"Other than admiration, I have no other thoughts." The opponent's ordinary appearance calmed Harry down. Of course, he could not say that he was preparing to kidnap the prince and run away, so he made up a half-true sentence. "There have been some minor disagreements within my army, and everyone is having some... barely friendly discussions. But no matter what, within three days, you will definitely have all the results you want. However, Hand of the Queen, you have personally traveled dozens of miles without complaint to meet me, a mere sellsword lord. For what reason?"
"To offer a bargain, and to give the Lord Commander another choice. An option to reduce his losses."
The person impersonating Aegor was Leon, the deputy captain of his guard. As one of the confidants chosen in King's Landing, although he could not portray his true lord's imposing presence, he had at least memorized the lines written by his commander.
Leon looked around. "How about we dismiss our attendants and talk one-on-one?"
So mysterious?
Harry's heart stirred slightly. Years of life experience made him realize that what they were about to discuss was probably not a good thing.
And the rewards for doing bad things were usually quite generous.
Before the commander of the Golden Company could grasp the flash of inspiration that flickered through his mind and analyze it, Leon had already waved to both sides to show his sincerity. The other nine attendants on his side, including the Red Priestess, all stepped back, adopting a posture that gave the two of them space to speak in private.
Harry suddenly realized that at this moment, Aegor was several meters away from the nearest guard. He had unexpectedly encountered a... good opportunity to assassinate him.
After trembling for half a second, memory and reason poured a basin of cold water over him.
He was truly getting ahead of himself.
Unlike himself, who came from a finance background, this Hand of the Queen in front of him was a genuine ranger of the Night's Watch. Even if the rumors about him killing White Walkers were fabricated, the incident in which he was chased by assassins from a rival while serving as Chief Logistics in King's Landing, then retaliated by killing several of the attackers after being shot by an arrow, was officially recognized.
Leaving aside whether he could defeat him, even if he made a move, would the Red Priestess simply stand by? Would the queen who rode a dragon let him off if he succeeded? Even his employers and "allies" would probably only think he was being redundant and causing trouble.
Harry quickly put away his wild thoughts, suppressed the contempt and carelessness that had arisen from the other party's lack of a strong presence, and also waved to the nine sellswords he had brought, signaling them not to follow. Then he walked a few steps parallel to Aegor, away from the crowd.
"Let me get straight to the point," Leon said in a slightly low but clear voice, his hands behind his back and his chin raised. "Jon Connington's identity is beyond doubt, but there is no evidence to prove the authenticity of Prince Aegon, whom he is assisting. Daenerys does not believe he is her nephew, but she is absolutely unwilling to bear the name of kinslayer, so she can only announce a pardon for him, while demanding that he take the black and renounce his claim to the throne."
Harry nodded and immediately guessed what Aegor's "more options" referred to.
"So?" Although he had guessed it, he understood that the nature of this matter did not allow anyone to be clever and say too much.
"Black is just a piece of cloth. It cannot stop people from coveting the throne. As long as Prince Aegon is alive, he will always be a threat to Her Grace." As one of Aegor's personal guards and deputies, Leon was also an official of some rank. As the conversation deepened, his words as the fake Hand of the Queen also became calm and fluent as he found the rhythm. "Daenerys needs someone to do some dirty work for her, preferably someone who is not yet under her command."
Daenerys needs a white glove?
Harry completely relaxed. He believed this statement because it was simply too reasonable, and too consistent with his impression of these kings, lords, and nobles in Westeros, who valued power above all else.
"So, this person who does the dirty work for Her Grace..." It was obviously himself. "What benefits can he get?"
Leon gave Harry a meaningful look. This action was his own interpretation and addition to the performance. Then he smiled, took out a thin roll of paper, opened it, and showed it to the commander of the Golden Company. "This is a map of the Stormlands, and this black dot is Storm's End. That was originally the property of House Baratheon, but now the stags are extinct... and Her Grace does not intend to restore the usurper's family."
The Stormlands?
Harry's heart pounded, but he still did not ignore the trap in the other party's words. "Besides the castle, how large is the accompanying territory?"
Leon stretched out his hand and found that his index finger was too thick, so he rather effeminately switched to his little finger and traced the map with his fingertip. "Within the dashed line."
Harry immediately frowned. "House Baratheon's territory is probably much larger than this!"
"Nonsense, but does 'that person' think that by killing one person, he can atone for his sins and inherit all the wealth and power of the Lord of the Stormlands?" Leon snorted coldly with a bit of his true lord's presence. "This is all the reward for doing this well. If you want more, you will have to earn more military merits in the atonement expedition to the Free Cities to exchange for it!"
The territory within the dashed line on the map was equivalent to an earl's domain, and one of the smaller ones at that, but even so, it was already far beyond Harry Strickland's expectations.
Selling Prince Aegon to the Free Cities would not make the slave masters give him a castle and a large piece of land.
But Harry still wanted to strive for greater benefits.
"This... is a bit difficult to handle."
"Difficult to handle? Then do not handle it." The Lord Commander was truly farsighted. Leon, who had already prepared a response plan for the sellsword's greed and price-raising tactics, did not even think before decisively putting away the map. His tone instantly turned cold. "There are plenty of people who want to take control of Storm's End. As for you, without a good way out, how do you plan to withdraw from this war?"
This fellow did not have the rumored imposing aura, but the level of trouble he posed was not exaggerated at all.
Harry secretly groaned, but still mustered the courage to retort. "There are plenty of people who want to take control of Storm's End, but with the Golden Company's careful protection, I can guarantee that none of them will get it. Across the Narrow Sea, those slave masters are eager to have a Targaryen to support against Daenerys. If Prince Aegon escapes from Oldtown to Essos, then Hand of the Queen, you will have a headache, will you not?"
Leon narrowed his eyes at the sellsword lord. He would never forget how frightening his Lord Commander's expression was when he made this face at someone who had made a mistake, even if the person receiving the look had not been himself.
He hoped he could have one-tenth of that aura at this moment.
"I have no doubt about the Golden Company's ability to protect someone. If you had rushed to Oldtown with Aegon this morning without stopping, you might have been able to do it." Leon stated the facts expressionlessly. "However, you have delayed for a day, and the ravens and messengers sent by Daenerys are rushing to Oldtown without stopping. I have ordered Lord Hightower, on the condition and threat of preserving his title, territory, and wealth, to close the city gates, organize his troops, and clear the ships in Oldtown's harbor. He is not to receive or shelter Prince Aegon, nor assist him in escaping. Guess, will he think Oldtown's walls can withstand cannons and ten thousand troops, or will he listen and comply?"
After a few seconds of firm confrontation, Harry was the first to break, a fawning smile appearing on his face. "Hand of the Queen, you misunderstood. When I said 'this is a bit difficult to handle,' I was only thinking about how Her Grace wants this matter to end. Should I make Prince Aegon and Jon Connington disappear, or..."
"I am leading troops in pursuit. Would it not be my fault for failing to pursue effectively if he disappeared?" Leon breathed a sigh of relief. Aegor had not prepared a contingency plan for Harry's stubbornness. "Once the Queen's peace treaty is released, the Golden Company sellswords who are not included in the resettlement plan will definitely be dissatisfied and demand compensation from Aegon and his right-hand man. If their reasonable demands are rejected, a riot will occur, and some sellswords will attack the command post in anger during the chaos, killing the false king they once supported and some nobles of the Reach to vent their fury. Is that not very reasonable? As long as you, as the lord, step in in time to control the situation, deal with those who committed insubordination and murder, protect the prince's body, and bring it back to plead for mercy from Daenerys... Her Grace is merciful and generous, and it is only human nature that she will pardon your sin and give you a small reward for respecting the remains of her blood relative."
This matter was not difficult to handle at all, and the process was indeed reasonable and feasible.
Harry nodded, but an unpleasant thought popped into his mind at that moment.
The Golden Company, as an armed force loyal to Aegon, had no content about their resettlement in the peace treaty, which was obviously deliberately done by the person in front of him. And using this to place him in a difficult situation and force him to accept this dirty deal also bore obvious signs of psychological pressure.
"What if the Queen goes back on her word afterward, or even wants to kill me to silence me? I need something to dispel this doubt!"
"A reasonable request. Her Grace has already thought of it."
Leon took out a second item and handed it to Harry Strickland.
It was also a rolled-up piece of paper, but it was clearly more formal than the previous one. The material was not cheap plant-fiber paper, but thickened, gilded parchment with a scroll rod. It felt a bit like a lesser royal decree.
He opened it and read it. The content was written in the Common Tongue and, of course, did not include sordid details like hiring someone to kill. But it did clarify that he, Harry Strickland, had been pardoned by Daenerys and had sworn allegiance to her on this day, with the year, month, and day all correct, thereby being granted Storm's End as his territory. With this point in time as evidence, he could overturn the table at any moment if he wished, accusing Daenerys of instructing him to kill her kinsman on her behalf.
Below the text were two clear seals. Daenerys and the Hand of the Queen had jointly endorsed the validity of this document.
"Fearing that you might still think this is fake, I will give you another reassurance."
Harry looked up from the pardon and found that the black-clad Hand of the Queen had somehow produced a small pot of ink paste and dipped his thumb into it.
"Lord Mace Tyrell must survive. In addition, after receiving Storm's End, you must destroy this document in front of me. Before that, I believe it can give you enough security."
With that, in front of him, "Aegor" pressed a handprint at the bottom of the pardon.
(To be continued.)