's workload. Soon, he saw his bride riding in on horseback, in front of her, her father, a thin man with a balding head.
Desmera was as beautiful as ever, her dark curls lining her freckled face. Her bust had definitely grown since he had last seen her and her eyes were full of wonder, looking at the city, seemingly cut out of a single block of stone.
Her father, climbed down from his horse and nodded at Jon, "Lord Jotun, a pleasure to meet you"
"The pleasure is all mine, Lord Redwyne"
Desmera came behind her father and courtesied. Jon kissed her hand, "you are just as beautiful as i remember you to be, my lady"
She giggled, a soft and caring sound. He wouldn't mind hearing that laugh more often, "how did you build all this in such a short time?"
"Magic", it was the truth but Desmera obviously saw it as a cheeky non answer. Magic was dead, everyone knew that and yet here it was, a city build in one day, using otherworldly magic. They should call him Jon the builder, he snickered.
"What's so funny?"
"Nothing, just a passing thought. Let me show you two to the guest chambers", he motioned for them to follow him. They walked through the stone hallways, up into the guest chambers. His bride to be looked out of the archways, down into the city and beyond its walls, "this rice you have cultivated… how does it grow in such huge quantities here?"
"This is just the optimal conditions to grow rice, nothing more to it. Have you tried Sake yet?"
"No, but I've heard of it, it's made from Rice, isn't it?", Desmera asked, her gaze still locked on the massive farms of rice outside the city gates.
"Indeed it is. The taste isn't for everyone but the king seems to enjoy it", Jon chuckled.
Paxter Redwyne scoffed, "the Usur- i mean the king will shove anything down his throat with even the slightest bit of alcohol in it"
Jon chose to ignore that comment and simply walk on by, showing the two to their rooms. They were spacious, with silk bed sheets and bronze mirrors on the walls.
"You have quite a bit of land, yet only the area around snow's edge is populated by any significant group of smallfolk, why is that?"
"Well, Snow's edge just so happens to be built above a gold mine. I am still searching for other mines around my land to populate towns with my subjects", it was half true. During his 'hunting' trips, he not only searched for sea dragon eggs but also conjured various types of metals beneath the ground. His plan was to send out teams to 'search for' these deposits but that was still far in the future. He couldn't go around, finding mine after mine of ore, if he did, jealous parties might want a cut of the land. Sea dragon point was a relatively big domain for a lord as young as himself. This needed to happen over years, maybe decades, not months. For now, Snow's edge was plenty.
You might ask, why even develop sea dragon point if his goal was the iron throne? Well quite simply, he aimed to reign Westeros, yes but he wouldn't stay king for hundreds of years. His children would one day inherit his throne, once he was tired of it and then, he needed a residence. The iron throne was the career, Snow's edge was the retirement plan.
"You really think there are more deposits like the one you found under here? Wouldn't someone have found them by now?"
"Well, I found the gold deposit under Snow's edge, so why can't there be more. The lords and ladies never had much interest in sea dragons point, no one searched for them, for they thought it wasn't worth looking for", Jon smiled, spreading his arms, "if you excuse me now, I have preparations to make. My lady, your womanly touch might be needed. So far I have planned-"