The negotiation I

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POV of Wilhelm

With all the events of the previous day, the city has been quiet, as many people must have been waiting for the arrival of the new king.

Probably, for lord Arryn that was the most important day of the war, but now comes the most important thing for me, which is the negotiation of the territories.

I have played my cards right, the supreme septon will not bother with the denials and even with the incessant harassment of the nobility of the reach who have requested meetings with him, for as much as I would like to throw those pesky nobles into the darkest cell available they are still nobles with connections in various places and mistreating them would not be accepted.

The brutal clash of metal had brought me out of my thoughts, by the fact that several of the Teutonic knights were training in one of the many gardens in the castle.

And by training we are talking about a fight to the death because their training is characterized by the fact that only a real fight to the death prepares the flesh for the hardness of combat.

Broken bones and falling blood was quite normal because for one of these warriors blessed by the hand of the almighty, wounds that would seem impossible to heal are healed in a matter of days, although the loss of major limbs is not something they can recover from.

I was the only one of the ''most beloved'' nobles by god who could regenerate whole arms or legs if necessary, unfortunately there is only one of those nobles in my army and he was a crazed fanatic and his cousin who was more controlled did not inherit the physical characteristics of the Ruppin dynasty.

Charles gave a powerful blow with his shield to the head of another Teutonic knight making him fall unconscious, this being the third one he had defeated in this light training that Charles was performing.

''Very good my brothers, you have done well, you must improve your footwork and be more coordinated when attacking, I gave you twice the chance that you could corner me and you didn't take it'' said Charles taking off his helmet as he looked at a group of three teutonic knights struggling to get up.

Charles began to wipe off his sweat and turned back to look at me.

''Great combat, charles, three sergeants of the order at the same time, it seems your skill only improves with time'' I said as I applauded for demonstration of skill.

''I thank you for the kind words my king, we must always seek to improve ourselves, the mistakes my brothers showed here must not be done in battle because the enemy will not forgive those mistakes'' Charles said as he dried his hair and beard with a cloth.

''So my king today is the big day, isn't it, where we will have another land to call home?'' said Charles smiling.

''Yes, yes it is, we are waiting for lord Arryn to summon us to his office to formalize our deal and to hand over the conquered territories to me, although not yet about the second part, we will have to keep fighting against future rebellions that don't accept us and it will be a long process for everyone to understand that we are here to stay'' while he drank from a glass of orange juice.

''Who will accompany you?'', asked Charles sitting down next to me.

''Maximilian von Goslar, you know the diplomat who made the peace treaty with the Habsburgs, the best diplomat we currently have, so it is possible for him to improve what we have or secure what was promised, that's enough and to spare'' he said smiling.

''True Maximilian, he has a way with words, but Lord Arryn seems to be a straight man, he will respect what has been agreed,'' he said smiling Charles as he placed one of his hands on my shoulder.

One of my bodyguards gave me the signal that Lord Arryn was calling me.

''I wish you luck in your training, Charles, just don't break them, Teutons don't grow on trees, ha, ha,'' I said as I stood up and moved towards the castle hallway.

I walked until I met Maximilian who was waiting patiently for my arrival.

''My king, I've been waiting for you, ready to fleece the Westerosis?'', said Maximilian as he held up a copy of the treaty with Lord Arryn.

''Yes, go ahead,'' I said as we entered the room where Jon Arryn was waiting for us.

In the room was lord Arryn, king Robert together with the spymaster Varys who had regained his position, although he looked a little corpse-like, and a couple of knights from the two noble houses.

'If I'm not mistaken Aleksanteri starved him a bit while he was in prison.'

Maximilian and I sat in the chairs while my bodyguards stood behind us.

''King Robert, it is a pleasure to see you again, now that you have finally won your rightful throne.... lord Arryn my good friend, I hope your health is with you''I said rather formally.

Robert smiled and puffed out his chest

''I thank you for coming as soon as possible, we have a busy day, we have many trials to resolve today, many prisoners'' Lord Arryn said as he tapped the nails of one of his hands against the table.

''What language do we speak?, in case any of them learned our language'' said Maximilian.

''Spanish, quite difficult for those who speak in the common tongue'' I said as I looked at Lord Arryn.

''It seems fine to me, I start the negotiations and you tell me your ideas or you speak and I guide you'' said Maximilian.

''The second, but intervene if you feel it necessary'' I replied and went back to concentrating on the Westerosis.

Maximilian showed the copies of the treaty to Lord Arryn and Lord Arryn began to bite his lower lip.

''Poor thing is nervous'' Maximilian said in Spanish.

''Well lord Arryn, we have fulfilled our treaty including much more than we swore to do, we defeated the tyrells, we conquered the capital for Robert and you and we put an end to the incestuous scum that plagued these lands'' I said in a kindly tone.

''Go on, remind him of his duty'' Maximilian said.

''So what is only fair, is to honor our agreement and hand over to me the lands, estates and revenues of the lords whose castles I conquered'' I said as I looked at Lord Arryn as he began to sweat a little.

''Yes I fully agree that I must respect what we swore to deliver, but there is something we must determine first and...'' said lord Arryn but Maximilian interrupted him.

''Lord Arryn it is entirely necessary for the advancement of these negotiations that you deliver what was promised, any further negotiations regarding my king's holdings must be done after you acknowledge the rights we will acquire'' Maximilian said in his calm voice.

''but this...'' Lord Arryn tried to say.

''I agree, lord Arryn we must have separate parts of the negotiations, so first of all, please ratify my dominion over the reach, regarding further negotiations we will come to an agreement'' I said with a serious tone.

Lord Arryn's breathing began to quicken and he looked at Robert and nodded his head.

''Lord Hohenzollern, I Robert the first with the name and .... titles, titles, I give you the properties in the reach and the territories conquered by your men, and I give you the title of paramount lord of the reach and the title of warden of the south''said Robert reading a paper that Varys had handed him.

''Gladly, I receive such a kind offer King Robert .... lord Arryn then what is it that you wish to propose to me in addition'' I said looking at Robert and turned to look at lord Arryn.

''Well lord Hohenzollern.... I know I promised you all the properties, but it is totally necessary that some families do not receive too severe punishment, if you could spare some territories of some noble houses to avoid too much chaos in the reach, as rebellions are to be expected about everything..... by you know your god and unfortunately, it jeopardizes the supply of grain in the seven kingdoms''said lord Arryn as he shifted in his chair looking for a comfortable position.

''Find a subtle way to say no'' said Maximilian.

''Lord Arryn, unfortunately I cannot do that, it would be spitting in the face of all my men who fought, it would be an insult to all the men who fell in battle and I would find no way to forgive myself if I were to accept such a deal, as I would have sacrificed the precious lives of my men in vain'' I said with a kind tone

''I understand lord Hohenzollern, but the future of the realm depends greatly on the stability of its dominions and history tells us that houses that are severely punished could generate conflict here or worse yet follow... a fate much like the golden company in essos'' lord Arryn said trying not to remind Robert about the Targaryens and wiping the sweat from his head.

''Lord Arryn has my word that grain will again be supplied to the seven kingdoms because the production chain was not affected, I suppose you have seen how we Prussians plundered, we always seek a return to normality as soon as possible'' I said trying to calm lord Arryn's anguish.

''Now my king, its time for the plan for oldtown'' said Maximilian.

''But I understand your concern, I have read the history and I understand every time there was a rebellion, the punished houses always supported the pretender who wished to return, so I have decided that I will give oldtown to all the noble houses that have lost their home, so they can rule the city together and protect such a holy place and I will make sure they are in constant supervision that they do not try to bring back the Targaryen scum'' I said smiling while I focused my eyes on Robert.

''.... And how would that work, the city for all the noble houses?'', Lord Arryn asked.

''Very similar to how the free cities work, lord Arryn, only the council will be of the noble houses, all will have a say on how to govern the city, it must be accepted by someone to my administration and I will reserve control to a special envoy on my behalf the city guard and customs, you know precaution'' I said looking at lord Arryn who was genuinely interested in the idea.

''Many houses have much to gain by controlling the city, but do you know what could provoke a power struggle between them to control the city?'', said the spymaster with a tone as serene as Maximilian's.

''We are unaware of the Westerosi traditions and manners, as for us intrigues are disgusting and we do not play that game, this whole proposal was made in trust that the nobles of the reach would behave as honorable members of the Prussian society would'' said Maximilian smiling and looking at Varys.

'Well, so far, we have lost nothing but oldtown'.

Lord Arryn and Varys began whispering to each other.

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