One week later, on the south shore of the God's Eye.
The massive column finally arrived at Draco. More than two thousand people slowly advanced along Jaqenion Avenue, drawing countless sidelong glances from passersby.
Among them were one thousand commoners from King's Landing — refugees, craftsn, rchants, and young n who had been captivated by Luke's performance at the tourney and voluntarily joined him when he left the city.
The other one thousand ca from across the Narrow Sea — from Astapor.
Unsullied!
This was already the tenth batch of Unsullied to reach Draco.
To the west of Draco, a brand-new military camp had been built.
At this mont, it already housed five thousand Unsullied.
Ever since the Battle of White Ridge Pass, Luke had sent trusted n to Slaver's Bay to purchase Unsullied.
He didn't have enough gold dragons, nor could he "freeload" like the Dragon Queen with her dragons, but he had other thods… trading代理 rights for magical goods.
To be precise, the "Good Masters" of Slaver's Bay had proactively sent people to negotiate business with him.
They were extrely interested in the magical glass beads, suns that shone at night, singing boxes, pens that never ran out of ink, and other modern trinkets.
In the end, Luke used all kinds of miscellaneous modern crafts to pay for two thousand Unsullied.
The remaining three thousand were exchanged for exclusive trading rights to salt, sugar, perfu, and similar goods.
A total of five thousand Unsullied.
Since they were already there, it would have been a waste not to take them.
These were the most loyal warriors. They had no desires, no fear, only obedience, and required no pay… truly perfect.
To avoid drawing too much attention earlier, Luke had transported them in small batches. But this was the final group, so he no longer bothered staying low-key.
His army now numbered ten thousand n.
Five thousand Unsullied, two thousand official mbers of the family guard, and three thousand new recruits in reserve.
Ten thousand in total.
In the Seven Kingdoms, this was already a force that could not be ignored.
Luke rode at the head of the column, accompanied by a special woman.
She had the characteristic bronze skin of Dorne and short, jet-black hair that reached her ears. Her features were deep and exquisite, full of exotic charm.
What drew the most attention was her outfit… the deep V-neckline plunged extrely low, almost exposing half her breasts. With every bounce of the horse, tantalizing glimpses appeared.
Tyene Sand.
One of the Sand Snakes, bastard daughter of the Red Viper Oberyn Martell.
In the original story, she was the seductive beauty who made Bronn bleed from the nose and beg for rcy, admitting she was the "most beautiful woman."
At this mont, she rode behind Luke as they inspected the Unsullied camp.
Tyene's gaze swept across the neatly arranged barracks, the soldiers training, and the completely un-Westerosi training thods.
A strange light flashed in her eyes.
"Luke," she suddenly spoke, "are you planning to conquer Westeros?"
Luke raised an eyebrow.
"How did you know?"
Tyene's pretty face clouded with sorrow… news of the Red Viper's death had likely spread across the Seven Kingdoms by now.
"My father said so."
She paused, then continued, "He said you possess magic and could never be content with a small corner of land. Your ambition is great. Everything you do goes against Westerosi tradition. Whether you intend to or not, you will eventually reach an irreconcilable point with the old nobles."
Luke was silent for a mont.
The Red Viper had indeed been a clever man.
Unfortunately, he still died on the tourney field. He could not escape his fate at the hands of the Mountain.
Tyene turned to him, her black eyes burning as she stared intently.
"Lord Baron, will you help destroy the Lannisters?"
Looking at that charming face, Luke rubbed his nose.
"Did you poison again? I told you — if you dare poison one more ti, I'll kill you."
Tyene smiled sweetly.
She slowly pulled open her deep V-neckline, revealing a breathtaking view, then quickly covered it again.
"It's a poison with no antidote," she said playfully. "Even a Celestial Dragon who is immune to a hundred poisons cannot resist it."
Luke laughed helplessly.
He had to admit this woman was very charming.
Wild, beautiful, seductive, dangerous… like Dornish sumr red — intoxicating, yet like a sand viper carrying deadly poison.
Ever since the Red Viper first visited Luke's lands, this woman had grown familiar with him.
Not long ago she had even tried to seduce him with a honey trap and poisoned him.
To punish her, Luke had given her a lesson she would never forget!
She had already been shaped by him.
This was also why the Red Viper had sent this particular "Sand Snake" to him.
"We'll talk about the Lannisters later," Luke said, turning his gaze back to the camp. "For now, let's inspect my army."
Tyene followed behind him, the corners of her mouth curving upward.
At the sa ti, in King's Landing, Tower of the Hand.
A fierce argunt was underway.
Eddard Stark sat in the Hand's seat, staring at an urgent letter from the Wall.
The letter said that the wildlings were marching south in force and requested military support from the South.
Military support!
But prior to this, the Wall had already sent ssages about the Others.
Now they were claiming it was a wildling invasion. The contradiction made people suspicious of the Night's Watch's true intentions.
"The Lord Commander actually fabricated a story about 'Others' just to get help against the wildlings!" soone mocked.
Eddard Stark said gravely, "The Lord Commander is not that kind of man. The Others may truly have appeared. The southern lords didn't believe it, so they're calling it a wildling invasion instead!"
However, no one agreed with Eddard Stark.
In the end, the King ordered all prisoners from every dungeon in the Seven Kingdoms to be sent to the Wall.
The matter was temporarily set aside.
But there was a more pressing problem.
Prince Oberyn of Dorne had died in King's Landing.
Prince Doran had already sent a letter demanding an explanation from the Iron Throne and the punishnt of those responsible.
The Lannisters claid it was a normal accident during a tourney. Besides, the Mountain had also died.
Dorne refused to let it go and demanded the Lannisters answer for it — Tywin Lannister must personally attend the Red Viper's funeral in Dorne, since the Mountain was his bannerman!
Otherwise, it would be regarded as the Lannisters declaring war on Dorne!
These were truly troubled tis.
The two houses were already mortal enemies! If things went badly, war could really break out.
However, there was an even more urgent issue.
King Robert glared fiercely at Eddard Stark.
"You stopped the assassin from killing that Targaryen girl. Now word has arrived — she is pregnant with the Khal's child!"
His voice grew louder, his face turning red.
"What if that Targaryen bastard brings a Dothraki horde back across the sea? What will you say then? Daenerys must die!"
Eddard frowned.
He still refused to agree to the assassination of a child.
It went against his sense of honor.
"Your Grace, she is still a child," Eddard said slowly. "Besides, the Dothraki have no ships. They cannot cross the Narrow Sea."
"Bullshit!" Robert slamd to his feet. "What do you know? The Free Cities have plenty of ships! For the right price, they'll sell anything!"
He stared at Eddard, his eyes turning cold.
"Lord Stark, you are the Hand of the King. Either do as I say, or I will find soone who will."
Eddard was silent for a mont.
Then he stood up, ripped the Hand of the King pin from his chest, and placed it on the table.
"I will not be an accomplice to murder."
He turned and strode out.
Robert watched his retreating back, his face ashen.
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