Three days after the Battle of Meereen, Dany ended the bombardment of New Ghis.
This was because the ravens had intercepted a letter from Jeyne to the New Ghis coalition: they were currently too weak to launch another raid on Slaver's Bay, but could still send wyverns to New Ghis to coordinate with ballistae and ambush the Wildfire General's bombing squad.
Before the Ghiscari received the letter, Dany had already withdrawn the Wildfire General and gathered all wyverns and reserve dragonriders to Astapor.
Since the enemy coalition was temporarily unable to assault Slaver's Bay, she could take advantage of this lull in the war to form her own wyvern knight corps.
Dany had captured a total of seven swamp dragons and eight shadow dragons. Tyrion, as the first pioneer, chose one swamp dragon as his partner, leaving fourteen dragons.
Which meant she needed at least fourteen wyvern knights.
Considering that more wyverns might be captured in the future, she also required reserve riders.
Thus, those who received the Paladin's Seal came into being.
At this point, the Paladin's Seal had only one effect: taming wyverns. This relied on the paladin's faith offered to the Seven, but required a minimum level of devotion.
To put it in data terms, only believers with a piety level higher than 2.0 could use Balerion's power to form a contract with a wyvern.
If their piety was lower than 2.0, the thread of faith could not withstand the Contract Seal transmitted by Balerion.
It was like a road sign at an intersection stating "30-ton weight limit." It meant that vehicles exceeding 30 tons could not pass, otherwise the road risked collapsing.
The Contract Seal required at least a piety level of 2.0 for the faith-thread to serve as its road.
And taming a wyvern required not only the contract rune but also divine power to activate it—let's say, 100 points of faith energy.
Channeling divine power through the conduit did not demand much piety, but Dany refused to suffer a loss.
Everyone knew that a losing business could not last long.
By her rules, a paladin had to pray to the Seven, offering Balerion 150 points of faith energy, in exchange for which he would grant them 100 points of divine power to cast miracles.
The remaining 50 points of faith energy, of course, was Balerion's profit.
For example, Garth Hightower, born in Oldtown and exceptionally devout, had a piety level of 25, far beyond the 2.0 minimum.
Each day, he could contribute "piety × 10 = 250" points of faith energy to the Seven's pool. With only half a day of prayer, he could gather 150 points of faith energy, and then receive 100 points of divine power from Balerion.
Thus, on the same morning he received the Paladin's Seal at the Great Sept, that evening he tamed a wyvern.
Clinton, however, had only 1.6 piety at first. He had volunteered long ago to become a wyvern knight, even offering to seek out wyvern nests on the continent of Sothoryos. Still, Dany kept him fasting and praying in the Great Sept for more than half a month—reading the Seven-Pointed Bible and related scriptures (compiled by the Dragon Queen herself).
Only in the past two days had he barely passed the threshold, raising his piety to the minimum 2.0.
At 2.0 piety, daily prayer yielded "2.0 × 10 = 20" points of faith energy. He would need at least another week of prayer before qualifying, unless the Dragon Queen opened a back door for him—letting Balerion take a loss, like selling at a discount?
Jorah Mormont's case was even more awkward.
He had once worshiped the Old Gods, and after converting to the Seven, his piety was only 0.3, making him a shallow believer. Even if Dany wanted to open a back door for her white knight, she could not.
That same night, Garth Hightower chose a shadow dragon.
The next afternoon, Aerion Celtigar, with a piety level of 18, successfully bonded with a swamp dragon.
During this period, a small incident occurred.
Aerion originally intended to choose the old dragon that belonged to Benerro, fifty meters long, its size several times larger than Balerion, able to carry over two tons!
Balerion, as the so-called "God of Blacksmiths," had a maximum load of only 1,500 jin, not even one ton.
Even if wyverns had no magic, and their bodily strength was inferior to true dragons, reaching only about two thousand meters in altitude,
a two-ton boulder dropped from the sky could still flatten an ordinary castle.
Therefore, that mottled green swamp dragon caught Aegon's eye.
Aegon guarded it closely all day. When Aerion approached, he quickly said, "Ser Aerion, please choose another wyvern. I've already claimed this old one."
"Your Highness, you don't want Balerion anymore?" Aerion held back his anger, his words edged with mockery.
In fact, Garth had also wanted to choose the old dragon that day, but Aegon had stopped him.
"I need a backup. This old wyvern is my spare," Aegon declared confidently.
He knew this offended others, so he tried to soften it with a smile: "Ser, why not choose a shadow dragon? They're fast enough to nearly match a dragon's speed.
They can also fly in silence, stalk prey, and see at night—what my aunt calls infrared vision."
In the end, Aerion chose a swamp dragon.
Yes, the one painted black as an imitation Balerion.
Large, strong, thirty meters long already, and with the potential to grow to fifty meters in time. It had promise.
With both Garth and Aerion successfully taming wyverns, the remaining paladins were even more stirred up.
They practically stopped eating, drinking, and resting, staying in the wyvern roost, sitting across from the beasts and praying silently to the Seven.
They were imitating Saint Baelor, the High Sparrow, and other arch-septs in their fasting prayers.
Another day passed, and Quentyn Martell leapt three feet high in joy. "I can feel it! The Paladin's Seal in my mind has been activated. I can choose a wyvern!"
Everyone around him looked on with envy, jealousy, and resentment.
Even Quentyn's companions, the blond youth and the bald man, began to stir with desire.
"Quentyn, do you think I could become a paladin too? I believe in the Seven as well!" the blond youth asked, eyes shining.
"I'll ask the Dragon Queen for you."
"That's fine, but only if you swear formal fealty to me," Dany replied.
And so, the two allies "borrowed" from Dorne became officially registered squires under Dany's banner.
However, Dany did not allow the paladins to linger in the wyvern roost indefinitely. Jon, Lyra, and the other knights with official posts had to end their "leave" and return to their duties.
Take Jon Bolton, for example. He had just returned from Lhazar with no fewer than five thousand shepherd families. He was now busy building a city and reclaiming farmland in the White River valley. His tasks were overwhelming, so how could he possibly remain in Astapor for long?
Besides, prayers did not have to be performed at the Dragon's Nest. One could activate the mark at home and then come to the Dragon's Nest to choose a wyvern.
After sending the knights away on wyverns, the White Knight Jorah and the horselord Qholo went together to find Daenerys, who was still deep in secluded cultivation.
She had recently been getting used to the surge of magic that had grown tenfold after absorbing Beni's essence along with three-quarters of the ancient red dragon's spiritual power.
Beni had given her twice the magic, while the rest came entirely from the demigod red dragon.
Even the Nine-Colored Vortex had undergone some change. She felt as if she was already brushing against the threshold of becoming a demigod.
"Your Grace, how long will it take before I can activate the mark?" Jorah asked anxiously.
"Khaleesi, I've never believed in the Seven, but I also want to become a wyvern rider! And your blood of my blood—those who haven't yet received your summons—have all sent letters asking me to petition you," said Qholo.
"This…" Daenerys hesitated, unsure how to respond.
The method of bonding with wyverns had been learned from Balerion. There were only two paths: bloodline or faith.
Either one shared a bloodline close to Balerion, or one believed in him.
Having both worked best.
For Daenerys, it was the same.
Either by blood relation—like Tyrion—or through the thread of faith: belief in the Black One. (Once Daenerys became a demigod, faith in her would also count.)
"I'll tell you a little secret, but you must keep it to yourselves. Not a word to anyone else." Daenerys pulled them into the study, shut the door, and spoke softly.
"We'll keep it secret," the two promised solemnly, thumping their chests.
"The Black One is a demigod, as well as the High Guardian of the Seven. You both know this, don't you?" Daenerys asked.
"What does that have to do with the Seven?" Jorah wondered aloud.
"Faith in the Black One also earns the favor of the Seven."
"Why?" Qholo was baffled.
"The Seven are like khals, and the Black One is a ko beneath them. Just as I am Khaleesi, and Qholo, you are a ko. You command hundreds of khas. Do your khas not ultimately serve me?" Daenerys explained.
In the past, such words would not have been accurate.
While Daenerys lived, Qholo swore loyalty to her, and his khas served under her command. But they had no oath of true fealty. If she died, Qholo and his khas would certainly leave the khalasar, and perhaps, to prevent future threats, even kill her heirs—just as Ko Bono and Ko Jaco had done three years earlier in Drogo's khalasar.
But after years of Daenerys's reforms, her khalasar was no longer like those roaming the Dothraki Sea.
Even if she died, her kos and khas would resolutely support her heirs as the new khal.
This had become the law and moral order of the horselords, recorded on the very first page of The Horselords' Codex.
The Codex had appeared even earlier than the Slave Bay Codex, and its rules had long since become "common knowledge."
In short, Daenerys's original dream—to build her golden dynasty—was already halfway realized.
Once she conquered the Dothraki Sea, she would be like Genghis Khan.
"So that's it. By believing in the Black One as a ko, I am at the same time offering my faith to the Seven as khal." Qholo suddenly understood.
A thought stirred in him—since the title of khal had evolved from ko, perhaps one day the Black One could replace the Seven as khal, becoming the Black Khal himself!
When the horselord departed in high spirits, the White Knight hesitated and muttered, "Your Grace, I saw the Black One born and grow up. I can't bring myself to believe in him as a god."
The horselords had always considered the Black One to be the prophesied "steed who mounts the world."
In the Horselords' Codex, the Black One had even been sanctified—marriages and funerals alike had to be conducted under his witness.
When he could not be present, a wooden carving of him would be used in his place.
Do you remember the day Daenerys first arrived at Slaver's Bay? On the ship, when she arranged a wedding for the horselords, who was it that wrote the marriage contract for the old horselord Afanti?
It was the Black One.
And to whom did the marrying horselords bow?
To the Black One and to Mother Mountain, the sacred site of the horselords.
From that day on, the Black One had already become their unspoken god.
So, winning horselord faith in the Black One was simple.
In fact, many had already begun to worship both the Black One and Daenerys of their own accord.
It was only that the Black One had no doctrine, nor any organized clergy to channel that faith.
Unlike the Faith of the Seven, which had the Holy Book of the Seven to expound its teachings.
But Jorah was different. He had never seen the Black One as an object of faith.
That shortcut was not open to him.
Yes—the key to activating the paladin's mark lay in establishing a channel of faith with the Black One. Whether one believed in the Seven or in the Black One made no difference.
The Seven were the Black One.
But the Old Gods were not.
"All right, there's one last way. You only need to study the teachings of the 'Smith' and pray exclusively to him. If that doesn't work, then there really is nothing more to be done," Daenerys said helplessly.
"Why the Smith? I prefer the Warrior," Jorah asked in confusion.
"The Smith happens to be less busy lately, and has the leisure to answer prayers from someone like you, who lacks true devotion," Daenerys replied flatly.
(End of chapter)
Want to read the chapters in Advance? Join my Patreon
https://patreon.com/Glimmer09