"Aunt Dany, you are truly beautiful."
Sansa's smile was delicate and innocent, the very picture of a well-behaved young lady admiring her elder.
This woman is a scheming bitch.Aunt Dany instantly sensed the presence of someone just like herself.
"Aegon is very blessed. He has married such a virtuous and capable wife."
Aunt Dany's smile was natural and gentle, allowing Sansa to feel a warmth that seemed to come from the heart.
"Let's get to business. Sansa's magic is still shallow. She won't be able to hold on for long," Tyrion said. The corners of his mouth twitched as he spoke, his tone awkward.
Sansa first asked about the curse placed on Robb.
"I heard about it from Maester Pylos. The Red Woman first used three leeches to draw out King's Blood from Edric Storm, then used those leeches as a medium to separately curse Robb, Balon, and Joffrey."
Edric was the bastard born when Robert, on the night of Stannis's wedding, took the maid of honor's virginity on her cousin's marriage bed.
Dany had seen this plotline in Game of Thrones, although in the show the one bled was not Edric but Gendry. After questioning Pylos, she finally understood the real story.
Pylos had once served Stannis and had even taught the Onion Knight to read and write. The two had a very good relationship.
The Red Woman had always wanted Edric burned in order to "wake the stone dragons." The Onion Knight, unwilling to let the honorable king he served commit kin-slaying, secretly joined hands with several "upright men" on Dragonstone—those who still clung to the Faith of the Seven under Stannis—and smuggled Edric away to Lys for refuge.
Maester Pylos was one of those "upright men." He had helped Davos and also knew of the leech curse.
"But my brother and Joffrey didn't die from a curse," Sansa murmured.
"Perhaps the curse weakens a king's fortune," Dany said, uncertain.
After all, each man who was cursed died within a year. Was it really just a coincidence?And Edric truly possessed King's Blood, which held genuine power. Melisandre's skills were also no fraud.
Edric's King's Blood, however, was not very potent—only three leeches drained it completely. The remaining blood no longer contained magic.
Melisandre had originally intended to use that King's Blood to hatch dragons, but Stannis had been too self-righteous to commit kin-slaying—he successfully hypnotized himself into believing it—and the King's Blood was wasted.
If Stannis had agreed to her plan back then, the dragons would be nearly two years old by now, assuming Melisandre truly could have hatched them.
"What is 'fortune'?" Aegon asked in confusion.
"Think of it as luck. When fortune is lost, one becomes unlucky. Even one's instincts become clouded, causing them to make foolish mistakes they would never normally make."
"Well, Joffrey and Robb really do fit that…" Tyrion murmured in thought.
"But the Red Woman never met my brother, nor Balon and Joffrey," Sansa said, still doubtful.
Dany laughed softly. "Had we met before? And now look at how far apart we were."
"Uh…" Sansa froze.
The first time she met the Dragon Queen, they had been separated by thousands of miles.
Casting a glance at his wife's shifting expression, Aegon then explained his plan—and his concerns—about taking action against Stannis.
Stannis versus Aegon… did the idea have potential?
The thought struck Dany as strange at first, but the more she considered it, the more reasonable it seemed.
Stannis was steadfast in nature. He would never give up his claim to the Iron Throne. His obsession with royal authority was absolute.
It made sense for him to curse King Joffrey—Joffrey sat on the Iron Throne. But Balon only sought to rule the Iron Islands, and Robb had made it clear he had no interest in the Iron Throne, wanting only the independence of the North.
Just because they called themselves kings, Stannis could not tolerate them.
Aegon had taken Storm's End and aimed for the Iron Throne as well. Would Stannis endure that?
If Jon solved the Bolton problem before the Long Night began, the route south through the Neck would open. Stannis and Aegon would inevitably clash.
"Melisandre grows stronger by the day at the Wall. Her magic is increasing rapidly. I don't know her current level, nor am I familiar with her full range of spells or her limits.
She is not only a half-divine shadowbinder but also a priestess of R'hllor, able to draw upon his power. I believe it is best to avoid provoking her if possible."
Dany offered a balanced and realistic warning.
Aegon was stunned. "Aunt, even you fear her?"
Dany shook her head with a faint smile. "You misunderstand. To you, she is someone you cannot provoke. To her, I am the same."
"Uh…" Aegon blinked, then cautiously asked, "Then can you help—"
"Impossible." A flicker of displeasure crossed Dany's face, and her tone grew impatient. "Do you know what the situation is in Slaver's Bay right now?
The vanguard of the allied army has already encamped fifty kilometers outside Meereen. I must remain in Meereen every moment.
And long before this, I swore that with the Long Night approaching, I would not ignite a civil war among the Seven Kingdoms. Moreover, Melisandre is an important force against the White Walkers."
"But what if she curses me?" Aegon said anxiously.
"If you're afraid, then come back. Return to Slaver's Bay. No one can curse you there. Or stay in Storm's End and don't leave.
You should understand that I never agreed with your return to Westeros to vie for the Iron Throne," Dany said calmly.
"If he doesn't fight for it, would you help him sit on the Iron Throne?" Sansa suddenly asked.
"No," Dany replied. Her gaze lingered on Sansa for a moment before she continued bluntly, "I swore that the one who ends the Long Night will be king.
Even if Stannis is the one who fulfills that promise, I would support him ascending the Iron Throne."
"So if Aegon stays in Slaver's Bay, he can never become King of the Seven Kingdoms," Sansa said, her brows drawing together.
"The timing is wrong. 'Winter is Coming' is your Stark family's motto. Do you not understand the meaning of the Long Night?"
"Aunt, you're the only one still worrying about the Long Night," Aegon said irritably. "In today's Westeros, even the former Lord Commander of the Night's Watch has abandoned his duty and sworn to avenge his family. Stannis claims to be a savior, yet he refuses to stay at the Wall—why fight for the Iron Throne?
Euron and Cersei in King's Landing—do either of them care about the Long Night?And among the nobles of the Seven Kingdoms, how many truly worry about it?"
"Heh. It won't be long before you complain that I don't care enough about the Long Night," Dany said coldly, and cut off the communication.
Sansa set down the glass candle, looked at the pensive Tyrion, then at the embarrassed Aegon, and suddenly said, "It seems she doesn't care about you as much as you claim."
Aegon's expression grew even more awkward, and he stammered, "She is a true knight who values honor and keeps her oaths, so…"
"So we should avoid going to Winterfell, and follow the original plan—head south to King's Landing," Tyrion said sternly, cutting him off.
Aegon hadn't reacted yet when Sansa protested, "Are we supposed to run forever? Stannis has Iron Bank support and is recruiting sellswords in Braavos. If we don't take him out now, should we wait until he marches tens of thousands of sellswords south into the Neck?"
"Sellswords can't achieve anything lasting," Tyrion said with a shake of his head and a sigh. "If Stannis enters Westeros with foreign sellswords, the nobles of the Seven Kingdoms will unite against him."
Sansa glanced at Aegon and said, "Didn't His Majesty take Storm's End with the Golden Company?"
"The Golden Company is special. Many of its core members are descendants of Westerosi nobles. In fact, many of them are recognized as legitimate knights by the Seven Kingdoms."
Knights are knighted by other knights. The first exiled knights knighted their descendants, the descendants knighted the next generation, and a hundred years later, the officers of the Golden Company remain the most orthodox knights.
After a pause, Tyrion added, "Even so, I've been reducing the Golden Company's influence and working hard to win over the nobles for His Majesty."
"Stannis can also use sellswords as support and win over the nobles," Sansa said.
Tyrion's face showed irritation. "Then tell me—how do we deal with the Red Woman at his side?If we could get rid of Melisandre, I would fully support marching north right now to kill Stannis."
Sansa's pretty face flushed with anger. "What kind of attitude is that? Don't forget—I am your queen!"
(You were my wife before this!)Tyrion shuffled forward on his crooked little legs, bowed before the queen, and said with helpless politeness, "My apologies, Your Grace."
"The little devil may be rude, but he has a point," Aegon said, speaking fairly on behalf of his old companion.
"If the Red Woman is so powerful, how was Stannis crushed beneath King's Landing? How did he end up trapped in the Wolfswood with his army nearly destroyed?" Sansa retorted.
Aegon blinked in surprise and turned to Tyrion. "It seems you were the one who defeated Stannis back then. How did you do it?"
Tyrion's twisted face tightened. "To be honest, at the time I dared face Melisandre head-on. Thinking back now, it terrifies me. Ignorance truly is fearlessness."
"But the key point is that you won. You defeated a stronger force with fewer men," Sansa said, her expression complicated.
She had been in the Red Keep the night Tyrion won the Battle of the Blackwater.
Cersei had lost the will to fight, holding Tommen on the Iron Throne as she prepared for them to drink poison together. Only twelve years old, Sansa had shown courage, comforting the terrified noblewomen in the palace in the queen's stead.
"If you won once, why not again?" she encouraged him.
"The more I know, and the more I've seen, the less courage I have," Tyrion said gloomily, rubbing his nose.
A king might hide secrets from his Hand, but never from the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard.
Brienne had been standing behind Sansa the whole time, listening quietly.
Seeing the discussion reach an impasse, she stepped forward, dropped to one knee before Aegon, and said, "Your Majesty, I am willing to take care of this problem for you."
"How?" Tyrion asked with a frown.
"Sching." Brienne drew the Oathkeeper sword at her waist. The dark red ripples along the blade gleamed coldly in the candlelight.
"You said Valyrian steel can kill any evil creature?"
Aegon gave a bitter smile and shook his head. "Not only evil creatures—even demigods can be slain. Valyrian steel is the nemesis of all supernatural power.My aunt's White Knight, Ser Barristan; Ser Mormont; and even my foster father Clinton all used Valyrian steel to slay gods.But none of them did it alone. My aunt and her dragons were the main force.Brienne, I appreciate your willingness, but I can't let you throw your life away."
"Slay gods? Is that real?" Sansa's eyes widened. "How do you even slay a god? Where would so many gods come from?"
"When my aunt was still the khaleesi on the grasslands, she had bells like the horselords—ones Qhihi Ili prepared for her.Several of those bells represented gods she had slain with Valyrian steel. That shouldn't be wrong. She was only fifteen at the time, didn't even know magic, yet she still killed the Undying Ones."
"Oh—right, I almost forgot. She recently became the Great Khal again, with two hundred thousand screaming warriors."
Aegon's eyes shone with admiration, his tone full of reverence.
Sansa stared in shock for a long moment, then glanced sideways at her husband. "She's not going to help you."
Aegon's face shifted, and his tone grew awkward. "Two branches of one house. I announced it the moment I arrived in Westeros. If she doesn't help me, that's only natural."
"Your Majesty, I'm willing to try," Brienne said. Her rough, round face was full of determination, and her clear eyes held deep hatred and resolve."I swore to avenge Prince Renly. For him, and for you, and for Queen Sansa, I am willing to take the risk."
Tyrion glanced at the red dragon armor on Aegon and a sharp gleam flashed through his eyes. "Maybe… it's not entirely impossible."
(End of chapter)
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