Whoosh, whoosh!
Accompanied by the heavy sound of dragon wings slicing through the air, Vhagar's massive dragon body landed in King's Landing's dragonpit.
Aemond, his face clouded with gloom, dismounted the dragon saddle, and several Dragon Guards waiting nearby immediately stepped forward to lead Vhagar back to its lair.
Magic, it could only be magic!
All the way back to King's Landing from the Kingswood, he had been thinking about why Silverwing had suddenly turned on him.
He finally arrived at an answer that was absurd yet logical.
Because he had fought King Jacaerys three times, and each time the opponent had displayed some inexplicable strange abilities.
But this time was the most fatal; Aemond still felt a sense of dread recalling it now.
If he hadn't been vigilant due to Womax's anomaly at the time, and had been turned on by Vhagar...
Baa, baa~~
A series of sheep bleats roused Aemond from his contemplation, and he immediately turned his head to look.
He saw a brown-skinned, slender, black-haired girl forcefully dragging a sheep towards the lower levels of the dragonpit.
Aemond strode forward and asked, "Hmm, I remember you were called Flax?"
"Damn it, I'm called..."
As soon as the slender girl opened her mouth, she spoke vulgar and rustic words.
After seeing clearly who was asking, she immediately stopped speaking, organized her words, and continued to answer,
"I'm called Ricinus (bì má), King!"
Aemond was always more tolerant of people who had value.
He didn't mind Ricinus's rudeness and continued to ask with interest, "It seems you were always trying to tame that wild dragon called Sheepstealer when you were on Dragonstone before.
Since you weren't directly burned to ashes by a dragon, you must have true dragon blood in your body.
Seasmoke and the wild dragon called Grey Ghost don't have riders. Why don't you try to tame them?"
"Hehe, probably because Sheepstealer is ugly and likes to steal things.
Just like me!"
Ricinus heard this and replied casually.
Hearing this answer, Aemond looked Ricinus up and down.
He saw that her overall appearance was plain, her skin rough, and her teeth uneven; although not beautiful, she wasn't ugly either.
But her nose bridge had collapsed in the middle, instantly lowering her attractiveness significantly.
Combining this with Ricinus's words just now, Aemond guessed that her nose bridge was likely broken when she was stealing.
"Alright, get back to your business!"
When you ride on Sheepstealer's back, you will be one of the most beautiful women in the Seven Kingdoms.
And you won't need to steal things anymore; anything you want, I can give you!"
"Yes, King."
Ricinus didn't know if she had taken Aemond's promise to heart; after nodding and replying, she simply dragged the sheep and continued on her way.
Hiss! Woo~~
When Ricinus dragged the sheep down the stairs to the lower levels of the dragonpit, it immediately caused a cacophony of dragon roars.
Actually, the intelligence Rhaenys had obtained from her brief visit to Dragonstone before was incomplete.
During this time, the Green Party had not only secretly conscripted dragonseeds from King's Landing and Dragonstone, but also quite a few from Driftmark.
Moreover, after deciding to abandon Dragonstone and set up an ambush in the Kingswood.
Aemond then took Hugh and Ulf, and with the combined strength of three dragonriders, captured all the dragons on Dragonstone and brought them back to King's Landing's dragonpit.
The only exception was Syrax, who had been injured and fled somewhere unknown.
Since all the dragons had been captured and brought back, all the dragon eggs and Dragonstone Dragon Guards naturally wouldn't be left for the Blacks.
Dragonstone's dragonpit could now be said to have been completely cleared out.
Aemond was now incredibly thankful that their side had decided to attack and occupy Dragonstone from the start.
Otherwise, if King Jacaerys had gained these dragon forces, they wouldn't even be able to hold King's Landing now.
"The next battle will likely be in King's Landing! We must gather all our forces to kill King Jacaerys in one fell swoop!"
"First, Daeron and Tessarion must be recalled from Oldtown to King's Landing as soon as possible.
Then, I need to communicate properly with Helaena; we need Dreamfyre's combat strength.
Finally, there are Seasmoke and Grey Ghost; dragonriders must be found for them as soon as possible.
There's no need to be secretive anymore.
Just directly order Larys to gather people from King's Landing to try; there will always be someone who can ride them."
"But what about that magic of his that can control dragons?"
"Right, send someone to consult with the bishops of the Church of the Seven and see what they know about magic.
Also, the new Grand Maester must send a raven letter to the Citadel to inquire.
To strengthen King's Landing's defenses, the Gold Cloaks must recruit more, and the number of scorpion crossbows must also continue to increase.
Otto Hightower said before he died that he would form an alliance with Lys and Volantis; now that he's dead, I don't know the specifics of the alliance.
The cavalry was attacked by King Jacaerys at the time; did Ser Criston escape back?
Damn it, why are there so many troublesome things!"
Sitting in the carriage returning to Maegor's Holdfast from the dragonpit, Aemond was troubled by numerous miscellaneous matters.
Only now did he truly understand why every King must have a Hand of the King to help handle state affairs.
After returning to the Red Keep, Aemond saw Larys from afar, waiting in front of Maegor's Holdfast, leaning on his cane.
"Greetings, Your Majesty!"
"Our ambush failed. Ser Tylan and Ulf are dead, and Hugh is likely also gone.
Also, tell the Gold Cloaks at the River Gate to be vigilant,
If Ser Criston escapes back, first check if there's anything unusual about him."
Aemond wasted no words and directly told Larys the outcome of the battle at Wendewater.
Larys frowned upon hearing this and slowly said, "An ambush with three adult dragons failed..."
"Fortunately, I have two pieces of good news. Hobart Hightower sent a raven letter from Highgarden; they defeated and captured two Alans.
They are currently waiting to rendezvous with the Martell Family army, and then they will march with a powerful force of fifteen thousand men to reinforce King's Landing.
And the Warden of the Westerlands, Duke Jason, is also leading an army of ten thousand men towards King's Landing from the Goldroad.
As long as we can hold out for a period of time, we can launch a counterattack against King Jacaerys."
"Very good! What about the Riverlands?"
"We haven't received news from Harrenhal yet."
"Hmm, do you have anything else?"
"Uh..."
Seeing Larys's hesitant look, Aemond immediately said, "Just say what you have to say."
"Queen Alicent quietly went to see the new Grand Maester last night and had him send a raven letter to the Eyrie."
Larys had a complete grasp of what was happening inside the Red Keep and directly spoke of Queen Alicent's unusual actions.
"Sent a letter to the Eyrie? Did you tell her the news about Rhaenyra?"
"Her Majesty the Queen sincerely inquired of me; I couldn't refuse!"
Hearing Aemond's question, Larys was not flustered and admitted it very frankly.
Then he continued to say,
"I have already consulted with the Grand Maester. Queen Alicent's purpose in writing the letter is to seek peace."
"Sigh, Mother is just too kind. I'll go find her now.
Right, Ser Larys, your most important task now is to help me find riders for Seasmoke and Grey Ghost.
Don't worry about whether they have true dragon blood anymore; just send them one by one to try."
"As you command, Your Majesty!"
After parting with Larys, Aemond went directly to the royal chambers area of Maegor's Holdfast.
He first went to the Queen Mother's chambers, found no one there, and went directly to the Queen's chambers.
Creak!
As soon as he pushed the door open, Aemond saw Alicent, who was with Helaena.
And the twin siblings, over four years old, were playing happily nearby.
"White tree, human face, demon..."
As Aemond approached, he heard Helaena, as usual, repeating some meaningless words.
He didn't pay attention and spoke directly to Alicent, saying, "Mother, I want to talk to you..."
...
The Vale, the Eyrie.
The Maiden's Tower is the tallest of the Eyrie's seven white towers; from the balcony at the top of this white tower, one can even directly overlook the entire Vale.
Rhaenyra, wearing a golden crown, was standing quietly by the balcony at this time, gazing in the direction of King's Landing.
Tap, tap, tap!
Light footsteps sounded, and as Rhaenyra turned her head, she saw,
The Duchess of the Eyrie, Jeyne Arryn, with long brown hair, was walking towards her holding a letter.
"Your Majesty, my scholar received a letter from King's Landing today.
The content of the letter is a request for peace talks with you, signed by Alicent Hightower.
In my opinion, this should be a trap!"
Duchess Jeyne first summarized the content of the letter and then stated her judgment.
Rhaenyra took the letter and quickly scanned it, muttering the words that neither Larys nor Duchess Jeyne had paid attention to.
"As a mother..."
"Jeyne, write back and tell her.
Peace talks are possible, but the precondition is that Aegon is returned to me first!"
...
In the Kingswood Wendewater area, King Jacaerys's army set up camp centered around the Wendewater Bridge.
Three days had passed since the battle at Wendewater.
The King's Road burned by Womax and the Wendewater filled with the wreckage of the royal fleet had been mostly cleared.
King Jacaerys was currently circling in the sky on Silverwing, observing the giant blood cocoon with a specially made telescope.
Compared to the first transformation, this one seemed particularly long.
Just as he thought there was no movement today, he suddenly felt the faint mental connection begin to strengthen.
Having had the previous experience, King Jacaerys immediately realized that Womax was about to break out of the cocoon!
Whoosh!
Just like before, Womax first tore a huge rift in the giant blood cocoon, and then, accompanied by a large gush of thick bloody water, broke out of the cocoon.
Womax's dragon scales were still dark green, but the color had become even deeper.
From a distance, it already had a somewhat dark green, almost black, appearance.
Its body length had unsurprisingly grown to over sixty meters, and its spread wingspan was also nearly one hundred thirty meters.
Womax's current size was now completely within the range of an adult dragon.
After some practical testing, King Jacaerys confirmed that Womax had successfully integrated Vermithor's dragonflame characteristics.
Having already delayed here for nearly three days, without any hesitation, he immediately announced the march towards King's Landing.
King Jacaerys was already impatient to ride Womax and head to King's Landing for the final decisive battle!
Thank you to all the Gods for subscribing! Also, thank you to everyone who cast monthly votes.
PS: Sorry, I got back too late from a family gathering tonight and could only write one chapter.
I'll write more tomorrow; the decisive battle for King's Landing begins!