Ice and Fire: Reign of the Dragon
Chapter 125 The Iron Throne rejected him, but the people accepted him
The Red Sea Monster was still waiting for the Iron Fleet to gather, and several captains' longship fleets had not arrived. Although the Kingdom of the Three Daughters was bloodily slaughtered by Longzel's Silver Fleet, it still had some naval power, and King Dalton never fought unprepared wars.
While the Red Sea Monster was anxiously waiting for the late captains and sharpening his knife to attack the Three Daughters, Longzel and Jacaerys had already flown to every castle in the West. Jacaerys held royal courts in the lord's hall, under the big trees in the countryside, and in the pits of the gold mines to listen to the petitions of the people and lords. He presided over justice for the young lords who went to the Great Wall for their fathers or brothers, and upheld the rights of the people. Under Jacaerys's persuasion, the lords willingly opened the vaults and paid the fines with their own money, instead of raising taxes in a way that exhausted all the fish in the pond. In Lannisport, Jacaerys personally carried Jason Lannister's only son, Lorien Lannister, to the throne of Casterly Rock, accepted the loyalty of all the lords of the Westerlands, and helped Lady Johanna consolidate her rule. After resolving the affairs of the Westerlands, Jacaerys flew back to the Riverlands almost without stopping to welcome the supplies coming from the south.
Under the supervision of Vermax and Vermithor, this batch of supplies including food and medicine was distributed to the people quite smoothly. Jacaerys flew to the villages and castles in the King's Territory that were deeply mired in the plague, bringing them the wisdom accumulated by the Citadel for thousands of years.
Although the maesters could not treat the tremor and dragon pox, combined with the medical knowledge mastered by the Citadel and some contents in the Vareses family's collection, people learned that the tremor was suspected to be related to rats, and the dragon pox was actually close to extinction-because of its excessive lethality, it was actually difficult to spread on a large scale. Even the Citadel's medical doctor, Kerron, did not know that the specimens of dragon pox were preserved in the Citadel's ice cellar before the specimens were lost.
So Jacaerys specifically asked Longzel to act as a matchmaker, bought a large number of mousecatchers from the East Continent, and ordered Joffrey, Daemon and Earl Corliss who stayed in King's Landing to hire a large number of mousecatchers.
During the King's Landing riot, Queen Rhaenyra's intelligence chief "White Maggot" Messalia was burned down by angry people. She didn't want to be killed by the mob, so she jumped into the sea of fire that burned down the brothel. The only reason Earl Bartimos Celtigar survived was that he had to stay in the Red Castle to clean up the accounts.
Under the strong governance of the sea snakes and Daemon, King's Landing quickly restored basic order. The old prince returned to his old job and worked as a member of the capital garrison. With the large amount of supplies sent by Jacaerys, the plague in King's Landing was finally stabilized.
But just when everything was slowly getting better, Jacaerys fell ill.
He had just flown back to the mainland from the Whispering Castle on the Crab Claw Peninsula when he suddenly developed a high fever. At this time, he was not even near any castle, and there were only Longzel and the dragons around him. There were villages destroyed by war, farmlands turned into scorched earth, and corpses hanging on trees by the roadside.
"Do you regret it, Xiaojie?"
Wormax used his body to form a circle and let Jacaris lie on his body. Although dragons can't speak and don't have too complicated emotions, Longzel can feel the worry and heartache in Wormax's eyes that he has been staring at Jacaris. If it weren't for the dragon's tongue being as hot as fire, Longzel is very sure that Wormax would lick Xiaojie a few times. Womisol used its dragon wings to build a huge space for the little dragon and the young king. The old dragon also looked at the people and dragons under its dragon wings and conveyed the message to his companions that the boy would not live long.
Longzel was very clear about this. Although he was not a scholar specializing in medicine, he had read the vast collection of books in his family when he was young, which naturally contained medical content. Jakaris was not suffering from a simple cold. His symptoms were actually those of dragon pox. It was just that the blood of the Dragon King in his body and the vitality fed back by Womax played a role, so he did not die like Amos Fezer, who died of abscesses all over his body.
Jakaris leaned against Womax's body and shook his head weakly: "Only when I saw them did I know what my mother did wrong, sir." He looked at Longzel. "And the most real situation of the kingdom. What the people need is peace and a king who does not make trouble. What they need is a king who can keep them alive through the winter. What they need is bread, salt and ale, preferably meat. Not honor without a trace. My mother thought her rights were inviolable, but she did not grasp her rights. My lord, I think I understand that the crown of a true king is not made of gold or Valyrian steel, but made by them." Jacaerys raised his hand and pointed outside the range covered by the dragon's wings.
The people nearby saw the dragon landing. They had just received relief from the south and presented their demands to the king at the royal court convened by Jacaerys. The patient young king resolved the people's demands one by one. When he learned that the dragon had landed in the wilderness, the young king who solved their problems did not convene a court as before, but lay beside the dragon and became seriously ill. People gathered spontaneously. There were soldiers who were dismissed and sent home, as well as the elderly, children, and women who were raped by the soldiers. Jacaerys gave them respect and defended their legal rights. There were also ascetics traveling through the countryside. A few nobles also came, but they could not squeeze into the front row because it was filled with ragged civilians.
The young king smiled and raised his hand, touching the head of Womax who came close to him: "It's a pity that I can't accompany you any more, my friend. I hope your next friend is brave and just, and can accompany you for more years." The dragon rubbed Jakaris's hand with sobs.
Longzel could already see small, bluish-white pus-like pus growing on Jakaris's exposed skin, which was a sign of dragon pox.
"Lord Longzel, please save His Majesty." A thin ascetic knelt outside the dragon's wing and shouted loudly. "We know that you have the gift of the Seven Gods and can perform miracles that mortals cannot know. Please save His Majesty."
Longzel smiled bitterly at the ascetics outside and the people who silently prayed for Jakaris. Some of them had questioned Jakaris's bloodline, and some had even accepted the crazy teachings of the shepherd. Many of them had denounced their blood magic as "devil's witchcraft" in the countryside.
But now, they hope that this "bastard" they once called can survive and continue to serve as their king. Womisor gently stretched out his dragon wings to prevent the people from getting close to Jakaris.
"Resurrection is the power of the gods." Longzel said, "And I am just a mortal. Dragon pox is contagious, so please don't get close to the dragon wings." He looked at Jakaris. Jakaris smiled and asked, "My lord, how long do I have?"
"When the pox on your body bursts." Longzel looked at the growing pus pox and sighed, "The ancestors will come to take your life."
Jakaris looked at the pus pox on his body. "It seems that I still have some time." He struggled to sit up, but was pressed back by Longzel. "You are still alive now, all thanks to Vermax. Don't leave its body, otherwise, you won't have enough time."
"Okay, my lord, next, I command you in the name of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the King of the First Men, the ruler of the Seven Kingdoms."
Longzel half-knelt in front of the dying young king, looking at Jacaerys gently.
"Please continue to serve as the Hand of the King of the Kingdom." Jacaerys felt that his consciousness began to blur, and some of the pus on his body began to burst, but the pus just flowed out, and was directly evaporated into nothingness by the heat emitted between Vermax's scales. "After I die, Baena can remarry at will. My brother Joffrey Velaryon will become the next Earl of Tidemark, Lord of Tides. For this, he gave up his right to inherit the Iron Throne. Therefore, I appoint my brother Aegon Targaryen as the Prince of Dragonstone and the heir to the Iron Throne. After my death, he will succeed the king, and my stepfather, Prince Daemon Targaryen, will continue to serve as regent. If my stepfather unfortunately passes away and Aegon is not yet an adult, please serve as Aegon's adoptive father and regent until Aegon comes of age."
Longzel nodded, indicating that he accepted the appointment.
"My Lord, I authorize you to organize Aegon's Royal Council and Kingsguard, and, before Aegon is fourteen years old, if you allow, I hope he can stay in Dragon's Nest to receive your education."
Longzel understood what Jacaerys meant. The political situation in King's Landing is much more complicated than that in Dragon's Nest. Daemon can handle it well, but Aegon is too young to handle the complicated political situation. He should follow the example of King Jaehaerys in the past and let the Royal Council be the regent for a period of time to handle the affairs of King's Landing, while Aegon stays in the safer Dragon's Nest to learn how to handle the government affairs, which is a better choice than ascending the throne directly in King's Landing.
This also means that Aegon's intimacy with the Vareses family will reach a terrifying level, even far higher than the intimacy between the Targaryen family and the Velaryon family.
This is what Longzel hopes to see.
Jacarys felt that his brain had begun to rust, and he slowly lost consciousness all over his body. He seemed to hear the prayers of the people outside the Dragon Wing.
But he could no longer hear any sound, and abscesses gradually grew in his ear canal. Red and yellow pus and blood flowed from the young king's ears and body little by little, and were finally evaporated by the temperature of the dragon.
Vormax whimpered.
"My lord, I beg you as your squire." Jacaris suddenly pulled out a childish smile. "Appoint me as a knight. I don't want to leave regrets like Xiaolu."
Longzel stood up, his eyes were a little red. Since he was very young, he has not cried. Although his father told Longzel many times that he should cry, Longzel understood that his subordinates often need not a crying boss, but a steel who can lead them at all times. Longzel's youthful side can only be shown in front of his younger brothers, and the Jacaris brothers, to be honest, have been with Longzel for more than six years. For Longzel, he watched the two of them grow from children to heroic teenagers, and also watched them wither with his own eyes.
This feeling was actually very uncomfortable, but Longzel knew that he couldn't cry.
Longzel drew out the Silver Blood Sword, patted the young king's shoulder seven times, and completed the knighting ceremony for him.
Jacaris smiled contentedly.
The young king slowly closed his eyes, and Womax suddenly let out a series of wails, and even Womisol looked up at the sky and let out a distant, but not harsh dragon roar.
People seemed to realize something. The ascetic who asked Longzier to save Jacaerys knelt down, took off his rosary, and slowly recited the Stranger's Scripture.
Then came the people. The voices of people mourning gathered into waves of distant sounds, like bells.
Longzier looked at the deceased Jacaerys in silence. This brown-haired Targaryen, a handsome 15-year-old boy, left the land where he had traveled to most corners two months after his coronation in Harrenhal.
During his short reign, Jacaerys I of the Targaryen family never returned to King's Landing and sat on the Iron Throne that symbolized royal power. His rule was established in the courts of rural civilians and the halls of noble castles. The young king, who was called a bastard, won the love of the people with his actions. When he died in the wilderness, thousands of people came spontaneously, including his mother's opponents and the ascetic monks who had fiercely criticized them.
"Little Jie, the Iron Throne has rejected you." Longzier silently picked up the young king and put him on the open ground. He was protected by blood magic and was not afraid of almost all infectious diseases. Womax understood Jacaerys's wishes. If he could not be cremated on the spot, the people would definitely send his body back to King's Landing on their own initiative. In fact, some people had already done so, including the nobles. In just half a day, the people had brought more than 20 coffins of various shapes, and everyone wanted to carry the king's coffin.
The terrible thing about dragon pox is that even if the infected person has died, his body is still contagious for a period of time. Jacaerys didn't want people to be infected because of him.
Womax slowly crawled around the young king's body for several times, and the wailing echoed in the wasteland, as if to let everyone feel the pain of a giant dragon.
In the end, Womax still spit out a dragon flame and cremated Jacaerys.
"But the people accepted you." Longzier looked at the crying people and murmured. "You are the true king, Jacaerys Targaryen."
Second update, 4000 words
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