iron throne of ice and fire

Chapter 381 Backstab 4
"One month..."

Muttering for a moment, the Duke of Mace sighed slightly: "It seems that the relationship between Lannister and Martell will be difficult to ease."

Green nodded and said, "Prime Minister Tywin, we cannot guess what the Ironborn will do under the leadership of Euron. My suggestion is to try to stabilize the Dornish before ending the war in the Riverlands."

The Duke of Mace glanced at Green, who looked serious, and after a pause, he turned his gaze to the Duke of Tywin and said, "How about sending an envoy to discuss a marriage with Prince Doran?"

Green knew that the Duke of Metz's proposal was not well-intentioned, so he pursed his lips and pretended to be in deep thought.

Lord Tywin looked at the inflatable fish coldly and said, "To show justice, I publicly tried Tyrion and sentenced him to death. Jaime secretly let the prisoner go. I not only expelled him from King's Landing, but also made him atone with his brother's head. Now, am I going to send my granddaughter to Sunspear to be humiliated?"

His cold green eyes moved slightly: "Duke Green, have I fulfilled my responsibilities as the Prime Minister?"

Glancing at the Duke of Mace who was curling his lips secretly, Green looked at the old lion for a while and said, "Prime Minister Tywin, do you need Crab and Tyrell to serve you?"

Hearing Green's question, the old lion's eyes narrowed slightly. The two looked at each other for a while and said, "The territory of Salt Pan Town belongs to Kleber."

Saltpans is a trading port in the Riverlands, located on the northern shore of the Trident where it flows into Crab Bay, adjacent to the Dale.

He turned his gaze to the Duke of Mace: "Stonehall is to Tyrell."

To the west of Stonehall is the Westlands, and to the south is the Reach, where the Battle of the Bells during the Usurper's War took place.

After a slight pause, he said slowly, "I hope that the Lannisters, Tyrells, and Crabbe can work together to calm the anger of the Dornish people over the loss of Prince Oberyn."

After he finished speaking, he slowly swept his sharp eyes over Duke Green and Duke Metz, and continued, "Also, this matter must be properly resolved within a month."

At this moment, the Duke of Metz's originally serious face was gradually unable to suppress the upturned corners of his lips, as if he was secretly delighted with something. When he heard Green's light cough, he reacted, stroked his beard with a serious face, and said: "Let's declare war on Martell directly."

Green chuckled and said, "Duke Mace, that was the last resort. Although we can understand the grief of the Dornish people over the loss of Prince Oberyn, we cannot indulge them too much. After all, this is ultimately related to the inviolable majesty of the Iron Throne."

"Very good, we have reached a preliminary consensus."

Lord Tywin tapped the arm of his chair and said, "I want to hear your thoughts."

Green glanced at the Duke of Mace and said slowly: "Prince Tywin, the death of Prince Oberyn in King's Landing has attracted the attention of the Seven Kingdoms. We took the initiative to send an envoy to actively ease the conflict. This must be seen by everyone. As for the selection of the envoy..."

After a pause, he continued, "Your brother, Lord Justice Kevan, will be sent to Sunspear as a negotiator representing the Crabbe family, the Tyrell family, and the Lannister family. This may allow the Dornish and others to see the sincerity shown by the Red Keep."

Duke of Metz stroked his beard, his eyes moved, and he said, "I have considered it carefully, and indeed... there is no one more suitable than Earl Kevan. Well... in addition, we must prepare a gift that can fully express our sincerity."

Green nodded slightly: "Yes, this 'gift' is very important. It is related to our final decision, war or peace."

After a moment of silence, Lord Tywin said, "Let's give Blackhaven City as a gift to Prince Doran."

Blackhaven is the seat of the Dondarrion family, located in the north of the Red Mountains. It is one of the important military strongholds in the Stormlands to defend against Dorne's northern invasion.

Green's brown eyes moved slightly. It turned out that this was the purpose of dividing the two pieces of land in the Riverlands to Crabbe and Tyrell in the beginning... a strategy of killing two birds with one stone. The old lion not only wanted to solve Dorne's problem, but also to plant a nail in the southern border.

After a moment of silence, Duke Mace frowned and said, "If the Dornishmen take over Blackhaven, they can invade the Stormlands from land at any time. Moreover, the Dondarrion family of Blackhaven is an ancient and influential family in the Stormlands. The other nobles in the Stormlands will certainly feel deeply uneasy and worried about this."

"As Hand, I will listen to the voices of every Stormlord, and I promise not to pursue any past that they have sided with Renly or Stannis."

Lord Tywin slowly leaned back in his chair and continued, "If Prince Doran uses the gift from the Red Keep to undermine the peace and stability of the kingdom, I will summon all the armies in the name of the king."

The Duke of Metz opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he said nothing.

After a pause, Greene said in a steady voice, "Why not add another seat on the Royal Council? I think the Dornish people are still looking forward to returning to the center of the Seven Kingdoms and participating in the affairs of the kingdom."

Lord Tywin nodded his chin slightly, picked up a piece of parchment from the small round table beside him, and then slowly glanced at Lord Green and Lord Mace, saying, "Since we have reached a consensus, I hope you can sign your names on this document, and then the negotiating envoy from the Red Keep will take it to Sunspear."

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In the afternoon, his mother brought him the news that the wolf was dead, which made Joffrey very happy and extremely pleased.

All traitors shall die!

Joffrey stood up somewhat unsteadily, and with a "click", he skillfully loaded the bowstring and arrow.

Joffrey's lips pursed slightly as he aimed the crossbow in his hand at the roaring lion flag with a pierced lion head hanging on the wall.

Unfortunately, the body of the Wolf was taken away by the fleeing rebels... With a whoosh, the crossbow arrow shot by Joffrey hit the lion on the flag, and the arrow was still trembling slightly.

The rhythmic sound of footsteps came closer and closer, and Sir Mandon Moore, in silver armor and a white robe, walked steadily towards them holding an exquisite golden wine jug.

Joffrey sat back on the steps, slowly sitting back on the steps, raised his head, and said arrogantly: "Why is it you, where is Ser Boros (a Kingsguard appointed by Jaime to test whether each food is poisonous on behalf of the king, Chapter 331)?"

Ser Mandon placed the bottle next to Joffrey and said expressionlessly, "He happened to have some business to attend to, and I happened to have some free time, so I came here in his place, Your Majesty."

There was a pause, then Joffrey chuckled. "What could possibly be wrong with him? He has diarrhea again, the filthy fool." Ser Mandon's voice remained emotionless. "Your Majesty, Ser Boros has left to enjoy some delicious food."

Joffrey sneered sarcastically. "He eats almost the same food as the king. What else could possibly attract that stupid fat pig?"

After a moment of silence, Ser Mandon's light grey eyes moved slightly. He glanced at Joffrey and said, "He heard that there are many delicacies that are not usually seen at the Hand's banquet tonight."

When Ser Mandon finished speaking, Joffrey was stunned for a moment and said, "A Hand's party? You mean Tywin held a party?"

Ser Mandon paused, then said, "All the nobles of King's Landing are gathered in the Tower of the Hand. They are there to celebrate the death of Robb Stark."

After hearing this, Joffrey frowned and said angrily, "Why didn't I know about this... Are they treating the death of Rune the Wolf as a victory for Tywin? How can they do this? I am the king!"

As he spoke, he suddenly raised his voice and shouted: "I am the real king. They should celebrate for me wholeheartedly. Those people are all traitors, unforgivable traitors!"

Ser Mandon looked at Joffrey, who was panting with anger, for a moment before he spoke: "You have been resting recently due to illness, and this is what the King's Council has informed them."

Hearing this, Joffrey suddenly stood up and shouted excitedly, "Go and get Lord Tywin here right now!"

Seeing Lord Mandon standing there motionless, Joffrey tightly grasped the hilt of the "Lion's Tooth" sword, his handsome face twisted, and he shouted angrily: "I am the king, this is an order, you must execute it!"

There was an oppressive silence, broken only by the sound of Joffrey's heavy breathing.

Sir Manden walked down a few steps slowly, then stood firmly, turned around, saluted and said, "Your Majesty, I can certainly convey your order, but I have the obligation to remind you that such an action is likely to cause displeasure to the Prime Minister, which may lead to some unknown consequences."

A hint of fear flashed across Joffrey's somewhat spoiled face, and then he said loudly: "I am the king, I am not afraid of his displeasure, and... you cowardly Kingsguards, I will definitely find an opportunity to punish you severely."

"According to the laws of the kingdom, the Kingsguard are quietly waiting for you to come of age, Your Majesty." Ser Manden responded calmly.

"They are all excuses! Except for me, all of you are afraid of Tywin Lannister!"

After shouting, Joffrey's chest rose and fell several times, and suddenly he asked, "Why hasn't Lord Green come to see me yet?"

Sir Manden stared at the king with his dead fish eyes and said, "Your order is to meet with Duke Green without telling the Prime Minister (Chapter 365). I have been waiting for a suitable opportunity..."

Before Ser Mandon could finish, Joffrey interrupted impatiently, "Enough, stop talking nonsense, and arrange this matter for me as soon as possible!"

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A strong wind blew from the east, and the flags lined up on the city walls were blown into the air, making a rustling sound.

Davos Seaworth smelled the salt air, the smell of the sea, his favorite smell.

For a moment, he just wanted to step onto the deck again, hoist the sail, sail south, find Mariya (Davos's wife), and hold her tightly in his arms.

Davos stared up at the walls. A thousand hideous stone beasts glared down at him instead of the battlements. Each one was different: wyverns, griffins, demons, manticores, minotaurs, lizards, hellhounds, cockatrices, and a thousand other stranger monsters rose from the ramparts as if they had grown there.

But the most common thing in Dragonstone Castle is dragons. In the main castle hall there is a dragon lying on the ground, and people enter through its open mouth; in the kitchen there is a curled up dragon, and the smoke and steam from the oven are discharged from its nostrils; in the tower there are dragons perched on the city wall or flapping their wings as if ready to fly; the dragon on the Flying Dragon Tower screams and despises everything, while the dragon on the Sea Dragon Tower gazes calmly at the waves of the outer sea.

Smaller dragons decorate doorway frames, claws extending from the walls serve as torch stands, huge stone wings contain blacksmith shops and armories, and dragon tails form arches, bridges, and outdoor stairways.

Davos walked toward Aegon's Garden. He had heard that Valyrian wizards did not carve stone with their own hands like stonemasons, but shaped it with fire and spells, like a potter shaping clay.

Could it be that the stone dragons everywhere on Dragonstone are real dragons that have been petrified? If the Red Woman could really resurrect them, the rooms, stairs, furniture... the castle would collapse immediately. Davos felt that they all had to go see the Stranger first.

His "God" will not harm his own blood relatives...

Davos, with complicated thoughts, came to the Sea Dragon Tower, climbed the stairs, and prepared to go to the bachelor's study under the Crow's Nest.

Lord Davos opened the door and heard Maester Pylos' gentle voice: "Welcome, Prime Minister."

After closing the door, Daves paused and said, "Actually, I'm more suitable to be a captain."

"You are an excellent captain..."

Maester Pylos smiled. "A captain rules his ship, doesn't he? He must master the unpredictable currents, hoist the sails to catch the wind, be on the lookout for changes in the weather, and withstand the storms when they come. So the captain's duties are not unlike those of a Hand, Hand Davos."

Davos knew Maester Pylos meant well, but his words rang hollow to him.

He sat down in a random chair and said in a tired voice, "It's different. The kingdom is not a ship... In fact, this is a good thing, otherwise our kingdom would sink. I understand wood, ropes and sea water, that's true... But how can it help the situation in the kingdom? Where can I find a strong wind to blow King Stannis to the Iron Throne?"

Maester Pylos laughed. "You are right, Hand. Words are like the wind, and you have moved me with your insight. I think King Stannis knows what is needed of you."

(End of this chapter)