Politely invited into the great hall of Dragonstone Keep, he somehow managed to enrage the Dragon Queen upon their first meeting. What was worse, none of this was because Aegor had made a mistake. Daenerys had simply provoked herself.
After thanking Missandei, who had guided them and gone to great lengths to settle them properly, Aegor, full of anger and urgency, wasted no time in going to Melisandre's room next door.
"You insisted on persuading me to come to Dragonstone to see the Queen, so why did you stay silent the entire time, just standing behind me like a backdrop?" Aegor usually would not speak to the witch in such a sharp tone, but the current situation did not allow him to remain composed. "Right now, to put it nicely, we are resting, but in reality, we are practically detained. By tomorrow morning, how should I respond to the Dragon Queen? If I agree to her terms, all my previous arrangements will instantly become useless. I will have to return immediately, branded a rebel, fighting the White Walkers while figuring out how to explain things to the Mountain Clans and handle House Stark's wrath. If I refuse, being ordered to leave would be simple enough, but if that Targaryen girl has a fit of madness and throws me in prison or even beheads me, and the Wall faces the final enemy attack without the Commander's command, that would be utterly ridiculous!"
In reality, there was, of course, a third option: pretend to agree first, and after everything was done and he had safely returned to the Gift, then break his promise. This way, he would at least ensure he would not be delayed on Dragonstone, thousands of miles from the Wall, for some foolish reason, missing the final battle and rendering too many preparations useless.
But escaping in such a despicable manner, while convenient, would be almost devastating to Daenerys' perception of him. The Dragon Queen might not mobilize her dragons to fly to the Wall and burn him for one lie, but once he used this trick, severing ties with the Queen's faction, the struggle for the Iron Throne in King's Landing, regardless of who won or lost, would definitely become an obstacle and an enemy for Aegor stepping out of the Gift in the future. It could be considered the worst option.
"What are you panicking about? The Dragon Queen received you, the Commander of the Night's Watch. What right does a priest like me have to interrupt?" Though she said this, Melisandre also looked a little worried. "The Queen must have misunderstood your intentions. I will go and have a good talk with Moqorro after dark to figure out what happened."
"Moqorro, is that the tall dark man standing like a statue in the shadows next to the Queen's throne?" Seeing that Melisandre could so readily name someone he had no recollection of, Aegor immediately realized something. "Did he tell you to bring me to see the Dragon Queen? Do you Lord of Light priests have some special way of communicating? Never mind. I do not want to force you to explain these internal secrets to me, but remember, whether Daenerys comes to the Gift to help or not is irrelevant, but if I cannot return quickly to take charge, everything will truly be finished!"
…
After a discussion, Melisandre persuaded Aegor to calm down a little and return to his room to wait for her news. She then found a way to contact another Red God priest who was also inside the castle.
The meeting during the day had ended unhappily, so there was naturally no pleasant dinner together. Without even touching the food sent from the Dragonstone Keep kitchen, Melisandre waited until it was completely dark before pushing the door open. After turning a few corners, she came to the top of a tall tower with no guards, where she met Moqorro, who was waiting for her there.
One was a distinguished guest who came with the Night's Watch Commander, and the other was a trusted advisor to the Dragon Queen. There was no need for them to make their meeting so secretive. But all the security measures were meaningful, because what was about to take place here was a conversation between high-ranking Red God priests.
---
There were thousands upon thousands of Red God followers, and priests were abundant, but to become a High Priest, two strict conditions had to be met: first, achieving a certain level of accomplishment in both magic and illusions; second, achieving two-way communication with R'hllor, proving this point and gaining the recognition of all their colleagues.
Two-way communication meant not only being able to passively see things in the fire, but also being able to obtain R'hllor's miraculous response through prayer and sacrifice.
Many priests claimed they could do this, but the truly difficult and crucial part was proving to other High Priests that this was a miracle rather than a trick, thereby gaining recognition.
Unlike ordinary people's imagination of common religions and divine courts, countless High Red God Priests throughout history had already reached a consensus through mutual communication and exchange: although the real existence of their god was beyond doubt, for some reason, R'hllor would not convey divine messages to the mortal world through one person in a centralized and efficient manner. Instead, R'hllor would show fragmented pieces of information that were difficult to connect to all followers widely and irregularly through fire, slowly and inefficiently guiding the followers' actions.
Precisely because of their small number and the differing information seen in the fire, among the small group of core followers within the Red God known as High Priests, hierarchy did not exist. No one was a Lord of Light representative above others. Also due to their extremely small number, democracy could be easily implemented among the High Priests. They decided the direction of the overall religious activities by exchanging views and following majority rule. Bennero, the High Priest of the Great Red Temple in Volantis, was called "High" not because he was the religious leader, but because he was the oldest and best at playing tricks among all the High Priests who could communicate with R'hllor. He was thus chosen merely to represent them and preside over the temple's secular affairs for ordinary followers.
The High Priest was not the superior of the High Priests. At best, he was just the big brother. Bennero had the authority to deploy and assign tasks to High Priests like Moqorro and Melisandre, but similarly, once the latter had their own interpretations of the messages conveyed by R'hllor, they could also choose not to accept orders, leave the temple to go where they needed to, and carry out the work they deemed necessary without causing trouble for the majority of High Priests. The temple would not obstruct or interfere.
Melisandre came to Westeros because she firmly believed she would meet the Prophet on Dragonstone, and Moqorro also went to Slaver's Bay because he agreed with Bennero's view and claimed to be assigned by the High Priest. It was also because more than half of the High Priests agreed that Daenerys was the Prophet that the Red God Church's secular and public opinion resources were tilted under the Dragon Mother faction's instructions to support Daenerys Targaryen's cause, while Aegor's side had been slow to receive any practical assistance.
But even if there were disagreements, there would never be quarrels or conflicts among High Priests. Besides this being the custom and unwritten rule, a more important point was: although the content different High Priests saw in the fire was not entirely the same, it would never conflict or contradict each other, there was only one truth. By exchanging information and discussing, they decided whether they successfully persuaded the other party or were persuaded by the other party, or continued to hold their opinions.
Unlike their usual mysterious facade in front of others, this kind of communication between High Priests would be very fast and efficient, without any reservations, clean and neat, and so frank and direct that no tricks or stratagems were used, ensuring that the information needing to be conveyed was transmitted with absolutely no errors or omissions.
Precisely because of this, every sentence in such a conversation could contain a large amount of highly confidential information that must not be leaked. Not a single word could be overheard. Not to mention, two priests who should have been omniscient and omnipotent, instead gathered together like naive children, whispering to each other, exchanging what they had seen, discussing the truth and falsity of prophecies, and how to use various methods and means to guide the behavior of the followers in their hands. This scene would greatly affect their image and absolutely could not be seen or heard even by their own people, including the Prophet, not even for a single glance.
Moreover, there were still people in this castle who were not their own.
Moqorro sensed the witch's arrival. He did not need to look back to know it was Melisandre.
"You saw the Dragon Queen, what did you feel?"
"I have to admit, it was very magical." Melisandre walked over to Moqorro's side and also looked toward the Dragonstone military port far below the castle. The fleet loyal to the Queen did not stop patrolling even at night. There were scattered lights everywhere on the docks and around the island, with figures moving about. "I have seen others with Targaryen or Blackfyre blood. There are indeed extraordinary things about the descendants of the Dragon Kings, but none have ever given me such a strong feeling. Is this your doing? How did you achieve it?"
"It is not my doing, it is the power of destiny. She is the Prophet, her song is the song of ice and fire."
"Let us put aside the discussion of who the true Prophet is for a moment. Tell me, why did that Targaryen girl behave so abnormally and speak so incoherently during the meeting today? Legend says the gods flip a coin to decide whether a Targaryen is mad or great. Is she the other side of the coin?"
"Not from what I have seen so far." Moqorro shook his head. "Her abnormal behavior today was because of me. I told the Queen that the most powerful follower she could gain would visit her soon. We interrupted the meeting today to immediately receive your Commander, and Daenerys even changed her clothes for this, but it turned out he was not here to swear fealty. The higher the expectation, the greater the disappointment, and it made the Queen very awkward. Why exactly would he not agree to the Queen's terms?"
"The most powerful follower? What was your basis for that judgment."
"I saw him fighting alongside the Queen in the flames."
"I also saw the Queen repelling wights with dragonflame, but that was all." That was right, the scenes shown in the flames never conflicted with each other, and this time was no exception. But under what relationship would Aegor and Daenerys stand together, male lead and female support, vice versa, or neither? Melisandre had seen countless colleagues make false prophecies due to their own wishful thinking, mistakenly believing their interpretations were the Lord of Light's intentions. Moqorro's mastery of magic was higher than hers, but she had always been slightly better at interpreting prophecies. Hopefully, this time was the same. Melisandre said in a blaming tone, "Aegor could not possibly agree to the terms the Queen proposed today. Before bringing her back to Westeros, you should have done your homework on the situation in the Seven Kingdoms. Do you know what the situation is like in the North and the Gift right now?"
Moqorro did not get angry, nor did he ask why. Communication between High Priests particularly emphasized honesty. When Melisandre used a definitive word like "could not," it meant there was no room for negotiation on that point.
And this was terrible.
"I honestly do not know. The situation in Westeros is changing too fast. The information I have is still from around the time King Robert passed away. If the Night's Watch Commander does not swear fealty to the Queen, and the North is also hostile to the Queen, then even I would find it difficult to persuade her to go to the North to participate in that final battle."
"That is your problem. If the Queen ultimately does not go to the North to fight, it means she is not the Prophet, you should understand this." Melisandre said bluntly. "As for me and the Night's Watch Commander, we cannot be delayed on Dragonstone for even a day. We must leave for King's Landing tomorrow morning."
(To be continued.)
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