Game of Thrones: Holy Flame King

  Chapter 148 Secret release

   When "Littlefinger" Petyr Baelish woke up again, his eyes were dark.

  The air smelled of urine and blood, and behind her was not a soft feather bed, but a cold floor covered with straw.

   "Hey..." Petyr opened his mouth, only to realize that his voice was very hoarse, "Give me water..."

no respond.

  The empty left arm and the excruciating pain finally reminded him of what happened before.

   "Red Viper!"

   Petyr gritted his teeth and said the name, as if trying to chew him up.

   "Come! Come!" Petyr called again, but only heard his own echo.

  In the boundless darkness, he was no different from a blind man, or in other words, no different from a dead man.

how so?

   Petyr forced himself to calm down, thinking about the current situation.

The sudden madness of the "Red Viper" is actually not too unexpected. After all, when he heard the rumor, Petyr guessed that he had been exposed, so he tried his best to create confusion to attract attention, but unexpectedly, "Red "Viper" still stared at him.

   I hate that he was only a little bit close, just a little bit close to being able to control the situation in King's Landing through Cersei, that stupid woman, and then he can slowly deal with the "Red Viper" and the Tyrell family hidden behind it.

   Just a little bit…

  The darkness in front of him prevented him from feeling the passage of time, and Petyr hadn't felt this hopeless feeling for many years.

The last time he was so desperate was when he had a duel with the running wolf in the northern border. At that time, he was still underage, thin and small, only half the height of his opponent, but for the woman he loved, he rushed again and again. In the past, being knocked down again and again, charging again and again...

  In the end, he still failed, almost lost his life, and lost the love of his life forever.

  Since then, he has understood a truth—

  He will never try to defeat those great nobles head-on, his only chance of winning is in the dark, in the midst of conspiracy and trickery, he will smash them from behind!

   Unexpectedly, one day, he was also shot by a poisonous arrow from the darkness.

   Are the gods laughing at themselves in this way?

  At this time, faint footsteps came from the darkness.

  Petyr hurriedly shouted again, trying to attract attention.

   A moment later, there was the sound of iron chains colliding outside, and then the door was opened.

  The strong light of the torch made Petyr squint his eyes, but he still tried his best to move his body in the direction of the light, hissing:

"water…"

   "I only have wine." A rude voice responded, passing the wine bag in his hand.

   Petyr quickly took it and drank it in big gulps.

   "Lord Petyr, are you okay?" The man spoke again, but his tone suddenly changed.

   Become soft and greasy, become very familiar!

   That's the voice of "Octospider" Varys!

   "Varys!" Petyr called, putting down his wineskin.

  By the light of the fire, he saw that the fat face of the visitor was covered with a stubby black beard, which was not at all the appearance of Varys in his memory, and he was wearing the clothes of a jailer, reeking of sweat and bad wine.

   But Petyr knew it was Varys!

   "I have guessed that you have a false identity as a prison guard in the dark cell! Sure enough!"

  Varys didn't deny it. Now that he recovered his original voice, he obviously didn't want to hide his identity: "Master Petyr, I really didn't expect you to have such courage to cut off your own arm... Hiss~ Doesn't it hurt?"

   "Nonsense!" Petyr scolded angrily, "If I don't kill me, I will die..."

   Speaking of this, Petyr suddenly froze.

  He suddenly realized that he had been fooled!

   "Red Viper" would never dare to kill himself!

   Otherwise, he will not be able to get rid of the suspicion of poisoning Jon Arryn, and he will also be charged with killing the Minister of Finance!

  So, the poison on the spear must not be fatal!

  I was tricked!

   Petyr was shaking with anger.

  Varys saw that Petyr understood, and comforted him:

"Master Petyr, there is no need for you to blame yourself too much. After all, it is difficult for you to keep calm in such a life-and-death situation, not to mention the 'Red Viper' has a bad reputation, maybe he is really desperate to kill you. So, it’s best to cut it off.”

  Petyr could hear the ridicule in the other party's tone, and he would definitely retort if he was in the usual situation, but now he is not in the mood at all:

   "Where am I now?"

   "You are in the dungeon of the Red Keep."

   "Dungeon?"

"Alas, Lord Petyr, the King's Hand was so indignant at the street fight between you and Prince Oberyn that he ordered you both to be thrown into a dungeon, and, because of Prince Oberyn's accusation, he also You are suspected of murdering Lord Jon Arryn, so tomorrow, you two will stand trial together."

   "I did not murder Jon Arryn!" cried Petyr.

   "You should save this and tell the adults tomorrow." Varys shrugged, pretending to be indifferent.

   Petyr lowered his head with a gloomy expression.

  He knew that tomorrow's trial would be very unfavorable to him.

  Although everyone thought it was the "Red Viper" before, there was no real evidence after all, and no one saw the "Red Viper" poisoning with their own eyes.

   Of course, the accusation against Petyr is unsubstantiated.

  In this case, the "Red Viper" is likely to request a trial by combat.

   Trial by combat is a method of adjudicating disputes generally recognized in Westeros.

   Simply put, whoever has the biggest fist is right.

   It may seem absurd, but it actually makes sense in this world.

  Because the Westeros believe that the gods will help the righteous side win the trial by combat.

  Of course, it doesn't mean that he has to play in person. If so, then Petyr just wiped his neck and killed himself.

   It is possible to hire a proxy knight for a trial by combat, that is, to find someone to fight on his behalf.

What? You said you couldn't invite me?

  You can’t find a righteous knight who is willing to help you compete, then you must deserve what you deserve...

  In short, Petyr knew that he would most likely face a trial by combat tomorrow, and his opponent was the "Red Viper"!

  Although it is possible to hire a proxy knight, who dares to say that it will definitely be better than the famous "Red Viper"?

   Which knight is willing to die for him and the "Red Viper"?

  The more Petyr thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong.

"Lord Petyr, if you need an agent knight, I suggest you go to the queen for help. Lannister has many knights with extraordinary bravery. Maybe they can help you defeat the 'Red Viper'." Varys laughed As he gave advice, he seemed to know the secret of Petyr's hookup with the Lannister family.

   But Petyr did not speak.

   He didn't think that heartless woman Cersei would help herself in this situation.

  Although they conspired to kill the king, if he dared to use this to blackmail Cersei to help, based on Petyr's understanding of the mad woman, there is a high probability that Cersei would directly send someone to give him a glass of poisoned wine.

  Even if Cersei agreed to help, Petyr didn't want to hand over his life to a **** proxy knight.

  Go **** trial by combat, go **** Gods verdict!

  The gods are not qualified to decide my life or death!

  Petyr pondered for a moment, finally gritted his teeth and said:

   "Varys, get me out! I know you can!"

  Waryston put on a look of helplessness: "Master Petyr, you really make things difficult for me..."

   "I know you can do it!" Petyr said, "otherwise why did you come to see me? Just say what conditions you have, as long as you can get me out of this **** place! We can talk!"

  Varys took a few steps forward, and squatted down in front of Petyr:

"Oh, Lord Petyr, why did we become old friends for so many years. I really can't bear to see you... Well, how about this, since you don't want to accept a trial by combat, you can't stay in the Seven Kingdoms any longer. Why don't you go to the other side of the Narrow Sea. Go to Governor Illyrio Mopatis, and he will introduce you to a new master. Maybe one day you will have a chance to return to Westeros. "

   "Good!" Petyr nodded without hesitation.

  He already knew that Varys was secretly planning to restore the Targaryen Dynasty on the other side of the Narrow Sea. If he hadn't come to the end of the mountain, he didn't want to participate in such an extremely dangerous thing, but now, he has no choice.

  Even if the gods be blessed and let him win the trial by combat, he can't stay in King's Landing any longer.

  Because he has been exposed.

  Winning a trial by combat would save him from being hanged, but not from suspicion.

   And this is exactly the nightmare of a schemer like Petyr who has no strength to support him.

   Only by hiding behind the scenes can he engage in all kinds of conspiracies and calculations, and once he is suspected and guarded against, he will not have any chance.

  Hearing this answer, Varys finally showed a satisfied smile, stretched out his hand to support Petyr and said, "Come on, Lord Petyr, I'll send you out right away."

   Petyr struggled to get up with the help of Varys. His body was very weak, and the pain from his broken arm was unbearable. He felt that he was still running a low-grade fever, but no matter how difficult it was, Petyr had to hold on and go out.

  He must escape from here!

  Out of the prison door, Petyr breathed as lightly as possible, for fear of alarming the guards.

   But Varys on the side strode forward, seemingly not worried at all.

  The dungeon is dark and damp, with no one to be seen.

  Every cell here is separated by stone walls, so you can't see the scene in other cells.

Varys went straight to a bare stone wall, and knocked here and there. Before Petyr could see clearly, he lifted a stone slab, revealing a dark hole, leading to nowhere. place.

   "Be careful, it's a little slippery below." Varys turned around and warned, and then got in first.

  Petyr also climbed in with difficulty.

   After passing through a narrow tunnel, the two came to a relatively spacious passage.

  Varys held a torch and swaggered ahead.

  Petyr noticed that Varys's gait and posture were different from usual, with impatience in his might, as if he really became another person.

  How many identities does this dead **** have?

  Petyr pressed his mind, followed closely behind Varys, turned around in the passage, and soon lost his sense of direction.

He couldn't help but think of certain rumors about the "cruel" Maegor Targaryen. It was during the reign of this king that the Red Castle was completed, and this person dug densely packed secret passages extending in all directions in the Red Castle. All craftsmen will be brutally killed after completion, so that these secret passages will not be leaked.

  After the War of the Reaver, House Targaryen fell, and the secrets of these secret passages were buried.

   But now, Petyr discovered that there seemed to be another spider controlling these secret passages in the Red Keep.

  (end of this chapter)