After the tournament concluded, the nobles each returned to their respective fiefs.
One month later, King’s Landing
In Elia Martell’s bedchamber.
Through the Skinchanger’s ability, Viserys saw Rhaegar solemnly talking to Elia about himself and Lyanna, and Rhaegar deeply hoped that Elia could grant her blessing to him and Lyanna.
In the end, although Elia looked sorrowful, she could not win against Rhaegar and agreed to a secret divorce.
However, she also demanded that it must never be made public, as that would damage the honor of House Martell.
Out of guilt towards Elia, Rhaegar agreed to this request, and then sent a swift letter via raven with a maester to Winterfell.
He wanted Lyanna to travel south to King’s Landing.
Meanwhile, a new tragedy was unfolding in the Red Keep.
The Mad King Aerys ordered the newly appointed hand of the king, Lord Chelsted, to be burned to death with wildfire, simply because this minister dared to question his decisions.
This pitiful new hand of the king had held the position for less than a month before dying beneath the madness of The Mad King.
That very night, The Mad King also forcibly broke into Queen Rhaella’s bedchamber.
Although the two had long been separated, and two white-cloak knights, Jaime Lannister and Jonothor Darry, stood guard outside the door, neither could stop him.
Early the next morning, the bruised and battered Queen Rhaella set off for Dragonstone under the escort of Ser Jonothor.
Viserys deduced that Daenerys was conceived at this very time.
After all, the two of them had not shared a bed since giving birth to the original host, and they likely would not have the opportunity to do so again in the future.
From Winterfell to King’s Landing, taking the Kingsroad would take a week at the fastest.
When they reunited, Rhaegar discovered that Lyanna was already pregnant, and the two immediately married in secret under the witness of a septon.
At this time, Brandon Stark, who was on his way to Riverrun to claim his bride, heard that his sister had been abducted by Rhaegar, and immediately turned his horse around and headed straight for King’s Landing.
He shouted challenges outside the Red Keep, demanding Rhaegar to come out and duel to release his sister.
But Rhaegar was not in King’s Landing at this time.
In the end, The Mad King Aerys arrested him for high treason, and summoned his father, Lord Rickard, to King’s Landing.
When Lord Rickard demanded a trial by combat, Aerys designated wildfire as his “champion”.
This northern lord was burned alive in the green flames, and Brandon was also ordered to be beheaded.
The king subsequently ordered the Lord of the Vale, Jon Arryn, to hand over Eddard Stark and Robert Baratheon.
Old Arryn flatly refused and announced his rebellion on the spot.
He supported Eddard to succeed to the position of Lord of the North, and also had him marry Catelyn Tully, who had originally been betrothed to his older brother Brandon, while dispatching Robert back to Storm’s End to gather an army.
The alliance of the stag, wolf, fish, and falcon began to take shape, and the flames of war were on the verge of breaking out.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Viserys requested Aerys to let him go to Dragonstone to accompany his mother.
He also requested to take some treasures from the royal treasury to give to his mother, hoping to make her happier.
Aerys agreed and even sent the Kingsguard Arthur Dayne to protect him, which played right into his hands.
Arthur was still in King’s Landing because the war had not officially started yet.
Viserys led a squad of soldiers toward the royal treasury.
These twenty men were trusted followers he had secretly bought over during this period, every single one of them unattached bachelors, perfectly suited to follow him across the Narrow Sea in the future.
Their leader was Sir Alliser Thorne, a stern-faced knight.
Thorne’s loyalty was beyond doubt.
He was a firm supporter of the dragon family.
The reason he was later exiled to the Wall was precisely because he refused to bend the knee to the Baratheon dynasty.
In The Nights Watch, the reason he opposed Jon at every turn was also because he mistakenly thought Jon Snow was a member of House Stark.
When the heavy treasury doors were opened, Viserys went inside first to look around.
Inside, besides chest after chest of gold dragons and silver stags, there were also mountains of bizarre treasures.
After looking around, he already had a plan in mind.
He prepared to take away one hundred thousand gold dragons, pack a few more chests of treasures, as any more would be difficult for their group to carry.
Moreover, this was definitely enough for him to live lavishly across the Narrow Sea until the dragons hatched.
This was not a small amount; a standard knight’s full suit of armor cost about eight hundred silver stags—a knight’s full armor, not ordinary soldiers’ armor—and one gold dragon could be exchanged for two hundred and ten silver stags.
At the same time, this also showed how speechless it was for Robert to award forty thousand gold dragons to the tournament champion; back then, House Stark’s entire family fortune was probably only about that much.
Viserys signaled the soldiers to begin moving.
The prepared treasures were methodically loaded into carriages, ready to be transported to the port of the Blackwater Rush.
Moored there were the ships of the royal navy fleet that would escort him to Dragonstone tomorrow.
He also ordered people to take away three complete dragon skeletons, choosing smaller dragons for easier transport.
These dragon bones were priceless in the continent of Essos, and if things ever truly reached a dead end, they could be sold at any time in exchange for gold dragons.
Under the cover of night, he had another matter to attend to.
That legendary Valyrian steel sword, “Blackfyre”, must also be relocated.
He planned to steal the sword himself first, put it into a secret passage, and then use animals to transport it to Dragonstone, hiding it within the Dragonmount of Dragonstone.
As long as Aerys died, he could pretend to have accidentally discovered this heirloom sword from the Dragonmount, and could then reclaim it justifiably.
There was also Rhaenys; he had promised to be with her.
This time was a great opportunity to take her away, using the excuse of taking her to visit her grandmother.
After all, once the war began, Aerys might not necessarily let her go.
Therefore, he headed to Elia’s bedchamber to persuade her to let Rhaenys leave with him.
When Viserys arrived at Elia’s bedchamber, he found that Ashara was also there, playing with Rhaenys.
Ever since the tournament began, he had been sticking close to Ashara, leaving those rutting dogs who wanted to approach her with no way to make a move.
However, after the tournament ended, she had returned to Starfall.
He hadn’t expected her to come back now, which happened to save him an extra trip.
The little girl sat on the carpet, intently fiddling with a carved wooden horse, which was a gift he had previously given to Rhaenys.
“Brother Viserys!” Seeing him, Rhaenys immediately spread out her little hands and ran over.
At this time, Elia was leaning against a lounge chair, her complexion still pale, but tenderness still welled up in her eyes when she saw her daughter.
“Viserys, are you setting off tomorrow?”
“Yes.” Viserys squatted down and picked up Rhaenys.
“I have come to request that you allow Rhaenys to accompany me to Dragonstone to visit my mother.”
Elia’s brows furrowed slightly.
“But Rhaenys is still young…”
“I can take care of her,” Viserys softly interrupted, “and Mother has also been missing Rhaenys very much.”
At this moment, Rhaenys hugged his neck: “I want to go see Grandma with Brother Viserys!”
Ashara stood to the side, quietly watching this scene.
“Lady Dayne,” Viserys turned to her, “I wonder if you would be willing to travel with us?
Rhaenys has always liked you, and with you taking care of her, I believe Elia will feel more at ease.”
Ashara looked slightly surprised, exchanging a glance with Elia.
“Ashara is indeed very good with children,” Elia said softly, “It’s just that this would be troubling her too much.”
“I am more than willing.” Ashara suddenly spoke, her voice soft yet firm, “It is my honor to accompany Princess Rhaenys.”
“Very well, then it’s settled.” Elia finally nodded, gathering Rhaenys into her arms and kissing her forehead.
“Rhaenys, remember to listen to your uncle and Lady Dayne.”
“Okay, I will definitely be obedient.” Rhaenys replied happily.