Chapter 109 As high as glory
Walking into the room, Samwell only felt a gust of hot air rushing towards his face.
This place is already hot in Dorne, but now, the servants even lit the fireplace.
But even so, the blazing heat couldn't warm Duke Jon. His face was pale, his lips were purple, and he was covered with a thick quilt, but he was still shaking.
"Your Excellency, what else do you want to explain?" Margaret came to the bed with a sad face, and leaned over to ask.
But Duke Jon didn't look at her, but stared at the door until he saw Prince Oberyn, and then said hoarsely:
"Oberon..."
Hearing this name, the weeping Lady Lysa by the bed jumped up like an electric shock and shouted:
"Get out! Who let you in! You murderer! Get out! Get out!"
Seeing that the scene was about to become chaotic again, Samwell shouted:
"Quiet!"
Lady Lysa stared at the young baron with wide eyes, as if she couldn't believe that he was yelling at herself.
Without waiting for her to speak again, Samwell hurriedly said: "Everyone, please be quiet, the Duke is talking."
Sure enough, after everyone quieted down, they heard Duke Jon's voice:
"My... madam is tired... take her down... rest..."
"Jon! What are you talking about?" Lysa cried and threw herself on the bed, "I'm not going anywhere, I want to be with you all the time!"
Duke Jon seemed to be saying something again, but it was all drowned out by his wife's sharp cries.
Samwell spoke again, and said to the knights of the Arryn family:
"You have all heard the order from the Duke, why are you still in a daze? Lady Lysa is too sad, let her go down and rest first."
The knights looked at each other, and finally stepped forward to carry Madam Lysa away.
"Mother! Mother! Let go of my mother!" The Duke's son started crying again.
So Samwell spoke again and asked the knights to simply take him away.
The room finally fell silent.
Duke Jon cast a grateful look at Samwell, then turned to the door: "Oberon... come here..."
Prince Oberyn came to the bed under the watchful eyes of the knights of the Reach, and tried to speak in the most sincere tone:
"Lord Jon, please trust me, I will never poison you!"
"I trust you…"
Prince Oberyn was overjoyed when he heard the words. He was almost desperate, but he didn't expect the Duke to say such words.
Duke Jon stared into Prince Oberyn's eyes, and said intermittently:
"Back then...I owed you fairness...now...I will pay you back...but...I hope...you can also give me...what I want...peace..."
Prince Oberyn understood what Duke Jon meant, and his expression changed for a while.
He suddenly remembered that when he was greeted on the pier before, he had ridiculed Duke Jon for only making others the price of peace.
At that time, Duke Jon responded that he could also sacrifice for peace.
Prince Oberyn didn't believe it at all, until now.
Although he knew that he hadn't poisoned him at all, did Duke Jon really know?
Even his own niece couldn't believe his innocence, let alone anyone else.
But Duke Jon chose to pardon him.
Just to prevent the situation in Dorne from collapsing.
Prince Oberyn was rebellious all his life, and he rarely admired anyone, but now, looking at the hand of the dying king in front of him, he couldn't restrain a surge of respect in his heart.
"Okay, I promise you."
Duke Jon was obviously relieved, and his eyes searched the crowd again until he saw Natalie shrinking behind Samwell:
"Nata..."
"The Duke is calling you." Samwell pushed the little girl to the bed.
"Your Excellency." Natalie dared not approach Prince Oberyn.
But Prince Oberyn said in a deep voice, "Kneel down."
"Huh?" The little girl was startled.
Until Samwell whispered something in her ear, she timidly knelt down in front of Prince Oberyn.
"I, Oberyn Martell, brother of Doran Martell, in the name of the Sunspear, acknowledge the inheritance of Natalie Dayne, daughter of Ashara Dayne, to Starfall, from Starting today, you will become a vassal of the Martell family, the Earl of Starfall City."
When Natalie heard this, she realized that she had finally been officially recognized by the Martell family and became the Earl of Starfall City. She was still in a dream for a while.
"Natalie...Miss..."
Hearing Duke Jon's voice, Natalie quickly turned her head: "My lord, what other orders do you have?"
"Please don't...block...the two...guests of...Martel...family...leave..."
Natalie nodded quickly: "Okay, my lord, I will not embarrass the two guests of the Martell family."
Hearing this, Duke Jon relaxed, as if his wish had finally come true.
Everyone retreated quickly, letting Lady Lysa and her son come in to say goodbye to Duke Jon.
Crying and screaming filled the room again.
Samwell looked at the old duke on the bed with a complex expression, with mixed feelings in his heart.
He knew that Duke Jon's actions just now were to quell this dispute, and even to eliminate possible future conflicts.
Perhaps the old duke has realized that he has become a **** of some conspirators to disrupt the situation, or maybe he doesn't know anything, but only knows that he must do so.
Even if it might allow Prince Oberyn, the "murderer" who killed him, to go free, he must do so.
Only in this way can the dispute between Hewan and Dorne be calmed down, and greater conflicts will not break out, and even shake the stability of the Seven Kingdoms.
"Everyone, please be quiet!" Margaret's voice came from next to her ear, "The Duke seems to be talking about something again."
Everyone fell silent again, and finally heard the faint voice of Duke Jon repeating:
"...as high as...glory...as high as...glory..."
As High As Honor (As High As Honor).
This is the clan language of the Ayrin family.
It is also the persistence of the old duke all his life.
Samwell suddenly thought of the other four words that Duke Jon kept repeating before his death in the original book—
"Seed strong and tough".
When he was reading the book, he was actually very puzzled. Duke Jon clearly had the opportunity to tell the truth before he died, so why didn’t he tell King Robert directly that his queen cheated on her and gave birth to three children who were not his real heirs. These four words are like a riddle.
Now he finally understood.
Duke Jon couldn't bear to destroy the glory he had held on to for half his life.
If he told the truth directly, with King Robert's fiery personality, he would definitely kill the queen and the three evil-born children, and even lead the army to attack the western border.
Will the Duke of Tywin in the Western Territory wait to die?
One bad thing is that the Seven Kingdoms are in chaos, and the people are in dire straits.
Therefore, in the original book, Duke Jon would rather bring this secret to the grave—even if he died because of this secret—he would not bear to see the collapse of the Seven Kingdoms that he painstakingly supported.
It is the same now, even if he thinks that Prince Oberyn is likely to be the murderer who killed him, he will let him go in exchange for peace.
This is Duke Jon's persistence, and this is his glory.
Although in Samwell's view, this peace may not be as Duke Jon wishes.
Now the situation in the Seven Kingdoms seems to be calm, but in fact, the undercurrent has long been turbulent.
There are exiled members of the Targaryen royal family who are always thinking about taking back the Iron Throne, while there are careerists from all walks of life fanning the flames for fear that the world will not be chaotic.
Duke Tywin of the Western Territory is ambitious and wants to return to King's Landing. Prince Dorne thinks about revenge and even restores the Targaryen dynasty all day long. The king's younger brother has also coveted the Iron Throne for a long time.
As for the basic board of the Baratheon Dynasty—in the Alliance of Fish, Wolf, Deer and Eagle, Duke Horst Tully, the fish family, is dying of terminal illness, and Duke Eddard Stark, the wolf family, upholds the long-standing separatism of the northerners. They tend to be chauvinistic, and they don't want to pay attention to the affairs south of the neck at all. The brothers of the deer family are not in harmony, and the boss, Robert Baratheon, is a king who doesn't care about things.
The core figure who has really maintained this new dynasty, and can even be said to be the pillar supporting the rule of the Iron Throne, is the Eagle of the Valley, Hand of the King, Duke Jon Arryn.
If he dies like this, the situation in the Seven Kingdoms will immediately become precarious.
"Littlefinger" Petyr Baelish's blow really hit the nail on the head.
“…high…as…glory…”
Duke Jon was still repeating these words.
It's a pity that he regarded glory above all else all his life, but in the end he was assassinated in the most disgraceful way.
And the peaceful situation he tried his best to maintain during his lifetime may gradually fall apart with his death.
In Game of Thrones, after all, there is no place for glory.
"As high as glory!"
Duke Jon uttered a high-pitched voice, and then fell into dead silence.
What followed were the cries of Lady Lysa and her youngest son, Robert.
All the nobles bowed down to express their condolences with sorrowful faces.
Maester Gilmore turned and walked out of the room, and walked quickly to the aviary.
Not long after, the ravens flapped their wings and flew into the night sky, scattered in all directions.
They will spread the news of the death of Lord Jon Arryn, Hand of the King, throughout the Seven Kingdoms.
Black wings, black message.
The sea of summer under the moonlight is as smooth as a mirror, reflecting the stars in the night sky. They are like the eyes of the gods, watching the vicissitudes of the world coldly and indifferently.
Only they have never changed.
Walking out of the hot and sad room, Samwell stood in the gloomy courtyard for a long time, but what he was thinking at this moment was not the ingenious calculation of a certain conspirator, nor the war and **** fire that was about to sweep across the Seven Kingdoms, but It was the cry of Duke Jon before he died.
The proverbs that the old man interpreted all his life overwhelmed all the noises of conspiracies and tricks, resounded through the starry sky, and lingered for a long time—
"As high as glory."
(End of Volume 1)
The first volume is over, Sahua! !
The first two shifts in these two days, let Luo Bo sort out the outline of the next volume.
(end of this chapter)