Game of Thrones: Joffrey the Chosen

Chapter 91 Wine Overturns Fire

There really is a divine will at play; Joffrey's things weren't brought in vain.

He took the wine sac from his waist, uncorked it, and drank half of it in front of Varys.

"Sir, are you thirsty?"

Joffrey stepped forward and kindly fed him the second half of the bag.

Purple wine gushed in, overflowing from the corners of his mouth and dripping down his chin onto his magnificent purple robe.

A suppressed scream filled with fear escaped from his throat, but even greater fear surged within his wide eyes.

"You—cough cough, how could you—"

His voice grew softer and softer, and his face grew darker and darker.

In the end, only a corpse remained slumped in the chair.

Joffrey carefully poured a small canister of wildfire over him, then went out of the room and took a torch.

"You're going first?"

The hound left without a word, its heavy footsteps soon reaching the dark end of the passageway.

Joffrey turned around and took one last look at the silhouette of the chair.

The torch slipped from his hand.

A wave of heat hit him, so he quickly closed the door to shut out the intense green light behind him.

The stone steps are long and spiral upwards.

The night sky is dotted with stars.

The next day, Joffrey walked out of the house yawning.

The guards gathered in twos and threes in the corridor, whispering among themselves. When he came out, they immediately dispersed, pretending to be nonchalant.

"Xiao Qiao, have you heard? A guy appeared in the dark cell—"

"What has appeared? White Walkers or demons?"

-

A hand quickly covered his mouth, but it didn't stop him from saying those words.

"Damn it!" Cersei glared at him. "If you hadn't, you would have summoned them here by now!"

A strange memory flashed through my mind.

However, Joffrey had no intention of causing trouble for anyone, especially Cersei, who was already filled with suspicion.

The biggest ghost, of course, is the suspicious-behaving hunting dog.

He carried a large bag into the dungeon late at night, saying he had a mission and told the guards not to say anything.

Joffrey, cloaked and with his face hidden, followed behind as an inconspicuous little squire.

When they came out, the sack was gone.

But still, no one asked any more questions.

Don't look at what you shouldn't look at, and don't ask what you shouldn't ask. This is a long-standing rule of the Red Fort.

Besides, no one goes to that level of the Black Prison anyway, and there are very few jailers, one of whom is Varys disguised as Logan.

Besides him, only three other people have been imprisoned recently.

Jaqen and his two companions who successfully reached the Great Wall.

So what does it matter if you lose a small fire that can burn a person to ashes?

It's just another case to add to the ghost stories of the Black Prison.

Varys was also one of the elusive members of the White Walkers; by the time he was remembered, the White Walkers were already heading south.

The only downside is that to get to the dungeon tower, you have to go through the Traitor's Corridor.

Or use a secret passage.

If hot water is the blood in the walls of Winterfell, then the secret passages are the veins of the Red Keep.

They are interconnected and winding, leading to every corner of the castle.

There is a passage that connects to the fourth level below the dark cell, which is the interrogation room.

But if you don't know the way and wander around aimlessly, you might never get out.

Now, even the person who knew you best has completely disappeared below.

Let's go through the main entrance then.

But Varys's threat worked; Joffrey couldn't sleep after returning to his house.

He moved the wardrobe, lifted the carpet, tapped every wall tile, and turned the room upside down.

No secret passage entrance to this place was found.

Although he wasn't afraid of being poisoned, he couldn't withstand a dwarf crawling out of the wall in the middle of the night and shooting him with a crossbow while he was asleep.

Joffrey was sentimental and had grown accustomed to this bedroom, so he didn't want to move. Robert's King's Suite remained vacant for the time being.

But these things will soon be too late to attend to.

In a few days, we will be setting off.

Before embarking on an expedition, one must first study tactics.

A master of all tactical shifts.

"I plan to divide my forces to besiege Storm's End," Ed said.

Joffrey looked at the map on the table, his brow furrowing slightly.

Dividing forces is a major taboo, especially when the target of the siege is Windbreak Fortress, which is said to be invincible.

Stannis held off an army of tens of thousands in the Reach with only a few hundred men.

Ser Cornelia Penrose, Renly's acting lord, is currently guarding the place. He is experienced, incredibly stubborn, and has a large stockpile of food.

Without a surprise attack, it would be impossible to defeat them.

The older the culture, the stronger it becomes, and Westeros is no exception.

Storm's End is associated with Brandon the Builder, and its walls are imbued with magic, making it far safer than the Red Keep, which is riddled with holes and open to anyone.

It is said that its city walls are 30 meters high and 12 meters thick, and wide enough for a horse to run on.

The thickness on the seaward side is an astonishing twenty-four meters.

This design is specifically for resisting tsunamis; even if someone could summon a massive flood from the sky, it wouldn't be able to break it.

Attacking Storm's End is simply putting pressure on ourselves.

Is it possible that the Prime Minister is starting to think he has the upper hand because he has never fought such a costly war before?

Joffrey glanced at Ed, who was deep in thought, and refrained from speaking rashly.

Because there will definitely be people who disagree.

"I object," James said.

"Ranley has been advancing westward along the Golden Road, cutting down trees and building siege engines."

"The scouts report that two catapults have been built and are being towed all the way to Deep Cave City."

"That place can't hold out for long. Once it falls, Renly will be able to penetrate deep into the West and head straight for Casterly Rock."

"We should launch a full-scale attack to rescue the western border!"

Some people's hometowns were attacked, and they started to get anxious.

"Striver Lannister has assembled a new army." Eddard said calmly, his eyes showing little emotion.

"Lord Tywin has also retreated with his remaining troops; they are absolutely capable of holding Casterly Rock."

"What about Port Lannister?" James cried again.

"There aren't many people that can be stationed there, and the greenhorns can't possibly fight head-on. Once Lanley arrives, they'll have to retreat obediently."

"Defending the city still depends on the garrison. Even if one of them is worth ten Gold Robes, they still can't withstand Renly's army!"

James's concerns were valid; the track record at Port Lannisport is verifiable.

This is the largest city in the Westerlands and the third busiest port in Westeros.

It has been burned to the ground three times in history and looted more than twenty times.

Even after Tywin Lannister came to power, he didn't have a good ending.

The fleet he had poured all his efforts into building was barely used before it was completely destroyed in a surprise attack by the Iron Fleet during the Greyjoy Rebellion, burning it all at anchor.

"And gold," Jaime added. "Most of the gold in the Westerlands is in Casterly Rock, and there's a fair amount in Lannister Port as well."

"If Renly gets the gold and has the support of the Reach, with money and supplies in hand, he can immediately conjure up 100,000 elite troops!"

"Moreover, there are already some rumors in the South that Renly is the second Robert, handsome, generous, and a good fighter."

"If we let him keep winning like this, those cowards will start to waver again."

To get Eddard to rescue Casterly Rock, Jaime even brought up Robert, whom he hated the most.

Ed remained unmoved.

His finger rested on the map.

"That's why we need to send troops to Storm's End."

"This will not only lift the siege of Deepholm, but also force Renly to come and challenge us to a decisive battle!"

Joffrey studied it carefully.

Could it be that Ed really has something to say about this?

Isn't it because Tywin recently suffered a crushing defeat?

Therefore, they have become a desperate army, and a desperate army is bound to win.