Chapter 115: King's Landing Aflame
People were everywhere. The streets of King's Landing had never been so lively. Burning torches were everywhere, and angry smallfolk were everywhere.
It began with a mother wailing as she brought her young son's cold corpse to the Shepherd's feet, where it, along with dozens of rotting bodies, was seen by hundreds of people. Then the situation spiraled out of control. In these past few weeks, countless people had died from the cold every day, while others were covered in boils that could burst at any moment, dying in agony with their entire families, or even entire alleys of people. More and more people gathered in Cobbler's Square, at the Shepherd's feet.
The heavy taxes had stopped, but the taxes already paid would not be refunded. Although the Queen distributed bread, the coarse, unpalatable black bread could not even feed a thousand people. Even so, people could endure.
But people could not endure the threat of death. Every day, someone nearby would suddenly cry out from the cold and then convulse and die, and no one knew if they would be next.
And the Queen did nothing. She arrested the Shepherd's companions and ordered Ser Ross to lead the Gold Cloaks to forcibly disperse the gathered crowd. This enraged the people completely. In every alley of Flea Bottom and the River Gate, people took to the streets with torches. They smashed open shop doors, hacked down the high-and-mighty shopkeepers, and pried open noblemen's locks, dragging their delicate daughters into the streets.
Chaos spread throughout the city.
Flea Bottom caught fire first, then the docks, then various streets and alleys, and then the city gates. The Gold Cloaks ran frantically amidst the flames, their already limited manpower stretched even thinner.
"The end is nigh! The end is nigh!"
The one-armed mad prophet wept as he looked at the dense crowd. Some among them even suddenly collapsed while walking, and when people noticed these fallen individuals, they were horrified to find them convulsing, soon dying with blue lips.
"That monstrous Queen bleeding upon the Iron Throne, the incestuous spawn of demons — the Seven shall surely punish her evil. It is she who brought the Stranger and death."
"Prophet, please save us!"
Alec Cargyll, dressed in tattered clothes, tore open his garments to reveal a seven-pointed star emblem, shouting sorrowfully, while a septon also cried out on his knees:
"Save us, save us! Seven gods, save your lambs!"
Tears flowed from one person after another. They gazed intently at the Shepherd on the high platform, waiting for this prophet to give them instructions.
"Only the Holy Mother in heaven can save you, me, all of us, but we were wrong. Our greed and shortsightedness drove away the Holy Mother. Now the Stranger has come. He rides a jet-black steed, with eyes like burning charcoal. He holds a fiery whip, coming to chastise unbelievers, heretics, and devils. Do you hear him?"
The Shepherd covered his remaining hand over his ears.
"Listen, do you hear it? Do you hear the sound of scorching iron hooves striking the earth? He has come! He has come!"
"He has come!"
The people shouted after the Shepherd, and the crowd began to move slowly. No one knew how many people had gathered there — three thousand? Five thousand? Or ten thousand?
But none of that mattered, because as the crowd slowly began to crawl toward Rhaenys's Hill, more and more smallfolk joined the Shepherd's army.
"Hoofbeats?"
Amidst the fervent shouts of He has come, Alec Cargyll keenly caught the sound of hooves striking cobblestones and flagstones. This former Kingsguard immediately realized something.
"Go home! All of you, go home! Idiots! You've been deceived!"
Ser Ross rode a white destrier clad in iron armor, fully armored himself beneath a golden cloak.
Behind him were five hundred Gold Cloaks equipped with short swords and spears, all wearing black chainmail, steel helmets, golden cloaks, and carrying shields, advancing in formation into the crowd.
Hundreds of people on the outskirts immediately ran, but the crowd was too large, and many simply could not move, forced to squeeze forward with the main body against the Gold Cloaks' spear formation.
Ross saw that this would not do; his few hundred men could not handle a crowd of this size.
He hastily ordered his men to continue beating the war drums to maintain the spear formation while raising his longsword to the crowd.
"Go home quickly. No one will harm you if you go home. To continue forward is treason! Go home quickly! We are only arresting the Shepherd, that traitor!"
The people continued to push forward.
Finally, a fat man in a cook's apron groaned in pain; his belly had been pierced by a spear, and his intestines spilled onto the ground.
More and more people surged forward, and a spearman watched helplessly as a little girl was pushed onto his spear.
"The Gold Cloaks are killing people! They are the monstrous Queen's devil servants!"
Someone shouted, and the crowd instantly erupted.
Stones and bricks flew, and people continuously poured out of the surrounding houses. For a moment, stones were everywhere, and there was even an archer somewhere across the square shooting arrows at the Gold Cloaks.
Ross immediately abandoned the idea of dispersing the crowd.
"Capture the Shepherd, and the crowd will disperse naturally!"
He immediately swung his sword, cutting down two smallfolk who surged toward him, and spurred his warhorse, attempting to trample through the crowd.
The spear formation slowly moved with Ross's white horse, and with every step more than one rioter lay dead on the spot.
But there were simply too many rioters.
When one soldier fell, his place was immediately occupied by several rioters.
The Gold Cloaks' formation was quickly torn apart by rioters surging from all directions.
Alec threw a stone with all his strength, striking Ser Ross squarely in the head.
Ross had no time to react, was dazed, and fell directly from his horse.
The rioters immediately seized the fallen captain.
Almost in the blink of an eye, the captain who had just been so arrogant was torn to shreds.
A tanner raised the captain's longsword and climbed atop his warhorse.
"Charge! Charge!"
The tanner roared like a madman.
The Gold Cloaks were quickly overwhelmed by the rioters. They seized the Gold Cloaks' weapons, and the crowd surged like a tide, leaving only corpses and flames in its wake.
Queen Alicent was awakened.
Ever since the news of Prince Daeron's death and Prince Aemond's death successively reached King's Landing, Queen Alicent had been in a daze for a very long time.
She quietly watched the city, which seemed engulfed in a sea of fire, and suddenly smiled.
The Dowager Queen slowly stood at the window, tears flowing unconsciously.
She was not foolish; she knew what the deaths of her two sons meant.
Their folly had ultimately led to dire consequences.
She could already imagine Aegon II's fate, and the downfall of House Hightower.
So whose fault was it?
Her father's face flashed through Queen Alicent's mind.
Never mind.
Things had come to this point; what good was there in assigning blame?
The Dowager Queen slowly closed her eyes, not looking at the spikes lining the dry moat below.
She jumped.
Queen Rhaenyra peered out the window, nervously watching King's Landing in a sea of fire.."Your Majesty, we can no longer control the situation." Lord Corlys, the Serpent, limped over. "I regret to inform you that there's no news from Ser Ross, and no news from Ser Laurent Marbrand. Given the scale of the rioters, I fear the worst."
"Where's Mysaria?" Queen Rhaenyra took a deep breath. "How could it be so fast?"
"Madam Mysaria does not reside in the Red Keep," Lord Bartimos said with some alarm. If he hadn't been busy auditing the treasury's gold, he probably would have met a grim fate by now too. "She has likely been killed. Our messengers cannot get out; King's Landing is now overrun with rioters."
"Mother, let us ride our Dragons into battle." Joffrey, with Baela, pushed open the door. The boy, wearing the leather armor and sword Lucerys had left behind, declared loudly, "This is a rebellion."
"What is the rioters' route?" Queen Rhaenyra gritted her teeth. Lord Bartimos glanced outside: "They wouldn't dare come to the Red Keep. If the Red Keep's gates are closed, these rioters can't get in. I suspect..." The Count suddenly shivered. "They're going to the Dragonpit!"
"They'll kill the Dragons." Baela instantly reacted. "Sunfyre and Morgul are still in the Dragonpit!"
Those were the Dragons of Queen Helena's twin children: Jaehaerys's Sunfyre and Jeherina's Morgul. At the time, Helena had left with her children on a Dragon, but had not brought these two young Dragons.
"Mother, we must quell this rebellion quickly." Joffrey walked to his Mother's side. "They will kill the Dragons!"
"Dragonflame can stop them." Queen Rhaenyra said through gritted teeth, "Once my army returns, none of these rioters will escape justice."
"Your Majesty, a swarm of rats can also bite a lion to death," the large-headed jester Mushroom suddenly said. This jester had once served Viserys I. After Viserys's death, Mushroom was imprisoned for having repeatedly supported Rhaenyra in the past, until Rhaenyra occupied King's Landing.
"Sunfyre and Morgul are small Dragons, Mother. Make a decision quickly." Joffrey said anxiously. Baela added at the opportune moment: "Mother, if they truly kill the Dragons, then our Dragons will no longer be safe. They will think that slaying a Dragon is not a myth, and our rule will..." She said with some worry, "Moon Dance is not much larger than those two small Dragons."
The remaining White Knights also gathered. In reality, only Ser Steffon Darklyn and Ser Irik Cargyll remained among the Kingsguard by the Queen's side.
Lord Corlys looked at his granddaughter and grandson with admiration, then continued to look at Queen Rhaenyra. Rhaenyra was still hesitating: "My children, you are still too young..."
However, the rioters would not give Rhaenyra time to think.
The Shepherd led the rioters to the foot of Rhaenys's Hill. The procession, which had traversed half of King's Landing, had swollen to ant-like proportions. There were corpses everywhere, and flames everywhere.
Hotels were burning, wealthy mansions were burning, and even the Septs were burning. The mad prophet commanded the rioters to drag the septons out of the Septs, forcing them to join the procession, while Monks who refused were beaten to death.
The Shepherd was lifted up by Alec, and his shrill wails reached everyone's ears.
"Brothers and sisters, do you hear the stranger's hooves? He has come! He has come with divine punishment! He has come to punish our sins! Prayer is useless, repentance is useless, only blood, your blood, my blood, and the blood of these demons!"
The Shepherd pointed to the massive Dragonpit at the top of the hill: "The monstrous Queen threw our brothers and sisters there, letting demons devour their flesh and blood. Brothers and sisters, think! What will happen if the Dragons fly? Our flesh will blister and burn, our wives and children's eyes will melt in the flames, their bones separating from their flesh. The devils are here! They are on the hill! If we don't want to incur the wrath of divine punishment, if we don't want to die in a Dragon's maw, then kill them! Blood and fire, fire and blood! Tears cannot extinguish Dragonflame, but blood can! Brothers and sisters, slaughter them, bathe in Dragon blood, and we can cleanse our sins! Extinguish the fires of hell!"
"Slaughter them! Slaughter them!" Tens of thousands of mouths roared, tens of thousands of legs ran. The Dragon Guard defending the Dragonpit were quickly engulfed by the sea of people.
As a tall man smashed open a small door with a hammer, more and more people broke open the side entrances of the Dragonpit.
They could already hear the roars of the awakening Dragons.
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