Mance Rayder survived, and the Two Bucks were moved by Dany's suggestion of "holding the Son of Heaven hostage to command the lords," deciding to stay and let the King-Beyond-the-Wall rally the tribes.
After the trial—
Sixth floor of the King's Tower, in the Dragon Queen's receiving room, by the fireplace.
"It's useless. The Free Folk won't obey a king who was captured by southern lords," Mance said without lifting his head, gazing tenderly at the infant in his arms.
At this point, he had gained partial freedom. Two Night's Watch guards kept watch nearby, but he was free to move around Castle Black.
For the past few days, Mance's son, his wife Dalla, and her sister Val had all been staying in the King's Tower. Once freed, he had come immediately to see his wife and child.
Dany smiled faintly. "I know. I just wanted an excuse to keep you alive. Your wife just gave birth—how pitiful it would be for the child to grow up without a father.Of course, I didn't save you out of pity alone.
I'll be leaving the Wall soon. There are many issues in Essos awaiting me. The task of relocating the Free Folk to Eastwatch will fall to you.
As long as you bear the title of King-Beyond-the-Wall, you must fulfill your duty—to ensure more Free Folk survive this Long Night."
Mance gently pulled up the fur blanket to cover his son's soft face. The kindness and peace on his expression faded, replaced by solemnity."I'm happy to see the Free Folk crossing the sea and leaving the Wall behind. I can even have someone go to the Haunted Forest in my name to recruit more Free Folk for you.
But will Stannis allow me to travel freely between Castle Black and Eastwatch?Or rather, he likely plans to incorporate the Free Folk for his own use—do you think he'll just let you take them?"
"Stannis..." Dany frowned in thought. "He's not stupid. He should understand that the Wall can't support a hundred thousand Free Folk.
In fact, it can't even support ten thousand. The Night's Watch's stored food won't last long, and his army is entirely reliant on their supplies.For his own sake, he has to send the Free Folk away as soon as possible."
"Why don't you just kill him?" Val suddenly asked from the side.
"Why should I kill him?" Dany asked, puzzled.
Val stared at her. "He and his brother stole your father's throne, and now he's trying to take the title of King of the Seven Kingdoms from you too.
Besides, the sword he carries suits you. Maybe you're the prophesied one—you need that red sword.
If it were me, any one of those reasons would've been enough to feed him to the dragons."
"When you learn more about the cause of the Rebellion, you'll understand—my father and brother committed sins far worse than those of Stannis and his kin.
As for the red sword—there are many things in this world I desire, but that doesn't mean I take them by force.Most of the time, I have to follow the rules too."
Val was taken aback and gradually fell into thought.
Knock, knock. Ser Barristan entered carrying two canvas packs. Before stepping in, he knocked on the ironwood door to alert the others.
"Your Grace, the luggage is ready," the White Knight said.
"You're leaving tonight? Isn't that too soon?" Mance asked in surprise.
Dany rose and took her pack from Ser Barristan, checking the contents as she replied,"There's nothing left to do at the Wall. But in Braavos, a tough battle awaits me."
Darkstar Gerold Dayne was about to arrive in Braavos.
Last night, after cleansing Quaithe's soul with a True Dragon Roar, Dany also spoke to her through the glass candle about the greenseers and the Old Gods.
Quaithe's advice was simple: leave Westeros and train hard.
She believed that the meditation techniques of the great sorcerers were no weaker than those of the greenseers.Dany only fell into the Three-Eyed Crow's trap because her skills and experience were inferior.
Dany had only learned her meditation method a month ago, while Bloodraven had inherited the full greenseer legacy, cultivated for a century, and carried the accumulated magic, spiritual power, and experience of countless greenseers over millennia. The gap between them was only natural.
According to Quaithe, with Dany's talent, she should devote herself to years—eight or ten—of focused cultivation.Then she would be able to stand her ground before a greenseer even without relying on dragons.
Afterward, Dany, as was her habit, checked the three marked coordinates and one "online friend."
Her online friend, Marwyn, had joined the fleet led by the fourth White Knight, Garth Hightower, bringing with him magical tomes like The Magic Nexus and An Analysis of the Sorcerer's Lens, along with the dark-skinned girl, Laretha.
These books, hidden deep in the citadel, were "borrowed" by the Old Man of Oldtown.
The fleet was massive—over a hundred riverboats and ten warships—carrying three million in gold dragons, having set out from Oldtown's harbor and now drifting in the Summer Sea south of Westeros.
Coordinate One: in three or four days, Gerold would arrive at Braavos aboard a merchant ship.
Coordinate Two: the Dragon Queen's dutiful son, Jaqen, had already fled the Citadel with the clay jar.
Dany hadn't reported him.
In fact, aside from Barristan and Aemon, she told no one about Jaqen the Faceless Man.
She simply asked the Old Man to borrow books from the library—killing two birds with one stone. Among the titles reported to the archmaesters was one of the books Jaqen had stolen.
The archmaesters weren't fools. When they noticed a significant number of dragon-related books missing, yet the doors and locks remained intact, they naturally began suspecting an inside job.
The keys were in the hands of Archmaester Walgrave, who was senile. Naturally, suspicion fell on the apprentice who had served him.
Would Jaqen, disguised as Pate, dare face questioning by the Citadel?
Look at how the apprentice Theon was punished—merely for stealing a waffle from the maester, he was severely disciplined. Clearly, the maesters were no "gentlemen who use words instead of fists."They would certainly use force on "Pate."
Would a Faceless Man wearing a human-skin mask tolerate being slapped?
Jaqen killed two maesters on the spot and fled under the identity of "Pate."
Although Jaqen tried to create the illusion that the apprentice was stealing books to sell for money, the scholars of the Citadel were far from foolish—in fact, they were quite sharp. They quickly deduced two things based on Petyr's recent changes: the Faceless Men had come to the Citadel to steal books related to dragons, and the Braavosi intended to hatch dragons!
Enraged, the maesters decided to retaliate against the shameless Braavosi and the despicable Faceless Men—in the manner of the Dragon Queen.
Location Three: the one-eyed female Faceless Man had gone to Volantis.
Daenerys' worst fears were confirmed—Braavos' House of Black and White was not the only base of the Faceless Men. They also had a branch in Volantis.
On the surface, it looked like a trading company. In truth, it was a small hub for assassins and information brokers. Both identities were merely covers to conceal the fact that it was a stronghold of the Faceless Men.
This actually made sense—like assassins in the movies, every top-tier killer has a top-tier handler who helps them take on missions, gather intel, provide equipment, and arrange logistics. And, well, in dire situations, that handler might betray brothers, eliminate witnesses, burn bridges, or even embezzle a fellow assassin's savings.
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The world of A Song of Ice and Fire is vast, and its communication primitive. Without branches to gather intelligence, manage logistics, and supply target lists and information, even if every Faceless Man were a Rambo, a 007, or Tom Cruise, they would still struggle to complete their missions.
After all, both 007 and the Mission: Impossible team have vast support networks behind them.
This made things difficult.
Daenerys couldn't simply drop a meteor on the House of Black and White, or wield something like a "Rod of God" to destroy it. Leveling the place was easy, but if she didn't uproot it completely, the consequences would be disastrous.
She still hadn't dared return to the Dothraki Sea to reclaim her adopted son. Why?
Assassination fears.
Not just the Faceless Men—killing a child is far too easy, and that little boy stood in the way of too many vested interests.
The Faceless Men might find it hard to assassinate Daenerys herself, but it would be all too easy to kill her companions. Right now, everyone was still playing by the rules, maneuvering in the shadows. If Daenerys dared to bomb the House of Black and White, a wave of revenge would follow by the next day.
All it would take was the targeted killing of her centurions and local leaders, and Slaver's Bay would collapse.
Of course, if the Dragon Queen were left completely isolated, she'd likely go on a rampage—riding her dragons to burn cities to the ground. Then it'd be game over for everyone, leaving the White Walkers to swoop in and reap the benefits.
Daenerys definitely had to deal with the Faceless Men—but not by brute force. She had to outsmart them.
And she was starting to see a path forward.
While she was deep in thought, Barristan Selmy put down his pack and said worriedly, "Truthfully, we shouldn't have left the Wall. Our top priority should have been to quickly eliminate the White Walkers beyond it.
If the Night King really exists, we should kill him now—end the Long Night before it begins.
Once winter fully arrives, and the cold intensifies, the White Walkers will grow stronger and become even harder to defeat."
Daenerys paused, then replied with a faint smile, "It's a good idea—but unfortunately, the White Walkers are intelligent. If we're aware of this, you can bet they know it even better.
Before the Long Night arrives, they won't come out to face us directly. They'll even deliberately avoid places exposed to sunlight.
Believe it or not, even if I bring my other two dragons from Slaver's Bay and have all four dragons burn down the entire Haunted Forest, we still wouldn't find a single White Walker—not even singe a strand of their hair."
Mance Rayder, handing his baby to his sister-in-law, asked anxiously, "Then do you have a way to deal with them?"
Daenerys sighed helplessly, "Forget about attacking first. The most realistic plan is to wait for the Long Night, let the White Walkers attack first, and then rely on the Wall to defend. That gives us the best chance of victory.
Just think—what if, while I'm flying beyond the Wall, breathing fire into the forests, a White Walker shoots one of the dragons with an ice spear, killing it? Then they resurrect it as a wight-dragon.
What then?"
"Uh… that can't happen, right? Last time you scorched a huge patch of forest, the White Walkers didn't pose any threat to the dragons," said Barristan.
Can't happen?
I've seen the finale of Game of Thrones!
Daenerys silently grumbled, but aloud she said, "If you walk by the river often enough, your shoes will get wet. The Haunted Forest covers hundreds of thousands of square kilometers. How long would it take to burn it all—one year? Two?
By then, both people and dragons will be numb with fatigue. How could we possibly avoid every ice spear?"
"Can dragons become wights too? Dragons are fire, White Walkers are ice—fire and ice shouldn't mix," Mance Rayder questioned.
"Dragons are still living creatures—they can die. And once dead, they leave behind corpses. If the White Walkers ever do get their hands on a wight-dragon, one blast of dragonfire could very well collapse the Wall. Then we'd be truly doomed," Daenerys said cryptically, hinting at spoilers.
"Like the Horn of Winter. Can your dragons bring down the Wall?" Val asked in surprise.
"Sigh… If there weren't White Walkers, I really would've liked to try," Daenerys murmured. Then her expression shifted as she turned to Mance Rayder and asked, "The massive horn Stannis seized from you—was that the real Horn of Winter?"
(End of Chapter)
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