[Chapter Size: 4300 Words.]
---------------------------------------
Third Person POV
Seagard, 300 AC.
---------------------------------------
Seagard was still under a siege, after they had retaken the city, which had been seized by the ironborn a few weeks earlier.
Lord Jason Mallister, the lord of Seagard, managed to reclaim it due to the chaos that had taken place moons ago. The army of the Riverlands, along with the army of the North, had been dismantled, which further weakened the position of the Riverlands against its enemies, one of them being the ironborn, who saw an opportunity, while up to that point in the war they had been more focused on the Westerlands and even the Reach, due to most of the armies of those kingdoms being in the Crownlands in the east of the continent.
The Greyjoys also saw opportunities and Seagard was their main target in this chance, while House Mallister was still trying to recover from the betrayal of both the Freys and the Boltons, trapped without being able to recall their troops when a more aggressive attack came from the raiders.
The city that lay within walls fell, although the fortress inside the city had a second layer of protection, Lord Mallister still managed to gather a force after having to yield to the Freys and swear loyalty.
Then they managed to return with a force to reclaim the city, and they succeeded in driving out the ironborn, even though they had help from the Freys themselves.
The order was simple now with the new political structure of the Riverlands, since House Tully no longer held power over its vassals, and Seagard was to remain protecting the coast.
A new siege had been established, but it served for nothing more than keeping the ironborn occupied with something, although their harassment truly began in villages throughout the region, being looted.
Within the city, they could see smoke rising in various places on the horizon, with hamlets and villages being burned, while women and even men were taken to their ships, the women with the intention of becoming objects of pleasure for the raiders and the men to become slave laborers in the Iron Islands.
In any case, news arrived a week ago, not the kind from maesters or threats that they should bend the knee to Arctic or be treated as enemies of Arctic, with the son of Prince Rhaegar seeking his rights to the Iron Throne.
The news was somewhat more shocking for Lord Mallister, as it was seen that a massive fleet was advancing through the Iron Islands under Arctic's banner. At least 100 ships were sighted as they sailed through the islands by ships from the mainland side trying to pass the ironborn while carrying some refugees; since they were not ironborn, they barely knew they had been spared because Jon did not attack alongside krakens except against ironborn.
Arctic's presence so far south ended up bringing many answers to the questions that had been asked after receiving those letters.
Arctic had finally made its move against the Seven Kingdoms, catching everyone by surprise, especially the people along the west coast of the continent across several kingdoms.
After that, there was no more news, no raven arrived, leaving only silence. A silence that lasted until that morning, when he was urgently called by his men, claiming that ships bearing Arctic's banner were in sight coming from the sea.
Lord Mallister quickly went out to see, where he found at least a hundred ships, as reported, heading in their direction.
"My lord..." his guards murmured, as the man stood there, swallowing hard, his mind working on how to deal with them, given that the situation was quite delicate.
They were a foreign people who had already caused much chaos in Westeros, as told in stories of travels and wars on the other continent, which over the years proved they were not merely rumors.
And if they were here, after having entered the Iron Islands, it meant only one thing. But it was somewhat unbelievable that they could deal with the Iron Islands in a week, when during the last Greyjoy Rebellion, King Robert Baratheon gathered the realm and it took a year to destroy the rebellion.
What kind of comparison could be made here? Obviously, it would be nothing normal, but Lord Mallister could do nothing but wait to see how this kingdom would deal with them.
After all, if they had already finished off the Iron Islands in such a short time — which even for him was easier to believe that they had reached a stalemate and withdrawn — it was hard to think the Islands had not reacted, when they should have far more ships than a hundred to fight against the arcticans. Perhaps they had fled and come to land to fight the ships. The great Lord Mallister could not say, but he could do nothing but wait and speak with the commander — or with the king himself, if he were present.
"Keep the entire fortress closed. We will gather a group and meet to see what they want." He said, even though he already knew well that House Mallister would fall to its knees.
"There are at least forty ironborn ships on the beach. I doubt they will last long," another muttered.
"Let them kill each other." replied the master-at-arms.
"Jason..." His cousin arrived among his men. "We should prepare. Are we not their enemies as well? After all, we bent the knee to the King in the North."
Lord Mallister thought for a moment. "That we must also consider... but it is better to hear what they have to say before making any decision."
He spoke while immediately ordering men to keep watch on any activity of the ships as they were approaching the coast. An order was given to keep soldiers ready to go to the city walls.
Meanwhile, the small ironborn siege at the city gates was now in panic. Those who were supposed to stay to protect the beaches, where they had forty of their ships, simply fled, some stayed to fight — and it did not last long.
Giant harpoons were fired from the ships by the giants themselves. The scene had already shocked everyone, but when the dwarves on the ships began to use their machines, unleashing a rain of arrows with more than fifty shots per volley from each machine, they were even more stunned.
The beach turned into a storm of arrows, where everyone tried to hide or run. It did not take long for the arctican ships to finally dock on the shore, with several warriors disembarking, while a frantic fight for the last remnants — or rather, a massacre — ended as quickly as it began. Not even those who tried to surrender were spared.
This frightened all the others, who even tried to counterattack, but those siege machines now on the beach managed to eliminate the advantage of being on higher ground than the ships — and they were slaughtered.
The guards of House Mallister watched that with shocked and fearful eyes. They had never imagined anything like it.
In any case, the ironborn had no choice but to flee out of the territory, scattering in all directions across the Riverlands.
The arcticans organized themselves on the beach. Not many — only a small group advanced, climbing to the higher ground, since the city itself and the castle stood far above the shore, built on a cliff.
The banner of Arctic, along with the white flag of truce, was raised, with a group approaching the gates.
The gate soon opened, and then Lord Mallister came out, also bearing the white flag along with the banner of his house. Obviously, the best thing to do was to hear them out, rather than create an unnecessary confrontation, when it did not seem they were fleeing from the ironborn or that they had failed in the Iron Islands — quite the opposite, they appeared calm and resolute. As if they had done what they wanted there and were now here.
Lord Mallister faced the young man who led the rather sophisticated group.
His eyes could not help but widen in shock upon seeing the Valyrian steel used in the armor of all those men and two women. Throughout his life, he had seen at most eight swords of that steel due to how rare it was, even in tournaments — and now there was at least a group of eight people, all with equipment worth castles.
After the initial shock, his gaze shifted to their faces. Obviously, the young boy he saw leading the group with green eyes, as described in all the rumors, was none other than the boy who built a nation from nothing — and also the one whom Lord Stark declared as Aegon Targaryen, son of Rhaegar, the silver prince, and Lord Stark died telling that to all of King's Landing.
He also recognized the Stark girl beside the king of Arctic, who had lived with her cousin beyond the Wall for many years. She looked very well, had a sharp gaze and a beauty quite fitting of the rumors that came about her.
'They also say that she shattered the beauty of the queen mother when the latter envied and coveted the she-wolf's beauty in Winterfell...'
There was another girl, he did not know who she was, but he recognized the sigil on her chest, also wearing Valyrian steel armor, with pauldrons shaped like a bear's head, crafted in great detail, just like the Mormont symbol on her chest.
As someone who had fought alongside King Robb, he knew that House Mormont was always with the king most of the time, Dacey being one of the king's guards.
He just did not know the girl's name, as he knew Maege had brought only two daughters to the war and left two others on the island in the North. So it had to be one of those — and given the news that they had freed Bear Island, it would explain why she was there.
There was one among them who had shocked Lord Mallister even more.
It was Barristan Selmy.
Someone who had disappeared since they heard about his departure from the Kingsguard in the middle of the war.
He was there, a man who, despite his age, seemed well adapted and healthy — even more so than the last time Mallister had seen him, when he went to King's Landing for a petition with King Robert still alive, about taxes in Seagard. Back then, he did not seem as full of energy.
'How strange...' he thought. But he could see that now, wearing the same armor as the others, with Valyrian steel details, he seemed to make the legend of this knight grow even more, at the same time, he did not seem to be the leader.
The others were unfamiliar faces, but clearly warriors — given the use of the same armor as Barristan Selmy, they must be the royal guard created beyond the Wall, all wearing Valyrian steel. There was only one among them slightly different, a blond man with blue eyes and a very firm gaze.
As a lord of the Seven Kingdoms, he could not help but feel a certain envy of this and wondered if Arctic now had the secret of producing Valyrian steel, after all, they would not be giving this steel to House Mormont just like that, right?
In any case, it was not his place to question the group before him. He needed to deal with them properly.
"Lord Mallister, I thank you for coming to receive us." The young man broke the silence, speaking with a firm, experienced tone, of someone used to commanding.
There was no sign of joy or cordiality — only a dry and direct tone, like in a conversation negotiating the submission of Seagard.
"There is no need, Your Majesty, I presume... You must be the king of Arctic, the one whom everyone south of the Wall now calls Aegon Targaryen, correct?"
Mallister straightened his chest. He had to maintain some pride of House Mallister before the group in front of him, even though, compared to them, his men looked poor and defeated — as it was only his cousin, the master-at-arms, the commander of the city guard who handled the defenses against the ironborn, and a few other guards.
"I prefer Jon Arctic," Jon said in a calm tone.
That was somewhat peculiar. Mallister could not help but think it was strange that he did not want to use the Targaryen name, even though it was his by right. Especially since Mallister had already recognized him immediately as king.
It was curious. A Targaryen should bring even more privileges and rights — that would make the men of Westeros more inclined to follow him than using the name of a kingdom he himself built, but which represented beyond the Wall, a people who had already fought against the Seven Kingdoms and even massacred them. It did not seem like a name he should use to unite all the kingdoms.
"Your Majesty, I apologize for my intrusion, but would not the Targaryen name be more beneficial to your cause?" he asked carefully.
"Jon Arctic may seem a bit irrational to use at this moment, Lord Mallister, but it is the name I built when I was no one, not a name that was given to me by birth, it was something I earned with my own hands." He said, as if it were poetry that would be written in the history books.
Jon paused, and continued.
"As much as I am a Valyrian, I will keep my name Arctic. But I do not think that will prevent the Targaryen name from existing. My children, or their children, may take that name when they assume the Red Keep and Dragonstone that belong to me by right."
He said this already certain that Rhaenys would argue with him and fight tooth and nail for Jaehaerys to use the Targaryen name when he assumed that part of the continent.
He also did not see how it would not be the best path. It was obvious that using the Targaryen name would bring many advantages, but for him, no. First, because he intended to make Arctic the capital of the future Ten Kingdoms of Westeros. If he simply adopted the traditional name, he would be denying Arctic and everything he had built. Arctic would be the center of power of Westeros, whether the lords liked it or not for being much farther away. Although Jon knew that sons of lords and scholars would go to Arctic wanting to study there anyway.
For that reason Jon 'Arctic' must be maintained.
And Jon saw denying that name as a betrayal of what he had built in his life.
And the Ten Kingdoms would be known as the Arctican Empire.
"I understand..." said Lord Mallister, while facing Jon, pausing before continuing. "And House Mallister recognizes you as King of Arctic, as well as the heir to the Iron Throne. But let us not cling only to names, Your Majesty."
"We bent the knee to a king not long ago, which made us your enemies immediately. I want to understand what the king thinks about House Mallister and what he plans to do with the Riverlands, since currently, by the royal decree of Joffrey Baratheon, first of his name, they now belong to the Freys."
"I cannot say I am pleased with the houses that bent the knee to my cousin. I intend to punish all who chose that, but not immediately. I do not intend to impose punishments while the realm has just bled. That can be discussed later."
"What I am proposing here is simple: either you kneel before me, or we will take Seagard. You are the first man I have threatened since I arrived in the Seven Kingdoms."
"House Mormont was the first to kneel before me, in fact, but I had just taken them out of a desperate situation, where the ironborn, led by Victarion Greyjoy, were attacking them. I have already executed them. Then the Mormonts knelt, and Jorelle — until we rescued Maege — is the Lady of Bear Island and is accompanying me."
"Your situation, however, is a bit more ordinary, one that I will encounter many times in the future. Therefore, I leave it to your decision, Lord Mallister. Your positions will be discussed in the future, but I do not intend to be unjust."
"I will tax after the war ends, as I intend to grant ten years of reduced taxes so that all of Westeros may rise again over the next decade."
That seemed to surprise Lord Mallister, who looked at him in astonishment.
"Ten years of reduced tribute?" His cousin, who handled accounting matters in Seagard, could not help but exclaim in surprise.
The issue was not only the reduction for House Mallister, but for all the kingdoms.
"It is not as if I am in urgent need of money to sustain myself, Arctic is doing very well... Obviously there will still be tribute, but I intend to cut it by 60%, at minimum, from what I have already seen. I will still need to study how the accounts and the current bureaucracy of Westeros stand within the capital before making any decision, but I do not intend to maintain the same tax policy that Westeros has upheld during the last two reigns."
"After all, King Robert abused the crown greatly. Jon Arryn was forced to keep raising taxes, with Petyr Baelish in the king's ear, who complained to the Hand of the King about the king's own trivial needs, as he required money to sustain his luxuries. Even so, even with taxes being gradually increased, they had to take loans, as they also did not want to face a revolt from the nobility if they raised taxes too much. Even so, it resulted in Westeros having a rather tyrannical system."
Jon knew he could manage very well without receiving so much taxation for a decade. That would help the nobles rise again, and the common people as well, since, automatically, their lords, not needing to pay as much to the crown, would not demand as much from the production of their lands. If they did, Jon would use the law to punish them, after all he wanted to improve the lives of common people as quickly as possible.
Arctic had a great deal of money, enough to even leverage Westeros, injecting resources into the south without any problem, after all the wealth of the royal family already exceeded tens of millions of coins in gold. The kingdom's gold held 5 million coins in the senate's coffers, with the tax revenue within Arctic remaining, even though the tax was very small, but more than 30 million gold coins circulated within Arctic.
There were 7 gold mines around the Arctic region, so producing about 456 tons of gold in coins was something possible. Not to mention that 24 tons of gold in Arctic came from trade outside the kingdom. The kingdom itself gained more than 3 million coins.
Not to mention that gold would fill the coffers and the pockets of the Arcticans even more, now that Arctic's business had reopened, still making movements in the market with its routes in Essos, in addition to being able to easily sell its products throughout all the Seven Kingdoms, further improving the economy with the circulation of coins.
Jon had his own financial plans. He would prioritize trying to reform all Ten Kingdoms, placing the economy above even education at the beginning. He believed that this would first raise the lives of the people — after all, what is the use of knowing how to read and write if there is no lord who can pay for your services?
So, boosting the economy would be the first step to pull Westeros out of all this chaos.
Now, back to the present, Jon looked at Mallister. "You have one day to give your answer, Lord Mallister. Kneel or we will take Seagard within the next few hours, starting from this moment, on the day of tomorrow."
He spoke with a confidence that made Lord Mallister frown.
His soldiers scoffed, not believing that Seagard could fall in just a few hours. Mallister, however, did not think so. There was something very strange.
"My son Patrek was with Stannis in the north, I imagine you have him, after all, he is my heir..."
"Yes, he is on the ships. He is a prisoner for now." Jon said and Lord Mallister thought for a moment.
"I heard that you were heading to the Iron Islands a week ago. Tell me... did you really conquer that in a week? Did Pyke fall?" he asked openly.
He could see a mischievous smile emerging — not from the king, but from all those who were there, exchanging glances as if they had heard something amusing.
"You could say so. We took Blacktyde, Harlaw, Old Wyk and others, and lastly, Pyke," the king said in a way that could convince anyone, his voice full of confidence.
His men, who had been scoffing, stopped immediately, now looking doubtful, although they still did not fully believe it.
"Forgive me, Your Majesty, but that is a bit hard to believe. Pyke is the kind of fortress that would give any siege commander a headache. Even King Robert, in the first Greyjoy Rebellion, took about two moons to deal with the fortress, attacking through the main gate," Mallister said carefully.
"Actually, Lord Mallister..." Jon fell silent for a moment before responding, interrupting any laughter from his men, who found those questions quite amusing.
"Pyke lasted only a few hours."
He made a small pause so that Mallister and his men could absorb that, but continued before they could raise doubts.
"It was very simple, if you want to know. We did not simply take a castle — I decided to turn our conquest into a symbol, when we chose to sink the fortress of Pyke into the sea..."
He made another pause.
"We used wildfire to destroy the rock pillars that supported the dreaded Pyke. That caused the fortress to lose all its support and collapse immediately."
"Pyke no longer exists, Lord Mallister. It is at the bottom of the sea. Just as I executed Victarion Greyjoy on Bear Island, I also executed Balon Greyjoy and Asha Greyjoy, in what remained of Pyke."
As he explained, it was possible to feel his men growing uneasy. Mallister himself could not help but look at his own castle, which also had its foundation on natural rock, built upon a cliff.
Combined with the rumors that they could destroy entire ships and even fleets without losing a single vessel, launching wildfire from a distance, it was not illogical to think they could simply destroy the foundations of these castles and make them collapse without losing a single man.
It seemed that Lord Mallister had not thought of this — and fear immediately seized him. Even his cousin and men seemed quite unsettled by it.
"You executed the Greyjoy family?" Mallister stammered.
"Yes... but I will do it differently with others. Even if they had surrendered, believe me, Lord Mallister, I realized that there is no point in being reasonable with the ironborn."
"That is why I left them in a state where they will not be able to recover even half of what they had before this war, for the coming centuries."
He spoke in a calm tone. "The Greyjoy family was only one part. There is still Euron according to some rumors, and Theon Greyjoy, who is in the hands of the Boltons, and will also be executed."
Those words seemed simple, but to Lord Mallister they were essentially threats of execution.
"I do not intend, of course, to execute any lord who does not kneel before me. The ironborn were merely a case where there was no other option but extreme measures."
"I will not be a tyrant who executes the families of Westeros, but those who oppose my rule and do not kneel will be sent to the Night's Watch, to the Silent Sisters. Or they will be exiled. They will lose political power and even their houses and resources."
But Lord Mallister was already deeply shaken by what he had heard. Suddenly, he dismounted from his horse, surprising everyone. He removed the sword from his belt and drove it into the ground, kneeling immediately afterward, even upon the mud left by the ironborn in their attempt at a siege.
"House Mallister recognizes Jon Arctic as the rightful king, and we kneel before Your Grace. House Mallister is yours to command as you wish, Your Grace," he said, trembling with fear.
Jon raised an eyebrow. He saw Arya look at him, while he returned the glance. He had not expected it to be so quick. He was not threatening House Mallister — only recounting what had happened at Pyke, something all the lords would soon know.
Even so, he had not expected Lord Mallister to be so terrified to the point of abandoning his pride and kneeling so quickly before everyone.
In any case, another house of Westeros now recognized Jon as king.
Now, it was time to go see the situation in the Riverlands.
Raccoon Here:
It took me a while to write this chapter. I was trying to develop some ideas, but I'm about to write another one in about three or four hours. I intend to send another.
I want to deal with House Frey as well. I think Jon could very well finance another bridge to cross the river, or even do more, since he knows that, even if the Red Wedding had not happened, the Freys were planning it after Jon obtained some old letters with exchanges between Lord Frey, Lord Tywin and Lord Bolton.
◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆
🦝 Raccoon here: 🦝
I deeply appreciate your support since the beginning of this exciting journey!
🌟 RaccoonLeague | Patreon🌟
Visit our Patreon for more: https://www.patreon.com/RaccoonLeague
Extra Content Already Available:
🏴☠️ One Piece - I Am a Different Luffy!: 30 extra chapters!
👑 Game of Thrones: The Legend of Jon Arctic!: 30 extra chapters!
👑 Game of Thrones: DragonBorn! 30 extra chapters!
👑 HOTD: Jon Arctic! 30 extra chapters!
🌀 Naruto - Minato Namikaze SI!: 30 extra chapters!
🗡️ The Witcher - As Uchiha Madara! 30 extra chapters!
⚡HP - Jon Arctic as Severus Snape! 30 extra chapters!
⚡ Harry Potter - Shadow Monarch! Finished! [100%]
⚡Danmachi – The Alchemist! [Coming Soon.]
Visit our Patreon for more!!
◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆