Chapter 28 The Taste of King's Landing

"What can a golden dragon buy?"

On the morning of the fourth day after setting off, Renly, squatting in front of the extinguished fire, turned to ask Davos beside him.

At this time, they were in a dense forest, with a canvas tent dyed light yellow and embroidered with a crowned stag behind them.

There are seven or eight such tents scattered around, all of which were set up by people on this trip last night. Behind the tent group, the rushing sound of a fast-flowing river could be heard.

The fresh forest air in the early morning seemed to stimulate the vitality in the group's bodies. So even though it was still early, most of the knights and squire soldiers had already been up for a long time. They were either walking through the camp, brushing and feeding the horses, or stretching their limbs and doing morning exercises.

"If you don't consider embroidering heraldry, the tent behind us is probably worth a silver deer." The thin former smuggler replied.

At this time, he was wearing a set of black linen clothes and brown breeches, and the cloak he wore was still gray and inconspicuous.

Sitting here in front of the extinguished bonfire, he held a branch in his right hand and pulled at the ashes in front of him. His left hand was covered with bandages and lay across his knees, not daring to move.

Stannis had previously cut off the front ends of the five fingers on his left hand, and also made him a knight himself. But enfeoffing the territory requires permission from Robert, the current Lord of Storm's End, and Stannis does not yet have this right.

Therefore, Davos also has to go to King's Landing.

"So one golden dragon can buy two hundred and ten tents?" Renly squatted and touched his chin.

"It's more than two hundred and ten. If you buy a lot at once, the price will be cheaper." Davos shook his head, his pale face making him look like he was ten years older.

"With almost four golden dragons, we can buy a set of armor. Including mail armor, throat guard, neck guard, and helmet. Of course, the specific price should be calculated based on the market conditions at that time. Any commodity will rise or fall. Likewise. You also have to consider where you buy it and the quality. For example, the mail and weapons in the Iron Islands are more expensive than those in other places because of their blacksmith skills..."

A blond southern knight in the team heard the name Iron Islands when he passed by and couldn't help but glance at them warily. Three other northern soldiers who were gathered together and chatting not far away were also attracted to their attention, but they Nothing was said.

If Dorne is the feud between the Stormlands and the Reach, then the Iron Islands are the feud between the North, the West, and the Reach, because the border coastlines of these places are to the west of the mainland and are adjacent to the Iron Islands across the sea.

The Stormlands actually have a grudge against the Iron Islands. In ancient times, the area in the Riverlands was ruled by the Storm King, and was later robbed by the people of the Iron Islands.

In general, the Ironborn are not welcome anywhere, because their history consists of killing and plundering.

There were people from the Stormlands, the River Bend, and the North among the team at this time. Although most of the Northern army was stationed at Storm's End, some were sent to escort the two brothers of House Baratheon to King's Landing.

The people from the Reach are completely accompanying them. The leader, Mace Tyrell, is the Lord Duke and Guardian of the Reach. Now he is heading to King's Landing with the current team to negotiate surrender and understanding.

However, the burly brown-haired nobleman did not look like a loser at all. Not only did he not seem to worry about his fate after going to King's Landing, he was always chatting and laughing with his knights along the way——

At the moment, the guy was even practicing his sword leisurely with a knight from the River Bend on the river bank.

"My lords, we don't care who is the king, but His Majesty Aerys has agreed to allow us to cut down trees and hunt in this forest. He has agreed, and you can't go back on it."

There was also a sound coming from the other direction, and Stannis, the real leader of the team, was standing in front of his tent wearing black leather armor, listening with a straight face to two hunchbacks wearing coarse linen clothes. The old farmer chattered.

"Of course, we will pay for raising pigs in the forest. But His Majesty Aerys gave us permission to raise bees. Yes, a white-robed knight named Dane told us so personally. He also said... "

…

All the noisy things were left behind as the team continued on the road. After setting off from Storm's End, they passed by the Coppergate City, the Wende River, and were currently walking through the Kingswood, a hunting ground exclusively used by kings of all ages. .

This is a very large forest. They have been walking here for two days. Villages and manors can be seen occasionally along the way, and there are also many rabbits and elk in the forest running away after seeing the team.

But most of the time the team faced trees, brown, pale, and tender green trees. Their leaves were either sparse or dense, intertwined and dotted above the heads of the forest roads, and cast shadows with the sunlight.

"When can we get to King's Landing?"

Sitting in the rickety carriage, he was bored. After a while, the black-haired boy couldn't help but look at Davos, who was riding on the side of the carriage.

"It's estimated that there's still half the journey." Davos answered with a tilted head.

There aren't many people available to Stannis yet, so the former smuggler, who was just knighted, becomes Renly's temporary bodyguard. Davos did not resist this.

After the last conversation on the stairs, his resistance to Renly had basically dissipated.

"That--" Renly wanted to continue talking, but he saw a thin figure kneeling at the edge of the forest road in front of him from the corner of his eye, and he couldn't help but look away.

The northern soldiers who were leading the way seemed to have taught the little guy who blocked the road a lesson, so that he looked bruised and swollen, but he still insisted on kneeling in the bushes, lowering his head, and no one knew what he was doing.

Unfortunately, both the knights of the Reach and the people of the Storm Land were only concerned with walking, and all ignored his existence.

"Is he begging?" Renly asked.

"He is selling himself." Davos looked at him, "Disease, debt, and even hunger. The world is big, and there are always some people who can't survive."

As he spoke, he carefully loosened the reins held in one hand, and touched the place where the purse was placed on his body with his movable hand, but he only touched nothing, and couldn't help but sighed helplessly.

Driving a small boat to sneak into Storm's End to deliver food didn't require money, and now that the siege had just ended, he didn't have time to replenish his personal finances.

Seeing this, the black-haired boy raised his hand and handed him a gold royal through the carriage window.

"This is too much." Davos shook his head.

"One gold royal for a life is not too much." Renly replied.

Before setting off, the butler gave him ten gold royals as expenses, but Renly still hasn't figured out what he can do with these things at his current age.

"And I only have gold royals."

This made Davos look at him strangely, and asked, "Lord Renly is going to buy him?"

Although he no longer rejected contact with him, it was still difficult for him to treat the boy in front of him as a normal child.

"Why do I want a little beggar?" Renly said as he glanced at the little guy who was gradually approaching as the carriage moved forward. The other party happened to look over at this time. He looked about seven or eight years old, with a dirty face and bruises. It was hard to see his appearance, but his green eyes were more colorful and shining.

But facing Renly's gaze, the other party timidly avoided his eyes and quickly lowered his head.

"I won't buy him, just consider it as a gift from me." The black-haired boy got back into the carriage, and Davos, after taking a deep look at him, clenched the gold coin in his hand and rode closer.

Originally, I thought the matter was over, but after a while, Davos, who came back, spoke to Renly again.

"This child is not simple." He said in a low voice.

"His arms and fingers are different from those of ordinary farm children. He has obviously been trained in archery. Maybe he is the descendant of a bandit in the Kingswood Brotherhood."

"The Kingswood Brotherhood?"

"It is a group of bandits who have been eliminated. Two years ago, they were entrenched in this forest and kidnapped nobles for money. The Mad King Aerys sent troops to encircle and suppress them several times without success. In the end, he had to send Ser Arthur Dayne of the Kingswood and Ser Barristan the Fearless to lead the army..."

...

The speed of time passing on the road seemed very slow, but when the destination was about to arrive, Renly felt that the days passed so quickly. The journey was basically over, but the life scene in Storm's End still seemed like yesterday.

After the team left the Royal Forest, the gray and white walls of King's Landing continued to expand as they approached, and a special smell gradually came over.

At first, Renly thought it might be the smell of another medium, and he was a little bit looking forward to it. But when he got close to a certain distance, he covered his nose and rolled his eyes.

"This is the stinkiest city I have ever seen."

He said so to the former smuggler.

However, not long after Renly officially entered King's Landing, he suddenly forgot this sentence and became quite excited.

He really smelled that special smell!

Thank you to the book friend Night Monkey Momo and the book friend Stupid Called Simple for the 500 rewards~