25 Negotiations
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Extra chapter, 10 comments in THIS paragraph or 10 reviews regardless of rating (cumulative)considering those in the previous chapter
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Randyll Tarly POV
it's been almost a year since we've been under Prussian rule, it almost seems like nothing has changed, as all the surviving nobles from the capture of the reach retain their power almost completely.
If you can call it that, since the Prussians placed very high reparations on us.
Leyton Hightower owes almost four million golden dragons to the Hohenzollern and can barely pay the interest on that debt alone, since lord Hohenzollern has decommissioned his fleet, reducing the amount of trade in which his house was involved.
My father-in-law Alester florent has insisted endlessly on his house's claim to the reach, he practically implores me every week to take my men and try to take the reach for him and his house, does that idiot does not see what is happening.
When we had an army standing we were defeated, almost humiliated in combat, lord Hohenzollern lost more men conquering the castles than at the battle of ashford, and Alester insists there is no better time to revolt.
His house is as indebted as all the others, owing millions of golden dragons to the Prussians, but he is not the only one, almost all the houses of the reach are trying to win my favor, since my army is the largest and most intact after the disaster of ashford.
My men after I swore eternal loyalty to lord Friedrich Wilhelm were returned without ransom, they only took our armor and weapons, but the soldiers are there, with a little funding offered to us by the faith I could rearm and fight, but I would only be defeated, like the fools in the north who thought their small folks would kill themselves for them
however, the biggest problem is that he has pacified and dominated the reach with an iron fist, it only took him 2 moons, to put down the rebellion, many were crucified by having them nailed for days, the small folks have abandoned the faith of the seven now profess the religion of Protestantism
to the chagrin of the manipulative bitch olenna tyrell, waiting was not a good choice, lord Friedrich is the best administrator I have ever seen, he knows everything that goes on in his territories and I even believe he knows what we are secretly planning, he has set up a system that forces the peasants to serve working side by side with his church, thus having constant recruits and collecting taxes in a more efficient way.
As much as I disliked his religion, I could not help but admire the boy, I learned of his history how he led his armies in times of need, doing his duty as son and king at the same time, for many years we were ruled by the weak and mediocre tyrell government, especially that manipulative olenna, who ruled because of her son's inability, but now we have a man with pants who does what needs to be done with absolute authority
my house at least as long as I live will always do its duty and that duty now is to serve the new paramount lord of the reach, as the Tarlys know their place unlike the tyrell women and that stupid Alester.
All this was going through my head as I looked at the hundredth letter my father-in-law had sent me in support of his claim.
''my lord husband, what do you intend to answer my father?'', my wife Melessa asked.
''Nothing, I already told him once, the Prussian government is here to stay, any opportunity to expel them has already passed, now we will have to get used to their government'' I answered him while I burned the letter.
''When will the deer be ready, I'm quite hungry, this animal was quite elusive'' I said while looking at my wife.
''soon, it shouldn't be long now, they are just finishing the roasting to bring it my lord husband'' said Melessa with her serene tone.
I was waiting for the food when we were interrupted by the Maester.
''my lord a messenger has arrived from lord Hohenzollern with a message for you'' said the Maester.
''well, let him come in, it must be an important message if he sends a messenger'' I said with a serious tone.
After waiting 5 minutes, one of the fearsome Teutonic knights of the Prussians came in.
''Greetings, Lord Randyll Tarly, my king sends you a letter in the hope that it will be answered as soon as possible'' the knight declared as he handed me the letter.
{greetings lord Tarly, I hope you are having an excellent day, by this letter you are invited to visit my domain in order to negotiate a better trade agreement regarding the stone extraction}
Why must it be personal, last time you sent one of your nobles to negotiate an agreement to sell your stone for your city.
I remembered something that was reported to me by one of my men, the Prussians had built a major camp on the border of Dorne, the stormlands and the reach for a moment I thought he was fortifying the area, but apparently he started one of the largest mining operations in the area, according to one of my scouts there are almost 25000 workers extracting a rock that is not useful for construction, my domain abounds with that damn stone, but apparently the Prussians like it, is that why?
''Tell your lord that he will be in his city in two weeks'' I said, returning the letter.
''My king will be pleased with your wise answer, Lord Tarly'' said the knight as he burned the letter and left my hall.
After the knight left my hall, I returned to concentrate on the food.
''What does the paramount lord want, my lord husband'' my wife asked doubtfully.
''Friedrich wants something and I think I know what, but I don't know why he wants it; however, forget about it, I want to start eating that deer'' I said, changing the subject of the conversation.
Quickly, the time I indicated passed, and I began to prepare myself and started my journey to neu Danzig, the new capital of the reach.
During the first day we entered the domain of lord Hohenzollern, it was not unnoticed how the small folks were digging ditches around the river towards the fields, but for every small village I passed by it was the same, all the peasants were using tools I had never seen before to work the fields and also digging ditches in the mander river, it seemed a new technology of the Prussians.
When the night was about to fall I found an inn, a ''franchise'' of lord Hohenzollern, where the merchants could rest comfortably in their trip to the city under construction, they had fresh food and the famous Prussian alcohol, the bed was of a quality almost similar to mine, according to what I heard in any inn you will receive the same treatment, to be able to have this inn you must fulfill some quality requirements to be able to use the insignia of the Prussian Eagle.
When the new day began we continued our journey, seeing the same peasants working the fields and digging ditches, it seemed that everything was going to do the same until we met a Prussian patrol.
''stop in the name of King Friedrich Wilhelm declared your intentions'' said the soldier
''I am Lord Randyll Tarly, I am heading to Neu Danzig at your lord's invitation'' I said in a serious tone.
The soldier took out a small book and began to look through it, looking for something.
''yes here is house Tarly, an archer in green field, you may continue on your way sir, sorry for the inconvenience'' said the soldier while he signaled his men to continue their march.
Something caught my attention, the Prussian soldiers were marching at the same pace without breaking ranks, they looked like a moving wall.
Continuing our journey, we met 3 other patrols that guarded the roads, I had never seen a lord so interested in keeping the roads so protected.
Finally, on the third day we could see the city and I sent a messenger to announce my presence, when observing the city I saw how it was a fortress more than a city, very similar to Highgarden, 3 levels of walls, but, these are not so high, they are inclined, I did not understand how it would serve as a defense, but so far, the Prussians have not stopped surprising us with their revolutionary ideas on the battlefield.
After a wait, they sent an escort to receive us.
''I greet you Lord Tarly in the name of his majesty, the king of Prussia, I welcome you to Neu Danzig'' said the soldier with an elegant tone.
''I thank you for your lord's invitation'' I said with a serious tone.
''Allow me to guide you through the city, lord Tarly'' he said as he turned to walk through the city.
We headed to one of the empty gates, others were full of merchants and peasants who wanted to enter the city and had to go through a checkpoint
when we passed the first wall, I could see the Prussian architecture, as expected, the standardization was even in the buildings.
''I'm going to give you the touristic tour, so when you finish your meeting with the king you can visit the rest of the city on your own'' said the soldier walking next to my horse.
I just nodded
''this is the commercial district, here you can find everything you can think of, perfumes, cloth, tools, furniture, silk, spices and liquors, you could even buy a new carriage which has suspension to avoid big blows when jumping on bad roads'' said the soldier.
''see that street, it is the street of perfumes, currently there are four stores that produce perfumes, all sponsored by the king, but currently they are engaged in one of the biggest commercial battles in the city to see who gets the king to use his perfume, so it is normal to find new perfumes every day'' he said with a smile.
Continuing on our way, the soldier stopped again
''in this part of the commercial area you can find the local taverns, there is a local culture among the wealthy merchants that at 8 o'clock at night they invite a round of liquors in the name of the king, this likewise escalated into a commercial conflict, since the taverns that serve more public auction the chance of this round because the king usually lends an ear to the most famous merchants'' he said pointing to the taverns
''and how do you know at what time this round of drinks takes place'' I asked doubtfully.
''you see that tower in the center, it is the city clock, all the life of the city is governed by the clock, since the duration of jobs and breaks are determined by using the clock'' he said while showing the huge tower with the clock
''I see very interesting, do you know how it works?'', I said amazed.
''No, only the king's engineers know, it's a very complex system'' he said lifting his shoulders.
Finally, we arrived at the second wall, and we went through it
''here is the Prussian residential area, since in this area live exclusively the king's veterans, here you can find everything in the king's stores, from grains and fruits, to clothes and shoes, you can also acquire the services of the army doctors, although they also go to the third wall to offer their services in the king's name.
''Your lord participates very actively in the economy of the city'' I said with a serious tone.
''yes he does, every day he checks the city looking for what to improve or a new service to deliver'' he said as he was walking.
After 10 minutes we arrived to the third wall where the lord's fortress was located.
''here you will find everything that the king considers important for a siege, the armories, the blacksmiths and the engineers, here they produce the famous gothic armors that can even stop valyrian steel'' he said pointing to a blacksmith's shop
well, it doesn't lie that it stops Valyrian steel, I witnessed how my sword got stuck in a Prussian armor.
''may I see the armor?'', I said asking
''Sure, come with me'' he said as we entered the smithy.
The heat in the building was brutal, it was the heat from the forges emitted throughout the complex, I could see how a group of blacksmiths is working carefully making the joints of a gauntlet, it almost looked like a work of art the amount of detail that the Prussians were looking for in their armor.
''How can I help you?'' said a blacksmith as he wiped his sweat.
''I would like to buy one of your armors'' I said with a friendly tone.
''Do you have permission from the king?'' said the blacksmith inquires.
''no, I'm just visiting the lord'' I said replying to him
''I can't sell anything to anyone without the king's authorization, these armors are only for the king's personal armies'' he said as he turned to continue his work.
''mhh, at least I can know the value of one of the armors'' I said between my teeth.
''15 gold dragons each'' he said without interest.
''THAT'S 5 TIMES MORE THAN AN ARMOR IN THE CAPITAL''' I said shouting
''those garbages you call armor won't stand up to Valyrian steel, much less deflect a crossbow bolt'' he said as he picked up his hammer and went back to work.
Finally, I left the smithy, I was quite angry about the treatment, but we finally arrived at the bastion area, where the lord lived.
After waiting 10 minutes, we went inside and finally entered the hall, where lord Hohenzollern and his knights were waiting for me.
Almost instantly, I was handed bread and salt to assert the guests' rights
I was quite tense when I saw who delivered the bread and salt was Charles the trident monster, when I heard the rumors of how he killed 10 knights in Ashford to capture Mace Tyrell I thought they were exaggerating, but then came the stories of how he and 10 of his men massacred almost a hundred knights and killed Prince Rhaegar, and then continued killing everything that moved.
After that, I was invited to sit at the table of my new paramount lord, the table was full of food of all kinds, he had spared nothing.
''Lord Tarly, I hope your journey was pleasant and without many mishaps'' he said with a serene tone.
''There were no problems on the roads, they are quite pacified by the constant patrols that guard them'' I said with a serious tone.
For the next 10 minutes, we just ate, without saying a single word to each other, until I decided to take the initiative.
''So my lord, to what do I owe this invitation to do business'' I said while looking him in the eyes.
Oh, you want to get straight to the point, Lord Tarly?'', he said, surprised.
Having no answer from me, he snapped his fingers twice and all the servants left the room, leaving only him with me, and his calm face turned into a serious mask.
