[Chapter Size: 3200 Words.]

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Pessoa Thrid POV

Westeros, 295 AC.

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The people were in complete silence as the white arrow embedded itself in the target’s center from 125 meters away, with the archers standing so far apart they seemed like ants. The white arrow still wobbled from the impact and spun several times before finally coming to a stop, firmly fixed in place, while the opponent’s arrow lay on the ground.

“Haha. As expected, Eldric! Beautiful shot.” The place was silent as the Herald was still processing what was happening. The one who broke this silence a moment later was Jon’s own voice, laden with magic, resonating throughout the place as he spoke normally, startling many unsuspecting people with his deep tone.

“…” The herald himself gave a little jump as he realized his own silence and turned back to the completely mute audience to announce the victory.

“As you can see, the victory belongs to the archer of Artica, Eldric, who scored with a shot from 125 meters, a shot that few people in the history of this continent have managed to make, so let’s give our congratulations to today’s champion, Eldric of Artica!!” He exclaimed, raising his arms in a theatrical manner, which snapped everyone out of their daze and prompted them to start clapping.

“Very good! Eldric!” Arya shouted excitedly, and all the Articans did the same.

“Hahaha, very good man, you showed them what Artica is made of!” A dwarf shouted.

“Eldric!” Stone spoke the name as his way of congratulating.

“Hahaha, very good! But I would have done better with my axe!” Tormund shouted while holding a bottle of mead.

“You red-haired idiot, would you really have hit the first target in the preliminaries?” A dwarf mocked.

“Don’t doubt me, dwarf. I am the king of the axe!” Tormund spoke drunkenly before a dwarf threw a jug of beer at him.

“Do you see this, Prince Renly… It seems I’ve won a few thousand gold coins.” Luffy grinned as he turned his attention back to the man, who looked at him with a forced smile, realizing he was losing money at that moment.

“It was a fantastic archer, King of Artica. I’m impressed, and our bet was worth it, but it’s not just me you’ve won against, right Olenna?” He turned his attention to the Tyrell family beside him.

“Well, this old woman can’t win every time. It seems our guests proved why there was so much confidence in their archer.” She commented while her family just listened in silence. It wasn’t as if 10 gold coins made much difference, so Olenna just laughed softly.

The nobles around the place clapped, recognizing the Artican archer’s skills, who proved worthy of being champion with his arrow still embedded in the target. The commoners were even more excited as they seemed to celebrate, with the bards already preparing songs about this exciting tournament and the bet the King of Artica had made with Prince Renly and the Tyrell house.

“Eldric of Artica!”

“Eldric of Artica!”

“Eldric of Artica!”

“Eldric of Artica!”

“Eldric of Artica!”

People began chanting, the crowd calling out only one name at that moment. “You did it, boy, congratulations on the shot.” The judge beside Eldric praised him, and Eldric nodded, satisfied.

“You really proved it. I had never hit a target at 120 meters, but I wasn’t lucky with the farthest one. I still wonder if you could keep hitting the targets at this pace…” Ser Oakheart spoke beside Eldric, not failing to praise his splendid accurate shot.

“Thank you, Ser. As for whether I could continue… Maybe yes…” He replied with a smile, not directly confirming it.

“Anyway, a good game. I hope to see you at the banquet tonight.” He said, and Eldric nodded, as he was practically the guest of honor, though he knew that in games like these, champions were quickly forgotten.

The applause finally began to die down as Eldric returned to his group, who seemed more excited than anyone else.

“Very well! You really showed them!” They shouted excitedly.

“Yes…” He said and returned to Jon, kneeling. “My king, I dedicate this victory to the honor of Artica! As it should always be!” He said.

“Your subject doesn’t kneel to you?” Renly looked at this curiously, and thinking about it now, he had never seen any of the soldiers kneeling to Jon.

“I do not demand that of them, Prince Renly.” Jon smiled and continued. “After all, I made a law that no one should kneel to anyone, not even their king.” Jon spoke, drawing attention to his words from all the non-Artican nobles.

“The people of Artica are strong and hardy, they do not kneel to anyone, not even their king. For the King of Artica, respect is enough.” Jon spoke in a serious tone.

“Artica!”

“Artica!”

“Artica!”

“Artica!”

“Artica!”

Amidst the common people’s shouts calling Eldric, the Articans began to fervently shout, boosting their morale with the name of their kingdom.

“Well… you are certainly unique, King of Artica. Will we see you at the banquet?” Renly asked, after all, it was still mid-afternoon, around 2 PM, since the tournament lasted about 3 hours.

“Do you think my champion won’t be there?” Jon said with a small smile.

“That’s great, I look forward to seeing you tonight then.” Renly said, and Jon nodded.

Renly began to rise with Loras following him. “Then I’ll be off, I’ll be in my room until the banquet.” He said as he left, after saying goodbye to the Tyrell family.

“Let’s go as well, this tournament was much better than expected, but we better prepare for the banquet too.” Olenna instructed her grandchildren…

“But mother…” Mace said, not wanting to leave this place like that, after all, he was the honoree here, he should be the center of attention, but that was stolen with the presence of both Jon and Renly with their bets or even Eldric himself who was on everyone’s lips as the best archer many had ever seen.

As the Tyrell family began to leave after Renly Baratheon, the great houses began to leave as well. “I would like everyone’s attention!” Mace, being the only one present from his family, wanted to at least make a speech for the nobles and crowd.

Even so, families like Hightower, Redwyne, and Tarly began to leave their podiums, seeing no more reason to stay there and went to prepare for the banquet, ignoring all of Mace Tyrell’s words.

“Father, that archer is really good, could I be like that too?” Dickon Tarly asked his father as the Tarly family began to leave the place.

“You will not be an archer, you will command the archers. Worry first about having competent men like that and having the capacity to lead them before trying to achieve such a shot.” Randyll Tarly, the Lord of Horn Hill, spoke sternly. They were from a family of commanders, not skilled archers. He spoke this way to Dickon because he trusted and placed all his hopes that he would lead the family after him.

“But…” Dickon was about to speak, but was interrupted by his father with a raised hand to stop this subject.

His gaze fell on his eldest son and current heir, Samwell, a chubby boy who noticed his father’s gaze and shrank back, seeing Randyll Tarly looking at him with a glimmer of disappointment, even disgust and repulsion. Samwell knew his father had such thoughts about him and didn’t know what to do, or was too cowardly to face him firmly.

Lady Melessa and Talla Tarly seemed oblivious to the small interaction between the men of the family and the real meanings behind Randyll’s words to Dickon.

“Let’s go as well. We need to celebrate in the camp before going to the castle, as is the local etiquette.” Jon said as he began to rise, his wife accompanying him along with his sister. The Artican group began to move as well, while the giants scared the nobles in the stands, after all, they even surpassed the height of some parts.

They headed for the camp, passing through the crowd that still seemed not to have forgotten the Artican victory.

“Eldric of Artica!”

“Eldric of Artica!”

“Eldric of Artica!”

“Eldric of Artica!”

“Eldric of Artica!”

They shouted as Eldric mounted a horse and waved to the crowd with his bow on his back.

They headed to their tent with the people, even with the crowd now dispersed, with people and guards from other camps talking to each other, already knowing the tournament’s outcome.

Jon arrived at his camp with a group that stayed to guard it, and they welcomed him with excited smiles.

“From what we’re hearing even from here, Eldric is our champion then, my king?” The Artican soldiers asked as soon as he arrived.

“You didn’t even need to ask that.” Jon shrugged and looked seriously at them. “How many did you catch?”

“Eight people trying to rob us, recognized some from the camps of those nobles, also caught two of those tongue-less children we found in Dorne.” He spoke in a much more serious tone.

“We’ll deal with the nobles later, but those children are Varys’s. It seems that guy thinks he can sneak past us after what happened in Dorne?” Jon mocked.

After that, they entered the camp, and Jon saw the two guards he had asked to keep an eye on the bard who delivered a thousand gold dragons, along with the bard himself, who looked terrified.

“What happened?” Jon asked, raising an eyebrow.

“They tried to rob him three times, we had no choice but to bring him here where he was safer.” The Artican guards said.

“Sorry for that, King of Artica, I couldn’t even see the splendid tournament, where I wanted to compose some songs in your honor…” The bard said, ashamed and nervous.

“I guess I shouldn’t have given so much money.” Jon murmured. “Find a place for him to stay for a few days, but he is forbidden from getting near any important information.” Jon said, wanting to give him a chance to live.

“Jon… there’s something wrong with this bard, it’s better to keep an eye on him.” Seryna approached Jon at that moment and nodded. Despite appearing at a disadvantage, the man always seemed to think carefully before saying anything, and he looked like a Dornishman.

“Yes, I was happy to hear such music after so many years, but he seems like a Dornishman, a spy of Doran specifically, but let him be for now until we find some proof. I will keep an eye on him the whole time.” Jon said, but didn’t deny leaving him there. He knew the man would either lead him to his informant or to the raven tonight, saying he infiltrated the camp.

“Now let’s get ready for a party!” Jon said as everyone began to move at that moment, preparing for the banquet in celebration of Eldric, the archery champion. But he wasn’t the only one; no one forgot how a certain 11-year-old girl had taken first place in the tournament.

“Arya, today many people will talk to you, be presentable, my champion.” Jon turned to his sister, and she nodded, smiling.

“Yes, Jon!” She exclaimed and went to her tent to wear an Artican dress.

The party then began at the banquet in the late afternoon as Jon sat in his chair, in the middle of the place, with everyone in the camp laughing and having fun, with the dwarves singing as usual. Even the bard was present, observing it all, then a moment later, he left.

A moment later, Jon looked at his wife, “I’m going to do something important…” He said, and she nodded, staying with Arya, who was boasting about getting a high position.

Jon went to the larger tent and sat there, with no one else in the place besides his guards at the entrance. A moment later, a group entered, dragging the bard roughly. “What is this, stop it!” The bard exclaimed as he was thrown to the ground, landing a few meters from Jon.

He looked at Jon, smiling, and frowned. “King of Artica, that’s not what your men were doing, I just had to go out to handle something!” He began to explain as Jon kept a smile.

“You know, I thought about leaving you unprotected… It would be easy to let you die while they try to rob you. A thousand gold coins must be more than Doran or whoever from the Martell family has ever paid you, right? Unfortunately, if I let you die, I wouldn’t be able to find out the things I wanted.” Jon asked and spoke calmly.

“Doran? I don’t know what you’re talking about, King of Artica, you’re a person I’ve always admired.” He said, almost pleading.

“Really?” Jon raised an eyebrow before turning his gaze to his soldier. “Give me the letter then.” He asked, and one of the guards took it out of his pocket, already aware of everything, seeing through his owl.

“Look what we have here, Dear Serpent. I am infiltrated in the Artican camp, I will send precise information as soon as I discover more about the place.” Jon read in a calm tone and then turned to mock the Dornishman. “You know, getting caught on the first day makes you a terrible spy. You could have waited a few days; you would have done better.” Jon said, as it was quite obvious that the “dear serpent” was Doran or another Martell.

“I swear I am not a spy, King of Artica!” He exclaimed.

“Come on, answer me, you called the serpent a she… Does that mean this is Ellaria, which I doubt, as she is not a serpent, which leaves me only with Princess Arianne Martell…” Jon said with a small smile. There was Nyra, but she wouldn’t identify herself as a snake, she wouldn’t spy on his camp, maybe on him, but not the camp.

The man trembled, seeing he was increasingly without escape, “I swear I had no intention of informing anything that would compromise your majesty!” He said, almost crying from nerves.

“Take him to the cell.” Jon ordered while the men nodded, Jon remaining there with the letter in his hand. “Arianne, you want to spy on me…? I thought we had nothing to do with each other after I refused to marry you…” Jon murmured quietly. “But you’ve proven to be bolder than I had imagined.” He concluded.

“My king… and about the two children…” The guard asked.

“There are them too…” Jon sighed, having to deal with spies from all sides. “Throw them in the cells too until we figure out what to do. Tomorrow, release one of the children and follow it to find its bird.” Jon ordered, and the man nodded, leaving the tent and leaving Jon alone.

He watched him leave and just closed his eyes, his mind going to a distant place, seeing himself in a city much less fragrant than Highgarden could be, King’s Landing. He still kept three birds there to act as his spies. He heard the meeting when Renly was chosen to participate in the tournament and get in touch with Jon or when Cersei tried to provoke the royal court that accompanied Renly and openly mock Jon, not expecting retaliation from Tormund who had won.

His raven began to fly over the Red Keep, ignoring all other targets, focusing on one in particular. Varys was commanding the air on his balcony while writing a small letter. He felt a raven perch near his tree and stared at Varys in an unusual way, tilting its head from side to side without taking its eyes off the master of whispers.

“A raven…” Varys murmured, taking his attention off his little parchment and raising an eyebrow at it the next moment. He said nothing, just put the parchment away and began to leave the window, opening a secret door in his room with a glance back at the raven sitting on his window, staring at him the whole time as if it had no fear.

The door finished opening while he was frowning, and he immediately entered, pressing something from the inside, closing it behind him. He was even a little startled by the raven simply jumping and flying towards the last crack of the door above Varys, but in the end, it couldn’t get through, hitting the door as it closed.

“…” Jon opened his eyes at that moment, staying calm. “Varys… it seems you already know me, but you still send your spies. If you want to play, so be it…” Jon said while Varys was walking through secret corridors, with a second raven in the dark, following him, trying not to alert the master of whispers as he walked through the castle’s secret passages.

“This Westerosi people are very persistent. It seems I have to do something very big here; otherwise, I will have to deal with small mosquitoes all the time, and this will happen in Essos too.” Jon murmured. He knew there was an appropriate way for him to act here, one that would make all of Westeros tremble. He then planned to do something very big as soon as he left Highgarden. This would send a good message to Westeros and its manipulators.

Jon finally left the tent and went to where the party was still ongoing. He walked until he found one of the royal guards in the area. “Are the wagons prepared?” Jon asked.

“Yes, my king, everything is ready for the castle.” He replied.

“That’s good. Let’s inform my queen, sister, ministers, and our champion to accompany us.” Jon said and went to Seryna.

He quickly announced that he would be leaving and that they should enjoy themselves and take care of the camp. After that, his group headed for the wagons, which quickly started moving as they did for the previous banquet, to participate in another one at the castle. This was to mark the end of the archery tournament and as a preparation for the most important event of the entire tournament, the joust, in which Jon would participate, and Renly would have his champion with a rather unique, even millionaire, bet.

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Raccoon here:

I wanted to cover the banquet in this chapter, but I want to make some good interactions with it, and it will take more than a thousand words. So, I waited to have your interaction in the next chapter. I will skip a few days after this banquet to go straight to the joust, summarizing the days and some other events happening at sea in front of the Vale of Arryn.

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