The Mountain of Ice and Fire

Grand Master Qyburn hurried into the Tower of the Hand.

Lord Mace Tyrell wanted to see him.

The Hand's study.

"Grand Master, was the letter I wrote to Tyrion sent out?"

"It has been sent, my Lord."

"Is it secure?"

"Very secure, my Lord."

"Don't underestimate Bronn, all the rogues, beggars, orphans, and women in the brothels of King's Landing are his people."

"Lord Varys has his little birds. Bronn has only been in King's Landing for a few years, but Lord Varys has been building his intelligence network in King's Landing for twenty years."

Qyburn's words finally relieved Lord Mace.

"Last night, Cersei and Jaime's people massacred the generals and centurions of the Golden Company. We must be more careful."

"Yes, my Lord."

"The people they sent to kill did so in my name."

"In the name of the King and Your Lordship."

"I knew nothing about it. If this gets out, Tyrion will likely suspect me."

"My Lord, don't worry, I will send out another letter."

"Be very careful."

"Yes, Lord Hand. Last night, Cersei and Jaime's massacre had the opposite effect. This morning, some of the Golden Company's soldiers began to desert. This is very detrimental to the stability of morale."

Mace Tyrell sat in his chair, deeply frowning: "Grand Master, the Golden Company is leaderless now, they are just a rabble. They no longer trust Cersei, but they won't trust us either. Do you have a way to contact the soldiers of the Golden Company? If the soldiers of the Golden Company can be used by us, my tens of thousands of soldiers and the soldiers of the Golden Company can agree to launch a sudden attack, capture Cersei and Jaime, kill the Mountain and those loyal to the royal family..."

Grand Master Qyburn's eyes lit up: "My Lord, we don't have to wait for Daenerys to attack, we can take Cersei and Jaime ourselves, launch a surprise attack to kill their people, and then welcome Daenerys into King's Landing. This is a great achievement!"

"It is indeed a great achievement," Mace Tyrell stood up and paced back and forth in the study. "But Tyrion's conditions are too low, I hope to speak directly to Daenerys. Grand Master, can you help me contact Daenerys?"

"I can only try."

"You help me contact her, I want the positions of Master of Laws and Hand of the King as conditions for opening the city. If she agrees, we will launch a surprise attack and help her take Cersei and Jaime. Cersei and Jaime's legions are only twenty thousand strong, while we and the soldiers of the Golden Company combined are three times that number. If we launch a surprise attack, only two thousand people are needed to control Maegor's Holdfast and capture Cersei and Jaime."

Qyburn smiled: "My Lord, as long as we capture Cersei and Jaime, their generals will not dare to act rashly. If we threaten the Kingsguard and General Clegane with Cersei and Jaime's lives, they will have no choice but to kneel and surrender."

"Grand Master, I will write a letter to Daenerys now, and you must help me deliver it as soon as possible."

"Yes, Lord Hand."

*

A moment later, the letter written by Lord Mace Tyrell to Daenerys was placed in front of Cersei and Jaime. Grand Master Qyburn stood before the two women, head slightly lowered, respectful.

After Cersei finished reading the letter, she handed it to Jaime: "My Lady, it's difficult to win over the soldiers of the Golden Company. Lord Mace has the most troops in the city, we can't move against him yet. Once we do, the tens of thousands of soldiers of House Tyrell will mutiny. Then King's Landing will become a chaotic battlefield, and Daenerys will win without a fight."

"If we don't move against Mace Tyrell, the tens of thousands of troops from the Reach won't move rashly. If Mace wants to make a move, he will wait until Daenerys's reply. And we can write whatever we want in this reply, or we don't even need to give him a reply at all, and this will stabilize Mace first."

"Tonight, I will have Tommen and Margaery Tyrell come and keep me company," Cersei said.

"No need, I have already instructed the Mountain to release a signal first," Jaime said faintly.

"What signal?"

"A signal of our invincibility."

While Cersei, Jaime, and Qyburn were plotting, loud noises erupted outside the door, the screams of maids, the rebukes of the Iron Guards, and the sounds of swords being drawn. Then, with a loud crash, a large hole was broken in the closed door. Then, with another loud crash, the door fell down with a bang...

A person stood at the door: Jaime Lannister!

He had taken a bath, shaved his beard, and changed into a white robe and white armor, with a sword belt and a golden sword hanging from it.

Jaime Lannister had regained his handsome appearance, his face shaved until it shone. But his face was twisted, and his eyes were staring at Cersei.

Behind him, several of his brothers in the Kingsguard had drawn their swords, pointing them at their captain.

"Cersei, you lied to me!"

"I asked you to give me a day to consider, I did not agree to surrender," Cersei said coldly.

"You killed the generals and centurions of the Golden Company, which will shake the morale of the army and make the remaining ten thousand soldiers rebellious. Are you going to kill all ten thousand of them now?" Jaime asked sharply.

"They won't rebel, Jaime," Jaime Westerling said faintly.

"Lady Jaime, you don't understand military affairs or soldiers at all."

"I can guarantee that."

"What makes you so sure?"

"I know that the soldiers of the Golden Company will choose to stand on the side of the strong. Why did they kneel and submit to the Mountain at Storm's End? The same principle applies now."

"Now the Mountain doesn't have a dragon, but Daenerys is riding three dragons and can come and go as she pleases. Her riding dragons over King's Landing to persuade courtiers, generals, and commoners to surrender has already severely shaken the morale of the army and the people. Before the Mountain's army arrives in King's Landing, what we need is stability, forbearance, and delay, not massacres."

"Our killing of the generals and centurions of the Golden Company has indeed made the surrendered soldiers of the Golden Company uneasy, causing panic in the army. But they will not launch a large-scale rebellion before Daenerys attacks, they have lost their leaders who issue orders. They have no way to act in unison and cannot form a combined force. And in these few days, the situation will begin to change."

"How can it change?" Jaime sneered.

"Jaime, the Mountain killed the Night King and defeated the White Walkers. You were also in the North at the time, you know what that war was like compared to this war..."

Jaime interrupted Jaime: "The Mountain killed the Night King with the help of dragons, great sages, Melisandre, Septon monks, and the archer Anguy, but what do we have here? Great sages, dragons, Melisandre, Clegane's main army, the combined forces of the North and the Vale, and the battle-hardened Free Folk warriors, we have nothing."

"You will hear good news, Jaime, and it will be soon."

Jaime sneered: "I am the Captain of the Kingsguard, I have the right to make any suggestions on political affairs, and I also have the right to propose that a meeting of the Small Council be convened immediately. All future political and military affairs must be resolved by voting. Queen Mother, I have already seen King Tommen." Jaime took out a decree from his arms, "This is the decree signed by the King. A meeting of the Small Council will be convened immediately to formulate a unified strategy to deal with Daenerys. After the vote, it will be signed by the King and promulgated by the Hand."

Cersei raised her head and looked at Jaime indifferently: "Jaime, I am the Regent."

"Cersei, you are no longer. If the King cannot make a clear judgment on complex military and political affairs, he still has the Hand and the Small Council below him."

*

At the same time, in the Mountains of the Moon, the Mountain was riding a dragon deep in the Mountains of the Moon. The Dragon Sheepstealer's wounds had healed. After eating hundreds of sheep, his scales seemed brighter, the color of the flames seemed purer, and his size seemed even larger.

For a thousand-year-old dragon, two hundred years old is not the peak of his size. As long as there is enough food, his size will still grow quickly.

Aegon the Conqueror's dragon could fit an adult with their arms raised just by opening its mouth. It could swallow a bison or an elephant in one bite.

The dragon flew high in the sky, flying over the summit of the Giant's Lance. The Eyrie was originally on the summit of the Giant's Lance, but now the mountain peak is broken, and there is only a burnt, molten rock ruin there.

In a short period of time, the black rock ruins were covered with snow.

The Giant's Lance is too high, and snow begins to accumulate halfway up the mountain. At the top of the mountain, it is as cold as winter with constant snow and frost.

The Mountain, Sheepstealer, and Arianne Martell's resistance to this knife-like cold has obviously greatly increased. The experience of fighting in the North has invisibly improved their ability to adapt to the bitter cold.

The Mountain flew the dragon more tacitly, and the relationship between man and dragon was basically the same as the relationship between dragon rider and dragon. It's just that there is no contract of loyalty between master and mount between them.

The Mountain needs Sheepstealer, and Sheepstealer needs the Mountain even more.

Sheepstealer, who is used to eating roasted sheep with snow salt and expensive spices, is as dependent on the Mountain as a family member.

Arianne Martell, riding on the dragon's back, realized that the dragon was flying in the wrong direction.

"Mountain, aren't we flying back today?"

"South, let's take a look at Daenerys's fleet first."

"Aren't you afraid of being discovered by Daenerys's three dragons?"

"Those are three children."

"Aren't you always worried about the Green Prophet Bran Stark knowing that the dragon is still alive?"

"There is no need to hide it from him now. Even if he knows, he cannot affect us. On the contrary, he will reconsider how to get along with us."

"Is all of this in your design?"

"No, I just imagined Bran as my enemy first. Now we have won enough time. Even if Bran knows, he is in the North and it is difficult to pass the information out in the first time. Even if his information is passed out, it has already lost its meaning."

*

In the territory of the Frey family in the Riverlands, a team was moving forward, with no end in sight. The team was carrying various flags, the leading flag was the royal flag of King Tommen and the flayed man sigil of House Bolton.

This army exceeded thirty thousand: mainly composed of Clegane troops and Vale legions. They have returned from the North and are walking on the Kingsroad.

The marching speed of the team was not fast, because the cavalry had also become infantry. At this speed, it would take at least a month to reach King's Landing.

Anguy Clegane rode a war horse, his right calf was fitted with a prosthesis, an iron leg made for him by a blacksmith. With his trouser leg down, people who didn't know wouldn't be able to tell that this was a one-legged general.

Melisandre and Lady Donella Qyburn also rode war horses, one all black and one bright red, one with rough skin and one with delicate skin. The two women were the highest leaders of this army. Among the guards protecting these two female leaders was a little dwarf, he was the most powerful skinchanger of the wildling tribe recently recruited by the Mountain: Varamyr Sixskins.

Varamyr's snow bear, dire wolf, and shadow lynx all died in the great battle at Winterfell. The only old 'subordinate' who survived was his mountain eagle.

The mountain eagle flew above the team, and everything it saw was everything Varamyr saw.

The Starks in the North did not send troops south. The North suffered heavy losses. For them, winter has come and Winterfell needs to be rebuilt. The Free Folk warriors, led by Rattleshirt, have begun to return to the Thenn Mountains. The Night's Watch gave up guarding the Shadow Tower. The Free Folk tribes and the Starks of the North and Night's Watch Commander Jon Snow signed a peace agreement. In winter, the snow on the Wall will reach more than ten feet thick, and people can only live underground, so there can be no more wars.

*

The autumn night sky was cold, and the cold intensified as the night deepened. But this bit of cold was simply warm compared to the bitter cold of the North.

The Mountain and Arianne rode on the back of the dragon Sheepstealer, which was like snuggling up to a large stove. And after the Sheepstealer was baptized by the Night King's ice spear, his resistance to the cold greatly increased after his injury healed. The cold in the southern autumn night had no effect on him.

The dragon looked down from the high blue night sky and saw a large area of ship fires. More than two thousand warships and hundreds of large merchant ships lit up the sea at night. It was as if the stars in the sky were scattered on the sea.

"If we go down to attack now, we can burn down most of their warships," Arianne Martell was eager to try.

"No!"

"Why not?"

"If the dragon goes down, the three little dragons will notice."

"Then kill the three little dragons."

The Mountain chuckled: "Dragons are not ordinary magical creatures. The value of a dragon is immeasurable. Sheepstealer is a female dragon, if we can subdue one or two dragons with Sheepstealer..."

Arianne turned her head suddenly and her face hit the Mountain's face.

"What are you thinking?"

"Dragons have been extinct for more than a hundred years. It is rare for them to appear again, and there are four of them as soon as they appear. I have an idea, which can also be regarded as a plan, and that is to hope that dragons can reproduce and prosper again."

"Dragons are magical creatures that recognize their masters."

The Mountain chuckled: "Daenerys alone can only be the knight of one dragon, she still has two dragons left. When the two dragons grow up, they can become Sheepstealer's opposite-sex friends. Don't you want to become a dragon rider of a dragon?"

Arianne Martell's heart was moved!

"What if Sheepstealer runs away with Daenerys's dragon?"

"Children will not become the leaders of adults," the Mountain said lightly. "Dragons are the highest-level magical creatures, they have intelligence, whoever is the strongest will become the leader, just like us humans."