"Cadmus, what do you think Hoster will do at this moment?" Rhaegar, seated in the main chair, asked, looking to his right, where Cadmus was seated in a throne-like chair.
"He is weak, what will the weak do before a strong enemy?" Swirling the wine in his metal goblet, Cadmus looked at the king and asked with a smile. Before a strong enemy, the weak only have two options; the first was to flee.
"Join forces to face the powerful enemy." Rhaegar said with narrowed eyes, he let out a laugh and even felt he could predict the next steps of Hoster Tully, the King's King. "He is weak, so he will wait for the other armies to arrive. After all, once everyone arrives to battle, his small army will become more valuable."
Of all the kings in this war, Hoster Tully was arguably the weakest. In almost twenty years, Rhaegar had been supplying and even weakening House Tully. House Darry became powerful for this reason and served as a sword in the Riverlands.
Even now, House Tully had no more than fifteen thousand soldiers, and most were untrained commoners. Alone, Rhaegar could destroy this amateur army with House Targaryen's forty thousand fully trained and armed soldiers.
"Things are happening as I thought, only Tywin did not behave the way I expected." Rhaegar said with a helpless tone, Tywin had become a thorn in his path that he could not ignore. The old lion was too cunning.
"Speaking of which." Cadmus looked at Rhaegar with a touch of curiosity and handed a paper to the king. "He sent me a message, asked me to deliver this to you."
Rhaegar looked at the paper in his hand and when he read the content, Rhaegar's eyes widened to the extreme. There was incredulity, confusion, and a touch of anger.
"This old lion is truly cunning." Rhaegar said with a slightly helpless tone.
"After all, the longer an intelligent man lives, the more cunning he becomes." Cadmus said, remembering Dumbledore. Poor Harry, he was thrown into Hogwarts on a silver platter like a roasted piglet. The boy was a puppet before Dumbledore.
After all, even Dumbledore didn't know if Harry would truly survive, but even in death, the old wizard's plans still came to fruition, showing how monstrous his conspiracies were. For the Greater Good, even his own reputation could be thrown into the mud with the pigs.
"What is written on the paper?" Daenerys, who was on Cadmus's right side, asked curiously. Her fiancé's and brother's expressions showed interesting looks.
"It says interests, opportunity, and rewards." Cadmus replied with a laugh, not at all surprised by Tywin's change of sides. "Tywin cares more about House Lannister than his own life. In his eyes, reputation, shame, or personal feelings are irrelevant."
Daenerys understood Cadmus's words. Tywin was asking if he could switch sides! The princess's mouth opened in shock as she looked at Cadmus's and Rhaegar's expressions.
"Will you accept?" Daenerys asked, but soon after, she felt that this was a stupid question.
"Who wouldn't accept such a thing?" Rhaegar said with a calm tone. Just as Tywin could switch sides, he could forgive Tywin for the crimes of rebellion and others. In the end, it all came down to interests. Of course, if Tywin had killed Elia, Aegon, and Rhaenys, as in another reality, neither Tywin nor Rhaegar would consider such a possibility.
"Imagine the fifty thousand soldiers of the Westerlands advancing from the rear while I attack from the vanguard? We can destroy the enemy armies from two sides and this war will be won without much difficulty."
"I think he will want to marry his granddaughter to one of your sons." Cadmus said with a smile. Now that House Targaryen possessed dragons, how many lords wouldn't want to marry into House Targaryen?
"Maekar and Gaemon still don't have spouses." Rhaegar became thoughtful. He was not against marrying Maekar or Gaemon to Myrcella. If it was for the peace of the realm, he would gladly do so, just as he was about to marry Daenerys to Cadmus.
"However, dragons must always belong only to the Targaryens." Daenerys advised the king, looking seriously at her brother. She looked at Rhaegar with a serious gaze and continued speaking with a solemn tone:
"Sons and daughters of Targaryens with other noble houses should not have dragon eggs or even the chance to claim a dragon. Furthermore, only the sons and daughters of the king's first marriage should possess dragons. If the king marries again, he should not give dragon eggs or the chance to claim a dragon."
Rhaegar nodded and knew that this should be an iron law in House Targaryen. The Dance of the Dragons was an example of what two factions with dragons can cause damage to the realm. If Aegon II and the others had not had dragons, the Dance of the Dragons would not even exist.
Unfortunately, Viserys I allowed the sons and daughters of his second marriage to possess dragons, essentially creating a faction at court.
Knowing this, how could Rhaegar and others repeat the same mistakes? The only reason Rhaegar was allowing his son and daughter with Lyanna to be dragon riders was because necessity demanded it.
"Let's not talk about that, when will we attack?" Daenerys asked with a curious tone, her eyes narrowed. The idea of her going to the battlefield seemed quite attractive.
Cadmus looked at the princess and rolled his eyes, the girl's intention was obvious. However, he didn't care. Daenerys would be his wife, not his property. He would never limit his wife's freedom because of his feelings.
Rhaegar also guessed Daenerys's intention and, unlike Cadmus, he frowned and didn't like the idea of Daenerys going to the battlefield at all.
As if reading Rhaegar's thoughts, Cadmus commented with a calm tone. "You underestimate your sister, she is quite powerful, she just needs to control her magic more and she can be an extremely powerful mage."
Rhaegar looked at Cadmus and remembered that his little sister was not a fragile girl, but a mage, who, although still studying, was powerful. Looking at Daenerys, he said with a complex sigh. "Changing the image I have of my sister for fifteen years is difficult."
"You get used to it." Cadmus said with a laugh. He could understand Rhaegar's feelings, after all, it was difficult to change the image you had of a person, especially one you had lived with for a long time.
Hearing the conversation of both men, Daenerys's eyes narrowed into a very beautiful arc, the princess had a smile on her lips, showing that she was truly happy at that moment. Cadmus allowing her to go to the battlefield already showed that he respected her choices.
Giving Cadmus a quick kiss on the cheek, Daenerys looked at her brother with a touch of presumption and spoke. "When my marriage is over, I will show fire and blood to the rebels. Let them see the power of House Targaryen."
"It's not that easy, Daenerys." Rhaegar said with a calm and deep tone. "House Lannister, Arryn, Greyjoy, and Baratheon possess Sacred Relics, although a price must be paid to use them, they are powerful and lethal weapons for entire armies."
Daenerys's face returned to calm with her brother's words, like a bucket of cold water being thrown on her. She had forgotten that these Great Noble Houses were not known for being Great Noble Houses for nothing. They possessed thousands or even tens of thousands of years of existence, they were older than even the Valyrian Empire.
To survive so long in an environment of monsters, natural disasters, and wars, no Great House was simple; House Tully and House Tyrell might be powerful, but the heritage of both houses was simply too weak compared to the other Great Noble Houses.
"Do you think they used the Sacred Relics?" Daenerys asked with a curious tone. Although they were strong, the price to pay was great and they could not be used consecutively by the same person.
"They will." Cadmus and Rhaegar spoke at the same time.
Both men looked at each other and laughed.
"They are afraid, afraid that I will burn them all or in the future, afraid that dragons will burn everything that matters to them." Cadmus said with a laugh, a somewhat amused and provocative laugh.
Rhaegar also smiled, he had reason to smile. This feeling of causing fear in enemies was too good, especially for him, who had always been at the mercy of the noble houses in Westeros. It was like finally breathing after diving deep into a sea.
He had to admit, it was a very good feeling.
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Read my other books:
Game Of Thrones: The God-Emperor of Planetos (500,000 words written).
Percy Jackson: Godwyn the Golden.
Game Of Thrones: The King's Court Wizard