The Mountain of Ice and Fire

Chapter 498: A Terrible Bargain: The Imp's Eyes

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*

“Queen Regent, Bronn has already set sail on the royal warship. He is the leading general in this mission to retrieve Princess Myrcella,” the Mountain said.

“What about Podrick? Arrest him immediately.”

“Podrick is also on the warship. He and Bronn are both helping to bring back Princess Myrcella. Jaime had food and wine sent to the black cells for them. They used to be the Imp's attendants, and Jaime arranged for them to see him.”

The Mountain directed Cersei's anger towards Jaime.

Podrick is a pure young man, and the Mountain did not want to see such a lad have his head chopped off.

Ser Barristan said, "Your Grace, the most important things right now are, first, to capture Tyrion Lannister and bring him to justice, and second, to retrieve Princess Myrcella. Everything else can wait."

“Ser Barristan is right, Your Grace. You must remain calm,” the Mountain said. “Let me go after the Imp now. Any more delay, and he will be long gone.”

Cersei pressed her hands on the edge of the table, her insides burning with anger and disappointment towards Jaime.

Cersei nodded to the Mountain, who immediately took his leave to pursue the Imp.

*

The Maester's Tower.

“Grand Maester, there's a request to see you from Comm Warner, a squire of Ser Gregor.”

A novice stood respectfully at the door of Grand Maester Qyburn's laboratory.

Qyburn was feeding ravens, cutting chunks of meat into small, bloody pieces.

“Bring him in.”

“Yes, Grand Maester.”

Young Comm Warner had grown taller and stronger. Following the Mountain, he was either training soldiers or galloping on horseback from one place to another. Comm Warner was at the age where he was growing rapidly.

Accompanying Comm Warner were two warriors from the Warner tribe. The two fierce tribal warriors looked at people as if they were nails.

“Grand Maester, Ser Gregor asks you to send ravens to all the lords in the realm, declaring the Imp a fugitive. Anyone who can bring back the Imp, dead or alive, will be richly rewarded. Commoners will be knighted and receive a large sum of money, knights will be raised to the rank of baron, and lords will receive land.”

“Hmm, I understand,” Grand Maester Qyburn said with a smile. “Please tell Ser Gregor that I will take care of it immediately.”

“Yes, Grand Maester.”

Could the Imp have escaped on his own?

Of course, that was impossible!

With his short legs and small frame, he would be recognized as soon as he appeared on the road. Whether by land or by sea, as soon as the news spread, the Imp would be caught as soon as he dared to show his face.

*

In front of a small stone house of the courtiers east of the Red Keep.

Knock, knock, knock!

Someone knocked on the door.

Kevan Lannister opened the door to find the Mountain's squire, Comm Warner, and two fierce peninsula warriors standing there.

“Lord Kevan, the Imp escaped through a secret passage last night. Her Grace, the Queen Regent, wants you to immediately order intelligence agents in various regions to inquire about the Imp's whereabouts. Ser Gregor is currently making every effort to capture the Imp.”

Ser Kevan Lannister was expressionless, but his eyes flickered. He could not calm his heart: “Tyrion escaped?”

“Yes, my lord.”

“What time?”

“Sometime between midnight and dawn last night.”

“Impossible. We arranged for jailers to guard him day and night.”

“Ser Jaime brought food and wine to the dungeon last night to visit the Imp, and he invited the guards to drink and make merry. The guards all got drunk, and they are now hanging on the walls of Maegor's Holdfast.”

“Jaime?” Kevan's voice rose.

He knew about the brotherly love between Jaime and Tyrion. Everyone in the Westerlands Lannisters knew that Jaime had protected Tyrion since childhood, otherwise, Tyrion would not have grown up smoothly.

However, did Jaime know the secrets of the Red Keep's underground maze?

Jaime did not know, but the Imp did. The Imp had once released Sansa Stark from the Maidenvault, and that crime had not yet been punished.

The Imp had always been disliked by Lord Tywin. His cunning and treachery were indeed not to be underestimated. In such a situation, he was still able to save himself and escape.

Cersei was also absurd. Why would she send the Mountain's squire to deliver the message? Instead of her own guards?

Kevan nodded to Comm Warner, indicating that he understood. He could not say to one of the Mountain's squires, “I understand, I will take care of it immediately.” That would damage the Lannister's honor.

This was also what he thought was absurd about Cersei: breaking the rules!

*

The Maidenvault.

“The Imp escaped last night,” a knight said to Lord Mace Tyrell.

The Hand of Justice's eyes immediately widened.

Margaery Tyrell also turned pale: “Who let him go?”

“News has it that Jaime Lannister, thinking of his brotherly affection, brought fine wine and food into the black cells last night, accompanied by Bronn and Podrick. They drugged all the jailers and released the Imp through the secret passage.”

“Jaime should be hanged,” Margaery Tyrell said shrilly. “Father, we must go talk to the Queen Regent.”

“Yes, Jaime must not be allowed to get away with this,” Mace said. “Margaery, let's go to Maegor's Holdfast together and find out the truth from the Queen Regent. We have the right to know all the details of Jaime's release of the Imp.”

“Father, with the Imp's escape, the position of Hand of the King is now vacant! Do you have someone in mind to fill that position?” Margaery said.

*

After the reopening of the port on the Blackwater Rush, it gradually became prosperous, with merchant ships from all over the world arriving one after another. The construction of the completely annihilated Royal Navy warships was in full swing, and the new Master of Ships was Wagner Gal, the chief of the Gal tribe from Crackclaw Point.

He was one of the Mountain's men.

There was evidence indicating that the Imp had boarded a merchant ship. That merchant ship was from Pentos and had left the port early this morning.

The Mountain arrived at the royal harbor, boarded a warship, and accelerated out of the harbor to pursue it.

The harbor had been placed under martial law. Ships entering were free, but all ships leaving, large and small, had to undergo a thorough inspection by naval warriors.

The naval warriors came from all over the country, mainly from the fishing villages of Crackclaw Point, with the warriors of the Gal tribe of Crackclaw Point as the core of the main naval force.

Currently, the naval warriors numbered over three thousand, and they were still continuously recruiting soldiers who were proficient in swimming. Warships were also being built day and night.

Wagner Gal wanted to build the most powerful Royal Navy fleet in the Seven Kingdoms.

Of the Seven Kingdoms' navies, the Redwyne family of the Arbor had a very strong navy, which had always been superior to the Royal Navy. Slightly stronger than the Redwyne family's navy was the Iron Islands' navy. Wagner Gal, under the Mountain's command, wanted to build a warship that surpassed the strength of the Iron Islands' navy. Inside the Kingswood along the Blackwater Rush, a new shipyard had been built, and warships were being built non-stop.

The Royal Navy fleet already had seventeen warships. This construction speed was already astonishing, mainly due to the full support of Petyr Baelish, the Master of Coin. With sufficient funding, the speed of recruiting soldiers and building warships was very fast.

*

The warship the Mountain was on was named after King Robert's weapon: the War Hammer.

The War Hammer sailed through the waves towards the outer sea. The Mountain arrived at the second-level cabin. The guard Landon Gal went to the bottom level and brought up a dwarf: the Imp.

The Imp was not hungover. His eyes were clear and bright. He had rested well last night. After boarding the warship, he had slept comfortably again.

“Is Jaime alright?” The Imp sat down in front of the Mountain, tapped his knuckles on the table, and looked at several of the Mountain's guards. “Bring some wine, brothers.”

The guards did not move, as if they had not heard.

“Jaime, Bronn, and Podrick have already sailed south. You don't have to worry about them. I will say some good words for them when Cersei gets angry. —You don't smell of alcohol. That's not easy,” the Mountain said. He had told the Imp not to drink last night, and as a drunkard, the Imp had managed to do it.

“You are the Mountain. My life is in your hands. Naturally, I don't want to displease you,” the Imp said frankly. “When I am truly free, I will definitely curse you behind your back.”

The Mountain laughed heartily: “Say bad things about me behind my back?”

“Yes. —Mountain, can you ask your puppet guards to bring some wine to wet my throat?”

“As you wish.” The Mountain glanced at Landon Gal beside him.

Soon, the wine was brought, as well as bread, roast meat, boiled meat, sausages, steaming bacon soup, and two bowls of noodles as fine as silk.

The food and wine were obviously prepared in advance.

"As fine as silk" is a comparison—compared to the original, coarse, blocky diet, not to hair or silk threads.

“I heard that because you hate me, you vowed not to use chopsticks,” the Mountain said.

“That was a rule I made when I was the Hand. Now I am a fugitive, not the Hand,” the Imp grabbed the chopsticks, picked up a bowl of noodles with the fragrance of green vegetables, and ate it unceremoniously.

Refined diet is a new fashion and luxury among the nobles in this era.

Westerling noodles, with the addition of eggs, ham, and edible spices, are a completely refined diet, unique to the Cleganes, and only available from them.

The Mountain poured a glass of wine for the Imp.

“Lord Hand, you are now free, but I have a difficulty.”

“What difficulty?”

“I need to give an explanation to the Queen Regent. If I can't bring back your head, it will be harmful to my prestige, ability, honor, and the Clegane family's unparalleled motto. And after you go to the other side of the Narrow Sea and find Daenerys Targaryen, you may not speak well of me. Perhaps you will say even more bad things about me in front of Daenerys.”

“Are you afraid of Daenerys's three dragons?”

“I am not afraid of dragons. I am not sitting on the Iron Throne. I can change according to the situation at any time. I have no reason to fear Daenerys and her dragons. To be honest, I just want Tommen's kingdom and Daenerys to become allies, not to go to war. The future King Tommen is your nephew.”

“Hmm!” Tyrion ate half of his noodles, put down his chopsticks, and began to drink.

“I hope Tommen's army can join forces with Daenerys's army to fight against the White Walkers in the North. If Daenerys crosses the sea to fight for the Iron Throne, the Starks of the North, who have been fighting for years, have a vast territory and a small population, will inevitably be defeated by the White Walkers. Do you believe the White Walkers are coming?”

“I believe it. Jaime has seen the White Walkers and wights with his own eyes. When he returned from the North, Eddard Stark hoped that he could persuade the royal family in King's Landing to send troops to defend the Wall.”

“If we all sit idly by and wait for the White Walkers to win in the winter, after the Starks are exterminated, the White Walkers will sweep south across the Riverlands, the Crownlands, and King's Landing. The entire continent will become a world of White Walkers, and we will all be turned into wights. I am not afraid of Daenerys and her dragons. I just don't want to be turned into a wight. If everyone kills each other for the Iron Throne first, weakening their strength, the White Walkers will be unimpeded. Jaime, Tommen, and Princess Myrcella, who will return to the royal family, will not escape the disaster.”

“If it really comes to that, if I can speak to Daenerys, I will do my best to urge Daenerys and the Iron Throne to form an alliance and then go north.”

When it comes to the life and death of the human race, Tyrion still has a scale in his heart.

“I saved your life because I hope you can do this, reminding Daenerys to focus on the overall situation. Our enemy has changed. It is the White Walkers from the eternal winter in the North, not ourselves.”

“You place your hope on me, but I cannot guarantee that Daenerys will listen to me, nor can I guarantee that I will be able to see Daenerys.”

“I can guarantee that.”

“Then I wish us all success.” The Imp raised his glass and clinked it against the Mountain's glass. The two glasses made a clear, crisp sound.

“For our future success, Imp, you must help me with my current difficulty?”

“Help you with what?”

“I must have your head to report back to Cersei.”

“Cutting off my head is easy, but then there would be no need for you to save me.”

“Then I will make a big concession and borrow something unique from you, so that Cersei will know at a glance that the head I sent back is indeed yours, and not someone who resembles you impersonating you.”

“What thing?” The Imp's voice faltered. He saw the Mountain staring at his eyes.

The Imp's eyes were one big and one small, one black and one green, unique.

“Your eyeballs.”

“No!” the Imp said. “Absolutely not.” He looked out the porthole. The sea was splashing. The warship had left the Blackwater Rush, passed the Water Gate, and arrived in the outer sea. “You can't dig out my eyes, Mountain. You can't do this. You won't do it. I believe you are a rational person. You are no longer the cruel and ruthless Mountain. I can see that…”

The Imp talked non-stop, walking back and forth on the floor.

The Mountain and several guards looked at him, without saying a word.

When the Imp finally stopped and calmed down, the Mountain said, “Lord Hand, I sent my horse soldier Thomas Mann to train warhorses on Crackclaw Point, and I sent General Locke to train cavalry on Crackclaw Point. On Crackclaw Point, I saw a mountain man whose face is very similar to yours. I now need his sacrifice. I will take his children as my adopted children, let his daughter marry a noble, and let his son become a knight. Our warship will pass Dragonstone and dock at the Gal tribe's fishing village on the east coast of Crackclaw Point. Don't worry, Blood Sorceress Dorea will not let you suffer much pain. That mountain man needs to be fitted with your eyes.”

"No!" The little devil was terrified, his own voice sounding faint and distant, as if coming from the horizon. "No, there must be other ways. Demon Mountain, trust me, I'll think of something better. No matter what, you can't take my eyes... you can't..."