Chương 13: Chapter 13
Chapter 13
Renly Baratheon's betrayal was a true shock to the rest of the realm. The man had chosen to betray his own blood and kin, fuelled by his boundless ambition the man had chosen to side with the enemies and had sought grandeur for himself. The man had sought to capture Lady Cersei Lannister and the young Baratheon children as hostages and send them to Essos to the Golden Company, hence blunting two of the Great Houses and forcing House Targaryen on the backfoot. Yet the plan would fail to succeed, and all for one reason.
Cersei Lannister was not an ordinary woman. Even at her young age, the jewel of the West had always held a strange fascination with the ways of knights and lords. Though hesitant at first yet, after Lady Joanna Lannister's intervention Lord Tywin indulged her daughter and let her learn the ways of the Lords and knights alongside her twin. Some say that the King had personally intervened in the matter and had been instrumental in forming the sisterly bond between Cersei Lannister and Princess Daenys Targaryen. It was one of the reasons why it had been a shock when the Jewel of the West had married Robert Baratheon instead of the Prince.
Yet the match would prove to be successful, and both Robert and Cersei would go on to live happily, and some letters exchanged between Robert Baratheon and King Aerys reveal that the King would secretly gift the bride a specially forged sword as a present to her wedding. Credence to these rumors is driven by the fact that Lady Joane Baratheon writes a similar tale in one of her diaries, which was recently discovered.
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CERSEI LANNISTER
Cersei's heart raced as the guards around her formed a line and took out their swords. Duncan himself stood at the center as he shouted at Renly.
"Do you have any idea what you are doing, Lord Renly? You are committing treason against the Royal family and are siding with outsiders. There is still time! End this madness!" screamed Duncan at her good brother, yet the younger Baratheon seemed unaffected by those words.
"My so-called brother was so blinded by his made-up family that he forgot about his real one! Don't speak to me like that, Duncan, I am to be the next Lord of Storm's end, so I would suggest you lay down your arms, and I will be willing to accept you all into my service," offered Renly and she stiffened for a moment as she placed herself in front of her children trying to shield them.
Her heart thumped in her chest as she looked at the men surrounding her and her children. A speckle of doubt lingered in her heart, yet it vanished when she saw Duncan unsheathe his blade, followed by all those around her.
"Then I believe you leave me no choice," screamed Duncan as the men around her got into their stance. My lady, you should flee. We will try and hold them back for as long as we can. House Connington will have received our letter by now and will have men on the way.
And Cersei saw more men join the other side, as their numbers almost doubled, yet all those who knew of the ferocity of House Baratheon's men would say that the odds were evenly matched despite the difference in the size of the two forces.
She nodded and jumped on the saddle as Amanda handed her her daughter. Steffon sat on the other horse with two other guards saddled up.
"It seems we will have to do it the hard way," said Renly with a shake of his head before he raised his sword.
"MEN! CHARGE!" and with a shout, his men rushed forward. Duncan also led his men as they came together and arranged themselves into an arrowhead.
"SHIELDS UP! Make a path for Lady Baratheon! Let's show them how real men fight!" screamed Duncan as the enemy charged at them, and Cersei held onto the rings tightly with her free hand as Joane was tied in a sling around her shoulder.
Renly's men were meters away, and she prayed to the Gods above in her heart, and them thump.
"AGHHHHHH!" the men crashed into the shields, yet the line held as Duncan shouted orders, and then in the blind of an eye, swords were drawn, and the whole area was filled with wails of crying men as the ground was bathed in blood.
And she saw it, a path.
"GO, MY LADY! WE WILL HOLD THEM BACK!" screamed Duncan, and she pulled the reins, her horse broke into a gallop, and she raced past the men with three other horses at her tail.
"She is getting away!" screamed Renly as she raced past the gates and looked back to find him mounting on a horse alongside a couple of men. Preparing to give chase.
And her heart gave out as she watched him begin following her with five more men at his back.
"Don't stop! Push the horses! We cannot let them catch up to us!" she told Steffon as she kicked the horse slightly with her foot, making it speed up. Joane shifted in her sling and began to wail, yet Cersei could do nothing but whisper assurances into her daughter's ears as she whipped past the forest.
And the chase continued for hours, and she had lost her two guards along the way as they succumbed to arrows from Renly's men. Yet they hadn't died in vain. As of now, it was only Renly and one other guy chasing after her and Steffon.
Yet it seemed she had spoken out too soon, as suddenly she felt an arrow hit her horse's leg and her horse nayed in pain and she tried to control it, yet she failed and was thrown off its back and sent rolling onto the ground.
"AGHHHH!" she grunted as she landed harshly on the ground, her arms wrapped around her daughter as she tried to shield her daughter.
"MOTHER!" screamed Steffon, and as he was about to turn around his horse, she shouted out.
"DON'T STOP! RUSH FORWARD! WE ARE NEAR GRIFFIN ROOST! BRING THEM HERE!" she screamed, and she saw him stiffen up before he listened to her, pulled the reins on his horse again, and whizzed past her.
"Chase after the boy! I will take care of my good sister and niece myself," said Renly as he got off his horse. Cersei fought through the pain, stood up, and backed off.
"Come with me peacefully, and no harm shall come to you as long as your father pledges support to the new regime," offered Renly, and Cersei shook her head, disgusted by his very face.
"Gods, do you know what you are doing, Renly? Kinslaying! And for what," she argued as her daughter continued to scream in her arms.
"I don't have time to deal with this," said Renly as he took out his sword and rushed at her. And pure instinct, Cersei unsheathed her sword and blocked the strike.
"A lady with a sword! Gods, do you even know how to hold it," and she smirked as she parried another one oh his strikes before she aimed a counterattack of her own, which he barely dodged.
"AGHH!"
Blood dripped down his cheek as he looked at her wide-eyed and flushed in fury.
"I will show yo…." But he couldn't complete the sentence as an arrow suddenly hit him in the chest.
"AGHH!" he grunted in pain. As two more followed, striking him in the gut as he suddenly collapsed onto the ground.
"MOTHER! MOTHER!" and relief ran through her body as she saw Steffon appear from the shadows with half a dozen fully armed men, the sigil of two griffins adorned their chest.
"Are you all right Mother?" questioned Steffon as he rushed towards her as the men surrounded Renly. She nodded as she finally noticed how her hand was all red.
"You are bleeding. We need to take her to a master immediately!" screamed Steffon, and the men nodded along, and the rest was a flurry of activity that she barely recalled as darkness overcame her vision.
"My lady!" "MOTHER!"
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EDDARD STARK
"With King Aerys's death this has all become a lot more complicated," said Brandon as he devoured a cup of wine. And Eddard nodded.
"King Aerys was in contact with Mance for over a year. The King had also sent them weaponary made out of dragon glass as a means to fight the White walkers. Without him the negotiations will be very turbulent," spoke Eddard. The way Mance spoke of King Aerys showed trust and respect for the man.
King Aerys was a binding force for the Seven Kingdoms and with this new threat his presence would have done much to reassure everyone yet the man was no longer alive.
"It is said that the King strived to teach his heir everything he could. We can only hope that the Prince is aware of this new threat," spoke Brandon and Eddard nodded.
The Prince had been participating in Council meetings since his twelfth nameday, from what he had heard. And that had been the case for the King's other children as well. Eddard could only hope that the King had shared such secrets with his heir for that would truly help them.
"We should have Luwin send a letter to Kingslanding, to ask the Prince about this directly," and Brandon shook his head.
"NO! You will make ne mention of this to the maetsers!" and Eddard was shook by the tone of Brandon.
"But why," he asked.
"Because the King did not trust the maesters with it. I have another way to contact the King, it will take longer but it is more secure," and as he thought about those words. Suddenly it all clicked into place.
"Benjen!" he guessed and Brandon nodded.
"Indeed, it was one of the reasons why the King insisted on having a Stark as a Kingsguard. I will send the message and wait for the reply, but we must make preparations," began Brandon his voice hardened, and his eyes grew dark as he stood up and picked up a huge scroll and unfurled it on top of the table.
"We will need food. Plenty of food to feed our men. Even with the war, the prices haven't risen that much. We can use the winter and the war as a pretense to fill out our stores. We don't have to rush, but we cannot waste time," began Brandon, and Eddard nodded.
"I will write to Alyn Manderly and have him look into it," and Brandon nodded. Wyman's brother acted as his steward and was a man well-versed in matters of trade and would be the perfect man for this.
"We will need fortifications as well, weapons as well," Eddard pointed at the keep of the Umbers.
"Last Herath is not in good shape. We will need to order Lord Umber to repair his keep," and Brandon groaned, for they both knew exactly what kind of man Umber was.
"We will see about that, but we need to bind together the North. And I think you know what that means," and Eddard nodded.
"Marriages," and Brandon nodded.
0000
ROBERT BARATHEON
Robert Baratheon sat in the castle of Sunspear, waiting for his men to rest before they could begin their march toward East once more. The desert kingdom's weather than harsher than his imagination even though the maesters already spoke of summer ending.
Despite that, the sun's scorching heat made it difficult to traverse the sandy kingdom. Yet it wasn't the heat that bothered him most.
No, the constant ominous feeling in his heart riled him up. He had been feeling anxious for some reason and had been having trouble sleeping, yet he couldn't pin point the reason for such a feeling.
Their march had been relatively peaceful, and he had heard of Rhaegar's victory against the Iron Fleet. Oberyn was also holding off the Golden Company, and the men were eager for battle.
Yet for some reason he still couldn't get rid of this strange feeling.
'Could it be because of Joan. But did I feel the same way when Orys was born' and just as these words were running through his head, there was a sudden knock on the door of his room.
Robert was broken out of his reverie, and frowned as he glanced out the window the enveloping darkness of the night.
Then came another knock, one which was a bit more violent.
"MY LORD! YOU NEED TO WAKE UP, MY LORD!" spoke a servant, and Robert felt his heart thump in his chest as he spoke up.
"Come in!" and a servant entered his room at his command.
"Why are you disturbing me this late into the night?" Robert questioned the man as he kneeled.
"My Lord, I bring urgent news. The Maester has just received a raven from Storms End," and Robert felt dread pool in his heart as soon as he heard those words.
"Storms End has fallen, my lord!" and Robert was out of his bed in an instant as he rushed out of the door.
"GET THE MEN READY!"
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