Chapter 165: The Great Council of King's Landing (III)
Chapter 165: Chapter 164 – The Great Council of King’s Landing (III)
White turned, revealing a hard, square face, pale blue eyes, and handsome features. The reason he was called White was simply his hair, which was white as snow.
Martin looked at the man and thought he might have Targaryen blood; rumor had it he was the son of Prince Aemon. As for the truth of those rumors, he seriously doubted it.
It was common knowledge that Prince Aemon only had eyes for his own wife, Lady Jocelyn Baratheon, one of the most beautiful women in the realm. Not to mention the prince had never been seen visiting brothels.
Had they said White was the son of Baelon, Martin might have believed it a little. After all, Prince Baelon already had a royal bastard who could become king at any moment. Even so, he was more inclined to believe White simply carried ordinary Old Valyrian blood. Probably the son of some fisherman on Dragonstone.
“What does the High Septon want?” White asked in a cold, indifferent tone. The man put on his shirt and looked at Martin as though he were a stranger.
“Likely to reestablish the Faith Militant to fight Prince Maekar. The Bloody Tears Incident has stained the church’s reputation, and, if nothing is done, we will likely lose control of the cities of Westeros. Without the donations from these cities, the Faith of the Seven will go bankrupt within a few years. Not to mention reestablishing the Faith Militant, it will take a miracle just to raise enough money for an effective army.” Martin did not hold back and spoke his mind. Either way, he would be leaving King’s Landing tonight.
White showed no anger; he merely looked deeply at the man before him. He could recognize a coward when he saw one. And the Septon before him was a coward. Of that he had no doubt.
“I have enough to arm two hundred men.” White spoke in a calm tone, making Martin look at him with a shocked expression.
Two hundred?! In King’s Landing!!!
Martin was genuinely shocked to hear those words. How on earth had two hundred swords and suits of armor made their way into King’s Landing? Did the White Flowers have allies within the City Watch?
Calming himself, he looked at the fanatic and advised him in a calm tone. “If you want to survive, leave with the High Septon.”
Though shocked at his ability to arm two hundred men, Martin did not think a mere two hundred men would be enough to change anything. Not to mention the adult dragons, the four thousand soldiers of the City Watch alone would be enough to slaughter all two hundred of White’s men.
“You may go, Septon Martin.” White did not explain, or rather, did not bother to explain, and spoke in a cold, indifferent tone.
Seeing this, Martin smiled and left without looking back. He had already helped White enough, warning him to flee as soon as possible. Whether the man lived or died, Martin did not care in the slightest.
“High White, what shall we do?” An acolyte asked in a calm tone. “Shall we purify the heretics?”
“No, we are leaving King’s Landing.” White shook his head and spoke in a cold tone.
“And the High Septon?” The acolyte asked in a confused tone. If they left, the High Septon would have no one left to protect him.
“Let him die in this city.” White said indifferently. “Maekar is a heretic, but the High Septon is an even greater one.”
He continued speaking in a cold tone. “The bridge between the divine and the mortal is a corrupt man with dozens of mistresses and dozens of bastard sons and daughters. Not only that, he placed these sons and daughters in important positions to enrich his own coffers.”
White looked at his faithful acolyte and spoke in a calm tone. “Once we leave King’s Landing, we will gather with the other six religious groups and form an army to fight the evil that has plagued this continent for nearly a hundred years.”
“Yes, High White,” the acolyte answered, kissing the back of White’s hand, and then left to carry out his religious leader’s orders.
White calmly put on a suit of leather armor and draped a white cloak over his shoulders. He took up his sword and fastened it to his belt.
Like Martin, he too would leave the city. But it was not fear, as it was with Martin; rather, his reasoning told him he could not face House Targaryen within King’s Landing. Without the cover of a forest or the use of hostages within a city, there was no way to fight an adult dragon head-on.
White knew this, and, rather than die foolishly against dragons in King’s Landing, he preferred to leave the city and reunite with his brothers, his faith.
Looking out the wooden window, the gigantic pale red castle could be seen atop the hill, above the entire city. White would not forget this day; not only had the reputation of the Faith of the Seven been stained by a conspiracy orchestrated by House Targaryen, but twelve septons had been beheaded and the other two torn apart by the enraged crowd.
Even if the Septons had been in the wrong, they should have been judged by the High Septon, not by mortals like Maekar.
Letting out a sigh, White left the room and saw his brothers in faith ready to depart. Besides a water skin, they carried only dried meat and nothing else. All wore white cloaks over their shoulders and leather armor. As for weapons and iron armor, he would recover those later. There was always a way, whether through bribery or help from within the city.
“Brothers, let us go.” White said, leaving the house, accompanied by dozens of people.
–
Elsewhere, Martin had returned to the Sept and, seeing no sign of White and his group arriving, smiled. He had already known the man would not answer the High Septon’s summons. He wondered what the leader of that group of fanatics would do.
However, after thinking for a moment, he merely smiled a second time and stopped thinking about it. Everyone was fleeing to save their own lives; he was no different.
Martin had no doubt that, once Prince Maekar was crowned king, his first order would be to purge the city of traitors. In that case, the traitors would be any man of faith, and that included him, the High Septon’s personal assistant.
He was likely at the top of Prince Maekar’s kill list.
The septon let out a sorrowful sigh. He had finally achieved something after decades, yet he had to flee. Still, so long as he remained alive, Martin felt he could start over. Either way, the Red Faith recruited people every day.
With his experience, he felt he could become a red priest of R’hllor.
Entering the Sept, Martin walked toward the High Septon’s chamber, but when he arrived and was about to knock on the door, he heard moaning behind it and stopped in his tracks.
He could not believe the High Septon was actually having sex at such a delicate moment. How lustful could a man be to do such a thing even knowing his own life was in danger?
The High Septon was the very embodiment of lust from the holy scriptures, was he not?
Abandoning the idea of speaking with the High Septon, Martin decided to flee at that very moment. The septon quickly walked to his own chamber. Removing his priestly robes, he put on common commoner’s clothing and grabbed the bag that had already been packed since he had decided to flee the night before.
The bag held some clothes and, most importantly, money. Though it was only 1% of his wealth, it was enough to live in Essos without worry for a few months.
Looking around his room, Martin smiled and walked toward the exit without any hesitation.
Leaving the Sept, he noticed eyes following his figure, but those gazes quickly vanished, as though they did not care about him.
Martin knew those were Maekar’s eyes, watching the High Septon closely. Someone insignificant like himself could flee, but the High Septon had no such chance. Well, if White decided to help him, there was a chance, though still a small one.
Looking back at Sept, Martin murmured in a calm tone. “Good luck, High Septon; I wish you a swift death.”
——-
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