The Mountain of Ice and Fire

The large, fat man watched as his own blood was drawn into a small glass bottle, a sense of unease creeping into his heart. This unease stemmed from not knowing what the Mountain intended to do with his blood. It likely had something to do with witchcraft.

Across the Narrow Sea, in the nine Free Cities, Lys was a gathering place for dark sorcerers. Many terrifying legends were linked to the experiments of these sorcerers. The fat man’s ally, Varys, had been castrated for a sorcerer’s research.

A normal person wouldn't want his blood.

The fat man had crossed the Narrow Sea to conspire with Varys. He was staying at Chataya's brothel, hidden and unknown. Chataya's brothel catered specifically to wealthy individuals, royal nobles, and princely governors from around the world, maintaining the anonymity of its guests. The only person who knew the fat man had crossed the sea was the Spider, Varys!

How did the vicious Mountain know about him? Why had the Mountain captured him and lured Varys here? The fat man had no idea.

For decades, the fat man and Varys had always been in control of every situation, whether acting personally or hiding behind the scenes. This loss of control was a first for him.

The key issue was that the fat man had no idea what the Mountain wanted.

This was especially unsettling. He feared that the Mountain knew about his conspiracy with Varys, which would mean that Lannister also knew. If that were the case, he would never be able to return to Pentos. This secret mission would become his road to ruin.

The Mountain sensed the fat man's unease, which was growing stronger. After all, for Illyrio Mopatis, a man who never failed as a killer and never faltered as a governor, this failure was fatal.

“Governor Illyrio Mopatis, you don't need to be afraid. I know you've been sheltering two people across the Narrow Sea: Daenerys Targaryen and her brother, Viserys Targaryen.”

Illyrio glanced at Varys. The Mountain knew his real name?! Then he must know everything about his position as governor.

Varys offered a smile, a smile that was only slightly better than a grimace. Illyrio could see that Varys was also in turmoil, helpless. When did Varys come into contact with the Mountain and reveal his existence? These secrets were life-threatening if revealed. When had the Mountain spoken the three names to Varys, and what did that signify? Illyrio had too many questions.

Illyrio also offered the Mountain a smile, but oil began to seep from his fat face, and sweat trickled down his thick neck.

Fat men always got hot easily, then broke into a cold sweat, unable to control it.

He had long heard of the Mountain's reputation, but this was their first meeting. He knew a lot about the Mountain, but one thing didn't add up: Varys always referred to him as 'Lord,' but according to his information, the Mountain was only a knight.

“Varys, this lord is…” Illyrio said insincerely.

“A vassal of Lord Tywin Lannister of the Westerlands: Ser Gregor Clegane, known as the Mountain.”

“Lord Gregor, Illyrio greets you.” Illyrio paid his respects to the Mountain with the humility of a governor.

The Mountain sat motionless, staring at him coldly.

Illyrio glanced at Varys, but saw no hints in his eyes. This indicated that Varys was as clueless as he was about the Mountain's purpose in abducting them.

But Illyrio and Varys had operated for decades without failure, and he wouldn't simply surrender. He would certainly try to save himself. The tricky question now was, how many of their secrets did the Mountain know?

Secrets? Blood? Blood mages? Prophecies? Illyrio's life experience and extensive knowledge quickly connected the dots.

If the Mountain knew some of their secrets, it must be related to the prophecies of blood mages, but this needed confirmation.

“Varys, why does the Lord only want my blood, and not yours?”

“My blood was delivered into the Lord's hands a few days ago.”

“So that's it!” Illyrio thought. Understanding this key point calmed him somewhat. Blood mages could indeed see fragments of information about the blood's owner through the blood, but not everything, and few blood mages with real ability remained. Most blood mage prophecies were just唬人的.

But Illyrio knew that the blood mage behind the Mountain was genuine. Their abduction by the Mountain was proof of that blood mage's power.

So he would test the waters with a mix of truth and lies to see what the Mountain knew and whether his goal was to kill or something else.

The Mountain had national and personal grudges against the Targaryen family. He had to try to distance himself from Daenerys first, even though it wouldn't be easy.

“Lord, I haven't been serving Daenerys and Viserys across the Narrow Sea. I married Daenerys to Drogo to ensure the safety of Pentos… Pentos and Braavos signed a peace treaty decades ago, limiting us to no more than twenty warships, forbidding us from hiring professional mercenary groups to defend the city, restricting the city's guard to no more than one thousand men, and prohibiting the city's governors and princes from privately signing any contracts with mercenary groups. For safety, we had to raise the city walls, but even that couldn't stop the Dothraki. To keep the Dothraki east of the Rhoyne, we have to pay tribute in gold and silver to the powerful Khals every year.”

The Mountain stared at Illyrio, without saying a word.

This made it impossible for Illyrio to discern how much the Mountain knew about his and Varys's secrets through the blood mage. Varys's blood had been seen by the blood mage, and that information only came from Varys. As for his blood, it was currently being held by a small attendant in the Mountain's service, whom the Mountain called Officer Bernie.

Illyrio had no choice but to brazenly justify himself. He didn't believe the Mountain could possibly know all his secrets. No matter how powerful a blood mage was, they couldn't do that. Information was always incomplete and asymmetrical, and exploiting this asymmetry was his chance to survive.

The Mountain's bloodlust was the greatest in the Seven Kingdoms, and his infamy had spread across the Narrow Sea, because many people from Westeros went to the Narrow Sea for business, trade, settlement, travel, exile, refuge, mercenary work, and so on, and they brought the Mountain's infamy with them.

He had to give the Mountain some true information, mixed with some false information.

“Lord, when I first met Daenerys and Viserys, I was struck by Daenerys's beauty. I originally wanted to kill Viserys and seize Daenerys for myself. All men are like that, aren't they?” Illyrio chuckled. He thought he had said something very humorous, but the Mountain was expressionless, looking at him as if he were an idiot. This made the smirk on his fat face freeze.

Taking Daenerys for himself was Illyrio's initial, genuine thought. There were basically no men who wouldn't be moved by Daenerys's beauty.

“But Daenerys was very timid and often cried for no reason. Even a sudden meow could startle her into trembling. Marrying such a woman would be unlucky, so I abandoned that idea. Just then, Khal Drogo led over forty thousand Dothraki horsemen to the plains outside Pentos. Pentos didn't have the strength to resist Khal Drogo, so how could we make a barbarian like Khal Drogo retreat? For barbarians, it's either money or beautiful women. We Pentos could provide the money; as for beautiful women, Daenerys's beauty was unparalleled, unmatched by anyone.”