"Silence. Let Lady Sansa continue."
The Dragon Queen's voice was soft, yet it drifted lightly into everyone's ears. The noisy hall immediately fell quiet.
Sansa tightened her arms around the swaddled infant and looked at Arya with concern. "I've noticed my sister has changed, as if she were a different person. She used to be mischievous, yes, but also warm and lively, like a flame that could easily ignite those around her.
"In Winterfell, we all called her 'Arya the Troublemaker,' but now…"
"Everyone can see it," Sansa said, her eyes reddening as she cast the most pitiful expression around the room.
"It's just like what Dr. Vograve described in his plays. Arya has been brainwashed by the Faceless Men into becoming a killing tool without a self. She's turned cold and emotionless… sob, sob…"
She broke into tears, crying like pear blossoms in the rain.
The men felt sympathy rise in their hearts. Arianne, the Sand Snakes, and Asha cursed her inwardly, yet still licked their lips, feeling a strange dryness within.
"It's all the fault of the House of Black and White. The Braavosi plotted to brainwash my poor sister in order to interfere in the politics of the Seven Kingdoms."
Sansa clutched the baby, sobbing and accusing mournfully. As her arms tightened slightly, little Catelyn let out a wail and began to cry.
"Don't cry, baby. My poor little Catelyn, you haven't even met your Aunt Arya, have you?"
She pulled aside the golden sable wrapping, revealing a palm-sized red little face. With wide purple eyes and a quivering mouth, the baby cried toward Arya.
The usually expressionless Arya seemed as if her heart had been pricked by a needle. Her gaze softened unusually.
"Sigh, you are all unfortunate children, losing your father to villains at such a young age," Sansa continued, her voice choked with sobs. "You're still lucky, you have me to raise you. Your Aunt Arya lost her parents at just eight years old and was taken by the most terrifying assassin organization in the world. How pitiful!"
The sight of the orphan and widow crying together was devastatingly effective. The people around them felt sympathy. Even the Westerlanders no longer looked at the Starks with such hostility.
Daenerys watched as if it were a stage play, thoroughly entertained. The dwarf, however, sat on pins and needles, unable to tolerate his mistress's performance any longer. Otherwise, today's trial would be impossible to proceed.
"Ahem…" Tyrion cleared his throat and chose his words carefully. "Lady Sansa, we all sympathize with little Catelyn's plight. King Stannis's blood sacrifice of living people is truly outrageous."
The crowd's attention shifted to the dwarf. Davos glared at him, and dissatisfaction flashed in Sansa's tearful blue eyes.
Tyrion continued calmly, "But the Queen's question is whether you knew of Arya Stark's plan to poison the innocents of Casterly Rock."
"The last time I met Arya, she was on her way to Riverrun," Sansa did not deny knowing about Arya's revenge plan. "Like me, she has never forgotten vengeance."
"The Starks may not be Lannisters, but we repay our debts!" She emphasized this while looking at the two Lannisters.
"So, you were also involved in the incident at Casterly Rock?" Daenerys asked.
"No," Sansa shook her head. "I seek revenge, but I also understand that not all Freys and Lannisters are guilty.
"Everyone knows that Aegon and I led two thousand Vale light cavalry in an attack on the Twins.
"At the time, I only intended to execute the main participants of the Red Wedding, but Walder Frey fled in advance with his direct descendants.
"Even so, I did not kill the infants in the Twins."
As she said this, Sansa stared at Jaime and Tyrion, emphasizing the word "infants."
Tywin had murdered the true son of Rhaegar, an infant, as well as a young princess only four or five years old.
Daenerys's expression remained relatively calm, but Arianne and the Sand Snakes changed their expressions. The surrounding nobles also understood what Sansa was implying, their eyes flickering.
Jaime lowered his gaze, his expression dim. The dwarf clenched his teeth and reminded her again, "Lady Sansa, please answer Her Majesty's question. Were you involved in the massacre at Casterly Rock?"
"I said no!" Sansa shook her head again. "What I'm saying is not nonsense, nor is it meant to change the subject.
"I want everyone to understand that the Starks are not devils. I seek revenge, but only against those who have committed acts cursed by the Seven Gods.
"My targets are the Freys, followed by Cersei and Lord Tywin.
"Arya is the same as me. Lord Tywin is responsible for the Red Wedding, while Cersei Lannister and Joffrey are responsible for my father's death. Our path of vengeance is clear."
Sansa looked at Jaime meaningfully. "On this point, I believe Ser Jaime can testify for us."
"What?" The crowd was stunned.
Given that the Lannisters had already been nearly wiped out by the Starks, the Starks were now asking a Lannister to testify that they had no intention of exterminating all Lannisters?
It was absurd.
Even more absurd was that Jaime nodded with a pained expression and admitted, "Yes, I understand. Even the most ruthless Stark never intended to take revenge on all Lannisters. But then how did the events at Casterly Rock happen?"
Others assumed that "the most ruthless Stark" referred to Arya, including Jon. But those who truly understood knew it meant Lady Stoneheart.
Lady Stoneheart had even forgiven Jaime. She would not have gone after those in Casterly Rock who were even more innocent than him.
Because he understood this, Jaime had once said that the feud between lions and wolves should end with Tommen.
"I swear to the Mother that I only knew Arya was going to Riverrun to seek revenge on the Freys. Later, I guessed she might follow them all the way to Casterly Rock.
"But killing so many people, even implicating the Lannisters, was truly unexpected. This goes beyond the scope of Stark vengeance," Sansa said sincerely, looking at the grief-stricken Jaime.
Daenerys waved her hand, signaling the widow to sit down, then called into the air, "Bran, come out. It's your turn now."
Just as everyone was confused, a large crow dropped down from a vent and landed on Arya's head, cawing, "I am Bran Stark, the Three-Eyed Raven of this generation."
After introducing himself, the crow turned to the two Lannisters. "I swear to all the Old Gods that, like Sansa, I knew Arya was going to seek revenge on the Freys, but I did not participate in the incident at Casterly Rock."
Tyrion narrowed his eyes and questioned, "Bran, over the past month, you've repeatedly demonstrated your omniscience to volunteer groups across the land. Could you really not have paid attention to your sister's revenge on the Freys? If you did pay attention, why didn't you stop it? Or were you the mastermind behind it?"
The crow replied calmly, "I paid little attention to Arya's revenge. Because I had already foreseen that the Lannisters and the Freys would pay for their crimes.
"This is the power of fate. I saw fate delivering justice for the Starks, so I was not fixated on revenge."
Jaime was startled. "You foresaw that Arya would poison over eight hundred people in Casterly Rock?"
"I once saw a future where Tyrion stood alone. Do you understand what I mean?" Bran said.
"What? Does that mean all the Lannisters except the Imp are dead?" The crowd was horrified, then skeptical. "Is the crow just boasting?"
"To clear your sister's crimes, you'd even tell such lies?" Tyrion mocked.
Bran said coldly, "I am not targeting the Lannisters. If the Dragon Queen had not defied fate, ninety percent of everyone here would eventually become undead.
"When the Long Night ended, the total population of Westeros would not exceed three hundred thousand.
"That was the original script. Think about it yourselves. Which of you would be among those three hundred thousand?"
"You're lying!"
"A warg's words can't be trusted!"
"I still remember the old nanny's stories. Wargs are as evil as the Others!"
As soon as Bran finished speaking, the hall erupted in a wave of rebuttals and curses.
Ignoring them, Bran stared fixedly at the ever-changing expression of the dwarf and asked, "You don't believe me?"
"I believe you," Tyrion suddenly laughed. "Without the Dragon Queen, without dragons, without magic, Winterfell would have fallen first. Then millions of wights would sweep through the Riverlands, and tens of millions would overrun the Seven Kingdoms. That thirty thousand people survived would already be unbelievable."
The crowd fell silent, stunned.
Tyrion seemed to have a point.
At this stage, who among them had not killed wights or seen their armies?
Having witnessed their terror, they were certain that the situation in the Seven Kingdoms was already dire. Without the Dragon Queen, Westeros would likely have already fallen.
Unconsciously, they all looked toward the throne above.
The Dragon Queen's expression was calm, her eyes half-closed as if asleep. In each hand, she held a cluster of red flames. In her left hand, a faint green ribbon flickered within the fire, while in her right, there seemed to be a fiery crow.
What was she doing at such a sacred moment?
Surely not sleeping. Was she meditating?
The Dragon Queen said lightly, "Don't look at me like that. We are not the same. I can multitask. While cultivating, I am also listening to your debate, and at the same time, I am burning wights with Bran in the Riverlands."
"A small group of wights has gathered near the Inn at the Crossroads. The green dragon is incinerating them," Bran immediately reported.
The crowd was speechless. The gap between them was too great.
"Stop changing the subject," Tyrion shouted, his face twisted as he stomped his foot. "It's meaningless to assume the Dragon Queen doesn't exist. She's right in front of us, and she's the Child of the Era! So the future you speak of doesn't exist either. Bran, you're sophisticating."
"The Dragon Queen truly changed the original fate," Bran sighed.
"Then why has everyone's fate changed, but not the destruction of Casterly Rock?" Tyrion demanded.
"That depends on whether she wants to change that part of fate," Bran said meaningfully.
Tyrion and Jaime both looked at the Dragon Queen with uncertainty.
Daenerys grew angry. "Bran, what do you mean? Are you pushing the responsibility onto me?"
The great crow fell silent for a moment before saying, "That is not my intention. I only want to tell Tyrion that in Westeros, fate truly exists.
"Those who violate the teachings of the gods will ultimately be unable to escape fate's judgment.
"Perhaps there are beings powerful enough to surpass the gods and alter fate. But even such transcendent beings would not help sinners evade punishment.
"Robb's fate at the Red Wedding was also destiny. He broke his oath first, violating a sacred marriage pact, and the Freys became the executors of that fate.
"Highgarden of House Tyrell, the Riverlands of House Tully, the Vale of Arryn, the Stormlands of Baratheon, and even the former Targaryens have not escaped fate's judgment.
"Because I understand this, I paid no attention to Arya's actions. She is also part of fate. I had no need to orchestrate Casterly Rock."
The hall fell completely silent. Tyrion, Jaime, Sansa, Jon, and everyone present looked at the great crow with shock.
Even Daenerys felt uncertain. What was Bran implying, or was it merely a way to shift attention?
"What are you talking about? Have you gone mad?" Tyrion said, as if hearing someone else speak through his own voice.
"I also feel that some of my recent thoughts are quite mad," the great crow said, looking at Daenerys.
(End of Chapter)
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