Barristan spoke slowly. "There was a leatherworker named Yerrol in the Blackwater Rush district who died five years ago. He had black hair and grey eyes, but he married a reformed Lysene prostitute with silver hair and blue eyes.
Around the time of Robert's Rebellion, his wife died during childbirth.
The leatherworker had two sons. The elder, who had black hair and blue eyes, died during the War of the Four Kings. The younger, with silver hair and blue eyes, inherited his father's trade and is now a leatherworker on Steel Street in King's Landing.
Bronn questioned the younger Yerrol in detail, but the boy didn't know he had a younger brother. He believed his brother died along with their mother."
Dany's eyes flickered. "Would you consider that a flaw in the story?"
"Your Grace, young Yerrol is only nineteen this year. He would've been two or three years old back then. It's very likely he was too young to remember," Barristan replied.
Dany nodded and asked again, "Was there any inquiry into witnesses like midwives or maesters?"
"It costs money to have a maester deliver a baby. The wives of commoners in King's Landing aren't as delicate as noblewomen. They give birth while working."
"Sigh, asking the Three-Eyed Crow would be the easiest solution, but I don't dare approach him now. Unless I cripple him and hold a blade to his throat, I wouldn't believe a word he says," Dany said with a sigh.
"Why are you always suspicious of Prince Aegon's identity?" Barristan asked, puzzled.
"Do you trust Varys?" Dany asked.
"—"
After a long silence, Barristan shook his head. "Both reason and reality tell me Varys cannot be trusted."
"It's strange," Dany said, her expression turning odd. "Almost everyone believes Varys is untrustworthy, yet you all choose to believe him."
"We don't trust Varys the man, but we trust the Spider's abilities and intelligence."
"Let's assume he's telling the truth then!"
Dany smiled cryptically. "One more nephew is just one more pair of chopsticks, one more bowl—I can afford that. But one more aunt like me, whom countless people wish to see dead but can't do anything about... little Aegon is in for a hard time."
Allies, Faceless Men, Lannisters, and other enemies would see Aegon as the Dragon Queen's fatal weakness.
Heh...
Maybe, with the 'Aegon Shield,' she could even bring back her "bargain-bin son."
"Uh..." The White Knight also thought of Aegon's future and couldn't help but grimace.
"By the way, Ser, do you still have any passion left?"
"Passion?" the old knight asked, confused.
"Your goddess, Ashara Dayne, isn't dead."
"What? Ashara's alive?" The old knight leapt to his feet, his expression overwhelmed with emotion.
Seeing his reaction, Dany unexpectedly felt a twinge of sympathy.
The truth was too cruel—Ser Barristan might not be able to bear it.
"She faked her death just like Jon Connington to escape public attention. She raised little Aegon in the Riverlands, near the Little Rhoyne."
Dany then recounted the entire story—how Ashara received a letter from Princess Elia, and how she later followed Connington to Astapor.
But near the end, her expression grew hesitant.
The old knight didn't notice Dany's expression. With teary eyes, he spoke with both joy and sorrow, "She's alive? That's wonderful. She's suffered so much over the years!"
Looks like the old knight was still hopelessly devoted...
Dany gritted her teeth and revealed the secret from the past.
"The child in Ashara's womb was a Stark bastard, but not Eddard Stark's—it was Brandon Stark's."
The old knight's face froze, the fond and sorrowful expression stiffening. After a pause, he asked uncertainly, "What did you say? Brandon Stark—Eddard's older brother?"
"Ashara was Brandon's lover for a time."
"But... but Brandon was already betrothed to Catelyn Tully! A sacred betrothal! Ashara knew that—everyone knew that," the White Knight said dazedly.
Before Dany could reply, his face suddenly changed, filled with shock and anger. "Did Brandon force her?"
"He would never do that. He was heir to the North and well-educated. Besides, Ashara's brother was the Sword of the Morning—everyone knew that," Dany replied, her eyes filled with a hint of pity.
The Wall was relatively close to Winterfell, and the Night's Watch had close ties with House Stark. So Maester Aemon knew a lot about the Starks—especially Brandon.
The last Young Wolf Lord was the very image of a noble-born rake.
He wasn't just lustful—he had a fetish for conquering untouched noble maidens.
He had a famous quote widely circulated in the North: "A bloodied sword is the most beautiful sword."
Many daughters of Northern noble houses had relations with him—some still remembered him fondly to this day.
It was just like when the Targaryens traveled through the Seven Kingdoms. Many noble families were eager to offer their daughters as lovers.
Likewise, when Brandon visited Northern lords as a guest, those lords were quite happy to see their daughters bedded by him.
To add, a noble lady who lost her virginity to a liege lord wouldn't be looked down upon.
In fact, it was almost seen as natural—even honorable.
For example, the Count of Riverrun, Lord Lyswell, once used his daughter Barbara to curry favor with House Stark.
Even after Brandon was betrothed to Catelyn Tully, Barbara was "warmly welcomed" by the neighboring Lord of Barrowton.
Another example—on the night of Stannis Baratheon's wedding, Robert took the handmaid Delena to bed.
Delena gave birth to a bastard, Edric Storm—known throughout the Seven Kingdoms.
Even so, Delena was later married without the slightest disgrace to the heir of House Nox.
In fact, Tywin Lannister himself fancied her and even proposed marriage between her and his son Tyrion.
But her father turned his nose up at the idea. "I'd rather send my daughter to the Silent Sisters than marry her to a half-man."
In Westeros, when women had no inheritance rights, their status was abysmally low.
To commoners, they were noble ladies, untouchable and highborn.
In the face of higher-ranking nobles, the only difference between them and brothel prostitutes was that they could marry into noble families—while prostitutes could not.
But back to the point.
Ashara Dayne, the brightest star of the Harrenhal Tourney, also stained Brandon's sword red.
This time, Brandon won her over purely with charm and ability. His Stark identity was of no help when it came to House Dayne.
"Why did Ashara fall for him?" Barristan asked, his eyes full of confusion and pain.
Clearly, he would have preferred it if Ashara's secret lover had been Eddard.
Unfortunately, like Barristan, Eddard was an honest man—a true gentleman.
Since ancient times, goddesses have loved scoundrels.
Honest men aren't even qualified to be the backup.
"Ser, the Long Night is coming. We should focus all our efforts on the great cause of saving the world!"
Daenerys's words were absurdly melodramatic, but somehow, they reignited the old knight's spirit.
He sighed, and the sorrow clouding his blue eyes cleared, replaced with resolve. Solemnly, he said, "You are right.
At your age, you should be enjoying the most beautiful time of love.
But instead, for the people of the Seven Kingdoms, for the freezing wildlings beyond the Wall, for the slaves suffering across the world, you've devoted your prime years to your mission.
I should learn from you and dedicate all my strength and devotion to your cause. The rest of my life will be the most glorious path a White Knight has ever walked."
Ah, the old knight is always so sincere!
Daenerys nodded calmly and asked, "Is Tobho Mott still refusing to reveal the secret method for reforging Valyrian steel?"
To boost and upgrade the dragon-glass weapon supply chain, during Cersei's walk of shame, Bronn led a group of men to abduct a large number of master smiths from the Street of Steel.
Among them, Tobho Mott had the finest craftsmanship. He had studied in Qohor and mastered two rare skills Daenerys deeply coveted: infusing color into metal and reforging Valyrian steel.
House Stark's greatsword, Ice, had been melted and reforged by Tobho into Joffrey's Widow's Wail and Brienne's Oathkeeper.
Even more impressive, he had infused the Valyrian steel with color.
It was highly likely that Daenerys's custom armor and weapons would be crafted by him.
Barristan temporarily set aside thoughts of Ashara and shifted into work mode, saying seriously:
"He has agreed to serve you and is willing to personally reforge Valyrian steel weapons for you, but he refuses to divulge the secrets of the Qohorik Smiths' Guild."
"Did you try beating it out of him?" Daenerys asked, frowning.
"Beat him?" The old knight widened his eyes. "Your Grace, Master Mott is a grandmaster smith, not a prisoner. Kidnapping him was already inappropriate—how could we resort to torture?"
"Didn't you hear? He's keeping secrets for Qohor, which has joined the United Nations and even forged dragon-killing crossbows for the Allied Forces. They're our enemy."
"This…"
Seeing how hesitant and indecisive the old knight was, Daenerys sighed. "Forget it. Hand him over to me. Let Drogon fly to Dragonstone and bring Tobho to Braavos.
If 'Demon's Tail' Hattar couldn't take down the Faceless Men, surely he can handle one blacksmith."
"Your Grace, I must remind you that grandmaster smiths hold very high status and are deeply respected by nobles around the world. If word gets out—"
"The Long Night is coming. Who's going to care about something so trivial?"
"You can just let him reforge your sword. Why insist on obtaining his secrets?" Barristan asked in confusion.
Daenerys replied helplessly, "I want a set of Valyrian steel armor that's both strong and light, but those dozens of swords aren't even enough to fight the White Walkers—how can I melt them down to make armor for myself?"
"I want to try reverse-engineering the technique for forging Valyrian steel using the magic involved in melting it down.
If it works, we'll all be clad in Valyrian steel armor and wielding Valyrian steel swords.
Forget the White Walkers—if hundreds of knights charged in with Valyrian steel armor, we could even cut down the Great Other and R'hllor together!"
Her cheeks flushed with excitement.
Before their conversation ended, Barristan told Daenerys one more thing.
"Your Grace, Drogon speaking shocked everyone. While the people of King's Landing were awed by the divine power of the dragon, they also wholeheartedly believed his words.
Only humans lie. As the High Defender of the Faith of the Seven, a holy dragon would never speak falsehoods—that's what everyone believes, and it's how the Sparrows are preaching it.
As a result, news that the High Sparrow is the Holy Son of Light of the Faith is spreading like wildfire across the Seven Kingdoms, greatly enhancing the church's prestige.
Every day, large numbers of landed knights, lords, and younger sons of noble houses flock to King's Landing. They don the Seven-Pointed Star cloaks, swear allegiance to the Seven, and become Warriors of the Faith.
Because of this, the High Sparrow's position in King's Landing continues to rise.
The church has not only obtained logging rights in the royal forest, but has recently seized one-third of the customs duties at Blackwater Bay.
The High Sparrow has also accepted your proposal and formally requested that the Iron Throne grant two new seats on the Small Council:
One for a septa, to educate noblewomen and regulate the behavior of noble ladies; the other for a septon, to represent the Seven and the High Septon in observing court affairs and correcting any decisions that contradict the doctrine of the Faith.
If the Iron Throne fails to act, it will eventually lose control over King's Landing."
"Wow, the High Sparrow actually took my advice. Nicely done!" Daenerys said with a cheerful smile.
"Nicely done?" Barristan raised his voice, clearly worried. "Do you think the Lannisters are going to give up their power so easily? Sooner or later, there will be a massive clash.
The church may seem strong now, but its foundation is still weak. Once the Lannisters pacify the Riverlands and redeploy their main forces to King's Landing, I fear the Great Sept will run red with blood."
"Cersei dares to make a move? Does she think Drogon, the High Defender of the Light, is just for show? Tell the High Sparrow not to worry—I'll have his back from Slaver's Bay."
(End of Chapter)
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