The Mountain of Ice and Fire

The black dragon Drogon stood behind Daenerys, like an ancient behemoth.

The dragon Sheep Stealer flew low, its spread wings blocking the sunlight, and the people in the square stood in the shadow it cast.

The white dragon stood next to the black dragon, tilting its head and watching the growing crowd in the square, its iridescent dragon eyes seeming full of curiosity.

More and more people gathered in the square: all the Good Masters came; the commoners and merchants from all over the city came; the mercenaries came; the captains from foreign lands and their sailors from the port docks came… His Majesty the King and Her Majesty the Queen publicly tried the leaders of the Sons of the Harpy, a momentous event without parallel in Astapor.

The Sons of the Harpy had always been the most mysterious, cruel, famous, and hidden paramilitary organization in Slaver's Bay.

Eight Great Masters were bound to the slave pillars.

This square was the famous Slave Square.

There were stone pillars in the square, whipping posts specifically used to bind disobedient slaves.

Now, eight Good Masters were also bound to the slave pillars.

Of course, this Slave Square was no longer called Slave Square. Queen Daenerys had once again abolished slavery, and all the slaves had regained their freedom. Daenerys had given the square a new name: Heroes' Square.

On the stone pillars in Heroes' Square, those bound were no longer slaves, but the former Great Masters.

Among the crowd, all the Sons of the Harpy were present: there were as many as seven hundred of them.

Each of them had signed a vow, swearing that they were not Sons of the Harpy. These people, as long as they put on the mask of the Sons of the Harpy, would become terrifying warriors and killers; but usually, they were no different from normal people. When Daenerys first captured Astapor, she suffered a heavy blow from the Sons of the Harpy, which affected the morale and shook her authority.

Before putting on the mask, no one knew who was a Son of the Harpy. Each time these people struck, they would inevitably wear the mask of the Sons of the Harpy.

These Sons of the Harpy dared to be angry but did not dare to speak.

The Mountain stood beside Daenerys, clad in armor and carrying a greatsword on his back. He was the person the warriors of the Sons of the Harpy feared the most.

In the past, Daenerys had to marry Hizdahr zo Loraq for the sake of the city's peace, using Hizdahr's influence to quell the killings of the Sons of the Harpy. But the Mountain, with a single sword strike, directly killed Hizdahr; and with another sword strike, killed Gnar, the absolute leader of Astapor. The Mountain subdued Hizdahr's Brazen Beasts and Gnar's slave soldiers, and killed all the guards and generals loyal to Hizdahr and Gnar. His greatsword turned dozens of people into mutilated corpses, and his ruthlessness made the Sons of the Harpy of Astapor prepare to launch a frenzied night attack on the civilians. However, the Mountain and Daenerys placed the safety of every street in the hands of every Good Master, and if an attack occurred anywhere, the local Good Master would be questioned and hanged by the Mountain.

This made the Sons of the Harpy of the entire city remain silent for the first time, and it was also the first time that Astapor, after being taken, did not experience a single bloody attack by the Sons of the Harpy that harmed ordinary people. Next, there was a city-wide household registration that lasted for a month, and everyone was required to sign a vow to prove that they were not related to the Sons of the Harpy, and once proven to be related, the entire family would be sentenced to death. These measures were all implemented after the Mountain arrived.

All of this aside, the Sons of the Harpy, who had been lying dormant, suddenly faced attacks and arrests by the Unsullied army, and in half a day, all the leaders of the Sons of the Harpy in the entire city were rounded up.

The leaders restrained the warriors of the Sons of the Harpy, and they chose to avoid war, but it was clear that the Mountain did not intend to really let them go.

The warriors of the Sons of the Harpy gathered in the square, their eyes like awls, their expressions gloomy, and an uneasy mood floated in the air.

However, facing the Mountain and the dragon behind Daenerys, as well as the ten Unsullied phalanxes, and the dragon overhead, these Sons of the Harpy were leaderless, and a despairing and pessimistic mood pervaded.

Many people felt the aura of the end.

Daenerys raised her hand to the thousands of people who filled the square, and the whole place erupted in deafening cheers.

In the midst of this deafening cheering, the hundreds of Sons of the Harpy felt even more their insignificance and helplessness.

Overhead, the dragon roared, as if echoing the cheers of the thousands of people.

In the hearts of the common people, Daenerys was their 'Messiah', their reborn mother. It was Daenerys who once again ordered the slave collars around their necks to be removed.

Daenerys raised her hands high, accepting the cheers and shouts of the people.

Jorah Mormont and Grey Worm drew their longswords, held them upright, and raised them. The soldiers of the ten Unsullied phalanxes raised their shields together and raised the spears in their hands. The spears struck the shields, emitting a booming sound of killing.

Prestige!

Having the Unsullied soldiers strike their shields with their spears together was a deliberate arrangement by the Mountain.

For no other reason than to let the so-called Sons of the Harpy see what true power was.

The Sons of the Harpy were a malignant tumor living on Astapor's body. Although it was not easy to remove, it was not impossible.

The Mountain raised his hand, and the sound of the Unsullied army's impact stopped together, and the cheers and shouts of the thousands of people also stopped together.

His prestige was like that of an iron-faced and cruel war god; while Daenerys's prestige was that of the mother of the people of Astapor.

"Bring the witnesses up," Daenerys shouted.

Thus, the three Great Masters of Balaq were brought to the high platform. They were Koqaz, Aqil, and Khristine.

The gazes of the seven hundred Sons of the Harpy all focused on the three people. Their expressions were stern, and their eyes were like swords.

There had never been anyone who dared to betray the Sons of the Harpy.

"They are also leaders of the Sons of the Harpy," a warrior of the Sons of the Harpy shouted loudly.

The Mountain looked at the man, and immediately an Unsullied rushed into the crowd, grabbed the man from the crowd, and pushed him onto the high platform.

"What's your name?" the Mountain asked.

All the residents of Astapor had already been registered. As long as he gave his name, the priest could find out his family background.

"Kurtis."

"Kurtis, who do you identify as the leader of the Sons of the Harpy?"

"These three."

"What's the evidence?"

"Your Majesty, send someone to search their pyramids. In their underground passages, you will find six boxes of golden masks of the Sons of the Harpy."

The masks of the Sons of the Harpy were all gold-plated.

"Oh, General Rhaen, take the cavalry to Balaq immediately, be quick, don't let them transfer the masks."

General Rhaen agreed, mounted his horse, and galloped away with a hundred cavalrymen.

*

"Kurtis, how do you know that these three Good Masters who stood up to expose Gheel and others are also leaders of the Sons of the Harpy, or are you framing them?"

"I am a centurion of the Sons of the Harpy. I once followed Good Master Koqaz."

In the square, thousands of people were in an uproar. The warriors of the Sons of the Harpy maintained a rare silence.

"Good Master Koqaz, what do you say?"

"Your Majesty, I don't know any Kurtis, and I am not the leader of the Sons of the Harpy he mentioned. He was instructed to frame us on purpose," Good Master Koqaz said with a pale face.

"Koqaz, you have done something that violates your oath. Do you think you and your family can still live in Astapor?" Kurtis sneered. He suddenly drew a short knife from his arms and ran towards Koqaz, stabbing the knife in his hand towards Koqaz's neck.

Bang!

With a loud noise, Kurtis's body was kicked away by the Mountain.

Whoosh!

The short knife flew up and fell towards the stage.

The people were in an uproar and retreated, falling in a large area.

A shield was pushed over and caught the short knife.

Boom!

Kurtis smashed into the crowd of the Sons of the Harpy, knocking several warriors to the ground. One of them was like being hit in the chest by a boulder, and died on the spot with Kurtis.

The Mountain looked at the crowd of the Sons of the Harpy and said lightly: "I already know who among you are the warriors of the Sons of the Harpy, but I will give you a way to live. Today, I will first kill the chief culprits, and those who follow will not be questioned. If you still don't know how to return, I will never show mercy. Your Majesty, let the trial begin."

Daenerys nodded, and the three councilors, the priest, the scholar, and the doctor, stood up.

In Westeros, the king has important ministers to handle government affairs. In Slaver's Bay, the queen uses the councilors in the council to handle government affairs.

*

After the scholar read out the oaths of the eight Good Masters, he began to inquire about the testimony of the three witnesses, and then showed the thousands of people in the square a dozen wooden boxes of Harpy masks. Finally, in the shouts of thousands of people, Daenerys consulted the opinions of the three councilors, and then announced loudly that the eight Great Masters were guilty of deception and treason. With a command from Her Majesty the Queen, the black dragon leaped out, and with a mouthful of dragonfire, ignited the eight Great Masters on the eight stone pillars.

The faces of Koqaz and the other three Good Masters changed. No one was not afraid of the power of dragonfire. The seven hundred warriors of the Sons of the Harpy also showed fear. The black dragon stood in front of them, its ferocious dragon head revealing a mouth full of sharp teeth, and red flames danced in its dragon eyes. An invisible pressure pressed down like a mountain.

The wailing of the eight Great Masters was short and shrill. Soon, they lost their voices and became eight human-shaped candles. In the square of thousands of people, earth-shattering cheers rang out.

The freed slaves sang praises to the Mountain and Daenerys. The slaves' past lives were too difficult. Their status was equivalent to cattle and sheep.

*

The priest walked up and chanted loudly, praying for the souls of the eight Good Masters. However, his chanting was completely drowned out by other voices.

*

"Koqaz, you have testified with merit, but you need to wait for General Rhaen to return. Kurtis accused you of also being leaders of the Sons of the Harpy, we need to wait for the result," the Mountain said to the three Good Masters Koqaz and others.

The faces of Koqaz and Khristine turned pale, and their lips turned blue-purple.

Good Master Aqil looked calm, but his eyes were cold. He was looking at the place where the warriors of the Sons of the Harpy were gathered. He knew some of the warriors. As long as he spoke, these people would be burned to death by dragonfire.

But Aqil did not speak.

The Mountain and Daenerys only took the chief culprits this time. Aqil did not know what the next plan was.

Aqil noticed that Khristine was secretly glancing at him. He knew that Khristine was suspicious of him. Aqil was indeed a Good Master who had been turned against by the Mountain. He had defected to the Mountain and had already arranged for his family to leave Astapor. The Mountain would escort him to Westeros and give him a position as a courtier.

Undermining the Good Master alliance from the inside was the Mountain's conspiracy. The public household registration and the vow that everyone had to sign were the Mountain's overt scheme. When everyone only noticed the Mountain's overt scheme, the Mountain's conspiracy was also proceeding simultaneously. Aqil spoke out against the Mountain when the Mountain announced the implementation of paper money. That was all a designed play, just to show Koqaz and Khristine. Aqil also became a core figure among the Good Masters because he dared to confront the Mountain and was not afraid of being beheaded, thus easily finding out all the secrets of the Sons of the Harpy.

Enemies must be disintegrated from the inside.

Aqil noticed that Khristine was secretly looking at him several times. He decided to tell Khristine the truth.

"Khristine." Aqil approached Khristine and said in a low voice, the voice could only be heard by the two of them, it was a whisper, "You are always secretly glancing at me, why?"

"No," Khristine denied.

"You suspect that I have already defected to the Mountain and become the Mountain's man?"

"You think too much, Lord Aqil."

"I am not thinking too much, I am indeed betrayed you, and have become His Majesty the King's man early on. I am a despicable betrayer, liar, and despicable person, are you going to kill me?"

Khristine was speechless, and subconsciously moved to the side.

"I did not betray you and Koqaz," Aqil said, "The wooden boxes of Harpy masks in your home will not be searched out. His Majesty the King already knows your identities, of course, this is also what I told the King."

Cold sweat broke out on Khristine's nose and forehead.

"Please rest assured, I will leave Astapor. You two will be small leaders of the Sons of the Harpy that His Majesty the King and Her Majesty the Queen know about. Koqaz is very smart and has decided to turn against him. His willingness to exchange paper money saved his life. Your willingness to exchange paper money with him also saved you and your family."

Khristine was speechless, like a stone sculpture.

Good Master Koqaz saw the two Good Masters whispering to each other. He wanted to know what the two were talking about, but he stiffened and did not move.

He was worried about whether the masks in his home would be searched out.

However, before he waited too long, the sound of horses' hooves rang out, and the dark crowd in the square separated from the middle, giving way to a cavalrymen's avenue.

General Rhaen returned with a hundred cavalrymen.

General Rhaen shouted under the high platform: "Your Majesty the King, Your Majesty the Queen, no Harpy masks were found in the homes of the three Good Masters on Balaq Street, they are innocent."