Arc 6Chapters 126–150

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Chapters 126–150 Vol. 2 Read

Ch. 126Trial by Stoning

Ygr led the Oldtown mob in breaking into the Starry Sept and executing its noble-born prelates under the guise of the Seven’s judgment. After dividing the sept’s visible riches, the exhausted rioters went home, while Ygr and his men knew where its hidden treasury lay.

  • Ygr directed the mob to build a battering ram after their swords failed to break the Starry Sept’s bronze doors.
  • The rioters broke into the sept, and Ygr stopped them from attacking the poor-born septons before they searched for the hiding prelates.
  • Ygr accused the richly dressed prelates of serving House Hightower and ordered them judged with fragments of the fallen stars.
  • The mob stripped the noble-born prelates and stoned them to death with the blackened fragments.
  • Ygr organized the gathering of the dead and divided the Starry Sept’s visible treasures among the rioters, while he and his men kept the hidden treasury’s location known to themselves.

Ch. 127Chaos in Oldtown

After Rouge seized Oldtown’s merchant ships, cargo, and workers, he secured the docks while the city descended into widespread looting and arson. Merchants from the Free Cities gathered near the Holy Flame Fleet seeking the Dragon Princess’s protection, while Westerosi nobles remained confident House Hightower would answer for their losses.

  • Rouge ordered his men to guard the docks and warehouses, rest in shifts, and prepare for possible attacks by bandits.
  • Rouge’s forces transferred valuables, shipwrights, sailors, and captured guards onto more than three hundred large ships, which they moved away from the docks under Unsullied guard.
  • Merchant shipowners signed promissory notes and unequal agreements before fleeing into poor neighborhoods and refugee areas for safety.
  • Merchants inferred that the rioting reflected a conflict between House Hightower and the Dragon Princess, and more than thirty Free Cities ships gathered near the Holy Flame Fleet.
  • Westerosi fleet leaders speculated about House Hightower’s motives and expected to claim compensation from whoever won the conflict.
  • Criminals took advantage of the chaos as looting and arson spread through Oldtown’s wealthy and commercial districts.

Ch. 128Lysandro

House Rogare’s merchant convoy approached the Holy Flame Fleet and offered its goods in exchange for Princess Danyla’s protection, while Lysandro wondered whether House Hightower had truly caused Oldtown’s unrest. Elsewhere, Dax and Ygr secured captured bandits and the Starry Sept, then sought Danyla’s orders about its locked treasury.

  • The Holy Flame Fleet fired a powerful ballista bolt into House Rogare’s leading ship and ordered the convoy to stop.
  • Lysandro signaled that House Rogare would offer its possessions to Princess Danyla for protection, and the fleet agreed to hold its fire while awaiting her decision.
  • Lysandro asked Giovanni and Dezelaco to rest while he kept watch over burning Oldtown and questioned whether House Hightower had instigated the unrest.
  • Dax and his men brought more than a hundred captured bandits and their stolen loot to a courtyard, then hurried to the Starry Sept.
  • Ygr’s group confined the surviving septons and found the sept’s treasury, but left it unopened because a septon had locked it; Ygr sent Danyla a report by giant eagle.

Ch. 129The Power of Sacrifice

After signing a contract with Earl Hightower, Danyla slept and dreamed of a weirwood draining a sea serpent beneath the Hightower, while fire dragons burned monsters in Oldtown. She woke refreshed, learned her allies had secured the Starry Sept and docks, and went to Weirwood Square, where Amoros had dug a huge pit.

  • Danyla noticed Dawnlight and Firefall had grown hotter and more powerful after her sacrificial incantation, then fell asleep.
  • Danyla dreamed that roots pulled her from a dark ocean as a weirwood drained a pursuing sea serpent beneath a tower resembling the Hightower.
  • Danyla saw fire dragons burn monsters and green dragons over Oldtown, turning the city's cold energy into a warm current that flowed toward her and the weirwood.
  • Myracis woke Danyla, and Danyla received a letter reporting that her allies had secured the Starry Sept and the docks.
  • Danyla dressed and went to Weirwood Square, where dragons were eating the rioters' bodies and Amoros had dug a deep pit near the weirwood.

Ch. 130The joy of the harvest

Danyla discovered magical iron, a sea serpent skeleton, and five dragon eggs near the weirwood, then flew to the Starry Sept to seize its treasury and take control of Oldtown’s docks. Rouge reported that the ships and their owners were secured, while the Holy Flame Fleet-bound vessels had escaped.

  • Danyla found magical iron scattered around the weirwood and discovered a sea serpent skeleton, two magical pearls, and five dragon eggs inside a cave.
  • Danyla had Dreamfyre remove the sea serpent skeleton, took its pearls, and planned to experiment with forging its bones and the iron into weapons and armor.
  • Danyla flew to the Starry Sept, had Dreamfyre break open its treasury, and ordered Dax to remove the septons and secretly move the treasure after dark.
  • Rouge arrived with Unsullied and slave soldiers and told Danyla that they controlled the docked ships, while more than thirty ships had escaped toward the Holy Flame Fleet.
  • Rouge swore his life belonged to Danyla, who praised him for his service.

Ch. 131Black Rat and Mungo

Danyla freed the Unsullied, who chose to serve as her guards, and appointed Black Rat to help secure the Starry Sept. She then offered a Dothraki warrior a place as Blood of My Blood and challenged him to accept her oath.

  • Danyla destroyed the Unsullied's gold whips, cut off one man's slave collar, and declared them free to choose their own lives.
  • The Unsullied swore allegiance to Danyla and selected Black Rat as their leader; he chose to keep that name because it represented his new life.
  • The Unsullied removed their collars and formed ranks behind Danyla, who ordered Black Rat to guard the Starry Sept and gather the rioters' bodies for cremation.
  • Rouge presented Danyla with a Dothraki gladiator and a Valyrian steel arakh called Scarlet Steed.
  • Danyla asked the warrior to become Blood of My Blood, gave him an oath of courage and honor, slapped him, and asked whether he accepted.

Ch. 132Cleaning up the aftermath

Danyla restored order in Oldtown, cremated the riot’s victims with Dreamfyre, and moved the city’s seized wealth onto her ships. Afterward, she told Lysandro that he could sail safely with the Holy Flame Fleet, and he offered his cargo to help Oldtown recover.

  • Danyla accepted Mungo’s blood oath and sent Dax, Ygr, and Rouge with over a thousand slave soldiers to suppress the riots, disarm the city, and collect the victims’ bodies.
  • Dax and his men captured more than five hundred bandits, confiscated weapons and valuables, and announced that Danyla had ordered the effort to restore order.
  • Danyla brought the sea dragon bones to the Starry Sept and used Dreamfyre’s dragonfire to cremate thousands of victims, melting the confiscated steel and much of the bones.
  • Rouge arranged boats to carry the seized wealth and the Starry Sept’s treasury to the fleet, while Danyla loaded iron from Weirwood Square onto the ships.
  • Danyla met Lysandro aboard his ship, told him the crisis was over and he could leave safely, and accepted his offer to give his cargo to Oldtown.

Ch. 133The bewildered Earl Hightower

Danyla evacuated Oldtown’s captured wealth and merchant ships to Holy Flame Island, while Earl Hightower learned that she had seized House Hightower’s fortunes and property deeds. Comforted by his wife and daughter, he accepted that his family’s survival mattered more than its losses but wondered how House Hightower had fallen into such a predicament.

  • Danyla rode Dreamfyre over the detained merchant flotillas and persuaded their traders to follow the Holy Flame Fleet to Holy Flame Island.
  • Danyla returned to the Starry Sept as the looted wealth was loaded, and Wolf and his brothers led the fleet and merchant ships out of Oldtown.
  • Dax and his brothers sailed behind with five hundred slave soldiers and more than two hundred treasure-laden ships carrying Oldtown’s plunder to Holy Flame Island.
  • Danyla’s haul included more than twenty million Gold Dragons, valuable ships, House Hightower’s Free Cities property deeds, and molten steel infused with magical energy.
  • Earl Hightower’s wife and daughter Emily reassured him that Danyla’s seizure had spared their family, and he lamented that he could not understand House Hightower’s downfall.

Ch. 134Compensation for the Bereaved

Danyla arranged compensation and protection for the civilians killed in Oldtown's riot, then ordered Rouge to strengthen the garrison, secure the city, and manage the impounded ships. She returned to the Hightower as Oldtown remained eerily quiet and the dragons continued feeding on the dead.

  • Danyla ordered Rouge to compensate the victims' families, provide monthly support to vulnerable households, and watch over their children.
  • Danyla confirmed the magical energy in the solidified steel had not faded and realized it could be forged into weapons and armor like Valyrian steel.
  • Danyla told Rouge to recruit three hundred soldiers, rebuild the Oldtown Garrison, reopen the docks, and guard the roads against House Hightower's arriving vassals.
  • Danyla ordered Rouge to return ships belonging to the Seven Kingdoms' houses with a year of tax-free trading on Holy Flame Island, while owners from the Free Cities could buy back their ships at half price.
  • Danyla ordered five of House Hightower's ships to carry the cooled metal and sea serpent skeleton to King's Landing, along with the gifts seized from the Hightower.
  • Danyla walked back to the Hightower with her guards, saw that Oldtown was nearly dark and deserted, and found Amoros still feeding on corpses in Weirwood Square.

Ch. 135The hapless House Hightower

Danyla returned to Oldtown and told Earl Hightower that Ser Hobart and his men had been killed or fled after plundering merchants, while Rouge had restored order. The next morning, Earl Hightower surrendered House Hightower’s treasury to Danyla, who urged his family to go to King’s Landing and seek the king’s mercy.

  • Danyla told Earl Hightower that Ser Hobart and his men had provoked the mob by looting merchant caravans, and their fate was uncertain.
  • Danyla revealed that the merchants’ promissory notes might be in Ser Bart’s hands and warned that House Hightower had made powerful enemies.
  • Danyla said Rouge had brought the riots under control and received authorization to establish a new Oldtown garrison.
  • Danyla returned to her room with Alyssa while the Hightower maester treated Mungo’s injuries, and Myracis guarded her through the night.
  • After breakfast, Rouge sent for ships, and Earl Hightower handed Danyla House Hightower’s collected wealth.
  • Danyla advised Earl Hightower to send his wife and relatives to King’s Landing to settle the family’s affairs with the king.

Ch. 136Hearts are not easily won (Part one)

Danyla consolidated her control over Oldtown, strengthened her bond with the dragons, and arranged compensation and trade benefits for those harmed by the unrest. House Hightower prepared to leave for King's Landing while Oldtown began returning to normal under Danyla's influence.

  • The Earl of Hightower told Emily to look after the family in King's Landing and warned her to avoid taking unnecessary action.
  • Danyla visited Weirwood Square, where Amoros guarded her five eggs and the nine dragons recovered after devouring the rioters' corpses.
  • Danyla sensed that the dragons' energy and her telepathic bond with them had grown stronger, while the strange black stones beneath the Hightower rapidly lost energy.
  • Rouge returned merchant ships to their owners and granted houses a year's tax exemption for trading on Holy Flame Island.
  • Some nobles questioned whether the Oldtown riot had been manipulated, while the Garrison verified families who had lost God-Touched relatives and began paying compensation and monthly subsidies.

Ch. 137Hearts Are Not Easily Won (Part Two)

Danyla faced Oldtown’s anger over the deaths caused by the riots, promised to restore order, and then enforced the ransom terms for foreign merchants’ fleets. She left the merchants with a choice: sign their contracts and depart Oldtown, or lose their ships.

  • Danyla stopped Mungo and the Unsullied from arresting a holy fool who accused her of bringing disaster to Oldtown, and she promised that normal life would return under a new Oldtown Garrison.
  • Danyla inspected Oldtown’s main thoroughfares despite the hostile looks of its residents.
  • At the docks, Rouge refused to lower the ransom terms for foreign merchants seeking to reclaim their ships.
  • Dreamfyre landed between the merchants and Danyla, driving them back as Danyla ordered them to sign their contracts and leave Oldtown with their fleets.

Ch. 138Riddle of the Sphinx

Danyla forced the Essosi merchants in Oldtown to sign promissory notes, then helped the city recover from the riots. During a visit to the Citadel, she touched a sphinx statue and experienced a vision of Oedipus and the Sphinx.

  • Danyla and Dreamfyre pressured the merchants into signing promissory notes worth more than ten million Gold Dragons, and the merchants sailed away from Oldtown.
  • Rouge's garrison aided riot victims, organized the city's defenses, and added three hundred young men to its ranks as Oldtown returned to normal.
  • Danyla visited the Citadel with Earl Hightower and her Personal Guard and examined the sphinx statues at its gate.
  • Danyla touched a sphinx statue, fell into a daze, and Myracis swooped down in response.
  • Danyla's vision recounted the plague in Thebes, Oedipus's journey, and his answer to the Sphinx's riddle before he became king and married the queen.

Ch. 139So-called prophecy

Danyla reflected on prophecy and how belief could make predictions come true, then visited the Citadel in Oldtown. She browsed the Scribe’s Hearth and found popular books whose unofficial accounts of Targaryen history differed sharply from the royal version.

  • Danyla considered how prophecies could shape people’s actions and noted that she had built her power by knowing what she wanted.
  • Myracis called Danyla back to her senses before the Citadel’s gates, where the two Sphinx statues had become lifeless bronze.
  • Danyla soothed Myracis and decided not to attack the statues unless someone provoked her.
  • Danyla explored the Scribe’s Hearth, where acolytes offered writing services and sold books copied from the Citadel’s library.
  • Danyla found that books about Targaryen dragons and the royal family sold well among visitors to Oldtown.
  • Danyla read an unofficial account claiming Maegor’s queens had strangled him and staged his death on the Iron Throne, rather than the official story that the throne had killed him.

Ch. 140A bunch of scheming old foxes

Danyla visited the Citadel with Earl Hightower and confronted Doctor Vaegon after he insulted her maternal grandmother. She prepared to tour the Citadel under Seneschal Waghram’s guidance, while her agents continued secretly monitoring and infiltrating its ranks.

  • Danyla bought three sailing-log volumes from an assistant maester after recognizing her intelligence organization’s secret mark in one of them.
  • Danyla reflected on how her agents had infiltrated the Citadel and Faith of the Seven, gathering intelligence and copying books for Holy Flame Island.
  • Mungo announced Danyla’s many titles to the gathered maesters, who bowed as she arrived at the Citadel’s inner tower.
  • Seneschal Waghram welcomed Danyla, and Doctor Vaegon insulted her maternal grandmother.
  • Danyla rebuked Vaegon by invoking her family’s dragons and his vows as a maester, then asked Waghram to lead her through the Citadel.
  • Waghram led Danyla and Earl Hightower onward as Myracis circled above her, worsening Vaegon’s distress.

Ch. 141Glass candles

Danyla urged the Citadel’s leaders to expand its reach by establishing branches across the Seven Kingdoms, despite their concerns about the scarcity of qualified teachers. After learning about the glass candles and Archmaester Galvin’s blindness, she challenged the archmaesters to spread knowledge before it was lost.

  • Seneschal Waghram suggested that Danyla give a lecture at the Citadel, and she praised the importance of knowledge and the Citadel’s role in advancing the Seven Kingdoms.
  • Danyla proposed establishing Citadel branches in King's Landing, on Holy Flame Island, and eventually in every major city, while Vaegon mocked her idea and Waghram explained the shortage of teachers and resources.
  • Waghram and Archmaester Galvin showed Danyla the glass candle room and described the acolytes’ vigil and the candles’ mysterious properties.
  • Danyla recognized Archmaester Galvin from her vision, asked about his Valyrian steel chain and whether he had lit a glass candle, and heard that lighting one had cost him his sight.
  • Danyla praised practical learning and urged the archmaesters to expand the Citadel and preserve and spread knowledge.

Ch. 142Astronomical Telescope

Danyla pressured the Citadel to accept two new branches, promising to fund them while warning that she would not tolerate obstruction. She learned about the Citadel’s Astronomical Telescope and inspected it, hoping to assess its usefulness while dragonriding.

  • Danyla proposed funding two Citadel branches and insisted the doctors appoint branch heads and teachers, while Vaegon objected to her involvement.
  • Ormond revealed that House Hightower had agreed to fund the Citadel from Oldtown’s harbor taxes under Danyla’s arrangement.
  • Waggo Wagram and Vaegon defended the Citadel’s independence, but Danyla argued that establishing the branches would benefit future generations.
  • Danyla mentioned the Astronomical Telescope, surprising Doctor Waghram, who then led her to see it atop a tall tower.
  • Danyla tested the telescope and found that it could clearly reveal people aboard ships dozens of li away.

Ch. 143White ravens

Princess Danyla challenged the Citadel's resistance to her proposals and visited Rookery Island with Vaegon, where she examined the Citadel's white ravens. The chapter left her at the white raven nest, where she learned that the Citadel used the birds only to announce seasonal changes.

  • Danyla asked Doctor Waghram to make telescopes for the Red Keep and Holy Flame Castle, but he argued that the expense was unjustified while commoners suffered.
  • Danyla countered Waghram's objections by defending her rule and urging the Citadel to use its knowledge for the people's benefit, warning that another organization could replace it.
  • Danyla greeted Maester Raven and invited Vaegon to walk with her around Rookery Island.
  • Myracis flew toward the island's weirwood, scattering the roosting ravens and crows.
  • Danyla followed Maester Raven to the White Raven Nest and learned that the Citadel's white ravens carried news of seasonal changes.

Ch. 144Feeding the Little White Ravens

Danyla visited Rookery Island, where Riven showed her the white raven chicks he had successfully hatched using her techniques. After collecting twelve newly laid eggs and learning about raven care, Danyla decided to meditate beneath the weirwood beside the sleeping Myracis.

  • Riven told Danyla that his breeding method had produced nine surviving white raven chicks from two broods.
  • Danyla fed the chicks caterpillars, prepared feed, and pieces of a rat she killed with her dagger.
  • Riven secretly gave Danyla a box containing twelve white raven eggs, which she put in her shoulder bag.
  • Danyla spent the day learning about raven studies from Riven while Myracis rested beneath the weirwood.
  • After noticing Myracis's energy intertwined with the weirwood's, Danyla climbed onto Myracis and began meditating beneath the tree.

Ch. 145Nature Contract

Danyla experienced Myracis’s ancient memory of the land’s creatures fighting the sea monsters and a colossal monster, then joined Myracis in restoring the world’s power and defeating it. She awoke from the dragon dream after peace returned.

  • Danyla saw through Myracis’s eyes how sea monsters corrupted the land and overwhelmed its creatures with dark water magic.
  • A moon exploded, and fire dragons descended to destroy the sea monsters while the land’s creatures used the Song of the Earth to repel the ocean waves.
  • A colossal tentacled monster rose from the sea and battled a giant fire dragon, whose clash with the monster’s black smoke disrupted the world’s life-sustaining melodies.
  • Danyla chanted the Song of Blood and Fire, synchronizing her power with Myracis and the enormous tree beneath her and restoring the world’s rhythm.
  • The renewed power strengthened the fire dragon, which burned the monster until it sank beneath the sea, and Danyla awoke.

Ch. 146You Only Need to Obey

Danyla’s Nature Contract connected her with Myracis and the weirwood, altering the tree and giving her fleeting visions of the land’s history. Meanwhile, the Citadel’s doctors debated Princess Danyla’s authority to choose a new Grand Maester as Earl Hightower listened uneasily.

  • Danyla chanted Nature Contract, and the energies of Myracis and the weirwood resonated as she saw flashes of the continent’s past.
  • Myracis’s scales gained a purplish-red tint, and she flew to Weirwood Square for breakfast after Danyla sent her off.
  • Raven pointed out that the weirwood had developed black-and-white markings and narrower leaves, and Danyla explained that Myracis had caused a similar change on Holy Flame Island.
  • Earl Hightower asked Doctor Waghram about the next Grand Student, and Waghram said Doctor Mellos had been elected and would go to King's Landing.
  • A doctor from House Hightower objected to Princess Danyla choosing a Grand Maester, while other doctors mocked him and defended her right to intervene.

Ch. 147The choice is mine

Danyla demanded that the Citadel provide maesters suited to the royal family’s and Holy Flame Castle’s needs, challenging the Conclave’s control over their selection. She left Doctor Waghram with a warning that the Citadel must meet royal demands or risk its existence.

  • Doctor Galvin mocked the Hightower-aligned maesters and stormed out of the Citadel’s dining hall after Doctor Waghram tried to stop him.
  • Danyla returned to the Conclave, where Doctor Waghram introduced Maester Mellos as its choice for the next Grand Maester.
  • Danyla requested three Grand Maester candidates for the Red Keep and three skilled maesters for Holy Flame Castle.
  • Doctor Waghram objected that the Conclave alone chose which maesters served each castle.
  • Danyla argued that the royal family had the right to set its requirements and cited Prince Baelon’s death as proof of the need for skilled medical care.
  • Danyla warned Doctor Waghram that the Citadel must fulfill royal demands or have no reason to exist.

Ch. 148The Princess Shows Her Strength

Danyla used Myracis’s dragonfire to make the Citadel agree to hold a Conclave, then spent time tending to her dragons. When Earl Cuy marched on Oldtown, Danyla confronted him on Himolos and demanded to know his intentions.

  • Myracis roared and breathed fire above the Citadel, prompting Doctor Waghram to agree to gather the doctors and convene a Conclave to select new maesters.
  • Danyla offered to cure Doctor Galvin’s blindness if the Citadel provided a Glass Candle, then returned to Weirwood Square to care for Amoros and bond with the dragons.
  • Rouge informed Danyla that Earl Cuy had marched on Oldtown with five hundred and twenty men, and that the garrison had stopped them outside the southwestern checkpoint.
  • Danyla took secret letters involving Sunhouse Castle and House Hightower, mounted Himolos, and flew to confront Earl Cuy.
  • Himolos’s roar frightened Earl Cuy off his horse, and Danyla asked why he had brought his men to Oldtown; Earl Cuy claimed House Cuy had come to pledge loyalty to House Hightower.

Ch. 149The fall of House Cuy

Danyla exposed Earl Cuy’s treason, sentenced House Cuy, and used Himolos to kill Earl Cuy and several of his supporters. After House Cuy’s ordinary soldiers surrendered, Danyla sent Mungo’s forces to seize Sunhouse Castle, which she hoped could become a future Targaryen fief.

  • Danyla accused Earl Cuy of sending Princess Senyra to Lys, backing her bastards as heirs, and hiring the Faceless Men to assassinate her.
  • Maester Doron confirmed that the letters Danyla presented bore Earl Cuy’s handwriting and House Cuy’s seals.
  • Danyla stripped House Cuy of its lands and title, sentenced its adult men to the Night’s Watch, and exiled its women and children to the Stepstones.
  • Earl Cuy demanded a trial by the Seven and attacked, so Himolos burned him and several knights while Rouge, Mungo, and their troops defeated the remaining resistance.
  • House Cuy’s ordinary soldiers surrendered, and Danyla ordered Mungo to lead forces to seize Sunhouse Castle.

Ch. 150The Glass Candle's Uses

Danyla used the dragons to dispose of House Cuy’s dead and planned to forge weapons from their metal-rich droppings. She used the Glass Candle to restore Doctor Galvin’s sight and gained his support, while her message reached Jaehaerys in King’s Landing.

  • Danyla had the dragons eat House Cuy’s charred corpses and dead warhorses, then arranged for smiths to forge high-quality steel from the metal in the dragons’ droppings.
  • Danyla sent Antheros to King’s Landing carrying evidence of House Cuy’s guilt and a message for Jaehaerys.
  • Doctor Galvin told Danyla that a Glass Candle had blinded him more than ten years earlier after he saw a vision of a dragon being born in fire.
  • Danyla hinted that Valyrian steel required baptism in blood and fire, then used the Glass Candle to restore Galvin’s sight.
  • Galvin pledged to obey Danyla, and she asked him to help when the Citadel established a branch.
  • Jaehaerys heard Danyla’s voice while Audella read to him in the Red Keep.
Arc 6 of 24