Bab 89: Chapter 89 - Artican Trade in Westeros 16 (Journey to the West 03!).
[Chapter Size: 3200 Words.]
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Thrid Person POV
Westeros, 295 AC.
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"Tell me about it, quickly!" The King demanded once again.
While the rest of the council remained silent, Stannis was silent as Renly Baratheon maintained a look with a glint of expectation as he waited to hear the news, Littlefinger kept a tight smile awaiting the good news, after all, he had some information from his spies in Dorne, but it was still limited.
Cersei wore an arrogant look while her brother accompanied her at her side, maintaining a neutral look, Ser Barristan Selmy, the commander of the royal guard, was beside the king as his guard, Jon Arryn remained calm, but his eyes betrayed a concern with the received information, Pycelle stood in a corner with his hands trembling awaiting the meeting to start. While everyone kept their eyes on Varys who cleared his throat before beginning.
"My lords, your majesties," Varys began with his calm tone. "As you know, coastal cities across Westeros on the eastern continent reported a large fleet at sea heading south, their flags were white with a not very known blue symbol, but now we know it means a snowflake, after all, it was a symbol used by Jon Snow on his visit to Winterfell and the Wall." He said calmly, but Robert seemed a bit impatient.
"I don't want to know about these things! Tell me about Dorne and what Ned's son did there!!" Robert demanded, drinking a glass of wine he had served for himself.
Jon Arryn sighed as Varys looked at him asking for help. "Come on, Robert, these things are important. Let the man speak everything." He suggested and although still reluctant, he grumbled and poured another glass of wine.
"Back to the matter." Varys resumed. "The first sight of the fleet was in White Harbor, which leads to the conclusion that the fleet came from the north, but there hasn't been any sighting of it yet, but I personally believe this could have happened if they went around Skagos." He spoke before continuing, as everyone paid attention to him.
"Their first closer contact was in Stepstone, with fewer ships passing by the place, some closer passing by the fleet saw men in bright green armor, with the leading ship being larger than others, but on all the ships that could be seen, there were men 4 meters tall handling the ship, which leads to the conclusion that they are giants..." He said.
"So those savages built ships?" Cersei commented with an arrogant tone and a bit surprised.
"Now about Dorne..." Varys commented seeing the king almost losing patience as he gave his introduction without talking about what he really wanted to hear.
"The fleet made contact with the Martell family in the main city of the kingdom, which led them to enter the city with a few dozen ships, Prince Doran Martell asked his brother to receive them. What ended up being revealed was Jon Snow, the bastard son of Lord Stark landing in that port with his sister and his two wives." Varys said making many look at him a bit surprised.
Meanwhile, the crow listening to the whole conversation had a forward-leaning look listening to it, while Jon was curious and found himself in a funny situation listening to all of it, at least what he heard so far was no lie.
"The sister he kidnapped you say, how is Lord Stark's daughter?" Stannis asked with a severe tone, but having empathy for the news that Ned Stark lost a daughter, to the bastard brother taking her to the other side of the wall, as a father of a sick daughter, he could understand his pain.
"Catelyn always sends me letters asking the king if he can do something..." Littlefinger commented with the letters he received from the north asking in the name of their friendship if they could do something to rescue Arya from the hands of the wildlings. But nobody paid attention to him as they waited for Varys to answer Stannis's question.
'That's how he thinks when I brought Arya to the Arctic, but I shouldn't be too surprised, after all, that was what I expected...' Jon admitted as he listened to the conversation.
"Better than ever, I would say..." Varys admitted leaving many surprised with that. "Her appearance has changed a lot, I always heard about the girl being the opposite of her sister, not liking to be a lady and neglecting all the activities her sister practiced, being quite criticized by her septa and mother." He spoke.
"A wild one, indeed," Cersei commented softly.
"However, even though she still looks the same, she had no flaws in her activities as a lady, despite being very skilled with a weapon and putting one of Oberyn's daughters on her knees with it, she shows herself to be a blossoming beauty, considered by many to be the most beautiful woman in Westeros when she grows up," he concluded.
Cersei shivered at that, finding those words absurd, while Stannis and Renly had a surprised look at this declaration, Littlefinger stopped his mocking smile while paying a lot of attention to Varys's words, as the royal guards maintained a neutral look.
"Wait a second!!!!" The king suddenly shouted, and everyone paid attention to him at that moment.
"You said he has two wives, tell me about that now!" He ordered, completely ignoring what Varys had said about Arya.
"Yes, Jon Snow, or as he now calls himself, Jon of the Arctic, has two wives, both pregnant as my little birds have told me," he said.
"How did he do that?! I would have liked to have had two wives too!" Robert exclaimed while not caring about offending Cersei, who was angry, and her brother beside her also seemed offended.
"The boy was not married in the faith of the seven, so we cannot consider him married by us," Jon Arryn warned.
"If you recall, the Northerners follow the old gods, and they are also our subjects," Renly commented to the hand.
"But two wives is an affront to the gods!" Maester Pycelle commented.
"The gods of the north allow having more than one wife... Just because no Northerner has done it today doesn't mean they are forbidden in the faith," Stannis spoke in a neutral tone.
"Anyway, continue with the story," Jon Arryn commented.
There was a commotion as soon as they arrived at the port, Jon of the Arctic ended up offending Prince Oberyn, and they almost started a fight," he said, leaving everyone curious about what happened.
"Really? I hope they killed each other," Cersei mocked.
"Did the snakes hurt Ned's children?" Robert asked with some anger, he was a supporter of the Starks with Ned leading the house, whom he considered his brother, better than his two in this room, so he would be enraged if the Dornish hurt Ned's children, even though Jon was accused of stealing his sister, Robert heard she was better than ever, so he dismissed that thought.
Even Jon was surprised by this, seeing through his crow.
"No, a daughter of Doran, Nyra Sand, appeared and managed to calm down the conflict that would start and convinced Jon of the Arctic not to leave Dorne without talking to Doran Martell," he said.
"Nyra Sand? I didn't know Doran had a bastard..." Jon Arryn commented with surprise.
"She is the daughter of a Lysene lover, she has Valyrian features with her eyes and a bit tanned appearance like the Dornish, but not too much," he said.
'He definitely knows her real identity... Is he lying to his king?' Jon saw Varys's behavior and saw a liar, a skilled one at deceiving everyone there, but still, a liar. Jon didn't want Nyra to suffer any wrath from his king, but surely the fact that his master of whispers was lying to the man he was supposed to tell everything to intrigued him...
"And about the fact that he is known as a wizard..." Pycelle commented, wanting to know about this absurd fact.
"I'm getting there, Doran received his guests very well after that, Jon had paraded with giants through the entire city and caught the attention of all of Dorne, in the negotiation, it seems they briefly talked about something and would be having dinner later," Varys said before continuing with an intriguing part. "In the interval from the banquet and Jon going to his room, there was something strange happening in Dorne, snakes not just throughout the city, but outside the walls, began to move strangely, heading towards Sunspear while entering through various places and remaining hidden," he said.
"Snakes? How is that possible?" Renly asked with a raised eyebrow as everyone had the same question.
"You will know later..." Varys commented with a tone even somber, since he hated magic, began to hate it since he had his genitals cut off and thrown into the fire by a red priest. Jon also felt his hostility in the tone, despite not knowing his real reason for it.
"The banquet took place, and Jon Arctic showed up to display new products to the present nobles. The same products he had given to the Watch a few years back, plus some new and more developed ones, but the biggest product he showed that night was ice, he brought ice from the north," Varys concluded.
"Wait?! He brought ice from the north and took it to the Dornish?" Robert asked, stunned.
"Yes, he seems to have a special box for that, capable of keeping the ice's temperature without damaging it for a while," Varys said.
"Can we get those boxes too?" Cersei inquired.
"New products and the sale of ice... this would certainly fill the crown's coffers..." Littlefinger couldn't help but comment, Baelish was a greedy person, and having a profitable business was always his focus.
"I believe that's not possible from what I've heard..." Varys continued. "It seems that the magic in those boxes and only in Arctic can work, Arctic is the kingdom Jon Arctic founded." Varys finished with the same tone of hostility toward the word magic.
"Magic? That's absurd, magic is nothing but children's stories..." Pycelle also exclaimed with hostility.
"Either way, the Dornish have ice!! And I'm here drinking your warm wine! I want that ice here too! Speak to Ned's son!" Robert demanded.
"Let's see about that after the story, Robert. I think we should hear it in full," the Hand suggested.
"Then tell it!" Robert wanted to finish with it to ask for his ice again.
"There was a negotiation while the nobles were sampling Arctic's products, it seemed to be a success, after all, Jon Arctic managed to negotiate all his products with Doran interested, moreover, Jon Arctic managed to place a port in Dorne and buy tons of desert sand," he said.
"He managed to place a port in Dorne? What nonsense is this?!" Cersei immediately snarled as some also had that thought.
"The Arctic company intends to make a distribution center to serve Dorne and the south of Essos," Varys said.
"They really have entrepreneurial minds..." Renly began to laugh at such commercial aggressiveness.
"It's not funny, Prince Renly..." Jon commented. "They could harm the commerce of Westeros with this," he said.
"My father must know of this immediately! He certainly won't allow something like this!" Cersei said.
'They are very protectionist...' Jon thought, listening to their thoughts about the news, after all, everyone wanted to protect their own family businesses, but Jon noticed how Catelyn's friend, from what he heard the man had received letters, looked at all this with a greedy eye, clearly wanting what was Jon's, but he just laughed inside, and the same could be said of the others, after all, it's normal, no one wants to lose money and market.
"We should see about this later, for now... Let's hear the rest of the story," Jon requested while Robert just remained silent.
There was another incident the next afternoon, Oberyn got into a fight with Jon Arctic.
"Did he humiliate the bastard...?" Jaime inquired curiously next to his sister, hoping Oberyn could have given a good beating, after all, he had heard a lot about the Red Viper of Dorne while Jon was just a fantasy story from the north, he had beaten his brother and the Greyjoy heir, who never recovered his hand movement after what happened in Winterfell.
"Negative, Sir Jaime Lannister... But let me tell you how this started, Arya Stark fought first with one of Oberyn's daughters and lost, it was a girl of 15 years against another of 11, yet the Stark proved herself a warrior at this age," he said.
"What?! Ned's daughter kicked an older Dornish girl?! Hahaha. That's great, I bet she could even beat up my son then... Damn Ned, what does he give to his children!" Robert started to laugh and drink while speaking. "She must be very much like my sweet Lyanna..." he said with a melancholic tone. As Cersei trembled with anger in her corner, disliking everything about it.
Varys continued the conversation. "After that, Jon Arctic's wife, named Seryna Arctic, started the fight using a giant hammer and moved it with such ease that I imagine it's due to the metal called Eldenmetal," he said, and the king immediately raised an eyebrow.
"Hammer?! She uses a war hammer?!" He exclaimed with some expectation.
"Yes..." Varys confirmed as the king started to laugh.
"I would like to see that, in my time I was unbeatable with my hammer... I hope I can see a woman fight with it one day, although I don't believe she will be very skilled," he said.
"The fight continued with another one of Oberyn's daughters and Seryna proved to be quite capable, as she was humiliating the girl, that was until the Dornish decided to throw a throwing knife at the pregnant woman, which triggered a conflict in that place," Varys spoke as everyone became very interested in what happened.
"Pregnant woman?! Those damned snakes!" Robert spat on the ground upon hearing this with disgust.
"So as you know, Jon started a fight against Oberyn and if everyone was expecting Oberyn to win against a young man half his age, they were mistaken, after all, Jon Arctic won the fight wielding Dark Sister and knocked out the Dornishman," he announced leaving Selmy and the Lannister quite surprised by this.
"He really did that? He's what, 15 years old?" Barristan Selmy commented.
"Hahahahahaha! This is what I like to hear!" Robert exclaimed joyfully. "Ned's son has always proved capable, it's a shame he had to say such a thing..." he murmured in the end, after all, he still wanted to beat Jon for what he said about his summons to King's Landing a few years ago.
"So you mentioned him being a sorcerer..." Stannis asked.
"Yes, but not because of the fight, but because of something that happened afterwards," Varys spoke and began. "As soon as Oberyn was knocked out, the soldiers of Dorne launched an attack, but were surprised by snakes coming out from everywhere, Jon Arctic proved that he could control all of them while only the Dornish were bitten, all the snakes that moved through the city, it was by his order, leading to the belief that he is a Warg and just that was enough for him to conquer Sunspear." Keeping the somber tone, he concluded.
"This can't be real..."
"It's absurd..."
Everyone had a look of disbelief, after all, they had never heard of someone using such abilities, even Robert frowned.
"You might not believe it but that's what happened and you can ask anyone who was there, they say that Jon Arctic is a Warg, a man with the ability to enter the bodies of animals, although Jon seems to be an anomaly even among them," Varys said.
"Are you saying that the wildling bastard is also a sorcerer... We should kill him!" Cersei exclaimed, while Jon listened to this with an eyebrow raised at such gratuitous hostility from that woman.
"Tell us what happened after," Jon Arryn requested with a furrowed brow.
"As soon as the conflict was neutralized by the snakes, Prince Doran appeared and talked with Jon that they would still be at peace and with the trade agreements, but as long as Oberyn left Dorne while they are staying there," Varys spoke and continued without anyone interrupting him.
"The days passed without many problems with Jon there until the end of their stay, it seems that Prince Doran wanted to push his daughter towards Jon Arctic, but he refused," he said.
"He wanted the princess of Dorne to marry a northern bastard?" Cersei raised an eyebrow in disgust.
"A very rich and powerful one at that..." Renly retorted with a smile after everything he heard.
"Anyway, Jon Arctic negotiated many products from Dorne during that time, buying thousands of animals to take to the north, books, and even hired people from Dorne to teach north of the Wall," Varys commented.
"He wants to teach the people to read and write?" Stannis seemed surprised.
"Yes, he managed to get more than 500 teachers after his men interviewed thousands," Varys said and continued. "There was nothing else beyond casual conversations, but Doran always seemed quite cautious with Jon, despite the boy being only 15 or 16 namedays. He certainly knows how to lead and negotiate, a quite unique skill for someone who lived beyond the Wall for years... I believe 6 or 7 years there," Varys spoke with even some admiration, after all, who could have done so much with 16 namedays.
"This boy is really from another world... sometimes I wonder if Ned is really his father..." Robert had to make that comment after hearing everything in full.
"Where are they now?" Jon inquired.
"They are leaving Dorne at this moment, their ships are laden with Dornish products, such as metals, animals, and others, including the sand they collected in the desert..." Varys said.
"I wonder what he wants with sand..." Stannis mused to himself.
"Where are they heading?" Jon Arryn asked again.
"It seems the fleet will be divided... One part to the south and another to the north, being only one quarter of it from what my spies could overhear from their men," Varys said.
'So they listened to that...' Jon murmured internally, hearing this important information about his fleet with the fleet... 'I have to talk with my men later while they leak such vital information...' Jon noted mentally as he listened to the other part of the conversation.
"Now, my lords of the small council..." Arryn began to speak again. "How shall we deal with this threat...?" He raised the question, after all, for most of them, Jon and his fleet, army, and wealth were things they wanted to control, and all had a greedy look at this moment.
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