For certain reasons, Viserys personally went to search for Oberyn, following the old turtle's guidance.
At the same time, he told Arthur to bring along the newly found Prince's Spear.
By the time they found Oberyn, the man's lips were cracked, his eyes unfocused, and his steps unsteady, as if he had exhausted himself after spending the night with several women.
"What happened to you, Prince Oberyn? You seemed perfectly fine when we last saw you," Viserys asked with exaggerated concern that barely masked his mockery.
Oberyn, instead of being annoyed, stared in astonishment and asked, "How… how did you find me?"
That was what puzzled him the most. He had wandered here for days and still hadn't found a way out.
Viserys could barely hide the smirk on his lips. He took the Prince's Spear from Arthur and showed it to him.
"Finding you is nothing. I even found the Prince's Spear."
"The… the Prince's Spear?!"
Though Oberyn had never seen the legendary spear himself, one look was enough to know it wasn't a fake.
"Why is he so lucky?! I'm the one with Rhoynar blood. I'm the descendant of Nymeria!" Oberyn muttered, just as aggrieved as the sisters Yonna and Nyssa.
But no one bothered answering his question.
Oberyn reached out, wanting to touch the spear, but Viserys stepped back and handed it back to Arthur before he could.
Viserys took a waterskin and some honey cakes from a guard, smiled, and said, "Prince Oberyn, you should eat something first and recover your strength.
Once you've rested, we'll head back. I've been searching for you for quite a while."
Oberyn's mouth twitched. He knew Viserys said that on purpose—to make him feel like a useless burden.
But he really wanted to touch that spear. After all, he was best at using spears.
He licked his lips and said, "Heh… Your Majesty, you're too kind. Can you at least tell me how you found it?"
"Well, that's a long story," Viserys said, hands behind his back, walking ahead.
Oberyn stuffed a few bites of honey cake into his mouth and quickly followed, hunched forward, hoping Viserys would reveal more.
His eyes kept drifting toward the spear Arthur carried on his back.
Arthur noticed and deliberately widened the distance between them, occasionally reaching back to touch the spear protectively.
"I already told you," Viserys said lazily, "a giant turtle carried me to it. You just wouldn't believe it."
"I believe it! I believe it!" Oberyn grinned his most flattering smile.
"Your Majesty," he said, "could you lend me the spear? No matter who you want me to kill, I'll obey your orders completely!"
"No," Viserys replied bluntly.
Now that he had the Prince's Spear, Viserys no longer had any worries about Gohor.
With food and faith united under him, even if the Council of Elders refused to cooperate, more and more Rhoynar people would abandon their homes to join him.
Over a hundred thousand Rhoynar had already sworn allegiance. In contrast, only thirty or forty thousand Andals under Pentos still remained independent.
Once he moved the people from Dragonstone over, it would be three hundred thousand against thirty thousand. The advantage would be his.
He was even considering bringing over Rhaella and the others from Dragonstone soon.
But he decided to wait a little longer.
"Everyone, Lord Lothan will never expect that we've already found the Prince's Spear," Viserys said.
"This means the situation in Gohor has completely exceeded the expectations of both Braavos and Pentos.
I plan not to reveal that I've obtained the real Prince's Spear just yet. I want to put on a show for Lord Lothan and the others."
Viserys believed it was time to continue his 'fox dividing the cake' strategy.
The Rhoynar in Gohor had been supported by Braavos.
If they all suddenly defected to him, not only would they lose Pentos' support, but Braavos might think the situation was slipping out of their control.
In that case, Braavos might cut off their affordable aid—or even impose a blockade to stop Viserys' rise in Gohor.
And once he unified the region, since it bordered Pentos, the cautious merchants there might panic at the thought of a strong neighbor and join the blockade—or even wage war.
Finding the Prince's Spear was a blessing, but if handled poorly, it could become a gift for someone else's gain.
Viserys knew that once the Rhoynar pledged loyalty to him, Freygo would soon realize he'd been tricked.
And who knew what a furious ruler might do?
So Viserys decided to put on a convincing act together with Lothan to mislead Braavos.
He planned to get as much gold as possible from Freygo and Illyrio before the truth was discovered—to prepare for the coming conflict.
Both hiding and revealing the spear would cause problems. Such was the dilemma brought by limited power.
After the plan was made, Arthur ordered the soldiers not to speak of these events.
Viserys provided an official explanation: they had encountered the Prince's War Cry, fainted, and remembered nothing afterward.
Of course, this explanation had flaws—like how all one hundred soldiers returned unharmed.
But it would take time for anyone to uncover the truth.
So once they returned, the soldiers who accompanied Viserys would be sent to Dragonstone to bring more people back, buying more time.
"Perhaps I could take the Prince's Spear back to Dragonstone for safekeeping," Oberyn suggested, eyes gleaming with desire.
To him, the spear was now the most tempting object in the world. He would have given anything just to touch it.
But Viserys saw right through him.
Smiling, he said, "Oh, that won't be necessary. In at most half a year, we'll have to confront Braavos—or maybe Pentos.
Either way, a fierce battle is coming. When that time comes, I will wield the spear myself, to defend the lands of House Targaryen."
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