Game of Thrones: Rise of the Supreme Dragon Queen

"Damn it! My Dragon Horn has been stolen!" Dany's face darkened.

"What?" The sudden shift in topic left Jorah Mormont momentarily stunned.

"The Dragon Horn, which I hung at the top of the pyramid as a rallying signal, is gone," she repeated.

Sealed within the Dragon Horn was the soul of a dragon—a Dragon King's soul.

By blowing the horn, the blower could merge their will with the dragon soul, enter the soul sea of a dragon, and, through the Dragon King's soul's immense pressure, leave their imprint within the dragon's soul sea.

This was the fundamental magical principle behind dragon-binding.

Previously, Euron had left his will inside Little Green and Little White's consciousness. Under normal circumstances, Dany only needed to blow the horn, attach her will to the Dragon King's soul, break through the soul defenses of Green and White again, and leave a mark of enslavement deep within their souls.

However, Dany believed that breaking the young dragons' soul defenses twice in such a short period had already inflicted severe damage on them. If she were to use the Dragon King's soul to subjugate them again, it would leave an indelible scar.

More importantly, as a Dragon Spirit, she was accustomed to merging her soul with Big Black. Enslaving Little Green and Little White felt like betraying her own children.

She wanted them to listen to their mother, but not as resentful slaves.

Deep down, she also believed that dragons should be free—free from any chains. Except hers.

As a Dragon Spirit, she could merge with dragon souls. Previously, she couldn't do so because her "skill slot" was occupied by Big Black, preventing her from entering Little Green and Little White's soul sea.

But with the Dragon Horn, Dany broke that limitation and entered the soul sea of Little Green and Little White once more.

Then, she did something insane—she pulled Big Black into their soul sea as well. Just like on the night she hatched them on the Red Wastes, all three dragons merged their souls with her.

Together, they ganged up on the Dragon King's soul, which also resided in Little Green and Little White's soul sea.

The Dragon Horn could bind dragons because the Dragon King's soul was of a higher tier than ordinary dragon souls.

Individually, Big Black, Little Green, and Little White were no match for the Dragon King.

But with the three of them combined—plus 'Mommy Dany'—they almost shattered the Dragon King's soul.

Actually, they did shatter it.

The magical runes inside the Dragon Horn peeled off and fell into the soul sea of the two young dragons, where Dany promptly "collected" them.

After she recovered, Dany tried using the Dragon Horn a few more times. The Dragon King's soul still existed, but it could no longer penetrate a dragon's soul space.

It could still intimidate all living beings with its aura, but it had lost its ability to control dragons.

The Dragon Horn had become just a regular horn.

Still, Dany didn't just leave it to gather dust. When the Unsullied attacked Astapor, she used it as a war horn.

After taking Astapor, she repurposed it as a "village assembly horn."

Dany had grown up in a rural village. Back then, whenever the village chief needed to gather the villagers for a meeting, he would bang a copper gong at the village entrance. Hearing the sound, villagers would emerge from their homes and gather slowly at the meeting spot. Even those living at the far end of the village, who couldn't hear it directly, would be notified by their neighbors.

The Dragon Horn, however, could cover the entire city of Astapor—far superior to the village chief's gong.

The snot-nosed little girl from the past had now inherited her village chief grandfather's mantle. She had become the village chief of "Astapor Village." And, just like before, she hung a "copper gong" by her door.

Dany had never worried about someone stealing her "gong." The pyramid was 100 meters tall, packed with government officials and guards.

There were also two Unsullied standing watch in rotating shifts in the rooftop garden, and the ground floor, "Chaoyang Palace," functioned as both a courthouse and an administrative office, always bustling with onlookers.

Whenever Dany led her troops into battle, her personal secretary, Missandei, would sit just below the Queen's wooden throne in the "Hand of the Queen" seat, handling daily affairs in her stead.

Well, Missandei was more like a Hand of the King with only judicial authority.

And yet, someone had still managed to break into the pyramid and steal her horn.

A name suddenly came to Dany's mind. Her expression changed, and she gritted her teeth. "Damn it! It must be that bastard Euron! It's been six months, and he still hasn't returned to Westeros."

"It's highly likely him," Jorah nodded in agreement.

At the time, it had seemed like Dany had only laid siege to Astapor on three sides, but in reality, she had secretly stationed several hundred Dothraki cavalry at the supposedly open gate, ensuring that not a single Great Master escaped.

But Euron had never intended to flee. After leaving Grazdan's Great Pyramid, he brazenly remained in a tavern. Even after Dany took the city, she hadn't bothered him.

Half a month after Dany took control of Astapor, merchants who had been trapped in the port district started to leave one by one. With the liberation of slave sailors—who then became part of the Grole Fleet—many merchant ships found themselves short on crew. Euron and his two hundred mute sailors became highly sought after.

Of course, Euron had concealed his true identity as the pirate king of the Summer Sea, the "Red Demon," and instead passed himself off as a fallen noble from Westeros.

Dany had assumed that, at worst, Crow's Eye would rob his employers mid-journey and either return to Westeros or resume his pirating. She never imagined he would dare to pluck the tiger's whiskers—hers.

Or… had he sold the Dragon Horn's secret to the Yunkai'i? Was that why their warships had stubbornly refused to leave—to create an opportunity for the thief?

Giving Big Black new orders to continue his bombing runs, Dany turned to a squad of one hundred Unsullied.

"I'm going to check the pyramid. Ser Jorah, continue directing the battle here as planned."

"We don't know for sure who the intruder is. Let me accompany you," Jorah said with concern.

"Don't worry. There are still five hundred Unsullied inside the pyramid."

Dany found a horse and, with one hundred Unsullied jogging behind her, reached the base of the pyramid in just ten minutes.

Outside, the sound of artillery fire filled the air, yet inside, hundreds of citizens leisurely watched Missandei preside over a trial.

Even more absurd was the case she was handling.

Two farmers were disputing the ownership of a litter of piglets.

Six months ago, a 40-year-old Lhazareen farmer took an interest-free loan from Queen Daenerys and bought a strong boar to use as a breeding pig. Farmers from a ten-mile radius frequently brought their sows in heat to mate with his boar.

A few months ago, the boar broke through the wooden fence of its pen and ran off. When the Lhazareen farmer found it, the boar was mounting a sow.

That sow belonged to a young white man from a neighboring estate.

There was no major conflict at the time. After the two pigs had finished their business, the Lhazareen farmer gave his boar a few lashes, cursed under his breath, and led it back home.

Even when, three days ago, the neighboring sow gave birth to a litter of piglets, the Lhazareen farmer paid it no mind.

That was until yesterday morning, when his wife was weeding the rice fields and overheard a conversation.

Hidden behind the chest-high rice plants, she remained unseen as a young couple walked along the ridge, speaking openly.

The white husband, full of pride, told his wife that he had deliberately taken advantage of the Lhazareen farmer's absence. He had led his sow near the boar's pen, letting her presence agitate the powerful boar. Unable to resist, the boar broke through the wooden fence and followed the scent.

And just like that, the young man saved himself the cost of a piglet.

After all, breeding a sow with a stud boar wasn't free. The fee was either 100 copper coins or allowing the boar's owner to pick one piglet from the resulting litter.

Outraged, the Lhazareen farmer confronted the young man, but the latter refused to admit to any wrongdoing. Instead, he accused the Lhazareen farmer of slandering his honor.

To complicate matters, the mating had taken place in the young man's vegetable field, and his pigpen's wooden fence had been broken in the process.

The village elders, at a loss, sent them to seek judgment from the "village chief."

Daenerys stood at the periphery of the scene, listening for a while. She couldn't believe how carefree these "commoners" were. Outside the city, over a hundred thousand enemy troops from both land and sea were engaged in a brutal battle against her forces.

This was the largest war seen in Essos for thousands of years—perhaps even larger than any battle Slaver's Bay had ever witnessed.

And yet, here these two men were, leaving their village, crossing a potential war zone, just to bring a dispute over a single piglet before the queen's court.

MMP.

To make matters worse, hundreds of Astapori citizens were gathered as spectators, watching the trial unfold as if it were mere entertainment. Even her handmaiden, Lirios Doreah, was munching on a persimmon, thoroughly engrossed in the spectacle.

However, upon spotting Doreah, Daenerys breathed a sigh of relief—at least she wasn't in the rooftop garden where she might have been in danger.

"Ah—!"

A citizen in a linen tunic turned his head absentmindedly, catching sight of Daenerys surrounded by Unsullied guards. He immediately became flustered and shouted in excitement:

"Her Majesty the Queen has arrived! Long live the Mother of Dragons! The Queen has returned! Long live Queen Daenerys!"

His voice was clumsy, his actions frantic, yet his outburst startled the entire hall. One by one, the people joined in, chanting praises of "Queen" and "Mother of Dragons."

The once solemn courthouse instantly transformed into a bustling marketplace.

"Silence!" Daenerys raised her hand and shouted.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

The Unsullied lining both sides of the queen's chair stomped their red-and-black lacquered staves against the ground in unison, their voices ringing out in a resounding chant:

"Majesty— and— power—!"

They had donned dark blue robes, cloth caps embroidered with red dragon emblems, and held wooden water-fire staves—completely resembling the officials of a grand imperial court.

Even their chests were emblazoned with a large character, boldly written in the script of the East: "Soldier."

In front of Missandei, acting as the "magistrate," stood a wooden desk, complete with a gavel.

Above the queen's throne, a plaque was hung, inscribed in High Valyrian: "Justice Above, Mercy Below."

"Majesty and power" could be shouted in an unfamiliar tongue—what mattered was the force behind the words, the authority they commanded. But a plaque in an unreadable script? That would serve no purpose at all.

As the crowd gradually quieted, Missandei stepped forward, puzzled.

"Your Grace, has something happened?"

The sharp young woman had already suspected something was wrong. If everything had been normal, even if Daenerys had returned, she would have gone straight to the top of the pyramid rather than interrupting a trial. That was not her style.

"There has been a security breach in the pyramid," Daenerys announced loudly, not bothering to keep it a secret. "I am sealing all exits until we determine how the intruder got in, even if we cannot capture them."

Gasps and murmurs filled the hall.

"Heavens, an enemy infiltrated the top of the pyramid? Even the Unsullied guards didn't notice?"

"Could they be among us?"

"It must be those damned slavers! They want to assassinate Her Majesty!"

"You fool! Everyone knows the Queen has gone to war!"

"Then maybe they're here to steal something?"

The courtroom spectators whispered among themselves, surprisingly coming very close to the truth.

Daenerys waved her hand, and the Unsullied once again stomped their staves against the ground in unison.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

"Majesty— and— power—!"

"My warhorn was stolen from the edge of the garden," Daenerys declared. "Everyone, report your name and house number to the clerks at the door. Once that is done, you may go home. Today's trial is suspended and will resume tomorrow morning."

The spectators orderly lined up at the clerks' desks, forming two long queues at the entrance.

"Your Grace, what about us?"

(End of Chapter)

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