[Chapter Size: 3000 Words.]

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Thrid Person POV

Essos, 296 AC.

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The Articans were quickly greeted by a group of 12 men at the entrance, surrounded by guards, all very well-dressed, who awaited them with a certain elegance of Essos, but not as much as those slave leaders who were so fond of jewels and earrings with pincers.

As Jon approached, the man at the front of the 12 stepped forward. He bowed his head and looked at Jon carefully.

“Welcome to the Iron Bank, King of Artica,” the man said, as soon as Jon was close enough, before continuing. “It is an honor to meet you and see you at our prestigious bank, Jon Artica. My name is Tycho Nestoris. I am a representative of the Iron Bank and I am here to welcome you. These are our 12 magnificent men, known as the Keyholders. They take care of the entire Iron Bank and make the biggest decisions. And they are here to greet you with all due respect,” he spoke.

It was obvious that they were afraid of Jon, especially considering he had 500 ships anchored outside in the sea. They preferred to treat him with respect rather than make him an enemy.

Jon was not surprised by the information about the 12 Keyholders; it was something he already knew very well through green sight studying how the economy of the known world worked. They were the most influential and powerful men in Braavos; they controlled several local trade companies and were those who made the biggest decisions in the bank, such as whom to charge higher or lower interest rates, or whether to lend or not.

Jon cracked a respectful smile at them. “Well, I’m impressed with the reception. Nice to meet you too, who along with the Sealord, are the most powerful lords of Braavos,” Jon said calmly, while everyone nodded.

“Let me introduce all the Keyholders, King of Artica,” Tycho said, playing the role of connector between the two groups and began introducing each of the 12. They responded with a nod to Jon, and some even with a slight wave.

“Now that introductions are over, I’m sure a private room would be more suitable for such an important meeting,” Tycho Nestoris continued speaking after they had greeted each other. “Bring bread and salt for King Artica, so we can make him comfortable in our humble bank,” he said in a calm tone, while another Braavosi man brought the bread and salt.

After the guest ritual was completed, they began to enter the bank. “There are some courtesans present. I’m sure your wife and sister will be quite comfortable accompanying them,” the Sealord said.

“Please, I want them to stay only with our guards,” Jon spoke, after all, he didn’t want his family mingling with the city’s luxury prostitutes.

“That’s fine, King of Artica, it won’t be a problem…” The Lord of Braavos nodded, respecting Jon’s decision.

“They will be led to a pleasant place where they can wait while we finish the meeting,” one of the Keyholders spoke as Jon nodded.

The group began to separate, while guards along with Ygritte and Arya and 10 royal guards moved to one side, and Jon along with his ministers and another 15 royal guards moved along with the Sealord and his guard with the 12 Keyholders, Tycho, and the bank guards.

Jon wouldn’t put Arya in this moment to negotiate with these men, as this was the most important negotiation he would have on his journey since he started moving from Artica to Westeros, and doubted another would surpass it, so he didn’t want to offend these men.

“So these men help you organize the powerful and mysterious Artica?” the Sealord looked at the two men behind Jon.

“After all, they will represent Artica through me. It’s good that you already know them, for I am sure we can bear good fruit from this negotiation,” Jon spoke.

“I am Gavron, minister of coin and wealth of the kingdom,” the man introduced himself to the Sealord while the Keyholders looked on with interest, as this man controlled the finances of the new kingdom rising in this world, with great financial power.

“This beside me is Junly, minister of trade,” Gavron introduced his colleague soon after while the mentioned minister nodded to everyone.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you…” the Sealord said with a respectful tone.

“You all know each other very well, due to the good business everyone benefited from today,” Jon did not miss the opportunity to speak a few words at the introduction.

“Of course, King of Artica. As your words suggest, we can derive good negotiations,” one of the Keyholders said, as the group followed him further into a room with an open view to the sea, yet completely isolated from any other location.

“The guards will wait outside.” A Keyholder spoke as both the Braavosi guards and the First Sword of Braavos, along with the Artican guards, waited, the latter carrying a box to be called upon.

Jon entered and quickly surveyed the area using some animals he encountered along the way and even his eagles that flew outside. It was clear that there were some people attempting to eavesdrop, and Jon identified someone below them and another person hanging outside. The Iron Bank would not allow anyone to spy on them, especially during such a high-caliber meeting with all the Keyholders present, so they were placed there on purpose.

A stone table was situated in the middle of the room. The 12 Keyholders sat on one side with the Sealord, while Jon and his two ministers sat on the other, with the Minister of Commerce and the Minister of Coin bringing bags with documents while Jon remained there in his armor.

Tycho had accompanied them inside, before taking his leave. “I will be waiting outside for any eventuality,” Tycho spoke, before leaving the room.

As soon as he left, one of the Keyholders was the first to speak. “King of Artica, we have been told that you are interested in establishing trade with Braavos, bringing your famous products from Artica.”

“Ah, yes, that sounds great,” another Keyholder said. “We have heard much about your products, and it seems that Dorne still maintains the trade you established.” He said with interest.

“Yes, I am willing to sell many things to Braavos, and I am sure that you would be interested in my products as a new source of revenue for you,” Jon said with a small smile.

“Interesting. Might Braavos be the only city you negotiate with in Essos?” another Keyholder spoke, implying that Jon would only sell to Braavos. But Jon shook his head.

“Braavos is the first city we visited in Essos, but that does not mean we won’t visit others. After all, we want to create a maritime trade network with all the port cities on this continent,” Jon responded.

“Well, that’s a bit disheartening,” a fourth Keyholder spoke. “I’m sure we can think more about this,” he hinted to Jon.

It was obvious that they wanted to monopolize the products of Artica. Jon understood their side, after all, they are merchants and want the highest profit possible. But they should also understand Jon’s side, as merchants and, primarily, as bankers, who also aim for profit.

“That is out of the question,” Jon said, and the Keyholders exchanged glances as they seemed to be communicating among themselves and with the Sealord, a kind of technique for their decisions in front of third parties. His ministers remained silent with Jon watching them. After exchanging looks and signals among themselves. Everyone’s attention returned to Jon.

“Well, I believe you are a determined man and there is no point in insisting on this. But Braavos is interested in trade with Artica and we would love to see your products here, especially the ice. After all, we are in an arid land, and ever since you began supplying ice to Dorne many moons ago, it has become a craze in the kingdom as we’ve heard and we know they are looking for more after their stock ended there. I’m sure they are quite excited about the idea of you delivering a new shipment,” one of the Keyholders spoke.

“Lucky for them that you won’t be negotiating with anyone else in Westeros after what happened…” another cautiously added.

“Speaking of the conflict, do we have any guarantee that we won’t be attacked either?” Another Keyholder spoke, with a more questioning tone than the others. “Don’t take me wrong, King of Artica, but there is a fleet of 500 ships, far more than what you used to attack Westeros. We just want to ensure that nothing will happen to us.”

Jon merely smiled at that moment. “It depends. What led me to attack Westeros was the folly of the maesters. They put me in a room, tried to intimidate me, renounce my own gods and even my own family. So, I killed every one of them without any pity. But rest assured, gentlemen Keyholders, I only attack when necessary, and I hope it stays that way. After all, I see that man next to the window and another below us. I pity that this might change if they suddenly do more than just listen to our conversation…” Jon spoke, his tone becoming less pleasant as he glanced at each of the bankers, each feeling a chill.

“My lord,” one of the Keyholders stood up. “I apologize if we have offended. We have no intention of attacking you. After all, we have important information at this meeting, we just keep everything for them to pass on the recorded reports. But I’m sure they are already leaving,” the Keyholder spoke. The next moment, they heard a splash of water, as if the man really had jumped into the water, while Jon observed through the eagles outside and also noticed what was below them disappear.

“As I said, gentlemen, Artica is open for business. As long as there is no aggression on your part, we will be good friends,” Jon declared, opening up his tone to be more friendly while smiling.

“Yes, King of Artica,” many of them quickly responded, trying to rectify their previous error.

“I don’t mean to be offensive, but as one of the Keyholders, there are some issues I want to confirm with you regarding our trade…” The same Keyholder with a questioning tone spoke again. “Can we count on you, King of Artica? After all, once we start our businesses, we will probably need weekly restocks from Artica. But what concerns us is your war with Westeros. We’ve heard about a whole group coming north to attack your kingdom,” he commented.

“Just a little more than 15,000 men, gentlemen. These men will be decimated by half even before they get to see the kingdom. And if they arrive, they will be easily destroyed against the Artican forces. We control the greatest power north of the Wall, and my people easily know how to fight on that hostile terrain. If Westeros really desires a war with us…” Jon spoke with an indifferent tone and continued. “…know that Artica has no enemies,” he said, as all the Keyholders nodded.

“Moreover, if this is a concern for you, I would like to deposit a sum of money in this bank,” Jon concluded, and this immediately raised all eyebrows.

“You want to do this, King of Artica? How much are we talking about?” One of them asked, surprised like his colleagues.

“Minister of Coin, hand over the papers,” Jon ordered his minister.

The man quickly opened his bag and took out some documents, handing them to the nearest Keyholder, who quickly read them, raising his eyebrows as he passed them on to the next. Consequently, all the Keyholders and the Sealord began to read the documents, one after the other, until they communicated with each other with their eyes again.

“You want to deposit all these thousands of gold dragons in credit in our bank…?” They asked, stunned, as the amount was immense, also being surprised that Jon was richer than they had thought… even after all the trade with thousands he had done in Westeros. “This would make you a shareholder like us.”

“Exactly, gentlemen. You have never had an exact number of Keyholders; it has always varied from time to time. Why not have a 13th Keyholder at the Iron Bank?” Jon declared with a calm tone.

They looked at each other once more. “Well… this is unexpectedly… not an easy decision, Jon Artica, especially for a foreign kingdom,” one of them commented. After all, they did not expect such a proposal like this, and allowing Jon to invest so much money was almost as if he was starting to take over Braavos through the economy. This was something they did not want, but there were also many benefits they could gain from this situation. However, it was still not a decision to be taken lightly.

“King of Artica, we can deal with this later. After all, this is not something we can discuss superficially. Therefore, we would like you to give us some time,” one of the Keyholders requested.

“That’s fine. After all, I’m aware of something like this, so let’s stay a few days in Braavos…” Jon said.

Although such a discussion would normally take weeks, Jon needed to travel to an unknown world on this trip and return to Artica as quickly as possible. After all, he had children and a kingdom still to manage.

“Very well, sir. We will discuss a bit and give you an answer. But, if you wish, we can already start trading,” another Keyholder said, as Jon nodded.

His Minister of Commerce also took some documents from his bag, placing them on the table before going to open the door. Guards brought in the large boxes they had brought inside the bank.

Jon quickly began to negotiate all his products along with his ministers, presenting them to the men who eagerly looked and sampled.

Jon maintained the same trading style he had negotiated in Dorne and the Reach, establishing a pricing policy for the Keyholders to work with, even allowing the common people access to some of his products, mainly ice and some cheaper drinks. After all, Jon would have a much better turnover, and the “factories” in Artica were ready to meet this demand, even if it needed to serve all the coastal cities of Essos and even Westeros, if that were possible in time.

In the end, they made progress in the negotiations, but nothing was finalized yet, as the men wanted to insist on prices and Jon remained firm, already accustomed to dealing with such people as he had done in Westeros.

In the end, they reached a good initial consensus while they ate and drank Artican food and touched his silk and other exotic products along with cigars.

“There is also a new trade that I did not do with the south of Westeros, after all, they do not need it and after our fight… I do not care much what they think,” Jon began in a calm tone. The Reach, besides not fulfilling their agreement after he had paid them, Jon could screw them over in a way that no one else did.

“What would that be?” The Sealord asked curiously, after all, all the known products of Artica were exactly there.

“It is nothing less than food, fruits, and vegetables,” Jon declared, making them look surprised.

“Can Artica supply products to Braavos?” One of them asked, astonished.

“Yes… you don’t think that just because we come from beyond the Wall, we cannot reproduce our food… and I assure you, my friends, you will receive so much food that you will no longer need Westeros with high prices, moreover, you could even sell to the North, which may be smaller than the Reach and the Riverlands sell to the kingdom, making a large profit. That is until you manage contracts with the North itself,” Jon declared.

Braavos, like all the cities of Essos, needed to import food from Westeros due to their arid lands, besides offering a product even cheaper than Westeros delivers, this would be a blow to the Reach and the Riverlands, who supply outside of Westeros, and if Braavos managed to resell to the North, because Jon believed it would be very difficult for him to sell himself, it would be a final blow to these kingdoms and the loss would be catastrophic on their high profit margins.

“That certainly catches attention! Can we see your products that you grow in your fields?” They asked and Jon nodded.

“We left them on the ships, but we will bring them over these next 3 days.”

“That’s great, then let’s conclude our meeting for today, I’m sure we have already accomplished a lot and are starting our future and solid, commercial partnership,” one of the Keyholders spoke with great satisfaction.

“Let’s go then… keep these samples and taste as much as you want,” Jon spoke while the Keyholders were delighting themselves with the drinks mixed with ice, enjoying the pleasure of drinking something cold in that heat.

“King of Artica, may I invite you to my mansion? I’m sure it will be a good place for you and your family to stay in the coming days, my family and I will treat you with the respect befitting your position,” the Sealord offered, being an opportunity to solidify his relationship with someone so powerful.

“Very well, Sealord, we will be accompanying you,” Jon spoke at the end as the man nodded and they left the room with the Keyholders having a big meeting at this moment to decide what to do after everything they had heard.

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