[Outside King's Landing]
Grey Worm and the Unsullied stood in formation in front of King's Landing. Jaime and the Lannister forces survey them from atop the rampart. Bronn walked the length of the rampart, overseeing the men.
In the courtyard, the soldiers worked, boiling pitch, filling barrels and rolling them up to the defensive wall.
"Oil?" Bronn asked.
"Pitch, my lord." One of the soldiers responded.
"How many barrels?"
"Five hundred, my lord."
"Get five hundred more."
"Yes, my lord."
The soldier exited and Bronn walked along the wall to Jaime.
"I still enjoy it when they call me "my lord." Bronn remarked.
"The thrill will fade."
"If we live that long. Men without cocks. You wouldn't find me fighting in an army if I had no cock. What's left to fight for?"
"Gold?"
"I spent my lif around soldiers. What do you think they spend that gold on?"
"Family."
"Not without a cock, you don't."
"Maybe it really is all cocks in the end."
"Yet your brother chooses to side with the cockless."
"Yes, he's always been a champion of the downtrodden."
A trumpet blared. Men howled and whooped in the distance, accompanied by thundering hoofbeats. The Dothraki crested the hill behind the disciplined unsullied army. They were savage and shrieking. They rode through and past the Unsullied.
"I think we're about to be the downtrodden." Bronn said.
Men began giving orders around them.
"Archers, stand tall!
"Cover that wall!"
On the sea outside of King's Landing, an Ironborn fleet rested next to the castle. More Ironborn ships approached.
[Deck of Ironborn Ship]
Tyrion, Theon and Varys stood on deck, looking to the distance as their ship sailed in. Tyrion joined Jon, Jorah, Missandei and Jorah on the foredeck.
"How many people live here?" Jon asked.
"A million, give or take." Tyrion responded.
"That's more people than the entire North crammed into that. Why would anyone want to live that way?"
"There's more work in the city. And the brothels are far superior."
Below deck, Sandor descended a staircase into a dark hold, bearing a lantern. He advanced carefully and stopped at a crate. He gave it one knock, and the Wight screeched in a frenzy, shaking his crate prison. Satisfied that the Wight was still alive, Sandor turned and exited.
[King's Landing - Royal Chamber]
Cersei, Qyburn and Jaime stood in a royal chamber.
"Why isn't she with them?" Cersei asked.
"I'm afraid I don't know, Your Grace. No one has seen her." Qyburn replied.
"And the rest of them?"
"They're on their way to the dragon pit now."
"Including our brother."
"Yes, Your Grace."
"Was my daughter there?"
"No, Your Grace. Princess Aelinor has not been seen, and Dorne has not answered the summons, so I doubt Princess Myrcella will make an appearance."
Cersei and Jaime walked into the adjacent room, where The Mountain stood.
"If anything goes wrong, kill the silver-haired bitch first, then our brother, then the bastard who calls himself Warden of the North. The rest of them you can kill in any order you see fit. Come, Ser Gregor, it's time for us to meet our guests." Cersei told him.
Cersei exited, followed by The Mountain, Qyburn and Jaime.
[Outside King's Landing]
Jon, Tyrion, Jorah, Missandei and Davos walked ahead of their Dothraki guards. Varys, Theon and Sandor were further back.
"Why did they build it?" Missandei asked.
"Dragons don't understand the difference between what is theirs and what isn't. Land, livestock, children... Letting them roam free around a city was a problem." Jorah remarked.
"I imagine it was a sad joke at the end. An entire arena for a few sickly creatures smaller than dogs. But in the beginning, when it was home to Balerion the Dread, it must have been the most dangerous place in the world." Tyrion added.
Lannister guards approached, led by Bronn and accompanied by Brienne and Podrick.
"Maybe it still is." Davos said
"Welcome, my lords. Your friends arrived before you did." Bronn informed them.
The Dothraki, led by Qhono, looked suspicious. Brienne and Sandor exchanged a look.
"I've been sent to escort you all to the meeting."
The Lannister guards part, clearing the path.
YOU ARE READING
Silver Stag
أدب الهواةAelinor Baratheon stands out in her family. She doesn't have the golden hair and green eyes of her mother and younger siblings. Nor does she have black hair and blue eyes of her Baratheon father. Much to her father's disdain, she inherited her grea...
