97: Chapter 97 The Truth on the Chessboard

He used his finger to tap on the location of the ruins of the Dragonpit beneath the Red Keep.

"Here—the wildfire jars buried by The Mad King Aerys II before your father had even become Hand of the King. I have checked personally; there are fifty-six jars remaining. Some are leaking. If ignited by Dragon Breath, the Red Keep and half the city surrounding it would be blown away."

Tyrion's expression shifted slightly, but he did not interrupt.

He had participated in the Battle of the Blackwater River. He knew the power of wildfire.

Those green flames had appeared in his dreams countless times—green tongues of fire licking across the waves of the Blackwater River, burning sails to ash and sailors to charred corpses.

"Three weeks from now, five dragons will fly to Westeros. They are not my companions. They are coming for me. If they corner me over Dragonstone, they will attempt to purge me or capture me. No matter the result, my mother—Daenerys Targaryen—will go to war with them. If we fight over Dragonstone, we have a fifty-fifty chance of winning. But if we fight over King's Landing—"

He moved his finger from the Red Keep to the battlements of King's Landing.

"—the Gold Cloaks will fire ballistae at them. Cersei will assume they are our dragons attacking the city. Both sides will exhaust each other over King's Landing. If the wildfire is accidentally detonated, the Red Keep will be gone. Cersei will also, in all likelihood, be gone. And I can take advantage of them both being battered and bruised to come out and clean up the aftermath."

Tyrion stared at the marked wildfire coordinates, Gold Cloaks guard posts, and ballista positions on the map. He was silent for a long time. Then, he began to laugh.

It started as a silent laugh. His shoulders shook a few times. Then, it became an uncontrollable, boisterous laugh mixed with horror and admiration. He laughed so loudly that the proprietress behind the bar nervously looked up.

"This is your plan? You are the bait. You are here to die. You are making yourself a living target, luring five dragons that are much stronger than you to King's Landing, and then letting Cersei—letting that idiot Cersei—help you fight them? This plan is nothing but Mad Blood. Mad Blood! The Mad Blood of House Targaryen is not a legend—it is real. You are mad."

"Are you done laughing? Once you're finished, help me look at the map. You used wildfire in the Battle of the Blackwater River. With these jars placed beneath the current Red Keep, if you were to dismantle the fuses—how many could you dismantle?"

Tyrion wiped away his smile, but a complex light remained in his eyes, the kind one has when encountering a madman.

He pulled out his copy of 'A History of the Seven Kingdoms' Architecture,' and flipped to the page showing the cross-section of the Red Keep's foundation. He used the tip of his short staff to point to several secret passage markings on the map. The short staff was made of black oak, and its head was polished to a shine.

"It cannot be dismantled. I have seen the blueprints for The Mad King's secret passages—before the copy in The Citadel's secret vault was burned. Those wildfire jars were not placed randomly. They are arranged according to an Old Valyrian 'Cremation Array.' If you follow this formation—if you dismantle any single jar, the fuses of the other fifty-five will automatically tighten. Dismantling a jar is equivalent to detonating them."

Drogon's finger paused slightly on the tabletop. He recalled when he was dismantling relics in the secret chamber last time, he had indeed noticed that the spacing of the wildfire jars was perfectly uniform. It didn't look like they were piled up randomly. It looked as if someone had arranged them with great care. The distance between every single jar was precise to the inch.

System pop-up.

"Old Valyrian Cremation Array: Used for the funerals of Dragonlords, using wildfire as fuel to cremate the dragon and the Dragonlord together. This array has a 'Master Jar'—usually buried at the hub of the entire array's energy flow. Once the Master Jar is broken, the energy flow of the entire array is severed, and the remaining jars can be safely removed within twelve hours. However, the location of the Master Jar was hidden by the one who set the array, and it can only be determined by finding The Mad King's original blueprints or by asking the creator himself. The creator of the Red Keep's array was Aerys II himself—he was killed by Jaime Lannister during Robert's Rebellion."

"So the only person who knew the location of the Master Jar is dead. Unless—"

Drogon turned to Tyrion. His voice was low, but his speech was rapid.

"Jaime Lannister. Your brother. He was the last person to be alone with The Mad King. Is it possible that before The Mad King died, he mentioned the layout of the wildfire underground? Even if it was just a mad mutter."

Tyrion's deep green eyes narrowed. The bond between him and Jaime was the strongest link in all of House Lannister—and also the part he was least willing to let outsiders touch. He was silent for a long while.

"...Jaime never talks about the details of the day he killed The Mad King. Every time I ask, he only says, 'He burned people, I stabbed him.' But if the Master Jar of the Cremation Array truly exists—I can try to ask him. But he is at Casterly Rock. Cersei recalled him from the front lines. I need a raven. Or better yet—"

He looked up. His green eyes stared at Drogon.