Wizards at Merman's Court

A/N: Well, here is the next chapter. Time for Jon to start catching up with these mysterious Skagosi I first showed in the Interlude chapters. And this is just the beginning on that front XD

Read, enjoy, and review!

Jon Stark was waiting for the guests that came all the way from Skagos in the same adjacent chamber where he had talked with Olenna Tyrell. Apparently, while Lord Manderly thought it important for him to meet with their envoy, he also thought it prudent to have few witnesses for their meeting. After all, the Skagosi islanders are hardly popular in the North, given their historical past as cannibals and raider until they reverted to isolation, with limited trade with the rest of Westeros ever since their failed uprising against House Stark during the reign of Daeron II Targaryen.

So, sitting beside him to his left was Archmaester Marwyn, followed by his apprentice Sam. To Jon's right was his host and then his new advisor, Sarella Sand. While they waited for some of Lord Wyman's most discreet men to escort them to the room, the new king decided to give voice to some of his confused thoughts.

"How did they even learned that I have become King in the North?" He wondered aloud. "It's unlikely the news would have traveled that far into the Shivering Sea by now."

Sam shrugged on his chair. "You told us you already informed your sister about that. Maybe she sent ravens from Ironrath to some other places and even to the Night's Watch. They do trade occasionally with the garrison at East-Watch-by-the-Sea, after all."

"Hmm," Jon mused. "I suppose that's possible."

"Regardless," Wyman Manderly said, "Their interest to send an envoy is a good sign. Robb didn't really bother to call their banners when leading his army south before he became king, since he was in a hurry and didn't believe the Skagosi could rally their forces at sea fast enough. That means their troops were left intact by the War of the Five Kings and as far as I know, they have emerged largely unscathed from House Bolton's reign of terror over the North due to their isolation. I would be naturally wary of them still, as is usually the case with societies that are suspected to have practiced cannibalism until recently," The Highborn man warned. "All the same, this could be a historic opportunity if all goes well."

As if on cue, the doors opened at that precise moment and three people entered the room. The new god's immediate reaction, however, was to blink rapidly, when he realized that that only one of them looked particularly similar to a Skagosi due to his hairy complexion, and even then color was red across the hair of his arms head, and beard; which was most unusual from what he had heard. The other 2 were women and they didn't even look Northern, considering that one of them had the silvery-gold hair that is normally associated with high amounts of Valyrian blood and the other one had light brown skin. with long curly hair.

Before they could begin their introductions, however, Jon heard a loud gasp to his right. He turned to look at his Sarella and she looked quite surprised.

"What is it?" He asked his advisor.

"Sorry, you're Grace," She apologized. "It's just that I...recognized one of them from my past."

Jon followed her direct stare to the woman that was smiling at his Dornish counselor and gave her a closer look.

"Good to see you again, Sarella," She replied. "It has been a while."

His advisor actually blushed a bit her smile widened, which made Jon raised an eyebrow. "Well then, why do you introduce us?" He asked her.

The Great House bastard was clearly taken off-guard by this visitor but she composed herself with a deep breath soon enough. "I can't say I know her traveling companions," She began, "but this woman is Nadria Sand. We meet about two years ago at Sunspear when she was in need of a ship to cross the Narrow Sea to Volantis. Since my captain of a mother was heading there anyway, we took her aboard the Feathered Kiss and set sail. While traveling near the Stepstones, however, we were attacked by three pirate ships, and...that was when Nadria revealed herself to be one of the few Dornish women left with enough blood of the Ancient Rhoynar to develop a talent for water magic," Sarella declared, much to his own surprise; and that of Archmaester Marwyn, if bolting upright in his seat was any indication. "She used her spells to sink one of the ships by forcing water to burst inside one of them, and then used her remaining energies to accelerate our course much faster than the speed of sail by the moving the surface directly below us. We may have managed anyway as my mother's swan ship is fast enough as it is but her aid made that a certainty, so we celebrated with a party in her honor around the deck that night," She explained, her look distant.

"That certainly was a fun night," Nadria admitted, a slight grin on her face.

Then she bowed. "It is a true honor to meet you, your Grace."

Jon scratched his chin a bit at that. "Pleased to meet you too. And I must say, your powers sound impressive. We must talk about them in length at some point, given that I have also...been discovering magical abilities myself recently," He added.

"Anytime, my King," She responded, her tone earnest.

"Well, now that my dear friend has stolen my thunder," Said the redhaired man with a mock glare, "Allow me to introduce myself. "My name Maenag of House Stane and I have been chosen to represent the interests of our three noble houses: House Crowl, House Magnar, and my own."

"May I ask why?" Lord Manderly asked gruffly.

"Aside from the fact that there are members of the other two houses that like me?" He asked with a shrug. "Mostly because we were in a hurry to come here and Nadria here is not the only one that can magically sink ships," The Skagosi said as he removed one glove and, suddenly, summoned a ball of fire to his palm. "As you can imagine, the pirate vessels of the Shivering Sea don't last long after I set their sails aflame."

Besides him, Archmaester Marwyn had started grinning in delight. Jon himself ended up chuckling. "I imagine that ability would be very useful during the cold of winter. And who is this your other friend?"

"That would be Alyhra Snowaters, the captain of the ship that took us here," He explained. "Or at least, that's how she normally calls herself in public when she wants to pretend."

The young king paused at that. "And when she doesn't want to pretend?"

At that, the young but physically fit woman took a step forward and bowed, moving a lock of her silver-gold hair as she did so. "On those occasions, I prefer to call myself by the name of my father's family," She stated. "Which would make me Alyhra Velaryon, your Grace."

The King in the North and the ruler of White Harbor glanced at each other, surprised. The captain smiled. "It's a bit of a long story but suffice to say that a member of House Velaryon married my mother, who was from House Crowl, in a secret ceremony. So, my self-made bastard surname is more of a ruse to keep the secret until the time is right."

"And why would such a secret be necessary?" Jon asked her.

"To put it shortly, so that we could consolidate the alliance the Skagosi made with House Velaryon a little over 2 decades ago to build up a new fleet slowly in secret," The captain explained. "I was the one that usually made the journey to hide the new vessels in Skagos."

The legitimized Stark frowned at that. If he recalled his family history correctly then, long before the conquest, his ancestor known as Brandon IX Stark, King in the North, broke the power of the Skagosi, destroying their ships and forbidding them the sea when it came to military vessels. Eventually, the subsequent Lords of Winterfell simply limited their numbers instead of keeping it completely banned but this made it sound like they had been violating the terms they made with House Stark and for a long time now. Still, he suspected they wouldn't be so honest about that if they didn't have something big to offer him."

"It seems like there is much to discuss," The young king said evenly. "But let's not get ahead of ourselves. First, what message do the leaders of Skagos have for me?"

"Several, actually," Maenag said slowly. "Most of which can only be truly explained in depth when the time comes for you to visit the island due to their...sensitive nature. But, for now, they want your Grace to know that we have our forces assembled and ready to cross the bay of seals and attack the Last Hearth, the Karhold, and the Dreadfort now that most of their bannermen are at Winterfell, preparing for battle against your own army. You need only say the word, my king, and around 4,000 Skagosi will make sure that House Bolton and their allies cannot make a tactical retreat to their respective strongholds."

Jon's eyes widened, realizing that would be a huge boon to his campaign. Then he tried to school his features.

"And in exchange?" He pressed on.

"For now, merely that you give us your word that you will come to Skagos for an official visit as soon as possible," The Firemage explained. "You see, I am not at the liberty to explain much now, because many of these secrets aren't mine to share but...an old greenseer that was born on Skagos predicted your coronation a few centuries ago."

Jon stared at him in shock. "What?"

"What you heard, your Grace," The member of House Stane replied. "The Ice Dragon you now ride was the last sign that pointed to our prophecy with perfect clarity. And well, I can tell you that some among the Skagosi have...not been idle while waiting for your arrival. So, I assure you we have much to offer House Stark."

Jon interlocked his fingers as he analyzed his words in silence. He had faced several stunning revelations since becoming a god but something told him this one was going to take the pie when the time came. Still, their secrecy made him wary and that wasn't good when dealing with a society that boosted high levels of cannibalism at one point. And then there was the fact that he needed to hurry to Braavos to rescue Arya before it was too late.

Then turned to Sarella, the only one among them that knew one of them, although she had acted strangely at first. Suddenly, an idea came to him to verify why she trusted Nadria so that he could be persuaded to agree to their terms in order to go search for Arya faster.

But then, he felt the power of his wish activate and he bit his lips when he realized he had accidentally worded the sentence in his mind in a valid way before he was ready. And so, his line of sight was suddenly replaced with a visual explanation of his wishful request.

Jon blinked rapidly as the brief images faded. "_Huh," Jon thought to himself as his cock hardened a bit at the image of Sarella's pussy being eaten, despite himself. "So, they were lovers for a while. I suppose that explains a bit."_

Still, that didn't actually put his mind at ease. So, given the secretive circumstances of their meeting, and disliking the idea of breaking his word even if it was convenient for him to do so, he sighed before wishing to know if the leaders of Skagos had any plans to betray him or his siblings. When the answer that entered his mind was a loud no, he finally made up his mind.

"Very well," The secret god said. "I give you my word that I will visit Skagos after defeating House Bolton's forces and reclaiming Winterfell. So, you can tell your men that their help to secure their territories would be very much appreciated and would probably make my visit happen much sooner. However, make it abundantly clear that they are not to kill the people who surrender, **** their women, burn their farming fields and, under no circumstances, eat anyone," He stressed. "That last part applies even to soldiers that have killed Skagosi in combat. Are we clear?"

At that, the three of them bowed deeply. "Of course, my king. And it is very gratifying to hear we can count on your eventual royal visit," Maenag declared. "Thank you for your time. Now if you would please excuse us, we have to send word back to our island."

Jon nodded. "You may go. And thank you for pledging your support to my cause."

When they left, there was a long moment of silence, only broken by the crackle of firewood in the hearth.

"Well, that was interesting," The Lord of House Manderly ended up saying. "With an additional 4000 **** of Skagosi soldiers support attacking their strongholds while we face the bulk of their army, the defeat of House Bolton and their allies will be complete. I would still recommend bringing enough guards to feel safe during your future visit to Skagos, however. It pays to be careful."

The young king simply nodded. Then he rose from his seat. "Well then, I am going to Braavos. I should be back with Arya by the next dawn at the latest. Now, walk with me towards my dragon," He added. "There are a few things more things that we should talk about before I go."

A/N: Well, there you. I hope you enjoyed it and if that's the case I would really like to read your thoughts and questions on the matter. And yeah, as I hinted at in the interlude chapters, my OC water witch, Nadria Sand, is a lesbian from Dorne. And to clarify, in this parallel universe, she was the one that made Sarella realize she was also attracted to women.

Originally, they weren't supposed to meet under such circumstances in the book or show realities but as I have been hinting before, Jon's ascension to godhood triggered a prophetic quake on this world that was felt event in the past. This made several people with the ability of foresight make different choices based on what they saw some with bigger effects than others. The changes this made to the timeline of Skagos, and the people it attracted, are near the top of the list, however. And I am sure we will have fun unraveling this mystery as the story progresses.

But for now, what do you think? XD