Game of Thrones: Viserys the Three-Headed Dragon.

Chapter 116 War Letter
"I have no guard, but I need knights who are loyal and can speak my mind to me," Viserys said. He stepped down from the throne and came to Barristan. He took Barristan's hardwood staff and weighed it. "Where is your sword, Ser Barristan?"

Barristan answered calmly and with dignity, "I dropped my sword at Joffrey's feet when I took off my robes, and never touched it again."

"A knight needs a sword, ser. You are made of wood, and you should be used to the greatsword." Viserys did not wait for a reply. "Come, bring a sharp sword."

As if prepared, Viserys's captain of the guard, Godin, handed over a large sword that Viserys had always asked him to hold during this period, so that everyone didn't have to wait awkwardly in the main hall for the guards to go back and forth from the armory or order a loyal guard to take out his sword on the spot.

Viserys took the weapon from Goddean and drew the great sword, a blade of shining steel, and held it out hilt-forward. "This is the sword I give you. Take it," he said. "Now, swear your loyalty to me."

Barristan took it respectfully, laid the sword at Viserys' feet, and recited the oath of allegiance: "Barristan of House Selmy of Harvest Hall swears fealty to you. I swear that I will be true to his highness King Viserys Targaryen, your heir and successor, by the gods."

Because Viserys did not let Barristan serve as a Kingsguard, but ordered him to swear allegiance as a knight, so he recited the knight's oath, but he had no complaints, because Viserys was the king he recognized, whether as a knight or a Kingsguard, he decided to die for Viserys.

Moreover, King Viserys clearly said that there was no iron guard, which might be to motivate him and test him. After all, the way he met the king was a bit
However, Viserys will not set up a "Kingsguard" for the time being. In fact, according to the duties and oaths of the guards, these guards must accompany the king at all times. But the king is full of secrets. The Unsullied guards are silent and loyal. Even if their master is a dragon and does strange things in private, they will only obey orders silently. But the knights are different. For example, when exploring the secret passage before, Viserys can order Godian to test the danger level of the secret passage mechanism for him. This kind of cold-blooded behavior of the orderer using his life for testing, Godian will only do it silently without complaint.

But if it was the Iron Guard, even if the Iron Guard could do it, Viserys would also consider his own reputation. To put it bluntly, Viserys had some double standards towards the Unsullied and the knights.

Viserys let Barristan kiss his left hand: "I accept your allegiance. Stand up, Ser Barristan." This temporary allegiance ceremony ended temporarily.

Next came General Manager Max.

Viserys returned to the throne, and Barristan rose and took his place in the observation seat.

"This is the Faceless Assassin." Viserys looked at the silent assassin and calmly stated his identity. He then asked, "What did you do to my General Manager Max?"

"." He remained silent.

"I used to hear that Faceless assassins are usually very expensive, and I thought Faceless assassins would be more respectable. At least they would know themselves before being caught, so as not to reveal their identities and lose the reputation of the Faceless." Viserys said, "Now it seems that it is just so. The followers of the Thousand-Faced God believe that death is a merciful release, but they are just greedy people who secretly take people's lives."

“.” He was silent.

"No words, so you are indeed a Faceless Assassin?"

"."

When he remained silent, Viserys ordered, "Look at his face. It is not his face. Is it a mask?"

Armed guards came forward and carefully examined his face, but could not find any trace of it.

Barristan was watching from the side, just anxious: "The Faceless Men's tricks."

Earl Gunther suggested: "Wash his face with the potion from the temple outside?" He vaguely realized that Viserys had already noticed it, so he ordered everyone to wash their faces.

Daenerys was also looking at the assassin's face in surprise. When she heard Count Gunther's suggestion, she felt inexplicably distressed. She knew that the "potion" was just ordinary salt water.

"It doesn't matter. This kind of trick is their livelihood. It doesn't matter if we can't solve it for the time being." Viserys wanted to go and see for himself, but he couldn't do it in public, so he simply said, "Take him away, search him carefully, and put him in the bottom of the dark cell. Wait for the people who are sent to find out what happened to Max now to come back, and then deal with him." After receiving the report, Viserys sent people to investigate Max's residence and work place in the town. He was sure that he would find something. Viserys quietly ordered Godian beside him. "Take people to do it yourself. When searching his body, don't miss any place on his body. Don't leave any piece of cloth on him. Boil a pot of hot water to a level that won't burn him, and pour it on him."

Godian nodded: "Yes."

Soon, the silent assassin was taken away.

Count Gunther said worriedly, "Your Majesty, this assassin was probably sent by the false king. They failed this time, so they must have other tricks up their sleeves. We must be on guard."

Viserys asked, "Well, who do you think sent them?"

There were few people discussing politics in the main hall now. Barristan replied bluntly: "Lannister, from Tywin, Cersei, to Jaime, none of the Lannisters have a sense of honor. Your Majesty has just arrived at Dragonstone. The only Lannisters who have time to hire assassins in Braavos and can afford to pay are the Lannisters in King's Landing."

Earl Gunther said: "We must fight back and send a letter to all the princes in the realm to make this matter public. Let them see their shameful behavior and despicable means." He knew that Viserys did not want to mobilize troops now, so his suggestion was pertinent.

Viserys thought for a moment and said, "Earlier, Stannis publicly stated that Joffrey, Tommen, and Myrcella were the illegitimate children of Cersei Lannister and her brother, Jaime the Kingslayer, but what was the actual effect? ​​We have no evidence to prove this, just like what Stannis did before, the result was that King's Landing spread rumors and slandered him maliciously." For such a matter without evidence, although Lannister is the most suspicious, it is not the best choice to condemn him by name. "But we can't just not respond to this matter. Let's put it this way. Since it happened suddenly, we will go back and think more about it. Tomorrow I will gather all the ministers in the main hall, and everyone will give their own suggestions. They use such a despicable method, which shows that they are very anxious. We don't need to be so anxious to decide how to respond. Think clearly first, then take action, and fight back in the most appropriate way."

Viserys actually had some ideas, but he still needed to think carefully. He usually didn't make rash decisions.

Hearing Viserys' words, Earl Gunther and Barristan had no choice but to obey. The meeting ended here, and Viserys asked Earl Gunther to help Barristan deal with the affairs with the steward, and let him stay in the castle as a loyal knight for the time being and wait for the announcement.

Just after the meeting, a notice came from outside the main hall that a scholar wanted to see him. In order to deal with the assassination incident secretly, the guard who was assigned to guard the door outside the main hall came in and announced: "Your Majesty, Master Pylos wants to see you."

Viserys simply waited here for the maester: "Send him over." He thought that there must be a reply from Storm's End.

The maester came hurriedly, his face a little solemn. Viserys couldn't help but wonder, I'm afraid... As expected, the maester brought a reply from Storm's End, but the content of the reply was a little different from what Viserys expected. It was not a letter to negotiate the redemption of the captives, but an expulsion order, accompanied by a letter to summon the princes of the world.

The expulsion order is: "To Lord Viserys Targaryen, King Aerys II has committed excessive atrocities and killed people at will, which is unacceptable to the people. My elder brother Robert raised the banner of rebellion, and the princes responded to it, cleared up the court and the country, and has taken over the Iron Throne from your father and been crowned king. The whole of Westeros recognizes that he is the legitimate monarch of the Seven Kingdoms. Since you and your sister have been expelled and fled overseas, the new king has not harmed you. You should find your own way. How can you commit crimes again and call yourself king in my territory? Now that I have inherited the throne of my elder brother Robert, I must abide by the law and expel you from the country in the name of the legitimate monarch of the Seven Kingdoms. Stannis I of the Baratheon family, King of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men, Ruler of the Seven Kingdoms, sealed and written by hand."

The summons was: "King Aerys II has committed atrocities and killed people wantonly. Expel them from the country. Everyone knows that I am the legitimate son of Duke Steffon Baratheon of Storm's End and his wife Lady Cassandra of the House of Ethmond. I swear on the honor of my family that my brother Robert, my predecessor, died without leaving any legitimate descendants. Joffrey, Tommen, and Myrcella are actually the illegitimate offspring of Cersei Lannister and her brother Jaime's incest. According to the laws of inheritance and bloodline, I am the owner of the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. There are many false kings now, and loyalists should immediately swear allegiance to the true king. Andal. Handwritten."

Well.
"." Viserys was silent for a long time after reading the letter. He could only say, "It seems that Stannis lacks a person with a careful mind and good writing skills. Didn't anyone among his subordinates point out this logic to him?"

If Stannis had people like Chen Lin and Luo Binwang around him, and wrote articles like "Exhortation to Punish Cao" and "Exhortation to Punish Wu Zhao", these two articles would definitely not be so mediocre and look like they were written out of incompetence and rage.

The young Maester Pylos was at a loss: "Your Majesty, how should I reply?"

"Let me think about it." Viserys was not in a hurry. Although the reply was not as harmonious as the previous letters, Stannis actually made the response that Viserys had been forcing him to make. If Stannis's reaction was not intense enough, it would not achieve an immediate effect. He had to plan carefully what to do next. "Notify them that tomorrow's royal meeting will be held in the Table Hall. The participants are the following: me, King Viserys, Princess Regent Daenerys, Acting Lord Gunther, Maester Pylos, and the Minister of the Navy. Call them all. The rest of the knights and centurions have also been notified and are waiting in the main hall. Take the letter and show it to Earl Gunther, and let Gunther tell the news to my loyal knights." Although they are called knights, in fact, there are only four who can be pulled out of the castle now.

After reading off the names of the participants, Viserys couldn't help but feel a headache. The people under his command were really stretched thin.

He couldn't help but look towards the south. Normally, there should be a reply from Dorne.

(End of this chapter)