House of The Dragon:The Rise of the Emperor of the Seven Kingdoms

Hesitation appeared on the faces of the Dornish nobles; they looked at each other and began to converse among themselves. Mara and Maekar were not surprised by the scene before them; they were expecting this discussion to drag on for months with plenty of shouting, blood, and sweat.

And that was exactly what happened in the moments that followed.

Other houses might accept bending the knee to the Iron Throne, but House Yronwood was not on that list.

Once full of titles such as The Bloodroyal, Warden of the Stone Way, King of Yronwood, High King of Dorne, King of Redmarch, King of the Dornish, King of the Greenbelt, Knight of the Wells, Lord of the Stone Way, and Master of the Green Hills.

The Yronwoods would not bow to the Iron Throne.

The one arguing with Lord Yoren Yronwood was House Yronwood’s ancient rival, House Fowler.

"You think I’ll kneel like you lot? You can suck Jaehaerys’s cock all by yourselves!" Lord Yoren Yronwood said in a tone full of sarcasm and scorn.

"Didn’t your house suck Nymeria’s cunt when you lost to her? Why so arrogant now?" Lord Ferris Fowler commented in an equally sarcastic tone, full of disdain for the arrogance of the head of House Yronwood.

Yoren’s face turned somber in an instant; he stood up, threw the table before him to the ground, and drew his sword. "When I cut out your tongue, I want to see how you dare utter such words again."

Ferris showed no fear; he grabbed his spear and stood up, staring at Yoren with a cold, murderous gaze.

The other lords present looked at each other but made no attempt to stop them. Although some truly wanted to join the Iron Throne, they couldn’t simply say such things. Otherwise, they would be called cowards by future generations.

An example of this was when Torrhen Stark knelt to Aegon Targaryen without fighting or even challenging the conqueror king. Torrhen was called the King Who Knelt.

Although many agreed they would have done the same, as nothing was more important than the continuity of one’s own Noble House, the way Torrhen did it caused much contempt among the Northern Lords. Known for their bravery, or as some might call it, courageous suicidal tendencies, they despised the king who knelt for not even fighting like Kings Gardner and Lannister.

Thus, everyone present agreed there should be plenty of fighting, bloodshed, and shouting to show the world they didn’t kneel because they were weak but because the enemy was too strong.

In their eyes, what Yoren and Ferris were doing was a necessary theater, though they also believed the ancient rivalry between the noble houses played a part.

"To first blood, you stupid blue hen," Yoren said sarcastically.

(Note: House Fowler has a Blue Hawk as its crest.)

"Very well, I’ll break down your gate," Ferris spoke with a somewhat ambiguous smile and a double meaning everyone could understand, making Yoren even more furious.

(Note: If you didn’t understand, well, the world needs more people like you...)

Watching the two lords begin to fight, Maekar took the silver chalice full of wine and drank with a look of pleasure. Being a spectator in a battle was much better than being one of the challengers. Looking at Mara beside him, he saw her staring at her uncle with a cold, deadly gaze.

The girl was not weak; now, with the security she had by his side, she could truly show the fangs she was born to display.

"Don’t stare at him too much; he’ll evaporate from the planet," Maekar commented with a smile.

"He must be thinking right now how he’ll personally slit my throat to stop the madness that’s happening," Mara replied in a pleasant tone; seeing Mors’s somber face was better than sitting on this throne.

How she wished she knew what he was thinking at this moment; she would bet all of Dorne that it was strangling her with his own hands.

"He can’t stop it, even if you die. By now, the Court must have received the news, and if Jaehaerys isn’t an arrogant fool, he’ll send troops. Along with the Dayne army, we can control the city and hand it over to you," Maekar said with a smile.

"Curiously, I feel no animosity when you speak of the king, though you seem to despise him a little," Mara commented, looking at Maekar.

"Our relationship is based on one thing. A game between him and me," Maekar replied with a smile. "He seems to enjoy playing with me. Perhaps because no one else dares to do anything similar, especially now when he’s at the height of his power."

Mara looked at Maekar with a strange gaze; in her eyes, they were grandfather and grandson bickering over differences in thought. Maekar seemed to think of changing the world, while Jaehaerys seemed to want to maintain the prosperity he had built.

However, she also noticed they were enemies and rivals, a surprising thing, given that Maekar was fourteen while the king was sixty-six.

"He only fears I’ll cause the ruin of our house," Maekar said with a sigh. "However, I can’t blame him for thinking so. He is the king, and I am the mere bastard who dares to aim for something he should never aim for."

"Benedict I Justman was King of the Trident and was a bastard of House Blackwood," Mara commented with a smile. "I see nothing wrong with a bastard aiming for a throne."

"As they say: a man must forge his own world. It was so with Aegon, Benedict, and many other men," Mara said, looking at Maekar, who was now staring at her with a deep gaze.

"Stop flattering me; I’m not getting into your bed, princess," Maekar said, rolling his eyes, but there was a smile on his lips.

Seeing him smile, Mara wore a proud look, feeling she had finally captured a bit of Maekar’s attention.

Below him, Mors stared at the two talking and laughing with a cold gaze, like a snake hidden in the grass, about to strike its prey. Things had spiraled completely out of control. Mara no longer cared about keeping up appearances and had rebelled against him publicly.

The worst part was that the Dornish Lords were actually considering kneeling to the Iron Throne.

At that moment, he realized Mara was throwing Dorne into the dragon’s mouth and no longer cared if she lived or anything else. He finally understood the saying that even a cornered rabbit could bite.

"You’re going down, but you want to take me to hell with you," Mors murmured. "Very well, you are truly as mad as your father, my brother."

Unfortunately, he had lost more than half of his assassins and didn’t dare use them at this moment. Not when almost all the Lords of Dorne were present. Not seeing and pretending nothing happened was one thing. Seeing it personally and doing nothing was entirely different.

In the end, the people still loved House Martell; their loyalty was to the Princess of Dorne, Mara Martell.

If Mors had managed to kill Mara as in the original story and declared she had died of an illness or accident, things would be much easier for him. But this was not the original universe, far from it.

Now, Mors had to deal with Mara, who could now show her teeth to him without worrying about being killed.

However, looking at Maekar, a glint appeared in Mors’s eyes.

The only reason Mara was safe was because of the dragon prince’s protection. If the prince switched sides, Mara would lose her only support and go back to being the little bird trapped in the cage he had prepared.

The prince only wanted Dorne; who sat on the Sun Throne didn’t matter to him. Since he wouldn’t survive if Mara took power, Mors decided to also gamble his life on this game.

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/GOTSW

Read my other books:

House of The Dragon:The Rise of the Emperor of the Seven Kingdoms

Game Of Thrones: The God-Emperor of Planetos

Percy Jackson: Godwyn the Golden.

Game Of Thrones: The King’s Court Wizard