-Chapter 76-
-3rd day of the 4th moon of the year 299 AC-
-3rd Person POV-
"Welcome everyone to my capital," the king said, raising my glass and looking at all the people seated at my table.
Aside from Tywin, who was my Hand sitting to my right, the rest of the guests were all bankers or representatives of wealthy merchants from the Free Cities and even further.
"Your Majesty, although we are all honored to meet you, we are merchants and bankers, so what is this unprecedented offer and unique opportunity you are granting to all friends of House Targaryen?" asked a merchant from Volantis belonging to the family of the triarch Nyessos Vhassar.
The king was not offended by the man's lack of respect and smiled, saying, "Since you want us to get straight to the point, Magister Vynassa Vhassar, let's do so. The reason I invited each of you is to inform you of the new economic policy my kingdom will implement over the next 20 years."
"And what will this policy be?" asked a banker from the Iron Bank of Braavos.
"A free loan policy, the crown is now opening a bank, the Royal Bank. We accept from this moment a loan with repayment in 5 years at an interest rate of 5% and in 10 years at an interest rate of 15%. And before you ask, no, we will not negotiate the terms. I gathered you here because I needed to know who will be for the next 5 or even 10 years the 20 trusted friends of House Targaryen," said the king in both a calm and powerful tone.
"What will be the benefits for your friends?" asked again Vynassa Vhassar, a member of the family of Triarch Nyessos Vhassar, owner of a vast fortune acquired from the slave trade.
"Tax reductions on goods and ships, free trade, reduced currency conversion costs, facilitation of monetary exchange, advantageous tax system, and for the most loyal friends, who knows? Perhaps even military support," said the king, well aware that Volantis was planning to go to war with Daenerys.
"What is the minimum loan amount?" asked a banker from Braavos.
"I set no limit to the amount of gold. You are a hundred people representing the largest financial institutions of Essos and its richest merchants. You can lend me 1 million or one gold dragon, but I accept only a limit of 20 loans and the bidding starts now. I will only take those with the highest offer."
-3rd Person POV-
"580,000 bars of gold?!"
"Yes, 580,000 bars of gold."
"Holy shit."
I laughed and then said, "These Essosi idiots really are fools, but damn, are they rich."
"580,000 is roughly about..."
"60 million gold dragons," I said, finishing her sentence.
"How did you manage to squeeze so much gold out of them?" she asked, amazed.
"It's quite simple; the bids were silent. Each one submitted a piece of paper with their bid written on it," I said.
She smiled, understanding my straightforward but incredibly effective strategy, and finished my sentence, saying, "...And since they were all afraid of not being able to compete with each other and missing out on this incredible offer, they put down insane numbers."
She approached me and climbed onto my lap, kissed me passionately, then looked into my eyes with her hazel ones and said, "A pretty effective trick, indeed. I learn something new about you every day."
"And do you like what you see?" I asked, starting to loosen her dress.
"Quite, but unfortunately for you," she began, whispering in my ear.
"We're not married yet," she said before standing up and turning around, swinging her hips hypnotically.
I held back the urge I had to pull her back and show her what happens when she awakens the dragon because I wanted to show Arianne that beyond our little arrangement, we must be an unbreakable couple for the rest of our lives, starting with a demonstration of my respect and trust in her.
"Your Majesty, the Master Assassin is at the door."