Unlike most people in Westeros, Daenerys was not unfamiliar with the Lord of Light. In a sense, she was even half a believer.
Because High Priest Bennero had interpreted from the flames that the Dragon Queen was the Prophet, countless followers of the Lord of Light continuously promoted her on both sides of the Narrow Sea. This not only hindered the formation of anti Targaryen alliances, but also led the Great Red Temple of Volantis to dispatch a high ranking priest of the same standing as Lady Melisandre, Moqorro, to travel thousands of miles to Slaver's Bay to assist and guide her. He remained at her side until she fulfilled the prophecy by defeating the White Walkers, only then taking his leave.
During this time, Daenerys not only further witnessed the wonders of magic, but also grew familiar with and gained a deeper understanding of this Red Priest and the god he believed in through their long association.
He was a mysterious yet reliable male priest, and R'hllor, the god he served, also seemed to truly exist. Every word he spoke and every action he took at her side were in response to that deity's will, guiding her toward the final war and toward becoming the Prophet who would defeat the darkness and save mankind. Throughout this process, Moqorro maintained a strictly neutral stance. He never involved himself in the struggles between Varys and Petyr, never sought power or personal gain, and never did anything extreme such as burning unbelievers or harming the innocent in the name of spreading the Lord of Light.
Moqorro's upright conduct undoubtedly gave Daenerys a favorable impression of the Red Priests and of R'hllor himself. In fact, she had even considered appointing Moqorro as her chief religious and magical advisor after uniting the Seven Kingdoms. She intended to introduce the worship of the Lord of Light to stir the stagnant religious situation of Westeros, weaken the absolute influence of the Faith of the Seven, which was controlled by the Hightower family of Oldtown, and break the status quo in which many places "knew only the Seven and not the King."
It was just a pity that Moqorro insisted on resigning and returning to Volantis after completing his mission, and she could not persuade him to stay.
But Moqorro's departure did not matter. Daenerys's goodwill toward him and the Red God faction behind him naturally extended, through association, to his trusted colleague, another high ranking Red Priest, Lady Melisandre.
A group like them, possessing great power yet remaining devout and without political ambition, surely would not favor others or deceive her, the Queen of prophecy, for some sordid purpose, would they?
With this mindset, although the priestess's visit was ill timed, Daenerys decided after brief consideration to take some time to meet her.
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"Please let her in."
Daenerys gave the order, leaned back in her seat, suppressed her confusion and panic, straightened her posture, and once more donned the strong mask of the Dragon Queen. She raised her head and looked at the Red Priestess who slowly entered the room, appearing weary but still elegant and proud.
"Lady Melisandre, you visit late at night. For what purpose?"
"For what purpose?" The Red Priestess shook her head. "Your Grace, that is not for you to ask me. It is for me to ask you. At this hour, what are you still doing here?"
"Lady, we all respect you," Missandei immediately spoke up to defend the Queen. "But this is Your Grace's chamber. She needs no reason to be here. Please show proper respect."
"I know this is her chamber." Melisandre glanced at the young girl with the dismissive look of an adult telling a child not to interrupt, then turned her gaze back to Daenerys. "Three of Your Grace's important ministers were poisoned at the same time. Two are dead, and the remaining one is hanging by a thread. Yet you are neither attempting to save the survivor nor urgently evacuating Winterfell to prevent turmoil within the Gift Army. You hide in this building under the protection of the Unsullied. Are you waiting for a miracle to occur, or hoping the situation will somehow resolve itself?"
Daenerys was not angered by the obvious sarcasm. In truth, she was already preparing to evacuate and had only been interrupted by the Red Priestess's visit. She exchanged a quiet glance with Missandei, and neither spoke the truth aloud.
After several seconds of awkward silence, Daenerys realized that, until the truth was revealed, she should at least show concern for her subordinates. "This is indeed my fault. Please forgive me. Lady Melisandre, Aegor specifically asked for your help before collapsing. I presume you took part in the treatment. Can you tell me how he is now?"
"Dead," the Red Priestess said flatly, then added, "Maester Qyburn identified the poison taken by the Lord Commander as one stolen from him. This poison is extremely potent, but it has a special characteristic. It can be broken down by the body itself. When taken in small amounts, the harm is limited, and in theory, as long as the victim's life can be sustained, he can survive and fully recover through his own bodily functions. Therefore, I spent the entire afternoon casting spells to prolong his life, fighting a war of attrition against the poison with magic, in an attempt to save the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch."
"Ahem, Your Grace."
Missandei murmured softly beside her. The words sounded meaningless, but in truth she was subtly reminding Daenerys that even a high ranking Red Priest might not be completely trustworthy.
"Then why did it fail?" Hearing the word "dead," Daenerys felt as if something had been drained from her body, leaving her hollow. At the same time, she felt a strange sense of relief. The bitterness of losing a trusted confidant and the lightness of knowing he had not betrayed her mixed together, creating an indescribable feeling. Even after Missandei's reminder that the priestess might be deceiving her, the sense of loss lingered.
"Because no one's magic is limitless. I did all I could, but the Lord Commander drank a great deal of the poisoned wine, and the strength of this poison exceeded all expectations. If I had forced myself further, I would have collapsed first."
As she spoke, Melisandre walked to the chair prepared for visitors and sat down, appearing drained of strength.
She was not as weak as she appeared, but it was true that her magic was nearly exhausted. When Aegor returned the magic necklace to her, there was shockingly little power left within it.
This was incredible. When the necklace had been crafted, it was designed to neutralize a poison strong enough to kill ten elephants. As long as the wearer was not drinking poison like water or eating it as food, it should have been impossible for the magic within to be depleted so thoroughly.
Rather than Aegor using it for detoxification and exhausting its power, it was more as if something had completely drained the magic inside.
If another priest had borrowed the necklace, she would have demanded an explanation. But facing the representative personally chosen by R'hllor, Melisandre dared not ask further and could only swallow the loss in silence.
She was now relying on her own magic to maintain her youthful appearance spell, which made her look noticeably haggard, but this also served as strong evidence for her claim.
"So you have given up on treating him?" Although she suspected this might be a lie, Daenerys still felt genuine heartache, and the words she spoke carried an unmistakable reluctance and bitterness toward parting in life and death.
"I regret it, but I have no choice," Melisandre said calmly and coldly. "Although his breathing and heartbeat have not yet stopped, there is little difference between him and a dead man. If it is quick, it will be within moments. If slow, it will not last past dawn. However, after calming down and thinking carefully, I realized that there is indeed a way to save him."
…
Should she say "That is wonderful," or "As expected, it is always the same routine"?
The Queen and Missandei exchanged glances and saw the same thought in each other's eyes.
If the first half of Melisandre's words had immersed Daenerys in sorrow, the second half immediately shattered that atmosphere and even made her clench her teeth. After saying so much, he was not going to die in the end, was he?
Then all her previous emotional turmoil had been for nothing.
As long as Aegor did not die, regardless of the reason or the suffering he supposedly endured, he would remain the eternal prime suspect, and she would never be able to escape that suspicion.
Daenerys's expression grew cold, but she did not wish to fall out with a Red Priest, so she continued to play along. "What method?"
"True dragon blood contains tremendous power. I happen to have studied a rare form of blood magic that can release this power and channel it into another person's body, producing an effect akin to restoring life," Melisandre said, staring directly into Daenerys's eyes. "If Your Grace is willing to offer some blood for the spell, we may gamble and attempt to pull the Lord Commander back from the brink of death. It is only that I do not know whether this brother of the Night's Watch holds such importance in Your Grace's heart, or whether you possess the courage and resolve to try."
Blood magic.
Daenerys's heart stirred.
No one understood blood magic better than she did.
No, that was nonsense. Daenerys was not arrogant enough to compare her understanding of blood magic with that of a high ranking Red Priest. But even if she had not practiced it herself, she had seen it with her own eyes. Though she could not claim mastery of this rare and seemingly sinister art, she did possess some understanding of it.
She had witnessed it more than once, and even had close contact with it.
From the witch Mirri Maz Duur she encountered in Lhazar, to the dragon riding techniques she personally traveled to Asshai to learn, and more recently, watching Moqorro offer blood to the flames to commune with R'hllor and seek His guidance, all of it made her understand that blood magic truly existed, and that it could indeed save lives.
As for the power contained within true dragon blood, it had long been coveted by those who walked the paths of mystery. Whether it was the male warlocks of the House of the Undying who nearly imprisoned her, or the enigmatic Quaithe in Asshai who asked her to exchange blood for the Dragon Riding Manual, she had seen it time and again.
If Daenerys had previously harbored deep suspicion toward Aegor, after Melisandre spoke with such seriousness and detail, her suspicion dropped considerably.
Was this a deception orchestrated by Aegor, meant to dispel her doubts by having her personally participate in his rescue, or was he truly at death's door, forced to rely on forbidden methods like blood magic for a sliver of hope?
Daenerys hesitated, but Missandei at her side could no longer remain silent.
"Your Grace, you cannot go," the young scribe cried out anxiously. Seeing Daenerys's resolve soften, Missandei realized that the Queen was being blinded by the situation and falling into illusion. In her panic, she no longer cared about propriety and shouted in front of Melisandre, "This is clearly a trap!"
(To be continued.)