The Mountain of Ice and Fire

Or be killed.

The captain ran over, panting, with the worn coin in his hand.

“My lady,” the captain said with reverence, “I have already changed you to the best room, my room.” He gently placed Arya's iron coin into Arya's hand, “Honey will be here soon, and good wine too.”

“No need for good wine. In the future, don't sell watered-down wine to the soldiers,” Arya said softly.

“Yes, my lady. Never again, I guarantee you that,” the captain replied respectfully. He lowered his chin and bowed slightly.

Soon, the barbecue chef arrived, bringing beautifully packaged canned wine and honey.

“You can go now, Captain,” Arya said, picking at the barbecue with her small knife.

“Yes, my lady. My name is Hansen Duke. If you need anything along the way, please feel free to ask.”

Arya nodded: “Thank you, Captain Duke. When I pray to the Many-Faced God, I will mention your name.”

The captain was flattered and extremely excited, his speech stammering. He bowed to thank Arya, then took a few steps backward before turning to leave.

“Soldiers, we have met a good captain. I think this will be a pleasant journey,” Arya raised the wine bag. The mercenaries were overjoyed and raised their wine bags together. Arya said: “All men must die.” The soldiers said in unison: “All men must serve.” Then they drank it all.

…………

While Arya was crossing the Narrow Sea on a large merchant ship, the Mountain and his dragon landed on the main tower of Maegor's Holdfast.

The dragon landed, its heavy weight causing the entire top floor to tremble slightly.

The dragon let out a soft cry, and all the royal warhorses in the Red Keep trembled.

It takes time for warhorses to adapt to the existence of dragons.

The entire Red Keep was shrouded in a bizarre atmosphere of fear, excitement, admiration, hostility, expectation, and dread.

The dragon's wings spread out, covering the entire Maegor's Holdfast and extending beyond it, its short-clawed wings shimmering in the sunlight: a golden-red glow.

The ferocious dragon head, the terrifying golden-red eyes like burning dragon flames. The claws on its feet were as sharp as swords, able to easily pierce the belly of any beast and lift them up like small rabbits.

A fierce dragon's might covered the space of the Red Keep.

On the walls of the Red Keep and Maegor's Holdfast, all the garrison soldiers of the royal family stood, everyone looking up at the sheep stealer, their eyes full of shock.

King Tommen, accompanied by Queen Margaery and his uncle Ser Jaime Lannister, the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, stood on the balcony of the royal bedroom, witnessing the demeanor of the sheep stealer. The child king was shocked by the sheep stealer's imposing power and the large body that blocked the sunlight, his big eyes full of shock.

Jaime Lannister and Queen Margaery were equally shocked. Although Jaime was a brave warrior, he was also speechless. When a real dragon stood in front of them, the overwhelming feeling of being crushed made them feel only their own fragility and insignificance. A sense of helplessness gripped Jaime. With the Mountain possessing such an invincible dragon, the days when the Lannisters used the Mountain as a vassal and a house dog were gone forever.

If the Mountain were to rebel, no one would be his opponent. Dragonfire would turn Maegor's Holdfast into a liquid stone fortress, cooking everyone inside. Jaime was keenly aware that the Mountain's thoughts would determine the fate of the kingdom.

Queen Margaery Tyrell suddenly murmured: “Ser Jaime, Your Majesty, my father Lord Mace's plan to marry Myrcella Baratheon and Raynald Westerling seems inevitable. With the Mountain possessing such a dragon, who can stop him? Who will he fear?”

Her Majesty the Queen Mother wanted Margaery Tyrell to get pregnant as soon as possible, but Margaery clearly had no confidence in King Tommen.

“Daenerys Targaryen has three dragons!” Jaime said. He was finding a balance point to support his inner anxiety.

“The Targaryen family's remnants have three small dragons, only three-year-old dragons, but the Mountain's dragon is over two hundred years old. Earl Rosby said that when a dragon exceeds a hundred years of age, the dragonfire truly forms its most powerful force, burning rocks and melting steel. The Targaryen family's dragons are still children.”

Jaime chose to remain silent.

In the Queen Mother's room, two Kingsguard knights, Gormond Goodbrother and Gylan Goodbrother, guarded Cersei, leading the Master of Coin, Osbert Kettleblack, quickly towards the top of Maegor's Holdfast. Accompanying them were also Grand Maester Qyburn and the spymaster, Bronn.

Gormond and Gylan were recommended by the Mountain to the royal family to serve as Kingsguard. The spymaster Bronn was also the Mountain's man. Cersei arranged for these three to accompany her to meet the Mountain, with the deliberate intention of getting closer to him.

The Mountain had already come down from the dragon's back and stood on the top of Maegor's Holdfast, overlooking the crowds on the ground and the people standing at the windows of various houses. The people in the Red Keep all looked up at him and his dragon. In stark contrast to the cheers of the commoners outside the Red Keep, the soldiers and courtiers inside the Red Keep maintained a strange silence.

Except for the sound of the wind and the neighing of frightened horses, no one made any noise. Everyone's eyes were shining, looking at the dragon and the Mountain on the top of the building.

The Mountain was expressionless, with the Ice Greatsword slanting across his back. He admired the shocked expressions of these people. The power of the dragon brought not only shock but also an absolute shift in strength. And the Mountain was the dominant party.

*

Half an hour later, the chief officials of the court gathered in the Queen Mother's room: the Queen Mother's Ballroom.

The Queen Mother, the King, the Queen, the Hand, the acting Master of Coin, the spymaster, the Master of Ships, the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, the Grand Maester, and others were all present.

Six Kingsguard brothers guarded both sides of the door of the Queen Mother's Ballroom.

They were the Goodbrother brothers from Hammerhorn on the Iron Islands, Ser Garlan Tyrell of Highgarden, Osbert Kettleblack, known as Little Mountain, Ser Arys Oakheart, who had escorted Myrcella to Dorne, and Ser Balon Swann, who was skilled in both sword and archery.

King Tommen's Kingsguard was very strong, far surpassing the eras of Robert and Joffrey. Whether it was the Goodbrother brothers, or Garlan and Osbert, or Arys and Balon, they were all well-known knights with superb martial arts and exquisite swordsmanship.

The loyalty and bravery of these six Kingsguard brothers also far surpassed the mediocre martial arts of Maron Moore and Boros Blount in the eras of Robert and Joffrey.

Maron and Boros were not only poor in martial arts, but also very bad in character. Bullying the weak was their specialty. The Kingsguard who replaced Joffrey in punishing Sansa was Maron. And the bow-legged Boros later became obese, and had to lean against the wall for a while when standing for a long time to rest.

The Kingsguard brothers led by Lord Commander Jaime Lannister were all very capable. This may be the last glimmer of the weakening royal family.

After a simple and hypocritical exchange of greetings, Her Majesty the Queen Mother instructed the maids to pour Arbor Gold wine and bring in various fruits and snacks, and everyone sat around the bar.

The Mountain went straight to the point: “Your Majesty the Queen Mother, Your Majesty the King, Your Majesty the Queen, Lords, the North is in urgent need. We must gather the strength of the whole country to fight against the Others. Once the North is lost and the Others go south, I think we are doomed. This is a war between humans and the Others, a great war for the survival of each of us. I need the full support of the Queen Mother, the King, the Queen, the Hand, and all the Lords.”

This was an informal gathering before the formal meeting. If it were a formal meeting of the chief officials of the court, it would be held in the Small Council Chamber in the throne hall.

“Is the news reliable?” Cersei took a sip of wine gently. She had no intention of drinking, just pretending. The others were even too lazy to touch their glasses. The atmosphere was not harmonious.

“Your Majesty the Queen Mother, in about two days, I will apply to formally convene a meeting of the chief officials of the court. At that time, I will recommend a person to everyone, Melisandre from the Wall, who was Stannis's former Grand Maester. Now she has sworn allegiance to me and is my accompanying priest. She will bring to you, Lords, the real situation in the North. The Others who want to destroy our human race have really come.”

“Melisandre?” Cersei's eyes widened.

Duke Mace, Commander-in-Chief Bronn, Bronn and others were all stunned.

When did Melisandre, the sorceress who was loyal to Stannis, become loyal to the Mountain?

That was an evil witch! She liked to burn people alive to sacrifice to her Red God!!

Hand Mace Tyrell sighed in his heart that the ferocious Mountain was matched with the evil and vicious Melisandre. Birds of a feather flock together!

Only Jaime watched coldly. He saw that the Mountain's expression was serious and heavy, and there was no falsehood in it, which made him secretly relieved. As long as the Mountain truly paid attention to the Others in the North, the Iron Throne would still belong to King Tommen. From this, he speculated that the Mountain had no intention of fighting for the Iron Throne. Jaime knew very well that most nobles with noble blood would not be convinced by the Mountain as king, except for the common people and the poor, as well as tribal barbarians.

The Mountain did not have a noble bloodline. His bloodline was inherited from a dog trainer and was a slave of the Lannister family.

The Mountain ignored everyone's astonishment. Compared to the shock brought by the dragon, the fact that Melisandre was loyal to him was not worth pondering too much, and there was no need to waste words.

“Your Majesty the Queen Mother, do you support me in going north to fight against the Others?” The Mountain pointed his finger, too lazy to go around in circles.

“I will fully support you, Mountain. The rise and fall of the human race, survival, we must do our best and unite.”

The Mountain stared at Cersei. He accepted Cersei's words completely, regardless of whether she was sincere or false: “Okay, then what are the opinions of His Majesty the King and Her Majesty the Queen?”

“I support you, Mountain,” the child king said seriously, looking like an adult.

Margaery Tyrell nodded with a smile.

The Mountain looked at the Hand, who said: “Mountain, you lead the army to the North, and I will fully support you from the rear, ensuring that you are supplied with the military supplies you need.”

The Hand only mentioned military supplies, but did not mention the troops of the Reach.

The Mountain pretended not to understand and looked at Grand Maester and Jaime Lannister and others. Everyone nodded one by one.

The Mountain's initial conversation was so smooth that it couldn't be smoother. This was actually not a good thing. Everyone was just supporting him to go and risk his life. And before taking on this important task, the Mountain also hoped that others would go to the North to die and save his own strength.

“Since everyone supports me in going north, then I want to apply to His Majesty the King for a power.”

“What power?” Cersei's eyes narrowed slightly, imperceptibly. Her heart instantly and instinctively built thick walls and guarded against it.

“Please authorize me to summon armies from anywhere in the country. Anyone who dares to disobey, I have the right to arrest, try, punish, and behead those who refuse to obey, without having to report to His Majesty the King in advance.”

Everyone was awe-stricken!

If the Mountain obtained such great power over life and death, with his ferocious character, who in the Seven Kingdoms would dare not obey? But if he used this power to brutally kill a group of nobles loyal to the royal family, the entire political power of the kingdom would shift to him.

This was too dangerous, and Cersei felt a coldness in her back just thinking about it. Lord Mace also felt completely insecure.

“Raven messaging will not take up much of your time, Lord Mountain,” Her Majesty the Queen Mother said.

“Yes, Lord Mountain, the law cannot be without rules or royal power. If you want to behead someone, you still need to report to the King first and obtain authorization before you can behead them. As for other powers, let's vote on them at the meeting,” Hand Mace said in a mild tone.

The Mountain scanned the audience and said coldly: “At this critical moment for the survival of the entire human race, we are fighting outside. Sometimes the situation will be very urgent. Local nobles do not obey orders. Only beheading can serve as a warning to others.”

“I will send enough court scholars and ravens to follow you, Lord Mountain. Once something happens, the ravens will send messages day and night. Lord Mountain does not need to worry about this matter,” Cersei said in a very light but firm tone.

The Mountain frowned slightly and remained silent.

Cersei raised her glass, touched the Mountain's glass, and smiled: “Lord Mountain, relax first. You have traveled to King's Landing and are tired. Let me offer you a drink.”

The Mountain did not raise his glass: “Your Majesty the Queen Mother, Lords, I am going north to fight against the Others. If I cannot obtain the power of life and death, I cannot command the legions of the Riverlands, the Vale, the Crownlands, the Stormlands, the Iron Islands, and the Reach. Everyone is scattered, and I can only command my own Clegane army. In this way, people's hearts are not aligned, and each fights on their own. How can we defeat the Others?”

“The legions of the Reach and the Crownlands must be left to defend King's Landing,” Cersei said slowly, taking a big sip of wine.

Jaime noticed that the Mountain's eyes narrowed and his face showed anger.

“The royal family will authorize Lord Mountain to mobilize the legions of the Iron Islands, the Riverlands, the Vale, the Westerlands, the North, and Dorne, while the legions of the Crownlands and the Reach must be left to defend King's Landing, because across the Narrow Sea, Daenerys Targaryen is bringing three dragons, hundreds of thousands of Dothraki cavalry, more than ten thousand navies, and tens of thousands of infantry to attack King's Landing.”

“Mountain, if Daenerys comes, we will give you all the troops. Before you finish the war, the Iron Throne will have been taken by Daenerys. This is something we cannot accept,” Hand Mace also said slowly.

“If Daenerys comes, I will go to see her and persuade her to go north together to fight against the Others,” the Mountain said.

“What if you can't persuade her?” Jaime had been silent for a long time, and only then did he speak his first sentence.

“Then we will drive her and her people all into the sea.”

“She has three dragons,” Jaime said unhurriedly.

“I have one dragon, and she only has three small dragons.”

“But at that time, you were in the North, how could you have split yourself to come back?”

“I have hundreds of mobile dragon-slaying crossbows, and also hundreds of fixed dragon-slaying crossbow platforms. The arrows of the dragon-slaying crossbows are two meters long, forged from pure iron spears, killing Daenerys's little dragons, one arrow for each,” the Mountain said blandly.

Grand Maester Qyburn immediately followed up: “Lord Mountain, King’s Landing is in urgent need of your dragon-slaying crossbows.”

“I won’t give you the dragon-slaying crossbows. I want to take the mobile dragon-slaying crossbows to the North. But Master Tobho Mott will come to King’s Landing to teach the hundreds of blacksmiths on the Street of Steel how to make dragon-slaying crossbows. Daenerys hasn't left the grasslands yet, we still have plenty of time. If we seize the time, perhaps Daenerys will arrive after the war in the North is over. By then, our victorious army will have high morale, just in time to turn back and fight Daenerys Targaryen, driving her into the sea.”

Mace said with a smile: “If the ending can really be as Lord Mountain says, that would of course be the best. But… things are unpredictable, in case the war in the North is in a stalemate, and Daenerys has already arrived, King’s Landing still has to rely on the legions to defend it. The Crownlands and Reach legions should not follow you north.”

“You are worried that Lord Mountain will be completely annihilated in the North,” the Mountain said coldly.

Mace chuckled, and shut his mouth without retorting.

He had already made his meaning clear, and it was even better that the Mountain had said it himself.

Jaime spoke: “Mountain, in war, there are victories and defeats, who dares to say that we will definitely win.”

The Mountain glanced at Jaime, shrugged his shoulders, and said, “Okay, I agree that the Crownlands and Reach legions will stay to defend King’s Landing. I need to be given the power to mobilize, kill, and pardon the legions of the Iron Islands, the Westerlands, the Vale, and the Riverlands.”

“We will authorize you to mobilize all the troops in these areas, but before you behead a certain lord, you still need to report to the King and get approval before you can act. Below the rank of lord, you have the right to deal with them, without prior notification to the King,” Cersei said softly. She raised her glass to the Mountain again as a gesture.

Cersei made the biggest concession, the power of life and death was limited to lords and above.

The Mountain snorted coldly in his heart, he already had a plan that didn't require authorization, which was to directly execute those bastards in the name of the King. He was too lazy to argue with Cersei about 'legitimacy'. If the local nobles, relying on their noble bloodlines, disobeyed, he would chop off their heads first.

“Your Grace, the Queen Mother, I am a vassal, willing to obey the Queen Mother's and His Majesty the King's dispatch and orders,” the Mountain said, his official jargon now fluent and effortless.

Cersei, Mace, Jaime, Margaery, Lord Rosby, Commander Benlont, and others all felt a sense of relief. The hearts that had been hanging in their throats finally landed. Everyone was worried that if the Mountain flew into a rage, and the barbarian lost his reason and etiquette, then everyone would be in danger, and the consequences would be serious, forcing them to compromise.

Cersei's mood relaxed, and a smile appeared on her face: “Ser Gregor,” she had previously always called the Mountain by the Mountain, not his real name Gregor, “I heard that Lady Jeyne is pregnant?”

“Yes, Your Grace, the Queen Mother.”

“What a coincidence, Queen Margaery Tyrell is also pregnant,” Cersei said without thinking, stabilizing the Mountain was the best policy, anyway, there were still several months from pregnancy to childbirth, “Grand Maester Qyburn can testify, I am not talking nonsense. If the Queen and Lady Jeyne's children are a boy and a girl, I hope the King's child can marry your child, and become a family. If they are both the same gender, they can exchange each other as adopted children, what do you think?”

“Marriage? Our children haven't even been born yet, it's too early to say this. It's not too late to draw up a marriage contract after the children are born. But Rosamund Lannister, the heir to Lannisport, is eleven years old this year, right? I have an adopted son in my guard camp, Korme Warner, whom I regard as my own child. His father was once Captain Archibald Warner of Robert's royal warship King Robert's Hammer, let Rosamund marry my son Korme Warner.”

Lannisport, the largest and most prosperous city in the Westerlands, and the third largest port city in the kingdom. The Mountain controlled the Iron Islands through Lord Gutber, and he could also control Lannisport through Korme Warner.

“Mountain, I'm sorry, Rosamund is already betrothed to Lord Rosby's nephew,” Jaime interjected. He immediately saw the Mountain's intention, the last and largest piece of fat in the Westerlands was Lannisport. If Lannisport was annexed by the Mountain, the Lannister's existence in the Westerlands would really be in name only.

Rosamund was not engaged to Lord Rosby's nephew, Jaime was making a hasty excuse.

“It's okay,” the Mountain said, “Lord Rosby, tell your nephew to break off the engagement, or I'll kill him.”