[Chapter Size: 3100 Words.]
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Thrid Person POV
Westeros, 295 AC.
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"My king, we are all ready to approach Oak Garden," said the ship's captain as he approached Jon. The Artican king was standing at the edge of the main ship as always, his eyes fixed on the route towards the continent. Jon turned to him calmly and replied, "I understand. Tell everyone to start heading to the continent. Oak Garden is a small town, and it wouldn't be wise to send many ships. Just 10, but prepare them well, because after all, we will be traveling to Raí Garden as soon as we receive confirmation from the Tyrells and we need a certain force on land." Jon spoke calmly, as the man nodded, preparing to give the order to the other ships.
Jon sighed as he kept his gaze on the horizon, with his birds, Phaenix and Bleufire, arriving in the town. He had a view of them circling the place, it wasn't a large town; there should be at least about 20,000 inhabitants and it was ruled by a small noble vassal of the Tyrells. This was the reason he was sending few ships, but with a powerful guard with a good number of giants. It would be the best option.
His wife approached him at this moment. She wore a black dress that matched her hair, and her blue eyes shone prominently. Jon felt her get closer as he took her by the waist.
"My love," she began, as she looked at him intently with her blue eyes, contrasting with Jon's green and grey eyes.
"Seryna. I want you to avoid any master who tries to approach you. If someone tries to do that, let me know. Don't let anyone get close and don't consume anything that isn't prepared by our men. These guys are plotting something and I don't like it at all." Jon spoke despite this, he still had to open his trade with the nobles and buy resources that only the Reach could provide him. Jon had spoken with a bit of anger, after all, all their actions made him distrust them, and it seemed they had malevolent intentions.
"Okay, Jon. I will do as my husband wishes," she said, sealing their lips.
They stood at the prow of the ship alone, while their men did the rest of the work, the ships began to move as the men became agitated in 10 ships from the entire fleet, moving sails, tying ropes as they began to detach from the rest of the ships. There were 9 carracks and one galley leaving the fleet.
The ships began to travel towards the continent at high speed. Meanwhile, in the town, everything seemed peaceful. The Tyrells had already sent messages to all the coastal towns about the unknown flag appearing on the high seas.
There was no merchant boat that returned after encountering them at sea, of course in all the ports where the ships found the Artican fleet, a message of the flag's passage with the 150 ships was sent to the Tyrells in Highgarden, but there was still a time loop until the raven could approach.
This city belonged to House Florahart (OC), a small vassal, but with some money, like all the houses of the Reach, since this kingdom revolved its economy through its vast green lands, providing food for all of Westeros, there were the Riverlands that also produced food, but the Reach was stronger in this aspect.
Jon knew how rich this kingdom was, perhaps only losing to the West with its gold mountains, the church was also very influential here, more so than any other kingdom, they had much larger lands for planting than Artica, but that didn't mean they could produce the same amount as Artica, after all, Jon had made his lands so fertile that they hardly needed methods of agriculture, yet there were still all the most modern methods to have a better food production and his fields didn't need to worry about pests and problems during the harvests, very different from the lands of the south, Jon was confident that Artica could produce so much food that its fruits, vegetables, and greens would soon be sold, maybe starting to negotiate this when going to Essos.
"The place is so green..." Seryna commented, looking towards the continent appearing on the horizon, with the hills full of grass, making the small town they were heading to look like an ant.
"It's true... The Reach stands out among all the kingdoms, we will see much more vegetation than any other place here." Jon said, he had to admit it was even greener than Artica, but that was understandable given its size.
"At least we won't see just sand anymore..." Seryna said with a small smile, "But there's still heat here, not like Dorne, but it's warm..." She admitted.
"Another reason for them to buy our ice." Jon said with a smile.
"You've really turned into a merchant, haven't you?" She looked at him with an amused smile.
It didn't take long for the fishermen and people at the port to begin spotting the group of ships approaching. Seeing those vessels, they became cautious, as no sailor recognized the ships approaching the port.
An order was given to the soldiers to convey the information to the Florahart family, or at least some members of the family who were still present in the city, which was Lord Florahart's wife who stayed due to her pregnancy of a few months and her third son, who didn't seem to like the tournament much and chose to stay with his mother. The rest of the family was at Highgarden at the tournament held by the Tyrells, gathering almost all the nobles of the kingdom for a competition among them.
At this moment, the city quickly became bustling, and an older woman frowned as she heard the news of the ships with the flag approaching, knowing her husband had already warned about them and they should notify their lord as soon as possible.
"Send a letter to the Tyrells about their arrival!" She immediately asked her Maester, who nodded and left the place, as she spoke with her present son.
As the ships neared the port, a crowd began to form with curious looks, the third son of House Florahart had to intervene with his soldiers to welcome these strange and giant ships while his mother was bedridden and to welcome the visitors, due to the order of the Tyrells.
The first ships approached the port as they began to slow down to dock, the young Florahart swallowed hard with his soldiers when they saw a giant pulling the sails on the deck, even though the ship was tall, the man was so large that they could see him, wondering if what he was seeing was real.
The Tyrells were aware of the giants, as were the Citadel and many great houses of the region with good spies working for them, but this could not be said for the common folk and for most of the houses, being medium and small in size.
"What in the world is this?!" A soldier couldn't help but exclaim at the side.
"How can there be a man of that size?!" Another said.
"Calm down... Let's first see their real intentions!" The noble Florahart tried to maintain calm, they as a small noble had few soldiers, he didn't know what would happen if they had to fight against that monster and there were more ships according to the Tyrells' letter at sea.
The ships began to dock smoothly at the port, filling it with all the still available places with the Artican ships, taking up to two places of the common ships. As the port was filled with curious and cautious looks with the Artican men working to secure the ships, Jon had gone to his cabin, his wife remained in the same dress, while Jon changed his casual clothes for something he had designed in his kingdom.
When Jon came out of the room, he found Arya waiting for him while wearing a gray dress, she looked at him with eagle eyes.
"Jon, are you going to wear that?" She asked, looking at him trying to understand the strange clothes he was wearing.
"Yes," Jon replied, while adjusting his clothes. "Do you like it?" He asked with a smile.
"I've never seen anyone wear something like this, it's strange. Are you sure you're going to wear that?" She asked.
"Yes, after all, it's a very important negotiation, so I'm wearing this special outfit." He spoke as Seryna walked out beside him.
Jon, wearing an outfit he designed in his kingdom, aiming to invent a new fashion, created something that reflected elegance, wealth, and power. Thus, he constructed an outfit that included a white shirt worn under a dark suit jacket, matching trousers of the same color on top; he called this ensemble, traditional tuxedo, which exudes an aura of distinction and authority. Besides the outfit, he wore shoes, and a tie around his neck, leaving Arya and Seryna confused by this type of clothing, after all, all the nobles of Westeros wear expensive dresses, not that the fabric of Jon's clothes was bad, quite the opposite, this outfit had the best quality that Artica could produce using ice spiders and dyes extracted from certain trees.
"How can you wear this? It looks so strange..." Arya couldn't help but comment again.
"It suits me well, now let's go to the port, we have to meet our hosts before contacting the Tyrells and asking for permission for a meeting." Jon spoke, and Seryna approached, taking his arm, as they began to walk out.
They started to leave the inside of the ship while their men waited for them, "I'm going this time, I want to see the land of the kneelers." Tormund was among the soldiers, wanting to take part in this negotiation.
"You can go, as long as you don't do anything that might compromise us." Jon said, nodding.
"I'll just drink and hit some southerners, there's a tournament of theirs happening, isn't there?" Tormund declared as many people nearby just smiled at the outrageous big man.
"Anyway, let's go. Lower the bow." Jon ordered as the plank was placed on the port, and he exited with his wife and brother while their royal guards protected them.
On the spot, he could see the young man staring at him with a cautious look while surrounded by some soldiers, poor in comparison to the armor that the Artican men were wearing.
He approached, without letting any giants out yet, after all, it was easier to deal with in case there was a battle, and Jon didn't want to scare the young man who was already as he came out with some soldiers.
"Hello. I'm Jon Artica. King of Artica." Jon took the initiative to speak on his own, as the man still seemed paralyzed by him.
"Hm? I am Junran Florahart" The boy stuttered a bit, he was a bit younger than Jon, so the Artican king didn't blame him.
A silence took over the atmosphere as the young man who should have asked about Jon's intentions and what he was doing here, remained silent, Seryna looked at Jon, while he sighed, as the guards on the opposite side looked at their young lord expecting him to speak.
"I'm here for business... I would like to get in touch with the Tyrells, asking for permission to go to Highgarden with my men." Jon took the initiative, while the boy was still processing the part about Jon claiming to be a king.
"Yes. I can take you to my mother, who will be able to help you with that." He said nervously, glancing at the ships full of Artican men and possibly more giants than he had ever seen.
Seeing this, Jon tried to calm him down. "You don't need to worry about my men, they will not leave the ship, and I will speak to your mother just with my 10 guards present, my wife, and brother," Jon said as the boy nodded in the end, not wanting to deal with it and hoping his mother could resolve this.
"Alright, let's go." He said, stuttering, while the whole town looked at the ships from a distance, commenting on the contrast of the armor that the Articans wore in relation to what the Florahart soldiers wore.
Jon nodded and began to follow the man and his soldiers as they walked through the city on foot, the place wasn't large so reaching the mansion in the city didn't take much more than 10 minutes walking under everyone's gaze.
The boy, who should have taken this chance to get to know his guest better, remained silent, seeming not to want to be there, but forced by the absence of his father and older brother.
They continued walking in silence which was broken by Arya, asking questions alongside Jon about the kingdom.
"Sansa always said she wanted to visit the Reach and kept saying the prince would take her here one day, do you believe that?" Arya asked.
"I don't know, and we should be careful with our words, Arya, some people might take them as an insult." Jon said, not wanting to start a misunderstanding over a supposed marriage of Sansa with that boy he saw in King's Landing, which was widely talked about in Winterfell.
"Still, look, I'm getting to see more places than she is!" Arya exclaimed, seeing she might be better than her sister in something.
Understanding this, Jon couldn't help but comment; "You're better than her at everything, Arya. Still, she's your sister too." Jon said.
"She's yours too." She accused, and Jon shrugged. He hadn't felt anything for Sansa in a long time, even in Winterfell on his last visit, there was a distance between them, and Jon simply had feelings for her like any other now.
They finally arrived at the place, where there was a large house, with guards opening the gate, and Jon and his group entering.
"I'll see how my mother is doing because of her pregnancy and will ask for you to be allowed in where she can receive you." He said timidly, entering the place after Jon nodded and stayed in the courtyard waiting while the guards watched them cautiously.
It was only after a while that the boy returned with the same tone of nervousness and addressed Jon. "You can come in, my mother will receive you." He said, and Jon nodded, going with his wife and sister with 2 guards inside the house, while the boy guided them to a room on the second floor.
Upon arriving, he met a woman sitting on the sofa, holding her pregnant belly, with a man who seemed to be the master-at-arms of the place, and a middle-aged maester wearing clothes and chains with 2 links, beside her.
"You must be the Lord of Artica, sorry, but I can't call you king." She spoke calmly, waiting for her son to sit beside her.
Jon stared at her for a few seconds before nodding. "There's no offense in that, after all, we're not in Artica. Miss Florahart." Jon commented softly.
She nodded, "So you want to get in touch with the Tyrells, I sent a raven to them as soon as we spotted you, but we can send another explaining your intentions, however, I cannot allow you to enter the Reach without the consent of my sovereign lord." She said.
"That won't be a problem, we can wait a few days for his response while we remain on our ships, we've been at sea for 2 moons, a few days won't be anything." Jon spoke.
"That's good, my husband is at the tournament I couldn't attend due to my condition, so I apologize for the meeting." She spoke in a quite respectful tone, and Jon nodded.
"No offense was taken, my lady. We'll wait for the Tyrells' response." Jon said, noticing her large belly, which wouldn't take more than a moon to give birth to that child.
"Thank you, I see your wife is also expecting a child, I hope her condition is better than mine at this stage, after all, I can't even move." She said after making an effort while getting to the place where she could receive them.
"I hope so." It wasn't Jon who responded, but Seryna touching her belly.
"Anyway, let's return to our ships, we await the response until then. Thank you for your hospitality." Jon said as the woman nodded gratefully.
They began to leave the place, with the youngest son leading them out and back to the ships.
"What was that...? It was so quick and we didn't do much here." Arya said dissatisfied.
"Yes, in the end, this could have been handled by a messenger." Jon admitted. "But that would be an offense, we must meet with the authorities of the cities we enter, even for a useless conversation, that's noble etiquette." Jon spoke calmly, after all, he got dressed and prepared his men for a 10-minute conversation and returned to the ship, but this was the right thing to do.
"At least she was kind, right? I was expecting something like what happened in Dorne." She murmured, and Jon just smiled.
"Don't be mistaken, the woman clearly despised us, but was polite due to fear of retaliation from us, after all, we could easily destroy the town." Jon spoke, knowing the woman was just wearing a mask when receiving them.
It wasn't a surprise to Jon either, since they must be known as wildlings beyond the Wall and who serve different gods from the Seven, it was common
for people of this kingdom to look at them with this type of behavior.
"Remember, Arya, people are very deceitful, and some are very skilled at hiding their real emotions, you will learn this very well before we leave this kingdom, this will be your learning here." Jon said as his sister nodded silently, still thinking about the woman and how she hid her emotions as her brother said.
They returned to the ships and resumed their usual activities, waiting for the raven that was going to Highgarden behind the first, at this moment.
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