Shady deals

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POV of Karlon sixth moon 288AC

"Look at those bastards... cowards without honor, fleeing like the rats they are before facing someone equally armed," I said, watching a group of five longships of the Ironborn who had attacked a coastal village that was now in flames.

"Don't waste time, head to the village in search of survivors or stragglers from the pirates," said our captain, who spurred his horse and rode toward the village.

Our entire group rode after our officer. We did our best to extinguish the fires and began searching for survivors, but we only found lifeless bodies. All those who survived must have been chained and taken as slaves to their damned islands.

Our captain removed his helmet and started drinking from his canteen.

"All of this could have been avoided if those damned Glovers had built the fortifications we recommended... What the hell are these fools planning, that all the fishing villages in the area get raided before they think about protecting their people?" said our captain, angrily throwing his canteen to the ground.

"It's not our concern, captain. If the Northman wants to pile up his wealth in his vaults, we can't force him," said a Prussian sergeant.

"Damn fool, letting his people fall into slavery... Fine, back to the barracks. The sawmill must be protected at all costs; that wood must reach Wilhelmshaven according to the established itinerary."said the captain

We nodded and began the journey back to our settlement in Glover lands.

It had been quite some time since I joined the ranks of the Prussian company, and I had been frequently reassigned to various duties. I received another promotion due to the continuous expansion of the ranks as the company kept growing. I was assigned as a member of the security for the extraction operations that the company carried out, and this had been my latest destination.

The lands of the Glovers housed one of the largest forests in all of the Seven Kingdoms and were the heart of Prussian forestry operations, as almost seven out of ten logs used for shipbuilding were extracted here.

The North thrives wherever the company manages to expand or when competing with a commercial company of the Manderlys. This has significantly changed the life of the common Northerner, as a large number live in settlements where the processing zones for raw materials are located. There, they find what the Prussians consider the bare minimum for a decent living, which for the rest meant something that only the wealthiest nobles could enjoy.

Many of the houses that have been built have thick walls filled with insulating material and pipes that move boiling water, heated in communal baths. There is also a latrine system that functions flawlessly throughout the North.

Recently, the construction of commercial cities has begun, which will be the jewels of the North and the gold mines for the noble family entrusted with their administration.

Everything would have been wonderful if it weren't for the fact that the Ironborn were raiding the coasts of the North like madmen. Several hundred men have been sent on commercial expeditions to the South to train sailors, around five thousand men. But even with a considerable number of sailors to defend the coasts, the Prussian war galleys require one hundred and fifty men to be properly operated. A little over thirty galleys are nowhere near enough to patrol the entire coast of the North, and they are limited to protecting the vicinity of the port city.

For the northernmost areas, the Prussians had made recommendations to the Northern lords on what they should do to stop the Ironborn raids: the construction of small fortifications to protect the village population, as they only needed to buy time for reinforcements to arrive. As happened in that village, if the local lord had built the fortifications, we would have arrived in time to kill the pirates, but since he refused, we arrived too late.

The other option was for all the coastal lords to choose an area and move the entire population to build a city where the concentration of men would make a small raid impossible, making defense much easier.

But everything was in conflict, and for the first time, I saw that the Prussians couldn't understand us, or at least the lower ranks of the company couldn't. To them, Lord Stark should order his lords to comply immediately, without much concern that Lord Stark can't force his lords to do something they don't want to do, since the Stark lords can't control their bannermen, much less force them to move their people to a specific place, as to strip them of their land rights, they must first have committed a transgression.

This is very different from what happens in Prussian society, where their lord commands, and the Prussians obey, where from one day to the next, a powerful governor could be removed simply on a whim, and he would willingly accept it, and someone else would rise to the position.

Besides the economic problem it would create, not everyone can afford to build the fortifications the Prussians propose. Those who have truly become wealthy working hand in hand with the Prussians are the lords near Winterfell, especially those who sent men and gold to the South to trade with the Summer Islands. But again, it was mainly the lords near Winterfell and the Dustins.

So here we are, with growing animosity between the Prussian officers and the bannermen of the Stark lords due to their inaction in defending their people, because it's rare to be able to arrive in time to aid a village attacked by pirates, as their attacks are usually swift so they can escape just as quickly.

Gustav was one of the few who understood what was happening and didn't give it much importance. As long as the log shipments reached their destination, he cared little about what happened on the coasts, for now, knowing that one day they would have to deal with the pirates to stop them from plundering our waters.

So our work continued: ensuring that the workers did their jobs and keeping an eye out for wolves and bears in the area, so they wouldn't disrupt production, in addition to frequent horseback patrols to try to catch the Ironborn, whether they were raiding or cutting down trees to steal them.

On one of the many days we carried out this watch, we managed to catch the crew of three ships, who were quite relaxed, cutting down trees. The smiles of the Prussian officers could be seen from several meters away as we began crucifying them, finally bringing justice to that scum.

Everything continued as usual. When it was my turn to stand guard in the afternoon, and before nightfall, I inspected a shipment that was supposed to go out and noticed that there were far more logs than the manifest indicated. When I went to report it to my superior, the shipment had already left with Gustav's authorization, because we were taking too long.

Taking advantage of the fact that my shift hadn't ended long ago, I mounted my horse and returned to the city where we were stationed, since selling beer is not allowed at the sawmills for safety reasons.

When I arrived at a crossroads, I noticed the marks of the trade caravan and realized that their paths had separated.

The itinerary was simple: directly to Winterfell, and then a journey south, straight to the heart of Prussian power, so I didn't understand why there were fresh marks on the ground from the caravan, considering only ours passed through the area.

Following my curiosity, I dedicated myself to following the tracks left by the carts for several minutes until, by the smell, I realized I was getting close to the sea. I kept observing the tracks until I reached a beach.

In the darkness, I noticed several lit torches, and to my surprise, I saw the caravan. I tied my horse to a tree and continued on foot to see what was happening.

When I got closer, I could see that there was only one Prussian officer talking with a group of men, and when the torches finally illuminated the rest, I saw I had a big problem.

Ironborn were handing over chests with valuables to a Prussian officer in exchange for the logs that were supposed to be used to build ships in the Prussian arsenals.

I had arrived late, it seemed, because a few minutes later, the Ironborn hoisted their sails and rowed out to sea, leaving only the Prussian officer and the horses of the carts.

I was about to retreat to report this, but I stepped on a loose stone that fell down the small hill, catching the Prussian officer's attention.

"Who's there?" said the Prussian officer, drawing his saber and moving his torch as he quickly advanced toward me.

"Gustav?" I said, surprised.

Gustav dropped his torch and looked shocked, even with his mouth open.

"Karlon, what are you doing here?... You shouldn't be here..." said Gustav, his voice almost breaking.

"I saw everything... Doing business with the pirates while others suffer... Everything you taught me was a lie," I said, anger in my voice.

"Karlon... I... I can explain... There's a good reason for all of this... but I can't tell you," said Gustav, almost in tears.

"Surrender, Gustav. At least face your punishment with honor," I tried to reason with him.

"I'm afraid that's not an option, my dear apprentice... I can't let you talk," said Gustav, this time in a serious tone, getting into a fighting stance.

Running wasn't an option. My horse was too far behind, and Gustav had several to choose from to chase me. I only had one option left: defeat him, which was easier said than done, considering he taught me everything I know.

I got into position after drawing my saber.

And our sword clash began.

We constantly crossed sabers, searching for any weakness in our techniques, but finding flaws in Gustav was almost impossible.

Not even a minute had passed before I lost all initiative and was simply defending myself against Gustav's rapid strikes, for some reason tears were falling from his eyes.

In one of Gustav's many attacks, he managed to parry my saber with his to hit me in the face with the hilt of his sword.

I didn't have time to think when I had to keep defending myself from Gustav.

I continued defending myself and backing away until I bumped into a tree behind me, noticing that the fight had started several meters below.

I ducked and managed to dodge the sword slash aimed at my face.

I tried to get up and defend myself, but Gustav disarmed me with a fencing technique, targeting my dominant hand.

Immediately, I lunged for my saber, but Gustav stepped on my hand before I could do anything.

Seeing the opportunity, I gave him a strong elbow strike to his groin.

And Gustav responded with a powerful knee to my face that knocked me to the ground.

"Grrrr... Ha, ha, ha, you damn son of a bitch... I taught you well... Too well... You moved as I taught you... You defended yourself as I taught you... Just a couple more years and this encounter might have been different..." said Gustav, standing over me and landing a hard punch to my face.

"But why... did it have to be... you? I wouldn't have cared about anyone else... But you're like a son to me," said Gustav, punching me in the face several times.

Gustav had hit me several times, and I could barely defend myself from his blows when I saw him taking out his dagger.

"I'm sorry... But believe me, this hurts me more than it hurts you," said Gustav, ready to end it all.

"That's enough, Gustav," said a voice behind us.

"For God's sake... You couldn't have stopped us earlier?" said Gustav, furious.

"I wanted to see how far your loyalty would go, and you passed the test... I thought you'd tell your dear apprentice, but I was wrong... Tell him the plan, and I'll watch him. If he talks, I'll take care of him," said the mysterious voice.

"You son of a bitch, you could have stopped him before he got here. Blessed God... Karlon... can you hear me?" said Gustav, moving my head slightly.

I nodded, while I heard a laugh that sent chills down my spine behind me.

"Yes, I could have stopped him, told him I needed him elsewhere... but when you can test someone's loyalty at this level... Ha, ha, ha," said the mysterious voice, laughing like a maniac.

"Karlon... we have reliable information that the Ironborn want to rebel against the Iron Throne, and we want them to do it so that, when it happens, we can wipe out that plague of pirates once and for all, and we're facilitating everything we can for them to rebel," said Gustav, shame in his voice.

"But... the people..." I tried to say with difficulty, as my lips were swollen.

"I know... A small sacrifice for a greater good, so no one has to suffer from them in the future," said Gustav, helping me to my feet.

"You sure hit your boy hard, huh?" said the mysterious voice.

"I had no choice; I wasn't going to jeopardize the plan... Karlon, don't tell anyone, please, or well, he'll make sure you don't speak... I know you're smart... Nothing happened here," said Gustav, carrying me to the cart.

They took me back to the barracks, where they said bandits had ambushed me, explaining my injuries.

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Give me your power stones

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Leave a comment; support is always appreciated.

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I remind you to leave your ideas or what you would like to see.

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