Chapter 180: The Dragon King’s Web of Fire
Chapter 180: Chapter 177: The Dragon King’s Web of Fire
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Game of Thrones Prince of the Rhoyne
Game of Thrones: Knights Life
CaveLeather
Night fell black as ink, and the comet wept blood across the sky.
In Viserys’s study the lamps still burned bright. Tyrosh sat farther south, so the air stayed warm even without a fire in the hearth.
Viserys had changed into a black-and-red robe and was deep in planning. His quill moved across the map of Westeros like a dragon in flight, tracing every old royalist stronghold that had once backed House Targaryen.
He studied the rising and falling lines, the territories and lordly castles resting right there in the palm of his hand.
In the Riverlands stood the Whents of Harrenhal, the Darrys of Darry, the Mootons of Maidenpool, the Pipers, and the Legges.
The Whent family offered little hope now. Oswell Whent had once been a Kingsguard and Rhaegar’s friend; the tourney at Harrenhal had started everything. But the Whents were as good as dead, leaving only an old widow in a castle that felt like a ghost town.
Lord Raymond Darry had lost three brothers at the Trident. Ser William Darry had protected Viserys and the others. The fall of House Targaryen had stripped the Darrys of half their lands, most of their gold, and nearly all their power.
Count William Mooton of Maidenpool had lost his brother Myles in the war too. Myles had been Prince Rhaegar’s squire and closest friend, a man of real courage—nothing like his softer brother.
“Don’t forget the Freys of the Twins,” Viserys said, marking the opportunistic house on the map. The Freys were upstarts with a rotten reputation, but even a bad name was still a name. They had coin, men, and the wide lands straddling the Green Fork that gave them real strength.
Old Walder Frey was a vain, grudge-holding bastard who had delayed answering Hoster Tully’s call until he was sure which side would win. Hoster had shamed him publicly as “the late Lord Frey,” and Walder still burned with that insult.
Viserys had no love for the Freys, but their position was too valuable to ignore. Winning them would take real negotiating skill.
In the Stormlands there had once been royalists, but most had bent the knee to Robert after he crushed them at Summerhall. Robert beat Lords Fell, Cafferen, and Grandison one after another. Lord Fell died. His son “Silveraxe,” Lord Grandison, and Lord Cafferen were captured and hauled to Storm’s End.
During their imprisonment Robert’s charm won them over and they joined his army. Lords Cafferen and Grandison later fell at the Bells and the Trident.
Viserys couldn’t blame them. They had fought bravely and simply lost.
Looking at the map, the only real contacts left in the Stormlands were the Conningtons of Griffin’s Roost and the Lonmouths.
After two purges under Aerys and Robert, House Connington had fallen hard. Jon Connington had no wife or heirs, so his title had already been seized by his eager cousin, who couldn’t wait for him to die.
After the Battle of the Bells, King Aerys stripped Jon of every title, land, and coin. His cousin Ronald joined Robert’s rebels and was granted Griffin’s Roost back, but Robert never returned the confiscated wealth or the lordship. He parceled out most of the old Connington lands to his own supporters.
Now “Red” Roland—once betrothed to Brienne of Tarth—was just a landed knight, not a lord. His title was Knight of Griffin’s Roost.
“There are also the Tarths and the Swanns,” Viserys marked them on the map.
House Tarth had only a female heir now. Good old Lord Selwyn had already slipped into a state of wanting nothing to do with power games.
Lord Gulian Swann was famous for being careful. He refused to swear to either side, claiming he was sick at home. His eldest son had managed to swear loyalty to four different kings in a single year, while his second son was the skilled warrior Balon Swann.
In the Vale there was House Grafton of Gulltown.
The Crownlands and the Clawmen needed no mention, nor did the lords around Dragonstone. Those were the old strongholds.
Besides William Darry, the men Viserys had raised himself—Roland Lake, Rosor Brune, and Dick Crabb—all came from the Crownlands.
“At the Trident the ones who fought beside Prince Rhaegar were Crabb, Brune, and Boggs. In short, the Clawmen have always been model subjects for the Dragon family,” Rosor Brune said.
“I’ve never doubted the loyalty of the Clawmen, and that loyalty will be rewarded,” Viserys answered.
Viserys kept studying the map. Using the Crownlands as the center, old royalist pockets still existed across the other regions.
In the Reach the Hightowers had checked out, but House Tyrell had built a strong alliance through marriages to the Redwynes and the Rowans.
In the Westerlands and the North the Iron Throne’s pull was weak. Those lords had fought for their liege lords, not the crown.
The Westerlands were special—Tywin had centralized power early and wiped out the Reynes and Tarbecks with cold cruelty.
The North was even more independent, with different gods and customs.
But even there Viserys felt he wouldn’t be completely without friends.
“Do you know what I’m marking here?” Viserys asked Rosor Brune.
“You’re circling the lords who once supported the Targaryen cause.”
“Exactly.” Viserys nodded, satisfied. Besides his humble birth, Rosor made a perfect tool. “In the sunset lands we need to reach the old Targaryen loyalists, pull in the middle-ground houses, and strike hard at our real enemies.”
That was the full plan. Besides the blood enemies and the die-hard royalists, most lords just went with the flow.
The sunset continent ran on a double-liege system—small lords swore to their liege lords but also to the king on the Iron Throne.
The great houses had grown stronger for years, an unsolvable problem. Without dragons the crown’s power had faded.
Between the Iron Throne and their liege lords the smaller houses picked the stronger side. That was survival.
Narrow it down and Viserys’s real targets were the great alliance Jon Arryn had built—the wolf, fish, eagle, lion, and stag. Those houses and their in-laws and vassals formed a massive force.
Viserys only needed to smash their loyalists in open battle and win one decisive victory. After that everything else would fall into place.
“I have a new task for you,” Viserys told Rosor Brune.
“I’m giving you the job of contacting and bringing in those old royalist nobles.” This was the man he had chosen.
“I’ll stay loyal to Your Grace’s cause,” Rosor promised.
“Don’t be afraid to spend money. I’ll give you all the funds you need. For crew, talk to Morosh. Right now I want you moving fast. Get ready for the new war.”
Viserys needed the smugglers’ ships and the passage boats from Bloodstone as messengers. He wanted his words to reach every corner of the Seven Kingdoms.
“As you command, Your Grace.” Rosor felt his blood surge. A new storm, a new war—and this time a nobody like him was going to stand right at the crest of the wave.
Crabb handled intelligence. Rosor would handle contact with the old royalists and the middle-ground nobles.
Viserys felt his arrangements were solid. The only thing he still lacked were people skilled in magic and other rare talents.
But with the name he had built, those kinds of people would come running soon enough.
please vote and comment make me really happy
Game of Thrones Prince of the Rhoyne
Game of Thrones: Knights Life
CaveLeather