The Iron Throne of Ice and Fire

"What do you mean the time is not yet ripe?"

The High Sparrow sighed and said: "The next answer is related to your misunderstanding of the Sparrows. Your Majesty the Queen Mother, churches everywhere have been plundered and burned, and even the Silent Sisters have been raped. They are all crying... However, , but the king and his knights were unable to provide them with the protection they deserve. For the sake of my brothers and sisters who are suffering... As the Archbishop, I can only act cautiously."

Cersei's tone sounded impatient: "Give your blessing to my son, and I guarantee that Tommen will stop the violence immediately."

The High Sparrow shook his head slightly: "How to stop him? Will he send knights to protect every brother and sister on the road? Will he send soldiers to guard our temple from being burned down?"

"The kingdom is in a state of war. His Majesty the King needs manpower to suppress the rebellion. He cannot mobilize so many knights and soldiers for the time being." The lion's primary enemy is the rose, and Cersei has never considered wasting troops to protect those useless people.

It would be better for the sparrow to take a stick and an ax and die with the robbers who plundered the temple, so that... her son's kingdom would be peaceful.

Cersei's clear blue eyes moved slightly and continued: "Don't your sparrows have sticks and axes? They can defend themselves for the time being, and the war will end soon."

"That's exactly what I'm telling you. The poor sparrow took up arms to defend himself as a last resort."

As he spoke, the High Sparrow sighed again: "The law of King Maegor I strictly prohibits them from using force. Her Majesty the Queen Mother should be very clear that the pardon that year disarmed the church."

Cersei's eyes suddenly moved. Maybe she could take the church's weapons into her own hands... If she used this ax well, she would have the final say on the rules of the game in King's Landing. She could use sparrows to deal with the roses.

The dispute between the rose and the sparrow, no, this will be the disrespect of the rose to the seven gods.

If she draws her sword against the sparrow, at the right time, she can justifiably drive the rose out of the Red Keep.

If by chance the sparrow makes the rose look disgraced, the rose will not have the shame to stay in the Red Castle.

The first step to destroying Highgarden is to pluck every rose in King's Landing.

Cersei pointed to the warrior altar made of red marble and said, "Look, what is your god holding in his hand?"

The corners of the lioness's lips curled up slightly unnoticeably. Once the sparrows had lost their use value, she would have too many good reasons to disperse this group of beggars with sticks and axes.

The High Sparrow glanced in the direction Cersei pointed and said, "It's...a sword."

Cersei raised her chin slightly, looked down at the short old man in front of her, and said coldly: "Isn't this the guidance of the Seven Gods?"

The High Sparrow seemed hesitant: "But the law of Maegor I..."

"The current king is Tommen I."

After speaking, Cersei paused deliberately, waiting for the High Sparrow to take the bait.

The High Sparrow did not disappoint Cersei. He said with some excitement: "The rebirth of the Order's armed forces...has responded to our generation's ceaseless prayers for three hundred years. Your Majesty, the warriors will once again wield the shining sword to cleanse." The evil in this sinful kingdom. If your majesty allows me to rebuild the ancient Order of the Holy Sword and the Order of the Stars, every good man and woman in the Seven Kingdoms will be grateful and support your son as the king of the Seven Kingdoms."

Cersei didn't act too eager. Allowing the church's arms was just a small surprise. She didn't forget the real purpose of coming here today.

Damn drunkard, all the debts he owed for his debauchery on the Iron Throne finally fell on her head!

Looking at the little old man who couldn't hide his excitement, Cersei said directly: "Archbishop, the current situation is difficult. King Tommen would be grateful if he could forgive the royal family's debt to the church. As far as I know, the royal family's debt to the church at this moment is About one million golden dragons.”

The High Sparrow frowned: "It's one million and six hundred and seventy-seven gold dragons. This amount of gold is enough to buy bread to feed the hungry people and rebuild a thousand churches."

Cersei snorted and asked, "Do you want gold? Or do you want to abolish Maegor's dusty laws?"

The High Sparrow pondered for a while and shook his head helplessly: "Without weapons, the bread distributed to the brothers and sisters will eventually fall into the hands of villains. Alas, as you wish, the church will forgive the royal family's debt and give the trustee King Man gives his blessing. Under the protection and favor of the gods, the warrior's son will escort me to the king soon, and my sparrows will imitate the gathering of the ancient poor and protect the suffering people throughout the Seven Kingdoms."

After listening, Cersei straightened her skirt and said: "I will write the pardon as soon as possible, have His Majesty the King sign it, and stamp it with the seal of the Royal Council."

The Archbishop clasped his palms together and looked up at the dome: "Seven gods bless His Majesty the King, long live King Tommen, let the villains tremble!"

Cersei also looked at the colorful dome, and a touch of pride passed across her lips, Old Lion, have you seen it? With a few tricks, she turned the sparrows that troubled King's Landing into a bargaining chip in her hands to deal with Rose, and she also relieved the royal treasury's debt of one million gold dragons.

Cersei's heart pounded with ecstasy as the High Sparrow himself escorted her out.

But the lioness' joy did not last long, because when her carriage was passing through the city, she encountered Margaery Tyrell and her party riding back to the city.

Margaery rode a white horse, followed by a large group of knights, guards and servants, most of whom carried baskets filled with freshly picked flowers.

The nearby people gathered on both sides of the road, cheering enthusiastically for Margaery, and she smiled sweetly in return.

Cersei ordered Qyburn to monitor Margaery day and night. He told her that wherever she went, Margaery would arouse the enthusiasm of the untouchables, and Margaery did her best to give back and talk to the untouchables cordially.

Recently, whenever Tommen saw her, he would tirelessly beg her for permission to follow Margaery to do charity for the people... Of course, she would not agree to let the young Tommen contact those extremely hungry untouchables, because it was too dangerous. The incited mob would not care whether you were the king or not (Chapter 173).

As a result, Tommen was unconvinced and unhappy about his mother's kindness... The lioness could not help but clench her fists. This was the result of Margaery's mischief. She was trying her best to make Tommen dissatisfied with his mother.

If it were her eldest son Joffrey, he would be able to see through the conspiracy behind Margaery's smile and teach her to recognize her position. Unfortunately, Tommen was stupid and naive.

Cersei thought of the golden hand coin that Qyburn found (Chapter 391)... Yes, Rose knew that Joffrey was not easy to manipulate. They took a fancy to Tommen's cowardice. Rose should all die!

When the lioness was burning with anger in the carriage, Margaery drove her horse to salute, then rode beside the carriage and said, "The flowers in the King's Forest are very beautiful, Queen Mother."

Margaery wore the dark green riding clothes of the Rose family, with a happy blush on her face, and her brown curly hair was scattered on her shoulders, gently blown by the wind.

She added: "You should really come and see it together. Oh, think about what a wonderful afternoon we will have. There are flowers everywhere, and chestnuts... We roasted a lot on the way back to the city."

Cersei couldn't force a smile. She said stiffly: "I don't have time to ride in the woods to pick flowers. I have a whole kingdom waiting to rule."

"A kingdom, Queen Mother? Then who rules the other six?"

In Cersei's stiff expression, Margaery laughed cheerfully, a girl's unique laugh: "Oh, please forgive my joke. I know the heavy responsibility you have, but... I can share it with you, and I can definitely do something for you. At least, even if it's just a show, it can put an end to the rumors that you and I are competing for the king."

This little rose dared to provoke the lion in person? Cersei snorted coldly and said, "That's what the rumors say? How stupid. I never considered you as an opponent. You are my son's fiancée and the future queen of the Seven Kingdoms."

"I'm glad you said that. Oh, can you allow me to take Tommen with me next time? His Majesty will like it. The forest outside the city is really beautiful."

The dull little rose seemed not to hear the sarcasm in her words. Cersei said contemptuously, "Robert also loves the forest."

Cersei remembered that in the early days of her marriage with Robert, Robert kept begging her to go hunting with him, but she always declined politely, because she could have a tryst with Jaime during the king's hunting.

Golden day, silver night... Of course, this is a dangerous game. Not only are there many eyes and ears in the Red Castle, but the key is that no one can be sure of Robert's intentions and when he will come back.

However, the danger makes their joy more exciting.

Cersei added: "Dangers are often hidden under beautiful appearances. Don't forget that my late husband lost his life in the woods."

Margaery smiled at Cersei: "The Queen Mother is too kind to worry about me, but I am protected by guards and I am absolutely safe."

Green eyes and brown eyes looked at each other. Thinking of her own arrangements, Cersei couldn't help but smile sweetly at Margaery.

"The Queen Mother is so cute when she smiles." Margaery also smiled sweetly in return.

"Well, I just thought of something interesting."

"Oh? What are you so happy about? Can I share this joy?"

"You will share it, I promise, you will."

After that, Cersei pulled down the curtain to block Margaery's sight.

Yes, now that the Church of the Seven is under her control, she only needs to "find" enough witnesses, just like the last dwarf trial.

…………

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Riverrun is a triangular castle, facing the river on both sides. There is a large artificial moat on the west side connecting to the land. When attacked, it can open the sluice gates and release water to fill the entire moat, turning the castle into a small island surrounded by water on three sides, making it indestructible.

Sir Davon, who besieged Riverrun, took the same approach as Jaime (Chapter 221), and camped the Lannister army on the north bank of the Tumblestone River, the south bank of the Red Fork River, and the west bank of the moat.

Sir Davon had organized a tentative siege and a fierce siege, and then… He was desperate. He found that many lords in the westerlands began to refuse to participate in the next siege.

"You seem troubled, my cousin?"

Hearing the familiar voice, Sir Davon quickly looked up from the map, blinked his eyes, and after seeing the person clearly, he said in disbelief: "Oh - you are Jaime? Jaime!"

"Jaime, haha!" Sir Davon shouted excitedly, strode over and hugged Jaime.

Separating their bodies, Sir Davon looked at Jaime and said, "You have lost weight, and you have a beard?!"

Sir Davon's upright sideburns covered his entire chin, as thick as a hedge, and his head was a nest of yellow messy hair. He squeezed out a lion nose and a pair of piercing hazel eyes from the hair on his face.

Jaime said with disdain: "Compared to you, what I have is nothing. I killed three horses on the road and had no time to shave. What about you? Tsk, was your razor stolen by Blackfish?"

"I swore a poisonous oath to never shave my face until I avenged my father (Staver Lannister, killed in the war with Robb's army, Chapter 236)... But unfortunately, the Frey family's A good lady (Chapter 375) deprived me of the right to revenge.”

As he said that, Sir Davon shrugged: "It turns out that I like these hairs, and a few more hairs can keep me warm, ha!"

James patted Davon on the shoulder and said, "I will bring the Kingsguard out to practice. Come, Ser Balon Swann, please come and meet the Warden of the West, Ser Davon Lannister."

"Welcome to the hunting grounds where lions hunt trout, White Knight!"

Then, Sir Davon approached James and whispered: "My cousin, don't mention that title. I am still surprised."

James spread his hands and said: "My brother of the Kingsguard needs a steaming bathtub and delicious food at the moment. Please help me arrange it for him first."

He smiled, patted Sir Baron's arm and said, "Go and rest first."

Only James and Davon were left in the tent. They sat at the table covered with maps. Sir Davon poured James a glass of wine.

Sir James took a sip of wine and said, "Davon, I need to know the exact situation."

Davon leaned back in his chair, took a big sip of wine, and replied: "Tully is willing to admit death and be a coward. I launched two attacks and killed hundreds of people, while Tully's soldiers only suffered dozens of casualties." , Many lords in the Western Region are complaining to me. The title of Guardian of the Western Region has become a joke. For the time being, I can only sit in the castle with Heiyu while we sit outside the castle."

He took another sip of wine, and then continued: "Yesterday, I met Aunt Gina and Lord Emmon (Emmon Frey, Gina Lannister's husband) who had just arrived at the camp on the north bank of the Tumblestone River. Chapter 376), the lucky Marquis spent all night yesterday instructing me on how to attack the city, but he did not mention the Frey army's joint attack on the city. "

He scratched his messy hair irritably and continued: "There is also the self-proclaimed savior of the Riverlands, Duke Kleb. The envoy I sent almost suffered humiliation. To... look at this... …”

He got up and went to the other side to get a letter, handed it to James, and said angrily: "This is the letter I received this morning. Duke Kleb ordered the Lannister to give up the camp on the south bank of the Red Fork River. He Do you know how perfunctory the reason was, Jaime? He said he was there to supervise my siege! He treated me as a servant at will. If Lord Tywin and Lord Kevan were still alive, who would dare to humiliate me like this? Lannister?"