Even in such a southern place, has it started snowing?
Jon Connington, who had just finished inspecting a round of the military camp, slowly raised his head, watched the snowflakes suddenly drifting all over the sky, and let out a long sigh.
He was old, and years of exile overseas and a life of fighting and traveling with the Golden Company had caused irreversible damage to his body. After riding for only a moment and raising his head again, his whole body ached as if it were falling apart.
High summer was gone, youth was over. Winter should have been the best time for everyone to go home, honestly store food, and huddle together to wait for spring to arrive, but the usurper was not defeated, so how could he go home? As long as the rebel of House Baratheon still sat on the Iron Throne for a day, and Rhaegar's son had not reclaimed the Seven Kingdoms for half a day, he could not rest.
Daenerys's counterattack on the Seven Kingdoms came quite timely. If it were ten days or half a month later, the Golden Company defending Storm's End would have run out of supplies and had to surrender. He would probably also have had to retreat in embarrassment with the Prince into Dorne for refuge, living under others' roofs and at their mercy. Fortunately, the terrible ending did not happen. After the news of Daenerys capturing Dragonstone and advancing on King's Landing spread throughout the Seven Kingdoms, and Stannis quickly withdrew his troops from Storm's End to shorten his defensive line, the Golden Company loyal to Prince Aegon gathered their remaining soldiers under the command of Jon Connington, the Prince's Hand, and embarked on their final march to the North.
With just over half of the Golden Company's remaining strength, it was impossible to attack King's Landing alone, but besieging the city was not the goal of this long march. As long as they arrived on the battlefield before Daenerys captured King's Landing and the fate of the Iron Throne was decided, and the Prince could meet his Daenerys and acknowledge their kinship, they would at least have some credit, even if not great merit. Even without hardship, whoever saw it had a share, and they would surely get a spoonful of the Seven Kingdoms' pie.
Due to unfavorable consecutive battles with Stannis, the morale of the Golden Company was not high, and coupled with the urgency of time, Connington led Prince Aegon on the march, taking down only a few small castles that had to be captured along the way, avoiding all other unnecessary battles. They finally crossed the Stormlands and the Kingswood before the fall of King's Landing, successfully reaching the south bank of the Blackwater River, separated by water from the political center of the Seven Kingdoms, facing the magnificent royal capital and the Red Keep in the distance.
At this point, the Golden Company closed the last gap in the encirclement formed by Daenerys's army. King's Landing's east, south, west, and north, all directions, were completely surrounded by Targaryen land and sea forces carrying the red dragon banner, turning it into an isolated city.
However, although King's Landing seemed precarious, the situation actually eased somewhat with the arrival of the Golden Company. Stannis had already stockpiled enough food in the city and was not afraid of siege attrition, while the armies outside the city, though seemingly one family, were actually loyal to two different Targaryens. The two armies, before the monarchs they served reached an agreement with each other, would absolutely not allow the other party to take King's Landing first and gain legal advantage, putting themselves in an awkward situation.
Although Aegon's Golden Company did not have the strength to attack King's Landing independently, it was not a problem to threaten the Unsullied's flanks and rear, preventing them from acting rashly and attacking the city with full force. Not to mention, the two armies from the Riverlands and Dorne were also on their way to join the fun. Soon, the capital of the Seven Kingdoms would fall into a state more complex than a three-way standoff.
Daenerys's hesitation made her miss the chance to take King's Landing alone. Before the various families fully reached an agreement on the distribution of interests or first fought each other to determine the victor, the pressure Stannis faced was much less than when he faced only the threat of the Unsullied and the Three Dragons.
Of course, a smile appeared at the corner of Jon Connington's mouth. He was one of the few people in the world who knew that Varys's true loyalty was to Prince Aegon. With the eunuch already close to the Queen and starting to influence her thoughts and decisions, the probability of Daenerys nodding in agreement to marry her nephew, the two Targaryens successfully uniting through marriage, fighting the great enemy together, and ruling the Seven Kingdoms, was extremely high.
As long as he could personally witness the son of his beloved silver Prince sit on the Iron Throne and rule the Seven Kingdoms during his lifetime, Connington would be satisfied even if he died immediately.
Speaking of Varys, Varys arrived. Before Connington dismounted, a soldier ran up to report, "Hand, someone claiming to be the Queen's messenger has arrived at the camp, saying his name is Varys. He is currently waiting for you in the main tent."
"Oh?" News from the Queen's side had arrived. Connington's spirits lifted. "Help me dismount. Guard the tent door well, no disturbances without urgent military matters."
"Yes."
The old Hand quickly and energetically walked into the central military tent and indeed saw the familiar bald head standing in the center waiting for him. He quickly dismissed those around him, walked closer, and asked with both anticipation and nervousness, "How did you manage to persuade the Queen?"
"It's hard to say," Varys said helplessly in a low voice. His current status was the Queen's advisor, accompanied by the Unsullied. If someone heard him being so familiar and close with Prince Aegon's Hand, a charge of espionage could be brought against him, which would be disastrous. "Although I presented a great gift like the Crownlands military force distribution map, I haven't been with the Queen as long as Littlefinger. He has more weight and influence with the Queen than I do and strongly opposes the marriage proposal I put forward. While the Queen hasn't explicitly stated her position, after being induced and having her ambition stirred by Petyr, she is clearly more inclined to be Queen herself, rather than marry down to be Queen Consort."
"Hmph, be Queen herself. It sounds easy, but how can it be that simple? She is a young woman, where does she get such great ambition for power. Did you not do anything?"
"Do not worry, the Queen does not have the idea of becoming an enemy with her last blood relative in the world. I am considering, if the Queen is really unwilling to be Queen Consort, then we can settle for the next best thing and persuade her to name Prince Aegon as her heir, achieving cooperation in this form." Varys sighed. "This is why I have been advising you not to let Prince Aegon emphasize his status too much. If he gets used to stressing his status as King to everyone he meets, then when the day comes that he has to temporarily be under the Dragon Queen, it will be too awkward."
"Heir, that is indeed a method, but if I remember correctly, Daenerys is even younger than Aegon. She is still young, she will surely look for a man. If, after naming Prince Aegon as heir, she has her own children, what should be done? The Prince might never get the chance to sit on the Iron Throne in his lifetime."
"That will depend on the Prince's own ability. If Daenerys refuses to marry him and wants to be Queen herself, then she will certainly not marry anyone else either, but will temporarily rule the Seven Kingdoms as a single woman. If Aegon can show a reliable and capable side of himself in front of his Daenerys, gaining her favor before she takes a liking to other men, becoming Daenerys's husband who is not King or her trusted Hand, then he will also have a chance to sit on the Iron Throne."
The above were merely perfunctory words. The real plan that Varys and Illyrio had secretly discussed was, if Daenerys refused to marry down, then they would settle for the next best thing and try to facilitate the heir plan. Once Aegon became the heir to the Iron Throne, they would find some way to create an accident causing Daenerys's death, naturally achieving their ultimate goal of Aegon ruling the Seven Kingdoms through a roundabout way.
But this plan was absolutely impossible to reveal to Jon Connington or Prince Aegon. Both the old Hand and the young Prince firmly believed that the latter was the true Aegon Targaryen. The growth environment that Varys and Illyrio had tailor-made for him had successfully shaped Aegon Targaryen into a perfect King who was loyal, upright, brave, wise, and intelligent.
Such a Prince would absolutely never participate in a despicable plot like assassinating his own monarch and also the last relative in the world for the sake of the throne.
Let the Master of Whisperers and wealthy merchant governors, these lowly people, do the bad deeds. Aegon Targaryen's task was to be the cuckoo that occupied the magpie's nest, gracefully and without self-awareness, to become the most legendary King in the history of the Seven Kingdoms after his namesake, the Conqueror, cleanly and purely, becoming the common ancestor of all future Targaryen.
"Alas, if the Queen's ambition has truly inflated to such an extent, without fighting her, I am afraid we can only agree to let Aegon reluctantly be the heir." Jon Connington frowned and sighed. As someone who had witnessed Aegon's changes every day as he grew up, he was more certain than anyone else that his young Prince would become a more ideal and excellent emperor than anyone else. However, people must occasionally make some compromises with reality.
"Stop sighing, things are already much better than the worst-case scenario. Do you know, Petyr had originally successfully persuaded the Queen to take King's Landing herself before the other armies arrived. If Stannis had not held his ground with a dense formation of dragon-hunting ballistas, forcing the Queen not to easily attack the city by riding her dragons, and if that Red Priest named Moqorro had not kept urging her to go to the North to participate in some damned War for the Dawn, what you might see now upon arriving here would be King's Landing with the red dragon banner flying on the city walls."
If Daenerys had truly taken King's Landing alone, then by the time the Prince arrived with the Golden Company, they would have had no bargaining chips whatsoever, and no choice but to kneel and pledge allegiance. Whether they could even be recognized as Targaryen blood would have depended on the Queen's mood.
Things reaching this point today was already not bad. Thinking this, Connington's mood immediately lightened considerably, but then he immediately spoke of another matter with distress. "After hearing the news of Daenerys's counterattack on the Seven Kingdoms, the attitudes of the Riverlands and Dorne toward the Prince have also become ambiguous. I had invited Tyrell and Martell to lead their armies together to come here. It was predictable that Martell would not accept, but even Tyrell did not respond."
"Hmph, both families have unmarried male direct descendants, and seeing that the Queen is not married, they have all started having their own little ideas." Varys narrowed his eyes, a flash of contempt and coldness glinting in the slits. "Everyone seems to think Daenerys, being a young woman, must be easier to control than a Prince you are assisting. Unfortunately, the Queen is much harder to fool than they imagine. Do not worry about these things, let us do something meaningful. Here are the complete blueprints for the dragon-hunting ballista. My little birds in King's Landing stole them for me. There are artisans in the army who can build them, right? Take some time to build a few and train a batch of soldiers who can use them."
"Hmm?" Connington subconsciously took the large roll of blueprints that Varys pulled out from his clothes and widened his eyes. "Did you not say we would not go to war with Daenerys? What do we need this for?"
"Although we have no intention of harming others, we cannot be without means to defend ourselves. Besides, once the ballistas are built, even if they are not used to shoot dragons, they can be used to shoot people or city walls. Being fully prepared will not lead to major mistakes. Remember to proceed in secret and do not let word get out."
The eunuch made sense. Connington nodded and put away the blueprints. "Alright, I will make the arrangements."
Aegon and Daenerys would of course not go to war, but when the day comes that the Queen accidentally passes away, something must be done about the Three Dragons who cannot speak human language. Rather than scrambling to find a solution at that time, it was naturally best to prepare in advance.
"The Queen has now gone to the North to visit the Wall and will return in a couple of days. Have the Prince prepare, as soon as Daenerys returns, you will immediately visit. If she takes a liking to Aegon and is willing to marry down, that is naturally best. If not, do not pester her too much, and decisively acknowledge her as the legitimate monarch. In any case, first join forces to deal with Stannis and take King's Landing. I have said all I have to say. You must grasp the importance and implications of this yourself."
"Understood, I will relay it to the Prince."
"Alright, it is not convenient to talk more. I still have to rush west to find Tyrell. Take care."
Walking out of the tent, taking a breath of the cool, dry winter air, Varys forcefully suppressed the surging emotions in his chest. Having planned, lurked, and steadily pushed forward for over twenty years, he had finally succeeded in tormenting the Targaryen family to the point of ruin, with only one person remaining. Now, as long as he squeezed out the last bit of use from this last person, this great play would come to an end.
How laughable that Littlefinger thought he had suddenly gotten close to Daenerys to vie for the Queen's favor and steal his credit, little knowing that even the Queen herself was merely a piece in this grand game.
Since the piece was unwilling to obediently accept the player's arrangement for her to be Queen Consort, then she should disappear.
(To be continued.)
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