The Mountain of Ice and Fire

After two hundred tailors from Seagull Town entered the city, Sansa Stark noticed a group of people dressed in the style of Northerners. The fragments of conversation carried on the wind also contained the Northern accent she was familiar with.

This made Sansa feel a great sense of kinship.

"Lady Jeyne, there are Northerners among the artisans!" Sansa was surprised. When did the Mountain go to the North again? Did he force the Northern artisans to come, or did he pay a high price to hire them? Or did he deceive these Northern artisans into coming to the Westerlands?

"Sansa, they are from White Harbor in the North, and they are all silversmiths."

"Silversmiths?!" Sansa was even more surprised.

Silversmiths were a group of skilled craftsmen unique to White Harbor, specializing in crafting gold and silver ornaments. The Northern harbor city of White Harbor was home to the most gold and silver ornament craftsmen in the kingdom. White Harbor was once the site of the Imperial Silver Mint. After the mint ceased production, a large number of skilled gold and silver ornament craftsmen still gathered in White Harbor, forming a unique silversmith settlement.

"Yes, Sansa, they are all silversmiths."

"Will they stay in Castamere?"

"No, they will go to Lannisport. Clegane Bank needs their exquisite skills."

"Silversmiths going to Lannisport?!" Lady Donna asked.

"Yes, Lady Donna," Jeyne said. "With the promotion of paper money in the Westerlands, Clegane Bank will have more and more gold dragons, silver stags, and copper stars. These mountains of coins will be crafted by the silversmiths into exquisite gold and silver ornaments, and then sold throughout the kingdom and the Free Cities across the Narrow Sea."

Sansa's heart couldn't help but skip a beat. The Mountain had returned, and this time he had specially brought back the tailors from Seagull Town and the silversmiths from White Harbor. It seemed that the Mountain was meticulously planning the Westerlands' path to wealth, as if every step was carefully considered.

What kind of Mountain was this? How could the Mountain become so thoughtful? Was he an ambitious villain of the Seven Kingdoms?

Nearly ten thousand people from the Mountains of the Moon entered the city in succession, but the Mountain's legions were all encamped outside the city. Rows of marching tents were erected, stretching into the distance. Apart from the two thousand warriors from the Mountains of the Moon, the other warriors were mostly cavalry from Crackclaw Point and the Mountain's light cavalry, as well as a small number of infantry. They did not belong to Castamere, they belonged to Clegane New Village.

*

Lady Jeyne refrained from going down the city wall to see the Mountain first. There were too many people. If she went down, the ladies, nobles, and knights around her would follow, and the city gate would be blocked immediately, causing chaos.

After all the people had successfully entered the city, Lady Jeyne came down from the city wall. She was followed by a large group of people, mainly Northern nobles and ladies, as well as the city's general, the forty-odd tribal chiefs, and the lady's guard.

The Mountain rode Red Smoke, leading his death squad, and slowly approached with a carriage.

One-Eyed Tym, the chief of the Burned Men, was behind Lady Jeyne. He suddenly said loudly, "Madam, the carriage beside Lord Mountain comes from our Burned Men. Can I go up and see who is in the carriage?"

"General Tym, who do you think it will be?"

"I saw the tribal feather decorations and our flame patterns on the carriage. If I'm not mistaken, my father and mother are sitting in the carriage."

"Oh?"

"The feather decorations represent my mother, and the flame patterns represent my father, Madam."

So that's how it is!

Jeyne smiled and nodded, "Go ahead, General Tym."

Tym kicked his legs, and the warhorse jumped out of the queue, heading towards the Mountain alone.

"Madam!" Lady Donna exclaimed, "You are really capable, teaching this terrifying barbarian the etiquette of respect."

One-Eyed Tym only rode his horse in front of the lady after receiving Lady Jeyne's permission. This was the etiquette of respect that Lady Donna saw.

But Lady Donna's words made the forty-odd tribal chiefs of the Mountains of the Moon instantly frown. Everyone's eyes, front, back, left, and right, were fixed on her, as if they were forty-odd sharp swords. The little beauty Qila, with a necklace of human ears around her neck, glared even more fiercely, which made the two family knights beside Donna break into a cold sweat. Their hands instinctively pressed on the hilt of their swords, but none of the forty-odd tribal chiefs put their hands on the hilt of their swords or knives. They still sat upright on their horses, but their faces were cold and their eyes were like swords, full of hostility towards Lady Donna.

Lady Donna ate bread and salt after entering the city, and was protected by guest rights. No matter how dissatisfied the tribal chiefs were, they could not act here. Even if they had the right to act, with the Mountain and the lady here, they had to get orders in advance.

The face of Hobson, Lady Donna's steward, turned white.

The originally cheerful atmosphere was stirred into a strange, dull, and hostile atmosphere by Lady Donna's words.

Saying that they were barbarians in front of the chiefs of the Mountains of the Moon was a serious provocation. If it were on other occasions, Lady Donna would have been loudly reprimanded and drawn swords against by these tribal chiefs. Lady Donna inadvertently spoke out the contempt that the nobles of the outside world had for the people of the Mountains of the Moon, which was engraved in their bones.

"Lady Donna, General Tym is a warrior of the Mountains of the Moon, a general deeply loved by me and the Duke. He, like all the soldiers of the Mountains of the Moon, is not a barbarian," Lady Jeyne said with neither humility nor arrogance, politely, and her voice was clear to everyone present.

Shagga, like a giant bear, raised his fist and rhythmically pounded it on his chest. They, the Mountains of the Moon, had come out of the mountains several times to seek integration and a place to settle down, but they had returned in humiliation. The nobles they had encountered were all like Lady Donna, full of contempt and prejudice against them. Only the Mountain and Lady Jeyne respected them and never regarded them as barbarians or lowly people.

Lady Donna's inadvertent words revealed the deep-rooted prejudice and contempt of those nobles for the tribal people.

This made Shagga want to chop off Lady Donna's head with an axe, but he couldn't act against Lady Donna. He could only endure it, which made him and his brothers, even though it was just a careless remark, aroused the grief and anger in their hearts!

Shagga's fist pounded on his left chest, making a rhythmic sound of 'bang, bang, bang'. Soon, Conn, Gunthor, Qila, and others all pounded their fists on their heart, the rhythm was uniform, and they sang the song of the Mountains of the Moon. Although it was the local language of the tribal people, not the common tongue, the song was majestic and tragic, as if telling the indomitable spirit that the people of the Mountains of the Moon had adhered to for thousands of years:

We swear to heaven and earth

At this most difficult moment

For the old gods faith of my ancestors for life

The Mountains of the Moon that raised me

No one can take it away

We are warriors between heaven and earth

With the strongest courage

No matter how strong the enemy is

We are never afraid

No matter how evil the giant eagle is

Don't even think about treating us as slaves

The horn of the Mountains of the Moon

Will always resound in this glorious land

"What are they singing?" A noble lady quietly asked her husband beside her.

The husband shook his head, his expression solemn, and was conquered by the high-pitched and majestic singing of these chiefs, although he couldn't understand a word.

The singing spread to the city wall. All the soldiers on the city wall were people from the Mountains of the Moon. They sang this tragic "Song of the Mountains of the Moon" in unison. Many soldiers had tears in their eyes. They finally left the Mountains of the Moon, left the homeland that could not give them enough food, and integrated into the outside world. Their ancestors, six thousand years ago, because they refused to submit to the Andals who rode giant eagles to seize the Vale, they were forced to choose to enter the depths of the mountains, and like the Northerners, retained the old gods faith of the First Men, and refused the seven gods faith of the Andals. Until today, six thousand years later, they still guarded the old gods faith of their ancestors, but finally walked out of that barren mountain range, but unfortunately it was not to regain the sovereignty of the Vale, but had to leave their homes and came to the Westerlands...

Soon, the song of the Mountains of the Moon resounded throughout the city. In the long river of history, these tribes had long ceased to be united for survival, but instead fought and hated each other. However, this song from their ancestors was passed down from generation to generation by every tribe, and everyone could sing it:

We are warriors between heaven and earth

With the strongest courage

No matter how strong the enemy is

We are never afraid

No matter how evil the giant eagle is

Don't even think about treating us as slaves

…………

The giant eagle refers to the Andals, the ancestors of the Arryn family, the current lords of the Vale. The blue flying eagle flag is the flag of the Arryn family.

"Lady Jeyne, I, I'm sorry," Lady Donna whispered to Jeyne in the majestic, sea-like singing. Her eyes were full of apology and plea for help.

"You do need to apologize, Madam. In the Clegane army, no matter where the soldiers come from, they are our warriors and deserve our respect."

"Yes, Madam, I know I was wrong."

*

One-Eyed Tym came to the carriage. The curtain of the carriage had been hung up. His father and mother sat side by side in the carriage, one father, two mothers, one of whom was Tym's biological mother. Red Hand Tym, the old chief of the Burned Men, married many wives. The young Red Hand Tym's mother was one of the many mothers.

Tym jumped off his horse and bowed to his parents.

The Mountain rode Red Smoke, watching the meeting of this pair of father and son, mother and son.

Two generations of Red Hand, both named Tym. Father and son with the same name is a normal phenomenon in the tribes of the Mountains of the Moon. Most of the tribal people do not have their own surnames, nor do they have a formal name.

"The land here is very good, and the city walls are very strong. Your two mothers have proposed to me that they want to stay and not go back. There is really nothing in the mountains, and there is often a shortage of food, and the children are prone to die young, but I have to go back. We have to have someone to feed the fire dragon. Ricotta the witch has been kind to our tribe, and we have sworn an oath to the old gods. Unless the dragon leaves on its own, or our tribe suffers the misfortune of extinction, otherwise, we have to have someone uphold the oath." What the old man said was the Burned Men's native language, no longer the usual daily language of greeting, and the Mountain could not understand a word.

"Yes, Father."

"If you decide not to go back to the tribe, I will find a new Red Hand to replace you. That dragon needs our sacrifice."

"Father, I will go back, but not to live there, but just to go back and see the people in the village. Father, after you enter the city, it may be difficult to leave. We have food, livestock, and ironware here. Fertile land, strong city walls, huge cities, and a territory of two hundred miles, the city you see is only part of the ground, the real city of Castamere is underground, we live in miracles and legends, Father."

"Tym, is there no other way to allow us all to migrate here? Ricotta the witch's dragon is an adult dragon, and it doesn't actually need our sacrificial food. There is enough food in the Mountains of the Moon for it to forage for itself," an old woman said.

"That dragon often flies to distant places, and sometimes it doesn't appear for a long time. I'm sure it has its own lair in the land of Asshai in the east long ago. It may just be unable to let go of its master Ricotta, so it appears from time to time," another old woman said.

"We have sworn an oath, are you not afraid of your tongues rotting off for saying such disrespectful words?" The old man Tym glared and scolded.

The two old women were silent, but there was no shame on their faces. They just closed their mouths tightly, as if afraid that the old man Tym would pull out a knife and cut off their tongues.

After the meeting, Lady Jeyne arrived, so everyone dismounted and greeted each other. The Mountain noticed Lady Donna's humble expression, and also noticed that Sansa had regained her beautiful glory. The audience of the little girl Judy Marbrand surprised the Mountain. Although the Marbrand family no longer had any strength, and almost all the men had died in battle, this family was still the most determined to hate the Cleganes.

The group then slowly entered the city. After entering the city, the old Tym and his two wives were shocked by the buildings in the city. The place where the tribesmen lived was even better than the castles where the nobles they knew lived: clean, tidy, without the stench of feces and urine, and the aerial aqueducts spiraled like dragons and snakes, making them unbelievable, until they entered the more magnificent underground city, and were finally completely shocked.

The Mountain whispered to Jeyne, "Madam, I can see that the old Tym wants to stay, but he is trapped by his oath and must return."

"Why?"

"Have you read the annals of the Targaryen family? There are records about dragons in it. In the era of the Dance of the Dragons, there was a commoner girl dragon rider named Ricotta, and a dragon called Sheepstealer."

"The missing Ricotta the dragon rider and her mount dragon?"

The Mountain whispered: "Madam, the longest-lived dragons have a thousand-year lifespan, and Sheepstealer left the royal family and escaped the fate of being imprisoned in the Dragonpit by the Targaryens. It is only over two hundred years old this year, and it is in its prime. I have already learned from the old Tym's expression and demeanor that Sheepstealer is still hidden in the Mountains of the Moon, and the Red Hand of the Burned Men has kept this secret."

"You want to try to approach Sheepstealer? To approach a dragon? That's too dangerous!" Jeyne looked up at the Mountain, her eyes wide.

"Is there a very, very small possibility?" The Mountain's eyes glowed with fiery light.

"Yes, my king!" A voice said, it was Daurte Quintyne. She didn't need to hear the Mountain and Jeyne talking, she could read the Mountain and Jeyne's language by looking at the shape of their lips. "The tribal chief keeps his oath, he only needs to find a wizard of the same faith, and this wizard can untie the old Tym's oath. If that dragon is close to the old Tym, the old Tym can help you to approach that dragon."

Thanks to Maple Leaf Love Ice, Dreaming of Horses, and Careless Yi for their support and generous donations! Thank you, and a handshake!