[Chapter Size: 3200 Words.]
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Pessoa Thrid POV
Westeros, 295 AC.
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The days went by while Oldtown had a common routine day. Fishermen went out to sea from the port, seeking to bring back many fish to sell and sustain their families. The port was filled with ships coming from Lannisport, Starfall, and other places in Dorne, even merchants from the Vale and Essos filled the docks, seeking to sell their goods and buy items to resell in their lands.
Everything seemed normal, but one conversation was quite debatable among the sailors and people in bars and on the docks.
"Have you heard about the rumors?" Someone asked in a nook in a tavern in front of the fishermen's port. The place reeked of fish, but these people were already used to it. This person had just spoken to a man in front of him, who had returned from his days at sea while fishing and had brought a good quantity. He ended up meeting an acquaintance, and they went to this place to drink.
"What... are you going to talk about the northern fleet passing through these waters weeks ago? I heard they are in Highgarden, and the nobility treated them very well," the fisherman said.
"It's not just that..." The opposite man leaned closer to his companion. He looked at his cup before continuing. "Waitress, bring me another cup of alcohol!" He requested as a young woman nodded from the counter, going to the barman to get more drinks.
"For me too!" The second man said, drinking the rest of his cup to have it refilled as well. "Continue," he urged.
"So... some merchants arrived..." He began to speak while the young woman approached to refill their cups. The man waited until she withdrew, but not before slapping her on the butt.
The young woman looked at him surprised and gave a small smile. "Later," the man said, as this woman was the local prostitute.
"You're worthless if your wife catches you doing that again..." the first man remarked.
"Fuck it, just continue," the second man insisted.
"So, some merchants were talking that they found them on the other end of the continent... and saw the ships passing by like a horse passes a mule... they say their ships are so fast and powerful. Moreover, there are rumors that no pirate survived once they decided to attack them... They say they eliminate anything on the sea. Stepstone is on its knees to this fleet; several coastal cities and even cities dominated by pirate groups have ordered no one to attack them unless they want to be among those who disappeared..." he explained.
His friend looked at him for a moment, then took a sip and responded to what he heard. "I didn't see the fleet... but boats that got close... saw and described them as you heard too... but it's kind of exaggerated this story that they eliminate everyone on the sea... One of the maesters approached and talked to the Articans, but they refused to enter the city and went to Highgarden," the man said.
"Tsk. I heard the septons saying they are savages who need to be purified... Do you believe the stories about giants on their ships?" the man asked.
"They are northern savages... of course, they don't follow the Seven, they are heretics... and about the giants... I'll only believe it when I see it... it's too much to believe in such things," he mocked.
This kind of discussion became the talk at Oldtown port, with some claiming they saw the fleet and actually saw giants, while others mocked, not believing much in what they heard.
Some septons were preaching at the port, saying things about the fleet, with most people being scared and believing they were dealing with cruel savages and heretics.
However, people could draw their own conclusions because some ships leaving Oldtown encountered a huge fleet stopped in the middle of the sea at that moment, after some leaving Oak Garden.
Jon watched the ships fleeing in the distance and gave a small smile. He turned back to his men who were looking at him at that moment. "Let's prepare the ships. I want 500 men ready to enter Oldtown. Let's talk first; after all, I don't want to be accused of starting the aggression. Once they give us enough reason, we will act. The city has been without communication in recent days..." Jon said, feeling his birds flying over the entire city, hunting ravens throughout the region, whether they were arriving or leaving, without anyone noticing, while keeping the letters in a safe place.
"Jon..." Seryna approached with the eyes of a woman worried about her husband.
"It will be alright..." Jon said, consoling her, and decided to first visit his prisoner, as he hadn't spoken to him since capturing him.
He walked through the corridors below the ship and followed the path until he found a man in a cell. Jaime Lannister was not in his best condition as he looked at the person approaching, being the only one who hadn't brought food here.
"So, Lannister... I hope you had a good stay these past few days..." Jon began while the man glared at him with some frustration.
"I can't complain about the food..." he murmured, after all, he was receiving excellent food, being Artican.
"Well, I have no intention of letting my prisoner die... after all, you are worth a lot." Jon said, maintaining a smile.
The man looked at him with an even greater gleam of frustration. "What did you do with the horses... are you really a wizard or something..." he murmured.
"Thank you for the compliment, but not exactly, although I can create a bit of magic..." Jon said while a flame was created in his hand, much more powerful than what he used to make to light campfires when he was 8 or 9 namedays old. Although this was totally useless to him, and he no longer used any of it.
"..." Jaime looked at the flame in his hand, illuminating the cell with wide eyes, but remained silent until he started to laugh.
"Hahahahaha. And what do you plan to do with me...?" He seemed to be a man conscious of things he didn't understand and found his situation funny in the end.
Jon extinguished the flames. "You know, Ser Jaime Lannister... I came to Westeros intending to negotiate with you, open businesses, and make both kingdoms prosper..." he began. "But it seems I noticed how rotten you are since leaving Artica. Maybe I thought you would be like the North... But I should have known you would be different given your history... and even though I had already known King's Landing before... I have never seen a council as rotten as the one there." Jon said.
Jaime looked at Jon with confusion, first because he said he had been there before, and second for claiming he knew, but the latter seemed quite understandable after seeing what he did with the horses. "So the wizard spies on us." He mocked.
"Oh yes, I saw some rather eye-catching things, like your children passing for royal children..." Jon mocked.
"..." Jaime seemed speechless at this; what could he do, lie?
"I know they are yours; you are not the only one who sleeps with the queen." Jon mocked.
"Lies!!" Jaime immediately exclaimed, believing it was just to provoke him, so he did not believe those words, his sister would never sleep with another man.
"Anyway... let's get down to business. Westeros has become unviable for negotiation, and even if I lose my deals, I did my part and already got the horses I was looking for, as I didn't even believe I could get a better quality of mount in Essos and now I can produce them easily in Artica. As for the sand, I can negotiate in Essos." Jon said and continued. "Now I need metal, and your father will pay for your ransom." Jon said.
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"That is no problem for him..." Jaime said, staring at Jon's strange eyes. "Did you sell me for being a mage or for skills?" he couldn't help but ask in the end.
"I don't need to control animals to win a sword fight; you can ask that to your colleague in the white cloak, after all, I left him in a very critical state. I doubt he will be the same as before..." Jon said.
"Ser Boros Blount...? well, I didn't see him with Renly, and I didn't have time to ask..." Jaime murmured.
"I will leave that for you to talk with him, I want you to write a letter to your father, and for now." Jon said, taking him out of his cell. "You will be transferred to another ship, I might even let you loose, until delivering you to Lannisport..." Jon said while Jaime was surprised with Jon releasing his chains.
"Do you have confidence that I won't stab you in the back?" Jaime asked, and Jon mocked.
"You are in an advantageous position, Ser Jaime, I don't think you will mess it up..." Jon began. "And I doubt you can do much against the Articans; they might prove you are not as skilled as you suggest. So feel free to challenge them on the ship you will stay on, however." Jaime finally got out of his chains and stood up, but he couldn't react when Jon grabbed him by the neck and lifted him like a rag doll easily.
"If by any small chance... even a very, very small chance, you step out of line..." Jon's voice was no longer calm, and Jaime looked at him with wide eyes while struggling to breathe, trying to free Jon's hand from his neck. "I don't care if you are a Lannister or who your father is... I will kill you and still intend to burn Lannisport. Enough of acting like a merchant in this kingdom. You on the royal council have given me good reasons to start becoming enemies, and believe me, this is a fight you will not win." Jon said before dropping Ser Jaime Lannister to the floor, leaving him gasping for air.
His gaze returned upward where Jon was now waiting with a diplomatic smile, and Jaime couldn't help but tremble in his heart at that. Perhaps he was dealing with a monster, and they had given him a good reason to start showing his fangs.
A moment later, Jon walked onto the ship's deck with Jaime following, "Follow me, Ser Jaime. You will stay on the ship with many dwarves, so I hope you don't mind them singing and drinking a lot." Jon said as a dwarf looked at Ser Jaime, scrutinizing him.
"Very skinny... maybe we can fix that, you might even become a strong man." The dwarf mocked Jaime, who raised an eyebrow, unable to help but remember his brother Tyrion, though this dwarf was much bolder.
Jaime said nothing but turned to Jon. "Where are we...?" Jaime looked at the movement of the ships; some seemed to be leaving, but Jaime still couldn't see the return to Oldtown, so it was understandable.
"You don't exactly need to know... so just enjoy your journey and don't forget the letter, a man will ask for it to put it on a raven prepared to find your father." Jon said, and the royal guard of Westeros could do nothing but begin to follow the dwarf to the other ship across a plank, looking around with curiosity and a more cautious look at the giants he passed while they stared back at him.
Jon returned to his cabin, where he began to prepare, donning his armor to get ready to go to the city, and went out to bid farewell to his sister and wife.
"Let's go." Jon said, leaving the official ship and heading to one of the ten that would depart. There were 500 Articans there, including 12 giants and 100 dwarves, with the rest being soldiers, ready to face anything in that city.
The ships then approached the coast as the city began to appear on the horizon, with its lighthouse illuminating slightly due to it being midday, while their ships announced their presence to the rest of the sea. The ships that had already seen the fleet before should have heard about their presence on the high seas, and seeing some of them coming to the city made the port even more agitated.
"Look!!" Someone pointed from the port.
"It's them!! They really came to the city!!" Another fisherman said.
"I'm not staying here!" A merchant immediately gave the order, fearing that group after all the rumors, while his ship's sailors began to prepare the ship.
"Will we see giants?!" Other people seemed quite excited about it.
"Yes, now we can see if they are really real!!" Another said.
"The heretics are coming!!! We must purify them!!" A septon at the port began to shout while some Faith militants nodded.
The city was not left behind, as people screamed, running through the streets. "The Articans are coming! The Articans are coming!!" People exclaimed as the city seemed to go on alert, closing their shops and barricading their houses, as if something big was about to happen in this city. After all, they knew that most there would be hostile to them.
Meanwhile, in the castle connected to the great lighthouse, Lord Hightower's brother looked surprised when his soldiers announced the sighting of Artican ships at sea. He could already hear the agitated city as he walked to the window and saw the ten ships approaching the port.
"So my brother managed to convince them to come here as he reported... but why didn't he send any ravens or respond to my messages asking for advice? After all, I am taking care of his city while he is having fun at the Tyrells' tournament..." The man was a bit confused, but he looked at his men.
"Let's send a messenger to receive them and prepare to close the city." He spoke immediately, as his objective was to take Jon Artica hostage. Even without knowing what had happened in the Vale, they already had their own plan, while Jon could hear everything with a bird hidden near the window.
Elsewhere, the same agitation was happening in the Citadel. "Finally!! They are here... we must bring him here immediately so he can't call for help," the grand maesters commented.
Meanwhile, one grand maester among them frowned, not liking any of this. 'I must help him somehow!' the maester thought internally. He seemed to be someone who did not see Jon and Artica with the same eyes as his colleagues.
"Call the High Septon as well, let's put pressure on them as lords who control this entire realm!" a grand maester said, and the others nodded, as they began to prepare to ambush the Artican king, believing they had total power over them.
"But this is strange... we haven't seen any ravens in the past few days... and we haven't received any ravens from Highgarden in the last week," one of the men said.
"That doesn't matter now, we have our chance to act here." He spoke while everyone prepared.
Jon looked at the city approaching closer... "Well, they surely must be expecting us... so let's level the playing field..." Jon said, raising his hand towards the forest and letting his power flow like never before.
In the city, as everything seemed agitated, dogs, cats, snakes, and all kinds of animals seemed to lift their eyes at that moment. As if they were being called for something, but they did not move, they just seemed to nod to a force controlling them at that moment, while Jon's birds continued circling the city without arousing suspicion of anything very strange happening there.
The ships finally arrived at the port, and many merchants began to leave it at the same time, fearing the Artican ships. The Articans started taking over the docks, with a large crowd of curious onlookers, something common in the cities where Jon passed since leaving Artica. Everyone saw only ten ships finally preparing with the terrifying sight of giants in closed armor, with men and dwarves equally armed, disembarking from the ships and preparing for their stay in the city.
"Artican King!" Jon disembarked from his ship under everyone's gaze as a man in armor with the Hightower symbol approached with respect, despite the disdain in his eyes. "My lord, brother of the head of House Hightower, invites you to his home," the man said, but before anyone could respond, a new man appeared.
"Sorry, but Lord Hightower will have to wait, as the Citadel is aware of your interest in buying books from the library, and our council is available to negotiate at this moment." A maester approached and interrupted.
"But Lord..." The man still tried to obey his lord.
Jon saw how they had not planned anything together and laughed internally before speaking. "Sorry, but I believe that negotiating with the Citadel is more important..." Jon said while the maester smiled at this, and the man looked a bit upset but nodded.
"Come, Artican King, I am sure you will be very satisfied with our negotiations," the man said while Jon smiled at him.
"I am sure of it..." Jon said, smiling and looking at the man who had great malice against him, but they would see who would laugh in the end.
The group began to move, with most of the soldiers following Jon alongside the giants, intimidating the entire crowd. Some stayed at the port to guard the ships, including giants, all prepared for the conflict that could arise there. Everyone wore false smiles, whether it was Jon or the maesters; each was plotting against the other.
The walk to the Citadel was an opportunity for Jon to see how this city stood compared to what he had witnessed in his green vision. Despite little change, some even tried to curse him, calling him a heretic, but as soon as the first one shouted, the giant grabbed him, scaring everyone.
"What is this?" The maester was a bit frightened, seeing the man being lifted by the giant's hands and suspended in the air.
"Do you want to negotiate? If that's the case, I'm leaving," Jon said to see what the maester would do.
"I apologize for this, Artican King..." He said in an apologetic tone and looked at the man. "Soldiers, take this man and flog him with 50 lashes!" The maester ordered as the man was taken away, screaming after being dropped by one of the giants.
"We are almost there!" The maester said after a while, walking further through the city, with a cautious look at the giant after what he had seen. Jon looked at the Citadel ahead with satisfaction, as his plan was to plunder this place and start building the largest library in the world in Artica.
Meanwhile, Artican ships had already disembarked on the northern coast while no one noticed, as they had done so the previous night, taking advantage of the darkness. After all, Jon would not miss having his own element of surprise once the chaos began.
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