Game of Thrones: Viserys the Three-Headed Dragon.

Chapter 146 Banquet and Military Strength

The black stone walls of the main hall were already covered with flags of various families when they entered - this was the first time.

The raised platform in the hall is the seat of the princes and the king.

Viserys, Daenerys, Oberyn, and Princess Arianne sat together in the center of the dais in the main hall.

After all the distinguished guests were seated, they toasted to each other and exchanged congratulations, and then the dinner officially began. From time to time, someone would come to toast the host and guests on the platform, and the king never spoiled the fun, and he drank one glass of fine wine after another.

The main hall of Dragonstone Castle was filled with steam and the aroma of roasted meat and bread.

At the beginning, both the guests and the host were a little reserved. The banquet was not as lively as expected. The theme of the banquet was the clash of knives, forks, bowls and plates and whispered conversations at the table.

But as time went on, people toasted each other with wine, and gradually there was loud laughter and noise. The men began to brag to each other about stories of war, hunting and adultery, and the atmosphere gradually became heated.

The Dornish were all very enthusiastic. With the clinking of wax discs and drunken conversations, the atmosphere gradually became more heated. There were even honorary knights from the diplomatic corps who took out harps from their luggage, plucked the strings, and sang songs loudly.

Viserys also invited singers to perform at the banquet. In this atmosphere, the host and the guest, who were not familiar with each other, soon became close friends.

As the banquet progressed, the guests of honor drank until they were sweating, their faces flushed, and they talked and laughed loudly.

From time to time, someone would tell jokes loudly, causing everyone to laugh.

Some enthusiastic women jumped up to the song and danced a little, which made the party more lively.

Viserys was grateful for these enthusiastic and proactive banquet attendees. He was not familiar with the nobles of Dorne and the lords of Dragonstone, and was afraid that something might go wrong at the banquet. Fortunately, these nobles were used to banquets and did not let this welcoming banquet become a dull occasion.

This also gives Viserys some confidence for the wedding banquet.

Speaking of which, as a three-headed dragon, Viserys was also worried about the upcoming wedding banquet, fearing that any link would go wrong.

Two weddings had already ended in the death of the king, and he just hoped that his wedding would go smoothly without any problems.

When Viserys saw Princess Rialynn, a member of the Dornish envoys, at the welcoming ceremony, he would have been lying if he said he was not worried. The appearance of an ex at the wedding - even if they had never seen him before - was something that only required one to realize how disturbing it was.

He had expected it to be Quentyn or Prince Trystane of Dorne.

Fortunately, the Dornish princess was more mature, stable and polite than he had imagined.

At least for now, she hasn't done anything inappropriate, I just hope she can keep doing this. The secret engagement has been cancelled, and everyone should accept their fate.

The banquet did not end until late at night. Dragonstone Castle arranged an entire tower and all the guest rooms in the hall for the Dornish delegation. Dragonstone was really not a good place to welcome distinguished guests. Except for the lords and important dignitaries who could be allocated private rooms, the accompanying Dornish knights could only sleep in the dormitory provided for the Dragonstone soldiers on the side of the hall. After all, there were more than 300 people.

In fact, the king also arranged an inn for the guests at the foot of the mountain, but none of the knights wanted to stay there.

However, judging from the expressions of many people, they did not show any dissatisfaction with this.

Having too many guests can sometimes be a hassle.

Fortunately, the guests at the moment were only the lords of Dorne and Dragonstone. Viserys knew that whenever there was a major event and the lords gathered together, knights from different places would often quarrel and fight, and even die in the fight.

During every tourney Robert held, including Joffrey's wedding not long ago, King's Landing was plagued by crime and knights drew their swords and fought to death in tavern brawls.

This kind of thing is almost impossible to prevent, and Viserys has been prepared. He has studied the handling methods of past dynasties and followed the "law of his ancestors": if both combatants are knights, then the honor of both parties in the duel remains honor; if it is a more vicious incident, then the law remains the law.

After settling the guests, when Viserys sent Daenerys back to her room, Daenerys suddenly asked: "Brother, what do you think of Princess Arianne Martell of Dorne?"

"So far, so good," Viserys replied. "He seems to be visiting."

Daenerys gave her brother a long look. "Perhaps she has other ideas."

Viserys sighed. "Perhaps. Do you ask this because you think I have other intentions?"

"No," Daenerys shook her head and took her brother's hand. "It is because I trust you that I think you might be embarrassed. She is very beautiful. Just sitting there without moving attracts attention. And she may know about the agreement. I thought about it between you. If it were me, I would never be as calm as she is."

"If I heard you correctly, Dany, you are worried about her?" Viserys came closer. "Don't put yourself in other people's shoes, Dany. It's arrogant. People are different. We just need to do our best. There are always things we can't take into account for other people's feelings. Sometimes we are selfish and only think about ourselves, which is good for everyone."

"You are right," Daenerys suddenly laughed, "but I guess you will be troubled during this period."

"Don't think I'm that charming. The world doesn't revolve around me. Speaking of which, what about that dragon egg?" "I'm not sure yet, but I always feel that something will happen if I breathe fire at the dragon-shaped magic in the egg in my dream. However, its magic is too big in the dream, and the fire I breathe is too small. If only I could be as big as you in my dream, I could wrap it all up with a breath of fire."

Speaking of which, after Daenerys learned in her dream to use that strange voice to drive the magic flame in the dream to burst out like a dragon, she began to sing the flame to the rigid dragon-shaped magic in the dragon egg through the method of connecting with Viserys in dreams, testing whether certain conditions could be met to give the dragon-shaped magic in the dragon egg a soul.

The dragon-shaped magic in the dragon egg will absorb the magic flame that Daenerys sings to it, but it is not yet known what effect this unclear attempt will ultimately achieve. We can only wait and see what changes will happen next.

"Don't worry, we have plenty of dragons. It doesn't matter even if nothing happens in the end."

-

"Ah, what a coincidence, Lord Viserys. I didn't expect to see you here."

"Oh, hello, Princess Arianne." Viserys blinked. "What a coincidence. I wonder how you are getting used to Dragonstone?"

"I heard about this castle from my father, but seeing it with my own eyes is still different from what I imagined." The princess from Dorne wore a creamy white dress without many jewels, plain and elegant like a pure girl. "To be honest, when I entered the banquet hall, the dragon's mouth left a deep impression on me. It was like entering the dragon's belly for a banquet. It was a wonderful experience."

Viserys asked seriously, "I heard that the princess is acting as the ruler of Sunspear and has handled many of Dorne's affairs on behalf of Prince Doran?"

Princess Dorne smiled slightly and said, "I am just helping my father with some of the things I can do."

"I am curious, Your Highness, please tell me, how many acres of arable land are there in Dorne? How many years do small lords, self-employed farmers, and tenants usually prepare for the winter? Can crops still be grown on farmland in Dorne in winter?"

"." She obviously didn't expect Viserys to ask this. "Does Your Majesty also work so hard on government affairs in his spare time?"

"No, I was just discussing the agreement with Prince Oberyn yesterday. You were there, too. The prince said Dorne could muster at least 30,000 spears and swords for me," Viserys continued. "But I actually want to know more about Dorne's standing army. To what extent would mustering 30,000 men affect people's livelihood in Dorne? How many acres of land would be abandoned? I don't know if you've seen the population statistics published in the towns of Dragonstone. Since Stannis called up the troops, most of the remaining farmers and tenants in Dragonstone are the elderly, women and children. Less than one-tenth of a family of four has a middle-aged man. There are several knights without offspring who have died out. Dragonstone is now in dire need of troops because no more soldiers can be recruited from the vassal lands. Only children between the ages of twelve and sixteen are left."

"Your Majesty, your kindness is touching. But this is always the case in war. Dornishmen are not afraid of death. Now that we have decided to fight for you, we should do our best."

"Princess Arianne, when the Starks of the North went south, they brought 20,000 troops with them. As a result, the North was left empty and was taken advantage of by the Ironborn, resulting in countless casualties. Now the Wall is in danger and needs help, but there is not a single soldier in the North that can go north to rescue. I have no doubt that the population of Dorne is larger than that of the bitterly cold North, but 30,000. I know you all don't believe it, but what I have been saying is what I think, and I have always believed that this winter will be very difficult. So I hope to reduce the number of troops, and I don't actually need so many people."

It was a strange sight indeed. Viserys only wanted 10,000 men from Dorne to fight with him, but Oberyn of Dorne insisted that Dorne could provide 30,000.

Even several of the visiting great families were happy to provide Viserys with sufficient troops within their territories, for they saw the prospects of war and plunder. Especially after hearing that Viserys was going to start with the Stormlands and the South, the lords of Dorne were very enthusiastic.

Just like how Highgarden responded to the Lannister alliance, the nobles of Dorne have already set their eyes on the fat of the Stormlands and the South. Even if the Martell family, as the lords of Dorne, agree to streamline their troops, these families will be fanatical about increasing their proportion in the team for the wonderful prospects.

In their view, with the cooperation of the dragon, this is a war that is sure to be won.

Especially since Daenerys has a thriving little dragon named Nightfire by her side.

Targaryen has more than one dragon, and in their eyes, this means that the other six kingdoms will eventually be unified by this Targaryen king, just like Aegon once conquered them.

And according to the rumors about King Targaryen that they had heard on Dragonstone these days, the earlier they joined and the more they invested, the greater the rewards they would get.

Because this king advocates convincing people with reason, he seems to prefer to use force to oppress and resolve disputes in a peaceful way other than war.

They speculated that the Targaryen king might fight fewer major battles than he had imagined in the process of unifying the Seven Kingdoms.

It is very likely that if they were a few steps slower, by the time the situation in the Seven Kingdoms eased, those who fought for the Targaryen King would not have gained any practical benefits from this war except for the long-term benefits that were already clear.

"." The princess of Dorne replied seriously, "Your Majesty, the leader of the delegation is my uncle, Prince Oberyn. I believe that all your questions will be answered satisfactorily during the next negotiation."

"Yes, Princess. I'm sorry to be nagging you about this. I won't disturb you from reading. Goodbye. I look forward to the next consultation meeting."

"."

Princess Dorne couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. Every time Viserys spoke to her, he would talk about government and serious matters. This seemingly kind but actually distant expression had made his attitude clear.

The princess was feeling sad when her attendant Galen suddenly shouted in excitement, "Your Highness, look! The dragon named Nightfire has flown out again! Wow! It seems to be a little bigger than yesterday. Do dragons grow so fast? It's starting to fly! So fast!"

Whenever she encountered Viserys in private, she was accompanied only by her squire. The princess of Dorne had never told her closest friends about her secret engagement with Viserys, not even her closest cousin Tyene.

Garin obviously didn't know her little thoughts. He had long been attracted by the giant dragons of Dragonstone. Now, every day when he had nothing to do, he would wait for the spectacle of the little dragon Nightfire flying up the cliffs of Dragonstone like the idle people and tourists in the town.

Perhaps it should stop here, the princess of Dorne thought, why couldn't she just sit on Dragonstone and happily watch the dragons fly through the sky like Garen did?
Thinking of this, she stuck her head out of the door and window, and stretched her head out to look at the cliffs behind the castle like everyone else, to see the little dragon flapping its wings and flying into the sky.

(End of this chapter)