While keeping watch on the Grand Sparrow, Dany unexpectedly sensed the prayers of the hard-footed man, Larry, and then confirmed the secret of "Divine Whisper" through the Spearwife. It was both a surprise and a delight to her.
Afterward, she experimented a few more times and discovered that will distortion was only related to the Song of Wind and the spirit-infusing process.
Even without being in dragon-soul resonance with Drogon, and even without divine power or faith, as long as she entered the Song of Wind state, Dany could locate Larry's position from thousands of miles away.
Through the gentle wind, she could instantly relay commands to the Spearwife.
However, the cost in magic and spiritual energy was ten times higher, while the effectiveness was ten times lower.
Larry's prayer served as a signal—a reminder to Dany: You still have a "puppet" out there.
If, on the day she repaired Larry's soul through spirit infusion, she had activated the hidden mental imprint, there would've been no need to wait until now. Simply entering the Song of Wind would have been enough to influence Larry's will.
At first, Dany was thrilled that she had also learned the Three-Eyed Crow's "Whispers of the Evil God," but she didn't quite understand the principle behind it.
Well, her "Whispers of the Evil God" were clearly different from the Three-Eyed Crow's.
At the very least, the Three-Eyed Crow didn't need to perform spirit infusion, nor did he give others infused spirits.
So Dany ran a few more experiments, using spies among the Stone Men allies she had deployed.
A real dragon's roar tore into their soulspace, forcibly infusing spirit, and then she entered the Song of Wind state to issue a command to distort their will.
And the result?
There was some effect, but nowhere near as good as with Larry.
Almost all the test subjects whose soulspaces had been forcibly invaded could sense Dany's voice. They clutched their heads and wailed things like, "Witch, get out!", "Demon, I won't obey you!", and "No, Dragon Queen, let me go!"
Under normal circumstances, the target shouldn't be able to hear her voice—much less know what her commands were.
For example, Dany couldn't hear the Three-Eyed Crow's voice when not in dragon-soul state; Larry couldn't hear Dany's voice; and Quaithe couldn't sense the voice of the evil god in the crypts.
This made it clear to Dany that forcibly invading someone's consciousness wouldn't work.
So next, she enlisted a few Unsullied volunteers.
With their willing cooperation, Dany entered their mindspace to perform spirit infusion.
Still not effective.
The Unsullied indeed couldn't perceive the Dragon Queen's voice anymore, but her commands had virtually no impact.
For example, during lunch, when given the choice of noodles, bread, or rice, Dany told someone who normally disliked noodles to choose noodles. Almost every time, it failed.
From this, Dany concluded that small amounts of spirit infusion had no effect.
But this raised a problem: the souls of all normal adults were essentially saturated.
Otherwise, the Dragon Queen could just keep topping up her own soul with spirit essence. Even if she couldn't become a true god, she'd be a humanoid dragon with infinite magic.
Then, Dany suddenly recalled the different classifications of soul essence used by the Necromantic Society of Yi Ti: Type A Will Essence and Type B Vitality Essence.
When Dany infused someone with spirit, no matter what mark the original essence bore, it would be "formatted"—cleansed into a new, completely blank, ownerless essence.
Here, "blank" meant the personal imprint was erased, though its original properties remained.
For example, when the Three-Eyed Crow's soul was burned and Dany absorbed his essence via spirit infusion, the new essence no longer bore his mark but still retained the traits of a green seer.
Similarly, if it was originally Type A essence, it would become a "clean" Type A essence after infusion.
Well, "clean" from Dany's perspective.
In theory, she couldn't directly infuse this essence into other humans.
She could only draw the essence into her own soul.
So, when infusing others, she used a clever trick: her soul would temporarily reside in the target's mindspace. When the essence entered, her soul wouldn't absorb it.
This allowed the foreign essence to linger in the other's mindspace and be absorbed by their soul as nourishment.
In other words, the essence already bore traces of Dany's imprint upon entering the mindspace—it wasn't entirely "clean."
And that made "Dragon Queen's Whisper" possible.
In summary, Dany's whispers required two conditions: the target must voluntarily accept her mental imprint, and she must infuse as much Type A Will Essence into them as possible.
The more Type A essence given, the stronger the effect of the whispers.
She could get Larry to change the menu in a short time, but getting Jaqen to fall in love with grilled sausage and chives—something he once hated—within a month was almost impossible.
The limitations were huge, completely incomparable to the detached, ethereal nature of the Three-Eyed Crow's whispers.
But Dany's whispers had one key advantage: they weren't confined to the continent of Westeros.
After refining this ability, poor Jaqen became her first victim.
Dany could only make him choose options he was already hesitating over—options that benefited her. She absolutely couldn't make him act against his true desires, or he'd sense something was off.
For example, she couldn't make him surrender to her—or eat excrement.
Even the Three-Eyed Crow had such limits. He clearly wanted Dany's dragon but still urged her not to leave Westeros.
He had to use indirect means to make Dany hatch dragons in Westeros so he could control the hatchlings, rather than outright saying, "Give Drogon to Jon."
A soul projection could only perform magic when close to its physical body. The closer the distance, the stronger the effect.
Therefore, in order to infuse Jaqen, Dany personally flew to Queen's Crown by the Narrow Sea.
But this trip wasn't just about sending warmth to her dear son.
She also needed to go to Dragonstone.
With the help of Hightower's three million gold dragons, they had purchased 200,000 tons of grain from Myr and Pentos. After a month, the supplies were delivered in two batches: 100,000 tons each to Dragonstone and Crab Isle.
Crab the Elder had gone to Slaver's Bay to become a fleet commander, so Crab the Younger took on the mission of delivering the grain to Lady Springtown.
This was Dany's promise to Septon Meribald.
If she said she'd deliver grain to aid the Riverlands refugees, then she was going to do it.
Year 299 After Aegon's Landing, December 16th, early morning.
Thick gray-white fog, like massive cotton candy, shrouded the obsidian Dragonstone and the surrounding deep-blue sea.
"Screee—!"
Suddenly, a loud dragon's cry echoed across the island.
The black dragon's massive wings stirred up a fierce wind. The mist around the top of the Dragonmont scattered like startled deer, revealing the broad face of the black stone platform.
"Dragon Queen has arrived!" shouted the guard on duty at the top of the tower.
The morning after fitting her dear son Jaquen with the "Mother of Dragons Field Guide," Dany arrived at Dragonstone.
Soon after, Bronn and the Old Crab arrived together.
"You flew here overnight—would you like to rest first?" asked the Old Crab.
"No need. Call Maester Marwyn too. Let's have breakfast together," said Dany.
On the way downstairs, Dany asked somewhat urgently, "How did the High Sparrow respond?"
"There was no reply," said the Old Crab.
"Is he still fasting and praying?"
"No, he's not doing any retreat or fasting. This past week, the High Sparrow has been giving speeches daily from the preaching platform. Very active, very busy," said Bronn.
"You mean he's brushing me off?" Dany said, her expression darkening.
"It's more like a subtle refusal," said the Old Crab.
Then he slowly explained, "Thanks to Ser Kevan's efforts, the unrest across the Seven Kingdoms has been quelled. The Lannister troops stationed in the Riverlands have also been recalled to King's Landing in batches.
"The pressure on the High Sparrow is mounting. He has no energy left to consider rewriting doctrine.
"Changing the doctrine is a major matter for the Faith. It requires careful deliberation.
"But doctrinal reform does nothing to resolve the Church's current predicament. On the contrary, it would give other archbishops—who are already dissatisfied with the High Sparrow—an excuse to denounce him."
Once inside the hall, Dany unhesitatingly took the seat of honor, with Bronn and the Old Crab seated to her left and right.
Before long, the bull-necked Maester Marwyn and Maester Pyllos arrived as well.
Pyllos was the original maester assigned to Dragonstone—a polite, diligent, and hardworking young man of twenty-six.
In Westeros, every noble's castle had a maester appointed to serve that noble house.
The higher the rank of nobility, the better the quality of the maester assigned by the Citadel.
There was no doubt—being assigned to Dragonstone meant Pyllos was among the most outstanding maesters of his generation.
He originally served Stannis, and after the Baratheon brothers marched beyond the Wall, he worked for the Lannisters. Just a month later, he once again became the Dragon Queen's maester.
Dany didn't make things difficult for the young man and let him continue managing the ravens as he had before.
Breakfast was simple: roasted bread with a rich wheat aroma, boiled goose eggs, pan-fried eel segments with onions and bacon, grilled sausage, oatmeal porridge, stewed plums, and sour wine.
"The Faith is under a lot of pressure?" Dany asked dryly after swallowing half a goose egg yolk.
Bronn and the Old Crab exchanged glances before the more politically savvy Old Crab began to explain.
"Your Grace, aside from Cersei, no one is foolish. Any great noble or royal with a shred of sense is unhappy with the unchecked expansion of the Faith's power.
"Otherwise, the Faith Militant wouldn't have been disbanded back in the day. At that time, King Maegor I was already dead, yet the Faith still failed to win.
"That's because the great lords, whether openly or secretly, all stood with the Iron Throne.
"The King rules from King's Landing. The Seven Dukes rule their respective realms. Each earl and marquis is a king in his own domain.
"When the Faith encroaches upon the Iron Throne's authority, it also threatens the rights of dukes, marquises, and earls.
"The Black Dragon declared himself Defender of the Faith and named the High Sparrow as the Chosen of Light, which did raise the Church's influence among the smallfolk and lesser lords.
"But the great lords only grew more wary of the High Sparrow.
"In Westeros, real power and the right to speak always lie with the great noble houses."
"Sigh… How can I help him, then?" Dany asked with a sigh as she bit into a sausage.
The Old Crab's face twisted.
He had explained everything so clearly.
Except for that idiot Cersei, every noble ought to understand that the expansion of the Faith's power must be curbed.
How could Her Majesty the Queen not get it?
Had she forgotten King Maegor I? Or was she possessed by Saint Baelor?
But even Saint Baelor didn't support the Faith having armed forces!
"Your Grace, you may not care for the Iron Throne, but your descendants may still have a chance to sit on it. One way or another, the Targaryens remain among the highest-ranking nobles in Westeros. A realm ruled by the Church would inevitably harm your house," the Old Crab urged.
Dany shrugged. "The High Sparrow is already in his sixties—how many years does he have left? Once he dies, all the steam will go out of the Church. And if it doesn't, I'll make sure it does."
She had never seriously considered establishing a theocracy—unless the king of that realm was her enemy. Give the worst things to your enemies—that's the best policy.
"Your Grace, not helping the Church is the greatest help you could give it," Maester Pyllos said sternly.
"How so?"
"The person the Iron Throne fears most is always you. If you support the Church, the Regent will believe you're using it to interfere with the rule of the Iron Throne.
"But right now, the Regent doesn't dare act against Dragonstone. So he'll redirect all his fear and resentment toward the Church and crack down even harder."
"Uh…" Dany paused, stunned.
On second thought—wasn't that exactly the case?
(End of Chapter)
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