The archery tournament

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night chapter, take advantage of it,

I'll see if I can upload a third one, since I'm short of time.

p.s. the next chapters will be from the arryn pov as I think it is better to detail the external view of the prussian army.

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POV of Wilhelm, seventh moon 284 AC

It seems that everything was going well at this feast.

Although I had thought of offering more traditional Germanic dishes, I preferred something simpler and easier to do to win over the palate of the guests, which is better than the good and simple fast food, but of course, with good ingredients and guaranteed to make them obsessed with the food. It was easy to observe when everyone saw Robert eat the hamburger; all, like sheep, followed his example, and so on with everything that we brought to the table.

The feast turned out to be a resounding success, as the guests were completely fascinated with the food we offered them. Not only did they enjoy the hamburger, but they were also pleasantly surprised with the rest of the dishes we served. We just had to say afterwards that they were typical Germanic dishes so that everyone would believe that they were traditional food.

Maximiliam is quite busy with his work, negotiating contracts with several important lords. However, his dedication and efforts are paying off, as he has managed to close very favorable deals for us. Although this has taken time away from enjoying the feast, the Westerosi nobility is eager to get good deals on fine liquor purchases and negotiate some grain and food deals.

Food security was not complete in almost any of the territories of the seven kingdoms, and it was always necessary to import from other sectors. Usually, it has always been within reach, but now there is that difficulty because of religion, and most lords do not want to have a Septon bothering them frequently. They have refrained, but this was the perfect place to do it because Robert is not the most devout man in the seven kingdoms, and therefore the high septon has not shown up and deals can be made with considerable privacy.

And this was the main thing in this feast: to get more business deals, start to expand our influence a bit in other territories, and thus prevent the faith of the seven from continuing to expand its web of lies that has been causing a significant increase in unrest.

Everything had gone perfectly, but I was presented with a unique opportunity, Lord Lannister. I do not know if he thinks I'm stupid or what, but that mistake cost him dearly. The lion thought I was an imbecile who has no brain and would start spending gold like crazy when it was minted in the gold mines of the south, but if he had stopped to analyze, the effects of inflation would be almost even. The reserves of my bank are in golden dragons.

If the purchasing power of that currency decreases,I lose a lot,especially with the banking operations of lending and storing gold,which allow us to have up to ten times more value than a person has deposited. If Lord Tywin had had that information, he would not have committed that kind of idiocy, but well,I can't complain that someone is wrong, and very much so.

I was practically paid to make my plans come true, and with a few well-placed words in the contract, it left us with total freedom to spend the gold in other areas, such as the summer islands or Essos, to import goods and sell them here and make even more profit and keep the gold supply in the local market under control.

But well, now I must fulfill the social obligation to participate in the feast and probably participate in some tournament in which I can highlight my combat skills.

Archery is one of these tournaments in which I will participate, and although it is very clear that I will not win, the winner is in the ranks of the Finns, who must already be rubbing their hands and thinking about what they will do with the gold prize.

The city was extremely secure to ensure the safety of all the guests, with the presence of men from several noble houses from various parts of the kingdom. Although I heard that Roon was pelted with stones as he moved through the city, now everything seems calmer after the Teutonics performed their charitable acts that won the hearts of the small folks who needed help from Charles' men.

The royal retinue advanced quickly through the streets of the city without missing a step; no one wanted to stay longer than necessary in the putrid streets of the city, since in some areas, if you didn't have something to fight the stench, you could easily throw back everything you had eaten at the feast.

While some lords were just beginning to set up their tents, those in my camp had been up for several days and already looked like a small fortification. It seems that Roon took the security of the camp very seriously to avoid thieves and curious eyes.

I changed into more comfortable clothes and took one of the many bows I had in my armory. While I was putting the string on my bow, Antti approached me.

''My king, I bring some information that may be important for you'' said Antti behind me.

''Inform,'' I replied while I was still assembling my bow.

''Prince Oberyn Martell brought with him a special poison; we don't know the effects; we only know that it is expensive and that he spent a good amount of gold for its acquisition. We believe it is to kill Robert if the opportunity arises,'' said Antti with his emotionless voice.

''I understand, Antti. I appreciate your information. Keep an eye on Prince Oberyn, and make sure he doesn't get too close to Robert without our supervision. Robert is clumsy, but it makes things much easier to let us expand our influence slowly,'' I said as I finished attaching the string to my bow. I knew I had to be prepared for any eventuality.

''Do you want me to go and pay a visit to the martell? A small threat of what might happen to his sister should be enough to dissuade him from doing anything that would jeopardize our plans''antti proposed.

No, without evidence to determine what the poison would be used for, it could leave us in a bad light. Doran and Oberyn could talk about how we could bring the Targaryen head to Robert and lose the strings that allow us to influence him. If Robert goes mad at the chance to kill the survivors of House Targaryen, it is better to keep an eye on him, and if Robert is foolish enough to fight in one of his tournaments, make sure Oberyn doesn't get close to him,'' I said, offering the bow to Antti.

''A recurved bow, by the manufacture, must be tartar, very effective, and accurate'', commented Antti while examining the bow.

''That's right, a Crimean Tatar gave it to Helmuth for returning his son after capturing him, and Helmuth gave it to me in my first year as king'' I said as I watched Antti draw the bow.

''a fine bow, no doubt; it is a real shame that my master is not here; he would have loved to be able to participate in this archery tournament; he would have loved nothing more than to humiliate the nobles. We have observed the skill of the current contestants, and seeing their training would not be a problem for you, except for some lords of the river lands. My question here is, do you want us to let you win, my king? Just give the order, and I will make sure my brothers miss their arrows'' Antti said without any emotion and had his green eyes wide open.

''I'll try my luck at fencing and don't bring up the subject again, and if Charles hears us, he'll take it out on me in my training for thinking about cheating'' I said, almost immediately looking to see if Charles wasn't outside.

''Understood'' said Antti, giving me back the bow.

Now with more comfortable clothes, I went to the shooting range, where a large number of lords were gathering to participate in the tournament, either for the prestige or the generous prize we would give to the first-place winners.

It was not necessary to be very intelligent because something seemed out of place. Normally, in tournaments, the small folks are allowed to enter because it allows people with the ability to stand out and rise socially, but almost all the men who made it through the preliminary rounds were Finns who were waiting for the rest of the lords to arrive at their posts and begin the first rounds.

The vast majority of the commoners who managed to pass the tests were a specific group that drew much attention from the lords.

As I expected, there were a large number of lords who were going to participate, since archery is a fundamental skill in the skills that every good lord should have in his arsenal as it allows him to participate in the hunts as a martial display. Also,  in these hunts, they learn to know their territories.

There were no speeches; it was only the men of House Baratheon who led us to do what we came to do: shoot arrows at stationary targets.

The bow of preference of the Westerosi was very similar to the English longbow, while the standard bow of the Prussian armies was the recurved bow, although only the Finnish soldiers used it since the crossbow is the one used by the Prussian army because of the ease of training a man in its use.

The competition was simple: a scoring system from one to ten depending on whether the arrow hit the target and the time it took to score points was considered, and with each passing round, the targets were placed further behind.

The archers lined up in a row, ready to shoot their arrows with skill and precision. The competitors were concentrating to the maximum, controlling their breathing, and calculating the perfect angle to shoot their arrow. It was a test of skill and concentration, where each archer had to be in the best possible position to shoot his arrow.

Only that many lost their concentration when they saw that three competitors had already finished their arrow shots in a matter of seconds and hit the target perfectly.

I dedicated myself to shooting my arrows correctly and waited for the results of the rounds.

It was amusing to see how the lists of those who passed to the second round were composed of almost only numbers of the names of the Finns.

There was annoyance among the judges due to the absence of names to identify the Finns, who had to be given numbers and pinned to their clothes. This caused some confusion during the competition, as the judges had to refer to the Finnish participants by their numbers instead of their names. However, despite this unusual situation, the competition continued smoothly.

Slowly, the men of the noble houses and my knights were being eliminated by the enormous effectiveness of the Finns, who won each round with precision and speed, leaving the spectators in awe of their prowess. As the competition progressed, the Finnish team became more and more feared by their opponents, who faced a difficult task in trying to defeat them.

There were only a couple of Teutonic knights left, including Charles, who was having trouble keeping up with the Finnish team's arrow-shooting speed. The bastards could shoot three arrows in less than five seconds, which was an impressive feat. Charles struggled to keep up, as the Finns' skill was overwhelming.

The Finns did not use their quiver but had the arrows in their hands, which allowed them to repeat the feat in less than a blink of an eye.

In the third round before the final, I was eliminated. There was no broken pride; I had lost to the best.

Although it was beginning to become clear why there was such a difference, many of the Finnish finalists had a deformed arm, longer than the other, because of the constant training and use of the bow. Some even had more developed muscles in that area, which gave them an additional advantage in the competition.

Only the Finnish wolf-heads were left in the competition.

Until it came to a deadlock, the finalists were so evenly matched that the only thing left to do was draw the targets away to the maximum operational use of their bow.

It took several rounds until they began to miss arrows, disqualify the last few, and declare a winner.

A problem arose when Robert wanted to meet the winners and wanted to see their faces and asked them to remove their masks, but the Finnish wolf-heads refused to reveal their identity and kept the mystery in the competition. This generated controversy and discussions about the importance of preserving anonymity at this type of event.

Arryn and I had to intervene to mediate this, which was not difficult. I just had to appeal to Robert's gluttony and remind him that dinner was waiting for us at the castle and that we had a fried chicken we wanted him to try, and Robert forgot all about it.

Robert almost ran to his horse to return to the castle.

Arryn's sigh was very loud.

''Are they still going to participate, Lord Hohenzollern?'' Arryn asked as he ran his hand over his temples.

''Yes, Lord Arryn, although I would question their participation in some tournaments'' I answered the weary Lord.

''Ahh, can't you make them take off their masks? Many lords complained that their men were changing places,'' said Lord Arryn, walking slowly to his horse.

''Within their culture, secrecy is very important; they don't like strangers to see their faces, and they feel it is their duty to kill anyone who has seen their faces... I can order them to do so, but it could end very badly'' I said to Lord Arryn.

''Better not...lord Hohenzollern...let's hope they don't win another tournament'' said lord arryn getting on his horse with the help of his squire.

''We will see what can be done'' I said, walking to my horse, which was held by one of my bodyguards.

Tomorrow will be the melee tournament; I'm not going anywhere near it.

It was amusing to see how the lists of those who passed to the second round were composed of almost only numbers of the names of the Finns.

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