The Warg Lord (ASOIAF)(SI)

[Honaimannequin]

I hope that Trunk was waterproof..... otherwise he is going to lose all that records of properties.

 

[LazyWizard]

"What are you doing?" Gared asked curiously as he climbed over the plank and saw Jon leisurely lying on a rocking chair on the deck, basking in the sun with an old leather book.


It had been a few hours since they had witnessed the infamous pirate king jump to his death in a disappointing show of cowardice.


Gared had wanted them to stay there on the cliff for a while to see if Ravager somehow miraculously survived the waves and surfaced alive, but Jon had assured them in the surest of tones that the man would not live...


So Gared had just shrugged and left towards the castle with Oberyn and the Advisor, to gather their men, and tell them the news of Ravager's death, as well as to clean up after the battle.


Jon also gave them the job of emptying the castle of all the treasures and everything else valuable that they could find whether it be bags of spices, sugar, gold, alcohol, and even good furniture.


This is where the Advisor's knowledge of the castle came in handy for them as he knew everything there was to know about all the expensive things in the castle, so he was a great help in efficiently looting every single nook and cranny, which was quite fortunate as they had decided to leave the Stepstones that very same night, just to be safe.


Thankfully, Merchant Sam had timed it perfectly and had arrived at the port at that moment, with all of their ships and the rest of their men, making the job of moving things a lot easier.


And while his men worked inside the castle, Jon was out and about roaming the port with Merchant Sam.


Both of them were scouring all the pirate ships docked at the port, deciding whether any of them were in good enough condition to take with them, and how many they could actually take considering they didn't have too many sailors at hand.


But even when they were incredibly picky and only regarded the ships that were fast and in good condition, they were still left with about a dozen ships that they would be stupid to leave behind.


So, in the end, they reached the decision that they would have to make do and use some of the more experienced sellswords as dockhands until they reached the city of Tyrosh, where they could easily sell and offload a few of the ships to make some gold.


In fact, even the ship that Jon was relaxing on at the moment was formerly the flagship of Ravager's pirate fleet.


It was one of the most well-maintained among the pirate's lot, and after a few hours of clean-up led by a dozen men who threw away all the extreme things that the pirates kept down there to enjoy their various nefarious hobbies, Jon had claimed it as his own.


Not only was it one of the biggest ships Jon had seen, with plenty of rooms onboard, but it also had dozens of massive sails making it one of the fastest Galleon in its size category... which was all one could ask for in a ship.


The ship already had a name, called Reaper or something according to the Advisor, but Jon hadn't cared and decided to call it White Wolf from now on.


Back to the present, Jon slowly sat up when he saw that Gared wasn't the only one coming aboard his new ship.


"I don't know about here in Essos, Gared, but we call that... 'reading' in Westeros," Oberyn snorted in jest as he passed by the sellsword commander to take a seat on a chair near Jon, and right behind him arrived the duo of Merchant Sam and the Advisor enthusiastically talking with each other about one thing or other.


"Oh, is that what it is," Gared exclaimed with an exaggerated expression on his face, "Forgive me for my ignorance, prince," he said with an excessive bow, "I had just assumed that you nobles have people do these kinds of tiring things for you..." his snicker was barely hidden as he shot back at his new friend from Westeros.


"Huh! How did you know about that?" Oberyn stopped with an almost genuinely surprised expression on his face, "Have you really not been to Westeros?"


"What?!" Gared blurted out with a baffled expression, "Really?! Y-You people really have a person that reads things for you?"


Not even in his wildest imagination did Gared imagine that the lives of Westerosi nobles were so luxurious that they kept men around to read things for them.


"Yes, of course." Oberyn nodded with a completely straight face, "They are called Maesters,"


"So, that is what they are for," Gared breathed out with an enlightened expression before he suddenly turned towards Jon with a look of pity on his face, "But really... to not even be able to read for yourself, you nobles sure had it tough, huh,"


"Don't look at me! I am a bastard not a noble," Jon replied while rolling his eyes, too lazy to clarify his misunderstanding, that Oberyn was fooling around with him, "I, unfortunately, had no one to read my letters for me, so I had to do my own reading."


"But isn't your—"


Merchant Sam abruptly interrupted their conversation with a cough before Gared could go on, "Jon, I have had all of the loot deposited into our ships, and I also made sure that all the more expensive treasures were put into our main ships. So from my side, we are ready to sail off at any time,"


"Good work," Jon replied with a nonchalant expression while trying to shade his head from the sun.


"Why do you have such a bland expression on your face? Do you not want to check the loot for yourself?" Gared grumbled with a roll of his eyes, "I have never seen a man as unconcerned about his treasure as you,"


"Why would I be concerned? I trust all of you," Jon replied immediately with a smile, "Besides I already got the most important treasure in my palm," he said raising the diary in his hand.


"Uh..." Gared was quite confused with that so he turned to Oberyn and asked in a whisper, "Is that a noble thing? Something like, "Knowledge is power,' and all that?"


"Probably," Oberyn shrugged, "But I think—"


"Wait! That Diary!" The Advisor suddenly exclaimed with a surprised look on his face, "Is that what I think it is?"


"If you think that this is the diary that belonged to a not-so-famous Lannister, then, yes, that is what this is."


"So it was indeed that..." Advisor murmured with an amazed expression on his face, "I never thought I would see it again. Where did you even find it?"


"Just... lying around," Jon shrugged nonchalantly with his usual mysterious smile.


"Wait! Wait! What Lannister are you talking about? And what is this Diary?" Oberyn abruptly interrupted as he stood up with an intense expression on his face. The word Lannister was like a curse in his ears and had managed to instantly grab his attention.


"Hmm, you know that Tywin Lannister was the eldest of four brothers, right?"


"Of course, I do." Oberyn nodded impatiently, "Tytos Lannister beget four sons, Tywin, Kevan, Tygett and Gerion. But of the four of them, Tygett Lannister died of pox a decade ago, and Gerion Lannister also disappeared on one of his trips a few years ago, leaving the two of them,"


"That is right," Jon nodded before pointing towards the diary in his hands, "And this diary belongs to that very same, Gerion Lannister, the man who mysteriously disappeared in search of the greatest treasure known to man—"


"Uh, I do not mean to interrupt, but..." Gared said while scratching his cheek with a confused expression that was mirrored on Merchant Sam's face, "For those of us not in the know, can you explain who this man is, why he was in the free cities, and why are you showing this much interest in his diary?"


"Fine, let us start from the very beginning," Jon said before he sat up and cleared his throat as if he were about to go on a fun storytelling session that he used to do with his siblings when they were young, "You know about the Lannisters, right, one of the Great house of Westeros?"


"Of course," Gared immediately nodded, "They are rich ones, right? The ones with all the gold mines,"


"Yes, you are right. But what, you probably don't know, is that the Lannister name was not so great just a few decades ago, under the reign of one, Tytos Lannister, more commonly known as, 'Laughing Lion',"


"The Laughing Lion?"


"Yes. You see, he was known to be a jovial and amiable gentleman, one who was eager to please, slow to anger, and quick to forgive, he saw the good in everyone, great and small, but... while these sound like good qualities to have in a friend. The same could not be said of a Lord,"


"His bannerman called him a weak-willed man, the toothless lion, and openly ignored his orders, many of his Lords took massive loans from him that they never bothered to repay, his guests at his court were allowed to mock him to his face, even making a game out of it known as 'twisting the lion's tail',"


"But while Tytos Lannister could bear the taunts and the humiliation to their family name, his eldest son... couldn't. So when the old lion got old, fat, and weak, the young Tywin Lannister took over the family, and the first thing he wanted to do, was to clear away all the shame and disgrace his family had suffered over the years.


"And he did that by sending an ultimatum to all the vassals, to obediently arrive at Casterly Rock to repay all their debts. But while some saw the error in their ways and gave way, there were others who stubbornly resisted, thinking that the son was like his father, and wouldn't be able to do anything to them."


"Tywin Lannister proved them wrong in the most cruel and ruthless way possible," Jon said while looking into the eyes of his entrapped audience, "Of the two families that rebelled against them, the Tarbeck's were all burned to death with all their retainers inside their own castle, while the Reynes, who tried to hide in their mines, were buried under thousands of gallons of water and drowned to their death. He killed all of them indiscriminately whether they be man, woman or child, whether they be innocent or guilty."


"And so Tywin Lannister cemented his reputation as a brutal merciless lord, a man who would do anything to see his family name rise up, a man who would kill, betray, and trample on any number of people if it helped him get to his enemies, and a man who would cross any line as long as it helped him achieve his goal..."


There was silence for a few moments as everyone digested these intimate details about a man who stood at the very top of the food chain in Westeros, but Jon didn't stop for too long before starting again.


"In the large and black shadow of this man grew up his three brothers, they had to struggle fiercely to get even a little of the sun. Tygett tried to be his own man, but he could never match the reputation of Tywin Lannister, and that just made him angrier as the years went by. Kevan Lannister saw how things stood early on, so he made himself a place by Tywin's side and almost became his subordinate."


"But the youngest of the brothers didn't care for any of it, he made japes of it all, better to mock the game than to play and lose. That obviously displeased the Lord, who only saw the shadow of his father in him. This resulted in a stormy relationship between the brothers, making the estranged younger brother spend more of his time abroad on trips than at home,"


"And when you take a man like Gerion Lannister, with his rebellious, unfretted and free-spirited personality, and place the name and wealth of his family at his disposal, you get a great explorer in the making. And like every other great explorer, he too had an end goal, an achievement he wanted to conquer to cement his name into history."


"But the place he chose to achieve his goal was one that even the bravest of seafarers were terrified to explore. It was a place that was once called the centre of the world, a place that every ship captain in the world dreams of exploring one day, a place filled with enough treasure to make one richer than Braavos, that place is—"


"The Lost Kingdom of Valyria," Oberyn murmured with a frown on his face.


The Dornishman had been quite comfortable while listening to all these personal details of the Lannisters... it made them seem normal as if they were human and not monsters that he wanted to kill after giving them the taste of the cruellest torture known to men.


But, then again, if there was one Lannister that he didn't mind surviving in this world then it would have to be Gerion Lannister.


While he did not know the man too well, in the short time that they had been acquainted during his stay in the Westerlands, when the marriage talks between his sister and Jamie Lannister were held, he had gotten along well with the man with all his crass jokes, and all the travel stories that he had to tell.


In fact, he was one of the reasons Oberyn had gotten so interested in roaming the Free cities... not that he would ever admit it out aloud.


"That is right. Gerion Lannister has his name in history as one of the few who were brave (or rather suicidal) enough to lead a trip into the smoking sea, in search of his family's ancestral Valyrian steel sword, The Brightroar. But of course, like all the others, he too failed in his quest, and never returned to the land of the living," Jon finished with a sigh as if disappointed in how the story had ended.


"But... if he and his entire crew died there, how exactly did you manage to get a hold of his diary?" Gared asked with a raised eyebrow.


"Well, I got this diary, because it previously belonged in the hands of the late Pirate King, Ravager," Jon answered with a shrug, "And as for how he got it... I think the advisor is more suited to answer that,"


At that statement, all eyes curiously turned towards the well-groomed ex-pirate who nodded without a change in his expression, "I actually do know how he got it,"


"How?" all of them asked simultaneously.


The Advisor cleared his throat and without getting phased by the attention began speaking calmly, "While I did not know all these details about him and his family, the man named Gerion was actually quite well known among the pirates as a particularly juicy target with a rich backer behind him,"


"But no one managed to get their hands on him as the man was always too cunning. He only stayed with well-established local noble families who would not give him up for a few bags of gold, and also made his travel plans randomly, never giving the pirates any opening,"


"Nonetheless, they never took their eyes off of him which meant that when he made public his intentions to travel into the Valyrian peninsula, everyone's interest was immediately peaked, as they wanted to see what came out of it,"


"But while they were curious, none of them were stupid or greedy enough to go along with him, not the rich merchants, not the countless ship captains he urged, not even the few pirate captains he reached out to, no one was willing. In fact, I heard that even the men he brought from Westeros abandoned him in his foolish quest,"


"Alas, the man was nothing if not determined and instead of giving up like any sane person, he decided to purchase slaves from Volantis to cobble together a makeshift crew to man his ships and then rushed headlong into the smoking sea."


"And like everyone knows, neither he nor any of his ship ever emerged from there, which wasn't particularly surprising for anyone... but what people didn't expect, was that one of Gerion's loyal men somehow managed to survive the trip and reach a nearby ship in a half-dead state,"


"The surviving man didn't have much on him except for a few gold trinkets as well a diary that he had been entrusted with to bring back to his Lord's family in Westeros, but sadly for him things didn't go the way he had envisioned as the captain of the ship was a pirate and immediately had him killed after taking away all of his things,"


"But while the crew was disappointed with the meagre loot, the captain was one of the rare pirates, who knew how to read and the moment he realised what the diary he was holding in his hands was, he got unbelievably ecstatic. He knew that if he managed to bring this diary to the right people, he could earn more than he would in his lifetime,"


"So without wasting any time, he immediately took off towards Stepstones, after sending a letter to his brother who worked on a ship under the Pirate King, Salladhor Saan, hoping that he could make a deal in his stead for a great deal of gold,"


"But sadly, the journey was too long and boring, and one day the Captain got drunk and loose with his tongue, and let out the importance of the diary to a few of his crew members. And as you can imagine, that immediately resulted in a betrayal, mutiny and the leak of the news to other parties,"


"This meant that by the time this ship reached its destination island in Stepstones, the diary had changed quite a few hands and the captain of the ship was a completely different person, but it did not change his fate in the end as waiting for him and surrounding his ship on all sides were the pirate fleets of all three great pirate kings of that time, the Lyseni sell-sail, Salladhor Saan, the crow's-eye, Euron Greyjoy, and of course, Ravager."


"Rarely, do all three of them gather together in one place and in such great strength but that time they did. I could still clearly remember that day, when you could see ships floating in Stepstones as far as the horizon, all of them filled with pirates that were ready to tear each other apart on a single order from their captain."


"But wait! How is Euron Grejoy counted among these pirate kings," Oberyn suddenly interjected with a confused expression on his face, "I thought he was expelled from his family for doing something to his brother, so how did he have access to so many ships and subordinates,"


"He was indeed expelled," Jon answered with a frown on his face, "But with half the ships from Iron islands constantly reaving and raping the shores of Essos year around, it must not have been too hard for him to gather them under his command. After all, while the man is insane and dangerous, he is someone who is not too greedy for gold, and the captains who are willing to follow him are never lacking in loot,"


"Oh..." Oberyn nodded with an understanding look on his face and turned back to Advisor who continued with his story.


"Anyway, in the end, it did not come to a battle between the three because Salladhor Saan, a man who is more a merchant than a pirate, got hold of the ship first and wasn't too stubborn about keeping the diary for himself. Instead, he presented a solution that satisfied everyone,"


"What solution?"


"He proposed that each of them send one of their men forward to copy the content of the diary word by word so that, they would all get the chance to read its content without any bloodshed. And that was how this diary managed to reach the hands of Ravager and the other two great pirates..."


There was silence for a few moments before Oberyn suddenly snorted, "What a captivating tale... it will be the perfect bedtime story for children when I go back,"


"But wait, is that it?" Gared abruptly asked with a frown, "Is that the end?"


"What do you mean?" The advisor asked with a confused frown.


"I mean, what happened after the pirate captain got their hands on their diary?" He asked with narrowed eyes, "Did anything useful come out of it? Quite a few years must have passed since that incident, right? So did someone manage to enter the lands of Old Valyria?"


"Ah, No. I do not think so," The Advisor shook his head, "I was the one who copied this diary for Ravager so I am quite familiar with its contents. And while it was a very interesting read, I can say with certainty that it did not contain any shocking information that could help one safely navigate the smoking sea."


"The only details it contained were the mundane daily life of Gerion Lannister on his ship, how they lost their way a few days after entering the smoking sea, the numerous ways in which his crew succumbed to death one after the other while they were trying to escape, and oh, also his last will, left for his family and a man named Tyrion... that is all." The Advisor said shaking his head, "So I do not think, this diary would be any help in unravelling the secrets of Valyria."


"That is where you are wrong, my friend," Jon quietly interrupted with a small smile.


"What? What do you mean?"


"Did you know that one of those three great pirates, Euron Greyjoy, and his infamous ship Silence, has not been sighted in these waters for at least four years,"


"Oho," The eyes of Oberyn and Gared lit up with interest at this new information as they immediately understood what Jon was implying.


"I had heard about it... but that does not mean that the man went to Valyria, does it?" The Advisor asked with a frown, "He could be in any part of the world like Quarth, the Slaver's Bay, or even Asshai, that man was well known to travel all over the world,"


"Oh, no, I know for sure that the man is either already in the Smoking Sea or preparing to enter it," Jon replied with a frown on his face.


"But, why would he do that? Entering the Smoking Sea is suicidal even for someone insane like the Crow's Eye. He must know that the chance of him surviving is very small,"


"That is only true if he did not manage to find the method to traverse the lost kingdom from this diary,"


"But how... I read this diary front to back, and I am sure that I would have known if there is such knowledge in there,"


"Oh, the information is certainly in here," Jon said raising the diary with a gleam in his eyes, "You just need a specific skill set to read it,"


The Advisor was confused for a moment before his eyes widened as he realised what skill Jon was talking about.


'Magic.'


...

 

[san]

ummm first to comment since the update i guess?


a bit of a slow chapter to set things up for the next arc I assume. Interesting to see if jon actually tries to go to the smoking sea.

 

[ATP]

Jon have magic,and new ship,BUT....is sailing to Valyria worth risk?

 

[TheCuriousGuest]

So... Time to just let him do the hard part of visiting Valyria and have a few ships or certain Sea Monster ready to kill Euron when they return from Smoking Sea?

Why take risks when can let Euron get his dream of raiding Valyria, only to lose all he got when he returns? Pay the Iron Price that his people love so much.

They know he'll likely have to exhaust himself and/or his crew to fuel the magic used to survive and won't expect to immediately be attacked at his weakest.

 

[ATP]

So... Time to just let him do the hard part of visiting Valyria and have a few ships or certain Sea Monster ready to kill Euron when they return from Smoking Sea?

Why take risks when can let Euron get his dream of raiding Valyria, only to lose all he got when he returns? Pay the Iron Price thathis people love so much.

They know he'll likely have to exhaust himself and/or his crew to fuel the magic used to survive and won't expect to immediately be attacked at his weakest.

Click to shrink...

Yes,that would be both efficient and moral thing to do.

 

[LazyWizard]

A loud horn bellowed from atop the walls of the Winterfell, and almost immediately there was a quick flurry of activities as guards ran forward to open the gate.


A few minutes later, a small but wide procession consisting, of guards, hunters blacksmiths, and merchants arrived, some on horses and some on pulling carts. Leading from the very front were three Starks children, one big red-haired one and two small black-haired ones.


Each of them had bright expressions on their faces as they rode into the courtyard on their personal horses.


Robb Stark, with his tall height, and solemn expression he inherited from his father made him look more a man than a boy and on either side of him were his two excitable siblings whose eyes were restlessly searching for something.


"Sansa!! Mother!!" Bran and Arya screamed simultaneously when they finally caught sight of their target, and then without waiting for Harwin's help, both of them dismounted from their ponies and excitedly ran towards their sister and mother who were waiting for them along with their brother Rickon.


"Slow down, you two," Catelyn lightly admonished, "You should not run—" she abruptly grunted, not even able to finish her sentence as her little children, who were not so little anymore, ignored her warning and slammed into her midriff hugging her tightly.


Not to mention the mama's boy Bran, but even Arya had missed her fiercely after not seeing their mother for so long.


"Hmm, If I did not know any better, I would have guessed that you two missed your poor mother..." Catelyn commented with a quirk of her lips as she rubbed their little heads, "But that cannot be true, after all, you both had been so eager to get away from home, even going as far as to give up eating so that your father would allow you to go,"


"I-I did not miss you," Arya denied with a pout as she hurriedly pushed away from her mother as if she hadn't been the one eagerly hugging her just a few seconds ago, "Bran was the one who was always crying mother along the way,"


"No, I was not,"


"Yes, you were,"


And so they went as the sibling easily got into their familiar back and forth with their mother and their sister watching with exasperated but fond smiles on their faces.


"Ro! Ro!!" Baby Rickon squeaked excitedly and pulled away from Sansa, who was carrying him, with his hands stretched out towards his biggest red-haired brother, who was finally free and coming towards them.


"Oh, ho, Rickon, you have gotten quite big, haven't you?" Robb said exaggeratedly while taking his little brother into his arms, "I feel like I have not seen you in years," he said while rubbing the toddler's belly making him giggle in delight.


"It has not been that long, has it?" Bran said confusedly while trying to count on his fingers, "I don't think Rickon has gotten any big either..."


"We have only been gone for three moons," Arya snorted proudly as she remembered one of the merchants mentioning the time he had been away from his shop, "Robb is just being stupid,"


Robb rolled his eyes at his cheeky siblings while Cately tried to reprimand Arya, "Don't call your brother, stupid, Arya,"


"But—"


"So how was the White Harbour, Bran," Sansa interrupted loudly before the Mother-Daughter pair could go on their usual route, "I was so envious when you three got to go, and I didn't,"


"It was amazing, Sansa, and so—so! big," Bran exclaimed with stars in his eyes while stretching his hands as wide as they could go.


"Yes! Yes! And there were so many people there, that you would not believe it, Sansa," Arya jumped in with an excited expression on her face, "I have never so many people together in one place before a-and I once even got lost in the port market for a bit," she recounted with a pleased expression as if getting lost was something to be proud about.


"And everything was so white and clean,"


"A-And I saw ships that were bigger than a castle,"


"And the knights, I saw the knights, Sansa. The Knights!!" Bran jumped, excitedly waving his hands in the air, "There were so many of them,"


"I saw them too,"


"And—"


While the children were eagerly regaling their tales of their first trip outside of Winterfell, each trying to outdo the other, Robb had finished greeting his mother and asked her something that had confused him since he entered the castle, "Where is father? Is he not in Winterfell?"


"No, he is, and he was even supposed to welcome you with me but..." Catelyn replied a bit distractedly, as most of her attention had been grabbed by Arya's tale of what happened when she met the fat Lord Manderly and his granddaughters, "A letter suddenly arrived and he went away with the Maester and he had been in his solar since,"


"Letter? From whom?"


"I don't know, he did not tell me, but—"


Before Catelyn could continue, the answer to Robb's question arrived in the form of the guard captain of Winterfell.


"Lord Robb!" Jory Cassel called as he approached them from the Great Hall's direction.


"Jory, How have you been?"


"I have been well," Jory nodded with a smile before he continued in a low voice, "Your Father called you to his solar,"


Robb was confused as to why his father was calling for him the moment he entered Winterfell, but he nodded nonetheless, "I understand." he said while handing Rickon to his mother, "I will go change my clothes and then meet—"


"No, I think it would be better if you meet with him first," Jory insisted quietly.


"Oh," Robb looked surprised for a moment before complying, "Very well, lead the way, then," he said before following after Jory, leaving behind his Mother who was now interrogating Arya on her choice of attire when she presented herself before the Manderly's.


"Do you know why Father is calling for me, Jory?" he asked as they walked along the long cold hallways of the castle.


"I don't, he just told me to get you immediately," Jory replied, then he hesitated for a moment before continuing, "But he looked very serious when I saw him, so I do not think it is good news,"


"Hmm," Robb nodded nonchalantly, but he increased his pace nonetheless so that barely a few minutes passed before he was standing in front of the solar.


"Father," he called while knocking on the door, "You called for me,"


"Come in," came his father's familiar deep voice and Robb immediately opened the door, and saw his father sitting behind his desk with the Maester sitting on one of the two chairs in the front, with both of them sporting grave looks on their faces.


"Sit," he was ordered and then, not asking him about his recent trip as Robb had expected Eddard handed him a letter, "Read this,"


By now, Robb's confusion had turned into complete bewilderment as he took the letter in his hands and saw that it was from Lord Manderly.


Now more than a little nervous, wondering if the wealthiest Lord under his father had sent him a letter complaining about him or his conduct on his trip, he rolled the letter open. But the moment he read the words written on the small piece of parchment in his hands, all his confusion turned to shock and amazement, "What?! Jon killed a Pirate King?"


"So he did not tell you about this either?" Lord Stark sighed as he leaned back in his chair with a disappointed look on his face.


"I told you, My Lord," Maester Luwin said with a small shrug, "Robb would not keep such a thing from you if he had known about it,"


"I know, but... I had hoped," Eddard sighed in frustration before shaking his head.


"But wait, Father, is this news really true? Has it been confirmed? if so, why did Lord Manderly not mention this to me while I was there?" Robb asked with a dazed expression as he finally finished reading the letter and realised that in the short time that he had been gone from Winterfell, and was out of touch with Tiger, Jon's shadow cat, such a big incident had happened in Essos without his knowhow.


"He must have only gotten the news recently, as the letter arrived barely a few hours before you did, but that is not important," he said while looking at Robb with a grim look that immediately him sit up straight, "What is important, is that I had to get such an important piece of news about my own son from the Manderly's. I know how 'close' you keep in touch with Jon, so tell me, why were you not even aware that Jon was entangled with the likes of this Pirate King?"


'Damn you, Jon,' Robb internally screamed at his brother, swearing to beat the shit out of him, the next time he saw his ugly face, for putting him in this situation, "I think, Father, that Jon was probably concerned that if he told you about it, you would worry and—"


"Of course, I would worry," Eddard let out irritatedly in an unusual show of emotion, "These are not common bandits he is up against, but cruel merciless pirates, without a shred of honour or compassion in their blood. And Jon is out there fighting them with his life on the line, with me none the wiser, how am I not supposed to worry?"


There were a few seconds of silence after Eddard finished his tirade before the good Maester cleared his throat and hesitantly spoke, "I do not think Jon is at fault here, My Lord. The Northern Wolf Shipping, that your son established in Essos, is turning out to be very very lucrative, so it was obvious from the start that it would attract all kinds of greedy people... And I feel that with his intelligence, Jon must have thought things through before deciding to attack the pirates,"


The old man was quite fond of young Jon, who had spent almost half a decade learning under him in the Winterfell library, asking him all kinds of curious questions that made even the experienced maester think deeply.


"You do not understand, Maester," Eddard sighed while massaging his forehead, "If it were just one or two pirate captains, I would not be this worried but this is a well-established Pirate King we are talking about here and one that controls almost one-third of the route that goes through the Stepstones. He would have had more ships and sailors under him than even the Manderly's, and the letter clearly states that Jon not only killed the Pirate King but also dismantled his whole fleet... and that is not something to be taken lightly,"


"But, if that is true, My Lord, then where did Jon even get the man for something like this?" Maester Luwin asked with a frown on his face, "Because I did not think that the shipping company under him already possessed enough men to do this?"


"No. As far as I know, he doesn't even have close to that number of men," Eddard denied with a thoughtful look on his face as he wondered how much he even knew about his own son these days.


The moment Robb heard the Maester's question, his eyes abruptly widened as he suddenly remembered something, and after a brief moment of hesitation he decided to open his mouth and come clean, "Er, Father, I may know something about that,"


"What?" Eddard eyes immediately narrowed as he turned back to his son, "What do you mean?"


"Do you recall the massive order that all the blacksmiths in the Blacksmith Alley had been working on for the month leading to my trip to White Harbour?"


"Yes, of course. What of it?"


"Well, you remember how I had told you that the client was a sellswords company called the Company of the Rose from Essos and that it had some Northern roots" he said to which Eddard slowly nodded as he seemed to realise where his son was going with this, "I think that Jon somehow completely brought that company under him and has them working for him."


"Hmm... and how many men does this company have," Eddard asked after a few seconds of silence.


"I would guess around five hundred,"


"That should still not be enough for him to risk something like this,"


"But if you add his other skills..." Robb slowly added in a low voice with a meaningful glance that immediately had his father's eyes light up comprehension but made the Maester frown in confusion.


But before they could continue with their conversation, all three of them suddenly heard a hushed cry of delight from outside the thick door.


"What?! Jon defeated a Pirate King?" came the amazed whisper from Arya.


"Shush, Arya! Not so loud," hissed Sansa in a panicked tone.


"Robb, go deal with your siblings," Eddard said in a tired tone.


"Yes, Father," Robb said with a somewhat relieved tone as he immediately sprung up from his seat to go towards the door. He was quite thankful for his sibling's interruption, as their eavesdropping gave him the excuse to no longer face his father's intense interrogation.


After a momentary stop at the door, Robb abruptly slammed it open, startling his three siblings, who had their ears to the door, into scurrying back in panic as if they were a bunch of cats who were caught stealing milk.


"What were you doing?" Robb in a grave tone, trying his best impression of his father.


"Um,"


While Sansa and Bran guiltily looked away, Arya was just too exhilarated to care and hurriedly asked, "Is it really true, Robb? Did Jon really hunt down the pirate king?" she asked while waving her hands in the air as if she herself was wielding a sword against the said Pirate King, "Wait! Does that mean he will become the King of Pirates now?" she questioned in a hushed voice, her whole body trembling in excitement.


"Of course he will not, Pirates are evil, and since Jon killed them, he is a hero," Bran immediately refuted before turning back to look at Robb with a hopeful look, "He will become a Knight now, right?"


"I don't know," Robb said shaking his head before his voice abruptly became stern as he began chiding them, "And it is not you who should not be asking me questions," he said with his hands on his hips, "Do you not know how rude it is to listen to other people's conversation? And you, Sansa, how could you go along with them?"


"I really did not mean to, it's just... I heard that Jon sent a letter and I just came to see what he sent, but then..." Sansa's eyes wandered and her voice slowly disappeared as she tried to come up with an excuse that didn't make her look a sneak, but in the end, she couldn't come up with anything, so she just gave up, "But did Jon really do it?" she asked with a fascinated look on her face as if she was listening to one of the fairy tales books she liked reading when she was little.


"You!!" Robb was rendered speechless when even the most mature one amongst his siblings became like this, but he knew that he could not leave them like this. So, before his siblings could bombard him with anymore questions, he took a quick glance behind him and slowly closed the door, while acting as if he was still scolding them, "You three should be ashamed of yourself..."


While Robb 'dealt' with his siblings, back inside the solar, the Maester tried to comfort the distressed Eddard in the best way that he could.


"My Lord, at least we are sure that young Jon came out fine from this ordeal, otherwise Lord Manderly would have mentioned it in his letters,"


"Maybe he was fine this time, but what about the next..." Eddard replied with a wry look, "He in the midst of ruthless killers... a small mistake could easily lead him to his death. I don't know what the boy is thinking and why he is taking such big risks?"


"He is not a boy anymore, My lord," Maester Luwin said gently after a while, "That was no skirmish he fought in, but a small war— a war that he led and won, so I think he has earned the recognition from this,"


"I am afraid that other people would also see it that way..."


...


296 AC, KingsLanding


The stands in the overused tourney grounds outside the city were filled to the brim once again but unlike the usual smaller tourneys, that happened every few months at the whims of King Robert, where only the nearby nobles attended, this one was a bit more grandiose, as today was the tenth name day of Prince Joffrey Baratheon, the heir to the crown.


And the Lannister Queen would be remiss in her position as the most beautiful and most powerful (self-proclaimed) person in Westeros if she did not make a grand spectacle out of this. This meant that the full cost for this excessive splendour was borne by the Lannister family, meaning heavier prizes for the competitions, resulting in larger crowds.


News had been sent to all the major and minor noble holdings nearby, and all the people whom the queen felt were proper and important had been invited.


So considering the amount of gold listed as the prize, almost everyone who could come had arrived, whether they be the mighty longbow archers from Stormlands and Riverlands or the valiant Knights from Reach and Vale, and of course, warriors from Westerlands were the most numerous considering whose name day it was.


In fact, the only notable absentees were the warriors of Dorne and the North, but no one noticed them missing anyway...


On the stands, in the front row sat rough men shouting and screaming at the fighters below while excitedly handing their hard-earned coins to the Merchants taking bets, above them sat the noble ladies from the smaller families, gossiping with each other while sending occasional lustful glances at the men fighting in the ring, even a few brats were there standing on their seats eagerly watching the dance of death with awe in their eyes.


Inside the Royal Pavilion, the King sat at the very top with the best view of the ring. But at the moment, he was more interested in the ass of the maid serving him alcohol, than in the men fighting to entertain him.


Below him, sat his small council, with Lord Stannis and Lord Arryn in the middle, while Lord Varys and Lord Baelish sat on either side of them.


The two old lords were discussing state matters in low voices, with Baelish and Varys intermittently dropping their opinions in the form of wise comments.


The last member of the small council, Lord Renly, had left his seat in boredom and was now standing beside his royal nieces and nephew, more interested in watching the melee with them than in the conversation behind him.


"... and with Tyrosh being the closest, they were the first ones to notice, so they immediately sent a quick force to take advantage of the opening left by the sudden vacuum and take possession of the route. But it is expected that none of the other cities, especially Braavos or Volantis, would let them have this piece of pie, as no one wanted a repeat of those sky-high tariffs from history, so they all should be sending their own force to keep the others in check... this has made the whole narrow sea more turbulent than ever, and while trade has not been particularly affected yet, it is only a matter of time,"


"And you are telling me... that all this happened because of Jon Snow, Ned's boy?" Lord Arryn asked incredulously and Stannis nodded his head with a grim look on his face, "How? The boy is less than fifteen years old, how can he achieve something like that?"


"The boy is quite famous at the moment, Lord Hand," Varys suddenly entered the conversation with a small smile on his face, "From Braavos to Volantis, sailors in almost every port city in West Essos know his name now. His shipping company is even more famous amongst the wealthy nobles and merchants of the free cities. My little birds tell me that the space on his ships had been booked in advance for months," he then leaned forward and whispered as if telling them a big secret, "I have heard that they are even calling him the next Sea Snake,"


"Who are 'they'?" Petyr Baelish asked with a thin smile on his face.


"Merchants, Sailors, Captains and even Pirates," Varys replied without skipping a beat, "That reminds me, Lord Baelish, did you not comment that the boy is just a lucky bastard who was reaching for more than he could digest and that he will sink sooner or later," he asked with a very innocent look on his face, "It seems your prediction turned out to be wrong this time. Not only did the boy not sink, but he is thriving as if he were a fish in the sea,"


Petyr's lips twitched as he replied, "I do not recall saying that,"


"You don't? Ah, then I must have remembered incorrectly," Varys replied with a simpering laugh, that immediately made Stannis grit his teeth in annoyance and regret his decision of taking a seat beside the eunuch.


"Regardless," Lord Arryn cleared his throat and tried to bring the conversation back to the topic, "Lord Stannis, do you think this incident... would also affect the trade between Westeros and Essos?"


"Most probably, yes. But how much of an effect it would have is hard to say.," Stannis frowned before shaking his head, "The boy has been very open about his Westerosi roots, so it would be very easy for the Nobles and Keyholders of Essos to assume that we are backing all of his... adventures, and that could make them more wary of us,"


"Ah! This is a mess," The old Lord Hand groaned while massaging his forehead, "All this just because the boy killed some pirate whose name I have never even heard of,"


While Jon Arryn was quite knowledgeable about the affairs of the Seven Kingdoms, the same could not be said of the lands and seas outside of it, so it was hard for him to comprehend the intricate webs and the delicate balance that lay between the free cities.


"It is not the pirate who is important, My lord, but the route that the pirate controlled involved an important choke point through the Stepsotnes, the most valuable sea route in the Narrow Sea," Petyr Baelish explained with narrowed eyes, "If the boy has the ambition to follow the likes of Daemon Targyrean, then he could very well establish himself on that little island and call himself the King of Stepstones and Narrow Sea," he finished with a smirk that implied that what he was not saying that as a compliment.


"That would definitely not happen," Lord Arryn immediately denied with a shake of his head, "Ned would not allow it,"


"Ned?! Did you Ned?" The good King Robert who had been until now completely ignoring the discussion as useless gossiping, immediately latched on to the name of his best friend and leaned forward with a curious look on his face, "What would Ned not allow?"


Jon Arryn sighed in vexation, thinking that his former ward was only ever interested in state matters when it concerned the people he liked, but he turned back and slowly explained everything nonetheless, such was his job.


And the moment his Lord Hand finished explaining, the King burst out laughing, "Haha, I knew that the boy was going to big when you told me about him in that last meeting, but even I did not expect that he would make his name this soon... and to do it by hunting down a Pirate King and his crew of degenerates. Ha! This is the kind of thing they write songs about, the boy is living the life," he finished with a hint of envy in his voice.


The Kingsguard on guarding duty that day was the Kingslayer, and having heard more than enough praises from these small council members about that Northerner's bastard, he couldn't stop himself from commenting, "Surely Lord Varys was exaggerating the boy's tales, you grace. He is barely fourteen, isn't he, so how could he have the ability to fight and lead a battle against pirates? Or maybe, he just hid at the back and let his father's men do the job for him," he finished with a snort.


"He is a northerner, Lannister, and they don't order their men from the back like cowards," King Robert retorted before Varys could and while he did not say it, it was heavily implied that he wanted to add, 'Unlike your father,' at the end.


"You are right of course, your grace," Varys said with a small smile and a bow, "As far as my little birds tell me, Jon Snow did not in fact receive any help from his father, all the boy seems to have used in this endeavour of his were the sailors under him as well as a small sellswords company with faint Northern roots dating back to the time of Aegon Targaryen I,"


"Ha! I knew it!" he said while looking smugly at the kingslayer whose lips twitched in annoyance but he nodded nonetheless acknowledging his loss, "Ah! This won't do, we need to reward the boy," he said with a thoughtful frown on his face before he abruptly slapped his meaty palm on his thigh, "I know! we should knight the boy," he announced in excitement.


This startled the small council members who looked at each other with helpless looks on their faces, and once again it fell onto the bent shoulder of old Jon Arryn to dissuade his king from his stupidity, "I do not think that is appropriate, your grace. First of all, the boy is barely fourteen years old, and even the youngest knight in history—" his eyes flickered to Jamie Lannister who had stiff look on his face, "—was 15 years old before he was knighted,"


"That's even better, the title of youngest knight ever would be perfect for him," the more the king thought about the more excited he got, "We could make an event out of it, even organise a big tourney, haha,"


Thankfully the queen had already left, after getting irritated by the King's promiscuity, otherwise who knows how livid she would get if she knew that her Lord husband was planning a Tourney in the honour of some Northern bastard while completely ignoring the one that was happening on her son's name day.


"But your grace, you need to remember that the boy is from the North and he surely follows the Old Gods, so maybe he would not even agree to be knighted,"


"He will agree to it when he knows that it is the order of his king," Robert said stubbornly, "Besides he is a bastard, and like all bastards, he probably craves name and recognition more than anything, so you just need to send him a letter and he will come running,"


"And how you grace..." Petyr Baelish suddenly interjected with a raised eyebrow, "Do you want us to send this letter? Because, as far as I know, this Jon Snow, is a wanderer who spends more time at sea than on land. He could be in any of the free cities at any time, how can we even reach him,"


"I don't care about that," Robert huffed waving his hands impatiently, "Varys, it is your job to get the news to the boy and have him present in Kingslanding,"


"As you wish, your grace," Varys said simply with an unperturbed look on his face.


"Ah, maybe this would finally force that cold brute in the North to move from his seat and come visit me," The king murmured in a wistful tone before he once again got distracted with the maid standing behind him.


///

 

[oscar e Sampedro Lopez]

Thanks for the chapter. Great story as always

 

[ATP]

@LazyWizard , thanks for great chapter.
Jon could become knight if it made King happy - but he could use trip to Westeros to kill Mountain...problem is,how to do so without people knowing that he killed him.
Maybe go to Casterly Rock to deliver diary of his brother? he do not need it anymore.

 

[LazyWizard]

Inside the spacious cabin of his new ship, the White Wolf, Jon was sitting cross-legged on his bed.


His hands were on his thighs in front of his stomach, his back leaning against the wall, and his eyes, while wide open, had no pupils inside them, showing two scary unseeing eyes to the outside world.


Ever since Jon had mastered the art of conscious warging, he rarely went into the state of deep warging with Frost, his ice eagle, where his main body became completely defenceless and unaware of his surroundings.


However, whenever the distance becomes particularly large or if he has to cross a special monument like The Wall, Jon is forced to send his consciousness deep inside Frost to be able to see things clearly.


Today, happened to be the day of his weekly check-up on how things were coming along with his business partners beyond the wall.


And usually, he did these surveys during the night when there was less risk to his vulnerable human body.


But he sent Frost during the day this time for two reasons, firstly, his fleet of ships was just about to reach the city of Braavos, meaning that there was little chance of a pirate attack disturbing his concentration.


And secondly, like anyone who's ever seen a map of Essos and Westeros knows, Braavos was one of the cities closest to North in Essos, which meant that with her speed, Frost had more than enough time to make a round trip before their ships even reached the port.


Speaking of which, at that moment, Jon finally saw through his friend's eyes as the majestic wonder known as the Wall appeared in his sight.


No matter how many times Jon saw it, he was always amazed by it and could not comprehend the sheer tenacity the Northerners in history must have had to create a marvel like this.


While taking in the beauty of the Wall, he caught sight of the little black structure embedded against the foot of the Wall, commonly known as Castle black.


With Frost's keen eyes, Jon could easily make out the hundreds of black brothers moving to and fro with enthusiasm in their steps... one would have been hard-pressed to find such energy in anyone in this miserable place just a few years ago.


Everywhere he looked, he could see men with wooden planks and hammers in their hands going about repairing every room, stairs, and structure that needed it, and their diligence was already showing signs as the castle looked sturdier than it had been in a century.


One could find many reasons for this sudden emergence of vitality on the wall, such as the North as a whole becoming richer, resulting in the Lords getting more taxes and becoming more generous in their donations to the Wall, or the continued absence of any prominent Wildling or Iron Born attack in such a long time had left most men with too much free time on their hands.


But no matter from which angle you looked at it, all the changes always pointed to Jon as their source. And everyone in the North was well aware of it...


Because, after all, his sailors under the command of Dacey Mormont were still regularly sending supplies to the wall, with no strings attached.


These weekly supplies meant that not only were the Men in this dreary place better fed but that they also had enough timber, nails and other things to work with, leaving them with no excuse not to work on repairs, and since it was still 'summer' at its peak, even at the wall, the work was happening at a fast pace.


Even a treacherous place such as the top of the Wall was bustling with men moving up and down using the newly repaired lift.


Frost was thankfully hundreds of feet higher than even the tallest portion of the Wall, so there was no chance of any of Night's Watch members catching sight of her.


A few seconds later, they finally flew past the Wall, and the moment Frost crossed over it, Jon felt his connection with her abruptly become muffled... it felt as if he was passing through a field that kept interfering with their bond.


Fortunately, the obstruction did not last long, and barely a hundred meters away from the wall, as if they had passed some sort of check, the connection again became as clear as it was before.


Jon's heart beat furiously every time he experienced this, but he was never too worried about Frost during their separation because he knew that there was nothing in the sky that could even remotely come close to hurting his friend.


After all, birds like ravens or eagles could not even survive the cold winds that occupied the heights that Frost flew at, so it did not matter if they lost contact for a few minutes.


With the connection stable once again, Jon finally caught sight of the breathtaking view of the untamed wilderness known as the True North.


The barren landscape filled with untouched mountains, rivers, and forests, with each of them covered in a thick blanket of snow, took over his entire view.


The sheer beauty of it was mesmerizing to him, no matter how many times Jon saw it. There was just something awe-inspiring about nature that had not been sullied by humans.


Even the few wildlings who acted as informants for the Night's Watch and lived relatively closer to the wall, such as Caster and his 'wives', had either been taken care of or been quietly moved away by Mance, leaving the place almost completely devoid of humans.


And while he saw a few rangers here and there, they were few and far between.


The lack of any hostility from the wildlings had left them completely blind, and while it did unsettle the commander, the same could not be said about his subordinates, as they were more than happy to forget about their sworn enemies and leave them to their devices, especially with all the work on their hands.


A short while later, Jon crossed an absurdly massive mountain range, and the moment he did, he caught sight of the valley where the King-Beyond-The-Wall had decided to set up his kingdom.


Tents upon tents made of animal hides, furs and scavenged wood were scattered haphazardly as far as the eye could see. Smoke from dozens of fires curled into the sky, mingling with the crisp northern air.


Men, Women, children, and even giants roamed freely, covered in their weathered but thick clothes.


Animals of all kinds, such as goats, sheep, horses, and large shaggy dogs, prowled between the tents, growling and mewing at all passersby. There were even a few Mammoths skirting at the edges being cared for by the friendly giants.


All these different clans of freefolk, who would have been at each other's throats a few years ago, were now going about their jobs with hardly any fights (as they don't consider it a proper fight until someone loses a limb or two)


Some were skinning animals, some sharpening their weapon, and others were making arrows; there was hardly anyone sitting idly by.


From what Jon could notice, the population of this sprawling wildling camp had increased once again since the time he had last seen it, which meant that Mance had probably managed to persuade a few more of the neighbouring tribes.


Enough time had passed by now that even the more stubborn tribes, who had been reluctant to join them, could see that all the promises that Mance had made were kept and that not only was he providing a safe shelter to everyone, but everyone who came under his camp was being provided with enough food for them and their families to survive.


In the dreary future of their people that was once shrouded in the darkest of nights, Mance Rayder presented the faint light of hope for them to escape their destiny.


At the very end of the camp, just before the forest cover started, lay the biggest and most 'luxurious' tent of all.


A few guards vigilantly patrolled the outside of this tent. Though if anyone dared to call them 'guards' would get their ass handed to them, because they were, after all, not guards but free men who were here by their own will to protect their king.


Frost flew circles above the tent while slowly lowering her height towards warmer air.


It took a few minutes, but eventually, one of the wildling guards happened to catch sight of her majestic form from the corner of his eye, and his reaction, while extreme, was expected.


His mouth opened in a soundless scream as he fell onto his butt while pointing a shaky finger towards the sky, with his mouth opening and closing as if unable to believe what he was seeing.


It did not take long for the others to take notice of this anomaly, and almost simultaneously, they raised their weapons while vigilantly searching the sky for the source of danger.


Thankfully, one of the older guards, who had followed Mance for a long time, had seen Frost on one of her previous trips and knew what she represented, so he immediately lowered his bow in relief before making the others do the same.


After barking an order at a nearby wildling who immediately went into the tent, he turned to his fellow freefolk and scoffed at their scared expression.


He then began smugly berating them for being cowards who were getting terrified of a simple bird, as if he hadn't reacted the same when he saw the deadly visage of Frost for the first time.


The commotion outside the King's tent had attracted the attention of nearby wildlings, who began gathering in droves to find out what the clamour was about, and the moment they caught sight of the lofty queen of sky flying above their heads, gasps rang through the crowd as they finally got to see the mythical bird that they had only heard rumours about.


Fortunately, before the panic could fully set in amongst them and cause something like a stampede, Mance Rayder burst out of the tent with a flustered expression on his face.


Following behind him were the Men and Women whom Jon recognised as the leaders of various Freefolk tribes, such as Styr, the Magnar of Thenn, Harma Dogshead, Mother Mole, and of course, Tormund Giantsbane.


From the looks of it, the King-Beyond-The-Wall had been in an important meeting with his fellow leaders when he was disturbed by the strange news of the arrival of Jon's flying friend.


But even though Mance was a little surprised by Jon's unexpected visit during the day, instead ofat night, he was not caught too off guard, as he had already prepared all the reports he needed to send with Jon this time.


These so-called reports were just parchments upon parchments filled with the list of all the goods that they had managed to extract from the North in this period of time, whether they be furs, wood, rare herbs or the bags of low-quality silver that they had managed to excavate from their new mine.


In addition to these, the parchments also contained the number of various supplies that the wildling camp needed delivered when the next shipment arrived, these included various basic necessities such as grains, animal feeds, salt, and, of course, good quality steel tools.


This information exchange was very necessary because Dacey and her fleet were most of the time too busy with matters in Reach to visit the true North themselves.


So they used Val and the small crew that she had assembled from the Wildlings as an intermediary, and depending on the quantity of goods exchanged during that period, Dacey had to add or reduce the number of ships loaned to Val during that supply run.


And, even though in the beginning they had worked based on a rough barter system, things were a lot cleaner now.


Jon had Dacey keep a proper record of everything they had procured from the True North, how much they sold it for in the South, how much their own costs were, and after subtracting a hefty profit from the sum, the rest was used to buy the goods for the Wildlings, so it was no longer a charity in any sense.


And any excess gold left after all that was held by Jon in the name of Mance Rayder and the Wildlings as a collective, because as the wildling leader once said to him, the Freefolk had little use for these soft metals while struggling against the bitter cold of the True North.


The parchment of course, also contained any news that Mance felt was necessary for Jon to know, things such as the current wildling population, the names of the various tribes who were still resisting the call to gather, the current state of the task Jon gave him of searching for a pregnant direwolf mother, and of course, if there were any sighting of their... true enemy.


It took a while, but Mance eventually stopped gawking at the sky and turned towards the crowd of wildlings, who were still murmuring and pointing towards the sky like dumb monkeys. He opened his mouth and let out a fierce bellow in the Old Tongue, calling them to calm down.


His shout awoke his guards, who immediately went to work and began pushing the reluctant wildlings away from the tent.


Slowly but surely, a large enough space was cleared in front of the tent with the crowd of wildlings silently looking on without any intention to leave.


While all this was happening, Mance had gone inside his tent to bring out a thick roll of parchment, and then, after a quick look towards the sky, he slowly walked towards the centre of the clearing and placed the parchments on the ground before backing away.


Frost circled the sky a few more times as if enjoying the looks of awe in the eyes of these two-legged savages, before she finally lowered herself and decided to land, precisely on the ground beside a roll of parchment.


Even with her wings tucked beside her and standing on her claws, Frost was still taller than any of the men or women standing in the field, that is, of course, not counting the giants.


By this time, quite a large crowd had gathered and every single one of them had their eyes glued to the majestic creature standing in front of them, unconsciously holding their breath.


Some looked at her reverently as if she were a god, while others looked at her with trepidation, their instincts screaming at them that the being in front of them was a deadly predator capable of taking their lives in an instant.


The reason Jon took the risk of having Frost land amidst this crowd of rough wildlings, with a bow or a spear in every other hand, was not because he was arrogant enough to think that Frost was somehow invincible and that she would not be hurt even if they shot hundreds of arrows at her, because that would be stupid as there was nothing in this world that was unbeatable, not even dragons.


But he still did it because only after seeing Frost with their own eyes, would these wildlings be able to verify that the rumours were actually true that there really was a legendary Southerner named Jon who commanded a legion of beasts and birds, one of which was The Kraken, god of sea, who had toyed with Rattleshirt as if he was a child.


It would make things easier for Mance in the future, as even the unruliest of wildlings weren't able to keep their legs from trembling when Frost's eyes passed over them, and he was sure that they would all be very willing to follow their king's order from now on and work hard to earn their keep instead of lazing around.


But it was nonetheless true that there was a lot of danger involved in letting Frost come out here in front of all of them, and in fact, Jon would not have even considered doing this if his friend hadn't recently acquired a trump card that would make mob attacks almost useless against her.


It had happened barely a few weeks ago when Frost was out hunting a small bear in an unnamed Forest in the North.


She had, of course, been very successful in her ambush and had managed to turn the little bear's brain into mush with a single peck of her deadly beak. But trouble arrived in the form of a fierce roar just as she was about to fly away with the game in her claws.


She immediately looked up only to find a much, much larger bear barreling towards her with the fury of a winter storm.


Now, while Frost was supremely confident in her speed and knew that she could easily get away long before the bear even arrived near her, the same could not be said if she also had to carry her hard-earned (not that hard actually) prize with her as the heavy burden would slow her down too much, even with her wing size.


So she had to make a quick decision, on whether to give up her game, and fly away like a coward in defeat or to stand her ground spread her wings, raise her claws to fight and hope that the big angry bear gets scared away because she knew that if it came to battle, she would not be able to win, at least not easily, what with the beast's massive size.


One wouldn't be able to guess from her normal interactions with Jon, but Frost was a very prideful being who considered herself the mightiest creature alive in this world and looked down on other beasts, including the two-legged, as lesser beings.


So being forced to give up her prey and flee in fear because of a dumb bear made her feel incredibly humiliated.


In her panic and frustration at her inability to come up with a good enough solution, Frost became increasingly agitated.


And then, when the Bear was barely a few meters away from her, and when her rage was at its peak, she felt like something was bubbling up inside her as if all of her pent-up aggression wanted to blast out of her...


And in the end, she did not restrict it and instead, she let go...


And it all came bursting out of her in the form of a primal piercing cry.


This cry was very different from her normal shrieks, which she used to intimidate and establish her dominance over other animals. It was a more brutal, more ancient kind of cry that had not been heard in this world for centuries.


In her anger and frustration, Frost had somehow managed to unearth an ancestral survival skill that had been hidden deep inside her genes until now.


The cry did not last very long, but it still left Frost very winde,d and when she eventually closed her beak and looked at the scene in front of her, she was bewildered to find that her enemy, the black bear, had for some reason crashed into the ground.


For a few moments, she just stood there with a confused look in her eyes, wondering why the stupid bear was just lying there, twitching.


At first, she assumed that it was some kind of a trick to get her to lower her guard, but then the stupid bear suddenly began bleeding from its eyes, nose, and its ears, scaring the shit out of her.


Very much unnerved by the strange happenings now, Frost immediately decided to call upon Jon, her two-legged friend, as she knew that he was a very smart man and that he would be able to come up with some kind of explanation for her.


When a perplexed Jon eventually arrived and learned the gist of the situation from Frost, through images and feelings, he, too, at first, was taken aback by the strange phenomena of the bear's abrupt death.


But then he began to look at the surroundings closely and almost immediately he noticed that the bear was not the only casualty here, as many small critters in the nearby vicinity, such as a squirrel, a snake and even a bird, were showing the exact same symptoms of twitching bodies and bleeding orifices.


At that very moment, a strange hypothesis began to arise in his mind.


It felt too much like a wild fantasy to be the truth, but that was the only way that Jon could make sense of the situation in front of him.


Now, more than a little excited about the prospects of Frost's strange new skill, Jon immediately urged his good friend to change their location and to try her cry once again.


Frost was a bit reluctant at first, as this ability had an incredibly tiring effect on her body, but she couldn't resist Jon's persuasion for too long and had to follow his request.


And the result was... everything that Jon had hoped for.


They did three distinct tests in different environments on all kinds of creatures, and the conclusion was that not a single one of them, whether they be a deer, a boar, a bird, or even a fucking pack of wolves, could survive her piercing cry.


In his excitement, Jon wanted to continue until they had tested it on all the animals present in that forest, but the three cries left Frost so exhausted that she even had trouble flying, so he had to reluctantly put a stop to his experiments.


But it did not matter too much in the end, because Jon was already very sure that his buddy, his best friend, his one-of-a-kind magical eagle, had somehow miraculously managed to acquire a legendary Area of Effect ability.


It was an ability that felt as if it came straight out of the wet dream of a game developer from his previous world.


While there were some cons, such as the range of its effects not being very large, the power of the attack decreasing exponentially as the distance increased, and Frost not being able to use it too many times, they were all very minor.


One would be hard-pressed to deny that it was a skill that could make one almost invincible, especially in this low-tier magic world.


And while this cry attack had not been tested on humans yet, Jon could not think of any reason why it wouldn't work, because, after all, humans were, in the end, nothing more than large monkeys.


This incidental discovery was the main reason behind Jon's confidence in having Frost land in the midst of the Wildling camp without worrying, as he knew that a single attack from her would leave all of her assailants regretting their life choices.


Thankfully, though, none of the wildlings were stupid enough to try anything, and Frost was able to safely take away the roll of parchment left by Mance on the ground.


After a quick nod at Mance, Jon had Frost take off and start back her journey towards the South under the awe-filled eyes of the Wildlings.


But just as Frost passed the Wall and Jon was wondering if he had enough time for a quick visit to Winterfell for a reunion, his main body suddenly heard a knock on the door of his cabin.


'I thought I told them not to disturb me,' Jon thought with a frown on his face, but he came out of the deep warging state nonetheless.


After telling Frost to make her way back to him before sunset, Jon stood up from his bed and walked to the door where the knocking had gotten a bit urgent by now.


"What happened?" He asked curiously as he opened the door, only to see Bran, the commander's son, standing there with a weird expression, "Did we reach Braavos, already?"


"No, not yet," he replied while shaking his head, still maintaining that strange but excited expression on his face, "But we can already see the shore from the deck, so they are calling for you."


"That's it?" he asked exasperatedly as he came out of his room, "Is this the first time you all came to Braavos? Did you all get too excited after seeing the Titans in all their glory?" he asked with a snort as the young boy, who was actually older than Jon, led him towards the deck.


"No... we have been to Braavos before," he replied slowly while leading him up towards the deck, "It is just that, we have never been on the receiving end of such an... enthusiastic reception before,"


"Huh? What enthu—" Jon's question abruptly got caught in his throat as he finally caught sight of the reception his friend was talking about.


There, standing on the deck, in front of him were almost all of the crew, including Gared, Oberyn and The Advisor, who stood at the very forefront.


And without exception, every single one of them had their eyes glued towards the port in the distance, where a sea of men, women and children were looking excitedly towards their fleet of ships as if they were awaiting the arrival of Aegon the Conqueror.


"How did they even know?" Jon mumbled as he came to stand beside Oberyn, who was closely monitoring the excitement on the coast through a far-eye.


"Well, what else did you expect?' Gared answered with a somewhat nervous glance at the crowd that was large enough to completely swallow his completely of sellswords, "We did let quite a few of those pirates escape to other islands in Stepstones during the night attack, and not to mention our brief stay at Tyrosh to sell those 'excess' pirate ships... the news was bound to spread sooner or later,"


"No, I am not talking about that," Jon replied while shaking his head, "I am just curious about how these people even knew that our ships were going to arrive on this exact day..."


"Oh, I know who you can blame for that," Oberyn quipped with an amused look in his eyes as he took off the far-eye and handed it over to Jon, "Look at the very front. You will find your fat friend smushed in between some guards,"


"What?" Jon asked reflexively as he hurriedly put the far-eye on to look in at the shore, and sure enough, his friend, Samwell Tarly, was standing there at the very edge of the port looking nervously at the crowd around him as if he was expecting them to jump at him at any moment.


Thankfully, he also caught sight of Darrio the Banker, his puppet in the Iron Bank, standing beside him, which meant that the guards, in the protective sphere around them, were called by him.


It only took a single look at his friend's face for Jon to know that Oberyn's hypothesis was probably correct and that Sam was the leak of their fleet's arrival time.


Even though his friend from Westeros had slimmed down after months of training, had grown taller, and become muscular enough to pass for a Mercenary, the improvements were all physical, and on the inside, he was still very much a pushover.


In fact, Jon could easily imagine the scene of a forceful merchant slowly extracting the information out of his friend through sweet talk, coercion, and false promises.


And it would not have taken too long for the information to spread from there, because one can hardly expect a Merchant to keep his mouth shut and not profit from a secret.


"But still, this is too much, isn't it?" Gared muttered while pointing at the massive turnout of people at the port, "Why are so many people willing to waste their time standing in the sun just to see us? It is not like we will be handing out free money... Do these people not have anything better to do?"


"They probably don't," Jon muttered with a wry smile, as he knew how entertainment-starved the small folk in this world were.


"You should look at it from their perspective," Oberyn added with a thinking expression on his face, "They must have all been very shocked when they first learned that their mighty fleet of Braavosi warships were not only attacked but also fled in defeat from pirates, and then to add to their humiliation, they then learned that instead of taking revenge themselves, all the Iron Bank was going to do was to put up a bounty on him, and hope that someone kills him, silently admitting that they would not be able to locate, and defeat this cruel Pirate King and his crew,"


"But then came the news that Jon Snow," he exclaimed while exaggeratedly patting Jon's shoulder with a smirk, "the famous captain from Westeros, who had already been the talk of the town because of his shipping company, had not only managed to kill the Pirate King but also completely wiped out his fleet, making the ocean a much safer place for everyone,"


"That's a bit of an exaggeration..." Jon muttered, but Oberyn ignored him and continued.


"Now, imagine these tales spreading through the local taverns and brothels for days with each retelling adding a bit of embellishment to the stories," he said with an animated expression on his face, "So, of course, these people would be excited to see the mysterious man from Westeros and his heroic crew who had vanquished the evil Pirate King,"


"Ah," Gared nodded with a look of comprehension, "Then, their excitement makes a bit more sense..."


"Alas, I would not be able to join in the festivities," Oberyn mumbled with a disappointed sigh.


"Huh? What?" Gared asked with a confused expression as the sound of the crowd was starting to reach them by now, making it hard for him to hear Oberyn.


"Nothing," he replied while shaking his head before turning towards his friend from the North, "Jon, can I talk to you for a moment?"


"Huh? Sure," Jon nodded distractedly, before taking the far-eye off of his eye and following the Dornish prince towards a quiet corner.


"What's wrong? Something happened?"


"Nothing's wrong," Oberyn replied while looking at Jon with a rueful smile on his face, "I just wanted to tell you... that it is time for us to part ways."


Jon looked confused for a moment before his eyes widened in understanding, and he turned towards the bustling with a complicated look on his face, "Because of them,"


"Hm," Oberyn nodded in confirmation, "You have been able to keep under the radar until now somehow, but I do not think that would be viable any longer... In fact, I can bet you that there are more than a couple of Varys' little birds mingling among the crowd out there, just waiting to catch a glimpse of you and report on all your actions,"


"You're most probably right about that," Jon conceded with a sigh, 'And not to mention the others,' he thought as the images of all the various cunning nobles from Westeros appeared in his mind.


"And we do not want our connections to be known 'publicly', if we want to go through with the plan that you told me about,"


"Oh, so you believe in my ability now," Jon asked with a raised eyebrow.


"It is hard not to," Oberyn shrugged helplessly as if it was completely out of his control, "You had sounded like a mad-man when you told me that you could get us into the Westerlands, kill Tywin Lannister's dogs and then quietly get us out, with the Lannisters and their lackeys none the wiser,"


"And now..."


"Now? Well, now that I have watched you do the things, that you did in Stepstones," he replied with a reminiscing expression on his face, "I believe there are very few things in the world, that I would not think you capable of accomplishing," he praised without a hint of exaggeration, "So now that I know your plan is feasible, I think it is high time for me to head home, and prepare for our journey into the lion's den so that I will be ready when you come to pick me up,"


"And how exactly do you intend to 'prepare'?"


"Oh, you know the usual," Oberyn replied as he rotated the kinks out of his shoulder, "Some exercises here and there, some training bouts with my brother's guard, a couple of bandit extermination, and of course, plenty of meat, that should be enough to get my strength and stamina back up to my peak,"


"Ah, you don't need to worry that much. Because if you get tired and your joints give up halfway through, then I will be there to pick up the slack after you, old man," Jon teased with an innocent smile on his face.


Oberyn snorted disdainfully at that, "You may be younger than me, boy, but I bet I can still run circles around you."


"Yes, yes, sure you can," Jon replied sarcastically.


"Do you want to bet on it?" Oberyn asked with a challenging gleam in his eyes, "After all, we still have not had a proper fight between us."


"Did we not?" Jon asked with a raised eyebrow, "Because if I remember correctly, then—"


"A proper one," Oberyn interrupted forcefully, "Without you using your bow or any kind of poison," he said, not a hint of embarrassment on his face.


"Sure, I can give you as many handicaps as you want," he said in a magnanimous tone, that irritated the Dornish prince like nothing else.


"Ugh, I can not wait to wipe that cocky smirk off of your face," he said, now more than sufficiently motivated to train his hardest for their future match.


"I will look forward to it," he said smugly, still not letting off his provocations, "Oh, and before I forget," Jon said as he suddenly remembered something and began rummaging through his pockets before he pulled out a folded piece of parchment, "Take this,"


"Huh? What is this?" Oberyn asked while opening the paper, only to see a list consisting of various dos and don'ts.


1. Avoid Rich meats and Seafood such as...


2. Increase intake of green vegetables and fruits(such as figs, dates, and citrus fruits) and...


3. Drink Turmeric or Ginger tea daily...


4. Limit alcohol consumption, especially sweet wine and...


...


"Your brother is suffering from Gout, right?" Jon asked, and Oberyn nodded with a confused look on his face, "Well, this here is a cure that I remember reading in an old book in the Winterfell library years ago, so I had someone send it to me."


That was, of course, not true as there was no such book in Winterfell, but that was the best excuse Jon could come up with.


The actual source of this so-called cure was a medical webnovel that Jon had read in his previous life, and he vaguely remembered the protagonist mentioning something about Gout not being an incurable disease and that it could be brought under control just through some dietary changes.


While he was not sure if this cure would work as well as it had in the novel, where it let a man run a marathon after just a few months of it, he could at least be sure that it would only result in positive changes.


"And you think that this 'cure' would actually work when even the best Maesters from Citadel were not able to do anything?"


"As I said, this is an ancient remedy... meaning that it would not have been written down if it did not actually work,"


"If you say so," Oberyn replied, still looking a bit sceptical but he put the parchment in his pocket nonetheless, "Well, if nothing else, these remedies at least don't look that hard to implement... except for the spicy food part, because like any other proper Dornish man, my brother is very fond of his spices and to have him abstain from it would be very hard,"


"Oh, I am sure you can persuade him with your wiles,"


"Yes, yes, I am a very cunning man with all kinds of schemes, and you are just the epitome of innocence," Oberyn replied, rolling his eyes.


"I am glad you finally accepted the truth," Jon said, nodding his head sagely.


Oberyn gave Jon the stinky eye before wryly shaking his head, "Farewell then, Jon Snow," he said, raising his right hand, "Hopefully, I will see you soon."


"You are leaving already?" he asked confusedly, as he shook the hand of his only friend from the opposite side of Westeros.


"Yes. I will take Obara and sneak away on a smaller boat. After all, I do not want to come between you and the crowd's adulations for you," he said with a small smile before turning around and calling for his daughter, who was standing at the front conversing with Bran, "Obara! Come here,"


'I will miss him," Jon thought with a forlorn look on his face as he looked at the back of the Dornish prince.


There were very few people in this world who were as fun to be around as the Red Viper, and with him gone, life would go back to being about all work and dull, boring days at sea.


A few seconds later, Jon shook off his despondence and turned towards the port with a revived look on his face, 'Let us see what these people have in store for me,' he thought as their ships slowly approached the shore.


///

 

[oscar e Sampedro Lopez]

Thanks for the chapter