Game of Thrones: Viserys the Three-Headed Dragon.

Chapter 163 Wedding Banquet
King Viserys and his fiancée Daenerys stood before the gilded statues of God the Father and God the Mother, looking like a perfect couple.

Brother Bal, wearing a clean new monk's robe and a sacred belt made of seven crystals around his neck, solemnly and dignifiedly presided over the wedding ceremony of Viserys and Daenerys.

Only at noon did the sun shine into the church through the stained glass on the top of the church, scattering colorful rainbow lights on the most solemn ceremony platform.

The king and queen, both wearing magnificent costumes, stood in the center of the church, holding hands. The monks stood between the Heavenly Father and the Virgin Mary, witnessing the union of the newlyweds. The chalcedony eyes of the Heavenly Father and the Virgin Mary statues, one majestic and the other kind, seemed to be watching the newlyweds below.

Arianne stood beside her uncle Oberyn, gazing at the couple with envy, and offering them her blessing from the bottom of her heart. Whatever thoughts she had when she came here, they were gone now. The only regret was that she didn't know where her good match was, and she couldn't help feeling a little sad.

The legendary event that happened that morning was so miraculous that some guests still felt like they were in a dream. Among Arianne's best friends, Fowler's twin sisters were still whispering about the scene that everyone witnessed that morning that could not be explained by common sense until they entered the sanctuary.

A strange masked man suddenly appeared among the guests. After removing his mask and cloak, there was only a Targaryen family heirloom sword wrapped in fish beams and standing in the middle of the hall, an ordinary pale mask, an old and tattered piece of clothing.
Some said it was the soul of the Duke of Bloodraven, some said it was the spirit of the old gods believed in by the northerners, and some said it was the old woman and the blacksmith among the seven gods.
However, Arianne had been close to her uncle throughout the wedding ceremony and learned more. After the incident, someone reported that when the strange mysterious man appeared, a ship of the Night's Watch from the Northern Great Wall was docked at the port.
But whatever the explanation, this bizarre event suggests that some mysterious force is returning the sword to its true king and queen, Viserys and his new wife Daenerys.

Any noble with a little common sense knows that after Aegon V ascended the throne, the sword of the Dark Sister went to the Wall with Lord Brynden of Bloodraven, and the Lord of Bloodraven disappeared for more than half a century.

What does it mean that this sword has reappeared in the world in this way?
Although no one has announced it loudly yet, everyone is thinking the same thing: today's wedding has the approval of the new and old gods!

After the king and queen swore seven vows, received seven blessings, and exchanged seven promises, the choir sang hymns, and God the Father, the Virgin Mary, and the wedding guests witnessed the fulfillment of the vows.

The time has come to change the cloak.

Because the bride has no relatives on her father's side, the task of removing the bride's cloak is given to the Heavenly Father. Brother Baal, as the spokesperson of the Seven Gods, removes the cloak for the bride.

Before the groom put the groom's cloak on the bride, he first picked up the crown of Queen Leila given as a gift in the morning and solemnly put it on the bride's head, and then took the groom's cloak from Prime Minister Oberyn beside him.

The king was much taller than his queen. He moved his tall body closer and gently wrapped the queen in the black and red velvet. Then he leaned forward and tied it tightly around her throat, indicating that from now on, he would protect his queen forever.

"With this kiss I give you my love and my promise to be my wife and consort." The king confessed to the queen cheerfully, and after the queen responded, the king pulled her close and kissed her deeply for a long time.

The monk raised the holy belt around his neck high, and the midday sun turned into colorful light that radiated from the crystal on the holy belt, enveloping the newlyweds who were kissing each other deeply in the cathedral. The monk solemnly announced that Viserys and Daenerys of the Targaryen family would be one body, one mind, and one soul forever. Anyone who interfered with their marriage would be ruthlessly cursed.

Ser Barristan, wearing polished armor and a Targaryen cloak, and Captain Goddean of the Royal Guard led the way and led the team out of the sept; followed by Prime Minister Oberyn and Lady Shireen; Earl Gunther and Princess Arianne; the first two rows were arranged according to status, and the ones after that were more festive, more for the good meaning. The twin sisters of the Fowler family walked in the third row, and behind them were the six-year-old Earl Velaryon and another seven-year-old noble girl. As they walked, they scattered rose petals from the baskets in their hands, and behind them were the young couples who had no children among the guests.
The chapel of Dragonstone Island is in the castle. When the king and queen walked to the door, cheers surged throughout the castle. People offered blessings, expressed love and respect for the king's wedding.

Behind him, seven clear and loud bells rang out in the church, and people in the castle who had been prepared waved colorful flags.

Then, seven loud bells rang in the cathedral at the foot of Dragonstone. Although the grand scene at the foot of the mountain could not be seen from the castle, the cheers at the foot of the mountain could be heard from afar.

As if affected by the cheers, a huge dragon, almost as big as a horse, flew out of the castle from the highest floor of the main castle, flying higher and higher amid the cheers. At a certain height, it began to circle in the sky.

Because the journey from the sept to the main castle was very short, after leaving the sept, the wedding carpet first guided the long procession to the grass and trees of Aegon's Garden, through the rose petals that were raining down from the top of the stone arch bridge by the maids.

Arianne looked up and saw countless young men and women from the nobility gathered at both ends of the stone arch bridge, cheering and looking at the wedding procession below. Behind them, more noble men and women followed closely behind and poured into the garden. The long carpet circled the rose and cranberry flowerbed in the center of Aegon's garden, and then turned to the main castle.

When the procession returned to the hall of the main castle, the king and queen stood on a high platform facing the wide hall, surrounded by guards, and the guests lined up in a long queue to congratulate them.

Arianne was next in line.

The line was very long and the time left for each person was very short.

When it was her turn, Arianne looked deeply at the King, leaned forward slightly, and hugged him gently and politely - this was the etiquette only in the king's wedding. The etiquette for noble women to give blessings to the king was the hug, and the etiquette for noble men to give blessings to the queen was the kiss of the hand.

After this gentle hug, Arianne completely wiped out all her dreams and illusions, and sincerely wished the other party long-lasting happiness.

After this ceremony, the wedding ceremony was over, and the twins of the Fowler family ran behind her excitedly. The elder sister, Jenny Fowler, spoke first: "Wow, this time we can really enjoy the joy of the king's wedding. The queen is really beautiful, but why can't she hug the king and then kiss the queen's finger? I think this etiquette needs to be changed."

Her younger sister, Jennylin Fowler, also said excitedly, "Yes, yes, His Majesty is so majestic, and the Queen is also very royal. It's a pity that Nymène can't be in the team," she whispered in the ears of Arianne and her sister, "I really want to know, in Nymène's eyes, would she want to be the queen or the king."

"Ahem," Arianne coughed, interrupting the twins' ambiguous topic and warned them in a low voice, "Don't talk about such topics in this kind of occasion, or Lord Fowler will lock you up when he gets back."

Jeyne pursed her lips. "Well, Your Highness Arianne, I find that you have really changed a lot since you took over. No wonder Nymène said that you are becoming more and more like a ruler."

Arianne smiled casually, "Didn't I look like a ruler?"

Jennylin smiled: "I think you are too tense, Princess. Do you want me to 'serve' you tonight and help you relax?" She slightly opened her lovely and charming lips, licked her tongue, and pretended to be seductive.

Arianne curled her lips, wanting to interrupt the topic, but changed her mind, her big black eyes flickered, and she smiled teasingly: "Well, as a ruler, I have learned a lot of ways to 'rule'. Sisters of the Fowler family, you two will accompany me tonight to learn how to 'rule'. This is your duty."

Jennylin let out a breathless laugh: "Of course, Your Highness, I, we are looking forward to your class very much."

As they were joking around, they completed the last part of their journey and arrived at the main hall where the wedding banquet was to be held.

Although it was only afternoon, the main hall where the wedding banquet was held was already brightly lit. Candles were lit on every candlestick, and torches on every sconce were all lit. Countless long candles and torches were burning, and countless flickering lights were swaying like fireworks in the main hall of the castle.

All the long tables were already filled with ale, wine, and mead, and even fruit juice was thoughtfully prepared for the many children of the nobles. The aroma of toasted bread and roasted meat was already wafting in the air.

This is not a dish for a formal banquet. Arianne assisted Oberyn during the King's conquest of the Stormlands. The King's wedding banquet formally has fourteen dishes - the King's original plan even had only seven very simple dishes, and in the end, as the number of guests increased, seven more dishes were added. In the south of Westeros, any important noble banquet has a multiple of seven dishes. For example, Joffrey's wedding, in order to show the royal demeanor, once prepared 77 dishes.
The guests would soon be pouring into the throne room, and there was no doubt that it would be a day of song and splendor from the afternoon until nightfall.

Jennylin suddenly exclaimed in a low voice: "Wow, who is that? What a beautiful person! Why have I never seen her in the castle?"

When they arrived at the banquet hall, several people were already sitting and waiting in the corners. In one corner where the path was not smooth and there was absolutely no one to disturb the banquet, a very beautiful woman was sitting there quietly. She was wearing a water-colored long dress, with gorgeous red hair, red eyebrows, and red eyes. The woman had a bewitching beauty that made people unable to take their eyes away.

As if she heard Jennylin's call, the woman turned around and looked at them.

Arianne wasn't sure if she was hallucinating, but she saw in the woman's red eyes that they were flashing an unnatural red luster in the candlelight.

But only for a moment.

Then she smiled kindly at them and turned back to sit quietly.

Arianne had a vague feeling that this was not an easy person to get along with.

As more and more guests poured into the main hall, the banquet hall soon became noisy and lively. The guests who had arrived sat behind the long table, and the noble men and women who were coming in were escorted to their corresponding seats by wine waiters dressed in royal costumes.

The gallery was already filled with musicians, including drummers, flutes and violinists, as well as some playing horns, harps and bagpipes.

The king and queen were the last to enter the banquet hall.

After the king entered, the cupbearers scattered countless rose petals on their path. The captain of the guards and the knight representative Barristan escorted the king and queen to the high platform in the main hall and sat in the place of honor just under the throne. In front of the long table hung a row of long silk flags, all of which were the black and red flags of the Targaryens.

Arianne followed her uncle, led by Oberyn, and saluted.

When the king and queen had taken their seats, Arianne took the fifth seat at the high table.

The monk began to lead everyone in prayer before the meal.

By this point in the wedding, it was already approaching dusk. It was not until she actually attended a king's wedding that Arianne realized how complicated a wedding of this level was. She knew that even if her future wedding was not as grand as that of a king, the wedding process of a prince or princess would be as long as this, from morning to night.
With this in mind, it is truly admirable that the king and queen could still face their guests with a smile.

"Fill the cup!" After the prayer, the king could not wait to announce the start of the banquet. His cupbearer hurried forward to pour the wine into his cup. The king raised the cup high and said, "Cheers to my wife, my queen, Daenerys!"

"Hail Daenerys!" the whole hall responded with a roar. "Hail Daenerys! Hail Daenerys! To the Queen!" Hundreds of cups clinked at once, announcing the start of the wedding feast. Arianne drank the first cup like everyone else, and asked for a refill as she sat down.

The official dishes began to be served. The first course was a specialty of Dragonstone, the second was a classic dish of Braavos, and the third was a Myrish dish. The first seven dishes were basically about the king and queen's experiences wandering in the eastern continent. By the seventh dish, they returned to the famous dishes of King's Landing in Westeros. The next seven dishes were representative dishes of the territories of the Seven Kingdoms.

From the order in which the dishes are served, people can know the hardships and deep feelings that the King and Queen have gone through along the way, as well as His Majesty the King's determination and expectations to regain the Seven Kingdoms.

As the night went on, the banquet became more passionate. The king was not a cold-hearted man and allowed the guests to laugh and cheer enthusiastically.

Amid the noise of the guests, the king and queen shared a wine glass and kissed frequently.

Arianne couldn't help but look at the Fowler sisters in the middle of the banquet hall. They didn't sit on the high platform, so they could let loose at the banquet, playing and joking as they pleased. The Sand Snake sisters and Uncle Oberyn's mistress Ellaria, who were further away, were laughing constantly. She really wished she could sit with them instead of on the high platform.

While she was bored, Arianne inadvertently noticed that the king would look in one direction from time to time.

She looked in the direction the king was looking out of curiosity, and that was exactly the location of the enchantingly beautiful woman they had seen when they entered the banquet hall earlier.

Arianne frowned, thinking that the king had some thoughts about the woman, but when she looked closely, she realized that the woman had not eaten anything of the fourteen dishes on the table, and was just quietly scanning the guests in the banquet hall in a corner.

And her eyes, after nightfall, faintly glowed with an eerie blood red.
Arianne felt uneasy for some reason.

She began to consciously pay attention to the king's actions, and found that the captain of the king's guards approached him and whispered something. Then, Ser Barristan took the opportunity to toast and speak, and was whispered something by the king, and went down with a serious face.

Even her uncle, Prince Oberon, she found that the smile on his face looked a little unnatural when he realized that something was wrong.

Halfway through the banquet, Queen Daenerys left the table briefly, apparently to go to the toilet, but Arianne keenly noticed that the queen went to the room behind the main hall, where Ser Barristan and several guards were waiting.

The woman with the strange eyes followed, stood up from her seat, and went to the queen's room.

When the queen returned, Arianne found that her expression had become calm and indifferent.

She vaguely felt that something was wrong.

Arianne became nervous. These unusual things could only mean one thing: an assassin had sneaked in.

However, the wedding banquet continued.

The singer's fingers brushed across the harp strings, and the banquet hall was filled with sweet music.

There were more and more performances, and with the playing of some familiar wedding songs, the wedding banquet entered the dancing session.

The musicians began to play dance music, and the king and queen walked down from the high platform and led the dance in the central open space of the banquet hall. Seeing them dancing calmly and gracefully in the banquet hall, Arianne couldn't help but move closer to her uncle Oberyn, who was only separated from her seat by Shireen. She asked solemnly: "Uncle, what's wrong, is it--"

Prince Oberyn patted her hands on the table. "Arianne, you will go to the king for a dance later." He narrowed his eyes. "When we enter the bridal chamber, you must be careful."

Arianne understood.

In the banquet hall, everyone's face was filled with joy, and the guests joined the king and queen, dancing happily in the central open space.

When the king and queen finished dancing, Prince Oberon immediately called her down to the dance floor, and then Prince Oberon extended his hand to the queen and invited her to dance with him.

The king came to her and said, "May I have the honor of dancing with you, Princess Arianne?"

She took the king's hand, feeling inexplicably nervous: "Your Majesty, it is my honor."

She smiled and let the music guide her.

“I find you to be very perceptive, Princess Arianne,” the king spoke to her as he danced to the beat of the drums. “I am ashamed of this, for it was a mistake of carelessness and hubris on my part.”

"His Majesty?"

"You guessed it, didn't you?"

"May I ask why you are so calm and allow this banquet to continue?"

"It's also because of my arrogance. I don't want to always be on guard against hidden threats. I want to know how the other party did it. Who would have thought that the experience from the last time would not work this time? It's really unpredictable."

"Last time." So this time, it was the Faceless Assassins again. According to legend, the cost of hiring the Faceless Assassins was unimaginable, and they never failed.

-

It was really a shame for Viserys to say that he had sent Ani and Butch to serve Fremi, thinking that there would be no risk.

Unexpectedly, it caused a misunderstanding.

When Lady Fremy was being served by Ani, she felt that there was some kind of power in Ani that interfered with her magic, making her very uncomfortable. She thought that Ani was specially found by Viserys to guard against her.

But I didn't expect that Annie suddenly disappeared at noon today.

This was discovered by several secret sentries who were responsible for monitoring Fremy. They reported the matter urgently. Viserys sent people to investigate and found that Annie had completely disappeared from the castle, and Butch, who came back with Annie, was mysteriously poisoned to death in the room.

In order to prevent any accidents from happening at the wedding, Viserys arranged the guards to be like a perverted surveillance. Ani, Butch, and Fremi were just one of the targets that needed to be watched, not even the most important ones. There were many guests whose identities had not been carefully checked, especially the group of people returning from Braavos, several uninvited nobles from Pentos and Tyroshi, musicians, singers and performers invited from all over the place, and nobles who often went in and out of the castle to have fun in the town.
It was only then that Viserys realized that the problem was not simple. He did not make it public, but quietly sent more people to investigate. Just in case, he also invited Fremi, who was imprisoned in the tower, to come out and help check the guests at the wedding banquet.

However, Fremy failed to find anything unusual. Instead, the people sent out to investigate found a stripped body at the foot of the cliff at the castle's kitchen waste and garbage outlet at dusk. It was a male guest who had lost his face. Because there were so many guests from all over the place, it was impossible to figure out who he was.

It was only then that Viserys realized that another Faceless Man had sneaked into the group of guests.

In his opinion, the Faceless Man had replaced Anie's identity at some point and followed Butch to Dragonstone, planning an assassination.

The Faceless Men are indeed a world-famous killer organization. They actually have the means to interfere with Fremi's magic, making it impossible for a powerful priestess like Fremi to see through their face-changing tricks.

Thinking about it carefully, Viserys was indeed overconfident. He let many people who were not in the plan into the castle at such a time. As a result, there were so many guests in the past two days that he had no time to test them carefully, and even had no time to communicate with Lady Fremi about them. After all, Butch and Ani were two small figures, and Viserys took it lightly.

He thought that since Fremi had not shown any abnormal behavior and had not given any warning, it meant that Ani and Butch could be ruled out as the Faceless Men. He never thought that Fremi would misunderstand that Viserys had specially hired someone to deal with her.

It still comes down to the same question: there is no such thing as being able to guard against thieves for a thousand days.

At this point, all Viserys could do was to make emergency efforts and try to lure the Faceless Man out tonight. If the assassin did not take action today, he would have to wait until tomorrow when the guests left the castle and take Lady Fremy to see them off one by one at the castle gate.

(End of this chapter)