Jorah truly ought to feel ashamed. Daenerys noticed that he never once spoke his wife's name. Perhaps she had already faded from his memories—after all, it seemed she had never truly entered his heart. And yet, she had nearly died in childbirth three times for him, and in the end, she gave her life.
The knight continued, "Not long after, my father joined the Night's Watch, and I became Lord of Bear Island. Many came to seek my hand in marriage. I had yet to make a final decision when the ironborn began their rebellion. Balon Greyjoy declared himself king."
Daenerys frowned and interrupted, "When was that? Before I was born?"
"Princess, I'm not that old," Jorah said stiffly, his tone dry.
"Oh. Go on," Daenerys replied casually.
"That was the fourth year after the War of the Usurper. You were about four years old then." His voice dropped slightly.
It didn't seem like much of a difference—still old either way.
Daenerys understood at once. It must have been when Theon Greyjoy was taken as a ward to Winterfell.
She asked in confusion, "What were the ironborn thinking? During the chaos of the Usurper's rebellion, he didn't stir. But only after the Usurper had ruled for four years, when the realm had largely settled down, he chose to rebel. Where did he get the confidence? Or was his reaction simply too slow—only realizing it then and thinking to become a hero in troubled times?"
"I don't really know," Jorah shook his head. "The ironborn have always been mad—unpredictable in their actions. Perhaps he thought the Usurper's rule was unstable. Or perhaps someone had been restraining him before, preventing him from raising banners in rebellion.
"During the Usurper's war, Balon's father, Lord Quellon Greyjoy, remained neutral. After your brother Prince Rhaegar fell at the Ruby Ford, he pledged himself to the Usurper, Robert. At that time, Highgarden and House Tyrell stood with the Targaryens.
"So Quellon led the Iron Fleet—the main fleet of the Iron Islands—out to sea, intending to raid the Reach and attack Highgarden. Unfortunately for him, the Reachmen were prepared. They waited at the Shield Islands and defeated the supposedly invincible Iron Fleet, and in that battle, Quellon himself was slain. Balon then inherited his father's position. By then, the Usurper had already ascended the throne, and rebellions across the realm had mostly been put down."
"Four years later, King Balon had fully consolidated his control over Ironman's Bay. He raised his banners in rebellion. Then King Balon lost. His eldest and second sons were killed. His ten-year-old youngest son became the ward of Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell—a hostage to ensure House Greyjoy would not rebel again.
"To celebrate the victory, Robert decided to hold a grand tourney outside Lannisport.
"That was where I met Lynesse.
"She was only half my age then, having traveled all the way from Oldtown with her father to watch her brother compete in the tourney.
"The moment I saw her, my eyes could no longer leave her. For the first time in my life, I felt such overwhelming love. In a moment of impulse, I begged her to grant me a favor, that I might fight for her. I never dared dream she would agree—yet she accepted at once.
"Princess, you must understand: tourney combat is a knightly sport, not merely a test of martial skill. We northerners have never been good at these Andal games. But with Lynesse's favor upon me, it was as though the Warrior himself among the Seven had possessed my body.
"Day after day, I was undefeated, and in the end, I crowned Lynesse with the wreath of love and beauty.
"Drunk on wine and glory, I did something mad. That very night, I went to her father and spoke plainly of my wish to marry his daughter.
"Given the wealth and standing of our two houses, Lord Leyton should have rejected me without mercy—but he did not."
House Hightower's lands included the second-largest port in Westeros—Oldtown—as well as the Citadel, the seat of the maesters. The headquarters of the Faith of the Seven was also in Oldtown.
The Hightowers were of the bloodline of Garth Greenhand; they could be considered dukes without the title of duke.
Tywin Lannister had once sought Lord Leyton's daughter for his son, the Imp, hoping Tyrion might wed a Hightower maiden.
Lord Leyton had refused him in a manner that bordered on insult.
Jorah Mormont had truly stumbled upon incredible fortune.
"Sadly, the honeymoon was short-lived. Lynesse was deeply disappointed with my home. She found it too cold, too damp, and far too remote.
"The wooden longhall of Bear Island was nothing compared to the tall, warm, and magnificent castles of her homeland.
"Moreover, life on Bear Island lacked the amusements a southern noble lady required. No masquerade balls, no mummer's plays, no lavish banquets.
"Even wandering singers came only once every few years, following the fur traders—and those who came were old, ugly, and third-rate, with little skill.
"Northern food was also far more monotonous than the abundance of the Reach. My people considered themselves blessed by the gods if they could eat their fill, but for Lynesse, every meal was almost a torment.
"At the time, I thought to myself: as long as she could be happy, I was willing to do anything.
"So I hired cooks from her homeland, sought out minstrels, and bought gold and silver jewelry for her to wear to feasts. On Bear Island, where every silver coin is counted before it's spent, I helplessly became familiar with the prices of most ornaments.
"So now you understand why I can so easily estimate the value of that opal bracelet, don't you?"
Jorah smiled like a husband during a shopping festival, recklessly taking out loans to buy things for his wife.
"Whatever she wanted, I did my best to provide. As I said before, for her sake, I pushed myself beyond my limits and won the tourney.
"The Usurper was a generous—ah, no, an extravagant and indulgent king. He squandered wealth freely and loved hosting tourneys. And every tourney champion received rich rewards.
"That time, I gained not only glory and a beautiful woman, but also fifty thousand gold dragons."
(P.S.: When Eddard took office, the tourney champion's reward was forty thousand gold dragons. But I believe the significance of quelling King Balon's rebellion was greater, so I added another ten thousand.)
"So much?" Even Daenerys couldn't help exclaiming.
With memories of her former life struggling through the Free Cities, she had a rough understanding of the purchasing power of gold, silver, and copper in this world.
She remembered once, in a slum street of Myr, Viserys had bought two grilled sausages and a small bowl of sheep's milk from a vendor with two copper coins. After quickly finishing his portion, he even snatched the remaining half of Daenerys's sausage.
In terms of purchasing power, one copper coin could be considered roughly equivalent to five yuan. After all, it was pure meat, with a decent portion—normally enough to count as a simple breakfast. It was just that Viserys had been in a growth period then, and his nutrition couldn't quite keep up.
One gold dragon could be exchanged for thirty silver stags, and one silver stag for about eight hundred copper coins.
That meant: one gold dragon = 24,000 copper coins = purchasing power of about 120,000 RMB.
Fifty thousand gold dragons—roughly six billion.
Holy shit!
Daenerys remembered that in the original story, during Robert's fourteen-year reign, he accumulated six million gold dragons in debt—about 720 billion. Three million of that was owed to House Lannister alone.
This…
Hearing Daenerys's exclamation, Jorah sighed as well. "Yes. Bear Island couldn't earn five thousand gold dragons even in a hundred years. When it came to spending money, the Usurper was even more like a 'Mad King' than your father—ah, sorry, I mean—"
The knight's face flushed red, and he became flustered.
Daenerys said nothing, only nodded calmly.
Jorah let out a breath of relief and continued his love story. "It was because of those fifty thousand gold dragons that I could afford to satisfy all of Lynesse's desires in the early days.
"So that she could attend festivals and banquets across the world, I had a great ship built just for her. Lannisport, Oldtown, King's Landing, Lys, Pentos—she left her mark in all of them. The farthest we ever went was Braavos."
"From Bear Island to Braavos? Are you mad?" Daenerys exclaimed again.
Braavos was actually quite close to the North in theory. In a straight line, if there were airplanes, flying from Bear Island to Braavos would be about three thousand kilometers.
Uh… three thousand kilometers was still pretty far.
More importantly, Bear Island and Braavos were separated by an entire continent and a narrow sea. By ship, one had to sail all the way around Westeros.
That distance—
It was simply too far, and the sea conditions were extremely complex. Detours were very likely.
One thing was certain: the voyage was definitely over ten thousand kilometers—farther than from Shanghai to Los Angeles.
Jorah really had gambled his life away for his wife.
But this was not the end. Jorah continued recounting his journey of "burning his life away."
"For money—and because Lynesse wished to win the wreath of love and beauty once more, an honor even true queens treasured—I continued to enter tourneys. But miracles did not repeat themselves. I never won again. And with every defeat, I lost a warhorse and a suit of armor, which I then had to ransom back or replace with new ones."
Daenerys asked curiously, "How much would a suit of armor and a good horse cost?"
The original Daenerys had lived among the common folk, familiar with the prices of food and drink, but noble weapons and warhorses were far beyond her experience.
"A trained warhorse costs at least one gold dragon," he told her seriously. "My own mounts were better—on average, around three gold dragons each. As for a decent suit of full plate, about four or five gold dragons. I had to buy quality armor.
"For knights of noble lineage like us, our familiarity with armor is as intimate as our knowledge of the lines on our palms. In most cases, I need only a glance to spot flaws in an opponent's armor—if flaws exist.
"Likewise, my opponent can see flaws in mine. So I cannot afford any obvious weaknesses. I cannot use inferior armor. Otherwise, in a tourney, I would be risking my life.
"I am not afraid of death. But to die because of faulty armor in a nobleman's game—that would be the most pitiful death imaginable."
After a pause, Jorah said in a complicated tone, "I have attended many tourneys. In every one, there were knights who died—mostly hedge knights seeking wealth and fame.
"Almost never do the sons of great houses die, because under the rules of the joust, no one can break through the defenses they wear."
If Daenerys had seen the "Hand's Tourney" held in King's Landing more than a year ago, she would have understood Jorah's words even more deeply.
In one match—Renly versus the Hound—during a high-speed charge, the Hound drove his lance straight into Renly's chest, knocking him clean out of the saddle and sending him flying more than ten meters backward. Even the small golden stag antlers on his helmet, each as thick as a child's wrist, were crushed.
And what happened?
Nothing at all.
Renly stood up, brushed himself off, waved flamboyantly, and responded to the crowd's cheers with a perfect smile.
If it had been someone else—if their breastplate had been a bit thinner, or the padding beneath lacked sufficient elasticity to absorb the violent impact—even if they didn't die, their internal organs would have been damaged.
In this world, once the internal organs were injured, a person was basically finished.
"What's the difference between a hedge knight and a true knight?" Daenerys asked curiously.
...
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Here are a few fan-fic titles that I've recently uploaded on my Patreon:
"Game of Thrones: Dragon Prince"
"Game of Thrones: Political Life"
"Game of Thrones: Holy Flame"
"The Game of Thrones Upgrade System"
"Game of Thrones: Lannister Kingdom"
"Game of Thrones: Godzilla vs. Dragons"
"Game of Thrones: Ruler of the Deep Seas "
"Game of Thrones The Glory of a Knight"
"Game of Thrones: The Most Powerful Dragon Queen"
" Game of Thrones: From the Elden Lord to the Young Wolf"
"Game of Thrones: Rise of a Lord with the Army-Building System"
(End Chapter)