The Wall, Castle Black.It was just after lunch.
In the courtyard before the castle, several instructors were training the young Night's Watch recruits. Farther out, giants and wildlings bustled about on the construction site.
It had been over a week since the Dragon Queen left the Wall. In that time, the semicircular wall encircling Castle Black had already been reinforced with a solid foundation, and battlements half a meter high had been stacked atop it.
Although Stannis had requested a halt to this project right after the Queen's departure—demanding that all efforts be redirected to rebuilding Nightfort—the Night's Watch and the wildlings had refused without hesitation.
"We swore an oath to the Dragon Queen. A sacred oath. The Night's Watch must remain neutral. Helping another king rebuild a castle is not the same as building fortifications for Castle Black."
Bowen Marsh, the Steward, spoke in a trembling voice, yet with firm resolve.
"No way. Some of us are her prisoners, and the rest signed a 'lease agreement' with her. We won't work for the Red God's fiery false idol," a wildling roared at Two-Deer.
In that moment, Stannis' face contorted, and his hand gripped the hilt of his sword.
"Screeech—"
Suddenly, a dragon's cry echoed from the gray-blue sky above.
Wildlings and Night's Watch on the Wall's summit, the recruits lined up in the training yard, even some of the deer-faction knights training alongside them—all raised their hands to shield their eyes from the noon sun and looked up at the sky.
"It's a dragon! The black dragon! The Dragon Queen is back!"
Ser Alliser and several Dragon Loyalists cheered with joy, waving frantically at the sky.
"Back so soon? Still worried about the wildlings sailing east?" Two-Deer stepped out from the King's Tower, jaw clenched, eyes unreadable.
Beside him, several "anti-dragon" knights exchanged glances, a sinister smile tugging at their lips.
Yes, Two-Deer had moved into the King's Tower.
The Commander's Tower belonged to the Night's Watch. Once a new Lord Commander was elected, he would have to move there.
But Nightfort was too dilapidated and would take nearly half a year to repair.
Meanwhile, the internal factions of the deer party had quietly shifted, now divided by their stance on the Dragon Queen. The Crownland nobles formed the "Dragon Alliance," while the Stormlands, Riverlands, and followers of the Red God formed the "Dragon-Eaters."
The Dragon Alliance had long given up on any dream of a marriage alliance—after all, the Dragon Queen clearly disdained their lord, proclaiming herself a true dragon and regarding King Stannis as nothing more than an insect on the ground. Now, they advocated uniting with the Mother of Dragons and fully honoring the pact: "He who ends the Long Night shall be king."
If she succeeded, she would be their queen. If she failed, they were content to serve her—after all, they had already served others for centuries.
The Dragon-Eaters, on the other hand, had turned their unspeakable plots into tangible plans. They intended to seize any opportunity to strike at the Dragon Queen, removing the greatest obstacle standing between their chosen king, Stannis, and the Iron Throne—just as Maester Aemon had feared.
The Queen's swift and resolute departure had once dealt a serious blow to the Dragon-Eaters—with her gone, how could they carry out any conspiracy?But now, seeing the black dragon return to the Wall, their ambitions stirred once more.
At over a thousand meters in the air, Ygritte widened her large blue eyes and was the first to notice something strange:
"Wait… there's no one on the dragon. Look! The black dragon's claws… it's carrying a black sack?"
"Screeech—"The black dragon swiftly descended, dropping from 1,500 meters to just 300, then 200...
It really was a sack. Everyone gradually saw it more clearly.
But the great black dragon didn't land in the yard. It only skimmed over the Wall's summit and dropped two large, conjoined sacks onto the walkway atop the Wall.
"Screeech—"The black dragon let out another cry in the direction of Castle Black. A flash of intelligence gleamed in its eyes before it turned and flew off toward the southeast.
As the dragon soared higher and eventually disappeared into the clouds, Jon felt an inexplicable sense of loss. Turning to the Wall, he said,
"It came to deliver supplies… but what's inside the sacks?"
"Gold! Seven hells, it's full of gold!"Tod was leaning over the battlement, his hand full of coins, his face flushed with excitement. He waved frantically and shouted to those below:"Countless coins! Too many to lift! Hundreds of pounds—no, maybe over a thousand!"
"Gold?"The Night's Watch were stunned—then realization struck.
"The Dragon Queen kept her promise—she's sent supplies to the Wall! With gold, we can buy food!"Bowen Marsh trembled with excitement from head to toe.
"Not gold dragons, though—some kind of unfamiliar coin. Smaller than gold dragons. Might be some currency used in the Free Cities."Tod called down from above.
"Gold glory coins?"Stannis blurted out, exchanging a shocked look with the knights beside him."The black dragon came from across the Narrow Sea… She's returned to Slaver's Bay."
"Then… did she take Dragonstone?"Gaudy Farlyn asked in confusion.
"Of course she did. Don't forget, she has dragons."Stannis' expression turned grim.
"But…"Florent and several other anti-dragon lords looked at each other, bewildered and downcast."She really left Westeros? Didn't even rally her Crownland bannermen on Dragonstone?"
It took a long time before the two sacks of gold were hauled into Castle Black. Giants, wildlings, Night's Watch brothers, and some deer-faction knights all gathered around.
The sacks stood taller than a man and wider than a barrel. When the ties were loosened, the dazzling glow of gold nearly blinded everyone.
"They're indeed gold glory coins—multiple types, from Qarth, Volantis, and Slaver's Bay. But they all have the same value—roughly three glory coins equal one gold dragon," said a Night's Watch brother who looked more feminine than most women.
His name was Sardin, a former male prostitute from a brothel in Oldtown.
Donal the blacksmith tried lifting one of the sacks. His face turned red and his neck bulged, but the sack only wobbled slightly.
"It's heavy. Altogether, probably a thousand pounds—worth tens of thousands of gold dragons," he said in awe.
"There's also a letter."Tod handed over a scroll of pure white paper.
Perestan accepted it. Before opening it, he pinched the paper in puzzlement:
"This isn't parchment… It's thinner, cleaner, whiter…"
"Quick, read what it says!"Ser Alliser urged him.
"Oh…"Perestan, setting aside his curiosity about the material, broke the wax seal bearing the five-headed dragon sigil. He unfolded the letter and began to read:
"Over 1,000 pounds of gold—approximately 250,000 glory coins (ps).100,000 are for the Night's Watch, to be used at their discretion.150,000 are for the wildlings' six-month provisions and relocation expenses for crossing the Narrow Sea, to be coordinated with the centurions Val, Morona, and others.
Within two months, the Targaryen fleet will arrive at Eastwatch-by-the-Sea to retrieve them. At that time, a second shipment of supplies will also be delivered.
—Remember: Slaver's Bay is too far from the Wall. Even with gold in Astapor, it's nearly impossible to transport goods this far. Do not waste it."*
"There's gold for us too! Long live the Dragon Queen!"Ygritte shouted.
"Hmph, now no one can say we're freeloaders. The Dragon Queen's already paid for us."Val shouted toward the deer-faction knights.
"Long live the true Dragon Queen!"The wildlings roared together.
"One more thing." Perestan pressed his right hand down and said to the Night's Watch: "The Queen also asked whether a Lord Commander has been elected. If one has been chosen, then in the name of both the Lord Commander and myself, explain to all lords of count rank and above the holy vows of the 'United Front Against the White Walkers' and 'The Ender of the Long Night Shall Be King.'"
The steward of the Red Pomegranate sighed and said, "Her Majesty is right. A Lord Commander must be chosen as soon as possible."
——Latest novel first published on 69shu.com!
In just over twenty hours, Drog returned to Astapor. At this point, it had only been three days since the Dragon Queen returned to Slaver's Bay.
Having a dragon truly makes things convenient.
Especially after devouring the Rat Cook, Drog's physique hadn't changed much, but his strength, speed, and endurance had nearly doubled.
Previously, Drog could only carry about 500 pounds; any more would severely impact his flight posture. Now, he could carry half a ton of gold and still move nimbly and swiftly.
Without a load, his top speed reached 450 kilometers per hour.
At a gliding speed of 250 kilometers per hour, he could fly for three days and nights without rest.
In fact, from the moment he left the Great Pyramid carrying sacks, flew to the Wall, dropped the gold coins, and flew back, the whole two-and-a-half-day journey was completed without landing or eating.
In the three days since returning to Astapor, Dany had dealt with only one matter: the arrest of Earl Cleon the Chainbreaker.
Oh, and Maester Lai was also imprisoned.
Maester Lai was truly formidable. In the month Dany was away from Slaver's Bay, he confiscated and dismantled eight-tenths of the noble and merchant houses in Meereen—not killing anyone, but sentencing all of them to either death or permanent hard labor (life imprisonment).
According to the legal code set by Dany, any death sentence must be approved by the Queen or the Hand of the King before execution.
At that time, Slaver's Bay had no Hand—originally, Barristan was to be appointed after returning from a tour of Westeros—and the Queen was away, so the death sentences hadn't been carried out yet.
As soon as word spread of the Queen's return, Green Grace Grazda of Astapor immediately brought seven or eight Ghiscaris in long Tokar robes, all with terrified expressions, to see her.
At that moment, Dany had just watched Drog fly off carrying the gold coins. She was lying under the cool shade of a persimmon tree beside the pool, wearing loose silk trousers, chatting with old Aemon and Jorah about all the mess in Westeros.
Yes, Missandei was also sitting nearby, listening.
"Your Majesty, you're finally back!"
The old Ghiscar woman, draped in flowing green gauze, burst into tears and rushed to the Dragon Queen, prostrating herself at her feet. Hugging Dany's firm and shapely legs, she sobbed and wailed, "The Chainbreaker has gone mad, Your Majesty! That butcher has gone mad!"
"Ah, Lady Green Grace, please stand up," Dany helped the elderly woman onto a soft couch opposite her and asked with feigned confusion, "What's so urgent that it can't wait until tonight's banquet?"
Yes, Dany was throwing a party at the Great Pyramid tonight, inviting all high-ranking officials in the city and major merchants from abroad.
It was both to celebrate her return and to introduce old Aemon to everyone.
As one of the ruling council ministers, Green Grace was naturally among the invited guests.
"Your Majesty, this is absolutely urgent! Most of Meereen's noble houses are now empty. The Chainbreaker has confiscated their property, imprisoned them, and sentenced them to death—over twenty thousand people!"
"What do you mean? How could he just confiscate property and hand out death sentences? Over twenty thousand people—what in the world happened?" The Dragon Queen was both anxious and furious, her face full of confusion.
While crying into her hands, Green Grace slyly observed every subtle change in Dany's expression. Inwardly, she let out a huge sigh of relief: Thankfully, with her decades of experience reading people, she could be absolutely certain that the Dragon Queen knew nothing of this—Cleon the Butcher had acted entirely on his own, without any signal or approval from her.
Despicable!
After secretly cursing Cleon a few hundred times, Green Grace wiped the sweat and tears from her wrinkled face with a soft green silk handkerchief and began to wail to the Queen: "Your Majesty, the Earl of Chains has abused his power, framed the loyal, oppressed the people, taken bribes, broken the law, seized commoner women, and disrupted the entire administration!"
Green Grace listed hundreds of accusations without repeating herself, making Dany's head spin. Finally, Dany had to interrupt her, saying, "Keep it simple—get to the point. What exactly did Cleon the Chainbreaker do?"
(Author's note on coin weight)
About the weight of Gold Dragons and Gold Shines: One Gold Dragon is worth three Gold Shines—this is 100% confirmed.
So how heavy is a Gold Dragon?
I initially imagined that a single Gold Dragon would be at least the size of a 1-yuan coin, roughly 16 grams.
But then I came across a scene in A Song of Ice and Fire—the Hound carried a sack of Gold Dragons to the Riverlands, where he was robbed by the Brotherhood Without Banners. Beric Dondarrion gave him an IOU for over 9,000 Gold Dragons—the Hound had won 40,000 in a tournament and spent most of it, leaving only 9,000. The spending power in King's Landing is shocking. The Hound was traveling alone, riding only his warhorse Stranger.
Keep in mind, he was carrying physical coins, not a check. Beric distributed the 9,000 Gold Dragons that same day, sending his men throughout the Riverlands to buy grain.
Even for a strong horse like Stranger, carrying a fully armored knight plus those coins would leave little extra weight capacity. Let's assume the 9,000 dragons weighed a bit over 100 pounds—then each Gold Dragon would weigh only about 8 grams, which seems low.
And the Gold Shine is just one-third of a Dragon—
These coins are just too small.
In my opinion, this is a bug left by the original author. But what I think doesn't matter—Martin is the original author, so I'm just using his numbers.
(End of Chapter)
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