"You've met him?!" Aegor flinched, his face changing drastically.
Being a subordinate has its advantages: someone else stands in front, draped in the national flag, taking the brunt of the attack, and you never have to worry about becoming a target or facing legal challenges.
The disadvantage is: a subordinate is a subordinate, after all.
Daenerys is the boss and decision-maker of the faction. At most, I am only a chief advisor and executive officer—and I only achieved this position after getting rid of Petyr Baelish and Varys, two veteran officials who were ahead of me. My title is still unconfirmed; I am merely a temporary agent.
And as a subordinate, there are things I can do, and things I cannot.
I can speak grandly, paint a picture to guide Daenerys into certain ideas. I can offer advice with a clear stance, or speak frankly to express opposition. I can even use words to sow discord, interfere with, and influence her views and impressions of third parties...
But I must never say to her, "You are not allowed to ally with Aegon," or "Don't meet other forces alone when I'm not here," even if the meaning is similar.
Expressing opinions, regardless of how pointed, is acceptable. Brainwashing the Queen and influencing her thoughts is a personal skill. But making decisions for her is absolutely forbidden.
To put it mildly, that would be overstepping. To put it more harshly, it would be disloyalty, a sign of ill intent. Unless absolutely necessary, one must never cross that line, not even slightly.
In short: I have no right to interfere with when, where, or under what circumstances Daenerys wants to meet someone.
His heart thudded faster. It took several seconds for him to accept this reality. He nodded reluctantly to show he understood, masking his nervousness as he asked casually, "How was the meeting?"
"It's quite a pity," Nina sighed. "Her Grace didn't seem to acknowledge Prince Aegon's bloodline, so the alliance is probably shaky."
How is that a pity? That's clearly good news!
Aegor was nearly scared to death by the first half of her sentence and barely managed to suppress the joy rising on his face. Indeed, in the eyes of ordinary people who had never seen artillery barrages, who didn't understand his and Daenerys's ambitions, or know about the Grand King's Landing Plan, Daenerys's current advantage seemed negligible. Losing a potential ally meant not only making the siege harder, but also facing potential new enemies after defeating Stannis. That's why Nina thought it was a pity.
"What were the specifics? Were you present?"
"While Her Grace was in the Gift, the envoy sent by Prince Aegon to find her came here almost daily. If I hadn't refused to let him stay, he would have waited in the Industrial Park to meet her the moment she returned. When Her Grace flew over King's Landing to make a demonstration, she stopped here briefly to rest and feed the dragons. The Prince used that opportunity to cross the Blackwater and come to the camp to meet with her."
Nina held nothing back, recounting everything she had seen and heard.
"The Prince is just as the rumors say, 'looks like a Targaryen'—silver hair, purple eyes, too beautiful to be a man, and very humble and polite. He generally left a good impression on everyone who saw him. Unfortunately, I wasn't qualified to join his private meeting with Her Grace. I only know... about one or two hours later, they came out to the yard and approached the two dragons that had just finished eating. Alligator Turtle was with Her Grace at the time. He can tell you about that."
"The 'Lord Griffin' who accompanied the Prince was eager to discuss an alliance and a joint attack on King's Landing," Alligator Turtle nodded and continued. "But Her Grace wanted the Prince to prove that he was Rhaegar's son. But for something like that, what proof could there be? So Her Grace came up with an idea—let the dragons make the judgment."
So that's it.
A subtle smile appeared on Aegor's face. He had a psychological shadow when it came to Daenerys's Mad King bloodline, which was why he was so startled to hear she had met with Aegon. Who would have thought she wouldn't turn out to be a fool after all? He could already guess what had happened. It was just a pity the fake prince wasn't burned to death by the dragon. Otherwise, Nina wouldn't just say it was a pity—she'd be terrified.
"And then?"
"Her Grace led the Prince to the two dragons and told him: 'The black one is my Drogon. If you can ride the green one, Rhaegal, and become a Dragonrider, I'll acknowledge you as my kin'."
"At that time, half the Industrial Park came to watch the spectacle. Under everyone's gaze, the Prince actually summoned his courage and approached Rhaegal, the slightly smaller one. The dragon watched him approach, exhaled heavily twice, but didn't attack. As he came within an inch, Rhaegal lowered his head, maybe to take a better look, or maybe to let him touch it deliberately." Nina recalled the scene, still feeling the tension. "Just as he reached out and touched Rhaegal's snout, everyone thought he would be accepted. But the moment he made contact, Rhaegal suddenly jerked his head up like it had been pricked by a needle. Just when we were all about to panic, thinking he'd be devoured in the next moment, and Lord Clinton even shouted to distract the dragon and save the Prince, Rhaegal didn't attack. It roared, then took to the air and flew away!"
How could that be?
Aegor frowned, confused.
It wasn't hard to guess why Aegon dared to approach the dragon—because he didn't know he was fake, so of course he was full of confidence.
But the fact that he could get that close to Rhaegal was strange.
Did the imposter Varys and Illyrio pushed forward really carry some pure Targaryen blood? Or... was my judgment, and the analysis of so many people on the forums before I crossed over, wrong, and that child truly is Aegon Targaryen?
No. There's no point in entertaining that idea. As long as acknowledging Aegon's identity is disadvantageous to me, then even if he's real, he's fake to me.
What's more worth pondering is: since Rhaegal rejected Aegon's attempt to mount him, why didn't he attack? Why not react the way he did to Prince Quentyn of Dorne?
Was it because he sensed some True Dragon blood in Aegon? Or did Daenerys deliberately restrain the dragon to avoid the appearance of kinslaying?
"It is indeed a pity."
Aegor nodded and sighed, pretending to agree with Nina's view and regret that the Golden Company could not be an ally. But in truth, he regretted that Rhaegal hadn't killed or maimed Aegon. That would have saved him a great deal of trouble.
"What's so regrettable about that? Valyria was full of silver-haired, purple-eyed beauties across the Narrow Sea. And when it comes to approaching dragons, not only did many Valyrian families produce Dragonriders, even non-dragonlord families like the Velaryons did." Melisandre scoffed. With her poor political sensitivity, she clearly couldn't hear Aegor's true meaning. "I think Her Grace's real intention was probably this—if he could add a Dragonrider to her cause, then even if the boy was fake, she could still use him."
Besides being a good witch and a decent bed partner, Melisandre's ignorance in politics annoyed Aegor deeply. But after being rattled by Euron controlling Asha with hypnosis last time, he no longer dared to be careless, and had the Red Priestess remain by his side day and night.
"Alright, that matter's in the past. Let's not speculate on Her Grace's thinking." He cut off the armchair political debate that everyone loved to join and shifted the discussion back to the part he cared about. "Since Daenerys already rejected Prince Aegon's identity due to the dragon's judgment, what about the Reach and Dorne? Did they come with the Prince to meet Her Grace?"
"Oh, I was just about to report that. The three parties didn't act together. After meeting Prince Aegon, Her Grace immediately flew back to Rosby without waiting to meet the Reach and Dorne envoys. Before leaving, she instructed that once you returned from the Riverlands, the negotiations should be handled by you, and that you'd have full authority to represent her."
Ha!
Now Aegor was completely at ease. Daenerys not only refused to recognize Aegon's identity but also appointed him to negotiate with the Reach and Dorne. This clearly meant his brainwashing had worked, and she had chosen to adopt and implement the Grand King's Landing Plan.
As a monarch in the feudal era, Daenerys generally had no solid reason to reject loyalty and support offered to her, even if it was "unconditional." But since she had already made up her mind to turn on the Reach, and couldn't face them directly, she simply avoided it. Letting the person who proposed the plan—himself—play the villain.
Aegor understood that he now played the role of Chao Cuo, who once advocated curbing the feudal lords. If the campaign to dismantle the Reach and establish the Crownlands went well, all would be fine. But if there were setbacks and defeats, Daenerys might throw him to the wolves to appease the Seven Kingdoms—banishment to the Wall at best, or worse.
Being the scapegoat is no pleasant task. But considering Daenerys's occasional unreliability, Aegor was already satisfied that she hadn't caused trouble or agreed to any foolish terms in his absence.
"There's one more oddity. Although the Golden Company, the Reach, and Dorne are all camped south of the Blackwater, pressing against King's Landing, they aren't stationed together. Each has their own camp, spaced several miles apart." Nina answered only what Aegor asked. But Alligator Turtle, commander of the Unsullied and current deputy commander of the Industrial Park, felt it was his duty to report relevant military intelligence. "The Golden Company is stationed directly opposite the Mud Gate near the Blackwater. The Reach army is several miles upstream to our southwest, on the other side of the river. Dorne is farther south, between the two. Their camps form a triangle. Though they all fly banners claiming support for the Targaryens' return, judging by the situation, it looks like they're also guarding against one another."
Guarding against each other? That's putting it mildly. Even within each camp, there are probably schemes and plots brewing.
"I'll review the detailed military report after dinner. For now, I need to check the saltpeter warehouse." Aegor smiled, then turned to Myrcella, who had been quietly following with a wooden clipboard. "Make a note in my schedule. After confirming with Lord Alligator Turtle that everything is in order, have him send someone to invite the envoys from the Reach and Dorne to Blackwall Keep for detailed discussions."
"Okay, noted."
Nina glanced curiously at Myrcella, likely never imagining that the charming, quiet girl managing Aegor's schedule had such a significant background. She looked away, suddenly remembering something. "Oh, Lady Margaery came to Blackwall Keep a few days ago. She said she would wait for you here. She's an old friend of the Night's Watch Industry and has many business ties with us. I couldn't turn her away, so I arranged food and lodging. Would you like to see her?"
(To be continued.)
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