114 Last chance

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 I had promised three chapters this week and I always fulfill my promise.

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POV of Lothar von Ruppin eighth moon 284 AC

Skagos, everything had progressed well as aleksanteri preferred to wait and be patient before continuing our hunt for recruits for the Finns and it seems that the man's intelligence is as great as his skill.

By the time we sailed a little further north we had the big problem that the sails of the ship were frozen hard as stone and also the ropes for the knots leaving our ship almost without maneuvering we had to use a kind of oils and grease to avoid them freezing so fast increasing our operational range, but there were no reserves for a big expedition to the north.

Because of this all our efforts were devoted to turning the island of skagos into the largest prison in the world, before our arrival ships were scarcer than men without wild behavior and were quickly taken over by our men and used for two things, guarding the waters so that no one could escape and call for help and at the same time fishing, the land is so cold that nothing grows, only one place and that is the castle of the previous owners of the port who had followed the example of the North men

And it has a kind of greenhouse with thermal water but it is barely enough to satisfy the consumption of four hundred men for three months, although the first idea was to try to expand this system without the help of someone specialized in this field it was difficult and we depend a lot on my knowledge although I learned a lot when I was in charge of helping in the expansion of the fields when I was learning to rule.

We just have to hope that what we did will work, if skagos is to become a permanent Finnish base it is absolutely necessary to be self-sufficient since we cannot count on regular shipments from the vaterland.

Today an emissary from the king was to arrive at the island to officially declare a Finn as governor and act according to the legality of the Prussian laws and then we will have to make a patrol to make sure that all the trees on the mainland island are where they should be and that they do not try to make ships out of them.

When I went to the port, I found that Aleksanteri was already there with a presence that made me uncomfortable. Among these witches that control animals there are some that quickly began to collaborate with us and had served to help control the island more quickly but I was a little worried with the ease with which we opened the doors and the confidence that Aleksanteri gave them that they had already removed the chains and were walking freely through the port.

We waited several minutes when the sails with the mark of the Teutonic order appeared in the distance and docked in the harbor.

A Teutonic knight stepped off the ship carrying papers with the royal seal.

The knight looked at the group of Finns waiting for him and spoke

''With the recognition of the state of Prussia to the people of Finland and their autonomy of governance, I ask you our brother people whom you have chosen as the governor of skagos according to your traditions?'' said the Teutonic knight in Finnish.

Aleksanteri rose from his chair and took one of his men by the shoulder and led him into the presence of the Teutonic knight.

''Kalevi, very experienced in the army and a good administrator, the best choice among my men,'' said Aleksanteri.

the Teutonic knight upon hearing the name, broke the seal of the letter and began to read

''His royal majesty Wilhelm von Hohenzollern, king in Prussia, margrave of Brandenburg prince elector of Brandenburg... ... ... ... appoints the Finn Kalevi as governor of skagos the period of this appointment will govern under the Finnish traditions, you are expected to rule with a fist of steel and keep the locals at bay'' said the Teutonic knight again in Finnish.

Then there was a small ceremony where he was given a governor's seal.

''I thought it would be you who would be the ruler of these savages'' I said to aleksanteri.

''And chaining the best weapon the king in Prussia has for high risk missions?, never my ability would only be ruined I must always be on the front lines where my life constantly depends on my survival skills and not that the numbers add up'' said aleksanteri as he watched the ceremony take place.

We waited patiently until the ceremony was over

''Well, back to work, we must have a foundation in place for the next phase of the plan'' said Aleksanteri, but the Teutonic knight interrupted him.

''Lothar von Ruppin, the king claims you before his presence, you must return with me to kingslandig to be given new missions'' said the Teutonic knight handing me a letter with the seal of the Hohenzollern eagle.

Before I could read it, Aleksanteri took it from the hands of the teutonic knight and broke the seal.

''That letter is only for lothar'' said the Teutonic knight, putting his hand on his sword.

''If you want to keep the hand, you'd better keep it away from your steel'' said aleksanteri as he read the letter.

Although under the mask the Finn wore no emotions could be discerned, it was clear that he was angry.

''Ahh...they give me a monster to train and when it is almost ready they take it away from me...is there no chance you can give me more time?'' aleksanteri asked the teutonic knight.

''negative, the king's orders were clear lothar von ruppin must return to his royal majesty to receive new instructions, he needs his subject's skills for the coming battles'' answered the Teutonic knight.

''Well... shit this ruins the plans...''' said aleksanteri as he continued reading the letter.

''You manage without me aleksanteri, you've come out of worse things alive'' I said to the Finn. 

''Yes I can carry out the next phase of the plan with my men, but it would have been much easier to have you by my side, that monstrous strength you have would scare everyone and they would quickly kneel before you, if they respect strength so much, but well the king needs you and it is not necessary to get the two most dangerous men in Prussia in the same place especially when the king has a mission for you'' finished aleksanteri handing me the letter but cutting off a part and putting it in his pocket.

The content was simple, it was just orders for me, and whatever aleksanteri cut out seemed not to be meant for me.

''So what do we do now?'' I asked as I followed him.

''I will change some plans and work on these orders given to me by the king, by the way you will take four warg who have links with eagles, they will help you a lot in your mission as you will have better control of the terrain and you can have bird lines of communication without the need to train crows or eagles to do the job'' aleksanteri said walking to the building he was using as his quarters.

''Can we trust these savages? they could betray us when we need them the most'' I asked, a little worried.

''They may be savages but they have one very important thing we can use to our advantage, family, as long as they know their families are with us the probability of them betraying us is very low, since their betrayal means the immediate torture and execution of their family members, even the most ferocious beast will care for its young as a general rule, he, he, he, there are some animals that are terrible as fathers'' said aleksanteri almost laughing.

''Well you're right...then until we meet again'' I said extending my hand to the Finn.

Yes, yes, just control yourself a little and listen to those who try to advise you lothar, or probably the next time we will meet it will be on an assassination mission ordered by the king, he, he, he, he'' said aleksantei shaking my hand.

''You really think you can kill me, steel bounces off skin'' I said looking at Aleksanteri.

''I have this and this, the noble slayer'' said aleksanteri showing his Valyrian steel dagger and several vials of yellowish poison.

''Ha,ha,ha,,if you had told me before I would have called you crazy, now that I know what you are capable of...consider your threat as effective, goodbye aleksanteri, good luck in your mission''I said turning to go to the ship.

Without hearing any response from the Finn, I headed for the ship

Where several Teutonic knights were loading and unloading crates.

One of the pulley ropes broke, and a crate shattered against the port, revealing its contents which was a large amount of ...obsidian?

Strange...why did they want that, it is only useful for the scalpels of the doctors when there is a shortage of steel, but so much?

Since I only had my armor and nothing else with me, it was easy to prepare my things for the trip since I always carry them on me.

I waited patiently for the knights to finish their work and for the warg that were to accompany me to board the ship, apparently they were coming with their families, but if any of them try to betray the king I will see to it that their offspring are torn to pieces.

But the warg looked very happy as they were offered a house in the south and Prussian citizenship in exchange for twenty years of continuous military service. 

When all was ready, we sailed back south.

It wasn't many days later when the warg showed their effectiveness by detecting a tyrosh ship that was once again hunting slaves.

If it wasn't that this ship had the heraldry of the king in prussia we had probably attacked the pirates but the risk of them escaping after attacking them could affect the king, so they were lucky...for now, if they didn't run into the skagos sea patrols

So we only dedicated ourselves to dodge those ships to make our presence as discreet as possible, at no time did we stop in other ports until we reached the vale, since from there we could say that we are part of the commercial fleet of the company that transports products to the north and to the capital of the seven kingdoms.

The trip was quiet as the pirates do not dare to act within the range of the local lords who have active fleets.

After several days we arrived near the capital, a small cove formerly used by smugglers but was converted by the kingslanding Finns as a base of operations to control the city's black market.

I didn't even have much time to bathe a bit when I was immediately brought into the presence of my king.

The king wore only the robes of the Teutonic order, a white robe with the iron cross on it.

The king only looked at me, and I knelt before him.

"Lothar," said the king.

''My king, how may I serve you'' I said, lowering my head.

''After much deliberation I have found the mission that you must perform to earn my forgiveness, the free city of tyrosh is looking for prussian mercenaries to fill their ranks and you will go and offer your services to them as a free man with no ties to me, that will only be the public facing mission, your mission will be to get all the valyrian steel in essos'' said the king and then signaled for me to raise my head.

''You and all the men that will accompany you are exiled, to avoid any attempt of complaint from the free cities against us, but again only in the public face, since you will remain Prussian subjects...I took the liberty of making you a new armor for your mission since I see yours is quite worn out'' said the king pointing to an armor made specifically for me and next to it was a great sword....

"Valyrian steel lothar, I know you have problems with your weapons, they tend to break a lot due to your strength so you will use this, we used all the valyrian steel we had in reserve to make this for you...consider it an investment in your mission" said the king with a serious face.

''I thank you my king for this...investment...but how much Valyrian steel must I bring to obtain my redemption in your eyes'' I asked my king again lowering my head.

''Well, I would like to be able to equip every Teutonic with a sword of Valyrian steel at least, if possible armor, but that might be impossible...so a ton of Valyrian steel at least...there is a chance that you find a way to make more of this magic steel if you get it you will get my pardon immediately, only when it does not require human sacrifices,to reforge it requires animal sacrifices,it is a possibility but keep that in mind''said the king keeping the seriousness in his face

I was testing the great sword I was given and although it was not balanced it was not a problem for me since it seems that the sword was forged in one piece even the handle is made of the same metal.

I noticed that there was a Teutonic armor on a training dummy.

The king noticed what I was thinking and simply nodded.

With all my might I slashed with my sword cutting in half the armor worn by the elite men of the kingdom.

''Who will accompany me?'' I asked the king.

''Three thousand of the knights that served your house, two thousand Finns although they are only recent recruits they will be nothing like what you saw with aleksanteri only one hundred of them will be veterans, three hundred Prussian officers that you will have to use to later create your own way of obtaining soldiers'' said the king without much importance.

''Will I get help from the vaterland?'' I asked again.

''Little or nothing,we must keep up appearances,we will try to send reinforcements when the Prussian recruitment and training system starts to work in the meantime you are on your own,but first you must get a port that is completely controlled by you as we cannot risk being discovered,if you prove to be too valuable as a mercenary to the free cities it will not be uncommon for them to give you special concessions to keep you loyal..... but that depends on your diplomatic skills...hmmm I will add a diplomat to your group''said the king to stop to think and speak again.

''I also authorize you, to do the unthinkable, I won't specify but use aleksanteri's favorite word the end justifies the means, if you consider it necessary do it, I don't care what you have to do, if you have to kill entire villages to get the steel do it, if you want to depend on slaves to fight your battles do it, if you have to use Greek fire to destroy a fortification do it'' said the king with a smile.

''Greek fire? but it's a naval weapon my king'' I said a bit surprised.

''We improved the siphons, now they can be used at greater range with more accuracy, I want you to test them in essos if given the opportunity since essos will become the testing ground for prussian weaponry, for the wars to come, forget about honor, you will be an exile, only your effectiveness matters'' said the king putting on his serious face again.

I nodded at my king's words

''If you have no more questions...go lothar, succeed and I will give you back everything I took from you, if you are defeated don't bother to come back...commit suicide and save me from having to send an assassin'' said the king turning and retreating followed by his escorts.

I took the king's gifts and got back on the ship and set sail for the free city of Tyrosh.

This is my last chance, I must triumph and bring every last gram of that steel to my king, no matter what.

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