When Lynd left, he promised Nymeria to meet Daenerys, which was a warm-up for Nymeria's upcoming meeting with Daenerys, and interestingly, they decided to set the meeting place at the Miracle Fleet base outside Valyria, protected by the Miracle Fleet throughout.
For this, he also took a handwritten letter from Nymeria, although he did not know the specific content of the letter, he thought it should be words to deepen their relationship.
After Lynd left Na Sa Star, he did not immediately go to Qarth, but flew towards Valyria, he was going to let Lava Dragon Nessario and Deltos switch shifts, with Nessario guarding Valyria, and Deltos going with him to Asshai.
Although in terms of the strength of dragons alone, Nessario was definitely top-tier even during the Valyrian Freehold, Deltos was a magic dragon that had mastered powerful magical power, and even Lynd could not know how strong its magical power was, and Styria was a treacherous place, the power of dragons was not necessarily useful, only the power of magic could control the situation, so among the three dragons, Deltos could give him the greatest help.
It's unknown if it was because of the precious metal solution that Na Sa Star's dragon servants fed Nessario, or because it knew it could go home and live for a while, but Nessario was very excited, and its flight speed was much faster than usual, reaching Valyria in just over an hour.
Sensing Lynd, Deltos also flew out of Valyria, met Lynd in the air, and then flew out of Valyria together, flying into the Miracle Fleet base outside Valyria.
After several transformations, although Deltos's body size was still a circle smaller than Nessario's, when it spread its two pairs of wings, it looked much larger than Nessario as a whole, and as the magic power in its body continued to accumulate and increase, four different magic Sparks occasionally appeared on its wings, looking more mysterious than Nessario.
While changing the dragon saddles for Nessario and Deltos, Lynd learned about the base's construction and fleet patrol status from the base Commander, and also learned about their research progress on Valyria from the mages at the research base.
Because everything had just begun, everything was still in its initial state, but the number of treasure hunters, adventurers, and mercenaries who gathered smelling the treasure was unexpectedly large.
For this, the base Commander suggested whether a small town could be built on a small island next to the base, specifically to receive these people who wanted to enter Valyria, so as to prevent these people from drifting around the Smoke Sea in small boats, causing trouble for the normal patrol of the Miracle Fleet.
Lynd considered this suggestion and thought it was feasible, so he directly wrote an order and sent it back to Summerhall with the base's carrier pigeon, so that Summerhall could dispatch supplies and personnel to build the town here.
Lynd only stayed here for a short time, and then rode Deltos out of the base, and at the same time Lynd left, Lava Dragon Nessario also flew back to its nest in the Smoke Sea.
The treasure hunters lingering around the Smoke Sea naturally saw this scene, and they all guessed that Lynd's previous dragon could not guard the treasures in Valyria, so he replaced it with a more ferocious dragon to guard the treasures.
However, many people felt that the opportunity to enter Valyria for treasure hunting had come, because in the past, Deltos had always stayed in Valyria, which made those treasure hunters feel that it was very difficult to search for treasure under the dragon's supervision, so they had been lingering outside the Smoke Sea, not daring to approach Valyria.
But now they felt the opportunity had come, because Nessario's nest was in the active volcano on the outskirts of the Smoke Sea, and many people saw Nessario flying to its nest, and they all realized that Valyria was unguarded by a dragon at this moment, their chance had come, so one small boat after another, filled with piles of treasure hunters, plunged into the smoke-filled Smoke Sea, heading towards Valyria.
Some of these people will get lost in the Smoke Sea, unable to escape the range of the poisonous smoke in time, dying of poisoning, or being unlucky enough to encounter sea monsters living in the Smoke Sea and becoming their meal, while another lucky part will be able to land on Valyria, find the way to enter Valyria and enter it.
And most of those who entered Valyria were targeted by the mutated creatures hidden in Valyria or the strange objects from the black stone, attacked or parasitized, and remained in Valyria forever, and only a very small part could find treasures and escape, and finally only three or four people could be lucky enough to get out of the Smoke Sea again.
Logically speaking, such heavy casualties should be enough to scare away any treasure hunters and adventurers, but if the few lucky ones who escaped the Smoke Sea found a large amount of treasure and became rich overnight, plus their description of Valyria being full of treasures, then the situation would be different.
Thus, treasure hunters and adventurers who were originally watching in Volantis, Tolos, Slavers Bay, and other places, drove their already prepared small boats towards Valyria, taking advantage of Nessario's return to its nest to eat and rest, and broke into the Smoke Sea, never to return.
In Qarth, a trial of loyalty was underway, and there were two people being tried, one was Jorah Mormont, whom Daenerys regarded as her confidant, and the other was Barristan the Bold, who had just saved Daenerys's life from the Sorry men not long ago.
"You ultimately betrayed my brother Prince Rhaegar and defected to the usurper Robert Baratheon. You have betrayed once. How can you expect me to believe that you will still be loyal to me now?" Daenerys said with a gloomy face, looking at Barristan the Bold, and pointing to Jorah Mormont, who was kneeling beside her with his head down, "Instead of monitoring me for the usurper like him, waiting for a day when it's needed to pull out a dagger and stab me in the heart from behind?"
"Khaleesi, please believe me, I never thought of hurting you. From the moment I saw you, I had already abandoned all my missions, I..." Jorah Mormont argued for himself with extreme humility.
"Enough! Your matter will be discussed later. I am now trying Ser Barristan." Daenerys glared at Jorah Mormont, interrupting his defense, and turned to look at the white-haired Barristan, saying, "I want to hear how you defend yourself, Barristan the Bold!"
"I cannot make any defense, Your Majesty." Barristan said with sadness in his eyes, "If I had died in the Trident River back then, perhaps I would not have the current troubles. However, I betrayed my chivalry and survived until today, which caused me to be humiliated in the Red Keep hall in King's Landing. I cannot ask for your trust and forgiveness, I only hope to join your army, and in the subsequent wars, let me lead the charge and die on the battlefield like a true knight, this would be your greatest mercy to an old man like me."
Daenerys stared at Barristan, as if considering whether to believe the old man's words, and after a long while, she turned to Arianne Martell, the Princess of Dorne, and asked, "Arianne, do you think I should believe him?"
"Sorry, Your Majesty, this kind of thing can only be judged by yourself, I cannot give you any opinions." Years of experience in Sunspear had made Arianne shed the arrogance and pride of her youth, and she had become much more reserved, the only difference being that her eyes were still full of ambition.
Through her identity as the Princess of Dorne and her extraordinary political skills, Arianne quickly gained Daenerys's trust and secured a place among Daenerys's close retainers, but she also knew very well that what she should do most at this moment was not to casually offer her opinions, but to quietly observe and understand the distribution of power around Daenerys, and look for opportunities to gain more power.
Seeing that Arianne did not give an opinion, she turned to Prince Quentyn, who was at the foot of the steps, and said, "Prince Quentyn, what about you? Can you tell me if Barristan is still worthy of my trust?"
Prince Quentyn arrived in Qarth almost at the same time as Princess Arianne, however, compared to Princess Arianne who quickly gained Daenerys's trust and began to assist Daenerys in handling the affairs of Qarth, Prince Quentyn was more like a guest, and the difference in their relationship could be seen from the different ways Daenerys addressed them.
This was not because Prince Quentyn was not capable, in fact, under the careful cultivation of Doran Martell, Prince Quentyn was outstanding in both combat and political abilities. In governing Sunspear, he was able to contend with Princess Arianne, which showed how excellent his abilities were.
However, even though he also displayed his talents and abilities in front of Daenerys, Prince Quentyn never gained Daenerys's trust at all. This was entirely because he made a big mistake at the beginning. He disregarded the actual situation and completely followed Doran Martell's instructions, proposing marriage to Daenerys the first time he met her, and even using Dorne's support as a condition for the proposal, which gave a sense of threat.
It should be known that not long ago, the Thirteen of Qarth, together with the Warlock of the House of the Undying, used marriage as a condition to trick her into the House of the Undying, attempting to seize her three dragons, but they were burned to ashes by dragonfire.
Now Prince Quentyn proposed marriage to her again, using marriage as a condition to gain Dorne's support, which immediately reminded Daenerys of what had happened before, and naturally she would not show any goodwill towards Prince Quentyn.
Her idea was to drive Prince Quentyn away, but Prince Quentyn was, after all, an envoy from Dorne, and possessed certain talents that could help her strategize, plus there was also the relationship with Arianne, so she still allowed Prince Quentyn to stay in Qarth, and also allowed him to participate in some less important matters, such as the current trial against Jorah Mormont and Barristan.
Unlike Arianne, Prince Quentyn wanted to show himself in front of Daenerys, so he had been wanting to express his opinion since just now, but he never had the chance. Now that Daenerys actively asked him, it just allowed him to express his opinion.
"I have heard of Barristan the Bold since I was very young, both my father Doran Martell and my uncle Prince Oberyn, they all praised Lord Barristan immensely, believing him to be the most deserving of the title of knight among all knights at that time." Prince Quentyn stood up, puffed out his chest, making himself look extremely confident, and said, "My father also mentioned Lord Barristan's surrender to Robert Baratheon back then, and he believed that Ser Barristan was impeccable in this matter, because Ser Barristan only surrendered after King Aerys had died and King's Landing had been captured. He did not break his promise. Therefore, I believe Lord Barristan is a true knight, a knight who keeps his promises and is loyal to his liege."
"It seems you really admire Ser Barristan." Daenerys said, looking at the solemn Prince Quentyn.
"Yes, I do admire Ser Barristan very much and want to become a knight like Ser Barristan. I think most knights in the Seven Kingdoms hope to become the next Barristan the Bold." Prince Quentyn nodded in agreement, saying, "Even when Lind the Chosen trained Ser Brienne Tarth, he made her take Lord Barristan as a role model."
"Ser Brienne Tarth? I've heard her name. It's said that Lord Lynd personally trained her." Daenerys sat up straight, looked at Barristan, and said, "I remember Ser Barristan, you once fought her in a martial arts tournament. What do you think of her?"
Barristan was stunned for a moment, then nodded and said, "She is worthy of the title of Ser Brienne Tarth."
"It is said that she is now loyal to Renly Baratheon. If she is the Ser Brienne Tarth, shouldn't she be loyal to the Iron Throne?" Daenerys said in a deep voice.
Prince Quentyn explained, "Lord Brienne's liege lord is Renly Baratheon, and there is nothing wrong with her pledging allegiance to Renly Baratheon, just as Lord Lynd also recognizes Joffrey I's claim to the Iron Throne."
"Your Seven Kingdoms' knight rules are truly chaotic. Anyone can pledge allegiance to anyone." Daenerys's Bloodrider Jogo said with disdain.
Daenerys frowned, but said nothing. She looked at Barristan and said, "Since your character can be recognized by Lord Lynd, I am also willing to believe in your loyalty." As she spoke, she stood up from the stone chair, walked down the steps, and came before Barristan. She beckoned to Missandei, the handmaiden who had just been promoted, took a white cloak, and draped it over Barristan, saying, "Ser Barristan, you will stand behind me as my Kingsguard, blocking the incoming swords for me. I hope you will be worthy of my trust."
"My heart shall be as my sword, and I shall die with honor!" Barristan bowed his head to Daenerys and swore sincerely.
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