The Mountain of Ice and Fire

Flags fluttered, whistling as they approached!

The lion and stag banner was the royal flag, while the crimson smoke beast and ice sword belonged to the Clegane banner!

"Open the gate! Open the gate quickly!" the centurion on the city wall shouted.

The garrison soldiers dared not neglect their duty, shouting slogans in unison as they pushed the winch, the heavy iron-clad oak door slowly opening with a creaking sound.

Riding at full speed was the Mountain's guard battalion, an absolutely loyal and elite force of over five hundred men.

Each cavalryman carried two javelins, followed by bows, longswords, short knives, and daggers.

Javelins for charging the enemy lines, bows for attacking from afar, longswords for mounted combat, and short knives and daggers for close-quarters fighting.

The Mountain's guard battalion consisted of professional soldiers trained in all aspects of warfare. When not fighting, they spent every day training, training, training, with no days off. Training in combat and battle formations was their life.

The Mountain's guard battalion received three times the pay of the King's Landing city guard!

Each soldier could fight one-on-one, and with just two men, they could execute well-trained maneuvers. With over five hundred men, they formed an ironclad formation.

The cavalrymen slowed down as they reached the city gate. They entered Old Gate Street, their hooves clattering, their armor gleaming, their military presence imposing.

Pedestrians quickly moved aside, many cheering loudly. However, almost all of those cheering were commoners, vagrants, the poor, and refugees.

The civil war had been raging for three years, and was about to enter its fourth year. When the Mountain was in King's Landing, he had often helped the poor, first by distributing food and second by providing employment. The wages a refugee earned and the black bread they brought home could barely sustain their family.

The Mountain was the first general to seize Harrenhal in the Riverlands. The grain reserves in Harrenhal were enough to feed tens of thousands of people for over ten years. The Riverlands were the granary of the Seven Kingdoms, and the Harrenhal territory, thanks to the God's Eye lake, was the granary within the granary.

The Mountain's reputation was not good among the nobles. The nobles' sense of superiority was reflected in their etiquette, education, family history, knowledge, and other aspects. The Mountain's grandfather was just a dog trainer for the Lannister family, a very lowly origin. Whenever the Mountain achieved something or won a battle, the nobles would mock his ancestors as dog trainers, using this to find a distorted sense of superiority.

However, the Mountain didn't care about these nobles who looked down on him in their hearts but had to bow before him. The college student from Earth's ancient Eastern civilization understood a simple truth: the poor are the majority, and he who wins the poor wins the hearts of the people.

The Mountain's cavalry battalion entered the city and headed straight for the Red Keep.

Meanwhile, about a day and a half's ride away, Littlefinger Petyr Baelish and Melisandre were also rushing with a cavalry force of over three hundred men.

Of these three hundred cavalrymen, a hundred came from the Vale, trusted men Littlefinger had cultivated during his time there. The other two hundred cavalrymen were short horse soldiers from the Mountains of the Moon tribes.

When the forty-odd tribes of the Mountains of the Moon learned that the Mountain was taming dragons in the deepest part of the mountains, the Mountains of the Moon tribes all submitted to the Mountain. The Mountain gained over two thousand new warriors, from which he selected two hundred to form a cavalry force, and had them enter King's Landing with Littlefinger, led by the accompanying priestess Melisandre.

The Vale's warhorses could not match the speed of the Crab Claw Peninsula's thoroughbreds; and the short horses of the Mountains of the Moon tribes, which were suited for the small mountain roads, could not keep up with the Mountain's cavalry speed on the flat roads. Thus, this cavalry force of three hundred men, led by Littlefinger Petyr Baelish and Melisandre, formed the second echelon entering the city.

The Mountain appeared to be a boorish giant, but was actually meticulous and extremely cautious. In order to live longer and avoid accidents, even with the sheep-stealing dragon, he still would not rashly enter King's Landing alone with the dragon. His guard battalion had to follow closely.

Although the guard battalion were all elites, their numbers were not large, so the Mountain temporarily selected two hundred cavalrymen from the Mountains of the Moon's two thousand new recruits to follow Melisandre.

The Mountain's force and Littlefinger's cavalry combined into a cavalry force of nearly a thousand men, plus the mysterious Melisandre, his own ice giant sword, and a dragon. With this strength entering King's Landing, even if an accident occurred, it would be enough to level the enemies.

Melisandre was a stunningly beautiful woman, but the Mountain considered her to be his most reliable protection, stronger than all his guards. After obtaining the dragon, the Mountain felt he needed Melisandre's protection even more.

Perhaps once a pauper truly becomes a nouveau riche, the first thing that comes to mind is not enjoyment, but safety.

The Mountain's crude style and giant body containing absolute power concealed his consistent caution; the stronger he became, the more he had to act cautiously in secret. Different from the Mountain's cautiousness, a slender girl, short in stature, with a thin sword at her waist like a child's toy, acted without any pretense of humility.

This girl was on a large cargo ship sailing from Braavos to King's Landing.

This was a three-story merchant ship, with a very tall hull and thick masts that pierced the sky, appearing unattainable. The sea breeze filled the sails, and the oarsmen didn't need to row. The ship caught the wind and sailed quickly towards King's Landing's Blackwater Rush port.

A narrow sea separated two continents: Essos to the east and Westeros to the west. Essos had nine Free Cities, five of which were located along the coast, two inland, and two on islands at sea. Among these nine Free Cities, the most powerful at sea was Braavos.

This girl came from the city-state of Braavos. This merchant ship was also from Braavos. The mercenaries, sailors, oarsmen, and captain on board were all Braavosi.

In Braavos, the city-state with the most powerful navy, there was a very famous island - the Isle of Faces. On the island was the House of Black and White, a place dedicated to training the most elite assassins. The assassins worshiped another incarnation of the God of Death: the Many-Faced God. The god has many faces, and so do people. When a person becomes an assassin of the House of Black and White, their original face must be erased, their name, family, past grievances, everything is reduced to zero, and their original face is also reduced to zero. Everything starts anew, like a brand new life.

The assassins who lost their original faces thus had a common name: Faceless Men.

This girl was a Faceless Man trained by the House of Black and White. She was a Faceless Man who refused to forget her original face. She had returned after completing her training, never forgetting her goal of killing Cersei Lannister.

Three years had passed. Besides her father Eddard Stark being rescued from the black cells by a mysterious person, her sister Sansa Stark had been forced to marry Tyrion Lannister, an ugly dwarf who was not worthy of her sister at all.

Three years ago, the Tower of the Hand in the Red Keep of King's Landing was besieged. Her father's guards, steward, septa, stableman, butcher, the old woman who cooked, and the cleaning servants, including the pigs, horses, cattle, and sheep in the livestock pen and her best butcher friend Mycah, were all killed by the gold cloaks sent by Cersei.

She herself had barely escaped with her life and met Jaqen H'ghar in Harrenhal. Later, at the Mountain's persuasion, she boarded a ship at the Saltpans docks, crossed the sea to Braavos, and entered the House of Black and White to learn the world's most elite assassin techniques.

Although this girl was a true Faceless Man, she still remembered her name and original face: Arya Stark!

*

A group of mercenaries were drinking, playing finger-guessing games, and talking about women on the deck, all content unsuitable for children. Just as they were talking animatedly and laughing loudly, a woman's voice suddenly rang in their ears: "Can I sit down and have a drink?"

The mercenaries were momentarily stunned. Their laughter and noise stopped abruptly. Before anyone could react, they saw a girl already sitting in their circle, as if this was her home, her circle, her territory. She sat down just like that, appearing perfectly natural.

Mercenaries had basically never seen a woman who wasn't afraid of them. These mercenaries lived lives of licking blood from their blades. Shamelessness and courage were their life's creed.

But the girl who suddenly appeared did not give them the mood to run wild or spew vulgarities. This made them a little dazed, not quite understanding what was wrong with them. It was as if they were suddenly afraid of her.

The girl was thin, but had a really good figure. There was a sword belt around her waist, and on the sword belt was a small sword so thin it looked like it would break if you looked at it.

The mercenaries were sitting around a stove, with several iron skewers on the stove, roasting meat such as rabbits, chickens, and ducks. The roasted meat smelled very good, the aroma wafting on the deck. There was a special barbecue master helping these mercenaries with their grilling.

The barbecue master also looked at the girl in astonishment, his eyes full of doubt.

The mercenaries, like the barbecue master, also looked at the girl in astonishment. The girl spoke again: "Don't worry, I won't eat your food and drink for nothing." She took out a gold coin and threw it in front of the barbecue master. "Is that enough?" The gold coin spun around, and after a long while, it was still spinning, not falling down.

The girl gestured to the mercenary beside her. The mercenary with a collapsed nose and bronze skin instinctively handed her the wine skin. The girl took the wine skin and took a big gulp: "The wine is watered down," she frowned and said. With a whoosh, a small knife flashing with silver light appeared in the girl's hand. She cut off a piece of golden-yellow rabbit leg and took a big bite.

"It would be even better if there was a jar of honey," the girl said.

"Who are you?" a mercenary who looked like a leader asked.

"Nobody, a nobody, really."

The mercenaries were originally a group of fearless desperadoes, but strangely, their vicious nature suddenly disappeared in front of this girl. This was very strange. It was as if there was a strange invisible power in the girl that made them involuntarily become 'gentlemen'.

"Are you going to King's Landing too?" another mercenary said.

This was a standard piece of nonsense. This was a merchant ship going to King's Landing, so she was naturally going to King's Landing.

"Yes, going to King's Landing."

"What for?" the mercenary who looked like a leader asked again. The way they looked at the girl was very wary, but they didn't know it themselves. Perhaps asking these nonsense questions was not out of their reason, but out of instinct. Otherwise, would this group of mercenaries just watch a strange girl join them, just watch her drink and eat meat? This was too... unbelievable even for themselves...

"To kill the Queen Mother, Cersei Lannister," the girl said.

The spinning of the gold coin finally stopped, standing upright for a moment, and then falling down, making a slight metallic sound.

Several mercenaries and the barbecue master looked blankly at the gold coin. A gold coin could spin for so long, staying in one place without moving or falling... spinning at high speed... this girl... knew dark magic?

A mercenary suddenly laughed, the second mercenary also laughed, then the third, the fourth, and finally all the mercenaries laughed, even the barbecue master laughed along.

"You, going to kill the Queen Mother?" the mercenary who looked like a leader looked at the narrow sword at the girl's waist, he couldn't help laughing.

The girl also laughed: "You don't believe me?"

"No, we believe you," a tall and strong mercenary laughed, "Girl, you are really the funniest person I have ever met, I want to toast you."

The girl did not refuse, grabbed the wine skin and tapped it against the mercenary's wine skin, and both of them tilted their heads back and gulped down a big mouthful of wine.

"Girl, you are going to kill the Queen Mother of King's Landing, aren't you afraid of death?" the mercenary who looked like a leader laughed.

"All men must die," the girl said lightly.

The faces of the mercenaries all froze, the leader and the mercenaries said in unison: "All men must serve."

The barbecue master was from Braavos, his face turned slightly pale: "Girl, are you from the Isle of Faces in Braavos?"

The girl glanced at the master on the ship who was responsible for barbecuing for the guests. She was clearly holding a knife in her hand, cutting meat and drinking wine, both hands not free, but she suddenly took out a very worn iron coin. One side of the iron coin had a portrait whose outline was completely unclear, and the other side was engraved with a row of words that were also worn and unclear, but you could vaguely see that it was written 'All men must die, all men must serve'.

"Master, take this iron coin to find your captain, I want to exchange it for the best room on this ship."

The faces of the barbecue master and the mercenaries all changed. This iron coin had a very special meaning in Braavos. Everyone revered it.

"Girl, you are..." the mercenary leader blurted out, but he immediately realized his impropriety and quickly closed his mouth tightly.

The girl said: "All men must die."

Everyone was respectful and said in unison: "All men must serve."

The barbecue master quickly stood up, tightly holding the iron coin in his hand: "Girl, please allow me to call the captain to see you." The barbecue master paused, and then held the gold coin that the girl had paid with both hands and handed it to the girl. Even if he was killed, he would not want this gold coin.

"No need, I need to rest well on this trip, let the captain exchange the best cabin for me, and also, if the captain has honey, bring the honey here. Tell the captain not to sell watered-down wine to these brothers again next time."

"Yes, girl, I will definitely convey your words to the captain."

The girl nodded. The barbecue master put down the gold coins and left, filled with excited anticipation.

The girl said she was going to King's Landing to assassinate the Queen Mother of the opposing kingdom. She didn't need to tell these Braavosi mercenaries not to reveal her words or actions. Every Braavosi, when encountering a Faceless Man, would act as if they had never seen them before.

The girl glanced at the Braavosi mercenaries, who had suddenly become timid and restrained. "Come on, drink up!" she said, raising her wineskin. The mercenaries all raised their wineskins in response.

Thank you to [Book Friend 20191002183411622] for the reward, thank you, handshake!