Chapter 100 - Negotiations with Free Folk (VII)

Chapter 100 - 100 - Negotiations with Free Folk (VII)"Dialogue really does work miracles when it comes to diplomacy, but the truth of the world is measured by who is stronger. The weak will never have the equal status to negotiate with the strong." - Aenar I Targaryen, God-Emperor of Planetos.

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"Your Grace is asking us to kneel, but what's in it for us?" Mance ignored the whole situation with Tormund and Leda; his eyes were fixed on the prince's purple eyes.

"The People of the North won't take us in. We'll be treated worse than slaves. No, they won't even consider us human. We're just thinking beasts to the rest of Westeros."

What Mance said made many look at their king with respect. Although the threat of the Night King was one of the reasons for everyone to accept Mance, a former Raven, as king, but Mance himself was the main reason. The man became one of them and even married and had children.

"I will give you Sea Dragon Point and Stony Shore, I will leave them as your fiefdoms and for all the Free Folk." Aenar spoke after a brief silence. "Not only that. If you kneel before me, I'll give you enough food to last six months and I'll help you build your towns and villages. For the next ten years, the food you buy from Reach will be half price, until you can finally grow crops with the help of the Glass Gardens."

Aenar's words surprised all the members of the Free Folk. How could they know how many people they had? There were hundreds of thousands of mouths feeding all the time. At this very moment, of these hundred thousand men and women, around ten people were starving to death every day.

Now, knowing that they could have a place and food moved the hearts of many of the Free Folk.

"Yes, although at first there was mistrust and hostility on the part of northerners like yourselves, they are a straightforward people and respect the strong." Aenar continued. "You just have to show that you're not man-eating monsters and you'll gradually be accepted over the coming decades and hundreds of years."

"But all of this has to start with you taking the first steps to make something like this happen." Aenar finished, looking directly into Mance's eyes.

Looking into the young prince's sincere eyes, Mance breathed a sigh of relief. Aenar's terms were ten times more generous than he had expected. Honestly, he had only expected permission to cross the Wall and submit, while his people gradually spread north.



But not only had the prince promised him fiefdoms, he had already prepared food so that they could feed themselves for months without worrying about hunger killing their children. Not only that: being able to buy food from the Reach at half price for ten years was more than enough for them to establish themselves in the North without many dying.


Just as Mance was about to speak, a man he didn't like at all stood up and spoke in a deep, strong tone.

"I am Marlowen, leader of the Ice River Clan Tribe."

"Southern king, do you think you can rule us? We fight giants, mammoths and beings you can't even imagine. My clan and I will not kneel to a boy." As soon as he had finished speaking, he spat on the ground. His stern face looked at Aenar, without hiding his sarcasm.

Leda was furious at his extremely insulting words and actions. She drew Dawn in an instant, and the sword shone in the sunlight, almost as if it were made of pure light.

"Watch your words, you filthy cannibal. I'll cut off your bloody head and feed it to the pigs along with your disgusting body." Leda spoke with an extremely cold and deadly tone. If it hadn't been for waiting for Aenar's permission, she would have already gone ahead and brought the cannibal's head to him.

"Marlowen, right?" Aenar gestured for Leda to remain silent and stood up. "If you think I'm weak or something, please draw your sword and step forward. But know that you will die."

Aenar stepped forward and stopped in the middle of the space between the two tables. The space measured about ten meters, but it was enough for him to kill Marlowen without any difficulty. Drawing Lady Lya from her scabbard, Aenar waited for the cannibal's response in silence, his eyes fixed on the green eyes of the leader of the Ice River cannibal clan.

Marlowen, seeing that everyone was watching him, remained silent for a moment.

But this silence only caused Tormund, who had been silent until then, to speak sarcastically and end up laughing.

"The great cannibal of the Ice River is afraid of a boy?! HAHAHAHAHA!!!"

"You'd better go back to your mother's teats, cannibal. She'll feed you meat from your brothers." Tormund's words caused all the Free Folk to burst out laughing.



"Aren't you going to use your crimson beast?" Marlowen asked, pointing to the dragon perched on top of the Wall.

"No need to worry, you're not worthy of being eaten by Caraxes." Aenar replied with an extremely sincere tone, so sincere that it caused laughter on both sides.

"I've never eaten someone with your hair color, it must be delicious. Perhaps I could command the beast you call Caraxes." Marlowen spoke as he held up the spear made of bones - very large bones, probably from a giant. The tip of the spear was made of steel, which was rare for the common people of Westeros and even rarer for the Wildlings.

Aenar laughed at the cannibal's audacity. If it were so easy to steal the gift of a dragon bond, many bastards and descendants of the great Dragonlord houses of Valyria would not have become irrelevant over the years.

However, Aenar looked at the cannibal walking towards him. The man had a cruel, sadistic smile on his lips. On his clothes, there were dozens of human ears, forming a vertical belt.

Aenar wasn't afraid of a mere cannibal. He would end the life of that human scum in an instant. What was about to happen could not be called a fight, but a massacre without resistance.

Normally, Aenar didn't use so much strength against mere humans. His body strength alone was equivalent to that of hundreds of men. Even in his future fight against Robert, he would only use the normal strength of a man, because he wanted a brutal and crazy fight with his cousin.

But Marlowen naturally wouldn't have the privilege of such a protracted and epic fight. Aenar needed to show his strength more than ever at that moment.

Clenching Lady Lya's fist tightly, Aenar stepped forward and, under everyone's shocked gazes, his body accelerated at incredible speed. Marlowen didn't even manage to defend himself before his left leg separated from his body. The man only realized the loss of his limb when he overbalanced and fell to the hard ground, breaking his nose in the process.

"First." Aenar shook the blood off the sword with one swift movement. Looking at the severed leg, he spoke with a sarcastic tone: "Don't run so fast, it's dangerous. You could fall."

"You bastard-" Just as Marlowen was about to finish his sentence, his arm was ripped from his body with a spray of blood splashing onto the floor in an instant.

Aenar didn't stop. He cut off the cannibal's right leg and then his left arm. It all happened in the blink of an eye. The man had lost all four limbs, leaving only his head.



Aenar approached, pointing the tip of his sword at Marlowen's head, bringing the blade dangerously close.

Looking down with an extremely cold gaze, Aenar didn't even allow the man to say anything else. He lowered the sword, piercing his brain and killing him instantly.

An ordinary human would never stand a chance against him, especially after drinking the Water of Life.

A deafening silence hung in the air. That display of power could never belong to a mere human. But standing before them was a man who had surpassed the limits of humanity.

"Does anyone else think I'm weak and can't fight the Night King?" Aenar looked at the leaders of the Free Folk and asked calmly. His voice was cold and indifferent, very different from the warm and polite tone of before.

And they had to admit: they would rather the king spoke to them again in his warm voice. The current one sent shivers through their bodies.

Looking at Marlowen's butchered body, they all nodded in agreement. Who would be foolish enough to fight a monster like Aenar? Especially after watching him sever a man's four limbs in less than ten seconds.

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