The Mountain of Ice and Fire

The first government meeting after the Mountain's departure was held in the Royal Palace Hall, presided over by Queen Janei Westerling.

"Bernie, Varys, activate all the little birds in the city. Closely monitor anyone with an Eastern accent in secret. Report any suspicious individuals to General Walamir," Janei instructed.

Bernie and Varys said together, "Yes, Your Majesty."

In contrast, Walamir was small in stature but had eyes like an eagle. He gained prominence by single-handedly capturing the Sorrowsman, Abraham, as soon as he was activated, shocking the arrogant noble generals around the Mountain. He also received praise directly from the Mountain, which invisibly elevated his status among the courtiers and generals of the royal family. His identity as a 'savage,' deeply despised by the mainland nobles, was automatically ignored by everyone.

The Queen's order for Bernie and Varys to report directly to Walamir when they found suspicious individuals further elevated Walamir's position and power. The Queen publicly announced this at the courtier and general's meeting, rather than deploying it privately, which was an unparalleled honor for Walamir.

Walamir stood up, bowed deeply to Queen Janei, placed his right fist on his left chest, and struck it three times forcefully, making a loud thumping sound. Walamir didn't speak, but his actions and resolute expression said everything.

Loyal to the royal family, willing to go through fire and water, even at the cost of his life.

Queen Janei's methods of winning people's hearts were no less impressive than the Mountain's.

Walamir's performance last night could only be described as stunning.

In a situation where blood mages and Red God priests couldn't see the future, Walamir stepped in, building an invisible defensive wall and immediately and effectively counterattacking the enemy with a single blow.

The Sorrowsmen were also top assassins in the world, and although they didn't have the fame of the Faceless Men, their assassination techniques were unique and no less skilled.

When Walamir made his move, he severely punished the Sorrowsmen, establishing the royal family's authority.

Eddard Stark, as the Duke of the North, whose family had been enemies with the 'savages' outside the Wall for thousands of years, fighting and slaughtering each other, was a man of integrity and held no animosity towards Walamir, who had sworn allegiance to the Mountain.

Eddard gave Walamir an admiring look and nodded.

Queen Janei continued, "Ragged Prince, you will immediately lead the Unsullied Guard and a hundred Dothraki riders to conduct a city-wide search of all Eastern Qartheen people."

"Yes, Your Majesty," the Ragged Prince stood up, placed his right fist on his left chest, and bowed slightly. Then he strode out, and soon, the commands of the Prince's guard and the sound of horses' hooves were heard outside.

Janei looked around at the courtiers, "Bernie and Varys's little birds are in the dark, and the Ragged Prince is in the light. Bernie, Varys, I give you two days to find all the people with Eastern accents in Pentos. After General Walamir's screening, bring all the suspicious individuals to the Royal Palace. Lady Dorna Quentina and I will find the real Sorrowsmen, leaving none behind."

"Yes, Your Majesty," Bernie, Varys, and Walamir answered together.

The three then walked out together.

Eddard Stark said, "Your Majesty, what can I do?"

"Duke Stark, I'm only afraid that something might happen to you. The Sorrowsmen don't have the Faceless Men's superb disguise skills, but their manticores are not to be underestimated."

"Your Majesty, I have taken the antidote you distributed. I cannot sit in the Royal Palace and do nothing while the enemy is attacking. How about this, please put me in charge of the port and docks. We in the North have no shortage of brave men. I think I can manage the docks and ports and cooperate with the city-wide search of Eastern Qartheen people."

"Thank you, Duke Eddard," Janei said politely, "Duke Eddard, Qarth has deployed the Sorrowsmen. I think the only ones who can suppress the Sorrowsmen are the Faceless Men. Can I ask Duke Eddard to write a letter to Arya Stark, the Hand of Fate elder of the Faceless Men in Braavos?"

"Your Majesty, I'm afraid Arya is not in the House of Black and White."

"Even if she's not in the House of Black and White, you can still write a letter to the House of Black and White in your name."

"Yes, Your Majesty, I'll try."

"I will also write a letter to Arya, hoping she can come to Pentos in person. To conquer the East, we need the help of the House of Black and White."

Melisandre said, "Your Majesty, Arya is probably not in the House of Black and White, but if the House of Black and White receives a letter addressed to their Hand of Fate elder, they will definitely notify Arya as soon as possible. If Arya cannot come in a short time, I believe the House of Black and White will also send people to Pentos soon, but Your Majesty may have to request aid in the name of the royal family."

"Lady Melisandre, I accept your suggestion. I will request aid from the House of Black and White in the name of the royal family," Janei said.

In fact, Janei didn't expect to find Arya immediately by writing to her. She was essentially using the pretext of writing to Arya to notify the House of Black and White that the Eastern Sorrowsmen had come to assassinate the King, but had also broken the rules by entering the territory of the Faceless Men. She needed the Faceless Men to assist the royal family in a merciless counterattack.

Whether in terms of reputation or strength, the Faceless Men were superior to the Sorrowsmen.

The nine Free Cities and the mid-western part of the continent were the Faceless Men's base of operations. The Qartheen Sorrowsmen of the East mostly developed their forces to the east and generally did not come to the mid-west to do business. If they did, they would not assassinate particularly famous figures. The Faceless Men were the top assassin organization, they believed in the God of Death, and they had their own rules and inviolable territory.

The Sorrowsmen came to Pentos to assassinate the Mountain, but the Mountain was already the King of Braavos, and the Governor of Braavos, Littlefinger, was the Mountain's courtier. This assassination by the Sorrowsmen, from the perspective of their assassin world, was a serious provocation to the authority of the Faceless Men.

Moreover, the Hand of Fate elder of the Faceless Men, Arya, was once the Mountain's personal guard. The only difference between this guard and other guards was that this guard was completely free. She could come and go freely and was not bound by royal orders.

After Janei killed Bran in Casterly Rock, Arya stayed by the Mountain's side for a long time before leaving. As for where she went, the Mountain and Janei didn't know.

Arya, the Hand of Fate elder of the Faceless Men organization, had such a high status that she was the king of the assassin organization.

And her friendship with the Mountain had long surpassed the kind of friendship that people understood. This was Janei's confidence in writing to the House of Black and White.

Although Janei knew that the House of Black and White would heed the royal family's summons, she still asked Eddard Stark to write a letter to Arya in the name of Arya's father, in order to ensure stability and highlight the urgency of the matter.

Once someone became a Faceless Man, they would no longer have any worldly contact with their former family, relatives, or friends, because Faceless Men were assassins, and assassins were dark, lonely, mysterious, hidden, cold-blooded, and ruthless. When a mission came, they would only complete the mission and would not care about distance or kinship.

Even if the target of the mission was their own family, they had to thrust their sword down.

But Arya was an exception!

There were exceptions to everything!

She became the most outstanding Faceless Man, but still retained her true name: Arya Stark. It should be known that the rules of the Faceless Men were that they could not have a fixed name, especially a name that represented a family from the past, which needed to be absolutely abandoned and forgotten.

Using her family's surname was already a great taboo, let alone that Arya retained her original surname and given name.

This was also the first change in the rules of the House of Black and White in thousands of years: the highest elder in the House of Black and White used her original name again, completely subverting the phrase 'I am no one'.

*

Varys, who had slowly walked to the entrance of the hall, folded his hands in his wide sleeves. He stopped, slowly turned around, and stood still: "Your Majesty, perhaps we should send a raven to the Wall."

"Oh, why?"

"There is a dragon on the Wall," Varys said with a smile on his plump face that made people feel like they were bathed in the spring breeze. "Your Majesty, the wildlings have already become friends with the northerners. In the winter, the snow on the Wall is dozens of feet deep. It used to be the most dangerous place because of the wildlings and White Walkers. But now the White Walkers have been eliminated and the wildlings have become allies, so the forces guarding the Wall are useless."

Littlefinger interjected, "Your Majesty, Lord Varys's suggestion is worth considering. Dragons are born to fight, and dragons don't like cold places. Commander Jon Targaryen's dragon is not his direwolf. Direwolves like the world in the snow and ice, but keeping the bronze dragon Rhaegal in the frozen world of the Wall is the most cruel slow suicide for him. It's no different from the Targaryens keeping dragons in the Dragonpit."

Varys spoke softly, with a kind smile on his face, as if he was a natural philanthropist: "Your Majesty, release a raven, with the King's order, ordering Commander Jon Targaryen to ride his dragon to Pentos, and then go to Qarth to meet with the King and fight side by side. This will not only save the life of a dragon, but also strengthen His Majesty's dragon corps, and His Majesty's battles in Qarth, and the battles to advance further east, will be won more thoroughly."

"Good. Varys, I accept your suggestion. I will transfer Jon Targaryen from the Wall to the Qarth front to assist the King in battle."

"Your Majesty is wise," Varys complimented.

After the Mountain and Arianne rode their dragons east, Janei immediately did three things:

First: Thoroughly investigate the Eastern Qartheen people in the city and bring the suspicious people to the Royal Palace, where she and Lady Dorna Quentina would use blood magic to find the hidden Sorrowsmen among them. As long as there were any, they would have nowhere to hide.

Second: Janei and Duke Eddard wrote letters of request for aid to the House of Black and White in Braavos, in the name of writing to Arya Stark. Since Qarth had deployed the Sorrowsmen, Janei decided to deploy the Faceless Men for the most merciless counterattack.

Third: Send a raven to the Lord Commander of the Wall, Jon Targaryen, ordering him to ride his dragon east to assist the King in taking the great city of Qarth.

When Jon's Rhaegal flew to Qarth, perhaps the main battle would already be over, but there were many more battles further east that needed Jon. With Jon by the Mountain's side, Janei was more at ease. Janei trusted Jon's character. The Mountain was in the Eastern Great City, and his personal guards were not around. Dragons could not always fly in the sky, and he actually needed more Westerosi people by his side.

*

In the north of Westeros, it was already a world of ice and snow, where water froze into ice, snow piled up several feet high, and birds and animals had disappeared; but tens of thousands of miles away in the east, the famous great city of Qarth was still as warm as spring.

The sun was good and the sky was clear.

The sky was blue and the clouds were white.

Two small black dots appeared in the sky. The black dots were so high that they were next to the light of the sun. After a while, the black dots became as big as pigeons, and in the blink of an eye, they were as big as geese, and then, they became as big as eagles, and then as big as goats, as big as warhorses, as big as mammoths.

Below the sky, people came and went in the great city of Qarth, with carriages and horses flowing like water. People from all over the world traded here, did business, made handicrafts... all kinds of ethnic costumes were dazzling and beautiful... no one noticed the sky, everything was peaceful, happy, joyful, bustling, and prosperous.

Suddenly, a dragon's roar that pierced the sky and shook the earth suddenly sounded, alarming everyone in the city: small vendors, soldiers, generals, ordinary civilians, noble kings... everyone in the city was enveloped in this dragon's roar.

And this sky-piercing, gold-shattering dragon's roar also shocked the Dothraki cavalry north of Qarth.

Tens of thousands of cavalrymen looked up together, watching the two dragons flying in the sky, a giant dragon and a young dragon. The giant dragon had golden-red scales and its wings, when spread, blocked out the sunlight; while the young dragon had snow-white scales and was as beautiful as a great work of art.

Kih!

In the military camp outside the city, a black dragon also let out a high-pitched and loud dragon roar. In the dragon's roar, the black dragon roared and flew into the sky.

Doro-ro-ro!

Tens of thousands of Dothraki cavalrymen let out deafening cheers.

Their invincible King had arrived, their giant dragon had arrived.

The Mountain was their King, their commander-in-chief, their minister of military affairs, and their vanguard general.

"Mountain, there are only Dothraki cavalry below," Arianne's long hair fluttered in the wind, and she was wearing tight-fitting chainmail, and the red cloak made her look heroic and valiant.

"I see it," the Mountain's face was a little unsightly.

"The cavalry are all blocked outside the city walls, which is very strange."

"Yes, it is. Why didn't the black dragon burn down the city gates?"

Arianne looked down at the city: "The Volantene legion that infiltrated Qarth may have been completely wiped out."

"I think so. The Undying Wizards can see some prophecies."

"Presumably the navy is also in dire straits."

"...Yes..." The Mountain's face was stern.

"Mountain, should we attack first, or go down and join the Dothraki cavalry first?"

"The Dothraki only follow the strongest. Arianne, we are here to fight. You and I will go down and burn down the Undying's House of the Undying first."

"Yes, Your Majesty."