The Mountain of Ice and Fire

“Lady Doughty…” Jeyne said softly, her tone containing reproach and a reminder, as if the two of them had some kind of agreement, but Lady Doughty had forgotten.

“Lady Jeyne, Ser Gregor Clegane is the King of the Claw Isle, and the Lord of Light has granted him supreme status. I believe that both you and I need to let Ser Gregor know about the prophecy we have received regarding that matter. Although you are unwilling to endanger your husband, we cannot make choices for the Lord in advance; we are merely servants of the Lord of Light,” Lady Doughty said with lip movements.

The Mountain could not decipher complex lip movements, but Lady Doughty's previous words solved a difficult problem that he had been pondering: a tribal chief who swears an oath only needs to find a sorcerer of the same faith to have the sorcerer break Old Teemy's oath. If that dragon is close to Old Teemy, Old Teemy can help you approach that dragon.”

But Jeyne clearly did not want the Mountain to hear Lady Doughty's words. She wanted to protect him, she was worried about him, and he could see this from her eyes, which were filled with complex emotions.

Approaching a 'wild dragon' like Sheepstealer is indeed a risk that is too high to estimate. A single mistake could cost you your life.

Not just wild dragons, but any dragon; a stranger who dares to approach it must be prepared to die.

That's purely courting death!

But if there is Old Teemy's help, there is the smallest possibility of being able to safely approach him, then it is worth trying.

Anyone wants to be a dragon rider; if possible, no one doesn't want to own a dragon.

In history, the Targaryen family paid the lives and efforts of many people in order to re-hatch dragons. The most tragic price of blood and tears occurred in Summerhall. This is the most famous tragedy of Summerhall in history.

Between the Stormlands and Dorne, there is a red mountain range as the boundary. The royal family built a majestic summer residence at the northern end of the red mountain range near the Boneway, named Summerhall.

During the late reign of Aegon V Targaryen, he never forgot to bring dragons back to the world. In 259 AC, he summoned his relatives and friends to Summerhall to celebrate the upcoming birth of his first great-grandson, Rhaegar Targaryen. At the same time, he decided to hatch a dragon in Summerhall, so that when his great-grandson was born, he would also bring the dragon into this world.

This is a beautiful wish for a double blessing!

The king prepared seven dragon eggs to show respect for the Seven Gods, but the king's monk secretly opposed the hatching, warning the king that the hatching might lead to very bad consequences. However, hatching dragons has always been something that the Targaryen royal family has insisted on doing for generations, and the monk's secret advice could not stop Aegon V Targaryen from continuing the hatching attempt.

With the help of the wise men of the Alchemist's Guild in King's Landing, the king and the alchemist's wise men used wildfire to hatch seven dragon eggs. As a result, the fire went out of control and spread, igniting the entire Summerhall. Once wildfire material burns, it cannot be extinguished by water, unless a large amount of yellow sand falls from the sky, but Summerhall was built on a mountain and there was no yellow sand to extinguish the fire.

The fire spread and could not be contained. Ser Duncan the Tall, the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, risked his life to rescue a very limited number of women and children. The spreading fire soon caused a tremendous explosion. In the end, Duncan the Tall, Aegon V, and the king's eldest son, Prince Duncan the Small, Maester Gylldan, the alchemist's wise men, and many royal family members and courtiers invited by the king were all buried in the fire.

Outside the raging fire on the grass, Aegon V's granddaughter Rhaella gave birth to her and her brother Aerys' eldest son, Rhaegar Targaryen. In the explosion of wildfire material, the whereabouts of the seven dragon eggs have since become unknown. There are also rumors that the seven dragon eggs were destroyed in the ruins of Summerhall, which collapsed with a bang.

In order to re-hatch dragons, the Targaryen royal family sacrificed many people, spent a lot of effort, suffered heavy casualties, and paid a high price, generation after generation. No matter when and where, the family tried everything possible to win back the dragon, and until the kingdom ushered in destruction, the desire to regain the dragon was still echoing.

The attraction of dragons to the Targaryen family is supreme. Similarly, the dragon in the Mountains of the Moon that followed Ricasso's master and hid in the deep mountains is also what the Mountain is eager to obtain. At the very least, he needs to try.

Sheepstealer will not allow any strangers to approach him, but he will allow the Red Hand of the Burned Men to approach him, and that is the opportunity. The Mountain led his army back all the way, and had already figured out how to safely approach the dragon slowly, but what he could not solve was how to persuade Old Teemy to break his oath.

Old Teemy's ancestors swore an oath to Ricasso's sorcerer to serve Sheepstealer and keep the secret. The Mountain cannot force Old Teemy to break his oath!

But Lady Doughty Quentyn's words immediately solved the big problem in the Mountain's heart: as long as there is a fire wizard, the oath of Old Teemy can be lifted through secret techniques in accordance with the rules of faith.

Doughty's words made the Mountain ecstatic, but he did not reveal it in front of Jeyne. Jeyne was unwilling for Lady Doughty to tell the Mountain these words. She hoped to dilute the Mountain's attention and desire for Sheepstealer. She originally hoped to subtly prevent the Mountain from thinking about how to approach that dragon. But the Mountain is the King of the Claw Isle, and also Lady Doughty Quentyn's king. Doughty is very loyal to her king, and she did not do what Lady Jeyne hoped. She told the Mountain how to solve the problem of Old Teemy's oath: find a fire wizard.

The people of the Burned Men believe in the God of Fire!

*

When the Mountain returned to Castamere, when he first told Jeyne about the real dragon hidden in the depths of the Mountains of the Moon, when he told Jeyne about the story of Sheepstealer and Ricasso, Jeyne's reaction after listening was too calm, which was not a normal person's reaction.

Dragons are the highest magical creatures that have disappeared in the last hundred years. They are unparalleled and are the overlords of the sky and the earth. He is arrogant and full of mysterious and supreme colors. Anyone who knows that there is still a dragon in this world that has disappeared for more than a hundred years, in the deep mountains of the Mountains of the Moon, will be very surprised and unbelievable, but Jeyne did not show the shock she should have.

This shows that Jeyne actually knows something!

Doughty's words made the Mountain excited, and Jeyne's cautious attempt to cover it up made the Mountain even more excited, because this proved that he actually had a chance to approach Sheepstealer, of course, this would be life-threatening.

What exactly did Lady Jeyne and Lady Doughty know about the prophecy?

The Mountain decided not to ask any more questions now. Tonight, when the couple is alone, is the best time for the two of them to talk about these important matters. He knew that Jeyne could not persuade him to give up trying, and he hoped to persuade Jeyne to relax as much as possible.

There is no doubt that Sheepstealer is still in the Mountains of the Moon, and he is the highest force in this world. The more than two-hundred-year-old Sheepstealer is far more powerful than Daenerys Targaryen's three small dragons.

Dragons are difficult to tame. The real difficulty is that it is basically impossible for people to approach them. Once a stranger approaches a dragon, this is the most malicious provocation, and the dragon will kill you. Once a dragon is willing to be close to someone, there is a possibility of being tamed. For a dragon that has already recognized its master, there is no need to let him recognize the master, no need to fantasize about riding on his back, but a beautiful and intimate relationship can be established with him, just like having a good relationship with a friend, and letting him fight for his friend when necessary.

The nature of dragons is to fight!

The Mountain thought very clearly that although Sheepstealer hibernates and has never stirred up trouble in Westeros, he actually needs to fight in his bones! This is like a person needing to eat when he is hungry. Once the fighting talent is released, the dragon is the real dragon.

The dragons of the Targaryen family were finally extinct, and they died in captivity—on Rhaenys' Hill, the king leveled the top of the hill and built a huge dragonpit, and then locked the dragons inside, causing the dragons to lose the sky and no longer have combat, which led to the rapid degradation of the dragons of the Targaryen family and their eventual extinction. The dragon eggs laid by the constantly shrinking dragons before extinction failed to hatch into young dragons again in the next hundred years.

*

This is a Castamere that parties all night long.

Everywhere is the sound of people, singing, and dancing. Everywhere are generals and soldiers drinking, and everywhere are people speaking the language of the Mountains of the Moon. In the underground city, the huge dance hall deliberately built in the center of the city is crowded with tribal people, and everyone is singing and dancing together.

The mountain people of the tribes like to sing mountain songs and dance. This seems to be their talent.

On the ground in the main castle, the Mountain and Jeyne closed the heavy oak door, keeping all the noise out. Two captains, Alyn, was responsible for guarding the door with his brothers, and Jois was responsible for partying and drinking with his brothers in the city.

“Gregor, we now have a large army and many generals, and the foundations of Castamere and Tarbeck Hall are solid. I think the next danger will be more underwater. Your death rider team should now become a cavalry battalion. Two hundred riders should be expanded to five hundred. I suggest that you select two hundred of the most valiant warriors from all of the approximately seven thousand warriors in the Mountains of the Moon to join your cavalry battalion. When Lord Tywin was alive, the number of cavalrymen protecting Tywin was five hundred.”

“I accept your proposal, my lady. Tomorrow, I will select two hundred of the most valiant warriors from the warriors of the Mountains of the Moon to join my cavalry battalion.”

“Selecting two hundred cavalrymen from the Mountains of the Moon Legion will give you four hundred cavalrymen in your cavalry battalion. Then select one hundred cavalrymen from the cavalry teams of Sweetmouth Ralph, Dunsen, Polliver, Jooli, and Anguy, and you will have five hundred cavalrymen to protect you.”

“As you wish, my lady.” The Mountain's tone was relaxed, but he was planning something else in his heart.

It's time to 'showdown'. It's better to say it sooner rather than later.

“Jeyne, tell me about the prophecy you saw about me and the dragon,” the Mountain said in a deep voice.

“There is no prophecy about you and the dragon, my king!” Jeyne said in the accent of the Claw Isle people.

She was still in the mood to joke, which relaxed the Mountain's raised heart.

He was afraid of being rejected by Jeyne!

If Jeyne used this excuse because his wife was concerned about her husband's safety, he felt that it would not be good to forcefully refute it.

“Then, what is the prophecy that Lady Doughty mentioned referring to?” The Mountain did not question his wife's words. He was a man with high emotional intelligence.

“Our prophecy refers to a fire wizard coming to find you soon.”

“A fire wizard is coming to find me? Who?” The Mountain's voice suddenly became full of tension. This prophecy was too attractive to him. A fire wizard taking the initiative to come to him, wouldn't that be a godsend?!

“The fire wizard comes from the Wall. It was the obsidian weapons and ore that you sent that attracted her attention to you. Lady Doughty and I saw her boarding a ship in Eastwatch-by-the-Sea, and then she might change ships in Gulltown. Lady Doughty and I speculate that she will enter the Trident River along the Crab Claw Bay waterway, and then enter our Westerlands along the Red Fork River. This is the most convenient and fastest route. Her goal is to see you.”

“From the Wall, Melisandre?” The Mountain was very surprised, and his voice contained suppressed surprise.

“Yes, you killed her sworn liege, King Stannis, but she actually has no hatred for you. She is different from all of Stannis's vassals, because she truly swore allegiance to the Red God, the god of fire and shadows. You made her realize that Stannis Baratheon was not the real king, but a false king. She misjudged the prophecy in the flames. She did the wrong thing and chose the wrong king.”

“Why do you say that?”

“If Stannis Baratheon was the real king chosen by the Red God, he would not have been killed by you.”

This sentence made sense and was full of conviction in the authority of God.

But the Mountain still had something to say: “Kings can be killed.”

“But the king chosen by Melisandre, if he is the true king to fight against the Others, she is sure that he will not be killed by you.”

Oh?!

If that's the case, what does Melisandre want to do here? The Mountain knew very well that he was not the true king to fight against the Others. Melisandre must not think that he is her true king. Melisandre is focused on fighting against the Others, but she always seems to misjudge.

The Mountain felt a slight heat in his palms.

“But Melisandre is not a fire wizard!”

Jeyne smiled slightly. In the swaying red light of the candle, the Mountain felt that his wife was breathtakingly beautiful.

Jeyne said: “Gregor, every Red Priest is a true fire wizard. The side of the Red God that is shown is a more powerful god than the God of Fire, but that is actually two sides of one god. Gods have many sides, and the Seven Gods that people believe in are not seven gods, but seven sides of one god.”

“The Faceless God of the House of Black and White has a thousand faces, so the God of Death is also called the Thousand-Faced God.”

“Yes!” Jeyne smiled.

Looking at Jeyne's smile, the Mountain's previous worries disappeared. Jeyne was very smart. Knowing that she could not stop his decision, she convinced herself and told the Mountain the prophecy she knew. Her previous slight obstruction of Lady Doughty, her expectation that the Mountain would not approach Sheepstealer, was just a small wave caused by his wife's concern for her husband's safety.

“After Melisandre arrives, if you want Old Teemy to help you approach Sheepstealer, let Melisandre help you. Her fire secret magic power is more powerful than Ricasso the dragon knight.”

Thanks to [Giving Birth to Alum] for the reward. There will be an extra update tomorrow. Thank you very much. Shake hands!