Capítulo 13: Rebellion part 2
In a room in the eyrie, the ancestral seat of House Arryn you could see two young men and an old man discussing something, then one of the young men stood up and started yelling.
"That mad king has the nerve to ask for our heads, his son kidnapped my beloved Lyanna and when Ned's father and brother go looking for justice instead of giving Lyanna to them and punish that beast he has for a son he kills them and then asks you to bring him our heads and you are telling me that I shouldn't call my banners, dammit Jon, are you telling me we are going to try to solve this peacefully? The time for peace already ended, its time for war". Said Robert yelling at Jon.
"I'm telling you to calm yourself, Robert". Yelled Jon. "Did I say we will try to speak with him? No, I told you that you can't call your banners without being there, how many Lords you think would answer your call if you aren't in the stormlands, and how many of them you think would rather hand you to the king to get a reward, you need to be there yourself to command your lords and put down anyone who may try to support the Targaryens, I already sent letters to every noble house, even to your friend, we will see who will answer our calls, for now, you need to rest, Ned will sail to the north at the moment the ships are ready, he is a lord now and his men will answer his call, as they always did when a stark called them to battle, and you will be going to your lands to summon yours". Said Jon trying to calm Robert and himself, the truth is that this is going way worse than he expected, a few months back everything was going according to the plan and even when Robert was angry at Rhaegar (and that would be an understatement) their alliance was still in place, Robert was going to marry Lyanna, Brandon was going to marry Catelyn the daughter of Lord Tully and after supporting Rhaegar in taking the throne they would be the greater block of influence in the seven kingdoms, but he ended up proving that madness is a characteristic trait of his family, he didn't just offend the Starks and the Baratheons at the tourney but now he took the girl and disappeared, now he will have to go to war just to try to preserve the life of his apprentices. After calming his thoughts he looked at Ned, the boy, no, now he was a man, a lord, after losing half his family he ended up in a position he never expected himself to be, Ned was even quieter now, his eyes seemed empty most of the time and barely speak even with Robert his best friend, Jon was truthfully worried about Ned, but he needed to deal with this by himself. After that, all of them returned to rest.
A few days passed and while some of his bannermen answered there were some that didn't as was the case with the army that Marq Grafton the Lord of Gulltown was assembling to fight against his forces, their plan was simple block the port to prevent his forces from using it, so he told ned that he needed to head north to gather his forces, while he would gather those loyal to him and with Robert he will smash the opposition.
A week later his forces marched on Gulltown, ten thousand men against the three thousand Marq Grafton managed to gather in this time, he could already see the walls of the city, sadly he was already too old for fighting in the front lines, so the one who would lead the troops in battle is going to be Robert, its better if he gains the loyalty of his men from this moment.
A top of his horse Robert could see what was waiting for them, tall walls full of men, unfortunate men who will die because their lord decided to support a tyrant, while his blood was boiling he could feel his thirst for battle growing with every passing moment, this was going to be his first real battle, all the other combats didn't count, this is war after all, here your enemy won't stop just because you're in the floor or they will fight following a code of honor, kill or be killed this was the only rule on the battlefield, he would be lying if he said that he wasn't nervous but the excitement he felt was even greater, this battle, all this war wasn't for himself but to bring his beloved Lyanna back.
When the battering ram, the scaling ladders, and the soldiers were ready and armed the army march to which was going to be a bloody difficult battle.
The knights abandoned their horses since they would be useless in a siege and get on their feet, and take positions amidst the levies so the earliest could protect them from the arrows that would surely rain on then once they come close enough to the wall.
Robert grabbed his heavy war hammer with a single hand, even when brandishing it with both hands would be a feat that most men would find themselves incapable of doing, but he with his immense strength was able to skillfully brandish the hammer even with a single arm leaving the other to grab his shield to grant him protection not only from the arrows but from the swords that would surely be aimed at him.
"SWOSH, SWOSH, SWOSH"… "TUD, TUD, TUD". The sound of the enemy arrows being released and hitting nothing but dirt told Robert that while the first shot seemed to be far from it was probably a test shot to measure the distance of the next ones, and it proved correct, while some arrows find their objectives reaping the lives of men most of them hit shields, but the closer they got to the wall, the less the arrows would miss, Robert could see how the men on the front lines were falling one after the other and the rest of the army marched over their dead corpses, but Robert didn't feel sad for them, this is the best they could hope of their sorry lives, after all, who would choose to die of old age or sickness in a farm while you could die wielding a sword.
Finally everything was ready, after so much wait the ram was already in the castle gates, the ladders were already set but between the defenders on top of the wall and the rocks they throw down from time to time most men seemed afraid to climb, so Robert get in front of those cowards, put his hammer in his belt to get a free hand to climb the ladder and with his other hand he held the shield of top of his head to protect himself from anything they could throw, while looking at the other sides he saw that some men finally gathered the courage to climb so he hasten his pace, there was no way someone would get on top of those walls before him, so hastening his pace Robert started climbing faster that any of the other knights, but when he was midway he felt something extremely heavy hitting his shield, finally they decided to start throwing stones at him, Robert use his shield to redirect the stone to one side, that way his arm won't grow so tire as if he just take the hit head on with the shield, when he finally reached the top a soldier tried to stab him with his spear but Robert blocked it with his shield, the two other soldiers came and attacked Robert once again, but Robert was prepared and redirect the one of the left making him hit the other spears coming at Robert, granting Robert a little more time, then Robert finally set foot on top of the wall, he felt a rush of excitement run through his body but there was no time to celebrate, because in that moment the soldiers came once again, Robert managed to hit the one to his right with his hammer right in his forehead with a straight blow, breaking the man skull and ending his life, then he charged the man in front of him and push him back preventing him from stabbing him, but while doing this Robert knew that the one in his left side was about to attack and so he prepared but the attack never came, Robert took the chance to take a glance at his left and then he remembered, he wasn't alone, he got thousands of men covering his back, and with this revelation Robert stopped being defensive and started attacking without care knowing that as long as he didn't get too far from his own troops his flanks would be secured, and so Robert focused on the man immediately in front of him, the man was weak, that was the only thing Robert could say, after dealing a blow to the man knees Robert brought down his hammer on the man's head splitting it open like a watermelon.
The soldiers around Robert seeing this started to panic, they knew they were outnumbered, even a fool would, they could see the massive amount of troops scaling the wall, they could hear the sound of the ram hitting the gates but they were bound to follow their liege even if they don't agree with any of this, who could?, they were forced to fight against Lord Arryn their honorable lord because their liege supported the mad king a man despised by all said to burn men alive just for his own pleasure, and know they had to see how their neighbors and friends die one after the other just for some ambitious noble, seeing the forces of Arryn overwhelm and slaughter theirs they started fleeing from the walls and seek refuge in the city, but the attackers were on their toes, then their commander Lord Grafton, the Lord of Gulltown and the same that made them do this stepped forward with a group of his knights and intercepted the tall man with the antler helmet and the war hammer that was killing men left and right a few moments before, seeing them clashing against each other both sides stopped fighting and just watched.
Robert never felt so alive, the blood inside his veins felt like it was burning, every time his hammer smashed against someone he felt renewed vigor, his strength seemed to increase with each swing, but after some time there were no more enemies before him, after seeing all the blood he spilled and the dead corpses of their allies their morale dropped and they started running towards the city but it won't be so easy for them, the soldiers under Jon started chasing them after they took the walls while others were trying to open the gate, before the battle started Robert told his men to leave any men that surrendered himself after all they weren't his true enemies, their true enemies were the Targaryens, that bastard prince Rhaegar and his father the mad king, once these men were defeated he would make them understand that justice was on his side and that they should join his cause. After getting off the walls Robert advanced with the rest of his troops but shortly after they were stopped, Robert charged forward leading his men and was received by a knight whose sigil was three ravens holding hearts, which Robert recognized as a knight of House Corbray, but before the knight could slash at him Robert attacked, he threw a forward strike with his hammer, but instead of hitting the knights armor as Robert expected the latter sidestepped evading the blow, much to Roberts surprise since the beginning of the battle all the men he fought weren't able to do something like that, the most they could do was block the hit and get their arms numb and wait to be finished, but this knight was the real deal, a true warrior, Robert started getting excited every time the knight evade his blows but after some time Robert started seeing patterns in his movements, it was time to catch the little raven and show him that no matter how fast he is, in the end, it would be useless in the face of true strength, Robert launch a forward blow once again and the Knight sidestepped probably thinking that Robert was nothing than a brute who solely relaid in his strength, thinking that as long as he keeps jumping from one place to another eventually Roberts strength will falter, and it seemed that was the case, Roberts blows were getting slower, even if it was much more slowly than the knight expected in the beginning but the end would be the same, and it came, the same blow he saw previously, an opening, it was way slower than the first time, so when the hammer was about to hit him he sidestepped to his right, it was easy, since while he was certainly a little tired from evading so many blows his enemy was much more tired than him, but in the next moment he knew he was screwed, the next blow came much faster than the ones before, it was then that he realized that it was a trap, the man never got tired, he just let him believe that and get overconfident, but it left more questions unanswered, like the one that was bothering him the most right now, how could someone be so strong as to swing that hammer so many times and still have so much strength left?, but this man right before him was prove that there're people blessed with strength, by the sigil in the man's armor he knew he was a Baratheon and could guess he was Robert Baratheon the man that was being fostered by lord Jon Arryn, he heard more than once of this man, a man with a colossal strength branding a hammer, but there's a difference between hearing rumors and seeing it by himself, especially if what you see is a man with the strength of a giant with an armor covered in blood coming for you. The only thing he could do was use his shield to block the hit but it proved ineffective, not like he thought it would be completely effective but it was that or getting directly hit by Robert, next thing he knew he was flying like a puppet without strings for a few meters, his arms completely numbed and without any strength at that moment he could only pray that the man before him would show mercy, but another blow came once again, shattering his hope and he knew that it would only be a matter of time before he gets killed, but at the same time it would be an honor to die by the hands of such a warrior.
Robert was feeling great, after minutes of letting the Corbray knight think that he was toying with him he could finally close the trap, after the knight dodge his blow to the left Robert followed behind with a swing, if it was at the beginning the knight might have been able to dodge this hit too but he too was getting tired and thought that he knew Roberts speed, that was his mistake, underestimate Robert and his strength, the strength born from the fury he felt when his beloved was taken. The knight couldn't take the blow and was sent a few meters back, Robert didn't waste time nor did he leave the man time to recover, he brought his hammer on the man's shield time and time again, but the man kept protecting himself, Robert felt admiration for the man, while it is true that they were enemies any strong man deserves his respect, but the man was obviously getting too weak to continue like this and in a desperate attempt tried to stab Robert just to get his sword arm hit and broken, without his arm all his struggles were futile, but before Robert could continue his assault on the fallen man another knight came and charged straight at him, getting his attention and making him block the sword with his shield, this new knight that interrupted his duel wear a sigil with a burning yellow tower, from the moment Robert recognized him he knew that he was Marq Grafton, the one who rebelled against Jon just to beg the mad king for more power, if he dies this battle will end, no one else would fight a lost battle for a dead man.
Robert stood his ground and prepared for the fight ahead, he tried to fool Grafton the same way he did with the previous knight but it was clear that this man was much more experienced, instead of doing large movements he just did small movements and use his shield to redirect his blows, and he Robert wasn't able to use that to his advantage either, the man was extremely cautious, when he blocked a hit instead of launching himself and try to kill Robert instantly he use fast and accurate stabs but not overdid himself, it was clear that both parties were just probing the other trying to get a clear idea of their strengths, they started moving in circles, seeing this the soldiers around them started losing their patience and started fighting once again, sadly for Grafton his soldiers run when they saw this and he realized that time wasn't on his side, he stabbed forward but Robert used his shield to redirect the sword and swing his hammer hitting Grafton's shield leaving his arm numb, Robert wasn't probing like at the beginning but he was now going all out using all the strength he could muster, Grafton clearly felt the strength begin that blow because after that he unleashed a flurry of slashes but it was al blocked by Robert's shield, while Robert keep waiting for the moment to attack, and his patience was well rewarded, after a few more swings Grafton seemed to slow down and Robert took the opportunity to swing his hammer once again but this time the target was Grafton's leg, the man seemed surprised by this and wasn't able to retreat on time, and once he was on the floor with the sword lying beside him Robert swing his hammer one last time hitting Grafton in the head, deforming his helmet and ending his life. "Marq Grafton is dead, lay your arms and surrender, if you do I will offer mercy" Robert's voice boomed through the battlefield leaving the soldiers static.
Grafton's death brought an end to the conflict, without their leader the soldiers didn't saw any reason to keep fighting, of course, there were some lords that tried to make them fight to the bitter end but no one paid them any attention, everyone knew the battle was lost even if Grafton was alive, let alone now that he was dead, so one by one they started to leave their weapons on the floor and kneel on the ground hoping that the man who spoke said the truth and they could survive this.
Later that day Robert, Jon, his bannermen and the captive were in a room were they had to say from which houses they came so Jon could send a letter to their families for their ransoms, there Robert find out that the knight he fought beneath the walls was Lyn Corbray, hearing about how he fought Robert beneath the walls Jon not just pardoned Lyn but also knighted him, probably in an attempt to get the other lords on his side and make them stop being so foolish as to fight against their lord for the mad king, and it seemed to work, with this the vale unified under Jon, but Robert wasn't able to get the rest he deserved, it doesn't matter how much he wanted to drink and celebrate with his men there was no time for this, he needed to get to the stormlands and summon his lords, Jon arranged for him to get transported in a boat the next day so he needed to sleep early, but before falling asleep he could not help but think about Lyanna, "soon, my love, soon I will bring you back with me" those were the last thoughts Robert had that night before falling asleep.
In Jon's room.
Jon was standing before a table with a map of Westeros and a letter beside it, the letter was sent by Max, Robert's new friend, Jon always wondered how Robert had so much charisma as to make everyone his friend and make those friends follow him to battle, the boy won't just come to help, but he will bring ten thousand men, it was quite the number, especially because in the letter he stated that he would bring his fleet to support them, those were good news, after all, that he heard from that fleet they could take care from the redwyne fleet by themselves, the only problem Jon saw at this moment was how much this would cost them, he knew that it doesn't matter how good friends the boy and Robert were their help won't come free. Setting those thoughts aside Jon started seeing the map once again, thinking about his next step, Ned is already gathering his forces and coming from the north, and the vale is already unified under his rule, they should march to Riverrun and pact an alliance with the vale and of course wait for their new allies and discuss terms there, then march to the crownlands from the north while Robert do the same from the south, with that the Targaryens would be complete surrounded and outnumbered, three century's of Targaryen rule will end up in a few months thanks to themselves, it is quite ironic Jon thought, but there wasn't any other option, it is them or us, there can't be seven kingdoms with a Targaryen in the throne anymore, their tyranny will end, by any means necessary.
PENSAMENTOS DOS CRIADORES 
ormtr
ormtr Sorry for not posting any chapter these days but I have been busy, but everything will continue normally now. So enjoy.
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