[Chapter Size: 3100 Words.]
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Thrid Person POV
Essos, 296 AC.
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It was a month at sea when they finally began to see the 45-meter Titan in the distance.
"So small... I prefer the statue of our king at the entrance of Artica..." Tormund exclaimed on the ship as they approached the continent closer and closer.
"I agree with you..." Arya murmured beside him while looking for Jon talking with the ship's captain.
"Give the order for everyone to stop now, we've come too close and the city must be on alert thinking we're going to attack them..." Jon said as he saw the ships at sea looking quite scared with 500 ships stopping in front of Braavos with Artican flags.
The order was mimicked as the ships began to slow down, even though the Titan of Braavos was at the end of the horizon in front of them. The main ship began to break away along with another 19 ships, following the lead.
"Let's see what we will find in this city..." Jon commented as Ygritte approached him.
"I'll finally have a journey without problems..." She murmured as Arya walked ahead of them demanding her new sword with an arrogant look while Jon raised an eyebrow.
While the 20 ships headed for the city, another 30 ships broke away from the fleet to the south, following Jon's mission to speak with the Martells.
As the group of ships was approaching, many ships in the waters saw them and all, without exception, fled to the city's port as quickly as possible. With news that the Articans were arriving in the city even at the statue that housed some men prepared to defend the city, they quickly went into panic with the sea being filled by all those hundreds of ships while they had stopped in the middle of the water, as some continued towards them.
Quickly, a raven was sent directly to the sea lord of Braavos, who was in his mansion delighting in his food and talking with some bankers about city matters and gossips, the main topic being ironically the movement of the Articans, after all, after the war they disappeared from the sea going beyond the wall, and was discussing ways to try to curb this threat in case they came to attack him or become enemies.
"Can we fight with so many ships, if we fight them?" The banker asked with a cautious tone.
"I don't know... you saw their weapons... can we fight against that...?" The sea lord murmured.
"Maybe we can create an alliance and pay for their weapons... we can offer something big..." One of the bankers spoke.
"Well... that might be..." Before the sea lord could finish his sentence, a man dressed in exotic clothes and bald, reminding Varys from Westeros, entered the place with an urgent face and despite the sea lord being displeased with this, there must have been some explanation with the look of the man.
"Sealord! It's urgent, the Artican fleet is in our waters!!" He spoke with the warning paper from the guards.
"What did you say?!" The Sealord quickly stood up along with the bankers with urgent expressions on their faces.
"Should we close the city... are they going to attack us?" A banker said with a worried tone.
"Let's first see what they want, what are their moves, I hope they are not bringing 200 ships into our port right, we have some advantage at the foot of the statue, only some number can pass." He spoke as they thought they would have some time if they were their enemies.
"Sealord..." The eunuch said with a worried tone as his lord looked at him seeing that he had not finished. "The message doesn't speak of 200 ships..."
The lord of Braavos quickly looked at the paper while reading. "Twice the ships or even triple... from 400 to 600 ships stopped at sea... what madness is this...?!" He couldn't help but murmur a bit scared by that number of ships.
"How is this possible?! Did they have so many ships hidden in the north?!" The bankers couldn't help but look at that alarmed.
"It doesn't matter now, there are at least 20 ships heading for the port, we should see what they want..." Sealord replied while the other bankers were nodding.
"Maybe it's business... you know..." One of the men replied while the owner of that place nodded.
"I'm sure the Iron Bank would love to talk to them if they're here for that, so it's better to prepare a reception for them, I would go to the port personally to receive the Artican... I doubt we could resist their weapons... so it's better to hope they're here to negotiate..." the Sealord ordered.
The bankers quickly headed to the Iron Bank while the Sealord took his best guard and a group of men to the port, and it didn't take long for the news to spread through the city while everyone panicked due to the rumors they all knew about the Articans, and people screamed and ran through the streets.
"Guards!! Don't let this spread! Make sure people don't do anything stupid!!" the Sealord exclaimed from his horse while he rode protected by the city, and the city guards quickly tried to contain the more agitated population as they increased each time they got close to the port.
The real chaos was at the port, while ships loading goods onto their ships quickly picked up the pace as men shouted orders and cursed at each other in every possible language. They hurried and didn't want to be in the middle of the conflict while all eyes fell to the feet of the statue where 20 ships with blue snowflake flags headed for the port.
"They are coming! We need to prepare... grab your weapons!!"
"We should take shelter in the city, forget the goods!!"
Exclamations continued throughout the port as sailors took up swords or any weapon, men locked themselves on ships and others ran to the city, while the line at the entrance had drastically increased.
"Clear the way!! We need to receive the Articans!" the Sealord exclaimed as his guards quickly joined the city patrol to clear a path for them to reach the port.
It was after a while that the Sealord finally arrived at the port looking at the ships while waiting for the arrival of the Articans, meanwhile, another group arrived at the port, wearing clothes of one of the many houses that were at the port and which belonged to Westeros, while they were doing business in the city at this moment.
Everyone was surprised by the arrival of the Articans and more so than the others, after all, there were only a few at the port who were calm while most were in panic, the Westerosis were on a higher level after the Articans devastated their lands.
But this last lord, was dressed of the Manderlys and the commander of this group was none other than Wylis Manderly himself, who had heard about the Articans and followed to the port to see them and understand what their intentions were after more than 2 moons inactive.
His gaze fell on the ships and quickly returned to his men. "Stay alert, prepare for any dispute, I want a group with me, we need to talk to Ned's son!" he spoke as they prepared to try to meet with the approaching ships.
Meanwhile, Jon and his family passed through the legs of the great statue and continued looking at the city with the busy and frightened port in front of them. Braavos was an ancient city with a design different from any city in Westeros, but no less than any Jon had visited, not even Oldtown. Many considered Braavos the most important commercial point of the known world, where all places gathered to exchange goods.
A part of the port was already empty while ships tried to go around them, believing that staying was not a good choice while Jon didn't seem to care.
"You really made quite a bad impression on these southerners... they fear you..." Ygritte couldn't help but murmur, after all, she wasn't in the battles when they returned to Artica, so she was surprised by what she heard.
"It's good they're afraid!" Arya spoke beside her with the same arrogant tone.
The first ships began to dock while the main ship took a place further back finally stopping while thousands of eyes stared at them there. The port had been closed off while a group passed by the guards and by the clothes, Jon quickly recognized him as the Sealord of Braavos.
"It seems we are treated with some respect, lower the plank, let's talk to our possible hosts." Jon advised as the giants moved a huge board, scaring everyone below with those 4-meter men being seen for the first time by everyone.
Jon followed, wearing his eldenmetal armor in black and red colors, with his dragon and wolf emblazoned on the chest. It glimmered slightly in a green hue with the reflection of the sun due to the magical metal. Jon, now of adult age in this world, had an imposing stature, with a muscular body, quite different from when he first wore this armor at 11 namedays, when he visited Winterfell, standing out like a hero from stories.
He was the first to disembark from the ship, descending the plank, while his men followed soon after to act as his guards and ensure his safety. The Sealord, along with his group, approached him looking not with disdain, but with fear and caution. Jon calmly waited for the men to approach, noticing there was much more respect in Braavos than he had seen in Dorne on his first visit.
"Hello, dear visitors," the best-dressed man, who was the Sealord, approached alongside a middle-aged man, who carried a thin sword by his side. Jon noted that he was quick and experienced while keeping a hand on the weapon to use it to protect his lord at any moment, but he did not care about that now, as he addressed the man who spoke to him.
"You must be the Sealord of Braavos. I am Jon Artica, king of the Kingdom Beyond the Wall, Artica," Jon introduced himself calmly.
"It is an honor to receive you here, Jon Artica and Monarch of the kingdom so many of us have heard about..." the Sealord responded cautiously. "We just did not expect your visit, otherwise, our reception would have been much grander." He spoke, despite wishing he had never seen this group in his life, but he had to maintain a due respect because of how dangerous they are.
"You must forgive us for that. We are returning to the sea to negotiate with Essos. Braavos is the first city we have come to on this route. There was no way to send a raven, otherwise, we would have informed you of our arrival," Jon spoke, understanding the man's position.
"I understand," the Sealord said, now with a more pleasant tone. Jon was not as hostile as he had imagined he would be, so he found himself speaking more openly and sincerely with the Artican. "Have you come to negotiate your products?" he asked.
Jon nodded. "Yes. That, and I would like to talk with the Iron Bank about a proposal," Jon said, and the man looked a bit surprised but had something to discuss with Jon before they continued.
"Before that, King Artican... You are aware that our situation is a bit uncertain, right?" The man began. "I do not mean to offend, but the city is in panic with your presence and that of more than 400 ships in the middle of the sea... They are like this because of the attack on Oldtown, the destruction of the Redwyne fleet... and your victory at sea against the royal fleet... your stories are worthy of songs and already circulate through all the cities of Essos... but this also brings fear... You can understand that the situation is not very easy for us, right?" he spoke with a cautious tone waiting for Jon's response.
"I know how you feel, Sealord. We came here with a proposal for peace. Westeros asked us to act that way. If you do not believe in that, it's okay. We will take our ships and leave, parting in peace. As long as you do not try something unforgivable like locking us up and threatening us, we can be friends or even neutral," Jon responded, after all, Artica was just defending itself from aggressions, albeit without mercy when it happened.
The man looked for a while a bit surprised by his response, but soon a small smile formed on his face. He knew very well what happened in Old Town, thanks to the informants that Braavos had in Westeros. It was not hard to know through some that those who provoked the Articans were the maesters of the citadel with the men of faith.
Although he did not fully agree with the decisions of that group, having already prepared troops to attack the city as soon as they docked in the port, they could still understand why they did what they did.
"Do not make a hasty decision, the only thing Braavos wants is good trade partners and for everything to occur in peace, as long as you guarantee peace while no one offends you in Braavos, we are interested in hearing you, King Artica. You spoke of the Iron Bank, why not accompany me to it, where we can discuss important matters?" He spoke, keeping his bow as deep as possible.
"That sounds good, we can talk, yes, Sealord of Braavos," Jon responded with a tone of respect.
"I'm sure that Braavos and Artica can be good trade partners," he said. "After all, the quality of Artican products is no secret to anyone. If we can secure a deal, there will surely be a good profit margin for selling them to the city and to the traders who arrive at the port, which will strengthen the city and its trade." He said.
"Great," Jon nodded as he looked at his men, raising his hand to get the attention of the men on the boat, before speaking to them, "Call everyone, we're going into the city to accompany the Sealord, and the rest will stay at the port to protect the ships, understood?" Jon asked as everyone began to move on the main ship.
Ygritte started to disembark from the ship with Arya at her side and his minister of trade and coin, followed closely by the guards and Giants exiting last. While the Sealord, along with his men, swallowed hard at the sight of those huge creatures armored in eldenmetal, lacking the courage to tell them not to bring those things into the city, giants were intimidating wherever they went.
"Lead the way, Sealord," Jon requested as the man finally snapped out of his daze and moved forward with his men.
"Clear the way for us!" he demanded as the city patrol that kept the curious away from the Artican ships in conversation, quickly moved to the open city entrance, moving the crowd aside to let them pass.
Jon and everyone continued through, while the people let out sighs of relief seeing that there was no conflict, as Jon moved into the city with guards clearing space in the crowd.
The eight heavily armed giants were visible to all, and the ground seemed to tremble with each step they took, following the Artican group with the population quickly backing away and pointing at them quite frightened, seeing a creature that had been a legend until a few years ago.
Jon noticed Lord Manderly, whom he hadn't seen since he had visited Winterfell, trying to talk to them, but being prevented by guards from approaching; Jon ended up ignoring him. He wouldn't talk to Lord Manderly now, maybe later, since he was curious about what had happened in Winterfell after his fiery visit.
"You have a beautiful sword there, young lady," the man who had been by the Sealord's side the entire time, couldn't help but comment looking at Darksister with interest, after all, it was a famous sword that everyone claimed was in Jon Artica's hands, but the Artican king no longer used it and the man searched until he found it on the girl's waist, due to his fascination with the slender weapon, something he liked due to his style with speed.
"You like it... this is my sword, the same used by Visenya Targaryen... I wield it as if it were part of my arm," she spoke with her usual arrogant confidence.
"Hahahaha. I would like to see that..." the man responded, finding it amusing how confidently the child spoke.
"I haven't introduced you to him..." the Sealord interjected while looking at Jon. "This is the man known as the First Sword of Braavos, Syrio Forel," he said. "I am sure his skills would be impressive to you, Lady Stark," the man responded, easily recognizing Arya.
"That sounds interesting, if I beat him, would I become the First Sword of Braavos?" she asked with an excited tone.
"Hahaha. Only if you want to spend your years working here... but you'll have to beat me first, I'll be waiting for that, Lady Arya," Syrio Forel spoke with an amused tone.
Jon remained silent as they continued through the city, crossing bridges in the middle of the city connecting one part with another, while people followed them to continue watching them, until they came upon a large structure in front of them, surrounded by walls and heavily armed men, much more than was found at the port, after all, this place housed millions of kilos of gold.
"It looks like the Senate of Artica," Ygritte murmured next to Jon, as he nodded looking at the place with an ancient and grand appearance.
The gates were opened as soon as they arrived by order of the Sealord, while the guards welcomed the Artican group to pass. Jon finally faced the largest money depot of the known world, the Iron Bank in front of him.
Jon cracked a big smile at this, while the other Articans were with him looking surprised, "Here we'll begin our negotiations," he whispered, as he moved forward.
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