Ice and Fire: Reign of the Dragon.

Chapter 289: Feast at the Black Palace

The coronation ceremony of Aegon III Targaryen began strangely and ended strangely.

Even until Aegon III formally received the nobles and craftsmen of the capital and symbolically handled state affairs, this sense of weirdness did not ease.

"Aegon's accession to the throne was the royal family's compromise with all the nobles who insisted on male priority in succession."

This is what the elderly Lord Kermit Tully said to Lord Benjicox worriedly after he walked out of the throne room: "I suspect that inviting Prince Longzel to crown His Majesty Aegon is also a compromise."

Benjiko added in a low voice: "That should be right. If we follow the order of succession according to Queen Rhaenyra's rules, and Prince Baelor clearly will not inherit the throne, it should be Princess Rhaenyra and Princess Elena who will compete for the throne. Then the next generation of kings..."

The two oldest princes whispered to each other for a while. Then a clear female voice came from behind.

"Lord Kermit, Lord Benjikou."

It was Serena Varese, she was wearing a complicated purple court dress, and she walked between the two princes with a smile.

"Princess Serena, what can I do for you?" Duke Kermit also smiled and bowed very gentlemanly to the beautiful lady who was known as the "Light of the Frontier".

"My father will host a banquet at the Black Palace tonight. Her Majesty the Queen and the Prince of Dragonstone will also be there. His Majesty the King needs to complete the wake and the vigil for the coronation ceremony, so he cannot be there. I wonder if we have the honor of inviting the nobles of the Riverlands."

"I'd love to, Princess." Kermit Tully agreed, but still said with a headache: "But I can't guarantee that Lord Darry and Lord Rostan will go to the Black Palace. As far as I know, they have accepted the invitation of Lord Stokeworth and Lord Rostan and will accompany His Majesty the King to keep watch."

"It's okay, it's our honor to have you here."

Serena smiled, lifted the hem of her skirt, and walked towards the gathering place of the nobles of the valley and the west.

Dagon Greyjoy looked at the boy in front of him with some surprise.

As a marginal force in the kingdom, the nobles of the Iron Islands are regarded as robbers and barbarians by all the mainland nobles, and they disdain to work with the "soft-footed shrimps" of the Green Land. But now it is clear that the two dragon king families rule the land, sky and sea. If the Iron Islands are not obedient, the sea and longships that once protected the Iron Islands in the Seven Kingdoms era will no longer protect them.

The dragon flame will destroy the palace of the Drowned God. Those guys who can only baptize believers with sea water have no way to stir up storms and tsunamis and summon sea monsters to resist the dragon as the legend says.

Therefore, including the "Red Sea Monster" King Dalton, the nobles of the Iron Islands have lived in fear in recent years. Even the pirates who most admired the ancient ways did not dare to propose going out to sea to plunder in recent years. Fortunately, the conquest of the Stepstones and the Disputed Lands, and the complete destruction of the war of the Three Daughters brought the Iron Islands a huge amount of wealth and abundant population.

Even though large-scale looting had stopped, the Iron Islands had lived quite comfortably in recent years thanks to trade and smelting. Even Dagon Greyjoy himself could wear gold and silver - at least his appearance was no worse than those inland nobles.

But in the eyes of the great nobles, they are still a group of clowns.

A bunch of bloody barbarians. So every time they gather to march to the Iron Throne, they always choose to make themselves less noticeable.

But this time, they were blocked by a tall and thin silver-haired boy.

As the coach of Dagun, Chief Harlo stepped forward naturally. He could recognize that the young man was most likely a member of the royal family, but he didn't know which one.

"Your Highness, what can I do for you?" Chief Harlo said cautiously, "The Iron Islands are a long way away, and our Chief Dalton is about to reach the end of his route. We need to return to the Iron Islands as soon as possible." "I am Igor Vareses." Igor did not hide his identity and said directly, "My grandfather will hold a banquet at the Black Palace tonight. Chief Dalton fought for the kingdom in the war. We have all seen the loyalty and bravery of the descendants of the Drowned God, so on behalf of my family, I invite you to the Black Palace. My grandfather will treat you with the most mellow liquor and the largest pieces of barbecue."

"You are Igor, the little scoundrel of Varese?" Dagun laughed and signaled Harlo that he could let him go. But Dagun's heart was ringing with alarm bells.

Igor's reputation was not very good. People who had come into contact with the heir of the Varese family said that although Igor looked polite, handsome and even a little like a girl, when everyone saw the three white spots on his lower face when he raised his eyes, they would immediately realize that this child was definitely not as handsome and gentle as he appeared.

This is a ruthless character.

Although Dagun himself had never met Igor and was not sure whether the rumor was true, it was enough to make him cautious.

"It is an honor that my nickname has reached the ears of the son of the sea monster." Igor smiled and replied: "Don't worry, I am only inviting you on behalf of my grandfather."

Dagun nodded "gratefully": "Your Highness Igor, please thank the great Prince Longzel for me. We will definitely attend on time."

Igor smiled and nodded, making way.

Red Fort.

Not every noble left the Red Keep.

Nobles from the conquered lands still remained in the Red Keep, as well as those who supported Aegon.

The nobles of the conquered lands were also divided into several factions. Some were alone, some were mixed with the nobles who supported Aegon, and some had already left and were preparing to go to the Black Palace for a banquet.

Lord Eustace Osgrey stood alone by the window, holding a glass of red wine in his hand, looking with some envy at the crowd that was laughing from time to time.

"Eustace, why are you here?" a familiar voice came.

"Wyman?" Earl Eustace looked at the fat man who was slowly approaching with some surprise. "Didn't you follow Lord Rowan and the others to the Black Palace for the banquet?"

"I'm worried about you." Weiman Webber muttered, "Why are you still alone?"

"I can't get into their circle," Eustace sighed.

Weiman Weber looked at his tall, handsome friend with some sadness: "So why didn't you go to the banquet hosted by His Highness Longzel? I remember Princess Serena also came to your place."

Earl Eustace smiled bitterly and shook his head: "Without the Red Lion and the Ball nodding, how can we guys bypass them and attend the Prince's banquet?"

He raised his head with a wry smile and sighed.

"I won back the land for my family, but lost the honor. Weber, do you think it's worth it?"

(End of this chapter)