Game of Thrones: The Wrath of the Sleeping Dragon

What he said made sense. She had met Lady Caitlin before. Asha pondered for a moment and nodded slightly.

However, before the two could discuss the specific details of the mission, a guard rushed over and told Viserys some news that made his expression slightly strange.

"Call them all over."

Chapter 624 Leaving the Red Keep

A few children got into a fight inside the Red Keep, which shouldn't have been a big deal, but Daenerys's intervention escalated the situation.

At the beginning, Joffrey suddenly attacked Missandei, one of the three children from Nath Island, along with her two brothers, and Joffrey single-handedly beat them both to the ground.

However, just as Joffrey was about to pounce on Missandei, he was witnessed by the silver-haired princess Daenerys, who was passing by on the upper corridor of the garden. Gendry, Viserys's servant, happened to be with her.

Daenerys then ordered Gendry to attack Joffrey and rescue the dark-skinned foreign girl.

Then came the battle between Gendry and Joffrey. The real and fake Robert's sons fought each other fiercely, leaving each other bruised and battered. This alarmed the palace guards and eventually reached Viserys.

Inside the Royal Council Hall, Asha Greyjoy, daughter of the sea monster, hadn't left either. She insisted on staying after hearing about how fun it was, and Viserys ignored her. In front of him stood a row of children with their heads down, their heights rising and falling like waves from left to right.

The smallest of the three Nash Island children were Joffrey. Gendry was two years older than Joffrey and had a Robert-like air about him, with short black hair, a tall and muscular build, and was a head taller than Joffrey.

Finally, there was Viserys's sister, Daenerys. The silver-haired princess was the same age as Gendry and about the same height as Joffrey. Standing on the far right of the group, she lowered her head and clutched her skirt, looking pitiful.

But Viserys actually knew that this girl had more tricks up her sleeve than anyone else, and was even more difficult to manage than Renis was when she was young. The expression she was putting on now was very likely an act.

I admit my mistake.

But I was faking it.

"Go ahead."

"What exactly happened?"

Viserys's gaze swept over the boys and girls present. Among them, the two dark-skinned boys were the most seriously injured. The two of them combined couldn't beat Joffrey, and Joffrey himself was right behind them.

He couldn't guess what had happened just by looking at these people, or why several children who shouldn't have been together would be fighting.

It's quite interesting, really. The relationships between these people are complicated. If we follow the original timeline, they are all very important characters, but now they are standing in front of Viserys, bowing their heads and admitting their mistakes.

"It's...it's them."

Under Viserys's gaze, the boys all lowered their heads and remained silent. However, Joffrey, who had been beaten black and blue by Gendry, looked terrified, but at this moment he gritted his teeth and accused the villain first.

"I was walking through the garden when these foreigners suddenly rushed up and attacked me!"

"I...I was just forced to fight back."

"lie!"

However, before Joffrey could finish speaking, two girls standing on the far left and far right of the line simultaneously looked up and refuted him in unison.

The two girls paused slightly after speaking at the same time, then looked at each other. They were both speaking Valyrian, and Missandei was a few years younger than Daenerys.

But the two girls felt a sense of mutual respect and camaraderie, because although they didn't know each other, they were 'comrades-in-arms' fighting side by side at this moment.

"He's lying!"

"His Majesty!"

Then the dark-skinned girl stepped forward and began to criticize, this time using common language instead.

“My brothers and I were playing in the garden when he suddenly charged at me like a mad bull, knocking down Misander and then beating up Misandro.”

The girl loudly accused Joffrey of his crimes and exposed his lies.

Meanwhile, Missandei, the girl's brother who had been beaten black and blue by Joffrey, stood beside her, clutching his sister's sleeve in fear, trying to stop her from saying anything more.

"Missande!"

Blood was still flowing from under his nose, but he lowered his voice and whispered a fearful reminder.

They were strangers in this place, and this was the palace of the Valyrians. What kind of status would a boy living in the palace have? They didn't know, but he would at least be taller than them.

The brothers Misanthro and Misander were beaten up but looked terrified. On the other side, Gendry, who was also slightly injured and had a blue mark on his lip, also crossed his arms in front of him, bowed his head and remained silent with an attitude of admitting his mistake.

Gendry was unaware of his own identity; all he knew was that he was a damned bastard, and Prince Joffrey was also a bastard, though he couldn't be sure whether he was a Baratheon or Lannister bastard, but his status should be higher than his own.

He was just following the princess's orders to hit someone, and now Gendry was starting to regret it. He should have just grabbed Joffrey instead of punching him in the face.

"There were six children present, including one conman, two boys, and three girls."

Meanwhile, Asha Greyjoy, leaning against a stone pillar, watched the spectacle for a while before finally letting out a sneer and making a sarcastic remark.

The six teenagers present were slightly taken aback by her words, but quickly came to their senses.

Asha's words were easy to understand. Joffrey's face showed even more fear. He instinctively wanted to lie but did not expect to be exposed. Missandei, Misandre, and Gendry, the largest on the other side, all blushed.

What happened next was simple: Missandei and Daenerys, one after the other, recounted the entire incident.

It's roughly said that Joffrey went berserk and attacked the guests on Nath Island, and Daenerys happened to pass by and intervened, but nominally Joffrey should be considered to have attacked Her Highness the Princess.

"Your name is Missandei?"

Viserys heard the dark-skinned girl introduce herself and a strange expression appeared on his face. Fate is fickle. He never expected that Daenerys would meet his little handmaid and best friend ahead of time.

However, the parents of both sides, Miraz the Nath's emissary, and Cersei, who was working in the laundry room, were then brought to the scene.

Cersei looked at Joffrey's injuries with unease and concern, then cast a resentful glance at Gendry on the other side.

Logically speaking, attacking a prince or princess should be punishable by death, or at the very least, the loss of a hand. But Viserys wasn't one to mince words. Daenerys wasn't injured, and instead, he beat her up.

He is currently pondering a problem.

Joffrey has grown up and it seems inappropriate for him to continue living in the Red Keep. Should we let him leave the Red Keep?

Chapter 625 Northern Territory

Time flies in King's Landing, and aside from important military and national affairs, there are only trivial matters.

The Night's Watch, nominally incorporated into the Kingdom's army system as the Fifth Legion, finally passed through the Twins, the city of the Brecken family, and arrived at the Neck after a long journey.

The kingdom's current military deployment is mostly focused on important cities and strongholds, while ordinary castles and villages rely on the private armies of local nobles and the villagers themselves to protect their homes.

For example, the Second Legion of Oberyn is stationed near King's Landing, protecting the capital.

The Golden Regiment, as the Third Army Corps, moved and stationed itself on the banks of the Neck after the war, where it built strong fortifications and a semi-permanent camp.

This concerns the future strategic direction of the nation. The White Walkers will return sooner or later. At that time, the Night's Watch will be the first line of defense, the second line of defense will be the Golden Company at the southern end of the Neck, and the third line of defense will be King's Landing. If the capital cannot be defended, then it is time to escape to Essos.

As for the important, densely populated cities of Westeros such as Oldtown, Lannisport, and Seagulltown, they are now guarded by city garrisons, becoming royal enclaves much like Highgarden.

Viseris plans to establish governorships in these important cities in the future, with capable individuals promoted and incompetent individuals demoted, so that these cities become directly governed by the king and become engines of the national economy, instead of missing good development opportunities and stagnating or even living off past achievements as in the past.

Of course, Viserys' plan was not just about opening ports and emphasizing commerce. In the current environment where internal productivity was lagging behind and the outside world was full of wealthy merchants, opening ports would be tantamount to having wealth plundered. One must take things one step at a time and eat one bite at a time.

After crossing the Neck, the Night's Watch began a steady advance, while another detachment of the Kingdom's navy, led by Earl Geoffrey Brecken, landed at White Harbor to clear out the remaining wights.

White Harbor had been swept away by the Dothraki before, so the Kingdom's navy didn't expend much effort clearing out the ghouls after successfully landing there and quickly established a foothold. However, the cold winds and frost north of Neck remained a significant obstacle.

The cold did not seem to leave with the retreat of the undead army. The human army crossed the Neck Swamp, but the place was still a world of ice and snow, and everything was desolate.

"I don't think humans could survive in such an environment at all?"

Within the Night's Watch, a knight cloaked in black looked worriedly at the falling snowflakes, then turned to Eddard Stark beside him and spoke.

Although those who join the Night's Watch are all sinners and should not retain their former family crests, they still need some psychological support when they are thousands of miles away from home. This was a knight from the south who had never seen such a terrifying sight of ice and snow. To him, these white snowflakes looked like white demons.

“In fact, the environment north of the Great Wall is like this all year round, and it is even much colder than here.”

Eddard Stark, draped in a black cloak with the direwolf emblem embroidered on his chest, had a weathered face.

"If the savages can survive, so can we."

He also looked up at the darkening sky, then looked around at the flat land, which seemed like a suitable place to set up camp.

Ed knew that today's journey was coming to an end, so he dismounted, his feet sinking into the snow, and exhaled a long puff of white air.

As night gradually fell, the Night's Watch's march indeed came to an end.

"Stop advancing!"

"Stop advancing!"

"Set up camp!"

A messenger on horseback rode through the ranks of soldiers, shouting loudly as he relayed Commander-in-Chief Mormont's orders.

creak—

The army gradually came to a halt, and the supplies being escorted came up, including fur tents for warmth, kerosene for starting fires, and tonight's dinner.

However, oil alone is useless without flammable materials. Even the most skilled cook cannot make a meal without rice. Although the cold climate eliminated a large number of naturally growing species, some cold-resistant plants and animals survived. After receiving orders to set up camp, the Night's Watch soldiers began to collect firewood to burn for warmth.

"Let's go."

Sir Clifton.

Eddard Stark, having abandoned his dukedom, is now just an ordinary soldier with no merit, not even as high-ranking as his brother Benjen, so he naturally has to collect firewood himself.

Despite this, no one dared to approach and humiliate him. After all, there were only a little over a thousand real Night's Watch soldiers, while the tens of thousands of Northern soldiers on the outskirts were merely nominal Night's Watch soldiers who could return to their hometowns after completing their service.

House Stark remains House Stark. The direwolf's rule in the North is deeply entrenched. His son, though no longer Warden of the North, is now the future Lord of the North, albeit with a different title, and is only temporarily residing in King's Landing as a hostage.

And Ed's sword at this moment was no longer the family's ancestral two-handed greatsword 'Frost'.

The Valyrian steel greatsword Frostmourne was captured after the Battle of Riverrun and is now gathering dust in the treasury, not returned to House Stark, perhaps as punishment for the battle.

Also placed in the national treasury was the Tarly family's 'Heartbreaker'. Randy Tarly disappeared during the Battle of Riverrun, with no trace of him, only his sword 'Heartbreaker' was found and then also put into the national treasury to gather dust.

People are willing to believe that Westeros's best general, the tough Earl of Hornhill, was melted by dragonfire on the battlefield, but they are equally unwilling to believe that he might be hiding somewhere in the world, trying to return for revenge.

click -

Eddard Stark cleaved the last piece of firewood in two with a single stroke of his sword, then exhaled a faint white mist, bent down to pick them all up, and threw them into the campfire.

At that moment, Lord Commander-in-Chief Jeor Mormont, the newly arrived Maester Paishill, who was shivering from the cold, and Corinne, the "One-Handed," and others approached.

"Lord Eddard Stark."

Ed heard the voice, looked up and saw the group walking towards him. He then straightened up and bowed slightly to Jeo Mormont in greeting.

"Commander-in-Chief."

"There is something we would like to ask you, Lord Stark."