Chapter 161 - Artican Trade in Essos 16 (Rhaenys's tears.).

[Chapter Size: 3600 Words.]

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Thrid Person POV

Essos, 296 AC.

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"Is this Step Stone?!" Daenerys asked in awe, gazing at one of the islands in the distance while examining the map made by Jon, far more detailed than the original.

By this point, Jon had already scouted the entire territory and the chain of local islands with his eyes from the sky, detailing every city, village, camp, and even secret smuggling spots and hideouts where pirates were currently hiding from them. His eagles had mapped everything out, and Jon, with a memory far superior even to those renowned scholars from all over the world, including his own people from Artica, managed to convey all of it on the papers he had created.

"Yes... it's full of islands here, but they're distant enough that we can only see one. But don't be fooled; any direction is filled with islands," Arya said next to Daenerys, smiling while scanning the horizon.

"But..." Daenerys spoke again, looking at the sea around them. "Where are the ships? Normally, we'd see some ships on the water, but ever since we entered Stepstone... there's nothing on the water..." she murmured, wondering what had happened.

"Well..." Arya murmured, and even Wind, who had been silently listening to the conversation, now looked curiously at Arya as well. "Actually... everyone here, whether merchants or pirates... they all fear Jon," she said.

"What do you mean by that?" Daenerys, who didn't know the details, asked.

"Our ships have wiped out many pirate groups here, leaving no survivors in these waters. We invaded a pirate city and took it down without resistance after blowing up the entire dock. People here are afraid of us and don't want to cross our path. According to the wargs' reports, all the cities are in panic at this moment. It's not something we've intentionally controlled, but that's our reputation in these lands," Arya replied.

"That's... surprising," Daenerys murmured, not quite sure what to say. Meanwhile, Wind approached Daenerys' map, curious.

"Look... you knew this used to be a direct bridge to Essos, but we destroyed it... it was a little before I was born..." she said with a certain pride, not caring that Daenerys raised an eyebrow in surprise at this.

"What do you mean, destroyed?!" Daenerys asked, almost stuttering.

"My race destroyed it, silly snow hair! We may be small, but together, we have lots of cool abilities!" Wind said, causing Daenerys to chuckle at the nickname Wind sometimes gave her due to the girl's innocence about everything they experienced in Artica. Daenerys looked at her, trying to make sense of her words.

"That's true..." Arya confirmed as well. "It was during the first invasions of the First Men in Westeros, but that was even further back, over 8,000 years ago, when the conflict between the First Men, the Children of the Forest, and the giants happened..." Arya explained. "While that was going on... the dwarves were in their caves, eating and drinking without a care in the world..." she added at the end.

"Hey, we're hearing that, little wolf. We could've taken anyone back then, so we didn't bother and just relaxed in our mountain," one of the dwarves, who was passing by and overheard the conversation, said, disgruntled, while Arya stuck her tongue out at him.

"Is that true? But if it happened over 8,000 years ago and you said you were born a little after that..." Daenerys switched the subject, thinking of something else as she stared, shocked, at the Child of the Forest, who always seemed like a mischievous teenager, realizing that she was much, much older than she looked. "How old are you?!" she asked, bewildered.

"About 6,453 namedays... I'll turn 6,454 namedays next moon, isn't that amazing?" Wind thought for a moment before replying with a cheerful expression.

"That can't be true..." Daenerys murmured, unable to believe what she was hearing, and looked at Arya, hoping she would reveal the truth.

"Don't look at me like that, she's telling the truth. She's not even one of the oldest... Leaf in Artica has over 10,000 namedays," Arya responded.

"..." Daenerys couldn't help but feel lost in thought, wondering what else would astonish her. Perhaps the dragons she had heard so much about, and that thought sparked a certain excitement in her heart.

"Are you sure about this, my king... this is extremely dangerous." A commotion began as the three girls quickly looked over at Jon, who was being followed by Ygritte and some royal guards, seemingly pleading with him.

"It's decided, I'll act first. Don't worry, I'll inform you if anything happens," Jon said, while both his men and the queen herself, who didn't seem to agree with his words, frowned.

"This isn't right, my king, it's our role to protect you..." the royal guard insisted.

"And you do that very well, but this is not your moment. You will stay to take care of my family and await my orders. I'll also be keeping an eye on you and will signal anything from afar," Jon said firmly.

"There's no point in arguing. Do you think I haven't tried this before... our king is a very stubborn man," Ygritte said with a tired tone, having already argued with Jon for 20 minutes before giving up on trying to convince him.

"Jon... what are you doing?" Arya approached at that moment, looking at Jon, somewhat surprised, as he was carrying a large chest, with most of his body covered in desert-like clothing. Even his face was covered. But Arya could see that he wore a more compact armor under his clothes, without much grace compared to the traditional one. If she didn't know him well, she wouldn't have recognized that he was wearing armor beneath his clothes. Another detail she noticed was the absence of his Valyrian steel swords, with only a curved short sword, a sabre made of the same magical steel at his waist, and a spear of common steel strapped to his back. Seeing this made Arya wonder what was going on, as Jon wasn't even using his usual swords.

"Arya." Jon turned to her at that moment, showing only his eyes.

"Blue?! Jon, what happened to your eyes?!" Wind asked, a little shocked.

"It's a disguise. I'm using some kind of lens. My eyes attract too much attention, so I have to hide them," Jon replied calmly.

"What do you plan to do with all this?" Arya couldn't help but ask, while even Daenerys looked at Jon with some concern.

"He's going to Dorne... alone," Ygritte said with a tone of displeasure.

"You speak as if your husband could die easily... From the moment I enter Dorne, I can easily dominate any group unless an army shows up. But if that happens, I have at least 20,000 Articans ready to follow my orders and crush any force in Dorne, or am I wrong?" Jon said firmly.

"..." Everyone who heard this and wasn't aware of his plan looked at Jon in shock. He intended to invade Dorne without anyone seeing him.

"Wait a minute!" Tormund interrupted, having overheard the commotion and shocked at what Jon had said. "If you're going to the land of those sand and snake worshippers... take me with you. We'll be unbeatable!" he declared.

"You're too loud, Tormund," Jon said, raising an eyebrow at the man before turning back to the others. "I'll do it alone because I can disguise myself among them and enter Sunspear." Jon spoke with confidence, knowing that although he could storm the castle gates, it wouldn't be well-received, even by Rhaenys. So, he planned to do it in secret, after all, he had learned some infiltration techniques from the green sight. Maybe this was the moment to start using them.

"Jon... this is madness. Take me with you!" Arya said with a dissatisfied tone.

"You say it's madness, but you want to come along...?" Jon raised an eyebrow while smiling. "But the answer is no. I just want you to follow these orders. This is my route, and I want you to monitor my movements through the Wargs. If it comes to it, we'll act against Dorne, but for now, I'm doing this alone," Jon said, handing a scroll with his instructions to his royal guard.

He then approached Wind, as the Child of the Forest looked at him curiously. "I want you to cast an oxygen spell for me... can you make it so I can breathe underwater and even prevent my things from getting wet, putting some kind of bubble around me?" Jon asked.

He had his own magic, a powerful warg, healing abilities, and some elemental magic, with the wood/forest element being his strongest. However, complex things were beyond him, so he relied on the Children of the Forest, who had that capability, and Wind knew how to cast some very useful spells. After all, they could create the White Walkers, a force that could threaten everyone in this world, so what he was asking for seemed simple in comparison to that, which had been done over 8,000 years ago.

"Hm... how much time do you need?" Wind asked, nodding at Jon's request.

"Two days will be enough," Jon replied.

"Alright..." Wind said, placing her hands on Jon in front of everyone.

Daenerys didn't think she could be more shocked after everything she had heard today, but realizing she was about to witness magic, different from what Jon usually did, was astounding. The Artican king was illuminated by a layer that surrounded him and his equipment, creating a protective barrier while Wind ensured it would last for two days. She continued for three minutes until she finally stopped, with Jon realizing that it had truly worked.

"This is really great," he said, satisfied, before noticing the Child of the Forest collapsing to her knees in front of him, sweating and breathing heavily.

"Wind!" Arya rushed to her side to see if she was alright.

"Sorry about this... I promise to repay you," Jon said, seeing how much effort she had put into fulfilling his request. Despite their complex abilities, the Children of the Forest didn't possess large amounts of magic, often having to join forces to create more complicated spells.

"It's alright... I'll hold you to that," Wind said with difficulty, being helped by Arya, while Daenerys stood frozen beside them.

Jon nodded, and everyone could only watch as he walked toward the bow of the ship. "Jon... be careful," Ygritte said, her face filled with worry.

"What is he doing?" Daenerys couldn't help but ask as Jon moved toward the edge of the ship, as if he were about to leave, even though there was no other ship nearby, with their massive ship leading the entire fleet.

"I don't know what he's planning..." Arya murmured, just as the sea began to stir, creating a massive shadow on the surface. "That... you're going with him?!" she exclaimed, rushing to the edge as Serume began to emerge from the water.

His tentacles broke through the surface as the water exploded, revealing him for the first time since leaving Artica. Jon had summoned him earlier to greet him, and Serume had remained beneath the fleet the entire time, feeding and helping Jon by navigating through maritime routes, finding currents to map for sailing.

"Of course, I intend to reach Dorne much faster than our ships. No one will know that the King of Artica is in the middle of the desert in disguise," Jon said calmly, as more and more tentacles rose from the sea, covering the area with the colossal creature, dozens of meters long.

Jon simply grabbed his luggage in front of everyone and jumped between Serume's tentacles, his body crashing into the water but without getting wet, as he saw the giant creature before him. Serume wrapped a tentacle around Jon's body and lifted him onto his massive head, while the creature began to move deeper into the sea, propelling itself forward with the help of its tentacles. Jon sat there, staring at the ocean ahead with perfect clarity, thanks to the protective layer Wind had created for him.

"It looks like he's gone..." Arya murmured, watching the shadow disappear, moving much faster than the ship.

"Yes... but that gave me a great inspiration for a painting!" Ygritte said with a tone that was both sad at seeing Jon leave and happy at having a good memory to create a new piece of art to show their daughter when she was older. Ygritte, who was usually quite restless and didn't care much for the southern ladies' habits, had fallen in love with painting and had become really good at it in recent weeks. She would try to capture the image of her husband leaping toward the Kraken in her next work.

"I would love to see that!" Arya exclaimed before turning back to help Wind again, not noticing that Daenerys was once again paralyzed, watching something shocking that she couldn't believe she had seen... seeing Jon throwing himself before a monster she didn't even know existed, emerging from the water with enormous tentacles that made the ship look like a toy, clearly alarming her.

Ygritte noticed this and approached her. "Hey, don't worry. It looks terrifying, but Jon knows what he's doing. He always does. How about you help me paint? Maybe you'll enjoy it as much as I do..." Ygritte suggested, remembering how Jon had asked her to help his aunt socialize and get closer to them, so the girl wouldn't feel so alone.

"Hm? Alright..." Daenerys snapped out of her daze upon hearing Ygritte and replied a little shyly, agreeing with her. Since Arya was no longer by her side, it would be good to talk to the queen, her nephew's wife, a little as well.

As they walked away, the royal guards now had to explain what was happening to all the other ships that had seen the Kraken, especially the wargs who had witnessed their king leaving for the depths of the sea alone.

"I have to admit, that was pretty cool!" Tormund exclaimed, impressed with Jon's departure, and many others nodded in agreement with his words.

The ships continued to sail as the Kraken swam beneath the water, moving several times faster than the ships, with Jon waiting for them to arrive at one of the desert points of Dorne.

Meanwhile, unaware of their king embarking on a solo adventure beneath the sea, the Artican ships in Dorne were starting to leave the port. They were headed toward the open sea between Dorne and Lys, waiting for the Artican fleet to arrive.

"It seems we've disappointed our king..." Minister Darius murmured, somewhat dissatisfied. After all, he had the mission of finding Doran Martell's 'daughter,' but unfortunately, she was nowhere to be found. Even their wargs hadn't located her anywhere in the castle.

They knew that Jon was aware of their situation but could only communicate through some animalistic gestures, so he understood that it was alright and they could return.

But both Darius and the royal guards accompanying him couldn't help but feel a little frustrated about the situation. They had to leave Dorne, and the only thing that changed was that Doran wanted Jon to come to Dorne to discuss some matters. Darius and the Articans present at the meetings weren't fond of his tone.

With a sigh, they began to pull away from the port, ensuring that no child from that spy in King's Landing got on the ship, while the people of Dorne could only watch the group leaving once again, commenting on many things about Jon. After all, he had made history the last time he was there, when he brought down all of Sunspear with an army of snakes summoned from the desert. The people of Dorne were so frightened by this that they removed all the snakes from the city as soon as they heard of the Articans' arrival and killed any snake that approached the city. They sighed in relief now that the Articans were gone, despite the fact that Jon, the sorcerer as they called him, was not present this time.

As the ships left Dorne, Doran was walking down a corridor while a snake slithered hidden beneath the floor, entering a room with guards clearing the way for him as he walked with his cane.

"Niece..." he entered the room, looking at Nyra Sand—or rather, Rhaenys Targaryen—on the bed, holding her belly.

"Uncle," she said in a dry tone.

"The Articans are already leaving Dorne... It seems I hid you well after all. I had my doubts, but once I saw so many birds circling our castle, far more than usual, I guessed they were looking for you," he said calmly.

"..." Nyra remained silent, simply observing him.

"You're furious, I know... but this is for a good cause," he continued speaking.

"A good cause? Don't you think Jon will take this lightly when he finds out...? Why hide this from him, why not tell the truth? I'm going to have a bastard! Do you think this child will have any value in your political game without a marriage beforehand?" she questioned with a tone of anger. She had always been loyal to House Martell, but now that they saw her as a tool, along with her child, her uncle didn't seem to hesitate in using her to achieve his goals.

"You don't understand, Rhaenys... All of this is for the Martells, for our vengeance. The Artican king might simply take you away without agreeing to anything we demand... that would be very bad for us. We want to use him to take the throne, something that is rightfully yours," he said calmly.

"Your plan is too risky... you should be smarter than this. Jon has many wives, and if you think you can get through all of them, you're mistaken. He already has his own heirs, and I will have a bastard. I don't understand why you're doing all of this!" Rhaenys exploded in anger, still sitting on the bed.

"I DO THIS FOR OUR FAMILY, FOR YOUR MOTHER, FOR ELIA!!!" Doran shouted this time, in response to his niece's questioning, before sighing and speaking again more calmly. "I do this for you, Rhaenys. We've done nothing since the atrocity in King's Landing... only Jon Artica has managed to accomplish anything, while we've been stuck here, trapped in the desert with all those bastards gaining power in King's Landing for so many years... it was supposed to be us seeking revenge... this is our chance to strike back against the Lannisters, Baratheons, and many others..." he said, and Rhaenys, a little startled by her uncle's outburst, looked at him with some compassion, seeing him shed a few tears. Just like her, he also wanted to avenge her mother, but then Doran continued.

"As soon as Jon Artica comes here, you may no longer be as protected. We will take you somewhere else," he continued.

"Wait!! You plan to move me out of here when I'm almost ready to give birth?!" Rhaenys was both stunned and furious at the same time, her feelings toward her uncle shifting quickly.

"We have no choice. With Jon Artica here, you could be discovered, and that would frustrate our plans. We cannot fight him and become his enemies, which is why you will leave. As soon as you give birth, we can have you finally seduce him," Doran said with a firm tone.

"Do you think I won't lose my child doing this?!" she screamed in rage at her uncle.

"If you lose it... that's not important," he said simply, leaving Rhaenys frozen in place. "You can have another child with him. There will be plenty of opportunities in the future. Remember, what matters is the rise of our family along with our vengeance. We are merely tools for this purpose, and I'm sure you know that very well." He finished, walking out the door. Even as he included himself among the tools, Rhaenys stood there on the verge of tears, her hand resting on her belly as the first tears rolled down her face. She didn't want to lose her child, the child fathered by the man she loved and still loves.

'Do you want to be your uncle's political tool?' Jon's voice echoed in her mind once again after so long, reminding her of the question he had asked her when he first visited Dorne.

She curled up, pulling her knees to her chest and wept silently, growing more frustrated with her situation and the internal conflict tearing her apart. On one hand, Doran was right—she had been raised to be a political tool, and it didn't seem so bad as long as she could exact revenge on all those damned people she hated with the purest rage. But on the other hand, the passion she had developed after meeting Jon, his questions, and now their child—something that had awakened her protective instincts and her own desires—made her torn between the two paths.

She was startled when a snake slithered onto the bed and touched her as it climbed up to her neck. She froze for a moment before relaxing as the snake simply remained there, licking her face and drying her tears, seemingly comforting her.

"Jon..." was all Rhaenys could whisper as she thought of her beloved.

The snake looked at her seriously, its eyes resembling Jon's as he reached Dorne through the depths of the sea, doing something no living being in this world had ever done before, all while pursuing his own goal—to save his beloved.

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