Chapter 47 - 46 - The Festival of the Serpent (2)
Mors was a middle-aged man with a gaunt face and medium-length black hair, streaked with gray in many places. He had olive skin, characteristic of Dornishmen, and a pair of deep-set eyes. He wore a short beard around his chin.
At that moment, there was no hint of anger on his face, even after his spies’ report. There was a deep, unfathomable look in his dark brown eyes.
"Dear niece, why don’t you content yourself with a life full of handsome young men and parties? Why get involved with the Throne of Dorne? Why force me to do something I didn’t want to?" Mors murmured with a slightly colder tone. He had given Mara every opportunity to set aside her thoughts of ruling.
Mors had given his niece the most beautiful young men in Dorne, dressed her in the richest possible way, and given her enough money to live ten lives. Still, his niece did not want these things and repeatedly tried to regain her power.
However, Mors forgot that, even without these things, Mara was the Princess of Dorne and Lady of Sunspear. She would have had these same things without any help from him. So, Mara felt nothing but revulsion and murderous intent towards Mors.
"Jorde." As soon as Mors spoke, a man approached. His appearance could not be seen; he was shrouded in black clothes, only his eyes visible.
"Mobilize the Sons of Poison. Mara must be killed." Mors spoke in a calm tone, but hesitated at the next name. "As for Prince Targaryen, expel him back to King’s Landing."
Even so, he dared not kill Maekar in Sunspear. Aegon had burned Dorne for two years because of Queen Rhaenys’s death. Although Aegon and Balerion had already been killed, there were dragons large enough to burn all the cities of Dorne.
And even if the population were not killed, as they would hide in mountain caves, the damage would be so catastrophic that it would take hundreds of years to return to its former state. Mors did not want to rule ruined cities.
"Yes." Jorde spoke in a hoarse, cold voice, disappearing into the shadows of the room.
Mors began to think about how to make the lords accept him after Mara’s death. Although it didn’t seem like it, these noble houses were only supporting him because of their own interests. If he truly became Prince of Dorne and Lord of Sunspear, everyone would march against him to seize power.
In the end, it all came down to interests.
"Hmm, I can blame Prince Targaryen." Mors murmured with a malicious smile on his lips.
Dorne already disliked House Targaryen; it would come to dislike it even more. And best of all, he could be Prince of Dorne without any problems.
Unbeknownst to Mors, ravens flew from Sunspear to all corners of Dorne. The ravens brought news that Dorne would bend the knee to the Iron Throne because of Prince Maekar Targaryen.
Once the lords heard the news, they would rush to Sunspear without any delay. At the same time, when the news reached King’s Landing, the Iron Throne would have valid reasons to march towards Dorne to assist Dorne.
Mara was more determined to escape her desperate situation at all costs and did not hesitate to tell the entire continent what she was doing. Faced with dying silently and dying trying to be free, she did not hesitate.
And, even if she were to die, she would plunge Dorne into the chaos of Civil War, for she knew that the Iron Throne would never miss such a good chance to unite the kingdom under one crown.
Mors had driven her to despair; she also wanted to drive him to despair.
Maekar was genuinely impressed by Mara’s courage and determination. But he understood; Mors had driven the girl to despair. A desperate person can do anything to live or even to seek revenge.
"Do you think I’m stupid, Prince Maekar?" Mara asked; she was lying on a sofa in a casual pose while a handsome young man served her grapes.
"Certainly not; a girl who has managed to stay alive until now with an uncle like this shows she is not stupid." Drinking a glass of wine, Maekar replied with a smile.
"Yes, I still remember I had to give my virginity when I was fourteen to show that I was fascinated by the world he created for me." Mara said with a touch of sarcasm and pushed away the handsome young man beside her.
Clarisse looked at her liege lady in surprise and showed a trace of guilt in her gaze. However, she had been powerless to help Mara previously. House Dayne might be powerful, but it could not fight against the noble houses of Dorne. Fortunately, now Mara had hope of escaping this cage created by Mors.
"When we capture Mors, we will make him suffer ten times the sacrifices you have made over the years." Maekar said in a calm tone. Since he was going to help Mara, he would see it through to the end and make Mors suffer a terrible fate.
"Thank you." Mara did not refuse Maekar’s help. If she could have had revenge, she would have done so long ago. Unfortunately, not even the Old Palace was a safe place for her.
"By the way, just as Visenya did when conquering the Vale, I want to fly on a dragon." Mara said with a smile. "Let me be the first Dornishwoman to ride a dragon; it will serve as a symbol of our friendship to the people."
"Just try not to tremble like a certain knight." Maekar responded positively with an amused smile as he looked at Clarisse behind him.
Mara looked at Clarisse and let out a laugh. She couldn’t imagine that the Sword of the Morning of House Dayne was afraid of fighting. The woman could cut a man as if cutting a beautiful fabric, but she trembled when ascending to the skies.
"Humans were not meant to fly, my princess." Clarisse couldn’t help but speak in a dissatisfied tone.
Mara just laughed again and found the woman incredibly adorable. "If in the future you no longer wish to serve Maekar, come serve me."
Clarisse rolled her eyes and spoke in a solemn tone. "I will make the oath that will follow me throughout my life; only my lifeless body will return to Starfall."
Despite not yet having taken the oath of the Kingsguard, Clarisse already considered herself a member of the most prestigious Order of Knights on the continent. She would do nothing to dishonor something as sacred as an oath.
"You have more loyalty than all the nobles of Dorne combined." Mara couldn’t help but speak in a somewhat sad tone. If the lords had half of Clarisse’s sense of honor, duty, and morals, things would not have come to this.
Clarisse only felt embarrassed. If it weren’t for Maekar, she wouldn’t have had the courage to defy all of Dorne to protect Mara.
"We’ll leave this loyalty business for later; we have something more important at the moment." Maekar spoke in a calm tone. "If you were your uncle, what would you do when you found out what you did?"
"Kill me." Mara didn’t hesitate to answer in an equally calm tone, but there was a smile on her lips.
"Exactly." Maekar said with a smile. "We can use that to our advantage. Anyway, a traitor will always be hated wherever he goes."
It might seem hypocritical, but no one likes a traitor, not even traitorous lords. No one wants a leader who can kill his own family for power. Even if they themselves might have done the same to gain power.
Mara looked at Maekar stunned and let out a laugh, to the prince’s confusion.
"Sorry for laughing, but my prince should have been born in Dorne; you are as treacherous as a Dornishman." Mara, seeing his confusion, commented with a smile still on her lips.
Maekar merely rolled his eyes. He felt that Dorne was weaker in a political fight, but made up for it in poison.
"Let’s prepare a good show for the lords." Maekar said with a playful look, the same look Mara wore on her face.
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Note: Yesterday I decided to give a Chinese apocalyptic novel another chance, t’s a genre I really enjoy reading. But I soon remembered why I don’t read anything other than Chinese cultivation novels. My friends, the protagonist’s "golden finger" involved earning points from people to unlock the technology tree. The more people, the better, but the protagonist simply ignored Africa because it had Black people.
I just looked at that and completely lost the desire to read it.
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/GOTSW
Read my other books:
House of The Dragon: The Pale Prince
Game Of Thrones: The God-Emperor of Planetos
Percy Jackson: Godwyn the Golden.
Game Of Thrones: The King’s Court Wizard