New chapter! Thanks for all the support!
x
When Robb rode Bloodwind past Winterfell's south gate, Catelyn stood at a distance with Sansa, Bran, and Rickon, watching him leave.
Robb had already said his farewells the night before. He looked at them, but he did not leave the column and go over alone.
"Your Grace, will you go say goodbye to Lady Catelyn?"
Theon rode beside Robb, looking up slightly as he asked.
"No. According to the schedule, the supply troops should have already reached Moat Cailin, yes?"
"They should have. After dealing with Trogg for a while, I've found that he always finishes his work ahead of time."
Hearing Theon's answer, Robb nodded.
After Torrhen died, Robb had promoted Trogg, who had performed well in the battle against the Dreadfort, to commander of the supply troops. Following the old military principle that food and fodder move before the army, he had sent Trogg ahead with grain and baggage to establish basic defenses at Moat Cailin.
"Gendry, what about the task I told you to pass on to Dacey?"
Robb turned to ask Gendry, who was riding awkwardly behind him and shifting uncomfortably in the saddle.
"Everything has been handed to her. She is choosing suitable people now."
"Mm. Good."
After the brine experiment a few days earlier, the heart tree in Winterfell's godswood had suddenly begun shedding leaves in great numbers. It was visibly withering.
A servant had discovered it and reported the matter to Catelyn, but she had no idea why the heart tree had suddenly begun to die and had no way to save it. In her heart, she simply believed that its withering might be connected to Eddard's death.
Since the matter touched the faith of the northern people, once Gendry had prepared a large amount of highly concentrated brine, Robb had him notify Dacey to choose people carefully and act in secret.
If nothing went wrong, then in less than a month, every heart tree south of the Wall would wither and die.
As the marching column moved forward, Winterfell gradually fell behind them.
Awoo!
At some point, Nymeria and Lady had drawn close to each other. They suddenly growled at one another, and Robb hurriedly sent a thought to Bloodwind, having the giant wolf separate them and keep one on each side.
After Robb invested thirty Blood Pact Points in each of them last time, Nymeria and Lady had not grown rapidly the way Bloodwind had before. Their bodies had remained about the same size.
But he could clearly feel that the two female direwolves had become more restless than before. They disliked each other and would growl in warning as soon as they came too close.
They also clearly liked crowding around Bloodwind more than before, constantly pestering him until the giant wolf was thoroughly annoyed.
"Robb, I heard you sent Ramsay to Pyke to seek an alliance with my father.
After all, you killed his father. He may not put his heart into helping you.
Honestly, you should have sent me. The chances of success would have been much higher.
My father is a very stubborn man. In that way, he is somewhat like Lord Eddard."
Theon and Robb gradually fell toward the rear of the army. Seeing that no one was nearby, Theon called him Robb with easy familiarity.
"Heh, Theon, you are the commander of Winterfell's archers. If you left, how would I fight this war?
Do not worry. Whether Ramsay puts his full effort into the mission or not, the final result will be the same."
When Theon said he should have been sent to Pyke, Robb smiled and answered while looking at him.
"Mm. The alliance should not be a problem. My father has not gone senile yet. He should understand the benefits once both sides join together.
And it is true, without my help, your war would certainly not go as smoothly.
Heh, if I win the greatest merit on this march south, you had better reward me with a castle and lands of my own."
Theon, who was not especially deep-minded, completely missed the meaning behind Robb's words and joked with a cheerful laugh.
Robb nodded to him and answered meaningfully:
"Theon, if you win the greatest merit, I promise to put you on the throne as King of the Iron Islands."
"Ha, that seat is mine to begin with. Rewarding me with what already belongs to me? You really are stingy."
Theon rolled his eyes at Robb, taking it as another joke.
After saying that, he glanced at Nymeria, who kept pestering Bloodwind, and tilted his head.
"Robb, did you feed Nymeria and Lady something special?"
"Something special?"
"Heh. You know, the sort of medicine I like to take for fun whenever I visit whores."
"How could that be possible?"
"Then why do they look like they are in heat?
But wolves usually only go into heat in late winter, don't they? It hasn't even started snowing in summer yet."
In heat?
Hearing that, Robb lowered his head to look at the two direwolves beside him, and a guess began to form in his mind.
The Golden Tooth sat in a mountain pass, directly blocking the river road into the Westerlands.
At the foot of the mountain, along the river road, hundreds of thick, spacious military tents had been pitched. Thousands of soldiers in gleaming armor sat around, eating lunch.
The banners in the camp were divided into two groups. One group flew House Vance colors, with golden rings and eyes beside a black dragon on white. The other bore House Piper's maiden wrapped in white silk.
In the center of the camp stood a luxurious tent, plainly more elaborate than the others and twice the size of an ordinary military tent.
Inside it, two commanders in armor matching the arms on their banners sat facing one another, drinking and talking.
"In my view, Lord Edmure sending us here to cut off the river road is completely meaningless.
The Seven Kingdoms have been at peace for ten years. Whoever dares start a war so lightly will become the target of every noble lord's condemnation.
What do you think, Lord Vance?"
One commander took a small sip of wine and spoke to Lord Vance across from him.
"Lord Piper, you are quite right. Several kings may have appeared now, but that is merely a game of interests between great nobles.
Once they have gained enough, they will go back to living the good lives they had before.
It is only us who have to suffer for now. Ah."
Lord Vance clearly agreed with Lord Piper's view. By the end, he was shaking his head and sighing.
"Ha, at least we have found some pleasure in the suffering. A toast."
"A toast."
Rumble!
Just as the two men raised their cups and drank, a sound like muffled thunder reached their ears.
The thunder grew from faint to loud until it seemed to be crashing right beside them.
"Enemy attack!"
Only when the soldiers outside the luxurious tent shouted did the two stunned lords finally react.
They immediately threw down their cups and rushed out of the tent, lifting their heads toward the source of the sound.
They saw a force of Lannister cavalry sliding swiftly down from the mountain where the Golden Tooth stood, like a black viper descending the slope.
The foremost riders were already about to reach their temporary camp.
"Take up your weapons! Form a defensive line, quickly!"
After Lord Vance came back to his senses, he immediately shouted and ran toward the front, organizing his own men to defend.
Seeing that the situation was bad, Lord Piper quietly called over his guards and told them to prepare horses for escape.
To be honest, these two lords were true military geniuses.
Not only had they placed their temporary camp on the flat river road at the foot of the mountain, they had never even thought to send out scouts to watch the enemy.
The Lannister cavalry held the high ground. After using the slope to build their speed, they drove the greatest possible impact straight into the temporary camp.
Parte superior do formulário
x
x
x
If you're enjoying the story so far, consider supporting me on Patreon ❤️
You'll get weekly early access to chapters, along with some exclusive content:
https://www.patreon.com/cw/TheDevotedReader