Reachers with noble titles, including captives, were brought to see the much larger Alduin.
Compared with half a year ago, the thorns on its back are sharper. Looking from a distance, it seems to be covered with a layer of dark iron armor.
Arthur's own perception is that Alduin's size has changed from a goose at birth to an adult alligator.
Although he is still in his infancy, this growth rate is already terrifying. In the next few decades, Alduin will still go through adolescence and adolescence, and his growth in size during these two periods is still astonishing.
Even if the dragon reaches adulthood, it will grow slowly until it dies.
Alduin's juvenile size, coupled with its tail that was half longer than its body length, and its wings that had spread out to five meters, already exerted considerable pressure when hovering above the crowd.
Among the crowd of onlookers, there were cowards who were frightened from time to time.
"Seven Gods, is this really a dragon that lasts for several months?"
"Its dragging tail looks more like a steel whip. I really want to know what it would be like to insert it into the butthole."
"If you want to give it a try, I guess the Dragon Holder would be happy to exchange it for the loyalty of a viscount family."
"Look at what you said, not even a giant can withstand such a behemoth."
Everyone was talking a lot.
When they heard that the Dragon Holder had a young dragon, most of the river bend nobles did not take it seriously, thinking that a crossbow arrow could kill the dragon.
But when Alduin really flew in front of them, these well-informed house governors had to admit that they were ignorant.
The performance of the Duke of Metz was worse than that of his vassals. At Arthur's signal, Alduin once flew half a meter above the head of the Lord of the River Bend.
This frightened the inflatable fish to such an extent that he bent his legs and shrank his neck, and hid behind him. Fortunately, the people from the river took care of his face and allowed him to squeeze in behind the crowd.
"My lords, what do you think?" Arthur waved and let Alduin's claws fall on his shoulders. This was done to enhance the visual impact.
Fortunately, he is quite strong and can withstand a dragon standing on him.
If another year or two passes, the positions of both parties will have to change.
Everyone knew that this was a question to the Lord of the River Bend, so they all stopped talking and let the Duke of Metz out who was hiding behind the crowd.
The belated Mr. Inflatable Fish was stunned for a long time before he replied:
"If I had seen this dragon two and a half months ago, I would have led the entire Reach to support you, but I have already betrothed my daughter to His Majesty Tommen, and my son Loras will also marry King Cersei
The Queen Mother is your wife. You also know that the faith of the Seven Gods does not allow regrets on marriage, even if the marriage contract has not been sworn, it cannot be violated, so..."
His title for the King of Hejian has changed, and he has become more respectful in his words.
To regret a marriage is to break an oath. Knight culture is based on the belief in the Seven Gods, so the people of the River Bend take this very seriously.
"What do I mean by this?" Arthur smiled softly, and first lifted Alduin up to let Alduin fly away, and then walked to the Duke of Metz.
"I have conclusive evidence that Tommen is dead, so Margaery does not have to abide by this engagement. And it is said that Cersei persuaded Loras to become the Kingsguard. I don't need to explain what this means, right? What do you think is the best?
The two oaths you care about cannot be fulfilled because of the interference of the Lannisters. The responsibility lies with them, not on your side."
While marching north, Arthur was also paying close attention to the situation in King's Landing, so he learned about Cersei's appointment of the Knights of Flowers as the Kingsguard.
Cersei, who thought she was as smart as her father Tywin, thought this would allow her to escape her engagement to Loras, but this just freed the Tyrell family from the psychological burden of breaking their oath.
Although the intelligence said that the people from the River Bend were given three seats on the Royal Council.
But Arthur can afford it.
There was not even a single person in the royal council of the King of Hejian.
The Duke of Mace looked at Arthur's handsome face, "To be honest, you do have the temperament and appearance of a Targaryen, and you also have the right to inherit the Iron Throne, but the whereabouts of the entire Reach is not something I can decide. I have to listen to everything.
Only after the opinions of the lords, house governors and landed knights are satisfied, and the majority of them are satisfied, can a decision be made on behalf of the people of the Riverbend."
What he said was useless nonsense.
The head of the Rose House is Olenna Tyrell, the Queen of Thorns, also known as Olenna Redwyne. Mace's wife is from the Hightower family. Paxter, the governor of the Redwyne family, is Mace's cousin.
, who is also a brother-in-law.
With this level of kinship, the three first-line families in the Reach formed a team and had an overwhelming advantage over the second- and third-line families who were fighting alone.
So all the Rose Family needs to do is make the decision and the other Riverbend families obey.
Arthur knew that the price he offered was too low, so he waved everyone away.
"The people from Hejian took the guests away, and I will have a few words with the guardian of the South alone."
After everyone else left, he took the Duke of Metz to the bear pit in the center of the castle, and then started talking.
"In the final analysis, what you want is the position of queen and as many seats on the royal council as possible. What I can give is no less than Cersei and Tywin."
Looking at the entire history of war in Westeros, the only example of defeating more with less was during the period of Aegon's Conquest. The rest were all about building relationships with the major nobles, and then allowing the number of families and troops in one's own camp to far exceed that of the enemy.
Therefore, if he can win over the powerful Reach, Arthur's strength will be greatly enhanced, and he will not be far from the Iron Throne.
Duke Mace frowned, "I heard that you are planning to marry Miss Sansa Stark. Then the position of the queen..."
This Arthur has already thought of an excuse.
"I believe in the Valyrian god, and having more wives is not considered blasphemy."
The inflatable fish stared straight at Arthur, who was a head taller than him, and after a long while he said: "But my daughter is a devout believer of the Seven Gods, and she can only marry one husband."
"No problem!" Arthur spread his hands, "After Margaery marries me, I will only have her husband. It will not violate her beliefs. For the sake of the peace of the kingdom, I will marry more wives and it will not violate my beliefs.
Think carefully about whether this is true."
The Duke of Metz looked confused and blinked for a long time.
"I have to discuss it with my mother before I can decide. Before that, I don't think the people in the River Bend will be your enemies."
Arthur helplessly held his forehead, "You are in your forties or fifties, can't you even make the decision on this little thing?"
He is completely convinced by Mace, the mama's boy.
The two discussed for a long time and finally came to a specific agreement.
After the Queen of Thorns agrees to surrender to Arthur, the River King must immediately declare his claim to the Iron Throne, change his title to King of the Andals, the First Men and the Rhoynar, and marry Margaery as his queen.
Before that, Arthur had to ensure Mace's life safety and decent life.
It was not possible to win over all the people from the River in a short period of time, so Arthur ordered people to find a room for the Duke of Metz that fit his status. After imprisoning him, he began to deal with some trivial matters of farmers outside the city in Hundred Furnaces Hall.
The petitions of the subjects can easily trigger the system's tasks, so the blue light curtain lit up three times in a short period of time.
[Let every farmer in Heron Town have a cotton robe for the winter]
【Build a Seven Sacred Temple】
[Expel the ghosts wandering outside the city]
The first two tasks are easy to do. King Hejian can complete them by giving orders to his subordinates.
The third task is interesting.
Arthur recruited Haley, who was responsible for ordering the refugees, and the mercenary Bill and others. After learning more about it, he found out what was going on.
After he ordered the oversized weirwood in Harrenhal to be transplanted, a forest witch appeared outside the city.
Because the tree was too big, existing ships could not transport it to Thousand Faces Island, so the tree was placed somewhere outside the city, with the forest witches surrounding it.
She had been wandering near a high mountain in the Riverlands, a place called the Noble Heart, and she was also called the ghost of the Noble Heart.
The peasants were ignorant and thought that this strange-looking old witch was a bad omen, so they asked the nobles to expel her.
Arthur happily accepted the petition, then led a group of soldiers out of the city and directly approached the forest witch.
…
King's Landing, Red Keep Chancellor's Tower, Small Conference Room.
Cersei was alone looking out the window at the sea view. At her feet, the fake Tommen was sitting on the ground, holding a piece of candy and licking it wildly.
The gray-haired Kevan walked in quickly, and the little devil behind him had to jog to keep up with his uncle.
After the two Lannisters entered, the guarding Kingsguards Meryn Tran and Balon Swann walked out and closed the heavy door.
"What big thing happened when you called us here in such a hurry?"
Tyrion was sweating profusely from trotting all the way, and he gasped and asked his sister.
Cersei turned her head and handed the note in her hand to her uncle Kevan with a cold face.
As for the little devil, he walked to the closet by the wall and stood on tiptoes to get a cup.
Kevan's expression immediately changed after reading it. He was about to tell his nephew, but saw Tyrion struggling, so he walked to his nephew and took the wine glass that was out of Tyrion's reach.
"Your father, my brother, Lord Tywin, has passed away."
The little devil who took the wine bottle from the table was stunned for a moment, and then continued to pour the wine himself.
"I'm a little sad. Please allow me to use wine to cover up my unspeakable feelings."
As he spoke, he raised his glass and drank it down.
Tyrion's mood is indeed difficult to describe, but it is probably not sad.
Cersei looked at her brother with disgust. If her uncle hadn't been there, she would have ridiculed him severely.
Kevan did not care about his nephew's behavior. After thinking for a moment, he said: "The letter said that my brother left Casterly Rock and the West to Jaime, but the people from the river captured him, and there was no one in charge of Casterly Rock."
People, so I have to go back immediately, on the one hand to prepare for my brother’s funeral, and on the other hand to temporarily establish order in the Western Territory.”
Tyrion was shocked after hearing this. He walked to his uncle, jumped up, took the note, and read it carefully.
"Impossible, this is impossible. Jaime is a member of the Kingsguard and cannot inherit private property. I am the legitimate heir to the West and Casterly Rock."
Tyrion has been the sole heir of Casterly Rock since his brother was taken into white robes by Mad King Aerys II, and he has always regarded Casterly Rock and the Westerlands as his own.
When Tywin asked Tommen to order Jaime to be removed from the Kingsguard status, the little devil felt bad, but since there was no precedent before, he didn't take it to heart.
"Since the establishment of the Kingsguard, there has been no precedent for withdrawing, so Jaime still cannot inherit the West and Casterly Rock. They are mine, mine!"
The little devil held the wine glass and waved his little hands to express his anger.
"Who says there is no precedent?" Cersei's voice also became angry. "My son, Joe, fired the old and frail Barristan. The wise and brave Joe reformed the corrupt system, so Sir Jaime's inheritance rights
No problem."
This is a confusing account.
It stands to reason that the oaths of the Kingsguard and the Night's Watch are the most sacred oaths, and once taken they cannot be repented of.
But since Emperor Joffrey drove away Ser Barristan, there have been two or three incidents where the king ordered the oath to be changed.
In the general concept, the king is one level lower than the gods, but because the king is the person with the greatest temporal power, changing the oath of the king's order can be regarded as one thing, which creates a conflict.
Generally speaking, this matter can only be determined after discussion between the nobles and the bishops.
But now that the seven countries are in turmoil, there is no condition to hold such a meeting, so the parties concerned have to make their own decisions.
Tyrion took a deep breath and said, "You know best how much Jaime longs to be a knight. Wearing a white robe is his lifelong dream, so I think we have to let him choose to be a member of the Kingsguard or inherit Casterly Rock."
He and his brother have a pretty good relationship, so they have revealed their feelings to each other.
The little devil knew that Jaime would never want the Stone City, and he had previously been established as the heir to Casterly Rock and the West, so Jaime would not compete with him.
If Jaime had to choose, Casterly Rock would probably still belong to Tyrion.
"This matter must be carried out according to the law of inheritance, and you are not allowed to mess around." Since it was the ancestral system reformed by her son Joffrey, Cersei tried her best to protect this.
She turned to her uncle Kevan again and said, "I would like you to make a trip to the West. Although the alliance between the Riverbend people and us has been temporarily saved, the situation is still very dangerous, so I won't go."
Kevan was used to obeying the orders of his brother Tywin, and now he was used to listening to his niece.
He nodded and said: "It is already the afternoon. Between tonight and tomorrow morning, I will handle all the military affairs and major events in King's Landing. I will set off for the Western Territory around tomorrow afternoon, so I won't waste any time."
Although Stannis escaped from the capital in embarrassment, with the support of the Stormland nobles, he quickly established a foothold on the south bank of the Blackwater River.
He even sent a group of cavalry to attack the Riverbend food convoy in the Kingswood, which made King's Landing's food supply unstable again.
Kevan was about to walk out of the small conference room, but suddenly stopped and asked Cersei:
"The Tully family's territory is famous for its richness, but it is extremely small, so Randyll is a little jealous of the land. This time Garland got Brightwater City, which made him very unhappy. I think he can lead the troops to regain Duskendale City. Rosby
City, Crow Roost Castle and other northern areas, and then grant him a piece of land in the name of military merit, what do you think?"
"It's up to you to handle these matters. I believe in my uncle's ability." Cersei had no objection to his proposal.
After Kevan left, the siblings began to glare at each other until Tyrion couldn't help but roared in a low voice:
"I saved this kingdom for you. Without me, our alliance with the Riverbend people broke up half a month ago."
The fake Tommen was done by Tyrion, so he thought he had saved his sister Cersei and stabilized the Lion-Flower Alliance.
"But not many people know about this." Cersei looked at her brother with an increasingly cold look.
Tyrion warned: "There are still a few people, Ser Fran and the guards of Lannisport..."
"Do you think I would be that stupid? They have sunk into Blackwater Bay, and now you and I are the only ones who know the secret."
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