Jeyne truly had no desire for the dwarf. After it was over, there was no tenderness at all. She put on her white priestess robe, resumed the appearance of a holy priestess, and left the bedroom with a cold expression.
"Damn it, Stannis ruined my grand plans!"
Who knew how much time passed before furious roars came from the study.
Both the bedroom and the study were temporary conversions of an underground cavern. There were no thick wooden doors, only cloth curtains hanging in their place. As a result, the dwarf, who was resting on the bed to recover his strength, was startled awake by the noise.
In the past, because of his persona as "Leo," an uneducated good-for-nothing, the dwarf tried not to interfere in Jeyne's work.
But the name "Stannis" was far too nerve-racking, and he could not help himself.
Supporting himself against the wall, his steps unsteady, he shuffled to the outside of the study and asked cautiously, "What happened? I've never seen you this angry."
"Something big really did happen. Stannis went back on his word and set up the Ragged Prince, and then—"
He had assumed Jeyne would tell him to get lost, but to his surprise, she actually answered. Taking advantage of the opening, he lifted the curtain and slipped inside.
"Sigh, so Aegon turned out to be Illyrio's son." She gave a bitter smile.
"What?"
That single sentence struck the dwarf like a bolt from the blue, leaving him utterly stunned.
He cried out in shock, yet Jeyne did not grow suspicious. After all, when she first heard the news, she had been just as shaken.
"Illyrio voluntarily made Aegon's identity public," Jeyne said. She did not hand the letter to the dwarf, but being far too agitated, she briefly explained the whole course of events.
"This is really…" The dwarf's mouth twitched, at a loss for words.
It was unbearably ironic. The truth had been known only to Varys and Illyrio. As long as they said nothing, even if others suspected it, there would be no proof. Yet Illyrio himself had exposed the secret.
After a long moment, he hesitated and asked, "How is that Aegon now?"
Behind the desk, Jeyne pressed a hand to her forehead and said irritably, "Why should I care if he lives or dies? Without the status of Daenerys's nephew, he's worth nothing."
Not only was he worthless, his life was also in danger. Stannis, the Dragon Queen, the Dornish Prince, and the nobles of the Vale and the Stormlands would not let him go.
And the North as well. He did not know how his young wife, Sansa, would react. With her pride, she probably would—
A flicker of concern flashed through the dwarf's single eye, but he did not pursue any more information about Aegon. Instead, he followed her line of thought and asked, "Even if Aegon isn't a fake, what use is he to us? Daenerys isn't foolish. She won't be blackmailed."
"How did you get here?" Jeyne asked.
"By ship. I ran into the Dragon Queen's raiding party in the straits and was captured—" At that point, the dwarf's heart skipped a beat.
Suddenly, he understood Jeyne's vicious intent.
But in the next instant, he naturally put on a dull, bewildered expression and asked in confusion, "After I was captured, my uncle ransomed me back. What about it?"
Jeyne's gaze remained fixed on the documents on the desk. She did not notice the dwarf's fleeting slip. She only sighed and said helplessly, "You were ransomed back. Then can Aegon be ransomed too? With Aegon's identity, Daenerys would certainly appear in person.
"After that, things would be simple. We would agree on the time and approximate place for the exchange. Once Daenerys's dragons landed on the ground, hmph…"
Just as I thought, the dwarf realized. This woman is ruthless. If the Dragon Queen were truly unguarded, she would probably fall straight into the trap.
Unfortunately, she could not possibly be unguarded.
If she were unguarded, would I have been allowed to come here?
Thinking this, he also voiced the question. "The White Knight and the Bloodriders can both represent Daenerys. There's no need for her to appear personally over something as small as ransoming a hostage."
"Heh, do you think that's all I have?" Jeyne sneered. "What were we doing earlier?
"If Aegon truly is her direct blood relative, and he has even been king, then using him as a medium to perform blood sorcery might not injure Daenerys, but it could cloud her mind and cause errors in judgment. Once she shows a flaw, hmph.
"Don't forget, Valyria rose to power through blood sorcery."
"Really? Cloud the mind?" The dwarf's mouth twitched a few times. "That sounds too fantastical."
"Humans are composed of flesh and soul. Since there are curses that target the body, why wouldn't there be curses that target the soul and the mind?
"In fact, curses aimed at the soul are the mainstream," Jeyne said calmly.
"That makes sense." The dwarf's interest was piqued, and he asked, "I've heard that there are shadowbinders in Asshai who use leeches filled with a king's blood to curse another king. But that other king, though he died, was killed by his enemies. Was that the effect of the curse, or just coincidence?"
"Do you believe in fate?" Jeyne asked instead of answering.
"I don't," the dwarf shook his head.
Jeyne sighed wistfully. "But fate truly exists. Without fate, where would prophecy come from? So-called prophecy is merely a glimpse of a corner of the river of fate.
"Everyone's fate converges in that river. No one has ever been able to change fate. If someone truly did change it, that would only mean the fate glimpsed earlier was false."
"If you put it that way, then fate really can't be changed," the dwarf said with a twitch of his mouth.
"You don't understand. I'm not playing word games," Jeyne shook her head.
Suddenly, she caught sight of a small beetle crawling across the desktop. Pointing at it, she asked, "I think you can surely guess its next fate."
The dwarf pondered and said, "Crushed to death by you, crushed to death by me, or ignored by us both. But here, you have the final say, so its fate lies in your hands."
"Not bad. You're not as stupid as everyone says," Jeyne said, giving him an appreciative look. "It has at least the three fates you mentioned. But once I notice it and decide to make a choice, its fate is fixed. There is only one."
With that, she gave the dwarf a playful smile, lowered her head, and stuck out her pink tongue. With a swift motion, she slipped the beetle into her mouth. Crunch, crunch. Yellow juices ran down the corner of her lips, but before they could drip, her tongue, smeared with black and green fragments of flesh, licked them away.
"Ugh—" The dwarf's face turned pale, and he felt like vomiting.
"Hehe," Jeyne laughed happily. "Uncultured, aren't you? That's a longhorn beetle. You can eat it raw."
"As long as you're happy," the dwarf muttered.
"Returning to the curse arts mentioned earlier, a king might be betrayed by his subordinates, killed by enemies, die in a riding accident, or, more likely, not die at all.Before a conscious life observes his fate, no one knows what his next fate will be.
In other words, his fate is uncertain.
When a conscious being observes the king's fate, that consciousness will see the fate it has chosen for the king.
Thus, the king's fate is foretold by that consciousness.
If that consciousness bears ill will toward the king, it may subconsciously choose a fate unfavorable to him.
Of course, such a prophecy is not necessarily accurate. It is very likely that what it sees is merely an illusion.
Once you understand this, it is not difficult to grasp how curses take effect.
Even if I cannot observe his fate directly, I can still offer power to the River of Fate and pray for the worst fate to befall the king.
If you yourself cannot reach the River of Fate, you can offer sacrifices to an evil god to obtain temporary power."
The dwarf frowned. "If that's the case, it's best not to ask anyone to prophesy for you, and not to have any contact with witches who understand curses."
"Correct. If you have no power, do not approach the extraordinary. If you yourself possess extraordinary power, curses are very difficult to take effect. Otherwise, I would have cursed that little bitch Daenerys to death long ago."
By the end, Jeyne's pretty face twisted, her eyes filled with venom and greed.
The dwarf said oddly, "Didn't you say before that you wanted to use Aegon to curse her?"
"Close blood ties have special effects."
"I don't want to be cursed, Jeyne. Can you teach me witchcraft?" the dwarf asked eagerly.
Jeyne looked him up and down, her gaze finally lingering at his waist and abdomen.
A trace of satisfaction flashed through her blue, watery eyes. She nodded and said, "After continuously refining your bloodline these days, you are more or less qualified to come into contact with Valyrian secret arts."
"Ah, you're really willing to teach me?" The dwarf was overjoyed.
"With Aegon gone, this battle will probably…" Jeyne closed the documents, sighed helplessly, and said, "Meereen happens to be built at the mouth of a great river, and the groundwater is far too abundant.
Three days ago, during the digging of tunnels beneath Meereen, five adult dragon worms drowned.
If we fight head-on, dragon worms are powerful, but they cannot fly.
Since that is the case, we must prepare for the worst. If something happens to me, you must live well."
Her unspoken meaning was clear: Balerion cannot be without an avatar. If I die, you will replace me and become the new High Priest of the Land of Long Summer.
"Jeyne!" The dwarf did not understand, so he was genuinely moved at this moment, his eyes turning red.
Jeyne beckoned to him. "Come here. I'll pass on the Great Sacrifice's legacy to you."
The dwarf took a few excited steps, went around the desk, and came to stand before Jeyne.
Suddenly, he reacted and asked doubtfully, "The Great Sacrifice legacy? Is that another way of referring to the Great Wizard's legacy?"
"What are you thinking?" Jeyne glared. Her large blue eyes were suddenly stained with a layer of blood-red. The flat, round pupils transformed into deep, multi-layered vertical pupils like those of a giant dragon.
In the next instant, the dwarf stood completely motionless. He could no longer see what was happening in the outside world as his consciousness entered a blood-red mental space.
This was not the first time he had encountered such a situation.On the night of his wedding chamber with Jeyne, when he faced the fully realized High Priestess and howled in an attempt to flee, Jeyne had used this move, "Demonic Dragon Gaze," to freeze him in place and do as she pleased.
In the real world, Jeyne pried open the dwarf's mouth, bent down (she was taller than him), opened her mouth, and retched.
She held the dwarf's head like a drunk woman clinging to a toilet bowl.
With a wet splatter, she vomited out a lump of sticky roundworms. No, those were larval dragon worms.
"What are you doing?" the dwarf howled in confusion within the dark-red consciousness space.
He could not see what was happening in reality, but his soul sensed the piercing pain transmitted from his body.
Riddled with holes.
"I'm helping you comprehend the legacy of the Great Sacrifice!"
"Not the Great Wizard?" The dwarf finally realized something was wrong.
"You are not qualified to become a Great Wizard. You can only become, like me, a Holy Sacrificial Priest of His Majesty Balerion."
"Like you?" The dwarf trembled.
"You should be grateful. It's only because the direct line of the Fourteen Flames has withered away now. Sigh, when I first met you, I didn't even think much of Daenerys!"
"Oh, no!" the dwarf wailed.
At the same time, a vast amount of information transformed into a silver stream and surged into the center of the dwarf's brow.
After understanding the true meaning of the Great Sacrifice, his cries became even more miserable.
(End of Chapter)
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