Game of Thrones: Viserys the Three-Headed Dragon.

Chapter 144: The King's Sign in the Library

At first, Viserys seemed not to hear.

He showed no joy, anger, doubt, or even relief. His expression was calm, as if everything was normal.

"At a wedding, at the host's table, under the host's roof. Trampling on the rights of the guests. We must condemn this behavior. The Freys are abhorrent," he said. "What about Joffrey?"

The source of news from Dragonstone was very slow, and the news of the two kings' deaths arrived at almost the same time.

"They say he choked to death on food at his wedding feast," said Count Gunther. "Or maybe he was poisoned. They say it was his uncle, the little devil."

"This is also to be condemned! Nowadays, weddings have become more dangerous than battlefields? When did Westeros become like this? Morality and law, honor and guest rights, if such behavior can be condoned, how can we conduct politics well?"

"Your Majesty, at this moment, the false king of the North and King's Landing are both dead. Should we do something?" Earl Gunther said, "According to your previous letter, the North has no heir now. Maybe we can send an envoy to White Harbor?"

"No need, just send the letter." Viserys said, "The most important things on Dragonstone right now are the arrival of the Dornish delegation and the wedding of Daenerys and I. We only need to do these two things well, and as for the rest, we can wait until these two things are over. Have all the vassal states in the territory been gathered? Have any other places replied to the letter and asked to come to Dragonstone to attend the wedding?"

Viserys really didn't know what Tyrell - and maybe Littlefinger - was thinking. He put so much pressure on King's Landing at Dragonstone, and they chose to poison Joffrey. They didn't even try to get in touch with Dragonstone. Could it be that they really wanted to go all the way?
"All the lords of the Narrow Sea have arrived, Your Majesty. As for the reply letter."

"It doesn't matter. We have a Dornish envoy anyway, and there are already enough guests." Major weddings and funerals have always been important diplomatic occasions in modern times. Viserys has been in charge of Dragonstone for nearly two months. His presence is already strong enough, and his influence radiates far beyond a small area. He hopes to take this opportunity to get some of the nobles to take the initiative to contact him.

Don’t the princes in the seven countries know this way of thinking: if the mountain doesn’t come to me, I will go to the mountain?

It didn't matter. Viserys's next plan was to only include the Dornishmen. He just had to proceed at his own pace. The death of Joffrey and Robb did not affect his next plan of stormland attack and attack on the south.

Earl Gunther paused and said, "Your Majesty, now that the false King Joffrey is dead, why don't you send a letter to King's Landing and declare yourself the true king?"

"." Viserys looked carefully at Count Gunther's expression and found that Gunther actually said this very seriously.

Viserys suddenly remembered something funny. In the original world line, when the news of Joffrey's death reached Stannis' ears, Stannis had a particularly naive idea: King's Landing would definitely send someone to welcome him to King's Landing to ascend the throne.

Viserys discovered that his subordinate, Count Gunther, was actually naive.

"There's also Tommen in King's Landing, Lord Gunther."

Viserys found that many people, including his own men, were very optimistic about the situation.

Every day someone at the reception desk on Dragonstone offers advice to King Targaryen, asking him to ride a dragon around the country. In this way, when the princes see the dragon, they will know who the real king is and will surely come to surrender. From now on, the Seven Kingdoms can be decided by Viserys.

Viserys has a sense of déjà vu. In order to unify the seven kingdoms, he decides to become an idol and tour the country, thus winning the victory.
The king only needs to ride his dragon from Dragonstone to King's Landing, from King's Landing to Harrenhal, from Harrenhal to Casterly Rock, to the Eyrie, to Highgarden. It's not a big deal. Just a few more flights and the Seven Kingdoms will be pacified. It's a beautiful thing.

Viserys didn't blame them. No one in this world had ever sat on a plane for dozens of hours. They had never truly measured how big the world was. The farthest place many of them had ever been to was King's Landing, so they thought the world was only this big.

Isn’t it just a few more flights from Dragonstone to King’s Landing?

Many people simply don't realize that what they are asking Viserys to do is to fly a bomber from New York to unify all of North America, from Panama to Canada, by flying to major cities. This is to become a traveler in Westeros, not a king.

"Tommen." Count Gunther said the name with a frown.

"Lord Gunther, tell Dorne's guest Prince Oberyn the news later." Viserys began to talk about other things. "The Dornish envoys will arrive soon. Start to deal with the docks and clear an area at the town docks. If there is nothing else, just get started."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

By the way, although Oberyn agreed to negotiate the cancellation of the engagement after seeing the dragon, the two sides agreed to wait for the arrival of Dorne's envoys before discussing matters involving in-depth cooperation and a new formal agreement.

This is not procrastination or insincerity, but a competition of patience and in-depth examination of each other.

Viserys knew that Oberyn was watching him.

And what Viserys did was to do nothing on the surface, just quietly coordinate the planning of Dragonstone and patiently wait for the arrival of the Dornish envoys.

Even with the successive deaths of false kings, which sounded like a very serious change in the situation of the Seven Kingdoms, Viserys still sat back and did not rush to make any major decisions that he thought were related to the "fate of the Seven Kingdoms."

Viserys didn't expect that it was Prince Oberyn who heard the news and came to him first.

Of course, it's not looking for it, it's a 'chance encounter'.

When Viserys went to the library of the Maester's Tower to exchange books at noon that day, he happened to meet Prince Oberyn of Dorne reading in the library. Dragonstone had quite a few books. For generations, they had been collected by countless maesters to show off their knowledge. Tall wooden bookshelves were piled with leather-bound books and boxes of ancient parchment scrolls that were resistant to corrosion.

Although there are not many, there are still about a hundred books.

The prince of Dorne saw Viserys and nodded slightly. "Your majesty, I didn't expect to meet you here."

Viserys greeted politely, "Prince Oberyn, what a coincidence."

As he spoke, Viserys casually placed the books in his hand on the table. He had already read these books, and the maester's clerk would deal with them later. Prince Oberyn saw the book Viserys placed on the table and said: "Dialects and Geography of the Seven Kingdoms. Your Majesty is interested in the dialects of the seven kingdoms?"

Viserys answered casually, "You could say that. I've been curious lately about whether the languages ​​of the Seven Kingdoms can be traced back to a single source. Especially the northern dialects. They may be related to the 'old tongue' spread by the ancestors, but unfortunately the 'old tongue' has almost disappeared in Westeros. Legend has it that the children of the forest sing in the 'old tongue', and their songs are so beautiful that they make people cry uncontrollably."

"Ancient language?" Prince Oberyn asked curiously, "May I take the liberty of asking what Your Majesty is looking for?"

Viserys narrowed his eyes. "The oldest historical records of the Seven Kingdoms were written after the Andals came to Westeros. The ancestors only left runes on the rocks. I am interested in ancient languages ​​and runes. I heard that Prince Oberyn once went to the Citadel to study. When he left the Citadel, he had already forged six chains for the Maester's necklace. Do you have any books you can recommend?"

There are two things in the land of Westeros that are closely related to magic.

Ancient words and runes.

They are ancient languages ​​and scripts used by our ancestors.

Runes are ancient characters carved on stones and other objects. They are believed to have magical powers. For example, the armor of Count John of Bronze is made of bronze and has a history of thousands of years. It is said that the runes of the ancestors are engraved on it to protect him from harm.
Viserys's words were almost as good as saying that he was studying ancient magic.

Oberyn seemed to understand.

"I was fortunate enough to read Brother Maki's "Words on the Rocks" in the Citadel. It is a book that records the runes left on rocks by the ancestors of the Seven Kingdoms. It is said that it was recorded by Brother Maki during his travels in the Seven Kingdoms 700 years before the Conquest. However, this book only records and transcribes the rock runes in various places, without explaining the runes."

"Interesting. Since there is such a record book, there should be people who are doing the corresponding research. Didn't the prince find the relevant book in the Citadel?"

"I'm afraid I'll disappoint your majesty. I always get bored quickly with many things in the Citadel and am drawn to other things. After I found this book, it gave me a headache. Later I turned to read The Chronicle of Aegon's Conquest and The Records of the Four Kings. If your majesty is interested in these, I found a few history books here to recommend."

Viserys wondered if the prince was implicitly reminding him to focus on the politics and unity of the Seven Kingdoms before worrying about magic and other things.

Viserys replied: "Maester Cairx omitted much in the Record of the Four Kings. He dressed up history like a little girl."

The prince said: "Your Majesty's words are fresh. History is like a little girl."

"Maester Carlos ignored King Viserys's records, and he relied entirely on his imagination and drawings on maps for the battles that took place in that period of history, without any actual evidence or investigation." Viserys said, "Marching and fighting is not a matter of commanders drawing lines on maps. If Maester Carlos were still alive, I would not dare to let him be my military advisor. And King Baelor's records are even more unrealistic. He crossed the Bone Road on foot, reached a peace agreement with Dorne, and rescued Prince Aemon the Dragon Knight from the snake pit. I believe these. But 'because of his holiness, even venomous snakes were unwilling to harm him', I doubt this."

Prince Oberyn laughed. "Your Majesty's view of Maester Cas is different from that of many people."

"Prince Oberyn, to be honest, I sometimes wonder how much of the books that the scholars of the Citadel write are just whimsical ideas. Isn't it immoral for them to put wrong statements in beautifully bound books and let readers believe them to be true?"

The prince smiled and said, "You should go to the Citadel and debate with the doctors, Your Majesty."

"I'm telling you the truth, my lord," Viserys said, "I'm thinking of going to the Citadel."

Prior to this, Prince Oberyn had avoided mentioning politics after negotiating the breakup of the engagement, testing Viserys' patience, and he was worried that he would not have the opportunity to reveal his intentions.

"Oh?" Oberyn narrowed his eyes. "Your Majesty wants to go to Oldtown?"

"Speaking of which, my subordinates all advised me to announce to the world that I am the real king, recruit loyal princes to attack King's Landing, sit on the Iron Throne, and send letters from King's Landing to recruit princes all over the world. They all think that in this way, the whole country can be pacified in one battle. I wonder what the prince thinks about this?"

Oberon said strangely, "Your Majesty asked me this. How do you want me to answer?"

"Since the delegation has not come officially, we can have a private conversation today and you can speak freely."

Oberyn asked, "Your Majesty does not seem to want to go to King's Landing?"

"Prince, do you also think I need King's Landing? I need that iron chair that I heard can cut people?"

Oberyn asked, "Your Majesty wishes to be Aegon the Conqueror, not Viserys III?"

Viserys didn't expect that even Oberyn and his men thought that he would attack King's Landing first after getting enough military support - they all didn't take Stannis seriously.

Viserys said bluntly: "Winter is coming. I need a prosperous south, not a city that eats up money and a useless iron chair."

Oberyn's eyes narrowed: "Your Majesty, don't you want to be a good king?"

"A good king also needs money. I have experienced what it feels like to be penniless in Essos, Prince. Even the most noble person needs enough money and food if he wants to save more people."

Oberyn found that this cooperation was far more profitable than he had imagined: "May I ask Your Majesty, when do you expect you to return to King's Landing?"

"Stormlands, Southlands, Westlands, these rich places are all what I need. I must first ensure that I have money and food." Viserys smiled, "Don't laugh at me, Prince. I have been wandering in Essos since I was a child. I am tired of poverty."

Oberyn blinked, his dark eyes gleaming.

(End of this chapter)