"Sir, we'll be in King's Landing in a quarter of an hour." At the mouth of the Blackwater Rush, a low-profile merchant ship slowly sailed in. Those on deck could even see the red spire of the castle on Aegon Hill rising slowly, as if to pierce the sky.
"Hmm." Davos in the cabin didn't say anything, just responded.
He knew Blackwater Bay better than anyone else and didn't need this young sailor to remind him.
Stannis sent him to King's Landing to test Jon's true intentions.
Although he is currently behaving like a loyal subject, Dragonstone is under immense stress after his recent crushing defeat and needs to be certain before making any further decisions.
Davos stepped out of the cabin and saw Melisandre already standing at the bow, looking at the enormous King's Landing. This made him instinctively put some distance between them.
He took a deep breath of the sea breeze, the air still seemingly carrying the smell of blood and burnt flesh. Davos looked sadly at the river below, where all four of his sons had perished, their remains never found.
But he still mustered his spirits, soothed his slightly itchy and painful severed finger, and Davos subconsciously looked towards the winch tower at the mouth of the Blackwater Rush, and suddenly noticed that someone was laying stones on the winch tower.
Upon witnessing this scene, Davos felt as if his heart had been gripped tightly. Although he didn't know what Dao and his men were doing, he knew that the deaths of his four sons were inextricably linked to this tower, so he decided to go and check it out when the ship docked.
As the ships sailed into the river, the ships with white sails arrived at the River Gate.
As soon as the ship docked, Davos rushed towards the winch tower. Melisandre saw this but said nothing, instead waiting quietly near the harbor.
Some sailors were momentarily stunned by Melisandre's beauty, but quickly walked away, simply because several fierce-looking knights stood behind her, clearly not to be trifled with.
These people are all ordinary citizens. If they offend someone, killing them would be pointless.
Meanwhile, Davos had arrived at the winch tower, where he saw many craftsmen building a thick stone wall. He temporarily suppressed his grief and saw the foreman in charge of directing the laborers' work shouting a work chant.
Davos, of course, wouldn't go directly to this person. Instead, he approached a young man not far from the leader. This young man looked to be only sixteen or seventeen years old and had acne on his face.
Davos stepped forward and asked Dao, "Sir, what are you doing here?"
Upon seeing Davos's polite demeanor, the young man said, "Oh, we are here on the orders of Lord Jon Snow to build a stone monument."
"Stone tablet?"
"Yes, Lord Jon said that the battle to drive out Lannister was of great significance, and the fallen Soldiers should be remembered. Therefore, he had this monument erected, and in the future, the lives of the fallen Soldiers will be engraved on it. They were the true saviors of King's Landing."
"King's Landing—Savior." Hearing the young man's words, Davos couldn't help but feel a lump in his throat.
"Old sir, you don't know Dao, do you? Lord Jon is the role model for all of us bastards! He defeated Tywin at Green Fork, killed the Mountain at Darry City, and led ten thousand men to resist an army of one hundred thousand. There is no bastard more powerful than him!" The young man with acne looked in the direction of King's Landing and said Dao with a face full of admiration.
"Jerry! You're gossiping again. Go get me a kettle of water!" the foreman in charge of the laborers shouted as he turned around.
"Oh well!"
"I'm sorry." Davos expressed his apology and then turned to leave.
Then he suddenly noticed that the Blackwater Rush seemed different than before. Near the south bank, the boats were heading out, while near the north bank, the boats were heading towards King's Landing.
This makes water traffic orderly and efficient.
"Was this also done by Jon?" Davos thought to himself, and soon reunited with Melisandre and the others.
"That bastard is supposedly in the Great Sept of Baelor now, let's just go there." It was Penny, who was in charge of protecting Melisandre, who spoke.
He had a bristly beard like a steel brush on his sideburns, and his complexion looked darker than others.
Davos didn't like it when Penny called Jon " bastard," even though it was true.
"Okay." Davos nodded slightly, and the group boarded the carriage that the guards had found, and entered King's Landing.
Upon entering King's Landing, Davos was surprised to find that the traffic in King's Landing was the same as that on Blackwater Rush, with white lime sprinkled on the main road, dividing the wide road into two-way roads, which made traffic more convenient.
Although traffic jams still occur from time to time, it's much better than the King's Landing that Davos remembers.
Soon the group arrived at the cathedral. Tents were pitched in the square in front of the cathedral; that was Jon's office.
As soon as the group got off the carriage, they saw some civilians hurrying toward the tents.
Penny roughly grabbed the small man by the collar, and the small man's legs went weak when he saw such a big figure in armor.
"What are you all doing? Why are you all running that way?"
"M-Sir, we, we went to watch Lord Jon's execution."
"Execution?" Davos was startled, thinking that Jon was too arrogant to kill people so soon after taking over King's Landing.
At this moment, Penny, who was standing to the side, said disdainfully to Dao: "What right does a bastard have to have such power? Who does he think he is?!"
Although the group did not agree with Jon's actions, they decided to go and see since they had come to meet him unexpectedly without revealing their identities.
After all, watching an execution is one of the activities that the people of King's Landing enjoy.
Soon, under the protection of Penny and others, Melisandre and Davos arrived at the Great Sept of Baelor.
Just a few months ago, Joffrey beheaded former Prime Minister Eddard Stark here.
And today, Eddard Stark's son is going to behead someone here.
Davos initially thought the person being beheaded would be a nobleman, but upon closer inspection, he realized that the person tied to the execution platform actually looked like a Soldier.
Moreover, judging from his facial features, he doesn't seem to be from Junlin.
Davos was born in Flea Bottom, King's Landing, and knew the people and things there all too well. He turned to the King's Landing commoners watching the commotion and asked Dao, "Sir, may I ask who Jon is trying to kill?"
This commoner from King's Landing looked to be around thirty-four or thirty-five years old. He had flaxen hair and very bright eyes. He was clearly a typical King's Landing citizen, shrewd to the point of being calculating.
"I'm not entirely sure, but I heard that the man was one of Jon's soldiers. Apparently, Jon wanted to kill him because he killed someone, " the citizen said excitedly.
"Execute his own soldiers? Isn't he afraid of demoralizing his troops?" Penny, standing nearby, thought Jon's actions were unwise.
These soldiers who followed him from Harrenhal had endured brutal sieges and defenses, and each of them deserved credit. Yet Jon publicly executed them for this. Wasn't Dao afraid of alienating the soldiers?
Then, the commoner, seeing that Davos and his group were dressed in unusual clothes, said to Dao, "Actually, this Soldiers didn't necessarily have to die. At the time, no one knew who killed him, it was Jon who found out himself."
Hearing him say that, Penny and Davos both felt that Jon seemed a lot like Stannis. Then the King's Landing man continued, "However, most people in King's Landing think he's a good man. After he drove away Lannister and Tyrell, he made an agreement with the people of King's Landing that anyone who kills must pay with their life, and anyone who injures or steals from others must be punished. No one can break this agreement."
"Yes, back then Tywin tricked the late king into opening the city gates, and then let his troops plunder—"
The older people around him whispered "Dao," and Davos knew that the "former king" they were referring to was Aerys.
Although Aerys was known as the " Mad King," he hardly ever caused trouble for ordinary people. In the public eye, compared to the extravagant Robert, Aerys's reputation wasn't that bad.
Listening to the man's words, Davos's expectations for Jon grew even higher, and his liking for him increased even further.
He can win battles, govern cities, and control the army! What else could he be but a talented individual? Since he openly opposes Robb's claim to the throne, perhaps we can win him over to Stannis!
Soon, they saw a young man walk out and step onto the makeshift execution platform. Behind him, a knight of similar age held a broadsword nearly as tall as a person.
"That's House Stark's ancestral sword, Frostfire. Eddard Stark was beheaded by this sword," the man said again.
When Jon arrived, the soldier, who was about to be beheaded, seemed to be pleading as he spoke. Jon leaned down, looked into his eyes, and comforted him for a while. In the end, the soldier stopped talking, lowered his head, and accepted his fate.
The broadsword, icy and cold, fell suddenly, drawing a gray arc of light in the air, as if carrying the biting winter winds of the North.
As the head fell to the ground, a gasp of surprise rippled through the crowd.
After a moment, Davos came to his senses and looked at Melisandre: "Let's go see him."