Chapter 33: Chapter 29
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Doran Martell.
Years and illness take their toll.
Doran sat in his wheelchair, beside him was his loyal Captain of the Guard Areo Hotah, a native of Norvos who had stayed with him after his wife left back to her homeland.
His knees were aching again. Though he had long ago learnt to tolerate the pain, still the disease progressed with each passing year and he mentally cursed the gout.
"Perhaps Mellario is pleased with my pain," flashed for a moment in the mind of Doran, Prince of Dornish.
He was in the Water Gardens, watching the four younger sand snakes, his youngest son Tristan and a few other servant children playing and swimming in the pool.
It pleased and soothed him. In this atmosphere, he assured himself that he was doing the right thing and his policies were bearing fruit. If these children can play peacefully without worrying about the future or crying, he is doing the right thing.
- My prince! - A guard has approached. - Your brother and Lady Obara are here to see you.
- Let them through. - Doran commanded without taking his eyes off the children.
A few moments later, both Oberyn and Obara walked briskly towards Doran.
- How are you feeling, brother? - Oberyn asked and sat down on the parapet, while the older snake remained standing beside Doran.
- The same as yesterday, Oberyn. There is little change in my condition.
- You are, however, quite... brooding and troubled. - the Red Serpent noted his brother's reaction. - And you called us both here for a reason?
- That's right. - Doran showed the message he had hidden under his folded hands. - Read what the raven from Mourning Town brought. - Doran allowed himself a slight smile.
Oberyn reread the message for a few moments and then burst into laughter, handing it to his daughter to read as well, who didn't understand her father's reaction.
- Haha, he's a funny little chap after all. And quite ambitious. To think he's already become Hand?
- Under the minor Queen Shireen. He's also Marshal of all Stannis's heir's troops.
- They have little chance of winning. Most of the Seven Kingdoms are in Renly's favour. The outcome is almost certain.
- I wouldn't be so categorical. - Obara objected after she'd finished reading the message. - Perhaps you think of him as a smug, arrogant, smart-aleck who has achieved some sort of high office in a desperate situation and there is no hope for Shireen's supporters. But I've had a good look and realise what Damian Blackhart is. He is Brinden Rivers, only without the magic, but also without the fear of death, the regret, the desire to give up. If he sets himself a goal, he goes for it, no matter what. Not one way, so another, he will achieve it. He is a very persistent, determined, intelligent, charismatic and talented person.
- Is it your mind speaking, or your heart and the fruit of your bond that lives in your womb? - Oberyn asked.
- I know what I'm talking about father. - Obara assured him. - He will get his way, even if not with Stannis, but with Shireen. Now, after Renly's mistake in wanting to deal with that "upstart" who dared to disgrace him and his lover, Damian is empowered, unleashed, and I think he'll be eager to do business again.
- He doesn't have many men. - Doran remarked. - Here he writes about calling on all the lesser and greater lords to come and bend the knee to Shireen, and he also bids the knight houses to swear allegiance to her, giving them lordship and new lands, as well as the usual "loyal" houses of the Seven Kingdoms. It's an interesting proposition for them. I know from another source that he is calling on the church and the common people to side with the rightful heiress as well. And branding many who disagree as traitors. And then he sends messages that those who do not recognise the "right" will know his punishment as a loyal vassal and Hand of Her Grace Queen Shireen. He stripped the titles of High Lords Renly Baratheon, Lannister, and warns that if the rest of us are as "foolish" they will lose their lands and titles, if not their lives.
- I suspect that includes us. - Oberyn smiled.
- True. The boy made it clear that he was making the most of his opportunities. I've even become interested in talking to him myself. But not now.
- He's likely to lose. - Oberyn concluded. - Too bad, I liked him.
- He won't lose.
- Any outcome is possible. - ended the incipient father-daughter squabble, Doran. - It's Game of Thrones, he's a player now and every opportunity, detail and event is important. He can either rise to the heavens or fall into the abyss.
- What do you intend to do Doran? - Oberyn asked.
- Nothing. - Obara snorted. - 'We will wait and see the result. The wisdom of our ancestors has never failed us.
- The main thing is that it won't be too late.
- Don't worry, Obara, I doubt he will not want to raise his child with you, because as I understand he is a possessive man. And besides, we can always tie him to us through the bonds of marriage.
- He won't marry me. He said so himself before our relationship began. - the warrior was confused.
- Who said I was talking about you, niece?
- Arianna? - Oberyn wondered. - But you are...
- Viserys is dead! My men have reported it. The Khal who married Princess Daenerys crowned him in the most bizarre way - pouring molten gold over his head. Now we have no dragon to avenge the Lannisters.
- So there's no point in keeping it so safe now? - Oberyn said thoughtfully.
- Things can still change. We must wait...
Damian Blackheart.
Ashes, blood, guts, pieces of bodies, that was what now characterised the Crow's Nest, the Morrigen castle.
The combined efforts of two thousand warriors and new siege machines in the form of ballistae, turrets and scorpions had done their job. Lord Tandbury and Wylde were in command of the third assault, but the fortress could not be taken no matter what. I thought we'd have to attack at night, the old-fashioned way. But the castle castellan decided to go out into the field to counterattack and lift the siege of the castle. But he didn't succeed, and in the end we defeated his squad, and those who tried to escape back through the castle gates allowed us to catch up with them and break into the castle. And then we spared no one, I ordered only children, women and old men to be spared. The rest, those who would not immediately lay down their arms, and would not co-operate, were to be expended.
I promised this castle to Tandbury. He has three sons. One of them has a castle, so the other one's lucky. I cut off a bit of land from Morrigen's domain and gave it to the Seaworths. He's an ally and a lord, but he has a shabby castle and a small piece of land. It's a shame for him...
By the time I got there, I got the news that Lord Estermont recognised Shiren as the rightful queen, but he had no men and no forces other than defending his lands. So I didn't touch him.
And as far as I know, the Battle of the Blackwater and the capture of King's Landing were to take place these days. I don't know what the outcome of that battle will be under the current circumstances. But I'm rooting for Tyrion.
Sometime around six in the evening, the sentries spotted the banners of Dondarrion and his men.
He came a little out of time, but I'm glad he's here now. With him also came three hundred infantry, one hundred and fifty archers, two hundred mounted warriors, among them three dozen knights. As soon as we drank to the meeting, news came to us from Sorrowful, and we might say joyous news.
Renly's army has been defeated in their attempt to take the capital. The remaining forces of rivermen, northerners and stormtroopers have scattered around King's Landing. Renly was rumoured to have either been burned alive in the wildfire or badly wounded. His army has suffered heavy casualties. Tywin Lannister and his son, however, arrived in time and managed to defeat his opponent. I don't know what Randyll Tarly was doing, but they lost and I'm satisfied for now. Hopefully, if Renly isn't dead yet, it won't be for long. There were no details, so I decided to take advantage of the situation for now and sent a raven to our fleet commander to get the fleet ready to sail and, on command, to sail to Stone Helm and cut it off from the sea. And also captured Baylon Swann, maybe things could still be resolved peacefully there.
Time passed, there was no news yet. Once again there was a lull, which was depressing in a way. Only news from Varick, who spoke of several knight houses and minor lords of the county coming under his hand, including the Darrys, Wods, Peggies, Erenfords, Charltons, Hayes, Heddleys, Ruths, Lichesters, and Waynes. Plus he negotiates with Lord Jonos Bracken for him to come over to our side, and marry his daughter. It's not much, but it's better than nothing.
After ten days of our stay in the Crow's Nest, I led an army of one and a half thousand men and marched on Stone Helm. The fleet would still deliver a landing party of a hundred crossbowmen and three hundred militia. This will be their first battle. Let's see what they've learnt in a couple of months, shall we?
But as soon as we arrived under the walls of the Stone Helmet, a messenger from the castle came to us.
It turns out Lord Swann's eldest son died at the Battle of Blackwater and the old man's heart failed. So they want to give up the castle, because they didn't want to fight me, and rumour has it Renly's dead and they have no suzerain except Baelon, who's the only one left of his kind.
I spoke to him, and he didn't like me, though he respected me, apparently. Understandably, but I didn't need his love. I had fought with him, and I had heard enough about his family and him to know that he was a man of his word, and if he swore an oath to the Queen, he would serve with honour. I gave him one night to think it over just in case, but he managed until midnight, and then, with witnesses from his family castle and from our side, swore an oath of allegiance as his rightful queen, Shireen Baratheon. Thus we took another fortress, but without bloodshed and with new strength to our cause.
My mood lifted and a smile crept onto my face more often, which Rex noticed and even tried to troll me for it.
Baelon asked for at least a dozen days to sort things out at home, and then he would join us on the trek.
The day after this event we had already received a pile of news from King's Landing, Grieftown, from my Dornish friend and even Davos' second son arrived and reported some of the news.
Some happy and some terrible.
Let's start with the fact that Renly did throw off his skates or flippers, I don't know what it was. Sure, he lived for three days after the Battle of Blackwater, but still the burns and pain was too much for him, as I understand it, which is why he died.
Besides him, not from fire but from the enemy's blade, Ned Stark fell in battle, a honourable death for me. After his death and then already wounded King Renly, the forces of "lawful", as I call them, decided to retreat by the time Tywin came and managed to hit the rear of the army of Prostor, which was led by Mace Tyrell according to rumours, and Tarly probably commanded some other section.
In any case, there was no desire to fight after that, though there was plenty of strength. The Northmen had retreated northwards, northwards from King's Landing to Twilight's Dale, and a couple of days ago they had been spotted at Maiden's Pond and seemed to be moving northwards along the Ribble, probably either to Riverrun or to the North itself. They're in no hurry to swear Shireen in as the rightful heiress, despite Robb's upbringing, he's not his father and doesn't have that thick-headedness yet. It's a good thing his mother isn't with him now, or at least she shouldn't be, and he can still be persuaded to do what's right and honourable. So I'll write him a message and tell him that we have a young queen who is the rightful heir to the Iron Throne.
The Spacers have retreated to the Bitter Bridge. And so far we have heard no news from them.
In the meantime, Davos sends word that some lords from the Stormlands have travelled to Dragonstone after that ill-fated battle and sworn to Shireen as their queen, among them lords Buckler, Trant, Fell, Grandison, Connington and even Tarth.
The bad thing is that some of the other Storm Lords, as well as most of the captured knights and lords have already sworn to Joffrey, and now I fear that however Mace might get an offer from the Lannisters to marry his daughter and the king. Then the scales will tilt towards the Lions again. And that's bad. And a Lions victory in general is bad. I was seriously hoping Renly would die and Stark would continue the fight or Tarly, but it didn't work out. Yeah and even if Renly would have won and defeated the lions, I'm more than sure Varys would have gotten to him and our "stag" would have died in his sleep or fallen down the stairs "accidentally"...
I also got word from Sorrowful where there was a messenger from Courtney Penrose, or rather he arrived there first and then his secret message was sent to me.
The Castellan of Storm's End was offering to be Hand to King Edric, already recognised by his "loyal vassals" as the "rightful" heir to the Baratheons, and offering to visit Storm's End for a private chat.
Well, I will visit him, and then we'll see how he sings.....
After that, I sat at my desk again and sent messages to all corners of Westeros from the Stone Helmet. Some of them more personal than others, and not the same ones. Robb Stark, for example, I sympathised with him and reminded him of the Starks' honour and that there was a legitimate heiress who was also fighting against the Lannisters.
I sent another personal message to Balon Greyjoy, and the gist of it was that I "understood he was gathering forces on Pyke to punish the vile Lannisters and take their lands and wealth for himself as punishment for their treachery". Well, I "as an understanding ally and Hand of their Queen Shireen, approve the annexation of all the territories they have conquered in the West." This will be a fat fish for the ironborn, he may still be a senile and fanatical man, but those around him who learn of the message will be dripping on his brains, at least Asha is his daughter. She's no fool and should realise all the benefit to their region in what I wrote and sent.
I then sent messages to the places where the prisoners from the battle with Garlan had been held and offered to "atone for their sins" in the Queen's name, of course with the news of Renly's death and the swearing in of half the major lords of our Shireen region to do the same and join my army. The Thar maiden, I ordered her to be informed of all this and escorted straight to her father. She's an ally now, and Brienne is a good fighter, though naive in many matters, so she will be useful. And I'll improve Selwyn Tarth's opinion of me.
After that I ordered Donald to send another five hundred men to the Crow's Nest, a hodgepodge of new recruits and more or less experienced warriors. I'll meet them there soon enough, and we'll move on Storm's Edge as a combined force. I ordered Lord Fell, Lord Tarth, Lord Buckler and Lord Trant to prepare their men to assist me in the siege of Storm's Edge.
The next day there was news again, but it was addressed to me personally by a very entertaining and high-ranking figure. His name was Tywin Lannister.
The message was not sent by raven, but by messenger on the ship of a left-wing peddler from Myr. He "admired" me and "respects" me, as he writes, and wants me to do the "right thing" by swearing an oath to the rightful king, for I have been deceived like so many other lords of the Seven Kingdoms, and though Shireen is a legitimate Baratheon and even Stannis' heir, Joffrey is the only legitimate king, and he offers me in the king's name a forgetting of whose side I was on at first, as well as a place on the Small OWLs as Master of the Law.
A generous offer. It's a good and far-sighted politician in King's Landing. Not like Cersei and Co. But I'm in no hurry to answer him yet. Let's pretend I haven't read the message or received it yet.
As time went on, everyone went about their business, but I was more focused on training and testing my soldiers. I took another squire, now on an official basis in the person of Gendry, they even with John get along well, in principle from the first day of their acquaintance they became friends, so let them maintain a good relationship.
Jon has already recovered from Ned Stark's death, more or less, at least. He's been training hard, too, and even I'm having a hard time fighting him. Mendon told me in confidence that in a few more years, he'll outstrip us at this rate. The boy has the makings of a warrior of great magnitude.
Speaking of white cloaks. Aris Ockhart survived the Battle of Blackwater and swore an oath to Joffrey, while Barristan Selmy disappeared somewhere and no one has seen him. Mendon, for his part, is now officially Lord Commander of the Shireen Kingsguard. And he shared with me the idea of inviting Ser Emmon Q, who after the recent events decided to swear an oath to Shiren. He's a good fighter and a man of his word, so we won't get a second Kingslayer. But for now there are few real candidates for these seats, though it doesn't really matter, it's enough for now that Shiren is just alive and the Queen Regent doesn't stop me from doing politics as I want.
Twelve days after the swearing in of Baelon Swann, we marched with an army of two and a half thousand to Crow's Nest, where we took the five hundred that had arrived there on my orders, and after some rest we marched towards Storm's End.
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