The Mountain of Ice and Fire

Hound had only heard the citizens of East City talk about the Red Temple.

The citizens of East City were mostly believers in the Red God.

When he followed the riverside avenue to the Red Temple Square, he, like the Mountain and Arianne, was completely shocked.

The Red Temple's magnificence exceeded Hound's imagination.

The Red Temple's square was large enough to accommodate tens of thousands of troops.

The dragons and White Dragon parked in the square didn't seem as huge as when they flew in the sky.

The square was too large, making the dragons seem small.

Hound and his five hundred warriors from the Isle of Skagos arrived at the Red Temple Square.

The Mountain and Arianne had already followed High Priest Benerro into the Red Temple's gate.

The Red Temple enshrined one god: the Red God R'hllor.

The Mountain, known as the Bright Messenger and the Son of the Red God, couldn't possibly avoid paying homage to the Red God R'hllor.

The Mountain and Arianne's first destination upon arriving in Volantis was the Red Temple, demonstrating his respect for High Priest Benerro and the Red God.

When Melisandre came to the continent of Westeros from Asshai of the Shadow, twenty thousand miles away, she specifically visited Benerro and discussed who the reincarnation of Azor Ahai was.

The Cold God and the Red God are two opposing deities.

When the Cold God wanted to rule the world with the power of darkness, the Red God became his most resolute opponent.

The Red God's priests interpreted various messages from the flames, and finding the reincarnated hero of Azor Ahai became their ultimate mission.

When the Mountain killed the Night King, ending the Others' southward advance, his status as the Son of God was most powerfully established among the Red God's priests. The Red God's high priests and priests all confirmed that the Mountain was the reincarnation of Azor Ahai, so supporting the Mountain became the only choice for the Red God's priests.

In Volantis, this rule was also the Red God priests' guiding principle.

When Daenerys, as the Mountain's envoy, came to Volantis, wanting the Elephant and Tiger Parties to submit and become vassals under the Mountain, this received High Priest Benerro's strong support. High Priest Benerro's influence in Volantis was unmatched. When he came out to publicly support Daenerys and the Mountain, no matter how much the Elephant and Tiger Parties hated him, they had to consider Benerro's statement.

Benerro's support made it easier for the Elephant and Tiger Parties to choose to submit to the Mountain and sign the initial draft of the surrender agreement.

*

Hound rode his unicorn into the square. Two squads of a hundred red-robed warriors walked towards him, signaling him to dismount.

Hound noticed that although these people weren't wearing armor, they all had scimitars hanging on their bodies. He had also heard of the Red Temple's 'Hand of Flame' forces. Hound hadn't lived in East City for long, but the citizens he encountered every day were talking about High Priest Benerro's incredible miracles in the Red Temple, as well as the glorious deeds of the Hand of Flame. He knew what was up, so he dismounted and had the Skagosi warriors stop and form a square formation in the square.

Then, he followed the leader of the Hand of Flame alone and entered the Red Temple's gate.

The courtyard inside the Red Temple was extremely large, with winding paths and countless pavilions and towers, like a completely different world of flames. Whether it was the walls, the roofs, or the ground, everything was in dazzling colors like red, yellow, gold, and orange, making people dizzy. Colorful flame patterns were everywhere, as if walking into an endless, vivid, colorful painting.

In front of a magnificent building's gate, the guide stopped and gestured for Hound to enter.

Hound entered and saw a huge statue that he had to look up and up again to see in its entirety: the statue of the god R'hllor.

R'hllor was a calm and elegant man. The giant stone sculpture was full of spirituality, and the eyes looking at Hound made Hound feel that with the next heartbeat, the eyes would speak to him in rhythmic tones.

Moving his gaze down, Hound saw High Priest Benerro. High Priest Benerro's peculiar appearance and tattoos all over his body made Hound marvel secretly. Then he saw the Mountain and Arianne. They were lighting candles for R'hllor in front of the statue. The candles here were also colorful, with all sorts of bright colors, mainly red, yellow, gold, purple, and orange.

Hound put his hands together and bowed to the acolyte by the door. After receiving permission, he also stepped forward to pay his respects to the Red God, then washed his hands and began to light candles for the Red God R'hllor. Hound saw that the Mountain had lit candles of different colors, so he lit each color of candle one by one, then knelt down and prayed silently in his heart.

Hound had always despised gods, but for some reason, when he saw the statue of the Red God R'hllor, he thought of the battle with the Others outside the Wall, and the wights and Others he had personally seen and fought. He thought of Lady Melisandre, who had come to Westeros from afar. Melisandre had done many things that seemed 'evil' at the time, but her ultimate goal was only one: to kill the Night King, end the Others, and save humanity.

In the end, the Mountain, with the help of Melisandre, the Great Sage, and the hundreds of pyromancers from the Pyromancers' Guild—and of course, with Anguy's accurate shot with the obsidian arrow—the Mountain's Ice Sword killed the Night King, ending the Others' invasion. And all of this, people said, was the result of the Red God's will.

Hound therefore felt full of reverence for the Red God. A god who saved humanity received Hound's devout respect.

Lady Melisandre was a Red God priestess. She was the strongest symbolic representation of the Red God's will. The Cold God was for enslaving humanity and ruling the world, while the Red God was for ending the Others, ending the darkness, and saving humanity. From this point, Hound was full of respect for the Red God.

Only those who had experienced the life-and-death battle with the Others knew just how evil and terrifying the Others and wights were.

*

Finally, High Priest Benerro dabbed holy water on the foreheads of the Mountain, Arianne, and Hound, and the ceremony of offering to the Red God officially ended.

High Priest Benerro invited the Mountain, Arianne, and Hound into his private chamber, a place where the high priest gave guidance and heard petitions.

"General Sandor Clegane, I know you are very dissatisfied with His Majesty giving a dragon to the Tiger Party's Gev, you are the King's brother, and your attitude and words will affect the morale of the army. Now His Majesty is here, ask him face to face," High Priest Benerro said.

Hound was stunned!

This was the first time he had come to the Red Temple, the first time he had met High Priest Benerro. How could the priest know what he was thinking? And the Mountain noticed that when Benerro said Hound was his brother, Hound didn't show any resistance, as if it were a natural and rightful thing. This made the Mountain feel slightly different: Hound didn't show any resistance, disgust, or hostility. This was a miracle.

"How does the High Priest know my thoughts? What did you see in the flames?" Hound said respectfully.

"The flames tell me that the Marquis's thoughts are not clear," High Priest Benerro said lightly.

"Giving a dragon to someone who should be sent to the gallows, I don't know why? Unless that... is very stupid!" Hound swallowed the word bastard.

"I don't want to kill too much. If possible, I hope there will be more peace," the Mountain said.

"Hmph!" Hound snorted.

"It's not that I can't kill Gev, nor am I afraid of civil unrest in the city after killing him. If there is a very good and peaceful way to conquer this place, why wouldn't I use it?"

"Hmm, good idea. Then in Slaver's Bay, how many dragons did you send to those so-called Good Masters, Wise Masters, and Holy Masters?" Hound tilted his head back, pointing his chin at the Mountain.

Arianne couldn't stand it anymore. She came out to protect her man: "General Sandor, do you know how Daenerys, without soldiers, without money, without mercenaries, without the support of noble forces, managed to have a legion, then conquer Slaver's Bay, and conquer the Dothraki?"

"She has dragons!"

"Yes, she has dragons, and His Majesty is the same, he has dragons," Arianne smiled.

"But she didn't send any dragons to slave owners who dared to disrespect her. She wanted dragons to fight, not to give dragons to the enemy."

"She did."

"Oh, I've never heard of it."

"Because you had too little contact with her, but I know all the stories related to her."

"Okay, tell me, I can't wait. When and where did Daenerys give her dragon to her enemy and then conquer the enemy?" Hound's tone was full of provocation and sarcasm.

"In Astapor."

"Oh!" Hound had the urge to stand up and leave, but he glanced at the Mountain and High Priest Benerro. Out of respect for the High Priest, he restrained himself.

"Back then, Daenerys only had Jorah Mormont, Aggo, Jhogo, and Rakharo, three bloodsworn guards, and dozens of Kas troops. They sailed from the eastern giant city of Qarth to Slaver's Bay and entered the first city, Astapor. In Astapor, there was the legion she needed: the Unsullied."

"The Good Masters of Astapor trained Unsullied warriors and sold them to anywhere in the world. No matter who it was, as long as they could afford it, they could buy an Unsullied legion from the Good Masters. Daenerys, as a foreign queen, proposed to the Good Masters to buy the Unsullied legion, but she actually had no money. So, after agreeing on the price to buy eight thousand Unsullied, she proposed to exchange an army for one of her dragons, and the Good Masters agreed."

"Daenerys successfully obtained command of eight thousand Unsullied, and then she handed the dragon over to the Good Masters. However, the dragon was Daenerys's child. The Good Masters got the dragon, but couldn't command it at all. He had to ask Daenerys to help him train the dragon and tell him how to make the dragon listen to him, so Daenerys said a High Valyrian word: Dracarys! The dragon breathed dragonfire, burned the Good Master to death, and returned to Daenerys's side. Daenerys obtained eight thousand Unsullied without spending a single soldier, a single gold, or a single silver, and successfully occupied Astapor."

After Arianne finished telling Daenerys's story, Hound listened in amazement.

This was the first time he had heard such a story about Daenerys's rise.

He knew that he and the soldiers were reckless. They thought too naively, really thinking that His Majesty the King would give Gev a dragon.

The Mountain said: "Brother, when we successfully incorporate the armies of the Elephant and Tiger Parties, and then spend some time to figure out the situation of the nobles, we will make a major adjustment to the officials here, and arrange for our legions and personnel to enter Volantis and become administrative officials in the government hall. When everything is ready, and Volantis is under orderly management, I will bring the little dragon, Tiamat, from Westeros to Volantis. Of course, Gev won't be able to train the dragon. He will have to ask me for the secret of training the dragon, and I only need to say a dragon word he doesn't understand to Tiamat, and Tiamat will breathe dragonfire and burn Gev to death. Gev is attacked by the dragon and dies while training it. This can only show that the dragon refuses to recognize him as its master. His fate dictates that he cannot become a true dragon rider. After Gev is burned to death by his dragon, the other nobles will have nothing to say. After Gev dies, I naturally have the right to take back the dragon."

Hound stared at the Mountain for a long time, and said: "Your Majesty, you used to be bloody and brutal, but now you are insidious and cunning, making people feel cold."

"Everything is for a peaceful transition. Only Gev dies, which is less killing. I swear in the name of the Red God, this is not insidious and cunning, this is only punishing the chief culprit, and not questioning the followers," the Mountain said lightly.

Hound shrugged, stood up, bowed respectfully to High Priest Benerro, then glanced at the Mountain and Arianne respectively, turned and walked out.

The Mountain and Arianne were also about to get up to leave, but High Priest Benerro waved his hand and said: "Your Majesty, Prince Arianne, I want to invite you to have a meal with me here, and also wait for another person to arrive."

"Who?"

"Gev!"

"He's coming too?"

"Your Majesty announced in the sky in front of the people of the East and West cities that you would give Gev a dragon, and Gev is already convinced."

"Even so, shouldn't he be waiting for me in the Government Hall?"

"He followed here to welcome Your Majesty and the Prince, so as to show his submission and loyalty. In order to get the dragon, Gev has abandoned the arrogance of the Tiger Party leader and his hostility and resistance to Your Majesty. People die for wealth, and birds die for food. The promise of a dragon has fully aroused Gev's greed."

Arianne smiled: "I heard that the Tiger Party's Gev is brave and resourceful. It seems that he is just a fool."

"If Gev weren't stupid, he would be the Volantis magistrate. The Tiger Party's military strength is far above the Elephant Party's, but for two consecutive years, it has been the Elephant Party who has been the magistrate, not the Tiger Party."

"Oh, please, High Priest Benerro, teach me how to deal with the Elephant Party?"

"After incorporating the army and burning Gev to death, those wise people in the Elephant Party will naturally understand who the real King is. As long as Gev dies, Magistrate Joshur is not stupid. He will understand the key to this. If he wants to live peacefully without accidents, he will wisely choose to be loyal to Your Majesty and dare not play any other tricks."

Arianne's face showed a brilliant smile.

The Mountain also smiled slightly.

Killing Gev alone to subdue both parties, this was exactly the best result the Mountain hoped to achieve.