Chapter 143 - Home sweet home (IV)

"A person who doesn't know how to control their own desires is no different from a thinking animal, a slave to their own desires and emotions. Such a person can never become a real human, just another animal in the stone jungle." - God-Emperor of Planetos, looking at his children, who were listening attentively.

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Daenerys was unaware that she was already the target of a fanatic and a God, who was gradually discovering Aenar's dislike of the gods. However, even if the girl had known, she would have laughed and felt no fear.

Aenar had taught her not to be afraid and to face her fears head on, because only when you overcome fear do you reach true maturity.

Daenerys didn't have to wait more than a few hours for the ships of the Targaryen and Velaryon fleets to dock at the port.

Monford and Aurane climbed down a wooden plank to the ground, watching the gold-masked soldiers, who were already in formation. They both looked at each other and saw the surprise in each other's eyes. Although they had seen these soldiers before, it was the first time they had seen them in action.

And they had to admit: that military discipline was truly enviable. All fifteen hundred men seemed to move as a single entity.

"Sardaukar!" Merik shouted loudly, and all the soldiers slammed their shields against the ground, producing a deafening roar.

"March towards the queen!" He ordered his troops in a cold, calm tone. As soon as Merik's words echoed, all fifteen hundred men stepped forward, holding their spears and shields firmly.

Monford and Aurane ordered their own soldiers to march together, but as they entered the city, both their faces changed dramatically.

Even someone as experienced in warfare as Monford couldn't help but feel nauseous at the brutal and bloody scene that stretched out before them. Dried blood stained some walls, while decomposing bodies could be seen in every alleyway.

"By the gods, Robert really is crazy." Monford muttered at the sight of the carnage. He thought Aerys was insane, but Robert was proving even more insane by ordering something like this. Who, with a shred of humanity, could commit such an atrocity?

"What's this before the chance of winning a war?" Unlike Monford, Aurane was more realistic. He himself wouldn't hesitate to do something even worse in order to climb the ranks of the nobility. His brother would never understand the determination of someone truly cruel.

However, Robert's decision did surprise him, but he soon accepted it as natural. After all, how could Robert be an ordinary man after declaring war on House Targaryen? Robert could be many things, but no one would dare say that he was an indecisive man.

People looked at the soldiers marching through the streets of King's Landing with admiration in their eyes. To them, the soldiers in the golden masks seemed more powerful than the Golden Robes themselves, who had left King's Landing with Robert.

The momentum, aura and gestures of these warriors were so imposing that they made the Golden Robes look like a group of untrained bandits.

When Daenerys saw the golden wave walking through the streets of King's Landing, she smiled and made Balerion let out a loud, powerful roar.

Merik looked up at the ceiling of the Great Sept of Baelor and saw the queen's dragon perched atop the structure. Without hesitation, he ordered his troops to march towards the Great Sept of Baelor. He wouldn't dare leave the queen unprotected for a second longer.

At his rider's command, Balerion leapt into the air and flew off, landing gradually in the square in front of the Sept. Daenerys looked back and, in the center of the gleaming ivory square, saw the statue of King Baelor the Blessed. He stood tall and serene on a pedestal, his face sculpted in an expression of benevolence.

She despised this ancestor with all her might. To her, Baelor was neither a king nor a dragon, but a slave to his own desires and thoughts, a prisoner in his own mind.

"Just an idiot held hostage by his own delusional mind." Daenerys muttered with a mocking smile. Many might say he was good and benevolent, but for Daenerys, Baelor was summed up in a single word:

"Weak."

Descending from Balerion, Daenerys, wearing a blood-red dress with the coat of arms of House Targaryen, touched the white marble floor. She took the gold crown studded with rubies, attached to her waist by a delicate silver chain, and placed it on her silver hair.

As soon as she descended, the Sardaukar appeared before her and, without waiting for orders from the queen, immediately surrounded her, protecting her at all times.

Balerion let out a disgruntled roar at those "daring ants", and his coal-red eyes sharpened, revealing a sharp, menacing gaze.

"Easy, son." Daenerys stroked the scales on the dragon's neck and whispered in a gentle tone. She knew that Balerion was annoyed at being surrounded by so many people.

The dragon let out a guttural sound and calmed down with his mother's help, although he continued to watch the people around him with an increasingly cold gaze.

Merik's lips twitched as he felt the dragon's gaze on him. Although it seemed impossible, he felt that Balerion was watching him with a particularly icy gaze.

"What have I done to deserve the dragon queen's hatred?" Merik asked himself, feeling helpless. He knew that his future career could be in jeopardy if he didn't win the dragon's sympathy. As a former Immaculate, his only ambition was to grow in the military career created by the king.

"Merik, call the people. Let them see their queen for the first time." Unaware of her loyal Sardaukar's thoughts, Daenerys ordered with a calm, regal tone.

Merik tapped his chest and replied in a respectful voice: "Yes, My Queen."

The Sardaukar didn't hesitate to obey the queen's orders and ordered his subordinates to create a safe and perfect perimeter for Daenerys.

In just over half an hour, the entire square was filled with people. Even though it was impossible to count them, Daenerys assumed that there were around ten thousand, and there weren't more because space didn't allow it.

She also noticed men dressed in white, with the symbol of the seven stars embroidered on the chest of their clothes. These men and women carried weapons, which, according to the agreement between the Faith of the Seven and King Jaehaerys I Targaryen, was an act of high treason.

Daenerys narrowed her eyes as she observed a middle-aged man wearing a simple gray tunic. From the respect with which he was treated, she realized that he was the High Sparrow, the greatest religious leader in King's Landing at the time.

Their gazes met in an exchange of calm, courteous expressions. Daenerys didn't want to frighten her prey before the time was right, and the High Sparrow only greeted the "incestuous abomination" as a mere formality.

Turning her gaze to the crowd, which remained calm under the control of the Sardaukar and the soldiers of House Velaryon, Daenerys stepped forward and spoke with a gentle, elegant yet regal tone, unusual for a girl of almost fourteen.

"I am Daenerys Targaryen, queen and wife of my husband, Aenar I of House Targaryen."

Her sweet, gentle voice spread through the crowd, and those closest to her helped relay her words to those in the background.

If there was one thing good looks were useful for, it was making a strong impression on people. And, without a doubt, the Targaryens were masters at drawing attention to themselves with their extraordinary beauty.

Everyone was mesmerized by Daenerys' beauty. With her majestic dress and the crown on her silver hair, the young woman - who didn't look very old - seemed like a goddess descended on the world to save them from misery, hunger and death.

Looking into the eyes of those commoners, Daenerys crushed any remnants of compassion in her chest and began to direct the crowd's hatred:

"Robert Baratheon abandoned you for fear of the dragons. He purposely took all the food, the guards and abandoned King's Landing to take refuge on Casterly Rock."

As soon as his words echoed, cries of anger, hatred and resentment spread through the place:

" Unworthy king!!!"

"The worst king Westeros has ever seen!!!"

"Fat king!!!"

Daenerys was pleased to hear the rancorous cries.

"Robert is just a usurper who killed his own cousin and stole the throne. He was never worthy to sit on the Iron Throne."

She threw even more fuel on the hatred at that moment, reminding everyone that Robert was a murderer of relatives.

"He'll burn in hell!!!"

"Killer of kin!!!"

"May the gods punish him for doing something so cruel!!!"

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