Mund Hightower's words instantly darkened Danyla's expression. Even Queen Aemma beside her looked displeased, while Prince Viserys voiced his displeasure outright.
"What fine manners House Hightower has! What a grand gesture!"
Then he ordered the personal guards beside him,
"Ser Mund is drunk. Escort him back to his quarters at once, before he causes any unnecessary trouble here!"
"Yes!"
Two personal guards immediately seized Mund Hightower roughly and dragged him out of the banquet hall without another word.
The young men from many of the other great houses looked delighted at his misfortune. The Twin Brothers from House Lannister in the Westerlands were particularly obvious about it.
The little incident put a considerable damper on Viserys's good mood. Now, as he looked at the young noblemen surrounding his eldest daughter, Rhaenyra, his gaze took on a measure of scrutiny.
And the more he looked, the less he liked them!
Just then, Medrick and his brother, who were quietly discussing White Sheep Town's affairs with Samwell and the others in a corner, caught Viserys's attention again. His appreciation for the two Manderly brothers from White Harbor grew still further.
Still annoyed, Danyla soon found an excuse to leave the banquet and return to her house. After a quick wash, she sat by the window in her nightclothes, gazing into the night as she carefully planned how to deal House Hightower a heavy blow.
After breakfast the following morning, Danyla invited her father and sister to ride their Great Dragons with her to the Cremation Tower.
After a night of urgent construction, the Cremation Platform Danyla had designed was mostly complete. The enormous platform had twenty separate troughs, allowing twenty people to undergo the Funeral Rite at once.
These troughs had already been filled with ordinary iron and steel. All the Slave