[Chapter Size: 3000 Words.]
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Thrid Person POV
Westeros, 295 AC.
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Jon followed his men outside, with Willas leading them out of the castle, passing once again through a crowd of curious onlookers as they headed out of the gate and towards the camp, which was still being set up, given that the meeting had lasted no more than 2 hours, while a crowd of curious spectators watched them from all sides.
"This is incredible... These giants... I mean, I never imagined I would see this in my life," Willas commented from beside him, he was on horseback with a special saddle, while Jon rode his wolf alongside.
"I used to think the same thing when I met the first ones in the forest near Winterfell..." Jon spoke with a nostalgic memory, Seryna looked at him at that moment, after all, they had met in this place.
"So those stories were true? You really, with 8 namedays, fought against bandits at the small farm?" Willas asked curiously, while both Seryna and Arya looked at Jon, since neither had been there at that time.
"Well... It might not have been as heroic as they said or I almost died in that conflict, but yes, I fought that battle and won by some luck," Jon said, after all, he could have died back then and had more luck than sense.
'Speaking of which... I really want to revisit that farm, see how the people of Icehill are doing, after all, they were the first people who welcomed me into this world...' Jon couldn't help but have a melancholic thought about this.
"I understand... My sister and my brother Loras would love to hear this, after all, they loved your ballad when you arrived in this realm. I must admit I didn't believe it, but seeing you, your group... I can't help but see that I was indeed a fool..." Willas admitted.
"No, don't put it that way, I can understand how hard it sounds that a child could do so many things, but I was never alone, which is what made me succeed in unfavorable situations," Jon spoke calmly, they finally entered the camp.
The people began to greet Jon as soon as he returned with the group, Willas turned to Jon, after all, he would have to return to the castle to talk to his family about the next procedures both for the tournament and for Jon and his trade agreements. "I must apologize for having to leave at this moment," he said, referring to Jon.
"It's alright, I will take over my camp at this moment," Jon spoke and Willas nodded, saying goodbye.
As soon as Willas began to withdraw with some guards, Jon returned to his camp asking Ziller how things were going.
"My king, everything is going as planned. Your tent is ready and you can leave the rest to us while you rest," he said.
"That's good, but I want you to set up the meeting tent, after all, we have to talk about our stay here," Jon ordered and the man nodded, calling the giants. They quickly heard the order and a tent larger than all the others, including the giants' tent which was still larger than Jon's, as he and his wife did not need as much space as men of 4 meters, was erected quickly, 5 minutes later, it was ready for use.
"That's great, now let's first talk," Jon said and all the main members of the camp nodded and went to meet Jon, waiting for him.
The meeting was a way for them to plan their stay, Jon knew he would not have a time of peace for long in foreign lands. He had to keep his men alert and plan for possible exits from some conflicts that might arise. The place was filled by all his royal guards, some giants, dwarves, and Artican soldiers, leaders of platoons within an Artirian as subdivisions.
"As you know..." Jon began, standing beside his wife and sister as usual. "We have some not very pleasant looks from the rest of those regional nobles," Jon said.
"Do we need to be careful with them? We can simply crush them!" Tormund suddenly exclaimed.
"You speak as if that were so easy in these lands, Tormund..." Ziller spoke, already knowing the personality of the northern man.
"Who cares about that? We can simply defeat them, we are stronger," Tormund insisted.
Jon heard this and could already imagine how this guy could be a headache regarding the southerners in the coming days, "Yes, we could do that, Tormund, however, we are here on business. We can't simply start conflicts with all the regional nobles so easily," Jon said, but it's not as if he would forgive any attack on his group and would deal with anyone who tried. However, he also couldn't be aggressive in foreign lands, so he would have to act politically.
Jon said his last words while everyone nodded, before he continued. "I'm not saying that we won't act if that happens. I want you to act and catch everyone who tries something, no matter who they are," Jon made it clear. "However, if there are no attempts on our lives, do not kill, just arrest them, and we will take it to the courts of Highgarden, hoping they resolve it. After all, they were interested in our proposals, so we are not alone here and they will do something." Jon concluded his reasoning.
"Can we break a few noses then?" Arya raised her voice and asked beside Jon, while some laughed around them.
"We'll see," Jon murmured to his sister.
"And can we participate in the tournament?" she spoke again, for the fourth time, asking the same question.
"I don't think that's possible," Jon responded. He had said before that he would have to see if it was really possible, "There are only two categories, the archers' tournament and the Jousts, Jousts are out of the question because they are for knights and we don't have that in Artica." Jon spoke, he could perhaps enter the archery, but he wasn't in the mood to participate in that. "If you want to participate in the next archery event, and if it is allowed, I will not deny anyone." He said finally.
"There are many soldiers around our camp with the Tyrell symbol, what should we do with them?" A royal soldier asked.
"Leave them as they are, after all, it seems that old lady sent them to check if everything was ok," Jon commented, as this could prevent any other noble from approaching the camp with bad intentions, which would give more security.
His wife, beside him, looked at that moment. "That woman was looking at you strangely, as if she wanted to recognize you all the time, and the way she smiled was not normal. She wasn't looking at anyone else at the meeting..." Seryna commented quietly beside Jon.
"I know, it's strange. We'll talk more about this later," Jon said, turning his attention back to his men.
"I also don't like the way that Lord Hightower was looking at you." Arya commented.
Jon put his hand on her shoulder, "We'll talk about this later." Jon wanted to have a more private meeting with them.
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Turning back to everyone, Jon spoke again. "Anyway, let's stay alert. I want all the wargs with the animals we brought, roaming around the camp, or even watching our neighbors. I want to know what they think about us and if they are planning anything," Jon said, looking at the whole group as they nodded their heads. After all, no one there was foolish enough not to recognize the malice in some of the looks they received as they passed by and set up the camp.
"Lord Redwyne was very interested in our armor," One of the ministers spoke. the minister said near the king.
"Yes, it's true. I'm not surprised, after all, no one in these lands has anything beyond a few Valyrian steel swords. That's why Eldenmetal will be quite coveted during our stay, which can also protect us from many attempts to steal, with this metal being exclusively ours, no one else could show it..." Jon reasoned, this was the same with Valyrian steel swords, there were at least nearly 200 throughout Westeros, but no one could steal them due to their exclusivity.
"But there's a chance they might come after your sword, and if they try to do anything to get it..." Someone said, looking at Dark Sister.
"I doubt it, at least not the Tyrells, they might even demand, however, we can settle this in a duel," Jon spoke calmly, after all the nobles of Westeros operated with greed, vengeance or love and Jon could give them a taste of his sword if they tried something.
The meeting continued, Jon was talking about aspects more related to the camp and even concerning the fleet at sea. Setting up some ravens to communicate and even some animals from the fleet at the camp awaiting any orders from him. Having a great advantage in decision-making, being instantaneous, despite the fleet being very far away, they would act quickly in case of conflict.
"Have products ready to be placed at the next parties and as the Tyrells request for the castle and keep an eye on everything that happens. Inform me or any of your commanders as soon as something strange happens," Jon concluded before the last point.
"This tent will also be used as the hall for everyone, to eat. Plus a few more leadership meetings. I hope everyone can enjoy our stay, and remember once again, stay alert to everything," Jon said, ending the meeting as everyone began to withdraw.
"Let's drink!" Tormund couldn't help but exclaim as some dwarves grumbled while leaving the place.
Only Jon, Seryna, Arya, and a few royal guards remained, after all, they were the most trusted people, sworn to give their lives to protect them before their gods.
John sighed. "What do you think, why do you think Lady Olenna looked at me that way? It's strange, isn't it?" John commented, with some things on his mind, but he kept those thoughts to himself.
"Maybe... She could have recognized you as your father from the north, after all, many say that you were a spitting image of him many years ago... Or maybe that woman from the south who you suspect is your wife...?" Seryna commented.
Jon was silent for a while, after all, there was more there than just that. 'She spoke of Arya's father, but when she spoke of mine, it seemed like she was talking about two different people... What did that mean...?' Jon asked himself, though some thoughts inside him already suggested the contrary... But he still didn't want to see it, not at this moment. 'I'll talk to Aemon in Artica...'
He turned his attention back to Arya, leaving that subject for another time, "Lord Hightower is not to be trusted," he finally said. "As you know, we should not trust any maester either. Both you..." Jon continued looking at his sister, "...and Seryna, be careful and do not accept anything suspicious from those men. I don't know what will happen, but for sure, the Tyrells will invite you to tea or something. I will be watching, but I want you both to be very careful," he warned.
Seryna and Arya nodded, while the royal guards hearing this, would also be alert to anyone trying to harm them.
"Another thing, they cleared almost all the animals from the castle from what I could sense. Which means they are not so foolish. Surely they received information about what happened in Dorme. Although I can assume some still live hidden, I doubt I can overhear any important meeting this time. Still, we can prepare and stay alert," Jon again reported the same issue, as he wanted everything to go well.
"Yes, I will stay alert..." Seryna confirmed.
"Our stay will be quite tense, maybe more than in Dorme. But nothing we can't overcome..." Jon said concluding the conversation and continued. "Now let's rest a bit. It will be a long day starting tomorrow. And I want to settle into my tent with my son's hand," Jon said and Seryna nodded, touching her belly also wanting to lie down a bit. After all, she wanted the baby to rest as well. They began to leave the large tent, heading to the main tent, where their accommodation was.
Jon walked to his tent while Arya, who was by his side, said: "I'm going to train a bit." She then went to the dwarves. Jon nodded, letting the girl do her things within the camp.
Entering the place, he surveyed the area with every kind of leisure a king could ask for, especially for his queen expecting their child.
John watched the royal guards stay at the door while his giant wolf lay down in a corner of the tent. A great animal that could serve as protection for him and Seryna. He petted the animal which, although not Ghost, still had a strong bond. He turned to the bed with his wife as they lay down beside it, pampering her belly.
At the castle, Willas was returning to the meeting room after a brief conversation. Olenna looked at Lord Redwyne and Lord Hightower. "Well, you've heard enough, now you may leave us," she said and then turned to her son. "Mace, escort them out with your wife," she instructed, since Mace wasn't crucial for this type of meeting or even capable of participating with his mind wandering, according to his own mother.
Willas entered as soon as they had left, leaving only Olenna, Margaery, Garlan, and Willas. "You finally arrived, my grandson. Now let's talk a bit about our guests," she said. Her gaze returned to everyone. "First, we are in a secluded room, we can't have any animals overhearing our conversations, after all, we've heard that our guest, Lord Artican, is a sorcerer who can listen through these animals, as well as control them," she stated.
"Grandmother, do you really believe that?" Garlan couldn't help but comment. "Oh, my grandson, sometimes the most absurd things are the true ones. We must be cautious, after all, there were hundreds of witnesses who saw such things in Dorme, so we cannot simply ignore them." She remarked, though she didn't seem overly concerned about the absurdity.
Garlan just nodded and Margaery approached. "Grandma, you were looking at Lord Artican with a strange look," she said.
"My dear, there's something very interesting I saw in that face. The boy is so handsome, isn't he? He looks like his father, no, he even surpasses him..." She spoke after observing him closely, despite not having the same eye color, it was still very similar, and his face, she saw some features she hadn't seen in many years and wondered if Doran had also noticed this, but it didn't seem to be the case...
'Knowing something like this... It will put us far ahead of our enemies with a fine card up our sleeve... one day we might use it to our advantage.' She thought calmly. 'A Stark hiding a progeny of the king's greatest enemy... it seems he didn't just leave a knife at his neck, but we can use this in the future if no one else recognizes it, after all, we can coerce the Starks this way...' She continued thinking, imagining what the king's face would look like discovering that his best friend had harbored Rhaegar's son all these years... Olenna chuckled in her mind at this moment.
She snapped out of her thoughts and returned her attention to her grandson. "We have a weapon to remove any obstacles to your ascension as queen, my dear..." She said while Margaery didn't understand what she meant.
"What do you mean by that, grandma?" She couldn't help but ask.
"Let's just say I found something very interesting," she spoke mysteriously. She didn't want to reveal this to her grandchildren, not yet.
"What are the plans?" Willas asked, approaching while tapping his cane on the floor.
"How is the camp of our guest?" She asked him.
"Everything is being set up quickly, those giants are certainly useful..." He said, still with the images of the giants in his head, and continued. "But about the nobles... Some looks are not very favorable towards their camp," Willas commented.
"There are those fools, unfortunately, we'll have that because it's out of our control..." Olenna said, referring to the possible conflicts that might occur.
"And what shall we do? We know how the nobles of this Kingdom are," Garlan commented.
"We'll follow the normal schedule of the camp. We'll invite them to all events," she said. "And not just that, if something happens, we'll have a fair tribunal, after all, we don't want to treat our guests who could make us rich unfairly, I'm concerned about that sword that young king carries..." she said.
"That sword?" Margaery asked, not knowing or noticing the weapon.
"The Dark Sister... lost for many years beyond the Wall... Jon Artica found it... in a way... he might have the sword with the end of the Targaryen house... but it might also attract many eyes to him in this way too..." Garlan commented.
"We'll deal with it as problems arise..." Olenna interrupted them, showing a letter in her hands. "I received this letter yesterday. I didn't mention anything, after all, I wanted to save it for this moment. It seems we'll have important guests soon. Which will make this tournament even more interesting," she said with a faint smile at the letter from King's Landing.
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