Chapter 171: Melisandre’s Crisis
Dorne, Sunspear.
After drifting at sea for more than two months, Obaya and her boyfriend Bronn finally arrived at their destination.
The war continued on the land, so they chose to return from the sea, and because the Redwin fleet blocked the Throat and Dragonstone when they set off, the two of them and several Dornish guards had to go out to sea from Maidenpool in the north and drifted all the way there first. Pentos took a boat south again and made a long circle before arriving here.
When Obaya met her father, Prince Oberon, there was no need to be formal. They met in the study room of the old palace.
"This is my future husband, Bronn." Sand Snake first introduced her boyfriend to her father.
In order to leave a good impression on the prince, the young couple specially made some decent high-end clothes for Bronn in Pantos.
The lucky Bronn is currently wearing a set of dark golden brocade robes. The indigo cape is fixed by an unmarked brooch and hangs behind him. With his well-fitting and expensive clothes, as well as his neatly trimmed beard and hair, he looked like a northern lord.
But who is the Red Viper? How could someone who spent his entire life wandering from the Citadel to Essos and back again not see Bronn's true identity?
At least the unmarked brooch already revealed the person's identity by 70% to 80%.
Coupled with the weathered mercenary face, Prince Oberon had guessed part of the truth.
"Very good, as long as you like it." The Red Viper did not dwell on these matters. "I heard that Arianne went to the Dragon Holder and did a good job?"
Only then did Obaya remember the purpose of her trip. She hurriedly took out two letters from her cousin and handed them to her father.
After reading it quickly, Red Viper ordered his daughter to prepare to stay, and then went to Flowing Water Garden to discuss business matters with his brother.
After the prince left, Bronn nodded with satisfaction, "It seems that your father is not opposed to our marriage."
He was barely a few years younger than Prince Oberon, and it was time to consider marriage.
Obaya leaned close to her boyfriend, talking about love in a nonchalant way. The two were about to arrange a place for Bronn when they met the hopeless Earl Jason Mallister.
He is confined in the old palace and grows up with Prince Oberon every day.
…
Water Garden.
After reading the letter, Prince Doran said calmly: "The gods in the sky are fair. They gave Arianne a not-so-smart brain, and they also gave her excellent luck."
Two or three months ago, Doran would never have dared to push Dorne against the Dragonbearers and the Rivermen, but after Cersei's magical operation made the Riverlanders fall to Arthur, the situation on the entire continent suddenly became clear.
"It is said that the princes of the Vale are preparing to join forces to deal with Littlefinger. After the marriage of the Dragon Bearer and Sansa Stark, most of the problems in the North and the Vale have been solved. The West is half broken, and Stannis and the Golden Company are fighting in the Stormlands. It's so hot that Balon Swann's Reach army doesn't even have to fight..."
Oberon briefly described the situation in Westeros.
"I think it's up to you to go to King's Landing." Prince Doran suddenly interrupted his brother.
He is already familiar with these situations. With the support of the people of the River Bend, the Dragon Holders no longer have comparable enemies on land. At sea, some of the longships of the Redwin fleet control Dragonstone and the Throat. , King's Landing is no longer a threat.
"It is said that Lynn Corbray died at the hands of the Dragon Holder. You will confirm it and bring back his head. We also have to attend the king's second wedding. Pick out a decent gift and tell him. En has always been a loyal ally to House Targaryen."
It was no secret that the Tyrell family was planning a grand wedding, and Doran decided to ask his brother to go there on behalf of the Nameros Martell family.
As for Daenerys Stormborn, he has already sent his eldest son there. Even if the Dragon Bearer fights with Stormborn, he will have room to move around.
Red Viper nodded, "As usual, we have a seat in the Royal Council, and I will fight for it."
The two struggled for a long time on whether Arianne should enter into a marriage contract with the Dragon Bearer, and finally came to the conclusion that Arianne should make her own choice.
"That Earl Jason, you must comfort him well, and then ask my daughter to apologize to the Dragon Holder. You have gone too far in this matter." Prince Doran asked.
Red Viper smiled slightly, "No problem."
Earl Jason was reluctant anyway, and he was about to let go.
…
Stormland, outside Eagle's Nest.
Stannis, who had only his personal clothes left, was tied to the cross. During his week, huge amounts of firewood, hay and other flammable materials were piled into a hill. Several soldiers were carefully pouring sesame oil on the pyre to make it burn faster.
Aegon VI and seven or eight senior officers of the Golden Company stared at the Deer King, and several of them discussed in low voices why Stannis was not seen.
"It is said that he killed his brother Renly with his shadow. This can be considered a punishment from the gods!"
"Can you kill people with your shadow? What kind of miracle is this? I will convert to this god immediately."
"Maybe it's the Red God, maybe it's the nameless god, maybe it's the Shadowbinder's trick, who knows?"
Shadowbinders are a kind of wizard active in Asshai. They are extremely evil. They can cast terrifying spells at night. The red-robed witch Melisandre is also a Shadowbinder.
According to Melisandre, shadow is the servant of light and the descendant of fire.
The flames may refer to ancient Valyrian gods such as Balerion, Meraxes, and Vhagar. The light refers to R'hllor, the Red God of Light.
When the preparations were almost done, a man in a black robe with an unclear face opened the box in his arms, took out the dragon egg, and held it in front of Aegon VI.
"Your Majesty, it belongs to you."
This is the dragon egg that Euron used to hire the Faceless Men to assassinate King Balon. Now it was taken out by a big man in the House of Black and White and presented to Aegon VI, who has the blood of the Valyrian Dragon King.
Everyone was attracted by the priceless dragon egg.
This is an ellipsoid egg with alternating gold and silver colors. The small and neat scales are like gems, shining with gold or silver.
If it were before, a dragon egg was just an egg, and it couldn't even be eaten. But after the Mother of Dragons hatched the dragon, this kind of stone was incredibly beautiful.
Tristan Rivers looked at his golden armband and suddenly felt that gold was just that.
It has to be a dragon egg!
Aegon VI, wearing a large robe, took a deep breath, held the stone into the fire, and placed it at Stannis' feet.
Baratheon, with his hands and feet tied, could not move. He looked at the enemy and the fake king's operation with hatred, and was so angry that he could not speak.
He is the real king, the reincarnation of Azor Ahai, the savior recognized by the King of Light. How could he be captured by the fake king?
Azor Ahai is the savior of the Heroic Age. He was chosen to duel with the Night God. In order to kill the god, he cast the flesh and blood of his wife Nissa Nissa into a red sword called "Lightbringer", and then defeated the Night God.
In dozens of prophecies circulating throughout the world, Azor Ahai will be reincarnated, and then when the long summer is over and the stars are weeping blood, he will awaken the dragon in the stone and save the world again.
Of course, due to differences in language and pronunciation, the savior is not always this name, but the pronunciation is close.
The main reason why Stannis thought he was the true king was that Melisandre thought he was the reincarnation of Azor, but what the Deer King didn't know was that Melisandre had a habit of interpreting prophecies without authorization.
She would interpret the prophecies to the followers of the Lord of Light according to her own understanding, regardless of whether it would come true 100%.
It is hard to say who the reincarnation of Azor Ahai is, but the reincarnation of his wife has appeared.
In the far east, near the Slaver's Bay, hundreds of thousands of new freedmen have been shouting "Misha Misha" for a long time.
Stannis, who realized that his life was over, was angry, and his facial features were distorted to a terrifying degree.
Aegon VI was in a good mood, "You burned people like this on Dragonstone, I wonder what those who were burned by you would think. I heard that you also killed your brother, but the gods will curse the kinslayer..."
A false king was about to be executed, and Aegon VI was full of pride.
The Iron Throne is mine, my beautiful aunt Daenerys is mine, and the Seven Kingdoms are also mine.
He turned and walked down the fire, no longer complaining and cursing Stannis.
After a few breaths, the soldiers lit the big fire, and soon, the screams of the shadowless king spread all around.
...
Harrenhal, the Hall of the Hundred Hearths.
As the saying goes, a short separation is better than a new marriage. In the case of Arthur and Sansa, they were newly married and separated for a short time, and they were affectionate as soon as they met.
But Arthur still knew the importance of the situation, so he first summoned the nobles who stayed here.
After a month, their king changed from the King of the Riverlands to the King of the First Men, the Andals and the Rhoynar, which made most of the nobles very happy.
After all, they surrendered early and were also considered to be meritorious.
Except for some River Bay nobles, such as Matus Rowan and others.
The king and the Tyrell family formed an alliance through marriage, which put them in an awkward situation for those who betrayed the feudal lord first.
Although the great nobles and the feudal lords and the king are in a dual vassal relationship, the feudal lords' families are close after all, and there are many opportunities to use small tricks.
Arthur had a separate way to deal with the Rowan and Oakheart families.
"My lords, the Westerlands have fled back, and Dickon's 5,000 men may not be able to defend Silver Mountain, Deep Cave Castle and other places, so I ordered..."
He transferred most of the soldiers near Maiden Spring to the salient of the Westerlands, and the native soldiers of Crab Claw Peninsula to King's Landing.
According to the report of the Frey soldiers monitoring the Bloody Gate, snow has begun to fall in the upper half of the Moon Mountains. If there is no mischief by the gods, the Bloody Gate will not allow the army to pass before the next long summer.
In other words, even if Littlefinger completely controls the valley, they cannot attack the riverlands on land.
This allows Arthur to manage the Westerlands with confidence.
There are more troops attacking the Westerlands. According to the agreement he reached with the Queen of Thorns, Garlan will lead the army north from the Coast Road and directly attack Lannister Port and Casterly Rock after pacifying the invasion of the Ironmen.
Of course, these are all plans for later, and he has to marry Little Rose first.
"What about the North? What about my Winterfell?"
Sansa had heard that her husband was going to marry a second wife, but considering that there were so many nobles around, she temporarily resisted the urge to ask him why, and instead asked her husband about his arrangements for his family's territory.
"An army is ready to enter the North to fight, I'll tell you the details later." Arthur said sincerely.
Since the Queen of Thorns gave half of Brightwater to the Tully family, Randyll didn't have to return south.
After the Western Territory and the Stormlands were completely pacified, the army he led could just go north along the coast to regain Winterfell and resist the wildling army.
Before transferring the people from the Reach, Arthur also had to quickly establish a royal standing army and a King's Landing garrison.
The original King's Landing garrison, commonly known as the Golden Robes, has been dispersed.
Arthur's idea is to let the indigenous soldiers from the Crab Claw Peninsula garrison King's Landing, and then select suitable people from them to form a new garrison.
After all, this group of ancestors were far more loyal to the Dragon King family than other families.
Although their combat effectiveness is a bit lower, the most important thing for the Gyeonggi army is their loyalty to the king.
Moreover, King's Landing is extremely short of food and cannot support more soldiers for the time being. A garrison of two to three thousand people is just right.
As for the royal standing army, it will be formed by Dickon near Harrenhal after conquering the Western Territory. The sources of troops will be strong farmers from several Dragon Party families such as Maiden Spring, Darry City, Harrenhal, and Willow City.
These are still later plans. The most urgent thing at the moment is to select a group of servants loyal to Arthur and Sansa from Harrenhal and send them to the Red Keep.
Otherwise, Maegor's Tower would be full of Tyrells, and Arthur wouldn't even be able to sleep well.
After the king promulgated his orders one by one, the vassals went to implement them.
Of course, most of them don't have to follow the army. The king's second wedding is coming soon, and they have to go to King's Landing to attend the wedding banquet.
This time, there is much more time. In order to maintain dignity, some big nobles will definitely shed a lot of blood.
At night, the city lord's room.
After two fierce fights, Sansa told her husband about his wedding to Margaery.
"You betrayed our love."
After her body was satisfied, Miss Stark began to feel aggrieved.
"There is nothing we can do about it. If I don't marry that Miss Tyrell, the kingdom will continue to fall apart. Your Winterfell and the North will not be able to be recovered. How can you avenge your brother Robb? Mother...by the way, I haven't let you meet Mrs. Stark yet!"
The king, who was wearing a linen robe, patted Sansa's wife gently on the back and prepared to let his wife meet his "mother-in-law".
"My mother?" Sansa tied up her clothes with a very surprised look on her face, "Didn't Brienne say..."
Arthur, who had put on his shoes, motioned to his wife to stay in the city lord's room, "But she came back to life again, and she is a little strange now. I will bring her here, and you can meet quietly before making plans."
He was not sure what Mrs. Shi Xin's attitude was towards his daughter, and this matter was considered confidential and could not be made public.
Sansa was looking forward to it but nervous, wondering how her mother, whom she hadn't seen for almost a year, was doing.
Arthur went out and saw Sandor Clegane guarding the door.
"What? Are you sure you want to be my wife's guard?"
He and Sandor had only fought once during the Prime Minister's tourney, so they were not very familiar with each other. But Sansa and the Hound are old acquaintances.
Sandor nodded and said calmly: "I have pledged my allegiance to her."
There was a sense of simplicity in his eyes, and it seemed that he had almost let go of his hatred for his brother.
This is good, Sansa's natal family is too weak, and she will be much safer with Brienne of Tarth and Sandor Clegane by her side.
Arthur strode away to find Mrs. Stoneheart.
…
Stormlands, Storm's End.
In the castle hall, Stannis's wife Selyse Florent sat on the main seat, holding her daughter Shireen Baratheon in her arms, and Robert's only recognized bastard son, Edric Storm, stood Behind them.
Onion Knight Davos turned around uneasily, and Scarlet Witch Melisandre stared at the flames in the fireplace, hoping to get guidance from the Lord of Light.
Not long after, an officer with the Florentine coat of arms came in and reported dejectedly:
"Your Majesty has been burned. After hearing the news, the earls are mobilizing overnight and preparing to go north. They are probably going to be loyal to the Dragon Holders."
Celis closed her eyes and groaned in pain: "Lord of Light~"
Shireen Baratheon learned that her father was dead and began to cry on the spot.
Melisandre waved her hands irritably, but she couldn't drive away the cries and wailings of the two women.
After learning of Stannis's death, the Red Witch's only thought was that she could no longer stay at Storm's End.
She took advantage of the fact that Celis in charge was not paying attention and slowly walked towards the door of the hall, but was stopped by two men.
Davos Seaworth and Andrew Ismon blocked her path.
"You killed our king." Sir Andrew gritted his teeth and spat out these words word by word.
This is a loyal minister of Stannis, and like Davos, he believes in the Seven Gods.
From the look of him, he seemed ready to eat the red-robed witch alive.
The Onion Knight's attitude was calmer, "You'd better go to the dungeon and rest!"
Although he also wanted to kill the evil witch who whispered in the king's ear, he had to give the order from Queen Selyse.
Melisandre looked back at Selyse Florent, who was crying and unconscious, and followed her to the dungeon before the two knights' men came forward to kidnap her.
The Lord of Light has plans for her, and the red-robed witch is confident that she will not die here.