"Oh, his time is coming soon, do not worry," Jon replied with a smile, "There are just a few kinks that I have to clear out, before..." Jon mumbled before shaking his head, "Anyway, let us move on. The next one we have on the list is the Lannister dwarf, the son of the richest man in Westeros."
"You don't say," The Advisor mumbled sarcastically, as everyone and their mother seems to be rich in this place.
"He just woke up an hour ago and is now coming down the streets of King's Landing, almost halfway towards his destination," he continued while pointing towards the very inn where Olenna Tyrell was staying. A grin automatically appeared on Jon's face as the boy imagined the upcoming conversations between the two cunning and snarky individuals, "He doesn't really have much to offer yet other than his name and his brains, but... if he gets pushed hard enough, he has the potential to cast a very large shadow."
'What does that mean? A large shadow?' The Advisor frowned with a confused expression on his face, 'Damn it! Why does the boy like to talk in circles so much? Is it because we are from different continents, or have I just gotten too old to understand the words of the young?
Jon did not bother explaining the inside joke and moved on, "And then of course one should never forget about Robb Stark, the heir to the North, a Kingdom that covers almost half the continent of Westeros, and more importantly," Jon smile with a dramatic stop, "He is the brother of Jon Snow, the most prominent Adventurer out there," he finished with a bragging smile on his face, making the Advisor once again roll his eyes.
"Combined, all these people control more than half of Westeros. So tell me, my friend, is this not a royal welcome for just a lowly bastard?"
"It is a royal welcome indeed. But calling yourself a lowly—" The Advisor began with a snort, but then midway through, his expression suddenly changed as he caught sight of the strange happenings on the shore.
"It seems not everyone is happy to have you here, Captain," he muttered with a weird look in his eyes. "Look, some of them are even running away without taking their goods with them," he said while pointing towards the commotion at the port.
"I see it." Jon nodded with a calm expression, as if whatever was happening was normal, "Perhaps they have some urgent matter to attend to, or maybe someone is out there handing free bread in the streets," he said flippantly with a shrug.
"Do not jest, Captain. They do not look like people who are running towards food," The Advisor said as he squinted his eyes at the Harbour slowly being emptied with all the Merchants, Labourers, and even beggars running towards the city with all their might, "They look more like someone running for their lives— running from us."
"How could that be?" Jon asked with an excessive look of confusion on his face, "Why would they want to run from us? We didn't do anything to them, did we?"
"Look, they are even closing the gates now!" The Advisor exclaimed as he pointed at the massive Iron behemoths, which were slowly but steadily moving towards the centre, even with the crowd of smallfolks rushing through the opening into the city every single moment, "This is serious, Captain! I think you might have really given the guards a scare this time!"
"Huh? How could it be my fault?!"
"Is it not?" The Advisor retorted while pointing his thumb towards their fleet of ships sailing behind them, which had grown to about twenty massive Galleons by now, with the last of them having just appeared out of the morning mist, "You don't think that seeing such a sight might intimidate them, make them a little nervous?"
"Ah, nonsense," Jon said, waving his hand with a smile, "I am sure Kingslanding has a lot more than just twenty ships entering their port every single day. Why would they get afraid of ours then?"
"Because none of them come while presenting such a united front as us, especially if the so-called 'ships' are as mighty as ours."
"Oh..." Jon nodded with a look of sudden comprehension on his face, which would have looked genuine had it not been for the amusement dancing in his eyes, "I see... how this really could have caused a misunderstanding here... It would be just like when you are walking on a busy street and suddenly people start wandering towards you, but they are all unrelated to each other, a sailor, a Mother with her child, a Merchant, a labourer, a fisherman, and such, so you would of course, not even blink your eye, and just go on your way seeing them as passerby. But then, if all those fifteen people suddenly get replaced by burly men wearing the same clothes, while carrying weapons on their person, you would surely be alarmed and want to immediately run and hide in your home."
"Exactly," The Advisor nodded quickly in satisfaction, but then his eyes widened, "Wait! Why are you explaining this to me so calmly." he said with exasperation in his voice, "Do you not realise that this could cause a big incident and create a lot of trouble for—Wait! Why are you smiling? Do not tell me... did you already expect something like this?" he suddenly asked with suspicion in his eyes.
"Hmm... Maybe, who can say for—"
"Do not play coy with me, Captain," The Advisor sighed as he interrupted Jon's poor acting performance, "You must have been prepared for this, must wanted this to happen, to have them be afraid, to notice you, to talk about you... But why?" he asked in confusion as an absurd notion appeared in his mind, "Don't tell me, are you trying to impress them?"
"...Perhaps," Jon answered slowly with a shrug, not denying it.
"Really?" The Advisor asked with a baffled expression on his face, as he knew that even though this young Captain of his liked bragging sometimes, it was only with the people he was familiar with. But he was never the kind to go around boasting in Taverns to seek people's approval.
"Yes." Jon nodded with a smile as he began explaining his mindset, "I am sure that many people in the city have heard a lot of things about me by now, about the Northerner who made it big in Essos, the one who got lucky, and defeated the pirate king, The Merchant Bastard, and so on... and I just wanted to make a big splash to break their pre-established notions and leave a very striking impression in their minds, the one they would never forget,"
"And what kind of impression are you going for, if I may ask?"
"Hm, I think a mixture of Daemon Targaryen and Corlys Velaryon would do," Jon answered faintly, feeling a little embarrassed for some reason. "Is that a bit much?" he asked wryly.
"A little," The Advisor replied with a smile.
"Well, it is already done," Jon responded with a shrug, "So there is nothing we can do about it now and—Oh, would you look at that! Your wish came true," Jon suddenly exclaimed with an amused look, "There are those white cloaks and their kings that you were so eager to see."
"Huh? Where?" The Advisor asked as he turned to scan the almost empty Harbour.
"Ah, you will not be able to see them for a while yet... He just left the Red Keep, so it should take him some time to arrive here," Jon answered with a faraway look in his eyes, "Perhaps at we shall both reach the port at the same time."
"Oh..." The Advisor nodded with a disgruntled expression, "But it wasn't the King but the Queen that I was eager to see when I was talking about the royals... I have heard it many times that she is the most alluring woman of Westeros."
"Ah," He nodded with an understanding expression, before shaking his head, "Then my friend, you are lucky that she is not coming here, because you would have only been disappointed."
"Why? Is she not pretty?" The Advisor asked, sounding genuinely put off by the news, as if someone had shattered a beautiful dream of his.
"No, she is indeed very otherworldly," Jon replied with some reluctance, unable to deny that the bitch had been graced with one of the most appealing face and body in Westeros, "But the woman is also just as petty and small minded as she is gorgeous, so take care when you see her later, as she may just have your eyes gouged out for staring at her too long."
"That is indeed a dilemma then," The Advisor said with a troubled frown, "After all, I despise cruel bit—Wait! Why are we even talking about this?!" he suddenly cried as if he had been startled awake, "The King is coming!!"
"...And?"
"What do you mean, 'and'? Why are you still so calm? Is it not a big deal that the King of Westeros is arriving here with his White cloaks? For all we know he could be out there gathering his men, ready to start a war with us," he said with a hint of panic in his voice, "And I can honestly say, I do not fancy our chances in a fight at the moment, especially when you just told me that one of those families can muster up a 100,000 men at their whim,"
"Ah, do not worry so much," Jon replied with a roll of his eyes, "There is not going to be a fight."
"And how can you be so sure?" The Advisor retorted immediately, "Are not all kings supposed to be mad, unpredictable cunts who kill people at the slightest offence? Why do you think he would not be displeased with us for our excessive show of force?"
"Well, for one, the man knows my father," Jon replied confidently, with satisfaction rolling off of him. The boy had always wanted to use this sentence after feeling envious of all those nepokids in his previous life, and finally got the chance in this life, so he was very happy, "So the worst that can happen to me is a sharp rebuke. Because after all, this is all a 'misunderstanding' on my part, so I am sure he will forgive me," he said with a smile, "And besides do we not have all those to gifts to appease him," he said while jerking his head towards the storage of their ship
"Those were all for him," The Advisor exclaimed with surprise in his eyes, "But I thought... we brought it all to sell to the rich nobles and make a fortune." he mumbled with a discontented look, "Is it not wasteful, to give so many precious things as just... a gift?"
"Its not wasteful at all," Jon said while shaking his head, "Because the first rule of asking a favour of someone is to give them gifts, the kind that they cannot refuse, and I intend to take a lot of favours from this king... A lot."
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