[Chapter Size: 4100 Words.]
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Thrid Person POV
Essos, 296 AC.
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Myr was finally seen on the continental line as the ships quickly approached. Unsurprisingly, the city was already aware of their presence. With only 30 ships from the hundreds of the fleet, by default, they were approaching the port.
The ship didn't take long to dock at the port after seeing an open spot for them to place their ships. When the ramp was placed, Jon looked at his men, all preparing to disembark, and shortly after, his gaze turned to Arya, who was approaching.
"This is good, you will come with me this time, alright? Afterward, you can visit the city," Jon said, as Arya nodded, since she hadn't participated in any negotiations the last two times and didn't want to postpone it for herself anymore.
"And I will stay on the ship... I'm not in the mood for business," Ygritte said with boredom, and Jon nodded.
His final look was toward Daenerys, the girl who was wearing a white dress due to the sun of Essos, as black clothes absorb more heat. She was also approaching with some of the royal guards who would stay with her that day, while she admired the city, finally showing her own desires — something she had started to demonstrate more in the past few days. As they continued traveling, Daenerys began to express herself more and feel more at ease, and Jon was pleased with that.
"Well, I hope you can enjoy the city. Myr is known for glassmaking and its highly demanded fabrics, even in Westeros. I hope you enjoy it well and don't hesitate to express your wishes to the Artican men and women who will accompany you. After all, these guards will protect you and do their best for anything within their reach. Understood?" Jon approached her and spoke.
"All right, thank you, nephew." The girl nodded timidly, excited to see another different city.
"Great, now let's begin." Jon said, starting to disembark from the ship with his minister and guards, while a group, which included the main people of the city, being the Magistrates of Myr, came to greet him with great respect.
"King of Ártica, it's good to finally see you. Myr is welcoming you, which is an honor for all of us." A fat man, full of jewels, approached, while other equally fat men came behind.
"These people like to eat…" Arya murmured quietly beside Jon, as she looked at all those fat men. There was only one young man, with a rather arrogant look among them. He seemed like a teenager a bit older than Jon, but Jon didn't understand why he was there, among those older and more influential men. However, he didn't care.
"Well, my lords, you must already know very well why we are here," Jon began in a loud tone. "We are here for business, and I want to know if Myr would like to negotiate and open a connection with our Artican trade company," he said.
The first man quickly opened an excited smile. "Of course, King of Ártica! We have been expecting your visit since we heard good things from Braavos and Pentos. Despite your conflict with Westeros, you don't seem as aggressive as you were on that continent, and we understand the reason for your fight against the people of the Seven Kingdoms," the man said categorically.
"Well, Essos hasn't given me reasons to make enemies, as long as we are treated with respect. There's no reason for conflict," Jon commented with a friendly smile.
"But that is great, King of Ártica. Please, let's head to my house if that's all right with you. You can bring your guards, and we'll begin negotiating," the man said.
Jon didn't sense any malice from him and nodded, but he couldn't help but notice that young man, who didn't even seem to see him as the other Magistrates did. His gaze fell toward the ship, staring intently at the scene of Daenerys disembarking at that moment. But Jon didn't care about that, after all, Daenerys was much better than before. Besides her injuries now healed, she dressed well and had made some details in her hair, which she had learned from some Artican women.
Putting that aside, while he followed the men with his guard, accompanied by his minister and sister wearing a formal dress with her hair tied up, that teenager had finally taken his eyes off Daenerys and followed the Magisters with his guards, not even looking at the Artican group like the other Magisters. It seemed like he was part of them, for some reason. Thus, they followed to a luxurious mansion within the city walls, while the people received the Artica group as they did anywhere else, watching with awe and fear, with the giants being the main attraction.
As soon as they entered the mansion, they were escorted straight to a spacious room, and as usual, the meeting began with kindness, praising and flattering Jon Artica regarding his business in Braavos and even in Pentos. Despite Braavos being more surprising, with Jon becoming one of the 12 existing shareholders of the Iron Bank, they now saw him in a different light. After all, he was now on the Iron Bank council, being one of the 13 in total. Like it or not, he could now influence the loans and interest rates of the Iron Bank, and he was no longer just a great merchant with his products. Jon had more economic influence in Essos than it appeared.
Then it began. The entire negotiation was conducted in the distorted Valyrian of Myr, the official language of this massive city. Like all Free Cities, it had its own version, though Jon and the other Articans were not fluent in these variations beyond original Valyrian, they could still communicate, and there was also an interpreter to translate any conflicts.
The meeting started with a somewhat delicate issue for Myr, as the city had its own business known throughout Essos and Westeros. "We know that you also sell many products similar to ours, which is generating competition against us. But we accept this, having nothing else to do," the Magister admitted, while others also commented.
"However, aside from your fabric, we are interested in all other products," they said.
"Well, gentlemen, then let's begin." Jon said, and the products were brought by the guards, and the negotiation proceeded. Basically, they stated the prices and made the contract clear, while Jon was accompanied by Arya.
Arya was smart, and by this point, she was commenting on a few things, mainly speaking in other languages that their competitors and negotiators couldn't understand, while she tried to offer suggestions on how he should counter their strategies to win, something Jon had requested earlier to gauge her knowledge. Jon nodded, seeing that the experience she had gained in Westeros was beginning to stand out with the men trying to take as much advantage as possible from the Articans.
"Hey, that idiot keeps staring at me the whole time. Can I hit him with an arrow or Darksister?" Arya muttered in the Eastern language, as she noticed that boy constantly looking at her, trying to seduce her. Not that this hadn't happened to Arya before, but this teenager was much worse than any she had ever encountered.
Jon sighed, seeing that the guy thought he could conquer any woman, as if he lived a life surrounded by luxury. "If he tries to talk to you, punch him and make sure you break his teeth," he responded in the same language, before returning to the negotiation with his men. This reminded him of the arrogant nobles from Westeros before they saw his power.
In the end, they merely adjusted the prices to reach a better deal, while Jon distributed a large number of products this time, as he always did on all his trips, for a party in the evening to present them to a larger group, attracting more merchants and seeing their potential.
"With that, I believe we are done for the first day. I look forward to having the same pleasant conversation tomorrow," Jon said.
"That's great, I'm sure that after tonight, your products will be extremely popular," the man who appeared to be the leader of the fat ones said with a sincere smile.
"Lady Arya is an excellent negotiator," the young man, who had remained silent the entire time while arrogantly looking at the Artican products, suddenly commented. This caught everyone by surprise, as the compliment had nothing to do with the negotiations. Despite that, Arya had indeed done well.
She, who had not liked the young man at all, simply shrugged and did not respond.
The boy, however, continued to insist. "I would like to talk to you, if possible, Lady Arya. After all, seeing a single young woman so capable is truly surprising. I hope to see you later at the party," he said.
"Sorry, but I'm not interested," Arya responded in clear Valyrian, leaving the young man a bit flustered. The others looked at him, but no one said anything.
Jon decided to step in at this point, wanting to laugh at how Arya handled any suitor. "Well, it seems with that, we are finished. We'll see you tonight then, for the banquet," Jon said, cutting off the conversation.
"Wait!" the young man called out, and Jon stopped while standing up, watching him speak in a way none of the other Magisters had. Jon couldn't help but raise an eyebrow as the Magisters frowned at the boy's outburst.
"I saw a girl with white hair on your ship. What's her name?" he asked, and this made Jon narrow his eyes as he glanced at the other Magisters, waiting to see their reactions. Everyone was watching, but none of them seemed pleased with the young man's question. The fat man, who was the leader of the group, quickly stood up with a respectful tone.
"I apologize for this, King of Ártica. I haven't introduced him yet—this is a special guest of Myr, Zafir Maerys (OC), known as the prince of Lys, as he is the son of the most influential man in the city, Magister Zahlan Maerys (OC), with a significant stake in the slave trade." The man began, while the young man seemed quite proud, even looking at Jon with a challenging gaze, unlike the other Magisters. Jon wanted to laugh at the boy, clearly a teenager who had no idea who he was dealing with. The fat man continued.
"He's been in Myr for over a week as a messenger from his father for business... some merchandise..." he said, and Jon knew they were talking about slaves. After all, this was a slaver city, and Myr had three slaves for every free man. The man continued, trying not to upset anyone with the behavior of this spoiled youth who was nearly ruining their negotiation.
"It seems he doesn't fully understand what we're discussing. I apologize, I'm sure he didn't mean to be disrespectful," the man said, while the boy looked at the minister, clearly shocked and visibly irritated, as if questioning why he was being belittled in front of Jon.
But Jon didn't care about the ministers' pleas and turned his attention back to the arrogant boy. "Answer me, man from the North. Who is that girl? Tell me her name, after all, I'm interested in buying her for a good price!" he insisted, and everyone's eyes darkened at this declaration.
Jon stared at him for a moment. The boy was truly spoiled, accustomed to an easy life. But Jon felt like mocking him. "As for her... it doesn't matter, and it's best if I don't see you in front of me again," Jon simply said, leaving the boy stunned, unable to believe someone was speaking to him that way.
"And I hope this won't be a problem..." Jon added in a dangerous tone toward the Magisters.
"Please, let us apologize for our guest." They clearly didn't like the tone the young man had used with Jon, and they didn't want to anger a man with 450 ships on their coast. They looked at the boy as if he were a plague they no longer wanted there, realizing he had no idea he was dealing with someone very dangerous.
Jon, too, couldn't be bothered with the actions of a spoiled, clueless teenager now. As long as he wasn't seen in front of him again, Jon would deal with him, his father, and Lys when necessary. But if the Magisters here didn't keep their word, things wouldn't end well for them by tomorrow.
After that, Jon left the room while the young man remained speechless, watching him leave like that. The group returned to the ship, escorted a moment later. Jon had decided not to stay at the mansion.
When they returned, they found Daenerys already on the ship, looking quite excited as she spoke with Wind, recounting the things she had seen, while the child of the forest listened attentively, despite being rather upset about not being able to participate.
"Did you have fun, aunt?" Jon asked as he approached.
"Yes, it was great." She said cheerfully, while Jon felt satisfied seeing his aunt enjoying the city, saying she had visited several shops and talked to some people, even though she didn't speak Valyrian very well.
"Well, I'm going to ask you to stay on the ship today. After all, we have a business party to attend tonight, but you'll be well accompanied by your guards. I hope you can understand," Jon requested.
"That's fine," she nodded. Though she was left behind, she couldn't demand much.
"Alright, let's get ready," Jon said before heading to his room to find his wife, drawing with Ghost. It was something Ygritte had developed as a hobby during this trip, as she often stayed in Jon's cabin, drawing maps to pass the time with her husband without it becoming tedious.
"How dare they treat me like this!!!" Elsewhere, a young man was far from happy with the Magisters' meeting with the King of Ártica. The men of Myr had favored the foreigners over him, someone with a superiority complex since birth, nicknamed the prince of Lys.
"My prince..." an older man, addressing him by his nickname, which was Zafir's demand, tried to reason with the teenager. "You can't blame them. What you did wasn't healthy for Myr or even for Lys," he said, knowing the danger Zafir was getting into. After all, he had been hired by Zafir's father to be the young man's advisor, though the boy rarely listened and did whatever he wanted.
"What?! You too?!" Zafir looked at his father's friend in disbelief.
"Listen, Zafir. They are a power that defeated Westeros. There are 450 ships. Your father is not happy about you practically starting a war with them!" The man nearly pleaded.
"Nonsense! Those are just rumors!" Zafir didn't believe it. "It's a big fleet, but Lys can gather and fight against all of them!" He declared.
The older man couldn't believe what he was hearing. Zafir seemed completely unaware of reality, truly thinking Lys could handle them, consumed by the anger from the humiliation he had suffered—something that had never happened to him before, as he believed himself far superior to them and everyone around him.
"The Magisters canceled your invitation for tonight... my prince..." the man murmured, while the prince once again grew irritated at yet another humiliation.
"Those bastards, they were flattering me just yesterday while I was buying slaves for them… and now they see me as lesser than that savage from the North! Unacceptable! Do you hear me? Unacceptable!" he snarled.
"I'm lucky I'm sleeping with one of the Magister's wives, so I'll get into that banquet no matter what, and I'll make that savage regret ever crossing me!" he declared, while the older man felt lost, watching the young man seemingly about to make the biggest mistake of his life out of pride, and there was nothing he could do except speak his mind.
It didn't take long for the hours to pass, and Jon was once again escorted through the city in a heavily reinforced carriage with 100 guards at night. They also had animals to detect any danger, as Jon valued the lives of those accompanying him in the carriage, which included Ygritte, Arya, his minister, and other members of his people.
They quickly arrived at the location and were welcomed as they entered the lively banquet hall. They had arrived after everyone else, just as the presentation of the products began. Jon stayed with Ygritte the entire time, dancing with her, while Arya remained with her guards. His minister was busy presenting their products to everyone, and Jon had allowed his guards to remain on-site, as he never let his family go without protection.
At that moment, someone entered the party, and it was none other than the same young man from earlier. All the Magisters didn't have a friendly expression toward him, as he had been banned. However, due to the fact he was sleeping with one of their wives, he managed to enter with her help, using the excuse that he didn't know about his ban.
Jon already knew he would try to enter and was prepared to deal with him on the spot if the boy attempted anything that would seal his fate. He didn't even care as the young man stared at him with a fierce look, and Jon wanted to laugh at the boy's naivety as he drank and drank, trying to talk to people, but no one seemed to like him, though they didn't send him away.
He even tried to approach Arya, but he was stopped by the Artican guards, forcing him to retreat. His guards were outnumbered, so he simply stared at Jon with even more anger.
Jon sighed and ignored him. It was at that moment that one of the Magisters approached Jon.
"King of Ártica, you mentioned you were interested in meeting one of Myr's glassmakers, so I invited the one in charge of my factory. Let me introduce you!" he said, and Jon nodded.
"I'll take a breath of fresh air, Jon," Ygritte said, and Jon nodded, signaling for the guards to accompany his wife, as he was interested in the conversation.
It was then that Zafir, a little drunk, took advantage of the moment and approached the Queen of Ártica before her guards could reach her as she headed to the balcony. Those who noticed were shocked by his audacity, perplexed by his bold move.
"Hello, beautiful woman," he said civilly, startling Ygritte, who looked at him with narrowed eyes.
"What do you want?" she growled, clearly displeased with his approach. The Artican guards noticed this and were approaching quickly.
Zafir, however, was oblivious to them as he was already drunk and didn't care about anything anymore, focusing solely on his vengeance for the humiliations he had suffered. After all, he was Prince Zafir, son of the great Magistrate of Lys, and he wasn't just anyone. Just because the savage had a large number of ships didn't mean he or his men were superior to Zafir and his family.
"I just wanted to say that I find you very attractive," he simply said. Zafir had never been rejected in his life, with the power he held in Lys or anywhere else. He could always take any woman to bed and didn't know the meaning of rejection, with his favorite activity being seducing married women. However, this time, things didn't go as expected.
Ygritte huffed. "I don't know who you are, but my urge to punch you is immense. So you'd better leave and not follow me." She spoke angrily. After all, she felt offended by being flirted with, especially being a married woman. She had been "taken" as her old culture dictated, and she belonged to someone. To her, no man surpassed Jon in this world, and obviously, she would never think of another.
She began to walk away, knowing she might end up punching him. Even though Jon wouldn't be mad, she didn't want to cause a scene over a drunk guy. However, as she left, the man didn't seem to accept that. As she walked away, her hand was grabbed, which immediately alerted the Artican guards, and the entire party turned to look at the scene, especially the Magisters, who frowned.
As the guards approached, they weren't the first to reach her. Before Ygritte could hit him with a punch, she looked to the side, and the man also noticed someone approaching. When he tried to see who was interfering with his "performance" to win over the Queen of Ártica, he didn't even have time to think. Before he could react, a hand grabbed him by the neck and lifted him in front of everyone.
"What are you doing, idiot? I've already lost my patience with you today. Now you're grabbing and bothering my wife?" Jon said as the man struggled to breathe, unable to free himself from his grip.
The entire party froze at that moment, watching the scene of Jon holding the man by the neck as easily as if he were a rag doll, while he writhed. Some of Zafir's guards moved forward, ready to intervene, but the Artican guards drew their swords, making them hesitate for a moment, unsure of what to do. After all, they were vastly outnumbered and terrified of those men, who already had a notorious reputation in the known world.
"Wait, King of Ártica, we can resolve this. Our guest is clearly drunk, and it was our mistake to let him in..." One of the Magisters tried to speak. After all, this young man was the son of someone important, and despite the situation, they couldn't let him die in Myr, which would cause problems with Lys over trade.
"Why should I? He's been irritating me for a while, and it's time he learns why everyone fears us." Jon said, as the man's face started to turn purple, looking at Jon with fear.
"Please, King of Ártica. He is the son of the most powerful Magistrate in Lys. If you kill him, things will become very difficult between Ártica and Lys. Even though Lys would lose in that conflict, I don't think it's wise to kill him just because he's drunk," the Magister tried to argue, his voice full of desperation. Jon listened in silence until he simply threw the man against the wall with such force that the sound of bones breaking was audible. The man collapsed unconscious, leaving everyone in shock.
"You'd better get him out of this city by tomorrow morning. Otherwise, forget about our deal." Jon said, making it clear that the Magister also bore responsibility.
"Yes, my lord. It will be done. We apologize for this," the Magister said, visibly shaken by the situation, which was highly inconvenient for them.
"I'll ask you to stay a bit longer. In the meantime, we're leaving." Jon said to his minister, who nodded. He then gathered Arya and Ygritte and left with most of the guards, leaving only a group of them to escort the minister back as he continued the presentation of the products.
He didn't even turn to look at that teenager being dragged away. Jon would still deal with him by the end of the next day. As they were once again heavily escorted back to the ship, Ygritte glanced at him, seeing he was far from happy.
"I'm glad I have you to protect me, my husband..." She smiled, feeling grateful that Jon had come to her aid, and also feeling a rush of desire for him in that moment. However, she could see that he wasn't finished with that foolish drunk. "What will you do with him?" Ygritte asked. She knew her husband wouldn't just let the situation go.
"Well, that guy seems to have no sense of the world. But I'll make it very clear to him what happens when someone disrespects the king of a nation," Jon said with a dangerous tone. "I may not kill him, but I'll personally take him to his father... or at least part of him." He said, and then they returned to the ship.
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Raccoon Here:
I created a clueless teenager for Essos because I believe a character like that should exist in Essos. It may seem senseless, but I believe there must be some spoiled teenagers after living the way this character did. Like a Joffrey of Essos.
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