41 Protecting the city

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POV of Friedrich von Roon

''You're a pain in the ass, Finn, but I had to talk to you today anyway'' I said as I swung the Valyrian steel sword.

''Hey careful with that, it's the king's property... what did you want to talk to me about, since it must be something very important for our proud Herr ROOOOOON to deign to talk to me'' said the Finn in his provocative tone

''Ha, ha, ha, ha, how funny you are, it's about that disturbing report you sent me yesterday, about the eight hundred percent increase in smugglers in the city's ports and that your men were filling the cells near the port'' I said sarcastically while looking for something to keep the Valyrian steel sword

''Ah..... that, don't worry, it's insignificant really, it's not a serious problem for now, as soon it won't be necessary to keep the quarantine of information, we just wait for a patient hunter to come out of hiding and show his claws'' said the Finn as he started to write down the runes he was seeing in the forge in a hand diary

''But in the meantime it is vital that the information is kept here, there is a reason we still have Targaryen banners hanging from the towers of the walls so they think the mad king still rules here, information is power and we can't lose it to those rogue criminals'' I said staring as the Finn wrote down everything he saw

''Germanic runes?nordic?..... interesting .... did you find anything?'' said the Finn turning to look at me.

''I guess they don't like you very much at home?'', I said, annoyed.

''No, that's why I'm here..... I'll only say it once with my family, you don't play with them, is that clear'' said the Finn with a serious tone staring at me and stopping his work.

'Wow, sensitive fiber'

I nodded to the Finn and averted my gaze from him.

''As I told you we have to solve the smugglers issue, better the security measures to ensure that no one manages to escape if he intends to warn what happened in the capital''I changed the subject of the discussion.

''Well I'm done here..... if you want to follow me to the port.... I mean it seriously there are no problems with that, the ''smugglers'' are not a problem that should take away your sleep ROOOOOOOOON concentrate on doing your job instead'' said the finn keeping his diary in his clothes

''I insist, how can an eight times increase in crime not be a problem'' I said with an incredulous face.

The Finn sighed and started walking to the exit.

''Well, follow me...if you have nothing better to do...I guess I can show you how we work'' said the Finn as he climbed the steps back to the surface of the blacksmith shop.

We came out of the smithy and everything was going on as it should, the smithy work was still at full capacity, although unfortunately, we were only producing something that will have to be sent somewhere else to be processed into steel that we can use in our armor, I just hope the war doesn't drag on longer than expected because we won't be able to count on many repairs if we can only get steel from ashford

The Finns escorted me through the streets of the city, the way was quite fast because they knew all the shortcuts to arrive earlier and avoid the crowds of people that used to happen when there were events in the Sept.

Arriving at the port we could see that there was a lot of presence of foreign ships, those from essos as the Finn had told me.

The capital received a lot of influx of merchants because we could not keep the gates closed with the dead because we would starve everyone and have riots that I probably could not put out even with all the men I have occupying the city.

For some reason, our guards wear clothes with Targaryen heraldry on them.

''Welcome to my domain, where I have the final say if anyone lives or dies'' said the Finn holding out his arms.

''You are ridiculous .... we'll tell me what the smugglers' modus operandi is, do they try to bribe our men, do they act at night, in broad daylight when everything is too busy or something like that?''I asked, trying to think of all the possible routes the smugglers could use to get goods in and out of the city.

''You have a quick mind for these things, but no, we've only had two or three cases of real smugglers, if I'm honest, I highly doubt the last one was a real one, but when in doubt, I preferred to throw him in jail'' said the Finn with a shrug of his shoulders

''Yesterday you reported twenty-four smugglers, who tried to enter the port bringing goods that they did not declare in order not to pay the tax'' I said staring at the Finnish guy

''Yes, I report that....... look''the Finn tried to answer me, but there was an argument between the port guards and some merchants and the Finn pointed them out.

''Watch, what we do is make them sign a document that allows us to requisition everything they have if they are caught trading in another city or small port within the sea to dragon Stone and we use the few ships we catch to enforce the rule.... what happens is when someone refuses to accept the conditions, he, he, he, he''said the Finn while walking very cheerful and pointed to the man who was shouting

''There you have it the trader who doesn't know how to read the political climate, he only thinks about how much he can earn buying grain in the surroundings and selling it in the capital and they get angry because we forced them to leave this very lucrative market and obviously, they will refuse to sign the document and well we conducted a search on their ship and it just so happens incredibly every ship we entered to check we found contraband, he, he, he, he''said the Finnish man laughing.

The merchant was complaining that several guards entered his boat to search it for something that he had not declared in the payment of taxes and the mooring fee.

A guard came out with a sack of wheat and with a dagger, he would have the sack and let the contents fall out dropping a lot of grain, but inside also came out a cup of gold.

The merchant was surprised to observe what happened and slowly his red color of fury changed to a pale one.

''And there you have the smuggler, hiding gold objects inside the food'' said the Finnish man.

The guards took him prisoner and took him to the cells near the ports along with all his crew.

''See, that's why because they are not really smugglers, I make them qualify to be smugglers'' said the Finn peacefully putting his hands behind his head and sitting on a box watching the guards work.

''That will get us in trouble with the traders in the future'' I said, pointing out the obvious.

''For that reason I forced the guards to wear Targaryen clothes, so there will be confusion and they won't know whom to point the finger at, in the future we will see if it is better to kill the merchants or let them go free with a stern warning, but time will tell'' said the Finn very calmly

''It wasn't necessary to send me such a bulky report, then I thought we had chaos in the port'' I said in annoyance

The Finn was about to reply when one of his men came and whispered in his ear and the Finn left his relaxed position

''The lion is coming, so go receive him as he deserves, you are better at diplomacy, don't insult him, but don't look weak, the king wants to try to make an offer of marriage to lord Lannister's daughter, a lot of power involved, don't ruin it'' said the Finn staring at me.

''Ah.... what can I negotiate?, the king didn't inform me anything about this'' I said a little worried.

''Just that he doesn't enter the city, the offer of marriage will be made personally by the king, so just tell him the reasons why he can't enter, you know his son in prison and all that'' said the Finn turning to look out to the sea

''Thank you I guess'' I said, grimacing with my mouth.

The Finn did not answer me and with an escort of guards that was in the area I made my way to the lion gate where the Lannister forces were approaching.

It took me about fifteen minutes to get from the gate to the walls.

I was already at the top of the walls watching the horizon with my spyglass as slowly a few thousand men carrying the lion banner of house Lannister approached the city walls.

My men are preparing for a battle and readying them, crossbows, just in case the lion will try to take the city by force if he sees his plan fail.

He had about eight thousand men on the walls, so a direct assault would probably fail miserably, as the rest were still doing work inside the city because the king was preparing a military parade when Robert arrived.

''Herr Roon, will there be a fight?,'' asked a captain who was loading his crossbow.

''No, there shouldn't, have you got the pulley system ready to bring it up and down?'', I said to my men.

''Yes, Herr Roon'' answered the men in charge of the mechanism.

As I have orders to open the gate until the arrival of the king I must leave the walls by means of a rope that hangs from the walls and I must only hold on so that my men can raise me up and lower me down if I must negotiate in private.

We watched as a messenger approached the gates carrying the Lannister banner and began shouting to us.

''Lord Tywin Lanister has come to answer the call to arms that his majesty King Aerys Targaryen has made, fulfilling his duty as lord and the loyalty he owes to the Targaryen dynasty, for he has never forgotten the intimate friendship he has had with the king, I ask you to open the gates so that our men may be quartered within the city walls,'' the messenger shouted.

No one said anything, but the looks between us were more than enough to make it clear that they came to stab their king, saying that they come to help him.

''I am sorry to tell you, but the Targaryen dynasty no longer rules in this city, if you are royalists I must tell you that they are my enemies and will not be able to enter''I shouted back

With my spyglass, I saw how the messenger made a face of disbelief.

The messenger went back to his army to return after a few minutes.

''Lord Tywin Lannister requests a private meeting with the commander of the city forces'' shouted the messenger.

''I'll be right down'' he shouted back.

''I'm going alone, if anyone must die at the hands of the Lannisters let it be me, if anything happens to me look for the Finn'' I said to my men as I grabbed the rope and my men began to pull me down.

'Well....if I die at least my death will be useful to the king..... though it is better if all goes well and the Lannister is content to wait'

Finally, I landed with the rope and walked to the messenger, who escorted me to a group of riders.

Lord Lannister was wearing crimson armor, quite interesting.

But what surprised me was a knight who was even taller than Charles himself, or other Teutonic knights who were taller than master Teuton.

'Look at the size of that ..... thing'

The sound of lord Lanister's horse brought me back to focus on him.

''I greet you honorable lord Tywin Lannister, I am Friedrich von Roon commander of the forces stationed at king's landing until the return of our troops from the north'' I said bowing slightly, as diplomatic custom dictated.

''The city fell before you, I presume?'', said lord Lannister, although I could not see his face because of the helmet of his armor, I could clearly hear the harshness of his voice.

''That's right lord Lannister it's been almost eight days since the city has been under our control'' I answered keeping my formality and standing up straight.

''What happened to the Targaryens,'' asked the lord of the lion heraldry, keeping the same tone of voice.

''King Aerys Targaryen is dead, unfortunately his family managed to escape because they were evacuated to Dragon stone two days before our attack and as you understand .....''I said, keeping formality, but Lord Lannister interrupted me.

''What happened to my son?'', Lord Tywin asked with his gaze fixed on me.

''Your son is well, he is our prisoner, but he is receiving the treatments of someone of high-born'' I said as I placed my hands behind my back

''I see, well, open the gates, get my men settled and release my son, I need to speak with him, from now on, I lead the defense of the city'' said Lord Lannister turning to return to his camp.

I resisted the urge to laugh and kept the slight smile on my face.

That will not be possible, Lord Lannister,'' I said as I held my position.

My words made the lord turn and stare at me for a few moments.

''The city is under the control of Wilhelm von Hohenzollern and I have orders not to let anyone in or out of the gates, so you will have to wait until our leader returns, as for your son he committed a serious crime, regicide, he stabbed King Aerys in the back, the leaders of the rebellion wish to trial him and I cannot release him'' I said keeping my formal tone

"I wasn't asking you, I gave you an order" said the lord giving a signal to one of his knights.

The knight drew his sword and placed it on my neck.

I could feel the tip of the sword digging into my neck.

''Lord Lannister, this was a peaceful meeting, using swords is not necessary'' I said without moving and resisting the urge to kill the knight who pushes me with his sword.

''If you want to keep your life, you will obey and you will tell your men to open the door'' said the lord with his serious tone of voice

''If you kill me, you will make a big mistake lord Lannister, my men could retaliate against your son .... and see that catapult that is on the walls, that's where I could .....''I tried to explain to him what could happen if he killed me, but his knight pushed his sword and a lot of blood came out of my wound.

I moved my neck and deflected the blade of the sword with one of my hands while at the same time I grabbed the arm of the idiot who was giving those cuts in the neck and with a quick movement taking him by the fist and forearm I dislocated his arm.

The knight started to scream so loud that it was annoying and I looked at the Lannister again.

''Don't do something stupid, I know you wanted revenge against the Targaryen, that's why you came to stab them, if you attack us well, now you will be a royalist and the rebels will throw it to your neck because my king will not leave without revenge my death, so save your attempt to show dominance, you do not enter the city you will not have your son'' I said with a serious tone, I turned and went back to the walls

Considering the fact that he did not give the order to kill me it seems that he understood that he couldn't do anything.

I can understand that he acted aggressively, he decided late which side to join, and the war was already won, it was clear that he wanted the city to have something to show to the rebel leaders because now he had empty hands, it was just an attempt to see if he could bend my will

'But what could you expect from the savage westerosis'.

'I just hope he didn't spoil my king's future plans.'