iron throne of ice and fire

Chapter 496 Offensive and Defensive Alliance
In the magnificent petition hall, the already noisy voices suddenly became like a surging wave, setting off a new round of even louder waves.

Regent Green looked a little tired. He slowly leaned back on the back of an exquisitely shaped chair, slightly raised his head, and stared straight at the three-headed dragon pattern carved on the dome.

Princess Arianne's eyes were like a lively flame, dancing in the noisy crowd. Suddenly, her gaze shifted to Green.

Seeing his appearance at this moment, Princess Arianne couldn't help but raise the corners of her mouth slightly and a smile flashed across her face.

Green simply waved his hand gently at the testimony that Guard Kleber hurriedly brought over. Seeing this... Prime Minister Mace reached out to take it and lowered his head to read it.

Princess Arianne's deliberately suppressed hoarse voice came to Green's ears: "Perhaps, this is a good thing for you..."

Green's brown eyes trembled slightly. He turned his head and looked into Princess Arianne's deep black eyes for a moment.

In the brief touch, it seemed as if countless thoughts were shuttling and interweaving between the two people's eyes.

Then, Green calmly withdrew his gaze. He did not make any obvious expression towards Princess Arianne's crazy "temptation", and his face remained grim.

Boom!Boom!Boom!
Green turned his head and asked Prime Minister Mace, who was holding the testimony in his hand, "How is it?"

Mace Tyrell said nothing as he handed over a stack of parchment that had been crumpled in his grasp.

Green took it and flipped through it page by page, his brows gradually furrowed... The details were clear enough, the context was reasonable enough, and it was very convincing.

"Silence! Silence! Silence!"

When the hall quieted down a bit, Green's voice rang out: "Grand Maester, where are the people who provided testimony?"

Pycelle slowly straightened his bent back, his old face showing solemnity. "If you declare a public trial, I promise they will show up in time, Your Highness the Regent."

After a pause, Green handed the testimony in his hand to Arianne and said slowly: "Do you have any other evidence?"

As he finished speaking, Pycelle's cloudy eyes slowly swept over the crowd, then he turned back to the podium and said loudly: "Lord Regent, my lords, I have served Cersei Lannister foolishly and wholeheartedly. Therefore, I am the final evidence that she has tarnished the royal bloodline!"

hum!
The old scholar's speech was like a huge rock thrown into a calm lake, instantly causing a thousand waves in the hall.

At this moment, everyone temporarily forgot about the Lannisters' deception of the Seven Kingdoms, and all admired the integrity and fearlessness of Grand Maester Pycelle.

His figure was so tall that people had to look up at him, as if he was emitting a dazzling light in the complex and dark palace.

…………

Boom!Boom!Boom!
…………

"Silence! Silence! Silence!"

…………

After whispering a few words to Prime Minister Mace and Princess Arianne, Green slowly stood up and said, "Everyone!"

All eyes in the petition hall were focused on the regent standing on the podium.

After pacing for a few steps, Green came to the edge of the platform. He looked around at the densely packed crowd below and said, "This is about the bloodline of the royal family. We must treat it with caution. Today's petition ends here. Tomorrow we will continue with today's unfinished business."

After a pause, he swept his sharp eyes over everyone again and said in a loud voice: "I swear on the honor of the Kleber family and the regent that I will never show favoritism and will confirm the accusation of Grand Maester Pycelle with absolute impartiality. Gods, please bear witness!"

Green's firm and powerful voice echoed in the hall, as if he was swearing an oath to the gods in heaven, and as if he was expressing his determination to everyone.

There was silence at first, and then someone started to shout, "Long live the Regent!"

Everyone shouted: "Long live the Regent! Long live the Regent! Long live the Regent!"

…………

…………

Deep within the solemn throne room, in the Regent’s personal study, the air seemed to be condensed by a heavy atmosphere.

Regent Green leaned back in his chair, rubbed his brow, and said in a slightly tired voice: "Jaime Lannister can't stay."

At this time, Prime Minister Mace and Princess Arianne were sitting at Green's table with different expressions.

After Green finished speaking, Prime Minister Mace, who had managed to maintain his composure, spoke first: "Hasn't he already put on a black suit?"

Green glanced at Prime Minister Mace calmly, his eyes showing a complex emotion. Then, he slowly closed his eyelids and let out a low sigh.

Princess Arianne raised her chin slightly and glanced at Prime Minister Mace with a hint of contempt in her eyes: "My Lord Prime Minister, this is exactly what makes the Regent most difficult."

Seeing him looking at her in confusion, she shrugged and said, "What happened this morning has probably spread throughout King's Landing. By tomorrow, I'm afraid the entire Seven Kingdoms will know about it. Cersei is dead. In this case, we must push someone to take responsibility and calm the public anger. And in this world, who better than that person..."

As she spoke, she seemed to have thought of something extremely ridiculous and couldn't help laughing: "...Jaime Lannister, who once stabbed the Targaryen King in the back and then had an affair with his own sister, the Queen of the Baratheon Iron Throne, who was wantonly promiscuous in the court and tainted the royal bloodline, is more suitable."

Arianne was very happy when she spoke, and only after being glared at by Green did she slightly restrain her gloating smile.

Prime Minister Mace ignored the Dornish woman's malicious words. He turned his head, looked at Green, and made his first suggestion after arriving in the study: "Perhaps Grand Maester Pycelle is getting senile. After all, he is almost ninety years old (his actual age is 83 at this time)."

"Ah!"

Princess Arianne couldn't help but sneer when she heard this. She retorted mercilessly: "Lord Mace Tyrell, you'd better wake up. You... We have no chance to stop this."

"you!"

Prime Minister Mace's cheeks turned red with anger, and he was so angry that he couldn't speak for a while.

Green still had his eyes closed and tapped the arms of his chair with his fingers, while Prime Minister Mace's chest rose and fell.

He tried to calm himself down, and after a moment's rest, he offered a second suggestion: "Hair color isn't really irrefutable evidence. Perhaps Tommen's abdication will be enough to calm the discussion in the Seven Kingdoms."

“And what?” Arianne interrupted coldly, leaning against the armrest. “Are you planning to legalize Myrcella Weir?”

Prime Minister Mace stroked his beard, as if to say with emotion: "The Knights of the Seven Kingdoms are tolerant enough towards beautiful women."

Princess Arianne laughed sarcastically. "Queen Myrcella? Your greed is truly admirable. Who will be the Queen's husband? Next, are you going to propose to the Regent that Willas Tyrell (the eldest son of the Lord of Mace) is the most suitable candidate?"

The Duke of Metz, who could no longer bear it, stood up angrily, his eyes wide open, full of anger: "Enough, don't take my humility as a basis for offending me, I am just fulfilling my duties as Prime Minister, Martell!"

Princess Arianne was not afraid of his anger at all. She raised her head and looked at Prime Minister Mace without flinching. "A bastard is a bastard, not to mention the bastard born of incest. No matter how beautiful a fig leaf you find, it cannot change this fact."

"You!!!" Prime Minister Mace was trembling all over, his fingers clenched into fists.

After a pause, the regent's voice came over: "Please sit down."

Green raised his hand to suppress it, then looked at Martell who was glaring at Tyrell, and said, "Lady Arianne, please pour us a glass of wine."

Hearing this, Arianne changed her glare to the Regent who treated her as a maid.

With the support of the man in front of her, she fully felt the pleasure of power in King's Landing. Moreover, she needed more support, because Prince Doran was always wavering between her and her brother, and this man was the best political ally she could find at the moment.

But, she is the Princess of Dorne!
"I am very honored."

Arianne forced a smile and then stood up and walked towards the wine cabinet, while the Lord of Mace sat down with his anger still lingering.

Green was always patient with the Duke of Inflatable Fish: "My Prime Minister, the issue of royal bloodline is not only related to the stability of the kingdom, but also to the honor of the three families of Crabbe, Tyrell and Martell."

While Arianne was pouring the wine, Green's voice did not stop: "This morning, I considered silencing him, but I gave up in the end... There were too many people."

Upon hearing the following, Prime Minister Mace and Princess Arianne were stunned for a moment almost at the same time, but quickly returned to their previous expressions.

Green continued: "The main thing is that my chivalrous heart does not allow me to betray my honor and bury the dirty truth."

Prime Minister Mace twisted his beard with his fingers, was silent for a moment, and suddenly said: "Green, you don't want Stannis to have a chance to come back, do you?"

"Don't forget, the Regent and the Council have deprived that man of all his rights." Arianne smiled as if the quarrel between Martell and Tyrell had never happened.

Seeing her handing him the wine glass, Prime Minister Mace snorted heavily before taking it. Then, he turned his face to the other side, raised his head and took a big sip.

"Thank you."

After Green took the other cup, Arianne adjusted her skirt and sat down, shaking her cup in her hand and said, "I don't think we need to worry too much about Stannis. The Seven Kingdoms will not welcome him. He is just a stray dog."

Prime Minister Mace suppressed the urge to scratch his head, took another sip of wine, and said, "The Iron Throne needs a king. Are we going to choose one from Robert's bastards?"

Green shook his head: "It's not appropriate. A bastard is just a bastard after all, my Prime Minister."

After a moment of silence, Arianne said jokingly, "Perhaps Martell would be very happy to have a wise regent sit on the Iron Throne."

After she finished speaking, Prime Minister Mace was shocked, but Green's expression remained calm.

"It's a tempting offer, but no."

Green's eyes swept over the two people sitting in front of him and said, "I don't have the legal right to inherit the Iron Throne. If I forcibly sit on the Iron Throne with your support, the consequence will be that everyone in the Seven Kingdoms will have the legal right to inherit the Iron Throne. You can imagine that situation. The Seven Kingdoms will be completely plunged into endless chaos."

Arianne spread her hands to indicate that she was just joking.

Prime Minister Mace breathed a sigh of relief, but he was confused. Did he just say that he would support Green to sit on the Iron Throne?

"Listen to my ideas."

Having attracted their attention, Green continued, "Stabilizing the situation is still the top priority. For the sake of the turbulent Seven Kingdoms and to appease the people of the Seven Kingdoms, I hope that Crabbe will sign an offensive and defensive alliance with the Tyrell and Martell families respectively."

While Prime Minister Mace was standing there in a daze digesting this "astonishing" proposal, Princess Arianne's voice rang out: "Not a bad idea, but I want to know how the Lord Regent will deal with the Lannisters and the Westerlands. They will definitely choose to be blind, not admit that Tommen is a bastard, or even rebel against the Seven Kingdoms."

"After Brynden Tully defeated the Lannister army at Riverrun, he directly attacked the gateway to the West, the Golden Tooth."

Green's lips curved slightly. "Tully has chosen to submit to Crabbe, and I intend to accept his loyalty."

As Mace and Arianne looked incredulous, he continued, "If necessary, I can always send troops from the Golden Tooth to sweep across the west and put down the rebellion."

At this moment, Prime Minister Mace temporarily forgot about the interests of his family. He felt an inexplicable fire of jealousy burning in his heart. The War Artist had not even broken through Storm's End, and Green had already...

Arianne's pupils first expanded, then shrank. Putting down the wine glass, she leaned forward, staring at the powerful man in front of her, and said, "Let me help that old trout?"

"of course can."

Green pulled out a few large pieces of parchment and slowly pushed them forward while looking at Arianne, whose eyes were filled with the fire of revenge. "But there is a prerequisite. We must be truly one of our own, Arianne Nymmellos Martell."

Arianne's eyes carefully scanned the alliance agreement written on the parchment, and then she reached out and picked up the quill without hesitation.

She dipped the pen in ink and was about to sign when a fat hand suddenly stopped her from writing.

Prime Minister Mace's anxious voice followed: "Your Highness, Princess Arianne is only an heir. She is not qualified to sign this kind of alliance. Only Prince Doran has the power to do so."

Then, he stroked his beard with his other hand with a little pride, and added: "But I can sign it at any time. The Tyrell-Crable Alliance is enough to protect the peace of the kingdom."

Mace Tyrell's mind was extremely flexible at this time, and coupled with the unexpected situation in the Riverlands, no matter who they would choose as the new king in the end, Green Crabbe, who was close to him, was destined to be the winner.

This time, Tyrell must be the first to stand beside the victor, which is directly related to the interests of the family.

Arianne slapped the big hand of the Duke of Inflatable Fish away and said coldly: "Tyrell, you have no right to interfere with the alliance between Martell and Crabbe!"

(End of this chapter)