Stormlands, Summerhall.
Hundreds of elite cavalrymen wearing plate and chainmail were scattered around this huge ruin.
From the white-bottomed golden tree flag, the walking hunter flag, the golden-green standing lion flag, the red-bottomed bull skull flag, the blue-bottomed golden crane flag, etc., we can guess the families these cavalrymen belong to:
The Rowan family of Goldentree City, the Tully family of Horn Hill, the Osgrey family of Steadfast, the Bulwer family of Blackcrown City, and the Crane family of Redlake City.
If you are a little familiar with the Reach, you will know that these are the real second-tier and lower families of the Reach.
Except for Rowan and Tully, the remaining families may just make up the numbers.
Seven or eight nobles wearing beautiful plate armor and cloaks made of precious fabrics stood in front of a large fire in silence.
The appearance of a dragon in Harrenhal made Lord Mace very worried. In the towns and villages of the Riverlands, it was rumored that Arthur, the "Dragon Owner", was the illegitimate son of Rhaegar. Before he completely joined the Lion family, he wanted to find out whether there was really a Targaryen who brought a dragon back.
So Randyll Tarly, who challenged the military power of the Inflatable Fish Lord, was sent to investigate the dragon, and Lord Matus Rowan, who was related to the three alliances of Tyrell, was given the task of supervising Lord Tarly.
Several other minor nobles went with the two earls to make the investigation more formal.
According to rumors, the dragon first appeared in the vast forest of the Royal Forest.
So Lord Tarly began to investigate Arthur Bracken's whereabouts from there, and then tracked him to the ruins of Summerhall.
Here, they found this huge fire that looked abnormal at first glance.
The two earls always thought that there might be a mystery here. After all, there was a big fire here forty years ago, and a king was burned to death at that time.
So some cavalry were sent out to look for possible witnesses.
Soon, several cavalry drove a dozen peasants to arrive.
"My Lord, according to what they said, they were hired to search for something here." The leading rider reported to the nobles.
Earl Matus Rowan turned around, waved his hand and let them leave without even looking at his cavalry.
His eyes were always focused on the peasants who were brought in.
"Tell me something useful, I will reward you generously."
The words of the master made the peasants very excited, and one of them boldly said that he had been hired to find stones before.
"Round stones, those two people are looking for this, and they have been looking for two or three months."
Bald Randall Tarly asked carefully again: "What are the characteristics of these two people?"
The farmer scratched his head, "One is a very ordinary soldier, and the other, how to say, wearing the master's iron armor, but with a face of a wandering mercenary."
Matus Rowan asked several more questions, trying to find more details.
Several farmers then sent a large group of cavalry from the west and sent them away, and completed the story of the blazing fire that night.
"By the way, the group of people coming later were dressed very strangely, not like people from our side. The leader's giant horse and golden vest were also very impressive." A farmer finally remembered this.
Earl Tarly's hawk-like eyes immediately stared at this person, "Are they wearing strange black armor, and many of them are wearing pigtails?"
The farmer nodded, "Yes, yes, I said that I felt that they were not right, but I couldn't tell where they were wrong. Their braids were different from ours."
The hairstyles of the nobles in Westeros are very distinctive. The ladies in the south often wear their hair in buns, while the gentlemen let their hair down or make them bald directly.
In order to make it easier to wear helmets for combat, the soldiers would not grow long hair, let alone braid it.
Apart from the mercenaries from the eastern continent of Essos, who else could have such a hairstyle?
Randall Tarly already had the answer in his mind and stopped asking questions.
Matus Rowan asked again and again, and after confirming that nothing was missed, he sent the cavalry to take the peasants away.
Of course, each peasant received a silver deer before leaving.
The two nobles called the younger nobles who were traveling with them and began to communicate.
"I should know the man with a mercenary face." A young knight from the Bulwer family said to everyone.
Earl Rowan waved his hand to let the young man continue.
"During the interval of the competition at that tournament, Ser Loras invited Bracken to have lunch with him. At that time, the Ser was in a bad mood because of the Mountain, so the others ate quietly. I was very curious about Bracken who suddenly broke into our circle, so I specially observed the uncle and nephew. If nothing unexpected happens, the guy with a mercenary face but wearing plate armor is the uncle of the Dragon Holder, Jules Bracken."
The young knight changed the matter to a nicer way. He would never admit that he was jealous of the river noble who could squeeze next to the Knight of Flowers and kept staring at the uncle and nephew.
Randyll Tarly nodded, thinking that this should be no problem.
Although he was only supervising Randyll's work, Lord Matus Rowan was very concerned. He concluded:
"After robbing Joffrey, this Arthur brought the king here from afar, and his uncle had been searching for round stones here for two or three months before that, and then a big fire was started. When Arthur returned north and passed through the Royal Forest, a black dragon appeared in front of the world."
"It should be like this. Although there are many doubts, it can be handed over to the Duke. It is unlikely that the Dragon Holder is Rhaegar's illegitimate son. He just got a dragon by chance." Randyll Tully said perfunctorily.
He doesn't care about the origin of the dragon. How to deal with the relationship with the dragon owner is the key.
But Matus refused to give up, "Hey, old man, don't think about your Brightwater City, and then use your brain to think about whether the Dragon Holder is Rhaegar's illegitimate son."
Florent of Brightwater City is one of the most powerful families among the second-tier nobles in the Reach. It is as powerful as the Rowan family. The entire family has about four to five thousand soldiers.
Outside Storm's End, all the forces of House Florent were thrown at Stannis, because Erlu's wife, Selyse Florent, was the niece of Lord Allister Florent.
Therefore, from King Tommen's perspective, the Florentine family became traitors.
And the Reach is now supporting Tommen I.
Considering that Randyll Tarly's wife was Allister Florent's eldest daughter, the Tarly family had a claim to Brightwater.
Therefore, Lord Matus Rowan believed that Randyll was thinking about how to obtain Brightwater City and did not seriously consider the fact that the Dragon Bearer was Rhaegar's illegitimate son.
Earl Tully glanced at Earl Rowan and waved the little nobles away.
The knowledgeable lower lords walked away.
The two earls then began to discuss business.
"According to that fabricated rumor, the dragon bearer is most likely Rhaegar's illegitimate son." Randyll Tarly motioned to Lord Rowan to come closer, "But you and I both know that dragons have been around for some time. , but the rumor of the dragon owner and the illegitimate child only spread for less than a month, and it quickly became popular throughout the Hejian region. This must be someone building momentum."
In the past half month, rumors about Arthur the Dragon Holder and his dragons have spread throughout the Riverlands, which has also attracted the attention of some top nobles.
Matus lowered his voice, "Of course I know, but even to build momentum, there must be momentum. There has been no dragon in the world for more than a hundred years, from Aegon III, to Baelor I, and then to Aegon V. In this world, several kings tried to hatch dragons, but they all failed. Now that the dragon has returned to the world, even if he is just an illegitimate son of the dragon family, the dragon owner is ahead of Robert's line of succession to the Iron Throne."
Even though there was no dragon, the usurper still elected Robert, whose grandmother was a dragon family, as leader, which shows that the nobles recognized the dragon's blood.
The Dragon family with dragons is another concept.
Earl Tully habitually held the Valyrian steel sword "Heartbreak" on his waist, but suddenly remembered that Heartbreak was taken away by his son, so he took his hand back after touching the replacement. He held his chin and began to think.
After a while, he said to Earl Rowan: "The Targaryens have tried hatching dragons several times, and maybe they have really figured out the trick. Prince Rhaegar must also know a lot of the private affairs of his family, so he asked one of his It's not impossible for an illegitimate child to know where the dragon eggs are hidden and teach him how to hatch them."
"That's right." Matus Rowan struck with both palms, "This is what I want to express. The dragon owner learned about the dragon egg hidden in the Summer Hall through his real father, and hatched a dragon with a king. In addition, That Rhaegar passed through the Riverlands and left behind rumors of an illegitimate child. I think the credibility of the Dragon Holder is very high, but the color of his hair and eyes don't match."
Valyrian people have very fixed eye colors and hair colors.
Earl Tully said: "Hair color and eye color are trivial matters. Aegor Rivers, the daughter of Miss Bracken and King Aegon IV, has black hair and black eyes. This Dragon Holder has black eyes and dark eyes." Blonde color, this kind of hair color and eye color change is not impossible."
The two reached a consensus that the Dragon Bearer was most likely Rhaegar's illegitimate son.
Then, the two earls began to discuss how to deal with the relationship with the Dragon Holder.
"We supported the Dragon family fifteen years ago, when the Targaryens didn't even have a dragon. Now that dragons have appeared, there is no reason why we still support the Lu family." Earl Rowan said.
Randyll Tarly looked serious, "But now the Duke of Mace has concluded an alliance with the Lannisters. Miss Margaery and Knight Loras will marry King Tommen and Queen Cersei respectively. It is agreed before "How can you change your face?"
Although the Rose Family did not clearly explain the price of the alliance between the Lion Family and the Rose Family, some nobles with higher status still heard the news.
Cersei will marry Loras, and her son will marry Loras's sister as queen.
In other words, the relationship between Knight of Flowers and Margaery will be upgraded from brother and sister to father-in-law and mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.
Luo Wan waved his hands and expressed disdain: "What kind of agreement is this? Marriage does not completely tie us to the lion family's chariot. What's more, neither couple has vowed to get married. As far as I know, the dragon owner is also single. , and he is tall, handsome and brave, and is more worthy of Miss Margaery than the little Tommen."
Earl Tully shook his head and said: "I still think it is better to maintain an alliance with the Lion family first. After all, the river land is too untouched, and the dragon has only reached its infancy. Of course, you and I are just giving it to the Duke of Metz. Investigating the dragon matter will not determine the overall trend of the Reach. Let's go back to Storm's End for diplomatic missions!"
Lord Tully waved to his attendant and asked him to bring his mount over.
Matus Rowan thought of another thing, "Hey, hey, you put your son on the side of the Dragon Supporters, but persuaded us to follow the Lion Family."
It was no secret that Lord Tarly's heir, Dickon Tarly, was at Harrenhal.
When Lord Rowan heard this rumor a month ago, he found it incredible.
After all, Randyll Tarly had put a lot of thought into making his sons qualified military nobles. In order to make his cowardly eldest son braver, Lord Tarly invited two wizards from Essos to perform a witchcraft with blood magic covered in blood.
After this did not work, Lord Tarly drove away the wizards and officially decided to train his second son Dickon as his heir. In order to ensure Dickon's inheritance rights, Randyll also sent his eldest son Samwell to the Wall as a night watchman.
The nobles of the entire River Reach knew how much Lord Tarly cared about his carefully cultivated heir. According to rumors, Dickon even had to get his father's permission to leave the castle, and he could only go out after Randyll confirmed that there was no danger at the destination.
Under such circumstances, Dickon was still able to appear in Harrenhal, and his father Randyll must have agreed.
It is even possible that Lord Tarly arranged for his son to go there himself.
When he first heard this gossip, Matus felt something was wrong, but now thinking about it, it was normal.
Everything that happens must have its reasons.
If Dickon followed a minor nobleman from the riverlands, it would be unreasonable, but if this minor nobleman was actually a descendant of the royal family and was very likely to regain the throne, then Dickon's following would have a great significance in changing the fate of the family.
Earl Rowan knew that the nobles other than Randyll must not have grasped certain information, which led to their failure to understand Earl Tarly's move to send his son to follow the Bracken.
After Randyll Tarly climbed onto his mount, he replied: "This is just your imagination. Dickon ran away from home secretly. I have always been a loyal minister of Highgarden."
After saying that, he led his people away without paying attention to Earl Rowan's expression.
Matus, who had a clean face and no beard, also got on the horse. He looked at Earl Tarly's back and curled his lips in disdain.
You bet on both sides and still want us to go all the way.
Earl Rowan made up his mind and sent someone to greet the dragon supporters after returning. When the time was right, he would raise an army to support Targaryen and the dragon.
Matus had already thought of this time.
That is, the black dragon grew to one-tenth the size of Balerion, the Black Death.
The Black Death was one of the largest dragons that had ever appeared on the continent of Westeros. Its mouth could swallow a whole mammoth, and its skull was larger than a luxury carriage.
According to rumors, Balerion's head was at least ten meters long. When Aegon I was still alive, the Black Death had grown to an exaggerated size of more than seventy meters in length and nearly two hundred meters in wingspan.
More than sixty years after the death of Aegon I, the Black Death continued to grow until it died of old age in the 96th year of the Conquest.
It is said that at that time Balerion's wingspan reached more than three hundred meters, and his body length was nearly one hundred meters.
In the era when the three peerless dragons Balerion, Vhagar, and Meraxes were alive, the biggest expense of the royal family was the food of the dragons.
It is rumored that each dragon eats nearly 10,000 sheep every year.
Cows and horses are used for farming and are generally not used to feed dragons.
Later, the royal family could not bear the burden and began to adopt the method of raising dragons in captivity to reduce the size of newborn dragons.
This method did work, but the effect was too good.
The skull of the last generation of dragons was not as big as a goat.
If it was one-tenth the size of the Black Death, it would be a behemoth with a length of seven or eight meters and a wingspan of twenty or thirty meters.
According to Balerion, who lived for two hundred years on Dragonstone and Westeros, the lifespan of dragons should be several hundred years.
With such a long-lived and deadly weapon in hand, it is not difficult for the "dragon owners" to rebuild the rule of the dragon family.
It is even possible that the Targaryen dynasty rebuilt for the second time will live longer than the previous generation.
After making up his mind, Matus rushed to Lord Tully and went with him.
Their destination was the Riverbend Barracks outside Storm's End.
...
Harrenhal, Kingstower's Hundred Hearths Hall.
Except for the two castles, basically all the lords and heads of the riverlands were present: Lady Riveran, Lyman Darry, William Mooton, Carel Vance, Norport Vance, Clermont Piper, Aenys Frey, Tristan Ryger, Jason Mallister, etc.
The families listed were earl-level or formerly earl-level families, and there were a large number of families whose names were not listed, such as Hay, the vassal of the Frey family, Smallwood, the vassal of Vance in the City of Travel, Ward, the owner of the Beauty Market, Root, the town lord of Earl Harroway, and dozens of other small families.
These lower-level lords also responded to the call of several earls from Harrenhal and participated in the so-called Riverlands Alliance Establishment Ceremony.
It can be said that all the wise men and women have gathered.
These people had already heard of the black dragon in Harrenhal. Although Alduin was still a juvenile, he was indeed a fire-breathing dragon.
For humans, Alduin, with a wingspan of nearly two meters, was not small.
Moreover, a juvenile dragon was in a period of rapid growth. In just one or two years, it could have a terrifying body of several meters in length.
Before the "Dragon Owner" had time to speak, William Mooton, the Lord of Maiden Spring, began to express his views:
"A person who owns a dragon must be a Targaryen. Therefore, the Dragon Owner has the legal right to inherit the Iron Throne. I propose that the river lords collectively support the righteous, brave, Harrenhal administrator, Dragon Owner Arthur Targaryen as king, and then retake the Iron Throne to put an end to the disputes in the Seven Kingdoms."
Arthur cried out in bad luck. He knew William Mooton was a member of the Dragon Party, but he didn't expect him to mention the "Dragon Family"'s claim to the Iron Throne right at the beginning.
If he really claimed to be a Targaryen, the Riverlands would definitely be attacked by Stannis and the Lion and Flower Alliance.
It's because the Deer Family's right to inherit the Iron Throne was obtained after all the Dragon Family died.
Arthur didn't dare to let Earl Mooton muddy the waters like this.