The Riverlands, one of Westeros' fertile lands, where the Trident River brings prosperity. However, the location of the Trident River is like a crossroads, with frequent wars and bloodshed.
Shear Village was originally an ordinary and tranquil village in the Riverlands, but tonight it had become a bloody hell.
"Bring out your fine wine, barkeep!" A group of armored men first rushed into the tavern next to Shear Village. The barkeep was a bald, fat man named Joss, wearing a brewer's apron.
In the deep night, Joss quickly noticed something unusual. These Knights rode tall horses, laughing and cursing, each carrying longswords, axes, and other weapons. But they had no badges on their bodies, nor did they carry family banners. Joss thought long and hard. He knew that the nearby lords did not possess such strength.
"Bring out the best wine you have here," a Knight shouted loudly, but said nothing about paying. A large group of Knights came in to eat and drink.
"Yes, my lord, the ale brewed here is the best in the Neck," Joss replied.
Joss looked at the terrifying Knights, musing that he might have encountered bandits. Joss noticed the leader of the Knights, a tall, strong, and intimidating Knight.
"What kind of ale is this? You call this good wine?" A Knight was the first to start making a scene, and the other Knights began pouring out the remaining wine. The tavern was now a muddy mess.
"My lords, how can you be like this?" Joss looked at the Knights and still dared to curse.
"Your ale doesn't suit our taste. You'd better go brew wine in hell." A Knight raised a crossbow, intending to aim at Joss, but the drunken Knight's hand was unsteady. Joss, disregarding his losses, darted into the small door of the inn, which led to the fields outside. The night allowed him a lucky escape, and fortunately, he was familiar with the terrain here, which saved his life.
When Joss looked back, he found that his tavern had been set on fire, and the building was decaying in the flames. The flames glowed red in the night, like the devil's sneer. The laughing Knights all mounted their horses and began to raid and destroy other surrounding homes.
The bandit Knights sprang into action, and Shear Village was being brutally purged. They set fires, they killed people, they killed livestock, they killed children, and they defiled girls of six or seven. These bandit Knights seemed not to be human, but devils sprung from hell.
Joss was scared out of his wits, feeling his legs trembling. He heard the cries, wails, and roars clearly, but he dared not look back. The manor in Shear Village was made of stone, and he rushed to hide inside it.
More and more villagers whose homes had been destroyed fled into the manor of Shear Village. The large bell in the village kept tolling, but sadly, no one came to save them.
But some villagers were not so lucky. Joss watched as the blacksmith's young apprentice, running slowly, failed to reach the manor and was left behind. The Child was young and was chased by the bandit Knights, who poked him with spears. The apprentice kept running, screaming incessantly, until he ran out of strength. The largest Knight charged forward and killed the young apprentice with a spear.
There were also some women and Children who were slow to escape. They departed the world too soon, as the short, powerful whistle of a crossbow bolt took away life after life.
Joss's face turned pale. "Father in Heaven, what wrong have we committed?"
The blacksmith beside Joss also had tears in his eyes. The Child's luck was too poor; he was just a bit of luck away from surviving.
"My land! These damned bandits!" The farmer wiped his tears. "These men came from the south in the middle of the night, burning fields and houses. Anyone who dared to step forward lost their life. They aren't really bandits; they killed my milk cows and threw the bodies away for flies and crows."
The bandit Knights rode howling towards the manor, but the stone manor was indeed harder to defend than a wooden one.
Joss and the blacksmith again saw the tall leader, who was as big as an ox, and whose voice sounded like crumbling mountains when he spoke. There were many bandit Knights; Joss estimated over a hundred.
"Damn it, they're not ordinary bandits." An old man with sharp eyes noticed that these horses were not for plowing, but all warhorses. Moreover, these bandits all had armor, as well as fine steel Longspears, swords, and battle-axes.
The bandit Knights threw down wood, preparing to start a fire to smoke out those who had hidden inside the stone manor.
The tall leading Knight snorted in displeasure. "Forget it, there might be more to gain upstream. Let's go to Bitch's Pool."
The bandits swarmed away, leaving only the shaken surviving villagers... In King's Landing, at the Tower of the Hand, Eddard didn't see the King until the next day, but Eddard also saw another person, that arrogant woman following the King.
Eddard heard that the Kingslayer had fled King's Landing with his men overnight, not knowing where he had gone.
The King was dressed in his finest today, wearing a velvet coat, with a crowned stag embroidered in gold thread on his chest, representing House Baratheon, and a black and gold checkered cloak. The King held a bottle of wine in his hand, his face flushed from drinking. The Queen, adorned with jewels, followed behind the King, Cersei wearing a jeweled crown on her head.
"You're quite lucky. If you had fallen from your horse, your leg would have been broken. Now it's just a slight graze, no bone damage," the King said. "Care for a drink? Fine Arbor wine."
"No," Eddard shook his head.
"Hmph, I only wish your leg had been broken," Cersei sneered.
"You stinking woman, be quiet."
"I suppose you know what Catelyn did, don't you?" Robert asked with a frown.
"I know, Your Grace. My wife did nothing wrong, it was all my doing," Eddard said in a low voice. Although it was Catelyn's idea, he also needed to take responsibility.
"I am very displeased, Eddard," the King said with dissatisfaction. This matter occurred within a circle of in-laws and went against his will.
"How dare you lay hands on my family?" the Queen demanded. "What do you think you are?"
"I am the Hand, acting on your husband's orders, in the King's name, to uphold peace and justice," Eddard said unceremoniously.
"You were."
"Quiet!" the King roared. "Eddard, you say you uphold peace in my name, but is peace the only way to maintain peace? Three people have died now."
"Lord Eddard did very well; his sword struck Trig's head."
"First, an open abduction on the Kingsroad, then drunken murder in King's Landing," the King said. "Eddard, I will not tolerate it."
"Catelyn had every reason to seize The Imp, and besides, The Imp is safe and sound now."
"This matter should end here. You and Jaime make peace, Catelyn and The Imp make peace, understand each other, and you all forget these things."
"Jaime merely wanted to teach me a lesson, and then killed my Captain of the Guard in front of me. You expect me to pretend nothing happened?" Eddard looked at the King with dissatisfaction.
"This dispute was not instigated by my brother. You were drunk, came out of a Brothel with your bastard and guards, and then attacked Jaime."
"That's not true, Jon can testify," Eddard retorted.
"Oh, please, who doesn't know that Child is your bastard?" the Queen snorted. "You're quite something, Lord Eddard, taking your son to that place."
"A certain Brothel? I went to see your daughter," Eddard roared back. "The girl's name is Barra, and she looks a lot like your first girl. Well, all those Children you had outside are pretty much the same."
The Queen's face instantly grew cold, pale and calm.
Eddard held back. He wanted to tell the truth, but he didn't. He thought of those poor Children, the infants of the Targaryen Dynasty. He dared not imagine the fate of the Queen's poor Children; the enraged King was like a mad bull.
The King's face was even redder now. "Barra, that girl deserved to die, she had no common sense."
"She's not even fifteen, selling her body. How can she have common sense?" Eddard couldn't help but say. The King probably didn't want to know these things, and that poor girl still loved him.
The scene became increasingly awkward; these words should not have been heard by the Queen.
Eddard looked at the King, still arguing, wanting to seize the Kingslayer.
"Alright, they killed one of yours, and you killed two of theirs. Let's end it here," the King sighed... South of Pentos, Khal Drogo's Khalasar advanced like a dark cloud towards the south.
They plundered large quantities of supplies and grain in Qohor and Pentos, then headed straight for Myr, preparing for this fateful decisive battle.
East of Myr, Gendry opened a beautiful myrish lens. He rode his horse on a small hill.
The lens enhanced one's vision, like a hawk's. He saw the Rangers at the very front. The Dothraki were tall, with reddish-brown skin, long beards tied with metal silver rings, and shiny black hair braided into countless plaits with silver bells hanging from them.
"It seems Khal Drogo isn't completely insane yet; he still knows to plunder supplies in Pentos," Gendry said to Ser Jorah.
"Your Highness, by the looks of it, Khal Drogo has come out in full force to contend with us for power in Essos," Jorah said. He wore fine steel armor, but on his dark green cloak, a black bear standing on its hind legs was embroidered.
"Indeed, there are quite a few," Anguy also gazed into the distance. The vision of Marksmen is often exceptional, and he could clearly see the march of the Dothraki from afar.
"The war begins now," Gendry said. "When the Dothraki have advanced for another half day, we need to prepare for a night raid."
"Understood," Anguy said.
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