In a certain sense, Jon was not wrong.
Richard's return was like throwing a brick into a gently rippling lake. The fragile and barely maintained harmony between Dany and Stannis was shattered.
That night, at the banquet held for old Barristan, Clinton, and the other legendary knights, Stannis did not attend, and neither did the followers of the Red God.
The next morning, during the discussion in the main hall of Winterfell about "how to establish a unified command of the Seven Kingdoms against the Others," Stannis remained cold-faced throughout. He was no longer… well, to be fair, he had never shown much expression before.
However, Dany could clearly sense that his mood was heavy and repressed.
She did not care.
She and R'hllor had already fallen out completely. Even if they might temporarily cooperate because of the Night King, they were bound to fight to the death in the future.
If Dany had the ability to eliminate Him, would she strike?
Obviously, she would.
And the reverse was equally true.
Moreover, her relationship with Stannis had never been good.
If not for the Night King, they would never have sat under the same roof.
The King in the North spoke first. "Winterfell needs the support of the nobles of the Seven Kingdoms. The Others are not merely a matter for House Stark, nor will they be confined to Winterfell.
For every day Winterfell holds, the southern kingdoms gain one more day of peace. Of course, the best outcome would be to slay the Night King beneath Winterfell's walls."
The old Crab glanced at the Dragon Queen and said, "On the day the Wall fell, Dragonstone immediately sent out ravens, notifying the lords of the Seven Kingdoms.
They all replied at once. Besides repeatedly confirming the accuracy of the news, they also asked what they should do next.
In truth, they are willing to contribute to the cause of resisting the Others. The problem now is where that contribution should be directed."
"What is there to doubt? Obviously to Winterfell!" Brandon Tallhart shouted.
His voice, cracking in adolescence, sounded especially harsh in the hall.
He was the young Lord of Torrhen's Square, only fifteen this year. His father, uncle, and cousin had all died fighting for Robb.
There were many young lords like Brandon Tallhart and Edd Umber. In the conference chamber of the main keep, there were more than ten youths between their mid-teens and early twenties.
They had been too young to fight in the War of the Four Kings, while their fathers, grandfathers, elder brothers, and cousins had all filled the massive pit Robb had dug.
At present, among the ten earldoms of the North, at least seven were occupied by widowed countesses.
Come to think of it, the Dragon Queen and Jon were only eighteen as well.
The older generation had withered away. The coming Long Night would depend on this group of young people.
Well, Stannis would certainly disagree. He probably believed himself to be in his prime, with a great future ahead.
"Winterfell is too far from the south. The lords do not even know the current state of the North.
All they can do is send ravens to gather information while consolidating their smallfolk and reinforcing their castles' defenses," the old Crab said gravely.
Barristan continued, "The Wall has fallen, the sun has dimmed, and the Others are marching south. Faced with such a crisis, many nobles must be willing to contribute part of their strength.
But the political situation of the Seven Kingdoms is in chaos. The Iron Throne has issued no statement. Everyone is like a headless fly, lost and at a loss for what to do."
At this point, the White Knight glanced at the jaw-clenched Stannis and the calm-faced Dragon Queen and gave a bitter smile. "In truth, what Westeros needs most right now is a leader, a hero who can unite everyone."
Melisandre leaned close to Stannis's ear and whispered, "I have long said it. Take King's Landing and command the realm."
Dany rolled her eyes and said irritably, "Even if you helped him seize a hundred King's Landings, could he command me?
To win the people, you rely on benevolence. To subdue the nobles, you must break their knees with force.
Taking King's Landing only means taking the Iron Throne. How far can the Iron Throne's orders travel beyond King's Landing now?"
"That depends on who captures King's Landing," the old Crab said with a strange smile. "Your Grace, you may not know this, but recently Dragonstone has received more than a hundred letters of fealty from the great lords of the Seven Kingdoms.
All from major houses.
After news spread of your great victory over the allied army beneath Meereen, many began to hope that you would rule over Westeros."
Crunch.
Stannis glared at the old Crab and ground his teeth.
Dany waved her hand dismissively. "I will not go back on my word. Besides, while many hope I sit the Iron Throne, even more do not wish me to be Queen of the Seven Kingdoms. The Lannisters, for instance, and…"
She tilted her chin toward the side, at the teeth-grinding Stannis.
"It would be better to treat the Iron Throne as a reward. Whoever ends the Long Night shall be the king chosen by destiny."
Barristan glanced at the dark-faced Stannis, understood that the Dragon Queen's reasoning made sense, and did not pursue the matter further. Instead, he asked, "In any case, while resisting the Others, it would be best to establish a command center overseeing all Seven Kingdoms.
That is the most urgent matter at present and the main topic of today's meeting.
Your Graces, Duke Stark, do you have any suggestions?"
Dany smiled. "Westeros has seven great duchies and one Crownlands. That makes eight kings in total. Let us stop arguing over who is King of the Seven Kingdoms.
Simply put, let us calculate by duchy and create an 'Eight Kings Council.'
I will represent Dragonstone and the Crownlands. Cersei will represent the Westerlands. Euron will represent the Iron Islands. Randyll Tarly will represent the Reach. Stannis will represent the Stormlands—"
"No!" Stannis interrupted unhappily. "Euron, Randyll Tarly, and Cersei are clearly in league. They would hold three seats on the council. Your Eight Kings Council is nothing but surrender to the Iron Throne!"
Dany cast him a sidelong glance and said disdainfully, "You argue for the Iron Throne every day, yet you do not understand even the simplest political maneuvering. If I place Randyll and Cersei on equal footing, how could they remain allies?"
"So you let Stark stand on equal footing with me because you want to drive a wedge between us?" Second Stag said coldly.
"If you are united in appearance but divided at heart, there is no need for me to sow discord. If you are truly of one mind, no one can drive you apart.
"And you need to understand, the one who suffers most from the Eight Kings' council is me. I and the lot of you…"
Dany lifted her chin slightly, swept her gaze around the room, and said proudly, "Be content. To stand on equal footing with me, you have already gained a benefit greater than the Iron Throne."
"You—" Second Stag's face turned livid with anger.
Jon quickly stepped forward to smooth things over. "Your Majesty has proposed an 'Anti-Other United Front.' Why not bring all the nobles of the Seven Kingdoms into it? Let the dukes serve as committee members, and the kings as chairmen.
"At present there are only three kings in the Seven Kingdoms: the Iron Throne, His Majesty Stannis, and Her Majesty Daenerys.
"As long as the three of you form an alliance, all the forces of the Seven Kingdoms will join the 'Anti-Other United Front.'"
"Chairmen?" Dany's expression turned strange.
"I will not cooperate with Cersei or Euron," Second Stag said firmly.
Jon froze for a moment, then understood: Davos was leading Second Stag's wyvern legion alongside the lords of the Vale in an assault on King's Landing.
Barristan looked gravely at Second Stag. "A few days ago, Her Majesty had Dragonstone send a letter to the Iron Throne, requesting one hundred tons of wildfire to be airlifted to Winterfell."
"Does King's Landing even have that much wildfire?" Mother Bear Alysanne asked in shock.
Barristan nodded and continued, looking at Second Stag, "Yesterday, before I came to Winterfell, I received a reply from the Hand of the King, Randyll Tarly.
"In principle, he agrees to hand over King's Landing's wildfire to Dragonstone.
"But now your Hand of the King, the Onion Knight Davos, is leading the wyvern legion in an aerial assault on King's Landing. The Iron Throne intends to keep the wildfire to deal with your forces.
"Unless you cease hostilities and swear not to attack King's Landing again, Randyll Tarly will not hand over the weapons meant to defend the city."
"This…" Jon turned to Second Stag and urged gently, "Your Majesty, one hundred tons of wildfire is enough to blow up the Night King a hundred times."
Second Stag's brows knitted together, and his expression wavered.
Melisandre reminded softly, "Your Majesty, we need Cersei and Euron."
Second Stag's expression changed again.
He had two purposes in attacking King's Landing. Seventy percent was to reclaim the Baratheon Iron Throne, and the remaining thirty percent concerned Cersei and Euron.
If the Prince That Was Promised had to resurrect a dragon to defeat the Night King, he would rather sacrifice Cersei to revive Vhagar than sacrifice Shireen.
In his mind, taking King's Landing equaled saving Shireen.
"I have always heard that Randyll Tarly is an upright knight. Does he not understand that I am the only legitimate heir to the Seven Kingdoms?
"If he were willing to lead the soldiers of Horn Hill to swear loyalty to me, the battle for King's Landing could be completely avoided," he said resentfully.
Barristan's expression turned bitter, and Jon covered his face helplessly.
They both understood Second Stag's choice.
At the Bloody Gate, Queen Selyse and Princess Shireen occupied the palace that once belonged to Queen Sansa.
But that did not mean the Bloody Gate could refuse Sansa's arrival, for she was still the cousin of Robert Arryn, Duke of the Vale, and his guardian.
However, Sansa did not stay at the Bloody Gate. She moved to the neighboring Eyrie.
Indeed, the Eyrie was bitterly cold in winter, but with only a handful of people, the supply of firewood was still sufficient.
Sansa's reason for moving was simple: safer and freer.
The Bloody Gate had become the palace of Second Stag's wife, while the servants in the Eyrie were all Mia Stone's people.
During her days in the Vale, Sansa rested and cared for her pregnancy while worrying about the battle at Winterfell.
After all, Winterfell was her home.
Then she began to divine Winterfell's fate.
Sansa was a moon singer.
There was no need to doubt the Stark family's cheat-like talent.
So she truly could see certain visions in the glass candle.
It was just difficult to determine whether they were illusions or prophecies.
"Why do I keep seeing this vision? What exactly does it foretell? Could Arya truly kill the Night King?
"It makes no sense. She's just an ordinary girl, only thirteen years old. She has nothing to do with the Prince That Was Promised," Sansa murmured.
For reasons unknown, over the past two days she had repeatedly seen the same scene in the glass candle: a thick, obese girl in black swinging a dagger and stabbing the Night King through the chest.
Though the ugly girl would change greatly as she grew, Sansa recognized her at a glance. It was her sister Arya.
Sansa had never seen the Night King before, and in the vision his appearance was extremely blurred. But after Arya stabbed him to death, all the corpses around them with blue light glowing from their eyes fell to the ground and lost their animation. She guessed that must be the Night King who controlled all the Others.
"Caw, caw, caw—Sansa!"
Sansa was frowning in thought by the bedroom fireplace when suddenly the glass window was tapped several times, and someone called her name.
She was startled at once. This was the Eyrie, suspended hundreds of meters above the ground!
Turning her head in panic, she saw a large black raven flapping against the dim sky, repeatedly pecking at the mosaic glass window with its beak.
"A skinchanger?" In the next moment, Sansa let out a breath of relief.
(End of chapter)
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