In addition to returning the Valyrian Steel Crown, Arthur also wanted to add two more terms.
"Even if Arianne marries me, she will still be the first heir of Dorne. After Prince Doran, she will be the female princess of Dorne."
Marriage is the best way to stabilize a relationship.
After being driven out of the Rhoyne realm, the surviving Rhoynar people once regarded the Dragon King of Valyria as their life and death enemy. It was this hostile spirit that allowed Dorne to resist the Targaryens and the Iron Throne for more than 150 years.
Years ago, but after the two parties entered into a marriage alliance during the reign of "Wise King" Daeron II, the relationship between Dorne and the Iron Throne took a direct turn of more than 180 years.
Throughout the Blackfyre Rebellion and the Usurper's War, Dorne has been the Iron Throne's most loyal ally.
Although this ally is a la carte.
Everyone in the Royal Council took their seats one after another. Prince Oberyn, who was wearing a plain yellow robe, thought for a moment and expressed his opinion:
"This is what it should be. We in Dorne will never deprive our daughter of her inheritance rights just because she gets married. I think my brother is also happy to support his eldest daughter in ruling Dorne."
The king was very satisfied with this, which meant that he would have solid support from Dorne for quite some time to come.
"Last point, after wiping out the Golden Company, you, Dorne, must be the first to respond to my Second Son Act. All the lords of Dorne must send their second sons and bastards of appropriate age to King's Landing to join the royal army."
Different from the customs of the six northern countries, Dorne is very tolerant in its treatment of illegitimate children. Except for inheritance rights, the treatment received by the Shades in all aspects is far superior to that of the Buddhas, Rivers, Storms, and Snows in the north.
Correspondingly, the lords and knights of Dorne are happy to admit their illegitimate children and raise them with all their heart.
This resulted in a large number of illegitimate children among the nobles of Dorne.
After reaching adulthood, this group of Shads went their own way to make a living. Quite a number of Dornish bastards went to the disputed lands in the east to work as mercenaries in Lys, Tyrosh, Myr and other places.
It was this group of people that Arthur was targeting.
"As you wish, Your Majesty." Oberyn nodded in agreement.
This is good news for both parties. The lords have reduced the pressure to support their heirs, and have given their second sons and illegitimate children more decent jobs, while the royal army has gained elite officers.
After the king finished discussing the matter, Count Tristan Legg announced another news.
"Your Majesty, after a month-long debate, the Cardinal of the Academy will appoint a new Grand Maester, Dr. Ryan. He has already set off from Old Town and is expected to arrive in King's Landing within two weeks."
Dr. Ryan?
Arthur was not impressed at all.
He looked at the six courtiers and asked, "Who can tell me what kind of person this Dr. Ryan is?"
People from the academy have to be guarded against, so it is necessary to know about them in advance.
The Red Viper, who spent some time in the Citadel, answered this question:
"As far as I know, this doctor is a very stern old bachelor. His doctor's mask and bachelor's necklace are both made of gold. His expertise should be in finance and accounting."
Arthur nodded, sounding quite normal. We will see how this person behaves later.
"What Qyburn is worried about is the vacancy of the Maester at Harrenhal. I am going to fight or patrol, and I need a personal maester."
He thought for a while and expressed his decision, "Go and send a letter to the academy and ask the scholar Adar who compiled "The World of Ice and Fire" if he is willing to serve the king."
This bachelor was a student of old Dr. Wargrave and was born in 272.
At twenty-seven years old, he is young enough to withstand the tossing back and forth between places.
Tristan nodded, indicating that he had taken note of this matter.
In the following time, the Imperial Council discussed the war in the south. Although the forces provided by all parties supporting Arthur were already overwhelming, one could never be too careful.
There is no shortage of miracles in this world. In the first battle of Tengshi Town 170 years ago, the Winter Wolf Army with less than 2,000 people defeated the Hebang Army with 20,000 people.
The commander of the Winter Wolves Army, a seventy-year-old man, killed Brandon Hightower and Lord Mond Hightower in a battle of ten thousand people with one arm.
It was also during this battle that the Hightower family lost their heirloom tile steel sword "Vigilance".
It is unclear whether "Vigilance" is lost. If not, the sword should be kept by the Winter Wolves and their descendants who remain in the Blackwood territory.
Although the Golden Company is small in number, they have been fighting in disputed areas all year round. The soldiers have much more combat experience than the levies in Westeros. Together with the unique elephant soldiers in southwestern Essos, these mercenaries can all be eliminated.
The Corps is still a bit difficult.
…
At the same time, there is the Sunset Sea in the west of Westeros and the waters of Oakshield Island in the Shield Islands.
The long and narrow red single-masted warship "Serenity" was floating on the unusually calm sea, and the black-and-gold sea monster sail was slowly lowered by the mute crew.
There is a black iron statue of the Virgin standing on the bow of the ship, and Faria Flowers is being tied in front of the iron statue.
She is the illegitimate daughter of Lord Humphrey Hewett, the former lord of Oakshield Island. She was dissatisfied with the oppression of the lord's wife and her half-sisters, so she took refuge with Euron Greyjoy and became the Ironborn King.
woman.
But King Euron didn't let her enjoy much happiness. Every time she went to sea, the pregnant Faria was always tied to the bow of the ship, which seemed to make King Euron feel more at ease.
"Strange, why did you miscarry?" After instructing the mute crew to put down the sails, King Euron walked to the iron statue, looked at the blood on the deck and expressed his doubts.
Faria, who had a miscarriage, could not answer this question because her tongue was also cut.
King Euron would never allow anyone on his ship to have an open tongue, except for himself and his brother Aeron Greyjoy.
He slowly approached Faria, and under the frightened eyes of the illegitimate daughter of the Reach, he took off the black blindfold on his left eye, revealing the black eye that "gleamed with malice."
King Euron used this eye to observe carefully for a while, then fumbled for a well-preserved small bottle from his waist, pulled out the stopper, and dripped the shadow water inside into his mouth.
The Water of Night Shadow is a thick blue drink that the wizards of Qarth drink all year round. There is a black-barked tree around the Temple of the Immortal, and the Water of Night Shadow is made from its dark blue leaves.
of.
It is said that this special product can enhance the ability of magicians' eyes, allowing them to see traces of magic that ordinary people cannot see.
Euron, whose lips were dyed blue, searched for details about Faria again, and then murmured to himself: "King's blood...curse...Shadowbinder's method."
No wonder he looked like he was facing a powerful enemy. The pregnant Faria was no ordinary sacrifice. The child in her belly was worth Euron's own life.
A blood wizard from Asshai once taught Euron a set of "blood connection" spells, and King Euron successfully used this set of evil spells on his own blood relatives.
Therefore, all of Euron's children can die for him once.
"No matter, at this most critical moment, the Shadowbinder's curse is no longer important."
Euron made up his mind, put the black blindfold on his left eye back on, got up and left, and began to prepare for tonight's blood sacrifice ceremony.
Thirty or forty mute sailors followed the captain's instructions and moved all the debris between the iron statue and the mast to make the deck empty, and then returned to their rooms.
This group of poor domesticated people are firmly convinced that no matter what howls and groans come from the deck tonight, they will never come out to take a look.
Euron needs to arrange items involving magic himself.
Fortunately, the only true God in this world does not care whether the believers' rituals are accurate to every detail. He only cares about the value of the sacrifices.
A tortured Qarthen wizard was brought out of an iron cage in a ship by King Euron.
To summon the Drowned God's attendants, a wizard is enough.
After the Ironborn King threw the wizard on the deck, he found a bone-chopping knife from nearby and chopped the wizard into fist-sized pieces of meat one by one.
Euron first chopped off the limbs, then the soft flesh of the abdomen, then the chest and ribs, and finally left a relatively complete skull.
During this process, the wizard who also had his tongue cut out groaned hoarsely in pain until he fainted from the pain, but he was soon awakened by the pain.
This cycle continues until the wizard loses consciousness.
After King Euron finished working on his work, he unbuttoned his trousers engraved with sea monster patterns and peed on the soft and rotting remains.
The disgusting yellow and darker blood mixed on this deck, part of it seeping into the wooden boards, part of it flowing out of the hull, and slowly dripping into the sunset sea.
Then, the Ironborn King found two hapless mute sailors and ordered them to throw the meat into the sea.
When the sun disappeared over the western sea level, the sacrifices had just been delivered to the territory of the Drowned God.
Everything was just right, Euron thought this might be the most perfect sacrifice ceremony.
After letting the two crew members retreat, the king leaned against the side of the ship and looked at the continent of Westeros in the southeast with his smiling right eye.
Although Horace of the Redwyne family returned to the Arbor Island with more than seventy large warships and repelled a small number of Ironborn who entered the Arbor Island, Sir Horace obviously did not regain the Shield Islands for other families.
determination, and the Hightower family in Oldtown does not have a fleet under its name, the Ironborn do not have to worry about counterattacks from the Reachers at sea for the time being.
Even King Euron felt that he should send people to cause some destruction on the vast coastline of the Reach, so that the Knights of the Reach could run back and forth to paralyze their determination to resist the Ironborn.
Night gradually took over the starry sky, and the usually peaceful sea surface of the Sunset Sea began to become restless, as if something was about to emerge from the deep sea.
Indeed, under the not-so-bright moonlight, a huge creature jumped out of the sea.
Its body should be a dark green color, although its scalp is white. Most of its body is shiny and slippery, but the lower part has eight large tentacles like an octopus.
The head is different from that of an octopus, and the vague features of a human head appear in the moonlight.
A mouth full of fishy stench opened from the head, and a hoarse, sharp throat sound came from it. All the dark emotions that could not be expressed on the face seemed to be contained in the voice.
Apart from the humanoid features on the head of this giant creature, any knowledgeable Westeros noble can recognize that this is the coat of arms of House Greyjoy, the leader of the Iron Islands:
Sea monster.
"What do you want from me?"
What's surprising is that this sea monster actually made a sound similar to the common language of Westeros, but compared with human voices, the sea monster's voice is much richer.
King Euron was accustomed to this phenomenon that would make all the lords and bachelors of the Western Continent stunned. He said firmly:
"I need to control a dragon! And I can't do it without your help, Dagon Greyjoy."
If Euron is right, this sea monster is his ancestor a hundred years ago, the King of the Iron Islands during the time of Aerys I.
This was the last Ironborn king before Euron to plunder the Reach. During his reign, the Ironborn plundered everything from the North to the West and then to the Reach.
A Greyjoy member once commented on this ferocious king: Dagon could "catch a lion's beard" in a lion's den and "knot the tail of a direwolf", but even so, Dagon could not deal with the real beast.
dragon.
"What will you do after you control the dragon?"
Perhaps due to a slow response, the sea monster took a while before continuing to ask questions.
"Robbing Oldtown and Highgarden, and then all the castles in the Reach, to complete what you regretted a hundred years ago." Euron stepped on the edge of the boat and answered in a rough manner.
When Dagon was still a human, his last Ironborn act was to rob Little Doc of the Reach.
It was a small village located near Stronghold, loyal to Osgrey, and Osgrey, the lord of Stronghold, was only a vassal of the Rowan family, the largest lord in the northern part of the Reach.
As for Rowan, he is considered to be one of the first-tier nobles in the Reach. He is not as good as the three families of Tyrell, Redwyne, and Hightower, but is often compared with the Florens and other families in Brightwater.
This is a big shame for the Ironborn. After all, it took all the Ironborn bosses to work hard and only managed to grab the territory of a vassal of a feudal family.
"Oldtown...the Reach...tell me, what do you want me to do?"
The proposal of the younger generation obviously greatly touched the softness deep in the heart of this sea monster, and it decided to do something.
Euron obviously had a complete plan, and he slowly told his plan, "You have to gather all the sea monsters in the past few months, and then lurk in the sea near the mouth of the Mead River, and wait until you get the dragon-controller."
When the time comes, I will tell you what to do."
The sea monster raised one of its big black tentacles, waved it up and down a few times, as if to express that it would definitely do it, and then slowly sank to the bottom of the sea.
Euron watched Dagon leave, a mocking smile slowly appeared on his handsome face.
If he didn't want to use the sea monster, he wouldn't be so polite.
The night was still long, so Euron walked to the iron statue, untied Faria's rope, and took her to the cabin.
For every additional child, he has one more life.
…
King's Landing is also shrouded in night.
Marquis Innis, wearing a black brocade robe trimmed with gold, walked into the king's bedroom. In front of him was the captain of the royal guard, Angey Bracken, who led the way.
After entering the Royal Council, the lord of Twins City began to care about his clothes. In order to make himself look rich and wealthy at the same time, Marquis Frey put a lot of thought into his clothes.
"Your Majesty, your Minister of War has arrived."
Aenys saluted the king who had his back turned to him, although he did not understand why the king summoned him at this time.
Arthur turned around, "Do you remember I said you could get a pair of dragonhide gloves if you did a favor?"
Aenys had asked for dragonhide gloves before, and Arthur promised to give him a pair if he performed a moderate feat.
Similar to how a lizard sheds its skin, a dragon's skin will only shed a few times during the dragon's period of rapid growth, which ends before the dragon's youth.
The expression of the bald Minister of War immediately changed, "Your Majesty, please tell me that I, the Frey family, will do my best to share your worries."
Arthur touched his chin and said slowly: "Find your eldest son, Aegon the Blood, and ask him to go to the valley. I will tell him what he will do specifically."
According to the news from Seagull Town, Lord Littlefinger Baelish is arranging a marriage between a wealthy Seagull Town businessman and Leonor Corbray. At that time, Littlefinger will leave the Eyrie and appear in Heart City.
Arthur is going to take this opportunity to send someone to kill Littlefinger for his trouble.
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