Chapter 107: Chapter 104
Author Note: (.U⁄ ⁄ω⁄ ⁄ U.)
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It took but a few hours to dismantle highgarden defenses, a child's game with my dragon son burning through them, and a very easy at that. Most of the soldiers surrendered, too afraid to face a dragon in battle.
Those who didn't surrender, tried to fight or escape, unfortunately, they failed completely at both attempts, no horse can outrun a dragon.
But not all victories are sugar coated, Tywin Lannister even with all his faults, had apparently prepared for the imminent scenario of me winning this fight, "That old bastard," I chuckled coming to the realization that all the banks of gold and food in Highgarden were empty, and considering how through they old lion was, I knew for a fact I would not find a single coin or wheat within the castle walls, he had played his hand well, very well. but even then, he had made mistakes, because the fact that his son being was in my hands was undoubtedly a miscalculation on his part.
Though this fact brought an important question to my mind, how did Tywin manage to do this, without me knowing, my spies were still unknown for him, that much was for sure, but even with all the ravens I had on him, "He used another person…" the realization came to me like a thunder, my ravens had orders to follow the main players of the game, and only them around, after all, I didn't have enough Ravens to keep one on each person in the world, so while my ravens were out of his radar… he must've noticed something, and in the way found a hole in my net, "Impressive"
But this was nothing but a small victory for the old lion, with his methods being unveiled it would be easy to control all his moves, and it wasn't like I needed the gold, thanks to Braavos I had more than enough more to deal with this war.
"Your grace," Ned entered the room I was occupying, announcing his presence, "The men are securing the castle,"
"Was that all?" I inquired, normally Lord Stark would avoid talking unless it was important, he was what I call a man of few words, he only spoke when his words would have a meaning.
"No, I wanted to request for the men to rest here for a fortnight," Ned added with a hopeful look, "The Tully's have agreed to bend the knee, and I think it's wise to wait for them, it would give the men time to recover," he stated, and he was right, for me marching perhaps wasn't that taxing, being a super soldier and stuff, but my men were not, a fact I happen to forget from time to time.
"Very well," I nodded, deciding it would be most beneficial to have every man available at my disposal, because it was most likely that the next battle would open the throne for me, after all, I would go for Tywin next time, killing the lion and the threat he poses.
"I'm grateful, your grace," Ned Stark said, and soon after left the room.
Two weeks to rest and recover, were more than enough time for the Tully's to arrive, and the stories of Neltharion to spread left and right, which in turn would start my favorite part of the game, the physiological part, "Let's see your next play… old man," I smiled.
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[Olenna Tyrell POV - 2 WEEKS LATER]
My son had lost our ancestral home, the very thing the roses of Highgarden had protected for centuries, and how much time did it took the kid to do it? A month? Maybe two?
This was preposterous, and not only that, but somehow Tywin had managed to convince my son to move all of our assets to King's Landing, as a safety measure, which pointed out very clear… that to Tywin we were nothing more than disposable assets, pawns on his game, though this realization was hardly something new, I always knew this was the case with the old lion, but I never expected him to corner us so badly.
If I had to take a few guesses about his plan, I would say he knew that this event would end with Ronard taking Highgarden under his control, which in turn would force us to stay in King's Landing supporting them, reason why he convinced the idiot I have for a son to move our assets out of our ancestral land, "Clever cat," I muttered angrily, I was definitely growing older, in my sixties I would've been able to see this plot.
The old lion wanted us cornered, he wanted to leave us no choice but to help him, whether it was for honor, for our house, for blood or because we didn't have any other choice, but much to my pleasure, the old lion was far from flawless, he had made a bunch of miscalculations, for one, the dragons ended up being real, and two, and probably the most poetic one, he had lost his second, the one human weakness he had, his precious son, and last but not least, he thought he could manipulate me, my son might be the lord of our house, but I run this garden, and it was time change our approach.
Dragons, and losing our house was something I didn't sign up for, and after this awful turn of events, it was very clear to me now that Margaery would never be Queen, and I rather have my grandchildren alive, instead of having crowns under the ground, and perhaps it was not too late to make some alliances with the bear.
"Now, how do I break up the news to my granddaughter…" Margaery was smart, but very short sighted, and I knew she would object, so I had to thread carefully, for now.
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[Tywin Lannister POV]
He had my son, Jaime was on his grasp, I had made a terrible mistake, but how could my plan backfire so terribly?.....No that was a stupid question, that I already knew the answer for, dragons.
My plan didn't account for them, I had made a miscalculation because until today, they hadn't made an appearance on the battlefield, not here, not in Essos, and thanks to my skepticism, I had lost my son, my only son.
And the worst part was, I had nothing to exchange Jaime for, for all I knew, he was already dead… No, Jaime was worth more alive, to control my moves, to chain me, Ronard knew that much.
My son was a weapon, and the young bear would not hesitate to use him against me, "Fuck it all!" In anger I smashed my fist against the stone hard wall, resulting in immediate bleeding on my part, but I didn't care about it, nor felt the pain, because all of this was my fault, I said over and over again, that I was not going to underestimate him, and like a moron! I did just that! I underestimated the bear and lost my son!
But I had to keep it together, I had to find a way to save my son, and win this war… I had to find a way to save my legacy, but for the first time in decades, I didn't know where to begin with.
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