The Mountain of Ice and Fire

“If the High Sparrow doesn’t listen, we’ll revoke the edict,” Cersei said blandly.

“It’s easy to give out power, but hard to take it back. Historically, many Poor Fellow gatherings couldn't be disbanded. Even if the High Septon was captured, the Poor Fellows still scattered everywhere, fighting with the nobles.”

“Then kill them all,” Cersei said coldly. “Uncle, you make the Poor Fellows sound so terrifying, but historically, any unruly Faith Militant has been purged.”

“Then let’s vote on it,” Kevan said. “Vote on it at the Small Council meeting.”

“No need to vote. I’ve already issued the decree to the High Sparrow. I am the Regent.”

Kevan glared at Cersei!

This was a foolish and shortsighted niece. If she were allowed to control the royal power, she would ruin the country sooner or later.

“The High Sparrow will become the High Septon of the Great Sept of Baelor today, and our royal debts of millions will be completely forgiven today. When King Robert was alive, the royal loans from various places amounted to millions of gold dragons. The Iron Bank across the Narrow Sea has already sent a manager to demand payment once. Uncle, we don’t have the money to repay the high royal debts.”

“No matter how much debt we owe, the Faith Militant cannot be allowed to exist. Queen Regent, I hope you revoke the edict.”

“We need another force willing to maintain the peace and stability of the people. The High Sparrow has assured me that even if King’s Landing runs out of food again, the refugees will not riot again.”

“You’re too hasty. The Faith Militant must not be allowed to exist,” Kevan said sternly.

This made Cersei very unhappy!

“Uncle, I’ve already decided,” Cersei said blandly.

“Please change your mind. I am willing to take the City Watch, together with Commander Bronn, to retrieve the decree.”

“You have no right to do that? You’re not the Hand yet,” Cersei thought that making her uncle the Hand might be a huge mistake.

The Hand should serve the royal family and be in step with the royal family, not the opposite.

Kevan glared at Cersei, choked with anger!

From then on, there was an irreparable rift between Cersei and Kevan! Both sides thought the other was foolish and shortsighted.

*

Great Sept of Baelor.

The seven High Septons prayed at the altars of the Seven Gods. Monks and nuns knelt below the altars, and after everyone finished praying, they sang hymns together.

The High Sparrow entered, followed by a group of ragged Little Sparrows. The Little Sparrows were led by the Sons of the Warrior, leaders with iron chains around their bodies and seven-pointed stars tattooed on their foreheads. There were a total of five Sons of the Warrior, and Cersei’s cousin, Lancel Lannister, was one of them.

The five Sons of the Warrior led five companies of a hundred men each. The Sons of the Warrior held axes, and the Little Sparrows held clubs.

The High Sparrow said, “Seven High Septons, I have seen the light of the gods. The Seven Gods want you to choose me as the High Septon in the Great Sept of Baelor.”

The seven High Septons and the monks and nuns looked at each other in dismay.

The Warrior Septon said, “High Sparrow, you are blaspheming the Seven Gods. The High Septon must be born from among the seven of us. This is the law recorded in *The Seven-Pointed Star*.”

“You are right, Warrior Septon. Men, arrest the Warrior Septon, strip him of his crown and monk’s robe, and expel him from the Sept.”

“What do you want to do?” the Father Septon shouted. “Using violence in front of the Seven Gods, you will suffer divine punishment and die without a burial.”

“Father Septon, look at what you are wearing? Silks and satins. Look at what you are wearing on your fingers? Gold and silver jewelry. Do you know how many poor people are starving outside, how many monks who treat people are killed by nobles? How many Silent Sisters are humiliated by criminals? You live like great nobles every day, but you call yourselves the sons of the Seven Gods, but in fact you are a bunch of good-for-nothings.”

The seven High Septons turned pale.

“Men, arrest the Father Septon and lock him in the Sept’s dungeon.”

Lancel held an axe and walked onto the altar with several Little Sparrows. As soon as the axe was raised, the other six Septons immediately dodged.

The monks and nuns under the altar were dumbfounded, and no one dared to move.

Under the threat of clubs and axes, the Father Septon dared not resist. A rope tied him up, and two Sparrows escorted the Father Septon off the altar.

Lancel held a sharp axe and looked at the Warrior Septon: “Septon, please take off your crown and white robe. Take off your jewelry and get out of the Great Sept of Baelor. You are no longer a monk.”

Facing the cold light of the axe and several wooden sticks, the Warrior Septon trembled and took off his Septon crown, then took off his monk’s robe, and took off the jewelry rings on his fingers. He bowed slightly to Lancel, lowered his head, and quickly stepped down and left.

“Stop!” Lancel said coldly.

The Warrior Septon’s body shook, he stopped, and his whole body stiffened.

“Take off your shoes.”

“Yes!” the Warrior Septon responded humbly. He took off his shoes and socks, barefoot on a pair of white feet, lowered his head and quickly walked out of the Hall of the Seven Gods.

“High Septons, please follow the light of the Seven Gods and choose me as the High Septon.”

The Mother Septon, the Crone Septon, the Maiden Septon, the Smith Septon, and the Stranger Septon bowed together: “Congratulations on your ascension, High Septon.”

A monk saw that the situation was settled and tremblingly said: “High Septon, please allow me to bring you the Seven-Star Crown.”

“Go and get it!” the High Sparrow said.

His eyes were calm, his figure was tall, he slowly walked up to the altar, lit candles in front of the statues of the Seven Gods one by one, and whispered prayers from *The Seven-Pointed Star*.

Soon, the Seven-Star Crown, inlaid with rare treasures, was brought out by the monk, who respectfully knelt on the stage and offered the Seven-Star Crown to the High Septon.

The High Sparrow took the Seven-Star Crown and looked at the rare jewels on it: “Crone Septon.”

“Yes, High Septon.”

“Do you think how many gold dragons can be sold if this Seven-Star Crown is sold?”

As soon as these words came out, the five High Septons, the monks and nuns under the altar were all shocked.

The Seven-Star Crown, a symbol of the High Septon’s identity, status, and power, is sacred and inviolable, priceless, and an invaluable treasure of the Sept, but the High Septon wants to sell it.

“Ser Lancel, take this Seven-Star Crown and go to Silk Street to find governors, princes, and great nobles from all over the world to see how many gold dragons it can be sold for.”

“Yes, High Septon.”

“Take a portion of the gold dragons sold from the Seven-Star Crown and exchange it for flour, millet, cotton quilts, shoes and socks, meat, vegetables, and fruits, and distribute them to the poor people throughout the city.”

“Yes, High Septon.”

“In addition to food, go to the Street of Steel and buy a thousand longswords, a thousand sets of armor, sword belts, and helmets. Her Grace the Queen Regent has allowed us to have and establish our own armed forces. This is the decree. Send someone to the Street of Steel to publicize it widely so that all weapon masters know about it.”

“Yes! High Septon.”

Lancel took the priceless Seven-Star Crown in his hands and set off with two companies of a hundred men each. One company of a hundred men followed him to Silk Street to find wealthy customers, and one company of a hundred men went to Street of Steel to promote the decree and ask the blacksmith masters to forge thousands of longswords, thousands of sets of armor, thousands of helmets, and sword belts for them.

The vaults inside the Great Sept of Baelor stored a large amount of wealth. Buying thousands of sets of weapons and armor was just a small amount of money for the Sept. Buying so much weaponry and equipment was not to wear it all immediately, but to prepare for the establishment of the Holy Sword armed forces.

The Poor Fellow organization did not need such sophisticated weapons, but for people like Lancel, these noble knights, they needed these things.

The High Sparrow wanted to create two armed forces. One was the Poor Fellow gathering, axes and clubs, and firm belief was their longsword and armor; the other was the group of people who were proficient in martial arts, had learned battle formations and charges, and were of noble origin. This group of people, fully armed, became the core force in the High Sparrow’s military power, which was the Holy Sword armed forces.

“Crone Septon, who is in charge of the Sept’s finances?”

“It’s me, High Septon,” the Maiden Septon said, her voice small, obviously afraid of the High Sparrow.

“Take me to the treasury. I want to check the Sept’s finances.”

“Yes, High Septon.”

The Maiden Septon led the way, and the High Sparrow followed barefoot. He did not change his tattered robe sleeves, and was still dressed as before, wearing a gray robe with torn sleeves and bare feet.

The treasury was built magnificently, as luxurious as the royal palace bedroom.

Chairs covered with brocade silk, desks decorated with jewels, windows carved with paintings of the Seven Gods, domes covered with paintings, the windows were semi-circular, the floor was covered with carpets from Lys, and a Myrish telescope for astronomical observation was installed by the window.

The Maiden Septon handed over all the account books, vault keys, and treasury keys and placed them on the table.

The High Septon removed the brocade silk cushion from the chair, sat on the chair, and ordered the Maiden Septon to remove all the jewels inlaid on the table, pack them in boxes, and prepare to sell them.

The Maiden Septon had no choice but to obey.

There was a vault door in the room. When the vault door was opened, there were boxes and boxes of jewels and gold dragons inside. The wealth of the Sept exceeded the income of the country. The gold, silver, and jewels donated by believers from all over the country over the years had accumulated into an astronomical figure.

If the High Sparrow knew about the shocking wealth of the Sept, he might not have ordered Lancel to sell the Seven-Star Crown.

Sure enough, the more the High Sparrow looked, the more unbelievable he became. The wealth of the Great Sept of Baelor exceeded his imagination.

“Septon, please help me find the account books for the royal debt.”

There was a lot, a lot of money, enough to buy a kingdom, and there were also a lot of account books, piled up like a small mountain.

The Maiden Septon was familiar with the road and found all the account books for the royal family’s debts over the years.

“High Septon, the Baratheon royal family has owed the Sept a total of 1.3 million gold dragons in the past nineteen years.”

“Please take these account books to Her Grace the Queen Regent, and also bring her a box of gold dragons, 100,000 gold dragons.”

The Maiden Septon was shocked and couldn’t believe it. After a long while, she responded: “Yes, High Septon.”

*

Kevan’s small stone house.

Saying it was a small stone house, it was naturally not small.

The Mountain and Mace Tyrell came to see Lord Kevan as agreed.

The two had planned to come to Kevan, but Kevan’s guards came to find them in advance.

There was still a gap between the administrative affairs time in the throne room.

“Lord Gregor, Lord Mace, Cersei has signed a decree allowing the Septon monks to have armed forces,” Kevan said straight to the point, his tone agitated.

He was still a distance away from Tywin’s calm and composure.

Mace Tyrell was stunned.

In Highgarden in the Reach, there was a very bloody history of noble armed forces encircling and suppressing Septon armed forces. The Septon armed forces at that time were too powerful, shaking the power base of the nobles and royal families. The nobles then secretly gathered and launched a surprise attack on the Poor Fellow gatherings when they were meeting. The location was at Highgarden in the Reach.

In the Battle of Bitterbridge, blood flowed like a river, and all 9,000 Poor Fellow members were killed. Corpses floated all over the river, and blood stained the stone bridge and the beaches on both sides of the bridge. The name Bitterbridge also came from this. The word 'bitter' refers to the tragic nature of that battle.

“The Septon armed forces are a very terrible force, enough to destroy a country,” Mace’s face changed.

The nobles in the Reach hated the Septon armed forces and hated the monks the most, because historically, too much bloodshed had occurred on the territory of the Reach, and it was all related to the Septon armed forces.

Historically, there were too many incidents where the rule was shaken by the Septon armed forces, and the entire country had to be mobilized to suppress them.

When monks have armed forces, their High Septon is above the royal power, because they uphold divine power.

“The Queen Regent has released a beast, but now the beast is still young and can still be controlled,” the Mountain said.

“How to control it? The Queen Regent has already signed the decree,” Kevan said.

“We have to accumulate strength and be ready to go to war with the Septon armed forces at any time,” Mace was a little too nervous.

“Now we lead troops into the Sept, order the High Sparrow to hand over the decree, and reiterate that the Sept is not allowed to have armed forces,” the Mountain said. “Having armed forces is a capital crime.”

“We also have to send palace supervisors to the Street of Steel to announce the order that any blacksmith who sells swords and weapons to monks will be put to death,” Mace said.

Kevan looked at the Mountain and Mace: “Who has the right to issue decrees? We don’t have a Hand now. Cersei is the Regent, and all the power is in her hands.”

“She can’t be the Regent,” Mace blurted out. “She’s too foolish and shortsighted. We should bring this up at the Small Council meeting today. The kingdom should be managed by the king and the Hand. Her Grace the Queen Regent cannot be the Regent.”

“But we don’t have a king or a Hand now.”

“Then let’s choose one today,” Mace said, “King Tommen, Hand Kevan.”

“Establish the king first, then choose the Hand, and then convene the Small Council meeting to strip Her Grace Queen Regent Cersei of her position as Regent,” Kevan said.

“Then we have to count the votes in advance,” the Mountain said. “I can’t openly oppose Cersei now. You also need me to stand on Cersei’s side so you can know her plans, so when voting, I may have something to leave early.”

Kevan stared at the Mountain, his expression becoming a little suspicious.

The Mountain and Mace exchanged glances, and Mace said, “Lord Gregor, you have to get Commander Vargna Gar’s support to stand on our side.”

“Of course!”

“Lord Kevan, losing one vote from Lord Gregor doesn’t matter. Cersei won’t get his vote either.”

“You can’t leave the scene of the Small Council meeting. You can choose to be neutral,” Kevan said.

Since the Mountain wanted to get away, he couldn’t let him get away.

“Uh, okay!” the Mountain said.

Thanks to 【ArthurusRex】 for the reward support, thank you, handshake!