The barrel is thinner than an adult's little finger, and the surface is polished smooth. One end is flattened and sealed with a small piece of copper wire.
The raven squatted there quietly, tilting its head, as if waiting for him to take it away.
Redd bent down and reached out to untie the mailbox from Raven's leg.
When your fingers touch the metal barrel, you can feel the raven body heat remaining on it.
He unscrewed the sealing wire at the mouth of the tube and pulled out a thin piece of parchment that was rolled extremely tightly.
The handwriting on the unfolded paper was that of Mesalia, which was round and smooth, with a little ink bleeding in the creases, revealing that the letter was not written calmly.
Redd's eyes moved quickly across the paper, from the first line to the fourth line, at a uniform and steady speed, like a ship sailing smoothly along a known coastline.
When he read the third line, his fingers paused at the edge of the paper and he read the passage again to make sure that he had not missed any words.
Rhaenyra is in Dragonstone. She tried to take over the command of the remaining fleet and, as a mother, offered to take her two children to King's Landing.
Redd After reading this, he moved the parchment away from his eyes and exhaled.
He laughed angrily. A very light air flow with almost no rising tone surged out from the depth of his throat, escaped from the gap between his lips, and dissipated after staying in the quiet room for less than a breath.
There was no angry blush, no expression twist, he just stood in front of the window sill, letting the smile form on his lips and then be blown away by the wind, as if he was savoring something that he had already guessed would happen, but did not expect to happen at this speed and in this way.
He put down his hand and looked at the words on the letter again.
He left Dragonstone less than three days ago. Counting the flight time from Dragonstone to Volantis, Rhaenyra should have appeared on Dragonstone Castle just after he left with his front foot.
She was no stranger to the size of the garrison and the defense arrangements on that island. She had been in and out of military and political places as Redd's wife when she was the crown prince. She knew Dragonstone Castle's defense habits and the port's security rotation rules. She also knew which generals were more likely to follow the royal family's orders than his personal orders.
That's why she dared to step onto the island when Redd had just left, trying to use her legal status as a mother to bypass the junior officers who were more inclined to Redd and directly contact the fleet commander and the island garrison.
If Mesalia did not obtain his explicit authorization in advance, and if the remaining fleet and castle garrison lost their clear direction after Redd left, Rhaenyra might not necessarily fail.
Her identity is the wife of Redd, the biological mother of Jaehaerys and Visenya, and the crown prince of Seven Kingdoms. In the eyes of most people, she has natural custody of those two children.
Besides, she didn't want to take away the fleet and soldiers, she just wanted to take away the two children and bring them to King's Landing. In that city, there was her father, her supporters, and the political environment and court support she needed to consolidate her inheritance.
She has many reasons to convince herself that this is the right thing to do, many reasons to convince people around her that it is for the good of the child, allowing Jaehaerys to be exposed to palace affairs in a central area closer to Iron Throne, and allowing Visenya to become familiar with royal etiquette and aristocratic relations earlier in the atmosphere of King's Landing.
These reasons all sound reasonable, except for one problem - she did not obtain Redd's consent before doing so.
She even skipped the step of discussing in advance in the letter, bypassed all worries directly after he left, and used her own identity to touch the existence that he had explicitly ordered to stick to Dragonstone.
Redd has left a death order for Mesalia.
Before he returns, the fleet and army have to guard Dragonstone and the two children as their top priority. No matter who orders it, even if the king himself writes a letter and requests it, they cannot let him go.
Rhaenyra will not succeed.
Mesalia will not let him go, and those officers and fleet commanders will not be swayed in executing his orders because of Rhaenyra's status as the crown prince.
His order was written directly to them personally. Unlike any letter passed through an intermediary, it was written down the night before he left. He personally handed it to Mesalia. She confirmed the content on the spot and had the fleet commander and fortress officers read and sign each one the next day.
The arrangements he left behind were thorough and clear. Any child that Rhaenyra wants to take away must be intercepted by the Dragonstone Castle ground defense system.
From the moment she stepped onto the dock, every word she spoke, every step she took, every intonation and emphasis she used when mentioning her child's name would be recorded, transmitted back to Messalia, and flagged for intentions beyond her authority.
But the occurrence of the incident still gave him a new negative perception of Rhaenyra's judgment.
Redd flattened the letter paper, placed it on the table, took out the quill and dipped it in ink, and started writing a reply on another piece of letter paper.
His handwriting is tighter and shorter than usual, and the ink penetrates the paper faster than usual.
His reply to Mesalia was brief and strict: The child must not leave Dragonstone.
Neither the sea fleet nor the island army can move at the request of anyone.
If anyone attempts to take a child by force in any capacity or for any reason, the fleet and garrison have the right to stop him and detain him until he returns to Dragonstone.
As for Rhaenyra herself, let her be responsible for her life and death.
He did not write more about Rhaenyra in his reply, did not comment on why she made such a choice at this time, did not analyze her motives, and did not explain whether he needed to send someone to keep an eye on her next move.
Messalia would judge for herself how to tighten the rope next, keeping the dangling thread straight and not letting her find loose threads at any corner.
After writing the reply, he dried the paper, folded it into thin strips, stuffed it back into the small iron mailbox, and resealed the mouth of the tube with the prepared wax.
The raven had been quietly crouching on the edge of the table and waiting. When he came closer, he turned his head slightly and looked at him with his amber eyes, as if to confirm that he had finished writing. Then he raised his legs and cooperated with him to tie the mailbox back to its original position.
Redd tied the rope tightly and patted the raven's back feathers. The bird flapped its wings and flew out of the window, drawing an arc in the air and gradually shrinking into a black spot along the coastline.
Redd stood by the window and watched the raven fly away until it completely disappeared in the narrow gap between the sea level and the sunset.
He stretched out his fingers and slowly folded the letter from Messaria several times with his fingertips, folding it into a long strip, and then lit a corner of the paper with a light fold.