Hello again. If anyone is still reading this story, then i hope you like the chapter. I know i haven't been active in about half a year but i might start posting chapters again soon.

Chapter 6 Negotiations

Two days had passed since the battle had taken place and the meeting was drawing close.

I had spent most of my time in solitude in the northern camp, trying to formulate a plan for the coming future. I was living in the king's tent, on the edge of the camp. Normally, the kings tent would always be near the center, so as to better protect it, but for obvious reasons no one questioned my security.

By my tent lay Ragni, ever ready to aim his terrifying gaze at anyone foolish enough to come too close.

Inside the tent, I spent my time brooding over what to do. With my overwhelming military might it would be easy to conquer the seven kingdoms, but I didn't just want to rule the kingdoms using fear and violence forever. It was the only option for now, but I wanted a stable seat of permanent authority. Luckily I had just the thing to help me with that.

I hardly had contact with anyone in the camp but I occasionally met with the young, now officially former, king in the command tent. We would discuss the future of the north and also, Robb would try to explain as best as possible, the actual political events that had taken place in the recent years, not just the official recorded version.

Luckily for the both of us, Robb was no fool and he understood his position very well, despite the constant complaints from his fellow northern lords. It was almost as if they had forgotten, what happened not two days ago. Despite this, Robb Stark was given the title of warden of the north, and swore an oath to serve the Batorion family in perpetuity.

I had a wry smile on my face as the young man was kneeling and an offering up his sword in a symbolic gesture. I always found these hollow oaths distasteful. Only a fool would make a deal that depended on the honor of the other party. After the young man was finished, I had said to him:

"Thank you for your oath, I am honored you delivered it with such sincerity. But let us not carry on this pretense anymore. You serve, because you fear my power."

The new warden of the north was slightly taken aback at this, and was clearly at a loss of what to say. He began: "My lord…. I- "Before I interrupted him again.

"Oh please don't be mistaken Lord Stark. I do not blame you in the slightest. But I hope you won't blame me either, if I take an extra precaution to ensure your loyalty."

Robb looked very puzzled as I tapped my bag of holding with my finger, and a paper appeared on the table the same instance. The paper didn't look old, but it had a particular feeling to it. As if it contained some great wisdom. Robb couldn't read a word of what it said, but he noticed at the bottom, there was a small red circle.

I tore away Robbs gaze from the paper and looked at him in the eyes, seriousness evident on my face for the first time in the conversation.

"There is a very powerful magic spell imbedded in this paper. Magic like this was the key to Valyrian society all those years ago. It is what allowed us to bind dragons to our will and it is what held the Valyrian society together." I said in sincerity as I retrieved a small silver needle from my bag and gave it to him.

The young man was once again speechless and starred at the small needle in his palm. I didn't give him a chance to speak before I continued:

"That small red circle at the bottom of the paper is where you sign. Merely prick your finger and hold it to the paper. For the magic to work you have to willingly sign it. Therefore, you must will your blood to sign the contract. I will know if it is signed correctly."

Robb's face drained of all colour and he took a step back. He certainly didn't wish to put himself under any sort of "magical spell" from the strange man who turned his would upside down. Pure desperation emitted from every pore in his body, as he obviously tried to think of anything he could do to get out of the situation. He even briefly looked to his sword but quickly let saner thoughts prevail. He began pleading: "P-Please you grace, I swear I shall serve you will all of-"

I couldn't be bothered to let him finish before I answered:
"Robb. Relax. It is a standard spell of servitude. Anyone of any standing in Valyrian society had to sign some form of this contract. It merely ensures that you cannot actively act against my interest."

"Like plan a rebellion behind my back for instance" I thought to myself as I studied the conflicted man in front of me.

I wasn't lying. Even I had signed a standart contract of the draconic, which compelled me to obey the fundamental laws of Valyria. Only the triarchs of power were exempted from any compulsion of contracts. There had to be some individuals above the law for society to function. Instead of contracts, they were tasked to keep each other in check.

I got around the binding laws due to several reasons. First of all, since I truly believed that Valyria didn't exist anymore, the laws that stated to keep the Valyrian monopoly didn't make sense anymore. Another thing was, that more than 400 years had passed since I signed, so the contract spell had weaken severely. Arch mages were required to renew it every 20 years because after such a period of time, they could begin to resist the effects with their own power.

After almost 5 minutes of Robb raising the needle then lowering it again, his internal battle finally came to a rest and he pricked his thumb. He pressed it to the paper and closed his eyes and frowned as he seemed to furiously try to concentrate.

Suddenly the text began lighting up, and he opened his eyes abruptly. The text started coming to life and the red circle started spinning. Then a red line slowly started making its way up, like a snake coiling around his arm. It then slithered across his chest until it found its target. His heart. With an audible thump like a heartbeat, his entire left side of his chest lit up in a red light, with his heart as the center. Then it slowly faded and the paper on the wooden table turned to dust.

I looked at the dust on the table and nodded to myself before I again directed my attention to the confused young man, who was seemingly checking his chest for a wound.

"The spell works in such a way, that you will instinctively know, when you are close to breaking the terms of the contracts. You are free to rule the north however you wish now, and you do not require my permission for anything, unless the contract stated for you to, in which case you will know. Now go prepare, we meet the Lannisters in a few hours." I said to the dumbfounded man in front of me.

It took him minute to fathom what had happened, but he seemed very relieved and with much less effort than before he bowed and said: "Of course, your grace."

The Lannister camp was much nicer than the northern one. It was set up at the edge of the field were the battle had taken place. Generally, life in the north camp wasn't very comfortable. The food was horrific but I realize long ago, that the lacking quality of things is something I would have to get used too. The entire northern camp also stank, because their standards of hygiene weren't very commendable.

The Lannisters had a variety of comforts and luxuries and a much higher quality of food and lodgings. The structure of the camp was not the same either. Where in the north camp, the only real difference between the lords and soldiers had been the size of their tents, and of course the lords got the better drink. But that was the only real difference.

In the Lannister camp there was a clear separation between noble and soldier. There was a makeshift kitchen, an attempt at a place to bathe and even prostitutes to warm the nobles bed at night.

The two camps were like night and day, and it made me realize, that even though they were part of the same kingdom, there was such an enormous difference in culture. It amazes me how they managed to keep the seven different kingdoms under one rule for more than 300 years. Maybe the power of conventional oaths was greater than I thought.

There was very little sign of the slaughter from before. Despite Ragni having killed thousands with his flames, it wasn't that much out of the 60.000 that had come. The Lannister army had broken instantly, so there really wasn't a need for the battle to be drawn out. Based on me just flying around, I would guess around 6-7000 soldiers died that day.

By the time I landed Ragni outside their camp, Robb was already there waiting with his men. I sent Ragni a mental message: "Fly around the camp while I am in it. Don't make any noise, except fly a bit close to the command tent from time to time, in order to remind them of your presence."

Yes.

I didn't want to make it too obvious but I wanted them to constantly be reminded of the weapon that was literally hovering over their heads.

For the meeting I was in full battle gear, but was covered up with a very large grey cloak, the northerners had been so nice to lent me.

Without a word I began walking towards the camp, and the northern lords followed after. Upon reaching the edge of the camp, two lines of soldiers stood perfectly still, marking a path between them. The path lead to what was obviously the command tent.

Inside the tent was a large rectangular table. On the right side sat the Lannister commanders, who immediately stood and bowed upon my entry. At the end of the table stood a chair alone, symbolizing the place of honor. To the right of the chair stood Tywin, who gestured for me to sit down, with his head still slightly bowed.

I sat down at the head chair, and the northern lords took their places on the left side. The higher the status, the closer to me.

I put my elbow on the armrest and tilted my head to rest it on my fist. Realizing he would have to lead, Tywin was the first to break the silence: "Thank you for meeting us here, your grace. We would ask you to please enlighten us to what your plans for the future of the sevens kingdoms are."

I straighten up and looked to the Lannister side of the table: "That will depend on you. You and Lord Robb Stark has already declared me as your king, but I shall test the sincerity of your oath in the future. I would have you carry a message from me. I extend to all the lords of Westeros the same invitation Ageon Targaryen did 300 years ago. Kneel, and you shall retain your land or refuse and be turned to ash."

Some of the Lannister commanders were stunned at the audacity, but Tywin didn't flinch as he kept the stoic expression on his face. He was clearly very used to the battles of words that occurred during meetings such as these. If I wasn't mistaken however, I could for a brief moment detect a touch of relief in him, since he was reassured he would get to keep his lands.

Tywin continued the conversation: "You say you offer the same terms Ageon Targaryen did, might I ask if you are a descendant of his." He asked in a clever manner, since it allowed me to just say no, but it was still a risk for him to pry upon anything regarding my identity.

I hesitated to answer. Up until this point, none of the lords except Robb even knew my real name, and he absolutely hadn't told anyone. Taking over the seven kingdoms would be much less turbulent, should I claim to be a descendant of Ageon. I dismissed the idea quickly though. It was inevitable, that I would start revealing knowledge and abilities far beyond, what that lower tiered Targaryen family was ever capable of. Besides that, I had my own pride. I would never hesitate to state my own family name.

I didn't outwardly react in any way to the question. I starred at Tywin for a while, as if to study him. A tense silence began manifesting in the room, but it was interrupted when Ragni suddenly made a sweep by the tent, that caused it to violently rustle with the wind.

Some of the men in the room grabbed the table in response to the wind and looked to me for a sign of reassurance that they would not be harmed. I turned my head and addressed the whole table as I said:

"No, I have no relations with the Targaryen family. Though I suppose it is time you all learn who I am and why am here, now." I paused to gauge their reactions. They all looked at me with wide eyed anticipation, though the Lannisters hid it far better than the north men. Not that I blamed them. I can imagine they must have been banging their heads on the walls, wondering where this mysterious stranger could have suddenly come from.

I had pondered for quite a while, whether or not to reveal my true identity, but I decided that it would only help me. I even considered if I should claim to be a god, but in the long run that would definitely hurt me. I had no choice, but to teach anything I knew of magic to these people, since I wanted to raise this civilization, to be as close to that of Valyria as possible. If I claimed to be a god though, I couldn't very well be giving my divinity away.

My real status suited me perfectly for my future plans. I was someone who had a wealth of information and power, and could very well bring this kingdom into a new age. I was sure that after I began introducing the kingdoms to some of the grander magical structures, my status would become equivalent to that of a god anyway.

It was almost unfair to the nobles of the land. All their struggles and efforts for power was now effortlessly crushed as this weird looking stranger suddenly appeared. I continued:

"My name is Aerios Batorion. I am the son of Akorios Batorion and Rhyania Batorion. I am the sole member and head of the Batorion family, the triarch family of magic."

I then stood up and pushed the chair back. I tapped my bag of holding and my vectium appeared in my hand, as I dropped the grey cloak around me, revealing the full battle gear.

It was a childish maneuver I knew, but I wanted the full effect of the shock to hit them all, when they learned just who was standing before them.

"Do not compare me with the dragon riders who came here in the past. Even at the height of Valyria's glory, my family stood at the peak of power, ruling as one of the three royal families of Valyria."

I then lifted my vectium and calmly stamped it on the ground. My skin started glowing as flashes of tiny spark of electricity could be traced on the surface constantly. My eyes went from their typical slight glow, to glowing brighter than even a torch, bathing the room in clear blue light.

"I have come here, to bring this kingdom into a new golden age of knowledge, wealth and magic. I shall restore the past glories of Valyria, right here, and make the world bow to the might of the seven kingdoms. A long journey is ahead of all us here and this kingdom. Every journey begins with the first step. Our first step is to take the iron throne."