Chapter 113

The wedding procession was extraordinarily grand; Davos had last seen such a lavish wedding at the time Stannis married Lady Florent. Back then the Seven Kingdoms had just been settled, and for the first time they enjoyed a rare summer; everyone present was filled with cheerful voices and laughter, immersed in the happy fantasy of eternal peace. He still remembered that the king attending the wedding was delighted, at the wedding feast embracing left and right, clinking cups, which made the beautiful Lannister queen's face turn as cold as ice, while young Stannis, as the groom, was not solemn but expressionless, as if what was happening had nothing to do with him.

Stannis

He was as happy as the other guests at the time; in truth, he sincerely rejoiced for his lord and sincerely offered his blessings, precisely because of the lord's favor, which gave someone of his lowly status like him the chance to be invited and attend the wedding alongside the court's loyal ministers and nobles.

That marriage was like this one, also held on the island; the difference was that the spectators here were not so pleased, and a cold wind blew in from the sea, announcing that the world had entered a cold winter. The only excitement came from children watching the large crowd play on the shore; the wind was somewhat harsh, but these little ironborn were enthusiastic and unaffected.

This time he was likewise fortunate to attend the wedding and leave the dark, damp hold of the ship, but not because of the king's favor; rather, it stemmed from the king's vanity—this king had captured the earl, countess, ladies, and many renowned knights of the Shield Islands, yet he had never before seized a high official such as the King's Hand of the Seven Kingdoms; today was the time to display him like a rare animal—these are the exact words of the King of the Iron Islands.

He felt that King Stannis appointing him as the King's Hand was the greatest mistake, for he was simply incompetent enough that even a minor task could fail so badly—he not only failed to complete the mission, but also lost face for his king, causing the king to be humiliated and mocked, and even was pitied by potential partners.

He truly wished the sea would at this moment raise huge waves, flood the coast, sweep him into the surf, sink him into the icy saltwater, and reunite him with his deceased sons.

Tass

But he cannot die yet. Count Dorre has entrusted him with his daughter's safety as well; he does not want to be merely a hawk that brings him mice, for a hawk ought to have its own pride and ambition. The Onion Knight lacks pride and ambition, but he knows there is an immediate responsibility before him.

Melisandre

Cortnay Penrose

Westeros

I am Brienne of Tarth. I was one of King Renly's Rainbow Guard; my king died before my eyes, and I saw him slain by a shadow with Stannis's face. I know you are Stannis's Hand of the King. Regarding your king's blood magic and kinslaying, I hope you will confess fully and tell me who truly killed King Renly and who aided him. She sat on her horse, staring at him sternly.

The shadow created by Melisandre, he thought, he was the direct accomplice.

He had once brought Melisandre to storm Storm's End undercover, where she created a shadow that killed the castle's acting lord, Ser Cortnay Penrose, enabling Stannis to take Storm's End; that shadow likewise bore Stannis's face, and he could imagine what killed the king's brother Renly.

The lady's words before him were not an accusation, yet they left Davos feeling more ashamed than any charge could. From the bitterness of defeat he tasted an added despair of being unable to recover.

Does killing a kin while mutually hostile also count as kinslaying?

He could not give the other side any words that could be used to accuse his king. They belonged to different camps, especially the lion's head inadvertently showing on her sword hilt.

"I have nothing to share with you, ser." Perhaps he should ask why Brienne of Tarth would appear in the Iron Islands. But a Hand of the King showing up there, and a Rainbow Guard appearing, is nothing special.

"Some say you are a great knight who would forsake a chance at ransom to protect a maiden." He wanted to protect the maiden, but a knight who fails in protection is never called great; Westeros does not favor tragic heroes, nor captured ones. "I don't think a knight worthy of being called great, with honor, and a Hand of the King would fail to dissuade his king from using blood magic."

"Ser Brienne, if—" his king utterly defeated, "when the opportunity arises, I will tell you everything I know. But now is not the time for such talk…"

A commotion and chaos appeared ahead.

The king at the forefront was tossing gold, silver, and copper coins to both sides of the procession; at first only the children joined the scramble, but when gold and silver appeared among the coins, the Iron Islanders watching, some soldiers unknown to their clans, petty leaders, and sailors began to swarm and grab them. The king, on horseback, laughed loudly, seemingly oblivious, and even increased the frequency of his tosses, as if his pouch held endless gold.

The scramble quickly unfolded, a few Iron Islanders jostling into a cluster, they began to fight each other, causing greater chaos.

Seeing this, the king laughed even harder, he flung more coins toward the nearby crowd. Davos noticed that they were all a yellowish-orange gold.

This is a proud and vain king, Davos thought; his king Stannis would never do such a foolish thing, even if he truly had limitless gold and was the richest in the world.

In Iron Islands weddings there is a custom of tossing coins to the crowd, but throwing gold coins like tossing copper pennies—this might well be the first time.

Does he not know what consequences this chaos will bring?

Davos worried about this chaos, but soon he thought it was completely unnecessary, for the fighting stopped quickly. The king's solution was to fling out even more gold; the Iron Islanders who had been fighting quickly abandoned their brawls to scramble for the new coins.

The coins looked small, certainly not the gold dragons used in Westeros; Davos thought they might be the golden ingots used in the East. But regardless of their size, they were made of gold, and gold coinage always holds considerable value.

"Long live King Euron!"

When Euron stopped throwing coins, the crowds on both sides shouted his name enthusiastically; Davos felt the king enjoyed such acclaim.

"Long live Great King Euron!" the crowd cried passionately.

The king roared with laughter, clutching a bag of coins and flinging them out with great force; the torrent of coins mostly landed near the crowd, one happened to fall into his lap, and another dropped onto Brienne of Tarth, lodging neatly in the blue scarf of her armor, looking like a blue sleeve badge.

Blue is her family's color.

"What luck," Davos said, picking up the coin and forcing a smile; perhaps he wouldn't need to discuss blood magic with Brienne anymore, "This isn't a gold dragon or a golden ingot—it's a gold sea monster. It seems he has begun minting coins."

Brienne of Tarth ignored him, carefully removed the coin caught in her scarf, held it up, glanced at it, then flung it away violently.

"Why not keep it? Taking the groom's gift at a wedding is a symbol of good fortune."

"Since Stannis killed my king, I have known no luck," Brienne said to him coldly.

The king reached into the large bag at his horse's side, pulled out another sack full of coins, then drew a dagger from his side, slit it open, and poured the coins out to the right.

Now not only children, ordinary Iron Islanders, soldiers, and sailors were tempted, but even some captains and nobles began to join in picking up the coins; the king's laughter grew louder.

"Damn generous!" Davos heard a mounted leader behind him remark, "If I'd known, I would have brought a basin."

The king produced another sack. This time everyone surged forward, crossing the marching column, and rushed to the left side.

"I am a just king!" Davos heard the king shout, then burst into laughter, "Everyone will get some! Hahaha!"

The king casually took a packet of coins from the large bag at his horse's side, slit it open as before, lifted it, and flung it to the left.

Davos could not say whether this was just.

He noticed that the large bag hanging from the king's horse remained heavy, as if many more sacks of coins awaited to be flung.

Davos finally understood what those two leather sacks were for.

The sacks appeared to be made of yellowish boiled cowhide, with…

He saw a short, raggedly clad figure in Iron Islander garb, a dwarf, pressing through the crowd; everyone else stared fixedly at the king high on his horse, watching the king's hand movements, but this man kept his eyes locked on the leather sack, pressing through the throng, and Davos dimly saw that he held a bright dagger in his hand.

At the instant the king flung out the coins, the dwarf, from the right, slashed viciously with his dagger at the pouch hanging from the horse's neck, cutting a large opening in it.

Foolish! Utterly foolish!

Robbing the king's goods in broad daylight—what is it if not foolish?

Brienne also noticed the scene, staring straight ahead, her hand already on her sword hilt.

The king wiped off his smile, drew a sword from his side, and hewed fiercely at the dwarf.

It seemed everything happened in that instant; on the opposite side of the road, a few Iron Islanders drew their weapons and thrust hard at the king, whose attention had turned to staring at the "thief."

The king shouted in anger, swung his sword and hewed the dwarf until he bled profusely, yet his smile had not faded, and several daggers began to stab at the king's thighs.

His tall warhorse saved him.

The dwarf's blood spooked his horse, which reared on its hind legs and neighed, but he remained firmly seated, calmly turning his sword to cut down the assailant on the left.

"Enemy attack! Assassins!" the soldiers shouted.

Yangcong Qishi noticed Bùléinī oddly glance backward, then drew her own sword.

After the first strike failed, several assassins instantly lost all opportunity; they were quickly killed one by one by the surrounding soldiers.

The soldiers and the various gentlemen who attended and witnessed the wedding were astonished beyond belief; no one knew there would be such a scene in the wedding.

Dàifósī saw it clearly. The short assassin first deliberately slit the pouch holding the gold coins, drawing the king's attention; then, amidst the chaos, someone from another side carried out the real assassination. If there had been no blood, perhaps the assassin would have already plunged the dagger into the king's thigh, then his neck.

The king laughed heartily, as if completely unaffected, sheathed his bloody sword, and loudly ordered, "String them up hanging, facing the sea. Haha, this is my gift to the god."

"Your Majesty, shouldn't we investigate who they are?" an officer asked.

"I already know who the murderer is, but I fucking don't have the energy right now to expose him," the king laughed even more than when scattering coins, "I still have to marry my good woman before the Flood God!"