Chapter 137: Chapter 137 - Artican's Kingdom 01.
[Chapter Size: 3300 Words.]
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Thrid Person POV
Westeros, 296 AC.
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The giant statue of Artica was finally in front of the fleet as they began to pass it, with Jon's ship leading them, and the immense city was in sight.
"It looks bigger!" Arya exclaimed joyfully.
"Who said the city stopped expanding while we were gone?" Seryna commented.
"But it's incredible... we've been out for over 7 moons, it's 296 AC!" Arya exclaimed as Jon moved past them, heading to the bow of the ship, passing more men, and finally standing at the tip of the ship as he breathed in the fresh air of his realm, feeling his strength and magic rapidly recovering here.
The world around him had changed at this moment; he could see the world on another plane, the spiritual plane, as a magnificent scene grew around him, the stars with the entire galaxy in their essence shining above him with the center being a glare in space. Looking forward, another star show emerged as he saw the great Weirwood tree shine magnificently, bursting with vitality as if it were on fire, beneath it he could also see the grove lighting up below the trunk, but nothing compared to the great tree. Even at that distance, Jon could see the place like no one else here.
This was Artica, the place where he could connect with the gods, what would they call this place in the future, second Valyria, the garden of Eden, the beacon of the world? Jon didn't know, but he was certainly satisfied to have his role in building this place in this world; this would be his legacy and pass on to his children and future generations.
He cracked a smile, but soon left those thoughts of the future of this world aside and focused on the now, returning to see the world as any ordinary person, while his smile widened with a look upwards.
ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
The powerful roar managed to shake the ship as the entire fleet looked up, with huge wings covering the sun, Eragon descended into the channel meeting the ships, before he flapped his wings and circled the sky passing very close to Jon's ship, while his personal crew stared at the gray and green eyes with their sapphires.
"Eragon!!!" Arya exclaimed with excitement and admiration.
"That dragon isn't going to stop growing, is it?" A dwarf complained, as was his natural impulse against dragons.
"It's good to see you again... son." Jon murmured as Eragon once again cut through the air, circling the main ship, staring Jon towards the city.
Eragon had grown at least half of what he already was before, becoming a dragon of a house and a half. Even though Jon wasn't here, it seemed that the Weirwood itself was strengthening him.
His gaze dropped from Eragon to the plantations around him, animals began to run over the canal, on the left side of Artica where the forests lay, running freely. Huge packs of wolves were howling, while the wolf on Jon's ship did the same, putting his head up and roaring. Articans working on the farms went to the side of the river as they exclaimed to the ships following the channel.
"Welcome!!"
"Finally back!!"
Jon could hear them as they continued to exclaim many phrases, Phaenix and Bleufire landed on the edge of the ship. "Are you also excited to be home?" Jon asked with a smile to the two brothers.
Another sound came from the air and the giant waterfowl flew over the ship along with Eragon with another giant bird appearing beside it.
"It seems your parents are also here to greet us..." Jon murmured and they continued on.
The city grew larger and the tree began to rise into the sky as its size became more distinct. Among the ships, Eric looked satisfied while his new companion seemed paralyzed with the vision in front of her.
"What is that thing?!!" she exclaimed to the huge lizard flying over the front ships.
"It's a dragon, the king's dragon." Eric replied.
"That's impossible!" she murmured, her eyes trembling at the sight of a real dragon living here as her gaze fell forward, where she could see the city of her future husband. "This is the realm you live in?!" She, as a southerner who had never seen Artica, was mesmerized, wondering how such a place could exist in this world, even more so to the north of the ice wall.
"Fantastic, isn't it? When I first came here, this tree was just a few meters tall," Eric said beside her with a smile.
"I heard Harrenhal was 90 meters, this is even bigger!" she exclaimed, looking over the fields above the canal full of plantations, stretching kilometers away. "It's much prettier than the Reach..." she murmured.
It didn't take long for a crowd of people to appear in front of the ships as they approached the harbor, the people of Artica were about to receive them as a whole, gathering as many people as possible from all 4 races that complemented Artica.
"This place is..." Archmaester Marwyn murmured, stunned by the sight in front of him, seeing the well-structured city with rivers running through it, several colossal buildings surrounding the great Weirwood.
"Calm down, maester... you'll have plenty of time to get to know this place..." Jon approached the deck to begin disembarking from the ship and saw the startled look of the archmaester he had brought from the Citadel.
Jon couldn't blame him; his view was filled with a dragon flying over the ship, a giant sacred tree over 100 meters casting a shadow over the city with its enormous branches, green fields, and a very well-structured city.
The man just nodded, but he couldn't help but still marvel wordlessly, turning his attention to The Master. Jon looked at his men. "Come on, let's get ready to finally disembark on our lands," Jon exclaimed as the men began to work on the ship, closing the sails and preparing to dock it at a special port for his ship amidst the crowd with many important people waiting for them, including his other pregnant wife.
Ignoring the fights that were now breaking out between Tormund and some dwarfs, Jon went to one of the edges of the ship, looking at the city while wearing his black and red armor with designs of Eragon and Ghost, symbolizing his main animals. He wore this formally to demonstrate the glory of Artica on his return to these lands. His wife appeared beside him, wearing a black dress with some Eldenmetal plates interlacing on her arm between her armor. Her belly was bigger than ever as she touched it with her other hand and looked at the city in front of her.
"How do you think Ygritte has been doing?" she asked calmly.
"Probably better than she was on the ships," Jon replied softly, eager to see her too. Of course, he had already sneaked a peek and she seemed very well.
She had the same volume as Seryna and seemed excited, waiting for them in front of all of Artica. The ship began to approach as everyone became visible to them and it started to dock at this moment, exclamations arose from the crowd the next moment with the people shouting for the king.
His first business trip ended in war, but he managed to complete it in his main objectives and this made Jon feel that it was all worth it. The ship finally stopped and a ramp descended as Jon began to disembark with Seryna by his side.
There were all sorts of people there, but the entire port was filled with tens of thousands of people, Jon could see the children of the forest dancing here and there. In front of him, there were the ministers of Artica, including the royal guards who stayed and Ygritte to be the first to receive them, with a dress suitable for a queen, calmly waiting, opening a smile for them.
Jon approached as his royal guards came right behind Arya, and with the other crew members. The other ships began to dock in various parts of the harbor, while the Articans began to exclaim from their places at each of their docks, looking quite excited about their arrival and eager to hear stories from the south.
Jon approached Ygritte, as she grabbed him by the waist and gave him a kiss on his forehead. "How have you been?" he asked, as Seryna opened a smile by his side to her sister-in-law.
"I'm fine, the children of the forest surround me all the time and I'm surrounded by animals all the time..." She said with a provocative tone. "Jon, don't tell me you were spying on me even from the other side of the continent," she commented before even broadening a smile. "But now I'm quite happy that you're here. Our daughter is ready to come out soon, husband," she said, touching her belly.
"That's great. Let's save that talk for the castle. I see it's finally ready... it seems that once the walls reached a point surrounding Artica... the constructions in the city quickly began to grow with the teams splitting up to build the city..." Jon said, satisfied.
He asked his wife to accompany him along with Seryna and moved forward as he approached the ministers, all trusted people who did not seem to disappoint him while he was away, including Maester Aemon, Brynden Rivers among other ministers and the royal guards.
None of them kneeled, after all, the people of Artica do not kneel to anyone, not even their king, as for the king of Artica respect is enough. "My king, it's so good to see you again," Aemon commented with a smile. He seemed to remain quite healthy as he faced him with a gleam of happiness in his purple eyes.
"We are finally back, I am pleased. But let's talk tomorrow about the status quo of Artica. For now, let's just focus this day on a celebration for all those who returned with me and the results we achieved." Jon decreed. "We must have a proper banquet for our heroes." Jon spoke as one of the ministers quickly stepped forward.
"A banquet for this day has indeed been instructed as soon as our wargs spotted the ships passing the wall line." He spoke and Jon nodded.
"That's good. I hope the first batch of animals brought from Dorne is being well utilized." Jon commented.
"Yes, my king. The large batch that came with the first part of the fleet, they are already in the forests beginning to reproduce and we managed to have enough for a great feast, feeding the entire population," Brynden replied.
"Good," said Jon, nodding once more. "Then decree to everyone that we will have a great banquet in the great arena. In the meantime, let's organize the ships." Jon spoke as everyone nodded.
They began to organize the crowd. There were still curious glances while Jon instructed here and there, with some important items for him. "I put some separate boxes in my cabin. I want them all brought to the castle, to my royal room. And I want total attention on these items, they are precious." Jon decreed. The books and dragon eggs were all organized.
Meanwhile, Ygritte looked at her husband maintaining a book at Jon's waist, finding it odd "What is that book, Jon?" she asked.
"I wanted to keep this with me. I'll read it later." Jon said.
The crowd in front of them began to make space as a huge wolf emerged at this moment walking with some haste towards the group, heading towards Jon with his tongue out. Jon smiled as soon as he turned to Ghost, touching his forehead with his own and stroking under his neck.
"It's so good to see you again, buddy, did you take good care of Ygritte and your daughter?" Jon said, feeling the connection that both had returned stronger than ever.
This meeting seemed to cause jealousy in someone, as a huge shadow covered the crowd with everyone screaming in fright stepping back, as Eragon landed in front of the harbor, placing a part of his body on Jon's ship, making it sink a bit causing it to sway and scaring the men inside. The other part was on the harbor with the front mats. He looked at Jon with intense dissatisfaction.
"Your dragon seemed not to handle your absence very well." Ygritte said by his side.
Jon smiled at the dragon's jealousy breaking parts of his ship, but he didn't mind that and returned to his wives. "Well, wait for me in the castle. I'll be there soon," Jon said, now turning back to Ghost. "Sorry, buddy, but we'll have to take a walk later."
He then left the group and went towards the dragon continuing to stare at him without taking his eyes off him. Seeing Jon coming towards him, he quickly seemed more satisfied, lowering his head. Jon touched his face calmly, feeling the warmth of his white dragon. He wasted no more time and began to climb him, getting on his back. The dragon seemed to submit a bit while he calmly opened his wings in front of everyone.
"Let's go. It's been a while since we've done this together," Jon said, and the dragon gained momentum the next moment. Its wings beat and it began to rise into the air, generating a wave of wind at the dock, and the crowd could only watch their king elegantly depart once more into the skies of Artica.
After moons without this, Jon circled his realm atop his dragon, passing through the great structures, slicing through the sacred tree as he sped past the branches. Eragon seemed to be learning new tricks, and Jon was not displeased about this, enjoying the adrenaline rush while relishing the ride with his companion.
This continued for hours while the fleet began to organize itself, separating the horses they had taken from the Reach to the open fields and taking the books directly to the library. The breeding animals were also taken to a forest where they would be placed in the forests with the other animals later.
Seryna went to see the castle, shown around by Ygritte herself while the pregnant women were accompanied by Ghost. It was almost late afternoon when Jon landed in front of the castle. He traveled through all of Artica, passing through the great structures and new constructions completed since he had left. The city continued in a grand celebration before the banquet as people from the ships were celebrated with glory and some mourned relatives lost in battles they heard about, yet proud to have fought for the glory of this kingdom.
Jon touched Eragon before he left and looked at the place that would now officially be his home, no longer needing to sleep in the great Weirwood. "This place really is suitable for having a large family," Jon murmured, approaching his wives waiting for him at the entrance.
They entered as Jon dismissed the royal guard to spend time alone with them. "Jon... the dwarves built this place so big!" Ygritte complained a bit. "How many children do you plan to have...? There are hundreds of rooms in this castle..." she said.
His castle was at least 50 meters tall, not very high, but Jon did not need height when there was a massive tree within the castle, yet the place was larger than the Red Keep and Winterfell.
Jon looked at Ygritte with a smile. "And who said we can't have our grandchildren and great-grandchildren here?" Jon retorted.
"I can't disagree with that," Seryna murmured. "Perhaps great-great-grandchildren and beyond. It would be quite interesting," she added.
"Anyway," Ygritte resumed, giving Jon a seductive look now that only the three of them were alone near the bedroom. "I've been months without my husband. Could you take care of your wife right now?" she said with the tone of her eyes.
"If my queen wants me... I can't refuse her, can I?" Jon said calmly, heading to the bedroom. In the end, Seryna also joined them in bed, and the three of them had some moments of pleasure, having a light activity given the children's situation.
When night fell, Arya was in the castle yelling at them whether they would attend the party or not. When she reached the room, all three were already dressed, prepared for the banquet, wearing appropriate clothes as king and queens.
"Come on, Arya. We have a great banquet to celebrate," Jon spoke, and carts with the blue-horned servant, like Jon used at the wedding, were waiting for them as they left the castle. They proceeded to the arena where everyone in Artica was gathered that night.
Again, Jon hosted a huge banquet while everyone enjoyed with stories from the south, conversing with their acquaintances who had traveled with the king. In the middle of the night, Jon raised his glass, while everyone fell silent, as it was the moment when the king spoke about the journey to the south.
"As you know, we returned from the south not on a peaceful journey." Jon began, as the rumors must have already spread throughout Artica; everyone was aware of the maritime battles they had encountered. Not that the people were pleased with this; in fact, they were more frustrated because they were not there too—this kingdom was largely made up of people who wielded their own weapons, so it was a common sentiment.
Jon then continued. "Even so, we achieved what we wanted for a new step in the progress of this kingdom and I intend to spend the next moon years developing this place with these resources. We may have made an enemy in the south, but we will quickly prove to them that they should not mess with Artica. That is why I want to make a toast to all of us, to this kingdom that I am happy to be back in and to see you here, bigger than when I left, stronger than I expected, and more powerful than the gods could have predicted. This is Artica," Jon exclaimed, as the crowd also shouted along with their king, proud of the kingdom and proud of those who fought in the south, especially those who died, while their bodies would be delivered to the gods with a ritual by the children of the forest in the coming days.
The celebration continued for the rest of the night, Eragon was also near Jon, in the middle of the arena with his wives and sister and, at one point, Jon carried a tired and unconscious Arya back to the castle leaving the arena and the people continuing to party until dawn, something especially common among the dwarves.
Jon placed Arya in a separate room and went to his room with his wives to continue what they had paused. The next day, he yawned as he awoke to a dragon's roar outside,
"Can you get this dragon to stop roaring so early?" Ygritte murmured with a tone of dissatisfaction, her eyes still closed, while Seryna just smiled with her lips closed.
Jon sighed and got out of bed, putting on some clothes, and went to his window, opening it to see Eragon flying over the ship. "You really are quite patient. We will have time for this, but I also need to organize my kingdom," he spoke to the dragon, as today was a day when he would begin reviewing everything about Artica: population, resources, plans.
Now, he had animals, sand, books, Valyrian steel, other dragon eggs. All of this would change Artica from this point on, and he was also interested in the movements of his enemies, not those from the south, but those to the north.
Then Jon got dressed and prepared to start his day as king of this land, after nearly 8 moons away.
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