The Dragon Queen said coldly, "I will send word to Count Hightower. Any maester who leaves the continent of Westeros, whether apprentice, maester, or archmaester, will be executed on the spot, and their heads displayed publicly.
They must remain in Oldtown. No, not just Oldtown. Maesters must go to the front lines. I don't require them to defend the Seven Kingdoms, but at the very least they must protect the Reach, which has nourished the Citadel for thousands of years.
Wherever there is danger, they will go to that castle.
Remove their chains, put on iron armor. A parchment scroll in the left hand, a dragon-tooth blade in the right.
In wartime, they climb the walls. In peacetime, they teach in classrooms. With blades they cleave the undead, with books they educate the young.
While killing Others, they will also train talented children in the castles into wildfire priests.
Yes, mages who understand how to produce wildfire and possess unwavering faith in the Seven."
"What do you all think?" She swept her gaze across the stunned Reach lords seated on both sides of the long table.
"Good!"
"Very good."
"Let's do it this way."
Coming back to their senses, the lords voiced their approval one after another.
First, the Dragon Queen's proposal benefited them.
Having more maesters serve as expendable cannon fodder was always good. Moreover, training magical apprentices within their own castles ultimately meant those individuals would defend their castles, rather than being sent to the Citadel to benefit who knows whom.
Second, like the Dragon Queen, they believed the Citadel's performance during this Long Night had been grossly negligent and utterly terrible.
Of course, they themselves had also done poorly. If there were maesters to take the blame, they would be more than happy.
Lastly, supporting the Dragon Queen's suggestion was far better than opposing it. At this moment, they were all counting on the Queen's Blade Storm to save their lives.
"Your Majesty, having maesters defend cities is no problem. Over the past two years, to guard against bounty hunters and Faceless Men sent to assassinate them, the maesters have honed skills such as swordsmanship, military formations, and reconnaissance to a very high level.
In duels, most knights are no match for them. In commanding troops, the Citadel could select thirty or forty competent generals. In assassination and espionage, aside from the Faceless Men, I doubt any organization surpasses the Citadel.
In fact, the Citadel could immediately transform into the greatest assassin group or intelligence agency in the Seven Kingdoms.
However, no matter how capable the maesters are, they themselves do not know magic. How can they teach magical apprentices?" Count Mathis said with a frown.
"Count Rowan, have you forgotten the maesters' greatest skill?" Dany sighed.
"What skill?" the old count asked in surprise.
"Turning falsehood into truth!"
Everyone looked confused.
"The maesters can turn true history into fabricated stories, and turn lies they create into 'true history' that everyone believes.
They have reduced genuine magic into trickery, and turned a ridiculous falsehood into the highest ideal pursued by the Citadel for hundreds of years.
Since that is the case, let them continue turning falsehood into truth. As fake mages, they can deceive and produce a batch of real magical apprentices.
After all, even before this, maesters didn't know magic, yet they still liked to add a Valyrian steel link to their chains to represent a 'doctorate in magic.'"
The corners of the lords' mouths twitched, but they could not refute her.
"Perhaps they can follow established texts, teaching only the basic meditation methods of fire sorcerers and moon chanters, and instruct apprentices in the techniques of producing wildfire," Count Mathis said helplessly, rubbing his nose.
"What do you think? Is she pretending to be mad, or is she truly mad?" After leaving Margaery's bedroom, the Dragon Queen broke the silence first and asked with a smile.
Little Rose Margaery Tyrell was still alive, but her father Mace and her brother Loras had both been tortured to death by Cersei.
More precisely, Qyburn had used them as experimental materials for black magic and murdered them.
Back in King's Landing, Cersei often tormented her. Even the septas who guarded the Maidenvault had reported to the Faith that Margaery showed signs of mental instability.
Later, when Cersei was imprisoned, Margaery's life improved somewhat, and she was treated roughly the same as Cersei in the Queen Dowager's Tower.
Afterward, Euron escaped and planned to return to Highgarden to claim kingship. He took Margaery with him.
While passing through Tumblestone, he even had a local septon officiate a wedding between himself and Margaery.
On the night of the wedding, he and his Ironborn men looted the prosperous yet defenseless trading town.
The Ironborn used blood and fire as a wedding celebration for King Euron and Queen Margaery.
Because of this atrocity, King's Landing learned of Margaery's whereabouts. Tumblestone lies at the source of the Mander River, only about 300 kilometers from King's Landing.
Renly's brother valued the Reach highly and had long appointed Ser Axell Florent as Duke of Highgarden.
At first, after sending his wildling wife to the Faith as a silent sister, Axell planned to marry Randyll Tarly's youngest daughter.
Given Randyll's current status and the fact that House Florent was one of the highest-ranking noble families of the "Greenhand" lineage, Axell could have minimized resistance from the Reach lords.
However, Randyll Tarly was an extremely traditional and rigid old noble. He could not even tolerate the Dragon Queen as an "outsider," let alone a king of a foreign religion.
Randyll refused decisively, even swearing publicly that he would rather send his daughter to the Faith as a silent sister than marry her to a follower of the Lord of Light.
After Randyll "took the vows," Axell began to look down on his would-be in-laws. Having joined the Warrior's Sons, Randyll had abandoned secular power and was no longer the leader of the Reach lords.
When news of the Tumblestone tragedy reached King's Landing, Axell suddenly realized: the "moon tea-loving Queen of Chu," Margaery, was still alive.
He immediately expressed willingness to take her, even if she were already "fifth-hand."
Margaery had been married to Renly (dead), Joffrey (dead), Tommen (dead), and Euron (near death). By the time it was Axell's turn, she was indeed "fifth-hand."
Since the Dragon Queen entered the Reach, nearly a week had passed. That was enough time for King's Landing to determine Margaery's current location.
Thus, the Onion Knight, on behalf of Renly's brother, sent a letter to the Longtable Hall, asking the Dragon Queen about Margaery's disposition and tactfully hinting: if you have plans for her, ignore this letter; if you do not care where she goes, could you send her to Axell as his wife?
After receiving the letter, Dany formally visited Margaery for the first time.
She intended to ask Margaery's own opinion, accompanied by several Reach lords.
What she encountered, however, was a withered woman whose soul fluctuated as steadily as an old dog, yet whose appearance, behavior, and speech were utterly deranged.
When Dany used Blade Storm, she could precisely control every willow-leaf blade, though she often did not expend the mental effort to do so.
Previously, when the tornado swept Euron and his sled into the storm, three neatly arranged chests behind the sled overturned, revealing two mutilated human forms and a richly dressed woman. Dany was briefly surprised, then rescued them all, and incidentally turned Euron into one of those mutilated forms.
That was when she first saw Margaery. At the time, the Little Rose was physically weak. After spinning twice in the wind, she fainted.
Today was their second meeting.
Margaery had transformed from a plump, juicy red apple of summer into a pale, shriveled pickled radish.
Rosy complexion had been replaced by pallor, smoothness by roughness, fullness by withering, and brightness by dull lifelessness.
When the radiant and valiant knight-queen appeared before her, Margaery grinned foolishly.
If she were truly like that, Dany would have admired her.
But the stench was unbearable. Without even greeting her or offering a few polite words of concern, Dany turned and left.
The lords who had come to visit the "filthy rose" did not stay long either. They were driven out by the smell.
"Poor Margaery, she has been driven mad by Euron and Cersei!" Lady Bethany said, wiping away tears.
She was Mathis's wife. After Goldengrove fell, she and her three children followed him to Longtable Hall.
Besides being a countess, she was also Margaery's cousin.
Her surname was Redwyne, a grandniece of the Queen of Thorns.
With Myrtania dead at the hands of the Ironborn, Lady Bethany had taken on the role of mistress of Longtable Castle. Among the lords, Count Mathis held the highest rank.
For the past few days, she had been caring for Margaery.
Outside, she continued chattering, telling the Dragon Queen many examples of Margaery's madness to explain her earlier rudeness.
But as soon as they left Margaery's courtyard, Dany smiled and asked a question that made the Reach lords' hearts race:
"Do you think Margaery is pretending to be mad, or is she truly mad?"
"She's probably mad."
"She's even defecating herself, she must be mad."
"Ah, back then Lady Margaery was the golden rose of the Reach."
"Euron and Cersei are utterly insane."
Everyone spoke at once, expressing regret and anger, essentially concluding that Margaery had gone mad.
"Perhaps she can be cured," Count Mathis said hesitantly.
The other lords shot him unfriendly glances: whether truly mad or not, she had to be mad right now.
If she was truly mad, that was acceptable. If she was pretending, then what was her purpose in deceiving the Dragon Queen?
Did she intend to reclaim Highgarden and restore House Tyrell's glory?
But they no longer wished to risk their lives for the Tyrells.
Mathis glared back at them: whether Margaery was mad or not had nothing to do with her. It depended on the Dragon Queen's decision.
The reason the Reach lords were so cautious about Margaery was that the ownership of Highgarden had not yet been decided.
The situation was clear. The throne of the Reach was coveted by the Ironborn, by Renly's brother, and by certain nobles of the "Greenhand" lineage. Even Tyrion and Sansa had openly set their sights on it.
So, did the Dragon Queen want it?
After all, the dwarf was her illegitimate brother. To what extent could he represent her?
Walking at the front, Dany pretended not to notice the exchange of glances behind her and said calmly, "Tell me, should we agree to Ser Axell's request?"
"What status does Axell even have? He's only a second son of House Florent," one lord immediately objected.
"The key issue is that Axell has become a follower of the Lord of Light. Can we tolerate a liege of a foreign religion?"
"Axell even helped Stannis burn his own brother. That's the grave crime of kinslaying!"
"Lady Margaery has already suffered enough. Don't hand her over to be tormented by a heretic again!"
Almost everyone opposed handing Margaery over.
"I don't care about internal power shifts within the Reach, except for dealing with the Others," Dany first stated her position, then reminded them, "But don't forget one thing. House Tyrell bears full responsibility for the Purple Wedding.
In theory, Margaery no longer has the right to inherit Highgarden."
(End of Chapter)
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