Chapter 84 – Artican Trade in Westeros 11 (Dorne 09).
[Chapter Size: 2900 Words.]
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Thrid Person POV
Dorne, 295 AC.
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Jon returned to his quarters after the commotion while Arya joined them. "These people... They are so treacherous!" Arya growled.
"We don't have much to do about it, just to take care of ourselves." Seryna commented, also dissatisfied with what happened.
"I will talk to Doran later and I no longer intend to participate in his games, so this was the last straw." Jon said seriously and went back to Ygritte.
"How are you?" He asked, touching her belly using some magic there.
"I'm fine..." She said.
"You're going back to the Arctic." Jon said, seeing that Ygritte was not in good condition.
"But..."
"No buts, you won't be able to for the rest of the journey, I know you are feeling sick, I will leave Serume so that your journey goes smoothly." Jon said, not wanting Ygritte to go through the rest of the journey's stress.
He also wanted Seryna to do the same, looking at her. "No. I'm staying." She simply said and continued. "You need one of us, I'm fine and can take very good care of myself." She said, leaving no room for discussion.
"Okay." He returned to Ygritte and touched her hand. "I need you to be safe, it won't be the first journey, so I promise you will participate in the next one." Jon said, and she nodded although reluctantly.
"What are we going to do now?" Arya asked, sitting on the bed.
"I will talk to Doran soon, at this moment he already knows he cannot deal with me easily, and he will have to think twice before trying something, my eyes are all over the castle and I have made it clear that I would launch an attack as soon as we feel threatened." Jon said as he approached the window and stroked a sleeping red viper there, the snake just looked at him and accepted his hand while sticking out its tongue.
Meanwhile, Doran was organizing the place, with some apprehension, "How did this happen..." He growled in his chair to his daughter.
"Nymeria thought it would be smart to throw a throwing knife at a pregnant woman." It was not Arianne who replied, but Nyra.
"..." Doran was silent and looked at Nymeria still being treated by the maester. "How is she?" He asked.
"My lord..." The maester began with some apprehension. "From what I could see, to start with she has gone into a coma, there are rib fractures, the chest was broken, and I believe even her spinal column suffered a major impact, the internal injuries could be varied as well." He finished, leaving his sisters enraged by that.
"They will pay for this!" Obara snarled.
"You tried once and almost died because of it." Doran mocked, already irritated with Oberyn's daughters.
"Do you plan to leave them in peace after everything they have done?!" Ellaria growled at Doran and the atmosphere seemed very heavy.
"Your daughters caused this, maybe teaching that you could try to kill a guest in my house, was not a good choice." Doran spoke seriously to Ellaria.
Ellaria was going to respond, but Nyra spoke for her, "Have you seen what he can do? Do you want to kill yourself and the rest of your daughters out of revenge?" She asked, who could deal with giants and an army of snakes roaming the entire city? Even she had to admit how afraid she was of the man from the north.
"That wizard... How can he do this, maester, what the hell happened here?!" Tiene sought answers from the man treating her sister.
"I..." The maester seemed lost and even Doran was curious, even though he had already asked about the event of the previous night, he was still interested in what the man would argue. "I cannot explain this phenomenon, there are the wargs with blood of the first men, ancient legends of men who entered the body of animals." He said.
"Entering the bodies of animals...?!" A soldier beside commented a bit scared by that.
"But what we need today..." The maester continued. "I have never read anything like it, no warg I read about in the citadel could control multiple animals and still remain conscious." The man finished.
This left everyone entirely a bit shaken, after all, who could deal with someone like that, seeing what he has already been capable of without losing a soldier on his side.
"What are we going to do, father?" Arianne asked with a tone of concern.
"We can't do anything for now, let's just make Lord Arctic's stay pleasant," he concluded.
"And your brother, he's lying on the ground!" Ellaria commented, frustrated with Doran's words.
"How is my brother, maester?" he asked.
"He's fine... if we disregard the broken nose, he'll be alright, much better than your daughter's condition," the elderly man spoke.
Doran looked at his brother on the ground with a bleeding nose and another cut on his cheek before nodding. He turned his attention to Ellaria and her daughters. "You've caused a lot of trouble, you will stay out of Dorne while the Articans are here, I will put you on a ship along with my brother, I will send a raven when you can return," he concluded.
"You can't be serious!" Ellaria shouted, but Doran ignored her and looked at his daughter. "Let's go inside, we have a lot to plan with our guests, you too Nyra," he said, sighing with some relief after everything that happened. They began to leave to review how they would deal with Jon Arctic.
At the castle entrance, the giants and Artican men began to calm down as the royal guards were explaining the current situation along with the wargs. The Dornish soldiers were fearing the imminent conflict and were relieved when they saw the creatures putting away their weapons.
A few hours passed until Doran invited Jon again for dinner with his family.
"I hope our relations have not been too damaged," Doran commented as Jon approached.
"They attacked my pregnant wife unfairly," Jon spoke with a not friendly voice. "I don't know if that can be forgotten."
Arianne and Nyra seemed to sigh at this, but Doran kept a neutral face. "I can understand your anger, I ensured Oberyn and his daughters left the city," he assured.
Jon nodded, after all, at this moment, while Oberyn was waking up with his nose bandaged, and his daughters talking to him for the first time, there was a snake in a corner just watching them. Snakes may not hear as well as humans, but Jon could see their intentions, should they try anything. Then he heard the drama and the thirst for revenge against the Arctic family from those individuals, ready to act at any moment.
Meanwhile, the dinner turned more silent, with the atmosphere a bit strange between the two families, Doran asked recurrent things without delving into the subject of recent events, and Jon nodded, answering all the questions calmly.
"I spoke with some large pasture owners in the desert and some merchants in the city, we could talk about prices tomorrow if you want," Doran commented.
"That's good, I'm bringing some ships to the harbor, they will bring the products we negotiated," Jon said.
After dinner, both returned to their quarters, with Arya sleeping in an extra bed in Jon's room. And the next day, the meeting began with Doran and some merchants, one of them even from Essos establishing his own company in Dorne.
"What would you like, I have various animals that will surely be to your liking!" the man spoke while clasping his hands expressing his greed for a big deal.
"I want everything you have," Jon spoke while Arya was on the other side. His ministers smiled, seeing the other side of the table surprised by that.
"I think I didn't understand well... I have more than 3,000 animals on my lands," the man spoke a bit lost.
"If you sell them to me at a fair price, I want to buy all of them," Jon spoke, he didn't mind buying something a bit above market price, just not being abusive, after all, he might be rich but wouldn't throw money at people outside of Arctic.
"Is... are you serious?" he asked still dazed.
"Yes, I want all of them," he affirmed, and the man nodded, picking up a paper and starting to do the calculations.
"Now onto iron," Jon turned to the man from Essos, wearing jewels.
"Your Excellency, I have the best price in the region, quality and quantity! You can take iron ingots, steel, and other metals!" he quickly said, hoping to sell like the animal man.
"Give me your price, I intend to buy everything you have," Jon spoke again, making the man quite happy as he began to take notes.
After they came back with their prices, Jon negotiated a bit with the animal man, who had been too greedy, and reached an agreement at a fairer price. For Jon, an offer is not an offense, but it didn't mean he would pay any price. The other man offered a slightly better price, and Jon didn't have to argue much to buy tons of metals. His gaze then turned to Doran. "Do you have more people who can sell these things? I also need other materials," Jon said, leaving Doran somewhat at a loss.
"I can get more minor merchants in the coming days," he said. "Can we now discuss yesterday's incident?" he asked, and Jon nodded, with Arya and his ministers leaving with the merchants before only Doran and Jon remained in the room.
"As you know, Oberyn's actions do not reflect the intentions of House Martell, which is why we are willing to give 100,000 gold coins to help with your payments to the merchants," he said.
"That's interesting, though it does nothing for my wife's life or the child she carries. I won't blame you for something your brother and his daughters caused, and I think Dorne could be a good trading partner, but I believe you have something more," Jon said, sensing there was still more to come.
"Yes, you are right. I think we cannot have a good friendship after what happened just with 100,000 gold coins. What I propose..." he said, looking at Jon, "is a marriage."
Jon looked at him for a while but with a calm face, already expecting something like this. "You know I am a man married to two wives. I think you are not someone who would accept having your blood as a third wife," Jon asked, before declining.
"No, I would refuse to do something like that, but we can make an exception for you. After all, Arianne would be a queen of the Arctic too, wouldn't she?" he said calmly.
"You offend me by suggesting your daughter," Jon said with a tone of dissatisfaction. "Your daughter has slept with various men of Dorne, even her sworn sword is her lover. You shouldn't even propose her." Jon knew how people viewed Arianne. He would not accept such a woman, even if the deal was advantageous.
Despite the refusal and even a certain offense to his daughter, Doran wanted this marriage, after all, the Arctic would be useful in the future for his plans, and he wanted to use Jon's army of giants and resources. "We are willing to give a dowry of 300,000 more gold coins than we are already giving you. A tax exemption in Dorne and free trade," Doran said, trying to buy not just Jon with gold but also trade advantages.
"Why Arianne? She is the heiress of Dorne, you know I would prefer Nyra over Arianne, don't you?" Jon asked, curious to see the man's response.
Doran seemed reluctant at the mention of Nyra. "Nyra would not be someone suitable for your status," he said.
"Are you saying I am beneath her, Prince of Dorne?" Jon retorted.
"No, you are not, but she is not in question," Doran said with a tone dissatisfied with Jon's questioning.
"I see, but I am not available to take a third wife, so you will have to forgive me. Now, if you'll excuse me, my wives are waiting for me," Jon said, and Doran could do nothing but watch him leave the room with his failed negotiation, after all, he didn't have much leverage.
Nyra, as much as Jon wanted to know Doran's answer, the man wanted to use Nyra for other political matters, after all, she could be the queen of Westeros in the future or the person who would put his blood in power by marrying her to someone important. And although Doran had seen Jon's power, it was still a very unknown kingdom and far from the capital, for him perhaps not being the best option and doubting Jon Arctic would agree so easily to enter the war against the Baratheons while he is a Stark.
Jon returned to his wives in the Water Gardens, spending the afternoon with them without caring about anything else. "I'm going back to the room, I'm feeling very tired," Ygritte said in the late afternoon.
"I'll go back with her," Seryna said, and Jon nodded, still wanting to stay a bit longer.
He ended up spending time, ironically, with a snake and felt some heavy footsteps approaching. He looked to the side with a smile. Ghost appeared, walking up to his master with his tongue out.
"Did you manage to get past everyone to get here...?" Jon murmured, a bit incredulous that this giant wolf was wandering around the place without any issues, given that he had left Arya's wolf at the entrance with other animals.
But recalling his memories, it was obvious that he did, and the guards just moved away in fear, not wanting to harm the wizard's wolf, as that could kill them all.
Ghost approached Jon, licking him. "I missed you too, buddy, but it's only been a day since we saw each other." Jon commented since he was supposed to see his wolf yesterday, but the commotion in the courtyard happened.
He spent some time with Ghost, until he noticed a person not too far from him, picking some flowers. It was Nyra Sand, who hadn't noticed him until she turned around to see him holding a giant wolf by his side.
"!!" She got a bit startled.
"It's okay, I'll return him as soon as I leave here," Jon said calmly, though not appearing too friendly.
She listened, lost in how to interact with this man. Yet, her curiosity got the better of her as she approached calmly. "I've heard stories about Starks riding their wolves into wars." She began. "I just never expected to see one in person. It reminds me of the Targaryens," she said while looking at Ghost, who lifted his head to look at her with his red eyes.
"It's true," Jon admitted, as he was the first after generations in his family to possess such animals.
"This makes me wonder..." Nyra continued, now looking at him. "If the Starks can have wolves again, could dragons return as well?" She murmured.
Jon looked at her for a while. "It's very likely. A lot in this world that people think impossible can happen," he said without revealing the existence of Eragon, his own dragon, or the dragon he felt in Skagos.
"My dream has always been to ride a dragon..." She let slip.
"..." Jon didn't respond, not quite sure how to react to this girl, as he still had conflicting feelings about her.
Jon petted Ghost one more time and began to stand up as the night approached. "I hope your dream comes true," he said and started to leave.
"Wait!" The girl tried to stop him.
"What is it?" Jon turned around, already standing next to Ghost, who was taller than him.
"I apologize for acting that way..." She said with a sad look. "But there's something between us, isn't there? You can feel it too," she said with her heart racing.
"There is, but you know what," Jon began. "I spoke with Doran today. He wanted me to marry Arianne Martell," Jon started, leaving Nyra with a slight shock in her heart. "I refused," Jon said with a sarcastic tone. "I asked if I could marry you instead of his heir, but he refused," Jon told her, leaving Nyra quite surprised by this.
Jon looked at her, and before she could say anything, he continued. "I don't know what you want from life, Nyra. But one thing I do know about you, you are a political tool for your uncle, and you will be used to achieve his goals," Jon said sternly and turned to take Ghost back to the other animals again.
Nyra stood there, pondering his words, and it wasn't the words indicating Doran was her uncle, not her father, that left her so affected.
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