Chapter 30: Chapter 26
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Damian Blackheart.
After the allotted time on Dragonstone, I was back on my feet, though I still limped on my right leg and walked with the aid of a crutch. But already to the Sorrowful I went standing on my own two... or three (?), if you take into account the crutch.
In addition to my men, Thoros of Myr and Dondarrion, Mendon Moore and a small detachment of his men travelled with me. Stannis gave in to Justin Massey's persuasion and sent an "official of the King" in the form of a Kingsguard, though I still remain "in charge". But knowing Mendon Moore, I can safely act, he doesn't really seek power. So I needn't worry, he'll just be a sort of back-up to my words, nothing more. He'll be useful as a fighter, though.
Our journey to Mourningtown was quick enough, but still with a clash with a small squadron of Baratheon the Younger. Then half our ships fell behind because of the night fog. But they were visible on the horizon behind us and were catching up. We slowed down a little and even wanted to approach one small island, which sometimes served as a stopping point during long passages of ships and there we could get water. Not that we needed to replenish our provisions, but something to do and wait for our people. It wasn't far from Storm's End, by the way. So I didn't want to split my forces in two just in case.
And as my ship, three light galleys, and one cohort approached the island, we were flanked by three cohorts of Renly's standard. As it turned out, one of the crews on the island had spotted us from afar and informed the others, and the brave captain had persuaded his other colleagues to make a dashing attack.
They may have succeeded, but my ship and the cogga had small catapults designed for such a thing, and we threw them at four coggas, and they were burnt with most of the crew, and those who were not burnt were either drowned or captured. And the other two we boarded.
But I did not take part in this battle, in the fight led our men Berrik, who captured one cog, and my ship and boarding team led Mendon. The casualties were minimal, seven men killed by arrows, one drowned by a stupid accident, and three of Berrick's men killed in the melee. Another dozen wounded. That's despite the fact that we took a rich catch in the form of a tax that two of these "sea knights" carried to their direct suzerain Renly, food and three dozen prisoners, as well as two ships, which are now in my possession in the number of one piece. By evening, Berrick was thinking of giving me the second kogg in Sorrowful as part of the ransom for his men. Though, to be honest, I'm even thinking of forgiving him that debt, but he won't accept or understand it. It's a matter of honour for him, as they say. In principle, I'm better off.
There were no further incidents, and we got to Sorrowful Town in peace. I gave Lorch and Howth's head to Donald, who met us with a small entourage and news. Which, as it turned out, was not entirely happy, or rather not all of it to my liking.
On the way to the castle Donald told me that a week ago Oberyn Martell had arrived here with his mistress Ellaria and four younger serpents to show them the head of Grigor Clegane. I grinned to myself when I heard about that wish. I also brought a couple of dozen servants and warriors for a retinue. They were now guests in my castle quite officially, and Oberyn was waiting for me for a private conversation.
It seemed that I could even be happy that I would get to know the Red Serpent and perhaps gain the support of the Martells, and maybe even be friends with them officially, and not just through death.
But it turned out that practically most of the Dornish, except for a couple of dozen that came out of Nymeria's detachment that had been in Sorrowful, had already left back to Dorne. Only two and a half hundred of Herold Dane's men remained. Oberyn Martell recalled Obara from Harrenhal and her men when he was in Sunspear. And I sense she will obey her father. Oberyn promised to tell me personally the reason for breaking the contract unilaterally.
It made me angry, and it also made me think, because actually in the Riverlands, when he leaves, and Obara leaves with her men, there will be about fifteen hundred people left. That's a lot of men, but they'd lose a quarter of their forces. Quite good fighters that can stand firm both on foot and not bad in terms of light cavalry. But it's not as critical there. After all, there are other lords of the Riverlands and there, on the way Robb Stark with his father's bannermen. It's a pretty good situation compared to canon. The Riverlands aren't even being attacked by the large forces that Tywin sent there, because I've destroyed them, and the little things have to be finished off by my boys under Varic's leadership. And he's a clever man and he's smart. So I'm not too worried about them. And besides, I forgot about Sigurd's reinforcements and his foot soldiers.
The problem is, I'm short on men. If you count Dane's men, my vassals, Donald's men and the ones I left behind, and small mercenary units like the Brave Boys who decided to swear an oath to me and the smaller units that Rex and Larry and Marik three of them recruited, you've got fifteen hundred men. But that doesn't take into account the militia that Donald, Rex and Marik are now actively preparing. The last two, by the way, are on a young man's exercise outside of town.
Donald told me that those Storm Lords who have decided to swear an oath to me have brought with them an average of a dozen and a half or two dozen men under arms. Until recently they had small pieces of land and even manor castles, but for a number of reasons, including a quarrel with Loras Tyrell, they lost them and were driven from their lands. So they decided to seek better fortunes first in the capital, and then during the events of the King's death, the discovery of Cersei's children's bastardy and Ned Stark's escape, which my brother organised, they decided to choose our side, or rather mine. Somehow they thought I was a good suzerain, or not the worst.
And Lyn Corbray died in a duel, I don't know what happened between the two back-stabbers Oberyn and Lyn, but they quarrelled yesterday morning and had a duel at lunchtime, in which the Red Serpent won fairly, killing his opponent with a blow to the heart. I breathed a sigh of relief, the likely spy and my assassin was dead and now I wouldn't have a headache for him. Although everything was not so clear with him, but there was no point in thinking about it.
Before entering the terrace where the southern family was, I ordered messages to be sent to Lord Wylde, Tandbury, and Lady Mertins to swear an oath to Stannis and come to me with the militia and their warriors to take punitive action against the "rebels" and take control of Wrathful Cape. The only one I was sure of was Mertins, who was already on the hook for Larry to be her husband, and even if she decided to oppose me, she would be the first to be hurt by me. She can't stand up to me alone. And there is no one to help her, though she has, as Donald told me, recruited some men for the defence of the castle, and even I can spare a hundred or a hundred and fifty foot soldiers. Tandbury and the Wilde are another matter. If it's 50-50 with Tandbury, because he really wants to nibble on Morrigen, then Wilde is not sure he'll want to take part in this war on anyone's side. There were still a few minor knight houses to ask about their side, but there wouldn't be much power from them.
With me were Jon, the two snakes Tiena and Nymeria, and also Daren One-Eyed as a bodyguard. I didn't really need him though, I only had a limp on one leg, but I could fight if I needed to. Dondarrion, his squire, Thoros of Myr and Mendon decided to rest a bit from the road and get cleaned up. So we're having what you might call a "family chat".
Salty Dornish, that was the type of appearance Oberyn Martell had. He had a sullen face with deep creases, thin arched eyebrows and large eyes as black and shiny as mineral oil. Thick black hair with barely visible greying fell back from a cape on his forehead as sharp as his nose, but despite his outward natural sullenness, he was smiling now, playing with his daughters.
The two snakes that were no longer "mine" ran immediately to their father. They seem like big mares, but they behave like little girls around him. I felt nostalgia for my childhood, and my heart snapped, but remembering the faces of my grandfather and father at the trial, I quickly came to my senses. I've become soft. It's strange, and I don't know why....
- Lord Blackheart. - Oberyn nodded a greeting with a slight smile and a relaxed body.
Ellaria and her daughters curtsied, though not all the little ones made it. But that doesn't matter to me either.
- Prince Oberyn, I hope your stay here has been at least good and you have been made welcome?
- We've enjoyed the welcome. Especially the city, it has blossomed in the last two years since I was last here, even new attractions. - he grinned.
He seemed to be referring to the Clegane head that hung there.
- It's got two more sights today," Nymeria answered for me. - Nymeria answered for me. - The heads of Amory Lorch and one commander of the Old Lion's large band, a nasty piece of work.
Oberyn looked at me with respect and took it gladly.
- I'm glad to hear you have a good catch. I hope to be able to look at it with you today, and I hope you will keep me company in this endeavour.
- It is implied in my duty as a good hospitable host. - I shrugged.
- Prince Oberyn! Lord Blackheart! - was called out by Larry, who approached us with two messages. - Messages have arrived for you both.
And handed one message to each of us. Oberyn's message was from his brother, but mine was from Varick, informing me of Obara's demarche and the Dornish withdrawal from Harrenhal.
He reassured me, however, that he had all of the late Lady Went's men under his command, and had recruited a militia to train, which Gerda had taken up with Theo and Marin, as well as free riders and minor knights. So now Varick has enough men on hand, all that's left is to train them properly (by my standards) and we can go to war.
He also reported that the Old Lion is still gathering men in the Golden Tooth, but that he thinks he'll be moving into the Riverlands soon. And Robb Stark is on his way with his father's bannermen on the Isthmus.
That's good. Judging by Oberyn's scowl, he didn't like the news from the Sunspear, and I don't think I will either....
And so it was. About forty minutes later we were walking near the harbour, two guards and two men behind us as we chatted amiably. Oberyn looked at the heads on the spikes with pleasure and reminisced in silence for a while. But then he broke the silence and turned to me:
- House Martell is grateful to you for sending these scoundrels into the frying pan. Unfortunately, our hands did not reach them, but you have done Lord Blackheart a truly noble deed. And rest assured we are grateful for it, and now you are a welcome guest in Sunspear and my brother would like to see you there as much as I do. When circumstances permit you to visit our land, of course.
- I am honoured by your words. But you speak words of honourable cause and gratitude, and yet you take my men from under my nose. who I hired for this war at the worst possible time. I had certain plans for them and they have already settled in alongside my other men.
Oberyn, without changing his emotions, answered me immediately:
- I am sorry that we are disrupting your plans, but you are not a foolish man and must realise that the Martells are a Great House, the House of Princes and it has as many opportunities as it has responsibilities and problems. My three daughters and their men have fought for you, but this cannot go on. If before they were just involved in a scuffle of lords and a punitive campaign against the man who killed Princess Reynis, their cousin, then fighting on the side of one of the pretenders to the throne is a purely political move. And we've declared neutrality. Besides, they are my daughters, and as a father I worry about them. - he said quite sincerely.
- I understand you and I understand why these two units have to leave me. - I nodded and was interrupted by Oberyn.
- Three.
- Three?
- I read my brother's last message in front of you. - His cheeks flushed and he seemed uncomfortable to speak. - Herold Dane's father wants to see his son himself. I don't know what that has to do with it, but his men will not stay here without him. Doran told me that, but he was also thinking of bringing back the Dark Star.
- So you end up depriving me of my men again.
- We'll reimburse you monetarily and pay you liquidated damages. I'll also help you find a new squad of well-trained men, but not Dornish. There is, for example, such a company as "Glorious Cavaliers" - this unit was created by me, now there are two hundred mounted riflemen, and four hundred light and heavy infantry, and a couple of dozen Tolos slingers. If they suit you, we'll pay for a year of their service to you.
That's not a bad offer. Rex once told me that this squad is pretty well equipped and has a good reputation for mercenaries. Even the priests of the Lion of Night have used their services a couple of times.
And in any case, I need not small untested people, but something worthwhile. And I'm going to need this squad in the near future. Though it seems to me that the Glorious Cavaliers, who are supposed to be in Essos now, won't have time to help me with the coming problems.
They'll probably arrive when I'm already besieged by either the Swanns or the Morrigens. And there's still the rubbing to do. We can do without it, but then there may be certain problems on the battlefield. And I don't like unreliable elements in the mechanism of war. They spoil the big picture, they spoil my calculations. It makes it harder to calculate the performance and outcome of my actions and those of the enemy.
- I'm grateful for your participation. - I won't be finding a better one anytime soon, and there's no point in getting hysterical with Oberyn.
- I'm glad you don't hold a grudge against us.
- There's no point. - I replied.
We talked about Cape Wrath and my city for a while longer, then the conversation turned to women and booze, and then we migrated to my castle, where we celebrated our return and de-stressed.
I couldn't relax completely, though.
I realised that Arianna was a long way off. Not because of my face or my title and lands, but because of Doran's desire not to interfere in this war. If he has decided to bring his brother's bastards and Lord Dane's heir back to Dorne, what can we say about his heir's possible marriage to me?
So, until the main political actions are over, there is no point in my going to Dorne and asking for Arianna's hand in marriage. It's a pity.
Marriage between us is only possible if Doran dies, but there's Oberyn and her father's advisers, her mother, and she's a willful lady, so it seems I'm losing out on Arianna as my wife. It's frustrating and it makes me angry. Plus, I've lost three more snakes that were useful. What can I say, I even lost my favourite toy in the form of Obara Sand, perhaps even for good.
I need to find a new wife to help me gain new strength, influence, power and wealth, and land is not even the most important thing, I know how to squeeze it out. My good neighbours will attest to that.
The next day I left my guests and arrived at the training camp, where the militia and their instructors were, along with John, Daren, Asgen, and a dozen other fighters, just in case. In the morning, however, I received a reply from Mertins. She'd sworn an oath to Stannis in the Sept, of course, and there were witnesses who would be arriving in Sorrowful Town soon, and I didn't doubt her. She will also send her men to Sorrowful Town, to join my main forces for a future campaign.
I decided not only to test the training of my future soldiers, but also to learn firsthand how the rescue of the Hand of Stark from King's Landing had gone, and simply to consult with my brother.
They trained nearly five hundred peasants and townsfolk, and it was the peasants who were the most skilful. After all, the Stormlands are famous for their infantrymen and sailors. The knights are also famous for their own, but the emphasis is on infantry, and in a place like the Rainforest, also on riflemen. And as it happens, I counted eight dozen archers who have already trained on combat bows, not shooting from hunting bows. They seem to be doing pretty well.
Marik was marshalling one company of recruits, and Rex was in overall command. Donald, meanwhile, was chasing whoever he could in Sorrowful, for the moment repelling attack from the sea and siege, putting out fires and preventing looting and all sorts of messes inside. All in all, the work was in full swing.
Rex greeted me even a little cheerfully. As he told me, the "youngsters" are very clever and quick to learn, and by the way, some of them have even gathered to chase forest bandits in the forest before they had their own lord. So the people here are proactive and militant.
But I wiped the smile off his face when I gave him the latest news from Stannis, Varick, and Oberyn. I think I even managed to catch a few words in the Braavosian dialect in Rex's quick scolding. Anyway, I'll remember those mats, life is complicated, so they might come in handy.
Then he did tell me the details of Stark's removal from the capital. In fact, despite the details of his report, there was nothing particularly complicated about it. When Ned had gone to the Throne Room to announce the truth about the origins of Cersei's children and Robert's will, his brother had simply infiltrated the Tower of the Hand with a few men and kidnapped both Stark daughters, drugging them with sleeping pills. He ordered some of his men to take them through secret passages to the harbour. One of his deputies was waiting there, guarding my new vassals, Gentry Waters and the late Lyn Corbray. And he waited until Stark was thrown in the dungeon and infiltrated it at night, taking him out of there, and then travelled on another ship from the capital to Driftmark, where they met up with the first ship and explained to Stark that they were on the Light Side, heh-heh-heh, and from there they moved on to Stannis's headquarters. That's all. But Rex's meticulous and responsible soul demanded to explain everything to me in detail, and I even managed to get drunk, eat and think about a bunch of things while he finished.
In principle, everything was clear to me, it was rather for the sake of ticking off all the information from him, then after waiting for a little while until the hops came out of me, we went to look at the young people who had returned with Marik. Gentry stood out among them with his war hammer, though of course he was also trained in sword, spear, bow and crossbow.
A couple of times I even crossed blunted tournament swords with Marik and a couple of sergeants from the training staff and one of the knights.
By late afternoon, I had already made my way back to Sorrowful, where I was already caught up in three important pieces of news.
The first was that Lord Tandbury and Wylde had decided to side with Stannis and would send me the necessary reinforcements.
The second is that our small but reliable network of agents, thanks to an old friend of ours, has reported that "an auditor is coming to see us." But seriously, Renly had taken great offence at me and decided not to wait for a stab in the back from "the old ferret bastard", so he sent Garlan Tyrell at the head of an army of ten thousand. And he's already moved out of Ashford, where Garlan's forces were under Garlan's control, joined by several of Renly's vassals, including Baelon Swann and Lord Lester Morrigen and his heir brother Richard. And it seems that one of this backwoodsman's Rainbow Guard is also from this house and his name is Gaillard? I wonder if they have a bastard of some sort? Stannis said I could promise on my behalf to such bastards or even castellans of castles who would side with him and drag people of their lands, legitimisation and titles with land. It would be possible to do a "twist of the ears" and send all three Morrigens to the other world and make some bastard lord.
And the third piece of news was a message from Stannis that he's almost got his banners ready and will be marching to Storm's End soon. So I'll have to get into action soon.
I've been thinking about battle tactics and what to do with Garlan Tyrell and his army, which clearly wants to march fire and sword across the Cape of Wrath, with the Swanns and Morrigens to help him, and that's an extra thousand men in his army, if not two.
I studied the map, talked to the locals, Rex, consulted with Lady Mertins's men who had arrived, and then, when Wylde and Tanbdery's men arrived at their head, I had counsellors as well. And those were concerned about the fact that we were outnumbered. After all, only three thousand men, led by me, will go into battle against Garlan's land army. And there will be sea battles, it seems. In the Stone Helm, Lord Swann is assembling all the ships he can and completing the ones he started when he skirmished with me. In order to attack Sorrowful, or even move some of Tyrell the Younger's men to my city to lay siege. So I left Rex and most of the fleet in Sorrowful, he will have to meet the enemy at sea and do him a great deal of mischief...
and I'll be the one on land. Tyrell will have the advantage in numbers, but who says I'll give up so easily?
After all, even if I lose this battle and the war, I will make sure that I will be remembered with this battle for all ages....
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