[Chapter Size: 3200 Words.]
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Pessoa Thrid POV
Westeros, 295 AC.
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Sir Jaime continued riding with his group towards the coast as he saw ships being loaded, some departing.
"There are still ships in the city, let's take them!" Jaime ordered as he spurred his horse into a gallop.
"My lord... we can face them... have you heard about the giants?" One of the men commented fearfully, as the others looked on in fear, they were few against a huge group and none had the courage that Sir Jaime Lannister was showing at that moment.
"Stop being cowardly, we'll just assess the situation, if we can capture Jon Artica, that will be enough, we'll just run to the capital after the capture," Jaime spoke, he wasn't going to pressure Jon Artica immediately, but he wanted to assess the situation and see his options.
They continued until someone appeared out of the trees and stopped in the middle of the road, which made Jaime go from surprised to stunned as soon as he saw who was waiting for him, after all this was his foe.
"So you're after me, Sir Jaime?" Jon commented looking at the group with a smile.
Sir Jaime , like everyone there, immediately stopped and stared at the man, stunned, while he wore an eldenmetal armor, crossed his arms, and waited for them to approach calmly.
"Everyone, get off the horse," Sir Jaime ordered as his men dismounted, while he looked at Jon, placing his hand on his sword.
"..." Jon remained silent, looking at the men with an amused glint.
"You are Jon Artica... We are here under the order of the King of Westeros to arrest you and take you for trial at the capital," Sir Jaime said as the men by his side drew their swords from their scabbards and looked at Jon cautiously.
"Really...? But unfortunately, he is not my king and I do not have to go to a trial, do you think we of Artica are servants of Westeros?" Jon asked with a dangerous tone.
"Then you are arrested, besides, you shouldn't be here alone, what happened to your men?" Jaime taunted, drawing his sword from his waist, believing he would easily win this battle.
"Are you going to kill me... Regicide?" Jon taunted back, maintaining his smile, he would no longer try to dialogue with these people, it's time for Westeros to be put in its place.
"Do you think I cannot, Bastard?" Jaime was offended by that and became equally aggressive.
"Funny to hear that from someone who has 3 bastard children in the capital..." Jon ended up saying, leaving Jaime completely stunned, while the men looked at each other behind Jaime, surprised by the idea that Jaime Lannister has bastard children.
"I don't know what you're talking about?!" Jaime exclaimed with a dark tone looking at Jon with an intent to kill.
"I might be talking nonsense, Sir Jaime... after all, I saw that woman getting cozy even with the king's squire for some favors," Jon continued mocking.
"Lies!!!" Jaime immediately shouted, at the height of his fury.
"You are just a fool, let's start this, but first..." Jon said as he drew his sword, and the men seemed reluctant while Jon stood there showing total confidence in front of those people without a trace of fear despite the numerical disadvantage, anyone would find this highly suspicious.
Jon didn't care and continued. "First let's deal with the other participants." He declared and the men felt a movement to the side, before being struck by kicks from their own horses, each hoof in their chest sent them flying away.
"What?!" Jaime was alarmed to say the least scared, as he watched dozens of men being knocked down by their own horses, even making him look at his own, while he immediately distanced himself from it, but the animal was the only one doing nothing.
"Don't worry... I won't attack you that way, just wanted to make us a bit more alone," Jon said as he watched dozens of men fall to the ground, mostly unconscious, while those who remained awake, were attacked again by the horses until they finally fell.
The sound of people screaming and the thuds of horses trampling their own was heard on that road as Jon calmly looked on and Jaime grew even more frightened.
"You..." He accused Jon while keeping his gaze between him and the horses, which did not seem hostile to him at the moment.
"You... I have some interesting abilities. I liked these horses, so I intend to take them for myself, I hope you don't mind," Jon spoke, maintaining a smile.
"So it's true... you are a sorcerer...!" Jaime accused him, seeing that the stories he hadn't quite believed at the council were indeed real.
"I am a warg, the blood of the first men runs in my veins, Sir Jaime Lannister..." Jon spoke with an arrogant tone and continued, "I've faced the Red Viper, Sir Garlan, and many knights of the Reach in the courtyard of Highgarden, let's see if you also possess the reputation that precedes you, kingslayer." Jon spoke as he drew Darksister.
"..." Jaime no longer had the confidence he had before, since one thing is to face a swordsman, whom he believed he could defeat in Jon with that, but a sorcerer with a bunch of horses that could attack him?
"Come on, lover of the queen of Westeros," Jon taunted, wanting to confront the man, but he seemed no longer confident and wanted to enrage him to have a better will to fight. "Or should I say, one of her lovers?" Jon finished.
"Shut your damn mouth, you bastard!!" Jaime shouted again, gaining fury as he took the initiative, leaving the horses behind and advanced towards Jon.
Jon easily parried the man's sword as he made a horizontal cut on the right side, Jaime had to make an effort surprised by Jon's reaction speed.
His blade clashed against Jon's, as he felt the weight of Jon's strike, taking a few steps back while spinning his sword to counter-attack, until it could not move much before colliding with Jon's blade again.
"You are a great swordsman... But by the standards of Westeros," Jon said as he pushed Jaime to the opposite side, who frowned while visibly losing the fight.
He tried to attack again, while Jon kept his sword parrying his, as they exchanged blows on that road, with no sign of a single soul beyond the horses and men fallen on the ground.
"Why does the king have to fight against these weak people?" a dwarf murmured in the distance, as they watched the fight through a magnifying glass.
"He wants to see how the greatest swordsmen of Westeros fight, and he gave the order not to interfere and not let anyone pass through the roads..." an articano spoke, while they were limiting the road to the port city and there were giants emerging from the other side of the road, blocking the passage of any peasant or merchant passing there.
"Another royal knight... this group is so weak..." an articano man mocked.
Meanwhile, Jon and Jaime continued the fight. Jaime was increasingly frustrated, beginning to exchange his anger for a feeling of helplessness. "What the hell are you!" He yelled as a 15-year-old boy who shouldn't have this speed and strength was toying with him.
"I am just what I should be, regicide, but unfortunately, you will not be able to defeat this king," Jon declared, as he began to get more aggressive, making Sir Jaime retreat step by step, until his blade flew from his hand the next moment, leaving Jaime completely open and Jon simply struck him with the pommel of the sword on his head, making him fall unconscious the next moment.
"Well, I'm done here," Jon spoke and took the body of Sir Jaime with his sword, before placing him lying on one of the horses while Jon mounted the other. "You are free," Jon gave a last order to the remaining horses and they began to run to the forest leaving just a group of men lying unconscious.
"My king," a group of royal guards greeted him as soon as he approached.
"Let's take him with us, prepare all the ships to depart," Jon spoke, after all, he had completed the first batch negotiated with Reach on this day, free to leave from there.
"Yes, the giants are already coming from the other side of the road," he warned and Jon nodded before placing Jaime in a place that would not be seen by the city and they continued going to the port with the complete group.
The city seemed quite busy with the last ships leaving there, while a small group waited for Jon, as they passed through the city and were bid farewell by the local family, Florahart, whom Jon met on the first day he stepped into this kingdom.
Junran Florahart was nervous beside his mother, even though she was pregnant, Jon remembered that this family had tried to speak with him, but had not managed to, as Jon had to pay attention to major negotiators and nobles at the tournament.
It seemed they had received a letter from Lord Florahart to treat them well, not that they weren't already, but the woman's disdainful gleam from the first day was no longer there.
After exchanging just a few words with them, Jon proceeded to the ship along with his family and his new prisoner, while no one had seen him and people would wonder what happened when they heard about a group of knights from the royal port fallen on the road.
The ships began to leave the port, and a few hours later he was in the middle of the fleet, with 150 ships. Jon looked from the prow at the huge group of ships, which had probably been partying in the last weeks waiting for orders.
"Did anyone try to intercept them then?" Jon asked amusingly to one of the captains in charge of the fleet while he was outside.
"Yes, my lord... Ships from Oldtown with maesters, even a Lannister ship..." The man spoke.
"Interesting... we have plans to visit both places again..." Jon spoke with a smile, he had Jaime Lannister, so going west would be quite interesting... However, that would have to wait, after all, he had an interesting thing to do.
"Let's head south... it's time we visited Oldtown," Jon ordered as all his men began to move their fleet towards the south of the Reach.
"Jon! What are you planning, am I participating?" Arya, being a perceptive girl, asked immediately as the ship continued to head south at high speed over the next few days while the men seemed to be preparing for a war.
"I plan to do some things, but you will not participate," Jon spoke with a stern tone.
"But..." She tried to argue.
"Look, Arya... I need someone to stay to take care of Seryna, I trust you to take care of her and my son," Jon said, touching the girl's head.
"... okay..." Arya spoke with a tone of dissatisfaction, but nodded in the end. Jon didn't want to risk Seryna in this, after all, they were going to commit a great act as Westeros, but Jon wanted to do this even if he lost his negotiations, he had done his part, but he had to show that these kingdoms had to fear him too besides him bringing opportunities.
Days passed and ravens began to arrive in the more distant kingdoms, one of which was located in the far north. It was a morning in Winterfell while Lord Stark was eating with his family, he had been waiting in recent days for new messages from the south while he heard last week that Jon and Arya were in the Reach, being received by the Tyrells to negotiate some things he still didn't know, but he was sure that Jon would do the same as what happened with Dorne, his wife was not very pleased with this, even saying that Jon wanted to create ties with southern families to take over Winterfell, as always in recent years or that Arya had become some kind of wildling...
Everything seemed peaceful as he ate with his family, and this was interrupted by Maester Luwin appearing with a worried and cautious face.
"What is it, Maester Luwin...?" Lord Stark looked at the man curiously.
"Ravens, my lord... from the south..." He spoke and Ned quickly understood.
"Let's go to my solar," Lord Stark requested to not talk about it in front of his family, although everyone already knew what it was about.
"I'll go too!" Catelyn quickly exclaimed, she wanted to know about her daughter and would not let this pass.
"..." Ned thought about it for a bit. "Alright... but I don't want to hear you speaking ill of Jon and offending him, otherwise you will leave there and leave us in peace," Ned warned with a stern tone and despite Catelyn clenching her teeth, she nodded.
Their children also looked on with curious eyes, wanting to know about their sister and some about Jon, but remained silent, after all, Ned only spoke things after discussing the events.
They proceeded to his office, where only Lord Stark, Catelyn, and Maester Luwin remained. "Tell me, maester, what are the news?" The man asked.
The maester seemed to take a deep breath under the watchful eyes of his lords looking intently before beginning. He picked up a stack of parchment that had arrived that night. "Here are dozens of parchments sent from the Reach and even from King's Landing, most of them are about marriage proposals..." He said.
"Marriage proposal?" Catelyn seemed surprised.
"Yes... there are many from the Reach, even from the Tyrells themselves for your heir, however, none of them stand out in comparison to the king's proposal, he wants to negotiate for your youngest daughter for his heir..." He spoke cautiously, leaving Ned Stark with wide eyes.
"You're saying the king wants Arya to be the future queen?!" Catelyn shouted alarmed by this, not realizing that her voice quickly passed the walls, being heard by guards and servants passing by.
"Calm down, Cat, let me see this letter..." Ned requested while Maester Luwin took one of the parchments with the royal seal and placed it in the hand of his lord.
"Is this really true, Ned... Is this not some kind of joke?!" Catelyn exclaimed with concern... She didn't know what to feel now, after all, she knew one of her daughters would be queen, but she had prepared Sansa for this, now it was her youngest daughter who was being proposed for this royal marriage, especially a daughter she couldn't raise and impart the teachings of the Seven.
"This..." Ned continued reading with quite a surprise... "Robert really is interested in marrying Arya with his son, he talks about some things Arya did in the Reach and believes she can be the best daughter-in-law." Ned murmured.
"How can this be happening...?" Catelyn murmured, not knowing what to say about this.
"My lady... your daughter is the most sought-after single lady at the moment, most of these letters are proposals for her, various lords from the Reach and Dorne are interested in this engagement." Maester Luwin commented. While Catelyn didn't know whether to feel proud or worried.
"I'm not surprised... Arya has shown herself to be a very intelligent woman, which has led to much admiration and she is learning commerce with Jon, participating in meetings where he negotiates his products..." Ned spoke.
"She should be here, Ned..." Catelyn said with a bit of fury.
"Yes, but you also can't complain, you always said she wouldn't arrange a marriage after going beyond the Wall, now look at her." Lord Stark spoke.
"Let me see that..." She requested one of the letters, the one from the Tyrells as she quickly read the lines and frowned a few times while smiling at some.
"She really has become as beautiful as the letters describe her..." Catelyn couldn't help commenting with a small smile, seeing that her Arya still had hope, but she frowned in the end.
"She participated in a tournament! That is not at all suitable for a lady!" She exclaimed.
"Yes. You might be right, but look at the amount of admiration she received. She hit a target over 100 meters... even Robb can't do that..." Lord Stark spoke with a tone of admiration.
"I won't speak of your son, but I demand that he bring her here!" Catelyn immediately requested afterward.
"I'm trying to get in touch with Jon, I sent some men from the North to deliver a message to Jon..." Lord Stark spoke but knew it would not be successful, after all, Jon might be departing at that moment.
"The king still maintains order after what his ships did... Arya could go to King's Landing!" Catelyn resumed talking to her husband.
"Yes... Jon's ships attacked some from the Vale, even Lord Manderly tried to make contact, but was ignored by the ships as they continued north," Ned spoke, having received a message last week that the ships had passed the Wall and disappeared from the sight of the Night's Watch on the coast.
"Please... Ned. I want my daughter back..." Catelyn said with a frustrated and sad tone, and Ned could understand her, for he too wanted Arya back at home.
"We will have her back... I'm sure of it, Cat..." Ned said, and they continued discussing these marriages for a while until Catelyn left some time later.
Ned continued talking with Maester Luwin about what Jon was doing and his concern with the royal order. "They sent a royal guard... and none other than Jaime Lannister to capture Jon..." Luwin commented.
"This worries me... After all Jon's actions... He will not be captured so easily..." Ned spoke.
"This will only worsen his situation..." Maester Luwin remarked, unaware of how Jon had already captured Tywin's own son as a hostage while sailing with him unconcerned with the consequences.
"I hope Jon does not cause any more trouble..." Ned still worried about Jon and did not want him to become an enemy of the crown... But little did he know that the next news he would hear about Jon would nearly give him a heart attack.
In the following days, the news that Arya would become the future queen spread like wildfire after hearing Catelyn shout in the solar. "This can only be a lie, there's no way anyone would be interested in that horse face..." Jeyne Poole spoke to a very stunned and discouraged Sansa amid the rumors, she could never have imagined that her sister would be queen and not her... and it didn't help with Bran asking every time if Arya would be the queen of Westeros. She would become a queen in the future, but not of Westeros...
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