Ice and Fire: Reign of the Dragon

Chapter 2 Longzel Vareses

The light golden hair and beard were tangled together, covered with dust and blood, and the blue-purple eyes looked at the boy blankly. His mouth opened wide as if he wanted to say something, but unfortunately, he could no longer say anything.

It was the son of the former archon of Volantis and his mother.

The boy recognized the origin of the head.

"No——" the boy shouted wildly in his heart.

Don't let Longzel do it.

That's the crime of parricide!

"What are you looking at? Lei."

The elder brother's voice came from behind. Lei turned around suddenly, and his violet eyes with a hint of fear met his brother's deep purple eyes.

The silver-haired boy smiled and looked into his younger brother's eyes. The boy was thin and tall, not very old, about 15 or 16 years old, with delicate short silver hair slightly curled, and deep purple eyes slightly narrowed, gentle and restrained. Even among the Valyrian nobles who are famous for their beauty, the boy's appearance is one of the most outstanding. The purple silk tokar robe is cool and comfortable, and the exposed arms are covered with a circle of gorgeous silver dragon arm rings, which shows the boy's extraordinaryness everywhere.

"Brother!" Rey pointed at the head and looked at Longzel Varezes' eyes with some horror.

Longzel smiled and touched his brother's silver hair, looking at the slightly chaotic main court, his eyes, which were as gentle as the warm spring day in Volantis, suddenly became cold. "Yamor, you scared my brother."

"I'm sorry, little master." The strong man with a slightly curly beard raised the long-handled battle axe that was still dripping with blood, bowed slightly in the direction of Rey, and the long-winged dragon tattoo on his cheek shone in the sun. "Master, this man sneaked into the mansion and tried to steal your property. I have executed this thief according to the law of the Volantis Blackwall Code."

After saying that, Yamor kicked the body with blood still flowing from the neck to the ground, and signaled the Unsullied who was guarding the mansion to drag it away.

"Longzel, you are killing your father!"

The slightly sharp pronunciation of High Valyrian, even with some grammatical errors.

The fat silver-haired man did not hide his fear and wet lower clothes, and pointed his fat fingers at Longzel and shouted. He was surrounded by Unsullied holding spears and fully armed.

Although more Unsullied and silver-armored guards with tattoos on their faces surrounded them.

"And this man." Yamor raised his long-handled axe. "According to the law, among the Blackwall nobles, leading armed people to break into other people's mansions is considered a declaration of war."

Longzel patted Rey's head gently, signaling him to retreat behind him, and then cast his eyes on the fat man.

"Who are you?"

"You" The man almost fainted.

"Oh, I remember." Longzel clapped his hands. "You are the little Cavedo of the Bentaro family, the youngest son of the former Archon of the old Cavedo." He took a few steps forward and motioned to Yamor to put down the axe. "I just came back from the workshop in the town of Veronces, and I don't quite know what happened, so, Lord Cavedo, can you explain why you led your troops into my mansion?"

Little Cavedo was already somewhat regretful at this time that he was fooled by his unreliable illegitimate brother and accompanied him in this muddy water.

"Lord Longzel." Seeing that Longzel did not directly order him to be expelled, Little Cavedo bravely retreated behind a strong Unsullied, leaving only his head exposed. "Please forgive my offense. I am only expressing condolences to Lord Cleorius of the Vareses family, who has just returned to the gods, on behalf of the Bentalo family. As for the soldiers."

Little Cavedo glanced at the main court and his own Unsullied guards, as well as the male and female slaves who were shivering beside him. His voice became louder. "They are my slaves. The laws of Volantis allow nobles to bring slaves to visit." He patted the Unsullied beside him, who remained motionless. "They are responsible for my safety, as well as those male slaves. I need them to take my place. As for the female slaves..."

Before he finished speaking, Amor raised his long-handled axe again. The tall warrior looked at Little Cavedo without saying a word. Little Cavedo choked back his words.

"There are no slaves in the Vareses mansion. Even the Unsullied are indentured servants under the emblem of the laurel silver dragon." Longzel took a few steps forward and opened his arms. "The family welcomes friends who respect our traditions." He looked at the bloodstains on the ground. "But those with ulterior motives and thieves are not welcome! Lord Cavedo, why are you here?" The young man shouted in High Valyrian.

"I, I come to mourn, to mourn Lord Cleorius." Little Cavedo's voice trembled a little.

"What about him?" Longzel tilted his head and looked at the bloodstains. The body had long been carried away by the nimble Unsullied. "If I remember correctly, this person is yours."

"Lord Longzel, please don't misunderstand. Although that person has some kinship with me, he is not a guest who came with me to visit presumptuously. I am not familiar with him." Little Cavedo hurriedly distanced himself from the relationship.

I have to admire the ability of this noble of the Bentalo family to adapt to the situation. Longzel shook his head helplessly.

"So why do you slander me for kinslaying?"

Being stared at by Longzel's deep purple eyes, Little Cavedo felt uncomfortable all over. This time, he even hid his head behind the Unsullied.

"Lord Longziel, please forgive me." He switched back to High Valyrian with a hint of Volantis's accent.

This time it sounded much better.

"I didn't learn High Valyrian well enough. Maybe my pronunciation is wrong. You heard it wrong. I swear in the name of R'hllor, the Lord of Light, and the gods of ancient Valyria. I swear on the honor of the Bentalo family."

Rey, who had been watching the excitement behind Longzel, curled his lips. He said in his heart: "What honor do they have? Master Vesalius said that old Cavedo was able to become a consul by bribing those elders and senators. His family even went outside the Black Wall and sprinkled money on the streets to bribe voters."

Just then, Rey saw a few young people gathered in the corner of the main court, whispering something.

The boy glanced at his brother and moved closer to the young people little by little.

"Is that so." Longzel glanced at the people brought by little Cavedo, and saw that they all lowered their heads in panic, so he waved his hand to signal his guards to retreat. "Lord Cavedo, please thank the Bentalo family for their condolences."

"The Bentalo family is very sad about the death of Lord Cleorius." Seeing that Longzel let him go, little Cavedo breathed a sigh of relief and squeezed out a few tears. "To express my grief, I will personally donate the ancient and noble Vareses family the land between the Little Rhoan River and the Ben Odur Manor, as well as 2,000 tiger skins, as funeral rites. Lord Longzel, please accept them. The family's gifts will be delivered later."

"Thank you, Lord Cavedo." Longzel bowed slightly, raised his hand, and signaled that he could leave.

The two Unsullied hurriedly lifted up the little Cavedo who could no longer stand, and fled with the remaining slaves and Unsullied soldiers.

Longzel couldn't help but hold his head.

How could that fool Cavedo not know the identity of the dead man? That was his illegitimate brother. He was also Longzel's brother from the same mother.

It was all the bad fate left by Princess Senila. Although Longzel has collected several illegitimate children left by his mother, there are still a few who always make people feel uneasy. Fortunately, most of them have returned to the gods.

There is only one exception.

Alexios Bentalo, the unlucky guy who was beheaded on the spot by Amor.

This illegitimate child who is almost middle-aged has even participated in the 101st Great Council of Westeros. If it weren't for Princess Senira's bad reputation, oh, even if she had a good reputation, with her status, this illegitimate child would never be able to sit on that iron chair.

Even if he can't speak now, Longzel knows what he wants to do by coming to his mansion with great fanfare.

"Don't think I'm easy to bully because I'm young."

Longzel turned around and walked towards the fountain pool in the center of the main courtyard, with his palm facing down, without any movement, a drop of silver blood fell into the pool.

It disappeared immediately.

"It seems that my mother's bad fate has been completely cut off." Longzel retracted his palm and walked towards the direction where his brother and the young people were talking and laughing.

Yamor leaned the long-handled axe on his shoulder and followed Longzel closely.

"Yamor, where is Valar?" Longzel asked his twin brother.

"Young Master Valar went to the Silver Blood Army Manor on the Orange Coast. You set up a military training course for him, which is in charge of the Unsullied's 'Silver Scorpion' Centurion."

"Very good." After asking about his brother's situation, Longzel also came to the side of the young servants who were talking and laughing.

Lynn Valtaken, who had black hair mixed with silver, was holding Rey and saying something with a smile. His bronze arms were muscular. Although he was young, anyone with a little experience could see that this young man was a good warrior.

Amos Fezer, who had a neat silver short hair, hugged his arms and leaned against a pillar with a smile.

Ago, a Dothraki boy with braided hair, leaned against the wall with his upper body naked, saying nothing. The Arak scimitar hanging on his waist flashed coldly, but his eyes were full of smiles.

Sebastian Jieyan, who had a pair of bright and beautiful eyes, saw Longzier coming, bowed slightly, and made way.

The silver-haired young man who was leaning against the wall with a smirk on his face was exposed.

"Tigaro, what did you prepare for little Cavedo?" How could Longzier not know what his friends had done? He glanced at them and found Tigaro Dagareon who was still smirking.

"My Lord, he drank the wine I handed him." Tigaro restrained his smile and answered formally. "Don't worry, I didn't prepare anything strong, just a mixture of the sting of the forest scorpion and the salt crystal of Lys."

Longzier raised his hand to stop him from continuing. "Just tell me how long he can live."

"If he doesn't drink and have sex." Tigaro pointed a number. "One or two months is no problem. If he can't control himself, three days at most. The more he drinks, the faster he dies."

"Well done."

"As you wish."

Longzel patted Tigaro on the shoulder, took Amor through the corridor and walked into the main hall of the mansion. Surrounded by marble columns, there is a huge map table engraved with the route of the Varese family. The young servants also followed in with Rey, standing beside Longzel. The servants came in with copper jars filled with ice, and the temperature in the room suddenly became much more comfortable.

These young people are the important reliance of Longzel in running the family.

Linn Vartaken was also the illegitimate son of Princess Senela, but he came from an extremely humble background. He didn’t even know who his parents were before he was adopted by Longzel, and he had been living by collecting debts at the port of Lys.

Amos Fezer and Sebastian Zedyan were both from a Lys slave ship captured by Varese's fleet. Reese's pirate fleet destroyed Sebastian's hometown and captured the young Sebastian. And Amos also has the blood of Valyrian beauty flowing through him. Because of this, the captain of the slave ship tried to sell Amos to Lys's brothel.

Fortunately, the ship did not reach the port of Lys.

Ago came from a small khalasar who took shelter from the Varese family. Their khalas died in the fight in the Great Grass Sea. Another khalas destroyed their khalasar until the khalasar who was not too strong was killed. The tiger robes guarding the frontier of Volantis were defeated.

Tigaro Dagarion is also from Lys, but unlike several of his companions who were also born in Lys, his father Fisher Dagarion once had great wealth, but everything ended in the internal fighting in Lys. . Fisher died from a glass of poisoned wine, and Tigaro was sold as a slave by other large families until he was rescued and adopted by Longzel's father.

Dr. Vesalius and the family's chief retainer, Vanson Caon, were already waiting at the map table.

"Lord, we have sold the manor in the north in accordance with your instructions." Fansen Kaon saw Longzel coming to the table, bowed slightly, and then said: "They are all priced in gold and silver."

"Which family acquired it?" Long Zell looked at the chief retainer with a long black beard.

"Mainly Lord Hamar of the Cyrenaica family and Lord Dolan of the Meguya family." Fansen walked around Long Zell and whispered: "Master Dolan is willing to pay 20% more and hopes to invite You attend a dinner party at Meguya Palace.

"I understand." Long Zell seemed to be mentally prepared for this situation.

Volantis, as the city-state most closely connected with the Valyrian Free Fortress among the free trade city-states on the Essos continent, has always followed a republic. After the Doom of Valyria, Volantis, who tried to rebuild the Valyrian Empire, launched a war. In the end of the chaos known as the "Age of Bleeding", Volantis was defeated miserably. The "Tiger Party" that fought the main battle sadly withdrew. To this day, two of the three consuls in the Volantis Senate still belong to the "Elephant Party", the final winner of that dispute.

The Varese family are supporters of the Elephant Party. Wagadu of the Cyrenaica family was one of the two Elephant Party governors in this term.

As for the Meguya family that is willing to increase the price, their head Belicio serves as the Tiger Party's only seedling among the consuls.

The reason is self-evident.

"Have you promised Lord Dolan?" Long Zell tapped the table lightly.

"No." Vansen Kaon shook his head. "But Master Dolan also intends to acquire the family's mines."

"The mine is not in a hurry." Longzel looked at Dr. Vesalius. "Master Vesalius, how is the construction of the galleons in the shipyard going?"

Dr. Vesalius took out a piece of parchment from his sleeve: "The 'Crying Boy' and the 'Lord of Silence' have completed their sea trials, and the 'Cleolius' and the 'Sea Dragon' have just been launched. I can I assure you that these large sailing ships are capable of sailing in any sea.”

"Including the sea of ​​smoke in the ruins of Valyria?" Longzel said softly.

"This" Dr. Vesalius was speechless.

Ronzel did not continue speaking, nodded, and continued: "Lord Kaon, please continue to sell the land, workshops and manor according to the original plan, and the mine will be sold last."

His deep purple eyes turned and looked at the young attendants beside him.

"Ago, take Sebastian and Amos to the Silver Blood Army Manor and let Valar and the others get ready."

"Yes, the blood of my blood." Ago lowered his head.

This Dothraki boy stubbornly regards himself as Dragonzel's bloodrider, the warrior and close friend of Khal in Dothraki tradition.

"Lynn, you take Tigaro to deal with the property in Volantis City."

"As you wish." Before Linn finished speaking, he pulled Tigaro and rushed out.

"Master Vesalius." After Long Zell assigned the task, he turned to the old scholar. "We're ready to go."

"As you wish."

Underneath the Varese mansion is a huge artificial cavity.

This was once a place where previous generations of family owners stored their treasures and wine.

Now it has become a huge laboratory.

Ronzel wandered among strangely shaped statues and complex symbols.

Among them are twisted manticores, wingless dragons with no limbs that look like long snakes, people without faces, people with different faces all over their bodies, blazing flames, and people inlaid with different gems. Humanoid object.

Silver and blood flowed over those complex symbols, finally converging in the center of the laboratory.

A book with a silver and red cover lay there quietly, as if it had been waiting for someone to open it.

Ronzel pursed his lips and opened the book under the gazes of Vesalius and Amor.

"To my eldest son: Ronzel Varese"

So reads the opening chapter.

This is a new book. Please give me your criticisms and corrections.