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

Chapter 143: Chapter 142 – Decisions and Trust (I)

Stepstones.

Viserys watched Caraxes land on the ground with a calm gaze and a smile on his lips. Daemon had just returned from yet another raid against Tyrosh. His grandfather’s words had been simple, aimed at attacking Tyrosh until it compensated House Targaryen for the war’s losses.

One could say they were beating on someone already down on the ground and demanding compensation. Still, even Viserys wasn’t against such a method. House Targaryen’s losses hadn’t been great, but the money spent had been enormous.

House Velaryon would pay for the war, but it was also good to extort money from the enemy. At least that gold wouldn’t end up in Dothraki hands.

“Good evening, my prince.” Hearing a voice behind him, Viserys turned and saw a middle-aged man with olive skin and black hair. His eyes were dark brown, and he had a beard around his face. He wore yellow clothes bearing House Martell’s sigil.

“Prince Mors,” Viserys greeted the man with a polite smile, though he felt sick at the thought of his past. He truly despised a man capable of imprisoning his own niece for her entire life.

Despite his dislike for Mors, Viserys didn’t show his feelings, proving he had matured more than in previous months. If it had been before, he might not have been able to hide what he felt.

“News just arrived from King’s Landing.” Mors looked at the prince before him with a smile. If Viserys despised Mors, Mors also despised Viserys, whom he considered weak, overly emotional, and incredibly foolish.

“Prince Maekar burned the Free City’s fleet and brought down the Titan of Braavos. The realm is celebrating, and the end of the war draws near.” Mors remarked with a smile, looking at Viserys with a calm, penetrating gaze.

“That’s good; I want to go back to King’s Landing as soon as possible.” Viserys smiled at the news and let out a laugh.

Even being a master at controlling his emotions, Mors couldn’t help but show a stunned look at Viserys. Did the prince truly understand the implications and the power behind Maekar’s actions? Never mind the lords, every commoner in the realm would know Maekar’s name. He would be remembered by history as a great hero!

Mors tried to spot some falseness in Viserys’s reaction, but he was shocked to discover the prince was genuinely happy about Maekar’s achievements.

Could someone really be so foolish in this world? For the first time, Mors felt the future looked bleak. No matter how powerful Maekar might be, there would always be enemies to face together. Still, looking at Viserys, his hope of becoming Prince of Dorne seemed to vanish like a dune in the desert.

Could a man like this truly fight Maekar for the throne?

Mors admitted Viserys had certain qualities, but his qualities weren’t good enough to compare with Maekar’s accomplishments. What good were friends if those friends might vote for someone better?

“What’s going on?” Mors heard a cold voice and looked to the side, only to see Prince Daemon approaching with a weary expression. Compared to Viserys, Mors genuinely admired Daemon. That young man could be cruel and just at once, impulsive and calm, and could be as much a demon as a god.

The Prince of Dorne told Daemon what he had just told Viserys.

Daemon’s lips twisted seeing the smile on Viserys’s face. He wondered if, when their mother used to take Viserys to ride Meleys, Viserys had hit his head on one of the dragon’s spikes. Because there was no way Viserys should be this happy about Maekar’s achievements.

“Viserys, you know you’ll probably lose the Great Council, right?” Daemon was direct with his words. Wasting time at this moment was the same as handing Maekar the throne, something he couldn’t accept.

The smile on Viserys’s lips stiffened; all his joy evaporated in an instant. He looked at his brother and spoke in a confident tone. “I have the king’s support, Daemon.”

“Maekar has the North, the Reach, the Riverlands, and most of the Crownlands.” Daemon crushed all of Viserys’s hope without any hesitation. He looked at Mors and continued speaking in a calm tone. “You only have the king’s supporters, the Vale of Arryn, and possibly Dorne.”

“Now tell me, are you still so confident?” Daemon asked in a cold tone.

“I have the support of the Faith of the Seven and the Maesters.” Viserys countered Daemon’s words with an expression less confident than before.

Daemon was surprised and nodded. Just as Viserys had said, he truly did have the support of the Faith of the Seven and the Order of Maesters. That was a great help, especially Faith’s support.

“Did you receive some visit from the Faith of the Seven before?” Daemon asked, furrowing his brow. Remembering there had been no septon in Viserys’s retinue.

“Septon York met with me before I left for Dorne. He said he’d support me in exchange for protection at some point in the future, something like that. I didn’t quite understand why the Faith of the Seven would feel threatened, but I accepted the offer.” Viserys said, furrowing his brow. Still finding the meeting with Septon York strange.

It wasn’t only Viserys who was furrowing his brow; Daemon and Mors were too. They exchanged glances and looked equally puzzled. The whole situation seemed strange. This was the Faith of the Seven, one of the greatest religions in the world. What could make such an organization ask for protection at some point in the future?

Was it merely a precaution?

Daemon couldn’t help but feel there was something very wrong with this proposal. The rogue prince furrowed his brow but soon set these thoughts aside. With the Faith of the Seven at Viserys’s side, he could gain countless allies, especially among the devout noble houses.

“Still, that isn’t enough, and I never said I would support you, my dear princes,” Mors said with a polite smile. The more desperate Viserys and Daemon became, the more he could profit from the current situation.

“Don’t think I don’t know what you’re trying to do, Prince Mors.” Daemon wasn’t Viserys, and he spoke in a cold, indifferent tone. “You can’t support Maekar because of Princess Mara. You have no choice but to support Viserys, or you can forget any chance of inheriting Sunspear.”

“My niece might suffer some unfortunate accident, and I would still have Dorne.” Mors showed no weakness and spoke in a cold tone, looking at Daemon with a calm, penetrating gaze.

Viserys furrowed his brow at Mors’s mention of murdering his own niece. How could he trust a man capable of killing his own family for power and titles? He would rather not have such a cruel and venomous man at his side, since one never knew when betrayal might come.

“If Mara dies, you can forget about inheriting the Sun Throne.” Daemon spoke in a sarcastic tone. “Maekar will kill you like a pig.”

“Now that you know of his latest deeds, you also know you can’t fight him.” Daemon’s words left Mors silent. Yes, he couldn’t kill Mara, which filled him with a fury he had never felt before.

If he killed Mara, he would die, because Maekar protected Mara. As for whether he’d survive otherwise, Mors didn’t have much confidence in that either, especially with Maekar’s accomplishments piling up like a mountain over the course of this war.

“The only thing you can do is accept bending the knee to Viserys and hope Viserys becomes king so he can help you reclaim Sunspear.” Daemon, seeing the hesitation on Mors’s face, spoke in a calm, confident tone.

Letting out a sigh, Mors knew Daemon was testing him, but, as he’d said before, he had no choice. Of course, he had a choice; he could back down and let Mara take control of Dorne, but Mors would rather die than let the power he had built vanish.

“I will help you, Your Grace.” Mors said in a cold tone. “Half of Dorne will vote for you.”

Daemon furrowed his brow. “Half?”

“After Mara bent the knee to House Targaryen, other noble houses that had long wanted integration with the Seven Kingdoms joined her. ” Mors noticed Daemon’s displeasure and spoke in a calm tone.

Daemon let out a sigh and couldn’t help but curse Maekar’s luck for arriving in Dorne at such a good moment. One could say even Jaehaerys had helped Maekar in this, since those noble houses had ties to Jaehaerys.

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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