Jon Clinton, one of the two "Hand of Kings" in Westeros today, was staring at the battle map in the halls of Storm's End, in a terrible mood.

"You said that if you don't counterattack, you won't have a chance, it makes sense, and I believe you. Even today, I do not doubt the correctness of your previous proposals. Without raising his head, he said to the bald man sitting across the table, smelling of fat powder, "But unfortunately, the right decision doesn't always mean victory, and we're in a difficult situation right now." I'd love to tell you that the Golden Regiment are not attacking enough to protect themselves, but unfortunately the truth is that one of our two allies has released our pigeons and the other is unable to protect itself, and we will face a challenge to keep what we have already achieved. ”

......

As the Dorne army retreated from the battlefield without saying a word, and Riverlands suffered internal problems after a series of defeats, voices opposed to joining the rebellion and arguing that King Stannis should be recognized. While the Tyrells were busy with their family affairs, the new owner of the Iron Islands, Croweye, led a fleet to invade the west coast of the Riverlands, capturing the Shield Islands and the Isle of Aotei.

Although it would have been easy to regain the lost territory with the strength of Riverbend, in this eventful time, the Tyrells were stumped by one trouble after another, and they were completely unable to give the Golden Regiment and the prince sufficient support.

Had it not been for Stannis's need for time to recuperate and redeploy after the Northern Army returned home, giving the Golden Regiment some respite, Storm's End would have changed hands long ago.

......

Varys's expression was also not pretty, but instead of responding positively to the Prime Minister's pessimistic expectations, he asked about something related: "Did anything go wrong with the meeting between Prince Oberon and Prince Aegon?"

"Even if there were, I didn't feel it. Earl Clinton shook his head, "The two met to get to know each other, and then went into the room to talk for a while." I don't want to ask the prince about the details, but there was no obvious displeasure, and when Prince Oberon returned to the army after the meeting, Dorne's troops soon crossed the border into the Stormlands and flanked the Stannis. Got us out of the way......"

The Prime Minister recalled, puzzled, but still couldn't find anything wrong: "I have to admit that, because we don't know each other at all, Oberon Martell didn't actually judge whether the prince was his nephew or not, and the reunion was neither touching nor exciting." But—if Dorne doubted the identity of the prince and refused to send troops to help, it is understandable why he withdrew at a critical moment after sending his army, so that we had all our hopes in vain, and the original plan was disrupted?"

"It's a headache, but when you're done listening to what I'm going to tell you next, you won't be confused anymore. Varys sat in his chair and slowly spoke, "My little bird tells me that Prince Quentin Martell of Dorne has been missing for a long time. ”

"Huh?" Earl Clinton looked up and looked at Varys suspiciously, "I got the news that Prince Quentin is stationed at the ...... of the Bone Road"

"Served and exercised under the Earl of Ellenwood. "Yes, the official news is true, but how can he not show up for months after serving in his adoptive father's army?" Quentin is the prince of Dorne, not a young lady raised in a deep boudoir...... And even more so my little birds in Valantis reported that some time ago a group of Dorns had landed in the harbor and looked around for a ship bound for Slave Bay, or Meereen to be exact. Y-can you think of anything?"

Clinton realized something was wrong: "You want to say that Quentin Martell went to Meereen to find our queen?"

"Remember the secret pact that William Darey and Oberon Martell had signed fifteen years ago, as witnessed by the Sea King of Braavos, that Viserys Targaryen would marry Arrene Martell? In return, when he lands in Westeros to reclaim the Iron Throne, Dorne will have his full back. ”

"Now that Prince Viserys has had an accident, the Dornians have turned their attention to Daenerys in an attempt to bring our queen ...... Become 'their queen'?" Jon Clinton took a breath of cold air, first startled by Varys's speculation, and soon fell into distress - the counterattack was only half an eyebrow, and the only two remaining Targaryens were about to start internal competition first: "Is Daenerys still playing her game of domination in Meereen? What the hell are your people doing? Why don't you hurry up and bring her back?"

"Our queen is not as easy to control as you think. Varys shook his head with a wry smile, "It's understandable, anyone who grew up in such an environment and suddenly had three dragons after all kinds of hardships will have some ideas of their own...... What's more, she has true dragon blood in her bones...... Well, Viserys liked to call his temper the true dragon's wrath when he was alive, and now it seems that the one who has the 'true dragon's wrath' is his sister who has been bullied since he was a child. ”

How could Earl Clinton be in the mood to talk about the wrath of the real dragon? He interrupted the eunuch's words: "With your means, aren't you the best at this? What about that little finger controlled by you, through him, induce our queen to return as soon as possible, we won't have much time!"

"I have to correct you - I didn't control Littlefinger, I didn't have it in the past, and I can't do it in the future. Petyr Berish fell into my hands unfortunately, and was sent to Daenerys by arrange. He's the second smartest man in the Seven Kingdoms, and the day you think you can control him, he's probably already plotting how to kill you. The few times I have succeeded in using him have been done with careful and careful planning, and with the same interests as the measures taken. Varys sighed and shook his head regretfully, "And then I must say that even if I could get Littlefinger to persuade Daenerys to return to Westeros immediately, he wouldn't be able to." It's not that Daenerys doesn't listen to him, it's because our queen is not in Meereen at the moment. ”

"Where did she go. ”

"Far East. ”

"What the hell?" Earl Clinton frowned, "Did she also see the adventures of that Night's Watch, believing that the world was a goddamn ball, and wanting to go east to the west of Westeros?"

"As far as I know, this is not the case, the main reason is that the three dragons of our queen have grown stronger and stronger, and have become wild and prey, and have begun to attack the livestock raised by the peasants around Meereen City...... And people. Daenerys was persuaded by her staff to find a place where she could learn dragon control, and under the news of some mysterious person, she chose to ride a dragon to the east, and her whereabouts are unknown. ”

"You didn't do anything to stop her, and just let our queen, with her vital dragon, get out of your sight?"

"I'm not her personal attendant, how can I stop her? She had been away from Meereen for a while when I got the news!" Varys frowned in response to Earl Clinton's accusation, "Besides, if Daenerys can really master the method of controlling her three dragons on this trip, it will only be good for us, not bad." I share your concern for the safety of Prince Aegon's future queen, but at the same time, I have to be sober: a dragon mother who cannot control dragons is of very limited value to us!"

"Well, I'll admit, Daenerys really can't blame you for this. Jon Clinton also calmed down and sighed: "Let's discuss something more practical, how will the Golden Regiment catch Stannis's next round of attacks, and how are you going to deal with Dorne, who covets our queen?"

"The help of our mysterious supporters in Pantos will come soon, and all you have to do is hold on until then. In addition, I will talk to Euren Greyjoy and explain the situation to him, so that he can turn his troublemaking goals elsewhere. ”

"I heard he was a madman, are you sure you can reason with him?"

"I'm not going to go to the door myself, so what can a madman do? Maybe he's as bad to deal with as the rumors say, but a madman and a fool are two different things, and if he muddies the waters like this, when Stannis finishes dealing with us, the next one will be the Latte Islands - anyone with a brain will know what's at stake. Varys raised his head, and a gleam flashed in his usual lazy gaze: "As for Dorne's side...... You don't have to worry too much, Doran Martell plays us fools and thinks he's done it perfectly...... Since he is unkind, don't blame me for doing it. His precious prince will never have a chance to marry anyone. ”

"What are you going to do?" Clinton said his face as he made sure that someone would never be able to do something, and there was only one way to make him disappear once and for all. "I have to warn you that even if the Martell family has a lot of thoughts in their stomachs, Dorne is one of our important allies, and if you are caught doing this......"

"I naturally have a way to make things look like an accident, but are you just worried that I won't be able to handle this, or is that knight inside awake again?" After leaving the Red Keep, Varys no longer needs to maintain that harmless appearance of humans and animals at all times, and he can be completely unceremonious to Jon Clinton: "Do you need me to remind you of the process and final outcome of the Battle of the Bells?

＊＊＊

During the War of the Reelers, Robert Baratheon was defeated by Randolph Tully at the Battle of Cen Tree Beach, and was forced to get out of the way for the Riverbend Army to attack the home city of Fort Wind's End. After being wounded on the way north from the junction of Stormlands and Riverlands in an attempt to join up with the three armies of Stark, Tully, and Arryn, he hid in the town of Stone Hall in the Riverlands to recuperate.

And Jon Clinton surrounded and took control of the town at this juncture...... Knowing that the looter he was looking for was here, he refused to order extraordinary measures, leaving the Royalist soldiers to search from house to house until they were repulsed by the Stark-Tully-Arryn coalition who had arrived to the rescue, and Robert could not be captured.

This defeat was not objectively a fiasco, but it was the closest the Royalists came to ending the war early in the entire war. The rebellion would have come to an end if the commander had decisively ordered the town to be set on fire and had been set on fire to the rebels, harboring looters......

But history has no ifs.

Eventually, Robert, who escaped in Shitang, took part in the Battle of the Trident a few months after recovering from his injuries, and killed Prince Rhaeggar, the last hope of the Targaryen family, in this decisive battle, deciding the outcome of the war.

During his long years on the run, Jon Clinton was awakened from his dreams by remorse, believing that his wife's kindness had killed his beloved "Silver Prince" Rhaegar Targaryen...... And after being tormented by remorse, he swore more than once that he would kill the knight in his heart on the journey to return Rhaeggar's son to the Iron Throne, and he would not hesitate to use any means.

＊＊＊

"Remembered?" Varys saw that Earl Clinton was silent, understood that he had figured everything out, and did not chase after him anymore, but slowed down his tone: "I will do this dirty and troublesome work, you don't need to care, and don't let the prince know." Rhaegard's son must return to the Iron Throne, no matter who stands in the way and threatens the overall situation...... There is only one end. ”

"I see. "As long as you're sure you don't get us in trouble, go ahead and do it, I won't stop you." ”

"Don't talk about it anymore, I'm also at fault - this kind of thing, I should do it silently, I shouldn't have told you at all, it's a controversy. Varys reverted to his good old man's appearance and shrugged his shoulders: "We are all here to assist the true king...... Let's put aside our prejudices and disagreements with each other, perform our own duties first, and do what we should do. Shrink the front, stick to this time, and in about a few weeks, things will turn around. ”

——