Game of Thrones: Viserys the Three-Headed Dragon.

Chapter 128 Weirwood

After nightfall, Viserys took Daenerys through the secret passage under the castle to the Targaryen family tomb.

After confirming that the glass candle lit by Daenerys in the tomb was still burning, Viserys turned into a giant dragon and flew Daenerys through the already very familiar inner wall of the cave to the exit on the eastern foot of Dragon Mountain, and then flew straight to the Crab Claw Peninsula in the north.

After Viserys conquered Dragonstone, he never forgot about this place, but he never tried to recruit the lords and people of the peninsula here.

The reason is actually very simple. Viserys has no money to recruit these people.

The history of Crabclaw Peninsula being annexed by the Targaryens can be traced back to the time of Aegon the Conqueror.

Recruitment.

You can tell what kind of people live here by looking at the wording.

In fact, the Crab Claw Peninsula is barren and barren, full of swamps and pine forests. It has never been conquered. The mountains are high and the forests are dense, and there are valleys everywhere. It can be said that it is very isolated. The people living here are isolated from the outside world. Only a few families and lords have external exchanges. If you don't provoke them, they won't provoke you, and they will just waste their energy on the peninsula.

Visenya was the first Targaryen recorded in history to recruit these half-wild people. She was Aegon's queen and accepted them as direct vassals, promising that they did not need to be loyal to Maidenpool, Crab Island or Duskendale. Since then, Crabclaw Peninsula has had a tradition of fighting for the Targaryens.

However, one thing has never changed: expecting the semi-savage people here to pay taxes is almost a fantasy.

Despite this, the people here claim that they are only loyal to their lord and the real king - that is, Targaryen. Since Visenya, they have formed a tradition of sending loyal and devoted warriors to the Targaryen family. In history, even many of the king's Kingsguard came from here.

At the Battle of the Trident, the families on the peninsula followed Prince Rhaegar and fought to the end.

However, the tradition of not paying taxes to the state has also been preserved here, and the people have remained closed and barbaric.

The loyalty gained in exchange for amnesty has always required money as the basis, and loyalty and gold coins are not in conflict - after all, it is hard to say that one is not loyal to the Targaryens if one only accepts Targaryen's gold coins and fights for them until death.

Viserys was not sure what would happen if he had no money and only relied on the dragon's deterrence to recruit and restrain the people here. Would they habitually rely on looting to actively generate income and destroy military discipline?
Viserys would rather not have men who could not guarantee discipline on the battlefield.

Viserys would at least have to wait until he got money from the Iron Bank before trying to contact the half-wildlings here and recruit them to fight for him. Using carrots and sticks together is always easier to restrain a group of half-wildlings who cannot guarantee military discipline than simply intimidating them.

Viserys's purpose for coming here today was not to visit the people of the peninsula, but to visit the Whispering Castle, a castle ruin on the Crabclaw Peninsula. This castle was once the home castle of the Crabclaw family. Most of the people on the Crabclaw Peninsula are descendants of the ancestors, and they have godswoods like most ancient castles.

Viserys had come for the godswood.

Viserys wants to contact the Three-Eyed Raven through the weirwood to confirm the Three-Eyed Raven's friendly attitude towards Daenerys and his attitude towards Viserys' plan to unify the Seven Kingdoms.

This was a habit he had kept from the last world. In a world with gods and mysterious beings, he would ask the gods for their opinions before doing anything. The power of the gods in this world is not yet clear, but their methods are strange and unpredictable. They can invade the mind, revive the dead, change the body, and use strange and mysterious techniques such as fire and shadow.
Daenerys hadn't been out with her brother like this for a long time. Seeing him flying in the dark sea with no end in sight, he seemed to have memorized the destination. She asked curiously, "Do you come here often?"

It was a moonless night, and the sky was a little cloudy, so no stars could be seen, but Viserys did not lose his direction at all: "I don't come here often, but sometimes I want to check out the situation in my territory. Don't laugh at me when I tell you this, but sometimes I secretly fly high in the sky to inspect the territory I now rule. Sometimes I go out through the secret passage after dinner, along the vast sea with few ships above Dragonstone, to Crab Island or Tidehead, hiding in the clouds to observe the towns and castles under the night. Occasionally I go to the Point to see the never-extinguished fire on the watchtower there."

Daenerys looked at the dark night and the seemingly endless sea. The wind blowing on her face made her feel free and relaxed. "You can ask me to join you later."

"Dany, it takes me half an hour to fly to Crab Island. Seeing the sea and the distant horizon once is new, but seeing it ten times will be boring. I'm afraid you will get bored." Viserys said, "And if I fly too high and too fast, you won't have a good experience either."

Daenerys felt that he was moving very fast. The Dragonstone behind him had shrunk visibly, gradually becoming a dot on the sea level. She was curious: "How do you usually fly when you patrol the territory?"

Viserys happened to have something to show her, and responded calmly, "I will first take you to my normal flying altitude."

He flapped his wings and slowly rose from mid-air, and soon he brought Daenerys to the clouds.

After entering the thick cumulus clouds, Daenerys could feel that Viserys' body had become larger, but she could not see anything in her field of vision. All she could see were thick foggy clouds and hot water vapor evaporated by the heat of the dragon constantly blowing in her face.

The wind was howling, blowing Daenerys' hair into a mess. She felt her ears buzzing, and she couldn't help but lean over and put her head close to Viserys' body.

It took a long time to pass through the clouds. The water vapor gradually dissipated and the blurry vision became clear.

Daenerys looked up and found that they had broken through the clouds and flew above them. Here, the vast sea of ​​stars, the brilliant sky, the endless stars and the crescent moon seemed to be right above her head, within reach. When people see these, they are always shocked and inexplicably moved. It took her a long time to calm down: "How can it be boring to watch these with you?" "As long as you like it." In fact, if you watch too much, you will get used to it, and this mentality is the same as traveling to another place. Viserys asked, "Do you feel okay breathing? Do you feel chest tightness and shortness of breath?"

Daenerys felt it and said, "No."

Viserys kept watching her as he ascended, slowly rising to make sure that her complexion was normal. Now he was sure that Daenerys was no longer a normal human being. She did not suffer from hypoxia in the thin oxygen clouds. He felt relieved: "Hold on tight, this is how I usually fly."

Viserys flapped his wings, speeding up, and Daenerys couldn't help but tighten her grip on the scales. The wind in her ears was fierce and violent, and the hot air blew against her face. The hot wind made it impossible for her to open her eyes, and she had no time to see the stars in the sky and the scenery elsewhere. She could only look down and glimpse the thick cumulus clouds below the end of her vision.

Well, if her brother usually flew like this, then riding on the dragon's back really wasn't much of an experience.

Viserys only flew her for a short distance, and then slowly slowed down. To be honest, Viserys knew very well that Daenerys felt like she was riding in an open car at high speed at his speed. He could probably cruise at 200 to 300 yards, and sprint at full speed at more than 500 yards. Daenerys was already an extraordinary person, but it was still obviously difficult.

Viserys slowed down to about 90 yards per hour so that Daenerys could see normally on the dragon's back.

She rubbed her eyes and smoothed her messy hair. "Brother, you usually fly so fast. It takes half an hour to get to Crab Island? Crab Island is so far away." There are twelve hours in a day in the Ice and Fire World. Daenerys has never been to Crab Island, but she heard from Celtigar who came from Crab Island that it takes most of the day to take a boat when the wind is favorable.

"I'm not always that fast. After all, I'm not rushing to rescue people." In fact, in a sense, the several sections of patrolling the territory can be regarded as Viserys's habitual exercise, just like a long-distance runner in modern society who runs every night. "But Crab Island is indeed a bit far away. Sometimes I actually have a sudden whim to fly to more distant towns, such as Seagull Town, Maiden Spring City, and the fishing villages and coastal towns north of Crab Bay. But when I think about the fact that I have to fly there and back, and those places are so far away, how can Dragonstone find me if there is an emergency, I will give up this idea.

When I actually measured it, I realized how big this continent is. The Crab Claw Peninsula in the King's Territory alone is this big. I really don't know how Aegon had the determination and perseverance to measure this continent step by step, draw it into shape, carve it into a map and put it in the Atlas Hall, and even thought about conquering the entire continent. "

Daenerys asked him: "Aren't you planning to conquer this continent now?"

"But my purpose may be different from Aegon's. I need magic and crave magical power, Dany. This has never changed since the moment I became a dragon. If Dragonstone can satisfy my desire for magical power, I may never leave Dragonstone in my life." After becoming an inhuman dragon, Viserys found that he could gradually understand the feelings of those powerful monsters who occupied a treasure land suitable for themselves and no longer cared about the disputes of the world. Viserys sometimes thought that if he had all the magic power of the three-headed dragon now, maybe he would stop here.

Daenerys responded with empathy: "After arriving at Dragonstone, everything is incredibly stable. Knowing that you are here, I feel at ease every day. I read a book in my room, handle a few government affairs, and the day passes peacefully. Sometimes, I think it would be great if I could live in such a stable life forever. But there is always news telling me that the world outside is not like this, and the current stable situation is only temporary."

She rode on Viserys, looking down at the cumulus clouds below. As Viserys slowly descended, she could gradually see the turbulent sea and the land covered with dense forests in the night. When looking down from a high place, Daenerys felt that she and her brother were like two gods in mythology who escaped their duties, living on top of the clouds, trying to escape from the eternal struggle, but the way was to enter the eternal struggle.

"We are here," Viserys said.

Daenerys looked down and saw an old, dilapidated, abandoned castle standing on top of a cliff.

The castle was built of old rocks without mortar, and each stone was different. Thick moss grew between the cracks in the rocks, and clusters of strange red vines grew on the rocks, and trees sprouted from the ground. There was a ruined tower on the side facing the sea, most of it submerged by the sea, and the waves rushed into it.

Viserys did not fall directly. Instead, he shrank slightly and flew around the city wall.

The castle is triangular, with square towers at each corner. The forest has long since climbed over the walls, engulfing the main castle and the outer courtyard. This may have been a solid fortress, but now it has become a ruin covered with moss and vines. The castle is almost completely decayed, and there is no human habitation for miles around. It is desolate and strange.

I wonder how Viserys found this place.

As she descended, Daenerys heard strange noises coming from the castle.

"The Whispering Castle," Viserys told her. "The waves break in a hollow beneath the castle. As they rise and fall, they make a sound like a whisper."

Viserys landed at last in a yard of weeds and fallen pine needles amid the ruins of a castle. Stately rows of soldier pines stood everywhere, and among them a pale anomaly, a small, narrow weirwood with a trunk white as bone and crimson leaves spreading out from its branches.

Looking out from here, you can see the collapsed city walls, the dark and empty sky and sea under the cover of night... and a pile of embers that have been extinguished for who knows how long.

"Smugglers left them there," Viserys told her. "I found this place when I spotted a smuggler's ship high in the sky. There is a weirwood here, Dany. Come here, and let us talk to it."

Daenerys looked at the pale tree uncertainly. "Will this really help us contact the Three-Eyed Raven?"

"I'm not sure. As an ancient castle that is said to be a thousand years old, this weirwood is obviously not big enough, and there is no human face carved on it. But I guess it grew from the seeds left by an ancient weirwood. Perhaps it can be used as a heart tree. Legend has it that the green prophet can enter the heart tree to monitor the distance." Viserys said, he walked over, put his dragon claw on the tree, and said, "I, Viserys Targaryen, will marry Daenerys Targaryen in the seventh week of the new year, and then will begin to try to settle the disputes in the Seven Kingdoms. If you agree, please protect my child with Daenerys, and give clear instructions to me or Dany in our dreams. Please don't speak in riddles, thank you."

Is this the tone of prayer to the gods? Dany was speechless for a moment.

(End of this chapter)