After dinner, Cadmus was urgently summoned to the Hall of a Hundred Hearths, where Rhaegar was seated on a black stone throne. The king's expression was indifferent, but his words made many eyes widen.
"Duskendale has turned into a hell on earth; the entire city is full of Zombies and Ghouls."
It wasn't just Cadmus who was present; practically almost all of House Targaryen and half a hundred noble houses were also present. When everyone heard about the city's situation, they were completely incredulous.
"How did this happen?" Eddard asked with an incredulous and confused expression. Duskendale was a fortress city; a large, thick wall protected the city; it wouldn't be so simple to invade the city that was once a power before the creation of King's Landing.
"My master of whisperers, Lord Jon Connington, stated that the Ghouls and Zombies advanced from the port." Rhaegar answered what he read in the Raven that urgently arrived from King's Landing. "The city's situation is critical; tens of thousands have died, and the number only increases as we speak."
Everyone held their breath as they heard that tens of thousands of people had died. This was not tens of thousands of animal lives, but tens of thousands of people.
Although nobles have a certain contempt for ignorant commoners, they know better than anyone that people are the nobles' greatest treasure; without them, the Lord was just that, a lord without an army. So, hearing about the death of tens of thousands of commoners was a rare event.
"This is terrible." Raymun, the Hand of the King, said with a worried and solemn tone. "If the city gates are opened…"
Raymun didn't need to finish the sentence for everyone to understand the implications of his words. Everyone felt chills imagining so many monsters spreading through the Crownlands. The horde of man-eating monsters would only increase with the destruction of villages and hamlets. Honestly, if such a disaster were to happen, everyone would have a monster epidemic of hundreds of thousands of dead.
"There is one more thing I must mention." Rhaegar spoke again, making people numb. Was there more bad news?
"Balon Greyjoy has rebelled for the second time and enthroned himself as Balon, the Ninth of His Name, Lord of the Iron Islands, King of Salt and Rock, Son of the Sea Wind, Reaper Lord of Pyke." Rhaegar spoke the terrible news without hesitation. There was a terribly cold look in the King's eyes.
Rhaegar could imagine that the House Greyjoy rebellion would be the spark for the civil war, something he desperately tried to avoid, happened because an idiot thought he was strong enough to be king because he had a meager army of fifteen thousand men with a hundred warships.
"It's too much of a coincidence for the two things to happen at the same time, especially since the monster epidemic came from the city's port." When Cadmus said this, everyone connected the dots and truly felt that it was too much of a coincidence for the two things to happen at the same time.
"Could Balon have used this to prevent House Targaryen and the vassals from marching towards the Trident?" Raymun said with a skeptical and incredulous tone.
"It's unlikely; after all, if things got out of control, even the Iron Islands would be affected." Eddard said with an affirmative tone, but he himself didn't believe his words. If there was one thing Balon was, it was a careerist who would do anything for his throne.
"It doesn't matter at this moment; we have to find a way to deal with Duskendale." Rhaegar interrupted his vassals' reasoning and said in a calm tone. It didn't matter who was to blame at this moment; the most important thing was to prevent an army of zombies and ghouls from spreading through the Crownlands.
Rhaegar looked at Cadmus and asked in a calm tone. "What do you think, Lord Peverell?"
As soon as Rhaegar finished speaking, the lords who didn't know Cadmus looked at the young man with black hair and green eyes with surprised and confused expressions. After all, Cadmus was really young by the standards of everyone present; he didn't look like someone experienced or even a strong warrior.
Although Cadmus had sold potions to the sons, brothers, or cousins of these lords, the news had not yet spread so quickly.
As if seeing the lords' doubts, Rhaegar felt it was a good time to announce Cadmus's entry into the Small Council and spoke in a calm tone. "This is Cadmus Peverell, Lord of Harrenhal and the Court Mage. He will assist the crown in matters involving magic, monsters, and my safety."
Everyone's gaze changed when they heard the king's presentation. Aside from the mage part, the title of Harrenhal was simply shocking in the eyes of these people, especially the Lords of the Riverlands; everyone looked at Cadmus with angry and hostile looks.
These were the lords who hoped to receive the castle of Harrenhal, but knowing that the castle already had an owner and was a complete stranger with mysterious origins made things even more complicated.
These lords even ignored that Cadmus was a mage; in their eyes, the title and lands of Harrenhal were more important than anything else. Even Eddard was surprised by Rhaegar's words. He didn't expect Cadmus to go from a commoner to a noble owning one of the most important castles on the continent in less than a week.
"Your Grace." One of the Lords of the Riverlands stood up and spoke loudly. "I don't think this is appropriate; Lord Peverell is not even from Westeros; perhaps he is a barbarian from Essos. Furthermore, he has no merit to receive a castle like Harrenhal."
Seeing that the first one had already stood up, the other lords quickly stood up and voiced their opposition. The first lord to stand up, seeing this, felt more confident and looked at Cadmus with an openly hostile gaze.
Cadmus looked at each face and name, noting all the names in the black notebook of revenge in his mind. He was quite vengeful, especially towards those who hindered his plans.
Rhaegar looked at the lords who forgot about the important matters currently happening, prioritizing their own interests with a cold gaze. What he hated most were these annoying leeches.
"Lord Peverell deserved the titles and castle he received." Rhaegar spoke in a calm and serious tone, but did not go into detail about the poison that was removed from his body and his mother's. If this were announced, the Faith of the Seven and the Order of Maesters would know that he has knowledge about the poison and would prepare adequately for his revenge.
Although Rhaegar's words were convincing, the lords were still dissatisfied with a stranger controlling the largest castle in Westeros, even if it was just a ruin.
However, faced with the king's gaze, these nobles were intimidated. Rhaegar was not a weak king; he built an army of forty thousand fully armed men and was an excellent commander. However, they decided to meet in secret to find a way to expel or even kill Cadmus.
Cadmus was sensitive to murderous intentions and looked at the group of nobles with a touch of amusement in his eyes. He hated being threatened; it was one of the things he most detested, and these nobles had just dug their own graves.
As for fearing them, Cadmus looked at those nobles as if they were ants; common people had no chance of fighting a mage, especially a mage like him. He had countless ways to kill these men, whether through accidents or even diseases. Only an Imperium could make these lords die the way he wanted.
'Does this make me Kira?' Cadmus thought with a touch of amusement appearing on his face.
"My king, I can deal with the zombies and ghouls; I can burn them all without any problem." Cadmus spoke in a calm and confident, even arrogant, tone.
"Do you think you have a dragon to burn an entire city?" One of the lords spoke with disdain; not just him, most of the people present didn't believe it.
However, Cadmus laughed and replied with a provocative tone. "I don't actually own a dragon, but I have something similar."
Cadmus felt it was a good time to grow his reputation and that of the future House Peverell. Mitra, the Black Phoenix, could grow to a size similar to an adult dragon without any problem.
(Note: There is not much exact information about the size of an adult dragon, so I chose an exact number to make it easier. 60 meters = 196 feet.)
Cadmus's words made everyone's gaze change drastically; even Rhaegar showed a look of shock and disbelief.
Then, under everyone's shocked eyes, the sound of flapping wings sounded outside the castle, and a sharp, penetrating cry like that of an eagle reverberated, full of majesty and nobility!
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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