Chapter 210 The Undercurrents
The manic sea wind swept across Dragonstone Island, roaring like beasts.
The castle towering on the cliff was built with Valyrian masonry techniques and has a unique shape.
The towers were carved in the shape of dragons, and there were many gargoyles of various shapes along the castle as battlements.
The dragon claws protruding from the wall are the torch stand, the huge dragon wings cover the blacksmith shop and armoury, and the dragon tail forms the arches, bridges, and outdoor stairs.
Hundreds of years before Valyria's catastrophe came, the Targaryen family occupied the island and established a territory.
But the Targaryen family at that time didn't pay attention to this barren island. They didn't even think much of the Westeros continent. In their eyes, the Essos continent was the centre of the world.
It wasn't until a doomsday catastrophe destroyed the Dragon Empire or Valyrian Freehold that the Targaryen family, who fled to Dragonstone Island, began to turn their attention to the Westeros continent in the west.
Dragonstone Island was barren and sparsely populated. Although it guards the throat of Blackwater Bay, before the war of conquest, it was an island that no one paid attention to. After all, King's Landing was just a small fishing village at that time.
After Aegon Targaryen conquered the six kingdoms, he made King's Landing his capital, and the key position of Dragonstone Island was immediately highlighted. Therefore, during the Targaryen Dynasty, Dragonstone Island has always been the fiefdom of the Prince of the Iron Throne.
After Robert's rebellion , Robert Baratheon granted Dragonstone Island to his eldest brother, Stannis Baratheon.
Unfortunately, for this canonization, Stannis was not grateful.
Because what his younger brother Renly Baratheon got was a rich stormland.
After everything is compared, it is difficult to maintain a balanced mentality.
But fortunately, now Stannis's opportunity has come. After Eddard Stark declared Cersei's three children as evil, he became the first legal heir to the Iron Throne.
"Why do you speak of Robert as 'my dearly beloved brother'?" Stannis frowned. "I have no affection for him."
"Your Majesty... Your Majesty." Maester Cressen was too old to change his words.
"It's just a tribute."
"It's a lie." Stannis' tone was as hard as steel, cold, "remove it ."
Maester Cressen had no choice but to pick up a quill and scribble on the parchment.
Then he cleared his throat and continued to read the letter he wrote for the lords of the Seven Kingdoms: "...the late King Robert left no direct descendants, Joffrey, Tommen, and Mycella are Cersei Lannister and her brother Jaime the Kingslayer..."
Stannis interrupted again, "Ser Jaime. Whatever the man may do, he is a knight."
Maester Cressen sighed to himself.
He knew that this was his master, serious and stubborn, with a strong sense of justice, ignorant of hypocrisy, and disdainful of lying.
But this kind of "equal treatment" cruelty will not exchange for the kindness of the enemy but will only chill the hearts of the people themselves.
Among the three brothers of the Baratheon family, Renly is the most loved by the common people, Robert is the most convincing, only Stannis, no one likes him.
Even his two brothers couldn't stand him.
Of course, it's not true that no one agrees with Stannis Baratheon's ruthless and almost absolute sense of justice.
The "Onion Knight" Davos Seaworth who was sitting next to Maester Cressen was one of them.
During Robert's rebellion , the army of the Reach surrounded Storm's End, and Stannis stayed in the city for a year. His food and supplies were cut off, and he almost starved to death.
It was Davos who drove a smuggling ship full of onions into the city into Storm's End, saving Stannis' life.
But in the face of the saviour, while Stannis canonized him as a knight, he still cut off the four fingers of Davos' left hand, just because the other party was a smuggler.
"Good deeds cannot offset evil deeds, nor can evil deeds cover up good deeds, and each deed has its own retribution."
This is what Stannis said to his saviour at the time.
Normal people may have left in anger long ago, but Davos dedicated his loyalty to Stannis because of this and became the unparalleled loyal and brave "Onion Knight" under his command.
"...a bastard born of infidelity with her brother Ser Jaime. By the laws of succession and blood, I declare today that I am the first rightful heir to the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros and that the lords shall Sworn allegiance at once. In the name of the gods old and new..."
Stannis spoke again.
He knew that his wife Selyse Florent believed in the Red God, Lord of Light, and also invited a red priest named Soros to preach on Dragonstone Island every day, wielding a flaming long sword.
"Your Majesty, no one in Westeros believes in the Red God."
"There will be in the future."
"Onion Knight" Davos also quickly persuaded:
"Your Majesty, I don't recommend you to change to the Red God follower, after all, the nobles and commoners of the realm only know the Seven Gods and the Old Gods."
Stannis said blankly, "Smuggler, when did you become so devout?"
"I dare not say how devout I am."
Dave said, "A former smuggler wouldn't dare to claim to be pious, but I still go to Sept every week. I also believe that the Mother gave me seven strong sons, and it was the blacksmith who blessed me for many years."
"It was your wife who gave your son, and it was the hammer-wielding craftsman who ensured that your boat would not be broken by the wind and waves. As for the one who gave you your current status, it was me!"
"But even in this way, you should not change your beliefs at will. This will make the nobles think you are an arrogant king, and it may be difficult for the common people to love you."
"When did they love me!"
Stannis stood up abruptly and walked to the south-facing window, overlooking the vast ocean, "From the day I saw the 'Proud Wind' hit the rocks and sank, I made up my mind not to believe in the Seven Gods anymore! Any cruel gods who sit and watch my parents drown are not worthy of my belief! "
"Those priests have been nagging me all the time that all the fairness and justice in the world come from the Seven Gods, but all the fairness and justice I have seen are all done by human power!"
"On the contrary, those seven bullshit gods just watch and do nothing! "
"Therefore, I would rather choose this red god, at least he does show a power beyond the reach of mortals, real power."
Davos persuaded again: "Your Majesty, if you are talking about Soros' flaming sword, please believe me, it just bluffing."
"No. I'm talking about the real power, the power -The power contained in the flames!"
Stannis looked sideways at the flames jumping in the fireplace as if seeing the horrible visions again, "I need that power."
Davos thought of the sensational news from the Skyreach city. At first, he didn't believe that someone could cut down four kingsguard with a single sword, but as more and more people said that, he had to believe it. "I heard that the Kingslayer wields a burning red sword... Is that the power of flames?"
So, he closed his mouth.
Seeing that his subordinates did not speak anymore, Stannis suddenly turned around and said coldly, "Immediately modify it according to my wishes, and then release all the ravens in our hands!"
"Yes." Maester Cressen had no choice but to agree.
Stannis nodded in satisfaction, returned to his seat, and sat down.
In front of him was the huge wooden table made by the "Conqueror" Aegon Targaryen back then, on which the entire landform of Westeros was vividly carved.
The location corresponding to Dragonstone Island was carefully designed to be Stannis' seat.
At this moment, the entire Seven Kingdoms seemed to be under the control of this king.
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King's Landing, Red Keep.
The young king sat at the head of the imperial council, and a pile of cushions was added under his buttocks to allow him to reach the table.
"The last few left," Ser Kevan Lannister assured, seeing the king's impatience.
Tommen pursed his lips aggrievedly but obediently held the quill with his plump young hands, ready to sign.
Kevan handed over a piece of parchment and explained: "This document condemns Samwell Caesar for regicide and treason, and demands that Duke Mace Tyrell immediately deprive the Caesar family of all titles, castles, and fiefs and escort him to King's Landing for trial."
"I heard that Caesar has a dragon." The Master of coins "Little Devil" Tyrion Lannister suddenly said.
Kevan nodded: "I haven't forgotten. However, that dragon is not easy to deal with. We don't have dragon tamers. We either let the soldiers kill it or let it escape and become a wild dragon."
"It's too wasteful," Tyrion looked sad.
"There's no way around it." Kevan shrugged, "Besides, whether this decree can be implemented depends entirely on the wishes of the Tyrell family. Now we don't have time to deal with this Caesar."
"That's right," Tyrion moved his short legs and changed his position on the chair, "Have you read the documents that Stannis handed out, uncle? That guy still has the same temper, stubborn, and hard, he can't win people's love like this, so we don't need to be afraid."
"Stannis is really not a pleasant fellow, even his own brothers can't stand him. But, there should be many people in the nobles of the Stormland who will recognize him, after all, his surname is Baratheon," Tyrion reminded.
"The army of the Stormlands is trapped in Dorne. The nobles may not be willing to spend the last bit of their wealth to support Stannis. They just lack an excuse to refuse.
And your father has already found an excuse for them," Kevan said.
He handed another piece of parchment to the king, "This document formally bestows on Edric Storm, the illegitimate son of King Robert I, as his heir and appoints him Duke of Stormsend, Guardian of the Storm."
"This idea is right." Tyrion smiled and nodded,
"If this Duke Edric Baratheon wants to keep his own legitimacy, he must recognize King Tommen's legitimacy. Then the nobles of the Stormlands will have an excuse to refuse Stannis, tsk tsk, father is really good."
"For the time being, the only way to deal with the Stormlands is to prevent them from forming a unified force and adding chaos to us."
Ser Kevan put away the paper signed by the king, "Now our main focus is still on the northern forces gathered by Eddard Stark. For this reason, the inclination of the Reach is very important."
Tyrion smiled at the king: "So I still want my nephew(brother side) to marry that 'Rose of Highgarden' as soon as possible."
"It's your nephew(sister's side)," Kevan corrected with a glare at Tyrion.
"Yes, nephew, nephew." Tyrion shrugged, gave the king a teasing look, and then changed the subject, "And my good father? Where is he now?"
"Your father has led the army to Harrenhal."
Tyrion immediately understood: "This is to block the way for the northern army to go south."
Kevan nodded and asked again: "Are our food and supplies okay?"
"There is a big problem!" Tyrion exaggeratedly exclaimed, "You know the situation of the royal treasury. It was already difficult enough to supply Joffrey's army before, but now there will be another war..."
"The Lannister family will support some."
"Then there's no problem."
Tyrion got what he wanted, with a smile on his face, but he still reminded, "However, the food and supplies are really not just money. Before King's Landing, the food was all dependent on the Reach and Honeywine River.
The 500,000 residents of King's Landing and our army are all counting on the food from Reach. If the marriage fails..."
"So we must ensure the success of the marriage." Kevan said, and handed another piece of parchment to the king, "Your Majesty, this document appoints Duke Mace Tyrell as Master of Laws to attend the imperial council."
[END]
Note-Sorry guys I'll reverting to upload 1ch/day as i want push my new novel to at least chapter 50 then .. i will upload 2ch/day✌️
#Currently i have translated 10 chapters of the new book .. should I wait and upload 50 chapters in bulk or just upload 10 chapters and then continue?