Before Whitebeard Astan could answer the previous question, Jorah pressed on, his voice sharp. "I ask you again, how will Illyrio arrange for the princess's future? Will he contact the nobles of the Seven Kingdoms? Will he hire mercenaries with his own wealth?"
"The name 'Dragon' and the Targaryen lineage might unite the warring lords against a common enemy. Some might hold hope for Her Highness, but more will send assassins. Who can guarantee her safety against such a threat?"
Jorah's barrage of questions left Groleo bewildered. The old sailor understood nothing of politics; his sole purpose in bringing Queen Daenerys back to Pentos was to fulfill his oath.
Yet, in theory, he now served the Queen, making him her subject. This...
Bevos remained unmoved, continuing to eat his roasted skewers. Protecting the young Queen was his only concern; everything else was irrelevant.
Whitebeard pondered for a long moment before looking up, his eyes fixed on Daenerys with unwavering resolve. "I swear by my life and honor that I will protect Her Highness's safety."
"Alas!" Jorah sighed, his voice heavy with resignation. "As the Queen's Iron Guard, I have long pledged my life to her. Her blood oath sworn guards will die with her. But against the traitors of the Seven Kingdoms, what meaning does such a pledge hold?"
"Any random group of 300 mercenaries could wipe out any threat. Do you think Duke Tywin, who'd shit gold dragons, would begrudge a few gold dragons?"
Whitebeard Astan, tall and burly, stood frozen, his lips pressed tightly together. "What do you suggest?"
"Go to Slaver's Bay and buy Unsullied," Jorah said loudly.
"But the Unsullied are useless in small numbers, and my ships can't hold many!" Groleo sighed.
"We'll go to Slaver's Bay first," Jorah said. He didn't mention selling the ship's cargo, or even the large sea vessel, to acquire Unsullied.
At that moment, Daenerys seemed to have made up her mind. Gritting her teeth, she said, "I've decided to follow Ser Jorah Mormont's advice and go to Slaver's Bay. Will the three of you come with me?"
"Wherever you go, I go," the burly Bevos said, his mouth full of food, making him slurred. "That fat man in Pentos only hired me to protect you. Now I'm your man!"
*You eunuch, you eat more than my dragons! And you talk so ambiguously... I don't want you.*
Daenerys nodded with a smile.
"I'm willing to serve you," Groleo said.
"I'm Whitebeard Astan's squire," the white-bearded man said.
Thus, their opinions largely converged. Regardless of their loyalty, the three sea vessels temporarily pledged their allegiance to Daenerys.
"Shall I order a course change?" Groleo asked her.
"Let me think," Daenerys said, asking Groleo to open the sea chart and mark the fleet's approximate position.
This large, round-bellied sea vessel was slower than the sailing ships of Earth's Age of Discovery, averaging only about eight knots.
*Hmm, about 14 kilometers per hour. That's over 300 kilometers a day.*
Of course, this depended on the wind. In calm seas, the vessel would simply hover in place, but with favorable winds, it could reach over ten knots.
Three days had passed since leaving New Ghis. They were still a day or two away from crossing the Stormlands' outer storm seas, making this the perfect time to turn toward Slaver's Bay.
But as she looked at the Valyrian Ruins on the map, Daenerys remembered the magnificent magical city she had seen at the House of the Undying.
She lightly tapped the map at the location of the Valyrian capital with her finger and turned to ask, "Has anyone explored the Valyrian Ruins?"
"Yes," Whitebeard frowned. "For nearly four hundred years, countless people have tried to find treasures in the Valyrian Ruins. The most ordinary longswords of Valyrian nobles were forged from Valyrian steel, and even the most common two-handed Valyrian sword would be priceless today."
It's said that Tywin Lannister once tried to purchase the ancestral sword of a down-on-his-luck minor noble—a Valyrian steel sword. But no matter how high Tywin bid, the noble refused to sell.
I don't know how much Tywin offered, but given the Lannisters' immense wealth, it must have been at least 200,000 gold dragons.
"Cough, cough, cough!" Jorah Mormont choked, as if he'd swallowed wrong, and began coughing violently.
After a moment, he wiped his nose, his face flushed crimson, and mumbled awkwardly, "No... not a down-on-his-luck minor noble."
Whitebeard and Daenerys's eyes widened in unison as they stared in astonishment at the exiled Lord of Bear Island.
"Could you have been the seller?" Whitebeard murmured.
"I never considered selling Longclaw!" Mormont protested loudly. "When I sought a loan from Tywin at Port Lannister, he kept pestering me to buy the sword. But Longclaw is the ancestral blade of House Mormont. My father is still alive; if he learned of this, he'd likely return from the Wall and chop me down with one stroke."
*If your father were dead, would you have sold the ancestral sword then?*
The thought crossed everyone's minds. Whitebeard's gaze toward Jorah grew increasingly contemptuous.
Just as Mormont despised Whitebeard, Whitebeard looked down on knights who had lost their honor.
"Lynesse Hightower probably doesn't know about this, does she?" Whitebeard sneered.
Ser Jorah Mormont avoided his gaze, stammering to change the subject. "It wasn't two hundred thousand. Tywin Lannister offered a staggering eight hundred and fifty thousand gold dragons, but I refused to sell, even when he threatened to cut off my loans. I ended up borrowing from the Iron Bank of Braavos instead."
Eight hundred and fifty thousand gold dragons?
That was over ten billion yuan—enough for that spendthrift woman in House Jorah to chop off her own hand for a lifetime (Lynesse: *Hmph, you underestimate me.*).
Daenerys's eyes widened, and the idea of traveling to Valyria grew even stronger in her mind.
Then another question arose: "Sir, the Lannisters don't have a Valyrian steel sword. Where did you get yours on Bear Island?"
Jorah replied immediately, "The Lannisters do have one—a two-handed Valyrian steel greatsword called Lightbringer. Over a century before Valyria's fall, King of the Rock spent nearly two million gold dragons to commission it from the Valyrians."
*Shit, Big Bear, stop teasing me!*
Daenerys's eyes nearly turned into gold coins.
Whitebeard seemed to have guessed her thoughts and warned, "After Valyria's fall, many coveted the Valyrians' treasures and secrets, and the Lannisters were no exception."
Over three hundred years ago, King Torren II of Casterly Rock assembled a colossal fleet—the Golden Fleet—to explore the Valyria destroyed by the Doom. The mission ended in tragedy: dozens of warships, thousands of sailors, and King Torren himself perished in those cursed ruins.
Lightbringer, the King of Casterly Rock's sword, was naturally lost in the Valyrian Ruins.
Just ten years ago, Duke Tywin's younger brother, Gerion Lannister, disappeared on a quest to find the family sword.
Even the Volanti, the closest and most legitimate noble house of the ancient Valyrian Freehold to Valyria, suffered the same fate.
Countless tragic experiences have taught us that Valyria is a death trap. Princess, with your wisdom, you should not undertake such a foolish endeavor.
Daenerys had far fewer men and ships than King Torren II, but she had her own trump card.
"Astan, I fully understand your wise counsel," Daenerys said with a grateful smile. "But I have dragons. Our fleet can remain at a safe distance, while my dragons can traverse the dangerous waters and enter the shattered peninsula."
"This..." Whitebeard grew hesitant, his expression uncertain.
"This is worth a try," Jorah said, stroking his fluffy chin, "but we don't know what dangers lie within. If something goes wrong, your dragons..."
"Why not wait until the dragons are grown and stronger? Then you could send them to explore the Valyrian Ruins," he suggested.
It was sound advice, sensible and prudent. Daenerys had no reason to refuse.
"The dragons have three heads," she sighed, "but only one rider. When they grow up, the White Dragon and Black Dragon might become wild. They wouldn't harm me, but you..."
"They're young now and won't attack humans, but in a few years—just one—I can't watch them constantly. Like Big Black, he always slips out of my sight to hunt. I want to go to Valyria to find the true secrets of dragon taming, at least to ensure those two don't start eating people."
In the original story, Daenerys's dragons did eat people, even a little girl. The three dragons nearly became wild—in fact, the White Dragon and Green Dragon ultimately became uncontrolled wild dragons.
"Can you control the Black Dragon? I fear he could easily hunt humans now," Whitebeard said with concern.
"Yes, there's no need to worry about the Black Dragon at all," Daenerys replied confidently.
It was precisely because the Black Dragon had once harbored a desire to devour a centaur child that Daenerys feared the great dragons might eat humans.
She could sense Big Black's emotions. In Qarth, a centaur girl of two or three had accidentally wandered into her chambers. Big Black, startled, immediately had the urge to bite her to death and devour her.
Daenerys was terrified at that moment. It was the first time she realized that great dragons were legendary creatures at the apex of the food chain—and humans were merely a sweet treat on their menu.
Later, she asked Jorah about it.
The knight told her that great dragons not only ate humans but had even devoured several Targaryens.
Of course, that was during the Targaryen civil wars, when one Targaryen fed another to a dragon. Under normal circumstances, dragons wouldn't actively eat Targaryens—unless that Targaryen lacked the right to ride a dragon but foolishly tried to ride one anyway, in which case they'd likely be devoured.
Later, Whitebeard arrived. Seeing his vast experience and deep knowledge of the Targaryen family's history, Daenerys sought his counsel.
Whitebeard explained that dragons with masters would never harm humans. The true danger lay in wild dragons, those without masters, which were untamable and unpredictable.
He recounted a terrifying incident from the Dance of the Dragons era. During that time, the Targaryens had over twenty dragons, but three remained untamed, becoming wild.
One such wild dragon, the Cannibal, was a monstrous creature. It not only devoured a large group of squire dragonriders (Targaryens or Valyrians without dragons) but also preyed on the weak, consuming dragon corpses, hatchlings, and eggs.
Hearing Daenerys's concerns, even the wise and cautious Whitebeard fell silent.
"You can only approach the edge, never enter that place," he said with a sigh, waving his hand. "When we get there, you'll understand. I hope the Black Dragon remains unharmed."
"I will be careful," Daenerys nodded. Turning to Ser Jorah Mormont, she asked, "Why is your family's Longclaw valued at only 850,000, while Lightbringer costs two million? Do Valyrian steel swords fluctuate so wildly in price?"
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(End of Chapter)