The Mountain of Ice and Fire

The Pentos Assembly

December of the 301st year of Aegon's reign.

Westeros Continent. King's Landing. Red Keep. Maegor's Holdfast.

A sturdy little boy was crawling swiftly across the carpet, quickly hiding inside a tall wardrobe. His movements were practiced, nimble, faster than a rabbit. Although the little fellow could stand up and walk, he disliked the slow speed, and his crawling speed on the ground was faster than a dog's.

Footsteps sounded outside, followed by the creaking of the door being pushed open. The footsteps went straight to the small bed, and upon lifting the blanket, a panicked voice cried out miserably, "Guards! Guards! Guards! The prince is missing! The prince is missing again!" The woman shouted outwards while bending down, her face pressed to the ground, her whole body lying down to look under the bed.

The space under the bed was empty, with no sign of the little prince.

The Kingsguard outside the little prince's bedroom in the long corridor were the Gumbert brothers. Hearing the shout, the two brothers exchanged a glance, their brows furrowed. Together, they strode forward, rushing over like the wind.

The Gumbert brothers entered the room, their expressions grave but not panicked. They first secured the door.

The little rascal had sneaked out several times, always through the door. Once, he nearly caused a catastrophe. After crawling out the door, the little fellow was moving so fast that he tumbled down the high stairs to the next floor, step after step. The stairs were so high that everyone was terrified, thinking it was over. But then, the little fellow got up, looked up at the stunned and distraught crowd, giggled, and continued to crawl quickly towards the next floor's staircase. The guards and maids rushed forward, more than ten people reaching out together to grab the prince. They then carefully checked his body. Fortunately, the little prince was tough, with only slight abrasions on his forehead and arms, otherwise unharmed.

After experiencing multiple painful failures in playing this nerve-wracking game with the little prince, the Gumbert brothers summarized their primary experience: first, don't panic; second, secure the door first.

Prince Joffrey Clegane could walk, but he preferred crawling on the ground, and his speed could only be described as swift. Sometimes, chasing him too closely was not a good idea. He was so fast that he would crash into walls, tables, and other furniture, resulting in a bloody head and a earth-shattering cry, which was incredibly troublesome and frightened everyone to death.

The second brother, Gerold Gumbert, nodded, signaling the terrified maid to leave first.

The maid looked panicked and was about to speak, but was met with a fierce glare from Geremy Gumbert. She swallowed her words, took three steps back, her palms sweating, and walked outside. She was a new maid sent by Lady Silverhall of the Westerlands to the queen, responsible for taking care of the little prince's daily life. If anything happened to the little prince, she would be guilty of a serious crime, and it would also implicate the Silverhall family.

Queen Jeyne had a good relationship with Lady Silverhall, but the little prince could not be allowed to be lost.

Gerold Gumbert guarded the door, opening it a crack, gesturing for his brother to check the windows first.

The little rascal had once crawled onto a stool from the ground, then climbed from the stool to the window. If the window hadn't been dozens of feet above the ground and he hesitated about whether to roll down, he would have been done for. But in that moment of hesitation, the maid pounced on him, grabbing his belt and pulling the little prince back. After that incident, stools were no longer allowed in the prince's bedroom, and the windows were all nailed shut with bars.

For the sake of stability, Geremy quickly checked the windows and found no problems.

The two brothers breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

Who would have thought that the maid had only left for a short while to wash her hands, and when she returned, the little prince who had been sleeping in bed was gone.

The little prince's bedroom was large, with many rooms, but there was only one door to the outside, and not many windows to climb out of. Now, they were all nailed shut, with no signs of being pried open or damaged, so there was nothing to worry about.

The prince was hiding somewhere, always listening intently to the conversations of the adults who were worried sick about him, and then quickly changing his hiding place based on the content of the conversations, finding loopholes in the adults' plans, and finally sneaking out the door and crawling away.

As two Kingsguard who had been matching wits with the little prince for three months, Gerold and Geremy deeply understood the little prince's ways. If the two searched separately, the little rascal could easily exploit the gaps by changing locations a few times. However, guarding the door and waiting for the prince was not the best strategy either. Once, the little rascal hid in the storage room, and if they had found him any later, he would have suffocated to death.

When the prince went missing, the best strategy was to find him as soon as possible.

You wouldn't feel anything usually, but only when looking for the little prince would you realize how many rooms there were in the royal palace, and how large the layout was, completely unnecessarily.

Gerold said loudly, "Geremy, go into the east room and look around. I have some urgent business to attend to."

Geremy said, "Brother, how can I do it alone? Call the maid in, and we can search separately."

"Alright, I'm leaving first." Then came the sound of heavy footsteps leaving.

The maid was called in, and the Gerold and Geremy brothers whispered in her ear for a while. Then, Geremy said, "Oh no, the horns are sounding outside! Something must have happened in the throne room! I must go."

"Ser, I'm alone here, and it's not easy to find the little prince. There are so many rooms here."

"Military orders are like mountains. If I don't go, I'll be beheaded. Close the door and search slowly, room by room. You'll find the little prince."

The sound of the door opening, the sound of footsteps leaving, and the sound of the maid's pleas all sounded together. Soon, all the sounds faded away, and only the maid was left. The maid muttered to herself, deciding to start searching from the northernmost room. Footsteps sounded, and the sound of her muttering also came, moving towards the north room.

The little prince silently pushed open a crack in the wardrobe door and crawled out nimbly, rushing towards the door like a little monkey.

The door was ajar, a perfect opportunity to crawl out and play.

Haha, hahaha!

The little prince crawled like the wind to the door, crawling out through the crack in the door. Then, he saw two pairs of feet. Looking up, the Geremy and Gerold brothers were looking at him with smiles...

The little prince didn't want to admit defeat. Like a little mouse, he tried to dart between the two men, but suddenly his body lightened, and he rose into the air, caught in Gerold's hands. His arm bent, and he held the prince in his arms. "Your Highness, still want to run?"

The little prince's two hands reached out to grab Gerold's face, shouting loudly, his two little legs kicking like windmills.

Geremy reached out and grabbed the little prince's two small hands, gently holding them. The little prince couldn't break free. He grinned, giggling! The two little legs that were rowing stopped kicking. "Go outside to play!" He pouted his little mouth.

"Prince, not today, just today," Gerold said with a smile.

Geremy said, "Your Highness, the Queen has ordered us to watch you. Tomorrow, we will board the warship to Pentos. You are not allowed to be naughty today. The Queen has too many things to prepare: food, clothing, supplies, drinks, and all kinds of gifts for the governors and princes of other city-states."

The little prince struggled hard, so Gerold put him down, pointing his big hand towards the room.

The little prince's round eyes rolled around, and he pursed his lips, knowing that neither force nor reason would work. He spat softly at Gerold, shrugged his little shoulders, and sat down backwards. Then, he turned around and crawled towards the north room like a flash. Footsteps sounded, and the maid came out...

Outside, in the sky, the sound of dragons roaring came: Jiu! Jiu! Jiu!

The three little dragons, Lady, Knight, and Terror, were flying in the courtyard, occasionally breathing fire, then soaring higher, chasing each other, their dragon claws waving, fighting together. At first, the dragon fight worried everyone that the dragons would be injured, but later everyone realized that no matter how intense the dragon fight looked, it would not cause harm to each other. They may have been practicing fighting, or they may have been playing, but they certainly wouldn't hurt each other.

They would also take these three dragons to Pentos tomorrow. One of the dragons, Terror, was to be given to Jauffre, the leader of the Tiger Party in Volantis, according to the King's order. The first reason was to compensate for the Hound killing his tiger, and the second was to win his heart, so that the people of the Tiger Party and the Elephant Party would submit and not cause trouble.

*

At the same time, in the Braavos city-state across the Narrow Sea, Governor Tyrion Lannister was on the Iron Bank island, inspecting the maze being built on the island.

The maze was built in front of the Iron Bank's gate, but it occupied almost the entire island, with one purpose: to make it impossible for people landing on the island to find the entrance to the Iron Bank's gate. The maze designers and architects were the three princes of Norvos.

The generals accompanying the governor included the artist Polliver Clegane, Sweetmouth Rafford Clegane, the Hangman Dunsen Clegane, the naval commander, and a large group of people.

"I am leaving for Pentos tomorrow to attend the administrative conference. I have to report to His Majesty the King the progress and design details of the maze. The three princes, I am not an architect, and I am afraid I will not be able to explain it clearly. I would like to ask one of you to accompany me to Pentos to meet His Majesty the King and explain in detail the construction of the maze, and how long it will take to truly complete it."

The three princes agreed. They discussed it among themselves and decided to let the third prince go to Pentos with the governor.

Polliver scratched his bald head: "Governor, we three have also discussed it. We three have unanimously decided to send me to Pentos with you to meet His Majesty the King."

Sweetmouth Rafford smiled: "Governor, we three did not discuss it last night, nor did we decide to send Polliver with you. If we are talking about reporting the security situation of the Iron Bank to His Majesty the King, I am the most eloquent of the three of us, so it is most suitable for me to go."

"People who talk a lot are verbose. You don't need good eloquence to talk about serious matters, you just need to tell the truth. I'll go," the Hangman Dunsen said coldly.

"All three of you go with me," Littlefinger Tyrion said with a smile.

Polliver, Rafford, and Dunsen all looked at Tyrion Lannister with disdain.

"Imp, your ears are very good. I want to make them into art and soak them in a wine jar," Polliver said, his right cheek twitching.

Sweetmouth Rafford smiled sweetly: "Half-man, I fuck your mother."

The Hangman Dunsen said coldly: "Imp, the King promoted you to be the governor, but don't be arrogant in front of us. If the three brothers of us clean you up, His Majesty the King will not punish us severely."

"His Majesty the King has ordered me to inform you three to go to Pentos together. I am not teasing or humiliating you."

Polliver's right cheek twitched even more violently: "Imp, are you telling the truth?"

"If I am playing tricks on you, you can cut off my cock with a knife. You all know that my cock is more important to me than my life. Without it, life will completely lose its fun," the Imp said with a shining one-eyed smile.

"Who will guard the Iron Bank when we are gone?" Dunsen said coldly.

There were five generals guarding the Iron Bank on the island, all of whom were personally stationed by the Mountain. Two of them were responsible for the periphery, and the inner circle was in charge of Polliver and the three of them. In addition, dozens of the original naval generals were here. Dunsen said this to mean that he did not trust these generals.

"His Majesty said, you three can go with me, and every one of these generals is worthy of complete trust," the Imp said with a chuckle. "If you don't go, I won't persuade you; if you want to go, you have to be prepared today, and tomorrow we will board the largest flagship to Pentos with the naval commander."

"His Majesty the King said that all three of us can go?" Polliver asked again.

Sweetmouth Rafford and the Hangman Dunsen were both staring at the Imp, waiting for his answer, their hearts hanging in the balance. This Imp, with his glib tongue, deceives and plays people regardless of the occasion. They had not seen His Majesty the King's autograph letter either.

"His Majesty the King said, if you three want to go, go, don't worry about the safety of the Iron Bank. All the generals and soldiers here are worthy of the King's trust."

"Okay, I'll go," Sweetmouth Rafford said. It was impossible for all of these generals to be completely trustworthy, but since His Majesty the King said so, there must be secret arrangements. Sweetmouth Rafford thought of the power of the House of Black and White. The Unsullied inside were allies of His Majesty the King. Arya Stark, the Elder of Destiny of the House of Black and White, was a close friend of His Majesty the King.

As long as His Majesty the King said a word to the House of Black and White, the Unsullied of the House of Black and White would secretly guard the Iron Bank, which was reassuring.

"I must go," Dunsen said coldly.

"I will be the first to board the ship," Polliver said proudly to Rafford and Dunsen.

"Okay. See you at the naval port terminal early tomorrow morning," the Imp said.

*

Slaver's Bay.

Astapor.

Missandei and the maids packed seven large boxes of clothes.

Daenerys walked in: "What are you doing with so many clothes? One box is enough."

"Your Majesty, you must prepare at least two boxes of clothes."

"No need, one box."

"You must at least prepare a box of exquisite Eastern dresses to give to the noble ladies. Queen Jeyne will also be there," Missandei said.

Daenerys said, "Okay, then two boxes, one for personal use and one for gifts."

"Yes, Your Majesty. Will you fly to Pentos on your dragon first?"

"Early tomorrow morning, I will take the boat with you. Drogon can follow in the sky."