"The scenery here is completely different from King's Landing, right?" Aemon took a deep breath of the fresh but cold air outside, feeling the slight tingling sensation in the lungs, and couldn't help but evoke a trace of nostalgia.
"Although I was addicted to books and research when I was at King's Landing, I also knew how to enjoy it. The air at King's Landing was always filled with various breaths of life, giving people a warm and lazy feeling. But here, there is only snow, ice, and the breath of death."
"But there is life here." Viserys pointed to the Night's Watch and the North people who were training in the distance, as well as the Free Folk who occasionally walked by under the city wall, and said, "It is precisely because this place is close to death that the living people work harder."
Aemon didn't respond immediately after listening to Viserys dialect. He just listened quietly to the sound of Castle Black's wind, the sound of soldiers training in the distance, and the breathing of the two Targaryen compatriots next to him.
After a long while, he whispered softly, "Viserys, you have changed. When I saw you before, you only had Iron Throne in your eyes, but now you have the responsibility of a true king in your eyes."
Viserys smiled slightly and did not deny what Maester Aemon said.
He raised his head and looked back at the towering blue and white Ice Wall that stretched across the sky. His eyes were deep and he said, "No, you are wrong, Grandpa, Iron Throne has always been just a Iron Throne in my eyes. I don't care who the person sitting on it is."
"But the existence behind this wall now affects everyone in Westeros and whether the people on that Iron Throne can continue to sit down. This is the real power, grandfather, and what we House Targaryen really deserve."
Daenerys was a little stunned as she listened. She had never heard Older Brother explain her ideas so straightforwardly before.
In her memory, Viserys was the Targaryen Prince who would tell her about "blood and fire come from the same origin" and who was as eager to take back Iron Throne as Rhaenys.
But the person standing here now looks more like a real king, a qualified leader who remains sober and responsible in difficult situations.
Maester Aemon listened quietly, and the expression on his face covered with ravines of time became particularly solemn at this moment.
Although he couldn't see Viserys's expression at the moment, he could feel an unprecedented obsession from the other person's steady tone.
"True power..."
Maester Aemon repeated these words in a low voice, as if chewing on the deep meaning, and then said, "You are right, Viserys, Iron Throne are just symbols of power, and the subjects who protect the kingdom are the essence of power. If Rhaegar could understand this back then, maybe the ending would have been different."
He turned his head slightly and faced the towering Ice Wall. Although there was still darkness in front of him, his mind seemed to have penetrated the thick Ice Wall and saw the land outside the wall that was even more desolate than the the North he saw when he first came to Wall.
After a while, Aemon said, "Viserys, since you have seen this clearly now, I think that no matter how difficult the next road is, you will not be confused, and the glory of House Targaryen will return to its peak in your hands."
Daenerys's eyes flowed between Older Brother and the blind old man House Targaryen.
Castle Black The cold wind picked up the Golden Rose embroidery on her cloak, bringing a bit of coolness, but she felt that her body was hot. Perhaps, this was what Older Brother had been telling her, the reality that her blood contained blood and fire.
Viserys did not continue the topic. He walked to the city wall and said in a calm tone, "Grandpa, I want to take you to see Daenerys's dragon. You have seen Rhaenys's dragon and I before. You should also see Daenerys's three dragons."
Aemon was suddenly stunned for a moment when he heard Viserys's words, then he smiled and couldn't help but said, "What, do you still want me to try to see if I can contract a Dragon, so that I, an old bone, can ride a dragon and fight for you?"
"That's not necessary." Viserys also smiled and said directly, "You have been studying on Wall all your life and have heard dragon roars, but you have never ridden a dragon. I want you to experience it once. After all, they are part of House Targaryen's glory, aren't they?"
Aemon shook his head, but the smile at the corner of his mouth did not dissipate. Instead, he felt a little more relieved and said, "No, Viserys."
"Why?" Viserys raised his eyebrows in surprise.
He originally thought that the old man would be excited to personally experience flying Dragon. After all, that was the cornerstone for House Targaryen to conquer Westeros, and his previous support for Rhaegar's Prophecy dream also showed his yearning for Dragon.
Aemon slowly turned his head. Although his cloudy eyes could not focus, his face was facing the direction of Viserys at the moment, and his tone contained a kind of transparency and calmness that had gone through many vicissitudes of life.
"Because I'm old, Viserys, my eyes can't see the vastness of the sky, and my body can't withstand the cold wind at high altitudes. More importantly..."
He paused, his voice became softer, and he said, "I have seen too much death and farewell."
"Dragon is beautiful, but also dangerous. They are the embodiment of Fire and Blood. For me, as long as I know that they are still there and that the bloodline of Targaryen has not been cut off, that is enough. As for riding them, that is a game that belongs to the young people of your family, and it is the authority that belongs to the future king and queen."
"Besides, if I had tamed a Dragon when I was young, of course I would be willing to ride it now and try it."
Aemon's tone sounded very calm, and he continued, "But I haven't. I have never tamed Dragon in my life, and I have never established any contact with the real Dragon. If you ask me to ride on it now, all I will feel is someone else's dragon. That is not my experience, that is your charity."
Viserys said nothing.
"I am Targaryen, but I have never done anything in my life that is truly what a qualified Targaryen should do. I gave up Iron Throne, went to Citadel, became Maester, got married to Wall, and gave up my family for the sake of my oath."
"I've read every book about Dragon, but I've never driven any living Dragon, or even had the chance to see one in person."
Aemon raised his head. Although he couldn't see it, his eyes were looking in the direction where the four Dragon were resting. He said, "I will spend my life like this. There is nothing to regret. You don't need to give me a period of false glory in my last time."
Daenerys stood nearby and listened. Her eye circles were a little red, and a warm current surged in her heart. She looked at the trembling family elder in front of her, but did not speak.