Hundreds of elite cavalry wearing plate armor and plate and chain mail were scattered around this huge ruins.
From the golden tree flag on a white background, the walking hunter flag, the golden and green standing lion flag, the bull skull flag on a red background, and the golden crane flag on a blue background, we can guess the families to which these cavalrymen belong:
House Rowan of Golden Tree City, House Tully of Hornhill, House Osgrey of Stronghold, House Bulwer of Blackcrown City, House Crane of Red Lake City.
If you are a little familiar with the Reach, you will know that these are the real second-tier families and below in the Reach.
Except for Rowan and Tully, the remaining families may just make up the numbers.
Seven or eight nobles wearing beautiful plate armor and cloaks made of expensive fabrics stood silently in front of a large fire.
The appearance of dragons in Harrenhal worried the Duke of Mace, and rumors spread wildly in the towns and villages of the Riverlands that Arthur, the "Dragon Holder", was Rhaegar's illegitimate son. Before he completely merged with the Lion family,
He wanted to find out if it was true that Targaryen had returned with the dragon.
So Randyll Tarly, who challenged Lord Inflatable Fish's military power, was sent out to investigate the dragon matter, and Count Matus Rowan, who was related to the three Tyrell alliances, was given the task of supervising Count Tarly.
Several other minor nobles and the two earls went together to make the investigation more formal.
According to rumors, dragons first appeared in the vast forest of the Royal Forest.
So Earl Tully began to investigate Arthur Bracken's whereabouts from there, and then tracked him to the ruins of Summer Hall.
Here, they discovered this huge fire that looked unusual at first sight.
The two earls have always thought that there might be a mystery here. After all, there was a fire here forty years ago, and a king was also burned to death.
So some cavalry were sent out to look for possible witnesses.
Not long after, several cavalrymen arrived driving a dozen farmers.
"Sir, according to what they said, he was hired to search for something here." The leading rider informed the nobles.
Count Matus Rowan turned around, without even looking at his cavalry, and waved them away.
His eyes were always focused on the farmers who were brought here.
"Say something useful and I will reward you heavily."
The farmers were very moved by the master's words, and one of them boldly told the story about how he had been hired to find stones.
"The two of them were looking for a rounder stone. They had been looking for it for two or three months."
The bald Randyll Tully asked carefully: "What are the characteristics of these two people?"
The farmer scratched his head, "One is a very ordinary soldier, and the other, how should I say, is wearing a gentleman's armor, but has the face of a wandering mercenary."
Matus Rowan asked several more questions, trying to find more details.
Several farmers brought a large group of cavalry from the west and sent them away, completing the story of a raging fire here that night.
"By the way, the group of people coming from behind are dressed very strangely. They don't look like our people. The leader's giant horse and golden vest are also very impressive." A farmer finally remembered this.
Count Tully's hawk-like sharp eyes immediately focused on this person, "Are they wearing strange black armor, and many of them also wear braids?"
The farmer nodded, "Yes, yes, I just said that I felt something was wrong with them, but I couldn't tell what was good about them. It was because their braids were different from ours."
The hairstyles of the nobles of Westeros are very distinctive. The noble ladies in the south often wear their hair in a bun, while the gentlemen wear it loosely or go bald.
In order to make it easier for soldiers to wear helmets and fight, they would not grow their hair long, let alone braid it.
Apart from the mercenaries from the Essos continent in the east, who else can have such a hairstyle?
Randyll Tarly already had the answer in his mind and asked no more questions.
Matus Rowan asked over and over again, and after confirming that nothing was missing, he sent the cavalry to take the peasants away from here.
Of course, the farmers each received a silver deer before they left.
The two great nobles called over the lesser nobles who were traveling with them, and then began to communicate.
"I should know that man with the mercenary face." A young knight from the Bulwe family said to everyone.
Earl Rowan waved his hand for the young man to continue.
"Between that tournament, Ser Loras once invited Bracken to have lunch with him. At that time, Ser Loras was in a bad mood because of the Magic Mountain, so the others ate in silence. I was surprised at the sudden intrusion into us.
Bracken in the circle was very curious, so he specially observed their uncle and nephew. If there are no surprises, the guy with a mercenary face but wearing plate armor is the uncle of the Dragon Holder, Jules Bracken."
The young knight put the matter in a nice way. He would never admit that he kept staring at the uncle and nephew because he was jealous that the nobleman of the Riverlands could squeeze in beside the Knight of Flowers.
Randyll Tarly nodded, thinking that this should be no problem.
Although he was only supervising Randyll's work, Count Matus Rowan was very concerned about it. He concluded:
"After robbing Joffrey, this Arthur took the king all the way here, and his uncle had been searching for cobblestones here for two or three months before that, and then a fire started
, when Arthur returned north and passed through the royal forest, a black dragon appeared in front of the world."
"It should be like this. Although there are many doubts, it can be reported to the Duke. It is unlikely that the dragon bearer is Rhaegar's illegitimate son. He just got a dragon by chance." Randyll Tully said perfunctorily.
He doesn't care about the origin of the dragon. How to deal with the relationship with the dragon owner is the key.
But Matus was reluctant, "Hey, old man, don't think about your Brightwater City, and then use your brain to think about whether the Dragon Holder is Rhaegar's illegitimate son."
Florent of Brightwater City is one of the most powerful families among the second-tier nobles in the Reach. It is as powerful as the Rowan family. The entire family has about four to five thousand soldiers.
Outside Storm's End, all the forces of House Florent were thrown at Stannis, because Erlu's wife, Selyse Florent, was the niece of Lord Allister Florent.
Therefore, from King Tommen's perspective, the Florentine family became traitors.
The Reach is now supporting Tommen I.
Considering that Randyll Tarly's wife is Allister Florent's eldest daughter, the Tarly family has a claim to Brightwater City.
Therefore, Lord Matus Rowan believed that Randyll was thinking about how to obtain Brightwater City and did not seriously consider the fact that the Dragon Bearer was Rhaegar's illegitimate son.
Earl Tully glanced at Earl Rowan and waved the little nobles away.
The knowledgeable lower-level lords walked away.
The two earls then began to discuss business.
"According to that fabricated rumor, the dragon bearer is most likely Rhaegar's illegitimate son." Randyll Tarly motioned to Lord Rowan to come closer, "But you and I both know that dragons have been around for some time.
, but the rumor of the dragon owner and the illegitimate child only circulated for less than a month, and it quickly became popular throughout the Hejian. This must be someone building momentum."
In the past half month, rumors about Arthur the Dragon Holder and his dragons have spread throughout the Riverlands, which has also attracted the attention of some top nobles.
Matus lowered his voice, "Of course I know, but even to build momentum, there must be momentum. There has been no dragon in the world for more than a hundred years, from Aegon III, to Baelor I, and then to Aegon V.
In this world, several kings tried to hatch dragons, but they all failed. Now that the dragon has returned to the world, even if he is just an illegitimate son of the dragon family, the dragon owner's inheritance rights to the Iron Throne are ahead of Robert's line."
Even though there was no dragon, the usurper still elected Robert, whose grandmother was a dragon family, as the leader, which shows that the nobles recognized the dragon's blood.
The Dragon family with dragons is another concept.
Earl Tully habitually held the Valyrian steel sword "Heartbreak" on his waist, but suddenly remembered that Heartbreak was taken away by his son, so he touched the replacement and took his hand back.
He held his chin and began to think.
After a while, he said to Earl Rowan: "The Targaryens have tried hatching dragons several times, and maybe they have really figured out the trick. Prince Rhaegar must also know a lot of the private affairs of his family, so he asked one of his
It is not impossible for an illegitimate child to know where the dragon eggs are hidden and teach him how to hatch them."
"That's right." Matus Rowan struck with both palms, "This is what I want to express. The dragon owner learned about the dragon egg hidden in the Summer Hall through his real father, and used a king to hatch a dragon. In addition,
That Rhaegar passed through the Riverlands and left behind rumors of an illegitimate child. I think the credibility of the Dragon Bearer being a dragon family is very high, but the hair color and eye color don't match."
Valyrian people have very fixed eye colors and hair colors.
Earl Tully said: "Hair color and eye color are trivial matters. Aegor Rivers, the daughter of Miss Bracken and Aegon IV, has black hair and black eyes. This Dragon Holder has black eyes, dark
Blonde hair color, this kind of hair color and eye color change is not impossible."
The two came to a consensus that the Dragon Bearer was most likely Rhaegar's illegitimate son.
Then, the two earls began to discuss how to deal with the relationship with the Dragon Holder.
"We supported the Dragon family fifteen years ago, when the Targaryens didn't even have a dragon. Now that dragons have appeared, there is no reason for us to still support the Lu family." Earl Rowan said.
Randyll Tarly looked serious, "But now the Duke of Mace has concluded an alliance with the Lannisters. Miss Margaery and Knight Loras will marry King Tommen and Queen Cersei respectively. It is agreed before
, how can you change your face?"
Although the Rose Family did not clearly state the price of the alliance between the Lion Family and the Rose Family, some nobles with higher status still heard the news.
Cersei will marry Loras, and her son will marry Loras' sister as queen.
In other words, the relationship between Knight of Flowers and Margaery will be upgraded from brother and sister to father-in-law and mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.
Luo Wan waved his hands and expressed disdain: "What kind of agreement is this? Marriage does not completely tie us to the lion family's chariot. What's more, neither couple has vowed to get married. As far as I know, the dragon owner is also single.
, and he is tall, handsome and brave, and is more worthy of Miss Margaery than the little Tommen."
Earl Tully shook his head and said: "I still think it is better to maintain an alliance with the Lion family first. After all, the river land is too untouched, and the dragon has only reached its infancy. Of course, you and I are just giving it to the Duke of Metz.
Investigating the dragon matter cannot determine the trend of the entire Reach. Let’s go back to Storm’s End for diplomatic missions!”
Lord Tully waved to his attendant and asked him to bring his mount over.
Matus Rowan thought of another thing, "Hey, hey, you pressured your son to side with the Dragon Supporters, but persuaded us to follow the Lion Family."
It is no secret that Dickon Tarly, Lord Tarly's heir, has appeared at Harrenhal.
When Count Rowan heard this rumor a few months ago, he found it very unbelievable.
After all, Randyll Tully put a lot of effort into making his sons qualified military nobles. In order to make his cowardly eldest son braver, Earl Tully invited two wizards from the continent of Essos to smear their bodies with blood.
A witchcraft was performed with blood magic.
After this failed, Earl Tully expelled the wizard and officially decided to raise his second son Dickon to be his heir. In order to ensure that Dickon's inheritance rights were unquestioned, Randyll also sent his eldest son Samwell to the Great Wall.
Night watchman.
The entire Reach nobles knew how concerned Earl Tully was about the heir he had carefully cultivated. According to rumors, Dickon had to get his father's permission even to leave the castle, and he could only go out after Randyll confirmed that the destination was safe.
Under such circumstances, Dickon could still appear at Harrenhal, which must have been his father Randyll's consent.
It is even possible that Earl Tully himself arranged for his son to go.
When he first heard this rumor, Matus felt something was wrong, but now that he thought about it, it was completely normal.
Everything that happens must have its reason.
If Dickon is following a small noble from the Riverlands, it would be unreasonable. But if this young noble is actually a descendant of the royal family and is very likely to regain the throne, then Dickon's following will change the fate of the family.
of great significance.
Earl Rowan knew that the nobles other than Randyll must not have grasped some information, which was why they did not understand Earl Tully's move of sending his son to follow the Bracken.
Randyll Tully climbed on his mount and replied: "This is just your imagination. Dickon ran away to become a monk. I have always been a loyal minister of Highgarden."
After saying that, regardless of Count Rowan's face, he led his people and left first.
Matus, who had a clean face and no beard, also got on the horse. He looked at Count Tully's back and curled his lips in disdain.
You bet on both sides and still want us to go the same way to the end.
Lord Rowan decided to pay attention. After returning, he sent someone to say hello to the dragon supporters. When the time was right, he would raise an army to support Targaryen and the dragon.
Matus has already thought about this timing.
That black dragon grew to one-tenth the size of Balerion, the Black Death.
The Black Death is one of the largest dragons that has ever appeared in Westeros. Its mouth can swallow an entire mammoth, and its skull is larger than a luxury carriage.
According to rumors, Balerion's head was at least ten meters long. When Aegon I was still alive, the Black Death had already grown to an exaggerated figure of more than seventy meters in length and a wingspan of nearly two hundred meters.
More than sixty years after the death of Aegon I, the Black Death continued to grow until it died of old age in the ninety-sixth year of the Conquest calendar.
It is said that Balerion's wingspan at that time reached more than 300 meters, and his length was nearly 100 meters.
In the era when the three peerless dragons Balerion, Vhagar, and Meraxes were alive, the royal family's biggest expense was the dragons' food.
Rumor has it that each dragon eats nearly 10,000 sheep every year.
Cows and horses are the labor force used to cultivate the land and are generally not used to feed dragons.
Later, the royal family was overwhelmed and began to raise giant dragons in captivity to reduce the size of the newborn dragons.
This method does work, but the effect is too good.
The skull of the last generation of dragons was no bigger than a goat.
If it were one-tenth the size of the Black Death, it would be a behemoth seven to eight meters long with a wingspan of twenty to thirty meters.
Based on the fact that Balerion only lived for two hundred years on Dragonstone and Westeros, the lifespan of dragons should be several hundred years.
With such a long-lived and deadly weapon in hand, it will not be difficult for the "Dragon Supporter" to reestablish the rule of the Long family.
It is even possible that the second re-established Targaryen dynasty will live longer than the previous generation.
After Matus made up his mind, he rushed to Count Tully and walked with him.
Their destination was the Reach Barracks outside Storm's End Castle.
…
Harrenhal, Burning Tower, Hundred Furnace Hall.
Except for the two castles, basically all the lords and governors of the Riverlands are here: Lady Riverside, Lyman Darry, William Mouton, Karel Vance, Norbert Vance, Clay
Monte Piper, Aenys Frey, Tristan Legge, Jason Mallister, etc.
The names listed are earl-level or formerly earl-level families, and there are also a large number of families whose names are not listed, such as Hay, the vassal of the Frey family, Smallwood, the vassal of Vans in Travel's Rest, and Beauty Market.
The master Ward, the Earl of Harroway, the town lord Root and other dozens of small families.
These lower-level lords also responded to the call of several earls from Harrenhal to participate in the so-called founding ceremony of the Riverland Alliance.
It can be said that all the talented people have come together, and the young and old have gathered together.
These people had also heard about the black dragon in Harrenhal. Although Alduin was still in his infancy, he was indeed a fire-breathing dragon.
For humans, Alduin, with a wingspan of nearly two meters, is not small.
What's more, the juvenile dragon is in a period of rapid growth. In just one or two years, it can reach a terrifying size of several meters in length.
Before the "Dragon Holder" had time to speak, William Mouton, the lord of Maidenpool, began to express his views:
"A person who owns a dragon must be a Targaryen. Therefore, the dragon owner has the legal right to inherit the Iron Throne. I propose that the river princes collectively support a righteous and brave manager of Harrenhal.
The Dragonlord Arthur Targaryen became king and then regained the Iron Throne, bringing an end to the conflict in the Seven Kingdoms."
Arthur shouted that it was bad luck. He knew that William Mouton was a Dragon Party, but he did not expect that he would mention the "Dragon Family"'s claim to the Iron Throne as soon as he came up.
If he really calls himself a Targaryen, then the riverlands will definitely be attacked by Stannis and the Lion Alliance.
No other reason, just because the Lu family's inheritance rights to the Iron Throne were obtained after the Dragon family died.
Arthur did not dare to let Earl Mouton muddy the waters like this.
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