Chapter 10
When the flying machines arrived on the open field, Jon was one of the few people able to retain his composure. This was not because he wasn't afraid of those machines and the people within them, the books made sure of that, but because he knew what to expect. These flying machines, apparently called helicopters, were slower and louder than the two machines that flew over Winterfell before. Unlike the earlier flying machines, these ones had a gigantic windmill on top, which seemed to be the reason why it could fly.
When the first helicopter landed, some weirdly dressed people came out. They looked quite similar to the people living in the North, although there was one person with a Dornish skin color. They were dressed in garments unlike any he had seen before. They were mostly green and brown colored, but the colors were distributed randomly over the clothing. Despite that, their clothing looked clean and of high quality, implying that the color pattern was chosen deliberately and not a result of continuous patching of rags. They also carried some weird metal contraption as if they were carrying a weapon.
Jon then realized what those contraptions were, and he was very glad he and Robb had warned his father about the powerful ranged weapons the foreigners would likely be carrying. His father had in turn commanded the guards not to engage the foreigners for any reason unless they attacked first, in addition to warning them about possible powerful ranged weapons. The guards of the King's party had also received the same warning and Jon hoped that they would keep themselves from attacking.
Luckily, the two groups of guards did not engage one another. The other flying machines landed a few moments later, revealing more weirdly dressed people when their doors opened. Some of those were clothed the same as the other guards, but there were also others who were dressed differently. Their garments were mostly black, except for their white undershirt.
The men in black did not seem to carry weapons and did not look like fighters either. Jon guessed they were some kind of Maesters or assistants, but the guards seemed to be focused on protecting them, implying they were of a high rank.
Jon then heard one of the men in black introduce himself as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany, and realized that this was one of the leaders chosen by the smallfolk. This implied that the other men, and likely even the woman, standing there were probably also chosen leaders.
Immediately afterward, Jon recognized the name of the realm from the books and shuddered. Germany had once instigated a war against half of the other world, which left tens of millions dead. Yet here they were in the company of the realms they had invaded during that war. He hoped that Tyrion's reassurances were correct and that Germany would not invade the North at the first opportunity.
As the introductions progressed, Jon heard the names of other countries he saw on the map, like France and Italy. He wondered how they managed to gather so many leaders from different realms in such a short period of time. They were likely using flying machines to get here fast, but that didn't explain the ridiculously fast communication between the realms. However, a week ago Jon would have said that making flying machines was impossible too, so he decided to keep an open mind with regard to these foreigners.
When Jon arrived in the great hall, he moved to sit at the squire's table again, his faithful companion Ghost following him. Like yesterday, the other squires didn't want to sit next to a bastard like him, leaving him alone with Ghost. He saw the foreigners initially moving towards the head table, but there were way more foreigners than expected. Due to this, there were too few seats at that table, even when discounting the foreign guards. Some foreigners moved to sit at other tables after realizing that fact, a few even moving towards his table.
"Excuse me, could we perhaps sit here?" One of the younger foreigners asked him in an accented voice, pointing towards his side of the table which was empty.
"Of course, my Lord" Jon said as the small group of foreigners sat down in the seats next to and opposite of him.
"There is no need to call any of us Lord, we are all ordinary citizens. My name is Patrick Mertz by the way. I am a German diplomat." The foreigner said as he reached out his hand to Jon.
Jon then took the hand, before shaking it and introducing himself: "My name is Jon Snow, and this is my direwolf Ghost."
As they were shaking their hands, Jon could see the foreigners' widened eyes as they looked at Ghost, who started to feel uncomfortable under all the attention.
"Are you sure that is a dire wolf and not a dog or normal wolf? Dire wolfs have been extinct in our world for thousands of years."
"I am certain. Me, my Lord father and my brothers found the direwolf pups with their dead mother in the Wolfswood. She was as large as a pony, way larger than any normal wolf. Usually, direwolves only live north of the Wall, so we were surprised to find them there."
"Did I understand correctly that Lord Stark is your father? Why are you sitting here on your own instead of with your siblings?" Patrick asked him confusedly.
Jon answered unhappily: "That is because I am his bastard, and they are my trueborn half-brothers and half-sisters. Bastards are generally disliked in the Seven Kingdoms, and lady Stark is no exception to this rule. I am lucky that my father recognized me and let me live here in Winterfell."
Patrick frowned at this statement. "Children should not be hated just because their parents were not married. Where I am from, everybody is treated the same, whether their parents are married or not. There are many couples who do not marry at all, or who divorce only years after they were married. I suspect that a third of the children born in our world are officially bastards, but they are not treated any worse than other children."
Jon was shocked at this statement and felt a pang of jealousy at the bastard children of the other world.
Patrick continued speaking "The royal families in our world have to abide by this rule too. Just one year ago, a woman proved that she was the bastard child of the previous King of Belgium. The King was forced by the court to recognize her as his child and give her an equal share of his inheritance. She and her children now carry the title of princess or prince of Belgium."
Jon's jealousy grew at this statement, as being legitimized as a Stark of Winterfell was the one thing he wanted the most. He did not want to inherit Winterfell, as he did not want to steal any inheritance of his brothers. However, if he was legitimized, people would start treating him as the son of Eddard Stark and not as just another sinful bastard. This would also give him the opportunity to become a knight, a bannerman for his brother, or other professions that were now closed off to him as a bastard. Becoming a member of the Night's Watch, even after the warning of his uncle Benjen, was still one of his better opportunities as the bastard of Winterfell.
However, Jon was also confused that the royal family in Belgium could be forced to do anything. Did royalty in those lands not have the same power as in Westeros?
"Me and my brother read some of the books your leaders gifted us. We read that in your realms the power is held by people chosen by the smallfolk. How is it that your realms are still prosperous, if uneducated smallfolk make the decisions instead of educated Lords and Kings?"
"In the European Union, there are no uneducated people. Everyone between the ages of 6 and 18 is required to attend school, where they learn reading, writing, mathematics and many other topics. Half of the people even continues their studies after they reach 18. In our system of government, called a democracy, the citizens choose political parties to represent their interests. The ministers, who run the country on a day-to-day basis, are then chosen from the political parties that consist of more than half of the representatives. As the ruling parties want to stay in power, they will work hard to keep our citizens happy and the economy strong."
After getting over the shock that every individual in the European Union was as learned as the Lords and Maesters, Jon stated: "My lord father might not have been chosen by our smallfolk, but he is still looking out for their interests. The Starks in Winterfell have been good Kings for thousands of years, and good Lord Paramounts for the last few hundred years. The smallfolk and most of our bannerman are happy with my Lord Father's ruling and that of his ancestors."
"Wait, did you say that your family has been in charge of the North for thousands of years? No royal family in our whole world lasted longer than a few hundred years, how did they ever manage that?"
"By being good and fair rulers. There also has not been as much infighting within the North compared to the south as we are always busy with either preparing for or surviving the winter."
"Hmm, that might make sense with the unreliable long seasons you apparently have in this world. In our world, Winter always lasts for approximately the same amount of time, which would be 3 months in my country."
Jon, who had failed to pick up this tidbit of information from the gifted books, was flabbergasted. He could not imagine what it would be like to live in a world with such rapidly changing seasons. Continuous short summers implied that the farmers in the other world had only time for one harvest before winter set in. However, in exchange, the people there only had to survive a few moons of winter. Wars would have to be fought differently, as they had no year-long summers to go on extended campaigns. Instead, they would have to survive winter in foreign territory if they wanted to go on a campaign for more than half a year.
Jon immediately recognized an immense boon for the North. Having a summer every year meant that the foreigners would have food to sell at least once a year, even when the North suffers a long winter. This could provide the North an alternative food source in winter that could replace the exorbitantly prized food from the Reach and southern Free Cities. Jon had heard tales from Old Nan about long winters in which half of the smallfolk died due to starvation, and heard from his Lord father that the next winter would likely be another long one. Maybe this time, the smallfolk would not have to starve due to food shortages. However, this would be dependent on the negotiations that would find place later today.
"Lord Mertz, does your country happen to have a surplus of food to sell to other realms? The North might be interested in buying food during the next winter."
"Both your new neighboring countries, Germany and the Netherlands, are among the largest food exporters in our world. So if negotiations today do not break down, it may be possible for the Seven Kingdoms to buy food from us."
Jon was happy to know this, but was a bit confused about how a small realm like the Netherlands could be one of the largest food exporters in the other world.
"Do you know whether your leaders are willing to sell the Seven Kingdoms some of your more advanced contraptions, like your flying machines, ranged weapons and printing presses?"
Patrick did not answer this question immediately, seemingly thinking about how to answer. In the end, he answered: "The Seven Kingdoms does not have the necessary infrastructure to use most of our technology, as they often require electricity or oil to work properly. So unless you have said infrastructure, there is no point in buying most of our modern products. Our leaders will also be very reluctant so sell even outdated weapons to the Seven Kingdoms due to political reasons. We might however be willing to sell some outdated inventions like the printing press you mentioned and better farming tools. The European Union may also be willing to trade books containing our scientific knowledge."
Jon did not understand everything Patrick said, but got the gist that they would only sell knowledge and outdated equipment. However, even outdated equipment from their world would likely be extremely advanced by Westerosi standards and very useful for the North. Their knowledge might even enable them to create their own advanced machines in a few decades.
In the meantime, the feast had begun and the tables were once again filled with the best dishes that Jon had ever seen in the halls of Winterfell. Jon wondered what kind of food was usually eaten in the lands of the foreigners. There might even be different types of crops growing there compared to Westeros.
Jon saw in the meantime that the King was not drinking nearly as much as yesterday. Apparently, either his Lord father or the flying machines of the foreigners made him realize that the upcoming discussion was important enough to keep a clear head. When the meal ended, everyone except for the Lords, the King, Maester Luwin and the guards were ushered out of the dining hall so that the negotiations could begin. Jon said goodbye to Patrick and left with Ghost to practice his sword skills again after mostly neglecting them the last few days. He hoped that the sparring would take his mind of the important and potentially disastrous meeting that was being held in the dining hall. Patrick seemed to be a nice guy, but that did not guarantee that Germany and the other realms would remain peaceful towards the North.
AN: As always, thanks everyone for favouriting/following/reviewing my story! Updates will still be weekly, but the next 2 chapters will be larger than usual.