The Mountain of Ice and Fire

Chapter 587: A Great River

(Happy National Day, everyone!)

*

Kevan slowly stood up.

Since the other party had made it clear, there was no point in him squatting behind the dragon bones, and it would be a disservice to the Lannister name.

Kevan transferred the dagger in his right hand to his left, vigorously wiped the sweat from his right hand onto his clothes, then returned the dagger to his right hand, so his dry palm could grip the knife more firmly.

"Qyburn, Bronn, are you going to take me to see the Mountain?" Kevan said coldly. He tried his best to maintain his Lannister dignity and the authority of the Hand.

In the darkness, Bronn's voice laughed: "Lord Hand, we're afraid you'll get cold and hungry here, so we'd like to invite you to the surface. The Small Council is still waiting for you to preside over it."

The darkness was as thick as ink, making it impossible to see. Kevan didn't understand why Qyburn and Bronn could be so calm and collected in the dark. Could their vision allow them to see clearly in the darkness?

That's impossible!

"Bronn, Qyburn, you are both intelligent men. What will you gain by handing me over to the Mountain? But if you let me go, I will give you both your weight in gold. And if you assist me in escaping, the gold will be doubled."

"That much money?" Bronn was tempted.

"Lord Bronn, if you want to let the Hand go and help him escape from here, I, I want to join in."

"Have you forgotten Kevan wants to kill you?" Bronn reminded Qyburn.

"I haven't forgotten, but I want gold that weighs twice my weight even more," Qyburn's voice revealed greed.

"I want it too, but, Lord Hand, how can we get the gold you speak of?" The jesting tone in Bronn's voice disappeared, and he asked seriously.

"Lord Bronn, 'A Lannister always pays his debts,' that saying is more important than my life. The Lannister family has never reneged on a debt. Gentlemen, once I escape, I will definitely send someone to deliver the gold to the location you specify."

"Alright, 'A Lannister always pays his debts,' I believe in the Hand's promise," Bronn said solemnly.

"I believe it too!" Qyburn's humble voice carried respect.

"Then, I think I've reached a consensus with you both," Kevan said cautiously.

"Yes, Lord Hand, please come out."

In the darkness, Kevan held his dagger in front, his other hand groping along the dragon bones, slowly moving forward. He walked out of the black dragon Balerion's great mouth.

Just in time, torches lit up beside and in front of him.

More than a dozen torches lit up at the same time, held in the hands of a dozen children. These children's eyes were bright, their clothes were tattered, and their expressions were simple and unadorned.

Bronn's little birds!

Bronn and Qyburn stood in the mouth of Queen Visenya's mount, Vhagar. Neither of them lit a torch, but they held two short crossbows in their hands.

Qyburn held one, and Bronn held one!

Short crossbows, crossbows with powerful mechanisms, could pierce armor and kill people at close range, making them incredibly powerful.

Kevan was not wearing armor.

Escaping from the hidden compartment in the study wall, he couldn't wear armor. The compartment in the wall was too narrow to allow an adult to enter wearing armor.

"Lord Hand, put down your knife first," Bronn laughed.

The little dwarf was not much taller than the Imp, but he was truly repulsive.

Kevan put down the knife!

Qyburn and Bronn walked out of Vhagar's mouth, facing Kevan.

A little bird stepped forward and took Kevan's dagger.

The valuable dagger, with rubies and emeralds inlaid in the hilt, was worth a lot of money.

"Lord Hand, follow my little birds, and I guarantee you'll leave here safely," Bronn said with a grin.

Kevan remained silent.

A little bird began to lead the way, Kevan followed, and several little birds followed on Kevan's left and right, Bronn and Qyburn, holding their short crossbows, aimed at Kevan's back.

A cold wind blew from the front, and the further they went, the more humid the air became. The huge and spacious area began to compress, and the walls on both sides began to shrink, pressing in on people.

Kevan felt that he was a failure. It was the first time he had seen Bronn's little birds. These children were agile and had clever eyes, and they were obviously well-trained.

What he didn't know was that these ragged children looked like beggars, but each of them could read ledgers and read letters. In the orphanage, they had dedicated language teachers, math teachers, history teachers, and stealth teachers. After Bronn took over, he also equipped the children with combat teachers, theft teachers, and gambling teachers.

Varys's little birds focused on mathematics, calculation, geography, and humanities education, but lacked training in combat and assassination. Bronn was a little dwarf, and suffered a lot in this regard, so he made up for it. These little birds all had sharp daggers tucked into their waists. The combat teachers trained them in the technique of killing with one blow in a crisis. The assassination targets were the eyes, heart, and lower yin, these vital parts of the human body.

A dozen little birds walking beside Kevan was actually a very dangerous thing. Once a dozen daggers were drawn and frantically stabbed, ten unarmed Kevans could not resist.

Kevan's attention was only on Bronn and Qyburn's short crossbows, and he had no sense of the threat from the dozen little birds.

Although there was no real warrior escorting Kevan, he was absolutely unable to escape!

Kevan understood in his heart—Qyburn was a maester, had not undergone any killing training, but his talent for killing and ruthlessness may have come from the devil's blessing. And Bronn, there was unverified news that he had actually become the biggest rogue boss in King's Landing, in charge of all the rogues and low-life brothers in King's Landing. Presumably, he had no psychological barriers to killing someone.

In view of this, Kevan decided that even if he had the opportunity, although he was facing an old scholar and a little dwarf, plus a group of children, it was better not to escape by force!

Light appeared ahead!

This made Kevan very happy!

They were about to walk out of the darkness, come outside, and see the light of day again.

Bronn had not deceived him, and indeed decided to let him go.

Further ahead, the smell and sound of water became clear.

"Have we arrived at the Blackwater Rush?" Kevan asked Bronn. He was surprised that the cave in the dragon bones also led to the bank of the Blackwater Rush. He had tried to find the exit, but winding east and west, in the labyrinthine underground, he could not find the exit at all.

Kevan's heart stirred.

"Lord Bronn, Lord Qyburn, a Lannister always pays his debts. Please tell me, where do you want me to send the gold?"

Qyburn narrowed his eyes slightly: "Lord Hand, the treasury is empty. You have sold the tax revenue rights of the Seven Kingdoms for three million six hundred thousand gold dragons to the Mountain and the Great Septon. Where do you get so much gold to pay us?"

"The underground reserves of gold in Casterly Rock are richer than any country. In the Hall of Heroes of Casterly Rock, there are one hundred golden statues, each of which is the size of a real person. That is only a very small part of our Lannister wealth," Kevan's tone became arrogant and proud, "Gentlemen, once I return to the Westerlands, I will use a lot of money to contact the legions of the Seven Kingdoms, and hire foreign legions to eradicate the Mountain together. The Lannister reserves of gold have come to the time to be used. I believe that in the near future, we will meet again in the Red Keep."

"I look forward to it," Bronn said.

"I also look forward to it!" Qyburn showed a kind smile.

The little bird walking in the front extinguished the torch on the mud of the ground. The sound of water, wind, and birds came in, sweeping away the darkness and depression in the tunnel.

Kevan followed the little bird out of the cave, outside were small woods, thorn bushes, not far from the thorn bushes, was the rolling Blackwater Rush.

In the distance, there was the sound of fishermen's chants. Nearby, under a few sentinel trees, a fierce man was riding a fiery beast, the scabbard of a giant sword revealed broad shoulders, staring at Kevan—the Mountain!

Kevan's neck stiffened, and he had to use force to turn his head to look at Bronn and Qyburn.

The little birds scattered like little birds, and soon disappeared into the Blackwater Rush forest, leaving no trace.

Bronn laughed: "Lord Hand, I'm sorry, the gold you gave us is too much, and we have no way to spend it."

Qyburn smiled, full of apology: "Lord Hand, there is also a very important point. If the Mountain doesn't see you, but suddenly discovers that Bronn and I have a lot more gold to use, our lives will not be guaranteed!"

A ray of sunlight fell on Kevan through the gaps in the leaves. The morning sun rose, and a brand new day officially began…

*

In the morning, the rising sun shone on the Kingswood, and also on the Blackwater Rush pier.

Jaime, Bronn, Podrick, and more than a hundred court soldiers came to the river. The river washed the pier, but there was no ferry on the pier.

"Bronn, go upstream, Podrick, go downstream, find a boat to ferry us across."

"Yes, my lord." Bronn and Podrick agreed, and rode away, following the river, one upstream, one downstream.

Bronn quickly saw a fishing boat in the river. He drove his horse to the river, and the horse's hooves splashed river water: "Fisherman, I'll give you a gold dragon to ferry me across the river."

Bronn did things cleanly and efficiently, pursuing the highest efficiency, in one word: money!

The fisherman was netting in the river, and a big fish struggled in the net, splashing snow-white water: "My lord, the Royal Navy has ordered that the Blackwater Rush ferry crossing is closed."

"Fisherman, I am ordered by the Queen Mother to requisition your fishing boat. Those who disobey will be beheaded!?" Bronn shouted sharply.

If money didn't work, then coercion. Bronn was extremely skilled in these methods.

"Okay, my lord, please wait a moment!" The fisherman continued to net.

"Hurry up, delaying my journey and missing the big event will make it difficult for your whole family to survive," Bronn threatened.

Threatening ordinary people with their lives was something Bronn was familiar with.

"My lord, I will put away the net and come to pick you up immediately."

"Don't put away the net! I'll give you a gold dragon to exchange for ten or eight new nets, and another fishing boat, and you'll still have some left over."

"My lord, you should keep the gold," the fisherman said calmly, neither humble nor arrogant.

This made Bronn a little surprised.

A small fisherman actually had such courage, rare!

The fisherman quickly put away the net. The Blackwater Rush had abundant fish resources, connected to the Gods Eye in the Riverlands upstream, and connected to the sea area of Dragonstone Island downstream. There were a variety of fish. When this net was put away, many big white fish hung struggling on the net.

The fisherman grabbed the fish and threw them into the bottom cabin, stretched his voice and sang a chant, paddling his oars, and the boat went down the river, heading towards the north bank.

Bronn watched helplessly as the fisherman drove the boat away in the opposite direction, getting further and further away, and a burst of anger blocked his chest.

Damn it, how dare a mere fisherman resist the request of a knight. Bronn was now a man of status, backed by the Mountain, and granted the title of Knight of the Blackwater Rush. His wife was the lord of Stokeworth, and the Stokeworth territory was now in his hands, but a fisherman simply ignored him and drove the boat away.

"Fisherman, I am Bronn, Knight of the Blackwater Rush. After I cross the Blackwater Rush, I will definitely order the Royal Navy warriors to find you. I will cut off your head, I swear!" Bronn shouted across the river.

Although he was the Knight of the Blackwater Rush, he could not cross the Blackwater Rush!

"My lord, please wait a moment. I will now go to the Royal Navy Port and ask Lord Waggener for instructions on whether to allow you to cross the river. No fishing boats on the Blackwater Rush are allowed to ferry people without the order of the Royal Navy, all will be punished by death."

Bronn was speechless and had nothing to say!

Half an hour later, Bronn rode back to the Blackwater Rush pier. The large and small fishing boats he encountered leaning on the shore, without exception, quickly propped their poles and left when they saw him, swinging the boats to the center of the river. No matter how he threatened or lured them, they left straight away. The fisherman just now was already a good person to have the mood to talk nonsense with him.

Podrick also rode back. The situation he encountered was exactly the same as Bronn's. Downstream, Podrick also encountered several merchant ships. Without exception, no matter what conditions were offered, the captains were silent and ordered the ships to leave quickly.

Soldiers in military uniforms were unbearable, so they quickly dodged.

Jaime's warhorse trod at the Blackwater Rush pier, he looked at the rolling river, unable to cross.

Jaime jumped off his horse, his face haggard. King's Landing was in front of him, within reach. The morning sun was bright, the breeze was gentle, the river was rushing, a scene of vitality, but they could not cross the river.

A great river, the waves are wide!

"Maester, release a raven to Lord Hand Kevan, and to Lord Mace."

"Yes, my lord!"

"Also send a letter to Lord Mountain, write like this…"

"Yes, my lord."

…………

Blackwater Rush Pier.

A porter with a whirlpool-shaped white pattern painted on his face and naked upper body had just stepped onto the deck, reaching out to grab the two corners of a bag of flour without exerting force, a fellow worker shouted from the steps of the pier: "Mortley, the Crab Claw King has captured the traitorous Hand Kevan in the Blackwater Rush forest, and is escorting him to the river road, go, go, go, quickly see the end of that traitorous Hand."

Without saying a word, Mortley got off the boat.

The captain and the flour tycoon beside him dared not scold him.

A new gang was established on the pier: the Crab Claw Gang. It was mainly composed of mountain people from the Crab Claw Peninsula. It was rumored that the boss behind the scenes was the Royal Navy Commander Waggener Gower, and the core naval warriors and the Crab Claw Gang were all from the Crab Claw Peninsula.

Now, captains and wealthy merchants with mercenaries and knights around them could not afford to offend these porters.

Since the establishment of the Crab Claw Gang, on more than a hundred piers, thousands of porters, no boss dared to blatantly deduct wages, and the knights hired by the boss dared not arbitrarily beat porters, insult maids and sailors anymore.

It is said that behind Lord Waggener Gower, is the Mountain!

In private, among themselves, the Claw Isle men referred to the Mountain as their Peninsula King.

The captain and the flour merchant exchanged a glance and decided to disembark as well, to witness the capture of Kevan.

*

In an instant, the news spread like wind throughout the entire harbor, far and near, across more than a hundred docks: stevedores, maids, sailors, fishermen, naval warriors, captains, mercenaries, wealthy merchants, all surged towards River Road… In a short while, River Road was overflowing with people and horses, the clamor drowning out the roaring Blackwater Rush…

*

Across the river, on the Blackwater Rush docks, Jaime gazed across the water, his eyes gloomy, his hand gripping his sword hilt, the back of his hand showing bulging veins.

Overhead, three ravens took flight with a rustle, heading towards the Red Keep in King's Landing…

A wide river, with rolling waves!