The Mountain of Ice and Fire

The training grounds of Dragonstone were not large, only able to accommodate three thousand people.

At the sound of the horns, three thousand Unsullied lined up in the training grounds, forming a straight line horizontally, a row of spears vertically, and a line of swords diagonally.

The distance between each soldier and their neighbors was as precise as if measured with a ruler.

The Mountain, riding the dragon in the sky, and Arianne Martell were both secretly impressed.

The discipline and formation of the Unsullied were impeccable!

Outside the walls of Dragonstone was Daenerys's real army: cavalry arranged in square formations, stretching all the way to the harbor docks in a dark mass.

It was difficult for cavalry to form ranks like infantry, and the Dothraki did not like formations. However, their horsemanship was unparalleled in the world. After learning formations, the Dothraki cavalry's ranks were uniform, as if they had undergone years of rigorous training.

Besides the cavalry, the Mountain also saw sword-and-shield soldiers and spearmen in the sky. Judging from the attire of the sword-and-shield soldiers, they were mercenaries from different places.

In the harbor, hundreds of warships were also arranged in formation, each ship's deck holding a small square of infantry.

Arianne, on Viserys's back, shouted to the Mountain, "The Mountain, Daenerys is showing us her military might!"

"Her military administration skills are outstanding," the Mountain praised.

Woooooo—

On the walls of Dragonstone, Daenerys blew the Dragon Horn towards the sky.

The Dragon Horn was another way to control dragons.

There were two ways to control dragons: one was through dragon language, the lost High Valyrian language; the other was the Dragon Horn. The Dragon Horn was a horn specifically for controlling dragons, just like the Mountain's military whistle for commanding the Clegane troops. Whether the troops advanced, retreated, or formed ranks to defend against the enemy, it was all in the whistle's tones.

Legend has it that the Dragon Horn possessed magical powers.

When the Dragon Horn sounded, the black dragon Drogon, the bronze dragon Rhaegal, and the white dragon Viserys all responded with dragon roars, gentle and full of docile joy.

The black dragon Drogon was the first to swoop down, flying towards Daenerys.

Inside and outside the city walls, on land and in the harbor, hundreds of thousands of soldiers were silent.

Four dragons were in the low sky above Dragonstone, one of the giant dragons as large as a mountain, its wings spread almost blocking most of the sunlight, while the Dragon Mother's three small dragons seemed as small as children.

Hundreds of thousands of soldiers were shocked by the huge body of the giant dragon.

It was daytime, with blue skies, white clouds, and good sunlight, unlike the night the Sheepstealer chased the naval warships. In broad daylight, every soldier could clearly see the Sheepstealer's unparalleled heroic posture.

On the Sheepstealer's back were the Mountain and Tyrion Lannister, the Imp. On the back of the white dragon Viserys rode a beautiful and lithe woman. This also shocked hundreds of thousands of soldiers. In a short time, Viserys had recognized a woman as his dragon rider.

Hundreds of thousands of soldiers looked up at the sky, the dark mass of soldiers bringing a dark, murderous aura. But the majesty of a giant dragon was even greater, causing the soldiers below to show awe in their eyes.

The two hundred and fifty-one-year-old Sheepstealer was truly—too huge!

Drogon flew down to the city wall, landing beside Daenerys. Daenerys's handmaid Missandei had already prepared cured meat, Drogon's favorite delicious food, bar none.

A piece of cured meat was thrown out, and an unexpected thing happened. Drogon did not breathe dragon fire to roast the cured meat and then swallow it in one gulp, but instead stretched out his dragon claw to catch the cured meat, and then placed the cured meat on the city wall.

Drogon was not in a hurry to roast and eat it!

This was the first time in Daenerys's four years of raising dragons!

Drogon, Rhaegal, and Viserys's favorite food was Daenerys's cured meat. Because of the salt, cured meat had become the three dragons' favorite. Every time to eat cured meat, the three dragons would fight over it.

"Drogon, eat!" Daenerys said in the dragon language.

Drogon lowered his ferocious head, breathed dragon breath, sniffed the cured meat with his nostrils, then turned his head to the other side, his dragon eyes gleaming dazzlingly, as if he was about to say something immediately.

Daenerys's heart sank!

Drogon was indifferent to the most delicious cured meat, with no desire to eat it!

This was an unprecedented situation!

Ser Barristan Selmy, Ser Jorah Mormont, the blood riders, the Unsullied leader, and the mercenary captains beside Her Majesty were all shocked.

The Mountain drove the giant dragon and three small dragons back together, and Drogon, the leader of the three small dragons, was no longer interested in the salt meat carefully cured by his mother.

Dragons have three major talents: fighting, gluttony, and silver hair! There is no distinction between the three major talents, they are all innate to dragons.

"Drogon!" Daenerys shouted. She stretched out her palm, and Drogon immediately lowered his head, letting Daenerys's palm caress the scales on his dragon head.

Rhaegal also flew down, his wings creating a strong wind, landing on the other side of his mother, and gently touched his mother's shoulder with his ferocious head.

The two dragons had been away from home for many days, and upon their return, they were still very close to their mother, as in the past!

"Viserys!" Daenerys shouted to the sky, "Come down... eat..." When she shouted 'eat,' Daenerys was obviously lacking in confidence, with a brief hesitation.

A carefully cured piece of meat was beside Drogon's dragon claw, but he had no desire to eat it; Rhaegal also did not attempt to steal from the cured meat basket beside Missandei. In the past, if he was not given food, Rhaegal would stretch out his long neck, bypass his mother's body, and snatch food from Missandei's cured meat basket to roast and then swallow it in one gulp.

In the sky, Viserys responded to his mother with a soft cry, but did not fly down.

When a dragon recognizes its master, its loyalty will shift, just like a married daughter, although she loves her parents and family in her heart, her life and center are always in her home after marriage.

Viserys was also very gluttonous, but obviously, Daenerys's food temptation had basically no attraction for him. Daenerys herself had lost the confidence to please Viserys with food.

"Viserys, go down," Arianne said in the dragon language. She saw that Viserys wanted to go down and be close to Daenerys. After all, Daenerys had raised him for four years. Arianne Martell loved Viserys as if he were her own life. Viserys's beauty and dragon威 were unparalleled in Arianne's eyes. Her love for Viserys flowed from the depths of her life, and she would never let Viserys feel any difficulty. Arianne would indulge Viserys in achieving whatever he wanted.

Viserys flew down to the city wall with a soft cry, Arianne riding on his back. At this moment, all the soldiers inside and outside Dragonstone's city walls, including those on the harbor warships, were looking at Viserys and the dragon rider on his back.

What kind of amazing person could conquer Viserys?!

Except for a few generals who knew Arianne Martell's background, most of the soldiers and mercenaries from across the Narrow Sea did not know Arianne Martell.

Viserys flew down to the city wall and lowered himself, Arianne gracefully came to the ground. Viserys cried out to his mother, flapped his wings, and Drogon and Rhaegal flew up together, giving Viserys their place.

A smile appeared on Daenerys's face, but the meaning of that smile was somewhat complicated, not all joy: "Viserys, don't you want me anymore?"

Viserys flew to Daenerys's side, blowing hot breath on Daenerys's face. Daenerys giggled and closed her eyes to let Viserys roll away.

Viserys did not roll away. Like a child returning home, he snuggled up to his mother, his long neck swayed, his dragon eyes sparkled, and he gave a pleasant dragon roar to the tens of thousands of soldiers below the city wall, as if he was saying hello to them.

Perhaps the dragon's mood was really happy, but the hearts of the hundreds of thousands of soldiers inside and outside the city walls were not happy.

They felt that the Dragon Mother was about to lose Viserys. This little white guy was having a lot of fun outside and had even recognized a dragon rider. If this dragon rider was loyal to Her Majesty, it would be a great thing, but unfortunately, this woman came with the Mountain.

The Mountain could tame a giant dragon, so of course he had the ability to teach others to tame a small dragon. Vaguely, the soldiers uneasily felt that the Mountain's dragon-taming skills might even be above the Dragon Mother's. The Dragon Mother had also allowed her two generals to tame dragons, hoping they could become dragon riders, but had not succeeded.

But a female general under the Mountain had succeeded in a short time. Like the Mountain, she had created a miracle.

Arianne Martell walked to Daenerys's front, her right hand clenched into a fist and placed on her left chest: "Your Majesty the Queen, Arianne Martell of Dorne pays her respects to you."

"Arianne Martell, I am very happy to meet you here," Daenerys said. She looked to the sky. In the sky, the Mountain was riding the giant dragon and did not come down. The giant dragon hovered in the sky, its wings spread, blocking the sunlight of Dragonstone and casting a huge shadow.

"Your Majesty, Viserys and I are destined, and I am also of dragon blood."

"Yes, we are family."

"Your Majesty, my brother crossed the sea to find you. Have you seen him?"

Daenerys was slightly surprised. She had already sent information about Quentyn Martell's misfortune to Dorne. Why didn't Arianne know about Quentyn's death? Could it be that Prince Doran Martell did not tell Princess Arianne about Quentyn's death?

According to Varys's information, Arianne had imprisoned Prince Doran, who did not want to go to war, in order to seek revenge. She launched a coup and succeeded. Perhaps it was because of the coup that Doran Martell had concealed many things from Arianne...

"Princess Arianne, Prince Quentyn accidentally turned his back to them while taming dragons on the Dothraki Sea..."

"Quentyn was burned to death by dragon fire?"

"...It was an accident..."

"My unfortunate brother," Arianne said. But there was not a trace of sadness in her tone, as if she was talking about the name and affairs of an irrelevant person.

"When taming dragons, you should cherish dragons as if they were your own life, and revere them as if they were gods. Anyone who only wants to use dragons' fighting talents to fight is a blasphemy against dragons. They are not worthy of owning dragons."

"You are absolutely right, Princess Arianne." Then, Daenerys's voice became smaller, "Hey, Arianne, I know the Mountain is forcing you to swear allegiance to him in Highgarden. I will save you, Arianne. We are both of dragon blood. The Targaryen and Martell families have always been family. I need your support."

"Your Majesty, I have sworn allegiance to the Mountain. My tens of thousands of soldiers have also knelt down and sworn oaths."

Jorah Mormont said, "Princess Arianne, the Mountain is the most heinous criminal in the Seven Kingdoms and cannot be trusted. He killed Oberyn Martell, and Lady Jayne killed the heads or heirs of the nine great houses of Dorne. Have you forgotten Dorne's blood feud with the Mountain?"

Arianne pondered slightly: "Your Majesty, we are here to negotiate."

"What does the Mountain want?" Daenerys asked directly.

"What he wants is very simple: fifty thousand warhorses, Dragonstone, the Iron Islands, and for Your Majesty to withdraw your troops from Westeros's territory. For the rest of Your Majesty's life, Your Majesty cannot launch another westward expedition to Westeros."

"Fifty thousand warhorses?"

"Yes!"

"I have no warhorses. Those are the private property of the Dothraki. Even if I am their queen, I have no right to ask the Dothraki to give up their warhorses. To the Dothraki, warhorses are their lives, souls, relatives, and homes."

"You need to persuade the Dothraki to give up fifty thousand warhorses," Arianne Martell said lightly. "If Your Majesty cannot agree to this, then there is no need to talk any further. Fifty thousand warhorses are the basis for negotiation and the sincerity of your willingness to negotiate."

"Oh, what do you mean, is this a threat?" There was sharpness in Daenerys's tone.

"If the Mountain doesn't get fifty thousand warhorses, he will start a war."

Barristan Selmy said coldly, "Princess Arianne, are these fifty thousand warhorses for the Mountain's personal wealth? Or are they a gift for peace for King Tommen? Does the Mountain have the final say in this country? Or does the King's Hand? According to the principle of equality, we need to meet with King Tommen, or the Hand of the King sent by the Red Keep of King's Landing, not the Mountain. The Mountain's status cannot match our Queen."

"Ser Barristan, the Mountain is the Master of War of the Kingdom and has obtained the joint appointment and authorization of the King, Queen Mother, and Hand of the King. If you have no sincerity in negotiating, then we will go back."

"Alright, Princess Arianne, for the sake of your kinship with my family, I agree to give the Mountain fifty thousand warhorses in exchange for peace, but you cannot ride Viserys away. He is my child."

"Your Majesty, I have already gained Viserys's approval, and now I am his master."

"That's not necessarily true, Arianne." Daenerys's hand gently patted Viserys's dragon head, and the little dragon tilted his head and leaned against Daenerys's body. "Viserys listens to me very much, and my Dragon Horn also has a rare restraining power over him. How about this, I agree to all of the Mountain's peace conditions, but not including the dragon. Or, you swear allegiance to me, and Viserys will belong to you."

Thank you [00JH00] for the reward support, thank you, handshake!