Chapter 97 - Artican Trade in Westeros 24 (Reach 04!).

[Chapter Size: 2800 Words.]

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Thrid Person POV

Westeros, 295 AC.

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Jon rode on his wolf, passing through the city while his men followed closely behind. They could see crowds gathering at the sides of the city, watching them as if they were beings from another world.

Jon kept his Smoker outfit on this journey as he had throughout, perched atop his wolf in such attire, with his wife wearing a black dress to match him, riding a horse beside him when she was not in the carriage.

"I suppose this is a common sight for you," Jon said to the commander of the guard who had struck up a conversation while helping them reach the castle.

"Ser Willian Flore, correct?" Jon asked.

"Yes, my lord," he replied, instructed to be respectful to Jon, although he could not be treated like a monarch, he still had to call him 'Lord,' despite having the same origins.

"You might say that, people always look at us with surprise, though sometimes it's fun to see their faces when they see the giants or the wolves," Jon said.

The man nodded. "I heard you come from north of the Wall, it's hard to believe you come from such a place, since all the wildlings live there," he said.

"That's true, but the Free Folk mostly aren't as you know them here in the south, there's really just a small part that invades the south, but they are like any people living in precarious situations, we've even found other races and forged an alliance among us," Jon explained.

"You seem like a good lad... Lord Articano, I thought I was doing well seeing my origins while I became an important man for the protection of the finest houses in Westeros, but you surpass me in that," he said, having lived a life as a bastard, he had experienced many things that Jon had in a kingdom like this, where they are strong in faith and as faith has a lot of prejudice against bastardy, Willian had not had an easy childhood in his biological father's house with his stepmother decades ago.

Jon understood what he meant. "I once believed I could become the master of arms at Winterfell," Jon began as he remembered times almost erased from his memory when he played with Rob at Winterfell before the arrival of the Squid, where he wanted to be someone and help his brother.

"You seem to have become much more than that, I'm happy for you," the man said sincerely, after all, it's not often that a boy of bastard origins achieves so much.

"Thank you, Ser. I also congratulate you on your achievements, I hope we can meet and exchange some sparrings," Jon said.

"It would be an honor for me, Ser. Garlan is equally eager to fight with you," he said.

"Garlan Tyrell's son? Speaking of which, how is the tournament going?" Jon asked curiously.

They continued walking as they talked and passed through the middle of the city, with one corner gathering a crowd as there were people with feathers and papers, either drawing the group or making music. His group followed close behind walking while Jon led the way, his wife and Arya a few meters behind watching Jon converse with the man.

"Yes, Lord Mace's son. The first phase has passed, which was the melee, and Ser Garlan won the contest, making my lord very happy," he said.

"Interesting, so how is the rest of the tournament schedule?" Jon asked curiously, since tournaments could operate differently from one another, depending on who organizes them.

"Archery will take place in 2 days, jousting will start in 3 days," he said, since archery was the least popular event, so they would move on to jousting the next day.

"I see, that sounds interesting, is there anything else I should know?" Jon asked the man.

The man seemed thoughtful and a bit hesitant but decided to speak. "Lord Articano, you will notice this eventually, but the Tyrell family is led by Olenna Tyrell, if you want to discuss important matters, she is the one you need to talk to," he said, and Jon nodded.

"I understand, I've heard a bit about the reputation of the Queen of Thorns, it would be an honor to meet her," Jon said.

"Be careful with your ears, after all, she tends to be quite sarcastic and has many thorns in her tongue, so don't be surprised," he warned him once more.

"Haha. That sounds interesting, I'm looking forward to meeting her," Jon admitted with an amused smile.

The man nodded, none of his men had interfered in their conversation, "One more thing, Lord Articano," the man spoke again after some thought.

"Hm?" Jon looked at him.

"There are many rumors about you kidnapping your sister, some do not have a favorable opinion about it, though from what I see, your sister seems very well, but be careful, such events tend to attract many people and some might try to provoke you," he said.

"Don't worry, my sister was where she was supposed to be and I have no regrets about that, about the provocations, should I be expecting them, can I act accordingly?" Jon asked.

"I recommend being cautious, nobles are proud people, you should know that," he advised, and although Jon might not agree with him, he could understand the man's thinking given his position.

"Then I promise not to cause too much trouble for the castle guard," Jon said with a smile, while the man nodded, albeit wanting to disagree with that statement, as he did not want to have to deal with fights among nobles in the middle of the tournament.

They remained silent after that, having passed the side of the city as they approached closer to the Tyrell castle.

"It's so big!" Arya couldn't help but be amazed by it.

"It really is a giant garden, as the name suggests," she commented while looking at the layers of the place with flowers.

"..." Jon said nothing and they continued approaching the entrance.

"I will go ahead with my men to organize the place," Ser William said and Jon nodded.

"You gathered a lot of information from him... as expected..." Seryna appeared beside Jon, commenting on the conversation he had with the man.

"Yes, it seems there are some interesting things," Jon spoke, having quickly learned how the Tyrell family operates, with Olenna being the head and her reputation among the nobles along with the tournament, so he wouldn't be too surprised.

The place was also teeming with people, especially nobles with the news that Jon's group was approaching after hearing all the rumors from the city and the group of guards coming out of Highgarden.

Many nobles were looking at the group with astonished eyes while more joined, some swallowing hard at the sight.

"Do you see what I am seeing?" one of the nobles couldn't help but murmur, looking at those giants in armor coming behind the group.

"To think that I lived to see such a thing, by the Gods! Could anyone face those creatures?" another murmured.

"Just look at those giant armors for those things, how can they create such a thing? Imagine, these creatures would almost be unbeatable on a battlefield. Could our cavalry destroy them?" another commented, astounded.

"I believe so, they must be slow, our archers could fight them if we find gaps in the armor," another knight said.

"You talk as if there were many gaps there, look closely and see if you can find one! There's only the eye openings of the giants, even so, you'd need a lot of luck to hit their eyes, and not to mention they have giant shields, they could stop the advance of cavalry with their weight," the man said, after all, giants were heavy and this increased with their armor while they could even be considered an unbeatable wall.

"I hope we do not have to test something like that. After all, even the horses would be scared by it, and our knights certainly wouldn't have very high morale, since it would take many to bring down just one of those creatures, and there are 12 of them coming, I hope they don't have more," another man spoke with a bit of caution.

"Can you feel the ground shaking slightly? Gods! To think that they were hidden in the frozen north," a noble commented with a tone of recognition.

"Yes, there were giants before, but we didn't think we'd actually see them in the flesh in these times beyond the old stories," a wise noble commented.

"Father... can we face such a thing?" a young man asked with a bit of caution.

"Dickon, there's nothing a good strategy can't beat, remember that," Randyll Tarly said with an analytical gaze in the distance, his family around him, his gaze then returned to another young man trembling beside him.

"Tsk." He clicked his tongue in disgust seeing his eldest son trembling like a chicken, unfit to be his heir, trying to find a way to get rid of him.

Some ladies watching the group couldn't help but gaze at the leader at the front, riding his wolf. "Who is that?" a young man asked, staring intently.

"He's the leader of the group; I heard he calls himself the king of the lands beyond the wall!" another lady said.

"He's as chivalrous as in the stories, but riding a wolf!" one of the ladies spoke dreamily in her own delusions.

"He's a bastard from what I've heard, his birth is very low!" another woman murmured with disdain, after all, she wanted to marry into a great house.

"Look at him! Who cares if he was born a bastard... I'll talk to my father!" another young woman said.

"He's married from what I know, to 2 women, which is an affront to the seven!" another exclaimed to her friend.

"He's so handsome! Will I see him at the jousting tournament?" another spoke.

"What is that outfit he's wearing? I've never seen it and it looks elegant!"

"Is that his wife? Riding a horse?" another murmured with disdain.

The nobles also noticed the conversations of their young daughters and began to shift their focus from the giants to Jon walking with his wolf and wearing his strange attire for them.

"So that's Jon Artic? Well, he's on top of a wolf and leading the group!" an old man said thoughtfully.

"It seems true when they say the Starks had their own giant wolves. The boy really achieved something we haven't heard of in centuries," another man, knowledgeable about the history of Westeros and how some houses had lost their exotic creatures like the Targaryens themselves, said.

"Well, anyway, this boy is only 15 years old, I still wonder how he could create such a thing beyond the wall and lead this group," a man said.

"Do you really believe that? I think the boy had help or he's someone's puppet..." another spoke with disdain, not believing the stories.

"Still, he's certainly someone worth knowing," another noble replied.

"You fool, he's a bastard, one who kidnapped his own sister, and he took her to the frozen north," another complained.

"Well, if you notice, she seems very well..." another pointed to the girl next to Jon on top of his wolf.

"It seems there's more to the boy than we thought... she looks very well for someone who was kidnapped..." a man in his 30s commented, seeing that Arya appeared very proud as she passed by them.

"Anyway, I want to negotiate with this group, I've never seen this armor or metal, it would be good to buy something for myself!" another exclaimed as the others nodded in agreement, after all, they could see that this armor was more beautiful than any other in this kingdom.

As Jon approached the gate, the city crowd turned toward that side, still wanting to see the giants. Meanwhile, the crowd of nobles filled the space in front of the tent area more, with some of the more important ones looking towards the castle entrance, but not blocking the gate entrance, due to the Tyrells' own requests to receive their peculiar guests.

"So, it's them..." Lord Hightower commented with a calculating gaze, after all, he had to attract them to Oldtown.

"Can we fight them, father?" his eldest son asked beside him.

"We can, as soon as we draw a small group into the city, we can't do anything here," he spoke, his mind calculating all scenarios.

While other ladies crowded the castle windows, gazing at the entire group with admiration, Jon continued through the portal and finally entered the castle, passing by the crowd that watched and murmured things, some admiring, others not hiding their disdain for him.

Jon didn't care; he just kept moving forward, noticing that he had garnered more honors than he had anticipated as he saw the Targaryen family gathered to welcome him at the front of the castle, or at least most of them.

He could see their astonished faces, a sentiment shared by all at that moment, as they admired each unique aspect of his group, be it the giant clad in eldenmetal armor, his massive wolf, or even the synchrony of his men with dwarves holding strong hammers, ready to protect the carriages with goods.

The commander of the site, William Flower, was in front, his men dispersing as they dismounted their horses and formed up. Jon approached close enough for most of his group to enter the premises.

He then maintained a safe distance from the nobles, who clearly were not comfortable with the two-meter tall wolves. Jon began to dismount, his wife and sister following behind.

As per noble etiquette, they would be received as the main members before even their ministers initially.

Despite the Tyrell family's discomfort with the two giant wolves that could kill anyone in seconds, they did not protest. Olenna had instructed them to keep quiet about it, especially her foolish son, because the wolf had never shown any aggression in Dorne, and they did not want to offend the guest. However, Willas, who loved keeping and caring for horses and other animals like dogs, couldn't help but be amazed by the sight of those wolves.

Seeing that they seemed a bit more comfortable now, Jon approached the family with his wife by his side, her hand on his arm, and his sister right by his opposite side.

He maintained his confidence under the gaze of hundreds as he gently approached the Tyrell family.

Mace Tyrell was conflicted at this moment; if he wasn't impressed by this young man approaching, he would be lying, but he also maintained a certain disdain and prejudice after hearing everything about Jon Snow. So much so that his mother had forced him to come out to greet the boy, which he didn't want at all, as it was embarrassing for him and beneath him.

Yet, he couldn't help but gape as he saw Jon approaching, his wife squeezing his hand beside him.

Jon noticed Willas Tyrell, who looked like a wise man, waiting for him. Willas, standing next to him, quite admired as well, held a significant position beside his father as the official heir of the house, leaning on his cane.

Next to Willas stood Garlan Tyrell. He noticed his brother's posture as that of an experienced warrior. It was no surprise that the man had won the melee combat; he held a proud look, his head held high, not taking his eyes off as Jon approached.

The young woman at the end, Margaery Tyrell, was very beautiful in Jon's opinion, her eyes also fixed on Jon. She had to admit that Jon was very different from what she expected, or at least, she didn't expect to see perhaps the most handsome man she had ever seen in her life, with gray-green eyes and black hair, gallant with a monarch's posture, something she expected from her future husband in King's Landing.

Jon also noticed the absence of the family matriarch, but it wasn't hard to find her at one of the castle windows, seated and staring intently at them like an eagle. He wasn't bothered by this, knowing she was just studying them and might use her age as an excuse, not that Jon wanted her there by force. He then turned his attention back to the members in front of him and, with a smile and confidence, he began to introduce himself.

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