Chapter 191

Valyria, those slave masters have given it titles: "the Daughter of Valyria," "Queen of the Rhoyne," "Mistress of the Summer Sea," and so on; they even declared themselves "the Masters of Slaver's Bay," "Protectors of the Slaveholders," and you have now seen that they have crossed the Devil's Road, traveled hundreds of miles, just to defeat me, so as to regain control of the cities along the Summer Sea coast, so as to turn the people I have freed back into slaves.

The queen stood on the platform above the arena, delivering a hysterical speech to the crowd.

"This is sheer folly! They will never succeed, never!"

"Never!", the spectators and soldiers shouted with all their might, their voices possibly piercing the heavens, until their throats went hoarse, until they began to await the queen's next words.

"Those Valyrian slave masters think they can hide behind the Black Walls and rely on slaves to conquer the world." She roared, "Impossible! As long as I am the queen of Meereen, as long as I am Daenerys, I tell you all, never, never!"

The queen roared at the audience, a sight that would never make you think she was an elegant queen.

"Never!" the crowd rose from their seats, raising their hands, taking off their clothes, waving them, shouting; some women likewise stripped to the waist and followed the crowd, passionately swinging their arms.

The shouts in the arena echoed through the heavens, and he felt the arena trembling.

"They—the Valyrian slave masters—claim to be descendants of the dragon kings, they—the despicable parasites—believe they have the qualification, right, and strength to enslave Valyria, Ghis, and the whole world." The queen paused here, then switched to a more furious voice and unprecedented power, "But I tell you, they—cowards who dare not set foot on the ground—dream of defeating me through slaves, which is surely doomed; and I will also tell them—this gang of degenerate beasts—as long as I remain your queen, as long as I still bear the Targaryen name! Their intentions will absolutely not succeed! No! Never!"

The queen had completely lost her composure; only a few megaphones made of tin trembled in her mad shouting.

It must be said, the shape and structure of the arena are highly conducive to sound amplification; in an instant, the crowd's frantic roaring forced Mormont to cover his ears with both hands.

The queen was no longer the queen he knew.

"That gang of perfumed worms in Valyria, hiding behind the Black Walls, yet dare to claim they possess 'ancient blood,' just like the skulls of Ghis's great masters, wise masters, and benevolent masters still hanging today, claiming to have some ancient lineage—let me tell you, my people, they are nothing more than insignificant servants of the dead dragon kings, nothing more than wretches who bow and kneel before Valyria!"

After the tremendous sound came an indescribable dreadful silence, everyone pricking their ears to listen.

He did not know what kind of energy still lay hidden within the queen's small frame.

I, the sole descendant of the Valyrian dragon kings, will not be proud of my blood like those slave masters, nor will I become intoxicated with force and terror like the dragon kings of old. I tell you, as long as you are my people, as long as you honestly love yourselves as free people, you are the blood I wish to share, and I am likewise your blood; I allow you to call yourselves the Zhuo Geng clan, the Lei Ge clan, the Wei Sai Li Ang clan, the Mei Li Ya Si clan, or to take them as your surnames, and you will be my brothers and sisters, my companions born of shared life.

"Misa!", an official he did not know began to guide the crowd.

"Misa!" they rose again, shaking their garments, shouting loudly, wave after wave of sound.

Until they could no longer make a sound, until they began to weep, until someone fainted from excitement, only then did she continue.

"Some people often petition me to open the arena just to stage bloody spectacles, just to earn senseless cheers. These performances mean nothing; watching others' flesh fly about brings no courage; true courage can only be proven by personally going to the battlefield. I will not allow brothers and sisters to shed blood for play, or to cheer for senseless things; I only wish you to cheer for defeating enemies. Here I bring you something truly worthy of cheering—I will present to you the heads of the commanders, officers, and stubborn slaves who self-enslaved, defeated by me on the battlefield. My herald will tell you their names one by one."

The queen stepped back amid the cheers, glanced slightly in his direction, then returned to her seat. He knew she had seen him, although she pretended not to have noticed anything.

Seated on the throne, she began to shine again, like a radiant and vigorous queen.

The Unsullied marched around the arena, spears bearing heads, displaying them along the perimeter. The herald called out names one by one, and the crowd began to cheer enthusiastically.

The queen won an unprecedented victory west of Meereen; after the dragons entered the fray, the Northwind Regiment and the Sunrise Regiment promptly defected and surrendered, and the Tiger Cloak Army's tight defensive formation collapsed in an instant under the dragons' fiery breakthrough, whereupon those inside the Tiger Cloak Army's camp began to slaughter each other.

After waking, he heard that the battle had raged from morning until evening.

After this battle, aside from a handful of cavalry fleeing north into the grasslands, the Valyrian expeditionary force on land was utterly destroyed; thus all threats west of Meereen were eliminated, and all passages north of the Skahazadhan River were fully opened.

He did not see the war's full end, but he witnessed the dragons' sortie.

He thought the one riding the dragon was the queen, but……

The queen sat back on the throne, drank a full cup of water that had long been prepared; after a moment she rose again, walking past him without a glance, as if he did not exist at all.

This made him feel somewhat sad.

Is he a stranger? Or is he still, after all, a traitor?

Forgive me!

The queen walked toward the crowd, gently raised her hands, and the crowd cheered again.

A breeze lifted her robes, making them flutter; strangely, he felt the queen resembled the little demon when she "sacrificed" Varys.

Queen, what are you sacrificing— that naive, innocent, and kind Daenerys?

The queen had become alien, and for this he felt a hint of fear.

"My people, battle has not made me more fragile; on the contrary, it has made us stronger. You have seen that those slave masters are sending me strong soldiers, and escorting endless gold, silver, grain, and livestock for me."

When her voice rang out, no one spoke; the people listened intently to every word she said, unwilling to miss a single term, straining to hear every nuance.

With so many people present at once, the arena could by no means be as quiet as it is now.

"But even after suffering such a defeat, these slave masters will still disturb our peaceful lives; they will be like venomous snakes, constantly probing my patience from dark corners, preventing us from working or producing in peace; moreover, their ships remain anchored in the bay, blockading our trade, so we still cannot fish at sea with peace of mind."

The queen's voice grew hoarse, yet also more powerful in its appeal; everyone could sense the strength and anger beneath that tone.

"They have failed this time, but they will still dare to cross mountains and valleys, in the next attack on our cities, to destroy the farmland we cultivate, to burn our own homes; and we cannot forever hide behind Meereen's walls, nor can I stay atop the pyramids, watching them roam freely."

The sound permeated every corner of the arena.

"I swear, as long as I remain your queen, this situation will absolutely not be allowed! Never!"

"Never!" the people found words to vent their emotions, shouting loudly, yelling aloud. Jorah felt that nothing could possess such unparalleled power.

"For peace, we must continue fighting; we must clean out the venomous snakes' hidden lairs and utterly sever the heads that spit their poison. Look, I have prepared this for you! These are those who dare to provoke me, dare to assassinate your queen, making everyone hate them; they call themselves 'Sons of the Harpy'! But in fact, they are merely a bunch of contemptible lice."

The Unsullied pulled two large carts, red blood flowing down from the axles, flies buzzing above— the two carts were full of the heads of the Sons of the Harpy.

"This is merely the appetizer I offer you!" the queen paused, "I tell you here who is the main course of this feast."

Jorah also unconsciously held his breath, waiting for the answer.

"The wet nurse of Qarth once tried to assassinate me; I will never forget that day's humiliation. But they are fortunate—their city lies across the scorching desert from us; I will surely destroy them, but not now, not immediately."

"Qarth? Without ships, it is impossible to conquer that place."

"What is immediate are the heads of the cowards hidden within the Black Walls of Valyria."